#sphinx big naturals

[lumieresdanslacave]

Some kind of Sphinx I made this winter. It's a throw-pillow case!

[miyrumiyru]

Huge striped hawkmoth migrated to safe place from streetlight ♥️

등줄박각시 (Marumba sperchius)

[kots-kots]

okay guys i finally locked in and drew the monster high au LOL

BIG THANKS TO SCRIBBLE FOR HELPING ME WITH THE SPECIES 😼

ummm basically. the jojos are werewolves and the dio is vampire. so classic vampire vs werewolf shit LOL

speedwagon is like a wereraccoon and erina is probably like a dryad!!!

the zeppelis are fish people bcuz hamon/ripple… ripple like water.. ahahaha yeah that’s so funny LOL Caesar was rlly inspired off of lagoona’s design cuz he’s strong like a sea monster but pretty like a nymph

suzi is an air nymph or an aurae so they’re pretty nature spirit gang. ofc I love suzi and caesar being big gossippers in au

DIO I FEEL LIKE is a big regina george type person with vanilla as his bodyguard, terence is kinda like Gretchen in the sense he knows HELLA secrets and rumors about everybody. TERENCE JS A SPHINX (thx scribble >_<) and vanilla ice is maybe a demon or a reaper??? something absolutely horrifying

They’re da dangerous three/other than the pillar men trio or the occasional ‘team food chain’ (aka diavolo-dio-kars clique)

MAYBE THE VILLAINS HAVE THEIR OCCASIONAL TEAMUPS OR BEEF WITH EACH OTHER. they either hate each other or are chill it depends on the day

AND GORGON KAKYOIN

I was thinking he can just turn people into stone or he can use his scales like projectiles like. emerald splash ig…

BUT UM yeah lots of ideas still in mind just what i have drawn so far hehe 😼

[luckypunklemonade]

2/14

“Second guess these words of mine, I always thought that I’d be fine with you. But ever since we crossed that line…”

[Implied smut MDNI 18+; friends to lovers; mutual first time; 2k words] You made a decision with your best friend, Stiles Stilinski, that it was logical to be each other's first time. After all, you trusted each other, and, well, it made you both safer.

an: I love this concept, but I wanted to get this out today, so It's sort of rushed, sorry :( Happy Valentine's Day :)

This work belongs to me, luckypunklemonade (Minte_Condition on AO3). I do not give anyone permission to distribute or share my work without consent.

It started just so we could both get out of the victim pool. Another supernatural event killing off virgins. Shocker. So, naturally, I proposed the idea to Stiles. One of my closest friends who also happened to be a virgin. I trusted him, had known him for years, and knew he’d also hopefully see the logic in it. It’s not like he could make fun of me. I’ve seen him say and do much more embarrassing things. I won most debates because of that. It was starting to become a problem now that it had happened, though.

“Do you remember what this hieroglyphic is?”

Studying a new round of killings in Beacon Hills, the category was Egyptian, and the suspect was a Sphinx demon. Having had a bit of a fixation as a child, I could be of help. 

“What does it look like?” 

“A bird–a stork.” 

I leaned over his shoulder to look at the computer, my hand pulling his shoulder back toward me so I could get a better look. I got the answer out, “Amenophus,” but his cologne cut me off after that. The scent only reminded me of him in my bed, softly and awkwardly humming to try and make it less awkward as he tried to figure out how to take my bra off. He was sort of hugging me, his head next to mine as he peered over my shoulder at his own hands, fiddling with the clasp. He laughed, “I can’t figure this shit out. I don’t know how this is allowed. It’s like a Chinese finger trap.”

I laughed into his shoulder, glad he could tell I was nervous and that he wasn’t making it a big deal. “It’s nothing like that. Here, I can–”

My heart seemed to drop with the weight of anxiety as I felt him finally succeed. He noticed, holding the bra together between my shoulder blades. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, sorry. Just nervous.”

“Hey, me too.” I scoffed. He was more likely excited or just wanting this to be over. Stiles tilted his head and brought it back to look at me. “I’m serious. You couldn’t feel my hand shaking? Why do you think I had so much trouble undoing this freaking restraint?”

“Oh, so you’re otherwise an expert?”

“I can figure out a Rubix cube, puzzle boxes, secret Celtic runes; I think I can figure out how to take off a bra.” “You saw it in porn.” Stiles leaned his forehead onto your shoulder, an embarrassed frown audible in his answer, “Yup.”

Now, all I could notice were things that made me think about him above me in my bed. The way he sat down on Scott’s couch, getting comfortable by pushing his hips up to settle back down into the seat. I realized just how determined he was in his endeavor with me when I noticed his ‘focused’ face the other day and matched it to the one he was making as he stared down at me. He would scratch his forearm, and I’d think of him sliding it beneath me to help me get comfortable, and then his voice as we talked each other through the nerves.

We’ve been close for forever, but I never realized how often I touch him mindlessly until it felt like static every time I did it. My hand twitched as it rested on his back, for the first time wanting to ease up to the back of his head and play with his hair. A lot of things were the same, and it just felt like I was the problem. I felt like I was reading too far into my own emotions. Of course, I’d be a little frazzled and attached to my first time, but I had to remind myself I see him every day. He’s one of my best friends. This confusion will blow over.

Valentine’s Day was coming up. He should get you something, right? I mean, yeah, you guys aren’t dating, but you were each other’s first time. You were best friends. Does this qualify as friends with benefits? He wished he had asked before things settled back into normalcy–when he woke up with your head on his chest. It’s the week of. He could use a conversation with you about this. Friends for seven years, he knew Valentine’s Day was your second favorite holiday behind Halloween. Not because you’d ever had a valentine, but because you loved the definition you gave it. You did that to everything. Even if there was a preconceived understanding, you defined everything. He might’ve been the only one to notice. He loved your version of Valentine’s Day. You dress up, you curl your hair, do your makeup. You take the morning to get yourself coffee, listen to music, and be with yourself. You always came back with donuts for your friends because the day was about love in every aspect. 

He needed to do something. Love in every aspect, right? Even in the weird, unsure, sort-of-still-stuck-on-you-when-he-shouldn’t-be way? He was a little late to be planning too much. You weren’t really a candy or chocolates girl; seven years of friendship, and you only had a select few stuffed animals; you liked to read, but the only thing he knew about the romance genre was that you didn’t read it often because it was getting more and more difficult to execute correctly. So, you stuck to the books you both needed to blow dust from, certain classics, banned books, and miscellaneous genres on your “To Be Read” list.  Whatever he did, he was going to try and be cool about it.

He spent the day before Valentine’s Day in his kitchen practicing. The sheriff came home to his son washing a sink full of dishes and trying to force-feed him his dish. When his critique was satisfactory, Stiles let his dad go to bed and kept washing dishes. He set his alarm a little earlier than usual and went to bed, reassuring himself that he should show you he was thankful. You kind of made sure he wasn’t brutally sacrificed and, of course, that he got laid. And he did learn a few things about sex. Everything real so far, actually. Now that he thought about it, everything he knew was applicable to you. It wasn’t just girls in general who liked it when he made sure their hair was out of their face, it was you, and he did it because he knew you didn’t like your hair in your face. He was going to have trouble associating sex with anyone else for a while, at least. Or thinking about much else around you. 

Of course, you took a late start from school, which left Stiles to think about you and what he should do for you more. When you showed up, he was in the hallway talking to Scott, walking down the stairs. He stopped talking, not at all helping Scott’s already unbearably correct assumption that you and him slept together. He stared at you as you glowed your way through the hallway. He stared at your red lipstick and the ribbon tying your hair out of your face, a job he wanted to do instead at that moment. How satisfying would it be if he walked down that hall and slung his arm around you? How good would it make him feel to walk around that day with a red kiss print on his cheek? On his neck. All over his goddamn face if you felt like it. 

You saw him and grinned, holding up a bag of donut holes. He nodded, swallowing the urge to call you “honey” down. Partly because that was weird and partly because “Sunshine” fit you better at that moment. Before you reached him and Scott, you handed out the respective treats to Lydia and Allison, checking in on them once again after the latest test to the pack’s mental health. By the time you turned back to them, he was already following Scott to meet you. 

His hands kept waking me up. On the sides of my arms, on my hips, my shoulders. I kept sitting up in bed and missing the feeling by milliseconds. It wasn’t ceremonious by any means, but it meant a lot to me. Not just because he did it, but because of how he did it. He made sure it felt right. He didn’t lose me in awkward silence, he encouraged me to speak up. After a while, I did the same. It was awkward, but I knew it would be. We just laughed it off. His fingers didn’t go through my hair smoothly at first, but he took the time to brush them out. I didn’t quite know how to lie down for him, but he had made me comfortable enough so that I felt okay asking. “Here,” he said as his hands guided my shoulders down, cradling my head before it hit the pillows. I wanted to kiss him, but I couldn’t ask for it. I wanted to pull him down by the back of his neck and feel him kiss my head deeper into the pillows. His hands would wander further and get distracted, and he’d let go and forget the reason we were doing it in the first place. We were holding hands. He was mumbling questions for me as he lined himself up. Why shouldn’t I know what he tastes like? 

You’re wearing the smile you always have when you do something nice. A little flustered as you hand people gifts or compliment them. The smile that kept distracting him when you walked up the bleachers with his number painted on your cheek. It was only the second game he was starting in, but he had your full support, even in the freezing weather. Lacrosse season is in winter, which is also sick season. You got sick this year, of course, and you showed up to two games with a cold. He met you after the game, trying not to cough on any proud parents. He was sweating, and you were shivering. With a congested cough, you gave him a thumbs up, and he sent you home to get some rest.

Now, you had a content look on your face, sort of like how you looked when you slept, watching your friends dig into your gifts. Stiles started walking, tapping your shoulder and nodding his head toward an empty classroom. You followed, not without hearing your friends giggle. When you both got away into the classroom, he turned quickly.

“Come to my house tonight. I don’t know if it’d be weird, but I sort of have this whole thing planned. If you think it’s weird, you don’t have to come, I just wanted to find a way to- to thank you, but if today wasn’t the right move–” “You planned something?” “I know just because we had sex doesn’t mean we’re dating. I know we didn’t do it because of that, but I keep getting this feeling like I…”

He stared at you, not worried about ruining the friendship, but terrified you didn’t feel how he felt. “I feel like I want us to be dating after. I know it’s probably because it was my first time and I feel attached or whatever.”

“You feel that, too? I thought it was just– well, yeah.”

“You–” He watched you nervously stare at the ground. 

“You know we never kissed? You were my first time and we never kissed.”

“I wanted to. I really, really wanted to. I didn’t think you’d want that.”

“Me neither.”

Stiles leaned in and you knew. He kissed you gently, just pressing his lips against yours before you pulled away, eyes widening. “Oh, shit.” You wiped his mouth with your sleeve, your red lipstick nearly staining his chin. You made sure to wipe as much as you could off without smudging it. Stiles flinched away and stopped you, “I want it.”

“I got it all. You can’t walk around like that. Am I good?”

He checked for smudging and softly wiped the side of your lip, “You’re great. I can walk around like that and proudly, too. Watch.”

You stopped him before he could kiss you again, laughing away the flush in your cheeks. He saw it regardless. “Uhm…Here. This’ll be more managable.” 

You brought his hand up to your lips and kissed it, leaving your red kiss print on the back of his hand. Stiles admired it for a good thirty seconds before beaming up at you. When you promised to kiss him the right way at his house that night, he finally nodded and followed you back out into the hallway. 

I opened the door and took my shoes off, hearing a small sound of panic from within the house. Stiles had heard me come in, running around the kitchen on a mission. Sitting where he told me, I was faced with two generic three-wick candles. He doesn’t exactly own a candelabra, I smiled to myself. Stiles had the food plated, he was just cleaning the area before bringing it out. I stood up to help, laughing when he whipped around and ordered me to stop, but continued into the kitchen. I didn’t stop laughing as I slipped past him to grab a few miscellaneous things off of the counter or when he took them out of my hands and backed me against the counter. “Stay there,” He said as he turned to put more utensils in the sink. He turned back to hold my shoulders because I was moving again. I smiled and caught him off guard, pressing my lips to his. 

Admittedly, I should have been more considerate and wiped my lipstick off, but I liked the idea of how he’d look. His hands went slack on my shoulders, dropping to my waist. My nerves surged when I felt him hum into my lips. My heart rushed when he took the chance to deepen the kiss, the enthusiasm he put into it pushing my head back into his hand. I mirrored his movements as I slid my hand up to his shoulders. His face was tight with eagerness when I pulled away. He swallowed, lips pressing together. I then noticed my lipstick smudged across his mouth. It strayed above his lips in a hazy pink. I could only imagine what I looked like. I held in a laugh, which he met until we couldn’t. My laugh lasted longer while he focused on the red smeared on my chin. He pulled out his phone, holding it up to his face to take a picture. 

“C’mere,” He mumbled, pressing his cheek to mine and snapping a picture of our mouths, both messy with my lipstick. I hid my face until he led me to my seat again, taking away my napkin so I knew he wanted us to sit together and eat with both of our mouths covered in smudged lipstick.

[rootspiral]

Agatha All Along deep dive: episode 7 part 1

(Wandavision entries: [1][2][3])

(AAA entries: ep1 [1][2][3][4] ep2 [1][2][3][4] ep3 [1][2][3] ep4 [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][+1] ep5 [1][2][3][4][5] ep6 [1][2][3] ep7 [1][2][3][4][5][6] ep8 [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] ep9 [1][2][3][4][5][6])

ah yes, episode 7, a notoriously low stakes one that people are not emotionally invested in whatsoever. a mere 9.1 on IMDB, nothing to write home about.

we start with lilia dying, because life and death are a never ending cycle. and also because the people who made this show are evil

she's like a teardrop. good fucking shot.

meanwhile billy is marching on, puffing his chest, all stone faced. agatha is pretending to be a nice little guy, to make friends.

she's really TRYING, okay?

rio's busy reaping alice's soul, but we don't reveal that until later. and LMAO agatha being all like, I'm gonna be OPEN and HONEST and a good ment- except for that I donwannatalkabouthat

agatha after she babysits a little boy once, scares him shitless and tries to kill his mom: we CLEARLY had a connection there

that poor little dash in the subtitles. fighting for its life to convey the chasm of time she leaves between ex and best friend

LET'S HEAR IT FOR REBECCA WHO RAISED THIS BOY FOR FAR LONGER THAN WANDA OR AGATHA EVER DID

but the unfortunate fact is, wanda still is his mother. or rather, she's the witch who thoughtlessly created him and left a big scar in her wake. he has to deal with all that.

marvel's powers that be: wanda maximoff is definitely dead-dead

jac schaeffer and co. every chance they get: she sure is!!! *big fat kathryn hahn wink at the camera*

if they ever do a 'marvel most iconic line' poll we as a fandom are voting for this one. just to be clear.

I saw some reactors going ooooh it's ho***rts. HOW DARE YOU SIR. that's the wicked witch castle. billy maximoff would never.

I've been asking myself WHY agatha simply doesn't tell billy about the nature of the Road, not even now that everything else is out in the open. the only answer I can come up with is that the Road is real and it's here and deadly, it's not in any way an illusion. and since the Road is linked to billy's emotional state, we dont' want him to go ballistic one he realizes he's been killing witches. agatha has decided she can only soldier through at this point and get herself and billy's home, they can talk about the implications later. yes, she's really scared of what billy can do.

I've also been trying to figure out the moon phases:

Full moon - water phase, blue, Jen.

Waning moon - fire phase, red, Alice.

Blood moon or lunar eclipse (still a full moon): spirit phase, purple, Agatha

Waxing moon: air phase, yellow, Lilia

New moon: earth phase, green, Rio

so we get full moon, waning, full moon again, waxing, new moon. they're completely out of order??

this whole trial is the equivalent of billy calling lilia a slur. no fr it's billy repeatedly beating lilia over the head with a stick and going, reCLAIM IT RECLAIM THE DAMN SLUR YOU WITCH

i find kathryn hahn as the wicked witch of the west alarmingly hot and i don't know what that says about me

billy is like, i effin KNEW I'd look this good. oh god, the Road was just an excuse to cosplay as maleficent all along

i love how these two find themselves alone for five minutes and immediately proceed to BUTCHER a trial. i'm overusing tumblr lingo these days and all, but I still gotta say it: there is one single braincell in this whole coven and lilia has it. it's like leaving two children in charge

a cursory google search tells me the two sphinxes represent light and darkness, you need to learn how to control both for the chariot to move forward

she always is!! sort of. kind of. mostly.

agatha, who's about as spiritual as a q-tip: how hard caN THIS BE

I can totally see her as a con artist counting cards in vegas

somehow I cannot picture evanora homeschooling her. or sending her to school at all, for that matter. you know this bitch is self-taught.

someone with more time than me should totally check if there's any rhyme or reason to the cards these two buffoons drew

I'm gonna end this entry with lilia's eyes again so it's another nice circle. a fun little ouroboros!

damn patti has such big doe eyes

go to episode 7 part 2

[eldritch-spouse]

So, I'm a big fan of women who have deep voices. (For example the Sphinx from Dragon’s Dogma 2) And I was wondering who would find it alluring/captivating to have an obsession with a voice like that?

[That sphinx had a chokehold on me for a bit, her face is so incredibly beautiful yet filled with rabid energy. They did a spectacular job with her, in all levels.]

Let's face it, number one on the list is Grimbly. An imposing voice like that simply fits his idea of a hot mommy figure, who is not only dominant but has a voice that carries authority on its own. His knees tremble when you speak particularly sternly.

Patches also finds himself enjoying this a lot more than he should. He's a little more subtle than Grimbly, instead asking you to read his own notes back to him, pretending he's too busy and it'll help him absorb things better if he hears them. You'll note he gets a little too flustered when you chastise or call him out.

Many concubi would fit in this role, but perhaps the more high-ranking of the bunch, like Santi and Vesper, might find this quite appealing simply because most people choke up and raise their pitch when speaking to them. Someone who can naturally wield a deeper tone around them is mildly rare and alluring.

Belo sees this as quite the appealing trait to have, mostly due to his cast, where deep voices are associated with strength and, by proxy, dominions. It's dignified. This perception only truly works if he sees you as "his Lady".

Cero enjoys this. He's trained his voice throughout time to become imposing and demand respect from others, you being able to do the same to some degree is ideal and befitting of the Queen of Pride. You sound every bit as royal and knowing ad you should, and that's what truly matters.

Kalymir loves any kind of voice that strikes fear into the hearts of the people. Maybe you're not fear-inducing, but your voice allows you to come off as confident and sure of your words, even if that's not how you feel. This is good for your survival and influence, being that Kalymir will always encourage you to try to sound more domineering.

[doe-prince]

Do you have any lore about the things with faces stuff you've been putting out? I adore all their designs (especially the siblings you posted most recently) and would love to know if you have anything going on w them

The things with faces is something I like to play with in-between all the comic making, something just for me. Of course I'm itching to make it into a comic but with the workload I have now, I don't think it's something I can do.

I've been drawing exclusively animal comics for years now, and sometimes I really would want to work with something that doesn't need to be so wholesome all the time. I wanna draw people.. . . holding hands... kissing.... I miss expressing the wonders of humanity in the way animals can't, but one BIG problem! Drawing humans! It takes so long, oftentimes I get no joy from it. Even putting faces on these things has me weeping three tears at minimum, but at least they can kiss now, and it makes sense for them to have fully human minds. I feel this is the furthest I can go before the joy sours.

I've been building a little world where the denizens are all sphinx-like things who are more animal-bodied humans than human-faced animals. Animal-faced creatures are feral, used as livestock and game. This universe has likely been formed by scraps from other universes merging, bringing weird magic, involved gods and humble humans together and molding them into something new. Humanity is sought after feature. Maybe they have a statue of it somewhere.

There's different kinds of sphinxes. Some can grow and morph their horns, some are born with hands (respected crafters and medics), wings (harpies, traditional sphinxes), third eyes (the most in tune with magic, can switch eyeballs with others), and more. These two are the horned kind, heirs to a throne. The horned kind is believed to be the best and most just leaders, were it just for their natural crown or some event proving it in the past.

I have a little story in mind for them, but like I said, I likely won't have the time and energy to juggle a third project by myself. And I don't wanna draw castles or play with 3D, human faces are hard too. 💔

[hazshit-hotel-hater]

Vaggie Redesign! (1/7)

Welcome to my new quest of redesigning the entire main 7 Hazbin cast! First on the chopping block is Vaggie who I will be addressing as Evangeline/Van for the rest of this post.

I’ve designed a good 100+ characters in my lifetime so I think I can manage a decent moth lady.

First thing, she was supposed to be a moth. Why not keep her as a moth. Vivziepop is a coward. Second but much more important, she is not grey anymore!!!!! All colours I used were picked from this wonderful little Gaudy Sphinx moth so everyone thank you Gaudy Sphinx moth!

For her scars, she didn’t have nearly enough to begin with. What even is this.

She deserves som recognition for yknow. Killing people. And yes I know she has that whole thing where she thought Angel’s couldn’t be injured but these are from Lute when her eye got ripped out so! Checkmate. The X is supposed to resemble Lute marking her for death so sinners could notice it and then probably torture Van because betrayal yknow. The scar colours and placement on her neck are supposed to resemble angel blood and also the swoopy things exorcists have on their necks but imagine they got more like. Burnt into her skin. Also it’s not immediately recognizable as angel marks cause theyre moth colours anyway!

Her hair looking like wings was a cool idea though I’ll give them that. Obviously she can’t fly with her hair but it’s the silhouette that counts. Oh and her short hair was cuter so I just mixed them

Also her colours were ugly!! I love myself a good black and red—i mean who doesn’t—but we know of hazbins little addiction to that colour palette and why would I use just black and red when I can divulge into insanity and refrence @bluehazardanonymous’s colour wheel again!!!!!!!!

YAAAAAYYY!!!!!! I think the greenish red suits her a lot with her protective nature and honestly probably a little bit of envy from heaven stuff. Justified of course because genuine why is heaven like that. Also the reds are definitely red but theyre a little subdued so she doesn’t come off as incredibly angry and all that. Plus red can look very elegant and I think she deserves that. As for her dress I tried to keep it inspired based off the traditional dress of El Salvador while still using colours picked from the moth.

I also really wanted to include the lace from these dresses because it is genuinely beautiful but unfortunately my lace pattern was too big and got smushed when I tried to use it so the most I can do is show it of separately😞

The blue also is a much cooler colour of course so it gives that little bit of approachability to her character. I am latino and I think I can safely say for every other latino/latina person the spicy latino character archetype is stupid and she needs more depth than that. Give us more Charlie and Van being sweet and having Charlie pull her weight instead of just standing off to the side crying all the time.

Hopefully you all enjoy the new design, I am working on a certain ssomebody next 🐍 and I intend to get it out soon (hopefully)

I am not Salvadoran and I am not super familiar with the culture there so if I messed up anything with her dress and whatnot please don’t be afraid to call me out on it so I can improve in the future. Thank you!

[thicctails]

I absolutely LOVE your Mythology Falls AU designs, but I’m curious on why you chose the ones that you did.

I'm so happy you like it! Let's go down the list, shall we?

Dipper: I love the Sphinx!Dipper from Nightrizer's take on Monster Falls, but I didn't want to go that route since these are supposed to be an original take on idea of everyone becoming creatures of myth and legend. The first reason I chose a Gryphon for our beloved Pine Tree because they represent traits like bravery, wisdom, and power. Obviously, Dipper isn't the strongest character in Gravity Falls, but when the chips are down, he isn't afraid to start beating the hell out of whatever is terrorizing him, no matter how much stronger they may be.

The second reason is because I wanted to do something with owls and cheetahs for Dipper. I chose the barn owl because their feathers actually do kinda resemble the colours I chose for Dipper's feathers, and also because they're my favourite species of owl. Both owls and cheetahs are nervous creatures with high pitched calls, which I think fits Dipper very well haha.

Mabel: While I like the idea of Mabel being some kind of water creature, I think her being a mermaid would cause quite a few issues with mobility. I went with a selkie because not only are baby seals fricken adorable (especially harp seals, which is what her coat is based on), but it also allows her to keep her iconic sweater look! Now she can be fashionable on land, and utterly adorable in the water. There's also the added risk of someone trying to take her coat, but when one of your Grunkle's is a dragon, and the other is a kelpie, most people get the hint not to try anything.

Grunkle Stan:

Haha, come on, you see it, right?

Really, though, while Stan may love money, and everyone assumes that he would be hoarding crisp dollar bills, his real horde is actually his house and all those within it. He loves his family more than life itself, and anyone who brings them harm is going to be getting a face full of flames. He's big, grumpy, and looks like he'd be nothing more than a dumb brute, but in reality he's a big softie who could outsmart most anyone who crossed him.

Ford: Kelpies look beautiful, friendly, and enticing, promising fun and adventure, if you only would come closer and climb atop their back. However, this is only a farce, and now you're being dragged down into the dark depths of a lake or river. While Ford wasn't drowning anyone as a human, he certainly dragged McGucket down a dark path, often bringing him into dangerous situations, and he almost did the same to Dipper, although not intentionally. However, they are not always bad, and if you can slip a bridle over a Kelpie's head and tame it for a time, they'll tirelessly help you with whatever you need.

They were also said to be shapeshifters, often taking the form of a man. Whether or not Ford will figure this out remains to be seen (hopefully no one sticks him in a cage and threatens to freeze him!)

Soos: The world's most perfect man deserves a nobel and revered creature. Qilins are gentle, benevolent protectors, and unlike unicorns, they really can see into someone's heart! I wanted Soos to have an overwhelmingly friendly and loved mythological form, so a Qilin seemed like a natural fit.

Wendy & McGucket: two North American cryptids, neither one having much to go on. I chose a Splintercat for Wendy, both because its a lumberjack legend, and because this lynx-like beast topples whole trees with ease by smashing into them which reminded me of Manly Dan, who is also a Splinter Cat.

As for poor old Fiddleford, I made him into a Glawackus because 1. tell me that name isn't something he'd say.

and 2. Glawackuses are said to have the ability to erase the memories of anyone who looks into their eyes. I made it so that the eye that is covered by his green eyeglass is safe to look into, while the other will cause memory loss.

[thelongestway]

Gonna repost this because the original post I had this on turned reblogs off, and I'm thinking a lot about old sci-fi and fantasy and their impact on me today.

So. Most kids of my generation imprinted on Tolkien. I... Didn't, even though LOTR was probably the first fantasy book I made it through (and my favorite characters were Gandalf, and Gimli and Legolas' friendship (matched set, do not separate)).

But. Even though LOTR was my first big fantasy story, that wasn't what I imprinted on. It was the second book (or, well, book series) I remember reading all by myself. Roger Zelazny's Chronicles of Amber.

Reading the opening sequence for the first time remains burned into my mind, because that was when I went "Oh. This is me." about a book for the first time in my life. Here (spoilers, obviously, both in the quote and the summaries below):

"It was starting to end, after what seemed most of eternity to me.

I attempted to wriggle my toes, succeeded.

I was sprawled there in a hospital bed and my legs were done up in plaster casts, but they were still mine.

I squeezed my eyes shut, and opened them, three times.

The room grew steady.

Where the hell was I?

Then the fogs were slowly broken, and some of that which is called memory returned to me.

I recalled nights and nurses and needles. Every time things would begin to clear a bit, someone would come in and jab me with something.

That’s how it had been.

Yes.

Now, though, I was feeling halfway decent.

They’d have to stop.

Wouldn’t they?

The thought came to assail me: Maybe not.

Some natural skepticism as to the purity of all human motives came and sat upon my chest. I'd been over narcotized, I suddenly knew. No real reason for it, from the way I felt, and no reason for them to stop now, if they'd been paid to keep it up. So play it cool and stay dopey, said a voice which was my worst, if wiser, self.

So I did."

Rest of the book here.

And then Corwin breaks out of a mental hospital without knowing anything about himself and, barely lucid, makes his way through a world he doesn't remember.

Yeah, on re-reading it as an adult, there's a lot of stupid mid-20th century shit, especially where gender is concerned. But the opening. Bullshitting your way through an insane world, buffered by the feeling that "yes, this is reality as you know it somewhere deep below the amnesia." The Pattern and Logrus. Fucking up your attempt to retake the throne so bad you fuck up the entire universe. Biding your time in prison, blind and patient. Riding with and against the chaos you caused. And "if nothing greater devours us" as an answer.

And then the Chronicles of Merlin, and the lonely magician trapped between worlds with his pet artifact snake and sentient computer called Ghost Wheel. And the descriptions of what it feels like to manipulate reality that resists and reality that is so tissue-thin that you can go through ten Shadows in a moment, of living in fractals and talking to sphinxes. That was me later, but I think that any time I describe standing against something bigger than myself, and being ready to burn a hole in that greater thing with your own blood, the Pattern and Logrus bleed through.

And this book is where my love of the first person comes from. Because the first book I ever well and truly loved as a story was a book where you sat across from a Prince of Amber, and he gave you the wildest tea imaginable.

[alebrijediscordico]

i'll clean this up + do more doodles tomorrow but. thems

also, lore under the cut just to ramble n also so i dont forget

ok so, in the side of the pines, specifically starting from stanley n stanford's, they come from a multianimalia family, aka all that has to do with weird mixes or creatures, like sphinxes, impossible hybrids, draconeus (was that the word ? the shit thats discord from mlp), minotaurs, and part animal part Thing creatures, but specifically natural, raw materials, like rocks, minerals, vegetation, etc.

from then i made it so stanley is a lion gargoyle sphinx, with some patches of fur but only in the belly area and tail. everything else is made of stone or mineral-like scales, including the mane and the horns. wing's are like a bat, but it has scales on top of them a lil so it Looks like they were feathers.

stanford is a "dragon" snow leopard sphinx.. his rarity is not only the 6th finger, but that his "dragon" part is actually a dinosaur's. a recessive gene from Million of years back giving him velociraptor legs with those big claws. wings are from a mexican striped owl's with lil claws-thumbs bc of the dyno part

shermy ends up as a lynx satyr with deer antlers bc of more bs recessive genes

whoever married him later on comes from a family that has some kind of connection to the stars—which is the reason on this version of the au for dipper to have that birthmark. and actually, mabel gets one too on her back.

anyways, the kid of those two marry someone from a purely centaur family, so Thats where all comes in, making mabel a unicorn-kelpie, kinda? second name comet, and dipper a bear-deer

(and extra note, the kelpie part of mabel is what the pure unicorn uses against her to not deem her worthy in that one episode where they need the unicorn hair. and dipper's insecurity comes from ppl poking at the fact that he's part deer. and his lil bear ears)

[ranticore]

answering all my asks in a big bunch

@help-system

it's kind of cool to think about actually & something i didn't consider (re: the implications for future generations). the reason he has to stay in a town flock isn't just because he's formed attachments there, but because he is vision-impaired and his feathers are fucked from lack of structural pigment and would struggle to live without the support system (for lack of a better term) of the town around him. his survival depends on living in a society. that also means he'll survive to pass on this trait when otherwise he would not. it's recessive so yeah could definitely be passed on!

@focshi

Oh habitat & life habits change the look of the nests completely. for the ama plains eagle harpies I was imagining a kind of gourd-shaped woven bower.. sortaaa like this as the eastern edge of the plains (where they live) has emergent columnar basalt and it's on these big stone stacks where they make their nests. use rope and picks to secure the bowers to the columns and the king's eyrie (the tallest one naturally) is built around a log tied upright with guy-ropes driven into the stone. they are all flexible enough that they blow around a lot in the wind without suffering much damage (see pic below)

in between them are net-like rope platforms and ladders as well as more 'spires' which are the trees propped upright on the columns. solid stone is the only safe 'ground' material to build nests on.

@gardenergulfie many of the monsters were bound by additional magical rules on top of the "you are twisted into a monstrous form" main thing. i hadn't thought of many tbh but i believe sphinxes were more strictly bound by their riddle names rather than just doing it playfully by choice, i know there was more but it escapes me. i'll have to think of some!

wyrms are cursed with immortality in a very classical sense so it would be impossible for Revelation not to be around in Cuinn's time. but ah... i wouldn't say it's in a good state

wildfire unfortunately is no longer with us. in mind & spirit anyway.

For eagle harpies, baby-rearing is not communal. The parents swap brooding/hunting roles (one broods/warms the young, the other hunts, they barely get time to sleep). Once baby is old enough to fly it hops out and joins the other fledglings in their eyrie. Parents rarely have anything to do with them after that but they will occasionally stop by to deliver discipline if they feel their offspring isn't behaving properly.

Partnerships are monogamous (but if the king wants your girl then that's his girl for the night) and last as long as any relationships might; could be many years, could barely last a season. there's a stigma against breaking up while tending a nest so some harpies with relationship problems tough it out for the sake of the kids (this never works)

The king does not care about his offspring as people, only as tokens of his virility and strength. Kings often boast of how many offspring they have (and the All-King can have hundreds) but do they know all (or even any of) their kids' names? of course not

Regular cobs do most of the fathering because most flocks don't have a king and they have to reproduce somehow. There's no visible difference between the offspring of a king vs the offspring of a cob. eggs is eggs

Eagle harpy pens can lay up to 4 eggs in one nesting season. Sibling aggression is common in the early days and if unsupervised they can kill one another but that's seen as a sign of lazy and inattentive parenting UNLESS the baby being picked on was kinda runty and then it's their own fault for being a whimp and they should toughen up. Parents can lay unfertilised eggs but rarely do, it's similar to a false pregnancy. Unfertilised eggs are eaten. Harpies of different species base cannot interbreed, but bear in mind that harpy species diversity is overall much lower than birds.

Eagle harpies are VERY protective of their eggs. It's not unheard of for other harpies of the same eyrie to steal their neighbours' eggs for various reasons (you can gain favour if you have one of the king's offspring in your nest....). many predators also might want to take some as well (sphinxes are... very ferocious predators of harpies, but also you gotta watch out for that little human who might have ambitions of being a falconer). parents will guard their eggs viciously.

I don't think it's unreasonable to imagine such a scam tbh... yeah sure take this egg it'll tooootally hatch into a big strong harpy. human falconers probably candle their eggs frequently to monitor them so i think they would catch on very quickly though hehe

[miyrumiyru]

I was searching under the streetlight and found this huge hawkmoth!

I moved them to no-artificial light place ★

점박각시 (Kentrochrysalis sieversi)

[kommbee]

Lol writing down my arcane ideas here even though Im not the best writer

・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・

Arcane au where everything is mostly the same except some of the main cast are monsters!

Vi and Powder are two werewolves who are taken up by Vander who is another werewolf. Mylo is an imp and Claggor is a minator. They all live as one big found family pack that do what they can to survive together. Usually wolf pups are able to fully transform by their double digit years but Vi did so earlier than average surprising even Vander. Unfortunately for Powder, she still hasn’t transformed and Vander told her it’s natural to be a late bloomer. Mylo would always tease her about it and call her a runt.

I think Ekko being a sphinx like creature would be interesting. It was between that or a merman so if anyone that sees this would like to advocate for either one try commenting or idk lol! Sphinx ekko would be sorta like a were-creature where he’d turn INTO one. I think it would be cute if ekko was also a late bloomer so Powder wouldn’t feel so alone until one day he was able to transform before her. Orrrr Merman ekko that lives on land with Benzo (the ogre), he always has some form of water on him to keep him hydrated and moisturized so his gills dont dry out. Imagine him and powder playing in the rain and then Ekko tripping and falling because his legs morphed into a tail because he got carried away lol.

Caitlyn being a vampire is my everything. She comes from a long line of prestigious pureblood vamps and she has to live up to their expectations but she just wants to help people and become an enforcer. Jayce being human still fits but I think viktor should be a creature too I was also thinking merman for him but Idk :p

[vagueeyes]

hehe I've successfully convinced another friend of mine to watch In9!

A few weeks ago, she chatted to me about SEVERANCE (I suppose because s2 is out?), and recommended it because she thought it would be something I would like (and I will watch eventually - I'm 9th in line for 2 copies at the library).

She then said she was looking for something to binge since all of her shows were airing on a weekly basis, so then I thought...here's my chance to mention In9.

Knowing that she liked BLACK MIRROR, my pitch for the show was "a British anthology like BLACK MIRROR, but shorter in episode length and not tech-related". Other than saying the episodes vary in genre, some dark in nature (which I quickly learned was something she liked), I've said nothing else - not about r&s being in (almost) every episode, not about the twists, not which eps are my faves, nothing.

And today she finished s1!

her reactions under the cut

So far, TOM & GERRI is predictably her fave (she initially referred to it as "the Migg episode"). At one point, she said this, in reference to me saying A QUIET NIGHT IN is a funny episode:

And then at another point, she said this (reaction is mine lol):

In terms of the rest of s1, she:

wasn't keen on SARDINES. She felt like "there wasn't enough going on, or that the ending was kind of predictable".

liked A QUIET NIGHT IN

said LAST GASP "wasn't her favourite"

forgot to ask about THE UNDERSTUDY

liked the "creepiness" of THE HARROWING but didn't like the twist & ending. Turns out she likes horror but is not big on supernatural stuff...I suppose it's fortunate there aren't that many of those?

By the time she got to LAST GASP, she figured out/recognized r&s being in every episode.

I'm really curious to see what she'll make of the rest of the show, so I may post more updates as she progresses! Initial prediction: she will like THE 12 DAYS OF CHRISTINE and THE RIDDLE OF THE SPHINX.

[benrobertson2004]

Just finished the interlude for pact arc seven and need to get my thoughts in order

It was really good man

Demons if I’m reading this correctly are like antimatter or entropy more than anything they remove something and we fill in what’s not there as what they are

There more concepts with minds than anything else

Also we went full Lovecraft with it the Big Bang and everything after was the end result of the first choirs feast what that’s insane

This chapter made me like isdora and made her actions make Sense which is good because she just kinda annoyed me before this

The eye is scary man it’s monologue on human nature as it comes to violence while wrong for this narrative Blake could have done the magic equivalent of set of a nuke and deliberately chose not to and trusted others at least to an extent when he was angry and uncomfortable around them but it does remind me of a quote “I know not what weapons we shall use in world war 3 but world war 4 will be fought with sticks and stones”

In contrast the sisters still just confuse me there a sorority/mlm/cult built around the idea that a fire bolt dnd cantrip makes it safe for woman to walk at night? But they also run a business or the lead one dose or there a lobbyist at least any way they want to get Fells niece who is like 10 to join up and that feels like cult indoctrination also mass layoffs for wizard politics so screw her

The astrologer seems really nice and she gave Blake her mentor’s mug and that’s a big deal is there a fanfic that expands on that I hope there is

I’m conflicted on Rose but I’m going to wait and see now that she has agency feel kinda bad for her and she’s not terrible but I just get bad vibes like when someone has done nothing wrong but you know you would hate to work with them

The shepherd is interesting dose he see himself as a protector of children did he used to he did he leave Evan because he doesn’t like claiming there souls or is it the other way and sees it as mercy

The war Blake stopped is back on good luck stopping that given the only one who knows is a Sphinx who sleeps for 16 hours a day and teaches for most of the rest

Toronto hell pit cannon how deep dose it go I really don’t want to know

The shadow demon gave birth to triplets great

It’s the inevitable nature of decay that makes ur interesting it will one day get out just like the area is under served outside of the magical element a street left to rot after being abandoned

Rot in society is something that comes up a lot Blake being homeless and his antagonists being middle class families and institutions Maggie being singled out and exploited by laird one of those institutions after her life was uprooted by what was essentially a magical natural disaster the effects of the tournament arc on the city as Conquest just didn’t care about the people the arguments for there own sake with the Thorburn family destroying any connection and trust the monotony of Fells life of indentured servitude breaking him down to little under the persona he made to cope the idea from the Rose senior and Amion interlude with the clockwork soldier marching on the same path unhappy the arrangement of marriage for the Duchamp girls and how it’s a power grab with no other reason than power itself made into a tradition that seems to help little