#the western warlock

[subterraneanna]

S4 E5 — Chapel negotiates a truce with the help of McCoy's family recipe. Curley demonstrates his excellent lettering and spelling. Spock discovers the solution to a circuit burnout is a firm slap to Toby Jack's face. The full cowboy crossover series

[romeofantome]

Yee to the haw

[peridotsarelongterm]

I commented something the other day about those little thigh-tie strings for gun belts, and it ended up kicking off a week-long hyperfixation which I’ve decided to commemorate.

SO, here are some highlights of western!De’s thighs wearing the little cowboy garter belt. Please enjoy. 🤠 (There are probably others; please feel free to add if you’re as normal about this as I am.)

[rozalega]

I have nothing to post what the sigma....

[officialcwby]

designed even more dnd characters for a western campaign :3 jed and beau are mine

[rickybutlersays]

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[askdaisydandfriemly]

Terra: sheriff I got tickets to this magic show coming up of someone named trixie (**oblivious at the time Trixie is his daughter**) Drive and a friend of mine couldn't go would you and your wife like them? I'll be watching the show too.

Splunge: Thanks for the ask, @anideterm3! :3

[ccridersworld]

Blaisdell and Morgan in the shadow

[literary-illuminati]

2024 Book Review 32 – The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty

This is the first book this year I picked up specifically and entirely because it got a Hugo nomination; I’d previously vaguely heard of it, but never in any detail and the title didn’t really grab me. Despite what an exercise in masochism the whole ‘read every nominee for best novel and novella’ turned out to be last year, I’m actually very glad I stuck with it. Not sure I’d actually vote for it – this years best novel slate is actually incredibly strong – but it was an absolutely lovely and just fun read.

As one might assume, the story follows the eponymous Amina al-Sirafi, infamous and legendary corsair, smuggler and general rogue plying the Indian ocean sometime in the 12th century. Dragged out of an obscure retirement by the aristocratic mother of a former crewman whose fate still haunts her, she is sent on a mission to rescue the crewman’s kidnapped (or runaway) child by the twin incentives of more money than she could ever spend on one hand and blatant threats to the safety of her own family on the other. From there, she puts her crew together, has an unfortunate reunion with her demonic not-technically-ex husband, makes a pact with an island of officious peris, and races to prevent a Norman warlock from seizing control of an ancient relic to make war upon God.

The setting is honestly the point of this as much as the actual plot or any of the characters are. The late medieval Islamic maritime world and the wider Indian Ocean trading networks are an incredibly rich milieu to sink your teeth into, and one the author’s clearly fallen wholly in love with. I can’t speak for their accuracy, but little details of life and flourishes of historical terminology drip off every page, and the whole thing sings with the amount of research that was put into it. It’s the vanishingly rare work of fiction with a list of further reading at the end that actually makes me want to go hunt them down.

Specifically placing it in the twelfth century is kind of interesting, in terms of placement in the Islamic Golden Age – long, long after political power became fully fragmented and the Islamic world was linked more by economic and cultural ties, in the midst of the Crusades in the Levant, but still a few generations before the Mongols sack Baghdad. I really don’t have any ideas or assumptions about te why here, it’s just centuries later than the voyage of Sinbad the book is clearly riffing off of, so it makes me curious.

The enthusiastically researched and real-feeling setting does sadly kind of stop with the characters. Amina is sincerely religious and comfortable with the supernatural in a way that feels much more fitting than the vast majority of fantasy protagonists, but in every other sense she is clearly written to be relatable and sympathetic to an assumed audience of modern liberals. (Near-)Queernorm settings are great, but does jar with the fixation on historical grounding a bit. (The whole beat where dragging a runaway bride back to their family and decades older rich fiancee is unfortunate but for their own good until it’s realized they’re trans also kind of feels like a parody of a certain kind of identity-focused liberalism).

Between this and the Radiant Emperor duology I’m definitely rediscovering a real love for historic low fantasy. The research burden is immense but it’s hard to beat the actual past for making a world that feels lived in and real, and provide the vital sense that there are a thousand other stories happening just out of shot. The complete lack of generic-western-fantasy magic and monsters is also nearly as appreciated as the lack of castles and earls.

Which is good, really, as if you ignore the setting there isn’t really much to chew on here. To an extent this seems deliberate – the story is trying to be a pulpy, larger-than-life swashbuckling adventure, what with the getting dragged out of retirement for one more big score and the getting the band back together and the cackling 1.5-dimensional villain trying to make himself as unto god. In the main it absolutely succeeds at this (though the introduction of a generous and competent pirate captain who lends Amina a ship and a spirit-cutting magic sword out of nowhere at the end of the second act does strain things a bit). It does end up feeling a bit like using the most gorgeous, lusciously details stage in the world for a bunch of puppets to act out a pantomime, though – Amina is basically the only character in the entire story that feels like a person instead of a cartoon. They are, at least, more amusing cartoons than not. Raksh the murderous but cowardly ambition-seeking incubus husband was a highlight.

All in all, a very fun, page-turning read. I’m looking forward to the sequel.

[subterraneanna]

S4 E2 — It's supply day at San Pablo, but when committee meetings hinder Curley's order, he makes an unexpected ally and ties up Mirror!Spock along the way. Thanks to @peridotsarelongterm for the suggestion:

The full cowboy crossover series

[talonabraxas]

Walpurgis Night. Hexennacht. April 30.

A Short History of the Night of the Witches The origins of the image of Walpurgis night being a witches’ sabbath are unclear. However, it is striking that it coincides with Beltane and maybe other pagan festivals in earlier time. Goethe presumed in one of his poems such an origin.

St. Walpurga For Christians, Walpurgisnacht is also known as the Feast of Saint Walpurga, that is celebrated from the evening of April 30 to the day of May 1st. Saint Walpurga or Walburga was the daughter of St. Richard the Saxon Pilgrim and sister of St. Willibald and St. Winibald. When her father went on a pilgrimage with her two brothers to the Holy Land, he left Walpurga, who was only 11 years old at the time, with the nuns of Wimborne Abbey, where she was educated and learnt how to write.

She traveled in an attempt to bring German pagans to the Christian faith and she also authored Winibald’s biography, which is why she is considered as one of the first female authors in Germany and England. Walpurga became a nun in Heidenheim am Hahnenkamm, the monastery founded by her brother Willibald, where she became the abbess after his death in 751. Walpurga herself died on February 25 on 777 or 779 and she was canonized by Pope Adrian II on May 1st, around 870, when her relics were transfered to Eichstätt, Germany.

St. Walpurga is prayed to for protection against witchcraft and it is believed that during the night of April 30, she is able to ward off spells, witches, and evil spirits. This belief may stem from the overlapping of her canonization with Hexennacht or the Night of the Witches, the celebration that has its origin in ancient fertility celebrations. Hexennacht is a Germanic tradition more prevalent in the 17th century, when witches and sorcerers gathered together celebrate.

To protect against their magic, the Western Christian Church appointed the night of April 30 to St. Walpurga’s Feast. In the 18th and 19th centuries, Walpurgisnacht was popularized and its witchy connotations were revived through the literature of the time, such as in Jacob Grimm’s work who wrote in 1833: “There is a mountain very high and bare… whereon it is given out that witches hold their dance on Walpurgis night”.

Goethe also dedicated a poem to the celebration called “Die erste Walpurgisnacht” (The First Walpurgis Night), which was set to music by Felix Mendelssohn and published as his Opus 60 in 1843. The poem contrasts sharply with the Walpurgisnacht described in his main work “Faust”. In his ballad, Goethe relates the superstitions around Walpurgis night to the usage of devil’s masks by pagan’s in order to exploit the superstitions of their Christian suppressors and to protect their identities.

[peridotsarelongterm]

I’m apparently suffering from overwork and brainrot, so please allow me to share my favorite unnecessarily suggestive gifs of DeForest Kelley.

[poorly-drawn-cryptids-homestuck]

Bestiary

John Egbert -> Púca or pooka, is a creature of Celtic folklore, are Fae tricksters and shapeshifters, who take the appearances of horses, goats, cats, dogs, and hares. They can also take a human form, which includes various animal features, such as ears or a tail.

Rose Lalonde -> Eldritch / Warlock, A being that is strange or unnatural especially in a way that inspires fear : weird, eerie. As well as a warlock, one who also practices magic, power fulled by an outside source.

Dave Strider -> Harpy In Greek and Roman mythology, is a half-human and half-bird. Often sirens look harpies and are conflated. So for this au, this harpy is able to sing songs to lure prey.

Jade Harley -> Werewolf or lycanthrope, in folklore, can shape-shift into a wolf (or wolf-like creature), on the night of a full moon. Jade is also a Witch, a woman who practices magic.

Jane Crocker -> Faerie, Fae, or sprite in Celtic Folklore, is a creature with metaphysical, supernatural, or preternatural qualities. and a penchant for trickery

Roxy Lalonde -> Wizard Tressym is a cat-like Monstrosity and a practitioner of magic.

Dirk Strider -> Dullahan in Irish folklore, is depicted as a headless rider on a black horse, who carries his own head. often seen as a symbol of death.

Jake English -> Bigfoot or Sasquatch, in American and Canadian folklore, is a large and hairy human-like mythical cryptid alleged to inhabit forests in North America.

Aradia Megido -> Mothra, a Japanese based Kaiju depicted as a large moth. To be conflated with Mothman, a West Virginian cryptid, for the sake of this au. Currently a Ghost, a spirit of the dead that can appear to the living.

Tavros Nitram -> Minotaur, in Greek mythology, is a creature portrayed with the head and tail of a bull and the body of a man.

Sollux Captor -> Cross roads Demon, found in several folklore, religion, and literature, are often malevolent supernatural entities, who collect souls.

Karkat Vantas -> Cherub Angel, in religion, is an unearthly being. For this au they are similar to cupid. Winged beings who match make. please note that this au will NOT be referencing christianity heavily for this.

Nepeta Leijon -> Nekomata, in Japanese folklore, are a type of yokai, depicted as a shapeshifting cat with two tails. while they can take any form, they will always have the tails.

Kanaya Maryam -> Vampire, in European folklore, are undead humanoid creatures that subsists by feeding on the blood of the living. often able to shapeshift into a bat. and unable to go out in the sun.

Terezi Pyrope -> Dragon is a magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. This one is a western dragon, often depicted as winged, horned, and capable of breathing fire.

Vriska Serket -> Arachne / Jorōgumo. In Greek myth, Arachne is a woman turned into a spider by Athena. In Japanese myth, Jorōgumo are often yokai of a half woman half spider. please note Vriska is not a yokai nor is she Arachne... she is simply a half woman have spider creature, likened to these two examples.

Equius Zahhak -> Centaur, in Greek mythology, is a creature with the upper body of a human and the lower body and legs of a horse

Gamzee Makara -> The bogeyman is a creature used by adults to frighten children into good behavior. Bogeymen have no specific appearances but they are most commonly depicted as masculine or androgynous monsters. In this case, they look like a clown.

Eridan Ampora -> Selkie, in Celtic and Norse mythologies, are creatures that can shapeshift between seal and human forms. For this au, Eridan is part seahorse instead, and often takes the form of a elf instead.

Feferi Peixes -> Leviathan. A very large sea serpent noted in theology and mythology. Feferi is also likened to a mermaid / siren, when not the size of 10 whales.

[balioc]

I am not an expert on Westerns. I am not even an aficionado of Westerns, really. I have consumed only a handful of works in the genre. My opinions should be taken with salt.

That said: having read it, I am comfortable asserting that Warlock can be fairly described as "the Evangelion of Westerns."

Thanks to @nostalgebraist for the tipoff.

[askdaisydandfriemly]

daisy have you ever wanted to control time before because i have a device that can do just that if you want it?

Splunge: And in a blink, the mysterious pink mare disappears, and the Sheriff slows begins to move...

@ask-the-doctor15 Thanks for the ask!

I know you directed this question at Daisy, but she isn't a fan of time travel stuff right now. ^^;

[strixcattus]

Cabins & Corvids: The Cheated

Class: Warlock Solid stats overall, high DEX, abysmal CON

Everyone knows of Cheated, though no one seems to be close to him or understand his general deal save for one of the western woods's four famous heroes. He's a warlock, allegedly, but those who have worked with him insist they've never seen him cast a spell, and as a rule he never stays with the same party past a single quest.

Prior to the formation of his pact, Cheated was a classless adventurer who drifted from party to party, with his oft-short temper and refusal to accept things such as mildly suspicious questgivers and supposedly-impossible tasks eventually driving a wedge between him and his current set of allies whenever he managed to settle, despite his efforts to be a good team player and his genuine deep respect for the opinions and talents of his partymates. His chronic case of simple bad luck didn't help matters, as any party he did manage to get along with ended up dissolving, either due to tragedy or a simple change of circumstances.

This was around when he first met Flinching, and the two briefly discussed the possibility that Cheated's luck might be due to some innate magical power or unwanted attention. Their investigations at the time went nowhere, but they remained in contact, which would prove useful after Cheated's encounter with the Razor.

The Razor, as Cheated would only learn after the fact, was a dangerous being of great power and an unknown element in the world's cosmology. A creature of metal and slaughter, disguising as an innocent (if highly suspicious) maiden for just long enough to lure in unaware victims... who could either become a testing ground for her blades or, if they were particularly unlucky, draw her attention in a way that made her want to keep them around for entertainment and bestow upon them the only gift she had to offer—the ability to take on a partial or even full transformation into a version of her own true form.

Ever since, Cheated has tried to keep from becoming too ingrained into a party, out of a worry that they might discover the nature of his pact and begin to fear him. He was doing pretty well in that regard until he received the Pristine Blade and a quest he couldn't refuse, if only because he doesn't trust the Narrator and isn't willing to leave his mission in hands that might not try to uncover the being's real motivations.