#those wacky romans

[risotto38]

tumblr is my smoke break from writing this exhaustive fuckin essay on north american shamanism

[strawberrybobamilk]

GTA Protagonists x Reader Scenarios - Spending Halloween With Them

TW: Language, suggestive ending

Claude

Halloween isn't his favorite holiday, but will have lots of fun in decorating the house, eating sweets and bingewatching movies with you anyway.

Tommy

Likes watching classic 80s horror movies with you and dressing up as the villains from those movies.

"Trick or treat motherfuckers!"

Carl

He doesn't care how old you both are, he'll happily go trick or treating with you. He'll refuse to go dressed as a ghost, vampire etc though, as he thinks they are "too generic and unoriginal".

You: "What will you dress up as then?"

CJ: "A Ballas member. Nothing is nastier than them"

Toni

He'll go trick or treating with you, dressed up as a bloodstained killer butcher.

You: "Er, interesting choice, but why?..."

Toni: "Trust me, you don't wanna know"

Victor

Will surprise you with a pumpkin pie with cute spider decorations.

"Thought it would be a nice Halloween treat, darling"

Niko

He personally never really cared about Halloween, but definitely won't say no to candy corn! Also expect Roman, Mallorie and Brucie to come visit, all dressed up in various wacky costumes.

"Well, at least it's nice here with you guys"

Johnny

For him this day is more like an excuse to wear vampire fangs (he secretly has a thing for vampires).

"Damn you look hot, can you keep those on next month too? Or even better, forever?"

Luis

Will make his club serve pumpkin flavored cocktails to celebrate.

"Come over here and have a taste Y/N! It's free for you, like always"

Huang

Will buy more candy than usual during october. He says it's in order to ensure they have a good stock of them for october 31th, but you know it's just an excuse. Will wake up feeling sick on november 1st.

You: "I told you to not eat so much candy Huang!"

Huang: "Urgh, it's not the candy Y/N, it's... something that's not the candy, okay?!"

Franklin

He'll just chill with you and watch horror movies together.

"Alright let's do this, gotta use my Vinewood+ subscription somehow!"

Michael

Similarly to Franklin, he will (DEFINITELY) watch horror movies with you, but only the older ones.

"Ahhh, the old classics, the newer ones focus too much on jumpscares and gore"

Trevor

Loves Halloween, its spooky and gritty atmosphere, and will carve pumpkins with you already by september 1st. Just don't ask him why do those pumpkins have "questionable" holes.

"It's called a pumpkink sweetcheeks"

[chromatophorium]

Spiralbound Jabberblocky

This is my concept for a weapon (and a new weapon class) for Splatoon! It's inspired by a spiralbound notebook and ballpoint pen! The weapons works as a sword/rapier and shield combo!

Basic controls for the Jabberblocky weapon class: ZR tap = Shield bash. (It's like a horisontal roller flick in range, spread shot instead of long range) ZR hold = Shield bash + the shield is deployed (Like when you deploy a brella, it shoots ink first and then makes a shield that also inks the ground. Shield is maybe on par with undercover brella hitbox, maybe somewhat skinnier. The shield always stays with you, doesn't shoot away!) ZR hold + B + directional input = Accurate sword jab + player lunges forward (like a charged Splatana attack, but the sword isn't swung. It's thrust forward!) B + ZR = Inaccurate sword jab (Works like vertical roller flick, long range instead of spread shot. Has the same property as Shooters, Blasters, Dualies and Splatlings, with the projectile(s) being less accurate when jumping) B + ZR + directional input = Inaccurate sword jab + player lunges forward

So yeah, its like a Roller, Splatana and Brella blended into one. What it might gain in versatility is maybe balanced out by the shields and damage being more middlin. The hitboxes for the shield and ink attacks being smaller on average than their more specialized counterparts might make up for it??? Idk, I'm not great at balancing.

Ideas for future Jabberblockys: (under the cut)

Silly Slush Jabberblocky - The shield is based a slushy cup with a colorful slushy. (When you run out of ink/the shield is destroyed, the cup will look empty. Also inspired by the curved roman shields!) The sword/rapier is based on a silly/crazy straw! (The ink pattern it leaves can be wacky! Maybe even kinda random??)

Duel Screen Jabberblocky - The shield is based on the Nintendo DS, when the shield is deployed the DS opens up to a two part shield (maybe drawn in Pictochat or Flipnote Studio). The sword/rapier is the stylus! (You can take som design inspiration from the Styler from Pokemon Ranger??)

Dirk-away Jabberblocky - The shield is based on a round hand soap bottle. The sword/rapier is the soap pump but also mixed with a bubble wand! (They can re-use the Bloblobber projectiles. They've already basically re-used the Explosher projectiles for crab tank.)

Splatula Jabberblocky - The shield based on a frying pan and the sword/rapier on a spatula. (In lore this is after there have been peace talks, trade deals and cultural exchange between Inkadia and the salmonids for a while. Salmon runs is mostly just a combat sport now, which like in Bonerattle arena have audiences, but no real death. Inkfish are inspired by the combat style of salmonids and salmonids share some of their weapons with them, just as inkfish share their technology with them now. OR the situation is the same as in Splatoon 3 and the inkfish are doing cultural appropriation!)

Recephion Jabberblocky - (you know those pens that are chained to their stands that are at front desks and at banks? Those.) The shield is the stand (like a buckler shield) The sword/rapier is the pen that's chained to the stand (Its sword jab would have longer range, maybe the inkling/octoling would even throw it!)

(I also have vauge ideas for a broom and dustpan jabberblocky, but I'm not sure about the name, concept or if it's even "Splatoon-y" enough of an inspiration... Then I have a idea for a octo-boss tentacle jabberblocky, with a lightbulb shield. Idk if that's too wild tho... I would definetly include lore about how to best care for that kind of living sword!!! To let it play with braille rubix cubes and other handheld puzzles, as well as letting it taste different foods and stuff, since irl octopuses can taste with their tentacles!)

[clove-pinks]

Constantin Hansen, Et selskab af danske kunstnere i Rom, 1837 (Wikimedia Commons).

A very special Eighteen-Thirties Thursday today as I have finally learned the correct word for those wacky huge tobacco pipes that were in vogue with Europeans in the early to mid-19th century.

It is a Turkish style of pipe called a chibouk ("stick"); also romanized čopoq, ciunoux or tchibouque. The more you know! Constantin Hansen's 1837 painting of Danish artists in Rome has many lovely details in high resolution, including chibouk pipes.

[blood-mocha-latte]

director's commentary for the 60s au please :)

fanfic writers directors cut

the morning sun my accidental roman empire... my darling... since i already talked about it in a previous ask, choosing a new section to yap about:

The other one wasn’t paying attention, bright blue eyes pinned to Joe instead, which was rather unsettling. “Hi.” He said, warmer than before, and the other coughed immediately afterwards, disbelieving. 

“Are you kidding, Web, or are you just—”

“What? Look at him, I’m just being—”

“You’re being a sl—”

“Okay.” George said over both of them, and Joe jumped, surprised, when George grabbed his hand, began pulling him along again. “We’re going to Perco’s bedroom. Ignore them.”

“Those are your friends?” Joe asked, feeling rather shell shocked.

“No.” George said, quick. He shot a look over his shoulder, seemingly annoyed, and his fingers tightened around Joe’s palm. “They’re just over here, sometimes. They help make signs. No one likes them all that much.”

Joe was starting to regret agreeing to this. “Okay.” He said, and hoped he didn’t sound too freaked out.

this fic's already 30k so i had to cut A Lot of parts out, but there's a deleted scene that basically goes more into webgott in this. and by that, i mean that they're both very Reactive and Wacky and web has a weird Thing for toye and no one can figure out if he's serious about it or not.

this was also my shout-out to yet ANOTHER deleted section where toye's basically just Overwhelmed by everything about luz's life and luz is like "EVERYONE STOP BEING WEIRD. he's kind of flighty." alas, 30k is already More than it should be for a oneshot, and so the deleted scenes folder of the fic is almost as big as the fic itself 😔

thank you for the ask!!!

[mixedupmojo]

Dating monkey king JCA

This guy is seriously underrated. Which is a pity as he is such a fun character (at least in my opinion) So I have decided to rectify that. Here are some head canons for what it would be like to date the monkey king from Jackie Chan adventures. 

(I feel like this is one of those pieces of writing that borderline both good and bad. Any way enjoy)

• The moment he sets his sights his sight on you it's all over. The boy is totally love-struck, we're talking heart eyes, floating cartoon hearts, shot with cupids arrow, the works, he is gone. • And your life will forever be a lot more chaotic as he has made it his mission to woo you (as well as enact a long list of pranks but that can be put aside for late first ROMANCE!) • Get ready from now on your life will be filled with over-the-top, cheesy, grand romantic gestures and wacky shenanigans. • He will do anything to win your affection. Some of these instances include: -flooding part of your city/town so he can take you on a romantic gondola ride -coming home after a long day only to open your door and be swamped with a tidal wave of flowers. And after finally managing to dig yourself out, only to find that your entire home is bucay upon bucay full of them -flirts with you constantly. This sometimes develops into a whole skit. Referencing some type of Romanic pop culture the best example is the Romeo and Juliet speech. -popping up out of nowhere so he can talk and hang out with you. Which slowly devolves into him trying to show off and impress you. Will also randomly kidnap you every now and then to take you on spontaneous dates   - during a romantic dinner he is pulling some bugs bunny level stunts one moment he's your date next he's acting as the waiter, then he's the chief, then a violin player, etc....etc..... Just switching between all of these different roles all the while still holding a conversation with you. it's honestly quite funny especially when he gets in an argument with himself over the fact that the waiter is flirting with you despite it literally being himself -giving you interesting/expensive pieces of jewellery. And you later find out via the news that he took them from a museum or some fancy jewellery store. And subsequently having to find a way to sneakily return it so you don't get in trouble (or keep it I don't know your moral compass ¯\_(ツ)_/¯) • Eventually, if you agree to be his s/o he will be over the moon and you will have gained yourself one over-the-top but very dedicated lover • Has made it his personal mission to make you laugh as he loves the sound of your laughter, especially a full blown belly laugh. the first time he got you to laugh like that made him so soft he practically melted into a puddle of goo. but whatever you do, do not fake laugh! at any one of his jokes, I'm serious. as he will get extremely upset with you and it will devolve into a full blown fight. That will require a lot of apologising and making up on your part to get him to forgive you. • Expect a lot of cheesy pet names from honey bunch, snookums, schmoopsie woopsie boobear slowly getting more and more ridiculous/sickly sweet the further he goes on. Stop him before he goes too far and you throw up from the sweetness. • On a side note, he will call you his queen • Very physically affectionate. He is always touching you somehow, whether it be slinging an arm around your shoulders, holding your hand as he drags you off on your next adventure or having his tail wrapped around your waist • He's a nuzzler. So watch out because that beard of his tickles and he will use it against you • He has done the whole kiss up your arm thing while calling you sweet pet names or just generally praising you • He knows how to keep you on your toes there is never a dull moment when you're with him • I don't know why but I think he would be a bit of a movie buff, based on all of the pop culture references he makes in the show. as such he love's watching films together with you, however, he cannot sit still for the life of him. Not to mention he would talk throughout the duration of the film. I can guarantee at the end of the movie there will be popcorn everywhere. • On a side note, another thing you end up doing a lot together is performing. He absolutely loves to be at the centre of attention and craves the spotlight. And with you being his partner he will want you there with him. And often drag you along to join in on his act, whether it be acting, magic, stand-up comedy, dancing, or karaoke. he just wants to include you in something that he enjoys and overall for the both of you to have fun together (on a side note he does not care if you're not good at any of it or if you both look silly he just wants to have fun with you). However, if you’re the type of person who very much enjoys staying out of the spotlight he will respect that but expects you to be a part of the audience cheering him on.   • loves it when you play with his hair and will pretty much let you do anything with it. Which means you can braid it to your heart's content. • Will include you with his wacky costume changes often giving you an outfit to match his • Playing pranks on various people, and just because you’re his significant other don’t think that you're safe, as he will prank you too. Usually, it's just some ploy to trick you into kissing him, however, some of them are purely at your expense. if he ever takes things too far though and makes you upset or "gasp" the unthinkable makes you cry. He will make it up to you with a huge grand gesture and once things calm down, offer you a soft heartfelt apology • If you have a similar sense of humour as him he would love it if you were his partner in crime • Pitching in on prank planning becomes part of your quality time together • Helping him out whenever he gets stuck in doll form be it by finding someone he can swap places with or through some other magical means. And for whatever reason, if there is ever a scenario where you're the one to swap places with him and become a doll, he will stop at nothing to find a way you turn you back all the while taking care of you while you're in your doll form. • He is still salty over what Jackie and jade did to him and is still looking for revenge against the two. Personally, You have nothing against the two and actually get along with them whenever the monkey king is not around. (there have been multiple occasions where you have ended up having tea with uncle, getting food with Tohru or jade, having in-depth conversations with Jackie or getting into mischief with jade) However now and then you may end up getting roped into whatever crazy scheme he concocted to get back at them. But most of the time you're just observing from the sidelines. • When the Chans first met you they first thought you were being mind controlled or manipulated in some way and subsequently ended up kidnapping you only to find out on you worn't and you just really loved this goofy monkey. Needless to say, the monkey king was not at all pleased to find out you had been kidnapped, and by his enemies no less. Which results in him coming to rescue you (not kidding he actually road in on a horse dressed as a knight in shining armour to come and get you) this result in a series of hijinks that get weirder and weirder as. one monkey king is trying to protect you. babying you all the while, after all, you have just gone through a traumatic experience being kidnapped and all (even though they were very nice kidnappers). Two, him trying to get some well-deserved payback ( at least in his eyes) against those who kidnapped you aka the Chans. and three, you trying to stop him from committing a felony while simultaneously trying to show that you're ok. it finally ends with half of the city in chaos, Jackie and the fam a little worst wears, section 13 freaking out over the damage and with you now officially on their radar and with you completely exhausted and very much in need of a nap with a clingy monkey at your side.    

• The monkey king doing something ridiculous in the background Jade: What do you see in him y/n: he makes me laugh

• Stopping him when his pranks take a more harmful or lethal turn. As seen in the show this boys humour can get pretty dark • He gets jealous really easily, and can't stand not being the centre of your attention. And as such this does cause problems within your relationship but after sitting him down and telling him how much this is damaging your relationship. He will back off and try to be a bit better for your sake with only the occasional relapse here and there. • At the end of the day, he really does love you and would do anything for you

[patheticpeoplesupreme]

Soulmates exist in this universe. Most people have many soulmates, whether or not it makes a visible mark.

The Doctor has soulmates too. Whether it be soulmates of family, of friends and lovers.

Each person he cares about appears different in each of his body but they never disappear. He can always feel them. Through the regenerations, through aborted timelines, through missing memories, he can feel them with him.

Some of his soulmates have visible marks, like a tattoo, like a rose or a ticking clock. He liked those. It’s like they have a piece of him too.

Some don’t have very detailed marks, but instead, vague yet phenomenal colours wrapped around their arms. The TARDIS blue melding with the other shades, the beauty of their soul.

Some have red strings wrapped around their pinkie, this one’s tough to have, knowing that your soulmate is out there in the stars but never being able to fully be together, but it’s comforting to the Doctor nonetheless, to know that they’re there. It tells him that he has someone to come back to. Sometimes, he follows the end of the strings and he finds two people by the pond with no ducks.

He loves every single one of his soulmates even if some marks don’t stay with every body. The connection still remains

There’s one type of soulmate that makes him so incredibly sad however. Only a few companions have had this kind of mark on him. He traces a word on his wrist.

Normally, humans would get the first word their soulmates ever tells them, no matter how vague or generic or wacky, they always find their soulmate. For him, it was the last word they’d ever say to him.

Spoilers.

He wished that fate had included the entirety of what she said. He remembers it clearly, of course, but he wants to read it.

“It's okay, It's not over for you. You'll see me again. You've got all of that to come.” She smiles at him, a sad pained look visible in her eyes, but she continues talking.

“You and me, Time and space. You watch us run.”

How he’d like it so much to believe that they could meet after all that, after Darillium, after the library. How he wishes so badly that it will come true. But he knows it won’t.

He wished River had said her usual catchphrase again. “Hello, sweetie.”

But no, he’d been left with the word, spoilers. Something she would never ever say to him again. Just like everything else.

He wonders what kind of words were on River’s body. Was it their first words? He hopes not. His first word to her in his tenth regeneration was “get out.”

He wouldn’t want her to live with that horrible word.

The Doctor wished he could write on her soul words. He wished he could see her and say,

“I love you. Always and completely.” And it would be written on her wrist, and she would reply with the same, and it’d be on his wrist too.

—

(More alternatives soulword quote for river and the doctor lol

River: I hate you

Doctor: no you don’t

And River would look at it in the library data core and would whisper sadly, “no I don’t.”

—

Bonus: Clara mention

“Run, you clever boy, and remember.”

Bonus bonus, alternative soul thing for the ponds:

(Amy and Rory have a red string, but if I had an alternative for them,)

Doctor: Goodbye, Raggedy man or Don’t be, alone Doctor.

The Doctor smiles sadly as he stares at those words. He misses her. He misses his ponds.

Amy: Fish Fingers and Custard

(Stuck in New York, she looks at the strange dish written on her shoulder very fondly. Rory laughs sadly as he traces the word. He also misses the Doctor. He remembers a time they sat on their couch and watched a movie and ate fish fingers and custard.)

Rory: maybe his soulword is “Rory pond, or Rory the Roman” because it’s all he ever calls him and there’s nobody else in the world who would call him that and understand what he’s gone through

It’s hard to say what Rory’s words would be on the Doctor but I’d imagine it be something fatherly lol

—

Now that I’m thinking about it, if Rory and Amy had soulwords, and the soul words were words that your soulmate says when they die, imagine how many these two has

Like, each time Rory dies, or, sometimes when an amy dies

A quote appears even if the timeline gets reset

—

Oh my gosh I just remembered the time Amy forgot Rory???

Like….

Imagine Amy staring at a quote that Rory has said to her and she doesn’t know where it came from 😀

And the Doctor looking at it too, and thinking, “Oh, Rory Pond…” his hearts breaking

—

Another consideration is the Timer soulmates, like, it counts down the day your soulmate dies, but the Doctor’s one is forever stuck at 0 and River’s is glitching always

Or the one where it counts down the day you meet your soulmate and River’s has always been at 0

[ragnarlothcat]

6, 7, 15, and 8

Hello my vampire buddy and thank you 💙(for this fic writer ask game)

6. the word that appears the most in your current draft (wordcounter.net can tell you)

I have like 80 drafts but in the one I opened most recently the word is Ventress. Which makes sense since my first draft tends to be super fragmented, mostly dialogue with the speaker's name slapped next to it so I remember who's talking. The funny thing is I haven't even decided if I'm going to use her first name or her last name for this fic so there's a decent chance I remove almost all of those!

7. your preferred writing fonts

Honestly I'm so boring because I just use whatever Microsoft Word gives me. It was Calibri for ages but I opened a new document the other day and suddenly it's something called Aptos? I tried writing in it and it's fine, or fine enough that I'm not going to bother switching it to anything else!

I will say that I refuse to write in a serif font. I briefly tried Times New Roman and it made me feel like I was back in school. Rancid vibes. I am not nearly fancy enough to require serifs!

8. if you had to write a sequel to a fic, you’d write one for…

I've been making noises about writing an à la carte wedding sequel for like 3 years now but there's a reason I haven't! I know a lot of my fics are just slice of life but I do need some conflict, no matter how insignificant. What would that even be??? The caterer brings the wrong kind of cake and Anakin has a meltdown?

Instead I will say I'd like to write a sequel to as holy and enchanted because I've talked about it often enough and it would be the adventures of ridiculous god Obi-Wan failing at acclimatizing to human society. Wacky mishaps and random acts of violence!

15. favorite weather for writing

Rain! But I must specify that it has to be the kind of rain that doesn't give me a migraine. If it's good, cooperative rain I can wrap myself in blankets and have a great time!

[annachum]

I had this headcanon of what if the Clones in Clone High can actually speak to their Clone parents via a spiritual convo gadget ( cuz why not )

Here are some of my HCs of how some of their Clone parents be like with their Clone kids :

. Look, considering the fact that their Clone parents lived in different times as them, those clones are bound to have some wild advice

. Vincent Van Gogh be a gentle and artistic parent who tries his best to help his Clone son battle through depression. It breaks his heart seeing his Clone son having depression as he does, so one way for him to try help his Clone son is through art therapy ( it works, most of the time )

. Julius Caesar be kinda like that military, athletic dad who has high hopes in his Clone son and trains him in military and politics related shit. But if he comes to Caesar and cries to him about heartbreak and stuff, ofc Caesar is gonna lend him a shoulder to cry on ( after all, Romans are encouraged to embrace their emotions growing up ).....while having murder on his mind

. Cleopatra VII be that glam mom whom Cleo Smith looks up highly too but sometimes wonders how tf she can live up to her Clone mom's big name. And sometimes, Cleopatra sometimes tries to help her Clone daughter compose herself more ( I bet Julius Caesar and Mark Antony prepared her for her Clone daughter )

. In fact, sometime after Clone High began, Caesar and Cleopatra are reunited through a series of trials and such in afterlife planes ( cuz Cleopatra avoided him all these years due to her thinking that he doesn't love her anymore regarding the whole Actium War thing, the Egyptian Gods are at cold war situation with the Greco Roman gods for centuries since the Actium War until sometime after WW2 and such ) and the two basically agreed to co parent each other's Clone kids. Bless

. Abraham Lincoln is kind of like an ' old school ' type of dad to Abe who loves his Clone son and wants the best for Abe. He also tries his best to encourage Abe to develop more of a backbone and stand up to ' big headed machos ' from being pushed around ( by JFK Jr and Julius Jr before they eventually sincerely apologized )

. Genghis Khan be kinda like that scary dude in PTA meetings but actually doting and caring to his Clone son and wanted the best for him. He keeps saying that his Clone is his 366th child ( I heard Genghis Khan ended up having 365 Kids and 1001 grandkids- DAMN )and trains Genghis Jr in fitness, politics and such

. Joan of Arc be a cool lesbian mom who supports her Clone daughter's dreams and sexual orientation, and ofc gives her Clone daughter sound advice. Joan of Arc knew from the get go that Abe doesn't deserve Joan Jr ( HAAAAA!!!! )

. Confucious be kinda like Master Oogway and/or Shifu to his Clone son's Po - trains him in philosophy, defense combat and such And gives his Clone son sound advice

. Frida Kahlo be like a wacky cool mom to her Clone daughter, encouraging her Clone daughter's artistic passions and talents and the two be regularly exchanging artistic ideas with each other. Bless.

. Harriet Tubman be giving her Clone daughter tips on how to fight racist thugs ( YASSS!!!! ) and also encourages her Clone daughter's dreams and hopes and gives her Clone daughter some solid advice.

. JFK be kinda like a 50s/60s athletic dad to his Clone son, encouraging his athletic and political prowesses and such. JFK sometimes find himself having to ensure his Clone son doesn't do anything TOO stupid tho.

. Sacagawea be that ' cool ' mom to her Clone daughter who teaches her Clone daughter about embracing her heritage and geography and such, ofc she gives her Clone daughter several sound advices too

. Some of the clones have some DNA from those with close relations to their Clone parents

. Julius Jr got some DNA from Caesarion and therefore has recessive DNA from Cleopatra VII. JFK Jr got some DNA from John John Kennedy and therefore has recessive DNA from Jackie Bouvier. Cleo Smith got some DNA from Cleopatra Selene II, and Abe got some DNA from Mary Todd Lincoln

. Genghis Jr got some DNA from Empress Borte ( Genghis Khan's chief wife )

. Several clones of rulers be bonding over how tough it can be to bear the weighs of their ancestry on their shoulders

[lesbianneopolitan]

Perhaps this question has been already asked but exactly how strong would you rank your Neo ?

I honestly don't care enough about power-scaling or power-ranking to answer this properly, probably LMAO

All I can talk about is what we've seen up until now in the show itself. Neo's more of a counter-fighter than one using brute strength. Acrobatic, flexible, a trickster, shielding herself and using the weight of the opponent against them, fencing, etc.

Her Semblance has evolved, for sure. She can now aid herself with clones in battle, or the Jabberwalkers, but after leaving the Ever After the usage of those consume her Aura more than they did in the other world, so she has to think well about when it's fitting to use them in combat.

Her style of combat is still pretty much the same. She follows what she learnt from Roman- using her skills first without abusing her Semblance to the fullest, and while she is quite deadly, she knows when to retire from battle if someone is clearly more skilled than her (the Maidens for the major part, and perhaps older and more experienced Huntsmen).

The advantage with her comes with the possibility of using the element of surprise when she's fighting someone else to take them off-guard. Think faster, try to react fast, be one step ahead.

So I don't know how strong she is, but more knowing that she can be deadly- as expected of a trained assassin.

Overactive Imagination evolved for my Neo, but I still think more of it for the usage of out of combat possibilities than abusing it for them, because like I mentioned it costs more Aura if she isn't careful, so it's not an infinite source of wacky stuff like she did in the Ever After- you wanna manage your resources well when in the middle of battle, as opposed to when she's just chilling.

So, my Neo is just as strong as regular Neo with a plus on aid that she gives herself if needed, really.

[rubyneo]

RubyNeo accademy au?

waves oh so sweetly.... so basically my ruby/neo lady beat's AU (as much as i dont particularly care about rh) has the events of roman holiday happen during the time that WOULD be volume 1.

for timeline reasons: lady beat's starts in march/beacon starts in april. at the end of march trivia is taken to lady beat's by her mother and around the same time (roughly a week later) ruby is fighting torchwick in the street. (neo is 17, ruby is 15)

when glynda rescues ruby and ozpin comes to talk to her, noting her silver eyes, resemblance to summer, and connection to qrow (and therefore taiyang) he decides it would be far too dangerous to enroll her at beacon so early but it's also too dangerous to just leave her at signal (around 5 ish years prior is when that one student tragically loses her life at signal academy.) oz is worried that roman is working for salem and so he fears that salem will start looking for ruby within the huntsmen combat/upper academies. he and taiyang agree it will be safest to hide her in plain sight amongst the troubled girls of the upper class attending the preparatory school.

so two months into the semester, ruby is enrolled in the academy. trivia is intrigued by her but is certain that the other girls will make sure ruby avoids and hates her so she ignores ruby's initial attempts at friendship.

trivia finds ruby reading by herself one day and recognizes the book (the girl who fell through the world) and tentatively starts a conversation about it. ruby doesn't mind that trivia has to type out her questions and trivia likes that ruby doesn't ask why she doesnt talk. then ruby stops reading the book right before the final chapter where alyx makes it home and trivia asks her why? and ruby explains her mom was a huntress and when she was little promised to finish the story when she got home, but she never came home. so ruby can never finish the story.

the girls quickly become pretty close after that, and when the malachites destroy trivia's uniform, ruby helps her fix it.

trivia is a little protective over ruby because ruby is softer around the edges and so nice and she doesn't want to see the other girls hurt her because ruby can't tell when they're being cruel sometimes.

the spiders and roman are both working for salem in this AU btw. so when trivia and ruby sneak out to follow the malachites they find them meeting with roman and cinder and ruby tells trivia "those two...the man and woman...i fought them a few months ago..."

ruby and trivia spend the next few months trying to figure out this tangled web they've found themselves in until it all comes to a head during the volume 2 finale. they've been thorns in cinder and roman's sides for too long and so while cinder oversees the mountain glenn project, roman makes a deal with the vanilles to bring trivia back home since she still is not acting how they want her to, uses some of junior's men and hei xiong sr's weapons and kidnaps ruby, taking her to the vanille manor in hopes of luring trivia there. unfortunately for roman, ironwood's army is on direct orders to investigate every disturbance and it turns into a fire fight between the atlas military and roman.

ruby, trivia, and roman survive, carmel and jimmy do not. roman is arrested, and ironwood takes ruby and trivia to beacon to discuss what will happen with them. ozpin decides to just make the girls students as soon as the second semester is finished. to try and keep them safer ozpin gets them set up in a dorm on campus that would have been used by the CMSN team if this was in show canon.

during their time bumming around beacon, ruby helps trivia design hush, and they train together.

so volume 3 sees trivia and ruby joining in on team ABYS (Abyss, made of ilia, blake, yang, and weiss) and JNPR's wacky hijinks. cinder's team has also infiltrated the school and (with lionheart's help) faked an entire other student who is, oh so tragically, back in mistral with a horrific injury and simply cannot participate in the vytal tournament this year :(

the rest of the volume carries out basically the same as canon. beacon falls, ozpin dies, yang AND ilia go to try and help blake (yang still loses her arm, ilia barely manages to get all three of them out alive), weiss ruby and trivia go to beacon tower at jaune's urging to save pyrrha but they're too late. ruby unlocks her silver eyes.

trivia pulls a blake and takes off before ruby wakes up post Silver Eye Blast because she blames herself. if she hadn't pulled ruby into helping her tail the malachites and torchwick they would still be more or less safe within the prep school.

Yang and Ruby are Heavily Traumatized by these new abandonments and do NOT know how to talk to each other about it. and then ruby takes off.

volume 4 would see the split as:

yang, alone in vale

weiss, alone in atlas

blake, with ilia and sun in menagerie

ruby, heading to mistral. JNR tags along with her even though they don't know her as well in this AU because they need to feel like they're doing anything useful in the wake of pyrrha's death

brief flashes to trivia travelling on her own under the alias neopolitan, gathering information on the spiders and torchwick and trying to uncover who cinder is/who she's working for

then we come to volume 5! the Reunion Volume

neo catches wind of something brewing in mistral and starts heading that way. yang decides to seek out raven to find ruby faster than just searching every inch of land on the continent of anima. weiss runs away, hoping to find winter in mistral but her airship is downed. blake rallies the people of menagerie to aid the people of mistral. and ruby does her best to bond with JNR and oscar.

first reunion: weiss and yang

second reunion: weiss, yang, and RNJR

third reunion: qrow runs into neo while trying to find the huntsmen of mistral. nobody but ruby recognizes her on first sight. Things are Tense and Emotional for a bit. ruby is still upset trivia left her, neo is terrified that they're biting off more than they can chew.

blake and ilia return to the main crew!

the battle for haven proceeds as it did in canon, basically. neo is doing her best to help ruby and be her support in the fight, the tides truly start to turn when ilia and blake join the fray.

ilia defends jaune and weiss while jaune heals weiss. the first thing weiss sees when she opens her eyes is ilia's back and hears the SNAP of lightning lash and knows she's safe for another moment.

ABYS is reunited, with Weiss throwing her arms around Blake and Ilia and then dragging Yang in. Ruby and Neo stand off to the side and have a little reunion of their own

volume 6:

while ilia and jaune do their best to rally their teams behind them and do some Team Bonding, ruby and neo have a quiet moment to talk. the last two weeks have been trying so hard to get everyone up to speed with every one else, neo only now realizes she has to truly look up at ruby to meet her eyes, and tells her as much. she apologizes for leaving, ruby forgives her. ("i forgave you the moment you left and the instant you came back.") it's not all fixed but they're going to try.

WUH-OH BEE TENSION (ilia and weiss are sipping coffee and ignoring the other two. they'll work it out if ilia has to beat them over the head with a relationship self help book)

ruby fully uses her silver eyes for the second time to save neo, screaming out her name as the apathy take her down. (in a few moments maria's words would echo in her ears. think about the people who love you.)

ruby controls her power for the first time, grabs neo, and drags her out of the cellar.

volume 6 more or less continues as it did before. cinder finds herself teaming up with roman to hunt down ruby.

the bees kill adam.

ruby petrifies the leviathan and cordovin finishes it off.

they escape to atlas. (and neo pulls ruby off to a dark corner of the airship to check on her. was she okay? did she need anything? and ruby presses their foreheads together and tells her she's fine, they were okay. they were finally safe.)

cinder and roman follow.

MISCELLANEOUS OTHER STUFF BEFORE I PASS OUT SLEEPY STYLE:

Neo's birthday is December 21st, the winter solstice (so in this AU they have roughly a 22 month gap between them)

Ruby's 17th birthday still takes place between the end of volume 5 and beginning of volume 6, neo doesn't get a chance to give her a gift until the wardrobe update in volume 7 (it's a very simple pink and white braided bracelet. ruby keeps it in her belt pouch so she doesnt lose it in a fight)

ruby nearly kills roman in the volume 8 finale fight because he throws neo off the yellow brick road.

penny doesn't play as large a role because ruby literally doesn't know her.

roman severly injures neo after he lures them to the jabberwalker's acre and then uses ruby's distraction to set a bunch of the leaves of the tree on fire and force ruby to inhale the smoke + ascend because she thinks neo is dead.

the cat possesses neo because she regains consciousness as ruby "falls" into the tree.

okay im going to bed now good night i love you anon

roman chooses to ascend at the end upon realizing he has nothing waiting for him back in remnant as he is.

for getting this far here's ur reward (art i did for this AU like a year ago)

[unexploredcast]

Maybe this was said at some point but what kind of antlers does Batholomew have?? Are they like whitetail or elk or mule deer? Or something kinda wacky

Great question! From Roman: "whatever animal's antlers look like the leshens' antlers in Witcher 3. not the ancient leshens bc those look like moose antlers, just normal leshen, which is what Lamentations looks like"

& here's Bartholomew's pinterest board for reference!

[katiajewelbox]

Halloween Countdown Day 3

The Origins of Halloween Traditions

Was Halloween really just a 20th century holiday invented by candy companies to sell more candy? Not at all, and I'll throw a jack o lantern at anyone who says Halloween is a boring commercialised holiday!

In this intriguing and easy to read article with wacky vintage pictures by Heather Thomas at the website Library of Congress Blogs, we delve into the ancient spiritual origins of Halloween. The familiar traditions and motifs are analysed one by one to help you understand and appreciate their significance when you see them during spooky season.

Although many people think of it as a North American holiday, the roots of Halloween lie in Celtic Europe and the Roman Empire. Therefore, the growing popularity of Halloween in the UK is a revival of ancient traditions and should be welcomed back. Also, the old Samhain festival had more in common with Latin America's Dia de los Muertos / Dia de los Difuntos, so we can see the two holidays as partners not rivals.

For Halloween lovers and those unfamiliar with the holiday, this is recommended reading!

#Halloween #history #culturaldiversity #culturalheritage #samhain #Celtic #AncientEurope #americanculture

[wickedlittlecritta]

What the heck is Angel at The Crossroads of the world?!

okay so you remember raising werewolves, right? with finn and raphael? i decided i didn't like it so i've started rewriting it only this time it's set after the siege of jerusalem and it takes place in constantinople (which is the crossroads of the world) and there's very little of it actually written but right now i do have the knowledge that i'm writing a knight in 1099 before plate armor existed which i think is very funny. it's still a murder mystery only now it's historical fantasy instead of urban fantasy which i think is much more fun.

also seph is still here but this time he's the previous byzantine emperor's bastard and he's been blinded bc i love the absolutely batshit things those wacky eastern romans did

he's going through it

[mysteriesofloves]

What would you say are the best gossip girl episodes? the lists I see online are often very chuck-centred….

A DEFINITIVE OBJECTIVE TOP 5 LIST in somewhat particular order (which also happen to be my favs because i have taste):

1. 1x04 bad news blair. NOT just because it’s Thee Dair Episode but because all around it is the strongest episode with the best character work for every character and every plotline is entertaining. it’s grounded and meaningful and beautiful and has multiple scenes that appeal to the thesis of the show (or what should’ve been the thesis of the show) AND ALSO has a wacky and dumb poker scam escapade. that is teen television excellence

2. 1x09 blair waldorf must pie! this is ALSO teen television excellence the drama with the teens and the adults is perfectly balanced it is the only episode that tackles blair’s ed with any sort of sincerity the flashbacks make me want to gnaw drywall it is such a GOOD episode !!!!

3. 1x01 pilot. one the greatest teen tv pilots of all time and just SUCH a good pilot in general. she is lifechanging she is the definition of ICONIC i get chills just hearing the opening whistles of young folks. you’re kind of not invited raised a generation. nostalgia factor alone puts this on top but even that aside it is a very very good episode.

4. 1x11 roman holiday. more of a biased choice i just love this episode it’s cozy and fun and sweet and i think every storyline is well done. it’s just a very good holiday episode and i am a sucker for holiday episodes

5. 1x12 school lies. underrated i think. it’s giving dark academia but in at least a mildly self aware way and i think it’s genuinely one of the most compelling episodes of the show. to me it’s one of those eps that passes just “teen soap” territory and goes into just being a Good Episode Of TV yknow.

these are all from s1 because that’s the only well written season. rest of this list in no particular order is 1x13 (which would’ve made a great finale), 2x18 (THE most entertaining episode and my personal favourite but is unfortunately bogged down by whatever tf chuck is running around doing), 2x19 (just a really good ep. i just love it. crisis blair u will always be famous to me. dan visiting the van der bilt mansion for really no reason other than he was There and Needed something to do u will always be famous to me), 3x02 (SUCH a good episode so funny and does a really really good job at setting up the season that the status quo changes and the characters are tested and evolving! oh wait.), the hamptons episodes and the paris episodes for the VIBES and the AESTHETICS and the LOOKS but not for much else.

season 4 dair arc is obviously my favourite thing ever and also on the entire show but ben (🤮🤮🤮) is also there and raina is putting up with chuck’s bs so it can’t properly make it onto the list because the episodes as a whole are Bad and should be watched through dair youtube clips only/with a finger on the forward button. this applies to s5 dair arc as well.

[longeyelashedtragedy]

january 2025 favs

this was a MONTH. i should just list the podcasts i listened to instead lol bc I didn't listen to much New Music

those memories of you - dolly parton/emmylou harris/linda ronstadt (the HARMONIES)

shy luv - young spencer (uh, kind of wacky unionist rapper (lol) who opened for kneecap (which i learned from my fav podcast) essentially covering 'what makes you beautiful' with a norn irish accent and a great 2015-2016 pop music vibe instrumental...Follow for more great music descriptions)

ah ndiya (k&f edit) - oumou sangaré this was already saved in my youtube favorites but i swear i never heard it before so it's counting as a new song

spiral - todd terje

*

kneecap fine art AS ALWAYS

with or without you - u2

baby baby - amy grant AS ALWAYS

holy war - lords of the new church (i haven't listened to this in over 10 years but i suddenly felt compelled and it is as good as i remember lol 'a roman is invading britain after hundreds of years' is such a banger of a first line)

gjallarhorn's sjofn album - honestly i always forget how good this is

bust a move - young mc (i have a history with this song...it is THE natural antidepressant like when i'm feeling absolutely wretched this is the only thing that makes it better LOL...this is also why my arse knows all the words)

todd terje - ragysh (deep cut from 2019? i can't have been listening to this any later than 2020)