#tomb-less trio

[a-model-of-propriety]

9 for ALL of your OCs

thanks for the ask bestie! it took me a little while to finish answering this for e v e r y o n e, but I don't think I forgot anyone. if I did then oh well ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

answers will be under the cut :)

9: Do they empathize with non-sentient things (dolls, plants, books…)?

From the Ship Logbooks:

Nikolai: They do! Idk what more to say for him than that ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Enok: Not only does Enok empathize with non-sentient things, he does so far more than either of my other sailors. Whenever he finds socializing too difficult, personifying and holding conversations with whatever’s around him can help him a lot, plus he finds it good practice for “real” conversations.

Andrey: Not really. He’ll personify the ship/sea/etc. but he doesn’t do it for much more than that.

Modern Mayhem:

Jekyll/Hyde: For Jekyll, he doesn’t usually personify non-sentient things; when he does, it’s a pretty good indicator that he’s sleep-deprived. This, of course, does not apply to plants in his garden, which he absolutely talks to. After all, plants are much more sentient than the average human thinks, and he’s the first person to point that out.

As Hyde, he still doesn’t empathize with/talk to inanimate objects too much, but he’s more likely to as Hyde than as Jekyll.

Dantés: already answered!

Tristan: Tristan empathizes with non-sentient things quite a bit, especially when it’s been a while since he’s been in a time where he has any connections. On a similar note: for Tristan, his machine is as alive as he is.

Lisa: Lisa definitely personifies any and all non-sentient things. She used to be super embarrassed whenever someone caught her talking to inanimate objects, but she doesn’t care about that anymore :)

Griffin: Griffin 100% does, but he’ll deny that endlessly

Victor Frankenstein: He’s pretty similar to Jekyll – doesn’t really personify them unless severely sleep-deprived or too hyperfixated on his current project.

Creechur: Yep, Creechur absolutely does!

Dorian: Eh, not really. He does with his portrait, but does that truly count as “non-sentient” anymore?

Nemo: Sometimes he does, sometimes he doesn’t. To most everyone there’s no real pattern to what he personifies and when he personifies it.

Tomb-less Trio:

Nova: She does a bit, but more towards plants than towards anything human-made.

Ambrose: She’s the type of person that you’d expect would hold entire conversations with anything, sentient or not, but nope! She much prefers chatting with things that can outwardly react in some way.

Victor Reeves: He’s a poet, of course he does!

Miscellaneous:

Percival Madox: Percival does, but it’s more out of practicality than anything. In his world, you never know when a seemingly-inanimate object might take offense at you for ignoring it.

[french-unknown]

Hellooo, I’m OBSESSED with your work and I was hoping you could do monster trio + law on how would they act before and after they marry their s/o. Don’t be pressured to do this request and stay healthy!<33

𝐁𝐄𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄/𝐀𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐖𝐄𝐃𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒: luffy, zoro, sanji, law 𝐂/𝐖: fluff, domestic 𝐀/𝐍: Hellooo! Thank you so much, this comment is so adorable! It’s so nice that you like what I write so much! I hope you will also like this one! Stay healthy too! ୧ʕ•̀ᴥ•́ʔ୨ 𝐖/𝐂:  1k +

| m a s t e r l i s t |

𝐋𝐔𝐅𝐅𝐘

✧ Luffy does not particularly want to marry, so his behavior will not change much from before to after. He doesn't even see it as a change in your relationship. He loves you as much as before, it is just now stipulated on a piece of paper.

✧ And he has a ring on his finger that he is not allowed to remove.

✧ Otherwise, he knows he will not have access to the bed unless he has a reaaally good excuse.

✧ The only small change is that, at the beginning, it makes him laugh. He calls his wedding ring "his leash" and makes you joke about having lost it. He quickly notices that you don't laugh at this kind of joke, it even makes you angry sometimes, so he stops.

✧ The subject of marriage will thus completely come out of his mind.

✧ He knows that he has "married" status but it does not bring him anything tangible, so he forgets.

✧ His allies discover that you are married when Luffy is injured and they have to remove everything that is superfluous for care. Like the ring he always drags on his finger. However, Luffy will prick a crisis when they try to remove the jewel and refuse to let it leave his finger. Even if it means becoming violent.

If he is asked for the reason for his opposition, he would answer as if it were obvious: "I will be killed if I take off my wedding ring."

No more noise in the room. Nobody talks.

How is this kid married without anyone knowing it?!

𝐙𝐎𝐑𝐎

✧ Zoro is rather in favor of marriage because he remains quite cozy in terms of romantic relationships and marriage can bring more stability and tranquility.

✧ He really likes his routine training-napping-drinking so why not have one with you too.

✧ The biggest difference that your wedding brings is an emotional rapprochement. From couple to married, you have gone from the status of "trusted person" to "main support" so the advantages are not the same.

✧ The disadvantages either!

✧ Wait until he gets out while leaving a messy room behind him and think that, since you are married, you will tidy with him.

✧ He also reveals to you more of his past and, if you have the opportunity, he would take you to Shimotsuki to go together to the tomb of Kuina. You would also meet his former dojo master.

✧ If you accept, your couple will also become the "cliché" of a Japanese bride and groom. Zoro will put himself in the position of the leader of the household who must put you at the shelter of all (physical, financial protection, etc.) and to work. In this entrepreneurial culture, Luffy is the boss to whom the employee is dedicated. You will take the reins of the household with the cleaning and organizing for both of you, as well as the management of money.

✧ You are free to refuse if you want because, even if it tends towards the ideal of Zoro, he will not impose it on you either if you refuse.

✧ This could, however, allow him to be less in debt to Nami if it is you who manage his money.

𝐒𝐀𝐍𝐉𝐈

✧ While he was already Lovey Dovey before your wedding, it will grow even more after.

✧ Sanji sees your relationship as a progress bar with objectives to be achieved. The more the gauge progresses and the more it is referring to its ideal of the perfect family. It started with getting into a couple, and now it has taken the step of being married. Next step: the question of children.

✧ Wait until you hear him call you "my wife" in the middle of the day and, when you come to know why he called you, he just answers you "to see what it was like" smiling like a fool.

✧ Can become a little heavy by presenting you only as his wife.

✧ On the other hand, since he was already worshiping you when you were in a couple, he now literally venerates you. Really, he will be the leader of a cult of which you will be the idol. Even more if you accept having children together.

✧ Is definitely a slave for you.

✧ You also have the privilege of finally passing in front of other women. This is the first time in your life where you can simply call him and he immediately leaves the sides of Nami AND Robin without asking a question. He still flirts but he is less extreme while doing it. He is more posed.

✧ However, he is much less demanding of marks of affection coming from you, compared to before when he could be downright invasive, because being married reassures him of the fact of being loved.

𝐋𝐀𝐖

✧ Unfortunately, there is a post-mariating relaxation concerning the manners of Mr. Trafalgar D. Waterlaw.

✧ Where before he forced himself to do actions to please you or to be—and God forgives him—romantic, he now takes his ease. He pretended to listen to you, before, when you were talking for hours of your day but, now, he pretends to fall asleep to show you how bored he is. Has he brought you breakfast in bed? Now: "You do have legs, no? Use them, then."

✧ It is not supposed to be mean, but he grumbles a lot.

✧ Yet, you quickly realize that he gives you a place in his life and space.

✧ Even if he no longer makes any effort to show you that he listens and is interested, you just have to mention that you missed something for it to appear mysteriously a few days later. He no longer gave you breakfast but all the elements were already prepared when you arrived in the kitchen. You just have to cook them or put them on a plate.

✧ A real tsundere!

✧ The real post-marital black point is that he makes less effort to plan time for you. He thus accepts more workload and remains locked up in his office longer than before he passes the ring on the finger.

✧ He takes you for granted since you accepted.

✧ If you let it do, it can either end in divorce without he realizing it or he will agree to plan more time for you in his schedule. You can blackmail him with ridiculous actions.

𝐉𝐎𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓 𝐈𝐅 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐃𝐎𝐍'𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐍𝐓 𝐓𝐎 𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐘 𝐔𝐏𝐃𝐀𝐓𝐄

𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓: @iheartamora @bontensh0e @opchara @lys-ada @viscade @dozcan123 @kai-wifey

[dabblingreturns]

Bit obsessed with the idea that If the ninth wasn't so disfunctional, Harrow, Ortus, and Gideon might have formed a sort of Freudian Trio....

Ortus genuinely cared about both girls but didn't seam to ever have enough self confidence to try and mediate between the two....

So instead both girls just had a sort of farmiliar pitying contempt for him....

But if he had been a bit less sad, a bit less smothered by his mother, and a bit braver he could have been a great big bother to both girls....

He clearly understood them better than they understood each other and possibly themselves. And he had the vocabulary ( so much vocabulary) to engage both girls in there special interests.....

Gideon would have loved a synopsis of any research ortus had found on how Matius Nonius fought and how his opponents reacted.

Harrow would have loved to have someone to talk to about the difficulty finding old records in the ninth and the history of her family and the tomb.

And think how wonderful ortus would have felt to have someone to talk to....to joke with...to not be alone....

[deathnguts]

Guys here me out

The rooftop trio is AN ACTUAL LOVE TRIANGLE!!

Yknow how ‘dark’ romances always portray a love triangle as just two people in love with the same person who loves them both? Fuck that. That’s a live angle, I’m talking a REAL LOVE TRIANGLE

Aizawa would die in Oboro’s place any day, he visits Kurogiri everyday just to catch a glimpse of him; Oboro only awakes from the depths of Kurogiri with Hizashi calls, he’s dormant in his tomb of smoke under Aizawa’s watch and while Kurogiri has bitten out some insults at Aizawa he rarely even LOOKS at Hizashi (ALSO DUDE THE HERO NAME ‘LOUD CLOUD’ LITERALLY SOUNDS LIKE A SHIPNAME FOR OBORO AND HIZASHI); it’s a secret to absolutely none that Hizashi lives for Aizawa. He loves that man with eveyrthing in him and would give anything for him to less hard on himself.

Hizashi is willing to give up his eveyrthing to try and be there for Aizawa, but Aizawa is so focused on the remnants of Oboro, which are only open for Hizashi to see

(Simpler terms, Aizawa likes Oboro but Oboro likes Hizashi but Hizashi likes Aizawa)

((Sort of inspired by this post))

[welcometothejianghu]

Welcome to another round of W2 Tells You What You Should See, where W2 (me) tries to sell you (you) on something you should be watching. Today's choice: 沙海/Tomb of the Sea/Sand Sea.

Sand Sea is the 2018 installment of the DMBJ/Lost Tomb franchise, which tells the story of the search for an ancient desert city, a fight against a secretive assassin family, the raiding of more than a couple tombs, and a whole bunch of other action-packed bullshit.

Have you ever watched an anime adaptation that outran the as-yet-incomplete manga it was adapting, necessitating it throw together a largely befuddling ending based on the available clues? That's Sand Sea. At time of production, only ~75% of the Sand Sea novel had been written. As I am making this post, that's still all of the Sand Sea novel that has been written. I finished watching the show and had a lot of questions about its loose ends. I read the book. It didn't help.

So, I'm not going to try and summarize the story, much less try to sell you on the show on the strength of the plot. What I am going to try and do is convince you it's a good time anyway.

As I mentioned earlier, it's part of a larger franchise, but you shouldn't let that stop you from diving in here. Most of the DMBJ shows and books are narrated by Wu Xie, the series' special little birthday boy. Sand Sea takes a different tack -- your main POV characters are completely new to the world of the tombs, meaning that the show explains things to you while it's explaining things to them. Wu Xie's still a major character, but you're seeing him through the eyes of a befuddled teenager who wasn't even supposed to be here today.

I'm going to give you five reasons to watch this series, and all five of them are relationships. I'm pitching it to you this way because, as was the case in my rec for Reunion (one of the other tomb-raiding dramas), I'm assuming you have zero familiarity with DMBJ, which means that any appeals to the larger franchise or its twists and turns will have no impact. Instead, I am here to sell this to you on the strength of character interactions. If you're interested in what the characters are doing, the plot will come.

1. Dudes Rock

The aforementioned teenager narrator is Li Cu, a too-cool-for-school underachiever who lives with his abusive father and has no direction in life. He comes with his two best (and only) friends: earnest pushover Su Wan and neighborhood bully Yang Hao.

They're a trio of problem children who cannot succeed by the metrics of society at large: Li Cu and Yang Hao are both from family circumstances that have hampered their ability to perform academically, while Su Wan, bless his heart, is just not that bright. They do, however, all do well when put in situations that play to their strengths and given appropriate mentorship. (Alas that all of their mentors are terrible people; see point 4.)

They're set up as an intentional next-generation parallel to the Iron Triangle, which is the term DMBJ uses for Wu Xie and his two closest people. Normally, the Iron Triangle would be the core of a DMBJ story -- but since that threesome is broken by Circumstances at the moment, these boys become the substitute triad whose friendship is one of the main bonds holding the narrative together.

They have such teenage boy dynamics, it's great. They're stupid about girls and alcohol and money and homework and all the other things teen boys are stupid about, while also being stupid enough to get themselves entangled in shadowy international conspiracies. Huge parts of the plot are fueled entirely by their dumbass decisions. But they also barely have any competent adult supervision in their lives, so you know, when you're seventeen and basically feral, renting a warehouse so you can beat a bunch of frozen snakes to death actually sounds like a good solution to the problem at the time.

It's not all comedy, though. Li Cu and Yang Hao in particular are deeply traumatized young men even before the story starts, and events of the series make it worse. They're definitely the "feelings are for girls!" type of young men, and they need Su Wan there as their eternally bippy buffer. When he's not, they can get mean.

What's also charming about this trio is that they're all pretty darn straight. In a franchise chock full of (unintentional?) homoeroticism, these three manage to keep their platonic dude dynamics pretty platonic. I mean, I myself come at most things with slash-colored glasses on, and even I'm of the opinon that they're befuddled heterosexuals struggling with how the entire tomb-raiding industry's gay. And even if you assume everyone in this entire show is straight, these boys are still going to get a bunch of real-time lessons in how to love other people, whether they like it or not!

So if you like a Teen Boy Squad of goobers who don't want to admit they're close or have emotions or anything like that, right up until they're all each other have, this may be just the thing for you.

2. The Only Good Het in the Tombs

DMBJ is not known for its high-quality heterosexual romance, to put it mildly. Most of the time, it makes the smart decision to not even try. When it does, you mostly wish it hadn't.

Therefore, you cannot imagine how shocked I was to find myself falling head-over-heels for the incredibly weird canonical love story between horny hot mess Dr. Liang Wan and emotionally constipated 80-year-old virgin and arsonist Zhang Rishan.

Their relationship goes a little something like this: He needs something from her, so he contrives a plan to ask her out. She declares him her boyfriend. He continues the relationship in order to continue getting things from her. She thinks he's hot, so she's fine with that. He warns her that continuing their relationship will involve messing with some very bad members of the Tomb-Raiding Industrial Complex. She's like, again, you're incredibly hot, so that's not a problem. He makes her memorize maps and sends her to a desert. She dresses up like him and pepper-sprays him. And somewhere in the midst of all that, he falls for her and she gets sick of his shit, and they wind up for-real dating as equals.

Part of what's so delightful about their relationship is how awful they are to one another. It'd be bad if that awfulness were one-sided, but man, they each give as good as they get. He's heartless and exploitative, and she's neurotic and insecure. She makes constant demands of him that he's almost too confused by to refuse, and he keeps putting her in situations no sane person should want to be part of. He comes from a cutthroat world of complete bastards, while she wears her heart on her sleeve whether she wants to or not. They're extremely good for one another, because he trusts her competencies and is going to make her demonstrate every one of them, while one of her chief skills is calling him on his bullshit.

It is at this point I need to sing the praises of Liang Wan, hottest of the hot messes. She's one of the principal POV characters for the novel, where she's just as boy-crazy (though for a different boy, because Zhang Rishan's not in this book) and just as far in over her head. The adaptation has absolutely done her character justice. What makes Liang Wan so charming to me is how much she absolutely refuses to let herself be stopped by being completely out of her depth. She doesn't know what the hell is going on most of the time, but fuck it, she's rolling with it. She's just also going to be applying moisturizer and anti-aging serum the entire time, because you know what, sometimes when your whole world is falling apart around you, the one thing you can count on is your skincare routine.

Zhang Rishan is surrounded by people so cool, butter doesn't melt in their mouths. He can be balls-out naked in front of them without batting an eyelash. It is her thirsty disaster charms alone that have set fire to his frozen heart. I love them to bits.

3. Enemies to ... ???

This is Sand Sea's Wu Xie. You're not going to like him at first, because he spends the first several episodes tormenting a teen who only mildly seems to deserve it. What you find out as the show goes on is that Wu Xie is having a bad time -- more than that, he's having a straight-up bad decade. He has taken a lot of psychic damage and decided to cope with it by being absolutely insane. He's a bitch with no sense of self-preservation living in constant gremlin mode. He is no longer under the active supervision of his husbands, and he's going to make that everyone else's problem.

The show chooses to start out by inflicting Wu Xie on a bunch of strangers through an arc that's bizarre, lengthy, and mostly completely unrelated to the larger plot. It does introduce a few elements that will matter, though, and one of them is Su Nan.

When Su Nan appeared as the badass head of a mercenary outfit, I was braced for one (or both) of two things to happen. Thing one, I figured she'd die or otherwise leave the narrative after the first arc, which made me not want to get attached to her, if she wasn't going to stick around. Thing two, I was all but certain the show was going to try and make her Wu Xie's love interest, which made me make such a face, because [see last point].

Neither happens. Su Nan is still around in the final episode, and what she becomes to Wu Xie is much, much more interesting.

They're not friends. They're never friends. They can't be friends, because they absolutely can't trust one another. Except sometimes they have to trust one another, and in return they have to allow themselves to be trustworthy.

In the last relevant chapter or so of the novel, Wu Xie gets his throat cut and shoved off a cliff ... and because the novel isn't finished, we have no idea why that happened or who did it. The drama decides that when he goes over that cliff this time, throat unslit, Su Nan needs to go with him. This means they spend much of the later part of the series depending on one another for survival, getting real vulnerable, sharing trauma, and occasionally fucking one another over anyway, because they are both bad and untrustworthy people.

And they're ... kinda into one another? But because it's not textual, it winds up being great. If the show had tried to write their romance, I would have hated it. Instead, it chooses to leave things fraught and unspecified, with the two of them obviously having a lot of feelings but not even knowing themselves what all those feelings are, much less how to react appropriately to them. That is delicious. Pour that right into my mouth.

I also choose to interpret Su Nan as being transfemme (complimentary), if only because that's the most charitable explanation for her dedication to keeping her tits out and her lipstick game sharp even in wilderness conditions.

4. This Man Should Not Be Trusted With Children

As I mentioned before, all members of the Teen Boy Squad wind up paired with adult men who act as their mentors. Li Cu and Wu Xie are the main duo, since they're the main character of this show and the main character of the entire franchise, respectively. Yang Hao winds up in an even more abusive dynamic with a bitch of a man who takes advantage of Yang Hao's capacity for rage. But precious baby Su Wan is lucky enough to be adopted by, well...

If you read my rec for Reunion, you will recognize him as the guy I called "this giant fucking loser" with all the affection in the world. Hei Xiazi is both the worst and the best, which makes him the perfect man to take care of the tender soul that is Su Wan.

Su Wan's a poor little rich boy who is happy to be bullied by his friends, because it means he has friends! He's a dipshit because he's sheltered by his family wealth, and he's also a dipshit because he'd be a dipshit no matter how much money he had. He needs someone to kick his ass in a way that builds him back up again and helps him make the transition from doormat to functional adult.

The circumstances that bring these two together are so batshit, they're not worth recounting here. Suffice it to say that as one adventure arc ends, Hei Xiazi is tasked with taking Su Wan home. Su Wan expresses interest in whatever Hei Xiazi's whole deal is, and Hei Xiazi responds by offering (in a roundabout way) lessons in what exactly his whole deal is.

Hei Xiazi is a terrible teacher, but he's a perfect teacher for Su Wan, who is the kind of boy who would go find the nearest dictionary if you told him the word "gullible" wasn't there. They're preciously weird at one another. The work so well together because Su Wan believes the best of everything, which leads him to see right past the parts of Hei Xiazi that other people (correctly) find inscrutable and offputting. With Hei Xiazi's questionable guidance, Su Wan finds for the first time in his naive, privileged life a goal for himself that is both achievable and worth the effort.

Later books give evidence that all three of the boys eventually go to work for Hei Xiazi, which I think is great, especially since he is somehow the least toxic and terrible of all the mentor characters. ...Man, though, that bar is low. It's a miracle anyone in DMBJ survives into adulthood.

It's also cute to think about how the boys are no doubt context-appropriately homophobic, because it's so easy to picture their respective reactions to finding out that their strong, terrible male role models are queer. Cue Li Ci and Yang Hao's respective no-homo freakouts, while Su Wan just has a million slightly offensive but ultimately well-meaning questions about how bisexuality works.

And I'm just going to say, if you watched the Untamed and loved Xue Yang? You owe it to yourself to see that actor suddenly become the sweetest little butterscotch muffin ever. ...Yes, if you didn't recognize him earlier, that's Wang Haoxuan, and he turns in an incredible comic performance here. Su Wan is consistently one of the funniest characters onscreen. The bit with the saxaphone kills me dead.

Anyway, unlike the first three relationships I've talked about here, this is one you have to wait a good long while for. Su Wan shows up in the first episode, Hei Xiazi appears about a dozen or so episodes later, but it takes their storylines much longer to cross. It's worth the wait, though, knowing that eventually you'll get to see these two weirdos bounce merrily off one another.

5. Everybody Loves Pangzi

This is the Iron Triangle I mentioned earlier. Obviously there's Wu Xie in the middle. The perfect boy in the hoodie is Xiao Ge, who is at the time of this series slightly stuck in what's basically a giant time-lock safe, so you're only ever going to see him in flashbacks. (Xiao Ge is trapped, so you can't have Xiao Ge.) And then, over there on the left is the man whose nickname translates to "fatty," Wang Pangzi.

Hold on to your butts, because I am now going to wax poetic about how much I love this fictional man.

Pangzi is the best. The best. He's funny. He's kind. He's got terrible taste in men and only slightly less terrible taste in women. He's a gentleman. He's the party shock absorber. He's prone to making things explode. He's impeccably dressed. He's charmingly superstitious. He's not subtle. He's got an excitable little stammer and an atrocious Beijing accent. He's a flexible fat man. He's the most fuckable person onscreen no matter who's onscreen with him.

He's also usually the DMBJ everyman character, except Sand Sea has a ton of everyman characters for a change, so he winds up filling the role of a badass insider instead. His job is basically to hold down the fort while Xiao Ge's indisposed and Wu Xie's off being insane. In the absence of both his beloveds, Pangzi's going to do what needs to be done, and he's going to be incredibly hot while he's doing it.

Usually, DMBJ shows serve up a huge amount of Pangzi and Wu Xie interaction. Sand Sea only puts them in the same room near the very end -- but they're collaborating throughout. In fact, the only way the whole story works is if they're basically so much in each other's back pockets that they can function as a single unit even across great distances. The record will show that I read them as husbands -- but more importantly, they're good friends who understand and trust one another completely. As much as it pains me that they're apart for basically the entire thing, they're never really apart, you know?

However, because Wu Xie is physically elsewhere for so much of the show, Sand Sea provides a unique chance to see Pangzi interacting on his own with other characters. Wu Xie is the special little boy who always takes up all the oxygen in the room -- and of course Pangzi doesn't begrudge him this, because Pangzi loves him. Without Wu Xie around, though, we get to watch all the other relationships Pangzi has cultivated over the years.

One of the best is with Xie Yuchen, a.k.a. Xiao Hua. In other series, we see the two interact, but only in the context of having Wu Xie around. Sand Sea presents us with a little window into what is clearly a longstanding friendship. From the tiny bit we get of their interactions, it's obvious they hang out on a pretty regular basis. They're chilling and having spa dates while their husbands are out there getting sandy and fighting snakes, proving that these two urbanites are absolutely the brains of their respective marriages.

...Hold up a second,

I hear you say,

IS this show actually gay? Because you keep using words like "husbands" and talking like it's intentionally, onscreen, boys-kissing-boys gay.

On the one hand, no.

On the other hand: Is Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid gay? Textually, taking it at face value, and especially considering the context in which it was made, no, it is absolutely not gay, nor was it meant to be gay. But when you step back and realize everything it's doing, you kind of can't avoid the really romantic implications. Maybe Butch and Sundance never smooch, maybe they don't even want to, but they're each other's other halves. We would instantly recognize what they are if one of them were a lady. In a narrative setting where gayness is unthinkable, nothing they can do can be gay, which loops around to making everything kinda gay, and ... look, I'm just saying, if Pangzi were a woman, we'd know immediately what she is to Wu Xie (and holy fuck she would be so hot). If Xiao Hua were as female as the opera characters he plays, we'd have no questions about her relationship to Hei Xiazi. Keep everything beat for beat, line for line the same, and there'd be no missing it.

This is something you get a lot with stories about men written by men, this unintentional homoeroticism from male authors who don't realize their misogyny has actually poisoned them against heterosexuality. Remember what I said earlier about DMBJ's regrettable het? So much of it stems from the assumption that getting a girl and a boy together will inevitably to romantic feelings from at least one of them, so there's no reason to bother spending time giving either of the participants any actual reasons to like one another. (Sand Sea does this too! Just with a character I haven't mentioned here, because I'm trying to talk about the good dynamics.) This kind of thinking treats women not as people, but as as basically interchangeable desirable objects. But men are people, which means the male characters' feelings are worth discussing in the narrative! So what you get is these well-developed, intimate relationships between men described in loving detail, sat right next to perfunctory heterosexual couplings -- and we're supposed to believe that one is romantic and one is not based solely on the genders of the participants? Yeah, no, I call bullshit.

And -- if you'll permit me to loop back to the boys for a minute -- we now have a model for how a straight Iron Triangle would behave, and it is not the way the actual Iron Triangle members are about one another. Those teens love one another in a way that is fierce and strong and not what Wu Xie, Pangzi, and Xiao Ge have going. Maybe it could become that, but it's not now. It's not better or worse now for being what it is, but it is different, and it makes by contrast some things very clear (and very queer).

So that is why I feel justified in referring to them as husbands and will continue to do so despite the lack of explicit textual support.

Anyway, back to Pangzi!

Where were we? Right, Xiuxiu!

Pangzi's always at his best when he gets to be a knight for someone he cares about. This time around, that's Huo Xiuxiu, who who only shows up after you've met several of her matriarchal family's other members, all of whom would be at home in a Tank Full Of Dangerous Ladies. Xiuxiu is not a fighter like they are, but she does have an object that means everyone's out to get her, and as such she relies on her Pangzi to keep her safe while she's trying to survive the fucked-up games her family is playing.

And Pangzi clearly loves it. He absolutely thrives on being the big brother/bruiser figure for her. He loves how cool it makes him look to her. He doesn't have Wu Xie around to be a tank for, so he's going to tank for her. In fact, he's even going to bring in reinforcements to help him do it. (What's the deal with the cute Tibetan boy? Look, shh, just appreciate that you've got a cute Tibetan boy.)

Then there's his dealings with the rest of the Tomb-Raiding Industrial Complex, who are a bunch of shady dudes with impressive family pedigrees and expensive suits, all of whom are trying to play twelve-dimensional chess with one another. There's going to be lots of names dropped, of families and of individuals, and the show is going to act like you're supposed to be impressed. And if you're familiar with DMBJ canon, yeah, you could be impressed! Or you could be like Pangzhi, who rolls up in his amazing Holstein shirt, not giving a single fuck what any of these rich bastards think about him.

This is actually some character development for Pangzi, who has in the past been cowed (pun unintended) by the wealthy, mostly due to his own financial situation. That stage of his life is over now. Honey badger has ceased to care. The cool, pretty people are going to try and give him shit, and he is impervious to it. You better believe the Iron Triangle trashed this fancy restaurant the last time they were in here, and if you give Pangzi half the chance, he'll fucking do it again.

No wonder Zhang Rishan likes him. A pair of little firestarters.

Don't let me oversell you on how much Pangzi is in Sand Sea, because he's not. There's maybe a dozen of the 52 episodes that have any Pangzi content, and he's only in small parts of those episodes. Pangzi is a rare and precious event, like an eclipse. Cherish the Pangzi moments and all the wonderful interactions contained within.

caveat: You call that an ending?

Buddy, if you'd seen how most other DMBJ series end, you wouldn't be asking me that. But because I'm assuming you haven't: Yes, I call that an ending, because it actually attempts to do a winddown and conclusion, instead of just wandering off on a cliffhanger. The ending isn't wholly satisfying, but it is an ending. There is a narrative, and that narrative concludes. Does the conclusion make sense and tie up all the loose ends? Absolutely not! But it does follow basic story structure and resolve the action semi-competently.

As I said about the sweet disaster that is Psych Hunter (which was also directed by the guy who did Sand Sea!), I think knowing in advance that an ending sucks makes the ending suck less. It removes the disappointment factor and lets you enjoy what is there, instead of making you grumpy about what isn't. No, you're never going to understand a lot of things. That means whatever you want to be true can be true. The book is unfinished. The series is nonsense. Canon has no hold on you. You are free.

As compensation, here's a picture of Xiao Ge without his shirt on.

Are you feeling like it's Tomb Time?

There are a couple places you can get this one! Try Viki, WeTV, this YouTube playlist (which is missing the first episode for some reason), or this YouTube playlist (which has the whole thing). Note that subtitles vary in quality from place to place. The YouTube versions also have the bizarre, amazing in-character commercials, and it's up to you if that's a plus or a minus for your viewing experience.

I love this bonkers show. It is balls-to-the-wall weird, to a point that will make you question the translation. I got to the part where Zhang Rishan explains that ancient people worshipped fish with snakes in their eyebrows, caught the fish, took out the snakes, and implanted the snakes in their own human eyebrows -- and I thought, surely that's not what he's actually saying. Nope! The subtitles are accurate. It's the show that's off its rocker.

Anyway, once you've watched Sand Sea, scroll down to the bottom of my rec post for Reunion and find out how you can get even deeper into said tombs! Trust me, there's a lot down here.

As those other posts would indicate, this would not be my first choice for how to get into DMBJ. It is, however, how a fair number of people have gotten into DMBJ, so what the hell do I know! Or maybe this post has convinced you that Sand Sea is worth watching, but you'd rather build up to it than go into it raw. That works too! Whenever you get to it, it'll be here: under a bunch of sand, tattooed and inexplicable, and extremely gay whether it knows it or not.

Go to the desert, they said. Find Gutongjing, they said. Solve the mystery, they said. Fuck it, we nap.

[a-dauntless-daffodil]

sorry but frankie being the ONLY ONE at monster high who thinks cleo is Cool will never not be my fav headcanon

cleo LOOKS like she's the popular one-

the attitude! the presence! the outfit! the ambition! the kind heart and the CONFIDENCE!! But Canonically Speaking-

frankie's the one made from various famous monsters, hanging with the ghoul kids in school. THEY'RE the one crushing hard on the local organization nerd ("self-proclaimed party princess"),

cleo, miss Number One human enthusiast, who means well but isn't always the best at reading the mood or focusing on priorities

(all of werewolf weekend) (also "clawed and clawdeen?? thank ra my parents didn't name me nefra-een! ugh~!" smiles, realizes no one else is smiling, "...right not the time cleo.")

she WANTS more fame, but mainly spends her time setting up school events, talking with her scarabs, and is starting to tag along with the popular group sometimes

result is THIS

So whatever her song says, i headcanon the vibe in school is more like....

Random Monster High Student:

Oh Cleo? Nefera's little sister, the one who always plays a tree in school plays?

Yeah, she has the funniest, most TRAGIC picture in the fearbook- I hear she has to make herself sneeze all over again whenever she wants to get something at the Coffinbean!

She's head of the dance committee, right? They did a "human themed" dance night once, because of her. And didn't she also organize the after-pep-rally eyescream this year? I think I remember her asking me what flavor I wanted...

Her friends? Um well, she's got these scarabs that are kinds cute. She tags along with Clawdeen Wolf and Draculaura sometimes, but I'm pretty sure she wasn't at that wild Nightmore party the crew had at one of Drac's mansions.

Other than that...

Oh oh wait!

I've seen pics of her hanging out with Frankie, though!

You know Frankie Stein- tall, goes by they/them, wears pretty much nothing BUT school memorabilia, falls apart a lot

I think they built a robot instead of turning in a paper one time, and blank out when remembering something from one of their famous brain bits?

They've got like, bits from almost any amazing monster you could name in the last half century! Monster models, Scareisian monsters, ballet dancers, monster scientists, lawyers. Even a bit from a king of Goreway! They're pretty clumsy but I mean, they HAVE only been alive for less than a year...

They dorm with Drac and Clawdeen- those three are pretty much always a trio, except for fearleading practice and theater stuff.

And yeah, I guess I see them with Cleo pretty often. Frankie, that is.

They sit with her at the creepateria a lot!

Huh. The brilliant franken monster and the second-in-line, dramatic, wanna be queen... I mean, don't get me wrong, Cleo's really nice! And her outfit is AMAZING... Just... I wonder what they even have to talk about...?

meanwhile, Frankie, @ Cleo:

actual canon dialogue: "Any party you're in charge of is sure to be zaptacular! You're so good at parties, and planning things, and picking things, and ah... (flustered) ..making things nicer, and..."

cleo-> decides to sneak into the family tomb. frankie -> PICK ME PICK ME PICK ME PICK M-

also frankie: laughs way too long at cleo's lame pun, tells it it's a good one anyway

also also frankie: goes to cleo for help looking good in their fearbook picture, even though cleo's last photo was a disaster and is the whole reason frankie got nervous about theirs

also also also frankie: "Anything for you, Cleo!"

also also also also frankie, after cleo holds their face and compliments them:

Me: what do they talk about? well mostly frankie just flits with her and is smitten and stuff XD

[winter-leftovers]

Til The End Of Eternity || Chapter twenty two: For The Glory Of Merlin (22/?)

(Douxie Casperan x f!reader)

Summary: Y/n is trying to figure her life out but is going to be hard since her brother is the new trollhunter and she is plagued by dreams and feelings she doesn’t understand.

Chapter Summary: The trollhunter team enters Merlin’s tomb. Y/n can’t keep her secret anymore.

Word count: 2883

Warnings: canon death/suicide, a drip of angst?

(Season 3 Episodes 7, 8)

Song?: American Teenager by Ethel Cain

Previous - Next

Masterlist

The trollhunter team entered Merlin’s tomb ready to face whatever was inside waiting for them. Y/n was ready to let them face the tests on their own. She trusted her friends, she trusted her father if this was meant to be then they didn’t need her.

She felt like a scientist observing her little mice, getting excited when Toby accidentally stepped on the right tile but frustrated when he didn’t realize what the bag was for. Luckily, Claire quickly sprung into action solving the puzzle in record time. Putting the bag on the tile, taking the room back in time, planting the seed next to the wall they needed to climb, going back and taking the room back to the present with a gigantic plant that they could climb to get to the other side, all in less than five minutes.

Y/n had to bite her cheek to stop a laugh from erupting from her chest. She imagined her father seeing this, seeing Claire demolish his ‘oh so clever trap’ in record time.

“Claire, you’re a genius”

“Good work, Claire”

The team praised as they climbed the root to the other room.

The second room was dark. Here there was no light shining through the outside.

“Ugh” Toby grunted. He had tripped on a rock “Wish we had a light”

“Oh, wait” Claire opened her backpack and pulled out a flashlight “I hate it when my parents are right” she moved the flashlight trying to get a sense of the room.

Claire’s light hit the wall, they returned a green light. The girl frowned, pointing her flashlight directly to the wall not moving it this time.

“Whoa” Toby gasped.

The walls illuminated revealing drawings along them.

Toby ran to observe the drawings from up close.

“Great Gorgus!” Exclaimed Blinky “This appears to be a depiction of history. A timeline”

“The staff of avalon” Jim pointed out.

Y/n got closer to the wall to observe the drawings. She saw Morgana standing proudly next to Merlin, it was back when she was his student, back when hope was still enough. She saw her father standing tall, serious, a little more hair than he had the last time she saw him and then, down to the left, she saw herself with her staff, she was still a child. It was an anomaly that a child had won their staff but she’s her father’s daughter.

She caressed the indentation in the wall, her posture may indicate determination but she was still a child with sad eyes. Y/n smiled, her sadness indicated one thing, that Douxie wasn’t living in the castle yet. Her determination was a facade for the kingdom to see. She wishes she could go back in time to say to herself ‘Hang on! A raven haired boy and his cat are going to come by and save you!’

Y/n’s reflection is cut short by Aaarrrgghh’s roar. She turns around and sees Angor Rot attack the troll with his dagger.

“Run for your life!” Blinky screamed at the trio.

The kids ran as fast as they could but Angor was mad, focused on killing them. He was able to catch up with them by climbing the wall. He jumped and grabbed Jim’s arms, both of them falling to the ground.

“Trollhunter!” Angor Rot squeezed his dagger.

Jim screamed when he saw the troll face from up close.

Aaarrrgghh hit the wall creating an avalanche of stones, giving Jim the possibility to escape from Angor Rot grasp and the trollhunter team to escape from the room.

“Ha! Oh!” Toby laughed before he tripped on something hard.

They turned around and Claire illuminated the floor. Draal’s arm was squeezed into a gate on the floor.

“Draal” Jim took the arm out activating the sharp blades of the trap.

“Is a dead end” Claire said as the blades spun threatening to tear them apart.

Angor Rot screamed as he escaped his tomb of stones, dagger in hand.

“Plan! Plan! Plan? Anyone? We need a plan!” Toby screamed, stretching his arms, trying to protect his friends behind him.

“Draal’s arm. Gunmar must’ve used it to halt the blades” said Blinky.

“Here goes something!” Jim pushed the bronze hand against the blades stopping the mechanism.

Angor Rot growled and charged like a mad bull.

“Go, go, go” Jim was the last to jump, taking Draal’s hand with him.

“I’ll kill you” the troll screamed.

“Jim!!” Toby screamed as he lost his balance on the white quartz he was standing on.

“Wingman!!” Aaarrrgghh ran behind him, jumping to the void and grabbing the quartz as he was able to catch Toby by his pants “Gotcha!”

“Toby!!” Y/n ran to the border and saw the troll balancing himself with one hand while with the other he was holding Toby as they hanged over nothingness.

“I never thought I’d enjoy a wedgie so much” Toby laughed.

Y/n chuckled in relief, walking back giving Aaarrrgghh and Toby space to climb back.

Outside of the cave, in the event of danger, she had her magic, she could always step up if the situation needed it but here, in the cave where no magic was allowed, the only thing she had was a dagger that was useless in this situation.

“Oh, Nana was right. Gonna need those extra undies” Toby panted, fixing his pants.

“Toby” Claire screamed as she threw herself in her arms.

Jim put his free hand on his shoulder with a smile.

Y/n ruffled his hair.

“By Deya’s grace. It appears we’re in the innermost sanctum. The heart of Merlin’s tomb” Blinky admired the infinity cave illuminated by white crystals.

“If this is the heart, I bet Merlin’s staff is somewhere close” said Jim.

Angor Rot’s screams and struggle to get through could still be heard in the distance.

“Draal can’t be far. Look for the staff, I’ll get him back” Jim continued.

“I’ll go with you” Y/n looked at Jim.

“Y/n, no”

“Listen, there’s not much time and you can’t really win me in stubbornness”

Toby nodded

“So I’m going with you. You have no excuse this time. No armor, no sword, no amulet”

Jim took a moment to observe her sister and frowned “Fine” Jim nodded.

“There’s only one way to go” said Blinky

“Down!” Completed Aaarrrgghh

The siblings started to climb down the never ending stairs of crystals in silence. Y/n walked a little behind Jim.

‘He has grown so much’ she thought as she observed the way he walked. The determination in his face, his baby face that couldn’t grow a beard yet ‘Young. Much too young’

She wondered what was with the world and the chosen ones. Why must they be that young? Was it absolutely necessary for the plan? Was the sacrifice of the youth an element so necessary that we must use it again, again and again?

She had lived almost nineteen years next to her father and had never come close to understanding the why of the youngness of the victors, of the saints, of the greats, of the trollhunter in this case. Nine thousand nineteen years walking this earth and still she can’t find an answer as to why a sixteen year old. Why her sixteen year old brother?

Guilt brews in her stomach. If she was able to face Morgana without folding to the memory of what once was maybe this wouldn’t be happening.

“Nothing yet over here” Jim screamed to his friends “This place feels like it goes on forever” he said lower.

“I know, right?” Y/n said, trying to swallow the guilt.

Jim kept walking, gaining distance from his sister. A big growl made Y/n run behind him.

“Guys, I found Draal!” Jim's scream resonated through the cave.

“Hurry! We should regroup” screamed back Blinky.

“Are you okay?!” Y/n screamed when she saw her brother laying down on the ground.

Draal sighed. He was already resigned to the uncomfortable position he was in, multiple crystals holding him in place.

“I’m alright!” Jim stood up and went to help Draal, Y/n right behind him.

“I made an oath to protect you. I have broken that oath. I remember attacking you. I have lost my honor, failed you all!” Draal said, clenching his fist.

“No. It’s not your fault. Gunmar forced you to do things you would never have done yourself. You were under his control” Jim helped the troll put his metal arm and looked him into the eyes “You’re not just my protector, Draal. You’re my friend” Jim hugged Draal, surprising the troll but he quickly reciprocated it.

Y/n looked up trying to give them some privacy.

“Where is it?” Gunmar's angry screams echoed through the cave.

“Gunmar” Y/n looked at Jim.

“We gotta beat him to the staff” Jim turned to Draal “Come on, Draal”

“By my father’s name, he will taste vengeance!” The troll chuckled.

The three of them started to climb down the crystals.

“I see it!” Claimed Jim.

Y/n looked down and saw the green glimmer of the staff of Avalon. The staff was embedded in a crystal cut in half. She took a deep breath. They were halfway through their trip.

“Gunmar’s almost got the staff” Jim said as he slid down to a place Y/n couldn’t follow.

“You get to the staff! I’ll take care of Gunmar” Draal turned his back, inviting Jim to climb in “Hang on, Trollhunter!” He screamed as he jumped to the crystal holding the staff.

“No” Y/n whispered, extending her hands as if she could stop them. She hanged there as she saw Draal pushing Gunmar out of the way so Jim could grab the staff of Avalon. She let go of the worry she had stuck in her lungs in the form of a chuckle when she saw Jim wielding the staff.

“Trollhunter” Angor Rot fell from the sky falling onto the crystal Jim was standing, the strength of the fall breaking it.

“Jim” Y/n screamed.

The trollhunter fell backwards with the crystal clinging to it only with one hand.

“Give me the staff, Trollhunter!” Gunmar jumped to the sinking crystal and tried to take the staff from him.

Jim jumped to the side but the movements of the crystal made him fall.

“Gatcha” Drall caught him by the feet and threw him back into action.

Y/n dug her nails into the crystal, she felt every piece dug into her skin but she couldn’t feel the pain. She couldn’t intervene. She couldn’t help. She felt the tears burning her face as she saw Gunmar clawing Draal’s chest, as she heard her brother plead for the life of his friend.

“We are too late. Gunmar has the staff!” Blinky gasps.

Y/n shakes her head, trying to concentrate back in the present. She let go of the crystal she was holding and jumped to the one her friends were in observing Gunmar stealing the staff.

The group gasped. Angor Rot jumped, magic dagger in hand, ready to stab Jim but Draal stood in the way, getting stabbed instead. Draal quickly grabbed Angor Rot in a chokehold, if he was going down he was going to take the evil that killed him with him.

“You would give your life for a human? Why?” Angor tried to escape Draal’s grip but it was impossible.

“Because he’s my friend!” Draal walked backwards and looked at Jim one last time “It has been my honor, fleshbag” he said before jumping.

“Draal” Jim screamed, running toward the edge where his friend had jumped. Blinky and Toby followed him and dragged him out of the collapsing crystal

“Draal” Jim kept calling.

Y/n held Jim into her arms and whispered into his brother’s hair “He’s gone, Jim, I’m sorry”

“And without the magic of the staff, the cave is collapsing” Blinky warned.

They looked up and saw Aaarrrgghh stopping a crystal big enough to smash all of them.

“Go” screamed the troll as he toasted the crystal into the abyss.

The team ran following the light of an exit that was crushed by a rock big enough that not even Aaarrrgghh could lift.

“Too big” Aaarrrgghh said as he pushed the boulder.

“It’s okay, wingman. You tried” consoled Toby.

“It’s hardly okay” Blinky pushed past Toby. Y/n doesn’t remember seeing him leave “We’re on the distinctly wrong side of the cavern’s collapse. Merlin’s tomb will now apparently become our own” he screamed as he pushed the rock.

The cavern’s growls became more intense, suddenly the crystal started to fall more strongly and frequently. The team ran to Aaarrrgghh looking for refuge.

Y/n closed her eyes trying not to laugh at the irony of dying at the hands of the contraption she builded. As if the world was answering her, the falling of rubble stopped.

“Or we could go that way. There’s an opening” Claire pointed out.

“Thus affording us the opportunity to be trapped somewhere else” complained Blinky.

“Or it’s a way out, huh?” Said Toby “You just gotta think positive”

“I’m not entirely sure I know how” explained Blinky as they started to walk the new path.

“We can tell” said Y/n.

The team kept walking, hiking the falling crystals.

“We need to find a way to go up” said Jim.

“Hmm. Right. Yeah, look for some stairs or better yet, an elevator” Toby laughed

Y/n laughed. She was glad for Toby’s humor right now because she had no idea where they were.

“That way!” Indicated Aaarrrgghh.

Everyone followed and Y/n wished she could live in a moment ago, when she was ignorant of where they were.

“Great Globus, it’s him” announced Blinky.

“Is it really?” Asked Claire

“Must be” said Aaarrrgghh

“Merlin” Jim named him and the stone from the amulet that he kept in his pocket started to shine. He took it out and walked towards the sleeping wizard.

Y/n started to walk backwards, trying to blend with the walls. A part of her wanted to run to her father’s arms, the other just wanted to disappear.

Two small lights jumped from the stone to Merlin’s eyes. Jim got closer, illuminating the wizard with the stone trying to observe him closer. Merlin’s eyes opened wide and took a deep breath, swallowing the spiderwebs. Jim screamed in terror.

Y/n put a hand in his mouth, trying to keep the laughter from coming out.

Jim stood up and observed in awe at the one dead wizard now having a coughing fit.

Merlin, now calm down, lay back down and looked to the side

“Are you the trollhunter?”

“Uh, uh” Jim couldn’t speak.

“I thought you’d be taller” Melin said.

Y/n started to bite her hand so she wouldn’t laugh.

“Yes, I expected much taller. And older” Merlin dusted his armor of “How old are you? Ten?

“Uh, sixteen?” Jim smiled.

“I guess I was only off by, mmm…” Merlin lay back down and started to do the math in his head “Six plus four, carry the one…fourteen years”

Y/n’s laughter died in her throat, her hands fell to her side ‘He wasn’t expecting a child?’

“Holy Merlin. It’s really you!” Toby screamed.

“Just what kind of troll are you?” Merlin looked at Toby up and down

“I’m not a troll! I’m a Toby”

“And who is this lovely creature?”

Claire chuckled.

Y/n smiled. She remembered being a child and her father playing pretend with her. Dancing around his office and all his introductions starting with “And who is this lovely creature?”

“Blinkous Galadrigal, at your ser…”

“Not you” Merlin stopped Blinky and turned back to Claire “You”

“Uh, Claire Nuñez, sir” she walked out from behind Blinky.

“A pleasure, my dear”

“Oh, she gets to be “my dear”” Toby turns to Y/n and rolls his eyes.

Y/n opens her eyes wide. She looks back at Merlin, but he was busy cracking every bone in his body. She sighed in relief.

“Okay, then, first things first” Merlin rubbed his hands “Why haven’t you greeted me?” He lifts his brow.

The team looked at each other in confusion.

Y/n pushed herself out of the wall

“I…I…” her mouth opened and closed but no sound came out.

“I can see you” Merlin insisted.

The team turned and looked at Y/n.

“I thought…you may want to meet the team first” her accent heavy on her tongue.

“Come to the light” the wizard ordered but his voice was soft.

Y/n looked at her friends' confused faces and looked down, walking the few steps that separated her from her father.

She saw her father’s beard contour in a smile that she mirrored.

“Hi” she whispered as she looked up to his blue eyes.

“I’ve been away for a long time” He grabs her by the shoulders “You really have grown, birdie” he whispers only for her to hear.

Y/n smiles and nods, trying to hold the tears in place. She imagined a thousand times having her father back in front of her, she never imagined her anger would melt.

“I have missed you, father” she smiles, taking one of his hands.

“Whaaaaat?” Toby says.

A/n: this is my version of Merlin and you are so not ready for it!!!

how many chapters do you think it’s going to take me to use drywall by paris paloma or tolerate it by taylor swift? 🤔 i have a whole daddy issues playlist dont tempt me to use more than one song

[literary-illuminati]

2024 Book Review #23 – Montress Volume 4: The Chosen by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda

My monthly Monstress read! Because spacing them out forces me to evaluate each volume more as an independent piece in itself (still not very good at this), and also putting five books between each 6-issue comic volume makes it feel less like cheating. This volume was still very good, but also pretty easily the weakest of the four I’ve read so far – though honestly I can’t be entirely sure how much of that is honest analysis and how much is me just finding a couple big choices made this volume very aesthetically disagreeable.

The story picks up with a bit of a timeskip from the previous book, as Kippa’s kidnappers carry away to their employer and Maika and Corvin furiously search for her. Kippa manages to escape into an incredibly cursed tomb and gets to safety with the help of a selectively friendly dragon, while Maika is captured herself while trying to rescue her – and finds out that the ‘Lord Doctor’ who had Kippa kidnapped is her father, a centuries-old direct descendant of the Shaman Empress who has assembled a collection of warlords and cultists he plans to found an empire on. He attempts to sell her on accepting a role as the princess of his Court of Blood as he plots to set off the world war everyone knows is brewing, and also to embrace the whole cannibalistic-eldritch-monster-symbiote thing and just stop worrying and eat people. Maika, of the arbitrary and incoherent but very stronglt felt moral code, is not an easy sell on this.

My biggest issue with the volume is just that it feels a bit disjointed, I think? Not that previous volumes haven’t had mostly separate plot threads running through them, but this one felt more meandering than any of the others I’ve read so far. The impression wasn’t really helped by how much of it felt like it was just jumping from Kippa getting exposited to by a dracul to Maika getting lectured by her father, either. The little cutaways to Vihn and Ren or Tuya and the Warlord were both great on their own merits, but they didn’t exactly improve the sense of narrative focus or forward momentum.

Part of that was just this being (if I recall correctly) the first time that the Maika/Ren/Kippa trio’s been separated for functionally an entire volume? I really didn’t realize how much I missed the dynamic each of the three has with the other two until it was gone. I can only hope they stick together a bit more from here on out.

As for more obviously subjective issues – I really, really don’t like the fact that Marium (the Cumena’s messiah-figure) was apparently deeply tied into whatever was going on with Zinn and the Shaman Empress? It’s just too neat and tidy, tying everything important that ever happened into one tight weave. Makes the whole setting feel claustrophobic.

Besides that – and this is pure aesthetics – but blech, really don’t particularly care for the way that the Ancient’s, uh, ancient civilization is shown and described almost through the idiom of science fiction? Skyscrapers and flying cars and hyper-[magi]-tech and a past descending from distant stars to claim this new world. It’s just kind of boring, I guess? Two great tastes that absolutely do not taste great together.

Not to say this was bad, or anything – I absolutely still enjoyed it overall, and it never became a chore to read. Maika’s cosmically comically awful family is always fun (even if I wish the Doctor would die sooner rather than latter, preferably messily), and even if Zinn’s layered tragic backstories are getting a bit much, the complication of its relationship with the Shaman-Empress is intriguing in its own right. Also Tuya and the Warlord’s toxic yuri soap opera is amazing and I kind of want a whole issue of just them tearing into each other (though the Warlord so far seems to really be a bit of a dumb brute. Really not holding her own).But the baseline set by the previous volumes is high, and it doesn’t really quite live up to them.

In terms of writing anyway, the art remains as sublime as ever. One thing that especially that struck me this time was just how unique and high-quality the designs of characters who are, functionally, extras there to provide background color were. Both the various warmasters of the Blood Court and Kippa’s kidnappers had these incredibly rich, detailed designs that were just full of personality and individual flourishes – it really is one of the main appeals of the book.

[imaginatorofthings]

Oooh, for the quote ask game, could I have 🥀, 🌷, and 🔥, please?

Ooo thank you Aria!

🥀 favorite angst quote from a published work

Ooo, I don't write lots of angst for some reason, but I'll put in the first thing that comes to mind here.

Yes it's original-esque, and yes it's from my "The Locked Tomb" AU for my OCs because I HAD THOUGHT ABOUT THIS I WROTE CHAPTER AFTER CHAPTER FOR A WHILE.

Dare the soul say, to The River. But the soul didn’t say a word, and they didn’t know what sort of compulsion overcame them when they raised the hand that was closest to the not-corpse and gently placed it against their face. Maybe it was the body. The not-corpse flinched, then gently placed a white, gloved hand over the body’s hand on their face. That gloved hand lay there for another breath before it closed around the body’s hand and gently placed it back on the body’s stomach. In that moment, the not-corpse looked like the saddest person in the whole world.

🌷 favorite sweet quote from a published work

Mmmmm I do love my OCs. BUT! Surprise, I'm going to pick something else. It's sweet and silly, fitting of the Nimbasa Trio in a Soul Eater AU!

Elesa glanced between the two of them. Just watching the two trying to dispel their nervous energy caused some of her residual nerves to try to build up again. However, she shook out her hands and stomped her foot on the ground. “We are the Nimbasa Trio! We carry the pride and joy of our district far beyond New York city! We’re the best of the best out there, and we’re the best of the best here!” She struck a pose, one manicured hand pointed up and the other one pointed down. Her puffy yellow jacket made her upper body look like an appealing plate of fluffy scrambled eggs, and she shook out her black hair so they fell at just the right angle around her red and blue headphones. Her electric blue eyes shone with determination and pride. “We’re the Nimbasa trio!” Emmet was the first to join in on her posing. He dropped into a squat and raised one of his arms up while pointing the other one forwards. He stuck one foot out and his smile grew. “I am Emmet, and we’re the Nimbasa trio!” Ingo joined in, raising one of his arms and keeping the other pointed downwards. To Elesa’s joy, he allowed himself to slightly cock out one of his hips as the corners of his frown turned upwards, resulting in a cat-like expression. “We’re the Nimbasa Trio! All aboard!” “All aboard!” echoed Emmet. “Our team will be the next one to make your heads spin!” Elesa announced. Build up that confidence, and natural charisma will follow!

🔥 wild card: dealer’s choice of quote from a wip

Oh, I only have two main WIPs at the moment, and one of them isn't meant for the public eye just yet (novella ideas, save me).

SO YOU GET MORE OF MY OCS!! In a DND/Fantasy-esque world no less! If you can understand the spells I tried to use here, then all the better for you!

The bespeckled one — Whynn was their name — startled at the sudden shift in attention towards them. They flinched, raised both of their hands up, and squeaked a few short words out. A faint pulse of magic caused the dagger to bounce off harmlessly, opening up room for Zephyr to wriggle in between Whynn’s outstretched arms. Between AT-1225 rushing in to grab at the wrist holding the necklace of fireballs and whispering a spell, Zephyr somehow managed to touch the intruder and send a small shock of lightning through it. Thankfully, whatever spell the child cast didn’t spread to the warforged, who would rather not have to deal with the electric sparks possibly frying its limbs and power source.

[kaddyssammlung]

Take Me Back To Eden-

transcript from the Revolver mag Special Edition

I don't own any of this!

In the cold, slow-moving early days of January 2023, something incredible happened, with

no warning. Sleep Token unleashed a new song upon the world that was, at the time, their

most jaw-dropping offering to date. Chokehold begins omniously with a scratching, grinding buzz and Vessel sings declaratively “When we were made, it was no accident, We were tangled up like branches in a flood”. The soft trill of a piano comes in, the suspense builds and then one of the most dramatic riffs the band have committed to record crashes down.It's just the first twist in a dynamic single full of them.

Chokehold struck a crowd with fans and landed Sleep Token cosigns from some unlikely voices. Lorna Shore, frontman and deathcore YouTube star Will Ramos covered the song and then dissected Vessel's vocal technique with a panel of experts. On the Charismatic Voice YouTube channel. Even Wilder was when American Idol star Chris Daughtry surprised a crowd at London's Royal Albert Hall with a dusky acoustic performance of the single. Yet the most remarkable thing about Chokehold is that, for all the fervor it steered, the song Sleep Token released just 24 hours later had even more profound impact on their career. On January 6th, the day after Chokehold's release, the band dropped a second 2023 single called The Summoning. If Chokehold started a fire, this new song poured kerosene on it. A near 7-minute masterpiece, The Summoning took Sleep Token genre blending approach to new extremes, spanning the divide between death metal-esque savagery and slutty funk. Not only did it work socially, but it somehow made beautiful sense conceptually. The song quickly went viral on TikTok, partly because of the stunning contrast between the styles it plays with and also due to its esoterically charged lyrics. Sleep Token had hinted at lustful thoughts in the past, but The Summoning was easily the most overtly sexual song to date. At this point, over half a decade into their career, Sleep Token were hardly unknowns, and the hype around them had been building in the underground alternative metal scene. But the one true punch of Chokehold into the Summoning sent them skyward.

Sleep Token dominated online conversation, trending on Twitter for days on end, and their streaming numbers shot through the roof. Multiple songs trended on Spotify simultaneously, but it was The Summoning that really took off, rocketing to 15 million plays on the platform in less than two months. As of this writing, it tops 18 million Spotify streams. On January 17th, Sleep Token embarked on a sold-out UK headlining tour, playing some of their biggest venues to date, including the 5,000 capacity Hammersmith Apollo in West London. Befitting the band's grounding audience and the launch of their latest chapter, these rituals were notably scaled up in terms of production. Sleep Token performed amid a stage setup, festooned with plants, and vessels started wearing an elaborate shoulder piece emblazoned with gold to protect him from sleep, for some fans have theorized.

Additionally, the trio of female backing singers from 2022's Room Below Ritual were along for the ride. The three women affectionately nicknamed the Vesselettes in some fan circles, performed in cloaks, their faces covered while they stood eerily stuck still. The tour was made even more special by Sleep Token, debuting two brand new songs during their set, the angsty pop metal exercise Granite and the elegant, chest-infused Aqua Regia. The studio versions were released in the middle of the tour, once again dropping within 24 hours of each other on January 18th and 19th. Respectfully, even before Sleep Token's third album was formally announced, fans understood that this sudden wave of new songs heralded an imminent follow-up to This Place Will Become Your Tomb. After the release of the apocalyptically heavy Vore in the middle of February. That speculation became fact, Take me Back to Eden, was announced for a mid-may release and was set to be the final installment of the band's album trilogy. The group's devotees had already been trying to figure out the record's title from the secret code that had appeared on the band's lead-up graphics. On Take Me Back to Eden, the turbulent hot and cold dynamic between Vessel and Sleep reaches its breaking point. His devotion to and lust for Sleep persists, but Vessel recognizes that he is quite literally in a Chokehold within their relationship, even more so than on the band's previous work. His emotions were conflicted enough on this record. On Granite, Vessel rages against Sleep's uncommunicative behavior, even labeling him aggressive and controlling, while on Aqua Regia, despite the song's undercurrent of desire, he affirms that he is done dancing to alarm bells.

By track 9, Do You Wish That You Loved Me he reaches the firm conclusion that not only is Sleep incapable of returning the love he has craved all along, but perhaps Vessel himself cannot muster the same devotion he seeks from the deity. I cannot hope to give you what I cannot give myself.

By the album's closing track, Euclid, the relationship has finally splintered,leaving Vessel feeling reflective but also anxious to move forward knowing that Ijust need to leave this part of me behind.

Once again, every song to Take Me Back to Eden comes with its own visual identity, but the symbology is Sleep token's most complex and detailed to date.

Each song is represented by its own fantastical character, best described as monsters or demons that are illustrated by Alex Tillbrook in the art booklet that comes with physical copies of the record. Some of the creatures appear in music videos' form as well. Each character looks distinct from the others, but they do share some common features. Many have devil-like horns, and the majority have an unusual number of body parts. The character representing Ascensionism has four arms. The one for Rain has three heads, and the creature for Chokehold has numerous arachnid-like legs.

Meanwhile, the character representing War has arms with two venues, flytrap-like mouths in place of hands, echoing the song's motif of consumption and swallowing, and linking to its title's reference to the fetish voraphilia, the erotic desire to consume or to be consumed by another person or creature. In addition, most of the characters hold at least one weapon, and many wear some form of armour. These accoutrements are possible, reflective of the heightened sense of conflict between Wesley and Sleep throughout the album.

The character representing the summoning, who wears a shoulder piece akin to the one

that Vessel wears on stage, clutches a huge gun, almost as big as the creature itself, while others wield axes and other bladed weapons. In two of its four hands, the floating character in a knight's helmet representing Ascensionism holds a handgun and a three-pronged dagger, like a mini version of Poseidon's trident. There are also a few references to weaponry in the lyrics in Chokehold. Wesley reclaims, I come as a blade, a sacred guardian. When in Aqua Regia,he speaks of a perfect start to a perfect war, putting down the roses, picking up the sword.

One compelling fan theory about these characters is that their sleep previous vessels. Others speculate that they could be a physical manifestation of Vessel's personal demons, or even past versions of Vessel himself. Indeed, there are references to the concept of past lives on the album. In Ascensionism, the line, tell me you met me in past lives,suggests Vessel's and Sleep's toxic bond predates this lifetime, or perhaps that's just what Sleep tells Vessel to create, the illusion that their connection is stronger than it really is. The Apparition reinforces the idea, well I believe somewhere in the past, something was between you and I in my dear. If Sleep and Vessel have been entangled for decades or even centuries across different incarnations, it raises the question of what the weapons are for.

Are they for Vessel to use while defending and protecting Sleep, or tools for him to battle the deity as the toxicity between them worsens? The two song-representing characters who've most intrigued fans correspond to the album's final two tracks, both are quite different compared to their armoured, multi-limbed peers. The figure for the pain-mouthed song Take Me Back to Eden, interestingly Sleep Token's only title track to date, has no face but bears angel wings and a scythe. Their juxtaposed element of an angel and a Grim Reaper evoke themes of death, worship,and immortality. All themes that crop up at the end of the album's story defend consensus as that title track concludes Take Me Back to Eden, while the album's actual closer Euclid wraps up the trilogy overall serving as a sort of epilogue. The character representing that song is a masked figure dressed in a toga-like garment holding Vessel's severed head. What does that ominous image mean about the future of Sleep Token? Some fear it's a signal at the end of the band, while others have wondered if it foreshadows the group re-emerging with a new story and a new look perhaps similar to the way Slipknot changed the mask with each album's cycle, or how Ghost kill-off versions of Papa Emeritus to make way for a successor. At the very least, the figure reflects the song's focus on rebirth throughout the death of the old Vessel proclaims I must be someone now. Musically Take Me Back to Eden is Sleep Token's most ambitious body of work to date.

Its sonic rage is considerably greater than This Place where we come here to folding in sounds and genres. The band hadn't touched before. The extremes are also so much more pronounced.

The summoning and Vore are the heaviest songs of their career so far, while a eerie, almost tropical-sounding deary statue of me is Sleep Token at their poppiest. Meanwhile, the colossal Are You Really Okay feels like Sleep Token's taken a arena-sized ballad, though its lyrics are claustrophobic, dark, and hint at self-harm. Since its corresponding character is holding a baby ( Since its corresponding character is holding a baby and the song mentions Vessel being woken up by a loved one dripping crimson on the carpet, some fans have posited that Are You Really Okay is not about self-harm at all, but rather a miscarriage). The most impressive musical feats on the record, however, are Sleep Token's two longest songs to date. The super-sized pair the 7-minute Ascensionism and 8-minute Plus Take Me Back to Eden unify every aspect of Sleep Token's sound, from delicate piano balladery to crushing heavy metal to bursts of trap-infused R&B (Both notably use autotune to add a disembodied quality to vessel's voice.)

Together, the two pieces feel like a culmination of the band's sonic explorations so far, elevating the music into the heady realm of progressive rock while floating with the long-form movement-based structures of classical music. Even as it marks an incredible step forward for the band, both creatively and commercially it landed at number 16 on the Billboard 200 Take Me Back to Eden and occasionally looks back. It's the most self-referential installment of Sleep Token's trilogy, especially towards its conclusion where the nods to previous songs become most overt in particular lines in the opening verse of Take Me Back to Eden.

I dream of phosphorescence, bleed through spaces, and we drive through crystal waters Perfect oceans can be interpreted with callbacks to sundowning in this place will become your tomb, read prospectively. Later, the titled rap evokes the LP's beginning by echoing the opening lines of Chokehold, creating poeticbookends to the album's narrative. Similarly, the entire trilogy concludes looping around to its start with a section of The Night Does Not Belong to God being revived in Euclid, bringing the story full circle. As for Sleep Token's own story, Euclid's image of a vesseldisembodied hit notwithstanding the band's journey continues. At least for now, Take Me Back to Eden has skyrocketed them to previously unimaginable heights. The latest, this anonymous masked band with their eccentric whip, lashing sound, and dizzying mythology have become bona fide arena headliners. They sold out a breakthrough-year-capping December gig at London's12,500-capacity Wembley Arena within just 10 minutes. We know Sleep Token's story will continue in 2024, too. They already have shows booked, including an April run in Australia, an appearance at Las Vegas' sick New World Festival. We want that. What does the future hold?

Might they scale even higher heights? To sleep, to dream.

[mejomonster]

Mysterious lotus casebook, just fun things~

Li Lianhua calling his old rival A Fei which is just such a familiar name (I'm only used to Zhao Yunlan asking a crush to call him A Lan so). Like what a choice. Can't figure out an alias for ur super famous rival? Call him an intimate nickname. Sure.

Fang duobing being the MOST territorial man to ever live. Grabs hold of li lianhua and won't let go and moves himself in. Doesn't like li lianhuas other friends. Actively tries to Beat the shit out of them and give them bad food. On a mission to drive them OUT. Absolutely enraged over said nickname A Fei. Ready to throw hands nonstop

Fang duobing being That Bitch who says "you're my partner" nonstop within like a week of meeting. He could shake hands with Wei Wuxian calling Zhou Zishu his soulmate by ep 8 of Word of Honor lmao. But like genuinely, while partner im gonna interpret only as meant to be "detective partner/work partner" I still think it's Mighty Clingy of him to force li lianhua to be his partner lmao.

Fang duobing being such a fucking little liar who lies. "Fine I'm going my separate way" proceeds to move into the guest bedroom and eat all meals together. "Fine I'm not going to ask you to solve a crime with me" except I'm absolutely going to drag you into my shit until I get you mixed up in the case anyway uvu then insist you MUST help (and you won't want me to die so you will... and eventually fang duobings strategy DOES work... because eventually li lianhua goes back for him, like in the tomb, instead of leaving him behind anymore).

Fang duobing being like "You're ordinary, I'll protect you!" And like while in a way he's right, it's hilarious he's saying that to the Once Upon a Time second best fighter in the world. I also love how he immediately took the job of guard dog to heart: he is ride or die ready to do anything to protect his new coerced partner li lianhua.

I also like that him being ADAMANTLY ready to save li lianhua and protect him at all times, means we get plenty of rescues that aren't even a big deal. I think it's funny to compare the rescues to Ultimate Note and wu xie for two reasons. 1. Because Joseph zeng is playing the rescuer this time, and fang duobing is way more vocal about wanting to save li lianhua than xiaoge ever is, so it's cute to hear how intently up for Heroics the rescuer is. 2. Ultimate Note, like pretty much all dmbj for some reason, goes Really Shippy whenever it would do rescue scenes (you know what I mean... romantic music, long gazes into each other's eyes, romantic framing). It's interesting to see this show NOT do that, despite possibly even more frequent rescue scenes. I think it's a good idea but like... for a few reasons? First, li lianhua is experienced in fighting so he's not naive damsel in the way wu xie is, and he assumes he'll die so he doesn't really have major fear when he's in danger. Second, the whole tone of the show is more practical. I think the positive of this is we get really nice emotional scenes between the main trio that don't feel like jokes, and feel important as major relationships (which would also I guess be good for ships), and while it therefore doesn't really hit romance tropes (making bl potential scenes thankfully not get overt attention but also making it more vague, doing the same with women love interests so their scenes likewise feel less overtly intense as well) it does mean the weight of all scenes feels more balanced. I would compare it to how The Untamed handled all scenes romantic, platonic, familial in extremely similar ways in terms of feel. It made the romance stand out less, but it also meant the familial ties and friendship scenes felt Equally weighted. Which is a positive trait for this kind of show, I think, to weight all relationship types equally. While yeah it means ships of any kind become more subtle, I think it also makes all dynamics feel like they're closer to equal importance.

Fang duobing being a rich boy hypocrite is just The funniest fucking. It's so clear he's used to getting his way and it's part of why he grabbed li lianhua and didn't let go. He's got a mix of "genuinely wants to help people" that drives him to do good things like try to stop murderers and protect people until proven guilty and pursue evidence and the truth. Then he's also got that inherent quality of he's always gotten what he wants, he doesn't think he should ever Stop getting it. He's broke and starving, but only Very Nice tasting food he particularly craves is worth saying yes to. He's arrested? Use his family name and status and Baichuan courts sway to get himself free and bully the suspects into cooperating more. Li lianhua doesn't want him? Insist he's a Generous Hero for offering to protect/help li lianhua and no one should refuse such a Gift (so fang duobing simply won't be refused). A fei shows up and clearly has an existing (closer) relationship to li lianhua? Be a complete bitch to him to the point where it's leaning into harassment, try to chase him away, because if li lianhua is HIS then obviously he should be HIS more than he should be close to anyone else. Like an extremely territorial pet, he wants the most attention the most given to him from li lianhua and he does NOT want anyone to get as close to li lianhua as he is. Or at least as close as he Wishes he was (which is partners in solving cases and Life that travel the jianghu together... which... its fascinating he's really locked onto an "ordinary" person for this desire, you would think he'd want a martial arts master for that... but I think fang duobing enjoys feeling like the powerful one who can show off, impress, protect, and teach his partner... especially because his ego takes a hit with struggling to get into baichuan and being a subpar investigator compared to doctor li lianhua. It's clear fang duobing is used to being The Best, and while he wants to learn from li lianhua to fix his own shortcomings in investigating, he also probably appreciates he's BETTER at this ordinary man at things like fighting and it helps keep his ego from tanking. He could go find a jianghu martial arts master... but then they'd be better than him in All areas potentially. And then he'd just feel like shit. Hed rather have a teacher to learn from, who he can also feel NEEDS him. Fang duobing wants to be a hero, a damsel who repeatedly finds himself in danger is a great person for him to have around as it gives fang duobing repeated opportunities to show off how he's Valuable and Talented and Impressive and Needed by others. And oh boy... there's probably a LOT to say about how fang duobing grew up sick, weak, struggled to make progress and put in intense effort to be the best fighter of his age and best baichuan candidate, and how that pursuit means he really wants to Prove he's valuable outside of his family name. Because family name was all he started with, and he wanted to be like his uncle who proved himself Outside of the political system. He wanted to be like li xianyi who was a hero among those people, who even wanted to bring laws and justice to the jianghu, who treated fang duobing fairly and equally even as an ordinary weak young boy. Fang duobing INTENSELY desires to prove he's useful, needed, and has proven himself as capable in his own right. Li lianhua Feeds into those emotional needs a lot, and that alone would be enough for fang duobing to want to cling SO hard to him.)

Yeah more of just. How much I love fang duobing the lying liar who lies. He will be against tomb raiding but want a treasure to heal li lianhua. He will say he's fucking off and not going to bug former suspect li lianhua anymore then turn around and stalk him. He'll get told to leave and barge in and eat the man's fucking food. He is very set in getting what he wants, and he's not beyond doing whatever he wants to Get those things. Sure, he wouldn't kill someone or steal from a living person (at least not yet... he does have a lot of upstanding morals). But he's not above bullying an ordinary person who can't push back except intellectual, or trying to strong arm said intellectuals close friends to back the fuck off Fang Duobings PARTNER, or strong arm anyone who starts refusing him with whatever tools he's got (from his sword to his family's power to baichuan connections).

[a-model-of-propriety]

could you please describe all of the oc/au universes?

YES, I'd be more than happy to describe them all!

From the Ship Logbooks is the universe of my sailors (Nikolai Antonov, Enok Johansen, and Andrey Morozov). They are members of Robert Walton's second Arctic Expedition crew and as such are background characters in a Frankenstein sequel that @mist-the-wannabe-linguist and a couple others are in the process of creating. Several of my mutuals have also created sailor characters, but we aren't part of writing the book itself. We just play with and torment our sailors like they're Barbie dolls <3

Modern Mayhem (aka ModMay) is my Gothic Literature Crossover Universe. My WIP A Matter of Time is the main story, but I write several one-shots in this universe as well. In this universe, The Count of Monte Cristo stumbles across the Time Traveller (from H.G. Wells' The Time Machine) and they both accidentally get stranded in the modern day, where Dr. Henry Jekyll begrudgingly takes them in and agrees to help fix the Time Machine. Other Gothic Literature characters (specifically Victor Frankenstein, The Creature, The Invisible Man, Dorian Gray, and a bit of Captain Nemo) are included as well, most of which, unlike The Count of Monte Cristo, I've adapted to come from the modern day. Right now, I'm still working on plotting/writing the bulk of the story, so the story is still in its early stages.

Tomb-less Trio is definitely the one of these I talk about the least. The Trio (consisting of Nova, Ambrose Beckett, and Victor Reeves) were originally created for a rpg project I did in a Creative Writing class in High School, but I've been playing with them a little bit since. Nova is an immortal genderfluid witch that specializes in fortune-telling and illusions. Ambrose is a vampire that was turned in medieval times and is Nova's girlfriend. Victor is a human from the 1800s who stumbled across Nova and Ambrose when he ran away from home and joined their crew. Eventually, Nova used her magic to make Victor immortal. The Trio don't have any cohesive story as of yet, but that may change down the road if I come across an idea for them I like.

I have one or two other characters/universes in the back of my mind, but I haven't mentioned them on tumblr yet, so I'll leave it at this. If any of my Dipcord besties want me to spill the beans on my other OC stuff, they can send in an ask :)

[essence-of-femininity]

18 November - Blessed Karolina Kózkówna.

Born on August 2, 1898, Karolina Kozka was one of eleven children, although sources conflict about her being the 4th, 7th, or 8th born. Her parents were Jan and Maria Borzecka Kozka of Poland. The family lived in the Wal-Ruda and was part of the Diocese of Tarnow. From 1904–1912, Karolina attended the classes at the local school.

She grew up in a Catholic family who prayed everyday and displayed the love of God to her. Often, Karolina would gather neighbors and relatives, mainly children, and they would read the Scriptures together under a pear tree near her home. She loved praying the rosary, using the beads given to her by her mother. Her prayers often caused her to get less sleep than she needed. “Often during the day she quietly whispered the words, ‘Hail Mary!’ as she herself often said, because they made her ‘feel a great joy in her heart’”.

She would pray the rosary constantly, and even though it was a long walk to Mass, she would go during the week, in addition to Sunday. Karolina’s uncle, Franciszek Borzecki, was one inspiration for her faith. Because of her love for serving, she helped her uncle in the library, and she also helped organize things at her parish. In addition to serving the Church, she taught her younger siblings and the children of the area their catechism. By age 16, Karolina was a beautiful, enthusiastic girl.

In 1914, World War I broke out in Poland, affecting the Kozka family forever. The Russian army began capturing cities, and in November 1914, they controlled Wal-Ruda. The situation grew worse as stories spread of the soldiers stealing possessions and raping women. Fear spread through the city. On November 18, an armed Russian soldier came to their house, and he ordered Karolina and her father to go with him, saying he was taking them to the commanding officer.

When the trio reached the edge of the forest, the soldier commanded Karolina’s father to return home. The man went back to his home, leaving his daughter in the clutches of the Russian. Two boys on their way back from the village witnessed the attack of the soldier on Karolina. He attempted to force himself on her, but she struggled and refused to give in. Angered, the man stabbed her with his bayonet multiple times. Karolina ran towards the swamps, which saved her from further attacks since the chase was difficult for the soldier. When he saw her fall, he gave up the chase. But it was too late for Karolina; the wounds inflicted on her by the soldier had caused too much blood loss. She died in the swamps, her purity intact. Karolina was only 16.

It was not until December 4, 16 days later, that her body was found. After she was buried, the local villagers came to pray at her tomb and also at the site of her death. In February 1965, Bishop Jerzy Ablewicz submitted her cause for beatification and canonization (and also her martyrdom) to be looked at. On June 10, 1987, Pope John Paul II beatified Karolina in Tarnow, Poland, as a martyr for Christ, making her “Blessed Karolina Kozka.”

Since her beatification, Karolina’s relics have been placed in the main altar and are venerated by parishioners and pilgrims who visit her shrine every year. When people visit her house, they will find that it has been reconstructed into a museum format, where visitors can learn more about this courageous young woman.

Blessed Karolina has not been made a saint yet, but there have been a few miracles, which is the next step to declaring her a saint. Each month on the 10th day, there is a service at her Shrine to pray that she will be canonized soon. She is an example of purity and courage in our society today.

[princecharmingtobe]

I have grown very attached to my current rimworld colony, so I decided to make them in Hero Forge. I've even come up with a backstory for the starting three.

Starting with Daniel. Daniel had a pretty normal and peaceful childhood. In his early adulthood he ended up working as a midwife. It was then that he started wearing dresses, as he thought pretending to be a woman would make those giving birth more comfortable. He found he liked them, and so still wears them from time to time. The ears are a new development. We found a chest with a magic potion in it and he drank it and that happened lol

Crane worked her way up to knighthood, but lost everything but her title to war. She became an adventurer trying to regain what she lost. It was during this time she met Daniel, on his way to a neighboring village in need of a midwife. She was also heading in that direction, so they journeyed together for safety. And good they did, because they found trouble, but together fought it off. Daniel found he liked the thrill of battle, and after doing what he set out to do, he asked Crane if she would allow him to continue traveling with her. The two got on great, and became a professional adventuring duo.

Many years later the duo came upon a merchant's cart being attacked. They swooped in to help, but were only able to save one person: Andy, the merchant's teenage son. Though they offered to escort him home, he insisted there was no one there waiting for him, and wanted to stay with them instead. Not being the most responsible adults in the world, they agreed and he joined them. Shortly after this the trio did some tomb raiding and found a mysterious tome. Andy read it, and was forever changed, gaining the power of a necromancer.

Daniel and Crane, now in their 40s and 50s, found that they were getting a little old for the adventuring life on the road, and Andy suggested they could build an inn. The two of them could work out of it, having a proper base to rest at between adventures, and he could stay behind and run the inn. After all, he'd learned much in the way of business from his father.

That was the plan, but it hasn't gone as expected... While still in the process of building the trio were attacked by a bandit, who got a couple lucky shots on Crane, who lost both a hand and a leg in the battle. This slowed things down. They (by which I mean me) underestimated the climate of the place they had settled in. Winter came on fast, and food has been a struggle. On the bright side, some tame trolls wandered in and Crane has trained them up well, and now rides them around everywhere and into combat. She also has a cursed sword! It's great for killing people, but causes her constant pain to wield.

Around the end of fall a phytokin, plant woman, named Pomegranate found the inn while being chased by an ogre. The ogres had kept and protected her in return for advice and guidance, as they aren't particularly smart. But when some of her advice ended poorly they accused her of betrayed them and attacked. It was a hard fight, but the party took down the enraged ogre still chasing her and accepted Pomegranate into their group. Her connection with dryads has proved useful.

There's really not much to say about Tsu. She found the inn on her own and asked to join the party. She's a grumpy, man-hating dvergr (a type of dwarf) who none the less has been helpful. She'll really pull her weight once we discover smithing, as she is a master crafter.

And lastly, Squint. Ignore the slave yellow of his name... He was being sold by slavers who passed by. We didn't have the manpower to fight them, so we bought the child and are working on convincing him he's not a slave anymore XP And only after did we learn he's a pyromancer! He doesn't have very good control over his power yet, and has already set the storage shed on fire once while trying to defend against some rabid snow hares...

So yeah, this is The Adventurer's Guild, my beloved medieval fantasy colony.

[trapton]

lean into me. it's okay. ( vanessa and springtrap for fazbear frights )

🔧 @khalaesi !

𝚑𝚊𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜. a trio of decades, breaking down tissue and threadbare body. pathetic, he thinks to himself. yet the thought of his getting out of here on his own was as impossible as it was for him to break through the steel, sealed entrance of the safe room he'd hidden from the intelligence of the robot performers. [...] he had hardly been able to stand, let alone find the strength possessed to pull the door inward. however, he would build that strength back. with her help or no, despite the set-back or the way he grumbles at simply being supported by a woman on his way out of his own bloody restaurant.

he makes a rumbling sound, deep and guttural. his arm thrown around the girl's shoulders, with his head tilted sideways and downwards. eyes lidded, whilst his steel feet make contact with the ground.

plastic orbs flicker around the abandoned pizzeria, although such doesn't [...] last long. there's a pain radiating throughout his nerves, staring down at the black and white floor. peering pack and forth with shuttering clicks of eyelids. it was one thing to know that your life's work has been destroyed [...] yet it's another thing to see with your own eyes, the shell of your own tomb.

"shut. up." he thrusts his head towards her with a violent shake of metal ears, his jaw rising and falling. other arm heavy at his side. "i am leaning. just help me, and be quiet about it." [...] "what bloody year is it, anyway?" his irritation is shown through his impatient, and irritated tone. she's lucky she isn't dead by now. lucky he needs her. he growls once more.

" -- and what exactly is the plan once we get out of here?" he can't imagine it would be odd to have his corpse propped in a vehicle, or whether or not he would fit in anything less than a transporting vehicle.

[citrusreadstoa]

The Burning Maze Predictions (TOA SPOILERS)

The third and fourth books are always the best. Were with PJO and HOO, will be with TOA. It looks like we'll be starting off with the trio of Apollo, Meg, and Grover. Y'all have no idea how excited I am to see Grover again after his absence from a whole series. And he won't be there just for the start, either. He's on the cover, so he'll be present throughout most of the book!

Speaking of the cover, that does look like the Labyrinth, all right: mishmash of modern and ancient architecture. The maze is surely going to be the main battleground, not just a way to get to the west coast as quickly as possible. I, uh, see a lot of owls. Did someone slight Athena? They're someone else's owls, probably, though I can't imagine who. It looks like Meg has saved them with her vines. There's fire in front of them but that can't be Festus' because he's too big for these hallways. It doesn't seem like Leo's, either, because I can see the faintest glimpse of an upper and lower jaw -- definitely a monster.

Now, predictions from the prophecy. (Fourteen lines, gahhhh.......... *head in hands, shaking* Who decided... why....) Changeling lord. Frank. Best title 10/10. He might even save the camp since the prophecy says he faces a challenge dire and bodies are filling the Tiber. Also, there are two Sybils, apparently. Ffs... Rhea, Rhea Silvia... Sybil of Cumae, Sybil of Erythraea... They're not gonna kill off Ella, obviously. They wouldn't do that. I think I saw Reyna on the cover of the fourth book, so she may also play a support role in this one and then step into the spotlight for the book after.

The lands of scorching death are southward... Guess what's to the south of Cali? Arizona. Guess what's in Arizona? The junkyard of the gods where Bianca died. Goodness gravy, I'm perpetually on edge about that line.

However, on a brighter note and in a different direction, westward might be where we find Zephyros. Apollo and the west wind have made amends so he may be willing to help out our questers. Speaking of questers, the "When three are known" line has me extremely anxious. When what three are known? And what number do we start with? Is it three Oracles and we've already got two in the bag so this is number three? Or is it three questers? That's the interpretation that scares me the most. If we start with two questers, then it's fine if we pick up someone on the way. If we start with four or five questers, that means our party is going to get trimmed like in The Titan's Curse. The Dark Prophecy doesn't say who or how many have to reach the Tiber alive, after all.

Wait wait wait. Does this Dark Prophecy span more than one book? Two Oracles (both Sybils) are mentioned in it. We only have five Oracles, so unless there's a secret sixth one (please tell me there's a secret sixth one, that would be so metal), we're missing an Oracle for the fourth book. We took care of the Grove of Dodona in book one, the Cave of Trophonius in book two, we're gearing toward both Sybil of Cumae and Sybil of Erythraea in book three, and Pythia of Delphi is obviously to be left for book five. What about book four? What Oracle are we going to commandeer/destroy in The Tyrant's Tomb?

This felt less like predictions and more like ~5 paragraphs of questions and confusion because it sound like so much is going to be going on. Anyway, that's that. Time to actually read the book.

P.S. There are totally six Oracles. 110%