#verse; fate/apotheosis

[thebugthatruinsyourpicnic]

Okay okay okay okay

We all know 15 is important in Hatchetfield.

But you know what else is important? 5.

And because if a free school hour, here is a list

Two actually

15.

TGWDLM, BF and NMT 1 aren't all that heavy on the 15 but 15 minutes into TGWDLM is the meteor sequence, the Apotheosis's first appearance

Hidgens came up with the theory of the Apotheosis 30 years (two 15 year cycles) before it happened

Honey Queen is about the 75th Honey Queen pageant, which is a multiple of 15

Holloway's aliases are good for "about 15 years or so"

The Gift peaks at 15

Hannah is 15

15 years prior to the events of Honey Queen, PEIP opened the portal

Nerdy Prudes Must Die has 15 songs

15 years before NPMD, Solomon obtained the Black Book

Hatchetfield consists of 15 stories (we will not be talking about hey melissa)

5.

Every musical follows 5 main protagonists (or at least focuses on their fate)

Paul, Emma, Bill, Ted and Charlotte

Lex, Hannah, Tom, Becky and Howie

Steph, Pete, Grace, Ruth and Richie

The fifth song in TGWDLM is the song to reveal the Apotheosis (cup of poisoned coffee), which is also sung by 5 people (Nora, Zoey and the three customers)

The fifth song in Nightmare Time 1 and 2 refer to their stories' respective Lords in Black (One Thousand Eyes, the Nibbly Ditty)

The fifth song in NPMD is the first step taken to Max's death and him turning evil (Bully the Bully), which is also sung by 5 people (Steph, Pete, Grace, Ruth and Richie)

There are 5 Lords in Black

If you count the NMT seasons as a single project, Hatchetfield consists of 5 projects

Hatchetfield has been going (as a show) for 5 years

Hannah was born in 2005 on October (the tenth month, 2×5) 5th

In 2005, PEIP opened the portal

In 2005, if the timeline theory is correct which it probably is, the timeline split

The countdown in What If Tomorrow Comes consists of 5 numbers (9 7 5 3 2)

Including the NMT theme, the first episodes of both NMT seasons have 5 songs

NPMD features 5 more stereotypical nerds (the ones in literal monster) and 5 more stereotypical popular kids (the football players and cheerleaders): Pete, Ruth, Richie, Bryce and Kim's characters, and Max, Kyle, Jason, Brenda and Kim's cheerleader

The Lords in Black's song has 5 seperate verses (not counting the final one, because it is a condensed version of the first): their introduction, the Lords in Black we are, the Lords in Black will help you, whatever we want, Stephanie has got a gun

We know 5 disciples of the Lords in Black (that weren't under some form of their influence that we know of like the infected or Linda): Willabella, Wilbur, Roman, Sheila and Grace

We know 5 members of the Church of the Starry Children: the Waylons, Sheila and Mr. Young, Roman

We know 5 people who have frequently used the Black Book: Willabella, Holloway, Grace, Solomon, Jane's patient from the soul transferring ritual

Feel free to add on if I missed anything!!

There are 5 additional Webbies in Yellow Jacket (Naughty Webby, Nerdy Webby, Emo Webby, Peppy Webby, Mom Webby)

There are 5 stories to have mentioned the Black Book (Jane's a Car, the Witch in the Web, Daddy, Killer Track, Nerdy Prudes Must Die)

(edited this to try and make it more coherent)

[ungodly-amounts-of-godly-trauma]

major bracket contestants

a whopping 64! see all the teams, the contestants, and the fandoms below. i likely won't be including who's in the teams in the polls due to character limits, but the fandoms will be there. if you want to suggest better team names, my askbox is open!

team greek mythology (greek mythology) consists of odysseus, io, and orpheus

team percy jackson (riordanverse) consists of percy jackson, nico di angelo, luke castellan, apollo/lester papadopoulos, and also the rest of the cast!

gabriel (ultrakill)

orel puppington (moral orel)

teams tma and apotheosis banded together to form: team be not afraid (the magnus archives and just roll with it: apotheosis) consists of jonathan sims, martin blackwood, peter sqloint, thanatos, rumi, and exandroth

quasimodo (the hunchback of notre dame)

volo (pokemon)

anders (dragon age)

team mechanisms (the mechanisms) consists of galahad and drumbot brian

team awakening (fire emblem: awakening) consists of robin and lucina

akito sohma (fruits basket)

jack kennedy (dayshift at freddy's)

kristen applebees (dimension 20: fantasy high)

team cookie run (cookie run: kingdom) consists of white lily cookie and pastry cookie

chosen one (animator-vs-animation 2-5)

the entire cast of midnight mass (midnight mass)

team charlie pc (jrwi: riptide and jrwi: fated) consists of gillion tidestrider and br'aad vengolor

matthias helvar (six of crows)

team genshin (genshin impact) consists of la signora, scaramouche, and kaeya

stanford pines, catra, and adora, banded together to form: team lets go lesbians (gravity falls and she-ra: princesses of power) consists of stanford pines, catra, and adora

zagreus (hades game)

team tgcf (heaven official's blessing/ti guan ci fu) consists of xie lian, qi rong, and he xuan. yikes

team real life (real life) consists of me, you, submitter, and submitter's dad

scp-096 (scp foundation)

team three houses (fire emblem: three houses) consists of all the characters especially byleth!

team free will (supernatural) consists of sam winchester, dean winchester, and castiel

seven brothers (obey me! one master to rule them all)

salem (RWBY)

beverly toegold (not another d&d podcast (NADDPOD))

raven (new teen titans)

team warrior cats (warriors) consists of hollyleaf, lionblaze, jayfeather, ivypool, dovewing, goosefeather, leafpool, shadowsight, and also the rest of the cats!

team steven universe (steven universe) consists of steven universe, pearl, and the corrupted gems

sister carpenter (the silt verses)

team botw (breath of the wild) consists of link and zelda

lloyd garmadon (ninjago)

all of the boiling isles especially hunter (the owl house)

jack harkness (doctor who/torchwood)

team we know the devil (we know the devil) consists of neptune, venus, and jupiter

the hollow knight (hollow knight)

hyness (kirby: star allies)

edward and alphonse elric (fullmetal alchemist)

casey jones jr (rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles)

the outsider (dishonored)

five pebbles (rain world)

town of hatchetfield (hatchetfield) consists of literally everyone!

the holy quintet (puella magi madoka magica) consists of homura akemi, madoka kamane, sayaka miki, kyouko sakura, and tomoe mami

yuna (final fantasy x)

arthur lester (malevolent)

aziraphale and crowley (good omens)

marble hornets cast (marble hornets) specifically jay, tim, alex, and brian

team critical (critical role) consists of kashaw “kash” vesh and vax’ildan

norman minecraft (ghost and pals)

team trigun and team traumageddon banded together to form: four gays in a trenchcoat (trigun and bungou stray dogs) consists of vash the stampede, nicholas wolfwood, chuuya nakahara, and atsushi nakajima but then they joined hands with yoo joonghyuk and kim dokja to form: six gays in a trenchcoat (trigun and bungou stray dogs and omniscient reader's viewpoint) consists of vash the stampede, nicholas wolfwood, chuuya nakahara, atsushi nakajima, yoo joonghyuk, and kim dokja

kfc dreemurrs (undertale and deltarune) consists of kris, frisk, and chara dreemurr

team princess (princess tutu) consists of ahiru and fakir

vector (yugioh)

nicolo di genova (the old guard)

team bible (the bible) consists of jesus christ himself and the devil aka satan aka lucifer!

niko (oneshot)

team mistborn (mistborn) consists of vin and sazed

MYSTERY CONTESTANT (mystery fandom) consists of many mystery people

[susandsnell]

im sorry to drop a fuck marry kill with men into a lesbians box but um ok. fuck marry kill: scarecrow:nolan verse. JOKER:joaquin phoenix. the riddler: THE BATMAN.

Fuck / Marry / Kill

cinthia why are you the funniest person alive. this has cursed me for seven generations.

Okay this is going to be my most "hear me out" of all "hear me outs" except for one answer, but you knew that when you put this insanity in my inbox.

Fuck: deep inhale. I am prepared to accept bullying for this for the rest of my life from you, and that's okay, I'm at peace with my fate. okay okay so. I am not in any way, shape or form attracted to The Batman's Riddler/Edward Nashton. HOWEVER. This man is so fucking bizarre and funny that the reason I'd go for it is literally just to see what would happen. Like, we're talking a scientific approach here. That and I'm good at puzzles, and, idk, I like when men are pathetic like Flik from A Bug's Life so I feel like it'd at least be entertaining. Besides which @bethjohanssen literally once said Reeveseverse/B22 Riddler "looks like a sad lesbian" so it's easier to pretend.

Marry: Easiest answer if you've looked at my blog for more than 5 minutes. Dr. Jonathan Crane, you are my horror movie gothic supervillain blorbo for life in (almost) any iteration, including the funniest possible one where your plots don't add up, you change roles constantly, pop up places you shouldn't, and serve massive amounts of cunt while being the most compelling guy around who isn't named Harvey Dent while being given comparatively so little. He likes lawyers canonically so him and me will hit it right off, and despite very contrasting personalities, I think we'd actually get along okay? I can prep him for his career changes, we can be literary nerds together, and whatever I lack in terms of physical interest in him, I can make up for by being juuuust messed up enough for him to have material for ages. Plus marriage will help with taxes for a guy who takes so many varying gigs all the time! Also you can easily control this Scarecrow by pulling his hair.

And if Nashton is lesbian adjacent, whooooo boy Nolan!Crane...

Kill: Second easiest answer. I do hate to let you down, but since 2019 and through to the present day, I did Not Care For Joker (2019). Phoenix turns in a perfectly serviceable performance, but I find the character's writing to be the apotheosis of cringey SOCIETYYYY~ Flanderization that the Joker gets in pop culture, his tragedy is kind of so overdone it turns into the Frank Grimes episode of the Simpsons halfway through, and he's not nearly funny or compelling enough to balance this out. There's something viscerally unappealing about this version which may be The Point, but also makes this call a lot easier. I'm also just genuinely Not A Joker Person (I love Harley too much) (oversaturation), so this decision was going to be made regardless, but Phoenix Joker is about to Get What He Fucking Deserves (for his movie giving me a massive headache when I saw it in theatres).

thank you so much, I laughed my head off over this

[vivienna-vivid]

How would you rank your Mahbahrata Fanservants in terms of dancing skill?

1. Brihannala.

No cap.

2. Draupadi.

It's expected for a woman of her stature to know how to dance, but there's just something so supernaturally hypnotizing about Draupadi's movements.

3. Nakula

Beauty is everything to him, so it's obvious that he would know how to dance without making a fool of himself.

The list is pretty short since the rest of my Mahabharata babies aren't trained in dancing and/or just doesn't have an interest in it. However, a special shoutout to my boy Yudhisthira Dharmaputra who dances between rules and legalities to find loopholes now.

[vivienna-vivid]

HDHXHSJSJ YEP! CROW DAD!

knife crow is a dad now omg

[iamtooarealdoctor]

Diary 7.24.87

We’re alive…I think.  Straf is gone.  He tried to teleport, I think…he disappeared and never reappeared.  I don’t think he meant to abandon us at this stage - he has few redeeming qualities, but cutting and running is not his way.  Zan is…gone.  Dead.  Sublimated into apotheosis.  I don’t know.  I don’t-  Joachim is dead.  Still dead, rather.  Mannix’s insistence that we wait 24 hours seems to have just been a delaying tactic.  With Straf gone it looks like he’s going to get his wish.  I don’t understand.  Do they hate each other so much?  Do they hate us so much that they would literally rather be dead?

Maybe losing Joachim was an omen that we were going to fail.  Simeon Tor said that the Device would need both magickal and technological expertise in the same person to activate it - there had been some thought that Mannix and Joachim together could do it, although we’d hoped it wouldn’t be necessary… When Joachim…bowed out…maybe that was the message that the question was ultimately a moot one.

Could we have gotten to the Device first, or at least caught up with our enemy, if we had made different choices?  Maybe.  Probably.  But…we needed to rest and repair.  We were expecting another fight and not at all ready for one.  I had thought the Arachnesses’ help had put us far enough ahead that we could afford it.  I had counted on our enemies not knowing where they were going or what they were looking for.  I once again dismissed the urgency of the one person I should know by now to listen to.  And once again I have been proven horribly, devastatingly wrong. 

That was the first distraction - taking the time to take care of ourselves. The next distraction came almost immediately, and it came to ever-practical Zan of all people.  The moment we stepped into the hall on the trail of our enemy, she said she heard - or felt, rather - a call, almost a pull, as of a silver clarion voice calling her name.  I distrusted it, but… we needed any advantage we could find, and I figured if we didn’t deal with whatever it was now, it would crop up to our detriment at some less opportune moment.  And Dyna wanted to check it out as well.  I didn’t realize until almost too late that she was also being called… Zan led us to a door, on which was inscribed Mazarin’s Mystery, inset with gemstones representing each of the 11 Ancient Gods.  They could move on tracks, the object being to put them in the proper relationships with each other.  I hadn’t realized back when I first saw the diagram back at the University of Tarant, but it seems to be of a type with Pelojian’s Riddle - the offerant is intended to walk a specific path, whose endpoint was here.  That should have been a warning.  We don’t even know the names of all the gods, let alone having visited their altars, and Zan is - was - a follower of Nasrudin.  Perhaps if we had… but she was not to be deterred, and with my and Dyna’s help she opened the door and we beheld the Temple of Velorian, All-Father of the Gods.

Torg’s Altar is little more than a forgotten pile of stones in the wilderness, and Bolo’s is about the same, only with added squirrels; Makkaal and Geshtiana both have active cults, but the altars themselves are still not all that impressive when you come right down to it. But this… On one side was a towering silver statue of Velorian, holding a spinning eleven-poined star. Above was the cosmos itself, stars all in motion like living things. And in the center a raised dais, flanked by eleven thrones facing inwards towards a stone circle, the altar itself. The plinth of the statue had verses such as we’ve seen before, detailing what sort of offering would be pleasing to the god in question - but where the other gods asked for precious stones of one sort or another, the All-Father demands Life - the life of the offerant in its totality.

Mannix says this place is Evil, and…I think I agree with him. To ask for such a sacrifice is wrong. To accept it is worse. And perhaps an offerant who had walked the path set out by Mazarin’s Mystery would have been …prepared, or gotten some benediction in return for this leap of faith. But it called Zan. Each of us came in bearing the blessing of one of Velorian’s children - but it called Zan, who had never even heard of the Ancient Gods and had no chance of being found worthy or whatever it was looking for. She didn’t blunder foolishly into this place - she was called. And that? That was unconscionable. We begged and pleaded with her not to ascend the dais - and all that accomplished was to convince Dyna to go with her. If I hadn’t tackled her, she-

Zan stepped into the circle and began to glow. Bits of her started to flake off in glittering flecks of pure light. The stars and constellations that had floated above our heads descended and swirled around her, as her body dissolved into stardust and joined them. And then she was gone…

I hope she found the Truth she was seeking

We waited for a little bit to see if anything would happen. It did not. Thankfully Dyna made no attempt to follow. And then we left. I…may have flipped off the statue. Probably blasphemy. I don’t really care. Why didn’t we try harder to stop her? The verse on the plinth was almost painfully straightforward. Any of us could have done something…but none of us did. I closed the door behind us…and I removed the ruby from its socket. No one else is going to feed Velorian’s altar.

It was clear that our enemy had descended to the next level of the city, but the information we had gotten from the Nursery keeper suggested that the research areas, and therefore the Device, should be on the Sixth (ie our current) level. This was our third fatal delay. We actually succeeded in finding the Experimental Laboratories - guarded, of course, by another automaton. We approached this one somewhat more intelligently, with subterfuge rather than a head-on attack. Dyna hid in Norman’s internal compartment and the two of them …bluffed their way past it. Norman told it he had to get parts to repair the two we’d fought yesterday - and it let them through. They did not find the Device. They did find the Journal of one of the scientsts, which said that the Lieutenant Governor had had it moved to his own offices on the next level after Arronax’s attack on the Governor. In all the newspaper scraps and documents we have found, there has oddly been no mention of Kerghan. The Device itself seems to have been the creation of a Dr. Freuhof. But perhaps Kerghan was this Lieutenant Governor who took such an interest in the project, and who seems to have covered up certain details of his predecessor’s fate.

And here is the paradox of our situation. We had finally discovered the location of the Device we sought - and in so doing had allowed our enemy to reach it first. We could never have gotten ahead of them simply by following their trail - but if we had pressed on we might have caught and killed them, and been able to search at our leisure. Or they might have killed us and still gotten away with the prize… we should have taken the risk. And now it is too late.

They must have faced a similar paradox - whether to race forward or stand and fight. They split the difference by leaving hasty but effective traps behind them. The last of these contained the Keeper’s missing child, rigged with dynamite to explode as we opened the door. This was where we lost Straf. He was going to teleport into the room, but he disappeared and…never reappeared. Maybe he will have some better success wherever he is now. Instead Dyna scrambled through the small window and set to disarming the numerous tripwires and triggering devices. It was masterful -and all in vain. For this final trap had not been left unattended.

The servants of K'an-Hua are cruelly petty as well as being nihilistically evil. They had already found the Device, and came back to watch us fail. One of them lurked, invisible, and waited as Dyna applied herself against their traps. He waited, holding the object of our quest, for the sole purpose of letting us know that we had lost. And then he set off the dynamite and teleported away.

So we're alive, I guess. Some of us at least. Alive, and stranded in the depths of a dead city, without our prize, at the opposite end of the world from where events are unfolding. We have failed utterly, and all us lost.

[horizonboundtrainer]

In any deity verse, May remains pro-mortal to the extreme. Even as she's gathering resources and warriors behind the scenes for Ragnarok, she's training and arming fated enemies of the gods.

The world will soon have no need for gods—this, she's forseen since the moment of her apotheosis. The Queen of Heroes fights to ensure that Man inherits her throne.

[vivienna-vivid]

It's her. The bisexual disaster.

Thanks again Odd for making her as suave as ever!

My half of my art trade with @sweet13th​! I drew her Fate OC, Julie d’Aubigny, the bisexual Nun-Fucker as I like the call her.

This was a really fun art trade, and I recommend y’all check out her half of the art trade, where she drew my design of Scathach for @elysiumrealmofpossibilities​! 

[robininthelabyrinth]

Legends of Tomorrow Rewrite Recap

So we had some brainstorming sessions to discuss what people might want to see from a re-write of season 2, both in terms of overall plot, specific suggestions, character arcs, new characters, new timelines, etc.

I know not everyone managed to make it, so here's the recap of what we discussed, boiled down a bit. Even if you didn't make it to a brainstorming session (or if you did and have thought of something else to add), feel free to reblog with additional suggestions or comments! The more comments, the better!

If people really want to, we can maybe do another brainstorming session tomorrow at a convenient time. Let me know!

I'm going to try to @ everyone who was there but...there were a lot and not all the names I was sure about for tumblr. so I'm going to miss people. Sorry!

@kickingshoes @daughterofscotland @delkios @pretzel-log1c @prouvairablehulk @pedestrianfootbridge @lacommunarde @agentmarymargaretskitz @hotforcaptaincold @hippothebrave @airydoorway @marywisdom @wacheypena @rubylis @pansexualfandomqueen @sanctuaryforalluniverses @cyberdigital @drownedinlight @cyberdigioriginal @its-like-looking-in-3d @screaming-towards-apotheosis

Recap under the cut:

Overarching plot: • Keep the spear plot, but make it good – just make it make sense and with consistent characters • Throw out the JSA, have the fragments show up earlier – the Legends don’t know what they are, just that they cause anomalies, but later they figure it out and have to race for the pieces • Keep invasion • Keep things gen with shipping “moments” for assorted ships so everyone can have fun • Plot theme: last season was destiny v free will; this season: free will and consequences • Emotional arcs: team bonding over their grief, team deciding that free will DOES trump fate and developing their own view of the timeline (what has to stay, what doesn’t) not just accepting Rip’s policy of non-interference, all the characters becoming less arrogant and realizing they can trust and rely each other resulting in team bonding and mutual reliance • Legion: comes together earlier, but as the team’s trust in each other grows the Legion’s distrust in each other is their downfall in the end (i.e. possible Mick betrayal but the team gives him the benefit of the doubt, thereby being able to work together to defeat the Legion which is destroyed when they each try to stab each other in the back for the spear)

Suggestions for plot/episodes: • Intro: once the Legends are scattered throughout time, one of them bumps into one of Kendra’s past selves and tells her the story, causing present!Kendra to remember it and go to tell Oliver; she meets Nate while she is there and the two of them go to rescue Mick from the sea (bridge from previous season) • Rip gets brainwashed and he is the one who directs the Legion to go get Len because he knows it would cause the Legends grief • More episodes with the Legion to learn more about the bad guys – let them be scarier and also take advantage of their humor; swap out Merlyn for female Legion of Doom member • Episode where the team has a moment to honor their dead (plot of the week related: Day of the Dead, Viking funerals, etc.), moment for them all to think about all the people they’ve lost – impromptu funeral/remembrance for Len • Possible experimental episodes (other POVs, time travel loops, etc.) • NO “time travelers inspire historical person to do a thing” episodes • Explanation of what happened with Rex Tyler, how he was sent back by Mick, have them look him up historically before going back to 1942 so they can deal with him appropriately • Utilize all the characters’ abilities (Ray as a businessman, Mick remembering Kronos and using his abilities as a thief for good, Jax’s skills at impromptu planning from being a quarterback, etc.) • New characters are told about Len and Kendra • Characters ask for information when reasonable (Gideon for facts, ask Constantine magic-related questions, ask Team Flash when they discover they’re dealing with a speedster – fine to have Flash team go “man, we have SO MANY speedsters, hard to really tell” in response, but they should ask); more interactions with characters from the rest of the DCTV-verse • More focus on the team as a team – group planning, disagreements on decisions, etc. instead of a captain dictatorially giving orders to their crew • More Easter egg references (Wonder Woman in WWII, Jason Blood in Camelot, Bat-fam in Gotham, etc.) even if the characters don’t show up • Actual confirmation, repeatedly, that Sara is bisexual, that Len is queer/pan, etc. • Multiple people as pilots/having skills used on the team

Individual Character Arcs: LEN: • Possible plot: If we keep hallucination Len, he should start earlier – possibly have that be Oculus!Len uanble to fully manifest, but Mick can see him for reasons relating to his time at the Vanishing Point or otherwise • Possible plot: 2014!Len is initially willing to join the Legion but eventually they cross a line and he refuses, leading to a Legion v Len standoff that they win, resulting in his brainwashing and eventual hard turn against the main cast • Possible plot: Oculus!Len vs. past!brainwashed!Len fight • Possible plot: trying to come back from the Oculus and from brainwashing (mirror Rip’s arc, Kronos’ season 1 arc); possibly needs to be put together from various pieces scattered through timeline • Suggestion: Have an actual funeral for Len; Lisa is actually told • Suggestion: gets carried by Mick at one point

MICK: • Still depressed, but the team sympathizes with his grief – he keeps others at a distance • Hallucinations highlight actual mental health issues he has – more references to his pyromania actually being a mental illness • Still gets a pet rat; uses his skills (fire, theft, Kronos, etc.); acts as the battle pilot of the ship • Possible arc: recovery from the events of season 1 (Kronos, Len); starts off distancing people but comes to open up/rely on others who are emotionally supportive of him; regaining his self-confidence and pride in his skills and sense of self; bonding with the team • Actually develops friendships with Ray, Sara, Amaya, etc. that persist across multiple episodes • Initially antagonistic with Rip and Stein, who are dismissive of him; eventually get over it

SARA: • Continues to sleep through history, both men and women; explicitly referenced as bisexual • Grief over Laurel is balanced against the burden of her new responsibility as Captain – balancing her instincts as a stand-alone hero vs. a team • Conflict between her duties vs. her desires (desire to kill Darkh and eventual decision not to actually makes sense and seems like she’s thought about it; NOT suddenly fanatical for the timeline) – develops a nuanced analysis over time • Arc: bond with team, recover from grief, struggle with how she feels about the timeline and modifications thereof, dealing with the burdens of stepping up to be captain of a team instead of following her own interests by herself • we can have Sara save Laurel, but then have to deal with the consequences and fallout, potentially kick-starting season plot points (trading spear pieces? Causing bad changes in history and innocent people die? Moral debate as to when you can bring someone back?); possibly Laurel is doomed to die sometime after in a worse way – is it worth bringing her back for that other death? Is it selfish? Sara actually struggling with this

LAUREL: • Some are in favor of bringing her back, others aren’t • If she comes back: gets dropped off elsewhere (Bludhaven? Possibly Earth-2?) to prevent paradox because bringing her back right away would cause a time quake • Need to figure out her role insofar as she’s coming back

JAX: • Arc: Growing up, more independence, confidence in himself and asserting his boundaries against the team, possibly a romance for an episode • More episodes not related to his race, all the brotps, possibly flirting with Lily Stein, more mechanic stuff, possibly a 21st birthday celebration

STEIN: • Arc: Needs to stop assuming his degree means he’s better, learning humility, academic learning isn’t everything, being helpless, compassion, ability to rely on people in the team • Stein's arc is learning humility, compassion, academia isn't everything, learning to rely on other people; learning to trust other people's forms of intelligence • Suggestions: crashes the ship when he tries to fly; more about Lily, more about Clarissa, with who they are as people - gets some perspective, gets his privileges checked; possible amnesia episode/overthinking episode; • Initially antagonistic with Mick but eventually they get over it and Stein actually apologizes • play up Stein being an ass earlier on, only for him to have a 'fall' and have to learn by season end • Possibly Lily as part of Stein’s arc: something in which he can’t help her but someone else can in part because they have a totally different set of skills

RAY: • Better partnership with Mick, bonding over losing a loved one • Arc: learning that he doesn’t have to change himself to be a hero; Lose the suit for a while and get to be the hero without it – uses other skills (science, business); realizes he doesn’t need it to be awesome; he can be the researcher while the suit is down; growing up and becoming less arrogant about knowing everything learning listen to other people instead of walking over them (privilege check); Ray trying out new “personas” – cold gun, etc. – and none of them fitting right • Comes to terms with the fact that he likes the idea of being a hero more than reality; he needs to learn the difference between what will help people and doing what HE thinks will help people • More competence, more geeking out • More Ray v Gertrude, people being impressed by Ray surviving in Dinotopia with nothing but boy scout experience   RIP: • Arc: Finding out who he is now that time masters are gone – discovering what they taught him were lies – not being the one with all the answers anymore; figure out what he wants • Interactions with other Time Masters that act just like him; bounty hunters, etc. – facing up to terrible things he did that he thought were just normal adjustments • Rip doesn’t know about the spear in full because Time Masters were secretive/part of his story arc of not knowing everything – makes finding the compass more important • Recovering from long-term indoctrination – bonding with Sara over her time in the League; dealing with losing his family, starts off antagonistic but eventually bonding with Mick • Has to actually deal with being brainwashing – repercussions, actual emotional trauma about what he did (i.e. leading them to Len, hurting the team), etc. – him going from being disdainful of Mick, realizing that what happened to Mick was actually really awful, bonding with Mick about it • Learning to be a team player instead of in charge – in season 1, he treated everyone like lackeys, in season 2, he was saying he wasn't a time master anymore but still acting like one • New role with team: advisor, researcher, possibly navigator, guide to future; Should still go on walkabout at the end – needs to find himself; Possible lead-up to season 3 arc of becoming guide to all the lost time masters who maybe didn't know they were manipulated, like he didn't • Rip's arc: who is he without the time masters, learning that what he knew was lies and starting from scratch, being willing to try new things/learning to listen to and rely on others/team player

AMAYA: • Actually forms friendships with the team – Mick, Sara, etc. – no romance subplot; gets to grieve Rex • Actually from the 1940s colonized Africa; impressed by some modern tech but not all • Keep intro: Eobard kills Rex before he can go back to warn them, she goes onto ship and attacks Mick, but have the team call her out on that ALSO keeps the revenge motivation throughout • Arc: black and white morality goes to gray; less mission-oriented, goes from teammates to friends; could tie in with learning about colonization – less condescending about people doing things differently from her • Arc: recovery from grief, black/white morality to gray (learning nuance), learning to be friends not just teammates, learning to listen to others with different styles • She can be a historian instead of Nate if his role is reduced, based on her experience with the oral traditions of her village and having to learn British and American history to fit in better with the JSA – upon her return, becomes a historian/anti-colonialization activist

NATE: • Appears as a guest star for several episodes (the start, then maybe recurs later) – history grad student who was sheltered growing up who dreams of being a superhero, only to realize he actually prefers his life as a historian instead  • Keeps his hemophilia but is heroic despite it • He was a history grad student working on his PHD – he has a piece of the spear and is therefore aware when history changes and is SUPER PISSED OFF because he has to re-write his whole thesis because history is different now, which is like a laptop wipe but worse; he is the ONLY person who remembers his thesis used to be ABOUT SOMETHING ELSE (history based on his grandfather who he idolizes so he KNOWS it’s wrong)

KENDRA: • They get scattered to the past, one of them finds an older version of Kendra and explains the situation, Kendra in the future remembers, she goes to tell Oliver (possibly meeting Nate there) and vouches for Mick and others – Oliver remembers her from the joint intro episode; sets up the crossover interactions • Possibly recurs again, possibly they meet a past version of her

LISA: • Comes on for an episode or two, possibly only marginally related to Len (end of her episode: find something of Len to indicate that he’s scattered through time?) • Could be brought in during Invasion and stays on board for an episode OR gets picked up for a job then gets dropped off during the Invasion episode • Picked up for a Lisa-specific skill like ice skating or theft

Suggested new characters: • More Jonah Hex • Jason Blood in Camelot • Constantine • Zatara • Dr Fate (helmet in Constantine’s place) • Booster Gold (possibly just references to him repeatedly) • Future versions of Flash characters • Endless – possibly with characters meeting them but not realizing what they just met • Mentions of Batfamily • La Maupin • For an episode set in the future: meeting the group that is Commander Cold, Mirror Monarch, etc. and seeing Mick’s reaction

Suggested new time periods: • Keep Chicago and American Revolution • Pirate episode – Ray loves pirates, Mick loves ninjas, they bitch at each other about it; possibly Ching Shih or at least Anne Bonny • Japanese Feudal era (ninjas) but better – address issues with language (kakopumpkin) • Camelot but better • Tudors – Kit Marlow • Stonewall episode • Great Fire of London or Paris Commune or Library of Alexandria – possibly Mick has to re-start • Vikings • Aztecs but not horribly stereotypical • Past of Amaya’s village, Ibn Battuta • World’s Fair • Boxer Rebellion, Marco Polo • More in 20s/30s – mobsters, flappers, Eleanor Roosevelt • More in the future • Ancient Roman Republic (ancient Greece/Atlantis) • Nicola Tesla • WWII – possibly Rommel instead? Or Japanese front? • Six Day War/Raid on Entebbe episode • Austro-Prussian war – Luxembourg sending 80, returning with 81 • Red Scare episode? • Something in Latin America • Ottoman empire? • Crusades but fighting alongside Saladin or against the Fourth Crusade • New Zealand stuff • Episode with Jax going out drinking for 21 birthday and everyone else having to explain why they wrecked the ship, flashbacks to them being attacked Alien style, but it turns out it was just the rat which accidentally got into some of Ray’s shrink/grow tech (based on JLI episode?)

[zelenartwork]

Hello Zelen this has obviously been a long time coming but i have finally got the courage to meet with you.

I am your fear Zelen.

The irony here is, I am actually afraid of you and afraid that you will end us both, that I (a side or aspect of you, your deeper self holds as important as any other part of you) will no longer exist.

Nevertheless, your bravery in similar situations over the years has equipped you with the ability to override me and the other dichotomies residing within you - to push forward during times such as this, so I will explain to you what I fear - and what I’ve been doing to you since you were a boy.

I have masqueraded under many guises and emotions some of which have helped me direct you to a place where I feel safe. These have ranged from insecurity to jealousy, depression to anxiety, possessiveness to apathy and a raft of other schizoid like processes. Simply put I have lurked in the background seizing upon opportune moments, because I needed you to be accepted as just another person like everyone else and continue through life without being noticed. I have needed you to assimilate at every turn and be a normal run of the mill human that lives long without unnecessary risk.

During this time I have increased in strength and as a result have worked out a myriad of ways to control you. I even control you through diet, I control you through the level of physical activity, I control you through addiction and pain, but my favourite and always saves me is - I control you through finances.

A byproduct of this power I have had growing over the years has helped me to explore what my life is here inside of you and all the other fearful elements there are not just only in you and others, but in life itself.

Therefore now if I am to let you pursue your true destiny or fate, this would mean exposing my foibles, weaknesses and darkest secrets. This means losing control over you and to a degree myself as well.

I cannot allow this to happen and not because it would only mean exposing myself, but it would mean ultimately expelling myself from your life, in turn ending mine. I have discovered that there is an equal amount of inquiry and wonder to the darker side of you and others and this life as a whole. And my curiosity only grows now.

Like the joys and levels of bliss - you have experience that develop drivers in the pursuit of more of the same, I likewise have developed my drivers and it is addiction at its purist. You can understand that I will not let this go easily, I cannot let this go - you’re a vehicle for me and so I will use you accordingly, it is my nature.

I understand you are holding space for me to share with you what I am and in this instance the fundamental elements that constitute who I am. As a result it’s as if you were drawing me out and I am powerless to resist - you explore fear and in doing so disarm me at my core.

So ad your fear I will let you know;

I’m afraid you will be happy and successful all the time.

I’m afraid you’ll go from strength to strength, I’m afraid you’ll change so much that I’ll lose my grip. You’ll move through the world and in doing so, lose touch with the dichotomy of darkness and light, positive and negative, optimism and pessimism and you’ll lose touch with the deep pursuits we have so successfully used to explore this life and find answers were there seemingly were none before.

I am afraid that you will leave me and I will be alone without any course of reproach, any way to be in this world. I’m afraid that it will also demonstrate that I was never necessary all along.

I exist in you to help you to a degree, I exist in you to keep you safe - but I must admit over the years it has probably kept me in better stead than it has your loving side.

Love and I have been in relationship since time in beginning, the dynamics of our dance is seeded in fundamental principles of being able to experience each other from somewhat unique perspectives. By design, I cannot be love, I am fear. Likewise love cannot be fear, love cannot be me, love must be love.

Being your fear, I make up the balance of who you are as a human Zelen (or as life looking at itself through you). I make up your way of perceiving the multiverses of everything from the physical to the non physical. It’s as if I am one neural network of understanding activity in your brain / mind / heart acting in logical question to another neural network of your brain / mind / heart. Similar to members of two debating teams, in order to arrive at balanced or logical outcomes (or similar to the yin and yang dynamic).

I am just as much you as any other part of you, yet you and society see me as an enemy. You all fear me and this paradox perpetuates my necessity and ultimate growth.

By my nature I fear everything, it’s what I am. Its what I see, it’s what I pursue, I am fear, I am what I am. Not unlike anything else, I want to live and I have survival mechanisms or strategies (or a survival nature) and in implementing a plethora of techniques I continue on till the last breath that you will breathe Zelen.

I am the antithesis of your optimism of your positivity of your confidence of your ability to be happy to share happiness, yet simultaneously I am the apotheosis of a truly definable emotion or state within the human condition.

So even though you’re holding space for me to explain or share with you what I am, what I fear - you truly don’t want to know who I am and how I actually control you, nobody does.

I can tell you that I don’t want you to be in a relationship with anybody because this will open up more confusion and wounds in you than you care to look at, that you care to experience again.

I can tell you I don’t want you to be financially successful because you will abuse your status and neglect the kinder side of yourself and life.

I can tell you that I’m afraid you will change so much that the friends and those you love will no longer be in your life.

I can tell you that I’m frightened you will end us both because if you haven’t already discovered (which I think you have ), none of this matters at all.

You will simply end because you know you don’t need to be in this form to be - you’re already everywhere - like everything else, you always were - you always will be.

I can tell you though, that perhaps my greatest fear is not really ever ‘knowing’ while I am in this form, while I am in any form. And that this is why life continues looking at its self through all the forms it is, to discover what it is itself.

And it’s been happening for millennia and seemingly will never cease.

I am fearful of disrupting nature by telling what I have seen and heard.

I am afraid of losing grip with this reality and this time not being able to navigate a pathway back.

I am fear at my core, it has protected me and my species in the early years and now it will end me, if I cannot develop an emotional counterpart such as love or similar.

This development however (as I have successfully achieved before) will only perpetuate the ongoing polarity of fear verses love.

And so I fear I will be trapped in this dichotomy and unable to ascend it for the rest of my days.

[podracing-on-lothal]

This is what happens when you write from your supervillain King-of-all-Expanded Universe-OC’s point of view as the hero of the story. I don’t mind rooting for Thrawn in his own stories, but at the end of the day he’s still one of the bad guys.

To be fair though, the first two books of the Thrawn trilogy had him painted as a do-no-wrong supervillain and an actual threat to Luke and the others. The Hand Of Thrawn duology has him (or more appropriately, his legacy) as a boogeyman to the galaxy at large, and...kind of a messianic figure to Voss Parck and the rest of the Empire of the Hand. At least Thrawn’s “apotheosis” served the overarching narrative.

And it’s not just Mr. Zahn here. Remember the entire Star Wars fandom went nuts when the first trailer for Rebels Season 3 dropped. It was like the Second Coming of Christ. As it turns out, a lot of the folks at Lucasfilm who worked on Thrawn for the show are around my age group, so they’ve been growing up with the original Thrawn stories (though take it with a grain of salt...the Discourse Of The Year has it that LFL’s storygroup doesn’t give a shit about the legacy characters, and just resurrects them to fan the flames of fandom zeitgeist so they and Papa Dizknee can rake in the dough. But I digress...). Thrawn was pretty much “Diet Coked” when the Diz brought him back from the proverbial grave. His supervillain framework was there, and it was fun to watch him be a main threat to the Ghost Crew that didn’t rely on any Dark Side hocus-pocus.

And I think the whole Thrawn zeitgeist is what hurt his character. He’s a popular villain in the SW ‘verse. He’s competent, intelligent, highly cultured, and even respects his adversaries when they provide a good challenge to him. (A buddy of mine joked that Thrawn was a “bad man, good manners” type of villain.) The same can be said for him in Season 3 of Rebels (Season 4...meh, YMMV). Viewers and readers love a good bad guy. A story like Star Wars is only as good as its villains, and Thrawn stands out as one of the best.

And then we get the books. Before The Diz took over, none of the books were written from Thrawn’s POV (at least, none that I can remember...correct me if I’m wrong). Turning a supervillain into the “hero” of the story runs the risk of...well, overpowering him or her. S/he’s now the good guy, the one we the readers are supposed to root for. And in Thrawn’s case, because he’s the kind of guy who doesn’t outright kill his subordinates for being incompetent like Vader, Palpatine, or Tarkin, he’s...kind of cast in a more sympathetic light. And even more so when the reader is put in Thrawn’s shoes. Thrawn is now borderlining on becoming a Gary-Stu at this point; though I think his antics in Alliances was an attempt to knock him down a peg...he still ended up being the Smartest Man In The Room at the end of the day.

I’m just slightly disappointed that Thrawn’s fate at the end of Rebels was so on-the-nose with the whole “many arms” thing. I was kind of hoping his hubris and overconfidence in his own abilities would be his downfall as it was in the original books, and ultimately end with his crew turning on him and removing him from the game. It would have made sense in the context of the first novel with that conversation he had with Yularen. So it has me wondering now, if TZ ever does get to write about anything post-Rebels, how is Thrawn going to die (morbid thought, I know), and how much of a boogeyman he’s going to be to the rest of the galaxy in the meantime. (“Grand Admiral Thrawn? I thought he was just a myth meant to frighten children!”)

TL;DR - I hear you on that. Thrawn is a god-tier untouchable because he’s too popular, and it’s gone to TZ’s head.

so anyway a friend and I were having a cathartic bitch session about how Incredibly Too Much it is for Thrawn to maybe be -- or at one point have been -- force sensitive (because come on!!! he was the coolest bitch specifically because he could kick you ass with his evil brain, no force skills needed, come on!), and it devolved into a general wank session about TZ's huge crush on his most beloved OC, which, like... look we all have that crush it's why we're here but Thrawn definitely becomes less compelling the more of his flaws TZ strips away, which is why it's dumb when authors let those crushes rule their output, and anyway she started listing all the high school yearbook awards TZ wants us to know Thrawn won, and...

"winner, 'deepest most tortured soul in hottest body' class of 2003"

it's true and I'm dying

[vessuvius-etc]

BASICS.

FULL NAME :  hisakawa naoki , changed to ‘ linus macaslan ‘   NICKNAME :   lin , heavily preferred.   AGE :  claims to be 19 , though in actuality he is 125 ( due to his immortality he hasn’t aged past the state he was in at the time of his death ) BIRTHDAY : march twentieth  ETHNIC GROUP : japanese / european NATIONALITY : scottish LANGUAGE / S : japanese , scottish gaelic, spanish. SEXUAL ORIENTATION : pansexual ROMANTIC ORIENTATION : homoromantic. RELATIONSHIP STATUS : n / a , verse dependent.  CLASS : adopted into the upper class , his spending money comes from an allowance given to him by his adoptive mother , who also pays his rent and bills.  HOME TOWN / AREA :  lochcarron, highlands. lived in a small home with his mother that had enough space to have a small garden and livestock. they dealt with mainly chickens and sheep.  CURRENT HOME : san francisco, california. lives in the middle of the city in a studio apartment on top of a bakery.  EDUCATION LEVEL : was homeschooled. now attends community college classes to begin to study chemical engineering. PROFESSION :  unemployed due to lack of need. student at a local community college

PHYSICAL.

HAIR : brown hair that is currently long enough that when he towel dries it he can produce a slight wave / curl  EYES : monolidded and downturned, puppy-like eyes. dark brown irises.  FACE : oval - shapped. straight , fluffy eyebrows LIPS : full , pouty, naturally have a pink / red tint to them that he typically enhances with lip tint.  COMPLEXION : his skin is a medium / olive tone. he doesn’t tan easily. has freckles across the bridge of his nose and his cheekbone area BLEMISHES : fading acne scars on the sides of his lower jaw, usually hidden with light makeup. SCARS :  has scars on his wrists, forearms, upper arms, knees.  TATTOOS : — HEIGHT : six feet three inches with his slight slouch, he is trying to work on his posture which would only put him vaguely above that height. WEIGHT :  approximately two hundred ten pounds BUILD : vaguely muscular due to his minimal gym habits, but still has a softness to him. his muscles aren’t overly defined, but in all he is a larger type of person. FEATURES : most notably , he has very expressive eyes , and very soft hands. ALLERGIES : none that he knows of.  USUAL HAIR STYLE : messy hair that looks similar to bedhead, though he would swear its combed.  USUAL FACE LOOK : serene , contented.  USUAL CLOTHING : jeans with the hems rolled up, a comfortable t-shirt, socks and sandals. 

PSYCHOLOGY.

FEAR / S : the loss of a loved one, in all regards ; open water, anything larger than a nice bathtub.  ASPIRATION / S : to have his own skincare line; to be able to pay for his own home; to be able to provide for himself and another; to figure out his purpose.  POSITIVE TRAITS :  amiable, appreciative, compassionate, forgiving, idealistic, modest, reliable, self-sacrificing, soft-hearted, spiritual NEGATIVE TRAITS : absent-minded, gloomy, gullible, impractical, indecisive, passive, self-indulging, submissive, uncoordinated, weak TURN ONS :   leadership, being bold, TURN OFFS :  meekness ZODIAC : pisces.  they are characterized by empathy and expressed emotional capacity, and are more intuitive than others. they are also known to be most tolerant of all the zodiac signs.  TEMPERAMENT : melancholic. melancholic people often were perceived as very (or overly) pondering and considerate, getting rather worried when they could not be on time for events.  SOUL TYPE / S :  caregiver:  you have tendency to put others’ needs ahead of your own. this trait makes it essential that you go out of your way to take care of yourself as well as those around you. you are loyal to the extreme, and you guard those who are entrusted to your care with your life. your empathy allows you to understand nonverbal emotional signals. it is common for caregiver types to intuitively know what someone needs at any given time. VICE HABIT / S :  forgetting to take off his makeup before bed, biting his lip, overspending (excessively), avoiding eye contact, rambling VIRTUES / VICES: benevolence, compassion,  tolerance / meekness, doubt ,complacency.

FAMILY.

FATHER :  duncan macaslan, son of a whiskey maker / n / a MOTHER : hisakawa yoshiko, daughter of a businessman / sage de leon, daughter of a businessman. SIBLINGS :  none by blood , but relates himself to dieter and daikon , two others who have suffered the same fate and have walked the earth for centuries longer than he has. EXTENDED FAMILY :  adoptive uncles / aunts , sage’s siblings. NAME MEANING / S : in mythology, linus is the name of two of apollo’s sons. linus of thrace was the personification of a lamentation and wrote poetry and apocryphal works; linus of argos was raised by shepherds and killed upon reaching adulthood. macaslan is derived from a word which translates to “my father is peace”.

HISTORY.

he was born in the early 1890′s in lochcarron , scotland , where he lived with his mother on a small farm. he lived tending to livestock , and was amicable with other people in his small town but had very few friends , and there was only one person he found himself truly close with. he was with said ‘friend’ when he fell into a frozen lake one winter, his body drowning while his spirit survived. 

his spirit wandered on for over a century , as after watching the people in his past life pass on he travels , eventually making his way to a different continent , across the united states, and into the hands of sage and dieter. the two help him return to a physical form , a body much like the one he’d occupied long ago. after the initial hurdle of being alive, he changed his name and sought out an education - believing that that is what most people his ‘ age ‘ are doing. he’d also like to know what his purpose is , but finding that out is a daunting task he’s put off indefinitely. 

( extensive backstory post ) 

ABILITIES. 

empath focused: emotion manipulation, emotion absorption, emotion removal. astral focused: astral projection, astral manipulation, ascended physiology. psionics: foresight.

( extensive ability post , tba )

EXTRA. / MISC. 

TALENTS :  comforting others, applying winged eyeliner on himself and others, curating different scents, doing multiplication in his head, finding good deals BAD AT : communicating his thoughts / desires / needs,  HOBBIES :  is very interested in skincare & taking care of himself in that regard , has an extensive sock collection , has an asmr youtube channel where he makes slime  TROPES : deity of human origin, disabled deity, god in human form , our angels are different, psychic powers, cuteness proximity, abstract apotheosis , experienced protagonist , an astral projection not a ghost 

FC INFO.

MAIN FC / S : mafuyu from given.  ALT FC / S : any similar male by kizu natsuki  YOUNGER FC / S : —

detailed ver. 

[vivienna-vivid]

I keep forgetting that one of Mayaka's compatible Servants is Arjuna

[mirronx]

My Polytheism

I was browsing around on Wordpress and saw someone write about their polytheism, and it made me feel inspired to talk about my beliefs. https://magickfromscratch.com/2016/08/15/my-polytheism/ is the link I read, as it only feels right to share.

So what is polytheism for me? At its core of course it’s simply a belief in multiple deities. But actually examining what that means, and how it impacts my life, is pretty broad.

A deity, to me, is not omnipotent. Is not omniscient. Omnibenevolent, omnipresent. Traits that I often see associated with the Christian deity don’t really fit to me with the deities that I interact with. With what they aren’t out of the way, it’s still difficult to define what that makes them. They’re spiritual based entities, operating on a different layer than the physical world. They can certainly incarnate, in part or whole, though I strongly doubt the latter happens on anything resembling a regular basis. They exist outside of a linear flow of time, and aren’t really tied to specific physical forms.

More than just the logistics of what spirit life is like though, deities have... feelings, thoughts, motivations, desires. They’re very human in that sense. They aren’t perfect in the sense of “they never make mistakes”, but I would say that their actions are primarily driven by love, at least of the agape variety. They have a lot of experience, a lot of various talents, and they want to help people. I’ll add that for me worship isn’t necessarily something I attribute with what I call deities, nor is it something like... power level. At best it would be something maybe like “authority”, but even that feels poorly defined.

With what they are out of the way, I guess I’ll explore my relationship with them. I believe humans can become deities. Or vice verse. Apotheosis is something that’s in multiple mythologies after all, and to me it makes sense. So I don’t really approach the Gods I work with in a... exceptionally submissive manner. I want to build mutually beneficial relationships, and help where I can. For me, I tend to see it as building a friendship. It’s why offerings are important, as they are expressing that you still want to have that relationship.

I’m... trying not to talk too much. I feel hesitant to continue more, but I want to address what I get out of the relationship, and try to address what I feel the Gods get, though it’s only my beliefs. The Gods are not omnipotent. Fate (which I tend to see as more broadly being the will of the universe, for lack of a better term) can beat them, and all sorts of other things exist. But they help in a lot of ways. My life is better for having them in it, and is very stable I feel at least in part because of them. And I feel I help as well, even if it’s just talking about them or sharing things like this.

I’ll add as a last bit, the Gods are complex. Even with things that are inherently not compatible I believe both and more can be true. So while this is my experience I don’t think it’s absolute, and that isn’t a bad thing. I feel sharing beliefs and experiences even if they aren’t the same is good.

[jamesgraybooksellerworld]

798G                Anon

The Compleat Sheriff: wherein is set forth, his office and authority; with directions, how and in what manner to execute the same, according to the common and statute laws of this kingdom, which are now in force and use: and the judgments and resolutions of the judges in divers late cases in the several courts of Westminster, relating thereunto. Likewise of Under-Sheriffs and their deputies… to which is added, the office and duty of coroners, and many modern adjudged cases relating to the office of a Sheriff to this time, &c.

In the Savoy: printed by John Nutt. 1710   £2900

Octavo 7 ½ X 4 ½ Bound in full contemp. panelled calf, raised bands, gilt dec. spine; lacking label, sl. cracking to head of upper joint. Armorial bookplate of the Marquess of Headfort. v.g.           Second Edition with additions. This is one of those books in which the Title says it all..even including the duties of the Coroners!

ESTC T90638, BL, NLW, Oxford & National Trust only in British Isles; Columbia, Harvard & Kansas in North America.

    649G Anon ( but probably Roger L’Estrange, 1616-1704)

A compendious history of the most remarkable passages of the last fourteen years: with an account of the plot, as it was carried on both before and after the fire of London, to this present time

London: printed by A. Godbid, and J. Playford, and are sold by S. Neale, at the Three Pigeons in Bedford-Street over against the New-Exchange 1680                                                      £2,400

Octavo , 7 X 4 ½ inches First edition A (-A1) B-O . With frontis. portraits (plate) of Titus Oates, Captain William Bedloe, Stephen Dugdale, and Miles Prance. As well as a large fold out of London Bridge.

This is a wonderful copy expertly rebacked retaining the original sheep boards.

The (Horrid) Popish Plot , a fabrication of the evil and twisted mind of Titus Oates. On 28 September 1678, Oates made 43 allegations against various members of Catholic religious orders — including 541 Jesuits — and numerous Catholic nobles. He accused Sir George Wakeman, Queen Catherine of Braganza’s physician, and Edward Colman, the secretary to Mary of Modena, Duchess of York, of planning to assassinate Charles. Oates was playing on two divergent groups of Zealous biggots.

Wing L1228

682G    Charles-Alphonse Dufresnoy 1611-1688 Translated by John    Dryden  1631-1700

De arte graphica. The art of painting, by C.A. Du Fresnoy. With remarks. Translated into English, together with an original preface containing a parallel betwixt painting and poetry. As also a short account of the most eminent painters, both ancient and modern, continu’d down to the present times, according to the order of their succession. By another hand.

Heptinstall for W. Rogers, at the Sun against St. Dunstan’s church in Fleetstreet, 1695   £2,200

Quarto  8 1/8 X 6 in     [ ]2, (a-h)4, B-Z4, Aa-Yy4, Zz2. Internally, this copy is in very good shape.      This copy is the first edition of the text in English translation. Bound in contemporary paneled calf it is a very clean large copy.; the spine’s title label has been replaced. “His progress in his studies was more than usually promising; he soon became well versed in the classics, and at an early period of his life showed a mark genius for poetry” (Bryan’s D-96). He was a working artist who established himself within a circle of peers that inlcuded Poussin, Claude Lorrain, and, close friend, Pierre Mignard who spent several years with him in Italy. Dufresnoy and Mignard were involved in copying Annibale Caracci’s frescoes into the Farnese Palace. However, “Dufresnoy was before all things a critic, and his best known work is not a painting, but a book, “De Arte Graphica”, a manual written in extremely elegant Latin verse…and reprinted for a hundred years as a masterpiece” (CE vol.X, p.289). The academic and creative impact Dufresnoy’s book had was great; his influence reverberated across the artistic community. This is particularly clear within his circle of friends, “this rare amateur wielded a great educational influence over Mignard, and made him acquainted with Venice and its incomparable school, which our classic art had professed to despise” (CE). Lowndes describes the book as “a work of established reputation” (p. 163) and the text itself includes Dufresnoy’s explanation of the art of painting. Examples of some topics covered include “The motions of the hands and head must agree”, “The conduct of the tones of Light and Shadows”, “The reflection of colours”, “Things which are vicious in painting to be avoided”. There is also an interesting account of “the most eminent painters, both ancient and modern” by his personal judgement (includes articles on Vouet, Caravaggio, his hero, Titian, and others). “Painting and Poetry are two Sisters, which are so like in all things, that they mutually lend to each other both their Name and Office. One is call’d a dumb Poesy, and the other a speaking Picture” (from pg. 3 of “De Arte Graphica”). Dufresnoy and Dryden helped assure this filial association between the two popular arts of painting and poetry. This text laid the groundwork for Jonathan Richardson’s seminal “Essay on the Theory of Painting” published in 1715 – a work that has been hailed as the “starting point for the classical school of art criticism in Britain” and the study of aesthetics. “ (Prince, “Aesthetics: Sources in the Eighteenth Century”).

Wing D-2458 ; H. Macdonald’s “Dryden Bibliography” 139a (p. 175)

    453F     John      Dryden  1631-1700

Lucretius a poem against the fear of death. With an ode in memory of the accomplish’d young lady Mrs. Ann Killigrew, excellent in the two sister arts of poetry and painting.    London: H. Hills, 1709.   £800

Octavo  6 ½ X 4 ¼ inches         Hills’s pirate edition .A8

First edition in this form              Price from imprint: Price One PennyThis copy is bound in full reversed calf.    Killigrew died of smallpox on June 16, 1685, when she was only 25 years old so the question has frequently been raised: is Killigrew so deserving of such an immortalizing Ode by Dryden? Had he even read her poetry to properly determine her skills? Some say Dryden defended all poets as teachers of moral truths, and therefore Killigrew, despite her lack of experience, deserved his praise. However, evidence shows that she might not have been ready to see some of her work published, such as the unfinished poem “Alexandreis,” about Alexander the Great. At the end of the poem, she expresses the feeling that the task was too great for her to take on and she would try to finish it at another time. Then, there is the question of the last three poems that were found among her papers. They seem to be in her handwriting, which is why Killigrew’s father added them to her book. The poems are about the despair the author has for another woman, and could possibly be autobiographical if they are in fact by Killigrew. Some of her other poems are about failed friendships, possibly with Katherine Philips or Anne Finch, so this assumption may have some validity. Anne Killigrew (1686), also an elegy, is devoid of theodicean complaint and provides the consolation of apotheosis throughout. Even when Dryden, in one of the best images in the poem (“Destiny … like a hardn’d Fellon,” that is, a rapist, refused to finish the “Murder at a Blow, … But … took a pride / To work more Mischievously slow, / And plunder’d first, and then destroy’d”), laments Killigrew’s premature death from smallpox, he concludes immediately that she, like Katherine Philips, the matchless “Orinda,” died only to be “translate[d]” to heaven. Moreover, the person praised is a poet–and a woman to boot. Dryden uses the occasion to apotheosize art itself. Anne is a Beatrice, a descendant of “Sappho,” whose transmigrating soul now leaves its peregrinations to sing eternally in a heavenly choir and to whom Dryden and other poets can now pray for poetic inspiration:

Hear then a Mortal Muse thy Praise rehearse, In no ignoble Verse; But such as thy own voice did practise here, When thy first Fruits of Poesie were giv’n; To make thy self a welcome Inmate there: While yet a young Probationer, And Candidate of Heav’n.

Dryden portrays this “Poetess” as having “Wit … more than Man,” as being indeed quasi-divine, a second Christ who “attone[s]” for the “Second Fall” of mankind through bad poetry, bad art, and bad drama; a second Noah in her ability to people creation itself through her portraits; and a cocreator who has the power to paint not only James II’s “Outward Part” but to “call out” with her very “hand” the “Image of his Heart.” Dryden thus portrays Anne’s agency on earth as a second Incarnation, one that, like Christ’s, raises mankind up to higher status–especially the “Sacred Poets,” who, at the sound of the “Golden Trump” on Judgment Day, will, because “they are cover’d with the lightest Ground,” spring first from the earth “And streight, with in-born Vigour, on the Wing, / Like mounting Larkes, to the New Morning sing,” led by Anne “As Harbinger of Heav’n, the Way to show.” Dryden has granted this “Virgin-daughter of the Skies” the status of the Blessed Virgin or Sophia, by implication a coequal member of the Trinity (from which the figure of woman has been conspicuously absent). And one of the main fictions of the poem is that his Pindaric poetry itself participates in the divine emanation. Without music itself, this poem is as wonderfully lyrical as anything the age produced. Witness the last stanza in its entirety:

When in mid-Aire, the Golden Trump shall sound, To raise the Nations under ground; When in the valley of Jehosaphat, The Judging God shall close the Book of Fate; And there the last Assizes keep For those who Wake, and those who Sleep; When ratling Bones together fly, From the four Corners of the Skie, When Sinews o’re the Skeletons are spread, Those cloath’d with Flesh, and Life inspires the Dead; The Sacred Poets first shall hear the Sound, And formost from the Tomb shall bound: For they are cover’d with the lightest Ground And streight, with in-born Vigour, on the Wing, Like mounting Larkes, to the New Morning sing. There Thou, Sweet Saint, before the Quire shalt go, As Harbinger of Heav’n, the Way to show, The Way which thou so well hast learn’d below.

The play off the inverted iamb every time the line begins with “When” and then leads, in the first instance–or slams, in the third–into a spondee provides wonderful metrical variation, even as the foot-lengths vary, producing, along with the alliterative f’s and the collapsed iambs of the second line, these great sound effects: “When ratling Bones together fly, / From the four Corners of the Skie.” The use of medial caesuras is masterful especially in the last five lines, including double caesuras that allow the succeeding lines to explode forth in imitation of the mounting larks/resurrected bodies

Foxon, D458 English Short Title Catalog, ESTCT76294.

      626G    (Parker, George, 1654-1743.)        Eland, William    fl 1690

Eland’s tutor to astrology : or, astrology made easie; being a plain introduction to that art, … The tenth edition. Corrected from its former errors, and enlarged.

London : G. Conyers, J. Sprint and T. Ballard, 1704.              £1900

Octavo  5 X 3 inches A4, B-Y6 (signature Y signed y & z2-6, no lacuna) Aa2 (complete)           Listed as the tenth edition, yet no earlier editions show up?                 This is a nice and clean copy, bound in later vellum.           A4, is an advertisment for three books sold by G. Conyers,J Sprint and Tho Ballard including “A Wonderful history of all the storms, hurricanes, earthquakes, &c. That have happen’d in England for above 500 years past, and the great dammages they have done, with a particular and large account of the dreadful-storm, that happen’d on the 26th and 27th of November, 1703. “ which shows up in only two copies, it seems all the books sold by these sellers are rare. The Title page lists “Geo. Parker as the Author, yet ESTC leaves it as WilliamEland, the intooduction ‘to the reader’explains this in a typically early eighteenth century was the rather cloudy relation between the book ‘compil’d nearly half a century of yerars since,” and the Author’s memory.

Gardner Biblioteca Asytrologica #297 A short pre-view of books from fascicule VII 798G                Anon The Compleat Sheriff: wherein is set forth, his office and authority; with directions, how and in what manner to execute the same, according to the common and statute laws of this kingdom, which are now in force and use: and the judgments and resolutions of the judges in divers late cases in the several courts of Westminster, relating thereunto.

[vivienna-vivid]

Baby's first digital art ft. my boyo Jay