#warriors of jellyfish island

[bethanythebogwitch]

@fishyfishyfishtimes, I noticed you like mermaids and enjoyed my fish Digimon post, so you may be interested in mermaid Digimon.

The OG is Mermaimon and I really like that she's (I'm saying she but whether or not Digimon have genders depends on which setting is being used) also a pirate. The lore says she uses her beautiful singing voice to lure people in and rob them. She also carries an anchor as a weapon and is not afraid to give someone a thrashing.

Mermaimon is the OG mermaid in the sense that she debuted first, but in lore the OG is AncientMermaimon. She is one of the Warrior 10, a group of ancient Digimon from the beginning of the Digital World. The Warrior 10 are dead, having long ago died to stop Lucemon (as in Lucifer) from destroying the Digital World. While the Warrior 10 are long dead, their data went onto spawn many species of other Digimon. AncientMermaimon specifically is the ancestor of all aquatic Digimon. She was effectively a goddess of the sea, able to control the weather and with enough power to sink entire islands. While I like the original Mermaimon's design more for its pirate theme, AncientMermaimon also has a great design.

The only merman in Digimon is Neptunemon. As the name suggests, he is based on the Neptune, roman god of the sea. He is also part of a group, the Olympos XII, who are also based on the Olympian gods. They collectively rule a portion of the Digital World that is on a private server called Iliad. He is the absolute ruler of the oceans on the Iliad server. I really like his samurai-inspired armor and the trident made of shark heads.

While that's all the proper mermaids, I have some honorable mentions in that they still fill the aquatic creature/girl archetype. The first is Ranamon, who has a direct connection to AncientMermaimon from above. In the anime Digimon Frontier, which introduced the Warrior 10, it is established that their spirits, each representative of an element, survived their death and can be taken up and used by others. While half the spirits are taken by the heroes, the other half are corrupted into evil. The good spirits are fire, light, ice, wind, and thunder while the corrupted spirits are steel, water, wood, earth, and darkness (later redeemed). Ranamon and her evolution are the corrupted spirit of water. The only spirit that we saw both the pure and corrupted versions of was darkness and I think that's a big missed opportunity. Ranamon is easily my favorite of the spirits, which is largely due to the english dub making her a classic mean girl with a southern accent. Her name comes from the Spanish word for frog.

Ranamon's evolution is Calamaramon, who is deliberately designed to be a darker version of a mermaid. Instead of a fish tail, she has an entire upside-down squid for a lower body. She's also supposed to be a sea witch and has a major temper. Oddly enough, she's one of the only spirt Digimon from Frontier that has shown up in other series. In the Digimon Adventure reboot she shows up as a major threat and in Digimon Ghost Game she's a monster of the week that's only a villain due to a misunderstanding. In approve given her role in Frontier basically boiled down to a joke about her being uglier than Ranamon.

Last of the honorable mentions is the entire Jellymon evolution line: Jellymon to TeslaJellymon to Thetismon, to Amphimon. They're pretty recent recent Digimon, having been designed for the most recent anime, Digimon Ghost Game, where she's one of the main characters. She is also easily the biggest little shit in the franchise. I really like the jellyfish meets human design of the line. I also suspect Amphimon wearing a full-body dive suit is a deliberate subversion of the trend of feminine Digimon having sexy designs.

Jellymon

TeslaJellymon

Testismon

Amphimon

[yugiohcardsdaily]

Posted Cards Master List - 50.0

August 2023, 1st thru 20th

Infinite Dismissal

Insect Princess

Prickle Fairy

Insect Soldiers of the Sky

Inspection

Protector of the Throne

Invader of the Throne

Invitation to a Dark Sleep

Iron Blacksmith Kotetsu

Island Turtle

Jade Insect Whistle

Jellyfish

Jigen Bakudan

Jinzo #7

Jirai Gumo

Kaminari Attack

Karate Man

Karbonala Warrior

Kelbek

Keldo

King Fog

King of Yamimakai

Kiseitai

Kotodama

Kumootoko

Kurama

Labyrinth Wall

Larvae Moth

Larvas

Laser Cannon Armor

Legendary Flame Lord

Legendary Sword

Leghul

Lekunga

Lesser Dragon

Liquid Beast

Little Chimera

Lord Poison

Machine Conversion Factory

Mad Dog of Darkness

Magic Drain

Magical Labyrinth

Major Riot

Maju Garzett

Man Eater

Manticore of Darkness

Mask of Darkness

Mataza the Zapper

Mefist the Infernal General

Mega Thunderball

Megamorph

Metal Detector

Metal Dragon

Metal Fish

Metallizing Parasite - Lunatite

Milus Radiant

Minar

Minor Goblin Official

Misairuzame

Molten Zombie

Monster Egg

Morinphen

Morphing Jar #2

Mother Grizzly

Mr. Volcano

Mudora

Muka Muka

Multiplication of Ants

Mushroom Man #2

Musician King

Mustering of the Dark Scorpion

Mystic Lamp

Mystic Probe

Mystic Tomato

Mystical Sheep #2

Neo Bug

Nimble Momonga

Nin-Ken Dog

Niwatori

Nobleman of Crossout

Nobleman of Extermination

Non-Spellcasting Area

Numinous Healer

Octoberser

Ocubeam

One-Eyed Shield Dragon

Oni Tank T-34

Ooguchi

Overdrive

Painful Choice

Pale Beast

Pandemonium Watchbear

Paralyzing Potion

Peacock

Performance of Sword

Petit Moth

Pinch Hopper

Power of Kaishin

Precious Cards from Beyond

[laresearchette]

Saturday, May 25, 2024 Canadian TV Listings (Times Eastern)

WHERE CAN I FIND THOSE PREMIERES?: GAGA CHROMATICA BALL (HBO Canada) 9:00pm MY ADVENTURES WITH SUPERMAN (adult swim) 12:00am

NEW TO AMAZON PRIME CANADA/CBC GEM/CRAVE TV/DISNEY + STAR/NETFLIX CANADA:

AMAZON PRIME CANADA NWSL: BAY FC V NJ/NY GOTHAM FC

IIHF MEN’S HOCKEY (TSN/TSN4) 8:00am: Semifinal - Sweden vs. Czechia (TSN/TSN4) 12:00pm: Semifinal - Canada vs. Switzerland

MLB BASEBALL (SN) 12:30pm: Jays vs. Tigers (SN1) 4:00pm: Royals vs. Rays (SN Now) 4:00pm: Brewers vs. Red Sox (TSN2) 7:00pm: Dodgers vs. Reds (SN360) 9:30pm: Yankees vs. Padres

2024 MEMORIAL CUP (TSN/TSN3/TSN4/TSN5) 4:00pm: Round Robin - London Knights vs. Drummondville Voltigeurs

NHL HOCKEY (CBC/SN) 8:00pm: Game 2  - Oilers vs. Stars

LOVE SERVED HERE (W Network) 8:00pm:   A high-end restaurant chef is passed over for promotion and bets that she can turn around the worst restaurant in the city. She starts to fall for the curmudgeonly owner and realizes the key ingredient she's been missing is love.

THERAPY NIGHTMARES (Lifetime Canada) 8:00pm:  As respected therapist Leah works on her own demons by helping others with theirs, she takes on a mysterious new client who seems more intent on exploring Leah's past than her own.

QUEST FOR LOVE (Super Channel Heart & Home) 8:00pm: Mackenzie travels to Costa Rica with her best friend Ethan to secure cacao for her work at a chocolate company. She hopes that Ethan will finally see her through new eyes. When a tourist meets Mackenzie, his interest in her makes Ethan wake up.

NBA BASKETBALL (TSN/TSN3/TSN4/TSN5) 8:30pm: Game 3 - Celtics vs. Pacers

WNBA BASKETBALL (SN1) 9:00pm: Fever vs. Aces

SECRETS IN THE JUNGLE (Cottage Life) 9:00pm (SERIES PREMIERE):  In Guatemala, archaeologists identify an ancient site containing a series of unknown structures; a lake full of jellyfish is studied on a remote South Pacific island; Argentinian researchers discover a complex that may have a dark past.

DUNE: PART TWO (Crave) 9:00pm:  Paul Atreides unites with Chani and the Fremen while seeking revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family. Facing a choice between the love of his life and the fate of the universe, he must prevent a terrible future only he can foresee.

RACE FOR GLORY: AUDI VS. LANCIA (Starz Canada) 9:00pm:  The true story of the intense race car rivalry between Germany and Italy at the 1983 Rally World Championship.

THIS TIME (Super Channel Fuse) 9:05pm:  When a closeted teen inherits her estranged father's journal, she discovers cryptic clues uncovering his secret life. To fulfill her father's dying wish, she races across the country to attempt a rendezvous with her father's friend, Liza Minnelli.

MORTAL KOMBAT LEGENDS: CAGE MATCH (adult swim) 10:00pm:  Action superstar Johnny Cage squares off against a sinister secret society that's plotting a nefarious scheme. However, the brutal fight against the bloodthirsty warriors of the Netherrealm is just the beginning.

CALL ME COUNTRY: BEYONCÉ & NASHVILLE'S RENAISSANCE (HBO Canada) 11:00pm:  Call Me Country explores the evolving definition of country music, highlighting Beyoncé's impact on the industry, as Black artists in Nashville continue to fight for visibility.

THE KITCHEN (CTV) 12:35am:  When the FBI sends three women's gangster husbands to prison, the women take business into their own hands by running the rackets and taking out the competition in the Hell's Kitchen section of New York in 1978.

[9-stray-boys]

Spot the difference 90% of people can’t

[yournextflame]

Sword of the Deepest Lore

Helphen’s Steeple recently caught my attention, this is the only item in the Elden Ring that suggests existance of the realm of dead, which is big, considering that all known beliefs about the afterlife in the Lands Between usually related to the rebirth: be it Erdtree’s Burial tradition, distant resurrection from Deathbirds or Ancestral Worship, in which life sprouts from death. But this sword introduces an actual world of death.

Greatsword patterned after the black steeple of the Helphen, the lampwood which guides the dead of the spirit world. The lamplight is similar to grace in appearance, only it is said that it can only be seen by those who met their death in battle.

霊界において死者の道標となる灯火の樹 ヘルフェンの黒い尖塔を模した大剣

その灯火は祝福に似て 英霊だけが、それを見ることができるという

What EN called “lampwood” 灯火の樹 can be also roughtly interpreted as “Tree of Lamplights”, but it’s very confusing and this convoluted wording translates through the sword’s design as it resembles both a pine tree and a tower. But what if Helphen is a lighthouse, considering that the sword in question drops from Tibia Mariner and death imagery in the Elden Ring is strongly water themed (Godwyn’s corpses, crabs, jellyfishes)? Another neat detail is red jewel decoration, red is a color of life and death in the Elden Ring, it’s a color of primordial gold of Crucible, but also is a color of Rune of Death and a blood star. I wonder if this one jewel is a red glinestone related to the thorn sorceries. Tibia Mariner doesn’t use thorn sorsery, but the color of his spells is red, the skeletons he summons are appearing the red light too.

(extra tinfoil alert: if the spirit world is a realm of the outer god of Deathbirds, could it be that all outer gods are inhabiting alternate dimensions, following Norse myth about original nine worlds of the universe? The Shattering broke the borders between dimensions, this is why we see Rot and envoys of Death along with ghost pine trees manifesting in the Lands Between)

Long story short, there is a spirit world of dead warriors with a giant tree-tower that guides ghosts of the fallen with lamplight similar to the grace of the Erdtree.

I think this is very interesting detail; Tarnished as a group are completely dependant on Marika’s grace, which is a pivotal part of her plan, it allows her to resurrect Tarnished, but also to guide them through the Lands Between. But let me speculate about possible DLC with new territories, which means that Tarnished once again will encounter the guidance of grace ... or not. Marika’s plan is fulfilled in main story, how could you incorporate the grace mechanics without hijacking the main plot? By introduction of the alternative.

Now I want to talk about ethymology of the word Helphen, it’s similar to German “helpen”, to help; assist, while the first syllaby “Hel” might be a reference for the underground world Hel from Norse mythology, likewise “it can only be seen by those who met their death in battle” is a nod to Valhalla. Does it mean potential rematch with some bosses from the base game?

Personally, I’d like to imagine spirit world as a mirror image of the Lands Between, but with less terrain; it’s a sea of a ghostflame with Helphen on the place of the Erdtree. From a development perspective I can also see that releasing DLC in the size of legacy dungeon might be a little bit awkward, considering enormous size of the base game, but cheating the system with an archipelago of islands, while covering the map in ocean, is a neat way to keep it big, yet don’t waste years of work on downloadable content. Of course, everything I wrote is a really wild speculation.

What we can learn about spirit world, knowing how heavily Elden Ring is inspired by Norse mythology and this realm is most likely based on Hel/Niflheim?

Niflheim is one of the Nine Worlds of Norse mythology and the homeland of primordial darkness, cold, mist, and ice.

Seems fitting as the ghostflame of Deathbirds is always called cold and even bitterly cold. There is also an intriguing connection between cold and death sorceries without background sigils that I’m planning to investigate properly one day.

Another typical account is the journey of Hermod to Hel to attempt to retrieve Baldur, who had been killed by Loki. Hermod is a minor figure in Norse mythology. The meaning and etymology of his name aren’t entirely clear, but it seems likely that his name is either a variant of hermaðr, “warrior”

I’d like to say that we are going to save our own “Baldur “, but we already kind of revived Godwyn in Fia’s ending. 

The common elements in Snorri’s and Saxo’s accounts seem to be the following: Hel was located underground – down and to the north, the realm of cold and general lifelessness, down the trunk of Yggdrasil, the great tree that forms the central axis of the cosmos. It was reached by descending from a higher point with the help of a guide – an unnamed (dead) woman in Hadding’s case, and Sleipnir in the Prose Edda and the poem Baldrs Draumar (Baldur’s Dreams) in the Poetic Edda. After traveling through darkness and mist, the traveler would come to a river, perhaps a torrential river of water, but more commonly a river of clanging weapons.

Realistically speaking, it reminds me of Deeproot Depth, we already visited the base of the world tree, dream of a dead demigod and were guided by a deathbed companion. This my main concern about DLC predictions about Godwyn, his part of the plot is already more or less covered in the story. 

And before finishing my fanfic I want to go full on CSI on the Helphen’s design.

There is a skull or a golden skeleton figure near the base of the sword, similiar to the T-posing skeleton of the Golden Epitaph, Miquella’s sword:

A sword made to commemorate the death of Godwyn the Golden, first of the demigods to die. Infused with the humble prayer of a young boy; "O brother, lord brother, please die a true death."

Cross-hatch pattern under “the entrance” reminds me of Radagon’s rune (not only his rune is the massive ??? already, considering consequences of its placements, but it’s also entangled with thorns).

The recembalance is far-fetched, for sure, but this post is from realm of pure fanfiction anyways.

P.S. I think I finally figured out something that was bothering me for a long time, I never understood how soulless demigods in mausoleums are duplicating remembrances from lore perspective. But if there is a spirit world of fallen champions with its own version of the Erdtree, which is implied by Helphen Steeple, we are probably using Helphen to create another remembrance for us with a help of soulless demigods.

P.P.S. Where is Radagon’s remembrance?

[amothwithglossamerwings]

Angel Island is the world's best VRMMO Fighting Game, for over 25 years...

Angel Island is a Hyper Realistic VRMMO owned my The Emeralds Treasures Corporation

All players are Echidnas

There are 4 classes

Warrior, Emerald Priest, Runesmith, Chaos Shaper

Warrior- Ranged, Melee, Tanks,

Emerald Priest- Healing, Finding Enemies, buffs/debuffs

Runesmith- Blacksmith, enchanting Chaos into things, Trap making, fixing stuff

Chaos Shaper- can bend Chaos Energy into whatever form they need, Teleportation, Magic users

Their goal is to fight to protect the island's greatest treasure. The Master Emerald.

People flocked to the game on mass pouring money into it

It had harsh limits

It's not PvP, its not allowed 

But people could challenge and spar for more Honor Points

It's only a Player vs Enemy

It has many levels.

And each level has waves.

Its little like tower defense with rpg elements

Where if your Character Died, you had to make a new one.

Your old character's name was put on the memorial stone along with all the others who fell in battle.

Each week a new creature will show up to try to take the Master Emerald

Most notable enemies are the Elder Gods, the Olympians, Norse Pantheon, The Egyptians, Space Warlords, A Wizard whose name if spoken got more powerful, a Litch, Several Dragons, Space Jellyfish, a corrupted Elemental, And one hacker with a corrupted Chao.

The hacker was named Pachacamac, he took a Chao (and coded a monster,) and wreaked havoc with it

Several thousand players had their accounts deleted that day, 

A rumor stated that some people were killed in real life too. A CEO's daughter of the company, but nothing confirmed.

The scandal killed the game 

It was a slow death; people didn’t want to make new characters when so many high-level ones were lost. 

7 years later it's a dying game with most of the people leaving 

Yet the Devs still update it

All but one player left

Knuckles joined late but has since then fought past the previous record level of 762

He reached level 999

No invading creature has touched the master emerald.

Some have come close

Just when Knuckles has defeated level 1000 a strange pop up in Master Emerald Green™ asks a question 

Level Up!

Max Level Reached!

All Stats are Maxed Out!

Full Health Regen

All Negative Conditions are cleared

Achievement Unlocked:

Do I look like I need your power:

All stats are doubled, When standing still

Achievement Unlocked:

The Last of the Echidna:

All classes are unlocked.

Congratulations

Warrior,

 Knuckles

You have completed level 1000

Reward: 

Title: I am the Mountain; No one can make you move unless you move first

The Siege is Over!

The battle has been won and our enemies lay slain under our might and power!!!

You who have been abandoned by all fought with my blessing and triumphed over Evil.

Today our island is safe,

But Darkness is unrelenting and more will come for my Light and Power.

I offer you a Choice

Become my Guardian until the war is done?

YES? Or NO?

Reward:

The Guardian Of the Master Emerald: 99% Health Regen buff on Angel Island, 100% Attack and Defense buff on Angel Island, Ability to sense and locate all Chaos Energy within 500km

This Land is My Land: Shape any and all land how you wish.

???

And Knuckles, who's only escape from the terrible, poisonous world he lives in, Wants more.

He selects Yes.

And falls unconscious

Knuckles wakes up at the altar right next to the Master Emerald

But something feels different, the sun is hotter, and the wind is softer. He can see birds and touch the wet water. There is something undeniably alive here that has been lost in his world.

The menu, and Inventory is still accessible.

The log out button is gone.

But most of all, He no longer feels the weakness of sickness. His lungs breathe in fresh air and not the choking smoke of smog.

He is reborn anew in this world he loves, on the island of his dreams, with the Emeralds He will sacrifice everything to protect.

And then the Next enemy comes.

[akuma-tenshi]

my friend got me into kokosara so i’m returning the favor by creating a tengu / mermaid au where sara is a fierce, powerful tengu warrior who oversees inazuma while kokomi is a peaceful jellyfish mermaid residing in the waters of watatsumi island

[sequs-art-box]

Doodled some of my sky cotl ocs. Might do the rest, might not idk lol

Brief descriptions of each of them below!

Oda (He/him): a Vagabond traversing the Kingdom of Sky. He's sports a poker face 99% of the time as he doesn't show his emotions often. Not a lot of people know that he's a swordsman, as he only uses violence for defense. He is an ally of Maxine, though they do not travel together.

Maxine (Guardian) (She/Her): One of the toughest warriors in the kingdom from the Starlight Desert. From her face alone, she has been through a lot. And I MEAN a lot. Taken from her family at a young age, she was raised to know nothing more than to obey orders and kill anything that crosses her path. As of recently, she has escaped that horroble life and is traveling with newfound allies through the Kingdom of Sky.

Honuru (He/Him): A brave martial artist raised by the four elemental prophets (Fire mainly). Having many siblings, he grew up knowing that family always comes first, giving him fatherly tendencies as an adult. Honuru is the first person Maxine met when she escaped her home, saving him from a deadly Dark Dragon attack (which left him with a giant scar)

Bonnie (she/any): Don't let her cute facade trick you. She is a powerful magic user- and did I mention completely insane and evil? Bonnie has made a reputation as being some crazy kid who likes to go around messing with people's lives. She particularly loves to play tag- but don't play with someone like her. She might leave with blood on her hands.

Halcyon (They/Them): A carefree, kind, animal loving person. They grew up in the Sanctuary Islands, where they learned how to communicate with creatures of light with help of the jellyfish whisperer. They also have a thing for cooking, but in the sweet factor. You are sure to have a good time with them! Halcyon is the second person Maxine has met.

Cedrich (He/him): A teenage prodigy from the Vault of Knowledge. With his staff as well as his hands, he has trained in practically every aspect of magic known in the Kingdom of Sky! He even personally met the Vaults Elder. Though he is powerful, his nervousness and anxiety takes it out of control. Cedrich spends every day analyzing anything he sees, taking notes in his journal, and even tests himself fairly often on the data he collected. Maybe he works a little too much for a 17 year old boy... Since Cedrich graduated early, he tasked himself in improving his magic outside of the Vault. Leading him to be the third person Maxine meets during her own travels.

[mamamoon92]

Japanese divinities ✨

Shinto✨

Major kami✨

•Ama-no-Uzume (天宇受売命)

Commonly called Uzume, she is the goddess of dawn and revelry, instrumental to the "missing sun legend" in Shinto. She is also known as The Great Persuader and The Heavenly Alarming Female.

•Amaterasu-ō-mi-kami (天照��神 or 天照大御神)

Commonly called Amaterasu, she is the goddess of the sun as well as the purported ancestress of the Imperial Household of Japan. Her full name means "Great Goddess" or "Great Spirit Who Shines in the Heavens"; she may also be referred to as Ōhiru-menomuchi-no-kami (大日孁貴神). Due to her ties to the Imperial family, she is often considered (though not official) to be the "primary god" of Shinto.

•Ame-no-Koyane (天児屋命 or 天児屋根命)

A male deity, he is considered the "First in Charge of Divine Affairs", as well as the aide to the first Emperor of Japan.[1] He is also considered to be the ancestor of the Fujiwara family.

•Fujin (風神)

Also known as Kaminokaze, he is the Japanese god of the wind and one of the eldest Shinto gods, said to be present at the creation of the world. He is often depicted as an oni with a bag slung over his back.

•Hachiman (八幡神)

Also known as Hachiman-shin or Yawata no kami, he is seen as the god of war. Originally an agricultural deity, he later became the guardian of the Minamoto clan.

•Inari (稲荷)

The god of rice and fertility. His messengers and symbolic animal are foxes. He is often identified with the Buddhist deity Dakiniten. Though traditionally represented as a male, there are records of Inari appearing as a female as well.

•Izanagi (伊弊諾 or 伊邪那岐)

The forefather of the gods, he is the first male as well as the god of creation and life. He and his wife, Izanami, were responsible for the birth of the islands of Japan and many kami, though she died in childbirth. Later, after his failed attempt to retrieve her from the underworld, he sired Amaterasu, Susano and Tsukuyomi.

Izanami (伊弉冉 or 伊邪那美)

•Izanagi's wife and sister, she is the first female as well as the goddess of creation and death. She died shortly after the birth of Kagu-tsuchi, and Izanami followed her to the underworld, but failed to bring her back to the living world. A marital spat between the pair caused the cycle of life and death for all living beings.

•Ninigi-no-Mikoto (瓊瓊杵尊)

Commonly called Ninigi, he was the grandson of Amaterasu. His great-grandson was Kamuyamato Iwarebiko, later to be known as Emperor Jimmu, first emperor of Japan.

•Raijin (雷神)

Commonly called Raiden (雷電), he is the god of thunder and lightning, and is often paired with Fujin. As with the latter, Raijin is usually depicted as an oni.

•Ryūjin (龍神)

Also known as Rinjin, he is a dragon, as well as god of the sea. He resides in Ryūgū-jō, his palace under the sea built out of red and white coral, from where he controlled the tides with magical tide jewels. His great-grandson would become Emperor Jimmu.

•Susanoo-no-mikoto (須佐之男命)

Alternately romanized as Susano-o, Susa-no-o, and Susanowo. He is the god of storms as well as in some cases the god of the sea. He is also somewhat of a trickster god, as Japanese mythology extensively documents the "sibling rivalry" between him and Amaterasu. Susanoo also was responsible for the slaying of the monster Yamata-no-Orochi and the subsequent discovery of the sacred sword Kusanagi.

•Tenjin (天神)

The god of scholarship, he is the deified Sugawara no Michizane (845-903), who was elevated to his position after dying in exile and subsequent disasters in Heian-kyō were attributed to his angered spirit. See Dazaifu, Fukuoka

•Toyotama-hime (豊玉姫)

Also known as Otohime (乙姫), she was the daughter of Ryūjin and the grandmother of Jimmu. It is said that after she gave birth to her son, she turned into a dragon and disappeared.

•Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto (月読の命 or 月夜見の尊)

Also known as Tsukiyomi, Tsuki no kami, Tsukiyomino mikoto, and Tsukiyumi no mikoto, he is the god of the moon. He killed the goddess of food, Uke Mochi, out of disgust and anger in the way she had prepared a meal. This caused Amaterasu to never face him again, causing the sun and moon to be in different parts of the sky.

Minor kami✨

•Amatsu-Mikaboshi (天津甕星), the kami of all evil and stars who existed before Ama-No-Uzume

•Konohanasakuya-hime (木花之開耶姫), the wife of Ninigi and daughter of Ohoyamatsumi, and great-grandmother of Jimmu. She is also known as the goddess of Mount Fuji.

•Ohoyamatsumi (大山積命), an elder brother of Amaterasu, and an important god who rules mountain, sea, and war, as well as the father of Konohanasakuya-hime.

•Sarutahiko Ohkami (猿田毘古神), a kami of the Earth that guided Ninigi to the Japanese islands

•Uke Mochi (保食神), sometimes called Ogetsu-hime-no-kami, a goddess of food. After she had spat a fish, vomited or defecated game and coughed rice, she had been killed by a disgusted Tsukuyomi, or in some other versions, Susanoo.

Buddhism✨

•Amida Nyorai (無量光佛 or 無量壽佛)

Commonly referred to as Amida-butsu (阿弥陀如来), he is the primary Buddha of the Pure Land school of Buddhism. He is also believed to be a Buddha who possesses infinite meritorious qualities; who expounds the dharma in his pure paradise and is likely the most well known and popular of the Five Wisdom Buddhas.

•Daruma (ダルマ)

He is traditionally held in Buddhist mythology to be the founder of Zen Buddhism, as well as the founder of Shaolin. One legend reports that after years of meditation, Bodhidharma lost the usage of his eyes and appendages. The Daruma doll was created in honor of this legend.

The Seven Lucky Gods✨

•Benzaiten (弁才天 or 弁財天)

Also known as Benten, she is the goddess of everything that flows: words (and knowledge, by extension), speech, eloquence, and music. Said to be the third daughter of the dragon-king of Munetsuchi, over the course of years she has gone from being a protective deity of Japan to one who bestows good fortune upon the state and its people.Derived from the equivalent goddess in Hinduism Goddess Saraswati.

•Bishamonten (毘沙門天)

Also called Bishamon or Tamonten, he is the god of fortunate warriors and guards, as well as the punisher of criminals. Said to live halfway down the side of Mount Sumeru, the small pagoda he carries symbolizes the divine treasure house that he both guards and gives away its contents.

•Daikokuten (大黒天)

Often shortened to simply Daikoku, he is variously considered to be the god of wealth (more specifically, the harvest), or of the household (particularly the kitchen). He is recognised by his wide face, smile, and flat black hat. He is often portrayed holding a golden mallet, seated on bales of rice, with mice nearby (which signify plentiful food).

•Ebisu (恵比須, 恵比寿, 夷 or 戎)

The sole member of the gods believed to have originated in Japan, he was originally known as Hiruko (蛭子), the first child of Izanagi and Izanami. Said to born without bones, he eventually overcame his handicaps to become the mirthful and auspicious Ebisu (hence one of his titles, "The Laughing God"). He is often depicted holding a rod and a large red bream or sea bass. Jellyfish are also associated with this god and the fugu restaurants of Japan will often incorporate Yebisu in their motif.

•Fukurokuju (福禄寿)

Often confused with Jurōjin, he is the god of wisdom and longevity and said to be an incarnation of the Southern Polestar. He is accompanied by a crane and a turtle, which are considered to be symbols of longevity, and also sometimes accompanied by a black deer. The sacred book tied to his staff is said to contain the lifespan of every person on Earth.

•Hotei (布袋)

Best known in the Western world as the Laughing Buddha, Hotei is likely the most popular of the gods. His image graces many temples, restaurants, and amulets. Originally based on a Chinese Chan monk, Hotei has become a deity of contentment and abundance.

• Kichijōten (吉祥天)

Also known as Kisshōten or Kudokuten, she is the "eighth" member of the Seven Gods of Fortune, a Taoist deity often combined with the traditional members. She is considered to be the goddess of happiness, fertility, and beauty.

• Jurōjin (寿老人)

Also known as Gama, he represents longevity. He is often seen with a fan and a stave, and accompanied by a black deer.

[bakemeats]

HOUSEKI NO KUNI ENCYCLOPEDIA TRANSLATIONS, 2/?

Here’s the rest of the entries about the gems’ clothing!! Some bits of character lore are in there, too.

SUMMER CLOTHES

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Defined in their culture as "the time period when snow has melted and the temperature rises," summer is when the gems awaken from hibernation, put on their summer uniforms and resume their lives. The summer uniform is composed of a white shirt and black culottes. The tie transitions between several variations (such as scarves, delicate ribbons, or button-fastened neckties) over a short period of time. Figure A depicts the design we observed during the first half of the season; figure B shows the design observed during the latter half. Summer uniforms are created using specially-woven fabric derived from thin and light asa fibers. The collar and sleeves are wide, and the culottes are flared, suggesting an emphasis on breathability. The clothes can be removed by undoing the frontal buttons. Compared to the winter uniforms, which were only incrementally improved, the summer uniforms underwent a vast amount of changes in the short time frame of 100 years. A commonality between the winter and summer uniforms is the exposure of the legs and arms. As the gems do fear their bodies being broken during combat, we still do not entirely understand why their fashion includes baring all four limbs. One supposition is that, in the event that a gem is damaged during a Lunarian strike, clothes that cover the entire body could be used as a sort of bag to carry all the scattered body parts at once when the Lunarians descend to gather the pieces, thus increasing the possiblity that the Lunarians escape with the damaged gem. There are also some researchers who profess the theory that the gems find some meaning in clothes that express their healthy and youthful forms. It may simply be that they cannot produce much fabric from the asa and are being economical; however, they use a generous amount in the weaving of fabrics for hibernation clothes, and for the hibernation room itself. ------

SLEEPWEAR

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When the sun begins to set, warrior gems begin their return to the school while keeping an eye on the island. After finishing their reports to the strategist gems, they perform maintenance on their weapons before cleaning their private rooms. Once that's complete, they dust off their uniforms, change into their sleepwear, and enjoy a short period of free time. They often chat or play simple card games in a shared space within the school. The gem spends an average of 11 hours sleeping. The sleepwear is crafted with undyed asa fabric and opens in the front in the style of comfortable loungewear, suitable for a garment designed for relaxation time. As seen in figure A, the left side of the front piece is folded on top, and tied with a sash of the same fabric. Hibernation wear also shares this characteristic; it seems that when the gems wear this kimono-style of clothing, they always fold the left side on top. Kongou's attire is folded on the right, but the reason behind this difference is as of yet unknown. In the event that gems need to move about inside the school while wearing their sleeping clothes, they will often don a pair of thick socks (figure B), especially the low-hardness gems. This is to prevent unexpected damage to the feet that might occur while barefoot. Concerning gems that go out at night, the most prominent is "Cinnabar," who shifted their living quarters from the school to a grotto in the southeast and independently conducts patrols during this time. ----

HIBERNATION CLOTHES

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During the season defined by the gems as "when the temperature falls and snow blankets the earth," everyone besides gems performing winter duty enters hibernation for a period of about 5 months. In their culture, clothes are are generally practical and plain due to the scarcity of resources; hibernation clothes alone differ, and are in fact the complete opposite. Though they are all one color, all of the gems' skills and most valuable fabrics are invested with wild abandon into these clothes, resulting in extravagant pieces of craftsmanship. On the whole, the structure of these garments is the same as their sleepwear, but their most prominent characteristic is the large, baggy sleeves. In comparison to the relaxed fit of the sleepwear, hibernation clothes securely bind the upper body. The bottom is often pleated, and although there are some that are one-piece outfits, some are designed as separates. They are worn with the same socks as the sleepwear. The design depicted on the left is only one example; each individual amongst the ~25 gems, excluding the gems on winter duty, has their own uniquely-designed garment. The gem(s) in charge of tailoring spend the majority of their year creating these. Gems on winter duty aestivate after spring, and special aestivation clothes are prepared for them, as well. The hibernation chamber itself is also unique. Although the gems usually sleep in their own rooms, during the fall season, all the windows on the fourth floor of the building they call the "school" are blocked off with boards, and the entire floor is covered with hay. A blanket is spread out atop the hay, creating a sort of giant cushion. In this wide space, the gems sleep, sinking deep enough into the cushion to leave impressions. The walls are also blanketed. Light is provided by jellyfish; the winter duty gems, as well as Kongou, who stays awake year-round, take care of the jellyfish during this time. Sleeping in a group poses a risk to the low-hardness gems, so it is surmised that the gems do this in order to reduce the time winter gems must spend checking in on their sleeping brethren. While rare, the gems can wake up during hibernation. The gems toss and turn in their sleep, waiting for spring, when they can wake up and take off the ornate and luxurious hibernation wear.

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GLOVES

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When gems touch one another, regardless of who initiates contact and who receives it, the gem of lower hardness will be damaged. In order to prevent accidents both during daily life and combat, gloves are carried on the person and worn as needed. The most common type is an opera glove-style design that covers both arms. Black gloves are carried in winter (A) and white in summer (B), and worn when necessary. Diamond-class gems, with a hardness of 10, have a very high probability of injuring their fellows, and as such, always wear gloves. The gloves are made with the same asa-based fabric used in their uniforms. While there aren't many opportunities where they might touch another gem, winter duty gems still wear short gloves for their work spending long hours splitting ice floes. These gloves are made with five layers of the regular fabric in order to create a thick and sturdy material; as with the winter duty uniforms, the reverse side of the gloves is decorated with extravagant and colorful embroideries of plants. Medical gloves (figure C), used when repairing gems, are thin and white, and easy to take on and off. Figure D shows the gloves worn by Kongou. A remnant of an ancient time period, Kongou's origins are different from those of the gems; as such, even when touching them directly, he can avoid harming the gems via vibrating their inclusions to augment the difference in hardness*. Therefore, the gloves are not strictly necessary, and seem to be worn more to maintain a sense of unity with the gems. Direct contact from a gem with a hardness of 10 (the diamond class) can cause the entire body of any gem with a hardness under 10 to break. The amount of damage caused by contact between fellow diamonds is determined by whether they are monocrystalline or polycrystalline in structure. Diamonds by far cause the highest level of damage via direct contact; as hardness decreases, so too does the amount of damage, with the difference in number on the Mohs hardness scale between the two gems becoming the deciding factor. Additionally, various other factors, such as the type of stone, monocrystalline vs. polycrystalline structure, cleavage, mass and other qualities specific to the gem’s body, the area of contact, speed of contact, force of impact, pressure, etc. are involved in determing the severity of the injury. But so as not to hurt one another, even gems of the same hardness will avoid purposefully touching each other. *this is likely a similar process to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultrasonic_machining - he can match the hardness of the gem he's touching via ultrasonic vibrations and thus avoid damaging them.

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SOCKS & TIGHTS

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As with the gloves, these are worn by the gems in order to prevent accidental direct contact.

The gems' doctor has the greatest likelihood of touching another gem, and as such, wears tights (figure A) to cover their legs entirely. Socks reaching up past the thigh (figure B) are prepared for the diamonds, with black, white, and gray variants; the diamonds may wear different colors. Corundum gems, with a hardness of 9, have socks reaching above the knee (figure C.) While they don't have the highest hardness, jade-type gems are extremely sturdy due to being stones, and wear light green high socks (figure D.) The double-folded socks in figure E are worn by the two-layered-structure gem "Ghost Quartz," but rather than preventing accidental injury, they seem to be worn simply to express the unique nature of that gem. The socks are not purely worn for the practical purpose of protection - they are often worn for fashion, as well. There is also a theory that their original use was in combat: during battle, in the event help is needed, rather than having to search for the high-hardness gems, the socks allow them to be easily distinguished from afar. Gems take light in through the surface of their body, where it's amplified as it reflects inside them in an energy-providing cycle; it's said that the light refracting from inside their body illuminates their surroundings slightly, allowing them to see. As such, the gems as a whole have rather poor eyesight, and, constrained by their limited resources and cultural norms, they sought an easy-to-understand signal; it is theorized that this is how they began associating different types of socks with specific types of gems. Though asa fibers are used once more in crafting the gloves and socks, they're woven with a different technique, cleverly enabling them to make a more fitted garment. Even so, elastic materials are scarce, and thus, in order to prevent the longer socks from slipping down, a natural adhesive is lightly applied to the legs. This adhesive removes the powder in the areas it was applied when the socks are removed. 

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SHOES

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The gems' feet are all basically the same size at around 21cm. As such, one model of shoe is all that is needed. Instep, arch, toecap, and all other parts in direct contact with the foot are made with layers of black-dyed asa. The base and heel are made of wood. The amount of wear-and-tear on the heel varies according to the weight of the gem and the nature of their job, but frequent shoe maintenance is necessary for all combat gems. Figure A shows the most basic design worn by the majority of the gems, characterized by the cuffed tongue. Figure B shows the shoes observed to be worn by "Cinnabar." In order to prevent the shoes from slipping off due to the mercury produced by their body, lace-up shoes were devised.

We have also observed several playful varieties designed to reflect the wearer's character. Figure C shows a shoe with the tongue decorated by a ribbon - a design requested by the brilliant colorless "Diamond." Figure D is a design provided for the polycrystalline black diamond "Bort." It is believed the tassels were attached because anyone could immediately associate them with Bort’s characteristic hairstyle. Figure E shows the mules worn by the doctor gem "Rutile." During treatment, they go back and forth between the gem in question and their gathered fragments, and these shoes are easier to take on and off. Gems undertaking winter duty wear sharp, pointy pinheels made of obsidian in order to effectively perform their job of splitting ice floes. By wearing these and running across a floe, they open up small holes as guidelines on where the floe will break. The heels are made from obsidian material that was not born with any lifeforms inside, which is then used as a high-durability ore. Figure F shows the design worn by "Antarcticite," while G shows the design worn by "Cairngorm." As Cairngorm was born from the inner layer of the double-structured quartz "Ghost Quartz," their body is one size smaller than the other gems, with a shoe size of 20cm.

[dc-earth53]

#0006 - Aquaman (Arthur Curry/Orin)

Age: 43

Occupation: King of Atlantis

Marital status: Married

Known relatives: Atlanna (mother), Tom Curry (stepfather), Atlan (father), Orm Marius (half-brother), Mera (wife), Arthur Curry Jr. (son, deceased), Koryak (son, deceased), Mareena Curry (daughter).

Group affiliation: Atlantis, formerly Justice League of America, Others

Base of operations: Poseidonis, Atlantis

Height: 6’1”

Weight: 325 lbs.

History:

43 years ago: Orin is born to Atlanna, queen of Atlantis. An ancient Atlantean superstition stated that children born with blond hair are cursed, and Atlanna and baby Orin are cast out from the kingdom. Atlanna travels to Amnesty Bay, Maine, where she meets lighthouse keeper Tom Curry. The two fall in love, and together they raise the child, newly rechristened Arthur.

33 years ago: Atlanna dies of pneumonia, due to a weakened immune system not accustomed to surface illnesses. On her deathbed, she tells Arthur of his true nature.

27 years ago: Tom Curry dies of a heart attack. After his funeral, Arthur leaves home to seek out his heritage.

26 years ago: Arthur briefly spends time in Alaska, falling in love with an Inuit woman named Kako and, unbeknownst to him, getting her pregnant. He’s driven away by the demonic god Nuliajuk before he can learn of the pregnancy.

24 years ago: Arthur is led to Atlantis by a pod of dolphins, and there he meets royal advisor Vulko and claims his birthright, learning of his heritage and usurping the crown from the corrupt king Orvax.

22 years ago: Orin first comes into conflict with Orm Marius, his half-brother, the Ocean Master, who tries to usurp the throne of Atlantis for himself.

20 years ago: Orin teams up with Barry Allen to fight the Trickster, and Barry dubs him “Aquaman.”

19 years ago: 

Aquaman becomes a charter member of the Justice League after helping Earth’s heroes repel an alien invasion.

Orin meets Mera, queen of the exiled Atlantean city of Xebel, and the two marry soon thereafter.

Orin first encounters the undersea terrorist Black Manta.

18 years ago: Orin takes the young Atlantean mage Garth on as a protege.

17 years ago: Orin and Mera have their first child, Arthur Jr.

15 years ago: Arthur Jr. is murdered by the Black Manta as part of an elaborate scheme to take revenge on Aquaman and Atlantis for past defeats.

12 years ago: In the wake of the Justice League’s disbanding, Orin joins the Martian Manhunter’s new League, headquartered out of the Secret Sanctuary in Happy Harbor. Mera leaves him soon thereafter, wrecked with concerns over his commitment to her.

11 years ago: Aquaman is one of the many heroes involved in the fight against the Anti-Monitor.

10 years ago: 

Aquaman again fights Ocean Master when the latter attacks Amnesty Bay.

Orin returns to Atlantis to find it conquered by a race of giant jellyfish. He succeeds in driving them out, and reclaims his throne.

9 years ago: Atlantis becomes embroiled in civil war, as Poseidonis is besieged and overrun by forces from Tritonis, allied with Black Manta

8 years ago:

Orin receives the Atlantis Chronicles, learning of his relation to Ocean Master and beginning to sink into a deep depression.

Orin and his ally Dolphin are kidnapped by the terrorist Charybdis, who plunges his arm into a pool of piranhas, cutting his left hand off at the wrist. He replaces it with a harpoon.

Arthur returns to the Arctic, meeting again with Kako and his fully grown son, Koryak. Koryak chooses to travel with him and Dolphin on their travels.

Orin joins the newly reformed Justice League of America in response to a White Martian threat on Earth.

Orin and Garth reunite after time apart, and Garth takes the new title of Tempest.

7 years ago:

Orin reunites the scattered city-states of Atlantis to stand together against the threat of Tiamat.

Orin’s harpoon hand is broken, and he is given a robotic hand to replace it, indistinguishable from flesh and blood.

Arthur and Mera reconcile as Atlantis goes to war with the island nation of Cerdia.

6 years ago:

Atlantis vanishes in the wake of the war against Imperiex, hurled into the Obsidian Age by Atlantean magic and enslaved by the sorceress Gamemnae. The Justice League and Orin succeed in returning Atlantis to its proper time.

A large portion of San Diego, California is sunken into the Pacific due to the machinations of Dr. Anton Geist. Orin annexes the city into Atlantis, taking San Diego native Lorena Marquez on as the new Aquagirl. 

5 years ago: Atlantis is besieged by Lex Luthor’s Secret Society, and Aquaman leads the charge to defend it. Koryak dies during the battle.

4 years ago: 

Arthur re-joins the Justice League.

Atlantis joins the United Nations, appointing Garth as their ambassador to the world.

3 years ago: 

Orin comes into conflict with the Trench, a lost tribe of Atlanteans evolved to live in the deepest parts of the ocean.

Orin recruits a group of individuals into a team called the Others to search for lost Atlantean artifacts across the globe.

Half-Atlantean mage Kaldur’ahm comes to stand alongside Orin as the new Aqualad.

2 years ago: While Orin is on a mission with the Justice League, Orm seizes the throne of Atlantis for himself. Orin takes it back, and then decides to retire from superhero work to better rule his kingdom. Lorena Marquez becomes Aquawoman in his stead.

1 year ago: Arthur and Mera have their second child, a daughter named Mareena.

Present day: Orin and Mera begin to investigate the disappearance of the sea god Poseidon.

Commentary:

Aquaman is an interesting one, as for a long time he was a bit of a wildcard character, having many portrayals across various runs that differed wildly from one another, many of them a direct reaction to his depiction in Super Friends, which earned him a fair bit of public ridicule. What resulted was a regular cycle of Arthur being king of Atlantis and then being exiled, and he and Mera being together and then separated. This depiction aims to streamline that, with only one major period of exile from the throne, leading into the events of Peter David’s run, which are largely preserved here.

The lack of major Aquaman storylines in the twilight years of the post-Crisis DCU also allowed me to bring in several New 52 stories here, as well as introducing the idea from Young Justice of Arthur retiring from superhero work and passing his mantle on, again tying into the major theme of legacy that I’ve chosen to embrace. (Although, as Kaldur’ahm isn’t yet old enough in this timeline, that responsibility instead goes to Lorena Marquez.)

Arthur as a character is defined here by his responsibility, to his kingdom and to his family. He will defend them to the death and prioritize them before anything else, even if it causes him personal tragedy. Despite their past difficulties, he and Mera have reconciled and have a stable, loving relationship, and Arthur works hard to ensure that the disparate city-states that make up the loose nation of Atlantis remain at peace, even forsaking his duties with the Justice League to focus on his kingdom.

As far as physical appearance is concerned, the recent, Jason Momoa-inspired look DC’s been using as of late is absolutely perfect. It preserves the classic orange and green while giving him a little bit of an edge with the long hair and beard - a nice middle ground between the classic clean-cut Aquaman and the hook-handed Orin from David’s run. He’s a warrior king, he should look the part, and it’s almost a rule that every male superhero looks better with a beard.

Coming up next: Aquawoman (Lorena Marquez) and one that will sure to piss people off: Nightwing!

Got any questions? Asks are open! 

[queercreati]

Wonder Woman: A Feminine Icon

Have you guys ever thought about how Wonder Woman affects feminist culture in-universe? Because here’s what I think of it: 

Wonder Woman giving talks about what to do when cornered in an uncomfortable situation. “Make a scene. Scream, hit them, shout, I don’t care, but do not stay quiet. That’s what they want.” 

Photoshoot of her in her skirt, and at first you think oh it’s just a typical photoshoot, and then you see the little black stubs on her legs and you realize She hasn’t shaved her legs. Wonder Woman doesn’t shave her legs every day. I don’t have to shave my legs every damn day. 

Wonder Woman starts getting cat-called by criminals. In retaliation, she makes her main tactic against these people pulling their shirts off and throwing them in their faces, saying without fail, “Don’t undress me with your eyes and I won’t show you how it feels.”

Wonder Woman speaking at feminist rallies. 

Wonder Woman handing out Purple Hearts to female veterans whenever she can, and when she does, she takes off her bracelets and lets the whole damn world see the knotted skin all over her arms and back from years of training and battle. 

Wonder Woman identifying as a woman of color- she is Greek, after all.

 Whenever she appears on an interview or something, and someone gives her a sexualized comment, she smiles at the camera like she’s on the fucking Office and says, in the most passive-aggressive voice ever, “I don’t know Mr. blah blah, do you think I have time to get my eyebrows done once a week while I’m busy saving the world every other day?” 

Diana Prince publicly saying, “If I ever meet the real life Wonder Woman, I would probably ask her to take my place as spokeswoman of the White House.” 

Wonder Woman visiting schools and giving lessons on things like consent and taking advantage of someone intoxicated. 

Wonder Woman traveling to heavily sexist countries in the middle east and basically flipping off the authorities and letting women talk to her about the issues they have. 

Wonder Woman sponsoring/working with a program called “The Wonder Women” that works to help sexual abuse and harassment victims to move past their issues and help embrace who they are. 

Wonder Woman visiting Breast Cancer patients and giving them hugs to tell them that  it’s going to be alright, you will make it, Artemis bless you.

Wonder Woman punching seven shades of shit out of someone after she heard them tell a trans woman that they looked ‘ugly and too manly to be a woman, get the fuck out of that drag shit,’ and then telling said trans woman that she was absolutely gorgeous. 

Wonder Woman getting invited to a gay wedding and being asked to officiate the marriage, and is overjoyed to do so. By the time the grooms kiss, she’s in tears. 

Wonder Woman helping newest member of the Justice League Harley Quinn come out as Bisexual on national TV. 

Wonder Woman giving out mom hugs at Pride Parades to teenagers who have been disowned by their parents. 

Wonder Woman telling the whole damn world that her mother is Asexual and there is no shame in that, yes she was raised by an island full of lesbian warriors do we need to discuss this further?

AND OF COURSE, THE ALLIES

The Batfam taking special care to patrol in parts of the city with many young women and are known to help them get home after a night on the town. 

 Superman making dramatic entries so women will have time to escape. 

Aquaman and Mera patrolling beaches and whenever they see a rando picking on a girl for wearing a Bikini (Or not wearing a bikini) ,they either a) splash him, or b) summons a swarm of jellyfish to sting him when he gets in the water. Guess who does which. 

 Cyborg and the Teen Titans publicly supporting women in STEM. 

THE ENTIRE FUCKING JUSTICE LEAUGE PROTECTING PROTESTERS AT RALLIES AND PARADES 

[eorzeanalmanac]

Sastasha Seagrot - The Reaver’s Lair

Excerpt from ‘The history of Vylbrand, from Nym to Limsa Lominsa’ by Archon Niniri Niri.

An extensive system of caverns on the western coast of Vylbrand, Sastasha was carved from the rock by eons of erosion. The cave’s initial inhabitants were the sahagin, an aquatic race of spoken hailing from the depths of the Indigo Deep. Common knowledge amongst the people of Western La Noscea dictates that the sahagin used the cove as a meeting place, and that the name ‘Sastasha’ derives from this, meaning ‘many shells’ in their native language. The cove is sometimes referred to by a longer name, Sastasha Seagrot, and Seagrot is likely a portmanteau of sea and grotto, with a grotto being a partially submerged cave system. 

Roughly fifty years ago the sahagin were driven from Sastasha by the dread pirate Mistbeard, who went on to use Sastasha as his base of operations on Vylbrand. The structures found within today are relics of this period, and once acted as docks, crew quarters and recreational facilities for the pirate king’s crew. This era in Sastasha’s history drew to an end when Mistbeard disappeared with little trace twenty-two years ago, heralding the descent of the Seagrot into decrepitude.

It was not long, however, until the sahagin returned to the cove, spurred on by the effects of the Seventh Umbral Calamity which decimated the race’s existing spawning grounds. They commanded the Serpent Reavers, a large crew of pirates tempered by Leviathan, to retake the Seagrot in their name. After doing so the Serpent Reavers have made it a habit of theirs to harry the people of Limsa Lominsa as much as is feasibly possible. 

The Wauling Pond

Upon first entry to the Seagrot one finds themselves in the Wauling Pond, an area of raised stone pathways over a rather sizeable drop to the cave floor below, surely a consequence of the erosion that created the Seagrot. Various forms of bioluminescent flora and coral can be found within, including common brain coral species that seem to glow a soft blue or red. Odd pillars of coruscating blue light litter the area, a sure sign of the abundance of water-aspected aether within Sastasha.

While the reasons behind the name of the Wauling Pond are not immediately clear, one can make assumptions based on the evidence provided. It is well known that for some time the pirates of Vylbrand have smuggled exotic beasts onto the island and that Sastasha was home to feline beasts such as the coeurl. To waul is to screech in a mournful tone, especially when applied to felines. Although there is no outright water in this area, there almost certainly once was judging by the erosion that carved out the chamber. This then must have been a pond where the cries of the felines from deeper within could be heard.

The Cattery

Further within the Seagrot is a vast cavern, partially submerged in water. The area can accessed by a series of stone platforms joined by paths of clustered coral. The ceiling of the chamber is perforated by a series of holes which let natural sunlight into this cavern, named the Cattery. This name derives from the coeurls that are stored within the depths of the area. A secret door exists in the rock at the terminus of the cavern, accessed by a small button in the stone. This was likely engineered by Mistbeard as a method for defending his holdings and was then adopted by the Serpent Reavers.

The Rambade

There are a pair of circular chambers within Sastasha commonly called Rambades by the pirates that inhabit the Seagrot. They seem to serve as storage facilities and defensive measures, acting as an airlock manned by members of the pirate crew. The Rambade aboard a ship is an area above the artillery that acts as an area for onboard combat or as a command post. This may be a reference to the presence of the captain within the area when adventurers sent by the Maelstrom cleansed the Seagrot of the Serpent Reavers.

The Dead Man’s Drink

Deep within Sastasha are the facilities constructed by Mistbeard for his crew. The central room of the area is a large chamber with a wooden structure used as storage and as the tavern for the crews of Mistbeard and later the Serpent Reavers. A number of side-chambers branch off of the center, providing quarters for the various roles in the crew, from rowers to deckhands, navigators and even the captain. There is also an additional chamber named the Hole which reports indicate acted as the communal cell for those taken captive by the pirates. 

The Sultana’s Lap and Mistbeard Cove

The end of Sastasha is found in a large cove open to the ocean, originally occupied and constructed by the docks of Mistbeard’s crew. The cove under the Serpent Reavers was home to a number of storage facility as well as the residence of the Sahagin warrior chosen to oversee the Serpent Reavers and provide strategy for their operations.

The Bestiary of Sastasha

Black Bat

Taxonomy: Cloudkin (Bat)

Description: Bats reside within the dark places of the world, roosting in caves and other secluded locales. It is common knowledge that they are nocturnal creatures, but more dedicated research by the scholars of the realm has uncovered that they are capable of feats of extremely keen hearing and a technique called echolocation. Although most bats feed on insects and fruit, folklore has long held that some of them instead feed on blood.

Cave Aurelia

Taxonomy: Wavekin (Jellyfish)

Description: Unusual creatures, dissection has demonstrated that the Jellyfish is capable of a crude form of flight by expelling gas from its body. The tendrils of a jellyfish contain potent stinging barbs which can disable their foe.

Giant Clam

Taxonomy: Wavekin (Clam)

Description: A frankly bizarre specimen, the researchers sent into the Seagrot report that these giant clams were capable of emitting clusters of minor ashkin. The mechanism for how this might be achieved would take a finer aetherologist than I to divine, but some researchers have posited that they might gather the aether of those who perish in the Seagrot as sustenance which then forms into the corpselights and are released as defensive measures.

Shade Seeker

Taxonomy: Ashkin (Will-o’-the-wisp)

Description: Amongst the simplest of the ashkin, wisps such as these are found in folk tales across the realms as lures leading the lost into further danger. Theories as to their true nature abound, however, and alternate from orbs of burning gas animated by the aether of the corpse they emitted from to the souls of the dead themselves.

Fossilshell

Taxonomy: Wavekin (Crab)

Description: Giants crabs such as these, often called snipper crabs, are abundant across Eorzea and beyond. Their strength makes them a thoroughly inconvenient food-source however, and only the qiqirn rat-folk commonly eat them due to the effort needed to pierce their iron-hard shells. The true reasons for their naming by the people of Vylbrand is unclear, but one might posit that the fossils mentioned in their name refers to the beast’s habit of consuming limestone, a rock composed of long-dead wavekin, in order to reinforce their shell.

Sastasha Orobon

Taxonomy: Wavekin (Orobon)

Description: Previously considered myth due to the only reports of their existence coming from fishermen catching sight of something in their deepest fishing nets, the orobon has since become an uncomfortable reality. They, like the sahagin and so many other aquatic creatures, have been driven to the surface by the Seventh Umbral Calamity.

Etymology Notes: The orobon, or orabau, is named for a cryptid of Brazil reported by the priest Andre Thevet in the 14th century. Most noted for being foul-tasting, the orobon was almost certainly a misidentified reptile but the name serves to reinforce the pseudo-mythical status of the orobon in Eorzea pre-calamity.

Chopper

Taxonomy: Beastkin (Coeurl)

Description: When the adventurers returned from their purge of Sastasha they reported a most unusual creature found within, a fearsome coeurl named ‘Chopper’ by the Serpent Reavers that smuggled it into the cove. Indeed, it was rumors of a wild coeurl pack within Sastasha that kept the settlers of Western La Noscea away from the cove, allowing the Reavers to settle it without conflict. These beasts are native to the Near East, and are famed for both their savagery and ability to channel lightning-aspected aether through the long appendages attached to their face.

Capabilities: According to the adventurers that slew Chopper the beast was as capable as any coeurl at channeling lightning aether through its appendages, a technique we will name ‘charged whisker’.

Scurvy Dog

Taxonomy: Beastkin (Jackal)

Description: A subspecies of the common wolf found most commonly on Vylbrand, the jackal is an expert tracker and although they are usually content to scavenge their hunger can sometimes drive them to violence. So, it seems, can, the urgings of men, as seen by the ferocity of the guard dogs of the Serpent Reavers.

Captain Madison

Taxonomy: Spoken (Hyur)

Description: The former captain of the Serpent Reavers met his end at the hands of his sahagin overlords after failing to hold off the assault of the adventurers that purged the Seagrot. Madison was famously craven but managed to rise the ranks due to his low cunning. Records held by the Admiralty at Limsa Lominsa indicate that he was a simple navigator aboard a merchant vessel with crippling gambling debts, forcing him to flee from the city. He joined the Serpent Reavers and was quickly tempered by Leviathan, albeit only very lightly. 

The Serpent Reavers

Taxonomy: Spoken (Various)

Description: The Serpent Reavers are an expansive pirate crew of sailors tempered by Leviathan and used as fodder by the sahagin in their offensive against Limsa Lominsa and the Maelstrom. Their ranks appear to be organized into groups named as Shallow, and then their role. A Shallowclaw is a pugilist, for example.

Denn the Orcatoothed

Taxonomy: Spoken (Sahagin)

Description: The sahagin assigned as the overseer of the Serpent Reavers stationed in the Seagrot, Denn was a warrior of renown amongst his kin and earned the title of Orcatoothed due to his viciousness and tenacity, compared to the fearsome orca. He was also a noted strategist, and the intelligence gatherers of the Maelstrom report that it was he who was pioneer of the sahagin’s use of tempered men in their invasion of Vylbrand’s coast.

Capabilities: Denn is capable, as so many sahagin are, of using water-aspected aether to cast watery spells to damage his prey.

Baleen Guard

Taxonomy: Spoken (Sahagin)

Description: Lesser sahagin, these were likely the personal guards of Denn dispatched alongside him by the Indigo Matriarch, monarch of all the sahagin. Baleen, my fellow archons tell me, is an array of filaments used by whales to strain their food through water. This may be a metaphor for the responsibility of these guardians in filtering who is allowed access to Denn, but who can truly gauge the intentions of the sahagin.

[lornaslibrary]

Animals

Last week I asked you to recommend books based on the prompt animals. Here are all the books you recommended!! Some of these books feature animals, some of them have animals in the titles.

Bold = the books I’ve read * = the books I personally would recommend + = want to read/on my TBR

Watership Down, by Richard Adams *

The Plague Dogs, by Richard Adams *

The Book of Three, by Lloyd Alexander

The Thing About Jellyfish, by Benjamin Ali

The Invasion (Animorphs #1), by K.A. Applegate

Raptor Red, by Robert T. Bakker

Six of Crows (Six of Crows #1), by Leigh Bardugo *

Silverhair (Mammoth #1), by Stephen Baxter 

The Last Unicorn, by Peter S. Beagle +

Angels and Insects, by A. S. Byatt

A Horse Called Wonder (Thoroughbred #1), by Joanna Campbell

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll *

Moon Chosen (Tales of the New World #1), by P.C. Cast

The Sight, by David Clement-Davies 

Fire Bringer, by David Clement-Davies

Fantastic Mr. Fox, by Roald Dahl 

The Hound of the Baskervilles (Sherlock Holmes #5), by Arthur Conan Doyle 

Krambambuli, by Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach

Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, by T.S. Eliot

We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, by Karen Joy Fowler

The Skylark’s Song (The Skylark Saga #1), by J. M. Frey

Old Yeller, by Fred Gipson

The Little White Horse, by Elizabeth Goudge

The Wind in the Willows, by Kenneth Grahame +

The Nightingale, by Kristin Hannah

Black Foxes, by Sonya Hartnett

The Lord God Made Them All, by James Herriot

If Only They Could Talk, by James Herriot

The Hunt of the Unicorn, by C. C. Humphreys

Into the Wild (Warriors #1), by Erin Hunter

Redwall (Redwall #1), by Brian Jacques

The Metamorphosis, by Franz Kafka

Pet Sematary, by Stephen King *

The Jungle Books, by Rudyard Kipling

The Wolves, by Hann Hellmut Kirst

The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History, by Elizabeth Kolbert  

Nevernight (The Nevernight Chronicle #1), by Jay Kristoff *

The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, by C.S. Lewis

Call of the Wild, by Jack London

The Mark of Zorro (Zorro #1), by Johnston McCulley

Deerskin, by Robin McKinley

Spindle’s End, by Robin McKinley

Chalice, by Robin McKinley

Blanca & Roja, by Anna-Marie McLemore

Birds Art Life: A Year of Observation, by Kyo Maclear

Daughter of the Forest, by Juliet Marillier

Life of Pi, by Yann Martel *

The Novice (Summoner #1), by Taran Matharu

Winnie-the-Pooh (Winnie-the-Pooh #1), by A. A. Milne

The Dog Who Wouldn’t Be, by Farley Mowat

Animal Farm, by George Orwell +

Here, There Be Dragons (The Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica #1), by James A. Owen

Eragon (The Inheritance Cycle #1), by Christopher Paolini

Flambards (Flambards #1), by K. M. Peyton

Fierce Kingdom, by Gin Phillips

Wild Magic (Immortals, #1), by Tamora Pierce

Trickster’s Choice (Daughter of the Lioness #1), by Tamora Pierce

The Complete Adventures of Peter Rabbit, by Beatrix Potter

The Unadulterated Cat, by Terry Pratchett

The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials, #1), by Philip Pullman *

An Enchantment of Ravens, by Margaret Rogerson

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter #5), by J. K. Rowling *

The Serpent’s Shadow (The Kane Chronicles #3), by Rick Riordan

Bambi, by Felix Salten +

Far-Seer (Quintaglio Ascension #1), by Robert J. Sawyer

The Cricket in Times Square (Chester Cricket and His Friends #1), by George Selden

Black Beauty, by Anna Sewell

Feathers and Gifts: A Heartwarming True Story, by P. J. Sheldon

Babe: The Gallant Pig, by Dick King Smith

The 101 Dalmatians (The Hundred and One Dalmatians #1), by Dodie Smith +

The Green Ember (The Green Ember #1), by S.D. Smith

The Raven Boys (The Raven Cycle #1), by Maggie Stiefvater

The Scorpio Races, by Maggie Stiefvater

The Dragonet Prophecy (Wings of Fire #1), by Tui T. Sutherland

The Trials of Morrigan Crow (Nevermoor #1), by Jessica Townsend

The Book of the Dun Cow (Chauntecleer the Rooster #1), by Walter Wangerin Jr.

The Island of Dr Moreau, by H. G. Wells +

The Trumpet of the Swan, by E. B. White 

Charlotte’s Web, by E.B. White *

Summer Lightning, by P. G. Wodehouse

The Mystery of the Clockwork Sparrow (The Sinclair’s Mysteries series #1), by Katherine Woodfine

Elsewhere, by Gabrielle Zevin 

If you recommended books but don’t see your recommendations here, feel free to message me and let me know I missed your post!!

Other Chain Recs Masterposts

[new-moon-over-septarsis]

Amino Writing Club Prompt: Love

"BOING!"

Jester chuckled at the way Juno exaggerated the sounds of her actions. He often found himself fixating on the song-like vibrancy in her voice, the softness of her "t's" and "r's", the tidal rising and falling of her accent reminding him of his home islands.

"Jester! I'm floating away! You comin' or wha?"

She waved from atop the giant jellyfish, rising slowly into the lavender skies. He rushed to meet her, grabbing hold of one the tentacles before it rose too high and climbing just as she had. The added weight on top sent ripples through its squishy body, and Juno giggled as they both started to bounce. They crouched on the soft terrain as it moved past the golden oceans and gazed outward at more new territory, flying into an ever-growing mass of crystalline hills, plateaus, and waterfalls.

The duo found themselves swerving their heads left and right at every new and bizarre natural wonder. Juno remarked again with a loss of breath how incredible the view was. She shot him a dazzling smile, an abundance of sparkles in her excited eyes, and he smiled back. Jester, letting out a breath he might very well have been holding ever since the day he'd been locked away in that asylum, lay down on his stomach, chin on arms, and allowed himself to relax.

Relaxation was cut short by Juno yanking him back up and pulling him toward the edge. "Look! We gotta check 'em out!" She was pointing at the nearest plateau in jumping distance, where swarms of little lizards scurried beside a river bank which cut through the soft spots where the fuschia crystals ended and the grass and dirt began. Jester had no choice but to keep pace with her as she jumped down and started examining them. They varied in shades of green, each one sprouting a unicorn horn from their foreheads, and the ones that burrowed out from the land carried what looked like a marshmallow on their horn.

Juno plucked the small white puff and lifted it eagerly to Jester's face. She popped it into her mouth without a second thought, her pupils growing in size at the burst of flavor, and exclaimed, "It is a marshmallow!"

Jester had grown too used to her impulsive behavior to double-take this time, though he still had to remark, "That came from the ground."

"That's what's wild; doesn't taste like dirt!"

"Do you eat dirt on a regular basis?" he jested.

"Perhaps..." Juno knelt down to grab another and lifted it toward him. "Try it."

He shook his head and started to walk away. But with a smirk he tried to catch her off guard and snatch it from her hand. She jumped back effortlessly and played keep away, even as they toppled down onto their sides. She kept it at arm's length from herself while he stretched over her lap trying to reach it. With her free hand she pushed his head down and ruffled his hair, his chin and chest buckling under the weight and sinking onto her lap. Jester stared up at her in bitter defeat, and at last she allowed him the treat; or rather she fed it to him herself.

They laughed and ran and played throughout the day; neither one recalled the last time they'd laughed this often, but most likely it had been sometime when Eclipsa was in their lives. At the thought of her, Juno looked down at the spades on her wrists. She blew hair out of her face and removed the gauntlets, not wanting to be bothered by any mention of Mewni whatsoever. Her boots and bowtie followed suit, resting by the riverbank while she soaked her feet and let down her hair.

Jester was admiring some of the plants, a set of velvety soft palm leaves that shone with a calming bioluminescence even in the bright daylight. A glimmer from the side caught his eye, and he once again saw the light reflecting off Juno's gauntlets. But this time she wasn't wearing them. The Solarian warrior had lost her armor, and in this moment she seemed so serene, so relaxed, so happy.

And in this moment he knew felt safe sharing this single world with her.

They sat together by the riverside, the two of them finally able to relax after all their days on the run. With each new wonder they saw, each laugh they shared, each smile they gave, Juno seemed to gain another sparkle in her eyes, and Jester seemed to take another easier breath. They spoke of simpler days, of safer days, with cherished friends and family. They spoke of peacetime on Mewni, and how it never truly felt like peace. But here in this world, it was starting to.

"We can keep it all out there, k? Let them keep Mewni. We got our own whole world here, just for the two of us."

"Who needs them anyway?" Jester agreed. "We could just sit down in the magic and watch Mewni burn from here."

"Ha! To the ground!" Juno cackled as though it were the funniest thing she'd ever heard, and just kept laughing.

"Uh. It wasn't that funny..." Jester said awkwardly.

Juno double over laughing and fell headfirst into the water. Jester peered over the edge to find she'd disappeared under the surface, and looked back and forth for her. Hiding, perhaps? He lifted an eyebrow when suddenly the surface broke, and Juno shot up from the water and pecked him on the nose. He shook his head and stuck his tongue out at her, but they chuckled once more. They gazed dreamily into each other's eyes, Juno's sparkling more than ever before, even taking on a strange violet hue. So dark and wondrous in contrast with her flaming hair, practically glowing under the sun in tandem with her warm olive skin.

She grinned mischievously, then grabbed Jester under the arms and threw him over her head. He splashed under the water and got his bearings back as he shot above the surface, glaring at Juno. A cheeky smile filled her face, then Jester was taken aback as she buried the side of her face into his chest. The water was shallow enough to stand in, but the six inches she had over him forced her to crouch a bit. He once again noticed that splotch of red all over her freckled cheeks, the excuses she made to touch or be anywhere near him, the adamancy about making sure he liked her and felt safe with her.

"Juno?"

"Hm?"

Jester smirked. "I know you've been dying to kiss me ever since the Bounce Lounge."

Her blush grew even redder. She rose back up and shifted awkwardly.

"Well...may I?"

Jester stared incredulously. "For the love of-" he grumbled for a moment. -"Yes!"

Juno stifled a squeak, taking his face in her hands and smashed her lips against his. Jester inhaled eagerly at her suddenness, then leaned more firmly against her and held her back as her hands rubbed gently across his now pink-tinted cheeks. A thousand fireworks lit up in their stomachs, and five simple breathless seconds might as well have been a lifetime before they pulled apart in a daze.

"What were you saying before, Miss 'I'm Always Up Front With My Feelings'?" His smirk returned.

"Riiiiiight..." She danced awkwardly around her response, avoiding his eyes.

His smirk faded into a calm, adoring gaze. "Why the shyness all of a sudden?"

"I dunno. I only wanted you to feel safe around me. But at the end of the day, you're still a Monster and I've still hurt a lot of your people. I just wondered if you'd even think I was worth the time."

"Juno, this is the most at home I've felt in almost ten years," he sighed. "You've given me more respect than I could ask for, and even running for our lives it's been fun with you by my side. Whatever we've done, whoever we've hurt, we can do like you said and keep it all out there."

"Yeah," she said breathlessly. Her elation rose, and so too her energy. "Yeah! All our worries are out there. This world belongs to us..."

The new violet hue in her eyes grew fully over the aquamarine, the sparkles bright as glimmering diamonds. A subtle glow had enveloped their bodies in tandem with their joy, and this time such magic held no contempt for Jester, nor he it. He smiled sweetly and nodded before wrapping his hands around her neck, leaning up to place a sweet, gentle, caring kiss upon her lips. She ran her fingers through his velvetine, midnight blue hair, and she grabbed him by his waist and lifted him up to her height, his tail quickly wrapping around her waist for support. Their warming bodies pressed closer and deeper against each other, his scaly slate-blue skin a soothing moon against her burning starlight, as their kiss rose in passion, in hunger.

Juno felt all the worries of hurting Jester, the shame for the suffering of him and his people, melt away; all she could care about was to melt into him. All their cares could certainly stay outside this hidden place in space, this stolen moment in time. All that existed here was their passion, their adoration for each other. Here, in a world made up of just the two of them.

[spongeguyandlelouchvibridankia]

Amphibia Christmas Gift

@kaminos-hangout-corner

Snow.

 It had been 1 whole year (sort of, she was still trying to understand just how much time had passed) since she had gone to Amphibia .

 Since she had made her first real friend.

 Since she found a family.

 And…

 Anne Boonchuy, decked out in a frog themed Christmas sweater, tapping her foot nervously, was unsure if the first person she should come out to was her beloved and endearingly over protective Hop Poppy.

 But considering her… Let’s say it nicely, shit parents, it seemed like he was really the only choice.

 Sighing, she glanced out the window again.

 Snow had once been a danger, due to its once a year appearance in Amphibia. Snow forced the frogs into hibernation and near death (thank GOODNESS for interior heating!).

 Anne had protected them from it once. And while it was touch and go (the small business of Polly nearly dying), she had succeeded!

 In fact, Anne Boonchuy was very different from the girl she was when she first stumbled onto the magical other dimension.

 What once was selfish was now thoughtful.

 What once was subservient was now independent.

 What once was impulsive was… Well, actually, that sort of stayed.

 And what was once straight as a rail in her mind was so gay it made Elsa look straight!

 So why was it so hard to tell him about this?

 “…Anne, you’ve been sitting there for about 5 minutes narrating. Just tell me the problem so I can return to making angsty AMV’s of “Suspicion Island”!”

 Anne couldn’t help but chuckle at that statement, and at the frog who sat before her.

 His thin grey tufts of hair were now covered with a Santa hat (whom he was still wary of. “Breaking and entering is nothing to be proud of, unless of course you’re doing it to Monroe”), his cane was colored like a candy cane (Anne could have sworn she heard a drum snare from Marcy’s room) and his sweater was appropriately ugly, asking people to “honk if you’ve adopted a bby recently”.

 For a once so rigid and traditional frog, Hop Pop Plantar had truly given his best efforts to the transition to the human world.

 In fact, as Anne shuffled her feet and sighed, he had done more than anyone would have expected.

 After a disastrous dinner revealed that Anne’s parents were… Shit, Hop Pop had gone on a 8 hour long rant, dissing them so inappropriately that Polly hadn’t needed Anne to learn all the swear words in existence.

 If it wasn’t for Sprig ripping the chained pen off because it looked “Yummy”, Anne would have been adopted way faster.

 It was flashbacks like these that made Anne wonder how could she possibly think he wouldn’t accept her.

 After all they’ve been through, Hop Pop truly loved her.

 Which meant…

 Anne took a deep breath and stood up, deciding to face it head on.

 “I’ve got a bit of a… Hard confession to make.”

 Anne then smiled softly as Hop Pop seemed to take on a knowing look.

 “But I know that you’ll accept me for who I am, and I shouldn’t be afraid.”

 “Oh, you should! Grime has been walking around the house decking anyone who plays “Frosty The Snowman”. Says that little bastard “should have melted the moment he knew about thermomaters, even though he really shouldn’t know”.”

 Anne giggled and Hop Pop smiled warmly. “But seriously, Anne… You can tell me anything.”

 Anne beamed at this and Hop Pop remembered why he was still alive as she began to explain.

 “Well… You see, Hop Pop, ol’ buddy ol’ pal… Have you ever felt like you want to kiss someone, but society thinks it’s wrong?”

 “Why, all the time! I keep telling them that Cacti are softer than they seem but no one listens!”, Hop Pop said, removing a cactus and kissing it.

 “Oh wait, never mind. My tongue wants to die now.”

 Anne shook her head, laughing. “No, dummy! I mean… Say there’s 2 someone’s you like…”

 Anne’s mouth suddenly got very dry. She wasn’t sure she could do this.

 Even if Hop Pop was open… Who was to say that Sasha “GOD THAT SCAR MAKES HER HOTTER” Prince and Marcy “HOW CAN SOMEONE SO SARCASTIC BE SO MOE” Drosselmeyer would be interested in something so… Bizarre?

 Anne was starting to panic again. She wasn’t some badass warrior or hilarious kawaii girl (well, she was, but she doesn’t listen to me).

 She was just Anne “I can make  a decent omlette” Boonchouy.

 Sure, she helped destroy an ancient monster and she helped make peace between frogs and toads, but anyone could have done that!

 Why would Sasha and Marcy want… Her?

 Nerves at their limits, Anne decided to go for a distraction.

 “HEY HOP POP!”, she suddenly called out, mad look in her eyes. “WANNA FIND OUT HOW MANY JELLYFISH I CAN JUGGLE?”

 As she began to juggle and yelp from the pain, Hop Pop tried to stop her with logic. “ANNE! Only Polly can do that!”

 Meanwhile…

 “I don’t understand this stupid human holiday! First we watch some ridiculous children’s cartoons, then we take a tree and force it to get dressed, and now you’re telling me that you need to make some sort of “like, earth shattering” confession? I thought this “Christmas” was fun!”

 Formerly Captain now Dad Grime was very confused by the day he had been through. He’d had to endure many odd customs, and outside of drinking dangerous amounts of Egg Nog (what was IN that stuff?!), he had not seen any reason to be jolly or merry.

 Why, he hadn’t had a chance to be senselessly violent in hours!

 And now his beloved daughter Sasha had some sort of confession to make.

 “Great. Now I get to know where all my strawberry lip gloss has been going.”, he grumbled as Sasha stood next to a screen.

 Clearing her throat, the former soldier seemed less confident than usual.

 Giant anime sweat bead, feet shuffling cards, shaking more than the jell-o he DEFINITELY didn’t steal for himself…

 She was hiding something.

 He could feel it.

 That, and she had said “I’ve been hiding something” just 38 seconds ago, so…

 SCORE!

 “Get on with it, Sasha!”, Grime ordered, impatient. “I’ve got other things to do, like go back and complain about having to do all these things!”

 Sasha laughed nervously and picked up a remote. “Well, Grimesy, in order to properly explain my confession, I have arranged a powerpoint presentation…”

 Even on Amphibia, people knew that powerpoint was sad.

 Grime moaned and leaned into his hand, depressed. This was going to be worse than the time he almost died.

 “Just finish with it, before the alcohol receads and I get enough sense to leave the room.”

 Sasha gulped again, very nervous of her frog father’s reaction. While he too adopted her from terrible parents, he was less affectionate, more of a fun dad who took you to bear baiting matches and taught you how to survive torture.

 You know, fun things all children should know!

 The emotional stuff? He was less qualified.

 Why, once she told him she was feeling sad and he said to just beat it senseless until it stopped working.

 And when she had homework she couldn’t figure out, he actually spared with the words.

 And when she was having a period…

 Well, the less said about the “boxing match with god” the better.

 So, this was going to be a piece of fucking cake, right?

 Sasha continued to hyperventilate as Grime read the title, which was accompanied with an audio book version read by Samuel L. Jackson.

 “Shit, I CAN Haz Girlfriends?: The Day I Never Stopped Worrying And Learned That Women Are Hotter Than Men!”

 Sasha face palmed. “I REALLY need to get a better editor.”

 “Come on, Darling! That title is marvelous and so much better than “AAAAAAAAAAAAA HOW DO I EXPLAIN THAT ME AM GAY?!”, Sprig, with spectacles, turned around and commented.

 Meanwhile…

 “So I’m gay for Sasha and Anne and I want to date both of them. Is that weird?”, Marcy asked, while playing a snare drum for Anne’s unintentional candy cane pun.

 “Oh, it’s totally normal! Give them a whirl, girl!”, Valerina said, not phased for a moment.

 “Great! Can we T-Pose now and headbang to “Megalovania”?”, Marcy asked, setting up her boom box.

 “That’s why I adopted you!”

 Marcy and Valerina then started to aggressively T-Pose and headbang.

 “I hope this conversation is easy for Anne and Sasha, who clearly have the hots for me!”, Marcy said as she danced.

    “Anne, I can’t believe that of all things, you were hurt by tripping on a box of wiener dogs!”

 Hop Pop was applying another Hello Kitty band aid as Anne sighed morosely.

 “I’m sorry, Hop Pop! I just… I… I’m very nervous!”

 Hop Pop sighed affectionately and patted his girl’s back. “Anne, my darling… I’d NEVER judge you. And even if I did, I would be in the wrong for that.”

 Hop Pop smiled as he made a promise with his eyes. “Whatever you have to say is who you are. If your friends or your family can’t accept that, then, well, they’re pretty darn lousy at their jobs, I reckon!”

 Anne shed a tear while smiling, her real father as ever making her feel valid. Real.

 Once she was so afraid of expressing her true self.

 Now, she felt like she could sing it out loud.

 Not that she would; Musical theatre was a pale imitation of vaudeville, according to Hop Pop.

 Taking a deep breath, Anne confessed her secret.

 “Hop Pop… I tried to understand this for a while, and for a while I wasn’t sure if it was true, but…”

 “I know that you have the crushy crush on Sasha at least, that’s for sure.”, Hop Pop commented, scratching his chin.

 Anne’s eyes were now very buggy. “HOW IN TARNATION DO YOU KNOW THAT?”

 Hop Pop was too busy thinking something else. “I’ve never said tarnation, where’d you pick that up?”

 “Doesn’t matter! How do you know that I like Sasha?”, Anne asked in disbelief. What had given her away?

 “Anne, you’d need to be blind not to know! Also, you once forced me to marry you and your Sasha cardboard cutout in a lavish ceremony.”

 Anne blushed wildly. “I do crazy things when I drink too much cocoa…”

 Hop Pop chuckled warmly and observed Anne with sparkling eyes. “Well? I assume there’s a part 2…”

 Anne laughed as well and admitted that “Marcy’s pretty fine too!”

 Anne then got shy again. “I know that it’s customary to only like one person, but I really li…Lo…”

 Anne swallowed her spit and resolved herself.

 “I REALLY love both of them.”

 Anne sighed again. “I know it’s weird, but it’s who I am.”

 She looked up, scared again. “Do you… Do you see me any different?”

 There are moments in life where one has to prove to one’s kids just how much he/she loves them.

 In that moment, Hop Pop aced so hard no one would ever get close.

 “Do you know what I see, Anne?”, he asked, and as she shook her head, he sat next to her.

 “What I see is a beautiful, smart, strong, brave, independent young woman with a kind heart and a lovely soul.”

 He continued. “I see an amazing friend and an incredible daughter.”

 He nearly choked up for a moment. “I see someone who has grown so much, but hasn’t lost that innate goodness that was there from day 1.”

 He then embraced her. “You know what I see?”

 He whispered. “I see someone I am PROUD to call my daughter.”

 He retracted from the hug to wipe away her tears. “And if these two girls make you happy, then, well, I see no problem in you getting together with them.”

 Anne, who was feeling all the feels, gripped her Hop Poppy and said “Oh THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!”

 “Of course, Anne. Of course.”

 Anne hiccupped for a moment and softly smiled. “I… I… Thank you for letting me be me.”

 She kissed his forehead and as she ran off, she called out “Love you, Dad!”

 Hop Pop shook his head softly as she left. “Kids…”

     Meanwhile meanwhile (revenge of the meanwhile)…

 “And that’s is why I want to kiss two girls under the mistletoe today, so you better understand, motherfucker, before I stick my hand up your ass and make it talk like a puppet to give me validity!”

 As the powerpoint finally skidded to a halt, Sasha wished that she could erase all the bar graphs and pie charts on how “lit” lesbian OT3’s were.

 In fact, Sasha had cringed really hard for the entire presentation, and as she finally opened her eyes and laid them on a very quiet Grime, who had uncharacteristically said nothing the entire time.

 Sasha was getting REALLY nervous now. What was going to happen?

 Would Grime get angry? Would he fire her from being his daughter?

 Would…

 Would he hate her?

 Sasha already knew that Grime wasn’t exactly the softest and most understanding person in the world.

 So what would he be like with this?

 Tentatively, her fingers shaking, Sasha asked a cautious question.

 “Well… What do you think, Grimesy?”

 Grime scratched his chin in thought, before turning to Sasha with an odd expression.

 “Let me see if I understand: You love that Anne girl, and that Marcy girl?”

 Sasha nodded, depressed.

 Grime chose his words carefully. “All right… If I may ask…”

 He tilted his head. “Why are you asking me if it’s ok?”

 Sasha blinked, surprised. “I… Uh… Huh?”

 Grime cleared his throat, hoping to make himself clear to Sasha. “I may not understand human customs, but I don’t think that loving someone is wrong, at least, under certain conditions.”

 He attempted a soft smile as he grabbed hold of her hand. “The way I see it, if it’s not illegal, it’s ok. And, well… I may seem like a real grouch, but when it comes to you, all I need is a smile, soldier, and I’m in approval.”

 Sasha never liked showing such strong emotions, least of all next to Grime, but she couldn’t help but squeeze him once he finished.

 “Ok, ok…”, he said, but his enjoyment of the hug was obvious.

 Patting her back, he saluted her. “Report me of your success once the conquest is over!”

 She saluted back, grinning. “Aye-Aye, Dad!”

 None noticed that that was the first time Sasha had called him dad, but Grime would later feel his heart grow 3 sizes once he realized what she had said.

        Later that evening, Anne, Sasha and Marcy found themselves underneath the mistletoe, all a little confused and VERY flustered.

 “So… We all had the same idea and crushes?”, Sasha asked, very embarrassed. Pink was not a color frequently seen on her cheeks, but today it was dominant.

 “I guess so.”, Anne said, feeling very shy. Was all her worrying really for nothing?

 “Cool cool cool cool. When do I get to be gay?”, Marcy asked, wearing a rainbow hoodie over a shirt that said “Go to the YMCA? I AM THE YMCA!” and shoes that played “Girls Like Girls” by Hayley Kiyoko.

 Anne, Sasha and Marcy all looked at each other, and realized that sometimes, all the worrying really IS for nothing.

 Here they all were, very much in love with each other and willing to take the next step.

 So…

 Why not just do it?

 For Anne Boonchuy, Christmas had once been most magical when she opened her presents under the tree.

 But this year, it was when she kissed her two girlfriends at the same time.

     Finishing the story, SpongeGuy looked at his words and hoped they were enough.

 As ever, the lesson he tried to impart had a harder time reaching him.

 The words stood on the screen, daunting.

 Teasing.

 Were they enough for such an angel?

 Were they enough for such a blessing?

 Stepping into the room, SpongeGuy could see his sister/brother/BroSis Kamino sleep peacefully in a bed. An adorable beanie sat on the cute short hair cut and her eyes, despite being closed, sparkled with wonder, that made him want to be so excited.

 Hands shook as he clutched the manuscript and wondered again: Was it good enough?

 She had given him so much in so little time.

 Had he deserved any of it?

 Could he ever justify his existence?

 Floating in from another room was a frequent visitor.

 Cold hands sent a shiver down SpongeGuy’s spine and he didn’t need to turn to know it was the reaper.

 “You seem awfully ready to go. I haven’t sensed such resignation in a while from you.”

 SpongeGuy tried to say something but the words stuck in his throat.

 “…You haven’t even come close to succeeding in your mission. Are you ready to call it quits? It’s not like you ever deserved to succeed.”

 But SpongeGuy shakes his head. “Maybe I don’t deserve it…”

 He put down the manuscript next to Kamino’s head.

 “But they do. Every single one of them needs a hero.”

 SpongeGuy turns defiantly. “If it means fighting for years without a smile, then I will do so.”

 “…What makes you so sure that you’ll ever be happy?”

 SpongeGuy turns and sees a miracle in front of him.

 “…Just a hunch.”