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molagboop · 2 years

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You enable me.

Red Tail wasn't assassinated because she was a bad leader, her successor just saw an opening to yank the rug out from beneath her and took it. Sometimes ambition drives people to shove a respected leader off a tenth floor balcony and onto the tip of a polearm being held in death's silent vigil by a statue. Yes, scant few would consider it heresy to "defile" a construct built to honor the Ancestors with the sitting Warlord's blood, but it was a cool death, she was aware of the treachery in her final moments, she was witnessed by a rather large flock of her peers, and it took a few minutes for the lights to go out when she hit the target, so I'm sure the Ancestors didn't mind the fresh coat of paint.

With that said, her death wasn't necessarily a "good" thing. The change of command from Red Tail to Knife Belly marked the beginning of a short period where the throne changed hands rather frequently. Not necessarily "bad", but the time period was definitely less stable than is optimal. The Mawkin went through six warlords in the span of a decade.

Knife Belly's coronation was a messy affair. Two years into her rule, she was slain in her private quarters by her favorite lover, who subsequently lost a duel to the Warlord's trusted Knight-Emeritus, Splendid Stride, a decorated warrior who used a mobility aid to get around. There have been a fair number of disabled Warlords whose condition(s) was/were not a result of old age, and Splendid Stride was hardly the first. She was no greenhorn, but she had her limitations. She reached a breaking point seven months in when her joints locked up during a duel, allowing Frigid Gale to take the Warlord's crest.

Frigid Gale was ruthless, and executed a lot of people for reasons that didn't always vibe with his tribesmen. He was also a shit leader. I don't want to be reductive, but he did a terrible job. Infrastructure built under him failed within a few years; many of the developments he ordered had to be torn down within the next two decades because he insisted on construction being a certain way, and had any engineers who disagreed with him executed. That's just one example out of his many infractions that did little good for his reputation. He didn't listen to experts, he took no advisors, and he surrounded himself with yes men. He also possessed remarkable physical strength, and fended off all who challenged him. He very much embodied a sort of confident "if I'm wrong, come kill me and do things your way" attitude. He was also very rude (like... even moreso than one would expect from a tribe of rude warriors) and made a lot of enemies. Very few people batted an eye when he was stabbed 43 consecutive times around the face and chest (in broad daylight) by one Scarlet Shadows three years into his reign.

Scarlet was cunning and an excellent warrior in his own right, but his skills were better suited to lying low and taking down foes behind enemy lines than actually leading the charge. He lost a duel (rather terribly) to a soldier named Long Claw on the first anniversary of his rule.

Long Claw succumbed to the Chill Rot plague that ravaged the tribe two years into his reign, and there was quite the commotion around the issue of succession for a few weeks while the tribe's scholars and physicians tried to get the disease under control. A bright individual named Coarse Heart stepped up to restore order after being hailed as the first of those afflicted by the illness to make a full recovery. She led the efforts to find a cure, lent her blood to research into possible genetic immunity, and walked among the sick to bring them hope (and experimental treatments, food, water, etc). With her efforts, the Mawkin weathered the storm. Chill Rot left her with permanent damage in several vital organs, including her heart, which failed in the middle of a duel with a warrior known as Standing Wave.

Standing Wave ruled for over a century, and while that's a situation of its own, what matters is that her rise to power marks the end of a tumultuous period that began with the assassination of a perfectly good pilot. There's a lot of little things missing here, but this is just a synopsis a weird time in the Mawkin's history. I haven't even touched on the civil war that almost broke out as a result of Frigid Gale's antics.

#Mawkin #i'm delivering hot Chozo gossip straight to your dashboard #we're whispering and giggling about people who don't even exist and it's great #headcanons #txt #it was probably for the best that Frigid Gale was pulped by a knife in broad daylight #i want you to imagine Scarlet Shadows as like a cs:go or gmod character repeatedly hitting Frigid Gale with a butterfly knife #because that's basically what happened. he didn't stop stabbing just because Gale had stopped breathing #that would have been a rookie mistake #Frigid Gale damn near caused a tribal schism #he's one of those Warlords who isn't considered one of the dishonored dead because he didn't *technically* do anything 'wrong'#but he was almost unanimously reviled. he's an example of how not to rule with an iron fist #Raven Beak has done a few questionable things by our standards #and not every decision he's made has been popular. hence two of the six assassination attempts.#but Raven Beak is by and large a fairly reasonable individual who is capable of letting things go and accepting when he's wrong #Raven Beak says 'you will obey me because I am stronger and faster than you and you respect me.'#Frigid Gale says 'you will obey me because I said so.'#Raven Beak is a hard-ass like his mother. he has expectations that he expects his warriors to meet but he also takes care of his people #The Mawkin believe that 'might is right' but they also have a deeply ingrained sense of honor and community #Frigid Gale's mistake was believing he could simply rule with all power and no responsibility #Power is everything and when you have it you're also burdened with a ton of responsibility #there's a 30 tag limit so I can't elaborate on any specifics. but I just might do that some day.

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angerissue · 2 years

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Anonymous asked... Your Bruce Banner is BRILLIANT. Click here to send me something!

Sorry for taking so long to respond to this! I've been going back and forth on what to say, because it was so nice to see this in my inbox, and I wanted to reply properly. I'm not an innately confident writer, and because of the chilly reception that adaptations like this usually get on tumblr, there are often occasions where I wonder if I'm writing Bruce well. Sometimes my assurance disappears. But messages like yours are super encouraging, so thank you.

I've been writing for a long time. I've had one or two things published, but nothing substantial, and certainly not novellas or novels. I remember when I first took a real interest in writing stories, and my characters were absolutely terrible, haha. My first original character was based on a book for young readers about dragons (who could assume human form) and people. In this book, there was a teen girl who had dragon wings. I can't remember the name of the book, but I used like 90% of the character's traits for my first OC, and I didn't really put much thought into it beyond this. Call it a product of me being ten years old, but the OC was goofy and corny, and my writing was beyond dramatic, holy smokes... But at least it formed a great foundation for what not to do, moving forward.

When I was in high school, I took an immediate liking to English class. Digging into media and writing essays was very enjoyable for me! Some of the material felt too simplistic, like a deeper meaning couldn't be derived from it, but I still really loved looking for metaphors and nuance in different texts, and devising different ways to present my findings, and sometimes bullshit them from scratch. I jumped headfirst into AP English soon after that. I particularly remember the assignments for Kafka's "The Metamorphosis", and Swift's "A Modest Proposal", which were pretty strange and surreal texts, but they were fascinating!

(That is the kind of literature I love to encounter. Things that are "out there", that make you think, that have something to say about certain topics, and that leave a lasting impression.)

During this time, I picked up a few other OCs, including some that were inspired by my lucid dreams and the film "Avatar" (2008). I also loved analyzing and discussing films that I'd watched, and I became more and more interested in "character study bait" films, including "Hunger" (2008), "Taxi Driver" (1976), and "American Psycho" (2000). The more focus that a film had on a character, the more I liked exploring it and looking for details. "Breaking Bad" was absolutely captivating to me because of all the colour palette and script choices. And certain characters jumped out at me as well, such as Jesse Pinkman, Wikus Van De Merwe, Tony Stark, and Jake Sulley, who all received varying amounts of attention in fics.

Bruce Banner was another character who really stood out, when I finally decided to give him a chance. My first exposure to him was "The Incredible Hulk" (2008), and even after that single film and its somewhat anemic script, I noticed there was a lot going on with him, and I wanted to explore it. It helped that he was a science fiction character too, because that is my favourite genre, and that I'd always been a sucker for werewolf and monster tropes. I hadn't even gotten into the comics yet or learned about his family life (that happened shortly before I graduated), but I was already so invested in him! And it snowballed from there.

I think it's the combination of my keen interest in Bruce and my love for analysis that has resulted in this portrayal. It's not everyone's cup of tea, but I like to think he's still recognizable, and he is very much the same character. He was simply given different options from canon, and he's developed accordingly. But he's never wandered too far from his roots. Everything about this portrayal can be traced back to something I've seen, somewhere, in canon.

I'm also deeply proud of my decision to make this portrayal exceptionally self-aware about the psychology of trauma. I put a very heavy emphasis on how trauma informs someone's decisions throughout their life, which canon has rarely bothered to dissect (the comics on occasion, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe only like, once). I've said it before, but Bruce is often depicted and handwaved as "yet another superhero" and is often dumped into the "superhero genre", which is conflated with formulaic, flashy popcorn flicks. I try to write him deeper than that, and more well-rounded. I've never been a fan of shying away from gritty, dark, or personal shit, because it can often be very revealing and insightful, especially for a character like Bruce. I also feel like this makes him a more accessible character to someone who doesn't necessarily like the MCU or Marvel. If all of the "bam, pow, superheroes and capes and high stakes" stuff takes a break, and the painfully human aspects can shine through more, it humanizes him that much more. I think that's part of the reason the television show and Ruffalo's performance in "The Avengers" was so well-received.

(But this is all just my opinion.)

So thanks again, anonymous! I'm really happy to hear you like the direction I've taken him.

I have many other messages in my inbox, including some old ask memes. I'm slowly working through them. Thanks for your patience, everyone.

#( out of control. )#( answered. )#anonymous #thanks for sending this! and sorry for the insanely long delay. 💖#that dragon book was my favourite thing as a kid... on top of the warrior cats series.#i also remember when i was back in junior school... my friend and i always pretended to be dragons.#we hid under our desks and snarled and roared at each other lmao. in front of all our classmates.#we would also play on neopets during class on the shitty school laptops. the ones with the nubbins instead of touchpads.#it was awesome. and embarrassing but i have no regrets.#this friend was also the person who got me into warriors.#it's funny to think that series is reviled on tumblr because it has 'bad things' in it...#because when i was a kid? i had zero problems with it. i wasn't impressed upon by the 'bad stuff' at all lol.#but yeah that is my commentary on silly tumblr shenanigans for the day.

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overthinkinglotr · 7 months

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People always say “Thorin could never retire in the Shire because he has to be King” — and I think the funniest way to handle that plotline would be for Bilbo to convince Thorin to eliminate the monarchy.

Bilbo has lived all his life in the Shire, where they elect their main leaders in a democratic system. Thorin is the first king he ever meets. Bilbo would initially think monarchy was very storybook-like and fantastical, like the things he’s read about in tales from distant lands…..but he would quickly find the reality of monarchy underwhelming, baffling, and annoying. Thorin/ Thranduil/Bard would make Bilbo decide that all monarchies are terrible. Being a king makes you self-important, haughty, greedy, and warlike. Kings are too powerful and use that power to fight over utter nonsense. They’ve got no one to keep their stubbornness in check. He would come to decide that the Shire really did have it right by holding elections.

I’m imagining a scene where Thorin dramatically confesses “I suffer under the burden of my duties; heavy is the head that bears a crown” and Bilbo flatly responds “don’t be king, then. >:/Elect someone else. If your people don’t want you then they won’t choose you! Im very tired of this whole affair and I wish I were back in the Shire, where folk are more reasonable >:(“

Thorin is enchanted by the strange foreign Hobbit custom of “elected leaders.” He has never considered this as a possibility. Overwhelmed by the Hobbit’s wisdom after the Battle of the Five Armies, Thorin converts his kingdom into a democratic republic and retires from public life.

This causes a domino effect. Other kingdoms across Middle Earth are inspired by Erebor’s example, and band together to reject their monarchical systems. Revolutions ensue.

Thorin’s consort “Bilbo Baggins,” known only as “the dwarf-king’s advisor who first set off this wave of revolutions,” becomes one of the most controversial and reviled people in all of Middle Earth. Bilbo becomes a figure of mythic proportions, loved by the democratic republicans and despised by the royalists, each of which invents their own wild legends.

To the democratic republicans “The Great Baggins” is glorified as a great warrior sent from Valinor to restore the long-forgotten wisdom borne out of The West— he snaps his fingers and with a poof of smoke he washes away all the old corrupt systems of the world, just as the Valar washed away Numenor.

But to the royalists, “The Mad Baggins” is a scheming shadowy monster who crawled up from the deep places of the world to burn the very foundations of Middle Earth to the ground; he’s a monster more powerful and terrible than a dragon or a balrog, who threatened Thorin into submission and brought the world into chaos. he snaps his fingers and monarchies collapse in a puff of smoke.

Meanwhile elderly Bilbo grumpily putters around the Shire with Thorin, mostly oblivious to all of this.

#and that’s my reshirement au. like comment and subscribe #read my webcomic adaptation of the hobbit *dabs*#lotr #the hobbit #Bagginshield #lord of the rings #I would write this fic but I’m already making high effort hobbit fanfic #don’t know if I have the energy for another one XD

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alice-angel12x · 1 year

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Death isn't so scary

Lilia x Death! reader

(behold my amateur photoshop skills)

Lilia had lived a very long life, and had seen many things come and go. The world was constantly changing, spells, technology, and even fashion statements were different in a flash. Yet There was one thing, or one person who never changed, not even time could change them, other than the names they went by.

Lilia could remember clearly as day the first time they saw Y/n of Death. It was during the war between Humans and Fea. In one of the battles the humans faced a humiliating loss, and General Lilia and his army reviled in their victory. When he noticed a lone figure on the field. Draped in a dark cloak, with chains tied around the hip that two scythes dangled from their hip.

The young cocky warrior Lilia thought the figure was a single surviving human left. With a smirk, he decided to scare the life out of this human. So with his large jade buster blade, teleported above and tried to slam down on the figure.

Only for the figure to stop the blade with one of their scythes. Lilia struggled to force the sword down or break free from the entanglement. But the scythe's curved blade caught the silver vines that wrapped around Lilia's own. Yet the figure stood perfectly still as the continued to block the blade.

"Your quite strong for a mortal, where were you when your friends needed you," Lilia smirked as his allies gathered around.

"Your a bit late human," The general mocked, as the rest laughed.

"Do not laugh," The figure scoffed. " DO NOT BE PROUD OF THIS MASSACRE!!"

With one swift movement, the figure sent the small Fae troop flying.

________________________________________

I remember clearly when they warned us Fae that we greatly underestimate humans. And that they will be back for us soon. Of course in my youth I did not believe them.

Yet their promise would soon be fulfilled as the humans started getting stronger. I began to lose my friends and allies left and right, with that eerie whistle haunting me every step of the way.

Eventually, both sides came to a draw, much to Fae kinds Ego. The thought of even acknowledging humans disgusted them. I wasn't the same after the war. We Fae live for so long that we forget that ultimately we are all powerless to death.

One night, when I went out to mourn the loss of my allies. When I noticed a familiar figure in the distance. I silently approached as I watched them pay their respects to the fallen. I could even see the sparkle of tears run down their face as they placed a flower on each of the graves.

"I know your there, General Lilia. Congratulations on your promotion by the way," Death said simply, not even turning to face Me.

"What are you doing here, demon?" I glared as I clutched my fist.

"Still refuse to admit what I am. Why are all Fae like this?" Death said with an annoyed sigh.

"What! It is your fault that they are dead. You cut their lives short!" I shouted as I readied my weapon.

"My fault... MY FAULT!" Death shouted in rage as they knocked me off my feet, slamming me into a tree. "I never really understand why you fae were made this way. I told Life that giving them a millennium's worth of life, absurd."

"You Fae think because you live so long you are above everything. Even your queen brags how she is above death," Death growled as they reached for my blade. "You take things for granted and waste your time in this life, believing your hot $&@%."

I wanted to shout, scream that they were wrong. They were just cruel being that takes life as they, pleased. Memories of my loved ones flashed in my mind, only for the images to fash to their course in the mud. Suddenly my blade was logged into the tree next to my face.

"Pick it up," Death ordered, but... I couldn't everyone I love and care for... Are gone.

"Why did you spare me?" I asked hopelessly.

"Spare you... I did not spare you. Your skills and luck are what saved you. My job is simply to be there when mortal life is about to end," Death said as they stared into my soul. " Don't take anything in life for granted, no matter how fast and fleeting it may seem. And by the end of your life, you will be content."

They said as they pulled away to turn and leave. I... I had to ask. Why were they... Death themself giving me life advice.

"Because it will be important later down the road. When you will teach this to Malleus, Silver, and Sebek," They answered.

"W-who?" I asked, those were names I couldn't recall.

"They will look to you when the time comes, take good care of them," Was all they said.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Years later I would meet these people, very talented young Fae and human. And I'm glad I did stop to smell the roses of life. I never realized just how quickly humans changed, from technology to even fashion statements. And Every once and a while, no matter where in the world I went. They were there. At times they were in a place of mourning, but a lot of the time they were smelling the roses too.

Never once in my life would I ever thought I would spend a good century getting to know Y/n of Death. One could even say we're friends. But after some time, Y/n just vanished suddenly. Until now.

One night, Malleus vanished on one of his strolls. As Sebek and Silver ran all over the school in search of the prince. I decided to check around ramshackle, where I heard a familiar haunting whistle.

So I only did the logical thing, and whistle along as I followed the sound to its source. And there they were, the same wolf-eared figure standing alone in the open field behind Ramshackle.

"Greetings old friend," I spoke up, Y/n's ears flicked in acknowledgment as they turned to look back at me.

"Hello to you too, Lilia. Wow, you sure look old," Y/n laughed.

I rolled my eyes with a small laugh and stood next to them, as we both just enjoyed the beautiful night.

___________________

Bonus scene: inspired by an anonymous ask.

After many late-night game sessions and improper sleep, Lilia slowly follows behind Malleus and Silver. As his eyes wandered his eyes soon landed on his ancient friend, who was walking towards them. Y/n noticed Lilia's stares, so they stopped to greet them. Only to be met with Lilia's tired mumblings.

"You look like you're going to drop dead. Are you ready to cross over?" Y/n asked as a joke.

"Alright...HIT ME" Lilia shouted as he stood tall with his arms wide open.

Everyone standing around, including Malleus and Silver, look on in shock.

"..I'm sorry what ?" Malleus asked.

"I said, you can go ahead...take me, angel," Lilia said as he fell forward into Y/n's arms.

Y/n chuckle softly as they scoop up the tiny old fae and just handed him over to Silver.

"...Your dad is tired..isn't he ?" Y/n commented with an amused smile.

"I can see that now." Silver nodded.

#twisted wonderland #Death!reader #twisted wonderland x reader #disney twisted wonderland #twst yuu #lilia vanrouge #twisted wonderland lilia #lilia x reader

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yuri-alexseygaybitch · 1 year

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Jan. 6th is an objectively funny event because the parties involved were 1) the absolute stupidest petit-bourgeois reactionary troglodytes who took a break from exploiting immigrant labor in their sand-blasting companies to play weekend warrior at the Capitol because a reality TV show host told them to (who then called them gay antifa interlopers when Mitch McConnell threatened to take his last 14 days in office away from him) and 2) glorified mall cops who in 9/10 cases hung out with group 1 and took selfies with them who were after-the-fact retconned to be heroes and Defenders of Democracy by a handful of decaying gerontocrats who don't know what planet they're on anymore. Mix in a few attentionfucking Instacrats like AOC and there you go. The only people who got hurt were the dumbest and most rightfully reviled people alive god bless.

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greenhorn-art · 7 months

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Prince of Shadows, Lord of Thieves by alkat

Fandom: The King's Avatar | 全职高手

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Category: Gen

Words: 1 929

Once upon a time, their exploits were immortalized by artists and writers across the tapestry of history. Once upon a time, they were worshipped as gods and reviled as demons. None of that stopped the Met from stealing all their shit.

About the Book

FONTS: Alegreya [Google Fonts], Lato [Google Fonts]

IMAGES: all art made by myself @greenhorn-art for this fic

MATERIALS: regular ol' printer paper (8.5"x11", 20lb, 96 bright); ~2-2.5mm binder's board; Neenah cardstock (8.5"x11", 65lb, bright white); Cialux bookcloth (black); waxed linen thread (30/3 size, white); wheat paste (1:4 flour:water); paste wax (from a friend, unknown ingredients&quantities, some kind of wax and turpentine/mineral spirits)

PROGRAMS USED: Affinity Publisher 2; Affinity Designer 2; Bookbinder JS | Renegade's Community Imposer (settings: Quarto, snug against binding edge, custom signatures of 2, 1, 2 sheets).

Text & QR codes printed with colour laser printer (duplex, flip long edge), images printed with inkjet printer. QR codes generated with LibreOffice Writer, snipped, saved, and inserted where needed.

BINDING: quarto (quarter-letter) size, sewn board binding with french link stitch and breakaway spine.

So this one all started because the visual of HST's outfit was so fun that I was possessed by a visceral need to draw it. Inspiration slapped me across my mind's eye, and much like a medieval knight being slapped in the face by a glove (which didn't actually happen, that's a myth that sprung from the throwing down of a gauntlet. but that's beside the point), I felt bound to take up the challenge. Which lead me to draw a few more, and then I ended up binding the whole thing.

(Also, I find it really amusing that the famous Terracotta Warriors were just storage for YXs stuff. And the gang going 'shopping' at various exhibits for gifts for friends/family,, like that sure is SOME window shopping! I can hear it now: 'Oooh I'll take one one those SMASH, and that SHATTER, and throw in some of those CRASH, they're going to love these! 😇'. All in all, it was a fun little read, and fun little project! :D)

About the Art

Because this was initially a one-off drawing I tried a new art style (and struggled to at least not stray too far for the rest). It was fun and helped me think more about shape and visual focus, instead of being caught up in the details.

The crow (based off of image ID: 4039963 from Rawpixel) and the red umbrella on the front cover were filled curves made with the pen tool. The illustrations' poses were based off of a combination of images found on Google and photos taken by myself.

Pinterest is awful for sources, but it would have been handy to pin the references I'd googled. Only remembered to save the one of a man sitting at a desk. (I deliberately searched for someone sitting with bad posture because YX is described as being "slumped" over the desk. I figure that since "the laws of physics held no meaning to ["cursed souls eschewed by the natural order"]", they'd also be immune to mundane things like discomfort from sitting hunched over for too long. Back pain images were a gold mine! All I had to do was choose one with lighting that would give me a silhouette.)

The Myriad Manifestations Umbrellas and illustrations were drawn in Procreate.

I opted for a more plain umbrella design because it's not (presumably) a fantastical weapon in this story. Though the initial version did have YX cradling the donghua!MMU.

For the scene breaks I inserted the images, pinned them inline as character, and adjusted height and baseline in the pinning menu to fit.

The author wrote one scene break differently than the others, using multiple empty paragraphs instead of just one. Following suit, I used a different image for that particular break. I wanted to reference vampires somewhere, so for that break I made two bloody spots resembling bite marks. The blood spots were made with a group of shapes in Designer.

On cover design:

Because the MMU is what sparks the whole heist, I wanted it on the front cover.

Earlier iterations involved a full cover spread with a man's shadow standing before a shattered glass case, with a plaque mounted on the wall to the left providing information. The plaque was formatted like a museum label and had the author, date published, title, event collection, and story description. I'd also added a QR code to it. Ultimately, I abandoned the concept because it was difficult to decipher what is was when only looking a one cover at a time.

My second idea for the cover would have been a bookcloth-only cover with a cut-out of the MMU on the front, acting like a window showing off an image of the MMU on paper below it. (Inspired by the work of a number of folks over on Renegade's Discord. Here's a few examples gleaned from a quick search: szynkaaa's lung cutouts, some of EHyde's books, and the front cover of Spock's massive all-in-one TGCF). As fun as that would have been to try out, I felt it didn't quite suit the style of the art so I nixed that too.

Eventually I landed on the back cover design with the Met exhibition webpage. At last, I felt that the back & white and simple-shapes-background went with the artwork. The webpage viewed on the phone is based off of the Met's actual website. I took a snip/screenshot of the Met's logo from the banner at the top, then looked at their exhibitions' pages and eyeballed it to create my own. (Threw in the QR because I wanted the easy access to the fic online on the back cover). I chose to use a phone screen rather than I computer monitor because it worked better composition-wise. And besides, while YX may be allergic to owning a phone, SMC is not. I imagine that she saw the news while on her phone then messaged him.

The front cover came together after that. An umbrella for the MMU, and a pop of red. One of YX's messenger crows. A black shape in the background similar to the back cover's, sort of creating a spotlight over the umbrella and placing the rest of the cover in shadow.

Trying New Things: Applying a protective finish to printed covers

Over on the Renegade Bindery Discord, folks have spoken about using a beeswax & turpentine/mineral spirits 50-50 mix to seal printed covers (thank you Kate). According to my dad that's just a paste wax, so he threw 3 different ones at me and said 'have at it'.

I tested them out using the same paper and inkjet I'll use for the cover. I was looking at 1) whether the paste wax affected the paper colour or print quality, and 2) the finish. After applying one coat each and buffing them out I had my winner. Then I applied & buffed two more coats to it and tested 3) water resistance by dripping tea on it. The liquid beaded up and wiped away without staining -- good, three coats will work nicely.

(Test results: Mystery paste wax from a friend wins.

The commercial SC Johnson Paste Wax Original formula (intended for woodworking) has a nice dry shiny finish, but coloured the paper slightly brown -> disqualified

My dad's homemade stuff has a nice shiny/satin finish and didn't change paper's colour, but it felt slightly tacky even after buffing it -- maybe I didn't buff it enough?

The gifted paste wax has a matte finish, didn't change paper's colour (in the image below this one has 3 coats. The paper is now slightly off-white, but still acceptable), and while not as dry-to-touch as the Johnson it was not as tacky as the other homemade stuff.)

When I print out my quarto covers, I print front and back covers side-by-side on the same page*, with some guides to ensure I'm cutting and gluing in the correct place. (The guides mark the boundaries of the covers and start of the turn-ins, and stop at the edge of where I cut. Before cutting I flip it over to mark the guides [see marks indicated in image below] on the wrong side and connect them so I can see where to glue/place book. Then flip it back over to cut, right side up.)

*I'm being economical here at the cost of possible warping damage. This layout means that I'm only using one sheet of paper, but the grain is running in the wrong direction (across the book instead of preferred head-to-tail/top-bottom). This could cause warping issues, but I'm OK with that. I'm hoping that by just gluing at the edges, instead of pasting down the whole thing, warping will be minimized. (I use wrong-grain endpapers most of the time with larger books anyways).

I applied the paste wax before cutting out the covers, working carefully to avoid accidentally creasing/bending the paper (which happened twice, but it was minimal and I hardly notice it). Doing so before cutting ensured that the cover material was completely covered. Even the turn-ins -- something I later came to regret. After all, wax is used specifically so that things don't stick to it. It made it rather difficult to drum on the endpapers because I was trying to glue something down onto a waxy surface. It all worked out in the end -- perhaps due to the fact that there were multiple layers of wheat paste which could adhere to each other, followed by being squashed in a press.

#Prince of Shadows Lord of Thieves #alkat #fanfiction #bookbinding #my art #the king's avatar #qzgs #tka

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gatheredfates · 18 days

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KORET SWAN.

Nickname: Kor. Generally only reserved for people she knows well, otherwise it's Koret or Captain. Age: Mid-thirties. Nameday: 32 Sun of the 5th Umbral Moon (All Saints Wake) Race: Mix-race Ala Mhigan Highlander (on her father's side) and Limsan Midlander (on her mothers). Gender: It's complicated. I could write an entire essay about Kor's perception of gender and where she fits in it but that would take up 90% of this mini dossier. However, to keep it brief: Kor is unsure if her desire to abandon her femininity is due primarily to her father's distain of it or that she simply does not see herself as a woman. There are times where presenting masculine suits her, pronouns and all, until she suddenly feels alienated and abandons it altogether. There are times she feels she is everything and nothing at all. There are times were being a woman is a comfort and strength. She fits somewhere on the spectrum of gender fluidity, but she is constantly questioning her place and constantly feeling invalidated by the way her own mind undermines her when it comes to it. She is a pronoun because it is easy; she is not employed because she believes she is always female. If she could stop thinking about it altogether, she would do it in a heartbeat. Orientation: Bisexual, no preference. Profession: Captain of the Wolfsbane; a notorious galleon once commanded by her father, Dimitri. It was 'gifted' to her in a decrepit state when Kor was considered old enough to command.

Fleet Captain of her father's ships in his death, answering predominately to the thalassocracy of Limsa Lominsa when called upon - though she mostly ships goods for Firelight Trading Company.

Warrior of Light in the applicable verse!

PHYSICAL ASPECTS

Hair: A deep, wavy crimson, cut just above the breast. Kor will often plait it when she is working — if not cut it shorter altogether. See aforementioned gender grappling. Eyes: Amber. Her father's eyes. In her non-WoL verse, she lost her right eye in an altercation with @riftdancing's Blink after her father tried to pit her against the other woman and her forces. The loss of vision was a mercy to spare her life. Skin: Pale, closer to her mothers, though she tans without too much trouble. However, seeing much of her skin beyond her face is reserved only for those she trusts, as beneath her clothes her body is marred with scars and pock-marks from her father's abuse. There are callouses on her hands. Tattoos/Scars: See above regarding scars. She is considering adopting some tattoos in light of seeing Vamp and Rex's, but hasn't committed fully to the idea yet. FAMILY

Parents: Dimitri Swan, youngest in a family of Ala Mhigan men forced to watch their city fall. He abandoned his homeland quickly after revelations about the Garleans and the Mad King emerged and took to Limsa for promises of wealth and prestige. Fighting, bargaining, trading and even killing for what he wanted, he became a notorious figure within Limsa Lominsa — reviled and respected in turn —and was not one readily crossed. His desire for a true-born son to inherit his legacy was all-consuming and, ultimately, his undoing.

I haven't given a name to Kor's mother yet, but she was a pretty little thing Dimitri met one night in the Drowning Wench. He wooed her with promises of a luxurious life and the first few years of their marriage were unremarkable — primarily due to Dimitri being constantly at sea. However, when she failed to produce a living heir after two daughters and numerous miscarriages/stillborn children, his opinion of her soured. She died when Kor was thirteen of a 'mysterious illness', though she maintains her mother simply gave up on life due to his ongoing abuse. In her youth, she hated her. As an adult, her opinion of her is complicated. Siblings: One full-blooded sister, Lily. Because I play hard and fast with character ages, and the canonical passage of XIV time makes no sense to me (and I don't subscribe to it), she died at the start of ARR. Whether that was one year, five years or anything in between... you tell me.

Kor is also aware she must have an innumerable amount of half-siblings due to her father's sexual appetite. Even when their marriage was good, there were always rumours he was taking women in far-flung ports — something he denied at first, but wholeheartedly used as a battering ram later as another blow to hurt his wife. It would bemuse Kor if he only shot blanks, but she's not an optimist. At this stage, none have come out of the woodwork and tried to communicate with her. Grandparents: She knows little about them. The ones on her father's side died during the fall of Ala Mhigo and the ones on her mother's she never learned anything about. Others: (God this is going to get so long).

To begin, Kor has a rather large extended family. On her mother's side, she has her cousin Paprika (played by @riftdancing). On her father's, she has Ashe and Eve. Dimitri tried to look like he was assimilating into Limsan society by taking on his wife's last name and abandoning his own, leaving Ashe with to carry the mantle of 'Hawke'. However, Kor was never close to any of them until adulthood.

In Ashe and Paprika's case, though they lived within the same city-state, Dimitri's iron fist over his family ensured Kor couldn't ask for help. They were also not really in a position to assist without inflicting his retribution onto them. Dimitri abandoned his brother when Ashe's father first arrived, and consequently isolated his wife from any contact with her family.

Eve didn't come into the picture until Kor was well and truly an adult. Ashe kept up with her via letters but, due to going due west to Thanalan with the other refugees, she was only able to escape her own captivity in her mid-twenties. They are incredibly distant for numerous reasons I won't get into here (because it'll be a novel).

Kor found a pseudo-father figure in my partner's character Rex, though she will not admit it to him directly. They came into contact through my character Crow (I enjoy all my characters being loosely interconnected), another fleet-captain hoping to push Dimitri out of the picture because he conflicted with her aspirations, and he quickly surmised her predicament through Crow's inference and Kor's eventual admission. His company is a second home to her, both metaphorically and literally these days.

Literally because she's dating one of the Head Mechanics — an Ala Mhigan man by the name of Vamp. This was another cheeky ploy by Crow to give Kor some connections to her homeland in the company of a man she knew to be gentle and kind; to the point she refused his charter from Limsa to Ul'dah, even if Rex was paying handsomely for the fare. Crow hadn't expected them to grow as close as they did... but she also won a bet, so that was nice. If she's in Firelight, she can be found in the workshop or the airship hanger keeping Vamp company while he works on Firelight's various vehicles.

Her relationship with Blink is... a thing. Don't quantify it. In another life, they're dating. In another-other life, one is dead by the other's hand. She's the embodiment of 'I fucked around and found out' — literally! What are they? Is she an ex, an enemy or something in between? Who knows! She calls her a friend these days. That's close enough.

You know who Kor's best friend is? She won't say it. It's Sarrai. Sarrai will happily say it, though. She'll sing it from the rooftops! She once asked Kor for her bones if she successfully died and the Captain was far too taken aback to say no. Dark humour wins again.

There's also some lore around her and my other best friend's OC Beau, but a lot of that is tied into Beau's WoL verse and makes it hard to properly quantify here without talking about that verse and making this post even longer. However, there's a lot of homoerotic tension. That's all you need to know. Same for the numerous connections she has with my friends' ocs at FTC and beyond. Most of them aren't active on tumblr but they know. They know. Pets: I jokingly have the Ugly Duckling out on Kor. She had a dog called Nipper in her WoW verse. Maybe she has a pet? Who knows.

SKILLS

Abilities: Kor is a captain. With that come a myriad of skills including, but not limited to: commanding a ship and reading the seas; diplomacy, negotiation and bartering; mastery over a myriad of weapons including a gunblade and a musket (I maintain Kor was a musketeer in ARR despite it being moved to machinist in HW); a depth of political understanding/manoeuvring; and a shit-tonne of luck. She also possessed the Echo, a 'gift' given to her the night her sister died. Hobbies: Kor is a workaholic. Down-time is few and far between, because it gives her too much time to think. However, she does enjoy reading for its escapism.

TRAITS

Most positive trait: I think it's her accountability. Kor doesn't like to admit she is wrong and doesn't like to look weak, yet she will grit her teeth and apologise eventually because she knows it's the right thing to do. She's also got mountains of endurance and will put her own life/limb on the line for her love ones because she knows she can take it. Most negative trait: Her melancholy. Kor is jaded from a lot of life's experiences, and this manifests in someone who is closed off, hostile and downright nasty when people push her too far. She battles with extreme suicidal ideation that can often make her endurance a detriment because she doesn't always care if she dies. Her father called her a dog for her bark but she's also known to bite.

LIKES

Colours: Navy blue, bottle-green and red. Smells: Sea-salt, brine and freshly-carved wood. Smoky cedarwood colognes and anise. Rum and other similar spirits. Coffee. Textures: Water, wool and steel. The feeling of wood beneath your fingers. Drinks: Hot chocolate.

OTHER DETAILS

Smokes: Frequently. It's her go-to vice, only because it has less 'negative' side-effects to alcohol. Dimitri was an alcoholic and Kor possesses his rage. She knows what she can be like when she drinks. Drinks: ...Semi-frequently. Just because she knows what she's like doesn't mean she won't partake, especially in times of turmoil and strife. These days she tries to drink sweeter things like mead and wine, rather than hard spirits/beer, because she finds she's more aware of how much she has drunk rather than losing herself to the bottle. Drugs: She's dabbled, but it's not for her. Kor has an addictive personality and wrestles enough with booze and tobacco. She doesn't need anything else. Mount Issuance: Does a ship count? I also fully believe that the fall of Garlemald has brought technological advancements to Eorzea and Rex would not have passed up the chance to build things like cars and motorbikes. If so, Kor has the latter. Been arrested: Sure! She's been drunk and disorderly and had a few nights in a Limsan gaol. That's kind of the part of being a privateer, y'know?

Tagged by: @sundered-souls — at least for this one! I'm going to try and do one character per tag. Tagging: @halikyon, @zylphiacrowley, @abracarabbit, @laurel-resting, @starforger, @corsair-kovacs, @cindernet-explorer & @eriyu! (provided you haven't done it already; if so, maybe an alt?) If you'd like a chance of being tagged, you can like my permanent interaction call here!

#｡･ﾟﾟ･ — sea speaks #｡･ﾟﾟ･ — 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫 : koret #｡･ﾟﾟ･ — sea answers things #｡･ﾟﾟ･ — character answers / memes #god i knew this was going to be massive for her and it's like #i didn't even include ~everything~#and it's still huge!!

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antique-symbolism · 8 months

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The scene in Curse of the Warmbloods where Gregor grooms Lapblood is truly one of the most powerful moments of the series.

I feel like it's the moment Gregor truly internalizes the humanity of rats. Before this point, he's been able to accept and even appreciate Ripred and Twitchtip. But it isn't until he recognizes the mirror image of his grief in Lapblood that the barrier is truly broken and he realizes there is no fundamental difference between humans and rats.

Lapblood is on this gruelling journey for a cure that may be ultimately futile. She and hers have been starving for months, she knows some of her children are dead already, that the others are dying, she just watched her mate die violently in front of her eyes. She can't go on. She is exhausted, grief stricken, surrounded by people who revile her just for being a rat. The only other rat left in the party berates her with some kind of twisted 'tough love,' unable to show any compassion, saying in the process that he only wants her there because she's useful in a fight.

Then Gregor, a human, the enemy, the Warrior who is prophecied to defeat the rats, steps in and shows her sympathy, shows her hope. Lays his hands on her not in violence but in healing. It isn't saving her life in a flashy show of heroism - it's different than when he tackles Henry away from killing Ripred in Overlander, different than when he jumps in after Twitchtip in the whirlpool in Prophecy of Bane. It's a calculated, gentle display of compassion. It's intimate. And very, very public, with every eye from all sides of the conflict silently observing.

And then, after all that, with every eye still on him, he brushes out his own hair with the very same tool he used to groom Lapblood, her fur mingling with his hair as if to say, 'This is not my enemy. This is my kin.'

#makes me so goddamn emotional every time i read it #tuc20 #the underland chronicles #tuc spoilers

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redstreetsahead · 9 months

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Damirae Gods AU Day 4 Damirae Week

The God of War smiled, “Beautiful.” He answered, “Death is beautiful.”

The soldier died hopeful, content.

“You flatter me,” A voice behind him announced.

His eyes closed, relishing the sound. It had been too long since he heard her voice, since he felt her presence beside him. It soothed an ache deep within his bones, as it was only her that ever made him feel whole.

“It’s true,” He murmured softly, “The Goddess of Death is the most beautiful creature in existence.”

The Goddess of Death meets the God of War at a battlefield

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Most soldiers didn’t deserve his respect. Sure, they threw parades in his honor, decorated his altar with the most coveted treasures in the continent, murmured his name before marching into every battle.

But most of them were petty excuses for warriors. They prayed for victory, but lacked the courage necessary to achieve it. He was the God of War, of Courage, of Victory, of Strength, yes. But he was also the God of Honor.

This new world was forgetting that more and more.

In every man laying dead across these fields, had seen courage, strength, violence. But so very few of them lacked honor.

He was changing that.

A pull on his ankle removed him from his musings. His sword jumped to his hand, desperate to the taste the blood of another soldier, but he recognized this man. This soldier had not prayed to him before this battle. While his allies had implored his favor, this man had prayed quietly to the Goddess of Death, his Raven, asking simply for the gift of a peaceful trip to the afterlife for everyone that would fall.

For that itself, Damian could respect this man.

But he had proven himself even further after that. On the battle field he had killed swiftly, skillfully. No unnecessary torture. He took out thirty-two opposing soldiers before he died attempting to save the life of one of his fellow countrymen.

He was a warrior.

He had honor.

So when the soldier gestured up at him, fear evident behind his crystal eyes, Damian gripped his hand, kneeling down into the mud beside him.

He didn’t relish in this man’s death. But it was necessary. He was building a better world, and the lives of a few good men was a price he was willing to pay.

“What-“ The man coughed, grip loosening around Damian’s. “What is death like?”

The God of War smiled, “Beautiful.” He answered, “Death is beautiful.”

The soldier died hopeful, content.

“You flatter me,” A voice behind him announced.

“It’s true,” He murmured softly, “The Goddess of Death is the most beautiful creature in existence.”

She knelt down beside him, eyes locked on the dead soldier. Her knees dug into the mud, onyx cloak billowing behind her. Her hood shielded her eyes, casting a dark shadow across her.

The legends and myths of the human world mostly cast her as a demon. They claimed she adored ripping apart families, cutting the strings of those that cherished life the most. She was reviled, hated and feared for bestowing them a mercy.

They called her a monster.

They called him a hero.

If only they knew.

Raven reached out a delicate hand, closing the soldier’s frozen eyes with a soft swipe of her fingers.

“He died at peace,” she said simply, thankful.

“He deserved to.”

They stayed like that for a moment, gazing solemnly down at the soldier who had taken his final breath.

She rose suddenly, moving to walk through the field. He joined her. They fell into step, gazing at the miles of bodies littered across a field that used to be filled with the most beautiful of flowers.

“Some of them were good men,” She told him.

“Most of them weren’t.”

They reached the edge of a battle: a hill. It was from this hill that the South had sprinted down to clash swords with the North. The North had won the battle, but the South had charged as if victory had been as sure as the sunrise.

She gazed out at the battlefield from atop the hill as he intertwined his hand with hers, “It’s been too long, Beloved.”

Her hood fell back as she looked up at him. He rested his hand on her cheek, lightly caressing her cheekbone with his thumb.

A soft sigh escaped her lips as she leaned into his touch, “It has only been a couple of weeks, Damian.”

“Exactly, he agreed, leaning closer to her, “Much too long.”

His lips pressed to hers as he circled his hands around her waist, pulling her flush against him. She felt so perfect against him, fitting against him like a layer of skin he never wanted to shed. She moaned against his mouth as he deepened the kiss, hands curling around his neck.

He smiled radiantly down at her as they separated, “Oh, how I have missed you”

She pressed another chaste kiss to his lips before casting her eyes back to the field. Melancholy eyes surveyed the site of the ended battle. These men were now hers to care for, souls that now belonged to her domain.

“You caused this war,” she stated. It wasn’t a question, nor an accusation, just a fact. She was right, of course. This war was too big, too bloody. This battle wasn’t even a fraction of the deaths occurring across the globe.

“This world needs to be cleansed.”

She smiled bitterly, “That same phrase has been said by some of the greatest monsters in history.”

He rested his hand on her hip, and she leaned her head against his shoulder. They had this same conversation two weeks ago, when the first battle began. After the clashing of swords ended and the sun dipped below the horizon, she arrived to deliver these souls to the realm after this one.

She’d questioned him on if he knew exactly what he was doing, asked him if when this world burned and a new one arose if it would ever truly feel his mission was completed.

He had simply kissed her.

“We’re supposed to be the protectors of this planet,” she continued, “We’re supposed to try and save them.” She had always been an idealist. For the Goddess of Death, she was surprisingly hopeful. Every human deserved a chance to her, even if that chance was only provided in death.

He disagreed.

He had seen the weakness that had infiltrated the humans. Felt their cruelty, their weakness. Something had to be done.

“I am saving them.”

She sighed heavily, leaning deeper into his shoulder.

“You’re going to cause a war amongst the gods.”

“I know.”

She stilled for a moment, her next sentence forced from her lips as if she was fearful to voice it, “If I asked you to stop, to give up this mission, would you?”

He turned towards her and saw her gaze still locked on the tragedy painted in blood beneath them. After all these years, she should'v've known his answer to that question. He reached out, fingers lightly clasping around her chin. He turned her head towards him, forcing her eyes to lock with his. She needed to see him, needed to look at him and see the truth in his eyes.

His words came out fervent, passionate, “I would do anything for you, Beloved. Anything. I want to burn this world down in the flames that these humans have been fanning since the dawn of life. I want us to sculpt a new one, a brilliant one, together. But if you don't want this—I will always choose you. Over everything."

“I don’t want this,” she answered, voice sad and strong and sure.

He believed in his mission. Wholeheartedly. But as much as he cared, as much as he wanted to save this planet, he refused to do it without her by his side. He didn’t care how perfect his world became if she wasn’t there to relish in it with him.

He brushed a stray piece of hair behind her ear, “One day, Raven, you will see that I am right.”

“Maybe,” she admitted, But that day is not today.”

He smiled softly, “I can wait.”

#damirae #raven x damian #damiraeweek23 #DamiRaeWay #raven roth #damian wayne #kinda gave dami a bit the loa motivation cause i thought it was fun #something about them as gods is just so compelling #demonbirds #this is based on the AU idea by @djbunnie that is like if Raven was the goddess of Death and dami was the god of War #honestly the other idea for this was just that damian kills ppl so that he can see his wife more but i thought that was almost too crazy

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wildbasil · 10 months

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I’ve had a few messages asking me to elaborate on my comic and I gotta say, I’m super honoured that people are enjoying my silly little drawings and want to know more!!

In short, Gwyn, Edern and Blodeuwedd are figures from medieval Welsh literature and folklore. I just think they’re neat 😌🌸

Gwyn

Warrior, Arthurian knight, fairy king and supernatural huntsman, Gwyn is associated with lonely places, like moorlands and mountaintops. He’s evasive, untrustworthy and, especially in earlier texts, has a pretty bad temper. In Culhwch and Olwen, he abducts the object of his affection, Creiddylad, right before her marriage. When her fiancé raises an army against him, Gwyn goes off the deep end a bit, raining violence down on his opponents and taking a bunch of them prisoner. He even tortures one guy into insanity by forcing the guy to eat his own dad's heart. Gwyn’s really caught the imagination of writers throughout time, and at least he seems to have chilled out somewhat over the centuries. For some reason, I like imagining him as tired and sort of past it as a mischief-maker.

Edern/Yder/Ider

Edern is a spirited, confident youth and, like his brother, is a knight of King Arthur. He’s slightly better at it, though. Less violence, more chivalry. Apparently a bit of a hunk too since, in the Romance of Yder, Guinevere admits that Edern would be her first choice if she ever remarried (and it seems Edern was Guinevere’s lover in some traditions). He’s also impatient and cocky, frequently rushing ahead into danger, which normally ends badly for him. In Geraint and Enid, he appears as the ill-mannered Knight of the Sparrowhawk. Despite boasting the title of jousting champion for two years running, he ends up getting beaten badly by Geraint and, begging for mercy, is forced to admit that he’s behaving like a little shit. I like imagining him as a dumbass younger brother.

Blodeuwedd

Blodeuwedd is an owl now, but she used to be a woman. When Lleu Llaw Gyffes was cursed to never have a human wife, his meddling uncle Gwydion magicked him one out of flowers. This flower lady was named Blodeuwedd. When she had an affair and, with her lover, tried to kill Lleu, Gwydion punished her by turning her into an owl, a creature reviled by humans and birds alike. But Blodeuwedd never asked to be a woman and she never asked to be an owl; I think it’s impossible not to feel compassion for her. There’s no real connection between her and Gwyn, but I enjoy imagining them as weird friends. After all, Gwyn’s pretty disliked and feared too.

A (Very, Very Short) Reading List

Here are some links if you want to learn more!

Firstly, I recommend reading Sioned Davies’ translation of The Mabinogion, which is a collection of eleven medieval Welsh stories.

The Mabinogion translated by Sioned Davies (2007)

But there are some free translations online too:

The Mabinogion translated by Charlotte Guest (1877)

In particular, these are the stories I mentioned above:

Culhwch and Olwen

Geraint son of Erbin

Math son of Mathonwy

And here's one of my favourites (not from the Mabinogion): the story of St Collen and Gwyn ap Nudd.

Thanks for reading!!

#the mabinogion #gwyn ap nudd #edern ap nudd #blodeuwedd #arthuriana #culhwch ac olwen #welsh mythology #celtic mythology #y mabinogi #the romance of yder #medieval literature #artists on tumblr #i hope that answered some questions!!#art tag #my ask box is open and ready for your questions and comments about gwyn ap nudd.... please.... 🥺

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ap-kinda-lit · 4 months

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Saiyan Squad AU (part 1) ⭐️

The Saiyan homeworld is Sadala (because Planet Vegeta is ridiculous), but its capital city is Vegeta, where, of course, the royal family resides. Sadala itself is a conglomerate of Australia, Asia, and Africa and the Saiyans are a mishmash akin to the Spartans, Celts, Aztecs, and Mongols. Sadala is pretty much like a space version of Australia: it’s a chaotic death trap from its climate and wildlife to its inhabitants. The Saiyans are made up of clans and have a feudal system, but they all serve the one ruling monarch.

Saiyans act as mercenaries and hunters. Like Predator, they are best known for traveling galaxies to find worthy opponents to fight. They’re feared and reviled as a race of barbaric savages.

They also look more animalistic: they have pointed ears, sharper teeth, claws, and some fur on their bodies.

Saiyans have had a feud with the Cold Empire for a very long time. At one point, they were allied together but the Cold Empire looked down at the Saiyans and began to subjugate them, so the Saiyans started resisting which led to all out war. When Frieza came to power, he amped up the war. He killed King Vegeta III but spared his young son, Vegeta III, to make the boy his puppet king/child hostage.

The city of Vegeta’s center is where the royalty live, while its outskirts is made up of the slums the third class inhabit. This is where Raditz and Kakarot are born and live with their parents Gine and Bardock. Gine serves as a cook to the troops and the residents while Bardock is a captain of his own troop. Gine and Bardock both teach the boys about hunting but Bardock is mostly in charge of their combat training. The boys start their formal training at five-years-old and are put in the same unit as young king Vegeta.

Raditz is the atypical rough and crass Saiyan boy, but Kakarot is another story. He inherited Gine’s kind heart and good nature, making him seem as weak by most Saiyans. He’s unfortunately treated as an outcast and subjected to bullying from his peers. However, he’s passionate and hard-working and wants to become a great and strong warrior, like his big brother and dad, so he’s committed to training hard. It pays off and he makes enough progress so that when his father Bardock talks with the higher-ups he’s able to convince them to put Kakarot on the same unit as Raditz and Vegeta under Nappa, Vegeta’s guardian.

The Saiyan-Frieza feud reaches its turn years later, when Vegeta approaches age fifteen. By then, he’s old enough by law to rule on his own and he’s determined to break free from Frieza’s grasp. As Vegeta begins to secure his independence and throne and wiggle free, Frieza has become fed up with the Saiyans and sees them as a genuine threat. The final nail in the coffin is when he and his men consult the Kanassans on the future of Frieza’s reign. A Kanassan oracle foretells that Frieza will meet his end at the hands of a golden warrior, presumed to be the legendary Super Saiyan. Frieza straight away comes up with a diabolical plan.

To everyone’s surprise, Frieza not only agrees to Vegeta ruling independently, he also agrees to signing a truce with the Saiyans and ending the bad blood for good. In celebration, a formal coronation is held for Vegeta along with ecstatic festivities all over Sadala. Every Saiyan is recalled back to homeworld for the momentous occasion. However, Bardock and his troop stumble upon Frieza’s real plan: to get all the Saiyans together in one place, make them vulnerable, and destroy them all along with their planet altogether. Bardock’s team is attacked and killed to quiet them but Bardock survives and despite being wounded he races to tell everyone and save his family.

Bardock barely makes it back in time. Just as he’s warning the others, Frieza’s soldiers attack and Frieza himself forms a Death Ball to strike at Sadala. Saiyans desperately try to fight back and escape, but many are killed by Frieza soldiers and many more as the Death Ball collides and the planet begins to destruct. Bardock fights on while trying desperately to find his family.

During Sadala’s destruction, Gine and teenaged Raditz and ten-year-old Kakarot manage to find a pod, but it can only fit two of them. Gine makes the boys get in and go without her, assuring it will all be fine (she knows she’s probably not going to make it, but at least her children will be safe). Sadala finally explodes into oblivion just as Raditz & Kakarot make it to safety. Bardock barely makes it out in time. Gine doesn’t make it.

The Saiyans are thusly reduced to the brink of extinction as only a few thousand remain. Surviving Saiyans flee to a desolated planet to recover. This includes Vegeta, Nappa, Raditz, Kakarot, and Bardock (who barely made it out in time). Because of his wounds, Bardock is put in a comatose state in a healing tank for a few days.

In spite of the loss of Sadala and the majority of the Saiyans, Vegeta swears revenge on Frieza. All remaining Saiyans are ordered to group up and spread out across the galaxies. The war against the Frieza Empire is to continue by any means necessary. Saiyans resort to whipping up secret settlements on planets and fighting back via piracy and guerrilla warfare. The endgame is to tear down Frieza’s empire brick by brick and, ultimately, kill Frieza himself.

Vegeta calls on Raditz and Kakarot to join him and Nappa on his quest to hunt and kill Frieza. Vegeta initially doesn’t want to include Kakarot, whom he deems a liability, but acquiesces.

Frieza puts out a bounty on each and every remaining Saiyan, most of all on the “so-called King of Saiyans” Vegeta.

And so, the Vegeta Force moves out. But they become known as the “Saiyan Squad”. Vegeta and Raditz don’t like it, but Kakarot thinks it’s a cool name.

#Saiyan squad au #my idea #notes #dragon ball #dragon ball z #dbz #saiyans #Sadala #Vegeta #Goku #kakarot #raditz #Bardock #Nappa #Gine #dragon ball au #alternate universe #Saiyan squad

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literary-illuminati · 8 months

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Book Review 46 – The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez

Okay the month of August was essentially a write-off for...a lot of things, but non-web serial reading among them! Now trying to claw my way out of the pit and back on the horse. So, some high concept genre fic full of queer people and war crimes, just what the doctor ordered.

The Spear Cuts Through Water is the fantasy epic and love story of a pair of warriors – one a generally despised one-armed checkpoint guard, the other a positively reviled princeling – as they escort the moon goddess in her attempt to escape the prison her sons had trapped her within as they tyranize and empire that spans a continent. As told through a dream/vision of the Inverted Theater, where shades throughout time are called while they sleep to witness a performance put on by the favoured child of moon and sea. Intercut with the same tale as told through out POV’s grandmother, along with vignettes of his life as the son of a failing cloth merchant centuries in the future as the world goes through its equivalent of WW1. All this metaness and layering is either the book’s strongest point or it will make your eyes roll back into your skull so, you know, make an informed choice here.

Being entirely honest I don’t remember exactly how this book ended up on my radar – I believe I was first pointed towards after I expressed some dissatisfaction with this year’s Hugo nominees as something that would have been a more deserving inclusion on the short list. Certainly I’d never heard Jimenez’s name before picking it up. Entirely happy I did, anyway – whoever first rec’d it yes, this does deserve a Hugo nod way more than some of the other nominations.

The plot itself is quite well done, but absent any of the stylistic flourish wouldn’t really have been anything that memorable. The layered framing devices – and the way that they intrude on the narrative in a hundred different ways, switching from depicting the action to saying how it was staged and presented or how the narrator heard the tale told – are really just fantastically well done, enough that even when it got all meta and self-referential I was still enjoying it more than enough to just go with it.

Not that our heroes aren’t fun in their own right. They’re both at times profoundly unlikable, and other times utter idiots, and always totally and completely incapable of intelligibly expressing their feelings. It’s great, love them. Even if on occasion I also wanted to throw rocks at them. The main supporting cast – or at least Defect the tortoise and the moon/empress herself – are even better, really.

Though as far as characterization goes its the extras where the book really shines. It has a trick I really, really like where little snippets of the internal monologue or history of some fellow traveller on the road or sentry being gutter from behind are interspersed into the action in italics like this. Diegetically this would be the chorus in the theatrical performance, but regardless it does a shocking amount to make the world feel like it’s full of actual people and not just mannequins forming a backdrop for the characters who matter.

The book fits into the honourable tradition of modern SFF with cool-eyed and unsentimental portrayals of feudalism/imperialism, war crimes and general oppression (including in this case very plot-relevant and character-informing ableism) but only a vague and attenuated sort of 21st century homophobia, if that. Like all modern queer genrefic it’s also at least kind of in conversation with the looming shadow of Burying Your Gays, with a bait and switch tragic heroic sacrifice that seemed very conscious and pointed.

The framing devices lend themselves well to the book being written in a kind of mythic register, which I very much enjoyed. The epilogue felt like an intrusion of history on mythology, and I do mean that as a compliment, full of messiness and ambiguity and short on heroes and golden ages or utopias. Overall very much enjoyed the book, perfect reading for being stuck in a waiting room for a passport renewal.

#the spear cuts through water #simon jimenez #sff #map fantasy #book review

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holyshonks · 1 year

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Rtas is the friend that Thel needed because he's immune to the societal pressure around him. Rtas and Thel are cut from the same cloth: they were both stand-outs in their families, trying hard to honor them. Yet Thel was far more susceptible to his belief that he was destined for greatness.

Sangheili are arrogant. Their position in the Covenant hierarchy stoked this arrogance, and ultimately spelled their downfall. Their size and strength made it easy for them to throw their weight around with client races and each other, and there's many examples of them doing it in spades.

Thel perfectly captures this arrogance in the years leading up to his advancement as Supreme Commander. As a kaidon, he was harsh and exacting. As a shipmaster, he pulled rank, dishing out orders and punishment in equal measure. This was all seen as a good thing--a sign of a good leader.

Look at the difference in the way that they address the Unggoy, the lowest in their command:

Thel leans into not using the Unggoy at all unless they can be used as cannon fodder, whereas Rtas directs the Unggoy to take cover behind the Sangheili, an unheard of amount of concern for a servant race.

Before the destruction of Installation 04, Rtas answered to Thel. He was doing the dangerous work of investigating and quelling the flood outbreak on the Infinite Succor, a mission which cost him his crew and left him disfigured. Two days later, Installation 04 is destroyed and 'Vadam slides way, way down the totem pole. He is now a public enemy. He is literally branded as a pariah and openly reviled. His chosen punishment was to be hung by his entrails and paraded through High Charity, save for his appointment as Arbiter.

Despite his appointment, no one would have blinked if Rtas chose to demean Thel, but he chooses not to. Save for a lecture on who's in charge (Rtas was answering to him a month before, after all) when Thel joins his crew, Rtas treats him much the same as anyone else. He recognizes that Thel is the same person that he was before his disgrace: he is still a worthy warrior and tactician, and as a result, does not resent or prohibit counsel from him. If the roles were reversed, I don't believe Thel would have treated him the same way.

Rtas is the first individual to treat Thel with any kindness after his fall from grace. This theme plays out throughout the events leading up to the Great Schism, with Rtas fighting alongside Thel and treating him with respect. When the Changing of the Guard takes place, they exchange a significant nod, solidifying their roles as friends and allies during a period of terrible change, despite the fact that Thel answered to the very same hierarchs that made the decision. During the events Halo 2, Rtas is his only friend, and even after that, his only true confidante while they're surrounded by a species they barely trust.

Ultimately, Rtas is not encumbered by the pretext and grandeur seeped into the culture around him: he does not care for titles and will give anyone due respect if they deserve it, and, conversely, will disrespect anyone who doesn't, no matter who they are.

When Tul 'Juran asks to join Rtas' crew, she is asking him to break centuries of tradition prohibiting females from joining the Covenant military. But the Covenant is over, Tul is capable, and, more importantly, her intentions are true: she wanted to avenge her family, something any Sangheili would set out to do. So Rtas lets her, over the objection of the older soldiers under his command. Thel gets the credit for allowing females into the Swords, but Rtas was the first to do it.

In the same vein, Rtas permits Stolt--an Unggoy--to lead his own ranger squad. Why? Because he is competent, and that is all a leader need be. Rtas levels out his arrogance with pragmatism and a sense of humor not often seen, particularly at his rank.

ANYWAY Rtas 'Vadum is level-headed in a culture built on boastfulness and zealotry and kind in a society that doesn't reward kindness.

Here's him being Thel's bff for good measure:

#here i go putting on my clown shoes and writing paragraphs #I LOVE HIM YOUR HONOR #rtas vadum #thel vadam #halo

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