Ye Olde Magick AU

All of you should thank @books-n-guns for this. What once was a silly little AU about the Starks and their fangs and making everyone around them develop a biting kink has now turned into a full-fledged AU with lore and magic and other houses getting characteristics. Basic lore: — Magic exists within the bloodlines of all noble houses, though from different sources. It's strengthened by two things: the existence of a group's homeland and the religion the magic is tied to/originates from. — The First Men got their magic from their adoption of the Old Gods and their Pact with the Children during the Age of Heroes. Since the decline of the Old God religion in the south the northern nobles house don't have as many characteristics as they used to. — The Andels came with their own magic along with The Seven. Since their religion is more widespread the Andel houses have a lot more characteristics than any other house. I'll probably do two more posts: one about the lore, and the others about the gods who are real and are trying to be more active in Westeros because world ending reasons. Because there is now plot, however it may change. Also I might do the other houses. Might. Ideas are welcome.

Without further ado, here are some of houses and their characteristics.

The Starks (now): Sharp fangs (X). Resistant to the cold. In the past the Stark were so cool looking. Bigger and sharper fangs—proper wolf fangs I'm telling you—and pointed ears with ear tufts. Slitted eyes that could see in the dark. Sharp claws and thicker body hair (both men and women), and enhanced senses. Because of Catelyn's river nymph traits, the Stark-Tully kiddos can breathe underwater and talk with the fishes. Might also have a bit of enhanced strength. Resistant to cold. Jonny boy, however, doesn't get anything from his Targaryen bloodline until Dany brings back the dragons. Resistant to cold (Stark blood) and heat (Targaryen blood), and breaths fire (Targaryen blood). The Tullys: River nymph traits. Gils and enhanced strength. Haven't changed much though it has been noted they aren't as nymph-like as they were in the past. Don't fuck with their rivers you will be drowned. Can breathe under water and communicate with the fish, hence the trout. Needs to bathe in a river or any body of fresh water once a month or they'll start looking sickly; any longer and they'll die. The Martells: Snake fangs mostly, though there have been some with forked tongues or snake eyes. Rarely all three. Can make their own saliva poisonous at will. Has been known to coat their weapons in their own poison. Resistant to heat though not flame proof. The Baratheons: Horns/antlers. Basic? Yes—but the Baratheons have long since mastered the art of making their horns look both mighty, dangerous, and handsome. Many an enemy has been impaled upon or had their heads ripped off by the house of Storms End. Some say that the ancestors of the Baratheons used to be able to bring storms and fierce winds thanks to the blood of Elenei Durrandon in their veins. The Lannisters: pays their debts shits gold Lion fangs and sometimes manes. Can actually roar. In the past they were as fierce looking as the Starks; humans with lots of lion characteristics such as sharp claws, toe beans, slitted eyes and even whiskers. Some Lannister women were born with lion manes, and there are one or two theories that Lann the Clever was in fact a woman with a mane. The Tyrells: Dryads-Anthousai mixture. Yes, even the males. It's an AU and ASOIAF, and mom says I can. They have flowers in their hair—roses. mostly, though Olenna has a beautiful and deadly flower and thorned circlet—and can shift their skin to be any type of bark of any type of tree so long as they form a connection to it. Looks healthier in the spring/summer; dead looking in winter (no seriously they look fucking dead, and more than once people thought Olenna had finally kicked the bucket. Boy did Tywin have a nasty surprise). Not at all flame proof. The Targaryns:

At first they were the most Basic And Boring of all noble houses. The only thing cool about them was their dragons, and those died out. With Valyria destroyed in the Doom, the Fourteen Flames no longer being followed and the dragons gone, the Valyrian magic within their veins either died out or went dormant. Now they're just heat resistant and beautiful looking. It was only when they started marrying into other bloodlines/houses did they start getting characteristics—or rather, the characteristics of other houses such as Rhaenys Targaryn/Velaryon having antlers and the Baratheon square jaw can someone please start drawing her with it and Baelor Breakspear having the Martell snake traits. That is, until, Daenerys 'Stormborn' Targaryn brings back the dragons. The Dany that stands admist the ashes of her beloved husband is not the same who walked into the flames. The return of dragons has re-awoken the valyrian magic in her blood and it mixes with the westeros magic. She stands tall and unburnt with her dragons in her arms, patches of shimmering silver-gold scales on her thighs, arms, shoulders, breasts, neck, and they follow the curves of her cheekbones. Violet eyes with slitted pupils blink slowly. And protruding from her head are the beginnings of white horns. Soon they will start to grow. They will be elegant and beautiful, up and out, almost like an ivory crown. The Dragon Queen has been born.

do you for real hate lestat? i mean, he’s still not far off from his white book counterpart who ran alongside louis in chasing and murdering enslaved people. or is it because his character is supposed to be a horrible dirtbag that people love him for the villain he is? is it because he’s blonde and a manic pixie that people are more likely to look past the horror of his actions in favor of magnifying the tragedy of his self sabotaging nature? in vc where all the characters are morally bankrupt it seems lestat is the only one embraced as the demon he is lol

this is an interesting question. well first and foremost he's not a real person he's a fictional character and i find him very compelling at that..i feel like a lot of the people who profess to love lestat dont actually like the character just the few traits they've abstracted to make up a character in their heads? like he's certainly manic but he's not under the manic pixie dream girl trope at ALL but you wouldnt be able to tell that based on like.i was going to put a bi flag cat ears edit from twitter but i actually dont even want to propagate it it's so terrible. i agree its sooooooo annoying to me that people are endlessly interested in dissecting his trauma rather than his abuse . as if they cancel out and as if that makes sense to do w the show like why are you anticipating what will happen in season four rather than enjoying the meal in front of you . and it's always a weird relatability thing that's at its core a total refusal to empathize with Black characters. Like the show specifically is one of the best depictions of abuse i've seen and i think it's really important that it shows abusers are not one dimensional monsters incapable of love. if your worldview is predicated on a dichotomy of good loveable people who went through bad things and evil irredeemable people who do bad things then not only are you incapable of imagining change or growth but also you are wildly irresponsible wrt your own capacity for harm. love and abuse can and often do exist tangled up together and that doesnt elide or excuse the abuse but it makes what survival or healing looks like very complicated. this is incredibly rich subject matter and people are. well actually i am going to make you look at the cat ears edit i wish there was away to put spoilers like discord. actually no i dont want it on my blog nvm but just imagine it says "thriving in non-discriminating bliss" and theres a best mom ever mug. anyways do i HATE lestat? no like there are good well written characters who are both awful AND like deeply fucking irritating to me like there is nothing to like about akio from utena for example, and jack rackham from black sails annoys me so much. i would confidently say i hate them. lestat on the other hand i'm occasionally fond . ish. of . Also yes love a good villain. That said i need him to be brutally murdered every season

Thanks for answering my ask about why I suddenly love BL and GL more than het romance....I'm grateful to know that there is someone who also knew how I feel....

Do you mind if I ask your top 5 (or top 7) favorite BL and your top 3 (or top 5) favorite GL? And why do you love them? Sorry if you already answered them....Thanks again....

hiii no problem! sorry this took a while to answer im always bad at choosing top picks so this time i just went with my favorites that i consider still haven't seen talked about that much :D

(the titles with a star next to it are mature themes and/or has nsfw scenes, please don't read them if you're still below 18 years old)

yuri:

- *tsukiatte agete mo ii ka na (how do we relationship): i love how simply candid and honest it is at portraying messy relationships between not-quite-adults doing their best to grow. i really enjoy where the story is going because it's something you rarely see in manga!

- ohana holoholo: i wish there's more family-themed gl but im always happy we have this! it's painfully sincere and i love how we dive in into their lifes and see how they're involved with the bigger cast of characters

- shoujo manga protagonist x rival-san: a bit more of a lighthearted comedy, taking the standard trope of shoujo protagonist vs the love rival and putting a silly sapphic spin on it which is something that i absolutely need. its cute moments really shine through!

- yuri de naru ❤️ espoir (yuri espoir): my beloved that i can never shut up about. the cute artstyle takes you in a fun spin on meta commentary of yuri tropes only to slowly reveal that things might not be as sweet and happy as it seems... no one is doing it like them

- yuri to koe to kazo matoi: revolving around the feelings of women finding their place in the world, chasing for what they truly want. this is a bit of a spoiler but it centers around characters in the aromantic and asexual spectrum which makes it even more special to me!

bl:

- *iki dekinai no wa kimi no sei (breathless momentum): i love everything from the premise to how they grow to care about each other, it's hilarious and cute and their dynamic will always remain one of my favorites ever

- *tabun kore kara ai no hibi: the main theme about the joy and pain of creating just resonates so hard, the main characters' struggle portrays it very well and seeing the growth really made me happy!

- tonari ni: natsume ono's paneling and writing is just so special, there's this somber quality to it that absolutely draws me in. it complements very well the quiet yearning in the story

- *tenjite koi to iki: tbh this is just an excuse to talk about hayane dento's works, i always have a hard time choosing a favorite because they all have such great writing! i think about this one the most because of how melancholic it was paired with their beautiful storytelling

- boku no papa to papa no hanashi: ive read a lot of family-themed bl but this will always take the cake! the love this little family have for each other and how they grow together will always get to me

- *link and ring: just an absolutely loving relationship, you can see how much the main couple cares for each other it's just so sweet to read!

- achira kochira bokura: more slice of life than bl really and that's why it's so dear to me, it's a very natural depiction of two boys with opposite natures slowly being part of each other's lives. there's a sequel too!

I think it's sad that most people always think of bottlenoses as the "classic dolphin" since its the one that's always used for shows, and always think of dolphins as just straight grey when in reality there's so many varieties with so many different amazing patterns

Look at the common dolphin! They have a gorgeous X pattern and even some dull yellow/gold!!

Hourglass dolphins have gorgeous white streaks

Spinner dolphins have really pretty banding as well, AND they have a really sleek cute silhouette!

The atlantic spotted dolphin!!! Theyre spotted!!!!!!

and the pantropical spotted too!!

Dusky dolphins have a gorgeous airbrush look going on like straight out of a 2000s fantasy illustration

Striped dolphins sure have stripes!! How cool!!

And these I've shown you aren't even all of them at all, there are so many of them:

There's so so so many different types of dolphins people dont know about this isnt even all of them and some are SO gorgeous and underrated because people just dont know they exist so I'm here to fix that

Booked an appointment to get my hair done on impulse and i could not cancel it.. i've been trying to grow my hair out from a very short haircut for a long time now but i always get so annoyed by it i cut it on a whim, i am usually very angry at myself for it but today even though i'm sad the bit of length i had going on and my curls are gone i am making peace with it because i realise i look a lot like my mom 💫

it is my strongly held belief that the reason why beelzebub and gabriel worked out so fast is because they thought there was precedent. ah yes demon and angel fell in love it’s happened before no biggie…..unless

they gotta feel a little grateful in their own weird way

Needlessly close reading and long commentary on chapter 57 and how the audience actually has an extremely limited view on what Marcille has been like over the course of her life.

I am once again thinking about how pre-dungeon Marcille is so quiet and stoic that she seems like a completely different person. How jarring chapter 57 is for the audience. Like you have Marcille, who has been just the most blindingly expressive person with resting baby face

And then the chapter drops a title page of Marcille hearing from Falin for the first time in four years and it's like.

Who is that. Genuinely. Would you even realize that's Marcille without the context clues?

And then the chapter just keeps coming in with the sucker punches.

We have SEEN Marcille meet strangers. It was never with this understated of a smile.

literally who the hell is this. the few times the audience gets to see some Signature Marcille Faces that they're used to is when she finally gets to see Falin again

when she's testing out her new spells

(and when Laios and Falin are fantasizing about her being their damsel in distress, funnily enough)

And then finally. Finally you get to a fully recognizable Marcille when she fucking DIES and comes back to life to geek out about necromancy.

We know she loves magic. We know she loves Falin. So it's not so surprising that she wouldn't be able to keep a mask up when thinking or talking about the things she loves. But why the mask in the first place? Where does it come from? It's tempting to think that, maybe, Falin's departure just hurt her so much that it turned her into a quiet person.

But that's only half true. If you go back, the first instance you see of this incredibly mild personality is actually introduced much earlier, in chapter 17.

What if she was always like that. What if her default after her father died was to hold people at arm's length, to never really emote past being polite and friendly. What if Falin was the first person who was able to bring her out of her shell, and when she left, Marcille just went back to how she was.

And when comparing her detached demeanour with someone else...

It's not exact, but wouldn't you say there's a resemblance? Wouldn't you think she might be trying her best to imitate what she saw of her own mother working as an accomplished mage?

It would certainly explain why she's hiding behind her portrait in her nightmare, at least.

We aren't told that Marcille has been distancing herself from everyone around her using a mature and dignified personality she modelled off her mother. But we sure as hell are shown it, I think.

Obi-wan and his friend Bant Eerin having a sad moment after certain events

Okay, I saw someone say that Nimona, while being good representation, “didn’t take the big step forward in queer rep that everyone says it did”.

That is wrong. So wrong, my dude.

Yes, an explicit and open queer relationship in children’s cartoons is not new, per ce. Hell, just this year, two popular kids’ cartoons had the main character in an open, adorable, plot-based queer romance. But this is different for a few reasons.

Reason number one, it isn’t left in suspense. Yes, they had that split for three odd weeks, but they started the film as a couple. One of the very first scenes is them together as a couple, Ambrosius saying he loves Ballister, them holding hands, Ballister leaning on Ambrosius’ shoulder. Ambrosius says he loves Ballister three times during the film, and none of them are any more than halfway in. It’s very clear, from their very first interaction, that they are an established relationship, which isn’t something I’ve seen...at all in other animation.

Secondly, they are the plot. Ambrosius not believing Ballister, Ambrosius cutting off Ballister’s arm, Ballister trying to get the video to Ambrosius - this is what drives the plot. In any other children’s animation with queer relationships, the relationship is not the main focus. Even The Owl House, which is so amazing with its constant representation, would still make sense if Luz and Amity never happened. But Nimona’s plot wouldn’t make sense without Ballister and Ambrosius’ relationship. It, quite simply, can’t be erased. It could work as a friendship, yes, but that’s the point. They could have just been two close friends that fell on opposite sides of a fight, but they weren’t. They were two lovers that fell on opposite sides of a fight. 

Thirdly, they aren’t sanitized for “family viewing”. An emerging trend in children’s animation is to only have mlm relationships as fathers to make them seem more “family friendly”. With the exception of Kipo, there really isn’t many tv shows or films that places light upon an mlm relationship. And if it does, it'll be a teen relationship because teenagers being queer tends to come across as less “dirty” and more “innocent”. But Goldenheart is none of these things. They are adults without the mollifying aspect of having a family. And on top of that, they fight. They wield swords and they get bloody and they shoot at things and get angry and yell. They aren’t “clean” and “innocent”.

As well as this, they are in a film. Films are far more accessible than tv shows. You have to watch twenty seven episodes before Lumity in toh is canon. Troy kisses Benson on the eleventh episode of Kipo. And there are two hundred and eighty three episodes of Adventure Time before Marceline and Bonnie kiss. But with a film, the queerness is much more forward - especially in Nimona, where it’s literally the second scene. Animated films hardly ever display queer relationships, but Nimona did.

Finally - they aren’t perfect. I don’t know about you, but three weeks of thinking your boyfriend/maybe ex is a murderer? Doesn’t sound like a healthy few weeks to me. I have only seen big relationship arguments portrayed in straight relationships in cartoons - think Star Vs The Forces Of Evil - whereas queer relationships either have the massive fight prior to being canonically gay - She Ra - or have conflict, not arguments, that are dealt with quickly - Dead End/The Owl House. But Goldenheart? Goldenheart suffers. Their relationship is pushed to such extreme boundaries as for them to be pretty much exes throughout most of the movie. And yet, they are clearly healthy, happy and very much in love at the end. 

TL;DR - Nimona is amazing with the queer representation, and it is a milestone for LGBTQ+ cartoons. Not only is the relationship romantic for the entire movie, the plot is driven by Ambrosius and Ballister’s sort-of-break-up. In short, they are treated the same way straight people are. They have flaws, they have massive arguments, they have plot importance, they have backstory. They are in love. And that’s what matters more than anything else. 

i’ve been thinking about codywan a lot and i couldn’t help myself

From that one scene in the movie.

marcilley

i’m so sick of writers who proudly proclaim that they don’t read and directors and actors and other filmmakers who smugly say that they rarely watch movies or any artist who acts like an audience is stupid for connecting with their work like what the fuck is wrong with you that you hold such contempt such derision for the art that you have chosen to make the art that so many people dream of the opportunity to make the art that brings meaning and connection to people’s lives it’s unbelievably disrespectful to both your audience and the art-form and if you can’t muster basic respect for either your art-form or your audience then kindly fuck off and do something else

first light dragon ride

Everyone from babies to young adults suddenly disappears from Amity Park, and the ghost portal self-destructs as well. The GIW and the Fentons obviously come to the conclusion that it’s ghosts but realize that this issue is way bigger than they can handle, so they call in the big guns, The Justice League.

Of course, they don’t tell the Justice League everything when they come. No matter how much they thought themselves to be heroes, they were simply glorified police in spandex. And with how they operate, they are all too small-minded and won’t be able to see the bigger picture. They also knew fully well that a lot of their methods weren’t even remotely close to being morally or ethically right, and if the JL found out, they would be screwed. So they simply told them enough to get them on their side. 

Besides, how could they not help with how many people were missing? This was going to be easy.

_______

The Justice League didn’t trust the GIW. Something about them was just off. But so many missing people were on the line, so many kids! 

Ghost?

Should they call in the JLD?

_______

Jason knew something was off with Crime Ally.

Nothing was wrong per se. In fact, everything was going great. Crime was at its lowest in like… forever. The general atmosphere was more calm, if not a bit chilly. He himself was calmer. And there were fewer kids on the streets. Which would have been a good thing if this wasn’t fuckin’ CRIME ALLY!

Jason’s been stressing himself out, trying to find out what was going on. He’s been searching up and down, talking to people left and right. No one was reporting anything amiss. Some even told him that they still saw the kids walking around, though not as often as before. And they also looked like they were being well taken care of.

He even saw and talked to some of the kids himself and it was the truth. 

But when he asked where they went, they only laughed and ran away from him. Shouting that he would know soon before they disappeared around the corner. At this point, he was sufficiently freaked out and was so close to getting Batman to contact the JLD, but something told him otherwise.

A few days later Jason was in bed. He had ended patrol early that night and intended to get a full eight hours if he could.

But as fate would have it, he would not. Because just before he could hit the hay he heard it. Well, felt it would be more accurate but how could you feel a siren’s song? Pulling you? Drawing you in. Telling you that it would give you your deepest desire.

He didn’t even bother to suit back up into Red Hood. He just followed it. Followed and followed, Until he got to a dead-end alleyway. But there was no ‘end’. All there was, was darkness. 

He began to get skeptical and took a few steps back. But the feeling was still there. Pulling, telling that all of his answers were in that darkness. Everything he wanted, needed, awaited beyond it. 

He did the stupid thing and went into the darkness.

He didn’t know what he was expecting, but it wasn’t the feeling of walking through thick goop. But the feeling didn’t last long, and he eventually stepped out.

Again, he didn’t know what he was expecting, but it wasn’t this. 

Kids running around without a care in the world, unrestricted. Teenagers just hanging out and being kids too. Whatever adults he saw all looked pretty young, but they were all happy. 

He looked around and noticed that it looked like a weird mix between a suburb and a night market, but it worked quite well. The stalls were all unmanned, and it seemed whoever could just take whatever they wanted. Dim but pretty lights connected all the stalls to as far as his eyes could see. And the sky.

In Gotham, there’s so much smog and bad weather you’d be lucky to even see a piece of blue during the day so no wonder people often forget about the night. But this, the night sky wherever he was, was beautiful, beyond what words and even thoughts could convey.

“Hello, Mr. Red Hood.”

Jason jumped. Was he so out of it that he didn’t even notice someone coming up behind-

Forget what he just said about the sky. The woman right here that was now standing before him? She- She-

“Are you single?”

There was silence. Then she giggled. Guess Jason didn’t need his helmet huh? His face was enough.

He also wanted to die again but hey, at least she laughed!

good morningggggg 🌄