#a game of wings and marks

[biblionerdreflections]

Book Review - A Game of Wings and Marks

Hello, everyone! It has been too long since I’ve read one of Rebecca Crunden’s books. So, I decided to remedy that this month with A Game of Wings and Marks. 🙂 I’m a huge fan of this author’s Outlands Pentalogy, and I’ve yet to come across any of Crunden’s work I didn’t like. Did that streak continue with this book? Read on to find out! Continue reading Untitled

[alphamecha-mkii]

Star Wars: X-Wing - Imperial Veterans Expansion Pack - Maarek Stele, TIE Defender by Mark Molnar

[outsmartingbasilisk]

Pumpkin

[1634archive]

TORONTO, ON - APRIL 17: Auston Matthews #34 and J.T. Compher #37 of the Detroit Red Wings face off during the second period at the Scotiabank Arena on April 17, 2025 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Mark Blinch/NHLI via Getty Images)

[simpingforcys]

Say what you will but DAMN was it so fucking sexy how quickly and immediately in control of his new body and wings he became, fully embraced it and took pride in it, the sheer EXCITEMENT of toying and torturing Ralph making his wings spread out ready to take off. Like imagine trying to rile him up by petting him or scratching around his sensitive spots and his wings just spike out like that, just HHH. He was just so excited to use his new body, the sudden spike in power, agility, even bloodthirsty, outright stating his desire to kill Ralph, all while laughing like a madman who got a new drive of motivation to satisfy his new needs.

[wyvernity]

wip posting just to get something out there, and it's def a mixed bag!! the only thing more inconsistent than my posting schedule is my art style RIP

[psychicthepsychic-daily]

obligatory killer purple guy joke

(thank you to @gennytherator06 for the suggestion!)

alt. versions under the cut:

right: void with white and psychic with pink eyes and syringe instead of yellow; left: void and psychic both with purple instead of yellow

[butterfly-headquarters]

Would you fall in love with me again If you knew all I've done? The things I cannot change Would you love me all the same?

AU's in order below the cut

Main story

Dark Rider!Montana

Viking!Justin & Druid!Montana

Female!Justin

In-Game

Gender-bent

Role-swap AU

Druid!Justin & Vala!Montana

Male!Montana

Dark Core AU

NPC!Montana

RoFD AU

Main Story

[kc5rings]

Today I’m thinking about how the symbol of Columbia is a star

Im specifically thinking about how it’s not just a star, but a star with a jagged hole punched through the center, shattering it

[falmerbrook]

I don't think I have it in me to be a youtube Video Essayist (like, I have the autism for it, and i love pacing around my house pretending I am, but I do not the mental ability to handle pushback), nor do I think i have the thorough academic/analytical knowledge on this topic atm to handle it the way I'd want to, but every time I see discourse about the topic of lgbt characters in video games I yearn to make a video about queer characters and tes and how tes handles them

[sakom75]

I LOVE SID, HES SO COOL!!! and your art is so pretty 🥹🥹🥹 thank you so much for sharing iiit

Btw I'm totally curious as to how Sid can glamour his wings away :O do they get sent to a demiplane?

Oh man, THANK YOU SO MUCH! <3 So it's a long story about my boy Sayid, but I'll try and keep it at only-necessary info for context:

His Aasimar heritage is tied directly to an Ilmaterite aligned Hollyphant named Maro; specifically a fleece made from his fur that was given to some farmers as a healing blanket!

... Which Sid's bio-parents, thieves and brigands, stole after they killed the farmers! (Maro doesn't blame Sayid for it at all, he also considers Sid his grandson.)

They then sold baby Sayid to an Ilmaterite Monastery, due to him having a case of "Crying bloody tears" (noticably Ilmater-type holy behavior) and ... Also having malformed little baby wings, which uh 😬

He ... Arrived at the temple without wings. Make of that what you will.

Sid grows up at his Monastery without any knowledge of any of this, and gets the fright of his life when he starts GROWING WINGS after his first few weeks at Magic School! Flash forward and because the wings haven't grown in 'enough' to lift his plate-armor wearing ass, Sid gets several magical boons from a Power in the setting that grant him fully functional (and super pretty wings) that he can keep as long as he stays attuned to this trio of items.

Before our game went on a small hiatus, Sayid had just gotten a lot of closure for his Bio Family, (they were a huge ordeal, Ilithids were involved) found out about his wings being removed as a baby, and because the party had retrieved Maro's Fleece, one Restoration later Sayid actually has his own, beautiful and fully functioning (and larger) wings now!

This is all a super long way of saying: Sayid's grandpa (who is a Hollyphant) takes care of Sid's wings while he's hiding them. Which is super nice of him, because Sid's got SIX of the fuckin things!

[squidkidcelebi]

Brought to you by putting on MLP when it’s on in the afternoon:

Wanderer and Nahida as ponies (and Durin)

[alphamecha-mkii]

Star Wars: X-Wing - TIE Defender Expansion Pack - Colonel Vessery, TIE Defender by Mark Molnar

[simplegenius042]

OC Alignment Test

Tagged by @imogenkol

Tagging Tagging @icecutioner @inafieldofdaisies @socially-awkward-skeleton @derelictheretic @shallow-gravy @direwombat @strangefable @strafethesesinners @rhettsabbott @josephseedismyfather @josephslittledeputy @voidika @cloudofbutterflies92 @skoll-sun-eater @cassietrn @carlosoliveiraa @adelaidedrubman @g0dspeeed @wrathfulrook @afarcryfrommymain @aceghosts @turbo-virgins @shellibisshe @deputy-morgan-malone @softtidesworld @starsandskies @ladyoriza @la-grosse-patate @florbelles @sleepyconfusedpotato @titiagls @minilev @yokobai @thewanderer-000 @omen-speaker @justasmolbard @alypink @raresvtm and @deputycolt + anyone else who wants to join. Taglist here.

Decided to do ten OCs (five protagonists and five antagonists) from The UnTitledverse, The Silver Chronicles, Life, Despair & Monsters, Wings And Horns WIP and A Radioactive Calamity Of Love, Bombs & Gore for this quiz here. Results under the cut:

JOAQUIN COBALT (THE UNTITLEDVERSE)

I think this suits Joaquin. He's helps others, which also benefits himself, and is open to helping powers above himself but is not bounded to them, just taking advantage of the benefits to help his community. He's loyal to his friends and family, and though he has his own acts of mercy, if there is a threat against his family, he's not hesitant to rid of them.

ZACHARIAH THE ORCHESTRATOR (THE UNTITLEDVERSE)

I don't agree with this alignment. Zachariah's a controlling bastard, and being the second-borne Eldritch that is the Hand at Fate's Table, he believes himself above everything and everyone. He wants to enact his own rule and control over everyone, his own order, because his biases and prejudices against humanity blinds him from seeing their importance in the grand scheme of things. While his greed and hatred (against humans especially) does drive him, he does has reservations towards avoiding to hurt his siblings, as he believes them to be deluded by their love for the humans (and is rather envious of humans taking their attention).

SILVA OMAR (THE SILVER CHRONICLES [FC5, FCND])

While I do believe Silva is definitely in the "Good" range, I disagree with Neutral Good. I think she rather fits "Lawful" or even "Chaotic" Good; Lawful because she believes in the ideals of the Tumultites and the Sheriff's Department (and eventually Prosperity and Rush), "Chaotic" because she's a rebel against oppression, both in her youth, in her mid-twenties and in her early forties (she's fought against the Congregation of Adam's Guard, the Apostles of Zachariah, the Project at Eden's Gate and the Highwaymen) and sticks closely to what she believes is right.

PAUL YELLOWJACK (THE SILVER CHRONICLES [FCND])

This definitely describes Paul during his revolution days against the Congregation of Adam's Guard. However, that Paul is no longer around by the time he meets Silva again (pre-FC5 and during Old Dusk, my FCND fic). Honestly what would describe him best in present is somewhere around Chaotic Neutral, Lawful Evil or even Neutral Evil. He's too deep in his own self-hatred and regret (as well as under Zachariah's thumb) to have much good left, though his care for Silva still outweighs his servitude to Zachariah (but not by a lot sadly).

HAOYU ANABUKI (LIFE, DESPAIR & MONSTERS)

This is one of the better alignments I think of when describing Haoyu. An alternative would be Chaotic Good, especially later on in Haoyu's arc, however, this is how Haoyu acts throughout most of their arc. Haoyu is not interested with others and mostly focuses on their own or at least a very close circle of their friends/family members (mostly their sister Monika and their friend (and future boyfriend) Icarus and his alters + Hatter). They literally don't want to get involved with the politics or conflicts of the world/s but Haoyu has long since learned they can't get everything they want in life.

SIR ENIGMA MALVOLIO (LIFE, DESPAIR & MONSTERS)

I'm unsure. Malvolio is undoubtedly evil, and he his chaotic in accordance to his status as a Displacement. However, Malvolio also, in his own warped, very ignorant Displacement view, believes all the mutilation and aggressive transformation of the human body will eventually lead to humans evolving "properly" and "to their fullest potential". No matter how unethical the science is, he lacks the morality and empathy to understand what he does is extremely horrific.

ARCHANGEL METATRON (WINGS AND HORNS)

Makes sense, Metatron is the Archangel of Life, his position and species makes him loyal to All-Father God and the rest of the New Gods and their Heavenly Virtues. Even if the extremist he chases after does make particularly good points.

XIANG BA'AL (WINGS AND HORNS)

I don't agree with the "Evil" part. Sure, Xiang does force the removal of soulmate soul-marks off of humans, but it's out of the belief that it's better this way, as well as a bit of justice for his adopted daughter, Jezebel Ba'al, making sure no one will experience what she had. He's... just a lot more willing to break the law and pushes his mission onto others whether they want it or not. I'd say he's rather Neutral, leaning towards Chaotic Neutral.

MARISSA "RESS" BISHOP (A RADIOACTIVE CALAMITY OF LOVE, BOMBS & GORE [FO3, FONV & FO4])

Ress is definitely in a "Good" status, despite her flippant attitude which contrasts her more serious half-brother, but I'd argue she belongs in a "Chaotic" Good alignment more.

ARCANE URIAS (A RADIOACTIVE CALAMITY OF LOVE, BOMBS & GORE [FALLOUT])

Yeah Urias doesn't give a fuck about anyone; not his children, not his brother, not his home, not his protege, not even his Occult, hell, the only reason he didn't screw over Discord was because (1) he understood the power-scaling between him and the Mad Kin of Carnage was not enough to beat the latter, (2) he understands Discord in a way (since Urias is a Displacement while Discord is a second-generation Kin (re: natural-born reality bender), and neither creatures have much fucks to give about human ideals like morality or self-perseverance or even a concept of mortality) and (3) he got what he wanted from Discord and both went off on their separate ways to ruin someone else's day (for Urias it was his daughter's). I'd argue some traces of Neutral Evil but yeah, Chaotic Evil suits Urias.

[1634archive]

TORONTO, ON - APRIL 17: Mitch Marner #16 and Auston Matthews #34 of the Toronto Maple Leafs skate against the Detroit Red Wings during the second period at the Scotiabank Arena on April 17, 2025 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Mark Blinch/NHLI via Getty Images)

[acelestialcraze]

is there any characters u based the 4 mcs off (ren, ichi, ni, and san)

yesyes! theres a lot so let me list them 😭

starting off strong w ren…

the first inspiration behind ren (despite being a competent character in the novelization, he did have a lot of gaps that needed to be filled in) isn’t the real mark zuckerberg— rather jesse eisenberg’s portrayal in ‘the social networking,’ both are condescending geniuses who are socially distant (though in rens case its by choice, in marks choice its not)

additionally, just as mark screwed over eduardo in the movie (and presumably real life) ren was planning on screwing over walter simmons the moment he was no longer useful.

the most important similarity is both thrive on being the smartest person in the room AND being painfully aware of it, silently resenting those who they deem as less intelligent.

that’s where rens similarities with mark end, as he’s not a hideous bigot, mechagodzilla was ren’s idea whereas mark is portrayed as a thief who steals concepts, rens motivations are deeply personal while marks are for people to like him, and lastly, marks social climb is about status, rens is about control and a vendetta.

the second inspiration behind ren is chris manawa from fear the walking dead, both had morally up-right, no-nonsense fathers who tried to do the right thing even if their sons had a different vision of what was right. (ishiro and travis, respectively.)

they both became disillusioned and villainous, drifting away from their father’s ethics by choice.. additionally, they had a similar radicalization— each dealt with the death of their mother in isolation with little to no support.

however, the descent of chris is a common trope in twdu— survival, desensitization, and seeing the new world as a ruleless land where they can do whatever they want, ren’s descent is driven by vengeance, ambition, childhood frustrations, and a god complex.

ren is also more calculated and wouldn’t be foolish enough to meet the fate chris did.

as some of you may know, one of the main inspirations behind ghidorahs voice was smile 2, and a lot of the events in the early chapters of ghidorahs voice mirror smile 2.

for example, both ren and skye suffer hallucinations after a traumatic event— skye after the drug-induced crash, ren after the mechagodzilla electrocution.

the mirror scene where skye hallucinating louis (luis?) in the mirror is a direct parallel to ren hallucinating ishiro in chapter 3.

ghidorah parallels the smile entity, they’re both persistent, supernatural forces that feed on trauma and slowly erodes the mind. however, in ghidorahs case, he doesn’t kill ren, he molds ren into controller x by cutting off all of rens options.

both ren and skye try to navigate public scrutiny while desperately trying to rationalize what they’re seeing— skye as a pop star, ren as an infamous nepo-baby who destroyed an entire city.

ren waking up from a coma and facing legal/ethical battles echoes skye’s return from tragedy.

like skye dismissing morris’ warnings, ren dismisses bernies warnings because he finds bernie annoying and has a deep ‘theres a scientific explantation to EVERYTHING�� value instilled in him.

on a more comedic note, the next one is ryan howard. walter simmons is rens michael scott— a buffoonish, self-important boss ren both tolerates and despises depending on what walter could contribute in rens conquest to kill godzilla.

like ryan, ren is the ‘golden boy’ who is expected to rise fast but they both harbor bitterness and ambition, not caring who they have to step on to reach their goals.

however, ryan’s downfall is due to incompetence and ego— he’s lazy and self-sabotaging, ren is anything but lazy, rens downfall is more about flying too close to the sun, emotional instability and three headed alien forces.

in short, ryan is played for comedy, ren is steeped in tragic horror.

back to the tragic note, one of rens biggest inspirations was junior wheeler from chucky. (anyone who knew me in 2021 knew i was DEVASTATED when he kicked the bucket and was in straight denial for months) junior is manipulated by chucky, ren by ghidorah— though not to the same extent, as ren is intelligent enough to see ghidorah is using him, but an enemy of his enemy is his friend.. however, this doesn’t change how both are essentially possessed by malevolent forces praying on vulnerability.

both characters lashing out and transformations into killers are tied to emotional repression and manipulation.

additionally, from the dialogue to the context, ghidorah finally convincing ren his own humanity is whats holding him back is directly inspired by this scene

back to differences, juniors arc is short-lived and tragic, rens is longer and more strategic, involving tech, politics, and global stakes.

junior died as a teenager and didn’t fully understand what he was doing, while rens frontal lobe is fully developed, and not only does ren embrace what hes doing, he even tries to justify it.

lastly for ren is the salesman from squid game, both are lapdogs to greater powers (the salesman to the frontman, ren to ghidorah.)

they both project confidence and control but are ultimately servants trying to feel special in a system they dont control.

both (at least after ren adopts the persona of x) have a certain aesthetic flair, masking their true insignificance.

as for ichi, his biggest inspiration is..

princess blister from wings of fire! both are the most cunning and manipulative of their respective trios, they act as the ‘brains’ of the operation— always plotting several steps ahead, enjoying mind games and psychological warfare.

ichi and blister have a similar way of disguising their ruthlessness with eloquence, additionally, they both also don’t give the facade much effort— snapping the moment they get called out.

both were turned into dust 💀

both are narcissistic, believing they are the rightful rulers and vastly superior to those around them.

naturally, since ichi is inspired by blister..

ni is inspired by princess burn! ni, like burn, enjoys cruelty for his own sake— not mindless brutality, but calculated, indulgent violence.

both ni and burn are often underestimated as ‘the muscle’ and nothing else, but they show tactical awareness when it benefits them. just like burn using queen scarlet as a shield from glorys venom, ni is the kind of guy who would sacrifice anyone to gain an edge or survive.

the next for ni is nam-gyu from squid game (nam-gyu referring to other players as cockroaches was my direct inspo for ghidorah referring to humans as cockroaches), both are right hand figures— ni to ichi, nam-gyu to thanos, both act loyal but are really in it for their own gain and survival.

they both have a duality of superiority and inferiority complexes— they feel like they’re the most dangerous out of their respective groups, yet simmer with resentment at being second to someone else.

just like how nam-gyu only truly respects thanos, ni only respects ichi— but even then, that respect is overshadowed by envy and loathing.

both revel in mocking those weaker than them, even more so if they sense emotional vulnerability.

for san, as i stated in chapter 20, his main inspiration is..

agatha harkness! san, like agatha, enjoys manipulating the emotions of others (ren and wanda respectively) under the guise of charisma or humor.

both are showboats, loving dramatic reveals, flashy speeches, and being the most memorable individual in the room— even if that means coming off as a nuisance and being hated.