#a-rose-by-any-other-name-fables

[moonlightsapphic]

Swoony Sapphic Romance Recs

Ever find f/f lukewarm? (It’s not you, it’s an industrial complex.) My intention here is to collect canonical sapphic rep that avoids the flat “girl meets girl” trope, where two women with doubtful chemistry are made to get together simply because they exist in the same narrative. I want media that will make me feverishly ship characters and spend at least 24 hours reeling from the brainrot in the aftermath. I don’t want to like a pairing just because they’re sapphic rep, I want it to be good and unforgettable. These lists are a wild jumble of genres, loosely organised (mostly novels, but I clarify when they aren’t), and in alphabetical order! I left out author names for readability. This is a living post and I will keep updating—please reblog or comment with your own recs if you wish!

⭐️: classics among sapphic media and/or criminally underrated essentials

Top tier best wlw romances: fluttery, swoony and angsty

in four, very loose categories

CONTEMPORARY

Bottoms (movie) ⭐️

Badhai Do (movie) ⭐️

Every Step She Takes

How You Get the Girl

Iris Kelly Doesn’t Date

Killing Eve (show)

Kiss Her Once for Me

Love in Focus

Love & Other Disasters

One Last Stop ⭐️

Pink Candy Kiss* (manga) ⭐️

Saving Face (movie) ⭐️

The Fiancée Farce

XO, Kitty (show)

HISTORICAL

Annie on My Mind ⭐️

Don’t Want You Like a Best Friend

Gwen and Art Are Not in Love

Last Night at the Telegraph Club ⭐️

Ordinary Love ⭐️

The Perks of Loving a Wallflower

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo ⭐️

SCI-FI/FANTASY

A Dark and Drowning Tide

Arcane (animated show) ⭐️

Fable for the End of the World

In the Roses of Pieria

Lucy Undying

The Midnight Lie ⭐️

Warrior Nun (show)

Youngblood (faced backlash for problematic content—check reviews before reading/supporting. Included here because sapphic romance itself is undeniably excellent.)

GRAPHIC NOVELS

Heartstrings (webcomic)

Sunset Phoenix (webcomic)

Tamen de Gushi ⭐️

The Guy She Was Interested in Wasn’t a Guy at All ⭐️

The Princess and the Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Solid romance but less angsty:

All genres

Bloom Into You* (ani/manga)

Crush (movie)

Forget Me Not

If You’ll Have Me (graphic novel)

I Kissed Shara Wheeler

Magan & Danai (webcomic)

Run Away With Me, Girl (manga)

She Drives Me Crazy

She Loves to Cook, She Loves to Eat (manga, show)

The Half of It (movie)

These Witches Don’t Burn

Bonus: SFF with excellent sapphic characters (not romance focused)

A Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Pirates*

Everything, Everywhere, All at Once ⭐️ (movie)

Gideon the Ninth ⭐️ (this is its own genre and absolutely gutting despite not being heavy handed on the romance, very emotional and will make you want to put a butch in a pillow fort)

On a Sunbeam (graphic novel)

Shera and the Princesses of Power* (animated show) ⭐️

Bonus: Literary fiction (little focus on romance but packs a gut-wrenching punch)

Blue Sisters

Even Though We’re Adults (manga)

Our Dreams at Dusk ⭐️ (manga)

The Impossible Love Life of Amanda Dean

The Wedding Banquet ⭐️ (2025 movie)

Wandering Son ⭐️ (ani/manga)

*sort of girl meets girl but worth plowing through for various reasons, usually their importance to sapphic media or LGBTQ+ discourse in the plot (might get taken off the list with time as I add better options!)

[rosebudshifter]

⋆.˚ ᡣ𐭩 .𖥔˚ 𝖂𝖊𝖑𝖈𝖔𝖒𝖊, 𝒯𝓇𝒶𝓋𝑒𝓁𝑒𝓇, to my forest of fantasy & fable. ˚𖥔. ᡣ𐭩 ˚.⋆

I am the 𝓢𝓽𝓸𝓻𝔂𝓴𝓮𝓮𝓹𝓮𝓻 of the girl who dared to dream; who let go of the doubt and embarked on the adventures she always wanted to have. She goes by many names, but her most common is Mary.

Here lies my contents, a map of the forest of such. Peruse to find what you seek. It’s easy to get lost, but don’t be afraid to wander.

ᴀʙᴏᴜᴛ ᴍᴇ | ᴘɪɴᴛᴇʀᴇꜱᴛ | ꜱᴘᴏᴛɪꜰʏ | ᴛɪᴋᴛᴏᴋ | ʀᴇᴀʟɪᴛɪᴇꜱ

⋆｡°✩ 𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓢𝓽𝓪𝓻-𝓓𝓻𝓸𝓹𝓹𝓮𝓭 𝓜𝓮𝓪𝓭𝓸𝔀 ✩°｡⋆

Through the canopy of trees, beams of light peek through to shower gateways that help others reach different realms. (shifting script templates)

Marvel  |  The Summer I Turned Pretty  |  YouTuber  |  Netflix (hub)  |  Disney+ (hub)  |  Bridgerton | Stranger Things | Fantasy | romantic (aesthetic) | pastel retro (aesthetic) | sci-fi/superhero (aesthetic) | adventure (aesthetic) | + coming soon

The stars are resilient little things, they constantly find new openings in the trees so you never know when you’ll discover another gateway.

ʚїɞ 𝓐 𝓛𝓸𝓸𝓴 𝓲𝓷𝓽𝓸 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓣𝓸𝓶𝓮 ʚїɞ

In the center of our forest lies the Tome, situated in the trunk of a towering willow. It boasts my efforts as Storykeeper, with detailed accounts of the many adventures of our dear girl.

☽༓☾➵ marvel cinematic universe | masterlist

anisa cook became a founding member of the avengers. after the battle of new york, she now grapples with balancing her new shield responsibilities while maintaining a sense of normalcy, all while falling for the star-spangled man.

☽༓☾➵ fame (actress) | masterlist

world-renowned actress faye nolan makes her triumphant return to hollywood after taking a hiatus at the height of her popularity. she's energized and ready to make history & reclaim her title as the industry's shining star.

☽༓☾➵ f.r.i.e.n.d.s. | introduction

when offered a position on the inaugural team of mattel's new manhattan design office, a young designer packs up in LA and moves to the big apple. little does she know she moved into the same building as an eccentric cast of friends who quickly fold her into the fray.

☽༓☾➵ big bang theory | introduction

a school librarian moves into a new apartment building in pasadena and is consistently roped into the antics of her downstairs physicist neighbors and their colorful cast of friends.

☽༓☾➵ bridgerton | introduction

when the elusive rose betham returns to the Ton after studying in france & italy, she is quickly named the unofficial Diamond of the Season by lady whistledown and receives attention from all eligible suitors – including the dashing viscount bridgerton.

☽༓☾➵ + more to come...

𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓘𝓷𝓭𝓮𝔁

scrawled in faded ink, tucked into the final pages of the Tome, are the spells to conjure when you might need an aid to find what you need. the spells are old, and thus are prone to error, but i as the Storykeeper will try to refine what each spell shows to make them as accurate as possible.

#Storykeeper’s Log — reblogs #Storytime — Any type of DR post #Keeper’s Ramblings — Even a Storykeeper needs to step away from the manuscript and rant #Storykeeper Says — Q+A posts + shifting questions #rosebud's ___ dr — a direct spell to find posts related to a specific DR. #portrait gallery — moodboards galore; could be dr intros, de-selves, relationships, etc. #Template Spotlight — a more direct way to see the gateways from the meadow #My Husband — …Mary has an obsession with Steve Rogers/Chris Evans, don't judge

[dingodad]

Given Caliborn and Calliope's dichotomy laid the groundwork for the Meat and Candy thing, and Trickster Mode obviously leaned heavily in the Candy direction do you think there could be some Meat philosophy equivalent, Lawyer mode or some shit (It wouldn't be called that I can't come up with anything good.) Or does the juju being both Calliope and Caliborn's say something about how Trickster Mode got the gang exactly where the plot needed them to be?

well Calliope and Caliborn both eat meat and candy. because the cherubs are consumers of stories, and these foods are both representative of necessary components of fiction (or at least Homestuck specifically) in Hussie's philosophy; where meat is "violent, high-octane, game-changing" (Book 4, p. 233), the exact meaning of candy hasn't yet been explained in any explicit sense, but the way the lollipop is described in the text suggests that it symbolises emotional catharsis, removed from the associated struggle:

[Teenagers] have to face all those issues themselves, or they will never learn and grow as people. [...] The journey itself is more important than the destination. The struggle is what builds character and teaches us about ourselves and about life. [...] So if you lick a magic lollipop that flips a switch in your brain that says "all my problems are solved," I guess maybe that's fine for cherubs, but if you're a human you haven't actually solved anything. By the same logic it's not much of a boon to a human's physical journey either. Using an item that lets them start maniacally powering from point A to point B isn't doing them any favors.

so where you seem to be approaching meat and candy as symbols of order and chaos, it seems more like the "Meat equivalent" of Trickster Mode would revolve around emotional anguish divorced from its resolution...

...which is why Rose's "grimdark" state is named after a loose genre of storytelling recognised by its gratuitous violence and angst for violence and angst's sake. the two are already positioned as opposites of each other, hence "the fabled blackdeath trance of the woegothics" versus "the fabled peachbirth trance of the jokebollocks".

worth keeping in mind of course that trickster mode is only the illusion of catharsis - so we similarly shouldn't think of grimdarkness as true story-developing hardship, either. Act 6 advances in spite of trickster mode, not necessarily because of it; the driving force behind the further development of the story is the emotional conflict behind trickster mode, not the 'solutions' trickster mode portends to provide.

[wheneverfeasible]

Stranger Tides: The Pirate King and the Freak (part 1)

wc: 2.5k || rated: M (to be safe) || cw: reference to suicide, non-consent, and other general piratey things || ao3

When one thought of the phrase ‘Pirate King’ there were always certain expectations involved. An older pirate, grizzled and uncaring beyond his own interests, vicious with blade and pistol, quick to stain his hands red with anyone he deemed foe. To be fair, that had been his father.

The former Pirate King was truly a degenerate, disgraced nobility who stole from his provinces, who cheated and lied and stole from commoners and royalty alike. His failed coup would have had him and his young pregnant wife on trial for treason had he not escaped to the sea on a pirate ship with what portable wealth he had managed to secret away.

He had taken his wife along, at first, before dumping her at some port town to focus on his new rise to power. And rise he did over the next decade.

He was cunning, and ruthless, and he knew the tricks of the trade from how often he had hunted pirates in the past. He made a name for himself, dubbed The Fallen Noble, until that had not been enough for him. No, this time, he was determined not to fail the coup.

Eventually the Pirate King before him fell to his blade and he took it upon himself to pick up the crown, striking fear across sea and land both. His exploits were well-known, his viciousness the stuff of nightmares, and his taste for violence bloodthirsty. He had gone back to his wife and young son then, had stopped by occasionally during his rise though his son feared each one of those stops, and swept them away back into the world of deceit and power.

The son, only a young boy at the time, was raised like a prince, the Pirate Prince, and taught to be just as cruel and bloodthirsty as his father. And for a time, he was. The boy’s mother tragically passed away one fateful night when she was swept off the bow during a storm, though for the life of him the boy did not remember any such storm that night.

The boy, though raised first in negligence and then in violence, secreted the softness in his heart away, playing the role given to him to the point where he almost started believing it himself. Until he fell in love.

She had been stolen from her home with her young brother, with the boy meant to be inscripted into service while she was meant to be a prize for the Pirate Prince. She was unlike anyone he had ever known before and it wasn’t hard to fall in love with her. She would not be cowed, however, and he was not his father who took what was not freely given.

However, despite his love for her, in truth she loved another.

It would have been all too easy to dispose of the boy who held her heart, but that thick shell he had hidden within to be his father’s son had been cracked beyond repair. He aided her in her and her brother’s escape, watching the small boat drift away from his father’s ship and exchanging a solemn nod with the boy she loved who had come to rescue them.

His mask would no longer fit, he could no longer be who he had once pretended to be, and it was then that the boy became a man and in an act of defiance fought and slew his own father to end his tyranny once and for all. This young man stood above his father’s corpse as the new Pirate King.

Despite his young age, the Pirate King was not to be underestimated. When a mutiny rose of his father’s crew who remained loyal to the fallen tyrant and those who sought the power for their own greedy hands, the young man stood firm and dispatched those who coveted his crown. He would not bow to another monster.

Imagine his surprise when, only a year under his crown, the young brother of the girl he’d once loved returned to him to join his crew of his own free will. He did not come alone either, bringing with him a small pack of youths who wanted more than what society dictated for them, who heard of the fabled Pirate King, youngest in history, who refused to be the evil that had been his father and who protected those who bent the knee.

Though they had nothing in common, the Pirate King felt a kinship with these brave youths who wanted more, wanted to be more, and who stubbornly would not take heed when he tried to banish them off the ship. There was fierceness in their eyes, a hunger he knew all too well, and so while it at times made him feel more like a babysitter than a Pirate King with their youthful exuberance, he could do nothing but accept their honest fealty.

Along the way he met other wayward souls, including the sister of one of his greater rivals and the daughter of the man currently spearheading the hunt for pirates, as well as the young woman so desperate for a life of freedom, a life to be herself, that she soon found her way to being his second-in-command and who was almost as feared as he was.

Well. Feared by everyone except her and the youths he’d taken under his wing.

“Captain Dingus, sir, the rodent is on board.”

Steve Harrington, Pirate King and Captain of the Loch Nora, glanced up from where he was carefully sliding his dagger against the stone in his hand, a less than pleased expression pulling at his face at his quartermaster’s continued insubordination. He only sighed, however, since she at least had the decency to only do so when they were alone or among very select company.

Dropping his feet from his desk where he was leaning back in his thick, ornate chair that was more like a throne than anything else, Steve stood as he wiped his blade on a scrap of cloth before sliding it into home on his belt.

“Come now, Buck. He’s at the very least a snake,” he teasingly reprimanded with a grin as he moved towards her to follow her out of his cabin. “And just like one, he may be crawling on his belly soon enough if he isn’t prepared to pay off his debt.”

Robin was uncharacteristically quiet at that, and when Steve glanced over at her, he could see her teeth gnawing at her bottom lip. He raised his brows at that under the swoop of his hair, something telling him that he was going to find something far more interesting than the coin the man in question owed them. Whether that something interesting was going to be good or not was still to be decided.

It took only moments to move onto the deck of his ship, eyeing his crew as they stood encircling the kneeling figure in the middle. No. The kneeling figures.

Steve cast a quick glance Robin’s way at the sight before them, taking in not a chest or even bag of coins to pay off the man’s debt, but rather a younger man around Steve’s own age, bound and gagged kneeling next to the proverbial snake.

“Munson,” Steve drawled, and both pairs of dark eyes snapped to him. It was almost uncanny, making the resemblance even more obvious between the two kneeling men.

Alan Munson gave Steve a briefly panicked looked, before his mask of bravado settled over his features and he, neither bound nor gagged, shot Steve a smile that might have soothed his ruffled feathers had he not grown impervious to such looks thanks to his younger crew members’ own beguiling smiles. Munson clasped a hand over his chest above his heart.

“My liege, it is an honor to see you once more,” the older man formally intoned, bowing his head as though Steve were a real king and not just one who roamed the seas. His tone was light though, only the slightest tremor and the sweet dotting his brow belied the man’s nervousness.

Steve stopped in front of the two men, resting his weight on one leg as he brought his hands to settle on his hips. He cocked his head to the side slightly as he took in the tableau before him. Alan tried to meet his gaze with confidence he obviously did not feel, his eyes skittering away whenever Steve glanced at him, while the younger man glared up at Steve with all he was worth.

The young man’s eyes were rimmed with red, glassy in the way that spoke of past tears, and his thin chest heaved with the emotions swirling in his brown eyes so deep they were nearly black. The glare was not reserved only for Steve, however, as those dark eyes kept landing on Munson with anger and heartbreak and betrayal.

“Tell me, Munson. Are you hiding my money somewhere on your body in a questionable location, or are you planning on being another stain on my deck?” Steve said in an almost conversational way, though he had to withhold a snort as both pairs of identical dark eyes moved as one to look down at the dark stain inches from where they kneeled.

(The stain was actually due to Robin’s clumsiness spilling her dinner one night, but it made for a good impression.)

Munson recovered first with his smile only slightly shakier than it had been. He looked up at Steve in what he obviously hoped was a charming as disarming way. “I would never do you the disservice of cheating you, your majesty,” he said, and Steve might have believed him had the man not been infamously known in town to be a swindler and a cheat.

Munson’s eyes darted over to the younger man beside him before looking back up at Steve. “I regret that I don’t have your money at the moment—but I have something better!” he hastened to add on when the sound of drawn steel began ringing out as the surrounding pirates began drawing their various blades.

Steve held up a hand halting his overzealous crew mates, though he had to suppress a smile as well. Though most of the youngsters had once been squeamish at the darker aspects of the pirate lifestyle, they had since grown accustomed to the needs and requirements Steve placed on them. It helped that Steve did not needlessly shed blood, even when faced with the likes of Alan Munson.

“I am a very particular man, Munson. You will find that when I request my coin, it is not a request at all, nor am I interested in substitutions,” Steve's tone continued to drawl, though it became sharper towards the end as his wrist moved to settle meaningfully over the hilt of his sword at his waist.

Munson swallowed thickly with a jerking nod. “I understand, your majesty,” he rushed to say, before settling his hand on the young man’s shoulder beside him, causing said young man to flinch away with a shout muffled by the cloth in his mouth. When he tried to jerk away, two strong hands moved to force him back to his knees, courtesy of Steve’s crew.

Steve did not so much as bat an eye, merely lifting a brow to encourage Munson to continue. Without looking remorseful at all, he did so.

“My son, Edward,” Munson clarified, indicating the young man beside him though he did not reach out to touch him again. “I offer my own flesh and blood, my only child and son, into your generous hands. He is a hard worker, stronger than he appears, and capable of whatever task you set him.” There was not even a hint of a trace of hesitation on Munson’s face as he sold his own some out. “I give him to you to cover my debt, whether you keep him or sell him for profit.”

More angry, muffled noises came from the young man, from Edward Munson, son of Alan Munson, who was being treated as little more than chattel now and a bargaining trip to clear his father’s debt. Steve wanted nothing more than to slide his blade through Munson’s neck in that moment. His face hardened, but he let a deceptive smile curl over his lips.

Steve was, in the end, a pirate. And the Pirate King himself at that. His hands were hardly clean. The idea that a father would sell their child into slavery just to save their own neck, however, seemed far more evil than anything he had ever done, up to and including killing his own father.

Stepping towards the bound young man, Steve reached out to grasp the young man’s chin, squeezing sharply when Munson Jr. tried to jerk away. He angled the young man’s hand this way and that to examine him, before roughly releasing him to face the elder Munson.

“I will accept this trade only with a provision,” Steve began, Munson’s ecstatic expression dropping to one of wariness as Steve’s tone turned darker. “If your son does not perform his duties properly, or if he does not return to me what your owe with interest, I will gut him like a dog in front of you before doing the very same to you. Do I make myself clear, Munson?”

Munson’s eyes widened, his face rapidly paling, but he was nodding quickly once more. “Y-yes, I understand, your majesty. He won’t disappoint.”

“Let us hope so, for your benefit.” Steve glanced at the crew behind the kneeling man with a subtle jerk of his chin, the silent communication having them hauling him roughly to his feet and shoving him towards the boat they’d dragged him in on. Steve then cast his eyes towards Robin. For the benefit of the bound man still kneeling before him, he spoke his next order out loud, despite Robin already knowing what he would say.

“Mr. Buckley, see to it that Mr. Munson is left with a reminder as to why it’s important to always pay your debts promptly and fully,” he said with a small smirk, dropping his gaze to the young man who was struggling against his bonds and gag, his eyes desperately on his father. “Just something he can live without. Maybe a toe, or his little pinky finger,” he grinned.

Robin unsheathed her own blade strapped to her thigh with a dark grin of her own. “Gladly, Captain,” she replied with a nod, and he knew he would soon hear the pleasant music of a scream of fear and pain.

Steve’s eyes cut to the pirates holding Munson Jr. down. “Let’s be gracious hosts and escort our guest here to his quarters,” he said, tone ripe with sarcasm. “And then let’s get the hell out of here once the riffraff is gone.” He smiled as, at that moment, Munson’s scream filled the air, causing Munson Jr. to flinch as Keith hauled him to his feet and began pushing him to the brig below deck.

Steve had been correct, he thought as he gazed out to the sea, feeling the winds of change in the air. Munson’s payment had been interesting. Now he just had to decide what he wanted to do with his payment.

To be continued…

-

Hostage tag: @derythcorvinus

[unironicallytes]

Dear Brother: Ch04 Supplemental Lore - The Sanctifiers

This post is about what a Sanctifier's role is and who Cheydinhal's current Sanctifiers are within the setting of Dear Brother.

Sanctifiers are the local leaders of Sanctuaries. They report to Speakers and Silencers, and are the authority which many Dark Siblings are in regular direct contact with. For the most part, Sanctifiers do not go out on contract duty unless dire circumstances call for it - while they may leave on short errands, at least one Sanctifier must remain in the Sanctuary at all times. They assign duties to all other Sanctuary inhabitants; handle mentorship and in-house training; lead prayers and most daily rituals; manage Sanctuary funds and distribute payment; etc.

During the Third Era, it was common for there to be two Sanctifiers per Sanctuary: a Matron and a Patron. Though the titles are gendered, those who inhabit the roles may be any gender; the titles themselves are simply evocative of Night Mother and Dread Father, since these members are "parents" to their local Family. Both Sanctifiers are knowledgeable about every aspect of running a Sanctuary, but the Matron primarily focuses on the business side of operations while the Patron focuses on the religious side. In Cheydinhal Sanctuary, Ocheeva is the Matron while Vicente is the Patron.

Matron Sanctifier Ocheeva

Ocheeva is one of two Shadowscales currently residing at Cheydinhal, the other of whom is her younger brother Teinaava. (In Dear Brother, the Shadowscale siblings were not raised by Lucien, and are 6 years apart in age rather than twins.) Ocheeva originally began her career with the Brotherhood in another Valus-operated Sanctuary near Alten Corimount, her first destination following her Shadowscale training in Archon. There, she proved to be a competent assassin, but shone brightest when guiding others. When one of Cheydinhal's Sanctifiers died in 3E420, Speaker Vicente specifically sought her out to fill the role. She requested to transfer her younger brother sometime later, so as to watch over his career.

Ocheeva is clever, calm, and methodical. She radiates an approachable aura to Family members under her care. In hindsight, Vicente believes she would have made a good Silencer and eventual Speaker had the timing not been the way it was.

Patron Sanctifier Vicente Valtieri

Vicente is Cheydinhal's oldest member at the staggering age of 348. Being the oldest never caused him arrogance or entitlement however, and he holds Brotherhood figures and fables such as Domitius close to his heart. Vicente hails from the Berne bloodline purely due to the coincidence of being attacked by them in Vvardenfell - he does not call the clan home and does not know his sire. Therefore, although he's a fairly old vampire, he's not a particularly powerful one, only having self-taught the basics of his powers to supplement work and faith. He joined the Brotherhood shortly after being turned and has been a part of Cheydinhal ever since.

Never being an ambitious Sibling, he merely filled roles where he was most needed for the better part of three centuries. Around the late 3E390s, that role happened to be Valus Silencer, followed by Valus Speaker, the latter of which he served as for twenty-one years. He stepped down for reasons unknown to the wider Brotherhood and requested to be made a Sanctifier instead. This allowed his Silencer - a Khajiit named Kethikrassa - to ascend in his place, where she would serve until Speaker Lucien rose to power in the present day.

[rwbyrg]

A Rosegarden by Any Other Name Would Smell As Sweet

AKA Reasons Why Rosegarden is Canon #015: Ruby and Oscar's Multiple Shared Allusions to Other Fairytale Love Stories

Typical disclaimer that while all characters within the RWBY narrative have a main allusion, they often have secondary allusions that apply to the roles they fill in relation to other characters stories. Like how Yang is Goldilocks on her own, but becomes the Beauty to Blake's Beast when paired together.

The first, most notable example for Rosegarden is, of course, The Little Prince (expanded upon here). Oscar's primary allusion is of a boy who grows up on a planet "scarcely bigger than himself, who was in need of a friend", and one of his most influential relationships is that to a rose with whom he loves. They spend much of the story separated from one another, while the prince wanders lost in a desert, pining for a way to reunite with her back home.

Important to note this isn't the only time Ruby has been a Rose for another fairytale. She also slots in as the Rose Red to Weiss' Snow White, she acts as the successor to her mom as The Last Rose of Summer, and she also stands in as the Enchanted Rose to Bumbleby's Beauty and the Beast given how it's a "true loves kiss will break the spell before the last petal falls" situation... and BB kisses two episodes before Ruby Rose "dies".

The second notable allusion for Rosegarden is the Warrior in the Woods (expanded upon further here), a canon RWBY fable from The Fairytales of Remnant. The very first story within the book is about a village boy who becomes a huntsman after being inspired by a huntress he meets in the woods. A huntress, I might add he fell in love with the moment he saw her silver eyes.

Something to note about both of these examples, is that they are each stories with a focus on caring for someone else in unique ways. With The Little Prince, the Rose is vain and has many demands and asks the prince to tend to her; while in WitW, the warrior works tirelessly without thanks to protect a village. When the boy meets her, he starts looking after her for a change because he figures that's the least he can do to repay her. Both of these tie in well to RG's dynamic of Ruby carrying such heavy responsibilities alone, with Oscar making a conscious and active effort to help her shoulder those burdens.

The third, more subtle allusion, is their respective ties to The Wonderful Land of Oz. Oscar's first confirmed allusion before the Little Prince reveal was originally to Princess Ozma/Tip, the heir to the Kingdom of Oz given his proximity to Ozpin as the man behind the curtain, as well as to fit a "genderbend" character within the framework of team JNPR.

How does Ruby tie into this one? Well, we have to work backwards a bit. Ozpin's initial four lieutenants were all linked to the original cast of Oz:

Qrow as The Scarecrow without a mind (travels around as a crow and is regularly inebriated)

Ironwood as the Tin Man without a heart (his multiple cyborg prosthetics and character development in Atlas)

Lionhart as The Cowardly Lion (his fear overtakes him and pushes him to join forces with Salem to save his own skin)

Theodore as Dorothy Gale (donning ruby gauntlets instead of the traditional red slippers)

But RWBY is a story about legacies and breaking cycles. With the new generation of huntresses in Oz's inner circle, they replace those who came before them.

Blake takes Lionheart's place (cat faunus that ran out of cowardice, only to become brave and return to the fight)

Weiss as the Tin Man (aka Ice Queen, who's heart melted as she became kinder and grew more attached to those around her)

Yang the Scarecrow (no longer blindly following orders, but making an active effort to question the words and intentions of those around her)

Ruby as Dorothy (her little dog Zwei and the red - or silver, depending on movie or book adaptation - slippers that lead them all on their journey)

Why bring up Oscar as Princess Ozma and Ruby as Dorothy? Well, according to the original books and not the movie, "Dorothy and Ozma are each other's closest relationship" as illustrated here:

Very good friends. Just gals being pals. Sharing the responsibilities of leadership with one another. Smooching in the palace gardens. Dorothy as the only one who's allowed in Princess Ozma's rooms without an invitation. #BFFS4EVA

These are all the canon ones that are easy enough to parse, but there are some similarities to others famous stories that can be found with a bit of squinting that I will also share just for fun.

The first is how Ruby's experience in the Tea Party acts as a near perfect display of Romeo and Juliet's ending. For those unfamiliar with - or who have forgotten - the bard's infamous tragedy, it is a story about two star-crossed lovers very much doomed by the narrative. It ends with Juliet faking her death without telling Romeo. So when her prince charming comes across what he believes to be her corpse, he drinks a vial of poison and kills himself out of grief. When Juliet wakes and sees he has left her, she takes his dagger and stabs herself so they might be together.

In the tea party, Ruby fills the shoes of Romeo and Oscar of dear Juliet. Oscar is "killed" by Ruby's blade, but it is an illusion. He's not real. Like Juliet, he's not really dead. However, the vision is still enough to push Ruby into drink a vial of poison (the tea that takes her to the tree), giving up in the face of her grief, just as Romeo does.

And if we need any more evidence for this one, can't hurt to bring up the infamous quote of Juliet wherein she likens her love to an oh-so-familiar flower:

What's in a name? That which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet;

A line that Juliet says to proclaim that if her Romeo weren't a Montague, then she would still love him regardless, but through which implies that it would be easier for them to be together if he were not himself. And within V9, Ruby's cited motivation to go to the tree is because she doesn't want to be herself any longer.

And last, but certainly not least, is how a lot of ships within RWBY seem to have fairly direct parallels to the myth of Eros and Psyche. It is a classical tale about the trials of love, putting the protagonists under multiple tests of loyalty and attachment before letting the two lovers unite at the end. Both love stories within Beauty and the Beast and Snow White and Rose Red pull inspiration from the myth, and we see it in CRWBY's approach to writing romances throughout the show thus far.

Blake and Yang being separated, breaking and rebuilding trust, before coming together in V9; Ren and Nora going through trials and conflict, currently apart now so they might discover who they are on their own before re-uniting with one another again; and Rosegarden having constant reunions, separations, and trials with strong focuses on their attachment to each other. Another common archetype they use from Eros and Psyche is that of the "Animal as Bridegroom", wherein at least one of the partners undergoing a transformation that is often monstrous in nature.

Bumbleby is self explanatory

WhiteKnight has the issue of Jaune being lost to time and becoming an Old Man, who's curse is reversed by magic. It alludes to his role as the Prince within Snow White and Rose Red who was initially turned into a bear via a curse

Rosegarden, has this instance for both characters. Oscar as an Ozcarnation (becoming something he doesn't want via a curse they are trying to break before time runs out) and Ruby's future fate should she be captured by Salem (being turned into a Grimm by the wicked witch - or eaten by the wolf - like her mother before her).

All of these line up with the myth's structure as well as Monty's foundational philosophy on love stories that we see in his quote from many years ago:

A lot of these all have really tragic endings so uh. Good thing RWBY likes to subvert the stories it's telling, right? They're going to get a happy ending, right CRWBY???? 😰

[ettawritesnstudies]

I'm going to the accountant on Wednesday to set up my author accounts, like, legally, and even though I have a 47 page long business plan document, I need help deciding one thing:

Taglist because I need feedback fast:

@tiredlittleoldme @abalonetea @happyorogeny @weaver-of-fantasies-and-fables @quilloftheclouds @rainydaydarling @bladeverbenas-blog @andifthestarsweretodie @thelaughingstag @ladywithalamp @avrablake @prettylittlelyres @rainbowsnowflake @theroseempress

Any other suggestions encouraged!

[beyralxoxo]

{Amor Omnia Vincit-Lucius Verus Aurelius}

SUMMARY: Caracalla and Geta are turning their heads towards India, and Indian Crowns know better than to anger the Rome's Wolfs. [PROLOGUE]

PAIRING: Lucius Verus Aurelius x South Indian OC

WORD COUNT: 445

WARNINGS: none for now :}

Amor Omnia Vincit: Love Conquers All

Sixteen years after the death of Marcus Aurelius, his ,,dream of Rome” has been forgotten.

Under the tyranny of the twin emperors Geta and Caracalla, corruption flourishes.

Their ruthless agression spreads like plague throughout the empire.

The fall of the great city is imminent.

Only the hopes of those who still dream remain…

After the Roman Empire secured its grip on Numidia, the ambitions of Geta and Caracalla turned eastward—toward the fabled riches of India. The Indian crowns, wary of the empire's insatiable hunger for conquest, sought to avoid plunging their lands into the brutal chaos of Roman warfare. They knew Rome's reputation too well.

In their councils, the kings deliberated fiercely over how to preserve their sovereignty without sacrificing their dignity. Proposals of tribute, alliances, and trade flowed freely, but one whispered suggestion sent ripples through the court—a peace offering in the form of a woman.

The notion, though pragmatic, was met with outrage. For many, it was unthinkable to barter their daughters for diplomacy. "Would we stoop so low as to hand over our blood to the wolves of Rome?" some declared. Others nodded grimly, believing such a gesture would tarnish their honor forever.

But amidst the uproar, one voice rose above the clamor. A minor king, neither celebrated nor scorned, stepped forward. His eyes held the weight of a decision already made. He offered a name—Tillotama, his daughter born of a courtesan.

Though she was a child of no official union, he spoke of her beauty and her wit, gifts that would surely intrigue even Rome's ruthless rulers. With a mixture of resignation and pride, he declared her the one worthy to stand as a bridge between empires.

And so, Tillotama's fate was sealed—not by her own hand, but by a desperate king seeking to save his people from the jaws of conquest. Little did they know, the daughter of a courtesan would carry the power to shape the destinies of both worlds.

Yet, fate had far more in store for Tillotama. For with her, a protector would rise—a man unlike any other. He was born with fury coursing through his veins, his soul a tempest of rage that no mortal force could calm. His thirst for vengeance was insatiable, a fire that no thousand armies could quench.

He was a godless creature, a storm in human form. Yet what happens when such a man meets his destiny in her eyes? What if, in the presence of this woman, his unyielding wrath is eclipsed by something he cannot fight?

What if, in that fateful moment, the godless man falls to his knees—not in surrender to kings, nor to gods, but to her?

[bestworstcase]

thing abt the theory that (raven / summer / the last spring maiden) asked the lamp’s first question is it’s like—i don’t understand how you can propose with any seriousness that someone other than ozpin used that question without interrogating how that person learned jinn’s name. it’s a mandatory presupposition, and yet…?

in V6 ozpin PANICS when the girls start to question him. he tries to forcibly suppress oscar to protect this secret; oscar has to fight past him to force the words out. the man lunges at ruby in desperation to stop jinn from answering her. in V7 ironwood remarks that ozpin told them all that there were no questions left. half of V8 is salem trying to drag the “password” out of ozpin or oscar because the lamp is useless without knowledge of how to use it. you think ozpin would just… let slip jinn’s name to summer or raven or the maiden capable of opening the lamp’s vault? that’s absurd.

this is not a narratively inconsequential detail. jinn’s name and the knowledge of how to summon her is a huge deal in V6 and literally the cornerstone of salem’s part in V8. and it’s made crystal clear that ozpin does not share it with anyone.

which doesn’t make it impossible for raven or summer or the spring maiden to have found it out somehow—but, like, “somehow” matters actually. i think the most plausible somehow is if the lamp itself has a way to provide instructions if approached in the right way. notably no character has ever tried asking the lamp how it works or how to use it, and well. 6.2 “why does it matter who carries it?”/“he’s trying to stop you.” right? there’s room here to interpret ozpin’s intense anxiety as rooted in a real possibility that ruby might either release jinn or unlock the lamp’s user manual if she keeps asking questions while holding it.

but then in V8 we also have salem talking to the lamp (“i have questions for you”), and she understands how the staff works (“you say they used the staff; i assume you rid the world of their creation. what did you create in its stead?”)—so like, there’s a nonzero chance salem knows there are beings inside the relics and even if she doesn’t she, um, talks to the lamp conversationally hello. we’ve also seen that salem Thinks Aloud when she’s trying to figure out something she doesn’t understand (V4, “what are you planning?”).

out of all the characters in this story, salem most seems the type to, like, pick up the magical lamp and go “how do you work?”—but does it make sense for jinn’s name to be so important narratively if it’s on the magical equivalent of a post-it note somewhere?

and then too like—

this is a matter of taste maybe. but there’s, i think, this tendency to look at the lost fable and its emotional aftermath and try to retrofit that to whatever happened with summer and raven; there’s an unspoken presupposition that the world has not changed very much in the last twelve or fourteen years. but they didn’t. even before V9 that was clear—in V1-3 ozpin et al are very much not doing business-as-usual, they’re rattled by what happened to amber—and that glimpse we got in V9 is like, summer gets called away on an urgent secret mission in the dead of night and tai is like “pfft can’t wait for it to turn out another false alarm” about it. ozpin’s irrational paranoia was an inside joke to them.

there’s a crucial piece missing here—why did summer rose do the things she did?—and the lamp feels… like a cop-out. she reflects tai’s casual attitude. the face she shows raven is curtly confident. neither is real; before she puts on the smile and turns around she looks distraught. the last thing she says to her girls is “i love you just the way you are.” she is the reflection in ruby’s mirror. she was “the best of us.” and “you were born to hypnotize them all.” mirrored eyes, you know?

ruby believed in ozpin. she believed in the fairytales she tried so hard to live up to.

did summer?

the thing about the lost fable is it’s a clean break, right. yang twitches the curtain with the revelation that ozpin gave the branwens magic and qrow smooths it over and ozpin promises to be honest with them. a few weeks later, they catch him in another lie of omission and argue and jinn lays out his entire fucking life story in technicolor for them. it’s a sudden, shattering shock.

raven says she needed answers, and that the longer she looked for them and the more she learned, the more horrifying the world became. she tells yang to question everything. she says she “tried to leave”—tried. does that sound like raven asked one question (out of three) and decided to fuck off forever?

tai says raven’s flaws are what tore the team apart. twelve years later qrow is still trying to get her to come back. summer planned her rogue mission with raven behind their backs. every new kernel we get about these people suggests an interminable, convoluted mess.

ruby sounds just like her mother. summer doesn’t sound very much like ruby. “we,” ruby says, and “i,” says summer. summer rose never lies, but she plans a rogue mission with raven behind tai’s and qrow’s back and nobody suspects a thing, and when ruby asks qrow tells her summer’s last mission was a summer secret in the same tone ruby said ozpin secret. cut to the heart of this thing and it’s obvious that nobody really knew summer, only the things summer let them see. and i think—ultimately—summer left, and never came back, not because of something she learned but because she had to break the mirror.

[thatlifebloodvessel]

ABOUT ME

Who Am I?

Names/Nicknames: Most people refer to me as Lifeblood, but I'm okay with being called Ves or Mothy as well!

Pronouns: I'm okay with any pronouns!! (Though I have a slight preference for She/Her)

What Do I Do?

I have been teaching myself pixel art for four years ever since June 2020! I mainly draw bugs of sorts, mostly moths! I have also gotten a bit in to game programing, I love exploring the ins and outs of what makes a game truly shine! Other than that, I have been working up to one day start a small webcomic that uses a pixel art style, I've rarely seen this done, and would love to see it more!!

What Are My Current Interests?

In Stars and Time

Hollow Knight

Bug Fables

Bugs in general (Mostly moths)

Sky: Children of the Light

Your Only Move is Hustle

Rain World

(More under the cut :3 )

What Do I Use?

Aseprite: for pixel art. (With most of my plugins made by CarbsCode, Aseprite Record Plugin for timelapses by Sprngr, and Wild Night Theme by WildLeoKnight)

Krita: For non-pixel related digital art!

Commonly used color palettes: Rosy42 and Journey by pinetreepizza, and the NES Palette.

Fonts: m3x6 by Daniel Linssen, and VCR OSD Mono by Riciery Leal.

Godot Game Engine: for programming.

Common Tags?

#lifeblood rebugs: Reblog tag

#lifeblood arts: Art tag

#lifeblood rambles: Basically any post of mine that isn't art

#oc:[NAME] : tag for any of my OCs (e.g #oc:rose)

#strawpage saturday: I post any gimmicks I get on my Strawpage every saturday

Who Are My OCs?

Rose (She/Her): Anxious little rosy maple moth wearing a sunhat

The Lamplighter (They/Them): A quiet moth entrusted with responsibility of being 'the chosen one' and having to bring back light to a world shrouded in darkness. They hate it.

Chimere (She/Her): A luna moth who is visited by a strange, mysterious teacher from the depths of her dreams.

Loam (They/Them, Refers to themselves as We/Us): Hollow Knight OC, A collective of lifeseeds piloting the discarded mask and cloak of a vessel.

Maria (She/They): Bug Fables OC, cheeky merchant who steals from others to stock her own shelves

Maggie (She/They): Sky: CoTL OC, a stubborn, bird-like skykid who travels the world in search of their siblings who were split apart when the Eye of Eden first shattered.

Do I Take Commissions?

Not yet! But it's something that I do plan on doing some time in the future! Feel free to let me know if that's something you would be interested in! In the meantime, feel free to send in requests in my askbox! I may or may not do them.

Where Else Can You Find Me?

thatlifebloodvessel on Discord (Im mostly in the ISAT Server)

My Steam profile

My ArtFight profile

My Strawpage site

... More to come???

Other Blogs That I Run.

@where-is-odile-isat: Where I put Odile from In Stars and Time in random ass places.

Cool People You Should Check Out!!

WhiteVault: The pixel artist and game dev who helped to shape me in to the artist I am today, and a gosh darn charmer!

CupOhJoe: Another great pixel artist that I watch!

Iridaze: Cozy Sky: CoTL streamer, I am often lurking in her streams when I have the chance to.

[atopvisenyashill]

i think dany will be attracted to aegon because viserys feed targaryen exceptionalism to her, she tries to find purple in daario's eyes and aegon is comely...

i do get that but i am more of the mind that she's not going to trust aegon because she thinks he's the mummer's dragon, while she'll trust Jon because she believes his intentions towards her. not to web weave here, but this is my train of thought on that-

Grenn was standing his ground as Jon had taught him, giving Albett more than he cared for, but Pyp was hard-pressed. Rast had two years and forty pounds on him. Jon stepped up behind him and rang the raper's helm like a bell. As Rast went reeling, Pyp slid in under his guard, knocked him down, and leveled a blade at his throat. By then Jon had moved on. Facing two swords, Albett backed away. "I yield," he shouted. Ser Alliser Thorne surveyed the scene with disgust. "The mummer's farce has gone on long enough for today." He walked away. The session was at an end.

"The gods alone know," the first voice said. Arya could see a wisp of grey smoke drifting up off the torch, writhing like a snake as it rose. "The fools tried to kill his son, and what's worse, they made a mummer's farce of it. He's not a man to put that aside. I warn you, the wolf and lion will soon be at each other's throats, whether we will it or no."

"A dead man in the prow of a ship, a blue rose, a banquet of blood . . . what does any of it mean, Khaleesi? A mummer's dragon, you said. What is a mummer's dragon, pray?" "A cloth dragon on poles," Dany explained. "Mummers use them in their follies, to give the heroes something to fight."

You know, child, some say that you are as big a fool as Butterbumps here, and I am starting to believe them. Comely? I have taught my Margaery what comely is worth, I hope. Somewhat less than a mummer's fart. Aerion Brightfire was comely enough, but a monster all the same. 

 Daario and Ben Plumm, Grey Worm, Irri, Jhiqui, Missandei . . . as she looked at them Dany found herself wondering which of them would betray her next. The dragon has three heads. There are two men in the world who I can trust, if I can find them. I will not be alone then. We will be three against the world, like Aegon and his sisters.

"No. Hear me, Daenerys Targaryen. The glass candles are burning. Soon comes the pale mare, and after her the others. Kraken and dark flame, lion and griffin, the sun's son and the mummer's dragon. Trust none of them. Remember the Undying. Beware the perfumed seneschal." "Reznak? Why should I fear him?" 

"His own kin of Loraq were returned unharmed. You saw. The Yunkai'i played us a mummer's farce, with noble Hizdahr as chief mummer. The issue was never Yurkhaz zo Yunzak. The other slavers would gladly have trampled that old fool themselves. This was to give Hizdahr a pretext to kill the dragons."

"You saw them, the arrogant Ser Jared and his nephew Rhaegar, that smirking worm who wears a dragon's name. Behind them both stands Symond, clinking coins. That one has bought and paid for several of my servants and two of my knights {...}My son Wendel came to the Twins a guest. He ate Lord Walder's bread and salt, and hung his sword upon the wall to feast with friends. And they murdered him. Murdered, I say, and may the Freys choke upon their fables. I drink with Jared, jape with Symond, promise Rhaegar the hand of my own beloved granddaughter … but never think that means I have forgotten. The north remembers, Lord Davos. The north remembers, and the mummer's farce is almost done. My son is home."

She's already paranoid about being betrayed, and she's very bad at piecing together who is betraying her, as well as in general being a terrible judge of character. She's also conflated the cloth dragon on the pole with the mummer's dragon - I think that's a huge mistake and one that is going to absolutely cost her. Notable here that she thinks a mummer's dragon is JUST a cloth dragon - but we see mummers and mummer's farces being conflated with liars frequently, not just in Dany's chapters but throughout the story (I didn't include every example, just the ones I think are juiciest).

So she will meet Aegon, who is backed by Varys (a literal mummer) and believe Aegon is "the mummer's dragon" and kill him (not knowing that imo Victarion is the cloth dragon and she's already dealt with him). But she will actually need fear the true mummer's dragon, the lying dragon, the dragon who is putting on a show for her, the wolf in dragon's clothing...and that's Jon Snow. But because she's already dealt with Aegon and he seems more like the mummer's dragon (bc prophecy - this is the same pitfall Cersei falls into and its the same thing Dany does with Quentyn), she will trust Jon. Jon, imo, is going to want to be fond of her but I think he's going to be turned off very fast, and then conflicted on what the right thing is to do.

[dani-seeu]

The Brothers Grimm Fable's Legacy

If you like fairytales and if (by any small chance) you like Fables by Bill Willingham, this is for you. Enjoy.

OBS: feel free to costumize gender preferences, sexual orientation and the sims' appearances as you see fit. You can change their gender as well if you want to.

You may use money cheats to adjust to the story.

Maxing the careers is completely optional.

Mostly I want my fairtytale ladies to be modern, fancy, career minded, goal oriented super boss gals.

The first generation is a bit more complex than it usually is with this type of challenge because I was utterly inspired (obsessed) by Fables and the relationship between Snow and Bigby. So you'll have these two sims to play with.

Generation 1: Snow White & Bigby Wolf

Snow is a knockout, incredible boss lady. She has been a long time member of Fabletown government, where she gradually climbed in ranks to become deputy major. She has a sharp, no-nonsense personality and expresses a distaste for "playing games" in preference of people being direct about their motives. She lives in a very expensive modern apartment in San Myshuno that she keeps very clean and organized. She has a sister named Rose Red with whom she doesn't get along, but she is determined to fix this.

Career: Law

Traits: Family-Oriented, Generous and Romantically Reserved

Must do:

get a prestige reputation

get the workaholic and coffee fanatic lifestyles

complete the big happy family aspiration

Snow will marry Bigby and they will have seven children together. This can be achieved in any way shape or form you prefer, and by that I mean that animals can also count as children. You need to, however, have at least three boys (triplets if you have MCCC) and a baby girl. The other three "children" can be whatever you'd like. You could even ask for a child in the Wishing Well, since in the comics Snow had a ghost baby anyway.

Once they are married, they must move to a big farm in some place of your preference. I suggest Chestnut Ridge, Hentford-on-Bagley or Ravenwood.

Bigby is the Big Bad Wolf, yes. After gaining the ability to shapeshift and being pardoned for his past deeds, Bigby assumed the role of sheriff and has tried to put his dark past as a menacing predator behind him. He lives in constant internal struggle to keep his true nature in check and it is, perhaps, his fascination with Snow White what has helped him with it.

Career: Detective

Traits: Loyal, Skeptical and Hot-headed

Must do:

become an apex wolf

complete the werewolf initiate aspiration

PS: Bigby turned into a werewolf in my game, in the hospital, as Snow White was giving birth to his children. I swear I never saw something so accurate in my life.

[heliads]

Hi, same anon who asked before! Can I please request Goody with a female reader who’s secretly a witch and a member of the seven and he finds out when she uses magic during a fight and takes out like ten guys at once? Thanks so much ❤️❤️

this is incredible. magnificent seven fans we must find each other

masterlist

Witches are not real. We love stories, all of us, tall tales and fables and legends too, but they’re not real. No matter how many times your older cousins whisper things to you under the cover of nightfall, terrible, twisted imaginings about elderly crones with raven familiars or eternally youthful enchantresses compelled to grind the bones of wrongdoers, we know they are not real. The glow of the firelight makes you think they could be real, but they are, at the end of the day, just stories. Stories, and nothing more.

Witches are real, because you are. There is no telling how it happened, what combination of full moons and thirteenth Fridays, black cats and broken mirrors, all manifested to make you what you are. We are a product of what we need. Perhaps your family needed the protection that a normal daughter could not bring. Perhaps they just deserved the curse of you. No one can tell for sure.

You grew up in a small town, same as everyone else’s but wonderfully original, too. The lanterns that swayed when a cold wind blew in were a particular shade of muted gold known only to you, the floors creak in a tune that no one else would hear quite like you did. Backcountry village dwellers know the clopping of new hoofs, the signal of a newcomer, and they know how the sun beats down on your back after a long day of work, but they’ll never know your particular shade of it.

It was a quiet upbringing, for the most part. Your mother raised you right, and turned a blind eye when you took to foraging in the woods for plants and stones she did not recognize. She wasn’t too pleased about the whole affair at first, but then one of the younger boys across the street broke her favorite ceramic jug, the one her mother had made. You fixed it with a few muttered words and a twist of your wrist, and after that your specific brand of devilry was allowed in the house so long as no one else saw it.

No child likes to hide away forever, though, not when they feel there’s nothing about them unduly wrong. Perhaps the devil himself had chosen to make you a little more than human, or perhaps the angels lingered too long over your cradle when you were a baby, but regardless of the source, you were still you, still good, and you didn’t see why that warranted the need to forever live in shame and fear of discovery.

You came close one night. You were old enough to outgrow your mother but too young to match her wisdom. In an attempt to help your family, you were almost discovered while trying to turn the smallish squirrel one of your brothers caught into something better, something that could feed all of you. One of the neighbors had decided to do a little poking around at the time you were spellcasting, and that little glimpse could have cost you everything. 

They never saw anything outright suspicious, but it was too close, and the prospect of a witch hunt wouldn’t do you any good out here when no one would speak up for you. People don’t like girls with mouths to run. No one would defend such a witch from the flame.

If the town will not protect the girl, then the girl will protect herself. You ran far away, far enough away that no one had heard your name and certainly didn’t care to listen to it. You find work here and there, never quite enough pay to make you settle in one place but enough to keep you alive. You pass from village to village, city to city, and somehow along the way, you find a little place called Rose Creek.

It’s not a marvel by any means. This is a town. You have seen many of its kind before, countless iterations of the same style of brick and mortar and abandoned hopes for better things. The faces are new, the people down on different kinds of luck, but it’s largely the same as always. You were planning on repeating your usual schedule of sticking around for a few months before hitting the road again lest someone discover you, but then you hear about the situation they’ve got going on and you decide otherwise.

A man named Sam Chisholm is putting together a plan to release Rose Creek from some kind of mining tycoon. He’s asking for every able hand to pitch in, something you hear about when you ride in later that night. Over time, you’ve had to learn how to defend yourself from a great many sharp-eyed bullies who’ve found you out, so your marksmanship is as good as any hired gun. 

You find Sam’s main group sitting around a table at a nearby saloon and decide to offer up your services. Doing good makes you feel better, eases the heavy burden that always seems to press against your ribs after too many long nights. When you have gifts like yours and you don’t use them to help, it’s as good as aiding the enemy.

The men take your offer about as expected. One of them, a cocky hotshot you later learn is called Faraday, actually starts laughing. “Sorry, sweetheart,” he chokes out between guffaws, “I don’t think you’re made for the front lines. Maybe you can help get the rest of the women and children to safety, though?”

You arch a brow. The rest of the group has the decency to shake their heads and look away, avoiding eye contact. “Alright,” you tell him coolly, “Just to ease my temper, though, would y’want to engage in a bit of a shooting contest? Since we’re so far from the front lines now, I’m sure I’ll survive somehow.”

Faraday grins and agrees to your challenge in a heartbeat, smirking over at his friends like he isn’t stressed about losing in the slightest. One of the men looks like he might have to disagree with Faraday’s bravado, though. He’s a little older than the man rolling his eyes as he heads out to the targets outside the saloon, and looks at you with a smile you’re pretty sure is with you instead of just at your expense.

This second man chuckles a little to himself, takes a swallow of the drink in front of him, and tells you to make Faraday wager on the contest, just so your opponent can embarrass himself a little more. You laugh at that, raising your hand in mock salute before joining Faraday outside the saloon. The rules of the shooting contest are agreed upon; three targets from increasingly far distances, closest to the center wins.

Five rounds later, Faraday’s swears increase in volume as he loses progressively more money, and you’re sitting at Sam Chisholm’s table, discussing the group’s plan to rid Rose Creek of its rather oppressive hosts. You learn the names and attitudes of all those at the table, including the one who’d known you’d win from the start.

Goodnight Robicheaux is not what you’d expected of him. You’ve heard stories of an ex-soldier with a gift for bloodthirst, as the so-called Angel of Death is a tale that’s spread far and wide even without Goodnight’s input, but you hadn’t expected the actual man behind the myth to be quite like him. Goody’s nice, a decent man and a better shot, but you wouldn’t connect the name with the body unless someone told you. Goodnight doesn’t like showing off with a gun.

In fact, he doesn’t like touching a weapon at all. You can tell that it’s starting to rankle Faraday and the rest of the men from Rose Creek who’ve agreed to help out– here you have a legend of the war, and he won’t even look at a gun– but Goodnight steadfastly refuses to give in to their not so silent pressure. He offers advice and has promised to help liberate the town, but he will not become the man of such fear and admiration.

You have to respect it. Although you haven’t asked Goody why he won’t shoot a round with the rest, you can guess as to why. Death doesn’t come easy to everyone. This man is a soldier. Was a soldier. He knows what it is to hate what you are. You can understand that better than anyone.

Maybe that’s why the two of you have gotten along so well. You talk when you want to, swap stories when you wish it, but when the nights get long and neither of you can sleep for memories both of you want to hide, you can find him pacing the streets of the town, and you know that you are not alone. Sometimes you walk for miles in the silence, and you have never felt more secure.

The day of the attack sneaks up on you. Bogue’s men show up on the horizon, too many, too strong, but Rose Creek won’t waver and neither will you. You all have your places to be so this mad plan can be orchestrated, so when the sun starts to flood across the sky, you hurry to your station, ready your gun, and prepare your mind to die.

You swore to yourself that you would not use magic during this fight. You don’t need your spells, not really; you’ve long since learned that it’s safer to use a gun to fight off attackers, so you trust your aim in cases like this. The benefit of magic, though, is its strength. Picking off enemy fighters one by one with a gun is nothing compared to how simple it would be to pull up energy from the ground and condemn a dozen men to their graves in the span of half a second.

You can feel it gnawing at you throughout the fight, the knowledge of how easy it would be to end it all. Is it not a sort of betrayal to your friends, to have the capacity to save them all the faster but refuse to use it? You are helping them with your guns right now, but could it ever be enough?

You will not use your spells. You cannot. You should not. Bogue’s men seem to pour out of every cavity in every wall, a thousand rats in a plague upon your friends. If this is your last stand, so be it. It is a good thing to die for a good cause. Better when you’ve spent your whole life running in the hopes of finding something like it.

There is one thing you cannot accept, however, and that is the death of someone you care about. It is one thing to rationalize your own self-sacrifice, but when you look across the battlefield and realize that the bullets of a Gatling gun are about to speed across town and wreck the very church steeple in which Goodnight and Billy are stationed in, the shock and fear of it cuts you like a blade to the heart. 

There is no time, none at all. The trigger has already been pulled. There is nothing any man could do to save them, not up there. You will have the perfect view as they fall from all the way up there. And you look up at him, up on the steeple, and you know that he is not coming down. Not unless you do something. Not unless you do it now.

Nothing no man could do. You are no regular man. It is the easiest thing in the world to think of what you wish. The magic responds instantly, tugging away from your fingers and into the earth. It’s like it’s been waiting this whole time, begging to be used. Clouds of dust rise up from the streets, forming a perfect circle around the church. Then, in a flash, they move out, blocking everything in their path. The bullets ricochet off, finding new targets in the sides of buildings and even enemy soldiers. You count a dozen downed fighters, maybe more than that, all having previously aimed to kill your friends. All dead now.

The Gatling gun goes silent. All is quiet for a moment. You see silhouettes shifting up in the church steeple, and even from this distance, you recognize Goody when he stands and stares at you. Your hands are raised. No one else had been focused on the steeple except for you. There is no proof that you could do something like that, but he does not need proof to explain what he feels, what he knows right now.

We do not ask questions when impossible things happen. Not when they are good. When a bullet that should have struck you right between your eyes somehow curves and misses you mid flight, you praise the Lord instead of asking why. When you swear you caught two fish but there are four flopping there on the bank the next time you blink, you only admire the fine meal you have before you. They could have known you were a witch, all of them. Odds are they did. You don’t ask, though. None of us do. 

Goodnight asks. He waits until the battle is over, until it is won, until the only danger comes from him knowing and you not being able to tell how he will react. He times it so you almost think you’ll get away without him putting two and two together, and then he turns to you, muffled by the din of victorious conversation, and asks, “It was you that saved us, wasn’t it?”

You shrug, looking away with a pointed determination. “I’d say that’s a pretty strong compliment. We all helped as much as we could, you know. Saying that I specifically saved you ignores the rest.”

Goody shakes his head. “You know what I’m talking about. Bullets can’t bounce off of thin air. Unless, of course, someone makes them.”

Your fingers are perfectly still on the table in front of you. “I don’t know how that would happen.”

“Neither do I,” Goody says quietly, “And I’ve decided that it’s not important to me that I do know. What’s important to me is that whoever saved us risked their life to do so. Secrets like that can be deadly. If you ever find out who diverted those bullets, I’d like you to thank them for me.”

You risk a glance his way. Goodnight’s looking fondly at his friends gathered on the other side of the table– a round of cards has started up already, even though the only deck they have has been riddled severely by bullet holes– but that smile, that smile is for you. You know it. He does too.

“It might have been me,” you whisper.

He looks over at you at last. “I’m glad it was,” he tells you. “I’m glad it was you.”

magnificent seven tag list: empty for now, feel free to ask to be added!

bonus tag for @starlit-epiphany bc its your man!! and there are other people than us still in this fandom!!

[adarkrainbow]

A brief talk about Fables and LGBT

When it comes to works dealing with oe re-creating fairy tales, I always like to take a look at any possible LGBT representation. After all, fairytales became such a monolithic symbol of a heterosexual world with no place for queer people that taking a look at non "orthodox" orientations is always one of the easiest but also deepest subversions of the genre. (There's a whole thing to say about the very strong queerness of literary fairytales from madame de Murat and the knight of Mailly to Andersen and Oscar Wilde, but we'll keep this for later - let us focus on the "popular opinion" and "random Joe or Joane" knowledge that "fairytales are for heteros only").

As such, I had to take a look at the LGBT representations in the comic book "Fables". Being one of the big names and great example of fairytale media, building an entire franchise on reinventing fairytales into a modern fantasy and marking the first American entries into the urban-fantasy fairytale world... And it is very interesting because in recent years "Fables" has come under heavy criticism precisely because of a lack of LGBT representation. You have this numerous series, that spawned numerous spin-offs, and co-existed with other great Vertigo titles filled with queerness (Neil Gaiman's Sandman to take an example)... And yet all people remember of it are "heteros everywhere". Is it true? Is Fables truly as queer-unfriendly as we recall?

This post originally began last year as a catalogue of all the queer characters in Fables... But I stopped halfway, realizing I was exhausting myself by just dissecting every little part of the comic. Not that I do not enjoy it - but I have better things to do on my free time. So instead of making a full and exhaustive list of every mention of non-hetero things, I will rather make some broad and general observations based on my knowledge and reading of this franchise.

If we look at the main series, we can only confirm this popular opinion: homosexual characters are neither primary nor secondary - they are tertiary at most. The only character I remember to have been truly confirmed as homosexual was Moss Waterhouse from "Jack Be Nimble". A very cool character - an intelligent, ambitious, charismatic, slightly morally ambiguous Black, gay and Jewish man who knows he is every minority the old world hates and doesn't hesitate to use it as a weapon, and ultimately gets the fame, the wealth and the power. A very cool character... that lasts a few issues and disappears completely. Beyond that... What do we have? Rose-Red says she had "experiences" with women before - but it is a detail thrown hastily in a dialogue of "Animal Farm", and it is unclear if she is truly bisexual, simply "experimented" in her past, or purposefully had lesbian relationships in her conscious and intense effort to break all the social taboos of the Fables community... I did notice a hairdresser that seems to be a "gay hairdresser" stereotype in "The Sons of the Empire", but after that, the series is a desert.

So, while Bill Willingham recognizes gay people exist, he clearly doesn't want to focus on them or talk about gayness in his plots. In fact, he seems to have been thinking more about them in the beginning of his comic (all the mentions above are from the first third or so of the series), before completely focusing on something else. There is not a refusal of depicting homosexuals, no, there is simply no desire to focus on them or push them forward or tell stories about them (except for Moss Waterhouse, who is a focus-character and one of the main characters of the Jack Be Nimble arc - but a tertiary character in Fables as a whole). [Note: I am only looking at here through the lense of inside the comic, but it doesn't help that Willingham is in real-life an openly Christian and old-fashioned author with some... specific ideas that do not really fit with modern sensibilities, resulting in some of the series' primary controversies, like the handling of abortion.]

HOWEVER! To say Fables is not a gay comic FRANCHISE would be a big mistake. Because while the main series is a desert with one oasis, the spin-offs are BURSTING with gay characters! Well, it isn't a Pride Parade still, but we have prominent, important, front-stage homosexual characters, and gay romances are part of the plots and character growths!

"Fairest" is probably the most gay of all the spin-offs : in "The Hidden Kingdom", Rapunzel is confirmed to be bisexual and a key part of the plot is her romance with a female kitsune. In "The Return of the Maharaja" Prince Charming is revealed to be bisexual and Nathoo (of The Jungle Book) to be gay. And in "Clamour for Glamour" Mary is in an homosexual relationship too... Not only are homosexual relationships openly depicted and primary characters confirmed as queer, but the topic of accepting these relationships is also heavily talked about - from Rapunzel facing the rejecting of a feudal Japan moral system, to Nathoo being afraid of his own feelings and Charming having to explain to him they are normal. What is especially interesting about "Fairest" is that the series seems to go at counter-flow against the main series. For example, Prince Charming is confirmed to be bisexual and to have loved at least a man before... But if I recall well, in the beginning of "Fables" Charming made clear he was NOT into guys, only girls. Another case could be brought up - Crispin, whose "gay-coding" was massively amplified in "Of Men and Mice" - in fact, it is very obviously and strongly suggested by the story that Crispin and the Huntsman are more than friends, given how the Huntsman rushes by his side and refuses to leave his hospital bed after the explosion... It is not openly said, leading to Wikipedia articles to go with the usual routine of "They're just good friends", but the way it is framed and having this "very strong same-sex devotional friendship" sandwiched between openly gay romances, it all VERY strongly implies some homoromantic feelings...

Another spin-off that deserves a good place on this list, but that is not well known (because A- it is the last of the spin-offs and B- it got cancelled due to low sales) is "Everafter", which explicitely confirms that Connor Wolf, one of the children of Snow and Bigsby, is not just homosexual, not just bisexual, but PANSEXUAL thanks to his extensive shapeshifting abilities allowing him to turn into all kinds of sexes, genders and species. And this isn't just told to us by dialogue, but also explicitely proven and shown by having Connor enter an homosexual relationship with one of his male colleagues, Tom Swift (from the Tom Swift novels).

So, what made this "queer boom" in the spin-offs? Was it because Willingham was less present, if not completely absent, allowing other voices to write and speak? Was it because it was "side-stories" that could be split from the "main stuff", and thus there could be more experiments? Was it because these series were made and written in the late 2000s and early 2010s rather than the late 90s, and so these subjcts were more on people's minds? Probably a mix of all that - after all, one thing well known is that the spin-offs were places of free experiments and competitive alternatives, resulting in contradicting plotlines that made the series semi-canons compared to Willingham's main continuity (see the dual Sleeping Beauty origin backstory).

The Fables franchise is not "anti-gay", far from it - I do hold the idea that fairytales are an inherently queer genre and so every work dealing with them for too long ends up showing queer themes at one point or another - even though it is true that the Fables SERIES is very, if not almost exclusively, heterosexual-driven. But the very open and normalized homosexuality, bisexuality and pansexuality of the spin-offs help balance this in the scope of a franchise.

Now, you might say: "Hey, you spoke of queerness at the beginning of your post, but now you're all rambling about sexualities! Where's the transgenders at?". And believe me, it was deliberate! Here is the thing - when it comes to trans folks, Fables becomes a whole other lot of complex topic. I do not know what Willingham's personal opinions of trans people are, and it doesn't really matter here because am looking at the actual created work as it can be received from someone with no knowledge of the author. Here's the thing: while the Fables main series is a desert of gayness, it develops a very strong transgender esotericism through focus on specific fairytale topics, reversal of fairytale tropes, and discussion of motifs that truly work as gender-breaking occultism. This is why anyone who reads some arcs of the main series can easily believe Willingham is trans-friendly (again I don't know if he actually IS, and from the rumors I vaguely heard, he might not be fully okay with trans people, but his work speaks a different language). If Willingham truly is against trans people, than this proves my point above: anyone dealing too much or for too long with fairytales in their work will grow queer-messages and queer-themes, that they want it or not.

On one side, you have numerous shapeshifters in this story who explicitely keep altering and changing their appearances and identities, which brings forward questions of "living into two worlds" (like the cubs, halfway between humans and wolves) or having to choose one identity other another. When this gets mingled with inhuman, cosmic entities and personified natural powers this results to some very interesting gender issues - most famous being the North Wind case. When there is talks of the North Wind getting an heir among his grandchildren, there is a whole discussion about how the North Wind will always be King of the North and of Winter... even if the new North Wind is a girl. Which, as the North Wind attendants say, lets the heir choose if they want to become male to match the title, or stay female while being called "King" - because ultimately the North Wind, being a seasonal and weather power, is above and beyond these gender considerations, and mostly uses them as attributes and titles more than anything of real substance.

On the other side, the topic of names is truly fascinating... Fables being iconic characters of popular stories, feeding off their fame and celebrity to gain power, means that they are deeply attached to their names, that their names are their essence and their being, and that these same names will keep haunting them. And yet... in the second half of the comic, we have numerous characters changing their names. Changes that not only mark deep personal growths and dvelopments, but also are accepted by others and change the perceptions of who the character is. When Flycatcher stops being a low janitor in deny, and decides to become a brave, powerful, messianic king, he returns to his original name of "Ambrose". Similarly, Frau Totenkinder when returning to her true self, abandoning the nicknames and disguises, gains a new identity so that the other Fables do not recognize her and mistake her for another person. And of course, there is how Stinky - who got a name he hated, not by choice - becomes Brock Blueheart, though this is here meant to be more of a religious allegory than anything else. But still - for anyone aware of his transgenderism works, to see this importance and focus on the power of names, of names as defining an identity, and of the changing of names to change who you are... It is hard not to see some trans motifs in the second part of the Fables comics.

But even more relevant, even more obvious, even more trans-coded, was the story of Rodney and June. This arc was the definitive proof that no matter what Willingham's personal opinions might be, Fables was a trans-friendly comic, even if maybe against the author's own intentions, or by accident. [Or again, purposefully if Willingham turns out to be cool with transgenders people, I don't know the guy]. Rodney and June, wood-soldiers, born out of trees, made of wood, part of an entire elite nation and civilization of wooden people... Are fascinated by people of flesh, dream of becoming flesh people, even if others see them as weird freaks and advise them to "keep all this hidden" not to compromise their reputation ; and their story is fully developed and fleshed out (no pun intended) from awkward and failed attempts at imitating and understanding the behavior of flesh-people (things like eating or kissing), to them openly and bravely undergoing a quest to demand that their creator grants their wish of becoming people of flesh, and be recognized as such by the empire they live in... When you read this story, it seems massively obvious that this is a barely-veiled plot for anyone dealing with identity issues and trying to change who they currently are to be true to who they want to be - and more importantly who they feel they have to be. You can't do more trans than that - from the whole "don't tell, keep it hidden" behavior of the awkward friends around you to the secret experiments and roleplayings in the privacy of the bedroom...

In conclusion: Next time someone says Fables is homophobic, point out to them that the comics themselves are not. The main series might not have prominent gay stories or characters, but it has some very strong transgender motifs and characters (accidental or not, they're here, they're queer and people have to deal with it) ; while the spin-offs are bursting with unashamed gay romances and explicit lesbian sex. It is definitively not the greatest franchise when it comes to gay representation, but it cannot be said it isn't a queer comic in its whole.

[wizard-smut]

THE FOUNDATIONAL MYTHOLOGY OF THE SEXY WIZARD SCHOOL UNIVERSE

from the nonexistence beyond even entropy there sprang from nothingness a cosmos irradiated with magic, whose laws of physics were born with jellied bones, where the rubber of reality stretched with the slightest application of will. the kind of place where misadventures followed the strict moral guidance of 19th century children's fables.

A Shitty Place, by any measure

in one neglected corner of this vibrant universe there spun a planet full of sapient bipedal creatures whose primary concern centered on growing the biggest grasses imaginable. tall grass, wet grass, potato, they had it all.

then one day, one especially unpopular and bad-grass-growing hominid wandered into a weird cave in the side of Only-Bad-Dipshit-Live-Here Mountain.

unbeknownst to this hominid, whose name was Gug but was commonly referred to as Ugg (this is a cultural joke that doesn't translate directly) ten billion years prior a sentient shaft of rainbow light wasn't paying attention and slammed into mt onlybaddipshit, permanently trapping itself in a crystal geode.

well, let's just say Gug made a real Ugg of itself and decided to smash open the ominously glowing crystal wall at the back of a cave full of skeletons of Freaky Space Mammoths &c and other species unknown to Grass Hominids or anything else ever

so Ugg is bathed in scintillating hues, obviously, saturated with colors from out of space, primitive hominid brain awash in magickal powres, gates of perception blown open, yadda yadda yadda, cognizant of all space and time, angels dancing on the head of a pin, and he becomes a wizard

this is just what one DOES

but not JUST a wizard. oh ho ho no. an EVIL SPACE CAVEWIZARD. that is legally the worst kind, according to law. real kill on sight asshoeles.

so Gug, who immediately starts referring itself to Drakenhof Von Vilesmythe, flies out of the cave and starts going full Dresden on the grass hominids. he rains fire, casts lightning, rains snakes, most of his attacks were either weather or vermin-based, just really typical Ugg behavior.

he wipes out the grass hominid society in like, fifteen minutes. there were not a lot of them, and they generally lived under piles of trees, because they were so fixated on big grasses that they never invented architecture.

Drakenhof Von Vilesmythe went ahead and magicked himself up a real nice castle atop Mount Very Normal Crystals, and sat alone on his throne.

as all despots do, he got bored, and wandered into his workshop, where he went about inventing all kinds of new monsters and such. Dracowyverns, Fang Children, Flying Knives, white people, Sexy Elf's, basically the most foul line-up of villains the universe ever seen.

well the universe DID in fact seen, and responding to the laws &c of cosmic narrative functionality, rose up in protest of such evil, and created GOODMAN MCMANANUS, a powerfully Good Cavewizard, and lo they did battle.

they cast fireballs, firesnakes, thunderrats, fought each other in the rain on the side of a tower, took turns hurling each other off cliffs, just really made a day of it

anyway this fighting went on for Way Too Long. the minions and fell servitors got bored and eventually developed their own society independent of the wizard wars. it evolved to exactly feudal medieval european level, or at least what i imagine that was like.

sadly due to the world being a janked up mess after aeons and aeons of Wizard Combat, the heavy background magickal radiation ensured that a higher number than normal of these babies were born with the W-gene.

after getting their shit rocked and re-rocked immediately after unrocking itself, the creatures decided that the safest thing to do was build a giant school for the wizards to fuck around in and just let them do their own thing way over there.

and so, every day, when a denizen of Normalsville turned 18 and started developing Protagonist Thought, they would find their asses shipped off to....

THE SEXY WIZARD SCHOOL

oh also i forgot to mention that all the monsters and wizard servants and stuff, their genes all combined and mixed together and made creatures that look indistinguishable from modern humans. note to clarion workshop scouts, thats the kind of rich worldbuilding and social commentary you can expect to find here at tumblr dot com slash wizard smut.

ok thanks everyone have a good day and dont get diseases

[shoque]

Realms of Whitmore - Sulani Pt. 2

After ages of life on Sister Rock, two of Dolphin's descendants rose above all others and into the sky.

Kai L'Aqua enlightened the islands and returned them to Mother Sea's embrace. She tasked herself and her followers to build a Temple in Mother Sea's Honor.

Mother Sea made her appreciation known by striking the nearby beach with a fierce bolt and providing two gifts. Instantly the sand turned to glass under the flash.

On the next day, the second gift arrived the form of two strangers on a steamy tide. They brought with them the knowledge to build Sulitas (small suns). Kai immediately began installing these in the Temple.

Mother Sea returned to the Empress that night and told her one day she would be the Sul in the Sky.

Eternal Sister Rock watched as Dolphin's descendants lived upon her shores. She simmered with jealousy as the Sulanis returned to Mother Sea's embrace.

"Sister Fish," Rock trembled "do as your told."

Fearing the angered Rock's red waters sister fish swam to the shore and asked "Sister, where am I to go?" "I desire to hear your children sing" Sister Rock replied. She then told Fish her nefarious plan.

Sister Fish had many children. Among them were the frogs of Tadpole Falls. These sacred waters were blessed by Mother Sea to provide fertility to those who enter them together.

The frogs sang out to the Empress and her first follower, a man named Sho Miyamoto. The two dove within the waters and were blessed with a baby boy named Keanu.

The evening of Keanu's birth, the frogs called out once more. However, they called upon a different man. Enchanted, Kai and the man entered the falls together.

During this act, Sister Rock trembled and the ground shook. Frighted, Sho grabbed his son and set out to find Kai. "Danger! Faliing water." Sister Rock shouted in return.

Sho followed Sister Rock's advice and found the two in Tadpole Falls. Still entranced by the frogs, Kai gave Sho nor their son any mind.

Sho tried to confront them as Sister Rock coughed with delight spewing rocks across the land.

Her venomous red spit hissed contempt into Sho's ears. "I will provide and protect the child" she said "She is unworthy of your love."

Sho listened. He took their son and to the peak of the mountain and under the canopy Sister Rock provided.

That night Mother Sea scolded Sister Rock and Kai alike with a powerful thunderstorm. "You must carry the burden you've chosen and provide for the descendants of the Moon" she told to Rock.

She then appeared to Kai in her dreams "And your burden will be yours and future generations to bear. For the daughters of the Sun will never find love."

And so, Sho Miyamoto was risen by Sister Rock and the Mother Sea to be the Moon that dotted the night sky- his descendants to forever sworn protection from the land.

~ Sulani Empyrean Fable