#A few mythology sites said so

[johannepetereric]

Ok, so I’m googling Brazilian dragons cuz I’m making a Brazilian half-dragon OC, and I don’t want THIS dragon parent to be pulled out my ass.

So, if I got this right, I found the boi-tatá, which is a big snake that murders people and eats the corpses’ eyeballs as its food, and it has fire for eyes (like Percy Jackson’s Ares, apparently). It is basically blind during the day, but has OP night vision. I think it’d be funny if they got to a “human fucks a dragon” story because the human is blind, so there’s no point in eating the eyeballs except for habit, since there’s no eyesight to steal in the first place. And so it falls in love with this exception. And then the offspring is similarly blind. There’s apparently this repel spell where you stay still to ward it off, close your eyes so it won’t eat your eyeballs? But we can keep that, and it’s a condition to keep your eyes closed, if you’re a seeing person, when you’re in close contact in them so they don’t eat your eyeballs (and of course the option of blindfolds) We can keep the murder, have the humans be morally grey/dark by ok-ing the murder and mutilation that isn’t them.

Is that an ok way to spin this, or is there a different way to spin the beast, or is there another, better candidate for dragon(-ish) parent?

Can somebody who actually knows Brazilian mythology fact-check me?

[mollyrealized]

How Michael Met Neil

original direct link [MP3]

(Neil, if you see this, please feel free to grab the transcript and store on your site; I had no easy way of contacting you.)

DAVID TENNANT: Tell me about @neil-gaiman then, because he's in that category [previously: “such a profound effect on my life”] as well.

MICHAEL SHEEN: So this is what has brought us together.

DAVID: Yes.

MICHAEL: To the new love story for the 21st century.

DAVID: Exactly.

MICHAEL: So when I went to drama school, there was a guy called Gary Turner in my year. And within the first few weeks, we were doing something, having a drink or whatever. And he said to me, “Do you read comic books?”

And I said, “No.”  I mean, this is … what … '88?  '88, '89.  So it was … now I know that it was a period of time that was a big change, transformation going through comic books.  Rather than it being thought of as just superheroes and Batman and Superman, there was this whole new era of a generation of writers like Grant Morrison.

DAVID: The kids who'd grown up reading comic books were now making comic books

MICHAEL: Yeah, yeah, and starting to address different kinds of subjects through the comic book medium. So it wasn't about just superheroes, it was all kinds of stuff going on – really fascinating stuff. And I was totally unaware of this.

And so this guy Gary said to me, "Do you read them?" And I said, "No."  And he went, "Right, okay, here's The Watchman [sic] by Alan Moore. Here's Swamp Thing. Here's Hellblazer. And here's Sandman.”

And Sandman was Neil Gaiman's big series that put his name on the map. And I read all those, and, just – I was blown away by all of them, but particularly the Sandman stories, because he was drawing on mythology, which was something I was really interested in, and fairy tales, folklore, and philosophy, and Shakespeare, and all kinds of stuff were being mixed up in this story.  And I absolutely loved it.

So I became a big fan of Neil's, and started reading everything by him. And then fairly shortly after that, within six months to a year, Good Omens the book came out, which Neil wrote with Terry Pratchett. And so I got the book – because I was obviously a big fan of Neil's by this point – read it, loved it, then started reading Terry Pratchett’s stuff as well, because I didn't know his stuff before then – and then spent years and years and years just being a huge fan of both of them.

And then eventually when – I'd done films like the Underworld films and doing Twilight films. And I think it was one of the Twilight films, there was a lot of very snooty interviews that happened where people who considered themselves well above talking about things like Twilight were having to interview me … and, weirdly, coming at it from the attitude of 'clearly this is below you as well' … weirdly thinking I'm gonna go, 'Yeah, fucking Twilight.”

And I just used to go, "You know what? Some of the greatest writing of the last 50-100 years has happened in science fiction or fantasy."  Philip K Dick is one of my favorite writers of all time. In fact, the production of Hamlet I did was mainly influenced by Philip K Dick.  Ursula K. Le Guin and Asimov, and all these amazing people. And I talked about Neil as well. And so I went off on a bit of a rant in this interview.

Anyway, the interview came out about six months later, maybe.  Knock on the door, open the door, delivery of a big box. That’s interesting. Open the box, there's a card at the top of the box. I open the card.

It says, From one fan to another, Neil Gaiman.  And inside the box are first editions of Neil's stuff, and all kinds of interesting things by Neil. And he just sent this stuff.

DAVID: You'd never met him?

MICHAEL: Never met him. He'd read the interview, or someone had let him know about this interview where I'd sung his praises and stood up for him and the people who work within that sort of genre as being like …

And he just got in touch. We met up for the first time when he came to – I was in Los Angeles at the time, and he came to LA.  And he said, "I'll take you for a meal."

I said, “All right.”

He said, "Do you want to go somewhere posh, or somewhere interesting?”

I said, "Let's go somewhere interesting."

He said, "Right, I'm going to take you to this restaurant called The Hump." And it's at Santa Monica Airport. And it's a sushi restaurant.

I was like, “Right, okay.” So I had a Mini at the time. And we get in my Mini and we drive off to Santa Monica Airport. And this restaurant was right on the tarmac, like, you could sit in the restaurant (there's nobody else there when we got there, we got there quite early) and you're watching the planes landing on Santa Monica Airport. It's extraordinary. 

And the chef comes out and Neil says, "Just bring us whatever you want. Chef's choice."

So, I'd never really eaten sushi before. So we sit there; we had this incredible meal where they keep bringing these dishes out and they say, “This is [blah, blah, blah]. Just use a little bit of soy sauce or whatever.”  You know, “This is eel.  This is [blah].”

And then there was this one dish where they brought out and they didn't say what it was. It was like “mystery dish”, we had it ... delicious. Anyway, a few more people started coming into the restaurant as time went on.

And we're sort of getting near the end, and I said, "Neil, I can't eat anymore. I'm gonna have to stop now. This is great, but I can't eat–"

"Right, okay. We'll ask for the bill in a minute."

And then the door opens and some very official people come in. And it was the Feds. And the Feds came in, and we knew they were because they had jackets on that said they were part of the Federal Bureau of Whatever. And about six of them come in. Two of them go … one goes behind the counter, two go into the kitchen, one goes to the back. They've all got like guns on and stuff.

And me and Neil are like, "What on Earth is going on?"

And then eventually one guy goes, "Ladies and gentlemen, if you haven't ordered already, please leave. If you're still eating your meal, please finish up, pay your bill, leave."*

[* - delivered in a perfect American ‘serious law agent’ accent/impression]

And we were like, "Oh my God, are we poisoned? Is there some terrible thing that's happened?"  

We'd finished, so we pay our bill.  And then all the kitchen staff are brought out. And the head chef is there. The guy who's been bringing us this food. And he's in tears. And he says to Neil, "I'm so sorry." He apologizes to Neil.  And we leave. We have no idea what happened.

DAVID: But you're assuming it's the mystery dish.

MICHAEL: Well, we're assuming that we can't be going to – we can't be –  it can't be poisonous. You know what I mean? It can't be that there's terrible, terrible things.

So the next day was the Oscars, which is why Neil was in town. Because Coraline had been nominated for an Oscar. Best documentary that year was won by The Cove, which was by a team of people who had come across dolphins being killed, I think.

Turns out, what was happening at this restaurant was that they were having illegal endangered species flown in to the airport, and then being brought around the back of the restaurant into the kitchen.

We had eaten whale – endangered species whale. That was the mystery dish that they didn't say what it was.

And the team behind The Cove were behind this sting, and they took them down that night whilst we were there.

DAVID: That’s extraordinary.

MICHAEL: And we didn't find this out for months.  So for months, me and Neil were like, "Have you worked anything out yet? Have you heard anything?"

"No, I haven't heard anything."

And then we heard that it was something to do with The Cove, and then we eventually found out that that restaurant, they were all arrested. The restaurant was shut down. And it was because of that. And we'd eaten whale that night.

DAVID: And that was your first meeting with Neil Gaiman.

MICHAEL: That was my first meeting. And also in the drive home that night from that restaurant, he said, and we were in my Mini, he said, "Have you found the secret compartment?"

I said, "What are you talking about?" It's such a Neil Gaiman thing to say.

DAVID: Isn't it?

MICHAEL: The secret compartment? Yeah. Each Mini has got a secret compartment. I said, "I had no idea." It's secret. And he pressed a little button and a thing opened up. And it was a secret compartment in my own car that Neil Gaiman showed me.

DAVID: Was there anything inside it?

MICHAEL: Yeah, there was a little man. And he jumped out and went, "Hello!" No, there was nothing in there. There was afterwards because I started putting...

DAVID: Sure. That's a very Neil Gaiman story. All of that is such a Neil Gaiman story.

MICHAEL: That's how it began. Yeah.

DAVID: And then he came to offer you the part in Good Omens.

MICHAEL: Yeah. Well, we became friends and we would whenever he was in town, we would meet up and yeah, and then eventually he started, he said, "You know, I'm working on an adaptation of Good Omens." And I can remember at one point Terry Gilliam was going to maybe make a film of it. And I remember being there with Neil and Terry when they were talking about it. And...

DAVID: Were you involved at that point?

MICHAEL: No, no, I wasn't involved. I just happened to have met up with Neil that day.

DAVID: Right.

MICHAEL: And then Terry Gilliam came along and they were chatting, that was the day they were talking about that or whatever.

And then eventually he sent me one of the scripts for an early draft of like the first episode of Good Omens. And he said – and we started talking about me being involved in it, doing it – he said, “Would you be interested?” I was like, "Yeah, of course."  I went, "Oh my God." And he said, "Well, I'll send you the scripts when they come," and I would read them, and we'd talk about them a little bit. And so I was involved.

But it was always at that point with the idea, because he'd always said about playing Crowley in it. And so, as time went on, as I was reading the scripts, I was thinking, "I don't think I can play Crowley. I don't think I'm going to be able to do it." And I started to get a bit nervous because I thought, “I don't want to tell Neil that I don't think I can do this.”  But I just felt like I don't think I can play Crowley.

DAVID: Of course you can [play Crowley?].

MICHAEL: Well, I just on a sort of, on a gut level, sometimes you have it on a gut level.

DAVID: Sure, sure.

MICHAEL: I can do this.

DAVID: Yeah.

MICHAEL: Or I can't do this. And I just thought, “You know what, this is not the part for me. The other part is better for me, I think. I think I can do that, I don't think I could do that.”

But I was scared to tell Neil because I thought, "Well, he wants me to play Crowley" – and then it turned out he had been feeling the same way as well.  And he hadn't wanted to mention it to me, but he was like, "I think Michael should really play Aziraphale."

And neither of us would bring it up.  And then eventually we did. And it was one of those things where you go, "Oh, thank God you said that. I feel exactly the same way." And then I think within a fairly short space of time, he said, “I think we've got … David Tennant … for Crowley.” And we both got very excited about that.

And then all these extraordinary people started to join in. And then, and then off we went.

DAVID: That's the other thing about Neil, he collects people, doesn't he? So he'll just go, “Oh, yeah, I've phoned up Frances McDormand, she's up for it.” Yeah. You're, what?

MICHAEL: “I emailed Jon Hamm.”

DAVID: Yeah.

MICHAEL: And yeah, and you realize how beloved he is and how beloved his work is. And I think we would both recognise that Good Omens is one of the most beloved of all of Neil's stuff.

DAVID: Yes.

MICHAEL: And had never been turned into anything.

DAVID: Yeah.

MICHAEL: And so the kind of responsibility of that, I mean, for me, for someone who has been a fan of him and a fan of the book for so long, I can empathize with all the fans out there who are like, “Oh, they better not fuck this up.”

DAVID: Yes.

MICHAEL: “And this had better be good.” And I have that part of me. But then, of course, the other part of me is like, “But I'm the one who might be fucking it up.”

DAVID: Yeah.

MICHAEL: So I feel that responsibility as well.

DAVID: But we have Neil on site.

MICHAEL: Yes. Well, Neil being the showrunner …

DAVID: Yeah. I think it takes the curse off.

MICHAEL: … I think it made a massive difference, didn't it? Yeah. You feel like you're in safe hands.

DAVID: Well, we think. Not that the world has seen it yet.

MICHAEL (grimly): No, I know.

DAVID: But it was a -- it's been a -- it's been a joy to work with you on it. I can't wait for the world to see it.

MICHAEL: Oh my God.  Oh, well, I mean, it's the only, I've done a few things where there are two people, it's a bit of a double act, like Frost-Nixon and The Queen, I suppose, in some ways. But, and I've done it, Amadeus or whatever.

This is the only thing I've done where I really don't think of it as “my character” or “my performance as that character”.  I think of it totally as us.

DAVID: Yeah.

MICHAEL: The two of us.

DAVID: Yes.

MICHAEL: Like they, what I do is defined by what you do.

DAVID: Yeah.

MICHAEL: And that was such a joy to have that experience. And it made it so much easier in a way as well, I found, because you don't feel like you're on your own in it. Like it's totally us together doing this and the two characters totally complement each other. And the experience of doing it was just a real joy.

DAVID: Yeah.  Well, I hope the world is as excited to see it as we are to talk about it, frankly.

MICHAEL: You know, there's, having talked about T.S. Eliot earlier, there's another bit from The Wasteland where there's a line which goes, These fragments I have shored against my ruin.

And this is how I think about life now. There is so much in life, no matter what your circumstances, no matter what, where you've got, what you've done, how much money you got, all that. Life's hard.  I mean, you can, it can take you down at any point.

You have to find this stuff. You have to like find things that will, these fragments that you hold to yourself, they become like a liferaft, and especially as time goes on, I think, as I've got older, I've realized it is a thin line between surviving this life and going under.

And the things that keep you afloat are these fragments, these things that are meaningful to you and what's meaningful to you will be not-meaningful to someone else, you know. But whatever it is that matters to you, it doesn't matter what it was you were into when you were a teenager, a kid, it doesn't matter what it is. Go and find them, and find some way to hold them close to you. 

Make it, go and get it. Because those are the things that keep you afloat. They really are. Like doing that with him or whatever it is, these are the fragments that have shored against my ruin. Absolutely.

DAVID: That's lovely. Michael, thank you so much.

MICHAEL: Thank you.

DAVID: For talking today and for being here.

MICHAEL: Oh, it's a pleasure. Thank you.

[sentientcave]

WAIT WAIT WAIT i need to hear about the 141 paranormal investigators omg???

OKAY SO

Basically it's like, a non-military AU where they have a youtube channel and investigate haunted places and look for cryptids and junk. Ghost is the camera/editing guy, Gaz and Johnny handle social media and are the primary faces, and John is a professor of Mythology and Folklore on extended leave that became a permanent fixture after they interviewed him too many times. They're on an American road trip, and they chance upon a hidden town full of actual supernatural people and creatures. Cue shenanigans while the townspeople try not to get caught on camera. Also they meet a hot witch who runs the B&B (the only place to stay in town).

Here's some of all this silliness:

“Relax, Soap.” Price used his stern teaching voice, the one that could command a rowdy hall of college students (most of whom were only taking his class because they thought it would be an easy credit) to be quiet and pay attention. “If we get lost you’ll get to gloat about bein’ right, how about that?”

“Rather no’ get lost, but Ah suppose it’ll do.”

Simon and Gaz exchanged a look, both of them trying not to laugh. They were an odd bunch, by any metric. Gaz had started a youtube channel reviewing local businesses around Manchester while he was attending university, which is where he had met Simon (Or Ghost, as he had introduced himself back then), who had been the butcher at a shop Gaz wanted to review. Ghost had been told to give Gaz a tour, so he had, reluctantly, and Gaz had gone home later that week to find Ghost sitting in front of his computer, editing the video.

“You do shite work,” he’d said, the only explanation he had offered for his presence in Ga’s apartment. “Fine substance, but terrible camera an’ editin’.”

And well, Ghost’s video had done a lot better than any of Gaz’s previous ones, so he’d asked him to continue. Ghost suggested moving on to different content as well, to exploring some of the spookier sites around Manchester (Of which Ghost seemed to be intimately familiar, unnervingly enough), and they had interviewed Price a few times to give the videos an air of legitimacy, since he was a professor of mythology and folklore at Gaz’s university.

Johnny had been their missing link, however. They’d gone to do a video in Glasgow, and kept running into him everywhere they went. He’d provided some useful local knowledge, and had a channel of his own, where he mostly blew stuff up and did parkour around the city. The Glasgow videos all went viral, and the channel suddenly became something they could potentially throw themselves into doing on a more full time basis.

Price, chafing at the routine of teaching, asked to join them on a more permanent basis as well. And since he had the two things that the rest of them lacked (A car and a savings account), they agreed. That had been four years ago. And somehow, it was working. They weren’t exactly making a lot of money, but they were getting by, and Price had written and published two new books, using their travel and research to pad out what might have otherwise been dry, academic work.

Simon flicked the radio back on, the van filling with the sharp sound of static. They’d lost their last station somewhere along the drive. He fiddled with the tuner until an upbeat, overly patriotic country song came in clear.

Gaz made a disgruntled sound in the backseat. He’d made his disdain for country music clear somewhere back in California.

“Just tryin’ to get a traffic report. Untwist your knickers, Gaz.”

“If we’d stayed on the main road we’d no’ need a report.” Johnny could never stop himself from throwing in his two pence. “We’d be in it.”

Price reached over for the volume, and turned up the music, drowning them out as one song switched to the next.

[alienelvisobsession]

The David Bowie Connection

David Jones’s very first performance was not as David Bowie, Ziggy Stardust, or the Thin White Duke, but as an Elvis impersonator in front of a crowd of Boy Scouts in Bromley. The year was 1958, David was 11 years old, and among the songs that he sang for his audience there was probably “Hound Dog”, which his cousin Kristina remembers as one of the records he owned, and to which they danced to “like possessed elves”. It’s important to remember that it was difficult to get American records back then in England, but through his work as a promoter, David’s father managed to bring home a collection of American 45s, which included Little Richard, Fats Domino and, obviously, Elvis. Rock ‘n roll was like a ray of sunshine in David’s grey postwar world, still plagued with food rations and the rubble of bomb sites.

In high school, David liked jamming with his guitar, like Elvis did, and he was also interested in fashion and science fiction like him. Rock ‘n roll was elusive in England, but there were cafés with a jukebox where you could hear it as if it were some secret information. David liked oddities and stagecraft, like Elvis’ gyrations and extravagant clothes. He also loved Little Richard, whom he thought would die on stage because of the energy he put during his concerts. He would later say: “Elvis had the choreography, he had a way of looking at the world that was totally original, totally naïve, and totally available as a blueprint. Who wouldn’t want to copy Elvis? Elvis had it all. It wasn’t just the music that was interesting, it was everything else. And he had a lot of everything else.”

After a few unsuccessful albums, David Jones – now using the name David Bowie, like the knife – started experimenting with what the press called “glam rock”, that a lot of people thought was decadent and deviant. In 1972, when questioned about young boys with glitter makeup attending concerts, he said: “What about Elvis Presley? If his image wasn’t bisexual then I don’t know what is. People talk about fag rock, but that’s an unwieldy term at the best of times.” You could say that Bowie, like Elvis, obliterated boundaries in music, as much as in fashion, changing forever what was permitted and accepted as a stage artist, playing with clothes, makeup and sexuality in new ways.

Bowie’s fascination with Elvis was so big that in June 1972 he attended his concert at Madison Square Garden. “I came over for a long weekend,” Bowie recalled many years later. “I remember coming straight from the airport and walking into Madison Square Garden very late. I was wearing all my clobber from the Ziggy period and I had great seats near the front. The whole place just turned to look at me and I felt like a right cunt. I had brilliant red hair, some huge padded space suit and those red boots with big black soles. I wished I’d gone for something quiet, because I must have registered with him. He was well into his set.”

That was the concert that triggered the famous New York Times headline “Like a Prince from Another Planet”. It’s serendipitous that Bowie’s influential album “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars”, where he plays an androgynous alien rock star, came out that same month. The alter ego and stage persona of Ziggy Stardust, which he used in 1972-73, had started to form the year before, during an American tour. Like everything in his music and stagecraft, Bowie was inspired by many things, from Iggy Pop to experimental theater. Ziggy Stardust was loosely inspired by Vince Taylor, a 1950s rock ‘n roller who Bowie witnessed going off his rocker and obsessing over aliens, but it’s also reminiscent of Elvis (whose fall from grace had already started, according to many, and whose mythology includes being an alien). Unlike other early Elvis fans, though, Bowie loved Elvis’ 1970s jumpsuits and explicitly told his costume designer Freddie Burretti to draw inspiration from them for his stage costumes. As a result, Ziggy’s costumes are as outrageous as Elvis’, but in a different way.

To double down on his rock n’ roll opera, “Rock ‘n Roll Suicide”, the melodramatic song with which Ziggy closed his concerts, is essentially about a washed-up rockstar. Ziggy literally sang it in an Elvis-style jumpsuit, and a solemn voice announced at the end of the concert: “Mr. Bowie has left the building”. Ziggy is an archetypal messiah rockstar who arrives on earth from Mars, becomes a prophet of rock ‘n roll, and then literally destroys himself. You can argue that Ziggy Stardust was a departure from hippies: a postmodern interpretation of a rockstar, and a meditation on superstar status.

The following album, “Aladdin Sane”, where Bowie continues the story of Ziggy Stardust, features the rockstar with a lightning bolt drawn across his face, which many say is a reference to Elvis’ TCB logo.

Elvis and Bowie, who share the same birthday, are very different artists, but if Elvis was the sacrificial lamb of rock ‘n roll, Bowie had his example to become a master in brand renewal, and studied deaths and rebirths. After killing his Ziggy Stardust alter ego, Bowie had other inspirations and continued to create extravagant personas to use on stage and off stage, not without controversies.

Bowie’s connection with Elvis went further than just liking his early hits: he had an awareness of his own fallibility that made him empathize with Elvis on a more profound level. Of his disastrous 1978 movie “Just a Gigolo”, for example, he said that it was “thirty-two Elvis movies rolled into one.” He was still very much fascinated with him in 1975-76, to such a degree that he pitched his song “Golden Years”, which incorporates elements of 1950s doo-wop into a funk tune, to him. Although it’s unclear if Elvis ever heard the song, Bowie’s office did contact Colonel Parker for a possible collaboration, maybe as a producer for one of Elvis’ albums.

Even Bowie’s last song, “Black Star”, references Elvis. Written at a time when Bowie knew he was dying, the song has the same title as an an alternative version of the title track for his 1960 western movie “Flaming Star”. It’s a song about death, as in the movie Pacer knows his time has come and Elvis sings: “Every man has a black star / A black star over his shoulder / And when a man sees his black star / He knows his time, his time has come”. It seems to me that Bowie intended to close a circle with this reference: since they were born on the same day, it seemed only natural to reference Elvis’ fictional death in one of his movies. Only, in one of his most clever postmodern games, Bowie’s death wasn’t fictional after all.

Here is David Bowie imitating Elvis’ voice for a Christmas message on BBC radio 6 Music in 2013:

August 16, 2002 marked the 25th anniversary of Elvis’ death and Bowie opened the concert with “I Feel So Bad” and “One Night”, and told the story of what he was doing when Elvis died:

Here is a link with my other connection posts. I have written about many artists who were inspired by Elvis, from Jimi Hendrix to Quentin Tarantino. If you have any suggestions about artists who have an Elvis connection worth exploring let me know, and I’ll do some research for my next post.

[entishramblings]

The Innocence of Brutality Pt. 5 [Legolas/F!Reader]

PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3 | PART 4 | PART 6 | PART 7

A.N: so I originally was going to end this fic at pt. 4, but somehow everyone loved it?? so we are continuing. i hope you enjoy! Also it gets the tiniest bit heated 🌶

Request: none

Pairing: Legolas X Fem!Reader

Summary: The Reader is Rámaitë Mahtar, a warrior spirit race, and she meets the fellowship on their quest to destroy the ring.  

Disclaimer: Any mythology relating to the Rámaitë Mahtar is not canon as I made up Rámaitë Mahtar. Also, all elvish was translated from a translator site—it may not be accurate.

Word Count: 3k

Warnings: nudity (not sex), mentions of war, mentions of torture, violence, fluff

MASTERLIST | AO3 | WATTPAD

The Innocence of Brutality Masterlist

The gentle rays of the morning sun, dancing with a pink and orange hue, crept through the glass of the shitty window of the inn. The light fractured and bent from the cracks that shattered through it, creating rainbows across the room. These little clusters of colorful light dashed across the wooden walls and flooring, and filtered across Legolas skin. This (Y/N) found fascinating. 

(Y/N), the first awake, stayed curled into the elf’s side, tracing the rainbows that stretched upon his bare chest. She too was wrapped under the covers, her clothing twisted around her body, but she didn’t seem to mind. She was focused on the different bursts of light that twinkled upon Legolas’ form.

At this repetitive gentle touch, he opened his blue eyes. 

“(Y/N),” he stated roughly, for he was rather groggy, as he gently rubbed her back.

“What are these colors?” she asked abruptly, not picking up on the rather gentle and soft demeanor Legolas preferred to take at this hour.

He frowned, glancing down at his skin. A little smile then crossed his face, for he realized what she had meant. “Rainbows,” he replied. Legolas pointed at the window. “The light coming through the glass creates them. It is said that rainbows are messages from the Valar, wishing us well as the sun rises and sets.”

She frowned. She didn’t seem to like the Valar.

With that, she rolled away from him and stood from the bed, the sheets falling back down onto Legolas like that of a wave collapsing into the sea.

He sighed at the loss of contact, for he wished she had stayed curled against him.

(Y/N), however, didn't seem to notice. She just walked around the room, absorbing the decoration of light that it now wore.

“We should find the others,” Legolas began. “They will want to leave as soon as—”

A brisk knock sounded upon the wooden door and the creator of such a sound didn’t stop to wait for an answer. “Laddie!” Gimli called as he threw open the door. “Have ya seen the girl?! Aragorn says she left sometime in the night…” His voice trailed off when he noticed her in the room, tracing the colorful hues that swirled upon the walls. “Well, uh, nevermind then.”

Gimli turned to look back at the elf, his expression one of playful accusatory. 

Legolas instantly shut that down. “She came to wake me this morning.”

(Y/N)’s brows pulled downward as she heard his untruthful words, but she did not move to say anything about it.

“Ahh,” was Gimli’s short reply. “Well, both of ye hurry up. We wanna be out of here before the rest of the town opens their measly lids.”

The elf only nodded, throwing the covers back and rising from the bed.

Satisfied that his friend wasn’t going to go back to sleep, Gimli left—slamming the door as he did so.

The winged woman didn’t turn, instead she, still captivated, continued to study the colors. 

Therefore, Legolas decided that it was alright to change from his sleep trousers and into his traveling clothes. With dismay, he peeled them off and began re-dressing quickly. This would be one of the few times that he would get the chance to sleep in such comforts, for once they were on the road he knew it was unlikely that they would stop again. Regardless, he was quick to finish up, for he didn’t want another member of the fellowship to burst in. He didn't want them asking any questions. 

As he slung his bow over his shoulder, he spoke. “(Y/N).”

She didn't answer—her curious eyes still stuck to the damn rainbows like sap would adhere to a tree. 

“(Y/N),” he called again, a little harsher.

This time, she turned to look at him.

“Come on.”

With that, she followed him from the room. 

As the fellowship started their trek through the rough terrain once again, many different moods hung in the air. The hobbits were refreshed and lively, talking of the food they ate and the rest they had. It seemed the night at the inn served them well. Gimli and Boromir were in high spirits too, chiming in on the hobbits’ conversation. Even Gandalf seemed happier as he spoke with Aragorn about navigation. Legolas, on the other hand was silent.

The elven Prince hung in the back, his eyes locked onto the winged warrior that walked with the hobbits. His mind swirled with thoughts as anxieties crept deep into the dark corners of his mind and his heart hung heavy with guilt. He feared that he somehow had taken advantage of (Y/N). Although they had only kissed, he felt as if they shouldn’t have—despite what his heart desired. She was still very much so unaware of this world and the ways of its people. She was still learning and figuring out how to navigate such a treacherous existence. (Y/N) was so innocent and uneducated, he didn't want to pressure her into anything—including a relationship with him. Valar—Did she even know what a relationship was? Were they even in one? The last thing he would want to do was manipulate her with the hope and cravings of his heart when he wasn't entirely sure she knew how hearts worked. Still, his spirit yearned to hold hers—to keep hers safe. Legolas kept reminding himself that she was the one who initiated the kiss. (Y/N) had been the one to climb on top of him and grab onto his face. She had been the one to press her lips upon his own and melt his mind into nothing but thoughts of her. Besides, she had shown him that she knew what love was. She had admitted to those emotions with her words of Morgoth and desire to be free of him, yet still choosing risk instead—risk for Legolas. Not to mention, a third factor filled his system with concern: the fellowship. They were on a quest—the most important mission to ever take place upon middle earth. Would his devotion to (Y/N) be detrimental? Would his friends approve of the woman that most were still wary of? Gandalf most certainly would not. And he was pretty sure Boromir wouldn’t either, for the man’s less than appropriate words spoken when they first met the Rámaite Mahtar drifted in his thoughts. If they knew how quickly he would surrender everything for her, would they still want his help? Furthermore, Gandalf’s words of unease still lingered in his mind. (Y/N) has been described as the most ruthless and brutal of the Rámaite Mahtar. Although she did not seem it most times, he knew she was dangerous. All of this, well—he knew not what would become of him and he feared it was too late. The damage had already been done. But now? Now he was addicted to her. He couldn’t bear to not be woven into her soul. Maybe he should never have crawled into that crater? This persistent war raged on within the elf’s mind—dark, lonely, and full of an aching pain. 

“Legolas,” a feminine voice stated as fingers smaller than his own slipped into his palm.

The elf blinked a couple times, turning to look at (Y/N). He had not realized she had come to walk with him. He let his hand slip away from hers as he spoke. “Yes?”

“The rainbows,” she began as she pointed to the sky. “One is here.”

Legolas looked up and, sure enough, the vibrant hues hung upon the clear blue—stretching like that of a smile. He couldn’t help but mirror it for a moment as he glanced at the gleeful woman beside him. “That it is.”

She grinned.

…

As the days went on, Legolas tried to keep his distance from (Y/N). The war in his mind still persisted for he knew not what the right decision would be. Yet still, this distance was hard to control. Every ounce of him wanted to embrace her. He wanted to wrap his strong arms around her form and hold her to his chest. He wanted to pull her away from the brewing war and away from her past. He wanted to teach her more of their world. He wanted to keep her safe. He wanted to love her. But the nine pairs of watchful eyes that flickered around him made him hold his desires at bay. (Y/N), however, didn’t make it easy to do so.

Legolas was acutely aware that one thing she seemed to love was his attention. She was always beside him—tugging on his arm, pulling on his hand, and yanking on his form. Her persistence always came with a smile and excitement. She was simply happy. She was happy to learn. She was happy to explore. She was happy to experience. The weight of the mission didn't seem to bring her spirits down, though Legolas assumed it was because she didn't entirely understand how much responsibility they held. If they failed, the world would burn. There would be no more birds, no more fish, no more rainbows. But still, (Y/N) just wanted to live and be free. 

As they began to set up camp, (Y/N) came bouncing towards the Prince. “Legolas!”

He glanced up from his bag. He had been rummaging in it, looking for his notebook, before he was to help with the preparations. 

“Yes, (Y/N)?” he asked.

She took a couple steps forward, her hands raking up his chest and on their way to grasp his face.

Slightly alarmed by her very public affections, Legolas quickly ducked away from them.

“Perhaps, you would like to help Sam with the cooking? He stated. “I am sure he could use an extra pair of hands.”

She frowned, not liking his very blatant avoidance of her touch. Still she responded to his statement. “Sam need help?”

Legolas nodded towards the hobbit. “I’m afraid Merry and Pippin are haggling him for some of the uncooked food.”

Instantly, (Y/N) whipped her head to look at them. Sure enough, the two greedy hobbits were all over Sam who was desperately trying to keep them at bay so he could work. Her brows pulled downwards. “Hobbits!” she gruffed out. She then marched towards them. (Y/N) easily lifted the two menaces away from Sam by grasping their upper arms. Despite their surprised protests, they were raised a couple feet into the air and plopped down out of the way. She then sat beside Sam, tucking her legs underneath herself. She started speaking to him, pointing to things and asking him questions. The hobbit answered her freely and even passed her a knife and begin to teach her how to chop potatoes. She was then on task, focusing on learning—Legolas’ lacking affections seemingly gone from her mind. 

As Legolas turned away from the scene, Aragorn’s gaze caught his own. The Ranger sent him a funny look. One that told the Prince that his friend indeed witnessed the strange interaction between Legolas and the Rámaite Mahtar—and Aragorn didn't know what to think of it. 

Legolas, however, turned away, ignoring his friend’s curious and questioning gaze.

As the night continued and the group ate and began to settle around the fire, they soon needed more wood to burn. Legolas was the one who took initiative.

“I shall fetch more firewood,” he stated plainly. “The nights are beginning to get colder so we may have to keep it stoked throughout the night.”

Aragorn only nodded in agreement.

(Y/N), however, stood up as well. “Help, yes?”

Legolas shrugged and spoke nonchalantly. “It is not necessary.”

“I shall help anyways,” she replied simply as she moved past him into the woods.

Legolas released a quiet breath through his nostrils, but followed her into the trees nonetheless. 

Before the Prince even held one stick in his hand, (Y/N) invaded his personal space. The Rámaite Mahtar grabbed at his tunic and yanked him towards herself. Her lips pressed upon his own and she folded her body into his. The kiss, however, did not last long for Legolas pulled away. “Wait, wait, (Y/N).”

She frowned, looking up at him with her pouty lips. Valar—he loved those lips.

Legolas swallowed dryly. 

“What wrong?” she asked, grabbing for a lock of his hair.

He pulled her hand from it as he corrected her gently. “What is wrong.”

She nodded. “What is wrong?” she asked again.

Legolas sighed. “I do not think we should be so prominent with our affections, (Y/N), especially around the others.”

The winged woman frowned, not entirely understanding.

“I do not think we should kiss when we are around our friends.”

She tilted her head slightly. “But I like kisses.”

He smiled lightly at that. “Yes, I know.” He then released another long breath, taking her hand in his own. “I just do not think it is appropriate to do such things in-front of others, especially because I am unsure if they would approve of our affections for each other.”

(Y/N)’s lips twitched, irritated, as she pulled her hands from his. “Other people kiss in-front of others. At the town.”

At this, Legolas frowned. Ah, so that is where she learned it. He now guessed that she had witnessed a prostitute and a customer. It would explain the highly sexual way she had approached him and sat upon his lap. Although, he was unsure how to explain such a concept to her. He didn't think, at this moment in time, it would be appropriate to teach her of such things. But he still knew he needed to describe to her what he meant by his words, in as simple terms as possible. 

“(Y/N),” he began, thinking of how he was to word such a thing. “It makes me uncomfortable to do such actions in-front of our friends. In my culture, the elvish culture, such behaviors are kept a bit more private.”

She nodded, processing the information he told her. “But in Strider and Boromir’s…culture it is...Ahh. More–more normal?” she asked.

Legolas nodded. “Yes. Humans tend to be more public with their affections. I just do not think I am accustomed to that quite yet. And I…” he paused. “And I am unsure they would approve of us.”

At that, (Y/N)’s untamed, curious, (e/c) eyes gazed up at him. He knew she was trying to figure out what he meant by such a statement.

“You think they would not like us sharing affections?” she clarified.

Given her emphasis on the word ‘us’ Legolas knew she understood that he meant them specifically. The Prince bobbed his head, showing her that she did indeed guess the correct answer.

Her brows pulled down as obvious worry settled in. Her voice seemed to waver. “You think they would be…angry?”

Legolas cursed himself. He could guess what her mind associated with the word ‘anger,’ for her only true first-hand experience with such a thing was with Morgoth. “Perhaps not ‘angry’ but upset?” he furthered. 

(Y/N) released a breath, kicking at the ground. “Because of me?”

Legolas’ face softened at that as guilt hung in his heart. She could tell. She could pick up on the wariness that still hung in the group. He wanted to tell her ‘no.’ He wanted to say it had nothing to do with her, but he knew he couldn’t lie. Lying would only make things worse and diminish all the progress she had made in learning the behavior of this world. 

“They just are still getting comfortable with you. They don't know you well and the stories of your race have been…unsettling. I suppose they just need more time.”

(Y/N) nodded sadly. She understood and she accepted it. Still, that dejected look of hers broke Legolas’ heart and scattered it to the edges of the word. Valar—seeing her sad. He couldn’t handle it. 

The Prince reached forward, cupping her cheek in his hand. “All will be well,” he whispered. “Just give it time.”

Those vibrant eyes of hers drifted up to his.

By Eru—

Legolas couldn’t stop himself. He ducked his head to reach her lips with his own and his mouth begged hers to settle his desires. (Y/N) instantly responded to the notion, for it was what she had wanted all along. She let herself move in time with him. Their mouths melded together into one union and their bodies flushed together as well. At first it was softer, still persistent, but contained. However, that changed as soon as (Y/N) began nipping and tugging on his bottom lip. She pushed Legolas’ back up against the tree with a bit of an aggressive force as she became more hungry and desperate for his touch. Silenced by his thoughts, he complied and met her with just as much passion. Legolas weaved his arms around her, his hands grabbing at her hips. He continued to snake them upon her body, trailing along her sides and upon her back. As his hands brushed over her shoulder blades, however, she abruptly pulled herself away from him.

A foot of space now hung between them as she stared at him with wide eyes and parted lips. 

“(Y/N),” he stated simply, worried for he feared that maybe they had gotten too enthralled in the moment.

“My wings,” she whispered.

Concerned, Legolas pushed himself from the bark of the tree. “Is something wrong? Do you feel pain?”

She paused, her eyes focusing on the ground as her mind obviously turned and twisted. “No,” she began. “No pain. Just–just strange.”

He gently placed a hand upon her shoulder. “Do you want me to take a look? To check and make sure everything is alright?”

Slowly, she shook her head. “No. It is gone.”

The Prince moved his hand to her face and gently stroked her cheek. “If it happens again, you will tell me, yes? And I can examine them to make sure nothing is wrong?”

(Y/N) nodded her head in agreement. 

“Alright,” he stated. He sighed, looking around at the forest. “We should probably gather some wood and head back.”

The Rámaite Mahtar bobbed her head in agreement. The pair then moved to gather wood—(Y/N) shifting her legs a bit as some dampness persisted between them.

PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3 | PART 4 | PART 6 | PART 7

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[thepastisalreadywritten]

By Connor McGovern

16 October 2023

We’ve a lot to thank the trees for. Other than their vital role in the ecosystem, they’ve played an important part in mythology, agriculture, industry, and medicine since humans first walked the Earth.

Remarkably, a good number of the UK's most ancient trees — most of them yews and oaks — still stand today as living, breathing witnesses to centuries of British history.

We take a look at some of the UK’s most fabled trees — and the intriguing stories that surround them.

1. Ankerwycke Yew, Berkshire

Yews are guardians of churchyards throughout Britain. Many represent the oldest and most storied tree specimens.

Few are more spectacular than the Ankerwycke Yew, in the village of Wraysbury, near Staines-upon-Thames.

Measuring 26ft in diameter, it’s a botanical behemoth that’s believed to be around 2,500 years old, making it one of the oldest trees in Britain.

It long outlived the now-ruined St Mary’s Priory, a Benedictine nunnery whose grounds it stood in, and some even believe it to be the true site of the signing of Magna Carta in 1215, rather than Runnymede on the other side of the river.

Its intrigue doesn’t end there — it’s also alleged to stand on the spot where Henry VIII wooed a young Anne Boleyn. If only trees could talk.

2. Isaac Newton’s apple tree, Lincolnshire

Numerous trees are cited as being the very one that inspired the young physicist to investigate the theory of gravity.

But the apple tree in the grounds of Woolsthorpe Manor, near Grantham, has arguably the greatest right to this claim, with a scion planted (and still growing) at Trinity College Cambridge, where Newton once studied.

While the apple story is probably the stuff of scientific myth, it’s almost certain that Newton would’ve been familiar with the tree — which today is at least 350 years old — as it’s the area in which he was born and raised.

The county is also home to another of the country’s stalwarts: the Bowthorpe Oak, reputedly the UK’s girthiest oak, with a hollowed-out trunk so wide that it’s said to have hosted the Earl of Bowthorpe’s parties.

3. The Tolpuddle Martyrs’ Tree, Dorset

Beneath the boughs of a 350-year-old sycamore in the village of Tolpuddle, a small group of agricultural workers gathered in 1833 to lament their poor working conditions and paltry wages — only to be arrested, tried, and sentenced to penal transportation in Australia for seven years.

The six men became known as the Tolpuddle Martyrs, and after much public outcry, they were pardoned and returned to England.

Their cause was a key step in the workers’ rights and unionist movements. It is remembered in the annual Tolpuddle Martyrs’ Festival; a memorial plaque sits beside this great tree.

4. Fortingall Yew, Perthshire

Widely believed to be one of the oldest living trees in the UK (and indeed in Europe), the Fortingall Yew spills over its walled enclosure in a village churchyard like a great shower of dark green needles.

Some experts estimate the tree to be the ripe old age of 3,000, which would make it date as far back as the Bronze Age — some 1,000 years before the Romans had even come up with the name ‘Caledonia’ for Scotland.

The sheer age of the tree means that over time, the trunk has split that it now resembles several smaller yews, rather than one sole, mighty plant.

The future of the Fortingall Yew, however, is precarious, with souvenir-seekers stealing needles and branches, and so compromising its health.

Ongoing conservation efforts that preserve the tree’s DNA by planting saplings in other Scottish churchyards will be key to maintaining its history.

5. Spanish chestnut trees, Herefordshire

Of all the ancient trees at Croft Castle, near Leominster (including the 1,000-year-old Quarry Oak), most noteworthy are perhaps the huge Spanish chestnuts.

Planted in one grand avenue, their origins are believed to hark back to the battle with the Spanish Armada in 1588, when chestnuts were salvaged from the wreckages and planted here at Croft.

In fact, the planting arrangement is said to represent a flotilla when viewed from above.

But it’s at ground level that the trees truly amaze, as they’re almost fantasy-like in their size and contortion.

Take time to admire the gnarled, grotesque trunks and the twisted branches reaching towards the sky.

6. The Chained Oak, Staffordshire

This old oak in scenic Dimmingsdale is now bound in rusty chains.

Local legend has it that in the early 1800s, the Earl of Shrewsbury was accosted by a beggar as he was passing by.

He snubbed the old woman, and in retaliation, she placed a curse on his family that held that every time a branch fell from the oak tree a member of the Earl’s family would die.

That night during a storm, one of the branches fell from the tree and — lo and behold — a relative of the Earl died.

Seized by paranoia, he chained up all the branches to prevent any more falling from the oak.

Even today, as you approach the tree through the thick woodland, there’s a mysterious air to this gnarled old giant.

Just moments away at Alton Towers, the legend is the inspiration for Hex — a psychological hair-raiser of a ride set within the Alton Towers building itself.

[simple-seranade]

Now no mythology isn’t without grand and/or tragic romances or great myths. Here’s one.

Tango was normal human known for his grand inventions and creativity. Even the gods relating to his craft could only amit defeat to his better skill. Therefore many gods came to him in order to court him or try to guide him into worshipping them. Many were petty and frought harshly about this. Many promised him Ulimate riches or power or immortality if he chose them. According to the oldest written word of this myth he refused them all content to be mortal in his workshop. He cared not for any of the gods games.

But according to myth that soon changed. He feel in love with a stranger that came to his town. And he was committed to wooing this man with dandelion yellow hair. And hopefully eventually managing to wed him. Now the thing is tango didn’t know that this handsome man that caught his eyes with his kindness was actually a god. He was saint Jim. Now saint Jim wasn’t unaware of the godly competition for a mortal hand. But frankly he was unimpressed and uninterested. Jim never got the appeal of the ego fights the young gods take apart in. No Jim was on one of tests yet again.

So he made sure to be as useless and as weak he could be. A easy target to bully. And most humans tend to not notice the signs of divinity before it’s too late. And frankly jim has emotions. He can be annoyed at humans. But according to this myth! Despite tango frank annoyance at being courted by numerous deities he was rewarded. Some think tango saved him as part of the test. Some others think the test was just kindness.

Whatever it was Jim and tango struck up a friendship and Jim promised him he would reward anything he would want. Soon jim also fell for tango but said nothing of his feelings the longer they spent time together.

Somehow Tango found out about who Jim truly is. Some iterations of the myth have Jim healing a canary with a broken wing as a way tango finds out. And tango asks what jim feels for him. And Jim is honest. And tango asks for his hand. And Jim agrees.

But one of the gods that been trying to get his hand was watching. And didn’t like this fact. Now he wasn’t into the young mortal but he wanted to show every god he was the best. He was the young god Joel. A child compared to the rest of the gods. Young and impulsive.

Therefore he cremated poor tango right when he finally kissed his love the canary. With lighting hailing from the sky. All down to ash.

The sky seeped with Jim. Plants wilted in grief. The wind wailed. And Jim placed his hands into his lover ashes and brought flame.

It slowly morphed into a figurine. He came back. Tango was ascended into godhood and Joel was swiftly punished by his dear brother Grian that was watching it all like he always does. Joel still to this day won’t comment at whatever punishment Grian deemed fit. Soon after tango the new god of creation ingenuity and fire became the lawful consort of the canary. And it’s rumored to be one of the best god marriages out there. There was a time in some cultures that they would burn incense in temples for them to bless marriages and relationships.

YES

Instead of doves released at weddings, the faithful release canaries.

Tango is one of the few gods who started human, and he carrie’s his emotions and experiences with him. a fierce defender of craftsman and those cheated by society, it is said that the most devoted to him can walk through fire without being burned, and his holy flames will protect them from all harm.

Still, due his time being dead, he has a certain… connection with souls. An aspect few see, dark and mysterious and holding flames made not of fire but souls. Screeches in the underground, rotting bones and crumbling cities… he rules over these as well. If you disturb one of these ancient sites under his protection…

well, let’s just say your cremation is free of charge

[madarasgirl]

Today's episode was incredibly good! To be honest, fanfics with more than 3 chapters always made me boring so I only read oneshots or headcanons of my favorite characters.... until months ago I found your serie on AO3, I had never read such a good fanfic, from the first chapter of your series completely hooked me, I always wait for it to be updated and every time you upload a chapter I am going to read it quickly, your work is incredible!

hellsing ultimate is my favorite anime it just has everything I'm obsessed with, Sexy fucking vampires? of course, issues of religion and specifically Catholicism? That's right, some completely deranged Nazis? fuck yeah, I love that your fanfic does not soften all those interesting themes that the anime itself has, I hope I can reach the end of this incredible series, by the way you said that you studied the themes of the Second World War for almost an hour, what do you think about it? So do you find it interesting or are you just studying it for the series? Sorry for sending this question with so much text, I got too excited!

Omg omg! Sorry for the late reply. I had to sit on this ask for a few days to figure out how to respond to such a heartfelt love letter 💖. Thank you for these kind words. You would never know how much the encouragement helps 🥰. You might have made my entire week! I umm...love being asked about my writing. It's kind of an embarrassing confession. *virtual hugs and kisses*

I am so glad you're enjoying this story! Nothing makes me happier than to know that I was partially responsible for changing someone's mind on something! As much as I enjoy headcanons and shorts too, imo nothing is quite as satisfying as sticking with a character through their trials and tribulations in a long fic and getting immersed in their journey ^^

Yes Hellsing Ultimate has many of the things I enjoy in a show too! I love when shows don't shirk from the darker aspects of the world and now that Alucard and his Reader have a good foundational relationship, I think it's time to remind the audience of what Hellsing is about. Didn't want to sugarcoat how messed up the world and its characters really are. I am glad you don't think I botched the delivery.

The last time I actually studied WWII was in high school, so well over a decade ago. That was through the lens of the Allied victors and I only remember so much of the details. I think many things about that period, but the strongest feeling is how utterly dismal war is, how much needless suffering it causes.

For the latest chapter (Ch. 20), the vast majority of time researching was spent on finding certain details on Nazi units and which ones were responsible for certain actions as I was trying to decide on the next setting for this arc, the location of one of Millennium's bases. This one isn't in Brazil. This story is only canon-related, not canon-compliant. Here was some stuff going on in my head in the background for this fic. It was probably excessive, but I wanted a place that is: - postcard beautiful - isolated, but not too much so (or the logistics of resupplying themselves would be difficult) - an island (easier for the local authorities to pass strange phenomena off as freak incidences when pressured by Millennium) -lots of wilderness, for the isolation, but also training purposes - lots of caves/hidden ways for escape -the site of a Nazi massacre, so relevance to Nazis -sort of on the way in Dracula's historic seafaring route through the Mediterranean to England

Then I spent some time trying to figure out the logistics of zeppelin and ship travel from this place to others, whether this place has any other features, mythological history and/or appearances in popular culture that are interesting. I spent time reading about the local population and regional politics of that time for my interest.

In the end, there were a few islands I was trying to choose between, none of them were perfect. The biggest issue was that it was the Wehrmacht branch of the Nazis that were responsible for the atrocities and not the Waffen SS, but I was already at my wits' end trying to spin the story in a way that'll work and would rather start writing. I think it should work out though.

I'm no expert on anything historical. I hope I don't disappoint! It's nerve-wracking now that we're onto canon events! 😱 Don't apologize, I love your excitement and interest in this fic!!!! 🤩🤩🤩😘

[worldismyne]

Kirona fics recs.

"@worldismyne thank you! I'll check it out! Yeah, I'd love some recs. I prefer Crona as a boy (trans or cis) but I still like fics with them as non-binary or a girl."

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Alright, it's been a hot minute since I read some of these, so any ff.net recs are vaguely remembered through rose color glasses, but they def left an impact on me.

Masc recs...

The Lycan and the Vampire (T - Incomplete)

Summary: Crona is a lycan via bitten. Kidd is a vampire by birth. Kidd hates the lycans. Crona doesn't know how to deal with a vampire. Male!CronaXKidd. Rated T for sexual references mentioned mostly by a Lycan

Review: I am paranormal romance cringe. I remember this fic being the first I remembered when thinking of good MxM Kirona. The AU was fairly well world built as well.

Kid x Crona : Hades and Persephone (G - Hiatus)

Summary: Have you ever wondered if there was more to the story of Hades and Persephone? That there was more than what was said in stone?

Review: This is a mythology AU. I just got started with this one, but I'm a sucker for greek mythology. Seems pretty cute so far.

The Difference Between Us (M - Incomplete)

Summary: An ongoing Death the Kid x Male!Crona fanfic. Kid shows Crona what it means to be loved. Slow paced and many chapters long.

Review: tldr, have not read this one, 1st person is not my jam. But, the people for people who do like it (according to other reviews) it's got solid characterization and is a decent long fic to settle in with.

NB recs...

Beneath All the Hate and Despair (T - Incomplete)

Summary: Even after switching sides and making peace with most of Maka's friends, Crona has a rocky transition into Kid's good graces. Things get even more difficult when traces of Medusa crop up. An exploration of two wildly different but curiously similar people that come closer together. Mostly canon compliant, but an AU of sorts. NB Crona. (Revamped fic)

Review - This is the OG for me, and by that I mean how young me found out about they/them pronouns. (I didn't really get it at the time, but I still read the whole thing AND the author went back 10 years later to do another copy edit once they had more expirence. Mad respect.)

Stir the Cauldron (T - Updating)

My summery: A continuation of the manga where Kid uses his new powers to help save Crona.

Review - Really nice getting to see Kid adjust to being the new Lord Death, the internal dialogue is really on point. Bonus points for addressing Ragnarok and having Crona be artificially made (gotta be one my fav HC).

Devestation Rots (NR - Complete)

Summary: In which Kid is shattered by the loss of two people very important to him.

Review: Cute hurt/comfort two-shot. Bonus points for Liz/Patty + Kid in a sibling dynamic.

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I read mostly fem!Chrona longfics way back. So The Birth of Scelus the Kishen and Child Born of Love are the absolute classic longfics that have survived (I could have sworn there were four or five others, they may have been deleted). But both of them are complete and rated T. I have 0 clue how well they've held up, but they got me through many a class and roadtrip growing up.

There is 10 pages of fics on ff.net (the ship predates the ship filter feature. So just pop in romance into genre and only have them as the listed characters). There used to be more, but like I said, people like to delete their old stuff.

キックロ or Kikkuro is the ship name in Japanese if you ever want to look for art on other sites. I know there were a few doujins back in the day, but very few were translated to English at the time.

It's so interesting to see a ship that used to be in the main trifecta of ships fall out of favor. I'm mostly writing for other ships now too, so I'm not complaining lol.

Daughter of Madness is the longest fic I ever wrote and now with the sequel, they've fully transitioned from she/her egg to they/them god X'D

I still love these two together in any interpretation. So if you ever get brainrot or wanna talk headcanons, my inbox is open lol.

EDIT 10 Pages of fics when browsing on mobile, 28 if you're on web.

[ancientcraftnoccultism]

Beginner Class - Session 1

Getting Your Feet Wet

___

By KB

I'm going to be uploading sessions from a class I taught this spring here ♡

INTRODUCTION

So, you're interested in learning about the world of witchcraft, the occult, or maybe just the spirit world. Whatever may bring you here, welcome to the first study session to our beginner's course. Today, we're going to be talking about how to actually start your own practice in order for you to discover your own unique path. First and foremost, throw everything that you have seen in movies and most of what you think you know in the garbage. The metaphysical world has been misunderstood and misportrayed for years. With that being said, let's look into some of the ways that you can begin your own practice and avoid burnout from overwhelming emotions. I encourage you search for other methods outside of what is mentioned here if you have the energy to do so.

First & Foremost - Research!

We already get it, ugh! This is actually the most crucial aspect of learning, despite what you're probably thinking. The toughest part of conducting research isn't necessarily doing it; it's determining out where to start. I recommend all of you to begin your own research into the craft in your own time, as it will be a full proof method of finding out what you're most interested in learning, which will ultimately help form a foundation for your path. Here are some places to begin your research. Of course, these are only a few suggestions and I encourage you to look outside of this list for other things to include in your research! Remember, this is not mandatory, but it would definitely be beneficial for you if you were to go ahead and take a look into some of these.

♡ The History of Witchcraft

♡ Energy (sensing, raising, manipulation, etc)

♡ Grounding

♡ Meditation

♡ Intention

♡ Intuition

♡ Altars

♡ Correspondences

♡ Candles

♡ Crystals

♡ Cleansing

♡ Spirits

♡ Deities

♡ Mythology

♡ Entities

♡ The Fae

♡ Moon Phases

♡ Divination

♡ Pagan Holidays

♡ Self-Awareness

♡ Shadow Work

♡ Zodiac Signs

♡ Spellcasting

Now that we know what to research and have a few beginning points, how do we go about carrying out the study and ensuring the information we have gathered is correct? Unfortunately, in this day and age, misinformation is pervasive in our everyday lives, making it difficult to distinguish between what is true and what is fabricated. Turn on your witch brain and never be scared to cross-reference your knowledge.

Before we continue to the following section, one more thing. Please, when searching social media sites for spell and ritual advice, use reason and a careful eye. Due to the rise in popularity of witchcraft, many bloggers are generating revenue by creating trendy works of art that adhere to the "witch aesthetic". Despite being visually appealing, these lack crucial substance, especially for novices. Let's look at some examples of the current spell jar trends. The elements are listed, yes, but they don't explain why you should add them or how to raise and direct the energy so that your spell will manifest and produce tangible effects. Always remember that if it doesn't include specifics about programming, energy, or correspondences, it's most likely just trendy wishcraft and not the real deal.

Class Dictionary

Aʟᴄʜᴇᴍʏ - a form of chemistry and speculative philosophy practiced in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance and concerned principally with discovering methods for transmuting baser metals into gold and with finding a universal solvent and an elixir of life. any magical power or process of transmuting a common substance, usually of little value, into a substance of great value. any seemingly magical process of transforming or combining elements into something new

Asᴛʀᴏʟᴏɢʏ - the divination of the supposed influences of the stars and planets on human affairs and terrestrial events by their positions and aspects

Aᴛʜᴀᴍᴇ - A ceremonial pointed knife or dagger, used especially in Wicca and other neopagan traditions and typically having a black handle with magical symbols on it.

Aᴜʀᴀ - an energy field that is held to emanate from a living being

Bᴀɴɪsʜɪɴɢ - banishing refers to one or more rituals intended to remove non-physical influences ranging from spirits to negative influences

Bɪʙʟɪᴏᴍᴀɴᴄʏ - divination by means of a book, especially the Bible, opened at random to some verse or passage, which is then interpreted.

Cᴇʀᴇᴍᴏɴɪᴀʟ ᴍᴀɢɪᴄ - encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic. The works included are characterized by ceremony and numerous requisite accessories to aid the practitioner. It can be seen as an extension of ritual magic, and in most cases synonymous with it.

Cʜᴀʟɪᴄᴇ - a footed cup intended to hold a drink. In religious practice, a chalice is often used for drinking during a ceremony or may carry a certain symbolic meaning.

Cʟᴀɪʀᴀᴜᴅɪᴇɴᴄᴇ - Act of hearing, or the ability to hear, sounds not normally audible; -- usually claimed as a special faculty of spiritualistic mediums, or the like.

Cʟᴀɪʀsᴇɴᴛɪᴇɴᴄᴇ - the ability to sense the past, present, or future physical and emotional states of others without the standard five senses — smell, vision, touch, hearing, and taste.

Cʟᴀɪʀᴠᴏʏᴀɴᴄᴇ - knowledge of information not necessarily known to any other person, not obtained by ordinary channels of perceiving or reasoning—thus a form of extrasensory perception

Cʟᴇᴀɴsɪɴɢ - to metaphysically rid the environment of unwanted energies or entities

Cᴏʟᴏʀ Tʜᴇʀᴀᴘʏ - based on the idea that color and colored lights can help treat physical or mental health. According to this idea, they cause subtle changes in our moods and biology.

Cᴏɴᴊᴜʀᴀᴛɪᴏɴ - the evocation of spirits or other supernatural entities or a the raising of energy

Cᴏᴠᴇɴ - is a group or gathering of witches.

Dᴇᴍᴏɴᴏʟᴏɢʏ - Demonology is the study of demons within religious belief and myth. Depending on context, it can refer to studies within theology, religious doctrine, or occultism

Dɪᴠɪɴᴀᴛɪᴏɴ - Divination is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of an occultic, standardized process or ritual.

Dʀᴜɪᴅɪsᴍ - A druid was a member of the high-ranking class in ancient Celtic cultures. Druids were religious leaders as well as legal authorities, adjudicators, lorekeepers, medical professionals and political advisors. Druids left no written accounts.

Eʟᴇᴍᴇɴᴛᴀʟ - In certain occult systems, an inhabitant of one of the four elements, especially any of the beings described by Paracelsus as intermediate in corporeality between humans and spirits.

Eɴᴇʀɢʏ Mᴀɴɪᴘᴜʟᴀᴛɪᴏɴ - Energy Manipulation is the ability to generate, control, and manipulate various forms of energy.

Eɴᴇʀɢʏ Sᴇɴsɪɴɢ - the ability to sense and perceive shifting metaphysical waves

Esᴏᴛᴇʀɪᴄ - confined to and understandable by only an enlightened inner circle

Eᴠᴏᴄᴀᴛɪᴏɴ - Evocation is the act of evoking, calling upon, or summoning a spirit, demon, deity or other supernatural agents, in the Western mystery tradition.

Fᴀᴍɪʟɪᴀʀs - the double, the alter ego, of an individual. It does not look like the individual concerned. Even though it may have an independent life of its own, it remains closely linked to the individual. sometimes elemental spirits.

Gᴇᴍᴀᴛʀɪᴀ - the practice of assigning a numerical value to a name, word or phrase according to an alphanumeric cipher. A single word can yield several values depending on the cipher which is used.

Gᴇᴏᴍᴀɴᴄʏ - a method of divination that interprets markings on the ground or the patterns formed by tossed handfuls of soil, rocks, or sand

Gɴᴏsɪs - it signifies a spiritual knowledge or insight into humanity's real nature as divine, leading to the deliverance of the divine spark within humanity from the constraints of earthly existence

Gᴏᴇᴛɪᴀ - a practice which involves invoking angels and demons

Gʀɪᴍᴏɪʀᴇ - is a textbook of magic, typically including instructions on how to create magical objects like talismans and amulets, how to perform magical spells, charms and divination, and how to summon or invoke supernatural entities such as angels, spirits, deities, and demons

Gʀᴏᴜɴᴅɪɴɢ - the practice of physically connecting oneself as closely as possible to the Earth in order to obtain earth energy

Hᴇʀᴍᴇᴛɪᴄɪsᴍ - a philosophical system that is primarily based on the purported teachings of Hermes Trismegistus (a legendary Hellenistic combination of the Greek god Hermes and the Egyptian god Thoth)

Hᴇx - a short term working designed to cause misfortune

Iɴᴄᴀɴᴛᴀᴛɪᴏɴ - words that are believed to have a magical effect when spoken or sung

Iɴᴛᴇɴᴛɪᴏɴ - directly related to Will—that mysterious, primal force by which personal magick can effect change on the otherwise unyielding material world

Iɴᴠᴏᴄᴀᴛɪᴏɴ - The act or an instance of invoking, especially an appeal to a higher power for assistance. A prayer or other formula used in invoking, as at the opening of a religious service.

Kᴜɴᴅᴀʟɪɴɪ Eɴᴇʀɢʏ - Kundalini is a form of divine feminine energy believed to be located at the base of the spine, in the muladhara. It is an important concept in Śhaiva Tantra, where it is believed to be a force or power associated with the divine feminine or the formless aspect of the Goddess

LHP/RHP - the left-hand path and right-hand path are the dichotomy between two opposing approaches to magic. This terminology is used in various groups involved in the occult and ceremonial magic. LHP is often equated with malicious workings whereas RHP are perceived as benevolent

Lɪᴍɪɴᴀʟɪᴛʏ - liminality is the quality of ambiguity or disorientation that occurs in the middle stage of a rite of passage, when participants no longer hold their pre-ritual status but have not yet begun the transition to the status they will hold when the rite is complete - "the in-between"

Lɪᴛʜᴏᴍᴀɴᴄʏ - a form of divination by which the future is told using stones or the reflected light from the stones.

Mᴀɢɪᴄ[k] - the power of apparently influencing the course of events by using mysterious or supernatural forces

Mᴀɴɪғᴇsᴛᴀᴛɪᴏɴ - the creative process of aligning with the energy of the Universe to co-create an experience that elevates your spirit and the spirit of the world

Mᴇᴅɪᴛᴀᴛɪᴏɴ - a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm and stable state.

Mᴇᴅɪᴜᴍsʜɪᴘ - the practice of purportedly mediating communication between familiar spirits or spirits of the dead and living human beings. Practitioners are known as "mediums" or "spirit mediums". There are different types of mediumship or spirit channelling, including séance tables, trance, and ouija

Nᴇᴄʀᴏᴍᴀɴᴄʏ - communication with the dead by summoning their spirits as apparitions or visions, or by resurrection for the purpose of divination; imparting the means to foretell future events; discovery of hidden knowledge; returning a person to life, or to use the dead as a weapon. Sometimes referred to as "death magic," the term is used in a more general sense

Nᴇᴏᴅʀᴜɪᴅɪsᴍ - modern spiritual or religious movement that promotes the cultivation of honorable relationships with the physical landscapes, flora, fauna, and diverse peoples of the world, as well as with nature deities, and spirits of nature and place.

Nᴇᴏᴘᴀɢᴀɴɪsᴍ - Modern paganism, also known as contemporary paganism and neopaganism, is a term for a religion or family of religions influenced by the various historical pre-Christian beliefs of pre-modern peoples in Europe and adjacent areas of North Africa and the Near East.

Nᴇᴡ Aɢᴇ - a broad movement characterized by alternative approaches to traditional Western culture, with an interest in spirituality, mysticism, holism, and environmentalism.

Nᴜᴍᴇʀᴏʟᴏɢʏ - the study of mystical relationships between numbers, letters, and patterns. As in most methods of divination, numerology is a tool that is used to gain a deeper knowledge of the self, others, and how we relate to the world at large.

Oᴄᴄᴜʟᴛɪsᴍ - in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism and their varied spells

Oғғᴇʀɪɴɢs - religious offering or sacrifice, voluntary gifts, as an act of virtue

Oᴜɪᴊᴀ - a flat board marked with the letters of the Latin alphabet, the numbers 0–9, the words "yes", "no", occasionally "hello" and "goodbye", along with various symbols and graphics. Used as a method of Necromancy

Pᴀɢᴀɴɪsᴍ - religion other than one of the main world religions, specifically a non-Christian or pre-Christian religion

Pᴀʟᴍɪsᴛʀʏ - practice of fortune-telling through the study of the palm

Pᴏᴘᴘᴇᴛ - a doll made to represent a person, for casting spells on that person or to aid that person through magic

Pʀᴏᴛᴇᴄᴛɪᴏɴ - it can entail a number of things but the gist is self-preservation and/or the safeguarding of others. Looking after one’s holistic wellbeing. To this end, protective magick may be proactive where one creates amulets, or practices intentional setting of energetic or spiritual barriers around self, property, family, etc.

Psʏᴄʜɪᴄ - relating to or denoting faculties or phenomena that are apparently inexplicable by natural laws, especially involving telepathy or clairvoyance.

Rᴇɪᴋɪ - healing technique based on the principle that the therapist can channel energy into the patient by means of touch, to activate the natural healing processes of the patient's body and restore physical and emotional well-being.

Rᴜɴᴇs - Runes are the letters in a set of related alphabets known as runic alphabets native to the Germanic peoples. Runes were used to write various Germanic languages before they adopted the Latin alphabet, and for specialised purposes thereafter.

Sᴀᴛᴀɴɪsᴍ - history of being a designation made by people against those whom they dislike; it is a term used for 'othering'. The concept of Satanism is an invention of Christianity, for it relies upon the figure of Satan, a character deriving from Christian mythology

Sᴄʀʏɪɴɢ - the practice of looking into a suitable medium in the hope of detecting significant messages or visions.

Sᴇᴀɴᴄᴇ - an attempt to communicate with spirits.

Sɪɢɪʟ - sigil refers to a symbolic representation of the practitioner's desired outcome.

Tᴀʟɪsᴍᴀɴ - any object ascribed with religious or magical powers intended to protect, heal, or harm individuals for whom they are made

Tᴀʀᴏᴛ - a pack of playing cards, used from at least the mid-15th century in various parts of Europe to play card games French occultists began to make elaborate, but unsubstantiated, claims about their history and meaning, leading to the emergence of custom decks for use in divination via tarot card reading and cartomancy

Tʜᴇʟᴇᴍᴀ - a Western esoteric and occult social or spiritual philosophy and new religious movement founded in the early 1900s by Aleister Crowley

Wᴀɴᴅ - Wands are traditionally made of wood— practitioners usually prune a branch from an oak, hazel, or other tree, or may even buy wood from a hardware store, and then carve it and add decorations to personalize it, though one can also purchase ready-made wands.

Wɪᴄᴄᴀ - a modern Pagan religion. Scholars of religion categorise it as both a new religious movement and as part of the occultist stream of Western esotericism.

Wɪᴛᴄʜᴄʀᴀғᴛ - the practice of magic or sorcery worldwide

Wᴏʀsʜɪᴘ - the feeling or expression of reverence and adoration for a deity.

Practice Mindfulness & Self Awareness

One of the most important foundations for any practitioner to have is to know thyself. I know most of you are probably sitting there thinking "well of course I know myself, no one knows me like me" and while that very well may be true, do you know why you are the way you are? Are you aware of your actions & reactions? Are you aware of your emotional changes and what causes them? Or do you subconsciously just float through your day, not really paying attention to your thoughts, words, actions, or emotions? By beginning your journey into self awareness, you'll be able to get a better grasp on your subconscious mind which is an essential step in healing yourself and unlocking true potential. Here are just a few ways to begin your journey of mindfulness.

♡ Try out the various personality tests out there! While they are not perfect, they can help give you insight about your attitude and behaviors.

♡ Keep a daily log of emotions, thoughts & habits. It can be very beneficial in order to reflect on your behavior and become self aware as the moments arise.

♡ Make time to eat 1 meal a day without any distractions. This will help you center and bring your attention back to your bodily feelings.

♡ Practice intentional breathing for 5 minutes a day.

♡ Do a 5 minute meditation session a day.

Of course, this is just a short list and I encourage you to seek outside of this list for other ways to begin your journey to mindfulness! Different things work for different people, so don't feel like it's hopeless if none of these suggestions work for you.

Organization Tips

Ah, yes, the second most tedious response to the question "Where do I start?", but this is extremely important to avoid unnecessary overwhelming feelings. First and foremost, you're going to want to have a nice outline for your Book of Shadows/Grimoire. Regardless of what some may say, these terms can be used interchangeably, although some like to use "Book of Mirrors" as a more personal journal, and a Book of Shadows as more related to metaphysics. Don't worry about making it perfect, you can always go through & edit layer, but having a basic outline for how to organize your information will be very helpful as you accumulate more & more of it.

�� 𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿

▪︎ favorites; color, tools, herbs

▪︎ info card; birth card, birth chart, personal beliefs, relationships with divine

☆ 𝗕𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗰𝘀

▪︎ Anointing

▪︎ Banishing

▪︎ Charging

▪︎ Circle Casting

▪︎ Cleansing

▪︎ Dressing Candles

▪︎ Energy

▪︎ Enchanting

▪︎ Intention

▪︎ Intuition

▪︎ Manifestation

▪︎ Meditation

▪︎ Mindfulness

▪︎ Protection

▪︎ Shielding

▪︎ Talismans

▪︎ Terminology

▪︎ Visualization

▪︎ Warding

☆ 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀

▪︎ Awareness

▪︎ Baneful

▪︎ Banishing

▪︎ Cleansing

▪︎ Colors

▪︎ Crystals

▪︎ Elements

▪︎ Essential Oils

▪︎ Incense

▪︎ Healing

▪︎ Herbs

▪︎ Love

▪︎ Luck

▪︎ Lunar Phases

▪︎ Mental Clarity

▪︎ Protection

☆ 𝗔𝗹𝘁𝗮𝗿 𝗜𝗱𝗲𝗮𝘀

▪︎ Sabbats

▪︎ Seasonal

▪︎ Deity

▪︎ Ancestral

☆ 𝗔𝗿𝘁𝘀 & 𝗖𝗿𝗮𝗳𝘁𝘀

▪︎ Jars

▪︎ Jewelry

▪︎ Knots

▪︎ Wands

☆ 𝗔𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆

▪︎ Birth Chart Breakdown

▪︎ Correspondences

▪︎ Planetary Days & Hours

▪︎ Transits

☆ 𝗖𝗿𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗹𝘀

▪︎ Caring Guide

▪︎ Detailed Description

▪︎ Elixer Recipes

▪︎ Folklore

▪︎ Gridding Designs

☆ 𝗗𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

▪︎ Interpretation Key Page

▪︎ Runes

▪︎ Pendulum

▪︎ Scrying

▪︎ Tarot

☆ 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗯𝘀

▪︎ Botanicals

▪︎ Edible vs Non-Edible

▪︎ Folklore & Mythology

▪︎ Gardening Tips

▪︎ Medicinal Values

☆ 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀

▪︎ Anniversaries

▪︎ Astrological & Astronomical Events

▪︎ Sabbats & Holidays

☆ 𝗠𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆

▪︎ African

▪︎ Aztec

▪︎ Buddhist

▪︎ Celtic

▪︎ Chinese

▪︎ Christianity

▪︎ Druid

▪︎ Egyptian

▪︎ Irish

▪︎ Japanesw

▪︎ Jewish

▪︎ Gnostic

▪︎ Greek

▪︎ Hindu

▪︎ Mesopotamia

☆ 𝗣𝘀𝘆𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗰 𝗔𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀

▪︎ The Clairs

▪︎ Empathy

▪︎ Identification of Self Abilities

▪︎ Narcissist

▪︎ Personal Experiences

▪︎ Psychic Vampire

☆ 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗲𝘀

▪︎ Beauty Mixes

▪︎ Cleansers

▪︎ Floor Cleansers

▪︎ Food

▪︎ Potions

▪︎ Powders

☆ 𝗦𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗹𝘀 & 𝗦𝘆𝗺𝗯𝗼𝗹𝘀

▪︎ How to Create

▪︎ Identification Key

▪︎ Personalized Sigils

☆ 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗹𝗹𝘀 & 𝗥𝗶𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝘀

▪︎ Candles

▪︎ Herbs

▪︎ Tools

▪︎ Healing

▪︎ Abundance

▪︎ Prosperity

▪︎ Personal Spells & Rituals

Alright! Now that we have a pretty good grasp on how to store the information we collect, let's move onto the next section. I promise, we're almost done here.

Learn To Manipulate Energy

Regardless of what you may have been told or believe, intention is NOT the most important part of metaphysical working. While it is a big factor, without the skill of raising and directing the energy towards your intention, it's just wishcraft. Energy manipulation may come naturally for some, and others may have to practice diligently to be able to interfere with energy in the way they would like to. I highly recommend beginning research into this if you're interested in spellwork. Feel free to check out my Energy Manipulation Series in the Guides section of the group. This is something we will cover towards the end of the course, so stay tuned!

Stay Focused

Remember, it is you who has made a commitment to learning and beginning the path of self discovery. No one has a right to tell you which way to turn, or what to do. You have free will for a reason, and a brilliant mind and intuitive system to navigate you through choices. While some systems may have guidelines to follow, witchcraft as a whole has no rules & you are free to do as you wish, when you wish. If something doesn't align with you, you don't have to practice or follow that particular topic. I like to compare the world of metaphysics and witchcraft to that of medicine. Sure, anyone can perform surgery, but would you want just anyone performing heart surgery or even treating you for an ailment? I didn't think so - the same goes for any ritual working. This is also the underlying notion of why some practices are closed. A lot of closed traditions work closely with that specific traditions ancestors, so when doing workings of that tradition, you are essentially opening a portal to someone else's ancestors which may or may not be gracious towards you. Turn that witch brain on, use it wisely, and never let anyone tell you what you can and cannot do. You decide what is best for you.

Alright! That's pretty much all I have for you today. Thank you all for participating and reading.

[blazescompendium]

Blaze's Compendium Entry #3: Do not try to steal from Vouivre!

The Vouivre is known to be a Draconic creature from the French folklore. Specifically from the Eastern part of France. The Vouivre is not to be confused with her fellow local dragons such as the Guivre, Wivre or the Melusine. Her differs herself for two key elements: Her almost always feminine humanoid looks (Although, sometimes shes also described as a fierce serpentine dragon) And the jewel in her forehead, called the Carbuncle. This jewel is precious to the Vouivre because it grants her eye sight, and also (according to some sources) heat. It could also be or not be her only eye, depending on the legend.

Vouivres are neutral beings. Generally they don't pick fights with humans, only if provoked or in self defense. Which is fairly common, since the greedy humans try to steal her jewel all the time, which is said to be more valuable than ''any mineral found in any Brazilian mine'' (Jenin Clement, 1884: ''Traditions Populaire de la Cote d'or'')

The jewel received it's name thanks to the Latin world ''Carbunculus'' which meant something like hot coal. That's because, according to the legend, the Vouivre's jewel was hot and bright like hot coal.

It does not help that the Vouivre is usually hoarding lots of gold and treasure in her lairs, which also attracts many unwanted attention. If, the Vouivre needed to fight, fortunately for her she was blessed with such strong flames that she could completely carbonize a human being to ashes. (Faune et Flore de la French Comtee, 1910- Beauquier)

But more often than they would like, the Vouivre would be hunted down during their most vulnerable period: When she had to take off the Carbunkle out of her forehead, and bath or drink water. That's the period she had to protect the Carbuncle, it should not fall into water, it would lose it's fire powers. And although there's few to no sources that state that this would kill the Vouivre, the Faune et Flore de la French Comtee book states at least one instance where removing it for too long would kill the creature. If you consider that the Carbuncle is destroyed after falling into water, it means she would also die.

In most of the tales, the Carbuncle serves as the Vouivre only eye. There's few sources where it is just a jewel embed into the creature's forehead, and in others it was part of a crown she wears. According to some sources as Jenin Clement, 1884: ''Traditions Populaire de la Cote d'or, looking directly to her Carbuncle (or her eyes) would cause confusion, panic and fear, making you completely immobilized.

According to a web page from the Fremch Comtee government, the Carbuncle is ''so valuable that not even all world's gold could afford it.'' This page in question is long dead, but there's some content of it available at the site Blackdrago. Not the most reliable source out there, but at least they saved this page's content. Also saved in Blackdrago, there's also a dead link to an article of the Fremch Comtee government about the origin of the Myth. This page is available at the wayback machine!

Fun fact: Carbuncle is also the name of the infection caused by the Anthrax. Anthrax has its own name meaning ''coal'' (ἄνθραξ) in greek. That´s because the infection causes skin damage that looks like coal. The relation with the Vouivre is probably none, but i thought it was cool enough to put here. Please i can't stress it as much as i want but do not google it!

For those more versed in Mythological beings, demons and mysterious fantastical beings, you may recall the name Carbuncle as another mythical creature from the South American Folklore. The Book of Imaginary Beings, 1975 edition (Jorge Luis Borges) Describes the Carbuncle as a mysterious creature that the 16th century Spanish Conquistadors painted as elusive. A poet-priest called Martin Del Barco claimed to have seen one in Paraguay, and has described it in its 1606 poem ''Argentina'' (If you asked me, it's weird that it was in Paraguay, but was featured in the Poem named Argentina... but, ok.)

The Carbuncle, not only for it's name shared an eerie similarity with the French Vouivre. Martin described it as a ''small animal, with a shining glowing object in it's head, like a glowing coal.'' It's jewel was also sought after, and supposedly very valuable. I wont dive too deep in this creature here and now. The point is that the Vouivre had some similar creatures, even such a distant ''cousin'' as the Carbuncle of South America.

Final Fantasy's interpretation of the (Creture) Carbuncle.

Back to the Vouivre:

The window of time to get the Vouivre in her vulnerable state varies according to the region, or tale. Some say is once a year, or even weekly. The book ''The Drac: French tales of Dragons and Demons'' (Felice Holman, Nanine Valen, Stephen Walker - 1975) Tells about a tale where the Vouivre comes out only once a year. Normally the sources agrees it's when there's an important mass, and the people are too busy to care about the creature. This could be at Easter or Christmass (Christmass would be specially told in the Audrey region). In deeply catholic societies, nobody would flee from the church just to hunt the Vouivre. (Oh boy some did)

In tales from Monthier the Vouivre would come out at the eleventh first midnight bell from the clock, during Christmas night. The common sense is that they are generally very intelligent, that's how they know the perfect timing to be alone.

But also on her weak spot was the fact that the Vouivre had very frequent habits, which could mean that someone smart enough would eventually figure out how to reach her. She also had the ability to stun foes, although i just found one source about this skill in the book Jenin Clement, 1884: ''Traditions Populaire de la Cote d'or' Honestly, she's just trying to be alone, hoarding her treasure and caring for her hygiene. I can relate.

According to the book ''Faune et Flore Populaires de la French Comtee'' The name Vouivre came from the Latin word Vipera, which means viper. Vouivre can also means just ''wyvern'' in a general term, and not specifically this tale. Going by the Indo-European root you get to the word ''Gwer'' which means something warm or hot. From there, the word Wyvern comes from. It was meant to refer a fire serpent, or a type of dragon. This relation with the warmth and heat could also explain the Jewel that the Vouivre has, and the relation of this creature with the fire element.

There's some speculation about her name influencing regional dialects. For instance, the Morvan Dialect Glossary has the word Vouavre. This could mean heat or something wet. If the translation goes for the first option, this could theoretically be another association, or even where the original name of this dragon came from. Morvan is a dialect of the region Burgundy and is a french derivative. But i could not find any translator for this dialect, nor any confirmation this word even exists, so take it with a grain of salt.

She could canonically use agi!

There's a lot of places in Eastern France that bears the Vouivre name, that's how popular the legend was there. Many of those places are described in books such as the ones mentioned above (sources will be in the end of the article) are simply too old, some are not even there anymore. But surprisingly you can use google maps to check, and see that still there are many places with the name out there.

During my research, i also found out there's a french movie about this legend, called La Vouivre (1989). Honestly, it seems pretty interesting. It's about a WW1 veteran who became obsessed with the legend. (Just as did i, when i wrote 40ish pages of research for this text) I will take my time to watch it some day, and i will probably post my thoughts here.

Because their tendency to get mugged by Humans, Vouivres tend to like isolated places, where they can live alone and in peace. This could be old monasteries, old castles, caverns, or deep woods. No matter the source, Vouivres always like to be alone, have regular habits and are (mostly) neutral. Some of those locations in Eastern France are so associated with this creature, that it has either named it or became a symbol of this place.

Take for instance The castle of Vaugrenans. (We will be back to it later) The place was destroyed in the 17th century, and now is just ruins in which people said a Vouivre lived. It got so associated with it, there's a sign near it telling about the legend. In this case, the Vouivre was also interpreted as a creature who controlled, and used snakes. This particular feature can be seen in Kaneko's design of the Vouivre, since she has a snake in her body.

This Picture was taken from Google Maps, you can check by yourself! It depicts the Vouivre from the Vaugrenans Castle ruins.

The Vouivre were also commonly associated with rivers and streams, where supposedly they took their baths and drank water. Some hills, falls and mounds also got associated with it.

At least in one Source they used their feminine looks to seduce the human assailant, and get out of the danger. (Jenin Clement, 1884: ''Traditions Populaire de la Cote d'or').

Most of sources agrees that the Vouivre has bat-like wings, and when flying through the night sky, lets out a flame trail, like a shooting star. The sources like the Faune et Flore de la French Comtee, 1910 states that the creature could reach 2 meters tall.

The book ''The Drac'' Describes some tales of people that tried to actually rob the Vouivre. One man actually succeeded in getting her treasure, but not the Carbuncle. He made home with gold, but ended up dying by a mysterious illness, and the fortune disappeared.

In the Faune et Flore de la French Comtee, 1910 book, there's a legend about a man that succeeded in stealing the Carbuncle and also killing the Vouivre. The man blinded the creature taking the jewel, and had prepared beforehand a pit full of spikes. The man made the dragon fall to her death, and took the Carbuncle. But the thing was so valuable he never managed to sell it, dying without seeing a single coin from it. The treasure vanished not long after his passing.

Another tale from this particular book tells the horrifying story of a poor and hungry family, that ended up trying to steal the Vouivre's treasures to survive. The mother has the not so great idea to invade the dragon's cave with her infant son, while the creature was absent. But they takes too long that the Vouivre gets back before they could leave. In a hurry the mother left the children behind, who got stuck inside the cave when the Vouivre closed it. The mother waited camped in front of the cavern getting help from her neighbors, crying for her son. Exactly one year later, when the Vouivre exited the cave, her children was unharmed and could escape. Honestly, who would invade a dragon's den with a toddler? That's on her.

The legend was also spread from all over Eastern France. Regions such as Burgundy, Niverneeis and Baurbonnais were also prolific Vouivre nests, according to legend.

In the book Faune et Flore de la French Comtee, 1910, the author also compares the Vouivre to two other mythical beings. First: The Basilisk. Some people made this association due to their similar habitats, but the Basilisk being actively violent towards people.

There's a piece direct from page 12:

''...It (The Basilisk) was believed to be close related to the Vouivre. But much more terrible. (...) It inhabited old walls, attics and old houses, and guarded treasures...''

There are some similarities, but those are generic traits of mythological monsters and demons. They could be attributed to any creature, but i found interesting.

The Basilisk, by Kazuma Kaneko.

The other mythological creature discussed in the book that could be related to the Vouivre is the Melusine. Another distant cousin? The Melusine are humanoid creatures, sometimes half fish and half snake. In this book, the author draws parallels to the Vouivre, due to Melusine some times possessing snake-like features.

Much popular in Europe during the 14th century, the myth of the Melusine ended up making appearances in many coat of arms around Europe. Like the Holy Roman Germanic Empire, Escandinavian and the Warsaw City. Although many times treated as a snake, the association with the Vouivre comes from some draconic interpretations. This could be one of the origins, but its unclear.

This was not the only mention of the Melusine relation with the Vouivre. In the book Jenin Clement, 1884: ''Traditions Populaire de la Cote d'or', this also mentioned. They do share similar bodies, but the Melusine lacks the distinct Jewel in her forehead.

The Melusine, as it is portrayed in Shin Megami Tensei: If... by kazuma Kaneko.

There are some surviving records of first hand accounts of people who swear that they saw the creature. According to Faune et Flore de la French Comtee, 1910:

-In 1835 a villager from Jura, in the Dole district was about to go inside a pit where he saw treasure. He supposedly ran away crying in horror and blacked out. He said he had met a Vouivre face to face. Other villagers from that place and time swear they saw the creature as well.

-In 1850 in Augeraus someone actually tried to shoot the thing. According to the account, the demon was naturally unharmed.

Again at the book Jenin Clement, 1884: ''Traditions Populaire de la Cote d'or', There's actual names of People that got involved with the creature, supposedly:

-A couple called Jaquot and Jaquette (There's no way this is real, this is some serious Wario and Waluigi stuff)

-A Man called Nicolas Broreau

According to legend, this man actually survived his encounter while trying to steal from the creature. The creature stunned and seduced him, using her brains to get her jewel back. She even gives him some of her gold, but since he did not made what she demanded, the gold turned into rocks. This was also one of the few instances of sources where the Vouivre had two eyes, and not only the Carbuncle.

Those were the more interesting ones, but there are a lot of cases, and a lot of legends, it's hard to put everything down here. But again, sources will be in the end.

But by far the most interesting story of the Vouivre came from the book Jenin Clement, 1884: ''Traditions Populaire de la Cote d'or'. Here we go back to the castle of Vaugrenans, a chateau in eastern France. We are presented to the owner of the castle, but she was ruined by her beauty and excesses. This turned her into the demon Vouivre, who terrorized the town. She had a son, a knight who fought her to put an end to her destruction. According to this legend, the archangel Michael helped the Knight named George, who ended up killing the Vouivre destroying her Jewel and crushing her with his Horse.

In depression for killing his mother, he asks the Archangel to be punished. Michael burns the man and spread his ashes. He later is reborn as a child again, and was supposedly canonized.

When i first read this story it caught my eye that this is too similar to the Saint George tale, of killing a dragon. The name and everything. This tale could be indeed be a rationalization of the saint's lore. As i said above, this place is indeed known for the Vouivre legend, but there's nothing there indicating that this Saint tale is really associated with it as far as i have gone.

There's also a city in north-western France, called St. Georges du Vievre. This city has a name very closely related to the Vouivre and also depict a Saint George. This village today has less than 1000 people living there, and was first shown in a map in 1164 with his latin name: ''Sanctus Georgus De Wevra''.

Supposedly, Vievra refers to neraby woods called Guevra. This was the name of the place at least at the 11th Century. The name indicates that there was a dragon who ate children living in that place, that according to legend was killed by Saint George. (Probably not the same of his legend, this could be a regionalization of the myth, but all indicates it was just a regular Wyvern) This dragon was a Wyvern, the original meaning of the name Vouivre. Simply a Wyvern. The word could predate Latin, maybe going for more indo-European roots, but honestly it's hard to know.

The emblem of the village is literally Saint George killing a giant snake, which take us back to the original meaning of Vouivre and Wyvern, coming from the Latin word Vipera.

This village, as far as my research has gone, lacks any Vouivre tales or legends. Instead, the name here is merely a recall to its original meaning as the word for viper and Wyvern. This was sourced by the book ''Gentillhomeires des pays de l´eure'' Franck Beaumont, 1999. I've only found articles about it, the book is quite elusive. If you have it, or ever found it let me know!

In conclusion:

As such any local folklore, it's almost impossible to pin down the origins for the myth of the Vouivre. The common theme here is that of ''Risk and Reward'' type of cautionary tale, but also the European fascination with dragons.

Dragon tales were not uncommon at France, and we even already told about the Wivre, Guivre and many others. What makes the Vouivre tales interesting is that she was almost always minding her buisness, when the humans are the ones who cause her trouble. It's also worthy to note how in almost all of the tales there's never a happy ending for those trying to steal from the demon, even when they seems to achieve success in their endeavors to get the treasures from the Vouivre, something goes wrong. It goes to show how some things are just not made for human hands, no matter how much our species try to go over it. There was never pressure to hunt the Vouivre, most of them were not doing anything wrong in their tales, but yet the Humans tried to conquer their power to themselves.

There are many other interesting draconian mythological beings in Europe, and the Vouivre is specially popular in the particular Eastern region of France. It's a good display on how folklore and cultural traditions can influence a community, becoming naming conventions and symbols of that place's history. Today there's many people that fight to preserve this history, and i believed that researching and posting about it would do it's part.

I hope you all enjoyed. Please reblog, like, or interact to the post to spread the Vouivre's tale.

And remember, never try to steal from the Vouivre!

Sources:

Jenin Clement, 1884: ''Traditions Populaire de la Cote d'or''

Faune et Flore de la French Comtee, 1910- Beauquier

The Drac: French tales of Dragons and Demons'' (Felice Holman, Nanine Valen, Stephen Walker - 1975)

About the South American Carbuncle:

The Book of Imaginary Beings, 1975 edition (Jorge Luis Borges)

Note: All the books are in french, and i used software translation to read it. I am not familiar with the French geography, so if i got any place or name wrong, let me know!

[a-gnosis]

Hi, sorry to bug you! I’m trying to be brave and start a project about Ancient Greek myth. The breadth of scholars, literature, and opinions can be overwhelming and intimidating! If it’s okay, could you explain how you go about determining which sources are reliable? Apologies if this is too personal or involved an ask! Please don’t feel pressured to answer! Thank you for taking time to read this. Be well! (Also, do you know if Noel Robertson is reliable? Np if not, just thought I’d ask lol)

Don't worry, you're not bugging me! Ancient Greece and Greek mythology is a very popular and well-studied subject, so I understand that it can feel quite overwhelming and intimidating to start such a project. I myself have never tried to be 100% accurate about everything (because otherwise I would feel so intimidated that I couldn't draw a single line). My comics are inspired by Greek mythology, they are not supposed to be accurate retellings. I do a lot of research, but in the end it's my own take on it.

First I would recommend you to read the ancient Greek sources, or at least the parts that are relevant for your project, instead of going to retellings by modern authors (like Stephen Fry's Mythos. Don't get me wrong, such books can be a great introduction to Greek mythology, but the authors sometimes add details of their own or have their own spin on things). One site that has helped me a lot is theoi.com. There you can go to a certain god's page and see what the ancient poets and writers said about this god. It also has a collection of translated ancient sources (mostly very old translations, though). Sadly, the site is not complete, so depending on which characters you want to write about, you might not find as much information as you'd like.

As for other books, I always look at who has written it and who has published it. If the author is a professor of Classics, then they will most likely know what they are talking about. Even better if the book is published by a university press, since that means it has been reviewed by scholars in the field. Now, some scholars can of course still have some speculations and interpretations that not everybody agree with (for instance, a few scholars have speculated that Persephone's pomegranate seeds is a contraceptive that keeps her infertile. Even if I don't believe that the seeds have that meaning in the myth, it gave me inspiration to how the chthonic pomegranates work in my comic. I don't mind using speculative stuff as inspiration as long as it makes a good story, but then I usually point out in the comments that it is speculations and not facts). If a book is very old it can also have some outdated theories.

I haven't read anything by Noel Robertson, so I can't really say anything about his works. But he was a professor of Classics and his books are not that old, so he is probably a reliable source?

[invested-in-your-future]

How would you do Mistral?

I already sort of answered it before, but I guess I can expand upon it.

So okay, Mistral in my mind is pretty interesting situation. Mainly because it does not work as a "normal" Kingdom.

With Vale you have a central "City of Vale" location with Beacon Academy there and then you have places like Patch or failures like Mt.Glenn, but its all pretty centralized.

In my mind Mistral would be the opposite of that. There's no "City of Mistral" because Mistral hasn't "started" as a unified Kingdom and originally was multiple related regions with their own government structure that sort of came together out of unified mythological roots and collective need for safety. Each of the regions had a central city, each of them being oldest cities on the continent of Anima, modeled after real world mythology of each region and located geographically in such locations that make them easy to defend. Each region had a symbiotic sort of relationship with each other being uniquely positioned to provide what other regions lack.

And then the Great War happened.

Mistral as a whole tried to do some pretty awful things in regards to Faunus and fought on the wrong side of history, allying with Mantle (while government of Mistral did not really care for the whole self expression thing, it did give those in power a convenient excuse to galvanize their supporters against the Faunus population which they saw as one of inciting parties of the war). Post-war, Mistral came out from it all in a way worse shape. Political shake-ups, completely tanked economy (and also one of the regions kind of literally sinking), ruined cities, poverty, increased Grimm attacks, etc. Thus the three (remaining) regions integrated together in a stronger way to survive and the leadership of the Kingdom was revamped. Under an effort to preserve the newfound peace and with the help from Kingdom of Vale, the City of Haven was built in a central area, meant to be (both governance and communication) hub for the Kingdom of Mistral and the location of the Haven Academy. While it was meant to be the central body of power, that ended up being true only on the surface, as the regional power structure remained, and so did Mistral's noble families and past grudges, with each region vying for power and resources of the post-war reconstruction era. The noble families specifically got a lot more leeway as to preserve the overall order of the country. So while peace reigned and overall state of the world improved, the divide between those in power and those marginalized only grew in shadows.

The end result of it all still ended up being that you had three regions of influence with bustling cities and their flourishing pet-projects and then in between you had the few run-down time-forgotten (more often ruins of) villages and towns mostly left to fend for themselves. Each region still had their own regional Council, but they now answered to the the unified governmental body of Council of Haven. Thus the big difference from pre-war time being that the new Government structure was built around unanimous agreement between the three regions, making the situations and decisions like the ones before Great War harder. With establishment of Huntsman Academies and post-war demilitarization of concept of "Huntsman", the Council of Haven formed multiple "Departments" that would oversee specific aspects of managing the Kingdom and would have free reign to act as the form of central government oversight within each region.

At the top of the map, closer to Atlas, you'd have Japanese-inspired region. The region's central location was a giant seaside fortress-city on a cliff all the way up in the north, overlooking the ocean between Mistral and Atlas. As one of the oldest cities on the continent, the said fortress also happens to be a holy site for one of Remnant's biggest religions, with the enormous tree in it's center playing a role in one of Remnant's creation myths. Ironically, for being a holy site, the region also is arguably the most technologically advanced one and the fortress-city contains most of Mistral's scientific organizations and research companies, which is in part due to the fact that the body of water between Atlas and Mistral is scientifically fascinating mystery (in that the whole region of the ocean between Mistral and Atlas is completely toxic and devoid of any forms of life).

All the way in the east, you'd have Chinese inspired area with the region's climate being mix of arid steppes and lush grasslands proving to be perfect for agricultural industry. It's central city is located in a crater of a long dead volcano and is considered to be probably the oldest(and safest) city on Remnant, very likely built on even older city, as indicated by existing catacombs and tunnels below that provide for fascinating source of data for archeologists, but also are carefully managed with access to them restricted by Mistral's own military forces, so as to prevent the possibility of underground incursion like in Mt. Glenn. (Mt. Glenn was Vale's failed attempt to replicate the idea with modern tools).

And in the south you'd have Greek-inspired region with extremely well established industrial infrastructure, which provides huge amount of not just Mistral's but overall Remnant's metalworking and weaponry, with it's central city basically being a giant industrial complex with a giant forge in the center. The central forge doubles as both judiciary and religious complex, as the region also handles a lot of Mistral's judicial work. The city is also where the modern tradition of transformable weaponry originally began.

In the center of the kingdom, overlooking a giant set of lakes that used to be the fourth region of Mistral, stood Mistral's newest city and it's official central body of power, Haven, named after it's Academy. Its there that Mistral trains their huntsmen who then move on to the other regions to fulfill their duties. Its also where the tournaments that Mistral is famous for (and that Pyrrha was a recurring champion of) are held. While "Haven" is the official name of the place and people from other Kingdoms sometimes mistakenly refer to the city as "Mistral" itself, each region actually do have their own cultural names for the location it's built on, as fitting of the location meant to unify the Kingdom, as well as the intended Post-Great-War idea of celebrating self-expression, the city being the melting pot of Mistral's varying cultures and history.

Now, with the Fall of Beacon and the worldwide communication network going down and with the doubts about Atlas role in all of that, the ties between the regions loosen and Haven's overall hold starts to weaken, Mistral's central port is closed for outsiders because of rising tensions, various factions within Mistral start to move, the movement to forcibly relocate all Faunus onto Menagerie is once again gaining traction, WF presence is increasing and the overall population is divided between wildly different opinions on what actually happened in Vale, the overall worldwide relations are degrading (just think who Pyrrha and Penny were in terms of both kingdoms) and Ozpin is "unavailable" to try to do his usual plotting.

Pretty "good" time for characters to find themselves there after V3 and to overall portray the unraveling of the world of Remnant.

[blogger360ncislarules]

For any “Twin Peaks” fan whose head is still spinning after Part 18 of “The Return,” consider Mark Frost’s new novel, “Twin Peaks: The Final Dossier,” an essential purchase. The new book is considered canon and helps fill in the 25-year gap between the Season 2 finale and Showtime’s event series. Frost provides some of the answers David Lynch did not, such as what actually happened to Audrey Horne, and the co-writer even goes a step further in setting the final chapter of his book after the events of Part 18.

David Lynch ended “Twin Peaks: The Return” with a baffling final hour that expanded the mythology of the show by raising a hundred new questions. Agent Dale Cooper was granted entry way into the past by Phillip Jeffries to prevent the death of Laura Palmer. Cooper succeeded in preventing Laura from making it to the railroad cart where she was murdered, but sensing an interference with the real timeline, the all-powerful entity known as Judy ripped Laura from our world and brought her…somewhere else.

Many theories believe most of Part 18 is set in this “somewhere else,” which seems to be an alternate dimension where Agent Cooper is now Richard and Laura Palmer is a woman from Odessa, Texas named Carrie Page. The show ended with Page apparently remembering her alternate past as Laura Palmer and letting out a series-ending scream. Frost’s last chapter of “Twin Peaks: The Final Dossier” does not explain what happens next to Page/Palmer and Cooper/Richard, but it is set in a Twin Peaks that is very different than what fans will remember.

Vulture has written out the excerpt below from “The Final Dossier.” The final chapter centers around Agent Tammy Preston (Crysta Bell), who stayed in Twin Peaks for several days after the events of the finale and researched old newspaper articles.

You know what else I discovered, Chief, in that same article, a few sentences later? This:

“Agent Cooper had come to town for a few months earlier, to aid in the investigation into the disappearance, still unsolved, of local teenage beauty queen, Laura Palmer.”

Let me repeat that phrase for you: “still unsolved.” No mention of “murder,” “wrapped in plastic,” or “father arrested for shocking crime eventually dies in police custody of self-inflicted wounds.”

It’s right there on the front page: Laura Palmer did not die. So, fairly certain I’ve not misplaced my own mind, I go back and check the corresponding police records. They tell me this: Laura Palmer disappeared from Twin Peaks without a trace — on the very same night when, in the world we thought we knew, it used to be said she died — but the police never found the girl or, if she had been killed elsewhere, her body or made a single arrest.

When Cooper prevented Laura Palmer from making it to the site of her murder, Lynch made viewers witness scenes from the pilot episode of “Twin Peaks” change. Palmer’s dead body on the beach disappeared into thin air, for instance. Frost’s novel confirms that Cooper succeeded in the real timeline in preventing Palmer’s death as we know it, and the fact that her “disappearance” is still “unsolved” supports the claim that Judy pulled her into an alternate timeline. But because Laura went “missing,” the fate of her family followed a similar path: Her father killed himself out of grief and her mother become a depressed alcoholic with a prescription drug addiction.

The information Frost reveals only makes the ending Lynch created for the series more tragic. Cooper “succeeded” in preventing Laura’s death, but in return his actions led to her disappearance, creating the same unfortunate outcome for the Palmer family in the real timeline. As we saw in Part 18, Cooper then entered the alternate timeline to save Laura all over again and try to fix everything, but we all know how that turned out.

[notallsandmen]

20 questions for fic writers

Tagged by @reallyintoscience & @beatnikfreakiswriting — thank you darklings❤️

Okay, here we go:

1. How many works do you have on A03?

13

2. What's your total A03 word count?

55,019 (I take so much time writing so few words)

3. What fandoms do you write for?

The Sandman, WIPS for Hellblazer, The Hour, The Expanse

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Putting Out Fire With Gasoline, Nocturnal emissions, and its sequel License my roving hands (which I WILL finish so help me god), Dream nonsense (my first awkward fic) Defiling the Sublime (my Honk Zone Magnum Opus)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Always! It may take me a REALLY long time, or it may be in seconds. If you ask questions, or write long comments, you will get an essay back! ❤️

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?
I don't write whump, MCD, actually unrequited love, love triangles etc. That being said, I love writing angst when I have plans for a happy ending down the road. My angstiest fic would be Disintegration, which made me so sad that I ended it by hinting at a reconciliatory eldritch incubus visitation 🥰

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

The fic that makes ME happiest is Blanket Permission (which I am forever grateful to @quillingwords , for breathing the Purrito into life through her artwork)

8. Do you get hate on fics?

No, that’s never happened, thankfully.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Hell yes — the kinkier and more historically overcomplicated, the better. I’m particularly invested in relating the smut to history of sexuality and history in general, as well as folklore and mythology.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

I have two collaborative cross-overs that have been outlined but not yet written: Moulin Rouge AU with @academicblorbo , and Brideshead Revisited AU with @chaosheadspace and @quillingwords. I also have a Joanna Constantine/Death of the Endless WIP that will to some extent be a Sandman/Hellblazer crossover. Also, I really want to write a dreamling The Boat That Rocked smut fic!

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No. But Fern-Fevered was included in an anthology, which I will never get over

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I have started two, but not yet completed them.

14. What's your all time favorite ship?
Freddie Lyon / Bel Rowley from The Hour. Will never get over them

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?
Straight up copying @reallyintoscience ‘s response here: I exist in a state of optimism where I fully believe I will finish the few Sandman WIPs I have going.

16. What are your writing strengths?
Weaponised bathos (trying to make the beautiful slip on banana peel)

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Writing incredibly slowly, Overcomplicating/overdoing historical research. My latest WIP has a full-on bibliography…

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I love peppering in words in other languages related to the plot, as easter eggs to come back to, but I always include translations at the end. I spent an inordinate time trying to translate BDSM terminology into Old Norse for Lullaby, which was frankly such a mad endeavour that it should be mentioned as an example of my writing weaknesses…

19. First fandom you wrote for?

In my head: The Hour. Published online: The Sandman.

20. Favorite fic you've written?

Putting Out Fire (With Gasoline) — made infinitely better by @mathomhouse-e ‘s stunning artwork!

Tagging some lovely writers (tagging wildly here, as usual only do it if you have spoons for it):

@imnotcrying-ipromise @im-not-corrupted @hardly-an-escape @honeyteacakes @pellaaearien @karalynlovescake @so-i-grudgingly-joined-this-site @tj-dragonblade @two-hands-toward-the-sun @secondjulia @cuubism @dsudis @delta-pavonis @academicblorbo @valeriianz @gabessquishytum @aeon-of-neon @edgedancer77

[axl-ul]

Author Ask Tag Game (???)

Thanks a lot to @angie-j-kay for tagging me^^ This was very lovely of you. I'm choosing Empire of Dust for this tag game.

What is the main lesson of your story (e.g. kindness, diversity, anti-war), and why did you choose it? - I'm not exactly sure about the lesson, however the theme itself might be described as a tale of a lost soul that must learn to fight through life and whether the said soul is capable of maintaining its own innocence. It's all about questioning one's morale high ground and also whether we are born innocent or we gather the innocence by comminting ourselves to good deeds. Yet what is right and what is wrong is another question to be examined in my wip. To sum up, it's mostly a story about the true nature of child-like kindness and the corruption of it. I chose it simply because I have a certain experience with people losing their hope, their mind and ultimately their ability to care about each other.

What did you use as inspiration for your worldbuilding (like real-life cultures, animals, famous media, websites, etc.)? - As my other wips, I look for inspiration everywhere. Or rather the inspiration looks for me because the chaarcters are based of mythical creatures and gods while having personalities and traits of a few people I know personally. I'm also quite passionate about Biology, so it's safe to say that when creating vrious characters and monsters, I simply take out Uncle Google and my old textbooks about human anatomy/abnormalities of a developing body/animals. I'm also inspired by several world mythologies and legends (Slavic, Nordic, Chinese, Japanese etc.) and older literature (Journey to the West, several Slavic authors) and also 'modern' stuff (Berserk manga, Fromsoftware games etc.). A big influence is also a book Fantasy World-building by A. Nelson which hepled me with coming up with my own ideas and unique looks for monsters (like seeing a creature in a uniquely shaped piece of wood).

What is your MC trying to achieve, and what are you, the writer, trying to achieve with them? Do you want to inspire others, teach forgiveness, help readers grow as a person? - Ulfrika is trying to find peace for herself but especially for her last relative, her youngest sister Márgerdra, by bringing her 'home'. I'm not sure what I'm trying to achieve myself. There are several things on my mind at the same time. I simply want to tell a story as I enjoy creating. Might be that the storytelling and writing is a sort of an escape for me, the world where I can reconsider my decision while using similar themes as pillars for my writings. Maybe I just really love to explore my own mind and ideas. If it helps other people to grow or if it even inspires them, then itps certainly nice and lovely thing. Yet, I can't say it's my primary goal.

How many chapters is your story going to have? - 27 chapters and I'm considering to add prologue and epilogue.

Is it fanfiction or original content? Where do you plan to post it? - Empire of Dust is an original fiction (a dark fantasy mystery with strong horror elements and historical setting). Considering that AO3 has been taken down, I suppose I'll post it either here on Tumblr or I'll find another site (maybe Tappas?? But most likely I'll stick with Tumblr). In case that AO3 is back again, it'll be posted on both AO3 and Tumblr.

When and why did you start writing? - I came up with the idea about a year (and half??) ago because I've been pretty invested in Byzantine Empire and Slavic people who interacted with it. And I also wanted to write down a story about Ulfrika and Márgerdra while they were still children/early teens, about their struggles and especially about Ulfrika spiraling down to the rabbit hole which caused a sort of a domino effect on her character.

Do you have any words of engagement for fellow writers of Writeblr? What other writers of Tumblr do you follow? - I'm not sure what this question entirely means so maybe that you don't have to be afraid of being annoying, cringe or anything else. Just write and be your own no. 1 fan. If you find a way to love your own work then you'll also love the work of the rest of your fellow writers. About the writeblr accounts, there's just so many and I'm not sure whether my keyboard and my goldfish memory would be able to mention everyone, so I'll mention those who come to my mind as first and that is @arijensineink @faelanvance @rbbess110 @jgmartin @anthros-vanitas-archive already mentioned account @angie-j-kay @rubywrite @toribookworm22 @missaddledmiss @aohendo @outpost51 @dyrewrites and also many more. Love you all, darlings

I'm leaving an open tag for everyone as I feel that everybody deserves this sort of ask which has really nice questions