#GUARDIAN OF WONDER || ( north! )

[onceupona-crossover]

nicholas st. north (rise of the guardians) & alma madrigal (encanto) friendship moodboard

requested by: n/a

- mod merida

[frie-ice]

In the 2012 film, Rise of the Guardians, North asked Jack about his centre that makes Jack who he is, but Jack didn't know what his centre is and with his memories lost made it harder for him to find it.  So North shows Jack a nesting doll that holds the parts of him that makes North Santa Claus and a guardian. As the last doll is his centre, a child with big eyes that can see the wonders of the world that helps him make Christmas.

BOUNS:

North giving Jack the last doll, to help him find his centre, and Jack's little nesting doll that stands for the fun side of him. Which turned out to be his centre as the Guardian of Fun.

[santaverse]

@belost-the-watcher liked for a North Starter!

At North's Workshop, it was business as usual! As the Yetis got a majority of the toys built (and the elves... were THERE), North made sure to help supervise. Of course, the Guardian made his own set of toys, but this was Christmas! He had his own vision for how these toys should come out and the Yetis were very capable of making them! It's just - sometimes the toys they built needed a little change or two!

" Ho Ho! " North exclaimed, elated to see a stack of action figures. " Very good, Karl! Very good! " The Guardian leaned in to get a closer look. He pursed his lips and strummed his beard. " Hmm... Something is missing. " The solution came to North in a quick moment. He snapped his fingers and came back to Karl. " Pants should be red! Make pants red, Karl! "

North happily pat Karl (who groaned at the idea of changing the color of all of those toys) on the back, then began to walk to see some more toys until-

CLUNK!

" Eh? " North glanced down at the ground and noticed a little brown boomerang under his feet. He reached down and scooped the tool into his hand. With a quick glance, North recognized the boomerang. " Ah! Bunny must have dropped boomerang last night! I should take it too him before he gets all grumpy- always very grumpy! "

North chuckles at himself, then grabs his coat and his hat. Once he puts his coat on, the Guardian reaches into his pocket and pulls out one of his magic snow-globes. He holds it close to his eye and watches as the snow inside swirls and flurries into a view of the Warren. He tosses the globe onto the ground and a portal opens up.

" I will be right back! Faster than you can say Ho, Ho- "

North closed his eyes and entered the portal. When he opens his eyes, the burly Guardian's eyes widened.

" -HOROWITZ!!! "

This was NOT Bunnymund's Warren. He looks around the unfamiliar area and blinks once before muttering, " Uh-Oh. "

[guardian-of-fun-times]

In a way, North is kind of like Jack Frost’s fatherly figure. He teaches him what a center is and reassures him that he did a good job when Jack thought he didn’t try to save the other guardian. Happy Father’s Day!

[bidembi]

i can’t find a gif for it but the specific moment in rise of the guardians where north taps his belly confidently and knowingly, that did more to help me love my body than any health+wellness org ever could

[waytray]

i'm pretty sure these are star guardians!

[redgoldsparks]

I wrote a 12 page epilogue to my 2019 comic "Harry Potter and The Problematic Author" because I found, in 2023, that I had more to say. You can also find this comic on my website, and I have PDF copies available on etsy. I may sell print copies at some point in the future.

instagram / patreon / portfolio / etsy / my book / redbubble

Full transcript below the cut.

PAGE 1

Part one: Ruddy Owls!

I was in fourth grade when the first Harry Potter Book was released in the US.

Panel 1: Sometimes our teacher would read it aloud in class. “Mr and Mrs Dursley of number 4 Privat Drive were proud to say they were perfectly normal, thank you very much…”

Panel 2: I was 11 years old when Harry Potter finally broke through my dyslexia and turned me into a reader.

Panel 3: Every night in the summer before sixth grade I waited for the owl carrying my Hogwarts Letter. I cried when it didn’t come. “I have to go to Muggle school!”

PAGE 2

Part Two: Hats

I dedicated myself to being a fan.

Panel 1: I began collecting Harry Potter News article.

Panel 2: I asked my relatives to mail me ones from their local papers. I filled a thick binder with clippings.

Panel 3: I wrote my own trivia quiz

Panel 4: and participated in the one held annually at the county fair. “Next contestant!”

Panel 5: I usually got into one of. the top five spots. I won boxes of candy, posters, stationary, and once a baseball cap. (Hat reads: I survived the battle of Hogwarts).

Panel 6: In high school I sewed a black velvet cape and knitted many stripped scarves.

PAGE 3

Part Three: Double Trouble

Watching the last film in 2011 felt like the final note of my childhood. 

Panel 1: I remember driving home from the midnight showing thinking about the end of 13 years of waiting; wondering what would define the next chapter of my life. 

Panel 2: That same month I heard of something called Pottermore. “Okay, so there’s a sorting quiz… I already know my house! Patronus assignment? Mine’s a barn owl. Duh!" 

Panel 3: You can read the books again but with GIFs? Why? 

Panel 4: I lived in a place with very slow and limited internet at the time. Pottermore sounded inaccessible, but also boring. I never joined. 

Panel 5: "I’ll just read the actual books again, thanks." 

PAGE 4

Part Four: Sweets

In 2016, a series of short stories titled "History of Magic in North America” were released on Pottermore to pave the way for the first Fantastic Beasts Film. These stories display an extreme ignorance of American history, culture, and geography, but the worst parts are the casual misuse of indigenous beliefs and stories. Fans and critics immediately spoke up against this appropriation. Some of the most quoted voices included Nambe Pueblo scholar Dr. Debbie Reese who runs the site “American Indians In Children’s Literature”; Navajo writer Brian Young; Johnnie Jae (Otoe-Missouria and Choctaw), founder of A Tribe Called Geek; Dr Adrienne Keene (Cherokee Nation), a Professor at Brown University who runs the blog “Native Appropriations”, and writers N.K. Jemison and Paula Young Lee.

PAGE 5

Rowling is famous for responding to fans directly on twitter, yet she did not respond to anyone calling out the damaging aspects of “Magic in North America.” Her representatives refused to comment for March 9 2016 article in the Guardian. She has never apologized. All of this, plus the casting of Johnny Depp and the specific declarations of support by JKR, Warner Brothers, and director David Yates left a sour taste in my mouth.

For further thoughts on the new films read The Crimes of Grindelwald is a Mess by Alanna Bennett for Buzzfeed News, November 16, 2018.

PAGE 6

Excerpt from Colonialism in Wizarding American: JK Rowling’s History of Magic in North America Through an Indigenous Lens by Allison Mills, MFA, MAS/MLIS (Cree and Settler French Canadian)

Although Rowling is certainly not the first white author to misstep in her treatment of Indigenous cultures, she has an unprecedented level of visibility and fame, […] One of the most glaring problems with Rowling’s story is her treatment of the many Indigenous nations in North America as one monolithic group. […It] flattens out the diversity of languages, belief systems, and cultures that exist in Indigenous communities, allowing stereotyping to persist. […] It continues a long history of colonial texts which ignore that Indigenous peoples still exist. […] In the Wizarding world, as in the real world, Indigenous histories have been over-written and our cultures erased.

from The Looking Glass: New Perspectives in Children’s Literature Volumn 19, Issue 1

PAGE 7

Part 5: Music

Panel 1: Also in 2016 I discovered two podcasts which radically altered my experience of being an HP fan. The first was Witch Please created by two Canadian feminist literary scholars Hannah McGregor and Marcelle Kosman.

Panel 2: “If it’s not in the text it doesn’t count!” “Close reading ONLY!”

Panel 3: They talk about Harry Potter at the level you’d expect in a college class with particular focus on gender, race, class, and the troubling fatphobia, fear of othered and queer coded bodies, violence against women, white feminism, gaslighting and failed pedagogy in the books. They bring up these issues not because they hate the series, but because they LOVE it.

PAGE 8

These passionate, joyful conversations went off like fireworks in my mind. I had never taken a feminist class before. I gained a whole new vocabulary to talk about the books- and the world.

PAGE 9

Panel 1: The second podcast I started that year was Harry Potter and the Sacred Text, created by two graduates of the Harvard Divinity School, Vanessa Zoltan and Casper Ter Kuile.

Panel 2: They read one chapter per episode through a theme such as love, control, curiosity, shame, responsibility, hospitality, destruction, or mystery. Like Witch Please, they are interested only in the information on the page, not thoughts from the author. The delights and failures of the text are examined in the context of the present day, and new meanings constantly arise.

PAGE 10

What does it mean to treat a text as sacred?

Trusting that the more time we give to it, the more blessings it has to give us.

Reading the text repeatedly with concentrated attention. Our effort is part of what makes it sacred. The text is not in and of itself sacred, but is made so by rigorously engaging in the ritual of reading.

Experiencing it in community.

“To me, the goal of treating the text as sacred is that we learn to treat each other as sacred.” -Vanessa Zoltan

PAGE 11

Part 6: Tooth and Claw

In October 2017, Rowling liked a tweet linking to an article arguing that trans women should be kept out of women’s bathrooms because of cisgender women’s fears. In March 2018, she liked a tweet about the problem of misogyny in the UK Labour Party which included the line “Men in dresses get brosocialist solidarity I never had.” The author of the tweet had previously posted many blatantly anti-trans statements.

Rowlings publicist claimed she had liked the posted by accident in a “clumsy and middle-aged moment.” Yet, in September 2018 she liked a link posted by Janice Turner to her column in the Times UK titled “Trans Rapists Are A Danger In Women’s Jails.”

Screencaps of these tweets can be found in the article “The Mysterious Case of JK Rowling and her Transphobic Twitter History”, January 10 2019 by Gwendolyn Smith (a trans journalist), LGBTQNation.com

PAGE 12

Excerpt from: Is JK Rowling Transphobic? A Trans Woman Investigates by Katelyn Burns

Ultimately, the answer is yes, she is transphobic […] I think it’s fair that she receives criticism from trans people, especially given her advocacy on behalf of queer people in general, but also because she has a huge platform. Many people look up to her for creating a singular piece of popular culture that holds deep meaning for fans from different walks of life, and she has a responsibility to handle that platform wisely. (Published on them.us March 28, 2018)

PAGE 13

Part 7: Home

At age 30, I’m still not over Harry Potter.

Panel 1: I’ve recently found a local bar that does HP trivia nights. “Poppy or Pomona?” “Poppy!”

Panel 2: I currently own an annual pass to Universal Studios so I can visit Hogsmeade.

Panel 3: I love talking to kids who are reading the books for the first time. “Who’s your favorite character?” “Ginny!”

Panel 4: And I’m planning a relisten to the audio books to next year to help me get through the election cycle. “Jim Dale, I’m going to need you more than ever…”

Spoiler from 2023: I did not do this. By mid-2020 JKR had posted her transphobic essay; we were in covid; I never visited Universal Studios again.

PAGE 14

But I do want to learn from her mistakes. I never want to repeat “Magic in North America.” As I write, I will do my research. I will consult experts and compensate them. If a reader from a different culture/background than me speaks up about my work, I will listen and apologize. I KNOW I WILL MAKE MISTAKES. But I will own up to them and I will do better.

PAGE 15

Excerpt from Diversity Is Not Enough: Race, Power and Publishing by Daniel José Older

We can love a thing and still critique it. In fact, that’s the only way to really love a thing. Let’s be critical lovers and loving critics and open ourselves to the truth about where we are and where we’ve been. Instead of holding tight to the same old, failed patriarchies, let’s walk a new road, speak new languages. Today, let’s imagine a literature, a literary world, that carries this struggle for equity in its very essence, so that tomorrow it can cease to be necessary, and disappear. (Buzzfeed, April 14, 2017) 

PAGE 16

Harry Potter is flawed, & JK Rowling is problematic. But the books helped me learn a lot: 

*One of the greatest dangers facing the modern world is the rise of fascism 

*The government cannot be trusted 

*Read and think critically

*Question the news: who paid the journalist? Who owns the paper? 

*Trust and support your friends through good times and bad

*Organize for resistance

*Educate and share resources with peers

*The revolution must be diverse and intersectional

* We are only as strong as we are united

*The weapon we have is love 

MK 2019

PAGE 17

PART 8: EPILOGUE

In 2021 I removed a Harry Potter patch I sewed to my book bag over a decade ago. I took 15 pieces of Harry Potter fanart off my walls. I got rid of my paperback book set, 2 board games, and 8 t-shirt. [images: a Hogwarts a patch with loose threads, a pair of scissors and a seam ripper]

Panel 1: Maia holding up a shirt with the Deathly Hallows logo on it. Maia thinks: “Damn, this really used to be my entire personality.”

Panel 2: The t-shirt gets thrown into the Goodwill box.

PAGE 18

I wrote my zine wrestling with JKR’s legacy in 2019, after her dismissive and racist reaction to indigenous fans and critics of “Magic in North America” and after she had liked a couple transphobic tweets. Since then, she has gotten so much worse.

A Brief Timeline (mostly from this Vox article)

June 2020- JKR posts a 3600 word essay making her anti-trans position clear

August 2020- The Robert F Kennedy Human Rights Org issues a statement about her transphobia, JKR doubles down on her position and returns an award they gave her

December 2020- JKR claims 90% of HP fans secretly agree with her anti-trans views

December 2021- JKR mocks Scottish Police for recognizing transgender identities

March 2022- JKR criticizes gender-inclusive language and legislation

December 2022- JKR retweets trans youtuber Jessie Earl’s critical review of Hogwarts Legacy, starting an onslaught of transphobic harassment towards Earl

December 2022- JKR removes her support from an Edinburgh center for survivors of sexual violence with a trans-inclusive policy and funds her own center which explicitly excludes trans sexual assault survivors

January 2023- JKR tweets “Deeply amused by those telling me I’ve lost their admiration due to disrespect I show violent, duplicitous rapists.” It got nearly 300K likes

March 2023- One the podcast “The Witch Trials of JK Rowling”, hosted by a former Westboro Baptist Church Member, JKR compares the trans rights movement to Death Eaters.

PAGE 19

What are The Witch Trials of JK Rowling?

Panel 1: Maia speaking. “It’s a 7 episode documentary style podcast hosted by Megan Phelps-Roper. Nearly every episode contains interviews with JKR as well as critics, journalists, historians, protestors and fans.

Panel 2: Maia speaking. “In episode 1, JKR speaks more candidly than she has previously about being in an abusive marriage. Her ex-husband hit her, stalked her, broke into her house overlapping with the time she was writing the first three HP books.”

Panel 3: Maia speaking. “What she went through genuinely sounds horrific. I have a lot of sympathy for the kind of life-long traumas those experiences leave.”

PAGE 20

HOWEVER.

It is clear from reading the June 2020 essay on her blog and listening to the podcast, that JKR still to this day feels unsafe. Despite her wealth and privilege she moves through the world with the mindset of a victim. And the group of people she finds most threatening are trans women.

Or rather, she is afraid that allowing trans women in women’s spaces invites the possibility of male predators entering those spaces.

Here’s a direct quote: The problem is male violence. All a predator wants is access and to open the doors of changing rooms, rape centers, domestic violence centers [...] to any male who says “I’m a woman and I have a right to be here” will constitute a risk to women and girls. - from The Witch Trials episode 4 as transcribed by therowlinglibrary.com, March 2023

Image: A stem of Belladonna with flowers and berries.

PAGE 21

Let me introduce here the term: TRANSMISOGYNY. The intersection of transphobia and misogyny, this term was coined by Julia Serano in 2007. Scout Tran, on tiktok as Queersneverdie said: “Transmisogyny occurs in people who have been previously hurt by traditional misogyny. Who have been driven to hate men or at the very least to be scared of men. They will sometimes take out that rage on trans women. (March 2023)

JKR claims to care for trans women and understand they are extremely vulnerable to assault and violence. In her 2020 Essay she wrote: “I want trans women to be safe. At the same time, I do not want to make natal girls and women less safe.”

So she cares about trans women… just less than cis women, and she’s willing to throw all trans women under the bus because of her unfounded, prejudice fears.

PAGE 22

Panel 1: Maia speaking. “JKR claims to have seen data that proves trans women have presented physical threats to other women in intimate spaces, but never cites sources. She also uses “producer of the large gametes” as a definition of “woman”.

What about transmen and nonbinary folks?

Panel 2: Maia leaning on a stack of all seven HP books, the first four Cormorant Strike books and The Casual Vacancy, gesturing to a series of quotes with a tired and disgusted expression.

I’m concerned about the huge explosion of young women wishing to transition and also about the increasing numbers who seem to be detransitioning. * [...] If I’d been born 30 years later, I too might have tried to transition. The allure of escaping womanhood would have been huge. -June 10 2020 essay

I don’t believe a 14 year old can truly understand what the loss of their fertility is.

-Witch Trials episode 4

I haven’t yet found a study that hasn’t found that the majority of young people experiencing gender dysphoria grow out of it*. -Witch Trials episode 7

*No sources cited

PAGE 23

It’s hard to over emphasize how fixated JKR has become on these topics. As of the date I’m writing this, 14 out of her 20 most recent tweets (70%) are in some way anti-trans. She tweets against Mermaids (a UK based trans youth charity), against trans athletes, against gender neutral bathrooms, and in support of LBG Alliance- a UK org that denies trans rights while upholding gay rights. Here are some gems from her archive:

“People who menstruate.” I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud? -June 2020

War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery. Ignorance is Strength. The Penised Individual Who Raped You Is a Woman. - December 2021

And in response to someone asking “How do you sleep at night knowing you lost a whole audience?”

I read my most recent royalty cheques and find the pain goes away pretty quickly. -October 2022

PAGE 24

Hashtag Ruthless Productions a queer nerd podcast company created a great guide on ethical engagement with HP. Image: the two hosts of Hashtag Ruthless productions, Jessie (They/she) and Lark (he/him).

Stop buying all official HP Products: books, movies, games, toys, etc, Universal Studios tickets, food, merch.* Boycott any new TV series or movies. Instead: buy the books and DVDs used. If you still want to wear HP merch, buy fan-made. Engage only with fan content: fic, podcasts, fanart, wizard rock, etc. Show transphobia is bad for business. None of this will change JKR’s mind. But the Fantastic Beast series was canceled and after record Pottermore sales in 2020, they fell in 2022 by 40%.

*She gets a portion of ALL tickets. In 2019, this was her largest income source. Read the full guide: hashtagruthless.com/resourceguide

PAGE 25

As late as 2019, I was still reading JKR’s murder mystery series. But by the fourth book my experience began to sour.

Panel 1: Maia holding a copy of Lethal White. “The only gay character in this book is a government official who gropes his staff?”

Panel 2: “The only genderqueer character is misgendered and portrayed as a whiny faker?”

Panel 3: “The only Muslim character is disowned by his family over gay rumors?”

Panel 4: “Even the women aren’t portrayed very well…”

Panel 5: “Why is the main female character defined by the rape in her past?”

Panel 6: “Wait, what happens in the rest of this series…?” Maia scrolls on eir phone.

Panel 7: “Is the series heading towards an employee/boss relationship?”

Panel 8: “And has a man wearing women’s clothes to commit assault?”

Panel 9: “Yeah, I’m done. I’m never reading a new JKR book ever again.”

PAGE 26

And as for JKR herself?

As tempting as it might be to tweet your frustrations at her, I don’t recommend it. In 2021, she tweeted, “Hundreds of trans activists have threatened to beat, rape, assassinate and bomb me.” Getting hate online feeds her sense of victimhood and she waves it as proof of her moral high ground. Instead I suggest you block her on twitter, then delete twitter, go to the library and try to find a new book that feels magical.

Stack of books: In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan, The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater, Gifts by Ursula K Le Guin, Deep Wizardry by Diane Duane, A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik and Gideon the Ninth by Tamsin Muir.

PAGE 27

In “Emergent Strategy” adrienne maree brown writes: You do not have the right to traumatize abusive people, to attack them, personally or publicly, or to sabotage anyone else’s health. The behaviors of abuse are also survival-based, learned behaviors rooted in pain. If you can look through the lens of compassion, you will find hurt and trauma there. If you are the abused party, healing that hurt is not your responsibility and exacerbating that pain is not your justified right.

PAGE 28

Seeing anyone over age 12 wearing HP merch now makes me uncomfortable. Are they ignorant or actively a TERF? I hate wondering how much money JKR has probably poured into anti-trans legislation… This zine is a culmination of my slow breakup with a story that once brought me joy. Now it just makes me angry, tired and sad.

Image: Candle in a fancy holder burned down to less than an inch.

Maia Kobabe, 2023

[will80sbyers]

Do you still have the list of movies that inspired ST4? I had a picture of it but I lost it and I haven't been able to find it since. Please and thank you in advance.

Yep!

Long post warning lol

300

2001: A Space Odyssey

47 Meters Down: Uncaged

12 Monkeys

28 Days Later

13th Warrior

Ace Ventura: Pet Detective

Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls

Altered States

Amelie

American Sniper

Analyze This

Annihilation

Aristocats

Armageddon

Assassins Creed

Avengers: Age of Ultron

Arrival

Almost Famous

Batman Begins

Batman V. Superman

Basket Case

Battle at Big Rock

Beauty and the Beast

Beetlejuice

Behind Enemy Lines

Beverly Hills Cop

Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey

Billy Madison

Black Cauldron

Black Swan

Boondock Saints

Borat

Bram Stoker’s Dracula

Burn After Reading

Broken Arrow

Blade Runner

C.H.U.D

Con Air

Cast Away

Congo

Constantine

Children of Men

Cabin in the Woods

Crank

Casablanca

Carrie

Crimson Tide

Clueless

Dukes of Hazzard

Don’t Breathe

Death to Smoochy

Doom

Dark Knight

Dogma

Deep Blue Sea

Dreamcatcher

Drop Dead Fred

Die Hard

Die Hard 2

Die Hard 3

Don’s Plum

Dances with Wolves

Dumb and Dumber

Edward Scissorhands

Enter the Void

Ex Machina

Event Horizon

Emma (2020)

Forrest Gump

Fargo

Fisher King

Full Metal Jacket

Ferris Bueller

Fallen

Fugitive

Ghost

Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Ghostbusters

Good Fellas

Girl Interrupted

Godzilla: King of the Monsters

Get Out

Good Will Hunting

Hackers

High Fidelity

Hellraiser 1

Hellraiser 2

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Hidden

High School Musical

Hurt Locker

Heat

Hunger Games

Highlander

Hell or High Water

Home Alone

I am Legend

It’s a Wonderful Life

In Cold Blood

Inception

I am a Fugitive from Chain Gang

Inside Out

Island of Doctor Moreau

It Follows

Interview with a Vampire

Inner Space

Into the Spiderverse

Independence Day

Jupiter Ascending

John Carter of Mars

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

James Bond (All Movies)

Julie

Karate Kid

Knives Out

Kingsmen

Little Miss Sunshine

Labyrinth

Long Kiss Goodnight

Lost Boys

Leon: The Professional

Let the Right One In

Little Women (1994)

Mad Max: Fury Road

Magnolia

Men in Black

Mimic

Matrix

Misery

My Cousin Vinny

Mystic River

Minority Report

Mr. and Mrs. Smith

Neverending Story

Never Been Kissed

No Country for Old Men

Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors

North by Northwest

Open Water

Orange County

Oceans 8

Oceans 11

Oceans 12

One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest

Ordinary People

Paddington 2

Platoon

Pulp Fiction

Papillon

Pan’s Labyrinth

Pineapple Express

Peter Pan

Princess Bride

Paradise Lost

Primal Fear

Prisoners

Peter Jackson’s King Kong

Reservoir Dogs

Ravenous

Rushmore

Road Warrior

Rogue One

Reality Bites

Raider of the Lost Ark

Red Dragon

Robocop

Shooter

Sky High

Swingers

Sword in the Stone

Step Up 2

Spy Kids

Saving Private Ryan

Shape of Water

Swept Away

Star Wars: Return of the Jedi

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back

Superbad

Society

Swordfish

Stoker

Splice

Silence of the Lambs

Source Code

Sicario

Se7en

Starship Troopers

Scrooged

Splash

Silver Bullet

Speed

The Visit

The Italian Job

The Mask of Zorro

True Lies

The Blair Witch Project

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy

Tangled

The Craft

The Guest

The Devil’s Advocate

The Graduate

The Prestige

The Rock

Titanic

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

The Fly

Tombstone

The Mummy

The Guardian

The Goofy Movie

The Peanut Butter Solution

Toy Story 4

The Ring

The Crazies

The Mist

The Revenant

The Perfect Storm

The Shining

Terminator 2

The Truman Show

Temple of Doom

The Cell

To Kill a Mockingbird

Timeline

The Good Son

The Orphan

The Birdcage

The Green Mile

The Raid

The Cider House Rules

The Lighthouse

The Book of Henry

The A-Team

The Crow

The Terminal

Thor Ragnarok

Twister

The Descent

The Birds

Total Recall

The Natural

The Fifth Element

True Romance

Terminator: Dark Fate

The Hobbit Trilogy

Unforgiven

Unbreakable

Unleashed

Very Bad Things

Wayne’s World

What Women Want

War Dogs

Wedding Crashers

What’s Eating Gilbert Grape

Welcome to the Dollhouse

Welcome to Marwen

Wet Hot American Summer

What Lies Beneath

What Dreams May Come

War Games

Who Framed Roger Rabbit

Weird Science

Willow

Wizard of Oz

Wanted

Young Sherlock Holmes

You’ve Got Mail

Zodiac

Zoolander

[astoundingbeyondbelief]

Kaiju Week in Review (January 21-27, 2024)

Godzilla Minus One made awards show history in both Japan and the U.S. this week. Its Oscar nomination for best Visual Effects is the first of the series (Godzilla [1998], Godzilla [2014] and Godzilla vs. Kong were previously shortlisted) and the first for any Japanese film. Small wonder Takashi Yamazaki, Kiyoko Shibuya, and their team went berserk when the nomination was announced. The other nominees are The Creator, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Napoleon, and Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One. According to IndieWire, The Creator has the edge, but Minus One could very well win. And while it naturally made less headlines in the Anglosphere, Minus One also picked up a whopping 12 Japan Academy Film Prize nominations, exceeding Shin Godzilla's 10.

Godzilla Minus One/Minus Color is now in North American theaters. I was intrigued enough to make it my fourth theatrical viewing of this movie, but in the end it did basically strike me as a gimmick. Godzilla Minus One was shot digitally with sets designed for color, so making it actually look like a film from the 40s was always going to be an uphill battle. Even with the regrade, there wasn’t a ton of contrast in most shots, and some of the scenes taking place at night were quite hard to see. Still, apart from the Odo Island massacre, I found the Godzilla scenes as gripping as ever.

Thanks to Minus Color, Minus One made $2.6 million this weekend, crawling back into the box office top 10. Its total in the U.S. and Canada now stands at $55 million, third among all foreign-language films released in the U.S.

Brush of the God, Keizo Murase's directorial debut after a lifetime in movies, is finally complete. It'll play at the Osaka Asian Film Festival in March (link contains more images), and hopefully travel overseas very soon. Murase will also receive an Association Special Award at the Japan Academy Film Prize.

Clover Press shipped out copies of Godzilla & Kong: The Cinematic Storyboard Art of Richard Bennett to Kickstarter backers, myself included. It's an excellent art book, and there are plenty of deleted and altered scenes mixed in with more familiar sequences. Believe it or not, Bennett drew the panel above for Kong: Skull Island—they considered having James Conrad (Tom Hiddleston) flash back to an encounter with King Ghidorah in Vietnam. Not sure how that would've worked, as Ghidorah is generally not one to lie low for a few decades, but it's the first I've ever heard of it being considered. I'm hoping to post some more scans soon. Here's the order link.

Minecraft social media accounts teased a crossover with the Monsterverse, in what's likely to be the most high-profile of the Godzilla x Kong video game collaborations. The Mobzilla mod was created over 10 years ago, so this is long overdue.

The big toy news this week was Titanic Creations revealing the digital sculpt for its Yongary figure. This guy's had even less figures than Gorgo - I can only think of one, and very few of them were made - so expect massive demand. New Godzilla toys were also on display at London Toy Fair, both at the Playmates booth and among the plushies made by an unknown company.

[deliveryboysomewhatequaltoheaven]

so i think these are the Azure Dragon of the East, White Tiger of the West, and Vermillion Bird of the South, three of the Four Symbols, the guardians of the cardinal directions in the 28 Mansions, from the Chinese constellation system. I wonder where the fourth, the Black Tortoise of the North, is.

Kui Mulang from Season 4 was one of the Mansions, the Wood Wolf of Legs, under the White Tiger.

And I suppose it makes sense that the star gods are being harmed by the heavens tearing apart... that is not good...

[t34-mt]

maanul folklore: mermaids

mermaids in maanuls ( or poaluk'nau in east, meaning: "one with sea") are not just them but with a fish tail, they're actually quite different from what most mermaid in human culture looks like.

they look like if maanuls went more aquatic, even having an operculum on the back like animals that went back to the sea. they have almost side eyes, a bottom lip (maanuls don't have that), and large palmed hands that are wonderful flippers underwater but on land make them clumsy and only able to wiggle around like a seal would. They own long muscular tails to help them swim, overall maanul mermaids look like them mixed with those strange whale ancestors. Most of the time they are said to be bigger than maanuls, other regions say they're the same size in length. While their size can vary in regions, the look is quite the same in all cultures meaning it's a shared representation that got spread among other maanuls tho the origin is vague, there's a possibility that it was from the south.

In tales, they can hold different roles, such as mysterious guardians in west, annoying but essential in the central north, tricksters and careless in the south, beasts of the ocean to scare kids from misbehaving in the north east and finally, in the east only one mermaid is present in the culture and its a sort of cursed person. now more onto each tale of every region in depth.

the word core will be mentioned a lot, core in maanuls means soul, they see their soul as a round ball that molts everytime they experience a grand event in their life.

Tales from the south: creatures of mischief

In the hottest region where maanuls live, Maanuls tell a story of a troublesome late teenager (18-19 in human years, that's still a minor in their species), whose love for mischief could not be matched by anything, except one, the ocean. The ocean was where they did all of their trickery, such as pulling people by their tail or legs in the water, swimming under canoe to then push them over, blowing water at people by their operculum, and so on. In the water is where they played, where they ate, they lived, they stood so much in the water that people were thinking it was a core of an aquatic animal born in the wrong body. they were like a child who never learned to grow up and have responsibilities, a child who never wanted to have responsibilities or care about what it meant to be a colony member. And what better place could there be to flee than the vast and infinite ocean.

So they prayed on a lone beach, they prayed day and night to the sea while the waves would caress their knees.

And the sea answered, by sending a large wave that came and wrapped around the maanul, absorbing them into the water to transport them back to the sandy beach. When the wave retreated from the black sand nothing was left of the maanul, except a large mass curled onto itself. The thing moved and tried to get up on its legs only to realize its long muscular legs were gone and replaced by short palmed feet, it noticed its tail being strong and muscular perfectly made to push itself in the water, its body was massive and heavy on land, its hands could hold anything anymore. They were now made to be within the waves. The now mermaid started to ungulate their body with little to no grace to produce forward movement, trying to claw the sand to reach the waves faster. Once in the ocean, without a look behind them they left everything they had behind to pursue a meaningless life of trickery. Never to be seen again as a maanul, the colony thought the ocean ate them.

In southern culture mermaids are seen as heartless people who left their family, their colony, and their responsibility behind to live a simple life of mischief. Causing trouble to maanuls' canoes, pushing fishermen to the water, and stealing their food because they are lazy beings. They are said to be previously people who don't care about anyone but their own short-term pleasure. mermaids are said to peak out the waves grinning before chewing on the side of boats.

And while for kids the idea of being a marine animal that plays nonstop can be tempting, parents remind them that mermaids don't care for their dead. Once they die as a mermaid no one will remember them and they will be left to be forgotten within the depths of the ocean mother, and without a proper mourning ceremony they cannot reincarnate and their cycle will end.

Tales from the west: the mysterious singing people

In the west, mermaids are seen as guardians of the sea who speak no words at the surface and choose to not interact with the people of the land.

They are said to have been born at night, out of the "tears" of joys of the first moon when she gave birth to its calf, the so-called "third moon". Each tear that fell into the salty water of the sea became round, resembling a fish egg except that it had no life inside. The eggs sunk into the depths of the sea. But the ocean took pity on those empty eggs that reached the bottom floor. By using cores of lost dead fishermen that haanu didn't pick up yet (she comes at sunrise), the ocean took those lost cores and blew the souls of those previously maanuls onto the empty eggs, making them hatch and reborn as new creatures, mermaids. The new mermaids were said to gracefully all reach for the surface, taking their first breath of fresh air in this new vessel. All gazed at the first moon and its calf for the first time, thus they were born from two mothers, the first moon and the sea.

But the way they were made prevents them from ever participating in the cycle of endless life and rebirth, they are said to be immortal to live along the ocean forever, and while at first it might be seen as nice to live forever, mermaids envy mortals as they can experience the ups and downs of life, learn to grow as an adult physically and mentally, and to laugh and cry. They are aware that they used to be maanuls, but are said to vaguely if don't remember anything from their past. They've forgotten their loved ones, they knew people cared for them at land but they don't know who did. They are sometimes upset that the sea locked them into this state, when upset they are said to be found laying on rocks and the beach like a large earth seal would.

Mermaids are said to sing to each other's underwater, they sometimes sing to comfort the ocean when one of the giant que'arsaeb descendent filter feeders dies. They protect the sea as its now their only home, they are said to jump out of the water and launch the canoe of fishermen who disrespect the sear, breaking their boat and leaving them to drown out of exhaustion. Mermaids are curious of boats and maanul activities, western fishermen think they are good and will always release one fish/crab/any other animal, they caught in from their stack as a treat for the mermaid. Aa they think said mermaid will accept the treat and follow their boat until they're back home and safe, if an accident happen they think the mermaid could bring them back to the beach safely.

In reality, it might be the works of a real-life intelligent marine animal that might bring them near home, but delusional from exhaustion the rare fishermen that are brought back near the beach by that animal will think its the mermaids from the folklore recusing them.

Tales from the central north: unpleasant but essential guardians

the central north believes that 10 mermaids came out of the depths of the world, made by the sea to be its guardian and to keep the ocean in order.

While they are essential to the sea, they are said to be quite unpleasant to meet. They are rude, love to steal food, bump into canoes regularly on purpose, and even splash fishing people with their strong tails or their operculum. It is even said that when they see a maanul hurt themselves on their boat or underwater, they will do a sort of cackle/laugh at maanuls. Mermaids are believed to be the ones who pick up lost jewelry at sea, never giving it back to the owner and keeping it to themselves, piling up their treasures in an underwater cave. That is why maanuls never swim with jewelry on, as they know that if they lose it underwater they'll never be able to find it again.

In reality, this might be the result of a type of crab that picks jewels to decorate its "nest" to attract potential partners, said nests when found by maanuls are then thought to be the mermaid's den. And it is said to be forbidden to pick back your jewelry in it, as it would anger the mermaid so much they might not do their duty anymore. When you lose something at sea, it now belongs to the sea.

Despite their many flaws, they are important and need to be here. As they torment the cores of horrible people till they rot. Central both believe that when haanu at sunrise picks up the core of every living being and throws them onto the world like seeds to reincarnate, she keeps the cores of maanuls who were horrible people in their lifetime in her arms. When she's done with her duty, she throws those maanul cores in the ocean. Mermaids are said to then come and pick them with their jaws, dragging them to the depths were even light cannot enter.

They stack the cores in piles in the abyss and push down any core that tries to rise up to the surface. The cores are kept in the abyss to rot, when they rot they become empty fish-egg-like spheres as the spirit of the person is gone and now forgotten by the world and by haanu.

Then the mermaids are said to hold those empty spheres in their jaws and blow life onto them, using those empty cores as eggs for their species to reproduce. The now eggs are taken care of by the mermaids until they hatch, so the firstly 10 mermaids of the world arent alone, it is said that there are thousands or mermaids roaming the sea, protecting and punishing anyone who would harm the ocean, and tormenting the cores of horrible people in the depths till they rot, till there is nothing left of their soul so they can never reincarnate.

To be considered a horrible person that will be dragged to the abyss you'd have to be terrible to other people, there are many tales that tell children that if they're uncaring with their peers they will end up like this. that they should not only care about everyone in the colony but other life forms and respect the way they are.

Tales from the north-east: Thieves of cores and children

Mermaid tales in the north-east speak about people, who never were mourned by anyone, who no one was there to remember them and sing their song cord. And without proper ceremony mourning maanuls cannot be reincarnated properly, their core were thrown in the ocean by haanu, but they couldn't get a new vessel.

So then their core rotted underwater, forming a black mucus around the core that then transformed into a strange oval fish-like egg. The egg hatches and gives birth to a mermaid, a beast filled with hate and jealousy towards living maanuls due to never being remembered when dead, being stuck in limbo they cannot ascend and join the cycle of death and rebirth, they cannot grow core-wise as they're consumed by hate of how no one remembered them. It leads to mermaids stealing floating cores in the ocean that were waiting to be picked by haanu, they steal and try to swallow them so they could replace their corrupted ones. As if they gain a normal core again they can die and go back to the cycle.

But it never works, and it frustrates them more. mermaids then try to harm living people to harvest their fresh core, as they're desperate to get out of this situation. Children are told to not swim in open sea since they're too young and it's way dangerous, they're told to stay at the reefs and closed lagoons, or else mermaids will grab them with their strong jaws by the tail or feet and drag them to the depths of the world as they desire to kill them and eat their core. They're told that only as teenagers, sub-adult and adults do mermaids not pick on them anymore because they're bigger now and have a stronger core that repels them.

To get out of this state of limbo, only a brave hunter can free them. It is said that they need to slay the beast while reciting a special prayer to truly kill and free the person. Before doing the final strike theywill ask the mermaid what was their name, when back on land the hunter and the colony would need make a mourning ceremony for that mermaid so they can finally be at peace.

Once done, they make a songcord for the mermaid to sing, they will remember the person at the colony so they do not feel lonely, so they do not feel abandoned by its peers like it previously did. Only then, can the rotten core as sea become clear again, free of its hate and out of limbo. At the next sunrise they will be picked by haanu and successfully reincarnated, being part of the death and rebirth cycle once more.

Tales from the east: Rejected by all but loved by one

The east does not see them as guardians as the role of ocean guardian is given to a giant "leviathan" worm. which you can see glimpses of in the chanter clothes of yarey'lu! i will not expand on it as this is a mermaid post, but here's every time the giant ocean worm appeared in this outfit.

The east takes inspiration from the south in terms of how it was created but has its own twist on it overall.

They believe in someone, named poaluk'nau, who loved the ocean so dearly that they wanted to be one with the sea, but still wished to be able to return and see their loved ones.

To the sea they then prayed, brought gifts and food in wooden bowls, and then curled up in front of their offerings asking their wishes to the ocean, to be blessed in a way that their body could tame the waves but still be able to be at land. The waves then came and gently reached to them, firstly to eat and take the offerings and take the gifts, but came back bigger to take and carry the maanul to the water. Engulfing them in its strong currents.

Several hours later, the waves came back to wash up a thing on the black warm sand. A strange enormous leather egg was laid by the sea, it stood still for several minutes. But then movement was seen inside, the egg twitched and suddenly a craw pierced it, creating an opening for the thing stuck inside, the thing slide out of the egg looking like a slimy fish at first. It took its first breath of air, breathing heavily as it realized its body felt heavier. They let their skin and the little amount of feathers they had dry up in the warmth of the sun. Until finally opening their eyes to see themselves, admiring and examining their new vessel, the ocean has rebirthed them to their wishes.

Content and joyful poaluk'nau thanked the sea, excited that their wish was exhausted it clumsily crawled and moved around on the beach like a seal would, searching for their family to show them their new body.

Upon reaching where the colony lived, they started calling for their family. But when said family came and saw poaluk'nau new look they were horrified, calling them a monstrous thing, a beast, crying at why they would choose to do such a thing. The mermaid's heart was shattered as they looked around to see that all the colony members had the same look in their eyes, terror, and disgust. They started throwing rocks, sticks, and even just went sand at them, telling them to go back to the water. Screaming at them to never come back to land.

Paoluk'nau started to ungulate their body clumsily towards the waves, screeching in pain as it was emotionally hurt by being rejected by their peers. No fate could be worse for a maanul than to be rejected by their family and the colony.

So to the waves they dived, they tried to find the ocean's heart for answers, they swam to ask it to change them back. But the ocean's heart was never found, a great sense of abandonment took over poaluk'nau who even felt rejected by the sea as it never spoke to them back again. they swam for day and night at sea, refusing to see land again out of shame and fear.

But on one stormy night, a fisher who couldn't come back in time was wiped by the waves, their canoe was broken, and the relentless waves didn't let them have a sip of air, they thought it was the end as they were sinking down being tormented by the ocean, the moon was barely visible underwater anymore. But the barely unconscious maanul was saved by a strange figure. They gently held them in their jaws, carrying them to the surface as it was swimming towards the far beach. It was poaluk'nau. To the beach, the fisher was carried, and placed on the sand. The mermaid stood against them, keeping the maanul warm for the night.

Only until the sunrise came that the fisher woke up, it was terrified at the sight of the creature next to them. Poaluk'nau started to crawl to the waves at they saw the fisher's eyes filled with the same terror its home colony had at them, but before they could reach the waves the fisher called. they asked for their name.

poaluk'nau was baffled but still answered them, the fisher then gave their name to the mermaid. Once again they asked something else: to meet again at the same spot. They said that if poaluk'nau didn't show up they wouldn't be mad at them, and that they would keep their name in their heart and remember them forever for saving their life. the next day both showed up, and the other, and the day after.

Every night the fisher would come at dawn because the mermaid was waiting for them, they'd stay together until padak rise up. They were great friends, and then developed greater feelings for each others. The fisher didn't care that others could deem poaluk'nau as monstrous, it was a person just like them, with feelings and dreams and the same state of mind. poaluk'nau vessel didn't matter, their core did.

Not handling being separated so much, the fisher asked their mermaid lover if the sea could turn them into one too, so they could be together forever. poaluk'nau said the ocean didn't speak to them since they were rebirth, but maybe if they found the ocean's heart they would be able to communicate to it directly. So to the waves the fisher followed the mermaid, to the water they swam together, searching for the ocean's heart.

Some tales say they found it but the ocean's voice was nowhere to be found, others say that they are still searching it together. It is believed that the fisher was unconsciously blessed by the sea, as they could swim as fast as their mermaid peer, as they could stay underwater as long as them, as they stood together in the endless sea as lovers for eternity.

---

as you can tell in those several tales, the ocean is seen as a grand being, and while called a mother it truly has no gender it's an entity with feelings, sometimes gentle and merciful sometimes violent and uncaring. It can take back anyone to its depths as a payback to the resources maanuls take. They almost see it as when the ocean eats someone in its waves it does it to feed their hundreds of children's (the marine animals). Born out of haanu's blood, compared to her the ocean does take part in maanul's affairs. Haanu is grand and omniscient but she doesn't take part in people's lives other than reincarnating every living being that dies and keeping the delicate gears of the cycle of life functional.

reminder obviously, its all tales mermaids arent real in altuyur

Mermaids in kyhuine folklore?

there's none to be found! As kyhuines do not have bodies of water where they live, they don't even know what a fish was until first contact with maanuls in late AOS. The closest thing to a mermaid would be those intelligent sand worms that were once people but that's a streetch

---

if you read all of this, thank you so much! took me several hours of my day cause i have a terrible attention span, i hope you enjoyed it. tell me what you thought of this id love to know! I'm literally dying after this

[santaverse]

Traditions Pt. 2: “Frigid”

[ LOCATION ] : ??? 

Cold didn’t even begin to describe the frigid altitude that North was stranded in. A harsh breeze raced through the night sky, causing the guardian to tremble in his sleep.

“ nngh… “ 

This wasn’t right. He was supposed to be in his nice, warm workshop greeting the other Santas! But instead, North had seemingly collapsed in the middle of an unknown tundra. He was completely unconscious, lying asleep on the sheet of snow… That is, until he heard a shiver.

“ …s-snta… “ a nearby voice whimpered.

North’s big blue eyes swiftly opened. He shot upwards, immediately feeling the intensity of the frigid air.

“ Мусоргский! Who left window open?! “ The Guardian clenched his arms and hurriedly began rubbing them. Even with his thick coat on, North felt chills coursing through him. Whilst rubbing his arms for warmth, The Guardian heard a light shiver again.

“ hhh… “

North gasped. That voice he heard... it belonged to a child!! Without haste, he ran across the snow. The Guardian followed the sounds of the echoed whimpers until he came across a lump in the snow. North knelt down, brushed away the snow and found Nicholas; the young Santa Claus, trembling from the cold.

“ Nicholas?! “ The Guardian immediately took his coat off, wrapped it around Nicholas, then scooped the child into his tattooed arms.

“ …S-Santa…??? “ Nicholas quietly asked. He spoke with squinting eyes which he could barely keep open.

“ Do not worry, Nicholas. “ North said in a low tone. “ I will protect you. “ 

With North’s reassurance, Nicholas closed his eyes and clung to him. The Guardian didn’t know where they were, but he knew he needed to find shelter, and fast. It’s a good thing North had a magic snow-globe that could teleport him wherever he pleased! North reached into his coat pocket... and found nothing.

“ ...Why is snow-globe never in pocket?? “ He groaned.

As if fate itself had the answer, flashing lights began to illuminate from the corner of North’s eye. He turned to face the light source, and found a large cavern made of ice in the distance.

Despite the flashing lights causing slight concern, North put his curiosity aside for Nicholas’ safety. As a Guardian, North was sworn to protect all children, no matter who they were. Even if they were young Santa Clauses from another dimension! With no further hesitation, North began running through the blizzard towards the ice cave. 

While he trudged through the snow, North took one look at the trembling child in his arms and calmly reassured him.

 “ Stay strong, my boy... “ 

[apollosgiftofprophecy]

ToA Theory 1 - Apollo's Waking Visions

First official theory post, here we go! :D

Alright. So. After rereading The Dark Prophecy, I started wondering about something. In TDP, Apollo experiences waking visions, where he conks out for a bit and has prophetic visions.

I found this interesting because, well...isn't Apollo supposed to be cut off from prophecy? With Python back in control of Delphi?

Because think about it. Python controls Delphi, the root of all earthly prophecy. This would include Dodona, Trophonius, Herophile, and Sibyl - sure, they aren't strictly connected to Delphi, but it's pretty heavily stated that Delphi just straight-up Makes The Future. It's prophecies are The Big Deal and you Should Listen.

Meanwhile the other Oracles seem more guiding and "beware!" instead of "this is how it's gonna be".

(sidenote: found out there are MORE oracles and I wanna know WHERE THEY ARE IN RRVERSE CANON because I want my boy Branchus okay??? Okay. Branchus's oracle was second only to Delphi let's give Apollo's first boyfriend the attention he deserves!)

So of course, like all great members of this fandom, I started thinking.

Let's do a little family history first. ;)

Buckle up. We go down a deep rabbit hole 😎

Apollo and Artemis are twins, born to Leto and Zeus. Zeus's parents are Kronos and Rhea. Leto's are Koios and Phoebe.

Rhea has connections to Dodona, as we learn in-series, but she doesn't really seem to be all that involved with prophecy.

Her siblings, meanwhile...ho ho ho, they are a WHOLE NOTHER STORY!

Let's start with Phoebe. Phoebe, like all first generation Titans, is the daughter of Gaea and Ouranos. She married her brother Koios. Her children consist of Asteria, Lelantos, and Leto. As well as Artemis and Apollo, her other two grandchildren are Hecate (Asteria) and Aura (Lelantos).

Her name means "bright" and is the root of Apollo's most famous epithet - Phoebus. She is often described as "golden-crowned" and is the Titan of bright intellect, the overseer of Earthly Prophecies, and is the second guardian of Delphi, after her sister Themis. She gifted Delphi to Apollo for his birthday after he defeated Python.

Classic grandmother move.

Anyway. There's a bit of Phoebe lore. Time for her elusive husband :3

Koios. His names means "question" or "questioning", probably because he's the Titan of inquiring intellect. He's also the overseer of Heavenly Prophecies, and has an oracle up in the North Pole guarded by an earth-dragon - you'd know this serpent by the name of Draco, the constellation btw. Additionally, Hyperborea (where Apollo goes in the winter times) is part of his domain.

eyes

Unfortunately, we have very little mythological lore on these two, and even less in the RRverse (I cling to that one (1) Koios scene) which sucks because I love them already BUT it does give me lots of legroom to mess around with canon >:)

Back to the theory now. As you may have guessed, I'll be taking us in a direction concerning Apollo's mysterious grandparents. But what does this have to do with Apollo's visions?

Well. Remember when I mentioned that Delphi is the root of all earthly prophecies?

...look at Phoebe's paragraphs. She's the overseer of Earthly Prophecies, right? So it makes sense she's been affected by Python's takeover too.

(if you've read my fics you'd know this already lmao)

Asteria, Apollo's aunt, is a little trickier. She, too, has a hand in divination, but mainly through the night/stars and dreams. <-will come back to that later.

Koios, again, is overseer of Heavenly Prophecies, and is heavily implied to be able to commune with Ouranos's spirit. This is, apparently, a Big Deal because nobody else is mentioned to be able to do this.

...Except...remember this throwaway line in The Hidden Oracle?

^Apollo can see Ouranos too.

Within this theory is a sub-theory, so to speak - that immortals with the gift of prophecy can see Ouranos, since they can see what cannot be seen. This would include Phoebe, Asteria, Koios, and Apollo.

And it'll make sense why they'd keep it to themselves. Kronos wouldn't have been happy to hear his dad was still around. Neither would Zeus, for that matter.

So here I was. Contemplating. Wrote a few fics based around this idea. And one in particular got me thinking (fic in question being When The Stars Align), and a little ways down the road I realized something.

If Phoebe, the overseer of Earthly Prophecies, would have been affected by Python's takeover...was Koios? Could he even be affected?

Because here's the deal: Koios is the overseer of Heavenly Prophecies. Prophecies from the Sky.

Phoebe's are of the Earth - the Earth that Python has taken control of. And Delphi is the root of Earthly Prophecies - not Heavenly.

That would be Koios's oracle, up in the North Pole with Draco.

...So that means Heavenly Prophecy must have still been in business during ToA.

But then comes the question: If it was still within the gods' control, why didn't they use it?

Well...Draco's there, for one. He's probably the Python-equivalent of the North, and clearly he's still there since no myth has spoken of his death (that I know of).

If you ask me, I just think the gods are too nervous/afraid to try Koios's oracle. They were too scared to face Python, after all, until Apollo arrived. I think they'd be scared of a serpent who comes and goes from the stars as he pleases.

And as for why Apollo hasn't done anything about it...well, I think his fight with Python left him rather scarred, don't you think? He probably went "yeah grandma's oracle is enough" and the only time he ever got close to Koios's was during his time in Hyperborea.

So getting back to the main theory now. (So many rabbit holes to dive into with this post. The ADHD Urge is real)

Since Heavenly Prophecies is still active, but Earthly is in Python's control, I conclude Apollo's visions come from the Heavenly source.

Could they have come from the now-working Dodona? Maybe. But Dodona's all about those windchimes and trees. It doesn't have the Vibe, so to speak, for granting visions.

And remember. Trophonius, Herophile, and Sibyl aren't destroyed/freed yet. They have Zero connection to Apollo at this point because Python cut him off from them.

...but he didn't from the North. From Koios's divine power.

Because remember. Apollo is the god of prophecy.

Not of Earthly Prophecies, like Phoebe.

Not of Heavenly Prophecies, like Koios.

Not of nighttime divination and dreams like Asteria.

Of. Prophecy.

Prophecy as a whole. The entirety. The whole enchilada.

Every part of prophecy he's the god of, be it tarot cards to the Oracle of Delphi itself.

In my opinion, I think whatever Koios's Oracle is, it has just as must power as Delphi. The only problem was that...everybody just left it be. Nobody considered it because:

1) scary dragon

2) scary titan ruled the place

3) honestly at this point I think it's just straight-up forgotten about. Like Branchus's Oracle. I think at one point Apollo himself mentions there are other Oracles besides the ones in-series, but there's so many that his mortal brain cannot comprehend how many.

If the Grove of Dodona nearly faded into obscurity, then I think it's entirely possible Koios's Oracle was forgotten about (or so we think...I'm gonna be chewing on this for a while.)

Coming back round to TDP...I think this is a reasonable explanation about Apollo's visions. To summarize:

Apollo is cut off from Earthly Prophecy, his usual source of foresight that he gets from Phoebe

The unused, near-forgotten-about Heavenly Prophecy side of Apollo ignites to steer him on the right path

This is possible because Apollo is the god of prophecy itself, and not a single subset of prophecy, so he's not limited in the same way Phoebe is

Koios's Oracle is still out there and kicking and I will die on this hill

One problem. What about Asteria? She can interpret the future from the stars...aka the Sky. Like Koios. So couldn't she provide some insight to the future, since she, too, is connected to Heavenly Prophecy?

This is where things get a lil' tricky. And where I really slap on my tinfoil hat and start headcanoning my way through lmao

Basically, I think that since Asteria became the island of Delos (long story) a good chunk of her power is ingrained there. She's not as strong as she used to be, so her foresight isn't as strong.

This, in turn, I think could also serve as a reason why Koios's Oracle is "asleep" so to speak and nearly lost to memory in the RRverse - in fact, I think Asteria and Phoebe are the only ones who bother to remember its existence.

And Leto, of course. But I don't think she wants her son to know of another Oracle with a giant snake guarding it. She's had enough heart-attacks, thank you.

(Same with Lelantos, tbh.)

Canon is my sandbox and I am making some sweet sandcastles out of it XD

TL;DR

Apollo's visions in TDP stem from Koios's source of Heaven Prophecy because Phoebe's source of Earthly Prophecy (Delphi) has been taken over by Python. Koios's source firmly knocks on Apollo's mental doors and decides to kick back into gear to help its titular patron's grandson out. Because Apollo is the god of prophecy itself - every bit of it.

Extras:

I find it fascinating how magic and prophecy are both part of the same family tree (Hecate & Apollo).

and yes. You should expect a fic concerning Koios's Oracle at some point. but no promises on when :3

Thank you for coming to Insane Theory Time With Alder. I hope there will be more lmao

Websites you can look into:

Koios (Theoi)

Phoebe (Theoi)

Hyperborea (Theoi)

[waves-against-a-cliff]

Nemesism - König x Reader

Nemesism

(n.) frustration, anger, or aggression directed inward, toward oneself and one's way of living.

Masterlist - Next Chapter - Series Masterlist

Summary - After a mission goes wrong, anger rises to the surface.

Content - 3k in words, Self loathing, enemies to lovers, first attempt at a slow burn, eventual smut, Reader has callsign (Birdy), König x Reader

Scope steady, the wind blowing through the tree leaves and the ghillie suit you wore to provide much-needed relief during the muggy weather. You watched with bated breath, like a guardian angel overseeing the mission and giving callouts on what you see. You fucking hated this. You hated watching them scurry around, busting down doors, and hearing their banter over comms; the twisted sense of humor pulling chuckles out of the men. Meanwhile, you lay up on a hill; being a good little sniper. They had entered the building and your thermal scope couldn’t help them now, so you switched it off with a click but kept your focus on the windows. Any guess on how enemies waited in each room would be beyond helpful towards this mission. The last one and a half years have been spent with this group. Despite the time spent with the rowdy men, who had tried to get you to join in on their journeys to the bars and pubs, to get you away from the base. You had brushed off each invitation, each insistence that you come along. “Come on now Birdy, don’t leave us hangin’.” Birdy, what a stereotypical name, always in your sniper nest like a bird. No matter how much you begged and pleaded to be sent in with the others for once, to let you prove how good you were. At first, you had leaned into the nickname, used to send out whistles to mimic the songs of birds but it had soured over the past few years. 

Their voices crackle to life over comms, “Birdy, got any idea how many are inside the north room?” It comes in a whisper but you’d recognize that voice instantly, Rick. Mostly because he had been the one on the team since the start. You glance over to the area he was referring to, trying your best to pick out how many enemies stood on the other side of the door. 

“Four, maybe five, be prepared.” You say after a moment, you begged for another gust of window to soothe your hot skin. The mission continues, you hear gunfire in the great distance, the loud cracking of shots being fired but you hear no panicked words through comms; when you glance through the scope one more time, you see Rick giving you thumbs up from the window. You huffed as you finally got off your stiff position on the ground, desperately removing the sweaty and uncomfortable ghillie suit. Stretching your limbs as you stood before grabbing your sniper rifle and you make your way to the exfil location. Softly, you whistled back the tunes of familiar birds and enjoyed the moment of silence before you reached the clearing and waited for your team to arrive. 

As the team sat, waiting for exfil and treating minor wounds, they chatted; about leave mostly, seeing as two were going on for different reasons. Reasons you were sure you were told at some point but forgot. Mostly because you didn’t care because you wouldn’t be here when they got back. “Last mission, huh Birdy?” Taffy asked to stir you from your deep thoughts. You blink at him a few times, sniper rifle resting against the same tree you stood against. 

“Yeah.” You finally answer. Being reassigned wasn’t unusual for you but it's not like you were constantly being tossed around like a doll between little girls. This, however, had been one of your shortest assignments to date. You are spared from any more prying questions as the distant sound of helicopter blades breaks through the silence and the men continue to converse amongst themselves. You dart your eyes between each man, names or code names coming quickly to mind; Rick, Taffy, Quinn, and Gus. All good men and probably good friends to have but your wonderful personality keeps you from that. Or rather, you keep you from that.

When the helicopter landed back at base, the sun had begun to set but that didn’t stop the burst of energy from hitting your system. The idea of taking a shower, no matter how cold or hot, was invigorating. You scrambled to get your gear put up and locked away, peeling off the vest and extra tactical gear. The feeling of the cold water hitting your skin, washing off the dried sweat and dirt from the mission. Letting it run down your back and neck, shivering as your body reacted to the cold water. Goosebumps appear along your arms and legs as you scrub away the day with the knowledge that you had a flight to catch soon. 

-

The flight is long, and you feel like you're gonna fall asleep standing up from the jet lag that haunts you. From being in America to the U.K was a dramatic change, not just in culture but in time. You can see his mouth moving, hear him talking but it's all going in one ear and out the other. John Price, that was his name, the knowledge not coming willingly to your mind. “Birdy, are you awake?” Price asks and you numbly nod, following him through the new base towards the barracks. “We currently have a few operators from a PMC, KorTac.” That rang a bell instantly in your head. You had worked with a few operatives from that PMC, Roze, and Zero. They were good soldiers and Roze had managed to crack a joke that got everyone to at least smile after a rough mission. 

“Who are they?” You ask but Captain Price insists he’ll introduce all of them tomorrow along with the rest of your team. He brings you to your quarters, telling you to rest up before leaving the room. With a long sigh, you place what little items you brought with you in their respective places. You crawled into bed, uniform ready for tomorrow, and were whisked away by sleep.

-

The alarm blared, heavy eyelids lifting to make eye contact with the alarm clock that alerted you that it was officially 5 am. The very little sleep you got felt like torture, a taste test with no promise of the full meal for another day. Still, you trudged out of bed and got dressed in the uniform you had laid out for yourself. Rubbing your eyes as you struggle to remember the directions that your new Captain had given you to find the place you were meant to meet the team you were going to work with for the foreseeable future. With a mixture of wandering around and a small miracle, you found where the team was waiting. They stood in two separate groups, not by much but enough for anyone to notice these guys didn’t work together often, if at all. 

You look at the rest of the team. Another man, not nearly as tall as the giant but who still towered over you, wore a skull mask with a U.K. flag patch on his vest. His brown eyes burned into yours and urged you to pull eye contact away, which you did once you spotted the slightly shorter man beside him who had a mohawk. Mostly definitely out of regulation and a Scotland flag patch, with the most lively blue eyes you had ever come across and a smile on his face. You find the brown eyes and sepia-colored skin, with a mustache that he must be very proud of or didn’t bother to shave off. And finally, your eyes drift over to who must be part of the KorTac group, and much to your slight delight (read: massive delight), Roze was among the three people. You cracked a small smile at seeing a familiar face before you looked at the two you didn’t know. 

Immediately your eyes were drawn to the giant that seemed to consume so much space within the room, his sniper hood with what looked like bleached tear stains causing goosebumps to sprout up across your arms. Noting the Austrian flag patch, you looked at the third person, finding yet another masked man with sunglasses and a South Korean flag patch. You almost felt out of place among so many masked people. “Birdy, glad you found your way here.” Price said, who stood off not far from the two groups. “This is Ghost, Soap, and Gaz.” He said, subtly pointing at each one. Fitting, you thought, that the man with the skull mask was named Ghost. At least he knew what he was about. “And these are the three KorTac operators who will be sticking around for a while, Roze, Horangi, and Konig.” 

You make eye contact with all of them as Price lists them off and introduces you, “This is Birdy, they’ll be with us for a while so try to treat them like you would anyone else.” You almost rolled your eyes at that, having heard it too many times for your own liking. “We got a mission in a day, so better get to know each other quickly. I don’t want any fuck ups.” He said, his coarse British accent clear as he slipped clearly into his Captain role. At least you wouldn’t be the only American with Roze nearby. 

-

You were wrong. Roze wasn’t on this mission, much to your hidden disappointment. You were glad she wasn’t for the moment, as you ran through the forest with a pistol in hand and your heavy sniper rifle on your back. “Fuck, fuck.” You cursed under your breath. Your spot had been compromised, “I don’t have enough sleep for this.” You complain softly, ducking behind a tree to see if you have lost your attackers. “This is Birdy,” You mutter into comms, breathing heavily and labored, “My spot was compromised.” You glare at the massive masked man who had moved, silently warning him not to move another fucking muscle.

“Heard, can you two make it to the second spot?” Ghost’s voice came from the comms and you sigh heavily, thinking about calling it quits for just a moment before steeling your resolve.

“Yeah, we can make it.” You answer, pulling your sniper back into position on your back. He answers, telling you to do it quickly. That they needed eyes from above. You turn to Konig, narrowing your eyes to warn him that this is far from over as you sprint toward the second spot. Quickly resetting your spot back up, you turn to Konig. “Don’t.” You hiss, “Fucking do anything.” You say.

By some miracle, the rest of the mission goes off without much more fuss. A few near misses and new bruises bloom on the 141’s bodies. Standing at the spot you were meant to get exfiled at, everyone avoided you with the understanding that you were seething. Beyond pissed and weren’t coming down from your anger any time soon. As soon as the plane landed back on base, you cornered the giant. Your vision is nearly red with the silent anger that had been boiling the entire time. “You.” You hiss, grabbing his sleeve to pull his attention towards you. “What the fuck was that?”

You began to scream at him, not caring for the attention you were quickly drawing to the entire situation. “Are you a sniper? Because it seems like you’re just a big asshole who managed to compromise the first position.” You raved.

“Don’t yell at me,” Konig said, meeting your eyes and only finding unbridled rage in them.

“Don’t yell at you?” You scoff, nearly laughing, “How about you don’t fuck up so spectacularly? Huh? How about that?” You point a finger into his chest, ignoring the immeasurable height difference. “I have never seen anyone compromise a position that quickly. Do you understand you have to be still to be a sniper? Or does that fucking mask of yours help you ignore that fact?” You knew you were being rude. Mean and a bully, that you would feel shame for this later if not sooner. 

“Birdy, that's enough.” Captain Price snapped, you turned your head towards him. Noticing that Konig had his fists balled up and was nearly shaking, still, your rage continued.

“He’s not a sniper. Don’t fuel his fantasy of being one.” You snap before storming off, leaving the entire team with a very terrible first impression.

-

You sat in your quarters, wrapping the bandages around your knuckles with tears nearly in your eyes. Whether it was from how much your knuckles hurt or the deep burn of embarrassment you felt in your soul. The room smelled stale, something you hadn’t noticed until you had slammed the door so hard it shook the walls. You knew you would get a yelling from Captain Price and you ignored the part, the sick part of you, that almost wanted it. For the screaming and berating that surely awaited you after what happened. But still, an ember of anger burns inside you and you rage in your head still. What had given anyone the idea to give the man who couldn’t sit still on the way to the location, a sniper rifle? You didn’t care how good he was at practice, those targets stand still. You clenched your fist and sighed, pinching the bridge of your nose. 

A sharp knock rapped on your door, pulling you from your thoughts. Getting up from where you were sitting on the bed, you opened the door expecting Captain Price. But it's him instead. “What do you want?” You snap, expecting him to flinch at the harshness of your tone but see no reaction from him. Those icy blue eyes stare into your soul, his mask with those bleach marks that look disturbingly like tears making goosebumps rise up on your skin. The silence draws out for a few seconds, building the feeling of uncomfortable 

“I’m sorry.” He says, his accent thick. You can’t tell if he actually means it, his eyes like a stone wall and his face hidden behind the mask. “For screwing up on the mission.” He adds on a second later after he notices the soft raging sea behind your eyes rises into a storm. He’s fidgeting again, picking at his nails and the skin. 

“No.” You respond, glaring up at him. “Fuck you.” You watch on with bated breath as his icy walls melt from the intense heat of his anger rising to the surface. You can see his brows appear within the eye holes of the mask, a soft blonde.

“What?” Konig asks, fist clenching at his sides. Konig could feel his rage boiling, staring down at you as you denied his apology. “I am sorry.” He says again. He didn’t want to do this, make trouble amongst the group he was contracted by. You scoff, crossing your arms and it sends him over the edge. “You had no right to yell at me the way you did.” He finally snaps, “None!”

Another scoff leaves your mouth, disguising the way your heart leaped into your throat at his yelling. “I had every right.” You laugh out the words. “You fucked up and I don’t even know why they would ever let you even try to be a sniper. You couldn’t even sit still on the way there.” You raised your voice.

“I don’t care! I know I screwed up, I didn’t need you screaming at me in front of everyone else!” He screamed back, standing to his full height. “If you would just give me a chance-”

You cut him off, “I did.” You growl, narrowing your eyes at him, “I did and you fucked up so horribly, that you managed to compromise our entire position. It's a miracle that no one got injured.” You look at his full height and want to roll your eyes. “You are far too tall to be a sniper anyways.” 

He opens his mouth, about to say something again before he's cut off by the appearance of Captain Price. “Konig, to your quarters. Birdy, with me.” He says. Konig immediately walks off, stomping down the hallway. You watch him go before following Captain Price until you reach his office. He opens the door and ushers you in with a grim look on his face, sitting down behind his desk and you sit down across from him on instinct. “Birdy,” He starts.

“Sir I am so sorry.” You quickly say, about to start the long apology and accept whatever punishment he saw fit for your reaction today.

“I know. But that's not the main issue here,” He says and you look at him with disbelief, questioning what he meant. “I was hoping that all of you could work together well without even a week to prepare you. It's clear that all of you need some team training refreshers.” You feel your stomach sink.

“Sir I really don’t think-”

“This isn’t what you think, it's what you need. Naturally, you’ll be paired with Konig.” He says, looking at you before pulling out a cigar from his desk drawer. “I expect no more screaming matches this late at night and leave the berating to your Lieutenant or me Birdy.” He adds after taking a puff from his freshly lit cigar, blowing the smoke away from you. “Dismissed Sergeant.” You nod, getting up and not bothering to argue anything different. There was no point, you dug your grave and now you had to lie in it. 

You lay in bed, knuckles sensitive after you went back to the gym to punch the bag a few more times despite the way they were already aching from the previous session. Your mind swam with anger and annoyance, fucking Christ. You turned over on your side to find a different position that might coax your mind to sleep.

The morning came sooner than you wanted, waking up before your alarm from your restless sleep with a groan. Getting dressed before making your way to the mess hall, where breakfast was being served. After eating, you followed the rest of the team after being informed team training started soon in the training area.

[courtofterrasen]

I’m just about done with finals, so I decided to gather up a quick list of over 50+ different POC women characters with actual good stories and character development as well as what they’re in, since you guys seem to be complacent in accepting mediocrity🥰

I know there are A LOT more REALLY GOOD characters out there, like Firebird from Marvel for example, but these are all characters from media that I either have personally consumed or know a lot about that I can think about off the top of my head. So if anyone wants to keep the list going in the comments, please feel free to add on

Charlotte- Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story

Shuri- Black Panther (MY LOVE😭❤️)

Okoye- Black Panther

Nakia- Black Panther

Queen Ramonda- Black Panther

Katara- ATLA

Korra- LoK

Toph- ATLA

Azula- ATLA

Beauregard- Critical Role: Campaign 2

Fy’ra Rai- Critical Role: Exandria Unlimited

Opal- Critical Role: Exandria Unlimited

Deni$e- Critical Role: Campaign 3

Deanna- Critical Role: Campaign 3

Lady Kima: Critical Role: Campaign 1/ Legends of Vox Machina

Laerryn: Critical Role: Exandria Unlimited: Calamity

Veth Brenatto- Critical Role: Campaign 2

Mirko- My Hero Academia

Ahsoka (people refer to her as a POC character even though she’s a Togruta)

Moana

Mulan

Tiana- Princess and the Frog

Esmeralda- The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Nani- Lilo and Stitch

Raya- Raya and the Last Dragon

Mel- Arcane

Ambessa Medara- Arcane

Sevika- Arcane

(Special shout out to Ekko from Arcane because he’s SUCH A GOOD CHARACTER)

Storm- Marvel comics

Wonder Woman- DC comics (she is Mediterranean, which is located in the North Africa/ Europe/ West Asia region, for the incels who are going to try to fight me on that. Just because your skin has less melanin than people “think you should have” does not invalidate you being a POC)

Nubia- DC comics

Special shoutout to General Nanisca in The Woman King. I have not watched it yet, but I’ve heard a lot of great things

Valkyrie- Thor Ragnarok

Gamora: Guardians of the Galaxy (though, she’s not human, she���s a Zen-Whoberis, but her actress is Dominican and Puerto Rican)

Ava Silva- Warrior Nun

Sister Beatrice- Warrior Nun

Sister Lilith- Warrior Nun

Deyha- Genshin Impact

Candace- Genshin Impact

Xinyan- Genshin Impact

Janai- The Dragon Prince

Ursula- Once Upon A Time

Mulan- Once Upon a Time

Lucyna “Lucy” Kushinada- Cyberpunk: Edgerunners

Mermista- She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

Catra- She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

Lonnie- She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

Netossa- She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

Entrapta- She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

Perfuma- She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

Mara- She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

Frosta- She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

(All of whom are Etherian’s, not Terran’s, which would equivalate people from earth)

Mazikeen- Lucifer

Wednesday Addams- The Addam’s Family/ Wednesday

Calliope “Cal” Burns- First Kill

Talia Burns- First Kill

Yennefer- The Witcher (actress is of Indian descent.)

Triss- The Witcher (some debate can be had about this due to her character in the games being white and her actress in the show having South African heritage. I enjoy them both equally)

I would add Pocahontas to this list, but the Disney recreation of her story is an extremely incorrect and awful retelling, so I implore you to go and look up the story of Amonute/ Matoaka, which is the true name of Pocahontas. It’s not an easy story to hear, but I feel as though people need to know her true story instead of Disney’s romanticized one.

Also, if you guys REALLY want a good female POC pirate story, check out the story of the most successful pirate in the world named Ching Shih, aka Cheng I Sao. She was a woman born in Guangdong, China in the late 18th century and worked as a prostitute until she caught the eye of Cheng I, the notorious Commander of the Red Flag Fleet. After buying and marrying her, he noticed her intelligence, leadership skills, and determination, so he began to teach her about life in the high seas. She quickly adapted and helped him lead his fleet, and when he died she assumed full control over his fleet and amassed 1,800 ships and 80,000 pirates under her control and became the most feared pirate leader of her time. It’s a VERY cool story

[marketfreshfics]

Loving him: Sebastian

image: @starrysallow | More in this series: Ominis | Garreth (WIP) | Andrew (WIP) Includes mild nsfw content

Your love for Sebastian was always apparent; looking back now, it was abundant.

It’s a duel more of wits than spells, and he is the worthy opponent you’d craved crossing wands with. He’s a clever one, you realized, challenging your abilities with cunning finesse, goading you with a sharp tongue. Though you best him, he’s a good sport, even offering to accompany you to Hogsmeade for an errand or two.

It’s noticing how the afternoon sun brings out red tones to his hair, how he tries to keep up though he’s the escort, a playful tug on the hood of your robe to keep in-step.

It’s a midnight rendezvous in the library’s restricted section, sneaking close to him under a shroud of disillusionment, a hand on his back for guidance, warmth bleeding through his shirt. A close encounter is prevented with a firm tug of your sleeve, hiding face to face with bated breaths, with hearts hammering both for the fear of being discovered and for the sudden proximity.

It’s sitting across from him the morning after, his freckled cheeks a wash of pink, eyes warm and reminiscent of the coffee you sip. The clamour of breakfast time is rendered mundane din, the rest of the world vignetted around him. You’d never considered seeing the world through a gaze of affection like this, having scoffed at fairytales that depicted such folly, but now you’re not so sure.

It’s in the damp of a cave, the must of a tomb, eager to explore the unknown on a path towards a paradox of dark enlightenment. A moment of uncertainty brings you pause, a question of morals, of what is truly forgivable, but those eyes hold more knowledge than you suspect and he asks you to trust him. And in that moment, you oblige.

It’s evenings spent on his down comforter, books scattered about, dozing on his leg until he finds a passage that piques your interest. And his calloused fingers brush the hair wisps from your face, the earthy smell of ancient parchment clinging to the salt of his skin. Eyes meet, and an exchange of words is not necessary.

It’s what gives passion heat, and heat is all you understand in his embrace. It’s those exquisitely resourceful hands everywhere, gripping, tugging, attempting to caress though he cannot soften this all-consuming need. Its limbs that tangle of their own volition, a bed frame that creaks when he thrusts, and lovemaking so ardent it pulls the sheet up from the mattress. There are no hesitations here, only desperations. There is no doubt, only certainty. He’s a fierce friend, but as a lover, he’s never been more determined.

It’s following him with little regard for your safety, little regard for other obligations. Your heart is a foolish compass and he is magnetic north, though he guides you anywhere but home.

It’s watching him raise the dead from soil, all pulled up like roots, and caught somewhere in the fragile seam of fear and fascination, in awe of the downright awful. You wonder, as he stands surrounded by idle Inferi like some prodigal child of darkness, if you’ve underestimated him all this time.

It’s realizing then, when he felled his own guardian, that your underestimations knew no bounds. It’s running after him as he flees, frightened of the implications, of the circumstances, of the blood staining his hands. It’s not cowering in fear of him, but the sympathy you are quick to offer wholeheartedly, providing gravity when his world turned to hang in the balance. It’s reasoning his innocence to the law itself, seeing his guilt, the shame spreading.

It’s picking up the pieces after the fallout, reconnecting the bridges burned, plank by patient plank. It’s watching him grow, and with you he develops an understanding of the dark to counter it with light. He sees the errors of his ways, the forks of his path that led him astray, and you regret not having the foresight to divert him elsewhere.

But then, he shows you his love. Dedicated and devoted, the bond you’d forged unbreakable, built on trust. It was always there, waiting.

It reassures you. And it’s everything you want.