#and can devote more energy to making changes and thinking of lore

[ladybug-makes-warriors-gay]

Okay I've retyped this a couple times but about your matrillineality and comphet post! I think making them matrillineal could do four things: help family trees, emulate cats "better", deepen Clan culture, and allow for a version of comphet to exist.

Cats tend to disregard fathers in general, so it goes by their actual behavior to ignore it. Say they dont even know and then you dont have to include patrillineal family in trees whatsoever. Track exclusively by whoever gives birth, and have their culture shift to match many matrillinean cultures out there. Sisters of the queen are like second mothers to her kits, and brothers like fathers.

When it comes to the dramas around dads like Tigerclaw and Graystripe, attach some significance to who a cat is bonded with (bonded pairs in cats). Culturally speaking, a cats bonded pair would be very important, so maybe it's a traditional honor they mentor one of a queen's kittens, or maybe it's just the fact they'd be together so often, so the bond extends emotionally from cat to kitten. Obviously Gray and Tiger would miss them as much as they do their pair, as an extension of them.

But tbh when it comes to Tiger and bramble you could just say that he's perceived as a curse on the clan for having trusted tigerclaw, which is why he looks so much like him and comes from his former pair.

When it comes to comphet you could frame it as a social pressure to pair with a tom (especially one without sisters) because otherwise they don't get to have their own kittens. The opposite works to, where a tom is pressured by the desire for kittens to get with a queen.

Also, this would create slightly explicit gender roles, which could explain transness within the Clans more blatantly, too. Not to say girl = mom, but more so that there'd be different associations and expectations, for better or worse. Also just cuz i think its cute, i imagine there'd be fertility rituals in queens since that'd probably be how they frame it when they don't know how actual conception works.

this was all definitely super interesting to consider, thank you so much for the ask!

as for normal cat behavior, honestly i'm not too worried about that, this is a gay rewrite of a book series about magical cats in the woods. however, i do think it would be interesting to focus on siblings of parents in a kit's life, because they are all actively right there, in the clan, almost all of the time. frequently they are not really involved at all with the kits, which doesn't feel realistic. i do want to strengthen the connection between moms and kits as well, especially because of how much the first arc relies on that, as well as customs like the queens not having to say who the father is.

bonded pairs are definitely something i still want to be important in the books, because i still want there to be romance and relationships and such, which is one of my big hesitations with just going ahead and making the clans matrilineal. if i did, then fathers would honestly just disappear or not matter for a lot of things, which i don't think i want. but it would be more interesting and just generally be a cool lens to look at things through, especially queer relationships and gender roles, as you mentioned.

having dads be mentors often would definitely be a cool way to have them be part of their kits' lives, but i think that honestly would put too many male cats as mentors and maybe not leave enough space for female mentors? but that might not be an issue if i have more gay cats and have lineage just be tracked through birthing mothers and not mothers in general. definitely something to give more thought to.

i do quite like the idea of bramblekit being seen as a curse from starclan after tigerclaw leaves thunderclan, which would give more basis to firestar not trusting him and goldenflower's defensiveness. not sure how that would translate to tawnypaw leaving or brambleclaw's whole thing with hawkfrost later (which i do have thoughts on. esp when it comes to him totally ignoring the fact that mothwing is his kin too. maybe they bond over being seen as ill omens about tigerstar, but that would mean that people know tigerstar is their father. things to think about...).

i do think that the setup for the clans would honestly more encourage amatonormativity (the assumption that a central, exclusive, romantic relationship is normal for humans, and is a universally shared goal - definition from aurea) because of the emphasis on kits and having kits for the clan, and that heteronormativity is more of a byproduct of that. honestly i think that this would lead to a lot more donor situations, or queens having kits with someone and then actually having a relationship later with someone else. a lot of cats would also grow up knowing they have to have kits at some point and just default to looking for attraction to the opposite gender, whether that's actually how they feel or not.

the other thing about the clan culture that's kind of connected to that is that you are surrounded by the same people, day in and day out, and the clans in general are quite gossipy. many, many times in the series, we see cats being asked or teased about someone they're interested in or perceived to be interested in, or someone who's interested in them, and there's a lot of pressure to reciprocate other cats' feelings. you also live in a place where it is very hard to get away from others who are pursuing you, or have a breakup and go back to living normal life, because they're still going to be right there. this would honestly put a lot of pressure on everyone to maintain toxic relationships and not explore their preferences or ideas.

would be kinda fun if part of the reason ravenpaw agreed to leave was because he was gay and didn't want to have kits with anyone. honestly i think it would be fun if all three of that crew had crushes on each other, just all at different times. firestar likes graystripe when he's off with silverstream (for maximum drama, obviously). graystripe and ravenpaw like each other when they're little kids together and maybe even play being mates but have grown out of it once they meet firepaw. ravenpaw likes firestar when he first comes to the forest and for a good chunk of them being apprentices together, and firestar is the most oblivious cat ever and does not notice. graystripe likes firestar when he's his deputy, and when he's so loyal he leaves riverclan for him. firestar doesn't so much have a crush of ravenpaw as see him catch an adder and goes "oh, that's attractive." anyway that was a tangent, back to what i was talking about before

gender roles are something i'm not quite sure how to approach, because the gender roles in the books are so incredibly informed by our human gender roles, and honestly the books are quite often misogynistic. the only really significant difference in a clan society, where almost everyone does the same job, is whether you can mother kits or not. i think that is really important in clan society and i want to have distinct gender roles that i can explore, but i also don't want to fall into the traps that the erins fall into over and over of relegating female characters to motherhood and caregiver roles only, and giving them nurturing personalities because the female cats are only there to be mothers. that shouldn't be the case, and i definitely am changing a lot of that, but i am not really sure how to go about it yet. we'll see.

also these cats need some sex ed

[raasturi]

MOE (Missionarirs of Eden) AU Peri and Irep in a nutshell

I know I said I would draw more ship art BUT the AU just got a HUGE update* and I had to make something silly related to it

Peri is giving big Steven Universe energy in this one. Peace and love on the planet Earth, am I right

Also hey, look at that! First look at what my AU Irep looks like! (If we don't count the outdated drawings I made)

*So, what's the update?

Note: fairies are called angels and anti-fairies are called demons, if you still didn't know. Both of them are called "children of God"

As you could probably guess from the image, the updated lore has to do with the children of God (angels and demons) wanting to cleanse the Earth from what they qualify as sin**. They just have different ideas about how it should be done.

The angels believe that life should be preserved, but that they have a right to intervene so that sin that comes from it can be minimized. Especially difficult are humans, who not only destroy others and their environment greatly, but also themselves (among many other things), giving them the highest sin rate of any species. To combat this, the godparenting programme was initiated***.

The demons have a more neutral reception towards life, but since the angels have power over the universe and them, they have mutually agreed on following their command. This means that their mission is also to purify the Earth from as much sin as possible, though they are not as devoted as the angels are and instead they want to kill and eat those causing the most harm. This is due to the fact that the demons can't get energy from their God**** and they have to rely on external sources, like suns, planets and living beings (whose flesh many have come to love).

To create balance between the two sides, the scribes (a.k.a. the pixies. Yes, they're back and I renamed them again) were created to keep track of the amount of sin on Earth, more specifically the amount each species create. As long as the total is under a certain limit, the demons are not allowed to kill any of the members of that species (though they do hunt creatures, including humans, from time to time).

Explanations:

** There is no definite answer to what counts as sin, and the angels' criteria comes purely from what they think their God deems bad (demons follow the same guidelines). These include things such as change and disruption of the natural order, greed, for social species: engaging in antisocial behaviour, etc. Children of God can also sin by breaking their law or forming a relationship with a child of Eden (a.k.a. any biological being, *cough cough*... I'm looking at you, Peri) including other things.

Note: some actiong may cause more sin than others

*** The godparenting programme includes taking care of children ages 4 to 18. They target those who have a medium to a high risk of creating sin as an adult, but who also have a high chance of not sinning if they're helped. This results in the overall sin rate to hopefully shrink with each generation.

**** The angels' God works like a giant battery that provides the angels with a constant flow of energy, while the demons' God works the opposite. In essence, the angels and demons work as gateways for energy to pass through from one side to the other.

Once the angels' God has used up all its energy, the angels will die and when all the energy (including matter) from the universe gets consumed by the demons, they die too. Once all the energy has been collected to the other God, it will create a new universe for the energy to pass through again. This cycle will go on forever, though that isn't too relevant to the plot of the AU, since the children of God are not even aware of this cycle.

TLDR:

The angels (fairies) want to get rid of sin by helping, while the demons (anti-fairies) want to get rid of it by killing and eating them. Since they don't want to fight, they created the scribes (pixies) to keep count of the amount of sin on Earth. They agreed that as long as there isn't too much sin, the demons are not allowed to kill anybody.

-------------------------------------------------------

This is what living in isolation from the rest of the fandom does to a mf

I shortened the name of the AU to now be "MOE" for simplicity

Uhhgggghhhhhg it feels sooo good now that I've finally started explaining the AU hghhh. There are still many things I didn't touch on, but I didn't want to overwhelm you too much

[ohsweetflips]

just spent a very long time working on this ship-meme for rhodes and davrin <3 i swear rhodes actually smiles a lot i just have a favorite photo

also yes that is what i imagine rhodes' bad handwriting to look like. davrin gets the cool font bc i love him <3

some more nuance/explanations/lore under the cut :3

some of the sliders for davrin were based off vibes that i got but i do believe that, overall, the two of them have pretty similar energy

i also guesstimated on davrin's age. lucanis makes the joke that rhodes "keeps davrin young."

they technically already live together in the lighthouse but, come post-canon, they are always together, whether it be traveling or wherever they end up settling down <3

bioware didn't give rook a bed and then expected me to not assume that they sleep with their love interest???? i've started to headcanon that davrhodes slept together before tearstone island but tbh After rhodes being trapped in the fade prison, they go from sleeping in the same bed most nights to every night

rhodes is an octopus in bed and sometimes it is up to the sleep-gods whether or not davrin is the big spoon or little spoon

they're a slow-burn but a slow-burn where they are both aware of the romantic/sexual tension. it's for the monster/monster-hunter bit.

davrin is rhodes' first everything and they took it relatively slow/playful at first but rhodes was very eager to keep, ah, learning things and moving forward <3 (good for davrin)

davrin's libido is only technically higher bc of experience. rhodes, on the other hand, is a quick learner (good for davrin part two)

rhodes isn't a hard tried-and-true jealous type but davrin can rile them up SO easily. like if they're ever at some post-canon fancy event with the inquisition and someone flirts with davrin, they are there IMMEDIATELY to come collect their man SDKJDFKJFDKJ

davrin rebuffs all attempts at flirting from literally anyone who is not rhodes. however. he also finds rhodes' pseudo-jealousy very amusing so he plays into it.

i actually don't think davrin is that jealous but 1) i don't feel like changing my picture this took so long AKJDSKJDFJK and 2) i think he wouldn't be Jealous jealous but if someone was flirting with rhodes, he would be conveniently suddenly next to them <3

i don't think davrin is Hard on the separation anxiety but i think post-tearstone island, he is definitely More anxious about losing rhodes

i look at rhodes and just know that they can't drive

i look at davrin and just know that he has driving gloves

if davrin ever can't find his clothes, he goes to rhodes' room

they will get married at some point and it will be by isabela on a ship (and she gets bragging rights that she married fenhawke AND davrhodes)

(they both plan on proposing and both propose at the same time) (antoine and evka knew that both of them were proposing but thought that it was too perfect to interfere) (they get engaged in the flower meadow in hossberg)

my secret confession is that i love a post-canon settling down with kids plot AKJDSKJDFKJDF and i genuinely try not to shove it onto every single character bc i know it doesn't work for every single character. but i have dabbled with the idea of giving them a daughter a couple years post-canon. it's not confirmed but it's toyed with.

they have double-dates with camris/dorian, electra/alistair, and evka/antoine

(they know and have met hawke/fenris but my hawke becomes a bit more reclusive after everything with varric)

rhodes is very invested in davrin's monster manual + wood carvings and, once davrin finishes his manual, they help him get it professionally bound

i have a vision post-canon of davrin entering a wood-carving contest/showcase a la magnus burnsides from taz balance without the tragedy and winning

rhodes goes with davrin to visit his clan post-canon

they have fun together. like, they love each other and they're devoted, but they also have silly competitions and stupid jokes and love just spending time with each other. they fit very nicely into each other's lives!

rhodes teases that they're heartbroken over assan liking davrin more but their heart melts seeing assan follow davrin everywhere

davrhodes are in love <3

[slusheeduck]

If you're still up for the send in a character thing: vivec! (sorry I'm late to it lol)

YES I SURE AM ESPECIALLY RE: VIVEC

First impression

Absolutely hated him. I played ESO before delving into the Morrowind lore and I thought he was so vague and full of himself and I h a t e d doing his quest in ESO because I couldn't stand the concept of Vivec.

Impression now

AND THAT'S THE POINT. Make no mistake every time I watch a cutscene with him or read the 36 Lessons I'm immediately like "Shut the FUCK up" but that's exactly the kind of character Vehk IS. It's the persona he WANTS people to see. He's so complex and multifaceted and yes in the ESO point in the timeline he is at his peak so of course he's going to be so annoying and full of himself because he's a literal god but by Morrowind he's so weary and tired and full of grief and regrets and the stories he's built around himself are shaping up to have a terrible ending and GOD I want to fucking BITE something. He's a creature of his own design, a story he's crafted that's as true or as false as he wants to be, because we're all stories in a way--he just takes it more literally.

Favorite moment

Ironically, despite my mention of how much I hated Vivec in ESO, there's one moment at the very end where he's rewarding everyone who helped in the quest, and there was something electric in the delivery/animation where I was like, "Oh, I can see why people would love him. I think I love him." Now I can't pinpoint what it is, and it didn't hit the same when I watched a playthrough of it years later, so it's the vaguest moment ever, but that's the energy I love imagining with Vivec.

Idea for a story

Well I still have one that's a long-term labor of love. But one part that's a long way off is a chat with Voryn about love and hate, because I think it'll be very fun.

Unpopular opinion

I like Buff Vivec. I know, I know, Twink Vivec is best Vivec. I know, the visuals of a female and male half would be more fun. I KNOW. But hear me out: Vivec is an ever-shifting entity that rewrites and edits himself to be whatever the people need. In the face of a great war (and all the various bullshit going on in 2E585), the Dunmer will be looking to the Tribunal for guidance, and in this case, the people need more Warrior and less Poet.

I like thinking that he changes his looks every decade or so--some he's more feminine, some more masculine, some more androgynous and some an amalgamation of whatever bits he feels like.

Favorite relationship

Vivec and Sil. I'm always a sucker for brothers, and that's what got me so invested in him. (Because COTHH was supposed to be Sil-centric but then Vivec butted in, which is in-character tbh) But there's an underlying fondness in the way they speak about each other that I just go feral over, and it makes Sil's death later on so much more tragic.

Favorite headcanon

That he was wholly unremarkable before he met Nerevar. Just an Ashlander kid from a family of netchimen. I like thinking that he was pretty sickly and so didn't really get in with the family business and instead listened to the mothers swap stories as they worked on weaving and cooking and the like. I also think "What My Beloved Taught Me" was his first, clumsy attempt at rewriting his own history, but he did pull the "Oh, I'm so illiterate, muthsera, but I'm so devoted to you that OH WOW look how quickly I learned to read and write!!" in an attempt to impress Nerevar (and it worked! In the sense that it impressed Nerevar. Literally no one believed him, but the sheer audacity was enough to get Neht to bring him onboard.)

[saltydoesstuff]

...Cotl x Rottmnt- HEAR ME OUT-- Okay okay, so I don't know if any of my followers know the game Cult of the Lamb (or is obsessed with it like I am currently) but now that I've gotten post-game and are starting to collect the bishops- It gave me an idea for an au where the turtles were Bishops/Gods. This also can be classified as inspiration to @m0nster-fluffer's deity au- So regarding the lore of Cotl, I don't think it would follow the same path (no hidden/trapped fifth bishop cause then that means yeeting April to the shadow realm)- but instead the turtles simply exist in their own lands of faith. Raph- The Red Crown, Bishop of Destruction and Nurturing. His realm has a permanent blood moon hanging in the dark skies, casting a red light over the dense but scarred forests of his home. Followers of the Red Crown live a fairly peaceful life, so long as they stay on Raph's good side. As caring as he may be, he does still have a short fuse- and the spread-out areas of debris tell give that warning well.

Donnie- The Purple Crown, Bishop of Knowledge and Insanity. This one is pretty obvious. Donnie's realm has all the libraries, records, scholars- anything and everything academic and helpful towards learning about the world they live in. His followers tend to be the most academic and wise, which may have them act above the followers of the other Bishops. But knowledge, as much as it can help- can also severely damage a person. Not everyone is ready to hear the truth. Leo- The Blue Crown, Bishop of Deception and Passion. Love can be both a wonderful and awful thing- depending on the person. And well, when it comes to the Blue Crown- it's all just a fun game. He takes amusement in watching the mortal affairs of his followers, sometimes intervening to spice things up- for better or worse. His realm is much calmer physically, but it is hard to know who to trust. In the land of a Bishop made for deceit, who knows if his followers follow the same path? Mikey- The Orange Crown, Bishop of Creativity and Chaos. This young god is always full of energy, and his land reflects his artistic skills perfectly. There is never a dull place in his realm, never a dreary or plain color. Yet at the same time, nothing is ever the same. One moment a devotion shrine is splattered with different colors, the next it is painted perfectly. His realm is ever changing, nothing ever in complete order. His followers, although a bit overwhelmed with the forever changing landscape, do share the same creative traits- if more on a calmer level. I don't know if I'll actually make something of this, but this was just a fun little idea that I wanted to share--

[cult-bull]

Crowns of Sins Thoughts

What's up with the red crown and sin? Why does it promote it? Does it eat it? Does it need its host to grow stronger? (Most certainly making a Crowns and Hosts thoughts posts later too)

Obviously, the sins of the flesh update came later on in the game's development and in interviews I remember the creators talking about coming up with ideas and letting their writers figure out how it fits into the lore afterwards, so who knows how much is intended from the start and how much just came later.

The red crown being able to talk seems to have been there from the start, since it has speech coming from it so to say during doctrine choosing, at least it feels implied now that we know it can speak.

How sins work seems quite separate from the bishops and their crowns… until you try to think about it. Kind of. Maybe it's retroactively fitting pieces into where they could belong but hey, this is my blog and my journal of random cult of the lamb thoughts not proper theory crafting XD

I don't think it works though when just limiting yourself to the Christian seven deadly sins.

Leshy I'm throwing out the window instantly. I'm not sure what sin his chaotic ass could represent, as I'm saving wrath for someone else and even then, Leshy doesn't really seem... wrathful. Angry, loud, first boss energy, but not wrathful. He is the youngest god though, so maybe he just didn't have the time to be that sinful.

The only sin he is so far guilty of is being a weirdly cute follower

Heket is almost too easy in comparison. Gluttony, and even greed in terms of hoarding food from others by causing famines and giving their followers food if they worship well, and possibly because Mida's cave is near it, being pretty close to it on Jalala's map right between it and darkwood

It would be a bit easier to tell if we got more proper lines of where each "territory" of a bishop ends and begins. How large something actually stretches is questionable

Anyway, Heket would certainly fit right into a user of a ritual like the cannibalism one (and regain all her devotion through the mushroom drugs) so it just fits right in there.

Kallamar is where my "seven deadly sin" thing not working comes up. He is not guilty of any classic sin, nor does he promote it. I know we all in the fandom like to make him lustful, partially due to that one bishop hotline video I'm sure, but I'm not sure if anything else points him into a lust category in game though, If yes, feel free to correct me.

However

I do say betrayal and selfishness could count as sinful. He is a scaredy-cat (a powerful scaredy-cat but still), but he rather throws his siblings, especially a broken Shamura under the bus of your vengeful wrath when you come to get him post killing Leshy and Heket, just to somehow live. He's a coward, a backstabber, no matter if he feels bad about it afterwards or not. That feels ripe for a sin.

Shamura is weird too, not because nothing fits, but more because it's speculating about their past self. Their broken mind self is... well, broken. Love them, but clearly something changed about them.

Through the lore tablets in game we learn a young Shamura was the one who asked/threatened the older gods to bow to their old-back-then-new faith and began a war against the many gods with at least I presume, the other bishops.

Shamura is a god of war, of conquest, and probably even wrath back then too. Once again, it feels ripe for sin to have someone who seeks the blood spilled in the battlefield. Again though, that's speculations about a past Shamura.

Narinder is a bit easier again, since one can likely assume pride to be a good sin for him. Prideful as he tried to rise, he fell, and retained his high and mighty pride when thinking the lamb couldn't possibly ever stand up to them until being forcefully shown that fact of life.

And fall he did, like he usually does.

With all the bishops having "access" to a main sin source though (except leshy), they could have easily had a way to make their cults, their temples and more, stronger. In the game, we only upgrade the temple visually, but since a god grows stronger with worship, likely do their crowns as well, and it just helps feed that.

Likely a way of how the new gods Shamura and co rose up to power that much could be through this, though i have other thoughts for later dates too on that (and if Narinder was around back then, having the literal death god as your sibling probably helped in a war too-)

The crowns and their relationship to the gods of new and old need more exploring in general, I feel like. Not just from the game, but like, I want to see other people throw their totally-not-a-crown hat into the ring. Where they came from, how they work, etc.

Ramble times over, did this make sense? Probably not. But I like my randoms to an audience of mostly myself👍

[mask-and-rose]

Lord Dio Brando (A Pop Culture Spirit Guide)

A Quick Introduction: Dio Brando is a reoccurring villain in the manga and anime “JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure”. His motives are often out of hatred for the Joestar family but also out of ambition for greater power. He takes on different forms for each “part” he appears in, so I work with these forms as different aspects of the same entity/spirit. For example: Dio’s “Phantom Blood” form highlights his vampiric nature and bloodlust. It’s his original body (completely) unlike his “Stardust Crusaders” form which is his head attached to Jonathan Joestar’s body. And his part 6 form is also different. Etc. I’ve created epithets for him based on which version of him I’m approaching. Also FUN FACT: Dio Brando is canonically nonbinary while going by He/him/they/them pronouns in my experience. If you need proof I got pics of Araki’s chart on him. 😍

Correspondences:

Crystals: Ruby (stone of kings, said to make one invincible in medieval lore, also associated with blood and passion), Garnet (again, another blood related stone but has a more grounded death/rebirth energy), Green Jade (prosperity and abundance), Obsidian (sacrifice and offensive style protection), and carnelian (Egyptian association with the land of the dead, the heart, and blood), Golden Calcite (very powerful and energized in an established way), and last but not least, Peridot (known as the evening emerald, most powerful at night, essentially a shining mesmerizing energy).

Plants: Yew (known for raising the dead in folklore, has an energy of resilience), Apple (known for maintaining eternal youth, fertility, and physical beauty), Fig (known for being carnivorous as a tree and destructive yet beautiful), Cinnamon (increased lust, powerful healer and catalyst for regeneration), and honeysuckle (known for its invasive nature it is very influential in its energy and increases psychic powers and protects the user).

Colors: gold, red, black, green, purple, and silver.

Holidays: Dio’s birthday is undocumented in the canon JJBA universe. So I dedicate the whole month of August to him because he has very Leo Sun energy. If I were to guess his placements I’d say Leo Sun, Aquarius Moon, Scorpio Rising. Because he strikes one as dark and mysterious upon first impression but is a magnificent leader and inspires others to think like he does (in a very innovative Aquarius moon way).

My Experiences: Dio showed up in my life in a very obvious and dramatic manner, one that was hard to ignore. There’s nothing meek about him. There’s nothing watered down or toned down. It might intimidate some to work with him and honor him as a pop culture spirit, but it came really naturally to me because as long as one adores and respects Dio, you are likely in his good graces.

Offerings: He appreciates actions and follow through. He appreciates wit and books and poetry. You can dedicate learning endeavors to him. He has eclectic taste, loves Egyptian jewelry, and books like The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. Incorporating acts of devotion and adoration (these can optionally be sexual: example, masturbation) to him are great ways of connecting with Dio’s energy. He does not tolerate fools unless he sees some benefit or finds your foolishness useful, yet he does have a sense of humor. Don’t get on his bad side by favoring spirits like Jotaro. Once Dio is your enemy he is unlikely to ever change his mind no matter how you try to reconcile. Shiny things, wine, and art, he is a soul drawn to beauty, as he is beautiful himself.

IMPORTANT: Get clear on why you want to connect to Lord Dio. Is it because he fascinates you? Do you wish to see the world from a more powerful perspective or have his influence in your life? Proceed after you figure this out.

[incesthemes]

final thoughts: supernatural season 14

this might be the first one of these posts i've made where i really just have no idea what to say. maybe once i get to writing that'll change, but i'm so neutral on this season that it's hard for me to really formulate anything concrete to write down here. hm.

actually this might be, perhaps, that i'm just getting really dreadfully bored of these last 5 seasons of the show. the novelty of the writers retconning things they find inconvenient, rewriting lore to suit their whims, forgetting plot points and character traits and lore, and generally warping the show beyond recognition has long since worn off at this point. i still had the energy to be annoyed in 11 and 12, i was just rolling my eyes about 13, but now i'm just kinda like. yeah this may as well happen. so maybe that's why i don't feel any particular way??? i'm not sure.

another thing i've come to realize, bitterly so, is that this show just isn't about sam and dean's relationship anymore. which is insane for The Sam And Dean Show. of course i understand why: after season 11, sam and dean are functionally married in their enmeshed psycho relationship, and there's nowhere else to go with this. they reached the pinnacle of their devotion and there's no more the writers can reasonably do with them. they're stable. and this is why season 12 and 13 both introduced new major recurring characters to help shape and develop sam and dean in relation to each other. 12 had mary to generate conflict between them, and 13 had jack. they both revealed new sides to sam and dean and explored forgotten or overlooked or underdeveloped parts of their identities, both as a unit and as individuals. season 14 continues that, because there's nothing else you can really do here.

that doesn't mean i don't find it boring, though, lol. i've had 11 seasons of sam and dean constantly rubbing against each other and finding themselves and choosing brother above all else, and this conflict has been the sole driving force of the series the whole time. everything else was just supporting backdrop to keep them moving, keep them stressed and on-edge so that they have to make those hard choices. but with the conclusion of season 11, they've stabilized. they know who they are and what they mean to each other, and what used to be backdrop is now all that's left. the show needed to introduce more characters to create conflict because sam and dean can't generate enough on their own. and that's great for them as people, but rough for a story. and i think now that i've recognized this and i've gotten through season 12 and season 13 and now season 14... the investment in me is lingering. fortunately i only have one season left, so i'm not too bothered by this all things considered.

as for season 14—i found the "jack is sick and dying" plot really hackneyed and boring and really poorly written. i kept likening him to that whole waifish victorian orphan boy who dies to teach the main characters a valuable life lesson because truly, that's how it played out. it was so boring i'm sorry jack. you didn't deserve that.

the soullessness was interesting, and i think the complete lack of healthy communication skills between all four of our main characters really did a good job of keeping that plot tense and constantly exacerbating in the worst ways. i'm honestly upset that mary died because i was so disappointed with how she was handled in season 13, and in season 14 she really just... didn't do much, so there wasn't much of an opportunity to fix what they broke before killing her off. i guess i'm used to that wasted potential though. just a bit disappointed is all 💔

most of the episodes were pretty good. 14.12 stands out as being one of my favorites because it returns to the core Sam And Dean Show themes, with them desperate to be on the same page and choose each other. that felt really really good, especially after so long without it. and 14.15 was pretty awesome too; i really loved how they handled both sam and jack's respective plots, and cas and dean were perfect supporting characters for them. it couldn't have worked any other way so it felt immensely satisfying. generally i didn't hate any of the episodes, so that's good.

i did REALLY like the final conflict with dean and the god gun and cas and jack and sam. i think the only thing that could have made it better would be to have sam fling himself in between dean and jack—to really make a statement about how he can't lose anyone else. like imagine: he doesn't even necessarily want to stop dean, but if dean's going to die then he's going with him. he can't lose dean, and he can't live with that grief. so he decides to go with them. it would have been soooo satisfying. play on season 13's "if we die, we do that together too" and their general obsession with each other. i wanted that so badly. i can't say i'm not disappointed </3 but otherwise? i really liked the four distinct perspectives on this conflict and how they clashed. cas really felt like a character in these last couple episodes, which is miraculous considering how boring i find him otherwise, and i appreciate that. this finale couldn't have happened without him, and that's awesome! and i like that sam was so conflicted—being so against dean's plans, but being so reluctant to contradict him and fight back. the level of reticence has been born from years of struggle and a true commitment to their enmeshment, and i could really feel it. it was played so well.

dean is obviously the "bad guy" here, taking the antagonistic stance to "do what he has to" and sacrificing himself yet again. it's so him, and i like that in his grief he jumps right back into self-mutilation and violence to an extreme, those horrible conditioned responses and behaviors that he's struggled with his whole life. it felt good to watch him fuck everything up. and it felt even better for jack to agree with him, to kneel down and allow it all to happen, even beg him to do it. to say dean was right, he's a monster. because like i said at the beginning of season 13, dean sees himself reflected in jack, and this is another layer of that. it's a very intimate moment between them, two monsters accepting their mutual destruction. i think the fact that dean can't do it reflects his hard-won desire for change and his compassion, and definitely his love for sam as well. he saves jack, he saves himself, he saves sam. there's a lot of layers and the fact that jack is the amalgamation of them makes this moment so intense and so meaningful.

also just in general dean perpetuating the cycle of violence through his son and yet at the same time being unwilling to kill him parallels with both 2.01 and with ummm 1.22? pretty sure that's the one where john is possessed. dean is unwilling to kill his family. john is unwilling to kill his family. he can kill himself but family is sacred. he loves them and that's evident even through the violence they both propagate. dean is a product of his raise, after all.

anyway all things considered i did actually think the season was pretty good, even though i'm rather bored of this show at this point lol. i just want to go back to kripke era already, which is exactly what i plan to do when i finish watching season 15 :) but for now i'm starting my detox because i have quite a few wincest fics lined up for me. amen and hallelujah 🙏

[mademythical]

jack, late20s, indie rp blog. ⠀ ⠀— ⠀starters, plots, memes.

i don't care about anything. you can do whatever in our threads, spring whatever plot on me, use whichever character, etc. i'm not squeamish, fussy, or easily bothered. if you think it'll be fun, then do it. my answer is always going to be, "sure, why not."

use your judgement re: characters, faceclaims. 18+, no irl abusers, bigots, etc.

i'm happy to go gifless if you want and i don't use gifs for smut.

ic ≠ ooc in any capacity.

my starters are always open. yes, even that one. all of them. always.

don't be fooled by my empty blog. i qualify for a veteran discount here.

CHARACTERS & SMUT INFO can be found below.

LOSING DOGS / CHARACTER LIST : ⠀ ⠀— ⠀in no particular order, details change depending on the plot.

ALFRED, phys. approx. 21, true age unknown, vampire, bisexual?, mark eydelshteyn. ( kinks )

alfred is no one from nowhere. an undead being of chaotic, unstable energy that emerged from his fallen master's crypt sometime in the seventies. he was once a pet and plaything, an object with no purpose but to serve its master, but he's a free bird now (and drunk on it).

he had a life before his master, but he can't remember any of it, not even what his true name was. his master, in shaping him into his perfect minion, erased it from his memory. he sometimes sees bits and pieces of it now that he's dead, mostly faces that tug on his heartstrings, but trying to figure out who they are is like trying to remember a fading dream. it's been too long. everything that he once was is lost to him, and has been for who knows how long. he's all beast now—a creature of cruelty and curiosity unleashed.

alfred is a deeply hedonistic, selfish, irreverent, and erratic individual. he cares little for social cues, unless abiding by them will get him what he wants. he values play and satisfaction above all else—he's very predictable that way. he's dramatic, sensitive, and maybe too open now that he has the freedom to be. he likes to "adopt" humans and make them his pets. he is very possessive and doesn't like sharing anything that's his. he's weird. he's fascinated by technology and human things. he would rather die than live in servitude again. he's trying his best, even if it doesn't seem like it.

unless stated otherwise, he has heightened sun sensitivity, enhanced senses, enhanced strength, and follows a blood-only diet. given his age, he should have more vampiric abilities, but his master never taught him how to develop them for obvious reasons. his weakness and inadequacy as a vampire is a source of great shame for him. that's why he likes humans so much—they make him feel strong.

he has a rope burn scar around his neck that he often hides with high collars, bandanas, jewelry, and scarves and such.

MADISON ROSENBERG / REN, 19 - 30, bisexual (fem pref), hailee steinfeld / chase sui wonders.

my token normie in a sea of freaks. 💜

a cringefail bisexual. just when you think she can't get any more embarrassing, she does. an engineer or comp sci girlie. very sweet, even if rather unserious about it. deeply loyal and devoted to those she loves. a little blunt, but not in a mean way, more in a "doesn't always think before she speaks way." self-conscious about her femininity, or lack thereof, because she was primarily raised by a single father who didn't really teach her any of that stuff, and she feels like she's doing it all wrong. she'll follow you into hell, but complain about it the whole time, as is her right. not good with her own vulnerability.

THEODORE BOWERS, 18 - 25, homosexual, sam nivola. ( kinks )

oh, teddy. what hasn't happened to god's favorite chew toy, huh?

his lore is extensive but i don't want to trigger anyone by going into detail here. just know that he was stalked and kidnapped twice as a child by the same man, and he had to be resuscitated one of those times after escaping and getting lost without any supplies in the backcountry. those experiences changed him and his life in ways that he will never, ever be able to take back.

growing up, he didn't have very many friends outside of his mother and older brother. after what happened to him, how it exacerbated the bullying and othered him further, he found he had even less. he was a deeply lonely child and not much has changed in his adulthood either. he wants to live, to wrestle free from his family's overprotective hold, to experience instead of just observing, but it's hard. when he said he wanted his life to be like a movie, he probably should've specified that he didn't mean a fucking horror movie.

at his core, teddy is a sweetheart through and through. he has a gentleness to him that remains unspoiled, a tenderness that serves as his greatest strength and his biggest weakness. it's gotten him through moments of torment, and it makes his life worth living, but it's also what makes him an easy target to begin with, too. still, he refuses to let evil win or change him any more than it already has.

he's a damn good artist, loyal like a dog, and a big nerd. many underestimate him, mistaking his delicacy for naivete, and he often uses that to his advantage. he knows much more than he lets on, keeps his cards close to his chest always, and tells a little white lie or two when convenient. he has a mischievous, coy glint in his bright eyes. he's very sweet, but he can be sour, too. he's sensitive and layered like that, easily exasperated and unbearably jealous. he's always waiting for the other shoe to drop, for every good thing he has to crumble to dust in his hands, because it will.

his backstory can be changed no biggie if a thread/plot requires it.

if he sounds awfully familiar, that's because he is. no canon character is safe from my oc-ification ray gun. sue me! (please don't sue me.)

HELENA ROOKE, 25 - 35 or 38 - 50, bisexual, madelaine petsch / jessica chastain.

daddy's little monster and proud. i'll write more about her soon but she's like if a succubus was an evil pathetic little rich nepo baby who didn't understand the word "no" and took her insecurities and daddy issues out on everyone around her especially her subordinates and those she considered competition. dream girl! 😍

SMUT INFO :

i'm willing to try most things once if you're enthusiastic enough about it and willing to be patient with me.

my characters don't have any set roles. preferences, sure, but nothing strict. it really just depends on the vibe and what we feel like writing. i don't like to pigeonhole myself or my characters.

i'm a pretentious fuck who likes when smut is more than just a mechanical "bob did this, billy did that, they came, the end" kind of thing, sorry. smut for the sake of smut can be fun, but i like when it's a character study, too, or when it moves the plot/ship in a particular direction.

time-skips and fading to black are always an option. please, don't ever feel pressured to do something you don't want to do.

[silenzahra]

Luigi serenades Daisy 🎶✨

This post was originally shared on 14th July 2024 on my old blog, which was deactivated the next day. Due to this, I decided to redo it since there were too many links that led to my old content and therefore didn't work anymore.

I came up with this idea thanks to @kelbreyworshipper who sent me an ask (to my old blog I mean), and I decided to play with my own musicians headcanons to create a romantic ambience for Luigi and Daisy as well as a few headcanons for their relationship in my lore. You may also find a couple of hints to my Luigi the Bookworm post.

Many people read this one before and I really appreciate your support, and I'll be linking your reblogs to the original post below as a way of saying thank you 💖

Still, for those of you who read it before, I'll be adding some paragraphs and sentences here and there that I believe will enrich the reading experience, and I'll highlight them in different colors just in case you'd like to check them 🥰

@bberetd @kimasousparky @artycomicfangirl @keakruiser @aqua-peri @doodleydoo101 Hope it's okay that I tag you since I believe you didn't get to see the original post and I thought perhaps you might be interested. Of course, if you want your tag to be removed, just let me know! 💖

As I mentioned here, I decided to redo this post mainly because of the songs I linked and translated on my side blog, as the original ones were lost when my old blog was deactivated. I want readers to have the chance to listen to each song and understand their meaning if they're interested, so that they can enjoy the entire experience. Still, some of the lyrics would change a bit in Luigi's version to fit with Daisy's appearance (like the "white cheeks" for example, as I headcanon Daisy has tanned skin) and their love story. Apart from that, they are songs that make me think a lot about this couple and their romance, so I hope you'll like them if you give them a listen! 🥰

Without further ado: let's-a go! ✨

Spontaneous serenade

The first time Luigi sang for Daisy was almost accidental. After their first date many more followed, and Luigi gradually became more and more comfortable in the company of Daisy, who showed him by her actions and affection that she liked every part of him and, therefore, he could be himself when he was with her.

Since they had danced together in the park on their first date, Daisy suggested one night that they go to a club to dance for a while. Luigi wasn’t too sure, as he’s not very fond of crowds, but Daisy had taken this into account and took him to a very quiet place located near the beach, in the Muda Kingdom in Sarasaland. Some of its inhabitants were there, but not too many, and the music was at a volume that allowed conversation. This certainly reassured Luigi and allowed him to enjoy the evening after all.

Daisy, knowing his shyness, didn't ask him to dance in the center of the dance floor: they kept to one corner, chatting while standing, and they had a few drinks as they enjoyed the music. Sometimes they’d sway gently when some lively song played, encouraging them to let themselves be carried away by the rhythm. But then one of Luigi's favorite songs came on, and enthusiasm shone on his face as he discovered that Daisy loved it too. He immediately forgot that they weren’t alone: in a sudden display of boldness, Luigi grabbed Daisy by the waist and improvised a dance with her as he began to sing with all his energy and passion.

Daisy was taken aback but did not complain at all. Since she loves dancing, she immediately adapted to Luigi's movements, and with a rapt smile, kept her eyes fixed on him while Luigi sang the romantic lyrics of the song, totally devoted and enjoying every note. He even took her by the hand and spun her around before drawing her back to him, and as he continued to sing, he did so while looking into her eyes with intensity, as if declaiming poetry, his voice laden with a sweetness that rivaled that of honey.

And Daisy felt herself melting. That was the moment when she knew with absolute certainty that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with that sweet man whose bright blue eyes watched her with such warmth and devotion. That sweet and charming man who used to be so shy but who didn't hesitate to show his confident and daring side when he was with her. She loved that contrast in his personality, and it filled her with joy to know that she was one of the few people with whom he felt comfortable enough to bring out his bold side.

It made her feel so lucky and privileged.

Art by @lizannamae on Tumblr.

Songs for Daisy

That night, as he sang with his eyes lost in Daisy's, Luigi realized that she had loved listening to him… and found that he had enjoyed it too. After all, it was a way of expressing how much he loved her and how deep his feelings for her were. And he found himself wanting to serenade her and use music as a way of declaring his love for Daisy.

So he set to work. First he tried taking the ukulele with him on some of the dates they had in the park and on the beach, and he improvised some romantic melodies and lyrics for her while Daisy listened mesmerized. Sometimes she began clapping in rhythm, and other times she got up and began to rock softly to the pace of the tune Luigi plucked from his instrument.

And he treasured every second, but he felt he could do more for her. That she deserved more.

She deserved the world.

Art by LinkerArts on Deviant Art.

The ukulele offered a good way to improvise quick, happy tunes, but Luigi felt a fervent desire to create music pulsing in his veins. He wanted to compose songs for Daisy, songs whose lyrics she could learn in order to sing them along with him if she wanted to, songs that would entice her to sway her body with that hypnotic charm that captivated Luigi and left him speechless. The melodies flowed in his mind, as did different lines born from his deep and pure love for the flower princess.

He then began to write them down. Phrases that alluded to her beauty, her joy, her energetic personality. Sentences that expressed how she drove him mad in the best way possible, how he was simply unable to stop thinking of her, how he couldn't wait to spend every second of his life with her, his desire to always see and make her happy. Luigi poured all his feelings onto paper as he hummed the tunes in his head and decided to replace the ukulele with the guitar to try to give them shape.

Not long after, Luigi surprised Daisy with a moonlit picnic in a quiet corner in the woods near the beach where he had so often jammed music for her on the ukulele. The sound of the waves lulled them as they dined on the delicious dishes Luigi had prepared for Daisy, her favorites, and the candles he’d brought were hardly necessary given the brightness of the huge full moon.

Due to nerves, Luigi was almost unable to eat, but he enjoyed watching Daisy savoring the dinner he had cooked for her. The princess, however, realized that something was wrong with him, always concerned about his well-being and comfort. Not wanting to worry her, Luigi decided to grab his guitar and leave the food for later.

And, looking Daisy in the eyes, he started playing.

(Song: Tragicomedia, Estopa)

"Yo, que vivo en la luna, quiero darte mi granito de arena..."

Daisy was speechless. Luigi's hands flowed with delicacy and mastery as they plucked chords from the guitar, and his voice emerged from his throat firm, confident and somewhat husky, and he was singing in Spanish! For her! The princess was convinced that, had she not been sitting on the grass in front of him, her legs would have turned to jelly, and she would have needed to sit down urgently.

The sight of Luigi playing and singing for her, the guitar resting on his crossed legs, his hands moving deftly up and down the neck of the instrument, his eyes watching her intently with a special, intense glow shining in them, the soft, confident smile dancing on his lips as he intoned the most romantic lyrics Daisy had ever heard...

"Y si tengo que morirme, que me muera en primavera, pa' poder echar raíces y vivir siempre a tu vera."

A sigh escaped from deep within her core and she needed to bring a hand to her chest to calm her racing heartbeat. Her cheeks were burning.

Luigi's smile widened, and his voice gained assurance as he realized that she was enjoying the experience. Daisy listened to him attentively for a few seconds longer, her heart melting at each line with which Luigi expressed his love for her, an endearing smile painted on her lips. She didn't notice she had begun to silently cry until Luigi himself, concerned, stopped playing and reached out his hands to cup her face lovingly. Daisy was surprised to feel the wetness on her cheeks, but smiled and reassured her boyfriend that they were tears of emotion. Luigi's gesture had touched her heart.

Despite the tears, she couldn't restrain herself: she leaned her head forward and kissed him.

Art by @arktm on Tumblr.

Luigi the Musician

The first song Luigi wrote for Daisy was followed by many more. At first, Luigi was afraid that the princess would get emotional again, so he thought that maybe he should keep his new songs to himself. They emerged from deep within his soul, and he couldn't, and wouldn't, hold them back, so quitting creating them was out of the question.

But, to his surprise, he found that, on their next date, Daisy sheepishly asked him if he had written any more songs, as she’d love to hear them. Luigi hadn’t brought his guitar with him that time, but he didn’t hesitate to start singing with the sole accompaniment of his hands clapping, something that Daisy began to replicate almost instantly (Song: Cuando amanece, Estopa). That time, even though she was also moved by the beauty of his verses, she didn't cry, which encouraged Luigi to keep bringing his guitar to their next dates to continue serenading her.

Daisy came to enjoy the experience of hearing him play for her so much that she ended up improvising her own dances to sway to the music he created, fulfilling Luigi's wish that they could share their passion for music and enjoy it together. He went on to create many, many songs during the early years of their relationship, including a very special one he composed after the first time they slept together (Song: Tan dulce, Estopa).

Daisy learned them all by heart. More than once, when he came to Sarasaland for a surprise visit, Luigi found her singing, with no musical accompaniment, the lyrics he had written for her.

And on those occasions it was he who was moved.

But Luigi doesn't just play the guitar and ukulele. Another musical instrument that he's passionate about playing is the violin, because it is, in his opinion, one of the instruments capable of creating the most beautiful and harmonious melodies that reach deep into the heart and soul of those who listen to them and can make them dream and be transported to faraway lands where everything is possible. He learned to play it when he was in high school, and he came to be a great violinist, but, unfortunately, a bad experience with his classmates made him move away from his passion for the violin for a long time.

However, it was precisely thanks to Daisy that he remembered how much he enjoyed plucking beautiful notes from this instrument after so many years devoted almost exclusively to the guitar. On one of the occasions when they were alone at his home, Daisy noticed the forgotten violin lying inside Luigi's closet when he opened it in search of a blanket to cuddle up with so they could read together on the sofa. She was fascinated when he explained that he used to play it, and she immediately started to clap as she expressed her eagerness to hear him play.

Luigi couldn't stop the bad memories from flooding back into his head, but Daisy's lovely and shiny gaze, filled with excitement, accompanied by the good feelings she kindled in him, managed to eliminate those remembrances in the blink of an eye. When he was with her, Luigi felt safe, comfortable, secure. Nothing bad would happen if he played the violin for his beloved princess.

He felt rusty after so many years, so it took him a few minutes to get used to it again. However, once he did, he decided to surprise Daisy by playing the same song that played on their first date and made them dance together for the first time. Their first song.

And Daisy recognized it and, again, was moved, but the smile on her lips made her face glow with pure joy.

Luigi didn't know how to compose a song on the violin, so he was content to leave the creation to his guitar and decided to treat Daisy to the most beautiful melodies he knew and that, he hoped, she’d like. Merry go round of life was only the first, for it was followed by many others such as Mi manchi, A postcard to Henry Purce and Valse sentimentale, as well as several other famous waltzes that sounded wonderful on Luigi's hands.

Daisy loved them all, but above all, she adored the passion with which Luigi played, always closing his eyes to let himself be completely caught up with the melodies that emerged from his violin and reached the princess' heart. She took the habit of almost always wearing a dress to their dates, or at least a skirt, so that she could dance not only to the songs Luigi wrote for her with his guitar, but also to the ones he played on his violin. Even though she always preferred to dance with him, and he with her, she knew that he loved to watch her dance to his music. He was hypnotized by her movemens while she was entranced by the tunes he played. So she let herself be carried away by the beautiful chords of the violin and performed the waltzes by herself under his attentive and ardent gaze.

And then, when they were alone in the princess' chambers, Daisy would "steal" Luigi's cell phone and select all those songs, one by one, so they could dance to them in the privacy of their room and, at last, together, giving them the chance to let the passion that burned in their hearts take the lead.

A very special night

Music and dancing, like reading and gardening, became two of the many passions Luigi and Daisy shared. They were very important to them, practically essential to their relationship. Whenever they saw each other, some harmonious melody would accompany them, either played by Luigi or playing in his phone to make their evening more pleasant and entice them to dance. It was something vital in their lives and it also defined their relationship, as music had witnessed the birth and growth of their romantic bond and how it only became stronger over time.

Therefore, for Luigi, it was only logical and natural that music also attested the moment when he would ask Daisy to be his forever.

More than that: it was going to be what helped him propose.

On this occasion, he preferred to arrange an intimate dinner in a place where they could be completely alone. He wanted the evening to be special, to make Daisy feel special, just as she is in his eyes. But he also didn't want it to be all public so that she’d be forced to say yes if she didn't want to take the next step. Luigi knows all too well how horrible social pressure can be, so there was no way he was going to subject his girlfriend to anything remotely like that.

So he decided to surprise her at the Sarasaland library, where they've spent many good times since they first celebrated Book Day together. Daisy had a busy day ahead of her with her royal duties as monarch of the empire, so Luigi suggested that, when she finished, she put on her best clothes and join him in the library to have dinner together and relax after her tiring day. He doesn't know yet how he was able to conceal the nerves that gripped every corner of his body.

While Daisy was away, Luigi, with the help of Mario, Peach and Toad, organized everything in the library. The day before, Princess Peach had helped him choose the most suitable dishes for such a special night, so they prepared them together in the morning and brought them to Daisy's home from the Mushroom Kingdom. Together with Mario and counting on his invaluable help and talent, Luigi had composed what was his most romantic song to date, with certain parts in Spanish to surprise Daisy so that she’d truly understand what a huge place she had earned in his heart.

He simply couldn’t see his life without her in it anymore.

Art by mong_milo on X

During the afternoon, Peach and Toad advised Luigi about his outfit, as he was unable to make up his mind and his anxiety was skyrocketing as the time approached. Finally, the princess encouraged him to opt for a dark blue suit jacket, very elegant and appropriate for a proposal, and Toad chose for him a green bow tie and a light blue shirt that enhanced his eyes.

They left for Sarasaland all together when dinner was still a couple of hours away. Luigi was a bundle of nerves, his heart fluttering in his chest like a hummingbird, and he clung to the guitar as if it were a life preserver. Mario made sure to be by his side, comforting him with soothing words and cracking a joke or two to get a few laughs out of him and help him relax.

When they arrived, Daisy had not yet finished, which gave them some leeway. They made their way to the library and Luigi chose the corner by the window to set up the table. Peach and Mario helped him serve the dishes, and Toad took care of placing Luigi's guitar near the table. Luigi was surprised to discover that Mario, secretly, had decided to bring Luigi's violin and ukulele as well, just in case he felt like he needed to de-stress a bit by playing something quieter first before asking Daisy the big question.

Peach disappeared shortly thereafter to meet Daisy and help her choose her outfit, and Mario and Toad encouraged Luigi to practice the song as they’d rehearsed it to try and keep him as calm as possible. Luigi thanked them heartily.

Art by Fioreandresr on Deviant Art

His brother and his friend left him alone shortly before the appointed time. Mario said goodbye with a tight hug that gave him warmth and reassurance, and Toad did with an energetic handshake that elicited a genuine giggle from Luigi. As they left, they continued to wink and cheer him on to wish him the best of lucks.

Then Daisy appeared in the doorway. She was dressed in a beautiful purple dress that matched her auburn hair perfectly, with star patterns on the flowy skirt and a tight, sequin-covered bodice. Her gloves were lilac and a bit longer than the white ones she usually wore, her beautiful hair fell down her shoulders like a cascade made of autumn leaves, and she had put on a light pink lipstick that made it extremely difficult for Luigi to look away from her full and tempting mouth.

He gasped first and swallowed later. She looked more than stunning. She looked radiant. She looked dazzling. She looked breathtaking.

He certainly seemed to have forgotten how to breath.

He was going to propose to the most beautiful woman in all universes and his heart galloped wildly in his chest at the mere thought.

During the date, despite his nerves, Luigi was able to give Daisy the attention she deserved while she told him about the boring day she had had as she was forced to attend to her royal duties. For her, this dinner meant being able to relax and be herself at last, plus, of course, having a nice time in the best company. She didn’t fail to praise the food that, again, he had prepared, though Luigi made sure to point out that Peach had helped him this time, especially with the dessert, a delicious marble cake that they’d chosen especially for her, as it’s Daisy's favorite.

The princess, as smart as ever, noticed that Luigi had brought his three instruments with him, and asked if he could play one of her favorite pieces on the violin after dinner. Luigi, relieved to have a little more time to work up the courage to ask her to marry him, didn’t hesitate to oblige. Daisy closed her eyes and rocked to the melody, enjoying every note Luigi played for her, and he found himself feeling more and more relaxed as the piece progressed.

Next, since he hadn’t jammed any verses for Daisy in a very long time, Luigi opted to pick up his ukulele and let himself be carried away by what came from his now tranquil heart. He serenaded Daisy about her beautiful hair the color of autumn leaves, about the constellation of freckles that dotted her lovely cheeks, about the deep, beautiful sea into which he plunged every time he looked into her eyes, about how the dress she wore tonight made her look like a shimmering star fallen from the firmament. Daisy felt her heart swell more and more in her chest and a lump form in her throat at the profound and sincere love that this sweet man felt for her, which she, of course, reciprocated. She felt like the luckiest woman in the world. She knew she was the luckiest woman in the world.

Then, after a few cuddles and kisses, it was time. Luigi stood up, switched the ukulele for the guitar and turned to Daisy with the instrument ready in his hands, the princess gazing at him with her blue eyes shining with anticipation and affection, a soft smile in her beautiful and full lips.

And just before he started singing his new song, Luigi realized that he felt no trace of nerves.

(Song: Cuando cae la luna, Estopa)

He began to play the first notes with confidence and poise, his eyes fixed on Daisy's, piercing her with his intensity. His voice came out steady and serene, flowing effortlessly, as easily as the air flowing in and out of his lungs. It felt like this was what he was meant to do, the reason he was born. After all, he was expressing his feelings to the woman he was deeply in love with and for whom he’d give his entire life without a second thought. For him, it was simple, natural, spontaneous. For him, loving Daisy was like breathing.

The princess had stood up to listen to him with her full attention and, also, to dance, but, given the passion that radiated from Luigi's eyes as he sang for her and only for her, she remained staring at him spellbound, mesmerized by his deep voice, his beautiful words and his gaze full of sheer adoration and devotion. She just rocked softly, with a sweet, soulful smile on her lips, whose color matched perfectly with her dazzling dress and her tanned skin. She couldn't take her eyes off Luigi's.

He had been approaching her as he sang, smiling assuredly, also swaying to the rhythm of the melody he was creating. He felt entirely in his element, not just confident but also delighted, enjoying the moment to the fullest, and Daisy’s entranced expression only encouraged him to go on. She made him feel brave, strong, capable of anything, and he decided to allow himself to be carried away by the boldness she roused in him and started to kneel slowly to her attentive and surprised gaze. His grin widened when Daisy, realizing that Luigi was now singing in Spanish, put a hand to her chest with an amazed gasp.

“Y yo te digo: ¡morena, vente conmigo! ¿No ves que me desespero? Escucha bien lo que digo: prometo llevarte al cielo si te casas tú conmigo.”

Daisy gasped even louder and covered her mouth with her hands. She remained like that for a few moments until she managed to breathe again, but her breath sounded choked with emotion and her body began to tremble before the first tears sprang to her eyes. Noticing that Luigi, concerned, stopped playing and sat up, one arm outstretched toward her, Daisy was quick to nod, shaking her head up and down frantically as a strangled sob broke from her throat and ended up turning into a high-pitched shriek. She pounced on Luigi as she laughed and cried at the same time, wrapping her arms around his neck and squeezing him with all her might, and he barely had time to let go of his guitar to return her embrace with the same intensity.

Delighted at her reaction and relieved to have been able to carry out the proposal as he wished, Luigi chuckled as well and began to spin around with her in his arms, at which Daisy raised her head and stretched her arms out to her sides, laughing with joy as tears of pure emotion spilled down her cheeks. Her auburn hair and flowing skirt danced with the movement, creating a myriad of colors that made it impossible for Luigi to look away. She was more beautiful than ever.

As he twirled, Luigi couldn't stop gazing at her. After a few giggles, Daisy returned his glance fervently and rested her arms around his neck again. Luigi stopped swirling little by little, his eyes trapped in those of the princess, his girlfriend, his future wife, the queen of his heart. She slowly leaned towards him with a knowing smile. Luigi also drew one quickly before their lips met and started devouring each other with passion.

That night they danced a dance in which neither music nor words were necessary.

Just the two of them.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Thank you so much for reading! Here are the reblogs the original post got so you can read other people's opinions if you'd like. Of course, thank you so much to each and every single one of you for your lovely feedback! 💖

-@dragon-fly34's reblog.

-@vulpixfairy1985's reblog.

-@teegeeteegee's reblog.

-@peaches2217's reblog.

-@itsavee4117's reblog.

-@knighted-princess's reblog.

-@dragon-fly34's answer (sorry I didn't get to reply btw! 🙏).

Of course, thank you to @wahooitsamee, @megamagimugi, @kelbreyworshipper and @ask-rosalina-and-her-family for your lovely comments on the original post! I deeply appreciate it 🥰

Also, I hope it's okay if I ask those of you who already reblogged the original post to perhaps consider reblogging this one too, so it reaches a wider audience now that it's fixed. I'd sincerely appreciate that 🥰

Comments and likes are obviously more than welcome too, and please remember that my asks and PMs remain open for whoever would like to reach out, share an idea, ask me anything...

Thank you so much for your help in building up this new blog, and I hope you're ready for more Luaisy and musicians content coming in the future 🥰

EDIT: I would just like to add that it's totally fine if you'd like to create something inspired by this post, as long as you properly credit me, of course! That's all I ask for 💖

EDIT2: @pinkcreamypeach Here's some Luaisy sweetness 🥰 Hope you'll like it!

[geekgirles]

Okay, first of all, thanks for the tag. Now let's see if I remember everything so I can tackle each point accordingly.

First of all, it's our precious Yumalia, of fucking course (pun totally intended). I think it's safe to say it was a shock for all of us to see them so intimate first thing in the webtoon. I was honestly expecting some intimacy, but much more implied, like Echo and Oropo's bed scene. But nope, we got them blushing, groping, changing positions, and gasping for breath.

Am I complaining? No.

Was it a shock? You'd better believe it.

But overall, I think you're pretty spot on with the positions they would prefer. After all, they'd been denied such level intimacy and physical contact the moment Yugo's growth became stunted, these two have a lot of pent-up energy. But at the same time, their relationship had always been more defined by that mutual pinning, that yearning, the utmost devotion and love they have for each other.

In a way, while Yugo still had a kid's body, their relationship was mostly defined by that tenderness. But the moment Yugo grew up and they realised there were no more physical barriers between them, you could just feel the waves of searing passion and adoration in their every interaction.

It's only natural that both aspects of their relationship, tender loving born from a long-lasting friendship and unbridled passion exacerbated by years of longing and holding back, would converge in bed like that now that they're finally together. Hence, we got two very thirsty young adults that are absolutely crazy for each other, but who also cherish each moment they have together by making sweet love rather than fucking like savages.

Much like @onyichii my own Ankama lore can be a bit wonky. I'm constantly trying to learn more, especially now that I'm working on my AU, but there are still aspects that I won't know about until they've been brought up by others.

Our dear Dream Dragon is one of such cases. See, that was the reason why I asked if they had been legitimately going at it or if Yugo was just having a wet dream (you know your hubby's madly in love with you when you're married, have had sex just the night prior and he still dreams only of you #goals) precisely because Amalia told him it was just a dream.

I mean, the way they both ended on the floor with an unmade bed still raises some eyebrows, but it would also be super weird if they had been mid-fuck and Yugo had suddenly fallen asleep. Especially when, while very loving, it seemed like a rather intense session.

I still can't get over the fact that, despite the psychological torture he'd been through over the years and now by this dragon, his main concern and most horrifying experience was still the idea of losing Amalia.

Tristeva who? (Jk, they're great too).

I have also been very worried at the side-glances the Eliatropes and Sadidas were giving each other in those panels. And yes, fighting a war together doesn't always mean you become fast friends with someone, but for the sake of my sanity, my new canon is the Sadida and Eliatrope have become one and are now besties. As for the webtoon, knowing how everything's gonna end, my money is on them accepting each other right before the Great Wave. Best case scenario, that is.

I'm keeping my canon, though.

As for that not-so-good advisor dude, the fact that he called her Lady Amalia is indeed suspicious as fuck. Given both his ominous words, Amalia's peeved reaction to it (which suggests that, whatever it is, it's not the first time he's ever brought it up) and the expression on his face, all make me believe he was one of Armand's supporters and hence he's going to be pushing for Aurora to reclaim the throne.

In other words, he's cancelled.

Once again, I am both dreading and looking forward to Friday.

The Great Wave - Chapter 1 Review

‼️ SPOILERS FOR THE CHAPTER ‼️

Warning(s): mature themes, descriptive language, proceed with caution.

Before I start, I'd like to say that I initially added a lot more to this, but since tumblr had to censor it, I had to level it down a little...

I guess I just got carried away with it because of yumalia lol

So yeah...hope tumblr doesn't flag this again....

Alright everyone you know the drill.

LET’S ALL GET IT OUT OF OUR SYSTEMS AND GO CRAZY OVER HOW THESE TWO FUCKED SO MANY TIMES‼️‼️‼️‼️

Good job you two honestly I’m so happy these two got to have fun together like this 🥰🥰

Like no joke the first time I started to read the first chapter, of all the ways I thought it would start, I DIDN’T THINK THEY’D BE FUCKING I legit thought I was interrupting them my god-

I was so SHOCKED wtf??????!!!!

Like yes but what????

Ankama wasn’t kidding when they said they’d go mature mode and INSTANTLY cram in adult themes. The unexpected (but still warned) change was so sudden that that’s how you know Ankama has been keeping themselves tamed in the seasons because they couldn’t pull this shit off so easily like Japan.

Now let’s analyze the first thing that’s in the very first chapter.

The s** 👹👹

Okay I know how laughably this sounds because the FIRST THING in the first volume that we get to see is Yugo and Amalia’s private time.

And I’m not ashamed of loving it. Even now I still can’t believe that this can literally be considered soft corn. I won’t be surprised if more than half of the chapter ended up on that infamous site 💀(if u know, u know)

By the way I love how Amalia’s hair grew cuz I was starting to get sick of seeing her with a short ponytail all the time AND I LOVE HOW WE FINALLY SEE HER UNTYING HER HAIR CUZ MAN ITS BEEN SO LONG SINCE IVE SEEN HER LET HER HAIR OUT

But their private moment(s) really made us understand just how much they care for one another. The way that they are sleeping together NAKED like this so comfortably too confirms that they have done these kinds of activities before.

The ambiance and the colors truly encapsulate the tranquility and peacefulness they both share in this moment. You can even feel the sunshine’s rays touching your skin.

AND I’M ALL HERE FOR IT. They genuinely look so cute and in love together like that I just wanna tear that blanket away and dhskdkfkksskskkdksksd.

If anyone is wondering why Yugo still keeps the dofus on him, it’s because the dragon, Rodalström, that Armand defeated is still alive. A necrome can never truly die so Yugo has to essentially keep the dofus on him at all times just in case the dragon would set free someday (i feel so bad for Qilby due to this decision…dude is the only one between his siblings who can hear these two banging💀)

While looking through these same pages over and over again (I still haven’t stopped), I began to seriously wonder what kind of positions they would do together.

We’ve seen two particular positions they have used in this chapter and it was the “lotus” position and the “woman on top” position.

These are very accurate positions for these two mainly because of the level of intimacy it provides. It’s not rough, extravagant, or even too lewd. It’s simply just right.

They are so intimate with one another that they even hug while keeping the pace. And I think it is wonderful to see these two just being happy and satisfied in each other’s arms like this.

It's such a sweet moment for these two that you really can't look away (i'm definitely not saying this to justify why I keep overfixating these panels). You can even see Yugo choosing to keep his eyes open during it all just to look at Amalia enjoying it.

My guy clearly loves the view please!! 😫😫😫

You don't think seeing her liking it makes him even more excited righ-

Some parts during their intimate moment had their arms, which were groping A LOT of things, somewhat censored by the blankets they still had on each other. So, to have a clearer view of what happened under the sheets, I decided to outline their covered arms to give you an idea of where those hands went.

At the very beginning, Yugo is woken up by Amalia kissing his cheek. But after that, his body looks much more awake when we see a panel of Amalia's hand under the covers reaching for something. This immediately makes Yugo wide awake, to the point where he's already sweating a bit and blushing very hard as he says, "You're...tireless!"

After some outlining made by yours truly, it was painfully obvious where Amalia was reaching for and- DEBHUHUFUWHYUHFUYHUWUEFHUWHFUEFHUEWH

GURL STOP OMG SHE'S TOO BOLD I CAN'T WITH HER I LOVE HER OMG SHE KNOWS WHERE TO REACH YES DO IT WAKE HIM UP!!!!

The fact that she instantly knew what to do when she wasn't getting enough attention from him after that cheek kiss alone sends me 😭😭

But it's not like Yugo's the innocent one here for not trying anything. On the contrary, HE'S TOUCHING HER TOO.

THAT GUY KNOWS WHAT'S BEST TO GRAB.

He's a man after all, so what'd you expect lol

He KNOWS that her ass is THICK, SO WHY WOULD HE NOT TOUCH ONE OF HER BEST ASSETS!?!?!?

You can tell these two obviously do more than just two “sleeping” positions, but since they were messing around in the morning, I can give them a pass for being sweet and tender with each other at this moment, just this once. They must've done A LOT more yesterday night since Yugo did say she was tireless as soon as he woke up. These two are adventurers at heart, so why wouldn't they explore each other more thoroughly-

Given that we’ve only seen the "lotus," the "woman on top," and a simple embrace, I would like to suggest a few more positions that would suit them well. These recommended positions are so accurate to them and reflect their dynamic that I wouldn’t be surprised if they have done these before (or will eventually 👀).

While nitpicking every single panel of their “morning routine” I learned two things thanks to this start:

1) Yugo’s a bottom but is able to switch.

2) Amalia is insatiable in bed. Girl is hungry HUNGRY. Because judging from how Yugo and her were fully naked and laying in bed in the beginning, that means they had finished screwing with each other a while ago BEFORE AMALIA JUST JUMPS BACK INTO IT. SHE’S LITERALLY TIRING OUT A DEMIGOD ALIEN JUST FROM GROPING AND TAKING HIM-

If a scene like this wasn’t what I thought would happen at the beginning of the first chapter, then Amalia getting choked to death had definitely thrown me off guard. Like many other readers, I already knew that this wasn’t actually real and was only happening in Yugo’s head but it still felt very off-putting to see her struggling to breathe. The way Yugo panicked and tried to help only for him to scream and cry when he realized she was on the verge of dying was powerful.

And that’s when we find the anomaly in this chapter.

The dragon that appeared in Yugo’s head.

I initially expected Toross to be the one tormenting Yugo but I guess it ended up being this dragon.

The dragon figure seems to feel severe hatred for Yugo for all the calamities he let happen in the World of Twelve and how he seems to be living a good life at the moment while having the six primordial eliatrope Dofus and the Eliasphere in his possession.

The theories immediately started flooding in on who this dragon could possibly be and here’s what people came up with:

A) The dragon is one of the six primordial dragons from the World of Twelve named Grougalorasalar.

He’s the guardian of the Eben dofus and used to have been sealed in Joris during the Dofus era. Some have theorized this dragon to be him because of how physically similar they look.

Although he looks identical, there is no logical reasoning to support his hostility towards Yugo, let alone his ability to infiltrate his mind. Furthermore, the way he acts and thinks around Yugo, assuming it is actually him, is illogical given his involvement in Ogrest's rampage.

B) This dragon is, in actuality, Draconiros, the dragon of dreams.

His job is to govern the dreams and nightmares of the twelvians. People suspect he might have taken the form of Grougalorasalar while talking to Yugo.

Despite never meeting Yugo, he could have watched over the twelvians through their dreams. This means that he might have seen Oropo's dreams, as well as Yugo's own, giving him insight into Yugo's future actions and indirectly caused consequences. If true, this theory would explain why he holds a grudge against Yugo. It currently stands as the most compelling theory among all others.

C) The Great Dragon. Yugo’s father could be the one able to invade his mind and blame him for all sorts of things.

It's hard to ignore the fact that the Great Dragon appears to have been absent during some of the biggest catastrophes in the Krosmoz. Despite countless calamities happening all around the world, the Great Dragon seemed to have done nothing to prevent them, nor did he even show up to witness them. This is why his presence felt non-existent in the world. If he doesn't care about the world, why would he have any interest in what Yugo has done?

D) Osamodas himself could be the one speaking to Yugo while taking the form of Grougalorasalar.

It's worth considering that Yugo may face blame from the god of beasts. Additionally, it's intriguing to note that the osamodas race will play a significant role later on. This is evident from Aurora and her family's return to the Sadida kingdom.

So far, these are the only theories out there that we have for this dragon. That, and the fact that it might as well be a whole new character that we haven’t seen before.

The thing that truly makes this interaction between Yugo and the unknown dragon feel severe is the fact that the dragon tells him that despite sharing dragon blood, he truly detests him.

Imagine having to know that a millennial dragon hates you despite sharing the same blood.

Of course, the interaction couldn’t have stayed for very long because Amalia immediately interrupted it by screaming Yugo’s name. Yugo looks completely out of it, huddled up and shaking in fear. I understand that he saw what could be a future threat but this whole situation must’ve looked so off-putting from Amalia’s perspective: they were fucking, they started levitating because of the six eliatrope Dofus residing in him, and then they both suddenly fell on the floor and she saw Yugo curled up and crying, freaking the fuck out.

Amalia doesn’t understand but she still goes to him and immediately tries to calm him down by embracing him. But despite everything he’s seen and the fact that he interacted with a mysterious dangerous beast, the first thing that Yugo says amidst his crying is: “I thought I lost you…”

Look at the sheer terror in his eyes.

He genuinely looks like he thought he lost everything at this very moment. His body is shaking and is still processing what he just saw and heard.

He even APOLOGIZES to her, thinking that seeing her dying in his arms was somehow his fault.

Her life is such a huge priority for him that that’s immediately the first thing he’s afraid he’ll lose the most.

That’s when Amalia suddenly says the words: “Calm down, it was just a dream.”

…

A dream??

You mean to tell me that this whole time, Yugo was sleeping?

So this whole “wrestling” scene never happened?

I believe there’s been some kind of misunderstanding when we first read this chapter.

I feel like we thought Yugo and Amalia had been messing with each other in the morning and that’s when Yugo suddenly received a flash of imagery and words from the unknown dragon before Amalia snapped him out of it and that’s how they needed up on the floor together.

But it turns out that wasn’t technically what happened.

Because if this intimate scene was real, then why would Amalia say he had dreamt?

I believe this is what actually happened:

Yugo and Amalia were peacefully sleeping together after spending the night awake (because what do you think a fully naked couple does in bed). When morning arose, that’s when Yugo started having a wet dream of Amalia and him getting in on again and right when things were starting to get better for Yugo, the dream started to twist itself and change out of its own will, forcing the one good thing about the dream to leave, which was Amalia, by making her choke to death to finally reveal the dragon. The dragon haunts his mind and spills his hateful thoughts to the eliatrope causing him to suffer alone until Amalia snaps him awake and manages to unknowingly free him from the torment. Yugo must’ve fallen on the floor while having the nightmare and Amalia simply got down from the bed to wake him up.

(this still doesn’t change the things I said about the types of positions they have, how Amalia has her own nicknames for Yugo like ‘little princess’, and how Amalia is in bed though because dreams often depict and copy real-life behaviors from the mind of the person dreaming. it’s actually funny that Yugo had a WET DREAM about Amalia and him. despite getting so much action with her, his mind doesn’t leave her alone lol)

When she regards his shaking form that it was only a dream, however, Yugo insists how real it felt. That’s when he decides to stand up and claim he needs some air to think. The fact that he has said the same thing back in Season 4 Episode 1 when he had Oropo in his head, shows how his insistence of wanting to be alone after getting scarred, has become a pattern.

Amalia understandably (and predictably) gets angry at Yugo for leaving but her behavior also raises a few questions. Does this mean she’s angry that he wants to be alone every time he gets nightmares? Does he receive incessant nightmares on some nights? If that’s the case, then how often does this keep occurring? Or is this the first time he does this? Is she angry because he tends to quickly leave when he thinks he needs to deal with something on his own like how he did in Seasons 2 and 4?

Regardless of what the case may be, Amalia doesn’t waste time and immediately dresses herself up with her vines like a boss ass Queen just look a how refined and elegant she looks while changing✨✨ I love her so much 💕💕

Also vinillain noticed how these two dumbasses don’t HAVE ANY BEDROOM DOORS. How do they actually get any privacy if their bedroom has a huge ass hole with no door?? It’s so bare that it doesn’t even have a curtain to cover the front of their room!! Like did these two not realize that literally anyone can just get right in their room? I get that they’re royals so they would know that no one would be this dumb enough to simply get in like that but the entrance of the room is so big and wide that anyone can just pass through it and be able to see their bed from where they’re standing!! You can even see the bed frame right there in just that panel for crying out loud!! I get that the sadidas are a pretty open race BUT THEY’RE NOT THAT OPEN TO EACH OTHER-

Besides this stupid choice of not having any doors, I love how the kingdom made a few adjustments to the throne room because they initially only had one seat. Even when Armand was king, there was still one place. Aurora had to sit in a small space next to him lol. Note that Aurora used to sit on the right side like how Yugo has to do now.

I already talked about this to vinillain but I told them that because of how the throne was arranged when it got split into two, I feel like the ones who sit on the right are the ones who come from other kingdoms aka if they’re from another race. I believe that the reason why the throne had only been one seat in Seasons 1, 2, and the ovas, was because the only ruler at the time was King Oakheart. The ruling seat might have also been divided in two when the queen was still alive. Amalia might as well have simply chosen to sit in Armand’s place because it used to be his which would be cute if that was the case.

I like to think that Yugo deserves sitting in Aurora’s place because he’s submissive-

Speaking of Armand, the mural wall that Amalia made the artist make was such a wonderful decision. She really did love her brother despite the many quarrels they used to have.

This man entered the legend ❤️

After the interaction between Amalia and the painter, I noticed the royal advisor (or so I think) about to approach Amalia with something to discuss. Despite not having entered the throne room yet to listen to her people's grievances, the advisor seems to have something confidential to share with her, as he didn't choose to wait until she got there. Although we don't know what that "something" could be, Amalia immediately stops him, explaining that she just got out of bed and needs time to process everything.

I think we'll see what that 'something' could be about in the next chapter, though. Looking at the crowd awaiting Yugo and Amalia in the throne room to discuss their business with them, I have a strong feeling some of those problems would involve the elite eliatropes.

We can even see how the mood in the throne room looked very tense between the sadidas and the eliatropes. Some of the sadidas looked perturbed, and there's a good chance they're acting this way because of the eliatropes. Not only that, but the eliatrope kids looked super uncomfortable because of the tension going on. Even a sadida was eyeing an eliatrope in a pretty judgemental way (you can see it on the right panel).

They were all waiting for Amalia and Yugo so they could speak about their problems to the two royals so I wouldn't be surprised if some problems would be about the eliatropes staying.

I understand that when we last saw the sadidas, they were pretty much okay fighting alongside the eliatropes during the war against the necromes. But that was because it was a war. They were extremely short-handed, so they were perfectly fine with having them by their side. But now that the war is over, it's possible that many of them feel a bit awkward having to share their lands with eliatropes. Imagine living on these lands since the dawn of time and you suddenly have to live with people who are not even from your planet one day.

In short, Yugo and Amalia should get more intimate moments, the dragon in the dream has a good chance of being Draconiros, Yugo should stop dealing with his problems on his own, Armand is a chad, the two royal seats scream power couple goals, I need that sadida and eliatrope drama, and I’m waiting on what the advisor has to say.

@geekgirles @onyichii

[lackadaisycats]

I love everything of your work, every page is a piece of art, textures, lights, perspective, characters and the script, with perfect balance of hilarious and engaging lore.... It keeps me inspired everyday and gives me the energies to continue my projects. I can't describe the extreme joy your works gives me and I couldn't be more grateful, because it keeps me dreaming and helped me to understand what I want to do in the near future. Thank you so so much \(^ヮ^)/.

I have one question : Do you have any advices for making comics and put them in the world? For some time I had the urge to share my works, but idk what to do :/.

That's exceedingly kind. I'm touched to hear you've enjoyed my work, and if it helped you to understand what creative things you want to do, well, that makes my heart glad. Thanks for sharing that.

Very wordy response to the making and sharing comics question below....

-----------------------

Making comics is a Whole Big Thing as topics go. It's a little difficult to provide salient advice on something so broad. So much of it depends on what you're specifically trying to achieve, and what your preferences are as an individual. Here are a few bulletpoints, though:

-- Make the comic about things you love unabashedly so that it's fun and engaging to work on. It will still be difficult - it's always difficult - but you're more likely to keep doing the work it if you're in love with it.

-- Don't put off starting until you're 'good enough'. Good Enough is a fantasy place, and Perfect is a big lie. You'll never find either and pursuing them easily turns into eternal procrastination. Get started while the fire is burning, because getting good at something happens while you're actually doing the thing, and less so while you're thinking about maybe doing it. Try to be at peace with the idea that your work will be flawed. All art is. That's what makes it interesting.

-- Try to work with your strengths, not against them. Comic making is already immensely challenging. I'd suggest not making it extra impossible by demanding an entire personality change of yourself in order to do it. For example, if you tend to have intense but short-lived interest in things, don't torture yourself by embarking on a project that is going to take years-long, single-minded devotion. Do an anthology of shorter stories instead of a sprawling epic. Do one-off joke comics, or thoughtful vignettes. Or even break up something longer into short bursts of contained chapters.

-- Don't hurt yourself. Eat right, sleep, get a comfortable chair that's good for your back, get out of that chair and move around at intervals. If something starts aching, stop and rest. If it's aching chronically, see a medical professional. Career ending injuries and health troubles for artists are insidious - they creep up all quiet and mundane while you're busy patting yourself on the back for pulling another all-nighter.

-------------------------

About sharing online - also a tricky topic! The internet has changed a lot since I began Lackadaisy. The advice I could give derived from my personal experiences in publishing and audience building is a relic of a bygone era at this point…but here are some more bulletpoints (er, paragraphs) that I think are generally pertinent:

-- If publishing publicly sounds daunting and a bit scary, dip your toes in the water before plunging in. Do a publishing test run. If there's a Discord community you're comfortable with or a social media platform you use where you can post for mutuals only, maybe try that first. Or just share directly with a handful of people and ask them for feedback. When I'm unsure about something I'm preparing to post, I usually run it by some creator friends of mine because I trust them to be honest with me. Even if they have some criticisms, it's often reassuring that I can proceed to show it to others without dying inside.

-- Places with a big, built in audience can be great for getting eyeballs on your work, but it’s a mixed bag. Webtoon is the obvious example right now. Just be wary of anyone showing a little too much interest, or coming at you with paperwork to sign. Don't rush into putting your name on something that 1) commits you to unreasonable amounts of output for barely livable wages 2) relinquishes your ownership of your IP, or grants anyone any license to your work without clearly defined boundaries (like a limited term and agreement-ending conditions) -- Contract agreements warrant lots of consideration. Involve a lawyer of your own if you can. At the very least, have friends or family read over anything you might sign. And if it sounds too good to be true, it is. Scams are unfortunately abundant, so do your research/due diligence on whoever you're in discussions with.

-- Make yourself easy to find. Use social media to your advantage. Don't feel like you have to be in every single place, though. Some platforms might not be a good fit for your work, and some might be too much of a hassle or a mental drain to do battle with. -- Scrape out your own space online if you're able - a personal web page, a little WordPress/ComicPress site, or even just a link hub so that people can relocate your work if they lose track. The point is to avoid putting your eggs all in single basket that you have no control over. You never know when the social network growth you've been nurturing for the past several years will just succumb to a billionaire rampaging around like a sociopathic kaiju in the midst of the world's most public midlife crisis.

-- Don't worry about being an immediate sensation. Seeing people respond to your work is a wonderful and immensely gratifying feeling at times, but be patient if all hear are crickets chirping for a while. Longform storytelling in particular takes time to catch its momentum, and readers take time to get invested. Meteoric rises and virality do happen now and then, but honestly, slow and steady audience buildup is probably the more sustainable and less psychologically bewildering way to experience the fun of sharing your stuff with the world.

-- Consistently put your identifier (name/watermark, URL, copyright info, or all of these things) on everything you post online.

---------------------- I hope something here is useful, and if you decide to start making and publishing comics, I hope you find much success and happiness in it!

[hakuoyuki]

Hi Satomi! nice to meet you

First of all, I really appreciate your distribution to ikemen fandom. Especially on Ikeprince, since thanks to you, I decided to install jp app, not only eng one. Actually, I understand jp ,but not enough to understand the whole thing without a guidance in the language that I have better understanding (English). So, yeah now I’m hooked on ikeprince lol.

And, have you read the act2? It’s amazing hearing the new characters’ voice! This act gives us so many new lore. If you already finished, can you give an opinion?

Ok last thing, I found your twitter account accidentally while searching for ikeprince stuffs. Do you mind if I follow or dm you? cuz I spend my time on twitter more than tumblr. If you feel uncomfortable, pls tell me and sorry for making you feel like that.

Hello! Join me on IkePri JP lmaoo 🤝🏻

I read the prologue for Act 2 yes! IkePri's prologue really is amazing given how both Act 1 and Act 2 prologues are 10 parts long each and they're both fully voiced as well!

The Act 2 prologue is really devoted to the Act 2 suitors (Sariel, Rio, Gilbert, Keith, and Silvio) with some of Leon's and Chevalier's cameo. Yves, Licht, Nokto, and Luke didn't showed up but there was mentioned of them toward the end by Keith, Silvio, and Gilbert.

First of all, I won’t be translating the prologue because That’s Too Much it’s so long... But basically, the start of Act 2 prologue happened about a week after the end of Act 1 prologue. The story here didn’t continued from the ending of any of the Act 1 suitors’ routes but rather it continued directly from a week after the end of Act 1 prologue, but through out the prologue multiple days have passed by and you could say by the end of the Act 2 prologue, it's already half a month in from the time MC became Belle.

However, in Act 2 prologue, MC have yet to choose a king. So in Act 2, just like Act 1, it's still MC having to complete her duty as Belle and choose the next king of Rhodolite. The difference with Act 1 is that, here there is an added condition of doing so without this fact being exposed to the 3 foreign princes who had came to Rhodolite and decided to stay here after they strut in like they own the place...😂 (That last bit was a joke but also not. That really was the energy they gave)

In the Act 2 prologue, Sariel told MC he's going to protect her. And in the case that she's found out to be Belle and the Previous King's death is exposed..... he's going to take responsibility for this himself.

.

As for my opinion on the prologue... let me first say throughout the entire Act 1 prologue during my first read through, I find Sariel to be so super creepy he scares me especially his creepy smile. But a year and a half in, after getting to know him more, my impression of him has softened up a whole bunch.

Why am I pointing that out? Because through out the entire Act 2 prologue, if I may be very honest, Gilbert fucking scare the crap out of me. Especially during part 8 of the prologueーー the pressure I felt was so intense likeー holyー I’m honestly not surprised MC couldn’t get herself to oppose Gilbert at all and had to go along with him becauseー me too, MC. Me too. Cold sweats be running down my spine as I read. ....Just thinking back to it is giving me the chills. IkePri JP, your writing, I’m honestly amazed.

ー

Back tracing to Part 6 of the prologue a bit, Rio “accidentally tripped” and spilled champagne on Silvio. When this happened, Silvio immediately let go of MC to glare at the person to spill the champagne on him stained his clothes instead

Silvio: Aa? bastard, you think this can end with just an apoloーー

Silvio: ...........You

Silvio: ........What's the meaning of this, bastard

This scene. This very scene. The way Silvio cut his own sentence short when he set his eyes on Rio. The way his voice dropped. His changes in his expression as he said that. Like, damn. Silvio’s face was so shocked when he saw Rio before that shocked turned into intense displeasure. Gosh, the execution of this was👌

ー

Also damn, hello Silvio, your manners where. Next morning after meeting MC, he just suddenly waltz into MC’s bedroom after kicking the door open.

Silvio: Yo, woman. We met yesterday.

Gilbert: Barbarous as always eh, Silvio. The door isn't something to be kicked open though?

That scene really was something.

ー

I’m making my commentary really out of sequence here but during the start of the prologue, Sariel was telling MC about the foreign princes who will be arriving in a few days. When he did so, he told her how Keith is the next king of Jade. It had already been decided that Keith is going to be King because Jade has no other princes but him. Nothing of this sort was mentioned about Gilbert and Silvio.

However, by the time I finished reading the part where MC actually met all the foreign princes in person... the first thought that immediately came into my mind was... “Maybe Sariel should've told MC before hand what the foreign princes looks like.” 😂 😂 😂 😂

During the scene when MC first met Keith, at first he was so meek. Super meek. But then it was like his switch suddenly got flipped out of the blue he turned into his beast-mode and it was as if his personality did a complete 180. What shocked me most was his expression. Did not expected Keith to be someone who can make the sort of face he madeー

One of those is not like the others.

By the way, Keith normally uses “kimi” to say “you” but Beast-Keith had a pronoun switch to “omae” (a much rougher way to say “you”). No idea how ENG is going to handle this subtle-not-so-subtle switch but the way he speaks completely changed with his personality.

ー

Lastly, let me just share what my JP friend said after reading the prologue. “Putting Gilbert aside, after seeing evil Keith... Silvio seems like a cheerful puppy in comparison”

Honestly, I won’t be surprised if the three foreign princes all turns out to be different varying degrees of yandere

.

.

ーーーー

Regarding my Twitter account... Sure sure, go ahead 😂

I am indeed more active on Twitter than here as well (more like I uses Tumblr and Twitter for different purposes.) I don't mind if you follow me there / DM me ^^

Be it here or there it takes me time to reply because of how long it take me to type stuff so apologies in advance...💦

Also, I rarely post art on my Tumblr anymore but Twitter is where I always post them so there's also that 👌🏻

[ravnicaforgoblins]

Ravnica for Goblins

Exciting Planeswalker Visitors

(Caution: Before we begin, this post is going to be much more opinion-based than previous ones. These are my own homebrew ideas, use them as/if you wish, discard/dismiss them if you prefer.)

Planeswalkers are an integral part of MTG Lore, as well as several of its most iconic characters. Put simply, a Planeswalker is an individual with an inherent gift for traveling between planes, or worlds. The gift does not appear at birth, but is usually triggered by some manner of incredibly emotional (usually traumatizing) event. In addition, each Planeswalker displays a unique aptitude for a particular style of magic; be it plant growth, transformation, becoming transparent, illusions, invulnerability, summoning beasts, structural analysis, setting things on fire, etc. Whatever their specific brand of magic is, it’s usually on a higher level than an ordinary person can hope to achieve.

Planeswalkers, as a general rule, are wanderers by nature. They may have a home plane, or even an adopted home plane, but being able to traverse the multiverse leads many towards lives of constant adventuring/shenanigans. Add in the fact that Planeswalkers cannot bring anyone else with them on these travels (except in very rare cases), and you end up with a special breed of super-powerful magical loner. They show up, make a name for themselves with their big magic, and depart when they feel like it. Did you say, “Instant Adventure”?

Ravnica has a few native Planeswalkers among its citizens; Ral Zarek, Vraska, and Domri Rade. In addition, it has several Planeswalkers who have at some point or another (depending on your timeline) devoted enough time & energy to be effectively considered citizens; Azor, Tezzeret, Kaya, Dack Fayden, Dovin Baan, Gideon Jura, and Jace Beleren. Some of these are currently dead, missing, or magically barred from ever returning. At one point, Ravnica had more Planeswalkers on it at one time than any plane in the multiverse has ever or will ever see. If you are going the War of the Spark direction, good luck. You'll need it and so will your players. For everyone else, which Planeswalkers you choose to include in your campaign (if any), should be based on who will work the best for the story you’re trying to tell. A recommendation; if you find their lore too distracting and complicated, stick to the main beats. A lot of these figures can be boiled down to simple ideas, and you don’t want to bore your party with the entire novel of these usually dramatic/tragic lives. Trust me, the base concepts are enough.

With that in mind, here are four Planeswalkers that I, a random person on the internet, believe would work great for a Ravnica campaign. My choices are not based on who has canonically already spent time in Ravnica, or who would be the most powerful/dangerous to suddenly appear in the city. Several Planeswalkers have their own prior commitments on other planes that are pretty central to their character, and BAMFing them to Ravnica for a quick Bad Guy to take down wouldn’t do them justice. These four characters would slide into various aspects of Ravnica beautifully. These four would be the most exciting visitors to Ravnica.

Ashiok, Dream Render

I don’t think any MTG character could be as good a fit for a Ravnican Guild as Ashiok is for House Dimir. Ashiok is almost literally a walking shadow of secrets and intrigue. Their origins, their age, their motives, their face; hell, their gender is a secret yet unrevealed. Ashiok’s power is creating living beings born of the greatest fears stolen from people’s nightmares. Literally.

It’s like if the Dimir stopped half-assing the art of stealing thoughts and turned it into a weapon of mass destruction. Because even the mightiest of Ravnicans are afraid of things. Ask Niv-Mizzet about the Nephilim sometime, see how quickly he changes the subject. What’s better, for a Guild that prides itself on always having the up & up on everyone, Ashiok is inscrutable. They have no past that can be divined, no secrets that can be stolen, no previous encounters to prepare any for their arrival. Neither Lazav nor Etrata can claim such anonymity, despite their best efforts. Ashiok is a true enigma and a dangerous new weapon for House Dimir.

Ashiok also comes with the ability to create minions and NPCs from out of any PC’s worst nightmares, making encounters a great combination of roleplaying & combat. Fighting them is specifically facing one’s deepest & darkest fears made real. Can you say, “character development”?

Ashiok’s arrival could spread this new magical art to other Dimir Agents for a longer campaign, but it might be best to confine it to Ashiok in order to allow for a cleaner victory. Ashiok is not a fighter, cornering them into a direct confrontation should be enough to make the Nightmare Sculptor run for the hills. The mind is powerful, but also very squishy.

Tibalt, the Fiend-Blooded

You know how the Cult of Rakdos are technically Chaotic Evil but generally just a bunch of artsy hedonistic nuisances? Tibalt is to them what a gallon of gasoline would be to a lit stove. Good for fire, bad for everything else. Tibalt is an empath specializing in Pain Magic. Quite literally, he loves hurting people for fun. Drawn to pain like a magnet; physical, emotional, spiritual, psychological, etc, he is sadism personified.

His brief time on Ravnica during War of the Spark was enough to make a strong impression on the Rakdos.

“I like this one’s energy.”

This is because they do not realize how bad Tibalt would be for the Cult. There is a fundamental difference between the Chaotic Evil the Cult practices and the Chaotic Evil Tibalt delights in. The Rakdos have survived 10,000 years by taking in the freaks, the rejects, and the crazies, and giving them a place where they can live out their most depraved hedonistic fantasies. They are the voice of the outsiders bringing all figures of power & authority down a peg. They always punch up, never down. Tibalt is a young man with no home, no friends, no job, and no interests or hobbies beyond inflicting pain in as many people as possible. Tibalt punches everyone. The most important distinction between the two is that the Cult of Rakdos is a culture, a way of life for people to embrace; it might be crazy, but it welcomes & accepts people no matter how insane the world says they are. Tibalt does not care about anyone but himself. Following his example would see the city turned into the largest, bloodiest, and most destructive riot in its history; with Tibalt inciting and sicking every monstrosity he can find onto the city at once. He will burn the Rakdos candle at both ends and leave them to suffer the consequences of his fun. The aftermath being the city in ruins, the Cult wiped from the face of existence, and him moving on to his next project. In short, Tibalt will hurt the Cult of Rakdos as much, if not more, than the rest of Ravnica. Because that’s how he gets his kicks.

The one thing standing in his way will be Rakdos himself. As the single largest diva on the entire plane, Rakdos does not tolerate anyone who tries to steal his spotlight. As a 10,000+ year-old Demon Lord, Rakdos is in a league of his own, and Tibalt is just a hotshit little pain mage with a few tricks. It’s not a fight, it’s either an exit or a curtain call for the Planeswalker. If Rakdos is around, Tibalt’s spree will be very short-lived. If, however, Rakdos is doing his usual thing of hibernating for weeks, months, or years at a time, that’s a different story. Tibalt is good for if your campaign wants to bypass politics & intrigue and go straight to killing Cultists & Demons. He’s bad for anyone he comes in contact with.

Garruk Wildspeaker

In case I haven’t made my contempt for Domri Rade clear, I hold Domri Rade in utter contempt. As a character, as a Planeswalker, and most of all as a Gruul, he’s a failure. Scrawny, weak, gullible, and stupid. My chief grievance with Domri is that he fell short in all the areas the Gruul Clans idolize. He couldn’t survive in the wilderness on his own without his Planeswalker abilities, he couldn’t fight for himself except against weaker opponents or with herds of animals as backup, and he acted on orders from someone else who wasn’t Gruul. For a Guild built on independence and survival of the fittest, he failed both completely.

Garruk is the real deal. Gigantic, strong, savage, and cunning. Here is a man who, on a fundamental level, has embraced animal savagery as a way of life. He lives like a predator on the hunt, an alpha of any pack, and a fierce threat to all who intrude upon his territory. On a plane like Ravnica, where civilization has encroached on the untamed wilds almost completely, Garruk would be a gamechanger. Not only could he feasibly fight Borborygmos for leadership of the Gruul, he could win, and he could unite the Gruul under his howl of reclaiming the wilds from so-called “civilization”. Garruk would bring animal strength to the Gruul in ways they’ve only begun to tap into, and he’d do it in their language. Because Garruk understands the Gruul, and they understand him. They have so much in common with each other that it’s hard to think of any Planeswalker who could be welcomed so readily into a Guild. They would become so much more than rock-smashers and anarchists, they would become Ravnica’s reminder that nature will survive when all traces of society have crumbled away.

As if taking on the city itself wasn’t big enough already, Garruk has also taken to hunting other Planeswalkers, and can actually track them across the Multiverse. Meaning a few high-ranking members of Guilds and even the Living Guildpact have to take his threat seriously. He’s got a particular grudge against necromancers, dislikes talking, and has a special gift with animals of all varieties. All of which provides plenty of ideas to build from. He’s an 8ft tall Human Druid/Barbarian who willingly chooses animal savagery over intellectual reasoning, can there be anyone more perfect for the Gruul?

Did I say Ashiok was the most perfect fit for an MTG character in a Ravnican Guild? Yeah, scratch that. Garruk is.

Sarkhan Vol

Most Planeswalkers have a theme to their abilities. For some, that theme extends to their personalities as well. And then there are Planeswalkers who can be adequately summed up in a single word. For Sarkhan, that word would be “dragons”. Sarkhan sees dragons as nature’s purest & most destructive form, and carries a fascination with them that is perfectly healthy for anything with wings and scales that breathes fire, but generally less healthy for everything & everyone else.

One of the things that makes Ravnica unique is the distinct lack of dragons (emphasis on the plural). Ravnica has a dragon, Niv-Mizzet the Firemind, who made the executive decision thousands of years ago that he alone was sufficient to represent his entire species. Ravnican dragons are considered more intelligent than dragons on other planes, Niv himself being a prime example of this. Around the original signing of the Guildpact, Ravnica’s Godlike dragons were hunted to extinction, with Niv leading the hunt against his own kind. They were not entirely successful in this endeavor, but what few dragons do remain in the present day survive by staying as far off Niv’s radar as possible. Some dragons live by carrying out Niv’s will under constant supervision, or by hunting in the untamed wilds outside the city, or as sideshow attractions for the Rakdos (usually with their wings cut off to prevent escape). They are effectively stripped of anything that would identify them as “dragons” for the sake of their own existence. Since dragons are such a notoriously touchy subject for the Firemind, few have the nerve or fire immunity necessary to speak out against it.

Sarkhan would be horrified. If he thought the extinction of dragons on his home plane of Tarkir was bad, seeing them living like this would infuriate him beyond words. What would Sarkhan do once the initial shock of seeing his spirit animal (in more ways than one) reduced to pitiful scraps of life as lab rats, scared prey, and freak shows wears off? Let’s make it a game! Do you think Sarkhan will:

A. Cry.

B. Throw up.

C. Embrace this as a plane’s reality that he has no right to get involved with.

D. Scream.

E. Set something on fire.

F. Set everything on fire.

G. Bring back the dragons.

H. Burn the city to the ground with dragons.

I. Kill Niv-Mizzet.

J. All the above except “C”.

If you selected Answer “J”, then congratulations! You’ve just won a free trip to a BURNING METROPOLIS! Sarkhan will absolutely make it his life’s goal to bring dragons back to Ravnica and destroy the whole wretched city down to the last brick. How he would do it is up to you, but it’s a solid bet that even if every other Guild treats him like an apocalyptic madman, the Gruul might side with him over some shared beliefs in smashing the city apart with ferocious animal savagery. They tend to lean towards such ideas with uncharacteristic willful compliance. Ravnican dragons are primarily red, with the most prominent breed still remaining being the Utvara Hellkites beyond the city limits.

Oh, and Sarkhan can turn into a dragon, too. Have fun with that.

[gregorygrim]

Dragon Prince Hot Takes

!!! Full Spoiler For “The Dragon Prince” Seasons 1-3!!!

So I finally got around to watching The Dragon Prince. Timely, I know, but better late than never i guess. I’m not completely caught up yet as I only got as far as S3E7 “Hearts of Cinder” in this first sitting. Considering I haven’t binged any series in almost two years, I think that’s pretty respectable. This means I won’t discuss the last few episodes here, except for a couple of things I was unfortunately spoiled for already, hence full spoilers.

These are basically my first thoughts and opinions after the binge and a good night’s sleep. It’s gonna be a lot so if you don’t care or don’t want spoilers…

TL;DR: 7½/10. Generally enjoyable, there are some aspects I’m not exactly fan of, but no dealbreakers

Firstly to everyone who told me that this was the new ATLA: you all need to rewatch Avatar stat! Like seriously. There are definitely parallels and given the cast and crew I think that’s what they were going for too (which is why I think it’s fair to compare the two), but still, no.

Secondly I love most of the worldbuilding and love that the series at least tries to give it to us in a bit of a non-linear fashion, even if it is kind of clumsy at times. I know some people are put off by expository dialogue and flashbacks, but I’m an epic fantasy nerd, I need that sweet, sweet lore to live as much as you mortals need food.

I like that there was clearly an effort made to integrate the worldbuilding in more subtle ways. For example you may initially find it kind of weird that all these different human ethnicities are existing perfectly integrated in what looks like a medieval society, until you remember from the opening monologue that the Human Kingdoms are the result of a massive diaspora following the human exodus from Xadia, so obviously people got all mixed up everywhere. It’s representation with an excellent in-world reason and that just brings me joy.

I also love the magic system(s) even though we haven’t really gone into that just yet. it really feels like there was a genuine effort made to create underlying mechanics for the magic rather than just making each spell a vaguely elemental themed ability. I really hope we’ll dive deeper into that in coming seasons.

I also like the little nods to other works of fantasy: Ezran’s ability to talk with animals is a reference to Tolkien’s world where some royal bloodlines had the ability to speak with animals, specifically birds; Primal Magic and its spells being cast with Ancient Draconic runes and words might be reminiscent of the Ancient Language from the Inheritance Cycle etc.

Thirdly the main cast is great. Callum, Ezran and Rayla are all interesting and relatable characters in their own right and as a group. I’m not going into each of them individually here, but while I think the series as a whole falls short of ATLA, as protagonist parties go I dare say this one is nearly on nearly on par with the gAang.¹

And yes, I love Bait, which I really did not expect following the first few episodes. I love his weird pug-toad-chameleon design, I love that he works like a flashbang whenever somebody says a quote from Scarface (I wish they hadn’t dropped that later on) and I love how done he is with everything and everyone at all times. I’ve only had him for 25 episodes, but if anything happened to him I would kill all of my followers and then myself.

On top of that, and speaking as someone who god knows is really not into shipping, I love Rayla and Callum’s relationship. It’s believable, it’s refreshing and it brings out the best in both characters without changing basically anything about them. Just two good friends who fell in love. A++, maybe even S tier.

Unfortunately though I can’t sing the same kind of praises about the villains. None of them are terrible (as in terribly written, most of them are pretty awful people), but with one exception they just don’t stand up to the protagonists in quality.

I could simply not take Viren seriously. Even now that is probably the single most powerful magic user in the world, he just has such strong Karen energy, every time he finishes a speech I am overcome with the urge to say “Sir, this is a Wendy’s” and it does not help the mood. I’m not even sure why. It might’ve been the voice because the guy who did Viren (Jason Simpson) also does a lot of kinda slimy characters in various anime dubs, it might be that over-the-top walking stick, idk.

What I’m saying is that as a primary antagonist he simply did not work for me. Which is doubly a shame because this kind of tarnishes the real “Big Bad” of this story by proxy. Aaravos, even as an invisible ghost, with his voice coming out of a caterpillar and next to no info on his backstory, has more style and gravity than all the human antagonists combined. It helps that he is by far the best designed character and Erik Dellums has the voice of a young god, but I’d argue even without that unfair advantage he has the potential to be a top tier villain. While he is stuck as Viren’s “little bug-pal” though he is just being dragged down.

(I’m aware that as of the final episode the caterpillar familiar is undergoing metamorphosis, probably to create a new body for Aaravos’ spirit to inhabit outside of the magic mirror, so I’m definitely hyped for more of him in the coming seasons.)

As for Soren and Claudia, I’ve got mixed feelings. This was one more aspect of the show that a lot of people compared to Avatar and while I see the parallels to Zuko & Azula, they are still very different, at least where Claudia is concerned. I’d also just like to mention that a lot of people told me that they thought the direction in which their storylines went were really surprising and I can’t disagree more. I predicted that Soren would defect to the protagonists on episode 5 right after Viren told him to kill the princes and I knew Claudia was going to stick with her father from episode 12 onward. My point is, it didn’t feel like some kind of plot twist, the way some people made it out to be, and which I don’t think was the intent.

I definitely got the sense that Soren was at least a Zuko-type character, though still not a Zuko clone, and as with Zuko I was consistently able to empathise and sympathise with him and his predicaments. I also appreciated that his dilemma is the result of his convictions and not him being kind of dense, which would’ve been all to easy and probably would’ve ruined his character for me. As it stands he is extremely milktoast, but perfectly functional for his purpose in the story and I can definitely see him evolving further and getting more interesting as we go on.

Claudia is where it gets complicated. Again, I can see the Azula parallels. But unlike that character, who is her father’s animal 110%, Claudia doesn’t strike me as a victim of Viren’s manipulation the way Soren undoubtably is. The way she talks about and uses Dark Magic, how she talks down to Soren and how even Viren finds it difficult to communicate with her, tells me as an audience member that she is an independent person. Which tells me that the cruelty and enthusiasm for causing harm she regularly displays is her own will. And that was before she straight up leads Callum on to manipulate him.

On the other hand I can absolutely relate to her devotion to her family, her big sister role (even though she is younger than Soren) and the way both the separation of her parents before the story and Soren’s injury in episode 16 must’ve affected her because of this. I know that, if my brother had become paralysed from the neck down and I knew a way to heal him, I would not have hesitated to kill that fawn either. Then again her relationship with her father is very different from parental relationships I am familiar with, so I can’t really say I see why she is so devoted to him, other than she promised her mother to stay with him years ago? ¯\(o_Ō)/¯

So basically Claudia falls into an emotional grey space for me. I can’t really tell how to feel about her either way and I’ll just have to see where she goes from here, which, while fine, isn’t necessarily great for an end of season cliffhanger imo.

Seeing as I’ve already talked about some of the show’s shortcomings, I think it’s time to dive into some of the what I would consider flaws.

Firstly this show needed at least 12 episode seasons. I have never made a secret out of my dislike for the modern short seasons and while I recognise that in the current climate in the industry giving everything full 25 episode seasons isn’t really doable, the pacing of this show, especially for the first season is just outright bad at times. It works as of the second season, but the first season alternately feels like it’s either rushing through or crawling along the whole way through.

The believability of Rayla’s and the princes’ relationship really suffers from this the most. It comes a bit out of nowhere on the boat ride and is then taken for granted way to quickly. Like Callum, seriously, this girl tried to kill you and your brother not even a day ago and you are currently cut off from all allies you have ever had until now. A little skepticism isn’t misplaced here. I also wold’ve liked if we’d just gotten a bit more of a sense of movement with the characters. I get that this is not the kind of show where we can just make an entire episode about the characters travelling and camping, intercut with plots centred around a more expansive supporting cast, but still I really would’ve preferred if Xadia didn’t feel quite so around the corner.

Another issue is with setup and payoff, which I think is partially a consequence of the pacing as well. A lot of smaller plot points are set up within the same episode as the payoff just wreak havoc on the narrative structure. A good example is the episode where they ride down the river in a boat and Bait tires to go into the water, but is saved by Ezran, who then explains the story behind Glowtoads and how they are pefect bait for large water predators. Then Bait falls into the water and is attacked by a massive water monster. This happens within five minutes of one episode and never comes up again. To me that looks like sign of rushed editing, which is probably not entirely the crew’s fault, given that they are on a schedule from Netflix, but it’s still a point of critique.

It unfortunately also manifests in the occasional line of horribly forced dialogue, often for things we can literally see happening on screen. Again, this is mostly the case in the earlier episodes, but it never completely goes away.

Finally, and this is where i get into serious issues that made me want to write this, we gotta talk about representation in this show.

First: disabled representation, meaning Amaya. Why is Amaya deaf? Because it’s good to have disabled representation.

Why is Amaya deaf and a high-ranking military officer? Because they didn’t think it through.

I know this may be a contentious opinion, but it is my belief that the purpose of representation, particularly of disabilities characters may suffer from, in fiction is to, y’know, represent people as they are in life. That includes especially the struggles they face and have to overcome, sometimes their whole life. This is not just me talking out of my ass either. A couple years ago I discussed this with several people that are disabled, specifically blind or otherwise severely visually impaired, in a different context obviously, and the general consensus was that it’s better to have representation that shows their life and their abilities as they are, rather than how they might wish they could be.

A mute or deaf person cannot be a medieval fantasy army general, no matter how good they might be in melee combat or who’s sister they are, because at the end of the day, they’re not able to give commands while they are holding a sword and shield. That such a massive logical oversight, especially in comparison to the extremely well done example of representation I mentioned above, and has so little impact on the plot that it leads me to believe, this aspect of Amaya’s character was tacked on in the last minute without being given any thought for the sole reason of the story having a disabled person in it. All this does is necessitate the existence of two otherwise entirely unnecessary characters, Gren and Kazi, both of which achieve nothing, aside from sometimes being literal set dressing.

That is where representation ends and tokenism begins.

And unfortunately this generally lacklustre attitude also extends to the LGBT+ representation on the show.

As of S3E7 “Hearts of Cinder” we have had two onscreen gay couples on the show (onscreen in the sense that both partners were onscreen and they were somehow confirmed to be in a relationship on the show). One of these, the queens of Duren, literally die in the same flashback they are introduced in, which incidentally also features them invading a foreign nation to poach a rare animal and subsequently starting the conflict at the series’ core. Not a great look.

Aside from serving as a tragic backstory for their daughter, the most impact they had on my viewing experience was that they made wonder how the fuck royal succession works in Duren. (People who know me are rolling their eyes right now because I’m bringing anarchism into this Dragon Prince review, but I’m telling you, this why fantasy monarchies aren’t compatible with LGBT+ politics in the same setting. Dynastic governments are inherently bigoted, you can’t have it both ways.)

The other couple are Runaan and Ethari, Rayla’s caretakers, although if I’m being honest you wouldn’t be able tell based on Runaan’s treatment of Rayla in the first episode. By the time we actually meet Ethari and find out about their relationship with Rayla, Runaan is suffering “a fate worse than death” (direct quote from the show) trapped in a gold coin.

I mean come on. That’s about as “technically not ‘bury your gays’” as it gets.

I think I need to reiterate here that my point is not that this show or its creators are somehow malicious. As i stated in the TL;DR: I don’t think this is a dealbreaker for liking this show. But it does demonstrate that they are prone to slipping to some potentially harmful tropes and this needs to be criticised and pointed out to them.

In conclusion, I really love this show. It’s not ATLA, it never will be, nothing else will ever be ATLA no matter how badly (and terribly) Netflix tries. But it does and should not have to be.

What it has to do though is improve. A lot of the building blocks are already there, such as Aaravos or Claudia’s development, Callum’s father, the origin of Ezran’s ability, the purpose of the “Key of Aaravos”, the true fate of King Harrow (we all know his soul is in the bird, right?) etc. Some things like the treatment of Amaya’s disability unfortunately won’t be fixable as far as I can tell, but if they at least manage to fix the gay representation I can make my peace with that.

¹ I know I said I wouldn’t go into each of the characters individually, but a) you should never trust a stranger on the internet and b) I really want to talk a bit about Callum. Specifically the “mystery” of why the hell he is connected to the Sky Primal. I write “mystery” because I think it’s fairly obvious from whence this talent came: there is only one humanoid species we know of with innate access to the Sky Arcanum and one of Callum’s parent’s is unidentified, presumed dead. 2+2=4. Callum’s father was a Skywing Elf. That’s why he recognised Nyx’s boomerang weapon. He remembered one like it either from his very early childhood (remember that he has photographic memory) or Sarai kept one and he found it at some point.

On top of that the name “Callum” or at least the pronunciation is clearly derived from Latin “caelum” meaning “sky” or “weather” and I already mentioned that Ancient Draconic is just bad Latin. It’s not very subtle. Unless they pull a complete 180 concerning the lore about Primal Magic he’s definitely going to be a half-elf, which would also just so happen to make him the perfect mediator between the Human Kingdoms and Xadia. Hmm, it’s almost as if they are planning ahead.

My question: How the fuck did that happen? Or rather: how did that fuck happen? I don’t think even Harrow knew or he probably would’ve a) paid more attention when Sarai advised against poaching the Magma Titan, because obviously she’s gotten around Xadia more than him, if y’know what i’m sayin’ ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) or at least b) put it in his final letter to Callum. Unfortunately we know basically nothing about Sarai except that she was a soldier alongside Amaya and already had Callum before marrying Harrow. So does Amaya know? This is probably the most interesting plot thread in the whole story and as far as my friends told me it’s not going to be touched on anymore in the last two episodes than it already has thus far, which is basically not at all.

[greylunar]

I have a house lore question. Would you agree that Gryffindors and Ravenclaws tend to be more ideologically motivated and that Slytherins and Hufflepuffs tend to be more... personally motivated? Not sure I am phrasing this right but basically: Gryffindor/Ravenclaw: This is my cause, I believe in it. Slytherin/Hufflepuff: This is my person, I believe on them. Just as a general rule, not true in every case. (1/2)

Also, Gryffindors and Slytherins are more devoted to their cause/person whereas Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws are more likely to be able to be able to reevaluate their standing with the person or cause if they feel they are no longer totally aligned with it/them. Again, just as a rule of thumb. (2/2)

I wrote an insanely long answer to this so more under the break, warning there’s a LOT of like, psychoanalysis down here and a lot of its very personal and about core aspects so like please proceed with caution and PLEASE ask me to tag if I forget something

Super weird note to start this off with but did you have an icon of a dog like two days ago because if that was you it looked like my dog and made me really happy (I love the aesthetic of this one too, A+ design)

Anyways! I do have A Lot of thoughts on this topic in particular, and I’m glad you asked because I know that my interpretation of the houses verges more into “Casper has a specific idea of the sort of personality spectrums he would align into these broad JK-based categories” than “canon” haha c: My “rule of thumb” for causes/ideologies is this:

Hufflepuff: “This is my belief.” This is what is good, what is right, what I know I should fight for and stand up for when the time comes. I will stand by this belief, because a part of me wholly excepts it as fact and uncompromising. I may, however, not always be able to stand up for this belief, as there are situations where I have to evaluate what will be the safest for me and the people I love. But you will have a Hard Time changing a hufflepuff’s mind on something they believe unless you can prove to them that its hurting people and somehow in the wrong. In that case, a new belief is formed to account for this information. Now, here’s where people (in I guess my version of house lore) tend to misjudge hufflepuffs. If one of their People repeatedly acts against their fundamental beliefs, they will either A) fail to remain one of that hufflepuff’s People and get dropped from that sort of list or B) just,,, badger them with facts/reasoning/their opinion until either the hufflepuff changes their mind or they change the Hufflepuff. (Side note, but on how Puffs handle ending relationships of any kind with folks: Hufflepuffs tend to,,, ‘ghost’ toxic people because of their uncompromisable nature on these very core beliefs. A hufflepuff will often give someone a thousand and one second chances until they realize that person either refuses to or is completely unable to accommodate one of their core definitions of good/justice/kindness/personhood and then usually hufflepuffs just kinda bounce. They often struggle with conflict in an overarching sense and, to put it in a Puff’s terms for avoiding a person they couldn’t handle being around anymore “Damn, wish I could just like, disappear into the woods in Oregon somewhere and get a dog and not have to think about this and my friend Tim could make a true crime podcast about having known me.” This is normally a MOMENTOUSLY hard decision for a Puff (i mean yall get it its the house of loyalty) but its very key that Hufflepuffs don’t align themselves with people, they align themselves with beliefs or personal truths. When push comes to shove, the loyalty a Puff has is often to the concept of goodness and kindness and the Concept of People rather than clinging to a specific individual if they directly oppose those beliefs)

Slytherins: “This is my person/these are my people.” Slytherins are a house of change, and their belief systems are mostly fluid (often based on social rules, for example, “I know people don’t like it or get hurt when these types of things are said, so I will now no longer say things like this from now on” OR alternatively “I am Very Aware that acting like this makes people vaguely unnerved, and I Am Choosing To Act Like This Continuously because I am using it to separate myself from others/people deserve it/god wouldn’t that be hilarious”). Slytherins don’t have a lot of ‘fundamental beliefs’ in a way that at least they would refer to as fundamental beliefs, our lovely snake friends often struggle with knowing themselves and defining themselves rigidly enough to label them like that. In a,,, slightly depressing note some common ones are “I have to earn my worth” and “other people deserve more than me.” Hey Slytherins, I don’t remember where I heard this, but worth is a capitalist concept fed to you by corporations and you are inherently human and therefore loved and important and deserve the world. That all said, what Slytherins do not waiver from their people. Slytherin friends will text you three years after you last talked because you posted something vaguely sad on Instagram and they wanna make sure you’re good. Slytherin partners and friends will love you with all of them, the whole of their being. If someone is mean to me, my Slytherin friends will end them, and I have to be like “bro I’m not even mad, you’re being mad for me.” Slytherins don’t ghost their People, they will drag your ass through the mud until you are healthy or By God They Will Fist Fight Your Mental Illness Themselves. In this way, Slytherins are a lot like Hufflepuffs. The problem lies in when Slytherins find they don’t have any more belief or energy left in their stores to drag themselves up too. Perhaps now is the time to realize you should be one of the People you will fight for too.

Gryffindors: “This is my cause/this is a fact” I’m not going to touch too much on the “here is my ten-step plan to save the world, step one is I Do It” Gryffindors, because I think we’re all familiar with that concept of them. Again, Gryffindors will join the Peace Corps, hufflepuffs will give the person who needs cash twenty dollars if they see them, its a scope thing. What I want to dive into with Gryffindors is the Stubborn Bastard Energy that we know and love them for (I do legitimately mean that as a compliment). Gryffindors RARELY and I’m talking Borderline Never bend or leave behind a fundamental belief once they’ve established it. Gryffs often assume that these beliefs are inherent, they would not be themselves if they were not Certain about this, and therefore that certainty is essential to who they are. Therefore Gryffs deal in personal truths, or things they have decided are facts, pillars that do not change. You will want to punch your Gryffindor best friend sometimes because they put something in their head when they were six because of what someone on the playground said and now they live by that and sometimes physically struggle with processing contradictory information. This can be great, if a Gryff internalizes something like “I should do no harm” or “I will Fight A Bully” but has more frustrating consequences when its something like “If someone does something bad they are irredeemable, and I should never again respect them.” For Gryffs, sometimes the best thing to ask yourself is “wait, Why do I think that, and are there any cases that are exceptions to these rules.” But fundamentally, Gryffs often are the ones to save the world because they already believe it is a fact that they will, and that they should.

Ravenclaws: “This is complicated/This should be seen from all sides” and THEN “I’m about to end this mans whole career over this” Ravenclaws are such a fun house for this question. Ravenclaws often have a sort of information gathering stage before they even consider the idea of having an opinion in their head. Ravenclaws want to make sure they know everything they can about a cause/an issue/a person before they make that Final Call of verbalizing or standing by something, because a very serious fundamental fear for Ravenclaws is being embarrassed. I don’t mean to minimize that or invalidate it in anyway, a lot of Ravenclaws would rather be dropped in a pit of [insert distasteful creature here} than have the shame in their minds of being caught on the wrong side of an argument, without all the facts, or unprepared for a thorough discussion. Ravenclaws in this information gathering stage will often say things like “I’m not sure to be honest, I haven’t looked into it that much” or even “I don’t really like to have opinions on matters like that because I don’t think I could ever know enough to represent what I should correctly.” THAT SAID. That’s phase one. But y’all if a Ravenclaw Decides, even without acknowledging they have, a Raven Decides. From anything from “this 18th century poet was a lesbian and you simply will not convince me I’m wrong, here is a list of reasons why I’m right” to “So Determinism exists, and I fundamentally believe that, I am fascinated on what you think about Free Will though,” Ravenclaws are the probably the most complex on this subject inherently because of how much they want to make sure they know the truth. Ravenclaws will re-evaluate their beliefs, but if the information you’re bringing to the table isn’t valid enough to hold up against their previous evidence, there’s not a whole lot you’ll be able to do about it. Ravens will struggle if asked to take a stance before this phase though, so friends, please remember that no one is ever going to remember if you raised your hand and said something a little less intelligent in high school English than you would have liked other than you. It is more than okay for you to forget that too.