#but also she's as death themed as she is she's not a necromancer she's a psychopomp

[ahollowgrave]

Odette Hollows - Cavalier Primary of the Ninth House.

A friend and I have been building a Locked Tomb AU and I just wanted to see her.

[tanoraqui]

key elements of Crownless (the Young Aragorn show that lives in my head and heart) season 1:

(Note that I will play a little fast and loose with timelines and for the sake of a better story. And/or take ruthless advantage of canonical slow Dúnedain aging to spread the timeline out over several decades)

First episode(s) is Aragorn (age 21, functionally late teens) leaving Rivendell to start wandering the wilds with the Rangers. I would do Elrond & his people dirty and say that Aragorn has been kinda sheltered growing up, a little because Elves tend to baby Men, especially young Men, and mostly because everyone wanted to be sure Isildur’s heir was safe as darkness grew in the world, especially after his father was killed when he was 2.

So Aragorn starts with significant book smarts, homely peace smarts—historical knowledge, animal friendship, herblore, diplomacy skills, technical sword/knife/bow skills…but he doesn’t know the dirty fighting tricks that win a fight. His tracking, hunting, forest stealth, etc. skills…suck at first. He’s prone to freeze in urgent healing (or combat) situations, because he’s never done this on his own before—though he has a natural talent for the ‘calling people back from death’ thing we see in LotR.

(This gives Aragorn obvious skills to pick up that demonstrate his character growth as a leader, while also establishing from the start that his real talent in kingship is, always was, diplomacy, strength of character & connection with his people, literal and metaphorical healing. Also, weirdass plans, often based on things he read, with success resting on luck/prayer/hope more than any reasonable thing…including a willingness to trust strange new and/or sketchy people…and they work.)

Maybe eps 1-2 is a double-length episode: opens with newly widowed Gilraen arriving in distress with a toddler 18 years ago, then first half is mostly restless late teen!Estel in Rivendell, ending with Elrond revealing his true name, broken sword, time to go forth… Smash cut to Aragorn tripping in the forest and falling in a stream while 2 other baby Rangers laugh at him and whoever’s stuck training these new recruits sighs heavily. There’s a lot of “this is the new Chieftain of the Dúnedain, Isildur’s heir?”

Format: 22ep 44min monster of the week (like GOD INTENDED) focused on the newest young Rangers: Aragorn, Halbarad, Dúnawen (OC: “maiden of the west”, don’t @ me for naming), as they range throughout Eriador learning how to be badasses guarding the boundaries of civilization. Monsters include orcs, wargs, mortal bandits, trolls, giant spiders, a small ice wyvern that made its way to northern Dale, barrow-wrights, unhoused fëa, rival clans of Men or maybe Dwarves who are about to go to blood feud war…

…and a slowly mounting season plot of the trouble of 3 Nazgúl reoccupying Dol Goldur, after the White Council forced the “Necromancer” out 15ish years ago. (Riling up ghosts throughout the countryside? Something something themes of moving on from the past. Also, can’t go wrong with an episode in which heroes must confront their literal personal ghosts.)

Repeat cameos from Elrohir & Elladan, cousins of all Mannish Dúnedain (and kind of older brothers to Aragorn in particular.) Are they helping him? Are they harder on him than on the other new recruits? Are they good cop/bad cop-ing it?

Arwen! Meet briefly ep1 and/or she’s a key feature of midseason finale; return in season finale to be badass. “Tinúviel! Tinúviel!” scene in Lothlórien casts a hiccup in a fledgling romance between Aragorn and Dúnawen

All combinations of Aragorn/Halbarad/Dunawen ARE welcome, nay, encouraged. They’re functionally in college and they’re all hot, and constantly in near-death situations. I advise the writers to have fun. Bisexuality is free.

Gandalf introduction early, ep2? Probably also in finale (something of a large team-up).

Late season bottle episode, maybe just before a 2-parter finale, in which due to a thunderstorm/mudslide/cave-in incident, Aragorn, Halbarad and Dunawen are trapped in a cave/small series of caves with a random assortment of other travelers on the road west of Bree: a pair of Dwarvish merchants, a few men, 1 elf (journeying to the Havens to Sail?), and 1 hobbit, Mr. Drogo Baggins of Hobbiton, who was making a perilous journey to Bree and back in order to fetch his beloved, very pregnant wife a particular kind of cheese she was craving. No loss of air threat, but they’re stuck. Obviously getting Drogo home is of utmost importance (and everyone else needs to get home safe, too). Tempers run high! Only once the Junior Rangers sort out their late-season interpersonal drama can Aragorn rise to the occasion and organize/mediate this microcosm of Middle Earth’s populace to dig their way out of this cave.

Aragorn is exceptionally good at facing down Nazgúl and their weaponized despair because he has—indeed, he is, by name!—hope. This show is about hope first and teamwork second, and looking badass in a beautiful landscape while Howard Shore music swells third.

[s2 in notes]

[shallowseeker]

Optimism freeform meta

Jack, Harper, and the folly of pursuing of immature, illusory Perfection as the antidote to life's many disappointments.

///

Okay, here it comes. It's our rambling, group Optimism meta from discord that I promised once upon a time I'd post here. Apologies ahead of time if I get your Tumblr names wrong.

Harper's flat is decorated in ooey-gooey symbols of love.

Green for growth (though Harper's growth pattern is certainly arrested), and red for passion. We have the green-Italian amore in the symbolic kitchen of life, and a bright red heart near the entrance.

BEWARE: You're entering Harper's heart. It's black and bloody.

We also see that her home is full to the brim with books and stories. She clings to them, hoping they'll bring her life meaning. The blood-red-pink-purple color theme continues in the form of her array of romance novels.

Harper herself is clothed in red, in a Sayles-coded corduroy, perhaps a mate to the hunter's anorak jacket. Her little scarf is certainly Scooby-Doo-Daphne-esque, but it's also a RED BANDANA calling to mind that she's an OUTLAW, like Dave Matthews in the Tombstone episode.

///

But her bedroom is more serene, stuffed with zen colors, serene green, and a bedful of childish stuff animals. It's dominated by strong protector-types like lions and elephants.

via @honeyedwhiskey: okay so I got intrigued by the fact that she has these particular stuffed animals. the lion, symbolizing stalking her prey, elephants for their memory and their brutality (maybe a nod to wanting community) and the tiger for her actual isolation. the puppy seems to be an older addition, maybe from childhood, and the smallest and most vulnerable one is being protected by the dog which seems to be a bear cub? reference to maybe a mama bear that protected her? the three at the top are what interest me the most though because harper is represented by the heart and the color red so the mouse is her, and the two pigs seem to be her parents, with one being a combination of colors and patchwork looking. so it seems to me that one of her parents was zombie-fied, maybe from a young age.

I like the symbolic nature Whiskey acribed to the stuffed animals above a lot!

I too think her reaction to abandonment and Vance speaks to something really fucked up in her necromancy family, like maybe a necromancy-coming-of-age-trial that went REALLY REALLY badly and wound up with her being totally alone.

Maybe it's like how Sam jokingly told Charlie: "You're not really a hunter till you've come back form the dead." Or like Cas told Jack of his own death, "It's something of a rite of passage around here."

Maybe you're not really a necromancer until you've killed and brought your family back and ofc Harper failing that test would fuck her up forever.

//

I noticed the teddy bear, too! There's a tee-tiny nod to the teddy-bear lovers' symbol above her bed, same as Marvelous Marvin has a red heart on his chest in season 15's Gimme Shelter. (And Dean's I Wuv Hugs from a million years ago.)

[The stuffed bear is] a simultaneous motif...of sexual intimacy and The Lover, it's also representative of The Beloved Child resulting from their contact.

(Jack is Marvin.)

///

Here's love in the corner, illuminated by two lamps. Harper is getting Jack a book, a book about her little beloved hometown, McCook.

Deep down, Harper is lonely, and unlike her disdain for her other suitors, she's a little different with Jack here: she wants to be understood.

She wants him to understand her and her hometown. Just a little. She's prodding at the niggling, unusual, UNFAMILIAR feeling. So, she sits down and invites him to sit, to learn more about her.

By this point, it's possible she's figured out he's a hunter, which opens up the possibility of revealing her true self, for better or for worse. It's an intoxicating thought for Harper.

Jack hesitates, clearly interested but also a little bit "!!!!"

He's framed by the heart on the wall. Indeed Jack, like Dean and Mary, is a "heart" character. He's even clothed in one of Mary's key colors: dusky orangey pink. (Aside// You'll notice Connor also wears this color in Gimme Shelter.)

///

Unlike in Tombstone, where Jack wasn't (via script) all that interested in Athena and Dave's relationship, now Jack's clearly grown. He's even interested in physicality.

Even though his emotional core can be kinda prickly, like Dean and Mary, he's at root a very affectionate character, interested in experience affection/connection with others:

So, he sits. Perseveres through he awkwardness. And lo and behold, Harper is as weird as he is.

They talk about having a positive outlook, even though they've had and terrible pasts, have done terrible things. And hey, look--she's getting the lamp treatment! How lovely.

They sit on the blue couch, as Harper tells him more about her past, subconsciously seeking his acceptance. The blue of the couch mirrors the blue color of her past, of her prom dress. We see her little prom queen crown, and we wonder...Harper is so awkward...

...does she really seem like the Prom Queen type?

I suspect it was fake. That she manufactured her own popularity with bit of magic. To meet the perfectionistic obsession with her romance tales. She is at core a fearful character, fearful of messing up, or being imperfect, of not living up to The Dream (TM).

///

Jack makes a quick getaway. In this shot, he's effectively the trope of the divine masculine, fleeing from love, "amore."

It's interesting that the kitchen, a bit like the bedroom, is earthier in tone, filled with more "valley" colors: of browns, greens. The kitchen is about the imperfect strivings of every day life, divorced from the high-dollar reds of Harper's romance-novel decor.

In the bathroom, Jack is clearly interested in exploring "love."

To Dean, he says, "Just in case (she is in love with me)...tell me everything you know about sex. Go!"

Jack is a curious-and-courageous character, too. He's prone to experimentation, which is also why he so often gets the drug ("I like cocaine!" and The Who) motifs. Like Cas, he's maybe a little scared, but he's going to go-for-it no matter how silly and awkward he might look.

That courage is probably something Harper senses in him. It's attractive to her, like the symbolic stuffed-animal lion-and-tiger protectors she has in her bedroom. She wonders:

"Is he strong enough to love the real me?"

In THIS sense, the thing with Vance isn't completely "a naughty nurse game." Deep down, at her root psychological base, Harper is testing the potential lovers' strength. Very classically mythical, really. And she's disgusted by her suitors because they keep failing and failing.

No one is like Vance. Not even Vance is like Vance. Her idea of Vance was never real, and she was never prom queen. But admitting that to herself is so painful, she constructs this horrible pattern of death and destruction.

///

"Her apartment has a lot of wallpaper/furniture from the 50’s! Or with that general aesthetic!" -Cal (@13-01)

It's so interesting, because this 50s retro theme is something that Jack, Dean, and Cas carry a lot, especially in terms of their "old-school" button-up pajamas and dressing downs. (Cas himself, with his overcoat, could be plopped in the middle of Mad Men tv series and fit into the surroundings, haha. And although we rarely see Sam carry the motif, but he dips into it in Peace of Mind as well.)

At the end of this episode, we'll see Harper seated in her own retro cafe with the same 50s vibe as well, a Charming Acres-sort of feeling. To me this symbolizes a backwards-looking illusion of perfection, that everything used to be simpler and better, and with enough effort, it can be simpler and better again.

Also there are dragonflies in her bathroom, a bit of a parallel to the lonesome fly plot that Sam and Charlie are on (in this same episode).

This too is the backwards-looking motif, of holding onto the illusory idea of Happiness (TM) so tightly that it becomes tragic and destructive.

///

Since even her idea of Vance isn't real, it's become like Amara's illusory idea of love. It can never let her down. "It can never hurt her."

[first-edition]

Fox and the Hound

Sum-Joffrey wants to send a message to your family after your brother embarrasses him, so he marries you off to his most unwanted man in his court, the hound. But will this marriage truly be a statement for an eyesore, or will it grow into something more. 

Cw for chapter- 18+ words and themes overall, cussing, mention of death, mention of sandors death, happy angst, reuniting lovers. Lmk if i forgot anything.

READ PREVIOUS CHAPTER HERE

CHAPTER 24

“Fuck me its cold.” Gendryl huffs as he pulls the blanket closer to his body. 

“Is that all youre going to do this fucking trip?” hound asks, pushing his shoulder almost causing the blacksmith to trip up. 

“Do what?” Gendryl asks, turning a bit to look up at the larger man. 

“Winge. You've been doing it this entire time. It's worse than the thoros singing. Talking about a woman who strapped you down, stripped you naked, some fucking red witch-” 

“She was gonna kill me, could-would have If it was for davos who-”

“But she didn't, hmm. Did she? So what are you whining about?” Sandor cuts him off, tired of his bullshit. 

“I'm not Whining.” Gendryl barks back. 

Sandor chuckles. “Your lips are moving and you're complaining about something…this cunt has been killed six times you don't hear him bitching about it huh?” Sandor says pushing Gendryl to the side and continuing off infront of him. 

“Sandor.” Jon says, turning to him, calling him up. Beric follows, wanting to hear the plan Jon might have. 

“I wanted to congratulate you on your fatherhood.” he says. 

“What?” Sandor asks, confused for a second. 

“Her grace, y/n clegane. She bore you a son. They call him the little prince. I was there. He's healthy. Takes after you.'' John nods. 

“Oh. hmm. I'm planning to deter all other nonsense after this shit to sail to Volantis finally.'' Sandor huffs out fixing the pack around his shoulders. 

John stops walking to look at him. 

“Volantis? There was a plague that swept over it, heathers plague, from the heather plant being tainted. Her grace isn't in volantis, she's in winterfell with sansa. Her parents sent her there because the plague does not touch the cold. She thinks you're dead though.” John explains. 

Sandors breath hitches for a moment before glancing at beric who nods with a smile knowing that the ‘lord of light’ has willed him to be here. 

“Dont smile at me like that you fucking necromancer.” sandor says. 

“You have a son clegane, the little prince, be thankful. When this is all over you can head there to reunite.” beric continues. 

“Why does she think I'm dead?” Sandor asks as they continue the walk. 

“Brienne of Tarth is also within the walls of winterfell when y/n arrived brienne told her, she pushed you and you fell.” John says. 

“The big woman?” Tormound asks, his eyes wide with wonder. 

“Y-yes.. John answers uncomfortably.

“I will make sure you join us when we arrive back there. You've got a son to meet.” Jon says. 

“You've got to stay alive now that is eh? Don't want your pretty missus to keep thinking you're dead now then." Tormund says, putting his hand on sandors shoulder. As fast as it was placed sandor smacks it off him. 

“Fuck off.” he huffs. 

“You're the dog, they told you were mean. Were you born that way or were you hardened?” Tormund asks him, smiling a bit. 

Sandor slowly turns to the other man scowling at him as if he can't understand a word he's saying. 

“What is wrong with you? Genuinely.” Sandor asks, huffing out a puff of air that can be seen because of the frigid temperature. 

“Nothing. You see I don't think you’re actually mean. I’ve seen the princess and the fact that she fell for a brute look of you well..ptff. Youve got sad eyes i think she takes care of you, takes care of you well, enough to put a babe inside her, i think that under all your anger and hate your a soft man, you either love her completely….of she just fucks you so good you cant leav-” tormund is cut short with a punch to face before he lands in the snow.

“I told you to shut the fuck up and i wont do it again. Talk about her like that once more and i’ll snap your ginger fucking neck!” Sandor barks out. 

“OI! Enough of that?! And keep moving!” Jon hollars out as the rest of the group is a bit of a ways ahead. 

—-----

You watch as the supply carts are unloaded, your men and the others pulling out and setting down crate after crate. The whine of a horse before two women in red cloaks ride into the gates. 

“Who's that?” you ask joss as he stands next to you. He shakes his head. They two are helped off their horses before looking around briefly and taking off their hoods. 

“Your grace. The red woman, Lady melisandre and her daughter Yin have arrived.” you turn to face lord baelish. 

“And who are they?” Sansa asks as she walks up behind you. 

“Sorcerers my lady, they are here to help decide the plan against the dead.” baelish answers. Sansa looks unamused as she looks at them. 

They look up to you before heading your way up the stairs onto the balcony platform where you stand. You turn your gaze over to where one of the guards are leading them twords you before they make their final destination. 

“My lady, your grace.” the one with brown hair says as they both curtsy. 

“Who sent it to you?” Sansa asks, frowning. 

“Your brother, the lord snow. I am Melisandre High priestess of the red women, and this is my daughter, Yin '' she speaks again. Introducing herself and your child yet they both look virtually the same age. 

“Why are you here?” you ask. 

“Lord Snow sent for us to assist in the fight of the dead.” Yin speaks. You notice that she, unlike her mother, has blonde hair and a fair complexion. Beautiful nonetheless and most likely powerful if her mother is the high priestess. 

“I brought you brother back to life after the members of castle black retaliated and took his life from him leaving him in the snow to die.” Melisandre says. 

“That was you?” Sansa says she nods. 

“My daughter healed the rest of his wounds. No fear can be fulfilled without scars but he is alive and walking.” the red woman replies. 

Sansa nods, taking a moment before speaking again. 

“I will have sleeping quarters set up for you then. Jon is not here, he is on the wall but he should be back within the week." Sansa replies looking to measter aaron before turning back to melisandre nods thankful for the hospitality as sudden as it may have been. 

“Your grace.” lucy speaks as she walks up to you your son in her arms. He immediately reaches out to you wanting you. 

A smile is plastered on your face as you bring him into your arms holding him close. Sansa immediately holds out her hand and joss take her finger in his hand wrapping his first around it babbling. 

“The little prince.” yin speaks. You look at her, focusing on her words. 

“He will make a great king when the illness has subsided and you are to return home.” she says. You nod to her. 

“Y-yes but i will not force him to his kingly role if he does not wish it.” you say. 

“Of course not.” yin speaks once more.

“My ladies, your rooms are prepped and ready.” mester aaron says prompting them to follow him. 

“My lady, your grace.” melisandre and yin both curtsy before following the mester away to their rooms to settle for the day. Sansa gives you a look of slight worry before a distant roar is heard. Everyone stops and looks around before a gust of wind and snow is blown up. 

Both you and sansa hurry to the edge and look up seeing not one but two dragons. Flying over head. Huge beautiful creatures. 

“Jon must be back!” sansa exclaims looking to you. 

“I guess she really in the dragon queen.” you giggle she smiles back to you. 

—-----

You watch as all the soldiers and other enter winter fell being greeted before the dragon ‘queen’ herself enters and is helped off the horse back. Sansa reluctantly says hello as they get to know each other. You watch from above as jon looks up you. He gives you a smile and you reply back with a saddened one. 

The distant grumble of the dragons that rest outside of winterfell behind you take your attention. You admire them before taking your leave from the balcony and walking down the stairs walking up to jon and the others. 

“Daenerys. This he Her Grace queen y/n clegane of house vixen.” jon says you smile at the other women her age the same as yours. 

“Your grace.” You say curtsying to her as she does to you. 

“Its relief and pleasure to meet another queen and one of rightful status.” she speaks to you. 

You nod before answering. 

“I hope you can find comfort and warmth here its the middle of winter so i hope the cold isnt too much for you.” you speak. She smiles and shakes her head. 

“The cold is refreshing.” she says happily. 

“y/n..i have someone for you.” jon says you frown wondering why he got you a present. 

“Youve got her a present?” sansa asks a bit jealous. Jon just chuckles and shakes his head at his sister jealousy. 

“Your grace.” you say curtsying to her as she once more does the same. You notice that jon give her a quick peck on the cheek before walking leading you to your supposed gift. 

“Are you together?” you ask him a slight bit of distan on your words. 

“Yes briefly, she saved us beyond the wall and sacrificed one of her children for us.” he says. Thats right jon had sent a letter saying that she had three and there was only two in the back courtyard.

“She had three.” you say as you both walk twords the gardens. He nods. 

“The night king took one down and i'm hoping that the others stay put. She loves them, they are her children.” he says. You see others bringing in supplies for making weapons to defeat the army of the dead. 

“What is my gift youre being so ominus about it.” you say changing the subject. 

“Not what. Who.” he says you frown in confusion as you both stop walking. More people gather into the courtyard chatting and unloading supplies but one person in particular comes into view and your breath stops and your heart falters. 

You glance back at jon in disbelief. Your husband dismounts the large horse as he rides giving the reins to someone before taking a brief look around only to spot you. He stops dead in his tracks, eyes not not wavering from your face as he makes much haste twords you. 

​​“Sandor?” You speak with tears welling up in your eyes.

Its really him. He lets out a pained breath before his body meets yours, lifting you in his arms hooding you closer than ever, not wanting to leave you alone ever again, not wanting to let you go. Setting you down you share a deep kiss a much needed passion you’ve both missed. 

He’s missed the relaxation your touch brings him. All those nights dreaming of you in his arms, all those day thought of his pure hope to get back to you. The pain of his loneliness melts away as soon as it hits. Despite his rough exterior tear manage to slip past wetting his cheeks as his grip against you tightens, silently praying that you are real and this is real that he’s really back into your arms.

“I never stopped trying to get back to you.” He says his eyes searching your face he pulls off his gloves his hands taking place on either side of your face feeling the soft skin of your cheeks. 

“Brienne told me she killed you.” You says sobbing as you clutch onto him.

“That big bitch, shes here?” He scoffs you nod a smile crossing your face missing his gruffness.

“I thought you were dead?” Your voice breaks. Settling his hard gaze to soften against you.

“No.” He says pulling you closer that you already are to him as you continue to cry. 

“No..no i'm right here. I promise.” he says. you place your hand on his cheek he leans into your touch.

Next Chapter coming soon

TAGLIST. If you’d like to be added to the tag list please leave a comment down below.

Taglist @stephyshadows@germansarechill@urfavbiscuit@daphneyblue@takemeaemond@holb32@allison-119@pxstelink@imsolonelyimissyou@myshitaccount@broadsdrinkwhisky@@evie-beanie@eulysa23-2@greeknymph18@rudiruds@ex160-blog1@im-an-assho1e@chompwoman@heartb8k2@lovely--lover ex160-blog1 @midnightprocrastinator @haus-of-a-thousand-fandoms @friendlyspacemartian @weebgirl100 @raoudixs @@killerrbunnii 

[mercyisms]

bringing some of this out of previous tags, but something incoherent about the escalation of ‘dolls’ throughout the series, and the (obviously gendered) difference between ‘dolls’ and ‘puppets.’ including but not limited to:

john’s first forays into necromancy as puppeteering ‘Titania’ and ‘Ulysses,’ who are explicitly named as ‘extensions’ of john, which progress to the puppeteering of the world leader, which progresses to the apocalypse and john fashioning the parts of earth he doesn’t consume (alecto) a barbie-shaped vessel.  back in gideon the ninth, cytherea’s puppeting (explicitly called this, i believe) of protesilaus, to be contrasted with cytherea’s own doll-like position. both in her posturing as someone who needed to be carried, adjusted, coddled and in the broader uncanniness of pretending to be dulcinea septimus, of being a passable but undead ‘fake’ substitution of the living ‘real’ dulcinea.* all of the victorian energy also undeniably relevant. all of this progressing to cytherea’s body being a doll? a puppet? a weapon? for commander wake in harrow. the role she forced upon others and enacted being enacted on her own body in death.  rocking back up to nona, where images of dolls and puppets abound. though ianthe describes it as puppeting, naberius body is described, by others, in a way that’s much more suggestive of a barbie doll (“fashion hair” echoes the “hollywood hair barbie”). and naberius, furthermore, stands apart from the multitude of soldiers ianthe is also controlling from a distance. mixed with corona getting quite literally dolled up (hair refashioned, and ianthe’s fixation on the poor condition of corona’s hair, and put into a dress) once pulled back under ianthe’s control (to whatever degree we believe her to be). the doll as a particular extension of oneself, perhaps laced with intimacy? naberius as the conduit through which ianthe can (insufficiently) touch coronabeth; john’s romantic desire for annabel (and his occasional inability to sleep without her comforting him); even the fact that naberius becomes the vessel for palamedes and conduit through which he and camilla can become paul. (noting that camilla and palamedes sharing a body is framed outside of this language, possibly because camilla actively consents, for good or ill, to the process?)  (in dialogue with all of this, the way BOE encodes the lyctors as ancient weapons, and kiriona’s assertion that she is fulfilment of the nine house’s arts, stronger than titanium, faster than a speeding bullet: a weapon in the shape of a corpse, a prince, a girl. [to be a very dead weapon-body rather than a tragically alive one.] [also, as an aside, how her mother conceived of her: a bomb in the shape of a baby.] [also obviously related is that the out-of-house derogatory term for necromancers and cavaliers being, respectively, zombies and minions.])  i do not have a thesis statement, of course, but i think there is a clear development of a theme and some symbols and language that may be helpful to return to later or to unpick some of the various (and very gendered) ways agency is or is not present in necromancy.  * very known, but i think the fact that cytherea and dulcinea are both subjected to the same cancer-eugenics and arrive at a near indistinguishable state, that they are in some ways duplicates of each other, takes on a really compelling sheen in the wake of her comment that john, explicitly, is building a static society.  

[classicanalyzer]

The Calvary Has Arrived Thoughts

Omega taking the initiative to free herself and the other children shows how much she's grown.

ZILLO BEAST RAMPAGE. I love seeing the TK Troopers and scientists suffering. I wonder Hemlock's choice to send them to try to stop the literal Godzilla beast. I hope the Zillo Beast becomes the Apex Predator of Wayland.

Crosshair's trauma once again kicks in as they get in. I really like how Hunter and Wrecker refuse to let Crosshair go in alone and they'll face death together. As terrifying as the CX team is, it's creepy to know that they're a dark foil to the BB. I forgot for a moment that one of the CX Troopers cut off Crosshair's arms with my anxiety kicking into high gear. I'm also glad Tech is actually dead and not one of the CX Troopers. I really like the theory that the CX team could be Delta Squad and I really vibe with that. It would be poetic if they were in that case.

Omega’s confidence in herself and skills as she stays behind to free her brothers. Emerie Karr’s redemption was nice to see as she does everything in her power to save the children.

The Clone Rebellion or rather the Clone Prison Revolt happens! It's so satisfying seeing the Clones being able to fight back and kill those Stormtroopers. Likewise, it's horrifying some of the horrific ways some Clones are killed by the CX team.

Hemlock being stressed and frustrated is always fun to see. At that point, Tarkin is using this as an excuse to finally get control of the facility.

I love how Nala Se always planned to let herself be killed to destroy the research and prevent her knowledge from being used by the Emperor. It's a fitting end to her character who helped the Emperor get into power and for her to help frustrate the Emperor's Cloning plans. Likewise, Rampart's death is both hilarious and karmic. Kamino has been avenged.

The BB working together to survive against their dark foils is heartwarming. There are so many times one of them could've died but they all made it out. Crosshair looking at his specific dark foil in particular.

The confrontation and showdown in the rain parallels both S1 and S2’s finales (Kamino’s rain and Hemlock taking Omega) Scorch dying is so satisfying after his complicity in the crimes of the Empire against his own brothers. Scorch was also shot 5 times which was how many shots (stun that time) Scorch was taken down in S1. I love how much Hunter and Crosshair trust Omega in her plan without her saying anything other than gestures. Likewise, Hunter's trust in Crosshair to make that shot, which he did even without his hand. Omega's reunion with her brothers are everything to me. I hope the Zillo Beast (heard in the background) eats Hemlock’s corpse.

The first ISD in BB animation (outside of the tease in Tales of the Empire). Tarkin taking over the funding is so Tarkin. It's poetic that the Clones saved the galaxy by delaying Project Necromancer it's still being worked on in 9 ABY and given Palpatine's state in TROS, they did a really good job.

I'm so happy they got a happy ending. I thought we would get a bittersweet ending but it's nice to see everyone make it out. Seeing the final shot of the BB team minus Echo together on Pabu is so heartwarming. I wonder if we'll see what happens to Echo and Emerie in the future.

Older Omega and older Hunter! Omega joining the rebellion opens a lot of doors. We were robbed of seeing old Man Wrecker and Crosshair haha. I really hope the next animated show is a Starfighter one.

This show is so special to me. I'll put out a retrospective of the show one day.

"The Calvary Has Arrived!" Wrecker

Themes I noticed:

BB's theme, Omega's theme, Crosshair’s theme, CX's theme, Hemlock's theme, and the Clone's theme.

[burlowbeanie]

Sword-marriage in TLT

Yes, Pal and Cam and Dulcie were all in a relationship. What kind of relationship? Well in our-world terms, who the hell knows. It was a guy and his bestie-bodyguard-cousin who wants nothing to do with sex and his long-distance crush who he never met who he started corresponding with when he and his bestie were 12 and she was 19; there's a whole lot of factors going on there. But by the creation of Paul, we do learn that both Cam and Pal care so deeply for Dulcie that they seem to see her as their soulmate to some extent, hoping to reunite with her upon Paul's eventual death. In HtN, Dulcie seems to indicate similar sentiments. They are a trio, not only "a romantic couple and also Cam" or "a bestie duo and also Dulcie."

One of the fascinating pieces of lore in the GtN extras that has not come up again since is the concept of a sword-marriage, "wherein a necromancer and their cavalier married to one outside party as dual spouses" (452). Mx. M. Bias, as (based on their admittedly hilarious name) a typical second house wet blanket, dismisses this as "almost certainly the invention of the fiction writer, or more likely, the pornographer" (452). It does however seem to be the closest in-world equivalent to whatever the fuck is up with that triad though, and I am inclined to believe that within the 10,000 years of this society's existence it's gotta have been a thing Somewhere at Some Time. Regardless, it's existence within the fictional realm alone leads to some interesting possibilities...

...Anyway, all that to say in this essay I will be arguing that Palamades' sequel to The Necromancer's Marriage Season scrawled on wallpaper in his river bubble was definitely a shameless self-insert work in which he worked through his grief over losing his semi-girlfriend and being separated from and unaware of the fate of his bestie who also just lost their girlfriend through the use of the sword-marriage romance novel trope. This work dealt with themes of what it means to grieve someone who you already knew was dying and the grief of being separated from those you love but was somehow also extremely sexy and would have won eighteen different romance novel awards if Camilla had allowed him to write it (it had an immense amount of smut which she refused to have her body contribute to the creation thereof) and he had managed to send it off to the houses for publication (don't think the necromancy elements would go over well in the publishing industry outside the houses).

[incorrectsibunaquotes]

Slamming my two niche fixations into one super niche fixation with my House of Anubis kids but if they went to Ravenwood Academy in the 2008 MMO Wizard101:

Nina is definitely a Balance wizard through and through, which means she draws upon all the elemental schools to perform her magic (this is also lowkey the ancient Egyptian theme school so…). It’s not super powerful, but she’s very good at it. She also is a master at the Celestial schools of Sun, Moon, and Star. She definitely gets sucked into the whole Shadow magic debacle as well, because she’s Nina.

Fabian, my beloved Storm and Myth double major wizard. He was definitely a Diviner to start out, since they’re all about scientific discovery, but the moment Nina came crashing into his world, he definitely fell down a rabbit hole into the School of Myth. He’s also, begrudgingly, way better at being a Conjurer than he was with anything to do with Storm magic. Still, he sticks with both.

Patricia is the most Pyromancer to have ever Pyromanced. Her fire burns bright; she’s quick to anger, completely fixated on whatever currently has her attention. She’s also really into the Gravulum Order, because it feeds the little beast of paranoia in her by having to get readings on chaos magic from places and creatures

Amber is also a Pyromancer. Much like Patricia, the flames of her magic are bright and hot. She also cares a lot about how she looks— a common trait of the Fire School. She’s also almost always found in the Shopping District, particularly the dye shop. She dabbled in Storm magic for a little bit but after she nearly blew up the school, she was asked to switch.

Alfie is a Conjurer. The Myth school feeds into his fantastical whimsy, and he loves learning about all the different creatures and stories. He loves Monstrology, and fills his dorm with all sorts of conjured critters.

Jerome is a Necromancer, but he sucks at it— not because he doesn’t have the affinity for it, but because he doesn’t pay attention in class, way more inclined to be plotting his next prank. He’d actually be very good at Death magic if he could put that mind of his to his studies instead of being a menace.

Joy is a Storm wizard. She’s addicted to tech and pop culture and she loves an aesthetic. Just ask after something (or someone) she likes, and she will go on about it for days and days. She’s a very talented Diviner, and her magic is strong. Don’t cross Joy.

Mara is a Thaumaturge with Storm as a secondary school. As an Ice wizard, she exhibits great patience and strength, but she’s rigid and inflexible in her beliefs. She has a very clear sense of right and wrong, and she will call you on it. It also takes a lot to break her down. Sometimes when she’s upset about something, it starts to snow in a little cloud over her head.

Mick: Mick is a Fire wizard for a lot of the same reasons Patricia is. He’s a hothead, and his flames are absolutely lethal. He can burn opponents to a crisp in moments. Definitely not lacking in the raw magic department.

Eddie: Eddie also starts off solely as a Fire wizard, but once he discovers he’s the Osirian, he takes up Balance magic as a secondary school. He’s not as skilled at the detail work as Nina is, but what he lacks in finesse he makes up for in raw power. He and Patricia sometimes duel for fun, but he only ever wins when he combines Balance magic with his Pyromancy. She insists it’s cheating, but he maintains that it’s “strategic”

KT: KT is a Necromancer. She’s always been drawn to Death magic, ever since she was a child. Her grandfather was a Necromancer and he taught her everything she knows. She’s not super good at speaking with the dead, but she’s amazing at resurrecting them. Sometimes, she helps Fabian study Myth in the school library, and sort of picked it up as an unofficial secondary school.

Willow: Without a doubt, this girl is a Life wizard. Her singing makes the flowers grow, animals flock to her, and her magic is pure healing energy. Much like most Life wizards, her head is in the clouds and she’s a little strange, but you can’t help but love her. She’s also very skilled at Astral magic.

[utilitycaster]

Something clicked for me in that last post about Laudna being picked by Delilah because of her sorcerer abilities. Because there's kind of an incongruence there for me? Like was Laudna picked by Delilah because she bore a passing resemblance to Vex, is she a girl killed for the sake of someone else's story? Is that theme weakened if she was actually prepped as a vessel for Delilah 'just in case'? Does the suntree carry less weight if one of the bodies was MEANT to come back? Idk.

Hey anon!

I've talked about this a bit here and I think that might be of interest to you.

For what it's worth: I think it's fair if Laudna was picked for both reasons. The Briarwoods were not exactly looking that hard for verisimilitude with the Sun Tree corpses (couldn't or didn't bother to find a natural redhead for Keyleth) so "dark haired young woman who makes for a good contingency vessel and conveniently can also be a Sun Tree corpse" makes sense. I also don't think that this reduces the weight of the Sun Tree, in that Hollow Ones in the description are implied to in some ways be people denied the peace of death. It's not any less horrifying and tragic if Delilah was double-dipping with Laudna; she's still being used as a thing rather than a person and she is still getting murdered even if she's also brought back.

But yes, narratively, neither of these is really getting explored. I don't think either possibility is a weak theme - there's much to be said about either "Laudna was killed for someone else's story for largely aesthetic reasons, out of sheer bad luck, and this is what it's like being collateral damage in the story of someone else" or "Laudna had strange powers, and in trying to learn more about them and about herself, she ended up being turned into the vessel for a ruthless necromancer." The second supersedes the first, but there's nothing wrong with that! The problem is that neither the first theme (which isn't entirely true, but isn't exactly untrue either) nor the second are being explored by Laudna within the story.

The post you're referencing posits a potential reason, and to be clear I like it as a concept. But I think the reason we're talking about this is because there's been kind of a treadmill of fanon for Laudna. First we thought her theme was a victim, pure collateral damage in the story of Vox Machina. Then we learned about being Delilah's vessel for her own powers. She has been progressing mechanically in those powers but hasn't really been exploring them, and that in turn suffers because we've seen such an intense exploration of what it means to be a sorcerer through Imogen, other Ruidusborn Exaltants, and even Bor'Dor. Nor is she really making an active choice between sorcerer and warlock; Delilah remains along for the ride but doing almost nothing. We can't tell what the themes are because Laudna is allegedly go-with-the-flow; but for the most part just seems stuck.

I have my speculation as to why this is, and I reblogged that post because I'm going to be honest, we're 71 episodes in and I got off that treadmill after the fantastic work during the Issylra arc fizzled out into nothing, but I support the people who are still doing that work and trying to find an in-world explanation for why Laudna is so aimless. But it remains true that the audience has to do all the work, and we're not being met even close to halfway, so we keep having to readjust and pivot, rather than refine our understanding.

[atamascolily]

Thunderbolt Fantasy ships, summarized

Lin Xue Ya/Shang Bu Huan - The inherent eroticism of fucking your narrative foil--simultaneously your opposite and complement. More importantly, it's about sexualizing that old man and annoying the hell of out him at the same time.

Lin Xue Ya/Sha Wu Sheng - These two have everything: history, chemistry, betrayal, graveyard drinking dates, and a promised rendezvous in the afterlife. Also, bird themes.

Lang Wu Yao/Shang Bu Huan - If "I would go to the ends of the earth for you AND kill anyone who looks at you funny" makes you feral, this is the ship for you. Bonus: Ling Ya as the sassy wingman.

Lang Wu Yao/Lin Xue Ya - The man who never talks and the man who can't stop talking. Rivals to hatesex to a threesome with Shang, what's not to like?

Lang Wu Yao/Mu Tiang Ming - Is there anything sexier than a duet to the death? I thought not.

Mu Tian Ming/Shang Bu Huan - Lang clearly thinks this is a thing, but IDK?? Make it a threesome and everybody wins.

Shang Bu Huan/Wan Jun Po - The Xi You Hot Dads Squad and old man yaoi at its finest. The inherent tragedy and drama of two morally upstanding people ultimately driven apart by whether the ends justify the means.

Dan Fei/Juan Can Yun - Canon. I'm not the first person to make this joke, but it's true: "She's everything. He's just Ken." Utterly adorable.

Dan Fei/Xing Hai - A cleric dedicated to fighting evil and a demon necromancer whose greatest wish is to crush humanity like a bug. A crackship with surprising potential. Please, tell me more!

Lin Xue Ya/Xing Hai - Technically canon in the light novels, where he tricked her into falling in love with him before humiliating her. No wonder she hates his guts--he's the ex-boyfriend from hell who shows up on her doorstep to ask for a favor.

Xing Hai/Juan Can Yun - This may have actually happened in S3 and neither party is happy about it.

Lou Zhen Jie/Seven Blasphemous Deaths - Another canon ship, this time between a nihilist ex-monk and his evil sword wife. I love that this show asks "Would you really love her if she was a worm a sexy demon lady?" and LZJ's response is "HELL NO". They deserve each other.

Lin Xue Ya/Xiao Kuang Jun - These two fucked at least once in S2, I don't make the rules. How else am I supposed to read Xiao pinning Lin to a bed followed by an immediate cut away, and him leading Lin around the countryside on a leash? There was motive and opportunity, and it's a punishment for both of them for wildly different reasons.

Lang Wu Yao/Xiao Kuang Jun - Remember, Xiao was the one to "discover" Lang and was his first patron at the Xi You court. Make what you will of this.

Lang Wu Yao/Chao Feng - Adding sex to their canon relationship would change almost nothing, but since when has the yandere murder princess ever cared about ethics and boundaries?

Lang Wu Yao/Xing Hai - A crackship for now, but you never know… they were last seen in each other's company.

Xie Ying Luo/Therapy - This woman is not ready for a relationship right now, she needs to find herself and make better life choices. Talking to Di Kong does NOT count!!

[fallenstarzz]

any tlt au kevjean crumbs for us queen…. - dayurno

@dayurno oh dayurno........ You need to understand that every since I claimed that prompt I open the doc daily and I have yet to churn out an opening I like despite it being fully plotted in my mind. It's L after L over here

However. I do have some snippets of future scenes I've written down so. Please accept this humble offering until our Ressurector, the Necrolord Prime, the King Undying, our Kindly Price of Death sees fit with gifting me the inspiration

"They kissed, once. They were young, but not enough to not know better. Riko was away, called off by the Master, and in that rare moment of peace the two of them had taken to sparring. Kevin was disarmed, cornered, and Jean's practice sword had went full force for his throat – or it should have gone, but he hesitaded in the last second before wood met skin, and in the space of that breath, Kevin hooked his foot along Jean's ankle and pulled them both to the ground, landing perfectly on top of Jean, one hand cradling his skull so it wouldn't hit the pavement too hard. The other was against Jean's chest, and as the moment of victory stretched a little too long, Kevin could feel the heart pounding beneath his palm, so hard he could have believed he was holding it.

It felt like something he could break.

Kevin had looked from his hand to Jean's face. The cavalier's eyes where the exact grey of the atmosphere in the second between sunset and nightfall. His lips were parted, perfectly pink as the blush of exertion along his pale cheeks.

Kevin didn't so much decide to lean down as he did catch himself already kissing him. Jean's hands wandered up his waist and down his thighs, and it that moment, they had been the only two people left in the universe."

And here are some assorted news:

Kayleigh used to be Tetsuji's cavalier. She died while they were both serving on the Cohort, at which point he retired from his military carreer

Kevin was originally supposed to be Riko's cavalier, but the plans changed when he was discovered to be a necromancer. Riko, however, has had a hard time getting over it

Kevin is a flesh adept and Riko is a soul adept (breaking with Third tradition). Also breaking with Third tradition, he may or may not have attempted soul siphoning before

On paper, Jean is Riko's cavalier, and Kevin has none. Everyone knows, though, that Jean serves as cavalier to them both. As for which of them he is actually devoted to...

The story is set in the year before the myriadic year of our lord. Here's a snippet of Kevin's opinion about it: "Riko can believe what he wants, but Kevin knows the real reason why they're here. They're guinea pigs. It's not that the Emperor expects them to fail, but He knows no one would be sad with the abomination of the Third House out of the way."

This story has a theme of when it comes to hearts :)

The title is the opposite of hunger

[niuniente]

Does Lou-Lou have A Thing for Seths? I can't imagine that they're that common, that she could have two Seth boyfriends in a row by coincidence.

Also, Tony! I wanted to thank you again for how you make characters of all shapes and sizes, and for allowing fat/plus sized characters to be gorgeous, just like anyone else (AKA no too fetish-y but also not treating fat people like we're inherently gross)

Apparently she does! :3

Again, this process wasn't intentional. I always start to draw a DHD update with a minimum knowledge. I have either a scene, theme, topic or a character in my mind. Rest is improvised on the go.

For this newest update with Lou-Lou dating another Seth, it started when someone here commented that my Baldur's Gate 3 necromancer Tav (named Aldwulf) looks like a lost member of Rammstein. I thought "Yeah, he kinda does - that would work in Death-Head's Deal!"

So, I started drawing knowing that I want Aldwulf in and he needs to be in a heavy metal band (ended up with death metal in the end).

I found this stock photo for editing for the comic's opening. In front is Aldwulf. The man on right had lots of hair so I wanted him to be a hairy DHD dude, too. Thus he is a lion. The man on the left, I couldn't see his face well so I wanted to give him a shape that is easy to recognize. That's how he became a Seth animal.

After I had drawn the bad performing, Lou-Lou appears! And she's on a date! Seeing the band! With a band member!

I thought that from all these guys (the drummer included), the Seth animal would be the best, as it gives depth also to Lou-Lou's attempt for a new love life, after she was abused by a Seth animal. Hopefully, this journey for Lou-Lou isn't then just "Oh, she's seeing someone" but "she's seeing someone, facing her fears and you can tell if the other person and the relationship is healthy is your date partner wants to help you as much as they can - while you help yourself, too".

...

Antonya (Tony) was a surprise, too! I feel that I don't have enough versatile body types out there yet but I'm doing my best. After all, while the people in Lywood and in this world look weird, I want their lives and appearances to as close to our daily lives as possible. We have people of all sizes, shapes, looks, ages and stories on this Earth. It would be just silly to create a fantasy world and make it duller than our Earth folks are.

I also do my best not to give any special treatment to anyone, meaning that these characters can be flawed and hot, and these characters can't be flawed and hot. Or deep, emotional, superficial etc.

[kemalamalam]

RULES: post 5 songs associated with your OCs and 4 outfits they'd wear

i saw @bhaalsdeepbat doing the tag game and i wanna make one too i hope you dont mind 👉👈

huehuehue this is Chevrotain, my durge bard

they got fucking wormed half way through the game and became hard to look at so i changed their hair then they look half-decent (not as good looking as the default but still)

im gonna be sorta infodumping about their lore bc im insane for them

1. Bloody! Bloody! - Junie & TheHutFriends

so in my canon Chevrotain isnt the dark urge like the origin character but another bhaalspawn, theyre still a bhaalspawn though so their gameplay is still a durge playthrough and this song is so accurate to durge's storyline?? like

Ain't it funny how I scare myself sometimes

..You take his hand quite literally..

..I probably shouldn't have said that..

They said, the lady in red / Bloody! Bloody!

Durge being literally shocked at kicking the squirrel involuntarily?? / the Gale incident / durge saying freakish shit most of the time / literally Orin

this song is my number one go to when i think of Chevrotain 😭

2. Abbey - Mitski

i mentioned that Chevrotain is a cannibal 🥺 its funny bc they dont have any sense of taste, they also have a huge identity crisis thanks to Bhaal whispering to them on their "role" and they whole "you were created bc blah blah blah"

I am hungry I have been hungry I was born hungry What do I need? I am something I have been something I was born something What could I be?

the theme i like to go with them is "starvation", like being starved of fatherly love from Bhaal, being starved of their own identity, being starved of their own mind, being starved of a home.. so this song fits into it SO PERFECTLY

3. Our Word - 36 Questions, Jessie Shelton

GAH this song is so cool from the coolest musical i know (i only know like 6 musicals 🙃), its literally a musical podcast?? so cool.

anyways Chevrotain is a bard right, they usually manipulate people with their words, a lot of deception and persuasion bonuses, so they are a very deceitful and as a result they are a very distrusting person.

the song is about a girl who was raised to be a compulsive liar - when she accidentally broke her dad's ship in a bottle - her mom told her to lie to get out of trouble and it worked, so she kept lying and lying and lying to get herself out of situations.

the song ends with a near death experience, but all she can think in her dying moments is how her parents are going to lie about her existence just to avoid the hassle of dealing with her death.

And it's our word Yes, our word It's our word Yes, our word Against theirs

the thing about Chevrotain is that they cannot trust easily - and what they fear the most is that theyd be tricked the same way theyve been tricking others - its a constant for them and this song embodies it perfectly (･ω･)b

4. Animal Cannibal - Possibly in Michigan, Karen Skladany

haha cannibal mention

iconic song tbh, this one isnt as intricately tied to Chevrotain's character quirks in my mind as the others and its more of their whole vibe and sthick

Who knows how some people turn to strange ones Is it up to me to make them into dead ones? (Here we go again) I bite at the hand that feeds me Slap at the face that eats me Some kind of animal cannibal (Animal? Cannibal)

the tricking people into thinking theyre an unassuming bard even though theyre an experienced necromancer

and that they rebel against Bhaal pretty aggressively (well, as aggressive as you can when youre going against your literal God father without being punished by death 💀) such as never calling Bhaal as "father" pre-amnesia

5. The Milk Carton - Madilyn Mei

have i ever mentioned here that Chevrotain fell into the Feywild when they were around 9?

they were following a grinning cat named 'Alice Alice van Malice' who later became their guardian because fucking Ethel spotted baby Tain, took them in bc she realize that a bhaalspawn would make a strong hagspawn, since Alice didnt want to be responsible for a horrific fate of a child he decided to keep watch of them 😭

so this song is more to baby Tain's perspective, that they are now living in a stinky swamp in the Feywild and sleeping on a cold slab of stone instead of the cozy foster home they were in before..

I think I really miss my bed Oh when, oh when will the nightmare end? I had it good, I had it good And yet I left and can't retrace my steps Think I forgot a couple things My brain is still at home (Stop telling me all about your problems)

..but hey, at least theyre not dead!

Outfits/Style

Chevrotain's style is called classy and youthful in the DnD universe and timeline, but in todays world we call it grandmacore ❤

ok well it has a prince-like flare to it, the embroidery would be all silver bc one thing about Chevrotain is that theyre good at commiting to the bit, also the clothes beinf airy, flowy and puffy is important bc they dont like their clothes being skin tight bc they get uncomfortable easy.

its all billowy blouse + black pants combo bc its a classic and i love it SO MUCH, i eat this combo all the time everytime

im too shy to tag anyone else for this akdnsjnd anyone who wants to join in from seeing this post.. please tag me in it bc im nosy and i want to see ur Tav/Durge :3

[bracketsoffear]

Undertaker (Black Butler) "I believe that the Undertaker would make an excellent and fascinating Avatar of the End due to his constant interest in the deceased, and the decrepit- he is a Grim Reaper, which is a good enough point alone to make somebody an End avatar but on the further notes he has far more than that.

-He found a way to bring back the dead against all odds, by fucking with their souls to convince the people’s bodies are still alive. He then promptly caused a small scale zombie apocalypse for shits and giggles and actively thirsted about how much he prefers the dead to the living.

-He’s got a fondness for sleeping in coffins, and often preaches about their comfort and tries his hardest to get people to try it. He’s also known for holding funerals, which are obviously End themed!

-He has strong ties with already dead characters, the theme of mourning through his costume containing old-fashioned mourning lockets, which is quite a prominent design choice.

-Lastly, he might just be THE Grim Reaper in Black Butler which is pretty sweet not gonna lie."

"Harrowhawk Nonagesimus (The Locked Tomb) Why Harrowhark specifically, out of the story about necromancers powered by the energy emited from death? She's the heir of a house where just about everyone is incredibly old, and their religion and meagre social life seems to be primarily holding funerals. Why is she one of the only young adults? Because her power at necromancy comes from her parents murdering the 200 other children on the planet and using the energy from their deaths to conceive her. She puppetted her dead parents' bodies for years, starting as a kid, when she broke into the tomb that no one was supposed to be able to get into and fell in love with the revenant of the destroyed earth crammed into barbie human form, who has been haunting her ever since. Because this series commits 110% to the vibes, she'd do basically anything to avoid being seen without her ceremonial skeleton face paint. She worships death and is powered by it, but also she's so terrified of losing Gideon permanently that she magically lobotomizes her brain into forgetting Gideon so that her soul doesn't eat the shred of Gideon's soul embedded in hers via necromancy. What else can I say."

[wallacejwriting]

KEYS TO THE CITY ☾ an urban fantasy heist & monster romance

the first in the beurkratti universe

genre | urban fantasy, thriller, mystery, romance audience | adult pov | third person limited, present tense, multi pov

premise | after their older brother is arrested, two siblings work together to gather a team to save him, all while the brother plots his own escape alongside the monster trapped in his stolen jewellery.

note | the current plan is to post this on ao3 as it is written. why? that's my own reasons. enjoy the free book.

themes & tropes | queernorm, heist, prison break, monster fucking, queer themes, found family/ragtag bunch of misfits, magical sex changes, rebellion, slow burn romance, enemies to reluctant allies to lovers, underdogs, sticking it to the Man

content warnings | body horror, possession, militaristic state & police, religious themes, graphic sexual content, graphic violence

☾ SYNOPSIS

In the Free City of Limestus, theft of religious artifacts is punishable by death. Centuries ago, when Saint King Christos took the crown of Limestus, he banned the worship of all gods but those of the Free Cities. All sacrilegious material was locked away, forgotten to all but a few. In the modern day, Karim, a poor thief, is hired to steal a specific artifact from the forgotten vault. Not convinced it’s real, he agrees for the massive payout. But when the theft goes wrong, Karim ends up with two problems. First, he’s arrested and to be hanged. Second, and more pressing, the wrist cuff he’s stolen won’t come off and a monstrous voice in his ear keeps getting louder. On the other side of the city, in the tiny apartment they share, Karim’s younger siblings, Zahir and Jinan, realize he’s not coming home. If Karim’s been captured, then the only way to save him is to break into prison and break him out, before it’s too late. They can’t do it alone. They’ll need a crew. And Karim will need to team up with his monstrous new earworm in order to survive. But who hired Karim, and why? And can three poor thieves from Limestus’ shadows outsmart and outmanoeuvre not just one, but two of the immortal Saint Kings?

☾ CHARACTERS

Karim - 31, reiqe, trans, he/him. A thief captured at the start of the story. Level-headed and fairly calm under pressure. Wants to protect his siblings.

Zahir - 26, reiqe, trans, they/them. An artificer who dreams of more than what they have. Jinan's twin. The reckless one who gets them into trouble.

Jinan - 26, reiqe, cis, she/her. A waitress who is also a sweet talker and a grifter. Zahir's twin. The fast talker who gets them out of trouble.

Aazaraaviria "Az" - unknown age, supposedly erdauta, cis, ze/hir. The monstrous spirit trapped within the wrist cuff. Cunning, sly, deep voiced. Supposedly a necromancer.

Saint King Christos - several hundred, iboro, cis, he/him. Antagonist.

Saint King Viggo - several hundred, orc, cis, he/him. Antagonist.

The Rest of the Crew - shhh. It's a secret.

☾ SETTING

The world of Beurkratti is a vast and diverse setting filled with a large variety of sapient species, different forms of magic, and technologies that are both familiar and not. The general world tends to hang out around the 20th century in terms of technology. The Free Cities are five city states who banded together many years ago to prevent themselves from being taken by larger nations. They are the oldest country-less nations in the world and are older than some countries. The Free Cities were founded on an idea of freedom for all, with no dictators to push one down, and to create a place where no one culture would dominate. That... hasn't worked out. But Limestus differs from that vision more than others in a couple of ways. The largest is that Christos, its Saint King and thus ultimate ruler, has banned religious freedom, taken and destroyed many religious artifacts, and pushes his beliefs and insecurities onto his people. This has led to a militaristic state where the police force is spear-headed by another Saint King, Viggo, the ruler of Aunfu. All five Free Cities are located on an island which rides the border between tropical and subtropical. It is hot and humid year round, there is sand and bleached stone everywhere, and the clothes are loose and flowy and thin. The summer season brings extreme weather that many believe only the Saint Kings protect them from. Reiqe, the sapient species that Karim, Zahir, and Jinan are part of are relatively humanoid. They possess long, prehensile tails with long hair, turned, furry ears similar to that of a sheep, but pointier, rough pads on the hands and feet for climbing, digitigrade legs with three-toed feet, webbed fingers and toes, and gills on their necks. They also are covered in short, water-wicking fur, and their skin and fur are typically shades of medium to dark brown. Reiqe have three standard sexes, which are assigned the pronouns he/him, she/her, and ve/ver, respectively. There are two distinct kinds of reiqe found in the Free Cities, the far more common tropical variety, who tend to have lighter brown tones for fur and are much more suited to tropical weather, and the far rarer arctic variety, who tend to have darker brown tones for fur and are far more suited to arctic and northern climates.

☾ UNIVERSE

Beurkratti is meant to be an absolutely massive universe all centering around this planet of Beurkratti and the people who live upon it. Some stories are small while others are much larger in scope.

✹ LINKS | Playlist; Book Tag; Universe Tag; Excerpts; Character Profiles

✹ TAGLIST | @reminiscentrevelry

ask to be on the taglist! either in the notes of this post or in my askbox. taglist will be used for snippets, character profiles, & large worldbuilding posts.

[taylorrama]

Crown Him With Many Crowns

You girlies liked the cassette tape that had "Crown Him With Many Crowns" on it, so I thought I'd make a post about the song.

I don't think there's much depth/authorial intention with this reference–Tamsyn Muir was probably just looking for a song title to match Coronabeth and went with this one. The title also sounds kind of silly and redundant.

I'll admit, when I saw this name in Nona the Ninth, I was like "That's probably a hymn or Bible reference," but didn't know the song. Turns out, as is the case with a lot of hymns, I know the melody but with different words. This hymn appears in a bunch of hymnals, including Catholic ones, so it's possible Muir knows this song simply from being Catholic.

A fun fact about this hymn is that, according to Wikipedia, it has twelve verses. TWELVE. VERSES. That is a CHONKER. Wiki also says that typically, the song is split into two six-verse versions. Fascinating how you split the song and get two different songs with the same melody but different themes. It's almost like if you take an embryo and split it and get twins.

The other funny thing about Corona being named for a chonky hymn is that she's described as well-formed compared to how scrawny Ianthe is.

So, do the words give us anything interesting with respect to The Locked Tomb? Let's see under the cut. This isn't gonna be a detailed analysis at all. More like pointing out some parts that get some weird/cool meanings when applied to this series.

Crown him with many crowns, The Lamb upon his throne; Hark! how the heavenly anthem drowns All music but its own: Awake, my soul, and sing Of him who died for thee, And hail him as thy matchless king Through all eternity.

We have Corona and Harrow in the same verse. Amazing.

I might be misremembering, but isn't there a sound that Resurrection Beasts make? If so, there's our "heavenly anthem." And of course this idea of a king being hailed through all eternity–Jod.

The next interesting part we get is verse 5.

Crown him the Lord of years! The Potentate of time,-- Creator of the rolling spheres, Ineffably sublime! Glassed in a sea of light, Where everlasting waves Reflect his throne,--the Infinite! Who lives,--and loves--and saves.

Jod is an immortal (essentially) necromancer, the literal recreator of planets. And everlasting waves? The River.

The last one to point out is verse 10.

Crown him the Lord of life Who triumphed o'er the grave, And rose victorious in the strife For those he came to save; His glories now we sing Who died, and rose on high. Who died, eternal life to bring And lives that death may die.

Since this verse is referencing Jesus' death and resurrection, it highlights that exciting tension we feel as readers knowing this version of the story, but then seeing this same theology twisted around in The Locked Tomb. This does strike me, though, as pretty close to the narrative that most citizens of the Nine Houses probably have about Jod. He harnessed the energy of death to create life.

That's all I've got on this one. Sometimes, being a church nerd pays off. 😌