#he looks so pretty with this aztec clothes

[jorrated]

Redid my Maya Knux gijinka! Now with notes and sources on how I did the design (It's kinda long, around 2k words jsyk):

The hairstyle:

Knux has pretty long spikes, so I knew I wanted to give him long hair! Braids or dreadlocks look pretty fitting, so I tried looking for references of hairstyles to see if any fit what I was looking for:

Source: Mayavase.com (Photograph by Justin Kerr)

http://research.mayavase.com/kerrmaya_hires.php?vase=1092

http://research.mayavase.com/kerrmaya_hires.php?vase=1453

http://research.mayavase.com/kerrmaya_hires.php?vase=694

http://research.mayavase.com/kerrmaya_hires.php?vase=1340

While all the vases show a variety of interesting hairstyles, I particularly loved the look of the braids in K694 (the third picture). Being tied upwards wouldn’t really fit Knux however, so something like the man in K1340 (fourth pic) with his hair fully down, or the 5th man from left to right in K1092 (first pic) with a cloth holding the hair would be really nice!

I didn’t want to give him a headpiece, if only to not clutter his head, but also I didn’t think it’d fit Knux as a warrior. The ruler’s headpiece in K1453 (second pic) however allows the hair to come off it, and seems to have some dangly adornments on the end of the strands/braids/locks, which I found super pretty. Plus:

“Elite Mayan men and women styled their hair to show off their pointed heads, crafted through the careful head flattening they experienced as children. Women gathered their long hair on top of their heads in flowing ponytails. For special occasions they braided their ponytails and decorated them with ornaments and ribbons. Mayan men grew their hair long but burnt the hair off their foreheads to accentuate their elongated profiles. They would bind their hair into one or many ponytails or tie it in a bundle on top of their head. Mayan slaves had their hair cut short as one visible mark of their inferior status.” p.399

Source: Fashion, costume, and culture: clothing, headwear, body decorations, and footwear through the ages (Sarah Pendergast and Tom Pendergast, Sarah Hermsen as Project Editor), 2003.

https://archive.org/details/fashioncostumecu0000pend/page/n5/mode/2up

Taking all of that! I settled on tight braids with a few adornments made of jade and wood, with a red cloth to keep his hair from his eyes. Almost all of the braids are pulled together into a ponytails, but there are some smaller braids loose.

It’s somewhat of a mixture of styles, combining ornaments of special occasions, with the long hair of elites on a character like Knux. But I kept these ‘contradictory’ aspects of the design to remember that Knux kinda learns about his ancestors on the go, through murals, writings and technology, so I doubt he’d have a great grasp on what he should and shouldn’t wear. I think it adds character as someone who’s trying to figure out himself, his history and his place in the world.

Shoes and Accessories:

For footwear I kept it simple, just turned Knux’s existing shoes into sandals:

“Ancient Aztecs and Mayans of Central America adopted a thick-soled sandal with a protective legging attached at the heel, while the top of the foot and shin remained exposed.” p.135

Source: Encyclopedia of Clothing and Fashion (Valerie Steele), 2005

Although my gut instinct was to cover Knuckles from head to toe in accessories, I also tried to keep it simple like the shoes. He’s a very mobile fellow so he can’t have too much weight or annoying bits flying everywhere and getting in his face. So I kept his moon necklace, like in Fleetway, just adjusted the shape to have a bit more of details:

“The jewelry worn by the Mayan, Aztec and Inca people was rich in variety and quite beautiful. Without metalworking skills, Mayans made jewelry from many materials. Mayan men wore nose ornaments, earplugs and lip plugs made from bone, wood, shells and stones, including jade, topaz, and obsidian. Necklaces, bracelets, anklets and headgear were made with jaguar and crocodile teeth, jaguar claws and feathers.” p.402

Source: Fashion, costume, and culture: clothing, headwear, body decorations, and footwear through the ages (Sarah Pendergast and Tom Pendergast, Sarah Hermsen as Project Editor), 2003.

https://archive.org/details/fashioncostumecu0000pend/page/n5/mode/2up

As stated here, Mayans didn’t have metalwork, so I imagine this is an artifact that his ancestors got from another group of people.

Just a page before they also mention how the Maya people used to file points into their teeth, to make their mouths more appealing. This includes shaping them into pointy teeth, (like the classic shark teeth), but they could also file them into other shapes, like in this picture:

Source: https://www.archaeologynow.org/blog-3/blog-post-title-two-txwxl (I’m pretty sure this isn’t the source of the image, but I couldn’t find an actual source that wasn’t an uncredited blog)

The Maya people are also notorious for their good dentistry, as seen the stone ornaments in the teeth above. I think the filling is something Knux could do on his own, but anything that would involve actual dentistry would be too much. But it’s still interesting to read about!

(Here’s an article named “Mayan Esthetic Dentistry: Using Modern Techniques and Digital Imaging Technologies to Link the Past to the Present” by Yassine Harichane if you want to learn more!)

While a non-permanent version of stones on teeth seemed cool, like Jade incisor-coverings, at the end of the day I don’t think Knuckles is too vain, so I didn’t add that to the design. Although I think he’d definitely try out a bunch of things like this, just to try to understand them.

For additional outfits I gave him a red layered cape and a green huipil! The red cape is just to bring back more red into the design, since I gave him a lot of green. And the huipil is a nod to his poncho in the comics! (Although huipiles are commonly associated with women and girls, I still wanted to give him one, not only to bring up his partial detachment to his ancestors, but also because Knux probably wouldn’t think much about gender in general let’s be honest)

Source: Mayavase.com (Photograph by Justin Kerr)

http://research.mayavase.com/kerrmaya_hires.php?vase=638

Somewhat based the red cape on the 4th man in this picture, from left to right, but I kept it simple, as maybe just some fabric Knux found around the island, nothing too fancy.

For the huipil I wanted to do something more detailed but was having a really hard time coming up with designs. And I didn’t want to straight up plagiarize someone’s else work, so I kept it vague, maybe some day I’ll sit down and give it a more detailed version. I did come across a very nice store/ catalog that sells traditional Maya textiles, and this one was very gorgeous! Highly recommend give this and the other textiles a look!

In the end I made the huipil look vaguely like the ones shown in page 128 of the following book:

“In the Museum collection, costumes that looked very much alike usually turned out to be from villages that shared a language. Among Cakchiquel villages, dialect differences were usually mirrored by costume differences. Working on this principle we were surprised by the striking similarity of style in the huipils of San Antonio Aguas Calientes (fig. 195) and San Martín Jilotepeque (fig. 196). These villages, while both Cakchiquel, spoke very different dialects and were separated geographically (map, below). The similarity of their huipil was so remarkable we felt the need to investigate these two villages more thoroughly and found that a multi-cultural history probably accounted for these unexpected similarities of style. Huipils from these villages may well illustrate the earliest examples of pan-Maya acculturation after the Conquest.”p. 127

Source: Threads of identity: Maya costume of the 1960s in highland Guatemala (Patricia B. Altman, Caroline D.West), 1992.

https://archive.org/details/threadsofidentit0000altm/page/n7/mode/2up

Lastly on accessories, which I don’t know if it counts as an accessory but I didn’t know where to put it: the body paint. Last time I gave Knux a human design I couldn't find a good resource on Maya people painting their bodies. Every source mentioned and was in consensus that some of the people did paint their bodies, but that was the extent of the info. I wasn’t able to find any patterns or meanings of the body paintings, or even good visual reference for it. But! This time I was able to get a bit more:

“Body painting was a common Maya practice. Classic Period murals and polychrome vases depict warriors covered with red or black paint; sometimes their bodies were striped with red paint. Paint was also used around the eyes and nose to give a fierce expression. In the 16th century, these practices continued. Women also applied red paint to their faces and bodies, but presumably to make themselves look beautiful, not fierce. Small paint jars of red hematite mixed with mica were found in the houses at Cerén, and these may have been for cosmetic use. Unmarried young men painted their bodies black, and so did those who were undergoing periods of ritual purification and fasting. Priests often wore blue body paint. “p. 338

Source: Handbook To Life In The Ancient Maya World Lynn (V. Foster), 2002.

Source: Mayavase.com (Photograph by Justin Kerr)

http://research.mayavase.com/kerrmaya_hires.php?vase=2800

http://research.mayavase.com/kerrmaya_hires.php?vase=2573

http://research.mayavase.com/kerrmaya_hires.php?vase=7996

I of course wanted to give him red paint, and I really liked this design of the red lining the cheeks on the face down to the neckline. However in most of these depictions the red on the body is accompanied by the white face, which I can’t actually tell if the face has white paint, or the body has black paint, like described in the quote before. Either way I chose to only use the red, to keep in line with Knux’s original design.

(It’s worth mentioning that these vases shown depict rulers, as you can see the intricate thrones and altars, which isn’t really fitting with Knux. But again, I want to keep some mismatched aspects into his design, not only warrior-related things.)

The main outfit:

Last but not least, the main outfit. Don’t have much notes on this I’m going to be honest, I just tried to keep in line with descriptions of warriors clothing:

“While some warriors may have been resplendent on the battlefield, the common Maya soldier fought with little clothing other than loincloth and body paint, based on battle scenes in the few Maya murals that remain (see figure 2.9, page 54).” p.147

Source: Handbook To Life In The Ancient Maya World Lynn (V. Foster), 2002.

I considered putting him in a loincloth for accuracy, but tbh I was scared people were going to be weird about it, and so I gave him a skirt with some fabric that emulates the look of a loincloth and some scrap fabric around his waist and limbs! He actually ended pulling up a lot from the dude I mentioned in vase K1092 (the very first ref pic in this post) lol!

And that´s all, hope y’all liked it :P

[bitethedustfools]

TWST Story Idea (10)

Twisted Wonderland is a very unique world. Their world has magic, and they have different species living together, ranging from mages, beastmen, fae, merfolk, and so on.

Yuu's world had something like those, but obviously, that was just in a story, a fiction, a drawing on walls and pots. Something that almost all people heard of but did not believe in their existence. Which is understandable because Yuu's world is just humans and animals, and that's it. There are no werewolves, no vampires or mermaids, not even a dragon, and so on.

Yuu had been the type of person who always has been interested in these kinds of things: mythology, folklore, and cryptozoology, and maybe a little bit of history. That's what Yuu loves in the whole world.

They know many things and the history of how it came to be. You can ask Yuu if they know about skinwalker, and they'll put up a presentation that they prepared for years, which somehow leads to other cryptids. The Beast of Gévaudan? Yuu's got a conspiracy board with a bunch of pictures of animals to prove this beast is actually so and so and where it ran off to. They are also very knowledgeable about Greek mythology, followed by Norse, Aztec, and so on.

So imagine Yuu got transported to Twisted Wonderland and got the shock of their life when they saw a beastman. Yuu expected to see a furry animal standing on two feet, the face a mix with man and animal followed by animalistic growls and piercing eyes. Not… not a goddamn handsome man with a pair of ears and tails!

Sure, they had seen this type before, but that's on some people's fantasy that they have written and drawn! Yuu is absolutely stupefied when they're face to face.

Every time Yuu met a new species, Yuu didn't fail to feel disappointed in what they saw. The dragon by the name of Malleus got a human form that he likes to use, and that has the most ridiculously handsome face Yuu has ever seen. Where is the fire-breathing dragon? Where is the gold they hoard? The wings? Yuu is not satisfied with this.

Yuu met Hades next, who was hailed as one of the prominent seven figures seen as a hero or something, which just conflicted with what Yuu knows about the Hades of their world.

Yuu took a look at the multiple figures next to him like the Fairest Queen, the Queen of Hearts, Maleficent, and Ursula, and was astounded to see that they also were hailed as heroes. Their story is so much nicer than the original story Yuu read that at least, 2 out of 4 stated above died horribly if Yuu is not mistaken.

The dwarves are just toddlers that can speak perfectly, the eels from the Little Mermaid are humanified, what was supposed to be a werewolf is not a werewolf at all. The ghosts are all the same as though they are copy and pasted many times, some had different clothes. Yuu saw Grim, and they're not sure what he is, but he's cute, so that's alright.

Halloween comes, and Yuu is ready to be the most terrifying monster of them all, and they did, but that's because the rest dressed prettily and not terrifyingly like Yuu expected!

Where's the horror? Where are the screams of terror and the nightmare fuel appearance?? Yuu wanted to see someone getting traumatized, and all they got is sparkles and annoyance. Those magicam monsters must be stupid and blind to be scared of such pretty faces.

The only highlight of the Halloween was the Spectral realm like yes! The gloomy atmosphere is here! The graves! The very gothic architecture is everywhere! It was what Yuu imagined where the wandering and unrest souls will go.

It got crashed by a disco ball, though.

In short, Yuu didn't like it.

This world is sh*tty and against everything Yuu believed in. It's like meeting an idol you like so much and find that they are not the same as your expectation or something.

Dissatisfied, Yuu complained to themself, unaware that NRC heard it. "This is not what I imagined them to be. What a let down…"

Seeing that NRC are full of prideful kids, naturally, they get offended being told by a magicless human that Twisted Wonderland filled with wonder doesn't excite Yuu in any slightest.

Now this. This made Yuu perked up, but at the same time, Yuu is also offended that the others think their world is nothing special.

Yuu made up their mind to take it as a challenge. Yuu won't lose to these rip-offs of their world. They're gonna prove their world is superior, and that's Yuu's pride as a human being from that world.

Twisted Wonderland might have 7-8 prominent figures, but Yuu's world has more, although they may not exist today. Yuu is gonna show them how there's charm in being a mystery and history.

Yuu proceeded to drop snippets of a bunch of mythology, folklore, and cryptozoology randomly in the different places.

Yuu would go camping with the friends and said in his world there used to be a Wendigo roaming around in the woods. They would describe vividly about its appearance and how it eats flesh and the origin of how it came to be, taking sadistic delight when said friends looked at each other shakingly.

Yuu would mention out of nowhere about how beautiful people would have been sacrificed to the gods to a rather vain person and said it's lucky they are not in Yuu's world.

They even talked about Salem witch trials down to the details when a group of their friends has a fight or something. Magic doesn't involve in that, of course, but they looked terrified that even humans would accuse and execute their own kin. A very dark history indeed.

The mer eel would have threatened Yuu about squeezing and biting and so on, and Yu would drop a myth in their world about eating mermaid would bring immortality and maybe that's why they don't exist anymore.

They even mentioned casually that the faes would replace human kids with theirs and also kidnapped humans as pets. They can also be invisible to the eyes so no one would know or even find them.

The others are terrified to hear what story sprouted out of Yuu.

[uummyuu]

the azul headcanons

big strong man that the show really doesn't utilize enough... wish we had more knowledge on the other members' names though :((

although de los santos is the only one who outright states he's aztec, i'd like to think the entire team is of aztec descent in some way.

anyways fun fact about aztec tattoos, they're usually designed to honor a chosen god so that they may provide blessings of prosperity, strength, health, etc. i don't want to look too deep on what was probably a tattoo designed on whim but it seems pretty close to the aztec calendar? or an iteration of the aztec sun god huitzilopochtli, the interpretation is very vague.

if we go by the thought that this is a tattoo of the aztec calendar, the tattoo itself could mean eternity and connection. de los santos in the show itself kind of rues the fact that what was once his home is now simply brushed of as the forgotten city or something to be left in the history books. with this tattoo it's his way of keeping his home and his friends by his side forever.

but also a tattoo of huitzilopochtli can symbolize power as well as sacrifice. some tattoos of the sun god are stylized to just be the sun with the god's face on it(although typically depicted with 8 rays instead of the weird 13 on his tattoo). santos' power is never understated in the show and his tattoo could be a testament to that.

the other members probably have their tattoos either on their chest or back to keep them out of sight, probably eagles to symbolize power and bravery, or maybe even a literal quetzlcoatl to symbolize wisdom. aspects that would be useful on the playing field.

anyways please see my vision of de los santos with a whole extensive aztec back tattoo on him

ok back to your regularly scheduled program, santos has bench pressed the entire team on his back once and it was recorded somewhere. the video resurfaces on natter everytime the azul play a game.

i read in a 4-panel comic that klaus actually has santos' jersey? i'll try and find it but anyways if some lucky fan manages to get it congrats you basically have a new blanket, that shirt is huge. (or if he has a tiny s/o who he loves smothering in his clothing i dunno 👀)

overall i'd like to think the team is just one big family, they have shared ancestry and that solidifies the bond they share with each other even if they aren't exactly related.

the other team members worry about santos taking on too much, with his reputation as an extremely difficult goalkeeper to get past when he does lose a point to the opposition it hits him hard. so the team does their best to pull their own weight, they want to have santos' back as much as he watches theirs.

de los santos is very much a protector type, i don't think he'd be the azul's captain, but he's definitely a pillar of support and morale for the team. (kind of a big bo and dancing rasta dynamic?)

the team definitely worries about relying on santos too much, but in reality santos likes being reliable and strong in the eyes of others, he longs to be needed so he doesn't end up as "forgotten" just like his home did.

honestly these guys probably try to keep out of the media too, but when they do get on an interview other than talking about the game they love talking about their culture. as "exotic" and "forgotten" it may seem to interviewers, to the team it's merely the childhood memories that link them all together. even if the city itself no longer stands.

i'm gonna make de los santos dating headcanons one day i swear because i have so much more to say about him—

[darabeatha]

Trope trope trope trope!

𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 “𝐓𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞” 𝐈 𝐠𝐞𝐭, 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐚 𝐓𝐕 𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐲 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐞. / @caemthe

𝐌𝐨𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐳𝐮𝐦𝐚 𝐈𝐈

Animal motif: jaguar! a reference to not only Tezcatlipoca but also to the Ocelomeh (Ocelotl in singular and Ocelomeh in plural; jaguar warriors. They were basically members of the Aztec military elite) to whom he's the leader of.

Back from the dead: it's his second chance at life! "Moctezuma II, the unfortunate ruler of the Aztec Empire during its fall to Hernán Cortés' conquest. Having felt pity for his betrayal and terrible end, Tezcatlipoca had summoned Moctezuma into the South American Lostbelt for a second chance at life."

God in human form: technically he is Tezcatlipoca's impersonator! Putting a small parenthesis to fgo; to the Mexica, this person was called the 'Ixiptla' who for one year was seen as the god (in this case Tezcatlipoca) on earth. They were highly respected and seen as the god, and at the end of the year, they were sacrificed. Despite this, being the deity's impersonator was seen as an incredibly high honor and not a tragedy or something bad like how we would think in the present (this sacrifice just like death in battle was like the absolute honor). Real Moctezuma wasn't an Ixiptla in this sense, but I think that for the fictional narrative, it was an interesting choice especially considering the second reason as of why he was summoned by Tezcatlipoca (besides him taking pity of how his life ended) which i won't say how it ends bc it'll be spoiler

Rage helm: except that in this case, even if you take off his mask he is still frowning !

Perpetual frown: Rarely will you see him not looking angry or frowning even if he's literally just vibin' . Sometimes this scares people away and it doesn't help that he tends to have airs of grandeur moments (tm) sometimes (king moment), but when you get to know him, he's pretty considerate and chill person ! U just have to ignore his king-ly traits at first

Clean freak: inspired by his real counterpart, my Mocte is very much into cleanliness and tidyness. On a single glance u think he wears the same black body suit all the time but then u open his closet and he just has a bunch of exact same copies of it. U will not catch him wearing the same clothes he did again till 4-5 days or the next week. He's like that one lil robot in wall-E that can't stand stains, u leave a ketchup stain over the counter and even if it doesn't involve him, you'll see him going like -SCRUBS-

War is glorious: Or more specifically speaking; death in war. 'Dying in war was the highest honor and was something that was longed for. The concepts of war and sacrifice responded to the needs of cohesion and reproduction of society, by dying in war or through sacrifice, the warrior would be able to pay the gods their mythical sacrifice which had given origin to life'. Mocte is not devoid of this line of thinking.

Foreshadowing: goes by the name Izcalli when first introduced and then his true name is revealed; Moctezuma II the last Aztec emperor (which he's technically not really -the- last, as two other rulers succeeded him after his death but their reigns were quite short-lived so it's not uncommon to see him referred as the last)

[bzedan]

Storytelling Collective does a yearly challenge for flash fic, with prompts and a nice community format. After completing 2022's run, I picked my ten favourites and collected them in a nice little volume you can pick up at Itch.io. As I'm (finally) editing the collection of my Flash Fiction February faves for 2023 I figured that I should share one or two from last year's bunch.

Belief

“Okay then, well, what do you see when you look at me?”

Sissy rested her chin on her fist and looked at Ribbon. Looked at her friend. The realization that Ribbon was her friend was startling and precious and she set it aside to examine later.

“You look like how naga were in the illustrations from my childhood world folktales book. Only, more real.”

“Yes, but how exactly?” Ribbon’s soft lisping voice had a lilt of amused curiosity.

“Well, you are mostly snake—and a very pretty one, thick bands of brown scales with skinnier stripes of ivory between them.” Sissy waved at the great length of Ribbon, coiled comfortably before her. “Then your head is a human head, only instead of long straight hair like in the illustrations you have a mane of feathers that go down your back a little bit.”

“Okay!” Ribbon’s coils tightened and released in a movement that Sissy had learned to interpret as ‘excited.’ “If you could identify what kind of snake my body was, what would it be?”

“Easy, California Kingsnake.” Sissy smiled. “Your face is even like a human version of theirs, a cute little oval.”

“Do you know a lot of snake breeds on sight?” Something in Ribbon’s dark eyes made Sissy think it was a trick question but she answered truthfully.

“Absolutely not. I only know California Kingsnakes because my daughter’s sixth-grade class had one and we ended up taking care of it over holidays since no other families would. I learned everything you could about kingsnakes.”

Ribbon coiled and uncoiled, then settled herself down so her face was even with Sissy’s. This close, and with the association in her mind, Ribbon really did look like a snake-become-girl, her snub nose and light and dark patches of skin mimicking a kingsnake’s blunt digging head. Sissy remembered her daughter at fifteen trying to explain furries and sparkledogs and was considering explaining the concept to Ribbon when the naga interrupted her train of thought.

“Just a few more questions. What colour are my feathers and what do they remind you of?”

“They’re jewel-toned, but like gems, not clothing colours. Red and blue and green, like in pictures of Quetzalcoatl.” Sissy sped quickly through the last word, knowing she was pronouncing the Nahuatl sloppily.

“And what is that?”

Sissy felt silly explaining a mythic creature to another mythic creature. “A feathered serpent. He’s a deity in Aztec culture but also the Quetzalcoatl is a type of creature in stories, not quite a dragon, I guess.”

“Okay, so.” More of Ribbon’s body moved under her so she sat primly upright, like a teacher who had reached an important part of a lesson. “To you, I look like: the general shape of a creature in a favourite childhood book, mixed with an animal you are fond of and a magical being you know about.”

“Yes?” Sissy felt confused. “You look like what a naga would look like if it were real—because you are real.”

“I look like what you think a naga would look like if it were real.”

“Wait—”

“Your mind shaped me into something you could recognize, Sissy. I look like what I do, to you, because that’s how you believe I should look.”

Sissy shook her head. “But you’d exist if I wasn’t here.”

“Yes, but not in this form. One of you called it the ‘observer effect,’ which was very tidy.”

“But what if two people were looking at you at the same time?”

“Oh, Sissy.” Ribbon moved to curl up closer to her, resting her head against Sissy’s. “No matter who is looking at me, I remain me.”

Ribbon’s sun-warmed body radiated heat against Sissy’s back. “Well, that’s good, it seems like it would be confusing otherwise.”

Ribbon laughed. “Very. Anyway, I think your perception of me is one of the best ones I’ve heard. You see me as pretty.”

“That’s because you are pretty.”

“Exactly.”

Crossposted to my blog

[morgianesffs-blog]

Okay, So... TALOCAN Thought’s.

I have questions, so many questions. Just from the glimpse they gave us, this is a solidified culture, not just a group of people that scavenge stuff from the surface. They built their own city, and make their own things. This suggests they have industry, and commerce.

There is masonry present given the stone work, and given the details present in their jewelry, I suspect some form of forging or smelting, as opposed to just carving. One because they look to smooth and finished, and two, because I suspect vibranium is very difficult to carve. So, I'm curios how they how they manage to get around the fire requirement of forging?

My theories are thermal vents and controlled uses of underground volcanoes as a heat source. Or utilizing underwater caves is for smithing, which would require specialized equipment to protect the artisan from the drying affects of the fire. What are yours?

Also the fire topic, leads into the next one.

They have some sort of agriculture, give the amount of kelp in Talocan, and the melons they offered Shuri and Riri (which could have just been acquired from the surface for them specifically), but I don't think so.

This culture originally came from land, knew how to do everything from land, and was familiar with things from land. What they knew, what they were nostalgic for was from land, and since they use them in the flashback they developed their air breathing masks pretty quickly on. They also have domesticated some sea-life (since they use whales for transport at the very least). So do they cook and grow foods on floating gardens like the Mayan and Aztecs did, do they have cave farms since they can duplicate sunlight, Is cooked food a luxury, or commonplace among the Talokanil? Or at least was it for the older generations, and maybe Namor since he was raised by the first generation?

The clothes. They have legitimate dresses, cloaks and capes, just sitting around. They didn't just make that gown for Shuri while she slept. The same goes for Namora's and the servants dresses, or Namor's cloak. Even if the dress Shuri wore was a royal artifact, that they preserved, the rest is impractical for swimwear, and only practical as surface-wear. Which suggest at least semi frequent excursions from the waters, and to me supports a potential above the surface workforce. Thought?

There is also the question of water in general. Talocan, not being pinned down on a map, seems to be in the Atlantic ocean. So, being in an ocean, that means its salt water. Now my high-school biology / I grew up fishing, lets me know about saltwater / freshwater species and why they cant survive the different environments. But... we see them in two rivers in the movie and rivers are fresh water. The first one I will let slide because Cambridge / MIT is spitting distance from the ocean, and therefore close enough to saltwater to either be a mixture, or survivable for a short amount of time. Wakanda though is supposed to be landlocked, so they must have used a river, and therefore freshwater. So can they just survive in both water types, or do you think the invented a solution for it?

[the-firebird69]

Pontiac Banshee: A Longer Look

This is the car and it is awesome it's almost perfect and he said it too it looks really awesome it is only a few things you change the rear wheel needs to be pushed out and kind of match up the well it'll make it look better other than that it looks mint I mean this thing is intense yeah it became before the scene but our son developed it without seeing this if you seen some that are like the bubble thing but not like that and I tell you what his ideas are great this almost no drag this could be intense okay we're going to try and set up a meeting regarding this car the Aztec it's crazy as heck but boy the thing is talking about hooking one I mean nobody would know it's just a wide body kit but it looks awesome it's a SUV and people would think it's crazy and people might start doing kit cars and the fiberglass modification and we do have chassis for it and we can assemble them or we can send them out to the assembled that's a better idea we can prep them and get all the parts together we have to make some not a ton and they like that we have like 1000 trillion roughly and yeah from 2010 no these are GM chassis so let's get together sometime we're going to try and push it forwards as a matter of fact s and see what they're talking about her son's idea with John remillard push it over the top he likes to have the women there and control them and he'll probably try cloning and all sorts of things and people will be protecting them and that's our angel

Thor Freya

Hey I like to control them and have them do things and the summer clothing idea we get this stuff we're going to have to try

Trump

I don't know it sounds too good I really we need something and we know they can make them pass no they're going to send chassis out and maybe the body and we assemble it that's really faster than hell we have to see what the hell we're going to do and pick a spot so they're going to try and make a prototype but you'll probably make one before we talk didn't make it out of every last it's out of fiberglass out of a carving from one of the Aztecs sounds goes it is how it goes but really this is pretty awesome that firebird SIM card looks great it is like firebird everything's kind of weird

And the banshee is perfect what a crazy car

Dan

I didn't say this once you better do something about this it's a terrific idea and I have the women do it and Rosie is one of ours

Trump

They were kind of tomboys I really like this idea

Tricia I wish it could come up with you so you want to have someone there with them it's not feeling that great it's okay but it's a long ride but he doesn't have a car this is terrible

Olympus

[blackdragon1]

Unexpected visit...

We didn't even expect it, but at the moment when my Belle and I were having a romantic moment for both of us... my master Quetzalcoatl came through the window...

- OH MY GOD !!!! - we both said at the same time, Belle covered herself with my back.... that is to say she stayed behind me...since we were without clothes.... Well, I managed to cover myself with a sheet.... -Aj ka'ansaj Quetzalcóatl ku yúuchul ba'al? ( Master Quetzalcóatl.... did something happen?).... - Belle and I, embarrassed, red with shame.... He?...looked at us and quite naturally....

- Táan u chíikpajal? ( They were mating?) , Chéen yaabilmech K'ajóolt a young lady, a Tona tu ya'alaj le jach( I just wanted to meet your young lady, your Tona said she is very pretty) - he looked at Belle and smiling at me - Ka jach jats'uts jach Ikki (And she is really very pretty Ikki)

- Ikki... what does he say - said my Belle under my ear - who is he?.....

- It's my master Quetzalcoatl - I said calming my Belle and swallowing - he says he wanted to meet you... that's what he told him...my Tona...?..... - my Belle looked at me and looked at my master?

- Your Tona..Ikki?...- my Belle arched an eyebrow - but .... what is this Tona....

- My guardian animal a kind of guardian spirit... but I don't have that, it's supposed to be at birth when the guardian animal meets the baby.... What a caretaker .... - I said surprised at that

- Je'elo'oba' teech wa yaan a Tona, Ikki yéetel in wa'alik ti' teech jovencita xan yaan jump'éel, óolal ti' Jaajal u na'( Well, you do have your Tona, Ikki, and I'll tell you that your young lady has one too, thanks to her mother.)

- What did Ikki say? .... what does he say? - my Belle was very intrigued

- That you and I, we each have our Tona....

- We?....- my Belle blinked in amazement when she heard that - I can't believe that.....

- So he says - at that my master bowed as if to say goodbye and ...

- K'a'abet in ka tselik yóok'ol in, ti' leti'ob tu p'ataj utia'al u siga juntel yéetel sáamal Kexi' ka u lleves u u Teotihuacán, utia'al u u u u conozca u Tona ( I must retire, I leave you to continue together and tomorrow I hope you take her to Teotihuacán, so she can meet her Tona ). - Saying this he went out of the window... just as he had come in... at that moment I heard my Belle laugh...

- What... what... - I said as we looked at each other, laughing my Belle kissed me .....

- After a castle with magical beings, I never thought I would end up with a Phoenix knight who has an Aztec God as his master.... - we laughed - ...and who enters through the windows at the most inopportune moment..

- Well I didn't think I would end up with a former 18th century princess - we kissed and .... - do you want to go on with what we were ex-princess or should I say, maid of this cranky Phoenix?.... - I smiled mischievously - but wait - I stretched my hand to the window and closed it - now there will be no more interruptions princess.... ready?.....

- I thought you wouldn't say that my Phoenix Knight - smiled my Belle flirtatiously ..... and so on.... Well, it's between me and my Belle...

On the rooftop of the apartment building, Cheese the house cat and a small tlacuache (opossum) were sitting on the edge of the roof ...

- A'al ti' teen ba'ax a preocupa Atzin? - asked the kitten to the little tlacuache (Tell me what are you worried about Atzin ?)....

- Creés ti' uts in ko'olelo' teen u Tona?- Atzin said as they looked up at the city lights ( -Do you think my lady likes it that I am her Tona?)

-Wilike' wa - Cheese and the little Tlacuache Atzin looked at each other - le ko'olelo' Belle a querrá ya'ab...( You'll see that if - Madame Belle will love you very much...)

Atzin: From Nahuatl (atl, "water" and tzin, "small water". Its most common meaning is "Agüita", in spanish, or little water

[chloemarievaughan]

May 22nd- Bruges

Drank some coffee in the hotel- this time we had a coffee maker in the room, how fancy 🙂 then we were off for a morning walk- it is chillier in Bruges than Ghent so far, so we dressed in our warmest clothes for the journey. We both are wearing leggings and long skirts. Found a cafe for breakfast and had a very enjoyable pancake breakfast (topped with brie - cheese and blueberry compote) with espresso. Mom had some fruit, a croissant, and a pour over coffee (rare to see in Europe, usually you just see espresso ( which I don’t mind haha). first stop of the day was the Chocostory Museum on the history of chocolate. It was definitely cheesy and at first I wasn’t sure about it… but it ended up being really cute and very worthwhile. Another audio guide, and exhibits that took us from the origination of chocolate with the Mayans and Aztecs, to the introduction of chocolate to the Spanish conquistadors, to the importance of chocolate in French royalty ( in the form of hot chocolate to drink first and then the hard form), to the industrialization of chocolate making, and rise of Belgian pralines (chocolate shell with typically hazelnut and sugar filling). there were props and illustrations, and even a live demonstration of praline making (with tasting) and a jar of unlimited chocolate samples- white, milk, and dark. Yum 🙂

With our chocolate tour, we could add on a French fry museum tour for only 5 euros! Of course calling them French fries is a bit sacrilegious in Belgium, they say “frites” or “Frieten” or maybe Belgian fries, but never French. Not as good as the Chocolate one, but some cute exhibits on the history of the Potato. Sophie Archbold would like this museum 🙂 and they gave credit to the US for inventing the potato chip haha. they did Not include a fry tasting in the tour, just a 0.40€ discount at the frituur (fry shop) at the end. Also, not enough salt on the fries in general in Belgium- though they do serve them at every meal 😂

Then we went on a canal tour in Bruges! We had bad timing and bought our tickets right after a group of like 80 children on a field trip so had to wait for a couple boats to go but sat in a beatiful spot to wait. Thought the Ghent boat tour was great, but the Bruges one topped it! Bruges is spectacular 🙂 the canals are full of little but beautiful buildings, we saw a lot of swans (the symbol of Bruges) gliding through the water, and our tour guide was very funny. At one point our boat went under the “lowest bridge in Bruges” per our guide, and he joked that they had a boat full of basketball players last week and they needed to clean the blood from their heads of the bridge after the tour. But the guide did brag that he only lost about 10% of his customers to decapitation on the low bridge 😂

after the Boat tour, we had about two hours until our brewery tour that we had Booked at 16:30. As an American, I am obviously less used to the time 16:30, but in my head, I looked at it and planned for 4:30 for the brewery tour. All of a sudden, I panicked that I read it wrong and perhaps it was actually 14:30, or 2:30, and I had missed the tour entirely. Of course, my wifi wouldn’t work and moms internet connection wouldn’t pull up our reservation, so we wandered around for a while hoping for the best! It was correctly at 4:30/16:30 🙂

Went shopping for souvenirs and chocolates and more souvenirs. We like to wander around getting a bit lost to explore new areas- though in Bruges it is hard to get lost because you can usually always see the belfry anywhere you are, but for some reason we went passed the same block of shops like 4 times during our wandering. we went to two scenic places before the brewery- the Begjinhof and the Minnewaterpark. The Minnewaterpark was a lovely park, but wouldn’t necessarily go back, pretty generic park. The Begiinhof was very cool though. It was a place where unmarried women who did not want to be nuns but agreed to live by a certain code of conduct lived, and it was a place of peace and quiet with a church and white buildings and flowers. There are apparently now nuns who live in the area as well.

Following this walk, we headed to De Halve Maan or the Half Moon Brewery! we really enjoyed the tour here though didn’t know we were in for 110 more steps during the tour, and a very steep staircase back down. The same brewery has been operating in one family for 6 generations in the same spot and for many years were the only brewery in the city limits of Bruges. Bruges is a UNESCO world heritage sight, and so new buildings cannot be tall and must match the style of the city. The brewery is quite tall with each park of the beer making process on each level of the factory, with a fabulous view of the city because it so tall. but the coolest feature of the brewery is that they have a direct beer pipeline to their bottling facility 3 km away dug under the city and just installed in the past decade!

also, the unfiltered Brugse Zot (fool of Bruges), one of the beers that is fully made on site without ever needing to leave via the pipeline, was fresh from the vat and the best beer I had in Belgium so far!

after the brewery, mom and I meant to find a dinner restaurant but instead wound up at a bar mentioned by our guide on the boat tour. It was directly across from the most photographed spot in Bruges, Rozenhoedkaai, and had a “wall of beer” with hundreds of bottles. We had a Bruges witbier and also thoroughly enjoyed that though we were in desperate need of food as it had been a really really long time since the Fries at the Frietmuseum.

popped across the canal again for dinner at a restaurant with another view of the Rozenhoedkaai, where we had a thoroughly enjoyable time, a delicious salad, fries, a cherry St Louis Kriek and a Raspberry St Louis Lambic, and possibly the worst steaks mom and I have ever had. They were cooked medium rare as requested but otherwise, not good at all 😂

I wanted to go see the Markt Square and Rozenhoedkaai light up at night, but sunset here isn’t until 9:41 pm. (Sunrise at 5:45am- were far north here!) decided that if we went straight back to the hotel at 7:45, we’d fall asleep, So we went for an another stroll by the Bruges canal. once again had a lovely time meandering, and managed to explore until 8:30 pm. Back to the hotel room to make some decaf coffee and stay awake until we can go admire Bruges at night!

And now at about 10:15pm, back to our hotel, enjoyed a quick evening stroll with some pictures of the landmarks at night! And now it’s bedtime 🙂 hopefully you enjoy about 7000 pictures of different Bruges houses along canals 😂😂 (my WiFi kept being uncooperative hence the late post)

[clementinesjourney]

Record Shop Funk - Pt. 1 Like real people do

A.N. : Hey guys, so i had this idea yesterday, and i really hope you'll like it. <3

MINORS DO NOT INTERACT.

Words: 1,9k

Pairing: camboy!Steve x Reader, roommate!Bucky x reader, Stucky x reader (as the story goes)

Warnings: nothing yet :)

Summary: Who knew that having a secret crush, then a hearbreak will end in such a sweet thing..

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

You and Bucky shared an apartment above the recordshop you both worked in. Your aunt was the owner of both, so it was a fairly good payment, and a fairly good apartment for a cheap price. It was a bright and big apartment with two bedrooms, so your decided to rent it out, all while searching for a helper to the shop downstairs. When Bucky came in applying for the job, you asked out of joke if he needs a place to live since you had seen around 5 people already and none of them felt right. His eyes lit up as he said he is in fact looking for a place. Since he was fitting for a job, and looked like a decent guy, you congratulated him on his new job, and asked if he wants to see the place today. You still had one and a half hour to close, but after it you would gladly show him the apartment.

He had nothing better to do, so he agreed to it, feeling happy about having a job he might actually like and a coworker he might actually will get along with.

-Do you drink coffee? I was thinking of getting one in the meantime. My friend works close by, and they make the best coffee in town. - He asked.

-I could go for one thank you - you smiled at him - iced cold-brew, no sugar, i'm sweet enough.. - you said with a smile.

He couldn't help but smile back at the joke. When he arrived at the café, he saw his friend Steve flirting with a girl whom he could visibly see trembling just cause he talked to her. Steve always had his way with girls, ever since the serum of course. After he broke up with Peggy, it was mostly just hookups, never finding a girl worth keeping around. Not as if they werent kind, pretty or good to him, it just never felt right. Bucky smiled at his friend, Steve immediately shifted his gaze from the girl, to a very happy Bucky.

-Did you get the job?

-Better.. I got the job, and she has a room for rent which i'll see tonight.

-Wow Bucky, i didn't know you were even better then i am.. sooo how does she look? - asked Steve with a slight wiggle of his eyebrows. He wanted Bucky to get a girl since ages and hearing this, his mind immediately ventured there.

-5'7, ginger, green eyes, freckles, curvy just the right places. why?

-Nothing Buck.. nothing.. - Steve said smirking at his friend.. Bucky never realized when he liked a girl, so he never really acted on it. He last had a woman back in the 40's.

-Sooo i know you didn't come to have chat with me, one black coffee and.. ?

-ah, iced cold-brew, no sugar..

After paying for the coffee, he hurried back to the shop, hoping to get to know his coworker a little bit better.

You thanked him for the coffee, and when you tried to pay, he refused.

-Next round's mine then. - You smiled at him with your 1000 watt smile, which again he couldn't help but smile back at.

-So tell me about you Bucky, what do you do in your freetime?

-Nothing really, just reading, spending time with my friends, kind of thats it.. I have a boring life really. What about you?

-Well, i work here, then i go home and listen to music, cook, god i love to cook, thats a big pro for the apartment.. just saying. - you said with a playful wink. - besides that nothing much. Sometimes i go to a nearby bar with my friends maybe concerts and thats it.

-I like washing dishes if that helps with the application for the room. - he said with a shy laugh which made your heart skip a beat.

- It sure does.. Do you leave your stuff around?

-No i'm a tidy person.. thank you very much. - he said cockily (just for the sake of being funny really).

-Okay okay, if you like it you can have the room, just promise to tell if you bring up a girl so i can leave. The walls are kind of thin.

-It's okay, i don't really...

-Oh um i'm sorry, i didn't meant to intrude, it just something i would really like everyone to add to their rental contracts. - you chuckled embarassed.

-Noo no, it's okay, i'm not embarassed by it. I guess i don't want hook ups, if one day there's someone i'll tell in advance.

-yea me too, i promise. If you end up renting it anyway haha. on that note it's time to close so i can show the room in a min.

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

When you opened the door to the apartment Buckyquietly took in it all. It was really bright, white walls with paintings all over the walls, plants in every corner or shelf you can put one on, a comfy looking mustard couch, aztec-y rug under the coffeetable, and a wall fully shelved, filled with books and little trinkets, it looked like a home he never had a chance to have. The livingroom had an american kitchen on the side, island in the middle of the kitchen area, it was white, and blue which reminded him of greece, down the hallway you showed him the bathroom which of course had a lot of plants that liked the atmosphere of a bathroom, a shower in the corner and a bathtub under the window. You then showed the empty room he could rent out. It only had a shelf and a wardrobe, and a queen sized bed. No decorations, no signs of anybody ever living there. You then pointed to the room the opposit of what could possibly be Bucky's in the future, saying that is yours. You didn't show your room, he wasn't gonna go in there anyway, and showing your most private space on the first day didn't seem like a good idea either. You then invited him out to the balcony, watching the setting sun, smoking a cigarette.

-So thats about it, what do you think?

-I really like it, and i mean.. my workplace is pretty close so thats a plus, also you said something about cooking all the time.. sooo if it's alright with you i would love to rent it out.

-It's settled then roomie. I'll give you the keys, you can move in whenever you want to. Tomorrow we are closed, so maybe that would be ideal.

-Yea, then tomorrow it is then. I'll ask my friend to help, then we can maybe hang a bit if you're free.

-Sure, i have nothing planned, and it's good to know who i'll be living with. - you said with a smile.

Before closing the door, you said your goodbyes, and you realized what did you just do, after he wished you good night with a killer halfsmile that almost had your knees buckle. You just agreed to living together with possibly the most handsome man you've ever seen who is also your new coworker, so you will basically spend most of your time with him.. Guess we'll see how this goes you thought to yourself.

Morning came soon enough, you were sitting out on the balcony when you saw Bucky arrive with a very tall, just as handsome man, carrying boxes of books, and bags of clothing. Bucky looked up at the balcony, waving towards you, you waved back, then moved to open the front door before going back out to the balcony, resuming your coffee and smoke.

When they finished bringing all Bucky's stuff in, it was already midday, so you decided you'd order pizza for all of you, as in like a welcome present.

-Hey guys, i'm thinking of ordering pizza, what kind would you like?

-Oh (y/n) you don't have to. - said Bucky, earning a smirk from Steve as he looked back and forth between you two.

- Noo i insist, today won't be the day i'll start to slowly kill you with my cooking. - you said giggling a bit.

- Whatever's fine peach. - said Steve with a wink, that you decided was just out of friendlyness. You didn't veen knew his name, and he seemed like a lady's man anyways. Not really your type no matter how handsome and muscular he is.

- Steve, by the way, nice to meet you.

-(Y/n), likewise. - you shook his hand.

When the pizzas arrived you called them to the kitchen, listening to all their shared stories from their early years. They seemed like really close friends, and genuinely good people. You had a really great time. It was nearly 9 pm when Steve left, for saving a dame from dying cause of boredom he said. You and Bucky chuckled, then he let him out, closing the door, locking it for the night.

-I guess i have some packing to do, so.. good night (y/n).

-Good night Bucky, if you need anything just knock. - you said with a smile, and he couldn't help but smile back. He felt at peace. He had Steve, now he had a job, and a room to make a home of, and you as a new addition. You were so kind, so eager to help if he needed anything, he loved how the scent of raspberries and flowers lingered in the apartment mixed with coffee and cigarette smoke. It seemed to have a calming effect on him.

You heard a soft knock half an hour later. WHen you opened the door you saw a smiling Bucky, awkwardly scratching the back of his head.

- Hey, um.. sorry. I forgot i didn't bring a blanket, could i borrow one until i get my own?

-Yea sure, i'll get one in a min. - You said, leaving the door open, letting him see a bit of "you" while you were searching for your spare blanket in your wardrobe. The room really was you. White, with mustardy curtains on the window, plants everywhere, books piled up here and there, a really comfy looking bed, pictures of you and your friends on the walls. And damn, your room smelled even more like you. If he wouldn't pay attention your scent would lure him into your room and never let him leave he thought.

-There you go. - you handed him the blanket smiling.

-Thank you very much.

Then he stood there for a moment drinking in the sight of you in front of him. You were wearing an oversized tshirt, that ended just around the middle of your thighs, hair in a messy bun, no makeup. He could swear he thought you were pretty before, but seeing you as you were made him fancy you even more.

With a small smile you told him goodnight again, then closed the door in his face.

You could hear his little laugh on the other side of the door, then his door closing. For the first time in months he didn't wake up in the middle of the night, and he didn't had a nightmare either. He was afraid he would, and then he would wake you up with his screaming, but looks like the blanket which smelled just like you calmed him enough.

After waking up because the rays of sunshine on his face, he smiled to himself guess i'll wait with getting my own blanket then...

[zyettemoon1800]

Pillar men story (pt.2)

"S-soft...." I heard someone say as I felt someone groping my thigh. I swatted whoever was groping me and turned to face the other way.

“My my, this human is a sight for sore eyes.” Another voice said as I felt the hand come back to my thigh. “Master Esidisi, I understand why we are here, but should we be examining and touching her while she is not conscious?”

"Relax Wamuu, we are not doing anything to dishonor  her...well, not yet."

Seeing that I wasn't dreaming and the voices weren't getting any quieter, I slowly opened my eyes to reveal four extremely tall and muscular beings casually lounging in my room. "Ah, look who's awake." The one with the nose ring said as I sat up in my bed pulling my leg away from the redhead who looked a little annoyed by my action but didn't protest.

It was quiet in my room as I sat there crisscrossed looking at each and every one of them as they looked at me. They're all beautiful, there's no doubt about that, but they are can be extremely dangerous according to my brother's letter.

"What are your names?"

"You are a strange human indeed. Most would ask why we are in their presence before wanting to know our names." the ring-nosed guy said rubbing his chin

"Well, I figured you would explain that part to me yourselves," I said making him chuckle

"I guess you are right little one. My name is Esidisi, the one sitting closest to you is Santana, this one is Wamuu, and  our leader Kars."

"Hmm...Aztec names right?"

"Yes," Kars said as he looked at me with those piercing red eyes

As I was about to speak further, my door was slammed open to reveal my very angry brother. "There you guys are you told you to stay in your room!"

" Jacob-" but it was too late, Alex was crying from being scared woke. I huffed as I  made my way to my wailing infant.  Diane jumped up from her slumber and started to growl loudly causing Jonathan to get up too

"thanks a lot, Jacob," I said bouncing Alex on my lap, try to calm him down a bit

"It's not my fault, I told them to stay in the room I prepared for them!" I walked out of the room into the one my brother "prepared" for them and I couldn't believe my eyes the only thing that was in the room was a desk and a pile of blankets the room wasn't even clean.

"This is a pig pin! I can see why they came into my room." I said walking back into my room . ”I'm sorry for my brother's laziness. I'll try to get that room looking.... presentable. You guys can hang in here or explore the house."  Wamuu nodded his head

"You can't tell them what to do, that's my job! Also, they can't just walk around the house freely, what if they break something?" Jacob retorted

"Well they don't look like cavemen and I'm sure they have common sense. From what I have learned about ancient Aztecs they were pretty smart and modern for their time so I'm sure they'll be fine. However, since you want to be large and in charge, if they're in an area of the house that you don't want them, then you can tell them to get out." I said to him before making my way downstairs with an almost quiet baby.

When we made it downstairs, I put Alexander in his high chair and walked into the kitchen to make breakfast. Of course, my day didn't go according to plan. Sitting in a seat right next to the refrigerator was none other than Lisa

"Are those gods up yet?" she asked as she stood up

" Why?" I asked as I opened the refrigerator door and started to pull out of things that I needed

"So I can show them around the house for a bit~" she smiled as she bites her lip. I rolled my eyes as I continued to do my task at hand

"Are you going to show them around wearing that?"

"I just bought it what do you think?" she asked as she did a little twirl. I sighed as I closed-door the refrigerator door and walked to the counter putting the items down

" You don't like it?"  

"Girl is basically a crop top and a thong."

"No it's not!" she yelled as she stuck her foot  "What about you your clothes? They're not any better than mine!" She stated

I look down at myself; I had on a crop top that stopped right above my navel and some basketball shorts.

"And FYI I look hot compared to you. At least I'm not a fat pig!"

"Still with the same remarks!" I exclaimed, "Honestly I  thought you all people would have come up with something a little bit better by now." I said yawning before I began to cut up some fruit for Alexander.

"Well-ahh..." she stopped mid-sentence I waited for a few seconds, but she still didn't say.  

As I  turned around, I was met with a very tone and muscular stomach. I looked up to see that it was the one who groped my thigh, Santana.

[hasquetzorkukudoneanythingwrong]

Codex Chaldeas: The other master

A young woman walked down the halls of chaldea, heading towards the summoning room. "Can't believe he already went and summoned a servant…" she thought to herself as she walked, determination emanating from her. 

She entered the room and before her was the machinery that Chaldea used to summon servants. There was a large raised platform in the center of the room, which looked to be where the servants would come from. Near it was what looked to be a computer console.

"So this is it huh? Guess it makes sense you'd need complicated machinery to summon… 'servants'? Is that what they called them?" The girl thought to herself as she walked towards the raised platform. 

She put her hand into her jacket pocket and pulled out a small charm, in the shape of an Axolotl. "The journal said this was supposed to help me, but I don't get how" she then laid it on the platform before turning back and heading towards the console.

She looked at the console and saw a large lever on it. "Ok, that's probably what starts it up." Before grabbing the lever and pulling it down. Suddenly the mechanism starts up. The platform glows and multiple large orbs of light came out of the console forming a circle.

"What the hell…?" The girl was bewildered by what was happening. But she still watched on as it started up. The orbs started spinning and formed a ring that then split into three. Then they closed in and a large pillar of light erupted from the center.

"Pinche madre!" She was shocked by what the mechanism started to do. Then in the pillar of light, the image of what looked like a person on a chariot appeared, sparkling in a golden light.

"Woah!" She said with fascination and interest when she saw the golden sparkles. Then the light subsided and before the girl stood a tall woman.

The woman had on what looked to be Aztec clothing mostly colored with grays and blues. Her skin looked to be painted black and white to look like a skeleton. Her hair was long, wavy and a shining black, her eyes a dull blue.

"Hola! I am the underworld goddess, Xolotl! Oh! You're a very pretty human! Hey hey tell me, do you like dogs?!" The woman said suddenly as what seemed to be an introduction.

The girl was shocked for a bit at the sudden introduction from the strange woman. She barely had time to even process the information. "Uh… Hola. It's nice to meet you, uh… what was your name again? Sorry, you went so fast I kind of missed it."

"Oh! So sorry! My name is Xolotl! And what's your name?" The goddess asked of her new master. 

The girl was shocked when she heard that name! "O-oh! Well hello Xolotl! Uh you can call me, Nota if you wouldn't mind." She responded to the goddess. 

"Holy crap, how the hell did I summon fucking Xolotl?!" Nota thought to herself, absolutely befuddled by what was going on. "I didn't know you could summon such beings. Well hopefully this will make the mission easier"

The goddess then started to step off the platform. "Well it's so great to meet ya mast-" but before she could finish she misstepped as she walked and tripped! Suddenly falling onto Nota!

"Ah!" Nota yelped as Xolotl fell on top of her!

Fortunately the fall wasn't particularly painful for either of them. Tho Nota was definitely annoyed by what had happened. "Uh, can you please get off? You're a bit heavy, no offense"

"Lo siento master! I have a bit of bad luck a log of the time." She stated as she got up and helped Nota up. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine, nothing happened at all" Nota states as she wiped down her coat.

"Ahem, so like I tried to say. It's good to meetcha!" Xolotl repeated with an arm extended out for a handshake.

Nota returned the gesture and grabbed her hand. "Same here, glad to start working with you" 

Suddenly the door Nota entered through opened and two other figures appeared. "Hey Prima, Romani told me you came here!" Rex suddenly said as he entered.

Along with him, was Quetzalcoatl his own newly summoned servant. And immediately, Quetz had a look of shock and excitement on her face! "Hermana!" She exclaimed when she saw Xolotl!

"Oh! Hola hermana!" Xolotl said when she saw Quetzalcoatl. The two suddenly came together in a very affectionate hug.

Rex walked up to his cousin as the two goddesses hugged. "So you got your own too, huh?" He said while looking down towards her.

"Of course I do! I can do whatever you can!" Nota stated with confidence in her voice!

The two then looked at their servants. "Somehow we managed to summon twins it seems." Rex stated.

"Yeah… interesting" Nota said in response. 

The two pondered on it for a bit. But they would have to leave it at that for now. As they had a huge mission ahead of them, the grand order had commenced and Humanity's future is at stake!

A/N: so there's Nota's introduction! Kind of a retreading of Rex's with the summoning! Hope you liked it! And hope you'll enjoy her inclusion in future stories!

Tags!

@exmeowstic @hasbbdoneanythingwrong @haskamadoneanythingwrong @hasspartacusdoneanythingwrong @chaldeamage-neo @grievouslyxorvia @littleminxthings @starry-sky-imaginarium

[minervacasterly]

Vírgen de Guadalupe & Mesoamerican Predecessors

The image of the Virgin of Guadalupe is very interesting because it's not original and it's not the mother of Christ. She's in fact the Goddess Coatlicue. *The* Mother Goddess of the MAJOR God of the Aztecs: Huitzilopochtli.

In Aztec mythology, she was once a beautiful woman and a daughter of the major gods and she fell in love with another handsome deity and they had four hundred children. In the Aztec myths, multiples of 4 and 10 were very imporant and 400 was just another way of saying too many as her kids came to represent the stars and the Aztecs knew (borrowing from the knowledge of previous empires) that there were more than four hundred stars in the sky.

But one day Coatlicue found her hubby with another woman and let's say things didn't go to well (for him and his lover). So what happened to her? Remember the Greek myth of the gorgons and all the snake hair on the main one, the Medusa, and eyes that turned people into stone? Well that happened, except the turning people into stone part because the powers that be wanted her to have a chance to atone for her sins. So she spent the rest of her days sweeping. For the Aztecs, sweeping meant cleansing yourself form your sins. When you were sweeping away the dirt, you were also sweeping away your sins which took the form of dirt. While she continued to do this, she found a ball of feathers on the dirty floors one day and decided to keep it, when she took it out she found it was gone and then to her shock, she also found that she was preggers with none other than the savior of an important people. She came to regard this prophecy with a bit of caution as she knew that it would look pretty bad for a woman of her calibre, especially a deity, to be pregnant out of wedlock, and especially when she had a bad rep of killing her husband.

And she was right. Her sons and daughters didn't take too kindly to the news and her eldest child and daughter, Coyolxahutli rallied all her siblings to go to war against their mother. One of them didn't like her idea and rushed to tell their mother what his sister was doing, and tried to hide her but Coyolxauhtli found out and right when she was about to kill her, her son was born all clothed and ready to battle. Huitzilopochtli, the god of war slaughtered all of his brothers and threw them to the sky, becoming the stars, and to his sister, he cut her head and threw it in the sky as well and it became the Moon.

As for his beloved mother, she became the most venerated female figure in Aztec society. She wasn't just another goddess, she was THE goddes. People did sacrifices to her, women went to her temple hoping that she would grant them fertility, and intercede on their behalf to protect their families.

When the Spaniards came, they tore down her temple and invented a new story where a Native saw a vision of the Virgin Mary on a hill, this became the foundation for a new temple, one where the Virgin was worshiped. This Virgin however was none other than the Christian incarnation of Coatlicue. And she retained some of her old elements which are the following:

-Instead of blood, her dress is pink which is the symbol of her people. Note that the angel holding her, also sports the same color

-Her veil has over forty stars, making an allusion to the multiples of 4 and 10 which were very important to the Aztecs, and more importantly reminding everyone of the Great Mother Goddess' 400 children who became the stars in the night sky.

-The sun's rays that radiate around her represent her importance and her place in the universe and the hierarchy of religion. She is the mother and queen of her people.

-She is represented as pregnant. No other virgin is presented in such a way. Here she wears a brown belt which in Aztec society signified pregnancy. The son she will give birth to, is the savior of course. But now her son has taken the form of Jesus Christ.

-The moon is at her feet. An allegory of her eldest daughter's demise at the hands of her half brother for trying to kill him and their mother.

-Finally, she is the queen of heaven. She is everything.

[starr-fall-knight-rise]

Emp-ire “The Angel On My Side.”

Hope everyone is having a good day. And I hope you all like seeing Ramirez a little more because he is going to be present a lot in these next stories. I hope you find this fun because I had fun writing it :)

“Relax would you, you look like…. Well you look like you're sitting in the dentist's office waiting for a root canal.”

Adam looked up from his hands as the shuttle rocked from side to side, “Sory, I just generally prefer to drive. This guy keeps dipping too shallow and it's making me nervous.”

Ramirez rolled his eyes and kicked back to take a look at the pamphlet he was reading, “Listen to this. I picked this up back on the station and it's  pretty interesting read.” He cleared his throat, “Within the last eighteen months GA xeno planetary analysts have green lit twenty potential colony planets for human habitation. According to xeno-scientific experts, these planets are all perfectly habitable, and unlikely to ever produce sentient life of its own. Each of these planets has a suitable climate for a large population though xeno experts will be  strictly limiting colonization in an effort to not destabilize the planetary ecosystem. Each colony will be heavily monitored by members of the xeno colonization taskforce. Efforts will be made to keep the natural landscapes of the planet as intact as possible. For these reasons the use of technology, and natural gasses are being strictly limited by the Interplanetary Energy Association. Some experts postulated that these limits on technological use might have a hand in deterring colonists, however this theory has proven to be false as slots for planetary habitation fill up quickly. Furthermore xeno cultural experts have been stunned at the sudden and rapid development of micro cultures within the colonies. The term they are using is called Rapid Microcultural Evolution, often these cultures are very specific and very niche to each planet often based on dead or outdated human cultures from history largely influenced by popular media.”

He set down the pamphlet, “Isn’t that cool, I was reading in here at it seems like there are “themed” Colonies now. Like the one we are going to is like wild west, but there is also a sort of greek/roman style one that popped up in the milky way, and even a victorian one out somewhere in andromeda.” Adam tilted his head, “Guess you and I are going to have to start a colony.”

“Alright, what theme are we gonna pick, can’t be sci fi because we live in that.”

Adam leaned back in his seat, “You ever stop to think that we only consider it sci fi because I watched too many space movies from the 2000s. Technically it's not sci fi its sci fact. I have a house on the moon, and fly a spaceship.”

“Good point.” He walked to sit over next to Adam, “So what time period do you think is cool.”

Adam tapped his foot on the ground, “how about…. Renaissance?”

“I was thinking vikings or WAIT Aztec.”

“Mmmm some of my ancestors were viking.

“And twenty bucks says some of my relatives were Aztec.”

Adam shrugged, “Just mix them together and make Aztec vikings and ‘bam’ you have the craziest space culture ever. Big ass viking men who drag you back to the ziggurat to pull your beating heart out of your chest for a good Maze harvist.”

The two of them laughed for a second until the shuttle dropped into upper atmosphere, and then the two of them went relatively silent as they prayed to make a safe landing as the shuttle rocked and bumped through the upper atmosphere. The sky on the planet was a very vibrant blue, almost more so than earth, and as they descended towards the barren open desert, they thought they might have seen a oup of horses riding north over the barren, rocky  landscape.

When they landed, Ramirez stumbled from the shuttle and out into sunlight throwing a hand up to protect hi face. 

It was hot, and the croaking of strange alien insects rose up around them. The site they were at was arid and mostly deserted with a single wooden building before them and a shiny new set of train tracks.

The two of them stared, “Awesome.”

Looking around, they could see miles and miles of open plane, mostly desert, but some tufts of strange looking scrub brush and more than a few rocky plateaus rising into the sky.

Then they looked around at the people.

They were not disappointed.

Men and women alike in jeans and suspenders, with wide brim hats and gun belts. Some of the women had on long skirts and decorative hats or even bonnets on a few occasions. There were a few horses tethered to the side of what they assumed to be the train station.

“I think we are a bit overdressed.” Ramirez said, leaning over to whisper to Adam.

He nodded, lets go change and then buy some train tickets to the capital. We have to find somewhere to get horses if we want to make this any sort of experience.”

Ramirez frowned as they made their way towards the train station, kicking up dirt in his wake, “Wait, horses, hold on I thought we were just going to kick up around town, go to the saloon, get drunk and maybe hit on a couple of bar maids or something.” 

Adam snorted, “Please we can’t go to the cowboy planet and not put our equipment to use.’

They shoulder their way through the double doors, their feet clattering on the wooden flooring. A few faces looked up at them from the waiting benches, but mostly they ignored the two strangers.

Adam motioned ramirez towards the bathrooms and the two of them made their way over, Glad that this was at least one modern convenience that they got to keep. Ramirez took a little while to get his gear on, and when he stepped out of the bathroom Adam was already waiting for him. 

Waiting for him leaned up against the wall, the brim of his hat low over his eyes. Ramirez was a bit surprised at how well the other man fit into the role. He was wearing a light blue button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up at the elbows, and a black vest over that, his hat was black and he had blue jeans tucked into black boots. A brown leather gunbelt hung at a canted angle on his hips.

When he looked up Ramirez grinned And adam shook his head, “You dumbass, do you even know how to put that on.”

Ramirez looked down, “What!”

Adam walked over, “I thought you lived in texas.”

He grabbed Ramirez by the shoulders and began adjusting his clothes, “Come on, If you are making me spend time with you, the best you could do is not look like a dumbass.”

Ramirez held up his hands Grinning as Adam grabbed the pistol from his holster and adjusted the belt.

“Hey Adam, is that your gun belt or are you just happy to see me.” 

Adam looked up at him with a withering gaze, “I hate you you know that.”

Ramirez grinned, “I know.”

Adam flipped the gun around, “Holster Like this if you want to be authentic, now quit being a dumbass or we are going to find out what it feels like to get a bootheel to the balls.”

“Kinky.”

He didn’t see the short side handed slap that came for the side of his head but still felt it was worth it as he tugged on his hat.

His poison of choice was a white shirt and no vest with brown boots and the light tan hat from earlier. He thought he looked sexy as hell. In fact he would go so far as to say the both of them looked  pretty hot. Two eligible bachelors out on the town…. Well one eligible bachelor and a slightly less eligible bachelor with huge baggage issues still hung up on his one and only love, but that was more of a mouthful.

Adam left Ramirez standing by the door and walked over to buy some tickets, which were also being purchased using credits as anywhere else. When he walked, his boots clomped over the floor and jangled lightly. No one bothered to look up as he went past making it clear just how common that occurrence was around here.

He came back later with two train tickets and sat on the bench next to ramirez leaning his head back against the wall.

Adam crossed his arms over his chest and pretended to be asleep, while some alien insects buzzed around the room rather annoyingly.

It was hot and Ramirez tugged at the collar of his shirt.

They were there for probably thirty or forty minutes before a distant train whistle jolted the two of them back into wakefulness.

Adam stood and so did Ramirez, the two of them jogging noisily outside onto the wooden platform in order to watch the train.

Though the train had wheels and ran on tracks, big, black and impressive, it clearly wasn’t run on coal or natural gas. However, whoever had designed the thing had clearly put great emphasis into making it look as realistic as possible, and the thundering roar as it rolled over the tracks was something to behold, vibrating in their bones in a way that just wasn’t captured by the maglevs of earth.

“Damn, that is cool.”

Adam smirked a little, “hey think the train will get robbed on our way back to town.”

Ramirez grinned, “If we don’t, I want my money back.

The platform around them started to fill up some, and they stepped back as the train pulled to a stop, urged back by a few conductors as a couple of passengers stepped out carrying bags. Some of them were cleary tourists, though there were a fwe who looked like citizens.

Stepping onto the train, the two of them were ushered into a car in the back and sat in an uncomfortable wooden bench as they watched the other passengers slowly filter onto the train. No one even looked at them twice, except, Ramirez noticed, a very pretty cowgirl who stepped o second to last and sat a few rows behind.”

He grinned and elbowed Adam in the ribs, who looked over at him with a raised eyebrow.

“I think this planet is going to really benefit from….. A latin lover.” he whispered seductively.

Adam punched him in the leg.

He yelped, “Ouch, dude, no sense of humor.”

“I don’t know, I thought that was pretty funny.” The two of them shared a laugh as the train began to chug forward over the tracks, slow at first and then faster and faster until the landscape was rushing by below them.

The ride was rather bumpy and sort of loud, but they were ok with that. 

The sun inched towards the horizon as the train moved, and the sky faded from blue to a delicate violent towards the horizon.

At some point Adam drifted off at his side and ended up slumping against the window.

Ramirez let the poor guy sleep and sighed.

It had been a rough time for the crew, and for him, but he hoped he was doing the right thing by coming out here and taking him on some sort of adventure. Sure he had selfish motives, and wanted to see cool things, but he liked to think this was mostly for his friend.

The entire sky was almost purple now, and the light of a distant city sprung up before them.

He nudged Adam awake, and the other man sat up blinking owlishly as he looked around. Little lanterns on the carriage had been lit, illuminating the interior of the train with dim yellow light. The train began to slow, and then pulled to a stop as they got to their feet and stepped off.

Walking off the wooden planks of the train station and down into the muddied dirt road of the Bramble Colony Capital: Two Sun.

The streetlights had already been lit though horse drawn carts and carriages were still being pulled through the streets.

Dogs barked on occasion and voices rose up from houses and establishments on either side of the wooden boardwalk street.

“Where to?” Adam wondered/

“The Saloon!”

“You are such a dumbass.” Adam said, shaking his head, but he followed after Ramirez. Walking down the street their boots clattering voer wooden boards and through mud the leather of gun belts creaking slightly as they walked.

“Dude I feel like such a badass.”

Ramirez turned to look at Adam eyebrow raised, for the first time since their trip started, he seemed genuinely excited.

“Glad I’m not the only one!’

“Hey!”

The two of them drew to a halt in the mud turning to the side where they spotted a man sitting on one of the wooden porches. Ramirez’s eyes widened as he saw the shiny golden star on the left side of the man’s chest, “Sheriff!”

The man Raised an eyebrow probably not used to being greeted so enthusiastically.

“You two new around here?”

The two of them grinned at each other as the man’s exaggerated rural drawl fell over them.”

The man narrowed his eyes.

“Yes sir, just visiting.”

“Well you see this building behind me.”

“Yes sir.”

“You two fools get into any trouble and you'll be behind bars faster than a thoroughbred from the starting gate, you hear me.”

Ramirez jumped up and down in his boots turning to look at Adam, “Wild west jail.”

“Not a tourist attraction Ramirez.” He turned to look at the Sheriff who was still eying them and grabbed his friend by the shoulders steering them clear, “We’ll keep our noses out of trouble Sheriff.”

Ramirez was still grinning as they made their way down the street, “Do you have a death wish?”

“He won’t kill me, but wouldn’t going to cowboy jail be a great story.”

“Getting dragged would also be a great story when all my skin pealed off.”

“Dragged?”

“Old west form of punishment where you get dragged behind a horse till dead.”

Ramirez shook his head, “I will go with a no on that one, also not a big fan of hanging, but I could do a firing squad as long as I was allowed to make a really bad pun before I go.”

Adam snorted with some amusement as they made their way towards the loudest building on the street. From the sound of the out of tune piano on the inside and the drunken singing , they were in the right palace.

Adam Grabbed Ramirez by the back of the shirt and dragged him away from the swinging doors, “Hold on, hold on.”

Ramirez stopped, “What.’

“Ive always wanted to do ths.”

“Do what?”

Adam cracked his neck and his knuckles before stepping towards the door and pushing both open. The clatter of his boots was loud on the floor and Ramirez waited for that expected moment when all of the sound would stop and everyone would turn to look at them.

That…. Did not happen.

In fact, no one noticed the two young men as they made their way inside the hot, cramped room smelling of liquor and sweat.

“My disappointment is immeasurable and my day has been ruined.” Ramirez whispered.

Adam frowned, “yeah my expectations were, well, expecting something better than that.”

Together the two of them made their way over to the bar, both leaning against it in exaggerated nonchalance before bursting into laughter. The bartender, a stern looking redhead walked over, “And what do you boys want.”

Ramirez patted Adam on the back, “me and my friend are looking to get very drunk very quick, think you can help us.”

The woman sighed, but ducked behind the bar.

Adam tilted his head at Ramirez, “I thought you didn’t like it when I drank.”

“When you drink alone, yes, but when you drink with me, we have a party.”

“Sure we do.” Adam snorted 

The woman came back a moment later with two shot glasses and bottle which she set on the bar, “This will get you drunk.”

Adam flipped over the bottle to take a look, “Shit, Ramirez, this is practically paint thinner.”

“Tastes like to too.” The woman said as she poured two shots of the stuff and slid it over to them.”

Adam took it gingerly like it was a snake about to bite him.

Ramirez raised the glass, “Ready when you are, cowboy.”

“Don’t call me that.” Adam said raising the glass, and together they kicked it back bith grimacing and sputtering as they came back up to set the shots back on the bar. 

Adam wiped his eyes, “Damn, Like…. Rubbing alcohol.”

Ramirez waved a hand in front of his face “Makes my eyes burn just thinking about it. Another!”

“Sweet heavens above.”” Adam Implored, but slid his glass back to the bartender, who seemed very amused.

“Are we going to end up in jail by the time this is over.”

“Probably.”

They took another shot.

It was about ten or so minutes later when Adam started to feel the warm fuzzy sensation inside his chest. Ramirez had already vanished somewhere tryin to woo the local population. No one was safe.

He took a seat at the bar head down staring at his glass.

Why was he thinking about Sunny all of a sudden.

“Someone break your heart.” The bartender said dryly. When he looked up, he expected her to be wiping at the same greasy spot of counter with an even greasier rag, but she was simply leaned against the bar staring at him.

“That obvious?”

“Nine out of ten times its the best guess, besides, most of the time two shots from that bottle can lighten anyone’s mood.”

“You got something….. Strong but like…. Good tasting?”

“You mean something brightly colored and fruity?”

“Yeah, something brightly colored and fruity.” She Smirked, “You're braver than most men at this bar.”

“I knew we were dressing as cowboys, but I didn’t know the 1800s let us borrow their views on drinks too.”

She laughed, and returned a few second later with a martini glass full of bright green liquid, “There that should do for yah.”

He sipped at it a little, and satisfied it wasn’t going to peel the first layer of his insides began to drink.

“So, this girl of yours… she leave you.”

“No uh…. I sort of left her.”

“You some kind of simpleton…. Idiot maybe/”

He sighed and slumped down in his chair. “That’s what I’m told… I left her…. So I wouldn’t hurt her. I don’t think she understood but….. I’ve been pretty messed up since the war.”

“A soldier huh.”

“Not much of one.”

“ANd your friend over there, the one dancing on the table, is he a soldier too?”

Adam turned around to look towards where Ramirez was standing on a table and dancing around like a moron to the flight of the drunken crowd below, “He sighed, do you know what a synonym for moron is?”

“What/”

“A marine.” He stood, “Hold on a second while I go get him, “ 

He walked over to the table hands on hips and looked up,”Ramirez, Get down from there.”

“Or, or you could come up here.”

“Or I damn well won’t.”

He turned around in a circle stamping his boot and clapping his hands.

“Come on! Have some fun.” off in the corner the piano was going loudly getting faster and faster.”

“If you don’t come here I pull out the shoe.”

Adam looked back at the bartender who looked more amused than she did annoyed. So he sighed and held up a hand, “help me up.”

Ramirez grinned and grabbed him by the hand, helping to haul him into the table, where the two of them linked arms and began dancing around in a circle in some horrible tandem rendition of square dancing mixed with swing dancing. The table wobbled dangerously back and forth threatening to tip over as their weight distribution swayed around and around. Laughing and Drunken chanting started up as the piano started to go faster and faster.

Those who were able to sing along in time with the words, soon stumbled over them, their lips tripping over the words that spilled from their mouths.

Adam and Ramirez stomped their boots and kicked up their heels in a wild tornado, both of them having surprisingly good rhythm. The piano grew faster and faster and faster until they were simply spinning around in a wild circle.

And then the door slammed open.

The piano cut off, and Ramirez went tumbling into Adam causing the two of them to pitch backward off the table and hit the floor with a loud “thud”. The room was dead silent except for the sound of boots rattling over the ground.

Adam ad Ramirez groaned rolling into sitting positions as they looked up at the intruder.

The man they saw was…. Greasy and unkempt with a snarled black beard and a pockmarked face. He wore a tatty black leather jacket and grimy fingerless gloves. His clothing was travel stained and filthy. When he walked into the room, his smell was just as present as he was.

“Don’t stop on my account.” He said, “it looked like we were just getting to the fun part.”

“What the hell do you think you’re doing back here Louis.” the bartender snarled,”I thought we made it very clear that you weren’t welcome last time.”

The man raised his hands innocently, “Oh please, I am just here to/...collect charitable donations.”

“Get out! Or we call the sherif.”

“Sheriff is busy…. Chasing outlaws outside of town.”

Adam and Ramirez exchanged looks as they slowly got to their feet.

The man reached towards his belt, “You boys stay right where you are.”

Adam raised his hands, “Woah, no harm done.”

Adam glanced towards Ramirez, giving him a look as he began to inch quietly to the side. Adam moved strategically in the opposite direction keeping his hands up.

He tried to look as shifty as possible to keep the man’s attention, “I think you should leave like the lady said.”

“Oh ho so one of the twinkle toes dancing boys thinks I should leave.”

“I do, so i am going to ask politely first.”

“And then what.” his hand inched down hovering over the grip of his gun. Adam did the same, though his fingers had gone numb. He was a good shot, but dueling! He knew he would fumble! He just knew it.

“I’m going to stop you.”

He laughed, “Oh you wil,l will you.”

Adam stared hard at the man’s face watching Ramirez move into position behind the man’s back, “I will…. I have the angel’s on my side.”

The man started to laugh.

Ramirez struck, grabbing a bottle from the nearest table and cracking the man across the back of the head with it. The man went down hard but Ramirez doubled over clutching his hand,”Fuck….. My hand! I thought those were so supposed to break! Shit.”

Adam leaped forward pinning the man to the ground.

A few other men and women rushed forward to help and soon enough they had him hog tied on the floor.

He stood up heart beating with exhilaration.

Ramirez rubbed his hand and groaned in pain.

Adam pressed his knee into the man’s back.

The bar tender came around from behind the bar, “That was a dumb move boys brave but dumb.”

Adam looked over to where ramirez was still nursing his wound, “yeah, I think that describes us pretty well doesn’t it. I got this guy, the rest of you can go back to drinking.” 

The bartender shook her head, “You buys drink free tonight.”

Ramirez grinned, “how can I say no to that! Drinks on me!”

Adam ignored the cheering of the bar for a moment, as he pulled the guns from the mn’s belt, and…. A very large knife. He noticed the decorative handle and, out of curiosity, pulled it out. It felt heavy in his grip, with good heft. He tested the edge against the hairs on the back of his arm, and they fell away smooth.

“Not bad.” he muttered.

Sunny would like…..

He paused

Looked down, looked around and then back down fighting with himself internally before.

Discreetly tucking the knife into his own, empty, knife sheath.”

Looking up he saw one of the serving girls staring at him.

He blushed and held up a finger to his lips.

She smiled, ruby red lips parting slightly, and winked at him, turning away exaggeratedly as if she hadn’t seen anything.

The door crashed open again a few moments later, and the Sheriff came barging into the room huffing and puffing like a bull, covered in dust, fingers stained with cordite. He paused in te doorway frowned at the scene before him and walked over, “Louis Grey.”

He looked down at Adam, and then Over at Ramirez who was taking advantage of his momentary glory.

“Thought I told you not to get into trouble.”

“You never told us not to stop it.”

He grunted and motioned to a few men to help him drag the body back to the jail, “Guess this is a thanks I owe you then. He has outstanding warrants in several counties, can never catch him though greasy little weasel.”

The unconscious man was dragged away only just beginning to stir. The sheriff shook his hand. “You boys be safe, and try not to do something so dumb next time.”

Adam touched the brim of his hat. “Yes sir.” He reached down to touch the knife at his belt, “We will make sure of it.”

[duhragonball]

BEGIN: Battle Tendency Liveblog.   JJBA Ch. 45-47

🇺🇸🗽🧗‍♂️🧼🪀🌵Part 2, Hell Yeah!🌪️🎈🛩️🌋🚬

I'm pretty friggin' excited for Part 6 anime, and Part 6 is one of my faves, so one could understandably assume that Part 6 is my favorite.  And I post a lot of other JoJo stuff on this blog, so it's probably not obvious, but Part 2 is the best.   

I got into JoJo in 2017, watching Parts 1-4 in anime version, then reading the scanlations of Parts 5-8 while I waited for the anime to catch up.    Then I re-liveblogged the Part 5 manga because there was finally a proper translation available.   And technically the Part 8 liveblog never ended, since the manga is still ongoing.  

As I developed an appreciation for the manga, I started to feel like I should go back and check out the comic versions of Parts 1 through 4.  Where better to start than my personal favorite?   But I never got around to it, until now.

There's a few things I want to explore with Part 2.    First, I want to go through and work out why exactly I like it so much.   It's kind of tough to articulate, but usually I just say that it's fast-paced and something's always happening.   Part 1 takes a while to get going, and Parts 3-8 rely on the Stand concept, which means that each of them occasionally fall into the trap of becoming formulaic.   Part 2 doesn't have the hassle of introducing all the lore, and it doesn't have the luxury of just doing a gauntlet of Stand Battles to pad out the story.   But I think there's more to it than that.  Battle Tendency has a charm all it's own, and that's what I want to talk about.

Second, now that I've become familiar with Parts 1-7 (and most of 8), I want to go back and see how 2 holds up as part of this mythos.   BT sort of gets overlooked, I think, and that's fair, since it doesn't involve Dio, Stands, or the more outlandish costumes of the later installments.  A lot of fans write off Parts 1 and 2 for being "boring", but at least Phantom Blood carries the prestige of starting it all, and providing the origin of Dio.  Something I think a lot about is whether or not Part 2 "connects" with the later entries in the JoJo series.  It forms a trilogy with 1 and 3, and Part 4 features Joseph's legacy in an important way, but what about the later ones?   Parts 5 through 8 owe a huge debt to Stardust Crusaders for introducing Stands, and to Phantom Blood for introducing JoJo's, but what does Part 2 give them, if anything?   

Third, I'm interested in seeing how BT holds up in isolation.    It's a direct sequel to Part 1, and it ends with a prelude to Part 3, so it's clearly designed to function as part of a larger saga.   But Parts 4 and 5 really don't operate that way, and that got me thinking that maybe Part 2 is more self-contained than I give it credit for.  

But enough about that, let's get this started.

There's two plot threads in these opening chapters.  One reintroduces Robert E. O. Speedwagon, now a 70 year old oil tycoon, and Straizo, who has succeeded the late Tonpetti as the Ripple Master.   Speedwagon has been using his oil fortune to fund a research organization called the Speedwagon Foundation, and it discovered something major during an archaeological expedition: an engraving of the stone mask, the same one Dio used to turn himself into a vampire 50 years earlier.   Note that the mummified corpse lying on the slab with the engraving has vampire fangs.   Whoever this guy is, he didn't just know about the masks, he used one personally.

It might get revealed later in the comics, but I'm pretty sure the anime version had Speedwagon explain that he primary purpose of his foundation was to learn more about phenomena like the Stone Mask, which is probably why they were digging up an Aztec temple in Mexico to begin with.   As I recall, the Stone Mask was discovered in that part of the world, and taken back to Europe, where it eventually came into the possession of the Joestar family.   Speedwagon would know this tale, and so if he wanted to find out more about the mask, he would have known where to start.   Fifty years later, he seems to have hit paydirt.

But the mask engraving isn't why he called Straizo all the way in from Tibet.   Deeper in the temple, there's a weird looking area that looks like something from out of an H.R. Giger painting.   In the center stands this column, or pillar, if you will, and mounted on the pillar is...

...This guy, surrounded by more stone masks.   When I first watched this part of the anime, I though the big reveal here was that there were lots and lots of Stone Masks, which would be a big problem, since Part 1 made a big deal out of destroying the one Stone Mask that started all the trouble.   And maybe the guy in the pillar was the one who invented the things, I thought, but the bigger problem is that he made so many of them.   But no, Speedwagon explains that the "Pillar Man" is not an image carved into the stone, but a living being, in some form of suspended animation.  He even has a pulse.   

So who is this guy and why did he create the Stone Masks?   Speedwagon does not care.   He only wants this Pillar Man destroyed before he wakes up, and that's the sole reason he called in Straizo.   The two of them were the only survivors of the battle with Dio 50 years ago, and Straizo's Hamon power, also known as the Ripple, can destroy vampires that were created by the Stone Mask.    So he's desperately hoping Straizo can finish off the Pillar Man the same way.   But Straizo doesn't seem as concerned about it, and he asks about Joseph Joestar instead.    So I guess I ought to circle back to the other plotline... 

Fifty years after Jonathan Joestar sacrificed himself to defeat Dio Brando, his wife Erina and his grandson Joseph have moved to New York City.   Joseph tries to buy a Coke, but this kid swipes his wallet.   Kind of funny how Joesph's first and last appearances in JJBA are him getting robbed. 

But the kid runs afoul of the local corrupt cops, who bludgeon him with their batons and threaten to put him in jail for 20 years unless he agrees to give them a cut of whatever money he makes from pickpocketing.   When Joseph catches up to this scene, the cop even says he's going to keep Joseph's wallet "as evidence".   I gotta say, not everything from Battle Tendency has aged well, but this police brutality stuff has become incredibly relevant.  This could be 2021, except the cop would have had a gun, and he would have shot Smokey, then Joseph because he mistook the Coke bottle for a rocket launcher.  

Joseph tries to defuse the situation by claiming he gave the wallet to the kid as a gift, but the cop doesn't believe that story, and he wouldn't care even if he did.   He even smears boogers in Joseph's face just to prove that he can say and do whatever he pleases.    Up to this point, Joseph looks and seems a lot like Jonathan.  Later artwork tries to downplay that resemblance, probably just so it's easier to tell them apart.   The anime gave Joseph different color hair, and Hirohiko Araki himself started drawing young Joseph with aviator goggles all the time, even though he doesn't wear them that much in this story.  But starting out, the idea was that Joseph is the spitting image of his grandfather, and it almost looks like this is just an clever way to sneak Jonathan back into the story and transport him forward in time, except....

Coming through, coming through, coming through now  

Coming through, coming through, coming through now

Coming through, coming through, coming through 

Shake it like it's heat, Overdrive!

Yeah, so Joseph can do Hamon/Ripple tricks just like his grandfather, and all the others guys who could use Hamon back in Part 1.   The difference is that when Joseph does it, it looks coooooool.  After breaking Officer Hulk Hogan’s trigger finger, Joseph takes a big swig of soda, because it’s awesome.

To Smokey’s surprise, Joseph did all that badass stuff a second ago, but he’s terrified about his grandmother scolding him for it.  So Joseph wants to run for it, and that suits Smokey, so they rush off together, beginning a long tradition of JoJo’s running from things.   Enemies, consequences, you name it. 

Smokey asks Joseph how he learned how to do that trick with the coke bottle, and he says he has no idea, he’s just always been able to do it.    He knows his grandfather had the same power, but he’s dead, and so are his mother and father.  Curiously, Joseph’s father did not have Hamon powers, so it seems to have skipped a generation. 

And that sets up the other side of the plot.   Speedwagon wants Straizo to destroy the Pillar Man immediately, but Straizo first asks about Joseph.   He had heard some time ago that Joseph had innate Hamon abilities, and he had used them once to rescue Speedwagon from a kidnapping attempt in midair.   A flashback shows us this moment, with guys threatening to ransom and kill Speedwagon, but Joseph is just chilling in the back with a Superman comic. 

Okay, time out.   This panel rules and all, but the Superman comic book didn’t start until 1939, a year after Battle Tendency begins.   Superman was featured in the 1938 magazine Action Comics, but this scene on the plane is a flashback to Joseph from his early teens.   Also, the earliest DC bullet logo didn’t appear until 1940, so what is this?  Some kind of magic, time travelling comic book?    I hope someone got fired for this blunder! 

Anyway, Joseph was content to ignore the hijackers until one of them struck him, and even that wouldn’t have upset him except he got his own blood on his clothes, which Erina bought him, so that sends him into a rage.   Speedwagon was worried that Joseph might clobber the hijackers, but instead he knocks out the pilot, then drags him and Speedwagon out of the plane before it crashes.    The main thrust of that story was that Speedwagon was more worried about what Joseph might do than the hijackers who had already threatened to murder him.   Joseph is slow to anger, but once you piss him off he’s going to go to war, and he doesn’t always think things through.

But he’s never been trained to use his powers like Straizo’s order.  Upon hearing this, Straizo kills his own disciples, and all of the Speedwagon Foundation guys, then knocks Speedwagon himself out.   This will anger Joseph when he hears about it, but Straizo is counting on this.    As he explains, Hamon power can slow his aging process down considerably.   He and Speedwagon are both about 70 here, but he looks much younger.   Even so, he’s feeling his age, and he confesses that he always admired Dio for his immortality and power.   So now that there’s Stone Masks available, he’s decided to use one on himself, become a vampire, and become “a being that surpasses all”.  

And that’s a theme that runs through all of Battle Tendency, along with the rest of the JoJo franchise.  The main villains always seek power to position themselves above the rest of humanity.  At first, it seems kind of random for one of the men who opposed Dio to suddenly switch allegiences like this, but in truth, it’s human nature to be tempted by this kind of power.  Dio succumbed to the lure of the Mask, and now we find that Straizo would have done the same.   He just didn’t have the opportunity until now.

But the reason he’s concerned about Joseph is that he’s thinking this through.  Dio was defeated after all, so Straizo wants to eliminate anyone who could potentially defeat him.  Aside from himself and Speedwagon, the only others who know about the battle with Dio and the Stone Mask are Erina and Joseph.   Once he eliminates them, he’ll be free to do as he pleases.

Back to New York, this is a pretty sweet drawing of a car.    I’m not a car guy, but even I can get behind this.  By now, Smokey has met Erina Joestar, and he finds out some of the backstory from Part 1.    Erina’s husband died at sea, and she was pregnant with their son, Joseph’s father, and had a baby girl whom she rescued from the same incident at sea.   The two children grew up, married, had Joseph, and died, the father in World War I, and the mother of some unspecified illness.  Perhaps out of loneliness, Erina is “unflinchingly kind” even to someone like Smokey Brown, who doesn’t seem to think he’s worthy of her favor.

Anyway, Erina wants to take Smokey out to dinner at this nice Italian restaurant, but this racist mafia guy makes a big stink about a Black person being allowed to eat there.    Joseph gets up to kick his ass, but first he has to check with Erina to make sure it’s okay, and she’s like “Yeah, destroy that guy,” because even though she doesn’t approve of Joseph beating up people, she can’t abide disrespect to her friends.   This leads to the memorable fight scene where Joseph is like eight steps ahead of his opponent.  He goes for his brass knuckles, but can’t find them, and Joseph deduces where they are because of some bloodstains on his shirt.  He even suggests what this guy is about to say next because he’s so predictable.

Then he dodges every blow, moving so quickly that this jerk thinks he was hitting Joseph, when in fact he was punching a hat rack behind Joseph, and somehow he didn’t notice that he impaled his hand on broken wood until Joseph explained it to him.     And honestly, this feels like the prototype for a lot of Stand Battles down the line.  I’ll have more to say on that later.

What puts Battle Tendency over the top is how Joseph not only outwits this big lummox, but the rest of the diners at this restaurant all start applauding him for doing it.    They’re just honored to be present in this insane comic book where literally anything can happen.   “He made that asshole punch a hat rack!   This is awesome!”

Then this dude suddenly speaks up.   He’s not only the mafia guy in charge of the first guy, but he’s also heard a hot tip about Speedwagon getting murdered in Mexico by a Tibetan man.   He knew Erina would be interested in hearing this, but he’d never met her before.  Small world, huh?  

How would this guy already know about it, though?  I guess Straizo deliberately leaked the story, specifically so Joseph would find out about it sooner, but it seems awfully convenient.   But that’s how Battle Tendency rolls.   This thing’s only seven volumes long, and we’ve got a lot of ground to cover...

[godsofhumanity]

GODHUNTER by AMY SUMIDA | REVIEW

okiee this was recommended to me by @inkleaves ^-^ uhmm so i have a LOT to say about this book. spoilers under cut.

OVERVIEW: “Godhunter” is the epithet given to a young woman named Vervain who uses witchcraft and magic to go around committing deicide in order to save humanity from gods who drain their energy to gain immortality and other godly attributes. However, when Vervain is recruited by the Norse god Thor, she finds herself in an alliance with the people she originally considered her enemies, as they work together to save the world from the maliciousness of the Aztec god, Huitzilopochtli.

RATING: 2/10. i’m giving it a low rating because it doesn’t really have too much to do with mythology, but i did like its general portrayal of most deities even though this book was insanely cringey and dumb.. now, even though under the cut, i’ve kinda bashed the book quite a bit, i still have to admit that i’d be lying if i said i didn’t have fun reading it. i stayed up to 1 AM trying to finish it because i had to find out what the protag’s next stupid decision would be,, all in all, if you like trash/cringe fiction- this is for you.

WARNING: even though this book is a YA novel, I’d say there’s a definite emphasis on the adult part of “young adult”... Certain scenes and themes are inappropriate for minors.

AVAILABLE ON: pdf link here ^-^ ((i think it downloads immediately if you click))

THINGS I LIKED:

the book is cringe.

great diversity in terms of the god cast. i learned about some new deities that i was previously unfamiliar with, so that was cool

Brahma (Hindu deity) wears a Gucci belt as part of his attire ^-^

whatever Estsanatlehi and Tsohanoai (Native American deities) had going on.... they were really cute and wholesome

THOR-HORUS BROTP AGENDA!!!!!!!! everyone who follows me already knows how keen i am about this idea of all the war deities hanging out together (fite club), and this novel served up exactly that. disappointing that Huitzilopochtli wasn’t a part of it, but i am settling for Thor and Horus’ several centuries old friendship.

Horus’ falcon tattoo detail.. i LOVE the idea of the gods having their sacred animals tattooed,, it’s so awesome!!!

Pan... i liked the way he still had his little horns, and he was kinda chaotic and fun.

in general, the descriptions of the gods were so pleasant and so cool.. i really liked the way that pretty much all the gods were beautiful,, this is very much in line with my own idea of how the gods look, and i think it makes sense, because they’re meant to be charismatic, compelling beings- beings that you worship, beings that you praise- why would they be anything but beautiful? and even if they were considered ugly by other gods, that’s only in comparison to other deities.. from a human perspective,, i just can’t see how any mortal could consider a god to be anything less than perfection,, idk

in particular- i really enjoyed the descriptions of Huitzilopochtli in his debut. i know he’s a piece of shit in the novel, but i LOVED the way he was described with his war-frenzy being triggered by blood, and the way, as god of the sun, his body almost glows, and heats up as though you’re looking into the sun itself, and the only way he can cool it down is by bathing in blood... WOWOWOWOW it’s just such a neat and fantastic visual description. his physical appearance really paid tribute to Huitzilopochtli’s original domain and attributes.

i also liked the linking between Huitzilopochtli being the Father of Vampires.. links between Aztec culture and vampirism is a trope that i didn’t originally suspect, but have become exposed to quite a bit as of late,, and i think that it’s quite a clever little plot. i liked that Huitzilopochtli also debunks superstitions about the sun, garlic, crosses, holy water etc.

Huitzilopochtli as the villain. the man makes a BRILLIANT villain- his motives are very clear and also, i thought, justified, albeit unoriginal. his presence is quite terrifying, and the reader does worry for Vervain’s safety whenever she’s with him- which is good! this means that he fills out his role as a villain well. tbh,, i did love Huitzilopochtli from the moment of his debut, but he got knocked out of my books during a certain temple scene and i have some thoughts about that in the next section.

when Vervain wakes up after the temple dream with Huitzilo, and she relaxes because it was just a dream, but then she looks into the mirror and sees bite marks on her neck!!! CHILLS! now THAT was good writing- it was unexpected, and served well to navigate into the next part of the plot.

Odin and Huitzilopochtli holding a ted talk on “how to create panic and discord among the humans”, and the gods having to bring certain meals depending on what the first letter of their names were.

Vervain’s pop-culture references, and her weaponry- especially the gloves that have blades in them that get released when she swings her hand downwards. very cool, i want them.

casual appearances from Vladimir Putin (yes, i said Vladimir Putin)... i couldn’t stop laughing when i read that Huitzilo was trying to kill Putin’s daughter to instigate a war...... asdhshajdhasdjfhjdhf insane

also i know Vervain was trying to mock Huitzilo when she nicknamed him “Blue”,, but like.. that’s a really cute name and it wasn’t even insulting.. yeah, that one backfired on you Vervain... if anything, that just made it seem like she actually had affections for him and i feel like probably in part is the reason why he felt encouraged to pursue her.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE/THINGS THAT DIDN’T MAKE SENSE AND/OR CONFUSED ME:

the book is cringe.

it reads like a 15 year old’s fantasy AU where she’s a humble young woman, unextraordinary- yet somehow, she is the muse of every man’s desire. handsome, ripped gods who never wear clothes are laying themselves down at her feet,, and she is just overwhelmed by the choices before her; and all the while, she has to balance a complicated love life with her duty to save the world (since she’s the only one who can).

Vervain as a protagonist. idk how old she’s meant to be, but since the book is in first-person, and the reader is exposed to her innermost thoughts,, i’ve gotta say- she’s incredibly immature. as a protagonist, i just feel like she’s rude, pretentious, snobby.. she has no idea what “respect” even means. in every scene, she’s either fighting someone, or lusting after them (when Teharon told her off for having lascivious thoughts about him, and she simply responded with “well stop being so sexy then” i wanted to die.... WHAT is wrong with her)

i hate the way she looks down on the gods- even if you didn’t worship them, or even believed in their existence, surely you wouldn’t have the gall to lecture Hades and Persephone on how to be a good couple (especially when your advice is shit). surely you wouldn’t have the gall to say to Thor what Vervain says to him on pg 227, 4th line from the bottom, that i will not repeat here. Vervain is just too self-absorbed. i don’t hate her, but i definitely think her character is a bit,,, iffy.

relating to Vervain as the protagonist- everything just seems to happen to her.. and i know that she’s the protag, and things are meant to happen to her, but it all happens to her one after the other in succession, no breaks. it’s so easy for her... oh? Huitzilopochtli is going to kill Putin’s daughter? no worries, Vervain can read Huitzilopochtli’s thoughts! oh? the gods have never been able to transform more than half their body into their animal form? no worries, Vervain is so powerful she can force a god to change against their will! oh? Vervain is being attacked by blood-thirsty wolves? no worries, she saved the life of one werewolf and now he’s indebted to her and will literally kill himself in order to protect her! everything is easy, and nothing is a problem.

the way every male deity ever sees Vervain once and immediately wants to take her to bed. why was that a necessary aspect of her character? and also, why are the gods portrayed as such lustful beings?? it really wasn’t necessary.

Horus throwing a fit about how December 25 is his birthday and that it was stolen from him by Jesus... to quote:

“No big deal?” Horus puffed up. “I was called the Lamb of God. I had twelve apostles, and my myths spoke of my crucifixion and consequent resurrection in three days. His stories were my stories first!”

it’s fine that Horus is angry about his birthday which was i think, historically celebrated around this date- but the rest of it isn’t even true???? Horus didn’t have 12 apostles, i’m pretty sure he was also not called “Lamb of God”, and he wasn’t crucified!!! aghhhh even Thor says “It’s been so long that even you don’t remember things accurately.”

anyways.. my beef with this is the way it’s phrased so as to imply that “oh christianity just stole everything from the pagans” when this is so incredibly false and sounds like something an ill-informed person would say. you can read more about christianity, paganism and christmas here

kinda related to the previous point- the jokes about Jesus’ skin colour. i quote:

“... when Christ first became a god, he looked Jewish because those were the people he chose to align himself with. However, the Jews didn’t want him, and when Christianity spread, the white people wanted Jesus to look more like them. With the change in belief, Christ’s appearance changed. ... We used to tease him about how he looked whiter every time we saw him... Kind of like Michael Jackson...”

what the FUCK??????? seems like Sumida doesn’t understand that various ethnic groups illustrate Jesus as appearing as the local people do. Yes, obviously in a Western country, Jesus is going to look European, he’s going to look white. If you go to Japan, you will see Jesus and the rest of the gang looking pretty fucking Japanese. the point of this is NOT to erase Jesus’ Jewish ethnicity, and it is certainly not because of something like “the Jews didn’t want him”- it is because it is a way for followers to better relate to the Divine. including Christ in this story isn’t the problem- i’ve seen others do it very well. the problem is how uneducated her writing comes across.

all the gods have human jobs so that they can earn money and stuff,, which is fine- Thor, for example, owns a line of boats, which makes sense. but Pan? his job is making p*rn. now even though it’s true that everyone associates Pan with sexuality and stuff,,, this isn’t his primary role, and making Pan out to be just a playboy who has his mind in the gutter 24/7 i think is a bit of a mockery. Pan is, first and foremost, a god of the Wild. why Sumida elected to make him a p*rn manufacturer and not a wildlife conservationist is beyond me... i’m not even pagan, and i thought this creative decision was distasteful and stupid, especially because his character is actually quite light-hearted and cool.

the temple scene with Huitzilopochtli and Vervain. as i said previously, i really really liked Huitzilo’s character. he made an excellent villain. but this part?? i understand why it was done, but i HATED that it had to happen... not just because it was horrible for Vervain, but Huitzilo seemed so powerful and godly right up to that point- after which he seemed pretty pathetic- going back after Vervain after she’s rejected him countless times. she is JUST a mortal!!! c’mon Huitzilo, give it up!!! you are degrading yourself at the expense of achieving one mortal’s “love”.. the fact that he had to hypnotise her to get what he wanted AND had to achieve it through her dreams (when’s she can’t protect herself) was sooooo pathetic and disgraceful.. IMO, he committed the worst sin any person could ever commit and i just... AGHHHHHHHHH SMH WHY?!

speaking of morons- Thor. Thor just comes across to me as extremely possessive, and over-protective,, and idk how Vervain was NOT creeped out by the fact that Thor had literally been stalking her for two years before she even met him. wtf? god or not- that’s creepy. actually, i think it’s creepier because he is a god. 

Sif. i am still waiting for good media representation of thunder god Thor and his beautiful golden-haired wife Sif- i want them to be HAPPY, and i want them to be in love the way they should be! 

Persephone. i like the idea of Persephone being sweet-tempered, and kind- but in this book, she’s such a wimp??????? she totally just lets Vervain be rude to her, a goddess who’s name means “Bringer of Destruction”. also- her relationship with Hades seems toxic.. i mean,, he like tracks her? she starts stuttering when she talks to him, and gets nervous when people so much as mention his name. not to mention the fact that Persephone says that when she does go back to him, all he demands from her is a certain horizontal dance so much so that she is “sore” (<- quoting from the book here) every time she returns??????? WHAT IS HAPPENING?????????? and no one even questions it. Vervain doesn’t even question it! instead she suggests that Persephone MOVES IN with Hades permanently???? and that Hades should just start verbally saying how much he loves Persephone instead of “showing” her how much he “loves” her.....??? there are SO many issues with this.. i can’t even- *screams*

the Aphrodite-is-madly-in-love-with-Huitzilopochtli side plot. it could have been really good, but then it ends so abruptly,,, i mean.. why’d Aphrodite get done so dirty like that? Also summary of Hephaestus’ first and final scenes:

Hephaestus, entering the room: Right, what’s all this then? Vervain: Your wife is cheating on you (again) Hephaestus: Aight, i’m out *leaves and never comes back for the rest of the book*

what the HECK was the ending with Trevor?? i hate Vervain so much i can’t... okay first of all- WHY did Trevor decide to have a wolf-marriage with Vervain?? he kept on going on about how she’s so beautiful, and kind, and caring... NO SHE ISN’T TREVOR!!! i’m so mad that he would pledge himself for all eternity to this girl who doesn’t even like him in that way!!! you played yourself son

also- Thor accepts the fact that Trevor is going to have to be close by to Vervain because the terms of the marriage state that Trevor will literally die without her touch, which is VERY GENEROUS of Thor... but Vervain?? ooooh i HATE her.. she has the audacity to look at Trevor with her lecherous eyes thinking about lustful things IN THOR’S OWN BED!!!!! and then she thinks to herself “oh whoops i shouldn’t be thinking that”- yeah you’re darn right you shouldn’t be thinking that!!!! whatttt is wrong with her............. 

also- where tf did Huitzilo go??? he just gave up on trying to instigate a war and vanished?? the plot was so unresolved?????? AGH!