#she’s a knight enchanter btw

[hollytree33]

Finally got around to painting my Inquisitor, Shivana

[writerfae]

Rant at me about Sera!

How old was she when she got married btw, because my guess is 18-19? By my math, when Trevor was born, she was probably 20?

Also, funny story (welcome to half asleep Knights of the Alder theories!):

Me: Wakes up at 3am the other day

Me: No, brain, Trevor's tough time is not going to be Sera axe murdering her husband, go back to sleep

Also, Talon looking like Trevor when he was little😭😭❤️❤️ i caaaaan't

So here’s finally a Sera rant!

I love her so much honestly. Like, she had it kinda tough and still tries to get the best out of it, still tries to make those she loves comfortable.

Much like Talon, even if not to the same degree she has been standing in the shadow of their dead brother. Especially since she was the first child after Thorin died.

Cyrus had wished for a son. Which by no means meant he didn’t love Sera, but he was also a bit… disappointed? Idk how exactly to put it.

She was four when Talon was born and immediately stripped off of the title as heir of the house. Not that four year old Sera cared much about being heir. And later on too she never wanted that title, but she felt kinda guilty that Talon had to play that part because of her.

And she loves her little brother so much. From the day he was born she was absolutely enchanted by him and she wanted to do everything she could to be a good sister to him. And she was!

She played with him a lot and taught him things and shielded him from their father’s expectations a bit (as good as a child could). Little Talon was formed so much by his sister and he really loved her.

They had that little deal that they would become guards together, because it’s been a dream and a passion for both of them. Sera was very good at sword fighting too. That’s why her father let her start guard training in the first place, she had talent and passion.

But Talon wasn’t the only one with expectations on him in the family. Sera had her daughterly duties she was expected to fulfill too. She was basically raised to one day be a good wife, a bride that you could give away to a good family.

Then one day there were words that in the neighbor court a high lord had died and that his son, the new high lord, was in search of a wife. So her father promoted that he’d be a good candidate for an engagement with Sera.

It was honestly a bad timing. Sera was in the midst of guard training. But ever the dutiful daughter and knowing that he was a good party, she agreed with it even when her mother was against the idea.

Sera met the guy and liked him pretty much. He was charming and good looking and not as much of a prick as other high lords and heirs she knew.

She married him at eighteen, before she could complete her guard training. She quit it because of her marriage and pretty much gave up her (and Talon’s) dream. Which is the reason Talon refused to talk with her, he felt left alone and betrayed and was mad she moved and broke her promise.

Sera suffered a lot from her brother’s treatment. She tried fighting for Talon as best as she could, not wanting to lose him. When Trevor was born it got better luckily.

Her marriage started out pretty good. Later it went a bit downhill, though. It’s not like he treated her badly, it’s just that he and his family again had lots of expectations that she had to fit into and it made her a bit uncomfortable. They didn’t let her continue guard training for example.

And her husband, though nice to her, grew more and more distant. After she birthed him an heir, it seemed like he spent less and less time with her. He flirted with other girls too. Sera felt rather lonely.

Trevor was her only light in this situation. She poured all the love she had to offer into him and he loved her in return. Sera is very protective of him, trying to prevent him being groomed into an heir like her brother as best as she can, even though it gets harder to do so.

People think Trevor is too soft. Sera defends him with all she got. She wants the best for him and the more time she spends in her husband’s house the more she starts to doubt that it is good for Trevor to get raised there.

Anyway, Sera is so strong and kind and a good sister and daughter and mother and she’s a real fighter. I have more Sera thoughts but I can’t put them in words so that’s all for now 😭

And no, Sera won’t axe murder her husband, but the idea is interesting (it might seem a bit tempting too, at times. For Talon especially) 😂

The similarities Talon and his nephew have are so sweet honestly 😭 Trevor reminds Sera of her brother a lot

[theemporium]

Hooooooly shit I just got off of work AND AHHH MORE PPL ARE FEEDING MY BRAINROT WITH ROYAL LESTAPPEN. HELL YEAH.

Also general question to you and the other anons: do we actually like queenie as a nickname? I just kinda went with it after the original confusion.

Ok ok ok so so so more brainrot time

This little SHIT of a head knight would be sooooo fucking smug (privately unless they’re in the bedroom) that he bagged not one but TWO royals (to the anon that brought this up; your so real for this). And they’re from THE two most powerful kingdoms in the realms…. Oh he is sooooo smug and is such a little shit about it if he gets a chance.

I’m adding to my personal head cannon from the powerful kingdoms here… let’s assume that Charles and queenies betrothal is an alliance thing, since the two kingdoms have been at war for GENERATIONS. One is successful because of their kindness and generosity, the other because they’re feared. Even better they’re neighboring kingdoms, and queenie is an only child (not, her dads a manwhore but she’s the only one with a claim to the throne). So with the betrothal, there is also an agreement that when queenies parents abdicate/die the kingdoms are gunna be merged… yeah max is SO FUCKING SMUG.

Which just makes the Jos is alive and trying to get max to fuck over the royal family even better bc he KNOWS that the kingdom is going to get more powerful at one point and he wants that power.

But also once max puts his foot down and says to hell with jos’s plan, his is trying to assassinate queenie. Charles is fine, he likes Charles, but let’s go with the theory that Sophie (maxs mom) was his second wife and an assassin or something of the sort from queenies home kingdom killed his first wife. Which is why queenie is his main target and not max

Ok I have more ideas but I’m stopping here I’m getting hangry

Also is the 🦒 emoji taken yet? I’m forgetting my (and yours IM SORRY BTW) indecisiveness for now and am going with the tallest animal I can find bc I’m also a “giant” (according to my friends)

I don’t know why the assassination plot gave me flashbacks to ella enchanted😭that scene where she fights back against the curse and doesn’t kill the prince like she was intended to. I don’t know why that came to mind but it did!!!

but the way that max originally trained/became a knight because his father wanted someone in the inner circle. the fact it started as a way to please his father but then he fell for the king. and then the queen. and for a few months, it’s so easy for max to feel like he’s living the perfect life until jos steps back into his life

and imagining max first pulling away from charles and the reader because he doesn’t want his father to know. but then he does it because he doesn’t want jos tainting this pure thing in his life, or hurting the people he loves

and maybe charles and reader knew his relationship with his father was rocky, but when they find out the truth??? when they find out how badly max was treated??? THEY ARE HAPPY TO SHOW JOS WHY THEY WEAR THE CROWNS AND NOT HIM AND MAX IS JUST SO OVERWHELMED BY THESE TWO PEOPLE WHO LOVE HIM ENDLESSLY

[cybernightart]

Totally isn't my third post in a row because I'm having ADHD fueled brain Zoomies at 1:00 a.m.

Jumping back to the theme of season 5 with the whole D&D Overland quest thing

And how there is three fitting mercy skins for the theme. And every one of the skins from the event are to do with the campaign and all of them are a part of the campaign that they're playing together.

So what if Angela not being able to be there for every session instead of playing one constant character throughout the campaign instead whenever she can be there she plays one of three reoccurring characters that will pop in from time to time and she'll play whatever one is necessary for where the party is currently. Alot of genji X mercy btw!

The first one being Angela one of the fellow nights of Queen Emily's court, who works alongside knight Genji, and even trained together to become Knights. They're very close friends with some bubbling romance between them

The second being the witch, deep in the enchanted woods during a quest they encounter a town who are apparently a terrified of a supposed witch, kind of set a bounty for whoever can get rid of her by any means necessary. Intrigue the party ask around and the Nearby townspeople worn the party of how dangerous the witch is, which of course the party agrees to get rid of her believing she's dangerous. Being the brave night he is Genji of course wanders into the forest by himself, which inevitably leads to him being captured by the witch who was revealed to actually be a good witch only wishing to help and heal people but is just very misunderstood. And the only reason she captured Genji was because she believed Genji was there to kill her, so after they come to some sort of understanding after a long discussion with quite a lot of heavy flirting from the witch leaving the night quite heavily flustered, the rest of the party arrives to witness what they believe at first to be the witch literally enchanting genji, but pretty quickly they realize she was enchanting him in a different way.

And the third character that Angela would play, would be the duchess of castle Ziegler, who has been missing ever since an attack on castle Ziegler. The party of course once again sets off to find the missing duchess with not only the hopes of saving The duchess and being heroes but also the very high reward for her return powering them forward, but along the way they hear news of a dragon and how the dragon was the one to have supposedly attacked castle Ziegler and is the one holding the duchess captive. once they reach castle Ziegler they come to find the place completely abandoned aside from all the skeletons of the other knights and adventurers who have tried to save the seeming damsel in distress, so after a couple not so great roles it's decided that they will split up in hopes of finding the duchess faster. Once again Genji inevitably gets himself caught, leading it to a very Shrek one style encounter where he discovers that not only is it a lady dragon but the lady dragon is in fact The duchess herself. Genji comes to find out that it was actually some attackers who had came to take over castle Ziegler that had made The duchess reveal herself to be the magical dragon being that she is in order to defend her home, with the ones that escaped spreading the news of what they saw which inevitably got twisted and spun the more the story spread. Eventually turning into the story that the party heard. Knight Genji in hopes of getting out alive being that he is currently unarmed and trapped by a dragon as much as she is at the same time a beautiful duchess, he would rather not end up like all the other knights chard in the corner, trys talking with the duchess which after rolling a very high natural 20 plus modifiers results in him doing far too well with talking with the dragon lady. With him accidentally seducing the dragon (that's meant to be the bards job but what ever/j), and once the party finally find where Genji is as well as the duchess/dragon and find out everything that has happened (with certain parts left out) they're still very confused at why genji look so disheveled and why he looks so shaken up, with Lena eventually putting two and two together when she sees the what we can hope is lipstick covering his mask, she teases him hard for this which only gets worsened when as they are leaving the premises lady Ziegler looks out the window calls for the knight and blows a kiss his direction. Leaving him incredibly flustered and the rest of the party floored with laughter.

Basically she used every single one of her characters to flirt with Genji in some fashion. Adorable if they're dating at this point outside of the D&D campaign and hilarious if they're not and are still just in the flirting phase, because Genji would get so flustered even outside of the campaign leading to him making some slightly worse roles and decisions within the campaign during these moments. Because Angela figuratively and literally knows how to press all of genji's buttons.

[cy-cyborg]

I have a question. I have a character who lost her leg (below knee amputation). The setting is medieval/classical antiquity level tech approximately, and there is some magic around.

Anyway, the character uses a prosthetic most likely (she's supposed to be a badass mercenary*, and you can't exactly cut people up with a sword if you use crutches (correct me if I'm wrong)). I might solve the "prosthetic doesn't fit properly and will cause issues" with magic, like an enchanted prosthetic that magically always fits?

But now I'm wondering, what about the liner and sock and how it attaches to the stump. So, do you know anything about how prosthetics were attached to the limb in the past? And how they'd prevent chafing between the skin and the prosthetic (does just any piece of fabric work for that)?

Of course, I can just solve it with magic, but I first want to explore realistic options before resorting to that.

*If the whole idea of a warrior character who is also an amputee is not possible in this setting, please tell me! I do not want to go through with something that is super unrealistic.

It's definatly possible, especailly for a bk amputee!

Small side note first, you absolutely can fight on crutches, not with a sword (to my knowledge) but I used to do martial arts when I was younger and my instructor spent a great deal of time teaching me how to use the crutch itself as a weapon. Not the most elegant thing in the world but if you put some spikes on it, it could do some damage lol. Probably not what you're looking for but I thought it was worth a mention anyway lol.

As for the prosthetic itsef, it's unfortunatly pretty hard to find information from that era but I do know of a few examples. I know a lot of medieval knights who lost an arm and got prosthetics capable of holding shields built into their armour (as in the armour is what held it on) and continued to fight, but it's a lot harder to find information about leg amputees from that same time period, mainly because it seems leg prosthetics kind of sucked until pretty recently lol.

I do recall my prosthetist telling me about some old types of prosthetic legs though. Not sure about the reliability of the info since it seems to be just a collection of facts he learned about while researching the weird old legs he found in the company's storage room, but it could be somewhere to start at least.

Old prosthetic leg sockets used to be made of metal and leather or various types of wood. Post WW1 they used aviation scrap metal for the overall shape of the socket, sometimes lined with leather, and the liners were made out of thick cotton socks. some also had leather straps used to tighten the sockets. That's a much later era obviously, but depending on your setting, there wasn't anything about these designs that stood out as being unachievable -technologically speaking - for earlier time periods, I think there just wasn't as much demand until we started blowing each other up in war. Here's a photo of one of those legs btw, this in an above knee but it can give you some idea of what I'm talking about. Some were left metallic, but most of the time they were painted to match the wearer's skin tone.

Don't quote me on this but I think the smaller holes were how the padding material was fixed in-place to the inside the socket. Either that or it was to allow airflow, not 100% sure. The larger hole was so that you could pull a sock through as a way to get the leg on more securely. They still use that method on some prosthetics today, my first above knee prosthetic had one too. Both these features would have been on below knee prosthetic sockets too, they just would have been on the lower part of the leg, obviously.

Earlier prosthetic legs seemed to be mostly made out of wood, though I couldn't find much info on how they actually stayed on - my best guess is using similar methods to the metal ones, using leather straps pulled tight to hold them in place and using fabric socks for padding. Legs like this have existed since ancient times. As silly as it sounds, the pirate peg-leg is likely based in a certain amount of reality. Some rich folks would have been able to get wooden legs carved to look at least similar in shape to the real thing but a lot of common people would have been stuck with a peg. it was honestly probably a more practical option than the carved ones anyway.

My prosthetist also showed me photos that looked like they were from the early 1900's from I think Vietnam, where they made prosthetic legs out of bamboo and other wood. According to the article that accompanied the photo, the design had been in use for centuries. This prosthetic was made from bamboo. It had a peg for the leg itself, and the socket was a kind of basket made by splitting the bamboo peg and using fabric strips (or possibly other bamboo cuttings, the picture was very grainy) to tie it together and make it tight enough to stay on.

Like I said, I don't know how reliable to sources are, but hopefully it gives you a starting point for where to look!

[thetombedspirit]

Dark Parables, the Hidden Object Games: Rant about the Stained Portrait

So, random fact about me; I like Hidden Object games, and my absolute favourite as a kid was the franchise Dark Parable, where you play as a detective going to different location, and meeting classic fairy tale characters with unique twists thrown into the universe.

Like, for example: Little Red Riding Hood? A badass sisterhood of monster hunters! Snow White? Became the Snow Queen after her son fell into an enchanted coma! Frog Prince? Trapped in a cycle of immortality and death while everyone he touches turns into frogs!

They were a fun series of games for me, and I recently got into playing them again, especially when I heard they weren't being made in recent years.

So I bought and played them all the way to the last one: the Portrait of the Stained Princess.

And I have to say, for the last game of the franchise to this day... what a let down.

SPOILERS if anyone wants to play the games for themselves, you have been warned.

Not gonna lie, it started off strong, but then, halfway through the middle it starts getting fuzzy, then the ending comes around and it's like they lost the script last minute and just threw something together.

To clarify; the princess makes friends with a prince of a dark kingdom whose cursed to not walk in sunlight, or something. They make a promise to find the Water of Life together. When they are forced to separate, the prince gives the princess his guardian animal (which has his heart, btw) a little duckling "The Ugly Duckling" and leaves. Apparently, prolonged time away from his heart will cause him to turn cold. Remember that, cause the games NEVER brings this little factoid up again.

And I guess the princess just forgot where they random duckling came from, because she just forgets all about him for no apparent reason. He eventually returns to ask for her hand in marriage, but because the king, her father, doesn't want her to marry a prince from a kingdom that's said to worship DEATH and all that, he attempts to trick the prince with a stained portrait of the princess, putting it off as her actual likeness.

Of course, the prince is not deterred as he fell in love with her kindness, not her beauty and returns disguised as a blind fiddler. The princess arrives, but still doesn't recognise him, again for no apparent reason! Naturally, because honestly, the guy gave his literal heart away and this chick doesn't remember her only childhood friend, and also because the king lied to him, he cursed the princess into the portrait, to become as stained and ugly as her broken promise.

Over the years, a family of knights are selected to take the princess place every blood moon so that she can find the Water of Life. One knight eventually betrayed his oath and tried to burn the portrait to spare his family, but was caught and condemned for it. Follow me here, because this matters for some reason!

Then we come in. A man, secretly a descendant of the knight, sets out to find the portrait and help the princess and neglects to tell us this when he proceeds to PUSH US OFF A CLIFF! After that, we're suddenly working together, even though he PUSHED US OFF A CLIFF and proceed to the islet that contains the Water of Life... that is then never brought up or even used as the Dark Prince shows up and is still pissed that the Princess doesn't remember him and just decided to swallow the world into darkness. A fight scene happens, prince gets stabbed, and then I guess??? the princess remembers him now, because she kisses and embraces him as he's dying??? and then the game just ends. Curse lifted, danger averted, what a wonderful day!

It... it was just a bizarre ending. Like, with all the talk of a broken promise and the princess just randomly forgetting, I thought the knight or at least the king was gonna have some hand in that, especially with the graffiti, "The King's Lie Ruined Us!" like, I was expecting a parable to tell me that the king wiped the girl's memory because he wanted to erase the Dark Prince entirely. I was expecting the Dark Prince to be a misunderstood good guy that seems evil but then helps us, especially when the Swan Knight PUSHED US OFF THE CLIFF and put the other guy in the portrait.

And with all the talk of swans and the whole Ugly Duckling bit, I thought this game would have some ties to the Swan Lake Kingdom, but I don't think it was even brought up as a clue or a Easter egg.

And then there was the Bonus Game, because of course I got the collector's edition, and it was just so random! Like, suddenly there's an impostor, and I think it was meant to be Julian from the Jack and the Sky Kingdom game, because the impostor was carrying a rose around. Anyway, the impostor impersonates the princess, for some reason, tricks the knight into cursing himself into a portrait, for some reason, and then kidnaps the princess and ties her up on the islet, FOR SOME REASON!!! and then THAT bonus game just.... ENDS! NO FOLLOW UP WHATSOEVER!!!

Sorry if this rant to getting tiresome, but this games meant a lot to me and the fact that it ends like this was so confusing and disappointing. It just... ends. Not with a dramatic bang, but with a cold whimper.

It makes me hope that if Dark Parables ever comes back, that knock us out the ball park.

Anyway, I just wanted to rant. Thank you guys!

[lloydfrontera]

canon divergence and transcended noviel au!!

Where Lloyd complains out loud about wanting a normal marriage: so he asks Noviel to do something about the 'competition for the lady that deserves Lloyd Frontera's hand in marriage' challenge that Alicia hosts amdmxnd

btw long ask i am SO SORRY

Noviel at first asked why not just marry Alicia and live a good life as a king, but after much explaining earth customs he's convinced that Lloyd's making up excuses to be able to live at the Frontera estate freely, so he obliges anyway, just because he wants to see Lloyd truly happy, too

days before the competition Noviel makes an announcement to leave the barony for a month, much to everyone but Lloyd's shock, especially bc of what the Queen's planning to do, but either way Noviel leaves to do some 'work', and when he's fully gone, Lloyd's nervous, and Javier's delighted to finally be rid of his presence, albeit for a month

Fast forward to the day of the competition and Lloyd's sweating bullets bc Alicia's completely dominating the entire fight bc swordmaster queen(we stan🙏), but then. Suddenly, a challenger who wears an extra translucent black veil to cover her eyes, and adorning a very foreign looking dress appears, and??? Begins to show prowess in swordfighting?!?

the spectators watching immediately comment in awe that it's the fabled daughter of noble from a faraway continent, labelled the "slient beauty and power" of her family as she almost never speaks, yet is blessed with an ultra affinity for swordsmanship as a swordmaster AND beauty, to the point she needs a veil to 'ensure nobody immediately falls in love at first sight', and that the reason why she's here despite how the competition announcement had been only out for days was bc she roams around fighting challenges to find someone who can defeat her one day

inevitably, foreign lady and Alcia clash in the final spar against each other, with foreign lady showing sword techniques completely unknown to everyone, flashy yet practical moves, and just giving off pure power with every strike, and yet, somehow looks like she isn't giving her all in it, just fighting to prove something

Watching her fight, Javier's completely unnerved at the thought of another grandmaster in the making, and yet, silently grateful at the fact that Alicia won't marry Lloyd- and was about to comment on the tevhniques looking a bit familiar to Lloyd but.

Lloyd's completely enthralled at the fight, and dare Javier says with a pain in his heart, Lloyd's completely in love with the Lady, if the look of admiration, longing and shock on the other's face has anything to say. So he doesn't say anything out loud, and just watches the fight silently

meanwhile Lloyd's having the time of his life, completely flattered and extra grateful, because he knows that the lady that's slowly taking her time to defeat Alicia to prove a point is none other than Noviel, dressing up as a convincing lady. Lloyd's affection is definitely over the moon since Noviel didn't HAVE to put in so much effort for this one request, but he did;

Needed a competitor? Noviel dresses up as a lady that covers the eyes so nobody knows how he looks- oh but her identity? Spreading fake rumors days ago about a travelling swordmaster, genius plan- and most importantly, Noviel just. Showing off moves that were only described in the original "knight of blood and iron" just as a tribute for Suho, who always wanted to see how it looked in real life♥️, so of COURSE Lloyd's completely invested and enchanted during the whole fight, unbeknownst to everyone except Noviel and him :)))

The competition ends with Alicia being horribly defeated by foreign lady, the entire magentano kingdom congratulating and praising for foreign lady's win, and Javier's heart being broken seeing Lloyd excitedly going down to 'meet' her

Lloydcs in full fanboy mode completely praising and just so goddamn happy when speaking with the foreign Lady, even though she never replies, just chuckling silently

and later post competition, much to the shock of the spectators who know of "her story", after Foreign lady whispers to Lloyd to relay what she says to the crowd- Lloyd, using mana voice amplication, tells them all that the Lady who fought in the competition is none other than 'Lady Ione", the swordmaster who's only here to look for a challenge, and thus had never intended to marry Lloyd in the first place

However, she said, that any lady who would dare court Lloyd in the future will be challenged by her again, as she expressed deep interest in him (Lloyd's unsure if the last bit was an act or if it was genuine, so he's completely flustered either way, Javier's planning to train harder, and Alicia, though accepting defeat, plans to know more about her abilities)

Before Lady Ione leaves, Alicia requests a formal audience with her, along with Lloyd and Javier for a lowkey interview

After explaining her story on a paper as 'a young orphan who was discovered and trained by the "knight of blood and iron" and travelling around under his wing, until a noble family had decided to take her in after owing the knight for saving their lives, and from that point on, grew up as the adopted noble lady from a faraway continent, as a student of the "knight of blood and iron"' which explains how she's so strong and then saying that the Knight is now being held accountable by her family for her sudden disappearance, since she 'requested' him to distract her family so she could compete in the queen's competition (bc who DOESN'T pass up an opportunity to beat up a monarch right???)

Alicia's lowkey mad at the fact this competition basically meant nothing to her, Javier's glad that she doesn't want to marry Lloyd, and Lloyd's dying inside(gratefully) bc how the HELL does Noviel come up with such a convincing lie and getting away with it?!??!??

And if they needed evidence to back up the fact that Noviel and 'Lady Ione' are two different people, Lady Ione would show a pre-recorded intelligent video thing(like the one that happened in chapter 227 of the webnovel) of Noviel, with a helmet ofc, doing paperwork stressfully while communicating with everyone lmaoo

Eventually, Lady Ione leaves the lorasia continent for yet another 'challenge' and bc of her story, no one questioned this or stopped her- and when Noviel returns looking haggard a few weeks later, nobody has any suspicions against it, so it ends with (almost)everyone getting what they wanted 😌✨

Originally i was going to make Javier do the crossdressing but it would be funnier if Noviel did all this snnxndnd

Also about how the Noviel au works in the last arc of the novel ..... Let's think about that ina another time i can't handle the heartbreak yet mamzmsns

i have literally nothing to add to this it is perfect just as it is oh my god i am obsessed!!

like!!! noviel not only participating but actually winning the competition for lloyd's hand??? holy shit ajskdhksa

and like yeah he would! at this point he'd absolutely move heaven and earth for lloyd so this is like. nothing in his eyes. sure, he'll beat every challenger in the continent if lloyd asks him to, no problem.

AND JAVIER BEING DELIGHTED ABOUT NOVIEL LEAVING AHSKDASJKD i can just imagine someone half heartedly suggest getting another bodyguard for lloyd while noviel is gone and javier nearly biting their head off because how dare they, isn't it enough he has to share lloyd with noviel, that one is already superfluous enough as it is, no, this is his master he can protect him all by himself thank you very much

(altho coming back to what we said the other time about the novel ending with javier being literally unable to protect lloyd at the end,,, maybe javier would feel a little unnerved about noviel going away even as he tried to pretend he isn't. maybe he gets just a little bit more twitchy, a little more paranoid. maybe he gets a little more anxious about lloyd being out of his sight. noviel is annoying but at least javier knows he wouldn't hesitate to protect lloyd with his life. mmmmhh thoughts for another time)

ashdkja and oh my godddd lady noviel!!! yes yes yes yes i love that!!

i love the idea of javier being unsettled by some random lady suddenly start winning every fight and advancing through every stage with seemingly no difficulty. because at this point he would've been like. not happy but. at least resigned to alicia winning and marrying lloyd because at least he knows her. he knows she would be able to protect lloyd and he trusts her with him. but this lady?? who the fuck??? is she???

i can just imagine him quietly start wondering where the hell did he left his own dress lmao

AND THEN HIM THINKING LLOYD FELL FOR YET ANOTHER MYSTERIOUS MASKED STRANGER OH MY GOD his heart just sinking when he sees how mesmerized lloyd is by the lone lady and jumping to the wrong (and yet completely right) conclusion that he's in love jasdksafd

because yeah!! lloyd is very much in love!! but because he already knows that's noviel who went out of his way to give him an out from the whole thing just because lloyd asked him to and!! it's just so much for his poor little fanboy heart ashdksa

Showing off moves that were only described in the original "knight of blood and iron" just as a tribute for Suho, who always wanted to see how it looked in real life♥️

i love that his implies that suho gushed about it to noviel at some point and not only did noviel listened to him but also remembered it <3 like oh my god that's so sweeeet

Lloyd's unsure if the last bit was an act or if it was genuine, so he's completely flustered either way, Javier's planning to train harder, and Alicia, though accepting defeat, plans to know more about her abilities

noviel making his claim on lloyd i am Screaming lloyd would be an absolute blushing mess like face bright red even tho he convinces himself noviel is just saying it to get him out of the compromise ajsdkasd also love that noviel basically said "get on my level" and alicia and javier both said "bet"

and noviel's fabricated backstory for the lone lady is so fun, i love it, this man is lying his ass off and he's enjoying it, he's had plenty of experience already pretending to be a whole another person, this is easy in comparison (but also i kinda like the idea of noviel not being very used to lying before meeting lloyd but learning to do it very quickly, except that lloyd doesn't notice it and he thinks noviel is still a bit rubbish at it so when he sees him fabricating an entire backstory he's just like :O he didn't know he could that :O )

ahsdksak imagine if once noviel comes back javier just,, asks him,, once in a while,, after the lone lady. like just casually. out of curiosity you see. totally not because he's worried she'll change her mind and come back to marry lloyd and then javier will have to have lady ella challenge her in a duel and make a whole mess out of things. absolutely not. nothing like that. he's just curious.

FUCK I LOVE THIS SO MUCH THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SHARING IT WITH ME

also a tiny doodle cause i couldn't help myself <3

[incorrect-koh-posts]

I was curious!! Did you go into watching KoH already knowing about/having a special place in your heart for the historical Raymond of Tripoli, or did watching the film inspire a love for him?

Ah well ... it's complicated, haha.

I mean, I always say that I first watched KoH in 2020. Which is true - in the sense that I then watched it intentionally for the first time. I've always loved historical fiction, but the amount of medieval literature and culture I learnt about at uni awakened a sudden interest in knights and the medieval period in particular. So, in a long line of historicals, I picked up Graham Shelby's novel The Knights of Dark Renown (which is admittedly very dated) sort of by accident, and was oddly enchanted by this sad grouchy Raymond fellow. Obviously, I had to investigate further. I soon stumbled upon William of Tyre's description of him, which sold me even more on his character, and then I found KoH. When I saw that Jeremy Irons, one of my favourite skrunkly old actors, played Tiberias ... well, at that point I was well and truly lost already.

But I soon realised that, actually, I had seen this movie before. When I was about 12, with my then-best friend who had a terrible crush on Orlando Bloom (which I very much disagreed with, lol) and made me sit with her through every movie with him that she could get her hands on. I think I was still miffed that she had laughed at me for thinking Aragorn was hot when we watched LotR together (I still stand by that, btw), which is why I basically sulked through the first 45 minutes of KoH. Then Raymond showed up and I was like 😳. And then, I think, I was immediately so overcome with embarrassment that I forgot about this entire film for the next seven years or so, haha. You could say the rest is history.

[a-shizno]

A rvb dnd au where Tex was originally supposed to be the BBG of the campaign but Church’s character rolled a nat20 in seduction leaving the DM scrambling to:

a) find a way to give her personality

b) salvage the plot with the fact that Tex is not only a PC’S girlfriend but and old flame (thanks a lot York)

c) Figure out how to act out said personality and said plot changes

D) not murder Wyoming about how much he’s laughing

(‘shut up i let York keep his character as a ghost because he died to a series of unfortunate nat1s from the group as a whole during the first session. Not because he was sulking’)

It all comes to fruition as the following:

• Carolina tried to kill off Tex a couple of sessions in. She wasn’t prepared to do more than a simple NPC and monologues as a DM and felt that her stilted characterization was not something she wanted to ruin the campaign

• explained that Tex had made a pack with a strange God to become a warlock so they could obtain their goal

• established that Lopez was an enchanted suit of armor that was cursed to speak Spanish. York decided possess said armor

• Wyoming (who was playing Sarge btw) got written in as a villain because his“don’t act like it’s that hard to fix a campaign! Just write in a secret boss that we never could’ve predicted being such a thorn in the side when we were so focused on Tex!” Speech was not taken as well as he hoped

• Carolina brought back Tex bc she actually missed being able to interact with the others in game

• North fucked up a side quest by picking up a cursed blade! (guess who he played). He was aware that the quest was to guide crunchbite to the artifact! He knew he shouldn’t touch the glowing sword! He was going to take it for the lols. Now he has earned his consequences!

(Too bad he adores Junior with all his heart, made him a custom figure and everything)

• Connie and South very much are Simmons and Grif respectfully and the fact that the irl pinning is so severe that they have accidentally made their characters act like a married couple

•Tex’s betrayal marks the end of the first campaign where they take a break so Carolina could make a new campaign for they characters

•mean time they played two shot Out of Mind, and Recovery One in which they see some very familiar characters

•PLOT TWIST TURNS OUT THESE WEAK GODS ARE ACTUALLY JUST PARTS OF THIS ONE YOUNG GOD! THAT HE WAS TRICKED INTO STRIPPING AWAY PEICES FROM HIMSELF BECAUSE THE TOWN THAT WORSHIPED HIM WAS UNDER SEIGE AND AT THE TIME HE THOUGHT IT WAS THE ONLY WAY TO SAVE HIS PEOPLE!

bound to a relic that was hidden away He would give these smaller beings of ‘himself’ to do his will and help his people he would give them to the Director, the man he based his human visage after, not realizing that the siege was won and that the Director was now using these fragments to Gain more power as a ruler. He gives them to his strongest knights.

• Washington joins the campaign! He as new to DND, having tested the waters in the two shot and just just added himself but as a moody badass.

•Church is a god!

•The meta is still a thing and Maine, (who was very tickled to be the big bad) had been playing Lopez but took a break to play meta

•Church’s sacrifice is the end of another campaign!

•we tune back in on the new campaign! And Washington had a request for Carolina between stories

•even Maine was shocked when is was revealed by breaking Lopez’s sigil mid session that Sir Washington was a villain for this campaign, all except Florida

• Florida was heartbroken when he realized that two characters was too much for him at the moment and he had to choose between his characters. He eventually mentioned this to Wash who hinted that he could fix the issue

•he did not tell Florida beforehand the plan but he can’t complain bc it definitely solved the problem and the fact that he was able to save Doughnut’s life while giving Doc the spotlight was really great all around.

• with the artifact being saved Church is reborn as epsilon

[thelovelyghostwriter]

Since I'm having post-concert withdrawals after Taylor Swift, here's some songs that reminds me of KuraNeon:

Medieval AU where Kurapika is her knight and Neon is a princess.

Helped me to write "Starstruck in Awe" (Neon was enchanted to meet Kurapika!!)

Neon's touch brings him back to life.

Neon asking him to put her name at the top of his list but he wants revenge.

Kurapika breaks up with Neon to go on the Black Whale in order to get the Scarlet Eyes from Prince Tserriednich. Neon misses him a lot.

This helped me a lot when writing "Happiness" (Kuraneon fanfic)... Which is kind of a break up fanfic btw.

Not really a Kuraneon song, but reminds me of Kurapika and his situation.

Reminds me of Neon Nostrade, hailed as a lucky girl with fortune telling powers... Not so lucky now.

York New City is based on New York.

I can imagine Neon being all playful with his bodyguard... In their Nostrade mansion. She's crazy too, and she is high maintainence. Don't fuck this up, Kurapika, good luck!

Apparently I've hit the audio limit for this post. There will be part 2!

[azure-wolf-227]

Veteran Isekai Protagonist Luz

What if, before ending up in the Demon Realm, Luz had been summoned to become a Hero of one of those fantasy RPG isekai worlds?

But!

The people who summoned Luz were assholes who decided it would be easier to summon (aka kidnap) people from another world to fight their battles rather than do it themselves. That's why they summoned 13-year-old Luz; young kids/teens are easier to manipulate/control.

Luz managed to defeat the great evil, but all her companions/friends died in the process. Sure, the assholes who dragged her into this got their comeuppance and Luz got to keep all of her powers/weapons/skills, but it did not change the fact that she returned home traumatized.

BTW, time fuckery happened, so although Luz was in the other world for months, only a few minutes passed on Earth. Luz could have proven to her mother what happened was real as she still has access to her powers, but Luz kept quiet because she didn’t want to burden her. So poor Camila one day found her daughter acting so strange with a haunted look in her eyes, and had no idea what was wrong.

Rather than a book report gone wrong due to the snakes escaping, the incident that got Luz sent to camp was caused by her PTSD. Like in canon, Luz throws her Azura book into the trash, but it's because she can't stand to look at it as her first adventure broke a bit the illusion of fantasy adventures. She immediately regrets it because it was a gift from her dad, but as you know, Owlbert snatched it first. Luz immediately realizes that something is up with Owlbert, but she still follows him, partly out of curiosity.

This Luz would not be as awestruck by the Demon Realm as Canon Luz, though she would still find it interesting just cause it's a very different world from her own and the last one she was in. She is a little nervous about Demons at first but quickly realizes that they are different from the ones in the other world.

I imagine Luz has a panic attack when Eda pulls the "you really don't have a choice" stunt in the first episode. Eda feels concerned about why the human reacted that way, as well as guilty that she might have inadvertently triggered something. She tells Luz that she doesn’t need to do anything and can just go home - Eda may be a criminal and a scam artist, but she isn’t going to take advantage of a traumatized child. But Luz still agrees to help Eda, partly because she thinks she needs to do it, and because that is the kind of person.

This is also what motivates Luz to stay in the Demon Realm. Although Eda has the portal and can let Luz go home at anytime, Luz has the mentality that she was brought to the Demon Realm for a reason and needs to fulfill that reason before she can go home. She has a bit of a breakdown when she later realizes that she always had the choice to go home.

The Gods from the first isekai world weren't happy that Luz got summoned because it's bad taste to kidnap people who have nothing to do with the issues of their world. Unfortunately, they couldn't do much cause Gods must not directly interfere with mortal affairs, only provide indirect guidance. They did ensure that the people responsible for summoning Luz would recieve punishment.

Currently, they are chilling in the In-Between Realm alongside Papa Titan, watching Luz’s adventures while munching on popcorn.

Luz’s abilities would be surprising to the Boiling Isles’ inhabitants because Humans shouldn’t be able to use magic. Belos is especially intruded because how can this girl use magic without the use of Glyphs.

A bit about Luz’s abilities in this AU:

Luz is a Magic Knight; aside from spellcasting, she also knows her way around weapons and physical fighting. As the ‘Hero’ Luz can use all types of magic: Fire, Water, Earth, Air, Light, Dark, and Null (any non-elemental spell), but her prefered element is Light. Her main weapon is an enchanted sword that can channel magic and that only Luz can wield.

The Appraisal/Analyze skill that is common in fantasy isekais; it can give Luz information on people and things. Using it on Eda after meeting her allows Luz to find out about her curse earlier.

This Luz has experience fighting powerful monsters and opponents, so she isn't as defenseless as her canon self. I wouldn’t call her OP as there are some people stronger than her, like Belos (can’t have things be too easy), but she is without a doubt the strongest person in her age range.

Luz’s Light magic includes powerful Healing, so she is able to help Eda with her curse, Luz CAN’T get rid of it because the Owl Beast is it’s own living creature rather than a traditional curse, BUT she can heal all the damage Eda’s body has sustained. Like the rapid aging cause by the strain of transforming, and the damage and deterioration on her bile sac that causes Eda’s lost of magic. Meaning that, once Luz’s heals her, Eda finally looks her age (complete with wild red hair), and her magic power is back to her prime.

Eda will still come to her agreement with the Owl Beast and gain the Harpy Form in the future.

Luz still finds the Glyphs and learns to use them even though she already has magic because it’s smart to have variety.

[roseamongroses]

fantasy! shuriri ideas? (mostly using movie characterizations since i havent had the chance to brush up on lore bc finahells )

riri learning being a self taught blacksmith and creating her own armour after being rejected from magic/knight training '

but in doing so unlocks magic that was long since thought to be locked away so everyone and their mama is goin after her cause how did u do that???

coincidentally enough a traveling princess from a far nation encounters them and decides to join their travels as a way to better understand themselves and their place in the world after the death of their loved ones

shuri doesn't believe in magic or at least doesn't believe in doing it the traditional way. so she becomes obsessed with learning more about riri's invention and finding other ways to progress magic/technology combos

in the process she does build a better appreciation for her cultures traditions but she's stubborn and wont admit to that right away

side plot where okoye and the rest are trying to find shuri cause they love and miss her and also someone is def trying to kill her. ( but shuri always casually ends up getting around it bc of hijinks and her loved ones interfering in the background)

everything is modern but in a ella enchanted type way instead of 100% traditional fantasy but there is def beef between the traditionals and the hightechs

the big bad ends up forcing shuri to ultimately take on the black panther mantle but the aftermath isnt all roses and sunshine since it does change her physically, mentally, and spiritually. funnily enough leaving her more suceptible to big bads influence

perhaps that would cause conflict between the two??? shuri had been ignoring her grief up until this point, but now she CANT and its causing her to spiral. riri herself is going thru shit too since shes still fighting to be seen and the person who was there for it all is treating her differently (plus its bringing up her own issues regarding loss)

shuri sees herself as fundamentally Different now and stubborn girl doesnt realize that relationships can change and still hold love

maybe riri goes off to handle something by herself/ prove herself and ends up getting caught up in namors mess (hes not the big bad hes just a menace tbh)

so when shuri finally wakes up from her fog and realizes riri's gone she resolves to fix it and goes off as well. she has some back and forths with namor and sees herself, her rage and everything. but at the end of the story/ fight she realizes that ye they share anger, but they also share love. and the people they love? need their help and she wont give up on them after everything

meanwhile with riri in the prisons: she's got beef with everyone at first but over time they start coming to her to fix little stuff here and there. she eventually starts innovating for her captors (namor dont know yet) and comes across a breakthrough that rlly helps the people there. all of which reminds her of her own worth and why she does what she does

namor doesnt rlly apologize for the kidnapping/almost murder thing but he does let them go and allows for future diplomatic trips (hes jelly cause the kids rlly like their new aunties and their cool magic suits)

(btw their magic system is diff then the others and is just as complex. the innovation comes from combining knowledge and is more mutual then one sided)

still haven't decided if mommy panther is alive yet but if she they get the sappiest scene once shuri finally does go back home to visit

ill write more ideas later cause i rlly do need to do research

[tickledpink31]

Eva’s backstory and characterization reminds me an awful lot of Cinderella.

Yeah, it's a bit like that, except her siblings love her, and she has seven prince charmings, eleven if you count the dateables minus Luke, or fourteen if you count the three extra characters (yes, Thirteen counts as a Prince Charming). That reminds of this one K-drama "Cinderella and the 4 Knights" (Lee Yoon Sung is my favourite man because I have a thing for cool and stoic types. It's so unfair that he's not an actual love interest even though he's one of the "four knights").

Real talk though: Cinderella is awesome. I do not care what people say about her. She was powerless and was making the most out of her shitty situation. A night out at the ball is what she deserves.

Btw if you really want a good Cinderella adaptation, read the book, Ella Enchanted. Not the movie (as much as it gives me nostalgia) because it's not that faithful of an adaptation. The "Ella Enchanted" BOOK written by Gail Carson Levine is just a genius build up to Cinderella, and I adore it.

[couslande]

picking tiarnan in the warden v hawke v inq poll wasnt even favouritism btw but im genuinely breaking down how i played them and i think since i play mages as unintended in a 1v1v1 scenario seanan and antony would not suit it at all. i built tiarnan to be a tank and by awakening she was pretty much indestructible and the spirit warrior abilities only added to this. antony was built for aoe and dealing with big crowds of enemies mostly and was really good for controlling the battlefield and using the likes of death siphon and blood magic to stay alive as fights went on, but i think in a 1v1v1 fight he’d probably be way less effective, he also knows 0 healing spells so he can’t even really self-sustain here. seanan was built as a glass cannon and while shes a knight enchanter i never used any defensive/barrier abilities (aside from the anchor shield one) and relied on the rest of the party for that stuff. on top of this i played both antony and seanan as relatively close ranged fighters - they were in the thick of it rather than on the edges, which means i think if they’re in range for tiarnan’s aoe abilities they get fucked. the biggest advantage they have is that tiarnan’s stamina was fucking shit because of the spirit warrior passives and heavy armour, and the power of blood warrior abilities to health damage so she could end up fucking herself over in that regard lol

[cmcameron]

Favorite Webtoons that isn't Batman?

OOOOOOOOH! This one's a good one. XD Here's a list:

Morgana and Oz

"What happens when a struggling witch meets an angsty vampire? Either love or war. Morgana belongs to a long line of witches, and Oz to the rival vampire clan. After a chance encounter… and maybe a few stray spells… these two need to find a way to work together, or risk all-out war between coven and clan."

I love this comic, it's so cute. Colors are a 10/10 (you'll see a trend about me talking about colors).

Of Swamp and Sea

"When a monster hunt gone wrong sets two strangers on the same path, they discover their relationship may be more than strictly professional. Enter a world of dangerous beasts, dark magic, and perilous circumstance. When everyone has their secrets, the truth is as murky as the waters of the deepest swamp."

Love this comic's art style. A lot of the time Webtoons Creators use 3D backgrounds (which is 100% understandable, making webtoons are tough and anything you can do to make things go by faster I stand behind), but these mad lads are still drawing everything by hand. Colors are a 10/10

Eaternal Nocturnal

"The man of her dreams does exist… too bad she can’t fall asleep. When Eve is visited one night by a mysterious apparition, she finds that her chronic insomnia is miraculously cured. Meanwhile Dae, the dream eater, finds himself unexpectedly and unwillingly drawn to Eve. This can either be a dream come true or their worst nightmare."

Love the concept and how things are progressing so far!

Siren's Lament is also fantastic btw.

Lore Olympus

I'm currently fast passing these Episodes because I'm so desperate for content.

Suitor Armor

"Lady-in-waiting, Lucia believes getting through the royal wedding will be the toughest part of her new life. That is until she finds herself falling head over heels with Modeus, an up-and-coming knight to the king's guard. With her newfound interest, she is quickly awakened to the mysteries of the kingdom when she learns Modeus is in fact an enchanted suit of armor without a soul. Could there be more to him than just shining armor?"

God I remember Purpah doing a bunch of MSA stuff back in, 2012/2013 and I LOVED her color choices. I remember when she posted the first art piece with Modeus and thinking 'I reeeaallly want this to be a comic SO BAD' AND NOW WE HAVE IT AND IT'S A 10/10. Highly recommend.

Castle Swimmer

"What happens when your entire life is ruled by a prophecy – your future foretold by people you’ve never met, who died long before you were born. Such is the story of two young sea creatures. One believed to be a guiding light for his people, a Beacon who will lead them to a bright, prosperous future. The other is a teenage prince for who’s destiny is to KILL the Beacon so that HIS own people might thrive. When both reject the course set for them, it leads to a raucous adventure as big and unpredictable as the ocean itself – and a romance that nobody could have predicted."

I love the colors and backgrounds for this comic omg. YES.

Love Advice from the Great Duke of Hell

"The girl of your dreams barely knows you exist. Your friends can’t help. Your family is clueless. So where do you turn for love advice? Who can provide you with that essential assistance for the lovelorn? If you’re average everyday teenager Paul, you summon a powerful demon from deep in the recesses of Hell and frankly, hope for the best."

This comic cracks me up omg.

Arial Magic (Completed)

"The daily life of an apprentice witch."

I love the colors for this comic SO MUCH LOOK AT THE CLOUDS!!!! I hardly remember the plot (it's been awhile), but oh boy do I remember the colors.

Sithrah (Completed)

"Nirvana Page wanted to see the world. Traveling by private seaplane with her father on their annual vacation, together they explore exotic places and discover remarkable wildlife, and even if it’s only for a few days, she gets everything a seven-year-old girl could hope for. That is, until a mysterious force crashes their plane, separating Nirvana from her dad, and stranding her in a strange and unfamiliar land. It’s there she encounters SITHRAH—a mysterious being who could hold the key to finding her father—and begins a grand and perilous adventure that will bring her to the end of the world and beyond!"

Jason Brubaker does a lot of cool stuff, and I love his colors. Plus I love that he makes his Webtoon comic as a traditional comic first, then broke apart the pages to fit the scroll format. It makes it so that you can have a printed comic AND a webtoon.

Aka I love owning physical comics and I hope more Webtoon originals can be printed. Not just Lore Olympus.

Erma

"Erma is like any other normal child. She goes to school, plays with friends, and even spends time with the family. It just so happens that she is the daughter of a ghostly spirit and tends to use her haunting abilities for everyday antics, whether for better or for worse."

This comic has BONE vibes and I love it so much. I seriously think there should be more black/white wecomics. Not just because manga, no, it makes the process quicker and it makes printing comics SO MUCH EASIER. I love colors, but color correcting for print is a PROCESS.

Novae

"Raziol is an astronomer with a romantic heart. Sulvain is a kind-hearted necromancer with a troubled past. A strong connection forms between them as they discover the cosmos together, and their relationship blooms. But trouble lurks in the streets of Paris. When the body of a fellow astronomer is found on the steps of the Academy of Sciences, signs point to dark magic and Raziol and Sulvain’s lives become entangled in ways they could never foresee. LGBT+ M/M"

The... The colors are so good. ;w;

Fins & Crinolines

"When a mermaid and a centaur accidentally cross paths and decide to travel together, they end up on a journey that leads to more than either of them ever expected!"

Not a lot of episodes and episodes only come out sporadically (I can 100% understand, making Webtoons is not easy. Especially when it's a hobby/side project). But I LOVE THIS SO MUCH.

Punderworld

Another Hades/Persephone retelling and I AM ALL ABOUT IT. Solid comic.

[martianbugsbunny]

OUAT Thoughts Pt.43--Episodes The Last Two of Season 4

According to Wikipedia, there are only 22 episodes in season 4, but my reviews add up to 23. I have no clue how that happened; I have looked back at my recent posts and have still been unable to figure it out. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Lucky for me, the counter resets when I start season 5 tomorrow. For now, I have watched through all of S4; spoilers DNI. Also, spoiler warning for anyone further behind than I am.

—‘Someone whose eyes you were born to gaze into’…that is possibly one of the most romantic things I have ever heard.

—Nothing like an alternate reality to prove that bandit meet-cutes are the best way to find true love :)

—*confused yelp* Evil Snow White is gorgeous? That spiky hairstyle has Elsa concept art vibes, btw, and it looks so cute on Ginnifer Goodwin. And that Evil Queen clothes? Oh, the red, and the black, and the sparkles! She’s so pretty!

—Mmmkay, so the Author is a bad writer. That entire thing was well-written in context of the show, but in context of him, it was just so not creative. He looks at all of these heroes and villains, and when he decides to flip their happy ending status, he also has to switch their hero and villain roles? Come on!

—I kinda wish he wasn’t A) so bad at writing and B) such an asshat, because when he’s talking about writing and stories and characters, most of the time he speaks to my heart. The big problem is that he doesn’t see characters for what they really are: living entities who are the author’s to record and to guide, but not to control. And yes, this is way too deep into my personal writing philosophy, but why not? The gist is, he had some good points, and the way he sees people as their stories is chillingly close to how I tend to think about people, but overall as a person and as a writer he sucks. There was a reason all his manuscripts got rejected.

—The Sorcerer is Merlin?!!! COME ON! I’ve been jonesing for some Yen Sid, who BY THE WAY is the Sorcerer, and I get Merlin instead? Good golly!

—I had to watch Regina and Rumple almost die and Captain Hook actually-but-not-really die in the span of two episodes. I need Dr. Hopper.

—I love that when Henry and Hook rescued Emma, she knew she loved Hook, and Hook was just instantly enthralled with her.

—Emma’s prison dress was pretty, but Yen Sid alive did I like her other outfit. She looks good in Enchanted Forest chic.

—So it’s not how I predicted it happening, but Emma has indeed become the Dark One. I adore her for protecting Regina’s happy ending so ferociously.

—They better snatch that knife quick. I don’t think anybody wants to see free range Evil Emma.

—So the next Big Bad is primordial, capital D Darkness? I mean, now that it’s in a human host, it’s not quite as existential and intimidating, but it’s more than passable.

—I really need Rumple to not die now. Without the darkness, Belle might give him a second chance, and he might actually be able to accept love. Also, whether or not he gets back with her, I just don’t want him to die.

—His ideal life was sad. I mean, the concept wasn’t, but in context very much so. If he gets to have a second kid by the end of the show, I will be happy.

—Maybe Merlin is Lilith’s dad. I’m having trouble coming up with dragon men.

—The Apprentice is possibly the least helpful guy alive. His advice is ‘yeah, the Sorcerer is out there.’ Like, bro, you couldn’t give us a general idea of what world he’s in? And he keeps telling people things he shouldn’t.

—Props to Henry for not wanting to have the Author power. I’m thrilled that he got the mantle, by the way.

—Another reference to Walt Disney being an Author. Cool. Although it’s a reference to his death, so…kinda sad.

—Freaked out about halfway through the episode and got worried we would be stuck in the alternate reality forever, but fortunately we weren’t. I’m not sure I could’ve kept watching.

—Rumple in a knight’s outfit is iconic. That buttery golden cape was stunning. And Belle’s dress in that reality was pretty too.

—It’s interesting that his heart is white now. We haven’t seen that yet, so I’m pretty worried about the implications it might have.

—What is he gonna do without magic? He hasn’t not had magic for centuries. I look forward to the angst, but at the same time I don’t. Rumple is never going to be happy.

Happy International Pronouns Day, y’all!