#summer isles characters

[enchantedchocolatebars]

Sunday Girl

Hillside Boys

Surfin' Safari

California Gurls

Barbie Girl

@bilumi / @bilumiart

Commission art here.

[donutdrawsthings]

Tinker lands from unknown origins into the hands of a loving shrew family, the Pittertons. The world is so strange and unfamiliar to him... So much to do, so much to see! It's a little overwhelming..! Fortunately for Tinker, not a whole lot happens around the Pittertons. Sometimes there's nothing else to do besides lay in the shade...

...But maybe one day that could change.

[kaerinio]

okay, i am here! i'm still sick, so i'm making the couch my headquarters for the day. into my drafts i go!

[ravarui]

@alyafae gets a starter for Rhaenys

His whole body was in pain and he knew very well that it was pure luck that he was still alive. Blood was dripping from a wound on his forehead into his eye, obscurring his vision even more than the scars over it already did.

Normally he would have wiped it away, but his right arm was tied to his back and he had been forced onto his knees, staring up at the woman who had just dismounted from a god damned dragon. A dragon who had brought nothing but destruction over the fleet of ships. A fleet that hadn't been his, they had just been unfortunate enough to get swept up in the chaos. Shanks didn't know what had happened to the Red Force, or the rest of the crew when he had gone overboard as the first wave of fire had rained over them.

The pirate had had heard the rumors, even all the way to the Summer Isles where his base and main territory was located. The rumors of the dragons in Westeros being at war with each other. But who could have known that one of them was lingering around the Stepstones right now?! When they had been on their way to Braavos.

This was normally the territory of the Sea snake and he had learned how to avoid him, but a god damn dragon? No. That wasn't possible. Not when taken by surprise like that.

Despite the pain he's in, he's giving the woman a grin as he looks up at her from his kneeling position, with spears pointed at him as well. Looked like they had still recognized him, despite him and his crew not being actively involved in the war of dragons or any other feud the Sea snake might currently have with other pirates.

"You're not the Sea snake." He had seen and heard about the man. Which pirate hadn't? "If I had known a dragon is patrolling this route I would've chosen another day to travel." The words were spoken in High Valyrian, his tyroshi accent more than clear. He didn't know if she understood, but if she was one of those dragon lords chances were likely.

[starlitfunkster]

Me in the Butterfly Garden exhibit in Summers Isle's Museum. It's so pretty, mostly because of the Queen Alexandra's Birdwing that I caught yesterday. But this Screenshot doesn't do this location justice imo. >:/

I had to look this up AND take a screenshot of it because it looks so cool, but this is indeed real! Although in the real world, Anchovy schools can be even bigger.

I may, at a later date, get a better screenshot of the Coral Reef exhibit, since there's a lot of fish in there too. I'd take a screenshot of the biggest exhibit in the aquarium section.. but no. I refuse to look at the Sea Bass.

[genericnam]

Why, out of GF, Amphibia, and TOH, only Luz didn't have to leave her new world behind:

I've seen people complain about Amphibia and to a lesser extent, Gravity Falls, for having their series end with a goodbye; the main characters having to leave their found families and this world they've grown to love and return to regular life. But the thing is, the three shows all have MASSIVELY different morals, that each fit in with how the goodbyes (or lack thereof) work into the finales.

Gravity Falls has a large theme of temporary goodbyes and reconciling. Stan and Ford being the primary example. But there are others: Soos and Melony, Wendy and Robbie, even Dipper and Mabel to an extent. The show builds upon this with Gravity Falls being a VACATION, they aren't trapped there, they could theoretically go home at any time. Episodes such as Summerween and Dipper and Mabel Vs. The Future also build on the tone, telling that it's okay to both grow up and move on, but you don't have to leave behind what you once loved in doing so.

The final conflicts (Wierdmaggedon) are caused because of characters not being able to let go. Stan couldn't let go of Ford, Mabel couldn't let go of Gravity Falls, Gideon couldn't let go of Mabel.

Gravity Falls teaches the viewer that even if you love something, you have to let it go, and eventually it will return. In the words of Bill Cipher: "We'l meet again. Don't know where, don't know when. I just knew we'll meet again, some sunny day."

Amphibia has a similar theme of Gravity Falls, but it takes it further. Amphibia tells you that if you don't let go, sometimes things will only get worse. The primary example for this is the show's catalyst event: Marcy getting Anne to steal the Music Box. Marcy chose to go to Amphibia, rather than move away, and she dragged her friends into it with her. Instead of having a long distance friendship with Sasha and Anne, she took them to an alternate dimension in order to spend eternity on a massive adventure, and it got her killed. Marcy and Anne died and Sasha tried to kill herself.

And that's only Marcy. Sasha was a control freak that bordered on yandere at the height of her villain arc. Sasha couldn't accept that Anne was beginning to move on from the toxic friendship that the Calamity Trio had locked themselves into.

The trio were horrible to eachother, pre-character arcs, and they needed to focus on self improvement before they could even hope to be good friends. In the time between 'All In' and the epilog, the Calamity Trio would not have actually been able to be good for eachtoher. They say they forgive eachother, but that was forgiveness given during a WAR. Post show, the real feelings would start to bubble up. Anne's resentment for the betrayals, Marcy’s abandonment issues, Sasha's definite self hatred. The trio HAD to split up to have any semblance of a friendship.

Amphibia tells its audience that not all good things can last, and if you obsess and force it to stay, it can destroy you.

The Owl House has a completely opposite moral. It tells you to find your people, and fight for them.

Luz lived in the Human Realm, but it was never her home. Her home was with Camila and Manny, but when Manny died, Camila and Luz's relationship began to falter. That world wasn't her home. When Luz found the Boiling Isles, she was always supposed to be able to leave. This wasn't a summer trip she didn't want at first, or a one way portal. The Boiling Isles was HER choice.

Luz picked Bonesburrow. Luz picked Hexside. Luz picked The Owl House. Her home was always meant to be The Boiling Isles. She only started trying to find a way back to Earth because the choice was taken from her. Luz no longer had the choice to go back to the Human Realm. In fact, the only time Luz chose Humans over Isles was when she was PUNISHING herself for helping Belos.

Luz got to stay in the Boiling Isles because TOH tells its audience that where you start isn't where you should always stay. Find your place and find your people. And when you do, hold it dear and never let go. "Us weirdos have to stick together."

[leafofkudzu]

Hi hello my computer exploded earlier this week so apologies for the cursed and late announcement post, but prepare yourselves! The first Saturday of a new month is tomorrow, which means it's time for another...

[VS] Art Party

July 6th, 2024 Captain's Cut, Stormbluff Isle Bloodtide Coast

Round 1 (EU): 9pm-12am CEST (3pm EDT) Round 2 (NA): 7pm-10pm EDT (1am CEST)

For those who aren’t familiar with art parties, they’re a concept carried over from Final Fantasy XIV - in-game get-togethers for artists/writers/creatives of all types to hang out, chat, and create together! Get your favorite character/look together, head to the location, find someone that catches your eye, and create! Afterwards, everyone posts their creations in a shared tag (ours is #VSArtParty) so others can see, interact, and share! Tl;dr: the ‘goal’ of an art party isn’t to be drawn, but to draw others, and share with the community!

Time and /squadjoin information is under the cut, but will also be posted again via reblogs as the squads go up on the day of the party!

Location Information:

It's another, proper beach episode! While I don't have the technical capacity at the moment to get a map screenshot of the location, it's essentially the southwest edge of Stormbluff Isle, the nearest waypoint being Stormbluff Waypoint! Here's a picture from the wiki of the entire island for reference:

Time & Squad Details:

As we always do, we’ll be having two parties - one on EU servers and one on NA ones - with an hour break in between. People tend to arrive early and/or jump between accounts as soon as the break comes up, so don’t be surprised to see tags and announcements going up ahead of schedule!

The first party will be on EU servers and begin at 9pm Central European Summer Time (aka 3pm Eastern Daylight Time or 5 hours before in-game reset). This time due to work conflicts I will NOT be the one starting the squad, but will instead be joining about an hour or so in! So, please welcome our first 'guest' [VS] tag, @vampiricsheep! Please /squadjoin or whisper Vegetarian Maneater for an invite in my absence, it'll treat you well and with my blessing. ♥

The second party will be on NA servers and begin at 7pm Eastern Daylight Time (aka 1am Central European Summer Time or an hour before in-game reset). I’ll be back to hosting this one and be on my main account, so to join either /squadjoin or whisper Kirslyn for an invite.

Closing Words

I said it at the top of the post but here I am saying it again - I am so sorry for the delay. The intention was to get this out on Mon/Tues at the latest due to me being busy with Dawntrail, but both my SSDs thought it was time to fry themselves and I've been scrambling to rebuild everything from scratch ever since. I've more or less got things back to a usable state now though, so I look forward to seeing everyone (and their shiny new anet-sanctioned beach outfits?) tomorrow! Thank you for always coming out to these and making them fun, they're one of the highlights of my time in game! ♥♥♥

[mdhwrites]

How Terrible of a Parent is Odalia?

TL:DR: If we ignore narrative bias, Odalia is at best a little bit of a helicopter parent and nothing else. Her being a bad person actually doesn't translate to her being a bad parent and we actually have very little evidence that she is actually even that controlling.

So I want to start with saying that this isn't about whether Odalia is or isn't a good person. She is not. The show is cartoonishly evil with her... But in weird ways for their goals. Her most evil acts actually have little to nothing to do with parenting. Letting the rest of the Isles die for the ascension of her family? Technically not the worst parenting move in the world from a purely literal perspective of trying to provide the best future for your kid. Trying to murder Luz? Well, she is the protege of the most wanted criminal in the entire Isles. I can't imagine why Odalia might not want her child associating with her. Weird concept, I know.

And that's actually something to keep in mind with what is seen as her biggest crimes: Kicking out Willow and getting Gus, Willow and Luz expelled. If we shift perspective a little... Odalia is just right. They are bad influences who are negatively impacting her daughter's ability to learn and better herself. Why would she want Amity to continue spending time with them?

Yes, this includes tiny Willow. The ONE thing we see of the two of them as friends is them SKIPPING CLASS and hiding from the instructor, only for Willow to fail, get them attacked by animals and then in trouble. I'm sorry but that doesn't sound like a good thing to me. Even just trolling around the market and pranking some people in your own free time is better, which is the worst thing we ever see Boscha do in this sort of regard. Sure, Boscha is a bully but not to an extreme level (King makes a fucking point of how tame she is) and doesn't get in the way of things like school or work for either herself or Amity. For what Odalia cares about, which is Amity improving herself to have a better shot at a good future, which is not a bad thing to want for your daughter, it's what Camila wants by sending Luz to Summer Camp, why would she condemn Boscha instead of the one playing Hookie?

Then we get the fact that Dana literally had a list of crimes stated out for why Luz was a menace since joining Hexside. If we shift the perspective to be that seeing the photo made Odalia go "Well, there's one bad influence, her grades are slipping and I did hear that something happened during Grom... I'm gonna look into this," rather than "I MUST CRUSH THESE PEOPLE WHO MAKE MY DAUGHTER SMILE!" then her actions seem pretty justifiable. I mean, before Luz even joined the school, her and Gus were skipping class and causing massive property damage. She was cheating on Willow's assignment and breaking in. The Grom one is bullshit but Luz is genuinely a menace. Not a Spider-Man, J. Jonah menace but genuinely causing problems and damage. And again: In active connection with the most wanted, WILD WITCH, in the ISLES. With that, Odalia almost looks like the only sane person here.

Now mind you, main character bias, the fact that we know Eda is barely a criminal, etc. like that but Odalia doesn't have any of that. By the rules of her society, you know like Camila had to act from Luz threatening to vandalize her school with fireworks and assaulting her principal with a wild snake, she has every right to think Luz is bad. To think Luz is the worst possible person for her daughter to spend time with. Sure, she smiles... Now... But what about when life catches up? Breaking the rules is fun after all but there are consequences, at least if you're not Luz.

But what about her general parenting style? She places crushingly harsh restrictions on Amity after all! Well... No?

Here are her demands: I want you to keep your grades up but if you help me, I will let you dropping to being a B student slide with no further punishments.

Please wear this necklace so I can talk to you when I need to, much like texting a cellphone would do.

Please aim for an Ivy League school because I believe you are good enough for that and I will give you the support to reach that height.

I would like your hair to be green.

I mean... These all sound... good? Now yes, pushed to the extreme they can be bad. If there is no leeway, like if Odalia forced Amity to spend every second studying, threatened to disown her if she didn't get into the EC and demanded 100s on every test then yeah, she'd genuinely be abusive but she's not. Amity appears to have PLENTY of free time where she is entirely unmonitored and allowed to do as she pleases. This isn't even just post Escaping Expulsion. She spends time just hanging out with Boscha after all. She's able to run out into the woods to angst about Grom coming up. She goes to the Knee to train but that's without any supervision besides the twins who are known troublemakers (pin that in the back of your head btw). Even the necklace isn't like full control over her. It never overrides her body or mind. It's literally just sending messages. That's nothing, especially for a fantasy mom? Oh my god could that necklace be way fucking worse. When forcing her to dye her hair green, but not entirely so Amity must have some amount of say as to the styling of it or else her front half star wouldn't be allowed to exist, is the worst thing she's actually doing with evidence to back it... That's pretty fucking tame. It's like telling your kid "No, you're not allowed to have giant chains on your pants because they make you look like a thug." Oh and on the disown element? Amity literally tries to sabotage her mother's company and attack her and Odalia's reaction is just to go "Yep, that Luz girl sure is a menace, with a literal bounty, but you're still my daughter." That is the patience of a god damned saint right there.

And hey, what about the twins? They're Odalia's kids too. They don't fear Odalia though. She is neither of theirs greatest fear. In fact, they'd rather be with her than alone, because being alone is at least Edric's greatest fear. If she's as monstrous as the fandom likes to say, that should not be the case. Also, they do skip classes like Willow made Amity. We know this because Amity literally states it in her diary with frustration that no one does anything about it. That implies she tried getting people to do it. So why didn't Odalia crack down on them? Do they do things for as deals to get away with their freedom like Amity helping with the Abomaton show? I mean, same episode we meet them, they show up because Odalia told them to bring Amity her lunch because she forgot about it. Odalia cares enough that she'll see her daughter forgot her food, doesn't have to ask Amity where she is but instead keeps enough of an ear on her daughter's life to know where she is, which avoids some amount of claims of neglect, and sends Edric and Emira to the library. This could be read as not wanting to bother with it but just as easily it could be "Sweet, an excuse to force my trouble making twins to go to the library where they might actually study for once if Amity forces them to." It could also be that because she runs everything about Blight Industries besides R&D, she was just too busy, which is not the greatest sin in the world despite what kid's movies will tell you.

So... Why is Odalia labeled the worst parent ever? Why is she made out to be as abusive as Belos, who will literally kill Hunter if he's displeased enough, when there's so little evidence for it? Because I wouldn't bother with this sort of blog if not for the claims the fandom likes to make. The exact same claims that led to my first ever TOH blog that was about the contradictions in how people talked about Odalia post S1 and literally every piece of evidence we had. Is she flawless? God no. But this is a show that criticizes Camila for being too oppressive as a parent.

MAYBE it's a little misguided on what parenting actually is and you should question how it portrays its parents. See you next tale.

======+++++======

Oh, small additional edit to expand briefly on Clouds on the Horizon: Her kids literally attempt terrorism and her response is to ground them. Just. Ground them. With one person keeping an eye on them. Sure a trained guard but they just tried to commit TERRORISM.

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

[just-here-with-my-thoughts]

Comfort Zone

@summer-of-bad-batch week 2 alt prompt 'Comfort Zone'

Fandom: The Bad Batch Characters: Hunter, Shep Hazard Set after the finale when everyone is living happily on Pabu Word Count: ~1735 Read Here on AO3

Synopsis: Hunter is restless, and Shep invites him to take a walk.

Even on rest days Shep liked to be up early, circulating among the island community, greeting the early risers. He made it his personal mission to ensure that every member of Pabu’s population was well-cared for, always ready to lend an ear or a hand, whatever the situation called for.

This morning this usually quiet stretch of Lower Pabu echoed with the noise of some singular industry, banging and sawing acting as his beacon as he wound his way around the curving paths until he found the source of the noise.

His melodious voice floated to the man on the roof, lilting in query.

“Hunter? What are you doing up there?”

There was no pause to the sounds of Hunter’s work, and he replied without venturing to where he could see the other man. “Fixing the roof.”

“Yes, but… it’s a day of rest, Hunter.”

“Roof’s not going to fix itself.”

“It will be there tomorrow.”

“What if it rains tonight?”

Shep paused and glanced out at the endless sky that stretched from the isle, cloudless blue in all directions reaching down to meet the sea in a horizon which blurred to infinity.

“Rain,” he repeated, his voice faint with humour.

The sounds of work continued from above.

Shep glanced about for a ladder, thinking to climb and try to make Hunter speak with him face to face. He didn’t see one. Unsurprising that the clone commando would forgo such things – Shep had seem him swarm up cliff-faces in pursuit of flowers which caught Omega’s eye, and he doubted their low buildings posed as much of a challenge as that.

He settled for repeating the clone’s name again. “Hunter.”

The hammering ceased. Hunter’s face appeared at the edge of the roof, guilty apology writ large across his features.

“Sorry. Am I disturbing people? I can come back to this later. I’ll find something else to do in the meantime…”

Shep couldn’t help the chuckle that bubbled up at Hunter’s stumbling explanation, words tripping over themselves as he looked anywhere except at Shep.

“Come walk with me, Hunter,” he said, his smile infusing the invitation with warmth.

“Maybe later, Shep,” said Hunter, swinging down from the roof and immediately stalking past him, still avoiding his gaze. “I noticed one of the cliff fences was down too, could be a danger if the kids roam near it. I’ll go fix that, it’s out of the way-”

“Hunter.”

The gentle force to his name stopped Hunter and he wheeled round slowly, head down but eyes glancing up from beneath the shadow of his bandana.

“This… isn’t something I have a choice about, is it.”

Shep smiled and shook his head. “Glad you caught on.”

Hunter groaned, but a faint grin lit his tired face. “I’m used to using that voice on the others.” He shook his head ruefully. “Never thought I’d have someone use it on me.”

Gesturing with his head, Shep turned and started walking and let Hunter fall into step beside him. He picked a path which wound away from the inhabited areas of the island, one he knew would eventually turn from paving to dirt as they reached the wilder spaces beyond the sprawl of Lower Pabu’s housing.

The silence between them was companionable, although it was easy to sense Hunter’s reticence in his stooped shoulders and the hands dug into his pockets. His eyes shifted restlessly over everything before them, mouth part-open to sample the scent of the air, and Shep could almost feel the busy thoughts whirring away behind his tattooed visage.

Eventually he opened with a question which was really a soft command.

“Tell me what’s bothering you, Hunter.”

The clone almost startled, jerking in surprise at his voice after the quiet of their walk. Hunter glanced up at him quickly, then let his gaze go long over the horizon, slowing to a halt as he dug his boots into the ground, nudging a rock with his toe.

“Nothing. Nothing’s bothering me.”

“You’re not happy,” pressed Shep gently.

Hunter’s defensive snort was almost too quick. “Of course I am. What’s not to be happy about? We’re finally free of the Empire. Omega is doing great. We… we have the lives I always wanted for us.” His words slowed and trailed off, before his gaze dropped from the seascape to the ground. “What’s there to be unhappy about?”

“You’re restless, then.”

At that, Hunter gave a small nod. His voice was gravel, the words reluctantly dragged from him as he agreed, “I guess you could say that.”

Shep looked about and found a broad boulder to settle his weight against, leaning comfortably back against the rock. There was plenty of space for Hunter to join him if he wished, but he didn’t press the invitation onto the man.

For a moment he sat, surveying the tense line of Hunter’s shoulders, before he spoke his next words carefully.

“It can be hard to make the adjustment. Hard to step out of your comfort zone, even if… especially if your comfort zone was hardship.” He watched carefully for Hunter’s reaction, but the clone kept his back to him. “When it’s all you’ve known for so long, the familiarity of danger can sometimes seem like a friend. It’s hard to know what to do with yourself when you don’t need to be alert all the time.” He paused, left time for the thought to sink in before adding, “Hard to know what to do with yourself when others don’t need you all the time.”

Hunter’s shoulders shifted with a soft snort. “You could be talking about yourself there, Shep.”

“I could be,” he acknowledged. “Perhaps that’s why I recognise it in you too.”

Now Hunter turned to him, and there was gentle devastation written across his features. His stern façade had fractured, and beneath it there was uncertainty, and loss.

“Who am I if I’m not their leader?” he asked, his gruff voice little more than a whisper. Now his storm-grey eyes met Shep’s at last, piercing, searching.

Shep pushed to his feet again, stepping towards Hunter and letting a huge, warm hand settle on his shoulder. He squeezed lightly, a reassurance.

“You’re their brother. Their friend. A father-figure to Omega.” A smile tugged at his lips as he added, “Don’t mistake me, she looks to all of you, but her bond with you is different to the rest. She needs you, in a different way now to perhaps how she did before, but no less important.” He let his grip tighten, pressing his words into Hunter. “I’d say more important.”

The line of Hunter’s shoulders was still tense under his hand. “Echo and Crosshair are out there fighting the Empire,” he said reluctantly. “I should be doing more.”

Letting his hand drop, Shep stepped past Hunter to gaze down at the town, the houses stretching down to the docks and the small boats bobbing there, less now than before the Empire attacked, but the small fleet recovering with each new craft they built.

“Do you begrudge Wrecker the life he leads now?”

“What?” He almost felt Hunter’s startled flinch. “Of course not.”

Shep smiled as he thought of the big clone, the first refugee to come to Pabu who rivalled him in stature. Wrecker had thrown himself wholeheartedly into island life, and not a day went by without him turning his hand to some new skill, eager to learn, ever-willing to lend his strength to the community. He could most often be found down at the docks, but a love of Pabu’s food had seen him turn into a surprisingly good chef as well, and he was beginning to return Shep’s gifts of food baskets for the clones with cooked platters of his own.

“Or the clone cadets? The three boys you rescued?”

“That’s different,” said Hunter sullenly. “It’s not the same.”

“Isn’t it?” said Shep mildly. He chuckled at the thought of the mischief the three boys wrought, seven and eight years old in teenagers’ bodies. They had tried fostering them with parents, but the three of them had been fending for themselves so long they were happier on their own. Instead, Shep had settled them in a central location, ensuring that they had islanders around them to help them adjust whilst giving them their own space.

“It’s not,” insisted Hunter stubbornly. “They’re just kids. They shouldn’t have to fight. I want them to have normal lives… just like I want for Omega.”

“Hmm.” Shep let the thoughtful noise hang in the air between them. “They are trained. Capable soldiers. Why do you feel you should compare yourself to your brothers in the Resistance, yet not expect them to join?”

He heard the intake of breath that was Hunter getting ready to argue, then the click of his teeth as he jaw clamped shut. He tried not to smile.

“It sounds like you hold yourself to different standards than you do the rest of them, Hunter,” he offered, and continued with Hunter’s grunt of acknowledgement. “It’s hard not to, when you’ve been their Sergeant so long. You’ve seen them through so much. But…”

Now he turned back to Hunter, expression gentle and unjudgmental as he said, “Couldn’t you extend yourself the same grace? To give yourself the chance to lead the life you want, not the life you feel you ought to?”

Hunter’s face was shadowed with doubt, and he worried at his lower lip as conflict showed in his eyes.

Eventually he looked up at Shep.

“How do you do it?” he asked softly. “How do you be who people expect you to be… and still find the right path for yourself?”

Shep smiled benignly, clapping a hand to Hunter’s upper arm reassuringly.

“With practice, Hunter. You’ll get the hang of it.” His smile broadened. “Perhaps you can start by taking a rest day… on the rest day.”

Hunter grinned sheepishly with a rough chuckle. “Alright, Shep. Consider me lectured.”

Shep turned back to the island vista, draping his arm over Hunter’s shoulders. The clone relaxed into an easier posture, one hand on his hip, some of the tension bleeding from his frame.

“It will take time,” Shep told him softly. “But you’ll learn. I’m sure of it.”

A soft smile tugged at the edge of Hunter’s lips, lifting some of the tiredness from his expression.

“I’m sure I will.”

[venusintheblindspots-blog]

And to add more on my previous post, all of the main female characters (with the exception of Arianne Martell) in the main series of ASOIAF are representations of white femininity.

Every single one.

And that is because they are literally white. It doesn’t make them bad characters or anything.

I’ve talked about it before hand, but anytime George is writing a character of color, especially a black woman, he uses racist stereotypes and imagery. Every time.

There’s a reason why Dorne and the Summer Isles are sexually liberated, and why the Dothraki are portrayed as vicious ‘savages’ with hardly any redeeming values to their culture.

There’s a reason why Arianne’s exposure to sex and intimacy at ten years old is not framed the same way as say, Sansa’s.

There’s a reason why Chataya and her daughter are brutalized and reminiscent of the Jezebel trope.

[sepublic]

TL;DR at the bottom... Even before the decision to include the Collector, I have to wonder if the writers always intended the backstory of a great war between the Titans and a group of celestial beings that descended from above, who smote each other and left only King behind as the survivor. The Season 1 finale alludes to other Titan corpses, with the Boiling Isles being the only fully intact one discovered; So there’s already that implicit question of What killed the Titans?

Likewise, there’s the angelic imagery surrounding Belos, that we also see introduced in S1. And while this could just be a reference to actual Christianity in-universe, I do recall speculating there having been a war between the Titans and divine beings from above during that time in response to this... Not to mention!

The Elsewhere and Elsewhen storyboards have Philip seeking a Song of Stars instead of the Collector, and we know there originally would’ve been three figures that cornered the Owl Beast in Knock, Knock, Knockin’ on Hooty’s Door’s storyboards. Sounds like...

I’ve speculated on these three as a motif since S1, with their first appearance being in Young Blood, Old Souls, where we first learned of the other Titans and their butchered state. Obviously, we must keep in mind that the crew changed the story after writing Eda’s Requiem, in response to the show’s shortening (this was told to them the week after Agony of a Witch aired, production takes a while), so K3oHD and EE’s storyboards may not mean much in regards to the pre-shortening plans.

But storyboards could’ve been written concurrently; They may have always intended an Angels vs Demons war between the Titans and visitors from the stars, that resulted in a mutual extinction. And the Collector and their backstory wasn’t totally made up in response to the shortening, either; Dana said they were a character concept the writers always wanted to explore.

So it could be that the shortening convinced the writers to make the Collector the face/representative of that extinct species, rather than a more conventional Archivist. And/or the Collectors would’ve remained purely posthumous characters in the backstory, the way Caleb and Evelyn are. The Collector was suggested as a kid of this celestial species to flesh them out, only to be truncated into just the trio; But with the shortening, the crew chose to actualize them as the lens through which we learn of their people’s genocide against the Titans, since they had so much fun with their concept.

Even before the show was shortened and the story changed, the writers might’ve always intended for the Titans to have been wiped out in a war against some celestial beings from space. They entertained the idea of a kid of that species, just as King is for the Titans; And when the shortening was announced in Summer 2020, Dana went F it and decided to elevate this cosmic child from the backstory and into the main story for our protagonists to actually deal with. Instead of an adult trio being this species’ representatives, the writers settled for the Collector.

Even if we didn’t get the Collector, that trio may have taken their place anyway. The background of their species’ genocide against the Titans would’ve remained; Philip’s plan would’ve been to use a leftover spell from that war, the Song of Stars, to enact a genocide upon witches as it was used for Titans (he may have mistaken the Collectors for literal angels whose mission he was finishing; Not unlike how he gets people to project divinity onto the Titan).

And since S1, he was always intended to be aware of and inspired by these celestial beings, who may have come in the form of a trio; Hence the Petrification statue, with the Owl Beast scroll as another hint. The curse is also red magic, which I compared to Belos’, and since he learned from the Collector...!

TL;DR I don’t think the Collector’s inclusion in the story changed it that much, since they’re just an extension of lore that was always planned, possibly filling a role originally intended for others of their kind anyhow; And it sounds as if Dana always considered the Collector, and thus might’ve gone through with them even if TOH hadn’t been shortened. Not that it really matters, because I find the Collector a legitimately compelling character in their own right, who in addition to their contributions to the themes, story, and other characters’ arcs, has justified their inclusion.

[happyhauntt]

garnet & silver — nikolai lantsov.

series masterlist | writing masterlist | askbox

─── requested: "⇴ person b is putting their necklace on person a, and stares at them for a hot minute after it's put on. then person b starts leaning into person a and pressing kisses onto their neck. with nikolai & anya" from this prompt list. ─── pairing: nikolai lantsov & anya kamenev (original character.) ─── warnings & notes: the fluffiest fluff. thank you so much for requesting this, it was so fun to write!!! ─── word count: 0.9k.

     Nikolai had sidled up behind her with a lazy smile curling at his lips, and she'd known it was him before looking in the mirror, known it from the way her skin had prickled at the mere proximity of him.

     He'd come to a stop just a hair away from her, and she cannot stop herself now, reacting entirely on instinct as she takes that half-step backward into his embrace. Every place where he's touching her scorches like brand, even through her clothes.

     When he produces the necklace from a pocket inside his coat, Anya watches their reflection in the floor-length mirror, her head tilting a little as a confused divot appears between her brows. His hands are warm and calloused against her skin. The tips of his fingers linger a moment longer than necessary once he's secured the clasp at the back of her neck, and the weight of the necklace rests comfortably in the hollow of Anya's throat.

     She leans back against his chest, into the security of him as he winds his free arm tight around her waist. Nikolai's other hand remains resting near the curve of her neck, tracing abstract shapes along the column of her throat in a way that makes her shiver.

     "You know I'm not one to complain about receiving gifts," Anya murmurs, a smile toying at her lips, "but what's the occasion?"

     Nikolai gives a playful sigh, trailing his finger along the chain until it brushes gently against Anya's collarbone. "Do I need an occasion to give presents to the woman I love?"

     "No," Anya admits. "But I suspect you've got one."

     The sliver of orange garnet nestled at her throat is small, no larger than her thumbnail, and wrapped in threads of silver wire. Anya reaches up to cup Nikolai's hand, entangling their fingers together as their hands settle on her shoulder.

     Their eyes meet in the mirror, and though their relationship isn't new, though it has been so long since they were children running ragged through the palace halls, so long since they were adolescents in the army bearing the weight of each other's secrets, Anya's stomach still erupts in a flurry of butterflies.

     He has eyes that could swallow her whole. Eyes like a forest, of oak trees mottled with moss and autumn leaves blanketing summer-green grass, and every part of her wants to wander into those woods and disappear forever.

    "I bought the stone from a marketplace on the Wandering Isle years ago." Nikolai's voice is rough when he finally speaks, and his grip on Anya's waist tightens. Heat blossoms beneath the press of his fingers and settles low in Anya's belly. "Back when I first left you, when Sturmhond was still a figment of my imagination and I hadn't found my sea legs yet."

     Anya smiles, soft at the edges. Sometimes she wishes she'd gone with him when he asked, wishes she'd been there to watch him grow from boy to man, but neither of them would be the same people now if she had.

     Though Anya regrets ━ Saints, she is full to the brim with regret, the kind that will spill all over the floor instead of blood if she cuts herself open, little more than a mess of regret bound up in human skin ━ she cannot ever quite bring herself to regret that.

     "I can't explain why, but when I saw it, I thought of you." He leans down and presses featherlight kisses against Anya's neck, one after another. "I was out in the world and free for the first time in my life, but I missed you as if someone had stolen my heart out of my chest, and when I saw it, all I could think of was you. So I bought it and I kept it in my pocket, right by my heart, so I knew you'd be with me in some small way."

     Nikolai is handsome and suave and brilliant, but there are some parts of him that she knows are reserved just for her.

     That sleepy groan first thing in the morning, the one that rumbles out of his throat when he rolls over and buries his face into Anya's collarbone, grumbling something about five more minutes against her skin.

     The gentle brush of his thumb over the inside of her wrist when they're in public, and they're trapped in an absolutely mindnumbing conversation about trade policy, and she knows he can feel the light flutter of her pulse and he starts to smirk, just slightly, because nobody else can make her heart race like that.

     And this, now. The way his eyes are soft and hungry all at once, and the line of open-mouthed kisses dips lower. When he pauses and hums, right against Anya's pulse point, the brush of his lips is just enough to make her tremble.

      "Why are you giving it to me if it's so important to you?" Her words slip out on a breathless whisper.

     She feels his lips as they bend into a grin. "You're with me now. I'm here, and you're here, and there's not a force in this world that could compel me to leave you again. You're stuck with me, I'm afraid."

     "What a dreadful prospect."

     She squeaks as he spins her in his grip a moment later, and then they're pressed chest-to-chest, and he's kissing her, swallowing the laughter as it spills past her lips, and Anya swears that not even the Saints could drag her away from Nikolai again.

     Not while she's still breathing.

[kaerinio]

okay, i am going to play a bit of bg.3, and then i will be here to work on tingz! ✨

[christiansorrell]

Play-By-Blog #0: Cloud Empress

My first Play-By-Blog (of Luke Gearing's The Isle) just recently wrapped up, and now, we are getting the next one going with Cloud Empress: Land of Cicadas! If you missed our run through The Isle, you can find all of the entries here.

Recently, I ran a poll to see what folks were interested in for this second Play-By-Blog and the voting was an exact tie between Cloud Empress and Mausritter, but since I'm the one doing all the writing, I was the tiebreaker and chose Cloud Empress and its hexcrawl, Land of Cicadas, as a new twist on the Play-By-Blog format and because the game has a set of solo rules in which you create and play as an entire party, not just a single character.

If you aren't familiar with Cloud Empress, here's a quick description straight from the game's product page:

Cloud Empress is an expansive, Nausicaa-inspired fantasy campaign setting for the Mothership Sci-Fi Horror RPG. Cloud Empress places you in a world ruled by the patterns of giant magical cicadas. Cloud Empress creates a new Earth, thousands of years in the future inspired by Hayao Miyazaki’s Nausicaa in the Valley of the Wind, Frank Herbert’s Dune, and Hiromu Arakawa’s Full Metal Alchemist.

The full rulebook for the game is FREE over at DriveThruRPG.

Land of the Cicadas takes this world and opens it up across a large hexmap, allowing us to explore the Lowland Wastes (Cloud Empress's take on a farflung future American Midwest) during the summer of the Century Brood and 29th Expedition (an ongoing military incursion from the Cloudling cities).

If you missed the last Play-By-Blog, here's an idea of how it works:

I write up the situation, NPCs, and more, just like a DM/GM.

You vote in the poll to help decide the party's next course of action.

I roll the dice, resolve actions, and write them up in the next entry.

So on and so forth for the rest of the adventure!

With all that said, let's get into Party Creation, vote on our first decisions, and get this whole thing started! Thanks for coming along for the ride.

We'll be generating 3 characters for our starting party. For the sake of our first poll and the number of base Jobs available in Cloud Empress, I'll take the top 3 most popular results and roll up a character for each (unless the All Random option wins the entire poll, in which case all characters will then be randomly rolled). So if Sellsword gets 8 votes, Lordling gets 4, Magician gets 3, and Courier gets 2, I'll roll up a Sellsword, a Lordling, and a Magician.

For variety's sake, we won't double up on Jobs (unless All Random is chosen, in which case it would be possible to get doubles of a Job within the party).

In Cloud Empress, there are 4 different Jobs available to characters:

Sellswords can handle themselves in a fight, but long to find a home. The long lost fighters and gritty mercs of the Wastes.

Lordlings are groomed to lead and strike fear into those around them. Strange and privileged, they stand out among the Wastes.

Magicians sacrifice their bodies to cast dangerous spells. Esoteric but powerful. There are no old Magicians.

Couriers are scrappy travelers who’ve witnessed the best and worst of the world. The salt of the chalk-covered Earth.

After we have our characters, we'll get our starting location and our initial job - the focus of our travels across the Land of Cicadas - from the Solo Procedure tables. Then, we'll be off!

[herebecritters]

I’ve got a ton of lore writings in the works and there’s a lot of little terms used by treefolk and by the trio. So here’s a handy guide in case anyone needs it.

THIS IS A LIVING DOCUMENT. There are sure to be edits and additions as time goes on.

Timeline

Dino-Sore Days

Period of time at the End of the Cretaceous Period before the meteor hit and the Death Curse began.

First Civilization

Period of time directly after the Meteor Strike and the Isles were formed. Cities built around the new Gods. Ends in extermination.

300 Year Colony

Period of time 66 million years after First Civilizations eradication. Years 1698 to 1998. Ends in extermination.

Current Era

Modern HTF as we know it.

Common knowledge

(Terms that most treefolks on the Isles will be familiar with)

The Isles: Also known as “The Isles of Da-rí-šè”, is a lush, multi-biomed cluster of islands hidden in the middle of the ocean and encompassed by a 66million year old Immortality Curse.

Critters/Treefolk: Sentient inhabitants of the world. Anthromorphic animals. Or “People” for lack of a better term.

Simple Beasts: Animals and creatures that live in the world who are not anthropomorphic characters. Pets, wildlife, ect.

Death Curse: The never ending loop of dying and regeneration experienced only within The Isles.

Blacking out: The sensation of losing consciousness and being unable to recall the specification of one’s own death on the Isles.

Death Hangover: The feeling one experiences when waking up alive after a death. Feelings of mental haze, disassociation, and a slight queasiness. Like you woke from a nightmare that you know you had but can’t seem to recall the details of it.

the Outside world/the real world/back home: No official word for this but many Treefolk tend to refer to the world and and their old life outside the Isles from time to time. As distant and far away as it now may seem to them…

Perma’d: the state of being dead without revival. Permanently dead.

Trio Terms

(Terms used among the trio or during the time of First Civilization and before.)

Holidays

(Holidays Celebrated during the First Civilization Era and still regarded by the Trio in private)

Day of Two Suns: New Year for the Critters of the First Civilization. Anniversary and Celebration of the day that the chixulub meteor hit the earth and ended the reign of the “Titans”. Transition from Spring into Summer.

Festival of Shedding: Summer into Autumn harvest festival and feast.

Nesting Day: Preparation of Autumn to Winter. Preparing the nest of Ki for the colder months.

Festival of Frogs: Winter into Spring festival when the frogs come out of hibernation.

Union: Solar Eclipse celebration

Bleeding Night: Lunar Eclipse Ritual to revive Theia from death with a chosen sacrifice.

Theology and Myths

Theia: The moon; deity of the Night and watcher of the small folk and critters.

Sâmâs: The Sun; deity of the Day

Ki: The Earth; Child of Theia and Sâmâs, asleep in the core of the planet.

Alagtila: The Idol of Life

Alagkana: The Idol of Misfortune

Alagumuna: The Idol of Blood

Dingirtila: Formal Title for the God of Life

Dingirkana: Formal Title for the God of Misfortune

Dingirumuna: Formal Title for the God of Blood

Egalkana: Temple of Misfortune

Egaltila: Temple of Life

Egalumuna: Temple of Blood

Mushhush: The name of Nergals monster form

Umamumurgu: Ancient beast of Rage and Fire sent by Sâmâs to protect the children of Theia from the Titans.

The World of the Curse

The Blood: Concentrated Suffering in the form of blood. Gives the idols their power.

The Wells: Underground rivers and lakes where the Blood is held. How full they are determines the amount of power the idols have.

Burrows: Series of tunnels deep below the Isles leading to the wells and to the Trios private chambers.

Hibernation: State of stasis where the trio can go long periods of time of inactivity to conserve Blood.

Ludari: “The Eternal People” The term used to describe the people who lived during the First Civilization before the Rebellion.

Lukurra: “Outsiders” Those who are not one of the three Idols. This term replaced Ludari after the rebellion.

Titans: The dinosaurs, pterosaurs, plesiosaurs, mosasaurs and other giant reptiles that went extinct after the meteorite hit.

Bonus

[spearsndragons]

i hate it when asoiaf fans try to deny the racism against dornish people in canon.

“race is a social construct!” YES! “race doesn’t exist in the asoiaf world like it does in reality…” uhhh say that to alleras when leo tyrell described his mom as “a monkey from the summer isles.” how people stereotype dornishmen as small and dark with beady eyes. how tyrion complained of how dornish smelled. it’s been established canonically how most westerosi characters viewed non-white people and foreigners.

sure, some of dornish are white and white-passing, but that doesn’t erase the fact that they are mostly brown and black people??? just like how africa, middle east, asia, latin america and many oppressed regions are? GRRM has written MANY, MANY times how much the rest of westeros “other”s them. we’ve seen them reduce dorne as a land of sex and hedonism, which parallels to how the western world viewed (and many still view) asia and the middle east. they see them as “less civilized.”

when myriah martell became daeron’s wife, the kingdoms were quick to shit on her because she brought dornish people to her court. when elia married rhaegar, people thought she was unworthy to marry the beloved, handsome, white prince because of her health and her dornishness.

don’t get me started on the whole “elia would have been okay being cheated on! dornish are okay with extramarital affairs and bastards!” like do you guys not hear yourself??? this hyper-sexualization is literally a classic racist trope.

and i’m certain grrm intended to write it this way to show that racism, in fact, exists in westerosi life and dominates in their politics, just as in real life. he’s even said before he considered giving targaryens dark skin: “I’d had dark-skinned dragonlords invade and conquer and dominate a largely white Westeros.” so him making dorne, a largely non-white population, being the only one to resist conquest and the only kingdom to join westeros on their own terms, is very much intended.

too many fucking fans reduce our arguments to us “pulling the race card.” well guess what? BECAUSE IT MATTERS. just as racism is embedded in our society, everything about how this fandom and characters view dorne go back to race and racism. just because you can’t admit to yourself that you’re upholding white supremacy ideals doesn’t mean it’s not happening.

YOU CANNOT DENY THAT RACE AND CULTURE ARE IMPORTANT ELEMENTS IN ASOIAF.

DORNE BEST KINGDOM! MARTELL BEST HOUSE! IDC IDC! WHO ELSE IN WESTEROS SAID FUCK YOU TO THEIR COLONIZERS AND LIVED TO TELL THE TALE?

(i can say more on the matter but i will just get more heated and end up writing a 10 page essay. when i tell you the law student in me comes alive when i have to defend dorne-)