#the bishop and the warlord

[bloodybarbrawl]

light metal <3

[alexcollix7]

Sarah J Maas: plagiarism or inspiration

In this post we are going to discuss the various and stricking similaries between Sarah J Maas series TOG/ACOTAR with original books she admited to consume, as well as the use of direct lines from movies, books and tv shows in her books, and where do we draw the line in what we consider to be inspiration vs plagiarism.

As some people know, SJM is a big fan of Anne Bishop's work, especifically her Black Jewels trilogy. Some people already noticed similarities between the two series (and in her TOG books as well) in terms of storyline, races and characters, but it's not nearly talked about enough.

It's good to make clear that the first book of "the black jewels" was published in 1998 and the last one of the trilogy was published in 2000, over 12 years before acotar and TOG was even launched. So Bishop's work was around a long time before sjm started to publish her books.

That being said, let's start with the fact that the beginning of her first series TOG is pratically the same as the beginning of the second book of The Black Jewels, Heir to the Shadows, but with a different character:

"After a year of slavery in the Salt Mines of Endovier, Celaena Sardothien was accustomed to being escorted everywhere in shackles and at sword-point. Most of the thousands of slaves in Endovier received similar treatment—though an extra half-dozen guards always walked Celaena to and from the mines. That was expected by Adarlan’s most notorious assassin. What she did not usually expect, however, was a hooded man in black at her side—as there was now" (TOG, 2012)

"Surrounded by guards, Lucivar Yaslana, the half-breed Eyrien Warlord Prince, walked into the courtyard, fully expecting to hear the order for his execution. There was no other reason for a salt mine slave to be brought to this courtyard, and Zuultah, the Queen of Pruul, had good reason to want him dead. Prythian, the High Priestess of Askavi, still wanted him alive, still hoped to turn him to stud. But Prythian wasn't standing in the courtyard with Zuultah." (Heir to the Shadows, 1999).

So, Sarah's first work begins with a paragraph that is already really really similar to the first one in Bishop's second novel.

Now, let's then move on to the part that shocked me the most and made me sure of doing this post: The extreme and undeniable resemblance between the Illyrians with the Eyriens, a race portrayed in Bishop's Black Jewels books, who one of the main characters, Lucivar (coincidentally or not, Sarah's favorite one) is a part of.

The Eyriens are described to be warriors with tanned skin, gold eyes, and "batlike wings". Eyrien males are trained in hunting camps as children, and the females are forbidden to touch weapons. They are often found in a mountainous territory called "Askavi Terreille", and carry prejudice against half-eyriens. Does all that sounds familiar?

The Illyrians are so much like the Eyriens, it's not even funny. They have bat-like wings, the males are trained in camps, live by the mountains, have their own personalized weapons, and the females are usually mistreated and not allowed to fight. And what does Rhysand suffer from them? Prejudice, because he's half illyrian. Even their physical characteristics are the same: golden brown skin, hazel eyes, black hair. What mainly sets on them apart is their names (which still sound pretty similar) and the fact that the illyrians have tattoos.

"He spread his dark, membranous wings, trying to ease the ache in his back." ( Daughter of the blood, page 12)

"Indeed, it was still Rhysand’s face, his powerful male body, but flaring out behind him were massive black membranous wings—like a bat’s, like the Attor’s" (ACOTAR, page 348)

"Still, it was home, and centuries of enslaved exile had left him aching for the smell of clean mountain air, the taste of a sweet, cold stream, the silence of the woods, and, most of all, the mountains where the Eyrien race soare" (Daughter of the blood, page 16)

"The Illyrians … We love our people, and our traditions, but they dwell in clans and camps deep in the mountains of the North" (ACOMAF, page 165)

"He had never felt this weary, this beaten. Not as a half-breed boy in the Eyrien hunting camps, not in the countless courts he'd served in over the centuries since" (Heir to the darkness, page 13)

“When I turned eight, my mother brought me to one of the Illyrian war- camps . To be trained, as all Illyrian males were trained" ( ACOMAF, page 168)

”She kept resisting because Eyrien females traditionally didn’t touch a warrior’s weapons" (Queen of the darkness, page 151).

“Some camps issued decrees that if a female was caught training, she was to be deemed unmarriageable. I can’t fight against things like that, not without slaughtering the leaders of each camp and personally raising each and every one of their offspring.” (ACOMAF, page 434)

”There are reasons why Eyrien males are the warriors— Lucivar said, his eyes skimming over the women as he paced slowly down the line and back again.— We’re bigger, stronger, and we have the temperament for killing. You have other strengths and other skills. Most of the time, that works out well." (Queen of Darkness, page 156)

“The  Illyrians— Rhys smoothly cut in, that light finally returning to his gaze — Are unparalleled warriors, and are rich with stories and traditions. But they are also brutal and backward, particularly in regard to how they treat their females.” (ACOMAF, page 166)

"She wanted to cut the wings off, raise the boy as Dhemlan maybe. But he said no, in his soul the boy was Eyrien, and it would be kinder to kill him in the cradle than to cut his wings" (Daughter Of The Blood, page 138)

“I banned wing-clipping a long, long time ago, but … at the more zealous camps, deep within the mountains, they do it." (ACOMAF, page 434).

"But they’re good boys, and they’ll carry their weight. And they are full-blooded  Eyriens — he added.

— So they don’t carry the stigma of being half-breeds? — Lucivar asked with deadly control." (Queen of the Darkness, page 39)

"He gave Rhys command of a legion of Illyrians who hated him for being a half-breed" (ACOMAF, page 136)

"Then he called in his Ebon-gray Jewels and the wide leather belt that held his hunting knife and his Eyrien war blade" (Heir to the shadows, page 257)

"I went from physical defense to learning to wield an Illyrian blade, the weapon so fine, I’d nearly taken Cassian’s arm off." (ACOMAF, page 367)

Some people can look at this as simple inspiration, but others consider the races to be almost identical. Their prejudices, the place they live, the place where they train and how they train being the same, with only a few minor key points being changed.

In Bishop's work men and women are adressed and divided as "males" and "females". Their society is based the existence of jewels, where the darker someone's jewel is, the more powerful that person becomes.

The jewels are close to what SJM called siphons, used by the illyrians. They are a representation of the powers of members of the blood, serve as containers, and vary in colors. Siphons, however, are literally jewels who filter Illyrians powers, manipulating magic. Members of the blood can have more than one jewel, and illyrians can have more than one siphon.

"An uncut Jewel is a rare thing, little Sister —   Titian said, removing something from the box.    — Wait until you know who you are before you have it set. Then it will be more than a receptacle for the power your body can't hold; it will be a statement of what you are." (Daughter of the blood, page 71)

"He held up his hands, the backs to me so both jewels were on full display.— They’re called  Siphons . They concentrate and focus our power in battle.” (ACOMAF, page 162)

"The Black-Jeweled ring on his right hand glittered with an inner fire." (Daughter of the blood, page 39)

"Siphons atop his scarred hands flickered like rippling blue fire as he reached for the Attor." (ACOMAF, page 262)

" Your fingers clenched around that Jewel. There was a flash of Red light, and the guards were flung backward." ( Daughter of the blood, page 136)

"Cassian lifted his hand into the air. Red light exploded from his Siphon, blasting up and away" (ACOMAF, page 543)

"Her strength was gone. The Jewel hungaround her neck, dark and empty" (Daughter of the blood, page 399)

"Azriel’s blue Siphons were dull, muted. Utterly empty."  (ACOMAF, page 554)

The Blood possess some ability to sense and mask their psychic scent. The conception of "scent" not only acts as a way for them to recognize each other, but also sense their emotions, and seems to be highlighted between couples, with Daemon for using it in order to fantasize or look for Jaenelle. That matches perfectly SJM's universe where the Fae are able to feel each others scents, sensing their emotions through it, it being stronger between mated couples:

"The psychic scent was almost gone, but he recognized it. A dark scent. A powerful, terrifying, wonderful scent. He breathed deeply, and the lifetime hunger in him became intense".(Daughter of the blood, page 178).

"Like the body that housed it, a witch's psychic scent had a muskiness that a Blood male could find as arousing as the body—if not more so" (Daughter of the blood, page 184)

His  scent  drifted to her, darker, muskier than usual. She’d bet all the money she didn’t have that it was the scent of his arousal. (ACOSF, page 235)

"A room where she had slept would still be strong with her psychic scent, even if it had been cleaned"  (Daughter of the blood, page 182)

"Cassian had flown back up to the House. And found the oak door to the stairs open, Nesta’s  scent  lingering." (ACOSF, page 99)

"No psychic scent of emotions for the guards to play with as they put the sobbing man into the old, one-man boat." (Daughter of the blood, page 149)

"He didn’t need to use a psychic probe to know who was on the other side of the door. The scent of her fear was sufficient." (Queen of the darkness, page 120)

"Their faces were vacant. Not a trace of fear in them, or in their scents." (ACOSF, page 344)

"Those of us who have would notice the similarities in your psychic scents and reach the correct conclusion" ( Queen of Darkness, page 114)

"He didn’t believe me. So he grabbed Catrin, because our scents were nearly identical, you see" (ACOSF, page 652)

The basic unit of Blood society and government is a Queen and her Court. To create a Court, she must be at the age of majority and have twelve males who agree to be in her First Circle. Jaenelle creates hers in the second book, who is  denominated as the "dark court". How is Rhysan's court called? The night court. How is his unity of power named? "the inne circle". Rhysand's court is also referred as "the court of dreams", and Jaenelle is called "dreams made flesh".

"He hoped she'd be pleased to have the use of this place. He hoped he'd be invited when she established her own court. He wanted to see whom she selected for her First Circle" (Daughter of the Blood page 92)

"They’re Rhysand’s Inner Circle.The ones I’d heard mentioned that day at the Night Court—who Rhys kept going to meet." (ACOMAF, page 135)

"The living myth— Saetan whispered.— Dreams made flesh— His throat tightened. He closed his eyes." (Heir to the shadows, page 459)

“And what is this court? — I asked, gesturing to them. The most important question.

It was Cassian, eyes clear and bright as his Siphon, who said — The Court of Dreams.”

Remember Lucivar? The main Eyrien character? Well, it doesn't help sjm's case that he's incredibly similar to Cassian:

Because he's an eyrien, Lucivar was raised as a warrior and has bat wings, together with gold eyes and tanned skin. He also has long black hair and is considered to be well-built. Initially his jewels are birthright red, and later they descent into being ebon grey. Just like his father, he is known as having an explosive temper who often lead him to trouble. Thanks to him not being recognized by Saetan initially, Lucivar is seen as a bastard. This is not at all far from how Cassian is written.

Let's also keep in mind: Lucivar is also responsable for recruting and training Eyrien warriors in the Dark Court, later training the women who live in Ebon Askavi (which, as I will show later, is almost identical to the House of Wind).

Cassian's tragetory is marked by him being underlooked as a "bastard" and not being able to control his temper, and that is further developed in acosf. His appereance is carbon-copy of Lucivar (the only difference being that his eyes are hazel), and his siphons are red. He also happens to train illyrian warriors, and later Feyre, Nesta and the other priestesses from the library. Like Lucivar has a brotherly bond with Jaenelle and waits for her to be his queen, Cassian has a brotherly love for Feyre and respects her as his high lady:

"Unlike the other slaves who couldn't contain their misery or fear, there was no expression in Lucivar's gold eyes" (Daughter of the Blood, page 13)

"Like their High Lord, the males—warriors—were dark-haired, tan-skinned. But unlike Rhys, their eyes were hazel and fixed on me as I at last stepped close" (ACOMAF, page 155)

"She looked so pale against his light-brown skin, and he knew it wasn't simply because she was fair-skinned" (Daughter of the blood, page 19)

"She watched his light brown fingers play against her pale skin" (ACOSF, page 367)

"The man wore a leather vest and the black, skintight trousers favored by Eyrien warriors. His black hair fell to his shoulders, which was unusual for an Eyrien male. [..] A wild joy filled Daemon, even as his heart clogged his throat and tears stung his gold eyes. Lucivar." (Queen of the Darkness, page 45)

"Cassian surveyed Rhys from head to foot, his shoulder-length black hair shifting with the movement" (ACOMAF, page 155)

"Because he was a half-breed bastard, he had no hope of attaining a position of authority within a court, despite the rank of his jewels" (Daughter of the Blood, page 17)

"I can tell you how I hear Eris and Devlon and the others talk and, deep down, I still believe that I am a worthless bastard brute. That it doesn’t matter how many Siphons I have or how many battles I’ve won" (ACOSF, page 434)

"Tears stung Lucivar's eyes. Why, Daemon? What did she do to deserve being hurt like that?  His voice rose. He couldn't stop it. She was the Queen we had dreamed of serving. We had waited for her for so long.  You butchering whore, why did you have to kill her?" (Heir to the shadows, page 31)

"He’d thought about that painting a great deal in the days afterward—how it had made him feel, how close they’d all come to losing their High Lady before they’d ever met her." (ACOSF, page 43)

"Because he was a trained Eyrien warrior and had a temper that was explosive even for a Warlord Prince" (Daughter of the blood, page 16)

"Cassian was lounging in his chair, a glass of wine in his hand, staring at nothing. A brooding warrior-prince, contemplating the death of his enemies." (ACOSF, page 275)

"He could have caught him on the first pass. The young one will have to concede the battle, but it’ll stay in his mind that he put up a good fight. No, Lucivar understands how to train an Eyrien warrior.” (Queen of Darkness, page 103)

"Cassian prayed that the gods were watching over him as Rhys sipped from his tea and said,    

—You’re ready?

He leaned back in his seat. — I’ve gotten young warriors in line before." (ACOSF, page 43)

There's even a line when Lucivar is training the women in ebon askavi that hits very close to one used when Cassian is training the priestesses:

”If you can become half as proficient with this as she is, you’ll be able to take down any male except an Eyrien warrior —  Falonar said slowly. — And you’ll be able to take down half of them as well.” (Queen of the darkness, page 158)

"Cassian continued to train Nesta, Emerie, and Gwyn. The rain didn’t let up, and they were all soaked, but the exertion kept the bite of the cold away.— So this can really down a male in one move? [...] He concentrated on the females in front of him. — This move will knock anyone unconscious if you hit the right spot.” (ACOSF, page 385)

Daemon, his brother, is too very similar to Rhysand. He has the reputation of a sadist, after being tortured and used as slave in the hands of Dorotothea, close to how Rhys was known as a cruel fae who had to serve Amarantha (the way they a called is also pretty much the same, as well, being referred as their "pet" or "whore"). Daemon believes to be destined to Jaenelle, even before meeting her, sometimes feeling her touch, and dreaming or her, just like Rhysand talks about knowing Feyre was his mate, and dreaming of her before they met. He, like Saetan, Jaenelle, and Lucivar, is a black widow: which means he can access people's minds and thoughts, as well as communicate telephatically, exactly how daemanti in acotar have the ability to do.

"His face was a gift of his mysterious heritage, aristocratic and too beautifully shaped to be called merely handsome. He was tall and broad-shouldered. He kept his body well toned and muscular enough to please. His voice was deep and cultured, with a husky, seductive edge to it that made women go all misty-eyed. His gold eyes and thick black hair were typical of all three of Terreille's long-lived races, but his warm, golden-brown skin was a little lighter than the Hayllian aristos—more like the Dhemlan race." (Daughter of the blood, page 24)

"I stepped out of the shelter of my savior’s arm and turned to thank him. Standing before me was the most beautiful man I’d ever seen. Everything about the stranger radiated sensual grace and ease. High Fae, no doubt. His short black hair gleamed like a raven’s feathers" (ACOTAR, page 193)

"I had no answer to that—to the tenor in his rich, deep voice. So I examined the tattoos on his chest and arms, the glow of his tan skin , so golden now that he was no longer caged inside that mountain." (ACOMAF, page 289)

"Daemon smiled that cold, cruel smile. "Now you know what it's like to get into bed with Hayll's Whore." (Daughter of the blood, page 77)

"Lucien interrupted — What do you know about anything? You’re just Amarantha’s whore.

— Her whore I might be, but not without my reasons.” (ACOTAR, page 239)

"In his soul, he knew her. In his dreams, he saw her. He never envisioned a face. It always blurred if he tried to focus on it. But he could see her dressed in a robe made of dark, transparent spidersilk, a robe that slid from her shoulders as she moved, a robe that opened and closed as she walked, revealing bare, night-cool skin. And there would be a scent in the room that was her, a scent he would wake to, burying his face in her pillow after she was up and attending her own concerns." (Daughter of the Blood, page 27)

“Three years ago, he said quietly,  — I began to have these … dreams [...] The images were foggy, like looking through cloudy glass. They were brief—a flash here and there, every few months. I thought nothing of them, until one of the images was of a hand … This beautiful, human hand. Holding a brush. Painting—flowers on a table.” (ACOMAF, page 504)

“I saw you through your dreams—and I hoarded the images [...] I’d wake up with your scent in my nose, and it would haunt me all day, every step." (ACOMAF, page 505)

"There was a bitter taste in Daemon's mouth. The ashes of dreams. After all, he was Hayll's Whore, a pleasure slave, an amusement for the ladies no matter what their age, a way to pass the time" (Daughter of the blood, page 267)

"And he would be at that table in the town house, roaring with laughter—never again cold and cruel and solemn. Never again anyone’s slave or whore" (ACOMAF, page 497)

"You're my Queen,he thought fiercely. His body ached. She was his Queen. But with her family surrounding them, watching, there was nothing he could say or do to help her" (Daughter of the blood, page 360)

"My equal in every way; she would wear my crown, sit on a throne beside  mine. Never sidelined, never designated to breeding and parties and child-rearing. My queen." (ACOMAF, 598)

"He caught her wrists, holding her off with an ease that made her scream. He hit the Black shields on her inner barriers hard enough to make her work to keep them intact, but they wouldn't keep him out for long." (Daughter of the blood, page 302)

"My innate talents allow me to slip through the mental shields of anyone I wish, with or without that bridge—unless they’re very, very strong, or have trained extensively to keep those shields tight." (ACOMAF, page 59)

At some point Daemon is even called Jaenelle's mate:

"He’s here! Jaenelle’s mate is finally here!  Daemon felt as if the wind had been knocked out of him" (Heir to the shadows, page 117)

His position and title of highlord is parallelled a lot by how Saetan is decribed:

"High Lord of Hell, the Prince of the Darkness, the most powerful and dangerous Warlord Prince in the history of the Blood" (Daughter of the darkness, page 266)

"For what it’s worth, I’m the most powerful  High Lord in Prythian’s history" (ACOMAF, page 145)

Moving on to other similarities, Ebon Askavi, known as the black mountain or "the keep", who is put as a sanctuary, keeping a library containing the history of the blood, matches the form in which the house of wind is developed in sjm's books, with the palace also being embedded into a mountain. The Keep is a safe place where the high lord of hell reserves for the demon dead to rest, same as Rhysand turning the library into a home for the priestesses. And the whole Bryaxis situation? A creature who lives in the pit of the library? Well, Ebon askavi used to be the home of the prince of dragons: Lorn, who guess what? Used to reside beneath it. Finally, Bishop literally describes the palace as the place where "The winds meet".

"Saetan limped across the empty courtyard to the huge, open-metal doors embedded into the mountain itself, rang the bell, and waited to enter the Keep, the Black Mountain, Ebon Askavi, where the Winds meet. It was the repository for the Blood's history as well as a sanctuary for the darkest-Jeweled Blood. It was also the private lair of Witch" (Daughter of the blood, page 59)

"Draca led him through the corridors of  Ebon Askavi  toward a large stairwell that descended into the heart of the mountain." ( Daughter of the blood, page 431)

“Her throat closed at the surge of memories and at the sprawling view—the glimmering ribbon of the Sidra far below, the red-stoned palace built into the side of the flat-topped mountain itself." (ACOSF, page 49).

“I made this library into a refuge for them. Some come to heal, work as acolytes, and then leave; some take the oaths to the Cauldron and Mother to become priestesses and remain here forever" (ACOWAR, page 212)

"She still served the Keep itself, looking after the comfort of the scholars who came to study, of the Queens who needed a dark place to rest" (Daughter of the Blood, page 61)

"—  Who was here before them?

  —  A few cranky old scholars, who cursed me soundly when I relocated them to other libraries in the city. They still get access, but when and where is always approved by the priestesses.” (ACOWAR, page 213)

“There is a creature beneath the library. Do you know it?

Amren shut the book.

— Its name is  Bryaxis.

— What is it.

— You do not want to know, girl.” (ACOWAR, page 452).

"Mother Night, Saetan — Geoffrey said, his breathing ragged.  — The Keep is his lair.

He's been here all the time.

He hadn't expected Lorn to be so big. "(Heir to the shadows, page 476)

As for Amren being a unknown creature who was tuned into a faerie and lived centuries before everyone else? Same thing as Draca. She lived by the time Dragons ruled the world and was later turned into something "human", assisting the high lord of hell:

"When only the Queen and her Prince, Lorn, were left, the Queen bid her Consort farewell [...] When the last scale fell from her, she vanished. Some stories say her body was transformed into some other shape, though it still contained a dragon's soul" (Heir to the shadows, page 375).

  "— Why won’t Amren go in here?

  —  Because she was once a prisoner.

  — Not in that body, I take it.

   A cruel smile.

  — No. Not at all.” (ACOMAF, page 185)

"Spiraling? — Geoffrey thought for a moment and shook his head. — No, but that doesn't mean it can't happen. Ask Draca. Compared to her, you're still in the nursery and I'm just a stripling." (Daughter of the blood, page 243)

"In the countless millennia they had existed here in Prythian, Rhys—Rhys with his smirking and sarcasm and bedroom eyes ...And Amren was worse. And older than five thousand years." (ACOMAF, page 145)

"When they had first arrived at the Keep, Lucivar had given him a cryptic warning: Draca is a dragon in human form.The moment he’d seen the Seneschal, he’d understood what Lucivar meant. Her looks, combined with the feel of great age and old, deep power, had fascinated him." (Queen of the darkness, page 252)

"Because even though the short, delicate woman looked like High Fae … as Rhys had warned me, every instinct was roaring to run. To hide. [...] But Amren’s eyes …Her silver eyes were unlike anything I’d ever seen; a glimpse into the creature that I knew in my bones wasn’t High Fae. Or hadn’t been born that way."  (ACOMAF, page 158)

"Draca asked. Her unblinking reptilian eyes revealed nothing" (Daughter of the blood, page 431)

You can also find some of the names of characters and places of Anne Bishop's books in Sarah J Mass ones. For instance: Sarah admited Prythian was a trick on Pryddain from the chronicles of Pryddain but that she couldn't put the original name because it belonged to Phillip Alexander, so she choose Prythian. But one of the high priestesses in Bishop's trilogy is indeed named Prythian.

"Prythian, Askavi's High Priestess, couldn't leash his temper enough to serve witches he despised" (Daughter of the blood, page 16)

If you look at the titles of some of the TOGs books, you realize they are alike Anne Bishop's as well:

The thing is: where do we draw the line when it comes to inspiration in books? It's common to have some similarities between author's works, however, to have that many in lines, places, plots, on top of races and characters who are nearly identical to the ones someone created fourteen years before you? I don't know.

I don't appreciate Bishop's work, in fact, I suffered a lot to go through the trilogy, for problems like: explicit sexual violence, mutilation, and worst of all grooming (Daemon meets his so called soulmate when she's a child, and he kisses her when she's 12), which literally made feel sick, but, is clear Bishop came up with a lot of things a long time before SJM did.

Because her series of books came out by the 2000, most of sjm's target audience doesn't know Bishop's work, making it very easy to avoid comparison. This is one of the reasons why this situation becomes a big problem, because most of her fans think SJM work is totally original, and that she came up with 99% of the concepts by herself.

Besides the black jewels, Sarah was said to have taking scenes, plots and quotes from other original productions/books, like the lord of the rings (which she's also a huge fan):

For example, The White Tree of Gondor and Kingsflame.

The White Tree of Gordon only blooms when the rightful ruler sits on the throne. Coming to later bloom in Aragorn's coronation:

"And so the kingdom of Gondor sank into ruin, the line of kings failed, the white tree withered and the rule of Gondor was given over to lesser men."

Kingsflame, however, it’s a magical flower that first bloomed when Brannon arrived, proof that was a good king:

 "since those ancient days, only single blossoms had been spotted, so rare in their appearance that their appearance was deemed a sign that the land had blessed whatever ruler sat on Terrasen’s throne. (KOA 686)"

Similarly, the flower also blooms after Aelin’s Coronation:

Across every mountain, spread across the green canopy of Oakwald, carpeting the entire Plain of Theralis, the kingsflame was blooming. (KOA 984)

We also have the scene when Haldir arrives at helms deep:

"I bring word from Elrond of Rivendell.  An alliance once existed between Elves and men. Long ago we fought and died together. We come to honor that allegiance."

While Manon says this in KOA:

"Long ago the Crochans fought beside Terrasen, to honor the great debt we owed the Fae King Brannon for granting us a homeland."(KOA, page 693)

And don't forget, Aragorn saying:

"My friends, you bow to no one"

While Rhysand says this in ACOWAR:

"You bow to no one, was all he replied"

Don't forget, the conversation between Theoden and Gamling in the Two Towers movie:

"Theoden: Who am I, Gamling?

Gamling : You are our king, sire.

Theoden : And do you trust your king?

Gamling : Your men, my Lord, will follow you to whatever end.

Theoden : To whatever end... "

Followed by this conversation between Rowan and Aelin:

“—To whatever end? — she breathed.

Rowan followed her, as he had his entire life, long before they had ever met, before their souls had sparked into existence. —“To whatever end, Fireheart.”

We also have other examples, like treasure island:

"Look at you! Glowing like a solar fire. You're something special, Jim. You're gonna rattle the stars, you are!"  (Treasure Island-2003)

"You could rattle the stars," she whispered. "You could do anything, if only you dared. And deep down, you know it, too. That’s what scares you most. "( TOG page 385, chapter 54)

ASOIAF:

A quite similar phrase to "Queen that was promised" was used in GRRM’s ASOIAF,  where an ancient prophecy talked about a "Prince who was promised",  later it being reveleaded that they expected a boy, but the title was said to fall to Daenarys Targaryen (a queen). This is mentioned in " A dance of dragons" which was published in 2011. This prince is also mentioned as being “the Heir of Fire”.

"Westeros must unite beneath her one true king, the prince that was promised, Lord of Dragonstone and chosen of R'hllor" ( A dance with dragons, 2011)

"Perhaps it had all been for nothing. The Queen Who Was Promised" (KOA, page 121, 2018)

"He is fire made flesh, she thought, and so am I."  (A dance with dragons, page 949, 2011)

"Fire - he reminded her of fire made flesh."  (ACOWAR, 2017)

Harry Potter is added to list, as well:

Dumbledore: Do not pity the dead, Harry. Pity the living, and, above all those who live without love. (HP and the deathly hallows, page 705, 1997).

Rhysand: Be glad of your human heart, Feyre. Pity those who don’t feel anything at all. (ACOTAR, page 418, 2012).

"Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light." (Harry Potter and the prisioner of Azkaban, 2004)

“Light can be found even in the darkest of hells” (ACOWAR, page 577, 2017)

The movie spirit:

Little Creek: Take care of her, Spirit-who-could-not-be-broken (Spirit, 2002)

Nehemia: I name you Elentiya, ‘Spirit That Cannot Be Broken.' (TOG, page 44)

Shadow and Bone:

The quote "like calls to like" explains one of the most important plot points in shadow and bone, the first book was published in 2012, and Sarah was mentioned in Leigh's acknowledgments as the person who gave her first review. She had used "magic calls to magic" before in throne of glass in 2012, yet the book was published in august, while Shadow and Bone came out before, in june. The principle of "like calls to like" in her books was mentioned by the time ACOMAF came out, in 2016, four years later. It was also used to describe attraction to objects of power, which follows Bardugo's concept.

Shadow and Bone: The grounding principle of the Small Science was “like calls to like" (page 113)

ACOMAF: The box—the Book—was silent. Then it said, Like calls to like  (page 350)

“The Grisha claims the amplifier, but the amplifier claims the Grisha, as well. Once it is done, there can be no other. Like calls to like, and the bond is made.” (page 130)

The movie troy:

"Menelaus : Prince? What prince? What son of a king would accept a man's hospitality, eat his food, drink his wine, embrace him in friendship, and then steal his wife in the middle of the night?

Paris : The sun was shining when your wife left you." (Troy, 2004)

“If you hadn’t stolen my bride away in the night, Rhysand, I would not have been forced to take such drastic measures to get her back.

I said quietly, The sun was shining when I left you.” (ACOWAR, page 396, 2017)

The Land before Time:

"Some things you see with your eyes. Other things you see with your heart." ( The Land before Time 1988)

"Some things you hear with your eyes. Other things you hear with your heart."( Crown of Midgnight, page 168, 2011)

Mulan:

"Shan Yu: How many men does it take to deliver a message?

The other Hun: One.

The Hun proceeds to shoot one of the imperial soldiers with an arrow." (Mulan, 1998)

“But it seems like tonight isn’t really your night, Elide said to the ilken, lifting the hatchet again over a shoulder. The ilken might have been whimpering as she smiled grimly.—Because it only takes one to deliver a message. And your companions are already on their way.

The axe fell.

Flesh and bone and blood spilled onto the stones.” (Empire of Storms, page 455, 2016)

There's more to show about the black jewels, but this posts is already huge, so I'm going to finish by talking a little bit about her new series: Crescent city, which people already pointed out to be similar to another series she also talked about before: The Fever series by Karn Marie Moning, published in 2007. Now, I don't think is the same case as the black jewels, because crescent city does follow a much more different story, but is still have matching characters and main storyline.

Darkfever tells the story of MacKayla, a girl who seemingly had a perfect life. After the murder of her sister, she sees herself obligated to make an alliance with the mysterious Jericho in order find her killer, whilst exploring her sidhe-seer powers. Crescent city, on the other hand, is also about a girl losing people close to her: her best friend and her crush, then deciding to solve their deaths by teaming up with the fallen angel Hunt.

Mackayla is a sidhe seer, a person who can see fae, and ends up in the book series as their queen, while Bryce is half fae. They are both extremely attractive girls, who love to party and take good care of their appereance. Jericho, however, is a handsome, tough supernatural being who resources to Mac in order to find answers, ending up getting involved with her. Lastly, Hunt is a fallen angel, who needs to make sure Bryce cooperates with the investigation, and develops feelings for her.

"My sister's whole body had holes in it, Inspector! Not just her arms! The coroner said they looked like teeth marks! — Not of any person or animal he'd been able to identify, though.— And parts of her were just fora!— I was shaking. I hated the memory. It made me sick to my stomach" (Dark Fever, page 71)

"She knew in her bones it was not a hallucination, what lay on that bed, knew in her bones that what bled out inside her chest was her heart. Danika lay there. In pieces" (Crescent City, page 74)

"Grieving wasn't going to bring her back, and it sure wasn't going to make me feel better about whoever'd killed her walking around alive out there somewhere, happy in their sick little psychotic way, while my sister lay icy and white beneath six feet of dirt" (Dark Fever, page 10)

"Briggs planned to hurt people, and he deserved to be in jail, but—he’d been wrongly accused of the murder.Danika’s killer was still out there" (Crescent City, page 145)

"I think I just finally expelled the last drop of moisture from my body that wasn't absolutely necessary to keep me alive. And rage watered my parched soul. I wanted answers. I wanted justice.I wanted revenge." (Dark fever, page 11)

"She didn’t know where to start.But she’d do it. Find whoever had done this.[...] She ground her teeth. She’d find whoever had done this and make them regret ever being born." (Crescent City, page 164)

Once again, Hunt has the exact same appeareance as Jericho, and their personalities are also pretty much alike.

"He studied me with his predator's gaze, assessing me from head to toe. I studied him back. He didn't just occupy space; he saturated it.The room had been full of books before, now it was full of him. About thirty, six foot two or three, he had dark hair, golden skin, and dark eyes. His features were strong, chiseled." (Dark Fever, page 36)

"An angel who reason and history reminded him was an ally, though every instinct roared the opposite.Predator. Killer. Monster. Hunt Athalar’s angular dark eyes, however, remained fixed on the window. On Bryce Quinlan." (House of earth and blood, page 80)

"Hunt nodded once, his golden-brown face betraying nothing." (House of earth and blood, page 81)

"Then the male leafed through Quinlan’s thin file, his shoulder-length black hair slipping over his unreadable face." (House of earth and blood, page 81)

Darkfever presentd V'lane as a third character, an attractive seelie prince, who rules the Tuatha Dé Dannan, and happens to go after Mackayla as revenge against Jericho. In crescent city, there third main character is Ruhn, Bryce's half brother, and who is he? A crowned prince of the fae. And what is his last name? Danaan.

"Even today, after all that I've seen, I couldn't begin to describe V'lane, prince of the Tuatha Dé Danaan." (Dark Fever, page 134)

"Thinking she’d get a nice, sweaty ride with a Prince of the Fae, she’d be sorely disappointed. He was in no shape for fucking right now." (Crescent city, page 199)

“I got a phone call, Naomi said. From Ruhn fucking Danaan. He’s livid that we didn’t notify Sky and Breath about bringing in the girl." (Crescent city, page 96)

The scene where Hunt goes to watch over Bryce in her apartment follows the exact same patterns of the scene Jericho goes to visit Mackayla in her home:

"A moment later, her phone buzzed on the coffee table. Right as her show began.She didn’t know the number, but she wasn’t at all surprised when she picked up, plopping down onto the cushions, and Hunt growled,

— Open the curtains. I want to watch the show.” (Crescent city, page 84)

"Someone knocking at my door awakened me [...] I glanced at my watch. It was two o'clock in the morning. I was sleepy and grumpy and didn't try to disguise it.

—Who is it?

— Jericho Barrons." (Dark Fever, page 40)

“Open the curtains.

— No, thank you.

— Or you could invite me in and make my job easier.

— Definitely no.

—Why?

— Because you can do your job just as well from that roof.” (Crescent City; page 184)

"Do you intend to open this door, Ms. Lane, or shall we converse where anyone might attend our business? [...]. If he was willing to trade, I had to open that door. Unless…

— We can trade through the door, I said.

— No

— Why not?

— I am a private person, Ms. Lane. This is not negotiable." (Dark Fever, page 41)

"His dark eyes didn’t so much as blink. Striking—that was the only word Bryce could think of to describe his handsome face, full of powerful lines and sharp cheekbones. — You can make this investigation easy, or you can make it hard.” (Crescent City, page 187)

" When I said nothing, he said softly — If you are not with me, Ms. Lane, you are against me. I have no mercy for my enemies.  

I shrugged." (Dark Fever, page 46)

So, I do believe SJM is the type author whose actions we need to discuss. Even if you see the whole thing with " The black jewels" is just an inspiration, you can't deny the fact there some exact lines of movies and books in her work. Plus: it's not just one quote or just one plot, but many.

If you ever try to read The Black Jewels trilogy you'll notice much more than what I brought in this post, and I do hope more people are able to research it. However, if you have any triggers regarding SA, mutil*tion, abuse, gr*mming, or torture scenes, I strongly recommend you do not read these books. They are not easy to go through, and the same thing goes to Dark Fever, although is a lot lighter.

Now, you can find more about the "Lord of the rings" and "Harry Potter" situation in here:

This is not a post trying to "cancel" sjm or simply attack her without reason. But I do believe we have to talk about her work and the problems with it, especially when it involves the work of other writers. If anyone has any more examples, or articles about this matter, quote this post with them if you can. I couldn't put more because you have a limit for tumblr posts, and it would be way too much. Anyway, thank you sticking here until the end.

[sourcreammachine]

✨My Favourite Moments of 2024!✨

uk prime minister keir starmer resigns in disgrace after accidentally referring to a trans woman by her correct pronouns

elon musk attempts to prove the safety of the tesla truck by letting mitch mcconnell drive. both men die within seconds of entering the vehicle

in response to worldwide famine, the World Food Programme appoints taylor swift as its director-for-life

the IDF continues carpetbombing occupied gaza after the ghosts of hamas are spotted. all gazans are required to evacuate into a shallow grave

the conclave repeatedly fails to elect a new pope, causing a schism. one conclave elects some italian bishop you’ve never heard of while the other conclave elects agent Q

the IMF buys pakistan

donald trump wins the republican primary carrying 60 states, 14 countries, and 8 circles of hell. during his victory broadcast from prison he suffers what it clinically described as a MegaStroke, removing his ability to move and speak. he declares one of his busty nurses to be his running mate and leads biden by 30 points

following the death of musk twitter is divided by gavelkind amongst multiple rival warlords

joe biden finally finishes his 13th genocide, winning a bet he made with obama

after it retreats from ukraine and georgia, putin personally murders every single member of the russian army. he is reelected in a landslide

his holiness the ayatollah ali khamenei dies peacefully of old age surrounded by his loving family and a grieving nation. days later he is found in a disused oil pipeline hiding from protesters while off his tits on heroin, and is dragged through the streets and beaten to death

the largest war in human history erupts in africa, costing dozens of millions of lives. it is a slow news day at the UN

president millei attaches argentina to the dollar. the us economy immediately crashes and undergoes apocalyptic hyperinflation, the dollar becoming the first currency to have a negative value. the only surviving american industry is joe biden ‘i did that’ stickers

the PLA begins its amphibious invasion of taiwan. the war claims the lives of one million PLA soldiers, ending within 20 minutes when the generals learn that tanks can’t swim

donald trump wins the us presidential election carrying all 100 states. during his victory broadcast from the intensive care unit, he suffers what is clinically described as a Heart Apocalypse, rupturing every single artery in his body and leaving him as pile of blood and gore. the supreme court rules that despite being, quote, “the most dead person ever recorded”, he is still eligible to be president. he and vp-elect Busty Nurse will be inaugurated on 20 january

due to a weird loophole, elon musk’s trans daughter inherits his entire estate. she immediately uses all her wealth to found a mutually-owned food distribution network, ending world hunger

the switch 2 still doesn’t have fucking analogue triggers

[north-heats-stronghold]

Space Rider's Criminal Database: Most Wanted List

File #5628

Caution!!Caution!!Caution!!

Under no circumstances should any Space Rider attempt to apprehend alone. Individual is extremely dangerous. Any information as to systems this individual is currently in or heading to must be turned in immediately.

Name: The Blade

Real Name: Unknown

Affiliation: Prototype Cult

Rank: Knight

Species: Snapping Turtle

Age: Unknown

Appearance: Stands over 6'8 in height. Scared face with slash scar going along the middle of their face. Wearing a archaic mixture of cultist robes and heavy combat armor. Always wears a half mask, with the top half of the mask missing, leaving the lower half with the smile in order to inhale the Red Smoke.

Power's: Not known, but has been documented to be very strong and very durable

Weapon: A large warpick made of condensed Red Smoke

Available Information:

A rare sight among those within the Prototypes Cult. One that focuses less on the religious worship of the cult, and more on the expansion of the cults influence by any means necessary. Their cell acts more like a army than a mob of religious fanatics, coordinated and militaristic, thou Bishops have been observed among the ranks in order to keep the pawns loyalty and fervor going.

Rumors have been heard of the possible story behind The Blade. With one being they were once a planetary warlord or tyrant before the cult took over the planet. Additional investigation needed in order to verify rumors.

Currently responsible for the ongoing conflict within the Shanborto System. Where two of five planet's underwent "Hour of Joy" events, and are now launching attacks on the remaining three planets. Space Rider team's are currently being sent to assist in order to stabilize the situation.

Interrogation of captured cultists have revealed additional information. The Blade appears to hear multiple voices in their head, possibly stemming from constant Red Smoke exposure. The Blade becomes aggressive when the voices are loud or numerous and calms when the voices get quieter.

In addition, The Blade also appears to honor any duel or challenge thrown to them. Be it by ruler, soldier, or citizen, they've always appear to accept the duel, even going so far as to halting ongoing assaults. It is ill advised to duel with the Blade, as there are very few records of any surviving the fight.

There is, presently, only one recorded instances of someone beating The Blade in a duel. In response, The Blade left the planet with their forces, and has since left the planet completely alone. Even executing any pawns or bishops that spoke out against the order.

The reasoning behind this strange behavior is unknown and is currently being investigated.

(Space Rider's au made by @onyxonline)

(Ooooo, what's this? A cultist oc??)

[sea-buns]

The overlapping themes that were woven through everyone’s stories. The strengths and weaknesses of age. Deli lost himself to the allure of youth. He pushed away everyone who tried to warn him, quickly growing into the man he thought would prove them wrong. Prove to them that he was destined for greatness. Just to be betrayed. Manipulated for having the nerve to act his age. Karna never had the chance to be young, aging far beyond her years. When she found someone that made her want in a way she’d never felt before, she latched onto it and refused to let go until life left her. Though she never had a chance to act the age she deserved, she spent her final years and moments alongside someone who gave her joy and love and companionship and the barest hint of what it might’ve been like to die young. Colin never truly had a childhood either. When he wasn’t scraping under the boot of his drunkard father, he was running as far and as fast as he could. Constantly looking over his shoulder. Never settling in anywhere for long. But where Karna took to cold violence in exchange for the life she’d been handed, Colin invested himself in looking out for innocence wherever he could. Always acting with the intent to see people as people, rather than stepping stones for his own gain. From day one, Amangeaux’s one goal, her reason for living and fighting, her justification for killing in the face of crippling guilt, was to protect her child. To create a world that would allow him to have the childhood she wished she could have given Karna. To keep him from having to experience the grief and blood that she’s soaked herself in. Raphaniel started misguided and already missing several screws. But as he aged and became more unstable, he only got wiser and wiser to the bigger picture. Ultimately choosing to give his life to destroy a great evil, rather than step through the door that he’d spent his entire life kneeled in front of. Begging and pleading to be let in.

The significance of titles and names. Deli was a thane and a chief and then a warlord, just to discard all of those when all they did was remind him of the tool he’d been. Karna was the greatest spymaster that Calorum will never know. She wore many names of those she killed. And for 5 long years she stood beside Deli as his Skald. 5 years that were perhaps the best of her life; the ones she’d be most proud of. She didn’t die a spymaster or an assassin. She was Skald Karna Solara of Scoville. The only title she chose. Deli invented the position of Skald for Colin, who held it up until he left. Leaving behind the truth and fear of his secret, his name, to join Raphaniel in a cause he could get behind. He took up the title of Sir Colin Provolone, a knight of the Bulbian Church. Though it only made him feel empty, pretending to serve a faith he held no belief in and the church that led him here to begin with. In the end, he renounces every title he’d ever been given and sticks to the name he chose. And he lives out his years as Colin Provolone, without fear of where he came from and with an unyielding determination to finish what he started. Amangeaux shifted from a high profile figure in society to a shadow. She ended up finding more freedom and power the lower she moved down the ranks. Raphaniel’s demotion from Bishop to Archdeacon was one of the first falling dominos that drove him to a madness that would have consumed him, had Colin not been there to give him the push he needed. 

You either start as “just a guy” or you end as one. In the end, there were no chiefs or assassins or warriors. Just people. Deli was a son swept up in the rush of power and young love. He is a partner, and a friend, and a protector. Karna lived as mouth to the Hungry One and the Skald to Warlord Katzon. But more than anything, she died as a sister and a daughter, a friend and a partner. Surrounded by the only aspect of her life that made it worth living, that gave purpose to her death. The family she carved out with her bare hands for her and her alone. Though Colin’s entire life was defined by the people he came from, he was never really a son, in the way that his father was never really a father. What he was most of all, in every circumstance, was a friend and protector. Of Deli as his Skald, of Raphaniel in his decline, of this odd group of strangers he’d come to trust with his life. People he’d come to know as family, even if he has no reference as to what that’s supposed to look or feel like. Amangeaux was a mother through and through. Kept alive by the sheer drive to nurture and protect her child. Raphaniel was brought lower and lower every episode. Reduced to an old man who spent his last moments committing a rare act of selflessness, a far cry from the malevolent man he began as. A father figure to both Karna and Amangeaux.

The nature and complexity of humanity that The Ravening War explores.

[fanged-cotl]

What are your thoughts on The Four Bishops as characters? Stuff like motivations, designs, personality…

kissability

p.s. thanks for the Vilgax sketch. Really nailed the “Warlord surviving on pure hatred and a good healthcare plan” look.

They're interesting to me. I think my favorite part about them is that they're the four horsemen of the apocalypse.

I like them in the sense that they're fucked up individuals, gods that believe in sacrifice and treat their people like currency and soldiers to be used. Their role in the story starting with betrayal / a family fight and it shows through their designs with their bleeding ichor.

As far as kissability goes I oddly don't really simp for any of the bishops so I don't really make them kissable unless ur like, a monster fucker lmfaooo

P.s. response: haha I'm glad u like it.

[dailyadventureprompts]

Campaign: Knights of Winter

Taking place in a snowy land ruled by faith and riven with injustice, this campaign is a chivalric tale about a group of people who find themselves with the power to change a broken system just as that very same system crashes down around their heads. 

Our setting is the Abladed Lands, union of small crusader kingdoms carved out of pagan wilderness by a number of zealous holy orders who used their devotion to the goddess of civilization as an excuse to claim territory for themselves and force the native inhabitants of that land into serfdom. 

More than a century since this conquest, The Abladed lands have grown increasingly unstable as the last of these holy orders tighten their grip on a rebellious populace, all while the bishop who ostensibly governs these patchwork territories seeks an ancient power that will let him rule uncontested. 

Onto this stage stumbles our heroes, travellers who’ve stopped off in a grand cathedral located in the high wilderness on their way to whatever business they once had. After doing a favour for one of the priests and delving a series of catacombs, the group ends up involved in a murder mystery that brings the tensions of the region to light. From there, with their reputations earned, it’s just a matter of where the party wants to go next: 

To Barbaric Frontier of Deolimar, where an aging warlord uses a hunt against a marauding beast to try and forestall the divine reckoning of his crimes. 

To Wartorn Jaatisbaine, where rebelling peasants clash against squabbling nobles, and roving gangs of bandits maraud across the land. 

To the Capital of Volskolt, rich in trade an opportunity, only to be waylaid by a marauding frost giant and a waylaid huntress making her last stand

Out to the Rimebough Forest where the pagans and rebels hide, a holy order using the disappearance of a royal heir to launch an inquisition against them. 

Wherever the party go they will accrue glory and upset the tenuous order imposed by zealots, slowly earning the favour of both the people and perhaps earning themselves status as champions of the realm. Players might even earn the favour of the ancient spirits of the land, or the goddess of order herself, who would see this oppressive structure broken down and rebuilt by more dependable hands. 

Such blasphemy and rebellion will not be tolerated by the Bishop Prince of Jaatisbaine, who will unleash an army of long buried horrors in the hopes of purifying the Ablated lands and securing his power.   To Defeat him, the party will need to martial their allies, and perhaps even venture to the fey besieged court of the last pagan king, and then to the furthest north to the mythical city of the aurora in order to defeat the Ancient threat unleashed by the Bishop’s pride. 

[tabbyphobos]

So I started A Court of Thorns and Roses the other day, and actually made some progress before bed last night (Stardew Valley 1.6 is out, I dunno what you want from me). I am 90 pages in and I have something to tell fans of this series.

Acotar is Strictly Worse Black Jewels series.

I read Throne of Glass years ago and in the back it had an interview with Maas. One of the questions was about her favorite authors and she mentioned Anne Bishop. I could see some of the inspirations she took from it: the salt mines being a prison, a badass assassin girl, stuff like that.

But ho-lee shit.

Lucien is, so far, Lucivar--he even uses the phrase "old son." I dunno who Tamlin is supposed to be, but the Fae are clearly the Blood. High Fae are likely Warlord Princes and Queens. Having different fae that are different species is LITERALLY the Kindred. I'm just waiting to see where Kaelas and Ladvarian are. And Andras the wolf? It's that Arcerian cat coat Karla sees someone wearing, and finds herself horrified to find that that cat was a witch and they slaughtered her for her skin.

"But Tabby," you ask, "why do you say strictly worse?"

I Capital H HATE keeping things from the reader by not telling the main character. I get it; Feyre is our conduit into this new world she's in. It's a writing technique as old as time. But nobody tells her anything, so we're just frustrated waiting for the story to start.

Black Jewels gives us a prologue that introduces the main plot and a character we will never have the pleasure of reading from the perspective of again, and why. After that, the book assumes you are in the world and doesn't hold back. It shows Lucivar and Daemon in their slave conditions. It shows Saetan growing tired of his vigil waiting for Witch. And it doesn't wait; Lucivar meets Jaenelle in the first chapter, first scene. And his last line in that scene? "Witch now walked the realms." It's the plot in action.

A Court of Thorns and Roses keeps threatening violence. So far these have been so empty I don't believe them. Black Jewels shows the torture the slaves undergo, and the responses Lucivar and Daemon inflict on their captors. Daemon is not called the Sadist for no reason. In Heir, Jaenelle literally splatters a man around the room. And the Kindred aren't safe either; the end of Heir shows how a unicorn kills a man, and it is pretty fucked up.

So why is Acotar popular and Black Jewels is not? So far, it looks like it's because Acotar doesn't come with the triggering content Black Jewels does.

Black Jewels has genital mutilation, pedophilia, child abuse, sexual slavery, rape, literal actual gaslighting, animal cruelty, and probably more but it's been a few years since I read this, my favorite series.

Again, I am 90 pages into A Court of Thorns and Roses, so I may be wrong. Maybe it gets better. Maybe they stop hiding information from the main character for no damn reason. Maybe they do stop talking about ripping someone into ribbons and actually do the deed.

But Acotar fans, I am BEGGING you. Give Black Jewels a try. A major criticism is that it's very gendered, and you know what? They're right. But you will be so surprised at the similarities, it will be as if Maas wrote another 11-12 books in the Acotar series.

[i-eat-deodorant]

Hello!! I am your biggest fan (you know who I am). Can you tell us about your warlords au? 🔫🥺 Plzz (it's a gun shaped mic)

I KNOW WHO YOU ARE AND I'M SHAKING YOU BY THE NECK

GOD it's kinda of difficult to talk about warlords au because whereas my other au (crying wolf) is art-centric, in contrast warlords au is writing-centric and i haven't written any of it.

Gods are not born, but made: through battle and bloodshed, death and destruction, subterfuge and succession. Like a mortal hungers for food and water, they feed on devotion and worship. To live is to be remembered. To die is to be forgotten. Before the Lamb, before The One Who Waits, before the prophecy that brought the Old Faith to its knees, the lands were overrun with gods large and small, each vying for their claim to divinity. Shamura has been waging a centuries-long war against Manat, vulture-queen of the mountains, and both their forces were wearing thin. New enemies surround them--multiple small crown uprisings, a slippery network of parasitic inheritors in the deep oceans, rumors of a firecracker champion of the no man's lands giving a voice for the war-torn. Every god fended for themselves. To form an alliance is almost unheard of; those that tried were quickly betrayed and disposed of, their corpses a cautionary tale of those naïve enough to trust. But the auspices had never been wrong before, and Shamura foresaw a road to victory inlaid in red, yellow, blue, and green. [One becomes two becomes three becomes four becomes five.] And so it goes.

it's a precanon au, well before canon, that details the rise of the Old Faith in an era where the land was fractured by constantly warring deities. something i've noticed is that the fandom trends towards the bishops being more akin to a traditional family (aka shamura adopts everyone as babies) whereas i see their "sibling" status as a more political one, so i wanted to present a precanon au where they all met as adults and forged a family through political alliances.

inspiration is taken from the three kingdoms period and other eras with fractured rulers. i want to explore how power figures control and consolidate influence at the expense of their followers. shamura restricts education to the upper echelons of their priests, who are trained in the sciences but also heavily dosed with religious propaganda. kallamar sends out periodical plagues what only he has the cure to, forcing all of his followers to swear allegiance to him or die a painful death. heket controls the food supply with an iron fist, creating a central capital with abundant food wealth and choking out all the smaller settlements that either could not or would not move to areas under her reign. they are unabashed colonizers, and their gold is devotion.

I JUST REALISED I'VE BEEN RAMBLING ABOUT INSPIRATION WITHOUT GOING INTO THE ACTUAL PLOT uhhh uhhh uhhh how to explain without spoiler??? how to explain without spoiler???????

[mspoisoncoil]

Brain rotting about another thing, like, regarding my previous post.

I'm gonna go ahead and make it an x reader thing. Like, what if, the reader met buggy earlier. She is an orphan, she meets Buggy, they click, she see's Buggy as an Uncle and he see's Y/n as his niece.

Y/n actually has convinced him to be more of a good pirate, on the original town that Buggy was supposed to destroy in the anime, Y/n convinces Buggy not to do that and just rule over the island.

Buggy says it's not flashy enough until Y/n says that if he rules over the island and govern it properly, she'll dress up similarly to him and perform in his circus shows. And it is something Buggy wants so bad. So he does, and Y/n dresses up in a bodysuit clown outfit, it was colored like Buggy's, blue and white with hints of yellow and red. Y/n wore a corset, the bodysuit's color being blue. The corset being red with one side having white stars and the other white stripes. Having a white frilled turtleneck collar, the the edge that laid on her chest shaped like a semicircle coming up to her shoulders, small pompoms attached to her frilled collar as a replacement for buttons, colors switching between red and yellow. Bishop sleeves having white frills at the ends. Her legs being covered by white lace tights, her foot wear being heeled ankle boots, the colors on her left foot being being red with yellow stars, the right foot being colored blue with white polkadots while her hands were covered by white gloves.

Make up being done by Buggy himself, it was like Buggy's make up. Y/n wore a clown nose, being hit on the head by Buggy for the little stunt yet at the same time being praised for looking like "the flashiest man to ever be flashy". Y/n wore a blue wig, Buggy tying it into the same pigtail hairstyle he has, soon after helping Y/n put in yellow eye contacts.

When Y/n performed, the crowd went wild with every trick their whole circus performed. The final act being Y/n doing acrobatics and pulling stunts on the audience. The island was actually being taken good care of by Buggy and his crew, with Y/n helping once in a while with work.

Now, Buggy will still have yanderes on his a$$(Crocodile, Shanks and Mihawk) but does Y/n have them? Yes, she in fact does. Her yandere's being the rest of the anime cast. Yeah I know this is sort of boring, but the thing is, Buggy and Y/n doesn't really take it all that seriously. They're clowns okay??

But how would Buggy meet his yandere's and how does Y/n meet hers? Well, three years before Luffy set sail and he met Buggy, the clown duo would sometimes take off on the sea with some of their crew, the two clowns have visited Alabasta, adventuring in Alubarna and into the warlords famous casino. Y/n had coaxed Buggy to changing into normal clothes as to not gather too much attention, Buggy giving in when Y/n promised to perform in the next circus event on their little island.

Scenario:

Buggy sat on one of the stools, leaning on the counter of the bar. A rather relaxed expression painting over his facial features as he waited for his favorite and only niece, brows arched as he waited rather impatiently until a certain blue-wig wearing teen came hopping to him, wearing a white blouse with a pastel green strap square top dress, the skirt having a white checkered design. The girl's wig styled into low pigtails with her yellow contacts still in her eyes. Bouncing up on the stool next to Buggy with a smile as someone followed behind her, a chaperone that volunteered to look after Y/n, coming from the island they governed. Y/n stared at Buggy's outfit, proud of her work. The man wore a similar white blouse with a Navy blue vest over it, silver floral patterns intricately weaved onto it. The top paired with black pants, Buggy's hair was tied up into a ponytail, done by Y/n. The man wore a replica of Y/n's necklace.

Buggy scolded Y/n slightly for being slow, turning to her chaperone with a displeased frown, said chaperone averted his eyes while sweat-dropping, feeling a little down at their current rulers disappointment. Y/n quickly stood up from her seat, taking her Uncle's hand before dragging him somewhere around the casino. Her chaperone hastily trying to catch up with the duo.

The three were making a little noise, not enough to get the attention of the entire place, but enough to catch the attention of anyone within a ten feet distance. Y/n laughed as she continued dragging Buggy, the man grumbling but not fighting back while his niece's chaperone slightly yelled at them to slow down.

Y/n ran past a towering man and a tall woman, hand in hand with her uncle as she squealed when she tripped, bringing the big nosed man down with her. Buggy instantly shouting at his niece the moment they sat up, Y/n's chaperone helping them stand up and awkwardly standing beside Buggy with his hands tucked behind his back.

The trio was not ticked or bothered by the stares they gained, Milo, Y/n's chaperone was used to it. A certain warlord planted his eyes on the scene, eyes stilling on the vest wearing man with blue locks. The woman beside him was focused on the teen who only giggled at Buggy's scolding.

(Let's pretend that this is before Buggy earned his debt with Crocodile)

Okay so that's out of the way, how would Buggy meet Mihawk?? Well that's easy.

Another scenario:

It was rare but he did it, Mihawk had left the grand line, choosing to wander around East Blue. He had stopped on an Island, eyes roaming around as he noticed posters were stuck on the walls of a few buildings. Featuring the words "Circus Day!". The ever stoic man listened closely to the conversation of a group near him, taking note that they talked about a "King" and if the "princess" would perform today.

Curiosity piqued and feeling bored, the man decided to pay a visit(very unlikely, I know). Finding himself staring at the blue haired man that announced the start of the event, judging the outfit of the guy and the way he looked like a clown, unconsciously running his eyes all over the clowns facial features, devouring anything his outfit revealed to the world like a starved man. Catching himself humming shortly at the sound of Buggy's voice. He found the performance boring but nonetheless stayed, hoping that the clown from earlier would show up again, only to be disappointed when he didn't.

He was pleasantly surprised when at the final performance of the night, the man he was patiently waiting for came back out, yelling out that the final thing would be done by his one and only niece. Mihawk frowned when Buggy went out of his sight, his hands twitching as he held back the urge to stand up and follow the man. His eyes soon landing an a woman with the same blue hair that Buggy had.

Mihawk went back to the grand line with a newfound memory, the first and most valuable to him being the blue haired clown that announced the event and the second being said clowns niece who looked like the man he wanted to see the most in that event. Mihawk made a mental note to go back on the island after awhile. Now having a yearning to see the silly and unreasonable clown that caught his attention and planted an unidentified feeling in him.

Okay so that's that, and do I even have to explain how Buggy met Shanks??? But like, imagine that in the future, when Buggy and Y/n are getting chased by their perspective Yandere's, they stay on this island. At this time, Y/n had eaten a devil fruit, the DF being called the Fake Fake fruit where Y/n can make illusions that will feel real and actually is real until Y/n reverses or undo's her trick.

So while they're getting chased, Y/n Yandere's doesn't actually know that Y/n is Buggy's niece or that her blue "hair" and yellow "eyes" were real. It had been about a month after they narrowly escaped Buggy's captors. With the help of Y/n ofcourse, so on the island they stayed on, they made a plan.

Y/n never wore her beloved wig while they were loose and still running from their captors. She was a natural actor and played as a patient and quiet woman that couldn't lie. The complete opposite of how the real Y/n was, and being the icon that he was, Buggy was also an expert at acting. Y/n used her devil fruit to change her Uncle's appearance.

Changing his long, beautiful blue locks into short and clean dark brown hair. Changing his eye color to black and changing his nose to a regular one, no matter how weird it felt. Buggy acted like a complete gentleman on their stay on the island they had stopped on, keeping calm and composed whenever trouble brewed. Again, a complete opposite to how really is.

Let's hope that when a certain yonko and two former shichibukai visit, they're cover doesn't get blown up.

Yeah that's all, I'm calling this the "Clown!Y/n" Au just incase Authors wanna write a fic about it👀👀

(PLEASE DO😭😭😭💀💀💀)

[cult-of-a-buttercup]

Oh great shamura it is I salvaged the cyborg centipede warlord with my one I have witnessed all battle great and small allow me to tell you them on a date perhaps great bishop

[fireteampassenger]

Fireteam Passenger Vanguard File

> REMOTE VANGUARD DATABASE TEXT-ONLY SEARCH INITIALIZED.

> WELCOME, USER "HOPE".

> PLEASE ENTER SEARCH QUERY.

.> Fireteam registry

>PLEASE INPUT NAME OF DESIRED FIRETEAM

.> Passenger

>3 SEARCH RESULTS FOR: Fireteam Passenger. MCGRATH, A: MCGRATH, K: R-8. WHICH FILE DO YOU WISH TO VIEW?

.>McGrath, A

>ASHLEY MCGRATH. CLASS: HUNTER (GUNSLINGER). GHOST: TALLO. RACE: HUMAN. HEIGHT: 1.85 M. WEIGHT: 81.193 kg. SEX: FEMALE. EYES: GREEN. AGE: 1214. COMBAT STATUS: ACTIVE.  MARITAL STATUS: MARRIED (See file: MCGRATH, K). AFFILIATIONS: VANGUARD (FIRETEAM SW-52097, CALLSIGN “PASSENGER”, FIRETEAM DS-621, CALLSIGN "DEGENERATE"), SHADOWS OF YOR (DREDGEN), DEAD ORBIT (FORMER). KNOWN ALIASES: DREDGEN EALAIN, ROWAN, LIARIA OAKLEY. MEDICAL HISTORY: HOSPITALIZED FOR 1+ YEARS FOLLOWING AWOL INCIDENT (SEE FILES: CAYDE-6, ULDREN SOV, SCORN, TANGLED SHORE). DIAGNOSED WITH COMPLEX POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER. SCAR ON LEFT SIDE NOT HEALED BY GHOST. NOTES: INTERESTED IN MUSIC, HAS COMPILED SEVERAL PLAYLISTS STORED IN GHOST WHICH ARE PLAYED DURING COMBAT. OUTSPOKEN, COMEDIC, GENERALLY LIGHTHEARTED. HAS TRIED TO START A GUARDIAN STAND UP COMEDY GROUP.  JOVIAL NATURE COVERS C-PTSD, SUBJECT WILL OCCASIONALLY FALL INTO LONG PERIODS OF INTROSPECTION DURING WHICH THEY ARE UNCHARACTERISTICALLY SILENT. DISTRUSTFUL OF COMMANDER ZAVALA. HOSTILE TOWARDS QUEEN MARA SOV. FAITH IN TRAVELER SHAKEN FOLLOWING ENCOUNTER WITH SAVATHUN, PRAXIC INVESTIGATION ONGOING. MILD ACROPHOBIA.

.> Add to file: A hunter scared of heights, what gives sister?

>YOU DO NOT HAVE PERMISSION TO EDIT THIS FILE

.> Grant permission to user

> YOU DO NOT HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO GRANT PERMISSION

.> Please?

> QUERY NOT UNDERSTOOD

.> Access file, McGrath, K.

> KYRA MCGRATH. CLASS: WARLOCK (STORMCALLER). GHOST: PUCA (NOTE FROM SUBJECT: No, I didn’t know about the Poukas on Neptune, I’ve been calling her Puca for centuries before we found Neomuna). RACE: AWOKEN. HEIGHT: 1.73 M. WEIGHT: 81.6 kg. SEX: FEMALE. EYES: ORANGE. AGE: 653 COMBAT STATUS: ACTIVE. MARITAL STATUS: MARRIED (SEE FILE: MCGRATH, A) AFFILIATIONS: VANGUARD (FIRETEAM SW-52097, CALLSIGN “PASSENGER”), FWC (FORMER), CRYPTARCHY (FIELD RESEARCHER). NOTES: ARTIST, HAS SOLD SEVERAL PRINTS TO OTHER GUARDIANS. CALM, LEVEL HEADED, ANALYTICAL, INTELECTUAL. AMONG TOP 3% OF VISITORS TO CRYPTARCH ARCHIVES. PRACTICES PRE-TRAVELER FAITHS, FLUENT IN OLD SWEDISH, SPANISH, GERMAN, POLISH. PRESENT IN VEIL CHAMBER DURING SHADOW LEGION INVASION. RUMORS OF ACCESS TO PRE-RESURRECTION MEMORIES, PRAXIC INVESTIGATION ONGOING.

.> Access File, R-8.

>ROOK-8. CLASS: TITAN (SENTINEL). GHOST: BISHOP. RACE: EXO. HEIGHT: 1.95 M. WEIGHT: 176.47 kg. SEX: X. EYES: YELLOW. AGE: 1,514. COMBAT STATUS: ACTIVE. MARITAL STATUS: SINGLE. AFFILIATIONS: VANGUARD (FIRETEAM SW-52097, CALLSIGN “PASSENGER”), IRON LORDS, PILGRIM GUARD. NOTES: STERN, BLUNT, AND QUIET. REGULARLY PATROLS CITY WALLS. THOUGHT TO BE AMONG THE OLDEST GUARDIANS. FORMER WARLORD FROM OLD BERLIN. PARTICULAR TRAUMA SURROUNDING EUROPA, WILL NOT TAKE OPS TO PLANET. HAS NOT USED STASIS. SUBJECT HAS CLOCKED LOWEST R&R USAGE OF WALL PATROLS. HAS REFUSED PSYCHOLOGICAL TREATMENT. SECURITY CAMERAS SHOW SUBJECT REGULARLY VISITS ROOFTOP CLOSE TO CITY CENTER (MATTER INVESTIGATED. CONCLUSION: NO CAUSE FOR ALARM). 

.> Access combat record for Fireteam “Passenger.”

> REQUEST DENIED

.> Access combat record, “McGrath, A”

> REQUEST DENIED

> ALERT: ADMINISTRATOR CONNECTED

> I see you, rat.

.> USER “HOPE” HAS DISCONNECTED

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Ikora,

VIP #1315 is showing particular interest in this Fireteam and I don’t like it, especially his interest in VIP #2014. I’m getting tired of telling you, let me remove him from the Tower and shut down his little game. I don’t care what knowledge he has or that he helped rescue VIP #5812 from Titan, he’s dangerous.

Aunor 

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Aunor,

No.

Ikora

[violsva]

Liveblogging the Ravening War, Episode 5

Those are mushrooms on the DM screen! Kudos to Rick Perry!

New minis! Eeeee, they seem tinier than I'm used to now that I'm seeing people actually holding them.

Man, the aged radish bishop has higher DEX than Deli? Why am I still calling the brutal warlord by his cute nickname? It's probably not going to stop.

Ooh, I noticed Aabria's makeup but I didn't notice the spike necklace until now.

[incomprehensible Colin&/Deli squeeing]

Good job undoing all of Karna's hard work, guys!

What are the implications of the Fructeran spymaster being in the FDA? (Though it does make perfect sense that he'd be a Vegetanian by birth.)

Amazing background work by Aabria.

God I love this scene. Let's not have the huge awkward conversation here! But we can't stop talking to each other! And everything leads into the huge awkward conversation! You'd better have disadvantage on Stealth after all that.

Oh man, GREAT job keeping track of that Zac!

Oh shit, foreboding music, is this going to be someone relevant to Colin? !!!!

Deli's watching all of that!!

Was that "one of the other Saprophians" a Freudian slip there?

Raphaniel's definitely unwarrantedly assuming the Saprophians can't do magic.

All the nat 20s from the first episode are taking their revenge now.

Someone wasn't listening to Amangeaux earlier.

What would 100% bread compost look like? If anyone has studied this, please don't tell me.

And that was when the cat could (finally!!) be fed, and then I had to make lunch for tomorrow while trying not to think of this combat. It's weird how much I love this setting given my wide variety of food squicks.

...Just before posting: Oh shit, it is about the Bulb! Because they've said mold and rot aren't naturally occurring in Calorum, but here they are. There's something about Bulblight that discourages or kills them.

[actualmermaid]

I posted ages ago about how "ibn Fadlan among the Rus" would make an excellent historical comedy movie/series, but I think there's an equally excellent movie/series to be made about the "conversion of the barbarians" circa 500 CE

Our main character is this dude Gregorios, a priest who was educated in like Alexandria or Constantinople or some shit, and he's just the worst. Supercilious, condescending, arrogant, and he has ambitions of going down in history as the "apostle to the barbarians"

His bishop sends him to bring the Good News to a barbarian warlord named BEORTHOGOTH THE SKULL-DRINKER (or whatever), and Gregorios is READY. He's studied all the proofs, he knows all the biblical languages, he can do rhetoric and oratory with the best of them and he is going to convert this barbarian warlord and become a SAINT or else a MARTYR.

So Gregorios sets out on his mission and locates the mead-hall of Beorthogoth the Skull-Drinker. He is received and "enjoys" their rough hospitality.

We get a "comedy of conflicting manners" sequence here, just like in the ibn Fadlan story. Gregorios is scandalized by their pagan debauchery, and the barbarians have already decided that he's some useless imperial eunuch.

Nevertheless, Beorthogoth decides to hear him out. "TELL US ABOUT THIS SUPREME GOD OF YOURS," he says (all of his dialogue is in all caps).

Gregorios, out of his element, starts droning on about homoousious and shit, and the barbarians are like

One of the young barbarian warriors pipes up with "do you know the one about the beast with seven heads?"

Gregorios, eager for the humiliation to end, is like "whatever" and launches into some nonsensical fire-and-brimstone preaching out of the book of Revelation. Beasts with seven heads, dragons, the whore of Babylon, cities with golden streets and gemstone towers, etc

The barbarians fucking love it

Beorthogoth is still not convinced, and he's like "VERY WELL, YOU HAVE ENTERTAINED MY COURT, I HAVE ONE FINAL TASK FOR YOU BEFORE I BOW TO YOUR GOD"

He sends Gregorios on a snipe hunt in the woods. There's no way for him to complete the task, and Beorthogoth is very much just trying to get rid of him. Gregorios is still determined, and he sets off.

He's a city boy. It's a shitshow. He gets attacked by bugs/wild animals/bandits/bad weather/whatever.

He's the saddest, wettest rat in the whole forest. At some point he's taken in by peasants from an idyllic little village, and when he recovers, he walks around and realizes that the community is set up around a humble monastery, and the village is already Christian. However, they're doing everything WRONG and venerating UNAPPROVED SAINTS, and it upsets Gregorios more than the pagan barbarians did.

The abbot receives him. He's a really casual, earthy sort of guy with a wild animal for a pet.

Gregorios launches into a speech about heresy and the authority of the Church, blah blah blah, and the abbot is just sitting there like "go on :)" while he pets his tame fox

The abbot takes Gregorios for a tour of the monastery and village. They've been there for like 300 years already. They're taking in widows and orphans and providing for everyone's needs. Gregorios, eventually, is surprised and humbled by their story.

At this point he admits that he was sent to convert Beorthogoth the Skull-Drinker, and Beorthogoth sent him on an errand which he is starting to suspect might be impossible. The abbot is like "oh yeah, he's done that to a few other Romans before. He doesn't bother us, we just send tribute every once in a while." He offers to return Gregorios to Beorthogoth and to mediate between them so that Gregorios can get back home safely.

Gregorios and the abbot (let's call him Mikael) go back to Beorthogoth's mead hall, only to find that Beorthogoth is preparing for war against the neighboring warlord, FJALBJORG THE KNEE-SMASHER!

Fjalbjorg has sent emissaries with a surprising demand: convert to Christianity, or be subjugated! It turns out that he's a newly-converted Christian zealot, and one of the emissaries is some bitch that reminds Gregorios of his old self: another slimy, intolerant, aspiring Apostle to the Barbarians

Fjalbjorg is more powerful than Beorthogoth, AND he has the backing of the Roman Church. Mikael is concerned for his monastery village, and Gregorios is disillusioned with the whole thing, and dislikes the other Roman priest. Mikael and Gregorios work together to present a version of the Gospel that speaks to Beorthogoth's position as a tribal warlord, while staying true to orthodox doctrine (Gregorios ends up going "😬 I GUESS" a lot during this process")

The main plot resolves with Gregorios baptizing Beorthogoth, as he set out to do. However, he's lost interest in becoming the missionary-saint that he set out to be. Mikael is like "why don't you come home with me instead?" And Gregorios is like "okay 🥺👉👈"

The movie ends bittersweetly. Gregorios was forgotten by history. The monastery village was eventually subsumed by the Roman Church, and then destroyed in the Reformation.

The final shots are of the ruins of the monastery, which have been reclaimed by the forest, and charming little creatures are building nests in the old church. In the cemetery, Gregorios and Mikael are buried side-by-side.

[illustratus]

Baptism of Clovis by Jean Alaux

Portrays a momentous event from the life of King Clovis (r. 481-511). Clovis was a formidable warlord who consolidated the Merovingian Dynasty’s power over the Franks and spread Frankish influence to encompass most of France. In particular, the artwork shows the important moment when King Clovis decided to be baptized into the Roman Catholic Church, as opposed to the Arian sect of Christianity that was popular with other Germanic peoples of that time. Traditionally, Clovis’ baptism is dated to the year 496, soon after a military campaign against the Alemanni. Nevertheless, as historians are wont to do, this traditional date has been contested, and proposals have been made to push the date of the baptism to a later period in King Clovis’ reign. The ceremony was carried out by Saint Remigius, bishop of Rheims. Decades after the event, Bishop Gregory of Tours (c. 539-594) wrote an account of Clovis’ baptism in his Ten Books of Histories, also commonly known as the History of the Franks, in which Bishop Gregory commented:

“The public squares were draped with coloured cloths, the churches were adorned with white hangings, the baptistry was prepared, sticks of incense gave off clouds of perfume, sweet-smelling candles gleamed bright and the holy place of baptism was filled with divine fragrance. God filled the hearts of all present with such grace that they imagined themselves to have been transported to some perfumed paradise. King Clovis asked that he might be baptized first by the Bishop. Like some new Constantine he stepped forward to the baptismal pool…As he advanced for his baptism, the holy man of God addressed him in these pregnant words: ‘Bow your head in meekness, Sicamber. Worship what you have burnt, burn what you have been wont to worship” (Gregory of Tours, History of the Franks, II.31).

It is this scene that Jean Alaux re-creates in his painting. King Clovis can be seen undergoing his baptism at the hands of Bishop Remigius of Rheims, surrounded by a crowd of spectators. The onlookers, however, were more than just an audience. As the story goes, 3,000 of King Clovis’ followers were also baptized on that day.

[tiodolma]

This obliged Arthur to raise the siege, and turn his arms against the Irish, whom he slew without mercy, and compelled the rest to return back to their country. After this victory, he proceeded in his first attempt, which was to extirpate the whole race of the Scots and Picts, and treated them with an unparalleled severity. And as he allowed quarter to none, the bishops of that miserable country

...there we go. total warlord and conqureror arthur