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dontbotherwiththepronunciation · 4 months

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Triggered by a conversation between mutuals that I wasn't able to partake in because I read it when it was already over but it still left me with a feeling of wanting to talk.

Many of my recent issues with this series and some of the characters in it come from coming to terms with the fact that people like me were never the intended demographic for it and thus many of my expectations and beliefs are unrealistic. I'm very much aware that every person who ever reads a text will understand it differently based on their experiences and emotions, we can see the most clear examples of it when it comes to the eternal debates on whether Jeyne & Sansa really bullied Arya or whether Catelyn's treatment of Jon should be considered abuse, but at least in my case the projection is based more on political situations that have strongly affected me and my loved ones and that are difficult to talk about in the open without feeling like my concerns are exaggerated and are also ruining other people's fun.

This is a fun series that has given my solace written by a white usan democrat who writes orientalist tropes and gives no real personality to any of his fully-canon-not-up-to-interpretation characters of colour and uses a half assed excuse to not have any of the main characters be a not-up-to-interpretation character of colour.

An example that is lighthearted and makes me chuckle could be my perception of the Vale. To me Mya Stone wears heavy colourful ponchos while Myranda wears a sanq'apa, Domeric Bolton played not only the harp but also the charango, maté is a common drink, and at least some of Sweetrobyn's lacking health comes from soroche. None of this is contradictory to the canon but I know that if I were to meet grrm and tell him of these concepts, he would probably think I'm on crack but would smile in false sympathy while Liiiiiiindaaaaaaaaa (and some readers, fans and tumblerinas) would just straight up tell me to go read something from my shithole country instead of tarnishing the beautiful and perfect European-based world of ice and fire./sar

And I am aware that the ironborn are perceived by most and are somewhat intended to be perceived as pseudo-historic "vikings but in the late Middle Ages" but I read these books when I was 12 and still thought that vikings were just a Hollywood invention, like the orange filter they put on Latin America or white saviours.

With this long introduction here are some random headcanons regarding ironborn lore and culture that aren't contradictory to canon but would probably clash against the more common fandom-built conceptions (many of which I do not like), sometimes accompanied by explanations and reasoning, often sentimental or based on personal experiences.

Nagga, the other unnamed dragon and the geographical formation of the islands

Heavily inspired by the myth of Trentren Vilu and Caicai Vilu. In the original real life mapuche myth the two giant snakes were enemies and after Caicai Vilu (sea snake) awoke form his slumber he caused a flood to bring down mankind because he considered them ungrateful brats who didn't appreciate the gifts offered by the sea. Trentren Vilu (land snake) helped the humans escape by raising the hills and turning those who drowned into sea creatures (fish, sea mammals and the mapuche equivalent to mermaids included) and those who were about to be engulfed by the waters into sea birds. Due to the long fighting and constant floods the land developed into thousands (not an exaggeration) islands.

My ironborn version of this isn't very different from the myth narrated above with Caicai Vilu's role becoming Nagga's and Trentren Vilu's being given to another sort of dragon that was it's oponent. The major difference in my headcanons is that said opponent perished, unlike Trentren, and Nagga kept on living and causing havoc until the Grey King finally killed it off. And if I am allowed to reach out even more with all this, the mermaid that the Grey King married could have been one of Nagga's victims saved by the other dragon but, taking into account what we know from Strange Stone this would mean that the formation of the Islands and the existence of merlings and the sea dragon would precede the Drowned God. That would be interesting.

Architectonic decoration

Some of my happiest memories take place in a small and poor fisher town in my home country that was usually damp and covered in fog. The beach was not a pleasant one. A remarkable thing about it was it's architecture that wasn't very particular in it's structure but still remains striking to me. The houses near the coast were all typical colourful, wooden stilt houses, but the further you got into land the houses would change and suddenly you found yourself in small and dirty alleys and streets between concrete houses that were rather plain in shape and old but the walls were covered in sea shells, and sometimes starfish and sea urchin carcasses, that had been plastered on the concrete. When I was 12 and had just moved to another country my class was tasked with making a dissertation about what we associate with the word "home". My teacher was a xenophobe who delighted in tormenting me and she laughed at the pictures and referred to them as tacky, my fellow classmates liked emulating her. I however still find them beautiful and that entire sentiment is something I mildly associate to the iron islands in a way.

It is my home. Flawed and meagre, but mine.

I also think that since sea shells are cheap and common it would fit into their more utilitarian tendencies; giving a purpose to what little they have instead of overspending (gold price) on aesthetics. For some reason this is something I like imagining at Harlaw and Lordsport in particular. Here are pictures

Music

Feel weird about this because music in the entirety of Westeros is very generic and that makes it a little boring in my opinion. When it comes to Ironborn we are told of two reaving songs ("Steel Rain" and "The Bloody Cup") and it's mentioned quite often by ironborn characters that getting a song about them is something they should strive for. There might even be some religious reasons behind it too but that wasn't expanded on:

The Drowned God had made them to reave and rape, to carve out kingdoms and write their names in fire and blood and song. - Theon I, ACOK

Makes me wonder if Theon's "Let Abel make a song of that, we flew." could have been influenced by ironborn culture too instead of just his usual romanticism and the chivalric connotations of him "saving the girl". I haven't compared this to the other characters so I can't be sure about this but from my notes Theon seems to think quite a lot about wanting to be in/not being fit for a song.

We also have Loron Greyjoy, "the Bard", and we know very little of him except for that he used to have a gay ol' time with Desmond Mallister, but there's nothing that points to him being looked down on by the other ironborn and the nickname "the bard" feels significant but there's no info so what am I to make up with that? Well, I like to think he was a bit of a patron of the arts and maybe even a composer. The two reaving songs have no mentioned origins so maybe he was involved in their creation.

The thralls were pouring ale, and there was music, fiddles and skins and drums. - Theon II, ACOK

I like all of those instruments but grrm you are a bore. Westeros is about the size of South America and yet they have a total of nine instruments named. Loved the mention of kettledrums during the kingsmoot though.

The largest kettledrum in the world finds itself in Bali and serves religious purposes. I like to believe that perhaps the kettledrums during the kingsmoot also had some religious reasons for their use. Perhaps traditional melodies used to announce the different contenders for the seastone chair.

Drums make sense for reaving songs and truth be told I'm not sure to what he was referring with "skins" but I was surprised by the fiddles because they seemed like a wink at the just as anachronistic golden age piracy, even if fiddles have been around since the 10th century. This makes me think of more folkloric oriented music made more for dancing in taverns and harbours than for rowing.

When being deranged I became aware that percussion and string instruments can be played underwater as they don’t rely solely on air to transfer sound (they would still be very difficult to play and the sound would be weird). Dragging a bow across a fiddle would probably be easier than strumming a harp or lyre though. I don’t think the ironborn are deranged enough to try to play music under water but it makes for a fun picture to imagine them being more fond of sounds that can be transferred through it. I’m imagining them trying echolocation with dolphins.

For some reason I can’t really explain I like the idea of them playing the marimba and other percussion wood based instruments.

I like to believe that the finger dance can be somewhat compared to capoeira as in serving aesthetically pleasing and artistic purposes but also carrying a sort of danger and fighting spirit to it. It is something I can see as a pastime, acrobatic exercise and art and I like that.

Some mapiko dancers will bind sea shells in nets to their clothes and they will use them as bells and rattles when they dance. I like to think this could maybe be part of the finger dance when performed for artistic purposes, like perhaps a diplomatic visit or a national festivity, instead of just as a game.

(not ironborn lore related but as I went through my notes I realised that Theon is usually tense when thinking or witnessing happyish heroic sort of songs but he seems to be weirdly at peace/melancholic around "sad" and "soft" songs during ADWD and I find that very endearing. Go listen to Chris Garneau's between the bars and castle time you sad sulking ghost I love you I wish I could have seen you thrive but we are all doomed : ) )

Priestesses of the drowned god

I am heavily against the fandom notion that the Ironborn built a culture out of toxic masculinity that is particularly misogynistic when in canon women in the island (or at least ironborn women) have more liberties than in most of Westeros (with Dorne as an exception and maaaaaybe the North). The only female stewards we see in the series are all iron islanders and Asha being allowed to reave and raid and engage in spaces usually reserved to men isn't the exception to the rule. Theon mentions that women like her aren't uncommon in the isles, Asha is said to have resembled her mother in spirit and Hagen's beautiful red headed daughter, who is so low on the socio-economical hierarchy that she doesn't even get her own name, is not only allowed to behave similarly to Asha, but her sexual freedom is never questioned or criticised either. I honestly think that their most problematic issues come from feelings of ethnic superiority, not a personal vendetta against women.

So, I find it disappointing and lazy that we haven't gotten any female spaces in the faith of the drowned god. I remember someone mentioning on a Tumblr post that on one of the asoiaf based video games drowned priestesses were a thing. Sadly I have never played any of the video games and I can't find any further sources for this so I don't know if I should trust that. But! I like that idea. Drowned priests are restless; they have no home and are made to basically pilgrim their life away; they travel around the islands and also accompany the men on raids. I think it would be cool if the priestesses of the drowned god had a more stable role in ironborn society. During the age of heroes we had salt and rock kings and in a way I could see the drowned priestesses as the rock to the drowned priests salt but with less authority.

Maesters are still somewhat recent in the Iron Islands and I don't think that Septas would have been appreciated by most ironborn women given their teachings and expectations around gender norms so I like believing that priestesses of the drowned god could occupy that space as educators of children and healers. History and religion seemed to be tied together in ironborn culture and their religion at least passed down orally so I can imagine them acting somewhat similar to mande jèli but with more of a focus on religion and less importance on the overall politics. I can also imagine them performing less important rites, like weddings, coming of age ceremonies or maybe fertility related acts. So basically a mixture between Maester and Septa with a lesser standing to their male counterparts.

Rafts as beds

Drowned priests, who have no homes, should sleep on rafts on nights that are more or less calm because that is a magical experience that I think everyone should go through at least once in their life but it's also fitting to their entire suffering theme because you will freeze to death and get a cold.

Dhows

I learnt how to row, sail, fish and use the night sky as a map before I learned how to ride a bike and my personal nitpicking issue with the world building in asoiaf is the nautical terms used. What do you mean longships and galleys that have decks and cabins????? Even if they have two levels of rowers (and most of the described ones don't) this rarely makes sense!

And you know what? I'm not even going to take my time to give them accurate Viking-like ships. In my head, they travel on dhows. "Dhow" is a generic term to refer to certain types of sailing boats that are mostly used around the Indian Ocean and I am in love with them.

They are precious to me and they allow me more variety when imagining the different ships mentioned in relation to the ironborn characters.

Sea Bitch for example looks more like a beden to me than like a typical Viking longship

but I can still imagine smaller, simpler looking galleys when needed, like a Dhoni. They can carry quite a lot of heavy stuff so they are usually good for trading (and probably raiding) too.

If I recall correctly, the Iron fleet has been identified by the text as some hybrid between dromonds and longships and I can be content with that definition. Personally I picture them more like Byzantine dromonds with a deck, cabins and more than one set of rowers.

Colloquialisms

I have always perceived colloquialisms as a subtle type of resistance to colonial and imperial forces, so I assume that the less integrated and maybe more separatist parts of Westeros (such as the Iron Islands, Dorne and maybe The North) would probably have a wider range of colloquialism as region based expressions. This is difficult to convey in fanworks of any sort and I can't think of any time I've made it noticeable in any of my fanworks but I like thinking about it. This could include idioms related to religious or geographical lore or more ambitious terms stemming from perhaps a former language spoken in the region or words taken and adapted from places they have sailed to, like the Summer Islands.

#I think many of my issues with this fandom could have been solved if I had become an ironborn supremacist in the same spirit as the #t@rgnation/st@rk stans;#don't know how to tag this. this isn't about any character in particular. I'm just saying stuff because I no longer give one tenth of a f #speaking #asoiaf

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asirensrage · 11 months

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hahaha not me writing a random oneshot with unnamed characters getting turned into mermaids...

#i mean what?#lol #we can celebrate mermay this year why not?#i did it mainly to use vix and I's creepy ideas for mermaids

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disneylanddilettante · 3 years

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The Disney Renaissance Killed the Disneyland Star

This post has been brewing and stewing in my brain for some time.

We here in the Disney theme park fandom are prone to lament the modern attraction design philosophy that says everything must be based on a movie. Aside from spectacularly clueless comments about “a random mountain in India or whatever” and misuse of the term “barrier to entry,” the reason behind it seems to boil down to: That’s what guests want. On the one hand, this is very clearly an excuse to do what Marketing wants (because film IPs are proprietary in a way that broad concepts are not, and can be merchandised accordingly), but on the other hand…it seems to be…kind of…true? The vast majority of the public, in my experience, does think of Disneyland (which I am going to use as synecdoche for all Disney parks, because it’s the one I grew up with, it’s easy to say, and because I can) as a place where you see Disney characters walking around as if they were real, and go on rides based on Disney movies, and anything else there is just to, idk, fill space until they can think of a cool movie makeover for it.

I have spoken to people online who quite enjoy Disneyland, but also think the Enchanted Tiki Room should become a Moana attraction, Tom Sawyer Island should be something to do with The Princess and the Frog, and the Matterhorn should be turned into Frozen. When I challenged them as to why, they didn’t seem to understand the question—what did I mean, “why?” Isn’t it self-evident? A couple years ago, one of the Super Carlin Brothers (I don’t remember which one; anyway I couldn’t tell them apart if you put a gun to my head) made a video expressing bafflement over the use of Figment as a mascot in Epcot because “He’s not from anything.” As if a ride in that very parkwere nothing.

So there is something to the assertion that film IP tie-ins are what regular guests expect and want. But the question remains as to why they want that—after all, it didn’t used to be that way. Costumed characters and rides based on movies have always been part of Disneyland, of course, but in past decades, the most elaborate and promoted attractions were the ones based on unique concepts that had nothing to do with the movies. The reasons to love Disneyland were things like the Haunted Mansion and the Mark Twain and Space Mountain…not so much the chance to meet Mickey Mouse. So what gave the public the idea that it was all about movies and characters? I’m sure there are several reasons, but I’m going to focus on one that I don’t see brought up that often.

I’m going to blame the Disney Renaissance.

Let me give you some personal background. I’m a young Gen-Xer, born in 1977. I was a child of the 80s…and in the 80s, Disney wasn’t doing so hot. Feature Animation had dropped to a cinematic release about once every four years, the live-action division was even less productive, and the corporate raiders were pawing at the door. In those days, when I saw a Disney movie in theaters, probably four times out of five it was a re-release of an older classic. (Anyone else remember when that was a thing?) There wasn’t much new at Disneyland either. The biggest thing to happen in the first half of the decade was the remodel of Fantasyland, which added one new ride—based on Pinocchio, a 43-year-old film—and otherwise just rearranged and refined what had always been there. On the other hand, the big Imagineering projects of the 60s and 70s were mostly still going strong.

The upshot is that if you were a Disney fan in those days (there weren’t many of us, even in my age cohort), you were a fan of the older movies and/or the parks. And for all its genuine quality, that stuff was showing its age. It was made in decades past, and there was a corniness and a quaintness to much of it. Most of the kids my age considered Disney “baby stuff” and were eager to put it behind them. It seems to have been a widespread phenomenon, because I don’t remember the park being very crowded when I was a young kid. Queues for even the roller coasters tended to top out around 45 minutes and it was very rare that we didn’t have time to do everything we wanted on a given visit.

And then, the year I turned 12—the year my age bracket hit puberty and could definitively be said to have outgrown cartoons altogether (except for the weirdos like me)—The Little Mermaid hit theaters.

Two years later, we got Beauty and the Beast.

And the hits kept coming. Suddenly, Disney was the hottest thing in entertainment again. Not just kids—by this time the generation that would come to be known as Millennials—but their parents watched these movies and went wow, this is really good. Disney is better than I thought. Maybe we should rent some of those older movies that I remember from when I was a kid. Maybe we should go to Disneyland… Unlike in the past, when families went to Disneyland because it was advertised and known as a family destination, families went to Disneyland because the kids were going gaga over the new Disney movies and the parents wanted to make them happy.

So a whole new generation of fans flocked to the parks, most probably never having been before, or not recently. They didn’t know what to expect. They just knew they loved these new movies with their endearing lead characters (so much more full of personality than Snow White or Alice or Pinocchio) and their big bombastic Broadway-style musical numbers (so much more in line with current musical tastes than the Tin Pan Alley ditties from Cinderella or Peter Pan or The Jungle Book). That’s what they wanted from Disney, whether they were paying six bucks a head plus popcorn, or fifty bucks a head plus lodging.

And that would have been fine but for the fact that endearing characters and big bombastic musical numbers are really hard to build traditional dark rides around. What you can do, though, for people who want to meet their favorite characters, is build dedicated character meet-and-greet spots. What you can do for people who want to sing along with Academy Award-winning songs is create huge colorful parades and stage shows that feature those songs. Best of all, if you are certain people who shall go unnamed, these sorts of things are much cheaper to create and operate than rides. Corporate was more than happy to meet, rather than try to exceed, the expectations of this new wave of fans.

The newer guests got used to seeing more-or-less verbatim (condensed) film content in the form of these shows and parades. The classic dark rides began to look decidedly odd to them—why are the movie events out of order? Why doesn’t the main character show up more? Why don’t we get to hear all the songs? And no one was there to explain it to them, because the older generations of fans had largely drifted away and the internet wasn’t quite a household staple yet. Rides that weren’t even based on a movie seemed even odder—what does a Wild West roller coaster have to do with Disney? What does a submarine ride have to do with Disney? I thought this park was supposed to be for kids, but my kids don’t recognize this stuff! They should build a Lion King ride! They should build a Toy Story ride! That Snow White ride isn’t suitable for kids; they should do something about that! I didn’t pay all this money to stand in line for an hour and a half and go on a ride that my kids don’t get!

The pattern was set. IP tie-ins were what the people wanted, and they closer they hewed to their source material, the more guest approval they got, simply because people didn’t know any different. And it has snowballed from there. The Disney Renaissance was amazing for the art of animation, but I think it was a net negative for the art of theme parks.

Tl;dr The Disney Renaissance changed guest expectations for Disney entertainment products in ways that were incompatible with classic Imagineering principles.

#disneyland #disney theme parks #walt disney world #disney #disney renaissance #theme parks

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fire-rose · 3 years

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I am so mad at past me for not thinking through the original design of that mer >:T

I mean look at this piece from four years ago, back when I didn’t color my line art.

I was given a three part prompt on Jazza’s Arty Games (family trip, got bored and had sudden urge to design but didn’t know what to design)

Evil

Mermaid

Wears a “Kiss the cook” apron

And that’s the design I came up with??? The tail was designed after this thing. I only now, after four years, realize that it’s actually a crustacean and not a fish.

Markings are from this freaky thing

And then the ears are just a random cephalopod’s fins. I literally just looked for cool things and slapped them together. No rhyme or reason. Just “cool alien looking creature features, lets use them.”

Original design was clearly not my best. I should have saved it like I do most prompts now. Then I would have been more experienced in designing aquatic creatures and understood how to better make a creepy deep-sea creature. Sally the Goblin Shark person, who’s species I decided to call Mitsukurin in reference the the Goblin Shark’s scientific name, is definitely a result of extensive research unlike the unnamed mer above. Mer was made in a day, Sally in a month with research, time, and multiple sketches.

So I’m glad that the new design I’m coming up with actually looks like a blind derp in last night’s sketches.

At least this sketch below shows my new experience and effort to make something that looks like it could actually exist in the deepest part of our oceans.

And you wouldn’t know this thing is evil. Which is great! I love villains that don’t look entirely like a villain until you see the way they act. It’s good character design in my eyes. So I finally have a legit villain design I feel I can be proud of. It’s not done yet, but I at least feel proud now. I made a lot of progress since the original conception of this nameless OC.

#forever tired artist #character redesign #merfolk oc #long post #mobile post

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winters-cursed-king · 4 years

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All My Headcanons and Fics Ever

(Side note: Only includes bullet point headcanons)

The Aurora Cycle

When The Lights All Went Out- Psych Ward AU Fic

Harry Potter

This Safe Haven - Marauders Victorian au fic

Look At All That Pain- Angsty Sirius Black Fic

Wolfstar + Chocolate Headcanons

Wolfstar Fluff Headcanons

Unnamed Angsty Sirius Black Fic (tw cutting)

Sirius Black + Silencing/Healing Spells Headcanons

Marauders + Kahoot Headcanons

Modern Marauders Headcanons

Marauder Halloween Headcanons

Marauders + Clock Headcanons (for inktober)

Sad Marauder Headcanons

Marauders Meeting Headcanons

Marauders Victorian au Headcanons pt 1

Marauders Victorian au Headcanons pt 2

Leta and Newt Friendship Headcanons

Linny Headcanons

Linny Date Headcanons

Autumn Linny Headcanons

Luna Lovegood Headcanons

More Luna Lovegood Headcanons

Eeeeven more Luna Lovegood Headcanons

Further Luna Lovegood Headcanons

Luna Lovegood + Drain Headcanons (for inktober)

Weasley Family Headcanons

Hagrid Headcanons

Fleur Delacour Headcanons

Tonks + Lupin Raise Their Son Headcanons (not shippy)

Hogwarts + Whale (for inktober)

Gen Z Kids At Hogwarts Headcanons

Percy Jackson/Riordanverse

(PJO stands for a large amount of characters from pjo/hoo- typically the 7 + reyna, nico, and grover)

Vintage Misery- Highschool au fic

Keep Falling Down- Percabeth post-Tartarus fic

PJO + Journals Headcanons

PJO + Hobbies Headcanons

PJO + Wings Headcanons

PJO + Painting Nails Headcanons

PJO + Cooking Headcanons

PJO + Halloween Headcanons

PJO + Ambrosia Headcanons

PJO + Scorched Headcanons

PJO + Roasted Headcanons

PJO + IKEA Headcanons

PJO + Bananas Headcanons

PJO Cowboy au Headcanons

PJO Pirate/Soulmate au Headcanons

PJO Pirate au Headcanons

PJO Divergent au Headcanons

PJO Zombie au Headcanons

PJO Royalty/Olden days au Headcanons

PJO Mermaid au Headcanons

General PJO Headcanons

Random PJO Headcanons

The Seven + Exams Headcanons

Chase Cousins Headcanons

Piper McLean Headcanons

Angsty Nico di Angelo Headcanons

Nico di Angelo Headcanons

Piper + Rachel Sleepover Headcanons

Percabeth Kissing Prompt 14 Fic

Percabeth Headcanons

More Percabeth Headcanons

Percabeth + Halloween Headcanons

Summer Percabeth Headcanons

Percabeth Date Headcanons

Percabeth + Muddy Headcanons

Nonbinary Sadie Headcanons

Sally Jackson Headcanons

Percy + Rachel + Annabeth Headcanons

Jason/Piper Ice Skating Headcanons

Octavion/Jason Headcanons

Sadie + Rachel + Hazel Headcanons

Octavion Headcanons

Grover Headcanons

Angsty Leo Headcanons

Leo Headcanons

Bi Leo Headcanons

Leo vs Bees Headcanons

Angst Frank Headcanons

Frank Headcanons

Angsty Annabeth Headcanons

Annabeth Headcanons

Angsty Percy Headcanons

Percy + Drooling Headcanons

Bi Percy Headcanons

Percy Birthday Headcanons

Rachel Dare Headcanons

Hazel Levesque Headcanons

Ravenclaw Frazel Headcanons

Frazel Headcanons

Tye-dye At CHB Headcanons

CHB + Pets Headcanons

CHB + Basketball Headcanons

CHB Necklace Headcanons

Will meets Magnus Headcanons

Bi Magnus Headcanons

TJ Singing Headcanons

Punk!Hearth Headcanons

Blitzstone Headcanons

More Blitzstone Headcanons

Further Bliztsone Headcanons (the asl ones)

Blitzstone- How We Got Here- Fic

Fierrochase Goth/Skater Headcanons

MCGA + Animals Headcanons

MCGA Royalty/Olden Day Au Headcanons

MCGA + Uno Headcanons

MCGA + Spring Headcanons

General MCGA Headcanons

MCGA School AU Headcanons

More MCGA School AU Headcanons

Sadie + Alex Zombie Apocalypse Headcanons

Zia Headcanons

Sadie Kane Headcanons

General TKC Headcanons

TKC Royalty/Olden Days AU Headcanons

Skulduggery Pleasant

Just A Sad Song With Nothing To Say- Dead Men fic

Why’d We Have To Stay- Angst Val fic rewrite

SP + Shopping Headcanons

General SP Headcanons

Larrikin Headcanons

Larrikin Is Australian Headcanons

More Larrikin Headcanons

Further Larrikin Headcanons

Hopeless and Larrikin Headcanons

Shudderkin Fic

Shudderkin Headcanons

More Shudderkin Headcanons

Billy Ray Sanguine Headcanons

Skudluggery Headcanons

Angsty Skulduggery Headcanons

Skulduggery’s Wife and Child Headcanons

Val Headcanons

More Val Headcanons

Angsty Val (Exhausted) Headcanons

Angsty Val Fic

Ghanith + Halloween Headcanons

Ghanith Headcanons

More Ghanith Headcanons

Ghanith Fic

Tanith Low + Space Buns Headcanons

Tanith Low Headcanons

Never Headcanons

Dexter Vex + Coffee Headcanons

Dexter Vex Headcanons

Dexter + Sabrina Headcanons

More Dexter Vex Headcanons

Further Dexter Vex Headcanons

Moreeee Dexter Vex Headcanons

Angsty Saracen/Dexter Headcanons (alcoholism + self harm)

Saracen + Fletcher Headcanons

Fletcher Headcanons

Melancholia Headcanons

Hopeskine Headcanons

Hopeskine Fic (angsty)

Angsty Hopeskine Headcanons

Hopeless’ Death Headcanons

Monster Hunters Headcanons

More Monster Hunters Headcanons

Dead Men Royalty/Olden Day AU Headcanons

Dead Men + Instruments Headcanons

Drunk Dead Men Headcanons

Angsty Dead Men Headcanons

Dead Men + Family Headcanons

Dead Men + Card Games Headcanons

Dead Men + Uno Headcanons

Dead Men + Halloween Headcanons

Dead Men Jazz Group Headcanons

Dead Men + Christmas Headcanons

More Dead Men + Christmas Headcanons

Dead Men + Hot Drinks Headcanons

Dead Men + Star Headcanons

Dead Men Mermaid au Headcanons

Dead Men Headcanons

More Dead Men Headcanons

Further Dead Men Headcanons

Even Further Dead Men Headcanons

SP Highschool au Headcanons pt 1

SP Highschool au Headcanons pt 2

SP Highschool au Headcanons pt 3

SP Highschool au Headcanons pt 4

SP Highschool au Headcanons pt 5

SP Highschool au Headcanons pt 6

SP Highschool au Headcanon pt 7

SP Highschool au Headcanons pt 7 (actually 8)

SP Highschool au Headcanons pt 8 (actually 9)

SP Highschool au Headcanons pt 9 (actually 10)

Highschool au Necromancer Edition headcanons

SP Highschool au fic

Skulduggery’s Bad Skeleton Jokes Headcanons

Ravel + Animals Headcanons

Angsty Ravel Headcanons (flowing)

Clarabelle + ED Headcanons

China Headcanons (precious)

China + Anton Headcanons

Necromancer Headcanons

Wreath Headcanons

Descendants

Parties and Spray Paint- Umal fic

Leaves Us Broken- Angsty Mal/Carlos/Jay/Evie/Ben

Sanders Sides

Logince Headcanons

Roman Headcanons

Prinxiety Headcanons

General Headcanons

She-Ra

Glitra Headcanons

#Alright Guys #This took Literal Hours to complete #But it is done #I'll add onto it as I do more stuff #But ta da #PJO #MCGA #TKC #Descendants #Sanders Sides #Harry Potter #Skulduggery Pleasant #Headcanons #...I did a lot more sp than I thought I had #Fics

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facelessxchurch · 4 years

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What we’re your thoughts about the book?

Some asks were answered already in this post already so I just smacked those asks in here at the part where I talk about the topic in question, which is why the answer may not 100% fit the question.

Massive “Seasons of War” spoilers below the cut:

First off, of all, this book read like GoT/any zombie movie ever. With the necromancers being like the white walkers, Vile is the night king and daugar are the wights. even with the necromancers crumbling away after Vile got killed Tell me I’m not the only one seeing that.

I think there was a lot of fanservice and some confirmed headcanons in the book, which I really liked. Saracen magic got revealed, there was a return to the Leibniz dimension, the Vile vs Vile fight so many wanted finally happened (tho that was kinda underwhelming) and the Dead Men returned which I’m sure made a lot of people happy.

Ravel poisoning Saracen during the war and Vile being so powerful bc of being dead were two popular headcanons that got confirmed. And I am personally so happy that this book killed the ‘there is no sarcasm in the Leibniz dimension’ headcanon bc I bloody hated that.

Finally, Landy tries to please the old fans instead instead of what feels like purposefully pissing them off. I guess the phase 2 book sales weren’t that great so far (nice try blaming it on the pandemic, but no).

I’m also glad that the romance in this book was kept to a minimum bc The Val/Militsa kiss in the beginning, yikes, fanfiction has better written kisses than that. And the the dialog for the lesbian love triangle (bc for some reason Ms.Wicked aka Laura’s self insert is Militsa’s ex??) was cringy and stiff as hell, it felt more like first graders trying to do a dramatic play and not natural at all.

Surprisingly enough Mevolent’s and Serafina’s relationship seems to be the most healthy and romantic in the entire series and I have no idea if that was on purpose or if Landy just has twisted views on relationships.

I however am actually kinda happy with how Mev was written. He was sympathetic and charismatic, tho some of the stuff he did doesn’t fit to they way he’s characterised when he’s on screen (I know he is probably lying 90% of the time he speaks, but still). Like, banning all languages apart from English doesn’t seem like something a man who cares about culture, literature and art would do. It also seems kinda stupid bc those languages will be forgotten eventually and if they need an old text translated no one will be able to do it. Also, why English? Isn’t Mev old enough that his first/original language should be Gaelic? So weird. I have the feeling this was mainly done so Valkyrie (and with that the audience) can understand what the people on the continent are saying bc I very much doubt she understands/speaks any languages apart from English.

But I loved that Mev was also shown as insanely smart. He managed to outsmart Val multiple times. And I love how he doesn’t need his magic to fight, how quick and agil and skilled he is. So I take it that his fighting style is more based on agility and not getting hit, and he uses brute force only when forced into it (by Darquesse/the Unnamed). I was wondering about that bc his armor is made of leather and chainmail instead of metal plates which is considered light armor and not something a tank type of fighter would wear.

What really rubbed me the wrong way tho was when he was talking Tanith and Skul and more or less stated the war wasn’t a challenge anymore ever since Skul died. Or when he was talking to Val being like ‘you’re more powerful than I could ever hope to be’.It bothers me even more knowing that Val is based on girlfriend!Laura. Does really everyone and everything in-vers, even a big bad like Mev, rub Skul’s/Landy’s and Val’s/Laura’s ego? Big yikes.

Crespular Vies is surprisingly fun. At first I thought the two men going after the Obsidian Blade were hired by the Unnamed, but since that wasn’t the case, I think Crespular Vines hired them that so he could show up in time to save Omen and his friends. I think him opening up to Omen about being Skul’s former partner came too unprompted, too quickly and that he is trying to gain Omen’s trust so he can get close to Skul through him. I think another giveaway that that’s the case is bc one of the men Omen had to meet to get his brother back wore a Cleaver outfit and Vies gave that man probably the same reasoning Omen gave him.

That said Omen’s chapters were surprisingly enjoyable. By what I had heard of others I expected a sad sack that can’t fight worth a damn.

I’m not found of the Temper/Kierre stuff, it came out of nowhere.

Val is overpowered AF, it seems that she can get on Darquesses level with more practise/learning how to keep the doors open. She certainly needs to be nerfed.

Also I skipped the Darquesse chapters bc I’m giving negative fucks about her and the plague doctor.

The last 10% of the book were too rushed and felt like half finished thoughts.

Also I was kinda really bothered by the citizen of the Leibniz dimension. They were cartoonishly racist and it was very pretty black and white for the most part AKA everybody good is in the Resistance and all other sorcerers are evil/corrupt. That is also shown by there being children in the Resistance camp while there was no mention of children in the mage cities. In reality, most people are fairly mellow and it’s just a small percentage that is either really good or really wicked. I would have liked to see more racism towards mortals in form of apathy or ‘the soft bigotry of low expectations’ like I’ve seen it from Serpine in DotL. You know, make it a little less black and white.

Also, I understand the mermaids, but the bats in Europe were random AF. Like, I would understand it if they were just in Romania/Transylvania as a nod to the Dracula-typ vampire legends originating from there. As a plot-device they weren’t really needed to keep the protagonists from flying bc the danger of getting spotted by necromancer by doing so should be enough of a threat to keep them on the ground. This might seem nit-picky of me, but the bats just seemed so bloody random to me like wtf????

And also bc I’m a slut for magical creatures, I would have really liked to see more of them than just daugar and giant bats. Some undead cut together and resurrected necromancer experiments would have been pretty cool tbh. Like whatever the hell this is.

Something like zombie bears would have also been acceptable, I mean, bears are fucking terrifying on their own, let alone when undead and decaying.

I’m kinda pissed at China that she wanted Skul to kill Nef, but it does seem in character. Of course I still don’t like it bc I headcanon as Nef, Eliza and China having been besties during the war (no matter what canon says, I’m keeping that headcanon). I’m surprised Skul didn’t let Wreath have Nef considering that. Then again, he thought Nef might still be useful. And he was right. I loved how Nef actually had an essential part in saving the world by throwing the bomb. So proud of my boi <3 But Skul refused to kill him even after that. Could it be that Skul is finally getting character growth and development? 👀

Aaaand, China’s continuing to be a tyrant. With Tanith’s sense of justices flaring up shown when he killed the city governor, Erato, and Nef being shown to go after people that betray him (Lorien) I think those two are being set up to go after China to kill her (and to probably kill Creed too). Imagine Eliza joining the team bc she want a piece of China too.

I feel sorry for Baron, but at least he got a few speaking lines this time around. Still, I really wanted Nef to save him. :C Like, he suffered so much before he died too considering he spend a year alone starving and thirsty with broken legs in the middle of nowhere wft, why is Baron getting fucked over like this? #BaronDeservedBetter2020 he is the only honorable person of all faceless followers and he’s the one that gets screwed over in every book he shows up in, why tho- 😭

Speaking of Nef, I absolutely loved him in this book, he was a delight and stealing the show whenever he was on the page, despite being used as punching bag through pretty much the entire book. If people have always treated him that way I can see why he turned evil jfc that poor man. Despite that, he was still being such a clever, funny and relatable bae <3 He’s described as ‘cynical, and nasty but also kinda cheerful’ and as liking to ‘needle’ people (aka trolling and roasting) by Val and that essentially describes every shitposter on the internet ever. And I so loved the way he roasted Saracen lmao

And how he’s so clever, like the Lorien part was my favourite scene closely followed by how Nef essentially talked Remus Crux into getting himself killed, just 👌 smart snek boi, I love him <3 Also I hope he keeps poisoning everybody thoughts against Skul like how he had already been doing it to Tanith, he’s poison in human form and that’s just my jam.

That obedience bracelet was kinda fucked up tho.

Why does this thing even exist? Aren't electro shocks or any other form of pain enough instead of shutting his nervous system down/rendering him completely defenceless? I feel like some messed up mage 100% used it to keep himself (sex) slaves at some point in time :/ Landy might have gotten that idea from some fucked up hentai. Even the implications of the name "obedience bracelet".... I can’t be the only one that got creepy perv vibes from that thing, right?

Btw what the fuck happened to Harmony? You know, Leibniz Serpine’s girlfriend. She hasn’t been mentioned again. Did she die? She didn’t seem too found of him in DotL, was she plotting against him and he found out about it, killed her and fled the Resistance? Or did she die prior to him leaving and it was part of the reason he left bc she was the only thing that had tied him emotionally to the Resistance?? Or Landy just forgot she existed. I would not be surprised.

Of course my biggest issue with this book was how he retconned Nef’s magic and how he took his trademark, his red hand, away, but more about that in a different post.

TL;DR: Nef was a delight even though he was done dirty. Mev’s scenes were a 50/50 split between good and bad. I actually liked the Crespulare and Omen chapters. The Unnamed was a disappointment. The last 10% of the book were to rushed and the final fights that were supposed to be the biggest were underwhelming. The rest is meh, didn’t really care tbh. Let’s be real here, I only bought this book bc Nef played a bigger role in it, anyways.

#skulduggery pleasant #seasons of war #seasons of war spoilers #review #book review #I hate 'read more'#but this got so bloody long #RIP mobile users #long post #Anonymous #answered

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jessepinwheel · 4 years

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Number 1 for the get to know your author thing ?

1) is there a story you’re holding off on writing for some reason?

Yes, of course. If we’re talking stories that are on the backburner and I probably won’t work on for a very long time, there’s lots! Here are a few examples:

Vertigo: a story about birds in a bird city, kind of like Zootopia, but it’s all birds. There’s three protagonists: a private investigator who’s a crow, an unemployed journalist who’s a pigeon, and a burglar who’s a cuckoo. All three of them end up finding a piece of an ancient magical artifact which is used to awaken an ancient eldritch god known as The Voiceless. There’s a dude who wants to awaken this ancient eldritch god but in what should be a surprise to no one, this would destroy the entire universe, so it’s probably not a good idea to do that. The story goes between the three main characters’ separate storylines, kind of like Heavy Rain, but about birds and not written by a hack. I haven’t really worked on this one because it’s supposed to be a comic and I can’t draw birds.

Apostate: a story about an angel and a demon trying to figure out what’s up with the apocalypse, but not like Good Omens. Fifteen years ago, the apocalypse started with the pestilence, war, and famine stuff, but death never showed up, so everyone’s been kind of milling around the really shitty earth and trying to not die. A blind demon in one of these cities is hanging out when there’s some godly phenomena as an angel falls to earth. Naturally, the demon goes out to investigate, because an angel would probably know what’s up with the apocalypse, but it turns out that the angel can’t remember shit, so the demon decides to take the angel on a pilgrimage through the post-apocalypse to the Tower of Heaven, presumably so the angel can get its memory back and they can learn why the apocalypse hasn’t happened yet. In the meantime there’s a bunch of people following “the prophet” who are trying to kill them to “save the world”, as you do. I haven’t worked on this one in years because it is also a comic and I have to rewrite large portions of it.

(unnamed): a story about a pirate captain who ends up rescuing a selkie from a pirate ship, then ends up getting cursed by a really angry mermaid because that mermaid really liked that pirate ship. The selkie decides to hang out on the pirate captain’s ship, and then ocean demons show up to basically ruin the pirate captain’s life. Obviously the pirate captain and the selkie get to save each other’s lives a few times. This is basically what happens when I read The Ghost Pirates and decide that the ocean is scary and therefore it needs more demons.

For stories that I’ve thought about writing but just haven’t started at all, there’s a couple of those, too:

-a 5+1 MCU fanfic (yeah, I know) where Steve Rogers talks like a Raymond Chandler character because he SHOULD because he’s FROM 1940 and SHOULD USE CONTEMPORARY SLANG. Everyone makes fun of him for it.

-a detective game about crime and time travel. crime travel, if you will. An idea I thought of because I’ve always thought post-cog powers are super cool, and a 2-bit detective game would be sick, however I am bad at coding and can’t figure out a good way to make the detective gameplay actually investigative (a la Obra Dinn).

-a story where magic and technology developed parallel with each other, so it’s modern times but with magic as an everyday part of life and there’s been a lot of ghosts showing up lately, which is both suspicious and inconvenient. There’s an evil necromancer plot and there’s a ghost who has to seek out some random assholes to try and stop the evil necromancer from destroying the world (as you do).

I’ve got lots of stories in me :)

Get to know your author!

#writing #Anonymous #ask jesse

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ao3feed-buckyxtony · 4 years

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Tail End

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2St9Z2O

by HashtagLEH

“Oh, no, I’m fine, just leave me here,” the mer’s voice said sarcastically, switching to English. “Crawling on the ground like a land turtle is one of my hobbies, nothing to see here.”

Bucky startled, realizing he was speaking to him when the mer glanced up at him before looking back to the ground, concentrating on scooting himself forward, clearly already dismissing him as unwilling to help.

Bucky immediately stepped forward, crouching down with arms extended suddenly uncertainly, not sure what to do from there. “Do you need help?"

Words: 2189, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Series: Part 1 of MerMay

Fandoms: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Captain America - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Iron Man (Movies)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: M/M

Characters: Tony Stark, James "Bucky" Barnes, Steve Rogers, (mentioned), random unnamed assholes

Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Tony Stark, Steve Rogers/Sam Wilson, (background)

Additional Tags: mermaid au, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Merperson Tony Stark, Werewolf Bucky Barnes, Vampire Steve Rogers, Concubus Sam Wilson, that is explained in the notes, Tony Stark is not a Damsel in Distress, except he kind of is, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Gay Bucky Barnes, Bisexual Tony Stark, MerMay

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2St9Z2O

#tony x bucky #bucky x tony #tony stark x bucky barnes #bucky barnes x tony stark #winteriron #marvel

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lethesomething · 5 years

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DnD bookshop inspiration

I don't know about you, but I'm dm'ing a party full of Nerds and their characters are book hoarders, so I need to Provide, I guess.

You can always stock book shops with expensive scrolls, skill tomes and magic books, but that gets boring after a while. So have some ideas for a more fully stocked shop, that doesn't really require you to actually write all these damn books yourself.

For reference, these are for a world that has an (early) printed press.

Lore teasers

Heavily depends on the world, of course, but these books can provide characters with background information for the world they live in. The idea here is that you can't force your characters to care about the political climate, or to listen to the sage's soliloquy, but you can give them that option.

Think of things like a theoretical tract full of wild speculation on a continent far away that they may or may not visit, a first person account on some recent war whose wounds are still visible in the land and its people, or an in-depth study of a monster that the party has just encountered. The last one is fairly fast to make, since you can probably steal bits from the Monster Manual.

Examples:

Boobs, beers and blackjack, by Callindra A Very Crass guide to the best taverns in various port towns.

Fable or truth? The horrific existence of deep scions and their tragic origins, by Vestnet Press

Random stories that color the world

Folklore tales, customs, religious tracts, hair tutorials, cook books. Random things that put a little life into the world. If you're the worldbuilding type of DM, you probably know exactly why the Guild wears that particular outfit, and you overthought the significance of that Royal Shield Emblem, but the player characters, much to your dismay, have just ignored such details altogether in favor of smashing things and seducing royalty. This is your chance to bring them into the light again. Some caution is necessary here, since the party may invest in one of these details Too Much and try to turn it into a quest.

Examples:

Fashion as a Cultural Statement, a dossier on the significance of foreign vêtements and their meanings within society, by Meredith Hornsdale Briar

Guided by starlight: An introduction into constellations and making sense of your future, by virtue of the night sky, by Saisin Millet

The man who fell in love with the Sea, by Judith Toussaint The man looked out over the dizzying, glittering, deadly expanse, ever moving, ever changing, And he knew in his heart that he would never belong to another.

This is a published version of what appears to be a local tale. The book is fairly simple and thin, a durable paper cover with a simple pen drawing of a boat sailing on a calm sea. The tale itself is written in rhyme, of an unsofisticated elegance. It tells the story of a fisherman who fell in love with the sea. It speaks of how he would gaze out over the water at night, watching as the moon reflected on the softly eddying waves, until one day he quit his job, said goodbye to his friends and left, alone, in small sailing boat. His friends waited for him, before finally, they mourned him. Several years later they woke up one early winter morning to see a small vessel loom up out of the rolling mists. People ran out onto the beach to await it and possibly aid this reckless sailor. Inside, they found the man holding a heavily bundled, small child. A gift, he said, from his lover the sea.

'Popular fiction'

Let's be real here, if your world has a printing industry, it's gonna have popular press, which is overwhelmingly either the cookbook/almanac variety, or romance novels. The last ones are By Far the most fun to offer up.

Some examples

M/F novels

For straight romances, you can go the full Harlequin route:

In a Sailor's Arms By Firelight Through rough Seas he cometh The Widow on the Shore - with Lithographs The Storm in her Heart His Armor shines Bright Breaching the Countesses' Defenses The Hunter and the Maiden

Prey to the Emperor, by Clara Orchard A story about a young warrior that gets captured by a haughty, dominant king. Slowly, after many verbal fights and more than a few moments of tension, she manages to melt his icy heart. Fairly brutal in execution and style.

M/M romances

Fighting for Booty, by Vestnet Press A tittilating novel about a handsome pirate boarding the ship of an easily impressed merchant. The young men get shipwrecked together on a small lifeboat. There is only one bed roll.

F/F romances

The Mermaid, By Unknown This one is hand written and heavily thumbed through. It tells the story of a female deckhand that falls in love with a mermaid. Soft writing, but with a tragic ending.

My Queen, My heart, By Unknown Speaks of a forbidden romance between an empress and one of her female bodyguards. Slow burn, with a spectacular pay-off.

'Other'

Choosing Love, by Cyna Biruda A choose-your-own adventure. The unnamed protagonist is a commoner, called to the Royal Court as a lookalike to the royal hair, who is bedridden. Their job is to take over some of the tasks while the heir recovers, without the public knowing. Shenanigans ensue, but the protagonist also gets the chance to find love. Notable interests are the Royal Guardsman, a strict man with a heart of gold, the Kitchen Maid, fun and innocent, the Courtesane, who is beautiful behond belief but perhaps not to be trusted, The Blacksmith, broad shouldered and mild mannered, and the Foreign Princess, a reserved and studious but very gentle soul harbouring a secret anxiety.

Porn If you wanna go there, erotica novels have been a Thing since people knew how to write. In an early printing industry, they would be illustrated with lithographs, some crude, some true works of art. Examples of titles:

The obscene youth of Mary May A book of 'vignettes' from the life of a milk maid who is rather inquisitive and keeps losing her clothes for some reason. Humorous, albeit pretty blunt in its execution.

The conquests of Zan Yi The young mercenary Zan Yi is notable for his wit, his charming smile, his rapier and his… other rapier. The novel lists down his many adventures as he fights and seduces his way through the land, from a lowly sellsword to the highest courts. Surprisingly well made for how clichéd the stories are. The lithographs are of exquisite quality and this book is on its 36th edition, proving quite popular.

#dnd #dungeons and dragons #fantasy #campaign resources #is it obvious that i play with fanfic writers yet

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