#and the fact that the human prince can talk to animals

[sleepyorchidmonster]

What if king Henrik managed to steal Malleus's egg after defeating Meleanor?

The main point is that the egg WOULDN'T hatch because it needs love (and even in canon it took a couple of centuries to hatch, despite the presence of Lillia and Maleficia).

So after a few tries, he discards his plans and keeps the egg as a trophy. Years pass and a five year-old Silver finds the trophy room while playing. He stumbles into the pedestal holding the egg, but manages to save it before it falls.

The child then senses a tiny heartbeat, and realizes there is a baby inside the egg!

The egg hatches immediately. Baby Silver loved it at once (the way he did once upon a dream).

And that's how we get a Dragon Prince journey (sorta).

After the dragon hatched, Silver went to talk with his animal friends to see if they could help (he loves his parents, but he couldn't just tell them he went to the trophy room to play, some instinct of his was also telling him they couldn't be trusted).

He left the little dragon under the care of a mother bear and went to the library to see if he could find anything. He came across a few old books from before the Silver Owls that described the Draconias (the little prince was so excited! His dragon friend could become a friend friend! He didn't have any friends besides the animals! And the dragon was even a fellow prince!)

But first things first! His dragon friend needed to meet his actual family, they were probably worried sick! So he grabbed a few maps, marked out the closest fae castle, told his parents he would go play with the animals in the woods and left.

The trek was very long and dangerous, but the entire forest was on his side. Baby Silver kept talking to Malleus, explaining life as a prince, introducing his animal friends, and trying to find out if he liked to eat berries.

They avoided war-stricken areas and managed to reach fae territory. And that's when things took a turn for the worse.

Henrik and the Silver Owls found them. Apparently, the egg was missing and a search party was assembled to follow its magical traces. Baby Silver didn't know that, and went to greet his uncle, saying that he was helping out a friend find his family!!

Henrik looked at his nephew, then at the dragon, and went for the kill, literally. The kid couldn't even defend himself, as his uncle cut him down with a simple strike (dawn knight was at home).

And that's when baby Malleus's magic blew up.

A snowstorm of cataclysmic proportions struck, complete with fire tornados and lightning. At the center of it all stood two children, the tiny Silver that was bleeding out, and Malleus, who had taken a human form and was trying to close the wound (he changed forms because he was scared and emulated the only thing he could think of as strong and protection, and that thing was five year-old Silver). Meanwhile, all of the animals formed a protective circle around them.

Luckily, reinforcements soon arrived. Both Lillia and Maleficia came (that storm could only be a Draconia's doing, they would NOT lose the egg again). They made quick work of the rest of the Silver Owls before rushing to Malleus's aid.

The animals let the faes though, as if they knew the dragon had finally found his kin. But Malleus wouldn't let go of Silver, even when the kid started telling him "Look, we found your family!! You're safe!", smiling despite the pain and looming death.

With the use of "Far Cry Cradle", Lillia quickly explained the situation, and the faes made the decision to save the human. They had a much too big debt with this child, who was so innocent it hurt.

They were also keeping the human. If that despicable man was his UNCLE, then no way in hell were the rulers of Briar Valley going to give the child back to his family. It would be a disgrace to the Draconia family.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now, there a a few ways this AU could go.

1. The faes weren't able to save Silver. They create a monument in his honor and he becomes the only human they respect. Relations with the Silver Owls may improve now that Henrik is dead, if they can convince Dawn Knight his son died to save Malleus.

2. The faes save Silver, who lives in Briar Valley until the end of his mortal lifespan, acting as Malleus's big brother and knight. The Silver Owls are angry, but eventually come to an agreement once they realize there was no mind control involved.

3. The faes manage to save Silver, but the wounds were so grave that he had to stay in magic stasis for a few hundred years. Receiving the BOTW Shrine of Ressurection treatment. Due to the nature of the magic, he lost his memories, got silver hair and became sleepy. He later wakes up and becomes the Silver we all know and love. Malleus still sees him as the older brother, but thinks that now it's his turn to protect the human!

#twst #twst chapter 7 spoilers #twst spoilers #it's a miracle how foreign relations can improve when everyone hates henrik and he isn't around anymore #also silver is just too good a diplomat #briar valley ready to protect this human #he is literally the saviour of the country #realizing that's the closest thing to a dragon prince au #with the whole “prince on a quest to give stolen dragon back to family” #also the feud between elves/faes and humans #and the fact that the human prince can talk to animals #baby silver strolling though the woods with at least a family of bears and a armada of birds and squirrels #silver twst #silver vanrouge #malleus draconia #lillia vanrouge #maleficia draconia #henrik was killed by his soldiers for attacking silver. and then he was fried to a crisp by malleus #how to get adopted by the fae #or how to adopt a dragon as your younger sibling

[tending-the-hearth]

everything i loved about "the little mermaid" live action

Ariel's melody being her siren song!! that little new bit of lore!! i also really liked that it added more depth as to why Ursula wanted her voice in exchange for her becoming human

the way Ariel became almost angry during the bridge of "Part of Your World", she was so frustrated that she couldn't do the things she was dreaming about, like YES let her be mad!!

full body chills during "Part of Your World" + the first reprise

Ariel helping Max onto the boat 😭😭😭

I've mentioned this before, but Ariel hearing Eric's voice before seeing him!!! hearing him sing before seeing him!!! agh!!!!

Eric holding Ariel's hand on the shore after she rescues him 😭

the detail put into each of Ariel's sisters was so stunning, i'm so excited to read more about them in the books! i loved that they each had their own specific vibe

THEY INCLUDED THE FACT THAT URSULA AND TRITON ARE SIBLINGS YES THANK YOU VERY MUCH

"For the First Time" being a voice over, as Ariel's thoughts, and then the scene shifting to complete darkness except for her to represent us being in her head and hearing her thoughts, and the way it gets cut off when she realizes she can't say "hello" to Eric? i cried

The Jodi Benson cameo and her giving Halle!Ariel the fork 😭 literally her passing on the mantel of Ariel 😭😭

Eric and Ariel being total nerds with each other??

The way Ariel "told" Eric her name using the constellations???? and him saying it was written in the stars???? hello????

Also Eric saying "my little mermaid" made me so soft wtf

Eric and Ariel running around and giggling in the castle and being the definition of puppy love like they're so goofy and in love i adore them

the "Part of Your World" reprise after Ariel sees Eric with Vanessa shattered my heart, the MOST heartbreaking song

Grimsby kicking the ring away after it falls near him, my man knew exactly what was going on, he's known Ariel for three days and is already a ride or die

just Ariel and Eric holding each other so tightly after she gets her voice back, and Eric refusing to let her go until Ursula literally has to throw him away

ARIEL BEING THE ONE TO KILL URSULA USING THE SKILLS SHE SAW ERIC USE OH MY GOD IT WORKED SO SO WELL

i like that they added a chunk of time passing between Ursula's death and Eric and Ariel reuniting, it added a little extra drama and emotion when they finally saw each other again!

listen i'm an absolute sucker for a "hug before kiss" reunion and i was SO happy that Eric and Ariel had that, it fit them and their relationship perfectly, the way Eric just clung to her, and Ariel's happy smile as she hugged him back 😭

The mermaid statue and the dress representing the land vs. the sea???? and both returning back to where they're supposed to be but having new meanings????

Ariel's wedding dress being pink to (probably) pay homage to her pink ballgown in the animated movie was such a good touch, and i loved the length!!

Triton and Ariel's goodbye, where he says "you shouldn't have had to give up your voice for me to hear you"???? hello my father issues jumped tf out and had me sobbing in the theater

literally the entire movie was so beautiful, i could talk about it for hours, this is the best live action remake honestly, and Eric and Ariel (specifically the live action version obvi) have moved up to become my favorite Disney Princess/Prince pairing, just behind Belle and Adam (bc let's be honest, nothing can top them)

@queen-with-the-quill bc i know you're seeing it soon! more things i forgot to tell you lol

#the little mermaid #the little mermaid 2023 #the little mermaid spoilers #ariel #prince eric #disney

[likealittleheartbeat]

talk to me about the theme of emotional isolation for zuko and aang

It's the main reason I'm obsessed with the show tbh.

Can we overstate Aang's isolation within the show. He's not only a survivor--a sole survivor--of a genocide, he's also knocked out of time and history. These are the facts of his physical isolation. But his emotional isolation is such a different beast. It began before any deaths did. He is set apart by the monks and by the whole world as a savior. Shortly after his status as the avatar is made known, his peers exclude him, his power too great. His humanity is denied because he's too divine. Only Gyatso seems to still regard him for who he is rather than his gifts. Of course, that's why the council decides Aang needs to be further separated from worldly relations like that, and vote to send him off. For Aang, it's the last straw. He can't bear further exile from others. To regain some sense of control, he tries to run away from the heavy burden and those who have put it on him. At least this time, he's the one choosing his loneliness. It has become so clear that no one can understand his feelings about the Avatar State.

This is the emotional state he enters the series with, icon rather than human. He starts off concealing his revered identity in an attempt to indulge in simple pleasures, penguin sledding, coy fish riding, etc. But the shame is secretly right there at the surface. He's lovable but mercurial. Friendly and animated with everyone when he first meets them but in a way that's fleeting. The knowledge that he will have to leave the village, in an episodic fashion, having helped the members of the town, even having sacrificed himself for their well-being, is an understood fact of the plot and his life. At most he sheds some of his grief by putting it into words with Katara's encouragement. But despite the whole world fighting through their own grief from the fire nation and Katara's sole-survival of her own culture's genocide, they each have people in their families and cultures who, however bitterly, hold them and hold the broken memories together with one another. No one is as physically isolated as Aang, but, more importantly for his character development, no one is as isolated by their significance to the world.

No one, except Zuko. Zuko, the banished prince. Isn't that what Aang as the Avatar is in many ways: a spiritual prince, an heir by birth to power and legacy, who has been banished from his inheritance. Only, Aang's inheritance would be peace. Zuko's would be the Fire Nation, but because of his humanity, Zuko, like Aang, is without a nation. This is one reason Zuko and Aang are such incredible narrative foils. Aang is rejected from humanity's compassion because of his divine status while Zuko is rejected from divine rule because of his human compassion and failures to demonstrate perfection. (If you're interested in this dynamic in media, Fruits Basket has fantastic explorations of these themes with Kyo vs. Yuki and Tohru vs. Akito.)

How early did Zuko start to notice the disappointment he brought to his father and grandfather? As early as we can see, Zuko seems alone. The episode with that phrase in the title reflects back on his childhood, which, noticeably, lacks the friends Azula manages to keep. He mimics and mocks her cruelty, as well, in an attempt to impress his mother. His insecurity seems already set, a sense that no one can understand. While Aang recognizes that everyone thinks he's too good to belong, Zuko lives in an environment in which he's not good enough to belong.

The reactions to their rejections correspond, too. Zuko's reaction of antagonistic pursuit of anyone and everyone--like Aang's reaction to run away (literally and sometimes emotionally with a smile or joke)--helps keep others in a framework of enemies so he can control his exile rather than the other way around. Yet these behaviors put them in dynamic relation to one another--Zuko is drawn to the endless pursuit of the strangely kind Aang, whose instinct is to behold others while remaining untouchable, while Aang becomes clearly intrigued by the person who refuses to treat him like an untouchable hero, the person who refuses to give up on the possibility that the Avatar can be flawed and fail, no matter how many times he slips away proving his divine destiny.

It's obvious that Zuko is supposed to hate Aang, as the Avatar. "The Headband" illustrates how education in the Fire Nation portrays him if the fact that Zuko's only possibility for regaining his title under his father is bringing the Avatar back isn't enough evidence for you. But Aang ought to hate Zuko just as much, if not more. Instead, they are drawn toward one another with an remarkable intensity, established within the first half of the first season, "The Storm" x "Blue Spirit" combo punch! In fact, the blue spirit episode really reveals what they can mean to each other. Not only in Aang's question at the end that invites Zuko back into the past with him, but in the way that Zuko is made to be the divine entity for a brief period while Aang is helpless in the fort. Then, that question at the end: "Do you think we could have been friends?" Isn't that the opposite of the isolation they feel. In the woods, without a nation or an allegiance, Aang, remembering the people and time that he was forced to leave asks Zuko, who has just betrayed the people who banished him, in another version of life where they were both simple people rather heirs of vast power, if they could have formed a kind of union that would have dissolved the loneliness that consumes both of them. But it's momentary and they have to return to the world that defines them as the Avatar and the Banished Fire Prince.

This becomes one of the cores of the show, as echoed in the finale, where Zuko and Aang consummate their friendship, but by then, through traveling the winding road toward one another and aiming to take on a part of what the other person represents, they have found a balance that refused the binaries of divinity and fallibility that had previously separated and defined their lives, binaries that exiled them from connecting with others, binaries that built towers to isolate them from the world. The victims and survivors of genocide, the subjects of colonial violence, nor the sufferers of abuse need be pure to claim their pain, nor must the people who want and work towards justice be saints to do that work. Harder for many audience members to absorb, despite their love for Zuko who's arc is meant to emphasize the point, there is a spark of divinity in everyone, from the most unloved to the most violent and tyrannical. This second fact must exist alongside the first, or else the premise won't hold. How you choose to act and engage with that spark of divinity is a human choice we each make on our own, but that does not deny it's existence. The divine ideals must be allowed to fall apart into comedy and tragedy, while the mundane, the profane, and the cruels horrors of life must be allowed to be seen as something that hold the possibility to become beautiful and part of a grander design. The Avatar must be allowed to be Aang and Zuko must be allowed to be the Firelord so that we can have Avatar Aang (the last title of the series) and Firelord Zuko (the most celebrated character arc of the series). They need one another to assuage the fear, isolation, and dread that black-and-white perfectionist thinking boxes us into.

#zukaang #platonic otps #platonic love #yin & yang #buddhism #atla meta #meta #aang #zuko #aanglove

[bug-bites]

batfam beach episode?? real not clickbait no glue no borax??

cw: nothing! pure vacation beach fluff (p≧w≦q) also barely proofread,,,

pairing: gn!reader x batfam (NOT ALL AT ONCE.)

characters: dick grayson, jason babygirl todd, cassandra cain, tim drake, damian wayne (all intended to be interpreted as either romantic or platonic unless its damian. ik in some comic runs he's like an adult but hes like permanently 12 in my head and i dont fw that :/)

a/n: im back with a new dc obsession tee hee (soz to everyone who wanted more abt the cod guys or spiderverse im comicsmaxxing and redhoodpilled) will probably make a part 2 w/ bruce, babs, steph, and duke eventually :3c

Dick Grayson haha dick

oh he loves the beach so much

the sand beneath his feet make him feel nostalgic from when he would practice tumbling with his parents in the circus ring i think there's sand in circus rings right? I dunno someone fact check me on that one

the victim of being buried in the sand, always asks for a mermaid tail but ends up with something like massive sand tits (courtesy of either tim or jason), he laughs it off anyways

somehow gets the worst tan lines. He wore a swim shirt one time and never again because the tan lines looked SO BAD which is a total shame because he tans gorgeously

will beg to do play shoulder wars i have no clue if this is the right name, again fact check me for this thing where you get a piggyback ride from someone and you try to knock someone whos also getting a piggyback ride over in the water

you’re on his shoulders since bro is strong asf and you square up against tim and damian

obviously you lose because hello that's damian wayne we are talking about but at least its fun!!

cass and jason are forever the undefeated champions of shoulder wars though, that goes without saying

Cassandra Cain

shes always seen beach episodes in animes that damian practically dragged her into watching so when she gets to actually go to a beach she is so excited peak sibling bonding is dragging your siblings into your interests

loves building sandcastles and writing things in the sand, watching it get washed away, and then do it all over again

hold her hand and jump over waves together on the shore and she will be the giggliest and happiest human being alive on planet earth

but out of all the beach activities she loves beach volleyball

shes actually scarily good at beach volleyball for someone who has never played volleyball before

dick thought it would be fun to teach her and have a friendly match between him and bruce vs you and cass

yeah bruce and dick were COOKED. huffing and puffing like they have a vendetta against the three little pigs at the end of it while cass is like “this is so fun, lets go again!”

ends the day with a little sunset stroll along the shore i need her so bad you do not understand please bbyg ill treat u soooo well

Jason Todd

beaches are fun on paper for him, in person not so much

PERSONAL HC INCOMING! He gets migraines after the lazarus pit so he can only have so much fun before needing to lie face down with his head covered with a beach towel to make everything less overwhelming or he wears sunglasses the entire time

he brings a book to read at the beach and stays in the shade the entire time yes he is that bitch

usually at home in the comfort of his little library he likes to read things that have an impact on him or just stuff that makes him want to analyze deeper. think books like frankenstein, lord of the flies, all quiet on the western front, just generally heavier stuff

but his vacation books? totally different. usually something super light, maybe a shitty romance book that you find in walmart which are clearly just results of book packaging, or a some booktok recommendation he got for shits and giggles because it just was so laughably bad, maybe even a childhood feel-good book like percy jackson or the little prince (mostly just books he would not grieve over if sand permanently got in between the pages)

he tried reading a colleen hoover book once and honest to God wanted to toss it into the ocean HE WOULD HATE HER BOOKS AND I WILL DIE ON THIS HILL

but out of everything he likes watching you enjoy yourself, his book wasnt that important anyways. show him that funky sand dollar you found or that really cool piece of seaglass, he’s probably gonna bring it home with him. a little keepsake along with the millions of grains of sand that never seem to go away

Tim Drake

Burns so easily

At first its kinda cute, like hes asking you to help him get that spot on his back he just cant seem to reach and its just a little sweet moment between you two as you rub the sunscreen into his sore muscles

But then it happens again. And again. And again to the point when he goes up to you, you automatically reach for the tube of SPF 100+ 

I just know his vitamin d deficiency goes crazy

Leaves the beach looking like a lobster, sunburnt, a crazy bump on his head from getting hit with a volleyball, and some god awful sunglasses tan lines

Overall, beach activities are not really his thing bros job is NAWT beach

Enjoys the boardwalk a lot more than the beach itself, likes the touristy stuff but still goes to the beach because dick loves it and he loves his older brother :(

Damian Wayne

i feel like he wouldn’t care too much for typical beach stuff. like at every beach that has sand and decently clean water you can do most beach activities

one thing that is never 100% consistent at all beaches is what lives on the beaches. this boy will spend hours staring into tidepools 

bruce was lowk concerned because his son did not gaf about normal beach activities that kids do but eventually he reached a point where he was like "i mean at least hes having fun and being safe"

i feel like talia would always show him books of sea creatures when he was little but he never ended up being able to see them in their natural habitat someone take this boy to an aquarium now

tells you fun facts about each creature you come across

will scold you if you take a shell from the beach, definitely says some shit like “how would you feel if someone ran into your house and just took your bed?”  based though, leave shells at the beach yall! taking them is like bad for the ecosystem

brings his notebook around and has little sketches of the sea creatures

even though typical beach activities arent his favourite, he doesnt hate it. he likes that he can catch a break from all the vigilante stuff and spend time with his family as a family and not just as a team

loves scuba diving. idk it just somehow makes sense and i think he would look really stupid in a wet suit

also i feel like he would never mention it but in his mind hes fully thinking "this is just like a beach episode" but he would rather die than say it out loud FUCKING NERDDD

#dc comics #dc universe #dc x reader #x reader #dick grayson x reader #dick grayson x you #nightwing x reader #cassandra cain x reader #cassandra cain x you #black bat x reader #jason todd x reader #jason todd x you #red hood x reader #tim drake x reader #tim drake x you #red robin x reader #damian wayne x reader #damian wayne x you #robin x reader #dick grayson #nightwing #cassandra cain #black bat #jason todd #red hood #tim drake #red robin #damian wayne #dc robin #dc headcanon

[faybellesbeauty]

The most. random Kitty headcanons I came up with in science (while actively burning a liquid that could’ve killed me):

• Mommy issues.

• Has kind of always known she’s not straight? I mean, she grew up in wonderland so everyone was a bit ”weird”. You can’t blame her for not wanting that prince-and-princess-fairytale crap everyone else was talking about

• Has earbuds on 25/8. Literally ALL THE TIME. Has been complained about by everyone she’s ever been anywhere with (including The Wonderlandians™️ god do they complain about it)

• She listens to any genre from heavy metal to k-pop as long as she likes the song

• Somehow always has everything anyone could ever need; Hungry? A goddamn five course meal. Headache? (Probably illegal) painkillers that work like they were sent from heaven

• Joint hypermobility. She can just do cool tricks (thumb to wrist, bagel legs, prayer hands behind back etc. etc.) but never had issues otherwise

• If she was in the human world she would absolutely watch shows like Criminal Minds, B99, Blue Bloods and whatever cop / agent dramas there are

• Super flirty but in a not obvious way?? Or everyone else is just extra dense, depends.

• Her gaydar is insane. She could walk past someone without even glancing at them and go ”oh she’s bi for sure”

• She absolutely adores all animals but nobody knows because it goes against everything they know about her. And the fact that she’s quite literally a cat(-hybrid??)

• Can’t cook AT ALL. Will not elaborate. Maddie has enough stories about that.

• Sometimes annoys Cerise for fun because of the cat-dog stereotype. She actually enjoys being chased and spending time with her though

• She’s super insecure of her smile. It just,, makes sense to me I can’t really explain why 🧍

• Actually despises Wonderland but physically can’t hate it or express the feeling

these are just a fraction of my thoughts about her!!!! i have over 200 Kitty hcs!!!!!!

also i might do a separate one for Cerise and Kitty because they’re taking over my brain (both platonically and romantically)

#ever after high #kitty cheshire

[shinyzango]

Just curious, opinions on the different nutcrackers that you know of from all kinds of media and stuff?

Sorry if anyone asked this before I wouldn't know

Love your art and characters by the way keep it up!

Hohohohohohohoho, we be opening the Pandora Box here. Not that I'm complaining~

So, this is going to be a very long post as I've seen a lot of the movies. I also have a couple books which I can give my opinion, and I'm familiar with various apparitions in videogames and such. So yeah this is going to be a loooooooong post.

So buckle up, grab a drink and enjoy the ride into my personal madness o7

[ CAREFUL, VERY LONG POST UNDER THE CUT ]

So, let's start with movies as those are easier to grab and talk about for me. I'm gonna go with their year of release ot keep things organized.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Shchelkunchik (1973)

Small silly dramatic guy, I like him! The animators did a great job animating his design and make him incredibly appealing. As for his human appearance, eeeeeh I don't really care for him. Definitely a shock the first time you see it lol But yes, adorable silly guy

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Nutcracker Fantasy (1979)

Li'l guy. It is Sanrio so it's bound to be on the cute side. The Nutcracker itself doesn't do much in the movie, but as for Fritz himself, I... honestly don't care about him. He looks pretty, but personality wise he needs to work on it pff Idk he just comes out as plain and a little arrogant... Still a fine fellow, though.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Nutcracker: The Motion Picture (1986)

One of the two ballet-based movies I've seen, and definitely the better one of the two imo. And good lord I love this guy. He may look terrifying but good lord if he's silly. And I actually don't mind his human appearance as simple as it is. Silly man, this one.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

The Nutcracker Prince (1990)

HIM. MY BELOVED. THE GOOD LAD. Definitely my favorite, and not because this was my most beloved childhood movie. He is such a sweetheart with a hint of awkwardness but who can still kick your ass. And the final scene in the castle in the Italian dub is just *chef kiss* 10/10 lad.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

The Nutcracker (1993)

The other ballet-based movie... it's just Macaulay Culkin. And his nutcracker costume looks hideous lol. Nothign to say. Surprisingly, he's not the worst one.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

The Nuttiest Nutcracker (1999)

Ripoff Ken. He is incredibly dumb, and a tiny bit of a freak, but could be worse honestly kdjng They did Barbie before Barbie did it lol that's p much it.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Barbie in the Nutcracker (2001)

THE OTHER GOOD LAD. I love Eric so much he's such a sweetheart wanting to fix his mistakes. It's so easy to root for him. As for his human appearance... he's just Ken skjngf 10/10 lad #2

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

The Nutcracker and the MouseKing (2004)

Oh boy what to say about this one. Very hateful in the first half. At least he learns and becomes bearable at the last third of the movie. But I do like the nutcracker form, they made the blocky design work as well, like later on it's actually very nice to see him move. Still, horrible personality. Needs a slap in the face.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Nutcracker in 3D / Nutcracker: The Untold Story (2010)

Hellspawn. Nightmare fuel. Abomination. Who the hell approved to that design?? And why did they pitch up his voice like that?? At least the kid playing human NC is not as bad, but good lord. 0/10 Just burn that puppet with fire, please.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

The Nutcracker and the Four Realms (2018)

This one just pisses me off. This one had so much potential, and the actor is actually good. It's just the way his character was written that is dog awful. They made him basically a dumb side character who barely does anything despite everyone in the movie treating him like he's a big shot. And the the fact that this was made by Disney just makes this worse. Just so much lost potential.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

The Nutcracker (???)

I actually don't know who made this movie or in which year, but I do like this one. The movie is comedic so he's a bit silly, but he's still quite enjoyable. And for some reason he reminds me of Waluigi.... Still, silly guy.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

That's all for the movies. There are a bunch more that I've missed or that I can't find anymore so my list of opinions on them is not complete. But one day...

---

As for other medias, hm... I have a couple books that are just the original story by Hoffman and the retell by Duman (of which I don't have much to say) and the graphic novel by Natalie Andrewson.

He's just a li'l guy, silly kid but enjoyable.

---

Lastly, while there are no actual nutcracker based games, I do want to mention a few skins and characters I am aware of for the hell of it. I'm pretty sure I will be forgetting some but eh.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Terraria

Silly guy that speeeens. I wish I didn't have to kill them skgjfn.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Overwatch

As much as I now despise Overwatch for many reasons, I still love Zenyatta's nutcracker skin to death. Look at this silly guy. Definitely my favorite skin in the game.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Saints Row IV

SR4 had a Christmas themed DLC, and among all the xmas reskins of the enemies, one was the terminator-like enemies being turned into Nutcrackers. And their design look so sick.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Fortnite

I don't play Fortnite, but I do have to admit that the nutcracker guy looks neat. The crazy look fits the look quite well. If I would ever get in there (I doubt it but still), that would definitely be the skin I would use.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Lethal Company

I don't play LC neither but I've seen videos of the nutcracker enemy in action, and yeah he looks silly. I love how he moves around.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

That's all of the apparitions that I can think of. I'm also aware of the point-and-click game made by Big Fish Games, but I have not played it myself. I really should do that one day...

---

Aaaaaand that's a wrap. I'm definitely forgetting a nutboi or two somewhere but these are all the ones I can think of at the top of my head that are officially published and all.

If we start talking about folks in social medias I've come to know over the years... I'm gonna be here for 3 months trying to talk about them dkjfgn

Well, hope you enjoyed this personal spiraling into nut madness :V

#nutcracker #the nutcracker

[fishyfishyfishtimes]

Overview of mermaids

Many people who’ve been my followers for a while will already be familiar with Prince Ahti II. To those who don’t, here he is! The silly man in my profile picture:

Ahti II is one of my characters, and a merman. He’s a part of a bigger urban fantasy universe, one which I don’t talk about very often. Until now! I like reading others’ ideas and concepts and there must be others like me, so I have faith that perhaps my writings will entertain or inspire others. Here I’ve compiled my various thoughts and ideas about the merfolk of Ahti’s world, an overview of sorts! I try to summarise everything the best I can, but as you’ll see it is a bit hard, I have many thoughts and I’ll have to delve further into history and biology at a later date. 

Memaids, mermen, mersons, or collectively merfolk or merple are humans whose ancestors were transformed into half-animal people some 10 000 years ago by a race of nonphysical beings. On the surface they’re half human upper body, ~three-quarters aquatic animal lower body, and are held together by a whooole lot of magic! Any biological weirdness is explained by the fact that they’re two incompatible parts desperately trying to make it work with compromises that are sometimes unpredictable — functionally they are a human shaped like another thing, with all-human DNA.

Merfolk have organs in both their human and animal halves. The heart and lungs are located in the upper chest cavity (the human chest) and are larger than in the average human. The esophagus is greatly elongated, and leads to the animal half where the rest of the digestive system, and the urinary and reproductive systems, is located in. The lower chest cavity contains a pseudo-heart that helps pump blood into a larger body. All merfolk have an internal skeleton throughout their whole body, even invertebrate-based merfolk. As an adaptation to the dim light of their environment, the eyes of merfolk are more sensitive to light and their pupils can grow and shrink very drastically.

Near the mid-back, aka just about where the two sides join together, fish and (many) crustacean merple have gills, and cetacean merple have a blowhole. What for? For second lungs! These lungs are connected to the upper chest lungs and allow cetacean merfolk to hold their breath for extended periods of time. Merfolk that take after fishes with swim bladders also have a similar lung-swim bladder connection, which is mostly used to control buoyancy — moving air to the upper lungs aids a merson in floating upright, for one. Sorry other aquatic tetrapod merfolk, you don’t have second lungs (…as far as I’ve decided) but I’m sure you can make do!

Due to their adaptations and limitations, merfolk tend to live underwater, in fresh, brackish, and saltwater environments. Merfolk settlements tend to be built in shallower water: most settlements are built in the first 50 meters from the surface, and their frequency dwindles down significantly after a 100 meters of depth. Merfolk prefer the warmth and light of the surface, humans as they are! Some merfolk-found, mostly underwater nations exist, all of them in shallow seas and in and around large archipelagos, but a good portion of merfolk live on the coastal areas of mostly terrestrial nations and in inland waters. In the open ocean, many nomadic merfolk communities exist too: they tend to migrate with fish schools and herd their own aquatic livestock, like fishes, krill and squids. 

Underwater merfolk homes are large to account for their large size, and often very tall. In places where the surface of the water freezes over at some point in the year, many homes have one or a few topmost rooms that reach above water and function as a secondary exit and as a way to reoxygenate the water. Some merfolk homes are suspended above the water on stilts or on the shore with an underwater entrance, but the homes themselves are fully or half dry inside. These homes tend to be very low and wide instead! These are common in merfolk that need air to breathe. Between these solutions are homes that are partly submerged and partly dry at different ratios, common in so-called hybrid living conditions! 

Merfolk as a whole are one of the most magical of all humans, having a lot of magic in their DNA and using a lot of magic in their daily lives. This is in part from necessity, as life underwater is very different from life on land. Contemporary merfolk tend to know at least four spells: waterspeak, lungspeak, return to form, and two-legs spell. Waterspeak allows a person to speak clearly with their vocal cords underwater, without needing to waste air from their lungs. Waterspeak is of valuable use underwater, but makes a person’s voice inaudible in the air! This is why there’s lungspeak, which creates the opposite effect and lets a person.. well, audibly speak like a in real life person lmao

The two-legs spell rearranges the organs of the merson and transforms their lower body from the human waist down into a pair of human legs. The upper body doesn’t really change in any significant way (…besides the lungs and heart becoming smaller and gaining new organs and bones and muscles) so the eyes are still tuned to see better in darkness etc. Return to original form reverses any physical transformation to the way a person was born, merfolk use it to go back to their tailed form! 

The most glaring issue in the life of a merson is the fact that your body is adapted to swimming and diving, but the majority of people live on land. Even semiaquatic merfolk tend to have trouble walking great distances! Fortunately, there are solutions besides staying in your underwater or amphibious living community for your entire life (because that’s not a solution at all). One is the aforementioned two-legs spell! A major pro is that you gain two fine long distance walking legs, two cons however are the drastic transformation that must take place to become two-legged, and then learning to walk, run, crawl, jump, sit, anything and everything. Two-legs isn’t a painful spell, or even physically uncomfortable to bear. It’s just that… well. The merfolk body isn’t built as simply as head-arms-torso-tail, it’s really head-arms-torso-pectoral fins-torso-pelvic fins-tail, all parts working together and important with movement, expression and item manipulation. When a merson loses so much of their body and way of interacting with the world it is emotionally and mentally draining! Many merfolk do not want to go through the trouble of losing a big part of themselves. 

Fortunately going on land as they are isn’t impossible! The upper chest cavity lungs are big enough to support merfolk just by themselves, and merple rarely, if ever, grow too heavy to exist on land. Fishy merfolk tend to have a slime coat, but on land as the slime coat dries and flakes off, the skin begins producing similar oils to the ones human skin has. Rapidly moving from water to air to water to air can cause damage overtime (eg. cracks and wounds in the skin, loss of scales), but effects can be lessened with moisturiser. Getting around on land is as easy as having a merson-fit wheelchair!

…The cons are just about the same as they would be having a wheelchair in our contemporary world, sadly. Most spaces are big enough for even a long merson in a wheelchair to pass through as humans on average are just bigger, but that doesn’t fix every other issue. Merfolk have a lot of societal pressure to change their form into a two-legged one instead of using wheelchairs, since it’s viewed as more convenient and less expensive — even transforming and using a wheelchair fitted for two-legged human is viewed as a better option. A good bit of merfolk are taught to walk on legs from an early age “just in case”, because they might just need it. 

Enough of merfolk tragedies. Let’s talk merfolk joys! Traditional merfolk art is heavy on sculptures, dance and singing, three-dimensional art so to speak. Traditional merfolk cuisine meanwhile provides a diverse selection of meat from finfishes, shellfishes, cephalopods and aquatic mammals, supplemented with algae, fruits and underwater domesticated crops. Merfolk never stopped cooking and frying foods when they turned, but a lot of "bonkers" old meals can be served raw. Traditional celebrations vary a lot based on location and the seasons, but they encompass similar themes to terrestrial celebrations, like harvest. Ice covers melting in the spring to let in light and warmth is a big thing in the northern hemisphere, and fish schools seasonally migrating to a community's home area also calls for a great feast.

As magical and technological advancements have changed the world they live in, painting, drawing, and the use of instruments have gotten more common in the arts, and terrestrial cereals and vegetables in food. The gradual introduction of terrestrial delights into the aquatic world has birthed its own unique cultural quirks. One example is a niche genre of music where a merson plays a wind instrument with only the air in their lungs as long as they can, birthing a whole new form of short folk tunes when instruments started becoming common. Just about anything has been waterproofed physically or through magical means, so in the modern day there is very little difference in a terrestrial and aquatic person's quality of life.

#yippee! i did it :) #merfolk #merfolk lore #my art #art #long post

[abybweisse]

Blood Work (p1), Elitism, transmutation, and religious fear

⚠️ long post ⚠️

So, I now have a copy of Blood Work: A Tale of Medicine and Murder in the Scientific Revolution, by Holly Tucker. It's a reference for Yana-san, as she mentioned it in her old tuna.be blog around the start of the blue arc.

I see in the list of important people a mention of the real Dr. Moreau, and there's a later chapter about chimeras... so I know I'll be talking about that some, over this series of posts.

It's important here, too, because when researchers were first attempting blood transfusions in the 17th century, people were terrified about receiving blood from animals, like sheep and cattle. They thought that animal blood would transmute humans into human-animal hybrids. Even in the 20th century, some white people were terrified of receiving blood from black people, because they thought the blood could effect the race of their future children or grandchildren. Nonsense, of course, but they didn't understand.

17th century blood transfusions were generally performed by taking blood from a lamb or a calf. The barbers/physicians/researchers had no clue about blood types. Jean-Baptiste Denis successfully transfused blood from a lamb into a teenage patient. Then he made several successful attempts at transfusing from a calf to a "madman". The guy later died, and Denis was blamed. Turns out some doctors who didn't want him to succeed had actually poisoned that second subject with arsenic.

It wasn't even a matter of those physicians wanting his experiments to fail while theirs worked; no, they simply didn't want blood transfusions to become a practice. They were afraid of transmutation from animal blood, and they were afraid of what animal-to-human blood transfusions would reveal about humanity -- that we are truly just animals, too. The trial against Denis ended research into blood transfusions for about 150 years.

Blood types were still unknown in the late 18th century, when a physician wanted to attempt to revive George Washington's largely exsanguinated corpse with a transfusion of lamb's blood. FYI, he died on a December 14th, just like Prince Albert. His family refused the offer only because they feared sullying his body with animal blood, and they insisted his body must be left untainted and wholly together for him to be properly received into heaven. Such was the continued lack of understanding. Yana-san might have given Undertaker the idea to use blood transfusions in conjunction with other techniques for the reanimating and revival process from the account of what that physician wanted to do to Washington.

When blood transfusion research was in full swing, in the 19th century, they were starting to piece together the idea of blood groups, but they still didn't quite know about things like universal whole blood donor and universal whole blood recipient. There was a strong elitist element to this, so they generally thought like could only be compatible with like. They also still saw non-human blood as inferior, even if it might be compatible. The best compatibility was expected between twins and then between close relatives.

I have a feeling that Yana-san has played around with this bias, which would explain why real Ciel is only receiving AB (Sirius) blood, Canopus B, Vega O, and Polaris A. All those people at Sphere Music Hall are led to believe they are being treated as equals, when they are in fact being split up into a caste system where some "stars" are of a higher magnitude than others. And, at times, Blavat Sky and others have made it clear they see some blood types as being less worthy than others. By extension, some people are treated as less worthy. Blavat seems to realize that Sirius can receive blood from other blood types, because he gives "leftovers" of Vega and Polaris blood to the Sirius renal patients. It's possible that real Ciel doesn't know he can have any type of whole blood, but I suspect he knows and simply doesn't think anything else is good enough for him.

I'd also like to mention Snake and Finny here, since we know Finny was injected with something to increase his strength and other traits. Then we see Snake with various attributes that are associated with snakes. In either case (or both) we could be dealing with transmutation. It's not realistic in our world, but it might very well be possible in theirs. Each of them might have been injected with chemical cocktails derived from other animals: Snake from snakes and Finny from perhaps a few completely different species.

We now know Snake wasn't born a snake and turned into a human, but there's nothing to say he wasn't born human and "adulterated" with snake traits. There's also the weird story the freak show attendant claims: human mother and snake father. Maybe not an actual snake as his father but more like his mother being injected with snake blood or something... and that producing a hybrid child. Again, not what we'd consider possible, but the Kuroverse plays by different rules.

One other aspect I want to touch on in this post: Othello's and Grelle's fears regarding the very nature of human souls and existence. This is a form of religious fear, not too different from what George Washington's family feared. His family feared he wouldn't be accepted into heaven, while these two reapers fear humans might no longer even need souls, and that heaven may no longer matter to them. What would that mean for the existence of reapers, when their supposed salvation requires them to keep collecting souls?

Well, I'll probably talk about bias and fear again, as well as these other issues, but I'll stop here... for now.

#black butler #kuroshitsuji #blood work #blood transfusion #blood type #research #medical advancements #reference material #books #holly tucker #yana toboso #ciel phantomhive #real ciel #dr moreau #chimeras #othello #grell sutcliff #grelle sutcliff #observation #feb 20 2024 #long post #long reads #part one #part 1

[dreamsinger-rose]

Of Magic and Mating

Looking back over all the movies and specials, it seems to me that trolls are very magical creatures, whether they realize it or not. They are so magical that other species can actually make use of that magic. Velvet and Veneer could draw upon the trolls’ musical talent and the confidence to use it. The bergens did much the same thing, except their way of absorbing whatever makes a troll so magically “happy” was much cruder, by just eating them whole.

Maybe because of their generous natures, I feel that the trolls are open to being used by others. I got the distinct feeling that Floyd had befriended a shy Veneer and somehow given him a bit of his musical ability/confidence. Then Velvet found a way to exploit Floyd’s good will, which is why he was so bitter and sarcastic later on, having been betrayed by this “friends.” Thankfully, Veneer proved to be Floyd’s friend in the end, and turned against his sister.

My point is that rolls are steeped in magic. Their hair tends to be the main repository of it. They can move, stretch, and shape their hair. They can use it as an extra hand or foot, for travel, and object manipulation. They can change its color and texture to make it look like other things, like bushes for camouflage. They can use it to store items and carry babies. From what we’ve seen, they also create babies within their hair.

Now we learn that trolls can procreate with other species. Most likely due to their magical hair somehow making them compatible. It is worth noting that Bruce’s children are not trolls, though. He only seemed able to help her reproduce. Unless Brandy’s species can also self-clone, like Guy Diamond did with Tiny.

But if she does need a mate to produce babies, maybe his hair gave her the ability to self-clone like a troll. Maybe even produce eggs – which would explain why they had so many kids. I’d imagine Brandy would be delighted not to have to go through traditional pregnancies, lol. Or maybe Bruce’s hair actually produced their egg-babies.

That leads to the question of whether or not trolls have other reproductive organs, like humans (and possibly bergens) do. They probably don’t need them, but I like to think at least some have them, just for fun and frolicsome times 😉 Oh, so many questions…

On cloning… Poppy mentions DNA at one point, so genetics must have some effect in the trolls’ world. Branch and Poppy’s siblings look similar but not identical to them; brothers and sisters, not clones. Did each set of siblings truly come from a single parent? Then what about how some trolls seem to have two parents, like Cooper and Prince D’s parents? Their sons are twins who share identical coloring, but neither matches their parents. That suggests two-parent mating, not cloning.

Maybe it’s optional. Some animal species in our world can either self-clone or mate with others, if there are mates available. Maybe trolls are the same way.

Or, magic is involved. The fact that Bruce and Brandy reproduce together baffles even them. I say it’s got to be yet another magical-hair-related ability, fueled by more magic than they know they possess.

Of course, the trolls’ world itself could be considered magical. It has physics that wouldn’t work in our world, like seeing sparkles and musical notes in the air. Talking, self-aware clouds. Water made from glitter. Creatures like glowbugs that shouldn’t even be able to fly, let alone carry trolls. Animals with books growing out of their faces. Seriously?! Enlightened gurus like Cybil (and, I suspect, Tiny Diamond) can float. Which proves that Creek wasn’t a true guru – he used bugs to carry him and make it seem as if he were floating.

So we might as well call alternate-world physics “magic,” yes? 😉

I hope you all had a great holiday 😊

#dreamworks' trolls #broppy #branch #poppy #Trolls Band Together

[transmascutena]

I think it's interesting how one of the healthiest relationships in the show is Wakaba and Utena's friendship. Obviously, it has its flaws and tensions. But those tensions arise directly from the concept of being "special," from Wakaba dealing with their sense of inferiority towards Utena, who actively puts their sense of self-worth in winning these duels to keep Anthy at their side (a noble Prince...) People talk about Tatsuya being rejected as a Black Rose duelist a lot, but it's so notable that he's rejected because he's just...a more emotionally mature, less toxic person. Yeah, his heart is broken, but there is something decidedly human and mundane about how he approaches the conflict by asking, "What's wrong with me?" He sees him and Wakaba as two equals, he doesn't put their love conflicts on a pedestal, and he wants genuine solutions and hopes to confront his own flaws to understand why Wakaba rejected him.

Literally no one else is doing it like him.

A key theme in this show is critique of the nuclear family, but an extension of that theme is how said family unit breeds deep dysfunction into the characters' lives. The lack of communal infrastructure means characters are constantly putting their eggs in one basket. Everyone wants to return to their past because Ohtori and the patriarchal system doesn't offer chances to form new connections outside of the ones born of your trauma/childhood. Their lives are defined by their suffering. I view Wakaba and Utena's relationship as so important BECAUSE of how mundane it is, these 2 people met and they became friends and they eat bentos together and Wakaba views herself as non-special, but she doesn't realize how severely fucked up and lonely all the special people are.

I could go on. I want to write essays about this anime, for real. But it's something that struck me as I watch the show for the first time.

one of the reasons i find utena and wakaba's friendship so interesting and appealing is the fact that it and its issues are so mundane in the middle of all melodrama of the duels and the student council relationships and all of those things. their flaws feel very real for a teenage friendship, and they're all things i can personally relate to on some level. they obviously genuinely care about each other, but their friendships suffers from them not truly understanding each other, mostly because of their own lacking communication (utena doesn't tell wakaba any of the weird things going on in her life, probably out of some desire to protect her from it, and wakaba doesn't tell utena how upset that makes her, and ends up resenting her.) and it's completely accurate what you said about the tragedy of wakaba wanting to be special like utena is, but not realizing that said "specialness" comes at the cost of abuse and trauma. ohtori (akio) purposefully obfuscates that abuse to make it seem like something you should want. trying to disguise grooming as romance, etc. etc. the beauty of the rose hides its thorns and all that.

i'm not sure i'd call it the healthiest relationship in the show (although the bar is so low that it probably is by default) but it's important that the ways in which it is harmful are so normal. who hasn't ever been bad at communicating their feelings to people they care about? who hasn't kept secrets that they probably shouldn't? who hasn't grown apart from a middle school friend once new things started happening in their life? i'd argue that the flaws in the show's other relationships are also pretty normal when you strip away the layers of metaphor and symbolism from them (in the sense that abuse is exceedingly common.) but utena and wakaba's friendship exists almost entirely outside of that, which makes it stand out.

#i will say that i do not personally think tatsuya is really more mature than the other black rose duelists. #just that the ways in which he blames himself/wakaba aren't very useful for manipulating him. but i didn't really want to get into that her #thank you for the ask i really appreciate it :) #revolutionary girl utena #analysis #utena and wakaba #asks #m

[vstoly-blog]

So This Is Love

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.•¨*•. ☆ .•*¨•..•¨*•. ☆ .•*¨•..•¨`•. ☆

Gender neutral reader ❀

Everyone can identify ❀

.•¨*•. ☆ .•*¨•..•¨*•. ☆ .•*¨•..•¨`•. ☆

Malleus Draconia

When someone questions what love is, they must be open to various different answers. Living beings have different opinions on how to perceive love.

Many might say that Malleus would ask Lilia about the subject, but I see that he would like to learn it on his own, to experience new sensations without having the spoiler of what comes after, gradually discovering what to do and getting used to his own body's reaction to that feeling.

Malleus read children's romantic books, making a point to remember how each of the protagonists recognized that feeling and how they described it on each page. During his walks, Malleus surely paid attention to the couple of birds joyfully singing on the branches of trees or to the small and larger animals living together, which made him question himself about the possibility of having someone to fill the void of his empty thoughts and solitary walks.

However, time passed, and Malleus is now an adult, perhaps even more so in human age. He set all of that aside for several reasons. People feel intimidated without much effort, besides the fact that he will eventually become a king, carrying great responsibilities and the trust of his future reign.

But during one of his walks through the now no longer abandoned dormitory, he met someone new. It wasn't supposed to be something new, but this time everything was different, different enough to capture his attention in this interesting being. At first, Malleus only wanted to see more of their innocence.

What used to be small conversations are now more complete encounters. That question he had when he was younger resurfaced, and Malleus has the opportunity to truly feel what love is.

When your fingers touch while you're sitting there looking at the stars.

In those moments when you ignore the fact that it's getting late just to spend more time with him.

When you're about to close the door but then you meet his eyes and sweetly smile at him one last time that night.

The way you always ask at the end of the date, "Will you be free tomorrow to go out again?".

How you trust him to vent all the problems you're going through and are willing to listen to his advice.

On dates you both talk for hours and you feel bold enough to ask about his culture, so that in the following days you try to do exactly as he described, earning a smile from Malleus who appreciates your actions.

Malleus feels his heart racing, the involuntary feeling of smiling whenever he sees you, wishing that tomorrow would come quickly to look for you one more time. Currently, he fully understands how all those princesses from the stories felt but Malleus has a thought to himself that those princes are nothing compared to you.

‧˚₊꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒦꒷‧₊˚⊹

The gentle moonlight illuminated you and Malleus as you found yourselves in a moment of pure serenity. Another night together, where you chose a garden to spend time in. The fragrant flowers spread their sweet aroma in the air, while a cool breeze caressed your faces.

The two of you were united by an idea in which Malleus would teach you to waltz with his graceful rhythm.

With kindness and patience, Malleus led you through the smooth and harmonious steps of the waltz. Your gazes met in silent communication, as if the outside world faded away, leaving only the two of you in that moment. The intertwined hands conveyed a sense of security and connection, a bond that went beyond words.

There was no music, but Malleus volunteered to hum, which seemed to resonate perfectly in tune with your movements. The delicate steps, guided by Malleus's mastery, glided smoothly across the lawn, as if you were floating. Every curve and turn were executed with grace, in perfect harmony.

While waltzing, the two of you shared knowing smiles, exchanging small whispers and stifled laughter. With each movement, you grew closer, your hearts beating in unison. The sparkle in Malleus's eyes revealed the joy overflowing in his chest.

The garden at night became a refuge of enchantment and passion, witnessing the love blooming between Malleus and his beloved. Under the starry sky, you danced as if time was suspended, immersed in a world of your own where worries and obstacles ceased to exist.

Each spin and step taken on that special night was a declaration of love. The tranquil and romantic ambiance embraced the couple, creating a magical setting that made the moment even more memorable. The gentle touch of Malleus's hands conveyed affection and protection, while your passion confidently surrendered to the dance, carried away by the melody of love.

After a few waltz steps, both of you allowed yourselves a pause to catch your breath, while softly laughing at each other. The passion in your eyes denoted a mixture of gratitude and amusement, knowing that your clumsy movements were in the skillful hands of Malleus to guide.

"You're doing great," Malleus said with an encouraging smile. "The waltz may seem complicated at first, but with a little practice, I'm sure you'll master the steps."

You let out a shy laugh, your hair gently swaying with the movement. "I must confess, I feel a bit clumsy, but I'm loving every moment of it."

Malleus smiled, looking into your eyes. "Don't worry about the perfect elegance of the steps. What truly matters is being together, sharing this dance."

Feeling encouraged by Malleus's comforting words, you relaxed and allowed yourself to be guided once again by the waltz movements. Malleus let the lyrics of the music escape from his mouth as he gently and patiently led you, adjusting his movements to make you feel more at ease.

With each attempt, Malleus praised your progress, highlighting your strengths and encouraging you to continue. Together, you turned the learning moments into a fun and joyful adventure.

While waltzing, you felt free to ask some questions about the dance, such as the meaning of the steps, the history behind the waltz, and related curiosities. Malleus enthusiastically shared his knowledge, explaining each aspect in detail, taking the opportunity to get even closer.

As the night progressed, clumsiness mixed with charm, creating a unique atmosphere filled with complicity. The dance became just an excuse to be close, to share laughter and secrets, further strengthening the bond that united you.

In the moonlit garden, Malleus and his beloved knew that the waltz was only the beginning of a journey of mutual discovery. While dancing and having fun, he realized that it didn't matter if your passion was clumsy or inexperienced; what mattered was the love and connection you shared.

.•¨*•. ☆ .•*¨•..•¨*•. ☆ .•*¨•..•¨`•. ☆

Open request

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥

.•¨*•. ☆ .•*¨•..•¨*•. ☆ .•*¨•..•¨`•. ☆

Cat's Note:

Thanks to everyone who participated in the poll, 794 is a lot of people! Anyway, today there will be another poll for anyone interested.

#twisted wonderland #twst x male reader #twst headcanons #twst imagines #twst #twst scenarios #twst x reader #malleus x male reader #malleus x reader #malleus draconia #twst malleus #diasomnia #malleus x yuu

[anekogiawritings]

Malleyuu fantasy AU where Healer!Yuu finds Lizard!Malleus and they fall in love

Inspired by episode 11 - 13 of Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms. Rewatched those scenes with Snake!Yehua and Su Su and thought of making a Malleyuu twist to it.

Enjoy!

After battling a rather powerful monster alone in his dragon form, Malleus uses up most of his magic and is severely wounded, preventing him from reverting back to his humanoid form. His dragon form is also reduced to the size of a gecko. He retreats and finds a small cave to rest up in until he regains he strength.

While picking herbs, Yuu encounters the lizard-like creature in the cave. Realizing it is injured, they take it home. They provide the lizard with medicine, food, and shelter, which Malleus appreciated but found unnecessary.

The herbs didn't really help his wounds since it only worked for humans and animals, not fae, and Yuu only feeds him bugs and fruit. Fortunately, Malleus liked the times they talked to him, despite them not understanding him in his current form.

As days passed, Malleus learned that Yuu is a healer who is forced out of their village because they were accused of performing witchcraft. They have since been travelling the lands in search of different herbs and medicinal ingredients.

Even after Yuu attempts to release him back into the wild, Malleus refuses to leave them despite the fact he had already regained much of his powers. He has grown fond of Yuu and wants to accompany and protect them. The only times he leaves to return to the Valley of Thorns are at night.

One day, while accompanying Yuu to the nearby town to sell their medicines, a preacher, whom Yuu had a previous altercation with, accuses Yuu of being a witch. Yuu denies it, but the preacher snatches their basket, claiming that their familiar, a black lizard, is in it.

Yuu pleads with the townsfolk to not hurt the animal, but believing that the lizard is evil, they tie Yuu up and prepare to burn both of them alive. Yuu tries to escape, but Malleus bursts out of their basket, ascending to the sky in his full dragon form.

The townsfolk stood fright as Malleus flew towards the preacher before burning him alive. He then grabs Yuu and flying away to their home in mountains.

Now away from human sight, Malleus gently places Yuu down before reverting to his human form. His human companion stared in shock before hesitantly asking who he truly was. Malleus then reveals he's the Dragon Prince of the Night Faeries.

As thanks for saving him, he offers to take Yuu to his homeland, where they can study medicine and where their talents would be of great use. Though hesitant, Yuu accepted the offer.

The arrival of a human at the royal court caused much scandal in the Valley of Thorns, but Malleus remained firm on allowing Yuu to stay. Queen Maleficia objected to it, but after hearing how passionately her grandson speaks about Yuu, she obliges.

Yuu becomes an apprentice to the royal healer, and after months of training, they became a well-respected individual in the royal court, earning much praise from the fae. Especially from Queen Maleficia, who is impressed by the healer's intelligence and quick wits.

Their relationship with Malleus also bloomed as they spent time together. Although the dragon prince's feelings were clear, it took Yuu a little more time before realizing they had developed feelings for Malleus. However, they never dared to confess.

Eventually, one day, while having an evening stroll in the castle's rose gardens, Yuu thanks Malleus for saving them and giving them the chance to practice what they love. They wonder just how they could repay him, which Malleus does have a suggestion.

Malleus: How about you devote yourself to me?

Yuu: ...Eh.

Malleus: When you first took me in, I had originally planned to stay until I have regained my strength. However, as the days passed, the more reluctant to grew to leave you. It was then I realize how much I enjoyed your company and slowly, you become someone precious to me.

Malleus: Your presence alone has given me years' worth of happiness, and I wish for that to continue, with you as my consort.

Yuu was astonished by the proposal. Part of them was overjoyed, but another knew of the technicalities that could come with marrying a fae. And a royal one for that matter. Not to mention, Malleus is fae, meaning he has a longer lifespan than they do.

Yuu: But... you are fae and I am human...

Malleus: A union between fae and human is not unheard of.

Yuu: Yes, but between a faerie prince and human commoner...

Malleus: You are far from a common human.

Yuu: But...

Yuu find themselves being cornered into the rose hedges as Malleus close the gap between them. They shy turn their gaze as the dragon price stares at them, gently holding their hands.

Malleus: Whatever callenges we may face, we would face it together. I want you, and only you to stand by my side.

Completely enthralled by Malleus' confession, Yuu's worries begin to wash away and they eventually answered.

Yuu: You truly want to devote yourself to me?

Malleus: Yes, I do.

Yuu: Then I, too, would devote myself to you, Prince Malleus.

Satisified with each of their answers, the two lean in to exchange a kiss, sealing their vows under the starry night.

Notes: Lilia is not written inside, but just imagine him trying to give Malleus love advice any time he can and just routing for the pair behind the scenes lol.

And no, the preacher is not Rollo, unfortunately

Also, I do plan to write this into a proper fanfic featuring my Yuu-sona, but it might have to wait *damn uni assignments*

#twisted wonderland #twst #disney twisted wonderland #disney twst #malleus draconia #mc/yuu #malleus × mc #malleus × yuu #malleus x reader #malleus x y/n #malleyuu #fanfiction

[hannahlovesluca]

“You never loved me, did you?”

| warnings : heart wrenching angst, cursing

It started that one stupid day everyone celebrates when baby Jesus was born.

The one day thats supposed to stay merry, jolly, and bright.

Your eyes divert away from his face, landing on the wall behind him, a creamy white color with intricate swirls, roses, and animals imprinted on.

Your heart is beating so fast, you can feel a dull ache inside your chest that begs you to just give up all hope and run away from this situation.

Give up.

Stop- I can handle this…

Give up.

Everyone has their secret sorrows which the world knows not; and often times we call them cold when they are only sad.

Living life was not the same as it once was when you were young. Being young, you were happy. The world was happy. Everyday when you woke up, there was a permanent smile etched onto your face.

Now, you’re being met with situations like these.

“Y/N. Look at me.”

Your eyes flicker back to Ike, resting on his neutral face, obviously trying to hold back all his pain and sorrows the world doesn’t know about. The world doesn’t need to know.

Ike Eveland himself, is not cold.

He is sad.

Ike Eveland, is sad.

All of humanity's problems stem from a man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone.

At least, that what you thought.

“I’ll fight for you, Y/N. Whether you like it or not,” he says whilst running his thumb down your cheek; you almost want to lean into his touch.

You can’t bring yourself to smile.

If anything, you’re more hurt by his words.

You say the one thing that has been on the tip of your tongue for over a year.

“I don’t love you anymore, Ike.”

"What?" Ike questions tentatively, as if he were scared of hearing the truth.

He takes his hand away from your cheek, and his expression is one of shock.

"Y-you don't?"

"I don't. Not like I used to," you keep your tone as steady as you can. You've made up your mind.

“You’ve changed me forever. And I’ll never forget you,” you know you shouldn’t lead him on, and you’re not trying to, but god does he need to know how much you used to love him.

Ike's face is a mask of sadness, and his lips are pressed into a tight line. He's trying to hold back the flood of emotions that threaten to explode from his eyes.

"I don't know what to say... I love you still." His voice is choked as he tries to fight back his tears. "I... I'll never be the same after you leave me. I can't imagine a life without you."

“Nothing is ever certain,” you say, a small, sad smile resting upon your face.

“Someone will love you the way you deserve, but I’m not that someone, Ike.”

You don't understand how he can be so perfect. You're a nobody and he is a prince. He deserves the world. But you can't give it to him, because you are not what he deserves.

Ike laughs bitterly.

“You never loved me, did you?”

He turns his back on you and you feel something in your chest break. He leaves your house with one last sentence:

"Maybe it's a good thing we're not together after all."

And he leaves.

You want to shout - to scream.

A void in your chest was beginning to fill with anger. Quiet, defeated anger that guaranteed you the right to your hurt, that believed no one could possibly understand that hurt.

You feel as if you are a child and everything around you is going to hell and there is no one to tell you it is going to be alright.

Your hands are shaking and you clench them into fists.

You don’t love him.

It is the truth, you do not love him.

Not in the way he wants you to.

But it does not change the fact that you do not like to see him go. You do not like that he is hurting.

You have a choice: run after him, or stay where you are.

To run after him, you’d be running into the pouring rain. And this was not a cliché romance novel.

But to stay, means you could never mend things.

You could never talk. You could never fix things.

You had two choices.

Run into the pouring rain or stay dry and let it ruin the grass and flowers.

It was raining harder now.

You grab your coat and run.

Ike hears footsteps behind him and turns. You are running toward him and when you stop, both of you are breathing heavily, both of you are drenched.

There is a flash of lightning and a roll of thunder, and neither of you speak until it has passed.

Your heart is pounding and you are shivering from the cold. Ike steps forward and takes your hands. His eyes are searching yours and you wish you knew what he was looking for.

When he is content with what he finds, his grip on your hands loosens.

You open your mouth to say something, but he cuts you off.

His kiss is passionate, but soft and hesitant. He pulls away far too soon, his breath brushing against your skin, making your shiver again.

"I love you," he says.

And this makes you erupt into sobs.

“Please, don’t you get it, Ike? We can’t be together…I… I don’t love you.”

And those words make him flinch.

He takes a step back, and you are left alone again.

Alone in the pouring rain.

You feel a pain in your chest, and realize your heart has broken.

You are not sure whether it was because of Ike, or yourself.

He loves you.

And you will always love him, but not in the way he loves you. He fell in love with a storm, there was no escaping unscathed.

You wanted to cry, but you didn't, you probably should have cried, you should have drowned the both of you there, ending your suffering.

#luca kaneshiro #ike eveland #luxiem #nijisanji en #shu yamino #mysta rias #vox akuma #luxiem x reader #ike eveland x reader #luca kaneshiro x reader #nijisanji angst #ike eveland angst #drafts

[quitealotofsodapop]

Thought: Wukong and Erlang are actually super chill with each other but PRETEND to hate each other around strangers so no one starts asking inconvinuent questions like "Hey, why did you let so many monkeys on FFM go if you were supposed to burn the place to the ground?" And so they end up having conversations like:

Erlang: Seriously? Your successor had the same name as my dog? Dude, that's so funny.

Wukong: I told you, it's not the same, they're spelled different!

Erlang: But they still sound the same.

Wukong: Gods, you're so-

Erlang: Hey, someone's coming, get in character!

Wukong: UNBELIEVABLY PRETENTIOUS! I HATE YOU WITH ALL OF MY BEING!

Erlang: NOT AS MUCH AS I HATE YOU, MONKEY!

Mac: Guys, chill it's just me.

Definitely.

You see... Erlang was a big brother-figure to Wukong when the monkey started working for the stables and later the orchard. But they had a Big falling out because of the celestial war, the ensuing fight on FFM, and the capture that led the Monkey King into the Furnace.

Even with an uncomfortable reunion in Jttw to fight the Nine-Headed Monster - Erlang and SWK's brotherly bond still holds. Wukong knows that his bro wouldn't have burnt FFM unless no other miltary option was available to him; in Wukong's mind it was either the fire on the mountain, or it would have been complete annihilation of his fellow monkey yao from Heaven.

Fun fact: one chinese media theory I read mentioned that Erlang's "mercy" to the monkeys of FFM was likely to warn/evacuate them before the fires were set by Heaven - hence why so many monkeys survived and why Wukong welcomed him with open arms later on.

Even with the following debacle of "The Lotus Lantern" (a tale which Erlang Shen was the antagonist, though not without reason), the demi-god and monkey yao still consider eachother brothers.

The issue in the modern day, especially in the LMK verse? Status in Heaven.

Erlang and his sworn brothers were barely considered mortal mercenaries to the Celestial Realm before the war. Afterwards though? He became a Heavenly General. Outclassing even the Pagoda King in military respect. It was an insane promotion for the demi-god. He's now working directly with his uncle, the Jade Emperor, and is privy to the true cruelty the royals can dish out.

And exactly what the Emperor and Queen Mother think of his brethern.

To reference the most chilling scene in animation history (Prince of Egypt):

Jade Emperor: "Oh my boy... they were only mortal."

Erlang Shen can't risk the world knowing his true thoughts. How much he cares about his wild little brother. How much he actually knows is going on.

Yang Jian doesn't want to lose another sibling.

So yeah, in public the two pretend to hate eachothers guts. Only the Plum Hill boys themselves + Xiaotian Quan actually know that the two meatheads are thick as thieves. It takes Macaque a while to understand why Wukong dares to associate with the man who "burned our home". But a few incidents in the coming years leads Macaque to realise that the all-seeing God is deliberately ignoring some intel that could have spelled disaster for their new family.

Erlang (has the Third Eye): "The Harbringer's presence is still lurking on Earth. You, the Six Eared Macaque have been returned to the world of the living after so long. Not only that, but you and the Monkey King are living in secrecy among demons and humans alike raising a child of unknown powers..."

Macaque: *poised to start fighting*

Erlang: "...It's none of my business either way. Congrats on the baby, and your reunion as well. Bro would not stop talking about you when he was drunk." *leaves a baby-shower gift*

Macaque (has lie-detecting ears): "What the..."

Btw Erlang is def the type of (sworn) uncle to unironically get MK a dog toy as a baby shower gift. ("What? You'll thank me when he starts teething.")

#lmk erlang #erlang shen #sun wukong #lmk hcs #lmk backstory hcs #the monkey king and the infant #the monkey king and the infant au #lmk shadowpeach au #lego monkie kid #lmk #liu er mihou #six eared macaque

[merakiui]

my favorite thing about twst is that rook is BY FAR the weirdest fucking guy in a school that includes an immortal dragon prince, deranged mafia eels, a guy whose head is literally on fire, and whatever the hell vampire grandpa is doing on any day

Oh, definitely!!! He's so strange and that's what makes him so fun. He's such a talkative character and yet no one knows much about him. He's too mysterious! And is he rich? He must be if his family can afford all of those vacation villas, all of which are connected via mirror teleports. That can't be cheap! What are his brothers and sisters like? What about his parents? What are their professions? Many unanswered questions... I think it's also worth noting that he's a canon stalker and that he keeps pictures behind the wallpaper in his dorm room. He is so not normal and he doesn't try to be because his "normal" is being himself (which is weird to others). <3 I love him.

Compared to some of the other characters, he is absolutely the strangest. I think you can sort of chalk the tweels, Malleus, and Lilia's behaviors up to the fact that they're not human and grew up in a completely different culture and environment with their own ways of living and such. It would make sense for the tweels to be morbid and predatory because they grew up in a place where such things are normal (also mafia family stuff;;;;). Malleus and Lilia are from Briar Valley, a place where magic is so widely used that there is no major technology in sight, so of course they would enter human society with their own curiosities and ways of interacting. Also, Malleus lived a very isolated life inside the palace and Lilia has seen so much of the world (he's also lived through war) and so of course their behaviors would be understandably weird.

And Idia also lived a very secluded life that really wasn't very normal either, where his only social interaction was with his family, the staff at STYX, and the STYX robots. It was also incredibly tragic. >_< and he's a gamer and he likes anime. So,,,,, naturally he's going to be weird.

I think the most unsettling part is that Rook is human, and so there isn't really any way to explain his behavior. From what we currently know, he doesn't seem to have any pressing emotional difficulties that may hinder him and he seems to have lived a relatively comfortable school life. Also, he's so extroverted and so shameless about the fact that he watches Leona nap or that he wants to press the twins' buttons to see them snap... public speaking fears him. >:) but there may very well be some sort of trauma he's endured, or maybe there is no real explanation for his behavior. Maybe that's just how he is. I often cheat and say, "It's because he's Rook," as an easy way for explaining his behaviors, but I feel as if that's the only way to truly describe him. He's just so Rook. Unabashedly.

#twisted chit chat

[beyondmistland]

I read through all your posts about Alysanne Targaryen as Maegor's daughter and am now in a rabbit hole. Thank you. I've been thinking about Maegor's wives and which one of Henry VIII's wives they represent. Ceryse is Cathrine of Aragon and Alys is Anne Boleyn. The others are hard to pin for me since there isn't a lot. What do you think? Would Maegor's reign have been more interesting if his marriages had more similarities to those of Henry VIII?

I think this is where we run into a number of problems regarding the way GRRM wrote Fire & Blood specifically and the way he setup Westeros more generally.

For one, the fairly homogenized nature of southron culture as well as the oversimplification of religious institutions and history means you can't quite get the same dynamism as from real life European history, with its dizzying array of languages, cultures, cuisines, fashions, etc., to mention nothing of the then-ongoing Protestant Reformation. I suppose GRRM could have had Maegor convert to the Old Gods a la Julian (II) the Apostate or the Drowned God (you just know the Ironborn are the one race on the surface of Planetos that would say King Maegor the Good with a completely straight face) or even R'hllor, which would be the best choice in terms of worldbuilding opportunities in my opinion.

Moving on, we run into a handful of problems with Maegor specifically, one of them being the length of his reign. Look, while I can't deny Maegor ruling for 6 years and 66 days is incredibly cheeky, it also isn't anywhere close to Henry VIII's 36 years as king. With so little room timeline-wise, there isn't a lot of flexibility when it comes to telling new stories and fleshing out preexisting ones and all that is before you factor in Maegor himself.

I won't hold back. For all GRRM's talk of moral ambiguity, the human heart in conflict with itself, good men who were bad kings and bad men who were good kings, etc., his Targaryen monarchs are, for the most part, numbingly one-note. Aegon I is a literal enigma, Aenys is weak, Maegor cruel, Viserys I a party animal, Aegon II and Rhaenyra mirror-images of each other in their disqualifying vices, etc. As I've written before with my post reimagining Maegor as more of a Ivan (IV) the Terrible figure there was room to make him a genuinely controversial figure of historiography but instead GRRM doubled down on sensationalism and apathy-inducing slasher porn for lack of a better word. The fact Maegor is also the first and last of Visenya's line just adds more salt to the wound but that's part of GRRM's more general (and for me personally, vexing) habit of keeping family trees incredibly small.

(I do recall another alternative someone once brought up to the late Steven Attewell. Namely, turning Maegor into the Westerosi version of Macbeth by way of Der Untergang.)

This brings me to my semifinal point. GRRM didn't have to write Fire & Blood as Procopius' Secret History on steroids with a dash of Suetonius' Lives of Twelve Caesars and I, Claudius (the entire Saera episode is practically lifted wholesale from the scandal that envelops Augustus' daughter, Julia) but he did, which is doubly disappointing because not only does the final product suck quality-wise as a result but also because there were so many other avenues available to him.

He could have written Fire & Blood as a proper history (with less focus on the sex lives of teenage girls for one) or as a mirror for princes or as a dialogue between two characters or even as a character study. You can even see GRRM struggling with the constraints imposed by his use of Gyldayn in certain sections like the death of Maelor and the entire Hour of the Wolf episode, where you get reams of dialogue and characterization as well as more traditional narrative trappings like build-up, mood setting, etc.

Now, to answer your actual question (lol), I don't think any of Henry VIII's other wives map well onto Maegor's. Tyanna is, more or less, his female counterpart in terms of cruelty and zero redeeming features and entirely a fantasy construct. Elinor and Jeyne are both married to Maegor for only a year (with poor Jeyne dying in childbirth because Jeyne Westerlings, like the Brackens, Peakes, and Florents, cannot catch a break in Westeros) and before said marriage takes place neither appears on the page. As for Rhaena, well, credit where its due, she was a rare (and unexpected) highlight of Fire & Blood.

Thanks for the question, anon

#maegor the cruel #house targaryen #asoiaf criticism #asoiaf meta #valyrianscrolls #asoiaf #asoiaf themes #maegor targaryen #fire and blood #volume 1