#atla: a story of the lost island

[isbahstudio]

🍁 Books To Read This Fall

If you love books with a dark academia vibe, here are my recommendations for this fall!

🟣 The Secret History - Richard grew up in a lower class family. His life changes when he attends a prestigious university and befriends an exclusive academic group of rich students led by an elusive and mysterious professor. The group of college friends end up killing one of their own friends. The story details how they got to that point, how they covered up the murder, and how they all personally suffered after the event.

🟣 Ninth House - a girl who is a dropout and delinquent has the ability to see the supernatural. She gets recruited by Yale University to join their secret Ninth House alongside two other students. The trio is then responsible for keeping check of Yale's 8 secret societies who frequently dabble in dark magic. When a girl ends up dead on campus, the trio set out to figure out which secret society was behind the incident.

🟣 The Atlas Six - a group of 6 magicians, considered to be the best in the world, are recruited by Atlas Blakely. Atlas is the caretaker of the mysterious Library of Alexandria, the magical library said to hold all the knowledge in the world. The 6 will compete for a year by researching complex topics such as wormholes, dreams, dimensions, the subconscious, time manipulation, and so forth. Only 5 will be allowed to join this secret society. 1 will be eliminated. All 6 contestants are witty, hungry, and manipulative. Alliances change, betrayals take place, and no one is to be trusted.

🟣 The Silent Patient - a psychotherapist takes on a case of a famous painter who killed her husband and never uttered a word after. He goes down a spiral of uncovering clues and solving the mystery of what drove the woman to kill her husband.

🟣 The Ecliptic - a famous painter who has lost her creative touch agrees to stay at a seceret island in Turkey, that is a rehab for broken down artists. She spends years in this isolated facility, disconnected from the outside world, amongst other artists, trying to create a new masterpiece, and rekindle her flame.

🌸 All of these books are my faves!

#writerscommunity #blogger #coquette #self improvement #studyblr #writing #soft girl #dark academia #booklr #bookish #bookworm #books #ninth house #the silent patient #the secret history #the atlas six

[lettersfromverabookreview]

The Percy Jackson Saga

What a saga! I´ve still yet to finish it (while writing this, but i´ll post it when I finish it), but it´s SO fun, such a light read.

My history with Percy Jackson series has MANY comes and goes and it intercepts with many characters of my life that definitely not align with the Percy Jackson books at ALL. Seriously, If by any chance you´re a pre-teen reading this and you seem to be a bully who reads percy jackson, why do you think percy has SUCH a bad time in the school?? Anyway, getting over the personal comment….

I was mainly attracted to it because the series has come out (watch it !! its definitely interesting) but the nostalgia has come back with a kick and I definitely relate to little Percy, Annabeth and Grover (none of them would love me calling them little, but they are kids!!! Give them a SECOND of peace please), a little misunderstood, a little lost, not only when I was a teenager, but now on my 20s I can def relate (in a sense) to this lost feeling.

I doubt it ever goes away, Hell (or Hades?), Its difficult even to the gods what is happening in the books!! Everyone has to make tough decisions every once in a while, sometimes is whether to have the literal sky to help the goddess Artemis to fight Atlas, sometimes is leaving a job!

And I definitely relate to the strand of white hair after going trough the stress. And yes, everyone has a difficult choice and sometimes some are tougher than others, (like cmon… my job change example its what Ive been going through but Im guessing that maybe having the sky on your back may be a lil more difficult) but difficult choices are difficult choices, and these books have helped me, at least, to get anxious over whether Percy was going to be able to save his mom, instead of me getting anxious of my life choices.

I´m sure that anybody reading this may be going through a tough time (I mean, not to wish that upon you, and if you say “nah thanks i´m good, having the best time of my life” great for you!!) and i definitely believe that these books may seem focused for children, and yes, the repetition of what happened the last books that appears in every book after the first one, it sure is annoying, but overall its a huge break for the brain! Its a nice reading, a nostalgic one, and a hug to the heart.

A good reminder that good friends are worth lifting the sky and more, that families may not be what we always expect, that blue food is DOPE, that what we see may not always be what it truly is, that friends are not always what they seem to be, and that enemies (or people who we are taught are “enemies”) may not always be enemies.

[Finally, as a last comment since I´ve finished reading now] Sometimes it is not only good but necessary to go back to your child-self. To embrace new experiences with the forgiveness of a mother, the strength of an adult, but also for the inner ability of a kid that's learning how to walk, to stand immediately back up and continue trying. Embrace your strength but also your weaknesses, continue always learning, get around people you would sacrifice yourself for. Remember that its good and also essential to rest (sometimes on a lost island surrounded by the daughter of Kronos that's actually good and leaves you with a bunch of questions), and never forget to get back home (or at give out a sign when you're well so that everyone around you knows that you´re fine, turning the light blue of the Empire State can be an example).

If you´re going through high school, read this.

If you´re a lil lost, read this.

If you´re pretty sure you may be a lost child to a Greek god, yeah sure, but also read this.

If you wanna learn more about greek myths! I mean they are not super explained sometimes, but they sure deserve a good google search afterwards, which is good brain food!

If you really like sloooooow burn romances, yeah maybe you may like this (super far from the actual trama of the story but its so TRUE how long Percy takes to realize y´know…the thing)

If you like cute Cyclops, who are NOT murder machines, read this!!

And you must definitely read this if you like the water!! -Vera

#percy jackson #pjo series #pjo fandom #pjo #annabeth chase #percy jackson spoilers #percy jackon and the olympians #grover underwood #pjo spoilers #pjo tv show #book review #booklr #booklover #book life #booklaunch

[itsclydebitches]

RWBY doesn't care if faunus are viewed as an allegory for real world minorities. Faunus are magic hybrids of humans and animals - fairy tales in RWBY were always true. Hence, Blake is offered to become a human or a cat. Blake calls herself a cat because she is part cat. Ruby tells the red prince Blake is a faunus (the elf of the group) and the rest of them are humans because they are. Simple. RT: "I didn't come over here looking to solve systemic societal issues."

Then RT shouldn't have written a story in which they are actively and knowingly commenting on a systemic societal issue.

Yeah, this could have been the case. It's absolutely possible to write a version of RWBY where faunus are just #there and their animal characteristics in no way intersect with social justice. But RWBY didn't write that story. They explicitly introduced the faunus as victims of long-term discrimination. They're "second class citizens." "Animals" to be exploited, tortured, and discarded. There's nothing simple in writing a post-war decree that forces everyone with certain physical characteristics onto an isolated island away from the "superior" group. Or making your billionaire CEO target faunus for slave labor, including giving us one character who was branded. We're shown an extremist group fighting for their civil rights and the end message of that is, "They're fighting the wrong way not to be treated like they're disposable :/" RWBY introduced Weiss as a character who would compare Sun to a trash can and, what? We're really supposed to believe that he's just the "elf" of the group? It's a complete coincidence that the citizens of Remnant just happen to systematically target all the people with animal traits.

This isn't even the only time RWBY has explicitly woven social justice into its story. They had a main character lose her arm, introduced another with a metal body, a third that had lost half of his, and took all three on a journey that hinged on their disabilities. The entirety of the Atlas arc revolves around class and getting us to emotionally side with the victims of the rich elite. They've been teasing a queer ship for four years, but refusing to commit to it in a way that might piss off real life homophobes. Our fictional world supposedly wasn't grappling with the same discrimination... until May casually tossed out that she was disowned for being trans. The ENTIRETY of the story hinges on rooting for four young woman in a genre that has historically been dismissive of them and the go-to insult when someone disagrees with a reading is, "You just hate women, huh?"

RWBY is seeped in social issues. It's built on it. They're the freaking linchpin. The writers WANTED that because they understood that the best storytelling engages with real life concerns. But they didn't know how to approach these topics respectfully - they wanted the rewards of a "deep" story without carefully working out what they wanted to say about these topics - and the result is a franchise that's often more insulting than it is inspirational. After nearly a decade of that, RWBY doesn't get to suddenly backtrack because they fucked it up. They can't have their cake and eat it too. "We're a story about strong, empowered women, one of which is fighting for equal standing in her society, another who is grappling with disability, a third who is acknowledging her status as heir to a company that has done irreparable damage to her world and exacerbated class discrimination... but if that's not written well, don't worry about it! It's just a fun, silly story! Haha, why would you take a cartoon so seriously?"

RWBY has always wanted to be taken seriously but, you know, only when they're succeeding. If they mess up they want you to do them the courtesy of ignoring that which is... not how writing a paid for, public story consistently commenting on minority groups works.

#rwde #rwby #mymetas

[nyxlarkyn]

Why Would the Rusted Knight Stay and Wait So Long?

This has been bugging me since Saturday.

He was rusted by the time Alyx meets him. Why didn't he lose hope of meeting team RWBY after so many years and give up?

He has had his time on therapy island. Time to reflect. Time to grow. Time to miss his team. He named Juniper after them. Tied his hair like Rens using Pyrrha's sash. He has parents and 7 sisters with family. He would want to go back home.

So why stay?

Because he met Alyx before them:

There are fresh footprints leading to the forest. Alyx gets up and walks. Crescent rose washes up right where she was immediately.

Let's say she saw it wash up.

Why doesn't she grab it?

It could be lost, no one is around. Except for the footprints. So, she follows them. Yet doesn't really seem to take notice of them along with C.R.

I've been wondering what happened to all the other people who fell when Cinder bombed them.

If she fell with a bunch of people after an explosion via Cinder. She knows about Huntsmen and she knows others fell with her. The only logical thing to do is to follow the footprints. The weapon could belong to someone who fell, they can find it. If she runs into them, she could point them to the direction of C.R.

If time is fucked up, then she landed in the original story, because she is it.

She meets Jaune who lands 10-15 years earlier than her and the footsteps, Alyx, C.R is meant to represent who lands up when in the Ever.

She could recognize him from the evacuation broadcast. (We know his face is exposed because he's described as handsome in the books.) Sparking a connection of safety towards him. Maybe his fighting skills seemed rusty to her, and his broken sword made her think he's retired.

The only thing is that she does figure out how to get out on her own. She may have been the only survivor who's not main cast to have gotten out of the Ever. Jaune didn't go back with her because he was waiting for team Ruby to land.

Since Alyx was a part of the evacuation and she fell before anybody else, and is just now landing into the Ever After, than time must be going cattywampus. Team RWBY might not have even landed yet. So, he stays behind, duty bound to protect and help the girls out of the Ever After. Just like he did for Alyx, perhaps others, for once being able to save the girls instead of sacrificing them.

This is Where the Theory Starts to Go Tinfoil Mode:

This cat toys with both the protagonist and the audience. They know more than they let on and purposefully omit details and makes vague statements about things. The Ciel bit got my attention.

Now this could be a nod that everyone thought the girl washed up on the beach was Ciel for the similar color scheme/outfit. The difference being their eyes, Alyx gold and Ciel blue. Along with their hair, Alyx long curly, brown hair and Ciel with short, straight asymmetrical blue hair.

Ciel has time illusions. Her 5 minutes of screen time show her staring at a clock, being the timekeeper, much like the white rabbit. Oh, who has a rabbit theme besides Jaune? Alyx.

Here's a theory I made earlier about the connections between Jaune and Alyx that will go into play/make this whole theory make more sense.

This one about Jaune and his role in Ever After

So, we have a girl who already exist in canon that, we the audience, know about along with the protagonists. Who's from Atlas, where people who fell came from if not Mantle. Who has a connection to Penny, someone who's death is weighing heavily on our M.C. An extremely similar color scheme and dress style of Alyx. Almost like that's what the Ciel we saw in the Vytal Festival would wear two years later. Oh, her eyes/appearance change? Wow what a unique and never seen/heard of before on this show.

If Jaune knew Ciel and not Alyx and helped her out of Ever After, he'd be reassured that she'd make it out and tell his team what happened. Except, when she left, she went back in time in Remnant.

#rwby spoiler tag #rwby #rwby spoilers #rwby alyx #jaune arc #rwby ciel #the last half is more so a personal headcanon then what i think would happen #rusted knight #rwby theory #rwby analysis #rwby volume 9

[coolcattime]

An Outro to Mistwalker College [An OC Story]

Hi hi hi!

Welcome to the what is hopefully the first of a few different OC pieces I want to write in the world of Libris! This piece is co-authored by my friend @theiratlas, featuring our OCs, in our OC-verse world of Libris! Our OC-verse is D&D inspired, but doesn't follow official D&D lore (or really the rules), but most of our OCs are originally TTRPG characters of some sort!

I really hope you enjoy reading this piece, and if you have any questions, I'd love to answer them as I love to info dump about mine and Atlas' OCs (and they do too!) and would love to share more about Libris as well!

Characters: Medli Mistwalker (water genasi whispers bard), Idric Ba'lor (tiefling glamor bard), Anastasia Gulp (merfolk light cleric)

Addition Tags/Warnings: Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Knife Wound, Blood and Injury, Descriptions of Violence, Drowning, Being Chased/Hunted, Impaired Mental State Due to Injury, Unconsciousness, Near Death, Alcohol, Implied/Referenced Underage Drinking, Found Family, Running Away

Description: In the dark and fog, a bloody and battered student runs through the night, hoping to get off the island she'd known as home for her whole life before she ends up dead.

AO3 Link

Medli ran. Stumbling towards the docks, she clung to what little belongings she had managed to grab in her loop back to the dorms. The school’s fog and darkness made her all the more paranoid of where he could be now. Her mind leap to the pool, at least that's where she last knew where he was but, he could be anywhere by now. She was so sure he was still following her, that he wasn't going to stop following her unless she could find a way off the island.

Somehow escaping was the only thing her mind could grab but was that even possible? While Medli might be a strong enough swimmer, she couldn't exactly swim to the mainland, even if she wasn’t currently bleeding through her shirt. That left one plan, pray to see a ship, preferably one that didn’t belong to the college, and then stowaway, stay hidden long enough that it'll be more trouble to turn back. It was barely enough to be called a plan, more a desperate shaking hope in the mind of one currently terrified for their life.

So, she continued fleeing, with more panic than reason in her mind. She didn't want to die and that meant she had to keep running. It had been made very clear that only one of them was going to be alive by the end of the night, so, if she wasn't going to kill anyone and she didn’t want to die then she needed to get off Mistwalker and she’d need to do it quickly.

Sprinting between buildings she knew would make it a straight shot, catching little landmarks on the edge of the fog, she was, for once, thankful for having grown up here. Of course, she still worried that she was headed the wrong way, it wasn’t really possible to tell until she ran into something, doubt like that however couldn't take up space, not when so much of her was already cracking. Her head might be as foggy as her surroundings, but that fog was almost entirely fear, but that fear was pretty much the only thing keeping her moving, so she made peace with it.

Somewhere in the fog, he had to be hunting her. And she had no idea how well he could navigate the fog. Maybe not as well as her, she’d lost him in the fog before, but can't be sure she can do that again, not in this state. She had to just hope he was somewhere far away and would stay that way until she was gone, long gone. That kind of hope struggled against the weight of a terrified fear though. Afterall he was just as likely to be a few steps behind her as he was to be back at the college.

The sound of cobblestones turning to wood underneath her sandals was at least at little reassuring. However, her already shaky movements felt completely unstable on a damp surface. She had always been clumsy, and her current state wasn’t doing wonders keeping her upright. She wasn’t sure exactly how injured she was, but her whole body felt like it was shutting down. She could feel blood flow slowing but she wasn't sure if that’s actually a good sign or not. It did, at least, make breathing out of her torn gills a little easier though no less unpleasant. The right side of her back, however, was only aching more and more as she kept going, courtesy of the stab wound she was quickly realising must’ve been a lot deeper than it seemed.

The other injuries started to blend together, but there was no doubt they were slowing her down.

She was gonna last until she was off the island, wasn’t she? She felt doubt flooding into her cuts as she stumbled over her own feet once more, this time barely managing to push herself back up and grab what she’d dropped.

She did her best to push all the thoughts to the back of her mind, if only so she could instead focus on seeing what's in front of her. She was already on the docks, there was no point thinking anything at all when she could be so close to safety.

She looked desperately around for a ship, anything with easy access. There were always at least a few ships scattered on the dock, but usually those were just the ones owned by the college and she absolutely could not risk getting on one of those. Now she thought of it, it began to be hard to tell if she was even really seeing ships or just making things out of blurry shapes in the dark. Could this be as far as she goes?

No, there had to be at least one real ship, something she could sneak on board, something to give her the start she needed. So, Medli began to run once more, her heart pounding with every passing moment as she could've sworn the footsteps echoing weren't just hers, that his yells would be close behind.

She couldn't keep doing this, she had to check to see if her fate was truly sealed. She scoured her extremely limited view for any signs at all, of anything.

Then, she tripped.

In a moment of flailing panic, she assumed that was the end of the docks and she was about to take a fall into the ocean and lose what little bearings she had. But instead, her nose met with the hard wooden surface of the docks. Before a sob could even escape her quaking frame, she looked back, she realised what she had tripped over and began howling with laughter. Terrified, anxious laughter, but laughter all the same. She’d tripped over a gangplank.

She scrambled up it, half-crawling for the first few seconds, she didn’t care about getting to her feet nearly as much as getting on board the ship. Maybe staying low was for the best anyway as, when she got on deck, a lamp was lit. Someone was still on board, obviously someone was still on board why else would a gangplank still be out?

The idea of being caught by people actually on the ship was not quite scary enough to actually have an effect on her decision making at this point. If she was caught, she'd just have to talk her way out of it, whoever found her couldn't possibly have more worse intentions than where she came from. Though she did still instinctively slow her movements as she approached a door, it was definitely still better to hide without being caught. If they were already at sea by the time they caught her, then she might actually be safe.

She didn't know the exact layout of the ship, but descending stairs quickly led her to what in the darkness her eyes could just barely process as the hold.

Huh, that was odd. Normally she could see in the dark, but right now everything felt dark and blurry. She… she was probably just tired from running. That was the best self-soothing she could manage. She still needed a place to hide. There were barrels, that's where people normally hide themselves away on ships, right? That thought made as much sense as anything else right now. Honestly, now she had stopped running her head felt a little too heavy for thinking things through. Hiding in a barrel had to be enough. She just needed to find a mostly empty one.

Medli would explore the hold, eventually finding one empty enough for her to climb inside, her hastily packed bag pushing down on her chest and legs. She didn't remember it being so heavy.

Then, she blacked out.

If she hadn't, Medli may have realised she was not well hidden, more than a few of her belongings had spilt out across the docks when she fell and the lid of the barrel that she was holed up in didn’t rest anywhere near how it should.

All of that would prove to be far more of a blessing than a curse as Medli slipped into a state where, without help, she would slip away before she woke.

Up on deck, a crew member walked across the well-kept wood. The merfolk kept her way lit by an esca hanging down from the front of her head. The matching sharp teeth and slightly overlarge mouth of an angler fish on a humanoid face made her a striking sight especially in the dark.

She looked down, panning her eyes across the dock that they had currently anchored at, attempting to figure out what the commotion even could have been. She didn't see anything but as she looked over, she saw the door below deck ajar and groaned louder than even she thought possible.

The damn kids of this academy. Well, at least this time she won't be dealing with them alone. So, with another frustrated sigh, she headed out. Gunning towards the hole-in-the-wall tavern the rest of the crew had disappeared to, hoping to grab whichever was the least drunk to help her throw out whichever idiot students had decided to mess around on the ship.

* * *

Idric Ba'lor looked almost amused as he picked up a violin’s bow, seemingly dropped and abandoned by the side of his ship. It was at least the sixth completely random item he had come across in the walk across the dock, though a bow without an instrument was by far the dumbest. He reached down, keeping one arm steady and elevated, for it held the tiefling’s prize possession, a wine glass that would somehow remain full no matter how many slips he took from it.

Eyeing the bow once more, he twirled it in between his fingers for a second more, before turning sharply to face his merfolk compatriot.

“You’re definitely right, it’s got to be one of the students,” He remarked, trying to not sound as thoroughly annoyed as he was by that statement. The students of Mistwalker College were, to put it lightly and precisely, a bunch of utter pricks. Some of them were fine, obviously, but working a market stall for them was hellish and this wouldn’t be the first time some of them had boarded the ship to make nuisances of themselves. At the very least they should be easy to scare off and now he gets a spare violin bow out of it.

He shoved the bow into one of his pockets as he spun up back to his full height, wine sploshing wildly but never spilling as he did.

He cocked his head toward his newest crew member with the same cocky smile that became typical in moments of confusion such as these.

“You didn’t see how many got on, did you Anastasia?”

“No, just heard some crash and then saw the way below deck open,” She replied with a shrug. She doubted it could be more than one or two, she hadn’t heard talking or anything like that, but she couldn't be too certain. Idric took her words as good enough, hiding a grimace at the thought of having to deal with more than a handful of these bastards. He wondered if they were planning to try and steal anything but shook it off with a long swig of his wine. When he finished, he rolled his shoulders and took a confident step onto the gangplank.

“Well, no time like the present,” He said as if he was actually looking forward to this. He strode up to the deck, briefly checking behind him to make sure that Anastasia was following him and then paused at the top, leaning back on a railing until she was once again next to him. Then, he finally, subtly spat out a thought he'd been chewing on, “I thought you were heading to bed, you know, since you didn't come to the bar with us.”

“Oh, I was invited to that?” She mumbled out genuinely, stopping her movement all at once. Idric’s face lit up at her utter bewilderment.

“Of course you were invited, you're a part of the crew now Gulp,” He said gesticulating wildly. Anastasia blinked twice, almost totally lost in Idric's puzzled expression, but she filed that knowledge away for future use regardless and started moving once more. Idric, however, still found himself more than a little concerned, this was his ship after all, and she was the newest member of the crew. Despite the fact she’d never left an invite unattended, without one she'd ignore it with a genuine disbelief that she was invited. Or worse still, Anastasia had the frustrating habit of playing the role of an outsider any chance she got.

All of this was starting to get at The Balor’s captain. Was she not comfortable with the group? Did she not want to be a part of all this after all? She seemed totally at home reading the waves, at the navigator’s desk, or even just diving off the side of the ship to collect whatever random thing Kildrax dropped this time, but there had to be something or at least, the wine thought so. After a slightly too long gap, Idric continued. “And if you are ever confused about that kind of thing then you can just ask.”

“Ah, okay. Why did we come to this shithole?” Anastasia asked without missing a beat. Idric laughed sharply. He was used to asking himself that kind of question every time they had to sail the ship through that same bitter fog every time they came here, it only made things worse whenever in storms like these.

Of course, there was an answer, though given that this was Anastasia's first trip to Mistwalker she couldn't be expected to know it yet. As far as she was concerned, they'd come to an island full of annoying, full of themselves students in terrible weather, an island that not a single member of the crew could mention without grimacing.

“I have a friend here, actually! A couple years younger than us. Unfortunately, she lives here. Well until she can be persuaded to move literally anywhere else, I come here to visit her,” He said, half joking though he did sincerely wish that he didn't need to keep coming to this island. A wish that burned even clearer in his mind as the two descended below deck and the only thing out of place was a knocked over lantern by the stairs.

Really? Was it not good enough for the students to unsuccessfully try to steal from him during the day? Well, at least this whole ordeal wasn't as much effort on his part. He loudly drew his flail, dangling it in his free hand, carefully stomping his way down the stairs. Under the sound of his jackboot against the stairs, he quickly looked back at Anastasia, whispering. “I'm only planning to scare them, using a weapon against the kids isn't a great look after all. But if you could stand by the stairs and grab any that try to run off with stock that'd be wonderful.”

Anastasia nodded, mocking out a rugby guard.

Idric descended down into the darkened hold. The room seemed devoid of people, there was no obvious noise or signs of movement. Maybe they'd left when Anastasia had come to retrieve him, but if that was the case, they surely should have passed each other on the way back. Even if there was no one, it was still a good idea to give the place a once over, just to be sure. He walked around the crates and barrels, wine glass held tighter than his weapon, looking between gaps and listening out for any movement beyond his own.

Then, when he finally spotted it, he merely sighed.

“I'll give you five seconds to climb out of there on your own,” He barked, piercing through the silence with audible disappointment. There was absolutely no response, no talking back or even shuffling against wood.

Apparently, they wanted to do this the hard way. Annoying, but certainly within their rights. Well, if they weren't going to get themselves out of the situation, someone still had to. “Fine, since you'd prefer the kicking and screaming method.”

He strode forwards, barely taking five seconds to reach the barrel. Even without taking the lid fully off, he could see the shape of a person though no actual clear details. Whoever it was, they had guts, even with him looming over them, they managed to remain completely still. Actually, given Anastasia's hypothesis, perhaps they had passed out from whatever cheap booze they found a way of getting hold of. Not that it mattered, either way he needed them out. He slid the lid off with tail, beginning to talk before it clattered to the ground.

“I'm sure this has been very fun for you, but this isn't somewhere you can just-- Medli?!” He caught himself halfway through, a lump in his throat the size of the lid he just tossed. Inside the barrel was the unmistakable form of Medli Mistwalker. Of all the people he expected to find, she was perhaps below even the very bottom of the list. Yet there she was, head resting awkwardly on a backpack, apparently still asleep.

Of course, he wondered why exactly she was stuffed into a barrel, if she'd asked to leave, she would’ve been in a bed by now and they’d be halfway to the next port. She did occasionally have a strange way of thinking and an odd sense of humour - maybe she just fancied being a stowaway. He ruffled her hair. “Rise and shine kid, we'll get you a proper room, shall we?”

Medli did not even stir, a fact that at first was just odd. But then, as he lifted out the backpack, became so much more.

Idric's wine glass hit the floor loudly, with the wine staining through the wood immediately. Every thought he could try and manage left him instead with a white-hot static.

“Anastasia! Get over here now!” His throat immediately went hoarse. “We need help!”

The sound of running and several orbs of light filled the room as Idric scooped Medli's body out the barrel. Blood had totally soaked through her clothes, worse it was cold and dry, an incredibly bad sign. He fumbled to check her pulse, his own thudding in his ears making the task far harder than it should be. He'd barely managed to find it, to actually confirm his friend was still alive before Anastasia was kneeling next to him, muttering words and pressing a hand to Medli's arm as light flowed down from her lantern into the wounds. The bleeding stopped. Her breathing slowly began to clear. She didn't wake up, but she was going to live and that much allowed Idric's blind panic to shift into a far more coherent anger.

It was not an obvious anger, but it was there, just festering under the surface as he held Medli, a small teenager, battered and bruised in his arms.

Someone had tried to kill his friend.

That much was plainly obvious, she didn't get a stab wound from tripping over. It did, however, leave the question of why she had ended up in a barrel in the hold of his ship. Had it just been a coincidence? Someone dumping the evidence of a crime in a ship that would leave the island sooner rather than later. Or has someone intentionally tried to frame him by hiding his dying friend somewhere she might not be found until it was too late. He had no idea which was closer to the truth, only a certainty that someone had done this on purpose in the first place and that was more than enough to leave a familiar cold anger burning inside him.

Anastasia was still looking over the two with concern. For Medli, the reason for concern was obvious. Her magic was still new and something she had no idea the origin of. Though it had clearly helped, she thought it best to check her work. She didn't exactly trust it all just yet. Idric however, well, perhaps she didn't need to be worried about him, but seeing him with emotions like that, threatening to swallow him whole, she couldn't help herself from it.

Idric was a charming young man. He was a merchant and a bard after all, being charming was pretty much a requirement. However, he was also fully capable, and often willing, of being completely terrible. Now, to be very clear, Anastasia had never seen his anger taken out on someone who didn't deserve it, but that didn't mean it couldn’t happen. He may have said earlier that using a weapon against a kid wasn't a good look, but with the way his hand seemed to be resting on that flail handle, she questioned if that would be in his head if another student had done this.

And Idric thought about it, thought about storming into the college and just hurting people until he found the culprit. And it would feel good, and it would feel right at the current moment. It wasn't as if that harpy queen in charge wouldn't gladly break every bone in his body given the shot. It would mean leaving Medli though, and that was the last thing he felt like doing right now. Though the desperate need to hit something wasn't going away, he wasn't going to leave her alone until he knew she was alright. He picked up his wineglass once more and began twirling it in his fingers. He wished it was still full, but the movement helped to quell his want to hurt someone.

“Okay… okay!” He turned the stem quickly between his fingers, almost throwing it before thinking better of the idea. He needed to have a coherent thought, to actually think of what to do, but all he could think was that Medli had nearly died. He wasn't going to calm down, he knew he wasn't. He looked at Anastasia. “Go get the others, will you? I'm gonna take her to my room, but I need a minute.”

“Oh! Of course,” She stood up, beginning to walk towards the stairs, but pausing. She didn't quite know what exactly she should say, but that didn't stop her from trying. “And she'll be alright. I mean, she's clearly a fucking fighter, so she'll wake up in no time.”

Idric just nodded, not confident enough to verbally reply. And Anastasia left. He remained on the floor clutching Medli scared that if he let go of her; she'd just stop. He remained for a minute, until he was actually convinced that she wasn't going to suddenly drop dead. He stood, properly scooping Medli up to carry her to his room. He scooped her backpack onto his shoulder and picked out her violin from the barrel. He'd give her a room later, assuming she stayed, which he really hoped she did, but for now his room was fine. She just needed somewhere safe to sleep.

* * *

Medli’s body hurt. That was her first thought as she woke up, which wasn’t exactly a weird situation for her to wake up in by this point. Enough so that she didn’t actually move for a couple of minutes, happy and warm in bed having not had a nightmare for once. Then the sharp memories of what she was doing before falling asleep, or more accurately blacking on, came to mind, and she shot up. A sharp pain shot through her back, a small squeak escaping her mouth as she tried to cover her own exclamation of pain. She panicked, wondering how she’d been found and taken back to her own bed, what that would even mean for sure.

Then she realised where she actually was.

Or rather she realised where she wasn’t. She wasn’t somehow back in her room in the dorms of Mistwalker College, nor was she in the barrel she had climbed into. She was in a room that felt vaguely familiar, though she was sure in her fuzzy thoughts that it was somewhere safe. A bedroom lit by a flickering lantern on a bedside table next to her, one that she was completely sure was not a room in the college. The only places she would have woken up in the college are her own room or the sick room. So, was she still on the ship? She wasn’t sure if that made sense or not.

She forced herself to her feet, feeling wobbly but probably fine to at least check outside the door. Her body ached as she moved, though not as much as she thought it would have, now her back felt more like it was hit with a baseball bat as opposed to having been stabbed through. That felt like an improvement, even if she couldn't explain it.

As she approached the door, she could hear conversation on the other side. She tried to pick out any specifics, but the wooden walls muffled the words out into static. She took a breath. They were almost definitely talking about her, but that wasn't going to change, and just because they were talking about her, didn't mean that they were discussing something like throwing her overboard or returning her back. She'd just worry herself by thinking that way.

She cracked the door open, more than she needed to look through, but not enough to step through. The conversation was now properly audible to her, but she suddenly couldn’t pay much attention to it, instead the people she saw instead soaked into her mind.

Of the four, there was only one that she had absolutely no recognition of - a woman that Medli snap-decided looked as cool as she did mildly horrifying. She was blue and certain parts of her glowed in the dim light, most notably an angler fish's lantern hung down from the very top of her forehead. She had a long, thick tail that remained Medli of the kind a shark would have, but she also has legs, though they also reminded Medli of the type of legs a shark might have if made humanoid -- not that that really made any sense.

Two she recognised vaguely, a dwarf and water genasi man who she had seen around the docks before. Not often, they definitely didn't work on Mistwalker, but just whenever the markets happened to be in town. To be fair, she didn't go to the docks very often besides that, but it wasn't until now that she actually realised why that fact was true as, though his back was turned to her, she instantly recognised the last person in the group.

“Idric?” She asked, opening the door a little more and taking a hesitant step out onto what she now realised was the deck of The Balor. Idric turned on his heel to look at her, oversized coat spinning out in the same way a dancer's skirt would. And there he was, her best friend, the anger and worry he felt concealed behind as gentle a smile as he could muster. Medli felt all the relief in the world flood through her.

“Is this why you called us all here? You got a new girl?”

“She's seventeen,” Idric quickly cut across the dwarf's question with a sharpness both in his tone and the snap of his head in that direction. The quickness of this shift was matched by the quickness of the horror where there had previously been humour in the dwarf's eyes upon hearing the words. Medli felt a little unsure if she should do or say anything, shifting her weight between her feet as she fiddled with the edge of her shirt, acutely aware that she looked a mess. Everyone was staring at her. She couldn't tell if that was good or bad. She tried to focus on Idric, who was over again looking at her. “You should really rest, kid, you've had a rough night. I'll be through in a minute.”

Medli for a moment hesitated to move, worried about what was being said, but she trusted Idric. He wasn't gonna suggest throwing her into the ocean or taking her back to the college. So, with a tiny little nod of her head, she shuffled back into the room. She realised, with a little embarrassment, that this was Idric's room. To be fair, she had only been in it briefly, but she still felt a little silly for not realising straight away. Well, at least she could feel safe in it now.

The last unmuffled thing she heard before she properly shut the door was a very hurried apology, which she wasn't really listening to. She had much more serious things to think about, but worrying about too much of it was going to make her head hurt. So, she tried to only think of one problem at a time, all-while continuing to listen to the muffled noise outside the room as some kind of grounding method. First thing: her clothes were covered in blood. Looking around, her backpack was sitting on a desk alongside her violin and bow. Did she pack an actual outfit? It had been such a rush that it kind of blurred together and she really couldn't remember. She knew most of the contents of her bag were clothes, but she might've been panicked enough that she'd only grabbed skirts or something. Hopefully she had packed at least one shirt though, else she was stuck with bloodstains.

She opened her backpack, and she began to dig through. Clothes weren't the first thing she pulled out, but rather a thin blanket that she immediately clutched to her chest as she realised how lucky it was that she hadn't been wearing it, that it hadn't been bloodstained or damaged. She bunched it between her fingers, trying to remind herself that she didn't need to be scared anymore. No one was going to get her here. She tried to reassure herself like that, clutching her blanket close to her chest as a safety beacon, but it was hard. She needed to get off the island, then she'd be safe.

“Hey,” Idric said as he entered the room to find her standing rigid. He moved closer to her carefully, knowing how overwhelming the situation must already be. Medli tried to find the words to explain what she felt because she didn't have any. Everything was wrong. She couldn't cry. She couldn't do anything but stand scrunching her blanket trying to calm down. Her chest hurt. She wanted to cry. Idric stood in front of her. Was he going to yell at her? Was she a bad person for thinking her friend would yell at her? Her throat felt tight. Tears were stinging at the corners of her eyes. Idric hugged her. Medli began to cry. “It's okay. It's okay.”

It wasn't okay. Someone had tried to kill her. He couldn't even hug her as tightly as he wanted because of all the injuries. What else was there to say though? It somehow being okay now was the only comfort that really could be given. Medli sobbed. She felt safer in this moment than she had at most points in her life. Eventually Medli ended up sitting on the bed and Idric dragged over the desk chair to sit across from her.

Bruises had started to form on Medli's blue skin. While all her cuts and the more major stab wounds had been closed, dried blood still clung to her skin, some even matted in her blue hair. She felt gross. She looked a mess. Looking at Idric felt like a lifeline into normality. Same white messy hair, same twirling pretty horns in sea-shell-white, with one broken off and dangling around his neck on a cord. His eyes were probably the same too, but she was desperately avoiding looking at them.

“What happened, Meds?” Idric broke the silence softly as he was able. He felt that he already knew the answer to his question, enough of the answer was plainly obvious, but he needed to know what she felt comfortable sharing, if anything. Medli looked down at her knees, still bunching and lacing her blanket between her fingers. Her throat felt too tight to say words, but she did want to tell Idric. How was she even meant to start though?

“I… Clarissa. She said I had to do a test,” Medli started, her voice wavering as anxiety and a want to break down laced into her tone. Idric tensed almost immediately at even her name, though forced himself to remain quiet. She didn't need a rant about the absolute horror-story that ran the school, not right now. Medli didn't want to talk about the ‘test’ she really didn't, but at the same time she needed to. Nothing made sense if she didn't talk about it. “At sunset, she brought me to this room. Inside was Heather tied to a chair and she… she said I had to kill him.”

Medli's voice lost strength in the last words. The whole thing felt horrible. To be very clear, she did not like Heather. He was a bully, he called her names, destroyed her things, would hurt her if ever given the opportunity, hells he had killed at least one of her goldfish. But Medli didn't want to kill him. Medli didn't want to kill anybody, but Clarissa had handed her a rapier and called the task ‘easy’.

“I said that I wasn't going to, that I don't want to hurt people. And Clarissa got so angry, and started cutting Heather loose, said that there can only be one of us alive on the island by morning. So I just started running. Heather ended up catching up, and, and, and I guess he did want to kill me. I thought if I could get to the pool, it’ll be okay cause he can’t swim, but he caught up by the time I got there. I know he stabbed me and tried to block all my gills and hold me under so I'd drown. I think I ended up hitting him with a bit of tile, I don't really remember. I just don't want to die. So I thought if I hid on a ship that would be leaving the island then everything would be okay and that ended up being your ship and… that's it.”

Medli fell into silence. She was still scared. She was still on the island. And what if that meant she'd just die in the morning? Even in her panicked state, that felt almost silly, but it also didn't. It felt as silly as it felt possible. With her falling quiet, Idric found himself trying to articulate a reaction. He was seething, he had never wanted to kill Clarissa Mistbreaker more than in this moment. And had Medli not been right there sitting across from him, he might've done it, but she had fought hard that night for there not to be a murder. So, as much as he truly believed that the world would be better without that harpy queen headmistress, he wouldn't go and redecorate the halls with her own blood and gore. So instead, he focused on the much more important issue of making sure Medli was out of her reach.

“Okay, here's what we're gonna do. I'm gonna send some of my crew to collect your stuff. And as soon as they get back with it, we're gonna leave. Away from Mistwalker, away from the harpy queen. Wherever you wanna go, and we're never coming back to this island,” He said with a gentle confidence. Medli felt a sense of relief rush in fast enough that she started crying again, though this time accompanied by her chest lightening. She was leaving and leaving with her friend. Something in retrospect she wishes she had done a long time ago, but she was finally leaving. The whole world of Libris, she had never seen any of it beyond the island she was now leaving. She was excited as she was terrified. But most importantly, Idric was there with her, which meant no matter how scared she might be, everything would work out. Idric hugged her again. Wherever they went, it would be away from Clarissa. This would be the last night she would ever hurt Medli. He'd make sure of it.

#cat's oc #cat's writing #original writing #dungeons and dragons character #medli mistwalker #idric ba'lor #anastasia gulp #the libris collection

[arunneronthird]

august - fic recs (mature edition)

hi hello and welcome to my first rec list! as i said in previous posts, ill be doing a monthly rec list divided in two posts, a gen/teen and a mature/explicit version (if i have enough fics) and a masterpost where i link all my lists

fandom wise itll probably be all over the place, but i will add the length, important warnings, links and some comments on every fic so u may check them all out!

now without further ado

Fandom: DC

Some Magnetic Way I Move by Shenanigans

words: 11,224 (perfect for an evening)

rating and warnings: M, sexual content (not necessarily pleasant), recommend checking the tags seriously on this one

relationships: Roy Harper/Jason Todd

summary: roy is a kid who wonders near the ocean without any pirpose in life when he meets a creature that seems too good to be true, then life gets in the way, and roy gets in his own way even harder

notes: this fic has been obsessing me since i read it the first time, its dark and fucked up and completely too easy to get absorbed into, roy is a complicated, messed up man with a shitty life and a tendency to completely destroy himself and you cannot look away from him

this story moves along several years of roys life and his growth or lack thereof and its so easy to get lost in the pacing of this fic and just enjoy the ride, as hard as it gets

literally no need to know anything about dc, just read it and thank me later

Heroes of the Squared Circle by Mithen

words: 226,687 (yes, i wrote that right, it takes a good week)

rating and warnings: M, sexual content (theres one whole scene in a thousand pages), nothing past canon typical violence

relationships: Clark Kent/Bruce Wayne

summary: clark is a wrestler, so he follows his heart and joins a promotion where he meets bruce, cue their adventures as they work their way through a retelling of the best dc moments: wrestling edition

notes: OKAY HEAR ME OUT i did not like wrestling before i started this fic, i took a minute to get into it, the moment i got into it i could not stop

this is one of the most fun, most detailed, most passioned fics ive ever read, a love letter to dc and wrestling so vivid and transparent that it genuinely made me excited for it too, all the characters are treated with love and care and the main relationship is so exciting, u can feel the love they hold for each ohter but never overshadows the wonderfully crafted story and the genuinely engaging plot

(cried at the end cause of how much i loved it. i dont cry)

Fandom: Avatar: The Last Airbender

Below the Sun by CSHfic, VSfic

words: 24,853 (can be read in a long afternoon)

rating and warnings: M, no sexual content, i would consider it T but there is a good amount of injuries

relationships: Sokka/Zuko

summary: sokka and zukko get stranded on an island after a shipwreck and have to learn not to be at each others throats while waiting for rescue

notes: heartwarming and weirdly peaceful, though the inherent anxiousness of sokka being stranded and injured with an enemy nearby does get to you, easy to read and easy to love, honestly a good time through and through and a good reflection on friendship

if you havent watched atla (watch it) you can read this anyway, only minimum knowledge is required for this fic

Fandom: Modern Warfare

i like you alive by kaijusalad

words: 11,254 (another afternoon read)

rating and warnings: M, graphic violence and injuries, no sexual content

relationships: John "Soap" MacTavish/Simon "Ghost" Riley

summary: soap gets really injured in a mission and ghost has to get him out of there, somehow keep him awake, try not to die, and not panic and he is partially failing

notes: intense high-stakes fic, graphic and heart-wrenching and yet somehow very warm, incredibly easy to start praying for ghosts success cause hes... hes trying so hard! once you start reading you wont be able to stop until u reach the end, also anyone typing out accents has my unconditional love

no previous knowledge needed to read this fic, just brace yourselves (btw i dont know why but the tags in this fic are so funny to me)

Doing Time by MildLimerence

words: 53,566 (takes 2 or 3 days)

rating and warnings: M, graphic sexual content plus graphic violence, both to a preeeetty fucking explicit level so please check the tags

relationships: John "Soap" MacTavish/Simon "Ghost" Riley

summary: in a world where soulmates are scarce and sometimes even dangerous to other people or themselves, soap ends up getting himself arrested cause his mark makes him go a bit wild and, to his horror, activates when he finally arrives at prison

notes: listen, i hate soulamates (i love you on purpose) but theres something about the way this author writes them that gets me, the connection between soulmates is more of a telepathic, magnetic connection and the lack of it can make soulmates go completely feral, its not the beautiful thing everyone thinks it is

dont want to spoil much but dont be fooled by the summary, this baby has a whole plot prepared and though the dynamic between characters and dark elements are incredibly fun on their own, i ended up getting actually really hooked by the plot, reeeeally fun read

knowing who the characters are makes it an easier read but i dont think youll get lost if you dont

Fandom: Supernatural

like moses and batman and james dean by saltyfeathers

words: 31,587 (takes a couple days, def a couple breaks)

rating and warnings: M, graphic sexual content, not all of it fun, gets pretty dark so check the tags and the authors notes

relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester

summary: dean used to turn tricks to make sure he had enough money to care for his brother, now that he has met cas, his issues with intimacy resurface with a vengeance

notes: not an easy fic to read, heavy topics are touched and you feel genuinely bad for dean but the characterization is so perfect that i tend to think of deans past here as canon, as messed up as it is

even though the topics are dark, the fic doesnt dwell on the worst stuff, there are no scenes written for shock value, its a tasteful take on dark topics, its just heartbreaking and powerful, it will make you root for the main characters, hard

if you dont know these characters you may be pretty lost but you definitely only need a basic idea of the show

#fic rec #dont know how to tag this so feel free to tell me #also feel free to send a message with how to make lists better! ill be doing them for as long as i can

[balanceoflightanddark]

ATLA/Kong: Skull Island Crossover Idea

I'd personally like to blame @snoopyflinx for this.

As anyone who's been following me knows, I've been writing an ATLA/Godzilla fic. It should come to no surprise then that eventually I'd have to talk about Godzilla's rival from across the Pacific. I've already talked about King Kong once in the past in a post where I discussed the identity of the original predatory dinosaur that Kong fought in a fight to the death. So I figured it was high time I returned back to the great grandaddy of the kaiju genre.

Now to begin, we need to break down what not only Kong: Skull Island is about, but also the original and the rest of its series so we can come up with an organic combination that taps into both stories. So expect some references and appearances from older entries (since I am a huge lore nerd and like to reference as many entries as I can). And one of the most recurrent themes in both is the charming tappings of...

Part 1: Colonialism

Yeah, as much as I love the original 1933 King Kong, part of the inspiration came from old colonialist texts and stories. You know the ones: hero ventures into an untamed wilderness, sometimes discovering a lost world filled with savage natives and vicious animals to bring something back and thus "conquer" nature. It's a tale as old as time and has tappings into various real-world expeditions where explorers surveyed wild areas for exploitation by foreign powers. Hell, the idea of living dinosaurs is one of these common stories that I've talked about in the past.

Now for anyone who's ever watched ATLA, they should know that the show has a very anti-imperialistic, colonialist message. Mainly that the militaristic, imperial Fire Nation are the bad guys and need to be opposed. Basically the opposite of those old-time adventure stories I mentioned. So to faithfully crossover ATLA with King Kong, we need a message that deals with imperialism.

Kong: Skull Island gives us an edge here. Skull Island, while dangerous, isn't depicted as a hellscape. The fauna are dangerous but aren't as savage as any other real-world animal. And the natives, while wary of outsiders, are accommodating to the heroes and are seen in a dignified, sympathetic light. This goes hand in hand with ATLA since most of the dangerous animals encountered are usually portrayed as just animals, while Katara and Sokka themselves come from the "savage" (in the eyes of the Fire Nation) Southern Water Tribe.

But hey. Let's play around a bit and give our Skull Island a bit of a reputation for being a place where everything is trying to kill you and being the very worst that nature has to throw at outsiders. Which brings us to-

Part 2: Heart of Darkness

The Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad is a highly regarded novella that basically takes the piss out of a lot of these colonialist adventure novels. One of the core themes is that it examines whether or not colonials are truly better than the "savages" that they fight. In this case, they aren't. Hell, they're arguably worse since they enslave natives, encourage violence in tribes, and any "savagery" on the part of the natives is a reaction to the violence and carnage the colonials bring.

This comparison is not a coincidence. The Heart of Darkness was a big influence on the Vietnam War film Apocalypse Now, which in of itself was a big inspiration for Kong: Skull Island. So since Heart of Darkness is basically one big anti-imperialist work, something similar (if not so extreme) could work for ATLA if we decide to go the crossover route with Kong.

To begin: let's put our Skull Island somewhere around here-

What I'm thinking is that Skull Island would work on one of these unexplored islands that canon never touched. And we have an impetus for why the Fire Nation would want get involved with this chain since they have a direct route to Ba Sing Se. So there's an impetus for them to do something like establish a naval base on one of the islands to secure this critical invasion route.

Their problems start before they even see the island though.

Skull Island is surrounded by natural defenses in almost all adaptations. In the original and Peter Jackson remake, we have a thick fog which hides the island. Which in the remake becomes disastrous since the S.S. Venture almost capsizes on the very large stone pillars and rocky outcroppings. Kong: Skull Island is even worse since it has a huge storm system which only small pockets offer any safety and any chance of going to and from the island.

I could see a number of ships being disabled before they step foot on the island.

For the natives, I would have them be the more sympathetic version we see in Kong: Skull Island rather than the more racist depictions we've seen in previous films. Not that it would help them much since the Fire Nation has steamrolled through native populations like this such as the Southern Water Tribe. The natives could fight back, but they never did too well in the older films when up against modern weaponry.

No, the absolute hell of Skull Island won't come from the natives.

See...the Fire Nation has had...issues when it comes to giant fauna. They struggled against the serpent in the Book 3 premiere, and that was just a single animal. And while it easy to argue that they exterminated the dragons, that was a single species. We're talking about...well...

One of the recurring elements of Kong films is that Skull Island has an entire ecosystem that seem dead set on killing humans. We're talking giant bugs, huge insects, and massive dinosaurs. And we haven't even gotten into the big heavyweights like the Skullcrawlers and Kong himself. Even if the Fire Nation can handle one or two of them, this is a whole ecosystem.

While I wouldn't have the fauna being murderous like in previous films and be more like Kong: Skull Island, the Fire Nation policy of "burn everything in sight" is going to give them that experience from hell the older films presented.

Oh, and if somehow they do survive all of this...

Kong takes his duties as ruler of Skull Island very damn seriously and basically annihilated a war-hardened army group the moment they raise shit. Cause like in the series, even the most elite of the Fire Nation can't stand up to the forces of nature. Hell, Kong would probably crush any mechanized forces the moment they raised a ruckus, leaving everyone else to the predators of the island.

At most we might see a ruined fortress by the time Team Avatar gets there. Any remains would've been reduced to dino food.

Part 3: Team Avatar Gets There

The reasons for why Team Avatar would arrive at Skull Island would be a bit more varied. Maybe they heard there was an unknown island off the coast of the Earth Kingdom and wanted to see it for themselves. Maybe they were chasing some rogue Fire Nation army group or wanted to investigate just how the hell an entire army just disappeared in the past. Who knows?

Sokka would obviously take charge, seeing that they were effectively in the middle of nowhere. Probably already drawing up plans to find a good position where they can safely land on Appa (within reason of course). Once they actually look around and see that they are basically on the bottom of the food chain, he'd probably be the one who'd suggest NOT enraging any of the big fauna needlessly for no reason lest they find themselves always on the run.

Zuko would be the opposite. He's the hothead and would probably see something like a young Skullcrawler or a Vastatosaurus as some kind of obstacle that needs to be conquered. You know, since he was raised in the militaristic Fire Nation. Of course, he gets some humble pie since these things aren't exactly just big targets to throw fire at. Maybe he even comes across some base ruins or the graves of some Fire Nation soldiers. Make him realize just how out of their element his people were and reevaluate whether or not unrestrained aggression is the appropriate response here.

Toph on the other hand would love Skull Island. She's the chaos gremlin and would probably enjoy seeing all the giant dangerous animals stomping around. I mean she was taught by Badgermoles, so she might be more comfortable around big fauna than most. That and the endless amount of adventures a whole new land would provide.

Katara would connect the most with the natives. Again, they're not that "savage" here and she'd probably connect with their past of being subjugated by the Fire Nation and living on what basically amounts to the frontier. She could probably even admire their stalwart attitude towards the various horrors that Skull Island would provide.

That leaves us with Aang. Knowing him-

That boy is riding the Brontosaurs and nothing anyone says is going to convince me otherwise. Them and the Sker Buffalo. You telling me he won't try to ride a distant relative of Appa?

He'd probably be the best around the animals of the island, recognizing them as animals, not monsters.

But I think his most interesting relationship would be with Kong himself.

Simply put, they're the last of their kind. Aang is the last airbender. Kong is the last of his species. And both of them have been saddled with the enormous responsibility of maintaining a sort of balance on the island. It's why I brought up the force of nature thing earlier since Kong is basically Skull Island's answer to the Avatar. It's a sort of parallel that Aang could see and connect with Kong over. Cause in many ways, Kong also serves as a foil. Aang is carefree and funloving. Kong is more serious and refined. That and both of them technically are kids who were forced to grow up (Kong was described as being a teenager and still growing if I remember the interviews correctly).

Speaking of teenagers being forced to grow up and monsters...

Part 4: Monsters

Yeah, I had to give a portion to Azula. How she ends up on Skull Island might vary. Maybe she shipwrecked there. Maybe she's on the run and headed there cause nobody would be crazy enough to even try. She'd basically be the other side of the coin Zuko was on: being forced to fend for herself on an island full of predators but without a support system.

This could lead to some...pretty interesting scenarios and confrontations she has with the island's animals. Like, her running into a Vastatosaurus, a Skullcrawler, or a Deathrunner would be a pretty fun scene to write. That and depending on her mental health, we could get some interesting scenes with Hallucination!Ursa that expands that aspect of her character.

But I think the big element of Azula's arc is...well, showing that she's not a monster. She's human, and have that reflect on the Skull Island animals. I've mentioned it before, but I wanted to go with the direction Kong: Skull Island took and make the creatures more sympathetic by showing more sides to them rather than vicious predators.

Take the Venatosaurus from the Peter Jackson remake. Fast. Intelligent. Vicious. Just like Azula. But one thing that the film never got a chance to expand on was that they actually live in close-knit family groups. All adults take care of the juveniles together, raising them, feeding them, and protecting them. They never leave the nest unguarded. I think a scene of a pack tending their nest and being sociable would show that if something as vicious as them can have a soft side, why not Azula?

Then there's Kong.

I think Kong could work as a foil to both Aang AND Azula. Kong was the teen forced to become an adult, just like Azula. And like Azula, he has baggage when it comes to his parents (mainly that they died and not because they were abusive or neglectful or anything). As well as having an enormous responsibility on their shoulders (King of Skull Island, Princess of the Fire Nation). Being seen as monsters despiting being more than just mindless killers. And who knows? Maybe Azula could connect to Kong in a similar way that Aang did.

Conclusion:

My thoughts on an ATLA/Kong story goes a few ways. First, it should deconstruct imperialism just like Kong: Skull Island and ATLA did. It should also show that Skull Island isn't just hell on earth and that the animals and people are more than just something to be conquered or destroyed.

All in all, it has a lot of potential. I'm not sure if I'd write it myself since I already have a few ideas down the pipeline. But feel free to take some inspiration if you want to explore the idea yourself.

#atla #avatar: the last airbender #aang #katara #sokka #zuko #toph #azula #king kong #kong #kong: skull island #king kong 1933 #king kong 2005 #fanfic ideas #fanfiction ideas #crossover idea #long post

[the-worst-bracket]

The Worst Bracket Begins!

Polls are going up starting Wednesday, April 19th, 32 per day! Bracket and list under the cut.

Round 1

Bracket A (4/19-26)

Mineta Minoru (My Hero Academia) v  Anglerfish from Dark Bramble (Outer Wilds)

Iago (Othello) v Barbas (Skyrim)

Brendan (Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald) v Mimic (Dark Souls)

Dan (Dan vs) v Pink Diamond (Steven Universe)

Jurgen Litner (The Magnus Archives) v Lily Tucker-Pritchett (Modern Family)

Lonnie Byers (Stranger Things) v Zeus (Greek Mythology)

Lemongrab (Adventure Time) v Steve Cobs (Inanimate Insanity)

Alex Eggleston (Yiik) v Larry Butz (Ace Attorney)

Jerry (Undertale) v Po (Teletubbies)

Billy Hargrove (Stranger Things) v Old Man Who Snitches on Haru (A:TLA)

Kai Winn (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) v Ashfur (Warrior Cats)

Mr. Burns (The Simpsons) v Boscha (The Owl House)

Octavian (Heroes of Olympus) v Makoto Teruhashi (The Disastrous Life of Saiki K)

 Robbie Valentino (Gravity Falls) v Gendo Ikari (Neon Genesis Evangelion)

Walter White (Breaking Bad) v Guy Mortadello (Papa Louie)

Medusa Gorgon (Soul Eater) v Snowball (Pinky and The Brain)

Bracket B (4/19-26)

Rohan Kishibe (JJBA) v Jin Guangshan (The Untamed)

Agravaine (Merlin) v Michael (Wii Sports)

Scout (TF2) v Mitsuhiro Higa (Danganronpa)

Creek (Trolls) v Berdly (Deltarune)

Manfred Von Karma (Ace Attorney) v Jeff Winger (Community)

Nazeem (Skyrim) v David (Animorphs)

Simon Laurent (Infinity Train) v Mayuri Kurotsuchi (Bleach)

Kikimora (The Owl House) v Cronus Ampora (Homestuck)

Michael Tritter (House MD) v The Director (Red v Blue)

Eridan Ampora (Homestuck) v Lila Rossi (Miraculous Ladybug)

Skadge (Star Wars: The Old Republic) v Lord Henry Wotton (The Picture of Dorian Gray)

Claptrap (Borderlands) v Jodie Foster (Dungeons and Daddies)

Bill Hawks (Professor Layton) v Carcer (Discworld)

Bender Bending Rodríguez (Futurama) v Izaya Orihara (Durarara!!)

 Corrin (Fire Emblem) v The Dark Lord (Miitopia)

Cybelle (Carole and Tuesday) v Jasper (Steven Universe)

Bracket C (4/20-27)

Gul Dukat (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) v Admiral Zhao (A:TLA)

Hordak (She-Ra) v Rachel Berry (Glee)

Book (Battle for Dream Island) v Darth Maul (Star Wars)

Jessica (The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself) v Lester Papadopoulos (Trials of Apollo)

Pong Krell (Star Wars: The Clone Wars) v Aaron Burr (Hamilton)

Armand (Vampire Chronicles) v Gamzee Makara (Homestuck)

Dorodoron (Futari wa Precure Splash Star) v Weiss Schnee (RWBY)

Christopher Taub (House MD) v Tate Landon (America Horror Story: Murder House)

Izzy Hands (OFMD) v Princess Daisy (Super Mario Bros)

Spike (MLP:FIM) v Atlas May (Lackadaisy)

Clutch Powers (LEGO Ninjago) v Orin Scrivello (Little Shop of Horrors)

Thanos (MCU) v Minecraft Skeleton (Minecraft)

Frank Burns (M*A*S*H*) v Lieutenant Nolan (Star Wars: The Bad Batch)

Carter Pewterschmit (Family Guy) v Anakin Skywalker (Star Wars)

Miyo Takano (Higurashi When They Cry) v Borsolino (One Piece)

Hiyoko Saionji (Danganronpa) v Pennywise (IT)

Bracket D (4/20-27)

Pierce Hawthorne (Community) v Ren (Ren and Stimpy)

Whirlpool (Wings of Fire) v Cinder Falls (RWBY)

Thaddeus Campbell (Dishonored) v The Grabber (Black Phone)

Takumi Ichinose (Nana) v Heimskr (Skyrim)

Gale Weathers (Scream) v Lee Kiyoung (Regressor Instruction Manual)

Ianthe Tridentarius (The Locked Tomb) v Alvin Marsh (IT)

Director Ton (Aggretsuko) v Angelica Pickles (Rugrats)

Pencil (Battle for Dream Island) v Odalia Blight (The Owl House)

Kyubey (Madoka Magica) v Newman (Seinfeld)

Jacob Hill (Abbott Elementary) v Gregory House (House MD)

Rachel (Tower of God) v Monkey D Luffy (One Piece)

Dame Alina (Keeper of the Lost Cities) v Miki Kawai (A Silent Voice)

John Winchester (Supernatural) v Kyouichi Saionji (Revolutionary Girl Utena)

Magikarp (Pokemon) v Hippeux (Animal Crossing)

Elmo (Sesame Street) v Saint Charlos (One Piece)

Melli (Pokemon Legends: Arceus) v Dr. Janet Lubelle (WTNV)

Bracket E (4/21-28)

Martin Blyndeff (Epithet Erased) v The Blue Border (Scott the Woz)

Calico Jack (OFMD) v B.E.N. (Treasure Planet)

Doogal (Doogal) v John Gaius (The Locked Tomb)

Crawlings (The Mysterious Benedict Society) v Liza Lotts (Scott the Woz)

Zolf J Kimblee (FMA) v Baron Draxum (Rise of The TMNT)

Kaito Momota (Danganronpa) v Nandor the Relentless (What We Do In the Shadows)

Logan Roy (Succescion) v Mike Wheeler (Stranger Things)

Fermet (Baccano!) v Seymour Krelborn (Little Shop of Horrors)

Emperor Belos (The Owl House) v Taylor Kelly (9-1-1)

AM (I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream) v Jar Jar Binks (Star Wars)

Stuart Little (Stuart Little) v Vinsmoke Sanji (One Piece)

Bibble (Barbie: Fairytopia) v Dennis Nedry (Jurassic Park)

Byakuya Togami (Danganronpa) v Grima Wormtongue (LOTR)

Moe (Calvin and Hobbes) v Balloon Boy (FNAF)

Felix (Red vs Blue) v Klorgbane the Destroyer (Regular Show)

Bro Strider (Homestuck) v Jughead Jones (Riverdale)

Bracket F (4/21-28)

Count Olaf (A Series of Unfortunate Events) v Mort (Madagascar)

Mantle (Dr Stone) v Phillip Anderson (Sherlock)

Eisuke Hondo (Detective Conan) v Drosselmeyer (Princess Tutu)

Hiram Burrows (Dishonored) v Chat Noir (Miraculous Ladybug)

Vriska Serket (Homestuck) v Prince Diamond (Sailor Moon)

Marty (Steven Universe) v Hibiki Shikyouin (PriPara)

White Diamond (Steven Universe) v Norman Osborn (Marvel)

Stregabor (The Witcher) v Cedric Jeanne Elmir (I'm the Villainess, So I'm Taming the Final Boss)

Barney Stinson (HIMYM) v Charlie Bradbury (Supernatural)

Griffith (Beserk) v Chloe Valentine (Be More Chill)

Scott Pilgrim (Scott Pilgrim) v Lionel Luthor (Smallville)

Lydia (Skyrim) v Shadow Weaver (She-Ra)

Rand Ridley (Inside Job) v Jun Kawanakajima (Ultra Maniac)

Krusty the Clown (The Simpsons) v Fire Lord Ozai (A:TLA)

Joseph Sugarman (BoJack Horseman) v Huey Emmerich (Metal Gear)

Anti - Pops (Regular Show) v Kylo Ren (Star Wars)

Bracket G (4/22-29)

Ross Geller (Friends) v Akito Sohma (Fruits Basket)

Henry Bowers (IT) v Junko Enoshima (Danganronpa)

Winner Sinclair (Chibi Vampire) v Evil Do-er/Dark Blue (Animation vs Minecraft)

Clint (Stardew Valley) v Luke Castellan (Percy Jackson)

Kokichi Ouma (Danganronpa) v Colin Robinson (What We Do In The Shadows)

Spy (TF2) v Ghetsis (Pokemon)

Billy (The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy) v Queen Vanessa (A Hat In Time)

Doofus Drake (Ducktales) v Servantis (Ben 10)

Elias Bouchard (The Magnus Archives) v Francisco Guerra (Paranatural)

Tingle (The Legend of Zelda) v Hawt Saus (Chikn Nuggit)

Trishna (Papa Louie) v Mark Brendanawicz (Parks and Recreation)

Unparalleled Innocence (Rain World) v Morgana (Persona 5)

Lady Gisela Sencen (Keeper of the Lost Cities) v Vanitas (Kingdom Hearts)

Suzy Johnston (Phineas and Ferb) v Kaidou Shun (The Disastrous Life of Saiki K.)

Souichi (Junji Ito) v Dr Hotti (Ace Attorney)

Morgoth (LOTR) v Sarah (Ed, Edd, and Eddy)

Bracket H (4/22-29)

Han Sooyoung (Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint) v Barney the Purple Dinosaur (Barney)

Andy Bernard (The Office) v Lars Barriga (Steven Universe)

Dio (Zero Escape) v Caillou (Caillou)

Gideon Gleeful (Gravity Falls) v Balgo (Burn the Witch)

Joshu Higashikata (JJBA) v Toby Flenderson (The Office)

Touga Kiryuu (Revolutionary Girl Utena) v Teledji Adeledji (FFXIV)

Chairman Rose (Pokemon) v Donnel Udina (Mass Effect)

Father (FMA) v Harumi (LEGO Ninjago)

Akio Ohtori (Revolutionary Girl Utena) v Richard (Requiem of the Rose King)

Miranjo (Ranking of Kings) v Kray Foresight (Promare)

Xander Harris (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) v The Worst (Ben 10)

Hisoka Morrow (Hunter x Hunter) v Doc Scratch (Homestuck)

Tony Stark (MCU) v Sakura Horuna (Naruto)

Sir Tristan the Cold (Penumbra Podcast) v Clay Puppington (Morel Orel)

Bling Bling Boy (Johnny Test) v George Constanza (Seinfeld)

Quiche (Tokyo Mew Mew) v Enji Todoroki (My Hero Academia)

#announcement

[broomsticks]

ten books to know me

Rules: 10 (non-ancient) books for people to get to know you better, or that you just really like.

tagged by @landwriter, who has some gorgeously soft recs [like their sandman dream/hob fic] here! mine are uh, mostly not, so. be warned XD

where the sidewalk ends by shel silverstein. probably the oldest book i physically own, gifted me by a family friend. such memories of chatting to her about danny the champion of the world and the phantom tollbooth and etc, it was formative in so many ways! crediting this book for the fact that i’ve never been scared of poetry, for one.

the city & the city by china mieville, introduced to me by my current partner. the one before that was a mitch albom kinda guy and the one before that was a carol ann duffy and the one before that was a jeanette winterson. all of whom there is a place in my heart for but yes: scifi/low fantasy spec fic! if i could only read one genre of fiction it would be this. no i have not read babel and i will soon!! also: oryx and crake and mmmm cloud atlas.

the little prince by antoine de saint-exupéry. fun fact: i first read this book in chinese.

the ender’s game series by orson scott card — if i had to pick one it might be xenocide, han qing-jao my baby. the other formative childhood fave i don’t talk about enough: artemis fowl!

we need to talk about kevin by lionel shriver. idk i am frightful and this book is a comfort read. my complicated feelings re. possibly ever becoming a parent, don’t ask me about them!

chronicle of a blood merchant by yu hua. love some horrible histories x blaaaack humor.

the time traveler’s wife by audrey niffenegger. my kinda romance 🥰

neil gaiman’s short story/essay collection view from the cheap seats. picked this up secondhand, gave it away, would love to own again someday. one of my fave essays in this book: all books have genders. also: the salmon of doubt by douglas adams and ursula le guin’s the found and the lost / the unreal and the real.

ted chiang’s exhalation gets a special mention for being my desert island book. every single story is so thought-provoking.

battle royale the manga. enjoyed the novel too, oh lighthouse massacre my beloathed.

AND on that fun note: tagging people with cool fic taste @allalrightagain @bluesundaycake @consistentsquash @fanfiction-thesis @lumosatnight @mblematic @phantomato @slashmarks @sleepstxtic @thistlecatfics @unspeakable3 gimme books! talk to me about the Books That Made You! anyone else who wants to play, too, tag me if you do :D

#tumblr games

[ficretus]

Theory: Rhodopis as Knightfall, dissecting 2 paragraph story for every detail

Rhodopis has pretty much always been one of the basis of speculation for canonical Knightfall. Personally, this is first Knightfall theory I saw, back in the day on onewomancitadel blog (which seems to be deleted now). It was short, to the point and mostly made sense. In this post I'd like to dig into Rhodopis theory and look into every detail of the story to see does it make sense as a theory.

First of all, what is common belief regarding Knightfall and Rhodopis:

It's considered to be proto-Cinderella story so it connects her to Cinder. Rhodopis was courtesan that was enslaved twice. she is eventually freed by Kharaxus of Mytilene, brother of poet Sappho, who then marries her. People translate this into Knightfall because just like Rhodopis, Cinder was enslaved twice. Kharaxus becomes Jaune through Sappho and Saphron connection (both lesbians, Saphron lives in Greek themed city, oldest fragments of Sappho's poetry were found on ceramic vase shards which can be connected to Terra being named after terracotta). Kharaxos freeing Rhodopis and marrying her is then read as Knightfall conclusion of the story.

As I said, it's simple interpretation, however, there seem to be some misconceptions about the story.

First to be clear, when people say Rhodopis in context of Knightfall, they mean Herodotus Rhodopis, which I'll use in this post as well. Reason distinction matters is because Herodotus' and Strabo's versions are completely different. In Strabo's version, Rhodopis is woman who's sandal gets stolen by the eagle and brought to pharaoh. He is charmed by her sandal and orders his servants to find the woman who lost her sandal. Eventually they find Rhodopis and they marry. In fact, when people call Rhodopis proto-Cinderella story, this is the version they refer to (locating woman through her shoe shape and marrying monarch are elements they found their way to the mainstream Cinderella stories).

Nowhere is it stated Kharaxus marries Rhodopis. Here is quote from Heredotus version of the story: "Rhodopis came to Egypt to work, brought by Xanthes of Samos, but upon her arrival was freed for a lot of money by Kharaxus of Mytilene, son of Scamandronymus and brother of Sappho the poetess. Thus Rhodopis lived as a free woman in Egypt, where, as she was very alluring, she acquired a lot of money—sufficient for such a Rhodopis, so to speak, but not for such a pyramid." It's not even mentioned he does it out of romantic feelings in Herodotus version, that part is only in later poems by Poseidippos: "Dorikha, your bones are long since dust, and dust the fillet that bound your hair, and the perfume-breathing robe you folded about lovely Kharaxos when, in his arms, you sipped the wine at dawn." She is here refered to as Dorikha, which is asumed to be her real name. This removes major smoking gun from the theory, although I'd argue that even act of freeing her works as pro Knightfall argument.

Rhodes' name could be pro Rhodopis argument due to it's etymology (both derived from greek word for rose) and being the only named character in Cinder's backstory, but it's pretty uncertain. Rhodes can also mean pomegranate in Greek (which could add more to my "Cinder is unicorn" theory since unicorn in image I used is tied to pomegranate tree. By taking down the tree, unicorn is free, just like Cinder thinks she is finally free after killing Madame and Rhodes)

Now that is out the way, I'd like to put tinfoil on and try to dissect the story for any Knightfall parallels.

Both Rhodopis and Cinder get enslaved outside of their homeland. Rhodopis is taken from Thrace, first to island of Samos, then to Naucratis in Egypt. Cinder is taken first to Atlas, then Evernight.

Both use pseudonyms. Fall is heavily implied to be name Cinder gave to herself. Similarly, Rhodopis is professional pseudonym. As stated above, her real name was asumed to be Dorikha by later poets. Even if that's not the case, it would make no sense for her real name to be Rhodopis. She was Thracian, it would make no sense for her to have Greek name in that time period (in 6th century BC Thrace is not Hellenized).

Island of Samos matches Atlas as a setting. First of all, contrast to the rest of the world. Just like Atlas is most developed city of Remnant, Greece stands as shining beacon of civilization above barbarian lands like Thrace. Both are also technically islands, although one of them is floating. However, if we take Samos' etymology (meaning high in Phoenician), it literally becomes "high island" just like Atlas.

Now here is something I refer to as "Aesop connection". One of Rhodopis' fellow slaves while she was on Samos was famous fable writer Aesop. "and a fellow-slave of Aesop the story-writer. For he was owned by Iadmon, too," Why does this matter? If you imagine Cinder as slave of Atlas, who would her fellow slave be? It would be faunus. Does it make sense to connect Aesop to faunus? I'd say yes, after all, Aesop is famous for writing stories mostly about anthropomorphic animals. Aesop is also one of the most famous storytellers in history, and considering RWBY is story about stories, him appearing in some shape or form wouldn't be weird. I mostly bring this up because if writing staff wanted to check Aesop's biography, they'd have to see this paragraph by Herodotus, which is part of Rhodopis story. So this is bit of a counterargument against claiming Rhodopis is too obscure to be inspiration (another being the fact that Rhodopis appears on Cinderella wiki article). Aesop gets different conclusion to his slavery. He is freed and employed as either advisor to wealthy Samian, or as envoy of king Croesus. This is entering speculative territory, but Aesop's conclusion of slavery matches what one would assume to be conclusion to faunus in the story. Working either with wealthy Samian (and as I said before, Samos=Atlas) or with Croesus (famous for being richest man alive and synonym for immense wealth, "as rich as Croesus") both allude to faunus working together with Weiss (although to be fair, any non Jacques Schnee family member works here) and redemeed SDC as equals, ending the long conflict.

Kharaxus spends immense wealth to free Rhodopis, earning him ire back at home, his sister Sappho even writing a poem criticizing him: "Kharaxus, after giving Rhodopis her freedom, returned to Mytilene. He is bitterly attacked by Sappho in one of her poems." I bring this up as bit of a Joan of Arc parallel to "strengthen" Jaune's role as Kharaxus. Joan's involvement with the king was one of the main points of her heresy trial. This is also relatively logical conclusion if we asume Knightfall or even just Jaune redeeming Cinder happens in canon: his friends would definitely be bitter about him bringing her to the group. If we wanna go through Knightfall rabbit hole, then we can speculate Kharaxus paying massive price could be equated to Jaune giving Cinder (or at least letting her take) Relic of Choice (action which would also certainly cause him to be bitterly attacked by his friends), since Kharaxus returns home without Rhodopis.

In conclusion, Rhodopis is short and sweet theory to the fault. Its length and straight forwardness makes it easy to digest, however, it's minimalism and relative obscurity also make it easy to shoot down if you don't already like or believe in Knightfall as potential canon ship.

#rwby theory #cinder fall #jaune arc #rwby jaune arc #rwby cinder fall #knightfall #rwby knightfall

[seventeen02]

favorite movies !

say you love me

a moment of romance

in blow

scarface

life is beautiful

death in venice

purple noon

mr and mrs smith

hackers

leon

girl interrupted

in the mood for love

days being wild

fallen angel

the beautiful person

the apartment

fuyajo

the black swan

the godfather 2

my own private idaho

two lovers under one roof

the scent of green papaya

vertical ray of the sun

stealing beauty

teorema

call me by your name

bonnie and clyde

fight club

kill bill

city of the rising sun

wheels of ashes

fruit of paradise

floating clouds

ghosts

inception

x movie

ley lines

the brown bunny

american psycho

platonic sex

last night in soho

emma

pride and prejudice

red lights

the dreamers

the wind rises

closer

six in paris

mermaids

garden state

on the occasion of remembering the turning gate

the doom generation

the girl on the motorcycle

open house

the place without limits

ratatouille

twin peaks

before sunrise

malèna

possession

all about lily chou chou

bride for rip van winkle

the lover

amelie

rebels of the neon god

as tears go by

a moment to remember

the hot spot

less than zero

edward scissorhands

eyes wide shut

un homme et une femme

the story of adele h

the last mistress

billboard dad

metropolitan

the pillow book

singles

la la land

mirrored mind

fatal frame

and then we danced

dear ex

tune in for love

one fine spring day

reality bites

running on empty

millennium mambo

lost and found

who's the woman, who's the man

mulholland drive

Jess + Moss

swallowtail butterfly

dorian gray

durian durian

hana & alice

40 days and 40 nights

l'amour braque

picnic

to each is own

guilty of romance

vagabond

city of madness

three times

mary is happy mary is happy

comet

sleepless town

like someone in love

hausu

house

46 okunen no koi

2046

l'enfer

cloud atlas

old boy

mystery train

the odd one dies

kedi

l'amour l'apres-midi

fire on the black hand side

le bonheur

fantastic planet

mirror

belladonna of sadness

daisies

lost highway

sweet movie

pearl

heathers

moulin rouge

suspiria

the rich man's wife

requiem for a dream

the others

return of the living dead

dracula

interview with the vampire

wir kinder vom bahnof zoo

le mepris

chi-n-pi-ra

chungking express

ashes and snow

shuttering island

the grand budapest hotel

the young girls of rochefort

the florida project

the edge of love

irreversible

crash

gone girl

bullet ballet

of love and shadows

minari

galaxy express 999

audition

lan yu

silsila

belle de jour

taal

dead or alive

videodrama

lost in translation

washington square

soulmate

summer lovers

barbarella

snake of june

a woman under the influence

mysterious skin

red eye

happy together

the walk

brick

l.a. confidental

love & pop

linda linda linda

swing girls

nana

the lover

hirugao

helter sketler

suzhou river

kaili blues

kamikaze girls

valerie and her week of wonders

comrades, almost a love story

naked lunch

endless love

whiplash

taxi driver

vivre sa vie

la collectionneuse

dog day afternoon

night in paradise

my mister

my name

better days

himizu

first love, letter on the breeze

split of the spirit

one million yen girl

juncchi mori

la belle

ITSAY

mermaid legend

blue spring

badlands

marie antoinette

aftersun

brokeback mountain

portrait of lady on fire

nostos: the return

shiki-jitsu

farewell my concubine

constantine

never let me go

bones and all

paris is burning

trouble everyday

memories of matsuko

pierrot le feu

taipei story

blue velvet

a woman is a woman

buffalo 66

the love witch

valley of dolls

the rocky horror picture show

[nochistudios]

PRESS RELEASE from https://nochistudios.com/blog/untold-atlas-kickstarter-press

Nochi Studios Releases Kickstarter Campaign For Their Third Game Title, “Untold Atlas”

Ann Arbor, Michigan — Nochi Studios has launched their Kickstarter campaign to support their third game title, Untold Atlas. If the campaign is successful in raising funding, the planned release date for the mobile game is in May 2023, available on iOS and Android.

“It’s a cool take on mixing visual novels with a player-interactive mini-game that we’ve never done before,” said Natalie Fang, director of Untold Atlas. “Even with the new features we’re experimenting with, players will still experience the romance elements they are expecting from our studio’s games.”

Untold Atlas is a choice driven game taking on an expedition adventure theme while playing with the visual novel category by weaving in-game group chats and mini-games with intriguing romances.

“It is a love letter to the adventure and expedition genre of stories, films, and games that we’ve grown up with and have inspired us over the years,” said Alexandra Mejia, the main writer for the company.

Nochi Studios is building on the momentum of their second game, Somnium Eleven, that was released in February 2022. With Kickstarter, the team plans to accelerate their development timeline for Untold Atlas and has plans to work closely with fans and supporters to develop a game that has the intentions of backers’ interests every step of the way.

Game Description:

Riya Cross is sent on an expedition to explore Aethra, a mysterious island which was once a beacon of ancient technology before being lost to the depths of the sea, then resurfaced back into the world.

Led by Captain Felix Harker, Riya and the rest of their crew which includes loose cannon Eli Ryder, the accomplished Lilith Wren, the contracted scientist Alexei Nova, and the ever-pleasant Aethran guide Claris Io to embark into the mysteries of Aethra and all its regions as they grow closer to the answers behind the true source of the island’s ancient technology while diving into their own adventures and romances along the way.

Game Features:

20+ Hours of gameplay

Make choices to meet & romance characters in an adventure setting

12+ Different endings

Unlockable group chats and CGs (collectable art)

Play entertaining minigame rounds to earn in-game content

For more information about Nochi Studios and Untold Atlas, details can be found on the Kickstarter campaign site and Nochi’s webpage.

#otome #new game #indiedev #datingsim #dating sim #otome game #otomegame

[weirdowithaquill]

WIP Game:

RULES: post the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them and then post a little snippet or tell them something about it! and then tag as many people as you have WIPS. (... I do not know this many people)

Thank you @jobey-wan-kenobi for tagging me in - here's my best attempt to categorise the various inane WIP pieces I have floating about. Oh, and cause I'm a multi-fandom writer, the fandom is at the end of the title.

Edit: Alright, so now I'm sort of using this as a check-off list for things I've written. Things people ask about generally get more progress done on them - so ask about what you want to read!

1: Jinty, Pug and the Ffarquhar Branch Engines (RWS) 2: Bowler the Redeemed Engine (RWS) 3: Arry the Churlish Engine (RWS) 4: Murdoch the Mighty Engine (RWS) 5: Seaside Engines (RWS) 6: Duncan the Disagreeable Engine (RWS) 7: Sir Topham Hatt and his Engines (RWS) 8: Ivo Hugh the Young Engine (RWS) 9: Arthur the Midland Engine (RWS) 10: Mixed-Traffic Engines (RWS) 11: Mid Sodor Engines (RWS) 12: The Caledonian Twin Engines (RWS) 13: Very Important Engines (RWS) 14: Silent Engine Bert Again (RWS) 15: Duke's and Duchess' Engines (RWS) 16: The 2004 Special: The World-Famous Engine (RWS) 17: Edward; a Requiem in Steam (RWS) 18: Mavis the Quarry Engine (RWS) 19: History of the Sodor Highland Railway (RWS) 20: The Island Song (RWS) 21: Five American Engines (RWS) 22: TATMR Horror Story (RWS) 23: The Reject Railway (RWS) 24: Tales From the Other Railway (RWS) 25: Tidmouth Train to Hell (RWS) 26: RWS/World Trigger Crossover (RWS, World Trigger)

27: Hyuse & The Iron Horse (World Trigger) 28: Crash-Course in Meeden (World Trigger)

29: In Orwell's World (Voltron) 30: Comfort Food (Voltron) 31: Pidge & Dr Strangelove (Voltron) 32: Keith and the Wolf (Voltron) 33: Grandma McClain and Adam Join the Voltron Crew (Voltron) 34: Planet Obscure (Voltron)

35: TDWT Rewrite (Total Drama) 36: Total Drama Grand Tour (Total Drama) 37: Pull Your Weight (Total Drama) 38: X-Treme Torture Rewrite (Total Drama) 39: A Night To Remember (Total Drama) 40: In the Hold (Total Drama) 41: Total Drama King Lear AU (Total Drama)

42: BirdFlash story (DC) 43: Jingle Bells, Nightwing Noel (DC) 44: Red Hood Reading Club (DC) 45: WikiHow Does Not Have An Article For That! (DC) 46: Manor on the Hill (DC) 47: Swear Jar (DC)

48: Malevolent Spirit (Saiki K) 49: When You Fall, I Will Pick You Up (Saiki K) 50: Dark Reunion's Anti-Love Ray (Saiki K) 51: Rome (Saiki K) 52: How to Win Over Saiki K, or a Rhapsody of a Man Not in Love (Saiki K) 53: Saiki K Europe Trip (Saiki K) 54: Kusuo's Christmas (Saiki K)

55: Jinrao (Naruto) 56: Obito, Father of the Jinchuuriki (Naruto) 57: Akatsuki Parents (Naruto) 58: Naruto & Nazis (Naruto) 59: Sakura Out-trains Everyone (Naruto) 60: Dogs Shouldn't Be This Hard! (Naruto) 61: Refuelling Shouldn't Be This Hard! (Naruto) 62: Work Shouldn't Be This Hard! (Naruto) 63: Barbeques Shouldn't Be This Hard! (Naruto) 64: Snorkelling Shouldn't Be This Hard! (Naruto) 65: Adoption Shouldn't Be This Hard! (Naruto) 66: Children Shouldn't Be This Hard! (Naruto) 67: KakaObi Regency Story Part 2 (Naruto) 68: Sasuke/Naruto Story (Naruto) 69: The Club (Naruto) 70: Atomic (Naruto) 71: Only Love Can Hurt Like This (Naruto) 72: The Railwayman AU (Naruto) 73: The Hidan Story (Naruto) 74: School Shenanigans (Naruto)

75: Just Ask Him Out Already! (Assassination Classroom) 76: AssClass Yearbook (Assassination Classroom) 77: The Theoretical Sequel to 'The Informant' (Assassination Classroom) 78: Lost in the Night (Assassination Classroom)

79: Britain in the AtLA World (Avatar; The Last Airbender) 80: Picture of Sokka of the Water Tribe (Avatar; The Last Airbender) 81: Night at the Fire Temple (Avatar; The Last Airbender) 82: Fast Car (Avatar; The Last Airbender)

83: Stay Away From Minnemeny Island (One Piece) 84: Kaoru and the German (Ouran High School Host Club) 85: Romantic Killer AU (Romantic Killer)

86: The White Elephant *The Sherlockverse* (Various)

Right... so that took way longer than expected. Originally, it all seemed fine - I have most of my things in a single, neat folder. And then I remembered I have a Microsoft Account... and a WordPad full of old fics... and several workbooks with their own things in them. I think I'm still missing one workbook, all truth be told!

@lswro2-222 @predawnrex04 and that's all the people I know who aren't @jobey-wan-kenobi

Edit 2: When I get down to like... 60 or something WIPs on here, I'm going to overhaul the list to take them off and put up the new ones. Until then, remember to ask about the WIPs you're most interested in!

#wip #wip update #work in progress #work in process #ao3 fanfic #ao3 stuff #ao3 writer #ao3 author #read on ao3 #thomas the tank engine #railway series #world trigger #voltron #total drama #total drama island #dick grayson #wally west #dc universe #the disastrous life of saiki k #naruto #naruto shippuden #assassination classroom #avatar the last airbender #Weirdowithaquill #Weirdo's WIPs #fanfiction writer #wip game

[bookgeekgrrl]

My media this week (4-10 Feb 2024)

top 5 personal HO fave - he was he was super thrilled to be there, had a great time, lost his mind a little & flexed (literally). Incredible.

📚 STUFF I READ 📚

😊 Throuple Honey (Brent Archer) - short, sweet & simple with lots of domestic details

🥰 "Why Don't We Just Kill the Kid In the Omelas Hole" (Isabel J. Kim) - love a skillful response to the classic original story. I just kept saying 'wow. wow.'

😍😍😍 Reread the entirety of Rachel Reid's Game Changers series. I just love them all SO MUCH!!!! 😍😍😍

Game Changer (Game Changers #1) [Scott & Kip]

Merry Christmas Scott & Kip (Game Changers #1.5)

Heated Rivalry (Game Changers #2) [Shane & Ilya] {here's a really great review of this book, which is THEEEE GREATEST rivals-to-lovers story ever!}

My Dinner with Hayden: A Heated Rivalry Short Story (Game Changers #2.5)

Tough Guy (Game Changers #3) [Ryan & Fabian]

Common Goal (Game Changers #4) [Eric & Kyle]

Role Model (Game Changers #5) [Troy & Harris]

The Long Game (Game Changers #6) [Shane & Ilya, Part 2]

🥰 The Supersoldier's Amnesiac Groom (casspeach) - 48K, very canon divergent arranged marriage AU - reread for Stucky Book Club

📺 STUFF I WATCHED 📺

A Word on Words | NPT: Starter Villain - John Scalzi

Hot Ones - Tony Hawk

Hot Ones - Sterling K. Brown

Hot Ones - Mark Ruffalo

Hot Ones - John Oliver

Hot Ones - Barry Keoghan

Hazbin Hotel - s1, e2

D20: Fantasy High: Junior Year - "Mall Madness" (s21, e5)

D20: Adventuring Party - "Can I Offer You a Nice Shrimp in This Trying Time?" (s16, e5)

🎧 PODCASTS 🎧

Desert Island Discs - Graham Nash, musician

⭐ Up First - The Sunday Story: Tiny Desk, Big Stage

⭐ What Next: TBD - Streaming Is Cable Now

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Taquile Island

Short Wave - Wolves Are Thriving In The Radioactive Chernobyl Exclusion Zone

The Sporkful - Undercover Dining With NY Times Restaurant Critic Pete Wells

Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang - The Top 10 Places We Would Love To Visit

Pop Culture Happy Hour - 2024 Grammys Recap

Vibe Check - Hey, Sis: featuring Audie Cornish

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Moynaq

Shedunnit - The Green Penguin

Vibe Check - Hell Has Flooded

⭐ It's Been a Minute - Sam Reich on revamping the game show - and Dropout's success as a small streamer

Ologies with Alie Ward - Theoretical & Creative Ecology (SCIENCE & ECOPOETRY) with Madhur Anand

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Welcome Home

Short Wave - After 20 Years, This Scientist Uncovered The Physics Behind The Spiral Pass

99% Invisible #569 - Between the Blocks

Switched on Pop - Brittany Howard's Chaos Theory (with Brittany Howard)

⭐ Song Exploder - Green Day "Basket Case"

The Assignment with Audie Cornish - Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce: Cultural Supernova

⭐ Throughline - The Scent of History

⭐ The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Kam Wah Chung & Co. Museum

Alt.Latino - The greatest Boleros of all-time

The Sporkful - Deep Dish With Sohla And Ham: Tacos Al Pastor

Today, Explained - When one (airplane) door opens …

Dear Prudence - Is My Work Husband Keeping Me A Secret From His Wife? Help!

Pop Culture Happy Hour - Lisa Frankenstein And What's Making Us Happy

Endless Thread - Recess Therapy's Julian Shapiro-Barnum is skeptical of kids becoming social media stars

⭐ Strong Songs - "In Your Eyes" by Peter Gabriel

Today, Explained - Why Taylor left TikTok

Short Wave - Clownfish Might Be Counting Their Potential Enemies' Stripes

You're Dead to Me - Simón Bolívar

Consider This from NPR - What Makes A Football Movie Great?

It's Been a Minute - A Super Bowl in 'new Vegas'; plus, the inverted purity of the Stanley Cup

Wait Wait… Don't Tell Me! - Lena Waithe

Under the Influence with Terry O'Reilly - Putting the Awe in Audio

🎶 MUSIC 🎶

The Very Best Of Buddy Holly And The Crickets

My Mix #5 [Simon & Garfunkel, Carpenters, John Denver]

Presenting KISS

Presenting Black Sabbath

#sunday reading recap #bookgeekgrrl's reading habits #bookgeekgrrl's soundtracks #fanfic ftw #game changers series #rachel reid #d20 #dimension 20 #hot ones #buddy holly #kiss #black sabbath #song exploder #strong songs podcast #what next: tbd podcast #up first podcast #the atlas obscura podcast #99% invisible podcast #it's been a minute podcast #shedunnit podcast #switched on pop podcast #throughline podcast #you're dead to me podcast #vibe check podcast #short wave podcast #pop culture happy hour podcast #the sporkful podcast #endless thread podcast #desert island discs #alt.latino podcast

[that-one-queer-poc]

3 8 & 11 for the ask game? hope ur doing okay :)

GOOD LIRD I DIDNT SEE THIS TILL NOW . SORRY :3

i’m putting the summary response first so you know what im talking abt, so this world has 6 types of genetic magic and 5 skill levels for each, there’s the typical air water fire earth, then there’s light, and then there’s a type that can use the first most basic skill level for the other 5. <- those guys are oppressed and genocided, also sort of the light ppl but to a lesser extent. it mainly takes place on an underwater island, that was sunken by magic users during a civil war ABOUT the oppression, unfortunately it was blamed on the oppressed and they were all killed unless they escaped the island.

so the main character of the actual story lives 2 some centuries after that war, the magic racism is still alive and well and it’s getting kinda worse for the light ppl. but holy shit she finds out that she’s half light person!?!??!11?!?11!?? (bc of how the genetics works light is the only magic that someone can have alongside another, she has fire + light) so she tries to hide it from everybody while learning abt her new magic and she realizes she’s been propagandized her whole life. and then there’s conveniently someone from the genocided magic group and he’s from the surface, and she escapes w him back to the surface and (this is where it gets hazyish) joins the rebellion . and also meets her mom who she thought was dead or something. yeag 👍🏽

ANYWAYS motifs. i have no clue how well i’ll execute them but our main girl is not a fan of living underwater so the water is gonna represent death and discomfort and a lack of belonging and such, while the sun (and all other above ground things) are gonna be life and joy and natural beauty. the island is also called sunora and the land it’s off the coast of is monalia, something something sun and moon. and main girls name is solana bc i’m sooo subtle. but it’s gonna be so fun writing her experiencing all that stuff for the first time :3

so the worldbuilding. glaringly obviously atla inspired, also the lost city of atlantis i guess. i promise i’m cooking guys. but also i saw a tumblr post a while ago i can’t find it anymore but it said if you need words for your fiction just take words that describe it and mismatch them. i do NOT remember how i got what i got but it kinda fits the vibes so i’d say it worked. the names of the magic are bowamagia (water, blue) doremagia (earth, green) wiramagia (air, gray) filamagia (fire, red) chromagia (light, gold) and poleamagia (all, purple) also the colors associated w that magic are the color of the users eyes. so solana has heterochromia. bc i am smart and big brained

#chromagia #<- working title probably might change idk #lowk i made a character w heterochromia covering it w an eyepatch 4 years ago and i was like ‘ok now why is that’ and now this exists #this is also one of too many original fiction stories rotating in my mind all the time #GRACIAS FOR THE ASK RIN :3 (that’s your name right. i’m not a dummy)

[metalatias5]

Say what is the story for the Elemental AU of Simon ?

I'm guessing by Elemental AU you mean my AT Avatar AU

It's a bit of a long one to explain, hence why I haven't made an AU summary for it yet like I have for my other Adventure Time AU's, but at its very base it's an ATLA inspired AU, sort of merging ATLA's bending system into the world of Adventure Time while I take complete creative liberty changing around the story, history, characters and their relationships

For example, Simon in this AU was born an Ice Elemental and prince of the Ice Kingdom, being the son of Urgence Evergreen and twin brother of Patience Evergreen. There's also a whole story going on with him and Prince Chicle of the Candy Kingdom (which started out as a joke crack ship of mine until I just became way too fond of the two of them together in this AU, their ship name is Ice Cream)

Other notable things to mention without diving too deep and making this too long of a post rambling on trying to explain this AU include: - Finn being the Avatar (functioning the same as in ATLA, he can bend fire, candy, ice and slime and act as a bridge to the spirit world) - Jake being a slime-bender (potentially even being part Elemental, haven't decided yet, but he's basically stretchy because his whole body is more or less slime) - Marceline still being Simon's sort-of adopted daughter after losing her mom, though she's not a vampire in this AU (at least not yet) - Gunther the dinosaur is alive in current times, acting as Simon's assistant/adoptive son - There's a whole story arc I've come up with where Chicle gets lost at sea while out on a several year long venture with Patience and when she returns without him (now Queen) Bonnie suspects that she got rid of him on purpose, causing tension between the kingdoms - Also when Patience returns from that trip she challenges her (then King) brother Simon to an Ice Duel and kicks him off the throne - Betty also exists in this AU, being a human who got adopted by the family of Doctor Princess who's obsessed with studying the Elements, Elementals, bending, etc - Besides the four main elements (Fire, Candy, Ice and Slime) there are also four anti-Elements (Light, Lumps, Night and Death) - Besides the Mushroom War there was also the Elemental War, which ended up driving the humans out of the land and to what would become Founders Island

Again, I don't want to ramble too much because this would get LONG, but this might give you a bit of an idea already I still haven't quite worked everything out anyway, there are always things subject to be added or changed, but I still have a lot more details already that I could be getting into potentially ^^'

#ask Meta #ask #asks #Avatar AU #AT Avatar AU #Adventure Time AU #AT AU