#< (altho it might end up just being a post like this one LMAO)

[youredreamingofroo]

oh my god... I just remembered something I saw a while ago which was (not verbatim) "drawing in what I think is my ocs' art style"... maybe ill do that.. :3c

[ I ended up ranting a LOT abt my OCs' art styles and their art content below the cut, so. yea. 🧍‍♂️ ]

Roo's would probably be soft, maybe a little rough because he's not 100% into art, I kinda see his being akin to Arthur's art style when drawing animal sketches.

Leo's would be veryyyyy rough, stray bits of lead/graphite around his lines cuz he doesn't know about pencil pressure, he would struggle with straight lines and be very against having curved lines (so a lot of his drawings come out with sharp edges)

Nirvanas art style would be flowy, as aggressive as she is, she's got gentle hands (when she's not feeling murderous ahsjabs), and would feel a sort of peer pressure from herself to have a flowy art style (applicable to her hand writing, I could see her having absurd cursive)

Hero would have a VERY simple art style, but I think the content she draws would not be reflected well in her art style, very... grotesque and haunting stuff. Aside from her grotesque content, imagine something akin to... a little more sophisticated stick figures? Idk how to word it sjsjsj

Onia's art style would be very... back and forth. When drawing in her own time and by herself, her art style reflects her soft heart, soft pencil lines, and maybe a little shaky, I think her own personal drawings would be a little vent-y? So she gets emotional when drawing (hence "shaky"). But when she's drawing for someone else or drawing in public, her lines and art style *attempt* to reflect her harsh mask, more angular lines, frequently breaking her lead (she silently gets embarrassed for doing this btw) and having much darker and harsher lines overall ig

-

I know I already kinda explained what my ocs WOULD draw in some of their blocks, but I'm gonna do a (hopefully) better explanation below;

Roo wouldn't do anything extreme, probably just some basic, simple sketches of shapes with eyes, or little creatures, like cats (similar to me when doodling)

I don't think Leo ever really draws, maybe just once in a while, in which case he just draws stupid and inconsistent patterns (just doodling essentially). I can see him drawing "vent art" when hes angry, which would just be INCREDIBLY aggressive lines and doodles and words like "i hate this" or something along those lines, reflecting his rage- BUT if he WERE to be drawing anything, I do think he'd be doing anatomy practice, he wouldn't apply that anatomical knowledge anywhere, it would moreso be a form of having something to do when he's coming down from a fit of rage (strange coping mechanism but okay).

Nirvana would draw. Women. I can see her drawing the most beautiful and diverse women, in an attempt to manifest the love of her life (that "love" being any woman to ever exist), she would go into an unexplainable amount of detail for no reason, quite literally sculpting in 2D/on paper.

Hero, like I said, would draw just. grotesque. disturbing things, I think she draws less for the fun of it, but moreso to record and jot down the absolute HORRORS that she's forced to perceive. Also her curse absolutely takes control over her when she's drawing sometimes, and draws disturbing imagery of her being k worded (not to get graphic or whatever)

Onia does not draw for fun either, she would (on her own) only draw to vent the frustrations of having to mask and being born the way she was, she also (on her own again) draws self portraits of herself, which have, slowly, gotten progressively further and further from what she actually looks like, making herself look a lot meaner or "beat up". In public, she just doodles, she does nottttt like drawing in public, sometimes her doodles turn into unprompted portraits of others in public, mainly people she finds interesting looking, or people who give off a certain vibe that she's aiming for, essentially jotting that person down to take note of their attire/vibe so she can attempt to copy it.

[atopvisenyashill]

how differently would've events between tywin and aerys gone if aerys was madly in love with tywin and not joanna? assume tywin is still heterosexual but whether or not he's willing to suck dick for house lannister is up to you.

first of all, aerys gets really mean with joanna really quickly. i think he's insanely tacky when she dies and this is ultimately what causes tywin to leave. but before that....

like do i think tywin would suck dick for house lannister? no, i think he's too weird about sex to do something like that. i do think he might imply he would be willing to suck dick for house lannister, and i do think he'd be willing to have a parade of pretty blond men in aerys' bed to keep him happy. which, make no mistake, this is still a sexual dynamic, because tywin is picking out men that look like himself for aerys to fuck, and aerys is imagining they are tywin and then they sit across each other at the small council meeting and talk about taxes.

i do think there’s a shot aerys doesn’t go super insane as quickly because he’s more persuadable? more willing to let tywin take the lead. but it’s also like. at a certain point, it must get grating that everyone is taking knocks at him and complimenting tywin. probably, the beginning of his reign is much more stable, and while the defiance could still happen - with their relationship detiorating slower but who wouldn’t try to take advantage of their gay king getting snippy with his bestie lol - i think it’s not impossible aerys clings to tywin? like, oh our fighting was what gave them an in, you can’t ever leave me or my entire line will end, essentially trying to put tywin into the same closed up situation he has viserys and rhaella in. it’s just that at a certain point a man has DIGNITY ya know and tywin doesn’t like being laughed at. once things go from “lmao tywin is practically aerys’ dom” to “oh tywin is the king’s lovaaaaaah” i think tywin starts getting annoyed. and while he’s doing this, rhaegar is of marital age, in a constant depressive fugue state because he read a prophecy he thinks is about his kids.

anyways, they’d absolutely have a hugely public breakup and now everyone knows aerys is silly and gay, and rhaegar is embarrassed. southron ambitions is still happening bc they’re all like “oh so he’s crazy AND he takes it up the ass?? NAH” (remember how shitty jaime is about oberyn being queer 😭😭). but aerys is a different kind of crazy. post crazy situationship breakup kind of insane. i wish i had a canonicly messy gay king to point to but alas. irl historically, these situations do not turn out well in the end tho lol. probably king’s landing is better off, if aerys hits on a madness that doesn’t involve the fire pots ? altho…maybe he has a “if i can’t have you no one can” approach and kl is still screwed. i think the question is what’s rhaegar doing here. how does rhaegar feel about his dads shenanigans? is he campaigning based on “i’m so heterosexual look i had a kid already and i once went a full week without talking to my male besties bc i have normal boundaries?” while joncon weeps silently in the corner?

[houkagokappa]

I stayed to watch anime because I have zero desire to watch anything on my own these days lmao, and I'm glad I did because we saw some good episodes!!

We watched the gacha episode of Odd Taxi. I've seen clips from it, so I knew what was coming with the dodo, but I was not expecting the YJA bidding bit. It killed me, because I too have gotten stuck in bidding wars (last spring I spent more than twice over my limit on a gorgeous fukuro obi ahahaha rip me altho it was worth it in the end).

I'm really liking Odd Taxi, I love how contemporary and human it is (despite the animal characters heh), especially how they've managed to include social media in a way that feels real and not overly forced or ridiculed. I'm also a huge fan of stories with a big cast of characters with their own separate story lines that eventually mix. I think it's very neat and cool to see how one seemingly small action ends up being significant for someone or something else. The only problem with this is, that because I watch this show with two weeks between each episode, it's a bit difficult to remember everything that might be of importance, or how one thing came to be. It definitely feels like a show with a lot of rewatch value to catch all the connections and foreshadowing.

I was also very happy to stay and watch more Gankutsuou. We're only on episode 3, but so far I've loved every single minute of it. I can't wait to see where this goes, because I can tell that the tension and drama will be delicious and heart wrenching.

Great Pretender was a lot of fun as well. It's cool to see characters outsmart each other and satisfying when it looks like they're about to get caught, but it turns out that they've thought and prepared for everything in advance. I don't know how Edamura will get out of preparing sakura magic in front of the director, but I'm sure he'll find a way.

I did sneak out a bit during Kamichu! to see the final minutes of TRHPS, because I had to see what kind of vibe they were having. I could barely hear anything from them, so at times I questioned if they were even watching it?? But they were, just in complete silence. I guess that's one way to do it.

Earlier I talked about not liking Kamichu! a whole lot, and while it's certainly not a favourite of mine, some episodes have been decent. The episode I missed half of had Yurie negotiate with a martian on behalf of the prime minister which was/seemed fun! The second episode we watched had her be sick and lonely for a few days, which felt incredibly pointless and boring to me, although I get how it might feel significant for someone in middle school.

Then we watched episode 4 of Bokurano where the kids finally learn that Zearth runs on their life forces. I liked this episode, and I'm glad to see how Kodama got to learn his lesson and then die. I'm curious to see what will happen next and how the whole series will end.

Finally, we watched two episodes of Tomo-chan wa Onnanoko! In my last post I was cautiously optimistic about it, and now I can confirm that it's a good show! It's funny, the bits are short enough not to get overplayed, it has very nice character dynamics and interactions and it doesn't solely focus on the romance, so that part hasn't gotten stale in any way. It really helps that Tomo and Jun are best friends, so they bounce back from all the misunderstandings and awkwardness without it becoming a huge deal. It's also sweet to see how clearly Jun likes her back, making the show a wholesome slow-burn. Also, it's really cool to see a tomboyish lead who's very comfortable with themselves and their style, and how whenever she does try to be more feminine (to catch Jun's attention as per the premise of the show) she tends to do it on her terms.

Overall I'm happy with what we're watching (except for Kamichu! which I could live without).

[shijiujun]

i feel kinda bad for shl cos all the fans of hyx and spl are blaming shl since their dramas are being delayed :(

LMAO I really don’t get that altho i can see that the timing might be a little back to back, and i’m not a SHL-only stan by any measure but:

For HYX especially,

Firstly it was already having problems since the end of last year with censorship and review. This is mostly due to the reason that 2ha is a pretty big fandom and is the cult fave in the danmei industry - what this means is that there are three types of fans basically right, (1) Normal fans who love the novel + show (2) Those who fanatically love the novel in some extreme ways haha (3) Those who hate it and/or are HYX-onlys - so you get it all in a bag. 

The first type of fans is definitely the easier ones to deal with, but unfortunately in big fandoms you get a lot of (2) and (3). It’s not something that’s exclusive only to 2ha/HYX but because it’s a cult fave, and a controversial one at that, problems definitely arise.

(2) are the ones who head down to the filming scenes, take photos and footage despite crew telling ppl not to do it, not to sneak around filming sites and definitely not to leak photos or footage. They do it anyway. Yeah sure of course it’s a couple of photos every few weeks or a tiny video every few weeks but word gets out. They’re inevitably hurting the show and the fandom with their actions, because shit trends on Weibo really fast, and the censorship committee (not just for the film industry or shows) is always lurking on the site to catch any sign of you know, hate speech for the country etc. and more. Not related, but the point is that social media is watched very closely. It’s not a myth or an exaggeration, you really just got to be careful, and HYX is a show that, despite not having been broadcasted, has consistently trended on Weibo over the last few months. Not always because of leaks, but yeah, HYX is in everyone’s faces. Fans themselves put a fucking huge spotlight on the show BEFORE we even have any content at all, and of course this isn’t enough to like create huge trouble for the show but then we have-

(3), which I believe creates the most trouble - the thing is 2ha and meatbun who wrote the book, has a long line of haters and antis, way before HYX came into the picture. I shall not go into details of how I’ve seen some big accounts on Tumblr here spit vitriol at the book without even reading it just based on the content/trigger warnings and playing the morality card (and I think most ppl who’ve followed me for a while know just what I think about that). Like this was way before any footage or leaks or even HYX being a thing came about - as a cult fave it has its share of haters, and this share is a huge. There are those who get off on their moral high grounds XD and I think especially these ones are the most troublesome, all they have to do is report that HYX is immoral, bad for culture etc. etc. hahaha and yeah the censorship team is always ready to step in on reports, especially on BL stuff.

And of course the larger part is the change in censorship processes - honestly even way before SHL came out in end Feb, HYX was no closer to getting passed by the review committee than it is now. Maybe yes, SHL scenes may be now used as reference for comparison but seriously? People are deluding themselves if they thought pre-SHL HYX was going through the review process smoothly and only hit roadblocks after. I mean, we’ve all seen the leaks, some of them are truly like god-tier scenes that may be hard to explain away. It’s not like they can repackage the script especially because they have to submit everything to the review committee.

I mentioned this in a post yesterday but how SHL passed reviews is due to the fact that they didn’t have to submit a full script. They only had to submit a partial script, and that makes a world of difference. Basically a team, under these requirements, can repackage the script to include the more het looking parts even I feel, and of course some heavy misdirection by the team, it could work. Now that you have to put an entire script up for scrutiny.. I mean, it’s hard. This is just a game of probability.

And the last reason I think is still Tencent. Honestly, I’ve never seen a huge ass MNC like this handle a show this terribly.

1. No control over leaks - This is honestly the dumbest shit to do

2. Terrible crisis management response time - When fans leak footage, it’s standard and practical business sense to control it IMMEDIATELY. They shouldn’t just leave it up to the crew to put up notices and as the company that owns the rights to the show, it’s up to them to possibly threaten legal action as well. Basically a sterner stance would have helped a lot, but Tencent is a motherfucker of a company who only cares about free marketing and publicity without any considerations over impact to the show itself 

3. Terrible at communicating with fans - Seriously, I’ve never seen a company or team that’s been this bad at confirming delays etc. and providing updates about a show. I understand that it’s mostly due to them not wanting to affect the review process or create more chaos within the fandom but lmao Tencent allowed the hype to build so much and then goes absolutely silent at crazy rumours. I mean we had to find out about a delay from Cai Bao, their cat mascot, like??? In a really veiled and poetic message that didn’t outright say the word ‘delay’ like damn these ppl have a lot of time

As for SPL,

Lol we don’t know anything about this show. We don’t know if they took out or left in the Yifu part that would supposedly make it less gay or whatever, we don’t know anything about how gay it should have been or could have, so this one might be a tad more ridiculous. I mean none of us have seen any good leaks, and we haven’t seen any of the script, we got ZERO idea about this. Maybe they really went hard on the bromance, how would any of us know hahaha so all the more it’s like people have zero basis to go on, to say that it’s because of SHL. Seriously, everyone’s shooting in the dark.

Technically if laws didn’t change last Feb, I think SPL/WIK should have been passed in the same way as SHL did, but it’s just inopportune time for them.

===

- So tl:dr HYX already had tons of problems, that I doubt were going to go away just because SHL didn’t air, honestly. For SPL, it’s really hard to tell what failed the review, because none of us know what’s going on in the script.

No one cared about SHL, even I only realized the show was airing on the day itself and then made a rec post after I watched the first 4 eps. And if it truly was anything to do with SHL, I’m telling you that the first thing the censorship committee will do is basically shut SHL down, get Youku to take it off sites etc. until it’s reviewed again etc. etc. That hasn’t happened yet, at least not before HYX and SPL were stalled.

===

ALSO!! Don’t have to feel sorry for SHl fans hahaha I’m telling ya a lot of us definitely weren’t OG SHL or TYK fans, seriously! All the bigger accounts I see on Twitter are a combination of CQL/SHL or MXTX/SHL, SPL/SHL and I am personally 2HA/HYX/SHL. The fight is all out on Twitter HAHAHAHA but it’s not that bad, we’ve all got practice. Seriously WHO ACTUALLY is an SHL only stan I’ve honestly not seen much?! HAHAHA the point is we’re all yelling on behalf of SHL as a cross fandom fan, easier for us to do so as well. We’re talking about 2ha/HYX/SPL/Priest dedicated accounts that delved deep into SHL championing for no-nonsense in the space hahaha

[re-lmayer]

i am so sorry it took me so long to make this post for anybody who was waiting patiently for any updates. it’s been such a busy few days for me with this move

tl;dr we’ve arrived safe and sound! under cut i’ll go over some stuff too

it was significantly cheaper to hire movers in pa, like literally less than half the quotes in ky, so i did end up hiring movers on this end to make things go more smoothly on everyone here ;w; they...... kinda suck but you get what you pay for and the job was done! 

i also got to move into the original room i’d wanted and not the basement like we thought i’d move to! i’m so excited! that was an unexpected change and i was happy to take it. i vibe with the energy of this space a whole lot

the movers did, at this point, leave me with a  HUGE mess of boxes. i’d asked them to stack things more but. they did not. they did not put things against the walls, so i’ve got a weird situation where most of it is in the center of the room, so it’s gonna take me time to properly sort things, especially with my back the way it is

one of the things they didn’t do is bring my bedframe from downstairs. (charlie’s husband alan built it down there when we thought i’d be down there.) sooo it’s gonna be a few days before we can disassmble and reassmble upstairs ;w; but the first night i did sleep in it, and ALL the cats slept with me on it lmao. we were all pilled up on a twin mattress and it was so funny and i loved it dearly

we brought the mattress up here, and i’m okay with that for the time being until i can sort things out a little more

all the cats have adjusted so well! they seem just fine. stormie even has been even sweeter to me and slept right next to my head so i’m so pleased with that. they have let charlie and alan both pet them all!

speaking of alan, my first impression of him was.... him cooing at my cats instead of greeting me first lmao. vibe check passed. he’s made me feel very welcome and comfortable

i had some budget to start trying to bring the space together, so i’ve invested so far in bookshelves, and i intend to paint the room! i’ve never ever had a custom painted room in a color i like before, so while it might seem frivolous to some folks it really was something that i really, really wanted and knew would make me really happy, so i think folks don’t begrudge that happiness? i’m hoping to have enough budget for a few more basic things and hopefully drawers and a desk, altho budget is running low :,)

[wickedpact]

life's hecticness has finally kinda caught up to me and im just feeling super worn down and im seeking comfort in the old guard and because your blog always sparks joy ive come to you. on the subject of comfort do you have any thoughts on coping mechanisms/ways to comfort themselves the members of the old guard have? and similarly, ways they help comfort the others too? i would love to hear any and all thoughts you might have on the matter <3 - 2ta

in terms of comforting others:

nicky: words. i think its kind of interesting, but every time in the movie we see as character in emotional distress nicky speaks up (its okay nile, tell us, sono qui, everything happens for a reason boss) the only time he breaks this habit is when booker talks about grief in the lab.

booker: we dont rlly see booker explicitly comfort people much but he does seem to tend towards expressions of solidarity or subtle check-ins/expressions of concern (for the former he tells nile about his family, he tells nile big wounds take longer to heal, he reminds andy that ‘this is what you wanted’ and for the latter he asks andy post-stab if shes alright, he tells andy he wont see her again, etc)

hes also quick to (rightfully lmao) accept blame (after the kill floor, when he wont get up when the squad escapes, and the scene where he and andy get captured)

joe: he doesnt do a whole lot of comforting to the non-nicky’s out there interestingly enough. he encourages andy like the others do just after the baklava scene (i know you needed a break but its been over a year boss) he also tends to make little light hearted jokes/comments to lighten the mood sometimes (this plus 'faster than the elevator', etc)

and i suppose one could say him answering nile’s questions during the dinner scene are a type of comfort in itself, tho .. .... his answers arent exactly reassuring lmao

nile: So are you good guys or bad guys?

joe: Depends on the century

(j o s e p h you could have given her a more reassuring answer than that!! altho depending on the person, straight honesty can be very comforting in of itself, and joe prolly knew that andy would dance around nile’s questions and be generally unhelpful)

but additionally joe is a pretty strong protector and worrier about his friends’ well-being. he advocates for finding nile in the train scene and tells the others to ‘cover andy’ when they find out shes mortal

(plus the little touch he does to andy’s back!)

andy: andy’s mileage varies when it comes to comforting (primarily nile of course bc shes the Distressed One in the movie) but a lot of the time she tends towards offering stability and loyalty (me and those three men in there will keep you safe, you’re one of us now we would do the same for you, [to nicky] this changes nothing) which of course makes sense for her. stability and loyalty obviously probably mean so much to andy and as Team Leader shes probably very used to offering those things

nile: nile is more the comfortee than the comforter in the movie for all the obvious reasons, tho i think its interesting that at the end she tells andy ‘youre gonna [spend the time you have left] with us, andy’ not only bc shes delivering that stability/loyalty right back at andy but also bc shes also a leader (in the marines) so she might have a similar situation as andy with offering stability & loyalty as a Leader

being comforted:

nicky: the most notable instance of nicky being upset and getting comforted is obviously the van speech, tho like ive said i doubt joe’s go-to method of comforting nicky is a Speech. tho also (obviously & as ive talked abt a lot) i think he takes a lot of comfort from the idea of destiny/fate and the idea that he and The Lads were all destined to be together. he lomves his friends and hes happy when theyre happy

booker: alcohol.

honestly im not even sure how booker would really like to be comforted/comfort himself besides his given Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms. i think he does take a lot of comfort in his Solidarity with andy tho. considering his ‘that way madness lies’ comment about the immortality and his comment in the comic about ‘whats the purpose of an uncertain immortality?’ and his tendency towards tech, i think he’s the kind of person who likes when things are explainable and logical (and u could say thats a way he foils with nicky i suppose)

joe: him touchy

ive been meaning to make a gifset thats just Joe + Reassurance Through Touch but i keep forgetting about it. hes a very tactile boyo. in the comic while theyre having the nile nightmare joe reaches out and physically grabs nicky’s arm/shoulder in his sleep, like hes subconsciously checking hes still there. he worries So Much about the others (nicky in the armored van, nile in the train scene, andy post-mortality) and their well-being that i think he takes a lot of comfort in knowing all the lads are okay and safe (esp nicky)

andy: like i mentioned i think she likes loyalty and stability, which is obvs something shes had a serious lacking of throughout her life. ik u arent super into the comics but the recent tales through time story about andy went over how she takes comfort in the idea that her axe belonged to her mother once, even if her modern-day axe has had all its parts and pieces replaced so many times its not the axe her mother gave her 7000 yrs ago anymore. however andy still clings to this idea of her axe being her mother’s axe (‘this is the labyrs she held in her hands’). the memory of her family/mother and the stability of having the same axe with her through her history obvs comforts her a lot.

nile: again similarly to andy i feel like loyalty/family comforts nile a lot. she followed her father’s footsteps into the marines and worries about her loyalties to them through the first half of the movie, and tries to go home & thinks about her mom and brother through the whole thing.

(plus, music obvs means a lot to her)

[figula]

todaaaay

1. really feels like a sunday bc of the easter weekend even tho it doesn’t really make any difference to me or ben b/c he works bank holidays anyway and so do i

2. i finally did another food challenge (more leaves, i ate more than i did last time) bc it’s been like 3 weeks since i did one i think and i feel like ive really stopped moving forward in that way, i feel very like survival mode atm, i dont even feel particularly awful anymore but i just feel like there’s not much room left for actual challenges right now, but i also think that i cant really live like that or im never gonna fix this problem? like you cant only do the challenges when you feel up to it or it’s not really even a challenge :/ but i do feel really unmotivated at the moment + am trying to convince myslf that the actual motivation to change is unimportant: i just have to do the actions and deal w/ the post-challenge misery + hopefully it will take care of itself in the end (???)

so yeah i did eat some leaves with my lunch just now (noodles + quorn w/ loads of vinegar and sweet chili sauce... yam yam)... am considering doing a second unplanned challenge too bc i bought some ratatouille to eat w/ a bagel, and i REALLY love this ratatouille, it is delicious, but there’s a bit of ratatouille on the outside of the packet which is freaking me out and making me think it’s all contaminated inside. the seal seems to be intact still though - if it wasn’t i definitely wouldn’t eat it (and i don’t think that’s crazy tbh) but yeah given that it is still sealed + also is gonna get nuked in the microwave too i guess it might be a sensible thing to eat that too? or at least some of it? what do u all think... shall i eat a bit of the ratatouille that is probably fine but might not be... (unrelated LOOOL.. but i also need to work on being able to trut my own judgement rather than letting people tell me what to do......)

3. site work is going fine in my new role. it’s more difficult + high level than my old tasks but i don’t really mind that - it’s a bit more intellectually stimulating than sending people warnings for saying “fuck off” lmao so i don’t mind it. (even tho i enjoy sending the fuck off warnings tbh!!) the only issue is that the stakes a lot higher if i do fuck up. altho “a lot higher” still is “not very high” dont get me wrong - everyone does inevitably fuck up sometimes, the only thing that actually happens is you get a ping like “this was wrong, ive corrected it”

4. generally i feel better than i have done for the past few weeks but definitely still not back to “normal”, but it’s been so bloody long since i felt particularly good in the medium-long term that i am beginning to wonder if that is even an option at this fucking point

[felassan]

Thoughts on Dark Fortress #1

(This post is under a cut due to spoilers.)

NB, my thoughts on the first pages that came out in the preview are collected here [spoilers at link], so I won’t repeat myself.

Okay here we go :D I’ve posted up my fav panels but always want a space where I can burble at length.. (I’m late in posting this bc recently for the last few days I’ve been obsessing over politics in my country as it’s the run-up to election time.. I haven’t read anyone elses’ thoughts on it either so I could be behind on prevailing speculation or whats known or something) The preview pages ended at the panel when Aaron says “Vaea is right”, so that’s where I’m beginning.

I can’t put my finger on why but I really like the “don’t tell me I’ve had too much to drink” panel showing a Tevinter street. It’s a neat blend of “Tevinter is advanced relative to much of the rest of known Thedas, but also ominous, but also a place where people live and go about their lives, and also not going too heavy on the cyberpunk angle”. I dig the composition ‘leading’ the eye up the street and the consistency with the recently-seen DA4 materials that have red lighting in Tevinter buildings, similar building shapes etc. ig I’m pretty obsessed with the idea of the DA4 PC & party walking up streets like these.

I wonder how Aaron felt witnessing Tractus’ drunken scenes in the pub :(

Tractus’ attitude towards the barman here shows the influence and power Magisters wield in Tevinter, and the fear of them common among the mundane populace

digging the Tevinter-y motifs & design of the bartop, bar shelving etc. it feels like thought went into it

I’d watch a spinoff show or read a story where Marius and Ser Aaron have to team up in order to achieve something

Vaea is so badass and agile! I appreciate that the shot of her up high was tasteful and didn’t like, weirdly contort her body, have a weird leering angle or emphasize things in that way comic art often does for women at moments like these

so in Tevinter, lamps give off red light (seen in the bar scene). are the windowpanes themselves also red?

good thinking Vaea grabbing the staff. great sense of snappiness and motion in this panel. her landing reminds me of squirrels doing the superhero pose landing actually :) 

tfw you and a dog burst out of a wardrobe

Tractus recognizing Fenris, it seems - did they encounter each other when Tractus was young, or does he just know of him (distinctive markings and all that)? if the former, I have a feeling we might get a flashback scene to that time in a future issue

cutting to look at Francesca when Tractus talks about Fenris murdering his father is GENIUS. look at the sadness on her face here; “you murdered your father” is exactly what she’s been telling herself and struggling with all this time

nice to see staff-less magic in action

Tractus seems to have drawn power from the red orb set in his staff. he reaches out to it and it responds by glowing and the staff moving, but he wasn’t doing a Jedi ‘use my Jedi powers to make my thrown lightsaber [staff] return to my hand’, as you might expect, he was instead charging up and drawing magical energy/power from it [the orb], as seen by the red light in his hand in the next panel. this reinforces my earlier wonderings that the red orb is notable and that there’s some connection between it and his red eyes. later in the panel when he’s trying to cast on the floor his eyes seem lit up (altho it could just be lighting & dramatic effect)

I wonder if Fenris thinks of Anders and Justice when Tractus says “justice”. There was once a mage in Fenris’ life who was really focused on justice..

the combat scenes are beautifully drawn, thought out and colored

Fenris’ lines here are really metal, badass and impactful. I could hear Gideon Emery’s voice in my head as I read these bits - the word choice of “hounded” helps with that I think, it immediately recalls Fenris talking with anger about how Hadriana denied his meals and hounded his sleep. they nail how Fenris speaks, the pattern and words he tends to use, etc

PHASING POWERS in action!! this is very cool to see, this ability of his didn’t get touched on much at all in DA2 outside of combat or a few scenes

I enjoy the contrast between the red and blue glows

Fenris is understandably merciless 

“Perhaps if you had it carved into you” feels like foreshadowing for the ‘red wraith’

:( the reminder that the very thing Fenris struggles with feelings of hate and fear towards is carved into his skin for the rest of time and always will be

Vaea is brave to step in, standing up for what she believes is right and also re-centering focus on the critical mission at hand

;___; Autumn helping keep Tractus on the ground. she is such a good girl. she Help

“You’re lucky the mabari is here” - having Fenris in a dark light here relative to the rest of the panel is nicely symbolic

oh shit!! some plot advancement in terms of the ongoing story of the wider world. The Antaam have now reached Neromenian!! the invasion is progressing further and further into Tevinter. how far will it have come by the time of DA4? will there be an active war front not far from Minrathous? I appreciate the comics from this team a lot, here and there they push forward the ‘story of Thedas’ not just the story of the comic’s focus. also, I like that the Qunari soldiers here aren’t clones of one another but all look different. different hairstyles, sizes/bodies, clothes

love how our group work together, everyone has a strength and a role to play, the teamwork, the delegation, they’re like a DA basegame party or a D&D party

the way Fenris’ hand and arm glow in this sequence has been drawn/colored is smart - calling to mind the image of blue veins running through someone’s arm or below the skin on the backs of their hands

Fenris has surely picked up Fereldan sayings from Hawke.. stop .. my heart ;__;

the Fenris/Autumn exchange

this is so intense.. why do I get the feeling that Fenris has used this sort of torture technique before in his hunting and extermination of Danarius’ adult children campaign and/or his hunting of slavers as the BW with Shirallas campaign. it feels like he has done this sort of thing before in the time post-Kirkwall. I like that they didn’t hold back with a bit of gore here and there in this issue (phasing a hand and then solidifying it inside someone’s body, the Qunari attack portion in the street etc), while at the same time not being excessive with it.

this miniseries so far has good pacing, things moving along nicely and not being too slow or meandering

it’s smart having Tractus’ explanation of how to get in stay off-screen to the reader while we follow Francesca calling the alarm. It means we get to find out as we watch them infiltrate

omg those puncture wounds from his talons

when Fenris is about to kill Tractus after he tells him what he wanted to know, I’m strongly reminded of how he promised to let Hadriana go then killed her anyway, regardless of player choice. he has his ruthless streak and it feels like a callback. and before, when he was standing over Tractus when he was on the floor, echoes that scene in A Bitter Pill when he stands over Hadriana on the ground, who also reached for her staff

Tractus pale with bloodloss and fear

lmao @ Fran and Autumn’s faces when they walk in on this scene

Fenris listening to Vaea is nicely consistent with his character too imo - there are times in DA2 when Hawke can be like “Fenris no don’t do the Thing” and he doesn’t do the Thing

I have missed the way Fenris’ nose bridge crinkles when he’s angry

I wonder what the consequences of leaving Tractus alive will be. [tv announcer voice] FIND OUT NEXT TIME ON DARK FORTRESS

so the ritual will only take minutes to complete huh 👀

wow Neromenian has truly fallen, reeducation of the people of Tevinter continues as in Three Trees to Midnight in TN

explaining that they are speaking in Qunlat is a nice immersive touch and shows attention to detail of the lore of the world

bobbly-shoulders Qunari, Legolas hair Qunari, septum piercing Qunari, bobbly-brow Qunari, undercut Qunari. I wonder if the shoulder and brow protrusions are aspects we’ll see in the Qunaris’ latest design in DA4?

poor Tractus can’t catch a break lol. it has Not been Tractus’ day

Karasten: an infantry field commander

bit of Tevinter lampshading, lil fourth wall break with “This land and its obsession with magic. There is always a forbidden ritual with them” hhhhhh

Ringwraith on a horse moment at the end there

strong ending, can’t wait for next month weww.. 👀

[ectonurites]

for the character headcanons ask, tim or steph

i ended up doing both LMAO

so for Tim:


A (realistic headcanon): i will stand by this being realistic but TIM CONTINUING TO SKATEBOARD! like okay yes in canon he only used redboard like twice, and once he had his car back he didn’t really rely on it, but he put the time into learning how to and really enjoyed it! i think it would be fun to see him do it more and like i think steph could also skate with him (altho honestly she has more roller skate energy to me but they could still hang out at a skatepark together) i also have this idea for a fic im at some point going to write of Damian finding redboard and Tim being like ‘oh i can show u how to use that-‘ and him being like ‘NO i will do it on my own’ but eventually it becomes a whole bonding thing for them

B (hilarious): other people joke about this a lot but Tim skateboarding around Wayne Enterprises will NEVER cease to amuse me. just the general chaos of a seventeen year old in a power position like that. I think like Lucius and Tam would keep record of stupid shit he does (skateboarding in the office, Interesting fashion choices, the mountain of mugs and takeout containers that build on his desk, his use of glitter gel pens on official documents, threats to pull a seto kaiba and make WE’s primary goals be trading card related, etc) and make a lil scrapbook to give him on his 21st birthday or something when he’s like Slightly More of an adult

C (heart-crushing): Young Justice being Tim’s first friends he can feel real around that he doesn’t think are going to just be temporary. like... i’ve done a lot of rambling about Tim and again we know he’s a kid who grew up going from boarding school to boarding school, he could make friends easily enough but they were very... fleeting. they weren’t meant to last and he went into it knowing that. even though at the start of the group he couldn’t tell them everything, I feel like Young Justice were just the people he eventually was able to be himself the most around, since he didn’t need to hide being Robin. (again him needing to hide being Tim for a while definitely created some distance, but it was very different than hiding the whole hero life from people he knew at home and at school) and then ya know the core four group moving onto the titans together further solidifying this sense of ‘we are a group who can get through stuff together’... until it all falls the fuck apart after Kon dies. and Tim & Cassie have their weird bad coping things. and Bart dies. i think for Tim it would just be so crushing to have the first group he was able to consider being more permanent fall apart like that (not to mention his dad and steph dying around the same time on top of it- being two of the other types of relationships [familial and a romantic partner] that had more permanence to him) and even when people come back and bonds heal, that sense of stability would just forever be shattered, he lost them once and knows that it could happen again and that fear would always be there in the back of his mind

D (canon is a coward and won’t): that he is bisexual LMAO

aaand now Steph

A (realistic headcanon): alright this is kinda canon related but okay. we have seen MULTIPLE alternate versions of Steph with really short hair (future state, that time she imagined herself as nightwing, earth-3) so i really feel like by current-ish canon she’s already thinking about chopping her hair off, like it’s one of those ideas that just every now and then she’ll see someone with super short hair and be like oh... i want that... but never really go through with it (like she’s had some kinda short looks preboot but i think the shortest was like a bob. im talking pixie cut here) and like im imagining maybe after some mission her hair gets caught on something or even burned or idk and she just says fuck it and her, Cass and Tim get back to one of their apartments/a safehouse after patrol and cut her hair in the bathroom at like 4am (yes im aware i place many situations in the middle of the night in the bathroom with friends... [like that timkon fic i wrote a bit ago] its just such a special setting okay) like Cass with the scissors Tim’s holding up a reference pic Steph found on pinterest. it looks great once it’s done

B (hilarious): the eggplant vs purple thing. i think that now in this post death metal world of dc, where everyone’s remembering things from before the reboot, steph should have a small mental breakdown about how she betrayed her old self by rallying behind the color purple (‘enemy of crime and people who hate purple!’) vs how she used to be so insistent her color scheme was eggplant (‘its eggplant. purple would look stupid’). everyone else is having their brains break because of like conflicting memories of their traumas (and she’s got that goin on too, dont get me wrong, she’ll get to freaking out about that later) but steph is just sitting there staring at a color wheel trying not to cry

C (heart-crushing): i’ve seen some fics explore this a little but i think she’d end up doing a lot of thinking about her baby that she gave up for adoption. like that was something she experienced so young and i feel that would just always be a lurking thought in her mind, where is the baby? is she happy? gotham’s a dangerous city, there’s a lot to be afraid about there. Not that she wouldn’t already because she is just a caring big sister type of person, but I think Steph looking out for all the kids in Gotham (especially once she’s batgirl) in some small part could tie back to wanting to make sure her kid is safe out there wherever she ended up. (additionally since she had a rough upbringing with her whole dad situation she just especially is protective over kids anyways. Sometimes I think she might get kinda insecure about it… maybe even question herself about why she’s saving people, is it because she genuinely cares or is it something more selfish? it’s definitely a self doubt i could see manifesting)

D (canon is a coward and won’t) not to be repetitive but also that she is bi i will stand by this

[mallowstep]

In a dark(er) version of the Human Misty au, what do you think would have happened if Misty and Featherpaw never escaped and Tigerstar was never arrested? How do you think it would have played out for everyone? How different would the triplets be if they had grown up under Tigerstar's metaphorical claws?

hm. if they never Ever escape vs Escaping much later. i'm not partial to no happy ending (long term), but.

tigerstar would have had to change how he dealt with featherpaw. she would have died eventually. humans are resilient to a lot (and indeed altho human!feathertail has more chronic health problems*, she's never as close to death as cat!feathertail), she still would have eventually died.

* re. post tigerclan. there's no second Event in the human version, so she gets to the same point in one event.

after the triplets are born, he'd separate them from mistyfoot. (i'm circling back to featherpaw don't worry.) mistyfoot needs recovery time, and tigerstar pats her on the head and says don't Worry she'll have more kids soon and if she's good this time, maybe she can hold them. wouldn't that be nice?

the triplets are raised...idk. mosspelt, maybe? there are Ambiguous Other Children around lmao. anyway, they're raised and. oh man is it a lot. here feels like a good place to put a cut.

cw: child abuse, sexual assault

so -- by the time they're five, because i don't feel like figuring out what they figure out when, but by the time they're five, they know a few things about their world.

tigerstar is their father.

mistyfoot is their mother.

if they have other full siblings, they don't know them.

mistyfoot is not on equal Level with the other women.

by now, featherpaw and tawnypaw, now feather...idk. we'll keep it feathertail for my sanity. tigerstar has to have leopardstar file that paperwork to avoid questions. anyway, feathertail and tawnypelt are now twenty.

what's up with them?

well, now's a good time to backtrack.

so, after mistyfoot gives birth, tigerstar is a little distracted, and featherpaw has a few months of being By Herself Mostly Ignored and vibing, and she starts to get somewhat better. she figures out after a few weeks that she's not going to see mistyfoot any time soon, if ever.

on tawnypaw's fifteenth birthday, tigerstar changes her name to tawnypelt and marries her to someone. rowanclaw is fine idrc.

tigerstar now has a problem. he doesn't really have anything to do with featherpaw.

see, here's the Thing: tawnypelt is now under rowanclaw's authority. tigerstar has opinions, of course, but she's rowanclaw's wife and his responsibility to manage as he sees fit. any infractions on tawnypelt's part are no longer directly reflected on her, but on rowanclaw.

and. tigerstar decides mistyfoot is Broken In and Obedient. um. it's. i'd say it's depression but it's actually a very reasonable and normal reaction to having four children taken from you. tigerstar literally didn't let her hold the newborns. would go as far as saying if he could keep her from seeing them, he did.

she's exhausted, weak (tigerstar had her on Complete Bed Rest for a long time), and grieving. she hasn't seen featherpaw in months. she thinks featherpaw might be dead.

so tigerstar doesn't like. need featherpaw to control mistyfoot, because mistyfoot has pretty much Given Up fighting. it's terrible, but.

featherpaw is healthier, bc she's not like. being regularly starved and beaten. and she's pretty nonfunctional at Being a Person.

and tigerstar is kind of bored.

so he decides to focus his manipulations on featherpaw. he has plans to have children with her when she's older, so he decides you know. wouldn't it be a Fun Game to see how deeply he can ingrain certain ideas into her brain.

there's -- in one thing i wrote with mistyfoot,

There are times when she feels more like a pet than a person. Tigerstar pushes her head on his shoulder and strokes her hair, and maybe he's right about something, because all the words he's saying to someone else sound like static.

he'd like to get featherpaw to that place. that -- instant and unquestionable compliance. and he has plenty of time to do it. she's fifteen, he wouldn't have children with her for at least five more years, likely ten. maybe he'd give her to someone else first.

but first: he wants to see if he can "break" her.

he moves her to a new room (still no windows, and with a lock to keep her in), and graduates her to new clothing. i'm thinking a plain white shift. it still comes above her knees, and the sleeves end before her elbows, and the collar doesn't come up to her neck, but it's objectively more clothing.

and then he just calls her over to him more and more. stand over there. no, it's alright, you don't have to face the corner. actually, why don't you stand behind me.

he's still violently beating her for minor to imagined infractions, but that's now contrasted with a kindness that she does not understand.

anyway, he eventually starts having her kneel beside him ("you're looking tired, feather"), and he occasionally pats her head or runs her hand through her hair.

and while this is happening, he assigns tawnypelt to "take care" of her. make sure she brushes her teeth. bathe her. wash her hair. that sort of thing.

and if she resists, well. tawnypelt's perfectly capable of delivering a punishment.

so feathertail is about twenty, the kids are five, mistyfoot has been pregnant once but failed to carry the child to term, tigerstar had mudfur give her the hormones again, (a) because it fucks with her emotions and he can manipulate her with that, and (b) because why not have triplets again?

mistyfoot makes very few public appearances these days.

tigerstar now is trying to get feathertail to want to have children with him. because he wants the power trip of (a) getting her to want his children and (b) getting her to agree to have someone else's children first to accomplish that.

and the kids are five.

they're coming by the main house more and more -- they won't move in until they're a bit older -- and i mean. they're raised in this dynamic. mothkit understands she will be someone's wife, etc., etc.

mistyfoot gets pregnant again, feathertail is following tigerstar around because ever since mistyfoot "left her," he's the only person who's shown her any kindness, and the kids are very confused bc like.

mistyfoot is a Pitiable soul in some sense. an example of why women should just submit from the start. it's not good on their poor minds and bodies to rebel for too long.

anyway bc i don't like no happy endings this is probably when i'd have everyone get rescued and it'd b a very different story with a very different recovery.

[tonyglowheart]

Trying to semi-organize my thoughts on what exactly I am wanting out of spn fic and hm let's see. If I remember this post in the future, I may update it as I think of/on things and use this for reference so I, also, don't forget lol

Okay so, wants/likes:

Cas prominent. He is my, as I believe the kpop kids say, bias, so he is kind of non-negotiable. Sorry I am just not interested in fics where he is not prominent

Destiel not required but a good plus. Slight preference for intricate courtship rituals over ones where they figure things out ridiculously easy, unless it is established relationship. If the revelation comes too quick and easy then I get taken out of the moment :')

Optional: Angels treating Cas like their baby brother :3 Cas can be somewhat put out by it or not. Actually maybe bonus if he IS, bc they are all angels of the lord and relative by rank and experience, And Yet [whoever] just cannot help but be *points* Baby

canonverse is plus. canon divergence is okay but idk how close to canon I'm looking for, if it's too close to an episode rewrite I may not be into that either

casefics are cool. If it's got that canon-typical vaguely racist sht then pls warn me going in 😔

Found family. Family don't end in blood!!! Spn may forget this but I never will!!!

Any exploration of the whole fucky destiel thematic dichotomies, the whole free will vs destiny shit, stuff like words of prophets are written on subway walls, like.. idk, something that is intricate-rituals-gay and also makes me think of the philosophy of thehuman condition

corollary: slow burns ig?? or like mutual pining? canon typical thinking they are not worthy or that it is something they cannot have? canon typical did not realize until later but even then they have their individual canon-typical reasons for not acting on it, until they do bc it's fic so they can get together for realsies?

trope: Cas and/or Destiel being parents. I read one recently where it was like single dad Cas (to Claire and Jack) and then Dean came (back) into his life recently and I rly liked it

AUs are fine but highly subject to mood so we'll see. I did read a Star Trek-y AU I liked

I'm down for a lot of various other kinds of plot tropes and stuff, tho I want stuff that's more character and plot and less, like, pwp or fuck or die or that kinda thing

trope: curses maybe? I've found a couple curse-focused fics which were interesting

trope: Hurt/Comfort of the Cas whump kind but not necessarily have to be just Cas. But like.. u know when Uriel is beating him up and he looks all bloody and beautiful, or when he flexes his sexy angel powers and transports the Winchesters to the past but then collapses bc he overtaxed himself, or when he had that blanket on when he was suffering from the attack dog spell.... yeah,,,

trope: Anything with like the Winchesters caring about and caring for Cas. I just rly like Cas being taken care of :') pls wrap him in a blanket and pat his shoulder brusque-softly in ur emotionally repressed way Dean

bottom line my emphasis tends to be more on character and plot. I can't do plot without character, the relationships - whether ship or gen - are important to my enjoyment of a fic. I can sit thru a lot if the characters/character dynamics are good and chewy lmao like u can rly sink ur teeth into it

Bonus features:

eldritch horror angels are a bonus. Give me unfathomable trueform angels, I feel like I don't see that enough

wings* but.... caveat I like my spn wings more metaphysical than literal unless they're literal for a point, but this isn't set in stone either. I'm just... slightly tired of the physicality of the wings I guess. Like it's not the physicality that's the issue, ig, but when it's not treated as metaphysical (as well)

wouldn't mind some good endverse fics to chew on altho that might also make me sad

Cas being cute, a la crazy!Cas (who is.... so soft.... his innocence.. *clutches chest*) or like when Cas and Dean went to talk to that police guy and Cas was like you tell them it's angels and demons warring and he will tell you what he knows, or when Cas was like I'm gonna become a hunter :3, or interrogating the cat, or this is his serious face, yes

Powerful af Cas?? I miss season 4/5 Cas, when he was powerful and self-assured and wasn't "mentally deficient puppy" as Metatron meanly put it Cas. I feel like we get less of that as the seasons go on... I miss Cas being powerful and exuding energy that I'm sure is what had ppl assigning him as top energy. Like yes flex ur sexy sexy angel powers pls. There's one ep where my notes just say "ANGEL SMITE ANGEL SMITE / HEAAALING." Season 6 Cas where he is more out of touch with humanity and more brusque was also intriguing even tho he was like that bc of extenuating circumstances. But him flexing his sexy angel powers sure was sexy

Do not wants :(

Endgame human!Cas. Sorry I like short-lived Cassidy am more into feathered Cas than human!Cas. endgame human!Cas just isn't a good solution/happy ending to me, I don't think Cas needs to change to be able to live happily, and also I like to chew on the like philosophical underpinnings of an immortal/mortal pairing if that does get called into question lol

Human AU* but like asterisk bc I will take human AU if the plot is compelling and/or the characterization still manages to capture that je nais se quoi of canonverse. If they are, like, middle age dads being domestic, as an example, tho, then I can probs do that, I just like.. have limited capacity for career-based AUs for the sake of it, if that makes sense... But character/character dynamics trumps all, like I said lmao.. I've sat thru scenarios/setups that lowkey dealt me psychic damage bc of the nature of the set dressing, bc I checked it out out of morbid curiosity but the way they did the characterization ended up working for me

A/B/O - I am not seeking A/B/O at the moment

Hurt no Comfort - it would make me too sad :(

fics that treat angels like literal physical feathered beings. Idk I just like... want the whole angel thing to be treated more metaphysically. They are multidimensional wavelengths of celestial intent in holy corporate/business attire visages but they are still very much multidimensional wavelengths of celestial intent the ballpark size of our Chrysler building. If the wings are treated too literally I find I start getting bored, ironically. This is ironic bc I'm a slut for wingfic. But with spn I find that a conventional kind of wingfic/angel conception where the wings are just limbs with maybe some slight handwaved dimension-shifting stowing is.. slightly passe for my tastes. Unless it's like a forced manifestation or sth. Just like.. get the metaphysics involved, tie it to angelic grace. Something. Make is racy. But not too racy, the whole wings-as-erogenous-zones thing I'm a bit over too, xenobiology to humans would just be biology to these beings, it doesn't make sense to me to be like "oh they have a tail and it's EXTRA sensitive," like are you suggesting your arm/armpit is an extra special species-typical erogenous zone too?

deaging unless it ties to some other kinda plotty deal somehow ig? Like... I got invested in this fandom for them as they are now I'm not too interesting in unseasoned nibling vers

this maybe goes with the human aus tho that's a slight asterisk but hard line no high school aus. pls I cannot take the psychic damage that would deal to me personal

I have no conclusion even tho I feel like I need one. here's wonderwall? ig I can stumble around looking for reclists and see if anything sticks out, trawling thru tags so far has been a mixed bag

Anyway haha lol, stand-up-style-tone I mean I'm not asking for a lot amirite. Just a nebulously specific set of intricate rituals wrapped around a plot and also found family or something, like you know, just a trifling

[thethiefandtheairbender]

disclaimer: I’ve only seen every season of shera once whenever each one dropped, including for this latest season, so some of my recollections may be fuzzy or even incorrect. if that’s the case, feel free to correct me, or to disagree — but do so civilly. a lot of these are also just my opinion and interpretation! while overall i love shera as a show, but it is much more of a mixed bag to me, and my reviews of season five and the series reflects that. if you don’t want to see any critique of shera, this might not be the post for you.

shera s5 review, spoilers galore

PROS

hands down the best season of the show with s1 as a close second

overall liked catra’s redemption arc but still could’ve done with it Starting, more so, internally like. half a season ago. that being said, “i made a promise to look out for [adora] a long time ago. it’s time i made good on that” was magnificent in the volumes it had and i loved it.

wrong hordak. Best Boy!!

first five episodes were really strong and so was the 2-part finale

it was just fun to see catra interact with glimmer and bow as well, warming up to them over the course of the season, and of course with being on better terms with adora - but more on that later.

altho it was mostly a plot device for letting the characters sneak by things, i did really like the magic cat and its bond with catra. very sweet.

i loved having more of an emphasis on bow’s internal struggles and him having support (largely from glimmer) rather than him doing emotional labour for everyone else.

was also very nice seeing his dads again and, if irc, in a more plot relevant way.

all of catra’s lil blushes.

catra having been plugged into the hive mind and mind controlled was continually used not only to inform her own experiences but also the plot. it could’ve easily been an already satisfying “one and done” episode thing, but it wasn’t and i loved it all the more for it.

maybe i notice them every season but. adora’s she-ra muscles. we love to see it.

glim/bow was incredibly sweet and that confession scene with the emphasis of “i love you. i love you.” was soooo good. i’ve been casually shipping these two and seeing the signs since s1 and it was cute/nice to see it come to fruition

glad we got to finally have netossa and spinerella’s relationship being confirmed this season with two kisses and netossa calling her “wife.”

scorpia and perfuma were adorable and seeing someone whole heartedly, selflessly, believe in scorpia was amazing.

i was glad to see another one of shera’s more ‘filler eps’ that still contributed really to plot and character, like the DnD ep a couple seasons ago, without Breaking Tone or narrative momentum.

liked seeing entrapta/hordak too, very cute!

adora. i’ve always loved how shera questioned the ‘chosen one’ narrative and what it actually means. from her solidifying her own legacy, getting her happy ending, being selfless but learning that she didn’t have to be, and her re-design / new transformation sequence, it was sooo good.

horde prime’s culty vibes were creepy and consistently foreboding. great endgame villain.

i liked that since horde prime was hordak’s primary abuser, he got to get rid of him himself. it’s something we don’t see hardly enough and adora had her hands full

i actually loved the final scene between hordak and adora. just that flashback to her as a baby, being discovered, to where they were now, as poignant and powerful and just. what a good end

adora and catra’s individual endings, and together, were amazing. and then as its own section, lmao:

Catra and Adora. I’m gonna talk even more about this in the series review, but I loved how in s5 in particular it felt like they were developing a Romance, clearly, explicitly. Not just a platonic bond that turned romantic near the end (which is what Korrasami felt like, and is still a good dynamic! but something more obvious was very welcome). Blushes, handholding, working out the bumps, and proving once and for all just how much these characters flat out care about each other, and that Catra cares more about Adora than anyone even if she’s only letting it rise to the surface now. There were so many sweet smiles and moments between them this season and I loved it. And the angst. Can’t forget the angst.

As for their canonicity, I’m honestly not surprised? I know some people were doubtful or didn’t think there would be a kiss, but I wasn’t doubtful or surprised at all. I wasn’t sure if they’d get to do all the lead-up as explicitly as they did (which was partially out of thinking Catra and Adora might only reunite later on in the season than they did) but I watch a LOT of Netflix cartoons and Dreamworks shows in general. Neither are shy about explicit rep, with TDP having three same sex couples, an onscreen lesbian kiss two seasons in with more on the way, and Dreamworks always being a company that pushes boundaries (just look at the dual disabled protagonists of the httyd franchise, or trollhunters/3below with some political commentary particularly in the latter). I guess people were worried after Voltron, which I always saw without a doubt as the show-runners fault, not Dreamworks itself. Looks like I was right.

So yeah, I always thought Catradora would 1) get together, and 2) kiss to confirm it. The I love yous were a beautiful bonus and what we deserve. (Looks like jumping off cliffs and having season finale I love yous is going to be a trend for my otps, now; I have zero complaints.)

WE LOVE!! TO SEEE IT!! i knew s5 would be the tipping point of either the show doing some new things, but also re-treading ground, or whatever it would set a whole new standard for queer rep, and i’m so, so glad it did the latter.

CONS

micah saying “baby girl” all darkly? weird vibes, thanks i hate it

swift wind.

horde prime’s hair reminds me of dreads and i’m not saying he’s black coded, but it is a little. uncomfortable? mostly because he’s the only villain with absolutely zero redeemable qualities. 

after episode six while i was interested in how all the characters and catra would interact, it definitely felt more directionless in like, where the characters Wanted to go beyond a vague “we have to somehow defeat horde prime” that unfortunately didn’t go away until like, the finale.

theme of friendship and togetherness felt particularly heavy handed. sometimes less is more

still white washing mara. ok

shadow weaver’s “sacrificial redemption”? bullshit. why would she suddenly care about etheria being colonized by horde prime when she was genuinely trying to capture and rule it with hordak? hell, why wouldn’t she side with horde prime? esp when she was pushing glimmer to use the heart last season? and continued to try and manipulate adora and catra in s5 until she made a singular nice decision for both of them? bullshit.

double trouble was brought back in s5 pretending to be someone who would’ve been extremely important / useful, was saved, and then... amounted to nothing?

i didn’t really care about any of the princess b-plots (esp frosta and micah’s, but also entrapta + mermista and the others). the princesses to me have always felt like the weakest characters, personality and relationship wise in comparison to other characters on the ‘villain side’ like scorpia, lonnie, and kyle originally, but more on that in the series review.

also no defective squad this season, either, which is unsurprising but then sort of jarring to suddenly see them show up

the mind controlled princess fights got boring really quickly, because i never felt like anyone of them were going to be seriously hurt, i knew it was all going to be perfectly reversed by the end,

i feel like i watched good pacing slowly die (that b-plot of shadow weaver and castapella just... walking through the woods and having the argument twice) before it was suddenly revived for the finale. rip.

Things that went completely unacknowledged, particularly between Glimmer and Catra (kidnapping, that Catra opened the portal that led to Glimmer’s mother dying, etc.) and between Adora and Glimmer.

I appreciated having more focus on Bow, but the fact it was at the expense of more focus on resolving Glimmer and Adora’s friendship — because Adora couldn’t focus on Catra and Glimmer, apparently — is unfortunate. that being said i also felt like the drama between adora and glimmer in s4 was kinda contrived, anyway? so it didn’t bother me very much.

while i was happy hordak was the one who got rid of horde prime, and while that wasn’t his ultimate end, hordak just. lifting horde prime up and letting him drop was anticlimatic as hell

OTHER THOUGHTS:

This scene initially left me feeling quite conflicted. I was sad for Catra and Adora, who had spent almost half the season at this point rebuilding / re-strengthening their bond, to have been torn apart for half the finale. And while I’ve always been a Catradora shipper and that’s never changed as the series went on, I’ve also been evaluating canon for signs that the relationship wouldn’t actually be healthy (beyond the obvious). So to me, Catra choosing to flat out leave Adora because she thought her friend didn’t love her back in the same way, did send up something to be examined as “conditional support”. But Catra then proved it didn’t matter, as she chose to go back, stand by Adora anyway, and laid herself bare to save her friend, and was clearly surprised when Adora said, “I love you too.” So, we all good.

This nod to where Grayskull (ie. honour of graykull) came from was also very cool and a nice little touch. 

Now, onto the series as a whole.

shera series review

Short-form? Solid 7/10, liked the main cast, satisfying conclusion overall, and nice queer rep. Might rewatch someday. 

Long form down belong:

PROS:

The core four. I’ve always loved Adora, Bow, and Glimmer’s relationship with one another. All are great protagonists, even if sometimes I was frustrated with Glimmer and wanted more focus on Bow individually. Adora is a beyond fantastic protagonist for everything the series wanted to explore, in addition to being funny, properly heroic, flawed, and sympathetic. Catra is her equal deuteragonist and near equal in development, sometimes more so. They’re an amazing main cast with always endearing or interesting interactions and I’m so happy they’re happy together.  

The villains. The antagonists and villains in She-ra, whether you love ‘em — Catra, Scorpia — like ‘em — Double Trouble, Hordak, Entrapta — or hate ‘em — Horde Prime, Shadow Weaver — have always been significantly sympathetic, threatening, cunning, or all three at once. (Here’s looking at you, Catra). All have very distinct personalities and relationships with each other and with the exception of Double Trouble and Horde Prime, have season spanning, over arching arcs. There’s twists and turns and are always entertaining. Catra and Scorpia are easily the standouts then, and Shadow Weaver will never be in my good graces, lmao. 

Theme. The choice to tackle abuse so heavily surprised me when I first watched season one. Up until “Promise” the show had been a very standard “power of love and friendship” as its main theme, so to have the opposite side of it — the dark underbelly — made perfect sense but was still a definite turn to the series as a whole. I’m not a massive fan that every villain except Horde Prime got redeemed, but Catra and Hordak made sense to me, and before that, Scorpia and Entrapta. In terms of Catra and Adora both being characters able to leave the cycle of abuse they grew up in, and Hordak as another, I thought on a whole it was done sensitively and executed well. She-Ra’s friendships between the Best Friend Squad held up the happier half of this deep dive into interpersonal relationships just as well. 

Animation style. I miss 2D Western animation, She-Ra’s style is cute and unique, they always have good water animation (thank you for my life) and I always appreciated that a more ‘girly’ art style was used for a decidedly action oriented show. It’s not my favourite animation style for 2D cartoons right now (that would have to go to “Carmen Sandiego” hands down) but it’s cute and I like the hugs.

Dissection of the Chosen One trope. Where Adora’s character and arc has shone strongest, tbh. I’ve always been fond of Chosen One stories — of someone being given a mantle they could not choose, as we are often saddled with responsibilities or obligations we didn’t choose in our own lives — and how they deal with those responsibilities. The reluctant hero has been a particular fave. Mara’s “I never wanted to be a hero; I won’t be remembered as one” broke my heart. Light Hope’s “You do not choose. You are chosen” sent chills down my spine. But this shining sentence from Mara illustrated what She-Ra has been driving home this whole time, successfully, and a lesson I know myself and others could do with more of. Bravo, truly.

Catra and Adora’s relationship, not even necessarily as a romance, although yes, that too, has always been one of the strongest parts of the show. She Ra is consistently at its best when these two are interacting. I remember coming out of S1 alone thinking that not only would these two be endgame, but that they had one of the most complex, developed relationship between two women on TV, period. All their development (particularly with the S3 finale as another turning point, and S5 as their conclusion) only emphasized this. When Adora was seeing multiple Catras walk towards her in season five — hive mind, childhood friend, enemy, etc. — I was reminded for the umpteenth time what a complicated, layered relationship this is, and how satisfying it was to watch it reach its natural end. The fact that it’s here and queer is even better and means a lot to a very queer me. 

CONS:

Too many non-distinct relationships and one-note characters. Remember how I said I didn’t care about the princess b-plots in s5? Yeah, that basically goes for any season. And I just... don’t care about the other princesses? I just never got a sense that I got the best personality read on them, or that they had distinct relationships between that independent of the Best Friend Squad. Like I could tell you how Frosta and Glimmer’s relationship works, because I remember that one ep they devoted to it, but like. I cannot tell you how Frosta feels about literally any of the other princesses as anything other than a group collective, and the same goes for the rest of them. I feel like I know like, two or three traits about Perfma, Mermista, and Frosta respectively. And for these three in particular I think that’s a genuine problem because like, I can list flaws and good characteristics for Lonnie and Kyle, Scorpia and Entrapta, but the princesses? Of Power? We’re with these characters every season, and I feel like I barely know them whatsoever.

I remember Netossa being competitive once and Spinerella being nice? All the princesses are overall nice? I had a similar issue with Double Trouble (beyond them being another nonbinary non human / shapeshifer character who’s also. a villain. and the only nb character in the series. Moving on) and Bow’s dads. These characters may get 15-40 minutes (or more of screentime) but all seem very one note. And that’s not a bad thing, it’s fine, but it’s not gonna get me invested. Meanwhile I have characters in other shows, like The Dragon Prince or Trollhunters, where a character has only been around for 27 episodes, or is there for a few or one, but I feel like I really, really Know who they Are, and I’m way more attached and invested. I really felt this when Catra joined the Rebellion (I get why Scorpia was mind controlled bc we Like Her, but like — missed opportunity for her to be around Catra and resolve things between them, too?) and like. All of the princesses had exactly the same reaction with very few differences and none of those differences indicated anything about their characters or long standing, complex opinions about an enemy who didn’t mean anything Significant to anyone outside of the Best Friend Squad. 

This lack of individuality also led to weak worldbuilding, imo. Like, the princesses sometimes back out of the Rebellion, but you always know they’re gonna come back. There’s very few cultures of each individual princess explored (except Perfuma, I think back in S1). Any of the more animalistic humanoids like Regelio or Catra ever seem to really interact with the world any differently than ‘fully human’ counterparts. Etherians are either on the side of the Rebellion, isolationist, or in the Horde. Those are the three things — and that tends to be the lines drawn in most war (ie. either one side or the other, or neutral) but like, there’s detailed subsections or subgroups or reasons why.

Kyle is in the Horde and exists differently in it than Catra, Adora, Scorpia, or Lonnie does. The same can be said for the rest of them. They all exist differently, have multiple distinctive relationships (ie. Lonnie with Kyle, Lonnie in the group, Lonnie with Catra, and with Scorpia, etc). 

Can’t say the same for the princesses. This is why I didn’t care about their B-plots. Because it’s almost always a princess having an interpersonal relationship — one of them being a more one off character, like Huntara with Perfuma, or one off conflict, like Glimmer and Frosta — and it’s resolved because they’ve learned How to Be Friends, and that’s that. Every time. And again, that’s not necessarily a bad thing, to not care about the side cast, or to want to teach lessons about friendship to a younger audience.

It’s just not by thing

Worldbuilding. She-ra has never had the most solid worldbuilding. Which is fine, because lots of fun things don’t. I don’t need to know all about the planet of Etheria, or any other planet, or have explanations behind all the princesses’ powers, or whatever. However, whenever the show does do worldbuilding or make it plot relevant, it never feels... all that solid? I still have no idea how magic works beyond the princesses having a rune stone, we never see how it works for anyone except Glimmer (which turns void once she becomes queen and doesn’t need to recharge anymore I think??) and Scorpia. Magic and the princesses’ powers can do whatever the plot needs it to, or needs it not to, without any tangible limitations or repeated consequences to over-usage, if that’s really even possible. (Again, I think Glimmer had issues, but that was it). Adora’s struggles with She-Ra happen more often, which makes sense, and I always felt like that, and She-Ra, was explained enough. The glimpses we get of Etheria’s history — the First Ones being colonizers, and not colonizers (war/colonization as a backdrop, not a focus, but more on that below) but Etheria’s saviour is also a First One etc. — as an example I found confusing / couldn’t keep straight. A wider galaxy is hinted at and presumably Horde Prime’s fall means all those other planets are free, and the Best Friend Squad does say they’re going to return magic, so it’s nice it’s acknowledged but... what does the return of magic, mean, really? How does it make any of them more powerful? So yeah, I kinda feel like I know nothing? Which wouldn’t be a problem, if She-Ra didn’t also try and act like it Has solid worldbuilding, sometimes. Because, in my opinion, it really doesn’t, and the expanding scope of every season didn’t really help matters when even simplicity was never really expanded on. 

But like, in regards to the powers thing? Let little girls have their “I have cool super power” hero fantasy characters. I’m not gonna judge for it as a whole — kids aren’t going to be thinking about how the shopkeeper in s5 who was like “You’ll always be welcome here” doesn’t even have jurisdiction for it because she’s not mayor of that town.

Tone. Again, in the vein of: maybe I’m just getting too old, or don’t have a nostalgic filter for it, and She-Ra’s direct audience is for younger kids/girls than the cartoons I usually watch, but tone is something I feel She-Ra often struggled with. It would swing back from being a very serious, sometimes uncomfortable exploration of abuse, and simultaneously having a talking horse. And I get it, the show is made for younger girls.

But it does make me think of two of my favourite movies. Disney’s “Hunchback of Notre Dame” (1996) is a masterpiece of animation and music, with an engaging and overall dark story to boot. But even without the talking gargoyles (although they don’t help) the move is tonally inconsistent. When it’s talking itself seriously, it is incredible. When it doesn’t... it flounders, and keeps the film from being the full on masterpiece it could be. Dreamworks’ “The Prince of Egypt” (1998) released only two years later is a story with a similar serious tone and also deals with religion, imo, in a way that’s even easier to mess up than critiquing the Church. The protagonist, Moses, even commits man-slaughter on screen at one point! Babies die! And it’s still very much a film for kids, and there’s jokes here and there, but overall, “the Prince of Egypt” is a serious film — and it acts like it. It sticks the tone and the film is so much stronger for it, and reaches heights that THOND just couldn’t. 

Shows like ATLA are also ones I would let a five year old watch, like She-Ra, but it balances it’s sometimes very different tones excellently. She-Ra never quite managed to for me, and this is in some ways the series’ biggest problem. Like I said above, I was pleasantly surprised that the s5 “filler theme ep” was like, good, because except for the DnD episode a couple seasons ago, the one in s4 was a massive hit for me, disrupted tone and then we had to wait to get it back on track, and really slowed narrative momentum. And I remember thinking, “Oh, we’re doing this again?” back in s4 so. Not a solitary problem, either. 

This is also why I had an issue with some of the show’s humour, like Swift Wind. Like even this past season, when Shadow Weaver and Castaspella were bickering over who got to reveal what they’d found, it felt like something only put in there to be funny. Not because it was actually in character. And while humour doesn’t always work for me even for characters I know are comic relief (like, Scorpia is consistently hilarious and endearing) even when their jokes miss, it always felt in character that they would make that joke. Didn’t usually get this feeling from She-Ra.

Also nothing can ever make me like Swift Wind. Never. If I never rewatch She-Ra in the future, it will single handedly be because I have asked myself, “Do you want to put up with the talking horse again?” and the answer was a resounding no. 

(That being said: may do a rewatch one day, and will defs be a show I show nieces/nephews in the future when they’re the right age for it, so, we shall see.) 

Other thoughts: 

The fact that Hordak never realized that conquering Etheria was wrong (or like, that Catra, Scorpia, or Entrapta did, either) didn’t surprise me because the war has always been used as a backdrop for driving interpersonal challenges and questions for characters more than anything else. The focus on war itself was never going to be there, but the show made it clear what themes it was going to focus on early on. Even if it may be a little odd in retrospect but like. I’m not mad at it, so whatever? Like I said: for other thoughts.

Conclusion

She-Ra is a beautiful mixed bag with some truly great arcs, characters, and rep. It’s not for everyone, but it made me happy and I enjoyed my time watching it. It’s impact on raising the standard of what queer rep can be and dynamic relationships on female led projects will last for a long time, and I’m very proud that Dreamworks (my fave animation studio) took the leap with them. 

For the honour of grayskull! (And till next time!)

[robotslenderman]

OTP Meme

Yoinked from @aelwen​.

Starting off with my Super Problematic Arturo/Olivia, will probably do the same quiz with other ships as well.

For those who are not aware: Arturo kidnapped Olivia at the end of CoNY while trying to figure out what to do with her and ended up keeping her around, and she’s blood bound to him (for non VTM fans, that’s basically a love potion). So yeah, there’s a huge power imbalance and a drug-induced Stockholm Syndrome here, and one half is a megalomaniac. There is a shitton of dubcon.

You have been warned.

DISAGREEMENTS.

Who is more likely to raise their voice?

Arturo, but like, that’s not saying much. I can see him only raising his voice when he’s pushed almost to his limit and even then only to say something like “DON’T INTERRUPT” when he’s in a monologue or a “NO” to cut someone else off.

Who threatens to leave but never actually does?

Neither of them.

Who actually keeps their word and leaves?

OLIVIA LOL. Arturo has known she’s been wanting out since the beginning but the blood bond kept her compliant until Qadir and her Coterie finally got their shit together and busted her out. Arturo may have gone completely apeshit trying to get her back but then once he knew the blood bond had timed out, gave it up and let her go.

Who trashes the house?

Neither of them. Toreadors do not trash their own house and Olivia too desperately wants to please Arturo to get messy even if that was her style.

Plus, you know, they have ghouls to clean up after them.

Do either of them get physical?

ngl for the first few months Olivia keeps waiting for the other shoe to drop on that, since Arturo absolutely bitchslapped Sophie at the end of CoNY, but after a while she realises he’s not typically violent and calms down.

How often do they argue/disagree?

Almost never, due to the blood bond. Olivia occasionally pushes it, but never goes too far (by Arturo’s standards). She’s too chemically wired to want to please him to full out disagree or argue.

Who is the first to apologize?

Olivia, for obvious reasons. Arturo does apologise from time to time, but rarely, and usually accompanied with an eyeroll inducing monologue pontificating about something or other. (Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, the monologue itself is not an apology.)

SEX.

(Headcanon interlude -- vampire sex is basically blood drinking, whether mutual or not, given how aroused both drinker and drinkee become. They can have “human” sex with blush of life, but it’s not nearly as satisfying without the blood drinking. So yeah keep in mind I’m not talking about human sex here, even though there might be some of that accompanying the blood drinking.)

Who is on top? Who is on bottom?

Olivia on top. Kind of hard to suck the blood from someone’s throat if you’re on the bottom.

Any kinks?

They’re vampires, what do you think?

Who has the strangest desires?

Arturo thinks he’s weird as shit for enjoying it when she cuddles up to him lmfao.

Who’s dominant in bed?

Arturo, despite positions.

Is head ever in the equation?

Nope. Although I’m sure if Arturo managed to get her back when she escaped he might’ve been relieved enough to do it.

If so, who is better at performing it?

N/A

Ever had sex in public?

He never lets her out, so no.

Although... he does have ghouls, and he treats them like he’d treat a portrait on the wall. Olivia is often mortified by the stuff she’ll do in front of them when the blood bond’s at full strength.

Who moans the most?

Definitely Arturo. It’s vampire sex, Olivia’s too busy drinking blood to make noise.

Who leaves the most marks?

Neither, they heal too quickly.

Who is the more experienced of the two?

With mortal sex it sort of balances out -- Arturo was apparently a canonical playboy when he was alive, but obviously that stopped forty years ago so that evens out there. With Olivia, she’s slept with a few people but got too wrapped up in work towards the end of her life to have a sex life.

Plus, Vampire Sex Is Different, as I’ve said a million times already, so... they’re not blushing virgins but neither of them are at a level where you can say either of them is more experienced than the other. Sure, Arturo has Panhard drinking from him too, but in my headcanon her drinking from his wrist is not sexual even by vampire standards. Olivia was the first he let bite from his neck.

Do they ‘fuck’ or ‘make love’?

I think there’s far more emotion in it than Arturo is ever willing to admit.

How long do they usually last?

As long as Olivia can draw it out without diablerising him, lmao. He does get into the habit of keeping himself topped up for her when it gets sexual though.

In human-sex terms, well... vampires have way more stamina than humans. But again, not as satisfying, so they tend to leave that for when Arturo’s low on vitae or when he has a few hours free (which isn’t often).

Rough or soft?

Soft.  Unless Arturo’s been to visit Panhard or Adelaide. Olivia gets bitey when she’s jealous and Arturo finds it endearing.

Is protection used?

Really?

Does it ever get boring?

By mortal standards, certainly. But drinking/being drunk from by a vampire feels so good that for them, no, it never gets boring.

Where is the strangest place they’d have sex?

Anywhere the ghouls are working. Olivia dies inside a little once the post-nut clarity kicks in. The ghouls just GTFO and don’t make eye contact for a while.

Arturo doesn’t think of them as people...

FAMILY.

Do they plan on having children/or have children?

Jesus fucking Christ my blood ran cold just READING this question. Nope nope npoe NOPE. Even if they could have children, NOOOOOOO. GOD, NO. NOOOOO. NOPE. NOPE NOPE NOPE

As for childer? Vampires are single parents by nature, so they’re not raising any together. If anything, Arturo is seriously considering adopting Olivia as his childe by the time she GTFO’s. 

(For non-VTM fans: I swear that is not as fucked up as it looks. “Childe” = vampire who hasn’t been a vampire for long. It’s a mentor/mentee relationship, not a parent/child relationship, despite the terminology. Vampires seem to be way more likely to have romantic/sexual entanglements with sires/childer than anyone else because of the power imbalance and how fucking dangerous it is to get involved with a vampire on your level. Why yes creatures who drink blood from humans are fucked up, what tipped you off?)

If so, how many children do they want/have?

I’m charging you for my therapy bills.

AFFECTION.

Who likes to cuddle?

Goes without saying that the blood bond makes Olivia a cuddle slut, but Arturo enjoys it way more than he is willing to admit.

Who gets naughty in the most inappropriate of places?

Arturoooo. Those poor fucking ghouls.

Who struggles to keep their hands to themselves?

Arturo.

How long can they cuddle until one becomes uncomfortable?

They’re vampires.

What is their favourite non-sexual activity?

Arturo is a slut for headscritches.

Where is their favourite place to cuddle?

The sofas near the windows overlooking New York.

SLEEPING.

Who snores?

They’re vamps, they literally sleep like they’re dead. VTM vampires are easily mistaken for corpses unless you know what to look for, such as the fact they don’t stink and that insects and scavengers aren’t helping themselves.

My headcanon is that younger and higher humanity vampires sleep more akin to something like humans, and so younger vampires like Olivia might sometimes wake during the day (altho quickly pass out again), move in their sleep, or dream, or accidentally use blush of life. Closest she comes to snoring is by accidentally using blush of life in her sleep and therefore breathing.

If both do, who snores the loudest?

N/A

Do they share a bed or sleep separately?

Sleep separately, up until the first attempt to bust Olivia out, at which point Arturo gets clingy and insists she sleeps next to him in his bed. It’s not like he’d wake up if any ghouls showed up to liberate her, but it makes him feel better.

If they sleep together, do they cozy up together or lay far apart?

Cozy up.

What do they wear to bed?

Olivia is still in the habit of wearing PJs, but Arturo just wears whatever he was wearing that day.

Are either of them insomniacs?

No, it’s extremely difficult for vampires to stay awake when the sun comes up.

Can sleeping pills be found by the bedside?

Nope, they wouldn’t work.

Do they wrap their limbs around each other or just lay side by side?

Depends on how clingy Arturo’s feeling that night.

Who wakes up with bed hair?

Both of them.

Who wakes up first?

They both wake up around the same time.

Who prepares breakfast in bed for the other?

Arturo will fucking murder any ghouls that bleed all over his bed, so neither.

What is their favourite sleeping position?

Arturo likes to cling to Olivia after the first liberation attempt.

Do they set an alarm each night?

No need.

Who has nightmares?

Olivia, due to her young age, is able to dream from time to time and therefore gets nightmares. After Arturo, she gets way more -- although that’s not because of any trauma from the Arturo incident (although she’s definitely spooked by it, the blood bond actually protected her from the trauma it would cause because of the nature of how trauma forms), but more because of the idea of oh god what if someone WORSE than him puts me under a blood bond?!

Can a television be found in their bedroom?

Arturo. Despises. Modern. Television.

Who has ridiculous dreams?

Olivia is the only one out of the two of them that dreams. For Arturo, being older and with lower humanity, it’s more akin to being put under anaesthesia.

Her dreams aren’t that ridiculous, though.

Who sprawls out and takes up most of the bed?

Olivia doesn’t sprawl, but she does move in her sleep so I suppose she’s closest.

Who makes the bed?

The ghouls.

What time is bed time?

Up to half an hour before dawn, depending on their mood and if they feel like just curling up and talking before they black out.

Any routines/rituals before bed?

Not really. Arturo likes to go over his schedule, have a sip from a ghoul, but that’s about it.

Who’s the grumpiest when they wake up?

Arturo, if he’s dreading something that night.

WORK.

Who is the busiest?

Fucking Arturo is always running around feeding his one million ghouls and three blood bonded pets, and feeding himself to keep them under his control, and that’s not counting when he’s getting up to schemes or schmoozing in Elysium. Dude is pretty much out of the penthouse from dusk to dawn most of the week and when he’s at home actually working he’s shut up in his study.

Olivia? Bored out of her fucking mind at home binging on Netflix or books. After working 70+ hours a week when she was alive she is not used to having this much free time.

Who rakes in the highest income?

Arturo, obviously. Famous architect with a shitton of shady “associates”.

Are any of them unemployed?

Olivia.

Who takes the most sick days?

They don’t do sick days.

What are their jobs?

Arturo’s a Harpy, if that counts as a job (think vampire socialite), and also an architect.

Who sucks up to their boss?

Arturo is the boss, even if he pretends not to be at Elysium.

Olivia had to do a lot of sucking up in life. She does not miss that bit.

Who is more likely to turn up late to work?

Arturo. He does what the fuck he wants.

Who stresses the most?

Believe it or not, Arturo. He’s got a lot of balls in the air and works hard to keep himself from dropping them. After Hope’s failed attempt at getting Olivia out, he gets even more stressed out.

Do they enjoy or despise their careers/occupations?

Olivia does not miss her job but also doesn’t know who she is without it, now.

Arturo enjoys his job. He’s always enjoyed it, but after being Embraced he became completely obsessed with it.

Are they financially stable?

Yep. Famous architect who designs for both kindred and kine elites? Yeah.

HOME.

Who does the washing?

The ghouls.

Who takes out the trash?

Ghouls

Who does the ironing?

Ghouuuuls.

Who does the cooking?

Nobody, they just munch on a ghoul.

Who is more likely to burn the house down just trying?

I’m not shitting you when I say that Lucas, one of the ghouls, is most likely to try and sneakily cook something on Arturo’s never-used stovetop when he’s out and accidentally fuck it up in the process.

Who is messier?

Arturo, but that’s not saying much. He tends to pick up after himself if he doesn’t have to go out of his way to do it, and there’s ghouls to do the rest.

Who leaves the toilet roll empty?

My headcanon is that vampires do, in fact, pee because they need to get rid of metabolic waste somehow. So that’d be Olivia.

Who leaves their dirty clothes on the floor?

Arturo, if it doesn’t upset the aesthetic of the room too much (fucking Toreadors). Olivia did start leaving her stuff around for the ghouls but it stressed out Arturo so she stopped.

Who forgets to flush the toilet?

Neither of them.

Who loses the car keys when it comes time to go somewhere?

Arturo usually takes the subway, but if the ghouls are driving him somewhere it’s definitely Lucas who fucks up the most.

Who answers the telephone?

They don’t have a landline. Olivia doesn’t have a phone.

Who mows the lawn?

They have a penthouse.

Who does the vacuuming?

The ghouls, usually Alex.

Who does the groceries?

Nobody, although the ghouls sometimes stash stuff in the fridge Arturo keeps for the aesthetic. It doesn’t bother him as long as they keep their shit put away.

Who takes the longest to shower?

Olivia likes to shower almost every day out of habit and because the warmth is soothing.

Who spends the most time in the bathroom?

Arturo. This is the guy who wears glasses he doesn’t need because he likes the aesthetic. No way in hell he isn’t in there for ages preening himself.

MISCELLANEOUS.

Is money a problem?

Not at all.

How many cars do they own?

Arturo almost certainly has something fancy and hipstery that he barely uses.

What’s their song?

LMFAO sorry this question made me laugh my ass off because a PERFECT song appeared in my head immediately:

 “Every Breath You Take” by the Police

but unironically, and with total awareness of the actual fucking meaning of the song.

Specifically, the cover in minor key. The really creepy one by Chase Holfeder.

(There is a reason, other than the blood bond, that Olivia hangs the fuck tight and waits for Qadir to get her out instead of making a break for it herself. And there’s a reason why she bolts to the other side of the country when the blood bond wears off. She ain’t taking any chances.)

Do they live in the city or in the country?

New York City, baby.

Do they own their home or do they rent?

Own it. It used to belong to Charlotte, Arturo’s sire. He got it when she carked it.

Do they enjoy their surroundings?

Arturo’s a Toreador so I see him as having a love/hate relationship with his surroundings depending on what they are at the moment.

As for Olivia, it’s fancier than she’s used to but mostly the cabin fever drives her crazy from time to time.

What do they do when they’re away from each other?

Arturo gets up to all kinds of shit -- Elysium schmoozing, bossing ghouls around, doing architecture/engineering work, researching, making deals with Kaiser, feeding Adelaide and Panhard...

Olivia? Mostly Netflix binging, hanging out with the ghouls, and wishing she could go out for a fucking walk or something.

Where did they first meet?

At Elysium. Arturo was one of the people she talked to that night. She said his glasses looked good on him when he was bitching about them. He said “you bet they do.”

Who spends the most money when out shopping?

Arturo tends to make less purchases but moves more money when he does.

Who’s more likely to flash their assets?

Neither of them, dear god.

Any mental issues?

what do you think

Arturo: I would be here all day.

Olivia: she actually winds up less traumatised than she thought she would once the blood bond wore off. The blood bond actually protected her in that way -- trauma needs fear to take root, even if it’s fear after the fact. So while she was very nervous in the first few months of captivity, once she realised Arturo wasn’t going to hurt her or anything she settled right down and isn’t scarred by that. She is scared that she’ll have to look over her shoulder for the rest of her life, she is scared he’ll try to take her back, but she’s not scared of him, if that makes sense?

But the whole “wow, anyone could do this to me and they could be a lot worse than he ended up being”? Yeah, that fucking terrifies her, so she does end up with a lot of trauma around that afterwards. Yeah, she was a captive for a while, but... she ended up very, very lucky in who her captor was, and she knows it. Arturo didn’t go out of his way to be nice to her, but he wasn’t a complete asshole either. Worse he did (dubcon, captivity and blood bond aside) was snap at her every now and then and be self-absorbed.

She actually finds it pretty hard to deal with life after captivity because... well. There’s a lot worse than Arturo out there. She’s an orphan. Kindred are pretty fucking horrible and she doesn’t have Arturo protecting her any more.

Sometimes the gilded cage was way easier to deal with. Sometimes she really, really misses not having to fight for her survival. Sometimes she wants to go back. She often wants to go back.

So yeah -- there is some trauma there, just... not the trauma she expected to end up dealing with. She expected to feel violated and to hate the guy. She doesn’t. She didn’t expect to feel lost, scared and exposed without him. She does.

Who finds it amusing when the other trips over?

Olivia, not that she’d ever show it. Sometimes it’s just satisfying to watch the puppet master deal with tiny little wrenches in the works like that.

Who’s terrified of bugs?

Olivia hates them.

Who kills the spiders around the house?

Arturo rolls his eyes and gets a ghoul to do it.

Do they have any fears for their future?

Arturo, once he realised how attached he got to Olivia, was terrified of losing her.

Their favourite place?

They both like the couches in the haven that sit next to the huge windows that overlook the city.

Who’s more likely to surprise the other with a fancy dinner?

Every now and then a ghoul gets some really good vitae as a treat for Olivia.

(So yeah, neither.)

Who pays the bills?

Arturo.

Who’s the tallest?

Arturo.

Who’s more likely to just randomly hop into the shower with the other?

Neither.

Who wanders around in their underwear?

Neither.

Who sings the loudest when singing along to the radio?

Olivia sings under her breath when it’s just the ghouls around, but not loudly, and never in front of Arturo.

What do they tease each other about?

Ooof, Arturo likes to rub salt in the wound by calling her his little pet, but ofc blood bonded Olivia doesn’t feel hurt by that. It’s not until post-New York that she’s like “DUDE WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT???”

Who is more likely to cringe at the other’s fashion sense at times?

Arturo, naturally. I think it’s physically impossible for a Toreador not to cringe at someone’s clothing every now and then.

Who crushed first?

... Both? Sorta.

Olivia naturally had the blood bond, but Arturo was the first that actually caught genuine feelings.

Olivia did have some genuine fond feelings even after the blood bond wore off, but not enough that she let that stop her from GTFOing to LA.

Any alcohol or substance-related problems?

You mean, aside from Olivia’s literal addiction to Arturo’s blood? The one that compels her to have strong feelings for him to the point that even though she’s captive and could walk out the door at any time, she doesn’t?

Yeah, I’d say that’s a substance problem.

Who is more likely to stumble home, drunk, at 3am?

Arturo, if he was desperate enough to feed on a drunk, but even then -- blood has a very low alcohol content compared to actual alcohol, and while I HC that vampires are sensitive enough to alcohol that they can get a buzz from drinking from someone drunk enough... it’s just a buzz.

Who swears the most?

Arturo.

[louiserandom]

The MadaTobi adventure has been chosen...

AND IT’S SOULMATES EXCAHNGING POWERS WOOOHOOOO (purple and green are the same option i just edited the form like a dumbass)

However, I’ve come to the inevitable conclusion THAT I WANNA WRITE ALL THESE FREAKIN PROMPTS or at least a couple more, so after this CYOA ends, I might just tackle the rest :D Thank you ALL so much for voting! I seriously didn’t expect this much feedback and I’ll do my best to deliver :3 *sends you all hugs, positivity and rays of sunshine during these trying times and hopes that each one of you is safe* Hopefully the story will provide some fun and distraction from the grim anxiety <3

Now, I couldn’t resist writing the first part before Camp Nano started so I’ll be posting the chapter a bit later today once I’m all done with work stuff :3 And as always, a few more notes on the rest of the survey questions~ 

Thank you for enabling my thotty side. Again ehehehehe

AND OH LOOK AT THESE VOTES FOR THE ADDITIONAL PROMPTS EH

+ Virgin Tobirama knows everything about sex; semi-feral tobirama who spends too much time with his summons; Hate to Love; A+ banter, maybe 1 combined w/ secret relationship; shameless Izuna - oh, 3 of these are definitely gonna be in the story ;)

Now, fair warning: it will be long because my brain made me add this huge plot and Zetsu’s fuckery to the mix which will result in his gruesome elimination from existence sorry for spoilers lmao and because I’m hopeless, expect some bijuu shenanigans as well👀👀👀 Granted, some of the plot points and tropes are going to be revealed in the story; like, Tobirama’s obliviousness level and the exact level of Hashirama’s over-protectiveness will depend on your choices :3 Hope y’all have fun with me!

And below the cut, comment responses <3 I’ve had to group some because I’ve got so little time right now but will hopefully be able to answer every question separately as time goes. Again, THANK YOU all for voting!!!

I would really like both options two and four, any chance? This all sounds incredible I am super excited thank you!

The third option also sounds good

I like Plot II and III too actually as well

I wish I could pick all of the story options ;)

I love your work and am so excited for this! I had so much trouble choosing answers in the poll because everything sounds so good!

Chose option I but strongly hesitated with option II cause it could be so funny.

All of these plots sound so awesome!!! It was super hard to pick one.

Argh! Why is choosing so hard? I want at least one of every option in every combination imaginable. That said, I chose plot 2 for the hilarious potential of put upon Tobirama with a sharingan but plot 1 was a very close contestant. I can't wait to see what you cook up. It's gonna be so great! - oz

DUDES ALL YOUR COMMENTS AND MY OWN EXCITEMENT ABOUT THESE PROMPTS MADE ME WANNA WRITE THEM ALL, FUCK IT!!! I definitely want option 4, it’s peak hilarity, tho I wonder if it would work more as a story proper, not a CYOA (I can think of a few interesting conflicts and choices in that verse tho, so we’ll see). But I do love option 1 as well; option 3 may be a little overdone? But basically, just lemme finish this one, try my best to deliver and then put the rest of the plots to another vote <3

I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH AND THANK YOU, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR SUPPORT!!!

p.s. Oz, you’re as always too kind <3

It would be funny if Tobirama was hilariously confident and actually decent at flirting with a flailing Madara but was actually a virgin. Like just completely and utterly shamelessly saying something like, 'yh I'm a virgin so you better make this good. I've got a lot to learn ;)' And of course Madara flails :D

THANK YOU. YES. THIS XD (Tobi would, wouldn’t he. And he very likely will, in this fic ;)

He is the dumbest Bitch alive with Tobi and Hashi running for second place. Bitch should have gotten some Senju dick to calm tf down.

No comments, only applause. You know what’s up

The fandom thanks you for doing God's work ;)

My insecure ass thanks you for your kind words <3

Hurt Tobi to show how protective Madara can be

Bold of you to assume I won’t hurt both of them and have them build each other back up again (lmao ignore my dramatic ass, as I said, nothing but light angst haha. But still some pain because plot said so :o)

Both being stupidly weak when it comes to kids

YEPPPPP YOU’RE READING MY MIND :D CAN’T WAIT TO WRITE THOSE SCENES

CLEARLY. Hashirama, Mito, Touka, and Izuna should all be one giant poly pile. 👀 Also it was impossible for me not to pick the option with Kurama. I love that grumpy asshole fox and I have... So many... Headcanons for him.....

HashiMitoTouIzu poly pile *stares* this... this.... MAYBE NOT IN THIS FIC BUT I WOULD LIKE TO TACKLE THIS IDEA AT SOME POINT LMAO THAT WOULD BE AWESOME :D (will maybe try to write a fic with them for camp nano ehehe)

Also, although ultimately, option 2 was chosen…. I couldn’t resist and added the possibility of Kurama appearing, I love his grumpy ass too much :D (Altho this will depend on the votes👀)

Maybe a child, adopted (kagami) or mpreg

Hmmm, no mpreg, just in this particular fic, but lots of interactions with children ;)

Wasn't he already? ://

ALWAYS

Madara is clearly the dumbest (Hashi is a close second)

YOU SPEAK THE TRUTH DEAR READER, I’M GLAD YOU SEE THE LIGHT

(Personally, I think Hashirama is the dumbest founder lol) But could you maybe make Tobirama and Izuna actually get along? They don’t have to be friends but just no active animosity. Maybe. You obviously don’t have to— would probably love it either way— but ‘tis my request

I may have to write that thesis about Madara’s dumbassery after all lol, be sure that I will convince you

And oh yeah, they definitely get along, don’t worry! Writing Tobirama and Izuna’s friendship warms my heart :3

I love flaily Mads and oblivious Tobes

WHO DOESN’T :D

Madara is not dumb, just a dumbass ^^ Also, bringing in Tobi's sensing is always a YES from me!

Nooooo HE DUMB AND A DUMBASS HOW BOUT THAT XD ehehe oh there’s gonna be a lot of sensing fuckery in the chosen option so I hope you enjoy! :3

At some point please let Mito and Tobirama befriend Kurama 'cause they're all powerful sassy bitches that will bitch slap you into your place and they all put the ultimate smack down on meddling Elders who've teamed up with Zetsu?

Although option 2 has been chosen… Kurama may appear in the story *shifty eyes* AND mf Zetsu lmao I need to kill that bitch. He’ll know pain^-^

Hashirama should be a smiling sociopath a la Symbol of Subjugation style. He knows there's something wrong but, hey, he wants to see his precious all happy :)

Oh, I considered that actually, I adore that fic! But imo it works better with a couple of other plots so I may consider writing him that way for a future CYOA :3 

I can already tell that this is gonna be one hell of a ride and I can’t wait!

Hell yeah go forth you funky lil author, you got this :D

Na

Nope nope I have non good luck

Luv ya <3

AHHHHHH YESSS I AM READY

Have fun

Thank you so much guys! <3 I’M EXCITED AS FUCK AND I CANNOT WAIT TO START :D

[ivyandink]

a life update

if you’re interested! :) i know im the nosy person who loves reading about peoples’ personal lives, so if that’s you.... below the cut sis, i see you lol

I have been sooo absent from tumblr for months now! And I know I don’t owe any explanations or anything, but idk, I just thought it’d be kinda fun to share with you guys what’s been keeping my mind busy and away! So here goes nothin’.

I had one hell of a summer. Emphasis on hell. Read: Family DRAMA. Which left me in a pretty rough place mentally/emotionally. In a much, much better place with it all now (altho as I say that my crazy aunt has been texting me all day tryna drag me bag into stuff lol no rest for the wicked y’all). But, when you’re feeling kinda down, it’s hard to find the energy to create.

I am starting up my web design side hustle!!! Which has been a long time coming lol. I’ve been meaning to do this for years, but things never quite lined up or worked out. Last year, I finally felt like I was at a good place to start, so I have! This is by far taking up the most space in my brain for now, as I’m still getting things off the ground. It’s hard to balance starting a business while working full time, and also trying to have other hobbies/interests/social interaction lolol. PS: If you or anyone you know needs a website designed.... ;) just sayin’. I know a gal.......... me. It’s me. I’m the gal. Moving on. :)

I’ve been revisiting my novel. Idk if I ever talked about it much on here or just vaguely referenced it here and there? But last Spring (yikes almost a year ago.. BIG YIKES) I started a novel with the goal to finish by 2020. I wrote about 3 chapters and effectively scrapped it. lmao. So here we are! Revisiting the drawing board. FYI, this novel is an adaptation of my “Disapora” story if any of yall remember that hot ass M E S S-- aka, how Eli and Clem meet, fall in love and what not. My concept is to take my Ivy characters and kind of build them out their own book series... a series that would explore generational ties and relationships, and give me space to REALLY develop these characters I’ve loved so much. Like, I could gush and geek over this forever, but developing the old Elliot and Clementine into REAL characters (let’s be honest, their development had always been a little... lite lol) feels amazing, and seeing the same character yet also they’re so different?? It’s hard to explain, but it’s exciting, and fun, and a big, long-term project/goal of mine, and 2020 is the year I write the first book!!!! Or at least start it lol.

I lost my very best furry friend, my cat Juno, in December. See above for mental hardship making it hard to create. However, Seth and I have opened our hearts and home to two little ragdoll brothers , who we’ve had for a few weeks now, and are in love with. I think Juno would’ve really loved them too. ❤️ They’re a lil bad sometimes lol I like to think they’re in the preteen phase right now, and acting up and being extra. But they’re so cute and sweet and quirky, and already apart of our little family.

Then there’s just tons of misc things that have sucked up my time. Like: learning how to use my iPad Pro + Apple Pencil, creating a digital bullet journal with said iPad/Pencil combo, researching going back to college for my MSW to then become an LCSW (good LORD the acronyms in the field... kill m e) and become a therapist, researching houses we cannot afford???? literally wasting entire days looking on Trulia/Zillow/etc. lol, trying out a super DUPER extreme elimination diet to pinpoint some of my health issues (which i suspect might be autoimmune by nature, as it runs in the fam, despite me not being diagnosed-- and there is a lot of at the bare minimum anecdotal evidence that AI diseases are caused by food intolerances), went through a weird regression where I played Zelda for a few days lmao, and I’ve also taken up a daily manifestation journaling practice! And lord knows what else. :)

All of this is to say.... YEAH I’ve been busy. But here I am. I can’t make any promises to myself or others are my content, how often I’ll post, if I’ll ever even finish this dang story, or what. But!! That’s all good. :) I’m gonna let myself have fun with this hobby. Because for ME, I need something I can just have fun with. Read all the above points for things in my life that aren’t meant to be taken very seriously and leave no room for ‘just have fun with it’ and you’ll get it lolol. At the end of the day tho, I love tumblr, for as much shit as we all talk about it. It scratches a very particular itch for me, and it’s an enjoyable itch to scratch (???? weird metaphor but ok). It’s fun. I love the community (I’m good at blocking the icky blogs, and love my mutuals/followers/anons/people who interact). And I love having Like Ivy in the back of my head, getting ideas and inkings for it here and there, with no pressure on myself to do anything with it, right away. I want to keep this as my creative, free for all kinda space. But that might mean some radio silence here and there. I feel like most my main followers are also adults tho with busy lives??? So I’m sure y’all more than understand the struggle lolol. 

OH I almost forgot-- keep your 👀 peeled for the return of my Youtube channel this year! That was another fun hobby I enjoyed doing just for myself. I still need to figure out how I can make it work for me, in my new crazy life/schedule lol but alas!!!!! I’m a double scorpio and i LOVE a good challenge. Also might be a bit of a masochist??? So, I’ll figure it out, no worries lolol.

If you read this, and got all the way to the end without tapping out, I just wanted to say hey 👋 I see you. You’re awesome. I love you. Thanks for being interested in me. Also, we’re nosy creepers together, so we clearly have that in common 💁‍♀️ and idk! even if I’m not posting, I’m always lurking/around and always open to chat, answer asks, whatever. :) And if you have any questions about anything I wrote here, feel free to shoot them my way too!! All humans lowkey love talking about themselves (this post? case, and point oof). No shame~

Anyways-- thanks for reading!

[microfeelings]

You know I just realized how rude of me it was to just post the fantasy AU and never elaborate further on, so I'll do my best to write down the most important things from this universe (no timeline because lmao how does a timeline even work)

For Arin it would be the fact that he grew up on a tribe of half orcs, (his mother is a druid orc, and takes care of the horses that help them move around, his father is an elven bard, and because of this he looks less orcish and more femenine than other half-orcs his age, it bothers him at first but he learns to live with it) and when he is of age decides to leave to experience the world on his own and find a meaning to being alive, (he feels like he needs to find a purpose) trains as a barbarian, but leaves before finishing his training and starts taking adventures for money, (freelance adventurer babyy) at this time he cuts off his long hair and buffs out(is that the word??) his tusks (cause he believes hes not that good for his orc part), thats when he meets Ross, (who is trying to kill him but this doesnt bother the man) they travel together for a couple of years and then Ross leaves him for some pirates in the ocean (Or something like that?? Unclear undecided lmao). Then Dan comes into the equation, not much later Suzy, then Ross (who is kind of an on and off character traveling with them), and Brian (same with Ross, but hes justified because he has a family)

The story with Dan is more complicated (and angstier oh yeah). I still havent worked on his whole childhood part, but on his 150 and beyond he was kind of a free spirit, traveling as a bard, with literally anyone who might wanna join, meeting lots of people and sleeping around, he was more of a lover and the works he took were more on the entartaining side than the slaying, he lived without much care up until he was 200 when he met a tiefling lady whom he fell in love with and was decided he wanted to marry, the problem is that they had different views on life (since she was ready to settle down, meanwhile Dan was more of a "keep seeing the world"), even tho he was ready to leave it for her she told him to keep traveling and that she was going to be waiting for him when he was done. At this time (look you really must have bad luck Dan) he fell ill and into a coma of 50 years, when he woke up he found himself in a world where a lot of things had changed, and the woman he loved was dead. Devastated and with nowhere to go he just decided to keep working and travelling, so he joined a band of mercenaries where he met Brian, altho kind of violent (on Brian's side), they hit it off inmediatly and became very close, enough so that Brian presented him to his family, still Dan felt that he needed to keep travelling to fill the void he felt in his heart (and also because Brian was a human, and he couldnt bare the thought of losing him as well, and it was easier to just avoid it by leaving even if it made him feel like a coward). Then he met Arin, Suzy and Ross (I feel like their adventures all together deserve a different post)

Suzy is also kind of a work in progress (I still havent completely decided what drove her to leave her forest so the story might change from post to post). She lived in the forest her whole life (childhood undecided) and when she was around 200 met Arin when he was a teen, they became friends and Arin basically talked his whole life with her, eventually Arin left and Suzy kept living in the forest until a village started growing just outside it and started being rude and mindless on how they treated her forest, so she decided to talk to the townsfolk, they ignored her so she resolved into using fear tactics and that worked for a while, but now her forest was known as a dangerous place where no smart person went, aka a perfect place for mercenaries and other shady groups. She went to the town asking for help but people were either afraid or mad at her (Suzy is not having a nice day) but thankfully Arin and Dan were passing through town when she went to the folk so they decided to help her (sweet reunion between Arin and Suzy <3 the man has bad memory but he still remembered his childhood best friend, also she looks the exact same so... kinda hard to miss, Suzy has thoughts about the beard but this post is not about that). Still not decided why she left the forest (by all acounts it doesnt make sense, but I wanted her traveling with the boys) maybe she convinces the townsfolk to treat the forest better or something cheesy like that lmao.

From this point on the stories become less and less thought out

Ross as a tiefling was always an outcast, and you know what they say, treat someone like a monster and they will become one, he became a warlock at an early age (undecided but he was young) to a demon who would ask him all sorts of favors, one of them being killing Arin: the one favor Ross failed to do, because after trying to murder the man they both got into a life threatening sittuation where Arin saved his life and Ross thought "oh fuck, hes nice". They began travelling together and tho Ross tried to kill Arin a couple more times, tho he could never comit and ended up leaving him so the demon wouldnt find him (or something, how has the demon not killed Ross yet? Loophole! What loophole? I dont know, I havent thought about it yet). He left to travel the seas for a while and met a bunch of people but eventually came back to land and back to traveling with Arin because no one was as cool as him (I guess?) Gets along with Suzy and Brian cause they're scary, and likes to mess with Dan cause its really easy to do (and also because hes jealous of his relationship with Arin lmao) but they get along when its necessary.

Brian's whole life before joining the mercenary is a whole mystery, nobody knows anything about the man, the only person who knows his backstory is Dan, but even he is unsure because he always changes the story (one of them is the true one, which one Danny boy?). All everyone knows it that after Dan left the mercenary group, Brian wanted to retire as well, but the leader wouldnt let him since he was one of the best in their group, and threatened to get his wife and child if he left, so he took one last job to kill a certain Half-orc (everyone wants Arin death, why? I dont know) and after that went as well as expected (lots of knives, Dan trying to convince both Arin and Brian not to kill each other), the group decided to help Brian kill his own mercenary group. He sometimes joins the group on some adventures (Brian's house is one of their many 'safe houses') still enjoys to sometimes stab Dan and Arin, but knows better not to mess with a fucking druid and warlock

Also if you wanna write or draw related to this au, I will love you forever, you can tag it as fantasy grumps, or tag me (but honestly I dont trust tumblr, so you can just message me about it)