#(I'm still confident that books are Safe as a general thing. To the point that if someone experiences a book as Unsafe

[mumblingsage]

(Oh God help is she still going on about it--)

That post has developed some healthy discussion of what constitutes "trauma," but now I realize there's the mirror/shadow discourse that isn't being had, but could be equally clarifying, namely "What is the normal amount of emotional reaction to a book?"

[ohnoitstbskyen]

PINNED POST, FAQ, INFORMATION

Hi, I'm TBSkyen. I make videos on YouTube sometimes. This is my main tumblr blog, the "brand" blog as it were, where I maintain my Social Media Presence™ on this site.

I use the ironic ™ to signal my personal discomfort with the work of being a minor media personality even while I still do that work and make a living off it.

I have a sideblog called @tbposting, mostly for shitposts and reblogs, and in my opinion I have pretty darn good taste in reblogs, so you can follow that if you want. It's also where I'll do random personal posting, microblogging, etc.

This main blog is primarily for 1) answering asks, and 2) posting my Original Content™, usually my main channel videos, as well as the occasional longer essay or critique. Sometimes I'll reblog an interesting or useful thing, or boost a friend's work, but I try to keep the spam to a minimum.

---

About Me

I am a thirtysomething content creator whose primary expertise is character design.

I have a bachelor's degree in English, never finished my master's, did most of a bachelor's degree in history, and that's it. These are my academic qualifications, no more and no less.

My professional experience is primarily being a freelancer and self-employed creator. I spent the better part of a decade working as a commission artist, running webcomics, drawing fanart, and the occasional animation work and not safe for work commissions, and I have at this point a decade of experience and self-study in the subjects I cover. I have also done online community management for, god help me, almost twenty years, so that's a part of my skillset I'll never escape.

I do not have any particular professional creative industry experience, although given what I hear from my professional friends, sometimes that seems like a blessing.

Please maintain a critical distance when engaging with my work. I am a critic. My work is very rarely meant to be taken as authoritative or didactic, and when it is, I will make it clear in my writing. Just because I speak with confidence doesn't mean I am trying to assert objective truth.

---

TAGS (to follow, or filter)

#tbanswers is the tag for every single ask I answer on this blog

#tb reblog is the tag for reblogs

#tb essay is for the occasional longer essay or critical writing

#tbvideos is for my videos and Content™

#tb recommends is for the occasional recommendation of a video essay or other creator

Yes, I know the spaces are inconsistent. It's not on purpose, I just typed them in haphazardly when I started using them and it's stuck.

---

FAQ (before you ask)

Q: Will you ever do a video about ____ ? A: The answer to this question is almost universally "maybe someday, if I have time, and if I feel I have anything worthwhile to say." And the more realistic answer is "no, because I already have far too much on my plate and I have burned myself out too many times." In general, please don't ask me this question, I will most likely not answer it because I have given the same answer a thousand times, but I still feel guilty about not answering them.

Q: Will you continue your series of videos about ____ ? A: Yes! I will continue the let's plays I started, I will finish the Boss Designs series, I will do another What's the Deal With, I will do more shorts about the subjects I've got going on. The main obstacle is, again, my tendency to overload myself.

Q: Do you have a PO box? Can I send you something? A: Not yet, but I'm looking into it. It may be a while before I get it set up.

Q: Do you have merchandise? A: A little bit, yes, at tbskyen.redbubble.com.

Q: What's your opinion on [game/movie/comic/book/etc]? A: I struggle to answer very open, broad questions like this. Most things I have opinions about, I have multiple opinions, and different ones depending on the perspective and specific element in question. I'm much more likely to answer specific, bounded questions.

Q: Can I send you fanart? A: PLEASE. Askbox, tag me on bluesky, send it to my email! I love seeing every piece of it!

Q: Why do you never appear on camera? A: A forest witch cursed me to look not quite but ALMOST like Paul Giamatti in all photos and videos ever taken of me, and his laywers sent me a cease-and-desist.

Q: Are you gay/straight/bi/other? A: The decision I've made for myself, at least for this period of my life, is that privacy is precious, and once given up can never be reclaimed on the internet. I am open about being aromantic (not asexual), because it's a sometimes invisible and underdiscussed identity, and I know it would have helped me a lot to see someone speak about it when I was younger.

The rest of it is for me to know, and for you to speculate about, although preferably somewhere I can't see it. I accept that this is a part of being a Personality, but it still feels weird, y'know?

Q: Is it weird if I find your voice kinda hot? A: I've put a lot of work into developing this voice and making it nice to listen to, so that's not weird at all and I find it quite complimentary, thank you.

I generally don't mind people doing flirty/thirsty posting about or at me, just so long as we all understand that 1) you should never give a stranger like me information which could be used to harm you. Nicer-seeming YouTubers than me have turned out to be monsters.

And 2) it will never go beyond playful online flirtiness. I like to fluster my live chat, I'll flirt back in an ask or a post maybe, but I am not flirting with you, or inviting any kind of closer intimacy with you, the person I responded to.

Think of me like a comedian doing crowd-work at a show - you can chat to me in the bar after the show, but when I asked you what you do for work I wasn't looking for a personal connection, I was doing my work as an entertainer. Please no sending me nudes, or propositions, or confession letters in my email inbox. We are strangers, and I am always performing a persona in public.

[masteri-0]

Just had a sudden thought of Dragon!Shen Yuan (or any creature really) AU, where it was like a normal rite of passage for parents to raise their young (protectively, they're not jerks, just uh, very unsafe for human children, or just humans in general...), then throw them into some sort of extreme trial to prove their strength, when they're deemed ready. Oh, and it was normal, expected, even, to take a go at your parents and try to murder them as a proof of superiority, or smt like that. Doesn't mean they don't love each other! Dragons just have a different way of showing care, that's all. What's a lil play fighting?

Anyw, main point is, SY transmigrates into SQQ with this mentality. Sees his cute little sheep. Falls in love instantly and adopts him. But oh! Oh, the protagonist is so weak, so malnourished! He's gonna nurture him and make sure he's well taken care of! Such a scrawny little sheep can't possibly survive anything! Oh? What's that? He has to push the scrawny baby into the abyss? Well! Makes sense, but that's years into the future, and he has time to make sure they grow up big and strong yet! Cue all the canonical pampering.

I'd imagine during LBH's disciple days, he receives a lot more comments about him going out into the world, and there's less matchmaking from Shizun, since SY believes that girls will flock naturally to him if he's strong enough, so there's also more emphasis on his training, as well as the training of other disciples on the peak. I'm not sure how he'll react to Bai Zhan disciples. Does he comment on their strength and set off the QJP disciples, causing an interpeak war? Does he still hold the same annoyance for them and property damage?

By the time the IAC rolls around, SQQ has already sent his not so little white sheep all over to gain experience, and deemed him ready for his 'coming of age' (close to human adulthood too, he'll do fineee). There is far less tears and hesitation. When the time comes and LBH's seal is broken, SQQ feels the increase in power and the last of his worry dissipates. He basically just looks at his kid, nods, and chucks him in. Dusts off his hands and pats himself on the back. One child down, however many more to go. Oh, they grow up so fast... (Was LBH freaking out during this? Oh well, must be the nerves, he knew the feeling well. But he's read the book and knows what's going to happen. His kid will be okay, and he'll naturally gain confidence after surviving in there!... No one ever said dragons were GOOD at feelings ...)

Of course, it takes some time to adjust to the absence, but there's less grieving and freaking out over his impending doom. Sure, he's judging the original work a little. Limbless and hanging, really? SY much prefers a clean death, thank you. (How he died in his previous life is up to interpretation). But that's besides the point, his favourite is off on his trial, and it's about time to test a few of his other kiddos too (single dad to, uh, how many?)

Shen Qingqiu gains reputation as a sadistic (?) teacher that puts his disciples through dangerous missions seemingly without care, but unlike in the past, he seems to love the kids and dotes on them off-missions, so no one's really sure what's going on with... That. (He's still waiting for one of them, any of them, to try and kill him? Where's the bonding?? Was he not doing enough???)

So when LBH returns, things go uh, differently. SQQ is just here, waiting in anticipation, appreciating how his kid's all grown up, and seeing the scheme to unfold. Safe to say, people are confused. (Him, especially. What do you mean, his kid isn't trying to kill him?? Really, where did he go so wrong in parenting? None of his kids want to bond with him the proper way!!)

(I imagine SY being a better fighter than in canon due to literal trial of fire as a dragonet, and I'm not sure if he would've gotten hit with without a cure at all during the invasion in consideration of this)

[abbysimsfun]

Sims In Bloom: Generation 2 Pt. 48 (He Had Him At Hello, Bromance Edition)

Leaving her friends in Old New Henford after dark, Heather, Ash, and Conrad returned to her childhood home with her parents.

They found River and Cassandra still in their work clothes, the two having spent most of the evening trying to get their infant son to sleep. "Doctor Scott says its a phase, it'll pass, but when he doesn't sleep well, we don't sleep well," lamented River. "These days we're thrilled if he sleeps for more than two hours at a time."

Conrad already felt at ease around her siblings, and Heather left them chatting upstairs while her parents showed her the new plants in their always impressive garden. When Michael woke up fussy, she soothed him back to sleep to give his tired parents a break.

Upstairs, River studied Conrad with keen interest. His sister's taste in men had always been a little...off, and he wanted to be sure this one deserved her. "Driving between San Myshuno and Brindleton Bay must not be easy."

"We make it work," said Conrad. "We're waiting for me to get a transfer, but all that driving can be pretty tiring."

"Sometimes I dance just to keep myself awake," said Cass, grooving a little to the music. "Since I left the art studio to help my mother-in-law with her floral business, it's been a bit easier working from home. I never realized the artistry involved in floral arranging, but I can be just as creative with a bouquet of flowers as I can with a palette of acrylics!"

Conrad couldn't relate, but he empathized with their lack of sleep. "I don't know much about raising kids, but Ash likes a story I tell him that my mom used to read to me when I was a kid. The Giving Tree."

"I love that story," Cassandra mused. "I think I saw a copy at the bookstore in the square."

River nodded. "I'll try anything. I'll pick up a copy tomorrow." Despite his fatigue, River's wall crumbled as he got to know Conrad. "What made you think our sister was worth risking your career?"

The question was sincere. Conrad had asked himself the same thing a thousand times. "At first I thought it was because her son needed her more than the Landgraabs needed a win, but then they dropped the charges and I couldn't stop thinking about her. I booked a vet appointment four hours out of the way just to run into her again."

"Why didn't you ask her out, then?"

"River, stop interrogating him," Hazel pushed, but Conrad smiled.

"I wanted to, but I knew she'd been through a lot and I wanted her to be sure she was ready. I sort of knew it would be it for me if I knew she was interested."

"It's a good thing Holly intervened," said Hazel, smiling. "You might still be waiting for her, otherwise."

River grinned. "He definitely would be."

Hazel left to meet Nicola and some friends at the Gnome's Arms, and River and Cassandra finally changed and sat down to dinner. Because they could know no peace, Ash talked their ear off about dinosaurs. "Conerd say t-rex no swim, we safe," he babbled. "T-rex roar!"

"You know there were less scary dinosaurs," River said. "Smaller ones who ate plants. Also big ones. Like brontosaurus."

Ash listened with intense curiosity. "Bront-so-us?"

"Yeah, they were even bigger than your dad's apartment."

Cassandra stifled a laugh. "River, hush."

They were interrupted when Michael woke again from his nap, wailing from the bedroom. With her plate still full of food, Cass left to tend to her son as Heather walked into the kitchen. "We should probably head out. It'll still be an hour on the Simmerloop at this time of night, and we should get Ash to bed before midnight."

Cassandra brought Michael outside for their goodbyes, but the fussy infant didn't last long in the cool autumn air.

River, meanwhile, had found a new best friend in Conrad. "When I found out my sister was dating a cop I wasn't sure what to think, but now I'm pretty confident you've never played bad cop in your life."

Conrad shrugged. "I mean, I don't see the point. It doesn't get me to the truth any faster. But I admire what you and your father do. Building green infrastructure for your community is just as important as what I do."

River laughed. "Please, don't flatter me. You deal with hardened criminals like my sister."

Daisy turned to Heather as they watched River bond with Conrad. "Riv grew up with a house full of sisters, but I think he always secretly wanted a brother."

When Conrad left to get the car, River turned to Heather. "I recognize the way he looks at you, and he's not going anywhere unless you tell him to. I know you like to think you're better off single, protecting your independence, but he's the guy who's perfect for you. You and Conrad finding each other is one in a million, like the day I met Cassandra. He's your Cassandra."

(Can confirm, Jane Simsten's Soulmates mod kicked in for these two way back on the night they ran into each other with Holly and Kris in San Myshuno, but Heather's unflirty and she's been burned in the past, so it's had to be this way. I'm sorry!)

River's beautiful wife gazed at him with love while he spoke. They were so sweet together, and their love used to make Heather feel like she was missing out. Now she had Conrad, who was as close to perfect as anyone she'd ever met, and she couldn't shake her insecurities.

"I know raising Ash with his father isn't easy and you're afraid to get hurt again," River said. "But that is a guy who's waiting for you to say 'I love you' so he can say it, too."

Neal frowned. "Huck, you don't know that. Don't test your sister's emotions-"

"I do know that, and I'd die on Old Mill Hill defending that take!"

"He makes me so happy," Heather admitted. "But what if he moves in and I find out he's a criminal mastermind masquerading as a detective?"

"Then you're even more perfect for each other than I thought."

Heather couldn’t deny her feelings for Conrad, as afraid as she was to put them into words and make them real.

Despite her fears, she was grateful for her family's approval, and she embraced her brother warmly when Conrad brought his car around. ->

<- Previous Chapter | Gen 2 Start | Gen 1 Summary | Gen 1 Start

NOTE: This got it's own post because Conrad and River literally said hello to each other and were basically best friends (they became official best friends later, when it mattered for Conrad's Friend of the World aspiration. tbh by then I thought they already were but either something glitched or broke with the Lovestruck patches or I never bothered and forgot). Their instant bromance felt so right - River looks up to his older sister and wants the best for her even though he can't help but tease her, and he and Conrad are both responsible guys focused on bettering their communities. It's a perfect match and I loved this development.

[ceterisparibus116]

Hey! As far as I understand, in the US you guys have to do an undergraduate degree before doing law school. Do you have any opinion on what Matt would’ve taken at undergrad?

Also I just want to say that I really love your writing and your posts are genuinely making me consider a career path that I’d never thought about before! I’d always sort of dismissed being a lawyer because I’m quite shy about public speaking, so I never really thought about how much I like the law in itself. It’s so interesting!

EEEEEEEEE this is exciting! The world needs more lawyers - especially more lawyers going into it for the right reasons. So many lawyers just care about the money or the power (or their parents' approval), which means there's a dire need for lawyers who want to help people.

And I just wanna say: law doesn't require public speaking. Criminal law kinda does (you're pretty much always showing up for hearings and trials in criminal law), but civil law...not so much. Civil law has some hearings and depositions, but very few civil cases go to trial. The vast majority of it is sitting at a desk, writing and researching. Although you do have to be able to meet with victims and witnesses, and that makes some people nervous. (That still makes me nervous, actually.) But it's not public speaking, I think?

You could also try to be a full-time law clerk. Most judges hire clerks for only a year or two, but some take on clerks permanently. As a clerk, your job is 100% research and writing and preparing documents. You get all the fun of making brilliant legal points, but you can make those points safely on paper without having to stand up and present them.

However, I also do believe that public speaking is a skill, not just some natural talent. So I think it's always possible to get better. Here are my two absolute favorite resources on public speaking:

This amazing youtube channel (which isn't specifically for public speaking, but does address public speaking sometimes, and has a ton of general tips for building confidence, overcoming nervousness, turning awkwardness into charisma, etc.); and

This lifesaving book (which is the best book I've read on public speaking, hands-down, and I highly recommend it even for people who aren't lawyers because although it's written for lawyers, the content is overall about how you approach public speaking [how to both feel and appear more confident, etc.] rather than the content of what you're saying. I literally love this book so much!)

Oh, you also asked about Matt. XD

My undergrad was political science, so I like the idea of Matt doing the same just because #relatable. But I don't actually think of him as a poli-sci guy. Like, Karen is the one who's more concerned with broad social structures. Matt seems more interested with figuring out what he's supposed to do than he is with figuring out what society is supposed to do. Matt seems to say: "The system is broken, but I can help as a lawyer, and where I can't help as a lawyer, I can help as a vigilante." He's not the one invested in uncovering corruption or dismantling oppressive systems.

I think of him as more like a history guy. Partly because of the Thurgood Marshall thing. But I imagine him digging into the history books, finding people who inspire him, and modeling his life after them (when he's not angsting about whether he could live up to them).

That said, I secretly ADORE the idea of Matt as a math major. My mock trial coach in high school tried to convince me to be a math major myself, and although I didn't go that route (I'm more like Karen; I wanted to research social and political issues), there's a lot of wisdom to it. Math is logic, after all. And it's pure logic.

If I say "a + b = c," there's no emotion there. But if I say something like "police + poverty = ____" ...y'all already are having an emotional reaction, right? And you're filling in the blank with something. You're likely filling the blanks in based on emotion and anecdotes, since I think most of us have a strong opinion about this, but most of us probably haven't done a deep statistical study into the issues.

As a lawyer, if you care about truth, it's absolutely vital to be able to use logic both to make your arguments and to figure out which arguments you should be making in the first place. We can't completely ditch our personal biases, but I do believe studying math helps work those parts of your brain that can analyze a problem with logic and without using emotion and anecdotes as a shortcut.

So yeah, I love the idea of Matt being good at math.

[lunerna21]

Book 7 Chapter 3

***SPOILERS AHEAD FOR BOOK 7 CHAPTER 3 AHEAD!!***

...I'm not even sure where to begin with chapter 3...

I'm still reeling from the way they ended the previous chapter

We start off seeing Idia sleeping, but Idia dreaming about Ortho being alive, Idia having more confidence, and being unable to be afraid to speak to other students.

....and then Malleus's mysterious timing, him being super perceptive about Idia possibly waking up from his dream. I WAS REELING LIKE MALLEUS!!

YOU REALLY TURNED INTO A FULL FLEDGE VILLAIN!!

Also side note, was anybody else like me losing their minds during the entrance ceremony?! Just seeing everyone interacting like it's totally normal EVEN THO THEY AREN'T REAL?!

SEEING THESE TWO, I HAD TO STOP AND SOB MY EYES OUT LIKE WHY MALLEUS I WANT TO SEE MY BEST FRIENDS SAFE AND SOUND!!

MALLEUS MALLEUS MALLEUS MALLEUS I WANT TO SEE EVERYONE I LOVE YOU, BUT I WANT TO SEE EVERYONE ESPECIALLY THESE TWO LITTLE SHITS I LOVE SO MUCH

So, of course I'm curious as to where we were, and when they showed Mickey's room I HOLLERED, HOT DIGGITY DOG, AND SCREAMED LIKE A PSYCHOPATH

MICKEY MOUSE!? WE FINALLY MEET IN PERSON!? AND WITH MY HAIRY BABY BOI GRIM!?!? I WAS FLABBERGASTED!

LOOK AT THIS! LOOK AT IT!!

I NEVER IMAGINED THIS DAY WOULD COME, BUT THIS DUO TOGETHER IS SO FREAKIN CUTE!!!

But as I'm watching this happen, I realize Malleus intentionally cut us out of the picture, out of everyone's reality, because he experienced many different emotions but yet was vulnerable around us since we don’t see him in a terrifying way while also appreciating life because of meeting us and getting to know the others at NRC…

The one thing that really really, REALLY concerns me is this reference from Mickey

.......Something is going to happen to Ace and Deuce, right? And it won't be a good thing considering the cards are covered in ink...

I have a small suspicion (and hope pls don't judge me) that we get to see other overblot forms. Like potentially Ace and Deuce, but the thought of that IS NOT OKAY I DON'T WANT ANY HARM TO HAPPEN TO THEM!

And as we're about to get attacked by these blot monsters, Silver just coming to save us was amazing! Whoever does the VO for Silver is so damn good

I'm not used to seeing Silver show so many emotions, but he could be the perfect definition of a night in shining armor.

AND WE LEARNED SILVER'S UNIQUE MAGIC AND ITS SO COL!

So we only have Ace, Lilia, Sebek and potentially Grim (also maybe Ortho but I'm not too sure on that) that haven't gotten or revealed their unique magic.

IF ACE IS THE LAST ONE TO GET HIS UNIQUE MAGIC I'M GONNA LAUGH BUT ALSO SCREAM BUT I REALLY REALLY WANT TO KNOW WHAT HE GETS

I won't talk too much about Ortho interacting with his parents, but it was incredibly heartwarming that even though Ortho is a humanoid, they still love and treat him as their own child.

Damn Disney, you really know how to get the waterworks going

As we're watching Sebek's dream, I'm just incredibly nervous about how Malleus was acting completely normal, and I wasn't entirely sure if Malleus was monitoring everyone's dreams or what...

Welp, I was right. Once Silver spoke to Sebek and reminded him about Lilia leaving and potentially dying, Malleus lost his goddam shit

Did anybody else absolutely get scared shitless?! I mean he's fucking gorgeous and I love him

But I did not expect to have goddamn chills and become extremely nervous instantly.

MALLEUS IS ABSOLUTELY TERRIFYING, I TELL YA

THE FACT THAT MALLEUS IS LITERALLY DOING ANYTHING HE CAN TO KEEP EVERYONE IN THEIR DREAMS TO "MAKE THEM HAPPY" TO THE POINT OF PUTTING US BACK UNDER ANOTHER SLEEPING SPELL IS REALLY SCARY

MALLEUSSSSSS WHYYYYYYY

AND THE RING HELPED US ESCAPE!! SILVER, WHAT DOES THAT MEAN FOR YOU!?!?!

AND FINALLY, we witness Lilia as a war general AND HE LOOKS ABSOLUTELY AMAZING YET ALSO TERRIFYING (but not as terrifying as someone who completely changed and now scares the absolute living shit out of me)

AND AND AND we FINALLY got the teaser for Lilia's SSR card, folks!

LILIA?! LILIA VANROUGE!?! LIKE WOW OKAY HE LOOKS FUCKING AMAZING THIS IS WITHOUT A DOUBT MY FAVORITE CARD OF HIS

I'm sorry it took so long to post this, but I'm super excited (and of course nervous) to see what happens next with Lilia's dream!

BUT I JUST WANT TO SEE ADEUCE TOGETHER WITH US AGAIN I MISS THEM AND I WANT TO SEE WHAT THEY DREAM ABOUT

Until then, we can only wait till Thursday for the next update...

(Also, this image was amazing to see I love everything about Sleeping Beauty so I was fangirling like a psycho but I love how heavily involved the movie elements are used in Book 7)

Enough for now~~! Let me just go imagine everyone's dreams and while also coping with the fact that we’re going to get more heartbreak and angst THAT IM NOT READY FOR!!

THURSDAY CANNOT COME FAST ENOUGH~~!!!

[paradoxcase]

Chapter 23 of Nona the Ninth

I have actually already read Chapter 24, because I got to the end of this one and was like "...what?", but they're both long chapters, so they get different posts

Right at the beginning of this chapter, we are back to referring to Ianthe with she/her pronouns, right after we were referring to her with he/him pronouns at the end of the last chapter. I'm not sure what we are meant to understand here in terms of what Nona's thoughts on Ianthe's gender are

So Ianthe also doubts that blindness would protect necromancers from the resurrection beast. Also, her referring to Naberius's body as "some old thing from last season" is hilarious

Wasn't it Pyrrha who told Ianthe that Harrow was around? Ianthe did ask We Suffer to send her Harrow before Corona ever mentioned her

Ianthe is just so mad that she did everything right and was the smartest girl who succeeded the best at the Canaan House trial and ascended to the highest position possible in this society for anyone who isn't John and she saved the Nine Houses from being destroyed by saving John from the Stoma, but I think she still feels like she's made less of an impact on the world/John's general temperament than Camilla did by stealing the Sixth House. And now she's stuck alone with John being cranky and Gideon, who probably also isn't a big fan of her, and she's been stuck in Babs' dead body for three days and it's just not fair

I mean, the last time Ianthe actually interacted with Harrow, Harrow didn't even remember who Gideon was. It's interesting that she's not even entertaining the possibility that that's still the case. Also, like, Ianthe showed Gideon's body on the broadcast, but she named her as "Kiriona Gaia" at that time and she's now under the impression that Harrow has been blind all this time. So I'm surprised that she doesn't also think that that gambit failed to work for that reason. There's really a very large number of reasons to be pretty confident that Harrow wouldn't be asking to see Gideon's body at this point

Interesting, so this method of FTL travel is limited based on mass, and more obelisks transport more mass. I'm not sure if the "compensation" referred to is compensating for needing more obelisks than could be safely used, or just a general compensation needed for transporting something so large, or what "compensation" means here. Did they have to sacrifice people for thanergy? Also, if they can go wherever using these obelisks, how are BOE keeping them captive?

Right, so that's the "break clause" courtesy the Lyctor who used to be a contract lawyer. But it doesn't sound like this was a contract she made with John, just something she set up within the Sixth House leadership

Also, I love finding like, the urls and blog titles and stuff of my Locked Tomb followers and other people I see in the tag in the book and going, oh, that's what that means, so shout out to @jods-duplicitous-sluts for this one

I mean, this sort of raises the question of how Ianthe was planning on bringing Corona and Pyrrha and the Sixth House back to John? They're not Lyctors, and therefore can't survive physically going through the River

So the absence of live soldiers is because of Pyrrha

Who does she think is in Harrow's body here? Originally I figured she thought it was Gideon, but she's got Gideon in the back, and I think these two chapters establish pretty well that Gideon is in fact still moving around and generally being Gideon. Does she think Gideon has somehow left her body and is now possessing Harrow for some reason? I think she would have expected Gideon to talk back to her, too, though, wouldn't she? Ianthe doesn't have any knowledge about how Harrow opened the Tomb and was being haunted by Alecto

I'm not sure what happened here beyond that Nona is probably Alecto and did something resurrection-beast-adjacent, and maybe Judith screaming was also resurrection-beast-related since her issues are caused by the resurrection beast? Also, it seems to have done something to the electricity, which reminds me of how the lights dimmed when Mayonnaise Uncle did his soul-summoning thing, but I don't think necromancy has ever been described as having an effect on electricity outside of those two events

I wonder if these instances of water coming out of Nona's orifices are symptoms of her impending death, or what

Does John actually have multiple Hands, plural, at this point? I think at last count it was just Ianthe, right?

I love that there's all this high-stakes drama going down and Corona is threatening to kill herself to get Ianthe duel Camilla, and this is the thing she's being dying to say to her this whole time, that Ianthe is disrespecting Babs' body by not styling his hair correctly

So Corona at least threatened to commit suicide multiple times as a teenager. It makes sense, she was under a lot of pressure to be something she wasn't. She does genuinely like Ianthe and is glad that Palamedes didn't kill her, but I imagine it was different from her side where she knew that her survival in her social context probably depended on Ianthe being with her and supporting her her whole life. Maybe that's part of why she became so good at being likeable

What does "none of us ever could" mean here? It's not like they have a long association with Camilla

Camilla's completely deadpan sass is off the charts. I hope she winds up keeping it

Is she giving verbal orders to a bunch of dead bodies that she's directly controlling using necromancy?

Hot Sauce is a cut the Gordian Knot kind of gal

Apparently:

So it's another joke. Also, something something Saint of Awe probably goes here, but I'm not clever enough for this right now

She never fought Babs, or witnessed Babs fighting anyone - she must be referring to Ianthe fighting Colum and Cytherea at the end of Gideon the Ninth, when she was having a lot of trouble fully integrating Babs. So yeah, there's multiple reasons why she would be much better now

[wingsofmud]

Been a while but finally got some time to continue by reading of The Hidden Kingdom - whoop!

Warning: I can get nitpicky

Alright let's get into it:

I had this whole thing written out, but deleted it for length cause I had a lot to say, but tl;dr: The whole sloth pet thing is cute if you think sloths are cute.

But sloths are poor candidates for domestication, and have no reason to feel safe or confident enough to get on the neck of a dragon, sleeping or otherwise.

Do I feel the need to say this because sloths creep me tf out? Maybe, but I'm still right.

*Scribbles down notes*

Tui, if you're going to go off about how terrible and lazy Rainwings are for an entire book at least point out that a giant green egg looking thing filled with unattended eggs is nothing short of a feast for any predators with the ability to climb. It's non-dragon creatures rainwings should be concerned about.

And eggs cannot keep each other warm for what I'm assuming is a year, that's not how that works, at least have a mention the hatchery is built to retain proper heat or something. How is this tribe still alive. You have lessons in advanced sleeping techniques but no one to watch your next generation, or even just taking turns to sleep in the hatchery so they can keep warm? This isn't plain laziness, it's an alarming lack of care for what is meant to be a highly social and intelligent species.

It would've been nice if we'd seen more of this. Also, keep this in mind that Rainwings are raised communally, because do I have words later.

I may detest chemistry, but with the knowledge I have, I know this makes no sense.

Firstly, all the reaction tells them is whether or not they're related, not how. So this is an assumption on Jambu's part. Secondly, Jesus, what did Jambu ever do to you? He's not especially egregious compared to other Rainwings, and he's taking time out of his day to show you around and answer whatever questions you have. Even offered to teach her how to fly properly in the forest after he noticed her struggling

I get her being upset at him for not acting as she thought family should. But previously having already decided that he was the "dizziest, most useless dragon she'd ever met" is really harsh when he's not any of those things. Honestly he's been nothing but helpful up until this point. And the narrative never disagrees with this or any other sentiment against Rainwings that Glory has.

*insert me moaning about how this book could've been a good lesson for Glory in reevaluating her prejudices resulting from abuse, internalized racism, and implied militarized background. But instead turned into another instance of stereotypes are right and you should spend your time setting yourself apart from your terrible group.*

[aeondeug]

I am uncertain on how I feel about the save system in Fear and Hunger. I've seen that many just use a mod that gives unlimited books of enlightenment or who edit their save files but something about that seems very unsatisfying to me. What is the point then?

I like limited save systems in horror games. I think they're not utilized nearly as often as they perhaps could be. But they're a very love it or hate it thing and there's a fine line between something that adds to the stress in a positive way and something that just makes the game unfun to play.

Fear and Hunger's is...interesting. The coin flip mechanic in general is kind of a bitch. It's the rng of an rpg given a physical form. Instead of the game simply rolling the dice on whether I get hit by an instant kill attack like in most games in the genre, I have to be the one to roll the dice. And I get to see the literal cast and watch in painstaking agony to see what the result is. In battle this is lovely. Especially since many of these can be avoided outright so long as you know when to block.

But with beds it's different. With beds I can't defend at the right time to avoid it. The only thing I can do to mitigate the issue is to use a lucky coin and those are a rare commodity. And even that doesn't guarantee success. I've burned a coin on a failed save attempt and while the thing that attacked me was something I could deal with it still sucked. A lot.

This has changed how I view save points. In rpgs I tend to be very blasé about save points. Why would I give a shit unless it's a NES era dungeon crawler? In 99% of games that still use save points over universal saves it doesn't really matter. Survival is never much of an issue. In survival horror meanwhile save points are generally my favorite fucking thing in the world. They are small areas of respite. I see one and lose my goddamned mind because oh thank fuck I'm safe now. I can save my progress. Now if I die it's ok.

So I don't really think about saving in most survival horror games, with the sole exception being games like Resident Evil 1 where saving is performed with a consumable item. Even then I generally have a decent sense of how much I can push things. I save much more conservatively and I am tense about that, but the tension is bearable. And I generally feel confident enough in my ability to survive early PS1 era survival horror because I am well experienced in the art of running past shit.

Meanwhile in Fear and Hunger I saw a bed the first time and was so happy. Then I laid down and failed a coin toss and got killed by some Pyramid Head looking bitch (this was in the demo, I seemed to need to talk to the statue to avoid the Crow Mauler). This was shocking. And then it happened again. Most of my early deaths in the demo were to this fucking bed.

After getting out of the demo and into the real game I was very excited about the first bed because oh I know how that works. But then I realized something. This is barely anywhere. I have effectively wasted a free save by just rushing it while having made no real progress beyond picking up some food. And then I saw the other beds and felt no joy upon looking at them because I knew they weren't safe. They could be safe but there is heavy emphasis on that could.

I'm still thinking about the beds though. I tuck them away in my memory to a greater degree than I do the random boxes I pass. I have a mental map of where my beds are. Some beds I have lit the sconces near them. This is because I have deemed those beds to be potential strongholds. But for the most part I am just marking them down because I don't want to risk things.

But then that brings up the issue. I eventually got hold of a purified talisman when I knew where the door to the Hexen was and also I had access to an Ancient Book, which I had yet to try out using but figured would be rad as hell given that it warns me before using it. And I was very excited about these things but also it hit me that I could just...Not win the coin flip and die. And then I might not find those things when I load my last save back up. I wanted to save before I popped the book and definitely while I had access to the Hexen but I didn't want to risk the beds. Because what if I die?

But what if I just keep going and then I die anyway? Saving has now become a matter of how much I feel like risking.

Except I then shortly after found a book of enlightenment. Which I had heard what it did but forgot about but popped anyway because I wasn't warned about shit and given a coin flip so I just figured it'd be fine. And then I was presented with the save screen and remembered what this thing is.

And so I now have another complication in my save issue. I can risk it for the biscuit but now the biscuit isn't just how long I feel like going before I lose my shit. Now the biscuit is literally there is a free save option available I just need to be lucky enough to find it. The lucky coins, though still risk filled, offer a similar sort of temptation to keep going.

So there's just a lot of things that are going into encouraging me to keep playing without saving. The coin flips, the fact that lucky coins and books of enlightenment can be found, the fact that the lucky coins have uses other than making saves a bit safer to do... Which is all very neat. One of the things I like a lot about games is how they train you and I find survival horror has some of the coolest forms of conditioning. And this is definitely a very cool form of it. As it has trained me to view the thing I would normally deem safe as dangerous. As something I don't want to try when I've made significant progress, but which I know I have to do if I want to realistically keep that progress.

But this is also incredibly fucking frustrating. I have spent the past few hours of play trying to get past the mines and one of the bumps in the road I come across is the fucking save system. I prepare and get a lucky drop and go oh sick. Then I try and save only to fail the flip and die. Also while wasting a coin but I mean I was dead anyway but like it's extra insult to injury.

At the same time I can't really see myself editing in unlimited books of enlightenment. That would remove something I view as very crucial to the experience. So it's a weird case of there is a system I kind of hate but also which I can't remove because I would like the game less if I did. Which is just incredibly fascinating.

[savingthrcw]

"If you lean into my side and I pretend to guide you, they won't fire upon sight?"

"As far as they are concerned, that would be like shooting at our queen." Not too far from the truth, really, if they hurt her, the general's favorite woman, they'd have to spend the rest of their lives wondering if one of their own was going to rat them out, and would likely have to kill each other all by themselves. She knew those sort of people.

Poor thing was clearly uncomfortable not being the dolled up perfect version of a soldier, but he still followed her advice, which was a point for him in her book: listening to her, a woman, even if he was definitely expecting her to be empty-headed. Still, had his mother not died early, he would have known that in times of emergency more often than not it was the wife who took the lead and organized what was needed for the solution.

"I wouldn't recommend any liquor to anyone," she retorted, still cringing from the taste of alcohol on her tongue. God, she was always baffled by how people could like something so bitter. She had tried a more fruity sort in France, and that had been alright, but this was poison.

He inquired why she had asked for the name, and it was easy to have an answer: "Because Wilkes gives me a tone. I need the tone." That, and they'd recognize the name if they had any knowledge of the general's extra activities, but no way they'd know the face. When women weren't involved, Armstrong wasn't a complete idiot. She looked at Benjamin, and it was her, not Sophie, who said: "Hey, if I'm wrong, you can't be any more dead than you'd be if I didn't try. The only difference is that I may get imprisoned too. May as well trust me."

She wasn't as nervous now, all she had to do was to act, except that she had to pretend she could lie well but not as well as she normally did, and Stella put a hand on her chest and took a deep breath to calm her fake nerves.

Opening the door, she walked out with her nose up like the entire land was beneath her, and stopped, a hand going to her hip as she spoke to the trees, "Well, what's this then? Will you come out or are you determined to ruin my night? You are making me quite nervous with those rifles of yours. You know I don't like weapons."

One of the men, probably the leader, spun from behind a tree, rifle trained at Benjamin, and she assumed he had made signs to the others to wait. "Who's that?" "Wilkes, obviously," she answered in an outraged tone, "What are you doing, spying on me?" "No," the man looked confused, still ready to shoot, "Ma'am. What are you doing? We thought... We are here to take you somewhere safe." "No," Stella's tone was irritated, and then she took a deep breath, "Wilkes is keeping me safe. Unless you think you can undo the General's orders. Can soldiers be fired, Wilkes?" "Ma'am, I don't think... He's wearing rebels' colors. A sold-" "Good Lord, of course he's wearing their colours, the rebels were all over the General's home, you think someone in red could get me away unseen? Or perhaps a homeless man in tattered clothes would? The plan changed the moment we were under attack." A more patient note in her voice, then, "Will you put that weapon down now? I appreciate your concern, and I will tell the General so. But there was an emergency and he gave clear orders, so I'm sure we can both agree this is the right way now, even if we are not pry to all of his thoughts. He knows what he's doing, the General is the best. At everything, really." The man slowly lowered the weapon, a little mollified by that, "You know where to take her?" he asked, addressing Ben now, eyes going from one to the other. Stella didn't expect him to be particularly happy to babysit her, and if those were the new orders he had all the reasons to follow, after making sure everything was set. Benjamin better do his part and sound as confident as she had.

Could he lie? Benjamin nearly laughed. It wasn't as though Sophie was privy to his extracurricular assistance to Washington, but he still sneered all the same. "I can tell a falsehood where it counts," he promised. "Just what are you thinking?"

To his surprise, Sophie started rattling off suggestions -- all of which affected his appearance -- and if he were wearing his uniform, he would be absolutely resistant. Unfortunately, she made a sound point...yet again. Just who was this woman?

"You truly think that will work?" Benjamin asked. "If you lean into my side and I pretend to guide you, they won't fire upon sight?"

He, himself, could be reckless with his firelock and musket, so he didn't trust a damnable loyalist to be much better. Nevertheless, he reached up and started grudgingly unfastening his hair from its queue. The plait was that of an officers', and Sophie was right that it was unwise to draw so much attention.

Opting to have his hair down, rather than up -- at least in this way he looked more disheveled -- he also unfastened a few buttons on his weskit and untucked his cravat. He felt...slovenly, to put it lightly.

Sophie, too, appeared wholly disgusted as she took a sip from a nearby bottle of whiskey. Despite the peril of their situation, he had to smile. "I don't recommend hard liquor for a lady," he observed.

Sophie seemed indifferent. "What's the name of the soldier who was mean to me, again?"

Benjamin frowned. "Private Wilkes," he said, his voice dripping with disdain. "Why do you ask?"

Just what did she have planned now?

[c12ly]

✨️ My autistic/adhd headcanons: ✨️

Dipper Pines

From Gravity Falls

Mabel being autistic and adhder is a popular headcanon I've seen several times, but I dont understand how no one seems to care about poor Mason guy. I mean, its clear for me that he is autistic as well. He struggles in social situations, has anxiety, wears the same outfit everyday to avoid wasting time thinking about what to wear, the diaries and the author are clearly his special interests to the point he doesn't sleep bc of it, he stims without even noticing by chewing pens when he's stressed plus he's probably trans.

Star Butterfly

From Star vs the forces of evil

This is a headcanon I've seen a little discussion on and I completely agree. Star behaves differently than those around her and although the show tried this to look like a cultural shock cause shes from another dimension, even in Mewni the only one who understands her is her father. She has echolalia, she happy stims by jumping and clapping, she hyperfocus/obsess, cant stand boredom, always find a way to have fun, she cant get the hint that someone dont like her; Marco was running away terrified of her while she was happily waving at him and saying goodbye and when Britney told her she would invite her to her party when pigs fly she took it literally. She's passionate, resolve things her way, can have strong emotional reactions, shes creative, very energetic and with a strong sense of justice.

Spongebob

I dont even know where to start, not only bc it is incredibly obvious hes autistic, but also it makes angry that his autistic traits are portrayed as annoying in the show and the ableist inside it.

His special interests are krabby patties. He loves his work, although its not even a work for him, its his life, he loves doing this with a passion, he don't want to stop doing it and gets depressed when Mr Crabs forces him to have some vacations.

He can became hyperfocus/obsessive, specially when it comes to krabby patties and the krusty crab in general.

He is very sensitive and experience his emotions very strongly, hes caring and get attached easily.

He doesn't get when people dont like him, although he is aware that he annoys Squidward and even have a day only to annoy him with Patrick, the rest of his interactions with him or anyone, he doesn't seems aware, something thats portrayed as "dumb" which I totaly hate btw.

He acts younger than he is, even some citizens of bikini bottom refer to him as a kid, when he's actually 20 something. More like an adult who does whatever he wants and makes him happy to me. It doesn't seem like he dislikes being called a kid by others but it stills annoy me a bit cause the ✨️ ableism ✨️ yk.

He has an "inappropriate" and "annoying" laugh and in general he is "annoying" and it piss me off that all that considered annoying are nd traits, and it personally annoys me more bc Spongebob has been my favorite cartoon since I'm like four and most of the think he does, I do them too.

Luz Noceda

From the owl house

Since episode one u can tell she has adhd and how the principal(? of her school and her mom, instead of trying to understand her, only want her to change and bahave like she should. Not like the spiders where the best idea but still, they also wanted her to stop engaging on her silly fantasy books. Very understandable she decided to stay at the boiling isles.

She lives in her own world. She's full of creativity, passion, new ideas, she wants not only to explore the world, she want to do it now, like, rn. Shes also very energetic, always ready for an adventure or a lecture as long as shes interested.

Oscar

From Summer Camp Island

He is so clearly autistic to me. He has difficulties with change and adapting, something we see the moment he arrives at the camp and his parents leave; he even tries to leave bc this new environment, all the changes, being away from the safety his parents represent its too much for him.

Hes anxious asf, hes clumsy and a little clingy. He get his confidence when he feels safe with his friends and in the moment theyre not around he starts getting worried.

He is a calm guy who likes doing things his way and prefer staying at his cabin, chill and cozy but who also likes and is willing to go on adventure as long as he feels comfortable and safe with his friends, from which he gets his strength.

Reassurance and a book are enough to make him happy.

I love him. Hes also the character i relate the most with from this list (I relate to all except from Dipper and Neddy).

Neddy

From adventure time

Same thing as with Dipper and Mabel, Neddy is Princess Bubblegum brother, her being autistic is a well known headcanon but Neddy, oh man, hes pretty much too but since he has so little screen time I wouldn't be surprised if people dont even remember him.

He is non verbal and very very sensitive to noise and change, being Bonnies song the only thing that can calm him during a meltdown.

There's not much else to say, Bonnie and Neddy is the only episode hes part of, but i think thats enough. Since the very beginning, he seemed very overwhelmed by the different environments and noises him and Bonnie were facing after leaving the mother gum. He desseperatily cries and tries to run away from the danger or discomfort hes feeling.

I really wish he had at least another episode to see his relationship with his family and to understand and get to know him more, apart from the ending scene in which Bonnie and their aunt are singing to him.

(For the record, i dont like Bonnie but i do like this quote from Bonnie and Neddy. It also goes pretty well with this post.)

[adorerdraco]

It’s Only Quidditch ✧ Draco x Slytherin!Reader

Request: can i please request you and draco being in slytherin and dating for a while and you two are on the quidditch team with him so maybe you two are in a match together but you get hurt and he gets worried and has to win the game and visits you after and maybe even wrecks the person who hurt you hehe just fluff and angst

AU AROUND 6TH YEAR NO VOLDY

Warnings: angry!draco, vengeful!draco, VIOLENCE, kinda graphic details like blood and injuries, lil bit of angst

Words: 3.9K (love making these long for no reason)

A/N: ANGRY DRACO IS SO HOT IM SORRY WOW BUT I HOPE THIS IS GOOOOD PLEASE ENJOY MY MADE UP CHARACTER AND MY SUPER LONG QUIDDITCH GAME THAT CONFUSED ME AFTER A WHILE OF TRYING TO WRITE LMAO and i made gif :)

November had begun and with it came the new season of quidditch at Hogwarts along with very poor weather and over-bundling nerves. Tensions had always gotten high around this time of the year amongst the teams and all animosity between the house’s respective players was on the forefront as the competition was building. It was like clockwork every year; captain’s starting strenuous training schedules, begging Snape to help book the stadium even if it was already occupied, spying on other teams to figure out their strengths and weaknesses. Not to mention the arguments that would happen regularly in between the first couple of games when you and your teammates would be accused of cheating or using dangerous and illegal moves. Which did happen to be true most of the time.

It was safe to say that it was the most eventful time of the year, and as suffocating as it sometimes got - you looked forward to it every time the new term started. It was in quidditch that you found yourself feeling the freest in, zipping around the stadium in a flash of green with the wind blowing through your hair and crisp autumn air biting at your cheeks. But most notably, it was in quidditch that you met Draco Malfoy and had quickly evolved from teammates to friends, to him now being your boyfriend.

You made Slytherin’s team your second year as a Chaser, a shiny new broom being given to you on the first day of scheduled training when Lucius Malfoy had made a generous donation that came along with a new platinum blond seeker. With the two of you being the latest additions to the teams, your captain, Marcus Flint, had decided to leave the dirty work for the two of you to do in the downtime every one else was able to enjoy. Marcus never changed that as the years went on.

So you and Draco would be sent off to other teams’ practices nearly every other day or week, depending on how secure Flint was feeling, both of you huddling closely together for sometimes hours behind the thick wooden benches as you watched and studied tactics with conversations in between. You would joke around a lot and call him your partner in crime which he would always roll his eyes to and make a snide and playful comment about even if he secretly loved hearing it. And the two of you stayed partners in crime for a while, neither of you ever making any move towards the other besides lingering touches and longing looks, and very rarely, a shy compliment.

It wasn’t until last year when you were hiding behind the bleachers, bored out of your mind watching Ravenclaw have a flawless run through around the stadium when you were graced with the dumbest idea.

“They’re playing good today,” you drawled out, “too good that it’s boring.”

“You reckon they studied so hard and found the key to quidditch?” He snickered as he played around with a pebble on the ground with his wand.

“We should help them out,” you suggested as Draco turned to raise a puzzled eyebrow at you. “Prepare them for the unexpected, nothing too crazy.”

You took out your wand from your pocket and pointed it towards one of their Beaters that was sitting idly by on their broom, a faint “confundus” leaving your lips that caused the broom to jerk swiftly to the side and nearly topple over its rider.

“You’re a genius,” Draco laughed quietly, repositioning himself so that he was right beside you with his wand directed out into the field. He spotted one of the bludgers flying towards the same Beater and instead of colliding with the bat, he used a charm to direct it into the back of their broom and then doubled it back around to try and hit one of the passing by Chaser’s that moved at the very last minute. 

You were a giggling mess, gripping tightly onto Draco’s arm as you watched everyone begin to look around wildly for the wild bludger with panicked expressions. What either of you didn’t realize in the middle of your joyed hysterics and Draco’s smugness for causing the angelic sounds, was that the bludger was flying idly still in front of the bleacher’s as his wand was still trained on it without moving it around anymore, his focus completely gone and concentrated on you.

It wasn’t until you heard someone yell out a, “Is that Malfoy and Y/L/N back there again?!” That made you get up with a sudden jolt, grabbing onto your accomplice’s hand as you ran towards the set of stairs that descended out of the stands. All you heard was distant angry insults and threats quickly fading out of ear-shot while you ran, laughing uncontrollably alongside Draco with his hand still tightly gripped in yours. 

When you finally reached the entrance of the empty courtyard of the castle with flustered cheeks and wheezing chuckles, you looked down at your joined hands at the same time he did and after a few seconds of realization and lingering adrenaline, you quickly moved into each other with a yearning kiss that changed everything from that day forward.

Draco stood beside you while you sat on a bench outside the locker room, your head resting lazily on the side of his leg while his fingers carded soothingly through your hair. Marcus was pacing in front of you, using his broom as a walking and pointing stick whenever he wanted to add any calculated words to his very hostile pep-talks that left everyone feeling more irritated and stressed.

Today was the last game of the season and the most important, it was the game that ended the season with a shimmering Inter-House Quidditch Cup and it just so happened to be against Gryffindor, making the stakes much higher than they already were. The matches against Gryffindor were by far, the most dangerous as they weren't afraid to play roughly either if push came to shove. The determination to beat each other and to win was critical on both sides and the day always ended with some sort of injuries.

“I don’t care how dirty we have to play today,” Flint fumed to the team, “I don’t care how many fouls we get, as long as we win.”

“Relax, Flint,” you sighed deeply. “We have the best players on our team and we’ve been working our arses off all season, we’ll be fine.”

“Still, I want to see blood out there,” he muttered back, walking towards the entrance of the field as Madam Hooch started calling your team out to start.

You stood up with a huff, Draco frowning when he noticed how tense you looked when your eyes worriedly met his.

“All right, love?”

“I'm just nervous,” you shrug, “I don’t want to mess up.”

The silver-haired boy moved to stand in front of you, placing two strong hands on either side of your arms to stand you in place so that he would be the only thing your wandering eyes were able to focus on.

“You are the best Chaser that Slytherin has ever had, no, that Hogwarts has ever had and I know for a fact you’re going to do amazing out there,” he cups your face with care, brushing a few stray hairs out of your face as he spoke. “You’ve got this.”

He pressed an encouraging kiss onto your forehead and then your lips, smiling at you supportively before taking your hand and hurriedly walking the two of you out into the field where the match was about to start.

Almost the whole school had shown up in an overcrowded sea of red and gold for Gryffindor. There were red sparks and small fireworks of lions that were charmed to roar when the animal would open its mouth. On one end of the stands, however, was the entire student body of Slytherin that was throwing green and silver ribbons and sparklers from their wands, yelling loudly in support as if their life depended on it. Over the rails, they had thrown down a large poster of a snake that moved around sleekly over large green words that read, “SLYTHERIN FOR THE WIN.”

Rain was lightly drizzling from the grayed dense clouds above, a sharp chill in the air from an approaching winter that always seemed to give the worst weather during the last couple of games of the year. You didn’t mind it since the cold had always felt nice against your sweaty skin during the game and it served like a small revitalizing shock that gave you a surge of energy to push forward with. 

Madam Hooch quickly went over the rules, set free the bludgers, and the snitch, forced the two captains, Wood and Flint, to shake hands and by the time she had counted down from three to one - brooms were soared into the sky with such speed it looked like a tornado had formed as she threw the quaffle up into the air.

A roar of cheers erupted from beside you as you got ahold of the quaffle, dashing past your House while you headed straight towards the Gryffindor’s goal post and managed to make the first shot in within the first five minutes of the game putting you at 10-0. You spotted Draco flying around above, smiling down brightly at you with triumph that only fueled your confidence as you darted forward to catch the ball again. You were, just as Draco had said, the best Chaser on the team and in all of the school. You were fast, agile, and smart when it came down to it and you were the reason why your team had easily wracked up 40 points with thirty minutes down in the match. Marcus was always trailing behind you with focus, shoving anyone who tried to get to you or pulling them back by their robes that landed Slytherin a couple of fouls throughout. 

You didn’t like to play dirty, but when Katie Bell had rammed into your side either accidentally or on purpose, it knocked the quaffle out of your hands and into one of their other Chaser’s, Rowan Rees, a muscular and tall seventh-year boy that had made the team that same year. With Katie still closely trying to cut you off, you veered sharply into her with your shoulder before breaking away from her and heading towards your goal post where they were trying to shoot. 

“ILLEGAL PUSHING FROM Y/L/N, FOUL AGAINST SLYTHERIN!” 

You rolled your eyes at the announcer, completely ignoring the boo’s that had filled the air as you whizzed past the other houses even though it was you who got hit first. Just as Rees had raised his arm to score, you flew over him, swooping your arm underneath your broom until you felt the quaffle back in your palm and ripped it from his grasp. The match was becoming more intense by the second, Gryffindor was promptly catching up in points because of the penalties they were awarded from the illegal moves your team was making and it left you feeling more pressured that it was nearly a tie now, Flint reminded you of that every chance he zoomed past you.

Unbeknownst to you, Draco was watching you cautiously from across the field most of the game when he noticed how close everyone was trying to get to you. You didn’t see the way you were almost tugged back multiple times or were missed by inches when someone was about to push you. Or how the Beaters were deliberately directing the bludgers in your direction. You also didn’t see how irked you had made Rees with your constant scoring and with the sporadic few times you had cut him off or almost bumped into him - but your boyfriend did, and he was much more focused on your safety now than the Golden Snitch he or Potter hasn’t spotted yet. Instead of searching for it, he was purposefully maneuvering himself around in front of the other Chasers to throw them off their focal point towards you so that you would have a clearer path to fly through.

He watched as you pulled your broom upwards to try and twist away from the area but Rees had reached out and pulled at your ankle, sending you out of your seat as the quaffle fell while you tried to rebalance yourself. That was all the encouragement the blond needed when he hurtled down into the mess, kicking at the back of Rees’ broom and sending him quickly spinning on a dive before he could try and move any further. 

“FOUL AGAINST REES AND MALFOY FOR KICKING AND TUGGING!”

“MALFOY!” Flint roared as he flew past, “Potter’s spotted the snitch! This isn’t your place, get out of here, NOW!”

And when he looked up, sure enough, Harry was going around desperately with an arm outstretched towards the small glint of gold that was moving too fast. 

“Go, I’m fine!” You shouted out to him when you flew back up with the ball back in your arms.

It was like slow motion when he forced himself to leave your surroundings, everything around him was moving fast and intensely with everyone screaming wildly that he couldn’t think straight. In a daze, he haphazardly sped towards Harry but noticed the panicked look on the seeker’s face when he had lost sight of it again which directed his attention right back to you. You were right in front of the Gryffindor goal post, arm stretched over your head and releasing the quaffle with a harsh throw.

“Y/L/N MAKES THE GOAL, TEAMS ARE AT A TIE-”

It wasn’t until the very last minute that everyone, including you, had realized the flash of red that came hurtling into your side at full speed, Rees colliding so loudly with you that it echoed around the stadium in a powerful clang and crack.

Draco watched in horror as you were thrown off your broom, your now unconscious body falling like a rag doll with a speed that sent his stress levels into overdrive. He had never pushed down on his broom so fast, immediately abandoning his spot to bolt towards you even as Marcus was screaming at him to not go. 

A few feet above the ground and before you met it, he managed to loop his arm around your waist and heave you onto the front of his broom with a slight struggle as it was now raining hard and clouding his vision. He saw Madam Pomfrey and Mcgonagall rushing into the field, hands holding tightly onto their hats as they worriedly rushed towards the area where your broom had fallen and where Draco was hovering over with you. 

“TEAMS ARE TAKING A 10 MINUTE TIME OUT!”

Marcus had flown down towards him, face twisted in fury and annoyance as he approached. 

“Is there a reason you’re not being a seeker, today?” He spits, “because I’ve been seeing you do everything but your job.”

“My bloody girlfriend just got knocked out!” Draco seethed at him. “I’m not going back into the game, I’m going with her to the hospital wing.”

“Like hell you are,” Flint scowled, “if you leave, you'll forfeit us the game. If you stay and let Potter catch that Snitch so it’ll be over quicker, I will personally make sure that this is your last year on the team. You’re going to win this for us.”

“Mr. Malfoy!” McGonagall called up to him, waving her arms hastily. “She needs to go to the infirmary, immediately!”

The two Slytherins were staring each other down aggressively as Draco contemplated the threat he was just given. There was nothing more he wanted to do than to throw a hex at Flint and leave with you, but he just swallowed thickly and nodded at him before descending towards the ground and letting you off carefully into the hands of Madam Pomfrey. A surge of fear ran through his body when he finally saw you clearly; a harsh red mark was making its way up to your neck, the corner of your bottom lip had split and doubled in size, there was a small scratch on your cheekbone. It made him feel queasy, but he tore his eyes away from you and hopped back onto his broom while glaring angrily at Marcus and the distant group of huddled Gryffindor’s. 

He was blinded in rage when the match resumed and even more enraged when Flint had cheered loudly when the announcer granted Slytherin a penalty for the injury Rees gave you, allowing them basically to get a free score in against Gryffindor. Draco let his eyes wander around for the snitch for the first time that day and he could hear his heart thundering in his eardrums in distress as the rain continued to make his search worse. All he wanted was to get out of the game to check up on you, and then he'd come back to the stadium to throw his fists into Rees’ face with maybe a few hits in on Marcus.

Just as he was losing hope, he saw a flash of gold whiz past him with a loud buzzing that shocked him into alertness. He didn’t care that catching the snitch would win the game, or the cup, or give him all the glory, no - this was his ticket out. He dived towards it with his arm outstretched, hand thrashing around in the wind as he tried to eagerly catch it. In seconds, Harry was right beside him, bumping him with his shoulder to try and throw him off the path but Draco only pushed back harder. There was a flurry of shouting as everyone watched, the announcer was yelling into the mic about the seekers going head-to-head, bludgers were flying past him. 

It was pure chaos and urgency, Draco could feel the fluttering of its wings beneath his palm and when Harry pushed into him one more time, he felt the coldness of the Snitch get trapped into his enclosed hand, the vibration of its wings sending a current of relief up his arm that spread throughout his whole body as he soared up into the sky while brandishing it to the schools’ painfully watchful eyes.

“MALFOY HAS CAUGHT THE SNITCH, WINNING SLYTHERIN THIS YEAR’S INTER-HOUSE QUIDDITCH CUP!”

Draco hurriedly made his way down to the field where the rest of his house was pooling into, celebrating proudly and calling out for him to praise, but when he landed on the ground and was met with half of the Gryffindor team including Rowan Rees - all his wrath came flooding back into him. 

Angelina, another Gryffindor Chaser, had nudged Rowan with her shoulder, pointing towards the Slytherin Prince that was stalking towards them.

“Malfoy,” Rees started bitterly, “sorry about the girlfriend, I was only trying to knock the quaffle out her hands.”

“After she had already thrown it?” He glowered, walking closer up to the boy that was beginning to straighten himself out and flex. “Looked a little personal seeing how she was dragging you through the dust the whole game.”

“Accidents happen, mate,” Rees shrugged, “it’s only quidditch, you won didn’t you? Maybe you should be thanking me for giving you that extra push to win the game.”

A clear line had been crossed and everyone who was listening knew it. But before Rowan could say anything to try and drag himself out of the hole he had just dug himself into, he was being tackled into the ground with Draco above him throwing punches wherever he could land them. There was loud hooting and laughing coming from the Slytherins that gathered around the fight, cheering loudly for their House superior.

Rees was thrashing around on the ground, trying frantically to throw off the extremely infuriated boy that was repeatedly pounding into his face with bloodied and bruised fists. Oliver Wood ran up to the sudden brawl, Fred and George following closely behind him as they all started trying to rip the fighting boy’s apart from each other. Oliver had gotten Draco off briefly, allowing Rees to try and get a hit in but it was dodged at the last second as the blond quickly leaped up to his feet. The fight immediately ended when a muddy shoe had collided with Rowan’s jaw and Draco stepped back satisfied with the damage he had done, roughly shrugging off the grip Oliver still had on his arm.

“It’s only quidditch, right?” He spat venomously from above the Gryffindor who was holding his now battered face in pain. “That’ll teach you from putting your hands on a woman too.”

“Mr. Malfoy!” Madam Hooch bellowed as she broke through the crowd in a frenzy. “50 points from Slytherin, go wait outside Professor Snape’s office for further punishment, go right now!”

Draco did go, and instantly, but he didn’t go down to the dungeons to hear about the lengthy detention that he knew he was going to get and the scolding for being reckless and stupid. His feet carried his sore body up the many stairs that led to the hospital wing, his pace picking up swiftly when he saw the large double doors of the infirmary ajar and he was able to hear a faint and familiar voice speaking indistinctly. 

He threw open the doors, walking straight in as if he owned the place and ignored Pomfrey’s requests for him to leave as he made a beeline towards your hunched figure that was facing away from him. 

“I need to see her,” he said to the nurse quickly when she stopped in front of him. “I’ll leave soon, please.”

At the sound of his voice, you hastily turned around in your spot to face him, a yelp escaping your lips for moving too quickly through your injuries. Pomfrey stepped out of the way with a sigh allowing Draco to jog over to you.

“I’m going to kill him,” he scowled when he reached you. You were wearing a sling, a deep purple and yellowed bruise quickly set itself over the side of your arm and the same cuts he saw from earlier were still scattered over your features. His fingers ghosted over your skin and he let out a deep shaky exhale of anxiousness before moving his thumb up to graze your cheek tenderly.

“What happened to you?” You asked quietly in shock when you noticed his mud-splattered clothes and tattered fists. 

“Long story,” he drawled. “Don’t worry about me, are you okay?”

“I’m okay,” you muttered with a slight shrug that made you whimper lightly. “Did we win?”

He nodded quietly, his eyes still scanning sadly over your face with a frown. “I swear, I’m going to kill him.”

“Only if I can help,” you sniggered faintly, trying to make light of the situation and succeeding in doing so when you saw he had cracked a small smile. With his hand still on your cheek, he bent down to press a firm kiss on the top of your hair and then warmly on the side of your mouth that wasn’t bleeding.

“I’ll just let you finish him off then,” he mulled amusingly when he pulled away.

“Finish him off?”

The doors of the hospital wing were thrown open again, a sea of red flowing inside as they carried in a pummeled Rowan with a busted lip, bloodied nose, black eye, and deeply bruised jaw. You looked briskly between Rees and Draco, both of them staring daggers at each other and it rapidly clicked in your mind why your boyfriend had looked like he just walked through a battlefield in your absence.

“Oh.”

[genshingarbage]

Hi! Can I request a headcannon of what type of s/o the boys would like? Like what are the personalities that makes them fall in love? More specifically for Zhongli, Diluc, Childe and Xiao! (But it is up to you hehe) sorry if it’s unclear I’m nervous 👉🏼👈🏼 Thank you so much I love both your writings btw!! 🥵

This is such a wholesome ask! ❤ I'm really really happy you like our writing too! We are working each day to improve for you and everyone else so I hope you enjoy our bouncing boys. I hope this will be to your liking ^^ - Mod Diluc

Zhongli

This man will fall head over heels with anyone whose inquisitive.

Someone who enjoys learning and understanding.

Sharing a passion for history and the importance of knowledge being passed down generations.

He'll become enamored over the thought of reading a book while enjoying some warming tea with his lover.

Strong will is a must to him too. His lover has to have the will to keep fighting and standing up for what they think is right, even if that means they stand up against him. (He'll respect them more for doing so.)

He loves having debates with anyone and everyone, so of course he'll be over the moon if he can have a really decent and deep debate about many passing or lingering topics with his lover. (Bonus points if his lover can actually best him in one and things remain civil and calm.)

Kindness also goes a long way with him.

He is so use to being the kind and older gentlemen who lends a shoulder and helping hand to those in need that he'll forget what it's like to have someone offer to help him.

Understanding is a must with the person he's with, they have to fully understand why he is the way he is, be that in terms of why he is so obsessed with Liyue and its history or just odd bits and bobs to do with any old things. As long as they understand him he'll be happy.

It goes the other way too, he will of course wanna do his best to understand his lovers interests and passions that vary from his own.

He doesn't mind the cute/shy types but he is a man of proper attitude and stern demeanour, so prepare for him to be trying to get his significant other as comfortable as possible with him as quickly as possible. (So that they can express a more confident and proud posture to the world.)

The fact he's with another person is proof enough he loves them to bits so he doesn't really like the type who will often question why he's with them or what he sees in them.

He loves you for you of course. Why must he keep reminding you?

So in conclusion he will typically fall for someone whose as passionate about history as he is, with a hunger to always learn more, and maintain a traditional view on things with a confident and outspoken voice.

Diluc

This man is very reserved so if his significant other can be understanding of his constant absence and still accept him there is nothing he won't try do for them.

Someone who agrees on his same views of the world will also probably get his heart racing, since he won't feel like the only one fighting back anymore.

I think this one is obvious but if you dislike alcohol as well then he'll probably ask you to marry him right then and there.

A strong head on your shoulders will also get you a far way, he likes people who stick to their beliefs and don't let people beat you down.

He doesn't mind the shy/cute types either though, if you blush alot around him he will just see that as you unable to hide how much you truly care for him.

He will always wanna protect his lover and keep them safe, so he doesn't want someone who gets touchy over this reason, he is not saying they can't defend themself or something like that, he just can't help his inner nature.

Being a hard worker will also probably heighten the chances of him falling in love with you, since he can relate to that very strongly.

He doesn't mind if you're not so sophisticated daily but if he's doing something that requires such disguise he'll be very happy if you can just play along with the role for the night.

Kindness is also key with this man much like Zhongli.

He tries to be kind in his own way to others but often comes across as cold and distant. (He doesn't mean to most the time but he still tries to be kind) so if his lover also is kind and shows it to him he will probably be completely shocked and dazed at first.

But that will quickly turn to awe and then a deeper feeling inside.

He likes the quiet because it's peaceful and it gives his mind a rest, so he would probably prefer to have a lover who likes going on quiet strolls with him at sunset around Mondstat.

In conclusion he will probably like a person whose strong willed, friendly, shares the same interests and disinterests as him and also understands why he can't be there everyday with them.

Xiao

This one's difficult. And very complicated.

He doesn't like being near people that much, and he doesn't like having to repeat himself.

So right off the bat he will only even begin to notice someone who follows orders well and keeps their distance.

He is all about respect, if you show him the respect he's entitled too this also won't go unnoticed.

This doesn't mean he likes someone whose a doormat. If you let yourself get tread over all the time he'll grow disgusted in you.

If you show your will for fighting and sticking up for yourself this will definitely make him grow closer to you.

Telling him off if he does push his weight too much around will piss him off but also make him greatly admire you. You know how to respect him and put him in his place? Interesting.

He can be rather rude and sharp with his words. So if you're someone who gets offended easily he will not care for you much longer.

Someone who can take his rude words and actually fire them back at him with strategies behind them will definitely catch his eye more.

Won't like someone whose very touchy and cuddly that's for sure. A relationship like that is just not cut out for his life style.

Someone who knows what they want and won't stop till they get it and demonstrates strong stubborn tendencies will actually interest him.

Always keeps to a schedule. He won't like someone whose all over the place and clumsy with their actions. Make a schedule to meet him through out the weeks and stick to it. Otherwise he will find you too easily distracted which is another sign of weakness to him.

In all honesty actually act like you don't care for him at all in that way. Show him respect and tell him off when needed, dish back sarcastic and smart comebacks to his own rude comments but don't let it show you like him. This will draw him closer toward you like a moth to a flame.

Overall there isn't too much to say about Xiao since he's so reserved and closed in.

In conclusion the person has to be smart, timely, strong willed, quick on their feet and thoughts and be just as distant as he is.

Childe

Well straight away, if you don't know how to have a good time he's gone.

He wants someone who can be just as careless as him when the fun kicks in.

Someone who can be just as daring as he is too.

Flirtatious humour will get him into you faster too that's an obvious.

He wants someone whose just up for some laughs and jokes.

Someone who likes drinking and partying all night and ending it with a bit of some 'fun' with eachother.

If you're good at fighting or just love fighting he's gonna wanna marry you right there.

Someone who can train him with daily and give him a proper work out session will make him thank the gods he meet them.

If they beat him down he's gonna show his inner masochist side, because that will just drive him crazy about them.

Someone whose loyal to their beliefs will also gain respect from him.

Since he himself is very loyal to his own cause, even if the lover in question doesn't share the same loyalty as him just knowing they are loyal to something will make him smile.

Someone whose up for anything will draw him closer. Someone who says sure or yes to his crazy proposals about going around towns and causing chaos just for the fun of it.

He will love the person if they're not caring about his role in the Fatui. If they make him feel accepted no matter what he will become enamoured with that person.

In conclusion he wants someone whose always up for a good time, whose loyal to their beliefs and knows how to handle themselves.

[princessofmerchants]

~25 ACOSF Days of Solstice~

“You know, our god—the first of the Illyrians—held the ground against enemy hordes right where you’re standing.” There wasn’t a scratch on him. No sign of exhaustion despite the climb. Bellius smirked. “He drew a line in the dirt as well.” He nodded toward it. “Nice little touch.” Nesta hadn’t known that tidbit of their history. But she revealed nothing. She became blood and dirt and pure determination. “It didn’t end well for Enalius,” Bellius went on. “He died after defending this spot for three days. Climbed with his guts hanging out to the sacred stone at the top and died there. It’s why we do this stupid thing. To honor him.” She still didn’t speak. But Bellius’s eyes drifted to the peak above. Displeasure narrowed them. “My crippled cunt of a cousin and that half-breed disgrace this sacred place.” A flutter of light from the summit washed over Bellius’s features. Nesta’s lips curled. Widened into a smile at Bellius’s growl. Gwyn and Emerie had touched the sacred stone and been winnowed away by its magic. “Seems like you didn’t win,” Nesta said to Bellius at last.

—ACOSF Ch. 71

The chapters are super short here at the end of both the Blood Rite and ACOSF as a whole. I'm highlighting this bit today so I can share some theories about Enalius, Cassian, Ramiel, and Nesta.

They aren't very detailed, my theories. Just impressions. But here they are:

Enalius held what becomes the Pass of Enalius (which Nesta is at present holding too), then, fatally wounded, he climbed to the top of Ramiel and summarily died.

There was already a sacred stone atop Ramiel which Enalius was trying to reach. Whether it yet had any powers, similar or not to the winnowing power of the stone in the present (which we are told is specific to the Blood Rite, a later historical development), we do not know.

The Blood Rite is to honor Enalius who the Illyrians revere as a god.

Cassian as the General of the Illyrian armies is compared to Enalius in his fighting abilities.

Enalius dies right next to the sacred stone. The legend does not say whether he touched it or not.

Ramiel is considered a sacred and powerful mountain along with the Middle and the Prison.

My impression is, a power transfer of some kind took place at Enalius's death. The sacred stone became distinctly powerful in that moment.

Whether he was a god before, after, or both is also a detail that feels significant, but which we do not have knowledge about at this time.

The parallels between Enalius and Cassian in ACOWAR point to Cassian having a unique and personal connection to Enalius. Descendant? Reincarnation? Hard to say with the amount of information we have.

So what's all this have to do with Nesta?

When she was forcibly Made and turned Fae in the Cauldron, she ripped some of the Cauldron's power away in rageful vengeance for the violation she was experiencing in that moment. Her own powers, born from that ripped away power, develop over the later books and are identified as death-like, related to death in some way.

But they also lead her to Make: the House, Ataraxia her sword, two other blades, and the friendship bracelet charms that serve as a beacon between Nesta, Gwyn, and Emerie in the Blood Rite.

As we know (because this is a reread of ACOSF for me), Nesta will soon magically summon Ataraxia as she continues to hold the Pass of Enalius. (Edited to strike through this bit because it turns out I was misremembering this part.) And we also know she never makes it to the top of Ramiel and never touches the sacred stone.

And finally, Nesta is singular in that she can safely wield and control the Dread Trove, a collection of Made objects with great power.

Oh, and Cassian is her mate.

Again, I can't confidently say what picture these puzzle pieces make, but that they do in fact relate to one another in a definitive way is really clear to me.

Is the sacred stone at the top of Ramiel Made? Was it Made when Enalius died in front of it? What would have happened had Nesta touched it?

And is it significant that the singular person who can wield Made objects, and who did not yet touch the stone at the top of Ramiel, has for her mate the Illyrian who seems to channel Enalius?

Inquiring minds want to know 👀

25 ACOSF Days of Solstice Masterlist

[a-master-procrastinator]

Long ass post about the Eternal family not being a copy-paste from ATLA (aka I like the memes but my god can you please stop)

Because some people truly think that Vaylin is off-brand Azula, Arcann is Zuko and so on.

It's. Called. A. Trope. (I mean how often do we come across abusive manipulative fathers in media? Mothers who couldn't much to change anything? Children, desperately looking for their parent's approval no matter what?)

Of course, you have to consider the fact that the writing of ATLA is simply better than of KotFE/ET, so this might have been one of the reasons why people say that.

Spoilers for Avatar: The Last Airbender, Knights of the Fallen Empire and Knights of the Eternal Throne expansions!

Okay, so here's my unprofessional, maybe biased, not super deep take.

(not going to mention that all of them are members of royal, ruling family, kinda obvious)

What roles do they play in their stories? Well, both Valkorion and Ozai are main antagonists, but their presence throughout the story is very different. Ozai is rarely shown in first two seasons, we don't even see his face until season 3. He doesn't have a direct connection to the protagonist, they only meet at the very end of the show, and Ozai's role is to pose a threat to the world, while Aang's is to save it. Valkorion, on the other hand, is constantly on the screen, interacting with the main character, challenging their viewpoint and influencing them directly. His end goal is similar to Ozai's (destroy everything and be the only ruler of the his nation), but with one major difference - he's trapped in Outlander's mind, so to achieve his goal Valkorion attempts to take control of the main character. Their interactions play important role in the story, and we spend a lot of time with Valkorion.

In addition to that, their relationship with children are also not exactly the same. It seems like Azula is Ozai's favorite and Zuko is a failure in his eyes until he meets his expectations, and the same goes with Vaylin, Arcann and Valkorion, right? Well, partially. Indeed, Valkorion and Ozai's treat their sons in similar ways (are disappointed in them until they meet their expectation by doing something that goes against their morals), but when it comes to Vaylin and Azula, it's not that easy. See, Valkorion claims that Vaylin was always his favorite creation (even though we know it's actually his empire), and he certainly seems to take pride in her potential in the Force. But her power is the very reason he's afraid of his own daughter, and in this fear Valkorion literally locks Vaylin away and allows to put her through physical and mental torture just to make sure she won't become a threat, won't overpower him. Maybe he thought of her better than of Arcann, but she wasn't his favored child for sure. I don't want to say that Azula hasn't experienced abuse from Ozai, but for the most part he clearly favored her over Zuko. He has never shown fear of Azula's power and abilities (or at least I haven't noticed), quite the opposite - allowed her to do a lot, as long as she brings results.

I could also mention their slightly different characterization (mostly that we get more characterization of Valkorion, get to learn his motivations, views, philosophy and all that, also he's portrayed as more nuanced, even if he not really is) and role in their respective governments (ozai is one of many Fire Lords and arguably not the greatest, while Valkorion is a god to citizens of Zakuul, their only Immortal Emperor), but those are details, and I think you get the point.

What's similar: role of the main antagonist, manipulative and abusive father, goal of destruction of everything that isn't their nation/empire, relationship with disgraced son.

What's different: presence in the overall narrative, relationship with the main character, relationship with daughter, role in their societies.

Senya and Ursa are even less similar. Yes, they both are mothers who love their children, but have to leave them, but these are probably the only things they have in common. Just as with Ozai and Valkorion's presence throughout the story, Ursa is only shown in flashbacks (for obvious reasons), and Senya is one of major characters in KotFE and (a bit less major) in KotET. Ursa leaves because she has to kill Azulon in order to save Zuko, and later isn't present in the story (I'm aware that her fate is told in comics, but we aren't talking about it). Senya leaves because when she tries to take children with her, they refuse, and she understands that she can't force them to, nor she can help them to break free from Valkorion's manipulations. For a long time she's absent from Arcann ad Vaylin's lives, but at the time of game events she attempts to save her children and stop the madness and destruction they've caused, and it isn't a small part of the story.

I also want to add that their relationship with Ozai and Valkorion are also different, but can't say much about Ursa. I heard that she didn't choose this marriage and suffered emotional (and maybe physical???) abuse from Ozai. I can say with confidence, though, that Senya genuinely loved Valkorion, and strangely enough, he seems to at very least respect her. But, of course, this wasn't the best marriage either.

Plus, we see more of Senya's relationship with Vaylin than Arcann or Thexan, but with Ursa we see her more with Zuko than Azula. Just a detail to remember.

(also Senya is simply a better character but that besides the point, moving on. in this house we stand Senya)

What's similar: role of loving and caring mother, abandoning their family at some point.

What's different: presence in the overall narrative, relationship with husband, characterization in general.

Boy, where do I even begin. Vaylin and Azula are similar in that they are both extremely powerful (one is firebending prodigy, the other is potentially stronger than Valkorion), both are cruel "craaaaazy" (i hate that cliché), both are younger sisters, have serious mother issues (seemingly more so than father issues), both go through betrayal of people they could always rely on, which eventually leads to their downfall. But when I took a look at their personal arcs, it became clear that they aren't the same (unfortunately, Vaylin's arc is very rushed and underdeveloped, but we'll have to go with what we have and my personal view, sorry).

There's a really good video about writing corruption and madness, and I'm going to base my thoughts on it. To summarise it: a good corruption arc should have 4 components:

- the character has a specific goal (or a goal and subgoals);

- in pursuit of said goal they become the cause of a significant event that brings serious consequences;

- as the result of these consequences, character abandons their morals, ideals or a code in pursuit of goal;

- character either will not achieve their goal or will succeed, but it won't be enough to satisfy them.

And then the author brings Azula's arc as one of the best examples of compelling story of corruption (so basically, she represents it perfectly). In short, Azula's main goals are perfection and control, and subgoals help achieve the main ones. In pursuit of these goals, Azula causes Mai and Ty Lee to betray her (by pushing them too far to do something they wouldn't do), which then causes her to become paranoid, which makes her to attempt controlling everything and everyone around her, *breathes* which makes her lose control over herself and ....

Now, I thought if Vaylin's arc could fit into a corruption one, and next part will be based a lot on my assumptions and personal view of her character (plus rushed writing doesn't help), but I think yes (or at least mostly). The difference is in goals, ideals and details.

While the story strongly makes us think that Vaylin's goal is freedom (or control over her life and everything around her) or power and destruction, I think it's actually self-determination (which was said by Tenebrae in 6.2) and feeling safe. Let me explain (and here I thought this would be a short comparison). Sure, when Valkorion caged Vaylin on Nathema, he took choices and control over her life from his daughter. But let's not forget whom Vaylin blames for this (even more than Valkorion): her own mother, and I think this details tell us that the most important thing that Vaylin lost on Nathema is feeling safe. Then, after Arcann brought her home, I assume Vaylin still didn't feel safe enough under Valkorion's rule, still too afraid that he'd simply send her back to that hellish place.

It's when Valkorion is struck down Vaylin finally has a feeling of personal safety, even if she isn't the one on the throne. Why? Because back on Nathema there were two people who haven't turned on her - Arcann and Thexan (yes, this is also a huge assumption, bc the game states that only Thexan visited her, but it doesn't make much sense).

I've always noticed (and I'm not alone in this) that her behavior in Fallen Empire is different from the way she acted in Eternal Throne. Most likely bc of rushed writing, but I see a character driven reason here. In first of these expansions, Vaylin is the second person in power on Zakuul, and with Arcann being in charge, person she can trust more than any other living being, she feels safe - she can test her power, and now Valkorion won't prevent it, she can do pretty much everything she wishes, and the most Arcann will do about this is mildly complain (without blaming her). Really would be nice if we got to see any normal hobbies of Vaylin (like wasn't there something about books or art?), but I digress. She might have some questions about Arcann's tactics, but they get along just fine. The important thing to note is Vaylin not seeking to hunt the Outlander personally, to rule or conquer the rest of the galaxy, or trying to achieve absolute freedom or power. She's kinda there.

This, however, changes when Arcann doesn't allow Vaylin to kill Senya. Their relationship was getting somewhat worse towards the end of KotFE, but this is a turning event Vaylin caused by attempting to strike her mother. By saving the person Vaylin blames for all the trauma from sending her to Nathema, Arcann threatened her feeling of safety. And now Vaylin starts to believing that to achieve safety she now needs to kill people who hurt her (that's why she's so determined to find Senya and Arcann), take the throne and hunt down Outlander (she was manipulated by SCORPIO to these subgoals).

(The following is the weakest, I'll admit, but I hope I can at least express what I see). So, in trying to achieve goals she didn't want before Vaylin loses in self-determination, being either driven by overwhelming anger or manipulated by others (SCORPIO or Commander on Odessen), desperately trying to accomplish anything, or even goes against her morals (like by erasing GEMINI's free will protocols, when earlier she agreed that freedom to choose is important; or breaking the deal on Odessen). All of these result in her downfall.

But even this isn't the end. The key difference between arcs of Azula Vaylin lies in it's resolution, or that Vaylin have a chance to overcome corruption in the main narrative (and Azula doesn't. again, not including comics here, sorry). After death, Vaylin is again controlled by Valkorion in Outlander's mind. First time physically (she can't resist it), second time mentally. This is where Vaylin has to choose - kill brother who betrayed her and Commander who killed her, or go against Valkorion, person responsible for almost all of her pain and trauma. She has t choose by herself, and I think it's a good start.

Now, before 6.2 we all thought Vaylin was dead for good, but that story update hinted at possibility of her coming back to life. What I like to think is that now that she dealt with people responsible for her trauma (helped defeat Valkorion and actually for once listened to Senya), Vaylin can now have a different life, finding herself with support of someone she doesn't hold a grudge against and who treats her well (Satele, I mean).

I'm so sorry for going into details, but I needed this long explanation to present the point (and I suck at explanations). As said before, this is my version of her arc, and most likely wrong interpretation, but even with personal freedom of choice, Vaylin character differs from Azula a lot.

Need I mention that Vaylin relationship with Arcann and Valkorion are drastically different from those between Azula, Zuko and Ozai?

(Also a little detail - with royal family of Fire Nation, Azula is the golden child, while with Tiralls it's actually Thexan, not Vaylin).

What's similar: role of extremely powerful, emotionally damaged daughter with little to no regard towards others, close people betraying them, resulting in their downfall.

What's different: characterization, role in the narrative, relationship with father and brother.

Arcann and Zuko is the most difficult part, but I still believe that calling Arcann just a cheap copy of Zuko is incorrect.

So, they fall into role of less successful son, always getting disapproval from father, being in shadow of more talented sibling, both obsessed with capturing the main character but ending up helping them end the war after going through a redemption arc with help of caring family member. Even both have scars on left side of face. Yeah, seems similar. I still think they are different characters.

Let's start with their relationships with family. In Valkorion section I said that his attitude towards Arcann is similar to that of Ozai towards Zuko, so not going to spend too much time here. However, there's slight difference - Zuko didn't kill his father even he had a perfect opportunity (bc it wasn't his goal), Arcann did (bc it was one of his goals), which says something about their characterizations.

Zuko and Ursa were shown to have a good mother-son relationship, and it played a role in Zuko's character. With Arcann and Senya, we don't really know (not much was shown in expansions). We know Arcann didn't hate his mother, but possibly didn't have warm memories of her either. The reason is most likely, like Senya said, her children wanted nothing to do with her (which is a bit untrue about Vaylin, but okay) and leaned more towards Valkorion. We need to remember that on Zakuul Valkorion isn't just one of many great leaders, he's the greatest, and seen as a god by most citizens, so safe to assume the same would apply to his children as well.

Zuko and Azula's siblingship (i'm out of words) is a bit similar to Arcann and Vaylin's in way of brother knowing that his sister isn't good, but still caring about them (even if not showing). At least it's what I saw. What's different is how Azula treats Zuko, compared to how Vaylin treats Arcann. I think Azula showed compassion or concern for Zuko maybe twice, but I'm not entirely convinced that it was 100% sincere. Vaylin, on the other hand, seems to trust and care about Arcann (with bits of sass and questioning his life choices), and switching to complete opposite after him saving Senya. Also, I don't she ever called Arcann a failure in their father's eyes.

Now I want to say that their roles in stories aren't the same either. Sure, both are introduced to us as antagonists, but in reality, Zuko was never a true antagonist (we get to learn this somewhere mid-season 1), when Arcann remains the main antagonist for whole of KotFE. Zuko didn't start a war and didn't participate in conquest of other nations too much, his main goal was to capture the Avatar so to restore his honor (and deserve his father's forgiveness). Honestly, I think it's safe to say the Zuko is one of two main protagonists of ATLA. Why does Arcann want to capture the Outlander? Solely because his father's spirit still lives inside this person's mind, and the best solution to keep Valkorion away from the galaxy is not letting the Outlander free (hence the carbonite freezing). And Arcann doesn't want or need Valkorion's forgiveness when he attempts to kill him (or kills him, depending on your choice. anyway, his action directly leads to Valkorion's "death"). And right after that he becomes a ruler of Zakuul and begins the conquest of Republic, Sith Empire and everything he can reach (the reasoning behind this is still unclear to me though; maybe because he was raised with ruling Zakuul in mind and he didn't anything else, idk). Point is, he's responsible for war and main's character imprisonment, which makes him the main antagonist of KotFE. They have it the opposite ways - Zuko starts as disgraced prince, supported by a little group of people, and in the end he's recognized and appreciated by his nation, and Arcann starts as respected by his empire, later becoming less and less loved, until some groups start rebelling his rule, and in the end he doesn't get to rule Zakuul again.

This leads me to their morals. See, Zuko didn't have the worst morals in Fire Nation, even more, he expressed care for loyals soldiers of his nation before getting punished by Ozai. During first season (and about a half of second one) his views on other nations are what he was taught before. However, these views are challenged by travelling in Earth Kingdom, witnessing people suffering from war Fire Nation started and hating its people (you already know all of this), and with this he comes through final stage of redemption when he's back home. Unfortunately, Arcann doesn't go through this, and he's shown to be more ruthless.

Alright, when it comes to their redemption arcs, well let's say they are different (both in quality and the way they go through it), I'm just a bit tired of long explanations at this point. Zuko's arc is one of the best ever put on television, and Arcann's... well, it definitely has potential, but is criminally underdeveloped (there are other people who will explain it better than I ever could).

What's similar: role of disgraced son, living in shadow of their sibling, serious injuries on the left side of face (though with different meanings), obsession with capturing the main character, having a redemption arc.

What's different: role in the narrative, role in their society, characterization, relationship with sister and mother, different end goals (before redemption), paths to redemption.

[thatsapphicwriter]

Hi reader

Today I'm feeling a little extra single, so I'm just gonna go through a list of different ways to show trust or intimacy between two characters (or real life ppl, I mean u never know).

Hands. Omg hands. Mostly hands touching each other. This can be a person's own hands touching themselves to establish a level of comfort in their body, or with someone else showing deeply intimate feelings. If it's their palms touching it could be them connecting their energies (like when they make their pairing official), if it's finger tips it could show a trust big enough for experimentation and so on. Hands communicate a lot, but especially intimacy so please use hands in your writing.

Eye-contact. It can be a show of a characters general kindness and confidence if they, instead of nodding at people when saying hi on the street, just keep eye contact and smile. Eye-contact can be used in an alluring and flirtatious way. You could write whole paragraphs of your MC trying to decipher another person's Eye-contact. It also upgrades every smutty chapter by 100% because it makes the characters confront each other and brings them back to reality. It makes a scene much more real. It can also be used to establish a characters confidence - where are they looking? Are they thinking abt where they are looking? What does this mean?

Communication. This may just be me longing for a relationship where I don't have to be the mature one, but communicating is so fucking sexy. Literally, communication is the best way to show trust between your characters, and it will probably influence your readers in a positive way if you sneak it in there.

Ears, for some reason. Once again, this is related to communication and listening to other people. If they notice another person's ears while they're talking, it could show-case listening. Also, noticing little things about people in general is rally intimate and can be used to share that, especially if it's not a very observant person.

Sharing physical things with emotional importance to the character. Fx. letting someone/a character borrow ur MC's favorite book or Lipgloss, and the character/person makes sure it gets back in good condition. This will show that they trust and/or care for the other person and respect their interests. As someone(a Taurus) who gets very possessive over my favorite things, this is definitely a huge one for me, so don't be fooled by how small/general it is.

If it's parental love/intimacy/trust, I find that arguments can be a good show for it as well. A safe environment is also one where you/a character is allowed to lash out when their feelings get too big to handle. It shows maturity and patience from both sides if an argument can happen, and both learn from it constructively.

Discussing art. Literally such a cute trope I love it deeply. Especially when the two characters disagree, and while it isn't mentioned or made too obvious, it's still clear that they obviously respect the other person's opinion. It is, however, a very nice playground for flirting, like with every other fight (enemies to lovers fans have a point).

Apologizing. Need I say more? No, but I will. Apologizing shows an ability to take accountability for ones actions, which is needed when showing trust and intimacy. Even if it's just a small "I'm sorry" after accidentally hitting someone on the nose. Don't overuse it, though, cause that might make the character seem insecure (which could be intentional, but just showing through apologizing gets boring and annoying over time).

Have them stand/lay next to each other unintentionally and without them noticing until a little late in the moment. Like if they get new seats in class, and one doesn't notice until 20 minutes into the first class. When they do notice, though, they might start panicking a little bc "omg they're r i g h t t h e r e" and then they make a move or smth (idk it's ur story).

Exchanging annotated books. It's like a peak in the other persons/characters brain. Besides, books are incredibly intimate and the favorites will typically be ones that a person relates to in some way, shape or form, making just that a simple peak at their emotions. Books about bookworms are adorable and I love it very much.

Okay that was a long list. Obviously don't overuse any of them, cause then they lose their power, but I do believe that this is a nice little connection. Feel free to add onto it, but I can't come up with anymore just in this moment.

I do hope this inspired you in any way to write any of these in to your wip, because I find them adorable.

Love, The Sapphic Writer