#(although there is a fair bit of overlap)

[traaanskimkitsuragi]

inner circle

[finnlongman]

You’ve made a few silly posts about your agent having to deal with your genre-hopping body of work and I wanted to ask on a more serious note if that’s been an issue at all. I and do everything from literary short stories to YA fantasy to thrillers to experimental horror, and I’m aware that a lot of agents and publishers discourage working in so many genres; it’s better for marketing to have Your Thing. And plenty of writers use pen names for different genres, but I was just curious about your opinion as someone who doesn’t do that and who publishes several genres under the same name.

It hasn't been an issue with my agent, but it's something she knew about me going in. When we had our first call and she offered representation, that was one of my key questions: she's a children's books agent, but I write adult books as well as YA; would she be willing/able to represent my adult books as well, or would I need to find another agent to do that? Although she doesn't typically represent adult books, she was willing to do so for an existing client, and has agency colleagues she can consult for guidance. (Because, obviously, as a children's books specialist she doesn't have as many contacts in the world of adult books, or as much of an idea who to submit to.)

Having said that, we were on sub with The Wolf and His King for eighteen months. Would we have sold it more quickly if she were an adult agent, with the contacts and experience to go with that? I don't know. Quite possibly not -- the editor who ended up buying it, Bethan Morgan at Gollancz, wasn't at Gollancz when we went on sub. When we first approached her (after I'd met her by chance at a friend's book launch), she was working at another publisher in another genre, and asked us to hold on and submit to her in a few months because she was moving somewhere that might be a viable home for the book. And then we accidentally sold three books instead of just the one we were trying to sell!

I think there are pros and cons of using different names. I sometimes wish I published my academic work under a different name to my fiction, but it's slightly too late for that now. I do have some projects, such as the paranormal postgrads series, that I intend to use a different name for if they're published -- not secretly (given that I've posted about them a fair bit), but just to provide a degree of separation from my academic work in particular, especially given the overlap of my characters' research with my own. This would also provide more separation from my YA work, which I think would be valuable for these books. It's a shame perhaps not to have that separation between my YA and adult books already, but that's how things have worked out.

I have so far only sold in two genres/categories: YA dystopian/thrillers, and adult fantasy. I don't know what other barriers and challenges I might face if I branch out into more areas than that. However, a major advantage of writing in multiple categories and genres is that, if you're a fast enough writer to be producing more than one book a year, you can publish in multiple categories at once without cannibalising your own audience and without running into non-compete issues.

The main challenge my agent faces is that every time she turns her back I've run off and written something else I wasn't supposed to be writing (because I write very fast), and that, crucially, many of the ideas I come up with are not remotely marketable. I have discussed with her several ideas that, while I love them enough that I'll probably write them eventually, we've both acknowledged are extremely unlikely to ever sell, at all, because the audience is just too small. She's open to the possibility that I might move to being a hybrid author in future and self publish some of these niche books alongside more conventionally marketable trad pub things, but that's very much only an idea at this stage, since nothing is anywhere near being ready for that.

Anyway, basically, my agent is fine with it, but that doesn't necessarily mean she can sell everything I throw at her, or that I'm expecting her to.

[cowboys-tshot]

A Beginner's Guide to Epic: The Musical - FINAL Version!

Are you new to Epic: The Musical and overwhelmed by 5 years worth of content to go through? Yeah, that's fair. Although Epic: The Musical is now complete, there are many things that new fans may be confused about or just completely unaware of. This is a helpful guide for the influx of new fans coming in, or just people that are still a bit confused about some parts!

*There will obviously be some spoilers in this! The Odyssey is thousands of years old, but Epic: The Musical is a retelling, meaning many things have been changed. I recommend listening to all the songs in Epic before reading this - or at least before reading the 2nd and 3rd sections - as this guide is intended to clear up misunderstandings/confusing moments and provide context (as well as some fun tidbits). But hey, you do you!

**All of the underlined words are links to whatever it is I'm referring to. I've done my best to include sources for everything or at least indicate where I got certain information I can't find a direct link. Although Jay is most active on TikTok, I've used YouTube links in case TikTok actually gets banned in the US (there was one video that I couldn't find elsewhere unfortunately).

This list will cover (1) General Information, (2) Music-Related Information, (3) Explaining Unclear/Vague Moments, and (4) Fun Facts. This post is long as hell, but so is the musical, so... sorry! Enjoy my endless yapping and let me know if I missed anything <3

General Information

This is some basic information about Epic: The Musical as a whole. This includes where to find new information and content, some context, BTS stuff, etc.

First of all, here's a quick rundown by the creator himself. There'll be some overlap in terms of what I cover here.

Here is a link to the official Spotify playlist for all of the albums/sagas in order.

Epic: The Musical is created by Jorge Rivera-Herrans, often referred to as "Jay" or "Mr. Jalapeño" by his fans. This is who writes the songs, makes the music, casts the characters, and voices Odysseus himself (and also Polyphemus)! He's a very silly, creative guy. :)

Epic: The Musical was originally produced under Blair Russell Productions, but Jay has never been paid the royalties from the songs released under them (and they have yet to give back control of the Epic social media accounts last I checked), so Epic is now produced under Jay's own company, Winion Entertainment LLC (source). The Troy Saga and The Cyclops Saga were re-released under this new company, which included new vocals, music, cover art, etc. It's preferred that you listen to these versions of the songs, and NOT the originals, because Jay only gets royalties from the current ones.

Jay is most active on TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter. All videos that he posts to these platforms are generally the same, so don't worry if you can't follow him on all of them. He talks about several Epic-related things, including release dates, BTS, animatics, details about the music/story, snippets of released and unreleased songs, and also plenty of funny videos. He is very active within the fanbase, and you're likely to find him (and other cast members) leaving comments on posts by fans!

Here are Jay's other links, including the Epic: The Musical Discord server. In my experience, the Discord server and TikTok are the best places to get information as quickly as possible. He also has a Patreon for early content!

Epic was just completed in December 2024. There is no stage adaptation, as Epic is still technically a concept album. There are many things in the works (video games, stage adaptations, etc.), but nothing has been completed and a lot of it is still up in the air.

Jay takes many creative liberties with The Odyssey for the sake of this retelling. He even made a video saying to NOT use Epic as a basis for your knowledge of The Odyssey. Many of the things that occur in Epic DO NOT occur in the original story, and many parts of the original story have been cut out. Here is a video where Jay explains the purpose of Epic as an adaption and goes over some key differences between the two stories.

Jay held live listen-throughs for new saga releases, where he'd start at the very beginning and naturally transition into the newest saga. I believe only three of these are still available on YouTube (The Wisdom Saga, The Vengeance Saga, and The Ithaca Saga). These are where you can find all of the official animatics, animations, and artwork, all of which provide insights into character design and events within the songs. The lyrics shown during the streams also detailed events happening in the story that may not be clear just from listening (though I will go over these later just in case). You can just watch the premiere party for The Ithaca Saga here, as it includes all previous sagas and their animatics.

Music-Related Information

I'm not musically adept at all, and this is post is already very long, so I'm not going to list every specific detail - just some common themes and examples of them.

If you're having trouble understanding the lyrics and/or the meanings behind the lyrics, Genius Lyrics has the entire album and is full of helpful notes about the context within the musical, as well as details about the music itself. A lot of lyrics get misheard, so even if you think you understand what's being sung, I'd recommend checking just in case lol.

Many characters have their own musical motif(s). There are also other motifs that are more general, like the "Danger is Nearby" motif.

Many important characters have their own instrument that plays an integral part in the songs they're in. You can typically tell which instrument accompanies each character by listening to what is most prominent in a song that focuses on that character. (examples, examples, examples)

If you hear a character's musical motif or associated instrument in a song they don't play an integral part in, that can mean a few things (listed below). With the more general motifs, they have their own separate meanings outside of the characters.

A character's motif or instrument can indicate that this character is present, even if they're not singing or even mentioned. (ex. Hermes in "Puppeteer," signifying that he's listening to Odysseus' speech, which is brought up at the beginning of "Wouldn't You Like")

That character is related to whatever event/conversation is occurring. (ex. the same musical motif in "Ruthlessness" and "Storm," signifying that Poseidon is the one that sent the intense storm)

The kind of instrument being played can indicate the emotion or tone of a scene. This is scene primarily with Odysseus, where the use of a nylon or acoustic guitar indicates that he is not being ruthless, while the electric guitar indicates his ruthlessness. (source)

When background vocals are accompanying a mortal, there is always a physical, in-universe source for those voices (ex. Odysseus's crew as background vocals in most of his songs in the earlier sagas). When background vocals are accompanying a god or other powerful being, there does not have to be a physical source for those voices—gods can basically summon a choir of voices at will (ex. "Ruthlessness"). (video explanation)

Explaining Unclear/Vague Moments

Some of the plot points, characters, and events in Epic can be confusing at first, especially without the visual element. Some things have been depicted in animatics, some said by Jay in videos/comments, others were detailed in the lyric videos during livestreams, and others are just commonly misheard or misunderstood events. I'm just going to explain everything regardless, and I will go in order of the songs to make it as coherent and cohesive as possible. I've tried not to compare Epic to The Odyssey too much, as Epic is a retelling, but The Odyssey provides a lot of context.

This list will have MAJOR SPOILERS, obviously.

Throughout Epic, several characters are named in the lyrics but never referred to as such within the musical. I won't list them all here for the sake of space, but they should all be listed on Genius Lyrics whenever they have singing roles.

Generally, the gods don't really work the same as they do in Greek mythology. They are closer to "immortal humans with superpowers" than actual gods.

As far as character design goes, most characters look physically similar to their respective actors, and their attire often takes more inspiration from anime and video games than Greek clothing (at least for the gods).

The deep voice at the end of "The Horse and The Infant" is Zeus, voiced by Luke Holt. Zeus shows Odysseus a vision of Astyanax, the infant son of Trojan Prince Hector, and tells him to kill the infant because the boy will grow up to avenge his father (who had been killed by the Greeks). After a lot of deliberation, Odysseus drops Astyanax from the walls of Troy at the very end of "Just a Man."

"Warrior of the Mind" is quite confusing without context. It begins with Athena's ability Quick-Thought, which lets her have telepathic conversations with someone within milliseconds by pulling their mind into another dimension. The rest of the song is a flashback to a younger Odysseus, when he first met Athena and took her as a mentor.

Polites dies at the end of "Survive." He is the voice weakly saying "Captain..." after being hit with Polyphemus's club, and he is killed after the cyclops hits him a second time. (I didn't realize this for a good while when I first started listening to Epic.)

The lil' guys in "Keep Your Friends Close" are called winions (which are also the Lotus Eaters in "Open Arms", and they appear again in "Dangerous"). Jay describes them as "little wind creatures that dance when they get excited and then float away uncontrollably." They don't actually exist in The Odyssey, but they're pretty cute!

At the end of "Ruthlessness," the line "remember me" is said/sung by Poseidon (Steven Rodriguez), not Odysseus - he's basically sending his voice through the ocean fog, since Odysseus is very, very far away from him at that point.

In "Done For," the yelling and roaring you're hearing in the background is essentially a Pokemon/Yu-Gi-Oh battle. Circe summons a chimera, and Odysseus summons a cyclops using the moly plant given to him by Hermes. There is an animatic by mircsy to serve as a visual aide, which I find very helpful!

In "There Are Other Ways," Circe is holding a knife and planning to stab Odysseus as she tries to seduce him. When he pulls away and rejects her, she quickly hides the knife.

In "The Underworld," shades (souls) are in a constant loop, repeating whatever they were thinking when they died (which we see with Polites and Anticlea, Odysseus's mother). Tiresias is an exception to this rule, seemingly because of him being such a powerful prophet. (confirmed in "The Underworld Saga" LIVE listen-through)

In "No Longer You," there's a LOT of foreshadowing (for obvious reasons). The line "I see your wife with a man who is haunting / a man with a trail of bodies" refers to Odysseus, not any of other suitors. I won't go into the rest of the foreshadowing in that song, as I think it's fairly clear and you can find other posts explaining all of that.

The sirens in "Suffering" and "Different Beast" are not the same as Greek sirens - they more so resemble our modern interpretation of them. Here is a video explaining their powers and how they work within Epic.

Scylla is a monster with six heads on serpent-like necks, with each one only eating a single man at a time. This is why Odysseus tells Eurylochus to light six torches. In the official animatic, Eurylochus is shown to hand off his torch to another crewmember during the chaos, only to realize too late that he has doomed his own brother in arms.

In "Mutiny," after Odysseus is stabbed (in his side, I believe), he is tied up and knocked out before the crew sails to the nearest island. Right before he says to get to the boat and row away, he manages to untie himself.

The statue of the sun god in "Mutiny" is depicting Helios, not Apollo. They are two separate gods, and I won't explain further because that's its own post. The cows are Helios's cattle.

Zeus completely destroys Odysseus's ship at the end of "Thunder Bringer", but Odysseus somehow washes up on the island of the goddess Calypso. She immediately falls in love with him and traps him there with her for seven years until Hermes, at the command of Zeus, informs her she must release him (though this confrontation isn't depicted in Epic, only mentioned). In The Odyssey, Odysseus sleeps with Calypso (unwillingly, mind you), but this part seems to have been cut out of Epic.

There is a seven-year time skip between "Thunder Bringer" and "Legendary." Telemachus is around 20 years old at this point. The suitors have only been in the palace for around 3 to 4 years.

In the "Legendary" animatic that depicts Telemachus growing up over time, a dog is shown walking alongside him. This is Argos, Odysseus's hunting dog, and it is the only time he's depicted in Epic. In The Odyssey, Odysseus sees Argos lying in a pile of manure outside his palace. He has been severely neglected over his owner's 20-year absence, unable to walk and covered in ticks. Upon hearing Odysseus's voice, Argos wags his tail, although he can't stand and go greet him. Odysseus, in disguise as a beggar, can't greet his dog and risk revealing himself, but he does cry a bit before he enters the palace. Argos then dies. (I cried while typing this)

The gods' powers in "God Games" are explained here. Athena is seemingly killed at the end of the song by Zeus. A lot happens in this song, so I'd recommend watching the animatics.

Charybdis is a monster opposite of Scylla in the same strait of water. She is a monster that remains beneath the waves, gulping up water three times a day to create intense whirlpools that kill anything and anyone that gets caught in its current. In Epic, Odysseus essentially maneuvers within the whirlpool by surfing on his raft until she inevitably has to spit the water back out.

In "Six Hundred Strike", Odysseus manages to reach the wind bag just before he drowns. He straps it to his back and opens it, using it like a jet pack and having a mid-air anime-style battle with Poseidon where he, powered by the souls of his dead crew, strikes Poseidon 600 times in quick succession (absolutely none of that was hyperbole). His eyes are now glowing red, and they will be this way until The Ithaca Saga (they're always red from now on, but they eventually stop glowing). They both land on a small rocky island, where Odysseus proceeds to pick up Poseidon's trident and repeatedly stab him until he stops the storm.

That wet sound in "Six Hundred Strike" is a trident being stabbed through Poseidon's throat, not kissing noises.

A lot of people (including myself for a while) get confused about the “shoot through 12 axe-heads cleanly” bit in "The Challenge". It's possible that the suitors were meant to shoot an arrow either through (1) the holes that the axe handles would go through or (2) a hole through the middle of the axe-heads - honestly I'm unsure at this point. If they were double-headed axes that were lodged in place in a straight line, the holes would align and could theoretically be shot through.

The part with the axe-heads honestly doesn't matter because Penelope knew the suitors wouldn't even get that far - Odysseus's bow was a particular type of bow, referred to in The Odyssey as palintonos (translating to "bent," I believe). It's mostly speculation because Homer wasn't super descriptive about it, but here is an article detailing the bow and how it would be used. Needless to say, not only would it have required immense strength to string and draw it, but the suitors likely wouldn't even know how to in the first place - which is exactly what is depicted in the animatic at the beginning of "Hold Them Down".

At the end of "Hold Them Down", Odysseus shoots an arrow into Antinous's throat and kills him. It's assumed that Odysseus has been in the palace the entire time (at least for the duration of this song), and none of the suitors noticed him stringing his bow without any trouble as they started getting increasingly rowdier.

At this point, you may be wondering why in the world no one just kicked the suitors out before it got to this point. For that, I ask you to research the Greek concept of xenia - there are many posts explaining this in relation to Epic as well. Basically, Greek hospitality rules prevented Penelope from simply kicking the suitors out. It was only once they threatened to kill Telemachus and sexually assault Penelope that Odysseus got the all-clear to deal with them himself without violating xenia.

There are 108 suitors in total, though only a fraction of them have singing lines and only a few are named in the lyrics. The first is Eurymachus ('Old king, our leader is dead...'), who in The Odyssey was second to Antinous and was very much an asshole. He is accurately depicted here as being a manipulative liar. The second is Amphinomus ('Damn, he's more cunning than I assumed...'), who is actually a fairly decent guy in The Odyssey. Odysseus warned him to stay away from the castle that day, but Athena urged him to stay and he was killed. Lastly, there is Melanthius (the one that encourages the capture of Telemachus) who is actually Odysseus's goatherd but was seemingly rewritten to be a suitor in Epic. In The Odyssey, he's a disloyal asshole that is so accommodating to the suitors that they let him hang out with them.

Odysseus first stabs Melanthius from behind, then beheads him right after he says 'this will be your fate'. This may seem pretty brutal (or ruthless, you could say), but I guarantee you it was far, far worse in The Odyssey! :)

At the end of one of the animatics for "I Can't Help But Wonder", when Athena says the line "very well," she turns her head to reveal that the right side of her face is scarred, and she appears to now be blind in that eye. The shape of the scar pretty much confirms that this is a result of what happened at the end of "God Games."

Penelope's request for Odysseus to move their wedding bed in "Would You Fall in Love With Me Again" is both a test and a way of circumventing Odysseus's identity crisis. It's first a test to confirm that this man is, in fact, her husband and not an imposter - only her husband would know that moving the bed is impossible because it's built into a literal tree. This request also serves to convince Odysseus that Penelope still sees him as her husband - only her husband would know that, therefore Odysseus must be her husband.

Fun Facts

Circe is voiced by Jay's girlfriend, Talya Sindel. They met when she was cast as Circe and began dating a bit later. They are horrifically cute together.

When Poseidon kills off most of Odysseus' crew in "Ruthlessness," he says that there are only 43 men left. But in "The Underworld," the souls of his crew say that 558 men died under his command. Considering Odysseus started off with 600 men ("Full Speed Ahead"), this math doesn't add up. This is because in The Odyssey, when Odysseus and his men party with Circe for a year, a man in his crew named Elpenor woke up drunk on Circe's roof and proceeded to walk off the roof and die from the fall. He actually has a cut song.

Jay messed up the amount of years in "There Are Other Ways" - it had only been 10 years, not 12. This mistake is referenced in "Different Beast" with the line "We've been away from home for / about 12 years or so."

All of Jay's family play characters in Epic - his mother plays Odysseus's mother (Anticlea), his father plays Hephaestus (because he helped Jay build his sound booth/recording studio), and his sister plays the Princess Winion in "Dangerous"!

If you see people commenting "rawr rawr rawr" or "🦖" on Jay's videos, they're referencing his April Fool's prank before the release of The Underworld Saga.

[asordinaryppl]

A3! Backstage Story Translation - Sakyo Furuichi SR: Secret Return Gift Talk - Part 2

Sakyo: (Now I see why the Director was in such a good mood. Today’s curry really was delicious.)

Kazunari: Hey, hey, everyone! Can I have a bit of your time before you return to your rooms?

Tsuzuru: What’s gotten into you all of a sudden, Miyoshi-san?

Kazunari: Our gifts for Director-chan shouldn’t overlap, so I thought it’d be nice if we exchanged information!

Sakyo: (Exchange information…? Sounds useful, maybe I should listen.)

Masumi: I don’t really care to know.

Kazunari: But you’re definitely thinking of something awesome for your return gift, aren’t cha? I really wanna know!

Masumi: I’m thinking of something, but I won’t tell you what.

Kazunari: You’re so cold, Massu!

Kazunari: I can’t really force it out of you, though.

Kazunari: BTW, can I ask about your plans, Furuuche-san?

Sakyo: I haven’t decided on anything.

Tsuzuru: There’s lots to pick from, it really gets you thinking.

Tsuzuru: Although not for the Director, I bought some cheese cookies for my coworker at my part-time job. 

Sakyo: (I see… So that’s why Minagi was looking at them on today’s fair.)

Kazunari: Cheese cookies are swell! Nice choice, Tsuzurun!

Tsuzuru: But I still gotta find something for the Director. You started all of this, but how about you, Miyoshi-san?

Kazunari: I’m going down the chocolate route! I found some limited edition chocos that look real delicious~!

Omi: I’m also thinking of giving some sweets, but I haven’t decided what to make. Maybe macarons or financier…

Kazunari: Whatever you decide on, since you’re making it yourself, it’ll be delish and it’ll make her happy! Woah, homemade sweets are actually a double-kill!

Kumon: I was thinking about giving the Director something soothing, ‘cause she’s always working so hard!

Izumi: You all look like you’re having fun.

Masumi: Director…

Kumon: Eh, Director!? When did you get here!?

Izumi: Hm? Just now.

Masumi: Did you come to see me?

Izumi: Well, not really. I could hear everyone’s excited voices from the hallway, so I got curious…

Omi: Is that so… Did you hear what we were talking about, then?

Izumi: No, I couldn’t make out what you were saying. What were you talking about?

Sakyo: We were talking about how delicious today’s curry was. …Right?

Kumon: R-Right!

Kazunari: Thanks for making such delicious curry, Director-chan!

Izumi: You’re welcome! I’ll make it again any time, so feel free to let me know whenever you’re craving it.

Omi: Whew… We somehow got out of that.

Tsuzuru: I didn’t expect the Director to suddenly show up. I thought my heart was gonna burst.

Sakyo: If you’re going to continue this conversation, consider lowering your voices.

Kazunari: You heard him! Everyone, let's lower the volume a bit!

Kumon: Got it!

Masumi: Still noisy.

Sakyo: (For now, I’ll listen to what they’ve got to say…)

Sakyo: (The more I listen to them, the harder it gets to pick something…)

-

Sakoda: Good work today too, Aniki!

Sakyo: Yeah…

Sakoda: Aniki… You sound real tired, y’know? I can rub your shoulders! 

Sakyo: No, I’m not that tired.

Sakoda: Eh? But you kinda seem more tired than usual. Actually, it’s more like the wrinkles between your eyebrows are deeper than usual…

Sakoda: Ah! Are ya still trying to find what to get Big Sis for White Day?

Sakyo: … You got that right. No matter what I choose, I feel like it’ll end up being something similar to the others’...

Sakoda: So that’s how it is… Then, how about making your gift something only you can give?

Sakoda: Like, your time!

Sakyo: What’s that supposed to mean?

Sakoda: Exactly what it says on the tin! I’m super happy to get to spend time with you, Aniki!

Sakoda: Just goin' somewhere with you, havin' dinner with you, feels like some kinda special present!

Sakyo: (... Give the Director my time?)

Sakyo: (Go somewhere with her, eat whatever she wants with her… Something like that?)

Sakyo: …

Sakoda: A-Aniki?

Sakyo: … That sounds like a good idea. Thanks, Sakoda.

Sakoda: Aniki…! No problem, this is nothing!

Sakoda: I hope Big Sis likes it! I’ll be rootin' for you!

Sakyo: Yeah, thanks.

part 1 | part 2

NOTES:

(1) i wasn't sure if i should use the eng version's nicknames for sakyo and tsuzuru, so i just went with what i'm most familiar with, out of personal preference, sorry!

(2) i'm not sure if masumi is telling kumon to be quiet or is just complaining about the noise, lol

[never-say-neverwhore]

for the ask game. eulalie. go

yessma'am!

How I feel about this character

Overall, I really like Eulalie's character, and her vibes! I love how she's almost doll-like, and manages to be graceful while also a bit clumsy when it comes to socializing (mood). However, it does sort of bug me how most of the time she's written as only an addition to Berenice (and vise versa), and specifically the less useful of the two. The only time she's really been able to be of help to the group OUTSIDE of the group (/ teaming up with someone (Berenice)) was the end of the first season, where she puts in her two cents about the theory of the afterlife and her support of Lenore, which serves as a tipping point to get the others on board. (10/10 scene btw I fuckin loved it)

I wish she got more time to shine, and really show her strengths more than just a helper / secondary to other characters. Other than that, I do have one more thing that sort of bugs me, which is, funnily enough even though I quite like her design... Her design. Her design is nice, don't get me wrong-- I love the vibes, she's one of my favorite characters to draw. However, considering she's supposed to be Japanese, and comparing her to other characters, it really feels like she sort of just got the anime treatment...? She has these big wide eyes, purple hair (although it's apparently just a stylistic choice, but something that affects her specifically and no one else), and her eyes and eyelashes are more stylized than most the rest of the cast. While that's not bad as itself, I just wish she was given more actual Asian features, or made so that it's a bit clearer that she's Japanese rather than just her Spectre and her last meal (which, to be fair, while it's a Japanese meal, it's a little funny to assume ethnicity based just on foodstuff imo)

Even with all of this, though, I love love LOVE Eulalie, she's probably one of my top 3-4 Nevermore characters, and I'm excited to see how she grows next season!

All the people I ship romantically with this character

Oo fun stuff. Let's see...

Pluto

I find their interactions fun, but honestly what I ship them for is more of what they could be rather than what they are. I like how Pluto's an absolute mess lol, then Eulalie just being the embodiment of :)? I think they could be fun, they deserve to bond more like how they sort of did at the end of the season. Pluto loves etymology, Eulalie loves the afterlife and mythology, there's a large overlap between etymology and mythology, so they should have an autism off about that I think. And smooch a bit maybe.

Berenice

I honestly haven't thought much on them, but I find them really cute! I love how they play off each other, and how just casually affectionate they are with each other. Rather than them being completely whipped for the other (sort of like how Pluto is an absolute mess crushing on Eula), I see them as very down to earth and casual about their relationship, not too flustered over it most the time. They can just casually cuddle and talk about their day, and that's good for them! Honestly talking about them for the first time and yeah. I should draw them, they're cute :]

Annabel Lee

Random curveball, ha! Again with my sentiment with Pluto but blown to the extreme, I like them for what they could be rather than what they are. Seeing as they have a total of 1 tiny interaction lol. Honestly I got drawn into this by some friends on discord, and like... hear me out.

Annabel constantly is on guard, and people only sees what she wants them to see. Everything she does is an act, and she finds being seen in truth by other people terrifying. Eulalie, on the other hand, doesn't hide who she is at all. She's completely honest, almost to a fault, and earnest too. She says what she thinks, and genuinely thinks what she says. She's not afraid of how people think of her or judge her, and as such, she's much less afraid of people than Annabel is. I feel like Annabel, as she's around Eulalie more, could come to really respect and even admire that about her. At first, she's certain, something's going to happen to "make her see reason". However, even when Eulalie's harassed a bit, she bounces back, and she doesn't take it to heart. That really makes Annabel see... wow. She's stronger than her in that way. Yet maybe instead of viewing her as a threat, she finds herself wanting to get closer to her, and see just how she does it.

Eulalie, on the other hand, is simply a curious critter, as one might say. She sees Annabel and goes oo! She seems neat! She has no qualms about talking to her (and apparently messing with her hair lol), and overall is just genuinely curious of What is Up with this lady. She finds Annabel strange, to be honest, in her demeanor. She seems so reserved, yet perfectly put together at the same time. It's almost uncanny, really. She finds it sort of fascinating. As they get closer and closer, maybe Annabel starts to lower her guard a little, and Eulalie goes !! Wow... that's the real her. She's spectacular. I want to see more!

My non-romantic OTP for this character

Another hear me out...

Will!

After the manor arc Eulalie is sort of just like... Will, hon (/p), Blink twice.

No but in all seriousness, again, Eulalie is very close to her friends and wants to protect them. She feels obligated to help them, but not from fear or guilt, but because they're her friends and she wants them safe. Will, meanwhile, likewise feels obligated, and yes, does care about Montresor, but it's more out of fear (both of him, yes, but also abandonment in general). So while Lenore can yell at him till the cows come home about Montresor not actually caring about him, I think Eulalie can help make him realize that friendships should support both sides, not just one, and overall like... man help this man. Free my mans. I find his and Montresor's interactions fascinating don't get me wrong, and he's guilty too Will is not innocent but please. separate these two a little . Except Eula I feel would actually be able to explain it not in a "montresor is using you and is a terrible person" sort of way (even if she thinks that), but in a "this friendship is hurting you more than it's helping" sort of way. Idk

My unpopular opinion about this character

,,,she actually has one of if not my least favorite spectre designs,,, (I love her powers though they're so pretty though) im sorry girl 😭

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

I fucking WISH we had gotten a flashback or scene of after Will kinda got um. impaled numerous times by Eulalie lol. Like- since he was in spectre form, he didn't die from that, but since Eulalie's powers iirc allow her revert malevolent spectres, and he's neutral, I dunno if she would've been even able to let him die??? So like... best she can do is remove the lances lol, I'm just curious on how that went down,,, cuz she clearly felt bad, Berenice did too, and then there's Will being self deprecating and also impaled so like. Fun times. I wish we had seen more of what happened there.

[wormytoast]

2.3 graphic! 2.2 graphic here

as always this post is leak free but my blog DOES contain leaks and spoilers, so please mute "#hsr spoilers" and "#hsr leaks" if you don't want to see that stuff <3

Trailblazer will not be considered in these stats because they are a null character.

TYPES

Fire: 7

Ice: 8

Lightning: 7

Wind: 6

Physical: 8

Quantum: 8

Imaginary: 6

Fire is now in the middle of the pack with Lightning while Quantum is boosted to the front with Ice and Physical.

PATHS

Destruction: 9

Erudition: 7

The Hunt: 7

Harmony: 8

Nihility: 9

Preservation: 4

Abundance: 6

Destruction is, once again, tied for most populous path with Nihility (who could've guessed? LOL). Erudition gained one more unit.

RARITY

Limited 5-Star: 23

Standard 5-Star: 7; Overall 5-Star: 30

4-Star: 21

For a second version in a row we did not receive any drip marketing for a new 4-star! I think the absence of one in 2.2 is fair considering the hinting they did with Trailblazer's hat in the live, but what's the reason in 2.3? It's not a big deal regardless but still strange.

OVERLAP

There are now 9 overlaps of unit path/type combinations. Neither Firefly nor Jade are new type/path combinations, although both are new rarities for their combos as well as the first overlapping combos for their respective types. The only type without an overlapping combination is Imaginary.

Fire/Destruction- Hook & Firefly

Quantum/Erudition- Qingque & Jade

Physical/Harmony- Hanya & Robin

Physical/The Hunt- Sushang & Boothill

Ice/Preservation- March 7th & Gepard

Ice/Destruction- Jingliu & Misha

Lightning/Erudition- Serval & Jing Yuan

Lightning/Nihility- Kafka & Acheron

Wind/Nihility- Sampo & Black Swan

Unfulfilled combinations:

Erudition- Wind & Imaginary

The Hunt- Lightning

Preservation- Fire, Wind, Lightning, & Physical

Abundance- Ice

MODELS

F child: 2

F short: 9

F med: 11

F tall: 11

M short: 3

M med: 4

M tall: 10

Wow, two more women in a Hoyo game? I'm so surprised! Seriously though, Jade is the first Quantum unit that has a tall model (all Quantum units up until this point have been F med or F short). Of course this is assuming that Jade has an F tall model but, realistically, her proportions are that of most F tall models so I'd say it's a safe bet. We already know Firefly is an F med model. No love for the boys or the children this version.

I don't feel like repeating old info so I'll try to be quick: Quantum is all women while Imaginary is all men except for Yukong. We have not received a new F child unit since launch (happy one year HSR!).

OVERALL + OTHER THOUGHTS

Not much to say about this update in terms of statistics or units. I'm REALLY hoping we get Sunday by 2.4, but there's also a good chance 2.4 will take us to a previous location to give players a breather from Penacony, so we might need to wait a bit longer for Sunday 🫡

I'm also surprised that we didn't get Screwllum for 2.3 considering they mentioned updating the Simulated Universe in 2.3! Very unfortunate for Screwllum enjoyers.

After Penacony... maybe a Japanese-themed location? We've already got hints of one from both Sparkle and Acheron (although Acheron's home is probably unreachable now...)

Thanks for reading this far if you did! Maybe consider following this account? Or not since this is basically a gacha ramble account LOL

[icebrooding]

Something I've been thinking about and kind of realised I played around a tiny bit with in the latest Wildflowers chapter; what exactly does it mean for a sylvari to be a 'twin'?

I imagine the term and social connotations of what 'twins' are came from the other races, due to how rare they are in sylvari culture. I could easily see two sylvari coming from the same pod, the elders consulting other races on it out of curiosity, and coming to share their understanding of what it means for them; two siblings of the same family.

...It's just that sylvari families are not like other races' families at all, so there is probably a fair bit of confusion on what it actually means for them. Is a sylvari twin always going to feel a familial bond to their pod-mate, or is this something that's kind of externally imposed on them by others due to what twins are in other societies?

Regarding Wildflowers, Chapter 7 had a rather small reveal that one of the sylvari characters, Sunny, was actually a sylvari twin. But their pod-mate was a sylvan hound instead of another humanoid like them. While not mentioned in the chapter itself; due to this massive discrepancy between them, the two are rarely acknowledged as proper twins, and they themselves have a relationship more like best friends than siblingship as being a twin would imply.

So again my question is; what does being a 'twin' mean to a sylvari?

We only really have Arlon and Pellam as examples. For them it seems like their bond makes them practically inseparable despite all their differences and arguments; finding themselves at a loss and aimless when the other isn't around. Their relationship seems like it's one where they simply cannot be without; that's how strong their connection is. They refer to each other as brothers, and so do the other sylvari, so it's assumed their bond is siblingship.

(Although the linguistic complexities of the terms 'brother' and 'sister' in sylvari culture is something I could make a whole other post about since these terms have two vastly different levels of meaning.)

But what about other possible sets of 'twins'? Supposing that, societally, all sylvari from the same pod are automatically thought of to have that familial bond... well, what if some just, don't?

I can easily see two sylvari coming from the same pod where their dynamic was more like romantic soulmates or lovers, instead. The two most notable things about sylvari twins is, obviously, that they shared their pod, and that they also shared their Dream. But with how large and complex the Dream is, I would find it hard to believe only the tiniest fraction of sylvari would ever share their Dream with another. While not the same, Dagdar and Eladus 'dreamed of each other', which to me at least implies some overlap with their individual Dreams.

But then, if all pod-mate relationship dynamics are broadly considered 'twins', does this put them in a different category for how they're allowed to interact? Are sylvari twins held to a different standard when it comes to relationships between each other, in a society where for everyone else family is entirely a choice??

Do sylvari twins have to deal with the complexity of having other races' understandings of a concept affect how a similar concept occurs within their own people?

Or I wonder if sylvari culture is just as relaxed on this as they are with other relationship dynamics amongst their people; that this unique status ultimately has no effect or social repercussion on what the two sylvari themselves interpret their deepened bond to be.

[chaos-grimlin]

hello!

thank you so much for answering my question, im so glad you can do it!

id love to request billy loomis, stu macher x male reader

this is angst because when your sad, what makes you happier than more sadness ?

the song prompt is Tired by beabadoobee!

everything else is up to you <33

ALRIGHTY! Sorry this.took forever! But this os my first time doing a Male reader! Hope i did good!!

Im getting so fucking tired

(Poly!Billy loomis and Stu macher x Male reader)

^^^3rd person POV^^^

The alarm clock blared through the room, the noise banging against the walls.

Y/n slowly sat up, letting a groan of annoyance escape his throat as he did.

Y/n threw his legs over the bed and harshly hit the alarm clock with his hand.

He knew what the alarm clock ment, and he hated it.

It ment hed have to go to the unsafe environment of his school.

He couldn't count how many friends he lost, how many treats he got, all becuase of who he was.

Y/n couldn't help who he was attracted to, yet people still shamed him.

He couldn't help he was both Gay and dating two men.

He was so fucking tired of everyone and everything.

Y/n sat there, burying his head into his hands. He felt like breaking down, like crying and giving up was the only option.

Small tears escaped from tje corners of his eyes as his mind filled with those thoughts.

Those thoughts that creep through his mind at night

The thoughts that would come along when his boyfriends were over

The thoughts that they didnt love him, the thoughts that they would leave him

Y/n took in a deep breath as he ran his fingers through his hair.

He didn't want to go to school..he didn't feel like going through the harassment and the looks.of hate his ex best friends Tatum, Sidney, and randy gave him (i dont believe they'd do that, but for this they do)

It wasnt his fault that Sidenys and Tatumes Boyfriends left them and got with them.

"Why should i even bother?" He thought as he picked up a clean t shirt, but then threw it back down

He didnt see a point in going..why go if you cant focus on learning, but instead focusing on if theyll finally go through with their threats and kill you?

Y/n flopped back down onto his bed. Laying down and staring up at the ceiling, as those thoughts raced through his head, overlapping each other, till, he broke.

Tears flowed from his eyes. He didn't feel like enough, he wasn't enough....

He laid in his bed and cried, feeling his body shake as he rolled over to his side.

It wasnt fair!

It wasnt fair that all the other students were normal!

Y/n laid there for so long, crying.to himself so badly to the point he didn't hear the knocking on his window.

After 5 minutes, y/n heard someone rapidly beating on his window.

Y/n felt his heart stop, what if they found him and planned to make it look like he did it.

Y/n slowly stood up, letting his feet slowly hit the floor, till he stood up and peaked at his window.

He felt his heart flutter at the sight of his two boyfriends, but something pained him, they looked worried.

Y/n slowly moved to tje window and used his shakey hands to open the window.

"OH THANK GOD YOUR ALIVE" Stu screeched as he practially threw himself threw the window while Billy played off like he wasnt worried.

Stu stumbled a bit before he grabbed Y/n and pulled him to his chest. "Your okayyy" Stu said excitedly "no one said he was hurt dumbass" Billy huffed out as he pushed Stu off of Y/n .

"Asshole" Stu muttered.

Billy looked down at Y/n, before grabbing hos chin with his hand. "Have yiu been crying?" Billy asked, running his thumb across y/ns lower eye lid, wiping away a few stray tears

"No" y/n answered quickly as he pulled his face away from Billy and wiped his eyes before flashing a smile.

Stu frowned as he bent down slightly and.looked into your eyes.

Stu and Billy both grabbed onto each of his hands and sat him down onto his bed.

"Why were you crying?" Billy asked, although it sounded more like a demand more then a ask.

Y/n looked from Billy to Stu, there saddened expressions made his eyes water.

"Im so fucking tired of being diffrent" y/n choked out.

Billy cocked an eyebrow up. " how are you diffrent?" Stu asked, rubbing y/ns hand.

"Im with you two" he said, his voice going quiet.

Billy looked offended and Stus mouth fell agape.

"Do you not.want to be with us?" Stu asked, as he looked at him like a kicked puppy.

Y/n felt his already shattered heart break even more at Stus expression.

"I do wanna be with you guys..i just hate the harassment" y/n said

"Harassment?" Billy asked as he looked from Stu to Y/n.

"Yeah.." Y/n muttered wiping his eyes.

"We never knew about any harassment" Billy said, hos eyes going cold.

"Who?" Stu asked, his goofiness and sadness leabing his body as his veins pulsed with rage.

"Everyone..."

"You won't have to worry about them anymore" Billy said as he pulled y/n to his chest.

Stu reached out and rubbed y/ns back.

"It'll all be okay.. Anyone who messes with you will feel our wrath" billy said as he placed a kiss to his forehead.

And with that Kiss

Billy sealed the promise that he and Stu would murder ANYONE who hurt him

[ohblackdiamond]

Hi there!

I am getting into the Kiss fandom and I was wondering if you answer some questions.

No.1 What are the biggest memes of this fandom?

No.2 What are some things that are universally known to the kiss fandom but to anyone outside the fandom is complete bs

No.3 What are some things about the people in the fandom. From what I gather yall are horny af

No pressure btw :)

hello! i'd be glad to!

i don't know that there are really big memes if only because kissblr is relatively small, but here are some of my favorite funny posts: the random fanfic, why kiss will never get along, losing it, virgin paul vs. chad ace, virgin gene vs. chad peter,

i don't know about the complete bs part, but as close as kiss fandom gets to universal truths that outside of our sphere, no one knows much about, i guess, would be: eric carr is a good boy who deserved better, the only things anyone that was ever in kiss can agree on is that they were in kiss, and gene has herpes. well, i guess his thousands of women are probably aware there, too.

i'd say the age range on kissblr is broader than what you'll see on tumblr in general with a fair amount of people skewing 30+, although i'd estimate the average person on kisslbr is probably closer to 20ish. it is a pretty horny fandom! the dominating ships are OGs-- you'll see more ace/paul, gene/paul, etc. (paul is the fandom bicycle, followed, probably, by ace), but there's a pretty fair smattering of non-OG ship content around, too, which is nice. you get outside of kissblr and there's ao3, which, honestly, has a huge amount of overlap with kissblr (it's basically the same people on both sites). get outside of kissblr/ao3 and you find, well, youtube, kissfaq, reddit, etc., which veer much, much more critical. people definitely have their favorites on kissblr and while there's analysis, it tends to be more to do with relationships and sexy pictures than with guitars or what-was-the-band-doing-here or is-gene's-hair-real or anything like that. to this day, no one's done a serious thesis on paul's pants-stuffing and whether it's like skirt hemlines and rises and falls with the economy, which saddens me.

i hope that was at least a bit helpful! let me know if you have any other questions, i love to talk about kiss.

[degloved]

we're never getting reputation (taylor's version) and here's why:

1. the color-coding

taylor's discography is very obviously and deliberately color-coded, each album strongly associated with a particular color or shade. although there is some overlap (1989's light blue vs midnights' dark blue), the variations are distinct enough to avoid any confusion between them. in that sense, b&w is an extremely inflexible color assignment, on account of not being... well, not a color. b&w is b&w (not to be confused with folklore's grey; monochrome ≠ b&w), there aren't exactly many (or any, as it were) ways to stretch that palette to the extent it'd successfully take on an identity (album) of its own. which i believe blondie is aware of, and on that basis i believe it was a deliberate choice. and why? it's not as though she'd exhausted all of her options. there are colors she has yet to use, as well as different shades, tones, and tints of already used colors that would've been just as viable. why take this extremely particular and inflexible palette and, essentially, risk shifting that association from one album to another? unless she wasn't risking anything.

2. the pre-ttpd announcement period

as is customary for her, in the weeks before the official announcement of ttpd, all of taylor's social medias began taking on a b&w color scheme. the same had happened with purple and speak now (taylor's version), with light blue and 1989 (taylor's version), so on and so forth. a kind of unique mass-hysteria ensued as all signs pointed to reputation (taylor's version.) as it turned out, every last one of us was wrong in that assumption. if reputation (tv) were to drop, she'd have to go the b&w route again—which, for one, would in this case be predictable (we got bamboozled once, no way is it happening again) and that's very much not her style; and for two... there'd be no novelty. doing the same bit twice, really? not her!

3. the themes of reputation

reputation centered two core concepts: joe & falling out of public favor. a "good" thing and a "bad" thing. this would remain true for several years after the fact, yet no longer is—instead having turned into two "bad" things. i would not blame her if she chose not to return to this notably awful period of her life by way of re-recording, especially given the fact that the thing—person—that was once a shining star in all that proverbial darkness simply blends into the void with the way things are now. and while, yes, she had re-recorded songs about her exes, she'd only done so after a long while has passed. not only was this the longest relationship she's ever had and therefore likely uniquely devastating, the breakup itself is also very recent.

4. the contrast and the timing

and continuing the last point, only last year she'd dropped a couple devastating songs about this relationship on midnights, followed by more than a fair share of them on ttpd. doubtless she's still moving on/healing (judging by ttpd); i simply do not see her delving into an album that'd dredge up all those memories of the good times, the better times—not to mention that ttpd and rep are as antithetical to each other as it gets. if she'd recorded lover any earlier and had no ownership of it, for very similar reasons i wouldn't believe she'd re-record that one either.

4. the ttpd logo (NOT!!! my finding!)

now i never put much stock into this when i first saw it, as whoever had found it had taken it to mean "yay reputation (tv) soon!" and i simply did not agree. i actually thought it was a really freaky coincidence. bc, c'mon. let's be serious. however, i did realize it sort of fits remarkably well into my "ttpd is replacing rep because ttpd is reputation (taylor's version) in fewer words."

5. thanK you aIMee

kim? we're talking about kim now? who was maybe relevant around the year 2017? around the release of rep? oh. okay. i'm sure that means nothing

but that's just a theory... a game theory.

[paranatura-verse]

Obscure design details for the Solfege and the Ragdolls?

(I think I know who your favourites might be djkjds)

I'll start with the Ragdolls as they're relatively quick, especially compared to the Solfege. Although their designs are simple, they each have designs features that relate to either their personality or location; Satin's dress is neat and frilly as she lives in a dressmaker's desk. Quilt helps tend to the royal gardens and has a flower attached to her head. Denim wears a little bowtie, representing their high-class attitude and love of parties. Ripstop is a rough and tumble adventurer, so has a zipper along his chest to store useful tools or things he finds.

The Solfege are under the cut as there's a fair bit of rambling for them👀

Each Aspect of the Solfege has an epithet, and a large portion of their design is based around this epithet, along with their personality.

Do - The Flame. Her hair is half-shaved and spiky, to look like (very) stylised fire. The ragged hem of her skirt is styled in a similar way. Her outfit is made up of mismatched pieces, representing her uncertainty as de facto leader and lack of secure identity.

Re - The Sword. His bangs are styled to resemble the crossguard of his sword form, and the pattern of his jumpsuit is loosely based on his sword form, with the arms and upper torso representing the cross guard, and his legs and abdomen the blade (the jewel on his chest becomes the jewel on his pommel). His clothes are the most covering, fitting for the most reserved Aspect. He does feel his only identity is being that sword, after all.

Mi - The Knight. Dressed in the traditional knight aesthetic, although their arms and feet are bare as they technically don't need the armour, it's mostly for show. Their left arm guard doubles as a shield, with lots of spiky parts on their armour to invoke their dangerous side.

Fa - The Wild. She resembles a satyr (albeit with deer legs rather than those of a goat), both to bring animals and nature to mind, and to help her stand out amongst her fellow Aspects as the hermit of the group, rarely seen in civilisation. The hem of her top is slightly ragged, to emphasise her rough and wild nature, although her clothing is still clean, indicating some time spent in the company of others.

So - The Shield. As the most gentle and peaceful of the Aspects, she is a very soft shade of blue, with a long, flowing dress. Although it appears quite modest her arms are still exposed, to show despite her reserved demeanour she is still open and honest with her loved ones. Her hair frames her face, covering her forehead and cheeks as if shielding them, like her protective barriers.

La - The Scourge. A fierce fighter, his sharp horns are an immediate indicator for his threatening demeanour. He goes shirtless as he is confident and proud in his strength and abilities. His earrings, necklace and the cuffs around his ankles resemble those worn by local monks, as they have inspired his efforts to attain an inner peace.

Ti - The Orphic. As the most attention-seeking and (as far as he's concerned) beautiful Aspect, he has the longest and biggest hair of the group. The shortest Aspect, he stands on his tiptoes most of the time to try and appear taller.

Many of their design traits can be seen in their original combined form, Solfège proper. Predominantly monochromatic as they contain all colours, with eyes, earrings and an emblem in the seven colours of the Aspects. Solfège has long, flowing hair like Ti and Fa, with the legs of the latter, the horns of La, an X-shaped strap across their torso with a gemstone in the centre, similar to Re's jumpsuit, a flowing cloak like So's dress (but with a ragged hem like Do and Fa's clothes), and overlapping shoulderpads reminiscent of Do's overlapping top, and they carry a large arm shield like Mi. The similarities are loose, as it's a single being split into seven who each represent one small part, but you can see traits of each Aspect within Solfège.

[apigeonisapigeon]

Arson and Other Fires: Worldbuilding II

This will make a bit more sense if you read Worldbuilding I, but I'm not your boss.

Second Generation humans are the descendants of an original group genetically modified for physical strength, along with resistance to variations in gravity, atmospheric makeup, environmental contaminants, and other illnesses.

Third Generation humans are the descendants of an original group genetically modified to have psychic powers. These are sorted, somewhat arbitrarily, into five broad categories: 

Healer: A catch-all term for people who can psychically manipulate other people's bodies — they can do things other than heal, but are called "healers" because that's the only legal way to use their powers. They also make very effective assassins and hitmen. Because using this ability safely takes very extensive training, most healers don't use it at all or only for very basic first aid, although some who failed out of formal training go on to work as black market doctors.

Hollow: Hollows can absorb emotions, sensations, and/or physical characteristics from other people. They can, for instance, cure someone else's fever by absorbing that fever themselves, or act as temporary pain relief. Some are better with physical characteristics, others with emotions, and a handful can even take memories, but they can't, for instance, regrow a missing limb and lose their own in exchange. Draining physical sensations and emotions usually only lasts as long as the Hollow is deliberately absorbing it from their target, while absorbing physical traits tends to be more permanent — if they absorb a fracture, the Hollow has to wait for it to heal the regular way, while the person they absorbed it from is fracture-free.

Soother: Soothers are a form of telepath; they can influence others' minds, but can only actually sense their thoughts or emotions in very, very rare cases — they can make someone feel calm, or angry, or happy; they can suppress or alter memories or implant new ones. Strong soothers and mental-leaning Hollows have a fair bit of overlap and the division between the two is in some cases purely taxonomical, while in others, they get to the same result through different methods.

Chameleon: Chameleons exert a form of mild telepathy which makes it difficult for others to perceive them. This is usually most effective if they're not doing anything to make themselves more obtrusive, like wearing bright colours or talking. For some chameleons, this is effect is constant and largely or completely unconscious; for others, it's something they trigger deliberately.

Intuit: Intuits have a instinctive but generally non-specific sense of the (usually immediate) future, which in-universe scholars argue is probably a form of mild telepathy where they pick up, in a very latent way, on others' emotions or intent; intuit powers tend not to be particularly useful in situations that don't involve other people.

[biblioflyer]

How Picard should end.

The very probable end of The Next Generation is coming and with it the beginning of the end of the first phase of the revival of Star Trek that began with Discovery. Here's what I'm thinking about.

As I write this, the final episodes of Season Three, the series, and perhaps even this sub-franchise are coming into view. I refer to it as a sub-franchise because I think that Picard as a series has a storytelling approach and a set of themes that it has explored that overlap with Discovery but also has its own identity.

Because of the age of many of the principal characters, there has been a strong theme of having to adjust with grace and empathy to a world radically changed from what was normal and comfortable to you, having to acknowledge your complicity in the faults you find in this world, and of repairing relationships that have been harmed. 

Immersing myself in where Picard has been as a series, even just the first four episodes to date, has given me a strong sense of what it is that Picard is about and thus some strong, but not pugnaciously held opinions on how it should end. The failure to do any of the following will not “ruin” the series for me, although the alternatives better be really well done.

For the first time of the CBS era, I actually really feel strongly that my own aesthetics could be defied and I will still really enjoy the outcome. For example I despise the trope that Jack Crusher represents but the trope has been so superbly executed that I’m almost annoyed at how completely I’m in his corner.

Speaking of Jack Crusher….

I would strongly prefer he not be written off as a space god or killed. For one, this is just Wesley’s arc duplicated. For two, while “NuTrek” is doing a great job at moderating the setting’s default posture that transhumanism is bad, it feels too cliche and even cheap in a way for him to vanish into the aether. Let him live, as a mortal, trying to do right by all of the people who fought and died for him not because he was a space god, but because it was right. 

We’ve had three seasons of intense focus on the deeds of mortal and fallible individuals struggling to know what is right in a morally complicated universe, taking huge risks, and even sacrificing stability, family, love, peace, sobriety, and even their own lives: don’t end this with space magic. Don’t do another “space magic makes it all better so nobody really ever had skin in the game” ending.

Speaking of Wesley, having the two meet would provide a nice bit of closure for Beverly. It would bookend nicely with her line about already having lost one son to the same stars that call Jean luc.

Seven of Nine & Raffi

On again or off again, just pick a lane and make them handle it like adults.

As I’ve said before, I see two equally valid paths for Seven assuming it's handled properly. Seven can remain in Starfleet, her acceptance earned and her merits recognized by all but especially by Shaw. Ideally were this to be the case, I think I would like to see her take up Picard’s mantle of mentor to misfits.

There isn’t a character who is better positioned narratively in this series to become the person who sees something in people that others don’t and can find ways to take the round hole that is Starfleet and make it a square hole for the people who need it.

Or she can walk away and reclaim her full autonomy. Go back to the Fenris Rangers or go into Starfleet Intelligence.

As for Raffi, the past two seasons have intensely focused on the work the character was doing to first recover from addiction and then reclaim her mental health and with that the ability to have relationships without either her need to chase mysteries or the desire for control alienating those around her. It's time for Raffi’s work to be seen by others and to be supported. 

In the first season it was entirely fair for her son to refuse contact: she was too much a creature of her substance abuse and her obsessiveness. Now? Cut her some slack and let her show that she’s mastered the thing that makes her the hero no one is prepared to recognize that they need until it's too late but also makes her the villain in her own life.

I would merrily support a Worf & Raffi spy action buddy cop series. Seven, Jack, Laris, and anyone else unaccounted for who is not really a good fit for traditional ship service can come too if they want. A Star Trek answer to Firefly or The Expanse would be incredibly fascinating with good writing. Given the way Star Trek Picard has been critiquing the limits of institutional power in dealing with the unknown or morally complicated situations, I think the time is right. 

Perhaps this could be the Section 31 series instead of a 23rd century era one. Just have the Guardian of Forever send Georgiou to where she’s needed rather than where she belongs. She’d be a great foil for Zen Worf and the morally flexible but not that morally flexible Raffi.

Section 31 are bad guys, full stop.

Speaking of Section 31, either confirm that Section 31 has been disbanded and formally disavowed or that it had its Church Committee hearings and been folded back into Starfleet Intelligence with strong oversight and strong guard rails. Putting Worf and Raffi front and center in it would afford an opportunity to show that it is possible to address existential threats to the Federation without genocide or the intervention of space gods. 

It's really only been after seeing Discovery recycle the same deus ex ending, only worse, that I have come to realize that the way Deep Space Nine finished the Dominion War arc really, really rubs me the wrong way. My list of things that I think are completely antithetical to the core assumptions of Star Trek is not long, but the Federation being saved not once, but twice by attempted genocide is definitely on that list. 

Don’t get me wrong, Deep Space Nine is probably the most overall well executed series from the point of view of nearly every aspect of the show being consistently competent, but falling back on Section 31 to save the Federation? Not a fan of that.

Romance

I am not on the Bev/JL train. It had its time. For all the ways that Star Trek Picard has been in conversation with critiques of TNG’s very 1990s “end of history” worldview, one thing that was superbly managed was the idea that Beverly and Jean luc could try out a romance, realize it doesn’t work, and then be content with a strong bond that doesn’t need to express itself romantically. It was incredibly, shockingly mature for a 1990s drama.

This show did not kill off Zhabon and an ancestor of Laris for Laris to be killed off or to politely step aside.

Maybe Bev is happy being unpartnered. How about them apples? Maybe a senior woman is perfectly self actualized on her own and can take or leave romance.

This is probably one of the looming plot resolutions I am the most likely to be actually angered by if it doesn’t go the way I would prefer and it isn’t handled extremely well.

Once again, do not fridge Laris to make room for Beverly. 

That would easily make my list of the top five most appalling creative decisions of this show and this is coming from someone who has invested quite a bit of effort into defending and rationalizing its other controversial decisions. Having her step aside with her life and dignity is less distasteful but still frustrating.

The Federation and Shaw

Follow through with the overall theme from season one that institutions solve big problems but rules are not there to follow mindlessly. Conscience matters as does doing the right thing even when you are fearful. 

It may not be fair to ask 500 people to risk their lives for four people who have deliberately chosen to put themselves in harm’s way on a fool’s errand, but then when does it become fair? Does it have to be 501 lives on the line to be worth 500? How morally virtuous do the victims need to be? 

Smaller, more nimble actors don’t have to make these trades. The Mugato in the room is the Maquis. They could easily have provoked war but they did also provide a means by which Federation citizens who wanted their autonomy could contest Cardassian oppression without exposing the Federation to the specter of war  if the Federation failed to ensure their well being.

Also when and if a bad call is made out of anger, fear, or incomplete knowledge of the situation, how the consequences of that decision are addressed matter.

The Federation abandoned the Romulans. As did Picard himself. Picard accepted responsibility in Season One. The Federation extended its protection over Maddox & Soong’s Synth colony but there’s no mention of any peacekeeping or humanitarian efforts for Romulans who have rejected “the old ways.”

Finally, Shaw has his reasons and this series has been nothing if not incredibly nuanced in how it invokes trauma and uses it in a way to explain but not justify the behavior of characters. A theme I have thought about a lot in the context of Captain Marvel is the way that coping mechanisms for trauma often encourage self reliance and aloofness to the extreme. In Shaw’s own words “at some point asshole became a substitute for charm.” I would argue that the final stage of healing would be to become a team player who is capable of forging authentic relationships built on mutual trust and respect.

Now I do think this is coming in the form of a sincere working relationship with Seven but I would prefer it be extended beyond Seven. For Shaw to accept Seven as Seven is a good start but everyone is capable of accepting “one of the good ones.” Some sort of broader recognition that it's on him to swallow his terror and rage, it's not on every single XB to prove they’re not going to assimilate him.

Other characters / elements

BBEG: (Big Bad Evil Guy) I don’t know that I’m necessarily hoping for anything or anyone in particular. Armus would be cool. He’s one of the last entities on the board with an axe to grind who could conceivably be a credible menace to Changelings and shares some of their mercurial nature. 

The alien parasites would be neat as well. That that has long gone unresolved is a longstanding gripe but I feel like the time may have passed. Thematically the Changelings have more or less eaten their lunch when it comes to replacing people and intricate conspiracies. At this point, I think it would be just as well to retcon the infiltrators as having been an early effort by the Changelings to infiltrate other societies without exposing themselves to danger. The Founders certainly have the genetic engineering acumen to design a parasite species.

Elnor: at least mention him as existing, if not give the character some proper closure. Show him thriving in Starfleet and having a good relationship with Picard and Raffi as mentors and surrogate parents, explicitly connect Picard’s experiences with Elnor as a child and his effort to repair his relationship with Elnor as having been a practice run for Jack and the recognition that Jean luc would not have been his father as a parent.

Or show him choosing to leave Starfleet for the Rangers or even just to lead a quiet life of study and meditation. That’s cool too.

Jiurati: if the big bad is the Borg or related to them somehow, it would be cool to see Jiurati’s faction sweep in to help defeat them. Otherwise maybe one more reference would be nice.

The Admiral Janeway cameo is long overdue.

It would be nice for Worf to mention Alexander and Jadzia. Perhaps in the context of giving advice to Raffi on love, life, pursuing rapprochement after being an absentee parent, and living with the knowledge that your life choices place partners in existential danger. It would be a great way to cement their dualistic role this season rather than having Raffi be Worf’s sidekick.

Don’t fridge Tuvok. Find him safely.

Oh yeah, there's also JL himself.

We don't need to have Picard die on screen (again.) As far as I'm concerned Logan is all I'll ever need for Patrick Stewart death scenes. Its just too hard to contemplate. I consider the character of Picard to be a father figure and I'd kind of just prefer that he gets to be happy. I'd like for him to get good with Elnor and Jack.

"I tried so very hard to belong to this place."

Maybe pass the vineyard on as a national park that is Picard in name only. We all know his real home is in the stars. Putting him to work leading a Romulan humanitarian NGO that relies on his Starfleet contacts and credibility is I think the perfect bookend to how the series began with his despair over the Federation's failure and the ongoing interrogation of whether Starfleet is the only legitimate or appropriate entity for solving problems in the universe.

[utilitycaster]

I know this is a broad question, but do you have any thoughts/metas youd like to share on the Honour Among Thieves movie that you havnt already? Any unpopular opinions? I personally thought they did brilliantly with adapting RAW to a more structured linear story that made it easy to follow and also make sense within the world and story, especially for those unfamiliar with the crunchy mechanics. If not, then feel free to ignore!

I'll probably say some more stuff eventually; the reason I can write so much CR meta so quickly is that at this point I'm pretty fluent with the characters and I spend a significant amount of time like, cross-checking the transcript each week, but for anything else chances are it needs to bounce around in my head for some amount of time.

I guess I said this before I saw it in response to an earlier question, but I'll double down now that I have: I did not think they should have had explicit actual play cameos/references nor required any mechanics knowledge (which they did not!) I fully agree with the intentions the movie had: to use a fantasy lexicon and story structure that's immediately recognizable to people who are familiar with D&D (and even more so to those familiar with Forgotten Realms), but is completely accessible to some random person who just wants to watch a fantasy movie. I had a great time as an adult who's been playing D&D for some time, but I think I would have had a great time if I'd seen this exact movie as a teen nerd with no experience with TTRPGs whatsoever. Like...wanting CR cast cameos or more obvious D&D mechanics references feels like wanting a gold star for "getting" it and like, man, can't you just have fun for a bit? Get some concession snacks and enjoy yourself.

It's sort of comparable to TLOVM. In D&D 5e as played, we understand that Keyleth, Pike, Vex, and Scanlan all have access to healing capabilities (and that it's good to have overlap within the party). In a show with far, far less time than the luxurious hundreds of hours of actual play and the visible gears and wires of mechanics, you simplify and have the characters specialize. What's important is that you tell a good story that feels like the stories that come about through playing D&D, not that you adhere to mechanics precisely.

My only other major opinion at this time is that if you are playing around with the idea this is a D&D game (and to be clear I'm totally for that as fanon, I just think it should never be established in the film), Xenk is 100% an NPC who briefly travels with the party, not a drop-in PC, although to be fair paladins are just kind of Like That.

[galaxystiel]

put up your hands (say i don’t wanna be in love) 

Written for @sterekweekly for the prompt ‘midnight’.

Summary: Stiles had even made dessert, a (slightly lopsided) coconut rum cake, knowing Derek had a sweet tooth he would never admit to. A little more effort than Stiles would normally go to, but he’d figured if he couldn’t push the boat out for their anniversary, then when could he? Teen | 2.3k

[Read on AO3]

--

Stiles counted along with the clock, the second hand ticking ever closer to twelve. Five, four, three, two…

Midnight.

Dinner had gone cold hours ago, the remains of his mom’s lasagna a congealed mess in the dish at the centre of their table. Small, battery-operated tea lights that were barely aglow now. Pinpricks of light, like little fireflies surrounding a failed disaster of a dinner date. While Derek had never said anything about a disdain for open flames indoors, Stiles had thought it was better safe than sorry, and this was a nice compromise. Romantic atmosphere without the fire hazard or a mess of molten wax.

He’d even made dessert, a (slightly lopsided) coconut rum cake, knowing Derek had a sweet tooth he would never admit to. A little more effort than Stiles would normally go to, but he’d figured if he couldn’t push the boat out for their anniversary, then when could he?

But Derek hadn’t come home at all.

Stiles finally dragged his eyes away from the clock and let his shoulders slump. He wasn’t angry. It wasn’t fair to blame Derek for being busy at work. It’s not like Stiles had told him that he was going to try and do something special. Although Derek had promised he’d be home for dinner.

It wasn’t a lie, Stiles told himself. Derek had obviously intended to come home on time. Something must have just come up. Something so clearly important that meant he couldn’t even call. Right? Right.

He wasn’t angry. He was just tired and a little bit humiliated. Clearly, he’d put a little more—not value, that wasn’t the right word, he knew Derek valued him—sentiment, yeah, behind their anniversary than was reciprocated. Which was, not fine, not even expected but it was… yeah. It was what it was.

Something ached deep in Stiles’ chest and the chair scraped back against the floor as he scooped up all of the tea lights in hands that were totally not shaking, fingers that were absolutely, completely steady as he found their off switches. He tossed them in the trash can and then, upon thinking about Derek potentially finding them, crumpled a few paper towels and stuffed them on top.

Dessert was still in the fridge and the lasagna joined it, carefully wrapped in foil. No point in letting it go to waste, maybe Derek could take it to the station tomorrow and share it with the Sheriff. It wasn’t the healthiest of meals, but hey, his dad was allowed a cheat day every now and then, particularly when his son was suffering from a broken heart.

“Okay, enough,” Stiles muttered, waggling his fingers in front of his face. Broken heart, seriously? “You’re being pathetic, Stiles. It’s just freakin’ dinner. Derek loves you the other three hundred sixty four days of the year. There shouldn’t be anything important about this one.”

Except, there kinda was? This marked a year to the day they’d first admitted how great they could be together, and put their absolute trust in each other as their relationship had taken the next step. Stiles had just wanted to commemorate that. Even just seeing Derek for more than the ten minutes they’d overlapped at breakfast, before Derek’s shift started. He refused to feel bad that he wanted a little more than that, just for today.

Weariness took over, and Stiles abandoned his cleaning up of the kitchen in favour of making his way to the bed he and Derek had shared for six months now. He stopped abruptly in the doorway and swayed, looking at the rumpled sheets and feeling his lip quiver. Suddenly, the thought of spending the night in their bed alone seemed like the most awful thing he could imagine. A shaky exhale left his lips, and then Stiles turned abruptly on his heel, bounding back down the stairs and snatching his keys from the sea glass bowl near the front door.

Roscoe seemed to know he wasn’t in the mood for her games tonight, engine roaring to life at the simple flick of his wrist. He drove, trying to force the buzzing thoughts in his head to quieten down as he followed the trail of street lamps. Even under their glow, the world looked awash with grey. Colourless, lifeless, numb.

Stiles kind of knew the feeling.

He didn’t really have a destination in mind, but when he found himself idling outside of his childhood home, he supposed he’d probably known where he was heading the whole time. The sight of the cruiser was both welcome and unwelcome, and Stiles rested his head against the steering wheel, taking a deep breath.

When he let himself in with a key he barely used anymore, he was greeted with the sight of his dad halfway out of the living room, summoned by the sound of the door.

“Stiles? It’s almost one in the morning, what the hell are you doing here?”

“Dad,” Stiles choked, and then he was falling forward into strong arms, and tears were stinging his eyes but he wouldn’t let them fall, he wouldn’t cry. Not over this. He inhaled, long fingers grasping the back of his dad’s shirt, holding him tightly.

Distantly, Stiles registered that if his dad was still in uniform, he couldn’t have been home long. His theory had been right. Something had cropped up on duty that kept both his dad and Derek later than planned. Usually, he’d be bugging one of them to find out what happened, but right now Stiles didn’t care. Because he realized that if his dad was home, Derek was probably on his way too, and would discover Stiles’ absence at any moment.

“Can I just stay here tonight? Please?” He hated how soft and pleading his voice came out. Hated that he couldn’t handle this like an adult and face his problems head on.

But his dad held him just that little bit tighter and Stiles could have wept with relief.

“Of course you can, son, you never have to ask. Didn’t take your key, did I? The bed’s always made up for you.” He pulled back and his face went through three different expressions of reluctance before he asked, “You break up with Derek?”

Stiles’ breath caught in his throat, and the words came out thickly. “No.” He shook his head. “No, of course not. I just—can we not do this now, dad? Can’t it be enough that I’m mad at him right now and I want to stay here tonight?”

“Of course it can. Go on, get some sleep, kid.”

Stiles mumbled something that was both thanks and a goodnight and trudged his way up the stairs. The sheets didn’t smell right, now he’d gotten used to the unscented fabric softener that Derek preferred, and they were a little musty from disuse. That, together with the rampant emotions thrumming in every part of his chest, suggested that sleep would be a long time coming.

But almost as soon as Stiles closed his eyes, the world faded to nothing.

 * * * 

He wasn’t sure what woke him up.

It was still dark, so he hadn’t been asleep long. There was no clock by his bedside anymore, a reminder that this familiar bed wasn’t where he should be waking up.

His eyes flicked to the window out of habit, and he watched as it began to close, slowly and silently. Stiles squinted blearily into the darkness, but he couldn’t make out anything more than a shadow outside his window. But that was enough.

“Derek,” he whispered. The window stopped moving, little more than three inches between the sash and the sill. The silence was deafening, and for a moment Stiles held his breath, wondering if a reply would come at all.

“I was just making sure you were here.” Derek’s voice was quiet, and Stiles couldn’t even convince himself that it was out of consideration for the late hour. Even beyond that, he could hear the misery in every syllable. “You weren’t supposed to wake up. I know you don’t want to see me right now, but I—I just needed to know you were somewhere safe.”

Stiles sat up, wrapped the top blanket around himself and shuffled over to the window. He didn’t open it, just sat on the floor, his cheek pressed to the jamb. He could feel the light presence of air drifting through the gap. It wasn’t particularly cold, but Stiles shivered anyway.

“I should have left a note,” he said eventually. “It wasn’t my intention to make you worry.”

The reply that came was filled with bitterness and self-loathing. “I could say the same. I should have called. I should have been home,” Derek corrected himself. “I saw—I found—I’m sorry.”

The words didn’t heal the wounds the evening had left deep within Stiles’ chest, but they were a stepping stone. This was Derek reaching out, and now it was up to Stiles to meet him halfway. He reached up, fingers scrabbling as he pushed the window upwards, opening it fully. His motions were far less quiet than Derek’s, but he didn’t care.

He shuffled back as one leg stepped inside the window, followed by another, and then Derek’s head ducked through. His face was drawn, visible even when half-shrouded in shadow. There was tension in every line of his body and he made no move to enter the room further, just hovered by the window as if he would be made to leave at any moment.

And hell if that didn’t sweep the air from Stiles’ lungs. After all this time, Derek should never be unsure of his welcome. Not with him.

His fingers curled into the knee of Derek’s grey sweatpants and he tugged lightly enough to make his point clear. He acquiesced instantly, legs folding beneath him as they both settled on the floor. Even though Derek didn’t need it, Stiles loosened his grip on the blanket and haphazardly threw a corner around Derek’s shoulders.

“I didn’t forget.” When Stiles looked nonplussed, Derek clarified, “The date. I know you think I did, but you’re wrong. There’s a card in the Camaro. It has a stupid pun on it. I thought it would make you laugh.”

It probably would have. Stiles would have been delighted at Derek’s attempt at humour. He would have probably had it framed, to hang in their bedroom for years to come.

“That helps,” Stiles admitted. “But it doesn’t make everything better. I felt, no, I feel like an idiot for caring so much about this. And it’s ridiculous because I knew who you were when we got together. I didn’t expect rose petals and candles and slow dancing. I just wanted to see you.”

Silence. Stiles knew he’d somehow said the wrong thing because he could feel the sadness rolling off Derek in waves.

“What did I say?”

“Nothing.”

Stiles’ hand flew out and he flicked on the lamp. When his eyes recovered from the sudden flare of brightness, he squinted at Derek. “Are you actually pouting right now?”

“No.” Derek raised his eyes to the ceiling petulantly, pursing his lips.

Stiles barked out a laugh and poked Derek in the bicep. “You are totally pouting. What did I say? Tell me. You know I won’t quit until you do.”

“I could do all of that if that’s what you wanted,” Derek ground out with no small amount of reluctance. “It doesn’t make me feel good when you say you don’t expect me to do the whole romance thing.”

“You literally just called it ‘the whole romance thing’, dude, that doesn’t instil hope. And given that I can’t even get you to show up for dinner when you agreed to it, why would I hold my breath for wooing?”

Derek’s eyes flashed blue, his hands curling into fists as he turned his guilt-ridden face away. Stiles closed his eyes. “I’m sorry. That was uncalled for. And I didn’t mean it, really I didn’t. I’m just lashing out because I’m embarrassed. You know you romanced the hell out of me when we started dating. That wasn’t what I meant. I was trying to express that I didn’t expect our anniversary to be a huge deal in general. I just wanted to acknowledge that it happened, because it was the day the world gave me you.”

Derek swallowed, and Stiles watched as the tension unfurled from his body. He idly picked at a stray string at the hem of his sweatpants, before clumsy fingers reached out and curled over Stiles’. A peace offering, a gesture of forgiveness and a request for forgiveness of his own at the same time.

Stiles threaded their fingers together and held on tightly.

“You already had me,” Derek said. He rubbed his thumb over Stiles’ knuckles. “Fate or the universe or anything else had no part in it. I do like knowing that’s how you see it, though.”

“How do you see it?”

“I remember it as the day I realized that you were going to keep fighting at my side like you belonged there, and it first occurred to me that you did.”

The threat of tears stung Stiles’ eyes, and he raised their joined hands together to lightly brush his lips over the back of Derek’s hand.

“I love you.”

“Yes,” Derek said, then cautiously added, “Does that mean you’ll come home?”

Stiles nodded, and pressed his forehead to Derek’s shoulder, basking in the warmth. “I was always coming home.” He cast a look over his shoulder at his childhood bed and sighed. “I’m not waking my dad up after his late night. You’ll have to squeeze in beside me and suffer in a single bed for one night.”

The smile that spread over Derek’s face was fond, genuine. Its sudden appearance made the ache in Stiles’ chest finally settle, even as his heart betrayed him and embarrassingly skipped a beat. He flushed, not even needing to look at Derek to know he’d heard it and the smile was widening into a dumb grin.

“Stupid werewolf hearing,” Stiles huffed and slid back into his bed, making space for Derek to join him. “Get in the bed before I change my mind. And you’re buying me a nice dinner tomorrow. And don’t think I’ve forgotten about my card, I want my dumb punny card, Derek.”

Derek kicked off his shoes, sliding under the covers and wrapping his arms around Stiles. Stiles wriggled closer, sighing as Derek pressed a gentle kiss to his neck, and then nuzzled the same spot sweetly.

“Anything you want,” he promised.

If you liked it, please consider leaving me a comment or kudos on AO3, or reblogging here!

[hauntedselves]

Hello! I was wondering if you could describe what a comorbidity of avpd and npd, and a comorbidity of avpd, npd, and szpd, would look like?

Here's a post on NPD & AvPD, and another post here.

All of them are fairly similar to each other (NPD & AvPD are the most different). There's a fair bit of overlap. AvPD & SzPD are similar, SzPD & NPD are similar, and AvPD & NPD aren't similar but do have their similarities here and there

NPD & AvPD both have low self-esteem & are hypersensitive to rejection and criticism

someone with both AvPD & NPD said "i avoid most public situations unless i’m certain i can make myself look cool and confident and admirable to the people around me, because if they think i’m cool and confident and admirable, then that must be what i am. if they, in turn, think i’m weak and pathetic, then i’m weak and pathetic, and that’s a no-no for me. so i avoid most situations where there’s a risk to my self-image (note that my self-image is almost fully reliant in how i believe others perceive me)"

SzPD is completely different from that need for (perfect) relationships/perception of themselves as perfect - although both NPD & SzPD use superiority as self defence, SzPD has no need for people to see them as perfect/admirable/etc, and no hypersensitivity to criticism

both SzPD & AvPD can come with identity disturbances, though it's lesser in AvPD

both SzPD & NPD will value things other than relationships, but NPD will seek out relationships for validation

AvPD on the other hand will only seek out relationships if they're sure they're safe, and SzPD struggles with the fear of engulfment so may not seek out relationships at all

All use fantasy as an escape method (+ self-esteem booster in NPD)

Fantasies are often linked to a need to feel in control, which is also common in all 3

AvPD will find it very difficult to express anger, while someone with NPD will find it difficult to manage anger. SzPD tends to see (any) emotions as dramatic and distasteful, so won't express anger readily

Greenberg theorises a subtype of SzPD with NPD features (the "Narzoid"); in that post, the "Cat Lady" subtype seems like it could feasibly be SzPD with AvPD features. Greenberg's "Covert Narcissist" NPD subtype also seems feasibly AvPD. Millon's Remote Schizoid subtype has AvPD features.

I think the biggest similarity between all 3 is relationship fear. This presents itself in vastly different ways: AvPD avoids, for fear of rejection & criticism; NPD "uses" people, and avoids revealing their true self for fear of their flaws being seen (again, rejection and criticism); and SzPD avoids for fear of engulfment/control.

All may idealise people they see as safe (+ superior, in NPD)

Summary: Seems to be on a kind of continuum of AvPD -> SzPD <- NPD in terms of similarities. Low self-esteem + hypersensitivity to rejection & criticism in NPD & AvPD clash with SzPD indifference. NPD & SzPD use superiority as self-defence, AvPD feels inferior. Fantasy is a major coping mechanism in all 3. Relationship fear is the common thread between the three - fear of engulfment/control, & rejection/criticism + flaws being revealed.