#But it doesn’t matter!! Because the children decide who lives and who dies

[shannonsketches]

I truly and honestly believe that Zen Chan was Toriyama’s way of venting about the rise of fandom culture’s sway in publishing djsjsj Children (or just immature adults) who have nothing to do with what’s going on having way too much power over people whose liv(lihoods)es depend on their favor

[dairy-farmer]

Tim decides to do a little… experiment.

Tim slowly reveals clues to Dick how young Tim was when he lost his virginity, and it wasn’t his choice.

For Jason he finds old files that detail in brutal detail Tim doing honeypots as early as a week into his career as Robin.

Tim never leaves Damian and Bruce alone together, and gets more and more distressed when people start mentioning Damian starting Robin training. Tim very emotionally says Dami isn’t ready, isn’t old enough. Damian thought it was jealousy at first but gets concerned when Tim tries to get him apprenticed to Nightwing or Red Hood instead. Tim’s hugs feel like he’s shielding him, and Tim gets hysterical when he doesn’t know where Damian is.

Oracle has never liked how Batman would speak to Tim as Robin, and is horrified to discover he’s worse on the missions she isn’t on com’s.

Kon is very solemn when he says his Robin made him promise to never come rescue him unless Tim asks. No matter what he hears.

(Sort of picture this as a dark Tim, dark Young Justice AU, where Tim hates Bruce and is possessive over his brothers. Tim thinks Bruce will ruin Damian, never forgave Bruce for punching Dick and not killing Joker for Jason/Bruce cutting Jason’s throat)

brutim

dark bruce always has such heart pumping plots but interwoven with tim whump is so good. an au where tim despises bruce, where that bright eyed idealism he'd had in the beginning, the admiration and hero worship that had been in him- it's gone. it died the first time bruce's hands strayed between his legs and he told tim that being robin meant he had responsibilities. tim finding out bruce is a bad father with how easily and second nature slapping dick when he mouthes off seems to be. bruce is violent with his children, he's violent with tim too but tim's the only one he...touches.

because tim is smaller, he's prettier. from behind he looks just like a girl which is way bruce always makes him bury his face into a pillow while he pins him down by the back of his neck.

the first time bruce had done it he'd been drunk. it'd been an accident, he'd acted on impulse and with his inhibitions lowered it meant he'd seen tim who'd been trying to get him to his bed so he didn't pass out on the floor again. he'd seen tim who was small with soft hair and smelled like the baby powder he put in his suit and...

it'd been easy, bruce hadn't even needed to use much force, just the size of him was enough to keep tim's squirming body still and without any training tim hadn't stood a chance.

afterwards it just seemed natural to keep doing, to make tim put his body to use as robin. after all he was already ruined, already spoiled so there was no reason to worry for his "innocence" anymore.

so bruce kept doing it. he started getting possessive, demanding of tim. and tim grew to hate bruce and if he weren't so vital to the ecosystem of gotham he would've...

and then damian comes along and tim is desperate because bruce is taking an interest in him and he can't, he doesn't want the life he lived to be the one in store for damian.

[ilguna]

Can you do finnick odair with Marjorie by taylor swift for the piano sessions . Like finnick is grieving after reader dies in the sewers . I LOVE some good finnick angst

Ps I absolutely adore your work

☼ marjorie (Finnick Odair) ☼

warnings; swearing, death, death mention.

wc; 1.7k

notes; Piano Sessions: songfic, Marjorie by Taylor Swift.

--

District Four is haunted by the ghost of you.

Finnick knew it would be hard coming back here, which is exactly why he’s been putting it off for so long. He needed more time to come to terms with the fact that you wouldn’t be by his side when he did it. It helped that he wasn’t immediately released from the Capitol directly after the rebel’s victory.

There was a set time period for the victors from the Star Squad to recover from their adventure in the sewers. Whether it be from physical, emotional or mental wounds. In Finnick’s case specifically, all three. He nearly got torn apart by the pale slimy mutts if it weren’t for you, coming in to save him. Ultimately, losing your life for him.

It’s hard for him not to blame himself. He knows that’s not what you would want, it was your choice to jump in front of him. He wishes you hadn’t. He’s sure that he would’ve found a way to get out of there, and he’d much rather you be here, than him. You deserved to live. 

The vote that Coin conducted regarding another Hunger Games with the Capitol’s children delayed his trip home further. In fact, it set off a whole domino lineup that he’s sure Katniss never thought would happen. She knew there would be consequences, of course, she just didn’t take the time to think about how severe it would be.

Finnick voted no to the idea twice. Once for him, because he would never subject them to the years of torture he had to go through, especially since they had no hand in the Games. And one more time for you, because you would never have entertained the idea. 

In the end, it didn’t matter, because the vote went through. The same evening, Katniss was to execute Snow on live television, when instead she took the life of Coin for suggesting such a tasteless idea. This was when the dominos began to fall. Her actions caused another couple weeks of trial while they assessed her wellbeing. While that happened, an emergency election took place, where Commander Paylor took charge of Panem.

When Katniss was granted permission to go home to District Twelve, so was everyone else that was in Capitol custody. For the first time in Finnick’s life, he could go anywhere, do anything. Despite the fact that it should’ve felt like a weight was lifted off his shoulders, they felt heavier. When he imagined the light at the end of the tunnel, he always pictured it with you. Not by himself.

There were many people around Finnick that tried to support him. The most important of them being Johanna, who did tell him that he didn’t have to go back to Four if he didn’t want to. She wouldn’t mind it if he decided that he wanted to live with her for a little while, or even permanently.

With him being away for so long, he had to go home. He ached for it. The same way he ached for you to be in his arms, for you to kiss his face, for you to calm the rising grief in his chest for all the people you lost together.

Finnick’s never felt more alone.

He wasn’t sure what he expected when he stepped off the train a month ago, but it wasn’t the flood of memories that hit him while standing on the station. All of the times you’d gone to the Capitol together to mentor for the Hunger Games. How he held your hand every time while you carefully stepped off, because of the one time your foot slipped. His promise for it to never happen again.

It didn’t end there. It doesn’t matter where Finnick goes. It doesn’t matter how far he runs. He’s gone to the beach, and relived the picnics and the sunrises and the stargazes. The way you’d brush the sand from his skin, the minutes that never seemed to end when he had his eyes on you.

The first day he went to the market, he was met with all the sorrowed faces that frowned in his direction. Every single one of them knew how much you meant to him. If you were out of the house, usually he wasn’t too far behind, going wherever you went. If it meant he was able to spend more time with you.

It got worse when he returned to Victor’s Village, where he was met with a cemetery of houses that belonged to the victors that used to live there. With the rebellion, almost everyone had been wiped off the map by the Peacekeepers. And if not by them, then the rebels, who were afraid of the loyalists.

Besides Finnick, the only other victor that survived is Annie, but she lives with Katniss’s mother now. It was too painful of an idea for Annie to return here, she likely would’ve broken down completely. She can’t handle the memories the same way that he can.

He wishes he could say that he escapes reality in his house, that he’s able to pretend that nothing’s ever changed. And you’re still across the street, baking cookies with the door wide open. But his house is haunted, too. Finnick knew that one day he would regret inviting you to live with him at his house, when you had offered for him to move into yours.

He thought it wouldn’t be that big of a deal. Finnick never intended for the two of you to fall apart, he was going to hold you two together for the rest of your lives if you allowed him to. He never considered that an outside force would wipe you off the face of the planet forever.

He should have taken your offer, because maybe then it wouldn’t be so painful to stay here, in his own home. Maybe he wouldn’t be crying in his bed at night, clutching your pillow, begging for you to come back. For a sign that you’re still around, waiting for him.

You’re everywhere, you’re inescapable. Your favorite tableware is in his cupboards, the one that your family has been using for generations. The one that your kids were supposed to use as they grew up, and eventually take as they gave it to their own children.

Your favorite soaps are in his bathrooms, which he’s too afraid to use. He had to buy new hand soap to avoid using the one that you’d gotten. He doesn’t touch the shampoo and conditioner in the shower. He doesn’t even sniff the body wash that sits on the ledge of the tub. 

Your decorations are carefully placed throughout the house. You brought life to his kitchen, his living room, his bathrooms, his hallways, his bedroom. Pieces that he never would have thought to grab in the past, because he couldn’t see the point of having them.

Your favorite smell is embedded in the blankets on the bed you shared. With your preferred perfume still sitting on the bedside table, waiting for you to come back. It would bother Finnick when you would spray his side of the bed, but now he would give anything for you to do it again.

Your makeup is on the vanity on the far side of his room, the jewelry box is propped open, the silver and gold collecting dust because he doesn’t want to close it. And your clothes are still taking up half of his closet, which he resists smelling every hour of the day.

Johanna told him to get rid of all of it. Or, at the very least, bring it back to your house, but he can’t bring himself to do it. It’s yours. For a brief moment in time, this place was yours too. Even if your belongings are gone, your feet are still imprinted in his wooden floors. In his mind.

You linger.

There’s a trace of you in every path you walked, in every object you touched, in every person you talked to, and in every breath of air that Finnick takes. This becomes increasingly obvious the longer Johanna stays with him.

“Maybe you and Katniss should spend some time together.” Johanna suggests, arms crossed over her chest. She looks over Finnick. “I heard that she’s not doing very well either.”

Of course not. Katniss lost more than she probably ever thought she would. She went through with being the Mockingjay to free Panem, but more importantly, to keep her sister safe. The whole reason why she ended up in that position was because she didn’t want her sister to go into the Games. Now that she’s dead, not even her own mother will return to Twelve. And the person she loved hasn’t stepped foot back, either.

When Finnick tears his eyes from the pot of fake greenery in the corner to look at her, the scowl on her face smooths out.

“No gossip.” She breathes, arms unfolding. “(Y/n) would’ve scolded me by now.”

Finnick presses his lips together, wanting to keep the growing pressure behind his eyes contained. 

“You and Katniss got along though, didn’t you?” She asks. “I thought I saw you getting close while we were in District Thirteen.”

He nods. “We had a lot in common.”

“You still do.” She says, the expression on her face has changed once again. This time to concern. “Finnick, are you sure you don’t want me to stay?”

“I’m sure.” Finnick breathes.

If Johanna stays, then she’ll ultimately end up trying to erase the time you put into him. She’ll try to take his mind off of all the things he knows about you. How you loved the amber skies in autumn. The way you’d pull him into the freezing beach water, while he complained the whole time.

The song you’d hum on the way back to his house, holding his hand up until the very minute you got into the shower together. He should’ve asked you what you were thinking about, he should’ve listened to every word.

‘Cause every scrap of you would be taken from him.

--

this was part of my 3k celebration!!

[harryissuchalittleshit]

Do you think Neville was planned?

Was Harry a surprise?

Yeah and yes!

From the timeline/what we are told about these characters parents, James and Lily were incredibly young, while Alice and Frank were older and at least established in the Aurors.

James and Lily died at 21 with a 15/16 month old baby. They basically got married right out of Hogwarts at 18/19 and then bam! Lily is pregnant with Harry??? That is not on purpose, no way is that not an accident. The films did us so dirty by aging up all of the Marauders just to have Alan Rickman (RIP) be Snape🤮 It would’ve been so much more impactful to have James and Lily be fresh faced 20yo children, like they are barely older than Harry when he walks into the forest in DH and it would’ve been so shocking. The biggest tragedy about James and Lily is not their death, it’s their youth in death. 21 is so young, and no 21yo fighting in a war is thinking about having children, even if they are married. Having Harry was such a choice for James and Lily, and it was because they had hope that the war would end soon and they could have more than what the last few years their lives ended up being. They died in hiding, trusting a friend they shouldn’t have, and getting news through coded letters. James and Lily did not plan Harry, he was their best mistake.

Alice and Frank planned Neville! This is something I’ve always stood by because we know they were older. It takes 3 years of training to become an Auror, and when we hear about the Longbottoms they are known and established in the community, that means they either made some big arrests when they first came into the department OR they had been there for a while. The idea that the Order was literally the Marauders and some of their friends is fucking stupid. The Order was made up of many different people of VARIOUS AGES (I’m so sick and tired of this idea that everyone was close in age in the Order). Just because we know a little more about the younger members of both Orders doesn’t mean all of the Orders were young. That being said, Frank and Alice, at their youngest would’ve been 27/28 when they got pregnant with Neville. They were established and in a loving relationship, they were older and married, and while it may have seemed stupid to try and have a baby, they were friends with people who were actively having children. They would’ve know Arthur, they knew Edgar Bones and his young family, they would see James and Lily struggle to decide to have Harry. Neville was planned, or at least a more happy accident than Harry ever was.

But both of these boys, no matter how you want to argue it, were so loved and welcomed by their parents. Accident or not, planned or not, Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom were born a day apart and grew up to be friends despite the consequences of putting them together, McGonagall couldn’t have been more proud of them.

[geekishfangirl]

I can’t view Batman/Bruce as a real hero

So I’ve gotten into DC recently, or more specifically I’ve gotten into the Batfam, and the more I learn about Bruce Wayne the harder it is for me to look to him as a hero.

I’ll preface all this by saying I have consumed very little DC content, so if something I say is not actually canon pls let me know.

It started when I learned that this man seemingly has an absolute no kill rule. Not a “I try to avoid killing and only do it when absolutely necessary” rule, but a “I refuse to kill anyone no matter the circumstances” rule. I honestly hate this because it’s not effective in any way. Take the Joker for example, Batman has to fight him over and over again because they simply cannot seem to keep that man in prison and Batman won’t kill him or let anyone else do it. I think this is because he wants to believe that anyone can change, and they can, but just because they CAN doesn’t mean that they WILL. People have to choose to change and the Joker has had like 30 chances to do so, yet he continues to kill innocent people. How many innocents have to die before someone acknowledges that the Joker will never choose to be a better person and finally decide to do what’s necessary to protect everyone? They either need to find a way to keep him in jail or just take him out.

This got worse when I learned about Jason Todd. Here you have a poor boy taken in by Bruce, who idealizes him and views him as a father, and when he gets kidnapped, tortured, and murdered by the Joker he dies alone. When he is brought back to life, he’s mad at Bruce, not because Bruce didn’t save him, but Bruce didn’t kill the Joker to avenge him. Because Bruce didn’t love him more than he loved Justice. Hell, even on his grave, “A good soldier”. I’ve seen ppl say that maybe he didn’t say son because he didn’t want to erase their family ties and the kids never took his last name and sure, I get that. But putting a good soldier instead? He didn’t have to do that. Jason wasn’t a soldier, he was a little boy. It seems like Bruce forgets that about the Robins sometimes. (None of this is even getting into my feelings about Bruce taking in multiple children and having them fight crime, literally risking their lives every night but then this rant would be even longer)

And apparently Bruce fucking decks Dick because Dick was asking him why he let him become Robin before he was ready? Bro cannot take any criticism for his actions I swear. I mean, even if he never officially adopts them (I’m very confused on that tbh) he does still view them as his kids. He still helped raise them. After all, they were all underage when he met them and took them in. So to straight up deck your eldest and tell him to get out literally right after your other kid was murdered solely because he questioned you is actually wild.

Then you have the whole batarang incident, which just makes me question his morals more because he’s got the whole “no killing whatsoever” thing going on but then decides, “I won’t kill the man who murdered my son and countless other innocents, but I can and will slit my son’s throat and leave him for dead.” Like, HUH??? Also, didn’t Dick accidentally kill the Joker once and Bruce went out of his way to REVIVE HIM? Honestly feels like Bruce has some weird relationship with the Joker cause he seems to care about him more than anything. LET THAT MONSTER DIE!

I saw someone say that they thought the “no killing” thing wasn’t effective but was accurate to Bruce’s character because his vigilanteism isn’t actually mainly about helping but about punishing himself for what happened to his parents. And if you kill the villains when you need to, you can’t keep punishing yourself through fighting them. Like a self-sabotage thing. I thought that was super interesting but it would also just go along with him not being a truly effective hero, cause he won’t make the hard calls that are sometimes needed.

In conclusion, while I am sure Bruce has done good for people, it’s hard to see him as a truly effective hero (or a good person/father for that matter) when he does stuff like this.

[blitheringmcgonagall]

Someone was asking me did I think Sirius was cunning or had lots of Slytherin traits.

I don’t think so at all.

The Slytherin traits are essentially:

Cunning - this is not the same as intelligence or cleverness. It’s the quality of being astute or sharp in practical matters; the ability to find and pursue the most advantageous course of action, sometimes at the cost of moral compromise. Canny, crafty, weighing up the possibility and deciding based on what’s going to be in your best interests. Someone who is cunning has the ability to achieve things in a clever way, often by deceiving other people. When was Sirius like this? I’ll tell you who is cunning and shrewd, it’s Albus Dumbledore.

Ambition where in canon was Sirius ambitious? If he was he’d have pretended he was a good, obedient son and not run away and gotten blasted off the family tree. He might have stayed on and lied to them all, then if he was also cunning he might have brought Voldy down from the inside. Sirius like this? Nope!

Resourcefulness he’s pretty resourceful fair enough

Pride where in canon is he proud? Pride is a feeling that you respect yourself and deserve to be respected by other people; Pride can also have a negative meaning and refer to exceedingly high self-regard. Sirius is shown as racked with guilt about making Peter secret keeper, doesn’t believe Harry will want to live with him when he offers, didn’t try to leave Azkaban for 12 years because he believed he deserved to be punished for being responsible for the Potters’ deaths. He’s kind and thoughtful to Harry and his friends and to animals. He can be cutting towards others that he dislikes but that’s not pride. He’s rude to Kreacher but it’s not because he thinks he’s superior to house elves but because Kreacher hated Sirius and adored his mother and brother.

Self-preservation Sirius scores -10 points!

Shrewdness as above, not a talent of his

The Gryffindor traits are:

Daring To be daring is to be bold, adventurous - a quality possessed by people who tend to take risks. The fellow who became an animagus as a teenager and risked Azkaban every full moon to run wild with his pack. The guy who joined the Order at 18 to risk his life fighting against the bad guys. “What’s life without a little risk?” Now you’re talking!

Nerve Some common synonyms of nerve are audacity, cheek, chutzpah, effrontery, gall, hardihood, and temerity. While all these words mean "conspicuous or flagrant boldness”. The fella who got millions of detentions with his best mate, who loved breaking rules, who nearly got arrested by muggle policemen for his antics, while wearing a stupid, brazen phoenix t-shirt, who converted a muggle motorbike into a flying machine? The guy who taunted his psychopathic Death Eater cousin? Who told Snape about the Whomping Willow… Ah, yep, that’s him!

Chivalry - polite, kind, and unselfish behaviour, especially by men towards women. As noted above, he’s very much like this to Harry and the other children. He tells Hermione she’s the brightest witch of her age. He buys Ron a present of an owl. He’s caring of Buckbeak, he’s great pals with Crookshanks. He risks the dementors’ kiss to buy Harry his Firebolt and watch him play Quidditch and help him fight Dementors. He was polite to Molly despite the fact she told him he wasn’t there for Harry growing up (when he was innocently imprisoned in Azkaban!!) which was very upsetting.

Courage - courage is taking action in spite of the fear you feel. Standing up to his family, fighting against Voldemort in the first Wix war despite being outnumbered 20:1, fighting in the second Wix war to try to protect and save Harry etc etc

Sirius: "What was there to be gained by fighting the most evil wizard that ever existed? Only innocent lives, Peter!"

Peter Pettigrew: "You don't understand! He would have killed me, Sirius!"

Sirius: "THEN YOU SHOULD HAVE DIED! DIED RATHER THAN BETRAY YOUR FRIENDS, AS WE WOULD HAVE DONE FOR YOU!"

Bravery the quality or state of having or showing mental or moral strength to face danger, fear, or difficulty. It wasn’t just the above, it was also agreeing to live in Grimmauld Place so he could let the Order use the safety of the house, despite the painful memories of a bad childhood and the death of his brother, despite sounding depressed/PTSD/drinking heavily during that part of the book. Resisting Snape goading him for sitting in the house and doing nothing.

“I don't like being back here...I never thought I'd be stuck in this house again.”

😭😭😭

Determination managing to become the first prisoner to escape from Azkaban etc

[inamindfarfaraway]

Duke Thomas: Another story I’ve heard about myself, this one happened while I was in We Are Robin. Remember that? All the cool kids would take to the streets in masks, fighting crime, saving lives, being like “Hell yeah, we're all Robin!”. And there was this guy I knew who had a twelve-year-old son. His name is Batman and his son’s name is Robin. Robin had been fighting crime for two years longer than me, but he’s three years younger and spent most of his childhood in a murder cult, so it pretty much evens out as to who is behind who in life. And Robin was an asshole. So is Batman, but that's less noteworthy because he's always been like that. But Robin used to be nice. My friends and I, we admire him. We love the idea of him. We love what he represents. It's just an unfortunate fact that this child, when you meet him in person, is gratuitously mean. He'd be like "Desist, you impostors! I am the only real Robin! You are disgraces to all you hold dear!" and cut us with his steel sword.

And one day he decided to leave town for most of a year, which you should never do if you're an asshole. And at this time, Batman had amnesia; he had died for a minute fighting the Joker and got his brain repaired by magic and forgot who he was, forgot that he was Batman; so he was leading a happy, normal life for a bit. And everyone in We Are Robin noticed that Batman and Robin were gone, and we all got up individually and thought, ‘Okay, let's get into the Batcave and destroy the place.�� We wanted to do this not because it was easy, but because it was hard. Breaking into the Batcave is one of those things that's so awesome that you're basically obligated to do it if you can, and being both teenagers and the kind of people to become a street gang of volunteer vigilantes, we thought we had a shot. And we did! Oracle let us right in because she too knows that Batman and Robin are assholes and thought it would be hilarious. And she was right. She's very clever like that. She did a wonderful job, turned off the alarms, opened the gates, edited the security footage, kept the Bats away from the cave all night. I should mention that she was an adult, so our actions were her responsibility.

I walked into this party. More kids than I even knew the movement had were there and everyone was drinking like it was the end of the world. People were drinking like it was the civil war and a doctor was coming to saw our legs off. It was totally unsupervised. We were like dogs without horses, we were running wild. I walked down, I walked through to the display area. They had a giant penny from an adventure. One dude took a running start and threw his body into the giant penny and knocked it over. Another kid sat on the Batcomputer keyboard and took a shit on it. So the party was going great.

I'm standing in the Batcave, and I'm holding a red cup; you’ve seen movies. And I'm standing there and I'm holding a red cup and I'm starting to black out, and I guess someone said, like, “Something, something, Superman”. And in a brilliant moment of word association, I yelled, “FUCK METROPOLIS! FUCK METROPOLIS!" And everyone else joined in. A hundred drunk children dressed in unofficial Robin gear yelling, “FUCK METROPOLIS!”. With the confidence of people who’ve seen death and aren't afraid of it anymore; you know that, like, ‘It doesn’t matter if I survive, what matters is that it needs to be done!’ confidence. The reason someone had said, “Something, something, Superman” was because Superman was there. He had heard us with his super hearing. So the Man of Steel himself flew into the cave and got to the main area and looked out over a sea of drunk toddlers yelling, “FUCK METROPOLIS!” in his face. But he was almost impressed. He was like “Wow”.

Then he leaned into his Justice League communicator and asked, “Oracle, what the heck?”

And my friend Dax - who invented his own grappling hook guns, this man is a genius - he grabbed a smoke bomb, threw it on the ground and yelled, “Scatter!” And everyone ran in different directions. We all ran in different directions. It was like that scene in Ratatouille when the humans come in the kitchen and all the rats go in different ways. We all ran in different directions. I ran across a bridge and I jumped over the Batmobile and I slid down a banister and now I'm running along the underground river and there was this big pitch-black passage in the rock and I thought, ‘I've never gone somewhere that dark before’. And then I woke up at home.

The next day, I went on patrol, because that's what we did back then. And I'm walking into an alleyway and who do I see but Nightwing? And he says to me, “Are you aware that the Batcave was infiltrated last night?”

And I said, “No.” You know, like a liar.

"Oracle, Red Robin and I are investigating it, but we could use We Are Robin’s help.” And he didn’t approve of us at all. He would never have acknowledged us as heroes, let alone asked us for help, unless he felt utterly desperate. “This wasn’t just a thief or a spy. It was a villain with a personal vendetta sending a message of malice and disrespect. They bypassed the security flawlessly, but caused obvious damage inside. They knocked over the giant penny. They took a shit on the Batcomputer. But the worst thing,” he says, “the worst thing is that they stole a photo of Robin II.” Robin II, the one after Nightwing and before Red Robin, was murdered by the Joker when he was fifteen. This is Nightwing’s dead little brother. So he’s trying to stay calm in front of me, but he’s freaking out about it.

And I had a thought that Batman, for comparison, was having around the same time about a life of courage and altruism: did I do that?

I figured, no. I wouldn't have done that. But I was never sure.

Until a year later. Relax. I'm playing video games with this guy named Jason, who also used to be a Robin. A year later, the movement’s kinda died down. We're playing video games for a couple hours, and then Jason says to me, “Hey, come here. I want to show you something”, and he takes me into his bedroom and then he takes me into a side room off of his bedroom - never a good thing to have. He shows me a tiny room that is covered wall-to-wall in stolen photos and belongings of the second Robin from different Batcave break-ins over the years. Mementos of a murdered child superhero taken from his family.

And I said, “Why? Why do you do this?”

And Jason said, “Because it's the one thing they can't replace.”

That's the end of that story, but how fucked up is that, right? That's crazy. So I don't drink anymore.

[you-can-be-what-you-want-to-be]

People aren't mad because John/Arthur aren't canon, people are mad because the creator made fun of the fans that ship them in the Christmas special

I see… the post has been deleted

I’m just very used to being in bad fandoms where something as small as “I don’t ship them personally” is taken as a homophobic statement, and people have been saying forever if it’s not canon it’ll be queer bait, so I assumed which I maybe shouldn’t have done but with it coinciding with the “John is a child episode” it just made sense

now, I do have to say though, that while I don’t know a whole lot because I’m not on the Patreon, I was for awhile. Again take this with a HEAPING load of salt for that reason since I clearly don’t know the specific situation. Everything I’m going to say I will try to say from an objective viewpoint since I don’t know the situation and will only focus on the facts I do know.

But how is this new? For the karaoke creep special they keep calling it weird to call each other romantic terms. And when Arthur died by not sacrificing the little guy last season Harlan was ROUGH. He said anyone who voted to not sacrifice were children smashing dolls together, that they forgot the story they were in and hopefully this punishment would remind them that actions have consequences. He basically said this is your fault for being stupid. He ended up having to post a semi apology saying it’s eldritch horror story, it’s supposed to be about harshness and not knowing the consequences before hand, and that he teases his audience and that if they don’t like that this isn’t the right show for them. His phobia play through he did a bit as Arthur and John where he was like “and we are NOT doing anything in the shower no matter what the fan fictions say” “let them dream John”

I also would like to mention that word of god should be ignored in these stories and that Harlan does NOT have a PR team. Again I don’t know the situation. I don’t know if he was ad libing live, in which case he should be given more Lee way as self editing in the moment is hard, I don’t know how if he said the most vile stuff alive, or if he said something a little mean but harmless like the “no we are not doing this” “let them dream” or what. Maybe it is bad and he deserves to be roasted, idk.But making jokes about a non canon thing can be a normal thing, especially if it’s a thing people keep bugging you about.

I do know that fandom as a whole has a problem attacking people over though, being someone who frequently got called homophobic for headcanoning single characters as aro, this one specifically has already harassed him about this ship which I’m sure gets annoying, and that he has explicitly said he will poke fun on the Patreon, and that he has said Jarthur won’t happen, and that he is one guy without the means to sort through hate mail removed from situations and doesn’t have a PR team to tell him “hey this off the cuff joke is a bad idea”

all that being said, again I do not know what he said specifically. I think either way a lot of people need to reassess if this is the fandom for them. I’ve seen a lot of people only get into the show for shipping and then get mad when there’s eldritch horror and the attitudes of eldritch horror in the eldritch horror podcast. If he said something that bad then maybe consider getting out since he writes about delicate subjects and it will only get worse. If what he said wasn’t that bad and people are getting mad about being lightly teased but it wasn’t confrontational or homophobic, they might want to leave because that’s just what Harlan does, tease people, and it’s not new and will continue, especially about non canon stuff in his own work. And if you got into and are only staying for the shipping…. Yeah. If that’s the only thing you want maybe it’s time to move on.

and if you decide to stay, know that. Know and be warned ahead of time that you will be teased so it isn’t a surprise next time

edit: so I did get the full context quote and it’s literally just “we want to hang out together alone for Christmas” “platonically, as in canon” “oh of course of course.” This. This isn’t bullying. It’s a little tongue in cheek sure but the whole thing is just saying it isn’t canon. I’ve heard complaints on comments on this post about other stuff he’s done, which I don’t know much about but is also applicable. I did my best to say “either way, this is stuff related.” As someone who writes and has written things before where every single chapter people kept pushing for something I wasn’t going to write I get it. I’m not saying anything he might have done is right but I think it’s understandable at the very least, for a writer to be upset about his stuff being constantly misinterpreted and having fans try to push it where he doesn’t want it.

him reminding people it won’t happen is fine, especially when people keep accusing him of queer baiting. I still think what I said earlier stands even hearing other opinions, because although I can’t say either way, it seems like everyone who is upset says this is a repeated behavior, and if you stay you can’t be surprised by it every time. If it’s going to bug you you have to either be prepared for it to keep happening or leave.

That isn’t to say no one can be upset about anything else but this specific thing I don’t think is worthy of that. All he did was jokingly repeat canon in character (which is much better than like. Someone who keeps hinting at something and never giving it) in a teasing manner. He didn’t say anything negative about shippers, or anything homophobic, just said “hey remember kids, we aren’t into each other like that.” Which is. Fine. It’s annoying but it isn’t malicious.

If the issue is mods or his interactions with people say that. Don’t make it about him light heartedly going “don’t accuse me of queerbaiting.” it makes it so when actual issues like what people are talking about in the comments (if they’re legit, again I try to stay only in the actual content part and abstain from knowing about creators) come up no one takes them seriously because so many molehills were mountained.

If you’re pissed about how he talks to his fans say that, don’t make it about a lack of queer rep when he said day one there wouldn’t be any. Make it about the issue itself. You don’t mention that someone’s a domestic abuser for example after you say “and they have NO CHEESE in their house thats MONSTROUS who does that.” If you want to be taken seriously about a problem you focus on the thing that matters which is. Hurting people.

I guess at the end of the day I’m no one’s boss, but I am tired of not knowing what to believe or not when someone saying something like “no comment” on if characters they wrote are together is homophobia, or a character who’s been Described as a dick acting like one and then the creator gets accused of being shitty (random examples not to do with this specific fandom). If everything is a big deal that makes someone the worst when the subject is not actually hurting anyone… it’s exhausting. Idk anything about Harlan. At the end of the day I’m here for my little horror stories. But I will say definitively that I don’t think it’s bullying to say a ship is not canon and that to act like it is makes it impossible for people who actually care about morals and what someone is doing to keep the energy to stay that way without becoming part of a mob just taking people at their word.

If it upset you I’m sorry, it’s always disappointing when our take on media is dismissed, especially by the creator. And it’s fine to be disappointed. I get that. But don’t blow it out of proportion, and don’t make it about something it isn’t. If you’re upset about the quote say that it’s disappointing without saying it’s punching down. The author is dead and it’s one of the biggest podcast ships out there. If you’re upset about anything else make a post about that issue without tying it to this fun bonus non canon episode. You are allowed to be upset just and if it is about shipping: stop making someone disagreeing with you about a ship a big controversy. You can ship whatever you want regardless of canon and no one is trying to stop jarthur shippers, and if it isn’t about that stop making things about shipping if that’s not what it’s actually about.

[ubejamjar]

B A S I C S

Name: Ajisai Kawanami

Nicknames:

Aji - Thancred and Alisaie

Aj (not AJ) - Aymeric occasionally in private frequently if they are both inebriated

Little star - Parents. Ajisai uses this as an endearment for children.

Age: Early 30s

Nameday: 7th Sun of the Sixth Astral Moon

Race: Raen Au Ra

Gender: Female

Orientation: Bisexual

Profession: Healer, Warrior of Light

P H Y S I C A L   A S P E C T S

Hair: Naturally straight and deep blue, with lavender at the ends. She keeps it short as a matter of practicality and she doesn’t really know how to care for long hair. It grew out between Heavensward and Stormblood but she cut it just before going to that first meeting in Gridania.

Some kids taught her how to braid and she’s been doing it ever since.

Eyes: Orange-citrine with black limbal rings

Skin: Copper, think Southeast Asian; her scales are white

Tattoos/scars: Ajisai has many, many scars that she keeps covered because she wants to look respectable. One does not simply live a life as a soldier, pirate, and hero and avoid scars. I haven’t decided exactly what scars she has because I haven’t looked into putting them on her.

F A M I L Y

Parents:

-> Kana Kawanami Mother, samurai, former rice farmer and sake brewer, Doman Resistance Fighter.

Currently: Alive and fighting on the Gyr Abanian border under Lord Hien’s command.

-> Tatsuo Kawanami Father, geomancer, former rice farmer and sake brewer, conscripted Imperial healer, presumed dead.

Currently: Alive in Dalmasca (maybe?)

Siblings: None, though she thinks of Lyse, Alphinaud and Alisaie as her little brother and sisters. She adores Thancred as a brother, Y’shtola as an sister.

Grandparents: Murasaki Grandparents: Samurai who lived in Monzen; Kana's estranged parents. They died fighting in the rebellion. They never knew that Kana married, had a child, and lived in Namai.

Takemura: A priest at Shisui who raised Tatsuo as his own son. He was old already when Tatsuo was a child and long dead by present day.

In-laws and Other: The Fortemps: She treats them as extended family though their relationships are complicated. Despite Edmont's fondness for her, Ajisai feels he still holds her responsible for Haurchefant's death.

She is unmarried and unattached though she has romantic feelings for Aymeric (which I wrote an essay about)

Pets: None at the moment

S K I L L S

Abilities: Marksmanship - Great with a gun; refuses to use one ever again

Field Medicine - Aside from her healing magic and botanical knowledge, she is trained in Garlean combat surgery.

Life Sketching - Likes to draw everything she sees in her journals. She carries two at any given time -- one is personal, the other is meant as a gift for Aymeric but who knows if she’ll ever actually give it to him because she wrote a love letter in there.

Hobbies: Reading, specifically books about law and history; astromancy and divination; tea making; drawing; talking entirely too much to strangers; ruin diving; research into ancient civilizations

T R A I T S

Most Positive Trait: Compassion She genuinely cares about the people around her— she wants to do the most good she can do for as many people as she can. It isn’t just about penance, she likes seeing people happy and well.

Most Negative Trait Healing Hubris After years of harsh study and field training, Ajisai believes herself to be the best healer to the point she will not trust other people to heal herself, her companions, or loved ones. She spirals whenever she’s forced to confront the possibility someone might be beyond her abilities (like Haurchefant)

L I K E S

Colors: Summer sky blue, plum purple, lavender

Smells: Cinnamon and clove, sugared pecans, vanilla lavender, freshly baked cookies, pine needles, campfire smoke

Textures: Rough paper, plush blankets, river smooth stones, soft fur

Drinks: Ishgardian tea, hot cocoa, warm milk with honey and cinnamon

O T H E R    D E T A I L S

Smokes: Only to be social

Drinks: Only drinks with Aymeric or alone. She drank heavily after the Vault, along with her sleeping potion use.

Drugs: Used sleeping potions to force herself to sleep and was considering using more… illicit substances to numb the pain before she started napping in the Congregation.

Mount Issuance: Story-wise, Ajisai didn’t join a Grand Company. She just.. wouldn’t leave one military to join another. She took porters and aetherytes until she got Pillion from Haurchefant. She calls him Pillion because Haurchefant said she could ‘ride pillion’, not realizing ‘pillion’ referred to the passenger behind the rider.

Been Arrested: Yes, probably for disturbing the peace in Limsa. Many tavern brawl taken too far, maybe some petty theft and other minor crimes before she got her shit together.

Tagged by: @paintedscales ❤️

Dragging these people into getting arrested with Ajisai: @oh-yeah-no @otherworldseekers @corsair-kovacs @amalthea-felsblood @thewitchofelpis @thevikingwoman @disciple-of-frost @viiioca @sasslett @gatheredfates @pumpkinmagekupo @starres-stuff @khaiens @aislingsurrow

If you were already tagged, consider yourself double-tagged or triple-tagged or—

[skylarstark4826]

Neytiri does not regret her actions under stress. Her oldest son had just perished, she could not allow her daughter to befall the same fate. 

Using Spider was not a calculated decision, but it was a fair one, she thinks. Slicing his chest was a warning, a good one. And if Quaritch had not released her daughter, she would have driven the knife through his chest. She knows that as clearly as she knows of Eywa's existence.

A son for a son.

But, being an uncalculated decision, she hadn't considered how she would feel after the fight. After giving Netayem back to Eywa, and settling into the Metkayina village for good; after settling Spider into a hut just a minute's walk away from theirs. She hadn't expected to be haunted , to feel the heat of Spider's body under her hands before she falls asleep, to hear the gasp of his breath when no one else is around, or to see the red of his blood on her knife in her dreams.

She hadn't expected to feel angry. 

She hates the way he scurries around her, avoiding eye contact. He hides behind Kiri and Lo’ak and even Jake doesn’t seem to notice, but the way he trails her movements without looking directly at her makes clear the intention of the action. 

And somewhere along the line, she decides she doesn’t deserve this sort of fear.

Is it not clear to him what was at stake? He grew up around her, and for one action to make his fear so palpable -

This can’t be the only reason for it. 

And it isn’t, she realizes, after listening in on a conversation between the human boy and her children.

“She wouldn’t have killed you,” Kiri is saying, matter of factly. “It was a bluff, she’s too good to kill a kid.”

Something sour curls in Neytiri’s gut - guilt. Anger. Kiri does not understand what it is like to lose a child, to fear losing another. Goodness has nothing to do with it. 

“I don’t know,” Spider says. His voice is smaller than Neytiri has ever heard it. Quiet. It’s out of place next to her daughter's strong vocals. “She’s never liked me around. And she’s never…had a problem killing sky people before.”

And there’s an inflection there. Some secret meaning that makes Neytiri’s eyes narrow. 

Who is he referring to?

“Psh. You’re hardly a sky person at all at this point,” Lo’ak comforts.

Neytiri leaves as the conversation shifts, feeling stranger than she had before. 

Angrier.

~   ~   ~

As with all things, it gets worse before it gets better.

“Quaritch is alive,” Jake whispers to her without preamble. Their children are asleep on the floor next to them.

Neytiri’s heart sinks. “No,” she states. It isn’t denial, she simply can’t see any way he’d be alive. “No you killed him.”

Jake shakes his head.

“You let him live,” Neytiri hisses incredulously. 

Jake pauses for a moment, considering. His eyes look off into the distance, somewhere past their hut. Neytiri hopes, for his sake, that he isn’t considering lying to her. 

Eventually he shakes his head. “Not me.”

Neytiri’s face goes hot as she realizes. He’s looking off toward Spider’s hut.

Neytiri growls. “You mean to tell me -”

“Spider saved him,” Jake interrupts before she can wake their children with her volume.

Neytiri reaches toward her bow on reflex. “I’ll kill him. I should have killed him before!”

“No!” Jake snaps, grasping her wrist in an iron grip. His eyes bore into hers. “I agree with you on most things, love. But this one I cannot.”

Neytiri does not release the bow. Instead, she gestures toward her children. “We’re one less because of him!”

Jake shakes his head. “Netayam -” he pauses, voice crackling with emotion. “Netayam died before this, you know that.”

“Because they went back to save him!”

“They were too good to leave him behind…again," he tacks on. 

Neytiri drops her bow, burrowing her face into her hands. She feels as if her anger is justified, and yet, no one else seems to agree. There is something wrong with this situation. With Spider. “Why? ”

Jake pulls her closer, pressing her head against his chest. “Quaritch saved him from some terrible things the RDA was doing to him…and from you.”

Neytiri sobs. 

“Spider said he was returning the favor. If you ask me, I think it’s because he couldn’t watch someone die if he had the chance to save him.”

“He would’ve died in battle. It would’ve been as honorable a death as that demon could get.”

“Most humans don’t see it like that. We don’t have Eywa to return to.”

Neytiri sweeps her eyes across her sleeping children once more, wishing, longing for the chance to go back to how things were. 

“Neytiri, my love,” Jake lifts her face. His eyes meet hers. “Promise me you won’t hurt Spider. Promise me. ”

Neytiri sobs again. “I promise,” she says, only because she can see how much it means to Jake that she agrees to this. 

His forehead bumps hers softly, and his eyes close - in relief, she thinks. 

“I See you.”

“I See you .”

~   ~   ~

Spider senses the shift in attitude. He hides from her even more often, stops coming to their hut to meet with Kiri and Lo’ak. 

Kiri notices.

“I don’t care why you’re angry with him,” she says. Neytiri wishes she hadn’t inherited her father’s bluntness. “But he’s wallowing and he feels guilty about something, and I know he’s too good to have done anything wrong. Nothing that can’t be fixed.”

Neytiri doesn’t answer. Kiri squints up at her.

“He’s scared of you. Fix it. Please. ”

Neytiri sighs, placing a hand on her daughter's head. "I will do what I can."

She can keep an eye on him, at least. 

~   ~   ~

Spider has trouble in the village, Neytiri notices.

Na’vi stumble out of his way as he passes, or they curiously pull his hair and pinch his skin until he drives them away with his hisses, and there is no in between. Despite this, he manages to befriend both Tsireya and Aonung. A feat even her own children could not do nearly so easily. 

The leaders' children follow Spider, observing him. Much like the scientists at Base Camp observe the Na'vi. The parallel makes Neytiri's eyebrows furrow when she thinks about it. 

Soon enough, they're approaching Lo'ak outside the hut where Neytiri can hear, asking permission to bring Spider on hunts.

"I don't care," Lo'ak answers casually. "Spider does what he wants. He'll follow you if he likes you."

Neytiri frowns. 

Spider used to follow her. 

The acidic feeling in her stomach frustrates her. It isn’t anger, she’s felt anger. Hatred? No…jealousy. Jealousy? Of two Metkayina children? 

Being in the water so often must be confusing her mind. 

And yet, she watches. Even as she supervises Tuk, diving through the water on her Ilu, her eyes stray toward the human and his new Na’vi friends. Waiting, maybe, for something to happen. For some excuse to intervene. Kiri catches her watching, once, and grins in a way that makes Neytiri roll her eyes. 

Soon, she does have to intervene.

Aonung and Kiri are in the water, watching Spider pace on the docks. They’ve teamed up to tame an Ilu for Spider, just outside the Sully’s hut. Unheard of. Impossible. Neytiri is almost disappointed in her child for assuming it could be done, until she remembers that Kiri seems to make anything seem possible. 

They’ve been trying since the morning began.

“Now, get on!” Kiri says, waving Spider over. She has one hand on the Ilu, gesturing toward Spider with the other. Aonung’s braid is connected to the animal, a baby. Small enough that Spider won’t be hurt if the animal lashes out. 

Spider shifts his feet, looking entirely bored. “Can’t we try again tomorrow?”

Aonung huffs. “It’s not that hard!”

“Not for you! You’re literally built for this!”

Kiri glares at him. He sighs, shifting again, and then his feet are moving as he runs into a dive. 

His form is good. He looks, for all intents, as if he’s been riding Ilu since childhood as Aonung guides the Ilu into a gentle swim. Kiri ties his wrist to the saddle, customary for those learning to ride. Everything is going well.

At least, until Aonung’s braid disconnects. 

Suddenly, the baby Ilu is panicking, shooting off into the water. Spider is yanked underwater, and Neytiri wouldn’t care normally. He has his mask to breathe, and Neytiri wouldn’t particularly mind if he didn’t. But Kiri is panicking, and she’ll surely despise herself if anything were to happen to Spider. Stupidly.

So Neytiri dives into the water and unties Spider’s wrist as Aonung tries to subdue the animal. 

He shoves away from her, swimming back to dry land on his own. 

Ungrateful, Neytiri thinks, huffing.

Kiri pulls her into a hug, though, and that makes it worth it. 

She releases her mother to check on the human, apologizing for the mishap. Aonung looks sheepish from where he’s wading in the shallow water.

Spider plops down, kicking his feet in the sea. “Thanks,” he mumbles when Neytiri passes, half hidden behind Kiri.

Useless, Neytiri thinks. Coward.

~   ~   ~

Eventually, Neytiri manages to find Spider where he can’t hide behind someone.

Fishing, alone on an abandoned islet. And failing at it spectacularly.

“Who taught you this?” She asks, blunt, before he’s noticed her presence. He fumbles the crossbow, shooting an arrow off into the water, nowhere near any fish. He fixes his feet, prepared to run.

“Uh. No one. I watched.”

Neytiri yanks the crossbow from his hands, ignoring his grasping fingers. “Who made this,” she asks disdainfully. The mechanism is wrong, and the carving is lopsided.

Spider frowns, shuffling his feet. “I did.”

Neytiri raises her eyebrows incredulously. 

Spider jumps to defend himself. “It’s not like anyone taught me, I watched some of the villagers make one and I thought I could figure it out, but I didn’t realize this wood would be so different from anything I’ve carved with! It’s too soft!”

Neytiri silences him with a look. 

And isn’t that interesting? Spider has never been particularly easy to silence.

The power she holds over this child, now, it’s -

Interesting.

“Sorry,” he mumbles. “I was trying to help.”

Neytiri sighs angrily, taking pity on the boy. How can he allow himself to live with the Metkayina without being useful? So she reaches behind herself, grasping her own crossbow off her back. It’s a whole lot bigger than the one he’d carved for himself, but if he can figure out how to use it he’ll be better off. “Try this one.”

He takes it warily. His eyes never leave her other hand, maybe expecting something.

She’s half surprised when he manages to hold it the way he’s supposed to, muscles tensing with the strain. It’s hilariously large in his arms, and the kickback skews his shot, but…he wasn’t lying when he said he’d watched. His stance, at least, is correct.

Neytiri slinks behind him, scrutinizing. He startles, turning to keep his eyes on her.

(Brown eyes, peering up at her, knowing she’s about to do something she can’t undo.)

She grips his head in her hand, none too gently turning it back to face the ocean. He doesn’t protest, not physically. “Focus,” she snaps.  

He does, though his hands shake. He’ll never get a fish like that. So she uses one hand to steady his arms, and places the other on his middle back to steady the kickback. His trembling only worsens.

“Calm yourself. Shoot.”

He does, and even through the palpable tension, he manages to get a fish. Neytiri straightens herself, fighting a grin off her face. She has no reason to feel proud of him. She is doing this for Kiri and Jake, and because she may as well keep him where she can reach him. But she feels proud anyway.

He breathes deep; his mask hisses. It is useful, Neytiri thinks as she watches him dive. He has no need to hold his breath underwater with that thing pumping oxygen to him all the time. He won’t slow them down in that sense, at least. She remembers Tuk complaining about their need to breathe more than the Metkayina when they first arrived in the village; she doesn't envy those times.

And it is an easy weakness.

“Good,” she says when the boy resurfaces, trying to keep her voice emotionless. 

Spider averts his gaze to the flopping fish, fiddling with the arrow stuck inside it. “Thank you.”

Neytiri nods, and that’s the end of that.

~   ~   ~

Later, Spider visits their hut to return her crossbow.

He leaves a basketful of fish as well.

~   ~   ~

The next time Neytiri catches him alone, he doesn’t notice she’s there.

He’s fiddling with the condensed oxygen tank connected to his mask. Steeling himself, for something. And then the oxygen canister is no longer connected, and he’s swiftly reaching to the side to grab a new one, one of many provided to him from Base Camp. His cheeks are puffed out and quickly turning red.

Oh, she thinks. He can’t breathe. 

It would be easy. To take the new canister away from him. To let him die the way he should’ve allowed Quaritch to die. To rid herself of this difficulty.

But - he looks small, here. Vulnerable in a way that makes her gut clench. She remembers the feel of his small human body under her hands again, the quick deep breaths of a child about to die.

She sees the light leaving Neteyam’s eyes.

She shakes her head clear of this image, just in time to watch him catch her eye. His strange brown eyes widen, and he fumbles the canister.

It plops into the water. 

Neytiri watches.

He moves to dive in after it, blinking the Pandoran air ferociously out of his eyes. He won't be able to find the canister like this. He wouldn’t even be able to keep his eyes open underwater, probably.

So Neytiri - hesitating only slightly - shoves him away from the edge and dives into the still water herself.

She’s not a good swimmer, not like her children have learned to be. But she can catch the little oxygen tank easily enough. Resurfacing, she clumsily connects it to his breathing machine. The gasp of breath he takes is enough to silence the roaring in her head and the churning in her gut. 

She hates the way she cares for this boy. When had that happened?

“I’m sorry,” he gasps, trembling with fear. "I - that's never happened be-"

"Shut up," Neytiri snaps.

His hand flits up to his chest as he breathes heavily, settling against the healing cut she'd left there. He attempts to pass it off as a scratch. It doesn't work.

Neytiri sighs, glaring at the scarring mark. "I sense…I've made a mistake."

Spider shifts onto his ankles. He's silent for a beat, and then - "You did. You should've done it. Killed me."

Neytiri startles, looking at the boy. His eyes bore into hers, entirely serious.

"You’ve been too nice. Everything is messed up because - because I was too weak to get out of there myself. And 'cause I couldn't - I couldn't let him die. I - I couldn't," his voice breaks off. Tears fall behind the mask. Neytiri itches to wipe them away, but she fears any movement would scare him. "Things will never be okay again," he finishes.

Neytiri drops to her knees. She watches the water as it laps against the shore. "I am angry," she starts. "I thought I was angry at you. What you did - was…but I don't think that's it. I think…" Neytiri pauses, searching for something she doesn't know is there. But there are no words to describe her emptiness, and if there were, she would be saying them to Jake, not to a child she's just learned not to hate. So she places a hand on his where it's clutched against his wound. "I shouldn't have hurt you."

"You should've -"

Neytiri silences him with a glare, grasping his tiny human hand in hers. "I should've protected you. Kiri would've forgiven me for letting her…she wouldn't forgive me if I killed you."

Spider's shoulders shake. He turns away to let the tears fall, and she waits as they pool in the bottom of his mask. "I miss Netayem," he chokes.

Neytiri allows a tear of her own to slide down her cheek. "He is with Eywa," she says. For the first time since the ceremony, she finds, she feels okay with that. 

She leans toward the human boy, pressing her forehead to the top of his head. 

She isn't angry anymore.

[bee-bread-draws]

I caved and made another au 😔

The Cybercore AU!! It’s honestly kinda like a knock off Detroit: Become Human but with some differences.

In this au, it’s the future so they have all kinds of technological and medical advancements. There are androids built to serve mankind and many different models for different tasks. These androids are not built with sentience, but it is something that can be gained. But most humans do not like androids becoming sentient and want to keep them under their control. This is where the main conflict of our au happens. Our lovely cast of characters have, over time, formed a vigilante group who fight for android rights and any injustice they see.

Some tidbits about the characters:

Wally is the creator of the group, having originally made it as a rebellious group for him and Barnaby to do when they were teenagers. But over time, it became a fully fledged vigilante group. Wally is also the only fully human of the group. He doesn’t have any limb replacements or enhancements, making him all natural!

Poppy and Frank are the only full androids of the group. Poppy is an inflatable android (think baymax) and was created to care and watch over children while their parents work. Frank was created as a sort of walking library, full of thousands of random and useful facts for his owners use. Though out of the two of them, Poppy is the only sentient one. Frank was rescued from a scrapyard by Julie and now treats her as his owner.

Howdy is a blackmarket dealer, selling and trading his wares and supplies for a more lucrative audience. He is the groups supplier and originally wasn’t part of the group, but he decided to join to offer himself protection. His extra arms and legs are limb enhancements, a show of power and a way to help him carry heavy objects.

Julie had joined the group when running away from an arranged marriage her parents set up. She had only just turned 18 and still wanted to have her own life. She ran into Poppy, who was injured on a mission the group was doing, and helped patch her up. Poppy took her back to their base and she has been a member ever since. She originally did not have any android parts to her, but an accident during a mission paralyzed her, forcing her to either quit the group or undergo a procedure to fix it.

Sally is the only person in the group to purposely seek out the group and join. Finding their connection to Howdy and went up to him, demanding to join. She is willing to fight for android rights in every way possible, no matter how bad they are. Despite this, she always has a pep to her step… literally! Her special boots allow her to jump high and survive long falls (they’re Portal boots)

Eddie is the newest member of the group. He was raised in the countryside, away from any androids or technology. He was forced to move to the city when his grandparents died, losing the rights to the farm. Because of the way he was raised, he had grown to dislike androids and most technology, making his move very troubling. Despite his dislike of androids, he doesn’t believe they should be treated wrong, especially since they never asked to be made. He was discovered by the group when he was defending an android from their owner after they had fallen.

Barnaby has been the in group since it’s beginning as he is a childhood friend of Wally’s. Because they were teens, they were both reckless and inexperienced, which caused an accident that destroyed his hands and left eye. His parents couldn’t afford an expensive operation, so they got a cheaper one, which is why his eye is clunky compared to everyone else’s.

Please feel free to ask any questions you have about this au’s characters, lore, or background details about the world they live in! And as always, have a lovely day, night, or morning!

[physalian]

Character Descriptions 101 (Or, the ugly truth about what really matters)

A lot of the appeal of being able to write your own book is being able to take all the characters you dream about and put them onto paper for everyone else to drool over as much as you do. You might create a character so iconic, they can be recognized by their hazy silhouette alone.

Not everyone designs Sherlock Holmes, though.

Not everyone needs to be Sherlock Holmes.

How well you describe your characters, especially your protagonist/opening narrator, says a lot more than you’d probably like about your experience as an author. I’ve got eight years of practice with my own works, twelve if you include my early days of fanfic – and resisting the urge to describe characters in the tried and true clichés is still hard.

So here’s the ugly truth about describing your characters, and some other pointers curated from the Internet you may have seen before.

At the end of the day, what is really important?

Unless you are writing in the genres of fantasy or sci-fi, or you aren’t writing humans, your character will likely be a very average looking human. Doesn’t matter if you think your special bean’s black hair/blue eye/snow white skin combo is unique – is the shape of his face, curve of his lips, how wide his shoulders are really that important outside of, I don’t know, a steamy romance novel?

I ask this because character descriptions fall into three camps: Thematically important beats, thematically unimportant beats, and “oh damn I have too many blondes, uh, here’s a redhead” beats.

I ask this, because “this character doesn’t look like they did in the book” arguments will never stop happening and we all have our sides on what matters and what doesn’t.

These details can be height, hair color, eye color, skin color, hair style, clothing, tone of voice, accent, birthmarks, scars, and tattoos, and anything in between. Sometimes, this trait is this person’s defining trait. Sometimes, the author just felt like it – sometimes the curtains are just blue.

But sometimes, a lot of times, they’re not.

My two cents: If that piece of their design is thematically important, the adaptation should respect it and include it. If it’s not, who cares?

Thematic Character Design

Thematic character design is the intent behind the choices the author makes when deciding how they will present their character to the world. This is *why* the character looks the way they do.

Visually, you see this in anime all the time. Crazy hair colors and styles help distinguish the cast when their faces might otherwise be too similar, or when drawing them from a distance. Sometimes the protagonist will have the most unique, or the loudest hair style (think Yu-gi-oh). Or the Important Lady Character will have pink hair. Or the sad angsty anime boy will have white hair (see my post about color in fiction).

In the written medium, you can “show don’t tell” a few different ways cliché ways:

Give the villain a facial scar

Make your femme fatale a redhead

Make your hero blonde/blue-eyed

But hey, they’re tropes for a reason, everyone knows what you mean when you write them. You might give your character green eyes like their mother, a trait Very Important when a redeemed-ish villain dies. You might give your character a brunette French braid that goes on to become the style of the rebellion. You might make your Illegal Divine Children the only three black-haired major characters in a sea of brown and blonde because they are the Three Illegal Divine Children. You make all your grisled fantasy men have beards and your elves clean shaven.

The existence of these traits serve the plot and the themes of the story. It matters because these traits make them look like the villain, or the dead legacy they must live up to. These traits ostracize them from their community, or help define their culture. These traits are the hallmark of a chosen one, or a pariah. These traits are emblematic of a special power or handicap, religion, faction, rebel cause.

These are the details fans complain about when adaptations get it wrong, and it’s not without merit. But what happens when those details aren’t all that important, no matter how much you think otherwise?

Unthematic character design

Everyone lost their minds when Hunger Games was being adapted and to everyone’s unnecessary horror, Jennifer Lawrence is blonde. Everyone got mad because it’s the little details you have to get right, otherwise you’re disrespecting the source material, yada yada. Is it really so hard to wear a wig, if you can’t get this tiny thing right, what else will you mess up, etc.

Question: Was the color of her hair more important, or the style that it was in?

She dyed it anyway to stay faithful, but which detail mattered to the plot, versus just being what the author picked for her?

Dare I wade into the “this character was white in the book” cesspool? Reluctantly, yes. And all I will say is this: Does their skin color serve any legitimate purpose to the plot or how they define themselves? No? Then shush and let the actors do their thing.

… But what if race *does* matter?

Is this a slice of life novel about some plucky high schoolers in your average American town? If the story isn’t any deeper than prom dates and football games, the skin color of your character is not important. Is this a treatise on segregation and the struggles of womanhood in repressed societies? Then yeah, the skin color of your character might affect their outlook on life a little bit.

In other words: Does your character care what they look like, and does their appearance affect the trajectory of the story?

Yes, it’s disappointing when you see your favorite character on screen and have to be told that’s them because it just doesn’t look like them. But what’s important is if they fit the spirit of the character, even if they don’t quite match their looks (a lesson I, too, need constant reminding of).

Character Descriptions in Fantasy and Sci-Fi

If making sure the adaptation stays faithful to the character design matters anywhere, it’s in these two genres. Why? Because you have free reign as an author to describe your mythic creatures, your aliens, your supernatural entities however you choose, and you worked hard trying to make them distinct from every other fantasy series out there.

But hold your horses on how specific you get.

Generally speaking, the traits that most authors describe first are hair, eye, and skin color, because it’s the easiest to get out of the way and everyone knows what humans look like to fill in the blanks. When you enter the realm of non-human characters, you have a lot more legwork to do to make sure your audience imagines what you want them to.

Maybe they have slit pupils like a housecat or a snake, or they have really floppy elephant ears, or they have antennae that twitch when they’re angry, or they have wings like a bat, a bird, a dragonfly. Or they have distinctive tattoos from their tribe. They have scales or feathers or fur and you want everyone to know how fluffy it is. You want your audience to know how tall they are, how heavy, how lanky, how robust. The shape of their face, their hands, if they have fingers like a pianist or a catcher’s glove.

Or, it matters because you’ve written an allegory on race, class, colonialism/imperialism, a World War, Apartheid, what have you, and your made-up nationalities need their own traits to be bigots about.

Answer: Hire a sensitivity reader before you design an insulting stereotype.

Otherwise, feel free to add as much fluff as you’d like. You go out there and you give exact measurements, constant similes about the textures of their skin, write an essay on cultural wardrobe, take two paragraphs to describe that ballgown and masquerade mask… and accept the fact that your readers will happily go SKIP!

Because description and exposition are also entwined with tone and the purpose of the story. I am writing an 18th century royal ball scene in a steamy romance novel and my hero is about to get her man – my audience might care about things like a sweetheart neckline, perfume, what kind of flowers are in the lacework, how it hugs her body, how the pink looks so damn sexy in the candlelight, how the skirts sweep so elegantly, every piece of jewelry she's wearing and how expensive it is and exactly how she did her hair.

Or, I am writing a fantasy adventure that happens to feature a pitstop at a royal ball – Your audience does not give one flying f*ck about what flowers are on that dress. Describe the color and something cool and eye-catching and move on.

The Ugly Truth: Does. It. Matter?

You can wax poetic about the minutiae of your absolutely unique and like no other fairies no one else has ever written before. Maybe you designed them less like Tinker Bell and more like anthropomorphised flowers – that matters!

You want your hot love interest to have a cupid’s bow and to remind the audience of that detail at least four times throughout the narrative? Not important unless the narrator is weirdly obsessive over it (or, again, romance/erotica).

The same thing goes for fantastical settings.

At what point are you describing the color of the grass, the kind of marble in the walls and floors, the exact shade of blue paint they used, the gables and the roofing tiles and the scalloping on the columns to unnecessary ends?

This also affects pacing.

If your entire story is set in a beautiful castle and the heroes never leave? Describe as much as your little heart desires. Is it just a pit stop on the way? Call it a castle, maybe it’s in ruins, give one uniquely defining trait that’s thematically relevant, and move on.

Side characters too: If you don’t even bother naming the poor schmuck, give their gender and maybe one fun fact and move on.

You’d be surprised how little character descriptions, or lack thereof, are even noticed. The amount of fanart head-cannoning a character being Not-White because the author technically never clarified is everywhere. I just reread the first two PJO books and Chiron’s human half is never described beyond his age and his beard. Everyone who read it filled in the missing details with what they wanted or expected to see and that doesn’t impact his character one bit.

Pacing your descriptions

See this post about how to pace your narrative.

Everyone knows the trope of the narrator waking up, gazing into a mirror and describing themselves to the audience. It’s cheap, it’s fast, it’s dirty, it’s effective.

So why do people hate it?

I think it’s less because it’s overdone, and more because it’s robbed of potential. When I wrote about pacing, I said every scene should be pulling double duty – character descriptions fall under exposition, and should do the same.

If you really want to have your hero describe herself to you via mirror, don’t just write a textbook, give it flavor. Is she self-conscious about her looks, saying she has choppy blonde hair but wishes it was some long, luxurious brown like some girl she’s jealous of? Does she have a big nose and wish it was smaller because she’s bullied? Or, does she love her green eyes, because her late father had them and she loves the connection they share?

Good pacing isn’t about how many or how few words you take to describe something, it’s how efficiently you use those words. Short doesn’t always mean it’s bland, long doesn’t always mean it’s profound. Don’t take 300 words to say something that could be said in 30 – but some things do deserve 300 words.

Examples:

A: She woke and rolled out of bed and stared at herself in the mirror. She had hazel eyes and blonde, curly hair that she pulled up into a ponytail.

B: She woke on the third alarm and rolled out of bed. Staring back at her in her vanity were tired hazel eyes beneath a mop of dishwater blonde curls and crease marks from her pillow.

C: She woke on the third alarm and dragged herself out of bed. Her vanity mirror glared back at her – a rats nest of dishwater blonde and crease marks from her pillow. She scowled and rubbed the sleep from her hazel eyes and raked her curls up into a messy ponytail to be dealt with after coffee.

Or, go even longer, really weave those details into the action of the scene, I didn’t here because this is a blog, not a book.

No matter what, best practice is to not infodump the description, spread it out – another criticism of the mirror trope. There is no one size fits all for any writing advice but if you’re spending more than four consecutive sentences describing a single character, object, or building, break that hot pile of exposition up and look how much better it reads.

Similes for describing your character, like any comparison, should serve a purpose. Think about describing an intimidating queen with snow white skin versus bone white skin – what vibes do you get from one simple word change?

You have a long time to describe your narrator, it’s okay if we don’t know what they look like on the first page. Give the details as they become relevant. If you open en media res and the hero is in a nasty fight scene – describe their hair as it flops in their eyes, describe their skin as it’s covered in sweat or scratches or bullet holes, describe their eyes as they patch themselves up and one is now black and blue – or describe their color full of fear, hate, malice, grief.

Describe them against another character so you get two birds with one stone. Whether the narrator is jealous of, attracted to, or appreciative of their fellow character’s appearance. Describe them self-conscious about trying to impress a crush, their spouse, a superior, interviewer, parent, the public, the press. Or describe them unhappy about how they’re being forced to look compared to how they usually are, e.g. a school uniform, prisoner’s uniform, fancy dress/suit, skimpy undercover costume, bargain bin, ugly hand-me-downs, holiday costume, sleepwear, full face of makeup, or no makeup.

All of these are motivated details that will read better than halting the narration to drop textbook lines of exposition.

Lastly, do not let your characters get side-tracked describing themselves when they have more important and prescient concerns. In the above hypothetical fight scene, a “she swept her blonde hair from her eyes and got back to her feet,” is going to read smoother than “she swept her blonde hair aside. It was short and choppy, cheap highlights fading and flyaways tickling her face. She got back to her feet.”

And even then, personally, I think this reads better still: “She swept her hair from her face and got back to her feet, sweaty blonde tangles stuck to her skin.”

Have intent, make it motivated, and the less it feels like awkward exposition.

Pitfalls to avoid

Full disclosure, I am white, from a long line of the whitest white Europeans. I do not write a pasty white cast of characters. Boy, was it an eye-opening experience realizing how harmful my earlier descriptions used to be, just from the books I grew up reading and through no ill-intent of my own.

So another detail in the realm of “does it really matter”: Not all brown skin is the same shade of brown, but resist the urge to compare it to any flavor of food or chocolate. I just reread a favorite kids’ book of mine and saw “chocolate milk” and as a kid, I never noticed or cared, but you bet I zeroed in on that little beat as an adult.

Is this hard? Kind of, yeah. I suppose you could go scorched earth with the food comparisons and describe all your characters in their flavor of milk. Pale skin has a lot of options: Snow, frost, paper, bone, fair, pale, lily, sandy, fawn, etc. and of course, milk, cream and sugar to boot.

The “brown skin like milk chocolate” is tempting, but dehumanizing particularly when only brown characters are described with food. Decide if the exact shade of brown is important, then get respectfully creative with the comparisons. The same goes with hair styles and textures.

Related to skin color: Be careful with what idioms and metaphors you use when describing characters who aren’t supposed to be white, doing things only possible or noticeable with light skin.

A certain famous author really tried to tell the world Hermione wasn’t *technically* white and the HP fans went and pulled page numbers proving that she has to be based on the behavior of her skin.

I’ve caught myself (and had to be told) a few times describing a not-white character “white-knuckling” something as shorthand for being stressed and tense. Faces blanching, paling, reddening, blushing, turning green, looking sun-burnt and bruised and scarred all look different depending on how dark their pigment is.

I am not at all an expert on what you *should* do for non-white characters so I will say this once again: Do your research and get a small army of sensitivity readers. Even if you don’t think you’re being racist, you might be. Accept the constructive criticism, and change it without complaint. Do not lie down and die on a milk-chocolate hill.

The Beautiful Truth

In the written medium, unless you canonize character art and take no constructive criticism, all your audience has to go on is suggestion. That means that your audience has the freedom to imagine their favorite characters however they want.

That means you get a million variations of the hero in their fan art – that’s amazing! If you never described the protagonist’s skin color? You get an audience that makes him or her or them the hero that they want to see and how you’ve inspired them – that’s amazing!

That’s what I mean when I ask if it really matters. You will always know how your literary darlings look. Is it more important that everyone else draws a million different paintings in their mind of the exact same face like a photocopier, or that you now have an audience giving you a million unique paintings of your life’s work immortalized in the grand literary canon?

[lovesickdeadsims]

After losing Rory Oakley in my Santino Legacy I decided I needed a new legacy challenge, this time with precise objectives and a clean storyline. I know there are already many legacy challenges around the web, but since I don’t own all the packs, I needed something more personal. So here is PART 1 of my own Lovesick Legacy Challenge!

GEN 1- The Scrooge (BG friendly)

You live in a poor, old house with your only parent, who didn’t want you in the first place. As your parent spend the day watching tv and lazying around the house, you must provide to them and yourself as you can. You spend your childhood doing chores and selling what you can find in the wild. You study hard because somehow you understand that if you don’t want to end like that useless parent of yours you must be successful in life. You hate your parent and yet you can’t help yourself but to feel some pity towards them. That’s why you never abandon them, even when you reach adulthood. You know that without you they would be lost... Eventually you find love (something you never really thought about before) in the workplace; and eventually your parent dies and you are finally able to go on with your life. Finally you can give your child everything you never had! 

Beginning:

You will create a household made of one child and their parent (can be a mother or a father). 

The parent must have Lazy, Hates Children and Snob as traits; aspiration doesn’t matter. The child can have any trait and aspiration you want.

You will start the challenge in lot of your choice, but with the worst objects possible in game (worst shower, worst, sink, etc...). The family will start with 0 Simoleons after it is transferred in the lot and the house is built.

You will play only as the child of the family. Never as the parent!

Once a teen, you must add the trait Materialistic and you can choose between the Fabulously Wealthy or Mansion Baron aspiration.

Objectives:

Become the sole source of income in the family. As a child you can choose to sell what you find in the wild or what you make, you can make videos or invent what you want, the important thing is that throughout your childhood and teen years your jobless parent must remain... jobless.

You must end high school with honors or best grades.

Renovate the house when you have enough money to do so. You can also upgrade when you have time.

If you have DISCOVER UNIVERSITY: You can only apply to the University of Britechester and take the Business Major.

You can’t move out once you finish high school (that means you can’t move into a dorm). You must stay in the lot until your parent dies (no cheats allowed to make them die) of *natural* cause.

As you become a young adult choose the Ambitious trait.

 You must work in the business career once you graduate (or once you become a ya).

Never have a relationship before your employment

You must marry a coworker (you are allowed to create one just for this purpose).

Have only one child.

Have at least 50.000 Simoleon by the birth of your heir.

GEN 2- The Brat (BG friendly)

Your parents gave you everything you ever wanted. You had a golden childhood, full of toys, friends and glee. You couldn’t have been happier, really... except you grew bored of all of it. And eventually you started rebelling your parents’ unwelcomed attentions and love. Life gave you more, but you wanted... something different. You start a band with your friends and run away from home as a teen (*cough* stealing your parents’ money *cough*), living with them in total anarchy. You and your band get into fights and literally scare the hell out of everyone, and that’s how you like it! You are free to express yourself through your music and decide that this is your path! In your adulthood years you pursue the musical career, but the band dismembers, your friend fall out of love with music and move out. Well, except for one. And you know that this one is special, because you keep talking about having a family together, one day. Despite coming from riches already, you end up being a big star and live in a big mansion with your partner and kid(s). 

Objectives:

Play only as “The Brat” once they age into a child.

As a child you can start with any trait you want, but the aspiration must be Artistic Prodigy.

Complete the aspiration before turning into a teen.

You must be friends with two other children and also have a child best friend.

Your teen must have the Music Lover trait.

Once you become a teen you must leave your household and live into any lot of your choice (as long as you can afford it) with your friends, but they must have aged up to teens (you are allowed to modify them in CAS through cheat). 

When you move out you can’t take more than half of their parents’ money.

Start a band with your mates! If you have GET TOGETHER you may start a club with them), they must play an instrument of your choice (there can be the same instruments in band, it doesn’t matter).

When your mates become young adults move them out and keep the one you have the closest relationship with.

When you become a young adult choose the Musical Genius Aspiration and enter the Entertainer career and become a Musician. You may choose the same path for your partner or a different one.

Write at least 10 songs of the genre you prefer.

Live in a lot bigger than 30x20. If you already live in that lot from your teenager years, you may stay there.

If you have GET FAMOUS: become a Proper Celebrity.

You must complete your aspiration before the next gen becomes a child.

You must reach level 9 of the Musician career before your next gen becomes a child.

You must have at least one child (you allowed to adopt them, but only as toddlers).

GEN 3- The Chad (BG friendly)

Your parents are famous, like big stars. They live the fairy tale life, they love each other, have fun together and they built their own success. But you... you are quite the opposite. You are geeky, dorky, nerdy... just plain weird! You like videogames, collect figurines and dislike any physical activity. Your school years pass with a bully on your back and you just wish you could be as cool as the rest of you family. Eventually you become an adult, and you decide you have enough! You change your life upside down: you start eating healthy, you go to the gym... you want to be as cool as it gets! And when you start seeing the results you also start dating! You are not choosy with your partners, you just want to have fun as much as possible. You become a Woohoo master and even decide to make the ultimate conquest: seducing your high school bully.  This becomes your obsession. You remember all the pain you went through in school and want to ruin your enemy/lover’s life! You marry them and fake true love, you even have a child together. But then you betray them, divorce them and take the kid from them! This is your ultimate revenge.

Objectives:

As a child choose the Whiz Kid aspiration and choose the Genius trait. You must complete your aspiration before becoming a teen.

Collect at least 5 different Mysims trophies throughout your childhood and teen years.

You must have a bad relationship with another child.

You must avoid developing your Fitness skill through all you childhood and teen years.

When you become a teen, choose the Geek trait.

Become enemies with the sim you have a bad relationship with. They also must be aged to teen.

As a teen choose the aspiration Computer Whiz. You must complete it in your young adult years, before becoming an adult.

When you become a young adult, choose the Romantic trait and enter the Tech Guru career.

Start doing fitness as a young adult and reach at least level 5.

Once you have completed the Computer Whiz aspiration, you must choose the Serial Romantic.

When you have woohoo’d at least three sims you must reach out to your enemy, better your relationship with them and marry them in an official wedding event.

Have only one baby together.

When your baby becomes a child you must divorce your spouse by cheating in front of them and move out with your child into another world. You must take all the money (and eventual pets) too.

GEN 4- The Photographer (BG friendly)

You are one of the many “child of divorce”. The parent you are living with talks often with hate of the parent you both left behind. You were never allowed to visit them and never heard from them ever again. If only you had a photo of them to remember those few moments together you could put your mind at ease... You grow up angry and alone. You find it hard to trust people, and even though you enter a relationship in high school it just doesn’t work. You don’t believe in love. You take up photography as a hobby and think about making a career out of it, but somehow you miss the drive and ambition to do anything. You still manage to make some bucks selling some pictures you took of sunsets, dawns and landscapes. You even afford to make an exhibition in your local museum of arts. And at that exhibition you meet a person that makes you feel... less lonely. They make you feel confident, they are trustworthy, faithful. Somehow you know they will never hurt you, especially not like your parents have hurt each other. Finally you move in together. You take photos of your partner whenever you can, they are your muse. You make a blog and upload the pictures and you become somewhat popular. Surprisingly you are happy! You start to believe it’s possible to have a happy family and you start wanting children.

Objectives:

As a child you must have the Loner trait.

You may choose any child aspiration, except for Social Butterfly.

You can start taking photos with your phone as a child. You cannot own a camera before becoming a teen.

You must not have any friends before becoming a teen.

When you turn into a teen you must choose the Soulmate aspiration.

You must have one relationship as a teen and go to only one date with your new boyfriend/girlfriend.

Once you become a young adult you must break up with your current partner.

You must max the Photography skill between your teen and young adult years.

Take a picture in every world in your game with a camera (they can’t be selfies).

Make an exhibition of at least 5 of your best quality photos in the local Museum (an idea is to hang them in a room in your lot, save the room and then load it when you go into build/buy in the Museum you choose). Quality of the photos must be higher than “Normal”.

Hang in the Museum until you find someone with the Loyal trait. They will be your future spouse (you can create them for this purpose but they must meet in the Museum).

Once you have started dating the Loyal Sim, you can move in with them, or move both into a new lot in a world of your choice.

You must have at least three children.

Complete the Soulmate aspiration before having your second child. If you have PARENTHOOD you can choose as a new aspiration Super parent.

GEN 5- The Occultist (Vampires GP required) 

You grew up in a numerous, loud family. You parents adored each other, your siblings were pests (but you loved them) and you were a healthy, happy child. Indeed you had a pretty normal, regular childhood. Very normal. Too normal, in your opinion. You spend your time escaping reality through fantasy books, comics, tv series etc. You become a fan of the occult, reading books about vampire lore, researching online, buying dark stuff from the web! Witches, vampires, mermaids, werewolves, aliens... You know they exist and you are gonna prove it! When you finish high school you embark on a journey to a mysterious town called Forgotten Hollow, were you intend to stay there for a couple weeks... you know, for research! One day, or actually, one night you meet a handsome stranger in a bar. You don’t let the opportunity escape you and flirt with them all time, asking to spend the rest of the night at your house. Unfortunately (or luckily) said handsome stranger is a true vampire, as you discover after letting them drink your blood. From then on your only desire is becoming a vampire! You change your hair, the way you dress, your entire house just to at least look like a vampire. But only the “stranger” can turn you into one. And when they finally do it you feel such a rush at your new immortal state that you might even try to become a Master Vampire!

Objectives:

As a child you must choose the Bookworm trait. You may choose an aspiration of your choice.

Always dress in a very basic way all your life.

Be good friends with your parents and siblings until you move out.

Read at least 5 books as a child (preferibly fantasy or thriller).

Make your parents throw an Incognito Costume Party at your birthday (from child to teen, and from teen to young adult). If you have SPOOKY STUFF make your parents throw you a Spooky Party. If you only have SEASONS, create a holiday the day of your birthday and make it spooky themed!

When you age to teen choose the Master Vampire aspiration.

Do reasearch online and read books about vampires to reach level level 10 of the Vampire Lore skill.

Once you age to young adult move to Forgotten Hollow and build a very basic looking house.

Go into different bars of your world at night to meet a "handsome vampire stranger”. Once you met them befriend them and invite them at your house. You may have wooho with them the same night if you want (and if they do let them drink from you).

For the “handsome vampire stranger” you may use one of the VAMPIRES sims (Vlad, Caleb or Lilith) or create one yourself and add them to the world. However they must have the “Vampire Creation” power to be able to turn you.

You may let your “handsome vampire stranger” move in with you if you want.

Change your entire aesthetic to a very gothic/dark one. This includes your hair, eventual makeup, clothes and even your entire house.

Convince your “handsome vampire stranger” to turn you into a vampire.

Complete the Master Vampire aspiration, max the Vampire Lore skill and have at least one baby with your “handsome vampire stranger”.

Read part 2 here

[videogame-ocs]

Happy Veilguard day for those who are celebrating!

As a result of Dragon Age The Veilguard coming out today I’ve been non stop thinking about my canon Worldstate so I’ve decided to explore where all my characters (and their love interests) from Inquisition and especially my canon inky is pre Veilguard.

I’ll start with my canon inky who WILL be making an appearance in my first play through of Veilguard starting today and I have the most headcanons about her:

(Former) Inquisitior Anya Trevelyan & (former) Commander Cullen Rutherford:

Anya Trevelyan is still pretty traumatised by the events of Trespasser. I mean she’s still clinging to guilt of not being able to persuade Solas to stop in that moment almost ten years ago.

But she’s now living on a farm just outside Redcliffe with Cullen…..and their children.

Anya and Cullen now have three children; Leon, Sophie and Dorian. Leon (Leo) is six, Sophie is four and Dorian is a ten months.

They occasionally see both sides of the family, Anya’s is a bit far to travel so is less frequent but they’re all pretty close.

Anya was adopted immediately into the Rutherford family. I mean she was adopted even before they properly met but afterwards they almost got adoption papers ready and everything. Mia is especially protective of Anya. But the two Rutherford sisters basically see her as a younger sister.

Anya’s mother, Lady Sophia Trevelyan is still convinced she’s the Herald of Andraste but Anya doesn’t mind this one person holding onto that belief. She only minds when she makes a huge fuss about it to her friends or fusses over and smothers her as mothers tend to do. Her middle brother Elias, does also believe that fact. Her father and five other older brothers believe Anya that she’s not the herald but still hold her achievements high when she visits and humours Lady Trevelyan and Elias’ belief.

Anya’s family treat Cullen as a sixth brother. Bann and Lady Trevelyan did accept Cullen’s request the propose and did kind of half suspect they were going to elope so they did make a clause that Cullen could propose if they had a wedding reception afterwards if they chose to elope. Lady Trevelyan is not entirely impressed by the decision though, and Bann Trevelyan is a tad upset he didn’t get to give his daughter away but Anya and Cullen have more than made up for it.

Cullen, of course retired from active duty after the Inquisition disbanded, but he still set up a sanctuary for former Templars who wanted to kick lyrium and for Templars who’s minds were too far gone from lyrium so they have comfort in their final days. So he’s away quite a bit but not all the time, he’s always back by the weekend.

Anya despite disbanding the Inquisition also never stops trying to find a way to stop Solas and make him see sense without violence. She has constant updates from Varric and Harding and former inquisition agents on the matter.

Speaking of Solas, Anya still sees him as a close friend, I mean he saved her life by severing her arm, and several times before then, of course she’s forever going to be grateful to him and view him as a friend. Which you know adds to the guilt she feels.

Anya gets phantom pains in her left arm stub. they’re more manageable than they were years ago when she still had the anchor and her arm. They’re more twinges now. Her friends got her a custom prosthetic arm which she wears most days. But she’s still kind of sad she can’t hold her children with two biological arms.

It took her a while to learn how to fight and adjust to life again after losing her arm, her speciality was two handed swords so she had to adjust to using them again. But she’s very skilled at it again.

She also cut her hair even shorter some time between trespasser & veilguard because it’s easier to manage (as someone who has a disability that means I can’t use my left arm as well and can basically only use my right, I can confirm this is true, I cut my hair short for this exact reason and my blorbo inky did too).

Anya still cares for her horse Chester. She still rides him about the fields and everything but he’s pretty elderly now.

Cullen’s Mabari, Captain, is still alive and absolutely loves the kids and Anya. He’s very protective of the children, and is usually either found following both Leo and Sophie everywhere or by baby Dorian’s side.

Anya does worry about the kids a lot, mainly because she has the whole Solas’ plan hanging over her head, knowing that her children might not live to adulthood, if she can’t stop Solas, well that’s not something you want to know or live with. That’s probably one of the main reasons why she’ll be jumping to help the Veilguard.

Cullen isn’t the only one who suffers from awful nightmares. Anya does too, maybe even worse than Cullen now. One day she’s going to have to explain to the children why she wakes up screaming and it terrifies her. Luckily Cullen is always there to reassure her and he’ll be there to support her when that day comes.

Solas also appears in her dreams sometimes, just watching. She doesn’t know if it’s better or worse that he refuses to talk to her.

There is still a chance she’ll become Bann of Ostwick in the future, Ostwick’s Bannorn doesn’t have a birth hierarchy when it comes to heirs so she’s aware that might happen. She intends to decline and pass on it should it happen, she never ever wanted it, similarly to how she never wanted to be the herald or inquisitor but she can turn that title down.

A more lighthearted one to end on with Anya for now, Dorian and Anya have bi weekly wine nights on a Friday, where they drink a glass or two of wine or any alcohol (or under some circumstances a non alcoholic beverage) and over the Crystal, catch up and talk about what’s going on in their lives. This is a regular thing, they do not miss it. Cullen looks after the kids if they’re still up and Dorian always schedules it in his busy schedule at the exact time every other week. The two best friends always make time for it.

Non inquisitor OCs below (because all of my inky’s are canon but they’re not the Inquisitor in my canon Worldstate, Anya is the only inquisitor):

Percy Trevelyan & Dorian Pavus:

Dorian is of course a magister.

But he does have frequent contact with Anya.

And Anya’s brother Percy.

Percy and Dorian got quite close during Inquisition. They both mostly were in the library in skyhold together, when Dorian was not out on mission with Anya. Percy, a circle mage fugitive, was recruited by Anya post Redcliffe to help research stuff, not that Percy needed recruiting.

So…Dorian and Percy were close. Very close.

So close in fact that they got married before Trespasser. It’s a secret so nobody knows….except Anya, Cullen, Maevaris and the main Trevelyan family.

Percy lives in Minrathous with Dorian most of the time. He’s Dorian’s chief researcher there.

Percy and Dorian frequently check in on Percy’s younger sister. Like I said, Dorian and Anya have wine nights, and Percy likes to check in on his younger sibling.

They have adopted an child, Felix although officially he is Percival’s child.

Bertrand Trevelyan & Cassandra Pentaghast:

Bertrand the oldest of the Trevelyan’s children is still an orlesian bard, so he returns to Orlais where he was recruited as a inquisition spy from.

But he now serves the divine (Leliana).

This allows him to be close to Cassandra who is on the exalted council.

Cassandra still revives the seekers. Bertrand goes with her.

Cassandra is still baffled by his choices and personality sometimes but loves him dearly.

Bertrand plans to marry Cassandra eventually when things are a bit quieter.

They both like to check in on Anya occasionally and see how she’s doing.

Thalia Lavellan & Solas:

Thalia is obviously, not happy.

She’s not miserable but she’s also not happy.

Thalia was supposed to keep an eye on the inquisition for her clan & work in the Herald’s rest but….she fell in love with Solas. Solas reciprocated and well broke it off.

But unlike Lavellan solas romance she didn’t get anything any closure or a talk until she discovered he was the dread wolf from rumours.

Solas still appears in her dreams and she desperately reaches for him in them but solas is actively keeping her at arms length.

Anyway she joined the veil jumpers in arlathan forest. Unknowingly close to a certain elf.

She has friends, she’s really good friends with Ashara, an older Dalish elf like her who is from Ferelden.

It’s not all doom and gloom but she’s still not over Solas and hopes that one day he’ll see reason or someone will make him see reason. Non violently.

And maybe, just maybe, their love will endure and he’ll come back to her.

[godeaterazathoth]

Issues I have with ikevamp

That I’m venting here because they won’t leave my skull

*Content warning, we’re talking about men in the past, they did some bad stuff*

Part 1, historical inaccuracies

I’m I history nut so this really gets to me, since I know the deep details of these peoples lives.

The timeline, ok so the game takes place in 18th France, correct me if I’m wrong but I think it is in the second empire (1852-1870) considered there is a noble class, yet you can clearly see the Eiffel Tower which was completed in 1889, there is no mention of the 1889 exposition, so it must be after the tower had become permanent, by then the 3rd republic was around, if we are in the republic the Count wouldn’t be called that by the npcs at all the parties he goes to, no matter which we’re in, NOBODY mentions Napoleon III at, NOT EVAN HIS UNCLE (WHOSE SOMEHOW BECAME CASS CONSCIOUS!)

How does the time travel work, example, Dazai died in 1948, his plan was seemingly to wait until he’s born in 1909 then kill himself as a baby, but then he decides to use the magic door, what are the consequences of 2 Dazais existing at once or him erasing himself from history, he’s a pretty important literary figure, does someone else replace him or does the space time continuum collapse?? Is the future Vlad sees set in stone or can it be changed, just copy someone else’s time travel bit!!!

So straight up these guys aren’t who they say they are, we’ll go through 1 by 1

Napoleon- doesn’t mention he left the love of his life to marry a girl 20 years his junior (like think how interesting it would be if he’s conflicted about love cuz he had to give it up for political reasons) -that scene where MC talks about all the ‘good’ that he did in Europe, like committing war crimes against the Spanish and Portuguese and Eastern Europeans, being a coloniser, killing the slaves he freed when they asked for more rights, killing thousands of men in a meaningless war (ligit H*tler vibes)

Arthur- goofy irl, literally believed in fairies, had 5 children and married twice but he never mentions any of this, he cheated on his first wife while she was dying of TB, he was a liberal unionist (tldr didn’t like Irish people) he was anti-immigration, might have committed fraud. We’ll get to the other issues I have with him.

Leonardo- fruity as hell, vegetarian

Mozart- they got his character completely wrong, the guy was a complete man child, vain, broke, by the end of his life his career fell off (Beethoven better composer), in love with his cousin 🤢, had a s*at fetish 🤢🤢🤢. The hole Salieri thing didn’t happen.

Vincent- they made him too mentally stable, I’m all for him being meek, but the guy had serious issues that they ignore, he ate paint thinner, was rejected by his both crushes, WHY DOES HE HAVE BOTH EARS, DID IT GROW BACK, THEY SHOULD HAVE LEFT HIM WITH ONLY ONE, also he should be ginger smh. Oh yeah and they never mentioned the s*ecide attempt.

Theo- doesn’t mention his wife, or son, WHO HE NAMED AFTER VINCENT, his wife is the person responsible for Vincent’s work not being completely forgotten, was way nicer irl.

Issac- tbh hotter irl, low key ace, maybe a fruit, kinda mean, the only thing they got right was the major virgin vibes.

Jean- WHY MAN!??!! Even if the didn’t want a lesbian route, they could have gone with any other guy from the 100 years war, Edward black prince, idk WHY GENDER BEND ONE OF THE MOST PROMINENT WOMEN IN HISTORY, I’m fine with the delusional trans dude lie, but they say that he was a guy all along, THEN WHAT WAS THE POINT OF HIM BEING BURNT AT THE STAKE IF HE WASN’T CROSS DRESSING???!!! was he double cross dressing??? This is the worst of them all, give me the girl boss we deserve (revers fate)

Dazai- not depressed enough imo, he was a leftist, again missing wife, their were two su*ecide attempts, guy lived through fire bombing, had a few children that he is fine to erase from existence.

Shakespeare- probably a fruit, again never mentioned his wife and kids, btw the way he talks is annoying, some people don’t think he’s real.

Faust- NOT A REAL PERSON.

Sanson- too young, this guys is 67, really liked the guillotine, just saw execution as his job didn’t really care, had a wife and kids.

Vlad- Ok is he supposed to be Vlad THE impaler? Cuz he’s not evil enough, or is he a Dracula reference, cuz he can’t dance that dance either, why did they call him Vlad if he isn’t a blood thirsty war criminal.

Count- not enough history to work with.

Part 2, problematic moments

So I ha have seen some posts on the low key misogynistic way the MC is written and treated and there are a lot of issues wit white washing history so another trigger warning ⚠️

Misogyny- the MC of this game is not the best, I know she’s a self insert but she has no backbone at all. She lacks agency I’m most of the routes, like the MC getting kidnapped is a troupe in all these games, but Emma can escape on her own, Kate has ⚽️, even Alice had more depth to her, seems the only thing MC can do is cry and wait to be saved, I swear she gets kidnapped once in every route, I think they could have given her more character to work with. Another thing, but Jean being a man is bad, really bad, she’s a feminist icon but they made her a man, it’s sought of saying that women aren’t capable of this so she had to have actually been a man.

Handling of SA, important one here, I’m ok with the flirty guy, but I really hate Arthur, he doesn’t just flirt with her in chapter 1 he assaults her and acts like he did her a service, and she just forgives him!?! I’m fine with a guy that sleeps around, I like Jin and Nokto fine, but the way Arthur talks about women, always calling them Birds (if they were going for English slang it doesn’t work cuz he doesn’t have a cockney accent) or worse Skirts, it’s dehumanising, and shows that to him women are vehicles for sexual pleasure and aren’t on an equal level of understanding. There are smaller parts to, Leo kisses her without consent, the Count hides the truth from her, idk but Theo calling her a ‘hound’ sounds like he’s calling her something else…

Minor points on classism, I’m not expecting the communist manifesto, but all these games aren’t very good at dealing with class deviation. In Vlad’s route, the orphan boy thinks he can impress the rich girl, this is the 19th century, capitalism is on the rise, but there’s no comment about how it’s impossible. The little school Napoleons runs is strange, considering he was in a position where benefited from poor people existing and staying poor, ( side note, he’s teaching them swordsmanship when ww1 is right around the corner, just saying they won’t need it in the military) called MC out as a social climber, these games sought of depict the past through rosé tinted glasses, there’s only passing reference to how fucked people were in the past, Also all the historical inaccuracies above tie to this.

Anyway love to hear some other opinions, (I started playing this game before my transition and have always thought it it was wired, it’s my personal least favourite just cuz I couldn’t really get into any of the guys, my OC ended up as a Carmilla reference so….)

I have seen a post talking about some of the issues before so that’s what got me to write this out, if you disagree or want to add anything I’m all ears 👂

Thanks for reading 💗💖💖💕💓💝💗🥰🥰🥰❤️✨✨✨✨❤️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[splashclan-clangen]

Gannetstar

more info below, potential spoiler warning! I use these character bios as a way to keep track of my SplashClan game which means that all the information is up to date with the current in-game events, not where I left off with the youtube series

Gannet was a rogue who was taken in and raised by an older cat named Mint after the death of her mother. They both decided to join the clans and Gannettalon was later chosen to become the leader of SplashClan, thanks to Mintshade’s guidance and teachings of self-preservation above all else. Leadership proved to be a challenging task for Gannetstar which led them into feeling lost.

To prove themselves, she became involved with a long-lasting conflict with HazeClan. The loss of her children, strained relationships with their clanmates, and pursuit of power took a toll on not just Gannetstar’s leadership, but their mind. Gannetstar’s time as leader was marked by war, the deaths of her family, the mistreatment of their own apprentices, and their own transformation into a ruthless and manipulative leader. Gannetstar ultimately died and joined the dark forest to scheme against the clans.

Names: Gannetstar (leader name), Gannettalon (warrior name), Gannet (birth name)

Current Affiliation: The Dark Forest, formerly belonging to SplashClan

Past Affiliation: None, former rogue

Gender: Demigirl (she/they)

Sexuality: Pansexual

Age: 172 months at death (14 years; born 79 months before SplashClan's founding)

Nine Lives: Whorlnip (protection), Jaggedpath (clear judgement), Shrewkit (adventure), Snaptangle (sympathy), Leafpaw (mentoring), Unnamed elder (persitence), Speckletoe (unity), Vixenswoop (devotion), Mintshade (leadership through the darkest times)

Deputies: Brackenshade (months 0-91; retired), Lightspots (months 91-93; succeeded as leader)

Cause of Death(s):

Life One - died from a broken bone + various injuries recieved from a dog attack (month 84)

Life Two - bitten by a venomous snake (month 92)

Remaining Lives - succumbed to old age (month 93)

Description-

brown ticked tabby-and-white cat with long fur and eyes of sunlit ice; has a scarred tail from when Lightspots challenged her and a bite wound from a fight with a gray fox

Traits: Bloodthirsty and a good speaker (leader)

Role: Leader (formerly a warrior)

Relationships

Adoptive Mother and Mentor: Mintshade

Former Mates: Striker and Snapfern (broken up with both; became mates with Snapfern in month 47)

Kits: Tornrun, Icywhisker, and Jellyfishspeckle (with Striker; born in month 13) + Patchouliprickle (with Snapfern; born in month 67)

Apprentices: Sagepeak (months 0-6), Quietpaw (months 65-68), and Patchouliprickle (months 73-78)

Romantic Feelings: Snapfern and Lightstar

Platonic Love: Snapfern, Lightgale, Thunderisle, Brackenshade, Lightstar, Tornrun, Jellyfishspeckle

Admiration: Lightgale

Security: Snapfern, Brackenshade

Reliance: Brackenshade

Detailed Biography

Gannet was born as a rogue but doesn’t remember much from her early life, though they’re unsure if that’s because of how young she was of if she had unknowingly blocked the traumatic memories out. When Gannet was only a few months old, her mother died, leaving her all alone. She nearly died of starvation before she was found and rescued by an older rogue named Mint. Mint took her in and from then on raised them as if she was her own kit. Throughout Gannet’s life, Mint trained them to survive just as she had under the philosophy that “no other cats matter, protect yourself and only yourself.” 

Years later, after Gannet had already grown up, the two continued to live together for protection. Though they were better off together, things still weren’t perfect and winters were always harsh. During one winter they discovered the clan cats and decided to stick around for protection and easier food. As time passed they relalized that there was a clear leader for each of the four clans except for one, SplashClan. Mint and Gannet decided to step up, deciding to permanently join the clans as Mintshade and Gannettalon in hopes that they could take leadership of SplashClan themselves. Eventually, Mintshade’s age got the better of her and she stepped down to become an elder, advising Gannettalon from the side in order to have the best chance to become leader.

Eventually, the BloodClan-affiliated rogues were chased out and with Rootmask’s dying words he chose the new leaders of the four clans; Tawnystar of DeadClan, Curlstar of HeatherClan, Amberstar of HazeClan, and Gannetstar of SplashClan. Gannetstar went on to receive her nine lives, one of which being from Mintshade herself for “leadership through the darkest times.” They later elected Brackenshade as their deputy as he was a young but fierce and abrasive cat who would grant her the approval of her clanmates. He was also picked with a darker motive in mind, at the time he was the youngest warrior in the clan and clearly respected Gannetstar's judgement and authority as leader, meaning he wouldn't oppose her. Desperate for more approval from their clanmates, Gannetstar gave themselves an apprentice so she could appear as a responsible, rule-following leader. Sagepaw was the apprentice she chose but they didn’t do much work in training him aside from what was required of her due to her lack of care and how overwhelmed they were as leader initially. 

Gannetstar had only gotten where she was because of Mintshade’s guidance and without her, they felt as though they had no idea what they were doing. Many times they tried to reach out to StarClan to talk to Mintshade but she was cut off from StarClan due to them disaproving of her as leader. Gannetstar questioned her ability to lead the clan and needed something to prove her worth not only to her clanmates, but to herself. This eventually came in the long-running conflict between SplashClan and HazeClan. It started out small, as nothing more than a prey and border dispute but Amberstar’s anger towards the situation frustrated Gannetstar. She couldn’t understand the HazeClan leader’s anger and she felt the urge to take the situation into their own paws, killing Amberstar herself. Of course, this never ended up happening as she was too desperate to prove herself and gain the approval of her clan.

Thunderisle and her own apprentice, Sagepeak were made warriors however later this same month he died while out on patrol and ultimately Gannetstar never realized how much he wanted her to notice him. It was during this time when they met Striker, a rogue who had belonged to one of the BloodClan-affiliated rogue groups that had been occupying the clan territories before. She fell in love with Striker and the two began to secretly meet at SplashClan’s border. As time passed between them however, Gannetstar grew continuously bored of Striker as she found something more entertaining. In their dreams, Gannetstar began to visit the dark forest and would continue to train there throughout her life. 

In the end, Gannetstar found out they were expecting kits and cut off her relationship with Striker, abandoning him and telling him to never come back. Though she was excited to have kits, they didn’t like the idea of having to care for them for very long, hoping she could apprentice them at four months instead of six. Thankfully though, Brackenshade told her not to do that. Eventually, Gannetstar’s three kits were born, Tornkit, Icykit, and Jellyfishkit. She loved her kits but it was clear from the beginning that they were going to pick favorites. She spent more time with Jellyfishkit than the others and this did not go unnoticed by Tornkit and Icykit. 

Eventually, Gannetstar’s kits are apprenticed and she was able to leave the nursery but they were back to feeling terrible about leadership. She had been trained her entire life to only care about herself, to only put effort into making sure that she survives, and now she was alone in leading an entire clan of cats. She made her kits warriors way earlier than she should have and only two months later she learned terrible news. One day, her daughter, Jellyfishspeckle went on patrol but didn’t return. Jellyfishspeckle had been taken away by twolegs. Gannetstar, after having already been under a lot of stress, broke down as a result of their daughter being taken away. They encouraged fights on border patrols and even began picking fights with cats from her own clan. Lightspots at one point stepped up to confront her about this and she took to physically punishing him with the help of Snapfern, a cat who’s allegiance to not only SplashClan, but herself, she was questioning. The three cats were left injured by the fight but in the end Gannetstar felt as though they could trust Snapfern more. 

Gannetstar began to feel as if they were going crazy and she began to feel numb with pain, both from the loss of Jellyfishspeckle and her tail injury. Over the next few months she failed to recover, struggling to fight off the infection in their wound and this only worstened when her other daughter, Icywhisker, died as well. Though she recovered from her injury shortly afterward, she could harldy react to her daughter’s death due to her numbness. Months later, Gannetstar even repeated what she had done to Lightspots to Clovefreckle after he similarly spoke out against them, though thankfully it wasn’t as harsh. Gannetstar’s trust in their clanmates began to dwindle and she soon sought out Snapfern to spy on the cats of SplashClan for her. Eventually, her trust in Snapfern became so great that she confessed to Snapfern about their own romantic feelings towards her. Snapfern agreed, sharing Gannetstar’s feelings and the two became mates. 

Over the next few months, things between SplashClan and HazeClan became worse and worse and Gannetstar even began to ask the other clans to form an alliance but in the end, neither HeatherClan or DeadClan were willing to help. As tensions rose things only became worse for Gannetstar with the death of her son, Tornrun. Though she didn’t play favorites with Tornrun, preferring Jellyfishspeckle, Tornrun had been the only one of her kits that still remained in SplashClan. It was only a few months after this when finally, Jellyfishspeckle returned to SplashClan. Though Gannetstar should’ve been happy, they weren’t the same cat they were when Jellyfishspeckle had been taken away and apart of them began to blame their daughter for abandoning their clan in a time of need and felt as though she was cursed, somehow causing the deaths of Icywhisker and Tornrun just as she left the clan and returned. The pain of Tornrun’s death and Jellyfishspeckle’s return finally caused Gannetstar to break and officially declare war on HazeClan. The war lasted seven months and four cats died however SplashClan was the clear loser of the war. Ever since Gannetstar had been leader, they had been searching for the perfect opportunity to prove her worth as leader and in the end they failed, they failed terribly. 

During the war, Gannetstar decided to distract themselves by taking on their second apprentice, choosing the kit, Quietpaw for that position. Gannetstar was a bit more involved with Quietpaw’s training than she was with Sagepeak's since this time she had willingly taken him as an apprentice, but things ended up just as badly. Under Gannetstar’s training, Quietpaw was trained to exhaustion every single day and was hardly recognizable as his former self not long after becoming an apprentice. Similarly to Sagepeak, Quietpaw wanted to make Gannetstar proud of him and he would do anything to make that happen. At one point after the war had ended, a bunch of HazeClan apprentices began to bully Quietpaw from across the border. She encouraged Quietpaw to fight back, even if he was clearly outnumbered. Quietpaw made it out of this encounter, but was mildly hurt and Gannetstar praised him for this. Quietpaw’s apprenticeship came to a sudden end in leafbare. He was so painfully hungry from there being a lack of prey that he attemted to calm his hunger by eating some red berries he found, these ended up being death berries. Though Quietpaw died, Gannetstar didn’t seem to care much. 

Before Quietpaw had died, her and Snapfern’s son, Patchoulitkit was born. When Gannetstar wasn’t too busy training Quietpaw, they would spend time with Snapfern as she was the only one who they felt could bring them comfort. As a result, Patchoulikit didn’t get to spend a lot of time with his parents and began to look up to and chase after Gannetstar for their attention. Gannetstar decided to mentor their son herself. Though the clan spoke out against this, Gannetstar didn’t care. They spent the most time and care training Patchoulipaw compared to Sagepeak and Quietpaw, influencing him to use violence over words and to make impulsive decisions. Just like she did with her previous kits, she made him a warrior early, granting him the name Patchouliprickle. He took after Gannetstar’s bloodthirsty nature but died too quick to acomplish anything. 

Patchouliprickle, Snapfern, and many other SplashClan cats disappeared into the night and wound up in StarClan, their cause of death unknown. Gannetstar was left devistated and broken by their loss. Only three months after this, Gannetstar lost her very first life to an injury they had recieved months prior from a dog attack. Shortly after, she decided to move on from Snapfern but in the end they never took another mate. Throughout the rest of their life, Gannetstar seemed to become more and more lost in their own mind and their previously shown agitation and aggression towards others, even in their own clan, grew and grew. She later lost her second life to a venomous snake bite before slowly beginning to lose her remaining seven lives to old age throughout the 93rd month of SplashClan’s existence. As they lay dying, Gannetstar laughed in her deputy, Lightspot’s face and told him-

“Hah! I’m glad you of all cats are becoming the next leader. There isn’t another fool alive who i’d be more willing to see cursed with the role of leader.”

Gannetstar, having already entered the Dark Forest in their life, was brought there in death and realized that she would’ve been able to influence the cats below. She began to scheme and soon figured out her plan. If they turned the young cats against the clans, she could turn them to her side, destroying SplashClan in the process and proving that all along the idea of ‘clans’ were cursed to fail. Ever since their death, they’ve reached out to many of SplashClan’s younger cats and brought them to train in the Dark Forest, some even becoming loyal to her already.

Fun Facts

Gannetflight was named after Gannetstar by her mother, Emberfreckle who's one of the most involved and loyal dark forest trainees.

Gannetstar's original in-game warrior name was Gannethorse but this was changed to Gannettalon later on since it made more sense and wasn't as goofy

Their favorite food is frog but they also liked rabbit and shrews

Their character song is Ain’t It Fun by Paramore

Gannetstar’s voice claim is Lady Dimitrescu from Resident Evil: Village (voiced by Maggie Robertson)

Dark Forest Events

The first cat Gannetstar influenced to begin training in the dark forest as Sparkstep. They contacted him in his dream only a month after she had died.

Gannetstar feels regret for some of their actions, though it's unclear which ones

Gannetstar considered walking in Old Deuteronomyplume's dreams but decided against it, realizing they wouldn't have accepted her proposal to train

From the dark forest, Gannetstar never contacted Lightstar but always kept an eye on him, smiling slyly how much he likely hated being leader at such an old age and how it was herself who put him there

They considered bringing Brackenshade's son, Brightsnap into the dark forest but decided against it, knowing Brackenshade had likely taught him too many negative things about Gannetstar to want to accept

Gannetstar indirectly killed Brightsnap, Rippletuft, Littlebat, and Sardinefuzz. She had instructed some of the HeatherClan dark forest trainnes to attack them on patrol in order to specifically kill Sardinefuzz, the current deputy of SplashClan so Emberfreckle, a prominent dark forest trainee could potentially be chosen as his replacement.

Gannetstar feels distain and malice towards Hailtorrent, a high ranking dark forest trainee from SplashClan becuase they believes that he has the capability to turn against her and completely destroy her plans

Throughout Snailshell's apprenticeship, Gannetstar continued to whisper in his ear as they couldn't fully walk in his dreams due to his connection to StarClan. In the end thankfully, he was able to block Gannetstar out.

Mudember, Emberfreckle's son was one of the cats Gannetstar had an eye on birth but in the end it's likely she was never able to contact him due to his stronger than average connection to StarClan.

Gannetstar had their eyes on Brackenshade's son, Laurelstep from kithood but it's unclear if he was ever reached out to