#Callisto is trying his best really

[eloise175]

*The Baroness(aka nanny) and Cedric watching from the sidelines Callisto’s very dubious attempts at flirting and wooing Penelope*

Baroness: dear me…what is he doing?

Cedric: his best.

*observing as Penelope just whacked him and almost stormed off, and Callisto stopped her*

Baroness:

Cedric:

Baroness: ah, it seems to not be working very well…

Cedric: His Highness’ best is considered the Princess’ worst. Now we just trust the process.

[argetcross]

Happy 4th anniversary to wasting beats of this heart of mine, my Zagreus becomes mortal AU! Another year, some more adventures undertaken.

This year, I've unearthed more concepts and half-finished paintings all the way from 2021. I've included notes under the cut about each piece, as well as more reflections.

If you told me in October 2020 that you'll write a fic over 100k words long, spanning multiple cities, with multiple POVs, I would have said, "Are you sure?". I think I never really imagined I could keep a story running, much less one that demands so much of its author. At the same time, this work has been my deepest and most fulfilling pleasure. It lives in my dreams, haunts my waking moments, and demands I regularly carve my heart out and poke through the viscera. I suppose such is the nature of art.

We've been approaching the end of Part III, and readers up-to-date know I've mentioned planning for five parts in total. Five acts, five biomes: it only feels fitting. Many things I had looked forward to (the chariot race! Kyane and Persephone! The return of Thymoetes!) have come to life on the page, but there's still so much of the yarn left to spin. I never expected needing years to complete this story, but I also feel strongly I am beholden to it now. To Zagreus, to Demeter's children, to the mortals and gods, above and below. I will continue to try my best.

Thank you to jules, val, nan, robin, and spleen for having beta'd for me during these years. This story wouldn't be what it is without you. Thank you to mag, for having crawled through the trenches of creating an enormous fanwork and countless hours of spreadsheeting, with me. To every artist that has ever drawn me anything, it is truly humbling to be able to inspire your work. To the House Party, whose friendship I am grateful for every day.

And to anyone who has ever read part of the story, left a comment, and stepped along on this journey with me, I cannot overstate how grateful I am. I remain baffled and pleasantly surprised that this world of mine can touch your heart. It's a story that I hope, when it completes, you will pick up again from time to time, and take pleasure in its telling once more.

With all my love,

Arget

--

Notes about each image:

Thanatos and Zagreus by the sacred olive trees of Athena. This painting was based on a photo I took in Athens. The quality of the sunlight astounded me and, in turn, made me think about life and death.

Thanatos anointing the body of the god Zagreus with nectar. This is related to the scene in Chapter 23, when he and Nyx converse by Zagreus' bedside.

Eleusis concepts. For such a powerhouse of a cult, Eleusis itself has a provincial feeling to it. I was captivated by the idea of the sea, and the fact that Zagreus had never spent any time on the coast. This would have been his first experience with it.

Athens. What can I say about Athens that hasn't been said? The trip I took late 2022 provided a lot of the inspiration for the citadel aspect of the acropolis. This is not the Athens of Classical Greece, the polis of democracy, but a fictionalized city-kingdom, under the rule of its royal family. The idea that Callisto had a student living in Athens was both a nod to the extensive trade happening during the Bronze Age and a deconstruction of the Amazon myth that the Greeks told themselves.

Clymene, the Oracle of Delphi. This was originally meant to be a Hades game-like portrait, but I scrapped the idea. She is dressed in the fashion closer to the Minoans, to give her a more Bronze Age feeling. As the head priestess, I wanted to show her age.

Apheidas and Thymoetes sketches. The two brothers are supposed to look night and day from each other. I tried to give Apheidas a pleasant sort of face, in comparison to Thymoetes' haughtiness.

The tapestry sketch. This was one of the first drawings I ever made about wasting beats, in an attempt to understand the type of story I was about to write. Key elements had already been decided, such as the chariot race and the way Demeter and Hades would play the role of the absent gods, for above as well as below. I had not written Apollo at this time, so you see him here with short hair.

Zagreus, reaching for a bloodstone. The chlamys, a gift from his foster-father's wife, has been the simple denotation of mortal Zagreus. Something bright and red, simple for it was woven by a farmer's wife, and barely able to protect his weaker mortal body.

Megaera, hurt and angry, and Than, stricken and alarmed, amidst a storm of paper. This is a scene from Chapter 18, Primordial Winter, that I had always wanted to illustrate.

[unfortunately-obsessed]

Really?? Happy Nation playing five seconds before shit hits the fan?? The fact the lyrics just tells you what's going to happen I- the whole dance sequence?? He wanted to make her his queen,,

And can you imagine how touch starved Rogue is?? Imagine not being able to touch people for your whole life?? The dance started so polite, they floating and Rogue's on control and then as soon he has the green lights Magneto losing all filter– sir you're in public

The whole "we're travelling in time" right before Cable shows up trying to prevent the massacre from happening (?) telling people to stop the music, just desperate before death falls from the sky

Leech saying "Callisto's going to save us" but we just saw Callisto's corpse going cold, then "If not her, then Magneto," and Erik dying trying to do save them. "They shall be avenged" and angry tears of Magneto

Erik having to go through it all again, Erik dying with his heart broken but still saving Rogue because he do love her, having to prevent Rogue from jumping into danger and having to prevent Gambit too because Gambit would follow her into the depths of hell (just like he would). The thousand-words stare, their locked eyes

At first one must've thought that the whole telepathic headshot aimed to Jean but taking into consideration how more fierce and visceral Madelyn's reaction was I think it was directed to her actually, and Jean felt because of some remnant of psych bond

Cable's "not again-" (did this happen before?? How many times did he try to prevent this from happening?) "I'm sorry, mom" towards Madelyn I– is she dead now?

Not the first time Rogue feels Gambit skin being the only time she can't feel him. Feeling his dead body growing cold, not breathing, not being able to feel him

"we would carry the dream but never live it" got me thinking that maybe Magneto is dead despite my best hopes, that maybe Rogue is going to assume as the queen of a broken dream, a devasted land and grieving people

"how many?" well, most of them. Dazzler probably, Callisto definitely, maybe Shaw, maybe Moira, maybe Banshee

The episode starts as a love letter to mutants, to Xavier's dreams, and ends up in a bloodied massacre

Nothing's good gonna happen if you see the Watcher sneaking up and known time travellers scrambling around

[yallemagne]

So I finished the first season of X-Men: The Animated Series of course. Highlights?

Episode 1 & 2: Night of the Sentinels

Jubilee's father really fuckin sold her out huh? And holy shit the fucking sentinels. Dog, why did you MAKE THEM SO BIG. I had expected like that they started small and got bigger ones when the X-Men were revealed, but no, without even alerting the nation that they were making these robots, they sent a giant ass robot into a mall to capture one teenager.

Me pointing out "huh Morph is getting a lot of moments here, I like it" followed by them immediately dying. Like damn. They really did that. No wonder the creators backed out of having Thunderbird be in Morph's role, that would have just been insulting. Especially since he probably wouldn't have been brought back.

"Tell Cyclops... I made him a convertible."

Cyclops refuses to apologize for leaving without Morph and Beast but instead offers Logan an opportunity for revenge. It's so them. These petty bastards.

Episode 3: Enter Magneto

Beast... you're so silly. So, Beast refuses a rescue by Magneto (he's imprisoned) because "I'm awaiting a fair trial that will prove my innocence"... girl. You are a giant blue man. So, yeah, another case where Magneto was right.

Sabretooth is such a fake-ass bitch, I love it. So, he shows up at the trial causing a ruckus and gets injured and the X-Men take him in and start treating him like their pathetic little meow meow. This couldn't possibly go wrong.

"Come on, they're gonna kill him!" "Good." *turns around* "WHAT?"

"He's a threat." "He was near death." "Not near enough."

They just keep giving Wolverine all the best lines.

Episode 4: Deadly Reunions

Sabretooth, my poor little meow meow... all you did was a few itty bitty kitty murders... That's what Charles is saying at the start of this episode.

Xavier truly does try to get to the root of Sabretooth's anger with some super therapy, but alas, Sabretooth is just That Bitch. We do know that a competent telepath can temper his anger though, just look at Birdy.

They leave Jubilee alone with him acknowledging full well "this man is more dangerous than Wolverine... have fun babysitting!" He's restrained in a chair growling "let me at 'em" as Senator Kelly is being racist on TV and Jubilee very kindly turns it off and he's like "sowwy I'm twying to be a good boy... 😿" So of course Jubilee sees his restraints are hurting his wrists and releases him to help. Hahahaha. Oh girl.

If this were a show being produced today, I could totally see Sabretooth being accepted by the X-Men because "daww look he's angry just like you Wolverine" being drawn out into a longer arc where he actually gains their trust so it creates a genuine rift in the team... but also maybe he's not that patient for a scheme like that.

(also I know the show probably isn't going with the continuity that they're blood-related, but Wolverine telling them Sabretooth is nothing but trouble and getting hit with "but he's just like you 🥺" is very brother-coded okay?? Anyone who has a terrible older brother can relate.)

"Alright you egg-sucking piece of gutter trash. You always liked pushing around people smaller than you. WELL, I'M SMALLER! TRY PUSHING ME!!" << that's some little brother dialogue.

(… Morph would have listened to Wolverine about Sabretooth. Morph knows the Deep Lore.)

Episode 5: Captive Hearts

Callisto saw Cyclops and immediately said "I'm gonna make him my trophy husband", and while that is a valid reaction, no means no, hun.

They literally establish Storm as the Morlock's future Moses basically with her promising to come back for them when the time is right and they feel safe to breech the surface. And then they gave Magneto that role in '97. Ugh. He has the nerve to say Xavier just left them down there when it was in fact Storm that respected their right to self-determination.

Episode 6: Cold Vengeance

I love every time I see Sabretooth, he's just so silly-looking. No wonder everyone else imprinted on him like "hehe silly orange kitty" he's so BIG. He's incredibly top-heavy, just look at his bazongas.

We got through this with no sacrifice of Inuit life but a sombre sentiment that they'll be abandoning the old ways rather than rebuilding their homes.

Episode 7: Slave Island

Jubilee and Gambit have a nice little dynamic. He's the first person Jubilee used her powers to protect and she does it multiple times. I imagine he's like her cool older brother with street smarts.

No wonder Gambit was suspicious of Genosha in '97. Can't really trust that all is well when the foundation of that place was quite literally built with slavery.

This just makes Magneto's "tsk tsk Charles didn't use his wealth and resources to ship a load of UNWILLING Morlocks to Genosha for their own good" comment in '97 all the more frustrating. Man can be a dumbass.

Anyway--- CABLE CABLE CABLE. My silly little big boy.

Episode 8: The Unstoppable Juggernaut

Juggernaut is such a funny guy. I feel like usually, the big guys don't get to be the wise-cracking type, so this piece of shit was fun to watch.

Also just love Colossus, he's perfect.

Episode 9: The Cure

It's hard to feel bad for Warren when he's literally rich and funding a project that can be easily weaponized to hurt mutants. Sure, he was tricked and wasn't actually funding his "cure", but it would have been awful even if he got what he wanted. Just wear one of those collars for the rest of your life, jackass.

HOW IS NO ONE CHECKING IN ON THIS RESEARCH?? This experimentation on human beings is taking place with no government interference???

Pyro and Avalanche are fucking don't even try to convince me otherwise. Pyro, I don't care where you are from, I'm gonna be so weird about you calling every man you meet “darling”.

Episode 10: Come the Apocalypse

The public will see literally any villain and be like "A RENEGADE MUTANT!!" Like yeah sure I think Apocalypse technically is a mutant?? But like they really just profile all criminals as mutants.

Again, not sorry for you, rich boy.

Poor Rogue, having to absorb all these men's damage.

Episode 11 & 12: Days of Future Past

Bishop is a fucking traitor holy shit. Sure he gets better but damn. Girly was really like "The face-eating jaguars would never eat my face." and then was immediately told he was no longer needed.

"Someone... or something has come back through the time portal." "CHECK PLEASE! TIME PORTAL?"

"You kids better behave yourselves; I'm staying behind to babysit."

"Okay, ROUND BOY. Let's dance."

Wolverine has all the best lines.

Wonder why Mystique specifically chose to impersonate Gambit for the assassination. Perhaps he seemed the most likely? Perhaps a grudge against him for his relationship with Rogue?

Episode 13: The Final Decision

I'm so fucking disappointed that the fate of mutantkind lies in the hands of Senator Kelly because, dog, I wanna shoot him.

When you make a giant racist robot factory and even the giant racist robot factory is smart enough to recognize that mutant rights are human rights and so it resolves to protect humanity by replacing it with robots. Fucking dumbasses.

Honestly makes you wonder what the fuck Trask thought he was doing coming back in the new series. He knew that starting up another Master Mold would inevitably lead to the robots replacing politicians' brains with computers and he DID IT AGAIN ANYWAY.

Seeing Chuck and Magnus working together always warms my heart. And then they go right back to being enemies.

That Mister Sinister teaser at the end was... I'm not gonna say it.

[marley-manson]

001 | Xena

Thank you! 💖

Favorite character:

Xena!! Everything I could possibly want in a female character, and a fandom that largely enjoys it rather than downplaying it.

I loooove that the writers went into the show (Xena, not her first appearance on Hercules probs) essentially writing her as a male archetype almost no concessions to the fact that she's played by Lucy Lawless other than pronouns and some het. She's cold and stoic - it's not until the first season finale that she even really displays a raw emotion other than mid-fight glee, including when her own mother draws a sword on her, and when she has to kill a man she loves to some extent. She's the strongest, toughest, most competent person in any room at all times, and everyone knows it and defers to her, absolutely including men. Early on there are a few scenes where she's hit on and punches dudes, but that actually goes away pretty quick as she just tends to command a certain sense of respect. It's an ideal female power fantasy - not to survive patriarchal violence, but to live without even having to spare a thought for it.

She's complex and nuanced and the narrative is very interested in exploring her as a three dimensional character.

She's formerly evil and still revels in violence, and it's amazing. She's often on the verge of going too dark again and needing to be pulled back from the edge, and she snaps in a few episodes including one where she attempts to murder Gabrielle, pre-meditated and all. She's framed like a horror movie monster in a few episodes, something I always love to see in a protagonist.

And on the flip side, she's fun! She steadily loosens up the more time she spends with Gabrielle doing good, and she can be very playful at times, and it's awesome to see in contrast to the first season.

I'll never be over her and idt there'll ever be another female character who can truly compare. Xena is a product of the tone of the show, and that tone is dead now.

Least Favorite character:

Borias, mainly for his appearance in The Debt as the only man who has ever had physical power over Xena - while her legs were broken - and for clitblocking Lao Ma.

5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon):

Xena/Gabrielle (and Mel/Janice who counts under this umbrella) Gabrielle/Aphrodite Xena/Ares Xena/Lao Ma Xena/Callisto

Character I find most attractive:

Gabrielle. I mean just look at her abs

Character I would marry:

Gabrielle 💖

Character I would be best friends with:

Gabrielle lmao.

a random thought:

Xena has the best clipshows of any show I've ever seen. Almost always worth watching for the absolutely delightful framing devices.

An unpopular opinion:

I get shallow entertainment out of the scenes where Xena seduces men in the later seasons lol. Like firstly, I love that the show really pointedly toes a line and she never actually sleeps with them past like season 2, because she's in a relationship with Gabrielle. I also love that they show Gabrielle being annoyed or jealous if she gets into it. The show is blatantly playing both sides and trying to appeal to het viewers as well, but very deliberate in never contradicting X/G and I can appreciate that.

But also I love how dominant Xena almost always is, both in bed and in how she just interacts with men, and how it's always framed as something she wants/how she behaves by default rather than something she does for the dudes, who are generally more ambivalent about her topping. Like, ultimately it's a fantasy for subby male viewers, but it doesn't feel like it so it's enjoyable to me.

This is popular with the het fans lol, but they're the minority so it still counts.

my canon OTP:

Xena/Gabrielle, and yes it absolutely counts as canon for the purposes of this question.

Non-canon OTP:

Xena/Ares

most badass character:

Do I have to say it after my ode to her up there?

pairing I am not a fan of:

Gabrielle/Joxer, Gabrielle/Virgil, Gabrielle/any dude. Xena/Borias in terms of canon relationships.

character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another):

Najara!!!! I absolutely adored her in her first episode, she's an amazing foil to Xena. She would've been a perfect recurring villain after Callisto, with her moral ambiguity, her deliberate choice to kill vs Xena's bloodlust, her more grandiose ideals vs Xena's more do good when its in front of you philosophy, etc.

Then her second episode just eviscerates her character and turns her into a caricature of a ~crazy girl~ and it's awful. The actress probably wasn't available for a recurring role, but like, she could've been written off more respectfully, or never given a second episode at all to assassinate her character. Boo.

favourite friendship:

Gabrielle and Aphrodite, I think. They're very cute together. Though shout out to Gabrielle and Ephiny, since I did find it quite touching to see her again in season 6.

character I want to adopt or be adopted by:

None, I don't really think of characters this way.

ask meme

[sawyer-is-not-my-name]

Requested: Nico di Angelo x Son of Nyx reader

Request: Nico do Angelo x Son of Nyx

Stepping out from the shadows, and into camp half-blood was always odd for you. Sometimes you felt that you didn't really fit in, the looks some campers gave you shadow traveled didn't dissipate that feeling either. The younger campers were usually afraid of you too until you started creating stars above their heads which brought a smile to their face, as it followed them around for a bit.

You understood to some extent why people didn't think you belonged here, a lot of them were of Olympian descent, your mother, however, had been one of the first goddesses. Maybe they were right to some degree, you couldn't help but feel they might be. But the one thing that still kept you tied to this camp was Nico di Angelo, your best friend.

He was a lot like you in many ways. He could shadow travel, and people often gave him weird looks as if he didn't belong there. Maybe that's why you felt so connected to him, you both felt cast out here.

Speaking of Nico, he was currently trying to sneak up on you. Shadows bending around him as he did, if it wasn't for your senses noticing the abnormality he would've been able to. But alas you noticed him, turning around and making the shadows dissipate around him, you smiled at him. "Nice try Neeks." He smiled bashfully at you, after being caught.

You both made your way further into camp while catching the other up on what had happened since you last saw each other. While walking his hand brushed against yours causing your cheeks to flush a bit, it was an odd feeling that hadn't happened before. Why was he all of the sudden having this effect on you?

As you both passed, the tall raven-haired Percy Jackson, seeing the way Nico looked at him almost lit rage in you. You couldn't explain why this was happening. This hadn't ever happened before, so why were you feeling like this now. It put you in a bad mood how it made you feel, why were you jealous of the boy you knew Nico had previously liked.

You muttered a 'see you later' to Nico, as you booked it to your cabin. Crashing on your bunk as you thought through it. You'd never even liked anyone before, so why Nico, why now? So many different thoughts played through your mind, you couldn't get it to slow down.

No one else elicited these feelings in you, not Percy Jackson, not Jason Grace, not Will Solace, not Annabeth Chase, or Piper McLean. No one else had ever even managed to gain your attention like that. So why Nico? Why now?

You were interrupted from your thoughts when your sibling Callisto came into the cabin. "You doing alright?" Something about the question and the obvious nature of the fact that you were not alright, made you angry. You couldn't even control the fact you were mad. Mad at yourself and your stupid feelings for Nico. You stormed out of the cabin, letting your shoulder knock into there's as you left. "I'll take that as a 'no'" you practically growled as he said that, your anger not doing anyone any favors.

The rest of the week was spent with you mad at everyone and hiding in the shadows. Refusing to come out, no matter how much someone looked for you. You didn't understand why you had to have feelings for him, or why any of it was just happening now. It didn't make sense. Nor did your anger, it seemed misplaced. But that's usually how it was.

----

You were sitting in a tree away from most campers, and out of sight. Bending the shadows to keep you hidden. If it wasn't for Nico generating energy to try and shadow travel to you he wouldn't have even known you were here. "Y/n? You here? I just want to talk, you haven't talked to me at all this week. I just wanna know if you're okay. I miss you." His voice was distraught and shaky. You could tell he was upset, and it made you feel bad for hiding away from him. The fact your hiding had upset him, made your anger dissipate into guilt, the shadows surrounding you leaving with the anger.

"I'm sorry," you said rather quietly but enough for him to hear. You made your way down from the tree, standing in front of the raven-haired boy. "What're you sorry for, I'm not mad at you" he replied before pulling you into a hug, you could barely register what he said as your brain seemed to go dumb. The feelings you had for him made an appearance as your cheeks flamed with heat. "I- I'm sorry for hiding away from you." He looked at you a little surprised, "why were you hiding from me?" He seemed a little upset at your admittance.

You scratched the back of your head while trying to come up with an answer that didn't out your crush on him. But couldn't find one. "This isn't because I tried to hold your hand last week, right? Gods, you're straight, aren't you? I'm sorry, gods, I'm so sorry if I made you uncomfortable." Your eyes widened in shock, he liked you? Why did he like you? "You like me, why?" It was odd, you weren't used to these feelings, and now the chance of them being returned was so odd.

"I don't know why, I just do. You're always there, you understand me." Your cheeks seemed to flame, "I like you too, that's why I was hiding. I'm not used to feeling like this, I've never... I don't know at first it made me mad, but then again doesn't everything." He cut off your rambling gently pressing his lips to yours. When he did that, the emotion you felt created stars above you both, you didn't mean to make them it just seemed to happen. Nico pulled away grinning up at the stars that appeared underneath the tree you were under.

"Stop smirking." He snickered shaking his head, "sure thing Starboy" you groaned at the nickname. "Don't call me that." Nico laughed lightly "too late."

[artist-issues]

I feel saddened that Disney has lost their edge movie and villain wise. As Disney has had such a great rogues gallery in the past.

I really haven’t figured out what the new villains are missing. It’s either that there isn’t a true villain, like Abuela in Encanto or Namaari in Raya & the Last Dragon or Callisto in Strange World, OR the villain is a true villain, but because the message of the movie is poor, the villain comes off as poor, too.

I mean, I made a post about the formula of Disney a while back and how they need to remember what the pieces are for: the villains are one of those pieces. They’re supposed to embody the opposite of the movie’s message.

So in Wish, the message was weak. “You have the power to make your own wishes come true, so keep trying.” So King Magnifico was a weak character. He still almost-represented the opposite of the message, but because the message is so vague and the story didn’t build on it, he might be a “true” villain, but he’s not a good villain.

He represents the belief that “nothing you do on your own can make your wishes come true, so you should stop trying.” Kind of. Except, he himself believes that he has the power to make his own ��wishes” (absolute power) come true—and everyone else’s. So his character falls flat. All that the audience is left to hold on to is Chris Pine’s charm, one-liners about his handsomeness, and empty stabs at chemistry with his wife.

What they could’ve done is had Magnifico be a true opposite to the movie’s message (vague as it is) and it might’ve been more impactful. Instead of being obsessed with keeping his own power safe (keeping his own wishes safe) he could’ve been the kind of King that is super-duper strict. Doesn’t even try to hide how strict he is. He could’ve had no magic, and in fact, magic is banned in Rosas and he tries to convince everyone that it doesn’t exist—

—because he believes the opposite of the movie’s message: “You have the power to make your own wishes come true, so keep trying.” He doesn’t believe anything good can com from reaching for “more.” Maybe the kingdom was magical once, and famous for being a place where new innovations and enchanted items came from, but then it was besieged because foreigners wanted it’s power when he was a young Prince, and the survivors were forced to flee to a secret island, and they re-established the kingdom of Rosas, but it was never the same.

Because now young Prince Magnifico starts his rule as fearful King Magnifico, and he believes that magic, and innovation, and “wishing” for too much outside of your comfort zone, only invites trouble. It’s best to lead a safe, tightly controlled life with no risks. But his good intentions turn into an obsession with keeping the kingdom hidden and under control. So King Magnifico frequently holds fear-based memorials of Rosas’ history, and why magic is bad, and punishes anybody who makes too much bustle or tries to leave.

Everybody in Rosas lives according to tight schedules and curfews. They serve the King by making their kingdom fortified, but carefully hidden. No buildings are built over a certain height limit (kind of like an allegory for not looking up, not getting too close to the sun, whatever) and all old relics of magic that the refugees kept over the years are meant to be turned in. The citizens keep themselves busy by adhering to a strict schedule, where everybody is given the same rations of food, the same quiet farming jobs, rotating market days, etc. Because the whole idea is, “we’re in a hidden kingdom. The world is still looking for Rosas to take advantage of it’s magic. They can never find us—hopefully they’ll forget about us and leave us in peace and safety if we stay hidden and keep to ourselves and get rid of magic.”

Of course, this whole setting changes King Magnifico from a charming showman going on and on about his own handsomeness to a strict protector who’s public persona is a benevolent father-figure just trying to keep everyone safe, but under the surface he’s a dictator using “safety” to control with fear.

And the setting has to change Asha, too. Because you don’t grow up on a hidden kingdom where your whole life is on a tight, boring schedule and everyone keeps their heads down, and you’re the only one bubbly and ready to try new things. You don’t even know what that looks like; you’ve never seen anyone eager to dream or take risks or go exploring.

UNLESS, maybe your grandfather (who is barely a character in the original movie) remembers the old Rosas. And he has kept magic contraband from the time when innovation was the kingdom’s identity. And so while everyone else your age has grown up with hiding and boredom as the norm, you have a window into a world where things can be better and more magical. Sabino becomes what Scuttle was to Ariel, showing her pieces of a more wonderful world than the one she’s stuck in.

OR, instead of having a grandfather who makes her think magic and wishing is not what the King says it is, Asha could start the movie totally drinking the Kool-Aid. Maybe she, herself, agrees with the King, because she used to wish for things to get better and believe that her grandfather’s hidden magical artefacts were awesome when she was little…but then her dad got sick. And she wished and wished for him to get better, (but we’re actually shown that, instead of the throwaway line from Wish) and he didn’t, and it shattered her faith.

Or maybe she not only wished for him to get better, but she tried to do something and step out of line to make it happen. Maybe her dad got sick, and her grandfather took out like a magical cup from Rosas’ forbidden history, and said, “he might get better if we just got him to drink out of this, but the cup is broken” and like 7 year-old Asha really believed that was true, so she used a little tinkering gift she inherited to try and fix it. But it didn’t work, and he died, and so when we meet her she’s this pessimistic teen who loves her grandfather but kind of pities him and constantly has to shut him up and shut him down about magic because it doesn’t work and it’ll get him in trouble with the King.

But then through the course of the movie and an adventure that actually has good writing, she starts to have a little of that 7-year old hope that magic and wishing actually could make things better, even if it’s hard to pursue them and risky to take chances. And that brings her into conflict with the villain, who has the same belief she started with only more extreme, and the movie

..would actually be at least entertaining or even compelling, even if the message is kind of vague and bland.

I did not mean for this to turn into a Wish-rewrite, and I’m not even saying it’s a good one, I was just trying to process what’s wrong with Magnifico, the most recent Disney villain who falls flat, out loud 😅

[something-something-here]

ZARTEMIS/NIGHTEMIS HEADCANNONS PLEASE DUDE- DEADASS LOVE UR BLOG IM GONNA EAT YOUR FLOORBOARDS

Omg hi I love your blog too, iminyourwalls—

I've been dying to share my thoughts with someone:

• I think I already put this in a hashtag somewhere, but when Artemis said "yes my brave one, they're beautiful tonight" she was looking at Zoë not the actual stars

• Also the 'timestamps' series + 'uniform upgrade' and 'cypress' fanfics are exactly how I envisioned not only Artemis/Zoë but also their relationship in general with the hunters and their respective roles

• They definitely love to play with the Goddess-Liutenant dynamic

• I also feel like they wouldn't put a label in their relationship, like they know they love eachother and that's enough (ofc they talked boundaries like exclusively and all), their love is free, wild and unrestrained

• And they wouldn't really try to keep it a secret but wouldn't actively tell everyone about it, but they don't need to, everyone knows

• I'm torn between the idea that a) Artemis (and the hunters) saved Zoë while she was running from the monsters Atlas had sent after her and b) young Artemis exploring the mortal world and meeting Zoë by chance and creating the hunters together

• I do firmly believe that Zoë was Artemis' first lieutenant, whether because she was her first huntress or she created that position a while after and Zoë was chosen for it

• If I recall correctly one of the things Thalia didn't like about Zoë is the way she -literally- worshipped Artemis and I think that was a bit of jealousy actually—

• Also there had definitely been hunters crushing on Zoë and her having no idea. Artemis thinks is funny but also has suddenly more -openly- affection strikes, just to remind everyone

• As far as I know Artemis was born after the titan war and Zoë being atlas' daughter was born before, making her older than Artemis and she likes reminding everyone about it every once in a while

• I feel like Zoë would have had a competitive relationship with Callisto

• Zoë is always worrying about the hunters and while Artemis loves her for that, she takes her on hunting trips together (just the two of them) and plays around with her, she loves seeing her free like this

• I actually don't think there was a confession per se but they were sharing an intimate moment together (non sexual) and they just kissed, they don't know who started it, but they didn't care

• No matter how much centuries pass, Artemis knows that there will never be anyone like Zoë, and no matter what happens, even when she's fading and the millennia are blurred together she can never forget her

• When the whole Roman thing happened and she was confused, desoriented and in unbelievable pain, her Roman and greek forms trying to take control she called for Zoë, she always helped her when the civil wars happened, when the roman empire rose, Zoë was there for her, to calm her, ground her and take care of her, loving and devoting herself to both Artemis and Diana

• Zoë sometimes sings the song of the Hespérides only for Artemis and no one else

• Zoë is supposed to have her own tent, but she always stays at Artemis'

• When there alone in their tent, Artemis sometimes turns into a wolf and starts to randomly (and gently) chew on Zoë, who at this point barely even notices

• Artemis took Zoë to hunt with her and her mother Leto once (she approves of her, Zoë is very nervous tho and overly formal with her)

• After Orion was stung by the scorpion, he went mad and tried to attack Artemis, but she defeated him with Zoë, which is why it was Zoë who was always sent to hunt him every time he returned

• Artemis brings Zoë to Olympus as her representative in meetings and companion to parties

• When she died Artemis was trying her best not to lose it in front of her, so she didn't have to worry, so she would go in peace

• Artemis is always staring at the twilight, as if she could see her, as if she could reach her. It's the time of the day she feels the loss all over again, only worsened by the stars of course, the stars

• Zoë went for reincarnation and reached the isle of the blessed and Artemis asked she be turned to a minor goddess for her achievements (kinda like Hercules)

• She does and comes back to Artemis' side, but this time it's forever (delusional)

This got a bit too long but I think that's all, if I think of anything else I'll make another post

[canon-vi]

What if? What if Tasya was a character in Sora? Oh yeah, thanks to TikTok for inspiring songs

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•

Also blames Dream for her mother's death, but doesn't show it, and no matter how much she blames him, she still stays close to him and loves him

•

Reaches out to Pallete, feels a resemblance to herself in him and sincerely believes him

•

Doesn't believe Lux, pretends to believe, but does the opposite

•

Says everything straight to your face with a stupid look (she understands everything)

•

While the original Taisiya is "I see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil, guys", this Taisiya is "I saw everything, I heard everything and I will tell you all"

•

She calls Nightmare not her father, but her uncle

•

This Taisiya is happy to wear all sorts of witch outfits, she always dresses as a witch for all sorts of events that involve costumes

•

She is trying hard to become a witch, she reads every book where witches are mentioned by at least some third generation of the author's great-grandfather's grandmother

--------------------------💠----------------------------

Dream:

Yes, he is guilty, yes, he is bad both as a husband and as a father, but I will still love him, he... He is trying, okay? Enough, just enough of all this...

Nadezhda:

Hope... Uncle told me that Mom is in heaven and what he did for her to go there... I think Mom really deserves to rest up there, and those who think otherwise - let them burn in hell

Ink:

Brother Pallete and sister Drop's mom... Well.. I don't know what I can say about her... But I see how she tries, really, it's just... I like Miss Killer's company more...

Nightmare:

Uncle often scolds dad and just as often talks about mom, and only good things, after his story about what he did to send mom to heaven, I started thinking about who loves mom more, dad or uncle...

Alphonse:

Brother Callisto, Brother Pallete, Mr. Merciless, Sister Drop, Miss Artemis, Dad, Uncle, Miss Killer... agh... well, EVERYONE says he's bad, but for some reason he treats me well... I'd rather trust everyone and not go near him

Killer:

I really like listening to her, she's very beautiful and her voice is very pleasant!! Well, sometimes the stories that Miss Killer tells me I already know, but it doesn't matter! I will listen to her forever

Cross:

He gives me free treats and who am I not to take them? And Miss Killer speaks highly of him, so I think he's a good guy

Reaper:

What Uncle did was horrible, but I hope Mr. Death knows it was worth it...

Geno:

I probably won't be able to look her in the eye with a clear conscience, after all, because of me Uncle tortured her daughter...

Angst (Dead):

I heard from Uncle that he's very annoying and... Dead child...

Callisto:

Brother Callisto is the best older brother, and anyone who disagrees can go to hell, because you can't go against facts, and the fact that Callisto is the best older brother.

Crescent:

I... I really try to go to church, it's just... I can't help my sensitivity, the smell makes me sick there...

Merciless:

Sister Lux's fiancé... I don't know him that well, we avoid each other, I don't know what to say about him

Lux:

"Did you know that if you cut your hair, it will grow faster??" If it weren't for Brother Callisto, I would have cut her hair, but I don't want Callisto to scold me for it... so I just nod, agree and don't do it...

Pallete:

I try to support my brother as best I can, maybe I'm not doing it well, but at least I try, the company of him and little sister Drop is much better than the company of sister Lux and loneliness, I hope my imposition will not make our relationship worse...

Goth:

I feel awkward looking her in the eye just like I did in front of Miss Geno, but what can I do? Brother Pallete is her friend, so we have to see each other

Drop:

Sister Drop is very cute! But I can't understand her love for Mr. Merciless, he's already taken, he's in love with sister Lux, but I'll still teach my sister some manners!

Bonus:

Albedo:

He dares to think that he can go against the king and my with Callisto will , I'd rather move to Miss Killer than to him!

PaperJam:

I have an uncle with Miss Killer and Ink instead of a mom, I get enough love and care, but she and her brother still continue their tirade about depriving dad of parental rights.

Gradient:

Only Brother Callisto and Brother Pallete can hit dad! He dared to hit a member of the royal family! In Uncle's time, he would have been executed for this on the spot! He should be glad that dad is mercifull!

Angst (alive):

He once brought me a book about witchcraft and such... I don't want to know where and how he found them, but I am very grateful to him!

Artemis:

I try to distract her from my appearance, I put on glasses, change my hairstyle, dress differently, I like to walk with her and cook

--------------------------💠----------------------------

--------------------------💠----------------------------

E. L. A. by pretty Rose 🌹 @anotherrosesthatfell

Sunflower in full bloom au by pretty Cherry 🍒 @cherriesandbonbons / @purplesunflowerz

[chainera]

The Throw and The Catch

“Hey, are you sure you’ll be alright out there?” Mars asks, his sad voice shaded with concern. Next to him is the Earth, with heavy bags under his eyes, the faded lines of tears still scratching on his surface like a broken tattoo. The Moon isn’t sure how that worked, but he also isn’t sure how sound even traveled in space, or how any of them were even sentient. So he supposes it didn’t really matter. 

A little less than an astronomical unit away are Venus and Mercury, talking with the Sun about what the Moon had informed them of. It’s strange watching them interact— usually Venus would be spitting insults at Mercury, and Mercury would fire back in his own defiant way, heading away and taking all the offense in stride. But now they were actually interacting like two normal beings, even if the conversation was stifled and tense. The looming threat of the moon revolution was obviously more important than whatever disagreement they had gotten themselves tangled up in now.

The Moon looks on towards the asteroid belt, a realm of gloomy dark rocks, as far as the eye can see. He remembers the last time he was here— of watching, terrified, as his fellow moons planned a coup against his best friend. He remembers dodging the asteroids, desperately launching them back, convincing Callisto to go on the right track, all while his Dark side snored in the back of his mind.

“I-I can go if you want.” Mars stammers, but the Moon refuses. Earth needed Mars right now, needed affirmation that they wouldn’t abandon him. As for Mercury and Venus, the Sun wouldn’t allow them to leave, and besides, they needed to devise a back-up plan anyways. 

“I’ll go.” The Moon states firmly, and before Mars could say another word, the Moon floated off into the asteroid belt, forcing down the panic that spiked in his core.

It’s fine. He thinks, as the sunlight behind him grew dimmer and dimmer, the warm pink fading off into the dark blue of space. I just need to get to Jupiter, and warn the gas giants about this whole thing. I just need to…

Then, something flies past him. 

What—

The Moon reels back, narrowly dodging a small, spiky asteroid. He looks up to see a figure in the distance, but it resembles either Phobos or Deimos more than Ceres, the only one who he was expecting.

“Hello!” The asteroid(?) grins, batting her eyes. “I’m Amalthea. A moon of Jupiter’s, or how he would like to call us, a prize.” She spits the last word with venom, and more pointed asteroids rise around to her. 

“Well I’ve seen you’ve returned, Earth’s Moon.” Europa greets, coming over, before letting out a bubbly laugh. Flanking her are more asteroids- or well, he assumes, more of Jupiter’s moons. “Pardon Amalthea, but she doesn’t take lightly to beings who betray us. But, if you join us, we’ll put that all in the past. I won’t even ask about your… disappearance.”

The Moon grits his teeth, trying to keep his thoughts steady. “If I could take Io and Callisto, I can definitely take you guys.”

Europa scowls, opening her mouth, but then—

“But are you sure you can take us?” Said a voice, familiar in all the wrong ways. 

The Moon turns around so fast he gives himself whiplash. Sure enough, floating in front of him was Ganymede, along with many other beings he didn’t recognize. 

“Aw, sweetheart, you always have the best timing.” Europa giggles, any sense of anger gone from her tone at the sight of the newcomer. 

“Of course I do.” Ganymede winks, before directing his attention to the Moon, his once flattered smile fading into a mean sneer. The Moon feels a sudden, overwhelming wave of dread. 

“Meet the moons of Saturn.” Ganymede grins. “Mimas,” the gray one with one eye beams, “Ba-Dione,” the one with a white streak on her surface rolls her eyes, “Ensalada,” the one with blue veins scoffs, but holds his tongue, “Iapetus,” the one with a white and brown surface looks on with a neutral expression, “and the rest!”

The remaining small moons glare at him, but stay silent.

“Y���know, since I’m nice,” Ganymede continues, “I’ll give you one last chance. Join us.”

The Moon’s gaze darts around the area, and he was sure that if he was an earthling, he’d be drowning in sweat. There was nothing around him, nothing but more and more moons all giving him silent stares. There was no one coming— Callisto and Titan were in who-knows-where, the inner planets were too busy doing their own thing, Ceres probably had enough sense not to intervene, and the gas giants had no reason to check the belt. Desperate, the Moon turns to the enemy, grasping at the straws.

I can do this. I convinced Callisto, I can—

“Do you really think what you’re doing is right?!” The Moon asks, his voice thankfully growing stronger with each word. “Going against the planets? The Sun?! And what do you even plan to do with the Earth? Kill him?!”

He sees Dione purse her lips, Enceladus glancing away, and something shifts in Iapetus’s eyes. He’s getting through them at least.

But then Ganymede laughs. “Do you take us for idiots? Of course we aren’t going to kill him. Make an example out of him, strip him of all his precious little Earthlings, sure, but no killing. And as for the Sun… we’re working on it.”

And instantly, all the moons nod, like robots.

“And what about you all?!” The Moon questions, trying to keep his voice measured, but there’s a pathetically obvious note of desperation in it. “Did you really just let him waltz over and persuade you? How do you even know he’s going to keep his word and not betray all of you?”

“Oh please.” Ganymede responds, his tone clipped and dark. “I’m not like you. I’m not a traitor. Now, I was aware that I gave you one last chance. And that sounded like a no.”

The Moon gulps, feeling fear overtake his core. The stares at him turn piercing, and he’s distantly aware of Amalthea raising her razor sharp asteroids and Saturn’s moons gathering some as well. Europa laughs sharply, and Ganymede’s mouth turns into another sneer. The fear is breaking the Moon’s resolve, and—

Light.

The Moon gasps, eyes widening. The cloudy fear breaks. The piercing stares turned… confused, almost, and—

Light.

Dark’s thoughts, excited and venomous, cuts through The Moon’s. Are they causing trouble for you?

The stares slowly turn piercing again, and Ganymede—

Yes. Please—!

Ganymede yells, “Knock him out!”

Immediately, asteroids are hurled towards the Moon at all sides. Dark flings themselves down, and the asteroids crash together, one of them going straight towards Ensalada.

“OW!” Ensalada yelps as the asteroid lands squarely below his eye. Ganymede tuts.

“You should know better than to try and fight back, Earth's moon. Don’t make this difficult for us.”

Oh, this is going to be fun.

Another barrage of asteroids heads towards the Moon like a solarflare. The Moon squeezes his eyes shut, giving reins to his counterpart. Instead of running, Dark turns and expertly evades each one, much to the other moons’ shock.

Europa frowns. “What the—

Dark smirks, widening his deep black eyes. The Moon wishes he could see the others’ reactions right now.

Dark cackles, each peal of laughter crisp and deadly. He brings the nearby asteroids around him with ease, forming a ring.

“What- what is with your eyes?!” Ganymede shouts, flabbergasted. 

“Well, the thing is, I’m not the Moon. At least, not the one you’re used to. I’m his Dark side.”

And Dark spins, the asteroids twirling and flying towards their opponents like bullets. Most of the other moons avoid them, but one hits Europa’s side, and another one slams into Ganymede’s cheek, eliciting twin yelps of pain. 

Dark laughs again, thrilled. 

“And here you thought beating us will be that easy.” He taunts, and Ganymede’s eyes light up with fury. 

“Attack him!” He shouts, and Dark forms a shield, blocking the asteroids coming at him easily. Some asteroids are thrown nastily towards his back, but the Moon handles that, deflecting every one. The two of them fight like a dance, completely synchronized in ways only two beings who existed together all their lives would. 

We should get out of here. Light thinks, as he shoves him and Dark back, dodging one of Iapetus’s asteroids, who’s still looking at him strangely. 

Oh come on. Dark whines in their head. We could beat them all easily. And I haven’t fought in forever…

No we can’t. Light scolds. You have too big of an ego. 

Ganymede screams a war cry, and an asteroid bruises the Moon’s side. Pain blossoms, and both Light and Dark wince. 

Maybe you’re right. Dark admits, But if we’re going to flee, we’re going to go out with a bang.

Wha—

Give me your strength. 

…fine. But I better not regret this. 

With their combined strength, Dark raises up at least a dozen asteroids, and they rise up behind him like a wave. 

The last thing Light sees before the asteroids come crashing down is Ganymede’s dropped jaw. The last thing he hears is Europa’s high-pitched shriek.

“Next time, don’t fight against someone when you don’t even know half of them!” Dark shouts victoriously as they flee away, fast as lightning. Within seconds the shouts of the other moons fade, and within minutes they tumble out of the belt.

That was—

Amazing! Can we do it again?!

The Moon groans, his- their entire body tired and covered in bruises. Seriously?!

[lxdymoon0357]

HELLO- Since Penelope manhwa came back i suddenly got an idea 🙊

So what if reader has been OG!Penelope's closest friend and so Isekai!Penelope (it took some time) told reader that she isn't the real Penelope. Now we add some angst✨

Reader has been in love with Penelope for the longest time and that didn't change even when the woman they love wasn't really who they are. But they try to let go and support her survival quests and eventualy her romantic relation with Callisto. But at the day of their wedding, reader gets drunk and finally confesses to Penelope

Idk if this makes sense but Dandelions played while i was writing this so i felt supported to bring pain 🙏

(A/N: I'm probably crying from writing this request and I loved the idea of it. Hope you all enjoy|| Kind of a meanie Callisto. Also mentions of blood, sword on neck, etc.....Angst || Part 2)

Penelope Eckhart X Reader:

My lover who never belonged to me....

⌘ As the cold air of night hits your cheeks, you suddenly shiver for a second before closing the window with shaky hands. You, Penelope and Yvonne were all have a few drinks right before her wedding. You look back at the two sisters as they got out a few bottles of different alcoholic drinks for you three to drink, as you sat down with them and Penelope immediately hugged your side while giving you the most beautiful smile, reminding you it’s never going to be for you…

You remember the night when Penelope started acting a bit weird, more sharp and a bit distanced, but it quickly went away as you again got close to your best-friend….You remember when she confessed that she wasn’t actually Penelope but a lady named Siyeon Cha in her body, yet still the love you always had for her didn’t fade away, even if the lady you loved wasn’t her, but someone else, you accepted it but you could never move on from it….

You remember her always rambling about how she hated the crown prince, Callisto Regulus, and how after she went missing from the hunting competition and how after she was at the court, she confessed the words you had dreaded to hear from all through your friendship

“Yes, me and the crown prince are in love with each-other!”…..What?…No….She hadn’t told you anything about it…..But she never really lied to you….so it was the truth. How could you be stupid enough to think that she will love like in those romantic novels? As after the trial, she walked towards you and thanked you and Vinter for supporting her in the trial, before she gave a few words to her brothers and walked away from you with her back turned towards you….You remember how her hateful ramblings about the crown prince turned into love-filled rants and soon how he proposed to her.

You could never muster up the courage to tell her about your love for her and now you’re regretting it, as you helped her pick shoes and a wedding dress, you remember how when she introduced you to Callisto and left you both alone for a second, he put his sword on your neck and threatened you that if you’d try to betray her, upset her or talk bad about her behind her back, your body would be so messed up they won’t be able to recognize you…As you tried to convince him about your loyalty towards her while tears were prickling and almost falling down your eyes as he pressed his swords against your throat harder, drawing a bit of blood, before you heard Penelope’s heels clack through the marble floor as he let go of you and asked you get out, as you immediately ran out the room and left the place with horrible tears falling down your eyes and covering your cheeks…

You remember Penelope scolding Callisto after you told her about his inspection on you, leaving the important detail of how he almost killed you because his sword had put a cut on your throat, Callisto asked for your forgiveness sincerely and you couldn’t do anything except forgive and try to forget…Through the scolding and his apology, they both didn’t notice the bandage around your neck, they both were too busy telling you about what their wedding banquet was going look like and look after each-other with love-filled eyes, those eyes of Penelope you wished were directed towards you and not the crown-prince…

As you tried to shake off the feeling of betrayal and devastation, and finally try to let go of your feelings for her and try to be happy for her, your best-friend not your crush…. After an hour or two had passed, you three had quite a few drinks now, luckily Penelope could handle her alcohol well, Yvonne had fallen asleep and you were drunk rambling to her about random things…

“Y’know, then the guy tried to hit on the girl and than her friend whom she loved so much, hit the guy and confessed to her….Hehehe”

As you giggle childishly, Penelope couldn’t help but smile and chuckle, you were her dearest friend and ever since she told you about her proposal and relationship with Callisto, you had been more distanced, more spaced-out and more closed-up… But he got used to it after some-time…

“Oh, speaking of love…Penelope you know, you’re quite a rude lady and a very mean friend!” You rambled and stammered out “Oh? How, darling Y/N?” Penelope sweetly asked as she brushed her thin, soft fingers through your scalp… “You always hated that bastard crown prince, but now you love him so much…you don’t pay attention to me…” You softly replied back, making her stifle a giggle as she watch you stand up and fill another glass and drink it down in a few seconds, before she replied with “But, Y/N he’s my fiancée and my husband-to-be, I have to pay attention to him! “ Penelope said as she herself stood up and walked towards you, her part of her night-gown daintily held up in her fist to prevent her from tripping in it.

“WHY CAN’T I BE YOUR FIANCEE AND YOUR SPOUSE-TO-BE?!” You immediately screamed out catching Penelope off-guard, luckily Yvonne had quite a few drinks herself and she was horribly knock-out…

“I’ve always loved you Penelope, even after you became Siyeon and I know you’re not Penelope anymore…But ever since that crown prince came in your life, I could never be superior to him in showing my love of you….I could never muster up the courage and will never be able to tell you how I feel, but I want to be happy for you as your best-friend and not want you to be my love…. But I just can’t leave my love nor my feelings for you…I’m so sorry….Penelope….” You slurred your last words before falling forward form unconsciousness, yet before you could fall you fell in Penelope’s arms, her having a tight grip on your waist form one arm and her other hand holding your head form behind, processing what you said…

Before she understood anything to say or do, she felt tears pricking hard from her eyes and she fell with you to the floor, before crying her heart out as she failed to realize that in order to live and survive as Penelope she ruined Penelope, the lover who belonged to you…..

[cigarettesandcoffee]

@miidnighters said: Callisto, is, in a word, annoyed. Maybe it was her own fault for not letting Sae know that she was coming tonight - but she came to the bar almost every night to see him, so he should know the routine by now. So did everyone else, which told her that the girl hitting on him mustn't be from around here either - or else she'd know better. She knows that Sae isn't really entertaining her, just being polite, but still. Callisto's been by the bar, stewing, for as long as it takes to down a drink before deciding to do something about it.

"That's my boyfriend you're hitting on," she says by way of announcing her presence.

Sure, Callisto kept him on a string, constantly assured him that she wasn't his and assured him that she would bail on him any time she saw fit. But Saemus liked to think he was pretty good at reading between the lines.

She showed up nearly every night, acted like it was his idea for him to take her home, and then they spent the entire night together snuggled up under a heated blanket. He knew the type; afraid of labels. Labels made things too final, too serious. She was avoiding being committed. He got it. He'd been there once.

So when some skinny little thing ten years his minor came sauntering over, he did his best not to seem like an asshole, but God was he trying his damnedest to drop hints that he wasn't interested. As most youngins were, she was persistent.

So when he saw Callisto pushing through the crowd around the bar, he thanked the stars. At least he could play off that his date was there now.

However, when the woman blurted out that he was her BOYFRIEND, Saemus nearly choked on the sip of his drink that he was taking. "B-... Boyfriend?" He mouthed to Callie with an utterly confused face.

Regardless of him being lost, it seemed to have worked because the girl scoffed and walked herself away, but Sae was left dumbfounded sitting in his chair.

[gryffneedsabreak]

For the OCs get along ask game:

Landon McCallister + Jonah and/or Callisto

and/or Eloise Kittredge + Wesley, please?

thank you!! i decided to make all of these!

landon and jonah are quite different with differing interests but i think they would get along still! i can see them practicing their sword fighting skills together, as well as just chilling and doing camp activities.

callie definitely would be protective of landon! i think they have quite an age difference so maybe they wouldn't be exactly close but i feel like callie would really like him and be supportive of him and his love for hockey! she would also try to help him at the forge to the best of her ability and encourage him to follow his own interests and not feel bad about not being good at smithing etc.

out of all these options, i think wesley and eloise might be the closest. they could bond over their distaste for their mother and do all kinds of cool magic together. wesley will probably get on eloise's more sensible nerves but that's just siblings in general😂 he'd have her back when it really came down to it. i think they could have a really cute and funny dynamic.

[maria021015]

SPOILERS AHEAD FOR CHAPTER 31!

“I’ve finally cracked it! And you’re not going to believe what it says!” Zaida gushed, flopping onto her bed and clutching her phone to her ear. The girl had been spending the better part of the past month-and-a-bit since returning from Carmel translating the Callisto Bestiary and typing up a complete version of it in English. She was finally up to the section dedicated to Naiads and Nereids and so far she’d learned all about the different sub-abilities possible. There was water manipulation, healing, enhanced strength, and other minor abilities that Zaida didn’t possess, such as accelerated speed and breathing underwater - that had been a fun one to try out, and had almost resulted in her drowning in the bathtub. But along with those minor abilities were more major ones, including prophetic talents and telempathy, which could be branched out into multiple smaller abilities. For Zaida, it was reading and manipulating emotions and physical sensations.

“Well, spit it out!” Lydia prompted her from the other end of the phone. According to the text another manifestation of telempathy was the power to connect through the spiritual realm, feeling things from people who had passed at the places where it had happened, but also consciously manipulating that connection to communicate with spirits from beyond the veil. Since stumbling upon that golden nugget of information, she’d been working on overdrive to translate the rest of the text that detailed exactly how this particular ritual worked.

“It says that there’s a way to communicate with the dead, under very specific circumstances,” Zaida explained. “Water Nymphs have the ability to consciously connect with other Nymphs with the same telempathic abilities, if they too decide to reach out from the other side. There are detailed instructions for how to do it, but the principal is kind of like a phone call. You ring and then they can answer.”

“This sounds dangerous. What’s to stop someone else from picking up that proverbial phone call?” The redhead pointed out, her tone sounding incredibly apprehensive.

“That’s why you need to call them with something sentimental, something they had a connection to in our world so they know it’s for them.” She answered, glancing down at the beautiful bracelet adorning her wrist. The bracelet Xander had given her, which was supposed to have been a gift from her mother for her upcoming seventeenth birthday. “I could talk to my Mom again! I have so many questions that she could finally answer.”

“I don’t know about this, Zay.” Lydia hesitated. “We don’t even know if your mom was a telempath like you are. Messing with spirits never ends well, and I might be white, but I’m not ‘Ouija board’ white. You’re not gonna find me in a real-life horror movie anytime soon. I really don’t think it’s a good idea.”

“Yeah, you-you’re probably right,” Zaida cleared her throat to hide her disappointment brushing off the dejection she was currently feeling to change the subject. “So, uh, what are you doing today?”

“Well, his name is Brian.” The girl responded slyly and Zaida snorted loudly. Jackson had finally left for England despite her spending months trying to convince him to stay, and she wasn’t taking it too well. Instead of facing how she felt about it, she’d launched herself back into the Beacon Hills dating pool.

When she finally got off the phone with Lydia a whole hour later, she pulled an outfit out of her closet and changed out of her pyjamas. When she found herself staring at her options and considering what shorts would make her look the best she scolded herself (though she still went with the ones that made her ass stand out from her legs). “I’m going to get groceries!” She called out to Xander on her way out of the apartment. He’d started to be more lenient about allowing her out to run short errands. The first few times she’d caught him following her to make sure she was going where she’d said she was. Now, he didn't bother. That was how she found herself at the Stilinski household, her fist hovering in the air, about to knock on the front door as her anxiety bubbled up to her chest. She was just thinking that maybe she should turn around and go back home, when the rumbling of a car engine approached. Zaida turned to see Sheriff Stilinski’s police car pulling into the driveway, and she plastered a polite smile onto her face to disguise the inner turmoil she was feeling.

“Hey there, Zaida!” The man greeted her cheerfully as he climbed out of his car. “It’s been weird not seeing you around here. Did Xander finally lessen your sentence?”

“Not exactly, Sheriff. So I’d appreciate it if you could conveniently forget that you saw me here?” She requested with a hopeful expression.

“You’re lucky I like you, kid.” He shook his head with a heavy sigh and moved past her to unlock the front door, letting them both inside.

“Hey, da-” Stiles started, but froze when he saw Zaida standing there in the entryway. The boy was sitting on the couch with his feet propped up on the coffee table, gaming controller in his hands and headset covering his ears. “Hold up, Scotty, I gotta go.” He signed off and looked at her with a broad smile and eyes bright with pleasant surprise.

“Hey, Stiles.” Zaida nodded to him, standing rather awkwardly and suddenly not knowing what to do with her hands. Were they always just hanging by her sides like that? She ended up crossing them in front of her chest loosely.

“Zaida, hey. Sorry, I didn’t think you’d be coming,” He scrambled to clean up the mess of crumbs and chip packets from the surrounding area, clearing her a seat on the couch beside him. She elected to remain standing.

“It’s a nice day out, don’t you think? Wanna go for a walk?” She asked him, raising her eyebrows in a pointed manner towards his dad, who stood just a ways off in the kitchen with his back turned to them.

“Not particularly, no.” He wrinkled his nose in distaste, completely missing her hint.

“Too bad, you’re getting out of this dingy room and coming with me.” She sighed and pulled open the curtains that kept the room in darkness. Stiles groaned and his hands flew to protect his eyes from the onslaught of light.

“Oh come on, that’s way too bright,” He complained but she gripped him by his arm and dragged him up and out the front door.

“Bye, Sheriff! I’ll bring him back later!” She called out to his father on their way out, turning to Stiles when they were finally in the clear. “You’re an absolute bozo, Stilinski.”

“What’d I do?” He whined and pouted, still confused as he followed after her.

“I need to talk to you, and believe me, I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t extremely important.” She started with a huff, starting out their stroll on the pavement.

“What’s this about?” He asked her cautiously, wondering if she was finally going to tell him what she’d been so mad at him for since returning from the beach house.

“The Callisto Bestiary, what else would it be about?” She furrowed her brows at him exasperatedly. “I’ve been translating it as I serve my jail sentence, and I’ve finally gotten up to the section about water spirits. A lot of it is stuff we already guessed about my powers, but there is also something completely new. There’s a way that I can use my telempathy powers to forge a connection through the spiritual realm with other telempathic nymphs who have passed on.”

“You want to use it to contact your mother, don’t you?” Stiles approached the subject gently once he finally realised what was happening. “Do you even know if she was a telempath?”

“No, I don’t. That’s why it’s risky. Technically, I could end up contacting someone else entirely.” She admitted, not wanting to lie to him despite the thought crossing her mind. “And this is the part where I lost Lydia’s support.”

“What do you need me to do?” He offered his aid immediately with no further questions asked.

“Really? You’re in? Just like that?” She arched a brow in surprise, her heart leaping as her skin flushed at his willingness to help.

“Just like that,” He nodded in agreement. “How are we going to do this?”

“Well, the first thing I need is a sentimental object connecting Mom to this earthly realm. We can check that off the list.” She held up her wrist and he caught sight of the jeweled bracelet glinting there. “Next, I need a quiet place away from prying eyes where I can draw power from a water source. It has to be fresh water.”

“You figured out that you’re a Naiad and not a Nereid then?” Stiles clarified, identifying the significance of her specification.

“Yeah, when being at the beach didn’t make me feel any different, I figured saltwater couldn’t be my source. I’ve never felt a change in my power because I’m technically always surrounded by freshwater. It’s in the air.” She shrugged in explanation.

“I think I know the perfect place where we can do it.” Stiles grinned as he thought back to when his mother would take him to swim in Beacon Lake as a child. “Honestly, I’m kind of surprised you haven’t found somewhere and gone yourself.”

“I would have, but I can’t. The last thing that I need is a tether to this world, to stop me from losing my consciousness on the other side. Basically, I need someone to pull me back.” She spoke quietly, not wanting to add that it had to be somebody she had a deep emotional connection with. It was why he was her only option after Lydia. She was desperate, but not desperate enough to conduct the ritual without an anchor. From the look on his face, she could tell it only just registered to him how dangerous this would really be.

“Okay,” He finally accepted it, knowing how important this was to her.

“Now, I don’t know whether to be grateful that you're willing to do it, or offended that you’re happy to let me risk my consciousness.” Zaida acknowledged her current thoughts aloud.

“I’m not going to tell you that I’m not worried or that I didn’t consider saying no because that would be a lie.” Stiles shoved his hands into his pockets as he walked beside her. “But if I had the chance to talk to my mom again, I would want to risk it too. So if this is the decision you’ve made, I’m going to do everything I can to help you and make sure you get back in one piece.”

She stared at him for a moment, lips parting in surprise as her heart thumped against her ribcage once more. “Thank you, Stiles. I can’t tell you how much it means to me,” She mumbled genuinely.

“Yeah, you might not be feeling that way for much longer when I tell you that I accidentally told Scott about your powers.” He chuckled nervously and she shot him a stern look.

“You what?” She snapped. She wasn’t annoyed that Scott knew, so much as the fact that Stiles had gone behind her back to tell him. “Why?”

“Well, I was telling him about how I was so sure you were mad at me and it just slipped out of me that you were going to use your powers to boil me alive-” He began his long-winded explanation for what had happened.

“I’m sorry, what? Why would you think I was mad at you?” She interrupted him.

“Weren’t you?” His brows knitted together into a frown.

“No,” She stated simply, not going into the fact that she’d actually been mad at herself for falling for him and had only been avoiding him because every time she was around him, he only gave her more reasons to like him.

“Yeah, right,” Stiles snorted, not believing her at all. “You were mad at me. I could tell. You brushed me off for over a month - and don’t tell me it’s because you were grounded, because I know how you message and you were acting completely off. If you don’t want to tell me why, it’s fine. But don’t just pretend you weren’t.”

“Stiles, I promise you, I just had a lot on my mind. I was mad, but at myself, not at you.” She revealed the smallest amount of truth that she could without blurting out that she was crushing on him.

“Then why were you fine with Lydia?” He challenged her, picking at the holes in her story. “I asked her if she knew what was wrong and she told me you were fine.”

“She probably told you that because she wasn’t sure if I was okay with you knowing,” She lied swiftly, already feeling guilty for it. But seriously, what else was she supposed to tell him? She hadn’t really thought about how her avoidance would affect him and now she just felt awful for it.

“Oh, okay,” He accepted that answer. “Well, if you do want to talk about it, you know I’m always here to listen. And even if you don’t want to talk about it, I can just be there…as a distraction, or whatever.”

“Yeah, I know, Stiles.” She smiled, her chest aching almost painfully. She hated that there was now such a huge secret between them when before he’d been the one person she’d shared everything with. Keeping things from him just felt entirely wrong. “I’m sorry for pushing you away.”

“It’s alright, just don’t do it again, okay? I’ve actually missed having you around. The house is too quiet without you.” He found the words slipping out before he could stop them. There truly had been a Zaida-sized hole missing from his life that past month and he had felt the impact of it a lot more than he ever would have expected to. It was probably why he hadn’t been able to take his mind off her.

“What about Scott? Haven't you guys been hanging out like twenty-four-seven?” She asked, turning around the corner of the street to continue their winding walk around the block.

“Yeah, but Scott has shit taste in movies.” He snickered but then got serious again. “No really, though. It’s just different. Scott could never be you, in the same way that you could never be Scott. I need you both.”

“You mean I have boobs and Scott doesn’t, don’t you?” She poked fun at him to direct the conversation away from the deep stuff, bumping into him with her hip. She was glad that at least when they were together their dynamic was the same as before. She would have despised giving that up.

“No, I actually meant that you have a great ass and Scott doesn’t.” He played along and she mentally gave herself points for the shorts.

[hoodssery]

Recommending Video Essays #9

Okay so maybe not daily.

Recommendation: Bungie Rabbithole series by Mandalore Gaming (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfZTtT3IEdDjQTHu3NqLjOUX65d4cDG54)

I've been a massive fan of Mandalore Gaming since he introduced me to my favorite brain-worm that takes up more of my thoughts than I would like to admit, E.Y.E. Divine Cybermancy. Since then I have seen every single one of his publicly available videos at least three times, in most cases more than that (I am completely serious about this), and since his video reviewing Pathologic 2 in 2019 I have watched every single one of his videos on the day of release. Some may call this psychopathic.

Mandalore is one of the few people who I think are truly instrumental in the creation of my own YouTube channel, and is someone who I greatly respect as far as video content on YouTube can go. He isn't super flashy, super analytical, or personal compared to my other biggest YouTube-ing inspirations, but, he probably has the most consistent quality of any YouTube channel around, maybe only being rivaled by Jacob Geller. He always gives just enough to be substantive and worth the decently long run times of his videos, but everything he presents is mostly no-nonsense and straight to the point with very efficient use of examples. Even more impressive to me is his use of sporadic use of humor. It's used just often enough to comfortably break the line of information he's giving you, while being short and relevant enough to keep everything moving along. Mandalore feeds just the right mix of summary, his own experience, and thoughtful commentary on the game through his videos to make them the most worthwhile reviews on the platform. All of which actually answer the question reviews are specifically for, “Is this worth my time?”

Now, I don't know who, other than Mandalore Gaming, was out there, really wondering in 2022, “Is Marathon, a first-person shooter from Bungie released during the time period first-person shooters were still called 'Doom Clones', worth my time?” This seems like an insane question. And as it so happens, Mandalore proves that it is, with this four-part video series on the precursor to Halo. Mandalore manages to make one of the most complex stories in a video game as easily digestible as you could possibly make the story of Marathon, while still leaving space for an actual review of a shooter that released just months after Doom II, and still making time mash in his own spiral in trying to link everything together. For such simple videos compared to other videos from his peers, Mandalore wonderfully captures the harrowing experience of playing and piecing together Marathon and all of it's ties to Bungie's later titles, all while still answering why you come to a video with “review” written in the title.

Spoilers: The answer is probably not.

As the opening of this recommendation probably indicated, I might be a little biased when I say you should go and watch his videos, but you probably should.

Other Recommendations:

-Dead Space Review series is a series of videos I would highly recommend you check out, with his reviews on the remake of Dead Space being a particularly interesting comparison. (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfZTtT3IEdDjShIq73vkzkvQPMUpWCg2N)

-The Callisto Protocol Review is in a similar vein compared to the Dead Space Remake Review. Given that he's made five videos on Dead Space games he's probably one of the most qualified people to make a video on how kinda bizarre The Callisto Protocol is. (https://youtu.be/yK3ePkE1Sx0)

-Pathologic Classic HD Review is one of his more popular videos, which is really funny considering how niche and off the rails Pathologic is as a game. Where as Homberguy takes a more artistic lens to Pathologic, Mandalore does what he does best and looks at it from the “is this worth playing,” lens. Despite this he has still has interesting things to say about the gameplay of both Pathologic, and it's remake/sequel. (https://youtu.be/HeK36g92zjo)

-E.Y.E Divine Cybermancy Review very briefly (for risk of going on about E.Y.E), is a beginners guide to E.Y.E. Just be warned, it's possible you might be thinking about this game for the rest of time. Don't end up like me. (https://youtu.be/AScCVzENcjs)

I've realized that I've just completely neglected to add the playlist of all the recommendations and other recommendations I've made so far to the end of these posts so here it is:

Bye

[loudlychoppedbread]

Hello fren :)

I wanted to ask what's your opinion on some popular psychonauts HCs? Are there any you'd like to talk about or some of your own you'd like to share?

Hmm popular Psychonauts HCs...

Okay so I know that a lot of the cast are headcanoned as queer and I'm totally fine with that. I really enjoy the different headcanons around that and seeing what kinds of interactions come from that. Even ones I don't believe in, like Genderfluid!Dion (I get more toxic masculinity vibes from him, Augustus, and Raz) and Transmasc!Lili. I've seen a few that I promptly disagree with, but I usually ignore the people who try to focus on that headcanon.

I'm a fan of the post that my mutual @sweetstwawbewwymilk created, which is Archetypes = what you need, Raz's Archetype = friend. Which I like to see people use that when making swap AU archetypes (Callisto and Raccoon!Lili my beloveds).

I love the idea of the adult friendships between Augustus, Dona, Truman, Milla, Sasha, and Hollis. They're like a clan of parents.

I really like the headcanons of Lili's links to her family being used in the past, particularly by Kitty and Franke cause they're older and Kitty is canonically manipulative. Mainly because not only does that flesh out the interaction she and Raz have at the lodge, but some campster interactions show other friendships...

Or the bittersweetness of "we still think of the good times with you, even if we used you."

Context- this is the kid that hacked into Lili's profile and took pictures of her without permission. At the very least, Franke still cares about Lili and I CHERISH that information.

I see the headcanons about the counselor stuff being thankless and a lot of the art that's about like... the irritation with the campers. But I think Raz actually SIGNS UP to be a counselor regularly. Like, I think Coach Oleander is a permanent counselor (so he keeps the Coach title instead of being called Morceau), but I think when Coach is all tired from that, Raz steps up as the next perma-counselor. Raz also teaches "Mental Gymnastics" in his mind, and encourages kids to use all the tricks in their arsenal to get around certain areas. His mind does change a bit because of this, having a little training area that combines circus stuff as well as things like roof-top running missions in Raz's memory to be an obstacle course for the other kids to run through.

I like to think Lili's mom is actually very similar to Raz. I think that while Truman took to being the Grand Head a few years after Otto, Lili's mom was ready to go on these fantastic world traveling adventures and fight people. I think she's the one who has the ability of pyrokinesis as her specialty, and she was all for Truman bringing psychics to fight bad guys.

I think Psychonauts takes place in the "futuristic" 2000s. You know, like those vibes that Back to the Future 2 gives with traveling forwards in time to 2012 that also has a lot of the similar culture of the time it was written. Some time where science stuff took advantage of how fast psychics could work and thus got further than today's world while still having things like: "have you heard of the new GameBoy Advanced? So cool."

I think that psychics actually get stronger the further down the line they come from. So Augustus is pretty strong (able to astral project without a Psi-portal, bash his psychic abilities against Raz's defenses, and psi-blast) and has a few abilities he can't really learn (tries to learn pyrokinesis, but I think he has that mental block + affinity for water). This is also true for Truman and Lili.

All of the Zanotto family have an affinity for music. Bob had a recital that he needed to go to during a time his mother was in the garden... the Zanotto family music box... Helmut married into the family (Fullbear-Zanotto is his legal last name)... I think that Truman and Lili enjoy singing to their plants. Also I love the idea that Lili can sing both death metal (cause plants apparently grow best around death metal) and opera (slightly taught from Helmut's knowledge of singing, cause there's no way that PsychOdessey isn't an opera in my mind).

This is a crack headcanon that I don't really believe, but I want to write: Lili has a synesthesia where she can taste emotions. Love tastes like citrus soda. Sadness tastes like sashimi. Irritation tastes like spicy chicken nuggets.