#I could revisit the idea for like the other ‘siblings’ that are alive but I’ll just put it on the backburner for now

[rejectclone]

New OC idea: another failed clone that’s Tomalgam in essence but separate from [R]. He could be called [C] for Censored because they couldn’t refer to both of them as “Redacted” without it getting confusing. Nice chance to explore how different personalities might react to extremely similar traumas, and to use the pieces of Tomalgam’s design that *didn’t* carry over to [R], or just give [R] someone to eventually relate to so you don’t have a “Ive been here this whole time” situation.

Fun Fact: I was considering to make a counter character to [R], but I scrapped the idea since I don’t want another counter character pair as I already have John and Mark as doppelgängers!

The original idea was that since when M[R] gets revealed to the public and it leads to the Evil Pharmaceutical Company being exposed for all of their illegal cloning crimes, M[R] finds out that not all of his ‘siblings’ from the same batch were killed after his accidental release (as a way for the company to hide it’s actions). He’s then brought in to basically comfort the surviving ones, but is dismayed to see almost all of them are essentially bedridden or literally brain-dead, and about less than 10 clones were as healthy and active as he is. One of them of course being what would’ve been his counterpart, [EXPUNGED]. As for his appearance I never really came up with something, but personality wise he’s akin to [R], but is MUCH more paranoid of others and seems to have a lot of deep seeded rage towards the scientists. Considering he was at the lab during the years [R] was outside, [E] remembers what ‘changed’ after that event and how the newer scientists that replaced Lawrence’s team were MUCH more colder and crueler to them, and that [E] is much more emotionally traumatized and spiteful towards others, as he assumes EVERYONE that’s naturally human will want to harm him in some sort of way. The dynamic between the two would eventually be M[R] trying to coax his ‘brother’ into being more willing to interact with ‘normal people’ and to show that the world isn’t that soulless, and [R] accidentally becoming a bit TOO overbearing in wanting [E] to be safe and happy, thus leading to a larger rift between the two.

[fearfulkittenwrites]

Peaceful Afternoon - Family Bonding

Summary: What's the best way to calm down a bunch of crazed little bats? Apparently, a Lord of the Rings marathon.

Word Count: 2088

Notes: Hello! I'm slowly working my way to completing @3ambird​‘s batfam bingo. This is just fluff and Bruce being a good dad, because we're all in need of some comfort. Enjoy!

Bruce stepped into his home with an already loosened tie and his blazer in hands, handing it to Alfred as soon as he saw the man.

“Rough day in the office, sir?” The butler asks as he gently flattens and hangs the clothing piece on the coat rack at the entrance lounge.

“Yes.” He sighed, rubbing his temples “Is there any chance you could bring me some of your tea? I feel a headache coming.”

“A warm cup of tea will be coming right up, master Wayne.”

“Thank you Alfred.” He smiles at the man “I’ll be in the TV lounge.”

“Sir, I must warn you that the kids are watching TV at the moment.” Alfred says.

“Oh?” Bruce raises an eyebrow “Are they being too loud?”

Alfred thinks for a moment.

“They are unusually quiet sir.” He answers “I’d be careful around them.”

“Well,” The man tilts his head to the side “I’ll check on them. If I’m no longer there, then I’ll be in my room.”

“Very well master Wayne.” Alfred smiles “It should only take a moment.”

Bruce walks slowly to the TV lounge, examining all of his home’s details on the way ; the complicated patterns on the wallpaper, the ripples of the carpets, the harshness of the fabrics the curtains were made of. Removing his tie completely, he rolls it around his fingers carefully and sticks it in his pockets, right before walking into the room he’d been looking for. He wasn’t sure on what he was expecting to see, but the scene in front of him had him pleasantly surprised.

Dick sat at the left corner of the couch, being the one closest to the door, with Duke sitting on the ground directly in front of him, eyes closed as Dick massaged his scalp and neck. Damian sat quietly next to his oldest brother, sketching a new art piece. Cass sat by the youngest’s side, sharing a blanket and cuddling up with Tim. Jason, who was also sitting on the floor, had Tim’s legs thrown over his shoulders as he squeezed his brother’s calves lightly, eyes glued on the TV.

“Hey B.” Dick smiled at him softly and Duke opened his eyes to look at the man “Rough day?”

“A little.” He breathes deeply as he rubs the back of his neck “What are you kids doing?”

“Nothin’ much.” Dick spoke again “There was a Lord of The Rings marathon on TV, so we just... left it there. I think today’s been rough on everybody.”

“I see.” Bruce nods “Do you mind if I join you?” A bunch of ‘no’s and ‘go ahead’s were slightly murmured as Bruce sat down on the armchair close to Tim’s end of the couch. The man took a quick glance at the TV “Have they already-”

“Shhh.” Tim interrupts “Don’t spoil it for Cass.”

“Ah, Alright. I’m sorry.” He sets his eyes on his (unfortunately) not-so-little girl, noticing how Cass seemed a little pale “Is everything alright Cass? You seem a bit... off.”

She nods.

“Cramps.” Dick explains from across the couch, rubbing his own belly, right above his pubic bone, just to drive the point home.

“Oh.” Bruce blushes a little.

“C’mon, old man,” Jason teases, tapping his leg “Don’t get all flustered over your daughter’s period.”

“I’m not flustered, I just... didn’t mean to be invasive.” He straightens his posture.

“I don’t mind talking about it.” Cass says, with a small smile “It’s okay.”

“That’s good.” The man replies, leaning back on the armchair.

It only takes Alfred a few seconds to come in with the tea after that. All of them quickly recognize the scent of his medicinal blend, having needed it many times before.

“Headache?” Dick asks “I can give you a massage if you want to.”

“Yeah, just take my spot.” Duke offers.

“Don’t worry boys.” Bruce smiles “The tea helps enough by itself.”

“Alright. But if you change your mind...” Duke says, allowing his sentence to trail off as he relaxes into Dick’s touch once again.

Bruce can’t help but gawk at the film’s beautiful scenery. The only members of the family that didn’t care much for the movie were Damian and Duke, for different reasons. The younger boy wasn’t particularly fond of fantastic stories with surreal elements, finding them silly more often than not. Although he could stand Lord of The Rings, he never really made it through the whole thing, getting bored, distracted, or falling asleep halfway through it.

Duke had much milder feelings. He had watched it once and that was enough. He didn’t see any reason to rewatch such a long movie. However, Duke didn’t seem to hate the idea of having it on while he received head scratches and massages from his cuddly brothers. Bruce smiled to himself at that, looking at how Dick and him got along well, at least in moments like this.

His eyes wandered back to Cass. She seemed endlessly entertained by the movie, sometimes whispering questions about the plot to one of her brothers. She was hugging one of Tim’s arms, head resting on his shoulder. He occasionally turned around to nuzzle his face into her hair. The teen had a habit of doing that to just about anyone he felt comfortable enough to touch when given the chance.

Jason seemed equally entertained. He loved a good story, whether it came in the form of a book, a movie or a TV show. Bruce noticed that whenever he was having a hard time he revisited his favorites, seeking the comfort of predictability, so it made sense that he was watching this today, after Dick’s statement. Jason counted Tim’s toes mindlessly, giving each of them a light squeeze before moving on to the next, starting it all over again once he reached both of his pinkies.

Bruce’s eyes set on his oldest son again. His little circus boy, Dick. Noticing how he had grown into a good man made his heart swell with joy, even if the emotion came with a prick of pain. His little boy, all grown up, caring for his younger siblings. Bruce couldn’t believe how lucky he was to have found them. How lucky he was for having such an amazing family, how lucky he was that they had accepted him as their father.

Bruce was sure he was the happiest man alive. His heart was filled with love, to the point where it spilled out through his eyes, getting Dick’s attention.

“You big sap.” He mouthed at the man, no sound coming out through his lips. Bruce wiped a lonely tear away from his face with a smile, bringing his attention back to the movie. Dick knew him too well by now.

Bruce pressed his hands together under his chin, trying to hide the love that insisted on falling down his cheeks.

Eventually, the man dozed off in the middle of the first movie. He woke up when they were halfway through the second, looking at his watch and being taken aback by the time. He looked around, noticing that Damian was now asleep on Dick’s lap and Duke had brought out his computer, sitting at the armchair opposed to Bruce’s, brow furrowed in concentration. Jason was still on the floor, eyes fixed on the TV, but had moved on from Tim’s feet, using his limited knowledge on pressure points to help with Cass’ cramps, carefully pressing her feet while both of them paid attention to the movie. Tim had also fallen asleep, head hanging back on the couch and one arm around his sister’s shoulders.

Bruce checked the watch again, biting the inside of his lips. They should be getting ready for patrol by now and yet... he didn’t feel like it was fair to pull his kids away from this moment of tranquility. Dick’s eyes met his.

“It’s okay.” His son reassured him in a whisper.

“No.” Bruce says in a soft tone “You guys take the night off. I’ll call up Batwoman and Spoiler, we should be able to cover enough ground if Oracle is able to put in a little extra work.”

“B, it’s okay, I’ll go with you.” Dick replies, voice still quiet so as not to disturb the kid sleeping with his head on his lap “I’ll just tuck Dami in and we can go.”

“No, please.” Bruce stands up “This is clearly a rare moment. You need to enjoy it Dick. We’ll be fine.”

“B,” Dick insists “I need this just as much as you do.”

“Are you talking about patrol or...”

“Both.” Dick looks up at him “I’m tagging along, whether you want me there or not.”

“Alright then.” Bruce nods.

“Great.” Dick smiles “Now let’s take this sleepy boy to his bed.”

Slowly, he slips out from under Damian, carefully picking him up.

“Hmn don’t... I can walk...” Damian murmurs, face already buried in Dick’s neck.

“I’m sure you can.” Dick chuckled, adjusting the boy’s weight, one hand around his brother's waist and the other under his thighs, supporting him. The kid wrapped his arms around his brother’s neck lazily, with a weak and loose grip, almost falling asleep again in his oldest brother’s hands.

That wasn’t lost on Bruce’s eyes, who walked behind them, hands in his pockets. The man opens the door for his kids, waiting patiently next to the bed as Dick removes Damian’s shoes and pulls the blankets over his body. Both of them pressed a quick kiss to the boy’s forehead before walking out of the bedroom.

“Damian has really warmed up to you, hasn’t he?” Bruce starts.

“I guess so.” Dick shrugs, smiling at the ground “He’s a good kid, he’s just been through a lot. I try to remind him he doesn’t have to do things by himself all the time anymore. That he can lean on us.”

“That seems to be working.” Bruce smiles at his son, who retributed the look with some uncertainty “Hey, I mean it.”

“I know you do, it’s just...” Dick sighs “Sometimes all of this can feel... a little hopeless.”

“I can understand that.” He looks at his son. Bruce can understand that so well “But it’s in the little things, you know? Like right now,” He keeps going, lookin at his own shoes as they make a turn on the manor’s endless hallways “The way Damian allowed you to carry him, that was...” Bruce takes a deep breath, shaking his head slightly “He is being vulnerable around you.”

“You think so?” Dick asked, biting the inside of his lips.

“I know so. His arms,” Bruce says “When he threw them around your neck, he didn’t do so to hold on or to balance himself. Damian trusted you to hold him, and simply relaxed into your grip.”

Dick raised his eyebrows as he walked through the office’s door.

“You notice a lot of details.” Dick smiled.

“What can I say? I can’t turn the detective skills off.” He chuckles, joined by Dick’s snort “I really wish I could be more like you to him.” He stops walking.

“What are you talking about, B?” Dick frowns a little.

“I wish I knew how to be... caring.” Bruce sighs “I have no clue on how you ended up as good at it as you are today, considering… well, everything. But I’m glad you did. At least they have someone who knows how to... hold them. I’m sorry that I couldn’t do the same for you.”

Dick swallows.

“Hey, um, don’t beat yourself up over this kind of thing, okay?” He lightly touches his father’s arm “You are caring Bruce. You did hold me.” He pursed his lips. Both of them had teary eyes now.

“Not like I should have.”

“No one’s perfect. But you were there when I needed you, and that’s what counts.”

“Stop.” Bruce says, biting the insides of his mouth so hard he could taste blood “Stop... making excuses for me, Dick. I’m... I’m apologizing.” He takes in a deep breath “I know that all the damage I may have caused you won’t magically go away because I recognize that it’s there, but for what’s worth, I’ll try to do better. To be better for you.”

Suddenly, Dick surges forward, wrapping his arms around Bruce. As they hugged, Bruce could feel his son crying.

“Thank you.” Dick whispers “Thank you. I love you, dad.”

“I love you too, son.” Bruce whispers back, turning his head to plant a kiss on his cheek “So much.”

Hey! If you got here, please consider reblogging. It would mean the world to me. Also, if you’d like to be tagged in future works, just shoot me a message.

Take care friend!

[raelly-writing]

Prompt 19: Where the heart lies - FFXIV Write 2020

Ahah, uh, yeah, this idea made me sort of feel the pain of having a Thancred/WoL ship that’s ‘can’t spit it out and stubbornly pines for each other until late Shadowbringers’, so I wanted to try and keep the time sort of vague like it’s been a while since then. But then what felt like the natural way to end it tied it pretty hard to 5.3. I dunno, I liked the mood and flow so maybe I’ll revisit when I have a few more patches’ distance.

Hints towards NSFW themes, but nothing explicitly stated.

---

The sound of his shower was a lulling drone in the background as Thancred dozed, content and relaxed after eagerly welcoming her back from her latest adventures. Sweat was cooling on his skin, the covers merely haphazardly gathered around his waist, though he did not feel all too bothered by the slight nip of the evening air.

They were precious to him, these private reunions of theirs. Especially after they had been apart for a long time - the reassurance of seeing each other alive, even if there were always that twinge of guilt when he saw the traces of one injury or another on her skin, accompanied by the wish that he could have been with her. It was a look he often saw reflected in her own expression when it was his skin that had been marked and bruised by a foe.

For all of their agreement that their duties came first, it never made parting any easier.

It took him a moment to realise that the sound of water had ceased and that a comfortable silence had instead settled over the room. Absently, he listened for the sound of her bare feet against the stone floor, his cue to stir from his comfortable spot and take his own turn in the shower.

Instead, the silence stretched on. Stirring a bit more from his doze, he felt a tickle at the back of his neck, a familiar, well-honed instinct telling him he was being watched.

Thancred cracked his eyes open and found Viana leaning against the doorframe to his washroom, her arms loosely crossed and a small smile on her lips as she watched him. The thoughtful look in her eyes was tinged with affection, so soft and unguarded despite all the hardship she’d been through. His breath caught, and for a few brief seconds he was able to soak in the sight of her, before she realised that he’d noticed her.

A flicker of embarrassment instantly passed over her features as she straightened back up while clearing her throat. “Sorry, my thoughts wandered,” she said softly, as if not wanting to speak too loudly into the silence of the room.

He gave her a charming smile. “It’s alright, I know these handsome features can be cause for distraction.”

As expected, Viana laughed and gave him a familiar, mock flat look that he, despite all these many years, still remembered so well from the time before the Monetarists’ coup in Ul’dah, when their suggestive banter had been a mere facet of the friendship they’d struck up. “It truly is a mystery how you do not leave a trail of distracted, injured people in your wake.”

She shifted her weight to one foot, and his gaze momentarily dropped to the hemline of the shirt she wore - his, he realised with a familiar sense of delight - that barely reached the top of her thighs. “I know,” he drawled as he looked up at her once more. “It’s a testament to people’s strength of will.”

Viana snorted, a fond smile on her lips as she crossed the short distance back to his bed. Thancred caught one of her hands in his, a small tug and light touch to her hip enough to guide her to straddle him.

“Jokes aside,” he hummed before brushing a kiss to her knuckles, “what were you thinking about? Not the next errand you need to run, I hope?”

With a small shake of her head, she caressed his cheek. “I just thought about… this. How we got here.”

Thancred slowly slid his fingers down over her arm, eyes still on her. “Quite the long and winded road we took,” he replied as he gently took hold of her other hand too and laced their fingers together.

She made a quiet sound of agreement, then tilted her head to the side. “I don’t think I ever have asked you… when did you feel like things changed between us? When did you realise you felt something for me?”

The questions took him by surprise. Raising an eyebrow, he found no ready answer on the tip of his tongue. He would never deny that he had found her attractive from the moment she’d stepped into the Solar in the Waking Sands. Even as far back as then, he would gladly have taken her to his bed and helped her unwind after they had her chase primals all over the realm - something undefined, without strings or expectations, like all his physical relationships had been back then. But when had the physical attraction shifted into something more?

Viana remained quiet, patiently waiting for him to sort through his thoughts while one of her thumbs slowly rubbed over his.

Sighing, he closed his eyes and pressed another kiss to her fingers. “I’m not sure,” he finally responded. “You were there with me after Minfilia…” He paused, the words catching in his throat even after all these years.

After she had given up her life for Hydaelyn, and it’d felt like his heart had been shattered. And then she had departed their world entirely to save another, taking with her the piece of his heart that he’d left with her so long ago, when she’d been just a girl bearing another name, crying over her father’s unmoving body. The old, dull sorrow made his chest tighten. 

It was hard to think back on those years after they’d found him in Dravania, how dark his mindset had been through the war until he had, under a foreign Light filled sky, finally been able to let go of his old guilt and grief, and move on for the sake of another young girl’s future. To this day, he was not sure when one of those jagged little shards of his heart had found its way into Viana’s hand and been safely tucked away beneath her breastbone.

He felt her weight shift atop him and then the warm press of her lips against his, the damp fringes of her hair a tickle against his cheek and forehead, while her hands squeezed his in reassurance.

“Forgive me, I didn't mean to dig up painful memories,” Viana said softly.

Thancred opened his eyes to see the same sense of loss and pain in hers. Smiling faintly, he let go of her hands to cup her jaw. “It’s alright,” he replied while brushing his thumbs over her cheeks. Her expression softened as she rested her hands on his wrists, still watching him.

“I’m not sure when I began to love you,” he continued. “But I think I realised it when you first returned from Othard, and I felt it in my bones how much I had missed you.” He paused, eyes roaming over her face. “It felt like a piece of my heart had returned to me at last.”

A bashful smile spread on her lips as she laughed under her breath, her cheeks suddenly stained with a blush. “How poetic.”

“Can’t let those bardic skills rust completely,” he hummed with a sly grin. “How else am I supposed to make you laugh and blush so prettily?”

“You’re hopeless.”

“Perhaps.” He pulled her down again, slipping an arm around her waist as they met in a slow, lingering kiss that made his body feel warm and fuzzy. Despite that it melted into a series of kisses, it seemed far too soon that they finally parted. “How about you?”

Viana peered at him from beneath her lashes as she rested her weight on her elbows. “Remember when you packed my gunblade and gear, and sent it to me before I left for Othard?”

Thancred nodded, giving her a curious look. “Couldn’t have been that, surely.”

She chuckled and shook her head. “No, but you packed one of my books as well, and slipped a note into it.” His brow furrowed and it took him a moment, but he could vaguely recall doing such a thing. It’d seemed like such a small, random thing to him. Her expression softened, as if she knew what he was thinking. “I didn’t see it until I unpacked it all on the ship. It was a short note, just you wishing me to stay safe. But that’s when I realised what I felt for you.”

He was unsure what to say in response, hadn’t thought that it’d been a simple gesture that had been the cause. Grabbing her, he rolled them both over, smothering her surprised laugh with a firm kiss, as if it would somehow make up for what he felt had been lost time. His hand wandered over her, pushing up the shirt she wore to feel her skin beneath his palm and tracing the waistline of her smalls.

“Thancred, I just showered,” she laughed against his lips, even as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

“Guess you can shower again with me then,” he replied, his voice low and raspy. “Later.”

Though time and space may separate them, part of his heart would forever remain across the Rift, below a crystal wall in a desert region in another world where Minfilia, who he’d loved so dearly like the younger sibling he had never known, had saved one world from entire annihilation and spoken her final words to him. Another with Ryne, who he had watched grow and come into her own, stirring a paternal pride and love in him, as she walked under the night sky they had fought so hard for side-by-side, striving as she did to heal that world’s wounds. Other pieces lay tucked into the pockets and hands of the rest of his found family, smaller, but no less potent.

Another, no longer sharp and jagged with sorrow and despair as when he first may have inadvertently given her it, lay nestled next to the heart of the woman in his arms.

Just like he knew, he carried a piece of hers with him.

A home, with each other.

[purplesurveys]

921

LOL was gone for a while to attempt doing that ridiculous 5000 survey myself again and I really thought I was going to breeze through it this time. 2 1/2 weeks and 2500 questions later, I need a fucking break. Need normal surveys plz.

What was the best thing to happen to you this week? Got to visit Gabie today! I brought Cooper as well so that she, her sisters, and their puppy Tofu could finally meet him. Fun day, but I am beat. The blackout yesterday also made me revisit painting, and that felt so good too.

Where do you put your keys when you get home? It always differs, idk why I never picked up a routine. Sometimes I set it on the dining table, other times on the decorative table in the living room, and other times I bring it up with me to my room.

Do you prefer hot coffee or iced coffee? I preferred hot (warm would be more accurate) for the longest time but once I went iced, I never wanted to go back. 

What's your phone background picture? I recently changed my lock screen to one of Audrey Hepburn. My home screen is still Hayley Williams.

If you could move to any country, what would it be? Anywhere with a clean and honest government sounds like heaven.

Have you ever seen a snake in the wild? No. Can’t say there’s a lot of them here in the city, and I’ve never seen any in my trip to provinces either.

What's your favourite movie from the 80s? Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.

Do you have any posters, paintings or other artwork on your walls? I have at least one of each of these, yes.

What would your dream wedding be like? Huge. I’d want a long guest list, expansive food choices, and acts that can provide good music throughout the evening. I never really throw parties for myself, so I would want at least my own wedding to be big.

Would you ever take a trip to space if given the chance? Yesssssss.

How do you cope with anxiety? I'm lucky to have found different outlets, so that said I usually choose from taking surveys, watching a favorite channel on YouTube, turning to my dogs, going to social media to see dumb memes, or taking a nap altogether. Of course there’ll always be those days where none of these work out and I’ll have to just cry through the anxiety attacks until they’re over.

Are you expecting any phone calls or emails? I’m expecting an email from my college, yes. I’m currently applying for civil service eligibility and they’re asking for documents that only the college can provide, so I emailed them a couple of days ago asking for assistance, and that’s considering we’re still under a lockdown and most offices are still under skeleton staffing.

What's the weather like in your part of the world right now? LOVELY. I actually wear oversized sweaters to bed now and I even managed to wear a thick denim jacket out today. The rainy weather has settled beautifully, and I’m perfectly fine with 24ºC-28ºC everyday.

What was the last takeout food you ate? My mom bought me and my siblings a chicken sandwich and chicken nuggets each from McDonald’s last week.

Who makes you laugh the most? Definitely someone from my college barkada. I can’t decide whether it’s Aya, Kate, JM, or Jum; they’re all equally hilarious as fuck.

Do you know anyone with the same middle name as you? See these questions are always weird to me because my country has its own naming customs; it’s basically a mix of American and Spanish customs. We have two first names (where Westerners would understand their second ‘first’ name to be their middle name) and our actual legal middle name is our mother’s maiden surname (which I think doesn’t apply at all in the Western world). So to answer this I’ll go with our own customs and say that no, I don’t know of anyone who has the same middle name as me. It’s not a very common surname anyway.

What did you have done the last time you saw a dentist? Had a tooth removed. I don’t think it was a wisdom tooth; it was just a tooth at the back of my mouth that had been in pretty bad shape for years but was only discovered at that time.

What does a successful relationship look like to you? I believe the formula is different for every couple. Like I value constant communication and checkups, but others might not feel the need to be clingy or update their significant others all the time.

What do you like to put on your baked potato? Don’t really have these a lot, but I remember when my mom used to make baked potatoes with bacon and cheese and those were unbelievably good.

What field of science interests you the most? Biology. <3 I’m sure I would’ve taken up medicine if I only wasn’t so bad in the rest of the sciences.

What's the closest shop or restaurant to your house? There aren’t any nearby shops since I live in a gated community, but once you get out of the village’s main gate, the first thing to the left is a McDonald’s. To the right is a small complex with a hair salon, burger place, music school, and one of those boujee stores that sell hype clothing.

Do you have any family that live in another country? So many relatives. We’re Filipinos, man. We migrate everyfuckingwhere. As far as I know I have family living in the US, Canada, Vietnam, Japan, China, Australia, and New Zealand.

What colour is your couch? Gray.

Do you know how to care for plants and keep them alive? Not at all. Every single plant that I’ve been given as a gift or party giveaway has died on me.

What was the most memorable birthday you've had? 18th was awesome. Cruise trip, hotel stay with friends, Tiendesitas + noodle date with Gab. How I got away with three separate celebrations without my parents saying anything about it I’ll never know.

Would you rather go to the beach or the mountains? Beach. The area where I live is mountainous as it is; as someone who’s always lived and studied in the city, a trip to the beach in the province never gets old.

What do you do for work? I don’t have any yet but I’m waiting for openings for our national agency for either history, or culture and the arts. My plans have shifted recently and I’m now eyeing to work for either instead of rotting away while underpaid at a corporate agency.

Have you ever been to see the circus? No. I wouldn’t be interested either; they all just seem so harsh and unethical. 

Are there any words that you hate or make you cringe? Sure.

What is the best house you've ever lived in? The one we live in today has been the most comfortable; but I also hold a lot of nostalgia for my dad’s parents’ house in Tondo because of how raw Manila life was there. Life wasn’t pretty, but it did feel real.

What was the first CD you ever bought? The first CD I actively wanted my parents to buy for me was probably the High School Musical soundtrack, heheh.

Do you look in the mirror before you leave the house? Yeah, always. Wanna make sure my shirt is tucked in properly (if it is), or that my jeans aren’t cuffed funny or whatever else.

What's the most unusual thing you've ever eaten? I’ve mentioned this before but it was the Indian dessert gulab jamun. Really did not expect the flavor that came in when it hit my mouth.

Have you ever seen someone quit their job in a dramatic way? I’ve never had a legit job, but when Jeuel quit the org a couple of years ago because of ~irreconcilable differences~ between him and us officers in the executive board it did feel a tad bit dramatic and passive-aggressive.

What movie reminds you of your childhood? Shrek 2 or The Game Plan.

Do you know why your parents named you what they did? The singer named Robyn was really big then and they ended up being fans of the name.

Do you have any bills that need to be paid? None of my own. My parents usually pay the family bills immediately, so I don’t think we have any pending payments for now.

What do you like to dip your fries in? Mayonnaise.

Is your house clean or messy right now? It’s always clean as my mom is extremely tidy.

What was the last email you received? It’s one of the job-hunting websites I’ve signed up for, giving me job alerts for new openings in my chosen industries.

Do you know someone who speaks without a filter? Yeah and I know people who do it responsibly and those who just come off as tactless.

Are you in any social groups? We call our college group the Daydrinkers, since our friendship began when we started constantly hanging out at nearby bars at like 2 PM, during our breaks lol. I used to be in a barkada in high school but Angela and I broke apart from that since we couldn’t deal with Athenna’s toxicity anymore, though I still keep in touch with most of them, like Chelsea and Kaira. Since then Angela and I have formed our own group consisting mostly of Angela’s friends from architecture and Hans’ friends from Ateneo.

How many hours of sleep did you get last night? Sigh, around 4. I don’t know why it was so few, but it also means that I’m currently drowsy as all hell at 9:03 PM. I will most likely turn in for bed after this.

What's your favourite kind of museum? Those that cover history, so museums that have artifacts and fossils and shit.

Do you believe in alternate universes? I like the idea, and I love literature that explores the idea of alternate realities, multiple universes, pocket universes, etc. Whether or not I believe they exist...idk. I don’t think about it that much in literal terms. < Yeah pretty much. Gaby Dunn wrote an amazing piece on multiverses and that was what got me to find comfort in the idea.

Whose house did you last visit? I was at Gabie’s place this afternoon. We had burritos, talked about career prospects, and puppy-sat our babies.

What games do you play on your smart phone? I turn to 1010 when I’m bored or anxious. I have like 30 other games but I never touch them lol, but I do keep them should the time be right to whip them out.

Have you ever been to Los Angeles? I have not.

What was the first concert you ever went to? Paramore, February 2013. I was a late bloomer; kids my age started going to concerts at least three years before that.

Do you know anyone who is colourblind? I don’t think so.

What's your favourite season and why? The wet season, because it’s colder and I hate the heat during the dry season.

Are you the youngest, middle or eldest child in your family? I’m the eldest.

If you had to make something for a potluck, what would you make? I recently watched this phenomenal recipe for 48-hour chocolate chip cookies that looked absolutely bonkers when they were done baking. I’d for sure give those a try for dessert. If that fails I’d just buy the food so that what I bring is more guaranteed to be good.

What kinds of decorations do you put up at Halloween? My family has never cared much for Halloween. It’s not even a legit holiday, so as much as I love Halloween I don’t think I would spend for decorations myself to decorate my own place. The only instance I imagine doing so would be if I have kids of my own who may want to get into the Halloween ~spirit.

How many tabs do you have open right now? In my current window, eight.

What's something you've been meaning to do but keep putting off? Taking another online course, just because it’s great to learn new things and earn free certifications while at it. I haven’t been doing a good job at being consistent with them, though.

What's the first thing you check on your phone at the start of the day? Facebook since it’s my primary social media now. Literally never thought this day would come.

Have you ever flown a kite? Yeah but it’s been a while.

Who was your favourite music artist when you were 16? This was the time I was slowly moving away from my punk phase and inching closer to Athenna’s music tastes, so I was into acts like Hozier, Banks, Daya, Twenty One Pilots, etc.

What are three things you usually always have in your fridge? Water, bread, eggs.

[xxwritemeastoryxx]

Death Wish Part 3

Author: xxwritemeastoryxx

Pairings: Klaus Mikaelson x Wife!Reader

Word Count: 2.3K

Warnings: Slight descriptions of gore but nothing too bad, but that’s about it in this one. 

Author’s Note: Here is part 3 for you lovelies! There is only two more parts to this story. I hope you guys have enjoyed this as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it. ♥♥♥

"Now that I've got your full attention, how about we revisit the rules of our game?" Christine smirked at Klaus as she handed the cellphone that had been in her hand over to the awaiting Vampire.

If Klaus had thought for a moment he had been angry with the vampire before him, that had been an understatement. He wanted nothing more than to kill her that very second. To have her beating heart in his hand as he watched the fear fill her eyes before he yanked it from her chest.

But no matter how many times he saw the scenario play in his head, Christine was the only one who knew where Y/N was currently being held. While he would do anything and everything he could to find her and bring her back home to him, if simply sitting there and speaking with the woman before him, he'd do it.

"Do you remember the first time you wanted information on my father?" Christine asked as she took a seat. "You took my brother and I hostage and tortured us until my mother gave you everything you needed."

At first Klaus hadn't remembered the time Christine had been speaking about. There were so many people that he had tortured and killed to get what he wanted and needed throughout the centuries. Whatever moment she had been speaking about was nothing but a needle in a haystack of things he had done in his past.

"You honestly believe I would remember one night in the many life times that I've lived?" Klaus rolled his eyes and shook his head. "As I said before I don't recall this ridiculous game that you've been going on about. All I want is my wife back."

Christine let a humorless laugh as she leaned forward in her seat and rested her chin in her hands with her arms currently resting on the arm rests of the chair.

"I thought we were at an understanding when you heard your wife scream from her pain, or how she was about to beg you to save her that I was running this show completely." A smirk grew on her face. "Now as I was saying, you released us with the one condition of my brother bringing the one thing that could betray my father."

It was in that moment that Klaus began to remember what she had been talking about. This had all been while Klaus and his siblings had been making a home for themselves in the country side, hiding among nobles. One of those nobles had threatened to seek out the very beast that Klaus and his siblings had been afraid of. Mikael.

It was over the next few days that Klaus and Kol had helped persuade his wife to give up the several details that would be his undoing. In the process, Klaus had turned Christine's brother and used him to their advantage.

"Your father was needed to be taught a lesson." He said a moment later. He watched as the smirk that had been on Christine's face fall. "I only did what the others had been to afraid to do. Teaching your father that life is precious and that threats wont be tolerated were a valuable life lesson."

Klaus took a few steps closer to her. "I remember the way you had pleaded for your life. The way your mother had so easily given up every weakness your father had to make sure you were safe. While my intentions had only to knock your father off his pedestal, it was your brother's actions that had sealed your family's fate.

"This game you speak of," He said waiving his hand. "It was that I, demanded the weak spots of your loved one to bring them down. You taken my wife while she had been on her way to visit her sister, that means it is not I that you wish to bring down in this particular moment." Leaning down so that he was now level with Christine's face he watched her carefully. "Now what is it you wish to know or even have that has to do with my siblings?"

_____

"There is something blocking Y/N's location." Freya said shaking her head. "Whoever it is we are dealing with knows how to make her practically invisible."

"You can still feel her out there, right?" Rebekah asked concerned. She wanted to make sure that Y/N was in fact still alive. There were so many hours in between the time she had left New Orleans and when she could have possible been taking.

It didn't help that she hadn't heard from Klaus in the last few hours. She had even called Marcel to ask if Klaus had made his way over there, but Marcel hadn't seen him. Freya had done a locator spell to find the whereabouts of their brother, and he had been out in the city. They assumed that he was out there looking for Y/N.

"She's alive." Freya assured her. "The spell can only give us a radius of where she could be at. I can't pinpoint exactly where she is with her being cloaked."

Rebekah sighed softly as she stared at the map that Freya had been using to look for Y/N. The blackened sand had made a circle around an area several hundred miles outside of New Orleans

"She never even made it a quarter of the way." Rebekah said shaking her head.

"Or if they had, they brought her back this way." Freya noted. "We don't know who we are dealing with. If they wanted to keep Y/N close to get to Klaus, they'd keep her with in arms reach just in case things go south."

"When you say south, how bad is south?" Melissa's voice carried into the room. Both Freya and Rebekah to turned to look towards her. They could see that she was a mess herself. Her Y/H/C hair, that was just a few shades darker than Y/N's had been a mess. One that Rebekah could tell had been from her running her hand through her hair numerous times.

"We'll find her Mel." Rebekah said walking over to her and pulling her into a hug.

"She's never breaks her promises, Bex." Melissa said trying to hold back the sob that threatened to pass.

"And she wont." Rebekah said as she rubbed Melissa's back in soothing circles.

Pulling away from Rebekah to ensure she wouldn't break down, Melissa took a step away from her. "What happened to her? And I want the truth."

Rebekah looked over at Freya for a moment before looking back at Melissa. "All we know at the moment is that she was taken on her way to see you. A small box was delivered with her ring in it and the note only held a crest on it that we believed to have no longer existed."

"An old vendetta?" Melissa asked. There were several thousand thoughts going through her head at that moment. The whole way to New Orleans she had thought of the worst case scenario. She had believed that there was a possibility that her sister wasn't going to come back to her. That whoever this enemy was, something wasn't going to go right.

"We don't know." Freya said shaking her head slightly. "As Rebekah said, this enemy was supposed to have been killed centuries ago. So unless there is someone out there parading around as them, we have no idea who could be behind this, or if one of them survived somehow without my siblings knowing."

Melissa nodded as she processed the information. "What can I do to help?" She asked a moment later.

Rebekah sighed shaking her head. "There isn't-"

"Actually," Freya began cutting Rebecca off. "With you here, I can use your blood to help narrow down our search." Freya looked over at the map. "Either that or another spell that may just help find out where she is."

"Whatever it is that I can do to help Y/N, I'll do it." Melissa said as she walked over towards Freya, holding her hand out for Freya to take whatever blood she needed.

_______

"Please stop." The words sounded broken the moment they left Y/N's lips.

From the moment she heard Klaus's voice on the video call and seen his face for only a moment, there had been some hope that grew inside of her. But no matter how hard she held on to that hope, it was slowly slipping out of her grasp the more she was beaten without healing.

Every part of her body had hurt. With every breath she took in, she could feel every wound that was there. Not to mention all the blood she had lost in the few hours she had been there. She was almost drained, she could feel that. That feeling had only been confirmed when her captor had removed the IVs that held the mixture.

There was menacing laughter that filled the air. "You should know by now that's not an option." He shrugged his shoulders as he took a seat in a chair right in front of her. "The point was to let you bleed out, to get you completely weak that both vampire side and werewolf side wouldn't be able to do anything to help you heal. Now the real fun begins. It will be non stop bone breaking until I am told otherwise."

"What happens if Klaus doesn't give in to the demands?" Her voice was sounding rougher by the minute. The damage from screaming, from crying and the lack of blood all making it worse for her.

"I've been told that he's already agreed to the terms." He said with a shrug. "Though it shouldn't really matter, something tells me that even if he does do as demanded, your life will end without a second thought.

Y/N's eyes widened at that. But for some reason, before she could voice any thought that passed through her mind, her head slumped forward and her world went dark for a moment.

"Y/N, I need you to listen to me."

"Mel?" She asked through the darkness.

"I'm here, but only for a moment. Freya found a way where I can speak with you for a moment. Are you okay?"

"I can't see you." Y/N said worried. "Where are you?"

"Shh, its okay. Just listen to my voice right now. Are you okay?"

"No." A sob passed Y/N's lips. "I need blood. He's drained me."

"Who is he?"

"I don't know." Y/N responded. "There's someone else."

"Who? Can you tell me who?"

"He said her name was Christine." There was a pause longer than Y/N liked. She hated the darkness that currently surrounded her. She hated that she couldn't see Melissa. "Mel?"

"I'm here, sis." Melissa's voice filled the air. "Any idea where you are?"

"House. With some huge living room. Can't see passed the windows." She began to think of everything she could even though she had felt so weak in that moment. Every detail that she could remember seeing she thought of.

"That's it Y/N." Melissa's voice filled the air once more. "Freya can't hold the spell much longer but just know we are out here looking for you, even Klaus."

"Klaus is with her. I saw-" An ear piercing scream passed her lips as the world around her came into focus and she was back in the room instead of the darkness.

When her eyes focused, he stood right in front of her. His body leaned over her as he made sure she was fully there in the room. "It's not nice to give out information that shouldn't be given. I guess you aren't weak enough yet."

With that, Y/N felt the blade dig into her once more, a silent scream passed her lips before a sob replaced the silence.

_______

"Where the hell have you been?" Rebekah demanded the moment Klaus walked in through the door.

"I was out trying to find Y/N." He said through clenched teeth as he gave his sister a glare.

"Did you ever plan on telling us that Christine was still alive?" Rebekah asked. She watched as Klaus stiffened at the words.

"How do you know about that?" He asked taking a step close to her.

"Freya used Melissa's blood to get in contact with Y/N." She said with a nod. "She mentioned Christine."

Klaus ran a hand through his hair. "How is she holding up?" He asked wanting to know more about his wife than the conversation about Christine.

"Barely holding it together from what Melissa has said. She's been drained and who knows what that bitch plans to do with her."

"Did she say where she was at?" Klaus asked hopeful.

"She doesn't know. But Freya had managed to narrow down her search even with the cloaking spell up." Y/N had meant a lot to the two siblings. Neither of them wanted to hear that she was still out of reach from them.

"How far?" He asked hopeful that Y/N was close by.

"Some where outside the city. Marcel has his group of vampires headed out there to look for her." Rebekah had called Marcel back after Freya had completed the spell asking for help since Klaus hadn't. Klaus turned to leave once more, but Rebekah grabbed a hold of his arm. "Where are you going?

"To join Marcel and get Y/N." He said as if it wasn't obvious.

"We have other problems to discuss." Rebekah said not letting go of his arm. "We need to come up with a plan to kill Christine since you didn't do it centuries ago like we thought."

A humorless chuckle passed his lips as he looked at his sister. "She was killed. You just never asked if she survived transition, dear sister. Not that it matters any more."

"You went to see her, you obviously knew she was behind this." Rebekah wanted to understand this whole thing. She wanted to know why Christine had taken Y/N. "What does she want?"

"She wants the lot of you served up on a platter." He said as he took a step towards her. “And at this moment I am willing to do it if you try to stop me from finding my wife.”

Death Wish Tag: @lisaandthefckninternet @thoughtsofthestars @astudyoftimeywimeystuff @andrea25434 @intoomuchfandoms @curlyhairedblueeyedangel @vampiregirl1797 @xlosttdreamss @fandom-imaginestar @alina-barnes @killerheelsanddullknives @une-lueur-dans-la-nuit

Always & Forever Tag: @rissyrapp20 @taylordrunkonwhiskey @thewolf-and-thesheep @wayward-dan @neeadinghugs @hawaiianohana15 @fafulous @vibhati123 @cassienoble2000 @kenmen02 @mikaelson-trash @dora-the-grownup

The Originals Tag: @zillahvathek

[writingonthemoon]

Old Clothes Part 1

Word Count: ≈1913

Warnings: Mentions of Death

Back of Book: Odette had few constants in her ever-changing life.  One was The Burn.  She had learned it from her mother Lilijah when she was only four.  It was a way to escape all past mistakes and start anew.  It also came at a cost.  After one Burn, they need for more grows stronger.  Every time there was a possibility of someone recognizing one person in the family, matches were thrown to the ground and everything with them.  After, they would move hundreds of kilometres away and build a life again, only for it to be burned once again.  Then they would find old clothes and start thrice.

    At the age of seventeen, Odette got lost during a move.  Alone, she scoured the forest for her mother, father, and siblings.  As the sun set, she came across the Tuck family while searching for her own people.  They welcomed her to their campsite and offered to help her in the morning.  Grateful for their kindness, she thanked them and drank from a nearby spring before resting.  In the morning the group of five searched for the runaways, but to no avail.  The Tucks made a proposition to Odette.  She could become a part of their family.  And so she did.  She travelled with the youngest son, Jesse, for years unknown, never once ageing and always in old clothes.

     Alone again, Odette travels back to New York after spending decades out of the country.  There, she expects to visit old and new landmarks before making her way to the west.  Instead, she comes face-to-face with victims of The Burns she held over her many years.  The embers are still hot and may reignite, burning Odette and her old clothes with her.

Author’s Note: It’s here, people!  My spur of the moment story after I watched Tuck Everlasting had now become a semi-published story.  I know, like, three people will probably end up reading this, but I don’t care much about that.  And if you think this is a good part one, share it on your blogs so I get my butt in gear and finish the second part!  Thank you for reading and enjoy!

P.S. I’m using this for Day: 11 of Tuck Month since it’s a free day and it works with yesterday’s post if anyone’s wondering.

Old clothes.  It’s always old clothes for a new beginning.  It’s easiest to create a new identity with someone else’s.  Fabricating a single history that intertwines many from all over is simpler than pulling a single story from a single source.  If there’s no traceable trail of your lie, nobody can prove anything right or wrong.  It’s always wrong, though.  It’s wrong until the next new life.  And the next and the next.  Every new beginning brings an unfinished and unsatisfied end.  My mother never taught me that last part.

     It had been years, many years since I had last seen her.  My father, brother, and sister too.  I didn’t know where they were, I just knew they were no longer alive.  How could they be?  It had been ages since the last time I saw them.  Our lack of visitations was not my fault.  They lost me in that wood, not the other way around.  Things just kept happening after that took me farther and farther away from them.  When I met the Tucks in that clearing after hours of panicked wandering, I was desperate for warmth and food.  They let me camp with them unit the morning, so we could have the sun on our side while we searched.  The water from the spring… I had no idea.  None of us had a clue and now we’re all stuck like we were that day.  I’m stuck, never being me again, but always being seventeen.

     That was, oh, 91 years ago.  Now, it’s 1899 and I’ve left New Hampshire and gone everywhere.  Jesse and I travelled together when we figured out our… predicament.  We were in love and were going to get married and have a family, even with my internal inhibitions.  Then Miles had a son, Thomas.  Then Thomas and his mother left, fearing the unknown.  Jesse and I had become split on the plan. I still loved him and anyone could tell just by the look in my eyes whenever I was with him.  I took in everything about him, from the small creases between his eyebrows in the sunshine to the way his fingers always intertwined with mine at all hours of the day.  I wanted to be his partner in crime forever, just not with kids.  After we discussed it, Jesse… Jesse seemed to start feeling the opposite way.  The soft looks we used to give each other while we were waiting in train stations slowly started to disappear and the nights we used to spend talking ‘til all hours of the morning became rare.  He started getting more restless, more agitated with everything I did.  I would squeeze his hand too hard before we jumped down from trees or me getting excited about our next trip would make him dread the entire thing.  After one of our few screaming matches, I discovered out he had been—according to him—falling out of love with me since he found out I didn’t want kids.  So we parted in tears, one of us heading to the mountains in the west and the other to the ocean in the east.  The storm clouds in the north kept us apart and I never saw him again.  Every day, a pang of guilt and loss made my chest ache.  It was as if he had died.  The fact he never would die was almost worse.

     Back to 1899, though.  New York City.  I had just arrived off a ship from England, wanting to revisit the Brooklyn Bridge after years.  Even with amazing emotions being turned sour as I travelled through my past, I still loved revisiting the places the best memories came from.  After I found a low profile hotel to stay in for a few days, I wandered the streets to reminisce.  I had seen the rest of the world while I was gone, but it seemed like New York had the rest of the world there.  Even if the culture had changed exponentially, the city’s energy still contained the same buzz I had grown to adore back when I still aged.  Now the city was so much bigger!  It included Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx, and Staten Island.  The most notable difference was the surplus of children on the streets, hollering headlines and scurrying from shadow to shadow.

     My stomach clenched for the dirty boys and overworked girls that crossed my path.  They should’ve all been in school, learning about the world they would discover as they got older.  Their futures couldn’t be made by the spare change they called a living.  What about their parents?  They should be the ones working to support the family they made.  The ethics of the new world sickened me.  As I turned every corner to the new, glittering buildings, I couldn’t stop myself from hoping it was just a dream.  To my despair, it was a horrifying reality.

     “Hi there, miss.” My heart thudded against my ribcage when I heard a voice just off to my side.  No, no, no, no, no.  It couldn’t be.  “Care to buy a pape?” I turned and looked, the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end.

     I lost my breath at the sight of the familiar face.  I hadn’t realized how much I missed him until his shining eyes were in my life again.  Everything was the same, but I don’t know why I thought it wouldn’t be. Perhaps I thought he would’ve changed himself to leave the past behind him.  He was never one for looking back.  I could still see over his head, but I could see more than before. I realized he had a crutch under his arm.  Must’ve been one of the lies I taught him.  His blond hair was hidden under a backwards cap.  I wondered if it was still soft like when we were 63 before we got caught in that storm while travelling back from the Old World to visit his family.  His face still held all the things I fell in love with, but it seemed slightly different.  The dimples I enjoyed poking seemed shallower and his eyes didn’t seem as old.  Perhaps my imagination was toying with me.

     “Jesse.” I breathed out, trying to keep my emotions from going with the word.  I couldn’t let him think I was terrible without him because I was thriving without him holding me back.  The unfamiliar blue fabric of the dress I had found was held tight in my fist as I studied every last inch of his face.  The toe of the worn boot I came to acquire—along with its match—tapped on the ground as I waited for his response.  Could he possibly recognize me?  I couldn’t age, no, but I could change.  My hair got a pair of scissors to in somewhere in Europe and had accidentally darkened my skin while out touring Asia.  Would he even want to recognize me?  It seemed he wanted to go to the other side of the world to get away from my red hair.  That was in Cairo, though.  Things can always change.

     “Uh, my name is Charlie, but a lady as pretty as you can call me Crutchie.” He lifted his crutch for a moment and made my heart drop.  Not him.  Is that good?  I couldn’t tell at this point, with my emotions rising and falling like the waves of a storming sea.

     “Oh, my bad.  You just look like a friend I once had.” I glanced down to the ground and back up at the boy, whose face had turned down for me.  It wasn’t the boy I loved all those years ago.  After a beat, I solved what I felt was wrong.  This boy in front of me had seen things different from Jesse.  Jesse had seen wonders people could only dream of.  Charlie—Crutchie—had seen horrors nobody could imagine.  I shoved my hand in my pocket and grabbed a penny.  I handed it to the boy with a smile, “I’ll take one newspaper, please.”

     The rough paper hit my calloused palm, a part of me I could never hide behind a new identity, “Here you are.  Might I know the name of the sight in front a me?“  His eyebrow lifted in such a familiar way, it sent a shiver down my spine.

     The test I came across every time my life was compromised.  Make a story in an instant with what I have, “Odette Tuck.” Damn, he got stuck in my head and made me think of the future we were going to have.  I shook Charlie’s hand firmly, trying to make more of a life for my character.  My parents were a fan of the ballet, that’s where my first name comes from.  The callouses are from a childhood in small towns where I climbed trees.  A dark tone from a recent family visit.

     “Nice to meet you, Odette.  How old are ya?”

     The second part: create a personality.  Happy in the way that can make anyone happy.  Funny in a playful and flirty way.  Smart like no one knows it.  Mature enough to hold a conversation with adults, but not enough to stop making practical jokes. “Now, Charlie, didn’t your mother ever teach you not to ask a lady that question?”

     He got quiet almost immediately and I knew I struck a nerve.  Before I could rush to fix my mistake, he responded, “Nah, I, uh, never really had one.” It was like he flipped a switch and turned his grin back on, “Doesn’t matter much, though.  I got plenty a friends.  Theys my family.”

     “That’s good.” I nodded slightly, trying to remember what it was like to have a family.  Laughter around the table.  Warm hugs after a long day.  Going to the fair for one night only and winning as many prizes as you could for the others.  Making jam and pie with your mother and sister while your father and brother were out finding enough patience to fish.  Bickering and the occasional biting when you were younger.  Unconditional, unwavering, and neverending love.

     Finally, my mind and lips seemed to catch up with the original question that was posed only a few moments before, “I’m seventeen, by the way.” It had been an automatic answer since the Tucks and I had figured out what was going on.  It would be the same answer forever too.  There was nothing behind it anymore.  No excitement like someone who had just had their birthday and their whole life ahead of them.  No regret like one who was ageing out of their childhood and would soon have to face the anxieties of adulthood.  Nothing.

     “Huh.  I’m only fifteen.” As my expression changed, he quickly went to correct himself, “Well, I’m turnin’ sixteen soon.  Real soon.“  Charlie nodded a dozen times too many as he confirmed his age.

     I smirked, “I see you enjoy flirting with older women.” Older by a lot.

     “You ain’t that much older.” Oh, you poor boy.  You have no idea.

     "I am still older.“ I made my point by poking him in the chest slightly.

     He rolled his eyes and chuckled, “Yeah, alright.” I laughed along with him for a moment before stopping as he did, “Well, I’ll let ya get on with your day, Odette.”

     I nodded in response, “Thank you.  I’ll see you again, Charlie.” I backed away from him for a few steps, getting one last look at the past and a future put together.  Maybe these old clothes were finally going to be right.  Just like my first clothes had been.

[velvet-tread]

I wanted to get your perspective because you ship it and most of us have bias against it. Do you think Bell loves Echo as much as Clarke? I think he’s in love with her but does he love her as much or will he possibly discover in s5 that he doesn’t love her as much???Not trying to cheapen becho’s loving relationship, just wanted your thoughts.

Nonny -  you did not ask for part of the below to bean essay on Why Becho Are In Love Goddammit, so I apologise to you bc I knowyou said it in the ask. But to everyone else I’m not sorry because I loved writingit all and I WANTED TO GET IT OFF MY CHEST OKAY.

Good evening Nonny, and thank you for your interesting andwell-constructed ask. Judging by some of the rhetoric I’ve seen over the pastfew days, there’s a very real risk of people throwing up in their mouths overwhat follows so I hope everyone remembers to floss and brush afterwards.  Look after your tooth enamel kids, it can’tbe replaced.

So. Let’s begin.

I very much agree with you: Bellamy and Echo are in lovewith one another.

WAIT – HOLD YOUR SICKBAGS – THERE’S MORE.

Not only are Bellamy and Echo in love with one another butit is explicit between them.  That’sright friends, I am 100% sure that Bellamy and Echo have done that. No not that, although yes also that and lots of times upside down andprobably sideways too. No I mean they’ve done the Big ILU.

Why do I think that? A number of reasons but let’s startwith the storytelling.

If I were to construct a story in which one of myprotagonists falls back to Earth and immediately falls into conflict with arelative, another protagonist, let’s say a beloved sister, I would want thatconflict to mean something.  In fact, I’dwant it to mean the most.  And if that conflict was related to a romanticrelationship that one of these protagonists had, I would want all of those relationshipsto have high stakes so that I could really milk all the emotional impact of thechoices these protagonists make.

You know what doesn’t have high stakes? Lukewarmquasi-relationships in which nobody – or only one person - is truly invested.

And you know, if I were to really go to town on thisbrother-sister YOU CAN’T DATE [X] BECAUSE [REASONS] storyline, I may alsoconsider echoing a previous relationship that the other sibling had, which hadsimilarly high stakes and over which the two siblings nearly destroyed eachother.

See, I’ve seen the argument that Echo is a lot more intoBellamy that he is into her, and from a character perspective there’s a slimpossibility I’d buy it if it weren’t for the fact that we know that the show is setting up some kind of conflict betweenthe Blakes – in which Bellamy needs to actually give a personal shit about hisrelationship with Echo - or a complication between Bellamy and Echo thatultimately splits them up, which, again, requires Bellamy to feel that loss ifit if there’s to be any point to it at all.

And if, for example, I was also planning to break out an arcfor a character who hadn’t really had one before, for whom the audience hasonly really viewed through the prism of the protagonist POV, I would want that character’s relationshipwith my protagonist to reach its peak before I take her solo. Echoliterally breaking free of the chains of being something to Bellamy?  Howvery meta.

So, from that narrative start point, if the show wants toconvince me that Bellamy and Echo’s relationship doesn’t have very high stakesfor them both, it’s going to have to work quite hard.

Which it does not.

Of course we all have our own personal experiences whichshape our perception of what “love” and “not in love” looks like.  But for me? Bellamy and Echo in 501 is whatpeople in love look like.  By which Imean physical and emotional intimacy, touching, eye contact, openness, synchronicityof movement, comfort, understanding, tenderness and, most importantly,communication.

Because what struck me about their introduction to us as acouple is that clearly, this is not the first time Bellamy and Echo havediscussed what their relationship means. This wasn’t, we’re going to the ground, don’t you think we ought to talkabout what we even are?  This was: youknow that thing we talked about?  Willthat change now we’re going to the ground? I’m scared. (and my babies, youshould be)

All of which, by the way is 100% the way loving, emotionallyopen stable long-term relationships work, or should do.  Defining yourselves as a unit and constantlyadapting to the changing dynamic is a thing that happens in long-termrelationships. It’s a sign of confidence, not a lack of it. Which kiiiiiind ofleads me back to what I was saying in my original post about multishipping, inthat the point of Bellamy being in a relationship at all is the show punchingus with BELLAMY IS HAPPY, BELLAMY IS STABLE, BELLAMY IS IN LOVE, ALL OF THIS ISABOUT TO BLOW UP IN HIS FACE.

So, now that everyone has emptied their stomachs I’m goingto move on to Bellarke, and s5.

I’m going to find this hard to extrapolate, and I may needto revisit this after the Bellarke reunion because I feel Becho very much atmand Bellarke seems a bit…idk abstract?  ButI know when I see them reunite I’ll want to break through space and time and physically make them smoosh their preciousfaces together.

Ahem.

So, you’ll have noticed that I spent a great deal of timeabove pointing out how Bellamy and Echo’s relationship looks like a normalloving long-term relationship. Now Bellarke, Bellarke is not that, not yet. Butthe thing is, it doesn’t matter. What Bellarke has is what I’d describe ascosmic. I don’t think it would matter where they were in the world, or whatsituation they were in, if they knew the other was alive they’d gravitatetowards each other.  They’d always seekeach other out. In many ways, I don’t think they’re even conscious of it, orcan help it very much.  It’s like a pullneither of them can resist, a presence that never leaves.

And the thing is, that while that is a very romantic idea andfrankly electric to watch on screen, it’s also quite scary. Their dependence oneach other and need for each other is life-affirming, yes.  But it is also TERRIFYING for them both.Losing each other, or even the thought of losing each other, has driven themhalf mad in the past and pushed them to do crazy things.

Whereas Becho – and I mean this in a good way -  is very muchabout choice. No, they didn’t choose to be stranded in space together, but theychose to forgive each other, put their animosity aside.  They chose to do whatever it was they did(headcanon time: war stories and mythology, sparring and trig lessons) thatmade them bond.  They chose their relationshipframework. They chose love.  And I like that.  

It’s mundane, but its life-affirming too in its own way andit is every bit as valid as Bellarke’s crashing-through-the-universenot-talking-about-it shitshow.

(Incidentally, this is one of the reasons I’m so in lovewith the time jump and Bellarke being separate but OK – breaking them out ofthe spiral they were in, and giving them enough joy in their lives to let themmake active choices about who they are to each other).

But I do thinkBellamy’s love for Echo is very context dependent.  Did you ever have a friend that was a part ofyour life during a certain time? Those friends can be some of the most intense,meaningful relationships you have.  Butwhen you move out of your shared context, you drift apart. I think that is whatcould happen with Bellamy and Echo.  Ithink that being back on Earth could bring all of the reasons for theiroriginal antagonism back to the surface. They could find it hard to reclaimtheir dynamic with the ghosts of who they used to be  - Clarke, Octavia and Azgeda – real andpresent and in front of them.

I think the stories they chose to tell themselves about eachother and their lives on earth (stories like “my sister will forgive you”), thestories that made the love they built possible, could start to dissolve as the realityof Earth sets in.

PREDICTION TIME: In short, I think the Bellamy we see inspace will not be the Bellamy we have by the end of the season.  And that Bellamy won’t be able to love Echoin the way Space!Bellamy could, and I don’t think Earth!Echo will be able tolove Earth!Bellamy in that way either.

I won’t make a value judgement because all love is valid. Ithink Bellamy will love Clarke with the same intensity – even if they neverbecame romantic - until one or both of them are on a funeral pyre. But I thinkhe’s more than capable of loving someone else fully at the same time and for itto mean something. Love is not a finite pool.

[annakie]

I made it, and now there's no turning back

Hey, so, this is about to be a very long, spammy post about Critical Role season 1.  This is mostly for my own memory, so in the future when I want to revisit watching the show, I'll have my own log, of sorts.  It's really long.  And a lot of it is my chatlogs about the show with @janiemcpants , posted with her permission.   So if you hate reading other people's chatlogs, this may not be the post for you.

But if you wanna read a lot of words about a show where some nerdy-ass voice actors play Dungeons and Dragons, this may be the post for you.

Also, for unknown reasons, I’ve had Jimmy Eat World’s song “Cut” stuck in my head the last couple of days, and it’s basically all I’ve listened to today.  The words don’t really fit my emotions, but the overall feeling the song gives me does.  So that’s where my head is.  

I said some of this an a post I made a few weeks ago, but I’m saying it again now.  Ever since I heard of it, I was pretty sure I’d love Critical Role if I could get into it.  And so for two years I meant to catch up.  

I’ve played Dungeons and Dragons since the late 90′s, second edition, and have been in epic campaigns of my own before where I fell in love with not only my character but our entire party.  I love this party just as much as I’ve loved Annotea, Sekhar, Ike, Ta’Rik, Annwyl, Krivken, Liek, Colin, E’a and Rhyz.

I have looked for a post I made like a year and a half ago asking for help figuring out how to get into Critical Role on my blog a few times but either I tagged it badly or deleted it.  I don't know.  I remember some people said to start at episode 19. Some people said to use it as background sound when cleaning / cooking / driving etc.  I knew I didn't want to start midway through the part of the story we had, I was disappointed to learn they were already 8th level and we'd missed like two years of story before the show.

I have a post from June 2016 saying I'd made it an hour into the first episode, but I think I finished that ep, or got close, and didn't pick it back up for like, another year.  I think it was like mid-summer last year when I made my second push to get into it.  

I made it through like eight episodes, and I remember having episode 8 up in a web browser for weeks or a couple of months and things were just so crazy with everything happening with work at the end of the year.  And I only watched it as background noise at work.  I'd frequently realize I had no idea what was going on, and through like the first 30 or 40 episodes I'd find some kind of recap to read at the end of the episode to make sure I didn't miss anything important.

Here's some negativity, so skip it if you'd like: It took me a very long time to get through like episode 10 to 27 because long before I learned all the things that happened since he left, I couldn't stand Orion.  I've looked into it a bit and basically for all the normal reasons people didn't like him.  I respect that some people did, but being honest here, if he'd have stayed on the show, I probably would have stopped watching.  Around episode 20 I learned that he'd leave soon, and dragged myself through the rest of the episodes until he was gone.  And then, it was much easier to get into.

The first half of this year my job went from crazy drama to just plain boring.  I really didn't have much to do, and everyone knew I was just biding time until it was time to go.  So I'd watch like half the day sometimes, often while doing what work I did have to do.  But often that work was like, wiping laptops or organizing keys or just... busywork.  But CR made the days pass quicker, and it was enjoyable.

The Feels apparently really started on 3/09 when I sent this to JanieMcPants: Grog winning his second solo battle with the orc JUST BARELY thanks to Scanlan's sneaky inspiration is my new favorite moment in the show.

This would begin a very long chatlog of me just yelling feelings at her.  After this, my current comments are italicized. 

---------- 03/10/2018 janiemcpants: That whole episode is SPECTACULAR Did you finish it? I don't want to spoil anything if not!

annakie: I did, I got to the part in the next episode where Percy finally confessed a bit of what is going on with his life since they're back home and have been invited to some feast.  Still pretty early on in that ep, work got crazy yesterday. :)

---------- 03/23/2018 annakie: Man, I'm on ep 26 now (I watch in bits and bursts as I have time at work, it's real slow going) and I have to say, (I deleted some negativity about Orion here).  EVERYTHING ELSE IS GREAT though. I'm really enjoying everyone else and their characters.  The episode with the dinner at the Briarwood's was AMAZING especially and I'm so worried about Percy.  I was almost in tears as Liam was talking about him thinking about Keyleth and Vex when Vax was going unconscious and thought he was going to die.  That was so, so good.

BTW did I just miss it all this time that Vax has a thing for Keyleth?  Like I didn't notice it at all until that moment he was going unconscious and now it's obvious.

janiemcpants: Vax’s last thoughts about Vex and Keyleth KILLED. ME. That was also the first time I realized he was into Keyleth, and I think it was the first time any of the others realized it, judging by their faces. Liam did say later that he already was aware of it when the show started, and he dropped a few hints before he outright said it. I’m listening to the podcast right now from the beginning and there are some little things there that you can pick up if you’re looking for them, but nothing that would have given it away, I don’t think. So it was a fun surprise for everybody. (Vax and Keyleth are one of my favorite pairings on the show. I just love them.) This arc is THE BEST and so intense. So much suffering, but also so much goodness!

(We chatted more for awhile about Percy, and the cow episode (Very fun!) )

---------- 04/12/2018 annakie: OH MY GOD SO MUCH IS HAPPENING CASSANDRA IS ALIVE AND VAX IS KISSING KEYLETH. This is so good.  SO GOOD.

janiemcpants: I didn't see that kiss coming AT ALL It was SUCH A DELIGHTFUL SURPRISE And Percy gets one sibling back, MY HEART

---------- 05/02/2018 annakie: I've been studying a lot and haven't had a lot of time for CritRole but I watched some today like the END OF THE BRIARWOODS HECK YEAH and Cassandra is good again, and then VAX TRYING TO HOLD KEYLETH'S HAND ON THE TREE and she didn't know how to respond she's so awkward and unsure and needs time to figure it out. I was sitting there just staring at the screen instead of working for like 20 minutes during that part haha. 

And I watched the winter fair episode with Trinket winning the pie eating contest and Grog losing arm wrestling to Trish the Dish and that was GREAT.  I stopped like right after Matt had Tiberius leave the party for good.  It was a very good day of very awesome CritRole at work. :)

janiemcpants: Keyleth and Vax just KILL ME. It's such a slow burn until suddenly STUFF HAPPENS and then it slows down again and pulls at my heartstrings the entire time.

---------- 05/17/2018 annakie: "I don't want to be alone tonight."

"I haven't wanted to be alone most nights..."  And I let him in. THE SHIP HAS SAILED.  YAY!! :D

annakie: Haha aww Marisha switched seats so she could be closer to Liam, that's sweet.

lol of COURSE the VERY NEXT DAY they see Kashaw again. And Will sits on the other side of Marisha... that's great.

janiemcpants Yay!!! They’re the slowest of slow burns but it’s so worth it. Liam and Marisha manage to be adorable even when they’re seated far away from each other. And yay to Kashaw coming back! I had mixed feelings about him at first, because the second Trial of the Take group had a blend of personalities that was tough to work with, and he got lost in the sea of grouchiness. But he ended up being great and every time he comes back I love him more.

(I'd grow to feel the same way about Kashaw.)

---------- 05/29/2018 annakie: Episode 44 - Oh my gosh, there was a beholder fight AND NOW VEX IS DEAD WHAT IS HAPPENING? And yeah, I think Kashaw is definitely more stand-out-y here, I'm really enjoying his character here. :)

annakie Keyleth: "Why did you do that?  Kashaw: "Because I knew you wanted me to."  D'awwww....

janiemcpants: AAAAHHHHHHHHHHH Vex’s death there kills me extra because it comes AFTER they win the fight! Everything is supposed to be okay, and then NOPE. THANK GOODNESS Kash was there. They're so lucky he happened to be their guest that night!

I mean, they probably could have come up with another way to save her, but being able to do it right away was a relief. And it was a great character moment for him

--------- 6/15/2018 I made this post, and I was at episode 49.

----------

A lot happened, and I didn't yell about it much of anywhere. I don't know how I let 20 episodes go by without reacting much to them, especially when SO MUCH HAPPENED in there. Right about when the Chroma Conclave hit, I knew I was sucked in, completely.  

But in a month and a half I made it through 14 episodes.  Near the end of July, things started happening very quickly.  

---------- 07/27/2018 annakie: I'm on episode 63 now and I just realized today I'm JUST BARELY over halfway through this campaign. Which makes me both happy and not, haha.

Woah Tiberius.  This actually sad. :(

That was really rough and I cried a little.

janiemcpants: TIBS That was so sad All of it was, but "I encourage peace" really got me And when I rewatched it and realize that's what Percy's DM whisper was about, and you can see it on his face and then he has to sit on it for like 20 minutes AUGH

07/28/2018 annakie: Oh man I'm going to have to go back and watch that again.  I was touched at how sad EVERYONE was.   And yeah, the burial part and "I encourage peace" got me too.  It's always sad to lose a friend, but also Tibs defending Draconia was really the perfect ending for his character.

I started ep 65 and YAY. FINALLY.  KEYLETH AND VAX.  FOR REALS. I have LOVED the slow-burn of the last 40 episodes but I'm glad they're moving into an actual relationship now.

I got spoiled about Vex and Percy just the other day (No one's fault, someone I follow on twitter liked a tweet, which twitter OH SO HELPFULLY put on my timeline.  So, it's twitter's fault.)   There have already been some hints that it's coming with Vex's titling and all, but I'm looking forward to it.

(Getting spoiled accidentally about that was my "OK TIME TO CLAMP DOWN ON SPOILERS!!" wakeup call -- especially since that Really Big Thing happened in Campaign 2 right about then and despite trying real hard to not be spoiled I know all about it.)

And Scanlan, what character growth with his speech to Pike a couple of episodes ago, apologizing for the proposal and realizing he was more in love with the idea of Pike, even though he does really love her, so proud of that boy.  And the note he gave Pike awhile ago for if he dies AND SHE READ IMMEDIATELY.  That was like the first real sign she's given.  The only thing that's bothered me about Scanlan, (who is probably my favorite, though I love THEM ALL) is that he was nice-guying / trying to wear Pike down this whole time, albeit in a charming way, and now he gets that, so YAY!

---------- 07/28/2018 annakie Watching 65, and having Matt torture Marisha by having Kashaw ask Keyleth out the night after she finally gets together with Vax is masterful.  Haha

Awww Gilmore's parents, so sweet.  And then Sam "Well, they're both over 70, so who's going to kill them?" buhahahahaha

07/29/2018 annakie: Oh my God, episode 68.  I'm bawling.  I obviously know Percy will be back but this was really, really, really rough.  Taliesin took it better than anyone.  Matt seemed just as devastated as everyone else.  Marisha's crying made me cry. 

That ending, with everyone gathering around Ripley and each doing their own killing blow for Percy.... it was so, so, SO GOOD.

I hope the internet wasn't too hard on Matt that week.

(I really did bawl about Percy's death.  That's when the show went from “I love this” to "This is masterful.  This is amazing. This might be elevated to rank of "FAVORITE THINGS!" 

This is also when I started watching at home -- because I had to know what was going to happen.  And because I realized that this show will MAKE ME CRY and I can't cry at work.  I also started watching on the weekends, basically as much as I could, every night, all Saturday and Sunday when possible.)

janiemcpants: Keyleth and Vax took a while, but I think they played out perfectly in the end :) I’m so happy the way the official couples turned out, because they’re all so different and so great in their own way. Truly something for everyone! (Vax and Keyleth are my favorites, but I don’t think I have ANY NoTPs, which is awesome.) When I first started the show, I thought I was going to HATE Scanlan, specifically because of the nice-guy thing. But then that sort of started to taper off and he won me over anyway, and I was so happy that he actually realized what was going on and apologized for it. Especially since I love their relationship, as she’s more or less the group’s moral compass, but he’s also basically the group dad--the one who keeps the to-do list and helps everyone keep their shit together (even if it’s not in the most conventional way). Thank goodness he finally realized it was more important to keep her as a friend than to keep trying for romance and probably eventually lose her by being a shithead.

68/69 are two of my favorite episodes, and two of the very hardest to watch Rough, but really emotionally and narratively satisfying

---------

7/21/2018

I made this post,  My first big feelings post.

---------------

08/03/2018 annakie: I JUST FINISHED 78.  SO MANY FEELINGS!  VEX ANSWERING THE DOOR NAKED.  THE WHOLE PLANNING.  GILMORE IS WITH THEM!  AND OH MY GOD KASH AND ZARAH PLS DON'T DIE BUT IF YOU DO SACRIFICING YOURSELF LIKE THIS IS AMAZING, I LOVE YOU. Also I'm now watching Talks Machina too so each episode is an hour longer!

08/05/2018 annakie: OH MY GOD SCANLAN.  THIS IS SO MUCH WORSE THAN PERCY. I DIDN'T THINK IT COULD GET WORSE I AM BAWLING AT PIKE'S POEM OH THANK GOD SHE ROLLED A NATURAL 20

Liam breaking during Pike's poem double killed me

I'm also so glad Ashley could be here for this one. I wish Sam was.

Also I'm SO GLAD Keyleth was so amazing last episode, both the feeblemind (totally, 100% saving this fight) and spotting Kima and Allora in the ocean.  Just MVP'd the hell out of that ep.

janiemcpants: OH MAN that feeblemind!!! And I’m so glad it was Keyleth who landed such a huge blow on Raishan. And spotting Kima and Allura was such a HUGE RELIEF. What an emotional rollercoaster that episode was. I’m convinced the dice themselves have a sense of drama. That’s the only way to explain some of the narratively amazing 1s and 20s we’ve gotten

annakie: Oh my God, I know.  Just absolutely insane.  THAT NAT 20 MERCER ROLLED FOR THE FINAL RESURRECTION ROLL OMG

I didn't stop for Talks Machina between those eps.  I couldn't, I had to see what happened.  I'm so glad this entire ep was so laid back after the resurrection. 

This show... I'm so, so mad I wasn't into it from the beginning.  On the other hand, having to wait a week between THOSE EPISODES would have been the worst.

janiemcpants: IT WAS It's so good that they generally have breather episodes once something huge is over with, because I don't think I could handle the tension otherwise

---------- 08/06/2018 annakie: WHAT THE FUCK I THOUGHT THIS WOULD BE FUN AND HAPPY AND EVERYTHING IS TERRIBLE. I had to stop watching at work

Because I started crying a little and then Percy gave his speech and I almost lost it haha That's where I am right now, raced home from lunch to watch the rest of this where I could cry

janiemcpants: Are you on episode 85? That one really hit like a slap in the face

annakie: Yep!

janiemcpants: That's the only one I think I won't be able to watch again

(I made this post.)

annakie: He's gone now, they're awake the next morning. Like I knew he was leaving but I thought it wouldn't be THIS TERRIBLE.  I thought it’d be like “Hey guys I’m taking some time off, love you, bye!” but nooooo.

janiemcpants: And it really felt like it came out of nowhere!

annakie: But also props to Sam because that was such a good representation of depression.

Like I really understood where it was coming from but yeah you really didn't expect THAT.

janiemcpants: Yeah, he's definitely not afraid to take risks and let his character be imperfect, and he had some good points and some not so good points in a very realistic way But BOY was that hard to watch

annakie: Yeah exactly.  Like, yelling that nobody cares about him.... that they don't love him.... I have felt that way about people who I absolutely knew loved me and that just shook me.  It was just... so... real.  And the way everyone reacted.  Man I just wish Ashley had been there.

I already know Sam plays someone else for awhile and eventually, Scanlan comes back but man... again... so glad I don't have to wait to KNOW THAT.

janiemcpants: You're lucky you know that! I totally thought he was gone for good Are you at the end of the episode, or still going?

annakie: Still going, they're at Whitestone still the next morning deciding what to do next.  Keyleth just scryed on Scanlan and Kaylee.

Grog: "I know you on a more intimiate level."  Vex: "Because you saw my titties."  Grog: Basically, yeah.

Real question: Can I watch the rest of this episode and maybe next without crying, so I can finish it at work, or should I not?  Gotta head back in a few minutes

Oh heeey it's already Sam's new character. :)

janiemcpants You can probably finish it up Since you met Sam's new character and he's pretty good And the next one has a lot of funny stuff in it

---------- 08/07/2018 annakie Episode 88:  The Kraken Fight.  FIVE AND A HALF HOURS (more like five after the break BUT STILL.)  I feel like I was watching this episode for a week.

janiemcpants That was intense! Them not being able to kill the kraken really added some stress to the fight Although they might not have been able to anyway

08/08/2018 annakie Yeah!  That added a whole crazy layer onto it!  I was pretty sure there would be more deaths than just Vax.  Not that him dying wasn't bad, but you know.  I think I'm becoming desensitized to the deaths because I didn't cry during his resurrection.  Also, poor Ashley, it feels like every time she's there lately it's to resurrect someone.

Finished Ep 90 this afternoon, Keyleth's Aramente ceremony was really good. :)

Also Grog and Tary potion shopping, I laughed so hard at work and had to keep it quiet, I'm sure my coworkers think I'm a maniac.

Ep 91 - Vox Machina Go To Hell... sounds amazing.  Just starting.

janiemcpants: Grog and Tary shopping was a total trash fire and it was so great And Vox Machina Go to Hell was such a good title! And a good episode!

---------- 08/11/2018

annakie: Ep 95!  Past the time skip!  The last two have been SO MUCH FUN and just what we needed after all the sadness and tension!  And YAY ASHLEY IS HERE FOR AWHILE.  SHE'S GETTING A STORYLINE!  Also I love Tary so much now, that character growth! :D  But I only have 20 episodes left noooooo

(later that night)...I should probably be doing other things with my life other than watching CR + Talks Machina but I'm already on 98.  Clearly Tary is leaving soon, it's neat to meet his family and all, though.  I'm gonna miss him.  I thought Tary would just be like... a filler character. But he's so great.  So.   Great.

---------- 08/12/2018

annakie: OH GOD IT'S SCANLAN HE'S BACK I'M DYING (also I'm real sad Tary is leaving soon, the conflict of emotions!).  I JUST got to the part where Vex runs up and hugs him and they go to break I'M CRYING.

annakie: EVERYTHING HURTS but Jon Heder's character is hilarious

janiemcpants: Oh no, goodbye Tary! Tary was a cross between Gilderoy Lockhart and a J Peterman catalog and I absolutely adored him, but it’s so good to have Scanlan back I wasn’t sure what to expect from Jon Heder, because I’d only seen him in Napoleon Dynamite and didn’t like it, but he was so great in this

annakie: Oh man I missed him so much.  He's having to apologize SO MUCH.  Poor Sam, haha.  The Talks Machina with him, Ashley and Laura was great, though and Laura saying Travis was too emotional to go on the show was so.... awwww.  I'm into ep 100 now  Yay the new look!  AND LADY BRIARWOOD IS BACK WHAT THE WHAAAT.  And Poor, poor Sam having to play three characters, though, he did this to himself. :D

--------- 8/13/2018 annakie (about the first Vecna fight): That shoulda just been called "Vox Machina gets their asses kicked." Vaaaaax

Scanlan MVP'd the hell out of that fight though No time for Talks Machina, I'll do that at work tomorrow, RIGHT ON TO 103!

janiemcpants: Episode 102 was an ABSOLUTE DISASTER Thank goodness Scanlan came back when he did!

Although I did enjoy everyone guilt tripping Sam for making him leave

And then THE ENDING

annakie: GOD EVERYTHING ABOUT IT. ALL OF THIS.  I NEED TO PAUSE TIME SO I DON'T NEED TO SLEEP AND CAN JUST WATCH CR STRAIGHT THROUGH FOREVER UNTIL IT'S OVER. These are disaster children and they are terrible I love them.

(I made this post.)

janiemcpants: I had to laugh at your last post because that's exactly what it's like! There's SO MUCH in each episode it's almost impossible to post about it. TOO MANY FEELINGS

And not enough time!

I think this last arc has really good flow to it You can feel the urgency, but it still gives things the time they deserve

annakie: It really is!  Like you know if I had a week between episodes than it'd be way easier to sort but I can't take any time I have to watch as much as I can now. I'm at the part where they're trying to sort out why Vax is back and I WANT TO DIE.

janiemcpants: WASN'T THAT A CURVEBALL I was expecting a tense, elaborate ritual like the others got, and they were planning for it, but nope! We're skipping that part

annakie: I read something like a tweet or untagged post MONTHS ago about Scanlan not being able to save Vax.  So when he got disintegrated I was like "Oh this is that that meant." and now I'm like "OH SHIT NO IT WASN'T, WAS IT?!"  I'm scared.

(Oh, you sweet summer child, you have no idea what you’re in for.)

janiemcpants I just love how Vax getting disintegrated totally changed the context of everything that happens, but not in the way anyone expected Matt's mind is truly a place of wonder

annakie: Also Yay Grog just asked Scanlan to hang out with him in Vasselheim :3 Nothing like a terrifying near-death experience to spread some forgiveness.

TRAVIS + SAM IS THE BEST, WHETHER IT'S SCANLAN OR TARY.

--------- 8/14/2018 annakie Me today: OK my boss asked me to go to this important meeting and take notes I need to concentrate.

What I actually thought about : SERENRAE GAVE PIKE A SPECIAL BLESSING AND LOVES HER SO MUCH AND ALSO TOLD SCANLAN SHE HEARS HIS PRAYERS AND HE IS A TRUE BELIEVER, HE HAS A HOLY SYMBOL AND FOUND HIS WAY TO THE TOWER HIMSELF WE ARE SO BLESSED. REMEMBER SAM AND ASHLEY'S FACES THROUGH ALL OF THAT IT WAS PERFECT.

Also Scanlans face when. Grog mentioned that he was looking for Scanlan, the moment passed so fast but I cried.

(later that night) annakie: I'm so mad I have to run my own game tonight so all I'm gonna have time to watch is to the end of 104 Glad I prepped my game a week or two ago though

janiemcpants: THEIR MEETING WITH SERENRAE, I WEEP It’s just so good to see both a character who’s been so devoted but struggled with it at the same time, and a character who had to develop so much to get there, actually be seen and acknowledged by their god

annakie: I REWATCHED IT WHEN I GOT HOME

janiemcpants: What a great moment for both of them

annakie: SO amazing, I loved it so much.

janiemcpants: Also, I love how it doesn’t even matter how the group splits up, any combination of them is going to be interesting and fun (But especially Sam and Travis because of their shared delight in chaos)

annakie: I'm RIGHT NOW at the part where everyone is talking about Vex to Pelor and OH SHIT SHE AND PERCY ARE BETHROTHED THAT'S THE SECRET YES that's so true every pair is amazing

Also once again Scanlan MVPs this, with his polymorph on Vex

janiemcpants: It's truly astounding how many times Scanlan single-handedly saves their bacon

annakie: Yeah as much as I loved Tary like... they really NEEDED Scanlan.

janiemcpants: They really did I wish they could have both!

annakie: When I rewatched the Serenrae meeting I watched Ashley's face and every time Scanlan did something positive like made it to the tower or Serenrae acknowledged Scanlan as a true believer Ash's face was just amazing. She's so pleased at Scanlan :3

janiemcpants: Ashley's just so good

annakie: I KNOW, ME TOO.  I peeked and saw that we don't see Tary again and I'm sad!  I hope he gets an epilogue!

Also I NEED VOX MACHINA PEOPLE TO ACKNOWLEDGE HOW GREAT SCANLAN IS BEING HERE.

Last Tuesday at 11:24 PM *screaming into the void* http://blog.annakie.com/post/177011924723/critical-role-stuff-spoilers-up-to-ep

--------- 8/15/2018

janiemcpants Everything you said is SO TRUE And I still just can't believe how Sam took what was meant to be a joke* and turned him into this incredible three-dimensional person who never fails to surprise me. Will he turn into a dinosaur and destroy a building? Will he sing at the giant monster instead of fleeing like everyone else? Will he melt my heart with beautiful words about friendship? Will he devastate my emotions when he stops covering up his pain? Will he make a dick joke? We never know! And he's grown so much! *(Apologies if you already knew this, but when they were getting ready for the original one-shot home game that started all this, Sam had never played before, and Liam helped him pick out his character. Sam said he wanted to be the worst, and asked what the worst character would be, and Liam came up with gnome bard. And here we are. That was all captured on the podcast they sporadically do together and it's pretty funny.)

annakie Hilariously, I just found that out about Liam helping create Scanlan an hour ago.  On the episode of Talks I was watching at work Sam kept mentioning his Reddit AMA and so I googled it and read it, literally an hour ago.  So if I would have seen this earlier, it would have been new information! And YES SO MUCH I AGREE.

Like I love them ALL so much but I mean... Scanlan.  Fucking Scanlan.  Fave.  Sorry.

(Later) annakie Darin DePaul is hilarious lol I was like "Uh who is this?" when he showed up but he keeps making me laugh.  I'm still in the initial fight right after they find Sprigg

janiemcpants Fun fact: Darin de Paul played D&D thirty something years ago with Matt's mom, and Sprigg is the character he played back then I think that old session ended with Sprigg disappearing or something, so this is the continuation of his story, set thirty-whatever years later He’s really terrific, though! I only knew him from Overwatch, but I get such a kick out of him here

annakie OMG, that's awesome!  Thank you for that fun fact!  I was wondering if he ever played before, he seemed to get it pretty quick with only a little help from Sam. He's saying goodbye now, aww, such a good end for a fun character!

annakie Oh good, Ioun told Scanlan how awesome and important he is to VM and Kaylee and in general, I feel better now. I'm a little sad that I guess Ioun is his god now I guess and not Serenrae but it also seems fitting.

8/16/2018 janiemcpants Yeah, I was surprised by that, but in the end I think I'm glad he got his own god who appreciates him, rather than being wrapped up in Pike's story Not that Serenrae didn't appreciate him, but I like that he got something of his own

annakie That is so true!!  Like Serenrae gave him comfort when he needed it, and accepted him, but he prayed to her because it's what he knew because of Pike, but I think he didn't do it FOR Pike. But it turns out Scanlan wasn't destined for Serenrae.

Also I meant to mention awhile ago that I really loved Percy holding everything together after Vax died and they were in the Feywild.  He really stepped up and kept everything from falling apart and I was really proud of him.

Scanlan being constantly dismissive of them talking about Tary is hilarious.  "Scanlan can you scry on Tary?"  "Who? Oh... you mean that fancy fellow?" haha

(Later) annakie Oh yay I'm glad they sent word to Tary that everyone is OK.

janiemcpants Yes!! I was so concerned about poor Tary. The necklace is a good idea in theory, but in reality all it does is tell him something is wrong, but he doesn't know what or how he can help What an anxiety-inducing item!

Also yes to Percy! His growth is really inspiring to me on a personal level (all of theirs are in different ways, but he's the most relatable to me personally) I love how, since they're all so different and grow in different ways, there's a good story there for everyone

--------- 8/17/2018 9:07 PM annakie Just finished the ep where they forge the trammels.  Starting to close in on the endgame :o

annakie OH MY GOD... hahaha using the love potion TARY gave Vax to prank SCANLAN, this is amazing, I love it so much.

I CAN'T BREATHE

Last Saturday at 1:15 AM Hi it's 1:14am and I'm still awake because I had to finish this live episode.

--------- 8/18/2018 annakie: In the middle of 112 now, and I have to stop watching to go to my Pathfinder game.... nooo... one of the few times I'm unhappy about going to gaming. :) I think I'm going to be able to finish tomorrow if I just power through and don't stop for Talks.

---------

(And here we go, into the endgame.  I woke up, turned on Critical Role, and knew I'd finish the campaign that day.  In addition to the gifs and posts I made: http://blog.annakie.com/tagged/episode+114, here's the rest of that experience.  I’m not going to link the individual gif posts.)

8/19/2018 12:53 AM annakie: THE STRANGLING WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS

This entire episode is like the most fucked up episode lol

9:21 AM BRIARWOOD FIGHT WITH Joe Manganiello!!!  I'M SO SCARED.

11:58 AM OH MY GOD KAYLEE AND CASSANDRA AND SHAUN THANK GOD THEY STOPPED AND FIXED IT OH MY GOD I'M CRYING

3:17 PM I'm liveblogging.  AND DYING.  ZARAH AND KASH OH THANK SERENRAE!!!

janiemcpants: I was out of town for the weekend and just got home, and I can't believe how fast you're going! Although once you hit a certain point you can't help but tumble unstoppably towards the end, because it's all going so off the rails at once I WAS SO WORRIED FOR KASH AND ZAHRA

annakie: I STILL AM

janiemcpants: And having Cassandra and Gilmore and Kaylee as death knights was a particularly cruel stroke of genius on Matt's part

annakie: Arkhan just got back though, so that's good I guess haha

SO CRUEL

janiemcpants: CAN YOU IMAGINE, if they hadn't left one alive, they might not even have taken their helmets off and they never would have known

annakie: GOD I KNOW I KNOW... That would have just been.... oh man I can't even imagine And thank God Matt let them revivify even though it could have been more than a minute

annakie: There's so much happening I can barely breathe I feel like I've been watching this episode for ten hours already All I've watched is 113 and this today.

janiemcpants: It's probably even better watching it all together like you're doing, because a whole lot of interesting things happen in a not-that-long amount of time There's so much!

annakie: Yeah... I mean TBH for the last month I've just lived this show, I haven't watched any TV shows.  It's been so great to just really LIVE IN IT and there's so much of it especially after taking a year to get to this point.

annakie: Well, it was around the point of Percy dying the really sad time to get to "OK I can't stop watching", that's when I started watching at home and not just at work.  And then I stopped watching at work much after Scanlan left because I was too invested to only sorta pay attention. Yeaaaaah Grog just kicked ass.

janiemcpants: Percy dying was right when I started watching live! I was trying to catch up on the old stuff before I started doing it live, but when I heard that happened I just COULDN’T stay away. What a hell of a pair of episodes those were.

annakie: OH WOW that's awesome!  How many episodes did you skip to get to that point? haha OH ALSO PIKE TELLING SCANLAN HE HAS TO STAY ALIVE BECAUSE OF WHAT HAPPENS AFTER.  MY HEART. I was a little worried because since she was back she'd hardly interacted with him, except for that butt-slap a few episodes ago and then this conversation happened and I DIED.  (And then Sam joked it was Scanlan2 and I refuse to believe that it wasn't actually real Scanlan, they're dressed different, she would have known.)

(Also in the Vecna fight Real Scanlan had to use the Death Ward Pike put on him so yeah, she said it to Real Scanlan.)

Oh also I found online where Sam posted the letter Scanlan wrote to Pike and OH MAN, TEARS.

janiemcpants: RIGHT?? At the beginning I never thought I'd be invested in Scanlan and Pike's relationship, just because of the nice-guy stuff, but it got really, really good as it went on I still had about 15 episodes or so to go when I started watching it live, so I missed a little bit of context, but it was worth it That letter was so good

annakie: Oh man we just almost lost Vex and the looks on Liam, Travis AND Taliesin's faces all killed me. I can't wait to start watching live, still probably going to be a month or so.

annakie: OH NO THE JENKY TRAMEL.

annakie: PIKE BLEW SCANLAN A KISS!!

annakie: I can't believe I still have an hour to go (probably 45 minutes of game time) and Scanlan and Grog just got banished.  Also I know something bad happens to Grog so I'm just waiting for that.  Maybe he never comes back from banishment!??!

annakie: Hahaha Scanlan dispelled Vecna's teleport and MATT'S FACE. Oh no, he's saying sorry to Liam This is why... “I was going to save Vax.” OH MY GOD  Sam is crying And Liam is crying

janiemcpants: That moment is where I cried the hardest in all of 114 Especially because they called each other Sam and Liam instead of Scanlan and Vax IT'S SO PAINFUL

annakie: THIS HURTS SO MUCH, I’M BAWLING. Most of the table doesn't even see what's going on Like they're having this private moment while the game keeps going.

annakie: Oh God that Nat20 for Scanlan to counterspell dominate person on Keyleth. Could you imagine this fight with Tary instead of Scanlan?  It'd have been over in round 2

annakie: lol I watched Jocks Machina on the D&D twitch channel awhile ago so I knew Arkhan was going to betray them, that's amazing how he did it. Also, so great that Keyleth was able to finish the ritual

annakie: Oh no Sam and Liam are crying at the end this is the worst

annakie: Annnd here we go.  115.

janiemcpants: GOOD LUCK

annakie: I'm really going to miss this credit sequence, I love it so much I always watch it every episode. I've seen the new one and it's cute but I love this one.

janiemcpants I miss it too! It's so good

annakie: I get why they did a more generic "look at us playing D&D" instead of character intro credits but this one is amazing I mean especially after what happened to Taliesin's character in season 2.

annakie: Yay Kash and Zahra :D I'm so glad they got a goodbye. :)  That was a great sendoff!

janiemcpants: It was so good! Even with Liam wreaking emotional havoc

annakie: vax is saying goobye and I'm bawling

even matt is crying, i can't

(I made this post.)

janiemcpants: I cried through that ENTIRE EPISODE

annakie: I'm taking a crying break to watch the fanart Glad Ashley made it just in time for that moment

Oh man this great series of fanart with the quote where Sam asking what's the worst character, and Liam saying gnome bard, and the art is all showing how Scanlan saved the party, that was amazing

annakie: Oh my God Liam isn't even at the table anymore THIS IS SO SAD

janiemcpants: That art sounds fantastic! Must try to hunt it down Oh no, I can't cope when they leave the table

annakie: "We'll fill in each other's gaps, we'll be the glue." THANKS LAURA NOW I'M CRYING AGAIN BECAUSE I LOVE VEX/PERCY SO MUCH.

That even broke Taliesin a little

There's a part of me right now that's still screaming "GO FIND GILMORE AND CASSANDRA AND KAYLEE!"

janiemcpants: I know!!! There's so much they should be doing, all at the same time! HOW IS EVERYBODY??

annakie: Percy just mentioned cassandra, maybe they'll remember lol

NOPE, off to a bar!

Yay Kima's there!

Oh ok good they're in whitestone whew

annakie: GROG NO DON'T PULL CARDS

Oh man Kaylee and Scanlan's conversation, I'm crying again.

janiemcpants: Grog pulling the card was so goddamn funny Especially in the midst of so much sadness

annakie: Oh my God he just pulled the card in whitestone

omgomgomg

AND ASHLEY'S INTERNET DROPS

Annnnnnnnnnnnd this is why they have to go rescue Grog omg omg omg

annakie: Aw, I was almost hoping they'd actually do one last adventure but that was funny.

janiemcpants: Yeah, I really wish we could have seen the rescue, but they were clearly planning on this being the last episode, and it would have thrown everything off But it was worth it

annakie: ASHLEY’S FUCKING INTERNET DIES RIGHT AS SHE'S ABOUT TO ASK SCANLAN ON A DATE I AM SCREAMING I'M SO MAD

Scanlan and Pike’s conversation was everything I always wanted THEN HER INTERNET DIES

annakie OK Scanlan's epilogue was awesome :3 “I will do literally whatever Pike wants to do.”

And YAY we get to hear about Tary!

YAY LAWRENCE!

janiemcpants: I'm so glad Lawrence wasn't dead! I was totally convinced Tary's dad had him whacked

annakie: Oh God Pike’s marriage proposal and one last grog & scanlan conversation I love it so much I'm crying again

I've known they ended up married for a long time but that was great. :3

janiemcpants: I just love that they both planned to ask each other out in their epilogues!

annakie I KNOW, so great :D

I'm really glad that Scanlan let Pike lead, that was amazing.

janiemcpants: Yes! That brought it from great to perfect

annakie: And he just wanted to follow where she went and helped out.  And they have a home, and Grog with them, and are a perfect weird family! :D

They're my favorite ship, though I love all three very much.

janiemcpants: And Grog gets to stay with his gnomes forever! And he's not left alone even though he didn't end up with a romantic relationship!

annakie: YES!

I love Percy and Vax being so Percy and Vax in their epilogue.  Kids with lots of names!  Tinkering!

janiemcpants: The part about Percy making clocks made me weep BUCKETS

annakie: Percy finding redemption helping Cassandra omg

YES

"Make a clock tower, make art and never make another weapon. I'm good." :D

annakie: Aww Grog taking punishment from Vasselheim

Hahaha the potion guy being the tutor ohhhhh my God this is amazing.

This guy never even got a name did he and yet he's brought so much joy

janiemcpants: I don't think he ever did!

annakie: Marisha is making Liam cry this is so sad

janiemcpants: EVERYONE CRIES SO MUCH AND THAT MAKES ME CRY EVEN MORE

annakie: "And every day that Raven comes to visit."

I'm dead.

Oh my God Matt and Marisha get married THE NEXT WEEK!?

janiemcpants:

YEP!

annakie: Well I'm completely emotionally drained.

(We said a bit more here, but it was personal.)

11:28pm:  I made this post. ) -----------------

I couldn't do much yesterday but think about this fucking show.  I'm catching up on the Talks Machinas I missed from like 108 through 115, I think I'm on 111 now?  I also watched Matt Colville's recap of the episode and why it's so great.  I'd been looking forward to watching that since he made it, since I watch most of what he puts out it's been sitting in my suggested videos like for almost every episode I watched.  That was perfect, as well.

I removed some talk about this in the chatlog Janie and I had but I'm going to take like this week off and catch up on the Specials & Oneshots I didn't watch before.  I need that cooling off period.  I'll probably power through season 2 after it's done and start watching live and wondering if It's Thursday Yet? within a couple of weeks from now.

I'm still sorting through feelings, too.  I'll probably have more to say.

But you know how there's a lot of media you like, and some that you love but only a few make it to that "Favorite things" level, the place where it turns into something that you love wholeheartedly and will remember forever and kinda wish you could erase from your brain so you could re-experience it for the first time again?

I have a few of those.  Futurama.  MST3K.  Parks and Recreation.  Psych.  Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.  The entire Mass Effect trilogy.  Neverwinter Nights 2.  The Thrilling Adventure Hour.  U2's Songs of Experience album.  Sugar's Copper Blue album.  The Princess Bride.  All of Star Wars.  The Lord of the Rings trilogy.  Star Trek: TNG and DS9.  The Good Place will end up here once it's done.  

And now Critical Role: Season One.  

[koukouture]

Second Tries part 1: Shadowhunter

Second Tries will be a series where I revisit my old fandom OCs and tweak them around to be less OP and more like a fucking person. 

Today on Second Tries, we have Shadowhunter (edgy I know) and old Transformers (yes, that Transformers) OC that I came up with when I was around nine or ten, I dropped her at elven years old because I became obsessed with Magi. 

(There was a rewrite of the original story, but I'm not taking that into account as there’s only one chapter versus the original’s 20+ chapter of nine year old me’s crack enabled ramblings) 

Let me first explain to you the plot of the show, since this show in particular was Transformers Prime and not the original or the more popular movies. I still love this show, but not to the extent of writing fanfiction. In depth character analyses maybe, but no fanfiction. 

So in Transformers Prime, there aretwo sides to a war over the planet Cybertron’s political system, the Autobots (good guys) are on Earth and are collaborating with basically the FBI. The Decepticons (bad guys) are the ones with the advantage here, with larger numbers and legions of drones, plus they have more experienced and smarter minds on their ship with an advanced hacker, two scientists, and a leader who is basically the golden standard of villain. 

I won’t refer to them as heroes or villains because both sides have very understandable goals and ways of thinking. I myself leaned more towards the Decepticons because I understood that they were all in all fighting for equality and to overthrow the old order. They were more competent and should have won in my opinion. Both sides ultimately chased the same goal but it was the way they handled it and how it would be settled when one side won that tied the whole thing together. 

Transformers Prime was a war and though I couldn’t really tell back then, wars have no right or wrong. There are no good guys and bad guys, the goal is peace, but peace means different things for different people and the way that peace is achieved is also different. 

.

.

Now that you know the plot of the show this is based off, this is what I could gather of her character: 

- Shadowhunter is apparently some sort of divine guardian or something, of what I don’t know, but from looking at old notes, these guardians all sort of reside over specific sets of principals that are important to society in some way. Hers are, get ready for the edge; darkness, war, violence, and most notably, fear. 

- Bless my nine year old soul for realizing that having someone with corresponding powers would be too powerful, so I dumbed her down and had her exiled for her rash behavior, stripped of her power but given immortality in exchange to correct her mistakes. Which is actually a very interesting concept. 

-  Her origin is even more fucked up: she’s half god (they’re called Primes in Transformers, Optimus is sort of like a trial god. Like a demigod?) her dad is the MANEFESTATION OF EVIL (his name is Unicron and he’s like, a fucking planet + was exiled and is only half alive so idk how he even had a kid???) but she was obviously not raised by him, her mother died after giving birth to her (???) and she’s raised by her verbally abusive step father and her step brother, the canon character Soundwave. 

(I want to fucking die) 

- She, get this, grows up to be seriously fucked in the head but still loves her brother who by the way, she looks nothing like in my old drawings. Maybe I described her as looking more like him but whatever. 

- The thing is she acts perfectly sane and I hate it. She acts like a perfectly normal person when described to be basically Azula and she even cries and apologizes for her mistakes THREE CHAPTERS INTO THE STORY. 

I find that my issue back then was execution, which is honestly my problem now but back then I didn’t even write any notes, I was sort of on track for the first two chapters and then I fucked off thirty miles south and basically dropped this exiled god concept. 

The thing is, she was also written as a canon character’s love interest and I wrote everyone out of character. With her love interest it’s even worst because her boyfriend is a psychotic, merciless, and not to mention abusive war tyrant.

I think that Shadowhunter over here has amazing potential to be a villain and the abusive one in the relationship but I digress, she is the main character and my entire point to her arc was for her to be redeemed. As much as I love this idea, she was supposed to be redeemed.

Shadowhunter was shown to have a soft side, but her soft side shouldn’t get in the way of her ideals. Her whole idea was: camp out with the winning team and hope this war gets over with. She clearly did not care how the war ended, just that it ended and that she be on the right side when it did in the hopes that if this war ended, she technically did what she was supposed to do since she contributed to both the start and ending of the war. 

If you’re wondering how she “started the war” I made it so that she got into Megatron’s (the leader of the Decepticons and her love interest) head and fucked him up real good, pushing him to start a war since she was the guardian of violence and by extension, war. 

Now, here’s what I would change if I were to rewrite her story:

- I would definitely have her still be violent and overstep her boundaries a lot, the other characters are shown to fear her slightly and wouldn’t stop her then. She gets beaten up for this in the original but I’m not going to include that since the beater in question was her love interest.

- She isn’t the leader, more of a high ranked commander and I need to remember that. Despite her lower statues, she does come from a lot more than her superiors so I would find a way to integrate that since class plays a big role in their society. 

- What I really am not comfortable with anymore is the fact that she is written like an emotionally unstable teenager whilst her love interest is clearly older and more mature

- I would make her more mature since I think it was just the way I used to write 

- I would make the romance more slow burn and problematic, it was way too fast and turned out way too perfect when both parties are clearly mentally unstable. Perhaps there isn’t really any love, one both sides the end goal is power. 

- Seeing as she is to be redeemed, I don’t think their romance should end perfectly. Megatron is still violent and messed up while she has come to terms with her mistakes and has redeemed herself in some way. 

- Having her join the other side would be perfect, she isn’t a fan of their methods, but they share the same goal as her: a democratic and peaceful society instead of dictatorship and violence. 

- Joining the other side would also be problematic with most of the Autobots seeming to not like her, I like this a lot, since despite her being a very difficult and rash person, she is still powerful and could give them the upper hand on the enemy as an ex commander with inside information.

- Now as for her brother, Soundwave, I’d definitely have them disagree and he would still end up on the losing side in a bad predicament. Perhaps it’d be the turning point for her, and her trying to convince him to join her would definitely add to her redemption and mellow her out 

- Her brother dying because of his stubbornness since he’s shown to be extremely loyal to his faction in the show. I like sibling dynamics a lot, especially when they don't share the same goals. It makes for a compelling story and it’s very emotional watching one rise and the other fall when you know they care for each other. 

- Maybe she would have genuine love for Megatron, but it actually isn’t shown what happens to him. He actually just flies off in the end, a lot of people presume he’s either committed suicide or lives in exile. So I will yeet that off the table and have her just be content with whatever comes after the war since she most likely can’t have her emotionally unstable boyfriend 

- I personally think she’d keep her position as this divine guardian, but be a lot more tamed. I think her problem was that she only listened to herself back then and never actually took the word of anyone she supposedly held close to her, spending time on a cohesive team like the Autobots would definitely help her a lot. 

And I think that’s where I’ll wrap it up. I love her concept and I’d like her even more if I chose to keep her evil, but I have to stay true to young me’s vision and redeem her. Either way, I definitely think she’s less Mary Sue now because she always got her way and was friends with everyone. Having her earn people’s trust is a lot better than the “everyone just likes her dude” she was in the story. 

Anyways, that’s it for this part of Second Tries. I’d love to know what you guys think! 

[abboz]

Doctor who (reboot, 9th doctor and up era)

Just a warning, I’ve only ever rewatched 9th & 10th Doctor episodes, the series for the 11th & 12th Doctors overall just haven’t been as good to me, so my answers will probably reflect this.

my all-time ultimate fave character: Rose maybe, but also Sarah Jane I love to pieces (but this is more from SJA and Classic Who than just her appearances in New Who). Also shout out to Jackie for being awesome and underappreciated.

a character I didn’t used to like but now do: Martha (Didn’t exactly like her first time watching but like the Doctor I was missing Rose, on rewatch I love her, and she was great in Torchwood too.) Also special shout out to Bill since I expected her series to be another one that annoyed me, but I actually really liked her and at times enjoyed the stories.

a character I used to like but now don’t: ??? I really don’t know. Could say Eleven in that I found him more annoying the longer he stayed, but I wouldn’t say I liked him to start with.

a character I’m indifferent about: Again I don’t really know in terms of main characters, but could say Martha’s parents? (It’s only for Martha and her siblings’ sake that it’s nice that things worked out for them & that they could recover from the year that never was - they weren’t exactly painted in a good light.)

a character who deserved better: Donna (Obvious choice, I know - she deserved to know how wonderful she was and not lose all those memories, but I do feel like in terms of story telling it was a great ending & at least she’s happy.)

a ship I’ve never been able to get into: Clara/Doctor I see some people ship, I don’t get it. Also Doctor/River (see below).

a ship I’ve never been able to get over: Doctor/Rose (It was them and their relationship as much as the format of the show & message behind it which made me love the show.)

a cute, low-key ship: Martha/Mickey (We see very little of them together, just when Ten revisits his companions, but they were cute and I actually love the idea of them finally finding somewhere to belong with each other.) Also Jackie/Pete because who doesn’t ship them?!

an unpopular ship but I still enjoyed it: I don’t even know? Are there unpopular ships in this fandom? Always seems to be loads of people that love every ship. Maybe Martha/Mickey counts here.

a ship that was totally wrong and never should have happened: Doctor/River (I don’t like the “Person A’s first time meeting them is Person B’s last time seeing them” thing, it kinda forces Person A into a relationship)

my favourite storyline/moment: Bad Wolf? It’s super hard to pick just one but I love that so much, the words being spread out across time. I actually really liked that in Series 1-4 there were the hints of the finale through the seasons (Bad Wolf, Torchwood, Harold Saxon (the Master), Planets going missing) and was actually super proud of catching onto that last one.

a storyline that never should have been written: When Clara fragmented herself through the Doctor’s timeline so she was always there to save him (i.e. invalidating every previous companion). Also special shout out to when the dead Brigadier (dead because the actor had passed away) was made into a Cyberman. Still bitter about both of these, so disrespectful to other people’s legacies. 

my first thoughts on the show: I don’t really remember other than that I loved it, I was 13 when it started and I just absolutely adored it (until Moffat took over)

my thoughts now: I still love it, but in a different way and not as much. Series 1-4 I still love to pieces, it was a show I invested my everything into to distract me from the world and it kept me alive. I still don’t know if that was worth it, but still. And it lead me to watch Torchwood, Sarah Jane Adventures, Classic Who and Class and I loved all of those too.

Send me a TV series and I’ll tell you

[cogentranting]

Possible Additions to the Legends Team:

(It has been stated that someone who has previously been introduced into the Arrowverse will be joining the Legends in the back half of the season. Anyone who is currently a series regular on another show I considered invalid (e.g. Wild Dog, Elongated Man, Guardian). I don’t know Supergirl well enough to put any of it’s characters on this list, and I think it’s pretty unlikely anyway. Vaguely in order from least likely to most likely)

Hawkman or Hawkgirl- Technically possible. However, it doesn’t really fit within the idea of a revolving cast and I don’t think either character is popular enough to justify bringing them back after such a long absence (Kendra might be more popular than I realize, Carter certainly isn’t)

Katana- Tatsu would be further up this list except that I’m pretty sure DC has put her off-limits in the same way that Deadshot and Deathstroke are. Katana’s been teased before on the show (early season 2) and is a character I really love who (at least partly because of DC’s restrictions) didn’t get to keep coming back and showing off her mad skills. Would be an interesting personality to add to the mix because, unlike all the others, she was married, had a kid, a stable life. Could fill some of the hole left by Stein, in that sense. She doesn’t have powers though, and the show might be looking for that after losing a powerhouse like Firestorm.

Ronnie Raymond- upside: we know Ronnie, he’s a well-liked character. However, the reason Ronnie was killed in the first place is because Robbie Amell didn’t want to be a regular on Legends. So it’s unlikely that it’s changed. He doesn’t have any sort of superpower or fighting ability- in theory he could retake the Firestorm mantle with a new partner but that might move from ‘filling the opening on the team” to a full ‘replacing Jax and Stein” vibe. Hoewever, he is the only character on this list who could easily replace Jax as ship engineer. 

Vixen (Mari)- She fits in with the story, the actress is available. She’s a known character. Her dynamic with Amaya and Kuasa would be interesting. But, she has the exact same power as Amaya, which is boring. The timeline complications of having both grandmother and granddaughter on the ship wearing the same totem are a little wonky, even for Legends. Adding her shifts the balance a little far into being a show about Vixen... with some other people too.

Huntress-  She hasn’t made an appearance in four years, so it seems unlikely that she’d suddenly pop back up so drastically. How would this happen, who’s gonna recruit her? There’s an existing rivalry with Sara, that could be fun. Her skill set isn’t that interesting at this point unless you wrote in some upgrades, which is possible. But then again the actress isn’t very good so do we really want her back full time

Artemis- Evelyn could get resolution and redemption without taking up space on Arrow (which seems to not have room for her). On the other hand, she wouldn’t be around any of the people she betrayed so her redemption would lose a lot of depth. I’m also not 100% sure she’s alive. Doesn’t quite fill the superpower powerhouse hole left by Firestorm. Does fill the role of “the young one” which Jax somewhat occupied. 

Nyssa- Not very likely because A. I think her actress has her own show and is unavailable B. her skillset is probably too similar to Sara’s and C. It would likely instantly launch her and Sara into a committed long-term relationship which I don’t think is something Legends wants to do with Sara at this juncture. Conversely, they did just reference the relationship between Sara and Nyssa and seem to be showing that Sara missed it which could be interpreted as plans to revisit it (or it could be interpreted in terms of it’s parallel to the Alex/Maggie relationship-- a positive relationship which is nonetheless definitively over). But also Nyssa’s awesome and I’m always down for more Nyssa. Though I’d prefer to keep her on Arrow, cuz I think she fits better there. 

Dr. Light- I don’t remember where we left Dr. Light. I think she’s on Earth 2? And she was only in one episode of Flash so it’s pretty unlikely. But hey it’d be fun. 

Star Girl (or Other JSA team member)- Of these Star Girl has the most development and is thus most likely, but also none of them were particularly remarkable, and it would probably end up a retread of Amaya’s season 2 plot. 

Arsenal- The timing probably doesn’t work out with when he’s returning to Arrow this season. And I think that if Roy were to return to the Arrowverse full time, it would be to Arrow, where all his connections are (technically both Ray and Sara know him but... yeah...) But story-wise, it’s easier to get Roy onto a time ship than it is to unfake his death, and I’ll take anything that gets me more Roy. (Speedy is also a vague possibility. Legends has a shorter season which might work for Willa Holland. But also seems pretty unlikely that they’d separate the Queen siblings like that)

Jesse Quick - She seems to be pretty thoroughly written out of the shows by this point and when she was around mostly had her story revolve around Wells and Wally, neither of whom are present. I also think she’s a full-time superhero on another world, so she has her hands full. But, fills the super power void, and is not being used on another show, and was well-liked by fans from what I can tell. 

Gypsy- Another potential super power big gun to  pull in, but potentially too big. Breachers are really powerful, particularly one as skilled and experienced as Cynthia. I also don’t think Flash wants to give her up. And she has a job on another Earth, so it’d be somewhat hard to justify her giving that up to wander time on Earth 1. 

Pied Piper- He’s around. He’s redeemed. He’s significantly more agreeable than he was initially but would probably ruffle feathers enough to be interesting. He’s fairly different from the existing characters but also could take over some of the science related tasks left by Stein, or possibly take over as Engineer of the WaveRider. 

Golden Glider- As Leonard Snart makes his final exit, Lisa Snart could step in to take his place. She could potentially have a really interesting dynamic with Mick. She could be the schemer in a way that both Leonard and Sara used to be. She’s young, unpredictable and the CW has been trying to get her actress on a successful show for several years now and has been failing, meaning the actress is (to my knowledge) currently available.  

Constantine- He’s definitely going to make an appearance. They’ve said he’s only back for 2 or 3 episodes but that could be old information or a straight lie. He’s a character fans have consistently asked for more of, who is currently unattached to anything else. He doesn’t have strong connections anywhere in the Arrowverse so he would lose anything in transition. He’s significantly different from anyone currently on the show. He would fit with the magicky overarching vibe this season. He would be the third member of the team with magic, but his magic is a pretty different style from that of either Vixen or Zari. 

Ragman- Rory was a great addition to Arrow last season but sadly his superhero side wasn’t a good fit for the show because it was too weird. “Too weird” is what Legends does best. Ragman is powerful enough to make up for no longer having Firestorm (but likely easier on the effects budget). He’s got magic to fit with the season but it’s weird specific magic so it doesn’t overlap too much. One of Rory’s most fun aspects on Arrow was watching him be bewildered by everything and boy oh boy dial that up to 12 on Legends. At the same time, Rory doesn’t have a personality like anyone else on Legends- quiet, spiritual, artistic- meaning he’d contrast really really nicely. He doesn’t have anything/anyone keeping him from drifting through time because all his friends and family were killed-- speaking of which, it would give Rory the chance to avenge his family by taking on Darhk. It would add the complication of having two characters that go by Rory, but also that could be so much fun if you just lean into the fact that the two most different characters have the same name. If it were up to me, Rory is the character I would pick to add to Legends. 

Kid Flash- The Flash doesn’t know what to do with Wally. They’ve said as much. Flash doesn’t really have anything to do with him but also doesn’t want to kill him or anything like that, so they’ve basically just put him on a bus. Moving him to another show would solve the Flash’s problem while still giving fans all the Wally they want. Wally’s story line has also been set up as ‘looking for his place’ which is very much a Legends vibe. Wally had a cars interest early on which could be translated into making him the Waverider Engineer (at least, with Legends/Flash’s understanding of science) which in theory is needed. He’s different from existing characters while still having connections. He’s powerful enough to fill the Firestorm hole. However, Flash may not want to give him up entirely. And bringing him onto Legends may just transfer the Flash’s Wally problems to Legends: Wally is series-lead-powerful. Wally, as a gifted speedster, should be able to handle most problems on his own (he’s at least as capable as a late season 1 Barry- which is why Flash wrote him out). Meaning that including him in fight scenes often leaves other characters (especially ones like Mick) with nothing to do, or just means that problems can be resolved too quickly. 

Anyone I missed? Any viable Supergirl options that I should know about? Thoughts? Predictions? Hopes? Dreams? 

[ganymedesclock]

So I was Summoned Forth (tm) to give my thoughts on this post, or, just in general input on the theory of “Is Haggar Allura’s mom/what if they are siblings instead.” I’m putting this here on a different post because I didn’t want to hijack somebody else’s to go in my own direction here.

I’ll admit my main interest in Haggar being the missing Queen of Altea is mostly on the idea that Haggar is very likely Lotor’s mother in this continuity, and Allura and Lotor being half siblings is interesting- especially if this is a way to recontextualize Lotor’s intense focus on Allura while breaking from how in past incarnations he was trying to marry Allura. (Something that the writers of VLD have seemed to have expressed discomfort about, and one of them, I don’t recall who specifically, in an interview responded to the question if Lotor would hit on Allura with “What if they were siblings?”)

It’d put interesting context on, and opportunities to revisit, little facts from older continuities.

In GoLion, part of Lotor/Sincline’s fascination with Princess Fala/Allura is she resembles his mother, which is super creepy in that source context (when his interest in Fala is romantic) but it’s certainly not the creepiest thing Sincline is doing in that continuity. (GoLion Sincline is just kind of a creepy guy all around)

Also in 80s Voltron, Haggar did not always look like the halloween witch figure she does in canon, allegedly, she used to be the blonde lady on the right:

Which, compared to 80s Allura...

They look rather similar, though, admittedly, 80s Voltron kind of had roughly one model for “pretty lady” and stuck with it, so that was probably nothing in the source material but I can’t help but feel like that might be something VLD writers would pick at- especially if it’s already a plot point in GoLion that Sincline’s mother looked like Fala. 

Other interesting thing here? DotU Haggar has no visible hair at all (to my knowledge, she’s always bundled in her cloak). And Allura in DotU and Voltron Force is a blonde, every time. Furthermore in DotU and Force, Alfor is brown-haired.

So: VLD is the only continuity to give Allura, Haggar, and Alfor white hair. This is significant, because a major white-haired character in all prior continuities is Lotor- and he’s retained this trait rather clearly in his VLD self:

Of the main problems that I see with Haggar and Allura being siblings...

Zarkon would know Haggar’s history. When Haggar in the first episode speaks of a resurgence of Altean energy, Zarkon asks “Alfor’s daughter lives?”

Sure- Zarkon also talks about wiping out the Alteans to Haggar, in a way that suggests he firmly considers Haggar basically one of the Galra, not by wherever she came from- but if Haggar was also Alfor’s daughter, especially if she was partially bitter about being cast aside or forgotten, I doubt she’d be so content to hear Allura referred to as “Alfor’s daughter” as if she were the only one.

I also feel like if the writers were intending to set up Haggar and Allura as siblings, they would put effort into making sure Haggar stayed young-looking, closer to Allura’s age, so they would read as peers. As it is, Haggar and Allura read similarly to how Zarkon and Shiro does- one has a much greater sense of age and experience than their immediate counterpart.

Also, considering I think the writers would try to avoid uncomfortable implications- if Haggar was Allura’s sister, Zarkon would seem to have been around Alfor’s age in the past. It’d raise some very uncomfortable implications if it does turn out Haggar is Lotor’s mother (and she is the most likely candidate here)

Wheras if Haggar was the absent queen of Altea, I think Zarkon’s choice of wording is significant- he only acknowledges Allura as Alfor’s daughter. Haggar is very possessive of people, but also feels very entitled to them- if she personally invested in them she feels that they owe her and any perceived insubordination she rankles at (with the exception of Zarkon, who she seems to have some manner of deeper bond to, certainly) so I doubt it would actually be all that hard for Haggar to turn her back on Allura- and so Zarkon in turn would not think of Allura as Haggar’s child, only Alfor’s. (And it serves his own biases to think of Haggar as his and only his, if they’re romantically involved)

Especially because, here’s the thing. Allura’s history, she speaks overwhelmingly of Coran, and Alfor, and that really seems to be it. She references her mother once, but we don’t see this individual, we don’t hear mentions of her in the rituals Alfor and Allura took together as relatives.

What this makes me wonder is if Allura’s mother left when she was very young, or was simply a very distant person- which would fit perfectly with Haggar.

Haggar is a scientist and one who is overwhelmingly immersed in her work. We either see her at Zarkon’s elbow or alone (or accompanied by silent attendants) working on her personal projects. I doubt she only took that up in the years after Altea’s fall- if I had to guess, Haggar studied quintessence long before Zarkon’s fall. It’s possible she may have even been involved in the forging of Voltron the way that she talks about how “it’s time to retake what is rightfully ours.”

At bare minimum, she knows enough of how the teludav, an Altean system, works to tamper with it when team Voltron was trying to make their getaway.

I also think a lot about how in s2e6, Eye Of The Storm, Haggar and Zarkon focus on different goals.

Zarkon’s attention is locked on the Black Lion- which makes sense knowing his personal relationship with it and his obsession in taking back Voltron.

But Haggar focuses on the castle, and specifically on Allura. Coran seems to be a relative unknown to them- which suggests when Haggar wants to take out the castle ship, something there worries her more than Voltron does.

That isn’t a weak statement, and I don’t think that suggests that Allura’s power was out of left field. Haggar has been gunning for Allura for a while- and while she defers to Zarkon’s plan to use Allura as bait, that also hinges on the idea that Allura is somehow irreplaceable and essential to the paladins.

As far as “Impossible!” there’s a lot Haggar could be reacting to than the fact that Allura has power. It could be there is something very abnormal about Allura’s power- that Haggar might have a very good reason to suspect Allura has power, hence her earlier worry, but that she is nonetheless shocked to discover the extent of it. It’s quite possible Haggar considered Allura dormant or somehow inexperienced, and thus unable to do something like absorb Haggar’s power and turn it against her.

What I find easily the most damning thing here is that Allura asks after her father by name almost as soon as she wakes up- but doesn’t mention her mother at all.

This tells us that either the queen of Altea was long dead, or, perhaps that’s simply what Allura believes about it.

I doubt the revelation that Haggar is Altean just ends there. It raises some pretty big mysteries about who she was- why Zarkon would consider her trustworthy when he deplores the entire rest of her species, why she took the side of someone who destroyed every planet in Altea’s solar system. (I really doubt she was just seduced by his rugged turtle man handsomeness)

While this remains to be seen, we haven’t seen Allura or Coran react to the idea of Lotor- I have to admit, I definitely see Lotor as more of a recent development- which means in this continuity, rather than carrying a torch for Allura...

(which, considering that Allura is easily as dangerous as any of the paladins and trying to woo her rather than take her seriously as an enemy... is completely counterproductive to presenting Lotor as a villain to be taken seriously and in fact, counterproductive to Lotor staying alive at all. Let’s remember that the last time someone underestimated a Voltron Paladin it was Haxus, and well, quoth Pidge:

“Haxus is dead and you’re next!”)

...It could very well be that Lotor is trying to figure out his own history, quite possibly initially just out of selfish personal interest.

Also because, assuming we’re going the route of a more sympathetic Lotor, which I’m in favor of not because “oh but he’s cute” (if anything I’m not a fan of that idea) but simply because I feel like we have an abundance of heartless scumbag villains so far and WG would seem to suggest we’re playing closer to anti-hero or ambiguous villain Lotor rather than, say, GoLion’s Sincline- a complex and potentially sympathetic Lotor is going to be interesting.

And it was very meaningful for Allura to be able to find the mice- some tiny fragment of Altea that’s survived.

Haggar and Allura are connected somehow, and because Haggar is someone that Allura really needs to stop- it’s not really an option- Allura will have to burn that connection. That’s going to be hard. And I think the VLD writers are really going to want to give Allura a happy ending.

If Allura turns out to have a half-sibling, especially if at some point she and the team are able to actually connect with this individual- especially if Lotor is potentially the one to try and get that ball rolling, again, even if in a purely self-interested angle- that would be meaningful to her the way the mice were, being able to feel like her homeland isn’t completely gone. There are things she can pick up here.

Now a couple of people have ventured that the theory of Haggar being Allura’s mom would make the show too dark- but it isn’t as if works in this rough age bracket haven’t done the “Absent Parent Is Evil” trope before- and again, there’s this thing of whatever connection Haggar and Allura have, they seem very insulated from one another- distant.

At the same time, thematically, they seem to be counterparts much like how Zarkon and Shiro are, and I wouldn’t be surprised if that means narratively they have some kind of common thread, one that might well be more personal since unlike Shiro and Zarkon, Allura and Haggar seem to have come from very similar contexts. 

If anything, I’d find it more suspicious if Allura’s mother was referenced obliquely but never given anything more than that- something’s up with the Queen of Altea, here. Something quite possibly that Alfor didn’t want to tell Allura- and possibly something else that the writers specifically killed off Alfor’s AI to prevent him from revealing too early. 

[thetenthdoctorscompanion]

This was long. So these are some of the featured characters. The rest is under the read more. 

ALL RIGHT LET’S DO THIS.

1) Your first OC ever?

Crystal Potter. I used to pretend that I was Harry’s sister when I played pretend with my mom. I’d go to all of my classes and do my Potions homework. She was my first OC before I knew what fanfiction was. I just kept developing her into what she is today.

3) Have you ever adopted a character or gotten a character from someone else?

Nope! Just borrowing for prompts and whatnot. I know some people do pass on their stories when they don’t have the ambition anymore, but my OCs are a huge part of me. I can’t imagine passing them on, or taking up the responsibility of doing right by someone else. (But I love crossover prompts on the real.)

5) If you could make only one of your OCs popular/known, who would it be?

God, I hate choosing children. I mean, I guess my original original characters - my Faust children. Cause if they were popular, it would probably mean I’d actually gotten my ass to finish the series and been published. So if more people knew about Ana Vasquez, that’d be great.

7) Are your OCs part of any story or stories?

Well hypothetically they’re all part of stories. But if I tried to write the story for every character I’d ever thought of, I’d be writing until I died. Which would probably be pretty early on because I wouldn’t have time to work and I’d probably starve to death. *finger guns*

9) Would you ever be willing to give any of your OCs to someone else?

No. My characters are my children, and in all seriousness, a part of my soul. I never mind people writing about them, for crossover purposes and so on, but they will always be my babies. (Though in future I’d love to see people writing fanfiction for my original published work someday. In that case, write on, my man.)

11) Is there any OCs of yours you could describe as a “sunshine”?

Hm, this is a tough one. I usually say Nylah Parker. She’s not sunshine in a bubbly-sense. She’s certainly not outgoing, but she’s probably one of my most sweet and well-meaning OCs. She’s a gentle soul.

13) Do you have any troublemaker OCs?

Emily Terrell is always the first to come to mind. She’s my rip-roaring party girl, even if she’s doing it to cover herself. She’s the kind of character who starts shit just so she doesn’t have to think. She’d rather deal with problems she created than the problems in her head she can’t control.

15) Do you like to talk about your OCs with other people?

Please talk to me about my OCs, oh my God please talk to me about them all the time, please, please, please…

17) Any OC OTPs?

I love all of my OCs and the characters I’ve paired them with, obviously. I think I usually get the most emotional about Derek and Isabelle, because they’re really the only pairing I have I think of as love at first sight. I know they will be together until the end of days, no weird break up problems, no breaks.

19) Introduce an OC that means a lot to you, and explain why.

I guess I’ll use this time to talk about Sadie. She’ll always be the first person I think of when I say “OC” because I’ve devoted the most of my soul to her. She’s the first character that ever really took off, the first character I ever actually finished a story for, the first character that ever came alive on the page and started doing her thing without regard for her author. I’ll never forget the first time Sadie acted out and just got herself knocked-out and I didn’t have it planned. I just sat back and went, “Um, okay Sadie. If that’s what you want. Guess I’ll end the chapter here. Nice cliffhanger.” She does that a lot, because she knows what she wants more than I do at this point. She’s changed my life so much and made me so many friends. Sadie’s truly changed my life.

21) Your most artistic OC.

Well it’s probably Sadie, but seeing as I just ranted for a year. My other artistic OC is Marcia Edgar, my Captain America OC. I really wanted someone who embraced the feminine side of the 1940′s. So often in stories you see the girl who is ahead of her time, and more progressive than everyone else around her. I wanted to step away from that. So Marcia is a very in the box thinker. She lets everyone take care of her, and helps paint propaganda posters as a “job” while she looks for a husband. Art is something that she pours herself into, and she’s incredibly good at. It isn’t until later that finds that it isn’t enough to help out, and becomes a nurse.

23) Introduce an OC that has changed from the first idea concerning what that character would be like.

Oh GOD if that title doesn’t go to Crystal. Obviously, I’ve had her the longest, so she’s changed the most. I can’t remember all of the details about her I had as a kid. When I was in high school, I went with this whole Little Princess vibe, where she was Harry’s twin but since they were separated after their parents died, she didn’t know anything about him. So no one believed her when she got to school and she became this tormented outcast. I realized later that it didn’t make a lot of sense, as far as what the general public would have known. When I revisited the story last year, I decided to keep in the part about being separated, but Crystal keeps herself mostly out of fear and expectations. She’s terrified of meeting Harry because she’s never known family, and because she’s not exceptional like he is. She’s a lot more self-conscious than she is bullied.

25) The OC that resembles you the most (same hobby, height, shared like/dislikes for something etc?)

Sadie, Sadie, Sadie. She was a 100% self insert folks. So here’s a big hello to everyone who says that self-inserts don’t work, or are dumb, or immature. Obviously Sadie’s grown over time. She’s not entirely me, but she’s pretty damn close.

27) Any OCs that were inspired by a certain song?

I don’t think I have any characters that were song inspired, but stories absolutely are. I was listening to “Die Young” by Ke$ha when I thought of the climactic formal scene of The Wild Side. I sort of filled in the backstory later, but I knew I wanted Stiles and my girl dancing and thinking about how it was now or never, how they really could die because of all the supernatural stuff going on. And then I wanted to take that moment away from them before they could really confess how they felt about each other.

29) Which one of your OCs would go investigate an abandoned house at night without telling anyone they’re going?

Okay, I thought about this one a lot. Sadie is a good contender, obviously, but I want to try and showcase other people too. So I’m going to go with Charlotte Emery, (Sherlock Holmes). Charlotte is absolutely I-can-take-care-of-myself-and-don’t-need-to-rely-on-anyone material. If she sensed something was wrong, she would absolutely get up in the middle of the night to investigate on her own. Now, more than likely she would run into everyone else there, because Irene and Sherlock are also the investigate-an-abandoned-house-at-night-without-telling-anyone kind of people, but that’s what makes them all work so well together.

31) Pick one OC of yours and explain what their tumblr blog would be like (what they reblog, layout, anything really)

Penny McKittrick (Daredevil) would have like, a Real Blog™. She’d write her own pieces up about current events and politics and conspiracy theories, and definitely rage discourse all over the place. It’s relentless, and for some people it’s too much. But people still follow her because she has a very intricate tagging system that allows people to block what they don’t want to see. Also, she reblogs pretty pictures, and has the craziest personal stories.

33) Your shyest OC?

Again, probably Nylah, but also Emmeline Marsh. Emmeline is cripplingly shy when she first gets to Hogwarts. She grew up as an only child in the middle of the country, with so many security restrictions that she’s hardly ever seen another person her age. She’s grown up like Rapunzel, only with a loving guardian instead of a shitty one. It’s very hard for her to make friends because it’s very hard for her to know how to talk to people. But she’s kind at heart, and fiercely loyal. It will take her a few years to grow out of her shell.

35) Any sibling characters?

Crystal is my only character who is an established character’s sibling. But for a while, I did toy around with the idea of the Bennet twins - Sadie and Samuel. Looking back, I sort of wish I had done that, because Sam’s fun to play around with. He’s the older twin, and very protective of Sadie. He’s not fully involved in all the running around she does with the pack, but I think he’d figure everything out on his own. He gets dragged along to some of the big battles, just to make sure Sadie doesn’t get herself killed, but he also knows that she’s good at taking care of herself. A lot of the work he does with the pack is maintaining their lies and cover stories. He’s a pro-league liar.

37) Introduce an OC who is not quite human.

Oh, how much do I want to give away about Rosa Alvarez? Not much, I’m afraid. I’m still working on her mythology, but Rosa is most definitely not human. It’s something that’s hereditary, passed from mother to daughter, and it gives her a lot of grief. She keeps to herself mostly, because it’s easier than dealing with people. But when her name shows up on a deadpool of supernatural creatures, the McCall pack moves in and starts asking too many questions. She’s never really had friends, but she’s also never found anyone who understood what she was. She’s slow to warm up to everyone, but there’s something about Scott McCall that makes it hard for her to stay away.

39) Introduce any character you want.

Oh, who haven’t I already talked about? (Goddamn I have a lot of OCs….) Okay, because I’m a terrible person, let’s talk about Tessa Maguire. Her father was a pilot in WWI, though he left the military to care for Tessa when her mother died. Tessa grew up as much of a lady as she could be, but with a deep love for flying and mechanics, and a bad habit of sneaking onto Mitchell Field after dark to look at the planes. Eventually she joins Navy as a nurse just so she has a real reason to go on base and visit her friends. (I know but please ask me about my girl because I am trash)

41) Has anyone drawn fan art of your OCs?

Yes! Yes, Yes, Yes! My prized possession will always be the trailer I was given for Right Beside You. I believe on two different occasions I have been lucky enough to receive fan art, and on more occasions than I can count have been included in beautiful edits from my friends. Most of these are in my “Beautiful People Make Brittney Things” tag.

43) Do you have a certain type when you create OCs? Do you tend to favor some certain traits or looks? It’s time to confess.

Almost all of my OCs are brunette and witty. I know this, and I am sorry, and I am trying to be aware and move away from it. But I also suck, so I apologize.

45) A character you no longer use.

Oh, Stephanie Engel. What plans I had for you. In my defense, everyone was doing it at the time, and I’ve stopped because I want to do the story right. At this point, I think I’ll wait for the next movie(s) to come out before deciding what to do with the rest of the story. It might be a stand alone that ignores the rest of the Jurassic World movies. But I always take prompts!

47) Has anyone ever (friendly) claimed one of your OCs as their child?

I’m honestly not sure. Has Ashlea done this? Probably. I’ve probably done this to other people, but at this point, I’m honestly not sure.

49) Which one of your OCs would most likely enjoy memes?

Hm, I think Isabelle. But she doesn’t use them correctly. She’s like nearly there, but even when she does say something correctly, she’s so excited that it’s cringeworthy. She’d definitely be the “did you see what I did there?” kind of person. The pack hates it.