#I just finished what was supposed to be the THIRD story arc

[ceiling-karasu]

I had a dream about the Ray Bradbury story All Summer in a Day (because a plane dripped water on me while I was trying to doze in my assigned seat?? Just decided to ignore that at least we were finally ON the plane at that point). That one where humanity has bases on Venus, and it rains all day except for the one time every seven years. Anyway, the classmates lock a girl from Earth in a closet because they think she is making things up about this 'sun' thing.

Which later somehow started making me think of Dalnim living in a small apartment by himself, but some misunderstandings make his classmates think he was living under a local bridge. Then one entire week, it rains super hard, and starts flooding rivers, and some of the classmates freak out and lock Dalmin in a school closet over night/the weekend 'for his own good,' on the idea that they don't want Dalmin to fall asleep and get swept away to drown. Which only increases everyone's misunderstandings of one another.

But yeah, in the dorms sounds nice! Plus, work-study programs where he and everyone else can find out about the archives and photography. Maybe Sena is a guest lecturer one day.

I don't know much about what high schools are like nowadays. I remember 7 classes, but some days you had to rotate (class A M-W-F at 10 am, class B T-Th at 10 am), so it was technically more.

I just wound up writing about Tokgasi because parts of Lightning Rod were starting to focus on the aftermath of Aekku's secret document. Like, was everyone caught in one swoop, or did some of the agents notice others getting captured and run off somewhere? And why is the Tokgasi group named after this one individual? Has he done operations like this before?

Personally, I am also kind of obsessed with Field Mouse Number 8.

We see that he was apparently not chosen by Aekku, but is still away on a mission somewhere. Why was he not chosen? Where is he? Will Mulmangcho disguising as him have repercussions? If he is a field mouse/dormouse, and was actually known reasonably enough around the base that Mulmangcho could disguise as him without anyone asking questions, then he was probably close to Commander Jogjebi like the other field mice. Which means he could be off on a spying mission somewhere as part of Jogjebi or the Special Forces' groups. If Commander Jogjebi is gone, what would that mean for his mission if he is on one?

Yeah, maybe the past parts are good to have first. They are entertaining to read, so far.

The layout would be for the farmhouse villa in Lily Bell. Technically I have it all written out in the story, so the details are already there and I can take some liberties. Nothing really seems to contradict itself, but making an actual schematic is hard. I'll have to do it by hand. But, I have figured out I can make something by hand, upload it, and then trace over something in another layer and hide the first layer. So that's nice. Less worried about merging layers and more annoyed that sometimes I can't use the fill function in certain sections anymore after random periods of time. I am learning to use layers when I make clothing, though.

I kind of wish I could have gotten to know my grandfathers, but they both passed away young due to issues with heavy smoking.

I was thinking 'beauty and gracefulness' for Nayeon, for reasons that will come out much later. But yeah, at the moment, they are just not letting Nayeon figure out the truth about Jollin, since her interest in helping the neighbor distracts her from missing her parents, I guess. Plus, she would be bonding with someone who is also missing their parents, from everyone else's perspective.

It wouldn't have been only a simple reference. I was planning on writing more chapters involving perspectives from Geumsaegi, Juldarami, and Flower Hill and their search/investigations to figure out what happened to Bamsaegi. Which would have included a lot of dredging the ocean floor for a bit, and secret internal investigations. So a bit of a duel story going on there. But a soft romance just seemed disrespectful.

Thank you very much for the feedback! It means a lot to me. Although I think the amount of research you put into your own stories is great as well! And you are way better at the naming conventions and Hangul than I could ever be.

Something I did while I was waiting for class.

I don’t know if she would be a new character of mine. But if she was, she would be working as an archivist or doing something based around culture. Idk. She isn’t a character I would place in OFP since she wouldn’t be a solider. She would have been exempted.

The quality came out a bit wonky

[youredreamingofroo]

On Repeat

// Click for HQ

Whew,,, I finally finished these! Thank you @elderwisp / @elksun / @living-undead / @dejasenti99 AND @yukikocloud FOR THE TAGS!!!! Holy wow :0

Tagging :

@circusjuney / @butteredfrogs / @mmonetsims / @flovoid

@birdietrait / @venriliz / @retrotrait / @mattodore

plus anyone else who wants to do this! Also feel free to ignore esp if you've alr done this, idk who has and hasn't im sorry 😭😭

// Extras under the cut - below is very long, so open w/ caution if you don't wanna scroll a lot 😭

This has taken the piss outta me (albeit fun), so i'm kinda just gonna explain how I think the featured line in particular is akin to the OC/Ship and not the entire song... as much as I'd love to 😭 Also it's just SUPER hard (for me) to find songs that I relate to my OCs, lyrics as well so skdjhnsjk

Roo's Song Oil & Water by Origami Button "When did I become like the ones I never thought I'd welcome in my home"

The above line in particular is quite literally Roo in the current story/character arc- He's looking at himself from a third person view and going "Oh. I am what I hate." He's looking at his old self, in college, and how he treated Leo, to now, looking at his present self and seeing the way he creeps on Leo, how he clings to him despite being several states over. Roo looks at the progression of his stalker-ish behavior, his obsession, how it went from just general clinginess that Leo could bear, to something completely unbearable after 7 years of no contact, it saddens him. So taking it quite literally, if he was at his own door and he knew how awful he was, he would slam the door on himself. A painful self reflection for him :')

Leo's Song Truth or Dare by Ricky Montgomery "Hiding in the closet, trying not to vomit, didn't even want it"

The entire first verse for this song can be applicable to Leo. As a teenager (15-16), Leo went HEAVY on drugs as a form of escapism from his parents, of course they'd always find him and get on his ass HARD for doing that shit. After a while of being sober, Leo started going to house parties, great idea- Flash forward to his third house party, and he finally cut his year long sober streak for drugs. as many as he could fit in his body. He had terrible influences around him so they encouraged him to do this shit, it didn't take long for his body to feel the god awful effects of taking so many drugs, so he ended up in the bathroom for a while- He tried to hold back the vomit because he was,,, partially enjoying his high, but he couldn't hold it back for long and ended up passing out, but not before nearly gutting himself from vomiting so much. Cut forward in time, and people got worried, bashed open the bathroom door and found Leo's unconscious body slumped over the toilet 🙃 Obv he came out fine, but it's a major moment in his life, because looking back on it, he realizes that wasn't what he wanted, he just wanted attention, he wanted to be cool, he wanted to be rebellious, but he didn't want to (nearly) kill himself. The render isn't one-to-one with the situation, but the lyrics are accurate so :3

Onia's Song Bloodstream by Soccer Mommy Scene used in render "Now a river runs red from my knuckles into the sink and there's a pale girl staring through the mirror at me"

Overall, the song talks about how the artist (Soccer Mommy) has lost her childhood innocence and how she wants to go back to her childhood and putting Onia's Sheep in Wolf's clothing motif aside, Onia misses being a child, and misses not knowing the pain and burden of being the complete opposite of what her parents wanted, so she spirals over this a lot, and like the lyrics say, "a river runs red from my knuckles into the sink," She tends to lean towards harming herself, in this case, her hands, and her knuckles- I can't draw or simulate blood in either blender or GIMP, so the red light is supposed to simulate the blood-sodden sink that she's standing over, and of course, "pale girl," is Onia, she's staring at herself, but additionally I like to think she's staring past the mirror, or staring through it (wink wink), she's spacing out and thinking about who she should've been, or who she could've been.

Hero's Song Following Eyes by Soccer Mommy "An awful feeling started creeping over me and what I saw was like no horror I had seen"

I'm keeping this short and sweet. It's not easy to find a song (that I like) that's about being haunted or cursed so. I had to re-use her song from her intro post, which isn't bad, but I did hope to find a new song kdsjhnsjk Anyways. Hero's cursed, pretty much anywhere she goes, she is forced to perceive ~the horrors~, sometimes she's forced into a blank space, a void (SOMETIMES,,, not a lot,,, rarely moreso), where she'll be tormented for who even knows how long, this moment in particular, she was walking along this catwalk in the dark, she eventually felt something that felt similar to someone dragging their fingers up your spine, in a moment of fear, she turned around and just. saw. She looked onto this,,, being, what she saw was "like no horror I had seen,,," Although to be fair, the creature isn't all that horrifying (which in my defense.. I'm a blender novice so </333)

The Hiraeth Song Nomu by Good Kid "Four eyes entwined draw four separate lines and none of them point to you"

I think this song overall is a perfect example of Roo and Leo's relationship both after Leo's confession and after Roo tried to reconnect with Leo. After Leo confessed, he tried to keep their relationship going, but it didn't work out, so he gave up (Roo didn't realize Leo was pulling such a weight and he just let their friendship fall out) After Roo tried to reconnect (aka the CURRENT storyline), Roo has been trying to keep things together and has been trying to make things work, but Leo has long-since given up on their friendship as a whole. Now in terms of the lyric above; Post-Confession, every conversation they had together would not be the same, they couldn't look each other in the eyes, their eyes would connect momentarily and separate almost immediately; Nowadays, if they WERE to be living together or near each other, they just would NOT be able to talk to each other, because Leo would be fed up with Roo and trying to avoid as much eye contact and general verbal+physical contact as possible with him. Roo, on the other hand, is just terrible with eye contact so he would have a terrible time trying to engage in eye contact with Leo.

The Ithanel / It's All Wrong Song From Eden by Hozier "Babe there's something broken about this but I might be hoping about this oh what a sin"

Ithuriel and Nanel's entire relationship is inherently toxic, they are not toxic to each other, but the underlying (or moreso, the OVERWHELMING OVERLYING) dangers of this relationship makes it toxic, broken in a way. Nanel risks her life going to see Ithuriel outside of work-related interactions and Ithuriel risks her life by just. seeing, talking to and loving Nanel. Whether they know (they do) or care (they dont) about these dangers, they still want this relationship, they live on, literal, prayers that they are not caught and that they can continue to love each other in peace, but overall, their relationship, in the eyes of the heavenly council (ehhh W.I.P term for IAW lore stuff), is a sin, and nothing but a sin.

Ithuriel's Song What You Mean by Rome Hero Foxes "Cause every little god damn thing you do makes me wanna get close to you"

The lyrics speak for themselves... Ithuriel is very dedicated to Nanel, and literally every waking moment of seeing and knowing Nanel drives Ithuriel up the walls because she loves her so much.

Nanel's Song Future Me Hates Me by The Beths "It's getting dangerous, I could get hurt, I know, I've counted up the cons, they far outweight the pros."

This is semi-foreshadowing, but Nanel knows that her and Ithuriel's relationship is forbidden, wrong (not cuz its gay necessarily,, 😭), and the way Ithuriel's heavenly role works means that their relationship status and every interaction outside of a required interaction is a risky game of one or both of them being punished and sentenced to death. But ! Nanel loves Ithuriel wayyyy too much to let how insanely dangerous their relationship is to get in the way of them loving and being with e/o.

Nirvana's Song 1999 by Beabadoobee "And I'm not wasting time again, closure instead of s^x, and I'm not wasting time again" Idk if I need to censor s^x but i am justttt in case...

Oof, Nirvana... Nirvana has always been sxually active, she's always had one-night-stands with other men, she's tried to continue things after that ONS, but it never works, she's tried to have relationships with women, but they just use her for s^x. She's tired of wasting time with people who just want her for her body, she's tired of s^x, she just wants, well, closure, she wants someone who will love her for her, she wants a relationship without s^x, or at least isn't s^x-focused, she just wants to know someone will love her past her body. Although aforementioned is all just a habit so she will unfortunately end up right back where she started and continue this uncomfortable and sad spiral.

[aiiria17]

Anyone else underwhelmed by Sonic 3?

First note - I'm not trying to say you're wrong for enjoying the movie but just wanted to express how I felt. In fact I also liked a lot about the movie which I'll also mention

Second note - I absolutely love Sonic Adventure 2 and play it almost daily so it's DEFINITELY not that I'm not into the topic.

Third note - Spoilers!!!

Okay so there's two main things that bugged me about the movie, starting with the biggest one:

1 - Shadow

I LOVE Shadow as a character. I literally finished Shadow 05 just cause I adore his character so much. The arc he goes down in processing the rage he feels following Maria's death/his awakening is so good and has so much love and care put into it. I don't think movie Shadow is as strong of a character as the Shadow I love and obsess over.

First of all one thing I realized is just he's very quiet. Like at the end of the movie I was thinking "did I like Keanu as a voice for Shadow" and then I realized I don't feel there was enough for me to really base it off of. Like most of Shadow's scenes are him silently sitting there and observing and its just... underwhelming? That's how I felt about his character: I wanted a lot out of him and the script just didn't deliver much at all.

Shadow's relationship to Maria is shown well but kind of thrown at the wayside until the moon scene. Like honestly it feels like all he thinks about for her is revenge when that doesn't feel right in the context of the movie. In Adventure 2 the deal was Shadow having to remember Maria's wish that he valued but that doesn't exist here he just kinda realizes "oh wait I don't have to kill people" and then goes super and does stuff.

Genuinely as a huge certified Shadow lover this is just an underbaked iteration of the character that really made me feel like the movie doesn't deliver a satisfying end to his arc, at least to me. Like the moon scene is his big character climax but after that there's really nothing other than "he saves the world." I'd like him to like reflect? One of the most memorable parts of Adventure 2 is seeing Shadow cascade down to Earth. ("Maria, this is what you wanted right? This is the promise I made to you").

Basically movie Shadow is a weaker version of game Shadow and that's sad.

2 - Gerald Robotnik

The other big new character is so, so bad. I don't think the writers had a single idea for what to do with Gerald. Like he's the super evil real bad guy who wants to destroy the world but also very silly! And it's not just that he was like pretending to be silly to manipulate Ivo there is a scene after their betrayal (not really sure who technically betrayed who by definition but whatever point is they're fighting) where Gerald is spanking Ivo and like it's supposed to be silly and why can't this movie just have a consistent tone.

Ivo being silly is one thing; he's already off his rockers from the start it's his whole character. Gerald's goofiness feels so so forced and while that is arguably part of the point it goes beyond just "he was manipulating Ivo." I actually think I would have liked the movie way more if I didn't hate this character so much he's just such an ill-fitting illogical part of the story that I can't understand. Like why not just do Adventure 2 and have Eggman work with Shadow it would more sense and you could still do a lot and not have this mess to deal with.

Okay now I'm going to quickly mention things I liked but it's late so I don't want to write too much more and your time is valuable (thanks for reading if you are I appreciate it)

Good Thing 1 - Team "Sonic"

Shoulda been Team Tails he's the mvp.

Honestly their relationship in this movie was perfect. Everything felt right and natural and they all worked great and had amazing chemistry and look my pfp is Tails for a reason I'm always happy to see my boy succeed. I hope Knuckles can be treated a tad more seriously but I also do find Knuckles funny so I'm not mad (I'm like the one actual fan of the Knuckles show).

Good Thing 2 - Stone

Stone went from "I love this side character" to "this is a very good side character." He finally shows nuance to his relationship with Robotnik and it makes him seem way more interesting. He truly does want Robotnik to see him as a friend (if not more let's be real here) and there's an actual conflict between the two of them and it feels great to see happen! I really liked the Eggman message to him at the end it felt like a great end for both?(more on that next paragraph) of their characters.

So I think Eggman is maybe dead dead. If they get Jim Carrey I think it will be as a fake Eggman (my guess is Metal Sonic is going to do some Sonic Heroes shenanigans next). I do think they can do more with Stone. I mean what does he do now? I would actually like to know. Lowkey a series with him and Shadow would rule (all he really has to do is offer Shadow inner peace guac this time)

Briefly I think the post-credits is exciting and very expected. Feels like an obvious direction. My surprise bet, as previously mentioned is that it won't be Sonic CD (Amy seems too able to care for herself for that to be the case and that's awesome) and more a Sonic Heroes (where Metal Sonic shines more anyways).

Genuinely thanks for reading I just wanted to express this but it's almost midnight and I drove a lot today for this movie so I'm sleepy. bye bye

[novankenn]

The TA -- Joan(Jaune) Arc

Artwork Inspired Posts - First / Second / Third / Fourth

(Artwork created/owned by @pilot-boi, No rights Claimed/Implied by the author of this story)

Joan(Jaune) wanted to leave as soon as they reached the infirmary, but she choose to stay. She was a little worried about what happened to Ms Nikos, but she was more afraid of what Aunt Glynda would do if she returned with out the trio of students she was supposed to be supervising.

After a quick look over, Pyrrha was roused with the use of some smelling salts. The nurse then informed them she would return in about fifteen minutes for one final check before letting them leave. So as Pyrrha's teammates, well really just one teammate unloaded barrage after barrage about what happened, and how she was feeling. Joan(Jaune) sat in a very uncomfortable plastic chair, tapping her foot on the tiled floor.

"So..." Pyrrha looked past Nora at Joan(Jaune), "You are really a girl?"

"Yes."

"Really?" Pyrrha hesitantly asked again.

"Yeah. Is that a problem?" Joan(Jaune) answered standing up and approaching the bed Pyrrha was laid upon. "Like seriously, why..."

"The boobs, or the lack of them." Nora interrupted.

"I have boobs!" Joan(Jaune) snapped.

"Not from what I..." Nora didn't get a chance to finish as Joan(Jaune) grabbed her by the wrists, pulling her hands towards her chest. Nora's eyes went wide when she felt the heavily softness under her hands, "You do... "

"Anyone else need to feel me up?" Joan(Jaune) asked as she released her grip on Nora.

"Can I do that again?" Nora asked.

"What? No!"

"Please?" Nora begged, "I'll share my pancakes with you?"

"Huh?" Joan(Jaune) took a step back a little creeped out by the orange haired girl. "Is she okay?"

"That's just how Nora is." the lone male in the room, informed Joan(Jaune). "You'll get used to it. I'm Ren by the way."

Joan(Jaune) gave Ren a sideways look.

"I'm sorry, about all this." Pyrrha offered with a soft and sad smile. "I didn't mean to upset you..."

"You annoyed me. Not upset." Joan(Jaune) responded, before asking, "So what was your malfunction?"

"Excuse me?" Pyrrha asked as Ren acted as a buffer between Nora's grasping hands, and Joan(Jaune).

"Just what I asked."

"I don't... understand the question?"

'Why did you freak when you found out I was a woman?" Joan(Jaune) asked, while leaning in to look Pyrrha right in the eyes. "You have pretty eyes."

"Because of stuff like that!" Pyrrha yelped her face growing flushed with color.

"What not used to be complimented?"

"No... it's... because... um... fuck it!" Pyrrha snapped. "You say stuff like how I'm hot and shit, and I'm get interested and then... I like men! I can't be attracted to a woman, even if her ass if so delicious!"

"Okay." Joan(Jaune) stood up straight, sucked on her front teeth before speaking. "If you like guys, that's great. I like guys, but that does NOT meant you can't find people of the same sex also attractive."

"But..."

"Are you really that repressed?" Joan(Jaune) asked, with a roll of her eyes. "Listen Pyrrha. I can find you hot. I can find Nora adorable, and Ren handsome. Do you follow?"

"I'm adorable? and Ren's handsome? Way to put out the moves Joan(Jaune)-Joan(Jaune)!" Nora cheered finally having given up on molesting Joan(Jaune)'s chest again.

Ren just stood there one eyebrow raised.

"I think so?" Pyrrha answered.

"Good. NOW just because you like my ass doesn't mean your suddenly going to try and make a move on me. It means you find something attractive about me. You follow?"

"Yes?"

"No you're not." Joan(Jaune) sighed. "Do you find men or women more desirable?"

"Ah... um..."

"Did you grow up in a convent or something?" Joan(Jaune) sighed out. "Fine. would you rather do this with a guy?"

Before Pyrrha could answer Joan(Jaune) rounds about hooks her hands behind Ren's head and neck and pulls him into a heated, breath stealing kiss. It last only for about ten seconds, before Joan (Jaune) breaks contact.

"You... kissed... Rennie..." Nora whimpered as she just stood there, watching her life long friend weave on his feet.

"Or would you do it with a woman?" Joan(Jaune) asked as she closed on Pyrrha, slipping her arms around Pyrrha's shoulders and neck, to give her a sizzling deep kiss.

Pyrrha's mind screamed in confusion. Joan(Jaune) was kissing her! She was being kissed and the lips felt so soft and tasted delicious. Her tongue... WAIT her tongue!!!

Nora stood in utter shock, as Joan(Jaune) had moved from making out with Rennie, to some heavy duty face-sucking with Pyrrha. The lip-lock broke after again only lasting about ten seconds or so.

"As you can see. I'm fine with girls or boys... did she just pass out again?" Pyrrha's eyes had rolled up into her head and she lay limp on the bed, her lips slightly parted, and moist with saliva.

"RENNIE!" Nora shrieked when Ren just finally collapsed to the floor in a limp heap. "KISS OF DEATH!!!! KISS OF DEATH!!!"

"Huh?" Joan(Jaune) turns from Pyrrha to see Ren on the floor. "Shit!"

"I must feel their heavenly form again before you steal my soul with your succubus ways!" Nora cried out as she lunged for Joan(Jaune), her hands in front of her, with her fingers spread wide.

"SHIT!" Joan(Jaune) cried out as she tried to keep away from the suddenly very energetic organette.

(A/N - Okay I've been pushing in my head for a female!Jaune stealing a kiss from Ren in front of Nora, since forever. It has now happened. My life is complete! Wonder what Weiss is going to say with Nora's new fascination? Any way hope you're all enjoying this unplanned chaos.)

[wordsandrobots]

I just finished Iron Blooded Orphans just a few days ago and I don't know how to feel about it. I know not everything is supposed to be a happy ending and tragedy is abundant in war stories, but characters are the most important thing for me in stories.

Athough I really liked the characters of Iron Blooded Orphans, a lot of the them didn't seem to have character development based on few opinions I hear about Iron Blooded Orphans. Could you summarize the character arcs and character development of Orga, Mika, McGillis, and maybe even Kudelia (I like her in season one but she didn't do a lot in season two) as to me they are main characters of the show. Although some of my favorites were Akhiro, Gaelio, Lafter and Atra.

I haven't read your writeups but some of my mutuals on MyAnimeList reccomend your blog.

Okidokie. I'm going to say three things before answering this, and then I'm going to be quite verbose for a bit, as I tend to be. I hope you'll stick with me, Anon, I promise I'll get to the point eventually.

First, people on a completely different site are recommending my blog? That's extremely flattering and slightly disconcerting, since my fandom experience with this show extends to here and Ao3!

Second, I want to stress that I'm an amateur when it comes to analysis. Past secondary school, I never studied literature/media in a formal setting; my academic training is in philosophy (which taught me how to make an argument) and history (which taught me how to handle sources), and also in physics but that's not relevant. So when I make statements about a piece of media, it doesn't make me an authority; it just means I have things to say. This isn't me trying to be humble, by the way. If I didn't have confidence in my opinions, I wouldn't state them publicly. I simply want to make it clear my essays are based on of years of taking an interest, not formal expertise. Your question touches on how we engage with things, and Tumblr being a rather combative place regarding reading comprehension, I think it's important to say upfront, I mainly muddle along on two decades of experience stringing words together on the page.

Third, while I love Iron-Blooded Orphans to a ridiculous degree, I'll do my best not to tell you what your opinion should be. If what I say makes you approach it from an angle you'd not considered, great! But it might simply be that it's not the show for you and that's equally fine. There are plenty of well-made stories I cannot get along with, despite knowing exactly how they work and seeing that they are constructed with great skill. Such is life!

Right then.

Let's start with a question: what do you mean by 'character development'?

Because I think there's a natural tendency, especially when talking about the protagonists in a story, to treat it as synonymous with character growth, that is, with characters learning and maturing over the course of the events being depicted. This is why we watch heroes struggle, right, so they become better people through the experience? And that is an absolutely valid thing to do in a piece of fiction: it feels good, it's rewarding, and it can make for some excellent triumphant moments. Quite apart from anything else, I think most of us would like to be able to take what we experience and learn from it, to do better next time.

However, this isn't always how it goes. Like, obviously, there are people in the world who commit whole-heartedly to never learning anything, ever, but more importantly, there are stories where the point is not that the characters becoming better and triumph; rather it's the opposite. They get worse. They fail. Their world falls apart. Indeed, character collapse is often a vital part of the same stories that feature character growth; it's what happens to the villains the heroes confront.

And there's a third way of looking at character development, which is as purely an increase in complexity. A character who starts off with simply defined motives and responses may be gradually built up into something far more nuanced, often (but not always) by revealing their past in greater detail. Their actions and personality do not necessarily change as part of this process, but their context does. We, the audience, come to see them in a new light, which helps us understand more thoroughly why they are Like That, even when they haven't meaningfully changed in and of themselves.

Now, I know you said you care primarily about characters, but I do need to talk about something else here. When I recommend Iron-Blooded Orphans to people, the very first thing I say is 'it's a tragedy'. And I don't mean it's going to make them sad -- although, yes, it probably will -- I mean that it has a tragic structure.

You might already be aware it wasn't originally planned to be a two-season show. It was always meant to end badly for Tekkadan, though, and you can see the ghost of the initial plan in Season 1, with the high point being the episodes from Kudelia ending the massacre on the Dort Colonies to the gang landing on Earth, and everything thereafter increasingly going off the rails. Getting a second season allowed the writers to turn this into a fake-out. The first season instead ends on a victory at Edmonton -- and then the next twenty-five episodes ramp the stakes and costs up and up and up until the catastrophe is inescapable. The whole has this beautiful rise/tall trajectory, with the very qualities that created success in Season 1 transforming into the reasons for the Season 2 failure.

You have to keep in mind that the characters serve this structure. They are characters within a tragedy. Therefore, you can't necessarily expect them to show growth and to learn from their mistakes. Tragedies explore negative emotions and their consequences and tend to be driven by characters making the absolutely worse decisions they possibly could in the circumstances, because of who they are and what they (don't) know. Oedipus hasn't a clue Jocasta is his mother when he marries her, Macbeth is too weak to stand up to his wife, Romeo and Juliet are dumb horny teenagers, etc, etc. Part of what makes this work is often characters' refusal to grow or change or adapt as the situation develops. They keep acting in the same fashion that worked for them previously, irrespective of whether it's still a good idea (spoiler: it 100% is not).

That is what makes the story of Iron-Blooded Orphans work. Tekkadan keep throwing themselves into fights because it's the only way they know how to survive. Orga keeps reaching for bigger prizes because he's got it into his head that he has to secure everyone's safety and prosperity as fast as possible (the poor boy does not know how casinos work, no). Mikazuki will not take back his promise to do whatever Orga needs him to, no matter how disabled he becomes as a result (or how many other people would really like it if he didn't die). McGillis cannot countenance the idea he can't change the world on his own (I mean, it's literally unthinkable or his entire self-image goes kaput). Gaelio is just flat out ignorant of the reasons behind McGillis' actions until it's far too late to stop (Gaelio's role, as I've said a few times, is to be Always Wrong (TM)). Etc, etc.

This is a story about a society run on exploitation and the damage that does, not only outright, but also by shaping people's responses such that they cannot see alternatives beyond violence. It's 'Maladaptive Coping Mechanisms: The Anime'. Everyone is screwing up, big time, and the only thing that could have stopped the resulting disaster is if they weren't the people they demonstrably are.

Mikazuki and Orga's character arc is one of a mutual collapse, Mika physically, Orga mentally, as their shared love for one another drives them to greater and greater acts of desperation. They both think the other is incredible and they cannot do anything less as a result. Their relationship sits at the heart of why Tekkadan goes wrong, the motive force behind the fatal end to which everything hurtles.

McGillis' character arc, we discover, happened years before the story started. What he is now is fixed, a man determined to be a singular force for change, unwilling to let finer feelings sway him. He knows the world is sick and corrupt and believes the only way to respond is to be stronger than it is, more powerful, in the fashion of a child imagining themselves a king, setting everything to rights. He fixated on an old story as the escape route from a life of abuse and won't give it up for anybody.

Kudelia, of all the characters in the show, has the most traditional 'growth' arc, shedding her naivete across the course of Season 1 and becoming better fitted to the challenge of building a fairer society. She learns to fight in her own way, to accept the cost of pushing forward, and most importantly, to see the people at the bottom of the existing social structure as equally real and human. She comes to understand exactly what she's fighting for, and grows into a force to be reckoned with as a result.

And then she runs straight into the problem anyone who wants to make a difference faces: she has to decide how best to compromise to get what she's after. That leads her into deals with Teiwaz and Nobliss Gordon, even with factions in Gjallarhorn, which in turn ties her hands. Structurally, she can't be in a position to save Tekkadan, come the final run of episodes. The writers turn that into a commentary on long-term versus short-term gain, whereby Kudelia committing herself to building up the Admoss Company means relying on Tekkadan's violent protection (contra her wish to save them from getting more blood on their hands) and restrictions around what she is able to do right now. That's the point of her conversation with Makanai after the Arbrau/SAU war arc: if she's serious about improving Mars' situation, she can't act recklessly. Which traps her into watching helplessly while Tekkadan do.

There you have it, really. The ways IBO develops its characters extend from its structure and I think you have to take that into account when considering how they act. Their arcs are all towards an immediate failure, with even the snatched, last-minute saves and the more hopeful future being bought at a terrible price. You're meant to like them and then watch them go through an absolute meat-grinder of a time. As I said, that might not be what you want from a story, but it's what this particular one is, fundamentally.

----

I don't know if this was all what you were after, but I do hope it's at least given you some help in sorting out how you feel about Iron-Blooded Orphans. I've written in more detail about all these points elsewhere: here's me talking about Mika and Orga's relationship; here's a long discussion of McGillis through the lens of what little we know about Agnika Kaieru (and also capitalism); and here's me turning getting huffy about people dismissing Kudelia into an exploration of her pragmatism.

If you're up for it, please feel free to browse my full index of essays. You'll find bits on Gaelio, Lafter's death, and the Turbines in general, along with a ton of other stuff. I also recently answered an ask about Atra, Mika and Kudelia's relationship (you are of course entirely correct that Atra is The Best). Sadly I've not done much focused on Akihiro; it's not that I have nothing to say about him, more that I haven't quite find the right angle to do so yet. Well, not outside fanfic.

Oh, yeah, I have also written an unconscionable amount of IBO fanfic, primarily a 20-part post-canon story called Wishing on Space Hardware. It takes a narrative approach to unpacking my many, many feelings about the show and I'm quite proud of it, so if that's your sort of thing, well, please give it a go!

Thank you for your ask, and feel free to drop me another if there's anything you'd like to hear my thoughts on that I haven't already written about (rapid responses not guaranteed).

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THE THREE BIRDS [fantasy short story]

Personified immortal Stars have lived secretly on Earth throughout history. This piece takes place in 13th century Iran, notable for astronomical scholarship, and Arabic star names are used as the main roots. Waqi (currently the Star Vega) leads Taira (Altair) and Dhanab (Deneb) on a mission to secure the Stars' carefully kept secret existence. The Stars' world was created by myself and @heirmyst. Next post: [ORION'S FINEST] [GATHERER OF GRAIN] [CENTER OF THE WORLD] Word count: 5,201

Waqi climbed the sky higher, relentlessly battling the air with every flap of their wings. As they gained altitude, frost dared to gather on their face. Unfazed, they summoned latent blue fire from within, melting it on immediate impact. 

Good attempt, nature, they thought, smiling into the forceful wind. But only I decide when to stop.

Except even the grandest flights rested on the premise of a zenith… and its aftermath. Finally, air thinned to nothing, and Earth below seemed a faint suggestion of matter. The time had come. Waqi slowed the frenzied movement of their wings.

They took a deep breath, savoring the moment. “Here it comes.”

Then, they let themself fall. 

The air just barely carried the sound they let out, halfway between a laugh and a scream of delight.

This was their favorite part. They would never admit it on the ground, where every part of them itched to fight the atmosphere with their wings and fly, however high the day would let them. Many times, they’d said to other Stars that they’d happily give up immortality if it meant they could fly for the rest of their existence, and the sentiment was barely a joke. But the fall? They lived for it, and the air as they burned their way down was the sweetest they’d ever taste.

Clouds faded into view, gray and rumbling, preparing to unleash a deluge onto Iran. Waqi’s fists heated up, glowing with ready blasts; they could not let this unacceptable weather stand. 

They plunged into the mess. When fog took over their vision, they pivoted sharply, punching at the nearest storm cloud. The lightning crackling inside was no match for Waqi’s own strikes of energy. They cut through the surrounding air in a wide arc, so swiftly that the clouds vanished with a whimper.

“You tried,” Waqi said, laughing to themself as they took off to vanquish the brewing storm from the rest of the sky. 

They moved with instinctive ease when they shed their corporeal form to become a merciless blue lightning bolt. It was less satisfying than punches and blasts, but it killed every threatened storm before it got the chance to materialize, all the while keeping Waqi hidden from any onlooking human’s eyes.

Of course, the tactic traded away precision for raw power. 

They didn’t process hitting the wrong target until the voices rang out. 

“Waqi!” Dhanab yelled, halting the excitement with a start. “What in the skies did you do that for?”

Waqi shifted back into their usual form, steadying their flight with their wings and blinking the scene before them into clarity. Their Star friends Dhanab and Taira hovered in front of them. Dhanab was scrambling to cover her head. Taira had stopped midway through braiding Dhanab’s hair, barely containing laughs. 

Slowly, Waqi turned around. Remnants of lightning floated in empty air, having burned a hole in the white cloud structure around them. They’d destroyed a Star lodging. For the third time that week. And this time, they didn’t get to pretend they were heroically fighting monstrous Hauntings, because this was nothing but a cloud punching spree.

They faced their friends with a sheepish smile. “I’ve interrupted something, I gather?”

“I’d say so, yes,” Taira said lightly, at the same time as Dhanab muttered, “Not the first time.”

“In my defense,” Waqi began. “I had—”

“North Star duties,” the two finished in unison.

Waqi looked away, sighing. There went their excuse. “I don’t suppose you’ll allow me to make it up to you?”

A scheming smirk crept across Dhanab’s face. “Taira?”

“Hm.” Taira stretched and cracked her joints in preparation. “Since you've so kindly offered...”

Waqi had barely enough time to summon a defensive forcefield when Taira shot toward them with unbelievable speed. She tackled them off the cloud’s ledge. Waqi fought to keep their flight steady among her unpredictable movements and countered her every hit. Laughing all the way, they tumbled wherever Taira wished, because as strong as a flier as Waqi was, they only fought the air; Taira held it at her command. 

“Unfair!” Waqi protested, pushing Taira’s voluminous wind blown hair away from their own face. “I’m taking this up with the king!” 

“What’s the matter?” Taira said, between laughs. “Holding back so I’ll be taken off guard by your next move?”

Waqi caught her next punches, holding both of her hands in place with a surge of lightning. They grinned. “You know me too well. This is a tactical liability.” 

She cried out as Waqi seized her hair and flipped her over their head. As soon as they readied their next blast, their arm locked up, illuminating with a silvery blue glow. 

The rest of their body followed. Taira also froze. The two Stars’ descent had been halted by a joy-killing outside force.

“Dhanab!” Waqi yelled to the sky. “It was just going to get good!” 

Taira snorted. “For you, maybe.”

Dhanab swooped gracefully down from above, landing only a few feet below without breaking her telekinetic hold on the other two. Waqi gaped. Were they that close to the ground already? 

“Do you want to let all of Maragha in on the secret?” Dhanab asked, gesturing frantically to the town behind her. 

“Oh, we’re in trouble now?” Taira asked.

“You will be, keeping this up,” Dhanab said. “Two wild winged beasts screaming and clawing at each other is hardly discreet.”

Waqi raised an eyebrow. “And two wild winged beasts suspended in midair by a third, decidedly more stuck-up winged beast… is?” 

Dhanab opened her mouth to argue, then shrugged. “Point taken.” With one wave of her hand, the glow faded, and Waqi and Taira collapsed in a heap on the ground. 

Waqi brushed themself free. Dhanab pointedly looked past them in favor of helping Taira up. Only Taira.

“The disrespect,” Waqi said with mock offense, forcing themself to their feet. “This is how you treat your North Star?”

Dhanab smiled sweetly. “I wouldn’t dream of insinuating the North Star could possibly need my help.”

Waqi rolled their eyes and shifted their attention to the sky. At least from here, they could check whether they’d succeeded in averting the storm. They expected to see clear blue conditions, plagued by a few maddening remnants of a storm they happened to miss. Instead they were met with… a sunset. In the distance, the town of Maragha seemed to come alive, suddenly bustling with movement.

“Oh no,” Taira said quietly behind them.

“I know,” they agreed, exasperated, glaring at the accursed observatory on a nearby hill. “Now we’ll have to listen to the evening prayer.”

“I like the sound of the prayer,” Dhanab said quietly.

Taira shook her head. “It isn’t that! The sun set too early.” Oh, Waqi thought. They’d assumed they simply lost track of time once more. “Waqi,” Taira said, all humor gone from her voice. Disoriented by the sudden change in mood, Waqi turned to face her. “This is a whole hour early.”

Dhanab’s eyes widened. “An hour? Did the king tell you anything about this?”

Waqi laughed, but their voice shook with uncertainty. “There you two go, taking everything the sky does so seriously…” 

“Even if we didn’t, the humans would!” Dhanab argued. “Especially here. Their prayer relies on this, you think they won’t look into the situation? And if they look too deep, they’ll find us, and then the secret keepers might tell on us too, and—”

“Dhanab.” Taira wrapped an arm around her. “Slow down. Breathe.” She looked to Waqi for support.

 Their words caught in their throat. Skies above, they had not expected a morale strengthening task today. “I’ll… speak to Sol,” they blurted out, “and get this all sorted! He’ll play some trick of sunlight, hide the irregularity. This kind of thing is easy for him! It will be fine.”

The Star king’s name seemed to put the two at ease. Yes, Sol would fix this, and Waqi would have free reign to make fun of his overly dramatic success speeches to his face afterward. That was how this was supposed to go.

“Before that,” Taira piped up, “maybe we can go and ask director Tusi’s minions what they think is happening.” She tilted head toward the observatory. “To see how much damage we’ll have to undo.”

Waqi made a face at the thought of vanishing their wings. “Go and ask. In the guise of a human?”

“As a man?” Dhanab added, equally offended. “No, thank you.”

Both of them stared at Taira. She sighed, closing her wings and gathering up her long cloudlike tresses. “The usual, I see.”

“Don’t act as if you don’t like it,” Dhanab said.

Taira winked at her. “I let you off the hook only because you’re too beautiful to pass as a man.” 

Dhanab flushed, but got to work on tearing a section of her own outer robes, wrapping it around Taira’s hair as a makeshift turban.

“You could just give over your scarf,” Waqi pointed out.

“Waqi, please!” Dhanab said, scandalized. “I am not going to stay out here uncovered!”

That sounded absolutely ridiculous, but Waqi chose not to argue. They never did see the point in bothering with matters of earthly conduct, when by all means the Stars were meant to live above them all. This is why they could never stomach any task that involved walking among humans. Their status as North Star, Stardom’s first line of defense, would surely get lost among the endless customs and rules that every other little kingdom offered a different version of. Such a life was inconceivable.

Still, they noticed that Dhanab was pointedly trying to avoid being perceived with torn robes. Wordlessly, they walked in such a way to conceal her from any passersby’s view, keeping a low profile as they trailed Taira.

Not that Taira made it particularly easy. 

With a skip in his step, Taira closed in on the observatory hill at a quick pace. Too quick. The other two almost struggled to keep up and stay hidden at the same time.

“What’s his hurry?” Waqi whispered to Dhanab.

“You know Taira,” Dhanab said. “At least he hasn’t resorted to flying. Yet.”

Waqi and Dhanab stopped at a distance, hanging back as Taira went on. He reached the entrance of the central observatory tower, greeting the two workers outside like old friends. One of the men straightened up to receive the new company, while the other remained pointedly occupied perusing an astronomical manual.

“Peace be upon you, brothers!” Taira said. “I could not help noticing that the sun has been down for several counts too far, and I have not heard the call for Maghrib yet.”

“Upon you be peace. I do not know what to tell you, Al-Ta’ir,” the attentive man said, his tone apologetic, as if he was fully ready to take the blame for the heavens breaking an otherwise flawless pattern. “Sirvan and I have been in conversation all day, and we haven’t yet reached an impasse.”

“Forget this pretense, Payam. Tell him like it is!” the other man, Sirvan snapped. He rubbed the bridge of his nose in frustration and, without warning, shoved the manual in Taira’s face. “Look at this!” 

Taira stayed silent for too long. “Yes,” he said, purely to appease the worker. “This is… most irregular.”

“Irregular,” Sirvan said with a bitter laugh. “For all our lives the sky stays constant! Predictable! ‘Study the heavens,’ Tusi tells us, ‘Mark prayers as God commands!’ How were we meant to know the sun can set anytime!”

Waqi rolled their eyes. Humans truly believed their neat tables could map the skies out to the letter. As if the Stars had nothing better to do than move in strict patterns for their convenience. An impulsive lightning blast threatened to break free at their fist. Dhanab touched their hand, stopping it right there.

“I believe I should call out Maghrib now,” Payam said carefully. “The people will be concerned.”

“Concerned?” Sirvan said, baffled. “This is unlike anything we’ve seen!”

Taira wisely saw his exit. “Thank you, brothers,” he said, though Sirvan’s diatribe about the fundamental principles of the sun’s movement drowned it out. “I trust your decision, and eagerly await your call.” Meaningfully, he caught Payam’s eye at the last word.

With that, Taira left the scene as swiftly as he’d arrived, regrouping with Dhanab and Waqi. 

“Overreacting scholars,” Waqi said. “This is probably nothing!” 

Taira ignored them. “Payam is the muazzin. I’ve dropped as many suggestions as it’s appropriate for me to do. I think we’ll be in the clear, if he can get his volatile brother calmed or distracted long enough to call the prayer.”

“I hope he does,” Dhanab said softly.

“That’s all we can do for our coverup on the human side, but we’ll stick around just in case.” Taira turned to Waqi. “The rest is up to you. Ask Sol what’s going on. He’s the only one who can make this seamless.”

Waqi nodded. This, at least, they could do. Leaving their friends at the hill, they crept a safe distance away from wandering townspeople’s eyes. 

Then, they opened their wings and shot off into the early night sky. The air was clear, carrying that sweet tropical taste that came only when the dark settled and—

Focus, they reminded themself, shaking off the intoxication. This flight had to be short, direct. Purely economical. 

They ascended just enough for their head to peek through clouds.

Waqi looked around, and almost didn’t recognize Sol’s home at first. They were so used to the sight of extravagantly piled clouds, reflecting sunlight with infuriating perfection, that they only processed the black clouds in front of them as an incoming weather disaster.

Somewhere on the way to destroying the storm, they realized it floated where their best friend’s home should have been.

“Sol?” Waqi’s voice broke embarrassingly at the call of his name. 

Any moment, the only part of them still clinging to hope insisted. Any moment, Sol would fly out, laugh triumphantly about his incredible unexpected practical joke, and fix everything.

No answer came.

Waqi rammed themself into the mass of black clouds, their mind racing. The structure fell apart pathetically, the only sign of Sol’s brilliant presence being stray plumes of flame. Actual flame. Not the inviting light that always decorated the king’s home. 

Waqi emerged on the other side into empty air. The home being deserted, leaving only storm clouds and flame, and whatever the early sunset was… 

All signs pointed to a struggle. 

Waqi glared at the remnants of black smoke around them with newfound hatred. This was no longer annoying weather. It was the herald of the enemies—assassins—who took Sol away… and after seeing it, Waqi was sitting here, staring into space like an idiot.

They needed to act now. In a flash of blue lightning, they dived, right back to the spot where they left their friends. The grass beneath them caught fire as the shock of the ground returned them to their corporeal form. Before they had time to breathe, someone grabbed their shoulder.

“Careful! You’ll—” Dhanab’s usual chiding stopped short, and her face softened into concern. “What happened?”

Waqi tried to contort their features into something less alarming. Judging by their friends’ confused glances, it did not work.

“What did the king say?” Taira asked. “He didn’t deny the request, did he?”

A laugh, clipped and shaky, escaped Waqi’s throat at the question. “It’s a hard thing even for him, to deny something he hasn’t even heard,” they said. “Something broke into his home. Only storm clouds remain there.”

A shadow passed over the other two’s faces. Taira took a deep breath. “Please don’t tell me…”

“Hauntings?” Dhanab asked, her voice small. It was barely a question. 

“Listen to me,” Waqi said, grasping her hand, suddenly emboldened by their friends’ clear panic. Waqi couldn’t afford to be scared when they had other Stars to worry about. “No one can hear of this. Not until we get to the bottom of it.”

“Waqi,” Taira said. They couldn’t help but flinch. They hated when all playfulness faded from her voice like that. “This isn’t some accidental cabin fire we can just pretend is an act of nature. This is an attempted Haunting assassination, and if those monsters even got to the king, what chance—”

“They didn’t get to him!” Waqi snapped. “It’s Sol! Skies above, will you have some faith? For all we know, he reduced them all to ashes and is just… hunting for a new home. Or better yet, for the assassins’ allies.”

This half of North Star duties, the one which was conquered by words rather than fire, never came naturally to Waqi. Yet, often, they found they could simply speak anything into existence, and if it softened even a single line of worry on a fellow Star’s face, it would do the trick. For better or worse, Waqi held all the cards here. They knew Sol better than anyone; whatever they said about him, the other two had to take it by necessity. 

Waqi needed to take it too. It was all they had.

“You’re right,” Dhanab said, mercifully. “Yes, that must be it!” 

“So, all we do is track him down. It’s the same plan as before… just with this extra step.” They spoke feverishly right as the words came to them. “Taira. Those trails of dark smog from Hauntings are left in the sky for hours after the fact, are they not?”

Taira nodded, a hint of her usual laidback confidence returning to her eyes. “If the monsters escaped—”

“There’s no way in hell Sol would let them go free without pursuit,” Waqi finished. They braced themself for flight. “Lead the way. We’re right behind you.”

And so, the three Stars took to the skies. They cast jokes and idle conversation between themselves like playing balls, masking any unwanted urgency. The premature night hung around them heavily. Even as they followed the sickening, viscous Haunting trail, no one dared to suggest the unspoken; that the king was likely in danger and it may be up to them to save him. Sol was supposed to save them, not the other way around.

You’re fine, Sol, Waqi thought to themself repeatedly, reassuring their own mind and daring their friend to meet the challenge. They need you to be fine. You can give them that much.

Give me that much.

When the trail ended its forward snaking in the sky and dissolved into fog, Taira began to descend and the other two followed. An expansive lake awaited them below. It boiled furiously, despite the cool night, sending warm air towards the Stars.

“Here we are,” Taira whispered. “Now, either the Hauntings show themselves, or Sol comes out… let’s hope we don’t have to do something drastic.”

Waqi strained their eyes to see the lake past the fog. Why was it boiling? “I swear… why can’t we just—”

“Don’t summon a flame,” Dhanab warned, reading their mind. “Wait for it.”

“Wait?” Waqi shot back, incredulous. “For them to—”

Something shot out of the lake. One projectile gave way to several, piercing the silence with the high whistles of Haunting laughter. The fog stopped the Stars from seeing the attack, but they all heard it, and knew the lack of light would not let them dodge. Taira screamed as a Haunting assailant tackled her into the darkness.

“No!” Dhanab instantly moved to follow Taira’s faint white flame. 

Waqi prepared a blast. “Leave it to me!” 

Dhanab blocked their path, taking hold of their shoulders. “I’ve got her. You should look for the king.”

Look for the king. Waqi knew what she meant to say, but they resented the wording anyway. It was far too close to acknowledging the danger they’d so carefully chosen to downplay. Still, she stayed, her gaze lingering on them with clear anxiety. She wouldn’t go without their express order.

“Go,” Waqi told her. “Do… whatever it is you were already going to.”

She smiled, relieved. “North Star duty!” she called out encouragingly, flitting away to Taira’s aid. 

Dropping every precaution about stealth, Waqi lit themself up in a burst of blue flame. The fog lifted. Finally, finally, they could see their attackers, scattered in midair and on the banks of the lake; without the cloak of darkness, the Hauntings carried forms befitting creatures of earth, except far too big, and closer to humans in terms of gait and clarity of disruptive purpose. This assortment of aquatic bait froze in fear at Waqi’s explosion, even the overgrown shrimp that had Dhanab and Taira locked in battle. Waqi relished the look of shock on the monsters’ faces. Clearly, they hadn’t been expecting the North Star. 

Just as quickly, they recovered with shrill battle cries, and the inky fog wafted into the air once more. This time, Waqi was ready.

They shot lightning indiscriminately, warding off the first few human-sized black crustacean Hauntings that leapt up at them. The flame stayed steady all the way, keeping their sight clear throughout every scuffle. The effort of keeping up defenses still remained a liability. They could not take in a single iota of their surroundings if every moment was punctuated by a strike at the relentless Haunting flock.

“Clear me an opening!” Waqi yelled to their friends.

Practically before Waqi finished speaking, it was done. Dhanab seized telekinetic control of the flock’s edges, and Taira sped to take out anyone who dared step into Waqi’s radius. 

With newfound freedom, Waqi began a swift descent… and it allowed them a crucial glance at the mysteriously boiling lake.

A golden light flickered beneath, its glow coloring fire into the angry waters.

Sol.

Waqi didn’t think. They dove headfirst, the fall heating up their every inch. Hauntings cried out, attempted a poorly thought out deflection, but Waqi’s fire now radiated fatally. Just try it now, they dared the assassins. Naturally, not a single one met the challenge.

The saline water greeted them all at once. 

Any numbing power it might have had over Waqi was warded off by the burning field surrounding them. They had bigger concerns.

“You came,” said an unmistakable voice behind them, with a tone of never having expected anything else. “My one and only North Star.”

Waqi turned sharply to look at Sol, relief and frustration warring within them for the chance to guide their response. Neither got the chance, because an ink-black current hit them instead. 

The staggering force threw them back, until they wedged their feet against the lake floor and opened their wings. They summoned a field of energy, protecting them from the onslaught. Waqi stepped forward, fighting the water with all they had, and broke into a run. The Hauntings they rammed into crumpled at the slightest touch of fire. 

Waqi had help down here too. Sol’s pillar of flame, emboldened by the new arrival, burned brighter, working with Waqi’s to purify the waters. When the blackness cleared, the piscine Hauntings that cast the torrent at them instantly skittered away from fear. Good.

At long last, the sunny glow was uninhibited. Every malicious assassin who stood between Waqi and Sol had been vanquished. As for Sol himself, his wings had been folded down and forcibly fastened to a rock formation by the Hauntings’ signature viscous ink. His brilliant golden locks, plumes of flame that had been boiling the lake from underneath, finally settled into soft waves. Despite the tired, sunken shadows beneath his eyes, he beamed at his friend like nothing had happened.

“I take it you have questions,” Sol said, calm as ever.

“Oh, you don't know the half of it. Hold still!” Waqi struck Sol’s restraints with lightning, setting his wings free. Sol stumbled forward from the sudden unshackling, and Waqi moved to steady him. “Do you need a moment?”

Any sign of weakness faded as his eyes flashed with clear offense. “Who in the everloving skies do you think I am?” 

Waqi laughed. There he was. “I was only making sure. Come on!” 

They seized his arm, guiding him to the surface until his wings recovered enough to pull his own weight. Waqi made it to the surface first, taking in the taste of pure wind and then turning to help Sol onto solid ground. A clear night sky shone above them, decorated with stars, free of any fog. The smell of charred flesh and the odd black puddle on the bank were the only signs that Hauntings had even been there.

“Well done,” Sol said, finally allowing Waqi to unclench their muscles. He’d said the word, so the fight was over.

A short distance away, Dhanab stood over Taira, no doubt fussing endlessly over every minor scratch Taira had sustained during her scuffle with the shrimp Haunting. All the while, Taira stared at her, smiling like she’d won something beyond the fight, not making a single move to stop her. Waqi rolled their eyes fondly. Those two could accomplish untold feats exemplifying every Star ideal, and still act afterward more like illicitly close adolescent human girls.

Sol strode toward them. “I see I have you two to thank for this infestation’s defeat.”

Dhanab jumped to attention, rushing to adjust her scarf. “My king! It is… an immeasurable relief to see you again.”

He laughed good naturedly, extending a hand to help Taira to her feet. “Are you alright?”

She took it. “That shrimp was far sturdier than he looked.”

“You must forgive me for the confusion this must have caused,” Sol said, and Waqi made a considerable effort to not bite back in the presence of their friends. “As valiantly as you fought, I never like having to send you all into Haunting territory.”

Taira scoffed. “You didn’t need us, my king. We all saw how you boiled the lake. Waqi told us on the way you were probably destroying them already, and they were right!”

Sol turned to Waqi, an unspoken question in his eyes. Waqi met his eyes meaningfully. Later, they tried to tell him.

Dhanab cleared her throat. “There’s still the matter of… the early sunset,” she said, thankfully changing the subject. “The humans were very shaken up.”

“Ah,” Sol said, glaring at the sky with truly personal resentment. “An unfortunate side effect of my… divergence, after the assassination attempt.” He stood up straighter. “No matter. The irregularities will be smoothed over by next morning. And our North Star here can convey the desired story to the secret keepers.”

“What?” Waqi protested. “Please don’t make me talk to Tusi again! He’s insufferable!”

The other three laughed, because Waqi’s misfortune was the joke that united them all. Some friends, Waqi thought, though they couldn’t stop their smile. 

Taira stretched out her arms. They cracked painfully, sending out sparks, but she pretended not to notice. “Well, that’s taken care of. I should check Maragha’s parameter for any runaways.”

“Absolutely not,” Sol scolded. “Dhanab, get her straight home and make sure she doesn’t set a single wingbeat out until next sunrise. This is an order.”

Already at attention, Dhanab grabbed Taira’s hand and spread her wings. “Yes, my king! Let’s go, Waqi.”

“You two go ahead,” they said, mustering all the cheer they could. “I need to speak with the king.”

It was a common enough request that the two didn’t think twice about. Waqi watched as arm in arm, Dhanab and Taira took off into the sky, chattering between themselves about plans for the next day. 

Once they were sure the two were out of earshot, Waqi punched Sol in the face.

Sol, naturally, barely flinched. “And here I thought you’d be the bigger Star about this,” he said flatly.

Waqi swung another fist, overflowing with everything they’d been holding back. “The bigger Star? You—” They pointed an accusing, lightning infused finger, giving up all pretense of being the unbothered North Star. “—scared the absolute shit out of me, you know that?”

Sol sighed. “Of course. I realize it was not ideal, but—”

“I had to tell them you were fine.” Breathlessly, they laughed, because the absurdity didn’t let them react any other way. “I mean, even after the sunset, I’d seen the state of your home. And I had to look them in the eyes and tell them you weren’t in trouble. And all this time, the Hauntings actually overpowered you, imprisoned you in a fucking lake? They could’ve hurt you, or worse!” 

“They could have done no such thing,” Sol said, so emphatically that it actually gave Waqi pause. “I was in no danger. I knew you’d come.”

“Oh, please…”

Sol took their shoulders and stared them right in the eye. Quietly, with terrifying emphasis, he said, “I let them capture me.” 

Waqi froze, at a loss for words.

“I had no time to decide.” He spoke hurriedly, like he needed to make Waqi understand in the shortest time possible. “The assassins came, and all I could think was, are there others nearby, and will they hurt the other Stars if I don’t act? I allowed my home to be ransacked, and I allowed them the false sense of confidence to imprison me. And… the plan had been to do away with them all once they took me to their base, but…”

“The lake,” Waqi finished. “And the darkness, and the combined force of the flock. Just one of those three at a time you could’ve taken. Not all at once.”

“It did not end me, or even hurt much. It did worse, momentarily weakening me enough that I couldn’t fight back. I counted on you to finish it for me.” Finally taking a breath, he smiled. “And you did.”

Any trace of lingering anger Waqi might have harbored evaporated. They pulled Sol into an embrace, taking great pleasure in the fact that he, eternal king of Stars, melted into it instantly. “You know I always will,” they said, and they meant it. Sol was put on such a pedestal by other Stars, and Waqi knew how thin he was spread because of it. They were the one person he had to fall back on; this was the least they could do. “Still, for the love of the skies, never pull something like this again. Your grand kingly plans are going to be the death of me.”

“But you cannot die.”

“I’m also best friends with a king who believes the basic principles of reality are optional,” they joked, letting go of the hug. “It’s safer to not take anything for granted.”

“That sounds fair,” Sol conceded. “All of this aside, I will ask you… keep the reality of this day between us.”

Waqi nodded. As if they needed to be told. “I’m not your trusted North Star for nothing.” They beat their wings twice and rose, itching to take to a clear sky for the first time that day. “Get up here!” they called down to Sol. 

“To where?” he said with a laugh. “You know what became of my home.”

“Well, fortunately for you, I’m feeling daring today,” they said. “I think it’s about time I rebuild a cloud home, instead of crushing every one I touch.”

[steelthroat]

Very important question for you ab any OCS you have: do you have a top 3 + reasons for their ranking?

Oh hello hello and thanks for the ask

Loaded question, because I love my Ocs but also... I do have some favorites (don't tell them). I will do a couple of rankings because there is a difference between my tf ocs and my main stories' ocs

So:

Tf ocs:

Flange: (decepticon but it's not that deep) first one I made, hot design, nice personality

Recoil: (decepticon but it's complicated) she is cool, short little angry demon that likes competent people

Abode/Wheelpad: his alt mode is a car I really care about and he's very cute

Ocs from the rest of my universe

Argo: I am insane about him. Idk how it happened or why, but I am straight-up insane about that guy. He is also the strongest or the second most powerful oc I have... so yeah. Since his... multiversal nature he appears in most of my stories

Aro: his story needs some updates, but he's pretty much what ties 70% of my universe together, also appears in several stories, in some he's just a background character/legend but that guy is important. Also I like him so yeah. Go Aro go! Started from nothing and now you're more than a Deity, helle ye

[Name I have yet to choose]: she is one of my favorite characters ever. She doesn't have a name because I care too much about her, and until i find something that suits her, I can not do her any wrong. I recently revised her story, and she was really such an interesting one. She had such a cool arc that I should take that story back in my hands because I had some okay/good ideas hmmmm. Also, when she lost control of her powers and went batshit for a couple of times, it was cool. I'm sorry I made her an orphan around 3/4 of the story, she was one of the few ocs I had that had to "struggle" between what she had to do thanks to her powers and her loving family and friends. Taking that away from her was a dangerous move, but it was necessary for the entire plot. But the next arc with the new guy was too much fun, so in the end, I really have a few to none regrets.

Honorable mentions:

Fera: made as a dnd oc, plague doctor I love them very much, they need a hug.

The three fellas in a polycyle. They were cute, their story was wholesome and they were very nice with nice arcs. Not the greatest by any means, but I really liked them. They weren't even supposed to be in a polycyle. It just happened

[Redacted] my worst villain yet, I cannot say his name but he'sm he's something. Bastard but I gave him a cool design

[Forgot her name] I swear I have female characters with names, it's just been too many years for this one. Btw she's like the second/third most powerful oc i have ever made, cool as fuck narrative arc and cool wings so she will forgive me... also because I wasn't good at finding names whenni was 12. Whatever i gave ger was not good

Steve: a magical mathematician.

Arys: she is... I have thoughts about her but it's too much. I must finish her story. Fuuuuck.

That one pirate queen with cool ship that turned into a giant woman and a secret city for the resistance. She was cool, she should have bever been a side character. I will give her a story

[fangirleaconmigo]

I just finished Time of Contempt for the third time and I am deep deep deep in my Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon feelings again. Now that know what’s coming and I understand her arc, I’m catching a lot more.

TW: mentions of sexual assault

Ciri’s descent, which we see a hint of at the end this book, her “corruption arc” is the story of what war, and what the associated abandonment and abuse of children, does to a society. It is a visceral story about how (as the saying goes) A child who is not embraced by the village, will burn it down to feel its warmth.

Probably the worst interview of Sapko that my eyes have had the displeasure to read was a guy who asked him basically (paraphrased) how could Ciri’s mind be so “weak” that she falls into murder and crime after everything she learned from Geralt.

And like BUDDY DID YOU NOT READ THE STORY? Wow ok.

Sapko is like…because that is real, look around you.

“Well, I suppose here my fantasy becomes very real and lifelike. What happened to Ciri happened to hundreds of teenagers, in that number some I knew.”

There is a narrative.

And when kids are all by themselves and repeatedly traumatized and threatened, they will turn where they need to for safety. Their minds and the way they process empathy and emotions will change as a result of related abuse.

And to me, that arc is very believable. And it is part of her rite of passage of ultimately choosing good and coming fully into her power, choosing the love and example of her found family (primarily Geralt and Yen but also Kaer Morhen and Dandelion). In this terrible interview (seriously someone let me interview the man I could do better) he says:

And – last not least – that’s me, the author, who has invented Ciri and her fate, who has invented the whole storyline, and the storyline required of Ciri to become a teenage killer. It was a stage in her rite de passage, the rite of passage.

It is an arc. And for me a very believable (if extremely painful one) First there is the “before”.

The story is very clear who Ciri is before she is alone without the protection of Yen and Geralt.

Her character is already established by Time of Contempt but the narrative still goes through the trouble of showing her deny the offer of destructive power.

As a little girl, (in Blood of Elves) Ciri risks herself to save Triss’s life when she and Geralt’s caravan is attacked. She doesn’t wait for someone else to help, she shields Triss with her body. (That made me feel some kinda way in retrospect let me tell ya)

In the same scene we see how tender hearted she is towards the elves plight and how she resolves not to be neutral.

Blood of Elves and Time of Contempt both show how she is just a little kid who wants parents (running away to see Geralt, writing him letters from Meliteles temple begging him to come see her, identifying fiercely as a witcher girl of Kaer Morhen, idolizing Yen)

But at the end of Time of Contempt, Ciri still makes two dramatic, narrative establishing decisions, that show what kind of person she is.

First is the refusal of power. The refusal of revenge.

In the desert, she taps into prohibited power (fire power) to save Little Horse. It begins to consume her, offering her dominion over the world. It is personified by Falka and it shows Ciri vengeance. It shows her her enemies. It shows her the people who killed her grandma and sacked Cintra. It shows her the black knight.

Ciri and vengeance is already a theme. We know she feels urges towards vengeance for the people who slaughtered her family. The only bad fight she’s had with Geralt was about that. (She says she wanted vengeance and he overreacts and has to follow her and comfort her and apologize. The narrative doesn’t let us hear what he says, it’s through Triss’s eyes, but it is heart wrenching)

And now she is being offered vengeance by showing her what it really looks like. People suffering and dying. And it’s asking hey little girl you want this? Because I can give it to you.

This power also shows her her loved ones.

At this point in the story, Ciri is alone, lost in a desert, and feels abandoned. And any kid that feels abandoned blames her parents. It makes her a very believable kid character. Im alone? Where are my parents?? They’ve abandoned me?? At least that’s what she says.

But when the power offers her the opportunity to take the hurt she is feeling and hurt them back she is horrified.

She shouts out loud that she relinquishes it. She relinquishes all the power and collapses.

She makes an incredibly important decision to refuse destructive vengeful power.

The second thing that happens to establish her character at this point in the saga is she is being pursued by people who want to kill her and/or turn her into Nilfgaard. She is running and trying to escape. She is armed and gets a clear shot at a pursuer but again, sees a human face, and can’t do it. She shows mercy because her empathy will not allow her to see a persons face and kill them.

She is very lucky to survive that encounter.

She is a good, decent, human being.

But the story doesn’t leave us there. It gives us an ominous hint of the oncoming storm.

To get out of a life threatening situation, she joins a gang called The Rats. The Rats are a group of heavily traumatized war orphans who have been abandoned, raped, and abused and have banded together to not be alone. They’ve become murderers and no longer feel empathy for those they harm, but rather they take pleasure at killing others. She sees the look in their faces and identifies it as evil.

They adopt her. They protect her. Suddenly she is ‘safe’. Suddenly she is with others like her (war orphans with heavy trauma). Suddenly she is no longer alone. She is being offered a new identity (her old identity will get her killed at this point) She is them.

They also sexually assault her. (Cycle of abuse. I had to fast forward those parts. I’m listening to the audio and I can’t do that again)

But by the end Ciri has a new family. It’s the only option to her for survival. She finally manages to kill someone and takes the name Falka.

And as the return reader, you already know just how horrific it’s gonna get before it gets better. The feelings of doom. Ooof.

There is so much coming and if you’ve already read it, the dread is real.

It takes worse torture and assault than you can possibly imagine for Ciri to become the “teenaged killer” the narrative demands.

Because above all Ciri is like Yen. She is a survivor. She is angry. She has impulses for vengeance when she is harmed. All of these things are normal and human and can be given healthy outlets in normal situations. But this is not a normal situation.

So yeah I love her so much and the feelings of doom I have going into the next book are hanging over me. Of course it makes the bloody vengeance at the end that much more satisfying. But yeah.

And just to be clear I don’t judge her at all for anything she does during this “corruption” arc. I just don’t. She is surviving and no one can make me hate her ever. I’m an irrational person when it comes to her. And the her growth, her arc is one of the most satisfying I’ve ever read.

Most of us may not be war orphans being pursued by half the world. But the parallels to being an unprotected teenaged girl in a world that wants to exploit you, chew you up, and spit you out, is something those of us who came from abusive homes can understand. It is ultimately very validating and inspiring.

So I’ll be skipping the worst parts on audio. Some of them I just can’t do again. But I’m still obsessed with this story and I love my girl.

Ok thanks for reading my Ciri feels.

[stackslip]

augh yeah as much as i do love the parts of COS that are very obviously trying to do something competent and genuine, the amestris parts are just so ????

ill be honest, im pretty sure i blocked those scenes out, so remembering that what happened on the amestris side is. yikes

definitely wish the movie was more focused and didnt try to add as much as it did. especially roy -- i dont mind the beginning, hell i think him exiling himself to the north is a good concept, but the fact that he takes back his position (iirc) is just. so are we throwing away the character development and him realizing that he CANT change the military from the inside or what.

in general i honestly wanted to see less of the military cast. they frankly dont have much reason to be there other than the fact people wanted to see them (esp armstrong... just. WHY). im sure there are still ways to work in roy if the creators really wanted him to be there but like. idk! they sure didnt have to do it like that! we couldve spent more time on exploring noah as a character. or let izumi die on screen. sigh

been a while since i rewatched COS but thanks for pointing out all the weird stuff, i'd almost forgotten it and i honestly shouldn't.

(and of course i have to say i love your posts on the series proper. i will never be normal about scar. ever)

the second i saw roy in there i was like why is roy still in the military at all. wasn't his whole arc about realizing that he can't do shit within the military because it is an institution built on atrocities and exploitation? why is he still in it then. why is he talking about serving his country. why's he talking about waiting for ED that makes no fucking SENSE. (why is he alive. someone said they thought roy was supposed to die by the end of 03 but they kept him alive bc he's a fan fave and i wholly believe this frankly). why is the country's military still seemingly intact with a whole surveillance network, when 03 ended on the military being severely crippled and amestris's neighbours getting ready to invade it and bring it to its knees? why are we literally seeing *the fucking weimar republic* in cos only for amestris to not parallel it in any way and instead be the brotherhood-type funland where once you've taken out the mean führer, everything is fine and there's nothing to fix?

and like. this is a short movie right! i know that they were denied a season, maybe even a season and a half to finish off the show and that some elements of cos were meant to be in the og show's ending. and it shows! bc again munich is fucking reasonably competent considering how much is crammed in on hour thirty. and i know that cos's production was also rushed as hell and that as an Anime Movie they were contractually obligated to 1) put as many recurring fan faves in as possible 2) have at least a third of the movie be a big action scene. so like. i can understand the limits. you have no time, you're told you have to put all this shit in, you want to finish off the brothers' story at the very least. but my gd! you're telling me you had an izumi death scene and it doesn't happen??? you could cut roy out ENTIRELY from this. you could not put ARMSTRONG IN LIORE. you could..... i know they had no time at all, i know once again it was 03 being shafted by production committees and time and budget but it's legit insane how the very stupid and seemingly innocuous choice of having armstrong "rebuild" liore comedically completely slapped me out of whatever headspace cos had managed to slip me in before. i was enjoying it a lot until we got to amestris. and this armstrong thing, followed by rose's line here:

it's just. it's almost comedic. i'm almost wondering if the writer is fucking with me here and acknowledging just how stupid it is to put armstrong doing alchemy in liore is. probably not but gd this is bad. this is brotherhood levels of obliviousness to the themes.

anyhow i'm not finishing cos tonight bc i'm too pissed about it lol. it's funny bc for years i was told it was bad but for the opposite reasons that it's actually bad. like folks kept saying the munich parts were bad/stupid/wrong and made no sense when to me they're by far the most thematically coherent and interesting/emotional bits of it. i LOVE the relationship between noah and ed. and like, i know the bar is is in hell when it comes to depicting roma on screen, but i can't help but appreciate the little and big ways both noah and her people get humanized, how they feel like the most real and concrete part of this world ed insists is a dream or hell. but really, genuinely noah is so good, alfons's weird crush on ed is hysterical, the general atmosphere and research around 1923 munich seems genuinely thoughtful (and it also tells me that the writers had been thinking about this long, long before even 03 ended). i genuinely believe that making munich! hugues a nazi sympathizer and a racist is a really inspired and brave choice that makes the audience reflects THEIR hugues and how the amestrian military behaved. so anyhow these parts are good, genuinely. it's sad that that's the first third and then you get thrown into this mess, and there's still a whole stupid nazi battle to come. it's stupid. it's stupid especially bc there's a genuine part of the movie that IS smart and thoughtful. it'd be so much easier if all of it were bad, or if the difference between the writing in each part weren't so obvious. anyhow. i wanna finish cos bc i wanna see wrath's arc end and envy eating hoheinheim and ed/al reunion and more of noah. but also i think i'm gonna be writing off large chunks of it lol.

(also thank you very much, i'm trying to preach 03 to whoever i can whenever i can. appreciate the love)

[spectrechosts]

Vandalize My Heart - Chapter 10

Paperwork is sorted, a church is defiled, and a new succubus is born from the tattered soul of a nun.

This is the final chapter of this arc of the story. Did you know you can buy this story as an ePub on my itch? You can! I also need to remake this ePub because of edits i made while reuploading. This entire process is a pain in the ass, if anyone cares.

Full Series

Lilith was bored, which wasn't a feeling that the Queen of Lust typically had to deal with. To be bored implied that she couldn't indulge in any whim that crossed her mind, that she didn't have a singular vice and an entire kingdom dedicated to fulfilling it.

She wasn't used to having something she wanted to do but couldn't, and here she was, with a soul that was rightfully hers, not eating it.

Her own fault, really.

Grace had had an… atypical descent, to be sure. She didn't usually hook people with third base and tender acceptance. There was supposed to be more…

Well, sinning.

And the thing about becoming a demon was that the sin was important. You needed a solid basis upon which to build the new demonic self. So while several of her concubines worked on that, she did paperwork.

Boring, endless paperwork.

Most succubus contracts were both informal and immediately enforced, she hardly needed to put her stamp of approval on every "I'll give you six months off my life to turn into this girl from work who's totally into me, if she had the proportions and enthusiasm about anal of my favourite porn star".

But there were things that required actual contracts. Arrangements for mortals who wanted to pay upfront to summon the same succubus whenever they liked without having to negotiate every time, for mortals who wanted the girlfriend experience instead of one night stands, for any number of things that required an agreement be adhered to the moment either party was out of sight.

And those she had to look over and approve, because love them as she did, some of her girls were not good negotiators. She could just forward them all to Lucy and let her reject what she wanted, but despite circles like greed and pride being full of idiots the front-facing nature of succubi and mortal attitudes towards openly sexual women meant that her circle had a reputation of being ditzy that she would rather not give credence to in the boss's mind.

She made a mental note to gently remind Azaerixia that no, the souls of three puppies were not equivalent in value to a human soul, and even if they were mortals can't offer souls that aren't theirs, and even if they could they'd never be able to collect on account of all dogs going to Heaven.

The paperwork wasn't that bad, in all honesty. But she could feel Grace's soul, her soul. The radiant beauty of it, just taunting her, making her mouth water. She wanted to devour it, feel that light sputter and die inside her.

She sighed and rubbed her temples. December, she would finish all the contracts through to the end of December, clear out the year, and then have Grace's soul as a treat. It would be easier to focus with a clear endpoint in sight.

But she was at what, September now? And she had started at June, that was good progress, maybe that called for a reward too. She would call someone in to kneel under her desk while she worked, that would make the remaining days of filing more fun.

~

Lilith leaned back in her chair and sighed, finally through with all the contracts from the past year. She snapped her fingers and the two piles she had sorted them into dissipated into smoke, one sent off to Lucy to enforce them, the other distributed back to those who had made the contracts with a note to come see her.

Later.

Right now, she just groaned and squeezed her thighs around Tinixi's head as she shot another load down her throat. Grabbing a desk pet had been a great idea, really helped her hunker down and get the work done. It had only taken her what, a week? Eight days? The time just flew by.

She dug her hand into Tinixi's hair and pulled her off her shaft with a wet pop. The lesser succubus gasped and huffed as she lifted her into her arms, stroking her hair and back lovingly. Succubi didn't need air, strictly speaking, but they did tend to get a little woozy after breathing nothing but cock for a few days.

"Mistress, you, haah-" She panted, between giggling and gulping down lungfuls of air. "You, you really, hehehah, you take my breath away Mistress!"

Lilith snorted, amused. "You're such a romantic, Tini." She said.

"Well, I had a, had a long time to think about that one." Tinixi said. "Are you done with the contracts?"

"Yes, dearest."

"So it's time to turn the mortal, right?"

"Mmm, not yet." Lilith hummed. "Right now it's time to cuddle with Tini. You were such a good girl for Mistress."

Tinixi made a whimpering noise of delight.

"B-But, you've been looking forward to her-" She protested.

"I have."

"And, and now you can-"

"I will, later."

"But-"

"How many concubines do I have in my palace, Tinixi?" Lilith asked, coiling her tail around her.

"Um, four hundred and eighty-three, counting me."

"And have I ever left you without cuddles when you needed them?"

"N-No Mistress! Never!"

"So do you think one more would change that?"

"No Mistress, of course not. I-I love you Mistress." Tinixi said, as she relaxed into the embrace.

"I love you too, Tinixi. I'll always have time for you, my good girl."

Tinixi trembled and pressed her head into Lilith's hand. "I'm a good girlllll…" She moaned softly, as Lilith lavished headpats and praise upon her.

~

Lilith felt her way through the veil between two worlds. She had no summoning circle, but there had been one in the same spot several times, if she could just-

There.

Space peeled away before her eyes, opening a rift to Grace's old room. She stepped through into the cool air of the mortal realm's winter once again, letting the portal-

"Oh God, oh God you're real, Grace really was taken by demons-"

Oh. The room was newly occupied. That made sense, she supposed, it had been some time. The new nun clutched her rosary and prayed, desperate for divine protection.

How annoying.

"Sleep." She ordered, her words laced with infernal power, and the nun slumped over.

Anyway, Grace's room. Not altogether important to her goal, but why not leave evidence that yes, the demon Grace summoned was real, real and angry. She raked her claws across the new nun's bed, leaving deep slashes. Pressed her hand against the wall she had climbed out of and let a charred circle grow from her touch. She stood before the door of the room and thought for a moment, then blasted it down with her magic.

She didn't care much for petty vandalism, but hoped they would get the idea. Scary demon attack, ooh. The noise had probably woken someone up, so she flicked her wrist and sealed all the dormitory doors. She made her way to the church proper, chuckling about how Grace had once thought she could keep this place safe from her.

But she couldn't desecrate hallowed ground by herself, where would the fun be in that? She reached back into the weave, so much easier to work with from this end, and plucked Grace out of her preparatory orgy and into her arms.

"Hello darling." She said, cradling her naked body tenderly. "Tonight, I destroy your mortal life and create you anew in my image. I hope you're as excited as I am."

Grace blinked, and a delicious blush crept up her face as she got her bearings. "I- Wait, why are we-?" She looked around. "We're back at the convent?"

"Yes."

"…Why are we back at the convent? If you're checking again that I'm sure, I am. And even if I wasn't, I… I wouldn't come back here." She said, a hint of sadness creeping into her voice.

"Oh no, nothing like that." Lilith said, as she led Grace down the aisle hand in hand. They stopped before the altar, and she dipped her finger into a basin of holy water. It sputtered and steamed as she stirred it, burning her demonic flesh.

"I hate this place, Grace. I hate it so much." She said, flatly. "I can't help hating it, of course. I'm a demon, it's a church, the very air in here is just… wrong. But I feel that way about all holy sites. This one though-" She paused, turning to face Grace before she continued. "Living in this convent made you so unhappy, Grace. So we're going to destroy it. Together."

Grace snort-laughed, and Lilith raised her eyebrow, frowning. Had she misjudged her?

"No- I- I appreciate it, I do, I just-" She gestured around them. "I don't really know how much I could help with destroying a building."

Lilith rolled her eyes. "Not the building, little lamb. Although if you wouldn't mind knocking over that other basin of holy water, I'm sure that's a sin. Can never be too prepared for your rebirth." Grace did so, and as it clattered to the floor Lilith continued. "We're going to desecrate this church. All prayers made here will go unheard, all worship unseen, your tyrant god ousted from these grounds."

"You can do that?" Grace asked.

"Sure, take a look."

The holy water Lilith was stirring with her finger had slowly stopped boiling at her touch, and was now still.

"You can't tell the difference, being mortal, but this water is holy no longer."

"Okay? I can't do that either."

"Oh, but you can! It takes so much power to make the hallowed profane, Grace. Just that water was no small feat, even I would find an entire church taxing, alone. But you…" She said, taking Grace's hands and looking deep into her eyes. "A soul is a powerful thing, Grace. If I turn you into a demon here, we can stain the land so deeply your god can't stand to look upon it."

Grace didn't say anything, her heart pounding under Lilith's intensity as they stared into each other's eyes. Lilith cleared her throat and backed off.

"I'm… getting ahead of myself. Apologies, it's rather rare that I get to do this, these days. Most who summon me want bigger things, and most who wish to summon a succubus for pleasure want a less frighteningly powerful one." She said.

"Well, I'm happy I got you. Hooray for badly labeled summoning texts?"

"Yes, hooray." Lilith said, smiling. "I'm happy you got me too. Shall we?"

"Yeah! Yeah, um, so do we- Do you, uh…" Grace trailed off, eager but nervous. "So do you take my soul out first or are we going to start with, you know..?"

"Start with what?" Lilith asked, tilting her head to one side.

"I, you know, you're turning me into a succubus I assume it involves some degree of, of-"

"Nope, just removing the soul should do it. Very straightforward process." She said. "Unless there was something you wanted to do, while we're at it."

"You know! You know and you just want me to say it because you want me to prove I can be a succubus." Grace whined.

"No, the whole innocent virgin thing plays great, you won't have any problems. I want you to say it because I think it's funny to watch you squirm."

"I think we should fuck in this church if you want to."

Lilith couldn't help but laugh, she so loved it when a plan came to fruition. "Oh, oh my dearest little lamb, I've wanted to since the moment I first laid eyes on you." She said, gently pushing Grace backward until she bumped up against the altar and could retreat no further.

No more seduction, no more waiting, Lilith's prize was finally ripe. A nun, a fucking nun, and she was eager not only to join her but to ruin her whole flock in the process. She had once feared her so intensely, and now she loved her.

Grace wanted her, more than all the wonders of heaven. And that want, that was everything, it was all that mattered. Desire that drowned out everything else, that made mortals swear their souls to her.

Lust, in its most intense form, all for her.

It was enough to make her lose control of her own desires.

She shoved Grace onto the altar, the mortal so easy to just pounce on, already naked and on her back, but not perfect she could be even better-

Smoke condensed into fabric over the nun's skin, forming her habit.

"Uhh-?" Grace started to question, surely wondering why clothes were being put on her. Lilith never even considered answering with words, simply hooking her claws into the neck of the garment and rending it, exposing the nun to her hungry eyes.

Drool dripped from her long tongue onto Grace's pussy. She needed to fuck her, she needed to tear her soul to pieces, she could hardly think through the thick fog of lust over her mind. She hiked one of the nun's legs up and flopped her cock onto her abdomen, letting her eyes widen as she saw how big it was compared to her, the twitching length reaching past her bellybutton.

Did she want to shapeshift it into something more interesting for their first time? No, no, best to start normal and then work up to the more exotic cocks, that way she could really appreciate the distinctions. Her human body probably couldn't handle a knotted horsecock anyway, unless maybe- No, no, start normal. This was for Grace as much as it was for her, she shouldn't go too overboard. Maybe after the transformation.

For now she just lined the tip of her cock up with Grace's slit and shoved it in, making the mortal cry out as she buried almost the entire length inside her in a single thrust. She was still drooling, breath steaming as the profane fire inside her went wild. Grace was babbling something but she couldn't understand it, all she could focus on was the desire rolling off her in waves and the light of her soul.

She rutted into her like a mindless beast, instinct consuming her entirely. Before she was a queen, she was a monster, a primordial incarnation of sin. Why care about appearances? The nun was tight around her cock, mewling and squealing like a pathetic thing. That was what mattered. She stomped a clawed foot onto the altar, pushing Grace's legs up further so she could get better leverage, really start pounding her.

She growled as she indulged in the pleasures of the flesh. The nun clenching around her cock as her cries grew in intensity, feeling her heavy sack slap against her ass with every powerful thrust, all so deliciously sublime.

She kissed her, a brutal union of lips and fangs. She could taste the fresh blood smearing across her tongue as she forced it down Grace's throat, facefucking her with the prehensile length.

The nun was so delicious, gagging on her tongue and gripping her cock tightly. She was intoxicating, she drove Lilith crazy with want. Her cock throbbed desperately, the aching need in her loins growing harder and harder to ignore as she leaked a river of precum into Grace's needy cunt.

But it wasn't enough. She could be so much better, freed from her mortal flesh. She could be truly suited to Lilith's desires, a being of pure lust just like her. Her soul was impossible to ignore now, it sang to her. Filled her vision with its blinding radiance, her nostrils with its delectable scent, she needed to taste it.

She couldn't resist any longer.

Grace spasmed underneath her, tightening and gushing wetness as she squealed and came, and Lilith hardly noticed the surge of lustful energy as she extracted her long tongue from her mouth. She just had to sink her talons into that beautiful mortal flesh, and-

Grace howled as she reached into her core, tearing out something that human eyes couldn't see. Lilith was practically hypnotized, the soul looked so beautiful in her bloodstained claws. She opened her terrible maw and devoured it in a single bite, feeling it tingle as it slid down her throat. The taste was indescribable, the most delicious ambrosia, and it filled her to bursting with pleasure and power as she consumed it. She held her hips down and roared as she flooded the mortal's womb with her unholy seed, pumping thick ropes of cum into her until it overflowed and dripped down her ass, coating the demoness' balls as they continued to churn out more and more.

She grunted with satisfaction, regaining some of her composure now that she no longer had such temptations clouding her judgement. She watched as Grace shuddered, wide eyed and pale, her body grieving the loss of her soul. She slowly pulled out of her, panting and drenched with sweat as her powerful orgasm tapered out with a few final shots across Grace's stomach and tits. She hoped she hadn't been too rough with the mortal, but she couldn't very well ask if she was okay right then. She had to get to work.

Grace's soul was gone, and it left a void that needed to be filled. Lilith touched that void, and the mortal's sins oozed into it, writhing and congealing into a vile black mass. Grace sucked in a sudden breath, and almost fell off the altar as she wrenched herself off her back.

Lilith had watched this play out time and time again, and it never got any less mesmerizing. She spirited away the habit she had made for her, making way for the bulging lumps forming below her shoulders. Grace whined, her face twisted with painful strain.

"Shh, I've got you dearest." Lilith cooed as she guided Grace into her arms, careful not to touch her back. It was a painful process, to have the core of your very being replaced and have the new one violently assert itself. Lilith could help the process along though, guide it a little. Succubi were so malleable after all, natural shapeshifters as they were.

She rubbed her thumbs across her forehead, feeling for the telltale bumps of newly budding horns. When she found them, she slit the taut skin holding them back with her claws, and Grace let out a relieved breath as some of the pressure inside her was released. Lilith gently touched the bloody horns, urging them to grow, coaxing fresh bone from her skull and ridged keratin from that bone. She watched them sprout and take shape, breath catching in her throat as they curved into sideways spirals.

Sheep's horns. Because she was her little lamb.

Fuck she loved her so much. What a great addition to her palace she would make.

Ah, but she was still hurting, not the time to get sentimental. What next, the tail? She could see it trying to break free, if she just-

She pricked the skin and the tail burst forth, foot after foot of skin slimy with viscera shooting out and coiling tightly around Lilith's arm, capped with a spaded tip. The spade was a vibrant blueish-purple, and the gorgeous hue spread slowly over the tail before radiating out across her entire body. With the unnatural color came softness, the removal of blemishes and imperfections. Even the gash where Lilith had torn into her and ripped her soul out healed right over without a trace, her new skin flawless and silky smooth.

The only real painful part left was the wings, and she didn't want to rush something so delicate. "You're okay dearest, just a little more now." She reassured her, as the new succubus clung to her and dug newly sharpened nails into the skin of her back. Her tail continued to do similarly, constricting around her arm as tightly as it could. She could feel her pushing, her back arching and bulging as her breath came in sharp huffs.

"That's it, just like that…"

The new demon shrieked, squeezing Lilith even tighter as wings erupted from her back, tearing through the skin with enough force to fling gore onto the wall behind her. She let out a long, shuddering breath as relief swept over her, the worst of the transformation complete. Her grip loosened, and Lilith stroked her hair and watched as her tail struggled to uncoil so it could wag freely, dragging her arm gently side to side as it jerked and bunched up, uncoordinated.

"Good girl, you did so well."

~

She felt so tired as she stirred, like she had been worked to the bone, and she couldn't quite remember why.

"Dearest, did you sleep well?"

She perked up, recognizing that voice even though her head felt fuzzy.

"I did, Lili-"

No, wait, Lilith wanted- she herself wanted to call her-

"-Mistress."

She could feel Mistress was happy to be called that, and that made her so happy too. It was like a warm embrace layered over her mind, guiding her to fulfill Mistress' desires.

"Do you remember who you are, darling?"

Well that was a silly question. She had just taken a nap she wasn't that out of it. She was obviously-

"Grezayla, Mistress. Did you forget?"

"Never, my precious little lamb." Mistress said, tracing a finger over her horns. "I just wanted to make sure you're okay. Do you like your new body?"

New body? Right, new body. Huh.

"I feel… normal?"

She looked at her hands, purple skin capped with pointed black nails. She knew they weren't always like that, but they really did feel normal. Like this was how they should have looked all along.

"Do you have a mirror?" She asked, and Mistress conjured one out of smoke.

"Wow…" She said, looking herself over. She got up out of Mistress' arms and suddenly she couldn't feel the cozy hug of her desires anymore. She took her hand and felt the connection reform.

"It's nice, isn't it? You don't have to cling to me, just close your eyes and focus, you should be able to feel me there."

Grezayla let go of her hand reluctantly and closed her eyes. She could feel… something. It was confusing, if she tried to feel out further away she could make out the nuns in the dormitories, tiny lights glittering in the void, but up close everything was completely drowned out, overwhelmed by-

"Mistress, are you making that big light?" She asked, awed.

"Oh, is it-? Usually I can keep it mostly under wraps, I guess it's still a little out of control from earlier."

"A little?"

"Grezayla my darling, if you tried to sense the full depth of my lusts your mind would shatter. I assure you, this is a slight flare-up." She took a deep breath, and her aura shrank to merely a bonfire next to all the nearby mortal's candles, as opposed to a blinding stadium light. Grezayla reached out to it in her mind, and she felt the warmth of Mistress' presence again. Not quite the same as touching her, but comforting, and even when she opened her eyes it was still there.

"I can give you a new mark, if you want to always be able to feel me."

"I think I would like that a lot." She said dreamily. How could she not? Mistress felt so warm and loving and safe, of course she wanted to always feel that.

What was she doing, before she- right! Mirror, new body!

She had wings! And a tail! She hadn't really thought about it, but she could feel them behind her. She tried to… she didn't even really know. Flutter them? Her wings opened out and just kind of twitched, before one of them closed again and the other stayed open.

"Uh…"

"You'll get better at it. Honestly it's hardest when you're actively thinking about doing something."

Well, she didn't need to fly right now, she had lived her whole life not flying. What about…

"Oh! Can I do the tongue thing?"

"Sure."

The new succubus stuck her tongue out, and out, and out, until it drooped down almost to her knees.

"Whuh? Das too mush."

Mistress snickered as she tried to control it all, collecting it in her hands to keep it from touching the floor as it kept extending.

"Mistess hewl! Is nuh thunny!!!"

Mistress snapped her fingers, and her tongue was the right size again. She shook with silent laughter, tears forming at the sides of her eyes.

"Darling maybe, maybe just don't try to do anything new right now."

"Yeah. Yeah that's probably a good idea."

"So..?" Mistress asked. "Your new look?"

"It's good!" Grezayla chirped. "I mean, it's less different then I expected? It's kinda just me but purple and with demon stuff."

"Is it now?"

"…Yes?"

Mistress crept up behind her and suddenly grabbed her breasts. "So these were this big before, is that right?"

Grezayla blushed, which was kinda weird to watch herself do now because it just made her face less blue and more purple. "It, you know, maybe some little changes."

"Up two cup sizes, one inch shorter, four and a half inches added to the hips-"

"Okay well y'know it was a subconscious thing I didn't really do measurements it just felt right-"

"I know dearest, I'm teasing. It's your body to shape, nobody is judging you for making yourself curvier. It's an exceedingly normal thing for a new succubus to do."

"It is?" The new demon asked meekly.

"Little lamb, your form is positively restrained. You're within mortal limits. Some girls come out of the process with twenty pounds of tit, you're fine."

"Do you think everyone will like it?"

"I think they'll love it."

~

"Does it usually take this long?"

"Yes, precious. Relax."

Grezayla twiddled her thumbs, still not having been summoned by anyone months after her rebirth.

"But-"

"My dear little lamb…" Mistress cooed, hugging her. "These things take time. I've given your circle to my agents in the mortal world, you just have to wait."

Grezayla whined, more for attention than anything. It was… fine. Being a succubus was wonderful, she had so many girlfriends now, every day was bliss.

But she had this itch. She wasn't starving per se, succubi apparently didn't actually need to feed to live, but she really fucking wanted to. To show a mortal the pleasures she had been shown, to feed on their lust, their life, their soul.

"Can't we just like, put it on the internet?"

"Trust me, you don't want to put your circle on the internet right away. You're either going to get nothing but huge weirdos or draw way more attention than you can handle right now." Said Mistress. "My covens will find you someone good to start with, don't you worry your pretty little head over it."

"Uuuggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…" Grezayla groaned exaggeratedly, and Mistress rolled her eyes.

"Do you need me to distract you, darling?" She asked, tracing a claw up her side.

"Yesssss!"

Mistress purred as she pushed her onto her back and-

"Wait." She said, tilting her head.

"But Mistresssssss-" Grezayla whined, squirming.

"Someone is summoning me."

"UGHHH-"

"I'm not flaunting it at you, Grezayla, you can come with me. It's someone new, it'll help to have some eyecandy hanging off me."

She pulled her through the hole in reality without even shifting their positions, the two of them appearing in the summoning circle with her still on her back as Mistress spread her legs and ripped her panties off. She squirmed and giggled, excited to see Mistress put on a show.

"What pitiful mortal dares to summon-"

"Grace?"

Grezayla blinked and tilted her head to get a better look at the summoner. She didn't recognize the dingy apartment they found themselves in, but the summoner, she was in casual clothes but that was definitely-

"Sister Isabela?"

Mistress' eyes glinted as she switched gears. She yanked Grezayla up from the ground and wrapped one hand around her throat, gently dragging a talon down the side of her face.

"Do you like what I've done with her, Sister?"

"Oh man, oh man." Isabela repeated, covering her face with tented hands. "I mean I knew you disappeared and then all that stuff happened and like, I copied down the circle when I cleaned your room but-" She swallowed. "It didn't feel real real. But it is, and you're-"

"-Mine, is what she is. If you're done gawking I can show you just how real it is."

Isabela looked from Grezayla to Mistress and back again.

"Grace are you doing okay? I was so worried!" She said, and Mistress huffed.

"She's great, Sister." She rumbled, laying it on thick. "She's perfect, remade by my hands for an eternity of decadent sin after I devoured her soul."

"Grace?" Isabela whispered. "Who is this lady?"

"I am Lilith, Queen of Lust, the very demon that destroyed your temple-"

"She's just trying to scare you because she knows I didn't like being a nun." Grezayla said, regaining her voice as the shock wore off. "It's fine, Mistress. I'm okay, Isabela is nice."

Mistress shrugged and released her grip on Grezayla's throat, relaxed into a more comfortable position with one arm still wrapped around her possessively.

"Fine. Make your bargain, but know that I'm not giving her back." She grumbled, playing with Grezayla's hair idly.

"Bargain?" Isabela asked. "I- I just wanted to know what happened! Grace, you-"

"Grezayla, actually." Mistress corrected her.

"Okay, um, Grezayla, you were just gone out of nowhere, we didn't know if you got kidnapped or killed or, or, dragged down to, um-"

"You're allowed to say Hell, nun. Your side invented it." Mistress said, yawning. "I'm not hearing a bargain."

"I'm trying not to be fucking rude!" Isabela protested. "And I don't have a bargain! I didn't know I needed one!"

"We could make out if you want?" Grezayla said, and the two of them stopped bickering.

"What." Isabela asked, stunned.

"We don't have to, I just- It felt like maybe you wanted to? And I had such a crush on you back at the convent."

Isabela turned red, and Mistress chuckled and rolled her eyes.

"Well, I think I can leave this in your hands. I'm going home, you have fun on your first call, and Isabela? Don't summon me again."

With that, she disappeared, leaving the two alone.

"Is, is she always-?"

"No! No, she's really nice, she just- She doesn't want me to get hurt again, is all." Grezayla explained. "I was going through a lot back at the convent."

"A lot, as in… having a crush on me?" Isabela asked cautiously.

"Yeah! Yeah I didn't feel great about that, at the time."

She swallowed hard.

"And so now, you want to-?"

"Make out! Or more, if you want. You just make a bargain with me and we can do whatever."

"And on my end, I offer..?"

"I would, um. I would like to feed on you. Take maybe… a couple weeks off your natural lifespan? If that sounds good."

Isabela inhaled deeply through her nose as she chewed on her nail.

"A couple weeks and we can just-? F-For how long?"

"All night! Day? Your apartment doesn't have windows."

She sighed, releasing her tension with that breath. "Yeah. Yeah this place fucking sucks. Deal, definitely, can- can I like call you? Directly? Because I'm going to want to do this again."

"Really?" Grezayla asked, her breath hitching with excitement. "Do- Do you want my summoning circle?"

"Oh yeah, for sure." Isabela answered, taking her shirt off.

"W-Wow." Grezayla said, mesmerized.

Being a succubus really was giving her everything she wanted.

[dalekofchaos]

My alternate Ghostfaces

Did a post like this before, but thought I'd go more in depth.

Scream 1. I would never trade Billy and Stu for the world, but I do have some scenarios.

Randy and Tatum.

Randy Meeks' motive: He's obsessed with horror movies and was in love with but Sidney wasn't in him. He wanted to make Sidney suffer and get revenge. Also he was planning to blame Billy and Stu.

Tatum Riley's motive:She just wants to kill her cheating boyfriend and all the girls he slept with and to her NO ONE is good enough for Sidney. She doesn't want to kill Sidney, she wants her all to herself. aka Yandere Tatum.

Scream 2.

Nancy is the mastermind. Murphy and Lois the sorority sisters are the people who get their hands dirty. They were OBSESSED with Sidney in all their scenes and they did nothing with them. Their motives would be wanting the famous Sidney Prescott in their Sorority House and for her to die in their Sorority House.

Scream 3.

Dewey as the mastermind or Milton as the mastermind and Roman and Angelina as the killers.

The old Dewey was Ghostface fan theory.

Obviously this never happened and Roman was the third Ghostface and the mastermind. But imagine if this did happen.

So let's create a motive.

Dewey was unhealthily obsessed with Sidney. He was the third killer during Billy and Stu's murders. He tied up loose ends and stalked Sidney. He was tired of being the town laughingstock and tired of being the butt of Tatum's jokes. So he convinced Billy and Stu to help him. They'd become infamous, while Dewey would be seen as the hero and get the girl he always wanted, but that never happened. If he can't have SIdney, no one can. Jennifer was someone that Gale fucked over to get the Woodsboro gig. It was supposed to be hers. Gale took everything from her and she wanted revenge. So Dewey and Jennifer come together and enact their plan.

So here's my little pitch for the Milton story,

Milton is the mastermind. He essentially wants to tie up loose ends. If the story of Maureen gets out, his studio and the Stab franchise is finished. So Milton decides to use his son Roman and his new actress for Sidney to kill all ties to Maureen Prescott, finally ending with Sidney's death. Roman's motive remains the same and Angelina's motive is her cut motive was her being obsessed with Sidney, taking the role of Sidney and wanting to become Sidney.

So I thought of giving Roman a redemption arc. Milton keeping Roman in the dark about how he raped Maureen and when Sidney tells him, Roman is conflicted. Sidney kills Angelina and then Milton has Sidney where he wants her and remarks. That this is like when he took her mother and before anything gross can happen, Roman shoots him dead.

Roman turns himself in and down the line Roman would be the key to helping them in future Ghostface cases while also having Sidney and Roman grow closer as real siblings, almost akin to what Sam and Tara are. Speaking of. Roman could've been what Sam and Tara needed. He knows what they're going through, that inner darkness and especially being related to a monster. He could've also helped resolve any issues between the sisters.

Scream 4.

Jill and Rebecca Walters.

Jill's motive remains the same.

Rebecca’s motivation would be she wants a juicer and more willing victim star to sell out and make significantly more bank while possibly cashing in herself with her story of being “close” to Sidney and the heart break of losing her.

To Jill Rebecca is the mother she never had and the perfect agent any star could ever have. To Rebecca, Jill is the daughter she always wanted and someone who could easily replace Sidney.

Imagine this. She brings Sidney back to Woodsboro. She’s a shady publicist and her motive is to make a profit off of Sidney’s death and make Jill into the perfect victim that will make them both famous.

Now we could have Charlie or even Trevor as killers just to give us 4 killers since Scream 4 lol Jill strings them along, Charlie is obsessed with Jill while Trevor is doing this to be forgiven for cheating. Charlie and Trevor kills the teens while Rebecca kills the heavy adults. In the end Rebecca and Jill kills them and frames them as the killers. Jill would do her self-injury while Rebecca would rush out the door as the screaming witness telling everyone what happened.

Jill doesn’t kill Rebecca. When Jill learns that Sidney survived. Rebecca insists that she lets her handle this.

Much of the same happens but with Rebecca in the Jill in the hospital role. When Sidney hits her with the MRI Sidney says “Rebecca, you’re fired”

The final scene would be for Sidney, Gale and Dewey coming for Jill. Only to see that the bed is empty. Jill is on the run with a promise that she could return to hunt Sidney.

Scream 5. Three scenarios. Either Vince Schneider and Amber, Judy & Wes Hicks or Tara and Amber

Vince and Amber.

Vince's Motive. Embracing his uncle’s legacy and attempting to turn Sam into his partner for her to embrace her father’s legacy. This time, the Macher is the mastermind and groomed Amber to be his partner like Richie did. Amber's motive remains the same.

Making Vince the mastermind could have added an extra layer onto the lambasting of toxic fandom.

Like, Amber could still have 100% been the toxic fan, but you could add on a commentary about how her being as entitled and angry as she was about the Stab movies not doing exactly what she wanted was what allowed Vince to take advantage and groom her into doing what he wanted.

Which is what Richie did too, but adding in a little twist that Vince didn’t actually give a fuck about the Stab movies would have been a nice bit of frosting on top of things.

Sort of like what Mrs Loomis did with Mickey, with how truly terrible people can and do manipulate impressionable kids into doing horrendous things.

The one thing I would change is I would save Dewey’s death for Scream 6 and the big death would be Richie is killed instead of Dewey. We get one moment of Sidney, Dewey and Gale together. Dewey is with the Carpenter sisters. The Vince reveal happens and Vince mortally wounds/knocks Dewey out. Sid & Gale kill Amber while Sam kills Vince.

And Scream 6, same movie but the motives is Ethan and Quinn are Vince’s siblings and Bailey is Vince’s father and we see one more Ghostface, Leslie Macher and it’s the Macher’s revenge against the Carpenters.

And as for Dewey’s death in Scream 6. Bailey kills Dewey. I feel like one cop killing the other would’ve worked better, especially since Bailey is a dark reflection of Dewey.

Judy and Wes Hicks

In Scream 4, we were introduced to Judy. Judy had a past with Sidney back in Woodsboro High. Something about Judy, always seemed off to me. But you know who also had a past with SIdney? Angelina and her cut plotline was Roman’s partner. So imagine this. Richie isn’t the killer, and Amber isn’t the killer. It’s the mother-son duo of Judy and Wes.

Motive. What would their motive be?

Judy is the one who was in love with Billy and wants revenge on Sidney for taking him away. You could still have Sam as Billy’s daughter, because let’s face it that boy was a slut.

Wes could be the second Ghostface instead of Amber. I read a reddit post that suggested that Wes was a bit obsessed with Tara, let’s work with that. Wes is a psycho stalker killing everyone close to Tara so he can have her for himself and plans to blame it all on Sam. Judy killed Dewey to lure out SIdney and Gale after Wes’ killings were not working.

Sidney and Gale kill Judy together while Sam and Tara kills Wes together

Sidenote. If Amber isn’t the killer. She could either sacrifice herself to save Tara or live, the choice is up to you. But if she lives, we get the Core Five!

As for what happens in Scream 6, this video had this idea of Jason being this True Crime esque killer, so yeah do that instead of Richie’s family.

Tara and Amber.

Amber’s motive is a mix of her original motive and Richie’s motive mixed into one. . Tara’s motive would be Sam left her. Her father left her. Her mother is the town pariah who constantly leaves her for work, Wes was obsessed with her and the only guy she liked was stolen from her. Her life was shit and it started the moment that Sam left her. All she had was Amber. They became best friends, shared their love of horror and became girlfriends.

See the rest of my Tamber au for more

Scream 6. Either go with Jason and Greg or even better. Make Sam and Tara the killers.

Jason and Greg was the most interesting thing about Scream 6, SO OF COURSE THEY KILLED THEM IN THE BEGINNING AND REPLACING A TRUE CRIME GHOSTFACE STORY FOR REDOING SCREAM 2, BECAUSE OF FUCKING COURSE! Yeah, I am STILL pissed about Jason, Greg and the Woodsboro subreddit's lost potential.

Sam and Tara.

Fuck it. Melissa wanted to do it and Jenna can do evil good!

Imagine all the attacks on Sam's character and Sam being framed for Richie's murders are all a result of Gale's book. Gale changed the actual story because it would sell more. So Sam decides to get revenge.

Sam does the New York murders and believes she's alone. She's not. Tara is there to make sure Sam succeeds. What Sam and Tara do not realize is their friends are helping them. Mindy helps cover their tracks and Chad is the muscle.

Yes The Core Four are the Ghostfaces in this alternate Scream 6.

One by one Gale's life falls apart. The lies and slander are revealed to all. Sidney outright abandons her and refuses to talk to her. Kirby refuses to help her. "You made your own bed, you're on your own, Gale." And anyone that could possibly help her is dead.

Gale is alone in the Ghostface shrine to confront the consequences of her actions and the monster she created.

One by one, the four of them corner her and then they all mask off.

Sam wears Billy's mask

Tara wears Amber's mask

Mindy wears Jill's mask

Chad wear's Mickey's mask

"You had to know this was coming Gale. All you had to do was write that book about Dewey, but no, you couldn't let Ghostface go, could you? You had to destroy our lives and now you'll pay for it and all the lives you profited off of."

Sam and Tara draw their knife and gut Gale.

They pinned the blame on Quinn Bailey and Ethan Landry.

[elfdragon12]

I finished Cyberverse. Whew boy. 😐

At least I like Meteorfire and Cosmos?

First season? Terrible. The vast majority of it should have been cut. Almost all of the flashback sequences could have been cut with just about no consequence to the rest of the series. It's mostly filler nonsense with no good plot hooks. Bumblebee's sound bytes are just cringey comedy and don't really do anything to further his character. He's also dumb. It's not even amnesia dumb. If it was just amnesia, the "Megatron is my hero!" episode wouldn't exist (and didn't need to). But he's just kinda stupid.

Second season? A little better than season 1... Mainly because there are no flashbacks, Bumblebee's voice has been fixed offscreen, and we get bursts of actual plot. However, the pacing of the story is so janky and there have been multiple times I could have sworn I somehow skipped an episode (including the first episode). There's very little focus. The Starscream plot is okay, but there's a lot missing. When did he steal Vector Sigma? Why are the Seekers following him? Why did he go crazy? Despite the stakes being high, the Starscream arc is solved is super easy, barely an inconvenience. Optimus isn't even out for a full episode. Also? Characters just appear out of nowhere. (Yes, G1 does this too, but G1 is almost entirely episodic while CV is supposed to be a narrative series.)

Third season? It's supposed to be the best season... While it is... It's not by much. The only thing that makes this season better than the previous season is that the writing actually focuses on it. It still has most of the writing flaws from the previous seasons. The Quintesson arc (they all pronounce Quintesson wrong) is just The Matrix for preschoolers. The disconnect between episode 4 and 5 was a huge "what did I miss????" moment. It didn't make sense to pace it like that. Starting in media res isn't always the best choice (or at least foreshadow the Quintessons in the previous episode). Also, they were clearly afraid this was too tense/scary for their audience because, towards the end of the arc, Kup started having break away scenes to narrate and assure the audience that everything will be fine. I was grateful there was at least some build-up to the finale... And, yet again, the problem was solved surprisingly easily despite the high stake.

Special one? Competently written. The way it's written makes it obvious what age range it's intended for, but it's not bad... I have mixed feelings on how the other Dinobots were written. I think it's because of how child-like they are. Super smart Swoop feels weird (I'm fine with Swoop being a girl). I did not like how Trypticon was characterized and do not understand how he fit on the ship. I liked Soundblaster's music more than Soundwave's. His genre was more to my taste.

Special two? Competently written, I would even say good at times. My main notes are about the regular Decepticons actually following Tarn's orders despite not knowing who he was... Just... Why??? Also, the flow of the fight between Tarn and Soundwave got a little confused. Soundwave gets Tarn down, puts on the crown, blink, and then Tarn is beating him down. It was weird. Again, for the most part, it was actually a solidly written special.

Overall, the show's worst flaw is the pacing. It's all over the place. The first season drags out, the second season alternates between rushing and dragging, then the third season rushes. My opinion: the episode length is a key factor in this. The specials are how the show could have been, going between "okay" and "actually a decent story".

Second flaw is how most of the conflicts are resolved. Despite the stakes being high, most of the problems are solved quickly. Oh, Shockwave just sacrificed his spark to taint the Allspark? Not even a full minute later, Cheetor sacrificed his spark and now everything is fine. Oh, an alternate universe Megatron is about the kill Optimus Prime? Conveniently, a piece of Windblade's soul was in the alternate universe's Matrix and she just destroys the pillars representing the Primes in 5 seconds and everything is good now!

Third flaw is the character writing. Beyond my opinion on certain characters (I feel bad for Lockdown fans, downgraded from a cool, unaligned bounty hunter to an incompetent loser of a mook), there's a lot of characters just... Being kind of dumb. Don't tell me it's because it's for preschoolers because Rescue Bots is also for preschoolers and doesn't do this. Most of the characters are pretty surface level and there's almost no character growth. Hot Rod doesn't grow into leadership. Optimus Prime makes a passing comment about him being a future leader in the beginning of season 3 and he just immediately switches. Soundwave is the only one that I would say has any sort of actual growth. (I'm also curious as to how the Starscream stans feel about season 3. Personally, I thought it and the explanation felt cheap.)

Fourth flaw that is, admittedly, at least partially a matter of personal taste--dialogue/voice direction. Optimus had no inflection, a lot of characters did not sound like they were speaking naturally (Grimlock, Cheetor, Jetfire for a few examples), the weird emphasis on TOR in Cheetor and Perceptor's names, Hot Rod's voice dropping (sounded strained, tbh) to show how ~serious~ the Quintesson arc was, and such.

Also, anyone says that there are "brutal" deaths in this series has clearly never watched anything else Transformers. No one even fell into lava/a smelter to die a horrible death as they melted away! (This happened quite a few times in the 80s and 90s.) Megatron dies by an open palm slap to the chest, what do you mean there are brutal deaths?

[deke-rivers-1957]

ECU Film Ranking Part 1

This will be a 3 part series where after 10 or so movies, I'll rank them in reverse order with 10 being the worst and 1 being the best. My ranks are based on how much I liked the movie, how much I liked Elvis' character, and how well made it was. Each entry will have an explanation so I hope my opinions make sense. If you have any disagreements feel free to share them. Enjoy!

Roustabout

The problem with this movie is simple: it completely misses the point of Charlie's character. When you think about what the movie wants us to believe, Charlie is supposed to be a grown man who's got a chip on his shoulder about being made an orphan and wants his respect. While the movie does show him as pushing back when he's being disrespected, Charlie isn't a jerk who needs to get rid of the chip on his shoulder. If anything Charlie is a saint for having to deal with people who actively hate him. In fact outside of bit characters and Mr. Carver, everyone else is infinitively times worse. How are we supposed to think Charlie needs to learn his lesson when the whole time we're on his side of most confrontations? Overall, it was a good story concept with terrible execution as it a completely wasted potential storylines and an amazing soundtrack.

(John Lennon wrote Revolution 9.)

Wild in the Country

On paper this should be an absolute banger of an Elvis movie: An angry young man who has no faith in himself until he meets someone who inspires him to be better. Too bad the movie felt like it had no idea on how to work with that concept. You get the feeling that each writer had a different story idea but was never able to execute it from start to finish. For instance, the ending was supposed to be tragic but instead became bittersweet in the most mild way possible. Given how this movie initially sets this serious tone where a character's bad actions will have consequences, the ending does a complete 180. Nothing of consequence happens and the movie suffers because of it. If the most intense part of the movie is done and over with in 5 minutes with no time to even digest what happened before we see Glenn go off to college you just sit there thinking "what was the point of that if nothing came out of it?" It's slightly better because at least the first third gave us some of Elvis' best character moments with Glenn giving an emotional monologue about his life.

Love Me Tender

Story wise it's a step up from the other two, but still suffers from executing a vision. The entire 3rd act destroyed whatever character arc Clint had going for him. I get the idea that Clint suddenly turning on Vance and Cathy just because practical strangers filled his head with ideas was something that was added at the last minute to make Elvis more relevant despite an originally smaller role. I can understand Clint being insecure about his manhood and doubting his wife's loyalty, but the execution of that was terrible. Just fix Clint's character arc in the 3rd act, and this movie would've been fine.

Paradise, Hawaiian Style

There's nothing wrong with Rick as a character. The problem's that he's boring. He doesn't have much of a character arc as it's not like him saving Danny showed a new side of him. His womanizing is his character flaw and the driving factor of his irresponsibility. Him rescuing Danny doesn't change that and it definitely doesn't give his romance with Friday any weight as I simply don't believe they have any chemistry. Then again, the only vision this movie had was to showcase actual Hawaii and the Polynesian people. For the 1960s they did that in a pretty respectful way. Drums of the Islands is a great finale song with beautiful visuals. It's a nice finale to conclude an otherwise boring movie. But what a finale it is.

Clambake

As much as I love Scott's character arc, the songs are a mixed bag and the production at times is bad. I also wasn't that enthused about Scott and Dianne's relationship as I thought Dianne was boring. The side characters are fine but again nothing to write home about. I do think that if this was given more time it would've been better, but as it stands it's not at all the worst story. The ballads keep the soundtrack from being completely terrible. It's in general a very mediocre movie with an amazing character arc.

(Joe DiMaggio wore the number 5.)

Production wise this is easily the worst one as some of the effects are so bottom of the barrel of what they wanted to achieve. The story had elements that would've been amazing but simply never expanded on them. However, JODIE IS PEAK. Way more interesting than Josh and easily could've been the main character. The revelation that he's not Pappy's son alone should've been talked about in the movie as opposed to being a throwaway line. His ballad for Midge easily the best song in the movie. Such a shame this movie was rushed out. I genuinely think if they had Elvis just be Jodie, it would've been an absolute banger. The side characters have more personality than Josh and it carries what would've otherwise been a boring movie.

Jailhouse Rock

This movie is ICONIC but character wise Vince falls a bit flat and I have mixed opinion his relationship with Peggy. Vince waffling between liking Peggy and being cold to her is strange. Especially since Peggy simply disappears for a long period of time. When they get together at the end it's like all of the justification for why things were forgiven happened off screen as opposed to naturally seeing it play out. If you simply boil it down to a cocky young man falling off his pedestal and opening up to people, then the movie works. It's very well made but there are still wrinkles that keep it from being in my top 3.

(2 and 3 are interchangeable. They're about even so the difference is simply what I like a little bit more today.)

GI Blues

Story wise I don't see anything that's really wrong with this movie. I think Tulsa is a good character. Any criticisms I have boils down to how I would've written the same story but in a different way. I guess the one criticism I do have is that we get the lie reveal plot element over in done with so little time, that there was no point of even including it. Overall, it's still a well made and enjoyable movie but it doesn't blow me away.

Girl Happy

This is low key one of the best stories in an Elvis movie. It does the lie reveal cliche right as it gives this plot element enough time to develop, climax and then resolve itself naturally. Nothing about this is forced therefore everyone involved feels like they're real people. The point of the conflict is that Rusty is supposed to watch Valerie without her knowing that he's been asked to watch her. If Valerie knew, then she wouldn't want to be around him and would only become more sneaky. The emotional conflict of her finding him and Deena together isn't anyone's fault as it wasn't like anyone wanted to act out of malice. Everyone reacted within reason and despite the miscommunication, this is a situation where telling the truth would've only complicated things. You feel bad for everyone involved and regardless of who you think is in the right, you can totally understand where the other side is coming from. The songs are still very much a mixed bag and that's why I can't put it as my number one, but as a love story it's very underrated.

(You know I had to do this lol.)

Loving You

What can I say it's Elvis' story if he had an actual happy ending. As much as I don't like how Glenda is as a character the ending makes you think she will change. Deke is such a lovable character and it only makes you wonder why he doesn't have a lot of friends. I was angry for Deke when he just forgave Glenda that quickly by coming back. I'm not sure if it's simply because that's who Deke is, or if it's on the writers for not showing us his thought process. It's similar to my criticisms for GI Blues segment. It's simply a matter of "good concept, I just would've executed it a little differently". The songs are all functional to amazing. The movie is very well made as it doesn't feel the need to blast you in the face with color. If anything Deke going from generic "farmer's clothes" to a vibrant white/red combo is so fitting. When Deke is on stage he really comes to life. Even in his regular clothes, it's like they added a brightness to them. Unintentional I'm sure but it's incredible how Deke's clothes reflect his rise from nothing. He goes from being lonely and having low self esteem to feeling joy knowing he isn't alone anymore. Such a shame it's lost in the shuffle of his other 50s movies. This one definitely stands out on its own.

AN: Thank you all for following along with my reviews. If I missed a tag I'm real sorry.

Tagging: @arrolyn1114, @thedaisymaisy, @that-hotdog, @peaceloveelvis, @imaginationlast, @fuzzymusic94, @helen06dreamer, @sfull12345, @briefpandatimemachine, @alittlemoreelvis, @lynettethemadscientist, @motht-eeth, @ash-omalley, @spooky-hazex, @teamnefarious, @blighted-star, @ab4eva, @oh-my-front-door, @father-of-2cats, @atleastpleasetelephone, @xanatenshi, @crazymadpassionatelove, @burnthheparaphilia, @aliengoth3, @smokeymountainboy, @stormie-ryan23

@yksuwyksud, @tacozebra051, @alienelvisobsession, @vintageoldsoul, @ohmygiddd, @lovininapinkcadillac, @stephthestallion, @mistyspresley, @bisexualwvtson, @ahundredlifetime, @karel-in-wonderland, @elvispresleywife, @georgefairbrother, @moonchild-daniella, @musiclover712, @worldofyns, @sillybookmarks, @g00d2balive, @leighpc, @generoustreemystic, @peskybedtime, @thetaoofzoe, @renegadewarrior, @vintagepresley, @tupelomiss, @myradiaz, @pinkcaddyconfessions, @kiankiwi, @presley72elvis, @delulubutidontcare, @januarypresley1969, @livelaughelvis, @hooked-on-elvis, @slayingjd, @ilivebecauseiamforced, @dusintv, @cattcb, @eapep, @jaqueline19997, @richardslady121, @iloveelvis2, @lett-them-eatt-cake, @if-i-can-dream-of-elvis, and @lookingforrainbows.

[seldaryne]

"Wyll's quest regarding the Wyrmway is now a subquest instead of part of his main quest."

"Wyll's quest regarding Ravengard will now more reliably and frequently receive updates in Act III."

so mechanically speaking then, was the demotion of quest status in the first point required for them to implement the functionality of the second or??? because i genuinely don't understand why it became a subquest, especially when the game's structure already allows you to just ignore quests & move on to the next area if you want. most of the patch notes that directly mention wyll are bug-related or scripting flow, which i don't have a problem with (bug fixes are great, we love those). i'd love to hear any thoughts about this, though, because i really can't think of a reason why it had to become a subquest?

i also initially read that second point as planning for future updates to wyll's content but at a second glance i think it may just be referring to journal updates? i don't know, i'd like to believe my initial reaction was the correct one but... yknow. anyway i maintain that this is yet Another example of some really goddamn weird choices on the developmental end of things. if the companion quests exist on a sliding scale of 'most related to current main storyline to least,' wyll is very much at the top end of things. optimistic thought is that a lot of his scrapped content existed in the parts of act 3 that were cut, but i would think that as a studio you'd see that & make an effort to level things out with how much screentime the other companions have. at the bare minimum, your player base shouldn't be able to clock so many weird holes in his story arc where it's clear that something else was supposed to be offered.

i'm also not saying that the other companion arcs weren't clunky in some areas & didn't need a bit of help, but the disparity here makes deprioritizing those edits seem like a more logical course of action. like there's a difference between some slightly unpolished scenes vs. something that feels fundamentally lacking in a lot of structural ways, especially when you get into the finer points of the comparisons. act 3 imo is the one that feels the most bare-bones to me. like yes, there's Stuff there visually and quests too but it doesn't feel as lived-in as acts 1 & 2. i would say that the underdark to ketheric section feels the most dense, content-wise, and i don't think it's a coincidence that it's the bracket of the game i enjoy the most. i maintain that giving wyll's storyline the attention it needs would not only help with the character arc itself, but also pad out the quieter stretches of act 3. at this point i don't really see how they'd be able to add in the upper city without either completely changing the trajectory of the third act (so like, almost definitely something we Will Not See Happen & understandably so from a production standpoint. weird post-release editing aside, it is still a finished game.) & i'm also not sure what a DLC would look like here because the main story feels pretty complete too. off the top of my head, maybe one where you follow wyll & karlach into avernus would work, but that's worldstate dependent & probably wouldn't get made for that reason.

all that to say, from where i'm standing it really seems like giving wyll the same respect other companions are offered would by extension fix some of the act 3 issues, without having to release an entirely new area of the game (i'd love it i just don't think it's realistic lmao). like i know why/what the factors are that led to wyll getting the short end of the stick, it's bullshit but it's not the first time we've seen black characters handled unfairly by devs (& fans), but beyond that it's literally just. so confusing to me on the basis of writing alone. why wouldn't you use the character with that many ties to the titular city of the game more? why isn't he more integral to the story when it really seems like he has every reason to take the spotlight in certain areas?? like that's a fantastic resource of a character to use to move the narrative along and Yet.

idk. this started off as just a reaction to patch notes but it's so unbelievably frustrating to watch it keep happening every patch.

[duckprintspress]

Meet Aether Beyond the Binary Contributor Scarlett Gale

We are sloooowly creeping up on being 2/3rds funded on the crowdfunding campaign for Aether Beyond the Binary, an anthology of 17 stories by queer authors starring non-binary main characters in aetherpunk settings! It’ll definitely be a relief when we hit that wonderful 100%. Don’t forget to share Aether Beyond the Binary with friends who you think might be interested in the project!

Head on over to our Kickstarter Campaign page NOW to learn waaaay more about this project, and read on to get to know Scarlett Gale, read an interview with her, and check out an excerpt from her contribution!

About Scarlett Gale: Scarlett Gale is the author of His Secret Illuminations and His Sacred Incantations. Long ago, under another name, she was the co-author of Needles and Artifice (Cooperative Press; 2012), featuring a rollicking romantic steampunk adventure novella and associated knitting patterns, of which she also designed several. She writes and produces fringe theatre plays based on B-movies, such as Bodacious Barbarian Babes vs. The Indigo Empress and Showgirls of Beast Island. She is a co-producer of the Alison-Bechdel-approved Bechdel Test Burlesque, which in 2017 was included in the Women and Gender Studies curriculum at the University of Oregon. She lives in Seattle with her wife where she gardens, knits, reads, and drinks warm beverages. Unsurprisingly, she also has cats.

Links: Personal Website | Tumblr | Bluesky

This is Scarlett’s second time contributing to a Duck Prints Press anthology. A short story by her was also included in our debut anthology Add Magic to Taste. Learn more about Scarlett’s other published works.

An Interview with Scarlett Gale

What motivates you to create?

Spite and love in equal measure.

What are your goals as a creator?

To make the world a kinder, hornier place one story at a time.

Are you a pantser, a planner, or a planster? What’s your process look like?

I suppose Planster is the best description, though I think that makes me sound more like someone who has a lot of plants (she says, sitting next to a glass cabinet full of houseplants). For my longer works I usually start with a vibe and a general idea of the arc and write with no real outline until I’m about two-thirds through the story, at which point I will sit down and roughly bullet point the scenes I still want to write, arrange them into story order, and use that as a reference to finish the piece. Why when I’m two-thirds through? Because at that point I’ve had enough Shower Ideas that if I don’t document them somewhere, I risk forgetting to put them in, and my Shower Ideas are the most inspired parts of my writing!

What do you consider to be your strengths as a creator?

Wordcount. Good god, wordcount. I am the rare writer who can just sit down at a computer and bang out several hundred words in twenty minutes without second-guessing myself or worrying if the words are good enough. This makes me simultaneously the best and worst person to have in your writering group.

What do you consider to be your weaknesses as a creator?

Also wordcount. I think every story I’ve submitted to the Press has started out two thousand words above the limit, which means we have to do sooooo much editing. Goodbye, my beautiful words!

Do you like having background noise when you create? What do you listen to? Does it vary depending on the project, and if so, how?

Yes! It makes writing feel less lonely, since I do a lot of it only accompanied by my cats. I listen to music at a medium to low volume that either has no lyrics, or lyrics in a language I don’t speak so I don’t get distracted by the words. I actually bought the cheapest Pandora subscription specifically for writing music. My favorite stations are:

Lofi Chill

Bonobo*

Mikel & Gamechops 

Radio Asian Kung-Fu Generation (a recent addition)

*Fun story about the group Bonobo: The morning after our wedding, my whole family crowded into our tiny house to watch us open our wedding gifts. I had given my siblings control over distributing the drink tickets, which meant that after they handed them out to the guests, they used the remaining tickets to get SPECTACULARLY plastered, and were thus deeply hungover. My wife made loads of coffee while everyone grazed on the catering leftovers, and in the interest of creating a calming atmosphere, we put on a Bonobo album. Everyone liked the music, to the point that they repeatedly asked the name of the group, which meant my wife and I kept repeating, with increasing exasperation, “BONOBO!! LIKE THE MONKEY!!!!” It is my primary memory of that morning.

What are your favorite snacks and/or drinks to consume while creating?

Remember to eat? While I’m writing?? You think I’m sensible or something?! (I enjoy a cup of tea, either green, decaf black, or herbal, depending on the time of day.)

Tell us about your pet(s).

We currently have three cats: CeeCee, Matcha, and Gyoza. CeeCee (the Lady Catherine the Purr) is our most recent addition from March of 2023. She’s a fifteen year old scrungly tiny black goblin who knows exactly what she wants out of life: Food, sippies from the bathroom sink, belly rubs, and shoulder rides. If we are not providing any of these at the speed she would prefer, she screams at us. She’s PERFECT.

Matcha is an eight-pound calico brat with the sass of at least four cats crammed into her tiny body. Her favorite things in life are causing trouble and rubbing her face on my hands when I’m trying to write.

Gyoza is a sixteen pound gray tabby with the physical properties of a water balloon full of pudding. He loves to try to “play” with Matcha, which results in her screaming like she’s being murdered. His other favorite thing to do is play in the toilet and then come step on us with his wet toilet feet, because he’s the worst.

Please enjoy this festive photo of the three of them that I had to photoshop from three individual photos, since all of them hate each other.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?

Always take the opportunity to use the restroom when it’s available to you. Solid life advice applicable to any situation, really!

What’s the worst advice you’ve ever received?

I had a Jimmy John’s delivery guy tell me I should lie to people and say my fire-engine-red hair was natural, does that count? (I stared him down blankly long enough that he spontaneously apologized.)

If you could give one piece of advice to a new creator who came to you for help, what would that advice be?

Just write it. You can fix the words once they’re on the page, but excessive planning and worrying and worldbuilding won’t help you if you don’t write the words. Just write it! Let it be bad! Fix it in post! Write the damn thing!!!

What’s one thing (style, genre, etc.) that you think you’ll never do, and why not?

Write the type of fantasy book that has a map in the front and a glossary of terms, only because I personally am not motivated to do that level of worldbuilding. I appreciate the people who want to do that, but I guarantee that as a reader I will skip the map and then probably the glossary in order to get to the STORY, which tells you where my priorities lie.

Scarlett’s Contribution to Aether Beyond The Binary

Title: N(ae)ghbours

Tags: attraction at first sight, bisexual, city mouse and country mouse, competence kink, didn’t know they were dating, f/nb, farmer, first kiss, genderfluid, getting together, humor, idiots to lovers, meet cute, misgendering (unintentional), omg they were neighbors, panic attacks (mentions of), present tense, self-esteem issues, third person limited pov

Excerpt:

“But you were going to tell me what you’re researching?”

Ah. Well. “This might be boring and hard to explain.”

Rin waves a fork at the breakfast spread between them. “You have at least five pancakes’ worth of time. Hit me.”

Dahlia takes a steadying sip of tea. She explains about greenhouses and other protected growing areas for delicate crops, and the advantages and disadvantages of using them on a large scale. She explains that her family has a small greenhouse for starts, but most of their land is open-air, which means they get the advantages that come with that, but also the issues—they’re at the mercy of the weather, insects, birds…

Or they would be if not for the aether tunnel.

“It’s like a hoop house,” Dahlia explains, pulling up a photo of a hoop house on her phone to show Rin. “Normally, you cover the frame with mesh, or clear bio-plastic if you’re trying to trap the heat and control the amount of water it gets, but…”

“That’d rip right off in a big storm, right? And how do you get in there when you need to do plant stuff?”

(don't forget to check out the campaign, now that you've read to the end!)

[lolotheparagon]

Sofia the First Season 4 in a Nutshell

Oh boy... Season 4. The one with the Wicked Nine story arc.

Day of the Sorcerers - 1/10

For some inexplicable reason, the writers wanted to redeem Cedric and finish off his story arc of being a villain, DESPITE 3 ENTIRE SEASONS OF HIM CHANGING PASSIVELY OVER TIME AND BECOMING A GOOD GUY AND A GOOD TEACHER TO SOFIA AND THE CHILDREN, BUT NOPE WE GOTTA HASTILY CONCLUDE THIS CHARACTER ARC. SO LETS HAVE HIM TAKE OVER THE KINGDOM AND ACTUALLY NEARLY SUCCEED ALL BECAUSE THE BILLY WEST WIZARD AND A BIRD PERSUADED HIM WITH VERY LITTLE CONVICTION. Its fucking hilarious cos at the third act, all it took to get Cedric to stop usurping the throne was Sofia giving him a glare like a child angry at her dad for not picking her up from soccer practice. And despite nearly taking over the kingdom, Cedric gets a second chance thanks to Sofia and her mum and everything just goes back like nothing happened. WOW ITS ALMOST LIKE THIS WHOLE EPISODE WAS COMPLETELY FUCKING POINTLESS.

The Secret Library: Tale of the Eternal Torch - 2/10

Remember, kids. If you have a history with invaders constantly trying to take over your home at every opportunity, befriend them! Its always good to share your land, even though its your land by right! Thank god we're dealing with dragons here not people, otherwise this wouldve been REALLY FUCKED UP. I mean this is fucked up, but still.

The Crown of Blossoms - 9/10

Finally, an episode that didnt make me wanna gouge my eyes out! A wonderful lesson about not using other people's valuable treasures for a festival and you should rightfully give it back to them. Even the boring Clover being greedy sideplot doesnt bother me.

Pin the Blame on the Genie - 0/10

Oh great, another episode about the Culturally Fucked Up Genie Police and the kid genie getting needlessly harassed and villified by the public all because of one racist wizard's opinions. Btw its established that the Genie Patrol have prison cells for misbehaving genies, WHILST THEYRE IN THEIR LAMPS. So its a prison within a prison. WTF?!

The Mystic Isles - -5/10

So, this is the famous Mystic Isles special...Honestly, for a world that's supposed to be where all magic originates, this is pretty dull. Like isn't the world of Sofia the First already magical as fuck? There are magical creatures everywhere in Enchancia, what makes this place so special? Also I really dont like the alicorn Skye, his oldtime medieval mannerisms get older after 5 minutes and it really feels like the show one-upped poor Minimus, since he was Sofia's first flying horse. Oh yeah and Sofia wants to be part of the Crystal Justice League or some shit, cos we need SOMETHING for our main character to do!

The Mystic Isles: The Princess and the Protector - 4/10

A tough fairy named Chrysta becomes Sofia's mentor into becoming a glorifed cop for the EverRealm and because she has this preconception of Sofia being this spoilt snob because she's a princess, Chrysta proceeds to not teach her anything and snark at Sofia throughout the majority of the episode. In any other series, this would be hilarious but here, I just feel sorry for poor Sof. I really grew to like Chrysta later on but this was NOT a good first impression.

The Royal Dragon - 6/10

Crackle and Sofia in Spyro form joins a dragon summit and the former fight with her egocentric rival in order to get people's attention cos her rival always steals people away from her before she can even make friends. Ngl I was expected to hate this episode but it was worth it to see that Crackle's rival is just as insecure as she is and made up half her boasting was made up so people would be friends with her. Also Sir KMR the Knight appears again to play schoolyard pranks on a bunch of dragons cos he's a petty bitch lol

The Mystic Isles: The Mare of the Mist - 6/10

Minimus is understandably pissed off that Sofia arrived with a brand new alicorn TM as her new best friend and tries to string along both of them on her new mission to find this mystery horse for a test. I dreaded this episode was gonna go with Sofia gaslighting poor Minimus into thinking Skye is the better companion and he should deal with it. But No. Sofia couldnt even finish her test cos the mystery horse she was looking for chastises her for not considering Minimus' feelings and favouring Skye over him. I like that, it really puts Sofia in a humbling position and helps her realise how important Minimus is to her.

Through the Looking Back Glass - 9/10

Its a good Cedric episode so its already a step up and we get to see Calista again, which is always fun. We find out the actual reason why Cedric has had this reputation from everyone, especially his sister Cordelia, that he was this bungler who would never amount to anything, and its revealed to be a completely accident which Cordelia forgives him for and apologises for all the teasing and petty rivalry she had with him over the years. Its a very sweet victory for Cedric and I honestly wish THIS was the final episode of his character arc than Day of Sorcerors cos it really shows how much he's improved as a person since Season 1 and that he doesnt need to take over the kingdom to prove his worth. Side note: I love how Sofia and Calista team up to clear Cedric's name and its cute to see Sofia act like a big sister to Calista.

Princess Jade - 8/10

Wasn't expecting a non character like Jade to get her own spotlight episode but here we are and its really sweet! I love how Jade was originally excited to go to Royal Prep to be with her bestie Sofia when they found out Jade's a descendant of royalty but quickly grows to hate it when she realises she'll never see Ruby or any of her village friends that much anymore, her entire life is changed upon this revelation...AND THEN WE GET A FUNNY AS HELL SIDEPLOT WITH AMBER BECOMING A MASTER ARCHITECT. Why wasnt this an entire episode alone about Amber being into architecture, that is wicked cool?!

Ivy's True Colors - 0/10

Ooo, the villain Princess Ivy's getting a redemption? Skip

Too Cute to Spook - 10/10

And we now return to our scheduled programming of serotonin-filled spookiness cos this time Sofia, Lucy and her toxic witch friends are doing trick or treating and Calista wants to join in but they dont want her to join cos she's too adorable to be scary and they're worried she'll "cramp their style." But Calista just wants to have friends and make Sofia happy. Man, I miss when Sofia the First episodes were like this.

Pirated Away - 8/10

After crashing into a pirate ship by accident, Miranda, Sofia and Amber have to help a bunch of geographically challenged pirates find a golden figurehead so Sofia and the family can see a meteor shower along the way. We get to see Miranda being a bad ass mum, Amber learning to respect her mother's word and have a heart to heart talk with her and a lesson about just fucking listening to people.

The Mystic Isles: The Falcon's Eye - 5/10

Oh goody, another Mystic Isles episode and this time, Sofia has to search for the Wicked Nine, a bunch of magical items belonging to the greatest Disney villains of the past to stop the villain from the Mystic Isles special, Prisma from gaining all their powers. Cos apparently Sofia the First really needed a daedric artifact storyline.

The Mystic Isles: The Great Pretender - 4/10

The Mystic Isles: A Very Mystic Wassalia - 7/10

Okay, the fact Chrysta has spent the whole of Christmas with Sofia doing protector tasks in order to distract herself from her incredibly lonely life cos she has no family or friends to spend the holiday is truly sad. I really felt for her when Sofia rounds up everyone in the Mystic Isles for a Christmas party. Just...awwww.

The Birthday Wish - 10/10

Sofia has a shit birthday so she wishes for a redo of her birthday and she gets it...40 times over. Yknow that segment with Huey, Dewey and Louie in Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas? Its basically that but with Sofia slowly going insane. The biggest highlight is definitely Sofia getting more exasperated and pissed off with each repeat. Its so rare to see Sofia mad or even angry cos Sofia's a very grounded kid who's got a big heart so seeing her being pushed to the limit is hilarious. And as always, there's a good lesson about looking on the bright side of things, which is especially true since Sofia still had a pretty good party to begin with, despite how chaotic things got.

In Cedric We Trust - 8/10

I feel like this whole episode was an apology for Day of Sorcerors cos this ep tries to address the fact Cedric nearly usurped the throne a few episodes ago and Roland's not happy about that. But unlike a lot of kids shows where the villains make shoddy attempts to atone for their actions and the characters just immediately forgive them without any repercussions, Cedric is nowhere near the levels of vile monster levels of Starlight Glimmer or Catra so im a lot more on board with Cedric's redemption cos he's got a far better track record of being a good person than any 2010s redeemed villain combined. Also Cedric earnestly trying to restore Roland's trust not just to get everyone to trust him again, but also because the two shared a friendship together when they were children is very sweet. I kinda wish that was explored a lot more in the show earlier. I wouldve loved more Roland and Cedric bonding.

The Mystic Isles: A Hero For The Hoodwinks - 5/10

Clover wants to be a hero like Sofia so he pretends to be one after hitching a ride to the Mystic Isles and manages to garner a fanbase of flying hedgehogs. Trust me, its not as exciting as it sounds.

The Mystic Isles: Undercover Fairies - -5/10

Another boring Chrysta episode, this time its about Chrysta having a bad experience with other fairies cos they all thought she was too rough and tough and not delicate enough to be a fairy. I mean, good for Chrysta to embrace her femininity but I really dont care at this point.

A Royal Wedding - 10/10

Aunt Tilly's wedding? Okay sure, but what if there was a main plot where its revealed Amber is actually the heir to the throne, not James, causing him to have an identity crisis and immediately tries to humilate Amber in front of the whole reception but nothngs working cos James still thinks Amber is her season 1 self, not her current self who's mastering all her royal duties like a pro and not caring about getting her dress dirty. So he accidentally summons a sea monster, which causes havoc at the wedding and can only be calmed with the promise of cake. So Amber, Sofia and James work together to stop said sea monster and the twins reconcile, James makes up for his actions and Amber dubs her brother First Knight. A heartwarming episode with a dash of crazy shenanigans thrown in. Finally, James gets a good story right before the show finishes.

The Royal School Fair - 3/10

Its nearly the end of school for Sofia and the gang but the former doesnt know what school she wants to go to after finishing Royal Prep, so everyone tries to get her to join their personal fave school rather than one of them sitting down with her and actually working it through with her. Oh and for the cherry on top, Amber signs Sofia up to join a school WITHOUT HER CONSENT and despite being called out for it, Sofia decides she wants to go there anyway. OH FOR FUCK'S SAKE. WRITERS, YOU HAVE ONE JOB, DONT TEACH KIDS TO BE COMPLACENT WITH PEOPLE'S BAD BEHAVIOUR.

The Lost Pyramid - 4/10

Sofia and the gang are exploring the inside of a pyramid, where they have to rely on different senses other than their eyes to solve the pyamid's riddles? Nice! A blind princess who's also an archaeologist?? THAT IS SO FUCKING METAL I LOVE THAT AND OH MY GOD, HILDEGARDE. GO AWAY!

Return To Merroway Cove - 2/10

"Remember, kids. If your parents are infantilising you and don't think you're capable of handling more difficult tasks, prove them right! That'll show 'em! Wait..."

The Elf Situation - 8/10

Sofia encourages James and Amber that just because a peace summit is looming over them and that they're trying to prepare being future monarchs with newfound responsibilities, doesnt mean WE CANT HAVE FUN. And she's right! You guys are in your early teens, enjoy life while you can before the ! Btw i love how 3 kids managed to solve a years-long rivalry with two elf clan leaders in one afternoon when the king took years to get them to reconcile but to no avail lmao. Especially when the two elf leaders in question were mostly petty squabbling and got along the moment someone suggested to do something fun. See, Sofia's always right!

Forever Royal - -6/10

The sheer mood whiplash from an absolutely wholesome first act that wouldve been a great bookend to the series with Sofia graduating Royal Prep, Amber training to be queen, James becoming a full-fledged knight in training and everyone in Enchancia is all coming together to celebrate how much our main character has grown over the couple of years...only to spend the last two acts of the special hastily wrapping up the entire Wicked Nine story arc with a brand new villain instead of the one we've been building up over and the season, complete with higher stakes, a world-ending threat and ending with Sofia defeating said villain like a Kingdom Hearts cutscene spiritually reminds me of this

CONCLUSION

Oh boy this was a difficult season to get through. S3 had a weird story arc with the Secret Library, but at least that wasnt NEARLY as intrusive as the Wicked Nine arc, where it clearly felt like Craig Gerber tried to crowbar it into the season, especially for how out of place the usual episodes are. Craig said in one of his podcasts that the Wicked Nine was meant to be a serialised story arc for the whole season but Disney shot him down, saying that it'll be too complicated for a pre-school show. And honestly, I fully get behind Disney on that. But Craig had enough creative power to jam that shit in so we're stuck with a boring ass daedric artifact plotline that meanders until the finale, clogging up what couldve been a decent season to wrap up the series.

Still, apart from that awful last season, I really recommend Sofia the First. It's such a cute, fun show that has its problems and defnitely isnt for everyone as its very straightforward in its themes. But if you like musical numbers, silly characters and cute saccharine stuff like me, you'll like this show just fine.

Peace out, bitches