#also love the idea of him just deciding to take a bat to phoenix

[auroracalisto]

in life and death

summary: in the events of dark phoenix, the reader is reunited with her twin brother charles, even though she tried her hardest to stay away from him after their mother sent her away and explained to charles that she had died, all the while trying to not let erik freak out when he realizes that he is, indeed, in love with someone else related to charles.  

pairing: erik lehnsherr x female reader, twin! charles x twin! reader

word count: 2k words

warnings: canon divergence, reader is charles twin (i said she vaguely looks like him, but i don’t describe any physical appearance other than that), cussing, typical jean grey shit, not any actual violence, sibling banter towards the end, lots of death mentions, usage of mutation abilities (reader is able to manipulate anatomy, and in a way, place “blocks” in people’s minds for certain things, therefore manipulating their anatomy to block off certain parts of their memories), abusive relationship with reader’s mother in this for sure, talks of funeral and gravestone.  

a/n: i still haven’t watched dark phoenix so i took some creative liberty and loosely read the wikipedia page.  also, this was written as a request for @nuclearpizza84​.  i hope you enjoy :) if it’s not to your liking, please be sure to let me know and i’ll see what i can do!

The red haired woman had just appeared, introducing herself as Jean Grey.  Erik immediately welcomed her into your home, without batting an eye your way.  An uneasy feeling washed throughout your body, but you thought nothing of it until Jean started asking Erik for his help—that she had once again done something bad, and she didn’t know how to fix it. 

Your fingers tapped repeatedly on your leg as you watched Erik from where you sat.  “I don’t think this is a good idea,” you mumbled, watching him.  Erik always tended to help any of those who came to his door.  While not necessarily a bad thing, sometimes it was.  With times like this, you knew that there was something wrong. 

Jean knew what you were thinking—your discomfort with her was practically radiating off of your body.  But she didn’t care.  She didn’t come here for your help.  She didn’t even know who you were, other than the fact that you looked strangely similar to Professor Xavier.  She had come for Erik, knowing that in the past, he had been rogue himself and had dealt with Charles.  She had nowhere else to go, other than Genosha.  The only place where mutants could go for refuge, if they were running from even the school. 

Erik sighed softly at you.  He reached over and gently took your hand.  “I know Jean.  I’m going to help her,” he said.  “I’ve no reason to turn her away.”

You just nodded, casting a glance towards the woman.  Nothing more was said between you and your fiancée.  You just watched, listening to them talk.  Jean kept looking in your direction, and you didn’t quite understand why.  Perhaps it was best that Charles did not know where you were—then, people like Jean wouldn’t come knocking on your door, asking for your brother’s help when you hadn’t been around him in years.  You stayed in your mind for some time, eventually standing up to go and sit your glass of water back in the kitchen. 

That was, until the sound of helicopters came from outside of your home.  You tensed.  That didn’t happen often, unless something was wrong.  You looked straight at Jean. 

“What are they here for?” you asked the woman. 

She didn’t answer, going to the door.  She opened it up, looking at what was going on.  Your heart pounded in your chest. 

“Erik,” you spoke, walking over to your lover. 

The speaker attached to one of the helicopters, proclaiming that Jean needed to peacefully surrender—or else, of course, they would use force. 

When Jean attacked, you knew it was over.  Erik wouldn’t help—something that you were hoping would happen, but you never knew how soon it would have happened.  Fate just seemed to be on your side at that moment, but you knew that it was only a matter of time before Erik decided to uproot you and return to America, helping your brother out with yet another deadly endeavor—even if Erik had no idea that the two of you were actually related.  With your ability, you had made it to where Charles would not recognize you, and you made sure that Erik would never be able to make out the similarities that you and your twin shared.  It was only right—after years of your brother believing you were dead; you did not want to bring that raining down on his shoulders.

—

The news reached the mutant refuge, and Erik did not talk to you for some time.  Raven was dead, and she had been killed by Jean herself.  Erik was angry.  He had once loved Raven—you knew of this.  It wasn’t hard to see how he still cared for his friend, especially in a moment like this.  Who wouldn’t still care for someone they spent so long with?  You understood where his anger came from, and you stayed there, waiting for him to say something to you—anything. 

In his fit of rage, Erik looked you dead in the eye.  “I’ll kill her.”

You parted your lips to talk, but you didn’t know what to say that would calm him.  You reached out and took his hand.  “We can’t go alone.  You saw how powerful she was…”

There was no point in trying to stop him.  Once Erik had something in his mind, it took him a long time to detach himself from it. 

“That’s fine by me,” he snarled, taking in a deep breath.  “Pack a bag.  We’re leaving, tonight.”

—

Being surrounded by other mutants, you never once thought that you would have to look out for familiar faces.  But Charles stood there, trying to stop people from fighting. 

“There is no point in it,” you heard him say from a distance.  “You’re only hurting yourselves by fighting each other.”

You scoffed.  He was always like that—even when you were children.

That being said, it had been years since you last saw him.  The mental block you applied to him made it to where he would never be able to recognize you as his sister.

At a young age, your mother had split the two of you apart, recognizing that two children exactly alike had not been something she wanted.  So, she kept the boy, and got rid of the girl, quickly explaining to Charles that his sister was dead.  But now, standing there, you wondered why he never came to find you.  You were obviously alive, and you knew you weren’t making it easy on him—but why in the world had he never even tried? 

Charles never once came to Erik, asking for help to find you.  You were alive and well, that much was given.  A part of you also remembered how your mother was.  It was likely that she decided to make things easier on Charles and instead of saying she just gave you away, you had died.  In a moment of self-pity, you wondered if your mother had made you a fake grave.  Maybe you should visit it one day, see if Charles visited it often. 

Erik had long run inside the building that Jean had ran into earlier.  Charles had tried to talk some sense into him, but to no avail. 

And for a moment, you felt your block on Charles slipping.  You were tired.  And the fact that you were so close to him did not help.  Your block was breaking.  His eyes locked with yours and immediately, he recognized you.  Of course, he did. 

“Oh shit,” you breathed out. 

“[Your name]?” Charles blinked slowly, staring at you in disbelief.  “How are you here?  What—”

“Don’t.”

“What—what do you mean, don’t?  How are you here?  I’ve—you’re dead,” he squeezed his eyes shut.

You sighed softly.  “I’m very much alive, Charles.”

“But mother said—”

“—mother said a lot of things.”

Charles pursed his lips.  You were right. 

“Alright.  We can talk about this later.  But please.  We need to help Jean, not hurt her.  She’s scared.  She doesn’t understand how to control what’s going on.  She hasn’t meant to hurt anyone—”

“—she killed your sister,” you said.  You knew all about how Raven was his adopted sister.  Nothing against her, of course.  It was all your mother’s doing.  Who knew that Erik always had a thing for people related to Charles?

He took in a deep breath.  “Yes.  She killed who I grew up with as a sister. But she did not mean to.  We did not know how to handle her.”

“Oh, and what changed?”

“Being this way is not going to help anyone.  She is going to kill Erik, unless we all agree to stop—”

“—sorry, Charles, no can do.”

—

Time seemed to speed up, and hours promptly passed by.  The alien, Vuk tried her hardest to get everything from Jean.  In the process, disaster struck. 

You had just reunited with Erik when you were struck in the shoulder with a stun weapon.  As you fell to the ground, you heard Erik shout.  Then, everything went black.

Waking up, you slowly took in your surroundings.  You were on a train.  Without a clue where you were heading, you took the time to breathe deep.  Erik was to your right.  You could feel him moving around—he must have already been awake, and now, he was struggling to get out of the restraints. 

Charles sat straight across from you, his eyes dead set in a glare pointed at the ground. 

You cleared your throat, resting your head on the wall behind you.  “Charles.”

He said nothing.  

You looked over at Erik, who shrugged.  “He’s been silent ever since we were captured.”

“Were you not shot—”

“—no.  Collar.  You’ve got one now, too.”

You squeezed your eyes shut.

“They put it on me while I aided you,” he chuckled softly.  “I suppose it is my own fault…”

“None of this would have happened had you allowed me to talk some sense into her,” Charles spoke, looking up at his old friend.  “Had you not attacked her; she would have been calm.  She was scared, Erik.  I’m sure she still is.  I can feel her.  She is at war with herself, and you have only aided in making her feel worse.”

“Could you feel me?” you asked.

“Quite impossible when you make it difficult for me to recognize you,” Charles immediately recounted.  “How did you manage that?  You’ve the ability to just manipulate minds?  Nothing more, nothing less?  I only felt you when your block dissolved.  What does it take for it to do that?”

Charles was angry.

You stared him down.  He returned your gaze.

For a set of twins that had been apart for decades at this point, you acted as if you had never once been split up. 

“I can alter anatomy.”

“Can you now?” he scoffed.  “You know.  I would have thought that perhaps you would understand that not everyone is inherently evil.  She is still good, [Your name].”

“Why would I understand that?”

Charles sighed.  “Despite not being able to recognize you while you still had that going on, had I just focused, I could read your mind.  You’ve been engaged for how long, Erik?  To my sister?”

Erik blinked rapidly.  “What?”

This, was of course, news to him.  You never said anything about it.  Charles was about to open a new can of worms that would blow up in your face after all of this was said and done. 

“Nothing,” you shot at Erik.  “It’s nothing.  Don’t worry about it.”

“You’re siblings?” Erik asked. 

“Stop it,” you groaned. 

Charles clenched his jaw and he looked away from you. 

“Look,” you began, frowning.  “I’m sorry.  I should have reached out to you sooner.  More specifically, when I heard that mother died.  But I didn’t.  I didn’t know where to start looking—”

“—I never left the house.”

You looked towards the floor.  “Now I know that.  I should have come sooner.  I should have told Erik and allowed him to tell you.  But I thought that it would hurt more, knowing that mom just lied to us.  To you, really.”

“She told me that you died.  She set up an actual funeral, fit with a coffin and a headstone.  She really played the part,” Charles said.

“I wondered that earlier, but now that you tell me that, it hurts a lot more,” you tried to laugh, as the realization that your mother probably hated you with every fiber in her ran through your head.  “I’m sorry.  I’m sorry it took… whatever the hell this is for you to realize that I’m still very much alive.”

“Perhaps we can speak about this later,” Charles began.  “We should focus on getting out of here, before something worse happens.”

And of course, Charles had to speak it into existence.  A loud, deafening bang nearly made you scream. 

The aliens were back—and this time, they weren’t about to go easy on anyone. 

[orange-waterfalls]

Vampire!Reader x Markiplier Egos

ty anon for the request

A/N: YES. IT'S BEEN A WHILE. HAPPY FUCKING HALLOWEEN. I absolutely remembered today is the 1 year anniversary of ahwm absolutely this is not a coincidence what are you talking about ahahahahha. I've been busy w/ school and drawing and general depression and anxiety with the current situation but I'm getting back into it! Vampire reader. That's pretty much it. Rated T, a bit of cursing, mentions of blood, mentions of fangs. A slightly suggestive phrase but that's just Illinois like there has to be at least one with him it's the law. ALSO. NEW RULE? IF I'M DOING LIKE HCS OR SMTHN I WILL DO 6 AT A TIME. I CANNOT BE WRITING 14 DIFFERENT EGOS AT ONCE I JUST CAN'T I'M SORRY. anyways enjoy!

Vampire!Reader x Egos Headcanons

General

Not much PDA

Not much going out in general

You have to cover your whole body when you do, unless it’s nighttime

You spend much of your time inside or in the forest

You’re basically nocturnal

You do drink blood, and you don’t need a lot of it

You drink human blood only if they give permission

You don’t kill people

You know or know of some other supernatural creatures that exist

You are friends with a werewolf. One specifically. You know the one.

Darkiplier

You both are edgy as all hell it’s perfect!

Politely asks you not to bite him

a) because he’s not human and b) because it’ll hurt

You both are very calm and well-spoken. So. not much happens.

However, you are both, in fact, dumb bitches, so things are still entertaining

“My darling, would you like some garli-mmm nevermind...”

You go out with him sometimes on romantic moonlit walks

You don’t have to wear as much then

You make him get a pet, a black cat specifically

He loves it

You named it Darko, Dark for short, and he hates the name

Like he hates the name a lot

It is irrational how much he hates the fucking name

He calls it DA

He never explains why

When you want blood he’ll trap a deer or something

You go into the forest and drink a little of its blood

He’s surprised

“What am I, a werewolf?”

He’ll ask you about supernatural creatures, and how to defend against them

You’re pretty sure he’s an eldritch entity so you aren’t sure why he’s asking YOU

He won’t ask how you became a vampire, that seems personal

He never gets startled when you turn into a bat

He can hear your lil wingbeats from a mile away

Sometimes you’ll sleep as a bat and he just smiles at you hanging from the fan

Fine with you not interacting with others, like he does much of that…

Just likes hanging out in your fucking giant victorian mansion with you

Wilford

We all know that his type is, in fact, edgy bitch

Therefore, you are perfect

Dark clothes? Check

Edgy backstory? Probably

Kinda scary? Oh absolutely

And he loves you for that!

He doesn’t want to be a vampire, but he fuckin loves your teeth

He’ll ask you to bare them and then he’ll do a happy wiggle afterwards

He loves dancing with you, slow or fast

It’s always romantic

He’s basically a god so like. Anything you ask for he’s gotchu

You said you were hungry and he fucking kidnapped someone

You said you were hungry, that was on you

You then explain that you don’t need a whole FUCKING PERSON

He then steals some blood bags from the hospital

“Oh, calm down! They have enough!”

Likes taking you out, so you go on night walks a lot.

You’re not used to social interaction, so he makes sure to steer you away from people

Unless you want to talk to them, then he starts up a conversation and lets you take over

You don’t understand people, and neither does he! It’s great.

Likes when you turn into a bat

He doesn’t know why, it just makes him happy

You made him adopt a black cat

He named it Colonel Whiskers

Loves you and your castle and your weird ass little quirks

Actor

Bite him.

BITE. HIM.

LET HIM BE IMMORTAL

You refuse for the sole reason that he is a dick.

You do get along because you both are, in fact, pretentious

You wear those silk robes around the house, and he gets mad at you

HE is the sexy mysterious one, COME ON!

At least you won’t have an edgier backstory than him…

Likes slow dancing with you

Very much enjoys your Aesthetic

Believes that he too belongs in a Victorian era castle isolated from the world

Loves the dark romance

Is a Fancy Boy

Was fully prepared to murder someone for you to drink their blood

Surprised when you said it wasn’t necessary???

Buys a horse or smthn

Asks about supernatural beings and which are immortal

He asks that a lot

He worries you sometimes.

Hates it when you turn into a bat

You’re small and you fly around and you’re fucking GROSS

He doesn’t. He doesn’t like animals very much. Besides dogs I mean.

Buys you clothes because you’ve been wearing the same shit for fucking EVER

Don’t worry, they’re all black, dark purple, or dark red

Sometimes you decide to go on a walk and he tags along

Possessive bitch

Thinks you’ll leave him if you talk to other people

He scares them or leads you away

Was fine with a black wolfdog you brought home after searching for food

Names it Phoenix, and you call it Nix for short

Is deeply in love with you, but will never say or show it

Yancy

He thinks you’re wonderful!

Originally a bit mean to you

He thought YOU thought you were better than him

He saw the fangs and backed off

He asked about them and you answered, so you got along

Asked if he could be a vampire

You asked if he wanted to be immortal. He declined.

Suggested you drink his blood when you were hungry

You said it wasn’t necessary, but he pushed

Stared at you the whole time

“what’s your issue” “this is very�� intimate.”

On that note: has an issue with intimacy

You’re very cold naturally, so you’d want to cuddle

He awkwardly shifts away

Once he gets more comfortable, he might cuddle with you

Loves the silk robes you own, they’re so fucking COMFY

AND THE SILK SHEETS?? Heaven

Absolutely loves all the fancy shit you have

You teach him how to waltz and he teaches you how to tap dance

You have a very equal give and take relationship with everything, it’s great

Neither of you like social interaction

You will if you HAVE to but mostly keep to yourselves

You love Yancy's prison buddies

They love you too

Asked if you knew mothman

You couldn’t tell if he was joking

He absolutely Was Not joking

He sings to you sometimes

It echoes through the place and the Aesthetic man

Hates it when you turn into a bat

Bad. No. Stop. Scary.

A small animal flying at him is a no go

Alternatively: get him a pet dog and he will love you forever

He names it Elvis. Yeah you know why.

Overall loves you and your aesthetic, and you could tell even before you got together

Illinois

Excited but doesn't show it

He's met PLENTY of supernatural creatures

Ghosts, gods, there was a thing with that werewolf one time…

(He has the scars to prove it)

But a vampire? That's new

He doesn’t live at your place because he travels a lot

He still stays there sometimes between adventures

Uncomfortable with how clean it is

You are. An immortal being. And you take the time to clean. What the fuck.

“Would YOU wanna spend eternity in a dusty ass mansion?”

His flirts are often about your fangs

You threatened to bite him and he said “promise?”

Said you could drink his blood, but you said no

“I don’t know what the fuck you got in that bloodstream”

Doesn’t do walks but takes you on adventures

If it’s a cave. And you turn into a bat.

ONLY if you turn into a bat

Sidenote: he fucking adores when you turn into a bat

He just thinks they’re neat

Uncomfortable with how soft everything you own is

NOTHING is soft in nature

Except. Like a lot of things. But don’t tell him he’ll get mad

Doesn’t really want a pet bc he’ll never be home to deal with it

He’ll be fine if you get one though

He wants to name it Nathan Drake he doesn’t care what it is

NERD(see: Uncharted)

Will never EVER wear a fucking suit

He will DIE before he wears a suit fuck you

Dislikes anything remotely fancy

Talks about the creatures he’s met

you get Bard Vibes if ya know what i mean wink wink nudge nudge he's a whore is what I'm saying here

You hang out normally mostly

He refuses to acknowledge his feelings for you

Not after the mermaid incident.

He eventually will, i promise

Magnum

He’s a pirate, he doesn’t care

He’s seen sirens, ancient spirits, probably Davey Jones at some point

A vampire? Low on the list of dangerous creatures

He has a whole ship made outta wood he’s not that worried

You don't really sail with him often

When you do, you're seen as a threat to anyone and everyone

He loves that about you

Warned you not to bite him or he'd stake you

You promised not to and that was enough for him

You get along with the crew fairly well

However do NOT turn into a bat around them

They will not hesitate to shoot

"UNIDENTIFIED FLYING OBJECT, MAN YOUR BATTLESTATIONS!

You can maybe do it around Magnum and only Magnum

Doesn't like your house

He belongs to the sea

But can and will steal your sheets for himself

A pirate can have a little silk, as a treat

Offered his crew's blood to drink after a while

You declined because you don't know what the fuck kinda diseases they have

Doesn't really want a pet. He can't tell them what to do.

You bought an axolotl and he loves it a lot

Its name is Delta but he has deemed it Magnum Jr

Can't really. Fit. In any suits you have

He has to go out and get one personally tailored if he wants it

Likes dancing with you

Slow dancing. To Danny Boy.

He can't dance but that's ok he tries

You talk about land creatures and he talks about ocean creatures

So far he despises werewolves and skinwalkers

He likes spending as much time with you possible

He doesn't much like the idea of a relationship bc of his uh line of work

But he loves you

[signed-yours-truly-the-whale]

Thoughts/Observations on Joker, part 1

AKA I Spent 7 Hours on This, I Will Die if it Gets Less Than Three Notes

I could rave for hours about this movie’s cinematography. Literal hours.

Nobody talks enough about Arthur’s full-fledged dedication to his clown craft. Man is working 60+ hours a week and does not break a sweat. I also fucking love this clowny face he pulls here. The first shot we see of Arthur in full. Holy shit is it beautiful. God bless Joaquin Phoenix.

These two shots together are incredibly important to me. In a split-second we see Arthur’s disbelief that he cannot control the whirlwind of emotions inside of his own head, not even being able to produce a smile, and then his resignation because it’s just another day. Heartbreaking.

Awwww shiiiiit

Gotham City is such a dump but I’d be bullshitting myself if I said I didn’t love the grimy aesthetic of it. It’s technicolor trash.

Arthur loves his job so much. He genuinely enjoys being Carnival. That hurts a lot to think about in hindsight.

This man just got his ass handed to him and he is STILL SPRAYING THE FAKE FLOWER ON HIS VEST

YOU WANNA TALK ABOUT DEDICATION

This opening card is so imposing. Not only does it take up the entire screen to the point of running off the edges, but it’s shielding Arthur from view. Arthur is invisible in light of Joker in Arthur’s own movie.

I screenshotted this by accident but I felt a need to put it here because he’s just so adorable. Even right before an episode.

E y e s s s s s

E Y E S S S S S

I desperately want to know what got Arthur sent to Arkham the first time. A suicide attempt? A public breakdown? I really want fanfics of it.

There’s a really, really good fanfiction on AO3 by Arthur_Fleck about Arthur slowly recovering and meeting a girl called In the Major and Minor Arcana

I highly, highly recommend it

Okay. Joaquin’s immersion into his characters -- all of them -- is absolutely incredible. But Arthur is just ... off the charts, man. No two of his characters are the same and he embeds himself so deeply in their skin, but Joaquin buried himself so deeply into Arthur’s brain that it is so hard for me to see any of Joaquin at all. God, he’s incredible and this shot makes me emotional because this just is Arthur.

ARTHUR WOULD BE A GREAT DAD AND I DO NOT ACCEPT ARGUMENTS

It really speaks to how shitty Gotham is that this man is having a full-fledged screaming/laughing breakdown on the bus and nobody is batting an eye

I adore how the cinematography paints Arthur as so small to his own environment. He’s a speck of dust. A fleck.

Babie is wincing :((((

I have been trying to figure out the layout of this apartment for months and my inability to, even with a floor plan, is driving me insane

I just found out that the Budweiser beer jingle Here Comes the King is on the soundtrack and plays when Arthur comes home and that made me go feral

I  A M  M U R R A Y , K I N G  O F  A S S H O L E S

It is second nature for me to do this stupid pose every time I watch this scene

Arthur blending into the crowd here makes me ... so happy. He looks so happy.

This is Arthur’s best laugh of the movie, fuck you. I am incredulous that I was the only person laughing when I saw this in the theater opening night.

This is one of the few moments I really see Joaquin shine through Arthur. I don’t know why, but this lighting and his voice and his intensity gives me visceral flashbacks to watching a little boy Joaquin in Parenthood. God, I love this man.

It really is a testament to Penny’s (lack of) parenting that Arthur is day dreaming about receiving affection and validation from a parent figure when his own mother is literally right there

GOD DAMN THIS MAN IS GORGEOUS

But also big bruise :(

Yes, I shall trust you, man named Randall smiling down at me in low angle light

Why was Hoyt not informed that Arthur got his ass beat on the job? As Arthur’s employer he should’ve literally been the first person to know so he could make a note of it. Either he wasn’t told or he gave so little of a fuck that his consciousness astral projected to another plane of existence while he shoved the white powder down his throat and forgot Arthur existed at all.

Literally fuck Hoyt. I hate him even more that his office is the coolest shit in the world

ARTHUR KNOWS THE CUSTOMER SERVICE SMILE

Joaquin dislocated his knee in this scene, the poor boy

I could write a full damn essay about why the misleading advertising of Sophie as a prominent character was the greatest twist of the whole movie. Literally I am still speechless how the movie did that.

I am not kidding when I say my sister has this same color scheme in the bathroom of our house and realizing that made me werewolf

Also Arthur being the son Penny doesn’t deserve warms and breaks my heart

The complete lack of reaction to Penny’s “Don’t you have to be funny to be a comedian” makes me laugh and cry internally

This shot? Gorgeous. His face? Deadly. That jawline? Cutting diamonds. Hotel? Trivago.

I really, really want a Joker 2, but at the same time I do not want a Joker 2 because Joaquin Phoenix has a baby who needs him now and he cannot be pulling shit like losing 52 lbs for a role

Also I REALLY need to discuss how much this brass ballet reminds me so heavily of Buffalo Bill from Silence of the Lambs. Holy fuck, I got actually chills in the theater

Like holy fuck

And then this shot reminds me so heavily of the opening of Fedddy vs Jason with Freddy Krueger laughing over his newspaper collage of missing children. Holy fuck I love this cinematography.

Guys. G - Guys, his name tag says Dr. Carnival, can you hear me  s o b b i n g

This part is so Chaplinesque, the way he slides the gun into his coat again

These children look so afraid of him for dropping the gun and wowie, does that really hurt

Was this asshole supposed to be modeled after Eric Trump? Because I get really douchebaggy Eric Trump vibes (minus the jacked teeth) from this ringleader

I don’t have much to say here except I am in love with the way Artie’s hair sticks straight up in bottle curls when the clown wig slides off

Also if you decide it’s a good idea to mess with a man dressed as a clown laughing maniacally on the subway of one of the most dangerous cities in the world, you are asking him to shoot you and I will not feel sorry for you

I will never not be in love with this image. I fell in love with it in the teaser trailer and almost went feral in the middle of the mall when I saw this was the poster they used to advertise the movie with. My friend described this movie as “chaos, beautified,” and nothing sums it up as well as this picture.

JOAQUIN AND TODD MADE THIS ENTIRE SEQUENCE UP AND I AM IN LOVE

Hello, handsome

[wearetakingthehobbitstogallifrey]

Kdrama recs Part 2

Hello @camsthisky and anyone else who cares! I do apologize for the delay on this post--it has only been 84 years since Part I of my kdrama recs, I know, and I thought about going for a full century but this is me finding a way to de-stress after watching the first episode of I-Land alkdjfadlksj I’m gonna die of heartbreak but whatever

Speaking of heartbreak, there is a lot to be found in Korea’s wonderful historical dramas, so like, be warned—or, if you are an angst-loving monster like me, settle down for hot guys and good cries

Let us begin! (or, if you want romantic modern dramas see Part 1)

1. Scarlet Heart Ryeo/Moonlovers: 

aha ahahahahahaha *weeps* You may have heard people talk about this show. You may have heard ME talk about this show. This thing was my first kdrama ever and it RUINED ME 

Disclaimer: I have seen this show once and rewatched it twice and on the rewatches I can never quite make myself watch the last 4 or 5 episodes because things get tragic and messy and I get mad. HOWEVER there is a lot of good in the first part of the show and because this thing was all the rage in everywhere but Korea itself, there’s like over 300 fanfic for it and several good fix-its, including one by my good friend @thelonelybrilliance

Ok so anyway this show which could also be called An Abundance of Princes starts with a young woman from modern times getting thrown back into ancient Goryeo during an eclipse and finds herself in the body of Hae Soo, the cousin of the wife of one of the princes, and thus she gets embroiled in royal affairs which are, quite frankly, a mess. See, the evil eyeliner prince (whom I love even when he’s the worst) is plotting with his mom to get the Crown Prince out of the way aka dead BUT who should return to the Palace but the 4th Prince, Wang So, who has spent at least half his life living as hostage to a powerful family. 

So has a scar that cuts across his eye and which in this society makes him a horror to look at or smthing idk he just looks extra hot to me but anyway he wears a mask and is known as the wolf dog (or as the MURDER ANGST CUPCAKE thanks @abadpoetwithdreams). He might seem a little rough around the edges at first because his life has been hell but he really just wants to love and be loved okay people need to be nice to him wtf

Other princes include: 

    1.  the Crown Prince, Wang Mu, a good egg, not particularly charismatic but he tried to protect his lil bro when no one else would

    2.  the 8th prince, Wang Wook, who reminds me of a fellow named Shane and I don’t mean the cowboy

    3.  the 10th prince, Wang Eun, a dumb adorable spoiled bby (played by Baekhyun from EXO)

    4.  the 13th prince, Baek Ah, a tol soft boi, an artist, a BAE, a BRO, a SHIPPER ON DECK

    5.  the 14th prince, Wang Jung this son will fight everyone he’ll fight himself he just loves to fight! Not always wise but he’s a good boy and I like him a lot 

    6.  just realized I skipped the 9th prince but nobody cares 

One quick note is that IU plays Hae Soo, and I enjoy her a lot in the first half of the show where she is still spunky and rebellious...sadly her character kind of falls apart/gets too weak for my liking as the episodes progress

The MAIN reason why I feel it my duty to recommend this show to everyone despite the fact I have never met anyone who wasn’t traumatized by it is LEE JOON GI

Yes, this man:

 I mentioned him in the previous rec post—he played Bong Sang Pil in Lawless Lawyer (AND IS NOW CURRENTLY STARRING IN FLOWER OF EVIL WHICH WILL BE ON ANOTHER POST AHDFOIASDHGALDSKJF FRIQ I AM IN LOVE WITH THAT MAN) 

BUT SERIOUSLY LOOK AT HIS PHOENIX EYES!!! HIS RAZOR SHARP FEATURES! HIS BIG ADORABLE EARS! HIS BEAUTIFUL EXCESSIVE BANGS! 4TH PRINCE WANG SO LOVE OF MY LIFE

SOMEONE PROTECT THIS BBY

2. Hwarang: Ok so right off the bat I am going to smack down a disclaimer that I can’t stand the female lead. TRULY CANNOT. Thus, I don’t like the romance, and only care about the love triangle as far as it just shows how sad and lonely one of the guys is. (Also there are scenes of dumb old men plotting and I don’t like them either). At the end of the show, I am happy that the one guy is NOT stuck with the female lead as his wife. Good for you sir

Sounds like a show to steer clear of then, right? WRONG. This is a show that you skip through because the scenes that are good? Are GREAT

Picture this: It is the Silla era of Korea, and the queen is ruling as regent in place of her son, who has been hiding all his life because everyone wants to kill him. Well, son is now grown and must soon come into the light and take the throne. Queen who both wants her son as king but also really likes being queen decides to do everyone a favor and form an elite fighting squad out of all the prettiest and most talented sons of nobles in the land, with the idea that they will be loyal only to the throne, and thereby keep their dads from plotting to destroy everything. 

Let me tell you something, these ARE the prettiest boys in the land. Good hair, good jawlines, beautiful smiles—the cast lineup includes Park Hyung Sik and his cute lil elf ear, Park Seo Joon, Taehyung (yes from BTS!), and Choi Minho from Shinee, plus two other actors who are lesser known but who are drop-dead gorgeous. Anyway. Sorry, but they really are all beautiful. 

The fun thing is they don’t all get along right away, a few of them are VERY much opposed to the other for various reasons, but they all have to bond and become brothers in arms. And what they don’t know is that the real king snuck in and is one of them. 10/10 I would die for the boys! (also Tae has an older half-brother who is a lower rank than him but whom he looks up to and that makes for cuteness and pain) Once you skip the boring or annoying parts of the show, the rest has so much delight, laughter, and oops pain, lots of pain. I want to go re-watch. 

Two other things I should mention about the show: a super soft side romance between secondary characters and a game of, as they call it in the show, HOT SOCCER 

^pretty boy 1 (with the cute elf ear sadly on the other side of his head)

^pretty boy 2 (sad cheekbone bby) and pretty boy 3 (happy cheekbone bby)

^pretty boy 4 (the prettiest of them all, and he knows it!)

^pretty boy 5 (aka Taehyung danced around the set of a historical drama and made everyone adopt him as their bby) 

3. Faith/The Great Doctor: This is a longer kdrama at 24 episodes and they didn’t have much of a budget so special effects aren’t the best or anything but I just got really attached to all the characters? This is another modern girl goes back in time but UNLIKE SHR it actually has a happy ending, so if you need a historical drama cleanse after that tearjerker/enrager, this could be it for you

Eun Soo has to navigate the ancient kingdom, keep people believing she is a heavenly doctor with special powers, and keep Choi Young alive so he can fulfill his promise of returning her to her own time. The problem with that is Choi Young does have kind of a death wish because of reasons—

Eun Soo is a plastic surgeon who would really like a rich handsome husband one day but them’s the breaks for you, aka she has had no luck in that department. Back in ancient Korea, Choi Young (played by Lee Minho in sadly the only role I really love him in) is a high-ranking beloved captain who can fall asleep anywhere. Oh he can also make electricity with his hands! :D

The story begins when the sleepy sad captain tries to escort the new king and queen to their palace. This was during the time period when ancient Korea was basically a puppet kingdom/tributary of ancient China (Yuan). The king (who is very smol and lacks confidence, but still has a good heart for his country) lived as a hostage in Yuan for many years, and his wise tol queen is a princess of that land, and someone needs to sit them down and make them talk because they actually love each other a lot. Anyway, when the queen gets injured by assassins, Choi Young goes searching for a legendary doctor, winds up in modern Korea, and steals both Eun Soo and a SWAT shield, because hey, it looked cool I guess

Lots of fun things in the show: Choi Young has a crew of soldiers who are BEYOND loyal to him, and while he doesn’t think much of the king at first because he’s been burned by kings before, they slowly become bros and shippers on deck for each other. Eun Soo does not lose her spunk or loyalty unlike other people I could mention *cough*HaeSoofromScarletHeartRyeo*, and it cracks me up when she curses people out. There are also a bunch of people (mostly bad guys) running around with special powers or gifts, including a flame lady and a flute boy, and the latter wears delightful anime wigs, keeps his sword in his flute, and plays his flute to kill—literally! I love flute boy very much 

sorry it’s black and white but DO YOU SEE THE SWAT SHIELD

4. My Country: A New Age:

ANGST ANGST ANGST PAAAAAIN BUT ALSO BEST INTRO BEST FAVES BEST ACTORS

Picture this: two young men, who both hail from childhoods of trauma, who grew up together and are best friends, and who are tragically forced apart and end up on opposite sides of a conflict that threatens to upend the current rule of the kingdom. This IS the star-crossed brotp you’ve been waiting for!

Seo Hwi is the son of a general who died a criminal, and all he wants is to live simply and earn enough rice take care of his younger sister, who has seizures and a sweet crush on Hwi’s bestie. Hwi is the best softest most loyal boy with a good and true heart, a great deal of courage, and a talent for wielding a sword, and just wait till you see the best one-shot fight scene ever of him in battle, it is INCREDIBLE! (He is played by Yang Se Jong, who I now want to see more of) Hwi has an abundance of charisma points in that he picks up a small band of loyal soldier friends and they become the best little found family, lots of brotp-ness in this crew—do not mess with any of them because they will all FIGHT you

Seon Ho meanwhile is the illegitimate despised son of a powerful nobleman, only tolerated because the legitimate son died. Seon Ho loves his friend and is very protective of his friend’s little sister who crushes on him but his dad is a high class grade A power-hungry jerk and that causes complications of course. Seon Ho also has a good heart, he’s a gentle soul really, but he always gets stuck in bad positions and unfortunately makes a couple of difficult/bad choices so he hardens himself as much as he can but the consequences always kill him and he just wants to save his friends and destroy his dad and the stupid hierarchy that treats bastards as lesser. WHY IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK? 

Seon Ho he is played by Woo Do Hwan who has so much talent I die so many times over in this show just because of the way he portrays Seon Ho like that sad sad boy is one of my favorite characters evER! Is he problematic? At times maybe but I am HERE for him he just needs LOVE AND AFFECTION AND AN ABUNDANCE OF GOOD FRIENDS BUT INSTEAD (SOMETIMES THRU HIS OWN FAULT BUT HE ADMITS THAT) HE JUST SUFFERS AND SO I SUFFERRRR

*grabs a towel and dries up my tears*

Hwi also falls in love with a woman named Hui Jae (or was it Hee Jae i can’t remember) and they are very cute together, she’s pretty cool but the show’s one failing is arguably that they kind of underuse her in the plot as the story goes on? But I still like her and she still has a good role, and she is both brave and kind and not afraid to step in or tell people off, also keep a weather eye open for patching up scenes! 

Oh yeah, eVERYONE in this gets hurt/stabbed/shot/bloody, such a shame they have to take their shirts off to clean and bandage the wounds ;)

Last character I must mention is Bang Won, played by Jang Hyuk in his second interpretation of the historical figure. Bang Won is the fifth? son of the guy who becomes emperor/king, and he has his own plans for the country, so when Hwi catches his eye, he recruits him to his cause.  What you need to know about him is that he has issues with his dad, is slightly unhinged, and cannot and should not be parted from the fan that he constantly carries around with him. Gotta say, Jang Hyuk is FANTASTIC (heheheheheheh) in the role, able to convey all kinds of emotion in the rise and fall of his voice, in the tilt of his head, the tears of his eyes, the flick of his fan. Give this actor all the awards! 

To sum up: if you like to cry for days after watching a drama, if you like excellent heart-wrenching brotps, if you like conflicted characters, if you like amazing music and setting and plot, if you like guys with good hair and arm muscles (and 

abs, thank you shirtless scenes what) this show is a Must Watch 

DID I SAY STAR-CROSSED BROTP I MEANT SWORD-CROSSED BROTP ADKJFADLSKJFLKJDFALKDGKLJL </3

~

Ok I was going to leave the historical drama post at this for now but...I’m going to cheat a little and include the one historical C!drama I just finished.Yes folks I am talking about:

5. Nirvana in Fire:

Ok so maybe the switch from kdrama to cdrama makes you uncertain. Maybe the fact that this show has FIFTY-FOUR EPISODES makes you go hell no I don’t have enough time for that. Well if you overlook this show for those reasons, you are making, and I do not exaggerate, the greatest mistake of your show-watching life!

Look, first, this drama has one of the best, most intricate, most satisfying plots in history, with like 20 characters you would die for, and second, the episodes are only about 42 minutes each, which is shorter than most kdrama episodes, so you can deal.

Once upon a time there was a general/family who were just too good to exist in corrupt old China, so naturally they were framed for treason and there was a giant massacre and everybody died, including the eldest prince who was like um dad maybe this is all a horrible mistake and the king was like no u are the mistake. Sad times.

One of the many younger princes named Jing (A NOBLE HEART, if not always the cleverest) returns home from wherever he was, finds out that not only did his prince brother die, but so did his best friend/brother in the whole wide world, Lin Shu, son of the general. Because he insists on the innocence of said bros/family, Jing becomes an outcast prince and is shuffled off to fight in wars where he can’t cause any trouble. Meanwhile, Princess Nihuang, Lin Shu’s brave, awesome, amazing, wise, incredible girlfriend, refuses to marry anyone else, and because she is too cool to be messed with, nobody tries to banish her

Cut to I think eleven years later, when the two most powerful princes are vying to be the crown prince and heir to the throne. They both try to recruit the aid of a renowned clever and sassy strategist named Mei Changsu, to help them with plotting and PR and such.

Well little do they know that Mei Changsu is actually the not-dead Lin Shu, with a completely new face (for reasons), and that Mei Changsu is a chess master setting up a long con for the dual purpose of obtaining revenge/justice for the dead and of raising Prince Jing to the throne, since Prince Jing is the only man with a good enough heart and strong enough will to make China a better place for all the people. But just to make it hard on everybody, Mei Changsu is dead set on not telling anyone who he really is—again, for reasons. He is not always successful in keeping his secret.

I literally don’t know what else to say because there is so MUCH to say, so many characters to love, and I mean LOVE. How do you get a cast this good? How is everyone so different yet so important? How do you feel bad for the emperor even when he’s slimy? How do you have to stop yourself from rooting for the prince who would destroy some of your faves? I can’t praise the charisma and acting talent in this show enough! And the music! IS GORGEOUS!

1 strategist too sassy for his own good and too clever for everyone else’s good + 1 prince who loves his mom and his dead best friend and his dead older brother more than anything else in the world + 1 gentle wise mom + 1 eternally loyal princess who would defend her loved ones with the sword if necessary + 1 sassy Elrond healer man + 1 grumpy sulky baby who loves being a better fighter than almost everyone + 1 loyal to the death, brave badass general who is going to have a stress breakdown if the strategist doesn’t take better care of himself + not 1 but 2 good boys who deserve to be protected but who are willing to throw themselves into battle if necessary + 1 antagonist tiger prince who I love and am not ashamed to say it = THE BEST OF TIMES

^he hardly ever wears his hair down but when he does <33333333

*checks calendar* how soon is too soon rewatch something, asking for a friend

[lefaystrent]

Can we get more of the Nursing Home AU please?

Part 1, Part 2

Virgil doesn’t always stay the newguy.

There’s a new new guy on theblock.

“You can call me Dee,” the man sayswhen Virgil meets the new physical therapist.

There are tattoos covering the lefthalf of his face, green scales running from his jaw to his hairline.

He’s also got heterochromia, theleft eye a glacial-blue and the right brown.

And he’s wearing a bowler hat andyellow gloves. Not as part of his uniform attire, but like as a life choice.

Virgil had never met an animebad-guy character in real life.

Virgil gives him a guarded waveinstead of shaking the hand he offers.

Dee retracts the hand after amoment, not showing the slightest bit of offense.

“Isn’t this great?” Patton saysfrom beside them, having brought them together to be introduced. “Meeting newpeople is fun!”

Virgil stares at him like he’sgrown another head.

How long had it taken Patton towarm up to Virgil?

Weeks? A couple months?

And now he was immediately chummywith this new guy who threw up more red flags than Virgil’s little prison stintever could?

Virgil gives the universe hismiddle finger.

The truth is Patton had beenalarmed when he first saw Dee.

But Dee is the smoothesttalker, able to charm anyone who gives him a fraction of a second.

“Society can be rather condemnatoryof those who dare to embrace individuality, don’t you think?” he had askedPatton upon first meeting.

“Oh yeah, absolutely,” Pattonnodded along, completely enamored.

After all, Patton had judged Virgilright off the bat without getting to know him, hadn’t he?

He didn’t want to make the samemistake twice.

“He seems nifty, yeah?” Patton asksVirgil for his opinion.

Virgil shrugs noncommittally. “Iguess.”

He inwardly grumbles to himselfthat the tattoos are actually really cool.

It’s so not fair. Who does this guythink he is? All that trying so hard to stand out will surely come to bite himin the end.

Virgil feels a little validatedwhen it does bite him.

Or rather Remus bites him.

“There’s a snake in our midst!”Remus hollers in faux-concern before cackling.

“You bit me! You actuallybit me!” Dee growls.

“That’ll be twenty bucks!” Remusholds his hand out expectantly.

Virgil has never been more proud ofthe crazy old coot than in this moment.

Logan tells Virgil his thoughts onthe new physical therapist later.

“He’s clearly well-read, cunning,and charming.”

“Sooo, you like him then?”

“I never said that. If nothingelse, I would not be opposed to challenging him to a game of chess. Which wouldsubsequently end in soul-crushing defeat for him, of course.”

“Logan buddy, have I ever told youhow much I appreciate you?”

Okay, so Logan might admittedly bea little salty that his ex-husband is enamored with the new physical therapist.

Roman is hit with Dee’s charm and‘cool’ aesthetic, and he can’t get over it.

“He looks like a Disney villain!”Roman raves.

Virgil silently agrees.

“And he’s just so smooth. Hepulls the look off so well, and he’s so smart! Why, if I was thirty yearsyounger . . .”

Virgil does not agree with this. Infact, Virgil very much disagrees with this and would like to stop talking aboutthis now.

Suffice it to say, there’s a lot ofhits and misses amongst the staff and old folk when it comes to the newphysical therapist. Lots of them fall for his charms. Others say he’s tryingtoo hard or the more religious elderly scoff in disdain at his looks and say,“He needs to go to church.”

As time goes by, Virgil finds outthat Dee is none of these things.

Okay, yeah, Dee is kinda trying toohard.

But more than anything, Dee’s justa huge dork.

Virgil catches him one day practicinglines in a mirror while he thinks no one else is around.

“Why yes, Patton. My hat really isname brand,” he says to his reflection in a silky tone. He frowns, adjustshis posture and tries again with a slightly different tone.

Virgil backs out of the room beforehe can be seen.

He walks away quickly, wonderingwhat he just witnessed.

Virgil never brings it up toanyone. He doesn’t know how to put what he saw into words anyway.

On a later day, Virgil is chillingin the break room getting his mac and cheese on.

Breaking news, the universe still hatesVirgil because Dee walks in to take his break as well.

Virgil pointedly ignores him.

Dee pointedly grabs his food fromthe fridge and sits down right in front of Virgil.

There are other seats in the room.

“Love the new eyeshadow, Virgil.Totally doesn’t make you look like you haven’t slept in a week.”

“This . . . is literally the sameeyeshadow I wear every day.”

“Really? Guess I’ve never noticed.”

Virgil grips his plastic forktighter and imagines Patton appearing beside him to say, “Stabbing people inthe eye is wrong, Virgil. Even if they are rude meanie butts.”

Instead, Virgil stabs viciouslyinto his bowl of cheesy noodles.

“Cool gloves, Dee,” he‘compliments’ back. “Where’d you get them? Your grandmother’s kitchen?”

Dee eyes his gloves. “. . . yesss.”

It’s not so much of a conversationas it is a series of thinly-veiled insults.

They end their break with no realwinner.

“I so enjoyed our lunch together,”Dee says afterwards. “We should definitely do this again sometime.”

Virgil still can’t tell whetherhe’s being serious or sarcastic.

So he points a finger at him.

“You’re on,” Virgil declares. Hewalks down the hall backwards, pointing between his eyes and Dee in theuniversal gesture to show he’s got his eye on him.

Whenever Virgil doesn’t spend hisbreaks with Patton, Dee appears.

They verbally spar each time.

It becomes a thing.

And Virgil’s . . . kinda havingfun, to be honest.

He still doesn’t trust that snakeface though!

They don’t always trade barbsthough. Sometimes they just sit in silence, too tired to do anything but eat andstare at their phones.

Virgil looks up one day and seeswhat Dee’s looking at.

“Is that Steven Universe?” Virgilasks.

Dee slams down his phone hardenough to shake the table. He’s sitting ramrod straight in his seat, wide-eyedgaze pointed at Virgil.

Virgil stares back with equallywide eyes. “Dude, I think you just cracked your phone.”

“Totally didn’t crack anything,”Dee says completely unconvincingly.

He gives in and sneaks a peak athis phone screen. Virgil can’t see it from where he sits, but he can see theway Dee winces.

“Just the screen protector, I’msure . . .”

“Uh . . . you should probablycheck?”

“Marvelous idea,” Dee agrees andproceeds to sit there staring down at his phone.

“Okaaay.” Virgil decides to duckout. He tosses his trash away and sweeps out the room.

For some unfathomable reason, helingers outside the door, just out of sight.

He peeks in after a minute.

Yes Dee is still sitting therelooking sadly at his phone.

“My phone . . .” Dee murmurs sadlyto himself.

Okay, that’s just low, universe.You can’t make the smarmy charmy dickbag look all sad and junk.

Alright, so Dee isn’t that muchof a dickbag as Virgil originally thought.

Still doesn’t help that Virgil haslike zero comforting skills. He hurries away to find Patton in hisoffice.

“Uh, you should like, dip into yourcookie stash and give Dee one or something,” Virgil suggests.

“What do you mean?” Patton asks, startledat Virgil’s abrupt appearance and even more random request.

“He’s in the breakroom and he’s sad.”

Patton rises up from his seat witha purpose and a bag of cookies suddenly in hand. “Say no more.”

 _______________________________________________________________

General Tag List: @spectralheartt @a-pastel-pan @notalwaysthevillian @rose-gold-roman @ijustrealizedhowdumbmynamewas @katie-the-noble-fangirl @yourroyalydramaticanxiousness @aroundofapplesauce @merlybird500 @beach-fan @jemthebookworm @whats-going-on-kiddos @randomsandersides @gamerfreddie @unring-this-bell @analogicallythinking @lilygold23 @levy-the-b00kw0rm @tacochippy @accio-hufflepuff-power1 @just-another-rainbowblog @georganabanana @grey-says-heck @crookedlyoptimisticdestiny @thesynysterunknown @idont-know-what-im-doing @idioticsky @fadingglowcloud @whizzie72 @theinvisiblespoon @greyyy523 @opaque-puppet @just-fic-me-up @wowimsogoddamnoriginal @sos-fandoms @loganeatsbooks @trust-is-overrated @theitalianalchemist @im-crunchie @mourning--star @4amanxiety @hogwarts-my-love @enby-phoenix @justanotherpurplebutterfly @internet-or-sleep @absolutesandersidestrash @seaspider10 @nonasficcollection @satanblessi @an-absolute-failure @analogical-mess @noisyeggpizzapatrol @hamilsandersfam @cefinitely-rolo @thgjclw @knight-shives @no-no-no-no-6 @savingshae @rabbitsartcorner @buddypallady @midnight-tragedyy @007ardra @fandomloverangel @dorkoverse @moodytrash06 @mirrorz-n-starz @idunnosong @lcrnbw @ollyollyoxinfree @cuter-on-the-inside

Nursing Home List: @thirteenashmctrash @figurative-falsehood @oddball-wqri @comicsimpson @hit-or-mish

[unfortunate-arrow]

The July Ball (pt 3)

[Part 1] [Part 2] [ Featuring Tessa & Gracie Chiva from @danceworshipper , Sydney Phoenix from @hufflepuffs-honor , & Henri & Genevieve Rys from @daniella-gisele-rys.]

Part 3: Dinner & Dancing

“So, I think we should go around and introduce ourselves. Say our name and house,” Sara said, breaking the silence. “I’ll start. I’m Sara O’Donnell and I’m in Hufflepuff. As all of you are sure to know, I’m a quadruplet.” 

“Alright, alright. I’m Cara O’Donnell and I’m in Slytherin. I’m Sara’s older sister.” Cara smirked at her sister. 

“By twenty-one minutes! Plus we’re all older than Conor!” 

“H-h-hey!” Conor exclaimed. 

“Anyways! Who wants to go next?” 

“I’ll go. I’m Sydney Phoenix and I’m in Hufflepuff with Sara,” the dark haired girl waved at the group from her spot next to Ryan. 

“I’m Genevieve Rys and I’m in Ravenclaw with my twin brother,” another girl with dark hair said. 

“I’m Henri, Genevieve's twin brother and I’m also in Ravenclaw,” the dark haired boy said. 

“I’m Ryan O’Donnell and I’m in Gryffindor. I’m the oldest!” Ryan said, placing all his emphasis on the word “oldest.” Conor leaned over and flicked Ryan on the ear. Ryan retaliated and very quickly, the two brothers were flicking one another. 

“My god! Can you two go ten minutes without attacking each other?” Sara demanded glaring at her brothers. 

“Uh, I’m Barnaby Lee and I’m also in Slytherin,” the boy interrupted before the three siblings could start in on full fledged bickering. 

“I’m Tessa Chiva and I’m in Slytherin as well,” a third girl with dark hair said. 

“I’m Gracie Chiva. I’m Tessa’s twin sister and in Slytherin, too,” the white haired girl said. 

“I’m Conor O’Donnell. I’m in R-R-R-Ravenclaw,” Conor said, trying to ignore the heat that was making its way up his cheeks. 

There was a lengthy swell of awkward silence before food started to appear on their plates. There was roast chicken, mashed potatoes, slabs of beef, green beans, mac n’ cheese, and, in the center of the table, a large bowl filled with rolls. The kids filled their plates and let the sounds of forks and knives fill the silence.

“Suck it!” Ryan exclaimed, smacking Conor’s hand away from the rolls on his plate. 

“No way, you suck it!” Conor snapped back, reaching a second time to steal a roll, only to get smacked again. 

“Three, two, one! Suck it!” the two boys exclaimed in unison, glaring at one another before dissolving into a whisper argument, where the phrase “suck it” could be heard every three words. 

The six occupants of the table who were not acquainted with Ryan’s and Conor’s behavior stared at them. “Are they always like this?” Gracie asked. 

“Yeah,” Sara answered. Cara smirked and added, “You’re just lucky they didn’t decide to sing it. I can’t tell you how often we have to deal with those two dumbasses yelling or singing ‘suck it’ at one another.” 

“Wow. I think I’m glad I only have one brother if that’s how brothers act,” Sydney said. 

“I think it’s only because we’re all the same age. I’ve never seen another set of brothers act like those two,” Cara said. 

“Ry, Con, knock it off. Oh, and Conor, just take a roll from the bowl, not Ryan’s plate,” Sara exclaimed, exasperatedly. 

“He’s j-just h-hoarding them!” Conor snapped, glaring at his brother. 

“Am not! There are plenty left!” Ryan snapped back.

“Guys! Uncle Doyle,” Cara hissed, effectively ending any further argument on the issue of rolls and whether Ryan was hoarding them or not. 

They fell into another awkward silence. 

“So, uh, why did your uncle look at my step-mom so weirdly?” Sydney asked, breaking the silence. 

“Oh. Is she muggleborn?” Ryan asked. 

“Yeah.”

“That’s why. Our dad is a ‘filthy mudblood.’” 

“He’s like my parents,” Barnaby said. 

“If by that you mean a jackass, then yes,” Ryan said, earning an elbow to the gut from Conor this time.

“Let me apologize for my brother, Barnaby. He doesn’t think before he speaks,” Sara said, offering the Slytherin boy a shy smile as Ryan faked a hurt gasp. 

“It’s okay. He’s not wrong.” Barnaby returned Sara’s smile, his cheeks turning an unnoticed pink. 

Once dinner had finished, gentle, orchestral music began to fill the ballroom. The adults began to pair off and soon, the ballroom was filled with dancing couples. The kids stood up and moved to the wall, as the tables began to move themselves out of the way. They looked at one another uncomfortably, none quite sure what they should do. 

“Uncle Doyle sh-sh-should have ch-chosen The Who,” Conor muttered under his breath. 

“He wouldn’t touch The Who with a fifty foot pole for two reasons, Con. Firstly, it’s not dancing music,” Cara said. 

“Y-y-you could dance to ‘Bargain’ or ‘Love Ain’t For Keeping.’” 

“Sure you could, Con. Secondly, and most importantly, The Who are a muggle band. Uncle Doyle despises anything muggle-related.” 

“Well, we should probably get on with dancing,” Ryan said interrupting his siblings. 

The kids awkwardly paired off and quietly made their way onto the dance floor. Ryan locked his hands together as his arms wound around Sydney’s neck. The two kids swayed together, with Ryan leading the best he could. 

“So. What are you looking forward to next year?” Sydney asked. 

“Uh. Care of Magical Creatures sounds fun,” Ryan said. 

“Yeah, I think that class will be really fun, too. I love creatures and animals.”

“Yeah, they’re alright. I really like my toad, Lir. Plus, the four of us share a cat, Duchess, and an owl, Archimedes.” 

“Why’d you choose those names?”

“Lir’s a sea god in Irish mythology, but he’s also a king, whose kids were turned into swans. Duchess is from The Aristocats while Archimedes is from The Sword in The Stone. They’re muggle movies.” 

“Ah.”

Meanwhile, Conor was awkwardly dancing with Tessa. Ninety-nine percent of the boy’s concentration was on his feet. He did not want to step on Tessa’s feet. He also had no sense of timing which made it hard to do anything fancier than swaying. 

“Do you like quidditch?” Tessa asked, and Conor looked up from his feet, frowning. 

“Huh?” His cheeks felt warm, but at least this time it wasn’t because of his stammer. 

“Do you like quidditch?” 

“Oh. Y-yeah. I play s-s-s-seeker.” His cheeks burned even more. 

“I play chaser. Are you on your house team?”

“Y-yes. After R-R-R-Ryker got h-hurt and quit. Ryan and Cara both play ch-chaser.” 

“What team do you support?” 

“Oh, we s-support the Kenmare Kestrels and the Ballycastle Bats.” 

“You support two teams? Most people only support one.”

“Well, the Bats and Kestrels are the only Irish teams. The Bats are N-n-northern Ireland, which is the UK. The K-kestrels are the R-r-republic. Mum’s mum was from Northern Ireland, while the m-majority of the f-f-family is from the R-r-r-republic.” 

“Wow. You’ve really thought about it.” 

“Eh. Not r-r-really.” 

Meanwhile, Cara had forgone all traditional ideas and had ended up dancing with Gracie. At least, after she had danced with Henri, where the two had also discussed quidditch and classes for the next year. 

“Why didn’t you stare at me like I had two heads?” Gracie asked after a few moments of silence. 

“Well, we’re used to getting stares all the time. We are quadruplets, and Conor stammers. I figured that you wouldn’t want to be stared at. I know I hate it when we get stared at,” Cara answered. 

“Oh. I’ve seen you around the common room and in classes, but nowhere else.” 

“I’m usually hanging out with Ryan, Sara, Conor, Ash and Rowan Khanna, Ben Copper, Penny Haywood, and the two Weasley boys after classes.”

“Oh. So you don’t spend much time in the common room?”

“Nah. Although, Sara will probably pester me to get to know Barnaby better.” 

“He’s not the brightest, but he does have a kind heart.”

“Yeah, he can’t be too bad if Sara likes him. Then again, I’m not sure how many people Hufflepuffs instantly dislike.”

“They are probably the most likely to give people a chance.”

The two girls grinned and kept dancing. 

Meanwhile, Sara found herself with her arms wrapped around Barnaby’s neck. There was something thrilling about being so close to a cute boy. They swayed gently to the music, neither having danced much before. 

“I’m sorry if I step on your toes,” Barnaby said. 

“I’m sorry if I step on your toes, too,” Sara replied 

“Doyle, I don’t know why you invited mudbloods,” a woman said suddenly, her voice carrying throughout the whole ballroom.  

Barnaby groaned, his eyes sliding shut. “That’s my mother.” 

“Come dear, it’s well known that many pure-bloods must interbreed with the less clean. That includes you, Doyle,” a male voice added. 

“My father,” Barnaby groaned again. 

“Yes, I’m aware of my blood status, Lyra, Cygnus.” Doyle’s voice was very intense and nearly every person in the ballroom had frozen. 

“Yes, well, we do all remember that your father had been disowned and only gained this manor because your grandfather was arrested,” Cygnus Lee said. 

“There was no solid evidence that Tadhg Lynch was murdered by my grandfather,” Doyle replied, his voice infused with venom. 

While the loud conversation had started, the ten kids had all drifted back to the chairs against the wall. As it grew more heated, a couple appeared and beckoned Sydney to come with them. The girl waved at the other kids and said, “It was nice to meet you. Hopefully we’ll see more of each other.” It wasn’t long before the Rys twins joined their parents in leaving. It appeared that the loud conversation about “mudbloods” had cleared out nearly half the guests. 

“Well, not everyone can be a part of the sacred twenty-eight,” Doyle snapped. 

“Well, we don’t have any mudbloods in our recent heritage. Your mother was one as was your brother-in-law,” Cygnus said. 

Cara groaned and sighed. “This is why Slytherin has such a bad reputation.” 

“Yep,” Gracie agreed, as both Tessa and Barnaby nodded. The seven remaining kids sighed and listened to the heated debate about blood status. 

“Is he going to hex someone?” Ryan asked, his leg bouncing. 

“My parents may,” Barnaby muttered.

“I hope not,” Sara said. 

“Wait. Did we know that our great-grandfather was arrested for killing his own brother?” Ryan asked. 

“N-no,” Conor answered. 

“Damn. Mum’s side is messed up.” 

“Not as messed as our mother’s side. She’s a Black,” Gracie offered. 

“Yeah, we’ve got Cain and Abel though.”

“Who?” 

“Cain and Abel are from a muggle religion, Christianity. Basically, one brother murdered the other.” 

“Oh.” 

The kids fell back into silence, only interrupting to have a few odd chats here and there. 

“Girls, we’re leaving now,” the paranoid man from before said to the Chiva twins.

“It was nice to meet you guys. Maybe we’ll see you around Hogwarts,” Gracie said, before she and Tessa waved and followed their parents out of the ballroom. 

It was nearing eleven when Doyle finally allowed the quadruplets to head off to bed. Most of the guests had left by then, and all four siblings were dead on their feet 

Ryan grinned, his arms draped over Conor’s and Sara’s shoulders. “Well, at least Uncle Doyle won’t hex us.” 

“That’s ‘cause he was too busy trying to impress all those rich and powerful dudes to notice our bickering,” Cara said, rolling her eyes. 

“Well, he still won’t hex us.”

[jamesashtonisbae]

She Sets the City on Fire Part 1

She Sets the City on Fire Part 1

Word Count: 1453

Pairing: Logan x MC; Colt x MC 

Book: Ride or Die

Rating: M

Warnings: Swearing - J. Cole lyrics

Summary: Aleigha is a good girl gone bad.  She’s going to try to keep both parts of herself.  

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters, Pixelberry studios does!

Author’s Note: This flew off my fingers and is one of my favorite ideas I’ve had.  I love good girl gone bad Aleigha.  Ingrid starts as the narrator briefly, but MC will be the narrator for almost all the rest.

Tagging: @desiree-0816​ because she is my ROD encourager.  Also @brightpinkpeppercorn​ and @princessstellaris​ because 100 years ago (June or July) when I wrote a Logan x MC fic they were so kind to comment and ask to be put on a tag list!

Songs: Middle Child, Miss America, Motiv8 by J. Cole

Ingrid 

“Where are you going?” Ingrid asked as Aleigha as she flat-ironed her hair one last time.  Ingrid took in her roommate’s zebra Yeezy Boost’s, prison orange pants with a cutout where she could see Aleigha’s black lace panties, black bandeau showing severe underboob, and thick orange choker. 

“Out,” Aleigha said as she applied some nude lipstick.

“What on earth are you wearing?  You look like a traffic cone,” Ingrid shoved a bite of takeout into her mouth.

“A hot traffic cone?” Aleigha stuck out her tongue as she touched up her mascara.

More like a hot mess, Ingrid thought.  Out loud she said, “You’ll have no shortage of guys who want to fuck you, that’s for sure.”

“Good. That means they’ll underestimate me.”

“Aleigha, where are you going?” Ingrid insisted.  Who was Aleigha talking about that would underestimate her?  Ingrid never knew what Aleigha was talking about, but especially not when she was being so cryptic.

“Out.”

Ingrid blew out an exasperated breath at her roommate.  All throughout the summer, Aleigha would take off for hours upon end, and she had no idea where she went.  Whenever Ingrid would text her, she would get a ‘Message Not Delivered’ response.  But, as long as Aleigha kept her side of the room clean and didn’t wake her up when she came home late, Ingrid didn’t really care where Aleigha was going and what she was doing with her time. 

Maybe she should have cared a little more.

Aleigha

Aleigha left her dorm in what she knew was the most revealing outfit she could possibly have worn.  It had taken her months to find the underground racing connections in Boston, but with a well-placed bet on the MLB All-Star game, she won one name.

With that one name, she had been able to prove she was a damn good driver.  She outsmarted more experienced drivers, outpaced faster cars, and took down whole crews.  Tonight was her first night attending an actual sideshow since LA.  It was her first night competing as the solo driver ever.

She got into her firetruck red car, and batted, in order, the dice hanging from her rearview window, the sparkplug necklace next to it, and the cactus ornament on her dash.  After one last glance, she put LA out of her mind.

Every day she thought about getting a new paint job.  She knew it wouldn’t change anything about anyone finding her, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it.  She’d dyed her hair blonde, she’d gotten blue-colored contacts, she’d gotten a phoenix sleeve tattoo.  But changing her car was something she wasn’t ready to do.

She flicked on her stereo, turning up J. Cole’s The Fall Off album, losing herself in the beat and the poetry.  She loved driving in races, the precision, the strategy, the adrenaline all made her feel alive.  Aleigha was a student, always studying the best outcomes and the best means to the desire end.  And so, she was well-suited to racing.  But, she loved letting go and just driving for fun.  Like right now.

10 minutes later, she pulled up at the location.  As she got out and stood out in front of her car, she knew that all her hard work had paid off.  Not to get into Langston, instead, to get into this sideshow.  She was finally home.

After a couple hours of interacting with people, talking about her car and her experience in Boston, trying to get anyone to take her on their crew, the races finally started.  She had made it into the second to last one, the headliner was some out of towner everyone referred to as “The Troublemaker”.  The irony of that being Logan’s nickname for her was not lost on her, but when she asked what he drove, she was told he drove some model she’d never heard of, not a Devore GT.

“Why do you care, Babe?  It’s not him you’ll be going home with at the end of the night,” a burly man in a wifebeater said, leaning down toward her.

Internally, she cringed, but externally, she winked and said, “I know I’ll need some consoling if the Troublemaker beats me tonight.  You’ll be on the list, big guy.”

He grinned, a big toothless grin, and finally walked away.  She shuddered, then got into her car to drive it up to the start.  As she fiddled with her radio, trying to get the volume on the right number, her playlist in the right order, and her ornaments in the right position, she heard other cars pull up next to her.  Deciding to ignore them, she looked up at the girl holding the flag and wearing the same outfit she was, basically, and waited for the signal.

I’m counting my bullets

I’m loading my clips 

I’m writing down names 

I’m making a list

I’m checking it twice and I’m getting ‘em hit

The real ones been dyin’

The fake ones is lit

This game is off balance

I’m back on my shit

The Bentley is dirty

My sneakers is dirty

But that’s how I like it

She took in a deep breath, and then the flag went down.  In an instant she had thrown her car into gear and jumped to a fast start.  She maneuvered out in front of her competitors and was flying down the track. 

Even if it was a bit flawed, her strategy was start ahead and stay ahead.  She knew her car was not as fast as others, so sometimes she wouldn’t be able to win with that strategy, but if she fooled people into thinking she couldn’t maintain it and she did, she’d be fine.  She banked on everyone underestimating her and thinking she was naïve.  So she leaned into it a lot.

And the fact that she timed her playlist to the track she was driving required her to start ahead and stay ahead.

A glance in her rearview told her a car was keeping up right behind her.  She knew that trying to block out this one car would probably mean that someone else would pass her.  So she let him pull alongside her.  She didn’t dare look, but she knew it had to be The Troublemaker.

They stayed that way around curves and corners and past the halfway mark and all the way to the final straightaway.  She knew he was going to be very precise when he turned on his NOS, so she would have to be on her A game.

She held until she knew she heard her cue to release.

Fuck the man, Uncle Sam I won’t sell your crack

I won’t fight your wars, I won’t wear your hat

I’mma pass your classes, I’mma learn your craft

I’mma fuck your daughters, I’mma burn your flag

As soon as she heard it, she released the valve.  She shot out in front of the person next to her and knew he had done it a second too late.  She knew she had won.  All she had to do was hold her car straight.

When she crossed the line a few moments ahead of the other driver, she sighed in relief.  It was nice to have beaten someone who was pretty renowned at her first sideshow.  She grinned and cranked her music, listening to her last few bars. 

Too many times I swallowed my pride

I'm crackin' a smile, I'm dyin' inside

My demons are close, I'm tryin' to hide

I'm poppin' a pill, I'm feelin' alive

She was lost in the lyrics when she heard a knock on her window.  Looking out, she saw the sideshow organizer looking in at her. 

“You getting out,” he glanced down at his list and read her name, “Lennon St. James?”

“Yes.  One second,” she turned to her glovebox and pulled out an orange hat, just to cover herself a little more and make herself even less recognizable.

She walked over to claim her prize money, getting second looks from all the people who had spoken to her earlier and told her they didn’t have room for her in their crew.  A couple of men whistled at her still, but now looked like they had a healthy fear of her.

Aleigha took the cash the organizer held out to her, then turned to head back to her car.  She was bumped by whoever the second-place finisher was on his way to get the cash on her way back.  It knocked her off center and she fell to the ground, disgusted.

“Hey!” she shouted, glancing up into a familiar pair of chocolate brown eyes. 

“You know, there are easier ways to get my attention.”

“Lo…” she breathed out. 

“Hey Troublemaker.”

[spaceorphan18]

Brother Bear

Alright - I’m going to just get it out.  I didn’t like this movie.  I don’t think it’s a bad movie, I don’t think it’s terrible -- it holds together decently, the plot is, well, what it is, the animation is nice, the music is... okay the music is pretty terrible, but that’s an entirely different thought.  Anyway, it’s fine as a cohesive movie, and I’m sure there are kids everywhere who enjoy it.  But the main conflict of this film just does not work for me.  

So, the film takes place way back in the day with Native Alaskans (I was kinda bummed to find out they weren’t Canadian - Disney needs to do a Canadian film.)  It was originally supposed to be a King Lear type film (!!! - that would have been fascinating) because these were the creators of Lion King and wanted to recapture that magic, and oh god does it try to mimic a lot of Lion King’s style.  

But the plot is of these three brothers -- and you can tell right off the bat this is a ‘boy movie’.  (rolls eyes, that isn’t even what bothers me.)  I did like the opening bit and the dynamic of the three brothers -- I kinda wish the film had been about them and not about animals at all because there’s an interesting set-up that kind of goes in a different direction entirely once the film gets into its plot.

The film is about a boy who needs to learn how to love.  He ends up killing a bear, because a bear was semi-responsible for his brother’s death.  So he ends up a bear, and a surrogate big brother to a smaller bear, who happens to be the son of the mother bear he killed.  And... I just can’t get over that twist.  It doesn’t work.  It just feels dumb. And I feel like the main character can’t really come back from that, even when the film tries.   And then the guy decides to stay a bear.  Which is... ug.   

On top of that, the entire time he’s a bear, his brother is hunting him down because the brother thinks that he was responsible for killing himself.  But the brother doesn’t have to go through the same thing nor learn the same lessons? I feel like this film contradicts itself all over the place.  

In general, too, the film feels a little overwrought -- hitting you over the head with the whole ‘love all creatures’ theme (except salmon - that’s okay to eat).  Everything feels a little too on the nose, and that would be fine if the characters were a bit more engaging but I don’t think they ever really work.  

 Anyway -- the animation is nice.  I like the opening, more realistic style better than when they went straight up cartoony for when he’s turned into a bear, but it’s never bad, which is a nice element.  

The music, oh god... They got Phil Collins back, which isn’t a bad idea when it worked so well for Tarzan but here, man.... The must have told Phil Collins -- okay write a bunch of songs that literally say what’s going on on screen while invoking everything from the Lion King.  Seriously.  This film feels like it’s trying so hard to capture what the Lion King had going for it that it’s almost painful at times.  The music is easily the worst aspect of this film, and that’s including the weak plot.  

Oh my god, Disney, why?? 

Other Thoughts: 

This film has only two-ish female characters.  One is the spirit lady at the beginning, who doesn’t really stick around - she’s just there to be mystical.  The other is a kinda hilarious older female there who’s just there for a joke.  

There are a bunch of side character-animals in here that are really quite hilarious, including a couple of really dumb moose.  I kinda wish the film had been, also, about these random characters living their lives in Canada Alaska, because it would have been hilarious. 

One of the moose was voiced by Rick Moranis! I haven’t heard him in ages, and yet I still recognized the voice.  

The other bear characters sitting around doing their bear things was kind of cute, and yet another thing this film could have been about but was not. 

FWIW - Kenai, the main character, was voiced by Joaquin Phoenix.  There’s nothing profound about that - just thought I’d mention it.  

Seriously - this movie is trying to be the Lion King.  The music does feel like rip-off Lion King stuff, as well as some of the imagery is the same.  I kinda wish they hadn’t tried so hard, because comparisons are inevitable.  

I don’t have much to say about this film beyond that it’s frustrating to watch. 

Final Thoughts: It’s a perfectly passable, albeit annoying, film.  I think plopping a kid in front of it - they’ll be fine.  But I think it’s over reliance of cheesy themes and a plot that just doesn’t work at the end of it brings the whole thing down.  That said -- a) still better than Sword in the Stone and Dinosaur and b) the next two are supposed to be some of Disney’s worst, and gotta say, I’m looking forward to them! 

[blueplanettrash]

#Pride (Bi Lance Story)

This is for @phoenix-xox for completing my crossword puzzle second! Sorry for how long this took and I hope you like it! 💙

Ω

All his life, he knew he was “different”. He didn’t really feel things like other people did; sure he liked people, he liked a lot of people but he loved a lot of people too. Boys and girls. To many people that would be completely fine, who cares what gender he likes anyway? It’s none of their business.

Those are the people he liked, the ones that didn’t care about his love like, who he wanted to be with, etc.

It was the people who made it their business that pissed him off.

They all thought they were high and mighty, that just because he went to school with them, or that they even breathed the same air that they somehow had a right to judge him and who he finds attractive.

He’s glad now; years later that the thought of people hating him because of his sexuality angers him more than scares him.

But obviously, that wasn’t always the case. He was a kid once, just wanting to have his peers accept him for who he was. That his sexuality wasn’t something that anyone else could decide for him, and they weren’t allowed to tell him to just choose one.

As a kid, that’s daunting. Especially when you feel like you’re the only one in the world that feels that way. Then to have your classmates and friends start spouting bi-phobic bullshit without batting an eye really just struck home for him. Sometimes he would go home crying, sometimes he would go home a blank slate.

Thankfully, his family was very supportive. He would talk to his siblings, telling them all the things that he heard over the day. So many times, he had to tell them not to go to anybody about it. It was his problem and he wanted to deal with It on his own. He didn’t tell them that he just didn’t want everyone to know he was bi, at that time it was too much for him.

Going into space presented a whole other problem for him.

Number 1: The mind melds. They tried not to do to many of these activities after the first one. Yeah, they needed to learn to trust each other and although on Altea, it was a perfectly acceptable ice breaker; on Earth, it was a complete break of trust if someone wandered a bit too deep.

If they just happened to look into his mind and see his memories of school or talking to his family; he didn’t know what he’d do. Probably scream and tear off the headband and seclude himself for the rest of the day. Not very heroic for a paladin of Voltron, but whatever.

Number 2: They were beginning to encounter aliens, that looked far more human than the ones on Arus. He was pretty lucky that the mermaids he and Hunk had met were all girls, other wise it would have been awkward for him.

And finally, number 3: He wasn’t used to having such open friends before. Well, he didn’t know about other people but the people he became friends with before; they needed time to open up. It seemed like you needed to know someone for years before they would even tell him about who they’ve dated before. Like that was some huge scandalous secret.

Seriously Ryan, we were ten. Your mom is not gonna ground you because you held hands with Britany on the playground.

Either way, the point is that he didn’t have open friends before so when they all collapsed in the lounge after a rigorous training exercise and Shiro went:

“I miss my boyfriend,” he sighed, face smooshed into the lounge’s couch.

He was understandably in a state of shock.

“He’s not your boyfriend you know,” Keith smirked, dirt smeared across his face from when one of the gladiators tripped him and he fell on his face. “Besides, he wasn’t exactly supportive of your dreams before Kerberos,”

“Yeah, but still… I miss him,” Shiro lamented with a groan.

Lance was essentially stunned. He’d never even had a clue that Shiro was interested in relationships, let alone with another guy.

“What do you mean he wasn’t supportive?” Hunk asked and Lance’s head whipped over to Hunk. He wasn’t surprised? He glanced around the room and noticed that they weren’t shocked like he was, hell, Pidge wasn’t even looking up from her computer.

“Well, I had this whole “disease” thing going on,” Shiro said nonchalantly, turning over onto his back.

“Disease thing!? What are you talking about?” Hunk cried, suddenly panicked.

“Its like this degenerative disease, I’ve had it since I was a little kid, its not a big deal,”

“Is this real life?” Hunk asked, turning toward Keith.

“I know right? That was my reaction when he told me too,”

Lance felt like he was in a sort of limbo. Thankfully, no one really witnessed his inner dilemma and he was free to question everything. Shiro was so open with his sexuality and if he was being honest, he’d never seen someone be so blasé with their preferences. At that moment he wanted nothing more than to go:

“Hell yeah, I miss the earth bois too!”

But he was unsure. He knew Shiro and he knew his team. He knew that they wouldn’t judge him for anything but still, he had engrained in his mind that there were some people that you just can’t tell. Yeah, there were the people who believed that his sexuality didn’t exist and they were all over but, by far the worst people were the LGBT people that also said that he needed to choose one or the other. It never made sense to him, they knew what it felt like to beaten down and cursed at for their preferences. They fought tooth and nail to not be stigmatized yet, they would tear him down the first chance they got.

Thankfully, by going to the Garrison, he cut himself off from a lot of those people’s ideas and opinions of him. He went through his entire first year thinking the other shoe was gonna drop and someone from his hometown or old school was going to transfer over and start the whole process over again. It wouldn’t be that far off to say that he lived his school life in fear for a good part of his first year.

It was comforting to see that other people weren’t as backwards as he thought they were; or was lead to believe they were from growing up in his hometown.

Maybe he could speak up. But what if they think that he’d mocking Shiro or something? I mean, his blatant flirting with some of the alien girls would probably make them think that. He didn’t show any interest in any of the guys they’d come across so far, even though Rolo was a snack.

But, honey. That took effort on his part.

In the end, he decided to ignore the voice nagging in his head to say something and just laid back and enjoyed their night off.

Did he have a bit of a pit in his stomach the rest of the night? Yeah, he did.

Did he regret not saying anything? Not at all. He was uncomfortable and he did what he thought was right for him.

Did it feel good? Absolutely not.

Ω

He didn’t exactly know how they got on the topic of his sexuality. But suddenly he was just telling Shiro that he was bi. Maybe it was because he was sick of hiding it, maybe he felt like he was supposed to tell him. He honestly, didn’t know.

“Why didn’t you want to tell us?” Shiro asked with bewilderment. “I mean I kind of get not telling other people, but we’re pretty open here,”

“I mean we didn’t really have a heart to heart or anything like that,” he shrugged, while inside he was full on panicking.

“Oh, okay…” Shiro trailed off looking a little hurt.

“Look, it wasn’t you or anything… just, back home it wasn’t really “acceptable” to be bi? I guess?” Lance started, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. “I just didn’t know if you would be the same or not,” he admitted, ashamed.

“Wha- but I’m gay Lance! I wouldn’t do that!” Shiro cried, disbelief shining in his eyes.

“I know you would never do that, but it’s happened before and I was scared!” Lance defended himself, the feelings inside finally reaching threshold. Shiro watched him with wide eyes, unused to this “unhinged” version of his friend and teammate.

“It’s happened before?” Shiro asked softly. “Oh, Lance. I’m so sorry,”

“It’s fine. It wasn’t like it was you or anything,” he sighed, curling into himself.

“Well, I get that but I kind of was that person before,” he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. Lance head whipped up to look at him in shock. “I guess that takes away from my point before,”

“What?”

“I know. I was young and dumb and didn’t care about other people’s feelings,” he said shaking his head. “So, I am sorry. I’m sorry for my actions before and I’m sorry that people like me made it hard for you to be yourself,”

Lance paused in shock for a while, just trying to comprehend what he’d just heard. Takashi Shirogane used to be one of the people that made him hate himself when he was younger. His hero, could have been someone to tear him down.

“What changed?” He asked after a few minutes of uncomfortable silence.

“Honestly, Matt,” he answered. “Or moving to the Garrison. Before I didn’t really have that person to tell me that what I was saying or doing was wrong but Matt laid into me the first time I said anything around him,”

“So the Garrison changed both of our perspectives, huh?” Lance grinned, uncurling slightly. “Or cut us off from other people’s ideas at least,”

“Yeah, guess so,” Shiro hummed, sitting down beside him. “I hope that you’ll be able to open up to us someday,”

“Yeah, me too. It’s just… hard sometimes,”

“Well, don’t rush yourself  or anything, you should be able to feel comfortable around us,”

And eventually he was. He let himself pace himself and decide when he was ready to tell his friends. Sometimes he wished that he was able to tell them sooner, or forced himself to tell them sooner. The battle with himself is half the journey though and now…

He can be who he truly is.

[mountphoenixrp]

We have a new citizen in Mount Phoenix:

                                            Camazotz, the God of Bats,                                    whose origins stem from Ancient Mayan Mexico.                                               He is now Sun-Wukong’s assistant.

FC NAME/GROUP: Park Seojoon GOD NAME: Camazotz PANTHEON: Mayan OCCUPATION: Works as assistant to Wukong HEIGHT: 1,86m WEIGHT: 69kg DEFINING FEATURES: Marks that resemble scars on his back where his batwings sprout, head of a bat in his original form, strong eyebrows, usually wears a suit and generally dresses in blacks, greys or whites

PERSONALITY: Camazotz (or as he decided more modernly Camamor, shortened to Caça) is stoic in his day to day, especially now that he works for Wukong who to him is the penultimate of disorganized management, often having to deal with the god’s tasks in the business. He doesn’t let go much information about himself and tends to hold a respectful distance. He can however be very blunt and direct, not beating around the bush even with those he cherishes, and appears cold-hearted. Even with his daughter he maintains a relationship that would appear to be distant and disapproving. He doesn’t usually communicate it if he’s happy or proud though he is absolutely not devoid of these emotions. It takes a certain attitude towards him to receive this attitude back, for example a setting with friends in which they can relax.

HISTORY: (Sorry this is very long i tried my best to cut down to essentials but i didn’t want to hold back parts of his story from you on the app!) It’s been a long time since Camazotz first saw the light and started dwelling between the underworld, the middleworld and the upperworld. As the God of Bats he had a home, Zotzilaha the House of Bats, in the underworld, Xibalba. And for a long time that had been where he lived and spent most of his time. Camazotz wasn’t particularly interested in the other worlds, finding his duty in harbouring the souls that came to the underworld as he would occasionally cut a body from its soul and made sure all the dead that arrived would be accounted for down the line. It was tedious at times but dutiful work.

It was when the Hero twins arrived in Xibalba to avenge their father that things started to change. At the end the twins were considered heroes and as such he was practically a hero killer. Was this who he was? With this loss for the lords of the underworld Camazotz started to find his own purposes. He started mixing into the middleworld more and exploring what humans did exactly while they were alive. Why they were so terrified of death. He had heard their stories while working as a guide and accountant of sorts in the underworld but stories were just stories, he couldn’t identify with what they told him. Until he saw for himself.

In this new age for Camazotz the god decided he wanted to try to live as them and experience this world supposedly rich of beauty and love. He had no idea what that was. He found himself a body, severed the soul from it and through his hard effort made it his own. The man he took was a noble, working as a government official. It was as he guided the soul to the underworld that he had his first lesson in why people were afraid of death. The man begged him, not for his own life, but for his wife and 20 year old daughter to be taken care of by Camazotz. He was afraid for those closest to him. Camazotz decided to heed this request as he sent the noble off, promising he would take care of them for good fortune to befall his wife and daughter. As such he returned, taking the body and hiding it for his own use once the request had been fulfilled. He saw worry and fear first, confusion and a loss of direction. Then he saw pain and shame as the mother and daughter were starting to get accused of murder and hiding the body. The noble man his family were cutting them from their family tree as if they never were part of it. Now it was despair and anger. Soon they were forced to leave their house and were cast out. It was at this point that the bat god began to understand what it was like to be human and why the man had feared his own death for the sake of his family. He watched the two women scrambling for help and food but very little people wanted to associate with them in fear of also being cast out. Camazotz thought this, the world is unfair. And that was a fundamental fact that could not be changed.

The next 7 years were spent by Camazotz securing a place for the women to live, and killing anyone who could mean them harm. But during all that time he hadn’t come to know their feelings or understood them. Camazotz thought his work was done and waited out the days for the two to pass away. However, to his surprise one of the two died earlier than he expected. The mother had been in the kitchen, and in the whim of the moment stabbed herself in the chest and killed herself. The bat watched her bleed out from a corner, and as the daughter came in moments later saw her shake her mother’s body to no avail. She cradled her dying mother as she cried, asking her why and telling her she loved her. The god his conclusion on this was simple; He must had failed, she must’ve not been happy, and he had no idea what happiness meant.

The daughter now was the only one who had remained of the family, but that was also not meant to last long as she picked up the knives and her pitchfork. She left her mother behind in the house and travelled back to where she came from, her father’s house. She watched it for a few moments till she continued on her way and made it to the house of her old family. And with his help she went on a rampage. One girl was not a big fight, so she was quick to fall, but that didn’t matter to the God. He returned to his original form and slayed everyone in the house to fulfil her wishes.

With his promise done Camazotz returned to the body he preserved in Xibalba and spent considerable time and effort unifying himself with it. The body became part of him, another shape that he could access with effort. Although he could never betray his home in Xibalba he distanced himself from it and began to explore the world, for centuries roaming the middleworld before he looked for contact with the upperworld to understand more. He was curious about them, what it was like to be revered and considered ‘good’ and what exactly consisted being ‘good’. For centuries he studied the intricacy of morality.

Most recently this search has lead him to Mount Phoenix where he currently works and lives. He likes to think he has come far in his discovery of the human emotions and life, and morality. Camazotz even feels regret in how he handled the situation when he first decided to come to the middleworld, but knows that he knew no better. He remains out of touch with the underworld although if he is required to do something there he does return and carries out his duties.

POWERS: Shapeshift into a bat, turn into his original form but turning back into a human form takes considerable time and effort, can travel to the Mayan underworld Xibalba (not in human form), can cut the silver thread of life that joins the body to the soul STRENGTHS: Precision, adaptability, loyalty, unwavering WEAKNESSES: Controlling, demanding, autonomous

[ithinkthingsaboutstuff]

What is with Birds of Prey criticism?

i have seen BOP 

and i have read comments and review’s from different people (male and female) and i have decided to throughout my observations into the void. 

now personal taste is personal taste and everyone is allowed to like or not like whatever they want. 

but i will be looking at this from a ‘structured’ pov so i will be breaking the movie down into what others have got to say about it.

and with that in mind i will be taking things out of context but i will be summarising and linking to the sources when possible.  

i will be looking at how people have persevere them (again male and female) and why this might be so (but i will say now that it is only my best guess, and i will try to be as fair as possible)

and i will also add i have only seen the movie once at this point so i may miss some things or misremember others 

so from here on out we this will be nothing but 

------------------------------------------SPOILERS-----------------------------------------

ok so with that out of the way. 

PLOT 

the plot is basically 

Harley and the joker have broken up (joker, dumped her) 

this makes Harley lose her immunity in Gotham as she was protected by the fact she was the jokers girlfriend.

black mask is one of these people and is one of the most powerful in Gotham.

but he needs a diamond (that belongs to Helena) to be the most powerful in the city,

but when Zsasz and Black canary, get it take off them by a street girl (Cass) 

Harley says she will get it back to square herself with mask and he will protected her afterwards 

(there is also a b plot with Helena going around kill everyone who was involved with the death of her family)  

things happen 

and they all end up fight Black Mask men in a amusement park 

and Harley kills him on a dock.

then they all part ways.

now this is an oversimplification. 

but that does allow the movie to explore the characters and their relationship's with the world and the story.

but over all an average plot but no so more them say 

-the avengers (2012)

-thor (2011)

-age of ultron (2015)

-spider-man homecoming (2017)

and so on.

Criticisms

this is what one critic had to say about the movie

review from  Mick LaSalle

“but no, even that makes things sound better than they are. There’s no character there at all. There’s a look. There’s an attitude, and there’s an assemblage of mannerisms, but these are all veneers surrounding a vacuum.”  

“None of them suggest a personality, beyond some generalized zaniness.”

now i am no expert but is having a look, an attitude and mannerisms all things that make up someone’s personality? 

i can see if he was trying to say she has not much to add to the overall story or if it over shadowed everything in the movie, for sake of being “zany”   

but it was integrated into the movies narrative as a the main story telling tool,

e.g. Harley’s narration and the cartoons/ animation that came with. those where there to add character to the movie through Harley’s, so basically Harley’s personality is the films personality. 

and this is what he had to say about the plot

“If she wanted the Joker back, that would be something. That could be a movie. If she wanted revenge, that would be a weak motive, but it would still be something.”

now this has some interesting connotations,

what he was trying to say with this sentiment is only something i can guess, but i will want to give him the benefit of the doubt, maybe he was asking for a story similar to ‘mad love’  from the s4 of the Batman new adventures.

looking more at the sickness of that relationship (that some people admired and fawned over in suicide squad) so if that is the case then its not a bad thought,

however the way it is phrased makes it sound like more like Harley needs the Joker to be major part of the story for it to be any good. 

but Harley has had comic’s for year’s that prove the opposite.

now to compare this what he had to say about the Joker (2019)

“What’s terrifying and brilliant about Phoenix’s Joker is that he seems to be operating from an intricate yet alien form of logic. There is very little common ground between the character and the viewer, no shared understanding of right and wrong, real or unreal. He erupts into laughter without warning — a terrifying, piercing laugh that he can’t control. He sits in the audience at a comedy club, joyously and maniacally laughing at setups, not punch lines.”

now i am not saying Joker is a bad movie, I am just saying that he complained about the lack of story and character in one film and praised it in another.  

now i also understand that these films are different, and they have different tones and messages. and ever genre (one is action, the other is drama)

but basically

he is saying Joker’s lack of clear “personality” made the movie good and Harley’s made it bad (again this is apples and oranges, and way to simple)  

but the main point is that he has failed to look for WHY Harley is that way, or how that adds to the movie like he did for Joker.

now moving on to

Anthony Lane

“ No one could call Harley Quinn a recluse. She loves to go out, get wasted, meet people, and fight them. In onscreen graphics, she proudly reports what it is about her that vexes her opponents. (“Voted for Bernie.” “Have a vagina.”) Yet Harley is often alone in the frame—marching toward the camera in her T-shirt and shorts, smiling madly through lips of fire-engine red, and peppering us with unceasing chatter, as if words were buckshot. She lives on her own, too, with a stuffed beaver in a tutu and a pet hyena named Bruce. (As with the title, note the surfeit of nuttiness. Rarely have I seen a movie strain so hard to seem out-there.) Our heroine needs some kindred spirits, and quick.”

ok benefit of the doubt this is just a colourful way to describe the movie and Harley’s set up,

however with the next paragraph that follows i don’t think so

“No surprise, then, that Yan’s movie, peopled as it is by women who talk among themselves, with only fitful reference to men, doesn’t so much pass the Bechdel Test as ace it, while also ticking the profanity box, the ear-splitting box, and the bone-snapping box—every box, in fact, except for the tricky one that requires a motion picture to be good”

the strange thing is that he was so close to an epiphany

yes Harley is social but she is lonely that is the point of her being with the BOP, taking in Cassie.

and saying someone who is social is not able to be lonely is the dumbest thing i have ever heard.

and i can name dozens of movies off the top of my head that is a group of guys ‘talking among themselves, with only fitful reference to women’

like 

-  the hang over (1,2 and 3)

- die hard

- pulp fiction 

- fast and furious (all 9 of them)

- the other guys

- Sherlock (RDJ movies)

- the dark night 

- scarface

-  any Adam Sandler movie for the last 20 years

-memento

- rush hour (all 3)

- fight club 

like damn dude your getting all bent out of shape for women having the nerve to want to tell story’s about other women.

(and i would also like to point out that very on in the movie was a ‘bad guy’ or did bad things all throughout the film and the men are just what they are up against you know like some kind of antagonist??? fucking wild idea right, and as we all know every female villain in movies are always written with respect and dignity, can you feel my sarcasm)

and this is what this man also said about ‘ford vs ferrari’   

“Ford v Ferrari” is directed by James Mangold, and it may be his strongest film.

like dude you are showing your hand here.

but i am not wasting any more time on this dude.

 let us move on to the lady’s

MOLLY FREEMAN

“the movie ultimately embodies different kinds of liberation - not only of women breaking free from their abusive boyfriends, psychotic employers and the restrictive boy's club, but also the freedom and power that comes with finding a group where they feel accepted and supported.”\

“Cathy Yan's directing and vision for the film, which is realized in the action, costumes and music. The fighting sequences are absolutely brutal and choreographed in a way to showcase the characters' respective abilities. Harley's gymnast moves make a return, and when she gets her hands on a bat, the Cupid of Crime really lets loose - and it'll leave audiences breathless with exhilaration. Birds of Prey stands out because it's uniquely female, from the characters' fighting styles down to the details of Harley pausing mid-fight to give her friend a hair tie. This further extends to the costumes, designed by Erin Benach (A Star Is Born), which are exquisite and perfectly showcase each character's personality.”

Susana Polo

“Each character’s storyline is given a slightly different genre and tone, as well, one of a number of tactics the production employs to mimic Harley’s manic internal life. Huntress stalks around Birds of Prey like it’s a Kill Bill-esque revenge epic, while Renee Montoya is in a hard-boiled cop flick. The main heroine ensemble actors all breathe a wonderful amount of life into little-known characters overdue for mainstream attention.”

“Winstead delivers a comedic twist on the Huntress’s classic personality that I hope makes its way to comics as soon as possible, and the 13-year-old Basco deserves particular credit for holding her own alongside Robbie in their many scenes together. Robbie’s Harley Quinn is just as scene-stealing as she was in Suicide Squad, appearing to operate on at least 20 percent cartoon logic at all times — a useful skill for an occasionally fourth-wall-breaking narrator. Cartoon-channeling is also a useful skill for the star of a movie with such splendid fight scenes.”

 now i am not saying every man hates the movie, and every woman loved it that is insane and dumb.

but what does seem to be a common theme is that positive or negative, men and women are looking at different aspects of the movie 

women look at the movie on its own terms and men seem to look by comparing it to other “guy movies” 

now this a generalisation but this is a common idea that seems to run through it.

and here is some general thoughts from some people who have made comments, online.

female 

“I am sick and tired of being told what movies I need to like as a woman, this is a bad movie. It isn't a zero nor is it a ten and anyone rating it that way isn't being honest either with you or themselves. The storytelling is odd and the flashbacks are weirdly placed to the point where they take you out of the movie. This movie has too much exposition and then not enough which I congrats I guess. I don't think men are rating this film low because they are "man babies" I think they are rating it low because there are far better superhero and anti-hero movies out there to choose from.”

this is based on personal taste and why it didn’t sit right with them (and that’s fine)

male

“A rush movie without any type of storyline and God knows where they are heading with DCEU and it's characters..It's only Harley and Harley who has never been in BOP in comics...Mis usage of characters and movie..Just make a decision where do you wanna go with your movies”

now this interesting, when this people has the same feels as the person above 

they don’t look to the movie itself they look to find out evidence to discredit instead of anything in the film itself.

again i am not saying this person is wrong to feel this way i simply think the method of expressing it, is interesting.      

(and for the record this is actually an incorrect statement Harley and Poison Ivy have been apart of the team at different points) 

male

“The girls looked terrible like they were going Break-Dancing or something and Harley Quinn was dressed up like a Bird with makeup?? The ending was ridiculously stupid and predictable and the misogynist male pig attitudes towards the females in the film were jaw dropping cringe moments, like who acts like that??”

now this is about appearance, and the male characters, now this is showing that men see a violent, man who literally gets someone to cut a MAN’s face off  

and the only thing they focus on is that ‘oh he is mean to women damn SJW’s’

that is the weird’s thing? like you the bad guy is bad to the hero’s? shocking.

now i am not saying that the character is perfect and well crafted like loki or kilmonger but he serviced the purpose he was meant to, he was powerful intimidating and unpredictable.

(and black mask has always been a nut case)  

but i also think its interesting that these men who cry about SJW’s and how they mock men (and that does sometimes happen, it would be dumb to say they didn’t) 

never seem to mind that that women get called bitch’s and whores in every other movie.or that women are used shallow props to move the movie along. 

almost like it is distressing when you see someone you can identify with is treated like the peace of garbage. 

female

“The Film was decent enough for a lowkey Friday night out with the girls. Nothing you'd rant & rave about or even remember seeing in a few months but it was entertaining in places. The script felt a little bit underbaked & the story itself felt a bit disjointed. The direction of the film was lacking for me. In a world where Todd Phillips pulled off Joker (2019) this seems like a more rushed project that would've been better at Netflix or even Amazon Prime for release. I think the deserve another crack at this movie & another attempt at something with a bit more substance”

honest to the point and is looking at the movie on its own term's

notice how she does not need to devalue other women to get this across, not the character’s, not the write or director but was looking at it from a personal taste and rewatchablity,

the anger about this movie is so strange 

like how many hero movies have been worse then this and was not taking very chance they get to bash the creators and that they should not do their job’s because the movie had women as most of the cast and was mainly about them.

anyway i hand it over to all of you.    

[hotel-japanifornia]

Maya Fey Appreciation Post

(Note: this post was initially made as an entry for the 30 day Ace Attorney Challenge, that you can find here: https://demon-prosecutie.tumblr.com/post/141222773397/i-wanted-to-be-more-active-and-post-new-edits-and. Other things came up, so I never actually ended up finishing the challenge. However, since I had 2 entries that were written up, I decided to edit them and share them with y’all. This is the second one made, but the first one shared.)

Now without further ado, if you’ve visited or are currently following my blog, then you likely are aware of my fondness for Maya Fey. With this post, I wanted to go a bit deeper into why I love her and also go over some traits that I feel are slightly overlooked when examining her character. Maya, overall, is an interesting and absolutely adorable character. Although she is a generally popular character, I can’t help but feel that she’s a bit underrated as some people reduce her personality to burger jokes. It’s not a huge deal seeing as one of Maya’s character traits is that she really loves food but it can be tiring seeing those kinds of jokes so often.

To give some background, when I started playing Ace Attorney I started with Justice for All because I was 10 and I thought that playing a sequel was a good idea. I kinda liked Maya back then but it was mostly because she was more similar to me personality-wise than the other characters. It wasn’t until I was 15 that I started to appreciate Maya for who she was as a character. While playing through the first game, I liked her during Turnabout Sisters and Turnabout Samurai but it wasn’t until Turnabout Goodbyes that I began to fall in love with Maya. Seeing her sacrifice herself to keep Edgeworth from getting found guilty during the first trial was really heartwarming and it’s also telling of the kind of person that Maya is, in a way. This is because in Turnabout Sisters, Edgeworth had prosecuted her and Phoenix at separate points during the case and tried to get them found guilty. As a result, seeing her getting held in contempt of court for him shows how selfless she is and also shows that she has a strong desire for seeing justice go through. Turnabout Goodbyes is also where we see Maya being insecure about her abilities as a spirit medium as she’s unable to channel Mia at all during the case. Although she says she is useless, during the case there are moments where she is incredibly useful, for example: during the aforementioned part where she gets held in contempt of court for Edgeworth’s sake; when she communicates with the parrot in order to get it to talk; and most importantly, when she jumped on Manfred Von Karma when he was about to taze her and Phoenix and managed to retrieve a very important piece of evidence in the process. The moment Maya got tased for Phoenix’s sake and beat herself up for being useless despite carrying an incredibly valuable piece of evidence tugged at my heartstrings and was the moment that I knew I loved Maya.

Right off the bat, I'd like to go over her most recognizable character trait: her cheerful nature. Maya Fey is an absolute ray of sunshine and adds to investigation segments by making quirky observations or goofy jokes. The most popular of the former would be when you examine the ladder(?) in Studio 1 during Turnabout Samurai and she argues briefly with Phoenix about the true nature of the object in question. However, Maya does have other goofy moments such as when you examine the snowmobile before the murder occurs in Bridge to the Turnabout or when you examine the big signboard in the Basement Warehouse during the Stolen Turnabout. She also has her moments during courtroom segments such as when she pretty much spends the first trial day of Turnabout Samurai roasting Oldbag. Maya adds a lot of personality to even the most tedious investigation segments and I don't blame anyone who goes around investigating everything just to see if Maya has anything to say.

One thing that I feel people overlook when it comes to Maya is how selfless she can be. For example, when she refuses Phoenix’s offer to take her case during Reunion, and Turnabout because she’s sure Phoenix will lose and later when you read her letter to Phoenix in Engarde’s Mansion and she tells Phoenix to forget about saving her and get Engarde found guilty in order to ensure justice was served even at the cost of her life. Another example would be in Bridge to the Turnabout where she sees her mother get killed in front of her. She’s obviously aware of who the killer is but is stubborn about covering for him because although Godot killed her mother, he also saved her life in the process. Maya has no obligation to defend Godot, to the point that he even admits that if he actually cared about saving her, he would have gone to Phoenix first; and yet, Maya still continues to believe that he genuinely wanted to save her. It’s a real gray area and there’s no clear answer to whether or not Godot did care for her but even if he didn’t, it’s still quite telling.

One trait that I find admirable about Maya is her strength. We see her go through so much throughout the franchise from the moment we meet her such as: finding her sister’s body; being accused of her sister’s murder; getting tased; being framed for murder by her aunt; getting kidnapped and being starved and in the process also being used as a bargaining chip against her best friend; getting nearly murdered by the ghost of her psycho killer cousin and also seeing her long lost mother die in front of her; and more. And yet, despite all of that, she is still able to remain cheerful and never once becomes bitter because of all the things that have happened to her. At the end of Bridge to the Turnabout, she could have broken down and abdicated the role of Master and it would have been understandable considering what she had just gone through. But the fact that she doesn’t and that she decides to stay strong for Pearl who also suffered greatly during the case not only shows how strong she is as a character but also shows how she matures during the trilogy. The Maya in the first game might have ran away, but by the end of the third game, she’s gone through a lot more than she did in the first game. It’s very subtle compared to Edgeworth’s arc or even Phoenix’s arc but she does go through her own development as a character. 

Although she does have a habit of getting into trouble, having to help her never bothered me to be honest. Despite her penchant for getting into trouble it’s never her fault, as it either has something to do with her family or her relationship with Phoenix during the trilogy while the crossover and SOJ have her get accused of murder purely because she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. And even when she does get arrested for murder, it’s hard for me not to feel bad for her as she acts so downhearted (the part where she begs Phoenix not to take her case because she feels he'll lose if he does in Reunion, and Turnabout comes to mind). In a way, it can be considered clever on the writers’ part as Maya is one of the more beloved characters in the franchise so her getting in trouble can be seen as the result of Capcom wanting us to feel emotionally attached to a case. I’m not saying that it constantly happening is a good idea because she’s definitely gone through enough but I can’t get annoyed when you do have to help her. I just think that in the next game, in the event that she’s in it, Capcom should give Maya a break from being accused of murder and/or kidnapped.

Overall, Maya is a character that is very special to me and one of my favorite characters. Seeing her go through all the things that happen to her and yet still coming out with a smile on her face is something I admire greatly. She also happens to be Maya Fey-vorite AA character. There’s not much else i have left to say but I can give y’all a Maya:

[bluerosesburnblue]

HPHM Character Profile: Seren Dwyn

Original template created by @cynicaljapanophile

Tagged by @batgirl-87, like forever ago

General Information

Name: Seren Aisling Dwyn

Age: 16 as of the start of Year 6

Gender: Female

Nickname(s): Rinn (by Jacob), Ash (from Charlie’s Dragonologist friends in the future. Together they’re Char and Ash)

Date of Birth: July 29th, 1973

Astrological/ Zodiac Sign: Leo

Ethnicity: Irish and Faroese (with minor British heritage)

Nationality: Irish

Species: 13/16 Human, 3/16 Siren

Blood Type: A Rh+

Blood Status: Half-Blood

Family: The whole thing is detailed here (x)

Affiliation(s)/ Organization(s): None. Refuses to join the Order of the Phoenix due to a personal hatred of Dumbledore. Affiliations are on a by-person basis. The only consistent ones are Jacob (and their shared detective agency) and her Hogwarts friends

Occupation(s): (Future) Private detective, licensed to use and capture Beasts by the Ministry’s Beast Division

Magical Characteristcs

Form of Boggart: Jacob as he was before he left telling her that she was a disappointment that shouldn’t have been born. Later on becomes herself, completely alone and telling herself just how much nobody loves her

Form of Riddikulus: Jacob/any one of her friends telling really bad jokes until they start laughing at themselves. Because Seren finds their reaction to their own jokes funnier than the actual jokes.

Form of Patronus: Common Seal

What do they see in the Mirror of Erised?: Herself with her hairstyle from before she cut it. Jacob is leaning on her shoulder and wearing a Quidditch uniform while a beater bat lays at his feet. He’s playfully batting at Charlie, also in Quidditch gear. The rest of their friends are surrounding them and it’s fairly obvious that there was a Hufflepuff vs. Gryffindor match that Hufflepuff just won. She doesn’t see a world where Jacob is back. She sees a world where Jacob never left in the first place. (In the future it changes to everyone in their adult appearances, laughing in the Dwyn Detective offices. Seren looks confident and happy, because all she really wants is to be sure that the people she thinks love her actually do)

First Wand:

Length: 12″

Flexibility: Pliable

Wood: Acacia

Core: Unicorn Hair

Description: The default wand that MC gets at the start of the game. A fairly basic wand with a gold vine-like structure wrapping around the base.

Second Wand: 

Length: 11 3/4″

Flexibility: Quite Bendy

Wood: Cedar

Core: Unicorn Hair

Description: A simple, straight shaft with no coloration applied. The handle has a medium finish and curves outward for easy gripping. There’s two bands of crushed seashell inlay, one on the top of the handle and one at the base. A small knob at the bottom is carved with a scale-like texture.

Animagus: Common Raven

Amortentia: The sea after a storm, liquorice, fresh-cut grass, something smoky

Appearance

Height: 160cm (5′3″)

Weight: 130lbs (110lbs when she’s starving herself with worry over the Vaults)

Complexion (skin tone/conditions): Pale, clear skin. Under-eyes shadow easily

Hair Color/Style: Dark brown, short and choppy, layered, asymmetrical (she cuts it with Diffindo...)

Eye Color: Very dark blue

Hogwarts Information

Worst Class(es): Potions, History of Magic

Best Class(es): Charms, Care of Magical Creatures, Herbology

Least Favourite Teacher(s): Snape, Binns, Rakepick (when she was a teacher), Dumbledore is not a teacher but I’m putting him here anyway

Favourite Teacher(s): Flitwick, McGonagall, Kettleburn

Quidditch: Doesn’t play, but might’ve been an alright Seeker

Favourite Spell(s): Aguamenti, Depulso, Metelojinx/Meteolojinx, Stella Cascadia ;)

Trivia

Her father made her and Jacob take step dancing lessons as a kid, and she can still do several of the steps even if there isn’t a single instance in which she’d use them (besides a duel)

She’s actually a very skilled watercolor painter. She and Badeea have been teaching each other in the use of the other’s medium, though watercolor is still Seren’s preference

Seren has no idea how wizard money works and at this point is too afraid to ask

She does the Alex Russo wand-in-boot thing all the freaking time, to the point where it’s her preferred place to store her wand and it makes her very uncomfortable when she’s not wearing high boots because she has no idea where to put her wand anymore

She’s garbage at Gobstones. None of this “distract your friends” nonsense, she hasn’t won a single game once in her life. Not even against Barnaby, who doesn’t know the rules. The first time she played against Charlie, she managed to skip the ball over every other ball in the ring without hitting any of them and then screamed into her hands for a full minute

She’s actually very interested in Alchemy and will absolutely take the class if they ever offer it during her time at Hogwarts

She’ll eat anything once. She’s constantly being dared to eat Flobberworm sandwiches in the Great Hall. She also habitually challenges people to blind-bag Every Flavor Bean challenges where each player has to guess what bean they grabbed without ever seeing the bean

My personal headcanon for the Quidditch sidequest is that during Year 2, Penny pressured her in going for a tryout. She did the training right up until the Vault of Ice happened just before tryouts for the next year and decided that it wasn’t worth the effort

Similar thing with the Frog Choir in that she got in during Year 4, but was only in it for half a year before dropping out due to the Vaults yet again

She has four creatures that are “employed” at her and Jacob’s detective agency:

Brishen, the Augurey and Seren’s cooler alternative to an owl. Brish is a messenger primarily, but also an excellent scout when doing stakeouts

Spud, the Crup that she got as a puppy in Year 6 who is excellent at sniffing out clues and identifying the scents of people who would have been on the scene

The Kneazle kitten that she’s gonna get at around the same time but I haven’t developed yet

Nickelboon, the Niffler from the Creature Reserve that she eventually adopted who... steals evidence from crime scenes now. And also everything in Jacob’s desk. The two don’t like each other much

@oveliagirlhaditright this isn’t really a tag or anything, but I thought it would be helpful if you ever wanted to keep Rapunzel’s info organized

[magic-owl]

i wish these had numbers to not take up room but alas: what is your absolute favorite ship? what’s a ship you like that most people don’t? what is the most underrated ship, in your opinion? (choose any of your fave pairings for the following bc I'm curious about all your faves) rate [pairing] from 1-10 and explain why. what’s your favorite headcanon of [pairing]? what’s your favorite canon moment of [pairing]? favorite AU ideas for [pairing]? what song(s) remind you of [pairing]?

Thank you my dear! You are my Star Wars Friend so I’ll keep it SW focused (if you wanted to ask this to solely find out what else I liked BESIDES SW sorry lol just let me know and I can redo it). This got long because turns out I have a lot to say about my ships so answers under the cut!!! xD

Absolute favorite ship: This one’s kinda hard but I’m gonna have to go with Obi Wan/Anakin! I also like them a lot as a trio with Padmé, but overall I gotta say these two are just my faves? Why? Because they are such a M E S S and gosh I just love them so much. Ppl say they don’t like each other very much but come on, have you watched the TCW, have you watched RotS, they’re the greatest team there ever was, they’re constantly fretting and worrying about each other, they’re always teasing (the constant banter omg boys pls) at each other and hyping the other up and believing in each other and Ahsoka literally calls them her adoptive guardians in the Ahsoka novel, that’s how much of a family they were and ugh they’re just so married. And they’re such a TRAGEDY and it breaks my heart and it’s delicious to watch because in the final fight it’s just heartbreaking betrayal because through it all they love each other so much and that’s WHY they’re so furious with each other because to them it feels like the ultimate betrayal. Even after (when after everything, Obi Wan still loved Anakin too much to kill him himself) they’re constantly on the other’s mind, and ugh the pain hurts but in such a good way, and how in the end Anakin did the right thing and Obi Wan was RIGHT THERE to help guide him back to the light in spirit and now they can rest happily together for eternity (with some spare stressing about, ya know, Kylo Ren and the impending return of Sidious, but never mind all that). and on top of that, it’s my fave because I also absolutely love their relationship platonically as well, as much as I LIKE to see them together, it’s not necessary for me because they have such an enjoyable dynamic. *coughs* Sorry, so yea, they’re my disaster faves! 😅

A ship I like that most people don’t: See above lol. I get aspects of the Obikin ship can be problematic in the whole power dynamic and age difference thing, but I’ve only ever shipped it after Anakin was knighted as an adult when there’s literally not a problem with it (it was weird for me because I watched the prequels totally out of order. I actually saw the TCW cartoon FIRST and then I saw RotS and then I didn’t watch the first two for a while after that because I was a fool and listened to prequel bashers who said the first two weren’t good, so when I started shipping them as adults that was all I saw them as). To be honest, for the most part the PT fandom is done with the drama since ya know, like a good half of the SW general fandom still hates us, so no one’s really vocal about not liking it and our shipping community is mostly left to ourselves, but every once in a while I’ll come across a joke post/fanart of the two and OP will be all snarky in the notes like “tag as a ship and I’ll come after you with my spiked bat” (someone’s exact words btw) and it’s like ok jeez, do not interact then, was minding my own business dude...

My most underrated ship: Hmmmm....... Gonna have to go between Luke/Ezra and Satine/Padmé. Skybridger I understand since they’ve literally never met in canon, but come ON, they’d get along like a house on fire and argh they should have met, it would be great. I honestly don’t get why Pads and Satine aren’t more of a thing (THEY DON’T EVEN HAVE AN OFFICIAL SHIPNAME ;_; ) cuz c’mon they’re the subtler explosive yin to Obi and Ani’s wildfire yang. They get along great and work together really well, and they both seem to have a type. I am doing them a little better in my new OT4 fic, and I hope ppl like it!!! Ya know what, I’m also gonna add Kaeden (cute girl from the Ahsoka novel!) and Ahsoka because even if a lot of ppl actually ship them, they hardly have any content and neED MORE DANGIT THEY WERE SO CUTE!!!!!!!

Gonna go with Obikin for all the following ones cuz I haven’t had the chance to gush about my boys in a while and you’ve opened Pandora’s box

Rate them from 1-10: 10, plus a hundred more points because I love them, then subtract that hundred again cuz Anakin is an gotdang idiot who ruined it and now they both make me cry. My scoring reasons are that they make me feel all the emotions and I love them Ever So Much and argh.

Fave headcanon: Oh boy, I’ve got a couple actually!

Whenever they’re talking/arguing over the phone, they’re always subconsciously mirroring each other’s actions even when they can’t see what the other is doing. It’s kinda creepy because you’ll hear yelling and it’ll look like one of them’s talking to an invisible person in front of them when it’s actually each other.

There has been multiple instances of them both getting injured in battle because they were distracted watching the other be a total badass (not that either will admit it)

Neither of them are morning people. AT ALL. Obi Wan actually has self-discipline and is able to get up with an alarm and crankily drag them both up, but both are almost impossible to deal with until they’ve had caffeine in them, and it’s been established that unless you want to risk murder, neither of them talks in the morning until caffeine has been provided.

There has been many, many cases of accidentally taking the other’s robe and not realizing it but thinking to themselves that said robe feels more comforting than usual today.

A mutually drunken arm wrestling match absolutely turned into a mutually drunken makeout once. Neither can remember it, and they wonder why some of the clones have been acting funny all week.

Half of the Temple thinks they’re already dating.

Ok I’ll stop it here

Fave Canon Moment: Ughhh, this is HARD. I really like the “any closer and you’d be kissing it” line in TCW, basically any moment in TCW when one of them refers to Ahsoka as “OUR padawan”, the extra long stares and unnecessary touches they give each other in TCW, the elevator scene in RotS movie (THE NOVEL MAKES IT A MILLION TIMES BETTER), also in RotS the way Anakin is half-ready to straight up fight Palpatine when he suggests leaving Obi Wan behind to die, the RotS “No loose wire jokes” bit, the RotS “Roger. Roger.” bit (OKAY JUST THE WHOLE FIRST HALF OF THIS RIDICULOUS MOVIE), the way Vader built his big stupid castle where they had their breakup, the way he’s constantly mentioning Obi Wan when the convo wasn’t even about him, seeing them together again at the end of RotJ (whoops you asked for one, you get MANY SCENES)

Fave AU ideas: Again, there’s a couple!

Superpower AU: Can’t decide whether I’d put this in canon or modern. Most powers in this AU are stolen from inspired by X-Men, DC, and other popular media, so I’m torn between Anakin having Jean Grey/Dark Phoenix style powers while Obi Wan had a variation on Rogue’s with additional energy manipulation. OR it would be a thing where Anakin could commune with the dead a la Klaus from Umbrella Academy while Obes had sort of Avatar-style wind/flight powers. (Both are relevant for different plots).

Sith AU: I know these are far from unpopular in the SW fandom, but the way I’d do it would be to try and write two stories at once, update one every other week so one update a week total. The stories would what would happen if either of them became the Sith Apprentice after the events of Episode 1, and how their dynamic would be during Ep 2 and The Clone Wars with one of them on the other side. It’s funny because the way I’ve plotted it, the Sith!Ani fic would have very big Good Omens vibes, while the Sith!Obi one would have very strong Under the Red Hood vibes, so two VERY different dynamics going on xD

WWII Spies: This is one I 100% plan to write someday, even tho it is a very long time from now. It’s basically following Anakin as an American naval pilot who got injured in a crash and discharged. He still wants to serve and eventually his talent gets him into the intelligence end of the war and sent to Europe where he meets Ben, who’s been working with British intelligence since it broke out, and sparks fly. I’m kind of cheating here cuz as of now this is an Obianidala story, not just Obikin, but it’s one I’m very excited for

Phantom of the Opera AU: This idea I had when I realized that Anakin as Vader is kinda a Lot like the Phantom, but he’s also a Lot like Christine too. So it turned into Anakin as a talented ballet dancer getting preyed on by Palpatine!Phantom (there is NO romance there, Palpy is a total creep and will be treated as such) with Obi Wan as a combination of Raoul and Madame Gery and I have a bunch of ideas and idk if it’s gonna be an actual thing, but I want it to.

Shapeshifter AU: Canon, not very complicated but they can all shift into animals. Obi Wan is a kind of cougar panther cat with a fluffy ginger tail, and Anakin is a big grumpy black Krayt Dragon with a stump for a front leg.

Not A Jedi!AU: One in canon in which set like the Sith!AU, two different stories exploring how their dynamic would be if one of them wasn’t found by the Order. As of now, I’ve got Anakin as the warrior pirate prince of Tatooine, after having grown up and staged a slave rebellion, then promptly put his mother on the throne, and Obi Wan’s there to negotiate something during TCW and things happen. For the Obi Wan one, he’s a political journalist and war correspondent who keeps on running into Anakin’s assignments and popping up where he’s stationed and Anakin has to keep this idiot from getting himself killed/stop asking me annoying questions that criticize the Jedi and the government.

Dark!AU: A kind of morbid canon divergent fic where Padmé dies early and unexpectedly (Palps didn’t plan it). Anakin goes off the rails and Obi Wan agrees to go with him on a murder vengeance roadtrip to try and keep him from Falling or the Sith from getting to him. He kinda fails and they both Fall in a way and it ends with them hunting down Sidious’ players one by one. I’m not entirely sure I want to continue with this tho because it plays strongly on the Fridged Woman trope, which I can’t stand. I’d have to figure out how to give Padmé some sort of active role after her death...

Songs to describe them: There’s a couple (I could have very well gone cranky but I decided to do (mostly) serious))(also my music taste kinda stinks)

Icarus— Bastille

Anna Sun— WALK THE MOON

Animal I Have Become— Acoustic cover by Vitamin String Quartet (original by Three Days Grace) (seriously y’all listen it’s sooooo gooooood)

Warriors— Imagine Dragons

My Demons— STARSET

Ignorance— Paramore

Set Fire to the Rain— Adele

Stubborn Love— The Lumineers

How to Save A Life— The Fray (yes i am aware it is stereotypical angst song leave me Alone it FITS)

Viva la Vida— Coldplay (tbh this fits like the entire PT but I liked it)

Raised by Wolves— U2 (another more PT-centric, but this one works dangit)

Bonus Broadway Song! : Confrontation from Les Miserables (now that ya think of it, that would be a pretty good AU too.....)

Bonus Broadway Song! : The Tango Maureen from Rent (I always imagined this one as Obi Wan and Padmé about Anakin, but it would be about something other than cheating cuz canon has established Anakin views cheating as a worse crime than murder, so yea)

Bonus Broadway Song! : Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better (aight this one’s mostly a joke but come ON don’t tell me that’s not completely them xD)

[aceandsparrow]

Survivor 40: Premiere

[A] Winners at War! The best of the best! The greatest of the greats! ...I will still have moments of "I don't remember that person..."

[A] I've been reading a lot of the pre-premiere media and there are two things I'd like to share: (1) Most people are upset that Cochran isn't included. He didn't want to come back; didn't think he'd do well and also doesn't want his last Survivor memory to be having his torch snuffed. I get it, but he will be missed. (2) Whatever the fuck "fire tokens" are, they sound stupid and unnecessary.

[S] I hate most of these people but there are a few I don't mind rooting for. Rob. Amber. Ben. [A] I'm going to have a hard time finding someone to root for. Ethan/Yul are good old school players. Rob is always easy to like. But the list I hate is long: Tony, Sarah, Nick, Tyson, Natalie, Parvati "Phoenix rising from the ashes ready to burn down your house" Shallow…

[S] Parvati and Ethan are basically polar opposites.

[S] Sandra, did you tell Rob you were coming back?

[A] Why separate them by gender on the boats? It's unnecessary. They are all previous winners. Thank god they aren’t playing men vs. women.

[S] I definitely don't remember some of these people.  Who the fuck is Adam? Denise? [A] Adam was recent and boring. He was the millennials winner IIRC. I don't remember Denise. Who the hell is Sophie?

[S] Wonder who Amber and Rob would give their tokens to? [A] I momentarily forgot about Amber being here. THE DRAMA.

[A] They're going to target Rob and Amber off the bat and I hate it. They are good characters and I want them around at least to the merge.

[A] I feel like the red team has 2-3 people who are going to eat these lesser-knowns alive.

[A] Such good acting by all of them because they knew the $2 million prize when they signed their contracts...

[S] Seriously. Fuck letting people who are voted out come back. [A] Part of my pre-read is that the players wouldn't agree to come back without something like Edge of Extinction existing. They didn't want to come back and have it be one and done. It wasn't worth their time.

[S] The immunity trophy is pretty badass. [A] Props to the prop department - that trophy is awesome.

[A] I thought they stopped these types of challenges because of too many injuries. Guess everything goes out the window when it's all winners.

[S] LOL that wave almost made Jeff fall over.

[S] Me: I hope Natalie goes home first. Me ten seconds later: I hope Sarah goes home first. [A] Both of these are valid go homes first. Also Tony.

[S] Such terrible strategy. Fastest swimmer gets the lifesaver, throws it to teammate who stayed at pole.

[S] Conflicted Amber.

[S] Denise lost her tribe this challenge. Why did she let go of the ring?

[S] Surely these players don't need flint for fire. [A] I'm betting there are still some who can't even make fire WITH flint. Luckily, they can currently rely on a tribemate to get them fire.

[S] As opposed to all of the other gimmicks, I like the tokens.

[S] The crying has already started… [A] Tyson was not the person I expected to cry first and be all sentimental about family. 

[A] Sandra, you have a target on your back regardless of the nickname "queen."

[S] Seeing Ethan reminds me how great a season Africa was. [A] Ethan played when I was graduating high school/starting college. Shit. Also, yes, Africa was an amazing season. No idols, no hidden immunities, no chances to get back in the game. Pure outwit, outplay, outlast.

[A] I want an older winner to win. I want them to adapt and prove that the older players are still a threat.

[S] So the people I completely forgot teamed up to be the most forgettable duo of season 40. Makes sense. 

[A] Truth: why make the rookie move and go off at the start? Idiots.

[A] LMAO. Cuts to Tony talking about how it's taking everything for him not to go off on his own and look.

[S] That's adorable crying, Amber. They're a great couple. 

[A] The idea of Wendell and Yul being in an alliance together is hilarious to me and I don't know why.

[A] Oh god, no. Not Rob and Parvati. Please no. [S] Rob! Don't make a deal with the devil!

[A] Rob: "I don't think we should let the new school people dictate how the game goes." Yes. This.

[A] Who's Danni? [S] Yeah I don't know who Danni is either.

[S] You found yourself around all those winners by winning, Ben. [A] Ben is an adorable fanboy. 

[S] "We are playing Survivor for ten people." LOL. I love Rob.

[A] I anticipate the dreaded tribal whispering since they didn't seem to make a decision prior to tribal. I look forward to Ethan's facial reactions to how tribal has evolved into an even bigger shit show.

[S] FUCK TRIBAL WHISPERING!

[S] All the talk but I still bet it's Rob.

[A] Question: when they bequeath their fire tokens to someone still in the game, is it public knowledge or secretly slipped into their bag? Because at this rate, you know Adam-Denise will bequeath to each other and Natalie-Jeremy will bequeath to each other.

[A] Who's Michelle?

[A] Jeff: "If anyone has a hidden immunity idol.." Ethan: *tenses up so tightly*

[S] NOT SAD ABOUT THAT! Next is Sarah please. [A] Not sad about that vote at all. She is going to struggle on Extinction.

[S] LOL both twins got voted out first.

[A] Here is my shocked face that she gave her token to Jeremy. Also just proves that they were smart to separate them.

-----

[S] Aight, Sandra has got to go. [A] Agreed. Sandra is scheming. 

[A] The fact that Sandra-Sarah-Tony are all chummy is disturbing.

[A] Answer: Okay, looks like they just slip the tokens into your bag. Interesting.

[S] Can you give your token to someone or do you HAVE to wait until you are voted out? [A] I wondered the same thing - like can you and someone else in the game combine your tokens to get something?

[A] This season has too many twists. Seriously. Natalie can sell an idol to someone to get tokens? 

[A] Rob is a goddamn workhorse in this challenge. Jesus.

[S] They are gonna vote out the guy who literally carried them on his back… [A] LITERALLY. [S] Oh, nevermind. Jeremy decided he didn't want to lose.

[A] I like the names Tony and Sandra being thrown out, but I fear for Amber. I also fear for anyone involved in the Amber vote because Rob will be out for blood.

[A] "Are we crazy not to get Sandra out first?" Yes. 100% yes.

[S] You sold it to SANDRA? [A] OH YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME SHE SOLD IT TO SANDRA?!

[A] What happens if they refuse the deal? Would they get to pick a new person or is it just a fail and they move on?

[S] Also, why the fuck are all these people believing Sandra?

[S] Amber going, I'll never forgive Sandra. Neither will Rob. [A] Poor Amber. 

[S] How the fuck did they all get so played by Sandra? No one on that tribe deserves to win this season. [A] Remember when I said red has "2-3 people who are going to eat these lesser-knowns alive?" This is the start of that.

[homenum-revelio-hq]

BASICS.

NAME. Archibald Macmillan AGE: 27 ALUMNI HOUSE. Slytherin BLOOD STATUS. Pureblood ORDER RANK. Mid-level FACECLAIM. Freddie Stroma

PAST.

Archibald grew-up knowing that a life like his required certain standards - and certain sacrifices. It wasn’t that he wasn’t allowed to ���be himself”; simply that the “self” he presented to the world had to meet certain requirements: good manners, good breeding (that at least was easy: the Macmillans were eighth-generation Wizarding even by the most strident standards), good grades, good job... good wife. The latter was no problem either, even though Archie figured out he was queer as a sixteen-sickle Galleon by the time he was twelve. That was common; there were a myriad of ways to handle it. For Archie, it was even easier than most: he was best friends with a witch of suitable lineage who didn’t want to marry anyone - but like Archie, she had standards to uphold. It was the simplest thing in the world to join their family interests in matrimony - and if surmounting the less-than-pleasant process of procuring an heir was somewhat trickier, well, it could have been worse. (He’d seen some of his friends’ marriages, after all...)  Isla was no simpering feather-brain at least, even if she was decidedly not the sort of person he would have taken to bed by choice. For that, Archie preferred the company of the Ganymede Gentlemen’s Club - a less exclusive establishment than it had been in his grandfather’s time, true, but still charming. And while Archie wasn’t the sort to turn up his nose at a proper lineage, he also wasn’t some hotheaded extremist. Most half-bloods these days were so civilized you could hardly tell them apart from a pureblood without a family tree - and some muggleborns were so well-behaved, you’d practically think they’d been raised magical! Really, modern times were astounding.

PRESENT.

Life was going well enough for Archie, overall. He’d checked all those requisite boxes of societal standards - a clever wife, enough of an eye for fashion to not embarrass himself, a respectable job that he largely enjoyed... even if it did get a bit tiring, having to re-hash the same arguments all the time. (Yes, Mr. Bogrod, you really do have to let them access their family vault even though they aren’t the generation who founded it... No, Gornuk, you don’t get to take that necklace back just because the owner died and yes it would be very bad form to go to the funeral and ask them to hand it over before they bury her...) Still, Junior Ministry Liaison to Gringotts Wizarding Bank was a prestigious position even if it did involve working with, well, goblins. Not that Archie was prejudiced, of course - but they did wear on a fellow after a while, goblins. They weren’t the only thing dragging down his spirits: Archie had thought that a marriage and the eventual inevitable heir thus entailed would mean he’d reached the finish line - that society would stop demanding things of him. But it seemed he still had a façade to uphold. Still wasn’t allowed to talk openly about certain subjects. No one expected a husband and wife to sleep in the same bedroom, yet somehow saying it sent lips all a-flutter (as if any of those gossips shared rooms with their spouses?). Archie was sick of the old-fashioned illusions - so he decided to change the world. Why not? It had happened before. And if most of the people involved in this little “Order of the Phoenix” weren’t exactly his sort of people - well, neither were goblins. And he did all right there.

CONNECTIONS.

BRANWEN YAXLEY. A part of him is only slightly jealous that Yaxley can live the life that he cannot. Branwen isn’t necessarily out and free, no one in their position was free, but he could still remember her confession in her fifth year. He can still remember the words he was too afraid to speak out loud. The jealousy wasn’t quite that after all. It was awe, and a bit of panic. They ran in the same circles, after all. What would happen if Branwen were to find him somewhere she shouldn’t? ISLA SELWYN-MACMILLAN. Archie loves his wife - he’s just not in love with her. They’re best friends - and she’s the first person he really opened up to about his fear of having to marry a woman. She hated the idea of marrying all together - so it worked out! With Isla on his arm at both Ministry and pureblood functions alike, no one bats an eye. And because she loves him in the exact same platonic way he loves her, she doesn’t think anything of his extracurricular activities. He might just be able to share anything with her, which can be a dangerous slope for a pureblood.  HESTIA JONES. Is it wrong to want to adopt a girl less than five years your junior? Archie can’t help himself, her boundless energy and curiosity are just adorable. The fact that she’s got such a powerful wand-arm to back up that bounce just makes her more fun to be around. He’s not old enough to say that she makes him feel young again, but... all right, that’s exactly how she makes him feel.

Alternate FC Suggestions: Hunter Parrish, Lucas Till, Taron Egerton  

**Note: It will be up to the players applying for Archibald and Isla to decide whether or not they are Ernie’s parents (in which case, they have at least one child) or his uncle and aunt (in which case, they are free to have as many or few children as you like, including none).

ARCHIBALD IS OPEN.