#also moon is technically pan but I had to work with what I had

[bunnybonesstudio]

[daniwib]

Thoughts on Masks 8x05 stills

When you consider that we haven't had a Halloween episode since season 5 for whatever real world reason but then put it in the context of the 911 verse, Buck's excitement over his corpse decoration becomes a lot more understandable. He's not just excited about a decoration, he's excited about working on Halloween with his family. You see, if we look at the seasons that didn't have a Halloween episode as our beloveds not being on shift that day, then they haven't worked a Halloween shift for three years.

Look at how he's standing, shoulder back, tall and so proud of himself. "Look at me, Dad! Look what I got for us, isn't it great?"

They're not so sure, because it looks very life (death?) like and knowing Buck, it might just be an actual real-life (death??) corpse.

Buck knows it's Bobby he has to convince. Chim's on board at once, he's intrigued and excited. Look at him playfully spraying fog at Bobby to make him laugh and agree! Hen's just all "Hmm, Buck's being Buck again, okay, it's just another day."

Eddie, meanwhile, is wondering why the corpse is dressed in HIS bachelor party costume...

"Buck, did you not only keep my destroyed, vomit encrusted suit but also wash it and then dress a dead body in it? MY suit?? What the hell were you thinking, man?!" Tell me that suit is not one hell of a lot cleaner than it was when we last saw Eddie wearing it....

Buck's just like, "Well, obviously I washed it. It stank! Who wants to smell that all shift?" "But smelling a desiccated corpse all shift is alright," Bobby dead pans with that delightful dry wit of his, and Buck launches into an explanation that no, actually, it doesn't, because once the flesh reaches a certain point of decay it begins to dry out and did you know.....

Ahh I cannot wait for this episode!!! Even more so when Oliver has told us he likes this episode and in my (admittedly shaky) memory, he's said that about episodes when Buck has been whumped in the past. So I'm hoping the spider bite or whatever it is goes a lot worse for him than we're expecting lol.

(list of previous Halloween episodes below the cut, lmk if I missed any!)

1x07 Full Moon (Creepy AF) Honorable shout out to this episode which while not technically a Halloween episode was still a lot of fun.

2x07 Haunted

3x06 Monsters

4 - No Halloween episode, shortened season due to covid

5x07 Ghost Stories

6 – No Halloween episode

7 - No Halloween episode, shortened season due to the strikes

[idkaguyorsomething]

Sailor Earth and the Crystal Senshi and Firelord Katara both sound interesting, could you tell me a little about them?

¡Absolutely!

Fire Lord Katara is a slight AU fic where, after the Agni Kai in the finale, Zuko ends up in a coma for a hot minute, leaving something of a succession crisis as to who will take the throne. As it turns out, Katara. Katara takes the throne and becomes Fire Lord because technically she’s the one who defeated Azula in an Agni Kai. What follows is her trying to navigate the royal court, dismantle the bender’s prisons, and pay reparations to other nations without getting overthrown, at least until Zuko’s recovered enough to take back the throne. Iroh, Ty Lee, Mai, Suki, Hama, and maybe Azula are all involved. There’s not actually much romance, mostly just Katara trying to make the best of a tough situation while being her awesome self. A story of politics, trauma, unexpected friendships, Katara badassery, dismantling the prison system, and tea. Technically more of an outline than anything else at the moment.

Sailor Earth and the Crystal Senshi is a Sailor Moon roleswap between the Inner Senshi and Heavenly Kings with a bit of mystery. Mamoru rescues a talking cat one day who discovers that for some reason he is the guardian of the moon, even though by all accounts this shouldn’t be possible. Even more mysteriously, four other teens manifest the power of the other planets despite being boys, and there’s a weird blonde vigilante that keeps shooting top hats at people, plus reports of four young women going missing whose descriptions match up with the generals they’re battling… it takes more inspiration from the old anime than the new one, but it’s not a beat-for-beat retread, and there’s a lot of exploration of gender roles and identity going on in between everyone trying to figure out why all these people have the wrong powers. A story of transgenderism, dysphoria, questioning one's assigned roles, confusing feelings, fabulous crossdressing, mystery, and THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP Also I changed the ages to make it a bit less squicky. Here’s an excerpt:

Masato set his drink down and looked at the binder again. The picture stared up at him, that stoic face inscrutable. He’d reread all the information over and over again, and all he’d gotten out of it was a headache.

“Heeeey!” a shout made him look up. Usagi stood across the street, waving at Masato. Behind her stood Jirou, both of them carrying several brightly colored shopping bags.

“What’s going on?” before long, the duo was seated across from him, setting their bags down in the cafe floor, and Jirou was asking him questions. “Weren’t you supposed to be paying off that shrine today?”

“That’s already done,” Masato waved him off. “Something more important’s come up. Where's Mamoru?”

"He was called in to work today," Jirou shrugged. "Some flash-in-the-pan diva idol showed up at the studio and they needed all hands on deck to record a music video."

"I wanted to come along, but he said no," sighed Usagi. She looked up with a dreamy expression on her face. "Could you imagine being an idol and having all those adoring fans?"

"I don't need to," Jirou grinned haughtily. A bit of his model's grace found its way into his pose. "It's good of you to keep imagining, though. Everyone should have at least a few impossible fantasies."

Usagi smacked him with one of her shopping bags. She turned her attention towards the spread of paper that Masato had laid out over the table. "What's all this?"

"Paperwork for the shrine," answered Masato. "I was reviewing how many people worked there to see how many people to compensate."

"How interesting," said Jirou, rolling his eyes. "I don't suppose you have any of that huge allowance of yours left over to compensate the brave heroes who saved the shrine?"

Masato ignored him and kept talking. "However, I learned that one of the workers there had disappeared a few months ago. The granddaughter of the owner, a young lady who was by all accounts very hard working and dedicated to her job. What's more, she disappeared only a few weeks before the youma attacks began, according to Luna."

Both Usagi and Jirou's expressions grew more serious.

"Hey, what're you implying here?" asked Jirou.

Masato laid down the photo on the table and Usagi immediately snatched it up. Both she and Jirou's eyes widened when they saw who it depicted.

"General Mars?" she gasped. Masato nodded solemnly.

"Wait, but- no, the youma transform their victims all the time, so their leaders-" Jirou curled his hands into fists and let out a cry of frustration. "This is a joke, right?"

"Do you think I'd joke about something like this?" Masato snapped. "We may have been responsible for the death of an innocent girl brainwashed by the Dark Kingdom."

Usagi, looking down, clutched the photo to her chest and asked softly "What do we tell Mamoru?"

"I don't know," he rubbed his fingers against his temples.

"We tell him the truth, obviously," Jirou glared at Masato. "And we ask that stupid cat if she knew about any of this, and if there's a way to turn people back from being generals."

"Yeah, maybe Luna can help!" Usagi said with a sense of renewed hope.

"Maybe," Masato let out a sigh. "But let's just give Mamoru some time before telling him anything, alright? It would be counterproductive to not tell him, but with his work and this new 'General Venus', he already has a lot on his mind. Let's just not put everything on him at once, alright?"

The others agreed that it was already a busy weekend, perhaps they should wait until the end of it to lay this revelation on Mamoru. The stresses of leading a double life were known to all of them. Just focusing on one or the other instead of trying to juggle both was practically a break at this point. A little bit of tedium might have been what all of them needed right now, especially Mamoru.

Elsewhere, Mamoru was being chased by a giant record label youma hurling exploding vinyls at him.

[inxthexshadowxofxdeath]

(Luka Sabbat) [THE MOMENT]. Please welcome [SYDNEY CLIFFTON ROWE (HE/HIM/SHE/HER)] to Huntsville, WV. They are an [27]-year-old [VISITOR] who lives in [TOWN]. You may see them around working as a [HAIR STYLIST AT BEST CUTS/DRAG QUEEN]. Poor unfortunate soul. We’ll see if they survive.

(Luka Sabbat) [THE MOON]. Please welcome [SOL ELIJAH ROWE (HE/HIM)] to Huntsville, WV. They are an [27]-year-old [VISITOR] who lives in [TOWN]. You may see them around working as a [PAINTER/POET/TAILOR AT THE BOUTIQUE]. Poor unfortunate soul. We’ll see if they survive.

Syd first because he's technically the oldest and won't let Sol forget it...

Full Name: Sydney Cliffton Rowe Nicknames/Aliases: Syd, Candice B. Love (his drag name) DOB: TBD (But I feel like I've said they're Gemini) Birthplace: Philadelphia, PA Orientation: Homoromantic, Homosexual

-Unlike his brother Sydney he got into far less trouble (even if he had a bigger mouth). Sol used his fists Sidney used his words… So maybe he did get into just as much trouble just not with the LAW. He's always had a sharp tongue.

-Both he and Sol are artists at heart. Whereas Sol focused on poetry and visual arts, Sidney pursued dance and music. He got into drag from a young age. He was meant to preform. Sol didn’t want to be in the spotlight, that was fine; Sydney would gladly soak it all up.

-The drag scene in Philly was fine but he wanted to see the world. Syd left the nest earlier than Sol, bouncing around from city to city and eventually moving to Hollywood in the hopes of making it. He did well for himself. Forming relationships always came far easier to him. He’s charming and confident and it didn’t take long for him to get engaged.

-He was with his ex fiancé (who acted duelly as his manager) since he was 18. While Syd's experience with him was no where near what Sol went through, there was still a lot of emotional manipulation and weird power dynamics. It often left Syd feeling out of control of his own life but he often found himself going back because his ex was consistent and rebounds were never the real love Sydney wanted.

-Speaking of, Syd and his ex fiancé split recently — they’re “””taking a break””” — hence why Syd moved back in with Sol and agreed to come to Huntsville with him after they inherited their grandmother's house.

-He’s calmed down a lot from the wild teenager that he was. He still likes a party, still likes to fuck and drink and be a mess, don’t get me wrong, but he works just as hard. He's a business woman at heart and at the time of getting stuck in Huntsville he was a pretty well known Drag performer and makeup artist on Instagram, TikTok, etc.

-He can do hair, he can do nails, but baby don't ask him to sew nothing.

-Sydney’s drag name is Candice B. Love. I imagine his style is very Shea Coulee/Naomi Smalls. He is an excellent dancer/performer and often incorporates stand up in his act. Sometimes he’ll just do comedy, sometimes he’ll dance, it depends on what the venue calls for.

-10s 10s 10s across the board; a very kind warm disco energy with this one. He does lack a filter, but doesn’t go out of his way to be nasty to people. That’s bullshit. Syd’s the friend that wont mince words or coddle you because he cares deeply about you. And he will be the first to come to your or a strangers defense. He loves his friends fiercely and openly.

Sol...

Full Name: Sol Elijah Rowe Nicknames/Aliases: N/A, Syd calls him variations of Sun or Sunny occasionally DOB: TBD (But I feel like I've said they're Gemini) Birthplace: Philadelphia, PA Orientation: Aromantic(?), Homosexual (he could MAYBE be pan? But also I'm not sure. I don't think he is either. Who knows. Miracles happen every day.)

- He was bullied heavily in school. While Syd seemed to own who he was from a young age - was popular and bright and charismatic - Sol struggled. He was the quiet, mute, shy boy. It resulted in a lot of fights in the school yard with much bigger boys.

- In high school he got into more serious trouble. And though he excelled in his art and english classes he skipped a lot of school and hung around the wrong crowd. Ultimately, he ended up fucking one of his classmates who’d been the main perpetrator of this violence against him for years so that’s one way to lose your virginity. It was a whole internalized homophobia thing on the other dude's end, and a self loathing on Sol's. Bad, bad vibes.

-Sol doesn’t regret much, but he regrets that ^. It was a toxic on and off thing that went on for far too long. There was physical and emotional abuse involved. Things like yelling, or loud noises, sudden movements etc. make him very nervous.

-Despite graduating High school by the skin of his teeth Sol is one of the most well read, intelligent people. Books have always been an escape. He independently studies philosophy and anthropology and poetry. It was his writing that got him a full ride to get a higher education and college was truly the best thing that could have happened to him. He has a duel degree in literature & creative writing and sociology & anthropology. He later went on to get his masters in philosophy.

-After cleaning up his act he got serious about community work and activism. Urban agriculture, homelessness advocacy, Harm reduction etc. He's written countless essays and used his poetry and art to break out of his shell a little. He was working as something of a community leader, organizing events at an anarchist book store and gallery space when he left Philly to come to Huntsville with his brother.

- He's a radical little socialist and was always yelling about or demanding something or causing trouble or riots. again this put him in precarious situations and he has spent many a nights in jail for things including but not limited to: resisting arrest, causing public disturbance by means of protest, trespassing, vandalism, defacement of statues etc.

-He's always helped Sydney with his drag, finding solace with working with his hands. Since they were in high school, Sol had been sewing Sydney's garments. It was a skill he learned from their mother. It's not his passion. But there's little work for a paint/philosopher/poet in Huntsville.

-He doesn't mean to be standoffish. His face is just naturally looks disinterested.

Fun facts about the twins...

-They've been in Huntsville a couple of months having come here to go through their grandmother's house.

-Telling the twins apart tip #1: Sol has finger, palm, and back of hand tattoos. While Syd does have some tattoos he has far less than his brother.

-Telling the twins apart tip #2: They both smoke but Sol smokes far more than Syd. In the off chance you see both with a cigarette, the one in pink is Sydney.

-Telling the twins apart tip #3: If you can hear him, it's probably Syd. If his hair is pulled up and out of his face, it's probably Syd. If he's talking to you willingly, it's probably Syd.

-Open connection (for both): They have 5 younger siblings (a pair of which are also twins)

-Open connection (for Sydney): His on/off fiancé who he's been engaged to for like 6 years now. It's not a good situation so we can chat about that if you're interested. They're currently on one of their breaks.

[uniasus]

Doing all the author interview questions courtesy of @rockinlibrarian so....here goes nothing.

How many works do you have on AO3? 205

What's your total AO3 word count? 1,242,624 (I've been around for awhile, okay?)

What are your top 5 fics by kudos? Herald of Winter - ROTG crack fic about Mother Nature not allowing Jack (the fall seasonal) to join the guardians. The Perfect Excuse - Mulan AU where when Shang tells her to go home, she does. There are...consequences. The Moon's Gift - ROTG angst fic where Jack view's his guardianship as a boon because now he can die. Defender - BBC Merlin fic where Merlin steps in to protect other servants and Arthur sees Merlin treating the resulting injuries. The Big Three In The Life Of Jack Frost - ROTG Jack Frost interacting with Mother Nature, Old Man Winter, and Peter Pan, setting up a series about how Jack is a seasonal experiment between Gaia and MiM to replace Old Man Winter.

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? I try to! Comments make me happy, why not continue the joy chain? I want readers to know I appreciate them.

What fic has the angstiest ending? Uhhhh. My most common additional tag is Angst. But let's go with Vigil which has Merlin staying in his cell, waiting for Arthur to free him. Arthur keeps waiting for Merlin to bust out with magic. And then it ends with the Druids sacking Camelot and this really raw line:

Arthur burned with the ashes of his father and best friend scattered at his feet.

What fic has the happiest ending? Uhh. Maybe Perfect Excuse? Things are...corrected there. Grocery List Goals has an expected happy ending - Vanya's gotta get kidnapped first though. Did You Waste It? ends with the establishment of a found family for the Honor Without Thieves crowd!

Do you write crossovers? Previously answered.

Have you received hate on AO3? Eh. I've 100% had people drop into my comments that they don't agree with what I've written (they disagree with a ship, don't think something is logical) that I would call rude but not outright hate.

Do you write smut? Occasionally. Most recent was a post-S4 reunion between Yami and Yugi. It's over a year old, I don't do it often. I am working on a smutting sequel.

Have you had a fic get stolen? If I have, I don't know.

Have you had a fic get translated? If I have, I don't know.

Have you co-written a fic? No.

What's your fave ship? Cannot answer. There's so many....

What's a WIP you want to finish but never will? I'm so, so scared Veritas is the answer. I know a lot of people want that updated. I probably will also not finish ...And Then Came The Reaper. Sorry Jack, you will forever host the embodiment of death.

What are your writing strengths? Previously answered

What are your writing weaknesses? I'm often too subtle - I think I'm leaving clues for people, but I'm not. How many of you noticed the seeds I planted in Puzzlebox that Yami's soul room....isn't. Or in Hell's Secret that Crowley used to be Lucifer until I spelled it out? Sometimes I want to surprise people and reveal things at the right time, but I know I've had conversations with friends over my original stuff where they completely missed something that would have explained a part of the story.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages on AO3? Do it if it's natural for the character.

What's the first fandom you wrote for? Technically I think Into the Land of the Unicorns. But that you can find on A03 - D. Gray Man.

What fandom/ship have you not written but want to? Previously answered

What's your fave fic you've written? I cannot choose. I have 200+ titles and they're all special.

[via-the-ghoul]

Little Misters headcanons part 2

(Part one: here)

Life/death

Bi

Knows way too many cursed facts

A bit more distant to everyone

Constantly tired

Worried about whether or not he’s gonna wake up next time

Really likes bugs

Worked in Wondertainment’s medical staff before becoming a mister, yes there’s an entire medical staff for this place one of the toys is made with phoenix feathers

Fish

Transman

Barely ever gets surprised

The designated normal guy(tm) of the misters, but like, the cartoon normal guy, the comically normal guy

Collects board games

Slowly becoming more and more done with everything

Also one of Reginald’s cousins pre-being a mister

Moon

Ace

Astrology nerd

Cool grandad of the misters

Tells stories about his life but all of them are concerning, he just weirdly chill while being like “I remember in my youth I set a man on fire because he cut in line at the soda fountain” and no one knows if they actually happened or not least of all him

When you first meet him you’re like “oh nice granddad” but the longer you know him the more feral he gets, while still having grandfather vibes

I… honestly don’t have anything for pre-mistering, I kinda wanna make him literally be Reginald’s grandfather but I’m not sure if that would work

Redd

No one knows what his sexuality is

Pure chaos

Like every mister either fears him (Forgetful, Shapey, Soap, Hungry, Life/Death, Fish, Lost), wants to kill him (Chameleon, Headless, Laugh, Shapey, Hot, Sweetie, Moon, Mad, Lie, Stripes), just hates him but doesn’t fear or want to kill him (Brass, Money), or is Smiles (who he’s… kind of friends with)

Is physically incapable of wearing anything that doesn’t at least have a little red on it

Keeps sending Wondertainment letters that just say “fuck you bitch”

Before being a mister, he [REDACTED]

Money

Gay transman

The calmest guy, he loses at Uno and just goes “oh darn.” In a mildly disappointed voice

The holder of the braincells among the misters

*bleeding horribly* oh well that’s not good- *sees one of the other misters get a papercut* oh god… I must protect them…

Photographic memory

An accountant pre-mistering.

Lost

Pan transman

Name an anomalous location and he’s probably accidentally stumbled in there at some point. The infinite Ikea? He’s been there. The Wanderer’s Library? He’s been there. Alagadda? Well he’s somehow been there too

Will ramble about his interests for hours

Third member of Brass and Sweetie’s vocaloid fan club

*Standing outside someone’s window on the fifth floor* Hi there :D

Is trying to find Smiles

Lie

Ace, biromatic

You know that trope that’s like, card-carrying villain, but like, not actually evil in any way whatsoever? Yeah, that.

Dramatic little bastard

Horror nerd

Will find every little loophole he can and save em for later, in case he really needs to be honest about something

Lawyer pre-mistering

Mad

Gay transman

Has trouble… feeling, if that makes sense? Like, he doesn’t really get much emotion reaction out of stuff?

Hasn’t overall interacted with most of the other misters that much, even though he can. He just didn’t get that many opportunities.

*dressed in colorful clothes* this world is cruel

Whenever interacting with a piece of media he will always find the fridge horror

Smiles

Ace/aro

Before the rust he already technically had some anomalous properties, that being that people around him tended to be a lot happier and that he was physically unable to not smile. The rust has more or less destroyed the first one.

Most of the other misters are worried about where he is, except for Forgetful, who knows what happened, and Redd, who sneaks in sometimes.

Redd is trying to turn Smiles to the dark side but it’s just not going anywhere, he’s too stubborn to stop.

Is in horrible denial that Reginald isn’t gonna come back for him, believes that things have to turn out okay, right?

Stripes

Bisexual, aro

Pretty nice guy overall but says really concerning stuff a lot, he actually kinda likes freaking people out

Surprisingly good at playing the piano, good for him

Puts quarters in the card reader

Is just Always Cold

[equalseleventhirds]

fdsjflsk hello i have had the magnus archives and the web specifically on my mind AGAIN and this is only tangentially related to the convo last night BUT

a lot of ppl have shown up on my & other ppl's posts abt 'wow manipulation and spiders? why??' going 'well but there are spider tricksters in mythology'

and like... yeah, ok, there are. but are there that many, compared to other animal tricksters, and spider not-tricksters? enough to justify the exclusivity of spiders to the one entity??

so i. made a list, as i do. (you can't judge me for this you should know by now i make lists at the SLIGHTEST provocation) actually i made TWO lists, one of spiders in mythology & how they line up with tma's entities, and one of tricksters in mythology. (i knew some of these already but i also got a lot of them off of wikipedia. also tried to avoid detailing the uh. worse aspects of mythologies. we all know abt it but that isn't the point here.)

(we are ignoring for now my theory that the web's actually shit at manipulation and mostly just does control, and considering any spider that does manipulation OR control to be web-aligned)

spiders in mythology (and how they align w/ tma's various entities, if they even do):

anansi: okay i'll give you this one! yeah he is the trickster spider! yeah he lies & manipulates! he's not really uhhhh evil in any way or would inspire ppl to generate fear for the entities to shape themselves to, but ok yeah i'll give you that one as web!

arachne: she literally just wove tapestries? got into a competition with athena and wove a tapestry detailing the infidelities of the gods. like, if anything she is eye, going around revealing truths and stuff.

uttu: mostly seems to be about creation? weaving & plants. hid herself in her web, which isn't manipulation at all, it's just hiding. not rly entity aligned at all, at worst she's probably a victim of like, the hunt? maybe?

iktomi: another trickster! p much the same boat as anansi, where he's not particularly evil, but we'll let him be web.

spider grandmother: she just is helpful!! she creates & guides & protects! no entities.

ai apaec: creator & leader god again. only sometimes a spider.

djieien: just a very strong spider who hid its heart so it couldn't be killed? like, if anything, end.

great goddess of teotihuacan: associated with spiders, maybe not a spider herself? doesn't seem to be much known abt her, but potentially underworld, darkness, earth, creation, lots of things. no mention of manipulation or control.

nareau: another creation god. i guess he does do some arguably flesh-aligned stuff in that creation, but like, so do a lot of other creation myths.

areop-enap: again creation! hmm what a pattern emerges. doesn't seem particularly aligned with any entities.

tsuchigumo: ok i can give you web here i guess? bcos it does trick ppl, even if that tricking also kind of slides into spiral/stranger territory. and hunt territory obvs it literally is there to consume prey. also can give you evil here.

jorogumo: can also be web! there is lying & shapeshifting here, like the tsuchigumo, but slightly less pure evil? there's like, a couple of neutral depictions, but also evil ones. anyway. web.

gamba: not on wikipedia but wikipedia only talks abt the filipino story of the spider who wanted to marry the fly, NOT gamba, and i LOVE gamba. anyway she just created things. got too into her work and turned into a spider. idk what entity is 'fear of being a workaholic' but it's not the web. maybe lonely, since she neglected her family relationships abt it?

conrad of constance: not a spider himself, but drank out of a cup with a spider in it, showing that the cup was not poisoned even tho ppl thought spiders were poisonous. i don't... i don't think this is an entity. hey jonny maybe take some hints here, spiders are not that bad--

robert of bruce: my dude saw a v persistent spider and was inspired! it's chill it's cool! spiders helped scotland gain independence one time! wow no wonder fucking smirke hated them--

pan twardowski: again not a spider himself, but he lives on the moon and a spider hangs out with him and brings him news. a friendly spider! pan twardowski himself can be lonely ig, maybe the spider is eye, but like, a friendly eye.

vedic philosophy: now this is not technically mythology but i thought it was interesting, in this one a spider's web hides the true reality from ppl. could be argued as web but seems pretty much spiral to me? but like, a not v evil spiral, just like. neutral? it's fine.

overall... majority creation gods, actually. very few even evil depictions? wow jonny, rude.

anyway, list of animals (besides spiders) shown as tricksters in mythology:

humans! majority humans!! also like. specifically clowns several times? like, specifically clowns.

just kinda non-animal spirits/beings/whatever? sometimes vaguely humanoid.

rabbits & hares

foxes

coyotes

wolves

g...goats? sort of?? half a goat, anyway, thank you pan.

cats

ravens

mouse-deer! look up mouse-deer you will LOVE them.

monkeys

raccoons

also raccoon dogs

snakes

horses

praying mantises

tortoises

lizards

also a bunch of tricksters who shapeshift into like, a multitude of animals, but given that those are not their primary or even main secondary forms i guess we will not go into those (mostly that would just. take so much time omg.)

i didn't do a full tally, but foxes especially show up a TON, and rabbits or hares quite a bit, so either of those could've been the fear-god of manipulation. if like, we're relying on the 'there are stories about spider tricksters' thing (which we are not, in fact, i think jonny just picked a Cool Literary Symbol and did not think abt the worldbuilding implications so much)

EDIT bcos ppl keep misunderstanding: i don't think tricksters are the main source of the fear of manipulation. i don't even think tricksters should be considered a reasonable source for the web's manifestations. BUT people kept bringing them up when i had issues with the web's spider exclusivity (when both spiders and manipulation SHOULD have multiple metaphors and not be exclusive to each other) and that is why i made this list, thank you.

(also i'm aware there are ways to justify spiders meaning control sometimes. given the worldbuilding of tma, i don't think there's a way to justify them meaning control always. but that's a different post.)

[floralguccistyles]

prologue: soupe à l’oignon

Michel’s soupe a l’oignon was burning.

Michel had also been through a terrible breakup the night before in which he had found his boyfriend of almost seven years in bed with their personal trainer. Then Michel’s boyfriend had announced that he and this personal trainer were actually married, per a terrible ceremony in Las Vegas when they were both drunk. Therefore, Michel was technically the other man. Michel had never been the other man before. He was obviously having a rough time.

But the fucking soup was burning.

“Michel! The soup!” Italia shouted before the scent could officially assault all of my senses. The second the words left her mouth, however, I could smell it. The onions were burning to a crisp. There would be no saving them, of this I knew. 

“Shit!” Michel yelled, immediately turning off the heat of the stove. He went to go grab the saucepan and the hurried “no!” didn’t leave my mouth fast enough as he gripped the cast iron handle with his bare hand for approximately three seconds before he yelped and dropped it back down on the stove top with a slamming sound. “Shit, shit shit!” he repeated, clutching his wrist with his other hand. 

“Let me see,” I demanded, moving away from my own meal (which would be fine and not on the verge of burning for at least another five minutes) and towards Michel. He held out his hand to me with tears in his eyes and I honestly felt bad for the guy. 

I just also felt really, really bad for the customer who was waiting for their soup.

“Go run it under cool water. Cool, Michel, not cold. Ice-cold will damage the tissue even more. Then get a rag wet and hold it over. You can just go ahead and take your fifteen.”

“My soup—”

“Italia and I will handle it,” I interrupted. The more time we wasted standing here arguing was time that could have been spent trying to salvage the soup. It didn’t help that we were already down a chef, since Frederick’s wife was giving birth, but we would make do. Italia and I always did.

“Thanks, Dom. I’ll be in the lounge.”

Lounge was a loose term. It was a tiny little room in the back that looked dingy and unkempt. Still, it was enough to pass health inspections. Only about two people could fit back there at a time, which was why I usually just sat in my car for my breaks.

“Sounds good, Michel.” My eyes locked with Italia, who was already working on melting the butter and oil for Michel’s soup in a new saucepan. Isobel, one of our dishwashers, had already grabbed the pan Michel had ruined and was scrubbing it clean with her thick rubber gloves on her hands. At least I knew she wasn’t going to be burned. 

When Michel turned to go into the lounge, I grabbed an onion and automatically began chopping it. “Sorry, Italia,” I muttered under my breath, knowing she could hear me just fine. We had gotten used to the hustle and bustle of the kitchen.

“It’s fine. Tell Louis to offer them a dessert on the house because this soup is going to take at least another fifteen.”

I wanted to slam my head against the counter. Or better yet, use the pan Isobel was now putting on the drying rack to hit over my head. “Fuck. Alright.” 

Finding Louis was easy enough. He was making his rounds in the front of the restaurant, his pleasant attitude most likely earning him more than average tips. The kind of people who came to Lesauvage were wealthy enough to tip generously. Sometimes they didn’t, but for the most part, Louis wouldn’t be starving anytime soon. “Louis!” I hissed under my breath when he passed by the kitchen doors, cups in hands to refill. He jumped comically.

“Christ, Dom, you scared me,” he replied in a quiet voice, not wanting any of the customers to hear. “What?”

“Tell table eleven there was a complication with their soup and dessert is on the house.”

“What the fuck happened to their soup?”

I raised a brow. “Michel made it.”

Michel’s boyfriend drama had already made it around the restaurant. Twice. Chefs were a nosy bunch. Louis nodded in understanding and filled up a cup with iced tea as he looked towards where I assumed table eleven was. I actually hadn’t ever really paid attention to the front setup of Lesauvage because I had always entered through the back door.

“Fine. But I’m recommending the chocolate mousse because you’re here and you make it the best.”

“Compliments will get you everywhere,” I replied with a wink.

He grinned. “Got me into your bed, didn’t it?”

Louis and I had a fling when I had started working at Lesauvage. I was fresh out of culinary school, bright eyed and bushy tailed, and he was the experienced waiter who comforted me in the lounge my first day when my boss had completely ripped me a new one. He was the unattainable, three-years-older coworker who I was moon-eyed over for at least five months before we actually slept together. And once we had, it was like some switch had been flipped inside my body and he was suddenly nothing but a friend.

Thank the fucking lord he felt the same way.

“You’re damn right it did. Now go make me proud, Tomlinson.”

When I hastily returned to the kitchen, Italia was already ten times ahead where Michel had been with the soup. I sent her a thankful look and grabbed the beef stock, passing it her way as I grabbed a knife and began chopping the green onions for my own dish. 

As much as I complained about the hustle and bustle of the kitchen, I secretly thrived in it. It was what I had missed when I had been in culinary school. So many of my classmates cooked their meals silently. When I cooked at home, I blasted music and sang loudly and off-key to myself. At work, I had the conversation of other people. I liked learning about Italia’s kids and Isobel’s ex-boyfriend who kept trying to call her. I even liked Michel, even though right now he wasn’t my favorite person in the world. 

School had been lonely. At least here I felt like I belonged.

“They’re good for the chocolate mousse!” Louis shouted over the sound of Isobel doing the dishes and Italia chopping more vegetables. 

“You’re a saint, Tomlinson!” I replied, dropping the spices needed onto Italia’s cutting board. She slid them into the soup with her knife and the skill of a seasoned Lesauvage veteran. 

The chocolate mousse was luckily already in the fridge cooling from my prep this morning, so I didn’t have to worry about making it at that exact moment. I did finish the salad I was working on and passed it off to Sydney, who was another runner. She grabbed the plate and sped off to table seven. 

The time went by quickly when I was in the kitchen. My thoughts could roam  because the movements of cooking were muscle memory at this point. When I had first been hired, I had been terrified to mess anything up. The first time I had pulled a Michel, I had cried. My boss had yelled at me pretty badly, but had brought me into his office afterwards to apologize and assure me that I was doing a great job. Now, it felt like second nature to pour the green onions into the butter garlic sauce that was sautéing. And when Italia handed me the soup that she had completed, I sent her a grateful look and wasted no time in handing it off to Louis. We worked as a team here.

I thrived on that.

“Get those chocolate mousses out and ready,” I told Michel when he came back from his break. His hand didn’t look too worse for wear, but he looked decently embarrassed. I knew, at least for tonight, there would be no more mistakes. 

“I’m really sorry, Dom,” he said softly, preparing for my anger.

“It’s fine, Michel. Just work on desserts for now, okay? But this is the comp dessert for table eleven, so try to pay attention, yeah?”

He hung his head, but nodded and went to go prep the mousse. It wasn’t that Michel wasn’t talented. He wouldn’t have been hired if he hadn’t been a great chef. But the boyfriend thing was really getting to him. I hoped he had at least the next two days off to recoup.

“Dom,” I heard Louis say about thirty minutes later as he walked through the kitchen door. He had the empty plates from table eleven in his hand and handed them off to Isobel. “They’re ready for the dessert.” He eyed me questionably when Michel handed them off to me, as if it was wrong that I had let Michel touch them after his little mishap but I had faith in the chefs. “These better be good,” Louis said in a warning tone.

“I made them, Tomlinson, of course they’re good,” I snapped, clicking my tongue in annoyance. It was a bad habit I had done when I was a kid and never seemed to shake it. 

He shrugged, taking the completed desserts and walking back out to the restaurant. “They looked great, Michel!” I encouraged, turning to continue chopping the beef I had been working on before Louis had come in. 

When I cooked, time passed by without my notice. What felt like two minutes later but was really thirty, Louis walked back into the kitchen with a solemn look on his face. “They want to see the chef.”

“Who?”

“Table eleven.”

Shit. “You said they were fine with the soup, yeah?” Louis nodded, which meant the problem was with the chocolate mousse. And since Michel had done nothing but added the whipped cream and chocolate shavings on top, if they had a real problem with the mousse, it was on me. “Fuck. Alright. Italia, can you finish this dish for me really quick?”

Italia nodded, looking up from the celery she was chopping to examine the chicken I was seasoning to see how much she would need to do to complete it. Nervously wiping my hands on my apron after I washed them quickly, I tried to make myself look a little more presentable. It was rare that chefs were invited to the front of the restaurant, so we were usually unkempt and had food on our clothes. It didn’t matter to me what I looked like as long as the food was good, but I knew it was a shock to the high-end patrons of the restaurant.

Louis led me over to table eleven, where three people were sitting. There were two men and one gorgeous woman that looked like she could model for a living. She was happily chatting and holding hands with one of the men, excitedly waving around her free hand. He looked engrossed in her story, nodding and smiling and staring at her like she was the best thing in the world. Their companion was simply taking sips of his wine (a wonderful red that went really well with the chocolate mousse and I thanked Louis for obviously recommending it to them) and pursing his lips in response to whatever the woman was saying.

She stopped talking when she noticed Louis and sent a blinding smile at us. “This is the chef, I presume?”

“Dominique Blanchard,” I said, holding out my hand for her to shake. I was thankful I had run my hands under some soap and water. We weren’t allowed to have our nails painted in case some of the varnish fell off into the food, but her fingers were perfectly manicured and painted a vibrant blue. “I’m sorry again about the soup. We had an incident in the kitchen.”

She waved it off. “The soup was fine. That chocolate mousse, however? It was to die for!”

I felt my shoulders deflate. I had been so worried that they were upset with their experience or food that I hadn’t even thought they had wanted to chat because they enjoyed their meal. “Thank you. It’s a Lesauvage specialty.”

“Dominique makes it the best,” Louis supplied helpfully from behind me. I grinned nervously.

“We all loved it,” the man holding her hand spoke, and I was surprised to hear an Irish accent. “It was the best thing I’ve ever tasted.”

“I’m glad you enjoyed it.” And I was glad it took the attention off the fact that their soup was late. The other man stayed quiet, simply ignoring the conversation as he sipped at his wine again. 

“I have the weirdest proposition for you. Please feel free to say no if you don’t want to, but I would kick myself if I didn’t ask.”

My eyes strayed back to the woman, who was talking to me politely. 

“I’m two months pregnant,” she said happily, her hand going to her stomach like most pregnant women did when their pregnancy was announced, “and I’m so incredibly exhausted nowadays. I can barely muster up enough energy to come out to dinner, let alone make myself toast in the morning. And your chocolate mousse was the only thing I’ve been able to keep down for more than thirty minutes. I was wondering if you’d ever consider being a personal chef?”

Chefs at Lesauvage being asked to become personal chefs for celebrities or rich individuals wasn’t as uncommon as one would think. The chef I had replaced had left to become a personal chef for some actress who split her time between London and Los Angeles. As far as I knew, he simply travelled with her. But it was the first time the suggestion had ever been brought up to me, the first time that someone had liked my food that much.

Which was why my mouth comically fell open.

“I could pay you plenty!” she said, which led me to believe she was well-off. Well, that and the fact that she was eating at Lesauvage, which wasn’t exactly known for their cheap meal choices. “I just...I’m so tired all the time. The doctor said it was normal, but I don’t even want to get up out of bed sometimes. And I’m only two months along! I can’t imagine trying to cook myself meals when I’m eight months. You’d cook some things for Niall and Harry too, of course.” She gestured to the two males sitting with her. 

“This is...I’m sorry, this is just incredibly unexpected,” I managed to stutter out.

“Of course, I’m so sorry I’m just flinging this on you. How about I give you my number and I’ll get back to you in about a week or so? Will that give you enough time to think it over?”

“Yes, of course.” Taking her number wouldn’t hurt, I told myself. She had a little card in her wallet with her information on it, and I saw that she actually was a model. 

“I’ll be in touch soon. Thank you so much, Dominique. I’ll probably be dreaming about that chocolate mousse for the next six months.”

I was able to laugh at her joke even though it still felt like someone had shaken me into a concussion. I exchanged goodbyes with the three of them as they left the restaurant, leaving a more than generous tip for Louis. 

“Well that was nice of them,” Louis said, clapping me on my shoulder. “Think about it, yeah? It’s not the worst idea in the world.”

It wasn’t. But I couldn’t think about the proposition until my shift was done tonight.

~

Welcome to the world of Mise en Place! I hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter and are as excited to read this fic as I am to share it!

[magicalfxgirl]

LO Characters as Pokemon Trainers: The Nymphs

The Nymphs teams are based on LO, and their origins in greek mythology. Anything else is pure fanfiction. Please enjoy.

Daphne

Her Bayleef, Bloom has been with her since birth as the two were born in the same field. The two are extremely close. Bloom has hated Apollo ever since she first met him. Literally attacking him with razor leaf and vine whip when the two first met. Apollo has avoided Bloom at all cost ever since. The pokemon Bayleef gets it named after bay leaves which are part of the laurel tree family. The tree which she turns into in the original myth. Her Bellossom, Bella was given to her as an Oddish by Persephone when both Persephone and Daphne were children. Persephone later gave Daphne a Sun Stone to evolve Bella from a Gloom into Bellossom. As Gloom smell bad and Persephone knew it would hurt Daphne to have to leave Bella behind when Daphne left to start her carrear. Bella is always seen dancing on Sprouts its sings. The two are close as they have been with Daphne the longest. Bella evolved from a Sun Stone that Persephone gave her. Bella spied on Daphne's and Apollo's date's in order to protect Daphne as Bloom could not. Bella has also appeared in some of Daphne's photoshoots. Her Frosmoth, Silk a gift from Thanatos as he is associated with moths or butterflys. Silk is often mistaken for a beautiful bow as she loves sit on Daphne's head. Pumpkin, her Pumpkaboo initially was in the care of Thanatos. Thanatos cared for Pumpkin, but feared people would think he was getting soft so he gave Pumpkin to Daphne. Although Echo thinks it was just so he had an excuse to visit Daphne. Her Finneon and Goldeen are a reference to orignal origins as a water nymph.

Echo

Echo is ace is obviously Chatter, her Chatot who often repeats what is ever said around him. Daphne calls Chatter, Echo Jr or Echo's shadow as the two are never far a apart. Something useful as Chatter repeats Hera's commands in order for Echo not to miss a word her mistress speaks. Hera has mixed feelings toward Chatter as realizes he is useful, but he also never shut up. So she is on the fence about him. Her ditto, Daffodil, is a reference to Narcissis the man fell in love with, but was more in love with her own reflection. Her Vaporeon, Vapor can literally become one with water. Another reference to Narcissisus. Her Misdeavous, is known for mimicing people. Her Gogoat, Fauna and Pikapek, Reed were both gifts from the God, Pan, who loved her. She also has Audino, its just not on her team.

Aetna

Aetna has only had 3 apparences so far, but her team will definetly leave an impact. Half her team is based on her appearence in LO, while the other half is base on her portray in Greek mythology.

Hephaetus gifted her Rotom, Virus and her Porygon Z, Update. As he was worried she was lonely being limited to the web. Technically Aetna recieved Update through trading a Hepheatus another Rotom, but that was just done so she would have a Porygon with better graphics. Charjabug makes sure the computers she uses stay powered even during blackouts. Her Octillery, Palikoi, is known for hitting enemies with blasts of hot water. He is named after the greek god of geysers and hot springs. Depending on the myth on Aetna is the mother or grandmother of Palikoi the greek god of geysers and hot springs. Stakataka, an Ultrabeast looks like a building come to life is reference to Mount Aetna which shares her name. According to greek mythology Zeus threw Mt. Aetna on top of father of monsters Typhoon. According to pokemon canon Ultrabeast are not legendary as there more than one of each as they come. Her Camerupt, Mountain is another reference to Mount Aetna.

Thetis

When I said Zeus had a type well Thetis is the secound mistress of his that has a Malamar as her one of her Aces. Thetis is no where near Leto's level, but she is still a master manipulator. Manipulating both Zeus and Minthe. Her Malamar, Malice will do whatever it takes to get what it wants. Even framing Thetis' other pokemon in order to remain on top of Thetis' team. That being said it is still number two Thetis' true Ace, Yuki-Onna, the Frosglass. Its Moon dex entry explains its spot on Thetis' team "The soul of a woman lost on a snowy mountain possessed an icicle, becoming this Pokémon. The food it most relishes is the souls of men." Beautiful, yet vicious nature of Thetis's Yuki-Onna makes it easy to understand why the pokemon is her ace. Jaws, her Sharpedo, was a gift from her parents as Thetis is a water nymph who always had men after her. Her Leipard, Leila hates that it is third place in Thetis' team. It is well known that Thetis' Liepard considers Hera's Persian its rival. Something that Hera's Persian seems indifferent too which just makes Liepard angrier.Gossip, her Nickit often helps her steel Zeus' phone, when Thetis wants to hurt Hera.

Leila and Gossip happen to be friends. As Gossip will help steal food for Leila while Leila protects Gossip from getting attacked by Thetis' other pokemon. Her Huntail, Glow, was from a trade that went wrong. Zeus was susposed to trade her Clamperl with a Deep Sea Scale so she would have a Gorebyss. Instead it was holding a Deep Sea Tooth and evolved into a Huntail. Wierdly enough Jaws and Glow are close friends and help keep each other safe from the infighting within Thetis' team.

Minthe

As master manipulator of men from Thanatos to Hades it makes sense her main ace would share the same skill. Salazzle rules over the male salandit and destroys any female who threaten her rain. Her Salazzle, Sass is just vicious as her trainer. Most people in Underworld corps think its fiting that one of Minthe's ace is Gorebyss. As it's pokedex entry states "Although Gorebyss is the very picture of elegance and beauty while swimming, it is also cruel. When it spots prey, this Pokémon inserts its thin mouth into the prey's body and drains the prey of its body fluids." Her Gorebyss, is named Siren. Ironically Siren was gift trade from Hades who traded to her a magickarp in order to make it evolve. Minthe literally drains the life of those around her be it Thanatos or Hades. She uses her beauty to bring them in before draining them completely. Her preference for poisin types continues with her Dragalge, and her Victreebel. Her Carnivine was gift from Thanatos who wanted to impress her. It did not work. Her Poliwag was gift from her family and her only connection to time as simple water nymph. It is also where Hades got his pet name, tadpole from as Poliwag is the tad pole pokemon.

Nymphs are done. Who is next, but the most feared beingings in LO, the Titans.

[harrysweasleys]

Lost

Request: Hii could you do a Draco x reader where she's the super perfect student, really kind and happy girl but one day he finds her drinking and smoking and crying because she's so sad and like, lost?thank youu💗

Warnings: language, underaged drinking

Word Count: 3k

A/N: so this is a little ooc but i tried my best! also, my requests are still open but i’ve got a long line so it might be a while, sorry to those still waiting! xxx (gif is not mine.)

-

“I mean did you see the look on Bell’s face when I knocked the Bludger at her face?” Pansy grinned, flopping down on the couch next to you, her hair still wind-swept from the Quidditch match she had won with Slytherin that afternoon.

“I did see her face, you did a good job,” you replied, grinning, “It’s always nice to get a win.”

“I’m still surprised you didn’t come back to the Quidditch team this year. We miss our Keeper,” she playfully nudged your shoulder, knocking you over to the side slightly.

“I know, I know, I’m sorry, Pans,” you sighed, “I’m really trying to focus on my NEWTs so I didn’t want the distraction. But I still love watching!”

“Psh, it’s not the same,” she rolled her eyes, “Besides, I could talk to you about how our stupid captain likes to inflate his ego.” You giggled lightly, remembering all the good gossip sessions the two of you shared while you were on the team.

“Wouldn’t be talking about me, now would you?” Draco asked, sitting on the couch opposite of you, his hair tousled and his nose still pink from the brisk outdoor air.

“Never,” you smiled, lifting your legs to place your toes closer to the fire. Despite the fireplace that raged on every hour of the day, the common room always had a chill in the air — being in the dungeons and under the Black Lake probably had something to do with it. It didn’t help that you got cold easily.

“How’d you like the game?” he nudged his head in your direction, placing his hands behind his head and leaning back, closing his eyes in exhaustion. His jawline stuck out and his eyelashes fluttered shut, brushing against the pale skin of his cheeks.

You shook your head, clearing your thoughts, “Good. You all did really well. Nice job catching the Snitch too.”

He opened his eyes once more and grinned at you, “Always love your positivity. See, Pansy, this is how true friends behave. They don’t hit each other with broomsticks.”

You hid your giggle, watching as Pansy leaned forwards with her eyes wide, “You were being an arse, Malfoy.”

“C’mon, Pans, did you actually hit him with a broom?” you asked, still containing your giggles. The two of them had a bantering friendship, never really seeing eye-to-eye, but they didn’t exactly hate each other either. You were often stuck playing mediator.

“Yes, she did, I have a bruise on my eyebrow,” Draco leaned forwards, pointing to his eyebrow. You couldn’t see much considering the fire was the only light source, but you pretended to see it.

“What did he do to deserve a broomstick whack?” you turned to Pansy, a light smile on your lips as Draco leaned back into the couch cushion with a scowl on his face, directed straight at the girl sitting next to you.

“He let his ego get in the way. When we were celebrating the win, he said we wouldn’t have won if he didn’t catch the Snitch,” she glared at him, arms crossed, “So — like I said, he was an arse.”

You nodded, feeling like you were in the middle of a fight between two children who were arguing about who hit who first.

“Aw, and how did that make you feel?” you placed a hand on her shoulder condescendingly, making her scoff and whack your arm away. You started laughing, ignoring the way she stood up and flipped Malfoy off before going towards the dorm rooms and disappearing behind the door.

“Drama Queen,” Draco mumbled, getting up from his spot on the couch and coming to sit next to you, taking the seat that was previously Pansy’s.

“Says you,” you retaliated, a smirk on your face. You turned to face him, noticing the bruise above his eyebrow now that the fire light was hitting it directly. Despite the little mark, he still looked really good.

Now, you and Draco weren’t exactly dating, but it was clear that there was some sort of connection between you two. From the moment you had met, you picked up on how different he was. Entitled, yes, but he had a certain intriguing air about him that drew you in, and he found the same about you.

He was tough, while you were kind. He was rebellious and hard, while you were focused and passionate. There was a fire in his eyes, ready to burn through whatever stood in his way, while you used the road that didn’t exactly require demolition.

Long story short, you were polar opposites, and that’s exactly what drew you to each other. You had a soft spot for each other and despite the flirting and the touching, you stayed friends and your other friends stayed oblivious.

“I’m not dramatic,” he mumbled, bringing you back to reality, “I’m just — shall we say determined?”

“Keep telling yourself that,” you grinned, pushing your shoulder up against his like Pansy had done to you beforehand.

“I will,” he grinned softly, gazing down at you with tired eyes, “Also, I saw you wore my sweater to the game.”

Your cheeks flushed, “Oh, sorry, I just saw it since you left it on the back of the chair last night and—,”

“No, I liked it,” he cut you off, chuckling, “It was cute.”

You sat back silently, grinning to yourself like a bit of an idiot, but trying your best to keep cool. After a good moment of comfortable silence, you peeled your eyes away from the cozy fireplace and turned to face Draco, who was mid-yawn.

“I’m off to bed then,” he stood up abruptly and smiled down at you, “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight,” you smiled back, watching his retreating form take off towards the boys dormitory, only to disappear seconds later with a silent shutting of the door.

You sulked back into the couch, noticing for the first time that you were indeed alone in the common room. The clock on the wall pointed at 12:13am — you had no idea it was this late. Where had the time gone?

A part of you was overwhelmed with sudden loneliness, tiredness, and fatigue, while the other part of you felt incredibly awake and aware of how currently small you felt in the entire world around you.

It didn’t make much sense, but your mind was prone to drifting away while you were tired. You’d think about how your parents hadn’t contacted you since you were told you got accepted to Hogwarts — you were a muggleborn — and they felt as if your ‘abnormality’ was too big to overcome. You’d think about how you had no idea why the magical world had picked you. You’d think about what you even wanted to do in the future.

You had spoken to Snape last year about working in Magical Law Enforcement, but you weren’t so sure anymore. Things had changed now that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named had returned, and you weren’t sure if you were ready to face it.

There were so, so many things that you kept bottled up, not watching to spill your deepest darkest emotions to your friends and scare them away. So, you put up the constant facade of a girl who wore a smile and held her head high.

After all, that’s the only side of you people saw anyways.

— —

The corridors are night were almost more magical than they were during the day. The lanterns lit up the walls and cast looming shadows over the intricate stone. The stars were clear from the mountainside and the moon’s light shone down upon the castle like that was its entire purpose.

You thought it was gorgeous.

Which is often why you found yourself wandering the halls in the hours before curfew, finding deserted halls and empty chambers to explore and discover. Luckily, due to the colder weather out, other students would rush back to the warmth of their dorms after dinner time, so you got to lurk around in privacy.

You found an open hallway overlooking the lake and decided to climb through the opening and sit on the ledge, admiring the way the moon’s light shone down on the ripples to look like dancing stars. And the way that the actual stars reflected off as well, as if the night sky had been placed into the lake.

The cool breeze passed through your hair, goosebumps rising in its wake. You could feel the way you entire body was ready to collapse, ready to fall over and stay there, but you held yourself up enough to reach into your thick jacket and pull out a flask.

Yes, you were underaged. No, you hadn’t stolen this.

Well, not technically.

You had stayed with your aunt and uncle over the last summer holidays and they had given you a flask for your birthday gift. A strange gift, if you had to admit, but it came in much handier than you expected.

So, you got rebellious. One day when they were out, you had filled the flask with an old bottle of Whiskey which hadn’t been touched in ages. And now, you carried the full flask around in case you found yourself at a low point.

Like now.

The day had been great up until now. Classes passed by smoothly, Draco and Pansy had kept their bickering to a minimum, and you had even been spoken to by Snape — your head of House — about being promoted to Prefect next term. You were more excited about it than you wanted to let on. Being Prefect meant you’d get to spend more time with Draco, who was of course, already one.

But as supper time came around, it was as if all of your good feelings were too good to be true. You couldn’t pinpoint exactly where your mood started to plummet, but after your cat — Mister Flufferson — got sick, and your period came on strong as well as a migraine headache and an overwhelming feeling of longing to have a break, you found yourself wanting to be alone for a good amount of time.

So that’s how you ended up sitting over the lake, silent tears pouring down your eyes and the flask gripped tightly in your right hand, lifting every so often just enough for you to take another sip.

The fiery liquid burned your throat, leaving it feeling like it was being scorched, but you kept on. The pain felt number by the second, and the fluttery feeling in your belly kept growing.

The tears didn’t stop, but you weren’t sobbing. You weren’t curled up on the floor with your head in your knees. You were just crying. Crying because you didn’t know how to deal with the feeling of being sad. Crying because you felt helpless, like there was nothing you could do to even help yourself. Crying because although you gave your time and energy to comfort your friends, none of them ever checked up on you because you just seemed happy.

So you kept drinking sip by sip until the dancing lights on the lake were more amusing than they had ever been.

“I don’t know, usually she’s out but something about her seemed different tonight,” a voice echoed down the corridor, making you close the flask quickly and widen your eyes.

Shit.

If it was a teacher, you’d be in deep trouble.

“Well, I don’t know what to tell you,” a second voice spoke, “She’s always fine so she’s probably still fine.”

“Can you shut up, Parkinson?” the first voice snapped back. Your mind, although fuzzy, could make out the voices of Pansy and Draco, their heavy footsteps moving closer to you by the second.

You hopped over the ledge, hiding behind the stone wall and placing the flask back in your coat pocket. The sudden jump made your body suddenly nauseous, and you had to place your hand over your mouth to keep your dinner in.

“Did you hear that?” Draco’s voice seemed much closer.

“No. I’m going back to the common room, I’m freezing,” Pansy’s teeth were clattering, “when she comes back safe and sound I’ll be able to say I told you so.”

And with that, her footsteps retreated down the hall around around the corner.

You knew Draco was still standing there, so you continued trying to be quiet. But, to your extreme misfortune, you let out an incredibly loud hiccough.

“Is someone there?” Draco’s voice was louder, he was no longer trying to be quiet.

“No,” you replied back just as loud, smacking your forehead as you realized you gave yourself away.

His head immediately peered over the ledge, seeing you crouched down in the grass.

“Y/N! I’ve been looking everywhere for you,” he spoke sternly, his face trying to be strict but his eyes showing clear signs of concern, “Why are you hiding down here in the grass?” He stuck out his hand for you to grab, which you did.

“No reason,” you let him pull you up, but you stumbled as you made your way over the ledge, his hands steadying you by grabbing your waist.

“Wait — were you crying?” his eyes noticed yours, the red puffiness giving you away.

“Of course not,” you sniffed, pulling away from him and using the wall to steady yourself. You had either stood up way too fast or the whiskey was getting to your head, but dizziness was very much present.

“Yes you were, don’t lie to me,” he walked closer to you, “Are you drunk?”

His tone made you wince, “No. I just had some whimsey.”

He crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow, “Whimsey? You mean whiskey? Merlin, Y/N, what were you thinking?”

You stood up taller, squaring your shoulders so you didn’t look so weak and pathetic.

“I wasn’t thinking, Draco,” you replied softly, “Just let me be.”

Of course, you didn’t want him to leave you alone. If anything you wanted his company more than anything, but you hated the fact that now he’d seen you at your lowest.

“I’m not leaving you,” he placed a hand on your shoulder. You weren’t sure what caused it, but next thing you know, you let out a sob and leaned against his shoulder, your body shaking and your tears soaking his robes.

“Woah, what’s wrong?” he placed his arms around you, pulling you even closer to him so that he could be your support. He was the last person you wanted to show signs of weakness too, but at the same time, the only person you’d want comforting you.

“I’m just... I don’t know. Sad,” you tried speaking through your sobs, your words muffled against his clothing.

“Hey, talk to me, I’m here,” he coaxed soothingly, hands slowly rubbing circles on your back. You continued to cry, but brought your face away from his shoulder to look at him, nodding slightly.

So you told him everything. Maybe it was the whiskey still in your system that made you braver, but you told him about every dark, hollow feeling that was lurking in your chest. Every worry that you had, every insecurity. Every problem. Everything.

And he sat there and listened to every single word.

After you finished rambling — what felt like two hours later — he pulled you into the tightest hug you had ever felt.

“I’m so sorry,” he mumbled against your hair, “I had no idea you felt that way. I’m the worst friend. I didn’t even notice you were at your low. I’m so sorry, I was selfish.” He rubbed your back once more, “I’m sorry you felt alone but you’re not. I’m here. I’m always here for you. To listen, to vent, to help, to give advice, to reassure. Whatever you need, I’m here.”

“Thanks, Draco,” you muttered, letting out a deep sigh now that a massive weight felt lifted off your shoulders. Your tears had slowed down, but Draco didn’t pull away from the embrace.

“Always here,” he repeated, “Always here.”

Eventually, you pulled away to be able to breathe. His hug was practically bone crushing. Comforting, but your ribs were hurting.

Your confession sobered you up, and you gazed into his eyes to thank him for everything.

“You’re really beautiful, you know?” he asked softly, his hand making its way up and resting against your cheek, “It’s a bad time, I know but you really are.”

All the coldness left your body and was replaced by warmth. Your cheeks turned pink and you felt your insides bubble in joy.

“T-Thanks,” you grinned, trying to hide the creeping redness on your face, “You’re pretty cute too.”

“I know,” he smirked, shrugging. You giggled, whacking his arm softly, “I’m just joking. I appreciate it, Y/N.”

He leaned closer to you once more and pressed a delicate kiss on your forehead. Most people had never known Draco Malfoy to be soft or delicate in any way, but that was the only side of him you really knew. To you, he was a totally different person than everyone else believed.

“Also a bad time, I don’t want to take advantage of you or anything, but do you — uh — wanna go to Hogsmeade with me? Next weekend?” he asked hopefully, his hand pulling away from you.

You couldn’t fight the smile that rose to your mouth. For months you had imagined what it would be like to go on a date with him, and here he was. Finally asking you.

“Of course,” you grinned like an idiot, biting your lip to stop yourself looking crazy.

“Good,” he nodded his head, a smile on his face as well, “Good, good.”

“Should we head back to the common room?” you asked, lacing your fingers with his. He nodded, still smiling at you, and the two of you started walking slowly back down to the dungeons. The cold air no longer really a problem as his hand was still linked with yours, the happy warmth replacing every bad feeling you had felt that night. You felt as if now that Draco was on your side, everything would end up being so much better, so much easier to deal with.

As the two of you walked into the common room, both still smiling with your hands locked, a squeal startled you both.

Pansy, unaware of the situation you had both just been through, looked down at your intertwined hands with a massive grin.

“Finally!”

-

[blackidyll]

i'm like half a year (well, three months if you just count the PC release) late to the party but oh man, i underestimated the amount of emotion i would feel just looking at the start screen.

and again when i went into the inventory and put on the NEO Twister record on.

and then again at every single reminder or call back to the first DS game. the remixes of the original TWEWY soundtrack! the art sytle!! the amount of noise (pun unintended) i made when i found my first pig noise!!!

i just finished day 2 and i'm chuckling to myself the entire time, chaining noise battles and grooving to the soundtrack. a couple of random thoughts as i was playing through:

love the options for japanese or english audio. i love the japanese voices for neku and joshua so much so i'm literally playing it with japanese voiceover just for them (then i forgot to turn subtitles on so i had to struggle along with my mediocre japanese during the first big cutscene when rindo and fret first got thrown in the game).

always loved how accurate shibuya is in the game (first time i went to tokyo, i navigated shibuya with my memories from TWEWY and did a TWEWY landmark self-tour). I'm super over the moon that Shibuya Hikarie is in the game now! when i was in tokyo in 2012 when the building was new, i remember going to the very top floors to take panoramas of the shibuya crossing area, and thinking how very apt it would be if Shibuya Hikarie was the composer's penthouse or something... (pork city what?).

new battle system threw me for a loop and i died like 3 times the first battle against a grizzly noise. I tried to play the Genshin Impact way (mouse and keyboard) and that did not work well for me (also i kept trying to pan my view with my mouse ala~ genshin's battle style) and NTWEWY's way of locking on targets and the super warp when a noise dies and your target auto switches across the map made me quite dizzy. also i sucked at coordinating my pins and powering up the groove meter at first because i was so used to neku being able to use all six pins at once. but once i got the hang of things the NTWEWY's system isn't too bad.

did the composer get the idea of now having teams for the Game instead of just pairs because technically it was like a four-way pact+teamwork that helped neku get through week3day7's multiple bosses and then defeat the conductor's final form?

what a treat to have rindo and fret already working so well together from the beginning. i love their friendship a lot. i did lol at the nice trend of the main characters not knowing that they are dead when starting the UG Game though (hello my headcanon that the composer takes a fee from each player, and in return also takes the memories of their final moments of death/dying. i mean, how traumatic it would be for players to wake up in the UG and remember dying, esp if it was something gruesome like a car accident and they're bleeding to death etc). speaking of which, what were fret and rindo's entry fees...?

lol at minamimoto's shade lmao. i'm warming up to minamimoto a lot in NTWEWY. i loled so badly when he took out his loudspeaker lololol.

was that the composer speaking at the end of day 1 (located high up looking down, musing when "someone" would wake up)? was that shiki in her RG form watching eiji ouji (can't remember if that's day 1 or 2)???

shoka is a serious mood. i wanna be like her and just be like, i'm off the clock can you go bother someone else? kthzbai~~. sigh, if only... also i cannot remember the names of any of the other reapers who introduced themselves so far, ya'll are not as iconic and memorable as shoka

currently starting Day 3 and cannot wait to meet nagi and unlock the threads part of the inventory! i got all of neku's clothes as a purchase bonus which makes me laugh a lot because it's like someone CAT stole neku's headphones, shirt, pants (description of the pants even says that one button looks like it was handsewn on) shoes and music player lmao. no wonder neku in the trailers is always wearing questionable clothing

I love TWEWY so much. what a joy it is to have a sequel after so many long years.

[dr-divinae]

Spirit Guide Session

Welcome to your Shamanic Healing Journey experience where you'll be introduced to your Spirit Guides for the second time tonight!! Yeah, I used GoogleNotes for your Spirit Guide Sessions and lost all of my work but I'm not terribly off track I had wrote some of le. Details down via Grimoire for ShamanicChanneling

@cosmic-badlarry

Thank you so much 💖 for joining me this evening 💞 or should I correct myself and say late evening 🌃 night!!

I'm noticing the moon right now 😹

First Quarter Moon 🌜 in ♉⚡💜 When the moon is in Taurus we are motivated by a place of serenity, security, peace, and comfort.🌺⚡Tonight, this evening my dear Gemini child you are going to meet your most active🍂 Spirit Guides...I just pulled some Oracle Cards from multiple decks and based on their Chakra balancing and literal meaning you've got a lot of 🌸Spirit Guides in the 💙fifth Chakra💙 or the 💎Vishudha❄️, and right away we know that that's the 🗣️throat Chakra🗣️💫

And the throat Chakra represents: All sound, Vibration , Communication, Self-expression, Listening, Speaking, Writing

This to me tells me that there could be something related to yourself in the mentioned areas of voice , or vibration?

Or perhaps it's a hint of who your Spiritual Guardians are and what your Spirit Guides gifts are as far as communication goes because that's another vibe I strongly get as a result of this card pulling set.

On my Oracle Card I can tell it's Gabriel's horn... So dear Gemini 💞💖 your first Spirit Guide that's showing up today is Archangel Gabriel as he is also associated with the fifth Chakra as well. Due to his communication link in literally each and every story we ever heard of him .. and he's even known to wear this blue which actually relates to the Chakra I am speaking on so much now ,

now now I'm going to get comfortably numb 😂😂😅 no drugs needed just my regular medical medication 😭dont tell them your dr is now! It's just that I'm ready to do the most in depth part of this Shamanic Session which you've paid for ... I just need to relax , I'm listening 🎧 to a specific type of binaural beats music 🎶 that allow me to channel your most Active 🍂 Spiritual Guardians hopefully I'll really connect with your Spirit Guide ☺️ here we go it's 12: 36 now wow long process🍂💫🌜 but worth it no?

When i begin typing again it will all be channeled information all from your Special shamanic experience with your Spirit Guide.. see you there in the channel 😎...

Hello 👋 Gemini 😁 I'm glad that you have made this choice to finally meet the voice behind all of the synchronicity 🏵️ in your life🍂🍁 to meet the real reason we have met this evening and I'm glad and honored to introduce you to your Spirit Guide🏵️🌸💐

Your most active and current Spirit Guide is a Greek Goddess from this tale I'm about to share and although she's been cursed by Juno and lost her voice somewhat; She is able to repeat sentences, fragments and makes a whole lot of sense when I have her communicate with your higher self 😅 because when I first found out through this Shanic experience that your Spirit Guide is sort of speechless I was lol pretty depressed. About the direction of this Shamanic Healing Journeys for you but going forward I did find the magical method to communicate with the ever forever silenced echos of your Greek. Spirit Guide.

And it's 1:17AM EST Did you guess your Spirit Guide 🏵️ yet? No...

Name: Echo

Origin: Latin

Meaning:reflected sound

Echo as a girl's name is of Latin and Greek origin meaning "reflected sound". In mythology, Echo was a nymph who loved Narcissus and faded away until only her voice was left behind.

In Greek mythology, Echo (/ˈɛkoʊ/; Greek: Ἠχώ, Ēkhō, "echo",[3] from ἦχος (ēchos), "sound"[4]) was an Oread who resided on Mount Cithaeron.[5] Zeus loved consorting with beautiful nymphs and often visited them on Earth. Eventually, Zeus's wife, Hera, became suspicious, and came from Mount Olympus in an attempt to catch Zeus with the nymphs. Echo, by trying to protect Zeus (as he had ordered her to do), endured Hera's wrath, and Hera made her only able to speak the last words spoken to her. So when Echo met Narcissus and fell in love with him, she was unable to tell him how she felt and was forced to watch him as he fell in love with himself.

In Metamorphoses (8 AD), the poet Ovid tells of Juno (Hera in Greek mythology) and the jealousy she felt over her husband Jupiter's (Zeus in Greek mythology) many affairs. Though vigilant, whenever she was about to catch him, Echo distracted her with lengthy conversations. When at last Juno realized the truth, she cursed Echo. From that moment on, the once loquacious nymph could only repeat the most recently spoken words of another person.

Abode/Residential: Mount Cathaeron

Parents: Ouranos

Siblings: Nymphs

Children: Lynx and Lambe

Consort: Pan and Narcissus

Symbol: Crabgrass, Hemlock , the Skunk

Colors: Black, White, Blue, and Purple

The myth of the goddess is told in Book III of the Metamorphoses, and tells the story of a "talkative nymph" whom the goddess Venus admires for her magnificent voice and song. When she tricks Juno into believing that her husband, Jupiter, was in the city, Juno curses Echo by making her able to only finish a sentence not started, and unable to say anything on her own. "Yet a chatterbox, had no other use of speech than she has now, that she could repeat only the last words out of many." This is the explanation of the aural effect which was named after her.[1]

Sometime after being cursed, Echo spied a young man, Narcissus, while he was out hunting deer with his companions. She immediately fell in love with him and, infatuated, followed quietly. The more she looked at the young man, the more she longed for him. Though she wished with all her heart to call out to Narcissus, Juno's curse prevented her.[2]

During the hunt, Narcissus became separated from his companions and called out, ‘is anyone there,’ and heard the nymph repeat his words. Startled, Narcissus answered the voice, ‘come here,’ only to be told the same. When Narcissus saw that nobody had emerged from the glade, he concluded that the owner of the voice must be running away from him and called out again. Finally, he shouted, "This way, we must come together." Taking this to be a reciprocation of her love, Echo concurred ecstatically, "We must come together!"[3]

In her delight, Echo rushed to Narcissus ready to throw her arms around her beloved. Narcissus, however, was appalled and, spurning her, exclaimed, ‘Hands off! May I die before you enjoy my body.’ All Echo could whisper in reply was, ‘enjoy my body’ and having done so she fled, scorned, humiliated, and shamed.[4]

Despite the harshness of his rejection, Echo's love for Narcissus only grew.[5] When Narcissus died, wasting away before his own reflection, consumed by a love that could not be, Echo mourned over his body. When Narcissus, looking one last time into the pool uttered, "Oh marvellous boy, I loved you in vain, farewell", Echo too chorused, "Farewell."[6]

What's Hemlock?

Poison hemlock (Conium maculatum) is a poisonous invasive weed that has caused many accidental deaths because of its resemblance to carrots, including the wild carrot (Queen Anne’s lace). The poisonous agents in the plant are volatile alkaloids, and they are found in every part of the plant. In addition to causing death when ingested, the plant also causes a miserable dermatitis in sensitive people upon contact with skin. Socrates drank the juice of this notorious plant to commit suicide, and ancient Greeks used it to poison their enemies and political prisoners. North American Natives dipped their arrowheads in hemlock to make sure every hit was fatal.

.........TO MOST DEFINITELY BE CONTINUED

Having technical difficulties as far as uploading and sharing this channeled session of Shamanic Healing so @cosmic-badlarry just pleeease hold on

Anybody who's interested inbox me

I can tell you who your Spirit Guide is not a problem just need to get a small fee 😊 and speak to you for a quick second of does not take long at all that part . . But my part of doing channeling does take it m afraid hours. This case I'm doing now omg I've been working since 11:33PM EST NOW ITS 5:44 EST

[ruffboijuliaburnsides]

OKAY so last night i said something in tags about “ask me about my thoughts on atla post-canon polyamory” 99% because I had typed a bunch of shit in the tags and then accidentally CLOSED THE TAB thus losing said tags, so that was a bummer, BUT like 3 different people reached out wanting to hear about it so HERE GOES. (thanks to @taibhsearachd for rambling this out with me last night)

SO. this started bc we got somehow on the topic of how much we really disliked the whole Aang/Katara kiss at the end of the show.  Not because we’re against them kissing (Aang had to already have turned 13 by then, an innocent kiss is perfectly reasonable for a 13yo in my opinion), but because the placement of the kiss made it so... CENTRAL. We were talking about how we would’ve liked the kiss to have been earlier, preferably before the big finale, and then like... they still could’ve had a soft romantic moment on the balcony but it could’ve been like.  Hand holding or sitting together with Katara’s head on his shoulder.

And Birdie mentioned she’d always liked Zutara back in Ye Olde Tymes because the whole “Aang and Katara get together when they’re barely 13 and 15″ thing just seemed... really untenable if we’re going with endgame, AND it made a lot of sense to get Katara and Zuko together politically, especially since there’s nooooo princess up north anymore since she turned into the moon and all. But the resurgence of the fandom (thank you for once Netflix!) has opened our eyes to ZUKO AND SOKKA and that’s fuckin amazing but now we’re back to square one in re: Aang and Katara. But then I realized that we can fix all of this with a) allowing for healthy breakups of relationships that don’t work yet but might work when the people involved have grown/processed things, and b) extensive polyamory.

And so here’s my thought:

Aang and Katara break up for a while probably not long after the end of book 3.  They’re fucking kids, they’re traumatized kids no less, and they both have a lot of shit they need to deal with both personally and in the world that isn’t really conducive to “baby’s first serious relationship”.  They’re still friends, they view it as “well... let’s maybe try again in a few years if we’re both still interested”.  All their friends are aware of this and supportive and in the end it’s healthy for both of them bc their traumas and coping mechanisms didn’t always play nice with each other even BEFORE all the fallout from the finale and having to take on more responsibility in the world and such.

Zuko properly gets with Sokka and Suki during this time, though there’s no talk of like. Marriage or anything. Yes, Sokka’s politically got the same sort of appeal as Katara, but the thing about politically advantageous marriages at that level is there’s sort of the assumption that you’ll be, y’know, having heirs, so Sokka’s not really cut out for that and Suki flat out refused to be official Fire Lady or whatever.

So once Katara and Aang are older, like Aang’s 17 and Katara’s 19 and Zuko’s sitting over here at 21, and his advisors are all “ok but seriously Fire Lord Zuko, we really should look into at least a BETROTHAL of some sort” and he just sighs, and they’re bringing up all these Fire Nation ladies and he’s like “no it’s gotta be more diplomatic than that, she shouldn’t be Fire Nation” and so one of them’s like “well, uh, that water tribe lady you’re friends with, she’s set to be a pretty strong leader as she gets older, that would be a good way to do it.  Or that blind Earth Kingdom--” “NOT TOPH.” “ok but seriously, tho, think about it your majesty”

So Zuko’s torn because he really does like Katara, and she’d be an amazing Fire Lady in addition to being an amazing... whatever her title would be down in the Southern Water Tribe (I definitely picture her and Sokka basically being the leaders of the pan-tribal council - he handles military and adjacent stuff and she handles the rest).  But Katara’s with Aang again FINALLY not that they’ve made a big deal of it outside their friends.  BUT he knows that y’know... people can be with more than one person.  Hell, look at him and Sokka and Suki, right?

So he goes to talk to Aang like “I want to make sure I run this past you so she doesn’t have to try and do it, because I’m the one even bringing it up, and it’s obviously up to her, BUT here’s the sitch”.

And see, the thing about the Air Nomads is it really doesn’t make sense to me that they’d have the same kind of ideas about like.  Monogamy and parenthood and relationships as other nations, ‘cause like.... the kids are clearly raised communally.  Like, I vote ‘you probably know who your parents are but really all the adults are your parents, maybe you get an extra cake from them on your birthday but that’s about it’ for the most part. And y’know being with who you want to be with sort of thing. Sure you’ll have people you might be more committed to, but by and large the general consensus is “love who you love, whoever and however many people that is!”

So Zuko’s all prepared to angst for even ASKING if Aang would mind playing technical second fiddle in an heir-producing/marriage/inheritance/etc sense to HIM, ugh what if Aang hates him for even thinking it? and Aang’s just like “oh yeah that’s cool dude, if she’s down go for it! You wanna talk to her together? I don’t mind being there to reassure her it’s ok, and that you weren’t asking me permission to ask her so much as you were making sure it wouldn’t upset me if you did, and all that” and Zuko’s like “...what. I.  Ok sure?”

And Katara does like Zuko, she just y’know, also liked Aang and didn’t want to GIVE UP Aang, but Zuko’s like “it’ll be good for our people, and I’d never make you stay in the fire nation full time you have your own responsibilities and also you don’t have to stop being with Aang or even like hide it or anything, it’s not like people don’t know I’m with Sokka and stuff, it’s just, y’know, OFFICIAL HEIRS and stuff” and so she’s like “Oh!  Oh, yeah, that’s good, we can have a couple kids and stuff”

But ofc they end up a lot closer than “just a couple kids” but it’s sweet!  She has kids with Zuko and kids with Aang and really as long as one of them turns out a firebender (can the avatar have a kid of any bending type? NO ONE KNOWS but Zuko’s advisors are prepared to accept it at this point) so long as they end up with A VIABLE HEIR that Zuko will claim etc etc.

And of course Zuko and Sokka and Suki have a couple kids whose parentage is uncertain not that they really CARE, and Suki and Aang aren’t really into each other romantically but when they’re a bit older they discuss it and decide to have a kid just so they can have a shot at a potential airbender baby, because heck yeah rebuilding the airbenders, might as well get some extra genetics up in this ish.

And these kids are all largely raised together in this big pack of like 10 kids of varying ages who move between 2 or 3 different homes, and Zuko rules the Fire Nation and Sokka and Katara lead the southern water tribes, and Aang does his Avatar thing, and they all spend as much time together as possible with the kids and Suki and some of her girls from Kyoshi Island are the main people ALWAYS THERE for the kids.

And there’s at least one kind of each bender in the group (bc you can’t tell me it’s 100% you have to have a bending parent, considering neither Katara’s mother or father were benders, so one of Suki’s kids is DEFFO an earthbender) and they’re a chaotic bunch and sometimes the Gaang forgets which one of them provided the genetics for which kid but really it doesn’t matter bc they’re ALL the kids’s parents, and all the kids are ALL their kids, and it’s a big happy messy disaster of a polycule that the Fire Nation nobility and advisors despair over, but they can’t deny that it seems to be working out pretty well and that the Fire Lord is good at his job and pretty damn happy, so they don’t bitch too much about it.

...Also at some point Sokka and Toph discuss dating and end up sort of doing it for a while but then going back to being friends, but she does ABSOLUTELY get him to father one of her kids, which she then declares firmly she made out of a rock and bended to life, and most people are preeeeetty sure she’s full of shit but can’t fully discount the possibility and only the Gaang knows the truth.

so yeah that’s my avatar polyamory thoughts, it is not canon-compliant with legend of korra but who cares this is my imagination and headcanon and LoK doesn’t play into it at all. *nod*

[alvacchi]

Phantom Thief Hanako-kun AU Story: When They Truly Met

(Image from AidaIro!)

This is my concept story based off of the AU! Enjoy!

---

-The story started off when Yashiro asked Tsuchigomori why he retired from the police force and opened up his own private detective agency

-That didn't mean the private detectives and police force wouldn't work together from time to time but still

-Tsuchigomori replied that he didn't approve of Teru's violent methods towards criminals no matter the offense. Teru was one of the top promising policemen in the force.

Tsuchigomori had his personal reasons supposedly.

-Tsuchigomori told her to go join the police force then but Yashiro refused

-Yashiro, on the other hand, had a crush on Teru. She thought he's only trying to protect people. He was popular in the police force and she considered him a senpai.

-Yashiro is Tsuchigomori's apprentice and she wanted to learn from him as he's more experienced

-She believed it was better if she impressed Teru with her detective skills once she mastered them

-Yashiro asked about the latest heist note from the phantom thief Hanako

-Both of them were doing their jobs of helping to catch the thief. It had been their mission lately.

-Tsuchigomori forbade her to go this time though

-Yashiro asked why

-Tsuchigomori: "Minamoto Teru is going tonight."

-Yashiro gasped since Teru doesn't often come. He's mostly busy with other cases that were more urgent

-But was it really just Teru?

-Tsuchigomori went over Yashiro's problems during their previous heist searches for Hanako

-Like getting lost

-He also told her Kou and Mitsuba were not going either because it's going to get dangerous

-Yashiro questioned this because heists never brought any harm but entertainment for Hanako fans

-Tsuchigomori shooed her off though, saying she's got a lot to learn

-During the night. It was a full red moon

-The heist was happening and Yashiro was missing out.

-Yashiro was out of her apartment at the time, grabbing groceries for her and her little hamster Black Canyon

-She also bought new kitchen appliances since her old ones were getting worn out

-When she came to her door, she heard a noise inside

-Panicking, she prepared some self defense with a frying pan and kitchen armor and blindly charged in to hit the intruder

-When she opened her eyes, she found a bleeding Hanako on the floor

-'Oh no! I murdered him!' She immediately thought.

-But then after calming down a bit, she realized the bleeding wasn't from her frying pan but the chest area

-It looked like a bullet wound

-A bullet? Was there gun violence?! But who used a gun?

-She attempted to call 119

-Hanako grabbed her arm to stop her from calling the hospital, panting heavily

-A doorbell rang and pounding door knocks were heard

-Yashiro hid Hanako in a blanket without thinking

-She answered the door to find Teru

-Teru asked her if she's seen any suspicious activity like a certain phantom thief

-He was hunting Hanako down

-That's when it clicked to Yashiro that she's hiding the thief since the shock blinded her from thinking of his identity

-Recalling the bullet wound, for a second she doubted Teru but she fought that doubt. Surely not Teru, right? He had a whip and a sword but a gun?

-Her morals clashed and an internal conflict started

-Wasn't it too cruel to hand Hanako over at his most vulnerable moment?

-It was so unusual to see him in such a state, since he seemed to be having the time of his life at the heists

-Was this what Detective Tsuchigomori meant by dangerous?

-But Hanako hadn't technically hurt anyone from any of his heists

-She didn't even know his motive behind his stealing

-So she lied

-She said she hadn't seen anyone

-Teru took her word for it and went to search around her apartment building

-Yashiro let go a breath she didn't realize she was holding

-Then, she started agonizing on the fact that she lied to her crush

-She slapped her cheeks as she realized Hanako was still bleeding to death

-She went over to check with him and threw the covers off

-Hanako was unconscious now and Yashiro quickly checked his pulse

-It was faint but there

-He's still alive thank goodness

-She realized the wound seemed to be slightly bigger for some reason and his hand was tightly clutching onto something

-It's the bullet

-He took out the bullet with the new knife that was laying nearby

-She must have dropped her bags in pure panic

-Okay, this guy was crazy

-Did he want to die faster or something

-He must have fainted in the middle of applying aid to himself

-How did he not scream in the process

-Recalling that Hanako didn't want to go to the hospital, Yashiro assumed that it was because he's a wanted criminal

-She thought he was lucky that she learned first aid from Tsuchigomori as part of her detective work

-Also that she was living alone in her apartment

-So, she patched him up real good and left him to sleep somewhere

-During the patch up, she tried to feel for any gem he could be hiding

-But there were none on him

-Strange since he came back from a heist

-Did he fail to steal because of Teru? That'd be a first.

-Finally when her attention was off him, she realized she would have to clean the bloody mess

-And her window was broken

-The most likely case being Hanako crashed in through there

-Staring at Hanako asleep, she noticed a black cat mask on the side of him.

-Black cats were told to bring bad luck to those around them.

But that can't be right. That's just a superstition.

-Did Teru believe in it?

-Nonetheless, she had to pay for that window damage. Or make an unconscious thief do so when he wakes up

-By the time she woke up the next day though, Hanako was already gone with a note on the side that he would come by later tonight

-If Yashiro wasn't mad last night, she was pissed now

-Aren't phantom thieves supposed to be gentlemen?! He gave her nothing but trouble!

-She was really going to let him have it when he comes

-The time came and Yashiro found Hanako right at her window

-It's not even the first floor. Of course he had to make a grand entrance

-Yashiro grabbed him and pulled him into her room with anger

-She yelled at him for leaving suddenly even with a note

-Hanako: "Ow is this how you deal with your patient? I'm sad and hurt."

-Hanako told her that he had to go pick up the jewels he left

-Oh. So he was hiding them somewhere else

-Yashiro: "I'll have you know I'm a detective! I could arrest you right here! Right now!"

-Hanako: "Correction. You're a detective's apprentice. You wouldn't have the authority to arrest me."

-Yashiro's eyes widened.

-Hanako: "Hehe surprised? Your window happened to be conveniently close enough to land."

Yashiro: "How do you know who I am?"

Hanako: "I have my sources. How did you think I was able to have a successful heist every time?"

-Hanako walked closer to Yashiro and Yashiro stepped back until she was up against the wall.

-He was really close and dominating over her, quite teasingly

-If Yashiro had a wild imagination, it was like a kabedon with both hands.

-Hanako: "Besides, even with authority, did you really think you could arrest me?"

-Yashiro flustered and quickly pushed him off, though careful not to touch his wound.

-Yashiro: 'Don't fall for it, Yashiro Nene! He's not even your type!'

-Yashiro: "Why do you steal?"

-Hanako only smiled at her.

-Hanako: "That's for you to find out, my dear detective."

-Yashiro pouted at the comeback.

-Hanako: "Let's make a deal."

-Yashiro: "What?"

-Hanako: "I'm indebted to you so why don't I come over at night once in a while? We could get to know each other."

-Yashiro: "Are you kidding? That's breaking my moral code! You know I can't do that!"

-Hanako: "You're curious though, right?"

-At that moment, Yashiro couldn't deny it. She indeed was. She couldn't shake off the incident from last night. Maybe Hanako had a reason for being a phantom thief. And maybe there was more to him than meets the eye.

-Yashiro: ".......Fine. We have a deal. But don't expect me to go easy on you during the heists!"

-Hanako: "Wouldn't have it any other way~"

-Hanako closed in again to kneel down and place a kiss on her hand. He looked up and grinned at her.

-Not so soon, Yashiro just kicks him out of her apartment, already a blushing mess.

-And so their relationship began.

[awritingarrow]

im seeing lots of space and cloud stuff in the oc tag... who are those for? what are their names, personalities, etc?

!!!!!!! okayokay so!

basically, the original concept for my ocs is that they would be based off the sky! there are five fleshed out ocs currently!

sky, the major god of the sky and the clouds (they/them, agender)

night, the mid god of the night and the moon (currently she/her, trans woman)

day, the mid god of the day and the sun (she/her?, unknown)

sunset, the minor god of the sunset (he/him, unsure for gender (i was thinking nb?) but he's nd!)

sunrise, the minor god of the sunrise (he/him, not a clue. i think he was pan though, maybe)

and the minor gods of the stars! they are not fleshed out yet, but there are basically an infinite amount of them (but i only plan to actually flesh out eight). aii and minor are what i was thinking for some of their names, but I'm not sure yet!

(all their names will likely change in the future to be less on the nose, besides the stars bc I'm proud of that one)

basically, the more major of a god you are, the more power you have, but also the more restrictions you have. sky, for example, is the most major god, however they're unable to visit earth at all! night and day can only visit earth at their respective times, and the minor gods can visit anytime they want.

the more minor also means the less responsibilities! sky is technically in charge of the entire day/night system; the sky itself. but, to deal with that responsibility, they split two gods off from themself (day and night). day and night also did this for the minor gods! sunrise and sunset split off day, and the stars split off night!

most of the gods chose one aspect of the sky to control (sky, clouds; day, sun; night, moon; and then the minor gods control the aspects they're named after), and they work together to keep that balance! ..somewhat.

honestly I've been having a lot of ideas for this world lately, including the idea to scrap the gods concept altogether and just make them all stars, or the idea to change the major conflicts i had planned (it was originally going to be a romance between sunrise and sunset, I'm thinking about changing that), but for now, that's the basic concept!

[jeanjauthor]

How do I do a book that’s pre clock invention that spans years but in one book? How do I time jump that my readers know what year or month it is?

How did the builders of Stonehenge 5,000 years ago know how to align it celestially with the solstices, etc?

Does your planet have stars visible at night? Does it have a moon that orbits that world? (Or is it an inhabitable moon orbiting a gas giant?) Does it have a sun that moves across the sky, creating angles to discern moments in time, and dividing day from night? Does it have seasons in the area where the story takes place?

...By seasons, I don't mean frozen winters, hot summers, etc. Seasons could be "monsoon rains vs dry season" or "the daily afternoon rains are coming, time to pull the laundry off the line."

In the Earth's Children series by Jean M. Auel (zero relation), the people of the Clan (her created culture for Neanderthalensis) didn't really have or use numbers (other than the mog-ur/shamans), but they did label their years for their children such as "birthing year, walking year, weaning year." They also carried a constant awareness of what season it was--any culture, from hunter-gatherer on up through agrarian (farming) will have that awareness of what time of year it is.

Once you hit industrial revolution, they'll most likely invent clocks, but long before the invention of gear mechanisms (*conveniently ignores the antikythera mechanism*) people still had calendars. The ancient Egyptian calendar began on different dates because it was dependent upon the annual flooding of the Nile, but they still had months and days because they depended upon the Moon to help order the passage of time. Same with China; their months were measured by the moon, their New Year would vary year by year, but they had months and they had days and they even had hours that were labeled.

And before the invention of geared clocks, people still had clocks. They had candles of specific regular thickness and length marked with measured cuts along the side, or a small nail stuck into the wax; when it dropped from melting (usually into a metal pan so it made a loud, noticeable noise) or the candle melted down to a particular mark, they knew how much time had passed.

They also had water clocks, which were designed to drip water at a specific rate from one container to another. These varied in shape, design, and timespan, but they are one of the most ancient recognizable timekeeping pieces available, and often consisted of a bowl floating in another, larger bowl, with the smaller bowl having a pinprick hole. When that pinprick filled the smaller bowl high enough, it would sink, and clink against the bottom of the larger bowl. These versions of timekeeping have been found in certain Indigenous American cultures as well as in African, European, and Asian communities. (Not sure about Australian indigenous.)

Macadamia nuts were used by Polynesians as literal candle-nuts, and since most macadamias are similar in size, this meant that they, too, could be burned as a unit of measuring time. (Not necessarily scientifically accurately, but hey, it works at least somewhat!)

As for measuring the passage of weeks and months and years, each region and culture had its own way of measuring time--a lot of them were annotated like this: "In the 3rd year of the reign of Thutmoses II" and "In the 43rd year of the reign of our glorious Queen Elizabeth (I)..." Of course, by the time Queen Elizabeth I ruled, they'd had the Gregorian calendar being used by most everyone in Europe, and they did have mechanical clocks, but you'd still have outliers using the Julian Calendar. (Modern day Russia, the government, uses the Gregorian now, but the Russian Orthodox Church still uses the Julian calendar, for example.)

If it's a real world era & culture, you can simply look that up. But if it's a created world & culture...you gotta figure out how they'd approach the matter. If their culture relies more upon agriculture than religion, they'd use more agriculture-specific terms.

The Coastal Salish peoples here in the Pacific Northwest literally named some of their months by which edibles were available, such as "Berry Shoot Month" for the time of year when they'd go around looking for new growth on specific bramble vines to cut, peel, and eat in the early spring, or "Salmonberry season" whcih is when the eponymously orange berries become ripe enough to harvest...which is also just before the late spring/early summer salmon spawning runs for certain salmon species. This progression of what-to-gather-when was a strong influence upon how they labeled their calendar.

If, however, it's a heavily religious community, then there may be things like specific days or months devoted to a particular god or spirit/entity, specific saint's days to celebrate at certain times of year (you're always hearing about "the Feast of St. Crispin's Day" or "we'll meet again two days after Michaelmas" in medieval-setting stories).

If it is a created world...well, that means you'll want to create a calendar. it doesn't have to be super complex, but you do want to figure out how it'll be set up, how long the days are, how long the weeks, how long the months, and of course how long the years. I haven't read the Game of Thrones series, but apparently winter lasts a really long time, so there's that. In my IaVerse, every planet has a different rotational cycle and day length, so they all had to agree upon a universal or "Alliance Standard" for measuring time...but while Earth days and V'Dan days technically aren't the same, their years (length of time it takes to go around their respective suns) actually come pretty darn close, so a Terran born on Earth will reach the age of 18 years old at about the same time as a V'Dan born on V'Dan.

However, a Terran born on Mars will be 18 in Earth years at the same time as the V'Dan born on V'Dan, IF they use Earth years, but in Mars years, they'll "only be" 9.5 years old (the Earth orbits the Sun in 365-ish days, while Mars orbits the Sun in 687 days, give or take). So everyone within the Terran United Planets has agreed that "Terran Standard" is based upon Earth measurements (Greenwich Mean Time), so no matter where you go in space, if you're aboard a Terran ship, they mark time in Terran units...and then add in a second digital display to "synch" time with whatever local area they're at.

Of course, that's high tech post-clock stuff, but it still applies to some degree--again, think of the Julian calendar versus the Gregorian calendar. Before the Russian government shifted to using the Gregorian calendar, there used to be all manner of confusion about booking hotel rooms, when business meetings were to take place, so on and so forth. And despite the fact that the Chinese calendar has been in use for far longer...they, too, have taken to using the Gregorian calendar just so that everyone can be doing business on the same page. This wasn't always the case.

If your characters are going to be traveling in a different culture, if they speak that culture's language, then they may be aware of the confusion that will occasionally strike those who are used to one system but not the other. Otherwise they'll use their own culture's time references--Rappa Nui was "named" Easter Island because that's the day of the European calendar year when the European explorers encountered it, even though it already had a name.

If they're going to be at home / not traveling, then they (and you!) won't have to worry about other cultural timekeeping methods. Just come up with your own, decide if it's based upon agriculture, astronomy, mythology, religion, and/or state leader worship (July and August are both named after Roman Emperors, Julius Caesar and his successor Augustus, iirc). It could even be a mix of things, like our own months. (January is named after Janus the two-faced god of ancient Rome, but our week-days include Wodin's Day, Thor's Day, Freya's Day, for the Norse Gods, then back to Rome for Saturn's Day, etc.)

Calendars, like cultures, are living things, constantly affected by the people creating them and living within them, shaping and reshaping everything. Don't be afraid to mix things up a little, if it's a created culture you're working within.

Hope that helps!