#and it's very obscure to the both of them. they don't know who her father is and Leopardstar only heard of Brightsky through Mudfur

[unauthorized-author]

Leopardstar is adopted in my pseudo-au. Because ain't no way that Mudfur (a light-brown tom) and Brightsky (ginger or some shit) make a FUCKING BENGAL.

So, Leopardstar is adopted by Mudfur :D

Brightsky only appears in super editions iirc, so since she doesn't appear in mainline books, she won't appear in my au either.

WELL, she does, but she isn't a RiverClanner.

Brightsky here (might get renamed) is a wildcat-domestic mix. So obviously, she's a rogue. She's bigger than the average Clan cat, tougher, etc. But she's still sweet.

What the hell even was Brightsky's personality…

Anyway, yes, Brightsky is nice if she wasn't before. Feral in a not-Clancat-feral way, but still nice.

She comes across an asian leopard cat that escaped from the zoo.

I'm skipping a lot here but basically they fucked and boom Brightsky is pregnant with a litter. ALC's can raise their young together, but this one decides not to stick around, and Brightsky respects that decision because y'know, he escaped from the zoo and he doesn't want to be tracked down.

So they part ways, and Brightsky wanders while giving birth, yada yada. She goes into labor on the outskirts of RiverClan territory. Mudfur was looking for herbs nearby and heard Brightsky screaming bloody murder.

So Mudfur, being the nice kind compassionate moral soul he is, helps this absolute stranger who is very hostile and snapping at him through her birth. Brightsky doesn't thank him, but she lets him help clean her litter.

Mudfur knows how to hunt. He brings Brightsky a few small fish from a nearby stream. She doesn't eat them.

Three of the kittens are weak and young. Mudfur offers to rush for some herbs to help Brightsky with her milk production, to help stop the blood loss, etc. She tells him to fuck off.

He doesn't take it personally because she went through a tough birth.

As the kits struggle to suckle, a larger one pushes her siblings aside, particularly eager.

Brightsky allows Mudfur to nose at her kits, helping them to find a place to eat. She's deep in thought, and it's only at sunset, hours after the kits were born and hours after Mudfur was supposed to return to RiverClan, does she come to a decision.

"That one," Brightsky lays her head on her forepaws, fixated on the largest kit. "She's particularly large, isn't she?"

Mudfur looks at her, surprised. She doesn't meet his eyes. "Yes," he agrees eventually. "She's the strongest of an unfortunate litter."

Brightsky looks at him, and Mudfur thinks he might've said the wrong thing.

"Your colony will need her."

"What?" Mudfur feels his pelt bristle, from the tips of his ears to the end of his tail. Did this molly, who has been fighting with him during the entire birth, just offer to give up her strongest kit? "But-"

"I've already made up my mind." She looks away. "This is my 'thank you.' A gift from me to you; after you gifted me your courtesy."

Mudfur can't move. He's astonished.

"She will grow up well under the eye of tens, instead of just me alone."

Finally, Mudfur croaks, "What about her siblings?"

Brightsky says nothing more.

Luckily, Shimmerpelt is nursing already. Mudfur bows his head, carefully grasping the kit's scruff, ignoring her mewls of protest. He sees the molly stiffen, but she doesn't move, doesn't even watch as he pads away, leaving the herbs he collected at her paws.

And she doesn't respond to "Stay safe. Your daughter will grow strong, as will her siblings, and as will you once more."

Nobody really questions where Mudfur got the kit. Nobody questioned where Oakfur got his kits from. It's just not their nature to question this under Crookedstar's leadership. They do question Mudfur's whereabouts.

He can't tell him where he's been, or why he doesn't have herbs if that's why he left in the first place.

Shimmerpelt agrees to nurse his the kit. She says she wants to encourage socialization for her own kits, who fuss at the mere scent of someone foreign. Mudfur can't thank her enough.

He doesn't name the kit until a few days later when he's sure she'll survive, because that's what he wants, what the Clan wants, and what that somber molly would've wanted.

A gift from me to you.

A name isn't a gift. It's a commodity.

Strength is both.

Mudfur goes to speak with StarClan in the dead of night. Praying that the daughter of the molly will live to see glorious days, fight for RiverClan to her victorious ends. He prays that she never exhausts when things get tough and never crumble to pressure.

He forgets to pray for heart.

[little-diable]

My Greatest Fear - Dean Winchester (smut)

Don't say I didn't warn y'all. Inspired by Benson Boone's new song "My Greatest Fear". Please like and reblog if you enjoyed reading this, your comments keep us writers motivated! Enjoy my loves. xxx

Summary: Dean broke things off with the reader years ago, the biggest mistake of his life. But when Sam tells his brother that (y/n) is getting married, Dean knows it's time to make things right. He won't leave this life behind without being able to call her his once again.

Warnings: 18+, smut, piv, ex-lovers to lovers, some angst, lots of fluff tho, reader is a runaway bride

Pairing: Dean Winchester x fem!reader (3k words)

Got a lot on my mind that keeps me up at night, I’m tossing and turning, thinking that my life’s gone to waste

“Thank you, sweetheart.” Dean shot the waitress a big smile as she placed his breakfast down, blushing as the handsome man winked at her. The older Winchester brother was too focused on his food to pick up on the uneasiness radiating off Sam, to focus on the sadness swimming in his brother’s pupils. 

“Fuck, that’s good.” Dean’s moans rumbled through him as he ate the greasy deliciousness, sipping on his coffee every now and then. It took him a while to lift his gaze, to allow his green eyes to focus on Sam’s untouched breakfast, forcing Dean’s eyebrows to furrow in confusion. “Not hungry? Shouldn’t you eat something after a long run?” 

“Mhm,” Sam’s eyes were focused on the window, unable to look at his brother any longer. His heart clenched in his chest, his mind was racing faster than it had in the past months, struggling to part his lips. 

“Sam,” Dean’s raspy voice forced Sam’s eyes back towards his older brother, unable to hold eye contact for long. “What’s wrong?” 

Dean had put down his breakfast burger while taking another sip of coffee. He patiently waited for Sam to speak, to spill whatever was visibly plaguing him. But Sam kept quiet, deeply inhaling as if he had to muster the strength to speak. Dean repeated his brother’s name, much quieter this time around, gentle almost – as if he had finally realised that whatever Sam was about to speak would hurt them both. 

“I received an email this morning.” It was a whisper, nothing more, words so obscurely simple that Dean couldn’t help but laugh. But Sam didn’t give in, killing Dean’s hope that Sam was simply fucking with him. Something heavy was about to claw through Sam, something heavy that could determine the outcome of this very day. “It was from Mary, (y/n)’s sister.”

Now it was on Dean to freeze, not expecting his brother to speak her name. Their eyes met, urging Sam to keep on speaking, to tell his brother about the email he had opened with shaky fingers, freezing in his step as he read the words she had written to him. 

“(Y/n)’s getting married, Dean.” Sam was forced to watch Dean sink back into the seat, arms crossed in front of his chest, uneasy eyes staring down at the table. And for a moment, neither of them spoke, letting the words sink in – words that had been Dean’s greatest fear ever since he had left her all these years ago. 

He had been stupid back then, too childish for his own good. Guided by his father’s words, he had dropped (y/n) and the life they could have lived together. His father had made pretty promises, telling his young son of women awaiting him, women he shouldn’t miss out on because of a marriage that would only tie him to (y/n), away from all the fun he could experience. The greatest mistake of his life, a mistake he hated himself for every single day. 

“That’s good for her. I’m happy she found somebody who treats her right.” The words pained Dean to speak, rolling off his tongue with a sharp edge that left Sam cringing. His hand found Dean’s forearm, gently squeezing his brother’s arm in a gesture so unfamiliar, Dean had to stop himself from shaking off Sam’s hand. 

“Dean, I’ve always loved her like a sister, I only want what’s best for her. But you’re my brother, I know how much not having her around scars you, I see it every day on your face. Get her back, try it at least.” 

Of all the things that I've been afraid to lose, my greatest fear of all is losing you

……

“I shouldn’t do this.” They were parked in front of the small church, eyes watching the big crowd of unfamiliar faces. Both Dean and Sam were wearing a suit, knowing that they had to blend in with the wedding guests to find their way to (y/n). “Why should she take me back? Why should she even listen to me?”

“Dean, if there is one thing I know it’s that she still loves you. Let’s get your girl back.” Sam was first to step out into the warm morning, eyes hidden behind a pair of sunglasses as they walked up to the crowd. He felt Dean close, not daring to speak up with his choked-up throat, with his heart pounding in his chest, knowing that this would be his only shot to make things right for once in his life. 

“Mary!” Sam’s voice echoed through the air, eyes focused on the frame of (y/n)’s sister. The young woman flung herself into Sam’s open arms, chuckling into his neck as he held her close for a moment. A moment too long for Dean who was growing more antsy with every passing second. 

“Thank you for coming. She’s making a mistake, Sam. You’re my only hope with this.” The words left Dean frozen, confused eyes flickering between his brother and Mary. He hadn’t read the email Mary had sent to Sam, hadn’t asked any further questions about the man (y/n) was about to marry, trusting that he was somebody she loved. “Come, I’ll bring you to her.”

“What the fuck man?” Dean growled the words at Sam as he followed them through the crowd and towards a small house built near the church. Sam fell into pace with his brother, watching Mary lead them towards the place where (y/n) was currently getting ready. 

“Well, you didn’t think I’d let you do this without knowing (y/n) would willingly leave her fiancé, did you? I wouldn’t destroy her happiness just like that, Dean.” Realistically, Dean should have known that Sam wouldn’t just push him into this without knowing that there was a chance to get her back. Sam had hated him for a while after he had left (y/n), punishing Dean for breaking her heart at any given chance, a broken bond that had needed months to be repaired. 

“(Y/n)? I brought two special guests.” Mary’s voice echoed through the small cabin, ringing in the brother’s ears as they waited outside. Dean felt his hands tremble, forced to let go of deep exhales as Mary opened the door for them, allowing them to step inside. His eyes were drawn to (y/n)’s like a moth to a flame, and his world stopped spinning, unable to focus on anything but her.

It took (y/n) a second to react, seemingly confused about the appearance of the two hunters she hadn’t seen in years. She was pulled into a hug by Sam, giving Dean another moment to admire her, the white dress she wore – a sight he had only seen in his dreams, imagining this very day, with him waiting at the altar for her. Dreams that had evaporated into a hazy nothingness the day he had left her. 

“Hi, sweetheart.” She sank into Dean’s grasp, clinging to him as if he hadn’t been the man who had broken her heart all these years ago. He watched his brother and Mary leave the cabin, giving the two some time alone as they kept on holding one another. 

“What are you doing here, Dean?” (Y/n) mumbled the words against the fabric of his suit jacket, not caring about smudging her make-up, not caring about anything but the way Dean held her close – as if he hadn’t ever stopped holding her. Carefully, Dean let her go, needing to give them some distance for the words he was about to speak, knowing that this could escalate any moment now. 

“I can’t let you marry another man without telling you that leaving you was my greatest mistake. A life without you has always been my biggest fear, I was stupid, so fucking stupid, sweetheart. I shouldn’t have listened to Dad, I should have married you right that day. And I hate myself for not doing it, for letting you go when you have always been my whole world. I know there is no chance for me to make things right, and even though Sammy and Mary hope that I will sweep you off of your feet and bring you back home to us, I know I can’t.” Tears dripped from her eyes, tears (y/n) didn’t care to wipe away. 

“I hated you for years, you broke me, Dean. You took away my life, my friends, the people I had grown to love. You ripped my heart right out of my chest, and even though I tried to fight for it, to regain its strength, I miserably failed. I should curse you, should tell you to fuck off and never show your face to me again. But I can’t. For Christ’s sake, Dean. What are we doing here?” He cupped her face with shaking fingers, letting his forest-green eyes run over her gorgeous face. 

“I want to kill him for getting a chance to love you, time that has been wasted because of me. But I don’t want to take another choice from you. If you want to marry him, I will watch from the first row, hell, I’ll even carry your veil.” His voice shook as he whispered the words, growing tense as (y/n) rested her hands on top of his, still cupping her cheeks.

“And if I don’t want to marry him?” 

……

I'm scared to take another picture of you, 'cause I'm scared to have another thing that I can lose, oh, dear, who am I without you here?

“I thought you were taking me home, where are we going?” Her laughter echoed through Baby, eyes set on Dean’s grinning features. They had left the church a while ago, running away like she had secretly hoped they would. (Y/n) had always been a dreamer, a dreamer who had pictured that very moment since the day it had dawned on her – about to marry a man she didn’t love. A man who wasn’t Dean Winchester. 

“We’ve got another thing to take care of first, I am not losing any more time.” Baby screeched to a halt in front of a pink church, a sight that left (y/n) confused, and Dean and Sam chuckling. They made their way into the church, with her fingers interlaced with Dean’s, with her white wedding gown clinging to her frame, with his suit hugging his frame. 

“Dean, Sam, I didn’t think I’d ever get to see you two around here!” An elderly man greeted them with a big smile. His brown eyes were drawn to (y/n)’s almost instantly, with a knowing smile growing on his lips – a smile that had an almost proud touch to it. “That’s her, huh? Took you quite some time, didn’t it.” “(Y/n), that’s Danny, an old friend of ours we met on a hunt. He could wed us, with Sammy as our witness, if you’ll have me.” Her heart had stopped beating, skipping a few beats as Dean’s words sank in. Her teary eyes found his and with a laugh clawing through her, she pressed a kiss to his lips, drawing a groan out of Dean, who tried to prolong the kiss for as long as possible. 

“I will always have you, Dean.” She was pulled towards the altar, unable to stop her tears from dripping as Danny began speaking a prayer she paid no attention to. All (y/n) could do was study Dean, the love swimming in his pupils, the way he looked at her as if she was his sun, alighting the darkest days with her mere presence. A soul crafted for his to hold onto, to love till their time together would eventually run out. 

“Do you have any rings?” Danny’s soft voice ripped (y/n) out of her thoughts, about to whisper a soft, disappointed “No”, but before she could even part her lips, Sam excitedly spoke up. Her eyes watched the tall Winchester brother, how he reached for his breast pocket to expose a small envelope to her glassy eyes. Wordlessly he pushed it towards Dean, who opened it with an unwavering smile stuck to his lips. 

“I bought these rings years ago, sure to eventually push yours down on your finger. I am sorry it took me this long.” Her sob left Dean chuckling, exposing his also teary eyes to hers. She had held onto all these longings for years, mere dreams that were now finally turning real – as if she was just sleeping through another longing. 

But, you're here, now, and that makes it better, somehow

……

“Let me.” Dean’s soft voice filled his bedroom. He was standing behind (y/n), carefully helping her out of her wedding dress with his gaze focused on the ring clinging to his finger. The past hours had flown by all too quickly, turning her from a runaway bride into his wife. His wife. A title so unfamiliar, Dean had to fight against the urge to pinch himself.

His for eternity. His to love. His to worship. 

“I love you, Dean.” (Y/n) whispered her words as she stepped out of her dress, exposing her underwear-clad frame to his hungry eyes. She was pulled into a teeth-chasing kiss, a kiss dripping with emotions that made her feel all too dizzy, having to hold onto Dean before she could be ripped into another dimension. 

“I love you too, sweetheart. And I’m so fucking sorry for missing out on this for years.” He pressed her down on the mattress, giving her a show as he slowly undressed. Her body was aching for him, needing to feel Dean close after all these long years apart. 

“Stop apologising with words and show me that you truly mean them.” His lips kissed her chest, the valley between her breasts as he undid her bra, exposing her hardening nipples to his twinkling eyes. Dean could cum just from the sight of her naked frame, a sight he had only seen in his dreams for the past years, not daring to imagine being this fortunate again. 

“God, you’re so beautiful. I promise to worship you for as long as you want me to.” Dean’s raspy words vibrated on her skin, covering her body with goosebumps as he kneaded her soft flesh. His cock was pressed against her clothed heat, drawing moans from her whenever he moved against her heat, desperate for the kind of friction that left them both trembling.

“I need you inside of me, Dean.” Her raspy whispers left him groaning against her skin as she raised her hips to help him pull her damp panties down her legs. Just this morning, (y/n) had imagined this very moment, knowing that she’d think of Dean when her husband touched her, a loveless marriage she would have been trapped in. 

“Are you still on birth control?” (Y/n) could only nod her head, mind taken up by the feeling of his wandering hands, keeping her pressed against him. Dean's cock twitched against her naked cunt, brushing through her arousal-covered folds to coat himself, “I love you, and I’ll do my best to prove it to you for the rest of our lives.”

“I love you too, Dean.” He pushed into her with a groan, forehead falling against hers as she fluttered around him. It felt as if he had entered paradise, falling to rest on clouds covering his body. She was his Elysium, his safe haven, the one where Dean could be the truest version of himself. 

He moved slowly at first, both needed some time to adjust to one another after all these years, but the second their bodies relaxed, properly enjoying one another’s closeness, Dean began to move faster. Their bodies met with every thrust, eyes holding a contact so intense, (y/n) feared her heart would explode right in her chest. 

Dean was taking his time with her, this wasn’t a rushed fuck to make up for all the time lost, no, it was so much more. This was the purest form of love, a one-of-a-kind love both had clung to in lonely nights, with wandering minds and trembling hands. This is what they had been destined to have, years ago – a love they were now rediscovering. 

“You feel so good, baby.” He felt her clenching around his cock, drawing another gritty sound out of Dean. (Y/n) was long gone, pushed into another dimension where she only knew Dean, nothing but his love, his touch, his irrevocable longing for her. Sensations she was taken hostage by, unable to shake them. 

His warm fingertips found her pulsing bundle, circling it with just enough pressure to draw his name out of her. (Y/n) could feel her orgasm slithering its way up her body, whispering to her to hold onto her husband, and with her fingernails clawed into Dean’s shoulders, she came. He followed her right down the edge, moaning against her lips as their bodies were moulded together. 

“Fuck, we’ll have to do that all through the night, husband.” (Y/n) whispered the words as a few heavy pants left her, making a laugh claw out of Dean who chased her slightly swollen lips for another kiss. 

“Trust me, I won’t let you leave our bed for weeks, wife.” 

Don't know how the broken pieces fit together if you leave it, so, don't go, don't go, I would take your hand if I could reach it

[zizzy-rie]

Another AU I've been thinking about for the past several days now

Here are some close ups of the second pic

More info under the cut

Lucifer Morningstar

His main job is creating toy designs and inventing them. Despite what people might think, he actually comes from a very wealthy and famous family, having owned several companies and lands in different parts of the country. Even though he has his wealth, Lucifer chose to live far from his family and start a life on his own, much to the disappointment of a lot of his relatives. From time to time, he does contact his father and siblings to catch up and know that they're okay.

Lilith Magne

She is a famous fashion model. Not much is known about where she came from as she rarely speaks about her past. Some say that she's bossy and unapproachable (men) but others see her as soft spoken and understanding (women and children). No one in society knows what she does behind her fame, except those powerful syndicates from the underworld. Lilith is a seductress killer who targets men as her victims. She lures them during huge gatherings and parties, wearing a purple gown paired with a black mask over her eyes. She leaves nothing but a black rose on the scene of the crime.

Alastor (??)

He is a radio host from an obscure radio show. Not many know who he is, much to his delight, as he prefers not being traced back to the monthly deaths happening in the city, most of which was his own doing. Alastor is quite organized with the way he chooses his prey, to the way they should be killed. In the underworld, he is well known, both by amateurs and by powerful and huge syndicates, yet no one dared to touch him or report him to authorities (they know what happens if they do, or even try to).

Relationships

Radioapple

No one knows how Lucifer and Alastor met, not even their close friends and family. One day, Lucifer was just suddenly seen arguing with Alastor on the street while holding some plastic bags filled with different things. Complicated is what can be described about their relationship. One minute, they're arguing and trying to hit each other with anything they can hold on to, then the next, you'll hear them cackling at each other's corny jokes. Their relationship got more complicated when the two got drunk off their asses and swore off and made a bet to make the other get laid.

**It would probably go something like this: Alastor and Lucifer, both very drunk and incomprehensible to anyone eavesdropping on them, somehow talking about relationships and partners (how their topic of conversation led to that is up to everyone's own interpretation).

Lucifer: Pppfft- I'm definitely a whole package! I mean just look at me! Charming, rich, handsome, great with the ladies~ Who wouldn't want that? Ehh? Eh?~

Alastor: Well, I don't see anyone hovering around you like an annoying pest now, do I? I guess you're not as charming or great as you think you are, sire.

Lucifer: You're one to talk! You've never even been on a date once!

Alastor: That's because I chose not to, Lucifer. Relationships are messy, and only complicate things. I have no time dealing with such feeble emotions such as love everyone oh so desperately craves. That is clearly not my cup of tea.

Lucifer: Pft, bet I could find you a partner that matches you.

Alastor: oh? Is that a challenge I hear, sire?

Lucifer: oh! How about this? you find me a partner to date, and I find you one as well. If one of us gets to find a match for the other in a matter of 6 months, then the winner gets to receive a reward. Sounds good?

Alastor: hhmmm, tempting, but what would be the reward, sire? If I may ask.

Lucifer: the winner gets to choose his reward, how about that? Doesn't that sound nice? Hhmm?

Alastor: Alright then, challenge accepted Lucifer. Although you're only making this easier for me, as I have never ever fallen for someone and I can assure you that it will never happen. Good luck with finding me a partner.

Lucifer: oh I definitely can, just you wait.

The current situation on their challenge so far: difficult is one word to describe it. No one has found a suitable date or partner for the other yet. [Until Lilith comes into the picture]

Radioqueen

Lilith is a witness to one of Alastor's murders. While disposing of the body, she had accidentally walked into the scene, much to Alastor's disappointment. This is their first meeting with each other, although they have heard rumors about the other from amateur criminals and rookies. Alastor, not wanting to kill Lilith because of his moral code of not killing women and children, bribed her into getting a date with one of the rich and chivalrous men in their city, Lucifer Morningstar, in exchange for her silence. Pleased with the idea (and perhaps another prey to feast on), Lilith agreed. The two exchanged contacts and have been in touch ever since. They are acquainted easily as the two share sentiments on not harming women and children in their murder spree. One detail Alastor forgot to take notice though is, Lilith's victims are men who she had a date with before their deaths.

Lucilith

The two bumped into each other in a cafe. Lucifer was getting a latte for himself, stressed out on the list he is making (names of random people he has heard of who he thinks are the type of people Alastor would go out with). Lilith was getting coffee, just finished from her modeling job in a nearby building. Their meet up was merely a coincidence, which was a delight for Lilith. This way, she could gain more information about who the person Alastor is setting her up with. Lucifer, mesmerized by her voice and stunned by her brilliance, tried to ask for her name. Unfortunately, he blurted out a different question as he was mulling over other problems in his head, such as the list for Alastor's possible dates. Asking someone to date their friend is not the kind of question anyone should be asking to a stranger, and yet it still happened to Lucifer, no less. Being possibly one of the most socially awkward people to exist, he could only sit on the ground and hide his face in shame and horror. Lilith, not expecting this kind of behavior from a rich and supposedly charming man, had found him quite cute and endearing. This is when she decided to leave her original plan of killing him, and instead vowed to marry him someday in the future.

[anemicjellyfish]

Random theorizing and/or speculation post idk.

So I've said it before and I'll say it again. Helluva Boss is pretty damn good at "Show, Don't Tell."

While it isn't entirely devoid of expositional dialogue, it really doesn't seem like they rely on it heavily. Even with a few heart-to-heart moments between characters like Blitzø & Fizzarolli in Oops and Loona & Octavia in Seeing Stars, big dialogue exchanges are kept to a minimum. Character development happens over time and through on-screen events rather than sitting down and talking it all out.

This, combined with the show's tendency to both 1, let events come full-circle and 2, show generational trauma as a way to let characters break free of the molds set for them, is why I think Octavia might get the "Stolas Experience" soon.

Now, I love Octavia. If I could pick a character to make sure the writing team doesn't traumatize, it's her. (This is a No Hate Zone for Octavia and Stolas btw.)

What I mean is that Octavia seems to have been kept from the same expectations that were put upon Stolas his whole life. She appears to make her own choices and express herself in ways that Stolas wasn't allowed. I have a feeling that, now that she is with her mother and uncle, she will be held to a similar standard as her father (at least until she's of age, which is likely 18).

I feel like minimal expositional dialogue will come in to bridge the gaps in her knowledge. Octavia getting told she's "just like her father" as an insult when she's not adhering to new standards.

To bring it to a head, I also like to speculate that Stella will try to arrange Octavia a marriage of her own. When Via pushes back on this, the "just like your father" line may come back. I also think Stella will deliver the final nail in the coffin of Octavia's opinion of her parent's marriage here.

My personal headcanon of the line is something like: "oh, for fuck's sake, Via. All Goetia marriages are arranged. It's not like Stolas and I ever loved each other. *laughter* Andrealphus, could you imagine? Stolas and I in love?! How ridiculous..." (mocking fades into the background as Via processes what she just heard) But this is just fanfic-level stuff that plays in the background of my brain.

Now, to skip ahead just a little. There are very few characters for Octavia to turn to. The most likely candidate for a lot of us is Loona. It makes sense, as they've already shared some screentime & Octavia got some solid advice then. And I don't disagree at all. It's a good choice.

But I like to think Octavia has something in common with someone she despises, but who could never hold hate in his heart for her.

Blitzø and Octavia have some unlikely common ground in severing connections with those they care about most through an emotional response to feeling unloved.

Octavia's song "I Will Be Okay" uses fire imagery to burn photographs to symbolize her readiness to cut off contact with her father after she came to the conclusion that he never loved her.

Blitzø set a literal fire unintentionally when his own father valued Fizzarolli over him, and likely felt that Fizz would never love Blitzø in return.

While the parallel between them isn't completely perfect, Blitzø is uniquely suited to understand a teenager who is scared, alone, and feels unloved.

We know a good deal about the circus fire, but Blitzø really hasn't spoken about it to anyone. It's unclear if he ever went into detail about it to Fizz, and he only vaguely referred to it being "traumatic" when Stolas brought up Blitzø's love of horses.

I personally like to think that Octavia will be the one Blitzø tells about it all. I think he'll obscure the details of a teenage crush to stay on-topic. But the loss of a loving parent (Blitzø's mom/Stolas) and being left with a horrible one (Blitzø's dad/Stella) is something that connects them in ways that both of them don't realize yet.

This doesn't have to fix things. Confronting traumatic events doesn't mean those events no longer happened. Blitzø carries the physical scars of his past with him everywhere he goes, and the emotional pain doesn't always heal without leaving scars of its own.

Octavia could slowly rebuild her relationship with her dad over time. It's not impossible yet. But she is slowly gaining an understanding of how things work in Goetic society; she will likely know soon that she was only born to be an heir out of precaution. So a part of her is always going to be the teenage girl who needs reassurance that she's loved, that she isn't the obligation that she thinks she is.

Sorry for another incomplete post. My thumb is hurting at the knuckle because I over-extended it the other day and it's hard to type on my phone with just one thumb.

[d3lly1000]

About Sonic and the others forgetting the events of Sonic '06 + The Twitter Takeovers are semi-canons

Okay, here we go... I saw some people mention this answer about Sonic forgetting Elise and being upset about it, and thankful that the Takeovers are "not canon", so I'll share my point of view on that and talk about why the Takeovers are semi-canon! (oh boy a long post-) ~~~~

To start: "But Sonic forgetting Elise is absurd! He was the one who put out the flame with Elise, they both should have known about each other." No. They shouldn't have. From the moment the flame went out, everything was reset and started at the point where Sonic was going through the festival. There was no invasion by Eggman at that moment, Elise was not kidnapped, there were no Events of 2006 EVEN though the game is canon. THIS has ALWAYS been a fact since the game's release. And it keeps gaining strength with new media (Sonic x Shadow Generations and mentions that Sonic make in external media).

And I dare even more, not even Silver should know about the events. But if he knows, it's only him and Mephiles, who was ERASED from existence and ended up in WhiteSpace, the Limbo of Sonic's Universe. (As for Silver, he constantly travels through time, he could be the only one who remembers, but I doubt it a little) But the point here is: The representation of the flame going out at the end of 06 is that everything was rewritten in a new way. Things didn't happen that way and that's it.

"But it's absurd. Sonic would never forget Elise, they liked each other!"

I know that in some way there are fans of Sonelise, but I don't think it's right to support their romance so much when it was rushed and totally done in a hurry to make us get some kind of "emotional attachment" to Elise. Elise was the one who showed the most interest in Sonic, even kissing him (geez...), while Sonic, even choosing Elise in the "Trial Of Love", sometimes the game still throws you to Amy's option in a strange glitch. Which doesn't make much sense since theoretically he "would be in love with Elise."

Elise had the potential to be an excellent character and I still believe in that! She was introduced in an obscure game (just like Silver) and we can't deny that fact. She always couldn't cry because she had sealed the Iblis Trigger in herself, she lost her father and had no mother and yet she was the governess of the kingdom of Soleanna. Have you ever thought how much she could have stood out by working on this issue of pressure that she suffers in a deeper way? Instead of Sonic's entire campaign revolving around a somewhat embarrassing romance, have you ever thought how incredible it would be if it focused on how far the line of our responsibilities goes and the fear of failing everyone? Elise could potentially even be an incredible parallel for Blaze being what she is, even if indirectly! There's the other idea of ​​Sonic and Elise being a parallel of sisterhood like Shadow is with Maria, and that's much more captivating than a romance, and I'm sure we'd get much more attached to her knowing that!

Sonic 2006 and plot holes...

Sonic's campaign is the weakest;

Elise is a character who has potential for much more than what we were given;

the time travel issue has many holes like the Blue Chaos Emerald being with Elise the whole time;

Blaze is in the game and we don't even have an explanation for it;

We're very vague about Silver and his future; So, the fact that Sonic and the others "forget" the events is something canonical since the end of the game and has always remained that way.

Now, about the Twitter Takeovers:

The Takeovers are silly and focused on humor, but that doesn't mean there aren't writers behind them!

(Social Media Manager for Sonic's official Twitter account.) This same script is thought by the entire team, since the company's characters are acting! There is a lot of work behind it, which must be recognized! In other words, the information becomes "canonical", since it covers and gives us answers about things that we don't have in the games yet. It's an expansion of the characters, the universe and the story that hasn't been told or fully explored yet, and that's fantastic! The questions are selected based on what they can probably tell us. Whether it's just about Sonic's fur or Shadow's taste for coffee, or even about the Super Transformations and the relationships between the characters. They are Semi-Canons. They are information that adds to our knowledge as fans, but they are not necessarily real, like Sonic breaking the fourth wall. As a fandom, we have to know how to separate some things! That's what makes the Sonic universe unique. Everything can be considered more clues to add to the franchise, but we need to know how to understand the reasons and whys behind it!

Conclusion

I still hope that if Sonic '06 gets a remake, they'll do a good redemption of it, because it deserves it! And who knows, maybe we'll see more of it in the future?

If you want to comment, feel free, this is an open field for that discussion. Just keep it respectful and friendly! I'd love to read and participate too!

Thank you very much for reading! Sorry for the bad English... Stay determined! 🤍

[stephofromcabin12]

Little PJO tv things I noticed upon my rewatches of it

But can't fit into my script of the PJO tv video™

When Sally and Percy talk in the cabin in Montauk, Percy is in front of mostly yellow/golden colors with bunk beds behind him, while Sally is mostly surrounded by blue tones. Hmm something something she symbolizes the familiarity of the mortal world (blue), and Percy is already belonging to a mythological world, separate from hers (gold).

In the same scene, the light of the fire (from the literal hearth they're sitting at, mind you), gets more agitated as they get more emotional. It starts off pretty stable then flickers more and more until Grover knocks on the door. Something something threatening family safety and peace.

Gabe says 'I don't know where your mom is I'm not Nostradamus!" Which is funny, because Nostradamus was a seer and Gabe is the voice of the Oracle at camp when Percy gets his quest.

Mr D's sunglasses have purple tinted glasses in them. I was wrong about it. They did, in fact, tint them purple/they were already purple tinted beforehand. However it's very subtle and I think if they could highlight the purple in the glasses, they could add an overlay to the actor's eyes. But it's not that big of a deal.

Sally and Poseidon both hold onto Percy's neck/shoulder when they directly acknowledge that he's theirs. Yeah that one made me sick when I realized they parallel each other. Also funny how Sally is bathed in golden light, and Poseidon is in cooler, bluer light. Hmmmmm. Also they're literally framed opposite each other oh my god this show is so fucking good I hate y'all for trying to convince me it wasn't good. Like:

Anyway, speaking of them, not only is there a gold window/wallpaper thingie behind Poseidon in the "I want him to know who he is" flashback scene in episode 7, which is obscured partly by the time it reaches Sally. When we see Poseidon glance at Percy, Percy is separated from him by a blue glass wall. Oooh and people thought this show was too obvious with its writing. Also the whole café looks like a ship. It's so ship coded. Ship pilled café.

Gabe and Poseidon are so eerily similar in little ways. Like not in a 'oh its because Poseidon is bad actually' way but it is interesting that show!Gabe gives 'We have Poseidon at home' vibes. (Same shirt, similar hair color and haircut although P looks far better than Gabe on purpose, loose pants however Poseidon has those Scandi-summer pants and Gabe has grey sweats, sandals--though technically we don't know that P is wearing sandals I argue, your honor, look at that man and tell me he isn't wearing sandals)

Oh, and they also both wear necklaces.

This one I did include in my script because I spent so long having to look at beer cans until I could find a clear shot of the ones Gabe drinks. But they made up a whole beer for him. Just for him. It doesn't exist. It's called Shotz. I don't know enough about America or beer to know if that's some kind of joke. It's also a malt lager. So. beer confirmed, however fake beer.

Hades is the god that blinks the most and I can't tell if that was direction or if its just a coincidence, either way, it's really weird that he's the only god that seems intimidated. What's that about? I can't wait to find out (hopefully)

Grover and Percy both receive affirmations and kindness from mother figures while father figures consistently offer tough love, and discouragement. Hmmm something something patriarchy matriarchy something something

Some of the cabins look to have second floors, yet cabin 11 has just one.

While the casino scene got a lot of heat for being 'least faithful' to the books, the VR games are actually in TLT...So there's that.

The reason Alecto's fight scene feels weird is because she's not aiming to kill Percy like she is in the book. She was asked to bring him in quick and quiet, not kill him. Percy, much like in the book, accidentally kills her. Whoops.

Lin Manuel Miranda's acting in episode 6 actually brings the immersive experience of being stabbed 87 times with a dull, rusty knife and people had the audacity to dislike his casting. That was rude.

In episode 2, Chiron's hand in Pinochle amounts to 10 points (2x 9's = 0, Jacks = 0 and a 10 = 10) So no wonder he's unhappy lmao.

This one might be super obvious and I'm just stupid/inattentive, but Luke's first full dialogue with Percy is: "I heard what happened on the hill. I know what you're going through, really." And yeah. Hah. :(

There is no way in Hades that Mr Brunner is pronounced like that. Why is it spelled like that then. I refuse to believe that. Grammatically, Rick, it makes no sense. Whatever.

I can't prove it, but I'm like 90% convinced the waterbeds at Crusty's are modeled after the gods? I might be stupid here as well.

I know I've talked about this before but what fucking protest at Olympus? What are we talking about. HUH???

There are others probably but I must go and think about something not PJO or I'll die. And keep in mind these are the ones I found while writing and went:

So you can imagine how deeply invested I am in the show by now lmao

[fictionadventurer]

Top 5 obscure light vintage novels! (Not sure if my previous ask got eaten, but also curious about this one specifically)

The strictest definition of what I consider "obscure light vintage novels" requires a book to meet a lot of criteria:

Published before 1960

Not recommended to me by anyone I know personally (including on tumblr)

Doesn't have a fancy Oxford-Classics-type edition with an introduction. (And none of the author's other books are well-known enough to have one)

Has a realistic setting

Ideally written by a woman or centered around a female main character

Which means that very few books fit this list. But of those few, here are my top five.

Desire by Una Silberrad: Flawed but fascinating Edwardian novel about an eccentric heiress who meets a soulful author and eventually winds up working for him when she loses her money and he inherits his father's pottery business. Fascinating characters, amazing romance, lots of interesting themes. I'm also going to count the author's other novels in this category, because she's come to epitomize "obscure light classic" for me. The Good Comrade is a much frothier novel with some great characters, and Curayl is highly flawed, but its silver-tongued hero lives rent-free in my head.

The Ark by Margot Benary-Isbert: I finished this book less than twenty-four hours ago (so I could include it on this list). It's a 1953 German novel set in 1947, about a refugee family building a home after the end of the war. It reads like, if you can believe it, a cozy post-apocalyptic novel. These people are living through some terrible things, but they make the best of things and manage to find joy. It's chock-full of fascinating details about life in post-war Germany, and reminds you that the people on that side of the war were human too, losing people and places they loved, and doing their best to live in terrible times. There are some superstitious elements later on that I wasn't crazy about, but otherwise I adored this story.

The Romance of a Shop by Amy Levy: Novel from the 1880s about four sisters who open a photography studio to support themselves after their father's death. Extremely underwritten (one of the girls meets an old flame and marries him between chapters), but a very easy, pleasant read with interesting historical details, and some nice sisterly relationships that remind me just a bit of Little Women meets Oscar Wilde.

The Heir of Redclyffe and Countess Kate by Charlotte Mary Yonge: Books by one of the bestselling authors of the Victorian age who's completely forgotten today. Both get too preachy at times, but make up for it by having amazing characters. The first one is a family saga about cousins caught up in an old feud, and the second is like if Anne Shirley suddenly found out she was a countess.

The Rosary by Florence Barclay: The bestselling novel of, like, 1920. It gets very melodramatic, but I was also surprised at how grounded and witty the characters were. I remember very little about it, but I have fond memories of the reading experience, and it earns a place on this list because when I want to find an "obscure vintage light novel", on some level I'm thinking I want to find a book like this.

I know you didn't ask, but I find myself wanting to list five novels that don't quite meet the strict criteria above, but are close enough that I want to highlight them.

The Dean's Watch and The Rosemary Tree by Elizabeth Goudge: Goudge isn't exactly obscure in this section of tumblr (which is why I heard of her in the first place), but she's obscure enough that a lot of her books are out-of-print or otherwise hard to get, and these two in particular are among the best books I've ever read.

The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery: Montgomery is extremely well-known, and this book has an ever-growing and very devoted cult following, so it's not exactly obscure, but it's much less well-known than most of her other books. A deep cut, if you will. It fits perfectly within the light vintage novel category, and has long been one of my favorite novels of all time.

Lady Audley's Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon: It's got an Oxford Classics (or similar imprint) edition, and is well-known as one of the very first sensation novels, but it's not exactly known among people who don't deep-dive into Victorian literature. I read this last month and loved it. It's a cozy sensation novel with an amazing main character, great atmosphere, and a plot that manages to grip you even while not much happens.

Mrs. Miniver by Jan Struther: It's not exactly obscure if it has a movie adaptation, but from what I know, the movie basically ignores the book, which isn't that well-known today. Charming slice-of-life from the very early days of WWII England.

Helen by Maria Edgeworth: Not exactly beloved, and Edgeworth isn't exactly obscure, but this is a lesser-known novel that fits well within this category. The first half had some moments that were so dull I considered not finishing, but the second half was gripping enough that I can mention it as a nice, obscure surprise of a book.

[kyriefae]

<TL;DR>

Doctor Who Reality War Spoilers Ahead

For the past week, after seeing Wish World, I was bouncing off the walls when thinking about this finale. I still think everything that led up to The Reality War was phenomenal. The Rani's plan was entertaining and intricate. I felt like the memory of her character was finally being given it's due honor.

I worried for Belinda as she was trying to get back to her life as a nurse. She wanted to return to that humble existence. Despite the pain of things like doctors misdiagnosing patients only for her to save them through critical re-evaluation and for them to save face, she was left to miss out on leaving her shifts; spending time with people she loved. She wanted to return to that life where obscurity and responsibility awaited.

I thought about Conrad and what may become of him. His obsessions that led to an entire world being built around the misconception that safety only exists when you conform; when you comply. A reprisal of how clever I thought The Rani was to chose such a man for her unraveling of reality plan. The doubt others will have when subjected to the reality such a man desperately clings to were the entire point.

I thought about Colonel Christofer Ibrahim and how he has been starting to feel like the new John Benton, if John Benton had been harboring intense feelings for the Brigadier. How fascinated I was to continue seeing his involvement.

The long and short of it: I was looking forward to what mystery Poppy was going to reveal by "being real".

...but the combined plot of the first seven episodes that coincidentally intermingled with the plot threads of Ncuti's first season were ALL just red herrings.

I still very much enjoyed the episode at the beginning. I was laughing and enjoying the CGI silliness all the way through Ncuti piloting The Rani's flying segway. It was when he crashed through the glass and we saw the creature Russell T Davies wants us to believe is Omega that everything plummeted to a screeching halt.

...

I'm mourning the loss of a fictional character. It's stupid but also it's not.

Until this moment, I was hooked. I even loved Space Babies. ...but there's a massive difference between a bad episode or poorly executed set of stories and the results of this finale and The Fifteenth Doctor's entire run writ large.

...

I'm not going to bother with speculating over what I don't know or what is circulating on the Internet in terms of why Ncuti just suddenly left the show.

I think what's upsetting me the most right now, and this is a trigger warning for anyone else impacted by suicide, is the twist that the Doctor decided to kill himself. He killed himself for the hunch of a baby he had forgotten existed who was, leading into this episode, being dangled as a possible tie in to Susan Foreman (a plot point that was completely abandoned). He kills himself by electing to release his regeneration energy into the time vortex? Sorry, but fucking what? Maybe on a rewatch, I'll be able to understand the internal logic here a bit more and I recall other times the Doctor has given some regeneration energy (such as Twelve with Davros). ...but by doing this to the Tardis console he both dies also "fixes" Poppy? K.

It's been said elsewhere but I echo this: WTF RTD. Belinda being made into a "mother all along"? It was written conveniently vague enough prior to the finale and during for us to have to question the integrity of its truth in a way that's meant to lean into our acceptance. This actually just makes me even more angry. Forget the fact her father who can't sing also can't seem to exist...she's in some quiet house in the suburbs when we leave her. She's not in a shared house with roommates next door to Mrs. Flood.

We're left with an extremely disconcerting thought that the Doctor, essentially, misdiagnosed Belinda's entire reality.

I know we're most sensibly going to be left picking up the pieces that this was a rushed re-write but it doesn't change how massively uncharacteristic and illogical the pieces to this puzzle fell.

...

I didn't even get to the fact Thirteen showed up again.

I want to be so excited about her. That scene was a silver lining. On its own, I'd be bouncing off the walls.

...

But Ncuti's gone.

I'm grieving him and I don't have room for Rose Tyler coming in to cosplay The Doctor. I don't have any space mentally for that right now.

His first episode of his first season aired hardly over a year ago. His specials extend this time by a little bit but we had Ncuti for a year.

RTD said he wanted to get Doctor Who going on a consistent basis. Coming back every year. That looks to have immediately gone awry.

The Sea Devil series seems interesting but my mood has been drained on an epic proportion.

I know it's a silly little sci-fi show. I'll eventually get back to something resembling the feeling I usually have regarding the bigger narrative but 15 was becoming a contender for my favorite all-time. Rogue is still my favorite story of the modern era.

...

He was perfect in this role. I'm not exaggerating when I say he should have been a Five Season Doctor (the 3 season and run trope is tiring). In a way, it keeps the pacing off enough to maybe make it more narratively interesting down the road? I'm bargaining. I hate it. So much. The end credits were supposed to say "The Doctor will Return in..."

...

Also I have thoughts about Ruby and her 73 Yards plot twist that seemed like it was going to come up and how that could have just BEEN the ending right there. She's left with the horrors and no one else remembers. "Was Poppy truly real? Were the talking Space Babies a figment of her imagination?" Narratively, that would have been leagues better than what we did get.

Now I guess it's Pride Month and we just lost our beautiful, queer Doctor? I guess I just get back on with it then. Ignore the fact The Rani died immediately upon releasing "Omega". Forget than Carol Ann Ford came back for nothing. Forget that two RTD written companions that were women of color in the medical field were BOTH shipped off as wife or mother. Ignore the eugenics dialogue-- correction to my earlier statement of enjoying the episode up to the flying segway, I overlooked the moment with The Rani and Poppy until the rest of the plot gave us a wasteland of missed opportunity.

...

She came back. They hugged. Ncuti & Jodie hugged.

Ok. Thanks for reading.

I want to cry out of joy at that fact SO BAD!

...but I'm just numb to it all after all of that.

[magicalmanhattanproject]

okay i have to talk about my obscure blorbo fíriel ondoheriel. literally no one cares about her except me. not even tolkien cares about her. she has Zero canon traits. no personality, no physical appearance, not even a death date. here's what we know about her

in 1940 TA, Arvedui, then-prince of Arthedain* marries Fíriel, daughter of King Ondoher of Gondor, uniting the two realms after a long estrangement

[loads up Tolkien Gateway to cross check dates] HOLY SHIT YOU GUYS

in 1938 TA, Aranarth, eldest son of Arvedui is born. Now, if we're being real with ourselves, Jirt made an oopsie here and no one caught it. But, no one caught it and the only numbers we have are Aranarth, son of Arvedui, is born in 1938 and Arvedui marries Fíriel in 1940.

So, like, what's up there? Did Arvedui and Fíriel meet before their wedding and elope? Was Aranarth born in Gondor and hidden to protect Fíriel's reputation? Or did Fíriel have to make an excuse to stay in Arthedain and hide her pregnancy and then abandon her child until a proper marriage could be arranged? Was Arvedui married to someone else first and a widower? Was Fíriel a second wife and a stepmother to the real heir? Was Aranarth a bastard and Fíriel brought in to produce the real heir? Had Fíriel ever left home before? Did she have any feelings about being sent away from her whole family to be a queen for a man who already had an heir? Did she have a child she had to travel with? That she was desperate to reunite with? That she wanted nothing to do with? Did she love travel? Hate it? How did she feel about Gondor? Arthedain? We don't know. Tolkien doesn't care.

Anyway, back to what I already knew about.

in 1944 TA, Ondoher and both his sons are killed in the invasion of the Wainriders.

How does Fíriel feel about this? What's her relationship with her father like? Her brothers? Presumably she has a mother in there somewhere too? We don't know. Tolkien doesn't care.

Now, the doozy.

later in 1944 TA, Arvedui sends messages to Gondor claiming the throne both as a descendant of Isildur and as the husband of Fíriel, who would have been ruling queen according to Númenorean law.**

How does Fíriel feel about that? How does Fíriel feel about claiming the throne of her father and her brothers and her homeland through her blood for himself? We don't know. Tolkien doesn't care.

This is the last mention of Fíriel in the text. We don't know what happens to her after this. Maybe she trips and falls down the stairs the very next day. Maybe she lives a long life and dies of old age in her sleep. We don't know. We know what happens to her family though and it's not pretty.

Arvedui ascends to the throne of Arthedain in 1964 with the realm already struggling under invasion from Angmar. In 1974, the Witch-King invades and captures the capital of Fornost. Arvedui escapes to the Ice Bay of Forochel where he is aided by the locals over the bitter winter. Aranarth, a young man at this point, gets word to Círdan that his father is stranded there and Círdan sends a ship to bring them aid. When the ship arrives, Arvedui wants to leave immediately, but the locals warn him against leaving, saying that the Witch-King's power wanes in the summer and the bay is too dangerous.

Let's backtrack a moment. The name Arvedui means "last-king" and was given to him at his birth by Malbeth the Seer. Though, the seer said, "a choice well come to the Dúnedain, and if they take the one that seems less hopeful, then your son will change his name and become ruler of a great realm."

Arvedui does not. He takes the ship Círdan sent, which is sunk in an ice storm. Arthedain falls. Aranarth becomes the first Chieftain of the Rangers.

There's one last piece to all this. Name meanings. Tolkien likes them. I was looking through canon name meanings for OC names and I decided to check Fíriel out and I got fucking flashbanged.

See, something you gotta remember about the descendants of Elros is that a lot of them resent his choice. It's said that the line of Gondor failed because the kings were too busy contemplating immortality and their ancestors to look to the future and have heirs of their own. That's maybe not fair to the kings whose lines failed, but it's certainly a trait they all share.

So, what does Fíriel mean?

Mortal Maid

Look at everything else about her and everything that happened to everyone she loved and realize that she was born to the name She Will Die

How did she feel about that? We don't know. But I want to.

*The northern kingdom of Arnor had long ago split into three kingdoms. Arthedain is the one from which the eldest and true line of descent from Elendil continued. The other two had already fallen by this point.

**For the record, Ondoher was the 31st king of Gondor and somehow the issue of a ruling queen has not been litigated before now. Not a single time in the past 30 generations has a daughter been the eldest child or only available heir. That... stretches plausibility. This is easily explained by Tolkien forgetting that women exist until they become immediately plot relevant, but it certainly gestures in the direction of things about Gondorian kings that are rather unflattering.

[myreia]

I have... so much I want to say. So much I could say. idk I can't get my thoughts together yet, but having seen both endings (and knowing which one I gravitate towards the most for personal reasons), I think the most powerful thing about Clair Obscur is perspective.

spoilers below

If we had followed the Dessendre family from the very beginning, this would be a different game. A different story. Throwing the player into a world wracked by grief and loss, where death is inevitable and quickly approaching, where the years you can be alive are shrinking rapidly year by year, and yet Lumière is alive with people who continue on even in the face of suffering.

The game makes us care. We live and die with them, we continue on with them. We're surrounded by the remains of previous Expeditions, the people who carried on in an attempt to stop the cycle of death and loss. From the perspective of the people of this Canvas, the Dessendre family are likened to gods—almost Greek-like in their flaws, and how little concern they have for the people of this world as they aren't "real"—for whom this world is a playground for them to process their emotions. But from another, this painted world is the very thing that allows their self-destructive behaviour. The Dessendre family is addicted to their grief, and the Canvas facilitates their inability to move on.

But from the perspective of the "real" outside world, the Dessendres are just a family. A family of painters who have been torn apart by the death of their son and brother, and who are coping with it in their own ways and on their own time, and dangerously so.

Maelle has lived in both worlds; she should have the perspective of both. And yet, I don't think she does—she has a third perspective, her own. By the end of the game, I wasn't feeling like she was a daughter who had grown up and was showing her father how he was in the wrong. I felt like she had almost regressed, allowing her own grief and her fear of living a life outside the Canvas—one where she believes she doesn't have a life at all because of her disfigurements, but we don't actually know that for certain—to consume her and re-emerge as selfishness.

The moment at the top of the Reacher, where Maelle kills Alicia before Verso can say goodbye—where she didn't even think about the fact that she was killing his sister, where she didn't even consider that he may have wanted to say goodbye—she just does it with no consideration. Even though she acted on Alicia's own request, I think Maelle was only really thinking of herself. This was when I began to think that Maelle was exhibiting the same level of self-centeredness as the rest of her family. It almost feels like she's regressing, and maybe she always had been since Gustave was taken from her. She's no longer a citizen of this world, she is a Paintress. Her presence in this world will always be unbalanced in her favour because she can make it that way.

And I think this is why Maelle's ending is so unsettling to me, despite the fact that everyone in Lumière remains alive. Characters we love come back, people who died are restored—the people of this world have a chance to actually live. But do they? Can they ever actually live with a Paintress in their midst, who could shift their perspectives, their thoughts, their feelings, or unmake them on a whim?

Verso begs her to unpaint him. This is not a life he wants, and yet he's trapped in it, he doesn't have the power to exert influence over his own life. He's lived so long with the inability to die, a shade of the real Verso who can never be the real thing, who wants desperately to move on more than anything else (I think this is why it's important for him to be the player-controlled character at camp in Act 2 and Act 3; it feels like there's a thematic reason why we never control Maelle in Act 3 like I assumed we would before starting the act). He begs her to help him. And she doesn't—because living the life that was stolen from her is more important than letting him go.

And to be fair here, Verso is also being selfish. He wants to die, he wants his family to let go of him, and he will sacrifice a whole world to do so.

Whose wants and needs are more important when those desires are in conflict? Who deserves it more? What do you respect more—the wishes of others, or the needs of yourself? It depends on your perspective.

Maelle's ending should be the happy one. Everyone's back! Everyone can live! But do they? Can they? I don't know. I don't want the Canvas to be destroyed because I care about the people of Lumière—they are real, they deserve a chance to live. I want Lune to live, I want Gustave and Sophie to have a chance, I want Sciel to reunite with her husband. But I don't know if this is the way. I don't know if they can when a Paintress lives with them. But I still don't know if this is the right choice since it represents an inability to accept and move on. Maybe the golden ending would have been for Maelle to leave the Canvas but not to destroy it, so the people of Lumière can live and she can move on, but that's not what we are given. Grief is an addiction, and the Canvas is its drug. Renoir makes it abundantly clear that keeping it around is only going to drag them all back again.

I saw someone comment on a YouTube essay about this game that Maelle's ending is the one they feel compelled to reach for because of their escapist fantasy-loving heart, and that's exactly why they shouldn't. Verso's ending, to me, represents that acceptance. It's the harder choice, it's the sadder choice, it's raw and heartbreaking and unfair. I love the difference between Sciel and Lune here—Sciel who vanishes slowly, sadly, but in quiet acceptance of her fate, and Lune who is ready to rage and yell and fight the unfair inevitability of it all, and she goes out staring death in the eye. It's an impossible choice, but it's the one that breaks the cycle for good.

Maelle's ending is the kind I want to reach for naturally when I'm feeling down and lost and want an escape. When I want to be lost in a fantasy.

Verso's is the kind I reach for when I need actual closure and hope for the future.

And it's all a matter of perspective.

[leoruby-draws]

Decided to post some more random, mostly minor characters from the DC universe, mostly ones that seemed they would be fun to draw. I guess technically these drawings are all based in my TrWh au, as always. Here they are:

Wanted to draw heroes with wings, I draw Vanessa quite a bit so I had to learn wings and feathers. Still working on it, but its fun. You can see Vanessa there at the bottom middle, looking a little menacing.

The girl with red wings is called...Redwing aka Carrie Levine. I thought she was a sweet kid, so her ultimate fate was pretty sad. Wonder if she'll come back to continuity at some point.

The guy with the mohawk is Northwind aka Norda Cantrell, part of Infinity Inc the earth 2 version of a Teen Titans group. He honestly didn't get a whole lot of focus in Infinity Inc, like the writer didn't know what to do with him. Maybe they should've made him into the magic fighter of the group, almost felt like thats what they were going for him before they wrote him off.

The girl in yellow is Dawnstar, part of the Legion of Superheroes. I haven't read much of LoSH, mostly some 90's issues. But her design is soooo pretty I had to draw her, her costume here is a mix of her various outfits.

Lastly, here's Bluejay aka Jay Abrams again, part of Justice League Europe. Kinda thought JLE was a bit of a letdown, I mean the team's made up of mostly americans not europeans! I think Crimson Fox was the only european, I thought her set-up of being two people was cool.

Little extra Infinity doodle, here's Hector Hall (Silver Scarab) hating on poor Norda, with Lyta Trevor (Fury) looking on with confusion. Hector's just a hater (tho there's reasons for it ig), an archetype you see sometimes in some superhero groups, like Roy Harper or Guy Gardner. The plot-line of Hector's resentment of Norda was kinda interesting, but like with most things in Infinity it didn't get the focus it should've gotten. Speaking of Infinity, here's some more doodles:

There's Rex Tyler (Hourman 1) with little Rick Tyler (Hourman 2), enjoying some father-son time. Apparently Rick's first costume isn't well liked (so says reddit). I thought it seemed cute but maybe it works better as a kid's or sidekick's kinda costume?

In the middle is Jack Knight (Starman) suffering as he interacts with Sylvester Pemberton (Skyman, formerly the Star-Spangled Kid) and Courtney Whitmore (Stargirl, actually she should still be S-SK but whatever). In my au he actually joins Infinity Inc, since everyone becomes heroes earlier he's actually around when the team's still running. I suspect his dad (Ted Knight) forced him into it. Also Courtney doesn't respect Jack at all, he's so annoyed at this. Look at her mini-staff, I presume Ted made it for her.

Also there's Beth Chapel (Dr. Mid-Nite) and Jesse Chambers (Jesse Quick) looking cool. Jesse also joins Infinity Inc in my au, will there be a love triangle going on between Beth, Rick and Jesse? Don't think Rick's gonna survive that, aw well.

Look at baby Jade and Obsidian, Alan is overwhelmed by their antics.

In another post someone asked if I could draw more of the Relative Heroes, a super obscure hero group. So @draculaura1660, this one's for you. Here they are:

I kinda had a hard time drawing this group, cuz their costumes are so complicated! I wished there was a reference/concept art for them cuz it was a struggle trying to figure out the details, the comic art did not help matters at all. You might have noticed I changed details anyways, I tend to simplify costumes for my au both to make it easier to draw and also to signify their younger ages. It's just fun to play around with costume design ig.

Some more characters!

Jinx, who looks very different between her comic and cartoon self. I did like her pink hair, so decide to see how it would look on her comic self. There's Kole, who also has different designs in comic/cartoons. I think her comic costume is so cool, esp that color pallet! But I love her pink hair in the cartoon, so she's got pink hair here! Just like pink hair a lot lol.

The other pink haired girl is Laethwen, love interest of Ray Palmer in Sword of the Atom. I think I made her hair more pink to better differentiate her from Starfire, also, again I just like pink hair. I wished she and her little kingdom didn't die, in my au Ray saves them! Maybe he relocates them to his backyard or something?

Little Donna and Vanessa doodle, did you know they never once interacted on panel? The closest is when Donna brings her stepsister Cindy to talk to Vanessa instead. I wonder how they would even interact, I know Vanessa wanted to be wonder girl (and resented Cassie for 'taking' it from her). Did she look up to Donna, or wanted her out of the way? Funnily enough Donna wasn't even Diana's sidekick when post-crisis started, due to both their origins being reworked and contradicting each other's timelines. It's all very confusing.

Anyways, some bonus doodles:

Had fun making a new outfit for Laethwen, I imagine she took some inspiration from indigenous groups from the Amazon, seeing as that's where her people crashed into.

Kole's costume is just so beautiful but so complicated, maybe that's why she got killed off so soon in Crisis on Infinite Earths.

Lastly, here's Bette bugging Dick with Barbara being super amused about it. I said in my post about her that I didn't really care about her crush on Robin, which is true, but I still wanted to doodle something making fun of it. Poor Dick is doesn't know how to get outta of this social situation.

Well that was a lot, hope you liked all that.

[kanna-ophelia]

A long love letter to one of my other fandoms - Jem and the Holograms

CAN I INTEREST YOU IN MY OBSCURE CANON? Especially if you're into f/f. Or canon queer characters, including a trans lesbian. Adorable sexy fat characters. Adorable sexy thin characters. Adorable fashion. Adorable songs. Everything is so freaking adorable.

This is going to be long, but it has lots of pretty pictures and videos.

Showtime, Synergy.

When I was a primary school student, the cartoon version and dolls of JEM! aka Jem and the Holograms were what my inner world revolved around. It's the story of a young woman called Jerrica who, along with her younger sister and foster sisters, inherits her father's legacy—half a record company, a foster home, and an intelligent super computer who can create holograms. Jerrica uses this to create a new identity, Jem, to lead her sisters in a band, and their good deeds and pure pop were opposed by the selfish, wild Misfits (who were my favourites, led by diva Pizzazz) and later Eurorock power ballad band the Stingers. Oh, and it had three perfect little pop gems every episode. Please watch the original opening theme, it's so good.

Jerrica was my heroine, no two ways about it. She was a rock star. She was clever, and kind, and a wonderful sister, and a fantastic record label manager, and did big benefit concerts for charity, and had a whole house full of freaking orphans. She also had a really messed up relationship with her boyfriend, Rio, who she was dating in both identities and gaslighting him like woah, but I hated Rio for cheating on Jerrica with... herself... so that was fine.

It's one of my oldest fandoms. And I am about the f/f.

Hands down, the most popular f/f pairing is Stormer/Kimber, which I hold is as canon as Christy Marx (the head writer) could make them. The sweetest Misfit and the wildest Hologram and their star-crossed love. (Kimber also dated pretty much every man she ever met, to the extent of walking down the aisle with one man because she was peeved another man didn't propose to her. Kimber was a mess, bless her.)

They did like run down beaches at sunset hand-in-hand and Stormer keeps a picture of Kimber on her bedside table, that she gazes longingly at. Also look at this, there is no way this isn't the Holgrams and the Misfits trying to protect the babies of their groups from a bad romance. Pizzazz singing "She'll break your heart in two" kills me.

Oh, and this is Kimber and Stormer in the more recent IDW comics series.

YOU LOOK... STARS. Is that not the most adorably besotted thing ever? Also, those of you who know my weakness for all-bones/all-curves are nodding knowingly now.

God they are so ludicrously cute, I can't even. And don't worry, Shana, the comics also turn your incredibly boring cartoon boyfriend Anthony into an adorable teddybear of a man. One weird trick pulled by the comics is to make the male cast actually lovable, even Rio, but this post is mostly about the ladies. The comics brings the story up to date. No great pop gems, but modern diversity. Different bodies, different faces, the first trans lesbian Misfit, Blaze,--who is in a relationship my beloved Misfit hanger-on and troublemaker, Clash. FINALLY SHE GETS A MISFITS GIRLFRIEND, everything I ever wanted for Clash.

Blaze has the fiery hair, naturally, while Clash currently rocks teal. Also Blaze is a sweetie, and you could argue Clash is terrible and doesn't deserve anything, but shut up, I love her and she's very sweet to Blaze. Just a menace to life and safety otherwise.

The comic also gives Misfit Jetta the identity her creator originally wanted for her (Black-Asian) despite the producers going no, she has to be white because she's English, the UK only has white people or something. Did I mention Jetta? She was a late addition to the Misfits (they needed more dolls), and i adore her. In the cartoon, she's a rough and tumble saxophonist who tells outrageous lies about her connections with royalty to band leader Pizzazz, who being a dumb rich American, swallows them all and tells Jetta Daddy will take care of her Visa. Pizzazz was very, VERY taken with her at first sight.

Actually, though, the arrival of Jetta didn't displace Pizzazz/Roxy (the girl with the white hair, a tough (reading butch), illiterate Italian American bass player (and my actual favourite character apart from Jerrica herself) as my favourite ship. Jetta/Roxy did. Because Roxy is painfully, agonisingly jealous of Jetta taking Pizzazz's attention and Roxy and Jetta quarrel nonstop and, yeah, I ship "Roxy eventually lets go of her obvious pining for Pizzazz and ends up with Jetta".

Also, good news.

OMG they were roommates. SECRET roommates. My ship lives. Also, Jetta and Roxy think it's hilarious that Pizzazz could ever think anyone could outvote her. She's Pizzazz. It's not a democracy.

One last thing - the Stingers. Their doll line (and the cartoon) was cancelled, but they are so great. They are also pretty much a polycule in the cartoon. I am not kidding, at one point Riot goes "It's time for bed. Come on, girls." Anyway, Riot is Jerrica's romantic temptation (as Jem) and he is also very queer coded. There's this background episode where he was never manly enough for his father, who wanted him to be a tough military man, when he is secretly.... a musician, who likes fabulous clothes.

Until Jem convinces him to come out and be true to himself, and he sings a power ballad called "Let Me Be" about being his real self and his father finally accepts him as he is. That song kinds of sucks, so have a fun Stingers song from earlier in the episode (still with bonus Daddy angst and GREAT fashion.)

I really hate the interior art of the Stingers arc in the comics (everyone has flat faces, bulging eyes and no noses), but on the covers, Riot is so delightfully androgynous. The cast is, left to right, Raya, Minx, Riot and Rapture. Yes, Raya was the last added Hologram in the cartoon, it's complicated. And yeah. As well as the poclycule, I ship Rapture/Minx as a couple in every version.

OH. And there was a live action movie ten years back. We don't talk about the live action movie, for a lot of reasons, including exploitation of the Jem faithful fans. It didn't happen. Except for the FREAKING AFTER CREDITS SCENE which finally introduces the Misfits. Kesha as Pizzazz is the best thing in the whole damn movie. What could have been. And I ship Jetta/Erica based on this tiny scene.

Okay,

I guess I have to wind it downeventually . if it comes to which version I love and recommend, it's both. The cartoon wins through the songs, and nostalgia. The comic wins through somehow channelling everything it would be wonderful if the cartoon had been able to do in a 1980s kids' cartoon - except I do miss the Starlight Girls (Jerrica's orphans.) They are both amazing and oh how I would love people requesting f/f in exchanges more so I could write for them. One more picture. Wonderful box at from the 1990s dolls.

This is Synergy. The computer.

I freaking love Jem.

[cheriemariii]

Hi I'm bored. I'm gonna rank sihjr couples by how much of a problem it would be if their relationship became public so I won't be bored

(leaving aside everyday homophobia and such bc that goes more or less the same for all of these :c)

9: Egoist: I know they love to make a huge deal out of their relationship, but I just don't think it'd be that big of a deal xd I mean, they are both grown, functional adults (ok there is an age gap but it's literally 4 years jdhdhdhdhs maybe when they started dating it wouldve been something but right now??? nah) and their jobs have nothing to do with each other, so they are the most average gay couple ever.

As for family... Nowaki doesn't have one to worry about (😔). And idrk how is Hiroki's father but, from as far as I can remember, I think his mother would have no issue with it, so I could see Nowaki winning over his parents in law very easily <333

8: Domestica: canonically none of them really give a shit about their relationship going public, so there's that :D It's like both of them feel more guilty about the other's parents than their own jdhshsh Hatori has stated he is not particularly worried about his parents finding out, so I don't think theyd be the kind of person to give him war over it. And Chiakis mom just wants Hatori as her son in law xd and, whether she thought Chiaki was being serious or not, she seemed really enthusiastic with the idea of her son marrying him, so she is obviously more than ok with it. I can even imagine both of their families bonding even more, and getting together for the holidays and participating in a wedding and aaaaaaaaaaaaa

If anything, I think the problem would come if it went public that Chiharu Yoshikawa is a man dating another man. But since Chiaki's demographic is mostly teenage girls, I don't really see it become THAT huge; Yoshikawa's image is so obscure it'd be relevant for like a week, he would maybe lose some fans, maybe win some others, and then everyone would forget about it (?) Not to mention, out of the three couples in which this could be a problem, this is the one where it's less likely bc Yoshikawa is not a public figure, so it'd be a reach for people to find out.

7: Er○tica: Since it is not exactly a secret that Kisa is gay (I don't remember if his parents know, but at the very least I know his brother does), and Yukina seems to come from a very supportive environment, I don't really think being gay would give them much of an issue.

I think the problem would come from their age gap. Maybe Kisa's family would see it as another fling or whatever, but I can see Yukina's worry (validly so...) that Kisa might not have good intentions, or that Yukina might not be ready for a relationship like that. But even then I don't see them making it huge... I feel it'd be just a matter of time for them to see that Kisa is a good person, that Yukina knows what he is doing, and that more than anything they love each other and make each other happy, and then they will accept it :)

6: Mistake: I don't exactly know how to feel on this one, bc on one hand I can see Isaka's parents making a huge deal bc howww is he gonna give them a heir omggggg who's gonna take over the company now???? the bloodline will dieeeee noooooo... And on the other, they both appreciate Asahina so very much, I think they'd be ok with in the end???? And Asahinas parents seem very chill too, and both families like each other, so 🤷‍♀️

Business-wise this would have absolutely no repercussions I think. I know most of Isaka's business partners must be old, maybe not very progressive men... But Isaka makes money, a lot of it; and maybe if we were in the 50s, him being gay would be a big deal, but it's the year of the lord 2000-whatever, obviously they are not gonna lose someone as valuable as Isaka over something like that. I can see a couple of terribly awkward jokes being thrown Isaka's way tho :/ (BUT it's Isaka, ofc he can handle it).

ALSO, there is the whole secretary-fucking-his-boss thing... However, one, Isaka would absolutely not allow it being used against Asahina in any way (and he kinda has the power to do something about it...), and two, they have their childhood friendship and their time working as editors to back up their bond, so in the end no one can really accuse Asahina of anything :)

5: Sentiment: I know absolutely nothing about their families, so I can't say anything on that regard xd The main thing here would obviously be the public's reaction to Ijuuin being gay, but I don't really think it would be that bad??? Similarly to Chiaki, Ijuuin writes mostly to a younger audience, so I think his public would be less susceptible to be intolerant about it. I can see people being annoying about it, but Za Kan is way bigger than whatever Ijuuin decides to do with his private life, so I don't think he would lose his career over it or anything (?).

As for Yuu, I could see the fact that he is, in a way, sleeping with his boss as something that could give him trouble among his peers,,, but in the end he is the only one who knows how to draw backgrounds, so :D

4: Trifecta: I was initially gonna put them way higher on this list, but the more I thought about it, the more problematic it became, and it all revolves around one character: Hiyori.

3: Romantica: here is where things start getting messy messy. The nice thing about them is that we already know what both of their families feel about it. Takahiro was more mad about Misaki hiding this from him than about him being gay (I WILL SAY, although I'm happy Takahiro is not a bigot, I was disappointed with how quickly everything worked out in :B). And in Usagi's case, his family either doesnt like it, or they decide to fall for misaki so... Yeah,,

Obviously Hiyo wouldn't make a fuss over her dad being with Yokozawa, but she would NOT be happy about her dad's relationship being kept a secret from her (I mean, she got really upset when Yokozawa didn't tell her about his birthday...) I feel it depends a little on how does she find out, bc if they get to have an honest conversation with her, she wouldn't like having been kept in the dark for so long, but more than anything she would be happy. But if she finds out by accident?????? Oooo I can see those trusts issues coming from a mile away, and they are BAD. Now, Hiyori adores her dad and Yokozawa more than anything, so of course things would work out in the end, but I swear the drama you could get from this could get you the best fucking novel you have ever read in your life NAKAMURA HIT FUJISAKI UP RIGHT NOW

Not to mention, people would obviously comment on how Hiyori wouldn't have a mother and how bad that would be for her and yada yada. Kirishima would not give a shit about these comments, but Yokozawa absolutely would, and that being a thing he already feels extremely insecure about, having it thrown in his face so directly must be devastating.

On a somewhat brighter (?) note, they wouldn't have much issue with the rest of their families I think. Yokozawa's parents don't really mind his business that much, and atp I think Kirishima's already suspect something xd

Now, since Usagi's novels seem to reach a much broader demographic (not to mention just how important he is as an author), the reaction to his relationship would be a lot more variant. It goes way beyond Usagi just being gay, he went and fell for the randomest dude ever, so I just know showbiz would be all around them, and he would try not to give a shit about it, and people at marukawa would be SO annoying about it, and it would definitely take a toll on Misaki bc he would feel guilty abt affecting Usagi's career, and then Usagi would start to care and then he would say something that may or may not make everything worse and and and

2: Terrorist: the age gap by itself really had me thinking they would be number one. True, Shinobu's college friends didn't seem way too bothered with him dating a milf, and I'm pretty sure men dating younger girls is somewhat normalized almost everywhere, but you CANT be gay AND almost 20 years apart from your partner, you have to pick a struggle 🙄

But there is still a lot of uncertainty on this one (could it have to do with me not knowing that much abt them bc they are really not my favorite...? maybeee). Idk how Miyagi's parents would react to this, but they most surely wouldn't like it. And on Shinobu's side, Risako would definitely HATE the idea, but she can't do anything about it xd The dad however... he holds Miyagi to a very high regard (fuck, he was on HIS side during the divorce), but MAYBE it wouldn't be enough for him to just accept this, and MAYBE he would just think the absolute worse of Miyagi and MAYBE he'd also think Shinobu is doing this out of rebellion or whatever, and they'd both have to fight SO HARD to prove him wrong... Maybe the reason why Nakamura hasn't wrote a chapter for them in so long is bc she KNOWS she can't handle all that? (but if so, why have Shinobu explicitly state he wants to come out to his parents???? Girl you can't just drop that and then not bring it back are you INSANE?!?!?!?)

1: Nostalgia: the saddest part about this is that most of the backlash would fall on Ritsu :(.

For starters, Ritsu's parents had him engaged to An because they thought it would be better for him. He breaks up said engagement, and what does he get instead? A not-upper class, illegitimate child, MAN that's also his boss AND the ex responsible for him moving to England out of nowhere as a teenager... Yeah :)

Not to mention the professional implications this would have for Ritsu. He has a been accused of nepotism because of his father's position since forever, and it's something he has been fighting tooth and nail with. So just try to imagine what sleeping with his boss would do with his reputation, and most importantly try to imagine how much harder is he gonna have to fight to prove himself after this, and even more importantly try to imagine what a toll this could take in his already decadent self-worth.

And now, Takano not having to face any direct consequences doesn't mean he comes out clean, because the one thing he has to lose on this... Is Ritsu. He has been trying so hard to have Ritsu trust him again, and now that they can have a somewhat healthy relationship, the sole idea of Ritsu spiraling back into his fears from earlier must be really hard to put up with.

So it fucking sucks because one would think they having a formal relationship finally gives them a chance to be happy together, but it turns out it also gives them MORE problems :"D That being said, they wouldn't go back to commiting the same mistakes. Like the whole point of this 18-and-so year long slow burn is that they are capable of finally being in a relationship because they have grown, so they should be able to handle these issues in a better way... right? 'v'

(ok that's all thanks for reading :D)

[drgoofenshmirtz99]

Okay first question I have^^ What do you think Geek Girl’s home life is like? Personally think she has two loving parents and maybe a cat :3

I have a hopeful feeling you will be asking me more questions, lol! I will be making a post about all my head canons and personal lore for Geek Girl, I just need to make the drawings to go with it, but anyways.

I think she lives a very nice middle class life and lives with both of her parents who love her very much. Her dad works nights as an assembly line worker in some kind of manufacturing plant (possibly a car plant) so she doesn't get to see him often during the school week, but when she does she infodumps to him while he tries his best to stay awake. He's a very outgoing and happy person but he's usually very tired, I think of him sleepily chuckling and ruffling her hair when she tells him about the plot of some obscure manga she found at a garage sale. Her mom is very sweet and lively and absolutely loves cooking and baking, think like your classic Italian mother (but not Italian), but she can also be very stern and had to take up the disciplinarian role since Geek Girl's father works so much and spends most of his time time working so he doesn't have the time to properly discipline her. That isn't to say that she's mean or anything, she's stern but knows when to be gentle and when to apologize if she's been too harsh, she always sits Geek Girl down to have a calm and proper conversation about their feelings after any argument, or to explain why she needed to be disciplined for any bad actions or mistakes. Her mom works some kind of 9-5 so she is tired a lot as well, but not exhausted like her husband, and since Geek Girl is so sweet and empathetic she willingly does things like vacuum or mop after school because she knows her parents do a lot for her. I think Geek Girl is probably half Mexican on one of her parents sides but I don't know which one, I'm thinking her dad. All in all a very healthy and happy family even if they do have fights every now and again, they are in a lot of ways very traditional but nothing extreme.

I'll definitely flesh this out more in my Geek Girl master post and make a few drawings of them being all cute and family like for a more in depth view of their dynamics!! P.S if she did have a cat it would either be named either Luna or Artemis.

[lenzimanot]

Flora's guide to their obscure german literature muses

Mo Folchart

the best dad™

he's a "Silvertongue", meaning that when he reads it really captivates the audience & he can even read characters out of their story

the catch of that ability is that for the sake of balance for every character he reads out, some other living soul disappears into the book

ofc he understands that particular part in the most traumatic way: one night he reads to his wife Resa & their little daughter Meggie from a book called "In.kheart" & accidentally some of the story's villains plus the firedancer D.ustfinger appear, while Resa gets trapped in the book

Mo raises Meggie on his own, trying to find a way to get Resa back

he's a bookbinder & later in the In.kworld takes the persona of the Robin-Hood-like bandit called Bluejay (yes, the man has RANGE)

loves old books more than his own life (relatable tbh)

plot ideas: very flexible in both fantasy & modern settings (since he lives in both even in canon), if you write a literature character he could also always read your character out of their world, if you're up for that kind of shenanigans (& a hell lot of trauma for both)

Will Reckless

canocially gets the nickname "the puppy" & I think that says a lot

angel baby with a hell lot of hidden anger

when Will was still a child their father disappeared through the mirror in his office & their older brother Jacob soon follows him (mainly to escape his own grief)

those events slowly but surely break his mother's heart, even though at least Jacob returns occasionally & eventually Will is left to take care of her, as her health declines

after her death, Will and his girlfriend live in the big N.YC appartment, until the events of the first book, that take them both in the world behind the mirror too

pretty much as soon as they sets foot in there, Will gets injured by goyl & due to a curse this wound starts to turn them into a goyl too

to literally everybody's surprise the stone his skin turns into is jade, the most sacred stone. there's a whole prophecy that the jade goyl is supposed to protect the king of the goyl, so Will is then hunted by literally everyone

also it's important that the stone skin is very much a metaphor for all the hidden emotions, especially the anger, finally breaking free (at least it is to me)

by book 3 Jacob managed to break the curse & Will is human again, but can still call the stone when he wants to, usually when they're angry or threatened

plot ideas: Will can appear both in fantasy settings & the modern world (either before the canon storyline or in between), I also have a detailed b.g3 au

Fox

the one who holds the brain cells in the group

born in the Mirrorworld, in the equivalent of France

as a child she saved a vixen from her violent older brothers & in gratitude the vixen left her a fox fur, that made her a shapeshifter & able to take on the shape of a vixen herself

they run away from home sooon afterwards & from then on they prefer the fur to their human form & don't use their birth name anymore

eventually she meets Jacob, Will's older brother & the two of them become an inseparable pair & travel around as renowned treasure hunters

lbr Jacob would already be dead without them & they both know it uwu

plot ideas: I could definitely throw her into other fantasy worlds easily & canonically she also travels through the mirror to our world once (& hates it), so that is always a possiblity too

Gideon de Villiers

my favourite "arrogant puke" <3

a time travel gene runs in the male line of Gideon's family for generations & he becomes the 11th out of 12 in the circle

one of his ancestors, the Count of St Germain, has founded a lodge that still controls the gene carriers & their time jumps

at 16 the time jumps start for Gideon, not long after his father's death & his mother & younger brother end up moving to France

the lodge is in London & since only they can prevent uncontrolled time jumps, Gideon has to stay behind, moving in with his uncle who's (conveniently) the grandmaster of the lodge

so he's basically trained from a young age (he started preparing even before 16) to be the lodge's weapon & it's instilled in him that he's the one who has to "sort out the mess again" (the time jumps are controlled by a machine called the chronograph & the first one was stolen by Gideon's predecessors who disappeared into the past with it, it's a long story i could go into more detail about if you ask)

he's not only trained in different fighting techniques (both with weapons & without), but also plays the violin & the piano (violin is his favourite tho)

Gideon started studying medicine & gained some independence when he moved into his own flat in Chelsea, but rarely has time for either (he says himself that he can most likely forget about passing the current semester)

his storyline is very much about breaking free & finally living his own life

plot ideas: due to time travelling, I could throw Gideon into any time period (canonically it's limited to points past the 1500s, when the first in the line lived, but for the sake of rp I can ignore that)

[totally-italy]

Honestly, I'm hyped to find another Just Add Magic fan on here, it's one of my face obscure shows, and if you don't really mind, I'd like to rant about the parallels between the original protectors and the main three.

At first glance, the parallels seem obvious. Kelly parallels her grandmother, Hannah Miss Silvers and , although it doesn't match up with the other two, Mama P with Darbie.

However, looking at the shows events more deeply showcases a more subversive take.

First off, I think that Miss Silvers parallels Darbie.

Despite how different the two seem, they are both very passionate about an art, Darbie with theatre and Miss Silvers with piano. They both share the magic with a non protector friend, although in Miss Silvers case, it backfired. They both have a high amount of empathy, and both of them scream neurodivergent to me Darbie with ADHD and Miss Silvers with autism. They also seem more likely to use the magic for 'frivolous' things, it's a novelty to them.

Next up, Hannah and Becky, Kelly's grandmother. They both care strongly about their friendships, and are cautious with the magic as opposed to the others, who use it as a means to an end, or as a fun way to make life simpler. They both are used by Chuck to bring back his sister Rose, even though he was successful with Becky and not Hannah. They both care deeply about thier friends and family, to the point where they sacrifice their own well being.

And my personal favourite: Mama P and Kelly.

At first, Kelly seems like the typical leader character stereotype, but it's later shown that she is the most morally grey of the group. She will do anything, literally anything, to achieve her goals. She's marginally obsessed with magic, and although she cares about only a few people, she would kill for them. Sound familiar? Mama P matches that description, although her and Kelly have different goals, they show ambition throughout the show. Also, when chuck arrived first, during the OCs protectership, he targeted Mama Ps father. When he returned, he targets Kelly's father.

They have one track minds, and can't quite seem to grasp the consequences of their actions entirely.

Okay lol sorry about how long this was, I've been rotating it in my head for a while

Hank you for reading if you did!

Oh my gods, I actually had to start writing this comment before reading the entire ask, but I absolutely agree with your point about neurodivergence, particularly with Darbie, because she gives me such ADHD vibes and, as I was re-watching it this time, I honestly really felt that she mirrors some of my own experiences as a self-diagnosed ADHDer. Also, though I don't know if I actually thought about it as deeply, I really do think that Miss Silvers is autistic and I thank you for bringing it to my attention!

Also, I really agree with what you were saying about Kelly and Mama P because, though I think Kelly she be cut some slack due to her youth and her being literally poisoned by the magic, she is very similar to Mama P and I don't think it is a coincidence that Mama P particularly wanted to teach Kelly. Also, considering how close Kelly is with her grandmother, I think it also makes sense that Mama P would try to manipulate her (and actually succeeded) with regards to the Pluot Festival.

I feel like the connection between Hannah and Becky is a little bit more obscure, but it is definitely accurate, particularly if you consider the fact that, in Season 1, Hannah covered for Kelly but then snitched on her, and Becky did the same thing in the last season, after finding Kelly's earrings. Also, though I don't agree with Becky trying to get rid of the book and I don't feel like Hannah would have done the same, she clearly does demonstrates the same unwillingness for her own friendships to deteriorate and tries to serve as the mediator a lot.

On the other hand, if you remember the first episode in which they created the bitter truth truffles, wherein Darbie and Hannah admitted that they probably wouldn't be friends if it weren't for Kelly, I think that in itself does create a link between Kelly and her own grandmother, since both originally serve as links between their friends.

I honestly really agree with pretty much everything that you said, though I don't think I had actually ever thought about it that deeply, so thank you for allowing me to analyse it further and for sharing your own perspective on it!

For the record, you absolutely do not have to apologise and I have actually made way longer posts than that before (namely my 1347 word rant about Greek Mythology).

If I might ask, have you seen Mystery City and, if so, what do you think about it? Also, have you ever seen Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra?