#and therefore get sent to the isle

[thebluestbluewords]

I’ve had the stupidest omegaverse idea and it’s bringing me so much joy to write fictional inheritance law as it applies to the extended Cinderella family in my incredibly silly omegaverse universe. It’s also providing the precedent that I needed to establish in order to make some of my convoluted political marriage ideas work, so I am feeling very accomplished in my daydream universe today

[baddywronglegs]

England doesn’t have a North-South divide. But if it did have one, Cornwall would be in the North.

Now I’m not saying there isn’t a big geographical divide between like, Manchester and Canterbury, or that the country’s a homogeneous patchwork, what I’m saying is this divide isn’t north-south and thinking about it as such masks a lot of things.

Oh, and I am, for necessity of discussing this divide, going to be ignoring the Midlands. I hope you forgive me ignoring the deep cultural ties between Birmingham and Rutland.

Map Men made a video about the North-South divide in England (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENeCYwms-Cc&ab_channel=JayForeman), which focused on the line determined by Danny Dorling in 2008.

… Which isn’t a north-south divide. It’s a northwest-southeast divide, going up at more than 45 degrees – it’s more an east-west divide than it is a north-south. It also includes Wales in “the North” but we’ll get to that.

But it was a north-south divide he set out to find, so a north-south divide he sort of drew, excluding exclaves and enclaves where the metrics he was looking at would make that not a north-south divide.

Notably, several would seem to put the west country peninsula in “the North”… So what’s up with that?

(Dorling's full paper is here, and I recommend looking through the whole thing to see how he arrived at the divide he eventually concluded: https://www.dannydorling.org/wp-content/files/dannydorling_publication_id2938.pdf)

Anyway. This is what’s up with that:

This is a geological map of Great Britain (and the Isle of Man, which isn’t actually part of the UK or any of its constituent countries but I guess it’s here anyway.)

Here again, in the boundary between Jurassic and Triassic geology, is that diagonal line from the Humber to the Severn, but continuing past both. For convenience, here are those two lines superimposed on one another.

With Danny Dorling’s line (frequently following county boundaries or other administrative boundaries) in blue, and the geological divide in red.

One line was drawn in 2008, the other has existed over 200 million years.

This isn’t a coincidence – it’s the reason for the divide.

What made “the North” is the industrial revolution. And one thing that drove the industrial revolution was the mines: coal, iron, silver, tin, the rocks beneath our feet and the people who dreamed they were worth more than the people they sent into the dark to bring it into the light.

Towns grew around mines, from Walker to South Crofty, and more than just the mines defining them, it was the mines closing that would cement the divide.

“Byker Hill and Walker Shore, collier lads forever more”

“Cornish lads are fishermen and Cornish lads are miners too”

- Two folk songs about regional identity’s roots in its industry, from opposite ends of this dividing line

In the West Midlands, the Black Country didn’t earn that name with caviar; it, like Manchester and Leeds, reinvented itself when the industry collapsed: cities built in the brick ruins of the temples built to the exploitation of the workers, blackened by the smokes of the cremation of its labour industry. When the light catches the steel and glass just right, you can still see the ghosts.

Even the country life outside the cities is shaped by this geology: the terrain north-west of this line doesn’t lend itself to large, flat expanses of land for arable farming, and the divide is visible again when looking at agriculture:

With the majority of land south of the Jurassic-Triassic line being arable, mixed and market gardening, with a fair amount of cattle in the Cotswolds and Chilterns and along the north side of the Thames, and the majority north-west of it being cattle and sheep – which are almost absent from the south side of the divide with the exception of the Isle of Wight and therefore, ironically, Cowes.

Not all farming is the same, the yearly flow of labour and of marketable goods between livestock and arable having little in common beyond being intensive work out-of-doors and taking huge amounts of land to accomplish.

But one thing that also goes hand in hand with this is that sheep aren’t mostly farmed for their meat but for their wool, and what drove industrialisation in the Pennines was the steam-loom: the mechanisation and mass-production of wool.

(Incidentally, on this map arable farming and market gardening also correlate with several types of English traditional dance: Molly, Border an East Midlands and East Riding plough dances, which began as a way for seasonal farmhands to make ends meet by busking with menaces in the winter off-season, but that’s for a later Morris ramble).

But hang on, that puts Hull on the same side of the divide as Kent, not, for example, Liverpool. So what gives there?

The East Riding isn’t built on mining - a kid with a bucket and spade could find the water table in most of the county.

Hull, and other ports of Yorkshire with it, was built on whaling – and not many industries have collapsed harder than whaling. For once, the geography of the land has little impact on this, but the geography of the sea does:

Between England and the European continent is a shallower stretch of sea called Dogger Bank – named for the Dutch cod-fishing boats known as Doggers which fished on it. But shallow water isn’t great for whales. So where is there water good for whales?

Well, whalers from Great Britain would venture as far as the Antarctic ocean in search of whales, and often hunted off Greenland – but there was water closer to home where whales did and still do frequent:

(There is still whaling in the North Sea. Around 500 minke whales are killed by Norwegian whalers each year “in objection to” the global ban on commercial whaling.)

Outside of this, there’s also a divide between port cities dealing primarily in cargo or primarily in passengers, something which is somewhat evening out by one means or another, but here’s a current map of UK passenger ports and their passenger numbers:

Or at least circles sized to correspond to their passenger numbers - source with stats: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/sea-passenger-statistics-all-routes-2021/sea-passenger-statistics-all-routes-2021

Compare this with a map of cargo ports by load:

Source with numbers: https://safety4sea.com/uk-ports-record-steady-performance-during-2018/

Generally showing passenger numbers getting lower the further you get from Dover, but not the same correlation with cargo (Plymouth and Holyhead both bucking this trend at a glance).

So, if not “The North” and “The South”, what name does make sense for this divide?

I propose “the South” be known as Lloegyr.

These names still exist: Domnonea still exists in Brittany both as a name for that same region from which Brittonic settlers came to Brittany and an area of Brittany named for them, and in Welsh, yr Alban is Scotland, Cymru is Wales and Lloegr is England.

Wales isn’t part of “the North”. “The North” is part of Wales.

[marta-bee]

More Aldarion & Erendis time. I want to take a step back from all the fun character-drama between our titular leads and talk a bit about the political situation. It's definitely turning how I think of the Numenor story on its head, but in a good way.

I've always thought of Numenoreans as prideful men who saw themselves as better than other men, their natural rulers, etc. Very imperial stuff. Very prideful generally, and pride goeth before, etc. Their thinking they could bring Sauron as a captive into their own land. The very questioning of mannish mortality. It's what did them in in the end.

A&E is set in a much earlier time though. Aldarion is only five generations removed from Elros, and was only born about 250 years after Elros died. And for the most part they're unconcenred with the wider world. You see this in Meneldur's pushing Aldarion to remain in Numenor and not go adventuring abroad, long before he married Erendis or even began courting her. His first duty was to love and know his own land, and for the people of Numenor to know him. It feels isolationist, but I don't take it in the modern Trumpian sense or even the America staying out of WWI while Europe bled and died sense. There's this idea that the Numenoreans have been given a gift of peace and having enough, and it's their job to live in that and let it heal their national soul.

Gil-Galad sends Tar-Meneldur a letter that changes that.

Ereinion Gil-galad son of Fingon to Tar-Meneldur of the line of Eärendil, greeting: the Valar keep you and may no shadow fall upon the Isle of Kings. Long I have owed you thanks, for you have so many times sent to me your son Anardil Aldarion: the greatest Elf-friend that now is among Men, as I deem. At this time I ask your pardon, if I have detained him overlong in my service; for I had great need of the knowledge of Men and their tongues which he alone possesses. He has dared many perils to bring me counsel. Of my need he will speak to you; yet he does not guess how great it is, being young and full of hope. Therefore I write this for the eyes of the King of Númenórë only. A new shadow arises in the East. It is no tyranny of evil Men, as your son believes; but a servant of Morgoth is stirring, and evil things wake again. Each year it gains in strength, for most Men are ripe to its purpose. Not far off is the day, I judge, when it will become too great for the Eldar unaided to withstand. Therefore whenever I behold a tall ship of the Kings of Men, my heart is eased. And now I make bold to seek your help. If you have any strength of Men to spare, lend it to me, I beg.

Should they keep living in peace, content in their little island's safety, or should they start preparing for war? And Meneldur knows he can't decide, abdicates the throne, and lets Aldarion step in.

It's a good impulse, to help, but it's borne out of a morally rotten premise. This is Sauron, of course everyone should help. But to think that the Numenorean uniquely are able to help, and that the men of Middle-earth are incapable of resisting Sauron sticks in my craw. It sets up the Numenoreans as having a natural nobility somehow missing from other men. Where what Glorfindel should be doing is recognize the potential for good in the humans not yet caught under Sauron.

Perhaps he's doing that too, or at least trying to. But the point is, I don't think the Numenoreans get to see that. They think they're specially responsible for resisting Sauron, which makes them special and other men almost chattel.

As an American, I'm feeling more than a bit seen, and not in a good way.

As a Tolkien fan, I'm a bit uncomfortable with how much I suspect Tolkien accepted this. It's not a stretch to imagine him viewing the English as the protectors and saviors of all those grubby men who could not be trusted to govern themselves. (Talking about Africans, Asians, and all sort of then-British colonies here.) I need to think about whether the rest of the Numenor story is a critique of that idea; whether this belief in their own superiority and their being central to fighting against Sauron was a subtle kind of pride that led to their fall or whether he thought of that later pride as something else entirely.

I like thinking they're connected because it makes for a better story. But I'm not sure if it's what Tolkien meant here. I know if he meant Gil-Galad's assessment to be genuine, I don't like that.

[addaerontruther]

I feel like it's worth discussing that Daeron didn't get involved in the Dance until after Addam did.

Lord Ormund Hightower had issued forth from Oldtown with a thousand knights, a thousand archers, three thousand men-at-arms, and uncounted thousands of camp followers, sellswords, freeriders, and rabble, only to find himself set upon by Ser Alan Beesbury and Lord Alan Tarly… Lord Ormund had therefore decided he could not proceed without support from King’s Landing. “We have need of your dragons,” he wrote.

If that wasn't enough to show that he wasn't with the army, it's repeated again that he didn't leave Oldtown... even after Aegon was wounded and Helaena was despondent, leaving only Aemond on the field.

With Sunfyre wounded near Rook’s Rest and unable to fly, and Tessarion with Prince Daeron in Oldtown, only two mature dragons remained to defend King’s Landing… and Dreamfyre’s rider, Queen Helaena, spent her days in darkness, weeping, and surely could not be counted as a threat. That left only Vhagar.

A few paragraphs later, Addam claims a dragon.

And Seasmoke, who had once borne Laenor Velaryon, took onto his back a boy of ten-and-five known as Addam of Hull, whose origins remain a matter of dispute amongst historians to this day.

Then he fights alongside the Blacks.

It is one thing to face a dragon, another to face five. As Silverwing, Sheepstealer, Seasmoke, and Vermithor descended upon them, the men of the Triarchy felt their courage desert them.

And then Daeron appears, clearly unexpectedly, to fight with the Greens.

Defeat seemed imminent…until a shadow swept across the battlefield, and a terrible roar resounded overhead, slicing through the sound of steel on steel. A dragon had come. The dragon was Tessarion, the Blue Queen, cobalt and copper. On her back rode the youngest of Queen Alicent’s three sons, Daeron Targaryen, fifteen, Lord Ormund’s squire, that same gentle and soft-spoken lad who had once been milk brother to Prince Jacaerys.

Fire and Blood is being presented from the point of view of a Maester that benefits from the social structures reinforced by the Green "victory" and his take is based on other men in similar positions. If one of the main Green's had doubts about their cause, there's no way they would document it. Aegon II's own brother being hesitant to support his claim weakens their cause considerably.

I really, truly, and in my bones believe that Daeron didn't want to get involved in the war because he had something else to live for. He'd been away from his family for years, but Addam was always on one of his mother's ships, and Oldtown is the number two principal port in the realm. It's beyond feasible that they met. Tessarion and Seasmoke's dance seems to prove my theory, but that's a different post.

I think Daeron didn't want to die for something he didn't believe in, and then when he found out Addam was fighting for the opposing side, his hand was forced. Jace was shot down by common soldiers, and Vhagar had already established herself as a serious threat to smaller dragons. Most of Daeron's victories were bloodless because he wasn't blood thirsty... until Maelor. But again, that's another post.

He couldn't let the war just go on without attempting to stop it before something happened to Addam. He wanted to get to King's Landing and force a peace before something horrible happened to the person he loved. And, despite Daeron being Rhaenyra's biggest threat (that's a direct quote, don't come for me), Addam didn't go for him immediately. He visited the Isle of Faces first, and whatever happened there sent him south.

In conclusion — they were in love, your honor. The Romeo and Juliet of Westeros if you will.

All quotes are presented in chronological order from Fire & Blood, Chapter 15: The Dying of the Dragons — The Red Dragon and the Gold.

[sixminutestoriesblog]

st. patrick's day

Saint Patrick's Day! Green beer, green clothes, parades and corned beef and cabbage for all! In America, we have a lot of traditions associated with St. Pat's Day and a pleasure in celebrating them whether we're Irish or not - heck, even whether we understand them or not.

So let's take a look at some of the ways we celebrate and what we get wrong - and right.

To start with the man himself, Saint Patrick wasn't Irish. Patrick grew up on the Britain side of things. This doesn't make him British however. At the time, the Isle of Britain was run, mostly, by the Romans and letters from Patrick that have survived see him not only writing them in Latin but signing them as Patricius. Whether he was Roman by birth is still a mystery to this day but his family is believed to have been part of the Roman aristocracy. At sixteen, he was kidnapped and ended up in slavery as a shepherd in Ireland before eventually escaping back to Britain. After receiving training however, he returned to Ireland as a missionary and the rest is - well, not history but certainly lore.

There's some speculation, in fact, that the Saint Patrick of myth was actually two men. Saint Patrick the escaped slave and a bishop sent by Pope Celestine in 431 named Palladius to support the 'Irish believing in Christ' that already lived there.

Did he, or they, at least drive out the snakes? Legend says that St. Patrick drove all the snakes out of Ireland and the island has been slither free since. The truth is - according to fossil records, Ireland never had any snakes to drive out. Ireland was under an ice sheet up until the last glacial period and after that it was safely surrounded by water. To save a little bit of the story, some historians believe 'driving out the snakes' was more of a metaphor for driving out the pagan religions of that time instead.

But we totally wear green to avoid getting pinched! Right? Actually - yes. Though the pinching is supposed to come from mischievous leprechauns, not your over-enthusiastic siblings. Apparently, leprechauns can't see you if you're wearing green and therefore, they can't pinch what they can't see. Given our decorations featuring the little people dressed all in green, you'd think that would make it hard for them to find each other but - not really. You see, traditionally - leprechauns wore red.

The pot of gold, sometimes at the end of the rainbow though - that's real(ish).

So is the leprechauns' strange blind spot with green why everything's green on St. Pat's Day? Not really. Green is associated with Ireland, the Emerald Isle, these days but for most of its history, Ireland, and St. Patrick's, color - was blue. Green recently came into prominence during Ireland's struggle with England. Green came to be associated with the Irish side of things and wearing green was a way to show which side of that you were on. The green beer/food though? That's entirely an American thing.

Speaking of green beer, the drinking is an American thing as well. Or, at least, the 'this is a traditional part of the holiday'. In Ireland, Saint Patrick's Day has long been a Catholic religious holiday - and it also happens to fall in the middle of Lent. Originally, the day had a lot more to do with going to church than to the local pub. Which isn't to say no one in Ireland celebrates the holiday with a drink. 'Drowning the shamrock' involved pouring whiskey over a shamrock in the bottom of a glass. The whiskey is then drunk and the soaked plant is thrown over your left shoulder to complete the tradition - and get you some extra luck.

Shamrocks being considered lucky is a part of the holiday. Called 'seamroy' by the ancient Celts, the shamrock was considered a sacred plant. St. Patrick was also supposed to have used the three leaves of the plant to explain the Trinity during his sermons. Like the clover, finding a four leaf shamrock is good luck and five leaves promises a future of vast wealth!

So, yes, a lot of our St. Pat's Day traditions aren't exactly... traditional. Don't discount them or their importance however. Many of the ways we celebrate St. Patrick's Day today are the direct results of Irish immigrants to America. The parades, the corned beef and cabbage, the celebration of Irish traditions - those were all created in the mid to late 1800s by Irish Americans that wanted to celebrate their heritage. So don't feel bad for indulging in a day of parties and eating your favorite food.

Just remember to cut a cross in your soda buns to 'let the devil out' before putting them in the oven to bake for the holiday.

[shellyseashell]

THE GUILD (DEMON HUNTER AU)

so, i’ve mentioned the guild in overviews of this au, and in character introductions, but i haven’t actually explained who they are yet. so here it is! under a cut because it got long.

the guild started first as magical kingdoms allied with beast, to try to fix his mistakes and rebalance magic. when he began turning on all magic users, they split off for him and began directly fighting him. they ended up losing, and a lot of their armies were either killed, or sent to the isle where most soon died anyway. the monarchs were allowed to remain on the throne so long as they allowed heavy king’s guard presence, and sent at least one kid to be a soldier. they are fully blocked from auradon politics. basically, they’re occupied countries and their kids are political prisoners.

now, well after the war, the guild operates as an underground network. they work on protecting magic users (human or otherwise) from the guard, smuggling supplies to places merchants don’t really go, and figuring out how to yknow, fix gaps between worlds, which is the entire reason the shadow court exists.

they have a very loose hierarchy, with the only clearly defined positions being the council and those in the coalition of the arcane. the council is made up of the leaders of member countries, and are generally in charge of members from their own countries. they make sure disputes between countries are handled smoothly, and punish any rule breakers. the coalition will get their own post, but basically they’re a group of spies who attend the prep and therefore have access to information they wouldn’t otherwise. outside of that, the hierarchy is based on age and experience.

notable rules include:

- no one under 15 is eligible to fight, though they can assist family members in non-combat missions

- don’t mess with magic you don’t understand

- respect the dead. don’t do necromancy.

- never use magic to control others

- punishments can range from exile from the guild (with that person either having memories erased or enchanted to not be able to speak about the guild) or being killed. they don’t like doing either, but at the end of the day it’s our lives or yours.

- additionally, everyone must swear a magical oath that alerts the council to betrayals. there’s no consequences otherwise.

aaaaand last but not least: total member nations and individual members!

member nations: avalor, agrabah, the moorlands, tirulia, corona, and arendelle. during the war, kumandra, prydain, and logres (camelot) were members, but now kumandra is isolated and prydain and logres have their own issues.

the council is made up of queen elena castillo flores (overall leader), phoebus de chateaupers, queen aurora, sultana jasmine, queen ariel, queen rapunzel, and queen anna.

notable members include: naomi turner, gabe nunez, mateo de alva, the genie, lance strongbow, kiera schnitz, catalina schnitz, adira, the spouses of the council, and of course the coalition, as well as a few other ocs. they’re painfully small, but when combined with the isle, they’re a force to be feared.

[naivesilver]

AU masterpost to keep myself (and everyone else) from getting lost

So since apparently I can't stop creating New Things, I thought I could compile a comprehensive list of all tags and links to keep within reach for a change ✨I'll make sure to update it as I post more/already existing stuff grows content-wise

(Actual list under the cut obviously)

Once Upon A Time AUs

Thousand Problems Verse: The AU where Geppetto never sent his son through the wardrobe and Pinocchio was therefore hit by the curse like everyone else, destined to deal with his fairytale-esque issues alongside the more mundane ones you'd expect from a Storybrooke teenager.

Series on Ao3 - Tumblr main tag - Pinocchio's friends tag - Grace's clique tag - Parents tag

Ever After Storybrooke: OUAT/Ever After High fusion where the EAH protagonists are the children of the OUAT fairytale characters instead. Cedar Wood focused.

Tumblr tag

Stray Saplings: Originally an offshoot of the Pinocchio Swap, where every version of Pinocchio inexplicably switched universe overnight, now a self-indulgent take on August having to navigate being the (gasp) responsible adult for a few of his most traumatized counterparts

Tumblr tag

Appalachian Wine: Eliana is the Blue Fairy's biological daughter, but more importantly, she's August's older sister, and that doesn't bode well for anyone - especially her mother.

Tumblr main tag (with storyline fics) - Eliana tag

TMNT AUs

Shaking The Latch: 2003/Rise crossover where freshly mutated Lou Jitsu falls into the 2003 TMNT universe with his very young sons and gets to meet four more of them (older, brasher and way too enthusiastic about babysitting), plus himself 2.0 (and isn't that the scariest prospect).

Ao3 link - Tumblr tag

Sonic AUs

Salvector AU: Italian classic Inspector Montalbano, but with Sonic characters. Chief of Vigata City police Vector has to investigate the bizarre murder of Dr Starline, even after all suspects seem to fall on the scientist's uncommon ward.

Ao3 link - Tumblr tag

Belle & The Gang: Instead of taking Belle back to the Restoration HQ after rescuing her, the Chaotix take her in. Disaster ensues, but maybe there's space for some healing, too.

Series on Ao3

Miscellanea AUs

Frater Meus (Lies of P videogame): Post Real Boy ending. Carlo, recently resurrected, uses his influence to bring Romeo and P back to his side, one angry but uncertain about the best course of action, the other in a shape that suits the nature of his original creation - a scared child who got his heart ripped out. In a city still in shambles, with a son that aches for his younger brother, Geppetto really should sleep with an eye open.

Series on Ao3

Sunset/Spring (Pokemon Legends Arceus): Akari, the girl from the future, is not half-grown and capable of pulling her own weight, but a small child with no memory whose presence cannot be explained. Just what is Arceus' plan, exactly?

Series on Ao3

Signs (Disney Descendants): Lampwick finds his way back to Pinocchio before the Isle of the Lost is sealed, and they build their own family from then on, old grudges be damned.

Series on Ao3

Baby Cedar & Uncle Wick (Ever After High): Cedar Wood's childhood and growth, surrounded by a doting grandfather, a protective father and a "friend" of her father's who is not always the best of influences.

Series on Ao3 - Tumblr ficlet #1 - Tumblr ficlet #2

[aldor-der-wear]

So after posting the concepts I started thinking about the plot l, so I'm just going to write down my top two ideas, but they both branch off so I'll start with their common ground. Also here's more context for what I'm talking about

This is bigger than I thought so I'm color coding this

Red- important context of the world (titan lore and world political BG)

Orange- pre S1 -s1 (The world building and bonding)

Green- s2 [Route 1]

Blue- s2 [Route 2]

Purple- s3 (post apocalypse)

Pink- s4 (learning what happened/ the gargoyle titan au)

*world building*

there are many species of titan. I covered and am still working out the kinks, but here all that are currently relevant, old gen star titans (absolute giant, lived around the demon realms equivalent to the Cretaceous period, this is the boiling isles species), and the living titans are modern/neo moon, sun and star (aka collectors).

There are subspecies but those are the three broad categories. Neo titans are not located near the boiling isles corpse, and therefore the inhabitants have very little knowledge and exposure to any titan other than the isles. So basically there is a bunch of wars that make a bunch of tension in the titan world, and only thing relevant rn is that there is a group of star titans called the archivest, who are trying to wipe out all the other titans.

When the titans vs archivists war breaks out the boiling isles is suddenly subject to titans again by battles being fought all around the globe. Imagine a god species you thought was extinct suddenly just appearing and fighting other gods, yeah.

Pre S1 and s1

King somehow made it to the isles pre war, and finds Eda, and they live together. Belos is in the process of cracking down on wild magic, and Eda is in and out of jail, but there really is no foster care system so king is fending for himself while she's in jail (important).

Eventually around 7 years after this, the political climate is calming down in the isles, and Luz is sent to be her apprentice. This is where S1 starts, it's mostly filler, world building etc. I want to note that at the point of S1 they are more aware of the archivests, and titans, but there still a lot of religious belief surrounding them.

We start to set up the collector and other archivests as bad gods. In s2 a there is a bit more political tension as religion is being more prevalent but problematic, the owl family goes into hiding as belos is now using the titan more and more to push covens.

S2B is where the two ideas branch off, so we'll start with A:

Kings hiding works and is not found out, day of unity plays out relatively the same, just the collector is trapped more previously and never met belos but was trapped and hidden by a titan. King gets way more injured, and the separation is different.

B

King is found out. He gets kidnapped and his horn shaved to remove his memories and basically make him more obedient and "trainable".

He is used as an alterboy by the state church to help get the people more under belos' thumb. They pull a church of england and if you don't belong to the titans church it's considered treason.

He finds his horn, and while not fully back it's enough to make him realize he needs to get the fuck outta there. He dose a few days pre DoU and hides out, then the apocalypse comes and basically the same thing as the first branch happens.

S3

The collector is taking care of king. They are just surviving. Collie is a bit more than fucked up and freaks out king, however collie is just parroting the learnt bigotry, he will learn to be better. King heals up, and they start playing when it's safe enough (like kids do, they are still children).

Collie starts unlearning and healing mentally. Eventually the owl family reunited in s3b and they spend time at the owl house trying to get out of survival mode. The war is mostly over now with most adult titans dead or dieing. Leaving behind juveniles at the oldest and eggs at the youngest. King and collie assume they are the last (they get NO contact or anything indicating otherwise).

S4

A time skip occurs (idk I need to do some math) after s4. The isles is mostly back to normal, king goes to school, the collector bounces between his home and the planet.

Eventually Lilith finds a titan palisman (gargoyle) in hibernation, and brings king to show him. Kings magic awakens it and and there a mini arc if just that.

King collie and the gang then go to sort out the titan trapper thing, and discover an old archive. Gargoyle then runs away into it, and then they find a statue of a titan (ire) king touches it and ire gets un archived. Drama happens, and then ire gets brought back and then goes through his adjusting arc.

Then ire just teaches king about titans. He also explaines the lore of what happened earlier in the series. There may or may not be another titan added to explain even more idk yet. Eventually a surviving archivest or neo archivest (as in the connotation of neo natzi) comes down, and a big battle insues and eventually ire and said archivest get fuzed in the in-between never to be seen again. And then the au Basically just ends there.

Ending notes;

This au is about going through a traumatic childhood but not understanding what was going on, no longer haveing memories of it, and then going about the process of healing from it. It is about unlearning lies you were taught, and trying to be more than your abusers.

This will likely be used to vent out my own life, as this is what's happening to me. I have very little memories of my life before 2022, and I know I didn't understand anything of what was happening. I only really have my parents to tell me what happened but they have two polar opposite stories, and I really don't know how to navigate what's real and what's fake. It's scary and confusing man.

[anotherhumaninthisworld]

Do we have any idea when Horace returned from the wetnurse ?

We don’t have any exact date, but some observations can nevertheless be made.

Horace was born on July 6 1792, baptised the 8th and sent to a wetnurse on the 9th (as seen through Lucile’s diary). We know through a letter Camille sent his father on July 12 that the wet nurse lived in Isle-Adam, about 60 km away from Rue du Théâtre 1 (today Rue de l’Odeon 28) where the Desmoulins couple lived (I don’t know exactly how long it would take to travel in a carriage between these two places).

Already in a letter written around ten days later, Camille tells Lucile, who has gone to rest up in the countryside (around 50 km from Isle-Adam), that ”I do not venture to speak to you about your baby, lest I should bring you tears into your eyes,” which seems like a clear indicator Horace is still with his wet nurse and that this caused Lucile pain. But only a few sentences later Camille tells her to ”kiss Daronne and Horace for me,” which could instead be read as implying Horace had already been brought over to his mother. That could also be the case when Lucile on July 28 writes in her diary: ”my little one is doing well.” I do however think it sounds more logical that Camille is just being sentimental and that Lucile’s simply received a letter from the wet nurse or even gone to visit her son herself, given the fact not even a month had passed since Horace’s birth when these texts were written.

On December 12 1792 Lucile picks up writing her diary again after having stayed silent for five months. ”O my child,” she writes that day, ”my dear child, what palpitation I feel when thinking of you! My son! Why then does this word make my tears flow?…” This sentence, which offers too little information for us to tell whether Horace has been reunited with his mother or not, is the only mention Lucile makes of him from this moment up until February 16 1793, a period during which she consistently keeps a diary. To me, it therefore comes off as unlikely he would have returned home somewhere during the spam of these two months, because wouldn’t that be something worth writing down in the diary for Lucile? The total absence of Horace in the entries also invite me to believe he hadn’t come home in the five months she’s not written anything either.

Just three days after the last diary entry, February 16, Lucile, while in Essonne together with Camille, does however write a letter to her mother back in Paris asking her to ”write to me if my little one is doing well,” which at first seems to be a clear indicator Horace is back in the capital. However, in the very same letter Lucile also asks her mother to come and join her and Camille at the place where they currently are, and four days later she again writes to tell her about her sister Adèle eventually coming too. Would it be true that Horace had come back to Paris by then, we might therefore ask who was supposed to look after him, since apparently all his female relatives can get out of town without any issue. Was it the Desmoulins’ maid Jeannette, who lived in the same building as them?

A speculation I’ve had is that the reason Lucile’s diary entries end so abruptly in February is because she after this had a baby to look after, meaning she wouldn’t have been able to go out and do stuff as much as before. Madame Danton and Madame Robert did however have children born in 1790, 1792 and 1791 respectively, and as can be seen through the diary, this does in no way hinder them from vistiting the theater and other people’s homes together with Lucile. So I don’t know if all these girls had nannies looking after their kids for them, or if the kids are with them and Lucile just never mentions them.

We have this letter that Fréron’s little sister Thérèse Jeanne, wife of the general Jean François de La Poype, sent to Lucile. However, it’s unfortunately undated, and I can’t tell when it was written through the context either, but I take it as implying Horace was still with the wet nurse when it was penned down:

Coubertin, Monday morning.  How good you are, my dear Lucile, to take such pains to answer so punctually, and to relieve my anxiety! rely upon your kindness to let me know any good news when you know it yourself. Neither my husband nor my brother has written to me; but, according to what you tell me, M. De la Poype will be with you immediately. Scold him well, I beg, my dear Lucile, and beat him even, if you think it necessary; I give him over to you. Goodbye, dear aunt; I embrace you with all my heart. Do tell me about your pretty boy; is he well? We shall, I hope, see him at some time together. (Parlez-moi donc de votre joli enfant; se porte-t-il bien ? Nous irons, j'espère, le voir quelquefois ensemble). Be the first to tell me of my husband's arrival; it will be so sweet to owe my happiness to you! Fanny (Thérèse Jeanne’s daughter) is perfectly well. I received most tenderly the kiss she gave me from you. My compliments to your husband.  Fréron de la Poype Coubertin, near Chevreuse.

On August 1 1793 we get a good indicator Horace is back with his parents, as Camille on that date writes to his father:

I felt even more just now, in seeing my son, how sensible this blow (of having read that your son died in battle) must have been go your heart. My wife and I have been very touched by the interest that you show for this child so amiable and whom we love so much that I have a horrible fear of losing him. […] Where is the asylum, the underground where I could hide from all eyes with my wife, my child and my books?

We also know Horace was home in time for Robespierre to have held him in his arms ”so many times” as Lucile herself puts it in a letter written during her last weeks on Earth. Something which I assume he stopped doing at least after he and Camille fell out with each other in January 1794, and being a member of the Committee of Public Safety from July 27 1793 and forward might also have decreased the opportunities.

In the letter dated July 12 1792, where Camille tells his father Horace has been sent to a wet nurse, he mentions it’s the same one Danton’s youngest son François-Georges, who was born on February 2 1792, currently finds himself with. In the aftermath of the Insurrection of May 31 1793, Fabre d’Eglantine holds a speech where he reports that Danton at the end of August 1792 exclaimed: ”I’ve brought here my mother who is 70 years old; I’ve brought here my two children; they arrived yesterday. Before the Prussians enter Paris, I want my family to perish, I want 20 000 torches in an instant to turn Paris into a pile of ashes” when the idea of fleeing the capital and emerging foreign armies was brought up. This would imply François-Georges could do without the wet nurse after half a year spent there, standards we might assume were applied to other children taken in there as well, Horace included. This would fit rather well with the assumption Horace was home by February 1793, when Lucile writes to ask her mother for news about him…

Finally, we also have this family portrait attributed to either David or his school. I think Horace looks rather young on it, not appearing to have grown any hair yet, but it’s hard to tell exactly how old he is meant to be here:

[queer-ragnelle]

On the topic of misogyny in retellings, do you have any thoughts on the male characters’ misogyny in Bernard Cornwell’s Warlord Chronicles series? I feel like it could fall under “gritty realism” but sometimes it leaves a bad taste for me?

Yeah I think we're in agreement. The Winter King wasn't the worst but it certainly wasn't the greatest either. Look no further than how Ladwys was treated by Owain while everyone just listened to her scream and ignored it. Oh but she's "deserving" of rape bc Gundleus is evil so punishing her is punishing him. Or something. And matters worsened in the sequels Enemy of God and Excalibur.

Like the thing is, it felt to me as if Bernard Cornwell wrote a grimdark story, and attempted to include compelling women who go through hell, but missed the mark in a big way. All the rapist murdering shithead men die terribly (rest in piss Owain, Gundelus, Tanaburs, Lancelot etc) so they're all punished narratively for their actions sooner or later. But at the same time, I don't recall that any characters voice criticism of Merlin's sexual relationship with young Nimue or 30yo Tristan's sexual relationship with 15yo Isolde. That's where you can see the author's disturbing view of women and girls seeping through. Even if Ceinwyn was written well, what does that matter against Arthur and Derfel allowing Mark to burn Isolde at the stake bc Tristan couldn't control himself around a teenager? And then Arthur goes and marries Isolde's sister Argante in Excalibur. "She's too young for Arthur," says Derfel and Ceinwyn. That's what writers call "a sign post," which is supposed to signal to the reader that the author doesn't agree with the actions of the character by having other character's call attention to it. Okay, fine, that is there. But why is young Olwen also sexualized? Then how was Derfel persuaded to believe that Isolde/Tristan was somehow less inappropriate than Isolde/Mark? Oh right, bc Mark is fat so he's "gross," as Arthur called him, while Tristan is such a good, handsome guy. Therefore morally pure. Riiiiight. Cringe. It's deeply uncomfortable to contemplate.

My hope was the show that came out in 2023 would address a lot of this but somehow it's legit worse if you can believe it. They made Owain a decent guy. (Which actually makes his death stupid especially bc Arthur mourns his "friend?" That was his rapist thieving coworker with a good sword arm at best but okay.) And showrunners cut Tanaburs and Lancelot entirely. None of that actually benefitted the show whatsoever.

For example, in The Winter King book, Derfel returns from Ynys Trebes and Bishop Bedwin tells him Nimue has been sent to the Isle of the Dead by the local law enforcement bc she was butting heads with Christians and she ultimately killed some people in a church. Not great but I see how the narrative ended up there and Derfel went to retrieve her immediately. She had only been there so long bc Derfel wasn't even in the country. While Derfel is escaping with Nimue, Galahad comes to meet them and help.

But in the show, Derfel never goes to Ynys Trebes. He's just....around, as a side character. Meanwhile Sansum is trying to establish a church in Nimue's front yard or whatever and then his men get sick and die. They blame Nimue for "cursing" them. Arthur himself then sends Nimue to the Isle of the Dead, only for Derfel to play detective and discover the place where Sansum's men retrieved water from had a dead animal in it. They were unknowingly poisoning themselves. Nimue didn't do anything but spit on Sansum (which was deserved), she didn't kill anyone. Derfel then goes to the Isle of the Dead to retrieve Nimue. Alone. Only later does Arthur and Sagramore meet them to escape so Arthur can be like "Haha oopsie! My mistake! Will you help me talk the Druids into being my subjects--I mean working with me to get the kingdom in order for evil baby Prince--I mean normal baby Prince Mordred?" It's obscene.

So all around, The Warlord Chronicles isn't the pinnacle of literature if one is seeking an author who drinks respect women juice. Look elsewhere. But for all its faults, I don't think it's unreadable either. I don't regret reading it. There are beautiful passages and fascinating characters and I did enjoy it as a whole. But certainly there are really rough aspects that I could have done without.

[bestanimatedmovie]

Sorry in advance for dragging on the Wes Anderson discourse, and sorry if this is the wrong place to send this!

I am definitely not here to try to defend his honor or something - even as a kid I found it weird how his live action films seem to be filled with white people - but I finally read that Isle of Dogs article you linked and found it… strange.

The author of the article critiques the supposed disregard for the Japanese language demonstrated by the title, when plenty of articles written by Japanese journalists point out it’s a pun referencing a demon island in a well-known folktale. She has also decided that there is a racist stereotype that Chinese people eat dogs, and China is also in Asia, therefore Anderson can’t differentiate between Asians and that the film portrays the Japanese as dog-haters? (It doesn’t.)

The sushi preparation scene appears to be pretty much universally praised, with comments in the youtube clip linked in her article even pointing out cultural details foreigners might have missed, but the author seems to believe the scene portrays the Japanese as “cruel savages”. I don’t know, a lot of the points in the article, at least in its Isle of Dogs part, feel like weird projection.

The more general criticisms – the white savior stuff and not subtitling Japanese – I get, even if I don’t completely agree with them (Tracy felt more like a self-deprecating stereotype of an American busybody who accomplishes very little, and the fallibility and subjectivity of translation is a major theme of the movie. International audiences get the basic dog story with some simple outside exposition, while Japanese viewers also get a ton of extra stuff the core audience is not expected to pick up on.)

Anyway, these articles by Japanese-American journalists convinced me to watch the movie when it came out (they are both also at least somewhat critical of the film, but seem much better informed):

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/what-isle-of-dogs-gets-right-about-japan, https://www.vulture.com/2018/03/what-its-like-to-watch-isle-of-dogs-as-a-japanese-speaker.html

Don't apologize, I love having these conversations, and you certainly raise very interesting points. I already said what I personally felt watching the movie here.

Here are the articles you sent for those who want to read them, and I decided to do a quick search on my own of Japanese articles.

The Japanese wikipedia article briefly mentions criticism of stereotypes, whitewashing, insensitive (specifically the mushroom cloud) and "English supremacy". Sadly the article linked in the sources no longer exists. Reading reviews I found mixed impressions, but from what I read a lot of people did feel a lot of love for Japan from the movie. The fact that the dogs spoke English was one of the things I found people disliked the most, and I also found several people mentioning stereotypes and in general a bad feeling (as well as people saying it didn't feel like stereotyping). Several people also said it felt more retro than futuristic, but not necessarily as criticism.

That said, everyone praised the stopmotion, which I agree was something impressive. Another thing many people praised was the music (the Japanese drums, the Akira Kurosawa homage).

So yeah, mixed impressions but I'd say more positive than negative.

These are the articles and reviews I read, you can run them through google translate.

[elm-writes-stories]

Cuphead: Isle of Shadows (REWRITE)

Hey, guys! I'm back with another episode! This is published on July 20, 2023. If you guys like this episode/chapter, don't be afraid to heart it, reblog, and comment! They are all much appreciated. Warning: serious monster transformation going on. Enjoy!

Episode Four: Bowlboy's Revenge

The court finalized the decision and declared thirteen-year-old Hunter insane. Therefore, Hunter was soon sent to Tremaine Institute again and this time, he might be staying there for a long, long time.

Hunter was in a straitjacket with his arms wrapped around his sides and he had a muzzle on to prevent him from biting someone once again. For the next three years, Hunter had been in solitary confinement, not that the teenage tiger mind though.

Dr. Linda, the silver spoon with red lipstick and blue eyeshadow, had an appointment with him today. She was quite observant. That could be dangerous if she wasn’t careful about asking the right questions. As per usual, Hunter was waiting for the doctors to get him out of solitary confinement and led him through the hallways with armed guards. Everyone at the Tremaine Institution feared him despite seeing him in a straitjacket and a muzzle, just the way he liked it.

In Room 201, Dr. Linda was waiting for him with a clipboard and pen. Hunter sat across from her and had his muzzle removed and his ankles were strapped on the front legs of the chair.

“Thank you, I’ll take it from here,” Dr. Linda said while dismissing the guards with a wave.

The guards nodded their heads in understanding and walked out of the room, leaving Hunter alone with the therapist.

“Welcome back, Mr. Manson. How are the medications treating you?” Dr. Linda said while looking at Hunter.

Hunter didn’t respond, but he kept his stare at her.

“No response, as usual. You know, it’s been three years since you’ve killed your parents. According to the jail records, you said that you listened to voices that told you to kill your parents. You haven’t talked about them after that. Do you still have those voices in your head?”

Hunter was kept silent.

“Mr. Manson, you need to say something at this point. I’m beginning to suspect that you’ve never heard voices. You were hungry from blood. Since you’ve killed Tommy Lee Cup through your little ‘experiments’, everyone’s been afraid of you. How could you murder your parents, who tried everything to help you?” Dr. Linda questioned.

This irked a response out of Hunter. “Since when have they helped me?”

Dr. Linda widened her eyes to finally get Hunter to talk after three years. She leaned back, a bit surprise to hear his voice finally. “They’ve sent you here when you are ten years old, right? They wanted to help you…they’ve seen that you needed help. They are doing what’s best for you.”

“They’ve only sent me here to make themselves look like good parents. I see that it worked like a charm,” Hunter said, now cornering a smirk.

Dr. Linda took notes of Hunter’s words and reactions.

“You know, doctor,” Hunter began. “I don’t blame you for thinking that my parents were wonderful. How would you know what goes on in that house? How would you know what secrets they hide? My mother was a teacher at a school and I bet those students didn’t see the secrets of her home. My father was the head of Manson Corporations where he has ran experiments upon experiments. I was only copying what he was doing when I was a child.”

“Does your father torture the ones he experimented on?” Dr. Linda asked.

“Yes. He made me watch them…if I have to point out what he had done for me that was good…it would be that,” Hunter said.

Dr. Linda wrote down more notes on her clipboard. “So…do you remember the night you killed your parents?”

Hunter chuckled in amusement. “Vividly.”

Dr. Linda looked at him. “You don’t have your parents anymore. You’ve lost them. Do you have any regret or remorse for what happened?”

He shook his head in response.

“According to the notes,” the therapist continued, “you said that you felt free when you killed your parents. What do you mean by that? How does killing your parents make you free?”

“I��m free from their secrets. I’m free from their control. I’m free from my father’s control and my mother’s fake ignorance. Don’t you see? I don’t regret killing them.”

“Mr. Manson…you said you heard voices that told you to do it, right? Technically, you’re not free because you could still be hearing voices, right? Did the voices tell you to stab your father nine times and stab your mother twenty-eight times and then eat her guts out? Most people when they hear voices, it would bring nothing but pain and misery to those who hear them. They were driven to kill without even knowing it and feel even a slight bit of remorse for their actions. But you seemed to know what you were doing. You knew what you were doing when you killed your parents. You’ve faked insanity, Mr. Manson. What do you say to that?”

Hunter smirked at her. “You know, Doctor, you should reconsider taking me as your client. You, of all people, should know the pressures of living in a household where you watch your father torture mentally ill patients like the ones here. But, of course, you are not blessed to see blood and screams as I do. You don’t see the beauty in it, Doctor. The sight of blood makes you faint if I stand corrected. Do you really think you can fix me, Doctor?”

Dr. Linda shook her head. “No. I youdon’t think I can heal you either. That’s something you should do on your own. Something I can help you with if you take the steps towards healing. But…I don’t think you want help. You claimed insanity to avoid the electric chair. I think you’re afraid of dying. You may fooled the therapist in the jail, but you don’t fool me, Hunter. And I’m not afraid of me.”

Hunter quirked a brow up and tilted his head to the side. “You should be afraid of me.”

“Why should I be?” Dr. Linda challenged Hunter.

Hunter didn’t answer except showed his fangs when he grinned wickedly.

Meanwhile, the armed guards heard a scuffle from a chair and scream from down the hall. The guards rushed down towards the hallway, looking for the source of the scream. However, there was no scream but they did hear gagging. The guards rushed to Room 201 and opened the door to find Dr. Linda on the floor, her silver body of a spoon had her head decapitated. With her headless body, she used her arm and pointed towards the window of the room. The guards looked to see that Hunter made it out of the institution.

“He escaped!” The head security guard alerted and rushed through the building with the other guards to find Hunter.

Meanwhile, Hunter rushed through the city without looking back, dragging the chair with him. He was still in the straitjacket, so he could run much faster. However, he had a head start to lose the security guards before they could find out which direction he took. He had to go through alleyways so that he wouldn’t be spotted by citizens. It was finally he reached a familiar place. It wasn’t his mansion, but…it was Mason Corporations. What was once a pristine building was now covered in moss and decay. Hunter looked up to see it shut down…a perfect place to hide.

Hunter noticed a small black tent over by the side of the ruined building and wobbled over to see a group of hooded assassins, camping out and hiding from the world until they saw Hunter.

“Is that the son of Robert Manson?” one of the assassins whispered to the other assassin.

“It is I, your heir,” Hunter said while stepping towards them.

“What happened to Robert?” the other assassin asked.

“Oh, he’s in a better place now,” Hunter replied with a smirk. “Now, I need to get out of this straitjacket and these cuffs. Give me a hand.”

The assassins nodded their heads in obedience while the assassins helped Hunter out of the straitjacket and uncuffed his ankles. Hunter moved his muscles a bit with a sigh in relief.

“Much better,” Hunter said and looked at his followers. “You’ve been waiting for my father’s return. But he won’t be coming back. I am here now.” He looked over to the ruined building.

“We scavenged the building,” the assassin said before Hunter could ask about the building.

“What did you find?”

“This,” the assassin showed a black and orange potion with the smell of brimstone, ash, and…is that blood?

“Was this my father’s newest creation?” Hunter asked.

The assassin nodded his head. “Robert—”

“Don’t…speak of his name.”

The assassin nodded his head timidly this time. “Uh, your father…he made this. It hasn’t been experimented yet.”

Hunter smirked at the potion. “Good. Good.”

~.~

Thirty-eight years later:

“YOU LOST THEM?! WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU LOST THEM?!” Devil barked angrily.

It was dawn when Hunter delivered the news to the Devil that he lost them. This earned a cocky smirk from Dice as if Hunter wasn’t doing any better than he was. Henchman winced at his boss’s temper while Stickler was unphased by it. They were standing in the black tent where the assassins were making their weapons and avoiding Hunter’s room at all cost.

Hunter didn’t seem afraid of the Devil’s temper, looking at him dead in the eye. “I lost them. I underestimated the cups and everyone they cared about. That mistake will not happen again. However, I have an alternate plan on how to catch those cups and bring their souls to you.”

The devil grinned widely. “Oh, do tell.”

Dice lost his smirk and looked at the tiger with his arms crossed.

“It will involve patience,” Hunter stated. “Lots and lots of patience.”

“PATIENCE?!” The Devil yelled. “Do you have any idea how long I’ve tried to get that cup’s soul?! I’ve tried kidnapping his beloved brother and even that didn’t work! That cup still manages to keep his soul because of that stupid old tea kettle! I’ve tried over and over again to get Cuphead’s soul but his dumb blue-nosed buffoon of a brother keeps getting in the way!”

Hunter rubbed his chin. “What was the blue-nosed cup’s name again?”

Dice noticed something odd about the question, but Devil’s scoff snapped him out of it.

“His name is Mugman,” Devil answered with a groan. “I mean, what kind of name is that? Mugman? As I said before, I had the advantage when I kidnapped him, but then that stupid Cat Burglar got in the way and now I couldn’t contain any souls because he already released them all!”

Hunter was silent for moment and Dice could tell that there were some wheels turning in the tiger’s head.

“They say good things come to those who wait. And you, my friend, need to wait for a time to pounce,” Hunter said as he got out of the black and orange potion.

“Uh…what’s that?” Dice asked with a brow raised.

“This is Tremaine. One of my recent creations. Observe,” Hunter answered while snapping his finger.

The assassins brought out the red and blue clown. The clown was in the chair, struggling in the chair with his ankles cuffed to the legs of the chair and his body in the straitjacket.

“W-What’s going on?!” the clown panicked, earning a gasp of recognition from Dice. “W-Wanna hear a joke?! Here’s the joke! Uh, what do you get when you cross a fish and an e-elephant? Hehehe, Swim trunks! G-Get it?! Get it? S-Swim Trunks? No?…”

“Beppi…is that you?” Dice uttered the clown’s name.

Beppi The Clown glanced over at King Dice with a bright hopeful grin. “Dice! Boy, am I glad to see you! It’s been a long time—wait…why are you with the Devil?”

“One of your showbiz buddies, Dice?” Hunter asked.

Dice looked into Beppi’s fearful gaze longer before clearing his throat. “Well…uh, yeah…wait, what are you going to do to him—?”

“Didn’t I tell you to observe?” Hunter reminded Dice.

Beppi noticed the exchange between Dice and Hunter, struggling in the straitjacket and the cuffs. “Dice, Dice, buddy, you can talk them out of this. I know you can! You-You got a way with words! Please, just say something! Anything! Please—!”

The syringe that was filled with the black and orange substance poked into Beppi’s neck, injecting Tremaine into him.

“OW! Hey—!” Beppi’s voice was cut off once Tremaine started to take its hold inside of the clown. Beppi breathed heavily while shutting his eyes. “NO! NO! STOP!! STOP!!!”

Dice watched Beppi struggle in the chair in absolute horror.

Beppi’s orange veins covered his neck and face while he clenched his teeth to withstand the pain until he couldn’t anymore.

“AAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!! MAKE THIS STOP!!! MAKE THIS STOP!!!!” Beppi screamed in pain, convulsing on the chair. “DICE, SAY SOMETHING!!! PLEASE!!!”

Dice was rendered speechless while watching his old showbiz buddy being tortured by Tremaine. He saw Beppi’s eyes snapped open to reveal yellow eyes and red pupils. His red and blue skin got darker and his teeth sharpened. Fur grew out of his body, stretching his skin to the point where he was bleeding. His head became enlarged like a balloon and his screams turned into maniacal laughter.

“Oh my…” Dice uttered in fear.

Beppi glared at Dice with a blood thirsty grin. “I WILL EAT YOU ALIVE!”

His voice became demonic as he lunged towards Dice before being held back by the assassins. Beppi struggled against the hooded assassins as he was being taken away.

“I WILL EAT YOU ALL ALIVE!!! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!” Beppi laughed as he was being dragged back into the darkness.

“Aw geez…” Henchman uttered with clenched teeth.

Stickler still seemed unphased by the clown’s transformation under Tremaine.

The Devil smiled evilly and clapped his hands giddily. “You know, if you injected that chemical into that annoying cup, we can have him under our control whether he has a soul or not! I will finally have his soul!”

“Now you see where I’m going with this. But it takes time and patience. That boy will become vulnerable if he isolated himself from his family. All it takes is the right time to pounce,” Hunter said with a smirk.

“D’aw, I don’t know, boss,” Henchman spoke up fearfully. “This seems pretty sketchy.”

Stickler raised his finger. “I agree with Henchman here. He has already delivered a lot of souls last night. If the Cat Burglar comes back and freed them all today, it would hurt our numbers greatly. We should worry more about securing the soul vault so that the Cat Burglar wouldn’t get to them.”

King Dice snapped out of his trance, not moving on from what he witnessed in front of him. “Is…there a cure for Tremaine?”

“No,” Hunter answered plainly. “Not as far as I know. Those two scientists of mine tried to find the cure for it when the outbreak happened fifteen years ago. It didn’t end well for them. One of them hid the potions that could prevent Tremaine for ever coming in, but it won’t cure it. And I intend on finding those potions.”

“Will those potions interfere with our plan? Devil asked with a brow raised.

“No. As long as no one has the potions, we should be good,” Hunter replied.

“Hrmm…that doesn’t sound reassuring,” Stickler commented.

“Stickler!” Devil scolded the teal imp and looked at Hunter with a grin. “I’m sorry about Stickler here. He usually likes to ruin the fun around here.”

“Is it because he’s a stickler for the rules?” Hunter asked with a brow raised.

The Devil chuckled at Hunter’s intended pun. “Oh my! Hahahahaha! That’s a good one! I oughta say, Hunter, you have been proving your worth to me and I’m starting to like you. We will put Tremaine into that cup!”

“Logically,” Stickler spoke up, “if we were to attempt to put Tremaine into the cup’s body, we will need to find a way to tempt him away from his family. That way they won’t be able to protect him.”

Dice nodded his head. “I mean, that shouldn’t be too hard. He does get distracted by the smallest of things.”

“He’s too smart for his own good,” Hunter remarked.

King Dice arched a brow. “Are we talking about the same person?”

“Think about it. He’s able to escape from the Devil’s hands and he easily escaped out of my grasp. He’s not as dumb as you think,” Hunter replied while looking at the bite mark on his arm. “Definitely not as dumb…”

“We are definitely not talking about the same person,” Dice pointed out.

“See, Dice? You’re making the same mistake as me. I bet that’s why you keep failing the Devil,” Hunter replied.

Dice immediately got defensive. “Excuse you! I didn’t keep failing!”

“Your show was shut down. You couldn’t catch the cup’s soul to save your life. And, you led the old tea kettle into Hell…basically you are the cause of him losing both of the cups’ souls,” Hunter called Dice out.

“Wait…how did you know about that—?”

“Devil, with all due respect, you should really reconsider who your number one is,” Hunter said to the Devil.

King Dice drew his brows together. "Why, you—!”

“Heeeey, fellas~!”

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked down to see a bowl child with freckles and bucked teeth looking up at them.

“Ew, what is that thing?” Devil questioned in disgust.

“That is a child, sir,” Stickler answered.

“Ew,” Devil uttered.

“Bowlboy?” Dice uttered in recognition.

“One of your showbiz buddies too?” Hunter asked.

“What? No…I mean, he comes to my shows before they shut down,” King Dice uttered.

“Hiii, Mr. King Dice~!” Bowlboy greeted.

King Dice shivered when Bowlboy greeted him.

“Ew, get him away from me,” Devil said, more disgusted.

“Whatcha talking about~?” Bowlboy asked innocently.

“Uh…we’re trying to get Cuphead’s soul,” Henchman answered.

“Henchman!” Devil scolded.

“Kill him,” Hunter ordered and the assassin raised his gun at Bowlboy.

“OOOH~! I know Cuphead and Mugman~!” Bowlboy pointed out excitedly.

Hunter lowered the assassin’s rifle to let the bowl speak. “You do?”

“YEAH!” Bowlboy exclaimed. “I tried to replace Mugman once, but Cuphead stabbed me in the back~! Funny how that sounds~. Hehehe.”

Hunter smirked at Bowlboy. “Do you want revenge on the cup brothers?”

“Well, I want to be their friend…I guess I’m not good enough for them~”

Hunter smirked even wider at Bowlboy’s answer. “C’mere, I got something special for you to do.”

“Ooooh! Tell me, tell me!” Bowlboy shouted excitedly. Hunter pulled Bowlboy aside and kneeled down to whisper to him. Hunter handed the syringe with Tremaine inside of it to Bowlboy, who gasped in excitement.

“Do you know how to track him?” Hunter asked Bowlboy.

“Yeah! Bowlboy always got tricks up in his sleeves,” Bowlboy answered with a sly smirk.

“Good. Good. Go on then,” Hunter replied and let Bowlboy go.

Dice arched a brow. “Why do you have to whisper to Bowlboy? Are you keeping something from us?”

“No, of course not, the plan is starting right now,” Hunter informed the Devil, earning a sly grin from the demon. 

However, Dice seemed more than suspicious of Hunter's actions.

~.~

Mugman felt something soft snuggling up on his chest. It was so warm and fuzzy. He could hear purring…wait, purring? He opened his eyes and soon realized that he ended up holding Cassidy in his arms, despite the pillow wall between them.

Mugman blushed in sudden realization that he was holding her in his arms. What happened last night? How did they get into this position? Cassidy might have moved over and hugged Mugman while he hugged her back. He wasn’t complaining though. She purred and rubbed her head subconsciously onto his chest.

Mugman looked around to find Cuphead, Chalice, and Natalie were still sleeping. He heard something sizzling in the kitchen and smell the pancakes. Elder Kettle might be awake making breakfast. He moved slightly before he could feel Cassidy’s claws digging through his shirt and piercing his skin slightly.

Mugman clenched his teeth to withstand the slight pain. “Uh, C-Cassidy?”

She purred, relaxing his body for a moment. He blushed more to find her rubbing her head against his chest and under her chin until she groaned and opened her eyes. It was then she realized that she was cuddling Mugman without knowing it.

“Oh shoot!” Cassidy jumped back and accidentally scared Mugman off the bed, waking the other kids up.

“Ow…” Mugman groaned in pain.

“Are you okay?” Cassidy asked when she peered over the edge of the bed, blushing madly. “I’m so sorry.”

Mugman blushed even more with sweat coming down the sides of his head. “O-Oh! Uh, um, don’t apologize…uh…I, uh, I was, um, I was just gettin’ up to get breakfast. See you later-bye!” He rushed out of the room with a blush on his face while the others were smirking at him.

Mugman entered the kitchen where Elder Kettle is cooking pancakes and sat on the round dining table with multiple chairs around. He laid his head down and covered his blushing face, which drew Elder Kettle’s attention.

“Uh…are you okay, Mugman?” Elder Kettle asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Mugman said while his voice was muffled on the table.

“Eh…that doesn’t sound like you’re fine,” Elder Kettle indicated. He noticed Mugman’s head being red from the blush. “Are you blushing?”

“No…”

That didn’t convince the old tea kettle. Elder Kettle smiled softly. “Oh, I think I know what it is…it doesn’t happen to involve Cassidy, does it?”

Mugman perked his head up, his head redder than before except the liquid in his cup head boiled a bit. He faked a smile and a laugh. “Oh, uh, no. No, it doesn’t at all. I-I mean, she’s nice…soft…cute…cuddly…I mean, she’s kind and caring and sweet and kind—wait, I already said that.”

Elder Kettle sighed wistfully. “Ah, young love.”

“WHAT?! No, no, it’s not like that. Her and I are friends…uh, I mean, she’s cool. It’s not like I’ll be speechless when she sits next to me,” Mugman said.

On cue, Cassidy sat next to Mugman. “Good morning.”

Mugman started to wheeze to try to get words out of his lips to respond to her.

Cuphead entered the kitchen and smirked when his brother rendered speechless when sitting next to Cassidy. He sat on the other side of his brother with a teasing grin.

Cassidy arched a brow and smiled a bit. “Are you okay?”

Mugman cleared his throat from wheezing. “Uh, yeah. I’m fine. Totally fine. Hey, uh, want some breakfast?”

“I got pancakes!” Elder Kettle announced.

Chalice entered into the kitchen with Porkrind behind her.

“Ooh, pancakes!” Chalice said while turning into a ghost and sat next to Cassidy.

Porkrind looked at Chalice strangely before getting coffee. He heard footsteps behind him and turned to notice Jerry walking into the kitchen.

“You know, you should try to rest,” Porkrind replied and sipped his coffee.

“I’ll be fine. I’ve been through worse than this,” Jerry said while rolling his injured shoulder.

“You’re lucky that maniac didn’t get your heart,” Porkrind commented as Jerry took a seat next to Chalice.

The last two people who entered the kitchen was Natalie and Aurora.

“Bweakfasd!” Aurora pointed excitedly.

Natalie looked at Elder Kettle in shock. “Oh, you don’t have to make breakfast for us.”

“Oh no, I insist,” Elder Kettle said. “Take a seat, you two.”

Natalie blinked in shock while Aurora hurried and sat next to Cuphead.

“Hi, Cuppy!” Aurora chirped with a bright grin.

Cuphead chuckled. “Hey, Aurora, how did you sleep?”

“I slept good!” Aurora answered excitedly.

Natalie sat next to her toddler sister, anxiously waiting for her food.

Once the pancakes were ready, Elder Kettle passed them around to all the kids on the table except for Cassidy. Jerry got the pancakes as well while he gazed at it with a swivel of his tongue.

Elder Kettle noticed Cassidy frowning when her food didn’t show up. “Oh, Cassidy, I didn’t forget about you.” With that said, Elder Kettle took out a plate of freshly cooked salmon and pushed it towards the feline. “I heard last night that eating something sugary causes a bad reaction for you such as puking and pancakes has sugar in the ingredients. Sooo, I decided to cook you salmon instead.”

Porkrind softened his gaze at Elder Kettle. “Oh, um…that’s actually nice of you, Kettle.”

Elder Kettle smiled at the one-eyed pig. “Of course. Now, do you want eggs and bacon—”

Porkrind blinked in shock at the mentioned of ‘bacon’.

“The bacon doesn’t come from pigs, I swear!”

“Then where else bacon comes from?” Porkrind asked with an arched brow.

“The grocery store I would assume,” Elder Kettle uttered.

“It’s vegan bacon,” Natalie chimed in.

Elder Kettle and Porkrind looked at Natalie and then back at each other.

“I’ll just have some eggs,” Porkrind said while drinking his black coffee.

Meanwhile, Natalie looked at her stack of pancakes and gave three away to Cuphead, who seemed surprise by her sudden generosity until he noticed her measuring one flat pancake with a measuring tape that she got out from her pocket and cut it up into a tiny bit. She gave the rest to Aurora, who didn’t seem to worry about eating the pancakes.

Cuphead watched with a raised eyebrow and Natalie noticed him.

She blushed and drew her brows. “Don’t judge.”

“Hey, you judged me for being a peasant, so why can’t I judge you for eating your food so weirdly?” Cuphead argued back.

“Cuphead, don’t even start,” Mugman groaned. “Not this morning.”

“Sooo…what are we doing today?” Cassidy asked after swallowing a piece of delicious salmon, trying to move on from the current subject.

“We’re hidin’ from the Night Stalkers till they get bored of terrorizing civilians and hid back from wherever they came from,” Porkrind said while drinking more of his coffee.

“Do these attacks usually die down?” Chalice probed with her brow raised.

“They did fifteen years ago,” Jerry answered for Porkrind. “Usually, these attacks happen if they’re hunting someone down. They will kill everyone in their line of sight until that person they hunted down is dead. Then, they go right back into their hiding space somewhere in the city. No one knows where though. However, I do have a couple of ideas.”

“So…who do they hunt down last time?” Elder Kettle questioned Jerry.

“Oh, they were hunting down the red-furred cat species last time until they were all dead—”

Jerry’s sentence was interrupted by Porkrind’s firm stare at him. The creature glanced over at Cassidy, who had her eyes widened in shock.

“Are they my species?” Cassidy asked nervously.

Jerry blinked and looked at Porkrind. Then he glanced back at Cassidy. “Uh, I’ll, uh, be back. Hold on.” Jerry got up from his seat and pulled Porkrind’s arm down into the hallway.

Elder Kettle arched a brow at the two. “Strange. Makes me wonder who they were hunting down this time?” The tea kettle shook his head. “Anyway, we can’t go outside, but I’m sure there are plenty things to do inside.”

“Like what?” Cuphead questioned.

“Like reading!” Mugman stated excitedly. “I got a whole collection of books I’ve packed up from last night.”

“Reading? Yuck! I ain’t reading your romantic books involving a fish and a pirate!” Cuphead commented.

“First off, it’s a mermaid and a pirate. Second off, not all of my books contained romance! They have adventure! Excitement! And may I just add, daring?” Mugman said with a smile.

“Like dating a giant mermaid who will eat the pirate potentially? No way!” Cuphead said while stuffing pancakes into his mouth. “That’s gross!”

“You’re gross!” Mugman barked back.

“Wait…you read those kinds of books too,” Cassidy said with a gasp and her eyes sparkle.

Natalie groaned and shook her head. “And here comes another nerd.”

Mugman gasped happily, his cheeks red. “Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!”

“Wait, wait, I gotta know. Have you read Romancing the High Seas series?” Cassidy asked excitedly.

“THERE’S A SERIES?!” Mugman shouted in pure shock.

“Yeah. It came out with a trilogy,” Cassidy replied.

“WHAT?! WHY DIDN’T ANYONE EVER TELL ME THAT?!” Mugman exclaimed excitedly, shaking his fists by his hips.

“Have you read the first book?” Cassidy probed, happy that someone shared similar interests of hers.

“Yeah, but the ending got spoiled for me,” Mugman answered sadly.

Cassidy gasped in shock. “Oh, what a tragedy!”

“I know!” Mugman cried dramatically.

“Whoever spoiled the ending must pay with their lives,” Cassidy growled.

“Oh, don’t worry, I already gave him a few good punches for it,” Mugman said in a more lighter tone.

“Oh, good. He deserves it,” Cassidy replied with a lighter tone too.

The group stared at Cassidy and Mugman strangely.

“Don’t read any books and spoil it for them. Got it,” Chalice muttered to herself. “Hey! I know what some of us could do if we ain’t interested in reading!” 

~.~

Chalice and Aurora watched Cuphead and Natalie playing checkers intently while Mugman and Cassidy got out their books they packed from last night.

Elder Kettle cleaned up the kitchen after the kids finished their breakfast. Porkrind and Jerry were nowhere to be found until they came out of the room they were talking in. They shared a few grumbles until Jerry decided to help Elder Kettle in the kitchen, despite being injured. Porkrind watched the kids, mostly noticing Cassidy letting Mugman look over her shoulder while reading the book.

Natalie pushed her red piece forward with a cocky grin. “Ha! Now it’s your turn, shorty?”

Cuphead shot a withering glare at her. “I ain’t short.”

“Would you rather have me call you peasant?” Natalie argued.

Cuphead scoffed and looked at his black pieces. He noticed one on the corner and reached for it with a bright grin. “Eh…?” Then he changed his mind. “Eh, no.” Then he changed his mind again about the same piece. “Ehhh…? Eh, no.”

“Go Cuppy!” Aurora cheered brightly.

Natalie shot a teasing smile at Aurora. “Aw, are you not cheering for sissy?”

“I knew you would win easily. Thad’s why I’m cheewing fow Cuppy,” Aurora answered with a cheeky smile.

Chalice smiled at Aurora. “Well, ain’t you cutie?”

Cuphead kept debating whether he should use the same piece over and over again much to the annoyance of Natalie.

“Will you just go already?” Natalie probed impatiently.

Cuphead grabbed the piece and skipped through the board and over Natalie’s pieces, winning the game. “Huh, I win.”

“Yay!” Aurora cheered.

Natalie pouted and rolled her eyes.

“Cool, it’s my turn,” Chalice said while letting Natalie get out of her seat and sit with her little toddler sister.

“I didn’d dhink Cuppy is going do bead you, sissy,” Aurora replied.

“Oh? Were you cheering him on because you thought he would lose?” Natalie asked with a soft smile on her face.

“Yeah. I’ll cheew fow you nexd dime,” Aurora answered.

Natalie giggled softly. “Good. Because I’m gonna need all the cheering from you I can get.” With that said, Natalie booped Aurora’s nose, causing the cup toddler to giggle. Cuphead stared at the two sisters with a fond smile on his face. However, he was surprised to see a more mature and softer side of Natalie, which got him blushing thinking about it.

“Earth to Cuphead,” Chalice called.

“Huh?” Cuphead said while looking back at Chalice.

“It’s your turn,” Chalice answered while pointing at the board.

“Oh, right. Right…” Cuphead replied while sweating around his ceramic head.

Chalice arched a brow and glanced at Natalie entertaining her little sister and then back at Cuphead. She smirked when she realized why Cuphead drifted off in the first place.

Meanwhile, Mugman leaned closer to read the book Cassidy was reading. He was too focused on reading that he didn’t realize that his shoulders were touching Cassidy’s, causing the red feline to notice and blush from the fact that he was next to her. She couldn’t tell what was making her blush around him. According to Porkrind, Mugman was annoying and irritating, but she didn’t find Mugman either irritating or annoying. Mostly just cute and a total goofball. Heck, Cassidy never knew why her species had gotten so much hate over the years, but there are some people out there who saw her as a person and thought nothing much of the politics around her species. Mugman was definitely one of those people who didn’t hate her kind. He probably didn’t know much about them and neither did Cassidy.

Which made her a bit suspicious of both Jerry and her father. Jerry mentioned that the Night Stalkers killed off her species years ago…Was she connected to the Night Stalkers somehow…? Was she the next target they were going after?

Mugman noticed Cassidy being deep in thought. “Hey, uh, are you done reading?”

“Hm?” Cassidy managed to snap out of her train of thought. “Oh, yeah, sorry.”

“No, don’t be,” Mugman said softly. “I’m just following along with the story. I can’t believe Mugbeard’s death is only fake!”

She smiled and giggled, excited to have someone sharing the same love for the book. “Yeah. I’ve already read the other two, but I won’t spoil it for you.”

“Good. I wanna see for myself,” Mugman said while watching Cassidy turning the next page. “I do hope that we get to see Ciela again.”

“Ciela is so stunning and beautiful. Man, Mugbeard is lucky for dating a huge sea beast like her,” Cassidy replied.

“Yeah, I’m happy to see Mugbeard back with his wits and talents.”

Both Mugman and Cassidy sighed lovingly at the thought of both Ciela and Mugbeard.

“If I wasn’t so afraid of water, I would love to have a mermaid tail like her and swim through the ocean,” Cassidy replied wistfully.

“What made you afraid of water?” Mugman asked, looking at her instead of the book.

“Oh, hehe, just an irrational fear is all,” Cassidy said while looking away.

Mugman tilted his head. “If you wanna talk about an irrational fear, I’m afraid of ghosts. Heh, they ain’t real…I mean…they are…but they aren’t at the same time—uh, I’m not sure if I explained it right.”

Cassidy loosened her shoulders a bit. “That’s not an irrational fear.”

“Oh yeah? How about scary movies?”

“Natalie made me watch one once and I couldn’t sleep that night,” she answered.

“Well, Cuphead would take me to scary movies every Friday. Had to change my pants at least three times,” Mugman replied in a low whisper. “Heh, that’s a bit too much information.”

“Well, now I know where we can go that isn’t so scary once we all go on a friend date.”

Mugman smiled softly at her. “Yeah. We might go see movies that are more light-hearted.”

Cassidy nodded her head. “To warn you though, we might get glares from people in public.”

“Why?” Mugman asked with a brow raised.

Cassidy pointed to herself, earning a soft gaze from the blue-nosed mug. “For as long as I can remember, I never knew why they hated me…I don’t know what my species has done that caused such hatred. I’m the only one left alive…and maybe the Night Stalkers might come after me next just to have my species extinct…”

“I doubt that,” Mugman replied softly to her. “The Night Stalkers would’ve been after you first if that was the case. I think…I’m not sure. But, you know, when you hang around with us, we don’t care if we get glares or not. As long as we are having fun and have a grand ole time, what those people think don’t matter, right?”

She smiled at him and nodded with a blush. “Yeah.”

“Besides, who would want to hate on someone like you? I mean, come on, they’re probably just jealous that you’re beautiful, smart, compassionate, kind, cute, and an amazing fighter.”

“Even though I almost got my butt kicked when you first met me?”

“Oh, don’t be hard on yourself. I haven’t done better in terms of combat. You probably did better than me,” Mugman said with a light blush around his cheeks. “Heh, I mean, you also got a voice of an angel and have the cutest purrs and you’re soft—”

He noticed Cassidy widening her eyes in shock at the unexpected compliments. His ceramic face blushed while he looked to notice Cuphead, Natalie, Aurora, and Chalice watching him. Cuphead and Chalice nodded their heads in encouragement for Mugman to go on. Aurora giggled and Natalie shushed her gently. Porkrind glared at Mugman with his one eye, smacking his fist against his palm. Jerry seemed confused and Elder Kettle smirked at Mugman.

Mugman turned his head to face ahead of him. “I’ll be right back.” The mug hurried out of the living room and into the bedroom, passing by the adults.

Cassidy blushed more when thinking about what Mugman was describing herself, hardly believing it to be true. Should she believe it? What if she isn’t what Mugman was describing? Cassidy buried her head in the book, the words scrambled in the book from her lack of focus. 

~.~

Mugman entered the bedroom and shut it. He locked it so that no one could come in during his rant.

“Mugman, you fool!” the mug growled at himself. “The voice of an angel? Cutest purrs? Soft? She’s gonna think I’m a creep. I can’t believe I just said that to her. We just met a couple of days ago. C’mon, Mugman, gotta be better than that. Cooler than that. Although, she might not like me that way…”

Mugman frowned and rubbed his shoulders with a sigh. “Who am I kiddin’? I mean, the worst she can say is no…right? Ooor, she called me a creep and never talk to me again…” Mugman groaned and shook his head. “What’s wrong with me? She’s too smart. Too cool. Too beautiful…with such a caring personality…maybe…hm…maybe I’m not her type.”

“Maybe you’re my type~”

Mugman yelped and whirled around to find Bowlboy in the shadows with a maniacal grin spread across his face. “Bowlboy?! What are you doing here?!”

“Oh, just wondering through the neighborhood when I heard a familiar voice of yours. Thought I drop by and give you a little present.”

“Ugh, Bowlboy….wait, how could you have good hearing? The windows and the doors were locked and I don’t think the walls were that thin.”

“Oh, you know, Bowlboy’s aallways got tricks up in his sleeves.” With that said, he pulled out a syringe. “Aaanyways, I got your present right here.”

Mugman noticed a strange substance inside of the syringe that had the smell of ash and brimstone…wait, is that blood inside of it.

“Bowlboy…what is that thing?” Mugman asked fearfully.

“Hold still…”

~.~

Aurora waddled towards her bedroom to get her teddy bear. She noticed that it was shut for some reason. Aurora didn’t remember either Natalie or anyone else closing the door. When she approached her bedroom door, she could hear a quiet struggle going on the other side of the bedroom.

“Let me go—Let me go!” she heard Mugman groaned.

Aurora opened the bedroom door and noticed Bowlboy having his arm wrapped around Mugman’s throat from behind him and stabbing the syringe onto Mugman’s neck. Mugman managed to elbow Bowlboy’s chest with the last remaining sanity he had left.

“Mugman?” Aurora called timidly.

Bowlboy noticed Mugman groaning in pain and hurried out of the room through the opened window where he first came in the bedroom, leaving Aurora alone with Mugman writhing in agony. Aurora was too scare to walk into her bedroom.

“Aurora, what’s going on?”

Aurora turned to see Natalie coming up to her with Cuphead beside her.

“Mugman…” Before she could say anything, Mugman leaped at her, tackling her onto the ground. Luckily, he didn’t hurt her yet.

Cuphead winced and widened his eyes in horror to see his brother’s once blue nose darkened along with his blue-striped straw. Mugman’s teeth became sharp and he grew claws at the tips of his fingers that were stuck against the wall. His eyes became yellow with red irises around his dark pupils. There was fire in his mug head, blazing. Mugman stared down at Aurora with his forked tongue hanging out the corner of his mouth.

Aurora started to cry in fear.

“Aurora!” Natalie’s shout snapped Cuphead out of his horrified thoughts of his brother’s appearance.

With a determined look, Cuphead charged towards his brother and tackled him away from Aurora. He managed to wrap his arm around Mugman’s throat.

“Grab her!” Cuphead shouted.

Natalie grabbed Aurora and hurried away from them while Porkrind, Jerry, and Elder Kettle approached the scene.

Mugman flipped Cuphead over his blazing head and slammed him onto the ground. Cuphead groaned in pain while Mugman pounced on top of him, clawing into Cuphead’s shoulders.

“OW! Mugsy! C’mon! Snap of it!” Cuphead shouted at his brother.

Mugman growled while trying to bite Cuphead’s face off. Before Mugman could make anymore movements to harm his brother beneath him, he was grabbed by the handle by Porkrind and was thrown off of Cuphead and into the bedroom. Cuphead took a moment to recover and witnessed Porkrind shutting the bedroom door.

“You okay, Cups?” Porkrind asked.

“Y-Yeah,” Cuphead answered, his voice shaky.

Porkrind kept his hand gripping the knob, hearing scratches from the monstrous version of Mugman.

“Mugsy needs our help!” Cuphead called while getting up and going towards the door with the limp before he felt Jerry holding him back.

“That ain’t your brother,” Porkrind pointed out. “Something happened to him.”

“Dad! What’s going on?!” Cassidy shouted while arriving at the scene with Chalice tailing by her side.

“Natalie said that Mugman attacked Aurora! What happened?!” Chalice questioned urgently.

“We don’t know!” Porkrind said while hearing scratches at the door.

Elder Kettle gasped and dug into his pocket to get out two potions. Porkrind and Jerry noticed the blue potions.

“What are those?” Porkrind asked with his head tilted.

“I don’t know, but I was instructed on giving the boys these when they get older. Maybe it could help Mugman,” Elder Kettle informed Porkrind and Jerry.

Jerry looked down at Cuphead. “Go back with the others, Cuphead. We’ll take care of your brother.”

“But—”

“Do as he says, Cuphead,” Elder Kettle calmly instructed the cup.

Cuphead breathed heavily, reluctant to nod his head and return back with the other kids.

Jerry took out an empty syringe. “Here, put one of the potions in here.”

Elder Kettle filled the syringe with the potion and gave it back to Jerry. “I’ll hold Mugman while you put it in him.”

Jerry nodded his head and looked at Porkrind. “I’ll tell you when I’m ready.”

“Are you sure about this, Jerry?” Porkrind asked.

Jerry nodded his head and held the syringe close to him. He looked at Elder Kettle to see if he was ready. The old tea kettle nodded his head in confirmation.

Jerry glanced back at Porkrind. “Now.”

Porkrind opened the door, letting Mugman jump out of the bedroom. Once he landed onto the ground on all fours, Elder Kettle grabbed Mugman by the handle. Mugman growled and swung his claws around to scratch anyone who dared picked him up.

“Hurry! He’s starting to burn my hand!” Elder Kettle shouted once he felt the heat from his boy’s flaming head.

Jerry hurried over next to Elder Kettle and stuck a syringe on Mugman’s neck, pushing the potion into his body. Mugman stopped swinging his arms around and started to breathe heavily. Elder Kettle let Mugman go once he saw the flames were dying down. Porkrind and Jerry relaxed their bodies once they saw Mugman reverting back to normal.

Mugman stumbled around and fell onto his knees, his body shaking violently. The mug looked at his hands to see the claws were shrinking back into his fingertips but he could see something blue by the tips of his fingers. His vision was a blur while he lowered his hands to find Jerry and Porkrind standing in front of him.

“Mugsy!” Cuphead shouted happily.

Mugman whirled his head and saw his brother covering his shoulder as if he got injured. What just happened? Cuphead stopped going towards him once he realized that Mugman was staring at him in fear. He looked behind Cuphead to see the others holding concern gazes, including Cassidy. Natalie held Aurora in her arms, watching him with a soft gaze on her face.

“Mugman…” Elder Kettle called softly.

Mugman turned to look up at Elder Kettle, noticing the old tea kettle offering his hand to help Mugman up on his feet. Mugman grabbed Elder Kettle’s hand and then leaned his head against Elder Kettle’s chest, sobbing uncontrollably.

“W-What is going on with me, Elder Kettle? What’s happening to me?” Mugman cried, earning a soothing back rub from his caretaker.

“Shh, shh,” Elder Kettle soothed. “It’s alright…whatever this thing is…we’ll figure it out. We will figure this out.”

Mugman blacked out, falling asleep against his caretaker’s chest.

“It will be okay, Mugman. It will be okay.”

To Be Continued...

[xgoldenlatiasx]

Heroverse: Timeline

(had this in my drafts for a while and finally deciding to post it)

wanted to try and assemble a proper timeline for the Heroverse! this is subject to change as its constantly developing, but right now this is the one I have in my brain. Will also list the protagonists and their ages for each of those games

P:LA- Auberi (Age 19)

⬇️ 200-ish years or smth

FR/LG- Red (Age 13) (he’s the only heroverse protag that isn’t an OC)

⬇️ 2 years

HG/SS- Al (Age 11)

⬇️ 3 years

S/M- Al (Age 14)

⬇️ Approximately 30-ish years or so

OR/AS- Arcelia (Age 15)

⬇️ 2-3 ish years

D/P/PT- Quartz (Age 15-16 maybe)

⬇️ A few months to 1 year

SW/SH- Blake (Age 16)

⬇️ a few months

The Isle of Armor/The Crown Tundra- Blake (Age 16(IOA)-17(CT))

⬇️ a few months (1 month after CT more specifically)

X/Y- Blake (Age 17) & Auberi (Age 18)

⬇️ 1 year

B/W- Blake (Age 18) (happens linear to Auberi getting sent back to P:LA)

⬇️ 1 year

S/V- Florence (Age 15)

⬇️ 1 year

B2/W2- August (Age 15)

⬇️ A few months

The Teal Mask/The Indigo Disc- Florence (Age 16)

haven’t… totally figured out where OR/AS falls in here? I’m thinking maybe a few years before SW/SH, as currently I’m trying to work Arcelia in as the protag, and she’s around Blake’s age. but if I decide to just make a new protag from scratch- I might just place it right after HG/SS, or somewhere in that one 30 year gap.

UPDATE: ORAS’s spot on the timeline has been decided so nvm lol

UPDATE 2: changed D/P/PT's place on the timeline

note that any semblance of a canon timeline mentioned in the games is just… mostly if not completed disregarded/rewritten in this AU lol

also! I feel like I should explain the weird placement of S/M cause I feel like out of them all that one's the biggest head scratcher, since in most timelines I've seen it's placed pretty later cause obviously it's a more recent game. see, my original trainersona was Al, my Johto protag, and when S/M came out I made her my protag again cause I wanted her story to continue and hadn't really fleshed out her universe beyond those games back then. BUT over the years after she stopped being my trainersona I still didn't want to get rid of her. I made Blake's story afterwards, but introduced a new character named "Gold" to it that was supposed to be Al's future kid. he's the guy who takes over after Blake loses their champion title. therefore S/M had to be placed right after HG/SS. in short, Heroverse is a result of me mashing two OCverses together. and that also means S/M is heavily canon-divergent in this verse lol.

[randomestfandoms-ocs]

Descendants OC Masterlist A-K

( L - Z )

Name: Ace Hearts

Story: Long Live the Queen

Parents: Queen Of Hearts

Face claim: Curran Walters

Love interest: Evie

Summary: Contrary to popular belief, Ace Hearts was perfectly content with being his sister’s left hand man.  He'd wanted to help her run the isle since long before she’d ever dreamt of doing such a thing.  Being her enforcer, her advisor, her defender in her reign was all he’d ever wanted.  There shouldn’t have been any problem.  Only, there was.  Ace wanted more.  Specifically, he wanted a certain blue haired princess who’d devoted herself to good and to saving the children of the Isle.  But as the changing tides in Auradon start to reflect back onto the Isle, Ace finds he might have to make a choice. 

Name: Princess Ada

Story: Untitled

Parents: Adam

Face claim: Sadie Soverall

Summary: Auradon didn’t hold much value for second born royals, least of all girls.  Princess Adelaide knew that her life had been planned from the day she was born; that she would spend her childhood learning to be a proper princess, attend high school at Auradon Prep, and within a year of her eighteenth birthday she would be married to Chad Charming.  She had accepted it all.  Her lessons were boring but endurable, she had wonderful friends at Auradon Prep, and Chad was her best friend.  She knew better than to expect anything more out of life.

But when Ben brings a group of kids over from the Isle, Ada finds herself wondering if there isn’t a life for her beyond the borders of Auradon; a life where she can make her own path instead of following the one that was mapped out for her.  A path that leads her right to a certain pirate with an accent to die for, and to a discovery about herself that may change the future of the entire kingdom of Auradon.

Name: Princess Addie

Story: Untitled

Parents: Belle & Adam

Face claim: Liana Liberato

Name: Alina Romanova

Story: Untitled

Parents: Anastasia Romanov & Dimitri

Face claim: Maude Apatow

Name: Anissa Radcliffe

Story: Ties That Bind

Parents: Anita & Roger Radcliffe

Face claim: Maia Mitchell

Love Interest: Ben; Aziz

Summary: Anissa Radcliffe had a plan.  Well, Anissa, Sloane, and Kyra had a plan to fix the horrific oversights surrounding the isle, but Anissa had smaller, more achievable plans.  Keep her siblings in line.  Maintain perfect grades and excel in her many extracurriculars.  Get Carlos De Vil off the isle come hell or high water.  Although his mother had lost her mind, Cruella De Vil had once been a dear friend and mentor to Anissa’s own mother, and in another world, she and Carlos may have grown up as family.  As Ben’s coronation approaches, several of her plans are falling into place, but no matter what, Anissa will not lose sight of the most important plan of all: protect Carlos De Vil.  From the isle.  From his mother.  From Auradon.  From himself.

Name: Arden Of DunBroch

Story: A Change Of Fate

Parents: Merida

Face claim:  Hailee Steinfeld

Name: Atalia of Atlantica

Story: Untitled

Parents: Attina

Face claim: Madelyn Cline

Name: Avalon Le Fay

Story: King and Lionheart

AO3 | FFNet | Wattpad

Parents: Merlin & Morgana Le Fay

Face claim:  Emma Dumont

Love interest: Jay; eventual Jay & Harry

Summary: Nimue, daughter of Arthur and Gwen, and Avalon Le Fay, daughter or Merlin and Morgana, had always been thick as thieves, and had always been ready to declare war on Auradon.  Ever since the formation of the Isle, King Adam and the Fairy Godmother had been insisting that Morgana was still a villain, and therefore belonged on the Isle, and once Avalon was born, she agreed–so long as her daughter could stay in Camelot.  When Arthur was killed barely a year later, Merlin and Gwen partnered up to raise their daughters and run a kingdom, until the girls would be old enough to do so themselves.  Of course Auradon never trusted the one kingdom that refused to unite, and insisted that the girls be sent to Auradon prep, and so they went–reluctant as could be.  Everything was fine, mostly–the other princesses looked down on Nimue’s love of swordfighting, and Avalon was never seen as anything but a villain kid, but they still had each other.  They could tolerate it all, biding their time.  But at sixteen years of age, everything they’d ever planned gets thrown for a loop when it’s declared that four children from the Isle would be moving to Auradon.

Nimue belongs to @seaweedhufflepuffocs​

Name: Beatrice

Story: Ever Just As Sure (As The Sun Will Rise)

Parents: The Beast & The Enchantress

Faceclaim: Taissa Farmiga

Summary: If King Adam had known the price of banishing magic from Auradon, he might have reconsidered.  But the former Beast was a stubborn man who refused to heed any warnings, and it had backfired.  He hadn’t known that banishing all magic would rip the last remains of the Enchantress’ curse from his veins, hadn’t known that the magic would redirect itself into the Enchantress, and he certainly hadn’t known that it would lead to the immediate birth of his firstborn child.  But it had.  And while he had no qualms about sending the Enchantress to the Isle, the queen had refused to send her stepdaughter, and so Princess Beatrice had been raised in Auradon alongside her younger brother.  She knew the truth about her birth, and she knew that her father hated her with every fibre of his being, but she didn’t care.  What she did care about was Ben’s decision to bring children from the Isle to Auradon - children that could have been her, had Belle not stepped in - and proving to her father, once and for all, that her generation is something more than just the children of heroes and villains, that they can be their own people and make their own choices.  And maybe the children of the four baddest villains are the perfect people to help her with that plan.

Name: Bessie Sawyer

Story: Untitled

Parents: Becky Thatcher & Tom Sawyer

Face claim:  Saorise Ronan

Name: Blossom

Story: Faith, Trust (And A Little Pixie Dust)

Parents: N/A

Faceclaim:  Bailee Madison

Love Interest: Ben

Summary: When a baby laughs for the first time, a new fairy is born.  When Prince Benjamin Florian laughed for the first time, Blossom was born.  From that day forth, the prince and his fairy were inseparable. The citizens of Auradon always said that their rulers had given them both a prince and a princess when Ben was born, and Blossom was beloved by the kingdom.  But when Ben brings four villain children to Auradon, Blossom is afraid.  Afraid for her kingdom, afraid for her safety, and afraid for her prince.  She is Ben’s fairy, she has to protect him at all costs; she has to do whatever it takes to make sure that Ben’s first action as king is a success, even if it means saving the VKs from themselves.  Even if it means breaking her own heart.

Name: Callista Gainey

Story: Untitled

Parents: Cassandra

Face claim: Lulu Antariksa 

Name: Chessy Of Arendelle

Story: All Is Found

Parents: Redacted / Anna & Kristoff

Face claim: Mackenzie Foy

Love Interest: Ben

Summary: Chessy of Arendelle had never once doubted how loved she was.  She knew how much her parents loved her, the newborn infant they’d found miraculously still alive in the snow outside of their castle.  They’d chosen her, had brought her home and raised her as their own, the crown princess of Arendelle.  Her aunt loved her, her kingdom loved her, and her best friend, Crown Prince Ben of Auradon loved her.  That was enough for her.  That was more than enough for her.  But… the mystery.  Not knowing who she was, where she came from.  The answers that seemed to slip further out of reach every time she thought she’d come close to understanding.  Chessy didn’t need a family that hadn’t wanted her, she didn’t need to be anyone more than who she already was.  But she did need to know who she could have been.

Name: Chiara Potts

Story: Certain As The Sun (Rising In The East)

Parents: Chip Potts & Redacted

Faceclaim:  Danielle Rose Russell

Love Interest: Ben & Evie

Summary: Chiara Potts is as far from a princess as you can get - well, unless you ask Cinderella.  She’s the daughter of a servant, and the granddaughter of a servant.  And she herself is a servant.  Granted, they don’t call her that, but Chiara is only the latest in the long line of Potts’ to serve the royal family.  Still, despite being his chief of staff and majordomo, Ben is her best friend.  And yes, maybe her job is the reason that they’re inseparable, but they still are.  So of course, Chiara is the first person to know about his plans to bring Villain Kids to Auradon.  She’s also the first person to defend his idea, and the person that he asks to help them settle in.  But when Chiara overhears their plans, she has to decide - will she try to change their minds and prove Ben right to all of Auradon, or will she have to go against him - and what will that cost her?

Name: Chryseis

Story: We Could Be Immortals (Just Not For Long)

Parents: Poseison

Faceclaim:  Holland Roden

Summary: Poseidon isn’t a hero.  He’s a god, yes, but not a hero.  His granddaughter Ariel is a hero, his nephew Hercules is a hero, but Poseidon is not a hero.  So no one is really sure why his youngest daughter has just started at Auradon Prep, only days after Ben announced the impending arrival of four villain kids.  But Chryseis knows.  Mal, daughter of Maleficent, is also the daughter of Hades, and the Olympians are afraid.  And Chryseis, only sixteen and still learning to be a goddess, is the only person who can find out her intentions, the only person who can stop her from potentially destroying Olympus.

Name: Cian Hearts

Story: Lavender Haze

Parents: Queen Of Hearts

Face claim: Gavin Leatherwood

Love Interest: Violet Kingsleigh

Summary: Cian Hearts didn’t hate Auradon.  No, to hate Auradon would suggest that he cared, and he didn’t.  He cared about surviving, about maintaining his mother’s territory and protecting his people, not about Auradon.  Nor, to his mother’s displeasure, about Wonderland.  Neither would help him live to see another day, so neither warranted a second thought on his part.  Or so he believed, until he received an invitation – a royal summons, if you asked him – to attend Auradon Prep along with four others from the isle.  With no real say in the matter, Cian packs up his life and crosses the barrier, determined to keep his head down – and attached to his neck – until Prince Ben gave up on his foolish plan.  Unfortunately, the king-to-be forgot to mention that they would be starting school with one more transfer student: Violet Kingsleigh, heir to Wonderland and daughter of his mother’s sworn nemesis.

Name: Cosette Bellefleur

Series: Lust For Life

Story: Darling, Darling; Doll Face; Cherry

Parents: Claudette Bellefleur

Face claim: Lily Rose Depp

Love Interest: Gaston; Prince Ben; Prince Chad; Henry Turner

Summary: On the Isle Of The Lost, survival was a simple matter of strength and power. Cosette Bellefleur knew that she would never have the strength, so instead she focused on the power. Sharpening her own skillset, Cosette earned herself the protection of the strongest of the strong: Gaston. And while she may have had her flirtations and her flings, at the end of the day, Cosette belonged to Gaston, and his strength belonged to her. It was the perfect system.

But when Prince Ben, soon to be King Ben, makes his first royal proclamation, everything changes. In a fit of what he undoubtedly considered fairytale-level kindness, five children of villains would be brought to Auradon, and Cosette would be one of them. It made sense, of course, but that didn’t make it any less unpleasant for her. Ripped away from her friends and lovers, from her home, and from her protector, Cosette would have no one to rely on but Mal’s crew, and there was certainly no lost love there.

But when her unwilling allies need a way to get close to the prince, Cosette may just find a way to ensure their loyalty and secure herself a new protector all in one fell swoop.

Name: Eliane

Story: Into The Unknown

Parents: Redacted

Face claim: Abigail Cowen

Love Interest: Harry Hook

Name: Elise Charming

Story: Enchanted

Parents: Prince Charming & Cinderella

Face claim:  Sabrina Carpenter

Love interest: Evie; Ben & Evie

Summary: Princess Elizabeth Victoria Isabelle Katherine Grace Regina Alexandria James – more affectionately known as Elise Charming – had been raised on one simple lesson.  Have courage and be kind.  And for sixteen years, she had lived by those words.  Alongside her twin brother Chad and their best friends Ben and Audrey, Elise had been picture perfect royalty. The four of them were perfectly sweet, perfectly charming, perfectly… well, perfectly perfect.  But when Ben, weeks away from his coronation, decides to bring over four Villain Kids from the Isle of the Lost, their perfect group falls apart.  Elise is sure that they can get through it, that they can hold their heads high and rebuild their perfect friendship, and that everything will be okay.  And then the Villain Kids arrive in Auradon, and the most beautiful girl in the world steps out of the limousine.

Name: Evander Grimhilde

Story: Untitled

Parents: Evil Queen & King Richard

Face claim:  Taylor Zakhar Perez

Love interest: Topher Charming

Summary: Evander Grimhilde was highly aware of the fact that his life was not normal, even for the isle of the lost.  Mostly, he knew, it was because he was the first child born on the Isle.  The blueprint, the model, the test subject.  He was born before the villains had the idea to use their children as soldiers to defend their turf, before they decided that survival and gaining power was more important than planning for getting off the Isle.  No, where his kids — and they were; every child on the Isle was his.  His to protect, his to raise, his to love the way their parents never were — were raised to be their parents’ henchmen, Evander was raised to be king.  He learned history and finances, potions alongside politics, everything there was to know about the United Kingdom of Auradon and every kingdom within it.  Evander was as qualified to be a king as anyone could hope to be, except for one teensy tiny little detail: he still lived on the Isle.

At least until Prince Ben turned 16 and made his very first proclamation as king — to bring five children from the Isle to Auradon.  His sister, her crew, and Evander himself.  With his kingdom finally within reach, Evander’s destiny is finally within his reach.  The only problem is that Evander isn’t actually sure if he wants his destiny; especially once he meets Topher Charming.

Name: Finley Rider

Story: Stolen Heart

Parents: Rapunzel and Flynn Rider

Face claim: Virginia Gardner

Love interest: past Ben; Jay; eventual Ben & Jay

Summary: Finley Rider – Princess Finley Fitzherbert – was all set to live a fairytale life.  She was the heir to the throne of Corona, her parents’ pride and joy, and betrothed to her best friend, Prince Benjamin.  But when a ten year old Finley gets bored at a museum gala and decides to see how many artifacts she can lift without getting noticed, everything changes. When the Beast King catches her stealing Jafar’s staff, he loses his temper.  The child is sent to the Isle, Corona breaks ties with Auradon, and Ben loses his best friend.  

On her first day on the Isle, Finley gets caught stealing a bracelet off of Lady Tremaine.  But rather than tell the woman, the boy introduces himself as Jay, son of Jafar, and offers Finley a partnership.  Their alliance soon grows into a friendship, and Jay introduces Finley to the other VKs, bringing her into their team.  The five of them rule the island with ease, causing trouble wherever they go.  It isn’t perfect, but Finley has learned to move on from Corona, and from Auradon.  So of course, that’s when Prince Ben makes his first royal proclamation; bringing children of the Isle to Auradon.  The daughter of Maleficent, the son of Jafar, the daughter of the Evil Queen, and the son of Cruella De Vil.  And the princess of Corona.

Name: Fraser Fitzherbret / Fitz Rider

Story: Stolen Heart

Parents: Rapunzel and Flynn Rider

Face claim: Matt Cornett

Love interest: Harry Hook; TBD

Name: Gloria Gothel

Story: Mother Knows Best

Parents: Mother Gothel

Face claim: Melissa Barrera

Summary: Gloria Gothel didn’t care about politics.  Not on the isle, not in Auradon.  She didn’t care about running the biggest turf, about having the strongest crew, she only cared about survival.  She had gotten it wrong once, had made the rookie mistake of getting attached to other people, of caring about something beyond covering her own ass, but it was a mistake that she would never make again.  But when an invitation comes for her to go to Auradon along with Maleficent’s daughter and her crew, Gloria finds herself at a crossroads.  Once again she has a choice to make, between looking out for her own self interest or taking care of the family she’d never meant to find.

Name: Griffin

Story: Untitled

Parents: Grumpy

Face claim: Joshua Bassett

Name: Halle Finn

Story: Untitled

Parents: Huckleberry Finn

Face claim: Kathryn Newton

Name: Hannah Westergaard

Story: Don’t Blame Me

Parents: Hans Westergaard

Face claim: Kat McNamara

Summary: As far as children of the Isle went, Hannah Westergaard was pretty standard.  Abusive father, no known mother, and no special talents of abilities whatsoever.  As much as she hates to admit it, she’s boring by the Isle’s standards, so why on earth is Prince Ben inviting her to Auradon?  And more importantly, why does it seem like maybe she isn’t quite as boring as she’s been lead to believe?

Name: Harley Hook

Story: Lost Girl

Parents: Captain Hook

Face claim:  India Eisley

Love interest: Jay; possible endgame Jay & Gil

Summary: Harley Hook was a pirate, through and through.  Always at her brother’s side, always with Uma and the crew, always near her beloved Gil, Harley Hook was a pirate.  And as a pirate, she absolutely hated Mal’s gang.  They thought that they were so much better than anyone, just because of Mal’s mom - big whoop, it’s not like Maleficent could even use magic on the Isle.  So yeah, Harley hated the VKs, her loyalty was to the crew, and she was never seen away from Harry or Gil.  And then the princeling decides to bring children of some of the worst villains to Auradon: Mal, Evie, Jay, Carlos.  And Harley.  Harley couldn’t be more furious at being taken away from her crew, or at being sent to Auradon, or at being forced to work with the VKs to get Fairy Godmother’s wand.  But she knows that if she wants to get back to the Isle, back to her family, she needs that barrier down as much as they do.  She’s just not sure that they can cooperate long enough for that.

Name: Harmony Of Atlantica

Story: Carved Out Of The Sea

Parents: Ariel & Prince Eric

Face claim:  Kaya Scodelario

Love interest: Harry Hook

Summary: Princess Harmony was a youngest child’s youngest child, she knew that she would never be anything special.  Her mom was Ariel, and her sister Melody had united their parents’ kingdoms.  Harmony was nothing in comparison.  So Harmony went on her own adventures, swimming as far as she could and discovering the wonders of the world outside of Atlantis.  She’d heard of the Isle of the Lost of course, everyone had, but she never planned on finding it.  She never planned on swimming through the barrier, or on finding out that she would no longer be able to turn into a mermaid when she did, or on never being able to swim back across.  And so, Harmony grew up on the Isle along with the children of the villains.  She befriended pirates and princesses and everything in between, and she almost forgot about life in Atlantis.  And then the future king summons four of the children of the Isle to Auradon, and Harmony knows that she has to seize her only chance at returning to her home, even if it means leaving behind her partner - in crime and in love - Harry Hook.

Name: Hayden

Story: Dying Is An Art

Parents: Hades & Maleficent

Face claim: Jenny Boyd

Summary: Hayden was raised by Hades, knowing full well who her mother - and sister - was.  But Mal doesn’t know about her.  So for most of her life, Hayden hid.  She hid away in her dad’s cave and had very few friends.  And then Prince Ben summons five Villain Kids to Auradon - the son of Jafar, the son of Cruella De Vil, the daughter of the Evil Queen, the daughter of Maleficent, and the daughter of Hades.  But only Hayden knows the truth.  And now she has to keep her secret, and try to stop her sister and her friends from stealing the wand, but she might have to choose between her two missions.

Name: Helena

Story: Long Live the Queen

Parents: Hades & Persephone

Face claim:  Teagan Croft

Love interest: Queenie Hearts

Summary:  Living on the Isle wasn’t easy, but there was something particularly difficult about it for a goddess.  Her dad couldn’t be kept on the Isle–they’d tried, no one died anymore, he was allowed to return to the Underworld. But when Helena was born, she was cast away to join the rest of the Villains and their children, forced to fend for herself.  Being a goddess had its advantages too, she was able to survive and rise up with no problem.  Soon she was the right hand to the newest queen, and hell would freeze before she let anyone take that away from them.

Name: Hero

Story: Untitled

Parents: Hercules & Megara

Face claim: Rachel Zegler

Name: Honey La Bouff

Story: Impossible Dreams

AO3 | Wattpad

Parents: Lottie LaBouff

Face claim: Meg Donnelly

Love interest: Ben & Chad

Summary: As if being raised by a single mother, with a father who passed away before she was born, didn’t make her enough of an oddity, Honey La Bouff was one of the only students at Auradon Prep who wasn’t the child of a prince, princess, or hero.  But despite being looked down on by most of the student body, Honey was best friends with the two most popular boys in school; Prince Ben and Chad Charming.  Honey and Chad had always seen it as their responsibility to look out for their more naïve best friend, and when Ben decides to bring five Villain Kids to Auradon – a decision that both Honey and Chad had been pushing for since they were still in their single digits – they know they’ll have their work cut out for them.  But, all things considered, the VKs seem to be adapting well, and Honey is excited to have them in Auradon.  Or she was, until she takes an extremely suspicious cookie away from Ben and finds herself the victim of a long since forbidden magical roofie.

Name: Princess Isabelle

Story: Tale As Old As Time

Parents: Belle & The Beast

Face claim:  Danielle Campbell

Love interest: Audrey

Summary:  By all rights, Princess Isabelle should be next in line for the throne of Auradon.  She was the firstborn child of the king, after all, and much more politically minded than her twin brother.  But her father, beast that he was, had no intention of ever letting her take her rightful place as queen.  But Belle is her mother’s daughter, and has no intentions of giving up, she just needs a new plan.  And then Ben decides to bring children of the Isle to Auradon, and Isabelle finds herself in the perfect position to get exactly what she’s always wanted.  If only she can go through with it.

Name: Isadora Darling

Story: Second Star To The Right

Parents: Jane Darling

Face claim:  Olivia Holt

Love Interest: Harry Hook

Name: Kate Turner

Story: Untitled

Parents: Elizabeth Swann & Will Turner

Face claim: Grace Van Dien

Name: Keto Jones

Story: Daughter Of Death

Parents: Davy Jones

Face claim: Natalie Alyn Lind

Love Interest: Harry Hook

Name: Krystal Of Arendelle

Story: More Than Just The Spare

Parents: Anna & Kristoff

Face claim:  Willow Shields

Name: Princess Kyra

Story: Ties That Bind

Parents: Jasmine & Aladdin

Face claim: Naomi Scott

Love Interest: Jay

[silverloreley]

Do you have any headcanons about Jehan Frollo (Claude Frollo's younger brother from the original Hunchback of Notre Dame novel) being in the Disney Hunchback universe and/or Descendants?

Fun fact about me: although I am a literature student, I never read French books. I read poems and extracts, but never full books, which include Victor Hugo. Therefore, I had no idea before that post a few days ago that Judge Frollo had a brother.

That said, based on the aforementioned post, these are the ideas I have for the character:

being the younger sibling to a rather shitty older brother who has one great career can't be easy, so Jehan must have a bit of an inferiority complex, possibly exacerbated by their parents or by the society

they must have a bit of an age gap, I suppose, because yes, it may take some long time to get a uni degree and, unlike now, there were no fixed deadlines and the system was a tad different, but Claude is 40-something, I think, so his brother can't be that much younger, I think 30-something? Anyway, if they're orphans, Claude ended up having to raise-provide for Jehan at some point and that never quite stopped

I read on Wikipedia Jehan had an alcoholism problem, which was rather common for older students, as it was the fact he wasted lots of money on drinks rather than on his studies. History tells us many young men left home for their studies and dissipated lots of money this way, but since the families didn't quite know how much books and lessons would cost, it was easy for most students to scam their relatives. I suppose Jehan could have tried to do the same, but with his older brother living in Paris and being an increasingly prominent figure, this may have not worked as well

the two brothers don't have a bad relationship, all things considered, even if they butt heads on issues like money and perdition, Claude actually covers up for his brother's messes (mostly because it would damage his reputation if word got around, but also because he lives vicariously through his brother's vices as he can't do that kind of things himself)

as a student, Jehan is the exact kind of "he could do better, if he actually put some effort" student, but he has dreadful company and his brother's silent approval (despite the vocal disapproval) so he doesn't try. His inferiority complex didn't help.

despite those bad traits, he isn't a bad person, deep down. He's a messy man who can't put himself in line, and he lets his bad habits get the worst of him, but said bad habits are overindulging, and not violence or will to hurt others. Overall, he's more damage to himself (and his brother's pockets) than to others

Jehan never put his nose in his brother's matters, whatever they may have been. In fact, he never even tried to meet Quasimodo despite knowing Claude adopted him. When it came to the persecution of Esmeralda's people and the girl in particular, Jehan was distantly upset (in his students' circle the whole thing was disapproved of) but did nothing to try and convince his brother to stop

In Descendants, since he lived a dissolute life thanks to his brother's money and given he could have done something but didn't, overall doing nothing wrong and nothing good, it was unclear whether he should have been sentenced to the Isle

so he was given a chance: if he set himself straight in a year, he could avoid the Isle, otherwise, he'd be deemed a lost cause and follow his brother

If he managed, he ended up becoming a normal person who, after Ben's decree for the freedom of the Isle kids, would be given custody of his niece Claudine - a good thing for the poor girl, since Jehan became a good enough person he could support here and help with her trauma

If he got sent to the Isle, instead, he'd fall back under his brother's wing, and yet he's the reason Claudine is still well-adjusted enough. He learned his lessons and knows if he had stopped Claude from doing the horrors, neither of them would be there, so he tries to protect Claudine at least a little bit. This leads the brothers to butt heads more than before, yet Jehan tries and that little thing makes a world of difference for the girl.

I did this in half an hour, I hope it's coherent enough, lol

[findmeinthespacebetween]

OCs [ A-K ]

[ L-Z ]

Name: Ace Hearts

Story: Long Live the Queen

Parents: Queen Of Hearts

Face claim: Curran Walters

Love interest: Evie

Summary: Contrary to popular belief, Ace Hearts was perfectly content with being his sister’s left hand man.  He’d wanted to help her run the isle since long before she’d ever dreamt of doing such a thing.  Being her enforcer, her advisor, her defender in her reign was all he’d ever wanted.  There shouldn’t have been any problem.  Only, there was.  Ace wanted more.  Specifically, he wanted a certain blue haired princess who’d devoted herself to good and to saving the children of the Isle.  But as the changing tides in Auradon start to reflect back onto the Isle, Ace finds he might have to make a choice.

Name: Princess Addie

Story: Untitled

Parents: Belle & Adam

Face claim: Liana Liberato

Name: Princess Adelaide

Story: Star Crossed

Parents: Belle & Adam

Face claim: Danielle Rose Russell

Love Interest: Harry

Summary: Auradon didn’t hold much value for second born royals, least of all girls. Princess Adelaide knew that her life had been planned from the day she was born; that she would spend her childhood learning to be a proper princess, attend high school at Auradon Prep, and within a year of her eighteenth birthday she would be married to Chad Charming. She had accepted it all. Her lessons were boring but endurable, she had wonderful friends at Auradon Prep, and Chad was her best friend. She knew better than to expect anything more out of life.

But when Ben brings a group of kids over from the Isle, she finds herself wondering if there isn’t a life for her beyond the borders of Auradon; a life where she can make her own path instead of following the one that was mapped out for her. A path that leads her right to a certain pirate with an accent to die for, and to a discovery about herself that may change the future of the entire kingdom of Auradon.

Name: Alina Romanova

Story: Untitled

Parents: Anastasia Romanov & Dimitri

Face claim: Maude Apatow

Name: Anissa Radcliffe

Story: Ties That Bind

Parents: Anita & Roger Radcliffe

Face claim: Maia Mitchell

Love Interest: Ben; Aziz

Name: Arden Of DunBroch

Story: A Change Of Fate

Parents: Merida

Face claim:  Hailee Steinfeld

Name: Avalon Le Fay

Story: King and Lionheart

AO3 | FFNet | Wattpad

Parents: Merlin & Morgana Le Fay

Face claim:  Emma Dumont

Love interest: Jay; eventual Jay & Harry

Summary: Nimue, daughter of Arthur and Gwen, and Avalon Le Fay, daughter or Merlin and Morgana, had always been thick as thieves, and had always been ready to declare war on Auradon.  Ever since the formation of the Isle, King Adam and the Fairy Godmother had been insisting that Morgana was still a villain, and therefore belonged on the Isle, and once Avalon was born, she agreed–so long as her daughter could stay in Camelot.  When Arthur was killed barely a year later, Merlin and Gwen partnered up to raise their daughters and run a kingdom, until the girls would be old enough to do so themselves.  Of course Auradon never trusted the one kingdom that refused to unite, and insisted that the girls be sent to Auradon prep, and so they went–reluctant as could be.  Everything was fine, mostly–the other princesses looked down on Nimue’s love of swordfighting, and Avalon was never seen as anything but a villain kid, but they still had each other.  They could tolerate it all, biding their time.  But at sixteen years of age, everything they’d ever planned gets thrown for a loop when it’s declared that four children from the Isle would be moving to Auradon.

Nimue belongs to @seaweedhufflepuffocs​

Name: Beatrice

Story: Ever Just As Sure (As The Sun Will Rise)

Parents: The Beast & The Enchantress

Faceclaim: Taissa Farmiga

Summary: If King Adam had known the price of banishing magic from Auradon, he might have reconsidered.  But the former Beast was a stubborn man who refused to heed any warnings, and it had backfired.  He hadn’t known that banishing all magic would rip the last remains of the Enchantress’ curse from his veins, hadn’t known that the magic would redirect itself into the Enchantress, and he certainly hadn’t known that it would lead to the immediate birth of his firstborn child.  But it had.  And while he had no qualms about sending the Enchantress to the Isle, the queen had refused to send her stepdaughter, and so Princess Beatrice had been raised in Auradon alongside her younger brother.  She knew the truth about her birth, and she knew that her father hated her with every fibre of his being, but she didn’t care.  What she did care about was Ben’s decision to bring children from the Isle to Auradon - children that could have been her, had Belle not stepped in - and proving to her father, once and for all, that her generation is something more than just the children of heroes and villains, that they can be their own people and make their own choices.  And maybe the children of the four baddest villains are the perfect people to help her with that plan.

Name: Bessie Sawyer

Story: Untitled

Parents: Becky Thatcher & Tom Sawyer

Face claim:  Saorise Ronan

Name: Blossom

Story: Faith & Trust (And A Little Pixie Dust)

Parents: N/A

Faceclaim:  Bailee Madison

Love Interest: Ben

Summary: When a baby laughs for the first time, a new fairy is born.  When Prince Benjamin Florian laughed for the first time, Blossom was born.  From that day forth, the prince and his fairy were inseparable. The citizens of Auradon always said that their rulers had given them both a prince and a princess when Ben was born, and Blossom was beloved by the kingdom.  But when Ben brings four villain children to Auradon, Blossom is afraid.  Afraid for her kingdom, afraid for her safety, and afraid for her prince.  She is Ben’s fairy, she has to protect him at all costs; she has to do whatever it takes to make sure that Ben’s first action as king is a success, even if it means saving the VKs from themselves.  Even if it means breaking her own heart.

Name: Chessy Of Arendelle

Story: All Is Found

Parents: Redacted / Anna & Kristoff

Face claim: Mackenzie Foy

Love Interest: Ben

Summary: Chessy of Arendelle had never once doubted how loved she was.  She knew how much her parents loved her, the newborn infant they’d found miraculously still alive in the snow outside of their castle.  They’d chosen her, had brought her home and raised her as their own, the crown princess of Arendelle.  Her aunt loved her, her kingdom loved her, and her best friend, Crown Prince Ben of Auradon loved her.  That was enough for her.  That was more than enough for her.  But… the mystery.  Not knowing who she was, where she came from.  The answers that seemed to slip further out of reach every time she thought she’d come close to understanding.  Chessy didn’t need a family that hadn’t wanted her, she didn’t need to be anyone more than who she already was.  But she did need to know who she could have been.

Name: Chiara Potts

Story: Certain As The Sun (Rising In The East)

Parents: Chip Potts & Redacted

Faceclaim:  Danielle Rose Russell

Love Interest: Ben & Evie

Summary: Chiara Potts is as far from a princess as you can get - well, unless you ask Cinderella.  She’s the daughter of a servant, and the granddaughter of a servant.  And she herself is a servant.  Granted, they don’t call her that, but Chiara is only the latest in the long line of Potts’ to serve the royal family.  Still, despite being his chief of staff and majordomo, Ben is her best friend.  And yes, maybe her job is the reason that they’re inseparable, but they still are.  So of course, Chiara is the first person to know about his plans to bring Villain Kids to Auradon.  She’s also the first person to defend his idea, and the person that he asks to help them settle in.  But when Chiara overhears their plans, she has to decide - will she try to change their minds and prove Ben right to all of Auradon, or will she have to go against him - and what will that cost her?

Name: Chryseis

Story: We Could Be Immortals (Just Not For Long)

Parents: Poseison

Faceclaim:  Holland Roden

Summary: Poseidon isn’t a hero.  He’s a god, yes, but not a hero.  His granddaughter Ariel is a hero, his nephew Hercules is a hero, but Poseidon is not a hero.  So no one is really sure why his youngest daughter has just started at Auradon Prep, only days after Ben announced the impending arrival of four villain kids.  But Chryseis knows.  Mal, daughter of Maleficent, is also the daughter of Hades, and the Olympians are afraid.  And Chryseis, only sixteen and still learning to be a goddess, is the only person who can find out her intentions, the only person who can stop her from potentially destroying Olympus.

Name: Cian Hearts

Story: Lavender Haze

Parents: Queen Of Hearts

Face claim: Gavin Leatherwood

Love Interest: Violet Kingsleigh

Name: Eliane

Story: Into The Unknown

Parents: Redacted

Face claim: Abigail Cowen

Love Interest: Harry Hook

Name: Elise Charming

Story: Enchanted

Parents: Prince Charming & Cinderella

Face claim:  Sabrina Carpenter

Love interest: Evie; Ben & Evie

Summary: Princess Elizabeth Victoria Isabelle Katherine Grace Regina Alexandria James – more affectionately known as Elise Charming – had been raised on one simple lesson.  Have courage and be kind.  And for sixteen years, she had lived by those words.  Alongside her twin brother Chad and their best friends Ben and Audrey, Elise had been picture perfect royalty. The four of them were perfectly sweet, perfectly charming, perfectly… well, perfectly perfect.  But when Ben, weeks away from his coronation, decides to bring over four Villain Kids from the Isle of the Lost, their perfect group falls apart.  Elise is sure that they can get through it, that they can hold their heads high and rebuild their perfect friendship, and that everything will be okay.  And then the Villain Kids arrive in Auradon, and the most beautiful girl in the world steps out of the limousine.

Name: Finley Rider

Story: Stolen Heart

Parents: Rapunzel and Flynn Rider

Face claim: Virginia Gardner

Love interest: past Ben; Jay; eventual Ben & Jay

Summary: Finley Rider – Princess Finley Fitzherbert – was all set to live a fairytale life.  She was the heir to the throne of Corona, her parents’ pride and joy, and betrothed to her best friend, Prince Benjamin.  But when a ten year old Finley gets bored at a museum gala and decides to see how many artifacts she can lift without getting noticed, everything changes. When the Beast King catches her stealing Jafar’s staff, he loses his temper.  The child is sent to the Isle, Corona breaks ties with Auradon, Fraser loses his sister, and Ben loses his best friend.  

On her first day on the Isle, Finley gets caught stealing a bracelet off of Lady Tremaine.  But rather than tell the woman, the boy introduces himself as Jay, son of Jafar, and offers Finley a partnership.  Their alliance soon grows into a friendship, and Jay introduces Finley to the other VKs, bringing her into their team.  The five of them rule the island with ease, causing trouble wherever they go.  It isn’t perfect, but Finley has learned to move on from Corona, and from Auradon.  So of course, that’s when Prince Ben makes his first royal proclamation; bringing children of the Isle to Auradon.  The daughter of Maleficent, the son of Jafar, the daughter of the Evil Queen, and the son of Cruella De Vil.  And the lost princess of Corona.

Name: Fitz Rider [ Fraser Fitzherbert ]

Story: Stolen Heart

Parents: Rapunzel and Flynn Rider

Face claim: Matt Cornett

Love interest: Harry Hook; TBD

Name: Gloria Gothel

Story: Mother Knows Best

Parents: Mother Gothel

Face claim: Melissa Barrera

Name: Griffin

Story: Untitled

Parents: Grumpy

Face claim: Joshua Bassett

Name: Halle Finn

Story: Untitled

Parents: Huckleberry Finn

Face claim: Kathryn Newton

Name: Hannah Westergaard

Story: Don’t Blame Me

Parents: Hans Westergaard

Face claim: Kat McNamara

Summary: As far as children of the Isle went, Hannah Westergaard was pretty standard.  Abusive father, no known mother, and no special talents of abilities whatsoever.  As much as she hates to admit it, she’s boring by the Isle’s standards, so why on earth is Prince Ben inviting her to Auradon?  And more importantly, why does it seem like maybe she isn’t quite as boring as she’s been lead to believe?

Name: Harley Hook

Story: Lost Girl

Parents: Captain Hook

Face claim:  India Eisley

Love interest: Jay; possible endgame Jay & Gil

Summary: Harley Hook was a pirate, through and through.  Always at her brother’s side, always with Uma and the crew, always near her beloved Gil, Harley Hook was a pirate.  And as a pirate, she absolutely hated Mal’s gang.  They thought that they were so much better than anyone, just because of Mal’s mom - big whoop, it’s not like Maleficent could even use magic on the Isle.  So yeah, Harley hated the VKs, her loyalty was to the crew, and she was never seen away from Harry or Gil.  And then the princeling decides to bring children of some of the worst villains to Auradon: Mal, Evie, Jay, Carlos.  And Harley.  Harley couldn’t be more furious at being taken away from her crew, or at being sent to Auradon, or at being forced to work with the VKs to get Fairy Godmother’s wand.  But she knows that if she wants to get back to the Isle, back to her family, she needs that barrier down as much as they do.  She’s just not sure that they can cooperate long enough for that.

Name: Harmony Of Atlantica

Story: Carved Out Of The Sea

Parents: Ariel & Prince Eric

Face claim:  Kaya Scodelario

Love interest: Harry Hook

Summary: Princess Harmony was a youngest child’s youngest child, she knew that she would never be anything special.  Her mom was Ariel, and her sister Melody had united their parents’ kingdoms.  Harmony was nothing in comparison.  So Harmony went on her own adventures, swimming as far as she could and discovering the wonders of the world outside of Atlantis.  She’d heard of the Isle of the Lost of course, everyone had, but she never planned on finding it.  She never planned on swimming through the barrier, or on finding out that she would no longer be able to turn into a mermaid when she did, or on never being able to swim back across.  And so, Harmony grew up on the Isle along with the children of the villains.  She befriended pirates and princesses and everything in between, and she almost forgot about life in Atlantis.  And then the future king summons four of the children of the Isle to Auradon, and Harmony knows that she has to seize her only chance at returning to her home, even if it means leaving behind her partner - in crime and in love - Harry Hook.

Name: Hayden

Story: Dying Is An Art

Parents: Hades & Maleficent

Face claim: Jenny Boyd

Name: Helena

Story: Long Live the Queen

Parents: Hades & Persephone

Face claim:  Teagan Croft

Love interest: Queenie Hearts

Summary:  Living on the Isle wasn’t easy, but there was something particularly difficult about it for a goddess.  Her dad couldn’t be kept on the Isle–they’d tried, no one died anymore, he was allowed to return to the Underworld. But when Helena was born, she was cast away to join the rest of the Villains and their children, forced to fend for herself.  Being a goddess had its advantages too, she was able to survive and rise up with no problem.  Soon she was the right hand to the newest queen, and hell would freeze before she let anyone take that away from them.

Name: Hero

Story: Untitled

Parents: Hercules & Megara

Face claim: Rachel Zegler

Name: Honey La Bouff

Story: Impossible Dreams

Parents: Charlotte La Bouff

Face claim:  Meg Donnelly

Love interest: Ben & Chad

Summary:  As if being raised by a single mother, with a father who passed away before she was born, didn’t make her enough of an oddity, Honey La Bouff was one of the only students at Auradon Prep who wasn’t the child of a prince, princess, or hero. But despite being looked down on by most of the student body, Honey was best friends with the two most popular boys in school; Prince Ben and Chad Charming. Honey and Chad had always seen it as their responsibility to look out for their more naïve best friend, and when Ben decides to bring five Villain Kids to Auradon – a decision that both Honey and Chad had been pushing for since they were still in their single digits – they know they’ll have their work cut out for them. But, all things considered, the VKs seem to be adapting well, and Honey is excited to have them in Auradon. Or she was, until she takes an extremely suspicious cookie away from Ben and finds herself the victim of a long since forbidden magical roofie.

Name: Princess Isabelle

Story: Tale As Old As Time

Parents: Belle & The Beast

Face claim:  Danielle Campbell

Love interest: Audrey

Summary:  By all rights, Princess Isabelle should be next in line for the throne of Auradon.  She was the firstborn child of the king, after all, and much more politically minded than her twin brother.  But her father, beast that he was, had no intention of ever letting her take her rightful place as queen.  But Belle is her mother’s daughter, and has no intentions of giving up, she just needs a new plan.  And then Ben decides to bring children of the Isle to Auradon, and Isabelle finds herself in the perfect position to get exactly what she’s always wanted.  If only she can go through with it.

Name: Isadora Darling

Story: Second Star To The Right

Parents: Jane Darling

Face claim:  Olivia Holt

Love Interest: Harry Hook

Name: Kate Turner

Story: Untitled

Parents: Elizabeth Swann & Will Turner

Face claim: Grace Van Dien

Name: Keto Jones

Story: Daughter Of Death

Parents: Davy Jones

Face claim: Natalie Alyn Lind

Love Interest: Harry Hook

Name: Krystal Of Arendelle

Story: More Than Just The Spare

Parents: Anna & Kristoff

Face claim:  Willow Shields

Name: Princess Kyra

Story: Ties That Bind

Parents: Jasmine & Aladdin

Face claim: Naomi Scott

Love Interest: Jay