#big feelings about estrangement and death what else is new

[wereshrew-admirer]

still thinking of what i’d do for the 15days prompt ‘reunion’ if i had the time

a short post-canon comic where duvall is considering what to do next and after remembering his cousin’s message about his worried parents feels obligated to deliver the news to chine’s family - so before leaving blackwick he hikes out to chine’s family farm.

chine’s mom answers the door and duvall feels sick because of some memory of having met her, or a resemblance or something? he suddenly wants to tell her everything (not just chine’s death but everything that happened to him too - and abt It and and and) - only she doesn’t recognize the name “chine” at all and she doesn’t recognize him either…

he stumbles through trying to get her to understand without deadnaming chine, until eventually she frowns like .. wtf are you talking about, <deadname> has been dead for years ??

which confuses duvall, because not only had they been alive but they’d been in blackwick pretty regularly? surely she’d seen or heard about them?

duvall can’t tell if she’s been willfully ignorant or what and is about to explain that <deadname> became chine, etc etc, but it strikes him that chine themself might have sent fake news of their death to her or something and hesitates - surely they had good reason?

he thinks about how strange they’d gotten and struggles for a minute but ultimately decides to respect what he imagines may have been chine’s wishes and excuses himself to leave.

as he’s going she watched and seeing him from behind recognized him finally. she says something like “wait aren’t you that kid that <deadname> brought around a few times?” and when duvall confirms she tells him he looks like shit and maybe he should come in for dinner.

it’d probably end with duvall’s face looking conflicted and upset without clarifying if he goes in or not. maybe a zoom in on the chaos that’s been behind chine’s mom the whole time - a big loud family that chine had left behind or been cut out of and he’ll never know how or why

…….

which wouldn’t be a “short comic” at all, hence my not even trying to put it into images. but i Have been thinking about it and even without all the added nonsense i Am having feelings abt duvall having feelings about chine’s family and the nature of estrangement and……….

[intuitive-revelations]

I've got a kind-of crack theory about Ruby's mother...

Back in The Church on Ruby Road, Ruby is invited onto Long Lost Family, a genealogy TV program hosted by Davina McCall, with the hope of finding some information about her bio family. Unfortunately, they come up with nothing.

[ID: 6 gifs showing Ruby and Davina McCall talking to each other on the phone from The Church on Ruby Road. Davina apologies to Ruby, who tries to hide her upset at the news.

DAVINA: "There is no trace of your mum or dad. I'm sorry. It happens sometimes." RUBY: "No, that's fine... Thanks but, um, could you keep looking?" DAVINA: "No, there's nothing more we can do. If your parents aren't on some kind of database, we can't find them." RUBY: "Ok, um... isn't that unusual though? There's not a single trace anywhere? I mean... in the whole wide world, my mother's never left a blood sample or anythin'?"]

Now obviously, I know tracking down family is hard and, especially for orphans and adopted children, there's no gurantee that you'll be able to get the information you need. But I do find it odd there's seemingly "no trace" of Ruby's parents.

The section where I go on an odd tangent about genealogy

Speaking as someone who isn't a genealogist, but does enjoy researching family history in what little spare time they have... in my experience, close DNA matches aren't that hard to find. Especially if you're of white european descent, as Ruby is (presumably).

(It's generally harder for other ethnicities, as most research resources are white english/american focused. I know this is especially tricky for people like african-americans, where many of one's ancestors may have been enslaved. I've personally also found it tricky with Jewish communities as historically many of them used patronymic names prior to the 1800s, plus you have to account for immigration name changes, pogroms etc.)

For example, as someone who is white, with a mix of various british, mainland european, and ashkenazi ancestors, I actually have thousands of DNA matches, just from an autosomal test on Ancestry alone, let alone something like an mtDNA, xDNA or yDNA test:

[ID: Edited screenshot showing maternal and paternal DNA matches on my AncestryDNA profile. There are 16279 maternal matches and 9745 paternal matches.]

Obviously, due to the way family trees work, most of these are distant matches, however it does include plenty of close ones too, which I've been able to trace to real records and identify relationships with. Personally, my matches even already include many 1st and 2nd cousins, albeit usually a one or two degrees removed, especially as the userbase tends to swing older on these websites. This includes a few people close enough for me to have already known them from family functions and shared annecdotes. Meanwhile, where I did have blank spots, from immigrations, estranged family members, early deaths etc, I've been able to fill in a lot of information.

So what does it mean that there's "no trace" of Ruby's family?

Deliberate or not?

The big question I've had since The Church on Ruby Road is: just how untraceable is Ruby's family?

On one hand, I feel like if this was real life and professional TV genealogists were helping you, you'd get a bit more information than a quick phone call saying they've got zilch. If they're sharing nothing... do they literally have nothing?

On the other hand, this also feels like a writing shortcut. We don't really need 3 hours of Davina McCall sat with Ruby at a computer breaking down every question and theory about possible family members. Ultimately, this was probably just a way to quickly get some major exposition out there, plus throw in a Christmas celebrity cameo for casual viewers. The fact they only talk about Ruby's "parents" being in a DNA database, and no-one else, doesn't give me a lot of faith in the care for accuracy RTD took with this plot point tbh.

Indeed Davina does say 'it happens sometimes', which could indicate it's not as extreme as having zero close relatives...

...but Ruby also asks if it's unusual for there to be no trace of anything, which Davina doesn't answer. If we're asking that question, it sounds like things really could have turned up that blank.

It may not be easy for orphans and adoptees to find family, but I assume it must be quite rare to have zero possible leads? Especially if you're a younger person, and thus may have a good number of people of the right generation to know/remember your family members still alive. Worst case scenario, I can imagine having some leads, only for someone to be uncontactable, or lack the information that would be useful. That being said, maybe I'm being too optimistic, as someone who had the priviledge of never having as much difficulty.

The weird sci-fi parallel (TW: incest (kinda), intersexism)

This is where we get to my theorising. Because in a science fiction context, and specifically a time-travel one, there is one quite famous short story that has a protagonist with zero family connections: '—All You Zombies—' by Robert A Heinlein.

(Fun fact: "All You Zombies" is also the name of a planned Class Ongoing story, once I get the time to resume that.)

You may also be familiar with the movie adaptation: 'Predestination'. It's also seemingly the inspiration for all sorts of similar stories, from 'The Man Who Folded Himself' to Red Dwarf and Futurama.

You might see where i'm going from that last one...

(Again disclaimer: if you seek it out, that this story may be quite triggering. It also was written in 1959. While it's actually somewhat respectable of a trans (kind-of, you'll see what I mean - I'll generally use the pronouns used in the text below) protagonist, it includes sexism, intersexism bordering on medical horror, and selfcest/incest.)

In 1963 (funnily enough), a lonely, orphaned 18 year old woman named Jane has a sexual encounter with a man in a park which ends up leaving her pregnant. When complications arise, the doctor discovers during a successful caesarian she's actually intersex, with a form of ovotesticular syndrome, with her immature, partially developed organs "a mess". He removes the now damaged womb, ovaries etc and, without consent, 'rearranged things so that [they] can develop properly as a man".

A few weeks later, the baby is stolen from the hospital by a man.

Despite all this tragedy, they do decide to complete their transition, restarting life as a man. He struggles to find work, but eventually finds himself making a living selling fake confession stories to magazines as "the Unmarried Mother".

Years later In a bar, he tells his story to a Bartender. After it all, the Bartender reveals he's actually a time agent and offers the chance to see his baby's father again. He drops him off in 1963 to find the man.

Meanwhile, in 1964, the Bartender steals a baby from a hospital, and drops her off at an orphanage in 1945.

The Bartender returns to the Unmarried Mother a month later in 1963, just in time to see him leaving a lonely young woman he met with in a park...

"Now you know who he is", the Bartender says, "—and after you think it over you’ll know who you are... and if you think hard enough, you’ll figure out who the baby is... and who I am.” He drops the Unmarried Mother off in 1983, where he can be recruited by the Temporal Bureau.

The Bartender, Jane, the Unmarried Mother, the kidnapper, the Father, and the Baby are revealed to all be one person, a family tree onto themself. The perfect time agent, causally disconnected from the rest of humanity and thus safe from Faction Paradox - if they are truly human at all (possibly explaining their biological bi-sexuality).

Thus, literally, having no relatives.

NO, OF COURSE I don't think this is what's up with Ruby!

But...

A lot of people have suggested that the woman who drops off Ruby could be herself. Obviously this doesn't necessarily mean Ruby is her own mother - let alone her own intersex father, child, and recruiter too!

But the story did come to my mind watching the Christmas special, and I do think the less squicky side of it, the 'perfect time agent' angle is worth considering. Could Ruby really be causally/genetically disconnected from the rest of humanity? Could she literally have no close relatives?

Assuming her DNA is not taken from any other person, but some semi-random mix of genes, she really may not match with anyone. At most, she would have some distant false matches, who share very small portions of DNA with her just by statistical fluke.

"BUT", I hear you say, "Didn't she get rewritten by the literal butterfly effect in episode one? She must be connected to humanity!"

Yes she did. But you know else happened?

She was still there.

Seriously think about it. Time travel fiction often doesn't think about the full consequences of time being altered even slightly, especially for a gag, but think about it literally. If all of human history was changed and a whole new species, possibly descended from Silurians, became dominant on the planet...

... why would the Doctor still happen to be travelling with someone with a name beginning with 'Rub-' who looks like Millie Gibson? Remember her name comes from Ruby Road... so does 'Ruby Road' exist on Rubathon's Earth? The Church presumably doesn't, unless there's a lizard Jesus...

At the very least we can point to the Web of Time being particularly reinforced around Ruby for some reason, even after all the damage it's taken between Flux and now, letting Ruby persist into the new timeline. This is explicitly confirmed in the last episode, with the Doctor calling it a fixed point.

At worst, it may imply whatever 'designed' Ruby just needs her to meet the Doctor, no matter what the dominant species on Earth is.

Mind you, both of these do open questions about what happened in the timeline where Ruby was eaten by the Goblin King. Maybe targetting her after her birth left her temporally vulnerable? Or maybe it was a necessary event, to bring the Doctor to Ruby Road...

Add this to some other things we've seen this season:

In Space Babies, we're introduced to the concept of 'baby farms', allowing people to be loomed born without a parent.

We also know, at least, that Ruby registers as human to the TARDIS (though given Sutekh's influence, who knows how trustworthy that scan was now!).

In The Devil's Chord, Ruby is not erased by Maestro destroying humanity. Granted we can put this down to the Doctor/TARDIS, and how time travel effects people's biodata, but I think it could be a misdirect.

(Interestingly there was a very similar plotpoint in "City of the Daleks", the Eleventh Doctor adventure game, which saw the New Dalek Paradigm invading Earth in...1963. Unlike Ruby, Amy eventually actually does start to fade, needing a 'chronon blocker' to stabilise her. Hey remember how we just heard the word 'chronon' used a bunch in the show.)

In Boom, the Ambulance is entirely unable to find a next of kin for Ruby, despite seemingly having her in its records. This is a little hard to dissect, as you could take a lot of different interpretations away from it. At the very least, it suggests Ruby doesn't have any living descendents in the 51st century. Carla probably doesn't either (which makes sense with her not having any bio-kids, and Ruby seemingly being the only child she fully adopted rather than fostered?) But for its extensive records, it's notable it still couldn't find anyone after that, even presumably with access to Ruby's DNA like the genealogists had.

Everything in 73 Yards.

Between the snow falling in each episode, plus context in The Legend of Ruby Sunday, we know that Christmas Eve on Ruby Road, while fixed, is also uniquely vulnerable and 'raw'. With the woman's changing reactions to the Doctor, it's also flexible enough to change, somewhat.

Similarly, the possible connection between the woman who dropped Ruby off and the woman in 73 Yards, between her face not being visible and the CCTV camera being around 73 yards / 66.6 metres away. And if that woman really was Ruby, then maybe the parallels to All You Zombies may not be as insane as they sound.

[mysterycitrus]

I'm forever thinking about persephone pt2 when dick talks about robin as a mantle and how mary grayson's death haunts it and how now so many kids have used the name and died with it, and so when I was reading through New Teen Titans #55 recently, kory's thoughts about dick when he goes to bruce after finding out about jason's death really just ripped my heart in two in a whole different way...

"He hasn’t been the same since he found out about Jason. Oh, Dick- I know you were Robin. I know what this means to you that the new Robin died. I know you feel like part of you died, too- but it wasn’t you, honey. Robin died. But you didn’t. You’re still alive!"

yes!!! yes!!!!! im very very happy that connected with u — death in the family + lonely place of dying + new teen titans + war games were big big rereads for me when i was writing that part. my regret is that i haven’t been able to include an interaction with steph (im committed to keeping her as far away from bruce as possible) but yeah it was so crucial for dick to know that robin had literally gotten children killed. partially because it proves that bruce is a hypocrite, and partially to show how divorced robin has become from its original meaning and purpose. my intention was the same as my version of the pearls falling — to change the context enough to give the actual text new meaning!

i did a lot of reading about romani funeral/practises of mourning, because i think how dick and bruce grieve differently are big parts of their respective characters, and also a significant factor in their estrangement post-robin and post-jason. bruce is trapped in the alley metaphorically, but he also maintains his family home as a mausoleum. he spends a lot of time looking at family portraits, thinking about the pearls, seeing himself as a child in the house. jason’s suit remains in its glass box. he is unable to process his grief, nor does he want to. that pain is the driving force behind his desire to do good.

dick is transient by comparison — he’s never shown to have a lot of worldly possessions (he arrives in bludhaven with a duffel bag and nothing else) and his one point of physical connection to his parents is usually just the poster that shows up sporadically in canon. i didn’t want to misinterpret romani practices for a gd batman fanfic, so i tried to introduce different motivation for how dick utilises his own grief to take action. he uses his family to create a legacy for himself to protect their memory.

with that in mind, it becomes even more devastating that bruce has taken that and given it to others, without explaining the reasons behind its creation. literally, like what if dick used the wayne portrait for kindling? that’s probably the closest point of comparison.

dick actually explaining to donna and roy what robin meant vs its legacy that is totally out of his control was also really important. they still call him robin a decade later! he’s their robin! it’s so important to know that that name persists for him, no matter how many others have worn the cape!

[silent-sanctum]

The Part 3 Dilemma

I have one of this random thoughts of mine and it's about one of the complaints about Stardust Crusaders

"I dropped at Part 3 because the plot dragged too long" "The Monster-of-the week trope made it boring"

Personally, I don't mind it (thanks to Jotaro's presence tbh). But I do understand why others feel that way. I feel like the reason Araki decided to stick with that set-up is because for one, it's a shonen series (a.k.a a manga who's targeted for young boys), and two that it's because it's his way of experimenting with a new power system.

So, you can't really blame a guy who wanted to test things out in the beginning rather than to focus on writing a more engaging story, more so when him knowing that the introduction of Stands and their powers was able to bring him the most commercial success.

But from a writer's perspective and someone who watches a lot of shows, I think what made SC such a sludge to get through is this part's lack of subplots.

What do I mean by that? Let me explain:

"A subplot is a narrative thread that is woven through the media to support the elements of the main plot. A subplot can build out the conflict in the main plot or it can be a vehicle for a secondary character's storyline."

Essentially, it's a method of fleshing out the story more by introducing the audience a side story to either tackle a theme that's related to the main plot or develop a character more to better understand their purpose in the story.

Now let's look at Part 3

The central point of this part is that a big bad has returned to wreak havoc on the Joestars and the world and it's the heroes' job is to get rid of him once and for all. It's odyssey-based where we get to see the guys go on this journey and fight the bad guys until they reach the final stage.

But because this part involves just that- the fighting bad guys part- for 40+ episodes, it bores the audience because of how repetitive it's becoming. There's nothing else it has going on for it to keep the audience engaged.

There's a significant lack of subplots to enhance their journey to Egypt.

Compare that to the other parts…

Part 4: A slice-of-life/murder mystery plot that focuses on the stories of its residents (e.g. Koichi's development, Okuyasu's family issues, Yukako's obssesion, Rohan's antics as a mangaka, Josuke's bond with Joseph), before tying them into the main plot in the second half (e.g. Reimi's murder, the involvement of the Stand arrow, focus on Kira's mind as a psychopathic serial killer) Part 5: Got to look into the past of each of Bucciarati's crew: Giorno and Bucciarati's childhood, Mista's pre-Stand user life, Abbachio's past as a cop, Diavolo and Trish's dynamic, Fugo's history with his anger issues. There's also the involvement of the Stand arrow, brief focus on La Squadra's perspective, etc. Part 6: Explores the characters of Ermes (seeking justice for the death of her sister), FF (their path of finding their identity), delving deep into DIO's psyche about "attaining heaven", Weather Report's history with Pucci and Perla, and the estranged bond between Jolyne and Jotaro.

This is Araki improving his craft but when we compare that to Part 3, we can see that P3 only got the "fighting enemies until we reach the boss" plot going on. And that's tedious to get past.

Sure we got one subplot going: Polnareff's quest of avenging the death of his sister.

His purpose of joining the Crusaders in the first place was to find the killer. It's been tackled for more than one episode and in the process, we see him form rapport with the allies he made while still sticking to his mission, allowing the audience to connect to the Frenchman more (even to the point where they start to joke that he's the main protagonist instead of Jotaro)

But what of the rest? What of the development of the other Crusaders?

Kakyoin and his past as a lonely child born with a Stand?

How Avdol met Joseph, and what his motivation was to continue working with the latter?

Maybe a subtle foreshadowing of Joseph's infidelity or how he's doing in New York prior to the quest?

Heck maybe even a background as to why Jotaro turned to delinquency when in the past, he's seen or viewed as a regular happy child who does well and is active in school?

Instead, what we got is Kak's past revealed as a last minute attempt to make us feel sympathy for him as he's dying, Avdol died without much going about him, Joseph is just there to be the secondary Jojo, and 3taro is most of the fandom's worst version of Jotaro because at a surface level, he's seen only as a rude standoffish teenager who does not emote for no reason.

We don't get to connect with the Crusaders as much or as deep because we don't know them outside of "we're here to defeat the big evil" and a bunch of fighting.

tldr: Not enough character development because there's too much of the "beat the bad guys and win"

I don't know. It's just my personal take because usually when I consume media, I tend to get hooked onto the story when there's mini stories that fleshes out the overarching theme.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk

[turtlesocksv2]

Kinnporsche Rewatch 10 Thoughts

This opening is so good. "If it's for the man i love, i'd never hurt his feelings." Vegas isn't even lying but i don't think he knows that himself. It's fascinating to watch him pull the softboy act on Porsche, who clearly doesn't really trust it, but he knows that Porsche wouldn't be able to stand just staying in the cell, unable to do anything. Porsche needs to be doing something, especially if a loved one is in danger.

Chay getting kidnapped is finally linking his story to the main one which was just direly needed. I do not go to the dark mafia store to buy cute teenage romcom, thank you very much.

Pete demanding to know if Kinn trusts Porsche, because Pete does! Pete is willing to go clear Porsche's name, even if he gets captured, tortured and killed for it, because he trusts Porsche! get you a bestie like Pete!

Vegas likes Porsche! He thinks that Kinn has finally gotten some decent taste! That does not mean that he isn't going to use Porsche and fuck everything up, but the does genuinely like Porsche as a person which i think might make how the two of them end up worse.

LMAO can you imagine being Kinn and dealing with all the Tawan and Porsche escaping bullshit and then you get a phonecall from your estranged younger brother who is clearly injured asking you what the fuck happened like he knows something happened??? and then you have to explain to your estranged baby brother, who is a feral cat of a boy, about your ex coming back from the dead and your new boyfriend escaping his jailcell with your most awful cousin? Just what was that conversation like for him. I have to know.

This entire episode, actually this whole storyline, is Pete No. You In Danger, Girl. But we get our first glimpse of Khun Spikes!

Arm, how on earth did you test that USB on a computer connected to the main network!!!! you are supposed to be the smart one!!! local mafia family's cybersecurity a goddamn nightmare.

Big's death is even sadder on rewatch. that man was just trying his best! he just wants love and to protect kinn! he grew to respect porsche! and to get shot protecting porsche from that evil snake tawan that he never trusted!!!! tragic. i refuse. big is alive just in the hospital.

"i don't like myself being like this." Porsche corruption arc still in full swing, baby! he realizes it's happening but can't stop it.

Kinn got that look on his face like "I swear i'm forgetting something....the stove? did I leave the stove on? No, i've never cooked a day in my life. it can't be that." smashcut to poor Pete caught in the torture dungeon! Kinn is the worst boss.

Pete is derranged and I love him. Vegas has no idea what's about to happen to him. "You're laughing. I'm about to electrocute you with a car battery and you're laughing" The intense eye contact. these insane weirdos were made for each other. we must keep the insanity contained, they cannot be with anyone else. And the complete contrast of that with Ken and Gun, Ken begging and apologizing and clutching at Gun's boots.

Tankhun is not afraid of Gun. He sees clearly what is happening! But he does not like being in a room full of people with their guns drawn. This is the most panicked we've seen him yet, and yet he's still holding it together! He's clearly upset but he isn't melting down. Genuinely I think Tankhun is not as broken as Korn presents him as! He probably was, right after the kidnapping, but he's grown up. Kinn and Tankhun are united, but Korn overrules their desire. Getting dangerously close to the sons Unionizing against you, Korn!

Boyfriend runs away with another man after you lock him up for less than a day because you didn't tell him your master plan? Deutsche Bank can help. Boyfriend wants you to apologize for falling for his cousin's lies? Deutsche Bank can help. Deutsche Bank: for all your reconciling with your boyfriend needs.

"it's like i've forgotten something, but I can't think of what" Pete is being tortured, Kinn! For the love of god you lost a whole person!!! how do you not realize the man you sent in to clear your boyfriend's name hasn't reappeared yet!!! TRY HARDER, KINN! if i was Pete i'd be so mad.

[practically-an-x-man]

2, 4, 15, 23, 24, 28 for whom the ask tolls?

Thank you!

For Whom The Ask Tolls

2. Tell us a scary story?

Like from my own life? Nothing immediately comes to mind, honestly. I'm a big fan of the macabre but not a devout believer in the paranormal, and I enjoy creepy things (so what I see as "scary" might be a little skewed, I just think it's cool).

If I would've believed anywhere was haunted, it was my great-grandfather's house. He passed away when I was a kid, and we went to his house pretty often for a few years while my dad tried to get all the estate stuff sorted out with his (mostly estranged) sister and other extended family. That whole house felt a little off to me, but that might've just been that it was associated with my first real experiences with death, and it was an old house (old and creaky, a little rotted, some weird smells).

However, there was one room I remember vividly, above all the others. It was an extension off of a larger bedroom, and thinking back on it now it strikes me as a closet that was renovated into a baby's room (so the baby's crib would be near the parents but still in a separate space). It was a pretty long, thin room, painted pink with feminine wallpaper, and with a wall decoration next to the door that had Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep printed on it (I mainly remember this because I found the "if I die before I wake" especially creepy as a kid). There were also a lot of old-fashioned dolls in the room, including some laid out in an old wooden crib, and one of those spoon carousels from back when spoon collecting was a big souvenir thing.

I can't say anything particularly spooky happened there, it's not like I saw a ghost or one of the dolls jumped out of the crib or anything, but I can't describe how very off this room felt to me as a child. I was fine enough with the rest of the house, maybe a little creeped-out just from it being a new and very empty old place for me, but that room gave me the creeps like nothing else. And the biggest part is, this was when I was maybe 7 or 8 years old - I was never interested in dolls much, but I was too young to know about the creepy doll trope and other than that it just looked like a pretty normal if old-fashioned room for a baby girl. It just creeped me the fuck out for no discernible reason.

It's worth mentioning that my dad had two sisters - one is still alive and we don't talk to her much, but the other passed away from brain cancer as a young adult and it's kinda regarded as the tragedy of that side of the family. I don't know if that ever was her room and I don't believe strongly enough in the paranormal to really feel like her ghost is the reason I got such unexplainably bad vibes from that place, but it's the most distinct paranormal memory I can think of.

4. Talk about three characters you relate to and why?

Angel (Warren Worthington III) - grew up with a strict, emotionally neglectful parent who pushed extreme expectations of success and perfectionism on me; medical trauma that first emerged when I was 12 and went ignored for years, caused by a genetic mutation; being successful in a lot of venues but always feeling vaguely out-of-place and unbelonging; found family and a deep love for friends and community

Polka-Dot Man (Abner Krill) - see above about emotionally neglectful parent, medical trauma, found family, and feeling like an outsider; representation of chronic fatigue/illness and rare medical conditions

And since I wanted one that wasn't just another of my blorbos:

3. Katie Mitchell (Mitchells Vs. the Machines) - oldest child, queer, trying to get into the film industry, very passionate about weird art, struggle to connect with and be understood by my family, comes up with creative ideas that usually end up working even if they're odd

15. Talk about a cryptid?

Ohohoho buddy I'm in Appalachia, we've got cryptids up the WAZOO. Or at least... people claim so. Personally cryptids are one of those for me that fall under the "I love to hear the stories because they're fun to listen to, but I don't really believe they're unexplainable like that" bubble - there's a whole bunch of Bigfoot-like "hominids" like the Tennessee Wildman that are most likely either black bears with mange or just people spotted living out in the forest (like they DO in Appalachia), the Not-Deer that really just sounds like a whitetail with CWD or rabies to me, the Wampus Cat or other panther-like cryptids that are probably just cougar sightings.

Adrenaline is a hell of a drug, and so is the ingrained fear response to things like CWD or rabies - there's a reason things look so off with diseases like that, or just predators in general, and it's biological memory much more than it is anything paranormal.

There was one time when I was in college, my friend was taking a walk out in the forest and managed to record this freaky shrieking noise coming from the woods and sent the video to us because he was SURE he'd encountered a cryptid.... right up until I told him that's the sound of a female cougar in heat. It does sound like a woman screaming her lungs out, I'll grant him that much.

23. Spooky music?

Hell yeah!! I love Ice Nine Kills and Harley Poe and other music that plays off of horror like that, I think it's really fun.

24. Do you like horror or spooky video games?

I don't play a ton of video games myself, and most of the ones I enjoy playing are either goofy games like West of Loathing or survival/adventure games, but I do really love watching playthroughs of horror games

28. Recommend a read?

We Sold Our Souls by Grady Hendrix! It was the first book of his that I read, and since then I've become a huge fan of him as an author (I think I'm all caught up now on what he's written, or at least close to it). It follows the lead guitarist of a metal band 20 years after they broke up, when she discovers that the lead singer literally sold all of their souls to the devil in exchange for massive fame... and is planning another mass soul-sacrifice at his upcoming music festival.

[theshiaxartistwrites]

Stardrop Valley

Fandom: Five Nights At Freddy's: Security Breach X Stardew Valley Rating: Mature Tw: 1st person, Lots of dead characters, Child Death, Missing Children, Graphic Violence, Stockholm Syndrome, Alternate Universe, Magic is Real, Monsters are Real, Not Canon Compliant, Different situations mean different behaviours, characters in distress, Kidnapping, Torture, thalassophobia AO3 Link

Chapter One: Day One, Spring

When you were 12 your mother died in a car accident, coming to pick you up from the airport after visiting your father in Gotoro. It takes three weeks in child protective services before you're sent to live with your father across the sea. When you're 13, your father sends you to live with your grandfather on his farm. You don't remember much about that summer, the fun overshadowed by the trauma that filled the rest of your life. It's when you're getting back on the bus, on its way to the airport to head back to your father's house, that your grandfather stops you. You remember looking up at his soft smile and big white santa claus beard, a letter held out to you in his work-weathered hands.

He hands you a crisp white envelope with a blue and gold wax seal in the shape of a crescent moon with a sun peeking out from behind it. It was a thick, weighty thing in your tiny hands, your grandfather placing a hand on your head as he spoke.

"Some day, when you're older, when the weight of the world feels cold and cruel and you need a new start, I want you to open this. My precious gift to you."

Being so young it felt less like a gift and more like a forbidden thing to tuck into a binder with your birth certificate and keep safe, but forgotten. Your grandfather passes not long after you leave his farm. Your childhood isn't easy and your father isn't exactly loving, but you survive. High school is the same. College, however, is hell.

You moved back to Ferngill before the war, hoping to avoid the fighting. You spend two years trying your hardest, estranged from the rest of your family after your father passes away, considered a traitor for leaving him alone. You have to get a job to pay for your tuition and your super healthy daily breakfast, lunch, and dinner of ramen. Working whenever you're not at school, you barely sleep and have no one you can actually call a friend. Year three you can no longer keep up and drop out, taking on your job at Joja Corp full time to afford a barren single bedroom apartment in the city, close enough that you can walk instead of drive. Not that you had a car anyway.

You spend too many years working. It starts to blend together into a mass of grey walls and computer screens. The dull faces and white button up shirts start to blur together. It's a hard, boring life, but it doesn't feel like it could get any worse.

How wrong you were.

In the span of a week, you're laid off with 90% of your coworkers, due to the company being bought out and downsized by another company called 'Fazbear Entertainment'. What an entertainment company wants with a corporation like Joja, you're not high enough up the food chain to know. What you do know is that Fazbear Entertainment is also responsible for your apartment complex being bought up and the 30 day eviction notice that is posted on your door.

No job. No savings. And soon to be homeless.

You're sobbing into your couch cushions when you remember the envelope. You can't put too much faith into something given to a child by a grandparent you barely knew, but…what else did you have?

You drag yourself from the damp spot on your old couch and to the small box of important papers you keep under your bed. A little digging and you spot the blue and gold wax among the aged documents. It feels heavy in your hand, the weight of all your hopes for the future rest with this 'gift'.

You slide a finger under the wax seal and it pops away almost too cleanly. Lifting the flap up, you spot several different papers folded up inside. The first is a simple letter from your grandfather, written in glittery blue ink. It's almost word for word what he told you back then, a wish to depart this 'precious gift' upon you, at the bottom the handwriting turns shaky.

'If you are reading this, you must be in dire need of a change. I've enclosed the deed to my pride and joy, Sunnyday Farm. A quaint place on the southern coast, in Stardrop Valley. I've left you my most precious gift of all, I know you'll cherish them. Good luck. Love, Grandpa.

I hope they help you as much as they helped me.'

Your hands shake as you pull out the rest.

A check, for approximately 100,000g, from a savings account your grandfather put aside for you.

And the deed.

You spend all night crying, clutching the gifts to your chest and thanking whatever gods will carry your gratitude to your grandfather.

The next morning you pack up whatever you can take with you; clothes, your documents, and some sentimental things, and leave the rest behind. You stop by the bank and, while they won't give you the cash outright, they help you move the money into a checking account in your name and give you a credit card. You still stop at the atm outside to grab some cash just to be safe. With a backpack and two suitcases stuffed a little too full, you climb aboard the bus to Stardrop Valley.

Well.

Not really.

As it turns out, the bus doesn't actually go to the Valley anymore.

You sit and talk with the bus driver, a middle aged woman with curly red hair and a mountain of purple eyeshadow, for a while and learn that the Valley is practically a ghost town. It's a bit personal, but she explains that several people died, her own daughter included, and the rest of the folks up and left. She doesn't suggest staying, but when you explain your own situation, she suggests trying to sell the property. Your expression is enough to get her to change the subject. She's kind enough to drop you off at a gas station a little further than her route calls for, wishing you luck on your journey and asking you to please stay safe. She gives you a little folded piece of paper with her number on it.

"If you ever need help, call me." She gives you a sad, motherly smile and you feel your heart ache as you wave goodbye.

You wave until the bus disappears around a corner and pick up your bags, checking the gps on your phone as it recalculates for being on foot. Four miles and an hour long walk. That's not too bad. Though the sun starting to dip behind the mountains is a bit unsettling. It's only 6 pm, plenty of sunlight left, surely.

You pick up your feet and begin your march, your old leather jacket zipped up against the wind. That hour turns into an hour and a half, your feet sore from walking uphill in boots and your arms are tired from lugging your belongings. Why'd you have to bring so much shit anyway?

Up ahead you spot a tunnel, dark and foreboding in the already dimming light. Whatever. No big deal. You have places to be. You step up to the tunnel and freeze.

What was that?

You could have sworn you heard something up ahead. An echo of something scraping against the concrete. Claws? A knife? Was it a bear? A killer clown?!

No. No no. Stop. You were not going to be scared away by your own imagination. The bus lady's stories just got you a little anxious, that's all. You were smarter than that. Or at least you knew how to check if something was waiting to kill you in the dark. Digging out your phone, you turned on the flashlight and aimed it down the tunnel. A glint of something in the dark caught your eye, but when you turned the light toward it, there was nothing there. Maybe it was just a racoon or a squirrel, a sneaky critter that was hard to catch in the act. You do spot what looks like a lockbox on the side of the tunnel, but there's no one around it. It's not even a very long tunnel, you can make it. Maybe if you ran?

No. Running before you were actually in danger was a great way to tire yourself out even more and make yourself an easy target. So instead, you tuck your phone into your breast pocket with the flashlight poking out so you can still see ahead of you and step hesitantly inside.

You were not scared.

You were going to be fine.

You were not going to die.

Nothing here could possibly hurt you-

SKRITCH

You wheel around with wide eyes, knuckles white as you gripped your luggage, and are greeted with the sight of a horrible monstrosity, staring at you from the ground with bared teeth and a multitude of wide inhuman eyes.

An opossum.

A mama opossum with her three little babies clinging to her back.

She hisses at you and slowly moves around you, carrying on her way through the tunnel. You are so very glad there's no one here to see how stupid you look, poised and ready to fight a huffy mama opossum with a bag of luggage. You let her pass and then quietly follow her out, looking up at the pink bloom that covers the darkening sky.

The other side of the tunnel is not much less intimidating, a dead end road with a dense forest to your left and a tree-lined path to your right. A sign at the end of the road has big blue letters that read 'WELCOME TO DAYSTAR! HOME OF-', the last word has been painted over with black paint, red graffiti over the black reads 'MONSTERS! TURN BACK!'

How goofy.

You've seen monsters before, the odd slime in a sink, a giant bug outside your window, but regular monsters were underground dwellers. A seaside town, no matter how abandoned, should still be perfectly safe. Well. Maybe not ‘safe’, not after what the bus driver told you, but this still seems extreme. You check your gps real quick, you're so close to your new home! A ten minute walk and you'll be standing on your new porch!

The path there is a little overgrown, you see plenty of weeds and unpicked berry bushes along the path, but nothing prepares you for the absolute jungle that is Sunnyday Farm. The light has faded fast, leaving your flashlight to illuminate the 20 feet or so of forest ahead of you. The arch that leads into the fenced property is absolutely entangled with moss and vines that you have to push aside to get past. Just inside the gate on your right you catch a glimpse of an old shed with a rusty roll-up door, a large wooden bin sat to the left of it that is topped with years of mossy growth. The stone pathways are so overgrown with grass and weeds that you have to lift up your bags to get to the house.

A lump of kudzu to the left of the wooden bin you realize is your mailbox, if only because you spot the little red flag stuck up underneath it all.

You can't even see the property properly in the darkness, but what light your phone's flashlight can give promises a dense green forest of work ahead of you.

Perfect.

You drag your bags up the mossy wooden stairs and stare up at the beautiful house before you. A two story wooden home with a reddish wooden trim. You step up to the door, brushing aside spider webs and kudzu, and wipe away the layer of dust to peek inside. It's pitch black and, when you test it, the handle is locked.

You are painfully aware that you were not left a key to go along with your new home. Maybe it was hidden somewhere-?

A rustling sound catches your attention and you freeze. Another animal? The rustling doesn't freeze with you, slowly getting closer, coming towards you through the tall grass behind you. It sounds a lot like footsteps.

You turn quickly and feel your blood run cold.

Trudging through the grass and weeds is a lumbering humanoid made of moss and weeds, all tangled together into a face with hollow sockets and a gaping, toothless maw. Jagged branches stick out of the ends of its arms like makeshift claws, the tips a lighter color from obvious sharpening.

As it steps out of the grass and onto the bottom step, you are suddenly very aware of how helpless you are. Backed against a locked door, burdened with luggage, unarmed, and in the dark on a moonless night in a place you don't know.

The golem takes a step up the stairs and you watch it bring its claws up towards you. You drop one bag and grab the other with both hands, swinging it hard at the creature. Your hardside suitcase makes full contact with the monster's head and shoulder, a loud clang like you've struck metal. You don't wait to see how much damage you actually did, ditching your suitcases as you dart to the right, jumping off the porch and dropping into the thick grass. You can already hear the golem lumbering after you, but it's slow.

You dart around the backside of the cottage, trying your damnedest not to trip as you go. Your plan is to try and make it back to the road, maybe it won't follow you that far. You nearly fall over with how fast you skid to a stop, spotting a window on the backside of the house, the glass is completely missing. It's on the second floor, but a white lattice heavy with kudzu leads right up beside it. You're climbing up it before you can assess how dumb it is. You hear the creaks of the wood and vines popping apart, but you’re more focused on the crunch of sticks and grass as the golem comes around the side of the house. You grab the window sill and drag yourself inside, gasping as your backpack nearly snags.

You end up on top of some wooden piece of furniture and carefully slide the ground as quietly as you can manage, hands clasped over your mouth as you take deep slow breaths to try and get your panting under control. You can hear it walking, stepping slowly closer to the lattice. For a moment you think it has stopped at the bottom and you quickly slap a hand over your phone, cutting out the light just in case it can look up at the window. Heartbeats pass and you stop breathing. Finally you hear a crunch, the monster slowly moving back around to the front of the house.

You lay there, feeling your heart thump painfully in your chest, feeling the burning in your hands and arms from the short burst of athletics, and straining to listen to the world outside. You’re not entirely sure how long you lay there, but it’s long enough that you’re sure it’s not coming back. Getting to your feet, you carefully uncover your phone, taking a look at the room you’ve climbed into. It’s a plain, if well-made, wooden room with eight chests of different colors against the wall with the two windows. You’re well aware that the window you came in through is completely missing its glass, while the other appears boarded shut from the inside.

Sat against the same wall, between the windows and chests is a dusty old workbench, tools neatly placed, but rusty with lack of use and care. Above the workbench, hung on the wall, is a shield. You actually try to take it down and find it’s well bolted to the wall.

Damn.

Maybe you’ll try and take it down later, when you’ve made sure the house is actually safe.

You turn around and spot an old lamp in the corner between two doors, a stool with a radio sat beside it. In the opposite corner is what looks like a large table with several books stacked on it. You don’t waste your time with any of it, instead moving to the door on your left.

You carefully turn the handle and feel relief as it turns, unlocked.

You point your flashlight inside and spot stairs leading downstairs to the ground floor. Perfect!

But…you should check the other door too.

You close the door softly, trying to make as little noise as possible, and open the other door the same way. This time you’re greeted with deep blue carpet and dark blue walls dotted with light blue swirl-like stars.

This was…

This was your room.

You remember it.

Stepping inside you see your bed sat in the middle of the back wall, sat between two more boarded up windows draped over with long blue and purple banners decorated with glowing jellyfish. The glow-in-the-dark moon and star decals above your old bed cling to some of the light. You sweep your light around the room, spotting your old glass butterfly hutch and minifridge in opposing corners. The two things that catch your attention are the pot of yellow flowers on the nightstand by the bed and the little bonsai tree on your old moon table in the far corner.

You step around the bed and caress the little yellow flowers. They’re real and thriving. A finger poked into their dirt, you find the soil is damp. Someone watered these recently. Is that why the door was locked? You feel a cold chill wash over your shoulders. While this is technically your house, you don’t know who or what is living here and they may consider you the trespasser.

You have three choices.

Leave the way you came in and risk trying to get back to the road with god knows what out there to chase you.

Search the house in the dark and hope you don’t get shot by some squatter or eaten by a goblin.

Or, lock the doors and sleep here for the night and try to find the squatter in the morning when you can run away in the daylight without the threat of monsters.

You lock the door you came through and then walk across to the door opposite and lock it too. You kick off your shoes and drop your backpack by the minifridge. A gentle hum catches your attention and you press an ear into the fridge. It’s on and running. You open it and the light inside floods out into your room. There’s actually snacks in there too! A bottle of apple juice, a maple bar, a bag of roasted hazelnuts, a bag of chocolate chip cookies, a breakfast bar, and a rainbow rock candy stick wrapped in plastic. All of the items look unopened, even the juice.

You can pay whoever bought them back later, right now, you’re in need of whatever you can get. You grab the apple juice and crack it open, taking a few very large gulps straight from the bottle before putting it back and grabbing the hazelnuts and breakfast bar.

You decide to try your luck and dig out your phone charger, plugging it into the same plug as the fridge and nearly doing a little dance when it works. Setting your phone on the nightstand, you keep your jacket on as you climb onto the bed. It’s a little too short for you, but just as cozy and warm as you remember. Your chest aches as you think about this room, crunching quietly on your snacks. You’re not sure why you don’t remember more about this place, but just laying in this cozy little room is enough to remember why you came back.

You turn off your flashlight when you finish your snacks and look up at the glowing moon and stars on your ceiling as you drift off to sleep.

[delaina]

𓂅  THREE CLICKS AND I'M HOME ⦂ DELAINA ASHLYN BAILEY.

meet delaina bailey — aged thirty two, cis woman, she / hers pronouns. event planner & coordinator in fairford, washington. residing downtown. single. portrayed by jennifer lawrence. penned by willow.

FULL BIOGRAPHY ❋ STATISTICS ❋ CONNECTIONS ❋ FULL NAVIGATION

𓂅   GENERAL INFORMATION .

full name / nickname: delaina ashlyn bailey ( most commonly used nickname is laina )

age / date of birth: thirty-two, born on june 27, 1991

zodiac sign: cancer sun, capricorn moon, cancer rising

gender: cis woman ( she/her/hers )

place of birth: oceanside, california

current residence: downtown fairford

sexual / romantic orientations: homosexual homoromantic

occupation: event planner & coordinator

𓂅    PERSONALITY BREAKDOWN .

goals / desires: learning to hold her tongue when she needs to, finding the closure that she needs in order to continue on her pursuit of happiness, settling down with a life partner, mending her approach on relationships, find people who she is genuinely compatible with then actually put in the work necessary to keep them in her life, making others happy and leaving a lasting impression through her actions, to feel comfortable in her body whenever she feels too big or small for a room she enters.

fears: inadequacy, abandonment, commitment to a certain degree, the finality of death, losing the people she cares about suddenly and unexpectedly, disapproval from the people she loves.

hobbies: going on walks with bunny downtown, being intentional in her relationships to show them that She Cares, finding the best buffalo wings and beer combination in town, color coding anything she can, throwing a good ol' fashioned party be it thoroughly planned or on a whim, collecting makeup that she never wears, karaoke bars, brushing up on her bartending skills, smoking, drinking, reading. 

likes: being outdoors in the sunshine, furniture shopping, a well-made drink, getting her hands dirty ( figuratively and literally ), kissing, meeting new people, homemade mac and cheese, spending time with the people she loves, netflix reruns with wayne, one night stands, key lime pie, swimming in the ocean, david bowie, the movie wall-e, sex, starting arguments just because She Can, the color blue, her favorite pair of converse, diet coke in a glass bottle, driving around with no real destination in mind, night swims, a glass of red wine, brand new highlighters, being busy and feeling needed. 

dislikes: people not using their turn signals, the scent of gasoline, people cracking their fingers / knuckles, the texture of wool, confrontations that ultimately lead to a stalemate, the feeling of getting a spray tan, forgetting things, disloyalty, being late, accidentally burning something in the toaster and the way the smell clings in the air for what feels like an eternity.

hogwarts house: gryffindor.

𓂅   FAMILY TREE .

parents: christopher bailey and marissa bailey neé seaford

sibling(s): two older brothers, aged 34-43.

pet(s): an australian shepherd named bunny.

𓂅    HEADCANONS .

my black sheep baby who is estranged from her family and just wants to create her own lil' found family with how big her heart is :’)

i play workaholic muses, what can i say? except delaina is in a whole other galaxy compared to stevie — she loves what she does and can't imagine doing anything else but girlie is always on the hairpin trigger of an actual nervous breakdown. she's had to go out and get tragus piercings / picked up smoking cigarettes to deal with the migraines and stress that she absolutely brings upon herself.

has a stick and poke tattoo ( among other professional ones ) of a tiny smiley face on her ribcage that she gave herself when she was sixteen.

delaina has a diagnosed learning disability in math, and it has always been a sore spot for her. school was never really her thing, and any time she was in a math class, it was like entering her own personal circle of hell? it gave her such a complex and deep insecurity that almost bore her need to compensate with such a brash personality; to this day, she will not go anywhere without her phone because the calculator app is her crutch for everything.

out and proud lesbian — is Wildly Commitment-phobic. also a lil' bit of a player? and by little, i mean lot. she can charm the pants off of anyone but doesn't like feelings. they're gross. 

she gives jenna marbles vibes. idk how else to explain it.

has definitely started one too many family arguments just because she can — i envision that she’s not really on the Best of terms with her parents and even though there’s love there, they’ve disagreed too many times and aren’t some close family unit. growing up, her brothers were everything to her, and they still hold a special place in her heart. if she ever got married, they'd be at her wedding and walk her down the aisle.

if you show her something on pinterest, she will attempt it. may not be up to par or even close to what she set out to make, but dammit, she'll try.  

joined marching band in middle school mostly as a joke. played the triangle.

[xaracosmia]

ꕥ — WELCOME TO MARE COSMIA, RAY. 🌓

ꕥ — OOC INFORMATION;

name / alias: cata / juni age: 26 pronouns: they/he/she/it alternating ooc contact: 2th @ tumblr other characters in xc: n/a

ꕥ — IC INFORMATION;

name: rayella (aka ray) age: 24 pronouns: she/her series: arknights canon point: ch 13 main story. app triggers: animal death, injuries.

personality:

She’s been looking for something her whole life, and it shows in the way she loses herself in faraway sights nobody else can see. Outside of her constant search for whatever’s out there, she’s always been a more passive sort of girl – listening to what she’s told, living life the way she’s learned it should be, passive to her lot in life with no questions asked. Her mind tends to accept the way the world is, instead of wondering about the way it could be. There are some positives to this, though: Ray enters new situations with the same confidence she would with the most familiar. She enjoys reading, learning, and listening, and she has one of the largest and brightest hearts Rim Billiton has ever tried to snuff out. Ray is gentle, kind, and incredibly intelligent if you actually take the time to listen.Sometimes, if nobody is around – she talks to a familiar shadow from her past.

something your muse struggles with: Socialization. Ray isn’t awkward, but she also doesn’t beat around the bush. She’s a kind person at heart, wishing the best for those around her, but is absolutely prone to walking headfirst into scenarios she shouldn’t be in and not realize she’s not supposed to be there. Ray is additionally very susceptible to people telling her what to do and then accepting it as the truth without any questions.

your muse’s greatest strength: Survival. She spent her whole life surviving. She’s read books upon books about various flora, fauna, and animal-life around Terra, and will absolutely continue to do so no matter the setting. She puts an incredible amount of effort into learning new skills when they’re necessary.

history / background:

There was a huge shadow. It can talk. Rays of light. She was a young girl, barely not a teenager, and caught in a Catastrophe with other adult hunters after suffering a stab wound in a dark mine. They used their bodies to protect her from the worst of the dust, helped her walk when she couldn’t use her knees anymore. It would’ve been easier for them to leave her behind in the Grinning Valley to find shelter, but they didn’t – they continued pulling her weight until she was somewhere –

And then there was a light. A brilliant, white, light. A shadow, greeting her and the other hunters. The next few minutes are a blur she can’t recall. She wants to meet the shadow again.

She doesn’t remember much about growing up. It was pretty uneventful, apart from the aforementioned events, if you ask her. Life simply was what it was. Ray learned survival from her large Cautus family and preferred hunkering down in a cozy shed and solving her own problems than getting involved with life in the big city. When she can, she reads. She reads and reads and reads all about different kinds of life on Terra. She learns so much, but isn’t really the type to think of herself as bigger than she is.

Ray falls into Rim Billiton’s ecosystem like most vulnerable and estranged youth. She becomes a ‘pitstinker’, a profession in Rim Billiton better known to most people as ‘independent contractors.’ Each morning, she wakes up and tries to find a mineshaft for work. She learns the ins and outs of the profession on her own, through lived experience and what other people tell her. She knows she’s Infected and wouldn’t be able to find work elsewhere anyways, so she’s content to settle her lot in life.

Her first sandbeast dies of toxic gas poisoning. She tried to find medicine, food, carefor the creature. But everywhere she looked told her the same thing: Sandbeasts are disposable, and they’re meant to die like this so that pitstinkers can live. Ray feels a hole in her heart. She isn’t quite sure what to make of that. It feels like being stabbed again.

…She hijacks a truck and sets course for The Grinning Valley. During the hijack, the ute is forced to stop for a routine Infected checkup. With the driver, Alanna, desperately trying to help a young Infected girl named Potlid and hide her from the authorities, Ray stands up for the young girl. The truck ends up surrounded, and Ray, Alanna and Potlid are forced to fight their way out and end up deep in the Billy barrens.

Ray surprises the passengers with her innate survival experience, especially when Potlid’s Oripathy begins flaring up and threatening to burn down everything around them. Ray stays with her, uses her own Originium to help settle the effects, and helps her rest. This leads to a chance encounter with the Doctor, Amiya and Savage from Rhodes Island, where the group continues on the trail together. Nobody is really satisfied with what they find there.

A group of young sandbeast cubs are on the side of the road, and a Catastrophe looms. While the rest of the group huddles in the safety of the vehicle to get away, Ray stays behind to protect them. These tiny things. These tiny, disposable things. She uses her body to protect them from the worst of the dust and eventually passes out trying to shelter them. They carry her to a cave, where she meets a large creature – she’s sure it’s him, the shadow, the light that saved her. The giant eye of light says it wasn’t him – he’d been unable to move for hundreds of years. She only wanted to ask why he saved her that day, but he didn’t have an answer. He asks her instead: How did you make it this far, Ray?

She joins Rhodes Island. She likes what they’re doing, you know? Making the world a better place. Helping people. Solving problems. Yeah. This’ll be good.

powers / abilities: n/a

inherent abilities:

Originium arts. Ray is infected with a disease known as Oripathy that causes Originium ore to grow in her body. These crystals allow her to access her arts regardless of time and place, but are a major threat to her life. It is a terminal and chronic disease. Ray actually doesn’t have much access to real ‘magic’ with her Arts; it only lets her settle and soothe the Arts of others around her if they’re experiencing symptoms of Oripathy sickness. (Basically? It’s kind of useless in Ray’s case).

Enhanced awareness in darkness. She’s spent her entire life as a pitstinker; the darkness is where she thrives.

Aim. She’s a sniper who uses a heavy duty bolt crossbow used to aiming in tight, dark spaces. She’s really good at what she does.

items / weapons:

a sandbeast // a badger like creature that lives in the sand. he follows her everywhere. it’s unknown if the sandbeast is named ‘sandbeast or if ray never named him.

oripathy monitoring bracelet // to keep her oripathy levels in check.

heavy duty crossbow // it’s more like a railgun. it fires heavy duty bolts at an extremely powerful speed. it’s difficult to aim if you aren’t ray.

various books on terran fauna and wildlife.

a journal containing research into cryptids.

starting ability: n/a. starting item: sandbeast.

extra:

Ray is actually terribly afraid of the dark, despite spending most of her life inside of it

discord id: sandbeasts

[tehuti88-art]

7/12/24: r/SketchDaily theme, "Free Draw Friday." This week's character from my anthro WWII storyline is Irmgard Tanzer. She's the woman who raises the young Inga (Dobermann) and leaves her her savings, which Inga decides to live off of while visiting soldiers in hospital, where she meets her future husband Louis. Irmgard isn't Inga's mother, however, or even her aunt though Inga calls her that; Inga finds out her parents' identities later. There'll be more about her later in my art Tumblr and Toyhou.se.

Regarding her design, she's a red and tan/rust doberman pinscher. This is roughly the Edwardian era, thus the hair.

TUMBLR EDIT: Irmgard is relatively new; she's been around in concept for a bit as "Inga's aunt," but just now got a name, and even more, INGA'S PAST HAS FINALLY OPENED UP. Finally! I took note of it starting to do so last December, but just barely, and it didn't feel "right" yet. A rather forbidding adoptive aunt figure emerged, but little else. Well, at last it started opening up, adoptive aunt is revealed not to be her aunt at all, there's a vague (still rather uncertain) idea of what became of her parents, and she's acquired a last name: Stern. This is still a heavily developing story, so details may change, but...here we go!

Inga's introduction to the main story comes when she appears one day in the military hospital near the end of the Great War, offering to provide comfort to lonely soldiers who have nobody to visit them. Here she meets both Louis Dobermann and Gunter Hesse. Both men fall in love with her; Dobermann speaks up first and proposes, and Inga soon heads home with him, while Hesse remains behind but later becomes a close family friend, helping to raise their daughter Adelina (who, incidentally, calls him "Uncle" although they aren't related). Inga is forced to fake her own death after killing a Nazi intruder in the house and accidentally outing herself as Jewish when her Star of David pendant is revealed; she comes out of hiding near the war's end, her presence helping convince Hesse, now an SS officer, to turn on the SS and help the Dobermanns escape, at the cost of his own life. Dobermann (and Hesse...it's complicated) is killed a year or so later attempting to thwart a remaining Nazi plot; Inga grieves for him deeply, and succumbs to dementia some years later. She and Louis leave behind Adelina and her own two sons, Louis II and Diepold.

Inga's life before she meets Dobermann remains a mystery to Hesse, and Dobermann himself doesn't learn of it until after they're reunited for that brief year or so following the war. She's Jewish, yet admits that she never practiced the faith (when the Jewish Tobias Schäfer comes to live with them, she has to familiarize herself with kosher foods to tell the kitchen staff what to prepare for him, as she's never kept kosher herself); she describes herself as secular, and when explaining why she never told even her own family, she says it simply never seemed like it mattered until then. Her personal knowledge of Judaism is quite minimal. It's obvious she wasn't raised under Jewish principles.

She's also apparently without any family of her own, as she tells both Hesse and Dobermann this; so when Dobermann explains away his decision to remove her body following her "death," before it can be investigated, by claiming he sent it to her extended family at their request, Hesse is confused; Inga never told him about any extended family. He goes along with the story anyway. (Hesse and Inga end up having one big detail in common: They were both orphaned as infants, and ended up wards of the state. Hesse, however, was never adopted...keep reading for Inga's circumstances.)

There's one more odd detail, that Inga never appears to have any job. She just shows up at the hospital and spends all her time visiting the soldiers, never needing to work. She has some other unexplained source of money. So: She's estranged from her own heritage, has no family, and has money yet no job; so what's going on?

Enter Irmgard Tanzer.

Irmgard is a relatively well-off, somewhat elderly spinster in a nice neighborhood at the edge of the city (similar to later suburbs). Nice house with a wrought-iron fence and set of stone steps. Nice greenery along the street. Quiet, low traffic, peaceful. As she leaves her house one day to do her daily things, fussing with her purse and parasol, she hears something nearby. Stops to listen. It sounds like a cat or kitten in distress. She cranes her neck and peers around, determining that the noise is coming from one of the bushes along the fence, right beside her gate; she stoops, a bit painfully due to her age, and carefully parts the leaves. Takes in a breath. There's a baby basket sitting on the ground between the branches, and a tiny baby within, mouth wide, face screwed up, mewing loudly.

"Ah mein Gott, ah mein Gott," Irmgard gasps, grasping the basket and carefully pulling it out. She makes shushing noises the entire time she gently pulls back the blanket around the baby and tries to check if it's all right, though she has no idea what she's doing, she's never raised a child. She can't find any overt injuries or anything; there isn't a covering of dew on the blanket, so it couldn't have been out all night, somebody must have dropped it off relatively recently. She looks up and down the street but nobody strange is in sight. Tucked in the blanket, she finds only three things: a small, worn, stuffed doll; a note; and a gold locket. Irmgard opens the note; it says merely, PLEASE TAKE CARE OF MY INGA. She then opens the locket; within is a tiny photo of a man and woman, and a small gold Star of David.

"Inga," Irmgard murmurs, stares at the photo, then shakes herself out of it, as the baby is still crying. Picks up the basket, abandoning her parasol, and stands up, exclaiming, "Hallo--? Hallo! Help! Help...!" until a few passersby and a policeman finally appear and hurry her way. They ponder over who might have left the baby and why; the policeman offers to take her to the station, though Irmgard insists on going along. She wants to be sure the baby's parents are found and that until then she's kept safe.

Another policeman at the station theorizes that the baby's parents chose Irmgard's neighborhood as it's pretty well off; and as the baby was obviously not left out all night, her parents were likely keeping watch on Irmgard's house for a while, to see when she came and left. They're apparently Jewish--which should narrow down the prospects considerably--and based on the condition of the basket, blanket, and toy, are probably rather poor, though they may have had better days, based on the jewelry and the photo. Inga is examined by a doctor; she's healthy, clean, well cared for, and is hungry but not neglected. Whoever her family is, they clearly loved her.

Irmgard's confusion just grows: "If they love her so much, why then did they abandon her...?" The police guess that her parents may have fallen on hard times and simply couldn't afford to care for her. They'll ask around, see if anyone knows of such a family who recently had a baby, though until then, Inga will be placed in an orphanage. Irmgard frets over this--"You're putting her up for adoption?"--the policeman says that yes, this is what will happen if they can't locate her family. They reassure her they'll do what they can, thank her, and send her on her way.

Irmgard can't get Inga out of her head, however. She waits a few days, heads back to the station, asks after the case. No progress, but they're looking, working hard. She visits the orphanage. Inga is there, wriggling in a crib; the attendant tells her the girl is barely more than a newborn. Irmgard heads home, but as the days go by she grows more restless. Visits the police again a few weeks later. This time they're a bit more curt, a bit less friendly; they're doing their job, no there are no leads, will she please just let them work? She doesn't need to fuss over "some Jew-baby" that isn't even her own. The police's attitude rubs Irmgard the wrong way, and she returns to the orphanage. Is surprised to find Inga still there; she blinks her big brown eyes at Irmgard and wriggles her arms again. Irmgard asks if anyone's shown interest in adopting her. The attendant looks a bit sad; lots of people have shown interest, yet after being told the baby's background, they moved on. "Maybe it's just me," she murmurs, "maybe I'm seeing things that aren't there...yet I wonder if they don't want to adopt her because she's a Jew." She quickly adds that Inga being abandoned might have something to do with it too, or maybe they worry that the parents will return for her. She doesn't know. Could be another reason. Could be anything.

Irmgard, prim, proper, sheltered Irmgard, decides to do something drastic: She'll look for Inga's parents herself. She can't help but suspect the police aren't digging as much as they should. She's unsure of how to proceed--she doesn't have any investigation experience or anything--so she takes the most obvious step, and visits a nearby synagogue, requesting to speak with the rabbi.

Irmgard figures a synagogue is similar to a church in being a place where the local citizens of faith gather, and like a priest, a rabbi might be in the best position to know who lives in the area and what family might have recently had a child. She shows him a copy of the photo. He doesn't recognize the couple, but suggests she try another synagogue: This is an Orthodox congregation, and the woman in the photo isn't wearing a head covering. Irmgard has no idea what any of this means; the rabbi replies that she may have more luck at a Conservative or more liberal synagogue. She thanks him but before she leaves, asks if anyone else has stopped by to inquire about the couple. The rabbi says no, she's the only one. Swallowing down the anger that crowds into her throat, Irmgard thanks him again and departs.

Then steps behind a wall, clenches her fists, and takes a moment to force herself to calm down. She'd suspected as much, but to receive confirmation that the police HAVEN'T EVEN INTERVIEWED THE LOCAL JEWISH CONGREGATIONS just steams her like little else. What have they been doing all this time? Do they just not care? She thinks of adorable little Inga, still lying in the orphanage, no one asking to adopt her, and the police's inaction is more feasible...she takes a few breaths, smooths down her dress and hair, and heads for the other synagogue suggested.

As soon as she shows the little photo to the second rabbi, he exclaims, "Frau Stern! Have you seen her? Do you know where she is...?" "You know her--?" Irmgard asks, to which he replies, "Ja, only in passing I'm afraid, but Frau Stern used to come here regularly with her husband...he died recently, some long illness. It's such a shame...she was with child, you see. Herr Stern was the breadwinner, and she had no way to make money. I know she was worried...she stopped coming to synagogue a while back. I think she just lost her faith. We offered to help her with the baby when it came, but she never asked...I think maybe she felt she had no right to ask for our help, but we would have given it gladly, no matter if she still believed or not. Do you know her? It's been quite a while since she's come around, and I've wondered about her..."

Irmgard says, "Nein, I didn't know her..." and to her surprise, finds herself lying. "I just found this locket, and wished to get it back to her. So...she's a widow? Herr Stern is...?" The rabbi confirms that her husband died some months ago, after being ill for quite a while, and Frau Stern seemed to have no other relatives around. He offers to keep hold of the locket for her, yet Irmgard says she'll keep looking. "Let her know, if you find her," the rabbi says, "we're still here and ready to welcome her with open arms, whether she believes or not." Irmgard promises, turning away a bit quickly as she has to wipe her damp eyes.

She goes to the police with what she's found, though she has to bite her tongue. Indeed, they start to brush her off, until she mentions the name Stern; there's a brief flurry of whispers, and finally they admit that there's a woman who matches Frau Stern's appearance, and was wearing a ring with the name Stern engraved on it, in the morgue. Irmgard is struck mute by this, needing to find her voice to ask what happened to her; drowning, she's told, though upon autopsy, it was found that she was seriously ill, and dying already. It looks like a suicide. "Should...should I go look, to identify her...?" Irmgard asks; the police think the rabbi would be better suited for this, and he's called. He IDs Frau Stern, and sadly asks if he can claim the body to be properly buried: "She shouldn't have been left here so long," he murmurs, and starts signing papers to have her body released into his custody. When left alone with Irmgard for a moment, he pauses as if to be sure no one is around, then whispers to her, "The baby...is it all right?"

Irmgard: *startled* "What...?"

Rabbi: "They said nothing about a dead child. You said nothing about it when you spoke with me. She must have had her baby already. You must know something about it...is it all right?"

Irmgard: "I..." *bites lip*

Rabbi: "It's dead...?" *long silence; gets a knowing look* "It's alive...that's why you came to me."

Irmgard: *silence*

Rabbi: *pause* "You're afraid we want to take it back. Because you've decided you want to keep it."

Irmgard lowers her head, ashamed and embarrassed, yet it's true...upon learning that Inga has no family left to take her, she felt her heart crumple, then fill up with determination that she wouldn't be abandoned again. It feels almost like a sign that Frau Stern left the child right outside her gate. The rabbi is quiet for a moment before murmuring, "I believe it would be best if it were raised in our traditions..." Irmgard's insides shrink "...yet what matters most is it's happy, and loved. You believe you could offer that...?" "I hope I can," Irmgard murmurs back, "I have to at least try." "Then that's what counts," the rabbi says, as the policeman comes back with the news that the morgue will release Frau Stern's body for burial. "I won't try to challenge you for custody," he says to Irmgard, "just promise me you'll love and care for that child with all your heart." "I will," Irmgard says, surprised by her own conviction; the rabbi's eyes grow a little glassy as the table with a sheet covering it is wheeled past, he lets out a breath, nods, and follows them out. Irmgard is left alone with her roiling thoughts.

She heads to the orphanage. Irrationally fearful that she'll arrive to find Inga gone, snatched away from her, yet the attendant smiles and leads her right to the baby's crib. Irmgard is so conflicted; she knows nothing about babies, she's never had any children, she's rather older than most mothers, can she even keep up with a child?--what is she thinking? Is this even feasible? She nearly backs out of her own plan, then remembers the promise she just made to the rabbi, and knows that even more, it's a promise to Frau Stern, who left the child for her to find. Surely she chose Irmgard, out of everyone else on her street, in her neighborhood, for a reason. "May...may I hold her, bitte...?" she asks, and Inga is placed in her arms. Inga blinks her big brown eyes and makes small baby noises. Irmgard's heart feels about to burst. "No one's chosen to adopt her, yet...?" she asks, and the attendant sighs and shakes her head no. "Could...do you think, do you think they would allow me...?" Irmgard tries to ask, falters, sees the look on the attendant's face--"Are--are you saying you're interested?" she asks, sounding incredulous--and loses her nerve. "I'm sorry," she mumbles, lowering her head, ears burning, as Inga coos. "I know it's silly, I'm too old for a child..."

The attendant raises her hands. "Nein--nein!" she says hastily. "Actually...I'd rather been hoping you'd be interested, it's obvious you care for her, more than anyone else I've seen. We prefer our children to go to married couples but she's been here for a while now, and I can put in a good word for you. You can bring any other references you may have, anything helps. Whatever is best for the child, ja...?" Irmgard lifts her head and blinks when Inga grasps her finger; "It looks like she's chosen you," the attendant smiles, and Irmgard knows Inga will be going home with her, no matter what.

She meekly asks the rabbi to vouch for her, expecting nothing, yet he obliges. Inga has no known next of kin to contest the adoption, and although there's no real legality behind it, the fact that Frau Stern abandoned the infant practically outside Irmgard's front gate points toward her consigning the infant into her specific care; the police prefer the case to be wrapped up, so officially declare Frau Stern's death a suicide--widowed, destitute, and dying, likely from the same illness that took her husband, she left Inga to what she hoped was a better life, before taking her own--and the last few wrinkles are ironed out, and Irmgard takes Inga Stern, now Inga Tanzer, home.

She decides against hiring a nanny, although she has more than enough money to do so--she wants to raise the child herself. It's a lot of trial and error though, and she finds herself asking other female acquaintances for advice. She doesn't really have any close friends she can ask; although friendly and polite enough, she's always kept to herself. She expects to be rebuffed, yet most of the mothers she talks to while strolling Inga through the park are willing and happy to help. Irmgard may be naive and sheltered but she learns quickly, and despite a few hiccups early on, she does a decent job raising the girl.

Inga is herself quiet and polite, yet definitely not out of shyness or uncertainty, like Irmgard; indeed, she seems to have a stubborn streak, and although she never throws tantrums or even engages in arguments, she knows how to dig her heels in when she disagrees with something. "Moving you is like moving a mountain!" Irmgard exclaims whenever Inga insists on getting her way. As time goes on, though, Inga realizes she can use other, more effective means to get what she wants; everyone looks at her and sees a sweet, well-behaved, pretty girl, and all she has to do is play along with this impression, and people will do or give her whatever she wants. She doesn't even have to try. Irmgard doesn't fall for this innate charm nearly so much, though she recognizes it, and cautions Inga against using it indiscriminately: "I can't tell you not to, I imagine it'll be useful when you're grown up and on your own, but bitte, be careful that you don't become cruel or heartless. It's the worst thing, to use someone's feelings against them, and treat them like an object. Bitte, promise me you'll never become that person." "I promise, Aunt Irma," Inga replies, and given her honesty with everything else, Irmgard believes she means it.

One thing only looms like a shadow over Irmgard's otherwise loving and open relationship with Inga: Inga's true heritage. Irmgard has no idea how to approach this, so she decides not to approach it at all. She does let Inga know she's not truly related to her by blood--"It hardly matters though, I love you just the same," she insists--but as for Inga's true family, she says she'll tell her when she's older. Once in a while Inga asks, and Irmgard gently puts her off, and that's all. Until one day, the teenaged Inga comes to her with something in her hands. It's Frau Stern's locket. Irmgard's face goes pale, though Inga seems more apologetic than anything.

Inga: "I...I know you wanted me to wait, but...I got to thinking, and it just drove me mad inside, I had to know. Bitte, don't be angry with me."

Irmgard: "I'm not angry, Liebe...just...I don't know what I should tell you. I didn't know your family. They left you for me."

Inga: "What were their names...?"

Irmgard: "Their last name was Stern. This is all I know."

Inga: "Do...do you know why? Why they left me? Did...did they not want me?"

Irmgard: "Nein, nein, this isn't it at all, Liebe! From what I understand they loved you very much! Your...your father was very ill, and...he died, and left your mother alone." *Inga gets a stricken look* "And your mother...she became ill as well...they say she wouldn't have lived long. She didn't have the money to care for you and didn't want to leave you on your own. I...I don't know how or why she chose to leave you at my gate...but I promised myself I'd take the best care of you that I could. I hope I've lived up to that."

Inga: "Why...why didn't you want me to know this until later?"

Irmgard: *eyes tearing up* "I thought...I thought my loving you wouldn't be enough, and you might want to leave me. And then my heart would break."

Irmgard puts her hands to her eyes and starts weeping--"I'm sorry, Liebe, I didn't mean to keep this from you, yet I couldn't bear to lose you"--then feels Inga's hand on her arm, then Inga's arms around her. "I'd never leave," Inga murmurs, "you're all I have in the world." She holds on to Irmgard until her weeping abates; as Irmgard dabs at her wet eyes, she hesitantly adds, "But...Aunt Irma...what does this mean...?" Irmgard lifts her head, and sees that Inga is holding up the Star of David.

Irmgard explains the best she can...which isn't that well. She knows practically nothing about the subject, figuring ignorance was better than involving herself in a world she doesn't belong to. Inga seems confused to learn she's part of this world yet has no knowledge of it; Irmgard asks if she'd be interested in visiting a synagogue, speaking with a rabbi. "Then what...?" Inga asks, to which Irmgard admits, she doesn't know: "That's up to you to decide, Liebe." Inga stares at the necklace for a moment, then closes her hand around it. Despite her earlier words, Irmgard briefly fears she's about to lose her; yet Inga replaces the Star in the locket and closes it. "She wanted me to have it," she murmurs, "so I'll keep it nearby. But she wanted you to have me. This is where I belong."

Inga is in her late teens when Irmgard's health starts failing. She stays by Irmgard's side, first when she's confined to a chair, then to her bed. Irmgard is more heartbroken over her perceived burden on Inga than over the fact that she's almost certainly dying; "I wanted so much to always be there for you, through all your life," she despairs, crushed that Inga is going to be left all alone again. Yet Inga bears this all stoically despite the tears in her own eyes, smoothing Irmgard's hair, bringing her broth to sip, resting her head on her arm. She reassures Irmgard repeatedly that she's not upset with her, either for withholding the details about her parents, or for leaving her so soon; "You've cared for me, given me everything," she murmurs, "just like you promised. Now I'll take care of you."

Irmgard soon after passes away, Inga faithfully at her side. Inga sits a while, wiping at her streaming eyes, clutching Irmgard's still, frail hand. She eventually pulls herself together and goes to the telephone; Irmgard left her a number to get in contact with. She calls it, tells the person on the other end who she is and what's happened; they reply that they'll take care of everything, just sit tight. A doctor arrives, checks Irmgard over, gently tells Inga he'll make sure her body is taken care of and funeral arrangements will be made. Just as he's exiting, another man arrives and introduces himself; he's Irmgard's estate attorney. Irmgard prepared for this moment long ago, not long after bringing Inga into her home; ever cautious, she wanted to be sure Inga would always be secure, and would never have to worry about anything. Inga is surprised to learn that Irmgard has left her entire estate to her, and it includes not just the house and its belongings, but Irmgard's savings. She always lived comfortably, yet rather frugally...Inga learns now that she was actually quite well off, most of her spending going toward Inga's upbringing. And now the rest of her considerable savings belong to Inga.

Inga has no idea what to do with her newfound wealth. She has no desire to travel, plus, there's a war going on even if she did want to. She ponders her options as she walks through the city; she happens to glance up in time to see that the city hospital is nearby. Several patients are sitting outside in their wheelchairs in the sun. While family members are tending to most of them, one or two sit by themselves, with no one but a nurse to check on them. Inga stands gazing at the patients who have no one to come visit them, and thinks back on what Irmgard had told her about her own past, how she'd been in the orphanage, with no one to come choose her. She realizes that, with money, she has all the time in the world. She can be the one who visits the lonely people in the hospitals, the people who have no one. Like Irmgard once did for her, she can let them know that they're seen, that they matter.

Inga seeks out the nearest military hospital, deciding to focus her energy on the wounded troops. Her request to meet isolated soldiers with no family or visitors is met with mild puzzlement; yet she's pointed out to the patients who have no one to come see them. She approaches them one after the other with her disarming smile and hallo; the soldiers are initially perplexed, uncertain why she's there, but soon warm to her visits, opening up and talking with her. They're grateful for any positive attention, and though she eventually has to move on to another hospital, their moods seem greatly improved by her temporary presence. The hospital staff, too, appreciate what she does, and once word spreads, she's allowed in willingly and welcomed by the doctors and nurses.

Inga arrives at a military hospital she hasn't visited yet, greets the staff, asks who she should visit. The nurse tells her about a new patient, an army captain, who just received terrible news; in his absence, his entire family succumbed to the flu. Inga goes to talk to him. Stands at his bedside; when he looks up at her, she greets him, tells him her name, says she's there to provide some company. Then waits for a response. None is forthcoming; he just stares at her. Inga starts to feel a bit disconcerted, fidgets, adds, "If you'd like...?" Wonders if maybe he just wants her to leave him alone.

The wounded soldier lifts a hand and points at his ear, shaking his head. "I can't hear you," he says, a bit too loudly. "The shell blast deafened me."

Inga's eyes go wide; she blushes, gestures for him to wait a moment, hurries back to the nurse. Asks for a pen and pad of paper to communicate with; the nurse apologizes, gives her the requested items, and Inga heads back to the soldier's bedside. Points at herself, writes on the pad, and shows it to him: INGA.

She doesn't have to wait for a response this time. "Louis," the soldier says, and Inga sits down beside him, pen in hand.

[Irmgard Tanzer 2024 [‎Friday, ‎July ‎12, ‎2024, ‏‎12:00:47 AM]]

[kurt-wagner-official]

Post #102: XF Annual issue 2 and XF issues 21-23

This annual is written by Jo Duffy and guest stars the Inhumans and Power Pack. It opens with Franklin telling the other Power Pack members about a dream he had about the moon blowing up and Quicksilver saving him. They tell him it's probably nothing and continue their day of chilling at the park with Artie and Leech, with X-Factor there to supervise. The dream starts to come true when Quicksilver does show up and try to kidnap Franklin, but Leech slows him down long enough for X-Factor to come intervene. Leech moves away so they can use their powers, but Quicksilver quickly summons Lockjaw (the giant teleporting dog Inhuman) to teleport him, Franklin, and our heroes to the Inhuman city on the moon. It quickly becomes clear that Quicksilver and Lockjaw are under someone else's control and not in league with the rest of the Royal Family, who try to apprehend them. But Quicksilver and Lockjaw escape with Franklin and now Medusa in captivity. Refreshingly, X-Factor and the Royal family don't have a big misunderstanding fight and instead immediately team up to find Maximux the Mad, who Black Bolt believes is controlling Quicksilver and Lockjaw. Along the way, Scott learns that Quicksilver is estranged from the family since he and his wife Crystal separated and both left for Earth, leaving their daughter Luna in the care of the other Inhumans, which brings out the sad in him. Jean is also angsty because they're very near to the place that Phoenix died, and the rest of her team remembers it. They brush it off and go with the others to find Maximus, whose evil plan is to strap Franklin into a machine and unlock all his latent powers to boost Maximus's mind control powers. There's a big fight and the heroes win in the end. Before they head back to Earth, Jean asks Scott to show her where the Phoenix died so she can pay her respects to her. This was a fine story but there's not really a reason for X-Factor to be here. The first half was from the POV of Power Pack and the second half was all centered on the Inhumans and Franklin. And it ends before we see Jean visit the Phoenix's death site for the first time, which would have been nice to show on panel.

Back to the main book, the hunt for Hodge proves easier than expected when he shows up on their front door for Warren's will reading. He denies the Phoenix holograms, but Scott still says he's fired for how he's been using his position to spew mutant hatred. The kids are hanging out with Hank, who's still recovering from Pestilence's touch (it wasn't mentioned in the annual, but he didn't really do anything in that so I'm gonna handwave it). They're all worried what this means for X-Factor, but Hank promises that Warren will have left them his fortune. The adults head to the will reading, minus Caliban. Caliban is feeling a lot of frustration, both for being unable to pass as human and for his lack of physical power that left him a sitting duck in the fight against the Horsemen. When the others get to the will reading, they learn that Warren did leave his money to the X-Factor organization- but Hodge was named as the executor of the funds and the new head of X-Factor. As they angrily leave, a reporter named Trish Tilby, who's been hounding them for a while, tells them that Hodge was the one who signed over Warren's power of attorney to the surgeons who took his wings, and she's figured out their secret- but before the conversation goes any farther, a bunch of guys in power armor with smiley face helmets fly out of the sky screaming for the death of all humans. Our heroes are forced to use their powers to defend themselves and the people around them before fleeing, their cover now blown. Hodge then goes to the press and tells them this was an act of dangerous mutants. The students back at HQ watch the scene on the TV in horror, but they have their own problems when the same guys burst into the room and attack them.

The kids fight back but are quickly overpowered by the villains, who put power dampeners on them. Caliban rushes in and tries to stop them but gets clobbered. He's not on their list so they pump him full of tranqs and leave him to take their other prisoners off. Tabitha chooses this moment to finally return from the Fallen Angels, and she sneaks off after the villains, eventually tracking them to their plane and sneaking on before they take off. X-Factor returns soon after and bring Caliban to the infirmary before the tranq overdose does more damage. Caliban overheard the villains mention Arlington, Virginia, so the whole team heads for their own plane to go find the kids. Tabitha has a head start, and sneaks off the plane after landing to see her friends loaded on school buses and taken to a science museum. She sneaks in, where it seems to be a normal museum, but the villains are in an underground compound and have mutant detectors that she sets off. She escapes into the ventilation shafts and begins her search. She frees Rictor, who tells her that this is the same organization that held him captive, but when they try to find the others they run into the Right's leader- Cameron Hodge.

X-Factor arrives, following Caliban's senses, and attack the Right's compound, but when they try to question the guards they learn they all have bombs implanted in their chests that kill them when captured. Watching the action from afar, Apocalypse commends the Right for testing the strength of X-Factor. He then tells the Horsemen it's time for them to battle each other to decide their leader, and finally unveils Warren's new Death persona. He now has blue skin and metal wings with razor sharp feathers that he can fling at people. Before the other Horsemen can even react, he's taken them out and been declared Apocalypse's right hand. X-Factor presses on through the compound while the kids manage to escape and meet them halfway. Hodge arrives in ruby quartz armor tailor made to fight Scott, but with teamwork they manage to take him down- only to learn it was a robot there to delay them while Hodge escaped and set the building to self destruct. They escape with the kids just in time, but Apocalypse decides his time has come and teleports X-Factor up to his ship to face his Horsemen. This book has been less focused on long action scenes since the Massacre, but this issue was basically one long fight scene, and the Simonsons proved they can write and draw a great one. The next issue is part of the Fall of the Mutants event. This one is different from Mutant Massacre; each of the three X-books has an independent plotline, with the thematic link of each team having major losses and status quo changes.

[systematicmasspoisoning]

Who is Sam's prison for?

If you're not up to date in DreamSMP lore, Awesamdude, resident Redstone expert, was paid stacks of diamonds by Dream to make an inescapable prison. It is located in the ocean next to Bad and Skeppy's mansion and is VERY large. Supposedly it will be using Elder Guardians to keep a prisoner from mining out due to Mining Fatigue. Even if the prisoner dies of hunger, they will respawn inside. This brings up the question of how

1. they force the prisoner to click a bed inside the prison

2. how they keep the prisoner from breaking the bed.

Regardless of the mechanics of the second one, I think the first is a clue as to who Dream will trap inside the prison. Consider the 3 canon deaths lore. He has used the threat of permanently killing Tommy to get the boy to comply and click on a bed in Logstedshire. So a 'permanent death if you don't comply' is definitely an effective tactic but ONLY for people with one life left.

The main two options are Tommy and Tubbo (or Philza). Or, Dream is planning on knocking another one of his potential opponents, such as Quackity, Fundy or Techno, down to one life in the time it takes to build the actual prison.

Quackity and Fundy aren't big enough threats yet, although Quackity certainly has the potential to be a threat, in this season of the SMP, El Rapids isn't big enough of a threat yet.

Most people would assume Dream's biggest enemies on the server are Tommy and Techno. Techno's role in the grand scheme of things is, as of now, undetermined. However, as Techno is one of the authors of this SMP season, he likely has something up his sleeve. He is currently 'retired' alongside Phil in their Antarctic Empire skins in a snowy biome, but he has made appearances in Tommy's streams to mock the boy for getting exiled (just like Techno predicted with the Theseus analogy.) An alliance between the sleepbois is possibly in the works, but right now, both Tommy and Techno have made it clear there is still a lot of animosity between them. So I don't see Techno, and by extension, Phil becoming much of a problem for Dream (for now.)

Tommy, on the other hand, has been visited by Dream almost every stream while Tommy is exiled; Tommy has been manipulated by him, gaslighted and threatened. Despite making the very real threat of giving Tommy his final death, Dream has stopped Tommy from any, um, self-harming actions. Dream told him "I need you alive." Narratively, that means that Dream has plans for Tommy (they are, after all, each other's main antagonist). But Dream has also said that Tommy will remain on exile for a long time and he told Bad and Sam as they were building the prison that he doesn't intend on using the prison on Tommy (unless he begins to act up was implied.)

Because Bad and Sam (and Eret) are working with Dream, I would assume imprisoning anyone from the Badlands is out of the question. But I think it's interesting how Sam is the primary leader of the building project.

Dream said that Sam is the only one who will totally know the ins and outs of the prison. So that possibly means Sam is the only one who would know how to escape the inescapable prison. The interesting thing about Sam being included in this storyline is his connections. He and Tubbo are very close, and Sam is also friends with Tommy. Its not long of a stretch to assume that Sam's storyline might eventually lead to HIM breaking out whoever Dream imprisons. Tommy, for now, is out of the equation, so who does that leave?

Tubbo. Someone who many people are now considering Dream's puppet. Dream has been laying on the manipulation lately, playing chess with him, complimenting him and trying to increase the wedge between Tubbo and Tommy. You would think Tubbo is safe, so long as he remains pacifistic and continues to make decisions that are to Dream's benefit. But there are things going beyond the scenes that we, the audience, need to consider. The script.

Symbolism and chekov's guns have been sprinkled into the story line for a long time, and it feels as though the roleplayers have upped the ante. It's hard to think about Ghostbur' compasses without crying, but I literally can't stop thinking about what they mean. When it comes to the duo, despite their estrangement, Tommy still considers Tubbo one of the most important things in his life. He placed the "Your Tubbo" compass right beside his discs in his enderchest. Meanwhile, Tubbo held his "Your Tommy" compass in his offhand nearly all stream today. They still care for each other, obviously, but think about one of the reasons Tubbo exiled Tommy in the first place.

He felt like Tommy was choosing the discs over everything else. He felt as though the discs were the only thing Tommy cared about. There has to be a resolution to this. It's been shown by the story that the discs and Tommy's other obligations (L'manberg, his friendships) cannot coexist together for long without it driving a wedge between them.

Tubbo has been streaming more Among Us lobbies and modded Minecraft lately. When he comes onto the server, he nearly has nothing to do. He loves big project and building houses, but as of now, Tubbo has so little materials to even bother making a home and his largest project, the ocean monument, has been placed on the backburner while Sam builds the prison. Its almost....its almost like Tubbo is preparing his audience and for a period of time where he has no reason to be on the SMP. If he's imprisoned, that's not very good content to watch, is it? I also noticed that Dream pointedly did NOT tell Tubbo about the prison today, instead referred to it merely as a 'project.'

My biggest theory is that the prison is for Tubbo. Tubbo is complacent to Dream now, sure, but Tubbo is very, very smart, and- most importantly to Dream - he still has one of Tommy's discs. And Dream wants it.

When talking sweet to Tubbo no longer works, I think the prison will be the next best option. Its possible Dream will frame Tubbo for some crime (foreshadowed by how Quackity and George tried to frame Eret for Karl's murder), or someone will threaten to overthrow Tubbo and Dream will bring him to a 'secure location' to protect him. Tubbo is very nervous about losing his one life, as exhibited by the safe room under the L'mamberg podium, and other comments about his fear of becoming the next Ghostbur. Dream said that he would protect Tubbo if someone tried to overthrow him. The only threats to Tubbo's current presidency is El Rapids. Ranboo is willing to wait until the next election to become president, but Quackity has shown a strong willingness to do terrible things in order to get power. In Quackity's war against Eret and Dream, Dream made many, many references to Tubbo being a better leader, possibly sowing jealousy in Quackity's mind. Sapnap, George and Karl, as apart of El Rapids also have a bone to pick with L'manberg and may also play a part in further separating Quackity from L'manberg and fueling his desire to be the most powerful nation on the server. Absorbing New L'manberg could be the next step.

Dream could pretend to protect Tubbo by bringing him to a 'safe location', the prison, and getting Tubbo to willingly set his spawn inside. Once it comes to light that it's a prison, with Dream his captor, Tubbo will have to make a decision. Give Dream the disc in his enderchest, or stay imprisoned. Freedom, or the disc, a compromise that has been made time and time again on this server.

I think that Tubbo will hold out and allow himself to be imprisoned, while Tommy returns from exile to make a prison break, with the help of Sam. I doubt that will end well, knowing Dream.

I also think at some point, one of the boys will need to bend. Either Tubbo choses to give up his disc to Dream for freedom, or he decides to take the disc with him to his grave. Its basically the Exile decision all over again. Life/freedom, or the discs/war. Selfishness vs. selflessness.

The two boys are learning throughout this current arc to be more like the other. Throughout his Exile, Tommy will learn to be self sufficient and has had to make big sacrifices consistently as Dream blows up the progress he's made. He's learning to chose his own life over property. Meanwhile, Tubbo (although he's only streamed on the SMP once so far this week) has already shown regret for exiling Tommy, and inherently by choosing to launch a war campaign against Techno, he is learning to chose war and bravery over peace and cowardice. He will gain an appreciation for the disks and/or recognize with greater understanding what they mean to Tommy. Maybe he will learn to care deeply for his compass and learns how willing he is to wage war if the compass gets stolen. It's about the symbolism - its what the object means that is worth protecting.

I think Tubbo will die protecting the discs. Or, Tommy will tell Tubbo to give it up. This is a better ending, in which Tommy will learn that the discs represent is his friendships. And, according to Ranboo, they also represent power, according to Ranboo. But on the server, according to Wilbur (when he asks Tubbo to spy for him) people have always represented power.

To Tommy, in this arc, I hope he will learn that keeping the discs is not worth losing his best friend.

[escapetoluna]

How to write about Grief:

There is no right or wrong way to experience grief. Just as there is no right or wrong way to write it. Everyone is different, each set of circumstances are different. 

The point of this post is to show you how different people react in different ways, and give points on how you might write that, depending on your character and story.

Reactions to Grief

Numbness: Your character may go into auto-pilot and be unable to process the events that have unfolded.

Anger: This can be aimed at other people, at a Higher Being, or at nothing in particular.

Unsteady: Your characters may be unsteady. For example, unable to stop their voice from shaking or they may find it difficult to stand.

Focusing on Others: Your character may disregard their own feelings because they are so overwhelmed and instead concentrate on someone else’s well-being. 

Seek out routines: Amid upheavals, your character may seek comfort in tasks that are familiar and “safe,” such as working, cleaning, making their bed, making absurd amounts of tea or taking a morning walk.

Pretending that Everything Is Okay: Grief is viewed as an emotion that should cease or be concealed once the funeral is over. So people mention the news in an offhand comment, then talk and laugh as if all is right with the world.

Denial: Some people deny the reality of death and convince themselves that the news is a joke or can’t be true.

Reactions from people surrounding your character:

People may avoid your character as they do not know what to say or simply can’t find the right words.

Some may even go as far as to cross the street when they notice your character approaching.

Even people that the character has known for years may act strange or standoff-ish, simply because they don’t know what to say.

On the other side of that, some people may be overly helpful and friendly.

It is not uncommon for estranged friends, family or others to suddenly reappear in a person’s life after they have experienced grief. 

Either because those people want to offer their support and love  or because they’re being nosy and they want to be kept up to date on the “drama”.

Most people will move on from the event fairly quickly if they weren’t emotionally invested. 

Some people may even get annoyed at your character for still being upset weeks or months later.

When talking about the person they have lost:

Your character may recall a memory or tell a story about their loved one, these are possible reactions. (I have encountered all of them.)

Your character may being to cry or get upset at the thought of the person they have lost. 

The person they are talking to may become awkward and avert eye contact when your character brings up the person they have lost. 

Others may ask or tell your character to stop talking about the person they have lost. They may roll their eyes, cough awkwardly, or cut off your character mid sentences so that they can change the subject.

Some people may ask inappropriate questions about the circumstances in which the character’s loved one passed away. Depending on the personality of your character then may react differently. 

Other things to note:

Grief is not constrained by time. 

One of the main problems with grief in fiction is that a character is typically heartbroken for a couple scenes and then happy again. But grief does not evaporate because the world needs saving. 

Allow your character to wrestle with their grief. 

Your character may feel guilty. Your character may feel a twinge of guilt when they laugh or have a good time with someone else; when they do something to remind them that they’re alive, and their loved one isn’t. 

Grief is a game changer. A previously outgoing character may withdraw and isolate themselves. Some people may take grief and/or bereavement as a sign that life is too short; they may make big decisions in an attempt to make themselves feel better and grow away from their pain.

Sometimes grief can help you find your purpose.

At first grief can be all consuming. It hurts and you can’t really control it. It may seem unrelenting. Eventually the grief will become easier to deal with, your character may find the days to be better, but that doesn’t mean that when the grief hits it doesn’t hurt any less.

For most people, grief never really goes away. “Sometimes you have to accept the fact that certain things will never go back to how they used to be.”

It is rare that a person will ever give a long speech about their feelings, a lot of people struggle to even find the words. But that’s okay. Show the reader how your character feels, rather than just telling them.

Don’t pause the plot to deal with the aspect of grief. This could overwhelm the readers and drag the pace down. In reality, life doesn’t just stop due to grief, the world keeps spinning and things still need to be done. Use the character’s grief as a backdrop for the story’s events.  

Yes, grief affects the character’s day-to-day life, goals, and relationships. But it shouldn’t drive readers away or stagnate the story. Instead, should engage readers and produce empathy that keeps them turning pages.

You don’t need to tell your readers that everything will be fine. You don’t need to provide all of the answers.

“Skirting grief and treating it lightly is easy. But by realistically portraying it through a variety of responses and its lasting effects on the character’s life, readers will form a connection with your characters.“

[kinncman]

A LIST OF PLOTLESS TOWN RP-FRIENDLY CHARACTER IDEAS & CONNECTIONS INSPIRED BY MOVIES! (PART 1)

click here for part two.

i collected a couple of plot ideas from some of the movies i thought had interesting stories or characters that i hope can help you with your applications / character connections. please note that a lot of these are, by no means, the actual plots of the films and are only inspired by them. i’ve taken the liberty of making a couple of edits for them to be ‘plotless town rp-friendly’. also, i would’ve separated them by category (platonic, romantic, familial, etc.) but tbh a lot of these can be taken in any way so feel free to put your own spin on them, too, or even make combinations!

trigger warnings: nothing too specific, but there are light mentions of death, road accident, infidelity, illness, injury, drug addiction.

now, without further ado:

BAY OF ANGELS  // muse a met muse b on a vacation several years ago, brought together because they were both from the same home country and realized that they were traveling to run away from something. muse a came to learn that this wasn’t muse b’s first rodeo, and where this was the first time that muse a had tried to run away from their problems, muse b had been running for most of their life. muse b initially wished to emulate the same free-spirited, high-risk-high-reward principles that muse a lived by. however, muse b started to display totally erratic behavior that prompted muse a to question whether they were making the right choices. eventually, they went home. jump to present day where they meet again in their home country— muse b has toned down somewhat due to a traumatic event (a hard lesson to learn for them) meanwhile, muse a’s life remains the same cycle of events they can’t seem to break free from.

CLEO FROM 5 TO 7 // muse a suspects they are sick but refuses to go to the doctor to have it checked. most of their days are plagued with this feeling of doom enshrouding them, causing them to have a general distaste for life. they meet muse b who has profoundly positive disposition towards life. their company helps muse a to come to terms with the fact that perhaps their illness is something they should deal with. with muse b’s help, muse a starts to find meaning in death.

HAPPY OLD YEAR // muse a left town / the country for college, leaving behind all their friends and family, cutting all ties in a heartbeat, only to come back several years later a completely changed person who subscribes to the idea of minimalism and wants to get rid of all the clutter in their life, material or otherwise. this brings them to reconnect with muse b (and a variety of other muses if the mun wishes) when they find their old belongings and return them in order to be ‘minimalist’ and get rid of all the garbage in their home, which means getting rid of memories, too. however, muse b, who has now moved on from muse a and is with someone else, isn’t too pleased with having muse a back in their life. muse a is desperate to find the closure that muse b isn’t giving them, primarily because muse b knows that muse a is after starting over on a clean slate only to clear their conscience and not to make amends.

YI-YI: A ONE AND A TWO // muse a and muse b were each other’s first and greatest loves but are currently married to other people. when they are reunited through a chance encounter, they decide that it’s better to have each other in their lives as friends than not at all. they realize they still do have feelings for each other but because of their spouses, know that they can never be anything else other than friends. thus begins a journey of trying to bring their old selves back into the light as new people.

MIKEY AND NICKY // muse a and muse b are best friends since childhood. muse a is neurotic, childish, and wildly impulsive, and often has to depend on muse b to get them out of trouble only to show very little gratitude for it, much to muse b’s chagrin. in fact, muse b often finds themself thrown under the bus in muse a’s favor, though it’s not entirely muse a’s fault: muse b is an enabler. however, muse b can’t quite seem to quit muse a (either because they love the feeling of being needed and there’s no one who needs them more than muse a or maybe they’ve been in love with muse a since childhood— or both) until a certain event causes muse b to question whether they are healthy for each other at all.

IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE // muse a and muse b are neighbors, both living with their significant others. both muse a and muse b often see each other in the hallways or share an elevator up to their apartment when they come home from work. maybe they even carpool sometimes. however, they spare very little in the way of words until one day, muse a breaks down while drunk and admits that they think their partner is cheating on them. in an attempt to comfort them, muse b reveals that they think the same thing of their own partner. desperate for answers, they conduct an investigation until they realize that their partners are cheating on them with each other. muse a and muse b become each other’s support system, as they try to coach each other through an impending breakup all the while realizing that they might be developing feelings for each other and must now choose between indulging their feelings or deny themselves the hypocrisy.

TAKE THIS WALTZ // muse a meets muse b on a trip out of town and they instantly connect. they share the same flight back home and even a cab ride from the airport. however, they soon realize that muse b is muse a’s new neighbor, which makes things plenty awkward considering how a) they’ve been borderline flirty the whole time and b) muse a is married to someone who they now consider to be far less interesting in comparison to muse b. regardless, once they’ve recognized a mutual attraction with each other, muse a demands for muse b to keep their distance, only to keep running into each other everywhere, much to muse a’s chagrin.

LAST LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE // muse a is witness to a terrible road accident involving a pedestrian. muse a takes the pedestrian and their sibling, muse b to the hospital where muse b’s sibling is declared dead on arrival. despite being total strangers, muse a stays with muse b through the entire process. eventually, muse a takes muse b home but muse a refuses to let muse b leave, claiming they don’t want to be left alone in the house that they previously shared with their now deceased sibling. having money troubles of their own and on the brink of an eviction, muse a ends up staying with muse b not just for the night but for the week until they get comfortable enough with each other that muse b invites muse a to officially live with them to help with their financial problems, but mostly because they don’t know how to handle their grief alone.

THE FALL // muse a is in an outpatient physical rehabilitation facility after suffering from a near-fatal injury when they meet muse b. the pair are polar opposites in terms of their attitudes towards recovery: where muse a is more hopeful, muse b only throws pity parties for themself considering that this injury might prevent them from fully getting back to doing what they love. despite this, the two form an unlikely bond where muse b is completely enthralled with muse a, who tells them stories about their travels and their career and all the amazing things they’ve done, without realizing until they’re in too deep that they are all fabricated versions of the truth and muse b falls for every single one of them. what started as little white lies becomes a source of anxiety for muse a when the lies just get bigger and bigger.

COLUMBUS // muse a is a young, aspiring [insert career here] but to pursue this passion, they must leave their hometown, which they have constantly been refusing to do despite the numerous opportunities having been presented to them on account of the fear that no one else is going to take care of their mother (who, in the movie, is a recovering drug addict but it can be for any reason or relative in this case). muse b’s father is a well-known [insert career that muse a wants here] and is in town to hold a lecture/exhibit/performance/etc etc depending on the career, but then he suffers from a stroke. muse b, despite being estranged from their father for having been scrutinized by the man for most of their life, is forced to come to town and take care of him being their closest living relative. they meet muse a by chance, only to learn shortly after that they are a huge fan of muse b’s parent’s work. having spent their whole life in this town, muse a becomes muse b’s tour guide of sorts, while inadvertently helping each other come to terms with their relationship with their parents and how they can be kinder to themselves.

SECRET SUNSHINE // after their spouse’s passing, muse a moves from the big city to their spouse’s much, much smaller hometown so they can raise their child there. they meet all of the important figures of their spouse’s childhood including muse b, a local shopkeeper and an old friend of their spouse’s, who, despite muse a’s reluctance, helps them adjust to small town life. the pair eventually closer to each other and muse a to their spouse as they find out more about who they were before they met.

THIS IS WHERE I LEAVE YOU // (originally lgbtqia+ and written about older characters with grown children, but make of this plot what u will, tbh) muse a and muse b are best friends. both married, both with grown kids. muse a’s spouse died a long time ago so they’ve had plenty of time to help muse b take care of their spouse in the couple of months leading to that spouse’s death. in the process, the pair have grown intimate (with muse b’s spouse’s knowledge— in fact, they encouraged muse a to ‘take care’ of muse b in the event of their passing and wouldn’t trust anyone else to do so) but haven’t told their families yet in fear of what they might think of them given their age and how they’re basically uncles/aunts to each other’s children.

[stellocchia]

Sooo, remember this: Platonic Soulmates AU? Yeah... I actually wrote something for Bee Duo based on it because I was feeling like it. 

It’s pretty short and kinda different from my usual writing style, but it was fun!

                                     Dissonant Melody

Tubbo and Ranboo have the perfect life. They have their big mansion, multiple houses, a son, more riches than anyone else on the server, and, most importantly, they have each other. They’re both seventeen and they already found their soulmate. Not only that, but they are both alive and their bond is as strong as can be with emotions flowing freely through it.

They’re lucky, they know they are.

They’re lucky, luckier than most, so they can never say otherwise.

They’re lucky, but why doesn’t it feel like it?

Why has the mansion stayed empty since it got built? Why are they still living so far apart, pretending that the distance will hide their distress from the other?

Tubbo lost a nuke a while ago. Tubbo lost his best friend not long before that. Tubbo lost so much and yet he hasn’t said a word. He doesn’t need to, of course, because he’s fine. He is perfectly fine and if his laboured breaths and tachycardia when he wakes up in the middle of the night were anything out of the ordinary he’s sure that Ranboo would tell him.

Ranboo hasn’t felt in control in a while. He’s not sure how often he actually sleeps compared to how often the… other him simply takes control. His experiments are supposed to be working. They are supposed to give him answers to give him control. They aren’t. But he can’t bother his family with his burden. He can’t look at his husband and child and admit to being nothing but a monster. He knows they would hate him, and they should hate him, really! He just can’t bring himself to be the one to spill his dirty little secret.

Tubbo and Ranboo are seventeen and they already figured out what soulmates aren’t supposed to be. Soulmates aren’t supposed to be the person you share your burdens with. They aren’t supposed to be the person you’re honest with. They aren’t who you go to, to open up about your past. They aren’t there to give you acceptance, they shouldn’t be. They aren’t there to confide in.

Tubbo and Ranboo also know what soulmates are supposed to be. They are the person who’s going to keep you company when you need some silly escapade to distract you from the real world. They are the person who knows you are lying when you say that you’re fine and will lie right back to you. They are the person you smile at and laugh with. They are the person that will let you be a kid around them and not expect something different, something more. They are the person who can perceive your feelings, but who’ll never call attention to them.

Maybe it isn’t perfect, but is it even meant to be?

Because the truth is that they’re young, both of them, and sometimes all they need is someone who’ll let them be.

So maybe it is perfect in their own imperfect way.

And maybe Tommy was talking out of his ass when he mentioned that they might need a “balance”, a suggestion from his therapist apparently.

Because Tubbo is happy. He may not have been home for a while, too busy with his newest project, but he knows that Michael will be there when he gets back and Ranboo is just one call away, ready to aid him when he feels like building another sandstone dick on the roof of the prison. And the outpost is not yet another way to run away from his problem. It’s not another manifestation of denial, it isn’t. And Tubbo sometimes really wishes that Tommy never learned all that fancy terminology, because now it doesn’t feel like they’re on the same level anymore. And Tubbo is fine with that, even if now he feels stupid when trying to talk to him. He didn’t need a friend to open up to anyway.

And it’s fine that Ranboo seems to get his best friend better than he does nowadays. And it’s fine that Tommy goes to him first when he needs something. It’s fine that they are close to each other and that they seem open with each other. It’s fine because it’s not what Tubbo needs and it’s not what he knows how to give. It’s fine, but sometimes Tubbo wishes that he could say it wasn’t.

Ranboo is happy as well of course. He is living with the men who destroyed the first home he’s ever known, but he moved past that. He doesn’t hold grudges really. It’s not useful, it only leads you to choose sides and he won’t, he can’t. If he does then it’ll be much harder to justify to himself why choosing his friends in the past was never worth it. Why fighting by their side for what was important to them was wrong. Why Tubbo’s resigned face, while Ranboo was letting his home blow up, shouldn’t haunt him.

But he was right, thankfully, so he is happy. And Dream is locked up where he can’t hurt anyone anymore, and there are only two deaths that disprove that. And Ranboo may not be in control of his actions or his mind, but he will be, once he figures out how to deal with his problems. And if he doesn’t well… he is sure that there must be a way to convince Sam to lock him up in Pandora’s Vault. He might not even have to convince him once the Warden finds out what type of monster he truly is. Before that though he’s gonna help Tubbo with his surveillance post.

This new project seems to have given a new rhythm to the both of them, a new purpose.

They aren’t working on it together per se. That would require a level of communication that neither of them is capable of. But they are still cooperating nonetheless.

This is the closest they’ve been in a while and neither of them really knows what to do with it. And that’s not right, they’re soulmates and they’ve been close for a long time now! So why is it that they feel more like strangers?

They see each other sometimes, on their way to and from the outpost and it’s like meeting and estranged family member more than their husband. It’s all polite greetings and embarrassed shuffling of their feet. One of them will ask the other what’s going on in their life, the answer is always kept vague.

Both of them can feel how much the other wants the conversation to end every time, but they still persevere because they shouldn’t want that.

It takes a few weeks for the awkwardness to shift into resentment.

It takes a few weeks before Ranboo comments on how distant and cold Tubbo has been. On how he feels like they aren’t close anymore. It takes mere seconds, after that, for Tubbo to yell about how Ranboo can’t speak when he’s still living with the man who murdered him.

Words they never meant to utter out loud fly freely then.

Suddenly it becomes apparent how little they knew of each other. Did they ever even know the other at all? Were any of the good moments real?

Is Tubbo really the uncaring, distant pushover that brought his country to ruin that Ranboo claims him to be?

Is Ranboo truly the self-absorbed, spineless traitor that Tubbo thinks he is?

They’re both panting by the end. Exhaustedly looking at the ground. 

That was what they needed supposedly, that’s what everyone said. A “balance” between sharing their burdens and granting the other the lightheartedness of youth. But it was too little too late I’m afraid.

There was nothing there anymore. That bond that seemed so perfect and strong came undone in less then an hour. Bitterness was left where that tentative sense of belonging used to be.

After all they were strangers now, it was well past the time for sharing.

[zeldamonroe-a]

                                        meet zelda monroe / wanted connections.

                       romantic -

her estranged husband / ( 0 / 1 )                to say zelda lost her mind a little bit during this past year would be an understatement. hitting twenty six isn’t exactly a big milestone by any means, but it seemed to mean one thing to zelda: she wasn’t a kid anymore, or even a teen. she was an adult who needed to make big decisions about the rest of her life. [ YOUR MUSE ] seemed to understand what she was going through - a little bit older, a little bit wiser, the two fell head over heels in love in a matter of weeks. it all culminated in a ceramony performed by a los vegas elvis, of course - with rings on their fingers, and a promise of ‘forever’. but that promise faded as soon as the sun came up, and zelda ran - back to new york, back to home, to figure out what she’d just done. they haven’t spoken in over six months, though legally they’re still bound to one another - and whether it was just momentary insanity, or true love, zelda still isn’t sure. [ MALE, 28 - 35 ]

PR stunt / ( 0 / 1 )               living life in hollywood, it seemed like every move she made was calculated by a team that rarely thought about how zelda herself felt about it. this relationship was no different - she had just put out a new album and was about to go on tour, [ YOUR MUSE ] was about to launch a PR campaign of their own. the relationship was mutually beneficial for their bank accounts, but also became somewhat real, somehow - after all, no one understands the pressures of the famous quite like someone else famous.

the one that got away / ( 0 / 1 )               zelda lived as ‘normal’ a life as she could while also starring on primetime tv. she wasn’t on set, she was in a private school in manhattan, ruling with fluttering eyelashes and swift revenge on anyone who tried to undermine her. [ YOUR MUSE ] was her other half - not bothered by her occasional mean girl streak, or the fact that she had to cancel dates in order to appear on jimmy kimmel. but college came for them, zelda was launching herself as a singer, and the two drifted apart. her third album - accurately entitled ‘the one that got away’ - was laced with hidden meanings about their relationship, but [ YOUR MUSE ] and zelda haven’t seen one another in a decade. old feelings couldn’t possibly be rekindled...could they? [ ANY GENDER, 26 ]

                       platonic - 

til death do us part / ( 0 / 1 )               they say that no one knows you as best as your closest enemy, and for zelda and [ YOUR MUSE ] it couldn’t be more true. on the surface, they’re best of friends - smiling on each others social medias, wrapping their arms around each other for pictures. but as soon as one of them crosses the other, it’s a damn near war zone - and anyone who gets in between them better watch out.

there’s no one like you / ( 0 / 1 )               zelda’s never paid much attention to the ‘underlings’ in her life - she was, after all, the best of the best and those in her life had to keep up in the same way. but since coming to the hamptons and all but hiding from her previous life, [ YOUR MUSE ] has won her over - sure, maybe they’re not world famous and shining their oscar’s every other night, but they’re teaching zelda some new perspectives - like how to enjoy clam in a hot dog bun while wearing cheap $3 flip flops. [ MUST BE A HAMPTONS NATIVE, NON - RICH / NON - CELEBRITY ]

what is you is me / ( 0 / 1 )               they say that there’s no real love like your first best friend. zelda and [ YOUR MUSE ] have known each other their entire lives - they were her date to the first award ceremony she attended at age 15 by herself, the one she turned to when she was debating going to college or pursuing her life in the entertainment industry, and the one she called when she found herself married in vegas wearing a cheap off the rack dress. they have their ups and downs, but zelda would kill for them - and vice versa. their friendship is legendary, and their love is pure. [ YOUR MUSE ] is more like a sister than a friend, and zelda would be lost without them.  [ FEMALE, 26 ] 

                        misc. -

friends 

flings / hook ups / etc.

minions 

enemies

past costars/coworkers/etc

more !

unless otherwise specified, all connections are open to any age range & gender !!!