#but who think very very hard about how stories function and want desperately to talk about it

[metanarrates]

orv scratches that good gamer itch in my brain because i learned about the term "ludonarrative resonance" once in class and now every time i see a mechanic that serves as storytelling fuel i start screeching with delight

[infpravenclaw5w4idkwhatelse]

Apparently its just in my brain rn but I wanted to make this list for me or for anyone out there who gets into editing before I do (pleas please please idk how to edit and unless I hyper fixate hard enough, I probably won’t take the time to learn lmao) but anyway this is a list of the Robins and songs (by Taylor Swift so there’s a theme and the list has a finite end) that I desperately need an edit of them with.

Stephanie brown- the man (literally can’t hear the song without thinking of her), mad woman (I can see this with interspersed scenes of her father, fighting villains specifically black mask, and Bruce)

Jason Todd- my tears ricochet (absolutely devastating w/ under the red hood, specifically comic version iykyk the difference between that and the movie), haunted (I need this with Bruce and dick and Tim’s reaction to his death), bigger than the whole sky (similar to haunted but more resigned? And still more about characters responding to his death but still His Death), who’s afraid of little old me (red hood transitional period. You see the vision? I know you do.) look what you made me do (obviously. I keep imagining him listening to this song while being the red hood and it’s great), the Great War (just. The imagery. There’s so much potential here. “maybe it’s the past that’s talking, screaming from the crypt, telling me to punish you for things you never did” with a cut to Batman and Joker would go so hard)

Dick Grayson (there’s really no order to this list is there? Lol anyway.)- never grow up (focused on his relationships with his siblings and then after the bridge with the “wish I’d never grown up” with flashbacks to him as Robin oh my god I’d cry), 22 (idk it feels very early Nightwing to me. I need a happy one for him bc he deserves it. Just an edit of him winning and being iconic), New Romantics (in that same vein, with the titans because it’d be fun), the story of us and I forgot that you existed (him and B fighting because I feel people ignore that they do fight quite often and IFTYE especially feels the right amount of petty and sincere for him, you know?), last but not least (can you tell I love him) Style (this and any love interest he repeatedly dates, I was thinking specifically Barbara but I could also see kory, I just think this song is fun for any relationship that gets rebooted in multiple formats)

Tim Drake- enchanted (as itty bitty Tim Drake or Robin, meeting them at galas and Knowing or just working with the bats in the beginning when he was star struck), mirrorball (“I can change everything about me to fit in” …yeah. This is more a fanon interpretation but I read a really interesting fic where Jason comes back and meets Tim and all he can see is his and dick’s Robin mannerisms in him, and can’t find anything that’s just Tim’s until he’s too tired to pretend anymore and it’s stuck with me) you’re losing me (this would be a sad one of people generally looking over or hating him, specifically Bruce calling him Jason, finding out dick made Damian Robin, Damian and Jason verbally attacking him, the events that led to Red Robin) Tis the damn season (for when Red Robin arc is over and he’s still angry but doesn’t know what else to do)

Damian Wayne: a place in this world (it’s not his aesthetic, but the themes of the song are very raised-in-the-league-trying-to-be-a-functioning-family-member), the best day (with him and Dick generally him getting to be a kid, I’m not crying you are), mean (I think the “swords and weapons that you use against me”would be funny with him drawing assorted weapons on people), Innocent (“your string of lights is still bright to me oh, who you are is not where you’ve been” oh my god. I just feel like he needs someone to mean this about him) exile (Talia leaving him, even if she meant to do it for his own good, having to recon with not being in the league anymore), this is me trying (I don’t have words for this one, it’s a vibe)

Bonus:

Anti-hero: you can give all of them different verses that fit best, but I think they’d all sing the song and feel like it was them and I’d love to see an edit of them to it.

Epiphany: Alfred. You don’t even have to listen to it, just look at the lyrics and you’ll Get It.

robin: this I see for both Jason and Dick, so probably split between them.

Mastermind: first off, shameless TimSteph shipper, not even necessarily romantically, it’s just that they’re soulmates and I don’t care what canon says; I know that because they told me personally. Anyway the song is from both of their perspectives. They both think they’re the mastermind

State of Grace: also TimSteph. Fight me.

[tashacee]

It’s implied that Time and Aspect!Wild talked to each other about their moon related trauma, what was Time’s reaction to Wild describing the horrors of the blood moon? What was Wild’s reaction to Time talking about his adventure in Termina? How many of The Chain know about Termina?

I’m so curious and desperate to know how that conversation went. Could it maybe even be a short story please?

Look I know this is VERY overdue but i REALLY liked this idea and wanted to do it justice so

Aspects of the Moon

“So.” Time said, shuffling his feet. “The moon, huh?”

“Oh hell no, spooky-boy, you’re talking first, you were accusing me of being a moon-demon ten minutes ago. I deserve to know why.” Wild chuffed as he signed and flicked his tail to show that he wasn’t actually mad. But still. Sure, he’d spill his own moon trauma, but he absolutely deserved to hear Time’s first.

The old man sighed, raking a hand through his hair.

“Uh…” he said. “I… guess that’s fair.” he sighed and shook his head. “It… it’s really weird. You probably won’t believe me.”

“I came back from the dead. Multiple times.” Wild deadpanned.

Time chuckled. “I mean when you put it like that.” he laughed. “Fine. You win. So… when I was a kid. A real kid. Well. Sort of. I was ten, but it was after my first adventure, which took around two years all things considered, so I was also kind of twelve? But yeah, I was ten.”

“Time, what the fuck?” Wild held up his hands, blinking. “Were you ten or twelve, this isn’t that hard?”

Time snorted. “I’m the Hero of Time, Wild. It really is that hard. Now stop interrupting, this is my trauma I’m talking about here.”

Wild rolled his eyes jokingly, but waved for him to continue.

“Okay so. I fell into a tree and woke up in another world, called Termina. And everyone in Termina was freaking out ‘cause the moon was about to crash into the ground and kill them all. Actually that’s not true. A lot of them weren’t freaking out, they had other issues, which seemed a little short-sighted of them, but who am I to judge? Anyway, the moon kept getting closer - it had a face, by the way. The moon did. Big angry face. Very freaky -and after three days it crashed into the earth and killed everyone. So I rewound time to see if I could stop it. Um. It took a lot of times. Couple of years worth of three day cycles, but like, I kept resetting myself too so I was still ten. And then eventually I fought the moon and escaped. But yeah. That’s. That’s my issue with the moon.”

Wild stared at him.

“Time, what the fuck?”

“I did tell you the biggest thing I ever fought was the moon.”

“Yeah but I thought you were joking!”

“Clearly.”

“Fuck!”

“Yep.”

Wild nodded slowly, staring into the darkness of the woods around him. That was… wow. That was a lot. No wonder Time has issues. If even half of that was true - and Wild had no reason to doubt his brother’s word - then it was frankly astounding that he was functional at all.

“Okay. so.” Time leaned back against a tree. “What’s your story? Why do you hate the moon.”

Oh yeah. That had been the deal, hadn’t it. Time had told his sstory, so now Wild would tell his.

Ugh.

He shrugged.

“Not as dramatic as yours.” he admitted. “In my journeys - both of them, actually - every full moon rose red and Ganon’s power waxed in the air. His evil became visible rising from the ground and at the stroke of midnight, every monster that had been slain returned to life at once. You could hear them howl through the night all at once. It sucked serious ass.”

Time stared at him.

“All of the monsters?”

“Yep.”

“Even - even the big ones?”

“Sure did. Full moons… I don’t trust em.”

“No shit! No wonder you hate them!”

“Word.”

“Fuck.”

They sat in silence for a moment, both thinking about each others’ respective moon traumas. Then Wild pulled out his slate, flicked through a few sections, and pulled out his strongest bottle of whiskey, offering it to Time.

“Fuck the moon, amirite?”

Time grinned, accepting it. “Yeah. Fuck the moon!”

[johanarchy]

Lately I've been having a lot of fun creating some Chaos Marine OCs and I thought I might introduce them here !

So behold ! A very unlikely friend group :

The Iron Warrior is called Cassius Merle, the Death Guard is Mychos Ankou and the Emperor's Child is named Antares Fitz.

I have a whole story for how they met, but the short version is that they all got stranded on a ruined world after the end of the 13th Black Crusade and had to team up to get away.

I have informally named them The Smelly Trio because they all stink. They bicker. They share a braincell. Together they can overcome anything.

Mychos and Antares are in a romantic relationship. No one understands how it happened, least of all the two of them. Cassius is in some kind of queerplatonic partnership with both, though he would rather die than to admit that he actually likes them.

More doodles and yapping under the cut (ft me not being fully set on what their armours look like)

"I really don't care for the Gods. Like everything, they serve a purpose, but I have never needed their help blowing walls up, and I don't see why that should change."

Cassius is the youngest, he was recruited just a few decades before the Black Crusade. As most post-Heresy Chaos Marines, he isn't his Primarch's gene-son; he comes from Imperial Fist geneseed, something he feels extremely angsty about.

He's short of height and of temper, and though he tries very hard to be the hypercompetent brain of the group, he is absolutely not suited for leadership, or for functionning outside of the rigid structure of his legion. That's not his fault, he was just never really taught critical thinking. Or proper social skills.

He likes manual labor, it makes him feel useful and lets him turn his brain off, both things he desperately needs.

"You misunderstand me. I do not wish for the end of humanity. Humanity delights me, like all species of living beings do. But to think that, just because I am part of it, that I should believe it above the laws of nature ? No, this is something that I cannot accept."

Mychos is the oldest, having actually been part of one of the first waves of Death Guards from Barbarus. He used to be, and technically still is, an apothecary, but nowadays his duty is mainly to create more and more elaborate biological weapons for his fellow Plague Marines to use.

He carries himself with the unnerving friendliness and cheerfulness that only nurglites can have, and with a sort of "gentle giant" attitude that makes many people dismiss him as slow and simple minded; but do not be deceived, this is a wisened veteran who knows the world he lives in, he's just very chill about it.

He is a big nature lover, with a soft spot for fungi, which he lets grow over his exposed bones. He tends to start little gardens in every place he stays in for more than a few weeks, something he is exceptionally skilled at. He talks to all living things in his little ecosystems, plants, fungi, insects, even bacteria, and sometimes they actually answer.

"The problem with the Imperium is that it's run by losers and prudes who have never had a single minute of fun in their lives, and they expect everyone else to be as miserable as them or die. I say fuck them. Do whatever you want. If your so-called-God has a plan, you won't live long enough to see it happen anyway."

Antares is also fairly old, being of the original Emperor's Children stock, but he joined the legion at the tail end of the Great Crusade, just before the Heresy, so to him, the influence of Slaanesh has always been an integral part of it.

As such, he became the very picture of selfish hedonism; indulging his impulses and never thinking about consequences. This makes him a pretty bad soldier, as he does not respond well to authority and struggles greatly with delayed gratification. His saving grace is his skill as a fighter, especially on difficult terrain where his satyr-like mutations offer him great mobility. He had to heavily modify his armour to accomodate his legs, but his own vanity was also very much a factor in some of the choices.

Like any good slaaneshi, he loves his drugs and sex and music, but his true passion is food. He is teaching himself to cook, to varrying degrees of success, but mostly he tends to pillage the kitchens of whatever place he is helping raid at the moment. His taste is not refined, he just chases intensity in flavour.

I have more to say but it would take entirely too long to type it all up so I will stop there for now. Thank you for your time !

[cartoonrival]

ok + for goodness' sake sasuke so that the screenshot takes up less space

1)parallels between naruto/sasuke and naruto/kawaki. i think honestly carrying over and actually bringing attention to the love-obsession thing that was going on sort of mostly unaddressed in the original series (in terms of no one called naruto as insane as they frankly shouldve) has the potential to be very interesting, especially because bringing it into the sphere of a father-son relationship rather than a platonic/romantic one is not really something i've seen before, along with the fact that kawaki doesn't actually know naruto much at all, making this very much an idolization of an idea of the person who saved you, someone who can do no wrong and is so without flaw. it was what this dude said:

like kawaki's obsession is weird and emblematic of how he grew up. also, the way that both of them sort of end up treating the other like a thing to be protected or owned or passed around, kawaki trapping him in time prison with zero regards for the fact that no one wants to be in time prison, and naruto's famous "give sasuke back/dont talk about sasuke like you own him in front of me/i'll get sasuke back/ill break your legs if i have to", there is the dismissal of actual personal wants However.

kawaki does this because he thinks that naruto's life is worth more than anything ever, and the reason he thinks this is because he thinks naruto is the most perfect person in the world and the only one who can save the world from evil. in naruto's case, even though he has a habit of possessiveness, sasuke is very much still a person to him, someone he violently and desperately wants to be close to. he doesnt think sasuke is perfect or can do no wrong, he just doesnt really give a fuck what wrong things sasuke does because he loves him too much and wants him too bad to ever hold anything against him. anything sasuke does is understandable and forgivable. naruto wouldnt put sasuke in time prison to protect him because then they couldnt hang out, and he knows sasuke wouldnt want that anyways. while i think naruto's obsession is insane, its more possessive than dehumanizing, which is def the angle kawaki is taking. again, i think this could be interesting if it was expounded upon but i dont think anyone in boruto is enough of a character for this actually do be pulled off in any satisfying way.

2)boruto/kawaki vs naruto/sasuke. i think honestly i just dont really have it in me to even act like kawaki and boruto have a dynamic that even comes close to the bullshit naruto and sasuke have going on, but if i were to attempt to explain why i dont think this is the case than i think at least part of it (beyond the fact taht ever character in boruto is painfully undercooked) is that boruto and kawaki's bond is based almost entirely around both being marked by karma. like they become friends sort of on a more surface level same way boruto is friends with anyone else, but its definitely not the same as naruto and sasuke's inexplicable pull towards one another since they were kids. even though kawaki has like sort of stupid convoluted internal strife going on, boruto doesnt honestly have enough inner issues to even shadow the bizarre knot that is sns. boruto and naruto both didn't want to kill their wayward friends because it's hard to kill someone you care about, i don't think that reads as a strong parallel because its like . what kind of story would it be if boruto was just like Okay lets kill him... now! also if kawaki dies naruto stays trapped im p sure so if he kills kawaki he is also functionally killing his dad

3)naruto and sasuke are both terrible parents but sasuke is leagues leagues leagues worse and he sees boruto has his son more than he will ever see sarada as his daughter. to him, she is his daughter because that is the only way she should have the sharingan. he can't really stand being around her and any interaction he has with her is out of guilt. boruto is his son because boruto is naruto's son

4)why did they bring up that jiraiya might get resurrected and then just drop it or is this me forgetting since i watched boruto 6+ months ago

[velvetvexations]

it's also complicated because cis people do not even have one gender role per binary gender. girls and woman convey significantly different gender roles and expectations. many transgirls are adults but are of the social role of girl and not women! i know of many on this very site who dislike being called women, even. some cis people stay Girl or Boy gender role their whole lives, some go on to become Men or Women, some start off as Men due to expectations but become Boys later. like cis people aren't even the same gender their whole lives functionally.

I think anon here communicated the idea perfectly well, but to make sure it's as clear as possible I wanna clarify that they're not saying all trans people were a different gender before they transitioned but that some people do see value in that framework for them personally.

And that some people find value in that really pisses transradfems off. Like they'll make up stories about how I must believe trans women are a separate gender from cis women or am trying to kiss up to TERFs when I associate with my AGAB instead of recognizing that people can simply be genderweird in that way. They're obsessed with distancing themselves from the concept of being men to the point of overkill.

Not wanting to be called AMAB? Perfectly reasonable, although it's going to make discussion hard because you're still going to inevitably need a word that functionally means the exact same thing, defined as 'someone who was assigned male at birth.' Even TMA still carries that implication because you can't get a specification on who is affected by transmisogyny without defining a transfem, and they can't do that without "was assigned male at birth" in there somewhere. So that's difficult, but I also get not wanting to have "male" tagged to your identity if you aren't genderweird in the way I am.

But then they also don't want to even acknowledge that TERFs see them as men. They don't want to acknowledge that sometimes a feminine presenting AMAB person in old media might be modeled on other groups of feminine presenting AMAB folk. They're so defensive and desperate to prove they are and always have been Trve Fymyle, it's legitimately pathetic. These people transitioned when they were ten and have never faced any real opposition to being seen as who they are, so they go through life seeing people talking about the views of transphobes whom transradfems will never actually encounter on their own and for the first time in their lives they have to reckon with the hypothetical possibility of their girl card not being accepted and it drives them to madness.

Rewarding masculinity comes with so many conditions that I think it's a mistake to call it an unqualified good that is only ruined by presentation. Similarly, I think transmascs suffer less because they're seen as women who don't know they're place and more like freak mutants the same as trans women. In both cases they're not hated for either their assigned sex or what they're putting out there, they're being hated for being Wrong in a way that transcends logic and goes straight to "kill it kill it kill it" like when someone sees a bug.

Plus, it very often depends on the context. If you wanted to divide it like that, I think it's undeniable TERFs* hate trans women because of the sex they were assigned at birth, but hate transmascs for their masculine presentation.

*properly radical feminist TERFs, not the generic label for "female transphobe"

I don't have it on hand but there was a study of whether straight men and women, cis gays, and cis lesbians would date trans people; the straight people basically wouldn't at all, 10-15% of the gays would date trans men and almost none would date trans women, and the lesbians were like "10-15% would only date trans women, 10-15% only trans men, and 30% both" which I think illustrates that point that the other person was getting at with regard to whether the issue of lesbians being "more trans inclusive" was more complicated than it looked

It really does feel like this massive sprawling narrative because transandrophobia in MLM spaces has made me regularly think "wow yeah no fucking wonder so many trans men prefer to stick around lesbian spaces instead." Like. Just very firmly entrenched in my mind.

Bless you for the reassurance, anon. <3

[angelpuns]

Ranting anon will attempt to rant more about executive dysfunction but my brain is not working (probably because of that lol-) so this might not be the easiest to understand. So all three of working memory, cognitive flexibility and inhibition control are apart of "higher-level executive functions" executive functions themself are mostly your ability to control your behavior in almost every category.

Those three are the foundation of executive functions because they control if you chose to do something (inhibition), how you do it (working) and actually starting and finishing different tasks throughout the day (cognitive) all of which are your behavior. So doing things like problem solving, reasoning, planning, and again actually starting a task are controlled mostly by those things. And hyperfixations or special interests make dealing with those things even worse because those things take all of your attention which obviously affects your behavior, and we're back to the point of those three things being the core of your behavior. If all your attention is stuck on one thing, most of the things you do are going to be centered around that thing, reading about it, drawing, talking to people or creating your own stories regarding it (like comics lol.)

So because those things are sorta being centered around whatever it is you like, it makes doing anything else really hard and frustrating if it isn't related back to that thing. Hyperfixations and executive functions are connected like that, its why when you should be doing something else, you can't because all you want to do (inhibition control,) all you can think about (working memory) and all you can bring yourself to do easily (cognitive flexibility) is something that relates to whatever it is your interested in. It's all super complicated and hard to put into words because the brain is a very silly lil thing and it's different for everyone! It also can affect your emotions a lot because what you want to do isn't always what you actually do, you can want desperately to get up and go do something, but if it isn't something that excites you it's gonna be hard some days and that'll make you feel like shit, which makes it even harder. Your emotions and your behavior are very tightly linked, and if something you have to do doesn't get you those feel-good chemicals that make you happy, it ain't happening. And again because those behaviors are controlled by executive functions which aren't working the way their supposed to and get way too dependent on what you're hyperfocused on, it's gonna be a bad time.

Obviously, this sorta thing doesn't apply to every day, you can like something that isn't a hyperfixation and that makes it easy to still do that thing, but some days it's a lot harder than it is for someone who's executive functions aren't all outa wack and work the way they should (not as heavily reliant on you actually enjoying doing that thing.)

Most of this is sorta based off what I see happens with me and what i've connected to those issues and such, but a lot of the info I got for like what things actually are is from, again, the Cleveland Clinic website. And again, it isn't you being lazy, its your brain not doing what it's supposed to and making life harder! <3 (Again, psa, this may not be 100% accurate, do your own research if you want to, this is just what I've found and some of it is based off my experiences, some things you might not relate to, doesn't make you any less valid, it just means you have a unique experience, as does everyone else.)

Reading this from bed cause I can't get up BUT MAKES A LOT OF SENSE!!! When the happy juice isn't coming so you can't do the things you have to do smh

real and relatable asf!! Ty for the information download as usual RA <333

[eldritchamy]

I’m like 77% sure that Ash is the protagonist of Uneiverse so I’m here to ask — why her? What makes her a good protagonist? Like why does the story follow her instead of someone else?

This is an EXCELLENT question. Thank you so much for asking it.

One of these days I'm gonna have to think of a working title for the first book set IN the Uneiverse so it's easier to talk about. I've had a few working titles but one of them might actually get used so I can't really drop those. For now let's call it Story Mode.

Story Mode, in the strictest sense, has a bit of an ensemble cast. There are four characters in sort of a Major Protagonist role, and around 3-4 other Supporting Protagonists, depending on how you define them based on the amount of influence they have on wherever the finalized version of the plot ends up. I have strong ideas in terms of narrative structure and general Major Events, but there's a lot of connecting tissue yet to be decided.

You're not wrong to think of Ash as the most central protagonist, though. The narrative does basically frame her as such.

There are several ways I could answer why.

She's based on my first (and by far favorite and most heavily emotionally invested) DND character. The entire concept of the story sprawled out from basically alternate versions of her story as I imagined it without the limitations of tabletop rules. The story exists because Ash is the character I imagined the story for.

Ash has some ... complicated connections to the plot that are hard to explain without saying more than I want to. The tl;dr is that there are things happening in the Uneiverse, and Ash has the most reason of all of the characters to be drawn into those events, based on both her personality and her personal connections to the world around her.

If the story WASN'T following her, it wouldn't be the same story.

Whether she's a "good" protagonist is really more up to reader interpretation. I think she is, and I want her to be, but there's whatever work I put into the story, and there's how any potential readers will respond to it.

I think she's got potential because of how deep the brainworms have been digging for the last two plus years. I think about her CONSTANTLY. Different situations she could find herself in, how she might react to them based on changing circumstances, different ways SPECIFIC CONVERSATIONS could go based on how she relates to other characters and information, etc.

I've never had a more complete sense of who a character is than I have with Ash. I know her whole brain. How she sees and interacts with the world is just innate to me at this point.

That helps a lot with figuring out how a character moves through a story. She's easy to write because I know exactly how she'll behave.

Additionally, she's COMPLICATED. She has two things she wants very much, and those things are contradictory, which is good for driving character growth and conflict.

about 15 years ago, her mother (an extraordinarily powerful angel who was a very devoted and loving parent that Ash had a good relationship with) just didn't come home one day. And Ash is desperate to know both HOW and WHY. Her mother wouldn't have just left. And the thought of what could have KEPT her from coming home is a point of both intense curiosity, and fear.

Ash wants, more than ALMOST anything else, to just have a quiet and peaceful life with her wife. And other partners.

That ALMOST does a lot of heavy lifting. But there is a straw for this camel's back, and that straw is curiosity. She can be drawn OUT of her safe zone if you dangle the right thread in front of her. And that is critical to ... basically everything that happens.

Why does Ash have such an intense need to feel safe and stay out of danger? She spent her whole life with people she thinks are more capable and powerful than her (honestly, she's not wrong). First with her mother, then with Aria, an enormously powerful witch (specifically nature-based magic, so functionally similar to a high level druid) who became her girlfriend and eventually wife. Her most significant partner OTHER than her wife is their mutual girlfriend Cass, who is a very powerful vampire assassin that used to be in a bit of an adventuring party with Aria a few years ago. Lailah, Aria, and Cass are three people that NOBODY fucks with.

And therein lies the problem.

Ash has always felt PROTECTED. And that had the consequence of making her feel exposed without it. She feels like she NEEDS protection, because she never learned how to be the strong one. She has a lot more going on with her magic than she really acknowledges, but she's never felt like she was capable of protecting herself. There's always been someone there for her. One of her most important traumas/personality flaws wasn't formed by BAD relationships, it was formed because of GOOD ones. She does have some pretty rare and potent magical abilities, but because her social circle consists of ridiculously overpowered women, she doesn't really notice as much how she compares to the average person, especially given how she uses those talents.

She has this weird, almost paradoxical thing where she definitely feels like she's cleverer than most people (she is), so trying to call her out for being more capable than she thinks (she is) doesn't really WORK because she partly DOES feel that way, but she has a blind spot that's really hard to point out to her, and she just insists that she's not as powerful as other people she knows (which is hard to correct her on because she's not really WRONG, she's just comparing herself to the wrong people, because her wife is Superpowers Georg and her girlfriend is the most powerful vampire in the world, and her mom was a LOT more powerful than any angels she's ever heard of or been able to find books about).

There are reasons Aria is that powerful. Secret reasons.

(It's trauma.)

Cass is another DEEP point of interest for me (and may get her own book that's a much lower stakes young adult vampire romance novel, set in her backstory, nearly 130 years ago).

Her tl;dr is that she got super duper murdered by noble/mob family drama (basically, her dad sucked), and someone close to her who found out about the plot not-soon-enough had a naughty naughty ancestor who dabbled in some naughty naughty magic, and that person used a spell she didn't fully understand to "not let Cassandra die". What was meant to be a protection spell ended up being a LOT more powerful than she knew (for several reasons), and it created a kind of loophole in the universe that protected Cass from death, and raised her as an unusually powerful vampire.

Basic elevator pitch lore? She died. Her body no longer has life energy of its own, but she can survive by feeding off the energy of others. That energy is best transferred to her through blood, which is basically a magical substance that binds a soul to a body. The spell used to save Cass basically FUSED her soul to her body, (trapping that body in a state of immortality) and separating the two would be EXTRAORDINARILY difficult. The spell requires energy to maintain the link, which is why she needs blood. If she takes in more energy than she needs, she can basically store a reserve of magic energy that will be used as needed to fuel various powers she has. If she keeps well ahead of her needs (she does), hunger isn't an issue unless she REALLY pushes herself and spends a ton of energy.

Her body is more or less unchanged from the day she turned, including the basic needs of a human body. She still eats and sleeps and breathes like everyone else. If she forces herself to go without those things, she can do it, but that causes her to burn through energy a lot faster, which would make her need to feed a lot more. There are limits to how much she can feed AT ONCE, because there's only so much blood you can put in a human stomach before you're gonna throw up, so burning through way too much energy too fast is not a good idea. In practice all it means is she can hold her breath for a really long time if someone tries to, like, use a gas grenade on her.

There are other things about the kind of magic used that influence the exact mechanics of it, but that's the basics. She also doesn't burn in the sun, there's no holy water or crucifixes in this world but if there were they'd have no effect, a stake to the heart is just a stab wound that itches a bit longer (and only because of splinters), etc. If there's a hard limit to what her body can't survive, she hasn't found it yet. Decapitation would probably do it, but she hasn't been eager to try that. The biggest threat to her so far has been starvation, and she only got close once, under very unusual circumstances.

After 5 paragraphs of Cass you'd probably assume she was one of the Major Protagonists, but she's actually one of the minor ones.

Central cast:

Ash

Aria

"Maze" [pending finalization]

"Nat" [pending finalization]

Ash is really the first to get pulled into the Main Quest. Aria gets involved by association, then gets pulled into the Main Quest a lot harder around what you'd probably think of as Act 2. Maze and Nat get a similar invitation to the Intro Quest Sequence soon after Ash (Ash and Aria are probably chapters 1 & 2, chapter 3 & 4 are most likely Nat and Maze).

Cass is kind of a recurring support character who shows up to help at a few critical moments.

Ally, same thing.

Ella, a character tied to Cass' backstory, will likely make the fewest appearances as a supporting character.

There's more going on that I cannot be specific about.

Structurally, I expect chapter 1 should be an introduction to Ash as a person and her place in the world, as well as some insight into what kind of story this might be. Chapter 2 connects her to the world and establishes her conflicting interests (comfortable home life vs. curiosity and pulling threads). Chapter 3 introduces Nat and some interesting bits about the setting, which hopefully drives reader curiosity. Chapter 4 should be an introduction to Maze and the relationship between these two characters. I expect chapter 5 will probably be the four coming together for the first time and getting the plot moving more significantly. Cass might be introduced around chapter 6 or 7, and then some real interesting shit is gonna start happening, and everyone is gonna realize how much Bigger the Main Quest really is. The introduction to the first "god" character (a vast understatement) is likely what really kicks off act 2, and suddenly the stakes are a LOT crazier.

You will NOT be hearing much, if anything, about Act 3. The last quarter of the story lives in my head rent free. I'm very excited about the central ANtagonists.

Thank you so much for this question!

Please ask me more.

[tea-with-evan-and-me]

"i mean, they were just an anon 😭 saying exactly what the previous anon described. i couldn’t find that ask if i wanted to, but it was like, a WAY too in depth analysis of evan’s exes and which physical traits he must like"

okay! i’m asking about this because i think that it might have been me. i’m not as young as you might think - i’m 20. i sent that ask back in march this year. it was a very dark time for me - i was going through a severe depressive episode that followed a suicide attempt, caused by extremely low self-esteem and extreme perfectionism that made it impossible for me to function normally.

back then, i had a terribly unhealthy obsession with evan to the point where i completely tied my self-worth to him and what he might find attractive. i obsessively analyzed his “type,” carefully examining the phenotype he might potentially like in women. i fixated on frances’ beauty, and every time i looked at her, i felt like i was dying inside because she became my ideal of beauty, something i desperately wanted to achieve. it hurt me to think that evan noticed her even though she wasn’t actually famous, but she was beautiful enough for him to be in a relationship with her. around that time, evan also started dating natalie, which just confirmed my suspicions about his potential preferences regarding female beauty.

my thinking back then was heavily influenced by confirmation bias. i created an image in my head of what kind of appearance evan liked, and i hated everything about myself that didn’t match that ideal. it was because of evan that i dyed my hair blonde (although that was much earlier). the thought that i could be the kind of girl evan peters might like was what kept me going. despite being conventionally very pretty, my self-esteem was at rock bottom, and it destroyed me from the inside.

now, looking back, my heart breaks when i think about how much i suffered over something so trivial and insane (because that’s probably how it sounds to all of you). fortunately things are sooo much better now - my boyfriend, the most wonderful person in the world, helped me put my life back together. he changed my mindset and my approach to life, helped me focus on what truly matters, and saved me in every possible way. this huge progress is, of course, also thanks to professional psychological help and therapy.

i’m still a fan of evan and his craft, but it’s much healthier now. i’ve let go of the unhealthy obsession - his dating preferences don’t keep me up at night at all anymore, and my self-esteem is steadily improving and is no longer tied to him. of course, my mental state wasn’t affected solely by evan peters’s type - it’s a much deeper and more complicated topic than i’ve explained here. i just felt an inner need to vent a little (sorry for that), but i hope this long ass essay didn’t bore you too much admin😭 and i hope that you won’t take this bizarre story too negatively. love you all, and thank you to those who managed to read all of this <3

anon, i don't know for sure if that was your ask being referenced, but i truly appreciate your honesty and candidness in talking about this. you're right that it really boils down to something much deeper than evan and his taste in women, and you explained it all very well. i'm sorry you went through that, but i'm glad that you sought help and are doing better - you should be proud of yourself. it's such a hard thing to struggle with self image and self-esteem, and the way those feelings manifest in day to day life. you're right that it isn't trivial at all, and your message didn't bore me. take care anon. 💗

[roseofithaca]

Run, Little Witch (Epilogue)

(Ft @idiotwithanipad 's oc Amy)

"And that concludes our tale of how the magnificent Mary Guppy defeated the monster in the mirror." The pink haired girl rounded off her story, finishing with a twirl of her wrists and a bow; "The End."

As she sat back down, the ghosts gave her a half-hearted applause, barely tapping their hands together more so then clapping.

Pat forced his trademark welcoming grin.

"Er...thank you, Silver, pet. For regailing us with a story we're already very familiar with, having...y'know, lived through it. In a sense."

A grim murmur vibrated around the group gathered in Higham Suite for Story Club.

The witch crossed her legs; "Amy didn't."

Their newest dead resident who sat on her right widened her eyes, "Wait...That all actually happened?!" She looked to the others, to Humphrey in particular, for confirmation.

Everyone nodded, guilt-ridden lips downturned.

"Sadly yes, Poppet." Humphrey said, his head and body connected in his seat on this rare occasion.

"Not one of my prouder moments." Captain cleared his throat, looking down at the stick on his lap.

To this day, Silver still flinched whenever he waved it too close to her face. He tried his best to avoid doing so in her presence.

"Quite." Agreed Fanny, fingers of the hand she'd used to strike the young woman's cheek twitching.

"Guys. Come on." Silver addressed to them, feeling a little bad for making them all relive it. But it felt like it was finally time; "It's been years now. We can talk about it. It's good not to bottle things up, remember?"

They all seemed to give a mumble of vague agreement but none of them looked keen to think about that night anymore than she did.

Had they asked her to stop at any time during the story, she'd have done so.

But, just like Mary's trial and execution, she had been the one to suffer the most from the Witchfinders spirit. It was her story to tell.

It had taken hours of sobbing in Mary's arms for her to calm down. She'd let the larger woman lead her to her bedroom and then lay with her until the sun rose, rocking her close and stroking her hair.

She still desperately needed to sleep. But the panic was gone. As the sunlight crept into the cramped room, she'd begun to accept that the danger was behind them now.

"I saw him pass from the Captain's body into the mirror. He won't harms you now, lovey." She'd reassured, her lap functioning as Silver's pillow while Mary petted her head. "And the others all be back to their old selves. You is safe."

Safe.

She wanted to believe that. She wanted to trust that she could leave this room, leave Mary's side, and she'd have nothing to worry about. That she could approach her friends and everything would be back to normal. But it wasn't that easy.

"Don't worry, sweetheart. They understands. You can stay here as long as you need."

Would forever be okay?

Of course she doesn't need forever. At lunchtime, Alison knocks upon the door, making Silver jump and reach for Mary before her familiar voice announced her.

She let the living woman enter. Despite being partly, mostly even, at fault for the night's events, Alison hadn't directly assaulted her like the others.

The guilt in her eyes shone true all the same.

"I am so, so sorry, hon." Her fellow millennial spoke cautiously, a respectable distance away; "Mary warned me something bad would happen and I ignored her. Please don't be mad at the others. I've spoken to them and, not to downplay what happened to you, but they went through Hell as well. That...monster, Pius, basically violated them. They were aware the whole time and tried hard as they could to fight back but...They weren't in control. They never wanted to say and do those things. But they feel awful, all the same."

Part of her already knew that. She'd witnessed the struggle on Humphrey's face as he'd tried to communicate truly to her. For all that went through this night, she can't imagine how it feels to not have control over your own body.

"I'm not angry with any of them. Please tell them that." She said to Alison, "I'm not even that angry with you though, yeah, you do need to listen to Mary better. She knows her shit."

"T'is true. Cow, mostly, but also horse." The older woman commented from the side.

That brought the first smile to Silver's lips since the incident.

"I'm just...not ready to face them yet. Is that okay?" She asked, sheepishly, rubbing at her arm. "I really need to sleep it off, you know."

"Of course. They get that. We all do." Alison assured her, "We'll all be here for you when you wake up, and when you're ready."

The only other ghost she agreed to see before her final night was Kitty. Everyone else, she suspected, would understand her need for space, whereas Kitty would be left with the uncertainty of their relationship for a whole month.

Alison left to fetch the young Georgian woman and lead her inside before leaving them to it. Silver sat on Mary's bed, the woman herself giving Kitty a smile and gesturing her to come sit at the foot. Silver had already told her it would be okay. But she struggled to look her friend in the eye just yet.

The accusation of having...forced herself upon Kitty continued to echo in her ears, making her skin crawl.

"I don't expect you to forgive me. Even though I never meant those awful words, not a single one." Kitty explained with surprising maturity in her tone.

It wasn't about forgiveness. But how could she attempt to explain that?

"You and Alison are the sisters I always wanted. I would never say or do anything to hurt you. And I hate that horrible man for making me act that way!" She'd never thought she'd hear Kitty proclaim hating anyone, but Silver felt the bitter sincerity in her words; "Alison said you still needed to sleep it off and I respect that. Just...when you're ready, could you please let me know when...if we can be friends again?"

A tear leaked from Silver's exhausted eyes at such an innocent request.

She edged her fingers towards Kitty's hand on the divan.

"When the world...leaves you feeling blue," She softly sang, "You can count on me....I will be there for you."

Kitty smiled as she sobbed, wiping her face.

"When it seems, all your hopes and dreams, are a million miles away, I will reassure you." She joined in.

"We've got to all stick together. Good friends are there for each other. Never ever forget that,"

"I got you and you got me..."

Their fingers interlocked. Silver tugged her friend across the gap and over to her. Kitty whimpered in relief as they embraced each other, all the awful events of the night before seeming to be crushed and dissolved by the hug, at least between the both of them.

Silver rested her head on the Georgian's shoulder, still cursing her for making her so uncool with her catchy pop songs.

When her last night came to its close, Mary offered to walk her back to her bed in the forest, assuming that she wouldn't want Robin to do his usual duty for the time being.

"Actually..." Silver began, timidly, "C-can I stay here? In your room?"

"For the month entire?"

She rubbed at her own elbow; "Is that okay?"

"Of course, darlin' girl." Mary seemed honoured by the request. She helped Silver lay down comfortably, wishing she could tuck her in as a true mother would for her child, "You have a good long rest and plenty of sweet dreams."

"And you'll be here when I wake up?"

Mary smiled, patting her hand, "As my Lord is my witness." She'd leaned in to kiss her forehead as the first rays of dawn began to appear in the sky; "Goodnights, little'en."

The kiss had tingled on her brow as she finally, at long fucking last, drifted off to sleep.

"Well, I didn't think it was possible for this Mary woman to sound even more awesome. But I was wrong." Amy smiled; "She sounds like the GOAT."

Confused stares were shared around the group, even from Silver.

"No, Stompy, Mary human lady." Robin corrected.

"What? No, guys, I mean..." Amy rolled her eyes, exasperated once again at being surrounded by oldies, "Greatest Of All Time."

"Ah!" They all chorused.

"Oooh, I like that. I'm a bit of a goat myself in some areas, if I do say so." Julian boasted.

"Think you mean 'git'." Humphrey cleared his throat.

"Well there can't be too many GOATS or surely it loses its meaning." Said Fanny.

"How does one refer to a herd of GOATS then?" Pondered Kitty.

Silver sighed, leaning towards Amy; "See, this is why we don't try to teach them new slang."

Her friend giggled, seeing that she'd opened up a whole new can of worms.

"To get back on topic, you're right...Mary was the best." Silver said with an air of love and loss.

Everyone seemed to nod in equal agreement.

"Certainly an unforgettable character, to say the least." Said Fanny.

"Remarkable woman. She'd have put many of the men in my cabinet in their place, that's for certain. Not myself, of course, I've always respected strong, powerful females such as Mary." The disgraced MP spoke.

"Sure you have, Julian." Said Silver.

Robin reached to tap Amy's arm; "Remind me to take you outside tonight. Me show you Mary's star. You meet her, say hello. She very quiet but me think she be happy to see friend of Moonah girl."

"Thanks. I'd like that." Amy looked back at Silver, neither of them mentioning that her friend had already shown her which star belonged to her mother figure.

There was a more pressing and disturbing matter on her mind though.

"Uhmm...this Pius prick?" Amy ventured, tucking her hands inside the sleeves of her hoodie; "Where is he now?"

"Still in the mirror. In an old trunk Alison found in the attic." Julian explained.

"It belong to pirate friend of mine who die here. Built to last." Robin added; "Alison and Mike throw to bottom of lake."

"She arranged something with the hotel guys when they left, asking them to make sure it was securely sealed so it wouldn't be disturbed by divers or treasure hunters." Silver explained, spotting the goosebumps on her friend's neck; "Don't worry. He ain't getting out. Not in a thousand lifetimes, gods willing."

They had been tempted to send the chest away, but there was always that possibility his spirit had to remain within the boundaries of the land, the same as the other ghosts. It wasn't worth the risk to try to carry it past the boarder if it somehow broke the enchantment.

Silver was content to think of him rotting in the murky depths, locked away from hurting anyone again, the misogynistic shitbag.

"And....you're okay?" Amy asked her, lowering her voice; "I mean...that sounds like a fucking shit night. For all of you, I know, but..."

The Wiccan nodded; "Not gonna lie, it creeps up on me now and then but...I felt a lot better after I woke up. I won't bore you all with the dreams I had-"

The group all sighed in relief, aside from Kitty who had already heard them.

"Dickheads. Anyway, the dreams helped. And I just wanted everything to be back to normal."

Rather than facing the gang as a whole, she'd asked for each of them to come to her, one on one.

Cap had been the first, which made sense. It had been difficult to resist the urge to recoil as he entered the room, flashbacks hitting her of being punched and flogged at his hand. But then he'd explained to her the significance of his stick, of who had given to him, what it was supposed to symbolise. And now it felt corrupted by the pain it had caused. She'd watched the stern patriarch get brought to tears by his own confession. Not even the others knew the story of how he died and yet he'd shared it with her. His most intimate secret. She'd thown her arms around his neck and, to her surprise, he'd patted her back.

That was the only hug they'd ever shared.

Everyone else's apologies had been less dramatic. Pat, as usual, had done the least wrong but still gave a hundred sorries, along with suggestions for some woodland activities that might appeal to her pagan lifestyle. Fanny was curt and formal as usual, but no less sincere. Julian prepared some waffling speech but then cut himself off and went "sod this, let's cut to the chase. Soz. We cool?" The git somehow made her laugh with that and it was all she needed. Thomas also prepared a three hour long apology sonnet, as he called it, but she made him trim it down to twenty minutes. Humphrey had babbled awkwardly, Mary having passed his head to her. But Silver just hugged him close. He'd tried. She'd seen that.

All that remained now was...

"He's not in the house?" Silver frowned at the revelation.

"He said that traitors in his tribe were dealt with by death or exile. And as he's already dead, well..." Julian shrugged.

"So he exiled himself? Where?"

Where else?

The caveman was sat, cross-legged, on her bed in the forest, among the trees and the flowers in full Summer bloom, when she went out to find him. He looked up at her approach and jumped off immediately.

"Me just look after bed for Moonah girl. Me not try to steal, honest." He said, shakily, hands raised up.

Silver walked towards him.

He shrank back, rubbing at the front of his pelt. Never before had he appeared so much like a scalded puppy.

"Robin hurt Moonah girl. Robin trick. Break trust. Me so sorry. Robin understand if Moonah girl never-."

"Shut up, you great floof." She said, wrapping her arms around him, tight.

"So...you forgive us all then? Just to make things clear." Captain asked her, back in the present day.

"Of course I do, guys. I mean, sure, it might have taken me ten years, but I'm over it." Silver smiled.

Some looked greatly relieved while a few frowned.

"Hang on...It's only been eight years? Hasn't it?" Pat asked.

Fanny and Robin seemed to be working it out in their heads before confirming.

"Ah yeah, that's right. Two more years to go then." The pagan folded her arms, "Hey, Cap? I've got this load of tension aching me between my shoulders. D'you mind?"

"Oh. No! Of course not, my dear." The soldier sprung to his feet and moved around to place himself behind the young woman, massaging her beneath the base of her neck with his surprisingly skilled fingers. "How is that?"

"Mmm. Yes, that's lovely, ta." She moaned, rolling her neck back in pleasure.

Robin quickly got onto his knees before her.

"You want foot rub too?"

"Oh please, Robin, if you wouldn't mind." She accepted with false humility, before winking at Amy to her side; "You know how uncomfy these big boots can get."

The two young friends struggled to contain their laughter.

If Mary had taught her anything, it was how to keep men in their proper place.

[im-smart-i-swear]

If funky guys had become paladins of voltron which one would be in which Lion?

back in the VERY early days of this whole au(like. buddys-name-was-still-ryou early) i wanted to base every clones personality/character on a diffrent lion.... but over time it slowly stopped fitting their personalities and i kinda abandoned the concept lol. though you can still see some remnants of that in . certain design choices...

going back to this concept after uhhh two years?? i think? was definetely interesting! all the characters changed WILDLY since then and i tried to re-assign the lions to fit the changes........ it was surprisingly hard

i couldnt for the life of me decide in a few cases, so instead im just gonna give the most suitable options lol

tashi & soup - im putting these two together beacuse- and i have NO IDEA how that would work- theyre copiloting the black lion! they function the best as a duo and separating them would NOT be a good idea in a situation as stressful and complicated as piloting voltron. they barely manage to keep everyone alive on a good day... also picking only one of the two as The Leader just feels wrong

buddy, ideally, would like to stay as FAR AWAY from voltron as psyhically possible, thank you very much- but nothing in this cruel world is ideal, so they get the red lion:) i actually have this whole story idea where basically stickbug ""goes rouge""(like. some sort of 'sleeper agent mode' left over by haggar gets activated by accident??) and runs away to do some evil shit so buddy goes after him(on a whim)(alone)(without telling the others) and while searching for him they bump into fUCKING VOLTRON- so they form a very uneasy truce until they find stick. and at some point buddy finds out he can pilot the red lion! its awful he hates it:/ he pilots anyway cause his loved one is in danger(this whole thing is way too complicated to talk about here lol)

i had A LOT of problems figuring out the last three..... they changed so much that i just cant rlly fit them into these categories anymore... but i tried!!

ORIGINALLY stickbug was supposed to be based on the green lion but he doesnt fit it as well anymore....... i think taks does pretty well tho! shes very bold and iquisitive and a pain in everyones ass<3 plus loves learning about diffrent planets' unique ecosystems n stuff. stick IS very curious and likes exploring so he still kinda fits? but hes not as forward as taks, so yeahhhh im very torn on this one

i have NO FUCKING CLUE what to do with blue. all three of em could propably fit there ngl....

yellow could either be taka or stickbug- taka is the youngest and the brightest, hes what brought all of them together in the first place(it takes a village to raise a child)....... buuuut hes not really a 'puts the needs of others above his own' kind of person? hes still a kid and NOT ready for that kind of responsibility. soup is an OBVIOUS choice here of course, but im not sure- honestly, the more i think about it, the more stickbug starts to feel like the best option here? ok hear me out: stickbug, for most of his life, had very little power over his life. even while with the funky guys(ESPECIALLY in the beggining, these bozos were dysfuctional as fuck) there were moments when the others would talk over him bc 'hes a kid', and even without that theres still his people pleasing problem wnich meant he often disregarded his own good to make other ppl content. so, taking this scrawny guy desperate for control over his life and putting him in the toughest, stongest, most resilient lion- basically i think he deserves to go a little apeshit. as a treat. let him wreck shit for once

honestly it kinda funny im stting here and calculating all of this like a mad man where IN THE ACTUAL SHOW the paladins switch the lions like pokemon cards

realistically speaking i think they would all trade and switch em a lot and then squabble over who gets to pilot yellow bc they ALL want to wreck shit sometimes:)

[godstaff]

DC Writers are very limited. On top of that, they must privilege Batso in all their stories because he's the company's cash cow.

Batso has zero superpowers, except for having the entire comic company on his side, which one should never underestimate. He may be an extraordinary human, but he's still just human, with limitations. Writers tell us he has none, he's very clever, the most. But he's far from being a supergenius with a solution for everything: he can't stil solve the problems of his troubled city, his confessed main goal, which he may had made even worse with his mere presence. crazy activities and ill fated plans. He never used his sizeable intellect in curing terrible diseases like cancer or to solve famine or poverty, only toys to show his enemies and friends how smart he is. In spite of this, writers insist on telling he can outsmart even his meahuman colleagues, people who can read and memorize an entire librfary in the time it takes for him to take a dump. Either you cancel the superpowered all together or you stop talking nonesense. Both are not acceptable. IMHO.

He's a billionaire, inherited, with zero social empathy. His riches are his superpower and that's all he cares about. The current social statu quo of wealth distrubution is fine by him. as long as it allows him to keep playing the masked hero. Social justice escapes him or he doesn't give a shit abou it. His only contribution on the matter is the typically useless charity foundation, which's only purpose is allow rich families and multinational companies to get tax exemptions and save face in public, saying "at least, we are doing something".

He pretends to ba a rich playboy and it is hard to believe how he can pull it off. Social butterflies and socialites are very focused in catching a rich partner to marry or, at least, to pass a wild night, but not with Bruce. their quest submits the potential candidate to the harsh scrutiny of the interested gold diggers. Let me tell you: these women can't count to ten, but their BS radars are top notch. He famously doesn't drink and has too many dark secrets to allow others into his convoluted life. in social circles, word of moth is paramount and the girls rapidly warn others about his unavailability for anything and promptly declare him an outcast and untouchable. A weirdo. Pretty much, socialites and gold diggers are like the mean girls in high school: if you don't play by their rules (they play your game as long as you are a viable suitor, when they realize you are not, it's over) they won't waste their time with you and won't let anyone else do it. That's the problem with home schooled rich kids: they miss a lot in social conventions and clues. You may be vengeance, you may be the night, but you're not the night these girls want, so scram, freak. Note: in his defense, he can only have sex on rainy nights, on rooftops with hiscostume on. Kind of a fetish of his.

One obvious advantage writers have over fans to sell them bullshit is fans are also socialy awkward weirdos themselves eager to buy that bullshit and what they consider cool and trendy, like being a billionare and fight crime in a costume with secret dual identity it's just a fantasy of them. Fans desperately want to be their hero. Fans, with all due respect, have little or no idea what is cool in current society. They rely only on their fantasies, which are often incomplete wishful thinking and missguided, fed by what people who want to sell them stuff say to them. That's the only reason a character like Batso can have such enormous popularity.

And the elephant in the room: he is crazy as fuck. He's a socially functional maniac, a sociopath with delusions of grandure and split personality who believes the masked character is the real person. His grasp on reality is duvious at best, but his colleagues let him operate and take decisions for them because they're a bunch of cowardly yes men and women and enablers. This is all writers doing because they have orders from above.

Not gonna say it doesn't happen in real life. We all know cases of public personalities belonging more to a mental hospital and yet, they are running countries and multibillion dollar companies. Power doesn't discriminate. But in writing, we have the oportunity to set the record straight, but because he makes money for the comic company, we will let things stay as they are...

Okay...pretty much like real life.

We all know superheroes are not entirely there, they don't have all their ducks in a row, like Punisher, and others, but they are treated as a necesary evil, marginal individuals who can't belong in society. Batso is deemed as an example to follow and a model. A captain of industry and a social leader.

Again, pretty much like in real life.

His friends😜, for some reason, overlook all his quirks and, instead of helping him get professional assistance, which he desperatelly needs, indulge in his games. If they were having some sort of economical compensation, that would be a reason. But no. Just because. Besides, he treats his friends and everybody like shit, considering himself above all of them. He loves to play parlor tricks on them to confuse them and feel superior. Why would a normal person stand him is beyond me. He claims being a personal friend of Clark Kent, but he can't stand his wife Lois Lane because she is as nacisistic as himself and they constantly clash. A friend for Bruce is a person he can use and manipulate at will. Clark has his own personal puppeteer, so he's taken, mostly. So Bruce takes on him in the League of Justice, berating him at every turn in front of their colleagues, to show Superman is just muscle, a brute with no brain. Kal-El, used to being disrespected at home, shuts up and smiles like an idiot.

This will continue as long as fans need Batso to fulfill their fantasies.

And this IS real life.

[philsmeatylegss]

Yeah I worked with autistic kids. In my time at that job, I was slapped, had hard objects thrown at me, got hit in the head with a large plastic tub, had mud thrown at me, had water dumped on me and had my personal belongings thrown across the room. My clients would scream and cry on the floor and pick up whatever was around them and destroy it. One of my client's moms had her expensive electronics smashed several times. All of them were either non-verbal or miniminally verbal. Then people who are actually autistic but are not as special needs or are self-diagnosed based on a few tiktok videos have the nerve to say that trying to change these behaviors is abuse. I've also seen a lot of these ppl being nasty to the moms of autistic children. They can't vent about their struggles or talk about how it effects their mental health without being accused of being ableist. I saw the toll it took on the parents first-hand. I saw my clients' moms break down crying because they desperately wanted to help their children but had no idea how. They try so hard every day and then get abused by teens on tiktok who have never been around a real autistic person in their lives. Yes, autistic people deserve love and acceptance and accommodations. But the people who live with autistic people also deserve compassion and understanding.

I feel like you somehow heard my thoughts and wrote them in this ask. That’s another thing people don’t talk about. It is very common for lower to mid functioning kids to lash out violently (obviously not just to be mean, they can’t control it). And when you’re dealing with a kid and maybe it’s just a few scratches and bruises, that’s seen as cute and “it’s worth it😽.” But people forgot autistic kids get older and bigger and their disorder still makes them lash out and there’s a huge difference between a five year old pushing, screaming, and hitting you and a fully grown heavy man. Once again, I know it’s not their fault, but that’s the reality people don’t talk about. Some very bad things happened because of my sibling consistently, violently lashing out every other day and he was already very big. Tall and very heavy. Though he never attacked me, he could’ve easily over powered me. Fun fact, it was the violent lashing out because of his Autism that led to my eating disorder i still have to day. Fun story. Also I can’t go to my grandparent’s vacation home without always having a small feeling of wanting to throw up.

Also I truly believe that people who work with severely mentally disabled children, teens, and adults should be paid more CEO’s and politicians. They wouldn’t last a day. Yet the pay for this job is very low, leading under educated or not educated at all people to be in charge which is unfair to both the kids and the person.

The violence. No one ever talks about the violence. Yes, some cute autistic kid may be smiling as he plays with his trains and someone takes a photo commenting about how beautiful autism is. Then they leave the room when they lash out and bite, kick, punch, and throw objects possibly for hours. And it happens every day.

Mental illness is what broke me as a person. Untreated severe personality disorders taking care of an autistic child and a “normal” child. The bottom line is that I’m super fucked up and used to be insanely more fucked up years ago. Autism (not autistic people) broke me in a way that I’ll never be able to repair. AND YOU FUCKING THINK ITS A QUIRKY TRAIT? Oooo I overstimulated because the lights were too bright. THATS NOT ENOUGH TO PROVE YOURE AUTISTIC.

Also the autistic mom things is spot on. I don’t even think about commenting because I’d be ripped to shreds despite being in the exact same position for eighteen year and first handedly witnessing it. You know what? Raising an Autistic child is hard. Even the best parents in the world will have moments where it’s too hard. If I was left with all this damage just being a sister of an autistic child, how do you think it was for my mentally ill parents??? Parents deserve to vent.

This is a topic where if you haven’t gone through it, you don’t have a say. It’s a thing you can’t describe and you will never understand unless you’ve gone through it. It’s fucking hard. It’s also hard for the autistic child as well. They want to communicate and be like other people. You don’t have a fucking say in how parents or siblings of autistic children should feel and you should be fucking ashamed if you ever have

I just want to add as I don’t think I made it clear earlier that there is absolutely no shame for leaving that job. It is physical abuse. It takes a super specific personality to be able to be okay with that and most people don’t have it and it’s fine. Once again, the people who shame you for leaving have this fucking fake, quiet, peaceful image of smiling kids sitting and drawing, maybe stimming once in a while. Yes, at times they can be like this. But a lot of time is spent lashing out, putting themselves and others around them in danger. Even if they’re small children. That is a job that needs to express what it will contain before you take it. You should’ve been warned your safety was at risk. Resources both in and out of schools are underfunded with employees that are often undereducated on Autism and how to handle symptoms, are underpaid turning many people off, or both. It’s such an insanely bad topic that isn’t a fucking trend. It took part in ruining me. I just will keep ranting if I don’t stop

[writer-akihiko]

so mc running away i love it the angst 👌 so if its alright can you the same but with the dorm leaders?(pls do a good ending my poor heart cannot take it-༎ຶ‿༎ຶ)

Dorm Leaders + MC Running Away

So I apologise for the lack of happy endings, if you want to call it that. The scenarios turned out much more different than the First Years probably because of the power gap I had in mind. Also, for anyone wondering, the Vice Dorm Leaders will have a shot of saving you next! When I get to it... Cut for length. Also please help to share because I limited the tags!

Warnings: Character Death [Not you or the main boy], mentions of abuse and emotional manipulation [On the Reader] and violent actions [The Dorm Leaders]

"I'm not going back."

"Wh... What?" He was astonished. "YN... I've looked far and wide for you- please-"

No words left his mouth as you stepped away from him, tears in your eyes and you were going to make a run for it again.

Malleus Draconia

Your words struck a chord in him. He didn't mean it, but when you said that you weren't going back, he almost lost control. What did you mean you weren't going back? You promised him to be his Queen!

No... he's not accepting this. His Queen deserved better. His larger hands encircled your wrists, stopping you in your tracks. No matter how much you tugged and pushed, Malleus' strength was beyond you. In your sole despair, you fell in his embrace.

Every ache and injury struck your core, as you cried your heart out. "I can't go back Malleus," you whimpered. "I... I'm sorry."

Your hands gripped tighter onto his clothes. "I don't mean to fight against you, I-"

The Fae Prince sealed your bruised lips with his own, pulling your smaller form into his lap as he took in the moment of the bittersweet, longing kiss. "YN... listen to me," He said, his own ice cold tears falling onto your cheek, healing your wounds. "You never have to apologise for your suffering. Not even to me."

Malleus held you close as you drowsed off. The gentle smile hardened into a growl, as his back arched, black wings bursting out of his body. Malleus, in his dragon form, summoned the thorns to protect you, holding you as if you were his personal dragon hoard…

The principal, or more accurately the culprit, Dire Crowley was a fool to step out. It disgusted Malleus to his very core, his claws setting the very ground on fire as Crowley stepped closer. No words were exchanged between them. For all the suffering you faced, it was to be paid in tenfold as the dragon took a deep breath, releasing the fire in his chest.

"It was a fraction of her suffering…"

Riddle Rosehearts

He was ballistic. Riddle had been eager to bring you back immediately, but the sheer refusal and attempt to run away made him think that you hate him. He was blaming himself, sobbing to the ground.

Riddle's breakdown made you stop. No matter what you did, you still love him. Riddle's hiccups of sobbing paused at the feeling of your arms wrap around him. He wanted this, he wanted your warmth, he wanted- no… he needed you so badly he'd ceased to function without you.

"I don't hate you Riddle," You said, kissing his tears away. Your pretty Queen of Hearts had ruined the uniform he so proudly kept up with and Riddle himself was unkempt. Riddle cradled your sore body, letting you tell him your stresses and your breaking point abused over and over again by Crowley.

Riddle's heart softened ever so much for you, as he realised that he was to a fault as well. It was then he started to cry for you. "YN… I… I lost control. I know I can't be forgiven for the stress you went through so-"

"Rosehearts! You found her, how wonderful!" The jovial Principal cried out. In his hand was a magic tracking spell and that's when Riddle was struck with guilt once more. He doomed you, again. He… no, he refuses to end it this way.

Your loving self became meek, frightened by the aspect of being under Crowley's care once more. You trembled, reaching out to the hem of Riddle's coat. "Riddle… Please don't let them take me…"

He pulled you up, whispering to you. "When I cast my magic, run YN."

"Ridd-"

"Never thought you'd defy me, Rosehearts. Being a law abider and all~"

"Off With Your Head."

Kalim Al-Asim

"Y-YN?"

Kalim desperately hung onto your ankle, on his knees, begging and bargaining you to stay.

"YN… Please don't leave me again," He begged. "I'll… I'll stop dragging you to parties! I'll get you anything you want just please… please come back to me."

His tears wet your foot, as his grip left light marks on your ankle. Kalim never meant to harm you. He was so desperate to make you stay, but in his heart, he knew that he didn't have the strength to keep you with him if you desired to leave.

"How could you think that?!" You cried out. You stooped to Kalim's level, tackling him in hug so hard that he crashes to the ground. "I… I'd never leave you if I had the choice! I couldn't stand NRC anymore…"

You sobbed into Kalim's chest, wondering when it'd all end. You could never refuse Kalim, but what about everyone else? What about Crowley? Your spine shivered at the monster's name, wanting everything to disappear except for you and Kalim.

Kalim didn't know what to do. He didn't understand why Crowley would do such a thing to you. If Crowley was causing you such pain… He'd just have to get rid of the problem. You only deserve the best, after all. It's not his fault, nor is it yours.

You had cried yourself to utter exhaustion. Kalim gently wrapped you up in his jacket, cradling you to his chest. As if clockwork, Crowley appeared to the heartwarming scene, simply glad that you were going to be returned.

"Al-Asim, Dire should patch her up nicely-"

"No."

Crowley coughed. "What was that?"

"I said no," Kalim reiterated. "I have no reason to listen to you…"

"Since YN and I aren't your students anymore."

Azul Ashengrotto

How grateful he was to find you near the water. He almost turned red at the thought of you willing to search for him. Azul never thought you'd long for him this way, but you knew him, and you knew him well.

As if on cue, you looked beyond the trees to see your beloved, running from the sandy shores barefoot to be caught by your precious Azul. Azul doesn't have the best reflexes, trying to catch you without hurting you.

Azul took one good look at you, and the sight was enough to make him cry. Messy hair, cuts and bruises littering your skin possibly from running through the rocky forest, feet with sores from rocks… and tearful, sorrowful eyes.

Not an inch of sadness deserved to touch you. That was one of his core beliefs. He didn't say anything to prompt you to tell about what you'd been suffering. He knew. He knew every line of the story, and it made him ever so guilty that it led to this. If he just paid more attention to you, or at least try to.

Azul offered you everything. An ear to listen and his body for comfort, with his arms wrapping about you. If the simple action was enough for your forgiveness, he'd do it over and over again.

It was for a moment Azul held you, before running the water with you in tow. From the forest emerged the tweels, but what was behind you made you scream. Crowley, with his magic, retaliating against the twins' magic.

Azul wrapped you around his tentacles, drifting further into the ocean with you. He bent down to whisper in your ear. "YN, close your eyes. Don't look."

You shut your eyes tight as you did, hiding yourself in Azul's chest, away from the scene.

"May we never see you again, Crowley."

Azul and the twins in their merforms plummet into the ocean, deep down where Crowley would never come to touch you.

Idia Shroud

He wasn't surprised that the huge robot scared you. It was his secret project after all. He immediately let himself out of the robot, but he was hesitant to step into the forest. Idia was scared, but he still had to protect you!

"Y-YN..."

"Idia!..."

You stopped running, seeing your boyfriend pop out of the robot. Idia was quick to get over his reluctance as his panic shifts to your injuries instead. He wanted to cry out of joy from the mere chance of finding you.

Idia tried to treat your wounds as best as he could with the emergency kit conveniently equipped [he really did think of everything] although his wrapping technique was unkempt at best.

Idia's attempts to heal you made you forget of all the suffering. You couldn't help but laugh, realising how much you missed Idia. He knew that you needed this time. Oh, how he wanted to whisk you away...

But he might as well. You're his, right?

Crowley didn't get close to reaching you. Idia thought of it all. He tracked every move the principal made, fooling Crowley to think that Idia was with you the entire time, with the tracking device that Crowley so faithfully gave him.

"How desperate... it's honestly funny..." Idia scoffed at the idea of Crowley getting to you.

With the S.T.Y.X androids, Idia confronted Crowley, who was in sheer confusion.

"Crowley… burn in hell."

Leona Kingscholar

Leona didn't hold back. He couldn't believe you would say such a thign to him… The only conclusion he reached to was that you hated him. You hated his very core, just like everyone else… He was scared. It frightened him to the core that after everything he did, you still hated him.

"YN… stop fucking around with me," He said, grabbing onto your wrist. He wasn't about to throw a tantrum then and there. He had to get things straight. "Hey… tell me. Was I just a waste for you?"

"W-What are you talking about Leona?" You pushed against his chest, trying to get some distance but Leona was way stronger than you. The lion couldn't listen to reason. He simply went on about how you must've hated him, and how much you despised him.

"Did I mean nothing to you, YN?" Leona was shaking, his shoulders trembling from the mere thought of hearing those words.

You wrapped your arms around Leona, pulling him in close. "I never did… How dare you think that you stupid lion?!" You said, sobbing your heart out. You were equally hurt, but you never once thought Leona would think such a thing.

The emotional reunion was interrupted by the principal himself, pretending to be moved by such a scene. The false pretense of safety caught on to you, and you were sent into a panic, clinging onto Leona for fear of your life.

"I hate you!" You yelled, your body crumpling to the ground just as Leona caught you. "I hate you, I hate you. I don't want to go back, don't make me!"

If you were to scream anymore, you might collapse from exhaustion. Leona was quick to carry you in his arms, holding you close to his chest, where you were comforted by his heartbeat.

"Hoi, good for nothing principal," Leona called out, a single claw drawn out, igniting his Unique Magic.

"Move before I turn you to sand."

Vil Schoenheit

He was stunned to see you in such a state. He called out for you, and you stopped in your tracks. Was he that incompetent that he can't keep you with him? Did he not treat you right? Was his mere presence just torture for you?

Vil couldn't keep it in anymore. He needed to know. "YN… why won't you come back? Tell me, is it my fault? Am I not worthy of you?!"

The once prideful queen fell into shambles of insecurity as his mind won't stop painting images of you walking away from him, of you calling him your doom, of him being your captor… No, he didn't mean it…

"Was I the villain in your story?! WAS I?!"

Vil had never cried as much as he did. He needed to know that you didn't of him as a nuisance. He really was worthless if he made you feel unwanted… so please, he needed an answer.

"How could you think that, my love?"

You stooped to Vil's level, brushing away the tears that ruined his makeup with your very hands. Oh, your poor Vil… You were too selfish, thinking of your own suffering. With Vil in your arms, you felt whole once again. You gave Vil your actual answer, relenting every moment of your stress that stemmed from Crowley.

Oh… how his sweet potato must've suffered. Vil had a stuck of guilt, considering that he was under an Overblot as well. No matter, he had to make things right. For your sake, for his love's sake.

"YN, Crowley is trying to find you. But I… I have to set things right," He said, pulling you up.

The rustle of leaves had you on guard as from it came Dire Crowley, revelling in the scene.

"Schoenheit. You are supposed to bring LN YN to me immediately as I ordered."

Vil for once scared you. It scared you how enraged he was, and your heart wrenched at seeing the ink droplets by his hand.

"Vil, don't you dare-"

He turned back to you, whispering for you to run to Rook's safety. "Don't cry, my love."

You tried to hold the tears once again as you saw Vil shifting forms to an ink-like mess, this time his rage directed at Crowley. You could only run away, praying in your heart that Vil was safe.

[septembersghost]

It really is so tragic that Jimmy and Howard (hell throw in Kim who was patronised so much and saw her mother in how Chuck was such an asshole in private) never commiserated over how much Chuck could take advantage of them. They’d never do it, but so much could have been avoided maybe

i saw a post earlier that really spoke to this story to me: "[tragedy as a genre] means everyone is problematic. All the characters make significant mistakes that have terrible consequences, which might have been averted had they chosen differently. Every character, every institution - they are all flawed and they're supposed to be flawed. It doesn't matter which flaws you, personally, find more or less acceptable. They all have cracks a mile wide. That's the point."

it is terrible, because honestly jimmy and howard could've helped provide some measure of support to one another if they'd been willing to open up and admit to the damage chuck caused them, and the negative ways in which he made them act out. both of them looked up to chuck, and he let them down or misused that admiration. chuck manipulated both of them ridiculously unfairly.

i also think it's underestimated a bit the damage that did to kim, because chuck didn't directly impact her as much as howard did by proxy, but it still took a real toll on her. (the patronizing and the hypocritical actions for sure.) looking at a man she respected and realizing how hollow it was. i agree with you that so much could've been avoided if any of them had had the capacity to sit down and talk and work through some things together. even just jimmy and kim themselves - them striking out at howard is very much about chuck. howard was the one who had to tell jimmy HHM wouldn't hire him, make himself the bad guy, even though that wasn't his decision, he still did it (same for the way he acts in the meeting about sandpiper, though they discover much more quickly then that chuck is behind it). howard's punishment of kim by putting in her doc review is wildly unfair and condescending, but i think in a way she's ultimately more hurt and disturbed by the way jimmy was treated, since we know how she would jump to his defense. she can dig herself out, she asserts that, she works hard to prove that, but the only way she knows to help jimmy is to unflinchingly take his side.

howard is like the symbol of the way things went wrong - chuck's illness and death prevent them from being able to fully process their anger at him or even to place the weight of blame they may have felt on him, so it redirects to howard. at a certain point, i don't feel that it was even much about howard anymore, not him as a person, it was what he represented - the white collar legal world that kept shutting them out, or that they saw function unfairly; chuck's mistreatment and betrayal, and the lack of respect jimmy got from him no matter how desperately he wanted it (as jimmy admitted at the memorial); someone who seemingly never had to struggle and fight for everything he had because he was privileged and his career was preordained (this negates whether howard actually wanted it at all, but when looking at someone so fortunate like that, especially when you're coming from a much more difficult/disadvantaged background, it's hard not to envy it or view it as easy for them, and to not feel a lot of sympathy for them. i'm not saying that's a fair reaction, but it is a very typical and human one. obviously the way they then acted out was beyond the pale and wrong, but the origin of that resentment is not hard to unpack). of course they thought he'd simply bounce back, guys like that always do, don't they? howard kept trying to "fix" it in ways that came across as...pity? and even a bit self-centered - offering jimmy the job, or when kim is angry at him for acting like he's some kind of white knight, it's because those particular appeals aren't what they needed and struck them as somewhat humiliating, and howard, though he tried, couldn't quite grasp that. all three of them were coming from such individually skewed perspectives, from such different places in the world and from their experiences, from such different kinds of hurt. those aren't impossible gaps to bridge if you're willing to be honest and show empathy towards one another, but the outcome is tragic because none of them can get to that place.

[gillianthecat]

that detail you mentioned is so cute, siwon closing his eyes to give daun a safe space, i love that interpretation!

i also find it super cute when they were holding hands in class, dawoon took siwon's hand to comfort him and they could have easily ended the scene there but siwon turned his hand to hold dawoon's hand back and 🥺🥺

also when siwon saw his dad and didn't know how to act so he decided to run! (maybe it's a poor reaction but i've been there) he did not run alone but took daun's hand and daun ran with him

something about that moment feels so metaphorical for their relationship

and daun asked no questions "i guess you figured it out. the person we bumped into earlier was my dad. he has his reasons. it's nothing important" (oh but it is!)

it was his birthday!!! every time i remember it was his birthday and he got to spend it with siwon and it turned out being a really special day for him. i need to sit down

and that little scene where dawoon goes to pick siwon up on his first day of filming with a cup of coffee ready for him... it might be only 30 seconds long but oh it's so sweet, i find their faces in that scene absolutely endearing

this turned out to be just a list of things i love about blueming lol i could talk about the little details in this show for hours sorry to hijack your inbox

i think i read that you liked tms2? i loved it! i think i even enjoyed it more than the first season, something about the already established relationship satisfied me deeply, we need more of it in the bl world! yeah i find it super cute watching boys fall in love but i want more of seeing them navigate that love! what did you enjoy the most about it? hope everything's going well xxx

Yes!! 🍻

You're welcome to come rave about Blueming in my inbox any day, Blueming Anon. I love everything you've said about it.

I loved To My Star 2. I can see why people didn't, it's not really a BL, and of course it's hard to see a beloved couple torn apart. But for me it really worked. I think part of that was because in the first To My Star, Seo-joon and Ji-woo never figured their shit out. So in the sequel it didn't feel like they were tearing a happy couple apart artificially just for the drama, but a natural extension of who they were and and all the things they still needed to figure out. So a similar sequel to Blueming, for example, wouldn't work because Da-woon and Si-won have a much more functional relationship by the end. A lot of the story of Blueming is them figuring out how to communicate and take care of each other, which Ji-woo and Seo-joon never do in the first To My Star. That story is primarily about them getting together, and ends when they do.

My favorite part of TMS2? It's so hard to pick! One thing I really liked about both of them was how much Seo-joon felt like a movie star to me - in the sense that it really felt like he had been warped in the way that a fundamentally good person would be warped by all the attention and lack of privacy that come with it. I don't know any movie stars myself, so I don't know if that's accurate, but it felt that way to me while watching.

A moment that comes to mind now, perhaps because I've been thinking about kisses in BL that feel very specific to the characters and their story (hi The Eclipse👋), is the scene where they're looking for the little girl. It's so revealing of both characters and their relationship at that time--Seo-joon's panic, Ji-woo's almost emotionless affect, which we see in a whole new light when he tells Seo-joon that he's only keeping it together because Seo-joon is falling apart. Their relief, falling to the ground in the middle of the road, something about that just felt so human. And then Ji-woo revealing more about himself and all his complicated feelings about Seo-joon in that one line - "How could you be so honest about everything? How can I ignore you now?" - than he has yet in either of the series. And of course the desperation and relief of their kiss and how much it felt like exes falling back into old habits in a moment of extreme emotions. And it felt well placed in the timeline of the series overall - not a kiss that would fix things, but maybe one that would shake things up enough so they could eventually be repaired.

I also loved everything about Ji-woo's ex-girlfriend Jung Sung-yoon - the character herself, how cleverly they subverted all the audience expectations of the evil interfering ex, how she and Ji-woo processed their relationship and how necessary that was for Ji-woo and Seo-joon to rebuild theirs.

Anyways, in sum, I cannot pick a favorite thing and I could write about a dozen more aspects of the series that I adored, but I will stop with those three. Thanks for giving me an excuse to think about it!