#callum mystic

[ro-valerius]

Stubborn Streak

Tofu is stubborn and still won't let anyone else help him with his little rat problem. Callum is equally stubborn, and perceptive, and won't let him go alone to face this adversary that had called on him.

Callum and Tofu [featured], and Peach and Tio [mentioned] are mine, Berry and Kore [mentioned] belong to @sorrel-haven

“You’re not calling Peach and Berry, are you?” Callum asked after the two of them had made some distance from the cafe. The way Tofu was walking had given him away. Tofu kept his jaw stubbornly set. “...This got to do with those guys from Ul’dah?” Once more, a subtle shift in Tofu’s expression told Callum all he needed to know. “I thought you said you’d let them help you.” It was a pointed statement rather than a question. 

“These are my enemies to deal with, not theirs,” Tofu responded flatly. Callum gave him a look. 

“They care about you, Tofu, they want to help you because they care,” he said. Tofu returned the look Callum had given him.

“I don’t want them getting hurt because of my past. I-I can’t let them help me with this,” he said, lowering his eyes at the end. 

“Why are you so stubborn about this?”

“Because Tio almost died trying to help me.”

They were quiet for a long moment as they walked. 

"You're still stuck on that? At the end of the day, you were the one that almost died. If you keep doing things alone, what if something happens to you? They'd be devastated," Callum finally said solemnly. Tofu was quiet for a moment longer, not looking at Callum.

"They're…closer to each other. It wouldn't matter. They'd be fine-" His words were cut short as Callum spun on him, punching him with his non-dominant hand so as not to actually hurt him. It didn't knock Tofu back too much, but it was enough to shut him up and to bruise his lip.

"Don't be stupid." Tofu hadn't seen this sort of expression from Callum in years. "Of course it would matter. Why can't you see how much you mean to the people you love?" 

The conversation died out after that. Tofu took them out of the Goblet, until they came to a secluded section of Hammerlea, out past the East Hammer. There were a few dead Coblyns scattered across the dirt, the light of the lighthouse passing by in flashes. In the crook of the high rock walls stood a figure in dark clothing, cat ears apparent even in the dim of night. The figure held out a hand and snapped, sending several small balls of flame swirling around and into the air; not to attack, but to illuminate the field. 

The figure belonged to a miqo’te woman with dusty brown hair that was pushed out of her face, the markings on her face and her pupils denoting her as a Keeper of the Moon. The woman tilted her head back and smirked, but her expression soured as she caught sight of Callum behind Tofu. She held a hand to her ear and spoke, clear as day even across the expanse between them. 

“Oi, you said he’d be alone. Yea, no, there’s another rabbit with him. Yea, blue hair, feather.” 

As she spoke into her linkpearl, Tofu discreetly pulled one of the throwing knives from the pouch at his hip, quickly sending it her way with well practiced aim. Her eyes flickered towards him as she raised her free hand up quickly, a chunk of ice blocking the knife briefly before she broke it down and held out her hand again. He felt himself being pulled to the ground as the sigil in his chest flared from the spell.

“Now now, don’t interrupt. Mommy and Daddy are talking,” she cooed, before turning her attention back to the linkpearl. “So I can kill him too? Copy.” 

“Tofu!” Callum exclaimed, starting towards him before stopping and aiming his bow at the woman instead; the idea was to interrupt her cast, but before he could fire, she sent a small, condensed ball of fire towards him, hitting the bow in the center and breaking it in half. Callum cursed and dropped both halves to the ground beside him. He started towards her, as if to fight her with just his fists, but a knife buried itself in the ground in front of his feet. He glanced at Tofu, where it had come from.

“You remember how to use one of those, right?” Tofu managed through gritted teeth. Callum scooped it up and dashed at the woman with a hastily called back “Of course!” as he bore down on her.

She stepped back with each of Callum’s swings until her back hit the rocks behind her; perhaps cornering herself wasn’t the smartest idea, but it was just supposed to be one rabbit, not two! She cut her concentration on the spell pinning Tofu down and blasted Callum back with a powerful lightning spell. Her eyes snapped over to Tofu as he staggered to his feet, his second knife in his hand as he readied to attack. She sent a fireball his way, but before it could connect, Callum intercepted, putting himself between Tofu and the attack. 

“Callum!” 

“It’s fine, I picked up healing after Ro told me about you almost dying, I can take care of this injury later. Better if I take the spell than you!” But even as Callum spoke, he dropped to his knees, clutching the burned skin where the spell had landed with a curse. 

“Get started healing that, then!” Tofu said as he rushed past Callum towards the woman. 

The miqo'te woman seethed as Tofu approached, sending panicked spell after panicked spell as he dodged each one, until he was on her. It was the first time she had ever felt fear, as she stared into his cold, expressionless gaze. She held out her hand between them, but he was already on her, knife embedded into her stomach to the hilt. As the light faded from her eyes, she shot off one last spell. A burst of lightning launched Tofu backwards, who could barely keep his hand around his knife as he landed harshly on the ground. 

“Tofu are you-”

“Make sure she’s dead!” Tofu ordered, clutching his chest as he pushed himself to his feet. 

Callum gave a brief nod before running over to the miqo'te woman, kneeling and confirming that she was, in fact, dead. With a relieved exhale, he stood up, making his way back to where Tofu was standing shakily. 

“She’s dead, yeah. Let’s get you home.” After a brief pause, Callum’s face fell. “Ah heck, I forgot to pearl Kore and tell her where we- Actually, better if she doesn’t know, yeah…? She might very well wring your neck if she found out this was Tuturoko business, wouldn’t she?” 

“R-right. Thanks. Let’s go.”

[mystic-imaginations]

I missed you <3 rayllum

i am slowly falling back in the dragon prince fandom and rayllum brainrot. so i wanted to draw them again which is also a great way of getting out of artblock ------- i used a drawing reference for the pose from mellon_soup on pinterest they have awesome drawing references

[verifiedmagicalgirl]

Uhhhh redraw of that one end credit art thing 🤷‍♀️ posting here cause insta hates me

[blokettte]

took me 8 months (on and off) and accidently deleting my entire sims 3 folder but i finally finished my lepacy challenge that I started last November. So let me introduce you to this family:

Generation One: Base Game - Annika Gonzalez (née Rae)

Traits: Schmoozer, Ambitious, Bookworm, Flirty, Handy

Lifetime Wish: Renaissance Sim

Occupation: Journalism

Partner: Darren Gonzalez (Husband)

Children: Clemencia Gonzalez, Arturo Gonzalez, Valentina Gonzalez

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Generation Two: World Adventures - Clemencia Gonzalez

Traits: Hopeless Romantic, Lucky, Genuis, Adventurous, Natural Cook

Lifetime Wish: Private Museum

Occupation: Culinary

Partner: Gustave Delvin (fling/one-night stand), Theodore Bachelor (Husband)

Children: Antoine Gonzalez, Riley Bachelor

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Generation Three: Ambitions - Antoine Gonzalez

Traits: Eccentric, Ambitious, Genius, Neurotic, Perfectionist

Lifetime Wish: Paranormal Profiteer

Occupation: Ghost Hunter

Partner: Kate Lee (Wife)

Children: Priscilla Gonzalez, Enzo Gonzalez, Keelly Gonzalez (Time Machine Child), Dorothy Gonzalez (Time Machine Child), Zero Gonzalez (Simbot)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Generation Four: Late Night - Priscilla Gonzalez

Traits: Schmoozer, Mean Spirited, Dramatic, Good Sense of Humor, Star Quality

Lifetime Wish: Superstar Actor

Occupation: Film (Acting Branch)

Partner: Matthew Hamming (ex-Fiancé), Vladimir Schlick (boyfriend)

Children: Otto Gonzalez-Hamming, Lilith Gonzalez-Schlick

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Generation Five: Generations - Otto Gonzalez-Hamming

Traits: Athletic, Good, Nurturing, Adventurous, Dramatic

Lifetime Wish: Surrounded by Family

Occupation: Firefighter, Teaching

Partner: Jodie Duke (Wife)

Children: Silena Gonzalez, Marigold Gonzalez, Eli Gonzalez, Guiliana Gonzalez, Grayson Gonzalez

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Generation Six: Pets - Selina Gonzalez-Duke

Traits: Animal Lover, Lucky, Good, Loves the Outdoors, Family-Oriented

Lifetime Wish: The Jockey

Occupation: Horse-riding

Partner: Joshy Gonzalez(Husband/Imaginary Friend)

Children: Angelina Gonzalez

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Generation Seven: Showtime - Angelina Gonzalez-Duke

Traits: Diva, Natural Born Performer, Snob, Dramatic, Schmoozer

Lifetime Wish: Vocal Legend

Occupation: Singer

Partner: Callum Ford (ex-boyfriend)

Children: Odette Gonzalez-Ford

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Generation Eight: Supernatural - Odette Gonzalez-Ford

Traits: Proper, Ambitious, Brooding, Supernatural Fan, Rebellious

Lifetime Wish: Master of Mysticism

Occupation: Fortune Teller (Mystic Branch)

Partner: Dante Goldsmith (boyfriend - deceased)

Children: Sage Gonzalez-Goldsmith, Belladonna Gonzalez-Goldsmith

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Generation Nine: Seasons - Sage Gonzalez-Goldsmith

Traits: Ambitious, Friendly, Frugal, Loves the Heat, Kleptomaniac

Lifetime Wish: Home Design Hotshot

Occupation: Interior Design

Partner: Lily Carter(Wife)

Children: Aelia Gonzalez, Artemisia Gonzalez, Ionee Gonzalez (Alien Abduction)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Generation Ten: University Life - Aelia & Artemisia Gonzalez

Aelia

Traits: Schmoozer*, Charismatic, Artistic*, Irresistible, Social Butterfly, Great Kisser, Avant Guard

Lifetime Wish: Perfect Student

Degree: Communications

Occupation: Art Appraiser

Partner: Jacob Salaman (Husband)

Children: Venetia Gonzalez-Salaman

Artemisia

Traits: Green Thumb*, Ambitious, Computer Whiz, Eccentric*, Good Sense of Humor, Socially Awkward, Genuis

Lifetime Wish: Scientific Specialist

Degree: Science & Medicine

Occupation: Science

Partner: Star Shue (Wife)

Children: Leaf Gonzalez-Shue (Plant-Sim)

* extra traits from degree/social club

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Generation Eleven: Island Paradise - Venetia Gonzalez Salaman

Traits: Loves the Heat, Ambitious, Loves to Swim, Disciplined, Genius

Lifetime Wish: Seaside Savior

Occupation: Lifeguard

Partner: Kazuo Nakamura (Husband - deceased)

Children: Hiro Gonzalez-Nakamura

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Generation Twelve: Into the Future- Hiro Gonzalez-Nakamura

Traits: Eccentric, Mooch, Bot Fan, Family-Orientated, Genuis

Lifetime Wish: Made the Most of my Time

Occupation: Bot Building

Partner: Clark Bellamore (Husband)

Children: Astra Gonzalez-Nakamura-Bellamore (Genetically Engineered), Andromeda Gonzalez-Nakamura-Bellamore (Alien Abduction)

Plumb-Bots: HERA, ACHILLES, N4NN13

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i have like around 2000-ish screenshots of this lepacy, so if anyone would like to see each generation in more detail, I'll be happy to show

[raayllum]

Was thinking about the Gifts scene because it was one of my favourites and has made me cry every time, thus far, and something that stuck out to me the first time has now collected more thoughts, in terms of parallels and parental relationships. 

Ezran and Rayla both sacrifice something in remembrance to their fathers. For Ezran, it’s the symbol of him finding a way to both honour his father’s memory and take a better path than he did. The way they worked his short story and musings over his father’s sword directly into the show was delightful and heartfelt. Ezran acknowledges that the crown isn’t made of precious metals or bearing special jewels, but it carries an emotional weight and shows his humility and his own strength as a king. It says just as much about Ezran as it does about Harrow, if not arguably more.  

Then you have Rayla stepping up first (was anyone else relieved she wasn’t offering herself up to be eaten?) and arguably with the biggest sacrifice. As she says, these blades are all she has to remember Ethari and Runaan, two of her parents, by. Unlike Ezran, who shares in his grief with Callum and the rest of the council about Harrow, there is no one left who remembers Ethari and Runaan the way she does and did. There are no more family heirlooms waiting for her. She can’t even truly go back to where they raised her.

Ezran gives up something he had crafted in Harrow’s memory, and Rayla gives up the one and final gift her fathers gave to her, her most constant companions in the two years she was gone, and her last line of defense.

Then you have Callum, who offers up Ibis’ staff. Now, Callum’s statement here is still meaningful. The staff here has been incredibly helpful, he’s presumably seen Ibis more than a few times over the past few years with Ezran and Zym assumedly visiting regularly, Ibis taught him the spell he uses the most this season and the one that let him save Rayla. But it’s hardly a parent-child bond or even a mentor-mentee bond. 

So what does Callum have from a parent? Well... the Key of Aaravos, really. He has his sketchbook, which is full of spells Rex Igneous would never be interested in (it’s not even his primal) and he has this magical, mystical key that unlocks something of great power. And I want to write a bigger post about how I think it relates to his identity and sense of self worth as a mage as well, but I do think given we see Callum lighting a candle for Harrow and that it’s attached to Harrow’s letter as it is, as well as some things Callum’s VA, Jack De Sena has said, in addition to this panel from TTM:

J: [Regarding trauma and growing up]  I think that’s part of, just to speak to like, right, season four stuff, that’s part of the I think some of the anger he holds about Rayla leaving is that like, “we went through all this really intense stuff together and that—like, I’m cut off from that, in some ways.” T: Yeah. J: This—this person who you shared that with is gone, and—

Through The Moon makes it clear that Callum hasn’t moved on from grieving Harrow, if indeed you can ever quite let a grief like that go in the first place. We know from 4x03 that Ezran likewise still feels hurt, pain, and anger regarding the death of their parents, but he also had Callum to mourn with, other people to remember with, and Zym most of all as a silver lining. 

We know from 4x01 he’s been quietly but actively grieving Rayla for a while now, too, and then she shows up. It’s clear that Callum has emotionally closed himself off in her absence and in her return (seriously, did anyone ever have to prompt him into talking in s1-s3?) which makes sense, since over the course of their journey she became his main confidant and peer. But, as Jack de Sena noted, he was cut off from that. His grieving stagnated in more ways than one because he couldn’t precisely move on, even before she left, never mind after.

Now he’s a loose end, frayed and jagged, still grieving in multiple ways. And with the coins now in Rayla’s possession, S5 may force him to confront just how not okay with Harrow’s death he still is in some ways, now that freeing his father’s killer is something he’ll both want and loathe to help with, in addition to being further entrenched in Aaravos’ schemes. 

What will Callum hold onto, and what will he let go of?

[notanichan]

otome masterlist

Warning: May have spoilers.

🌕 - Routes I have finished. 🌑 - Routes I need to finish. 🌗 - Routes I have started but not finished. 🌟 - Games I have finished. 🕒 - Games' Developers/Publishers

-> Mystic Destinies : Serendipity Of Aeons 🌟

🌕 Shou Hatori 🌕 Shinji Hirayama 🌕 Takumi Arai 🌕 Tatsuya Yukimura 🌕 Hikaru Kazama

-> Amnesia : Memories 🌟

🌕 Toma 🌕 Ikki 🌕 Shin 🌕 Kent 🌕 Ukyo

-> Nightshade 🌟

🌕 Kuroyuki 🌕 Gekkamaru 🌕 Goemon 🌕 Chojiro 🌕 Hanzo

-> Seduce Me

🌕 Sam 🌕 Damien 🌕 Matthew 🌕 Erik 🌕 James 🌑 Suzu 🌑 Naomi 🌕 Andrew 🌕 Diana

-> Seduce Me 2 - The Demon War

🌕 Sam 🌕 Matthew 🌕 Erik 🌑 James 🌑 Damien 🌑 Diana

-> Demon Crashers

🌕 Kael 🌕 Orias 🌕 Akki 🌑 Mirari

-> The Men Of Yoshiwara: Kikuya

🌕 Hayabusa 🌕 Takao 🌑 Kagura 🌕 Kagerou 🌕 Iroha 🌗 Iroha 2nd Season 🌑 Tokiwa

-> The Men Of Yoshiwara: Ohgiya 🌟

🌕 Ageha 🌕 Utsusemi 🌕 Takigawa 🌕 Gakuto 🌕 Asagiri

-> Seven Boys 2 🌟

🌕 Vincent 🌕 Randle 🌕 Bevis 🌕 Kevin 🌕 Aaron 🌕 Clement 🌕 Rock 🌕 Julian

-> Soulset 🌟

🌕 Yvonne 🌕 Shira 🌕 Apris 🌕 Verin 🌕 Shirr 🌕 Marco 🌕 Feathor 🌕 'Secret'

-> Hustle Cat

🌕 Reese 🌑 Finley 🌑 Hayes 🌑 Landry 🌑 Mason 🌑 'Secret'

-> This World Unknown

🌕 Asa 🌗 Luca 🌑 Garett 🌑 Val

-> The Royal Trap: Confines Of The Crown

🌕 Callum 🌕 Oscar 🌗 Nazagi 🌑 Gaston

-> Let's Not Stay Friends

🌕 Frenz 🌕 Taf 🌑 Burain

-> Nameless: The One Thing You Must Recall

🌕 Red 🌕 Lance 🌕 Yuri 🌕 Tei 🌑 Yeonho 🌑 ???

-> Hakuoki: Kyoto Winds

🌕 Souji Okita 🌑 Toshizo Hijikata 🌕 Hajime Saito 🌕 Heisuke Toudou 🌕 Sanosuke Harada 🌑 Shinpachi Nagakura 🌕 Keisuke Sanan 🌑 Susumu Yamazaki 🌕 Hachiro Iba 🌑 Kazue Souma 🌑 Ryouma Sakamoto 🌕 Chikage Kazama 🌑 Independant

-> Hakuoki: Edo Blossoms

🌕 Souji Okita 🌑 Toshizo Hijikata 🌕 Hajime Saito 🌕 Heisuke Toudou 🌕 Sanosuke Harada 🌑 Shinpachi Nagakura 🌕 Keisuke Sanan 🌑 Susumu Yamazaki 🌗 Hachiro Iba 🌑 Kazue Souma 🌑 Ryouma Sakamoto 🌕 Chikage Kazama

-> Re Alistair 🌟

🌕 Derek 🌕 Travis 🌕 Shiro

-> Backstage Pass

🌕 John 🌕 Benito 🌕 Adam 🌕 Matthew 🌑 Lloyd 🌑 Independant 🌑 Nicole 🌑 Alvin

-> Dream Daddy

🌕 Joseph 🌕 Robert 🌕 Craig 🌑 Mat 🌑 Brian 🌑 Hugo 🌑 Damien 🌑 Joseph Secret Ending

-> Fashioning Little Miss Lonesome

🌕 Saito Shinjou 🌑 Miki Hiraizumi

-> Monochrome Heaven 🌟

🌕 Kamishiro Akito 🌕 Kamishiro Asuka 🌕 Kamishiro Riku 🌕 Touma 🌕 Misaki Ryuuto

-> Dandelion: Wishes Brought To You 🌟

🌕 Jisoo 🌕 Jiwoo 🌕 Jihae 🌕 Jiyeon 🌕 Jieun 🌕 Wizard

-> Amplitude

Katy's Route 🌕 Jon 🌕 Ari 🌕 Simon and Bunny 🌕 ??? Jon's Route 🌑 Michelle 🌑 Katy 🌑 Liz 🌑 Luna 🌑 Grace 🌑 Eric

-> Cinderella Phenomenon

🌕 Rod 🌕 Karma 🌕 Fritz 🌕 Waltz 🌑 Rumpel

-> Home For The Heart

🌕 Joshua 🌑 Philippe

-> The Letter

🌕 Luke x Rebecca 🌕 Luke x Hannah 🌑 Luke x Marianne 🌕 Hannah x Zachary 🌑 Hannah x Marianne 🌕 Ashton x Rebecca 🌕 Ashton x Isabella

-> Crossroad

🌕 Wolf 🌕 Hunter 🌑 Fox 🌑 Wizard 🌑 Main Route

-> Night Class: A Vampire Story

🌕 Rowan 🌕 Aaron 🌑 Both? I think?

-> Miraclr

🌕 Lucifer 🌑 Michael 🌑 Gabriel 🌑 Uriel 🌑 Raphael

-> Heart No Kuni No Alice

🌗 Boris Airay 🌑 Peter White 🌑 Blood Dupre 🌑 Julius Monre 🌑 Twins 🌑 Ace 🌑 Elliot 🌑 Gowland 🌑 Vivaldi

-> 7'Scarlet 🌟

🌕 Isora Amari 🌕 Hino Kagatsuchi 🌕 Toa Kushinada 🌕 Sosuke Tatehira 🌕 Yuzuki Murakumo 🌕 True Route (Toa Kushinada) 🌕 Bonus Character Route (Hanate Yatsukami)

-> Steam Prison 🌟

🌕 Eltcreed 🌕 Ulrik 🌕 Adage 🌕 Ines 🌕 Yune 🌕 Grand Ending 🌕 Fin

-> Destiny's Princess

🌕 Sanada Yukimura - The Twin Brother 🌕 Takenada Hanbei - The Fiance 🌕 Fuma Kotaro - The Ninja Reinforcement 🌕 Oda Nobunaga - The Father 🌑 Date Masamune - The Commander

-> London Detective Mysteria

🌕 Holmes 🌗 Watson 🌑 Akechi 🌑 Jack 🌑 Lupin 🌑 Kobayashi 🌑 Baker Street Boys 🌑 Grand End

-> Psychedelica Of The Black Butterfly 🌟

🌕 Real World Ending 🌕 Bud Ending 🌕 Happy Ending 🌕 Bad Ending 🌕 Kagiha Ending 🌕 Hikage Ending 🌕 Yamato Ending 🌕 Monshiro Ending 🌕 Karasuba Ending 🌕 Karasuba Good Ending 🌕 Kazuya Ending 🌕 Yamato Good Ending

-> Red Embrace: Hollywood

🌕 Common 1 🌕 Common 2 🌕 Randal 1 🌑 Randal 2 🌑 Randal 3 🌕 Randal 4 🌑 Randal 4 (Leader) 🌕 Randal 5 (S.E.) 🌑 Heath 1 🌑 Heath 1 (Leader) 🌕 Heath 2 🌕 Heath 3 🌕 Heath 4 (S.E.) 🌑 Markus 1 🌑 Markus 1 (Leader) 🌑 Markus 2 🌕 Markus 3 🌕 Markus 4 (S.E.)

-> Psychedelica of the Ashen Hawk 🌟

🌕 People 🌕 Heroes 🌕 Bad 🌕 Lord 🌕 Lavan 🌕 Heroine 🌕 Levi 🌕 Lugus 🌕 Hugh 🌕 Traveler 🌕 Links 🌕 Wolf

-> Dark Nights

🌗 Zeikun 🌑 Junoru 🌑 Sachiro 🌑 Kurato

-> Gods Of Love 🌟

🌕 Lysander 🌕 Helder 🌕 Exinious 🌕 Rhane

-> Re:Birthday Song 🌟

🌕 Yoru 🌕 Kairi 🌕 Syun 🌕 Ame 🌕 Nami

-> Ayakashi Gohan

🌕 Inushima Yomi 🌕 Serigano Manatsu 🌕 Hana Suou 🌕 Inushima Uta 🌗 Ibuki Haginosuke 🌑 Kimura Asagi

-> Bad Medicine ~Infectious Teachers~

🌗 Kuzuha Kakeru 🌑 Shido Kaname 🌑 Yanagi Ryota

-> Taisho x Alice I 🌟 🌕 Red Riding Hood 🌕 Cinderella

-> Taisho x Alice II 🌟 🌕 Gretel 🌕 Kaguya

-> Taisho x Alice III 🌟 🌕 Wizard 🌕 Snow White

-> Taisho x Alice Epilogue 🌟 🌕 Alice

-> Taisho x Alice Heads & Tails 🌑 Cinderella 🌑 Red Riding Hood 🌑 Kaguya 🌑 Gretel 🌑 Snow White 🌑 Wizard 🌑 Alice 🌕 Ryouishi

-> Ozmafia 🌕 Caramia 🌑 Kyrie 🌑 Axel 🌑 Scarlet 🌑 Caesar 🌑 Soh 🌑 Pashet 🌑 Robin Hood 🌑 Brothel 🌑 Hamelin

-> Fxxx Me Royally!! 🌑 Kaoru 🌑 Ryuusei

🕒 Cheritz

-> Mystic Messenger 🌟

🌕 Jumin [valentines confession|http://aminoapps.com/p/200ytad] 🌕 Yoosung 🌕 707 🌕 Zen 🌕 V 🌕 Ray 🌕 Jaehee

🕒 Voltage

-> Love 365

🌕 Yamato - My Forged Wedding 🌕 Yuma - Buter Until Midnight 🌕 Genji - In Your Arms Tonight 🌕 Sosuke - Finally In Love Again 🌕 Subaru - My Sweet Boyfriend 🌕 Eisuke - Kissed By The Baddest Bidder

🕒 Visual Wordplay

-> Locked Heart

🌗 Sol D'Lockes (Mama Bear) 🌑 Royal LeBlanc (Papa Bear) 🌑 Deon D'Lockes (Baby Bear)

🕒 Hunex Co. Ltd.

-> Ephemeral

🌕 Shiba The Werewolf (R) 🌗 Shiba The Werewolf (L) 🌑 Nagi The Invisible Man (R) 🌑 Nagi The Invisible Man (L) 🌕 Ray The Vampire (R) 🌗 Ray The Vampire (L) 🌕 Natsume The Mummy (R) 🌕 Natsume The Mummy (L)

-> On The QT 🌟

🌕 Hibiki 🌕 Keima 🌕 Akira

-> Ephemeral - Miniature Garden 🌟

🌕 Hisui 🌕 Rion 🌕 Yugu

-> My Lovey

(Secret Crush) 🌟 🌕 Soshi Kujo 🌕 Masaki Kirigaya 🌕 Kotaro Kurumi 🌕 Reo Takatsuki

(Fantasy Of The Mind) 🌟 🌕 Julius 🌕 Kay 🌕 Lucian 🌕 Diorca

(Shinobi Kakuran Musou) 🌗 Hayate 🌑 Mikage 🌑 Kugumo 🌑 Yukinojo

🕒 NTT Solmare Corp. Games

-> Story Jar

🌕 (Deluxe Ver. The Last Sacrifice | The Demon King's Desire) 🌕 (The Last Sacrifice | Forbidden Ties)

(The World Or You)

-> Ninja Love

🌕 Sasuke Sarutobi 🌑 Goemon Ishikawa 🌑 Saizo Kirigakure 🌑 Kotaro Fuma 🌑 Musashi Miyamoto 🌑 Munenori Yagyu 🌑 Rennoshin 🌑 Hanzo Hattori 🌑 Nobunaga Oda

-> Obey Me 🌟

🌕 Lucifer 🌕 Mammon 🌕 Leviathon 🌕 Satan 🌕 Asmodeus 🌕 Beelzebub 🌕 Belphegor

🕒 Hanabi Media Games

-> Love Magic 🌟

🌕 Minuet 🌕 Paris

-> Love Magic 2

🌕 Minuet 🌑 Paris

-> High School Love

🌕 Tetsuya 🌑 Naoki

-> Love Triangle 🌟

🌕 Tsukasa 🌕 Kazuya

-> Ghost Love Story

🌕 Kyle 🌑 Vincent

-> Vampire Love

🌑 Tom 🌕 Sam

🕒 Ciagram Co. ltd.

-> Princess Closet

🌕 Reo 🌑 Shuu 🌑 Kai 🌗 Akito

-> Nightmare Harem

🌕 Lucia 🌕 Kaim 🌕 Levy 🌕 Mikael 🌗 Noel 🌕 Ricardo 🌑 Mefy 🌑 Oswald 🌑 Lucas

-> Dateless Love 🌟

🌕 Soji Okita 🌕 Toshizo Hijikata 🌕 Shota Yuki 🌕 Yoshinobu Tokugawa 🌕 Akinara Aiya 🌕 Shinsaku Takasugi 🌕 Ryoma Sakamoto 🌕 Shuntaro Furutaka

🕒 Genius Inc.

-> My Twin Romance

🌗 Haru 🌑 Yuki 🌑 Both 🌑 Shizuki

🕒 Seec Inc.

-> Jimi-Kare My Quiet Boyfriend 🌟

🌕 Prince Ending 🌕 Arrogant Ending 🌕 Dark-Side Ending 🌕 Princess Ending

-> In Search Of Haru 🌟

🌕 Haruka 🌕 Takaharu 🌕 Bad Ending 🌕 Haruto

🕒 Day7

-> Miss Detective's Undercover

🌕 Sean 🌗 Jeremy 🌑 Walter 🌑 Mystic Thief

-> Love Signal: D-Mate

🌑 Simon Lane 🌑 Richard Upton 🌑 David Mason 🌗 P:Ure 🌕 Greg Odell 🌑 Tay Caden

-> Marked By King Bs 🌟

🌕 Ashton Griffin 🌕 Nicholas Rosada 🌕 William Kal 🌕 Zack Snyder 🌕 Joel Barret

-> Loved By King Bs

🌑 Ashton Griffin 🌑 Nicholas Rosada 🌗 William Kal 🌑 Zack Snyder 🌑 Joel Barret 🌑 Erick Blanche

-> Sleeping Delivery

🌗 Damian Kraus 🌕 Luke Morris 🌕 Julian Parker 🌑 Leo Reinhardt 🌑 Sebastian Weiss

-> Beauty Rental Shop

🌑 Toby Lowell 🌑 Lucian Vasilis 🌗 Soren Rayne 🌑 Kylar Xander

-> SECRET Fan Crush

🌑 Leon 🌑 Woobin 🌑 Haejin 🌑 Dohwon 🌑 Taehee 🌕 Parang Ki

-> Proposed by A Demon Lord

🌑 Penn 🌑 Hael 🌗 Laika 🌑 Riley 🌑 Vernius 🌑 Ren 🌑 Cornell 🌑 Isaac

🕒 Avocado Entertainment

-> Vampire Idol

🌑 Edgar 🌑 Kang Tae Jun 🌑 Ian 🌑 Lee Sun Woo 🌑 Baek Do Ha

🕒 DeareaD Inc.

-> Monster's First Love

🌗 Achille 🌑 Ibuki 🌑 King

🕒 StoryTaco.inc

-> Dangerous Fellows - Romantic Thrillers

🌕 Zion 🌕 Eugene 🌑 Lawrence 🌕 Harry 🌕 Ethan

-> Queen's Number - Jackpot is not my concern 🌟

🌕 Aaron 🌕 Freyr 🌕 Gon 🌕 Mo-wan

🕒 Nix Hydra

-> The Arcana : A Mystic Romance

🌗 Julian 🌗 Asra 🌑 Nadia 🌑 Lucio 🌑 Muriel 🌑 Portia

-> Storm Lover Kai!!

🌕 Kyosuke Mikoshiba 🌕 Yuto Uzuki 🌑 Mio Ikari 🌑 Rikka Toratani 🌑 Soya Tatsuhara 🌕 Takumi Mishiro 🌑 Tsukasa Sugai 🌑 Chihiro

-> Collar x Malice 🌟

🌕 Kei Okazaki 🌕 Mineo Enomoto 🌕 Takeru Sasazuka 🌕 Kageyuki Shiraishi 🌕 Aiji Yanagi

-> Code Realize ~Guardian Of Rebirth~ 🌟

🌕 Arsène Lupin 🌕 Abraham Van Helsing 🌕 Victor Frankenstein 🌕 Impey Barbicane 🌕 Saint-Germain

-> Piofore: Fated Memories

🌗 Nicola Francesca 🌕 Dante Falzone 🌑 Gilbert Redford 🌕 Yang 🌑 Orlok 🌑 Finale Route

-> Birushana 🌕 Noritsune Taira 🌕 Shungen 🌑 Benkai Mukashibo 🌕 Yoritomo Minamoto 🌕 Tomomori Taira

-> Cupid Parasite 🌑 Allan Melville 🌑 Raul Aconite 🌑 Gill Lovecraft 🌑 Shelby Snail 🌑 Ryuki Keisaiin -> Virche Evermore 🌟 🌕 Lucas  🌕 Mathis  🌕 Scien  🌕 Yves  🌕 Le Salut (Adolphe/Ankou)

-> Hana Awase New Moon Here I am considering each game as a single route. 🌕 Iroha Volume 🌕 Mizuchi Volume 🌑 Karakurenai/Utsutsu Volume 🌑 Himeutsugi Volume

-> even if TEMPEST 🌟 🌕 Crius Castlerock 🌕 Tyril I Lister 🌕 Zenn Sorfield 🌕 Lucien Neuschburn 🌕 Ish

To Play 1. Olympic Soiree 2. Butterfly’s Poison; Blood Chains

[theredhairedmonkey]

In the heart of Katolis castle, amidst the grandeur of its stone walls, Soren, Callum, and Rayla sat before a campfire in the castle courtyard while Ezran convened with Opeli on the crisis in Lux Aurea.

The flickering flames of a carefully tended fire illuminated Soren's face as he couldn't hold back his questions any longer. "Hey, Callum," he began, poking at the fire. "How did you even learn the Ocean Arcanum? Did you find some ancient scroll or a magical tome?"

Callum looked up from his sketchbook, a thoughtful expression on his face. "Nah, it's not like that. You can't just read about it and get it. Arcana come from lived experiences, the connection to the primal source. But, I did have a little help."

Soren raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "Help? What kind of help?"

With a casual grace, Callum reached into his bag, retrieving a weathered book with a sea-blue cover. "A book of Ocean poems I stumbled upon in the castle library. The words resonated with the magic of the ocean, helping me grasp the Arcanum in a more profound way."

Rayla raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "Poetry? You're telling me you actually found the key to elemental magic in a book of poems? I thought you were joking!"

“Hey, don’t knock it! The rhythm of the language, the emotional resonance...it stirred something…elemental inside me.”

Soren cleared his throat theatrically. “Oh Callum the poetic prince, weaving spells with heartfelt verse!” He exclaimed in exaggerated fashion.

Callum chuckled while Rayla playfully elbowed Soren’s arm. “Didn’t know you had a knack for poetry too,” she teased.

Soren took Callum’s book of ocean poems into his hands. "So, what’s next, painting landscapes?"

A chuckle escaped Callum's lips. "Well, maybe not landscapes. At least not yet. Dunno, maybe that would help with the Earth Arcanum?"

Rayla’s eyes glinted with curiosity. "Who would've thought, the former High Mage turned poet. What's your take on this, Soren?"

Soren, never one to miss an opportunity for a friendly jab, cleared his throat dramatically. "Ahem, Prince Callum, the poetic mage, casting spells with a quill on an enchanted page!"

Callum smirked. "Okay, that was terrible, but I appreciate the effort."

Undeterred, Soren continued, now fully embracing his poetic side. "By the ocean's edge, with waves so grand, Callum found magic in the sand. With every rhyme, he flies above, a princely poet, spreading love."

Callum couldn't contain his laughter any longer. "Alright, Soren, you win. I never knew you had such a hidden flair for rhyming."

Soren, reveling in his poetic victory, grinned. "Well, maybe I'll start dropping rhymes on the battlefield!"

Rayla, with a sly grin, teased Soren, "Who would’ve guess the big tough warrior had a soft spot for poetry?"

Soren winked. "Soft spot? More like a strategic advantage. Imagine facing an enemy who's too confused to fight because you hit them with unexpected rhymes."

Callum, still chuckling, added, "It's a unique tactical approach, to say the least."

"Who would've thought our journey would include poetry lessons from Soren of all people?” Rayla asked.

Callum, finishing up a quick doodle in his book, replied, "Life is full of surprises, I suppose."

Rayla met Soren’s eyes with a smile. “Poetry in moonlight,” she said, lifting her gaze to the glittering blanket of stars above. “Friends beside a dwindling fire.” Her hand found Callum’s, their fingers intertwining. “The laughter of loved ones, where just hours before there was only silence.”

Callum gave her hand a grateful squeeze, touched by her words. “Hey now, look who discovered her inner poet.”

“And just like that, my work here is done!” Soren announced. Getting up, he let out an exaggerated groan. “It’s getting late, we should probably call it a night.” 

“Agreed,” Callum said at last, gathering his sketchbook as Soren kicked dirt over the cooling coals. The three wandered back inside, the mystical poetry book tucked under Callum’s arm. The Ocean Arcanum flowing through his veins. But the real magic of the night glowing in their hearts.

[herwrittenuniverse]

“In Xadia, many elves use ruiam to perform magic from their Arcanum. They may add or take away marks from their bodies. But…” Rayla placed a finger on her chin in thought. “Some elves truly want these marks to be theirs forever, like they are a part of themselves. So they go to a special craftself to give them everlasting runes on their skin….”

Callum’s eyes lit up. He turned to face Rayla as he asked, “A spell?”

“Not a spell,” responded the Moonshadow elf. “It’s an art form, and the runes are etched on the skin, permanently.” She rubbed Callum’s bare appendage, as if to picture the lasting marks there. “There was an old elf in Silvergrove who practiced this ancient form. Ethari forged the tools for him, in fact.”

Callum seemed to be putting the pieces together in his mind. As they fell into place, Rayla noticed how hopeful he looked, like a bantherhound being offered a meaty treat. His childlike wonder made Rayla’s toes tingle with delight.

“Do you think…he would work on a human?” Callum asked with genuine curiosity.

“I don’t know,” Rayla countered honestly, “I can visit the Crow Master tomorrow, and send a message to Silvergrove for Ethari - if he’s got that mystical Xadian bird, and if Ethari can even read my message, with me being a Ghost and all. But Callum,” the elf paused, and took his hands within her own. The young mage’s eyes bored into Rayla’s features as she gave her warning. “I’ve never had it done before. And something so permanent…what if it’s quite painful? Are you sure this is something you want?”

At this, Callum dropped her hands and stood up. He steadied himself and gazed out at the moon, reminiscent of Rayla’s own actions just moments before. His sincerity and maturity…it nearly took Rayla’s breath away. For a moment, she could envision the strong, powerful mage that he was destined to be.

Callum’s next words were adamant. “We need all the help we can get to defeat Aaravos,” he quietly acknowledged. “And I’ve been drawing these marks for nearly three years. They work. They help.” He turned to look at Rayla deep in her eyes, and as the young man approached, Rayla once again placed her own hands on his undressed biceps. Again, she visualized the strong, clean outline of everlasting marks.

“When Aaravos controlled me like a puppet, back at the Storm Spire…Rayla, I can’t tell you how it felt, to be completely out of control. I want to do something that is my own. Make my own decision about my body…”

Callum resolutely stared out the window. “Yes, Rayla. I’m sure.”

A new story! Written by me! Banner illustrated by @numptypylon!

Read about Callum's journey getting his runes tattooed. It's such a weird brainchild of mine and I dig it.

As always, reblogs appreciated!

[saibug1022]

Ranking My MCs on How Likely They Would Be Adopted by Batman

Not a single person has ever asked for this. However, I have seen so much batfam stuff on my dash it's been living rent free

Val Ebony (ILITW) If you told me Val moved to Gotham and was a vigilante for a few years and then moved back right before ILITW I think I would believe you. This man has the whole package: dark hair (his hair is brown underneath all the dye), tragic backstory, shitty parents, even shittier bio dad who's also a villain, homicidal rage, he even died! But overall what got him to the top is just because of how well he fits with the Gotham and the Bats' vibes and aesthetics. Like it just feels right.

Eros Blackwell (Immortal Desires) Batman would have showed up in Crimson Beech to try to recruit Eros only for Eros to explain they do in fact still have a mom *who is on thin ice with me rn). However. They still get REALLY close, especially when they find out Gotham is on a ley line. I'm tempted to say Eros, Cas, and Gabe fuck off to Gotham after ID 2

August Rose (Crimes of Passion) So August's backstory is that they grow up most likely without their mom, and then their dad is mysteriously murdered. August tries to solve it themself but fails and instead becomes a detective to solve other crimes and hopefully find justice for other people. They're gruff, badass, and too damn clever. They were definitely Robin. Hell they could be Batman for all we know and it just wasn't mentioned in CoP

Magnus Bishop (Laws of Attraction/Into the Windverse) While slightly less likely only because he becomes a lawyer instead of some sort of detective or hero. However, he absolutely has the potential. His parents were murdered when he was young, he was tormented at school and betrayed by his friends, he was neglected by his foster mother and separated from his sister, all before he turns 18. He even gets super powers eventually. He has the determination, the ambition, and hell the whole reason he became a lawyer was to defend people from the systems that beat him down his whole life.

Asterin Nightbloom (BOLAS) I mean Asterin is pretty obvious, he's like the quintessential hero. Dead parents (twice), super skilled, heart of gold, etc etc. He's practically born to be a hero and I think he'd be such a good bat. Maybe not a Robin unless it's just for a few years before becoming his own hero

Leon Vance (It Lives Beneath) The main reason Leon is so high up is because he is so fucking capable. That's what the bats are known for among other heros. And of course there's his classic bat backstory. He's a badass, he unearths a CULT, has a cool and unique signature weapon, forms his own team and even has a super hero suit. Best part, he looks good the whole time.

Damian Stone (Murder at Homecoming) There's the obvious stuff like being a genius, a detective, unsolved mystery haunting the narrative, solving a murder, looking good doing it, socially awkward, etc etc, but I also have to add that I literally named them after Damian Wayne. In fact their name was originally gonna be Tim after Time Drake but Damian sounded better. However, they do suffer in the rankings seeing as they have both of their parents, both of which are also very good parents.

Callum Wayland (Hero) Listen, Callum would be a great DC hero but in terms of Batman relations I don't think he'd be adopted. Unfortunately for him the Super Family parallels are just too hard to ignore. However I could see him being a Bat's emotional support Super so they'd see each other a lot and I think Bruce would be begrudgingly fond of him when he finds out Callum punched a corrupt rich guy into the stratosphere.

Castor Athantis (It Lives Within) Castor has all the makings of a PHENOMENAL DC superhero but again I just don't see them as a bat. They have too much of a mystical connection. They're more likely to run ith someone like Constantine. I'm sure they'd be associated, I could definitely see Castor joining Justice League Dark, but that's it

Emrys (The Cursed Heart) Emrys will fight for people but it's not something they're really going to pursue. They have the backstory for it, don't get me wrong, but going out and punching bad guys just isn't really their thing. In a modern au they might be some sort of friend of Bruce's and a Batman ally but they wouldn't be a hero.

Julian Athantis (It Lives Within) Julian is just as good a candidate as Castor, down to mystical powers. But Julian would only be a hero to help Castor, if he was one at all. He just wouldn't have his heart in it. He'd show up, help other heroes, and I could definitely see his and Lincoln's apartment being open to be used as a safe house, but he just doesn't want to be a hero. Not as in he's just not interested, more as in he actively does not want to be a hero.

Taylor McKenzie (Endless Summer) Taylor is in a similar boat as Julian where he doesn't really want to be a hero. He'll show up to big planet-threatening shit but otherwise he just wants to go to college and love his friends and husband. I could see the Justice League, Batman especially, keeping tabs on him so they'd know each other but that's about it. More likely Taylor would just go create problems for Dr. Fate when he's bored and then go back to minding his business.

Apollo Solaris (The Elementalists) Apollo really fits the hero archetype. However. I think if he stepped foot in Gotham city he'd explode. Or maybe Gotham would. They just clash so severely that even if he did meet Batman for whatever reason they'd hate each other.

Mattheo Lazarin (Bloodbound) Listen. Mattheo has enough on his plate being the Bloodkeeper and dealing with vampire shit. He doesn't have time to care or be a hero.

[olivieblake]

@meganwwrites sent an ask with a few spoilery things about the atlas series, some of which I don't really want to address directly but I'm answering this particular question here under the cut!

My real burning question is about the library. In TAP, the way the library would impact the group reminded me a lot of the Haunting of Hill House TV series great note here, like it is a malicious entity that is feeding on/digesting them. It also often feels like the library has its own agenda in who is allowed/given what books and information correct instincts!. But then in TAC, Callum explains that it is more like AI, and the veil is lifted a bit on the mystical/magical by showing how the library operates like any other institution this, I think, is more about the society than the archives; see my answer below. So, I guess I’m wondering if the library is sentient in that it has a consciousness/motivations, or is it more like AI, or somewhere in between?

as the reader you were always meant to understand over the course of the books that there are actually three separate agendas at play: atlas blakely's (which is guilt/atonement/personal stakes), the alexandrian society (which is profit), and the archives, which is technically unknown. the characters have some ideas—parisa, for example, has theories, as does callum—and there's a reason they specifically care about whether the archives can feel or think, because those are their specific specialties. when callum likens it to AI, he doesn't mean our AI, aka generative AI, he means a more general understanding of artificial intelligence, and the question of whether AI can be sentient is a longstanding one in sff media. the turing test exists specifically to gauge sentience.

all of which is to say:

i'm not answering that question lol

but I'm glad you're asking it because it's absolutely the right question!! and whatever answer you derive may also answer the question as to what is happening in gideon's final scene

[invisibleicewands]

The BBC’s new three-part drama The Way is Michael Sheen’s directorial debut. It has been nearly a decade in gestation, this story of civil unrest fermenting in Sheen’s Welsh home town of Port Talbot – cradle of militant unionism and symbol of working-class fury and pride. It has been created with writer James Graham (Brexit: The Uncivil War, Quiz, Sherwood) and – slightly more unusually, documentary auteur Adam Curtis.

The opening episode is something so different and fresh that even if you can’t say you’re actively enjoying it (though I was), the power and ambition of it all, the unashamed idiosyncrasy that permeates the direction, the allusiveness of the narrative and its slightly dreamlike (or nightmarish) off-kilter quality surely makes you sit up and take notice. It has a clear, accessible narrative at its heart, for sure, but the sensibility is rare and all its own.

It’s a tale of civil discontent, sparked by the death of a youngster in a vat of molten slag at the steelworks and his father’s self-immolation – in grief, in protest, in some unspeakable combination of the two – thereafter. The union blames management and decades of underinvestment. Management offers to reline a furnace, a sop to the emotion of the moment, rather than a recognition of needs. “We didn’t realise we were buying a mood,” says one of the new investors, with a combination of bafflement and frustration.

The unfurling of the unrest plays out for the viewer mostly through the long-established local Driscoll family. The late paterfamilias was a committed striker in the 80s, the failure of which terrible feat of suffering and endurance is largely blamed by the family for his death. His son Geoff (the stalwart Steffan Rhodri, last seen in the excellent Men Up at the end of last year) takes an approach to communicating with the bosses that is more pragmatic/conciliatory/weak/treacherous – delete according to political proclivities. He is separated from his wife and family for reasons that become clear over the succeeding episodes, as does the specific bad blood between his son, benzos addicts and petty dealer Owen (Callum Scott Howells), and his police officer daughter Thea (Sophie Melville).

As the internet is shut down within the town, tensions rise, curfews are imposed and riots between townsfolk and police start to break out. The Driscolls become the police – and the media – scapegoats for it all, and are eventually forced, along with Owen’s eastern European girlfriend, Anna (Maja Laskowska), to flee their home and their town.

Threaded through this growing but none-too-incredible – especially to a post-lockdown audience also being assailed with headlines about coming redundancies at Port Talbot’s Tata Steel (though business secretary Kemi Badenoch has extensive explanations about how government investment is actually saving the works) – dystopian landscape are, presumably thanks mostly to the Curtis influence, potent illustrative clips of real-life news and CCTV footage. Through them the sense of dislocation increases, while the themes of the drama only become more closely knit. From Graham – and, I’d posit, Sheen’s powerful sense of Welshness and all that means historically as well as currently – come the more mystical, ancient touches. The importance the town places on the works’ pilot light never going out; the sword made of the first steel forged in the town, long before modern industry got there; the red-hooded figure appearing and disappearing; Sheen as Geoff’s father’s ghost and/or manifestation of his conscience, pursuing him as they make their escape. And then, as the Cambrian borders become increasingly policed, there is (garbed in a costume somewhere between pastor, Clint Eastwood nemesis and Matthew Hopkins’ finest) the Welshfinder.

It is a bravura opening episode – powerful, confident, ambitious, confrontational and unexpected. It conjures precisely the feeling of a town on the edge, a tinderbox for the powder keg that is an increasingly divided Britain as a whole. Then it pushes things a little further and if you squint just a tiny bit, you could be looking at the future. Maybe even a blueprint, if you were so minded. It feels like a drama fully in the tradition of Bleasdale, Loach, Alan Clarke and Jimmy McGovern, and if it occasionally falls victim to the latter’s tendency to agitprop, that still leaves it head and shoulders above the usual fare.

It doesn’t quite meet the high bar it has set for itself over the remaining episodes. Although they gesture towards the issue of displaced persons and what is to be done with waves of desperate people, they become too much about the internal dynamics of the Driscolls and their family history to feel as innovative or thrilling as that which has gone before. But you can live off the first hour for quite some time to come.

[andromedaexists]

Infinity Alchemist || Kacen Callender

★★★★★

TW: ABUSE (FAMILIAL, ON PAGE), DEATH (MURDER), GUILT, GRIEF, MENTIONS OF SEXUAL ENCOUNTERS (FADE TO BLACK), VIOLENCE

I always feel like I don't know where to start with these. 9 times outta 10 I'm writing reviews right off the end of the book and this one... I have tears in my eyes. This is a 6 star book for me. Firmly. My heart hurts

I received this book as an ARC in return for an honest review. Thank you to Tor Teen and NetGalley for the ARC.

Infinity Alchemist releases in just a few weeks on Feb. 6th I believe, and I highly recommend it to anyone who will listen.

Once again calling back to any book that makes me physically feel something get an automatic five star, but this book did more than that. This book wrapped my heart in tendrils of alchemical magic and refuses to let go.

Let's start with the characters: Ash, Ramsay, Callum, and Marlowe. Ash is our POV character and in a trans POC man. He is an asshole who has a rough life, growing up in the slums with a mother who passed away not too long ago. He wants to prove himself worthy of his absent father, and will stop at nothing to do so.

Ramsay is a prodigy, the genderfluid child of known and executed terrorists hell-bent on atoning for their sins. She uses he/she pronouns, though leans more towards she/her throughout the book. She is also such an uptight prick... until she's not. I genuinely love how prickly and rude she is and how much that shows to me as an autistic mask. I just love her so much.

Callum is a black man and the youngest son of the Kendrick house, more or less the police state in book. He is kind and caring despite the heavy hand of his father and all he wants to do is heal. He wants to heal and help others, like the good man he is.

These three, oh these three. They hold my heart.

Marlowe is my obligatory redhead (listen I have to point them out when they are given to me!). She is an orphan of House Lune and becomes so integral to the story in ways I never thought possible.

Without given away too many spoilers, I want to tell yous: there is so much diversity in this cast. So much! It's beautiful!! And, AND, we get not one, but two (2) separate Rivals-to-Lovers ARCs that don't end in a love triangle, but a polycule! We also get best friends to lovers to bitter exes to lovers once again!!

As far as the worldbuilding goes, I have to say that Kacen is a master at weaving these mystical and fantastical realms together in a way that not only make sense, but feel real. I felt like I was in the higher realms with the characters, like I knew exactly what each house was and why they were there.

I have aphantasia, which means that I cannot imagine what anything ever looks like. And yet, the beautiful world descriptions put me there. They called back to things that I do know and do have experience with and built off of it. I very genuinely could see myself in the world, and that is saying a lot.

I don't think I can talk too much more about this book without bringing myself to tears again, so let's pivot to some of my favorite quotes to make y'all understand the gravity of this book:

The world became a white blur. The snow turned red. It fell to the ground, drops spreading like blots of ink. The blood dripped from Amelia's cheeks. Her smile faded as the screams began.

That's what privileged assholes like you always say.

[redacted] paused, but only for a moment. He opened the [redacted]. There was an explosion of light.

It was too late. [redacted] was already there.

It wasn't death he'd feared, he realized, but the change—the transformation that forced him to release.

This light held the vibration of energy that the physical body would translate as love.

They all created the same infinite light. They were eternal.

It was an interesting place to be caught, stuck between grief and gladness that they were gone.

Okay, I think that's all I can put without spoilers.

One thing I forgot to mention: this book is genuinely funny. Maybe it's because of the autistic mask I mentioned earlier, but the interactions between Ramsay and Ash at any given point past like 20% of the book are genuinely funny. I love Ramsay's sense of humor.

Anyways, that's all for this book! I am going to curl up in a ball and cry while I purchase a physical copy to annotate and put on my recommendations shelf. This is a story that I will be thinking about years down the line, I just know it. Ash is a part of my soul now, and I can't wait to see what he does next.

[svperluminous]

Reading all the "people are obsessed with Viren/Callum parallels and hate it when we point out the Callum/Amaya parallels" honestly makes me happy I don't post character analysis stuff (or post it rarely) because it's so rude to me when you're called obsessed for liking a character reading someone else thinks is insignificant. Who are even those people who are against the Callum/Amaya parallels? Was it like two people dismissing the idea and now all Viren/Callum parallel fans are idiots who don't know shit and wouldn't be able to tell a """real""" parallel if it spat us in the face? What is up with this elitism?

I like different takes on the same character, I like people's creative theories even if canon doesn't support them, I like to approach a character from a million different angles, see that character through the eyes of many different fans, compare them to many different characters, ship them with different characters too and figure out how the most unlikely ships would work out.

I never actually cared about Callum until I started to talk to the people who like him, started reading their analysis posts or simply little headcanons. I got an appreciation for him because I got to see him through the eyes of the people who love him and now that he's become a mainstay in my own stories (upgraded from a background character to one of the main 6) and all the stuff I read and conversations I've had are really helpful in shaping my version of Callum.

Oh, canon elitists, you would hate my Callum as I put a lot of emphasis on his parallels with Viren and Aaravos. Aaravos as a person, not a mystical cosmic entity. You'd hate my Aaravos even more, now that I think about it.

The reason I cling so strongly to the Callum/Viren parallels in particular is because I actually love Viren. Not the "love" as in "I love ice-cream" but the "love" as in "I deeply care about him and wish to see him happy". There's a reason Viren is one of the POV characters and him mirroring the protagonist is important to me. I like Callum/Amaya parallels too, by the way. I agree with y'all on them. It's just, while I have found appreciation for Callum, when I think about the Viren/Callum parallels, I think about what they mean to Viren first, which is why I personally care about this particular parallel more than other Callum parallels. And maybe the other people "obsessed" with this parallel also like it because they like Viren. I don't know.

Anyway, y'all are valid, your headcanons are valid and your reading is valid. Just don't be dicks about it.

[chaosites]

Sup its me again

Do any of you have a favourite game?

Do any of you share one?

This one could take a while!!! Let's do it Let's go down the line~! It doesnt count if it's their source, that's our only rule.

Starting with some collective ones! Yahtzee! Mergefruit (the shitty phone one where you have to drop the fruits and merge them to try and make the giant golden watermelon), earthbound(legal middle name!), UTDR, wii sports/wii sports resort,MySims, mario in general

And now some individual faves!

Alan: Cut The Rope, Run series, Wind Waker

Ann: she loved those baking flash games but a lot of them don't run well enough anymore, so just baking games in general!

BASIL: There's this specific solitaire game called like.... solitaire gardens? no. Solitaire Grand Harvest. He loves that one.

Brandon: Unfortunately one of Brandon's favorite game series is in fact Danganronpa. He knows it's not any good.

Callum: Callum loves a good itch.io indie game. Nothing really specific. Zey also like Mystic Messenger

Chara: Chara likes OMORI, the mother series and especially games where you can play as A Creature instead of a person. They would like animal crossing a lot more if this was an option

Chel-c: Dating sims, worse the better

Chia: fighting games, namely the crossover ones

Clara: Mysims SO much she is a mysims superfan. She also loves the barbie games, namely barbie horse adventures riding camp.

Clyde: IMVU, online virtual worlds in general, overwatch

Cocoa: Dating sims and otome games

Colbie: Colbie likes most nintendo games but they especially eat up those godawful mobile games. They also love SSX tricky

ENA: Yume Nikki

Ethan Lee: KATAMARI!!!

Fern: RPGs mostly. He in fact does like ISAT. For reasons.

Gary: Baking games

Glass: Absolute Majong fiend. Solitaire also

Gregory: Games that are made to mimic the style of old arcade games, definitely. He really loves skee ball, too. And claw machines. If those two count as games

HERO: He also likes baking games!

Jax: "Best game ever, Hong Kong 97. What? Of course I'm serious.'

Joan: Animal Crossing

Karma: Sims, apparently?

KEL: Wii Sports

Ken: Style Savvy

Kid: I love Hue

Kira: Card games

Kris: Smash Bros, especially brawl, Wii games in general

M: Portal 1&2, Garry's Mod

Mabel: GirlsGoGames.com forever. I cant remember the name of it but she LOVED this weird hair styling one. It had a like, hair growth potion that you could use? Will edit if any of us remember

Mae: rhythm games even though she sucks bad at them, Sam and Max

Marcy: Silly DS games, Mysims, arcade games

Maxie: Nintendogs + Cats

Napsta: ThisIsSand

Neil: Gameboy/Wii/DS games of All Kinds, Tetris type games

Ray: Connect 4

Rio: Card games

Rox: Any game where you can pet the cat

Sal: Super Mario Galaxy

Seven: Any game where you can pet the cat+ Connect 4

Si: Mystery Case Files/Hidden object games

Simon: Wii Sports

Star: Dressup games

SUNNY: JRPGs

Sysfrin: Candy Crush, Solitaire

Tobi: Yahtzee

Torrin: Shipwrecked 64

Trent: Yaoi dating sims/ Blush Blush

Unknown: Connect 4, Papa's Freezeria

Vanellope: Mario Kart, Karting games in general

Vix: Smile For Me,Nintendo in general

X: Solitaire

[thatartiststudios]

Now for another fic update:

As the four of them plummeted through the rift in the sky, Sadie and Carter transformed into their bird forms, leaving Freak and the others behind in their world. 

   Callum stretched his mage wings wide, his eyes scanning the chaos around them. Rayla clung to him as he caught her, arms wrapped securely around his shoulders. 

   “I got you,” Callum assured her, his voice firm amidst the whirlwind of colors and lights.

   With a rush of wind, they landed in a world utterly unfamiliar. Callum, in his High Mage jacket, and Rayla, with her Moonshadow attire and distinct elven features, stood out starkly against the backdrop of demigods and magicians in modern clothing. Some campers exchanged puzzled glances, their murmurs filled with confusion and curiosity.

   Before they could comprehend their surroundings, a group of campers, led by the assertive members of the Ares cabin, surrounded them with weapons drawn. Rayla instinctively flicked out her dual butterfly blades, her violet eyes sharp and wary. Callum placed a steadying hand on her arm.

   “Rayla, put those away,” he urged softly.

   “But–” 

   “Please, Ray,” he all but whispered to her, and Rayla relented.

    Just as tension escalated, Chiron, the wise centaur, intervened. 

   “Hold, children of Ares,” he called, his voice carrying over the crowd. 

   “Let us first understand our unexpected guests.”

   Piper, who was nearby, having heard descriptions from Annabeth about the Kane siblings, recognized them immediately. Her eyes widened in surprise, but she remained silent, waiting for Chiron’s lead.

   Chiron turned his gaze to the newcomers, his expression a mix of curiosity and concern. 

   “Greetings, travelers. It seems you have arrived from a different realm. I am Chiron, and this is Camp Half-Blood, a sanctuary for demigods.”

   Callum, his mind racing to comprehend their situation, nodded hesitantly. 

   “I...I don’t know how we got here. We were in our world, and then there was a crack in the sky, and… now we’re here.”

   Rayla, her elven ears perking up at the mention of the word ‘demigods,’ exchanged a confused glance with Callum. The campers, unable to fathom her elven heritage, whispered amongst themselves, speculating that she might be some rare, mystical creature.

   Sensing the strangers’ disorientation, Chiron spoke gently, “You are safe here. We will do our best to help you understand this new reality. Come, follow me. We’ll find you a place to stay and discuss the specifics of your arrival.”

   Callum, Rayla, and the Kane siblings exchanged uncertain glances but nonetheless followed Chiron. Their journey into the world of demigods had only just begun, and the mysteries that awaited them were as vast as the cosmos itself.

Next Part

[raayllum]

I know you like to analyze thematically in TDP a lot and you write top down the same way, so I’m curious, what are some of the themes/motifs in your upcoming novels? and do any of them coincide with TDP?

(GASP you get a gold star oh my god thank you!! and i will try to not make this too Long but i'm very excited!!)

Basic premise for ppl who have never heard of my novels before:

Latest generation of a reincarnated group of chosen ones have to grow up in a world of increasing violence and political instability that they're supposed to fix while also facing their own choices and demons. The main character, Ally, starts off as an 'unchosen one' — she lost her powers as a young child and has been trying to get them back, which kinda makes her resent her chosen one friends just as much as she loves them. The other two co-leads are her twin sister, a former child soldier with death powers she doesn't want, and her friend / one sided rival, a draconic-powered prodigy looking for redemption and to escape her past.

The funny thing is that when I was writing out my series (2014-2017 has all the pieces we currently have, though things have ofc been finessed since then) only ATLA existed as an inspiration point, which was, "How do you always know the Avatar is going to be a good person (and what if you didn't? What if they weren't)?" + "what if there was more than one running around?"

The rest was all from my head. There's a mystical magical heart broken into pieces. A continent divided in two with a long history of war. Characters anchored to the idea of Autonomy who then go through a loss of powers arc (hi Callum s2) and then brainwashing/possession arc (hi arc 2 Callum) that was probably by far the funniest coincidence. Circles and cycles and children and choices. The fact that these all just also found their way into TDP shows just how much it feels like the show was Made For Me in the best way creatively, and one of the reasons I think I've found TDP so personally rewarding to analyze—happy coincidences all around.

There's other coming-of-age themes of course that are shared between the two—grief, identity, friendship—but being prose I get to lean more into religious and political worldbuilding in much more detail.

I think my novel(s) are also more grey and angsty (especially later on) than TDP was at the start, too. A good chunk of my protagonists don't have any moral reservations about assassinations or killing/torturing people push come to shove while also still wanting and trying to be Good People, but that just makes the ethical dilemmas more interesting to explore. That said, everything is ultimately more Hopepunk, I just prefer to never pull punches on the way there

Motifs I like to use:

a tarot inspired in-universe version of chess for foreshadowing purposes

stage motif (who are you when you're performing for everyone around you / constantly fronting?)

birds / ravens

wolves

knives

eyes / the ouroboros (snake eating its own tail)

Themes: gods vs monsters (vs humanity), complex family and friend dynamics, living vs survival, grief and cycles, loss of sense of self, idolization and scapegoating as two sides of dehumanization, etc.

I also wanted to have unique power sets (Moon is one of my favourites with leaning into shadow magic and being able to make things temporarily out of moonlight, or Life not just being all fuzzy plants and animals and showing more of the well, brutality of being alive).

People have said my main protag is basically if Claudia and Rayla were the same person and yeah that's a fair assessment, Unfortunately for her.

I feel like I blabbed enough here but if you want more info on writing things from a top-down approach / what it's like to build from theme first I'd love to talk about it more in relation to TDP (and also my books, mayhaps!)