#feel free to point any out of if you see some!

[eroaneki]

so i'm going to explain this as someone who was 10 when the war in Afghanistan started and 12 when the Iraqi war started, and remembers, very vividly, the general feeling of America during that time.

there is a distinct difference between America prior to 9/11 and America post 9/11. prior to 9/11, America was "free." you could go anywhere without having cameras following you, needing to go through a million security checks at the airport. your loved ones were able to meet you at the gate when you got off of a plane, and you could literally take the bus to any major airport in the country and just hang out all day. you didn't have to have a flight scheduled to be allowed in an airport. it was literally a thing to go down to an airport to have dinner at one of the restaurants there or hang at the bar. basically there wasn't such an obvious "big brother is watching you" type feeling.

when 9/11 happened, America was shaken to its core. we realized, for the first time, that we weren't invulnerable to attacks from foreign entities. 9/11 was the first time America had ever suffered a foreign terrorist attack. there was instant panic. i remember people being pulled out of school the day of. businesses shut down. people pulled money out of their bank accounts. the economy came to a grinding halt so badly that the Federal Reserve dropped interest rates to 0% in order to stimulate people to keep spending money. there was widespread fear that the end of America was coming.

that feeling persisted, and still persists today. Bush, wanting to right the "wrongs" of his father, used these feelings of panic and uncertainty in the American public to drum up support for invading the Middle East. most of the American public agreed with it because they just wanted to feel safe again. they wanted things to go back to the way they were prior to 9/11. Canada, France, the UK, and other world players supported him in this endeavor and sent troops.

Bush ended up invading Afghanistan without Congressional support in October 2001. Congress later agreed to grant him authority to declare war on Iraq when he eventually started touting how they had information about "weapons of mass destruction (aka nukes)" being stashed in Iraq and sought to flush them out. I watched on live TV in December 2003 when they pulled Saddam Hussain out of a dusty hole in the ground and toppled the statue of him in the middle of Bagdhad. Again, I was 12 when this happened.

It became evident after some time that Iraq did not house nukes. Or if they did, they'd been moved somewhere else long before America got to these so-called "facilities" where they were being kept. There were literally no nukes or weapons of mass destruction to be found. Slowly, our allies started to pull out of the war effort, realizing there was no other reason to be there. Because France pulled out, Bush went around trying to rename french fries "freedom fries" as a way to show our displeasure with France's decision.

Because we created a power vacuum by pulling Saddam out of power, we were forced into staying in the Middle East and then tried rebuilding Afghanistan as like a sovereign state. Basically we started fighting ideologies from all over the Middle East, which cost us thousands of American lives unnecessarily and it's been a big point of contention for years now as to whether we had any business going into Afghanistan at all. It also cost thousands of innocent lives throughout the Middle East and completely destabilized the area. It only gave birth to further, more extreme terrorist organizations such as ISIS.

The whole conflict in the Middle East was supported by Americans for the first few years of the war. But as the results and rationale waned, most people wanted out. America likely stayed due to resources, wanting to establish influence, and worst of all, pride. Almost every issue we have right now can be traced back to 9/11 and the fallout after.

But what's even more upsetting is to see what happened after we pulled out of Afghanistan in 2021. After 20 years of literal blood, sweat, and tears trying to prop the country up, Afghanistan crumbled completely in less than 24 hours. 20 years and countless lives lost and forever changed, for nothing. Quite literally nothing other than to serve the ego's of those in power.

And now our generation and every generation after us is saddled with trillions upon trillions of dollars worth of debt from a war that quite literally meant nothing. We cannot afford basic living expenses, rent, education, etc., in large part because of the economic response to this war.

Our futures were all sold because of this war.

I missed most of the Iraq war due to being a baby, but every time I read about it I start wondering why we aren’t all talking about it all of the time

[darlingsblackbook]

Between the lines - part 2

Gojo Satoru x Awkward!Reader

Summary : As the new teacher’s assistant at Jujutsu High, Y/N is used to being invisible—quiet, awkward, always on the outside looking in. She tells herself she prefers it that way, but when Gojo Satoru, the school’s most infuriatingly nosy teacher, starts noticing the cracks in her carefully built walls, she finds it harder to hide. He’s loud, he’s persistent, and worst of all… he might just see right through her.

Warnings : feelings.

English is not my first language, I apologize in advance for any grammatical or spelling mistakes. Feel free to point them out to me, but please, be kind with it♡

♡♡♡

Being at Jujutsu High felt… different now.

Not in a sudden, life altering way but there were just small shifts, subtle changes in the air, in the way people looked at me, in the way I existed within these walls.

At first, I hadn’t noticed.

I had been so used to lingering at the edges, to keeping to myself, that it didn’t occur to me when the distance started to close. It wasn’t anything drastic; just little things.

A small conversation here.

A casual greeting there.

Still, there was change.

°•♡•°

The lounge was comfortably warm, filled with the soft hum of conversation, the occasional burst of laughter, and the rhythmic tapping of rain against the windows. The heavy clouds outside had darkened the sky, casting a muted gray glow over the room, but inside, the atmosphere was bright, buzzing with the easy energy of people who had known each other long enough to abandon formalities.

“You can’t just let me die like this!”

“Then dodge, dumbass.”

The sound of arguing pulled my attention from my book.

Yuji and Nobara were pressed together on the couch, nearly headbutting each other as they bickered over their phones, the screen flashing rapidly between them.

“Sensei,” Yuji groaned, twisting around dramatically to face me. “Tell her she’s being mean.”

I blinked, caught off guard by the sudden plea for help. “Oh, um—”

“She’s bullying me,” Yuji continued, tone exaggerated, hands clasped together as if pleading for justice. “And I’m just a poor, innocent boy who wants to live.”

Nobara scoffed. “Innocent? Yeah, righ!”

On the other side of the room, Megumi let out a quiet sigh. “Yuji, you literally threw her off the map five seconds ago.”

“That was an accident.”

A small, breathy laugh slipped from my lips before I could stop it.

Yuji gasped and pointed at me. “She laughed! I heard it!”

Nobara turned to me immediately, her eyes alight with amusement. “Oh, she’s got a cute laugh too.”

Heat crept up my neck. “I—”

“See?” Yuji grinned, leaning forward like he had uncovered some grand secret. “She likes us. She just doesn’t know it yet.”

I opened my mouth to argue—but stopped.

Because I didn’t actually want to.

Because I did like them.

°•♡•°

And then there was Gojo.

If I had thought he was persistent before, I had been absolutely wrong.

Gojo Satoru did not believe in personal space.

He did not believe in subtlety.

And he definitely did not believe in leaving me alone.

The first time he disrupted my peace, I had been sitting in my usual spot, surrounded by stacks of paperwork, the low murmur of the ceiling fan filling the silence.

And then—

SLAM-

A hand landed on my desk, loud and jarring.

I yelped and flinched so violently that my pen flew from my grip. My heart beat into my throat as I looked up

Straight into the too-bright, too-knowing eyes of Gojo Satoru.

“Let’s get lunch,” he declared.

I blinked at him, still trying to regulate my breathing. “What?”

He leaned down slightly, an easy grin tugging at his lips. “Lunch. Food. You know, the thing humans eat?”

“I know what lunch is.” I frowned. “I just—”

“You’re gonna sit here all alone and work again?” He sighed dramatically, tilting his head. “Live a little.”

“I like working.”

Gojo gave me a look of pure disbelief. “Yeah, yeah. Nerd stuff. Let’s go.”

And before I could protest, he grabbed my wrist and pulled me to my feet, effortlessly dragging me along like I weighed nothing.

And that was how it started.

Lunches. Walks. Interrogations disguised as casual conversations.

That overgrown paintbrush was everywhere.

He had for some reason made it his mission to pull me into his world, to chip away at the walls I had carefully built, to make me talk.

It was annoying.

It was exhausting.

And...

It was nice.

He was patient. He did not push me to talk and gave me the time if I needed to gather my words. I never felt like I had to hurry and say something before the conversation moved to another subject because he always paused to give room for my input.

And if I really did not feel like talking, it was never a problem because Gojo could effortlessly yap for a whole group of people 💀

And bit by bit, he succeeded in his mission.

°•♡•°

Weeks passed.

And something inside me started to shift.

I felt different.

Lighter.

Like maybe, just maybe, I was not as alone as I had always thought.

And there was a free space that I could occupy without a worry.

I could not remember when that shift had happened. Was it overnight? Probably not. In a few days? Debatable. Over the course of a few weeks? Mhmm

As I was thinking back, trying to pinpoint the time where that shift inside of me had happened there was one thing that kept popping up in my mind.

Well, one person.

Because really, it had all started with him. The lunches, the walks, the banter. It had all helped.

My heart skipped a beat.

My heart skipped a beat?

Why would my he-

It hit me.

There was more than just one shift that had happened. Somewhere along the way, I had gained feelings for Gojo Satoru.

I had a crush on Gojo Satoru.

The realization struck like a physical blow, knocking the air from my lungs.

At first, I tried to deny it. There was no way but I could not help but think back.

Think back to how my heart would stutter when he leaned in too close.

Think back to the warmth in my chest when he looked at me like I was interesting.

With that realization, I did what I had always done best.

I withdrew.

I went back to avoiding eye contact. Went back to sitting alone. Went back to keeping my distance from everyone.

It wasn’t intentional at first—just small things. Skipping out on conversations, leaving rooms before Gojo could drag me into another one of his ridiculous antics. But once I noticed it, I doubled down.

Because this feeling was dangerous. And I was scared. I had gone so long living like a ghost and now I had a taste what it was like to be visible to someone- What if he found out? What if he thought I was digusting for having these feelings for him? Would he ridicule me? Would he laugh in my face? Would he tell everyone at this school? Would I be known as the weird girl who was so lonely she started crushing on the teacher she assist? What if-

Gojo noticed.

Of course he did.

The afternoon air hung heavy, thick with the remnants of summer as cicadas droned outside the open window. A warm breeze drifted in, ruffling the edge of the papers on my desk, carrying the faint scent of cut grass and lingering rain from the earlier downpour. The sky outside was still overcast, streaks of gold trying to push through the dense clouds, casting a dim, muted light into the quiet classroom.

It had been an unusually slow day. Most of the students had gone to their dorms early, leaving the rest of the school eerily silent, save for the occasional footsteps echoing down the halls.

I should have left too, but I didn’t want to go back to my empty apartment, to another evening of nothingness, staring at my phone, waiting for notifications that never came.

So I stayed.

I had been reviewing lesson plans, forcing myself to focus, but my mind kept drifting. Kept wandering. Kept returning to him.

To Gojo.

I squeezed my pen a little tighter.

It was ridiculous. I had spent weeks trying to push the thought away, to shove the feeling deep enough that it wouldn’t reach the surface. But it was there, clawing at the back of my mind, refusing to be ignored.

I liked him.

Too much.

And now all of my progress-every bit of confidence I had slowly built-was unraveling at the seams. I had been doing so well, learning how to talk, how to exist in a world filled with people who laughed and loved and lived so effortlessly.

But the moment I realized my feelings, it was like something inside me had frozen. Like I had regressed into the girl I had always been-quiet, withdrawn, stuck on the outside looking in.

Because how could I act normal around Gojo when everything about him made my heart ache?

His presence was impossible to ignore. The way he moved, so effortlessly graceful despite his ridiculous height, the way his voice always carried that teasing lilt, never fully serious, yet somehow always watching, always noticing. And those eyes-those endless, shifting blues-so sharp, so knowing.

I hated that he had become my favorite color.

I was so lost in thought that I didn’t hear him enter.

Didn’t notice his presence until a voice, warm and amused, broke through the silence.

“You’re acting weird.”

I jolted, heart leaping into my throat as my pen slipped from my fingers, clattering against the desk.

Gojo leaned against the doorway, arms crossed lazily over his chest. The dim light from the windows caught the edges of his hair, making the strands almost silver against the shadowed backdrop of the hall. His blindfold was gone, and those striking, inhumanly bright eyes were fixed directly on me.

I forced myself to breathe.

“I—” My voice caught, too dry, too stiff. I swallowed. “I’m not acting weird.”

Gojo tilted his head, his smile widening ever so slightly. “That’s exactly what someone acting weird would say.”

I didn’t respond.

Because he was right.

Instead, I lowered my gaze, focusing on the scattered papers in front of me, willing my pulse to settle down to its usual rythm.

Gojo sighed dramatically, stepping fully into the room. “You used to laugh at my jokes.”

I glanced up. “I never laughed at your jokes.”

He placed a hand over his heart, feigning a wounded expression. “Ouch. That’s just cruel.”

I bit the inside of my cheek, resisting the urge to smile.

Gojo studied me for a moment longer before moving toward my desk, leaning down just enough to invade my space, his voice dropping to something quieter.

“You’ve been avoiding me.”

I froze.

The words weren’t a question.

I didn’t know what to say, how to refute something so painfully true.

“I haven’t—”

Gojo raised an eyebrow.

I sighed, “I really have not. Not intentionally.”

Lie.

For a moment, he didn’t speak.

The weight of his gaze lingered, steady and unyielding, as if he was trying to peel back my layers, trying to see something I wasn’t willing to show.

And then-

“If someone’s been bothering you, you know I can deal with them, right?”

I startled, blinking up at him. “What?”

Gojo’s voice was light, but there was something underneath it. He was serious. “I’m just saying. If someone’s making you uncomfortable, I could ruin their life. Legally or illegally. Dealer’s choice.”

I let out a surprised laugh, too caught off guard to stop it.

Gojo grinned. “There it is.”

My cheeks flushed.

I turned away, pretending to fix my papers, pretending that my heart wasn’t trying to break through my ribs.

Because this was exactly why I had been avoiding him.

Because even when he was joking, even when he was being utterly ridiculous- there was genuine care beneath it.

And it was dangerous.

Because it made me want to hope.

"Seriously, if you're in trouble, let me know. If someone here or outside of the school has b-"

I cut him off, "Thank you, really. But it's not that, I promise."

The room was quiet for a moment as Gojo studied my face. The way his eyes looked into mine, it was as if he was trying to see right through them and into my soul for answes

After a few seconds he let out a small hum, leaning against the desk. “Alright, fine. Be all mysterious and broody.”

I rolled my eyes, but my lips twitched upward.

Gojo smirked, pleased.

For a while, neither of us spoke.

The silence stretched between us, filled only by the rustling of the wind and the distant sound of cicadas outside.

And I could only think about how I was supposed to get myself out of this mess.

© 2025 DarlingsBlackBook, All Rights Reserved

[shaunamilfman]

canine teeth (in the side of my neck)

pairing: Shauna Shipman x f!r Summary: Shauna's chasing you through the woods. note: minors DNI. warnings for blood, biting, also kind of dubcon but (spoiler: discussed, consented to before hand and mentioned in the end.). thank @soffsh2 for this one too ngl.

For a brief moment, as your face slams into the ground and everything goes a little hazy around the edges, you think you might’ve just died. Which is a dumb thought, all in all. As if the universe would let you be that lucky by now. The Wilderness, the mystic force that has seemingly guided your life since your plane crashed down into the shithole, wouldn’t let you do something as simple as black out when it could wring out a few more painful hours from you.

You can feel the blood dripping down your face and pooling into the dirt beneath you, like you’re already being prepared to be their next sacrifice. There’s no time to deal with the mess you’ve made of your face in the fall, not when Shauna was so close behind you. You’re scrambling up to your knees when your legs are pulled out from beneath you by a tight grip on your ankle, and suddenly you’ve got another face full of dirt. There’s a loud grunt of complaint from Shauna as your foot lands hard in her stomach in a futile attempt to get away.

She manages to fumble your ankle just long enough for you to get it free, but she’s scrambling over you to plant her knee squarely in the center of your back. You’ve taken more than your fair share of hits, both in soccer and out in the wilderness, but the feeling of her resting the entirety of her weight on that one spot is enough to make your eyes water with pain. You can’t help the pained groan that leaves your lips, even as your hands start searching for some sort of purchase to get out from underneath her. 

God, you would take anything to get away from her right now. Any of the other girls were better. You would even take Misty over Shauna. The fact that you’ve reached a point in your life when that comparison matters would be sickening if you weren’t so fucking terrified you could hardly think.

Her hands wrap around your arm, pulling it out from under you hard enough that you can already feel the bruise forming. She wrenches your arm back far enough that you could feel that strain of it in your joints. Shauna’s treating you like some kind of ragdoll she could just maneuver wherever she wanted. It’s not like she was wrong. The feeling in your shoulder made you sick, like all it would take is one thoughtless tug to do some real damage to you. Something Shauna was more than capable of, shown time and time again.

She had enough leverage on you that the only thing you could do was scream as her teeth sank into your arm like some kind of feral animal.

There was absolutely no warning, not even the mocking taunts you expected there would be. You didn’t even see it coming until suddenly your arm felt like it was on fire. The pain of it was blinding, enough to make the lingering ache of her knee seem like background noise as every nerve in your body was lit up by the feeling of her teeth latching on like she was trying to see how deep she could go before something gives beneath her.

All you could do was writhe and gasp, biting at your lip hard enough that you felt something tear beneath your teeth in some desperate gesture to keep yourself quiet. The only thing screaming would do was bring more of them toward you, which was the last thing you needed. Then again, maybe cooler heads would prevail, and they'd put you out of your fucking misery instead of eating you alive.

You can’t focus, can’t even think.

It’s strangely quiet between the two of you, nothing but the sounds of leaves and twigs crackling as you struggle beneath her and the frantic wheezes that leave your lips when you can manage to rub enough brain cells together to remember you need to breathe. The pressure of her weight on your back doesn’t help, making each and every breath a struggle to overcome as she presses you into the dirt.

Shauna huffs out an annoyed breath that ghosts hot against your arm as you cry out again, pulling away just enough to clearly hiss “Shut up!” before biting back down. It has the opposite of its intended effect as she bites down somewhere new, sending even sharper waves of pain instead of the duller ache you'd grown used to. It tears a sob out of your throat as you feel her jaw flex, grinding her teeth back and forth like some rabid animal. A sawing motion that makes you feel like she’s trying to tear her way through your skin and start ripping pieces off right there.

She doesn't like that at all, a fact she's not shy of making clear. The words she's speaking are so muffled as they vibrate against your arm that you almost can't make them out as she speaks them, and the panic that revelation causes didn't help correct it. It’s like every part of your body capable of conscious thought has fled and left you to flail around helplessly beneath her.

You can feel her hand sliding up your back, her hand pushing with deliberate force that you can’t even begin to fight against. All you can do is suck in another breath before your face is crushed into the damp earth beneath you. It’s cold, still a little wet from the rain the night before, already sticking to your face and smearing across your skin. The scent of dirt fills your nose; the taste clings to your tongue. That’s all you have: dirt and pain.

Finally, mercifully, you’re able to make out what she was saying.

“Shut up, shut up, shut up.” Like if she just says it enough, you’ll be forced to listen. If only it were that simple. Then, so quiet that you think you must have imagined it, "Please."

Still, everything that’s happened so far has nothing on the jolt of pure fear that goes through your body as her grip on your head shifts. Just enough for you to feel the way her fingers are wrapped around the hilt of her knife behind your head. Oh, God. You didn’t think it could get worse.

You stiffen as you notice, and she flexes her fingers purposely around the hilt. She wants you to know, doesn’t she? Wants you to feel the way she holds your life in her hand while you're powerless to stop it. Shauna’s just playing with you now, but that could change just as quickly as she wills it to. It’s a threat and a promise.

“Please!” You cry out, so muffled by the dirt in your mouth it comes out as a strangled whimper. You aren’t even sure she could hear you to answer. But Shauna hesitates just for a moment, her breath stuttering and her mouth going slack for a half a second before she’s biting again.

That’s all you need.

“Shauna, please. Please.”

Shauna doesn’t say anything, doesn’t even justify your begging with a response, but what she does do is answer enough. You can feel her shifting on top of you, and at first you think she might just be getting a firmer position to dig her knee further into your spine, taking the last of your breath from your lungs. 

That’s until the first slow roll of her hips as she’s pressed against your side. It’s a lazy, almost mocking grind. Taking her time with you, knowing there’s not anything that could stop her from it. You shudder, a different feeling altogether from the fear that’s been wreaking havoc on you rising up and settling in your stomach.

She doesn’t say a word. She doesn’t have to.

You beg just the way she wants.

“Please, please,” you garble around mouthfuls of dirt, tongue covered in grit and blood but too desperate to care as you force the words through chapped lips. “Don’t kill me, Shauna. You don’t want to do that–” 

She bites harder in response, and you cry out, your voice cracking.

Shit.

Shauna does want to do that.

Shauna wrenches your head to the side as she rubs your cheek into the dirt, now wet with your drool as you spit out what you can manage even as the taste of it lingers on your tongue. Your head is turned the other way, so you can’t even see her. Maybe it’s better that way.

“Fuck, Shauna. Jesus,” you hiss.

The pressure of her jaw softens just slightly, not because of anything you could say to convince her otherwise, but because in all your thrashing beneath her she manages to find the angle she needs to draw a whimper from her lips as she slowly moves against your side.

But fucking you means she’s not trying to eat you, right?

“Shauna, God. Don’t stop. Please. I’ll do anything.”

Oh, she liked that last one.

It’s one thing to be at her mercy. Another to feel how much she enjoys it. And she is enjoying it. You can tell with each roll of her hips, so wet you can feel the warmth of it through her sweatpants. With each motion, she becomes more coordinated, more set in her rhythm as quiet noises leave her lips and echo against your arm.

She grinds her teeth at your inaction, digging further into the torn skin of your arm.

“Please, Shauna,” you plead, going tense as the blade of Shauna’s knife presses against your face. It’s cold, so fucking cold that the temperature itself is a shock to your system beyond just the threat that it carries. The blade might as well be frozen for how it feels against your sweat-slickened skin. 

Blood drips onto your skin, and for a moment you think she’s killed you before you realize it was hers. A cut on her hand bleeds freely down the side of your face where she must have nicked herself on the blade during the struggle. “Oh, fuck. Shauna, don’t–”

You sputter as it finds its way down your face to your lips, the copper taste causing you to jerk away and only managing to give yourself a shallow cut across your face for your trouble. You hiss in pain, which draws Shauna’s attention for a moment as her jaw slackens. Concern, amusement–maybe both. But she’s too invested in causing you pain and getting off, not necessarily in that order, to pay it any mind.

“Shauna, Shauna! Please, please. Be careful.”

She can’t pull away, can only push closer.

Shauna’s getting closer. You can tell. The sounds that leave her lips make you ache even as she tries to stop them, the heat of her impossible to ignore. Shauna’s lost herself in the sensation, quiet needy noises spilling against your skin as she starts to get desperate.

“Anything you want, Shauna,” you breathe in a low whisper, feeling the way it makes her hips stutter before pressing harder against you. “You don’t want to kill me, right? Then you could only eat me once.”

It should disgust you that those words are what finally make Shauna come with a pitiful whine, hips moving frantically against you as she chases her high. But she just sounded so good. Her jaw clamps down reflexively, tearing another scream from your lips that goes straight through Shauna as she shudders in response.

Shauna groans, finally letting your arm slip out of her teeth to flop uselessly against the ground. She follows it down, drawing pained whimpers from your mouth as she laps at the edges of the wound with her tongue. It’s somehow more painful than the biting was, the slow drag of the tip of her tongue as she maps the bloodied skin. At least you had grown somewhat numb to the biting.

The gentleness was so much worse, each press of her tongue like she’s mapping you. Then she hums, low and unhurried, and you know that she knows. That she wants it this way.

She’s going to be the death of you one of these days.

And what a way to go.

… 

She rolls you over on your back as she stares down at you, the knife still held loosely in her hand where it rests against your collar before she reluctantly hooks it in the back of her pants. You huff a laugh, reaching up to slap at her shoulder. 

“What the hell?” She questions, glaring down at you as she rolls her shoulder. You roll your eyes. That didn't hurt. 

“You fucking bitch,” you accuse. “Thought you were going to break my arm the way you were bending it.” 

Shauna shrugs, like it was a small price to pay until she catches sight of the glare you're sending her. 

“I'm sorry,” she says wryly. “Is that better?”

You scoff, and Shauna just grins down at you with bloody teeth, which is a look. You hate how much you like it about as much as you hate how Shauna immediately takes notice. She raises your bloody arm to her mouth, slowly running her tongue across the torn skin as you hiss in pain. At least, you think it’s pain.

There’s something about the warm press of her tongue as she reopens the skin again that leaves it up for debate. Especially as she grabs your hand, shifting up on her knees to swing one leg over your hip as she brings your fingers where she wants them.

Again.

[no-phrogs-in-hats]

Death and the Fool

Chapter 2: The Ace of Pentacles--Upright

Agatha Harkness x fem!reader

Summary: Where the personification of Life believes she has no chance with Agatha Harkness after Death gets to her first

Spotify playlist here

Chapter 1

Taglist: @hannah-0730 @loveshineslikethesky

“The Ace of Pentacles–Upright: Opportunity, prosperity, new adventures.”

__________

October 2026

The first thought that comes to your mind is not good. 

The house that stands in front of you looks just shy of completely mangled. The door has been ripped off its hinges, splintered into a thousand pieces. Outside, the flower box holds crushed shrubbery and chrysanthemums and the roof drain pipe is half way from completely falling off. 

You take a few measured steps forward and notice the mailbox is overflowing with mail. You sigh, roll your eyes, and continue towards the house.

Stepping through the door, you’re met with piles of splintered wood, and as you try to watch your footing, your eyes lock onto something familiar. Your heart lurches when your fingers touch it. The Triple Goddess pendant was all too familiar. You had known Agatha for over 300 years and she never once went anywhere without it.

You slip your nail beneath the clasp of the pendant. Inside is another familiar sight and you smile bitterly at the piece of dark hair before closing it again and dropping it in your pocket.

You can't see her, but Agatha’s voice is clear and distinct, and your chest warms hearing it for the first time in decades.

“Fine, I’m driving.”

There’s no chance of reacting when she rounds the corner as soon as the words escape her mouth.

You’re both frozen, staring each other down, and the kid behind her looks between yourself and Agatha.

“Hi,” he smiles, attempting to hop towards you. When he makes eye contact, something feels off about him. You recognize every single soul that walks the Earth. You create them from nothing, yet form them into everything. But this one, you don’t recognize. 

“I’m–” His mouth is forced shut and it looks almost as if his own skin is stretched over his lips. When a black squiggle paints itself over where his lips would be, you narrow your eyes at him.

Agatha reaches for a pair of scissors and cuts the rope from around the boy’s wrists, handing them to him, “Cut the rest of yourself free,” she sneers, “and go outside, you’re driving.”

He struggles to hop between the two of you, stumbling briefly on the wood chips, but managing to catch himself before he leaves for the grassy front yard. 

“He has a sigil,” you point out, watching him carefully.

“Yep. I’ve been calling him ‘Teen’,” she says. “He’s pretty insistent on not being a kid.” 

You turn your head to look back at her. “Rio said she ‘stopped by’.” You pause and look around at all the damage in the house–broken glass and china in the kitchen and more concerningly, blood on the floor. “It seems she left out some parts of her story.”

Agatha purses her lips, “Like trying to kill me?”

“Oh, I’m sure you enjoyed that, Aggie,” you sigh, leaning against the wall. “You were never one to shy away from a fight.”

Agatha’s stiff and cold demeanor didn’t falter, even at the nickname. “Why are you here?” she asks.

She’s so different from the Agatha you originally knew. The Agatha that would laugh at the stupidest jokes you’d tell her. The Agatha that would climb up a tree to scare you and Rio and laugh with that mischievous glint in her eye. The Agatha that would sing lullabies. 

Oh, how you miss the Sun.

“Just checking in,” you shrug. “Where are you driving to?”

“The last time I saw you–”

“You told me I’m too pure,” you butt in, remembering the memory that you aren’t too fond of. “You told me that I’d be corrupted by your ways if I did not leave. But I’ll tell you the same thing I told you that night, Aggie–Unlike Rio, I can find any soul, anywhere, at any time without her necessary process. No amount of dark magic can hide you from me, Agatha, and you cannot corrupt me. You cannot corrupt Life.”

She’s quiet for some before she glances at Teen, who sits on the grass, clearly distracted by his phone. Agatha leans in closely, lowering her voice, “We’re walking the Road.”

You pull back, searching her eyes for any sign of farce, “You said you would stop with the Road bullshit, Agatha. What is he, sixteen?”

“Well that was before Wanda Maximoff drained me of everything and stole the Darkhold…besides, I’m just having him drive me around collecting witches for the coven,” she shrugs. Agatha grins as she watches you sigh, “Why don’t you join us, hon?”

“Excuse me?”

Agatha takes a pair of sunglasses and cleans them off with her shawl before slipping them over her eyes and smiling at you. “You’ll be here with Rio to collect their souls after I drain them anyway. Why don’t you have a bit of fun?”

You want to say no. You want to say no so badly, but you don’t. Instead, you groan. “Fine, but I’m not having that kid drive me around. I’ll stay here and…clean up.”

“Sounds good, doll,” she smiles–and, oh, how you love when she smiles, especially when it has that mischievous undertone. Agatha steps over pieces of the door and exits through the doorway. “We’ll be back soon!”

When the pair of them leave you’re left to your own devices. You look around the entire first floor, ending in the kitchen. You let out an exasperated sigh, Rio really did a number on this place.

By the time you finish cleaning the house, it’s three o’clock and Agatha and Teen still aren’t back. You aren’t usually the type to snoop around but you’re so curious as to how Agatha’s been living the last few years.

In the room off the left of the foyer is the sitting room Agatha came out of. Afternoon light creeps in through the curtains but the lamps provide a warm ambience as you take a lap around the room. 

You don’t recognize a single person in the framed pictures–there’s a bearded man with an older woman who looks to be his mother, a picture of three women, and a bigger picture with a huge group of people all wearing shirts that read “Bohner Family Reunion”. 

There are collections of records and Blu-Ray discs from the previous owner and you rifle through them–a colossal amount of classic rock and movies that you know a guy would try to man-splain to you when you tell him that you “just don’t get it”. 

On the partition wall separating the sitting room from the dining room, there are at least thirty pictures and pieces of paper covered in red ink. Upon further inspection, the pictures are nothing but daisies and patches of grass, and the ink on the papers are just random letters and scribbled lines. You think back to your conversation with Rio the previous night.

“She’s gone all true crime and thinks she’s trying to solve a murder. It’s kind of funny actually, I’ve been playing along.”

When you go upstairs that’s when you see the little touches of the real Agatha. The door to her bedroom is open and you amble in. Her bed is unmade and you’re not one bit surprised after having asked her decades ago why she doesn’t make it. 

“I’m gonna be sleeping in it again tonight, why the hell would I go through all that effort just to mess it up again?” she had replied.

On her nightstand is a ceramic bunny figurine. Closer to the bed is an empty wine glass with the smallest bit of dried red at the bottom, and beside that is a bottle of ibuprofen and a half-way read through book.

In her closet are all different decades of clothing–50’s, 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, 90’s, and the 2000’s. You find leg warmers and laugh to yourself, imagining Agatha Harkness wearing these brightly colored monstrosities over whatever workout fit she was wearing. Your favorite, however, is the 50’s and 60’s section. You can remember those years so vividly, going to diners with her and drive-in movies after she finished “walking the Road” again.

After closing the closet your attention is pulled to a chair across the room. You walk over to it and see there’s a pair of black boots, a folded white blouse with purple slacks, and a teal trench coat hanging over the back of the chair. On top of the neatly folded blouse is a small envelope with Rio’s familiar handwriting, reading, Agatha.

The sound of Agatha’s voice reaches your ears. You look at the clock and it’s almost four. You’re able to hear her voice clearly, snapping back a snarky remark when Teen asks her where she’s going. 

She’s in the doorway of her room quicker than you realize and when you turn around she has that sly smile that makes you weak in the knees each time. 

“The house looks good,” Agatha says, tossing her shawl and hat on the bed. 

“Thanks, who did you steal it from?” you tease.

“I don’t know,” she huffs. “Some guy named Ralph…or Randall? Robert? I don’t know. I–What the hell is that?” 

She walks quickly over to where you are and snatches the note from the folded clothes. After tearing it open, she scans the lines and rolls her eyes, balling the paper up and throwing it away in the bathroom.

“She does know your style!” you chuckle. You take the clothes from the chair and bring them to her, smiling softly when she glares at them. “Just put them on, Aggie. You want to look good when “walking the Witches’ Road”, don’t you?”

She looks at you, fighting herself before sighing, completely defeated. “Fine. But I’m not going to like it.”

“I don’t expect you to,” you smile, chuckling as she shuts the door in your face.

You have to remind yourself to breathe when Agatha steps out of the bathroom. She could wear a potato sack, a garbage bag, and she’d still be the most beautiful woman you’ve ever laid eyes on. 

“Right,” she huffs, looking at herself in a full length mirror. “How do I look?”

You could answer in a million ways. You could tell her that the way she has her hair pinned up makes you want to place a thousand kisses over the exposed skin. You could tell her that she looks so good you want to rip the blouse she’s wearing open and have her take you right there. That the way her hands adjust the collar of the jacket makes unspeakable thoughts fill your mind.

But you don’t say that.

“Good!” you say. 

She looks at you through the mirror, grins, and turns around. “Good?”

“Amazing!” you correct yourself.

“Amazing?” she repeats. “Hm…Thank you.”

You take a deep breath and let it out. “You’re missing something, though.” 

Under the curious eye of Agatha, you step closer to her and reach into your pocket. When you grasp the pendant of the necklace and pull it out she visibly tenses. But you don’t acknowledge it. Instead, you move closer and reach around her neck, clasping it in place and adjusting it to lay beneath the collar of her blouse. Your fingers straighten out the pendant before pulling away. 

It’s quiet. 

Your eyes meet and you can see something in her soften. 

“Where did you find it?” Agatha asks quietly.

“Amidst the pile of door that Rio left behind,” you answer, letting out a quiet hum. “You’re not you without it and I know how much it means to you.”

“Is his–”

“Yes,” you cut in. “It’s still in there.”

She gives you a subtle nod. “Thank you,” she murmurs.

“You’re welcome,” you whisper, and you can almost swear you saw her eyes glance down at your lips. “You should probably get downstairs. Who knows what Teen is getting up to?”

Agatha scoffs, “Not much probably. Teenagers these days are too soft.”

Downstairs, you see Teen, who has set out what he calls “Pre-Road appetizers”. Over the mantel, he’s taped up a sign that reads “Welcome Coven”.

“I think it’s cute,” you shrug, watching as Agatha tears it down and huffs.

“No, leave it up,” a voice behind you says. “Really sets the mood.”

Teen breaks out into a smile and beckons her in. “Please, come in! Right, Agatha?”

“I don’t care, I mean whatever…” she mutters. Agatha seems mildly annoyed at this situation and you’re finding it hard to reserve a smile.

When Teen offers the new witch a “pre-Road appetizer”, she declines just to be overshadowed by another woman behind her.

“I don’t mind a lapsed expiration date,” she chirps, taking a bite of the expired granola bar. She pauses as she looks at the witch beside her, “High Priestess.”

“Jennifer Kale, potions,” she says.

“Lilia Calderu, divination,” the second one says. She narrows her eyes. “You’re bound.”

“And you need a chemical peel,” Jen retorts, much to Lilia’s dismay.

Behind them, a third woman appears and sighs. “This is never going to work. Your front door is missing.”

“Alice!” Teen exclaims with a bright smile. “How did you find us?”

“I’m an ex-cop,” she shrugs. “That’s gonna be my answer to a lot of questions.”

Impatient, and completely over the introductions, Agatha sighs loudly and claps her hands. “Okay!” she chirps. “We’ve got everyone! Let’s go!”

“Um, what about the green witch?” Jennifer asks.

Agatha scoffs. “Oh, we don’t need one of those! Let’s g–”

“Yes, we do!” Lilia insists.

“Green magic is arguably the most important of the skill sets needed for the road,” Jen says.

After more bickering, Agatha finally relents and leaves the house to retrieve the “green witch”. An awkward silence falls over the room as you all wait for her to come back, and it felt longer than it actually was.

“Okay!” Agatha cheers. “I’ve got our green witch! This is Mrs. Hart.”

A small woman stands beside Agatha, smiling as she greets everyone. “Oh, actually, it’s Sharon!”

You can see Agatha becoming visibly frustrated at the revelry, but she hides it (and not well) with an overly cheery smile. “Alright, let’s go!”

You and Agatha stand together with Teen in between you. You watch as the coven takes in their surroundings. Lilia strolls around, nosing around in the boxes on the shelves while Sharon, Jennifer, and Alice stand there awkwardly.

“Do you think we’ll need another car?” Teen asks. “I don’t think everyone will fit in mine.”

Agatha sighs, “You don’t drive to the Road, Teen. The Road is conjured. In fact, why don’t you go upstairs.” She turns him around and despite his protests, keeps pushing him toward the stairs. “Yeah, let’s getcha up there. Let the adults handle this.”

When he leaves the basement, Agatha turns to you, “Go with him. Make sure he doesn’t come down here.”

The sun is almost completely set when you and Teen make it upstairs. The dim lighting leaves an eerie glow around the house and it’s almost unsettling as you watch Teen explore the living room. When he gasps and picks up Agatha’s rabbit, there’s a twinge in your chest and it feels like you’re seeing Nicky for the first time again.

But your thoughts are interrupted when Teen drops the rabbit and slowly walks outside. You follow closely behind him, “What are y–shit.” 

Agatha had made sure your priority was keeping him from going back down into the basement, but that priority had changed. Now, as you stare face to face with the Salem Seven, your priority has changed: protect Teen and make sure they never reach Agatha.

You pull Teen back, “Get inside, now!” 

You can hear the faint sound of the ballad below the floorboards as you cast a protection spell over the vacant doorway in an attempt to hold them off. Teen pulls the nearest couch over and blocks the entrance. He moves to another room and it’s quiet–and you know that means nothing good. 

Teen’s scream from the other room makes you react before you can even think. You run to him, pulling him behind you just before one of the Seven can reach him. You cast another spell, sending one of them flying into the wall before you turn and run to find Teen.

You can hear shouting below you and just like that, it stops. You know what that means. This wasn’t the first time you’ve witnessed it. 

Teen’s screaming echoes through the house and you can hear him running towards the basement. “Agatha!” he shrieks. “Agatha!”

You run after him, just on his tail as he makes it to the basement. “Teen! Wait!”

“Is this the Road?” you hear him shout. “Is this the Road, because we should really get going!”

And now you’re nothing but confused. 

Is this the Road? 

The Road? “The Road” should be three dead witches and Agatha’s neighbor.

And then you reach the bottom of the stairs. 

You pause and stare at Agatha. The air feels electric and the very thought of the Salem Seven leaves your mind, because when you look up from the hexagon door, your eyes meet and you both share the same questions:

Where did that come from? And why is it here?

[cea-tide]

I skimmed through it and while it has some valuable advice here and there, when it comes down to giving specific examples, they give sub-optimal or actively privacy-hostile suggestions. I find that odd, as that is the opposite it claims to want to achieve. It falls right into the trap of false privacy the text is talking about. I put more details about my reasoning under the cut. I'd urge you still to follow along, but instead of taking the recommendations they give at face value, check out these two sites and compare: privacytools.io prism-break.org As a general rule of thumb, if the software is free, (libre) and open-source [F(L)OSS], everyone can check the code on malicious or faulty code (including trackers). These are preferred over closed-source solutions, which don't have any such accountability. This does not consider privacy-focused architecture per sé (though people certainly check for that), but the FLOSS community is generally privacy-focused, and you are at least (extremely likely) not tracked by the software itself. Exceptions to everything. Also, I want to mention this because I did not see them talk about it: If you change your details (email, etc.) on an account, all your old tracking data linked to that account (or even email) may now be linked to the new details too! Make an entirely new account wherever you can (and switch to privacy-focused services). This is where those email masks are incredibly useful; one mask per account. Feel free to ask me questions; I'll try to answer them.

They start with linking to Amazon lol, but they do acknowledge that

The RSS reader they recommend is actively promoting (generative) AI

Browsers: they do mention Chromium and its Google ownership, but they fail to mention most of the browsers are based on it, its problems with MV3 (see my #firefox tag), and then they recommend the very browsers that are Chromium-based... Just use Firefox or a derivative of it.

Password Managers: LastPass is not recommended; android app has/had trackers and it has had numerous data breaches.

"Most Privacy Isn't Private". Indeed, the moment you connect to the internet you can be traced eventually with enough effort. You can only make it harder (to the point that it is practically private). That does not mean that you should not try of course :)

Yes, store as much locally on a disk. What is not on the internet cannot be tracked or data-harvested.

Data balkanisation: That's not about giving your data to as many rival companies as possible (???), it's about country data legislation. Are you really relying on the assumption that Google/Yahoo wouldn't want to make a profit by selling more data, regardless of its buyer? Second example: just use Signal where possible because it doesn't share your data...

Ceasar: if you absolutely can't switch from a platform, yes minimise its usage

Firefox extensions: Ghostery is not recommended; it has/had trackers itself, and ads too (according to user reviews on the internet; no personal experience). I have reblogged plenty of FF addon posts before; see my #firefox tag.

Email clients: the default Windows mail app is of course controlled by Microsoft; do not use. I also recommend Thunderbird, but check your options above (and elsewhere). Note, an app is not required if your email provider also has a webmail (e.g. proton). Up to your preference.

Calendars: No comments, beside check the above sites.

Signal is not the only one out there, but it is certainly the most mainstream popular. And the more popular, the lower the social network switching cost, yay

Password Managers: LastPass is not recommended; android app has/had trackers and it has had numerous data breaches. Neither is 1Password recommended, because it is closed-source.

VPNs: I do not trust that list. Again, check above. There is also an outdated VPN privacy overview from 2019 on this website. I will write my own eventually, because that has been abandoned, but that will not be anytime soon. Because I know this specific example, I'll also say explicitly to not use ExpressVPN, because it has been taken over by Kape Technologies.

Collaboration clouds: One of them is powered by AI again... These are all closed-source; I do not recommend them. Instead I use: cryptpad.org, which can also serve as cloud storage, but indeed is a collaboration suite.

No comments on home assistants. They're spot on. All I will say is allowing tunnelling into your home network and connecting Internet of Things, is a massive security risk in general. Also consider setting up a Pi Hole on your network.

Mobile OS: I don't have enough experience on this; no comment.

I urge folks to check out this link. Its a very approachable roadmap to improving your digital privacy. As a consequence, it usually means you'll be supporting tech giants much less. Its not all or nothing either, do what you can.

[gay-dorito-dust]

I read about Johnny with shy!reader (it’s so adorable) and it gave me an idea. Idk to write down HOW they met but Johnny has a huge crush on her pre-relationship and he keeps asking shy!reader out on a date but shy!reader keeps rejecting him. Until she finally accepts going on a date with him. Johnny family are curious why Johnny is acting strange in a good way. Shy!Reader superhero friends are being protective of her. Please feel free to pick any superhero friends of shy!reader

I couldn’t think of anyone other than like Remy (gambit) so he’s here bc I wanted him to be. This was too long.

‘Come on, just one date!’ Johnny exclaims as he looks at you with his brown eyes, the very eyes they made you suddenly unable to maintain eye contact as your gaze suddenly found your hands more interesting.

‘I don’t think so Johnny, it’s not right.’ You try telling him, wanting nothing more than to be his next conquest to be bragged about inappropriately behind your back for points with other disgusting men. You had to admit that Johnny was attractive but his cocky, arrogant personality kind of spoilt any possibility of ever wanting to date him in the first place, that and your friend Remy Lebeau didn’t necessarily take kindly to him nor his careless view on relationships.

‘You deserve someone who’s going to treasure you, respect you and believe in you, not whatever that Johnny boy does to his poor partners.’ He told you one day when you informed him of Johnny’s insistent need to take you out on a date. Remy didn’t like this one bit and would even keep a close eye on him whenever they were on missions together, not wanting you to be in pain when getting involved with a man as vain as the one and only Johnny Storm.

‘This reminds me of a story I’ve read somewhere about a prideful and vain man called Narcissus.’ You said.

Remy rose a brow. ‘What happened to him?’

‘He was so vain and so full of himself that after rejecting a nymph called Echo, he ended up falling in love with his own reflection and ended up dying as a result.’ You replied and Remy couldn’t help but laugh and clap a hand on your shoulder.

‘If only it could be that simple mon cherie, if only.’ Remy says through laughter and you couldn’t help but smile in response before remembering your current situation with Johnny, fiddling with your fingers out of habit. ‘If only.’ You whispered to yourself, hoping that Johnny would grow bored of you and move on.

However Johnny didn’t get bored of you and move on like you had hoped, if anything he only became persistent in asking you out, so much to the point where you were openly rejecting him at least three times a week because of it. You honestly didn’t see what was so special about you to warrant his attention, you were the complete opposite of Johnny in every possible way, you two just wouldn’t work out but for some reason Johnny was heavily insistent that you would.

Johnny frowns at your words. ‘You’ve been saying that for months.’

‘And yet that hasn’t stopped you from pestering me for a date.’ You muttered under your breath as your magic flickered in response to your conflicting emotions. Sure Johnny was handsome, that was a given, but his reputation as a playboy unfortunately proceeds him as you attempted to put distance between the two of you; you weren’t giving your heart to someone who wasn’t going to treasure it. ‘Besides I find it hard that you can’t get a date from anyone else.’ You continued and you swore you saw a flicker of hurt within his eyes after saying this.

‘But I don’t want to date anyone else,’ Johnny cried as he grabbed your hands, causing your magic to spark as his warmth enveloped them, ‘I want to date you, just tell me how I can make my dream a reality my little magician.’ He adds softly as his deep brown eyes searched your own for the answers he wanted more then anything.

‘Quit it with the playboy stuff, it drive good people and draws in the bad.’ You advised him before leaving Johnny standing there as your words echoed within his head, he was determined to get that date with you and if it meant quitting his old ways then he’ll gladly do it, for he had harboured a crush on you the moment you had saved him by using your magic the first day you met. Johnny didn’t care that you weren’t confident or loud, he loved you for who you were and didn’t want you to change in the slightest, however he thought that nothing would ever come to pass between the two of you and he had looked to get his mind off of you by hooking up with other people.

Which in retrospect wasn’t exactly going to earn him any favours in asking his crush out. It also didn’t help that your friend Remy was protective over you but he couldn’t blame the Cajun man, what he could hold against him though was all the threats the mutant had given him in how he wasn’t the man you needed in your life, given the fact that he played love like it was a toy and you weren’t a toy to be played with. Johnny didn’t like it when Remy Lebeau could read him like a book because he knew he was right, and he knew that Remy was only an older brother figure to you and nothing more but that didn’t stop him from getting jealous from how much time you spent with him regardless; another thing that he knew you weren’t at all attracted to.

So if Johnny needed to prove he could change to win your heart, then he’ll gladly change to prove that he could.

After a long gruelling month passes by before you shared a mission with Johnny and news that he had left the playboy lifestyle behind him felt like a dream, something too good to be reality as you didn’t expect him to actually listen to you. So when the mission was over you could already see Johnny making his way towards you but instead of a shit eating grin, he was smiling softly at you and you couldn’t help but find him beautiful in the moment, pretty even as his eyes never once left you at all.

‘Hey little magician, long time no see.’ He greets you and for once you didn’t feel as though you had to force the smile as you look at him.

‘You’ve changed, I didn’t think you’d actually listen to me.’ You replied, cutting to the chase as it was the only thing that was at the forefront of your mind, dying to be let out the moment you saw Johnny act unlike himself or at least the Johnny you were more well acquainted with. Johnny shrugged. ‘You were right, I was only drawing the wrong kind of people with how I was doing things and now I hope I can draw the person I’ve been wanting to for along while.’ He responded with a soft smile that made you feel as though he was alighting a fire within you.

‘And who would they be?’ You asked, although you were more than aware of the answer but you just wanted to hear it come from his mouth and actually believe him.

‘Preferably you and only you if you’re available on this Sunday at 7pm.’ Johnny says as he watches your reaction closely, uncaring of the unamused Remy in the background who was watching like a hawk, you were the only one that mattered and he wasn’t about to let the Cajun ruin all his hard work becuase he didn’t like him being near you. Now normally you would’ve shut him down and walked away but this time was different and you knew it in the way he looked at you, you knew it in the way that you were actually tempting the idea and that you were finding yourself answer before your brain could catch up.

‘Yeah I would love to.’ Was what left your mouth as the way Johnny’s eyes shone like beautiful jewels and Remy’s looks of disbelief was all you could remember from that day. Meanwhile Johnny was back wt the Baxter building, rushing to get himself cleaned up before frustrating himself over what he should wear for your date in hopes of winning you over even more.

Sue, Reed and Ben could only watch as Johnny was smiling like some lovesick fool, constantly looking at his phone every so often as though he was waiting for something before going back to trashing his room for the perfect outfit.

‘Is he okay? He didn’t hit his head did he?’ Ben asked.

‘Looks like Johnny got himself a date.’ Reed replies before squinting his eyes as he watched the aforementioned male once again look at his phone just as it let him know that he had gotten a text. ‘He’s never looked this genuinely happy to go on a date in a long, long time.’ He then adds.

‘Whatever it is, I hope it stays like this because it’s clear to see that he obviously likes whoever this mysterious person is.’ Sue shrugs as she watched her brother knowingly, she knew about you from how often Johnny came to her about the one who kept getting away, you really must��ve set him straight enough for Johnny to actually be serious and change for the better and she couldn’t help but want to meet you even more because of it.

‘I can hear you all you know.’ Johnny said as he adjusted the black tie that completed his suited attire, he looked smart and handsome, something he never did at family dinners at all but for you he’d pull out all the stops even if it meant being in a expensive suit that he’ll never wear again. ‘And they’re here so don’t be embarrassing me okay?’ He adds sarcastically as he pats Reed on the shoulder, nudges Ben and hugs Sue before rushing to meet you by the entrance, his smile never once faltering at all as it only seemed to grow bigger upon his face to the point it hurt him.

Johnny didn’t care as he was quick to usher you in, he didn’t care that Reed, Ben and Sue were just behind him watching you both because they were bound to find out about you sooner or later, especially his sister whom he went to the moment you told him to drop his playboy act for advice almost immediately. Johnny didn’t care about anything because you were standing before him looking as beautiful as ever.

‘Hey.’ He says.

‘Hi.’ You replied.

You both smiled widely at each other for a good minute or two, much to Sue’s delight, secretly happy to see her brother happy and in the presence of the person who made him that genuinely happy. ‘You going to invite your date in or stare at them a little while longer.’ Ben interiors the cute moment, causing Johnny to look at him unamused while you fiddled with your hands that sparked with magic.

‘Dude.’ Johnny said but Ben only shrugged his shoulders.

‘What Ben wanted to say,’ Reed stepped in as he offered you a welcoming smile as did Sue as she stood next to him, allowing Reed to put his hand on her waist to pull her into his side as her hand easily fell to his chest, ‘welcome to the family y/n.’

[raayllum]

Why Callum Made His Choice (7x02)

Or choices, and why I think each of them were a long time coming. The according choices down below:

Defending Runaan

Betraying his brother

Leaving with Rayla

Resigning as High Mage

Let's go, because sections of this have been sitting in my drafts since the season aired because I thought it'd be fun, but now it's been long enough that now there's Dreaded Discourse (???) over the topic; this meta is not mean to be a rebuttal to any version of critique of events, merely an explanation behind Callum's actions/characterization, and why he did like... absolutely everything in the exact manner I'd always thought ahead of time that he would with his reasonings, processing, framing, and actions. Okay? Okay.

Just a warning: this got really long, do not read it in one sitting, there are sections for a reason. Or if you are, grab a snack and a drink first. Stay hydrated.

Okay now we can go.

Why does Callum defend Runaan?

This one is, I think, the simplest to answer in some ways, purely because 3x06 gave us the answer a long time ago.

I hate him. He's the one who took my mother. Looking at him, seeing him... It makes me sad, and angry, and... confused. See that spear? It was her spear, my mom's, and my stepdad put it into his heart. How am I supposed to feel about that? Glad? Happy that we got revenge? Or maybe regretful, and sad, because... Because that was Zym's dad. I feel so sorry that this all happened.

Callum is a deeply relational person. He aligns himself with Rayla in 1x03 because of Ezran and then trusts her because she's willing to lose a hand for his little brother. He does dark magic to save Rayla and free the dragon because he knows she won't leave without it. He forgives and works/trusts Soren in 3x08 because the man helped save his little brother. While Runaan's bow initially throws him, it ultimately does not matter to him because that's Rayla's dad and she loves him, and that's enough for Callum. His extreme relational viewpoint is also why he's so loyal to Ezran and to Rayla, and why crossing/putting either of them at risk (hi Viren, hi Claudia) cause those relationships to continually and rapidly deteriorate without looking back.

Callum has also had practice with Avizandum and Zubeia. As he points out to Ezran:

You forgave Zubeia. Who did you think gave the order for Runaan to kill Dad? But somehow you got past that. You forgave her, because everything was complicated. Humans, dragons, elves. We've all made mistakes. That doesn't mean we have to keep making them.

Callum also cares a lot about fairness. At first, he defends Runaan because he's being blamed, in Callum's eyes, for something he didn't directly do (destroying Katolis). Then they discuss things more directly, and Callum says the above. And while Ezran isn't wrong that killing Harrow would be enough on its own, I think we can clearly see that Ezran's anger and despair at feeling wildly out of control needs somewhere to go. He's not angry at Runaan solely because of the destruction of Katolis, but the destruction of his home is absolutely a contributing factor.

He wanted to kill/destroy Sol Regem in order to let out anger and exert control, but couldn't because the dragon was already dead. He was so focused on forgiving Zubeia and putting his feelings aside regarding Avizandum ("Everything Avizandum did was to protect Xadia" including murdering your mother) that the majority of his anger got channeled at a safer target: the assassin who directly did the deed (because Rayla defected, and Zubeia changed her mind). Who was already dead.

Basically: Callum points out that Ezran is holding Runaan uniquely responsible, and in a way that isn't particularly helpful or in line with Ezran's previous values: "This is exactly the cycle of violence you worked so hard to end." The cycle they both worked to end. If Callum had any complicated feelings about Runaan (as indicated in TTM) or about Zubeia / Avizandum, he worked through them a while ago, and given that Ez had done the same for 2/3, it's not an unreasonable expectation that Ezran would do the same. Harrow was Callum's dad too, after all.

Furthermore, Ezran is so angry that, according to Callum (who in many ways knows Ezran best), he isn't himself right now, either. Punishing Runaan by imprisoning him is not what Harrow would want and only serves to exacerbate Ezran's own worsening mental state and Rayla's to boot.

It's also not like Callum says that what Runaan did was okay, but that the situation was complicated, and Callum has faith that Ezran will do the right thing eventually in letting Runaan go. Literally, Callum just wants the man to not die and for Rayla's family to be together again because they can be. Especially in 7x02. He's not going to let Runaan die (because it'd hurt Rayla) anymore than he'd let Zym (because it'd hurt Ezran).

This is especially true given that the first shows of loyalty Rayla ever displayed towards either of them was 1) turning on her family (father) in order to protect him and Ezran, and 2) offering to fight against her family/people in order to save Harrow when she had literally only known these boys for a few hours, AND Callum's statement from 2x07 of "If we really want to change things, we can't just keep watching while humans and Xadia hurt each other." (More on 2x07 and 7x02 parallels here.)

If Callum (and Ezran) had chosen in 1x03 the way Ez is choosing in 7x02, they never would've left to return Zym to Xadia, period. After all, "why is there any moral confusion at all" about reuniting a family, a parent and child and allowing them to live their lives, when the parent has committed such terrible acts that took your father away from you? Kids shouldn't have to pay for "the choices their father made" (3x02) but "a life for a life"—one dead and one in jail forever while the person who ordered him to never faced any of your ire—is just "justice" after all.

That said, the slightly thornier decision (especially to Callum emotionally), I think, is his choice to betray Ezran as a result of defending Runaan, so let's get into it.

Betraying his brother

While on a certain level betraying Ezran means siding with Rayla, I do think that's a simplification. It's one both Ezran and Rayla tug at ("So you're on Ezran's side now" / "High Mage. We need you at this council meeting") with poor Callum in the middle, but I don't think it's a good reflection of the situation on either end because it's too simple, and both Ez and Rayla's framing/judgements are heavily clouded at first by their emotions.

I think Callum coming to bail Rayla and Runaan out, and offering to help her on the bridge, is far less about choosing sides as it is about Callum's fixer tendencies, which I've discussed before (in Nov 2021, christ it's been a while).

He is very solution oriented, sometimes to the point of obsession (leaping after Ezran in 1x06 and 4x01; forgetting Sol Regem is there in 3x01 in running to Rayla) and his anger most commonly comes out directed at the person he perceives as being an obstacle to Fixing the problem for himself/his friends. This fixer tendency is is also why he's such a caring considerate guy most of the time, manifesting in his desire to nurture and care for those around him, and closely tied to his pursuit of magic (so he can have agency/the ability to help).

He's devoted himself since learning about the coins to giving Rayla back her family, regardless of who that family includes, and regardless of what else is on the line. We see this repeatedly in 5x04 wherein he risks all of their lives to stay at the Great Bookery because once he gets fixated on finding a solution, he does not have an off switch, regardless — just like in 7x02 — of whether Rayla is asking him (never mind directly telling him not to) to help her.

Now, Runaan is trapped again, but it's not at Viren's hand (though Ezran, snapping at Soren to arrest someone despite the crownguard's hesitation, and his focus on security/power, isn't not acting like the former high mage) but his brother's. That's no good. And Rayla is more likely to fumble the bag without his help; this, plus the fact that Callum does agree with Rayla that Runaan deserves to be free, is why he willingly offers aid even before the situation escalates. It is also a parallel to Claudia ("You do anything for family." "It's too much to ask" "It's love" / "You don't have to ask. I would do anything for you") so no, I don't think it's meant to be entirely healthy either, because Callum's intensity often times gets people into more trouble, not less, but I digress.

As for the escalation itself: he can't just let get Rayla and Runaan on the boat, when the crownguard plus Soren and Corvus are actively chasing after them, and neither Rayla nor Runaan know sky/ocean magic or how to wield it, which is the only reason they get successfully away at all. He had to go with them to ensure their escape, for more reason than one.

But as stated: He is always going to pick the thing that gives him a solution to a Problem, and therefore pick the person with the problem that he thinks he can solve. And he tries, with Ezran to be clear, though more on that in a bit.

This fixer tendency is also why he's willing to repeatedly do dark magic, and why he's willing to sacrifice the simple quiet life that he wants if it means his loved ones get to live ("If you love them, Rayla, Ezran, all of them, you'll do anything to save them [...] It's not about you, is it?"). Rayla needed saving in 7x02, she was the one at physical risk, Ezran was not. Rayla was the one with an emotional problem Callum could easily solve (free Runaan = happy Rayla) and Ezran's was not (because it was more complicated).

And this is also why even once Ezran comes in with the Nova Blade in 7x09, presenting another way to defeat Aaravos, Callum is willing to through with doing dark magic even though he no longer needs to in the same manner, because if Ezran kills Aaravos, then:

AARAVOS: Your window is closing, dark mage. Act quickly, or the brave king and Dragon Prince will seal my fate, and set the world on fire. (7x09)

AARAVOS: Very soon, your brother will embrace dark magic to save those he loves. [...] I have seen it written in his eyes. (7x07)

This is also why he picks going to Ezran over trying to save Harrow in 1x03 ("I'm coming, Ezran!"—book 1 novelization), because he had no skills at the time to use to save Harrow, but he could get Ezran out safely.

He will always pick the person he can physically save, who needs saving in that moment, with whatever tools he has at his disposal, in whatever way he thinks is most likely to work. And no one comes above Rayla or Ezran to him. It's that simple.

Callum is also incredibly personal; he is rarely truly politically motivated. Ezran constructing the betrayal as "he betrayed all of Katolis" I can guarantee is not something that heavily factored into Callum's headspace as a concept, but he does frame it as a political betrayal (hence his resignation) rather than a personal one:

I'm sorry, Ezran. I can't be your High Mage anymore. But I'll always be your brother.

Whether that framing is correct is debatable, but given him and Ezran's talk at the end, I do think Callum comes to conceptualize/understand it as both. That said, Callum isn't the first one to disavow their 'brotherly' bond; in some ways, Ezran is, because he says that he needs his High Mage, not his brother. This is an important sticking point in some ways because Ezran and Karim are also being deliberately paralleled, and have been for seasons:

EZRAN: Sometimes it's hard, but when I struggle, I think about the people I love who are counting on me to do the right thing. Not the harsh thing, not the strong thing. The right thing. Do you love your sister, Prince Karim? KARIM: Wha-? I... Of course. She is leading our people down the wrong path, but she will always be my sister. EZRAN: Then you can still choose love. It's not too late. (6x07)

It's also worth noting that Ezran offers Karim and his people—blatant traitors to the crown of Lux Aurea and people who have tried to kill Janai multiple times—the option to "leave, and build your own future far away from here," which is what Runaan was planning to do befor he got arrested. That Ezran "looks into the face and hears the words of those he judges" (7x07) for Aaravos before he gives Runaan the same opportunity.

Furthermore, Karim is someone who completely disavows the personal to only focus on the political. His sister becomes a traitorous queen who he looks at only with contempt, despite stating "I love you sister, I always will"; his baby is not his child, but his heir. Ezran is not acting like himself/Callum's brother, but as his king, and that includes reaffirming/pulling rank ("I have to stop you. I'm sworn to King Ezran" / "Well, King Ezran, how determined are you to stop me?").

But Callum always treats Ezran like his brother, and does try to fix things, on Ezran's side. He goes to him in 7x02 and advocates for setting Runaan free and—as the person who first identifies the cycle in the series (1x02)—if Callum says something is perpetuating the cycle, he's probably 99% right. He is there to understand, accepts Ezran's anger, but also challenges it. It seems like maybe Callum is getting through to him (with Callum and Zym's framing being paralleled like, so incredibly on the nose) but then Runaan and Rayla are caught.

Ezran has the chance to do what Callum considers "the right thing" (and what Ezran does throughout all prior seasons) and let them go. He doesn't. Instead, he moves to arrest Runaan and Rayla and drag them back to the Banther Lodge by force... for what? Would that actually make him feel better? Or is it just giving him the means to feel control after feeling wildly out of control? He doesn't even go down to see Runaan at any point to see him suffer; he just wants to know Runaan is in jail and separated from his family.

Ezran is then also paralleled to Claudia further, specifically when Callum betrayed her by immobilizing her, because she didn't want her prisoner (the egg) to be taken and reunited with its family, either.

CLAUDIA: Callum, what are you doing? CALLUM: The right thing, I hope. I'm sorry Claudia. (1x03)

EZRAN: Callum, what are you doing? CALLUM: The right thing, I hope. (7x02)

Then Ezran threatens to kill him / risk killing him if Callum doesn't move out of the way, in an even more direct Janai-Karim and Soren-Claudia parallel. (Claudia's rage in the finale also lampshades this with Soren attempting it even less tbh, with "Were you really going to go through with it? Kill me, your sister? I could kill you both!"). The background guard lady even looks surprised after Ezran raises his hand, so the threat is more than apparent even to the characters within the setting.

AANYA: My next shot will be more than a warning.

But Ezran decides trying to kill/wrangle back Runaan is not worth killing or possibly his brother, and Callum reaffirms they are brothers and always will be, and leaves it at that.

This shift from political "king and high mage" to "we're brothers" is also directly stated/reaffirmed in their reconciliation scene as being the most important thing: "Because we're brothers." "Brothers," leaving whether Callum will be high mage again up in the air, but his place as Ezran's brother—and Ezran as his—is not. Callum is wiling to betray Ezran on one front, but refuses flat out to entirely relinquish the bond on any other. He hopes he's doing the right thing, and he hopes that even in doing so ("I know it was hard, but it was the right thing. You know that. I know you do") they can reconcile.

EZRAN: Callum. High Mage. We need you at this council meeting. (7x02)

CALLUM: It was okay to be angry, but I couldn't let the bad feelings stick. Because we were going to need each other. Because we're brothers. I still need you, Ezran. I know it's been a hard time, but I really hope— EZRAN: I need you, too. (7x09)

We also do see Callum support Ezran throughout both 7x01 and 7x02 (until he can't/won't)—embracing him (which Ez, in shock, does not return), following his orders to investigate with Corvus, explaining his side to Rayla, attending the entire meeting even after Rayla leaves, though he regrets it. What Callum is doing, therefore, is living in the moral confusion — the complicated nature of their complex lives of hurt and breaking the cycle — that Ezran is refusing to now that he's been set with a new challenge, willing to inflict pain on others because of the pain and loss Runaan had inflicted on him, and Callum knows this.

EZRAN: Violence, loss, pain. More violence. Stop! Stop. I just want to yell stop. But that’s not enough. It won’t work. I think about a positive vision, a faith we can all share, that we might build a future together in hope. A future where we can be safe with each other.  But… It’s not that easy or simple. Because people are still hurting and they are still angry. We can’t ignore that, or pretend it will go away. Somehow, we have to hold it all in our hearts at the same time. We have to acknowledge the weight of the pain and loss, but open up our eyes and allow ourselves to hope and maybe forgive and love again.

CALLUM: No, that's not what I'm saying. It's just... It's complicated. (7x02)

CALLUM: The three of us have been through a lot together. We'll get through this too... right? [...] Give Ezran a bit of time to process all this. [...] Ezran will do the right thing. He just needs a bit of time to get there. (7x02).

CALLUM: You forgave Zubeia. Who do you think ordered Runaan to kill Dad? But somehow, you got past that. You forgave her, because everything was complicated.

AARAVOS: Childhood innocence gives way to something complicated. (7x02) / I have seen generations of humans and elves accept the darkness that lurks in all of us beside the light. There is no black or white, only shades of gray. We must all carry complexity. (7x04)

CALLUM: Dear Ezran. A few days ago, I started writing you a letter about how sorry I am that I hurt you, about how sad I am that there's a rift between us, and about how certain I am that somehow we'll find a way to repair things. (7x07)

EZRAN: I'm going to forgive you. I don't know how, but I have to try. (7x09)

So yes, Callum betrays his brother to protect their father's killer — the same way Callum betrayed his friend to reunite the person who ordered the hit with her child; the same way Ezran defended the murderer and explicit murder of his mother — because that killer is person is your best friend's father.

REX IGNEOUS: Or is the Dragon King too busy picking fights with little humans at the border? That was always his favourite sport: stomping on ants and calling himself a conqueror.

EZRAN: Everything Avizandum did was to protect Xadia! (4x08)

So just to sum up, Callum betrays Ezran for 4 main reasons:

If he didn't help Rayla break Runaan out, it was more likely something was going to go wrong (and he was right). If he didn't save her with the ice spell, she and Runaan were going to end up hurt and/or arrested or worse.

Callum is determined to treat her like family (even if Ez is not) and to break the cycle as they were instructed by Harrow, and as Ezran has done himself many times.

Rayla had an emotional and then physical problem that Callum Fixer McGee could fix; Ezran had an emotional problem that he was basically stonewalling Callum on.

Ezran had numerous other people in his corner to rely on (Zym, Aanya, Opeli, Soren, Corvus, Barius, his general guards, etc). Rayla had literally no one but her imprisoned father, all of her former friends and allies (Soren and Corvus) turning on her without question because the boy she was willing to lose a hand for told them to.

Rayla had greater need of Callum in the situation and in the moment, so his loyalty to her won out; if her and Ezran's situations had been reversed, Callum would've picked Ezran in that moment and situation without question, because that who he is. He picks whoever he thinks needs him more—over others, and over his own potentially hurt feelings.

None of this means, however, that Ezran didn't need his brother in S7. So let's talk about:

Why did Callum leave with Rayla?

There's the practical and the emotional ones, I think.

Practical:

As discussed, Rayla and Runaan wouldn't have made it in the boat without him. There is no way anything other than magic would've made it move fast enough to get away, and neither elf is inclined or aware enough of sky or ocean magic to make the boat go that way. Callum literally had to go with them.

If Callum had stayed, he would've likely been arrested himself, putting Rayla in a difficult situation of either sending Runaan off on his own to then bail Callum out, or leaving without him when he was in a bad situation. He wasn't going to do that.

If Ezran had arrested Callum, it also wouldn't have made him much happier or actually fixed anything. Callum might've (as in canon) apologized for hurting him, but Callum wasn't going to take back what he'd done, and this was probably just going to exacerbate Ezran's issues further.

At the time Callum left, Ezran wasn't focused on rebuilding Katolis and had made this plain. He was instead focused on collecting weapons, travelling to Duren and back to do so, and we only see him return to the castle's immediate surroundings when Aaravos shows up.

The emotional ones:

After 2 years of separation, and the only times they are separated usually being when Rayla is the most in danger, yeah, Callum doesn't want to be separated from her. She's his best friend and his life partner, and he and Ez have willingly & happily led far more separate lives for a while now (more on that in the next section). He wants to go with her. Sue him.

Callum believes that Ezran needs time to process his anger. He knew he wasn't able to get through to Ez, and that the betrayal would hurt him. It's not unlikely, then, that Callum thought time and distance would help, and that they could try to mend things later.

Katolis did not factor in (but I'll get to that in a bit).

Callum rarely experiences regret unless it puts the life of someone he loves directly in danger, and rarely questions the validity of his actions, especially when he think someone is wrong. (This is also why he'll never regret using the torture spell on Claudia, for example.)

Callum also knows Rayla and we see that, without him, Rayla would've dropped Runaan off at the Silvergrove and then immediately dipped. He wanted to go with her to emotionally support her and also knew that Rayla would let him vs not letting anyone helping her. Until Rayla is reunited with her family and let back into the Silvergrove, she does not have a support system outside of him; Ezran does.

As for having a good time at the Silvergrove... We see Callum's first day there, whereupon he's mostly focused on what Rayla and her family's situation is going to be. Runaan and Ethari make up for failing Rayla by giving her unconditional support and forgiveness, literally binding their fates to hers for the trial and supporting her when it doesn't go well and they think they'll be banished too. Callum has come all this way to reunite her with her village/family and considers her his family; yes, he's going to join in on the group hug and be happy when he's encouraged to. The next time we see them in the Silvergrove, it's been 2 weeks, and Callum is still a little awkward/nervous, but again, mostly focused on giving the family time to spend together and wanting to be integrated, because well...

CALLUM: Be with you. [Kisses her] Yup, I could do this. Pretty nice life. (7x05)

He wants a life with her; he likely has plans to marry and have children with her. It'd be like if Ezran wanted to have Zym around always and had issues with Zubeia constantly; it wouldn't exactly jive. Secondly, Callum's feelings about Runaan were always something I'd figure he wouldn't deal with directly right away, instead focusing on peace/Rayla, and then it would sneak up on him that it bothered him / was something he had to confront ("I just hoped, if I didn't think about it, maybe it wouldn't be true"). Less than one month passing in-show time with no real issues, especially with an entirely repentant Runaan? Yeah that's completely on brand to not be on screen because it'd only happen later.

In regards to Callum making peace and engaging more happily with Runaan... He's definitely not going to do anything else when 1) Runaan's not provoking him first and 2) in front of Rayla. Callum needing to adjust in the fic cited below (written by me and thosefiveadoraburrs in January 2020) semi-early into his relationship with Runaan is exclusively because Runaan is being a prickly asshole. Barring that, and even with that, the integration going smoothly is pretty easy for Callum at first because he's so focused/driven by his love for Rayla. Period.

"The point is that while I don’t care what you say about me, as I’ve heard far worse from other elves like you, Rayla does and you are still her father and she deserves to have you in her life and to have a good relationship with you. So when she’s not around, you can say whatever you want, even to my face. I don’t care and I don’t plan on rising to it anyway. But when she is around, you keep that shit to yourself, because it’s only going to upset her, and she’s been through more than enough.” [...] "You were so young," Rayla said, "so young, when you lost your family. And even if you’d been older, I don’t think their absence would hurt less, but I’m not surprised you notice it more because of how you had to grow up largely without them." [...] "It’s just… on any side," Callum said, "I can never just move on from what I’ve done, or what people think I’ve done, and I wish they would just let us be , sometimes. Without knowing that people think I should be regretting whatever decisions I’ve made, because they’re wrong. I never regret what they think I do.” 

Furthermore, from my pre-S6 fic:

Halfway through [their chess game], though, Ez rubbed at his temples again, and this time Callum asked about it. “You okay?” “Yeah.” Ez frowned as he surveyed the board and then moved his rook. “It’s just Zym. Normally when we’re far away, our emotions don’t blur too much... But because we’re both stressed about the same thing...” “It’s a lot?” Ez nodded, picking up a pawn and then setting it down on the same square, considering. “There is one thing you and Rayla could do to help, maybe.” Callum thought of the Summit that would be a few days’ long trip to Duren and tried not to squirm in his seat. “Oh?” Please not... “Well, we finally got the go ahead for the Summit next week. And the rest of the Pentarchy might take the urgency of hiding the prison more seriously if you and Rayla came along,” Ez said. “Since you’re High Mage, and Rayla’s Xadian. Since we don’t have Zubeia to rely on.”  “Yeah.” Callum focused on the board rather than Ezran’s expectant face, waiting for a yes he didn’t want to give. And what excuse could he offer, really?  Ez would probably pushback if he just thought they wanted to make a beeline for the Starscraper because of the Nova Blade. Ugh. Two secrets at the same time was the worst. And he wasn’t about to drag Rayla out to Duren just to be a token Xadian when he’d spent that morning trying to convince her that putting her parents above other missions that weren’t hers was actually okay for her to do. “Well, let’s see,” he said, hoping that’d be enough. “Don’t have to rush into anything.”

“He saw the egg and he would’ve still killed both of us!” “You think I don’t know that?” “Then how you can not care?” Ezran cried, voice cracking. His nose was runny, eyes stinging again. He bit something back. He wouldn’t cry. He wouldn’t lose this argument just because he was crying. There was a fire in his chest that couldn’t be doused. “I do care, but I also care—I care more about Rayla,” Callum countered, because of course that’s what he’d fucking say. Ezran turned away from him, rolling his eyes and not in the mood to see Callum gesture at him. “She’s our family, why isn’t that—” [...] “You had Opeli and the rest of the council,” Callum said. “Don’t you get it? We’re all she has, we have to be on her side, she doesn’t have—she loves him. And that's enough for me."

“[About betraying and abandoning Ezran to free Runaan] What’s done can’t be undone. We can’t take it back.” Rayla chanced resting a hand on his shoulder. She had to accept his honesty if she was going to ask the question. “Do you wish you could?” “No.” He finally looked at her. “But I wish it could’ve gone differently, I...” Softening, he took her hand from his shoulder, running his thumb over her knuckles. “You’re family,” he said resolutely. “I won’t forget that, even if Ez has.” [...] “So you think it was the right thing?” she prompted more softly. Callum sighed, angry again—but not at her. “I don’t know if there’s always a right thing to do, anymore,” he muttered, sitting in the spot she’d vacated on the bed. “You just... make the choices you can in the situations you’re in, because the alternatives are so much worse. Other paths that you won’t—that you can’t live with.” 

But the big thing, I think, is that in Callum's head... nothing is more important than your closest interpersonal relationships. He's devastated by the loss of Katolis in general, yes—"Katolis was destroyed and that... that is devastating" and his sobbing before Soren finds him—because it was home, even if it was a home he never felt entirely at home in, due to his uncertainty with Harrow and place as a prince. But Callum also cries in 7x01 when he sees the king's tower has collapsed, and thinks he's lost Ezran.

In 1x06, Rayla gives her reason for travelling with the boys, yes, citing:

RAYLA: I could take it any time I want to. CALLUM: Then what's stopping you? RAYLA: Cause it as to come from you. Human princes returning the egg of the Dragon Prince, that's the gesture that matters. That's what could stop the war and change the world.

And it's not good enough for him (hence his angry little face persisting even after she explains) because that's not the reason he wants to hear. He wants to hear that she cares about them. That they're her friends, which is why that's precisely what he says to her on the ice before handing over the egg: "We're lucky to have you as our friend. I do trust you" even before he knows the truth about her binding. He wants the personal. Needs the personal. That's what matters. But that's not what Ezran draws on for any of their interactions. And if it's unfathomable to understand how or why Callum could walk away, then the good news is that said perspective ALSO made it into the fanon s6 fic through Corvus:

Corvus pinched the bridge of his nose. “I can understand why the assassin would want to be free. I understand why Rayla would want him to be, too, and she loves the boys immensely. But I cannot understand Callum’s hand in it, the lengths he’s willing to go to. It is not as though he is the only one who could ever free the man. And Ezran is his brother and his king. His baby brother. [...] His responsiblity. It’s our duty as older siblings. He’s a sorry excuse for an older brother to just walk away like and abandon Ezran like that.” 

Because in the "family member picks breaking the cycle even if that means leaving their younger sibling / more emotionally distressed family member behind (often with others to support them): The Show", such as Janai marrying a human + sparing the architect who had every opportunity to think about the pain she'd cause by putting out the soul flame of Yonnis' parent even when Karim thinks she's not focused enough on the destruction of their home; Soren leaving his abusive warmongering father and killing him even if it devastates Claudia; Astrid abandoning her brother/family to warn everyone about Aaravos; Rayla fighting Runaan on the battlements; Viren leaving Claudia on the beach show, surprisingly, there's going to be patterns that Callum and co. will fall into.

If you're interested more in Ezran's side of things, his emotional processing throughout the season / construction of his identity, and how/why he was perpetuating the cycle, you can check out this meta here.

For now, let's finally talk about the final real section of our meta, which is

Why did Callum resign as High Mage?

On the one hand, Callum's resignation shows that he does conceptualize what he's doing as a betrayal, as noted, and as something that would cause a rift, as verbally stated in 7x07. He "knew my leaving would hurt you" just the way that Rayla leaving him did so. He also knew that at this time, to him, it was necessary. He knows that he can't do this and stay on as High Mage. He also knows, at this point, that he doesn't want to be high mage.

Because "that was devastating, but that wasn't Runaan." Because Callum doesn't personally care about Katolis as a kingdom/castle, and quite honestly, he never has. Post-S3, when things would've been politically terse, as shown in Through the Moon, he was willing to leave Ezran in Katolis on one day notice to go have a vacation exploring Xadia.

And it's not the first time he's left Katolis on short notice with zero concern, doing so in 4x03 (whereas Soren goes as Ezran's sworn crownguard, and Ezran hesitates) solely because Ezran is leaving. It happens again in 5x01 when Ez is away with Soren and Corvus on his dragon diplomatic mission, with Callum making the plan to leave for the Great Bookery the night before and leaving very early in the morning, even though he's currently the highest ranking person at court. We see Callum's discomfort at court first hand in his opening scene in 4x01, showing immediate wariness about his position as High Mage and his lack of mind to political matters:

GUARD: High Mage Callum, the King's council is assembling in the throne room. CALLUM: Oh, pfft, you don't need to call me that. I-I know it's my official title but all that high mage stuff is so... stuffy. Just call me my normal name, Prince Callum. Or just, y'know, just regular Callum. [...] Okay, I'm sorry, now I don't remember what you came here to tell me.

After which he immediately delays going to the meeting to check in on his magic book coming in from Xadia, though it hasn't arrived yet. Rayla's arrival causes Callum to oversleep and be MIA for Zubeia's greeting, leaving Ezran to momentarily flounder till Soren steps in, though no one seems surprised or concerned that Callum isn't there, just awkward. He doesn't go with Ezran to deal diplomatically with any of the dragons either, leaving it entirely in Soren and Corvus' hands, and he has no concern over leaving in 6x01 either, while Ezran hides his sadness about all his friends leaving to go elsewhere (Soren and Zym for Zubeia, and Callum and Rayla for the Starscraper). He and Rayla go rogue over Janai's orders as well, leaving Janai to reflect, "I may be queen, but even I don't have the power to stop those two once they set their mind on something," which is such blatant foreshadowing it felt like neon lights were flashing in my face.

We see this thread steadily even from 1x01, whereupon Callum only reaffirms Harrow is the king as a wall up to thinking of himself as his son. Harrow being royalty was a hindrance to Callum being comfortable of thinking about him on an interpersonal level, not a help:

EZRAN: Why don't you just call him Dad? CALLUM: Because he's the king. And I'm his stepson.

which is also why Ezran talking about the burden of kingship with him in 7x02 goes over Callum's head, because Ezran isn't actually focusing on the fact their father is dead; he's focusing on how it forced Ezran to be king, and being king is so the opposite to how Callum operates, it was never going to click.

EZRAN: Our king. Our father. [Takes off his crown] I never asked for this. I wasn't ready to be a king. I'm just a kid.

And one of the reasons I say the opposite is because of everything laid out above, patterns wise, but also because of his Tales of Xadia bio, which states:

I'm beholden to my inner circle, not some silly kingdom.

There are also scenes from Dreamer's Nightmare which help reaffirm this, where Ezran states that "As princes of Katolis, it's our duty to put you all [citizens of the town] first," only for Callum 1-3 pages later argue for the complete opposite, because:

EZRAN: [When Callum wants to wait for their dad / the adults to wake up and solve things for the town] I'm going either way, but I'd really like to have someone come with me. Someone who's good at solving mysteries. CALLUM: Fine, I'll go. But only because I'm your big brother.

EZRAN: The whole town is in danger, Callum! Let me go! CALLUM: No! I have to keep you safe! I promised King Harrow [...] but I keep failing, and I'm just so scared you'll get hurt.

I don't think either of these supplementary materials are necessary though, to get this aspect of his across, given that scenes like this were written well before the latter came out, and Callum's entire Tales of Xadia bio just reaffirmed exactly how I and many others have seen him since S1 came out:

"And Ez doesn’t need my help,” Callum added more cheerfully. “If he needed me, he’d say so.” He said it with so much confidence it took Soren a second to tell if it was a joke or not, but no. The young mage honestly believed it. How was a good question, and the answer would’ve been more so, given everything. Those first few months after the war were crystal clear in Soren’s mind: Ez weathering the political waves alone, wearily drafting peace treaties and legislations while Callum scoured Xadia, searching for Rayla and growing more and more irate every time he returned home empty handed. The way Ezran had single handedly held him together, Callum unable or unwilling to truly confide in anyone but his brother. How Ezran had let Callum hole up with that stupid mirror for hours on end rather than eliciting magical solutions to everyday problems, because at least he was focusing on something other than heartbreak. How many council meetings Callum had skipped or been late to, never operating as acting-king when Ezran was away on diplomatic business. Callum’s temper on his 16th birthday reigning summer storms down on the castle for weeks straight. His lateness to Ezran’s meeting with Zubeia that Soren had stepped in for; the way it had been him and Corvus, not Callum, accompanying the young king to his entreatment of the dragons and Domina Profundis. Ezran’s steady, strong nature, the way he could be so silent and quiet it was easy to forget how young he was sometimes and how much he’d been through, how much he’d missed their friend and father and his childhood. It’s not fair you have to struggle through this alone.  “Yeah,” Soren said quietly. “Sure.” 

Callum does not care about being crown prince or high mage. He isn't focused on supporting Ezran as king; he's focused on supporting Ezran as Ez, as his brother. Those are separate things from being Harrow's son and Ezran's brother, even if they can overlap. He cares about Katolis on a certain level, yes, but not on a big one; he cares about it because he cares about Ezran. And Ezran asking Callum to stay in the meeting as High Mage was never going to work. If Ezran had asked him to stay as his brother, maybe — but Ezran doesn't.

CALLUM: I'm sorry, Ezran. I can't be your High Mage anymore. But I'll always be your brother.

And in typical Callum fashion, whether he goes back to being high mage remains to be seen, but he does put in the majority of the effort in their actual reconciliation. He approaches Ezran first, he's the one walking over, and the one who speaks first.

CALLUM: Hey. EZRAN: [Uncertainly] Hi. CALLUM: So I've been thinking about this toy banther I had when you were just a baby. I loved it more than anything in the world, and you broke it. EZRAN: And... you're bringing this up now? CALLUM: I was so mad. I said I hated you, and I would hate you forever. And Mom said that it was okay to be angry, but I couldn't let the bad feelings stick. Because we were going to need each other. Because we're brothers. I still need you, Ezran. I know it's been a hard time, but I really hope—

Callum loved that toy more than anything, and Ezran broke it, and he got over it, because he loves Ezran more. He's saying it's okay for Ezran to be angry (x2) and it's okay if Ezran hates him. Just that even if Ezran is, and even if Ezran does, Callum still loves him and needs him and considers him his brother. That he hopes they can reconcile.

And Ezran accepts it—much to Callum's surprise and then relief— because he never needed his high mage. He needed his brother, and that's what Callum still is—what they'll always be.

EZRAN: I need you, too. CALLUM: Brothers. EZRAN: Brothers.

Conclusion

Back when they were both children, Callum and Ezran didn't have anything to put above each other and the immediate proximity of their bond. However, the events in the first 3 seasons change this forever. Callum finds magic and falls in love, and Ezran returns home to be king, and gains Zym and his council as constant supports.

Ezran puts going home to be king above continuing to travel to Xadia. From there, they spend more and more time and seasons apart. This is similar to Soren and Claudia, who have an increasingly fractured bond, but who also know aren't doomed to be miserable because of their separation or betrayal; they forge new friendships, bonds, and sources of laughter. But neither set of siblings ever forget their love for each other, even if they grow and their priorities expand to include other things. For Ezran, Zym and his kingdom are incredibly important to him; for Callum, Rayla and the life they're building together, as well as stopping Ezran (or anyone) from causing permanent unnecessary harm to one another in their little family is also a priority.

None of this is to say that Callum's way of dealing with things is flawless, or that they won't have more conflict again in the future (I'd love it, although I expect there to be more of a focus on Ezran-Zym conflict going forward) but being a little flaky/unreliable in a political sense is just who Callum is, even if he will always come through on the personal manner in the end.

Sibling relationships are complicated, and they can both mutually fail each other and Rayla, and then still come back together in the end. And I'm very glad that they do.

Other fun details:

Callum's letter refers to the dragons as big help, a gentle nod to how Ezran described them in 3x08

Callum confirming that he babysat Ezran regularly growing up, which fits with Callum's tug of war between being a parentified older brother with his own immature / peer adjacent sides

Callum sits closer to Ezran at the council table once he's no longer high mage, whereas before he always sat further apart

Ezran is symbolically embroiled with fire throughout the season (king of ashes, the fire ruby plan, the Nova Blade having the risk of setting the world on fire, the fire in his eyes that are meant to parallel Aaravos' etc). Callum is associated with water, nabbing Rayla's water reflection motif in later episodes, and with greater emphasis on his connection to the ocean arcanum in spell usage and its links in dark magic. The two then meeting in the middle is interesting symbolically, to say the least.

[lemotmo]

Celebrate people it's happening. And if you don't want to be here for it then leave 🎉🎉

Q. I'm very confused by the reaction to the goodbye footage that was leaked. Did people honestly believe they weren't going to get a goodbye scene? They were always going to get one and just like every other scene in television it will be open to the audience's interpretation of the scene to decide what it does or doesn't mean.

A. I'm very confused by this ask, anon. No one is freaking out because they're getting a goodbye scene, of course they were always going to get a scene for just the two of them. People are freaking out because of how the scene is being framed. We have no actual context for the scene. We don't know what's coming before this scene or after this scene. We don't really have any dialogue, with the exception of a couple of lines, but the scene just doesn't look like a scene between two friends. It looks like a scene you would give a couple. They're touching. They both go to their tiptoes during the hug which makes them even closer than they already were. Buck initially goes to give the standard bro back tap but instantly stops and actually pulls Eddie in tighter. Right before the hug he appears to be smiling at Eddie but the minute the hug prevents Eddie from seeing his face it becomes crestfallen and sad. Look at the image before the hug where Buck gives him the cookies. Look how Oliver chose to play that. Hands crammed in his pockets, head down with a bashful smile. That is not a friendly posture. That is a flirty, nervous cutesy posture. Nothing about anything we saw in that footage said friends. That is why people were freaking out. And the fact that the network did nothing to prevent the footage from being 'leaked' is also kind of a big deal. It feels like they were testing the reaction. They are well aware of how that footage looks. And it feels like they allowed it to be leaked to see what the overall reaction to the appearance of an intimate scene, and yes a scene can be intimate without being outright romantic, would be. It felt like a sort of dry run to see how an intimate scene between the two of them might be received. And the reception was overwhelmingly positive. So it accomplished everything they wanted. It was free press, and it's been free press for the better part of 3 days now. And it was well received press. There was zero downside to allowing it to happen. So people were understandably excited.

I have received a ton of 'all media is open to interpretation' takes and that is just not at all accurate. Yes some scenes are intentionally vague or open to the viewers interpretation, but not most of them, and certainly not all of them. Take the final scene of The Sopranos. The scene fades to black with the family sitting in the restaurant eating. So the viewer gets to decide what happened next. Were they killed or did they live? Depends on who you ask. But most of the time there is a specific direction or point to a scene. The dialogue, the wardrobe, the set, it all contributes to what the creators want the audience to see, hear and take away from what they are watching. That's how you get a storyline. If everything was just open to whatever anyone's interpretation of everything was then they would just film random shit at random locations. That's not what happens. There is usually an intended purpose for most scenes The creators and writers are expecting their audience to have basic media literacy skills. And quite frankly 911 isn't being sneaky with what they're doing. Just because a particular viewer or group of viewers doesn't like a storyline doesn't mean the storyline isn't happening. They don't just get to say I refuse to acknowledge it so that means it's not happening. That's not how any of this works.

Thank you Nonny! Much appreciated, as always! 😋

Okay, listen... the time for 'the scene is open for interpretation' is OVER when it comes to Buddie.

The show has practically spelled it out to us that this is happening. Buddie is on its way! There's no stopping it!

We've been 'interpreting' scenes for a long time, up until season 6 really. But then everything changed when season 7 aired. We needed less and less interpretation and more conviction, because it's ALL right there!

We just have to start believing what we see and what the show is telling us. I think that's the most difficult thing of all for some people, actually believing that YES... what you think is happening? IT IS HAPPENING!

And this is happening. That goodbye scene in the rain? The fact that they get it in the first place? And separately from the rest of the 118?

What more could you possibly want to see? It's all right there!

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Heads up! For anyone who is giving me the shifty eyes for reposting Ali's updates instead of reblogging. Read this.

Remember, no hate in comments, reblogs or inboxes. Let's keep it civil and respectful. Thank you.

If you are interested in more of Ali’s posts, you can find all of her posts so far under the tag: anonymous blog I love.

[geoledgy]

your oc website is SO SO SO SO INCREDIBLY COOL how the hell do you even start learning how to do this ?? if you learned how to do this by yourself online, are there any tutorials or resources you can share with us? was making this website free??

omg THANK YOU SO SOOOOOO MUCH!!! It makes me so happy to hear that folks like my little site. I code my site with Phoenix Code (for the live viewer and number dials) and I host my site on Neocities - it is all free. Phoenix can be used in browser or on desktop, but I like having it on desktop more for big projects in case my files get deleted. I use the browser version when I just want to test something quickly.

The 2 videos I use and can not recommend enough to anyone who asks me are this HTML tutorial and this CSS tutorial. They are simple and easy to understand, but I recommend watching it the first go, and then following along the next few watches until you get the flow of basic parts to a website, how they're organized, and what order they go in. At this point, I've memorized exactly where everything goes, and it is all thanks to these 2 videos.

If I am being honest, I learned how to code by myself, not quite even with online tutorials but just from being stupid and messing around myself (1, because I was a kid, and 2, because I didn't understand English very well to know what tutorials are saying.) I used to do html coding for Neopet pages when I was a kid with too much online time, first by just editing the default petpages and adding info and images, and then just doing trial and error with the html. I'll just try something and then if it doesn't turn out the way I want it, I try to find out why it didn't work and also get inspiration from other similar sites to figure out where things go or how they coded (with this nifty thing called right click > inspect page or right click > view page source). And BOOM, working webpage.

It was rudimentary, white blank background without any boxes or anything, you just scrolled down the page and sections were separated by a horizontal bar. OH and every text was centered! I had no idea how to make scrolling boxes or fancy assets, but damn I still had so much fun working on it every weekend. When you find authentic selfmade sites from the 90s and 2000s, most of them aren't super fancy either unlike what modern nostalgia makes you think. So I hope you don't feel discouraged if you begin making a website and feel it isn't "fancy", you're already doing a first big step which is making a webpage and learned your first set of html code!

It was over a decade later before I coded webpages with html again. I've gotten lazy and started relying on site builders, but nothing was quite as versatile as html. I wanted to try coding my own OC site again, so that was when I started working on OutKrop (the site I posted). Until I started coding again, I had literally no idea what CSS even is (and let me tell you, it's a game changer!)

Personally, I work best when I can do things hands on. I don't read through tutorials, I code first then go back and read through coding help sites like w3schools when I find myself stuck and unable to figure something out. Sometimes I grab existing codes and play around with them to see what changes and what I can do with it, cuz having visual context is what helps me a lot.

I can also share my process:

Once I gather up some ideas, I make a sketch, including what boxes (divs in css) should approximately go. It is very rough, but shows me exactly what I need to know.

Next I load up my coding app (Phoenix Code in my case) and "sketch" the layout. Nothing fancy going on here, just putting things where they need to be, and fixing size of boxes and margins if needed. I give my boxes all a background color so I can easily see how big they are and where they are located.

After some adjustments like moving stuff around and adding assets like backgrounds and images, and changing colors of the boxes, rounding off corners, etc., we get this!

so recap + additional useful sites I use:

Coding app: Phoenix Code

Site hosted on: Neocities

Video tutorials: HTML and CSS

Sites for learning code: w3schools, also lissa explains is a great site that is written for kids to learn html so it's easy to understand. Finally, sadgrl has a lot of great resources for coding as well!

I recommend looking through these sites AFTER you tried taking a spin at coding - it doesn't have to be anything fancy just follow the HTML video tutorial I linked!

Thanks for the ask, and I hope this helps you and many others out there who are interested in building a site with html/css! Don't be afraid to get things "wrong" or have an "un-fancy" site. This is how you learn to code, and it'll become so easy once you get the hang of it.

Anyone is always more than welcome to reach out for coding help and advice :-]

[babybearnation]

polyam!dino/paul + soulmate!male!reader = experiencing your soulmate(s) injuries; the two of them finding each other and getting confused when they continue to get unexplained injuries until they meet you

for a bit of extra context: me and vinnie had a convo in dms about this and decided to make reader a street fighter! also i made this like.. you feel a very faint version of any injuries your soulmate receives and, if (non-lethal) cutting, scarring or bruising is involved, they'll get those appear on their skin too

established!aronovic x male!street fighter!reader (soulmate injuries au)

cw: blood & injuries

dino and paul had realised they were soulmates after dino had crashed in formula 4 and paul had gotten the exact same bruising across his chest that dino had

the two were careful and tentative in exploring their relationship at first, neither of them quite prepared for their soulmate to be a guy, let alone their best friend

eventually, they end up together and they're happy, if a little bit confused as to why they both feel like something is missing

things are relatively simple for awhile with the only marks that appear on their bodies being from each other and the occasional odd one that neither can explain and decide to chalk up to them forgetting they did something

until they hit their late teens

you've always been fascinated by the random marks and bruises that appeared on your skin, but you felt bad whenever you got hurt because you always got easy to hide bruises or minor papercuts from your soulmates and they always got harsh, face-mottling bruises from you

you were known for picking fights and getting into trouble but it wasn't until you were sixteen that things got really bad

at that age, you dropped out of school and started street fighting, racking up a number of dirty black eyes and harsh cuts that littered your body every single night

you'd forgotten about your soulmates at that point, too bitter with the world to care about romance

dino and paul, on the other hand, figured something must be up

they were going to bed and waking up with fresh new bruises and cuts every single day

after doing some research they realised they must have a third soulmate because there was no other explanation for all these random injuries

whilst exploring the town their latest race was in one night, dino and paul both end up feeling the same subtle yet sharp pains in their stomachs at the same time and realise their soulmate must've been hit in their stomach

they aren't sure where to start until they hear whispers about street fighting

they decide to go the next fights and, sure enough, when watching you fight, they actually, physically feel the punch that hits you as it hits you

paul and dino exchange looks before leaving and waiting for you to come out

when you do, they confront you and you don't believe them at first until dino, thinking in the moment, punches your arm and turns to paul when he starts rubbing his arm in the exact same place without thinking about it

sure enough, when you get under the lights, you see the same bruise that's probably forming on your skin slowly forming on theirs

you end up spending the next couple of hours talking to them before you have to go your separate ways

you, of course, exchange numbers and it isn't long before the three of you end up together

you quit street fighting for their sake as well which means the three of you remain relatively injury free (unless you're clumsy in which case.. oops?)

© all rights to babybearnation 2025.

[fishyfishyfishtimes]

The polls are soon ending! I think this is a good time to talk about my personal favourite location, Ember Twin :)

Honest to cod I didn’t expect to care too much about the Hourglass Twins when I started the game! My followers already know that I’m an aquatic environments fan through and through, I tend to like them the most in any given piece of media and find them the most interesting. While exploring I did my research one planet at a time, starting from Timber Hearth, to Giant’s Deep, to Brittle Hollow, to the Ember Twin. I was pleasantly surprised…

I don’t know when it started, likely in the midst of doing several repeated visits to the Ember Twin since going to places and exploring them has a time limit (moreso than the game usually has), but I started to really like the atmosphere of Ember Twin. Firstly, the concept is cool as hell: two planets that orbit around one another exchanging sand between them. What!!! That’s awesome!!!! Like twin stars but you can actually get in there! And then there’s the environment itself. The red-orange stone of the surface and cave walls, the sun that’s nearly always in the sky, the massive canyons and crevices and tunnels, it’s beautiful. Ember Twin and Ash Twin do not settle for just being “generic desert” and go hard into one extreme which makes them lots more unique, either being super rocky with canyons or basically just all sand. I know that some people find the caverns of Ember Twin claustrophobic — and the squashed-to-death animation and sound is pretty morbid — but in a way they’re also comforting? Despite being in this dark maze of tunnels you know exactly where to go, no one can get you, you can do your own little adventures. You sort of feel like a kid adventuring around their home town, which is funny, because that’s just the position that many Nomai children were in, literally exploring the caverns and stepping stones and tunnels of their home!

Speaking of, the locations of Ember Twin are so cool! I can’t get enough of the Sunless City, it’s confined underground but still feels really big. I really like the High Energy Lab and Quantum Moon Locator, Nomai design is really fun to see and, well, I just find myself really liking the various locators and machines lol. Feels really major. The lakebed cave, it took me a while to figure it out, but it was always sort of comical to fly my ship directly into the canyon and then drop down when it would inevitably get stuck in the walls. I think the equatorial canyon is really cool (and scary! But cool) and the paths on the sides offer the same comfort as the caves themselves. And! Chert! Chert is there! Chert is my favourite Hearthian!!! Science rules!!!! :DD I also really like flying from place to place! A lot of Outer Wilds locations have a gravity similar to Timber Hearth (or um. I guess just three? Timber Hearth itself, Brittle Hollow, Giant’s Deep — which actually has more gravity. Though recall those are the places I went to first!) which means that you basically use your boosting power only for big jumps. But Ember Twin? Why, you can circle that whole planet with ease! It’s just so fun to start from say, Chert’s camp, jetpack your way into the sky, and then go around the planet to another location super fast. You’re free! :D

Even though the sand tends to halt your exploration at some point or another, the feeling of getting to one certain place in time or getting a crucial piece of information just in time feels really good also. At some point I was trying to figure out how to get to a room as the sand was rising up dangerously close — I realised how to do it and got in just in the nick of time! I felt really accomplished about discovering everything in the Sunless City hehe

So yeah! Cool atmosphere, cool locations, cool Hearthian, hot and dry environment!

[dorkus-mcdingus]

Fun facts about my TWST prefect, Rosalie

No real story here. I just wanted to share some facts about the girl you'll see in some stories I write. Also, I am a HUGE OC yapper so if you're ever curious, feel free to ask in the ask box! :D

1.) She's had her pink hair since she was 15 but she often used box dye much to Vil's horror. She also cuts her pixie cut herself too but originally (and much to Vil and Crewel's horror) she used kitchen scissors to get it and later school scissors. Thankfully Vil and Crewel HEAVILY drilled in the importance of proper hair care and they gave her a razor and barber sheers.

2.) Her original design looked a lot different and she was originally supposed to have more of a timid personality. I ended up going with a more boyish design so she wouldn't get detected considering that NRC is an all-boys school (No shame to anyone who has a more girly design for their OCs or Prefects. It's just a personal preference of mine and I just get super stubborn about canon details and what would work for her)

This was her prototype design (Like a lot of characters, I used a Picrew for the design). Some things remained the same like her pink hair, olive eyes, her round glasses, and her beauty mark near the corner of her eye but she is definitely a far cry from her original design. No lie, she looked really cute with it but she's definitely the OC that went through A LOT of changes both in looks and in personality. I do think Canon!Ro would definitely want to befriend her but Proto!Ro would be terrified of her.

3.) Both in English and in Japanese, her voice HC has always been Doll from Black Butler. Matter of fact, I always imagined Rosalie with a very heavy Cockney accent that would slip out whenever she would get angry, or whenever she's around her brothers, sister, or her old caretaker. Whenever she's talking with friends or speaking a little quicker than normal, you can hear her drop her common RP accent she had to learn and you can hear the little traces of her actual accent slip through.

4.) She's a composite character so there isn't really a certain Disney character that she was based on. I will say though, Haruhi Fujioka, OG Mickey Mouse (the shorts where he's a chaos gremlin), Mary Poppins, and Thomas O'Malley were big inspirations for her personality.

5.) Minus Grim, Ace was actually the first person to figure out her gender followed by Deuce and Malleus. Ace and Deuce were completely by accident (during the Heartslabyul sleepover in book 1, Ace walked in on her changing and Deuce followed suit after hearing them screaming) while with Malleus, she was the one who slipped out her real voice and he heard her in Ramshackle's garden in Book 2 (curse the fact that fae have better hearing!).

6). Rosalie has been dancing ballet since she was a little kid but quit taking classes when she was 15 do to schooling reasons. The style she does is a bit more on par with Russian style due to her teacher being from there. She still has a bunch of spare pairs of pointe shoes and she always makes sure to practice as well as do her stretches to keep her body well-conditioned.

7.) Originally, Rosalie never had much of an interest in photography but playing around with the ghost camera fueled her interest in it. Of course, Rook was always happy to give her tips to help with getting the right angle and waiting for the proper moment. Now she acts as the school newspaper's photographer. Her favorite subjects to photograph are her dorm, abandoned ruins whenever Malleus takes her on night walks, and Grim when he's in a food coma.

8.) Her brothers are based off of Scat Cat and his band from The Aristocats. The five of them are also in a jazz band as well and Ro herself learned to play the trumpet from the ringleader of the gang, Sergei (unfortunately, I don't have artwork of any of them! 😭). Their names are as follows, Sergei, Jamie, Alfie, Jialun, and Misha.

9.) Aside from the first years and Diasomnia, Rosalie also has a pretty strong bond with Vil, Rook, and Azul. Vil often gave her tips to care for her hair, skin, and health especially since he found out that she's a ballet dancer. Rook bonded with her through trying to hone her skills in photography. As for Azul (despite the very odd friendship they have and the fact that he repoed her dorm in book 3) he would sometimes see Rosalie studying in the lounge while she's having tea but due to merfolk's love of music, they would recommend each other music since they're both fans of jazz and they both listen to a wide variety of music.

10.) Some of Rosalie's favorite dishes (especially her favorite, bulalo) are from The Philippines. While she herself isn't Filipino, the woman who looked after her since she was a child is half-Filipino and before the O'Malleys adopted her, she gave her a notebook containing all of her recipes so she could make them herself.

11.) Her original surname before being adopted by her first family was "Bess" (her bio mother's surname). She unfortunately went through five more last names before the O'Malleys became her forever home.

12.) Speaking of her mother, her bio mother was twisted from Edgar Balthazar. Only, thing is that I did make her a lot more arrogant and greedy compared to him especially when her ex-boyfriend (twisted from Madame Adelaide) gave his daughter all of his inheritance when it comes time for him to pass away.

13.) I actually NEVER intended for her and Malleus to be a couple and I originally just had them be close friends. Still, whether it was through events or the canon story, I really loved the dynamic Malleus and the MC had. What's also funny is that her sister met the same fate when I began shipping her with a certain con-man fox. Although alternate partners I thought of for Ro were Sebek and Ace.

14.) If you were to ask her about her gender identity, she has a very "eh" opinion of gender as a whole and feels like anyone should present themselves in a way that feels comfortable, but she's always viewed herself as a cisgender girl. Although, due to her rather boyish looks, she does sometimes get mistaken for a guy but she just shrugs it off.

15.) As for her attraction, she's on the AroAce spectrum. More on the grey sides for both but unsure of the proper microlabel. Malleus was the first (and in the future only) person she's ever felt any romantic affection towards.

16.) Out of all of the teachers, she trusts Professor Trein the most while Crowley, the least (especially after the events of Book 4 and all the times he made her do his dirty work while trying to survive in the musty, dusty, dilapidated dorm that HE placed her in!)

17. Although if there is one thing she's glad the headmage did for her even if it was to save his ass from a scandal of accidentally summoning a girl into an all-boys school, it was to prepare ALL the stops so make sure she's never found out by the entire school as well as give her special "care packages" every month. Thank goodness Trein's a single father and knows about what it's like dealing with teenage girls...

18. Rosalie is a MASSIVE fan of thrifting and antiquing. Back when she was still in Second Star (the first foster home she stayed in), clothes from charity shops were all that she could afford but she likes mixing and matching different styles and patterns to make something her own. I would say the decades she dresses the most often are the 60s (mostly taking a bit of inspiration from the Teddy Boy subculture), 70s, 80s, and early to mid 90s as well as copying some of the makeup styles from those eras. Matter of fact, one the thing she wants to do with Vil is take him thrift shopping in the rich neighborhoods since you can get some amazing authentic pieces there.

19. Ro can actually see somewhat okay without her glasses but it's not as good compared to when she has them on. I'd say her vision is around 20/40

20. Grim is definitely the person she cares about the most (as much as she lovingly refers to him as a stinky cat and playfully pokes fun at him) but as much as Grim often gets her into trouble, she really developed a huge soft spot for him and same could be said with him. It was to the point where even the thought of being without him or him being taken away again is enough to keep her awake at night.

[911lonestarangstweek]

Welcome to Angst Week: The Return

Banner by @tellmegoodbye

I know it’s been a while, but welcome back to all our fellow angst lovers, writers and creators; we’re so excited to see you!

Welcome to Round 3 of Angst week, aptly titled Angst Week: The Return. 

This will be a seven day run (Round 2 was nine days, so it’s a little bit shorter), running from March 24th to March 30th, 2025. This time, we’re celebrating the five seasons of Lone Star, so each day’s prompt is an episode title, a quote, or a situation/theme from that season. Feel free to use just one, or mix it up with all three!

The prompts are for inspiration only. Basically: no, you do not need to create an episode coda/include the exact quote/centre it around the exact incident. You can do these if you choose to, but you can also let your imagination go completely wild. 

We’re not cops; anything goes, as long as you follow the golden rule:

Make it angsty. 

In this context, angst is being used as an umbrella term to include all forms of hurt. This week also includes whump, hurt/comfort, emotions, sickfics, basically anything as long as the entire thing isn’t happy. This is also open to the entire angst range. From soft hurt/comfort that still has fluff, to full on near-death whump: it’s all welcomed and encouraged!

What hashtags do we use? Is there and ao3 collection? Other information about posting? Okay, you’re getting ahead of us here. We just wanted to get the basic info out now so people can begin working on their submissions if they would like! Closer to the event, we will post some reminders that will include the information you need to post (but short answer: tag will probably be the same as before and there will be ao3 collection)

Any other questions? Send us an ask, or message @aliceschuyler or @morganaspendragonss privately and we will do our best to answer (we are both in different timezones, so one of us will catch your message). Thanks!

Here are the prompts - the bit everyone is waiting for!

Day 1 - 24th March - Season 1 Austin, We Have a Problem | “You promised me this would never happen again.”  | Gunshot wound

Day 2 - 25th March - Season 2 Displaced | “Whatever happens, it’s on me.” | (Un)natural disaster 

Day 3 - 26th March - Season 3 In the Unlikely Event of an Emergency | “How bad is it?” | Loss

Day 4 - 27th March - Season 4 Road Kill | “We all have a death sentence hanging over our heads.” | Drugged

Day 5 - 28th March - Season 5 Fall from Grace | “126 forever.” | Poison

Day 6 - 29th March Take your favourite moment/scenario/quote from any season and make it as angsty as you like - bonus points if it wasn’t angsty to start with! Even more bonus points if you don’t make it about Carlos, TK or Tarlos. 

Day 7 - 30th March - Free day

[cbk1000]

Do you guys want some hobby drama?

So, there's a game called Kingdom Come: Deliverance set in early 15th century Bohemia which is a 1st person RPG following Henry, the humble son of the local blacksmith, who Gets In the Shit of Local Warfare and Politics after his village is razed by an invading army. This game was developed by a small, independent company that prided itself on historical accuracy, and came out in 2018. It was a fairly niche game, and apparently released with quite a lot of jank (I played it years after it came out, after patches had tightened everything up, so I wasn't privy to this).

It was also the subject of a small controversy; namely, a gaming journalist called it out for not being diverse enough because there were only white people as far as the eye could see, and the developer said that was because of Historical Accuracy, because at that period of time, in that setting, there wouldn't have been any black people. Admittedly, while I have read fairly extensively on the Middle Ages, my focus is on medieval Britain, so I'm not going to argue this particular point as I really know pretty much nothing about medieval Bohemia; I'll just sideeye it the way I do any time someone claims they only feature white people in their story because of historical accuracy. (In fairness I will note this does take place in small villages, not urban centers, and that even the modern day region is fairly ethnically homogenous. On the other hand, I did just recently read an article on some recent archeological evidence that there actually might have been a larger population of African immigrants/traders in the area than was originally thought to be the case, but I do not know if this discovery was before or after the developer's assertion, and again, this was probably in larger urban areas. But I digress. Also, if you are an expert on 15th century Bohemia, please feel free to nerd out with Fun Facts on this post.)

Now, for the record, I only got into this game last year, long after it came out, and long after the controversy, so I did not experience it in real time, and I am not part of any gaming communities. I found this out thanks to the drama surrounding the sequel which just released. What I'm reporting here is things I've gleaned from people talking about the old controversy in relation to the new controversy, some screen shots of the OG Debacle, etc. This is not coming from an insider, just someone who stumbled in while everything was on fire, pulled out a bucket of popcorn, and asked the guy in the lawn chair with snacks how it all started.

The developer was, according to some claims I've seen, part of Gamer Gate, which I'll admit I've seen referenced many times, but I still do not actually really know what that is. But his role in this was as someone who became a hero to the 'anti-woke' crowd, because his game was about a white Christian man, and he pulled the ol' 'but it's just historically accurate to exclude black people' for these chuds who always claim to have non-racist, non-homophobic, and non-misogynistic reasons for only wanting straight white men in their video games. (Because, as we all know, women, gays, and black people were only just invented in 2010, therefore 'historical accuracy' is a perfectly reasonable reason for exclusion.) There’s a picture of him wearing a Based shirt, and he apparently made fun of people for wanting more inclusion in the game, because he refuses to sacrifice historical accuracy for the sake of pandering. White men once more felt Seen. Blessings upon his house, etc.

Cue the sequel, which has been quietly underway for years, and was just announced late last year, and dropped February 4th.

Some leaks start to emerge that trouble the anti-wokers. There's a black person in the game?? And Saudi Arabia banned it for an UNSKIPPABLE GAY SEX SCENE??? Many pearls were clutched, and much gnashing of teeth.

Developer confirms, yes, there is a black character. There is actual historical reasoning for his role, and part of this game takes place in a city that would have been more ethnically diverse; he's not just wedging the character in to appease those goddamn SJWs, no sir. Also, there are absolutely no unskippable cut scenes period. You can now pursue a male love interest for Henry, as it's an RPG and this gives more player choice. But all romances are optional, including the gay one.

People are wailing. The curtains are on fire. They're angrily taking sledgehammers to the pedestal they put this man on. He is a TRAITOR to the Anti Woke Cause. He put a single, solitary black man in his game and gave people the completely avoidable option to be gay!!! He caved to the Woke Mob!!! Who can they trust now in these times of turnoil???

Then speculation starts that one of the gay options is a character from the first game that becomes close to Henry, Hans Capon. Hans is a freewheeling, womanizing noble who likes to have a good time, and who, frankly, was always a bit suspicious to me because one of the side quests involves him inviting Henry to hang out with him by taking a bath with him in the same tub, but I figured the gay romance option was going to be some rando NPC you encounter once on a side quest and can have some fade-to-black porking with.

The game drops. Review embargos are lifted. IGN publishes a guide on how to romance Hans Capon, who it turns out IS the gay romance option! My ship is sailing!!

This really caused a meltdown. Hans is a HETEROSEXUAL STRAIGHT MAN WHO BANGS WOMEN WITH BIG BREASTS HOW COULD KINGDOM COME DO THIS TO THEM. People handled it so well, guys:

A boycott was in order. Go woke, go broke!!!

Oops, the game made back its entire budget on the first day of sales.

Now it's time for Old Faithful: accusing liberals (i.e. people who think not everything has to be only for straight white men) and The Gays of pedophilia.

It's decided that the gay sex scene is a depiction of pedophilia and should get the game banned because the real life historical person on which Hans Capon is based was 15 at the time of the game. Now, note that they've already taken some liberties with the timeline, as one of the villains died before the game takes place. Also note: there is no actual canonical mention of Hans' age in game, but his voice actor who did the motion capture and on whose physique the character is based is a 31-year-old fully adult man, he and Henry are portrayed as contemporaries close in age (I'd guess early 20s based on the way they act in the game), and if the game is trying to pass off this 31-year-old man as a minor child, I have a bridge to sell cheaply too. Also note: none of these people screaming about pedophilia had a problem with Hans whoreing it up with women in the first game.

Here are a few screenshots of the character they are trying to claim is a tiny infant child being mounted by a woke-infested pedophile puppeteered by Captain Super Pedophile, their former hero:

Maybe I'm just looking at this through rose-colored liberal pedophile glasses, but that looks like a grown adult to me.

[fascinationstreetmp3]

What if...what if past dm didn't happen. How do you see it playing out? And actually give your two cents about danlou too plz. Cause sometimes I think he is the devil ( angel) to Daniel's minion. Idk if that makes sense?

admittedly it sometimes is difficult for me to shut off my "past dm definitely happened" thinking because im just so certain there are too many hints that it did LOL but...

for armand, there's this boy he wrote off in 1973, who he maybe genuinely couldn't find anything "fascinating" or extraordinary about, who he has perhaps been underestimating this whole time in 2022— i could see him realising that now daniel is truly sharp-minded and ruthless, with none of the attempts to knock him off balance really working, and he's figured out so much in such a short space of time and ultimately gotten the truth (and a little revenge) he was after in the end. there's something very intriguing in that, despite the anger he feels that daniel took everything from him.

maybe turning him could feel like a punishment to armand (even though i think daniel did want to be a vampire by that point, armand might not realise that. and it could also be a form of punishment for louis, taking away daniel's humanity in a perversion of letting him live for louis in 1973), but maybe it's also subconsciously a way of keeping around someone who has figured him out and seen him so quickly, even if that is something he runs from.

for daniel, i think everything that went down in dubai sort of "woke him up." when we first see him, he looks bored, tired, and lonely. he barely talks to his family, only enough for them to know he's sick, and he's teaching internet classes now. the pandemic has kept him away from the world but it also feels like the passion has seeped out of him long before that. at this point he's expecting to die someday soon and leave his daughters some cash. being invited for a second interview with louis doesn't immediately break him out of that mindset; it's invigorated him some by the end of the first season, but once there's an even bigger mystery to crack after armand reveals himself, that's when he really starts enjoying himself.

by the end of season 2, daniel is so far in it he doesn't want it to stop, chasing a high. and for that reason, even if the turning was "spiteful" on armand's part, i think daniel would've wanted to be turned either way. just like daniel in the books, he can't go back to an ordinary life and function normally or sit around waiting to die after being so involved in this world. armand gives it to him in some form— but daniel wants more, he wants answers and a story from armand, he wants to crack the truth about him and figure out "where the bullshit starts." so he chases after him when armand leaves, and it turns into an inverse of their original chase in the books:

the highlighted lines could actually actually work in reverse in this scenario too— daniel wants to know what makes armand so fascinating, wants to know what and who he really is. even down to daniel himself not being able to move about by day now when armand can. and as the chase goes on, they learn more about one another, becoming drawn to each other despite the animosity between them.

as for the second part of your question, do you mean danlou kind of acting as the show's version of devil's minion? or their relationship being more similar to what armand and daniel's is in the books? i see danlou as something unique, and especially if there was any kind of past dm, i don't know that louis would be directly involved— in the sense that i believe he wouldn't be happy to fuck with this kid's life even further than he already did, with the "think of me as god or an angel" speech he gave trying to set daniel free from everything he'd seen and heard from armand. even if louis doesn't really care as much about humanity in general as he sometimes claims, daniel is a symbol of something to louis, proof he can still do good.

whereas with armand, no matter what love was there, dm is ultimately about keeping daniel embroiled in that life. armand shares his blood and lets daniel get addicted to it, and it slowly breaks daniel apart until he's losing his mind.

like you said, louis is more the "angel" where armand's the "devil." in a past dm scenario i actually think it's possible the words louis speaks to daniel in 1973 could be something that helps daniel towards the end of his relationship with armand in the 80s ("if things ever get bad again," "these words will hold you up and carry you; they are your lifeline") and could be what led to him finally breaking free of armand and maybe asking to be "let go" if he really won't ever turn him.

but to me whether past dm happened or not, danlou is about daniel being the first person in a long time to listen to louis both in 1973 and 2022, louis changing and saving daniel's life in a way no one else ever did, and daniel coming back 50 years later and eventually returning the favour. they're both fathers to daughters, they've both repressed themselves in various ways, they've both had their memories messed with by armand.

they're the vampire and the interviewer who kick off the whole story being told, and i think the show portrays that very well, keeping them (and hopefully their relationship) relevant going forward and expanding on their relationship with each other in a way the books never did, and not really borrowing any dynamic from dm or anyone else. armand of course hangs over them both, the same way louis hangs over dm, the same way daniel factors into loumand in 1973 and 2022, and they're all important to each other for different reasons.

[imonthemoonitsmadeofcheese]

Trees

In which the Drifter and Eris Morn explore the woods around their camp, looking for food.

Art by @chaostructure-crafts

Link to the story on Ao3 if you prefer to read it there

“Oh hey, is that what I think it is?” He pinched off a long tapered leaf growing on the ground in a sunny spot, took a bite out of it, and smiled. “It is. Here.” He handed her the rest of the leaf. Eris took it from him. She smelled it and then nibbled the end of the leaf.

“Oh!"

“Yeah.”

“How is it lemon?”

“It ain’t lemon. That’s sorrel. Grab all the leaves that look like this.” He picked another leaf as an example and kissed her fingertips as he put it in her hand so she could find them by touch if she wished. “We can either make you a sour leaf salad or it goes nice in soup too. Either way, perfect find. Once we got that I wanna go across the water. I think those might be blueberry bushes over there.”

The Drifter’s ghost flew up to eye level and opened its shell, turning it to get his attention. He frowned at it.

“What?” he growled.

It emitted its single tone, floated a few feet away, and then turned back to look at them.

“I think he found something for us.”

“I didn’t ask for his help.”

“I would like to see what he wants to show us.”

“Fine. Sorrel first.”

. . .

“All right. You’re forgiven,” the Drifter begrudgingly admitted as he looked up the side of the tree his ghost had lead them to.

The ghost emitted its single tone and hovered near Eris’ shoulder.

“Yeah…” He paced around the tree looking up at it and nodding. “...you have more than redeemed yourself on this one. Good job.”

Eris reached out a fingertip and pet the ghost’s shell. It shuddered and leaned into her touch.

“What is it?” she asked.

The Drifter pointed up.

“All I perceive is a rotting tree. Is it the fungus?”

Orange-Yellow frills erupted in bursts all along the trunk, looking like gills or gatherings of poofy skirts.

“Not just any fungus. This…” the Drifter reached up and grabbed a branch, pulling himself up into the tree. “...is chicken of the woods. Easily one of the most delicious things we could have found out here.”

He cut some of the gills free from the trunk with his knife and reached down to hand them to Eris but she wasn’t on the ground.

Her hand reached down from above him.

“Damn. I didn’t see or hear you move, Moondust. Can you teleport?”

“Yes… But in this particular instance, I climbed.”

She took the fungus from him, put it in the cloth bag hanging from her shoulder, and then proceeded to almost flow up the trunk to the upper branches of the tree.

“Fuckin’ hunters climbing fuckin’ trees.”

She smiled down at him from her perch. “You are slow, Rat. I have not climbed a tree in centuries. This is fun.” She pulled a knife out of her boot and went to harvest the highest blooms of the fungus.

“Careful,” he called after her, “it only grows on rotting trees.”

He grabbed a branch above him and it broke off in his hand.

“Of course, as soon as I say it, it happens to me. Typical.” He tossed the branch down onto the ground.

The entire tree shook violently as she jumped to a different treetop.

“Hey! Don’t fall. If I bring you back with a broken leg from climbing trees, Ikora will never let that one go.”

Eris looked down at him and then leaned back, bending her knees. Then as the tree swayed she jumped to another, taller tree, climbing even higher to where it poked above the canopy.

The Drifter watched as she got near the top. She grabbed hold of the trunk with one hand and leaned away from it, one leg straight, the other bent at the knee, both feet on the trunk, her free hand dangling open, feeling the wind. The tree top leaned at a gentle angle. The breeze flicked her hair around the bandage over her eyes. The calm smile on her face was lit by the sun.

She looked like she was about to take flight.

“It’s cuz I told you to be careful, isn’t it?” he called up to her.

She craned her neck from side to side as the treetop she was hanging off swayed back and forth in the wind. She listened to the creaking of the tree trunk and the sounds of the forest below, feeling the sun and the wind on her face, breathing it in with wild abandon.

The Drifter, now on the ground, looked up at her with a mixture of awe, pride, and mild anxiety. She looked so… happy.

“Fuckin’ hunters climbing fuckin’ trees.”

This story is part of a series I wrote on Ao3 called Embers and Stars. While there are some individual stories rated Mature and/or Explicit for containing happy fun sexy times, those are set up with skip links so that if you prefer not to read that type of content you can still enjoy the story.