#for such a dysfunctional family (we love each other a whole lot)
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autistictaxidermyman · 9 months ago
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another segment from the first chapter of my tua s4 fix it fic!:
chapter one: never was the one for loving kids
“Klaus? How did you find me?” 
“Five. He got a job with the CIA- and he offered me the address, to be clear. I wasn’t the one stalking you.” Klaus tried to keep his voice light hearted, but the joke didn’t land so well when he sounded so, so tired and so, so scared for what would happen if he was left with no one to keep him accountable again. Allison just stared at him for a moment, and he shifted his weight from one foot to the other before admitting in a quiet voice that was so out of character for him, “I don’t have anywhere to go, Alli.” 
Allison looked behind her for a moment, as if checking if anyone else in the house had woken up. She sighed, looking back to him, “You’re sober?” 
Klaus nodded quickly and immediately, “I’m here because I want to keep it that way. Stay off the streets, you know?” 
She nodded, stepping to the side and pushing her door back. “You can sleep on the couch in the basement for tonight. There’s a bathroom down there if you wanna shower, and I can bring you dry clothes. You have to be quiet, though, Ray and Claire are sleeping.” 
Klaus stepped inside, their eyes going wide. He leaned in to her, giving an excited whisper, “You got both of them?” 
Allison’s face softened, and she smiled. She replied in a less hyper but just as disbelieving barely-there voice, “I got both of them.” 
“You got me, too, now!” Klaus announced in a too-loud voice, giggling under his own hand when Allison ‘sushed’ him. This time, the playful tone in his voice doesn’t feel like a facade.
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andreal831 · 5 months ago
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If the Mikaelsons’ & Co. raised Hope, what do you think her relationships would be like with each of them?
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I adore thinking about Hope being raised by the Mikaelsons. They are such a dysfunctional family but they all truly loved that little girl.
I think Hope would have been a different character than we saw in Season 5 if she had been raised by her family. Likely more entitled and spoiled despite Hayley's attempts to ground her.
Hayley and Hope would still have the closest relationship out of all of them. Throughout her life, Hayley was always her constant. This would never change. Even when the whole family was around, we often saw Hayley still the one looking after Hope (or Elijah honestly). Hope would also lean on her when the codependency and the toxic Mikaelsons got to be too much. I can see her swooping Hope up and going on weekend trips just the two of them. When Hope was sad that the kids at school were mean to her, she would run straight into Hayley's arms. She will always be Hope's biggest comfort and biggest cheerleader.
Hope has always been said to be a "daddy's girl" and would have still been that way with her whole family around. Although, I do think a big part of Klaus' appeal to Hope is that he was this fantasy. All she knew about him were stories she was told so he couldn't mess up. When they did interact, he scared her and hurt her. I think they definitely would have had more ups and downs had they been around each other longer. They both have tempers and can be hot headed. They would have gone through a lot of the typically fighting. Klaus would have tried to control her as she got older and she would have rebelled. But he always had a soft spot for her. His temper would flare up but all it would take is one sad look from Hope to straighten him out. He would spoil her making it up to her. He would always go overboard, often times even Hope would tell him it was too much.
Hope would rely on Elijah to settle Klaus down and often go to him for advice on how to handle Klaus and his tantrum. Elijah would offer her guidance and be her rock in the hectic family. He would teach her to play different musical instruments and cook and just generally help her with her studies. She would have fond memories of sitting on his lap and reading with him as she grew up. She would get excited anytime she found a new book she loved and instantly text Elijah about it. He would dutifully read it and they would get together to discuss.
Kol would be the uncle she went to when she didn't want to understand her dad. She just wanted to be upset. He would tell her all about the chaos he caused (leaving out some of the more gruesome details). He would give her ideas on how to annoy the rest of the family. He would also be able to relate to her when Hope was feeling left out of the "always and forever." They would come up with their own thing to say and not allow anyone else to be a part of it.
I want to say Rebekah and Hope would be close but canon really fights me on that. Rebekah would be the fun aunt that every time she's around they have the best time. Rebekah would spoil Hope, taking her on extravagant trips around the world and sending her gifts from her own travels. She would be the person Hope calls to talk about dating and fashion. She would adore Rebekah and want to be just like her.
Freya is basically Hope's second mother. She would teach Hope everything she knew about magic, giving Hope the teacher she always wished she had. They would have a special bond due to their shared magic. Also do to the fact that they were humans surrounded by vampires. Freya and Hayley would be able to handle all of the human concerns the Originals were all too old to remember. Freya would know all of Hope's secrets because Hope would go to her first. Freya would help keep Hope level headed, reminding her of the dangers in the world while the rest of the family attempted to completely shield her.
I don't necessarily see a sibling bond between Marcel and Hope because of the age difference and the marriage to her aunt, but they would be super close. Marcel would understand Hope better than nearly anyone. He would be the first person she called anytime she got in trouble. He would pick her up and take her out to get some food, letting her explain her side of the story. He would never judge her but would offer his wisdom when needed.
Davina would be more like a sister than any of them because she would be closer in age than the rest of them. She remembered what it was like to be a teenage, New Orleans witch. She would love to help Hope with her magic and would always warn her to be careful with the New Orleans coven. Davina and Kol would often be away on their travels, but they would bring Hope along at least once a year. Always returning for her birthday and the holidays. Davina would plop down on her bed and demand Hope fill her in on all of the New Orleans drama.
Keelin and Hope would have a very quiet relationship. They would just be comfortable in each other's presence and not talk much. Growing up, Hope would often drag her board games or coloring books into the room Keelin was studying in and just work quietly, liking the company. Keelin would take breaks to color with Hope, letting Hope have the peace and quiet she needed in the hectic household. As Hope got older, Keelin would be the person Hope went to when she needed a break from the chaos. Keelin would bring her to work, joking that the ER in a hospital was less hectic than their household. She would teach Hope to love science and get excited to study. Hope would borrow Keelin's white jacket growing up and pretend she was a doctor.
And of course Hope would go to Cami with all of her big feelings she was learning to process. Hope would struggle with her temper having the werewolf gene and Cami would be more than ready to handle it. She would teach Hope coping techniques to deal with the family. Cami would have her own office in the house and unlike Keelin's study area, it was anything but quiet. Cami would often have music on and she and Hope would have dance breaks when the day was just too stressful. Cami would teach Hope to bake and they would drive Elijah crazy, always moving his things in the kitchen.
I love this family so much.
Thanks for the ask!
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niko-sasaki-dbd · 1 year ago
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Queue Interview with the Dead Boy Detectives Cast 👻🔎
This is going to be a long post! (These are my favourite parts from the interview!)
George Rexstrew as Edwin Payne
Acting Inspiration
Oh, gosh. Well there are so many. Meryl Streep, obviously. Viola Davis, obviously. More recently, I was blown away by Enzo Vogrincic in Society of the Snow. And Eden Dambrine in Close.
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Cast Camaraderie
I loved working with all my co-stars. I’m practically related to Jayden [Revri] and Kassius [Nelson] at this point. Yuyu [Kitamura] is a dream. Jenn [Lyon] is mother hen. Bri[ana Cuoco] is the cool older sister. Josh[ua Colley] is the cheeky cousin. Ruth [Connell] is the godmother who gives you a card and £20 for your birthday. It really is one big happy dysfunctional family. I’m grateful for all of them, on and off camera.
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Jayden Revri as Charles Rowland
Dressing The Part
These heads of departments, and Monique and Kelli, [they’re] unbelievable. They were so collaborative. We went through different hairstyles and different things we could do with the makeup. We added a bit of eyeliner for [Charles] just to make it feel more 80s. And then Kelli, I mean, it was like she did her research on me. She added badges to the jacket which kind of represented me as Jayden, before I even got there. It wasn’t until I got the haircut, put the makeup on, put the costume on, and I was like, Okay, this is Charles.
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Cast Camaraderie.
The vibe was just incredible. Me and George, we really wanted to set the tone for the series and make sure that everyone’s having fun and it’s an environment where we could all talk about how we’re feeling. We were just such a big support blanket for each other. If there was ever a time that somebody needed space, or they wanted to prep themselves for a certain scene they were going to film, we all respected that and we were each other’s cheerleaders the whole entire time. And it’s still the same to this day now. I think it really shows when you watch the series that we all knew what we were making and we wanted to make something that we would want to watch, which we’ve all done. I cannot shout out my castmates enough. Forever grateful.
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Kassius Nelson as Crystal Palace
Acting Inspiration
I watched a lot of animation. I used to watch the Addams Family, the black-and-white one, because I didn’t have Disney Channel or anything. Monk, Murder She Wrote, I was watching those things, so maybe I was actually destined to play a detective, now that I’m thinking about it. I watched a lot of cartoons and animations. I just liked the idea that I could be engrossed in another world. And I always wanted to know what happened next, or when the film finished, I would be like, “Okay, but then what? What happens after that?” And now I get to be part of that question or that answer (...).
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Dressing the Part
We have a fantastic costume designer, Kelli Dunsmore. I always say that she literally wove the story into the fabric of the clothes, because there are things that she foreshadowed in the clothing that happened episodes later. Or, if characters start to get in some sort of relationship with each other, that will be reflected in the clothes that they wear or the colors that they have. Or, if they’re feeling any type of emotion, (...)l. Crystal wears these massive platform boots that must be about four or five inches. They’re huge, very heavy, but it’s funny because they change the way that you walk. (...) She’s not very light, which makes sense with the things that she’s going through and the experiences that she’s having. Practically, it helped, because Jayden and George are like six-foot-something. So, if I film a scene and I’m at the bottom of the lens and they’re up there, that helped. I’ve got a good couple inches on my feet.
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Yuyu Kitamura as Niko Sasaki
Acting Inspiration
Sandra Oh is a woman that I will forever be indebted to because who she was on Grey’s Anatomy was so formative for me. The most interesting thing about her character was not that she was Asian, but that she was such a fully fleshed person with flaws and amazing qualities. And her work ever since I think has been iconic, so she’s a woman that I deeply look up to.
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Landing the role in Dead Boy Detectives
I auditioned from Hong Kong and my dad was my reader because all of my acting friends were in New York. My dad was able to carve out time and be an amazing reader. And in that audition side, it’s the scene where Niko gets to see the “Dead Boys” for the first time, and there’s a line in there that was something along the lines of me talking to Edwin and asking, “Do you two make out with each other?” And my dad stopped the tape and he was like, “What are you reading for?” And I was like, “Don’t give me notes, it’s fine!” And so that was the audition process! I think within a month I found out I got the part and it’s been an absolute dream ever since.
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Dressing the Part
(...) I think on paper Niko can seem like a certain type of character, but even in the choice of every costume we did, every color that she wears, every meticulous little piece about everything from her nails to her room, it’s so well curated and thought out. Through her journey, we also find that she’s a woman that wears what she feels. On the surface, she might seem like the most joyful, young, optimistic girl, but it’s the inner confidence and bravery where we find that she’s layered, and she is very much a young woman coming of age.
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SOURCE: MEET THE REAL DEAD BOY DETECTIVES (AND FRIENDS)
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ariemfox · 3 months ago
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ASK FOR YOU: for my story i’ve been considering this, but you’re way better at these characters than me so i’d love your insights:
What kind of relationship do you think Chase and Adam’s have? I feel like Chase and Park’s friendship is pretty easy to see and understand and gets a lot of focus, but Chase and Adams to me seem weirdly disconnected — we’re told by House and Park they flirt and are kind of into one another, but I’m not sure we really see it from them. I’m ultimately not sure if I’d call them friends or colleagues or what, but I could also be completely wrong and missing a whole dynamic. What do you think?
oof so this is something that my penpal friend/mutual (an all-round absolute legend) have discussed a whole lot, so these ideas are kinda of our conflated thoughts.
the thing about chase & adams is that though they are distant, they understand each other almost intrinsically. so to understand their relationship, we need to look at their similarities and differences.
they both have exes and know what it's like to be divorced and abandoned by them. they also have similar backgrounds: adams is from a rich & old american family (implying related to the presidents with the last names of adams), and chase is also from a rich family with his famous dad. they both have priveleged lives in that sense, but have hugeee guilt complexes to go along with that. whilst chase's guilt complex tends to surround catholic themes bc of the way he was raised, adams' guilt is focused upon her rich privelege (and how she feels she doesn't deserve it compared to other people) and crucially, her parents.
this brings us on to another similarity, their families. we all know that chase's family was a shithole, end of discussion. but with adams, it's a little more complicated. now, this is where it gets v meta so hold on to me here, bc it does make an insane amount of sense.
in the 'parents' episode, house is on a miasion to find out what adams' parents did to Fuck Her Up. she reveals she ran away at 16, and adams insists that it was not because her parents were abusive or 'screwed her up' like house says, it was because when compared to her friends' neglectful/abusive parents, she 'envied their dysfunction' bc she thought 'it made them deeper somehow'. she moved in with an older guy at SIXTEEN (might i add that chase also fucked the groundskeepers wife in his weird english priest boarding school too, another dodgy similarity). and apparently, her parents never got over her running away.
first of all, what normal, well-adjusted person thinks this. second of all, it definitely speaks to some kind of some kind of wmotional gaslighting on her parents side. the amount of excuses she makes for her parents, and the shows emphasis on making the emotionally-abused patient in 'runaways' adams' mirror, this is adams' character episode where she gets personally involved and constantly tries to excuse the patient's mother's behaviour. my lovely friend/mutual @x-birdsong-x explains this beautifully in this tumblr post if u want more details:
there is an almost innate sadness to adams that's only ever implicity shown. her life feels very... empty - we know almost nothing about her background bc she's so evasive about it, particularly when compared to park. take the scene in parents where chase asks what her parents did to fuck her up, and she evades the question by joking they did white-collar crime & human trafficking. whilst chase is honest when he tells her his mother locked him in his father's study as a child, but disconnected; all clinical facts and no feelings, adams lies/evades and gets snappy and defensive whenever someone brings it up. we see this multiple times throughout parents.
she's crafted her persona into a rich kid who doesn't deserve her privelege, who gives back to others/save lives to help those less fortunste to her. she feels like she has to balance the scales, ig. she heals out of guilt, as a way to wallow in her misery and martyrdom. contrast this to chase, who heals and gives back for a personal distraction ("Only so many hours you can cry and bang on the door before you give up, find something to read. We all have family dysfunction. That's why we're successful. To fill that hole."). they have similar pasts, but different responses. in a way, adams is like who chase would be if he went down a different road.
there is an almost innate sadness to adams that's never explicitly shown but very much implied. whenever chase and adams have conversations one-on-one, there's frail, tentative empathy between them. their similarities mean that they understand each other on a deep, personal level (quite similar to chase & thirteen, but with less friendship involved) however, bc chase is so factual, and emotionally-distanced from his childhood and his divorce - they only ever hit him when he's looking at either his dad or cameron in the face - and adams is so evasive, reactive, tempremental and snappy when confronted with her side of things... they've never truly connected. they have the same roots but have branched off to opposing sides of the tree, they are like ghosts, alternate versions of the deepest untouched parts of each other. i think that's how i'd describe their relationship.
i think house clocked on to the fact that it's intimate, particularly in 'we need the eggs', bc they are so alike. adams obviously felt this vague sort of empathy between them too in this episode, seeing as she asks chase out for drinks 'for a change' - she wants to get over her issues - but chase declines because he's not over cameron. whether this was romantic though? it wasn't for chase, but i don't think adams really knew; she doesn't show romantic/sexual attraction to him, all i think she knew is what house noticed. that they had some sort of connection, and adams wanted to explore that, to find someone who understands.
i think ur right in that they're disconnected. they could connect but they won't, and it's also a different kind of intimate than to what house inferred. they are like long-lost siblings who shared a childhood, but time has changed them so much that they struggle to face each other honestly. they are a reminder to each others' pasts, and i don't think chase completely likes that (in s8 anyway), he doesn't like the idea of what he could've become. but adams - who has felt alone her whole life, disconnected from her peers, disadvantaged patients (who had it worse in her mind), and colleagues prior to s8 - wants to connect with someone who gets what it's like. even if she doesn't completely get it, bc although she's come to terms with the divorce, she hasn't yet accepted how her parents impacted her by s8.
sorry for how long this reply is!! they are so interesting to me. i hope it kinda helped tho? lmk ur thoughts if u like (:
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inkspiredwriting · 11 months ago
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A Proposal Through Time
Five Hargreeves x Fem!reader
Warnings: none
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Five Hargreeves was fearless, nothing scared him, except the anxiety he felt as he prepared to propose to his girlfriend, Y/N. He wanted the moment to be perfect, something as unique and special as their relationship.
Five had meticulously planned every detail. He wanted it to be a mix of their shared experiences, filled with both humor and sweetness. The Hargreeves siblings had offered their assistance (some more enthusiastically than others), and Five had finally agreed to let them help.
It was a sunny afternoon, and Y/N was on her way to meet Five for what she thought was just a casual day out. She arrived at their favorite park, a place they often visited to escape the chaos of their lives. As she walked through the park, she noticed something unusual—a trail of clues, each one a playful nod to their adventures together.
The first clue was attached to a small tree. Y/N recognized Five’s neat handwriting: “Where do we always argue about what year it is?” She laughed, recalling their many debates, and made her way to the vintage clock display nearby. There, she found the next clue.
One by one, she followed the clues, each leading her to different locations within the park. Every clue brought back a memory: the bench where they had their first kiss, the fountain where Five had accidentally splashed her during a particularly heated argument, the gazebo where they had shared countless conversations.
Finally, the last clue led her to a secluded garden area. Y/N’s heart raced as she pushed open the gate and stepped inside. The garden was beautifully decorated with fairy lights and flowers. In the center stood Five, looking as dapper as ever in a sharp suit, a nervous but hopeful smile on his face.
“Five,” Y/N said, her voice filled with both surprise and joy. “What is all this?”
Five took a deep breath, stepping forward to take her hands in his. “Y/N, we’ve been through a lot together. Time travel, apocalypses, my dysfunctional family… But through it all, you’ve been my anchor, my constant. You make me want to be a better man, and I can’t imagine my life without you.”
Y/N felt tears welling up in her eyes, a mixture of happiness and anticipation.
Five dropped to one knee, pulling out a small, elegantly designed box. “Y/N, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”
Y/N’s eyes widened in shock and delight as Five opened the box to reveal a stunning ring. She couldn’t help but let out a laugh through her tears. “Of course, Five! Yes, a thousand times yes!”
Five’s face broke into a wide grin as he slipped the ring onto her finger and stood up, pulling her into a joyful embrace. The moment was perfect, everything he had hoped for and more.
Just then, there was a loud cheer, and Y/N looked around to see Five’s siblings emerging from behind the bushes, grinning and clapping.
“You guys!” Y/N laughed, realizing they had been hiding there the whole time.
Klaus, always the life of the party, was the first to rush over. “Congratulations, you two! We knew Five could do it!”
Diego clapped Five on the back. “Nice job, little brother. You didn’t screw it up.”
Allison hugged Y/N tightly. “Welcome to the family, Y/N. Officially, I mean.”
Even Luther, with his usual seriousness, couldn’t hide his smile. “We’re really happy for you, Five.”
Five shook his head, a chuckle escaping his lips. “Thanks, guys. But you can stop hiding in the bushes now.”
Viktor smiled warmly at Y/N. “You’re really part of the family now, Y/N. We wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Y/N beamed, feeling the love and support from Five’s siblings. “Thank you all. I couldn’t have asked for a better family to be part of.”
As they celebrated, Five pulled Y/N aside for a moment. “Sorry about the surprise entourage,” he said with a smirk. “They insisted on being part of the plan.”
Y/N laughed, wrapping her arms around him. “It’s perfect, Five. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
They kissed, sealing their promise to each other amidst the laughter and cheers of their family. In that moment, everything felt right. Despite the chaos of their lives, they had found a love that was timeless and true.
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starkstiless · 2 months ago
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alayna ruth - the lone wolf 。゚・ ❀ ゚・. 。゚・ . ° . ✿ ೃ
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sullen girl - fiona apple // nutshell - alice in chains // lover, you should've come over - jeff buckley
fc: sadie soverall (teen), melissa o'neil (adult)
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strengths: resourceful, instinctual, thick-skinned, headstrong
weaknesses: resentful, stubborn, judgemental at face value, destructive (mostly towards self)
personality: unconventional, tough, stubborn, instinctual, blunt, a lil messy i can't lie but we support women's rights and wrongs over here
pt 1- pre-crash
lived in a trailer park out in the woods for most of her life
would go hunting with her dad (que beginning of fox motif)
was very bright, smart and studious as well as religious in her childhood years, prided herself on getting good grades despite living in a dysfunctional house
on the younger end of 7 siblings
comes from a big family that cared for each other and tried, really did try, to be healthy but just weren't, a big part being due to the squalor of poverty
father was selectively present, mother had ocd and bipolar disorder
lowkey could be a gallagher LOL (like kid debbie who grows into an ian?)
a contentious person; most either loved or hated alayna in high school because her characteristics were quite disruptive and rather bold
knew laura lee, nat, and lottie from childhood
as she entered middle school she really started to struggle and give up after a rough sitch where her older brother went missing and her family was threatened with eviction. these increased tension tenfold throughout her whole family (parents fighting & forcing her to pick sides, them reverting to toxic coping habits, and essentially becoming absent)
tries her best to help her younger siblings by making them meals and taking them out to the woods to hunt with her like she did with her dad, bribes them with candy to shut them up about her sneaking out with a smile and ruffle of their hair
she retains her own personal curiosity by delving into topics she finds interesting, she's actually really smart, just in her own way that often went unappreciated
in her search for a way to survive those tensions she would go to a LOT of parties and convince herself she was attracted to the guys there in denial of her dykeness (when she was in middle school she vented to lottie in her bedroom during a sleepover about what was going on at home and lottie with her wisdom-filled self helped her though it the best she could bless her. also they kissed... and alayna liked it....? she couldn't STAND how much she liked it #teamrepressed).
her “sleazy” reputation earned her a lot of backlash from her classmates; guys would say crude things about her habits and her sexuality and girls would call her sleazy to her face and accuse her of trying to get with everyone (she wasn't, a lot of guys wanted her but trust me, it was for all the wrong and disgusting reasons teenage boys often want girls. it's really heartbreaking because she was just trying to survive☹️)
these parties and her friendship with nat became her start to smoking and alcoholism as it was a familiar coping mechanism to her
her family lost their house and she had to move in with her aunt in the suburbs who only knew "little alayne", the smart and well-rounded good girl. she feels like an imposter in her own skin.
can't escape her disruptive past even when she tries to zone back in during senior year
when nat goes off on a bender tai asks alayna to sub in for her and she eventually just ends up joining the yellowjackets
MORE COMING SOON (wilderness timeline + adult lore).... 🫶
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originally i wasn't gonna give her an adult timeline because i was lowkey thinking about killing her off but i got SO invested I CAN'T 💔@logansdogmotif
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tom-failure · 8 months ago
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Hmm, how about Rika for that character ask game? 👀 And I'll throw in Zen as well, feel free to babble about him as much as you want <3
HO HO HO someone actually wants to hear my hot takes!!! Well, you’re in for a treat, my friend *cracks knuckles*
Rika
favourite thing about her
I’m gonna be hella controversial here, BUT my favourite thing about Rika is the lengths to which the game goes to justify her. HEAR ME OUT. This is the treatment always reserved for male characters. They are the ones getting coddled, loved, and redeemed (cough Jihyun Kim cough Jumin Han cough Saeran Choi). And Rika doesn’t even (arguably) get redeemed! She gets justified! The game explicitly tells you: ‘forgive her, or you’re a rape/pedophile apologist’. And hoo boy, that’s refreshing to see, especially in a game as misogynistic as MysMes.
I support women’s wrongs in this case. Raped women can have little a death cult. As a treat.
*mic drop*
least favourite thing about her
Hmm, I don’t know! I think Rika is a really good sympathetic villain. She’s sleazy, creepy, and at times plain terrifying. Recently I was chatting with a follower and we talked at length about how scary of an all-permeating presence Rika is/was to the RFA. But on the other hand, she has solid motivations for what she does, she has a pretty coherent (if fucked up) philosophy she follows, she’s well-rounded as a character!
I think the only thing I don’t particularly like about her is the voice performance and the whole Mika schtick. Rika doesn’t need someone nudging her towards the idea of a death cult to make her, as a villain, sympathetic. With all she’s been through, she is already sympathetic enough. And it’s enough that she takes her fucked up situation and turns it around to her advantage in this MORE fucked up way. It’s way more interesting.
And on the voice performances, I have very particular opinions. Rika’s strikes me as poorly acted oftentimes. Even taking into account the difference in mannerisms familiar to my Ukrainian ear VS the actress’ Korean.
favourite line
I love when, between being completely unhinged, she says incredibly sane stuff like this:
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Like, SHE’S NOT WRONG!!!! Say it louder, queen!
But also…
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brOTP
Honestly, I’m not sure Rika can truly have friends. I don’t think with her levels of fucked up, she could really keep such an arrangement. She can have followers, and she can have lovers, but I think, ultimately, she has never seen a normal equal relationship to such an extent that she wouldn’t know how to maintain it. So I guess it’s a blank here.
OTP
I think Rika with an evil fucked up MC is very *chef’s kiss*. V can suck it. And those two could be gay and do crime. Admittedly, I didn't pursue that ending, although I wad tempted, but I like the concept a lot.
But also, I love the dynamic of JuVRika and how they make each other worse, dragging everyone around them down with them. Those people are entangled in all sorts of manipulative and hurtful dynamics, and they all latch onto each other and refuse to let each other go. Truly a dysfunctional family, a toxic polycule, don’t join them when they spot you across the bar.
nOTP
I don’t have any strong negative feelings about Rika being shipped with anyone. Gonna be controversial again, but I don’t even judge people who see something romantic in Yoosung’s feelings for her. Go and indulge your toxic fucked up ships with my blessing.
random headcanon
Hmmm, don’t wanna repeat myself with the headcanons I already posted about her. I think a not-before-mentioned one that I really enjoyed was the one that came to life when I was talking to that follower about the Zen post. They said that Rika was down to solicit Zen for sex (maybe with V watching/filming/taking pictures) when they roped him into the RFA. And I’m seriously considering this possibility.
unpopular opinion
ANOTHER ONE?
Okay, here goes: I think Rika held way less power in her relationship with V than is often attributed to her. She was pretty much homeless and barely an adult when she was proposed to after just a couple months of barely knowing each other by some sort of a rich boy heir. She was severely mentally ill and she had pretty much no power in that relationship whatsoever. Without V, she would never have gotten access to those rich people and their resources, I don’t think. Yes, Rika made her fucked up decisions herself, but V made her SO MUCH worse beforehand. I think Rika is often blamed for what is actually his part.
song i associate with her
You are in luck! I make Spotify playlists for all characters and ships that interest me!
But if I had to pick one, probably On a Wire by Belasco
Shot myself
A final gaze
Through the glass of the watch
That you engraved:
‘To my love, my eternal love’...
‘YOU LIED, YOU BITCH’ —
I screamed from above.
And you,
Yeah you,
You wanted more than to fill a room with careless lies,
And you,
Yeah you,
You were the apple, no, the cause of my strife.
favourite picture of her
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This one for the sheer memetic possibility.
Zen
favourite thing about him
I absolutely LOVE his backstory, even though it is so little explored. I love how dark it is and how it perfectly explains all of the shitty takes he has on the world and all the shitty habits he inflicts on the people he loves. I love his tragedy, I love how dark of a character he actually is, and how he came out of that hell so flawed, and yet undeterred. I love how rough around the edges his past has made him.
And oh, don’t get me STARTED on the voice performance. Best in the game, no contest.
least favourite thing about him
His route. I can’t STAND the whole premise, and I think it ruins him for a lot of people.
I’m also peeved by the way fandom doesn’t treat him seriously, but that pales before the treatment Yoosung is given, so I don’t think it’s worth elaborating on.
Yeah, the worst thing about Zen is his route, where he gets accused of raping a woman (poor boy gets his life ruined by an evil female, amirite, happens all the time), you gotta believe he is in the right there with no proof whatsoever (because women are evil and always lie, especially about rape, you know), AND THEN he is forced to reconcile with his shitty family that bullied him and let people harass him, to the point that he preferred to become homeless and a criminal??? And he never ONCE gets called out on his actual shitty behaviours?! Babes?!!
favourite line
This one on Jaehee route.
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It’s so little yet so poignant. It is such a fleeting little thing, but it encapsulates his character in its entirety: lonely, hurt, yet caring about others first and foremost in his own clumsy ways; guarding his own wounds from others lest they suffer even a little bit of what he’s been through by proxy.
That guy makes me Feel Feelings.
brOTP
Zenhee! Or Zen/MC, specifically Joori, the MC I came up with and Jaehee’s girlfriend. But if we’re talking canon characters, then Jaehee. They would make each other so much better! Their friendship has so much potential! Zen would care for her in the very way she needs, I think his overbearing care is a perfect match for her self-neglecting self, and don’t get me started on how much he hypes her up! I saw a very good post recently about Zen wanting to be the older brother figure his own brother couldn't be to him, and here, I think, he could really shine. And Jaehee, with her reasonable and level-headed approach, would really give him good advice and bring him back to earth. She, too, can be overbearing with her care, but to beat Zen’s mind, set in his ways so hard he can’t look up? Yeah, that would work on him.
In general, it would be fun to see Zen have friendships with strong no-nonsense women, because he himself has strong enough a character and big enough a personality to offer them something cool and interesting, but also he really needs to be called out on his bullshit more.
OTP
…do I need to answer that? I’m THE Yoozen ambassador in this fandom, I am proud, and I’m still going strong. Yoozen/Zensung is THE ship ever, and I stand by it.
They care about each other a hell of a lot in canon, they compliment each other and stand up for each other, and I think they’re pretty much the only real friends in the whole RFA. And given Zen doesn’t let anyone close, the fact that he often invites Yoosung over and likes it is just very telling to me. The way they rely on each other and care for each other, despite Zen (and, arguably, sometimes Yoosung, too?) having no normal ways of showing it OR accepting it, makes my heart flutter. They talk about each other very tenderly to MC, too.
Also, I think they’d be incredibly good and healing for each other. Yoosung is very emotionally intelligent, empathetic, and insightful, and in him, Zen has a delicate and loving presence that he doesn’t have to explain himself to too much. Yoosung accepts him and wants to actually offer him warmth. And Yoosung’s open and kind enough to invite openness and kindness in return. He sees Zen for the big-hearted person that he is, and he could bring it out to shine.
And Zen is already so willing in canon to be the shoulder to cry on for Yoosung, to be good to him, he already wants to support him, help him, care for him, but he does it in all the wrongest and pushiest ways, hitting right into Yoosung’s own trauma. Yet, for all his forcefulness, Zen would give Yoosung the love that he craves: big, dramatic, and romantic. He is the protector, and he would do his damnedest to shield the softness in Yoosung, yet he would be the greatest inspiration and support for him to become firmer in his own personhood.
Besides, Zen with his fighting responses has the love that can complement Yoosung’s in its self-sacrificiality, and it’s just such a delicious dynamic for me.
nOTP
I am in general very faithful in terms of ships, so I’m not into any ships besides Yoozen that include Zen or Yoosung. But if we’re talking stronger feelings? Definitely Zumin. I am NOT into the trend of seeing outright hostility and saying, ‘yeah, that’s love right there’. I am old-fashioned like that.
random headcanon
I headcanoned extensively about Zen, both here and on Drawingmen, but the absolute pet headcanon of mine is the guy he had ‘too many firsts’ with, the unseen presence that prompted Love Story and that haunts Zen in all of my fanfic, but particularly Down Bad and The Wolf. I am currently writing a fic centering them both, and I even have a playlist about them now.
unpopular opinion
Romantically, I would not wish Zen upon any woman at all whatsoever. Zen has internalised the street code, he is EXTEREMELY prone to overcompensating, and he’s so desperate to be a beacon of masculinity (as an overcompensation, too, ironically) that he is bound to hurt people. His explosive character is just asking for trouble, and with the way he mellows down for the MC on his route… yeah, I know men like him. It never lasts long. I would not wish for any woman to deal with a man like that in a relationship.
song i associate with him
I got a Zen playlist, too, but it’s long and I haven’t filtered it in a while. The one song I would pick… probably Leave Me In by Zahl. 
It's all right if there's a battle tonight.
I'm right here and I'm ready to fight.
I swear I'm gonna kick daylight,
Serves him damn right.
So go on say your prayers,
But say them when I'm not there,
Cause that god, if he's there,
All he had for me was fear
And also, lately, Rokas by JUUK. After I drew that art with Zen’s hands over the years. Nothing quite particular about him in the lyrics, but it is now The Vibe.
You conceal your arms,
I conceal mine.
favourite picture of him
The CGs where he has Yoosung in his lap:
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If I had a penny for each CG with Yoosung lying in Zen's lap, I'd have two pennies, which isn't much, but funny that it happened twice 😌
If you got this far, just letting you know I love you <3 Thank you for giving me the opportunity to ramble!
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ennn · 8 days ago
Note
I totally get that. A lot of AU fics do make them way too soft; it doesn't bother me as much when it's Rio (to Agatha, mostly) because she isn't an ancient entity with 300 years of fighting with her ex(?) wife. But that woman is gentle and lover girl only with Agatha. I would love to see a canonical exploration of her relationships with the other cosmic entities. Given their respective dysfunction, I doubt they're a happy family
Hi again Anon! I'm going to assume you're the same one who sent the prev ask.
Yeah I'm the same way I think? Like I'm perfectly happy with having Rio be soft and patient in AUs, and I love her being that with Agatha (episode one my love).
BUT some stories give the girl zero backbone or edges and I'm like hmmmm. Like I ship these two because they're freak4freak and troll4troll. Rio is her own character and the AUs that work best for me dramatically are the ones with them being both a threat/danger to each other and unhinged in some way.
It's why I really don't care for AUs where Agatha's the one with all the power and influence and Rio's just dragged along her wake. Canonically Agatha's attracted to Rio because she's powerful, not because she looks like Aubrey Plaza. I like that it's more than skin deep with these two.
On that other point: as someone who grew up with DC's The Sandman, my main concern with the whole cosmic entity thing is that Marvel's are um. Not all that interesting if we go by the comics.
Like if we do it in the MCU we'll have to make them actual characters like what AAA did with Rio because Marvel comic Death isn't really much of a character as much as a plot device. Same with Eternity, Infinity, etc.
And it can definitely be done with the right writers and actors—I mean look at how they've elevated Agatha as a character from the comics—and it would definitely be interesting but some creative work's gotta be done there!
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a-small-batch-of-dragons · 5 months ago
Text
Decay
hello everyone we're back!!! sorry it took me so long, i had to rattle this one around in my head for a while to get it on straight (heh)
this is my first time really writing leon's perspective so i hope it sounds okay!!!! i also hope it doesn't come off too mia bashing, that's not my intention at all, i just think what with leon's past with sherry he'd have a hard time reconciling mia's choices against his own priorities etc.
also rose sweetie i'm so sorry i'm giving you so many dysfunctional adult/parental figures i swear once ethan recovers a little more he'll be the other emotionally competent person here
Read on Ao3 Masterlist
Warnings: talk about infidelity, previous character death (it's ethan so he's fine now but still oof)
Pairings: mithan, lethan, winterfield
Word Count: 3799
They talked about Mia's new job, about how much they missed each other, about how proud they were of Rose. All the things normal couples would talk about. Then Ethan had sighed. "Mia," he says in a quiet voice, and Mia's mouth twitches. "Yes, Ethan?" "It's no use."
Out of all the things Leon expected from Chris’s call, suddenly being privy to what has to be the weirdest talk between husband and wife was not one of them. And yet, here he is, sitting in a sterile interrogation room with a buzzing light, a former bioterrorist, and a living mold colony assuming the shape of a former systems engineer.
Life is strange sometimes. He’s learned how to roll with the punches.
“You don’t have to do this,” Ethan had said when he came to escort him from his room—room, Chris had stressed, not a cell, even though it felt a whole lot like a cell and he’s pretty sure Ethan thought of it like that too—“I’m sure you have better things to do than babysit me while I try and talk to my…ex-wife? Former wife? Widow?”
Leon had snorted. “Are you kidding me? I’m missing my favorite soap opera, the least you could do is make up for it with your familial melodrama.”
He didn’t mention that he was the only person other than Chris himself who had the required clearance to be there, and even Chris-Emotional-Constipation-Redfield knew that was a bad idea. So, here they were.
At first, it'd just been a little bit awkward, watching Ethan so visibly relax when Mia came in. Mia too—like watching a soldier reunite with his wife after a long deployment in one of those videos with a slow love song playing in the background. Only this time they couldn't touch, separated by a sheet of bullet-proof glass, and talking through phones that made everyone sound like they were doing really bad Darth Vader impressions. They talked about Mia's new job, about how much they missed each other, about how proud they were of Rose. All the things normal couples would talk about.
Then Ethan had sighed.
"Mia," he says in a quiet voice, and Mia's mouth twitches.
"Yes, Ethan?"
"It's no use."
Her brow furrows for a split second before she forces a light laugh. "What's no use?"
"You know exactly what I'm talking about."
Her hand clenches and she drops it out of sight. "I really don't, Ethan."
"Yes, you do."
What's making this so much worse is that Ethan isn't angry. Leon's gaze flicks between them as Mia clearly wrestles with the words on the tip of her tongue but Ethan's just…sitting there. Then again, the man's died, what, three times at this point? It's not that surprising that nothing fazes him, but still…
"I mean, I don't know what I'm going to tell people," Mia says, tossing her hair over her shoulder with a brusque jerk of her chin, "I can't exactly explain Rose's father magically reappearing."
Ethan doesn't respond for a moment. She seems to take that as clearance to keep talking.
"I guess I could say you—woke up from a coma, or something, but everyone thinks you're dead. You've been gone for sixteen years, Ethan, it's not—it's not something we can just shrug off."
"'We?'"
"Yes, of course, 'we'," she huffs in a laugh, even as panic starts to cloud her eyes, "what are you talking about?"
Another pause. Then he sighs again. The sound rattles through the shitty phone. "Were you ever going to tell me?"
"About what?"
"About me. About Rose."
Mia swallows. "Ethan, I—"
"Did you know the whole time? Ever since Dulvey? Or did you figure it out along the way and just—keep it to yourself?"
Her hand trembles slightly on the phone. She tries to force back that light expression but Leon watches it begin to crack as they both stare at her. Her gaze darts to him a few times—what the fuck does she expect him to do?
"I felt you die," she whispers and yeah, okay, even Leon's chest lurches at that, "when—when Jack killed you, I felt it. And—and everything was so blurry, so hard to see through—through Eveline's mess that I thought—I thought I might've been remembering it wrong, or something else had happened, or it was just—just another one of her mind games but—"
She chokes on a sob and Ethan's fingers twitch toward the glass, the phone pressed tightly to his ear.
"—but then you were back. And—and you were just you and I thought—I thought it'd be over."
"And Rose?" Mia nods, her eyes squeezed shut as Ethan breathes out a curse. "That's why the pregnancy was so bad, wasn't it? You were—you were trying to fight the mold?"
"Don't blame yourself," Mia's saying as soon as Ethan's sentence finishes, reaching out to put her hand on the glass. After a moment, Ethan's hand presses back. "It wasn't your fault. It wasn't Rose's either, she—she's beautiful. Our baby girl…"
Something in Ethan's expression twitches. His hand slowly leaves the glass. A moment later, Mia's does too. They sit there in silence for a few moments before Ethan pinches the bridge of his nose. "I wish you would've told me."
Mia scoffs. "What good would it have done?"
"I would've known." The first hint of irritation flickers behind Ethan's words and Leon has a bad feeling about how the rest of this conversation is going to go. "I could've—I could've done something."
"What could you have done? Told Chris? He'd have us locked up like this years earlier," she says, gesturing around, "and then what? Would we have taken Rose, gone on the run?"
"Mia—"
"There was nothing you could've done, Ethan," and she says it like she's trying to be kind, but Ethan's shoulders keep getting tenser and tenser.
"It's funny."
"What is?"
"That's what people said when you went missing."
Mia goes still. Leon fights the urge to shift in his chair. Yep. Bad feeling. Here we go.
"They said there wasn't anything I could've done," Ethan continues, his voice still low, "that I was beating myself up for nothing. That you were gone, there wasn't anything I could do about it, that I should go ahead and try and move on as best I could with my life. What was left of it anyway. Then I got an email from you."
"Ethan…"
"And you know what, Mia? Turns out there was something I could do. There was a whole hell of a lot I could do."
"You died, Ethan!"
"Yeah. I did. Then I came back. And I did a pretty good job about that."
More than pretty good, Leon wants to add, but he holds his tongue.
"Do you ever think about what might've happened if you just told me? Before all this had to happen?"
"I don't want to talk about this, Ethan."
"You never want to talk about it. Any of it. That's the whole goddamn problem, Mia. You were at that farm for three years. I died. And you wanted to just move on as if nothing happened. But we couldn't. I couldn't. That wasn't fair."
Mia's fist clenches. Her face twists up. Leon takes a deep breath and holds it. "You have no idea what I went through there, Ethan. No idea."
"Because you never told me! I would've been there for you—"
"You couldn't have been! You would never understand!"
"What the hell are you talking about? I was there! I got infected too—Mia, you—"
"You were never supposed to be there!"
The room rings with her panting breaths. Both of their knuckles are white around the phones.
"You were never supposed to find out," she manages, "you were—it wasn't supposed to be like this. God, Ethan, you were supposed to be safe."
An old, old anger flares in Leon's chest. He takes a deep breath, tries to swallow it, but Ethan's talking again and he frantically tunes back in.
"—think was going to happen, Mia? It wasn't just going to be that easy, something was bound to happen at some point. Did you think I—didn't you trust me?"
"Of course I trusted you, Ethan."
"Really? Because it doesn't feel like it. You kept secrets from me, big secrets, Mia, you don't do that with someone you trust."
"What was I supposed to say? 'Hi, honey, no, I'm actually not babysitting this time, I'm escorting an experimental bioweapon across international waters? Don't come looking for me?'"
"Jesus Christ, Mia—"
"See? You wouldn't have understood!"
"I died for you, Mia!"
Mia's eyes widen. Ethan's chest heaves with the force of his shout. He makes himself take a deep breath and Leon forces himself to relax. Shit, this is so not his forte…
"I died for you," he says again, quieter this time. "I died and I came back for you. And I tried to be there for you, the whole time, like I was supposed to be, and you—you—"
Oh, God, no, don't let Ethan start crying. He has no idea what the fuck he's supposed to do if Ethan starts crying.
"You were my wife," and all three of them wince at the past tense, "was it so wrong for me to want you to be there for me?"
"I tried to be—"
"You didn't." Ethan doesn't even sound mad anymore, just exhausted. "You were too busy trying to keep the truth about me and Rose from me, from Chris, from everyone. Like if you pretended hard enough, everything would be okay. God, Mia, it was like—it was like you were the one who'd died."
Her face twists. "Is that why you went to Chris?"
Oh. Oh, God, oh, fuck. Give Leon an island full of bioweapons and trigger-happy mercenaries any day, do not make him deal with emotions involving Christopher fucking Redfield.
"What?"
"Don't play coy with me now, Ethan," Mia says, voice hardening, "did you really think I wouldn't notice?"
"Mia, what the hell are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about how you and Chris were acting more like the married couple by the end of things than you and I were."
Then, something truly terrifying happens: Ethan Winters laughs.
It's not humorous. It's not happy. It's bordering on manic and utterly, utterly cold in a way that feels wrong for a person so fundamentally warm and it rings in Leon's ears. Even Mia looks shaken by it.
"You think I what, seduced Chris Redfield with my tragic bioweapon ass because you and I were fighting all the time? That's what you think happened?"
"Ethan—"
"Let's get one thing crystal goddamn clear: I never cheated on you. Not when you were missing, not when we were stuck in the compound, not once in Romania or any other hell hole the two of us got shoved in. I turned to Chris because I was fucking scared, Mia, and he was supposed to be keeping us safe, not because he made me feel wanted. The only person who's made me feel wanted in the past—well, I don't know how many years it's been now, but that's Karl fucking Heisenberg and he only wanted me to get to Rose so he could use her to kill Mother Miranda. You can accuse me of a lot of things, Mia, and I'll let you, but I was never unfaithful."
"That's not what I meant, Ethan," Mia tries, but Ethan's already shaking his head.
"It's exactly what you meant, Mia. You think you're the only one who noticed things changing? You wanna know how I knew something was wrong that day? Miranda kissed me. And you hadn't wanted to touch me in months."
Leon can't stop himself from shifting. That's—holy fuck, that's sad in a whole new way. Seriously. He won't even ask for a gun, give him a knife and a virus outbreak, not—not whatever the fuck this is turning into.
Even though part of him really wants to put his hand on Ethan's shoulder right now.
"Chris was your friend," Mia says quietly—shit, he got lost in thought again— "and he was…it seemed like it was so easy for you to…to talk to him."
"I wanted to talk to you, but it…it felt like we were always fighting whenever I tried. Chris was—" he huffs— "he wasn't my friend, but he was…there."
Now both Mia's and Leon's brows twitch. "He was, Ethan, he was your friend—"
"No, no, he wasn't. He made that very clear."
Mia's gaze flicks to Leon's—he'd been half hoping they'd forgotten he was there, to be honest—and he just remembers the day he'd met Ethan Winters, before everything went to shit. Finding him alone on the mats, weeping, like he'd—
Well, like he'd just had his heart broken.
Some of that must show on his face because Mia's expression hardens with a distant anger—one he's worn himself from time to time, thank you, Chris—before it deliberately softens again. "I'm sorry, Ethan. I'm so sorry. For everything."
"I know. I'm sorry too."
She shakes her head. They sit in silence for a few more moments. "Where…where do we go from here?"
Ethan sighs. "Well, I think it's back to being poked and prodded by scientists for me. I'm not letting them take Rose away from me again."
"I don't think Chris'll let that happen."
"Yeah, let's hope so." There's a pause, then he huffs a laugh. A real one this time. "I was just thinking: Rose said once that she wouldn't let anyone try and stop us from talking 'cause I was her emotional support mold dad—"
Mia laughs at that too. Even Leon manages to crack a smile.
"—and now I'm imagining her explaining that to Chris with a straight face—"
"—and him not knowing what that means?" Mia finishes. "You know, sometimes she says things—the kids and their slang, I can't keep up anymore."
"Oh, I gave up trying. Now I just embarrass her with how bad I am at using it."
They laugh again, and Leon is going to get whiplash with how back and forth the emotions are here. Judging by the way Mia's smile is slowly growing sadder, she is too.
"How did we get here," she asks, mostly rhetorical, "how did it end up like this? We were…we were happy, weren't we?"
"We were," Ethan says, just as softly, "I was happy, Mia."
"Why can't we be happy again?"
"It's like the vows said: 'till death do us part."
Mia laughs, though it's through a sob, and Ethan does too. Now they're both just looking at each other, and then Ethan murmurs I love you, and Mia says I love you too, and—
"Alright," the BSAA guard at the door says, "that's time."
Mia stands up, smiling at Ethan, nodding at Leon, and leaves through the door. Ethan doesn't move until the door closes again, sagging in the chair with his head in his hands. Leon glances up, seeing another BSAA guard approaching their side of the door and holds up a hand. The guard pauses.
Ethan takes several deep breaths, each a little steadier than the last, before he pushes himself up with a tired smile.
"So," he says, "better than your soap opera?"
"Hell of a lot more interesting, that's for sure." He jerks his head toward the door. "You need another minute, or…?"
"No, I'm good. Thanks for being here."
Leon swallows. "No problem."
The guard steps away as soon as they're out into the hall. They walk for a few minutes before Ethan says, "Leon? Is it okay if we go outside for a second?"
"Sure. This way." They go to one of the little courtyards in the middle of the compound and Ethan immediately sits down on one of the benches, head tipped back like he hasn't seen the sun since…well, yeah, no, actually that makes sense. "You wanna just…sit here for a bit?"
"Yeah, if that's cool with you."
"I've got nowhere else to be."
And see, now, here's the problem: Leon would love to try and forget about everything he just heard. It isn't any of his business, hell, it's probably so far not his business that he shouldn't have been there in the first place, but now…now he's kind of emotionally invested.
This is why he just watches crappy soap operas that he doesn't tell anyone else about.
"What?"
"Huh?"
Ethan smiles blandly at him. "You're…kind of staring at me."
Shit. "Sorry. Just…lost in thought."
He chuckles. "You can ask if you want to."
"It's your business."
"Yeah, well, you just got a front row seat to the season three finale without being there for seasons one and two, so, you can ask." He shifts, leaning back against the bench more. "Figured it's the least I can do."
Leon frowns but puts a pin in that one. He may be slightly better at this whole having-emotions thing than Chris, but he's under no delusions that he's good at it. "How'd the two of you meet?"
Ethan lights up like it's goddamn Christmas when he tells the story and it sounds like every single rom-com in the world. Boy meets girl, they have a few sweet dates, there's a funny story here and there about office parties that don't go completely according to plan, and then they get married. Leon's chest clenches as he listens and yeah, maybe he didn't fully grasp the scope of what Chris meant when he said that Ethan was a good man, that he didn't deserve it—because no one ever deserves the type of shit Ethan's been through, but holy fuck, this man's like a goddamn golden retriever.
"Why didn't you leave?"
Shit. Way to fucking go, Kennedy.
Ethan tilts his head. "What do you mean?"
"When you got to the Baker Farm and you realized it was…"
"Fucked up?"
"Yeah."
And just like that, he deflates, something dark washing over his expression. "I couldn't. I couldn't leave, not when I knew Mia was there."
And the thing is, he gets it. He's about to tell Ethan how much he gets it when Ethan shakes his head and looks up at him with this self-deprecating smile.
"Pathetic, right?"
"You're not pathetic, Ethan. You're a damn good man."
"Careful, you say things like that too much, I might start to believe you."
See, now, that's the other thing. And judging by the way Ethan's suddenly avoiding his gaze, he's gonna guess that frown he'd tried to keep off his face made it there anyway.
"Sorry."
"Don't apologize, it's okay." He looks away, shifting to knock their legs together. "So. Karl Heisenberg, huh?"
If he was hoping for a way to break the dull mood, he failed. Miserably. "Everything in that village hated me. The lycans wanted to eat me, Lady Dimitrescu and her daughters hated me because I was a stupid manthing—" Leon tries not to snort at that— "Beneviento and Moreau were—and the Duke, I don't even know what the fuck his deal was, but he wasn't—the point is, only Heisenberg actually talked to me like a person for half a second. And as soon as I told him Rose wasn't a weapon, I was gone. It shouldn't even have meant anything, but Mia was dead—or so I thought, and Chris had been the one to shoot her and take Rose from me—and Rose was in pieces and I—"
"Hey, hey," Leon says, his hand on Ethan's shoulder before he realizes what he's doing, "hey, Ethan…"
Ethan bows his head, taking a deep breath. When he lifts his head again, his eyes are wet, and there's a lump in Leon's throat. "Is it wrong that I still love her?"
Well. Remember that shit he said about not being prepared for this?
"Sorry," he mumbles a second later, "you—you really don't have to answer that."
"How much has Chris told you about me?"
Ethan glances at him. "Not much."
"Has he ever mentioned Sherry Birkin?"
Ethan shakes his head, a furrow between his brows and suddenly Leon's telling him about Sherry. About wanting to be a cop in Raccoon City, about finding Claire—"Wait, Chris has a sister?"—and Sherry, and making a deal to keep her safe. Ethan listens, concern and sympathy engraved into his expression, reaching out to put a hand on Leon's shoulder when it takes him a second to get the words out, and he has no idea what the fuck he's doing or why he's telling Ethan this when he should be the one comforting the other man, and before he knows it he's talking to Ethan like they're old friends, and he doesn't know what's going on and all he knows is that Ethan Winters is a fucking unicorn.
"I'm sorry," he says, and there's not a trace of that weird curling in his gut that he normally gets when people tell him that, "that really sucks, buddy."
He blows out a short breath. "Yeah, I guess it does."
They sit in silence for a while. The wind is cool, not cold. The sun passes behind a few clouds and re-emerges.
"I've never told anyone all of that," he says suddenly, "not really."
"Well, I promise I'm good at keeping secrets." Leon huffs a laugh. "Hey, Leon?"
"Yeah?"
"I know this is weird, and it's—I'm not expecting you to say yes, okay, but…do you think we could be friends?"
Leon turns to look at him. Ethan just smiles back, a little awkward, but painfully earnest. He tries for a smile and finds it comes rather easily. "Yeah, Ethan. We can be friends."
That smile turns genuine so quickly it makes his head spin. He tips his head back to enjoy the sunshine again, a weight falling off his shoulders and Leon can't help but stare. In the back of his mind, he can't help but wonder what Mia Winters was thinking, even though he knows that's a dangerous road to walk down—one he's steered Chris away from a number of times too. But he looks at Ethan and all he can see is another blond trying to keep a child safe and…well, he's never been a saint.
"Ethan?"
"Yeah?"
"I won't let them take Rose away from you either."
Ethan looks at him, eyes wide, and nods. "Thank you, Leon."
He can't say much of anything else, so he just nods back. Then Ethan's looking over his shoulder like he's expecting someone to come out and sure enough, jogging over is Rose with Chris trailing behind her. Ethan stands up and catches her in an exuberant hug, spinning her around until she laughs. He catches Chris's eye over their shoulders and nods.
Fuck it. He's in.
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maxdibert · 1 month ago
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Hello Max, how would you describe Walburga black?
Like a matriarch — with everything that entails. The figure of the dominant, strict matriarch who wants everything done her way and doesn't tolerate being contradicted or challenged. With a temper just as nasty as her eldest son's, which is precisely why they couldn’t stand each other. I actually think Walburga and Sirius had very similar personalities — both dominant, both fiercely independent, both the type who refuse to be told what to do. The problem was that Walburga was the mother and he was the son, so in theory he was supposed to obey her. But because he had the same shitty temper as she did, he just wasn’t going to do that. And she was determined to break his will until the very end — and what she achieved was destroying their relationship completely.
I picture her as a very strict, demanding woman, probably not the nurturing type. Not the kind of mother who fits into that sanctified, self-sacrificing, tender archetype — that whole misogynistic fantasy Rowling loves so much. Rather, she was probably a woman fully aware of her status, of the power that status gave her, and firmly set on maintaining the family lineage, which to her was likely the most important thing. We have to remember that the Blacks were basically wizarding aristocracy, and aristocracy has always been obsessed with preserving surnames and bloodlines. On top of that, Walburga probably felt even more pressure because her sons were the last male heirs — the Black name would be lost through Narcissa, Bellatrix, and Andromeda, since they were women. She likely focused hard on crafting the perfect heirs, and, used to getting her way, she tried to do the same with her eldest son when he started turning out "wrong." But like I said — I truly believe Sirius and she had the same temperament, the kind that refuses to be broken, so she failed.
I think she probably poured all her energy into Regulus after that, whose personality was likely more like his father's — calmer, more rational. And I think Regulus’s death really messed her up. In the end, she lost both of her sons, even if one of them was still alive.
I also don’t think she hated Sirius. I believe what bothered her most wasn’t that he was a "traitor" or that he hung around with blood traitors, Muggle-borns, and half-bloods — but that when she looked at him and argued with him, she saw herself. She saw everything she didn’t like about herself, and that’s why it all felt so personal.
Honestly, I’m kind of obsessed with dysfunctional mothers, because we’re so used to shitty, absent fathers. Men seem to be allowed not to know how to deal with their kids or not have deep emotional bonds with them, and nobody blinks. But when a mother is like that, she’s immediately labeled a horrible person, a witch, a monster — because apparently mothers are supposed to be the Virgin Mary incarnate. Like, the moment a woman gives birth, she stops being a person and becomes a Mother. And I find mothers who are a bit of a mess way more interesting than the saintly ones. Walburga is one of those mothers.
People love the headcanon that she didn’t love her sons, but I disagree. A lot of parents don’t love their children well — but that doesn’t mean they don’t love them.
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autistictaxidermyman · 9 months ago
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trying to write my alternate s4 fix it fic concept and thought I'd share the first draft opening paragraphs of the first chapter, which focuses on Klaus (and his life with Allison, Ray, and Claire in the time skip):
chapter one: never was the one for loving kids
For most of his life, there were few things that were undoubtedly true about Klaus Hargreeves, especially during the periods of time where he was anything but sober. He could list them off on half a hand: he was a drug addict, he had super powers, and he was one member of the most dysfunctional family on the planet. 
Now that they had continued their escapades through time and alternate timelines, he was pretty sure they were the most dysfunctional family at any point in time, in any universe. Five was the only one who seemed to actually wrap his head around those things, so he didn’t actually know, but Klaus was all but sure that he was correct in his assumption. 
After six years in this new timeline, though, Klaus knew a lot more about himself and what he cared about. It boiled down to a few core things when you peeled back every complication: he liked being sober, he loved his niece, he didn’t have super powers anymore and he wanted to keep it that way, and he was still a part of that aforementioned dysfunctional family. 
Oh, and he might not strictly be a “he”, but they would deal with that at some point further down the line when they had a second to talk to Viktor because right now, the world might be ending again. 
Or at least, their world was ending.
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sugolara · 5 months ago
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♫ Ridin' round and round
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Ft. Shota, Katsuki, Hitoshi, Izuku, Shoto, Eri & gn! reader
Synopsis: Born by dysfunctional parents, Shota Aizawa takes it upon himself to adopt a litter of kids to give them the best chance life could offer them. Or... [A family with different parents try to beat any obstacle that come their way, though they couldn't have done this without the help of their adopted father; Shota.] Cw: language, drinking, smoking, substance abuse, death mention, a bit of angst, quirkless! au, humor, slight sexual themes nothing to graphic, gender neutral reader!, updates once a month or so Honorable Supporting Cast: Denki Kaminari [The best friend], Kyoka Jiro [The friend], Eijiro Kirishima [The love interest], Ochaco Uraraka [The friend], Tenya Iida [The love interest/Ex], Mina Ashido [The friend/Ex], Momo Yaoyorozu [The love Interest], Hanta Sero [The love interst] & other extras that aren't important Music of the chapter: In My Neighborhood — The High Plane Drifters
previous || series m.list || next
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Later that day, school was finally over and with the breakup of Tenya and F/n still lingering in the air he refused to hangout with all the siblings at their home. While F/n was unaware of his refusal, they brought home Mina, Hanta, Kyoka, and of course, Denki. Along with them came Ochaco and Eijiro, but unlike the two who hung out in Katsuki’s and Izuku’s shared room, the others stayed in F/n’s. Since it was also a shared bedroom, the friends knew to keep in mind of Eri’s privacy.
On the twin size bed, F/n leaned against their headboard while Mina had their feet on her lap. The pink-haired girl always kept beauty products in her bag, so with a hot pink nail polish plush between the blankets to keep it from spilling, she painted F/n’s toes neatly. A toe separator was also neatly placed in between the crevasse, “I never knew you had this many siblings, F/n. You never told me about them.”
“‘Cause they’re not important.” F/n hummed out, knowing it was a complete lie. Continuing to read a magazine about staying healthy while eating Hitoshi’s bag of chips, being lucky that the tired male was busy with some after school club,“Plus, we only went out for like a month or two and we weren’t serious.”
Gloomy, she popped the dry brush into the bottle to apply more polish, “Still, it would have been nice to know about who you live with. I already know Mr. Aizawa is your dad, but…doesn’t it ever get weird with so many siblings?”
Pausing from reading, F/n looked at the girl who continued to paint their toes. There wasn’t anything weird about having so many siblings, so with the question coming in mind, F/n’s eyes narrowed a bit, “What, you think we all love each other or something? Like some incest type of shit?”
Next to F/n’s bed and on the floor, Kyoka and Denki sat while Hanta placed himself on the bean bag where he placed it next to the other two. The three eyed each other. The question Mina brought up was always something that was brought up since everyone who knew the Aizawa family, knew they were all adopted. With that being said, lots—though mostly girls—have fantasization of the Aizawa kids. It was weird and they hated whenever someone they dated would bring it up with a shy gaze, like they hadn't just said the most disgusting thing ever. And when all that was said, it would mostly end with a fight; courtesy of F/n and Katsuki.
But, they like Mina and it's so rare whenever someone gets added to their group because of their dislike of everyone. Besides, Mina was just clueless about the whole situation, so to spare an awkward tension in the air Denki spoke up, “You mean like banging the same chick or being into the same person, right?”
Mina nodded, blowing on the paint for it to dry, ignorant to what the others were thinking, “Yeah, like do you guys ever have competition? I know this one girl that dated Katsuki and when she and him broke up, she told me everything about him and Shoto. Something about a love trope, I don’t know, she was, like, batshit crazy.”
Kyoka snorted, looking up from her notebook that had musical notes for a gig that was coming up, “She had like purple and blue streaks, right?”
“Yeah, her!” When Mina nodded, Kyoka glanced at F/n, “Wasn’t that the girl you dated to?”
Scoffing, F/n returned to their magazine, “She knew we were family, so who’s to really blame here?”
“You.” Hanta pointedly said, scrolling on his phone, “Because you did that to this other girl before she moved away—you all did it to her. Shit was nasty when she bragged about it.”
“Wait, even Izuku?” Mina smiled, “I know he’s into Ochaco, but I didn’t think he had it in him.”
“Nah, not that little twerp.” F/n said, closing the magazine, keeping their thumb on the page to not miss it while it rested on their lap, looking ahead, “We don’t go after someone we want to be serious with, they’re off limits. Just ask Izuku who threw me into a canal when he found out I tried going after Ochaco.”
Mina chuckled, trying to keep her hand steady, “How did that happen?”
“He paid Hitoshi to keep me up for two nights and when I fell asleep, he helped Izuku throw me into a canal.” F/n rolled their eyes at the memory, “Mind you, it was raining and the canal had fucking leeches.”
Going into his photo album, Hanta grinned, “You wanna see the picture Hitoshi sent me?”
“What, yeah!” Mina excitedly moved, kicking F/n’s feet that hit Denki’s head.
“No!” F/n quickly rushed to Hanta with wide eyes, “Don’t show her, shits embarrassing!”
The two trampled over Kyoka and unfortunately with Denki being placed at the end of the bed he had his head smacked by the feets that kicked away.
“This is the club?” Hitoshi, with a dead face that expressed wishes of going home and crawling into his bed, said. He stood on the doorway where he stared into the classroom of what looked like 2-A. The room was empty of human souls except for the two who stood in front of him with hopeful looks, “This is what you wrote me up for?”
Hitoshi said, looking next to him where Shoto also stood with his usual resting face. The bi-colored male had his hands in his pockets to keep warm from the cold room, “Neat, isn’t it?”
“It's an empty classroom with Tenya and whoever that is.” Letting out a sigh, the older male turned around, “Have fun ‘cause I’m out, Shoto.”
“No, wait!” Whoever reached out, grasping Hitoshi’s hand, “Please don’t go! If I don’t have any members then Mr. Nezu will shut it down! Shoto told me that he knew a lot of people that could join and this wouldn’t only help me, but also you! So, please, don’t go…stay.”
“...You know if I was blind and I heard this conversation going on I would think this was a love confession.” Shoto spoke before turning to Momo, “You don’t have to say…all that. Hitoshi and the others are going to join regardless, but for now I want some peace and quiet.”
A sigh of relief left Momo’s lips, “Thank you.”
“Wait, if the others are joining then does that mean F/n will be joining too?” Tenya asked with brows quivering, “Not that I don’t mind, but there are some ground rules that’ll need to be discussed.”
Closing the classroom door, Hitoshi rolled his eyes as Shoto dragged him into a desk, forcing him to stay glued to the chair until the club was over, “With the others joining we’re going to need a lot of rules.”
Nervously, Momo looked at Shoto as she held her hands to her chest, “So…you mentioned your siblings would be coming tomorrow. Are they going to be a worry…?”
“Yes.” Shoto nodded as he waved his hand, “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure their attitudes are in check.”
“Good luck with that.” Tenya and Hitoshi murmured.
“So, uh,” Hitoshi placed his palm on his chin, allowing his fat head to rest on it, “what club is this exactly?”
“Oh!” Momo grinned with eyes brightening, “I’m so glad you ask! This club is different from the others! This club…is a study club!”
“...Oh…great.” Said the soft disappointed voice of Hitoshi.
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creaturecomplications · 11 months ago
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TW: mentions of death(we all know who), analysis and acknowledgement of familial dysfunction in the TMNT 2012 narrative
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TL;DR immediately under cut
TL;DR: The 2012 turtles grew up in a dysfunctional family system created by Splinter and the poor writing accidentally gave a really good inside look to what real dysfunctional families are like. Also I still like this version, so I analysed it.
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Thought I'd share a thought I've had about the 2012 TMNT series for a WHILE. This is based on a mix of my own, admittedly somewhat limited, engagement with the series as well as what I've heard others say about it's writing quality and the particular issues it creates in the series.
TMNT 2012 unintentionally became a REALLY good look at what a dysfunctional family is like from the INSIDE. I say this as someone who grew up in a dysfunctional family system, though my parents were not physically abusive like Splinter was shown to occasionally be mostly to Leo but sometimes he dragged the whole family along for the ride. Regardless, let me give a couple examples.
People often complain how Mikey's character growth is just plain ignored by the writers repeatedly throughout the series(really anyone who isn't Leo or Raph, but Mikey's the focus for now). While this IS bad writing on their part, it's also something that ACTUALLY HAPPENS in dysfunctional systems like this. Mikey's role in the family is clearly the jokey, happy little brother. In families like this, you are not allowed to grow outside your role. No one will outright SAY it, but the family's reactions to such things will usually be enough for most people to shove themselves right back in their box. That said, some find spaces and people outside the family to explore these parts of themselves, and from what little I've seen Mikey seems to have done this with the likes of the Mutanimals, then, once he's back with family, everything deemed outside his role gets neatly tucked away until next time.
There's also their friends who, even those who've been accepted as family, don't get to see the full extent of the dysfunction. Everyone knows Raph and Leo fight, they'll yell at each other in the main room after all, but no one gets to see things like what I've watched of Splinter's and Leo's talks in the dojo, and most of Splinter's talks with Raph about his anger. Actually, a lot of Splinter's not-so-great actions are hidden, not just from their friends, but from a good chunk of his sons too. Then, once someone like April shows up, he's the loving, if some what strict, father that pretty much everyone in this community the turtles have built respects greatly. This respect isn't entirely without merit, I'll admit, but the point still stands that he acts better when people from outside their immediate family are around then he does when their not. I also wouldn't say he's the greatest towards any of his kids, but he's better to some then others with Raph and Leo getting the brunt of it, though even Raph seems to experience more warmth from him in the show then Leo does. He also seems to treat Raph and Leo better if Donnie and/or Mikey are around, though not as much as when friends stop by.
I know I've just spent an entire paragraph essentially sh*tting on Splinter, but I would like to point out that IS clear he loves his sons dearly. It's also clear he's a deeply flawed and traumatized character who I plan on exploring more. Regardless, it doesn't excuse his behavior and the toxic system he's created as a result of it. I think even more of an explanation could have been found if we knew more about his upbringing and the Hamato Clan outside of Tang Shen and Oroku Saki, but he actually doesn't seem to talk much about them which is FASCINATING to me considering how much pride he holds in his culture and in BEING Hamato. Quite frankly, I'd bet money he's recreated something very similar to what he grew up in, hence why he sees no problem raising the turtles the same but now I'm just speculating and making head cannons 😅. Either way, as much as he loves them, he was NOT the best dad.
Back to the main point, while the writing, again CLEARLY unintentionally, creates a really good narrative look at the inner workings of a dysfunctional family, there IS hope for them at the end from what I've seen. An interesting detail I've noticed is that the boys all seem to start getting along better and finding better ways to cope and work together whenever Splinter is out of the immediate picture for a significant chunk of time, like when their in space or at the farmhouse. It takes time, sure, but it's there. They also seem to do better and get closer as they get older, which is something my sister and I found in our own relationship. While Splinter's death is certainly hard on them, I imagine they'll stay close and things will only get better between them as time goes on. Maybe they'll realize how Splinter handled certain things wasn't great or maybe they won't, but either way I see room for them to be happier and more real, present, and honest with each other post series. Please feel free to respectfully give your opinion and your own observations, I'd love to see some other takes if possible! Also please keep in mind that I haven't watched the full series, mostly just clips with some episodes sprinkled in through the years so please feel free to tell and send me stuff so I can watch and learn more about these guys because I love them even if they're not my favorite iteration!
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basedonconjecture · 4 months ago
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Author Ask Tag
thank you for tagging me @ofcrowsanddragons & @thedissonantverses <3
What is the main lesson of your story?
If I had to distill it down to a single point it’s that identity is self-determined. We are a patchwork of influences from culture, family, experiences and a plethora of other things but no one can tell you who you are but you.
What did you use as inspiration for your story?
Since it’s a canon re-telling of Veilguard, that’s probably the largest source, haha. I’m fascinated by the Crows and the politics of Antiva, at large. Others are doing some truly fascinating work fleshing out Antiva as a setting for their fics that I’m truly in awe of, honestly. For me, personally, I really want to preserve that level of soapy drama that's baked into the Crows as we see them in the game so I'm looking at Italian historical figures largely through other fictionalized versions of them (Showtime's "The Borgias" and Netflix's "Medici" but also lighter fare like Casanova since romance is featured heavily in it as examples). My brain is often circling around Machiavelli, as well, and there's some ancient Roman philosophers floating around the proverbial vision board. By and large, however, I'm pulling a lot -- a lot -- from Shakespeare (the title of my last posted chapter is a reference to Julius Caesar and I had a real Neve-With-the-Conspiracy-Board moment there and there's a half written sleep-deprived breakdown of why somewhere in my phone's notes if anyone's ever curious lol) for, what I think, are obvious reasons. There’s a heavy theatrical element to the Crows and the storylines attached to them in canon but also the way Shakespeare moves people around each other, obscures information from them that is obvious to the audience, masked players, and identity etc. It’s grand monologues and tight interpersonal scenes where there’s as much being communicated in what’s not said as what is. There’s a play-within-a-play aspect to Lucanis’ companion quest line that I loved from the jump so I’m just…expanding on that with my Rook de Riva. Leaning into the aforementioned melodrama. 
What is your MC trying to achieve, and what are you, the writer, trying to achieve with them? Do you want to inspire others, teach forgiveness, or help them grow as a person?
At outset, Selora is half trying to prove her worth, essentially. She’s spent most of her life with the Crows purposefully flying under the radar, actively making herself look like an underachiever, to work with Viago all with the belief she was an essential Crow because of it. Getting kicked out sent her into a tailspin in trying to get back and really undervaluing herself (struggling with her identity outside of Being A Crow) but, along the way, through the people she meets and the much harder lessons of leadership, she learns to trust her own inner voice, it becomes less a matter of clinging to a life she knows and more claiming her right to be there. She loves the Crows, she loves Antiva, and the people there and probably falls closer to Teia in being a bit idealistic about it. There’s probably a few topics I will touch on tangentially (particularly in regards to family and what repairing those kinds of dysfunctional relationships can look like) but if there’s anything I can impart it’s to take up space. Whatever else they come away with, I do hope that’s among them.
How many chapters is your story going to have?
Oh, gosh. It’s currently at 15 -squints- and we’ve not even recruited Davrin, yet. I’n hoping to cap it at 50 which will require some finagling on my part, likely, but it’ll take however many chapters it takes.
Is it fanfiction or original content? Where do you plan to post it?
Dragon Age: The Veilguard rookanis fic posted on Ao3, that you can read here :)
When did you start writing?
I wrote my first book at 6 years old! It was for school, alas, but pretty much as soon as I started reading I started writing. I’ve been a storyteller in one medium or other my whole life. It was a regular hobby starting in middle school, when I started also doing forum roleplaying (I have no idea what the current terminology is these days) and has followed me all the way into my 30s now. I used to write little skits for different drama groups from middle school into college as well as original fiction, poetry, etc. I have completed one full length fantasy novel and the ever growing incomplete novels gather dust in various WIP folders.
Do you have any words of encouragement for fellow writers of writeblr?
Write. I know it’s oft repeated but it’s the most consistently universal advice I’ve ever run into. Writing is a muscle, it has to be built and can only be done by doing. Even just aiming for a few words a day (like 50 or 100) can really help! I will personally also set a timer as opposed to having a word count goal, like a 15-30 minute sprint, and whatever comes out is what I get done for that day. You’d really be surprised how often that gets the pistons firing to write more without feeling like I’m burning myself out. 
But! Some other advice: if you’re feeling really unmotivated and nothing else (consuming other media, listening to playlists, etc.) seems to be helping, try changing up your environment. I don’t necessarily mean going to a coffee shop or something (writing in public is impossible for me, personally) but I am sometimes way more productive writing on my phone, for example, or writing by hand than sitting at my laptop or PC. Seriously, try changing your environment or your mode of writing.
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tagging: @mythals-whore, @introvertedfangrl, @dymme, @operative-arrow and anyone else! (sorry if you've already been tagged, haVE ANOTHER)
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askbensolo · 4 months ago
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Hi! How would you describe the difference between your relationship with your mom, and with your dad?
Man, what a good question. Well…there are ways in which I get along better and worse with each one of them.
Mom and I have a lot in common. We’re both deep thinkers with strong personalities. She and I have really good conversations on politics (now that I’m not simping for the Empire anymore), and we really get each other when it comes to complaining about other people. Now that I’m at home again, Mom comes to me instead of Dad when she’s had a particularly irritating work experience—and, you know, I think Dad’s more than okay with this.
Mom has experienced some of the same struggles as I have. (Not all, but some.) So, I find that some of my experiences are easier to share with her, because they require less explaining than when I talk to Dad. But…Mom also worries more. And I think Mom is really scared of messing up at being my mom. Which shows she cares about me, yeah—but…the way that her fear presents itself, more often than not, turns out to be the opposite of what I need from her a lot of the time. So…she and I tend to butt heads a lot.
Now, Dad…I think I’ve grown to a lot closer to him as I’ve gotten older. I used to find him really annoying—and he is—but, now I see that he’s not just My Embarrassing Dad; he’s also a husband to my mom (who has always carried the galaxy on her shoulders) and a father to Rey (who’s still growing up) and even though he doesn’t really understand me sometimes, he does his best, and even though he’s already succeeded at getting me past age eighteen I can see he still cherishes the honor of being my old man, too.
My absolute favorite thing about my dad is that he is so, so normal. Despite everything he’s lived through. No Force crap. No emotional dysfunction or psychological quirks. He’s just A Guy. And…when he and I hang out, I feel almost normal, too. That is one of the best gifts anyone could ever give to someone like me.
There is never any pretense with Dad. I can tell sometimes that Mom is nervous around me—whether she’s nervous about how I’m doing, or about how she’s doing as a mother, I can’t always tell. But…Dad isn’t like that. Whenever Dad seems concerned about me, I know the only thing on his mind is making sure I’m okay.
With Mom…well, I’m not saying it’s her fault, but…I feel so responsible for making sure she’s okay. And, like—presumably the whole reason I came back home to live with my family was so they could make sure I’m okay—but…I really just feel…all this pressure to…not stress out my mom.
…Sorry. Did not mean to overshare.
I love both my parents. I do—I really do. And I know they love me. And every day I hug both of ‘em and tell ‘em “love ya” and I bend over so Mom can kiss me on the forehead like she used to when I was little and we’ve got all our inside jokes and our shared memories and I am so, so glad I have such incredible parents.
But…there’s always just those little things underneath our smiles that go unsaid.
…You know?
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therootsofourgarden · 4 months ago
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The Roots of our Garden Intro Post
🥀🌸 “If I could just try, could I banish all the pain in you? Give you everything you need.” 🌸🥀
Hey!! So this is a little blog for my crossover AU “The Roots of our Garden” (fandoms will be listed following the “plot/info” segment)! I’ll mostly be posting art and dumb little poems, as well as using this as an ask blog!! You won’t have to know any of the fandoms in order to understand this! I’ll try my hardest to make sure everything is clear and explained!
(Run by @thequasarwinds )
Plot/Information
Plot
A group of six individuals find a “spell/curse” has been placed upon them, forcing the group together under particular effects that allow them to be in tune with each other. Memories of an individual bleeds into the others- and ailments (whether emotional or physical) are shared across the group. Finding this rather unfavorable, they set forth on a journey to cure themselves of this curse.
Important Links (not active atm)
(Please note that this AU IS of a personal/comfort nature- and is used as a way to process my emotions- more on this in the disclaimers section)
Gardners list and roles (main cast)
Garden visitors (major cast)
Garden/plant growth lore explanation
~~~~~~~~ (will add more links in the future if needed ~~~~~~~
Fandom List
(I know this looks like a LOT; PLEASE don’t get overwhelmed or deterred!! You do NOT need to know ANY of these at all! And we (me and my twin) have worked hard to make sure the world building all comes together cohesively! And even more so on a character basis. A lot of these will only be present either through a few characters (if not one) or a location visited or mentioned)
Primary Fandoms
Little Nightmares
Hilda (Netflix)
Made in Abyss
Amanda the Adventurer
The Mandela Catalogue
Major Fandoms
Epic The Musical
Wings of Fire
Warriors
(there are more but those are the ones that feel worth mentioning)
Tags
~~~~~To be added~~~~~
DISCLAIMERS
Trigger and Content Warnings:
Suicide/Suicidal ideation, self harm, child abuse/the overall mistreatment of children, dysfunctional family dynamics, unhealthy relationships (of all kinds), fighting (of all kinds), depictions of violence, blood, and possible depictions/mentions of dissociation/derealization/depersonalization as well as, most if not all of the five major trauma responses (fight, flight, freeze, flop, fawn)
(and possibly many others which I will tag!)
As I mentioned previously. This is a comfort AU- used to process my emotions and what not. As such this does make this vaguely a vent account. But it’s still its own story outside of its relationship to me! And feel free to interpret the more vague aspects of this AU however you like! I LOVE textual analysis and interpretation of my work!
I’d like you to be at least a little bit…sensitive with how you interact with this blog. Just don’t be overly critical or rude, the whole nine yards. I may add onto this with certain boundaries in the future
This does NOT entirely reflect how I’d portray the characters outside of the context of this blog. As I mentioned, this is used for my own personal comfort- so I’m allowing myself some creative liberties in order to accomplish that. But it will remain relatively in character to the best of my abilities
the characters will be portrayed as either cats or dragons
🥀🌸”We could’ve had anything anything else. Instead, you hoarded all that’s left of me.”🌸🥀
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