#i am fully convinced that not even project moon has a good idea of what this thing looks like

[gygesiv]

Blood pours from above; the land of gold lies beyond.

The spiral ahead loudly screeches.

It must have reached this depth after burrowing and burrowing.

Although it has no eyes, it creaks to face you.

[nealiios]

The Supernatural 70s: Part I - Corruption of An Innocent

"We're mutants. There's something wrong with us, something very, very wrong with us. Something seriously wrong with us - we're soldiers writers."

-- with apologies to the screenwriter of "Stripes"

Dear reader, I have the darkest of revelations to make to you, a truth when fully and wholly disclosed shall most assuredly chill you to the bone, a tale that shall make you question all that you hold to be true and good and holy about my personal history. While you may have come in search of that narrative designer best known for his works of interactive high fantasy, you should know that he is also a crafter of a darker art, a scribbler of twisted tales filled with ghosts, and ghouls, and gargoyles. I am, dear innocent, a devotee of horrors! Mwahahahaha!

[cue thunderclap, lightning, pipe organ music]

Given the genre of writing for which most of you know me, I forgive you if you think of me principally as a fantasy writer. I don't object to that classification because I do enjoy mucking about with magic and dark woods and mysterious ancient civilizations. But if you are to truly know who I am as a writer, you must realize that the image I hold of myself is principally as a creator of weird tales.

To understand how and why I came to be drawn to this sub-genre of fantastic fiction, you first must understand that I come from peculiar folks. Maybe I don't have the Ipswich look, or I didn't grow up in a castle, but my pedigree for oddity has been there from the start. My mother was declared dead at birth by her doctor, and often heard voices calling to her in the dead of night that no one else could hear. Her mother would periodically ring us up to discuss events in our lives about which she couldn't possibly have known. My father's people still share ghost stories about a family homestead that burned down mysteriously in the 1960s. Even my older brother has outré memories about events he says cannot possibly be true, and as a kid was kicked off the Tulsa city bookmobile for attempting to check out books about UFOs, bigfoot, and ESP. It's fair to say I was doomed - or destined - for weirdness from the start.

If the above listed circumstances had not been enough, I grew up in an area where neighbors whispered stories about a horrifically deformed Bulldog Man who stalked kids who "parked" on the Old North Road near my house. The state in which I was raised was rife with legends of bigfoots, deer women, and devil men. Even in my childhood household there existed a pantheon of mythological entities invented explicitly to keep me in line. If I was a good boy, The Repairman would leave me little gifts of Hot Wheels cars or candy. If I was being terrible, however, my father would dress in a skeleton costume, rise from the basement and threaten to drag me down into everlasting hellfire (evidently there was a secret portal in our basement.) There were monsters, monsters EVERYWHERE I looked in my childhood world. Given that I was told as a fledgling writer to write what I knew, how could anyone have been surprised that the first stories I wrote were filled with the supernatural?

"The Nightmare" by John Henry Fuseli (1781)

My formative years during the late sixties and early seventies took place at a strange juncture in our American cultural history. At the same time that we were loudly proclaiming the supremacy of scientific thought because we'd landed men on the moon, we were also in the midst of a counter cultural explosion of interest in astrology, witchcraft, ghosts, extra sensory perception, and flying saucers. Occult-related books were flying off the shelves as sales surged by more than 100% between 1966 and 1969. Cultural historians would come to refer to this is as the "occult boom," and its aftershocks would impact popular cultural for decades to come.

My first contact with tales of the supernatural were innocuous, largely sanitized for consumption by children. I vividly remember watching Casper the Friendly Ghost and the Disney version of the Legend of Sleepy Hollow. I read to shreds numerous copies of both Where the Wild Things Are and Gus the Ghost. Likely the most important exposure for me was to the original Scooby Doo, Where Are You? cartoon which attempted to inoculate us from our fears of ghosts and aliens by convincing us that ultimately the monster was always just a bad man in a mask. (It's fascinating to me that modern incarnations of Scooby Doo seem to have completely lost this point and instead make all the monsters real.)

ABOVE: Although the original cartoon Scooby Doo, Where Are You? ran only for one season from 1969 to 1970, it remained in heavy reruns and syndication for decades. It is notable for having been a program that perfectly embodied the conflict between reason and superstition in popular culture, and was originally intended to provide children with critical thinking skills so they would reject the idea of monsters, ghosts, and the like. Ironically, modern takes on Scooby Doo have almost entirely subverted this idea and usually present the culprits of their mysteries as real monsters.

During that same time, television also introduced me to my first onscreen crush in the form of the beautiful and charming Samantha Stevens, a witch who struggles to not to use her powers while married to a frequently intolerant mortal advertising executive in Bewitched. The Munsters and The Addams Family gave me my first taste for "goth" living even before it would become all the rage in the dance clubs of the 1980s. Late night movies on TV would bring all the important horror classics of the past in my living room as Dracula, Frankenstein, the Wolf Man, the Invisible Man, the Phantom of the Opera, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, and Godzilla all became childhood friends. Over time the darkened castles, creaking doors, foggy graveyards, howling wolves, and ever present witches and vampires became so engrained in my psyche that today they remain the "comfort viewing" to which I retreat when I'm sick or in need of other distractions from modern life.

ABOVE: Elizabeth Montgomery starred in Bewitched (1964 - 1972) as Samantha Stephens, a witch who married "mortal" advertising executive Darren Stephens (played for the first five seasons by actor Dick York). Inspired by movies like I Married a Witch (1942) and Bell, Book and Candle (1958), it was a long running series that explored the complex relationship dynamics between those who possess magic and those who don't. Social commentators have referred to it as an allegory both for mixed marriages and also about the challenges faced by minorities, homosexuals, cultural deviants, or generally creative folks in a non heterogeneous community. It was also one of the first American television programs to portray witches not as worshippers of Satan, but simply as a group of people ostracized for their culture and their supernatural skills.

Even before I began elementary school, there was one piece of must-see gothic horror programming that I went out of my way to catch every day. Dark Shadows aired at 3:30 p.m. on our local ABC affiliate in Tulsa, Oklahoma which usually allowed me to catch most of it if I ran home from school (or even more if my mom or brother picked me up.) In theory it was a soap opera, but the show featured a regular parade of supernatural characters and themes. The lead was a 175 year old vampire named Barnabas Collins (played by Johnathan Frid), and the show revolved around his timeless pursuit of his lost love, Josette. It was also a program that regularly dealt with reincarnation, precognition, werewolves, time travel, witchcraft, and other occult themes. Though it regularly provoked criticism from religious groups about its content, it ran from June of 1966 until it's final cancellation in April of 1971. (I would discover it in the early 1970s as it ran in syndication.) Dark Shadows would spin off two feature-length movies based on the original, a series of tie-in novels, an excellent reboot series in 1991 (starring Ben Cross as Barnabas), and a positively embarrassingly awful movie directed by Tim Burton in 1991.

ABOVE: Johnathan Frid starred as Barnabas Collins, one of the leading characters of the original Dark Shadows television series. The influence of the series cannot be understated. In many ways Dark Shadows paved the way for the inclusion of supernatural elements in other soap operas of the 1970s and the 1980s, and was largely responsible for the explosion of romance novels featuring supernatural themes over the same time period.

While Dark Shadows was a favorite early television program for me, another show would prove not only to be a borderline obsession, but also a major influence on my career as a storyteller. Night Gallery (1969-1973) was a weekly anthology television show from Rod Serling, better known as the creator and host of the original Twilight Zone. Like Twilight Zone before it, Night Gallery was a deep and complex commentary on the human condition, but unlike its predecessor the outcomes for the characters almost always skewed towards the horrific and the truly outré. In "The Painted Mirror," an antiques dealer uses a magic painting to trap an enemy in the prehistoric past. Jack Cassidy plots to use astral projection to kill his romantic rival in "The Last Laurel" but accidentally ends up killing himself. In "Eyes" a young Stephen Spielberg directs Joan Crawford in a story about an entitled rich woman who plots to take the sight of a poor man. Week after week it delivered some of the best-written horror television of the early 1970s.

In retrospect I find it surprising that I was allowed to watch Night Gallery at all. I was very young while it was airing, and some of the content was dark and often quite shocking for its time. Nevertheless, I was so attached to the show that I'd throw a literal temper tantrum if I missed a single, solitary episode. If our family needed to go somewhere on an evening that Night Gallery was scheduled, either my parents would either have to wait until after it had aired before we left, or they'd make arrangements in advance with whomever we were visiting to make sure it was okay that I could watch Night Gallery there. I was, in a word, a fanatic.

ABOVE: Every segment of Night Gallery was introduced by series creator Rod Serling standing before a painting created explicitly for the series. Director Guillermo del Toro credits Serling's series as being the most important and influential show on his own work, even more so than the more famous Twilight Zone.

[rose-stardew-imagines]

Hello !! If youre not busy do you think you can do Abigail x Injured!Reader? Like maybe the reader didn’t come home one night after leaving for the caves so Abigal shows off her big top energy by going into the mines to rescue the reader herself. Only to find out whoops her partners almost dead lol

Hi, I know this took a while, I am very sorry. I have just been struggling to get back into a writing loop. Hope you enjoy this! -💜

TW: Blood, Injuries, Medical Things

Abigail x Injured Reader

Abigail was wired. She last saw you that morning, receiving tired kisses as you rolled out of bed, promising to be back from the mines by dinner. She watched you walk off the farm through a mess of purple hair, worry rooting itself deep in her mind. You were always careful, you always came back...spare for a few cuts and bruises painting your body.

She usually spent days like this with Sam or Sebastian, not wanting to spend all day alone in the big farmhouse. Today, she chose Sebastian's house.

Their visit was as good as usual, she laid across Sebastian's couch as the two talked about anything and everything. Though it was mostly Sebastian talking about his work projects or some argument he got in with his step-father Demetrius.

As evening rolled around, she practically couldn't take her eyes off of her purple-cased cellphone, her eyes burning into her screen as she texted you, checking if you were already home or not. As she expected...silence. She tried to dismiss it, trying to convince herself that you may had just fallen asleep when you got home, exhausted from your battles in the mines, or your phone had died, or-. She sighed, slamming her phone onto the dark leather and running her nails across her scalp.

"They are fine Abigail," Sebastian hummed, sitting next to her on the couch with a cup of coffee rested on his knee. "Y/N has gone in the mines how many times?" She flashed a glare at him.

"Says the world's biggest worrier." She teased with a strained smirk. She bit the inside of her cheek, standing up from the couch and gesturing towards the door. "I'm gonna head home...see you next week for Solarian?" He nodded, giving a slight wave as she jogged up the steps. Abigail rushed out of the home, eyes glued to the ground beneath her boots.

She shivered as the cool fall air sunk into her skin, almost going into a jog as she rushed down the path leading to the farmhouse. The evening moon light peeked through the tall trees, illuminating her way. You had to be home by now, you never stayed out this late. She practically went out into a full sprint as she saw the farmhouse grow closer, her heart sinking as the home was completely dark...just as she had left it.

She cursed under her breath, pivoting on her heel and sprinting up to the house and grabbing her sword from the doorway, slamming it shut behind her and running back up into the mountains. Wherever you were, she was going to find you and get you back home. She didn't care what she had to do or kill to do so.

Her grip on her blade tightened as she cautiously stepped into the mines. She had no idea how far down you'd gone, hoping there would be some sort of path you had left behind.

It was 45 levels down when she found you. Your body curled up on the frozen stones, purple hues on your lips and hands. Dark crimson bled through your clothes, freezing to the ground below you. A skeleton stood over your body, sharpened bone sword in hand. Abigail grit her teeth, adrenaline rushing through her viens as she ran forward at the monster.

"Hey!" She screamed, slicing her blade into the monster. The blade lodged into its spine and she groaned angrily, kicking the monster back onto the wall. She slammed her blade into the skeleton's skull, the monster falling apart into a pile of bones on the ground.

Abigail struggled to keep herself standing, rushing forward and slamming her knees into the ground. Dropping her sword as her pale hands cupped your face.

"Y/N, pumpkin," she whispered, pressing her hot palms onto your freezing face. "Wake up, please." Her fingers brushed against your neck, sighing gratefully as she felt a soft pulse beneath your skin. She picked your limp body up in her arms, tucking her sword into your bag and sliding it on her shoulder. She held you close to her, her jaw locked shut as she made a beeline to the elevator, practically kicking the control panel as she hit the first floor button.

She ran to town with you in her arms, struggling to slam her fist into Doctor Harvey's clinic door. Keeping her gaze on your sleeping form, you had stirred a few times, never fully conscious enough to understand what was going on around you, how bad of a state you had been in, how her body wouldn't stop shaking in fear as she held you tightly.

She never left your side as Doctor Harvey got to work on you. IT'S, stitches, bandages...so much blood. You were always so careful...you had seemed so good with your weapon when she watched you train, what went wrong?

When you woke up, she tried to ask 100 questions, holding your hand tightly as her blue worried gaze looked over you. She made you promise to be more careful next time you went into the mines, and to convince Marlon to teach her fighting skills so she could go with you sometimes.

[asleepycoyote]

My prompts

So I have written some prompts that you can ask to use. I will continue to add more. The ones that have italics or look like 'this' can be anyone's dialogue. I just added it so you know it's not only one person talking. To ask, you can just request the number of the prompt/s you can ask for multiple prompts, but please don't add too many. The ones that have a period at the end of the numbers, don't mind that. That's for me to remember something. Okay, anywho, take your pick :D. Remember you don't have to request one of these, you have your own idea, that's good! I'll be happy to write it! If you have a certain gender you want the reader to be don't forget to ask! You can also request me to add prompts to the list too! Okay so here's the prompts :)

1 "Oh no."

"What is it? What happened? Who died?"

"I think I just felt an emotion."

"You have GOT to be kidding me."

2 "Excuse me. I have to go make a scene."

3 "They're like a hurricane in human form."

4 "Fix it."

"It's a ransom note: I don't care about grammar!"

"There is no excuse for bad grammar."

5 "What does the little blinking light mean?"

"It means... wait blinking light?"

6 "What letter comes after 's' in the alphabet?

"T?"

"Ooh, yes please!"

7 "Why is there a magical portal in the bathtub?!"

8 "I love you from the bottom of my heart, but I don't trust your cooking. Stay out of my kitchen."

9 "We can't have a crisis- my schedule is already full..

10 "How long have you been standing there?

"Longer than you'd like."

11 "Small fire! I said to set a small fire! This is not small!"

12 "I want to go home."

"And I want to go to the moon. It ain't happening, sweetheart. Time to accept that."

13 "It's really not that complicated."

14 "Close the door."

15 "It's three in the morning."

16 "Why are you helping me?"

17 "Just trust me."

18 "What are you thinking about?"

19 "Someday you'll thank me for kidnapping you?"

20 "Who sent you here?"

"I wasn't sent here... if anything, it was an accident."

"Made by whom?"

"Myself, I suppose."

"You sent yourself here on accident?"

"Well, I certainly didn't come here on purpose..."

21 "I just want to be happy."

22 "Can I sleep over? My parents are fighting again."

23 "Why won't you let me help you?!"

24 "You know we make a pretty good team."

25 "You're a horrible liar."

26 "You're freezing. Come here."

27 "I'm saying that because I care about you!

28 "Sing me a song please.

29 "I can explain./!"

30 "Come here."

31 "The real treasure was the memories we made along the way."

"I almost died!"

"Ah yes, that was my fondest memory."

32 "They're crying, what do I do?"

"Go comfort them."

"How do I do that?"

"Start with hugs."

"With what?"

33 "Somehow you don't even have to open your mouth to make my head hurt."

34 "Stop waking me up in the middle of the night."

35 "Any shorter and you'd probably fade out of existence."

36 "I fixed you breakfast. I know it's just a bowl of cereal, but it's the only thing I can't burn."

37 "You just gave off the impression that you want to murder everyone you look at."

38 "It's not my birthday."

"It's definitely your birthday."

"Give me a calendar and I will prove it to—oh. Never mind. Happy birthday to me."

39 "Bold of you to assume I wouldn't just summon a trans-dimensional entity to help me avoid all my problems."

40 "I'm not human. I never was. So, why are you expecting me to act like one?

41 "Everything here can kill you, but I can do it most efficiently."

42 "They took my wallet. Yes, just my wallet. Well.... maybe my passport too."

43 "I don't think of you as a protector. More like a friend."

44 "You deserved that."

45 "Shh, shh. You were dreaming."

46 "I won't leave you behind."

47 "You should be in bed."

48 "What's our exit strategy?"

"Our what?"

"Oh my god, we are all going to die."

49 "Oh my god, you're taking up the whole bed."

50 "I could keep you safe, they're all afraid of me."

51 "I trusted you!"

52 "I know your secret."

"You're gonna have to be more specific there, buddy. Which one? I have a lot of skeletons in my closet."

53 "Who gave you that black eye?!"

54 "Everyone keeps telling me your bad guy."

55 "Why? Because I don't want you to get hurt, that's why!"

56 "You're scared of that, aren't you?"

57 "Come on, when have my calculations ever been wrong?"

"Well-"

"Shut up, that was one time."

58 "Enjoying the view, sunshine?"

59 "While I do enjoy the silent treatment, I wasn't aware I had done anything to you."

60 "I think that's enough."

61 "They deserved it."

62 "What... is this?"

63 "You can't be serious!"

64 "I'm not sorry!"

65 "Who are you?"

"Oh sweetheart, I'm your worst nightmare."

"Wait a minute. Your that guy that tripped over my shoes on the bus this morning and said thank you-"

66 "Just because I'm helping you doesn't mean I care, your death would be a minor inconvenience. That's all."

67 "You owe me."

68 "Don't make me come in there."

69 "Don't touch me."

70 "That wasn't funny."

71 "I am fully convinced you never graduated kindergarten."

72 "Am I doing it right?"

73 "For God's sake! Who have you killed now?"

74 "Do you even know how to fly this thing?"

"Normally, I'd lie and say yes, but considering the fact that I almost flew us into that building, I'm going to assume you know the answer."

75 "What are you doing?! Don't eat it!"

76 "Feel free to admire me."

77 "You're insane!"

"I know! Isn't it great?"

78 "You don't know a thing."

79 "The truth is I never loved you."

80 "Is this a game to you?"

81 "Stop yelling at me."

"I'm not yelling at you! I'm just... being abnormally projective in the vocal region!"

"Otherwise known as yelling..."

82 "Don't ever forget me. Please?"

83 "I screwed up."

84 "You're my regret."

85 "No, sir. I am not underestimating the kidnappers. YOU are understanding my grandmother."

86 "Stay away from the llama."

87 "No one visits my grave anymore... wait. I don't even have a grave!"

88 "Tuna shamed."

89 "Well, I can scratch that off my bucket list."

"Who puts getting arrested on their bucket list?!"

90 "I-I can't stop it. I'm sorry..."

"It's okay, it's okay. Just breathe. You don't have to be sorry for anything. I got you."

91 "What am I supposed to tell my parents? 'Hi mom and dad, I ,snuck out past curfew, almost died, discovered I can teleport, and now I'm joining a gang of superheroes.'"

"Maybe don't use the word 'gang'."

"You think that's the part they'll have the most trouble with?!"

92 "Give me the wallet or I shoot."

"No."

"What do you mean no? I'm serious, I will shoot you."

"Let me repeat myself. No."

"Um... okay I guess."

"Aren't you going to shoot me?"

"I don't know. This hasn't happened before."

"Well, until you do, wanna grab a bite to eat? I'm starving."

93 "Watch me."

94 "I thought you were dead."

95 "You're never going to let that go, are you?"

96 "Was that supposed to hurt?"

97 "You have to leave right now."

98

"I love you."

99 "I hate you.

100 "I didn't catch your name."

"I didn't throw it."

101 "How long has it been since you last ate something?"

102. "No, don't look at me!"

103. "How many marshmallows can you eat?"

104 "Why did you kick so much in your sleep? Are you constantly dreaming about soccer?"

105 "Destroying lives, one person at a time."

106 "Why exactly do you need chloroform at 2am.

107 "Just breathe."

108. "STOP EATING MY LASAGNA FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!"

109. "I don't understand why you should feel the urge to do that."

110. "I trust you."

"Wow, that incredibly... stupid of you."

111 "You broke my heart and all you can say is sorry?"

112 "You can't really blame me can you? You can only blame yourself."

113. "You keep painting me as the villain."

"Because you are the villain."

114. "Who could ever love someone like you?"

115 "I never stood a chance, did I?"

"That's the sad part - you did once."

116 "I've missed this."

117. "Who are you to tell me how to live my life?"

118. "Are you going to yell at me too? I guess I do deserve it."

119 "I don't want to have another surgery."

120. "Quit touching the IV."

121 "I was going to say something mean about them, but decided against it."

122 "How do you like raisins? How do you feel about a date?"

123. "Are you going to stand there or are you going to kiss me? I'm tired of lying to my diary."

[theblueholds]

Brief Astrology of Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd

I wrote this in honour of Dimitri's birthday last year! I wanted to share my thoughts for his possible big 3 placements of his natal chart.

I've been thinking about it for quite a while and hope to expand on the other lords in the future as well.

Capricorn Rising

In surface-level interactions and the way he navigates himself in his immediate environment, Dimitri is serious, proper and thorough in whatever he does. He is very earnest and dutiful, the burden of his duties and perceived duties constantly weighing on him, driving all his actions and the decisions he makes. 

As Capricorn Risings are ruled by Saturn, the planet of restriction, discipline, and structure, these individuals feel an unduly amount of duty and obligation and this is evident in how Dimitri practically shoulders the blame and responsibility to the lives lost at Duscur. Emotional suppression and repression are also markers of a Capricorn Rising, as the planet of restriction can greatly inhibit the native's ability to express themselves with ease. This is seen in how Dimitri constantly guards his vulnerability, his anger, his grief, regardless if he is aware of it or not*, preferring to mask it with a distant, friendly and professional facade.

(*This can also be why he and Felix are often at odds, the latter extremely displeased by how inauthentic he believes Dimitri to be to his 'true' self that he had seen in a rebellion in Western Faerghus. I think Felix has Aries placements [Aries greatly value authenticity and have a straightforward sense of self], squaring Dimitri's Capricorn Rising [Capricorns have much more convoluted sense of self] thus explaining their extreme friction.)

Sagittarius Sun in the 12th House

Capricorn Rising puts Dimitri's Sun in the spiritual, nebulous realm of the 12th House. The 12th House rules a myriad of things including the afterlife, karma, hidden enemies (including the native), the collective unconscious where the individual merges with the whole, the place of self-undoing, loss, isolation, self-sacrifice, but also healing, and secret gifts and blessings. With Dimitri's Sun residing in this House, it is these significations and ideas that become major and defining themes of his character.

The 12th House also explains how Dimitri is incredibly attuned to the voices of the dead. There is an osmotic quality to those with 12th House placements with boundaries between the real world and the spiritual world becoming blurred and undefined, lending towards a higher sensitivity to things not only of the spiritual realm, but to everything that is unseen. This explains Dimitri's highly empathetic nature, how he can open his heart up to the sufferings of anyone, be it someone that has already passed, and to take that suffering as his own. Beneath Dimitri's bloodthirsty desire for vengeance and justice for the lives that were taken in Duscur is a bleeding heart, one that has decided to carry things that aren't his own to carry (re: his father's parting words to him to pursue vengeance) purely out of earnest, deep-seated compassion and obligation.

This is the marker of a 12th House Sun native, someone whose identity and sense of self unwittingly revolves around and serves the wishes, ideas, projections of those around them. It is not often voluntarily as much as it is out of obligation, a will greater than their own, a calling, and that is where the karmic themes of the 12th House come into play as a very literal interpretation by Traditional Astrologers is that the planets residing in the 12th House represent the unrealised and unfulfilled wishes and regrets of your past lives, ancestors, even your parents at the time of your birth. It may even extend to the greater collective as a whole.

The heavy sense of loss and sorrow hanging over Dimitri as a result of being the unwilling carrier of such immense spiritual debt for all these people makes him take up the impossible and self-destructive mission of rectifying those wrongs, of finding restitution for those losses, a task far too much and unrealistic for a single person to bear, and yet he does anyway, out of obligation and guilt (and love). It is guilt that is a defining emotional experience of the 12th House because these natives feel so deeply and so widely and so uncontrollably that they assume responsibility and accountability for things that they shouldn't, for things beyond their control. With the immense guilt constantly weighing and drowning the planets in this realm, the native's focus is turned outwards to benefiting the collective as a way of atonement.

Jupiter-ruled Sagittarius on his 12th House also points at his rigidity in his ideas, his worldviews, and his stance and visions. This rigidity and sense of self-righteousness he has over his ideas of justice is what ultimately leads him to his own undoing in other routes, and also keeps him ignorant and unaware of the greater evils lurking in Fodlan at the end of Azure Moon. The 12th House Sagittarius Sun is lost and ungrounded in reality, too focused on fantasy and dreams that it forgets to look at its immediate surroundings.

Pisces Moon in the 3rd House

In Traditional Astrology, the 3rd House is where the Moon rejoices. As the planet of bodily comfort, nurturing and nourishment, it is understandable that the House ruling over the neigbourhood, the immediate community, friends, classmates and siblings is where the Moon shines the brightest. This is true for Dimitri. Even with the serious and professional front he tries to maintain in his Capricorn Rising, it is no secret to his friends and those immediately around him how kind, sincere, and comforting he is to be around. His attentiveness and depth of care, in that he is always willing to provide safety, warmth, and respect to anyone he speaks with, is his Pisces Moon shining through.

The Moon in the chart indicates where the native draws comfort from and feels a sense of safety, and for Dimitri, this is his friends, classmates, the people around him. Pisces comes in how this comfort is more abstract than material or tangible. Dimitri finds comfort through creating and finding meaning (and also idealising — eg. how vividly he recalls Edelgard in his childhood memories, as opposed how she barely remembers him at all) the smallest moments. Daily and mundane interactions, inconsequential small talk become cherished moments he holds dear as they allow him much-needed reprieve from the stresses and burdens weighing on his mind. It is these very moments with his classmates (berating Sylvain and getting swept up in his antics, trying to befriend and convince Ashe of friendship, learning to sew with Mercedes, working out with Raphael and talking about muscles, confiding in and connecting with Marianne, amongst many others) that give us a glimpse of Dimitri putting his guard down and showing us his inner child that he often pushes aside in favour of upholding his responsibilities.

His Moon in Pisces also supports his already compassionate nature, with his Moon attuned to and focused on the emotional, spiritual, and unseen side of healing, further reinforcing Dimitri's tendency push himself to his limits for others and sacrifice himself.

Other Notes

So, there we have it, an overview of Dimitri's big three placements. This breakdown isn't complete however, not until the placements of his ruling planets — Saturn and Jupiter — are sussed out.

This will take a lot more thought as they are generational planets shared between characters of the same age, though I am leaning towards Scorpio Jupiter (the emphasis on truth-seeking as well as secret-keeping, seeing the limits of belief systems and inducing transformation by going in deeper beneath the surface) and Aquarius Saturn (explaining the shared desire for societal upheaval amongst the lords, of restructuring the world around them but also the wish to enforce their own sense of order for the greater good).

Aquarius Saturn would work harmoniously with Dimitri's Sun, explaining how effecting change in the world around him helps build on his sense of identity and purpose, and also further lends toward his Capricorn Rising's extended sense of responsibility to those around him.

This will be expanded on in future entries (alongside other possible placements like his Mars and Venus etc.) when I figure out these generational planets more fully!

[snowflake-of-destruction]

what’s one thing you really want or wanted to write, but haven’t / can’t?

Haven't?

12/13 Akuroku week one shots

WITHOUT FALSE HOPE. You don't know how much I love that story in my head and yet there's only one chapter so far

The rest of the WIPs Give It Form, Advantage Rule, Sometimes the Lesson Is

I am failing

Somewhere in between Haven't and Can't

Axel's Moving Castle. I definitely should not have another WIP. It makes me look like a clown and it will be another thing I update too infrequently and feel like I let people down on....but I'm definitely going to do this

Can't

Kingdom Hearts Phantom of the Opera AU, but instead of playing it 1 to 1, it's a modern/real world/University au with an ambitious theatre department at Radiant Garden University putting on Webber's Phantom where Vanitas is playing the Phantom, Naminé playing Christine, and Riku is playing Raol. This is Riku's first major role and he shifts between cocky and nervous. Vanitas is abrasive but talented as you would expect. He's been cast in a lot of shows despite being difficult...and he's actually not that difficult this time around, comparatively. He started off obnoxious but Riku stood up to him early off in rehearsals and instead of raising hell, Vanitas took a shine to him and has been even giving him tips instead of complaining about working with an amateur. Enter Sora, childhood friend of Riku and Kairi and a new transfer this semester who is working on tech/a stagehand/etc. who Riku is overjoyed to see and who sees Riku perform once and becomes smitten. And thus the true Phantom of the Opera AU starts. In the background Organization XIII members are all different arts majors across different areas (theatre, dance, music, photography) all working on this joint senior project or MFA student showcase for the end of the year ( and younger students roped into assisting with it in Roxas and Zion's case). It's some kind of performance art showcase...people think....Nobody on the outside knows what is being planned, just that there keep being these strange self advertisements on social media of like Xemnas holding a hyper realistic bloody heart paired with an audio file of angry sitar music from Demyx, and then next time it's Axel and Saix dancing in front of a full moon while ice cream falls from the sky and then a date at the end that just says "Meet the Organization. Regain your heart." And everyone is too scared to ask what the hell they are planning. It's just known that it's their combined magnum opus and now there's drama because some of them are involved in the play when before they had agreed no mainstage performances this semester because they need to Focus on The Organization (and also personal drama because Axel is rumored to  be seeing a certain little blonde freshman and forgot to let Saix know that they were broken up for good this time before going after Roxas).

Final Fantasy VIII AU where Seifer passed the SeeD field exam and Squall didn’t and it makes all the difference. At the time where they are deciding to defy orders, instead of waiting for Seifer to lead the way and letting it fall on him, Squall runs out first or maybe the mission unfolds the same way but Squall just gets a case of stupid, stubborn noble later when Seifer is taking the brunt of what really was a group decision (and the right call still in Squall’s mind) even if Seifer was “squad leader” for the exercise. and especially when it goes too far (Xu telling Seifer ”You’ll never be a SeeD. Calling yourself a captain is a joke.” anyone?)  and starts talking back and being insubordinate in front of other people to the point where it can’t be ignored even if he is a favorite. Seifer is passed because SeeD still wants/was promised a gunblade specialist. Squall isn’t at the ball and thus doesn’t meet Rinoa. Instead Rinoa and Seifer meet up like their plan was, and, following Seifer gets assigned the mission with the Forest Owls of Timber. Squall doesn’t have the same motivation to chase after that Seifer did, so where does it go from there? Does less change than you would first think and Seifer still fall under Edea’s thrall? Does someone else? Does Seifer get to be the hero of the story? Is Squall still experiencing Laguna flashbacks while stuck in Garden? Where do these paths go?

Hayner meets Ventus and sees a second bonus Roxas, this one unattached. So he tries to woo Ventus like he would Roxas and fails miserably. He has to learn what Ventus actually likes and who he is, and in the process of "learning to cheat the system" he falls for Ventus, though just when he's starting to get Ventus to trust him/fall for him, then Ventus ends up as a history professor at Twilight Town University, teaching a class on the First Keyblade War (who better the teach history than someone who lived through it) since TT has progressed to being fully aware of the larger universe post KH3 in this au. Dr. Laurium Villiers was supposed to teach, but he had to back out and Ventus took over. Hayner was already signed up and is convinced not to drop a history credit he needs just for a chance to get with Ventus. I am not entirely sure where this was going after this point. I...combined a few story ideas while rambling about Ventus and Hayner one night. 

See you in the next life story of Axel and Roxas as Balamb Garden SeeDs in the background of FFVIII. No long explanation here. I just have some FFVIII feelings...you may have noticed them.

Story where KH1 era Sora and Dark Road prologue Xehanort step through the door and the portal respectively when taunted by time travleing brown cloak Ansem,and somehow end up in each other's places. Sora ends up studying at Scala in the past and ends up befriending and possibly dating Eraqus--they encourage each other's impulsiveness and other bad habits and are complete disasters together. Dark Road's search for the missing keyblade students plays out very differently. Meanwhile, Xehanort is stuck in a future that keeps changing as Sora changes the past and having a bad time of it as Riku and Kairi really don't take to him like Eraqus took to Sora. In fact Riku blames him for Sora being missing (while he still remembers Sora) and is an active annoyance. I can't write this, not just because NO MORE WIPS but because there's not enough of canon Dark Road out yet to make an effective skewed timeline.

Probably more stuff to be honest. But this is everything currently tied for first place in my mind at the moment.

[dakotacrisis]

Transferred (7)

Kagami and Marinette are adorable besties and no one can change my mind.

---

Today was the day! Marinette was going over to Kagami’s house to work on their project. She had been rehearsing what all she was going to say to her when she got there. Marinette really wanted this to go well. Now if only she could keep her cool and not get tongue tied while speaking and everything should be fine.

Marinette arrived at the address Kagami had sent her. It wasn’t what she had expected. It was a rather modern looking house with smooth pristine white walls and large windows. It didn’t really seem to match the brick and wrought iron architecture of the rest of the city. She rung the door bell and waited until Kagami answered.

“Good afternoon, Marinette, I hope you didn’t have trouble finding the house.” Kagami smiled at her. She was dressed in a pair of dark grey sweatpants and a t-shirt with a cartoon character’s face on it. Seeing how casual Kagami was Marinette was starting to think she was overdressed in her sundress and ankle booties.

“Hey, Kagami, I found it just fine.” She stepped inside, “Wow it looks so much bigger in here.”

The house was simply designed with lots of open space in all directions. Some pictures lined the walls and a couple of houseplants rested in the corners but besides that it was pretty plain.

“Can’t have too much stuff crowding the hallways for mother.” Kagami said, “Oh, can you take your shoes off? I have a pair of slippers you can wear.”

“Not a problem. My mom used to try to implement the same thing at our house but with how much running in and out we do she gave up.” Marinette stepped out of the ankle booties she had put on and wiggled her feet into the slippers Kagami had handed her.

“Can I ask who that character on your shirt is?” Marinette asked.

“Oh that’s Pucca. She’s the main character from this TV show I was obsessed with as a kid. Kinda still am.” Kagami looked at Marinette with a chuckle, “Kinda looks like you with the dark hair tied up in red ribbons.”

“New Halloween costume idea.” Marinette followed Kagami into the living room and sat down.

They started unloading their project materials. “What is up with that empty room we passed on our way in here?”

“Practice room. When the weather is bad it is where I practice fencing. It was where I usually practiced all the time before I convinced mother to let me start training outside at different parks. Had to convince her the open air and city noise was better for getting me accustomed to fighting in front of noisy crowds.”

“Got a pretty short leash as a kid, huh?”

“That was last year.”

“Oh,” Marinette shifted in her seat, “Kagami, I am so sorry. I didn’t--”

“Don’t be. It was a short leash.” she made a little choking gesture that made both of them laugh. “Now, where were we on the project?”

Marinette relaxed and looked over her checklist of project hit points. “We finished the list of laws and regulations in class and were starting on the essay. At some point we are also going to draw the map of the island.”

“You’re the more artistic one if you wanted to do that part and I’ll construct the essay from our notes.”

“But that seems like so much more work for you.”

“If we collaborate on it then I feel our different styles of writing may clash and it will look a lot less neat than one person writing it consistently. Also, don’t take this the wrong way but, I wanna make sure it gets finished on time. Your schedule of chaos may impede that.”

Her mouth dropped open. “My schedule is not chaotic.”

Kagami arched a single eyebrow at Marinette. “Sure. What are you doing after we finish up here?”

“Go home and finish the rest of my homework, research water flowers, finalize the design I want to paint on my blouse, call Nanette, eat dinner, I need to get back to Jagged’s assistant Penny about if I can help design a new t-shirt for his tour, I haven’t watered my flowers yet today too, then I…” When she listed it all out like that is did seem pretty packed, “Okay I see your point.”

“Don’t worry about the essay. We’ll write down what the values and culture of the island is like and then I’ll piece it together.” She assured her. “Sound fair?”

“I suppose.” Marinette still felt like she was getting off easy in terms of the workload.

“Also, Marinette,” Kagami said, “Don’t overwork yourself.”

Marinette smiled at her and the two got to work. Kagami was a very diligent and straightforward worker. No surprise there seeing how she is in life. Which made it almost impossible to find a place to bring up the Adrien issue.

Marinette cleared her throat and turned fully to Kagami, “Hey, I wanted to say something.”

“Go ahead.” Kagami kept her gaze down on her notebook.

“You got a bathroom around here?” Marinette kicked herself for chickening out.

“Down the hall, first door on your right.” Kagami pointed, not looking up from her notes.

“Thanks.” Marinette got up and went down to the bathroom. After locking the door she opened her purse to let Tikki out.

“Is something the matter?” Tikki asked.

“No, just wanted to chat.” Marinette leaned against the sink. “How you been? Anything new?”

“Marinette,” Tikki flew up to eye level, “You’re just putting off talking to Kagami about Adrien. There isn’t going to be any better scenario to do it so you might as well go out there and bring it up now. The sooner you Ladybug-up, the sooner it’ll all be over.”

“Ladybug-up? Is that supposed to be like man-up or--”

“Marinette!” Tikki poked her nose.

“Alright! I’m going!” Marinette snapped, “You know you are really cranky when you miss your after school cookie.”

Marinette left the bathroom and walked back to the living room. Kagami was still working ever steadily on the project. “Ladybug-up,” Marinette whispered to herself and entered the room again.

“Hey, Kagami,” Marinette sat down next to her, “Can we talk about something?”

“Get lost on the way to the bathroom?” Kagami smirked.

“No, nothing like that. And it isn’t about the project either.”

This grabbed her attention. Kagami stopped writing and diverted her entire attention to Marinette. “You have my attention.”

“Okay, perfect,” Marinette took a deep breath, “Well, the thing is, I um--I wanted to say--it’s not a big deal or anything but uh...drat.”

Kagami was patient and didn’t push her to get to the point which was appreciated.

“Alright, there’s no easy way to segway into this so I’m just gonna go for it.”

“Please do.” She nodded.

“You and I both like Adrien and every time someone mentions him things between us get weird and it makes me really uncomfortable because I really like you and I don’t think a crush on the same guy should ruin the friendship we have.” Oh by the powers above Marinette felt like that simultaneously took three years off her life while also lifting a huge weight off her shoulders.

Kagami wasn’t saying anything. Her composure seemed to have slipped a notch and her big brown eyes were blown wide. ‘Please say something!’ Marinette screamed in her mind. ‘Anything!’

“Well,” Kagami looked away, “That was...not what I was expecting you to say. But I’m glad you said it.”

“Really?” Marinette didn’t dare relax yet.

“Yes. I’ve been thinking about it a great deal too.” She tugged at the hem of her t-shirt, “I know that you and Adrien have known each other longer and he thinks a great deal of you. He got so concerned at the ice rink when you left. Seeing how quickly he came to your aid made me a tad envious.”

“He’s like that with everyone really.” Marinette tried to keep her emotional distance, “He’d be there in an instant for one of his friends.”

“But when one of those friends has a crush on him?” Kagami probed.

“It’s not like he notices.” Marinette clenched her hand around her pencil, “In truth, it got to be more hurt than it was worth at one point. I almost gave up on him completely in terms of romance.”

“Why?”

“You.” Marinette felt her face grow hotter, “You two get along so well and have a lot in common. When he came up to me asking for advice on how to ask you on a date it crushed me but I said yes because I want to see him happy. Whether that be with me or you or someone else.”

“It probably also helped that you had a cute older guy mooning over you the entire time we were at the rink.”

“Luka. It is a lot easier with him, that’s for sure.” Marinette shook the thought from her head, “We’re getting off track. We were supposed to be talking about how our crush on Adrien is affecting our day to day interactions.”

“Right. Yes.” Kagami straightened, “If we’re being brutally honest then I should say that I feel a little threatened by you in that regard. I’ve done everything short of confessing to Adrien and still I feel like he keeps looking back at you.”

“Threatened by me? How? You’re so confident and cool all the time. Not to mention that you’re insanely pretty. You’re like Mulan made real!”

“Are you kidding?” Kagami scoffed, “How many passions do you excel at? You can create just about anything and already have major professional contacts in different industries. Also, you wanna talk about pretty? Have you looked in a mirror recently? You little blue eyed, button nosed, cream puff! How am I supposed to compete with the definition of a cinnamon roll?”

The two girls stared at each other before bursting into laughter.

“Oh, wow,” Marinette held her belly, “A cinnamon roll? Seriously?”

“Are you serious? Confident and cool all the time?”

“You are!”

“I can’t even muster up the courage to talk to my classmates in a social capacity half the time. For class or fencing I have no problem but if it is just me trying to be casual then…” Kagami trailed off. Their laughing fit flitting away into a dark hole of insecurity and awkwardness.

“Kagami, look at us,” Marinette rested a hand on her shoulder, “We’re friends. Nanette and Quinn and Adrien are all your friends too. There is nothing for you to be nervous about. Not in front of us. Not in front of anyone.”

“We are friends.” Kagami sniffed, “And I don’t want Adrien to come between us.”

“Neither do I.”

“But I also don’t want to stop pursuing him.”

“I don’t want you too either. Just like I don’t want to stop my pursuit of him. But I think we can rope that off as its own entity.” Marinette could see the light at the end of the tunnel.

“You mean the both of us keep on crushing on Adrien and try to date him but keep it civil between us.”

“Exactly. No sabotage. No jealousy. And if one of us does get to date him then we will back off and be happy for the other. Sound good?” Marinette stuck out her hand.

“Sounds perfect.” Kagami shook it. “I am so glad we got that out of the way.”

“You cannot even imagine. I was so stressed about bringing it up because it never seemed like the right moment and I didn’t want to run the risk of making you angry or ruining things further.”

“And I didn’t want to scare you off. I know I can be intimidating sometimes but I like you and I just wanted this whole uncomfortable part of our lives to disappear.”

“It’s over now.” Marinette cast her eyes down to the coffee table littered with their project supplies, “Unlike this major project we have to present in a couple days. We should probably get back to that.”

“Oh geez, I didn’t realize how long we were talking. Hand me the notes you made on the culture of our island.”

Now panicked and pressed for time before Kagami’s mother came home the two girls raced to make up for the time they had lost. By the end all that was left to do was for Marinette to take the rough draft of the map they had constructed and make it neater while Kagami ironed out their essay. They said goodbye and Marinette made Kagami promise that the next night they had free they were having a sleepover.

Marinette caught a bus home and took a few minutes to relax in her room before she jumped onto the list of other things she needed to do.

“I’m glad you worked things out with Kagami,” Tikki was sitting on Marinette’s knee munching on a cookie, “I knew the two of you would make great friends.”

“I’m more thankful that it’s over with. I never want to have a conversation like that again for at least the next year.” Marinette reached for a cookie off the tray by her computer. “Hm…”

“What is it?” Tikki perked up again. “Wave of inspiration?”

“Sorta,” Marinette booted up her computer and started searching. “Kagami is gonna love this!”

---

“And you’re sure that we can do this?” Adrien was on the phone with Chloe. Usually at this time he was talking to Marinette but Chloe had brought something to his attention that was pretty dire.

“When have you ever known me to fail?” Chloe bragged.

“It’s not that I don’t doubt you, Chloe.” Adrien was pacing his room, “But are you sure there isn’t anything I can do to help?”

“I’ve already explained your part in this, Adrikinz. Don’t worry about a thing and keep Dupain-Cheng’s nose out of this. I’ll call you when I have an update.”

“Can’t I at least hint at it?”

“Adrien,” Chloe’s tone was warning.

“Fine. I’ll keep my lips sealed. Goodnight, Chloe.”

“Sweet dreams, Adrien.”

They hung up and Adrien slumped onto his couch. He didn’t like the idea of keeping things from Marinette but this was a pretty big deal. Hopefully it would all work out in the end.

---

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (8)

[scorchviox]

Your Touch [ShigarakixOC]: Chapter 6

Chapter Index

By the next morning, when everyone had gone to work, Souseiki sauntered through the front door with the help of her house key. Everything seemed normal to her, “Why wouldn’t it be normal?” She thought while she walked towards her bedroom. All she needed was some clothes, just a few so no one would suspect anything. A great plan that could have easily been executed, but some unknown force out there in the heavens wanted the brunette to really take in the fact that her family wanted to move on as quickly as possible. Souseiki stood stock still as if someone has used a freezing quirk on her. She stared into the empty room in disbelief. Her eyes scanned the area frantically as if staring long enough would bring back all her belongings within minutes, but all she felt was a headache coming on and a static noise irritating her ears. “Where the fuck is my stuff!” Souseiki venomously barked out.

   If anyone other than her would walk in they would think no one ever occupied the room. It was spotless and free of furniture or any wall decorations. It seemed like a storage room that hadn’t been used since the family moved in. The following hour the enraged girl spent her time rummaging through every closet and cupboard in the home. Even further investigation did not help her anger because she soon realized all traces of her had disappeared in a mere day. From her duvets to her favorite pink plate were nowhere to be found. Such a sight seemed as if she had never even existed in their lives. There was no mistaking that she was not wanted at all, so she went back and closed everything she had opened and out small items back in their place. She couldn’t leave a trace of herself either, right?

   With a frown etched onto her face, Souseiki walked out of the home and looked around the street, out of precaution, before making her way to the road she followed the night before. Her brain screamed at her to run as fast as she could, but forced herself to walk at an even pace. Doing such a thing would only attract attention to herself, this wasn’t a street one would usually jog on.

   A snicker broke past her lips as she walked along the road as she remembered her mom’s words, “We love you, honey. We just think you could put in a little more effort.” She always reassured her of such things and she never knew why. Now it was evident as to why she repeated those words when she found a chance. Those words were an attempt at convincing herself she did love her daughter. What else could it have been at this point? To them, Souseiki was just dead weight that would only be able to work a desk job.

   “What bullshit,” the teen muttered as she threw her head back and looked at the azure sky. To think her family even cared about her after the little tortures they had put her through. If stupid had a picture Souseiki was sure it would be her. Continuing to think about such a somber subject would only further ruined her mood, so she groaned as she leveled her head to stare down the path she walked. The street was busy compared to the night before. Pedestrians walked up and down the street, each minding their own business, but something nagged at her to pull up her hood. Maybe it was her vast knowledge of undercover spy movies that nudged her to do so. For a second she thought it would make her even more conspicuous than intended, but her mind settled as she suddenly noticed a lot of people walking around with their hoods on. They walked among the crowd without caring what their ouster appearance was. It dawned on Souseiki that she could learn a thing or two from such people.

   Aside from that, her incident was already old news in this new quirk immersed society. People die every day and accidents such as hers occur more than once a day. At this point, she was just another statistic. The brunette was positive all eyes would be on her family, as they had mentioned last night. The public eye would be latched onto how Flux’s family recovered from such a tragic familial loss.

   After walking farther down the street she stopped when a slightly familiar building came into view. She stood aside and eyed the billboards over it. The lights weren’t on, but a faint memory of them nagged at her. Due to it, she walked down the alley slowly and scanned the area hoping to find something that looked even more familiar. She bit her lip looking around the alleyway in hopes that the slight pain would bring back an essential memory.

   “Welcome back,” called a voice in the distance. The brunette’s heart raced as she glanced around the are. There was no soul had or behind her and soon panic started settling in. Who would be calling her? Out of fear she pulled the sleeve’s over her fists and turned to walk back towards the crowd. “Hey, up here,” sighed the voice this time sounding more tired. At the sound of the voice, she once again turned quickly, causing the hood to fall off her head, as she looked at a window on the top floor. Above her was Shigaraki leaning against his forearms on the window sill. “Get inside already.”

   Despite the tone coming out like a boss screaming at an underpaid employee, Souseiki nodded and scrambled towards the door he had gestured to. When she stepped through the brunette made her way up a few stairwells before coming face to face with a familiar door. Pushing it open, she stood at the entrance to see Kurogiri sitting on a couch with a newspaper in hand and a mug of coffee on a side table. “Good morning,” he greeted, “there’s breakfast if you’re hungry.”

   Suddenly feeling an itch in her throat, Souseiki gulped the saliva that had accumulated in her throat and said, “Thank you.” She took slow steps towards the counter and saw two plates full of food. Taking a seat she looked back at Kurogiri, who no was sipping at his coffee.

   Shigaraki then emerged from the door she had just entered through and settled himself before the breakfast beside Souseiki. He picked up a glass of water and stared at the way he held it for a second, with his middle finger raised in the air. “Good to see you back,” he said before lowering the finger to grasp the glass with all five digits.

   Adjacent to him, Souseiki turned to fully face her food, “Am I really still welcomed?” She whispered loud enough for him to hear. The way these two strangers had greeted her shocked Souseiki, to say the least. Who in their right mind would help her, again, a stranger and house her? They invited her into their not so welcoming home and made her breakfast. Overall, she didn’t feel hated, which was nice. Quite frankly, this all felt like a fever dream, so she dug her nails into the palm of her hand until small, red crescent moons appeared. This new atmosphere screamed home to her now.

   “That’s a stupid question,” Shigaraki answered as he cast her a side glance through blue locks. A response so dry and irritated satisfied her and she too began to pick up her utensils and eat breakfast along his side. Minutes passed without a word. Kurogiri had stood from his spot and walked closer to the two, close enough for the mist to disperse. Shigaraki saw the way Souseiki eyed the man before loudly dropping his silverware to catch her attention. “Let’s go,” he demanded and pulled her out of the seat by yanking on the jacket she wore.

   The door slammed behind the two as Shigaraki led the way through the dark hallway and past the bathroom she had previously used. “Where are we going?” Souseiki questioned as she tried to look over his shoulder to see what room he could have been leading her to.

   He didn’t respond and simply tugged her long to the room she had used the nights before. “I had Kurogiri bring in some stuff you’d need before your parents got rid of them,” he mumbled out as he opened the room’s door. On the bed was a small duffel bag full of her clothing and mere toiletry essentials. It wasn’t much, but the thought mattered much more.

   Souseiki nodded to herself as she released her grip from Shigaraki’s and walked into the room. “So you knew about my parents literally erasing my existence from their lives?” She muttered picking up a shirt and clenched it in her hand. “Why didn’t you tell me? If you knew that little adventure I had last night wouldn’t be necessary.”

   The blue-haired teen stood at the door with his hands now inches pockets. He knew why he hadn’t said anything, but he played stupid, “No idea.” It would have been better for her to find out on her own terms. Taking his word, a stranger’s word, wouldn’t hit home as he’d want. If she felt that anger surge through her body and saw her parent’s nonchalant mood after her so-called death; he knew Souseiki would be a great accomplice. Her loyalty towards him and his ideals would only grow stronger from here on out if he let this happen. “Give me my jacket back. You’ve got your clothes now.”

   “Oh, right.” She said dropping the clothes she held and gripping at the hem of the jacket before peeling the warm fabric of her skin. “I don’t know what you want from me, Shigaraki, but I think you should know I don’t kill people,” Souseiki spoke with a tone so sure of herself. “I would never kill a person.”

   “Noted.” He smiled as he clutched onto the sweater outstretched to him.

   After their short chat, the hours ticked by and the two men didn’t see the girl for the rest of the day. They didn’t bother interrupting her at all whether she could be heard throwing things around or nothing could be heard at all. Shigaraki and Kurogiri sat in the open area staring at the television that simple had the words Sound On registered on the screen. “It’s only expected that the daughter of a hero would decide not to take a life. If you are to use her it must be in a roundabout way,” erupted the voice of All for One.

   Shigaraki lightly scratched at his neck as he eyed the screen, “Don’t you think I know that? I know how she’s going to be of use,” he assured as he looked at Kurogiri who was sitting still in his spot. “We saw that projected quirks work around her. That could be used to our advantage.”

   In his seat, Kurogiri cleared his throat and caught the attention of the teen. “There’s a chance she would go along with your plans. Souseiki has already expressed how thankful she is,” the response warranted silence, so he continued due to the blue-haired boy’s confused expression, “She asked if she was still welcome. She wanted to stay. That aside, she came back. We are her only home now.”

   “I’m not willing to gamble that. She’s the first to join my party. If I lose her right now I won’t get past the intro or even into the actual gameplay,” Shigaraki muttered toying with the frayed fabric on the couch. “Leave her to me.”

Next

[hag-lad]

Digging Deeper

Thank you to my radiant wonderful friend @alienfuckeronmain for sending me EXACTLY the type of self indulgent wind-down activity I wanted on this otherwise depressing weekend! If anyone else wants to answer FORTY-NINE QUESTIONS about themselves, I’m super nosy and will read it all! @fight-the-seether @ptolemyofchaos @butchwizard @metalbutch @nyndelion @comrade-ziltoid @leatherdear @kristalknobb Enjoy, friends!

1. Do you prefer writing with a black pen or blue pen? I prefer black, but I always feel like I write neater in blue??

2. Would you prefer to live in the country or city? The city, but only if it has breathable air, green infrastructure, and decent public transit. So like... definitely no city in America lmao

3. If you could learn a new skill what would it be? The ability to quickly become fluent in another language! I’ve been struggling with Spanish for literal YEARS and it’s honestly pathetic. My brain is so stuck on English.

4. Do you drink your tea/coffee with sugar? Look pal. If I wanna drink sugar, I’m gonna have a soda, not herb water or bean juice.

5. What was your favorite book as a child? I was OBSESSED with The Wish List, by Eoin Colfer (of Artemis Fowl fame). I remember being so fascinated by how dark it was?? It’s an afterlife adventure, where the main character has to escape purgatory by atoning for her crimes of robbery and fraud and whatever. I had a crush on her, so basically this book made me want to pursue a life of crime, even though it explicitly condemns crime and depicts Hell as a very real and horrible place. I was in like fourth grade and was super morbidly curious about Hell and the possibility of going there! Lol

6. Do you prefer baths or showers? Baths... but only when I’m not actually dirty going in. A bath is leisure, not hygiene.

7. If you could be a mythical creature, which one would you be? 100% fae! I would build my dwelling within a sidhe mound, steal shiny things in the middle of the night, make bastardly little contracts for no reason, and cause harmless mayhem and mischief because mortals really are fools (go off, robin goodfellow!) Also I love mushroom circles and dancing in the moonlight.

8. Paper or electronic books? Paper all the way! I read much more content electronically, but it’s usually in the short story or article format. Books are much better in print, I think.

9. What is your favorite item of clothing? Probably my rust-brown overalls.

10. Do you like your name or would you like to change it? I’ve always hated my name but no alternative has ever stuck, unfortunately. My name is Amy, and I don’t think it fits at all. If I knew I’d never have to correct anyone on it, I’d probably just change it to Amelia?

11. Who is a mentor to you? My little brother! He’s this genius musician, and he has taught me so much about song structure, polyrhythms, guitar technique, production tricks, all kinds of trivia that really deepen my appreciation for music and the LABOR that goes into it.

12. Would you like to be famous and if so, what for? No, never, not for anything. I cherish my anonimity so much, I don’t even put searchable tags on this blog cuz I get an adrenaline spike from anxiety if too many people interact with me. I also just think fame is a fucking hideous construct. I don’t think it’s even slightly cool or desirable.

13. Are you a restless sleeper? No, I’m a fucking log. I can easily sleep for 12 hours straight. Thanks, depression!

14. Do you consider yourself a romantic person? No, actually. I’m very much in love, and it brings me lots of joy to do nice things with and for my partner! But romance feels very difficult for me to connect with. I’m super domestic, like, I love the idea of marriage but not necessarily a wedding, or a moonstruck romance or whatever. Those dramatic gestures feel very awkward for me.

15. Which element best represents you? EARTH. Specifically, like... dirt, or soil.

16. Who do you want to be closer to? I want to be geographically closer to my family. We’re thick as thieves, but we all live like 50 miles apart from each other. I miss my brothers and my parents so much, I feel so incomplete and depressed without them to hang out with, especially since quarantine.

17. Do you miss someone at the moment? See above! Lol

18. Tell us about an early childhood memory. When my little brother was a baby, he had this grey car seat with a folding mechanism which held his legs in place. It made a very satisfying clicking sound when the mechanism moved, AND when it was fully unfolded, it looked a lot like a Klingon battle cruiser. (Or so my five year old brain thought.) So! My older brother and I would take this seat out of the car CONSTANTLY so that we could unfold it and “sing” the Klingon theme music from Star Trek: The Motion Picture while we scooched our car seat battle cruiser across the living room floor, pretending to shoot phasers into the TV or the dining table or whatever else got in our way.

19. What is the strangest thing you have eaten? Gifilte fish, maybe?

20. What are you most thankful for? My family, including my wonderful partner and all the cats in our lives!

21. Do you like spicy food? Yes! But my tolerance for extreme spice decreases every year, unfortunately. So I can’t handle as much heat as I used to, but I do enjoy a good kick.

22. Have you ever met someone famous? Lmaooo I made the regretful decision to PAY FOR a meet&greet with Fall Out Boy in like 2006, which was so fucking awkward and painful, I vowed to never approach that level of lame again.

23. Do you keep a diary or a journal? TONS! I’m an obsessive record keeper. Some years I journal more than others, and I’ve found that it is super difficult to keep up with it while working full time. But it’s absolutely one of my favorite hobbies.

24. Do you prefer to use a pen or pencil? Pen for writing. Pencil for drawing, and math.

25. What is your star sign? Virgo sun, Aquarius moon, Scorpio rising 🙃

26. Do you like your cereal soggy or crunchy? Crunchy! A shallow bath in that milk is key.

27. What would you want your legacy to be? My artwork. I go through these aesthetic phases every year that I become super obsessed with/ focused on, and I’ve always meant to catalogue them in annual art journals, but I’ve NEVER FINISHED ONE! They always get pushed aside by the need to work, and I hate that so much. If I could just take a year off work and backfill all of my missed concepts into completed books, I would be so happy. But I literally have NO WAY to pay for that, absolutely none. I fucking hate capitalism.

28. Do you like reading, what was the last book you read? I love to read, but finishing a whole book has been A STRUGGLE lately! Right now I’m chipping away at Tending Brigid’s Flame, which is a quaint lil devotional for the Celtic fire goddess. Very new agey, like cheesy Wiccan vibes. I love that shit!

29. How do you show someone you love them? Quality time!

30. Do you like ice in your drinks? Only if I have a straw. Ice touching my teeth kinda makes me wince.

31. What are you afraid of? Incompetance, doing a bad job, letting someone down, taking up too much space, being a nussiance, etc

32. What is your favourite scent? Incense! Especially cinnamon, dragon’s blood, and amber.

33. Do you address older people by their name or surname? I always call people, regardless of age, by the name they ask me to use. Sometimes it’s a surname or title, usually it’s a first name. I’ll ask their preference if I’m unsure. But I definitely don’t default toward a surname, that’s weird.

34. If money was not a factor, how would you live your life? COMPLETELY DIFFERENTLY!!!!!! The need for money rules literally every single hour of my entire life, and I hate it so much. I’m naturally nocturnal, but my job requires me to get up super early and sit in a car for 11 hours a day. I wake up at 5am, come home front work at 5pm, spend an hour or two trying to unwind, then go to bed and do it all over again. I hate my life! Really! I never see the stars, I never exercise, I am completely exhausted and burnt out all the time, and I barely get any quality time with my partner. If money were no object, I would sleep til noon or 1, make art and hike all day, ride my bike and stargaze all night, stay up til 4am reading and playing with my cats, and sleep like a baby. My partner and I would cook dinner for each other and watch Star Trek and collaborate on art projects and I would be so happy.

35. Do you prefer swimming in pools or the ocean? Here’s my hierarchy: Private pool > ocean > public pool

36. What would you do if you found £50 on the ground? I’d look around to see if anyone obviously dropped it and try to give it back. If I couldn’t find anyone, I’d exchange it for dollars and deposit that shit into my account!

37. Have you ever seen a shooting star? Of course!! Hundreds!

38. What is the one thing you would want to teach your children? America is evil and needs to be destroyed.

39. If you had to have a tattoo, what would it be and where would you get it? Lmao this is so cute. If you HAD TO HAVE a tattoo! I really wanna finish my damn sleeves, they’re literally 9 years in the making and barely half finished. But I’d also love more art on my legs! I DESPERATELY want Ziltoid in a lacy valentine heart on my thigh.

40. What can you hear now? Our fish tank water bubbling and my fan on full blast.

41. Where do you feel the safest? Home alone, doors locked, windows covered, lights low. I absolutely LOVE to not be seen or perceived in any way.

42. What is the one thing you want to overcome/conquer? My fear of discomfort

43. If you could time travel to another era, which one would you choose? I feel like I’d want to be a teen in the 80’s and an adult in the 90’s. Does time travel work that way?

44. What is your most used emoji? 😭 or 😎

45. Describe yourself using one word. Defeated

46. What do you regret the most? Convincing myself that math was too hard or boring (or something?) when I was in middle school. I feel like I’m actually a pretty intelligent person who could’ve totally overcome that difficulty and gone on to understand all kinds of patterns and concepts which have eluded me to this day! It’s so frustrating to try and fight that formative self-concept, which now comes naturally but ultimately sabotages me. 💀

47. Last movie you saw? I made my partner watch Troop Beverly Hills, one of my childhood faves. It’s so fun! I love chick flicks so much.

48. Last tv show you watched? Deep Space Nine. Getting through the first season has been harder than expected. It’s actually my favorite Star Trek show?? (Orrrr maybe that’s TNG, ahh! It’s so hard to choose!) But season one is so baffling and awful! Why is there so much space capitalism??! And racism? And war? And drinking alcoholic beverages? #notmystartrek

49. Invent a word and its meaning. I used to call a single strand of curly hair a “curly quink” when I was a child. Therefore, a “quink” is a section of hair, usually a particularly cute or iconic one.

[whats-the-story-tc]

26th-28th of April, 2020

"The Ones with the Series of Unfortunate Events"

[LONG AS FUCK SORRY]

After what happened on Saturday, I could barely fall asleep at night. I had a splitting headache from all the crying and genuinely felt like shit. Morning came, and I immediately reached for my phone. Nothing from her. It still being quite early, I tried to go back to sleep, and spent a full hour tossing and turning, a head full of thoughts, until I couldn't take it anymore. I turned my phone on and checked the notification bar, only to see a very familiar name and face.

I submitted my essay to her already, way before it was due, so when she actually assigned it in Google Classroom, I just pressed 'Mark as done' and thought I was good to go. V has obviously seen it (two links here). And, even though I didn't submit jackshit this time, she still felt the need to send me a "Thank you :)". I was overjoyed. FINALLY. So, as I explained here already, I had an impulse thought and decided to respond. "And thank YOU for the "task". I had a lot of fun with it. (I mean, the [poet's name] one.) If you're ever curious about anything of this sort, don't keep it to yourself :)" Of course, I regretted it as soon as I sent it. And, of course, I knew I wouldn't get an answer.

I promptly took a full day of rest after that, like I was trying to recover from a bad break-up. I didn't expect to hear from her again the next day.

Monday morning. New notification. Same old love of my life. She assigned us a project we'd already spoken about last week — to reinterpret a monologue from the play I read, the one V really likes, in any shape or form. Painting, video, prose, or, to quote V: "tiktok (not that I know how that works, but it's your choice)". She also said that she wants to keep what we make, maybe even share them with our Geo/Art teacher. I got even mote excited than when she first announced this. I knew I wanted to draw something, to show her a side of me she'd never seen before. I'm starting it on Friday. Doing a bit of painting, too. Wish me luck.

At around 2 PM that same day, Pocketwatch Friend noticed V's reply to her essay and asked me how she should respond to her. Found it quite funny, not gonna lie, knowing my history with replies. And as my friends told me about the responses they got, I realised a fundamental difference. All of them were skimmed over going into detail. They noted them fine, but didn't take the time to explain why they were noteworthy. So basically, they lacked content. Meanwhile the only things she spent paragraphs pointing out about my essay were miniscule stylistic mistakes. This gave me a fair bit of reassurance about what I do. I did enough. I was enough.

Come Tuesday, I was a nervous wreck to say the least. I always am, when it comes to online classes, but especially so when I have class with V. I walked up-and-down in the room, listening to her talk, not daring to say a word. God, I wish I kept to that.

Before I get to the part where y'all laugh at my misery, a teensy bit of prelude. Here I mentioned that the first time I had spoken to V after class, the 11th of October, 2018, we spoke about Hamlet. In short, I was a bit oblivious, and didn't really know how to recognise the Oedipus complex I've seen associated with the play. We were covering the story of Oedipus anyway, so I trotted up to her after class to talk. I remember the afternoon Sun shining really bright that day, and V being very relaxed and fully in her element as she spoke, leaning against my desk (that I wasn't sitting at by then). I went home smiling, unable to get her out of my head after that. It should've been clear from that day.

Now, on to class. There were a lot of good bits, a lot of interesting bits... but I don't want to talk about those now.

Last ten minutes, V asks if there are any questions. "I might just have one." I said, and immediately regretted it, even though I could hear the smile in V's voice as she said "Off you go". Theatre/Literature buffs, I'm sure you'll know the line "Frailty, thy name is woman!" from, you guessed it, Hamlet. Now, in the poem we were talking about, there was a line with the exact same structure, only with different words in the place of frailty and woman. I tried to twist it and see if V made that same association, but luck didn't favour me that day. V had no last clue what I meant when I said the quote was familiar. I tried to explain it to the best of my abilities, though I didn't remember the exact Hamlet quote. Neither did V. "I don't really know Hamlet by heart." "Neither do I!" I tried to counter, but just made it more awkward. Bless her soul, V googled it there and then, but just by me saying it was said to Gertrude, it brought up another play with another Gertrude — coincidentally, the one V stroke up a conversation about with me on the very last day of actual school. Those being the results made V laugh, so at least that's a win from my part. I ended up looking it up myself, trying to remember the quote, and ended up answering my own damn question. "So it was the grammatical structure, then?" V asked, with that very same peace in her voice as last year, and I excitedly replied "Yes!". Conversation over. And even though she genuinely sounded interested, I hated myself for bringing up a totally unnecessary thing. Though I hope that I made V "pull [Hamlet] off the top shelf" after class, as she said she might, were it not for me finding the answer.

I was already feeling horrible. Then, V brought up the assignments mentioned earlier and sounded really excited about it, starting to list what she imagined us doing. "A rewrite of the scene in the play..." and as she was saying my name, I grinned and asked her "Was this an indirect reference?". I needed no further convincing that she, indeed, read what I texted her. But here comes the part I laugh at now, but right then it was horrible. She actually chuckled at my teasing question, and God I wish I remembered what she said. Then I said: "I was actually planning on something else, but..." because I found it an interesting idea, and I have been meaning to do that, too. And that's where it got awkward. V, the usually unfaltering and confident V, was startled. Proper startled that she might have accidentally changed my mind. She started saying "oh, no, I didn't mean it like that, I was just trying to predict things..." and that made me worried, so after the oh no, I immediately started rambling "no, no, of course, I know what you meant, I understand". So there we were, talking over each other, both of us a nervous mess that we may have said something wrong we didn't mean. Right now, I find it absolutely hilarious, because how on Earth did we manage that?? But there and then?

I started crying. Silently, of course, not to worry her even further. (I didn't want to turn my mic off because I was scared it would malfunction again.) But I was so tense, that all my gasoline pool of nerves needed was this little spark of awkward, and it caught flame. I stood there, tears streaming down my cheeks, blaming myself for speaking and thinking I should've just shut up.

Soon after, V told us not to stress about the assignment, because "it's just homework". Everybody's favourite Cynical Twat, who is even worse at social situations than I am, tried to express he was glad to hear that, but did so in a very confusing and sarcastic way that V didn't really understand. "It would be pretty shitty of me" to make us stress, she said. So I dried my tears and jumped in, because she deserved to hear the compliment. "I don't mean to speak for [Cynical Twat], but I think he meant that we're all glad you said that. Not many people do it like that." I told her something along the lines of that. "Oh, okay." she said, disbelief thick in her voice. Hey, V. We bloody love you. It's time you start believing it.

Class ended soon after, and I spent about twenty minutes sobbing and cursing myself. The message from Pocketwatch Friend saying "I can't believe [V] replies to everything" as they were talking about her essay, only made it worse.

That night, I had a conversation with one of my underclassmen I talk to every once in a blue moon. We were discussing school and teachers, and I intentionally didn't bring up V. I waited for her to. Though, okay, I did provoke it a teensy bit, but just slightly. So, we talk about her, and through the things the girl says, I find out that... heh, of course, I'm not the only one she strikes up convos with. Turns out, after a joke, V even winked at her! (Okay, she did that to me once, too, when I stood up for her in class, but that's not the point.) After that, I was carrying the convo on just fine, but inwards, I was spiralling into a great big void of 'You ain't special to her, bitch, the fuck were you thinking'. The girl ended the conversation with "the woman's weird (...) but that's how we love her". Right. Yeah.

Now, two days later at current, I'm back in the room where all the crying went down. Bit surreal, thinking back. I'm sure I won't forget this for quite a while. Will my unlucky strike stop anytime soon? I don't know. We'll see. But I don't think anything could surprise me anymore.

You may take that as a challenge, V.

~ S ♡

[Every story I share here, no matter how specific I get with my wording, depicts actual events from my own life.]

[nadziejastar]

What do you think Axelnort would have been like if he had been targeted as a vessel instead?

In Jungian psychology, the “shadow”, “Id”, or “shadow aspect/archetype” may refer to (1) an unconscious aspect of the personality which the conscious ego does not identify in itself, or (2) the entirety of the unconscious, i.e., everything of which a person is not fully conscious. In short, the shadow is the unknown side.

To be perfectly honest, Axelnort probably wouldn’t have been a very interesting Seeker of Darkness, from a story perspective. He was too similar to Sora and Ventus. Lea was naturally cheerful and wore his heart on his sleeve. He seemed like he had really good self-esteem. He didn’t really have any crippling insecurities to exploit. Isa was more like Terra and Riku, which is why he was a better choice. Like the Moon, he had more unconscious sides to himself than Lea. I’m having trouble thinking of what Axelnort would even be like, other than just a sarcastic humorous version of Xehanort. I just don’t think Lea had enough of a Shadow Self to even get fully Norted.

The ‘shadow’ is the side of your personality that contains all the parts of yourself that you don’t want to admit to having. It is at first an unconscious side. It is only through effort to become self-aware that we recognize our shadow.

As an adult, Axel kept his feelings hidden from Roxas and Xion, but he was still very self-aware. His feelings were painful, but he didn’t try to actively suppress his feelings or avoid them. He cherished his memories of the past. He tried and tried to fix things between him and Saix. Saix was the one who put up the barriers, not Axel. Axel was very straightforward. He was more like Sora. Saix was more like Riku, in denial and trying to fool himself.

For the most part, Axel had a weak Shadow Self. He had a strong dark side, but not much of a Jungian shadow. Even when he tried to convince himself that Roxas and Xion were his REAL best friends, he wasn’t fooling anyone, especially himself. Axel was just not very good at lying to himself.

“Shadows are the lower parts of the psyche everyone has… Suppressed human thoughts given physical form. When people are unable to face their darker selves, they break loose, free from all control.”

In the Persona universe, a Shadow is the person’s suppressed thoughts given physical form. IMO, that’s what a Seeker of Darkness is. This is what Ansem Seeker of Darkness, Riku Replica and Saix were. Suppressed human thoughts given physical form. They are simply an aspect of the person, though. Not literally them. Shadow Aqua was not the real Aqua. Namine was just an aspect of Kairi.

To be a good Seeker of Darkness, you need a REALLY strong Shadow Self. You need an interesting weakness or insecurity in your heart to exploit. Sora had some shadow, but overall he wasn’t really a good choice to be a Seeker of Darkness. Kairi definitely didn’t have enough of a Shadow Self. Namine was still really pure. Same with Ventus, which is why Xehanort had to forcibly extract Vanitas. Roxas had darkness, but he still wouldn’t have made a great Seeker of Darkness IMO. Aqua only had a strong Shadow after being in the Realm of Darkness for so long. Before that, she was confident, strong-willed, and had good self-esteem.

Huh? I’ve just been talking about things I hate, but… don’t love and hate come from the same place? It’s not like that’ll be interesting to talk about. Well, I guess it could be. Things I love… What can I say I like—oh, that’s right, I don’t like anything. Everything sucks. So, if I say I hate something, I don’t want anyone getting the wrong idea that I have any special feelings about it or anything like that.

Marluxia and Larxene were pretty good choices. Especially Larxene. She had a strong Shadow Self. She had an aspect of her personality she couldn’t accept, which was love. Among the main cast, Riku, Terra, and Isa were definitely the best choices because there was a part of themselves they couldn’t accept. Let’s compare them.

Terra

— Is that to say that there’s a possibility that within Xehanort’s Heartless, the darkness that sleeps in Riku’s heart, there might remain something of Terra…?

That’s also a riddle connected to the next story, so everyone please use your imagination.

I think Ansem Seeker of Darkness was essentially Terra’s Shadow Self.  

Terra’s Shadow Self: I embrace darkness. Darkness is the heart’s true essence. I have given myself over to darkness. Darkness is strength. I do not fear the darkness.

Terra’s Suppressed Feelings: I’m afraid of the darkness inside me. Darkness is bad. It makes me unworthy of Eraqus’s love. Even Aqua doesn’t trust me anymore. I’m not worthy to be a master. No matter what I do, I can’t get rid of the darkness inside me. I can control the darkness. I don’t have to give into it. Right? Right!?

Riku

Riku’s Shadow Self: Riku’s a weak coward who’s afraid of the darkness. I’m nothing like that. I’m strong. I don’t need Sora to worm his way into my heart. I’m better than him. I’ll rescue Namine and finally prove it. I’m the real Riku.

Riku’s Suppressed Feelings: Sora is better than me. Even Kairi likes him more. Sora and Kairi are leaving me behind. They probably wish they could take the raft and leave without me—just the two of them. They don’t care about me as long as they have each other. I’m a third wheel.

Riku’s Suppressed Feelings: Now Sora is the Keyblade’s chosen one. That was supposed to be me! He really is superior to me. Maleficent was right. He’s got new friends and doesn’t care about me anymore. Maybe if I save Kairi, she’ll care about me, unlike Sora.

Riku’s Shadow Self: I’m superior to Sora. I’m so much better at stuff than him. I’ve been showing him up ever since we were kids. He can never beat me at anything.

Riku’s Suppressed Feelings: Sora’s better than me. I wish I could be more like him. Just following my heart and connecting with other people so easily.

Resolution: That’s not true. I am more like Sora than I think.

Quasimodo: Master Frollo–he made me live inside the bell tower, but the real walls were the ones I built around my heart. You helped me see that, Riku.

Riku: I was…speaking from…personal experience.

Phoebus: I’d say you still keep a lot locked inside.

I just need to let the walls of my heart down.

Terra: No more borders around, or below, or above, so long as you champion the ones you love.

I can connect with others, just like Sora can. After all, Terra chose me for a reason. I just need to champion the ones I love and I will have no more borders. I can confront my darkness and insecurities and be the person I want to be. The “other me” can have that broken Keyblade. I don’t need it anymore.

Riku had a strong connection to Terra’s Shadow Self and it helped him overcome his own. I think that was supposed to be what happened after Riku got swallowed by the Demon Tower. He’d confront his inner Shadow Self and have a boss fight where his Keyblade breaks. But he’d be strong enough to get a new one and leave the broken one behind. It felt like we got some kind of  Cliffnotes version of everyone’s development in KH3…

Isa

According to Jung, the shadow, in being instinctive and irrational, is prone to psychological projection, in which a perceived personal inferiority is recognized as a perceived moral deficiency in someone else.

Saix’s personality is essentially Isa’s Shadow Self. Not really Isa, but an aspect of him, like Shadow Aqua. Saix gives voice to Isa’s feelings he doesn’t want to admit to having. And you can tell that Saix was HUGELY insecure a master of projection.

Isa’s Shadow Self: I am strong. Xion is weak and useless. A failure! She failed her mission and fails at life. She’s nothing like me at all. I am strong and a TRUE member of the organization. Nothing like that worthless puppet. Why is Axel so attached to her?

Isa’s Shadow Self: I am very mature and independent. It’s pathetic and childish to rely on someone like Axel for everything. Roxas needs Axel to hold his hand and walk him everywhere. I’m certainly nothing like that. Grow up, Roxas.

Isa’s Shadow Self: Lea is such a loser. He’s lame. And laughable. I try to forget him all the time.

Even as a kid, Isa had a strong Shadow Self. It wasn’t anything malicious or bad. He was just similar to Riku and Terra in that he had a tendency to suppress his feelings and probably had a hard time admitting them to himself. To what extent Isa was like that, I don’t know. 

“He worries too much. Thinks he has to help Sora do everything…” Axel grimaced in irritation. 

“But, Axel, aren’t you the one worrying about Riku and Sora?” Naminé giggled softly. 

“Me, worry? You think I need to be worried about those two?” He stretched backward and rocked the chair back and forth, like a restless child.

I think it’s safe to say he was a lot more insecure than Lea. He was probably ashamed of his tendency to be clingy with Lea.

Genie sounded really worried about his friend–some guy named Al. But then he said that you have to respect your friend’s wishes. I guess you can’t always jump in and do everything for your friends– even if you want to..” Xion bit her ice cream, swinging her feet.

Axel leaned his head to one side. “Your friend’s wishes, huh…” It feels like I have heard that before, a long time ago, when I was human.

And it seemed like he was embarrassed that Lea would try to do everything for him. But he probably was nowhere near as bad as Saix. Saix is an exaggeration of Isa, like Riku Replica.

Isa’s Suppressed Feelings: Lea is very special to me. He’s the only one I can come out of my shell with. I can’t connect with other people as easily as him. I don’t have other friends besides him. He means everything to me. I need Lea. I don’t like how he picks up other stray puppies. He’s my best friend. I don’t want him to make other friends like Ventus. What if he starts liking them more than me? I want to be the most special person to him.

Isa’s Shadow Self: Axel’s a worthless traitor to the organization. I hate him. I don’t care about him at all. I’m glad he’s dead. He sacrificed himself for Roxas? How stupid. Nobodies can’t feel friendship. He was deluding himself if he thought he and Roxas were actually best friends like me and him were when we were human! Axel got what he deserved. He was foolish and weak. I’m certainly nothing like that.

Isa’s Suppressed Feelings: I need you, Lea. I’m so jealous that you have new friends. I want you to coddle me, not them. Please love me again. Please!

I don’t think Lea could have been a Seeker or Darkness like Isa could. I don’t even think Lea’s feelings for Isa were suppressed or unconscious. I think he was well aware that he loved Isa. 

[ljones41]

"PROMETHEUS" (2012) Review

"PROMETHEUS" (2012) Review When I first saw the trailer for director Ridley Scott's 2012 science-fiction thriller, "PROMETHEUS", I had no desire to see it. For me, it looked like another "alien in the spaceship" thriller that I have ignored for years. But after some persistent urging from a relative of mine, I finally saw it in the theaters. 

According to Greek mythology, Prometheus is a Titan and cultural hero who is believed to be responsible for the creation of man from clay. He also is also responsible for the theft of fire for human use, which enabled the latter to enjoy progress and civilization. Zeus punished Prometheus for the theft by sentencing the Tital to eternal torment. Zeus bounded Prometheus to rock, transformed to an eagle each day to feed on Prometheus' liver. The latter would grow back and the eagle would feed on it again . . . day after day after day. What does this have to do with the movie, "PROMETHEUS"? Honestly, I do not know. I am not of the intellectual variety. Then again, I hear that Prometheus' story is supposed to be a metaphor for human striving and quest for scientific knowledge, at the risk of unintended consequences. Hmmm. Now I understand why the filmmakers used this name. Set in the late 21st century, "PROMETHEUS" is about the crew of the starship Prometheus that follows a star map discovered among the remnants of several ancient Earth cultures. Led to a distant world and an advanced civilization, the crew seeks the origins of humanity, but instead discovers a threat that could cause the extinction of the human race. Although some members of the cast claim otherwise, it has been confirmed that "PROMETHEUS" was developed as far back as the early 2000s as a fifth entry in the ALIEN franchise, with both Scott and director James Cameron developing ideas for a film that would serve as a prequel to Scott's 1979 science fiction horror film, "ALIEN". The project remained dormant until 2009, when Scott again became interested. A script by Jon Spaihts served as a prequel to the events of the ALIEN movies. However, Scott chose a different direction for the movie, in order to avoid repeating the storylines of the past films. He recruited "LOST" producer/writer Damon Lindelof to co-write a new script with Spaihts. They created a story in which Scott claimed is not directly connected to the ALIEN franchise. The movie began with a humanoid alien drinks a dark bubbling liquid, and then starts to disintegrate. As its bodily remains cascade into a waterfall, the alien's DNA triggers a biogenetic reaction. The story jumps to the year 2089, when archaeologists Elizabeth Shaw and Charlie Holloway discover a star map among several unconnected ancient cultures. The pair believes the maps are invitations from humanity's creators or "Engineers". Peter Weyland, the aging CEO of Weyland Corporation, funds the scientific vessel Prometheus to follow the map. The ship's crew travels in stasis while the android David monitors their voyage, until they arrive at Moon LV-223. Mission director Meredith Vickers orders them to avoid making contact with any of the "Engineers" without her permission. The Prometheus lands near a large artificial structure, which a team explores. The expedition team manages to find an alien corpse and believe it to be an "Engineer". Their expedition takes an ugly turn they discover that the "Engineers" and other life forms on the moon prove to be a lot more dangerous than they had imagined. After my family and I watched the last reel of "PROMETHEUS", the relative who had convinced me to see the movie leaned over and offered her apologies. She even offered to reimburse me for my movie ticket. Why? Because I discovered that my original reluctance to see the movie had been justified. I disliked "PROMETHEUS". Wholeheartedly. It turned out to be the kind of the movie that I usually dislike. Not only did it turned out to be the typical science-fiction horror film that usually turned me off, I found the movie's intellectual aspects of the plot pretentious and incomplete. Were there any aspects of "PROMETHEUS" that I liked? Well . . . the entire cast gave solid performances, aside from some questionable accents from at least two of the cast members. I cannot deny that Dariusz Wolski's photography was breathtaking. Or that Pietro Scalia's editing was first rate. And Ridley Scott did a great job in maintaining a steady pace for the movie, despite its 124 minutes running time. Other than that . . . there was nothing else about this film that impressed me. I have few questions. Why did Elizabeth Shaw assume that the aliens who had created the star maps, were creators of mankind? How did she come to this conclusion? Because she had "faith"? Who was she supposed to be? A second-rate John Locke? Or a metaphor of the Titan Prometheus? And how did she come to the conclusion near the end of the movie that the "Engineers" were out to destroy mankind, after . . . uh, creating them? And what is it about this crew that they make such stupid mistakes that end up endangering them? A good example would be the geologist Fifield and the biologist Milburn, who lacked the good sense to run for their lives after spotting the snake-like alien. And could someone please explain how Shaw managed to walk and run around both Prometheus and the moon so soon after giving herself a brutal abortion to rid herself of her alien spawn? I have one last question. Why on earth would Elizabeth (the crew's lone survivor) even bother traveling to the aliens' homeworld at the end of the movie, now that she believes they are out to destroy humankind? Was it so important to her to learn about the aliens' motives that she was willing to risk her life in such a stupid manner? Moviegoers raved over Michael Fassbender's performance as the android David. I was too busy feeling confused about the character to consider any accolades for the actor. Exactly how are we supposed to regard David? As another Data from "STAR TREK NEXT GENERATION"? Or as one of the replicants from another Scott film, 1982's "BLADE RUNNER"? At first, David seemed to be in thrall over human culture, Elizabeth Shaw and the moon in general. Yet, a reason that is never fully explained, he decided to spike Charlie Holloway's (Elizabeth's love interest and fellow archeologist) drink with a dark liquid he had found from one of the moon's stone cylinders. Why did he do that? Again, the movie failed to explain. Some critics were also in thrall over Idris Elba's performance as Prometheus' chief pilot, Janek. I was too busy wincing at his attempt to re-create some kind of African-American accent. He had managed to do this successfully in the 2010 movie, "THE LOSERS". What in the hell happened? As for Rafe Spall's Southern accent . . . frankly my dear, it sucked. I wish I could say that I liked "PROMETHEUS". But if I did, I would be lying. I did not like it one bit. The movie tried to be some kind of profound tale that would leave many moviegoers asking questions. And in a way it did. But my questions about the movie only reinforced my disenchantment with it. What is really sad about "PROMETHEUS" is that it is the first Ridley Scott movie that has disappointed me since the 2001 movie, "BLACK HAWK DOWN". Pity.

[beelieveinfandom]

A thing from the Discord about a Cyberpunk future. Kid 2 is a reference to this conversation.

Dugamar, Potato King (SSSS)-Today at 8:50 AM

I missed all the good stuff Brb, gotta go design that post apocalyptic cyberpunk authoritarian future. I need the beans to interact with it How did I miss all the content? @Let'sHaveAnEpiphany this idea is amazing and fantastic and I need it

They of the Loquacious Title-Today at 8:54 AM

Ooh. Lemme know when you finish with that – I gotta figure out more about this Kid 2 I’ve obtained. I’ve decided, btw, that his name is Skylaradvorastyrmvariodonyx. Skylar for short

Dugamar, Potato King (SSSS)-Today at 8:56 AM

I like it Also how far future is this I thought I read something about multiple planets

They of the Loquacious Title-Today at 8:56 AM

As far as it needs to be, really. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Pretty far though

Dugamar, Potato King (SSSS)-Today at 8:57 AM

We could do a galactic empire sorta thing

They of the Loquacious Title-Today at 8:57 AM

Certainly could, although I’ve been picturing it a little smaller than that There may or may not be interplanetary travel, but I don’t think it’s huge and easy yet.

Dugamar, Potato King (SSSS)-Today at 8:58 AM

Maybe a few colonies on planets within the Sol sytem?

They of the Loquacious Title-Today at 8:59 AM

Yeah, stuff like that. ^^ I do have one bit of worldbuilding I’ve worked out. About names

Dugamar, Potato King (SSSS)-Today at 9:00 AM

oooo

They of the Loquacious Title-Today at 9:00 AM

I think most stuff is done by name, so the rich folks have shorter names – 3-6 letters, maybe. They’re easier to use and easier to hack, or something, but the rich folks have better security So poorer people have longer names, which take longer to use and are harder to deal with, but as a sign of rebellion, some have started naming their kids crazy long things in the name of uncivil obedience. They’re hard for the government and everyone to use, but if they get nicknames, they’re short, like the rich folks’ are

Dugamar, Potato King (SSSS)-Today at 9:02 AM

Ooooo World building idea This cyberpunk government has some sort of artifact that allows them to spy on people by saying their name That's why the wealthy have simpler names. They're rich, but completely at the whims of the authorities

They of the Loquacious Title-Today at 9:05 AM

Reverse Voldemorting

Dugamar, Potato King (SSSS)-Today at 9:05 AM

Yup Hmmm Is it controlled by a body of people, or is power condensed into one individual?(If it's one person, I highkey want it to be ruled by a Stan or Ford reincarnation)

They of the Loquacious Title-Today at 9:08 AM

Whatever makes more sense, tbh. Maybe a small group?

Dugamar, Potato King (SSSS)-Today at 9:09 AM

How we go from here is kinda dependent on that tbh Thoughts?

They of the Loquacious Title-Today at 9:12 AM

Maybe have it be two people? Hm. Maybe one of those leaders is either Stan or Ford, and the other twin is with the resistance

Dugamar, Potato King (SSSS)-Today at 9:14 AM

If I'm being honest, I don't know if a Stan reincarnation could run a stable yet brutal regime So I'm voting Ford for the empire

Moon, SSS Member-Today at 9:16 AM

agreed

Dugamar, Potato King (SSSS)-Today at 9:17 AM

How do you guys think the empire feels about magical creatures Are they  1) equals 2) tools 3) enemies

BeelieveInBees-Today at 9:21 AM

4) the government is actually run by the reptilians.

Dugamar, Potato King (SSSS)-Today at 9:21 AM

Bees you never fail to impress me

ID:ERROR 6891019183-Today at 9:22 AM

5) the government is actually run by magical creatures who now fully believe they are human

BeelieveInBees-Today at 9:22 AM

We have magical creatures as a discriminated against group a lot, because humans were in charge when the transcendence happened, I want to see that dynamic fucked with more.

Dugamar, Potato King (SSSS)-Today at 9:23 AM

I've been fully convinced This is good shit

Moon, SSS Member-Today at 9:23 AM

yeah

They of the Loquacious Title-Today at 9:24 AM

I would 100% collab with someone to write this, jsyk Also... hm. Is the whole twins with opposing agendas thing overdone? Maybe the two Stans should be the leaders, and have someone else close to them switch sides.

BeelieveInBees-Today at 9:26 AM

I would really like to, but I have four active writing projects right now and even more on the backburner.

They of the Loquacious Title-Today at 9:26 AM

lol same

Dugamar, Potato King (SSSS)-Today at 9:26 AM

What if they copy Rome? consulship and all that Both stans rule the empire humans are a slave race

They of the Loquacious Title-Today at 9:28 AM

If magical creatures are the group in power, but the Stans are the leaders, how does that work? It’s been established that souls usually reincarnate inside of their species

BeelieveInBees-Today at 9:28 AM

They could be half breeds.

Dugamar, Potato King (SSSS)-Today at 9:29 AM

The half-blood kings

Let'sHaveAnEpiphany-Today at 10:17 AM

sits upon my throne of ideas and watches the magic unfold Tossing this in there I remember not too long ago there was a post about how the reincarnation between species worked Its less species and more levels of sentience So that if something goes extinct the souls aren't just stuck in limbo for eternity or wjatever So if you have a species that has human-level intelligence and they interact enought with humans then human souls can reincarnate as either But if they are unaware of each other then no cross reincarnation

[skysplinter]

2. Correspondence

First chapter here.

Next chapter here.

Latest chapter here.

Commander Thorn placed the datapad back down on her desk, the report still open. Her thin upper lip curled. Across from her, C-244 clacked its digits together in anticipation.

She really didn't know how to put this.

'So,' said the commander. 'The prisoner was... cooperative, I see.'

The orb of light where the archivist droid's head should have been dimmed as it flickered slowly from red to blue. 'Cooperative. Yes, commander,' it told her. 'The prisoner provided answers when asked questions. The answers registered as adequate and relevant to the subject at hand, though there were some minor diversions from the primary topic.'

Thorn pinched the bridge of her nose and scrunched her eyes up tight. She was starting to get a headache, and there was little doubt in her mind as to the cause of it. 'So I noticed in your report, C-2,' she sighed.

'I am detecting a heightened level of stress,' said C-244. Its hinges creaked a little as it leaned over in concern. 'Are you well, commander? Should I notify the medical department?'

'I'm fine, C-2,' said Thorn. She dusted herself down, cleared her throat, and started again. 'It's nothing to worry about. Now, as I was saying - the prisoner was cooperative. This is... progress.'

'Correct. Current statistics register a five-point-two-eight percent survival rate of all interrogators following an encounter with the prisoner aboard our vessel, a marked improvement since our last attempt was logged,' said C-244 calmly, shimmering a cheery shade of yellow. 'I believe I successfully established a rapport with Scourge.'

'Scourge.' Thorn raised an eyebrow.

'They identified themselves as such, commander. I trust I have documented it adequately in my report,' it replied.

She ran her fingers through her short red hair and inhaled through gritted teeth. 'Indeed,' she said. She paused a moment, making a point to look as thoughtful as she could manage. 'At any rate, I do have to admit that simply surviving your little encounter with the prisoner is reason enough for praise. You've done a great job, C-2. Thank you.'

The droid's glow illuminated her office in a bright, brilliant green, well known by C-244's superiors to be its favourite colour. 'Assistance is a primary function of mine, commander,' it said. 'Please request again if you require my aid. On this subject, is there anything else you require of me before I return to my regular duties?'

Her false smile faltered, if only for a moment. 'No,' she said. She rose from her seat to shake C-2 by the hand before gesturing politely to the door. 'No, I think you've done enough for one day. You're dismissed.'

She watched it as it left, still glowing happily to itself as it plodded out into the corridor. Thorn struggled with her smile as it slowly but surely turned into a grimace while she waved her archivist out of sight.

Once she was sure it was gone, she closed the door, returned to her desk, sat down at her chair, and slammed her head face-first into the datapad.

She didn't want C-244 to think that she was mad at it. She hadn't been lying when she told it that it had done a lot of good work, and it certainly was true that it had developed something of a rapport with the prisoner.

The problem was that the interrogation had yielded absolutely nothing of use, and her commanding officers were starting to ask questions to which she simply didn't have the answer. C-244 had successfully eked out the prisoner's personality, which was nice - it was always a good idea to bring a highly dangerous murderer out of their shell - but what she needed was cold hard facts. She needed a planet of origin, a species, a purpose, some kind of explanation as to why the damn thing had been found lurking in the abandoned tunnels beneath Moon Base Two. She needed a name, not some flowery approximation of a monster's justification for ripping humans to pieces.

Of course Thorn recognised that C-2 had done amazing work, because in all honesty? It had. She had expected her resident chief archivist to be returned to her as a twisted metal jigsaw puzzle, but it hadn't; it had walked out of the room with its non-existent head held high, making a bigger breakthrough with their prisoner than anyone else still alive had managed. And it was right to be proud of itself. She was proud of it, even though she was having a hard time convincing herself of that fact.

The problem of the matter was that the heads of the Unified Intergalactic damned Council didn't want a "rapport" with the beast. They wanted statistics. They had allowed her to keep the prisoner because she was the commander of a research vessel, and according to their alleged higher wisdom, the prisoner was a thing that needed researching.

She shouldn't even have reported the life signs when they came up on her scanner. She shouldn't have sent down a team to find the thing, sedate it and bring it on board. If she had been born with any sense, she would have seen it, realized that it was a new and dangerous species that threatened the existence of all life simply by being alive, and left it back on that barren moon where it was. It wasn't harming anyone there, and it wasn't as though it had any way to leave the base it had holed itself up in.

Any other commander in her shoes wouldn't have dreamed of bringing that beast onto their ship - and even if they had, they would have let the stupid thing slip out the airlock "by accident" and log the events "with deep regrets at the loss of potential scientific discovery". She probably could have gotten away with a little bit of praise for that, maybe even the hollow threat of a promotion.

But no, Commander Thorn was too much of a fool to let her prisoner slip out of her grip like that. In her lapse of common sense, she reported the thing to her superiors. Then they had excitedly reported that to their superiors, and those to theirs, and so on and so on. So now she had the secretary of the head of the Council breathing down her neck, buzzing her daily for updates on the situation with "their little discovery", because suddenly this was Important.

She couldn't back out. She couldn't palm the project off to anyone else. She couldn't even shoot the thing out the airlock any more, because of the amount of attention this thing was getting. All she could hope was that one day she would wake up and find the prisoner in a much more forgiving frame of mind, openly offering itself up for a complete dissection in the name of science. The way things were going, however, Thorn wasn't sure whether it was worth putting herself up for dissection instead.

As the commander fumed to herself, a request tone sounded at the door. Her head slumped in her hands. 'Come in,' she said.

The door to her office opened, and she was greeted with a brief smirk by her second in command, Lieutenant Commander Durant. 'Commander,' she nodded. 'You're looking... well.'

'Don't even start,' Thorn murmured. 'There haven't been any more calls from HQ, have there?'

'Only two, unless I'm mistaken.' Durant stifled a chuckle. 'Don't worry, commander. Everything's still being redirected from your private channel. I think you still have eight messages you haven't watched yet. You're going to have to get back to them sooner or later though.'

'Can we not? Can we just forget they ever existed?'

'Of course, commander,' said Durant, an irrepressible grin spreading across her face. 'That is, provided you don't mind being stripped of command of the Lodestar for wilfully ignoring orders given by a superior officer.'

She weighed up her options. 'As much as I may want an extended vacation,' Thorn sighed, 'I suppose you're right. I will review them later, but as for right now - is there a reason for you coming to my office, or is this just a social visit?'

The lieutenant commander approached her desk and handed her another datapad - not a standard Council issue one, Thorn noted. 'Do you want the good news or the bad news first?'

'The good news,' said Thorn. 'I need a little cheering up.'

Durant rolled her eyes. 'As you wish,' she said. 'In that case - the good news. You'll be glad to hear that what I am about to tell you has nothing to do with the prisoner or your superiors whatsoever.'

Thorn nodded. That probably wasn't the best news she could have hoped for, but at least it granted her a momentary reprieve from the usual mess she had been dealing with for the past two weeks. 'And the bad news?'

'The bad news is that we've had an undocumented item transported to our research team by a couple of Earth traders who are being, um, difficult.'

'Define "difficult",' said Thorn, narrowing her eyes.

'They're refusing to leave the ship without payment for their service,' Durant explained. 'I have tried to tell them that payment is handled when registering a delivery, not when deliveries are made, but they don't seem to be fully grasping the concept.'

'You mean to tell me they don't know how delivering cargo works?'

'Apparently not, commander,' said Durant. She leaned over and swiped a hand across the datapad, the image on its surface shifting to a crudely typed note, littered with inexcusable punctuation. Thorn pulled a face as she glanced across it. 'This is their letter of complaint to the commander of this vessel. I thought you should be notified.'

'And they're refusing to leave, you say?' Thorn mused as she read the note. 'These people from the... the "Turner & Wheeler Delivery Company", whatever that might be.'

'Precisely. They're staging a peaceful protest down in R&D Lab Six.' Durant's usually sunny disposition paled a little as she spoke. She wrung her hands together awkwardly. 'They're not being any trouble, commander, but they do need to be dealt with; both of them and their cargo.'

'Ah, yes,' said Thorn. 'Their cargo. What was it?'

Durant looked sheepishly at her. 'Well... that's the thing. It's, um... It's unusual. I... I think you're going to have to take a look for yourself.'

[madethisforclasstim-blog]

Feature #1: Animation With Foundation w/ Reflection

Timothy Geard is discovered by Walt Disney Concert Hall for his character inspiration makeup looks.

By Timothy Heath

When you grow up watching cartoon versions of heroes, you tend to start to look up to them and replicate their character. Timothy Geard’s main source of makeup inspiration came from his interest in animation. Instead of trying to be more like another live action figure, he tried connecting to the vision of animations and how the hues correspond the mood of each show and character to deeply understand that character. 

His concept of taking a regular person and morphing the basic base with many other exaggerated features for visual illusions takes you more in depth into Geard’s fantasy world. The transformations can range from a kawaii perspective of becoming “Sailor Moon” to the exaggerated evil in transforming a human face into a more modern version of Hades from Hercules. 

The makeup community has a comedic phrase “beating your face” that can also be described as “painting,” more generally used in the drag queen community to describe the process of applying your makeup, that would also be compared to the arts of famous painters. “My face is a canvas so that I can make my look a masterpiece. I’m driven by the story of these fictional characters,” Geard said.

In his young adult years, Geard had always been the vibrant figure in his group of friends. He knew all about the top skin care, makeup reviews, and anything cosmetic and in his field of play. “Just like theatre, if you want to be good at something you enjoy a lot, you have to practice.” 

Geard said he has always been inspired by animated television shows, as he explains, “I’ve always grown up watching shows like Teen Titans and I was intrigued by the distinction of colors associated with character. It gives each character their own story if you ask me.”

He learned a lot of information from social media like Instagram and YouTube. Many other aspiring makeup artists share their unique skills on these apps in hope of business inquires or strictly for entertainment.

After quickly learning how to apply a basic coat of base foundation through attending courses at Stephen F. Austin State University, Geard’s makeup inspiration led his potential straight to California soon after he graduated in 2008. While attending courses as a graduate student at UCLA, Geard continued to expand his makeup abilities by matching corresponding makeup with different themes for school events (i.e. Homecoming, awareness months, etc.). 

Growing up in the suburbs of north Texas near the DFW area is only a part of the colorful personality of Geard. He always dreamed of moving away from his hometown in hope to move somewhere with more open views and opportunities for men who do makeup.

“I mean come on, we all know Texas is mostly a conservative state and I am a man doing my makeup … but that’s why we have ‘H-Town hotties’ like Megan Thee Stallion to inspire ‘hot girls/boys’ like me to do what I want to do with my life and grind my way to the top! She has always inspired me to never stop trying to achieve my goals,” Geard said.

Megan Thee Stallion is a rising new female rap artist that also does her own makeup and has her own trademark, “Hot Girl Summer” where those followers are known as “hot girls/hot boys.” Being a “hot girl/boy” is all about empowerment, confidence, and dedication.

Moving to the west coast for Geard has been a dream he is always awake for. The change of scenery, the vibes, even the possibilities to encounter another one of his idols. “Being in this state just allows me to open up more than I could in the past.” 

Geard opens up about his experiences with bullying for being considered more feminine than most of the other men in his life. He has always felt isolated from social norms and lived a private life, as he was afraid of any forms of criticism. “To add the cherry on top, I am also in love with theatre, so I am training myself to take that criticism and run with it!” Geard expresses. His theatre experiences through high school give him his charismatic and creative drive. His high school theatre teacher, Mrs. Brittany Gonzalez, has been one of his personal connections in his career. “She should definitely be taking this position for the concert hall in my opinion. She’s the best one to push my creative boundaries when projects seem too easy.” 

Geard eventually got his name out to cosmetic companies such as Sephora and Mac, holding at least three to four years of experience from each position held. Many people in the L.A. area request Geard by popular demand.

“I absolutely LOVE seeing all of my regulars. It’s like another one of my friends coming to talk about your day with. I love what I do and so do they!” 

- Timothy Geard

As his experience grew, Geard felt more at home with his fellow aspiring makeup artists around him, but he also began to miss the theatre. “L.A. has a lot of opportunities inside of it. I can do as many of them as I really want,” Geard explains as he then broadens his job field out to bigger companies.

Geard expresses his happiness upon the offer from Walt Disney Concert Hall as the Head MUA (makeup artist) as “the biggest achievement [he’s] made,” working his way up in his career. Geard is excited to someday work on some of his favorite musicals while employed, including “Aladdin,” and he hopes that he can “do a bomb cherry blossom eye shadow look to convince the production team to choose Mulan!”

Geard continues to regularly post more of his animation inspired makeup looks. His great imagination has taken him across states and given him a source of income with an activity he enjoys. His one wish that he hopes to keep is that he will have enough time to catch up with his animated television shows because “how else am I supposed to be inspired without a little creativity time? I also want to simply watch TV.”

As I worked on the first feature assignment from the rough draft to the final draft, I have learned that my writing can include many patted words to ensure word count, failure to fully connect the flow of my paragraphs, and GSP errors. Reading the many handouts we received in class definitely helped inspire my writing since this assignment was to be made up of our future career. I ran into issues prior to the due date of the rough draft from having far too many ideas. I did not know how to naturally connect all of my similar ideas without sounding too repetitive. My corrections were mainly GSP related, but I also think I can work on separating my paragraphs without causing confusion.

[mysticsparklewings]

Schpirerr Farben Colored Pencil Tests

As I'm due for a delivery of another, completely different set of colored pencils tomorrow, I figured I'd get my review/impressions of these off my to-do list. Yes, I have a colored pencil/art supply addiction. Do I care? No. Anyway. Some of you may remember the story I told in the description for my Marco Renoir impressions/review that before I purchased those, I had actually been looking for and hoping to get my hands on these; the Schpirerr Farben colored pencils. From my research, these oil-based pencils had pretty raving reviews, being positively compared to both the Faber-Castell Polychromos and the Prismacolor Premiers, which are the two big names in colored pencils. Upon further research, I also discovered that these are apparently not being actively sold anymore. The Amazon page, which originally just said they were out of stock and unknown if there even would be a restock, seems to now be on a weird rotation of what I can only assume are other things made by Schpirerr Farben's parent company, Goodyism. The eBay listings say out of stock. And the last post on the official Facebook page for these pencils was a post meant to reassure people they were working on getting their stocking issues fixed back in March of this year... PLOT TWIST! Okay, so I paused while typing to check the FB page just to make sure I had the dates right, and much to my surprise, there has been a response as recently as this past Wednesday! And it seems there may actually be some hope for these pencils to be coming back very soon! I am both happy because I like these and sad because this means if I had any form of patience I may have been able to get them brand-new and possibly with even better quality. On the other hand, I am also a little worried for myself because I thought I was going to be done feeding this addiction for a little while... We'll see, I guess! Back to what I was saying though. Since as of right now (and has been the case for several months) you essentially can't get these anymore, I was distraught and disappointed. However, because I am stubborn as an ox, I found the Marco Renoirs as a temporary solution while I scouted in case a set of these popped up from a third-party. One did on Amazon, but I made the mistake of waiting until the next day, and by then they were gone. Again, I was upset and slightly horrified that I'd missed my opportunity. Fortunately for me, I kept checking and eventually a slightly used set popped up on this site called Mercari. They were $35 plus shipping, and that seemed fair considering that was only slightly more than what little I could find out on what the brand-new prices, they had since become a rarity, and it's still significantly cheaper than a lot of artist-quality pencils on the market when you do the math. (72 pencils for $35 comes out to like $0.50 a pencil; Polychromos are roughly $1.37 at their cheapest for the 120 set) The only thing I wasn't crazy about was that two pencils had been noticeably sharpened (which was visible in the pictures for the listing) but after having missed my chance once, I figured it was only two and they were browns, which I don't use a whole lot of. So I bit the bullet and bought them. I have to say, even with the new information that a comeback is likely in the near future, I'm glad I did. On the left, we have the Blood Moon from the Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild because a friend of mine recently got into it and I've been thinking about it more as a result. I looked up a reference and figured it would do just fine and maybe be slightly more interesting than my usual vanilla galaxy for a test of layering and blending for these pencils. Then when I got done, I wasn't sure I was ready to give the final verdict on the pencils since, to be fair, the Blood Moon is slightly outside of what I would normally draw, at least in this situation. So on the right, we have a more typical galaxy/moon/sky piece to make up for it. Overall, I was pretty impressed. And now that I've used these, which are confirmed to be oil-based, I am only further convinced that the Marco Renoirs are either or oil-based or a mixture that is primarily oil. These are a bit softer than those, which I expected based on my research, though it's hard to say if they're as soft as the Prismacolors because the oil base (whereas Prismacolors are wax-based) means these have more of a silky feel on paper, while the Prismas feel more creamy. They do blend and layer well. I would say I feel like I can layer more with these than the Prismas, and maybe a little more than with the Marco Renoirs, which could be attributed to them being softer and layers seeming to be better with oil-based pencils in general. And I was pretty happy with the color selection in the 72 set, if there were just a few too many yellows for my liking, but I have other pencils, so for that's not really a prime issue. On colors, I have to agree with some of the things I read promoting the idea that you could put this 72 set with the 100 set of Marco Renoirs and essentially have a well-rounded 172 color selection. Compared to the 150 set of Prismacolors, the array would balance out to be pretty similar and therefore would have the potential to work just as well. Except, just like with the Renoirs, the white in this set simply can't replace the high-pigment and workability of the Prismacolor white. However, I must say that I think this one would work wonders as a partner for the Prismacolor. Why? Well, I'm not sure it's because they're oil based or what, but it seems that if you lay down some of the white and really burnish it in good before putting down other colors, it can work almost as a resister. I noticed it when I did the white specks around the Blood Moon, and that's one of the reasons I wanted to do one more test; I wanted to check and make sure I hadn't imagined it. Sure enough, that seems to be the case. You can work over the white if you really want to or if it's not fully burnished in, but if it is then it's going to take some work and patience. And it does seem to work over top of other colors as a fairly nice blender, too. Also, I have to say I'm not sure what to make of the black. It scanned as more of a true black than what it appears on the actual drawing as far as the drawing on the right is concerned.  Still, it layers and blends really nicely for a black in-person; it's not worryingly overpowering like the Prismacolor black can be if you're not careful. And I am happy to report that my white gel pen seemed to like going over these even better than the Marco Renoirs, which were already an improvement over the Prismacolors. There are still moments of struggle, but I was impressed anyway. At the end of the day, I am really happy with these and am glad I got my hands on them. I look forward to seeing what the future may hold for the brand, and I'm already thinking in the back of my mind on a good project to try using these with my other colored pencil sets. But before I can do that I have another set of colored pencils I'll be getting to test out, and some schoolwork, and Inktober... I'll get around to it, I'm sure. That's usually how things work out for me. Oh, and I used tags and an ink pad to get the shapes for these, since using a tag worked out pretty well on the Renoirs. ____ Artwork © me, MysticSparkleWings ____ Where to find me & my artwork: My Website | Commission Info + Prices | Ko-Fi | dA Print Shop | RedBubble |   Twitter | Tumblr | Instagram