#i do however enjoy massive age gaps between adults

[scarycranegame]

hey guys look at my plethora of proship memes i found on pinterest (ft. my horrible horrible art i did while sleep deprived)

also the firey in the third one is in fact firey jr; i have some silly headcanons about him (also rest in rip he didnt get to join tpo.t; fly high king)

[tillthelandslide]

Age Gap

Hi everyone! I really hope everyone reading enjoys this. It’s my first ever Henry Cavill fan fic so I am a little apprehensive about posting it. I throughly enjoyed writing it so please be sure to give me feedback and any and all ideas for future Henry Cavill fan fics would be appreciated.

Thank you to @toomanystoriessolittletime for reading over this for me, you’re amazing.

Hope you enjoy - L

You and Henry had been dating for over a year now. Things were great, he was the kindest, most caring and loving person you had ever met. He was so inspiring and passionate about his work and those around him. He was genuinely interested in everyone's lives and he truly cared for the people in his life, including you. He was the most beautiful person both inside and out and you were so lucky to have him in your life.

Henry had just posted a very cute picture of the both of you on his Instagram.

henrycavill:

Liked by freyaallan, anyachalotra, joeybateyofficial and 1,122,800 others

henrycavill horse riding and training for The Witcher 2 @your_username never a dull moment with you by my side

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your_username always my love ❤️ cant wait for everyone to see how amazing you were

  ↳ henrycavill i love you

  ↳ your_username i love you too. Kinda mad at you, making me look all unprofessional, kissing my clients 😂

  ↳ henrycavill hope I’m the only client you kiss

  ↳ joeybateyofficial I’m the only client you kiss @henrycavill 😂

anyachalotra was a pleasure working with you again @your_username. Does he always ride topless or?? 😂

   ↳   your_username it was so fun! cant wait for everyone to see you in action 🤷🏼‍♀️not complaining though 😂

fan1 omg this is so cute

fan2 wow Henry really loves her. Dont blame him 😍

fan3 wait she worked on the Witcher?? what did she even do, wtf??

  ↳ fan4 shock horror! 😳y/n acutally has a job! don’t be silly, she’s so hard working, leave her be 🙄

  ↳ your_username @fan4 thank you lovely 💜

The majority of his fans went wild, they were happy for him but very curious who you were, they knew you had been friends with Henry for ages and had always said how beautiful you were and had recently learnt that the two of you were dating after Henry had posted a cute video to his story of Kal kissing you before Henry said "I'm getting cheated on with my own dog" . Infact it was often joked that both you and Henry were the hottest nerds ever (you too were a massive gamer and a huge fan of the Witcher amongst many other fantasy games and films).

However, a few nasty people had to comment about the age gap between the two of you. You were 25 and Henry was 37. But the age gap didn't matter to you or to Henry and the horrible comments about it made you both annoyed and upset.

 Today Henry had invited you to bring Kal, his beloved American Akita, along to an interview he had. You agreed because you knew it meant you could spend more of the day with Henry and you throughly enjoyed watching him work.

 "Today we are joined by Henry Cavill, known for being Superman, August Walker, Geralt of Rivia and many more. How are you today Henry?" The interviewer said, introducing Henry and smiling at him.

 Henry offered a nice smile back before saying "I'm very good thank you, how are you?"

 "Good thank you, very excited for this interview. So the trailer for season 2 of the Witcher has just been released and we're all very excited" he said making Henry chuckle.

 "I'm excited for everyone to see it" he said. Henry and the interviewer then spoke about the filming of season 2 for a long while. You sat petting Kal who had found comfort in between your legs resting his head on your thighs. You were admiring Henry when the interviewer asked a question about you.

 "So we are joined by your lovely girlfriend who is a massive fan of the Witcher games and books, yes?"

 "We are indeed" Henry said, winking at you before continuing "she's a even bigger nerd about it than me. She's played the Witcher 1 and 2 twice and has played Wild Hunt, 3 times now I think?" he said glancing at you for reassurance, in which you nodded, making him nod to the interviewer.

 "Wow that's impressive" the interviewer said, genuinely impressed.

 "Now we have to ask, do the constant criticism about your age gap affect the both of you, or do you just ignore it?" he said referring to you being quite a bit younger than Henry. 

 "Um, yes and no" he said the gravelly tone of Geralt peaking through a tad. "The age gap isn't a problem in our relationship, we're both adults and we're both fairly mature" he said trying to make light of the situation and making the interview laugh. 

  "No but seriously I am very happy with y/n. She is the most amazing woman in my life, sorry Mum, she is caring and loving and so talented and passionate. The thing that does get annoying about the comments are the ones saying y/n is using me for my money or for the fame. Because that couldn't be any farther from the truth " he said making you smile (and the interviewer). "Anyone who knows the first thing about y/n knows that she is the most career driven person in the world, just because she doesn't share what she does with the world in the same way I do, doesn't mean she doesn't have a job" he said addressing many rumors that said you don't have a job, which quite frankly made you chuckle.

"And its not as if y/n doesn't talk about her job at all, in fact it's something she loves talking about because she's so passionate about it and she's so good at it" he said.

 "She owns her own stables, is that correct?" The interviewer asked reading from a card in his lap, making you smile at how he researched you before this interview (Henry was asked if he was comfortable talking about your relationship, in which he said of course because he often loves talking people's ears off about you).

 "Yes she does. But she also works on film and TV sets" Henry said making the interviewer hum.

 "Her horses have been used many times in films right?" the interviewer said making Henry nod proudly.

 "Zeus who plays Roach in the Witcher is actually one of y/ns horses. She works on TV sets and films, training actors on horses. She helped train all of the actors in the Witcher on their horses, including me. Everyone on set, especially Freya, Anya and Joey, absolutely loved her" he said proudly.

 "I'm even more impressed now. And hopefully that puts some of the rumors to bed. It is honestly so lovely to hear the way you speak about her" the interviewer said making Henry gush a little.

 "She's lovely, I'm very proud of her" Henry said looking off camera at you, making you blush.

 "And she's easy on the eyes too which is a bonus. Think my dog Kal loves her more than me though" he said making you and the interviewer chuckle and making Kal perk up, upon hearing his name.

 They wrapped up the interview after talking about season 2 a little more, showing some teaser videos and playing a game of who's most likely to. Henry thanked the interviewer for being so kind, signing some stuff for him before walking to you, you filming him as he did so.

 He pet Kal on the head before placing a quick kiss to your lips

 "You're too sweet Hen" you said, placing your arms around his waist as his rested around your shoulders.

"Only speaking the truth love. The fans are going to go crazy when they see that interview" he said leaning down to place a proper kiss against your lips, making you sigh against him.

 "Hmm, come home with me" he says in his Geralt voice making you chuckle against him and shoving his chest jokingly, making Kal buck his head in between you which made Henry grunt.

 "Stop getting jealous" he said rubbing behind Kal's ears making him pant up at him.

 "Now who's cheating with his dog?" you said making him chuckle and place his hand in yours.

 "Let's go home" he says, placing Kals leash in his other hand, saying goodbye to the people along the way as you were leaving.

You both got into Henry’s car, Kal sitting inbetween you legs again then posted a video to your Instagram feed.

your_username:

Liked by henrycavill, freyaallan and 400,800 more

your_username thank you for letting me and Kal join you for your interview today and thank you for all the wonderful things you said. Your love and support means the world to me Hen ❤️@henrycavill

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henrycavill of course my love, love you more than life itself ❤️

↳ yourusername 🥰 love you too

fan4 soo cute I can’t deal

fan6 the way they are so cute and fluffy on each others posts makes my heart burst. soft henry is the best

↳  yourusername makes my heart burst too. can confirm that not soft henry is pretty good too

↳ fan6 omg you replied, what in the world? also get it sis

↳ henrycavill she does

↳ freyaallan gross. na jk love you both

[afairytalestray]

The Deutabella Family (1)

So a while back I thought about sharing some of my Cats headcanons (extended editions) here, and since then I’ve been trying to compile them all into a document, which feels more a bit like herding unruly sheep. But I finally finished part 1 of many more to come :) So here’s my headcanons for the Deutabella family! All hcs in this little series will be pre-canon, if we accept the musical as the present day canon, if that makes sense. It’s basically my take on the characters’ past. Pls enjoy! (they won’t all be this long probably) (masterpost here!)

Old Deuteronomy and Grizabella are former mates, who had Macavity, Munkustrap and Tugger together. They got together and became mates at a young age. At that time young Old Deuteronomy was a lot more like present-day Tugger than Munkustrap. For a while they were happy, but when Old D became the tribe leader he had less time to spare. He changed a bit when he took on the leadership role, becoming more serious and less free-spirited and Griz became lonely. She never really had a lot of close friends within the tribe, she never really felt like she fit in and she always had big dreams of fame and fortune outside of the Junkyard which her peers just didn’t get. She always liked attention, but with her mate so busy all the time she begins to crave it in a less healthy way. When she wasn’t performing and basking in the limelight, she became sullen, withdrawn and moody.

Things got better for a while after she had her kittens. She never let go of her dreams of fame, but she had a distraction, somewhere to direct her restless energy. First came Macavity, then 3 years later Munkustrap, then Tugger 5 years after that. Grizabella loved her kittens, but gradually her brooding moods began to come over her again. Her dissatisfaction with her life grew and grew, and so did her itchy feet and panic that she was wasting her best years. The thought that she’d never be anything more than Old D’s mate eventually became unbearable to her and one day, not long after little Tugger was born, she snapped. She packed her bags and left with only the briefest goodbyes. Later in life, this lack of full farewells/explanations would be what haunted her the most. She didn’t mean to be cruel or to hurt anyone, she was only thinking of herself and her own happiness.

Old Deuteronomy never realised how neglected she felt until it was too late. He never meant to hurt her or make her feel alone, but being the tribe leader had taken over a lot of his time. A gap had slowly and subtly been growing between them, but he didn’t notice how truly bad it had gotten until she told him she was done. Grizabella’s departure sent their whole family into a tailspin, and none of them dealt with it really well. Old D felt it strongly, their strained mating bond began causing him pain, and he missed her dearly. Once she left there was a hole in his heart, one that no one else could ever fill. He felt guilty for pushing her away, and for his children losing their mother. Although he tried his absolute best to keep it together for them, he felt horrible and weak all the time, and thus withdrew a lot to try and shield them from it. This sure did not have the effect he wanted. 

Little Tugger basically never knew his mother, and grew up only ever hearing how terrible a thing she did from the other adults and this was only ever countered by Macavity. He was raised by the tribe and so grew up with a great deal of respect for his father, but never had a particularly close bond with him until later on. He was closest with his two brothers, Macavity in particular. Tugger loved Macavity’s magic, especially how he could levitate him so high it felt like flying and then drop him and catch him in his arms. Munkustrap, bless him, was a bit of a wimp (once a stressed-out worrywort, always a stressed-out worrywort) who never enjoyed the “dangerous” games, but always seemed to end up having fun after being dragged along. As he grew, Tugger was caught between the tribe and Macavity. While the tribe was generally negative about Grizabella (although never to his face they avoided talking about her and brushed him off, never said anything more than “she did a bad thing”), Macavity would talk about her all the time and tell him how great she was and how when she came back for them she’d be a big star. However as time passed, Macavity began to realise his mother wasn’t coming back, and that began to push him down a dark path.

Macavity gradually went off the rails after Grizabella left. He had been his mum’s little star, and was the closest one to her. Griz was always very supportive of Mac, and adored the magic tricks he could do when his powers began to show. Unfortunately (and unintentionally) she leant on him a bit too much. Mac always wanted to spend all his time with her and not with the other kittens his own age (he knew she was lonely) and she let him, and as a result he never really learned how to interact with his peers or form any real friendships. He learned how to put on a fake smile and act at his mother’s knee. Griz would often vent to him; although he never quite understood how she was feeling, and he understood it as being with the Jellicles made her sad. When she left, he blamed his father and the tribe for it and began to grow angry and bitter, which would build until the events of the day of his banishment.

Munkustrap was the first one to see the change in Macavity. Tugger hero-worshipped his oldest brother, but Munkustrap was always the responsible one of the three. He saw that Macavity’s smiles had turned to sneers, that his jokes became more cruel than funny, that his little tricks became nasty. He saw that whenever Tugger went to play with Macavity he’d return worse for wear, but never thinking anything of it. Other adults wrote it off as the result of typical kitten rough and tumble play, but in truth Macavity began to bully Tugger, take advantage of his trusting nature and take his bad moods out on him (under the guise of “helping him grow big and strong”), but Tugger wouldn’t realise this until much later. Of the three of them, Munkustrap was the closest to his father, his natural maturity and steady/calm nature being a comfort to Old D, and he brings his concerns to him.

Old D could never acknowledge that Macavity had gone dark and evil, but he did recognise that a huge gap had grown between him and his son. He immediately began trying to bridge it, but he was never able to get through to Macavity. He tried really hard, but his eldest was too far gone, and threw all his efforts back in his face. Macavity, as the eldest, was supposed to be Old D’s heir, but the two always ended up arguing, and Mac would always end up yelling how Old D had neglected Grizabella and pushed her away and that he was the reason he no longer had a mother. The more Old D tried to reach out to him, the further away Macavity got. He began to push his magic deeper and darker, shirking his duties and lashing out at other Cats. Eventually he went too far. 

One morning not much later, Old Deuteronomy named Munkustrap his heir. Macavity had become too unstable for the job. Macavity didn’t take this well. That afternoon he snapped, and when Tugger came up to play with him, he magically threw him away so hard he crashed through a large pile of garbage and was badly hurt. Munkustrap went ballistic, and he and Macavity got into a massive fight before Old Deuteronomy stepped in and physically separated them, and banished Macavity.

It broke Old D’s heart to banish his son. He spent some time with his younger two and successfully managed to salvage his relationship with them (loving, although still somewhat distant), but once Munk was fully set up as the heir he began spending less and less time in the Junkyard. He feels guilty for not seeing the signs sooner, for not listening to Munkustrap, for allowing Tugger to get hurt, and the pain of losing both his mate and now his son, too. 

Tugger ended up blaming Grizabella for Macavity’s fall - he knew that her not coming back hurt Mac, and maybe if she had none of this would have happened. This was the first time he really felt alone and abandoned since she left. He barely knew her, but Macavity had adored her, and Tugger connected his upset about his brother with her. His relationship with Munkustrap also went downhill after the latter was named heir, and wouldn’t see improvement for a long time. Macavity would continue to try and hurt Tugger after his banishment; whenever he attacked and caused havoc in the Junkyard, he’d send visions and voices to scare his youngest brother, which leads to Tugger’s current knee-jerk reaction to run and hide whenever Macavity makes an appearance. 

Although he had never developed any real relationships with other Cats his age, Macavity was a master of lies and manipulation. On the day of his banishment, before she knew what had happened, he convinced the kind Demeter to feel sorry for him and to elope with him. He paints a picture of rejection and sadness that he was passed over for Munkustrap, lying by saying that Munkustrap turned on him when it happened, telling him to leave, and that he feels so scared and alone and that he hadn’t done anything wrong. He tells her that she has always been so kind to him and that he has fallen in love with her. In reality he doesn’t give a crap, but he knows that Munkustrap has secretly been in love with her for ages but was always too shy to tell her. Demeter, unaware of the attacks, feels for him and agrees to the elopement. She was always a shy queen who never felt as pretty as her big sister Bombalurina, and so was overwhelmed by Macavity’s carefully constructed flattery. Bomba falls for it too, to an extent, and follows to protect her sister. However, by the time they realise the truth of what Macavity is, they’re both trapped in his web. They’re both his prisoners, and stick together as much as they can. They try to come up with plans to escape back to the Jellicles, but aren’t able to manage it until they’re joined by another one of Macavity’s tricked captives, a young tom just out of kittenhood, Mistoffelees.

[thebluelemontree]

I don't know if you've already answered a similar question, if you have I apologize and will look better for it. But do you think Sandor and Sansa would still love each with how much they've both changed? They've almost become new people, but still the same beings.

It’s no problem. I’ve written about that here and probably touched on this in many other posts. 

I wouldn’t frame the question as would they “still love each other with how much they’ve both changed.” It implies that their feelings were already understood as love by them when they were together. What they had was a confusing mess of conflicting emotions that neither were fully capable of understanding or accepting at the time. Each had their reasons for why that was so, which goes to some of the issues that stood between them. While there is chemistry, intimacy, and empathy shown, IMO, it’s better to think of them as possessing the building blocks that can lead to love in the future.  

On the other hand, there was also:

The fact that she’s too young, immature, and unready for a consummated romance with anyone. She needs space and time to grow up and figure out what she wants. Until AFFC, she’s still only comfortable consciously fantasizing about Loras Tyrell, who is non-threatening, conventionally attractive, and uncomplicated. They are still relatively chaste/borderline erotic fantasies. The unkiss takes time for her to consciously accept and embrace as reciprocated erotic desire.  

The fact that he has no idea how to express himself without resorting to the language of violence that he understands best.

The fact that he copes with the unresolved childhood trauma and PTSD in unhealthy ways like his abrasive Hound persona, his overly-cynical worldview, and sometimes abusing alcohol when he’s under stress.

His immaturity and inability to simply ask for and accept the emotional support he wants (which she was perfectly willing to give) without freaking out over being vulnerable with someone. 

The fact that they are on opposite sides of a war where Sansa’s family is in open rebellion against her captors who Sandor owes fealty to. 

The fact that she’s the king’s betrothed. She’s his property. To explicitly act upon any romantic attraction would be considered treason, punishable by torture and death.  

The fact that there is a massive class disparity between them that overshadows the age difference in their world. That’s one reason why neither can put a name to this thing between them. A future queen / high lord’s daughter from an ancient house should not be fraternizing with a non-knight from a house only three generations old. That’s why they struggle even knowing what to call each other because using first names shows too much familiarity and intimacy. This would be true even without any of the other conflicts. Class controls everything in Westeros. 

And yes, he still owes her a big heartfelt apology for his abhorrent behavior during the Blackwater, and he should beg her forgiveness.  

Most of these points I elaborate on in more detail in the links above. If you notice, though, most of these things have either been resolved or are in the process of being resolved. None of these issues were ever insurmountable obstacles. 

The ways in which Sansa and Sandor have evolved even in their separation has been largely positive and complementary of each other. They haven’t grown apart or become incompatibly different at all. If anything, it’s pushed their feelings further along, and it’s clear they are very much on each other’s minds. Since we can see Sansa’s perspective firsthand, she’s only thought about Sandor more since he left.  

Sansa has grown and matured a lot more when we see her in the TWOW sample chapter. Had the five-year gap panned out, she would be legally an adult in Westeros; however, dropping it doesn’t seem to have affected GRRM’s intentions for any of his POVs. She’s in the company of unconventional, sexually mature women in their early twenties who can be role models in navigating adult relationships. The sassy way she takes no shit from a brutally honest Harrold Hardyng shows she has confidence and the ability to go toe-to-toe with Sandor’s gruff personality without getting flustered and running away. After she wipes the floor with him with her wit, she ends up winning Harry over to the point he’s begging for her favor. There is no point in the sample chapter where she voices any anxieties about not feeling ready for marriage, sex, or children. This no longer seems to be an issue for her, so we can assume she feels okay with having an adult relationship at this point.   

Her time as a bastard girl has made her warmer and friendlier. She was always kind, but proprieties and courtesies can also read as aloof and re-enforcing strict class boundaries. Can you imagine Kings Landing!Sansa hugging someone like Lothor Brune, a landless knight, as she does in TWOW? Or preferring the company of a sex-positive widow who enjoys taking lovers or a bastard girl over the “perfect sister” she saw in Margaery Tyrell and her cousins? Hell no. That would never happen. This new Sansa lacks those prejudices and is openly affectionate towards people she was raised to keep at arm’s length. Once she loosened up and stopped reciting courtesies, people actually got to know her and like her for who she is. That’s what Sandor always wanted from her, right? To drop the courtesies and flattering bullshit and just be a real person with him, not a talking parrot. While that criticism was harsh and rudely put, it had a lot of truth to it. It seems to have made Sansa into a happier person and more in touch with her authentic self. Now that she has accepted in Feast that she wanted Sandor like that, what is there to stop her from acting on it later?

The Quiet Isle didn’t exist before Feast. It was written for Sandor to recover and rehabilitate. Not just physically, but he’s getting what constitutes psychological counseling and a treatment plan that deals directly with his worst traits. He appears to meet with the Elder Brother often enough because the latter seems to know quite a bit about Sandor’s backstory, what his issues are, and exactly who Sansa Stark is. The rest of the time, he must observe the no talking rule and do meaningful work as a novice. This man, who once flaunted his contempt for those who couldn’t defend themselves as weak and deserving of death, is put to work digging graves for the innocent victims of violence. All day long, he has to look at the faces of men, women, and children killed by evil men with that philosophy. One brother even yells at him for carelessly tossing dirt around with the shovel, and he silently takes it. No smart ass backtalk. In the evening, he has to serve food and clear plates for men he would have once mocked. They’re men of faith, they’ve renounced violence, and Sandor sits lower in status than them. To Sandor’s credit, he humbly submits to all this in a show of respect and humility. It’s like he wants to learn these lessons they are offering and is allowing himself to be schooled. Now Sandor may always be Sandor on some level (if Stranger kicking down the stable doors and refusing to be gelded is any indication). Still, it does look like he’s become a gentler, healthier, and sober version of himself. The only part of Sandor that Sansa rejected was the Hound, and it’s both stated in the text and by George himself that the Hound is dead. Period. And yeah, it seems like Sandor is in a place where he is unlikely to backslide into old behavior, and he can make that heartfelt and necessary apology to Sansa. I don't think Sandor could ever be okay with moving their relationship forward without making amends first. It wouldn't sit right with his sense of remorse and personal responsibility, which is a good thing. 

All these changes are for the better for them as individuals and as a possible future couple. Contrary to your ask, I would say a positive, fully-fledged romance with "HEA" potential wouldn’t be possible or believable without all the growth and changes they've undergone. When they reunite, they can do so on more equal footing. 

Not that there aren’t more conflicts to overcome. They both are currently wanted fugitives for murders they didn’t commit, so they both need to clear their names and reclaim their true identities. There is still the matter of Sansa’s marital status as Tyrion isn’t dead but their marriage was also unconsummated. She could try to have her marriage officially annulled by the Faith somehow, but to do that, she’ll have to take the risk of revealing her true identity. Again, these don’t seem like plots that won’t be resolved anyway at some point. What about that class divide though? Well, the Starks aren’t like Tywin or Cersei, and they actually value things like faithful service. No reason why Sandor couldn’t be awarded a lordship and lands in gratitude for saving the lives of both Arya and Sansa. I’m just sayin’.  

[desperateground]

since we're doing anti discourse i guess: the antis ive seen on their own blogs (as opposed to other blogs askboxes) seem more concerned with media that portrays pedophilia in a positive light, as that very much can influence people into thinking it isn't THAT bad. If portrayed as the bad thing it is, they dont mind. Personally, do you see a difference in something that goes "heres an adult in love with a child, how sweet" as opposed to "heres an adult in love with a child, isnt that fucked up?"

under a cut cause this got long

I would love to be on the internet where you are, because it sounds a lot more reasonable than the one I live on, where stuff like this just makes me go ???

the thing is that fiction actually does influence people’s perceptions of reality, and we ought to care about that! if a person grows up watching movies where cops break the rules but it’s OK because they’re the good guys; or where stalkerish and manipulative behavior counts as “grand romantic gestures” that obligate a woman to date a man; or where Black people are depicted as uneducated and violent, of course that is going to color their opinions of the world.

and there are a lot of really good conversations being had about issues like that, and we absolutely need to have those conversations about responsible media creation and consumption. this power can be used for good as well as for evil. many people cite shows like Will & Grace as helping turn the tide of public opinion against seeing “homosexuality” as deviant and instead seeing gay people as “normal” and “lovable” and “relatable.” superman was a beloved enough All-American Hero that a storyline where he fights the KKK is credited with helping turn the KKK from a mainstream fraternity into something seen as a fringe hate group.

so i would agree that a giant wave of media with positive depictions of pedophilia would be concerning. 

however, we do not currently live in a world where “here’s an adult in love with a child, how sweet” is a major issue in media narratives such that people are absorbing the attitude that pedophilia is fine, cool, and good.

in fact, pedophilia is such a hated subject that we have a whole political movement in my country based on people calling anyone they dislike a “pedophile” and accusing them of all sorts of depraved shit involving children. most people who have sexual inclinations toward children are fully aware that these desires are at odds with society and that they will become pariahs if these desires were known to others.

(In fact, this level of ostracization can put people at a higher risk of offending, because they feel hopeless, have nowhere to turn for support, and figure if they’re going to be a pariah anyway, they may as well do the one thing they can think of that feels good. Forcing conversations about this to go completely underground means that you end up with awful groups like nambla dominating the conversation and convincing lost, lonely, frightened people to hop on board with their dangerous attitudes. if the only people safe to talk to about this stuff are people who will excuse, justify, encourage, and promote offenses against children, it makes sense that people would end up in their grip. You can read more here and here.)

much of the “media” that these “antis” are up in arms about is fan created content intended for a small population. the people creating content that riles up antis generally recognize that this is not mainstream content and use things like tags and content warnings to set it aside from other content. the notion that certain tropes in fanworks are going to bring about a massive cultural shift is a bizarre slippery-slope argument, and i think people's energy would be better focused on problems that are actually currently existing rather than a potential future where a few tags on ao3 have become dominant themes in network television and blockbuster movies. 

another issue here is that when an “anti” uses the term “pedophilia,” it’s completely unclear what they are actually referring to. a reasonable person would assume that they mean “a sexual relationship between an adult and a child,” but the definitions of “adult,” “child,” and “sexual relationship” have gotten so blurry within this discourse that it’s impossible to determine what’s being discussed. i’ve seen people claim that any relationship is inherently “pedophilic” if the characters have any sort of age gap, if there is any sort of power imbalance, if they both belong to the same “found family,” or even if one looks younger in appearance.

so when someone says “fictional narratives that depict pedophilia in a positive light,” they may actually be referring to “fictional narratives that depict any relationship I don’t like,” which is such a vague and meaningless statement that it becomes completely useless.

finally, your actual question is whether I personally see a difference between stories where the narrative perspective seems to critique the relationship vs stories where the narrative perspective romanticizes the relationship. i think your question is...hard to answer, because there is just too much there.

first off, it’s not always easy to tell whether a story is “vilifying” vs “glamorizing” something. people watch movies like fight club and take away very different thematic messages about whether the protagonist is someone to admire and emulate. if we say that depictions of abuse are only “good” or “allowed” if the narrative clearly portrays the abuse as “fucked up,” then we’re going to have to establish a High Court of AP English Teachers to determine exactly what narrative devices are employed and how, and that’s just...not...workable.

also, some people like the “fucked up”-ness of these stories; if you’re trying to say that something is bad if people “enjoy it” or “get off” on it or “indulge” in the darkness of the content, then it doesn’t matter if the story itself is wagging its finger at the naughty, naughty reader. the taboo, the erotic, and the deviant are, and have always been, wrapped up in each other. you can depict something as “bad” and yet still “fun;” it becomes a useless distinction when talking about sexual content. 

do i personally see a difference, when it comes to my own enjoyment? yeah, absolutely. i stopped watching game of thrones not because it included rape, but because the way the cinematography, musical score, etc. made it clear that the show was expecting me to feel a certain way about those images, and i didn’t appreciate that. i also didn’t appreciate the directorial decision to give more dignity to a dog’s death by cutting to black than to violence against women. i would probably not enjoy a book or movie that’s just about how awesome and fun it is to hurt people; though i did like clockwork orange - i found the narrator abhorrent, but interesting.

but i think trying to split hairs about what does and doesn’t count as Problematic or Allowable Content, or trying to tell people that what they create and/or consume is Bad and they are Bad for doing it, because its inclusion of dark themes is Doing It Wrong - it’s not helpful. it’s impossible to develop a standard for what is “doing it wrong vs doing it right” that makes any sense, and even if you did, enforcing it through campaigns of hatred and social vilification is not going to be effective. 

[ilguna]

Tacenda - The Interview (f.o)

Summary: you’ll never truly be free from the Capitol.

Word Count; 3k

Warnings; swearing, DEATH MENTION, DEATH

NOTES: i give reader a last name to fit the world.

–

Alyssum stares at the camera crew, watching as they push back the couches and armchairs to make room for the massive camera and the lights. The entire coffee table now sits inside of the kitchen because there is no use for it. As for the lights, each one turned on makes the room a lot brighter.

It hurts her eyes somewhat. The house has never been this lit up before, as far as she remembers. Of course, the house has lights of their own, but you never really have them on. It’s always the lamps in the corners that you have turned on. The only real time the house is bright like this, is during the day when the shutters and curtains are open.

Alyssum looks up to Reed to see that he’s stoic--as usual. His arms are crossed, and his eyes follow every movement that the Capitol people make. She knows that he can see her staring from the corner of his eye, but he doesn’t look over. Or say anything about it.

“Projecting.” One of the crew members says, there’s a device in his hands that he taps on, and then most of the people with him look up to the spot above the camera.

Caesar appears on his show. Behind him is a screen that shows the family of a different tribute, they look like they’re answering a question. Alyssum can’t hear anything they’re saying, though. There’s no audio to the visual just yet, and even then, she thinks that they won’t let her or Reed listen in.

Alyssum watches as Elysia takes a seat on the couch, her legs properly crossed, “Is it just the three of you again?”

“Yes.” Reed answers, “Caesar knows that we’re interviewing as Finnick’s family too, right?”

“He does, but the questions aren’t going to be aimed at him.” The guy who put up the hologram says, “There might be a few, but it’ll mostly be directed on (Y/n) because she’s the direct family.”

“Are there friend interviews this year?” Reed asks.

“No, we’re making an exception.”

“Why?” Alyssum asks.

The guy looks up from the device, his eyes landing on her, “They’re not nearly as important. Most of the tributes only have family to account for, anyway. Take Finnick as an example.”

“Push that light back a little bit, it’s in the shot.”

They inch the light back until it’s just barely out of the camera’s view, and then they leave it alone.

“You’re good to get up now, Elysia.”

“Thank you.” She stands, and turns to Alyssum and Reed, “Where’s Mox?”

“Here.” Mox says, coming down the stairs, “Sorry, I had to trade shirts.”

She looks over him, judging his outfit, and then she nods, “It’s better than what you were wearing before, I’ll give you that.”

“Thanks.” Mox rolls his eyes.

Elysia clasps her hands together, and then moves to be in front of the three of them, “Do I need to brief you guys again?”

“Sure.” Reed shrugs.

She gives him a look, “Caesar’s going to ask for your names again, oldest to youngest. I’d suggest answering that way to every question, to keep things organized.”

“Three minutes, he just ended the interview.” device guy says.

“Sit on the couch.” Elysia says, “Alyssum in the middle.”

“Same way as the first time?” Reed asks.

“Yes.” Elysia trails behind them.

Reed takes his seat a little to the left, making Alyssum sit in the middle, and then Mox to the right. Elysia looks them over for a moment, before readjusting as she needs to. She makes them all scoot together more, allowing as little room between them as possible.

“The hologram will be showing Caesar, and behind him will have you guys on it. Don’t look at it too often, or the camera will automatically move to cover it, since it wants your best angles, and where you all look the most.” Elysia steps back, “Chins up, and smile when it first starts.

“Don’t be short with answers, because Caesar will just ask more. I want you three to remember that he’s going to try to make this experience as comfortable as possible, he’s not trying to make it bad on purpose. He’ll want to keep things flowing, and interesting. We’re not trying to lose the audience, it might even be a good way to get sponsors.”

“Was I on the first one?” Alyssum asks.

“You were just a toddler, but yes.” Reed tells her, “He’s probably going to comment on how much you’ve aged.

“How about all of us?” Mox laughs to himself, and Reed joins in.

“The first time around he called us young, I wonder what he’ll think now.”

“Ten years and he hasn’t aged a day.”

“Well--” Elysia interjects, making them laugh, “--I wouldn’t say that.”

“Thirty seconds.” device man reminds.

“Everything is going to be fine, breathe. And not all of you have to answer every question if you don’t want to. But keep it one to two answers every question.”

“We’ll try.” Reed says.

Elysia moves out of the way of the camera, standing off to the side like the rest of the crew. Alyssum readjusts on the couch cushion anxiously, especially since she just remembered that her entire class will be seeing her on this show. No, the entire country will be seeing her.

The man starts counting down from ten, and Elysia gives one last reminder to sit up straighter, which they all do.

Then, the audio of an audience cheering fills the living room. Alyssum gives a natural smile, crossing her legs to try and look more modest. 

“This is them, everybody! The family of two of our most favored victors! Finnick and (Y/n) Odair!” Caesar motions to the screen behind him, “Let’s get a side-by-side comparison to the last time we saw them!”

The audience cheers louder, and Alyssum takes the chance to see how drastically she’s changed exactly. Of course, Reed was right when he said that she was a toddler, because she literally was. She was three then, and now she’s thirteen. A whole ten years.

It’s crazy for her to think that she was alive during your first games. She would never have thought about it like that. The fact that she was so young, and unable to process the fact that you were missing from the house. Alyssum didn’t know what was going on then, but she does now.

“Look at that growth!” Caesar motions to Alyssum, “She’s a whole person now! Old enough for the games!”

A chill goes down Reed’s spine, and Alyssum can feel it from where she’s sitting. Mox’s grip around her shoulders tighten considerably, as if Caesar will be able to reach through the hologram and pull her right out of her seat.

The worst part is that the live audience reacts to that positively, as if they enjoy the idea of her being drawn for the games.

“Let’s start with names, from oldest to youngest, please.” Caesar asks.

“My name is Reed.” Reed says.

“And how old are you now, Reed?” Caesar asks.

“Thirty.” 

Caesar doesn’t comment.

“Mox, twenty-nine.” he says, not waiting for the question.

Caesar smiles, nodding along, and then he waits patiently for Alyssum.

She gives a timid smile, “Alyssum.”

“And how old are you, my dear?” Caesar’s voice is gentle, like he’s not trying to scare her off.

“Thirteen.”

“You’ve grown quite a lot, Alyssum. The last time I saw you, you stole the hearts of myself, and the audience.” He grins, “Isn’t that right folks? She was adorable! And not only that--she also looked very similar to her older sister, even at that age.”

Alyssum wouldn’t say that she looks like you now. She knows that she definitely had a mix between you and your guys’ mom, but that’s all she’ll admit. Now, she looks a lot like mom more than anything.

The audience cheers, agreeing with him. And with that, Caesar starts the interview, “Tell me, were you all aware that (Y/n) would be volunteering to go into the games with Finnick?”

Reed takes in a deep breath, “No, we didn’t. All we did know was that she had a plan made in her head. We believe that she had done it to be with Finnick inside of the arena.”

“You believe it was selfish? That she wouldn’t rather stay with her family?”

Alyssum shakes her head, “Not selfish.”

“How so?” There’s a smile creeping onto his face.

“(Y/n) loves Finnick with her whole heart.” Mox answers for her, “She’s loved him since she was fifteen. There might have been a five year gap between the first games and her marriage, but we all know that she always wanted Finnick. They were practically made for each other.”

“(Y/n) volunteered because she wanted to be with Finnick until her last days.” Reed says.

“And be with him, she shall.” Caesar nods, “What happened when you had to say goodbye to her?”

Reed scoffs, and Mox shakes his head. Alyssum’s eyes wander off to the side, not liking this question.

“We weren’t able to, a private goodbye allowed this year. The only goodbye we had was at the train station, and even then we didn’t get to say it properly.” Reed is clearly trying to put it nicely.

Caesar nods, “But you saw her message during the interview?”

“Of course.” Reed nods, “However, that’s not an actual goodbye, we should have been allowed to see each other in a private setting.”

“I’m sorry that didn’t come true.” Caesar, in fact, looks like he’s not sorry at all, but he moves on anyway, ”If I remember correctly, during the first tribute parade, you weren’t fond of her outfit then. What about now? Did you like what her stylists had given her?”

“She’s an adult now, so it’s a different story. This year’s outfit was a lot more coverage than when she was fifteen.” Reed answers.

Mox nods along, not really having anything to say about it. So, Alyssum jumps right in, “I liked the top especially, the skirt seemed a little too… flimsy. The fabric was thin, and it showed off wrinkles too easily.”

Caesar laughs, “Is that so?”

“I would have chosen a stiffer fabric.” Alyssum makes a face, tilting her head, “As for Finnick, I think he was just fine. Whatever net that they were both wearing clearly irritated their skin, you can see the red marks on their arms and legs if you watch their close up.”

Mox laughs, “She’s been interested in the fashion that cycles through the Capitol. If you think this opinion is big, you won���t like what she has to say for some of the trends that you go through.”

“Someone should recommend her to be a stylist, then.” Caesar laughs, “What do you think? Do you think she would be able to design better outfits than some of the stylists we have already?” 

The audience cheers pretty loudly for that, but Alyssum doesn’t really care. She wouldn’t really want to go to the Capitol and design trends for them. She'd much rather do it from the comforts of her own district. She might not be in District Eight, but she can make things work.

You do give her a pretty big allowance, and she saves it most of the time. With all that she has saved up, she could buy herself a sewing machine, thread and a ton of different cloths. She’d have to learn how to use the machine, but she’s a quick thinker. It won’t be long before she’s making outfits that she can wear to school.

“We might just have to see what you can make!” Caesar laughs, “We’re always needing fresh minds.”

Alyssum gives a small smile.

“How did you feel about their training scores?” Caesar wanders on the stage a bit to open up the room behind him to show off the scores, “There wasn’t much improvement to be made, but they got up there.”

Alyssum is a little surprised to see a ten as your first score, the same as Finnick. You two were fourteen and fifteen, barely older than she is now. And you two just managed to get the best scores that there was to get the first time around. 

“(Y/n) likely did one of her tricks that she’s been training for these past few months,” Reed leans back against the couch, “Her and Finnick have been working their asses off to prepare for the games. I’m sure whatever happened inside of the training room itself was a big help to her score.”

“I believe so, too.” Caesar says, “Unfortunately, we don’t get to see anything that goes inside of the training center, but I was told that she nearly outshone the other tributes when she was training.”

“Sounds like her.” Mox says, “There was hardly a day where her and Finnick were taking a break from training. It took months to build up her endurance, she could run around with Alyssum on her back and not break a sweat. She’s in great condition.”

“I’m disappointed that she hadn’t gotten a twelve.” Caesar barely gets out, before the audience is shouting in agreeance, “If anyone had deserved to make history, it might as well have been her--and Finnick for that matter!”

But instead it was the sixteen year olds. Both earning twelves when it wasn’t due. Alyssum was a little glad that you hadn’t gotten that high of a score, though. With all that you taught her, she bets that you’re happy you hadn’t gotten a twelve either. It just means more trouble when you’re inside of the arena.

“Do either of you have a clue what trick she pulled off this time? I remember the last was two knives.”

Reed shakes his head, “No idea. I couldn’t remember the first trick until she came home and showed me.”

“It’s probably around the same thing she showed the first time. And with our luck, we won’t be able to see her actually use it in the arena.” Mox says, “She mostly does the tricks for show, not for practical use. When she fights, she’s not trying to be dainty, she’s trying to be deadly.”

Alyssum can’t help her facial expression, and Caesar notices this, which puts a whole new tone on the interview.

“I almost forgot that it’s the first time Alyssum will be watching her dear older sister inside of the games.” Caesar is gentle again, “How do you feel, knowing that she’s in danger? Or that she’s doing… unladylike things?”

Reed scowls, and Alyssum’s eyes narrow, “They’re not unladylike, she’s doing what she has to do to survive, and I know that. I’m not a child, Caesar, I’m thirteen. I’m just a year older than the requirements to start getting my name pulled out of the glass bowl. You can’t preserve the innocence of the people, if you’re the one that’s taking the innocence away.

“And she’s not in danger, either. She’s got Finnick, and Johanna, and Katniss and Peeta and Beetee. She’s as safe as she can be, because she’s got a nice group of allies. The only danger in there, is the arena that you’ve engineered. Other than that, she can handle herself, and her friends.

“Enobaria and Brutus mean absolutely nothing to her.” Alyssum crosses her arms, “May the odds be ever in their favor.”

There’s a silence that fills the living room, and the audience. No one speaks for a good moment, until Reed laughs. He’s not laughing at her, he’s laughing at the fact that she just spoke the minds of plenty of people watching.

Caesar gives a weak smile, “How do you feel about her performance inside of the arena so far?”

Alyssum is on a rebellious streak, so she answers before her brothers, “I think that she could be doing better, killing more people, doing more unladylike things.”

Mox has a smile hinting at the corners of his mouth, “I will say that it’s a lot more uneventful than it was in her first games. She’s not nearly as into it as she was before, and it’s probably because she’s hyperfixating on her and Finnick’s survival.”

“She’s obviously been keeping a close eye on the others,” Reed says, “You can tell by her body language, the only person she really trusts is Johanna, and that’s because they’ve met on several occasions. Other than that, it’s clear that she’s wary of Katniss and Peeta’s movements. 

“Probably because they’ve been so distrusting, which is starting to reflect on her too. She likes to give people the benefit of the doubt, but they’re testing her patience a bit.” 

Caesar looks off to the side, and he almost looks relieved, “We’re almost out of time, so you know what that means.” he looks back at the camera, “Reed, if there was one thing you could say to (Y/n) and Finnick right now, what would it be?”

“I’d tell (Y/n) that she’s doing great, and to not doubt any of her choices. She went in there with a plan to keep Finnick safe, and she’s gotta keep that in mind. As for Finnick, I’d ask him to keep a closer eye on my baby sister, because she needs him, like he needs her.” Reed looks over to Mox next.

Mox shrugs somewhat, “I’m just worried about her safety around the other victors. I’d tell her and Finnick to look for double-meanings in plans, and if they’ll compromise safety and trust. Finnick is quick on his feet, so I think he’ll be able to catch on if there’s a hint of trouble. (Y/n) shouldn’t be trying to get too close to the others.”

“I’d tell them that I miss them.” Alyssum tightens her arms, “The house isn’t the same without them here. Everyone in District Four misses them, especially Annie since they’re good friends of hers. And I hope to see either of them really soon, as the winners of the games.”

Caesar gives a thoughtful nod, before a smile appears on his face, “Well, that’s all the time we have for you. (Y/n) and Finnick have been together since the very beginning, so it makes sense that they’ll be together until the end!” he laughs, Reed grits his teeth, “Ladies and gentlemen, the family of (Y/n) and Finnick Odair!”

[the-creeping-shadow]

Shade’s OCs

Here is a list with all OCs I have so far, including fandom and non-fandom OCs. Some of these might appear new to you (if you have been following me for a while); some might seem familiar. I offer this as a reference, but also as a way to talk about characters a bit. No facts are set in stone; questions and such are always welcome ^^

I’ll start with the ones I’ve already introduced here.

Fandom OCs/Fan characters

Anna Haas My Outlast fan character who exists in an AU based on The Murkoff Account. The result of the question “what if the baby was real?” that appeared in my head one day, Anna exists in several iterations depending on several factors.

Her introduction into the world was more than a little messy; the assault on her mother, Michelle, resulted in Anna being born way too early and spending the first months of her existence in NICU. Obviously she survived the whole ordeal. Under the care of her mother Anna turned into an overall friendly and optimistic child who is very close to her parent, albeit often worried about her given the trauma Michelle endured (which she tries to hide in front of Anna, but the psychological consequences still show up).  She’s a headstrong person, determined to pursue any goal she sets for herself, and has a certain tendency to want to take on a leading role in whatever project or even game she is involved in. These traits carry over when she grows up. The past of her family very much interests her even if the truth about her father and her parents’ involvement in Mt. Massive end up taking a toll on her world perception. She becomes more reserved, perhaps even more irritable in certain aspects after the “revelation”, but sets on a quest to find out what exactly ended up happening to her father with a goal to find disclosure and a peace of mind - a dangerous endeavour perhaps, but one she considers worth the risk. The outcome of all this will ultimately depend on two major variables in her story...

Kyniera the Imp A DOOM OC heavily inspired by the codex entries in 2016 and various headcanons I developed about the species’ biology. Not entirely compliant with the lore presented in DOOM Eternal, as she was created before the new game came out; so to some degree she might exist in some AU as well.

A determined survivalist long used to the harsh ways of Hell that are not that much friendlier to demons than they are to any other life forms (especially so if you are a low-ranked Imp - considered nothing more than cannon fodder), Kyniera is an Imp who has gathered enough experience and a certain amount of caution as a result to survive longer than many others of her breed. This, coupled with a growing sense of self-awareness that is present in older Imps only, makes her suitable to take the role of pack leader in any Imp group she finds herself in. If not leader, then at least someone who is confident enough to influence group decisions, especially when it comes to hunting. An unfortunate event has resulted in her, among other lower beasts, being captured by higher-ranking demons and carried off to a combat arena in the depths of Hell to fight against oftentimes stronger opponents for the sheer amusement of Hell denizens but also to test the physical prowess of the members of Hell’s armies, including herself. Kyniera, much to everyone’s surprise perhaps, has proven to be a particularly resilient Imp, showing good knowledge of how to use her innate fire ability and agility to her advantage, becoming somewhat of a “pet” in the arena. Not necessarily a good thing for the Imp as the arena masters and spectators were probably more curious to see how long she will prevail mentally, out of sheer sadistic delight. However, one losing fight convinces her to turn tail and run eventually - and she manages to escape the arena, overcoming her own fears. With a growing hatred towards the “higher-ups” and an unwillingness to die for anyone, Kyniera wishes to distance herself from all Hell politicking and solely focus her efforts on survival and hunting alone. An endeavour that may not come easy as she still ends up getting caught in the crossfire of intra-Hell conflicts between warring factions which ultimately sends her down a path that just may lead to a particular metamorphosis...

Non-fandom OCs

Synth Rex Synth is an old and powerful daemon lord* who rules over an entire realm. He appears to be a cheerful and playful person who interprets almost everything as a game of sorts. Whatever is said or even done to him, Synth will keep smiling and talking in a friendly and ofttimes jolly way. This demeanour keeps showing even if Synth is experiencing negative emotions - as a way to keep up his composure, but also as a way to “troll” people, especially so if they appear more hostile. With his mindset mostly revolving around the maintenance of his realm, Synth is willing to do a lot of things to ensure the prosperity of it.  He can be described as a scholar of sorts since he enjoys reading and travelling throughout the multiverse to learn and explore different dimensions, the people, cultures etc. It's one of the more effective ways for Synth to occupy himself and prevent boredom. Other occupations may be training, alchemy, and watching individuals and events having managed to pique his interest, especially if they feature revenge. Unlike my fandom OCs, there is no set storyline for this universe. It’s more of an open world revolving around Synth’s realm and his family as well.

Elizabeth Morgan Elizabeth is a fairly old and mighty daemon and Synth's lover. Elizabeth is what one can describe as a willful and self-confident woman who will not let others influence her in a negative way or push her around. Charming, elegant, and equipped with experience collected over 712 years of her life, Elizabeth prefers to use social skills to go about many matters. This is further helped by her mind control abilities which she can use quite deftly, provided an entity is not more powerful than her. She will often meet others with an overall pleasant demeanour, polite, respectful, and decent, simultaneously confident and not afraid of speaking her mind. Greater slights against her or her family will leave a bitter taste in her mouth and will not be forgotten so easily. As a daemon, Elizabeth has no inhibitions about using her mind control abilities to further her goals. She can be a manipulative person who likes to use a person's mental weak points to convince them of acting or thinking in a way benefiting her. When talking proves to be futile, Elizabeth is still capable of defending herself and will not hesitate to do so: like others of her species, she possesses enhanced strength and the ability to shapeshift into a fearsome daemon form.

Shannon Rex [picture not yet available on Tumblr] Shannon is the first and eldest of Synth and Elizabeth's children. Shannon had had a shapeshifting "accident" at the age of three months, having transformed into an indescribable, amorphous shape which appears to be their daemon form, which significantly differs from the usual form. Ever since, Shannon has to struggle with shapeshifting slips a lot, though their powers are getting better as time passes and they become an adult. Shannon is an introverted and reserved person, somewhat taciturn. Serious and determined, Shannon mostly occupies themselves with books and training and might not necessarily be a person who is in for the "silly" type of fun. Having been raised by a caring, but strict father who has set a firm schedule for his child and having been around their father's subordinates a lot, Shannon is disciplined and generally well-behaved. Due to their problems with the shapeshifting power and initially slow telekinesis, Shannon tends to be insecure about themselves, constantly questioning their worth and might. However, with frequent training units and being the offspring of a daemon lord, it might just be a matter of time until Shannon actually becomes powerful.

Cynthia Rex [picture not yet available on Tumblr] Cynthia is the second and youngest of Synth and Elizabeth's children. Cynthia is a happy and jolly six-year-old child (there is a huge age gap between the children), always curious and with a tendency to ask a lot of questions concerning how things work and what they are. She also has a bit of a mischievous streak and will attempt to play pranks once in a while. Close to her family, she is pretty much seldom seen anywhere away from a family member unless she decides to explore her father's castle on her own. Around strangers Cynthia becomes quiet and will cling to whatever family member is accompanying her at a time. As a child she is unaware of a lot of things existing in the multiverse and has a generally optimist attitude, though she knows not to trust people she does not know, which is mostly because of her family frequently telling her that she should not trust anyone outside of her family and her father's subordinates. Cynthia has recently begun undergoing training units in addition to lessons, which often leave her tired.

Thetis The result of my fascination with sharks, the desire to design a mermaid based on the great white shark, and depicting sharks in a positive light while maintaining the fact that they are (majestic) predators by nature.

Thetis is a very curious and inquisitive great white shark mermaid. While Thetis tends towards the introvert side of the spectrum, she is still open to talking with others, always willing to learn new things. She meets others with a friendly appearance and will not, contrary to what might be said about sharks and shark mermaids, seek any hostile intentions whatsoever as long as she is not agitated or hunting prey. Even though she has no inhibitions about killing other living things (specifically prey), she does so only for the sake of self-preservation and would scoff at others for "wasting" a kill, or put differently, for killing and harming other living things for any other reason than self-preservation. Still, Thetis does enjoy the thrill of the hunt itself and will speak rather openly about hunting if it ever comes to that. Depending on which universe she is set in, Thetis may dislike humans (or other humanoids, depending) for all the things they are doing to sharks and maybe even mermaids. However, she would never actively go against any unless the human provokes her intentionally.

Xenia Used to be a fan character of mine before I decided to rewrite her entire story and include her as a non-fandom OC in my own multiverse. As a result there are still gaps in her story, though her personality/concept remains similar.

An agent working under Synth Rex among his ranks. Xenia has endured an excruciating, unhappy childhood that left her permanently scarred - physically and mentally. An escape from her world, after she has exacted revenge on her tormentors, was offered by Lord Rex, who had become interested in her story, promising a better future for her. While Xenia was hesitant to take his offer to work for him first, she accepted it and ended up in a better position after all, as she perceives it. Still, her life has left her bitter, cynic, and mistrustful. While she tries to keep up a good relationship with her fellow agents, approaching her is still difficult as she prefers a solitary lifestyle, slow to trust anyone. Her manner of speech tends to be sarcastic often. Xenia belongs to an unspecified human-like species, possessing powerful telekinetic abilities that have developed and strengthened as she grew up. It was this power that allowed her to turn her "fate" over.

        *the depiction of the daemon might drastically differ from “canonical” mythological depictions in places. These characters exist in a multiverse created by me and thus adhere to lore created by myself.

[flvghtlessbvrds]

⧼ willa fitzgerald, cis!female, she/her / circle game by p!nk + flowers growing where they shouldn’t, neat planners, the comfort of being with family ⧽ ━━ let me tell you a thing or two about HALEY LAUREL LANCE QUEEN. the TWENTY-SIX year old daughter of OLIVER QUEEN & DINAH LANCE is a TA of ETHICS & MUSIC at paragon academy, and has sometimes been referred to as THE FINAL GIRL. they’ve always seemed very PERSEVERANT & IDEALISTIC, though i’ve heard that they can be pretty JUDGEMENTAL & BLUNT, too. it’s common knowledge that they have the power of the CANARY CRY; guess we shouldn’t get on their bad side, huh?

tw: injury

BIO:

Haley Laurel Lance-Queen was an accident. Ollie and Dinah had never had the most stable relationship and so they did not even know that Dinah was pregnant until she was badly injured when a mission went sideways and she wound up in a hospital room.

At this point the foetus was already quite badly damaged and it was made clear to Ollie and Dinah that the baby would likely not survive to term, and if it did then it would likely be severely impaired.

Against all odds Haley was born four weeks prematurely, and even more surprisingly that tiny baby lived despite all the odds stacked against her.

She was named after her godfather Hal Jordan who would go on to play an incredibly large role in her life.

Such a traumatic birth however did leave it’s scars. Haley is disabled having a condition called CEREBRAL PALSY meaning that her amount of movement she has in her legs was severely impaired, what little amount of walking she can do is incredibly painful, she’s been going to therapy to try to improve it.

You would think that Haley being born would have had a massive impact on Ollie and Dinah’s lives, that they would have gotten their act together. This did happen for a while but it wasn’t long before things fell apart again.

Her childhood was frustrating, as she never got to do a lot of the things her younger siblings got to enjoy, it was hard for her to even get up in the morning never mind learning martial arts or how to manage her powers.

As she got older however she grew more determined to win rather than lose. She practiced archery until her fingers burned, learnt how to do martial arts in her chair, until she was as good a fighter as her siblings, albeit with a few restrictions.

As a teenager Hals spent was very much a loner. She had to learn to fend for herself and be comfortable in her own company while Ollie and Dinah were busy being Ollie and Dinah. Something that culminated with Nora going to boarding school. Haley was around seventeen when she learnt she was better simply expecting nothing from her parents, although they both tried their best.

On the whole her unstable childhood, and not so great relationships as a teenager lead her to the belief that everybody leaves, with the exception of her siblings who she sees as her responsibility, it’s a viewpoint she hasn’t been able to shake even now.

At the age of nineteen she really didn’t know who she wanted to be, but at the age of twenty two she had become a TA at Paragon Academy, mainly to keep an eye on her siblings but she also found that she quite enjoyed teaching. Even if she’s a fan of the tough love approach in a lot of cases.

NOW:

Hals has been a TA for five years now and at this point and feels like she’s seen it all. as always her focus is on looking after nora and her students but i can also see her being drawn into the chaos if she gets a chance. chair or no chair she’s never really been one to sit back passively.

FACTS:

She’s a singer. There’s a small cafe in town were she sings sometimes but it’s something Hals likes to keep to herself.

Despite how much she’s tried to distance herself from the man she does have quite a few traits from Oliver; wanderlust, passion, impatience there are plenty of ways you could call her her father’s daughter.

Hals is a big plant lover (her succulent collection is impressive), she has a polaroid camera that roy gifted her for her twentieth birthday which she only trusts about three people with, and she keeps a planner almost obsessively.

CONNECTIONS:

OLIVER QUEEN: father // sperm donor // frustration :: Despite what the above might lead you to believe Haley does not hate her father rather instead it is the opposite. When she was a child she idolised him, it was just when she got older she became less and less blind to the mistakes he seems to make over and over again. she’s come to the conclusion that she doesn’t need him, but at the same time she knows if she needed her that she’d be there in second to help him clear up his mess.

DINAH LANCE: mother // idol :: When she was younger haley wanted nothing more than to be just like her mother from the jacket to the singing. she makes up a big part of of haley’s personality. even now the distance between them isn’t quite as large as between haley and ollie. she still blames both of them for leaving and what happened to both of her siblings but she had far more sympathy for Dinah than she’ll ever have for ollie and tries to keep her in the picture where she can.

HAL JORDAN: godfather // parental figure :: Hal is haley’s godparent, but really she classes him as a second father. He wasn’t around too much when she was a kid, he couldn’t have been thanks to the lantern ring he wears, but whenever he was he made sure to make a fuss of her, even now she makes sure to check in with him every once and a while.

NORA LANCE-QUEEN: little sister :: Haley has always adored her younger sister. Their age gap large enough that she also wanted to be someone she could lean on. Their relationship was not however always the best, Nora took great pleasure in the socialite lifestyle while haley herself had always tried to steer away from it. Then the incident happened and Nora was hurled into this whole other world and as much as Hals tried to be there for her sister another wedge was forced in between them. They’re in the same place now but things are still a little disjointed compared to before.

CLINT BARTON:  understanding adult :: A disabled superhero isn’t that cool ?? teenage Hals certainly thinks so. The two of them have a very interesting dynamic in that they bonded over nothing more than arrows and now she turns up at his office with pizza every so often needing to vent.

EMMA FROST & SCOTT SUMMERS: teachers she works with :: despite her natural talent for music it’s ethics that Haley really has the passion to teach. as a result she has an enormous amount of respect for both Emma and Scott even if she tries to stay out of the way of their personal lives (even if she thinks they should get back together).

WANTED CONNECTION:

summer love: mamma mia style no strings attached romance? sign me up

more students: she’s a good teacher i swear

a girl squad: girls supporting girls whats not to love

all the friendships: (the more unlikely the better)

a disability support group thingy: idk but they’re around all these extra able people i bet it can be a lot

people from her past: (exes, once friends etc) just angst in general ok guys because hals really isn’t perfect

people she can look up to

league kids she feels responisble for

ta squad maybe???

[master-sass-blast]

Found Family Part Four: Nathan “Cable” Summers.

This might just be the single best fic I’ve ever written. Holy shit.

Summary: An over view of your relationship with Nathan “Cable” Summers. Has tie ins with Myshka and Dig the Needle In, set before Rubber Meets Road.

Rating: T for adult language, mention of abuse, injuries, and death, and angst.

Pairings: Piotr Rasputin x Reader and Nathan Summers x Wade Wilson.

This the fourth installment of a mini-series I’ve been working on! Check out the first three parts here: Wade, Neena, The Three Teens.

A massive thank you to the amazing @leo-writer for reading over this for me and reassuring me that it is, in fact, good.

Tag List: @marvel-is-perfection, @chromecutie (if you want to be added to the list, DM me or drop me an ask).

(X-Force Rap lyrics found here.)

Nathan Charles “Cable” Summers is an enigma. A grumpy, gun-toting enigma with a techno-organic arm, eye, and various miscellaneous parts.

He spends most of his time with Wade despite the fact that he seems just as annoyed by the merc’s antics as everyone else. He spends his time either working with the X-Men or working on his mission to unfuck the Earth. Given the amount of coffee he downs on daily basis, you’re not sure when he sleeps.

He also wears bifocals when he reads, practices yoga and meditation, and has a vegetable garden that he lets the students at the Institute help him with.

Nathan Charles “Cable” Summers is… weird.

 ***

 You meet him for the first time shortly after your arrival at the Institute.

“This is one of our training rooms,” Charles explains as he gives you the grand tour of the place. “We do require our residents to under go basic mutation control training for safety purposes.” He wheels towards a man with gray hair and a metal arm. “This is Cable. He’ll be your training mentor for the time being.”

Cable turns, techno-organic eye glowing orange as he looks you over. “You have any experience with sparring?”

You blink. “Uh… no.”

“Firearm handling?”

“Not… really.”

He nods. “We’ll start with those tomorrow.”

You stare after him as he turns and walks away, seemingly satisfied with the conversation –or lack thereof, really. What in the actual fuck?

***

 So, Cable –as it turns out—isn’t nearly half as intimidating as he looks.

He’s gruff and grumpy, yeah, but it makes sense after you get the thumbnail version of what happened to his family and how he ended up here from Colossus and the Professor. And he doesn’t talk much, but it’s because he genuinely prefers being quiet. More than that, actually, he doesn’t like having to carry the conversation; he’s more than happy to just let you talk all you want and only chime in occasionally.

He’s especially hard to take seriously after you catch him working in his garden while wearing a pair of hot pink Crocs.

You can’t help but cackle. “Where the fuck did you get those!”

“Wilson got ‘em for me,” he grunts.

“And you’re wearing them because?”

“They’re comfortable. Wash easy. No sense in throwing them away or wasting them.”

You shake your head as you chuckle. What a dork.

***

 Firearm training goes well. Cable is scrupulous about firearm safety; you don’t even get to take your first shot before you can break down a gun and put it back together and recite the rules of responsible gun handling in your sleep.

Sparring and trying to train your powers, on the other hand…

“You’re breaking form again,” Cable says, stopping his swing before it can gain any momentum. “You’re liable to get hurt if you keep flinching away from everything.”

“I know, I know; I’m sorry.”

“I’m not looking for you to apologize. I’m trying to help you avoid hurting yourself.”

“Sor—” You cut yourself off with a grimace and try to keep your hands from shaking. “Right. Let’s… let’s try again.”

Cable doesn’t go back into his sparring stance, though. He puts his hands on his hips and tilts his head back as he regards you. “You got beat on, didn’t you.”

It’s not a question.

You swallow hard and look away. “Does it matter?”

“Yeah.” He puts his hand on your shoulder and nudges you towards the edge of the ring. “Come on.”

“Where are we going?”

“For a walk.”

***

 You wind up in the kitchen. The room’s empty, save for the two of you.

You frown as Cable pulls out the cookie jar from its carefully hidden spot in the cupboard over the toaster. “What are you doing?”

“Mentoring. That, and I’m hungry. You want milk?”

You nod, carefully seating yourself at the counter. “I didn’t, uh, take you for a, uh, sweet stuff sort of guy.”

“Don’t have sugar in my time,” Cable says as he pours two glasses of milk. “Was bitching about it when I first came here, then Wade told me to shut the fuck up, enjoy it if I wanted to, and focus on using my energy for productive shit.” He pauses, then smirks. “And then he listed about twenty things that weren’t productive in the least.”

“Sounds like Wade,” you agree with a laugh. You pick a cookie from the jar, then dunk it into your milk before popping it in your mouth. “You know, for all that you seem to be annoyed by him, you spend a lot of time with him.”

“Wilson’s practical. We have similar worldviews. And when he’s not being an ass, he’s funny.” He shrugs. “I like him.”

You blink, then take the opportunity to play wingman for your best friend. “He likes you too, you know.”

Cable snorts. “Believe me, I know. He’s not exactly subtle.”

“So you’re just… letting him do his thing?”

“Wade’s got his own shit to work out first,” he says with a shrug. “He lost his girlfriend; he’s still grieving.”

“And you aren’t?”

Cable grimaces. “My wife and daughter are alive. Even if I can’t see them, I can build a better world for them. And that doesn’t necessarily stop me from loving. But Wade isn’t ready for that. And if he decides he is, at some point, I’ll be here.”

You smile. “Wow. That’s really romantic.”

He grunts. “I’m not romantic.”

“Yeah, you are. You’re a big softie.”

“I’m not.”

“You so are.”

“Not.”

“Are.”

He huff and shakes his head, corner of his mouth turning up in a smirk. “Whatever, kid.”

You take another cookie and focus purposefully on your glass of milk as you dunk it. “So, uh, why’re we here instead of training?”

“You’re not gonna be able to train properly until you stop being afraid of being hit,” Cable says bluntly. “The way I see it, that’ll be easier for you if you actually trust me.”

You frown and glance up at him. “So, what, we’re… bonding?”

“Yep.”

Weird… but not bad.

You help yourself to another cookie. “Okay.”

 ***

 The two of you don’t operate the way you and Wade do.

First, Wade is about ten thousand times crazier than Cable will ever be. Second, you and Wade are basically best friends; between the larger age gap between you and Cable and his vastly different personality, the two of you just don’t mesh the same way you and Wade do.

But you do connect. The two of you train together, tell each other about various parts of your lives. He teaches you first aid and some basic home maintenance skills, you teach him about which memes mean what and what Wade means when he uses them –which is basically a history lesson for Cable since he’s from the future, but whatever. It’s symbiotic.

You learn about each other. It’s progress.

***

 Your training, however, is not progressing.

You drop down onto your knees on the training mat and grab at your hair. “Fuck!”

Cable kneels down next to you, ignoring the multiple sets of eyes looking in your direction as he puts a steadying hand on your shoulder. “Hey, easy. Deep breaths.”

“I can’t do it.”

“You’re right, because you’re panicking. Come on, in through your nose, out through your mouth.”

You ignore him in favor of biting on the inside of your cheek so you don’t cry. “Fuck, why am I such a fucking failure?”

Cable stays quiet for a moment, then pulls you to your feet. “Come on.” He walks you to a quiet hallway and has you sit down on the nearest bench.

You swipe at your nose with the back of your sleeve. “Sorry.”

“Got nothing to be sorry for. Just focus on calming down.”

“I just really wanna get this fucking right.”

“You’re not going to until you stop expecting yourself to fail,” Cable says, to the point as ever. “It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy. And I doubt you’ll get past that until you process more of your childhood trauma.”

You grimace. “I’d really rather not.”

“Christ, what is with this century’s hang up on not working through emotions?” Cable grumbles.

“Yeah, because travelling back in time to murder a child is the pinnacle of working through emotions,” you fire back, too upset and pissy to be concerned with being nice.

“Touché,” he grunts as he sits down next to you.

You sniffle and do your best to dry off your face with your sleeves. “I just… I’m trying. I really am.”

“I know.”

“It’s just… it’s scary,” you admit quietly. “I know you’re not gonna hurt me –not really, anyway, though I’m not fond of the idea of getting hit by your metal fist—but it’s still just… scary.”

“I know. But the only way out is through.”

You shake your head. “I don’t know if I can.”

“You can. You’re capable. And you need to.”

You shake your head again, throat constricting as more tears threaten to spill. “I can’t. Maybe with the hand-to-hand stuff, but not with my powers.”

Cable cocks his head to the side as he looks at you. “What’s the difference?”

You fidget with the hem of your shirt. “I’ve… I’ve killed people before with my powers. On accident. I was a kid; I didn’t know how to control them.”

“Jesus Christ,” Cable groans.

“I can’t –I can’t do that again, I can’t—”

“Okay, okay.” He puts an arm around you and squeezes your shoulders as you try not to cry too loudly. “Let’s be done for today.”

“No—”

“Yes. You’re not in the headspace to train right now. We’ll do something else.”

“Like what?”

He shrugs. “Wilson keeps telling me I need to try Taco Bell.”

You snort. “So we’re going from exercising to diarrhea central. Talk about lifestyle whiplash.” You glance over at him. “You know you’re gonna hate it, right?”

“I figured as much.” He stands and nudges your shoulder. “Come on.”

 ***

 (For the record, Cable actually likes Taco Bell.)

 ***

 Unfortunately, word of your little “meltdown” in the training room spreads during your Taco Bell excursion. By the time you get back, the entire mansion knows about your struggles, and some of the X-Men decide that an intervention is necessary.

And they’re led by none other than Scott Fucking Summers, because that would be your luck, dammit.

You’ve never wanted to melt into the carpet of Professor Xavier’s office so badly before. Unfortunately –also your shitty luck—turning into a liquid is not within your mutation set.

You do, however, sink back into the chair you’re perched on as much as you can, which helps.

“This is a safety issue!” Scott declares as he glares at Cable. “If Y/N can’t train to control her powers, then she is a danger to everyone in this house!”

Gee, you’ve never heard anything like that before. Not even once –definitely not multiple times a week, by both your parents and various members of the town you grew up in.

“Those glasses come off your face, and you blast a hole through whatever’s in front of you.” Cable shrugs. “Doesn’t seem very controlled to me.”

“Scott has trained to regulate his responses and control,” Ororo points out. “If Y/N can’t control her abilities, her future as a resident does have to be brought into question –to say nothing of her potential future as an X-Man—”

“No one ever said anything about her being an X-Man,” Cable growls. “Just that she needed rudimentary training.”

“All permanent residents at the Institute either work as teachers, healers, or X-Men!” Scott snaps, quickly losing patience as the argument drags on. “We aren’t an open house charity!”

“Self-control, please,” Piotr says, holding his hands up in a calming gesture. “This does not need to escalate.”

“I agree with Mr. Rasputin,” Professor Xavier says, inserting himself into the conversation before Scott can start talking again. “Calm discussion is the goal, here. As for Miss L/N’s residency, she’s here for protective custody, which makes her an automatic permanent resident for as long as she wants to stay.”

Scott’s face creases into a frown. “She’s an adult. She doesn’t need protective custody.”

Professor Xavier glances once at you before clasping his hands together and placing them on his desk. “The details of Miss L/N’s past are for her to disclose at her discretion. However, having consulted with our legal representatives on the matter, I can assure you that protective custody is warranted for this situation.”

“But—”

“The terms of Miss L/N’s residency here at the Institute is a closed issue, Mr. Summers,” the Professor says firmly. “However, the issue of her control training does need to be addressed, if only for the peace of mind of the other residents here.”

You can’t fucking deal with this; you can’t handle listening to them talking about you, let alone the thought of having to explain why you can’t get a grip on your powers—

You start crying.

And, apparently, you aren’t as subtle about it –well, as subtle as you can be with a telepath in the room—because Cable notices almost immediately. He’s by your chair in an instant, clasping your shoulder and telling you to take deep breaths.

“They’re all talking about me like I’m not even fucking here,” you seethe, body trembling as you try to reign in your emotions.

“We’re sorry, Y/N—” Professor Xavier starts. 

“No, you’re sorry,” Cable snarls. “Don’t fucking speak for everyone.” He glares at Scott for a moment, then refocuses on you. “Do you want to take the lead?”

You recoil so hard you almost knock over the chair. “No –no. I can’t—”

“Okay, okay. I’ll handle it.”

You frown. “How?”

“I’m your trainer. It’s my job,” he replies with a shrug before standing. “Go on. Go cool off. I’ll take care of things.”

***

 After about a half hour of “cooling off” Cable texts you to come down to the training rooms.

He’s there with Wade and Colossus when you arrive. “We just need to run some preliminary tests, so we can get an idea of your starting threshold.”

You freeze right in your tracks. “What—”

“Relax.” He nods his head at Wade. “We worked things out with Xavier; you’re on the X-Force with us. Wade doesn’t care if you run missions or not—”

Wade gives you a thumbs up, confirming what Cable’s saying.

“—so you can train at your own pace.”

You blink, and the nervous knot in your stomach slowly starts to unwind.

Emphasis on slowly.

“But –I haven’t been able to train with anyone yet,” you point out. “Not without freezing.”

Colossus gestures to the training room. “We have robotic simulates for solo training. Normally, they are only used by experienced members –but, with supervision, you can use them as well.”

You peer into the training room; sure enough, there’s a few robotic dummies on the training floor, currently inactive and slumped over.

“Okay… but I’ve never really used my powers… indoors.”

Well, you have, but most of those times ends with lots of broken glass and injured people.

“This room is designed to withstand Phoenix force,” Colossus explains, smiling reassuringly. “I doubt you could do worse than that.”

It’s a fair point. Jean’s one of the most powerful mutants you’ve met; if the training room can withstand her…

“Okay,” you decide, albeit reluctantly. You pad into the training room, then nearly jump out of your skin when the door swishes shut behind you. Relax, Y/N. Don’t be such a wuss.

A speaker crackles to life overhead a couple minutes later. “Okay, testing, one two, testing one-two-three, there once was a lady in Spain—”

There’s a growl and the sounds of a struggle –along with a lot of swearing and complaining from Wade—and then Cable takes over. “Alright, we’ll power up the training bots when you’re ready.”

You take a deep breath before fitting your flight goggles over your eyes. What the hell? May as well go for it. “Let’s rock this show.”

The bots jerk to life, straightening up—

And loud music blasts through the speaker system.

You flinch. “What the fuck?”

“It pays to team up with the franchise namesake!” Wade shouts over the intercom system. “We have our own theme song!”

You listen for a minute, shocked and utterly distracted. “What… on earth?”

“Nuts for luck! Get the party started! Knock you out like Colossus farted!”

You bust out laughing; you can easily picture the consternated expression on Colossus’s face, to say nothing of Wade’s own delighted expression…

Unfortunately, your lapse in focus gives the training bots ample time to cross the distance between you and them.

You yelp when one swipes at you and propel yourself away with a little blast of air. “Fuck!”

“You need to go on the offensive,” Cable instructs over the intercom system. “We won’t get a comprehensive baseline if you don’t.”

“I don’t want to break them!” you shout as you dodge another attack.

“They are meant to be broken,” Colossus reassures you. “Just try your best.”

So that’s what you do. You manage to bat them away from you repeatedly, but apparently ‘meant to be broken’ is some sort of secret code for ‘virtually indestructible.’ No matter what you try, the sparring dummies keep getting back up and attacking you all over again.

One of them manages to grab your arm, and the other two are quick to pile on. They’re heavier than they look, and trying to shake them off amounts to a whole lot of nothing.

You panic. You squirm and thrash in their grip, borderline hyperventilating as you try to free yourself.

You let out at a scream, and a wall of air slams into the sparring dummies. They careen into the walls, cracking in a few places and deactivating as they drop to the ground in short-circuiting heaps.

You drop onto your knees, panting as you brace yourself against the sparring mat.

Applause and raucous cheering –Wade—bursts over the intercom system, accompanied by general grumbling –Cable—and gentle pleas to calm down –Colossus.

Eventually, Cable manages to regain control of the microphone again. “I think we’ve got what we need. You can head out when you’re ready.”

You don’t run out of the training room, but it’s a near thing.

 ***

 You don’t make it far, though. Wade intercepts you in the hall and practically tackles you with a massive hug.

“That was so cool!” he crows as he swings you around in a circle, ignoring your screeches of protest. “Super cinematic!” He sets you down gently –well, as much as Wade does gentle—and claps Cable on the shoulder. “Good thinking, Nate-y!”

You frown. “Wait, who’s—”

But Wade’s already skipping off down the hall, with Colossus following after him, a harried expression on his face, which just leaves you with Cable.

Cable.

You stare at him incredulously, eyes nearly bugging out of your face. “Nate-y?”

He rolls his eyes. “Nathan. My name’s Nathan.”

Which makes a lot more sense, admittedly.

He smirks. “What, did you think my parents actually named me Cable?”

You shrug. “I dunno. White people do weird shit with names.”

He snorts. “Fair enough. Not a trend that dies out in the future, by the way.”

“There’s really no hope for us, is there?” you joke. “So… you got a last name to go with ‘Nathan?’”

“Summers. Nathan Summers.”

The recognition hits like a light going off.

“Is Scott your dad?” you ask, vaguely horrified.

Cable –Nathan—nods. “Yep.”

You blink as you try to process the information. “I’m not sure if I’m weirded out by that… or if I’m just impressed that he actually managed to get laid.”

Nathan laughs. “You know, Wade said the same thing when he found out.”

“Well, that makes sense,” you say with a shrug. “We are siblings, after all.”

 ***

 Training goes much better after that. Nathan has you work with the dummies for a while whenever the training room’s empty. Eventually, he works you up to training with him or Wade in the empty training room, then to sparring while everyone else is in there.

After a while, he greenlights you for missions with the X-Force.

And, shortly thereafter, you throw yourself through a plate glass window, dislocate your knee, crack three ribs, and have to be carried out to the X-Jet by Colossus.

Oops.

 ***

 Fortunately, Nathan doesn’t mind stepping into the role of physical therapist. He helps you get your strength back and ramp up your training regimen in safe, healthy increments.

He also teaches you about the other aspects of recovering from injuries that you failed to learn from childhood.

“Ice is important to reduce swelling and inflammation; too much of either puts strain on the joint,” he says as he props your formerly dislocated leg over his knees. “But what most people forget is that you have to stimulate movement and blood flow in bits and pieces to help the muscles heal.”

“So, what you’re saying is I should run a marathon.”

He gives you look that would appear annoyed if it weren’t for the way the corner of his mouth turns up. “I’m saying ‘gentle massage and stretching.’” He carefully starts working his thumbs into the muscle area around your injured knee. “Not too much, and not too hard. Just enough to start loosening everything up.”

Colossus walks in while Nathan’s massaging your knee. He stops and stares for half a second, seemingly surprised. “Ah –Cable. The Professor would like to speak with you.”

Nathan helps you set your leg back down, then passes an ACE bandage to Colossus as he leaves. “Wrap her leg, will you?”

“Konechno.” He kneels in front of you, gently propping up your knee before unwinding the bandage. He glances up once –twice—to make sure Cable’s gone, then starts wrapping your knee. “So… you and Cable seem… close.”

“It’s just platonic,” you say quickly; it’s not every day the guy you think is cute asks if you’re “close” with someone else. “He’s like a dad to me. Besides, he’s both too old and too young for me and… yeah, no. Not my speed.”

Colossus chuckles as he slowly winds the bandage around your knee. “Fair enough, myshka.”

***

Things progress from there again. You heal, you get back to training and missions, and you improve quite a bit –and don’t throw yourself through anymore plate glass windows.

Then you get outed for using repression serum.

And everything stops.

 ***

 You spend most of your time in your room after returning to the mansion. If you’re not there, you’re outside, at the fringes of Xavier’s property, where you’re unlikely to hurt anyone. You hike around in the small wooded area, run the trails, and generally keep away from everyone.

Nathan finds your preferred hiding spot after a few days –a tree stump that’s had the space underneath it hollowed out by animals and the weather. He sighs when he sees you. “You can’t hide from everyone forever.”

“I have to,” you choke out between sobs. “There’s no place for me here anymore.”

“Kid—”

“Don’t fucking ‘kid’ me! I’ve killed people; I’m a monster!” You level your index finger at him, baring your teeth as he looks down at you sadly. “And don’t give me that shit about how I was just protecting myself as a kid. I killed twenty people when I stole the repression serum from Harmony. I’m a murderer.”

“Just because the X-Men have a no killing policy doesn’t mean accidents don’t happen—”

“It wasn’t a fucking accident!”

He purses his lips and gives you a hard look. “You chose to kill men who decided they had the right to kill other people.”

“It doesn’t make a difference!”

“Yes, it does!” he snaps. “You went after shitstains that side with the likes of Klansmen and Nazis. I came back in time to kill a kid who was terrified after being abused his whole life because he’d grown up into an asshole that killed my family. If you’re a monster—” he points at you “—then so am I.” He taps his index finger against his chest. “And if you want to technical about the body count, you’re nowhere near me or Wilson. You gonna call us monsters, too?”

You shake your head after a long moment. “No.”

“Then you don’t get to do it to yourself.” His expression softens, and he holds out a hand to you. “Kid, c’mon. You deserve better than hiding out here or in your room.”

You stare at him with watery eyes for a long moment, then take his hand.

He pulls you out from underneath the stump and into a hug. He gently smooths your hair out as you cry and brushes your hair off your back. “You’re not a monster. The choices you made may have not been the right ones, but you’re not a monster.”

You just shake and sob in his arms, unable to speak.

Eventually, when you calm down, Nathan has you sit up so he can pull some tissues out of his fanny pack –utility bag, whatever. “Dry yourself off, kid. Those men aren’t worth your tears.”

You shake your head as you wipe off your face. “I can’t think like. It’s too easy to be angry.”

Nathan regards you for a moment. “You’re incredibly strong, you know that? I knew soldiers who went through half the shit you did, and they were some of the most bitter, hateful people I knew.”

“War and a sucky childhood are two different things.”

“Yeah, but war and abuse both break people, and you haven’t let it break you.”

You blow your nose and let out an exhausted sigh. “I feel pretty broken.”

“You’ll get there. Give yourself time.” He lets you calm down for a couple more minutes before leveling the boom you knew was coming. “You need to get back to training.”

You shake your head automatically. “No. I can’t –I can’t kill anyone again.”

“We’ll start you off on the dummies again—”

“I’m stronger without the serum; I could still hurt people, or bring part of the mansion down, or—”

“You’re not stronger than a cosmic entity at full strength,” Nathan interrupts, adamant. “I know you’re scared, but the longer you stay away from this, the worse it’s gonna be.”

“I can’t,” you whimper, tears coming back. “I can’t do it.”

“You can. You’ve done it before, and you can do it again. Look, you trusted me to help you the first time, right?”

You nod.

“Then trust me now. I’ve had plenty of time to watch your powers and watch you use them. You’re smart. You learn fast. You’re a fucking natural. You managed to correct your landings in a handful of weeks. You’ll get the rest of your powers dialed in.”

You try to swallow the lump around your throat and sniff pitifully. “But what if I really can’t? What if there’s something wrong with me that makes it impossible for me to control my powers?”

“Then you need a different kind of help, not training,” Nathan says simply. “But the Professor taught Jean how to control an omnipotent, several millennia old cosmic entity, and you’re a lot more stubborn than Jean is.”

You manage a weak smile. “I am pretty stubborn, aren’t I?”

“Damn right.” Nathan smiles back, then stands and holds out a hand to you. “Come on.”

You hesitate. “Everyone else is safer if I’m out here.”

“Debatable. Besides, you deserve to be around the people you love and love you.”

You let out a shaky breath, then take his hand.

 ***

 It’s hard. And slow. Two of your least favorite things.

Nate’s with you every step of the way, though –and he listens to Alyssa’s recommendations about how to desensitize you to the training room all over again. The two of you start with just hanging out in the room –with and without other people in there—without doing anything else, then move on to training with weights or the punching bag. It takes three full weeks before you work your way up to training with the dummies.

You’re stronger. A lot stronger. You make Wade let out more than a few choice words over the intercom system as you decimate the X-Men’s collection of training bots over and over again.

“I told you,” Cable says as he helps you stretch before heading in one day. “You’re good. You’re powerful.”

“I don’t want to be powerful,” you mutter as you bend down to touch your toes. “I never asked to be powerful. And I—” you let out a strained laugh “—I don’t give a shit that other mutants would kill for my strength or abilities or what-fucking-ever. I never asked to be this way.”

“You don’t have to give a shit about their opinions. A lot of soldiers wanted my simulated abilities and added strength, thought I was lucky that I had a limb that wouldn’t bleed out. All this virus has ever caused me is pain.”

You straighten up and look at him directly. “You don’t think I’m being ungrateful?”

Nathan shrugs. “Don’t think ‘ungratefulness’ has much to do with it. Being the way you are has caused you a lot of problems and pain. It’s natural that you don’t like it.”

You let out a little sigh of relief and drop your forehead against his human shoulder. “Thanks, Nate.”

He pats your back gently with his human hand. “Anytime, kid. Anytime.”

***

 It takes you a bit, but you eventually realize that you hadn’t been kidding or speaking empty words when you’d told Piotr that Nathan was like a dad to you.

He is like a dad to you. He gives you advice and helps you train and generally acts as a silent, comforting, familial presence whenever you’re flipping out about various things. He learns how to cook with you and about how to exist in the real world with you and teaches you about shooting a gun, fighting, and what a proper budget looks like.

He’s not like Wade, who’s fun and an entire basket of crazy. He’s not like Piotr, who doesn’t challenge you as much and almost never pulls out the tough love that you need to hear from time to time.

He’s more stable than your uncle and more decent than your biological father.

He’s… he’s like a dad to you.

And you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you can’t say anything about it to Nathan. You know he has Hope, that he has a real daughter, and you wouldn’t dare insinuate yourself in a space that’s already been filled.

So you train with him and hang out with him and enjoy his gruff companionship, but you don’t tell him what you really think of him.

You can’t.

***

 You don’t go on missions.

Until you do.

Against your will, admittedly.

“I can’t fucking be here!” you hiss at Nathan as you attempt to hold back tears of terror.

“None of us have a choice right now,” he says, though not unkindly. “It’s an emergency call, remember? It’s why we got picked up in the middle of getting the damn groceries.”

You pick at the hem of your shirt. “I can’t do it. I’m not ready for it yet.”

“Okay.” He bats your hands away before you can destroy your shirt. “Then you wait in the cockpit until everything’s over, alright?”

You take a deep breath, then nod. “Okay.”

 ***

 The mission goes South –which is shocking, considering that Neena’s on the job, too.

There’s just too many bad guys for your team. Even with Nathan breaking out his “ridiculawesome” gun and Russell using his fire to borderline dangerous levels, the goons just keep crawling out of every possible area.

Neena’s lucky powers are probably the only reason everyone other than Wade isn’t dead yet, you think as you watch everything play out from the jet. You wince when Juggernaut lands a devasting hit on Piotr. “Come on, babe! Kick him in the balls!”

Your chest tightens and your breathing speeds up as you watch the fight fall further South. They can’t do it. They’re going to lose. They’re going to…

You don’t even think about what you’re doing as you open the hangar door before sprinting out of the cockpit. You grab your flight jacket and goggles and throw them on as you dash out of the jet and run towards the fight.

Piotr’s managed to throw –literally, yeet and all—Juggernaut back, stunning the brute momentarily before the helmeted honcho started charging down your little family once more.

You speed up, then launch yourself upwards with a burst of air. You put all your focus into what you’re about to do and let a scream of rage as you sail towards Juggernaut.

He notices you halfway through his charge. “What the—”

You land a few feet away from him and throw your hands forward, sending him hurtling back with the most powerful sustained blast of air you can summon.

Several other of the gun toting villains get caught in the burst of wind as well, sailing away into the air with shrieks of alarm.

Behind you, Wade lets out a jubilant crow. “Fuck yeah! Take that you Bane-wannabe-cocksucker!”

You keep up the torrent of wind, pushing Juggernaut back until he figures out how to brace himself and stops moving.

It’s a stalemate. The unstoppable force versus the immovable object.

“I’m gonna stop the wind!” you shout.

“What?” Wade screams back. “Are you insane?”

“Don’t worry! I’ve got a plan!”

As soon as the wind fizzles out, Juggernaut growls and charges at you once more. “I’m gonna shove you down the metal guy’s throat, you dumb bitch.”

You bare your teeth at him in a scowl and cock your fist back. “Shove this, asshole.” You let him get barely outside of grabbing distance, then swing your fist forward

A sonic boom explodes across the landscape as you accelerate Juggernaut past the speed of sound. His shrieks of terror can be heard in the distance as he sails away, followed by the sounds of total chaos and destruction as he crashes into various trees and building-like objects.

“Holy shit!” Wade pumps both his fists in the air. “She wasted Juggernaut! You wasted Juggernaut! What in the ass, that was so awesome!”

“Fight’s still not over,” Nathan says, but he’s grinning. “We’ve got some drones in the air, and we’ve still got people on the ground to take care of.”

“I got the drones,” you say as you run forward and take off.

 ***

 As soon as the jet takes off, once you all have vanquished your foes, Wade yanks you into a big hug and spins you around. “That was fucking incredible!”

You shriek and laugh. “Put me down! Christ!”

“You did it,” Neena says with a massive grin as Wade puts you down. “You didn’t think you could, but you did.”

Piotr clasps your shoulder gently as he kisses the top of your head. “We are all very proud of you, myshka.”

“I realized I was more scared of losing all you than I was of losing control,” you say with a shaky laugh. “You guys are my family.”

Russell grins. “Seriously. We’re your family?”

You grin back. “Hell yeah! Wade’s my brother, Neena’s my big sister, you, Ellie, and Yukio are basically my cousins, and Piotr’s my future baby daddy.” You favor your –now flustered—boyfriend with a cheeky smile while everyone laughs. “You’re all my family. I… I love all of you.”

“Aw, so sappy! Group hug!” Wade cheers as he yanks you, Russell, and Yukio into a hug.

“Absolutely not,” Ellie grumbles as she quickly retreats to the cockpit.

***

 Everything goes well after that.

Except it doesn’t.

Nathan is… oddly distant for the rest of the evening. He barely makes eye contact with you for the rest of the flight, books it off the jet as soon as it lands, and doesn’t speak to you for the rest of the evening.

You’re confused. And hurt. You’d expected –unselfishly—that Nathan would have some sort of… something to say to you after your little “breakthrough.” He’s been so integral in your journey of learning to not be afraid of your powers, and he’s always had some sort of encouragement or praise –or tough love, when the situation called for it—at all your milestones.

You can’t even find him once you’re cleared by Dr. McCoy. He’s a total ghost –one that doesn’t reply to your texts and phone calls, to boot.

“Did I say something?” you ask Wade at one point, nervous to the point you feel like puking. “Something’s wrong, but I don’t know what I did.”

“I don’t know,” Wade says with a grimace. “I’ll see if I can figure something out from him, promise.”

By the time you’re ready –well, need—to go to bed, you still haven’t heard anything from Wade or Nate. You’re so worked up over it that Piotr has to coax you into bed and rub your back to help you calm down.

Which works wonders for him. He’s so tuckered out from his fight with Juggernaut that he falls asleep while rubbing circles up and down your back.

(You think it’s genuinely cute of him.)

You toss and turn next to your snoring boyfriend, replaying the fight and the flight back over and over in your head, searching for any mistake, no matter how miniscule, that might’ve set Nathan off like this.

After what feels like hours –mostly because it’s been hours—Wade texts you.

Bro: Nateys in kitchen. Is willing to talk.

The thought that you don’t want to wake up Piotr is the only reason you don’t sprint out of the room –though you do fly down the stairs.

Wade meets you at the bottom, his mouth set into a deep grimace. “He’s not happy.”

“What did I do?” you ask, borderline panicking. “I’ve been replaying everything in my head over and over, and I can’t think of anything.”

“I know. And I know you didn’t mean anything malicious, but…” He sighs. “He’s hurt. And you need to go make it right –or as right as you can.”

You do your best to fight back the tears that are already stinging your eyes and nod. “Okay. I will.”

Wade gives you a brief, reassuring hug, then nudges you towards the kitchen. “Go on. He’s waiting.”

You can see Nathan seated at the counter, stripping and cleaning one of his guns (he’s put old newspapers down on the counter, which you know Piotr will be grateful for come morning).

He doesn’t look up at you when he walks in.

It takes you nearly three minutes to realize he isn’t going to speak, either; you have to start this. You take a deep breath and clear your throat. “Wade said you were willing to talk things out?”

Nathan just lets out an affirmative grunt.

You scowl in an effort to hold back tears and clench your fists. “Look, Nathan, whatever I did, I’m sorry. But I can’t make this right if you don’t tell me how I hurt you.”

“Nothing to make right,” Nathan bites out as he cleans part of his pistol with more force than necessary. “It’s your choice to make.”

“That doesn’t tell me anything!” you exclaim, throwing your hands up. “Wade said you wanted to talk, you haven’t said otherwise, so talk. I’m not going to apologize for every single thing I can think of in hopes that something will stick.”

“There’s nothing to be sorry for,” he spits out, mouth screwing into a pained frown. “I get it. I’m just not a part of your family.”

Your eyes go wide. “What? That’s not—”

The jet.

You’d given everyone on the jet a designation in your “family” –except Nathan.

You’d be smacking yourself upside the head if it wasn’t so obvious how upset he is over all of this.

“Nathan –I didn’t mean—”

“You don’t have to explain it. I understand.”

“No, Nathan, you’ve always been my family—”

“Don’t just lump me under some umbrella term,” he snarls. “I don’t need your fucking pity.”

“Nathan, just shut up and listen for one fucking minute!” you snap, louder than you ought to at this hour. “We’re okay,” you tack on when you hear Wade’s footsteps run towards the kitchen. “We’re fine.”

The footsteps stop, but don’t retreat in the opposite direction.

You sigh wearily and look at Nathan –who’s borderline glaring at you. “You’re like a dad to me, Nathan.” You see his eyes widen at the admission, and quickly move on so you can finish everything you want to say before he can lay into you for tarnishing his daughter’s memory and future existence like you are. “You’re everything I wanted my biological father to be. You’ve been with me on this journey practically every damn step of the way. There is no possible way for me to express just how grateful and thankful I am for your kindness and support and wisdom. If it hadn’t been for you, I wouldn’t have gotten out of that jet tonight.”

Nathan just stares at you when you have to pause to wipe your face, expression shocked.

“I know you have Hope,” you say, smiling sadly. “And there’s no way in hell I would ever try to step in on her memory or the bond you have with her. Just because you’re my family doesn’t mean I’m supposed to be yours –not like this, anyway.” You spread your arms in a shrug. “And I’ve come to terms with that. I’m okay with that. I know how much you love Hope; I can’t grudge that for even a single second.”

There are tears coming out of Nathan’s human eye that he doesn’t bother to wipe away. He just stares at you, borderline entranced.

“I’m sorry that I didn’t loop you into everything better on the jet,” you apologize. “I should’ve made a point to include you –called you a grandpa or something, I don’t know—but honestly, I was too strung out on adrenaline to even think of it in the moment. I didn’t mean to hurt you, and I’m sorry that you did.” You sniff loudly and take in a shaky breath. “I’ve done all I can do… and I think I’m just gonna go to bed now.”

You barely make it two steps towards the hall outside the kitchen before Nathan darts around the counter, grabs you by the arm, and pulls you into a massive hug.

You latch onto him, shocked.

“I can only hope,” he says, voice thick with emotion. “That Hope will turn out even half as kind and as decent as you are now.”

Your lower lip starts trembling in earnest, and you have to bury your face in his shoulder to keep from losing it.

“And I would be honored,” he adds. “To be your dad and call you my kid.”

You let out a little sob and cling to him harder. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“I know, it’s okay. We’re okay.”

The two of you stand there for a while, just holding each other and crying.

When you do part, Wade’s leaning against the kitchen doorframe, looking genuinely misty-eyed—

And further back in the hall is Piotr, looking half-awake at best and adorkably confused. “What is going on?”

“Good stuff, babe,” you reassure him, smiling even as you wipe your cheeks dry. “All good stuff, I promise.”

Nathan nods, agreeing. “We got it all worked out.” He squeezes your shoulder. “Go get some rest, kiddo.”

“Yeah, okay. Love you, dad.” Your voice breaks, and you almost start crying all over again.

Nathan almost does too, if his expression is anything to go by, and he pulls you into another hug. “Love you too, kid.”

A few tears do leak out when he kisses the top of your head, though.

He pats you on the back and lets you go a few moments later. “Go sleep. We’ll talk in the morning.”

“Yeah, okay.”

Wade trades spots with you as you walk towards Piotr, murmuring something in Nathan’s ear about “told you that was it” as he hugs his boyfriend.

Piotr’s smiling now, seemingly having put the pieces together. He kisses your forehead gently. “Ready for bed, myshka?”

“Yeah.” You yawn. “Will you carry me?”

He chuckles fondly and scoops you into his arms. “Konechno.”

You rest your head against his shoulder and let out a sigh that’s equal parts relief and happiness.

[concerningwolves]

Hello! I had a question about Vampires. I am currently in the works of making my own vampires, with their own set of rules and lore, but it’s heavily based on the origins. So my question is: what are your thoughts on the different kinds of vampires throughout media? Should people reinvent them, or try to stick to a more traditional sense? Thank you!

Hey Nonny! Mate, I have so much I can say on the matter of vampires. I promise to try my best not to turn this into another werewolf answer, but, well, vampires. Like werewolves, the vampire mythos is so fascinating.

On Re-Inventing A Popular Mythos

For starters, there is no one traditional vampire, although the oldest record of a vampire-like creature goes back to first Greek and then Slavic roots. As with the idea of a man having a beast inside, the idea of a human-like creature living in the darkness and feeding off fellow people was very popular.

Both vampires and werewolves are based on fears around darkness, animals and the human condition. Personally, I think that so long as you stick with those core ideals, you can re-invent the mythos however you like within reason.

Twilight pushes the boundaries of reason, and not necessarily because of the vampire-romance-age-creepy factor. My main issue is the Meyer Vampire itself, as I have no problem with vampire romances so long as they are done well and without the huge age gaps or the idea of one human’s blood being particularly alluring. That being said, I respect Meyer’s attempt to re-invent the vampires, I just feel as if she didn’t do enough research beyond the Western take and abandoned the core ideals. Here are some of the mistakes I feel she made:

Sparkle sparkle

This one is probably a shared peeve by many who read Twilight, for a whole lot of different reasons. For me, it’s because I can’t see any reason for the sparkle part beyond making Edward more attractive to Bella. In the mythos, a vampire’s relation to sunlight ranged anywhere from irritation to instant dustification on contact. This isn’t to say that I don’t think you can play with the sunlight reaction, but I found sparkles too far-fetched and without any mythological or cultural beliefs to back it up.

Italian Connection

The vampire Meyer went with for the base was the more modern, middle-ages take. That in itself isn’t really a problem, but why do that if you’re going to remove the religious components? I have a very strong view that if you’re going to re-invent a mythos, do your best to draw on one cultural source. This is because cultural history ought to be respected and given fair representation. To do that, I think that Meyer ought to have either said “these vampires are harmed by religious affects and so the volturi live in Italy” or “these vampires aren’t harmed by religious affects so I should draw on the Hellenestic or Slavic roots and base them in Greece/Eastern Europe”.

It’s worth mentioning here that the sparkle-skin thing could have been spun if, say, Meyer went with the Hellenistic vampire as a base. The story goes that Apollo cursed this poor guy to be hyper-sensitive to/irritated by sunlight; therefore, one option could have been to use the idea of that curse and say “the sheen on their skin in sunlight is so that they can’t hide and everyone must know them for what they are”.

Blood Delecacies

I’ve already mentioned disliking the whole “your blood is particularly alluring so I’m going to become obsessed with you” trope - not least because that’s a terribly unhealthy central component in a romance, but also because blood is blood. This one is more of a personal pet peeve though, and not really a bad representation or anything of the like, so feel free to overlook it. (But seriously, if you include the trope, keep it away from romance)

Vampires Unboxed

There are a lot of parallels between vampires and werewolves, and that’s mainly because the Slavic take of the vampire was originally a werewolf. That alone leaves you with a lot to use and mould, but another parallel is the “vampire tree”.

I talked about shapeshifters and man-beasts being a tree, of which the werewolf was an offshoot, and to continue that metaphor, vampirism is like a vine or some sort of climbing plant wrapped around the Shapeshifting Tree. You’ve got your standard vampire-vampire, which is what most vampire takes are based off of, but you’ve also got the vampirelike creatures: parasitic, evil spirits; creatures that feast off human energy; lamia... some research into vampiric beings and creatures will provide you with a goldmine of useable lore. Why stick with the traditional vampiric humanoid when there’s so much more you can run with?

 Nothing makes me happier than perusing a fresh take on the vampire. As the human condition and our perspective on it grows, there is no reason why you can’t be creative with the mythos, so long as you’re respectful and steer clear of harmful tropes.  One of my own back-burner works has a race of Greek-inspires vampires that I’m building, and it’s great fun.

I’m rooting for you, Nonny: break the box apart and rebuild it from the slats and nails!Good luck and enjoy making your vampires x

Media Favourites

Bad vampire re-inventions aside, there are plenty that I adore and make me super happy, from classics to contemporary. This last bit is going under the cut because it’s really just a list of examples with some commentary.

Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu pre-dates Dracula and follows a female vampire, Eastern European and Middle-Ages influences. Yet to read all the way through, but what I know already has it pegged on my immediate TBR list.

Dracula by Bram Stoker; considered to be the birth of the classical-modern vampire, I first read this when I was ten and then again last year, seeing it performed as a play in between. Safe to say, the Stoker Vampire is one of my favourites. Slavic-Christian influences.

Salem’s Lot by Stephen King; I’m yet to read this, but I’ve been a little put-off because Father Callaghan appears in the Dark Tower series, and in short: King spoiled his own vampire novel for me. Spoiled as in the “spoilers” sense, that is. The themes of faith, good, evil and human nature are combined brilliantly to make his vampires, and I’ll read it one day without a doubt.

What We Do in the Shadows; This film exists only in screenshots and clips for me, but damn it’s such a good take, particularly if you look at the relationship between vampires and the human condition through a more modern lense.

Long Lankin by Lindsey Barraclough; I read this novel no less than four times, and just thinking about it has made me get anxious and look around the kitchen. Although not classified as vampire fiction by popular modern standards, this young adult horror draws on loads of the original Slavic beliefs around vampiric spirits and the diseased undead. I would highly reccomend this one as inspiration for a unique take on vampires.

The Vampire Diaries by L.J. Smith; I think I got like, four books in?Stefan had just been turned human by some flowers... I don’t know, it was years ago. But anyway, romance and love triangles aside, the vampires in this series stuck with me, even though I got bored with the rest of it. The shape-shifting and predatory ways were all consistent with the Slavic lore and I really enjoyed that one aspect.

Young Dracula; British children’s comedy series following the son of Dracula, who doesn’t really want to be a vampire and has a human friend. There was all sorts in there that I loved, but my two favourites aspects were: bottling blood and acting like it was wine, with a pallet and distinct aromas, and the bat shapeshifting. Dracula was also a massive drama queen and his son was Constantly Embarassed. A lot of tropes such as the Tortured Recluse and the Vampire Victim were dissolved too, which made it all the more attractive to me. I remember the show getting progressively darker and intense, and then either I lost track of it or it went off-air. Either way, it’s still on my mind a few times a month nine years later.

My Babysitter’s a Vampire; and here it is, my guilty favourite from my late pre-teens. I was a fan of both the film and the successive TV series, because at the time I liked the fresh take on the sun theme, and enjoyed the use of flying ability. I wasn’t such a fan of the idea that being a vampire could beautify someone, but the rest of it secured my love.

[jorjathomas]

Comparing existing magazines

As I've began to do some mild research, I thought it was beneficial to gather some information regarding my intended audience. I should see if there's a gap in the market for this particular self help magazine or if it would be high in demand or not. In this post, I have compared old magazines that were published for young women to see what has changed and what particular topics have became more popular over the years. Obviously magazines aren't as popular anymore for teens as most people would pick up a phone and scroll to kill time rather than buy a magazine from your local store however, I'm interested to see the comparison between the two. 

Old vs New

At first, I was going to compare two magazines and analyse the differences however as I started to do some research, I thought it would be interesting to see how certain magazines which have been running for a long period have changed over time as digital journalism has grown. I will contrast these brands with zine businesses which suits my idea.

Tiger Beat:

Google states ’Tiger Beat was founded in September 1965 by Charles "Chuck" Laufer, his brother Ira Laufer, and television producer and host Lloyd Thaxton. The magazine features teen idol gossip and carries articles on movies , music and fashion.’ This magazine is aimed towards adolesant girls just like my idea which is interesting to see the differences. Its funny to see how young women were perceived from looking as this magazines as they seem very celebrity based. As Tiger Beat is created by men, I'm assuming this is what they think teenage girls think about. I would say in the 60s this was true as boy bands where the hot spot for screaming girls however personally having a magazine just to get in the celebrity gossip is draining. The 60s was a very pivotal time for music and musicians didn't have a massive social platform like most artists do now so having a magazine like this is where fans would get updates about their lives. I think my opinions about Tiger Beat are solely based on how this generation has changed, I've defiantly bought zines just like this if it has my idol on the front however when looking at certain quotations and how its predominantly males being displayed despite being for girls is strange to me. For example the third image on the right where it advertised a ‘Peek inside Justin Biebers room’.  Not only does this feed on the artists personal life but it heightens this concept of teenagers becoming a obsessive fan. when looking at this magazine I begin to question whether this sort of content is normal for teenagers or am I just conditioned to believe it is what I should be thinking about as a teenage girl? Its even more ironic that this is made by men aswell but I don't know if that's the activist in me. To conclude, there was defiantly a gap in the market for supporting young adults when entering the real world as you can see. 

Teen zone:

Again, continuing with my previous opinions Teen Zone had the same intentions for their audience. Looking back at their earlier issues, it mas predominantly celebrity based. This involves gossip, looks and updates in their ‘perfect’ lives. This defiantly increased the idea of needing to be famous and look good all the time in order to be successful or good in life. These magazines are full of photoshopped faces with content telling people that they could look a certain way to feel accepted. Although looking briefly at the magazines are harmless I think they can be deep rooting in the problems girls feel in society when growing up. The only difference with this magazine in comparison to Tiger Beat is that they are still running as a business and have changed their content significantly. Teen zone only publish online now and when researching into their content i was surprised when seeing their statement. It states ‘TeenZone Digital Magazine is a magazine for the South African teenager. Teens in today’s society are increasingly being fed a diet entirely consisting of celebrity gossip. This grossly underestimates them. Teens today have voices that we all need to hear. They need to be taken seriously, and to be given the opportunity to express their views and concerns; to ask the important questions and receive trustworthy, accurate advice; and to enjoy themselves in a safe environment. TeenZone seeks to provide this platform. It is a magazine for teens, by teens.’ 

Teens in society now are much more vocal on certain events and I think we are defiantly becoming more aware on subjects which we may have not noticed before. The fact that Teen Zone has turned this around and creating a platform for teens to speak on matters special to them in inspiring and what I want to do also. They've defiantly succeeded well since moving digital as articles are much more accessible than a printed zine.

This is a picture of their website which differs from their zine. They have toned down their imagery and noticed as they are able to add more content onto a site.

As i began to look further into popular magazines from particular decades, eg; teen vogue, J-14 etc, I began to see the same results and outcomes. They were all very similar in content but I was surprised to finally see a magazine which although was produced a little later than the others, was drastically different to the others. Both aesthetically and within their content. This was a magazine called Rookie.

Rookie:

What makes Rookie magazine so different to the others is that this business was created by teenagers for teenagers. They are much more closer to their audience and were able to relate to the content they were giving out. Rather than adults profiting of their perception of what a teenager goes through despite not being one. I personally can see the differences between the two. Firstly Rookie stood out to me because of its collage-like personality. Its much more playful and personal than the previous zines I've looked at. The layered imagery with colourful texture achieves this friendly environment for teenagers to read though. I defiantly want to achieve this with my zine and I am going to look into this sort of work digitally and also physically to achieve a dimensional look rather than all of my work looking flat or 2D. 

This is a screenshot of Rookies site. Not only do they produce articles that teens can read for pleasure or to gain information, they also have platforms that can actually gives teens a place to talk and interact with others which I think is the drastic change for the industry. Interacting with the audience on a personal level proves that Rookie cares for their audience and wants to spark change. Unfortunately Rookie has stop publishing altogether as a business since 2018 for financial reasons.

Other magazines that I am interested in: As I've looked into previous magazines and began to understand their concept and beliefs,  I began to look into modern magazines that also produce the same concept as me and to see what makes them so different especially since there has been a massive sift in the journalism industry. Both of the publications below are fairly similar. Both want to create change and form a safe space where women learn new subjects which may not be normalise yet are very important for personal growth. They both combine their articles with art which helps create a visual understanding of their zine even better than standard text. I defiantly aim to follow these footsteps but I need to search for an unique concept that could help my idea become more popular for a young girl to read. I wanted to this as sadly both of these zines are either discontinued or temporality stopped making issues which makes me assume this idea isn't that successful so far whether that's due to the pandemic or society as a whole I'm unsure as of yet. I will begin to look at the impact of Covid on magazines later to understand why so many of these great businesses aren't running anymore despite having a positive impact on young women.

Got a girl crush:  “Got a Girl Crush is a blog and annual print magazine about women, by women, for everyone. We aim to disrupt the broken narrative of most women's publications and tell stories of all ages, races, and backgrounds of women all over the world. We believe that print is not dead and that there is value to having a tangible medium to read, digest, and share--rather than sharing a link online that is easily forgotten tomorrow.”

(Issue 3, published September 2016 from https://issuu.com/gotagirlcrush/docs/girlcrush_issue05_content-final )

I liked this magazine statement because it isn't restrictive on a specific audience. They mention that their content is open for anyone which I think is surprising. When thinking about making this zine I wanted to think of content that isn't too limiting or biased towards women as I think the real change in society will have to come from men's views and actions aswell as women's. When looking at their monthly articles, it was very text heavy. They had many important figures like planetary scientist Carolyn Porco, human rights activist Grace Lee Bogg menstrual activist & drummer Kiran Gandhi etc. Each had powerful stories to tell and impact onto readers. Despite this the illustrations and other visual forms of art broke down this barrier which is why it didn't look too overwhelming. I will follow through with this if not add more art into my final outcome as I’d like to be more creative for this project and really experiment with collaging. I had briefly did this in the first project and enjoyed the process.

Selva Beat: “Selva Beat is an environmental magazine with an edge. We take environmentalism and place it in the context of your favorite topics – beauty, fashion, culture, food, sex, love – to make activism as accessible and engaging as possible. Founded in 2014, we began as a way of educating the public about conflict palm-oil and have expanded into a multi-media platform that motivates others to better the planet through creative means.”

A magazines visual décor is very important as sadly you do judge the book by the front cover. Initially, this is what I liked about Selva Beat, it was very colourful and they had nice curvy, bubbled typography which isn't that common on magazines. When researching I didn't realise they were very environmentally orientated aswell as being a conscious feminist magazine. I was saddened that they aren't running anymore as I think this magazine would've been a good pivotal point. 

[baneismydragon]

Not trying to offend but did u know that shiro is 25 and allura is only 16/17 years old? Spreading that content can be really upsetting and dangerous, and I’m sure u didn’t know, I just wanted to inform u❤️

Hey Anon- 

I am sure that you aren’t trying to offend, however I don’t particularly agree with your stance in this case.

Firstly- Allura is technically over 10 thousand years old. The only thing we really know is that she is by Altean standards meant to be in the same basic stage of life as the other paladins- so probably by her races standards an older teenager. 

Secondly- I could go into an argument about how 18 and 19 are ages that do exist- where you are actually a teenager and a legal adult, however I don’t think semantics are really the point. 

The more important thing that I will respond in kind is that this is not an unhealthy ship- this isn’t even anything saying that I think they will be together in show canon or even at the ages they currently are. I like the dynamics of these two characters and I could see them at some point being a cute couple. And I will continue to show support to artists who share my love of a fictional couple by liking and reblogging their art on occassion. (I say on occassion because Miraculous Ladybug is my primary fandom and will take up most of my feed) 

I feel that the voltron fan dynamics have gone well beyond making good arguments about wanting healthy portrayals in media about relationships to creating demons out of nothing. All of the paladins (because yes Allura is a paladin now) are respectful and supportive of each other. They go through a lot together and at no point in canon has there been any sense of a massive power imbalance between the characters- which is the biggest issue in having age gap relationships, assuming (as we are here) that we are discussing non sexual content. (If characters are engaging in any sort of sexual activity I prefer that all parties are portrayed as 18 or older even though the age of consent varies in different parts of the world just out of personal preference and the fact that I think many people become sexually active too early and before they really have a true maturity and emotional stability for such a meaningful connection). I also do not expect to see much shipping in the canon of the show because the characters are a little busy fighting a war, but I do enjoy seeing a lot of the fandom ships and will make no apologies for continuing to do so. 

If this is a problem for you I completely understand, and I wish you no ill will if you choose to unfollow me or block the Shallura tag or any other Voltron ship tags you dislike so as to make your tumblr experience enjoyable for you. 

I wish you all the best anon. 

[ruffoverthinksthings]

I've thoroughly enjoyed the Claudine/Frollo headcannons, do you have any in mind for Esmeralda/Phoebus? If the sequel movies are wiped from this universe, that means their son doesn't exist (or not yet). Also, do you have another headcannon for onesided fresme on frollo's part? How would he handle being unable to obtain her in this universe?

Ilike to believe the sequels and spin-offs are valid, as the bookseries (which is, as of the Rise of the Isle of the Lost, is canon…to a certain extent) makes reference to characters that could onlyexist outside of the original movies, such as:

Diegode Vil, presumably the child of Ivy de Vil from the 101 DalmatiansTV series, or a descendant from the rest of the extended de Vilfamily, and

Jade,Jay’s cousin and presumably the daughter of Nasira, Jafar’ssister from the Aladdin video game series

There’sa level of personal bias, with the amount of work I’ve already putinto expanding the world with my own ideas, but I think we can allagree that the Isle and Auradon would be a whole lot less interestingif we didn’t have the likes of:

Mozenrath(Aladdin animated series) acting as Maleficent’s longsuffering middle manager, and personal chew toy as an “inferiormagical being,”

LadyWaltham (Tarzan animated series) adding an element of sympathyto the Isle of the Lost with her regretting her brother Clayton andher nephew are still on there and unable to return, and

LadyCaine (Tangled: Before Ever After), who adds a deliciouselement of grayness and a MASSIVE stain on the otherwise pristinereputation all sympathetic Disney monarchs have.

Ontothe headcanons:

Phoebusbecomes one of the new Captains of the Guard in France once theoriginal forces are merged with, or completely replaced by the newlyestablished Auradon Royal Guard. Though the actual administrative andexecutive power lies much higher up the ranks (such as theCommander-In-Chief, Beast), he himself is an incredibly influentialmember, well-known and well-loved by the citizenship and the fellowsoldiers he patrols the streets with.

Auradonhad to rely heavily on translators, human and machine, or translatingmagic during its tumultuous first years, as everyone struggled tofind one common language for every state to use as the internationalstandard (it’s English still). A LOT of things get lost intranslation or don’t translate too good into another language, orsomeone gets VERY offended when someone who is fluent in both Frenchand Chinese tells you exactly what they meant, and howunflattering it is.

Andthis isn’t even going into all the numerous cultural clashes andfaux paus, such as one unfortunate Louisiana chef realizing you’renot supposed to serve pork to most Agrahbans until he was alreadyuncovering the dish...

Phoebusbridges the gap through his calm, professional demeanor, alwaysshowing politeness and civility to everyone whoever they may be, andof course, his sense of humour, given “a real workout” when hehas to figure out how to make someone laugh with universallyunderstood comedy (someone falling face first into a pile of horsedung), non-verbal humour (wearing a silly, pink, fuzzy bunny earswhilst on duty), and using simple plays on word that foreigners caneasily get, or are tailored specifically to their language.

“Inever quite realized eggs could be such a huge source of humour,”he muses when he has to speak to Spanish speaking citizens.

However,his usefulness quickly dwindled as the culture clashes settled down,people started learning English, and of course, the already olderPhoebus found himself growing ever older and unable to keep up withthe rapid pace of advancement and pop culture references in Auradon,not to mention his disadvantage of “not being gifted a smartphonefor my first birthday.”

Hehas an incredibly cushy administrative position that pays well,commands respect from his soldiers still, and gives him great hoursto spend with his family and other pursuits, but as he’s no longergoing out (or being allowed) on patrols and interacting personallywith the people in his jurisdiction, he can’t help but wonder ifhe’s just being eased into the idea of retirement, and Auradon issimply too nice to boot him for the much feared “chainsaw HR” ofsome corporations from BGU London.

(Forthose not familiar with the term, “chainsaw HR” is when entiredivisions, and numbers into the hundreds are suddenly, and oftentimeswithout proper recompense or retirement packages, fired or forcedinto early retirement.

It’sa play on the term “axed” for being suddenly fired, and chainsawsbeing a modern, much more efficient tool for the same job as aliteral ax.)

It’ssafe to say that at the age of 55 or so, and having already lived oneillustrious career then a brief revival, he’s having a midlifecrisis, not helped by the fact that many other Auradonians about hisage are feeling as obsolete as last year’s ayGem.

(“Butit came out just a year ago!”

“Yeah,but they updated to a new, much better firmware and hardwarearchitecture, all the hot new apps don’t even bother with legacyupdates.”)

Esmerelda has fared much better.

Shehas become an activist in this world, using the power of theinternet, the normalization of the “other,” and the erasure ofthe national and ethnic boundaries that once separated communities tohelp her fellow Romani people (I won’t use “gypsies,” as that’san offensive term to them), and other marginalized, and forgottengroups, such as much of the Wild Fae population.

Shealso owns and teaches at a dance studio, using them to train the nextgeneration of performers (“Be they for the street, the stage, orthe screen”), and waging a subtle campaign to remove the stigma forblatant and shameless use of sexuality.

I’vealways known Auradon is a conservative wet dream in many respects,and the fact that ripping a tiny tear in your skirt is considered“scandalous” by teenagers says a lot.

Beforeyou ask, YES, Esmerelda is still as desired and lusted afternow as she was BGU—probably even more so, now that we have thecombined populations of all the states, and she is a very popular andcommon presence on the internet.

Beforeyou also ask, Phoebus has long gotten over it and considers it “partof the package.”

Sheis one of the most knowledgeable and well-versed with moderntechnology out of the “Travellers” (Auradonians who were adultsor close to it Before Great Uniting), seeing as her troupe ofperformers have always been highly adaptable and all to ready to dowhatever it takes to survive, fit in with the locale they have foundthemselves in, and afterwards, thrive.

Thatthey have generally relied on being couriers and brokers ofinformation, and the internet basically being a giant free market ofinformation has helped GREATLY.

Withher religion, she still isn’t 100% on the existence of God, onlyever praying to Him during times of crisis or as a show of good faithwith the religious institutions of Auradon, but the Greek Pantheonhas given her hope that Supreme Beings like Him do exist.

“Atthe very least, He’s been very light on throwing down lightningbolts from up on high.”

(Thoughmuch less murderous and many other negative traits than the original,Disney Zeus is still INCREDIBLY fond of “warning shots.”)

Andonce more, before you ask, I can seriously see her making a cameo inthe canon as a guest dance instructor for the Descendants, if sheisn’t already a full-time staff member of Auradon Prep, and yes,she would definitely mentor Evie by showing her much healthier waysof expressing her sexuality and femininity without feeling like she’sdegrading herself, or turning herself into a “slab of meat in thebutcher’s window.”

Zephyrwas born BGU, and if my idea that the states had been communicatingfor a few years before the idea of fusing is canon, has a veryunique perspective of being a “Traveler Tot,” living with theideas and concepts imported over through the portals andcommunication crystals, before he got to live it in Auradon when thetechnology and materials could be more easily accessed and produced.

Heis still hyperactive and excitable as ever, though most of that wasbeing channeled into a combination of soldier training and becoming acircus performer like his parents; in his mind, there really isn’tmuch difference between the two, as they both require incrediblephysical skill and endurance, a sharp and creative mind, andrelentless, dedicated training, day-in, day-out.

“Itall really comes down to what you mean when you say you ‘slayedthem,’” he says.

Thisquickly changes in Auradon when he finds himself addicted to HeroRising, the video game that Carlos was seen playing during hisfirst night in Auradon. While initially Phoebus sees it as a good wayfor him to blow off all his excess energy and get some physicaltraining done, and Esmerelda tolerates it as he’s not going offstealing and rearranging stop signs, it evolves into something muchmore for him in time.

Atfirst, he’s the best player on the block, then in theneighbourhood, then the school, then the city, then the state, andfinally, one of the Hall of Famers in Auradon. As he grows older, hejust barely passes his high school subjects as a conditional for hissponsors support and working with the Hero Rising developersas a PR person, community idol AKA a “Paragon,” and beta tester.The height of his fame and success comes when the latest release,Hero Rising: The Lost Legion, features a new playablecharacter based off of him, and his unique dance-like fighting style:

“Twister.”

Trueto the name, his life is sent into a spin cycle after that.

Afew years pass, a new Hero Rising is released, and everyone isgushing over the new characters, and Twister gives up his place onthe cover art alongside the series “cornerstones” to give them achance to shine.

NewParagons are brought in as the old guard goes off to college, retiresfrom the business into different, less-demanding pursuits, or isquietly given a send-off as they simply aren’t as salable nor asgood as they were a few years ago.

Zephyrquickly realizes that while he’s still got it, these new kids areinsane, and have so many advantages he didn’t, like muchbetter nutrition, a much more generous school schedule, and havingthe infrastructure, the audience, and the sponsors for Hero RisingParagons already there, rather than helping spearhead them.

Hecontinues on, making less and less public appearances, awkwardlybeing one of the only adult Paragons in crowds increasingly filledwith little kids and teenagers, and new characters based off the newParagons get the spotlight.

“Everyonealready knows Twister, and played him to death in all the specialinstance maps, the players want someone new!”

Thedeath-knell of his career and the cold, hard slap from Reality comeswhen Twister is removed from the roster due to development costs, andthe fact that Zephyr’s fees and royalties were considered too highfor the relatively lower cost of a new, fresh face who the fans aremuch more eager to see digitized.

Heand Phoebus both find themselves facing obsolescence, being leftbehind by a world that has simply moved too fast for them and leftthem in its dust, as they were only ever good at one thing each:fighting, either real bad guys or fictional ones.

Andso, with Esmerelda’s love and support, the two go off to reeducatethemselves and train in the new industries and careers Auradondemands, incidentally becoming the inspiration for the blockbusterfeel good movie of eight years from this time of writing:

“WithHonours”

Thestory of how a father and son went back to college, forced to startfrom scratch in a brand new world, learning new tricks, makingstrange friends, and doing a whole lot of growing up they didn’tknow they still needed to do.

Nowonto Frollo:

Helaments his permanent loss of Esmerelda (unlike the other Villains,he harbours no fantasies of Claudine getting him off the Isle—notwhen there’s still so much Good Work to be done here in this landof Sinners and Nonbelievers), and takes the disastrous results of hisobsession and lusting after her as a cautionary tale, the catastrophethat befalls those who turn away from God and the Right Path, and howthey take the whole world down with them.

Publicly,he is “that” preacher yelling about modesty, the sanctity ofmarriage and sexuality, and how pretty much everyone on theIsle is damned for engaging in such scandalous, salacious acts likepremarital sex, sexual intercourse without the intention ofprocreation, and of course, homosexuality.

Privately,he seeks a form of redemption by raising a good, Christian child inClaudine, the child he would have born with Esmerelda and raised ifcircumstances had been different (yeee-eep), and is looking for awoman with whom he can have a much healthier relationship with, toshow someone from this Isle what marriage and the word “love”truly means than the perversion the Islanders have turned it into.

Asboth Claudine and Not Esmerelda will attest to, he’s failedmiserably on both counts, but as usual, is blissfully unaware ofeither.

[jodiecoma]

Oaksjwjsj okay so I don’t want to start any more beef than we already have but I have a couple of points I want to get off my chest (there’s a tldr at the bottom if ur not bothered but I recommend reading it all for clarity cause I’m brick stupid lol):

Everything Sucks is attempting to portray high school life and the whole self discovery journey that comes with it. The CHARACTERS (whether or not all the actors/actresses) are all around the same age within the show. So I kinda just want to point out that evidently the directors weren’t looking to necessarily PROMOTE massive age gaps within gay relationships HOWEVER the casting is obviously a different story. I’m not sure what drove them to make this type of decision (I doubt that there’s any shortage of 14/15 year old actresses) but I definitely don’t agree with this casting decision and just because I support the show doesn’t mean I agree with everything about it.

It’s important to note that I think a majority of people who like everything Sucks (and Emaline and Kate as a pairing) aren’t doing it because they’re predatory and enjoy seeing actresses with massive age gaps kissing. Personally, when I talk about Emaline and Kate I’m talking about Emaline and Kate, the two characters from the show who are both 15/16. If there weren’t so many posts about the age differences on tumblr I NEVER WOULD HAVE KNOWN. (That being said, I do find it weird that they cast a 20 year old to play a 15 year old) but anyway it’s just good to keep in mind that when people are defending Kate and Emaline they aren’t defending the age gap. They’re defending what they think is a good representation of the coming out process and the healthy relationship that comes as a result of the self discovery that kate undergoes. I think this is a major point because I’ve been seeing a lot of:

“person A likes pairing x. Pairing x kissed. There’s a big age difference between the actresses of pairing x”

“therefore person A MUST be a sexual predator of some kind or AT least be condoning relationships between an adult and a minor.”

Basically, I feel like the debate is being taken from two similar but completely different perspectives. (People who are arguing from the perspective of the characters vs people who are arguing from the perspective of the actresses). I feel that it’s important to distinguish the character from the actress in situations like this.

There have been comments made about the simplicity of the show. “It’s JUST about dumb kids doing dumb things.” Okay, well, it’s a slice of life type show about high school in the 90’s. I don’t understand what else is to be expected? They’re just kids in high school and idk about u but at that age the everything seems like the end of the world, and it’s only when you look back on it that you realise “oh that was so mundane and boring”. I’m gonna go back to the idea of relatability. People are saying something like, if Kate wasn’t gay then no one would watch and I mean they’re probably not wrong lol. But I see it as a positive thing because that means the content is relatable. People are paying attention to this show because something about Kate’s story arc resonated with them and I think as long as you can identify with/enjoy something about the show then that must be worth some merit right?

Tldr;

-supporting and relating to Kate and Emaline does not equal supporting the age gap between the actresses.

- at least some credit should be given to the show for being somewhat relatable

- relatability and the act of enjoying something is subjective. If someone relates to something that thing doesn’t become universally relatable. (Does this make sense idk) basically to each their own.

- it’s just a dumb show about dumb kids and that’s okay. If people are only watching because Kate is “a homosexual with heterosexual tendencies”, that’s okay too. There’s nothing wrong with watching a show JUST for certain parts that you personally enjoy.

- there’s always time for the show runners to address the age gap issue. These types of things can be fixed. (Emaline goes to uni, kate decides she justs wants to stay friends etc) it would just be a shame if it got cancelled without it having a chance to further improve itself.

- liking a show doesn’t mean that we don’t find anything wrong with it (e.g. I felt weird about Emaline’s character development to begin with but it’s only the first season yaknow and I think it’s just a nice light hearted series)

If you wanted to discuss this further I’m definitely open to it (‘: but other than that thanks for reading my extra ass post (‘:

[universeinform-blog]

Having children adds almost two years to life, say scientists

New Post has been published on https://universeinform.com/2017/03/20/having-children-adds-almost-two-years-to-life-say-scientists/

Having children adds almost two years to life, say scientists

While Friedrich Nietzsche declared ‘that which does no longer kill us makes, us more potent’ he possibly did no longer have parenthood in mind.

Yet a new study suggests that in spite of the sleepless nights, incessant worry and monetary headaches which children carry, kids additionally boom durability.

In truth, fathers can anticipate staying nearly two years longer than childless men, while moms advantage an extra 18 months. Scientists do no longer consider the impact is organic, however as a substitute, the end results in a loving support community that is vital in later lifestyles, whilst, something as easy as a fall may be lethal.

Humans with a near knit own family are also normally recommended to go to the physician, stay lively and cope with themselves via their loved ones.

Previous research has discovered that loneliness, or dropping a partner in later existence can hasten to die, however, it’s far the first massive observe to show that children have a protective effect. Dr. Karin Modig, Unit of Epidemiology, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden, which executed the have a look at said: “Having youngsters is related to multiplied toughness, particularly in an absolute experience in old age.

Support from grown up youngsters to growing old dad and mom may be of significance for parental health and durability.

“At vintage age, the strain of parenthood is likely to be lower and instead, dad and mom can advantage from social support from their youngsters.

“Further, parents have on average more healthful behaviors than childless people.”

To discover if parenthood would possibly help stave off demise in older age, the researchers, studied the statistics of almost 1.5 million those who have been born as early as 1911, looking at once they died and whether or not they had children.

The chance of dying rose with increasing age, irrespective of whether the people have been mother and father or no longer.

however, after taking account of influential factors, consisting of instructional achievement and deprivation, existence expectancy changed into higher among folks who had children. The findings contradict Preceding research which advocate, for girls at least, youngsters shorten lifespan by using diverting sources from bodily renovation to duplicate. In terrible groups, having 4 or more kids has been shown to shorten lifespan by three.five years.

However the new look at observed that mothers lived on average to 84.6 as compared with girls without kids whose existence expectancy became eighty-three.1.

The difference becomes even extra hanging for fathers, whose lifestyles expectancy became eighty.2 compared seventy-eight.four compared with childless men.

The gap in dying dangers between the two agencies additionally rose with increasing age and turned into large for guys than it was for girls.

  Children and Their Changing Roles Throughout History

Kids in brand new society seem to be plenty extra pampered and less accountable than they have been a few many years ago. Additionally, they appeared to have misplaced a lot of the value system that maximum people took with no consideration growing up. By inspecting the jobs of Kids in the beyond, we can be capable of tracing the supply of the issues that we’re having with modern-day afflicted youth.

In olden days, Children were dealt with as small adults and given a number of the same duties that had been shouldered Through their mother and father. Children worked facet Via aspect with their mother and father inside the fields as soon as they could walk. Youngsters serving as squaddies were no longer unusual in a few nations. Marriages passed off while a person changed into approximately twelve years of age in the hopes that they might reproduce inside the few years that they had to live. Younger humans in those times were exposed to the cruel realities of existence truly from beginning.

Death becomes additionally an everyday event whilst the average lifestyles span changed into approximately 40 years of age. Handiest one in 5 Kids survived to adulthood, so the loss of siblings became a not unusual prevalence as nicely. Many parents did now not stay to look their Kids grow up because of the lack of existence in struggle and childbed, and many Kids had been raised By means of adults that had little or no blood connection to them.

All of those factors prohibited most Children from being pampered or spoiled. The each day battle to continue to exist curtailed any frivolity. This isn’t always to say that that dad and mom did no longer feed or care about their Kids. Any baby that survived infancy become considered to be a brilliant asset and human nature dictated that those Children might also have been cherished dearly.

Subject become also an awful lot more vigorous than it’s miles these days. because of the risks that had been the gift in the settings of old, disobeying a parent’s rule ought to commonly result in Death. As a way to guard these Kids, many mother and father bodily beat them to make certain that the guidelines were obeyed.

In the present day world, everyday survival isn’t the war it as soon as changed into. dad and mom have ended up extra lenient and loving than their predecessors would have dreamed of being. Each baby enjoys gambling with toys and receiving a great schooling. Many professionals stress that parents ought to allow their Youngsters to thoroughly enjoy their childhood as a crucial step to them becoming wholesome and glad adults.

Work From Home And Enjoy Passive Income For Life

Now that Christmas is over for some other year and existence has long gone lower back to normal, are you already feeling worn out and bored to death with the daily grind? Each day you drag yourself off the bed to visit a process which you in all likelihood do not even like very a lot, operating lengthy hours for peanuts, coping with teaching moves and site visitors jams in your daily commute.

Have you ever questioned if there may be more to existence than this? Should there be any other way to earn a dwelling?

Have you ever heard of passive income?

Passive income is wherein you do the paintings just once then take a seat back and permit the cash are available surely on automobile pilot. This leaves you with plenty of loose time to enjoy lifestyles with your buddies and circle of relatives, take holidays whenever you need and not only for two weeks in the summer time, to spend your days doing what you need, now not what a person else tells you to do. And to have sufficient cash to live life in your phrases.

The most reliable direction to passive profits is through net advertising.

This will take several paperwork; Selling your very own merchandise on-line thru a simple internet site that is free to set up. Promoting other human beings’ merchandise as an associate and earning the fee for each sale they make. Buying the license to geared up made digital products and having the right to promote them as your own, internationally. And plenty of extra proven strategies of creating a very beneficial income online.

Associate advertising is ideal for folks who do not yet have a concept for his or her very own product or the money to buy licenses. The largest marketplace for associates is ClickBank.Com. There are literally hundreds of merchandise to be had with vendors paying, on common, between 50% and eighty% in commissions. All you need to do is to ship possibilities to the vendor’s internet site and the vendor will do the rest. A website isn’t crucial (although it enables with product promoting) and you do not want to do whatever complex that allows you to make cash.

Human Scientists Will Soon Create A Virtual Reality Experience Which Will Replace Life Experience

K so, the massive question isn’t – is there a god. No longer anymore, the question is now; why did our ancestors create this international for us to play in – this virtual reality international, one we might just name the human existence revel in’ wherein you and I and everyone live out their life? Sure, I’m speaking of the philosophical conundrum that we’re all residing in a Simulation, like a brilliant state-of-the-art video game. So, are we residing in a simulation? Difficult to say, and we do not know for certain, however, there are numerous reason why we ought to do not forget this concept.

No longer long in the past, I was speaking with a technologist about this, he stated that at the rate we are headed, quickly we will create a “2d lifestyles” so actual that it’ll be just like existence, so actual, you may as a substitute stay in it. Exact factor and I replied:

Precisely, so it does not rely if we’re now residing in a VR or Now not, because within the future we will, it handiest makes sense, as humankind works to stay in the sport indefinitely, stay for all time, in any shape to maintain their modern form of awareness without absolute knowledge Precisely what it’s far or how Precisely it works.

The technologist told me his daughter simply finished her graduate degree in each Pc Technological know-how and Laptop-Brain Interfaces. Nicely, I’d say his daughter is inside the right area at the proper time. Perhaps they’ll call it VR2 (virtual fact II). The primary VR international is in which we stay now in the simulation, and VR-2 is a sport within a recreation that we create of our own accord, certain barely distinctive for now, but it will likely be pretty robust and appear as if it’s miles fact – just like the Biosphere II task, the Earth being biosphere I.