#i love ylfa i would die for ylfa

[andi-o-geyser]

said the 12-year-old werewolf to the ancient chaotic eldritch witch

[conceiteddemon]

I feel like there is going to be a princess schism in the upcoming episodes because on one hand you have Snow White and Cinderella and Rapunzel and La Bête who seem to be pretty committed to the idea that they are inherently corrupted and in order for something better to happen all traces of the past including themselves must be destroyed

VS

Elody, who just met the man who failed her deeply and died a hero in a rather futile battle, coming back and apologizing for his mistakes and acknowledging that things are hard and that he let her down, but he is committed to becoming better, to trying, because that’s all you really can do and even if she never reciprocates again he will continue to try to be better, not for her sake but for the sake of others that he has grown attached to

Rosamund, who despite having the shit kicked out of her in terms of destiny and unsure if true (romantic) love even exists is fully committed to the group she has found herself in and in particular wants to make their lives as happy as possible from trying Pinnochio’s awful cocktails to hyping Ylfa up and trying to get her a training bra, Rosamund who is so full of love, maybe not for the stories, but for the people in them, and on some level recognizes that she is in control at least partially of ‘the stories within the stories’ that hurt her the most and she can tell different kinder ones

And Mira, who we don’t know a whole lot about yet other than that she would rather her Prince be happy without her than dead, who reconciled with Alba’s role in her narrative quickly and doesn’t seem to blame for the choices she made, and whose story in the neverafter diverged from its most common, oldest rendition not because she chose to kill her prince like Alba expected but because she refused to commit suicide after losing everything, because she found herself in pain and alone and separated from everything she ever knew and REFUSED to die

[theoverthinkingpumpkin]

🫠 CrowartblockCreature

Once again blaming Wormtime for this. I love them both so much!!!

I forgot the G in matching-dont know how one does that- so I guess its southern now.

Im gonna stick a crossover idea under the cut….

I need a AU where Ylfa ends up in double life. At the time where most people are yellow or red, she’d be the only green. At first, she wouldn’t meet Pearl, she’d meet everyone else, and sure, they’re pleasant enough, but theres no room for her(not to mention how off putting it would be if she matched Pearl, Wolf ears, tail and paws of a wolf-granted she’d be a noticeably younger-puppy vibes! Not to mention the red cloaks and axes! I know people like to give her a scythe or the other thingy I dont know the name off-but she used a iron axe until the last ep.)

Sooner or later someone(see Ren) would mention that she looks like the resident Demon/witch, piquing Ylfa’s interest, and eventually she’d go looking(she befriends everyone and everything. Dont tell me she wouldnt.) and would easily worm her way into both Pearls and Tilly’s hearts.

(Pack bond-Red life Pearl would chew her own arms off before harming a hair on her head.)

Pearl would become more conscious about taking care of herself(no more powdered snow, sorry not sorry) because now she has to make sure that no harm befalls her new friend. So she has to be ready to protect her from the reds!!

I forget how she lost her yellow life(was it scotts fault, or when she stole from the boat boys?) but WHATEVER IT WAS would be replaced by her killing somebody because the attempted to hurt Ylfa, which I will sound really repetitive, IS NOT ALLOWED.

ALSO because Ylfa wouldnt have a soulbound, Pearl would loud her up with potions, because theres not a soulbound for those to break-!

Ylfa would use one of the splash potions on her when scott tries to blow himself up, so she would die.

And they would remain there until Mother Goose or someone managed to worm their way into the world to get Ylfa but goes back with a extra friend.

(Which would make it harder for the hermits to find Pearl, Oops :) )

I dont know weither or not Ylfa should loss a life for extra angst, or because of Protective Big Sis Pearl she gets to remain on green…

Theres a lot one could do with this XD

ASK ME QUESTIONS ABOUT PLEASE

[radiocrypt-id]

You know, I thought Ylfa was tragic and sad like all the Neverafter characters are in their own way, but I think I'm wrong.

Hear me out.

Ylfa's story diverges from the canon of Little Red Riding Hood when the Woodsman doesn't come by. But he doesn't just not come by that day, he doesn't come by for weeks. Unheard of. He visits all the time, brings wood and forage for the Grandmother, she'd freeze to death at night if he doesn't come by, it's part of his job or just a dude being kind to an elderly woman, enjoying the sweets or soup she makes him as thanks. But he doesn't come by. For weeks he doesn't stop by. And we don't know why, maybe he was hurt or sick, but we know he wasn't dead because the Second Story Ylfa goes and kills the woodsman. Can't kill what's dead. So he's alive, presumably doing fine and healthy, but he doesn't come by. The one person in the story that's supposed to protect Little Red and presumably the village people from wolves just doesn't do that. The one Ylfa is told will always protect her if she finds trouble doesn't protect her.

She waits for weeks for a man that never comes. A hero that won't save her because he's too busy doing something else. And while she waits, the Wolf waits with her. He doesn't chastise her, doesn't provoke and antagonize her, doesn't jeer or make fun of her for waiting for someone he knows isn't coming. He kindly waits in silence, watching over her in that tiny cottage. He's honest when she asks what happened to her grandmother, tells her gently but firmly it was the old womans time to die, but not Ylfas. Death looks this little girl in the face and gently tells her it's not her time to die, even as she yells at him that the woodsmand will come and cut him open, he's gentle and kind with her. When she demands he kills her already, since no one is going to save her from him, he refuses. Death refuses to take Ylfa, even as she waits for it, even as she demands it take her, Death will not do it. What's more, he tells her how to save herself, offers her his own strength, provides a way for her to be her own hero in this story. Hunger and despair eventually drives her to obey, and later she is horrified of what she's done.

Ylfa then runs home, sobbing, terrified, crying out for her mother, her siblings, her grandmother, anyone at all to help her. She's drenched in Wolfs blood, body trying to transform against her will. And what does she find at her home when she gets there? Besides a rightfully terrified mother and siblings hiding in the dark home? Because we know, in the story, that the wolf can take someones shape and trick people into coming close so he can eat them too, of course they'd be afraid of Ylfa, their presumably dead Little Red Riding Hood, showing up drenched in blood begging to come inside and dragging jagged claws along the windows and door. How are they to know it's really her? No one ever survives the Wolf. No one. Let alone one sweet little girl or her elderly grandmother. So what does her terrified family do? they try to kill the Wolf.

What's worse than all that? What's worse than them being understandably afraid of the Wolf at their door? The fact that they didn't have a funeral for their beloved Little Red. That they didn't acknowledge her death at all. They removed her place from the table, didn't make her a place of rest, didn't go looking for her or her grandmother. Little Red didn't come home, they assumed she died and they moved on immediately.

Something terrible and traumatic happened to Ylfa, something that effected her for the rest of her life, something that completely altered her. She searched for someone to save her, but no one would. She reached out for help and understanding from her family that supposedly loved her and they forgot her, attacked her, ran away from her in fear and disgust. Something changed Ylfa forever, and everyone she ever loved left her behind for it. Everyone, except Death. Death which did this to her, which whispered her name, gently caressed her soul, and refused to claim her. Death that told her she would be all the stronger for it, that being monstrous isn't evil or bad. That she can use his gifts, his curse, to defy him, fight him, maybe even stop him.

"I'm the Big Bad Wolf," Death says calmly, his hot breath warming her as he speaks.

"I'm Big and Bad now too, though," Ylfa whispers back, lips still trembling and face damp with tears.

"Then you just may be able to stop me, Ylfa," Death smiles, eyes crinkling at the edges "I encourage you to try."

Death wanted Ylfa to live. When everyone was fine with her dying, or preferred she be dead to what she became, Death wished for her to live. When even Ylfa has wanted to die or stay dead, Death lead her home to life, comforted her, encouraged her, forgave her for wanting to die before her time. Death was so kind and gentle with this sweet little girl, so honest in his answers, so soothing to her grief. He empathized with her confusion and pain, told her it was normal to feel the way she does, not just for the loss of her grandmother, or the abandonment of her family, but for what she's become. Because Ylfa is grieving herself as well. What she had been, what she could have grown up to be had the Wolf not come. Ylfa mourns for herself as much as she mourns her Grandmother.

He promised to take her one day, but only when it was her time, not a second before or after. In that way, she would never die alone, because Death would be there with her. The Wolf would always be with her now, forever and always. He would never find her monstrous or evil, he would never run from her in fear, never curl a lip at her in disgust. And Death, too, would never be alone as a result. Some of him is always with Ylfa, in some way.

I think some of us need this specific kind of comfort. Some of us need Death to look us in the face and say "No, not yet little one, try again, you can do it... Here, let me help you."

Some of us need someone, even Death, too look at how monstrous we've become because of what's happened to us, or how we were made, and be kind, and gentle, and meet us with such patient love as to refuse to let us go, even when we want to let go, even when everyone else has.

Ylfa met Death, and he wanted her to live. Death was dying, and Ylfa saved him.

Death met Death, and together they decided to Live.

[roll-for-gaslight]

I feel like there's something about this being the fairy-tale season and almost every character having the concept of childhood play a pivotal role in their story. Red and Pinocchio are the most obvious because they're still children and they are actively fighting against the role of obedience so often blindly given to children in stories with no more complex thought than "children should be obedient". Ylfa who is experiencing the horror that is female puberty, of growing up a woman. Ylfa who is learning to have a voice of her own rather than letting authority figures speak for her, who says "I might try to defy you every now and again" and is growing to be big and bad but at the same time is just learning to make connections to other children. And Pinocchio who has only ever been around other children and latched onto people who he thought would take care of him. He never wanted anything but to be a kid and be taken care of, and no matter what he does he's always tossed aside and treated badly. And there's not even a good reason for it, the world just sucks.

But what about Rosamund? Rosamund, who is a princess who has been taught by everyone her whole life that she's only valuable if she's beautiful enough to get a prince. If she's pretty and patient, she will be saved. Rosamund, who is only a child really, and her story echoes that of every young adult who was given similar advice in school that as long as they stay the path laid out for them everything will work out fine. She doesn't know who she is or what she wants and the system that is supposed to take care of her just isn't doing it. She's having to make her own decisions for the first time ever and she has no idea what to do with that.

And what about Gerard, who was changed into a frog as a young child and living as an animal forced him into survival mode. He was forced into cowardice, with no choice and no childhood and no one even looking for him. His whole self-worth is tied to someone who fell in love with him young, and then things got scary and of course he hid with the children. He basically skipped straight from child to adult with no growing up in between and so of course he wouldn't go towards the dogs. Of course he wouldn't go towards the giants. That's how you die, and when all you have in your life is your life you can't die. You have to hold onto something and a will to live is as good as anything. He's only now growing from a scared child to one of the grownups who wants to protect the children.

And then there's Timothy, who's story is about his son's childhood and trying to navigate parenthood and trying to remember how to support and care for children when they aren't who you expect them to be without erasing any part of them. He knows what it is to love unconditionally but not know how to show it and how to guide the people who are relying on him the most.

I don't even know what point I'm trying to make. I just can't get it out of my head.

[sparkystar26888]

Ok ok lets go we're going to try and make some sense of the rambling in my brain.

First off, time and time again they have been asked who are human, who are monsters, who are cursed. and time and time again they have either denied or accepted one of these things, but always with a caveat. "this is temporary". even this ep they were asked by Baba Yaga "whom of you are monsters". and by the end, many become them. they become monsters to save the innocent.

Emily Axford is one of the best actors ive seen. People have talked about cycles of death/abuse/other, about Ylfa symbolizing the trans experience or puberty. and they are completely right, and i wont talk about what has already been said. but what really gives me the feeling of deep sadness is that Ylfa is a child. she is a young girl, shunned by her family, who has died and seen many die. and now she has, in part, given up that girlhood. but is it really giving it up if you have already lost it

rosamund this episode, for me, really encapsulated my experiences of the grief of being aromatic. because we grow up believing we will find love, that it is in the stars that one day you will settle down and have a lover. but when you find out you cant or likely wont, there is a grief and a hardship in letting that go. and i know rosamund isnt the same; that it is more uncertainty triumphing a forced love, but it still spoke to me.

speaking of forced love - gerard giving his humanity and name up for elody, a woman circumstance made him love. weve established that he was a child when he was cursed; that he did not have the ability to mature with the rest. but while he does truly love elody, there is a great possibility that this would not be true if he had been allowed to learn to be better like a normal child does. cursed by your own mortality and mistakes. UGH

[wryterofworlds]

How does it feel to have inspired such a huge trend in dimension 20 fandom? Do you have any more headcannons for your modern AU?

In reference to this post:

Firstly, I do want to shoutout all the people who have made AUs based around the concept. All of them are so good and I can't believe that they exist because of my post. Obviously at this point everyone writing for this AU has their own ideas and versions of events, but here's the extended version of my version of the AU

Links to fics inspired by the original post:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/45248404/chapters/113833735

https://archiveofourown.org/works/45109150/chapters/113477032

https://archiveofourown.org/works/45058684

https://www.tumblr.com/weareinvisiblespectres/709282235918991360/this-got-stuck-in-my-head-so-i-decided-to-write-it

Also fanart!!!: https://www.tumblr.com/mylovelyfools/709107455283593216/i-dont-have-my-tablet-rn-but-my-brain-is-moving

LMK If I missed any!

Various headcanons and plot beneath the cut

So starting with backstories:

Gerard was born into a wealthy family, and at a young age was kidnapped

Luckily he escaped, as he had always been a slippery little kid.

Unluckily, by that point his family had already had him publicly declared as dead, so no one believed him when he claimed to be Gerard Greenleigh

He lived on the streets for a while, and befriended Elody, and the two fell in love

It was only when he'd already grown into an adult that Gerard was able to prove his identity and gain access to the family fortune.

From there, familiar territory. He acted vain, petty, immature, etc., he and Elody separated, which brings us to when he adopted two kids

Ylfa is autistic, and she has particularly bad meltdowns and anger management issues. Her mother didn't handle her well and would frequently send her away to stay with Ylfa's grandmother

Eventually, she decided to just leave Ylfa there permanently

What she didn't know is that only a few days into this new arrangement, the grandmother would die of natural causes. Ylfa. Did not handle this well

She froze in place, not wanting to move forward. If she just didn't move, then she wouldn't have to deal with what came next. If she just stayed still, then there's a chance everything could go back to normal

Fortunately, Mr. Wolf the child welfare caseworker had already been looking for her as one of the mother's neighbors noticed the missing child

Unfortunately, it was still two days of her standing there, frozen and terrified, before he found her

The first thing Mr. Wolf did was take her to get some fast food, that she devoured ravenously

(She would throw up most of that food in the backseat of his car a few minutes later)

She ended up in the foster care system after that, as her mother was deemed unfit to parent her

(IDK how child welfare stuff actually works so I'm just taking my best guesses here. Apologies if I get anything wrong)

Pinocchio has chronic pain, and some days he can get by with a cane but other times he needs a wheelchair

His father was a loving, if demanding parent who, along with his kindergarten teacher, were very strict about morals and particularly lying

Eventually, a strange woman approaches him as he's about to walk home and she starts asking him increasingly personal questions about who his parent is, where he lives, how he gets home, etc.

Pinocchio cottons on that she's acting weird and lies, saying his dad will pick him up soon

Teacher Turquina hears this, and goes to give Pinocchio an earful about lying, telling the woman the truth

Geppetto goes missing soon after

Pinocchio is taken care of by his stepmother (his actual stepmother, in this AU), but eventually the way she's been emotionally and sometimes physically abusing him is noticed and he is put into the system

(The stepmother was particularly fond of locking Pinocchio in a closet for hours at a time. He still remembers the way it looked when she would open the door, the only light coming from behind her)

He has complicated feelings about his stuffed animals Spinocchio and Pinocchicrow, given the stepmother is the one who gave them to him. Eventually Pib mauls Pinocchicrow, and given how relieved Pinocchio seems, Gerard quietly moves Spinocchio into storage

Rosamund's backstory probably gets the most major overhaul

Rosamund was 16 and in love when she and her boyfriend (if you want to be particularly on the nose he could have the last name of briar or thorn or something) got into a bad car crash

She woke up from a coma 2 years later

Her boyfriend, who had been released from the hospital just a couple months after the accident, had already moved on, hence her current distaste for romance

Her parents tried to keep her inside all the time, obsessively overprotective after the accident, and she couldn't stand it

She eventually ran away, and given that Cousin Gerard has been one of the few tolerable people to be around (He had been kind and funny when she was growing up; after the accident he was empathetic in a way no one else was. It wasn't exactly the same, but he knew what it was like feeling like you've lost years of your life) and eventually she made her way to an address he'd written down for her saying if she ever needed to talk, she has an open invite

Her parents don't look for her under the belief that eventually she'll realize they were right all along and come home

(that isn't what happens)

Gerard was initially going to just take in Pinocchio, as he felt like since they'd shared experiences with kidnapping he could be helpful, and he could help Pinocchio deal with any issues the way he had

(He has not actually dealt with those issues)

Then he met Ylfa totally by accident, not at all arranged by Mr. Wolf in the hope that maybe this man would finally provide a home for two kids who so many felt were too high-maintenance to foster or adopt

So he ended up with two kids

Pib is a cat

He was originally a stray, taken in by Tomas, put in a shelter when Tomas died and then adopted by Timothy

Timothy has his husband, his menace of a son Jack, and inexplicable beef with a gander from the local park. He wants it dead, and the feeling is mutual

From here it's just general headcanons and little scenes

The non-Elody princesses are Rosamund's friends from an etiquette class that all of their terrible parents made them attend. None of them go to the class anymore but they still hang out

They are...maybe not the best influences. They regularly commit petty acts of vandalism and were maybe responsible for that time the school's library almost burned down

At some point one of Rosamund's friends/classmates says that Gerard is kind of hot in a pathetic way, and her first thought it "gross, that's my dad." She then has a minor crisis over when her goofy cousin became her dad

Gerard still exercises, but since it's his first time not working with a personal trainer he cannot figure out why he's getting stronger but not more "muscular." (not defined) Lifting more weight should be better, right?

This does mean he is strong enough to carry all three of his kids at the same time (because yes, Rosamund is his kid, even if not legally), and has carried them all to bed at once without waking them up before

Ylfa goes over the shoulders, as her grip is strong even asleep. Pinocchio is fully baby cradled in one arm, and Rosamund is carried in the other, her face tucked into this shoulder. Pib got Ylfa's back at some point without Gerard noticing, so actually it's three kids and a cat

Pib knows exactly one trick that he'll do on command, and that trick is "attack," where he runs up and smacks whoever without unsheathing his claws

For unknown reasons, he only does this trick for Gerard. Timothy is definitely not jealous

At one point Mr. Wolf was trying to talk to Pinocchio about setting goals and future careers, and Pinocchio panicked and said stand-up comedian

When Mr. Wolf tried to prompt him to set goals, he said he could come up with a good joke in a year. Mr. Wolf tried to hint that maybe that's a little too long. Pinocchio misunderstood and made it a year and a day

Pinocchio: I think that if I don't tell a good joke in a year and a day he's going to kill me

Ylfa, whose life was saved by Mr. Wolf and has known him for much longer: (100% earnestly) yeah, maybe.

Gerard tries to take the gang fishing. It goes badly. Gerard punches a fish

Ylfa has a dorky middle schooler crush on all of Rosamund's friends, especially Snow White. They think its cute and harmless enough not to discourage, much to Rosamund's chagrin

The princesses are also consistently accidentally mean to Gerard (a la "she's married?") They actually think he's a pretty good guy and by far the best parent any of them have, so they feel bad whenever it happens

Gerard does have minor Gilear energy in this au. Sorry bud.

Gerard and Elody's reuniting

For Elody and Gerard reuniting, IDK what leads to it but eventually Elody agrees to one date after starting to realize how much Gerard's changed

Gerard is very excited and spends nearly the entire day preparing for their dinner date

Unfortunately, the power goes out about midway through the day. At first it's kind of fun and everything's fine, date still set to happen

Then it gets dark and suddenly things aren't so fine anymore

Ylfa remembers the nights she stood, starving, staring at the body of her grandmother, trying desperately to pretend that nothing's changed, even as she becomes too dehydrated to cry

Pinocchio remembers that darkness of the closet, the silhouette of his stepmother, the way he could only ever catch glimpses of her sneering face as the door closed once again

Rosamund remembers the weeks of consciousness before she was able to even open her eyes, trapped in darkness by her own uncooperative body, aware yet unable to do anything, to save herself

Gerard might've asked Timothy to help out, but he'd left earlier that day to go on a camping trip with Henry and Jack, so it's up to Gerard to help his kids

So he does the one thing he's ever been good at. He tells them stories.

Some of them are old stories he's known since childhood, but some of them are new

He tells them stories of a brave little girl who was strong enough to survive despite everything, and a clever little boy who knows that sometimes you need to break the rules, and a bold princess who was able to free herself from the prison others had made for her

He does not tell them the story of a cowardly prince, too unlovable to be wanted by his parents or his wife, who has no one to blame for how things turned out but himself

Instead, his kids tell him a story

They tell him the story of a funny, smart, kind king who was beloved by all his subjects. Who never, ever got mad, and was super strong, and would accept any who would seek refuge in his kingdom. The three (four, counting Pib, who Timothy asked them to watch while they were gone) immediately decide it's their favorite

"How can that be your favorite story? That's barely a story at all, it just a list of character traits."

"Too bad, it's our favorite now, so we're gonna tell it every night."

They pass the night with stories and candles until eventually all his kids are happily asleep, and Gerard crashes onto his couch.

He, unfortunately, could not text Elody about this change of plans as his phone died before he could (his phone hasn't been fully charged since he got kids)

Elody shows up the next morning to be like "Why'd you ditch me and also are you still alive because I can't think of anything short of death that would've kept you from showing up"

She is greeted by a very tired Gerard in his pajamas, who asks if she wants to come inside for breakfast

Elody is very confused to be sitting around a table with three kids and a cat while her husband cooks breakfast (when did he learn how to cook?)

The neighbor pops in to say hi and ends up staying for breakfast as well, and Elody is quickly realizing just how much of a life Gerard has made since they separated

It's not a great breakfast. The eggs are kind of rubbery and the bacon is burnt on the edges, but it's far better than she ever imagined Gerard capable of

She...kind of wants to learn what else has changed about Gerard

She also wants to know when, where, and why he acquired these kids

Anyway, that's all I got. Maybe I'll make a continuation if I have any other ideas

[remidyal]

Favorite D20 Villains

Just for some positivity on this, and because it's been a minute since I did a tier or ranking list, have my ten favorite Dimension 20 villains! I'm not going to include anyone from Junior Year since it's still running, and I'm going to go ahead and mention that I'm not including Ragh or Aelwyn who could both easily make this list otherwise because they've spent as much or more time on the Intrepid Hero's side as they did villains.

Obviously, there are potential spoilers in this list, so proceed at your own risk! I'm putting a read more link here just to save people who haven't seen a lot of seasons.

10. Galfast Hamhead, Escape from the Bloodkeep.

Okay I know this one is cheating because the party are the villains and Galfast is, like, the one actually good figure on the opposing side, but I'm still counting her. Just an absolute tour de force in the parts of the series she appears in, and gets away even though she technically loses to the party.

9. Natalia Cicero Connie Lee Carter Bajar, A Starstruck Odessey

She's not the most threatening villain in ASO, but there are really three fronts where villains can work for me: They can be hammy and fun, they can be actually threatening and scary, and they can be someone I desperately would love to see get taken down. Natalia scores all her points in the first and last of these categories; she's not scary, but her entire concept is just so stupid that it makes me laugh every time.

Bonus points for being the target of what I think is the best joke in ASO - high praise - the "My fiancee doesn't really do art" - "I agree" by Ally.

8. Robert Moses, The Unsleeping City.

I believe the only actual person to ever be a main villain in Dimension 20. Genuinely a monster of American history; I was familiar with him prior to watching The Unsleeping City but I would wager that I was in a fairly slim minority. There's some problems with the presentation here and the details of it - I am guessing they would have just made him a powerful vampire if this season was more recent, for one - but I can't say I wouldn't want Robert Moses' plan thwarted. Probably the closest we'll ever come to actually having a campaign fight Ronald Reagan directly.

7. The Stepmother, Never After

Never After for me has a structural problem in that there are too many ideas stuffed into too short a season, and so quite a lot of it feels extremely half-baked. The Stepmother isn't immune to this, but she's also an actual imposing figure for much of the series that feels like a true threat to the party even after they prove that a TPK isn't enough to stop them. The scene where Ylfa looks before they head to the Lines Between is maybe the best Never After has to offer, for me.

6. Madame Loathing, Mentopolis

Honestly, this feels like a more full version of the Stepmother in many ways even though there are only six episode. This is probably because she's not competing with like five other factions in her villainy. The moment where she turns is great, and there's something very satisfying about landing a twist where the villain was someone so obvious that they were dismissed by many as too obviously evil to actually be the main evil.

5. The First Stoats, Burrow's End

Here I'm referring to the four that remained at Last Bast; I think the series in some ways peaked with fighting them, though certainly there were some highlights still to come. I don't think Aabria necessarily meant for this fight to go down at the time and place that it did, but genuinely creepy designs with a creamy layer of fascism on top.

4. Tony Simos, Unsleeping City 2

Remember those three categories? Tony here scores real, real big in the "I wanna see him die" category. He's not the worst person on this list (that's honestly probably Robert Moses), but he's the one I most wanted to see get crushed, and ultimately was in an extremely satisfying way. TUC2's villain duo was overall incredible - we'll revisit that in a moment - but I cheered more when Tony dropped than any other villain D20's ever had.

It is what it could be, asshole.

3. Calroy Cruller, A Crown of Candy

Do you know what I've always hated about you, Amethar?

There's a lot of people who would have this guy at the top of their lists, and I really don't blame them; the main thing holding him back for me is that he really doesn't do very much after that crowning monologue until he goes out like a chump at the end of the steamroll that is ACoC's last battle. (Those of you calling JY's last fight easy should rewatch that one). It is, admittedly, the most satisfying of any of the villain deaths of that finale, especially with Liam's baffling last second resurrection of broccoli pope and captain carrot. Scores very well on all three fronts, and honestly if Amethar had actually died there or if he'd just been front and center at the end then he'd maybe be number two for me.

2. Null, Unsleeping City 2

A dip into real eldritch horror, and does it better than Never After in part because it stands out more against the backdrop of New York. Null scores great on the threatening front; a monstrosity of apathy and depression and lack of connection is a hell of a villain. The world where Pete doesn't roll that crazy banishment check and vanishes partway through the season would have maybe robbed us of some of the insight into this, so I'm glad we got the one that we did.

Kalina, Fantasy High Sophomore Year

This was never going to be anyone else. Kalina's getting points on all three fronts, but conceptually is just an incredible concept for a villain, feels like a real threat throughout the season until the moment they dispel her, and you can feel the amount the players both want to take her down and are in fact worried about her throughout the season. Because of her nature she's able to show up repeatedly without a fight without that not really making sense, which is kind of hard to pull off - most of the villains on this list aren't met much after their villainy is revealed. We'll see if she's back at the end of Junior Year and what kind of state Cass ends up in, but either way we'll always have spring break.

[womanlives]

❔ c:

my god your writing and muses are so gorgeous there's just so many i'm going to cap at neverafter at first so i don't write 10 novels but i have more i -

SNOW WHITE & ELODY. spoilers for dimension20's series neverafter to follow. ok, is this one of my fav d20 series? yes. will i roleplay litchrally anyone from it? yes. i would love to explore the dynamic of elody, abandoned by gerard, being approached by these princesses and their plot to 'retake their lives,' in a sense. i think snow white uniquely would be interesting to run up against her in parallels of abandonment, both perceived and actual. bulletpoint plot/thread ideas below:

the initial recruitment as a thread plotline; this could serve as a great opener to introduce our characters to one another, as well as establish a precursor for how it all happened. would love to explore elody's reaction to the first 'story' in which the tpk happened unravelling as well.

battle threads with the faeries, please.

the fallout from meeting gerard & co., especially considering the lore bomb gerard dropped on elody's head before peacing out into the snow with the rest of them. her hair is eevryWHERE ~~

post-neverafter resolutions. what do their lives look like? how did they rewrite their stories? is it everything they end up dreaming about?

YLFA & GERARD. spoilers for dimension20's series neverafter to follow. let's explore the (unwilling) transformation of two people into animals and the long-lasting effects that has on them. bonus points for contrasts of their reactions and/or levels of acceptance. bonus bonus points for the spicy underlying theme of humanity and pieces of themselves slipping away. bulletpoint plot/thread ideas below:

please let them have the classic late-night keeping-watch private chat where they discuss how it felt to die.

ylfa subconsciously encouraging gerard to dissect his marriage because she's got a crush on 'nocchi and asks gerard, a certified Wife Man(tm), relationship advice. and where his went wrong. HEE HEE.

gerard teaches ylfa sword forms. they go horribly wrong.

goes without saying, but post-neverafter resolutions pt2. i'd also love to explore an AU where things DON'T get the happily-ever-after written ending and they're more or less 'doomed' to stay as ''''animals''' forever. i'd love to see how they react to that.

'QT PLAYS DEALER'S CHOICE NEVERAFTER CHARACTER HERE' & GERARD/ELODY. no but literally this is just a free space where if there's someone i haven't listed (pib, nocchi, minor characters, villains, the faeries) that you'd love to see against gerard or elody, i GOTCHU FAM

BONUS ROUND FEAT. SPUR OF THE MOMENT THREAD IDEAS:

meera reed confronts theon greyjoy for the deaths of two innocent boys following her return to winterfell (obviously would fall into the grey space between book & show canon).

an exploration into how rue and wuvvy came to be: their partnership, their devotion, just love em. LOVE EM.

red makes a bargain with drisella, in an almost direct juxtaposition to cinderella and her faerie godmother. [red vc] i aint work for Free

how to con henri out of his immense wealth while also not dying hideously in the process feat. mercy

send ❔ and i’ll list a couple muses that i’d like to throw at yours (feat: plot bunnies) for @ateliaers.

[officialgleamstar]

maybeee V, X, and Z? :]

fandom meme :D

hiiii lex! thank you !!!!

V - 3 OTPs from 3 different fandoms

well i answered my dndads one earlier, so thats cheating. lets see, what fandoms am i in LOL (me <- guy who hopped quickly from a years long hyperfix to my current dndads hyperfix so all my other interests are mush in my head).

Dimension 20 - Evan Kelmp/K "Dream" Tanaka <3 I absolutely adooore them and it makes me sad there's not more content for them!!!

All For the Game - Andrew/Neil/Kevin !!! kandreil my guys of all time. literally a life-changing ship for me. i think about them on a weekly basis at minimum

Young Justice - I'll be honest, I did not watch past the second season. BUT for the start of YJ/Batman in general! Nightwing/Kid Flash! I literally have fan art I drew in high school of them on my wall still LOL

X - top 5-10 characters who are yoUR PRECIOUS BABIES AND YOU WILL DIE DEFENDING THEM

oh my god UHHHH

NICKY HEMMICK (aftg) HAS NEVER DONE ANYTHING WRONG. EVER.

Carol Wilson (dndads) <3 no elaboration needed.

Ylfa Snorgelsson (dimension 20) is my daughter and is always correct when she chooses to kill someone

Beverly Toegold V (naddpod)! literally the epitome of this question to me. hes my precious baby, my actual son, he has grown and developed from all of his mistakes and hes turning into such a lovely young man and i am just so proud of him-!

Erlin Kindleaf (naddpod) and while we're talking about beverly! obligatory erlin mention because he lives in my head rent free. boy i love you so much.

Blue (this is how you lose the time war) <333 ive only had blue for like, 50 pages so far but if anything happens to her, i am going to tear the universe apart. i know something is definitely going to happen to her but i need to live in obliviousness for now

grandma highforge (drawtectives) is actually perfect. actually just count 7 through 10 as all three of the drawtectives because they can do no wrong in my eyes

Z - Just ramble about something fan-related, go go go (prompts optional but encouraged)

i need you to know that youve sent me the most impossible questions for me specifically to answer. my mind goes blank whenever i get asked any questions like these. this isnt a negative, im having fun and this is exactly what i need rn, but i need you to know LMAO

more of a general fandom thing rather than anything specific, but i reeeally wanna get into fan-binding. i talk about this sometimes, but i actually specialized in bookbinding in school, and it makes me sad that i dont, like, have a reason to do it anymore? so i think getting into fan-binding would be so fun! plus i see some of the books people make and i am just BLOWN AWAY. ive always been very, like, utilitarian i suppose, with my books? my professors always say i make them plain, lol, so i love love love seeing the more inventive covers and bindings that people do!!! i really need to push my craft some more, so i need to like, find fanfiction to print out and bind. i have one in mind already, but its for a fandom i left, so it would probably function more as a gift for a friend than for me ^-^

[sunburstsandmoonshadows]

!! oh id love to hear about ur neverafter au ideas O.O

Oh boy, I'd love to tell you!

Rn I'm uh. slightly shaky on how the marionette gang happened. My current background is this:

Once upon a time, all of the heroes died right before they reached the turning point to the canon story. Rosamund chokes on her briars and never gets out of bed. Mother Goose faces a Gander that's just strong enough to strike true. Prince Gerard dies in the siege. So forth.

But before all that, a man named Gepetto thought it would be a delightful idea to make marionettes based on figures he's heard stories about. The Sleeping Beauty, of course, and the Prince Who Was a Frog, and the Wolf Who Could Become Anyone, and so on. So he builds them, and then out in the world, their true counterpoints die.

They should move on. They do, and yet they don't. Instead, five marionettes wake up. I don't think they quite retain their memories at the start--this isn't like the death they experienced in the other version of the story--but they come with their personalities mostly in tact.

And Pinocchio, finished with his original adventures and not yet tricked by the Wicked Fairy or the Stepmother, has to deal with them now.

He doesn't tell his father they're awake like he was. Gepetto may have taken him in, but he had said that all he wanted was a son, and Pinocchio could be that. What use could Gepetto have for a Princess or Prince with no royal ties, an old man, a little wolf girl, or a cat?

He can't be sure his father will react as well to them as he did to Pinocchio. And when you are a child who has gone through the things Pinocchio went through, you don't tend to trust situations you can't account for. So, he keeps them quiet.

After all, if Gepetto doesn't know the marionettes are alive, Pinochhio won't ever have to lie to him about it. Pinocchio cannot afford to lie.

On that, here's details on the Marionette Gang:

--Rosamund has a mechanism in her body that lets her create tunes that were meant to represent her humming in her sleep. It can be caused by turning a key in the small of her back. She likes to turn it and sing on top of the humming sound.

--Gerard was Gepetto's first attempt to create marionettes that could be transformed. Gerard can take off his hands, feet, and head, and originally had human features and frog features to switch between. The human version has somehow been destroyed or lost. Gerard insists that having to wear the frog parts is "only temporary."

--Ylfa was the second attempt, and more sophisticated. On the back of her head is a collapsible wolf's face, and her head can be swiveled around to pull it out and reveal it. That's why she has the hood--to conceal it. (As for the color... it just seemed correct.) Her feet are clawed and furred beneath her boots, and she has a tail tucked in her dress' skirt.

--Mother Goose and Pib are the most standard of the marionettes. Gepetto also based them on the vaguest recountings he's heard. There's trickster cats everywhere, and by the time word of a man who made all the children laugh with stories came to his village, the fact that the man called himself "Mother" was forgotten. Tim will have to re-figure that one out himself.

[violetren]

The impression I got watching the episode is that Ylfa realises this pretty well immediately.

At first she was like "oh cool older woman, princess, And she's a monster like me" but then within like two sentences from La Bête she was like "Hmm, I have made something that may in some form resemble a mistake. She's too different, there is nothing for me here except danger."

To compare them, Ylfa is monstrous superficially. Her abilities are fucked up but only called monstrous because that's the vocabulary she and a lot of fairy tale characters generally work with. It doesn't matter that she is a traumatised but generally kind hearted little girl. At most she is monstrous in the way that death could be called monstrous because we can't understand why anyone should have to suffer it. She refused the offer until she was literally driven mad with hunger (and possibly a story bound pressure to live as the protag but that's a whole different nutshell). She chose her monstrous existence under extreme coercion, which is to say she didn't choose it at all, she has just been finding ways to cope with the fact that when push came to shove she a fucking twelve year old didn't want to die.

La Bête meanwhile is monstrous because she actively strives to be so. She wasn't going to die if she didn't eat her prince. I wouldn't say she'd get her promised happily ever after either because that situation was fucked up, but she wasn't in anything close to mortal peril. Instead, she believes that physically being a monster is the most true that one can be to themself and reality. She is the kind of person who can decide "I am going to leverage a man's love for me into a bid for power, and I am going to literally devour him." (Don't get me wrong I see nothing wrong with her rejecting the man who kidnapped her and who without straining interpretations too much may have put her on a pedestal as his manic pixie dream girl, I just think she had dozens of methods of rejection that weren't guilt him into letting her consume him for his power). Not only can she have this thought process she can be so steadfastly sure that she is on the correct path that she felt comfortable getting creative cooking him. She's monstrous in the way Hannibal Lecter is monstrous not just because she ate someone but because she was and remains calm and rational and certain that not only was she justified she would be equally justified in acts just as if not even more horrific. She is monstrous because the ends justify the means AND she doesn't give a fuck it the ends being used for justification are good ones.

Ylfa considers the circumstances of her transformation horrifying and internalised the idea that because she survived them she must be a monster (derogatory).

La Bête considers the circumstances or her transformation a victory and has internalised the idea that to be a monster is to be powerful and true, so she fashions herself as a monster (laudatory).

i do think ylfa and la bête's situations are only superficially similar because in the end la béte killed her captor and consumed him, cornering the beast without a choice when he tried to enforce more upon her. ylfa was trapped because she came to grandma's house at the wrong time and the wolf laid down at her feet and asked her to kill him to survive and feast on his meat to get out of there strong enough and ylfa refused until she was starved for days and handed an axe

[cedarmoons]

Give me that OC profile for ALL THE GIRLS. Give me that Ari, that Ziah, that Maris. Gimme some SAIGE. GIMME WHAT U GOT HOT MQMQ

I’ll do Maris!!

Full Name: Maris Viridius of gens Viridia

Gender and Sexuality: cis woman, bi

Pronouns: she/her

Ethnicity: fantasy Greco-Roman. Same place Seneca’s parents presumably originated from since he is also fantasy Greco-Roman.

Birthplace and Birthdate: She was born early winter in the city of Kallyria, which is the capitol of the Kallyric Republic. Winters are very mild on Kallyria, and I used screenshots of Korinth, Athens, and Mykonos from Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey for inspiration for Kallyria. Very beautiful place, but the economic divide is very clear.

Guilty Pleasures: She has a snow white teddy bear that she got in childhood, before her adoption into the Viridius family, when she was still living on Kallyria’s streets. She has maintained it so that it’s looked basically brand new for years. When she’s upset she goes to bed and holds the teddy bear under the covers where no one can see. She hasn’t cried since before her adoption as a seven-year-old, but the teddy bear brings her comfort even though she knows it’s childish and probably something to be ashamed about.

Phobias: She’s afraid of dying, and of being forgotten or irrelevant. The second fear is... basically realized when she’s exiled from Kallyria, before she becomes a diplomat. That wasn’t a fun time for her.

What They Would Be Famous For: She’s already (in)famous for her identity as the Spider of Kallyria, which is basically a glorified spymaster. She used her spy connections to help her brother win his local election but never left any trails that could implicate her or her brother.

What They Would Get Arrested For: She did actually get arrested for accessory to murder, intrastate espionage, conspiracy to commit election fraud, and misuse of her godly-granted gift of prophecy. Her brother pulled some strings and her sentence was commuted from death to exile from the Republic. Her brother got in 0 trouble for her arrest, and she was no longer subject to the Republic’s laws, so she decided to hire a mercenary to rob Kallyria’s treasury and took off with like 70,000 gold pieces (post-mercenary’s cut).

OC You Ship Them With: @vide0-nasties’s Ylfa, post character development. 

OC Most Likely To Murder Them: Ariala. Ariala would think Maris’s death would be an overall improvement on society so if Maris stepped out of line... rip.

Talents and/or Powers: She’s an Oracle, so she gets prophetic visions plus whatever else Oracles in Stellamore are capable of doing. She’s also talented at talking her way out of trouble (mostly) and convincing people to see things “her way,” usually when recruiting for her spy ring(s).

Why Someone Might Love Them: She was raised to believe family comes first above all else, so she’s ride or die if you grow close enough to her that she considers you a loved one. She can also be charming, charismatic, friendly and kind. She’s passionate about her causes (mostly revolving around uplifting the poor) and a good person to have around during a crisis. 

Why Someone Might Hate Them: Maris is textbook Lawful Evil, so. that. 😶

How They Change: A lot of it is forming genuine connections with people who don’t have any ulterior motives to improve themselves or their own standing. An equally important part is her removal from Kallyria’s local politics, in which her mother and brother were both instrumental, and her mother really was the one who imparted Maris’s Lawful Evil values onto her. In her separation, her connections with other people have a chance to breathe and grow into actual connection / friendship. Her friendship with Mukondi is really, really critical in her development and her eventual shedding of Lawful Evil alignment.

Why You Love Them: I wanted a Lawful Evil MC for the purpose of exploring how they could even experience character development. At what point do they stop viewing other people as tools for self-gain, and as people -- as friends? Also, Maris has had 0 romantic interaction, so her flirting with Cipactli would be an absolute disaster. (And when Cipactli finds out... delicious angst...) Like so:

Maris, internally: I will seduce the Crown Prince to further my own power and increase the international standing of humanity on the global stage and I will Definitely Not Fall In Love With Him For Real™

Maris: Did it hurt when you fell?

Cipactli: ???? I did not fall, I have been standing the entire --

Maris: Because you’re the only ten I see 

Cipactli: ???????????

Maris, internally: nailed it

Not Pictured: Mukondi, Waauru looking on like 😬😬😬