#intelligent fandom discussion

[saiyanqueenreads]

I love in-depth fanon like this!!!

GRIMWALKER BIOLOGY & ANATOMY STUDIES [pt 1 / ?? ]

(aka, my ideas and thoughts on how these bad but sad boys work!)

with pictures :D !

ok for starters! I tried my best to make real life connections with actual biological stuff and yeah but there are some things ima have to bullshit lol

i hope yall like rambling

[ ^ Basic ideas ]

Lets talk about anatomy!

From what i can tell from the grim walker ingredient book they have some pretty ... interesting ingredients...

GALDORSTONE:

Heart and Power apparently. What i can make of this is that the Galderstone not only powers and animates the non-organic materials but acts as a circulatory system, flowing blood and nutrients to keep the body stable by creating magical pulses of pressure that makes the blood flow. Blood is kind of ideal for homeostasis and living and om pretty sure we've seen hunter bleed at least once... Perhaps the Galderston can create an artificial vascular system to carry oxygen, magic, and nutrients throughout the growing body instead of just making veins from scratch. I want to say the Galderstone can generate energy for the grimwalker but that would mean they wouldn't need to eat, and I don't think that's true. I think its main purpose is just activate the magic materials and is like the generator to a car, keeping it running. If the Galderstone were to break or fail, the grimwalker probably come unglued and fall apart to its components (which would be pretty horrifying)

ORTET BONE:

Very key component! The ortet bone kind of helps form the blueprint for the species of the grimwalker, as well as supplying blood, a skeletal system, and components of DNA. The most basic definition of the word ORTET is as follows: the original plant from which the members of a clone have descended. Fun fact: since were using cloning terms, Hunter is to Caleb as Ramet is to Ortet (Ramet is an individual clone) I did research for cloning and as it turns out you kinda need a complete genome for cloning but for bullshitting reasons (which will be explained) we can clone with incomplete DNA and make synthetic dna from scratch! I hypothesis that the reason grims can look different from the ortet instead of just straight carbon copies is due to the bone that is used and how much of i there is. Like example a grimwalker made using just a toe phalange is going to look A LOT less like the ortet compared to a grimwalker made from something like the cranium and bigger bones and such. Basically smaller bones dont carry as much dna info and leads for room to fill in the blanks. Sadly this means alot of Grimwalkers had A LOT of health problems (this can range anywhere from immune system problems to liver failure which is quiet typical in clones, that and it is often that clones appear different from the ortet due to enviromental factors and influences)

[ As the image above shows, subject #103 has a very close resemblance to the ortet due to the bones that are used ] There are pros and cons to using bones! Pros being that they can hold DNA for much longer than tissue, but the thing is bones can degrade really easy if not preserved, and i don't think belos had a bottle of hydrogen peroxide laying around that he could dunk Caleb in, so let's just assume he made sure his brother's corpse was well cleaned and kept. Biggest con is the human body only has so many bones (about 206) I believe that the reason Grimwalker can generate organs is by using the ortet and making the stem cells created from bone marrow. Stem cells are very important because they can turn into different types of cells like blood and tissue cells as well as repair tissue. I believe the process of growing grimwalkers is kind of like "Self-renewal" the process in which stem cells divide and make more of the body

STONESLEEPER LUNGS:

Im just gonna assume stone sleeper had very small lungs because aint no way those t rex lungs fit in a teenage boy. I originally thought The reason that Grimwalkers can stay underground for so long is because the lungs, similar to how a stonesleeper hibernates for centuries (kind of like how wood frogs can basically cryo-hibernate) by petrifying but a grimwalker IS growing and therefore needs resources to grow, like how a baby does in the womb. So it has to be actively getting said resources so it cant be petrified. I now think the reason that grimwalkers have these lungs is because theyre easily compatible to the galderstone, which needs oxygen for the blood and that they can be easily harvested and stored in stone form. But that does give room for cool adaptations like self-petrification! (which i will get into next time :D )

PALISTROM WOOD:

Ok its says that the wood is used for keratin, which is a fiberous protein which can make all kinds of things like scales, hair, nails, feathers, horns, claws, hooves, and skin! And since its also a plant means it can grow 4 times as fast as normal keratin can! This explains why hunters hair grew so ridiculously fast in season 3, was because his hair can produce its own carbohydrates and nutrients on its own... This means his skin and surface wounds can heal quite fast! (down side is it might give him something similar to PSS (Peeling Skin Syndrome ) ...) I think Palisman is very important becasue of several reason! 1 Like palisman, it can "animate" if you will, more or less help pull off the illusion that he is alive. 2 Like mentioned before, Grimwalkers need nutrients to grow and I believe the palistrom wood aids in that! Using a process called cellular diffusion, the grimwalker can take in nutrients from the ground around them (which i theorize to be highly fertilized) through THEIR SKIN! and into the veins and flesh of the grims 3 I believe that in the process of forming, the galderstone "activates" the palistrom wood, forming into skin or hair but this process of rapid growth leaves the skin all undone and fragile because a proper cutaneous barrier was not formed yet (which is useful for being malleable. This is why Hunter's ears are so 1 .god blessed big because they are fake and molded to look like that. Its also why The grimwalker Belos possessed fell apart so easily, like he said "It wasnt ready")

SELKIEDOMUS SCALES:

This one kind of confused me because... well why do we need the seal flesh when the ortet can just regenerate it?? I think its kind of like the stuffing if you will, it also speeds up the process of producing flesh by a lot! Especially if you want to make grown grimwalkers! Im thinking that Grimwalkers don't have a set "age" theyre just as big as however many materials they are given to work with. Even though the book says they can start as babies, if you look closely there is a check mark towards the more adolescent figure, so im thinking that they are not ready to be unearthed until they reach a certain growth ima guess around the age of over 10-ish?? We don't know how young Hunter was pulled out of the floor but it seems like he was fairly young, or atleast younger. This means while Hunter appears to be 16, he might have only been living for around 5 years or so.

Now typically normal seals have a lot of blubber which is a thick layer of fat, also called adipose tissue, directly under the skin of a marine mammals. Its used for insulation. The thing is tho, it says Selkiedomus Scales, not flesh... Dont worry there are mammals that have scales like Pangolins but i dont know if these scales are like thick plated or small and stretchy. Magic bullshitting time, Im goin to assume Selkiedomus scales refers to a layer of scale-like flesh that protect the creature from boiling but is also highly malleable and easy to work with. Maybe the reason they can withstand such heat is due to unsaturated bonds of butadiene molecules mixed into the blubber that are highly heat resistant Selkie domus flesh is molded and into the relative shape of desired body and using the DNA of the ortet the flesh is reshaped and reused into the desired muscles shapes. The vascular system created by the galderstone spreads throughout the flesh and binds with it. healing together and becoming flesh, kind of like a speed up version of skin graft maturation! This is useful for growing them quickly because they don't have to grow an entire adult body from scratch so this speed up the process by eeeerrm 20 years or so lol

Thats only the basics for now, sooner or later i shall get into the more fun stuff, like adaptaions of Grim walker, the growing process, ad more!

Hope you guys enjoyed my ideas, if i got anything incorrect let me know, my research isnt exremly searched through.

last question ill leave you all with, it kind of stumped me while i was working...

i have a theory but i wanna know your thoughts...

(i worked hard on all this btw, i really hope people read it lol /lh.)

[fromtheseventhhell]

I'm not sure how to get it into people's heads that Arya is a female character. She's not a boy, not nonbinary, trans, agender, or genderless. I don't intend this in a way to be negative or wanky, but her girlhood is imbedded within her character. The problem isn't that Arya stans are missing the point by overemphasizing her femininity and wanting her to be a barefoot tradwife baby making machine, but that we're stating it exists when the majority of fandom and the show itself have gone out of the way to minimize the relevancy of her gender. I'm fully convinced there are a lot of people who think Arya would be the exact same character had GRRM created her as a male character named Arry instead, perhaps they'd do a better job at acknowledging her importance.

What's most ironic to me is how these same fans will gush and coo over the sisters being more alike than we think, but only if it involves giving Arya's characteristics to Sansa. Well acktually, Sansa likes to ride horses just as much as Arya does! They're so alike uwu! But dare acknowledge that Arya has traits and aspects commonly associated to Sansa then not only does that get accusations of wanting Arya to become Sansa, but that it's solely about showing Sansa up and wanting her to grovel in Arya's shadow and superiority 🙄 Hypocrisy and projection showing itself.

Somewhat of an aside, but I recently saw a post on reddit complaining about the fact that all four of Daemon's children survived the Dance specifically focused on the fact that both Rhaena and Baela lived. According to the OP, one of them should've died and their post-war roles in the story should've been given to only one of them. Which at its core is really the main conflict between Sansa and Arya stans, no matter how much the Stansas want to cover their ears and play dumb. It's not about Arya stans projecting their sibling squabbles onto the two of them but simply the fact that it's not possible for two characters to fulfill the same role in the story, specifically when it involves two female characters. The existence of two Stark sisters is an inconvenience for the people who want the story to revolve around Sansa.

I have to believe there's some bubbles that they don't want to admit will burst if TWOW will ever be released and that's why they cling to the idea that Arya stans are the delusional ones. They have to believe that the parts of Sansa's seasons 5-8 storyline they like came from GRRM instead of D&D or else their Jonsa and QITN fantasies will fall apart. I have no idea how someone can watch the scene where Sansa tells Arya she couldn't survive what she had while Arya can only sputter out that she was training and believe 1) it makes sense for their book characters and 2) D&D didn't blatantly favor Sansa and Sophie over Arya and Maisie.

This ask came literally seconds after I drafted a post talking about this exact topic and it's so wild to me that we were both up thinking about Arya + her girlhood and wanting to discuss it 🥹

As for this ask, you really hit the nail on the head. Arya's gender is an essential aspect of her journey but fandom ignores that because they've decided that there's only one "right" way to exist as a female character. Arya's self-esteem issues stem from her being a non-conforming Lady in a misogynistic society, she has to disguise herself as a boy in part because of the threat of sexual violence, in Harrenhal she is assigned gender-specific tasks/labor, political matches are made without her knowledge/consent, she is threatened with sexual violence multiple times, and even her role within the FM is influenced by her gender. Her being non-conforming doesn't mean she's the complete antithesis of everything feminine. The obsession with propping up Sansa has ruined people's ability to perceive complex female characters, ironically including Sansa herself. They genuinely would've respected Arya more if she had died passively rather than fight for her life and you can't tell me that isn't misogyny.

That Reddit post is a great example of how people genuinely can't (or refuse to) comprehend the idea of two female characters occupying the same space. Cause you're right, that is the root of the issue. I think the only reason they bother with the fake "Stark sisters uwu" crap is because they've backed themselves into a faux-feminist corner and they don't want to look hypocritical for disliking Arya. So instead, they pretend to care all while rewriting her to serve as Sansa's prop. This is also why so many Queen!Sansa truthers are also anti-Dany + think that Sansa becoming Queen depends on Dany's downfall. They desperately cling to the show as canon, when D&D have openly admitted they changed the story because they favored Sansa/Sophie. They're fine with how show!Arya is written because to them, that's exactly how she should be; a subservient lapdog for Sansa. TWOW is definitely going to ruin that illusion, and one of the reasons I'm optimistic about it being released is getting to see fandom's reaction.

[polling-sonic-fans]

Polling Sonic Fans for their opinions on all manner of things. Share good questions to indicate what you want asked. Submissions open.

[fuckmeyer]

hot take? but the Twilight fandom needs to stop citing Mormonism for everything that happens in this hell series.

the characters aren't Mormon. the plot isn't Mormon. the wardrobe isn't Mormon. this series was WRITTEN BY a Mormon woman whose religious indoctrination influenced her work. there are themes, plot points, characterizations, etc, that are related to or in line with LDS teachings. saying the book/characters are Mormon is not the same.

the more you label everything in text as Mormon, the less likely you'll be able to identify the actual religious influences

and if you think you are somehow immune to the influence of something you cannot correctly identify, think again

[saiyanqueenreads]

THIIIIIIIIIIIIIS!!!!!

In much the same way as people who you first meet in kindergarten, and people you first meet in freshman year of highschool, and people you first meet during a college bio-chem lab, and people you meet in the lunchroom at your job, and the people you meet at your wife's sister's wedding all meet a "different" you.

Who you are at the moment you meet a person definitely colors that person's view of you... often forever. Sometimes that can be good, sometimes it can be bad.... depending on where you were at in that moment.

Everything from that moment either jives with the expectations they formed during that initial meeting, or builds you up or tears you down in every person you meet's eyes.

if we're talking Huntlow: ASIAS makes me lose it bc like. Willow not knowing Hunter was the Golden Guard and Hunter not knowing Willow was associated with Luz/Eda meant they like. met each other as they are. with no attached judgement. Hunter met Willow and saw a girl who's kind and fierce and powerful and determined and smart. Willow met Hunter and saw a boy who's intense and socially awkward but skilled and good-hearted and just trying to prove himself. they SAW each other, y'know?

YEAH YEAH EXACTLY!!! This whole thing drives me absolutely insane. That episode aired and I was immediately possessed by something demonic and churned out a whole fic about them in like two weeks with the central theme of what it means to be truly Seen because I could not get all of their stupid symbolism to stop eating my skull from the inside out.

First impressions can be everything sometimes. They can be the foundation of how you view a person. Which is why it's so interesting that they became acquainted having no idea who each other were. They don't know their stories yet. They're perfect strangers.

It's not like Willow's relationship with Hunter is, in any way, superior to the bonds she has with her other friends. They're just. Different. Different circumstances. He sees Willow differently as a result.

There's too much about Willow and Amity's relationship to get into but the basic jist of it is that once the girls begin to repair their friendship Amity only sees bits and pieces of Willow. She sees her kindness and her wisdom and her bubbly personality. But she's still not getting the full picture and this frustrates Willow. With her history in mind, the way she's seen as she currently is means everything to Willow's sense of identity.

Obviously Luz and Gus both adore Willow. And they understand that she's not the person she used to be. They recognize her strength. Luz once described her as "tough as nails" and Gus referred to her current confidant personality as "the real [Willow]." They hype her up endlessly. They're fantastic friends. They do not look down on her, not even a little bit.

But maybe every so often Willow tires of being reminded that she's always gonna be viewed as an inspirational story to them. In their eyes it's "Wow Willow, look at what you've become." So maybe it'd be nice to meet somebody who instead thinks like "Wow Willow, look at what you are." It's good to have friends who have known you from your rough beginnings and can understand how you got this point but it's also nice to make friends who you have a clean slate with, yknow?

Willow makes it clear during the intro of ASIAS that she's still not entirely satisfied with her current self. She likes it just fine but there's still quite a bit of climbing to do before she can truly see herself as the witch she wants to be. Willow is reaching for the stars.

It must mean something that ASIAS was the debut of Willow's new look. She had the pigtails near the end of Follies, but it's them paired with the new glasses that makes the whole statement.

The hair was braided by Amity. It's the hair she used to braid for her when they were little. It's an old part of herself that she's reclaiming. It's to symbolise that Willow refuses to define herself as her trauma caused by Amity Blight anymore. She is trying to mend bridges and move forward.

And the glasses? They're not really linked to anyone in particular. At least nobody she knows yet. The glasses are something brand new, something different, something to establish that Willow is turning over a new leaf in terms of her identity. There's this cooler, more confidant version of herself that has been growing lately and this is her fully embracing it. She wants to be perceived as this new (real) Willow and the new glasses reflect that. She wants somebody to see her the way she wants to be seen. So isn't it a cool detail how she starts wearing them in this episode in particular? Isn't it interesting how her frames are gold? Doesn't it make you go batshit how she began wearing those glasses wishing for somebody to see her and then somebody does? Because it makes ME go batshit.

In Willow's mind, she's still reaching for the stars. In Hunter's mind, she's already caught them.

Hunter on the other hand, goes in the complete opposite direction and yet still ends up in the same place. While Willow strolls into Hexside that morning to establish her true self, Hunter arrives in "disguise." In his eyes, he's not portraying the version of himself that he wants to be seen as. The Golden Guard is who Hunter wants to be. That's his whole motivation in the episode. But when he shows up at Hexside, he's unmasked. It's revealed in a later episode that he feels significantly less confidant when his face is bare, which adds a funny bit of irony to all his recruitment tactics. Hunter tries to put on an act, to become somebody else, but the moment that mask comes off he can't help but become the messy, awkward, moody yet energetic and painfully sincere person that he tries so hard not to be.

Hunter very much does not want to be seen as his true self. In fact, he is trying to completely dismantle his true self and lose himself entirely to the Golden Guard persona. But Willow sees the person underneath, completely unaware that this person she's meeting is supposed to be a shameful secret and she likes what she's seeing. She likes him.

And the absolute kicker here is that it was because of Willow that Hunter first started to like himself outside of the mask. I think the Flyer Derby game was the first time we ever saw unmasked Hunter so happy and confidant. Willow took his hand to help him cross the first stepping stone into accepting himself for the person that he's been trying so hard to stomp out all this time.

So it's like. They see the best version of each other. Hunter sees the version Willow wants everyone to see. Willow sees the version Hunter doesn't want anyone to see but it's the version that helps him grow in the long run.

And that's only the foundation. But sometimes foundation is everything. The respective pasts do end up crashing into this tentative relationship. Willow learns Hunter is the Golden Guard. Hunter learns that Willow has weaknesses too. However, the foundation will always remain the core of how they see each other. At the end of the episode, Hunter reaffirms just how he sees Willow by referring to her as "Captain." And Willow, in turn, decides to believe in Hunter's capacity for good and keeps the friendship door open. If they hadn't met each other in the way they did they may not have really seen each other as clearly and it's possible the series of events that followed may have gone much differently. Who knows if they'd even have become friends. Its all about foundations, yknow??

[lord-squiggletits]

Can't get over that time I saw someone whose take on Punishment was "Optimus says that if you punch Nazis it makes you as bad as the Nazis" as opposed to like

"For a stable and peaceful post-war society to exist people will be required to forgive unforgivable things because the alternative is endlessly perpetuating the cycles of hatred and violence. Also it's kind of fucked up to mass murder people especially when they're historically oppressed/working class people who are currently living in slums outside of mainstream society because everyone hates them so much they won't hire or give them housing. Also as the leader of the Autobots Optimus has to hold his own people accountable just as much as he would hold a Decepticon accountable because otherwise that's just blatant bias and bigotry."

[blitz0hno]

Me pondering: kids are capable of going through and understanding complex problems and their feelings should be taken seriously when it counts.

Me practically: who are all these annoying fucking kids in the milgram fandom and why are they posting the worst takes and most irrelevant bullshit I've ever seen ever???

I think these are valid to coexist.

[bookishtheaterlover7]

You are jealous of alba and you have too much time on your hands .

Again?! Wow, you racist fuckers never learn!!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Excuse me, bitch. Why the hell would I be jealous of a flat ass hoe, who's only asset is getting naked in front of the internet or some old guy paying her to get inside one of her holes? Who's "husband" can't stand her long enough to actually touch her, let alone fuck her?!

I said it!

I'm sorry you are a sad lonely racist who nobody loves because you have time to go into MY page and tell me what I can or cannot do.

Since you're so interested in what I do, let me tell you, I spend more time with my family in the past few days than you have ever in your whole life, considering you emulate a racist Nazi with zero career, money, husband, but lots of clients.

And not the clients that will get her Hollywood Fame like you think she does.

Now, I've officially wasted 30 minutes of my life on your pathetic, waste of space ass, so I'm going to go and spend time with my Mother, because it's the holidays, and like I said, I don't know if this is our last together.

So, take your probably flat ass, and get off my page before I blow up. There's a reason why you're only the third Evil Anon with a weak ass insult, supporting your favorite slutty Nazi, do you really wanna test me? Or the rest of the Fandom?

[saiyanqueenreads]

This is the kind of analysis I love in a fandom!

Okay, but like... I haven't seen anyone else talk about it, but I NEED to talk about this, so excuse my ranting!

Hunter and Philip's reunion was horrible and terrifying and I hated it, but also LOVED it. For one thing, we finally got a Wittebro name reveal and confirmation that Flapjack was his palisman!!

But the thing I really want to talk about right now is Hunter.

As Philip makes one last ditch attempt to gain control over Hunter again, the poor kid is terrified.

Then, after the Collector Splats(tm) Philip, he is completely mortified over what he just saw. Because while it is true that Philip has done nothing but abuse and manipulate Hunter all his life, he was still the one that raised him. He was still the one that Hunter loved, praised, and believed in for all those years. He was still family, in some sick, twisted way.

And then, when all the kids are running toward the Portal, Hunter is the only one to hesitate. Because making it to the Portal means stepping over what (he believes to be) Philip's deceased remains. After everything that Philip has done to him, the other Golden Guards, and even his own brother--the one Hunter was made after-- he can't bring himself to disrespect Philip's remains in such a way.

It's only after Gus and Willow stop and urge him on does he begin to move again.

And even still, he has his eyes tightly shut, as if refusing to look down.

I don't really have the words to describe how this all makes me feel, but damn... It just really speaks volumes about how much of a better person Hunter--and by extension Caleb-- is than Philip. How much kinder, considerate, and caring they both are. It honestly breaks my heart.

[thegravityshark]

I'm glad I'm so far removed from literally any Fandom of things I enjoy

[southernwolf16]

Brought to you by that person who wrote that long post on why WWX wouldn't help JC torture demonic cultivators.

Seriously, is this person the fandom police or something?

[saiyanqueenreads]

Wait! People thought he was going all-out?! Really!?

I always thought it was SUPER apparent and intentional that while he's shown to be desperate as FUCK, he's not willing to seriously hurt her during that fight.

In addition to all the above very well explained details, there's also... the personal component to it.

Amity's just shown him compassion and said something incredibility kind to him, and she's shown herself to be relatable in his mind. And frankly, except in very rare circumstances, I don't think Hunter WANTS to hurt/kill people or living things in general. Heck, he didn't even want to kill the Selkidomus himself. He will if he HAS to. But even as desperate as he is here, he only uses just enough force to try to get his objective. And when THAT didn't win a decisive victory he STILL uses another way to get what he wants rather than seriously hurting or killing.

yall gotta STOP saying hunter was trying to kill amity in eclipse lake. he was not. he was going out of his way not to kill her. his goal was to get the key and to get the key only.

lets discuss in detail.

absolute first thing that happens: King wehs Hunter

Hunter gets Flapjack staff

He teleports twice, says 'real staffs are weird' and then amity ties him up. he teleports out of this into the air.

then we has his first actual aggressive non defensive move:

This is an AOE attack. area of effect. its an attack that does less damage but hits a larger area. so this sends bolts of magic scattering and bouncing all over the place. none of them actually HIT her. and this attack does not aim at her. It purely puts her on the defensive because she is now dodging blasts.

she hops off her staff to block one and then hunter teleports in

he is now behind her and she is caught off guard. he does not attack her flank, he just reaches for the key, before king tackles him.

he teleports behind her again, and this time comes in with a swing.

one she easily blocks. again, not a magical attack here. staff bash.

okay now follow this:

hes here, with her shield

he zaps over here, lower, moves to swing but doesnt, zaps again

baps her again after her shield has already moved above her head

she moves her shield left, he comes in right but hes not even swinging.

amity punches his fucking lights out and then orbs him

he hits her with this construction punch that knocks her off her staff before she can escape

and finally he breaks the necklace with his staff.

none of these attacks were lethal. he hits her with an AOE instead of a direct attack- and she didnt have a shield up yet because she had JUST used it to tie him up, then he hops around with, frankly, some staff bashes that are really holding back from what we know hes capable of, he knocks her off her staff and then when he has the opportunity to actually HIT her he hits the key instead.

compare this to the way he fights kikimora!

he nearly gets his head taken off when she scrapes his forehead and the next attack he blocks with his eyes on Kikimora, not the attack. thats like, important. that indicative of skill level.

especially because he does it twice in a row! the second time one handed!

look at the completely different posture he zaps in to strike with. the hits on amity he is holding back.

this little bastard does a front flip mid teleport to generate strength behind this strike.

look how effortlessly he does this. imagine how many rotations that is in a single second. hes not even looking at it OR his hands. hes spinning that one handed.

ive trained on a bo staff. this shit is not easy. i trained for two years and couldnt get anywhere near that. just watch this video of noah fort going apeshit to see what this actually looks like irl.

he fucking... hits it back at her....

this little man can spin a staff so fast he can reflect magic and control the direction it fires. he hit kikimora so hard he sent her flying twenty feet.

if hunter had wanted to kill amity she'd be fucking dead dude. amity is a good fighter, like, don't get me wrong. but hunters op as absolute shit. hes a terrifying little man. he also fought her completely differently than he did kiki, and he wasnt even trying to kill her. we've never seen Hunter fight all out like, fight to the death when he was still at full strength. we have no idea what that would look like. but we know that fight with amity was faaaaar from his potential. intentionally. he is seriously holding back and clearly on purpose. its not just that hes exhausted already, its not just that he has a new staff, its that he is holding back. he is not using lethal techniques.

[eccentricallygothic]

Sunshine

Pairing: Recovering Winter Soldier!Bucky Barnes | Lab technician!You.

Description: As Shuri's top and most emotionally intelligent technician, you are the one Bucky ends up opening up to during his recovery in Wakanda… And then some.

Warning(s): Top Bucky, bottom reader, his vibranium arm, inexperienced reader, experienced Bucky, dirty talk, pet names, fingering, allusions to unprotected p-in-v sex, nipple biting, kissing, virgin reader, smut with plot, reader and Bucky like each other, brief mentions of his Winter Soldier days, age gap, teasing, humiliation, size kink, allusions to dacryphilia. Minors do not interact.

Type: Request by @imagine-all-the-fandoms, here.

Note: Can you tell I am obsessed with the arm?

MASTERLIST

.

It was usual for Bucky's corner of residence to remain deserted. He was still relatively new to Wakanda and people had heard enough tales about his past life to not welcome him with too much hospitality. They didn't take too warm heartedly to outsiders as it was. And a former killing machine was… well, you guessed it. But you were not sure that Bucky really minded. Apart from the bond he had formed with you -very slowly and steadily, might you add- during his therapy in Shuri's lab, you had observed he preferred being by his lonesome and did not mind the isolation.

The more you found out about him, the more you reckoned he probably needed it.

That was the reason why you felt guilt nip at your cheeks when you heard some leaves rustle behind you and when you instinctively turned to see what it was, you found no one other than Bucky staring back at you. Momentary panic settled in your bones but before you could try and ramble your case and embarrass yourself any more, Bucky offered you a small and friendly smile. You had no idea what it was about him that made you all shy and mum because usually you were a very confident and forthcoming person. You were Shuri's top technician after all. But there was something about the way Bucky's blue eyes watched you, how they flickered down your face just momentarily at times, the manner in which his lashes flexed if he looked further down south, and how his tongue subconsciously swiped across his lips during a conversation sometimes. 

It spread warmth throughout your whole body.

… Like right now.

“The… stars are so bright tonight” you tried your best to mask the awkwardness with a casual amiability. What? Bucky made you feel nervous, alright?  

The male only hummed in agreement as he quietly took a perch beside you, letting his longer legs down the edge of the lake that ran behind his cabin and letting his now bare feet touch the water that everyone used for swimming and fun.

The two of you stayed like that for a little bit, Bucky had never been much of a conversationalist in all the time you had known him and it was always you who had to prompt him to speak or engage in casual talk or even a discussion. A content smile played at your lips while you gazed up at the stars. You liked his corner of the land. It was very calming and serene. Perhaps even more so than the rest of Wakanda. Or so you felt.

It was Bucky's corner after all.

“So… how's the new arm?” You nodded towards the black and gold vibranium arm that the lab had finalized after various meticulous precautions and measurements while giving him the best mental and even physical therapy possible all the while. Shuri had called in Bucky this afternoon to finally install it into the socket you and other technicians had built into his side. After one last test to see if his HYDRA conditioning really was gone for good, it had been you who had with the use of tender and nimble fingers locked the arm into place. It had been a rather emotional moment and you were the only tech Bucky had allowed to touch him. Since he had never been allowed any liberty in his past life, Shuri made sure you all respected the man's comfort first and foremost.

You could never have a problem with that. 

“Pretty good, actually” your eyes followed the glint of the moonlight bouncing off the bionic limb as he flexed his fingers and slowly twirled his arm for you to see. “More comfortable too” you were a nerd so it got you excited. And no, the fashion in which the digits of his new hand had stretched had nothing to do with it.

“Yes! Shuri actually wanted to use…” You began the technical ramble Bucky didn't really understand but didn't mind either. “I suggested we instead use…” And it wasn't sympathy humming either, you had learnt that the Soldier had retained his sassy side and if you were boring him out, he had his quiet ways of giving you a shut up call. “Because I knew that it would bite on your skin…” You hadn't realized just how close you had scooted into Bucky and the way you were cradling his vibranium arm and its various crevices while it laid in your lap until his hot breath fanned some of the stray strands away from your face. “S- So…” Your voice wavered from the hyperawareness all of a sudden, eyes flickering down to his lips before you could stop them and your no longer coherent words quivered. “I- I… she… we…” A breathless chuckle escaped him.

“Y/n?”

“Bucky?” You tried to focus and as a result ended up widening your eyes so much that you looked like a fish out of water. What? Straight A bookworms like you didn't enjoy the luxury of knowing their way around the sex of interest. 

“Shut up” his words were outwardly blunt but the tone in which he said them, the half smile which made his lips handsomely droop to one side and the manner in which he leaned in soon after stopped you from getting offended just in time. Though you couldn't really visualize yourself getting mad at him anyways. 

“Okay, Bucky” was all you were allowed to blurt out before his pleasantly soft lips pressed against yours. You whimpered into his mouth from how tender the kiss was and how delicate he was about it. You had no idea what you were expecting and if you were even expecting something, but something so soft coming from a man with a stature like Bucky's, you were taken by a pleasant surprise. The kiss was warm and meaningful.

… But way too short. 

You gasped once you came to your senses and realized the gravity of the situation. You were kissing Bucky fucking Barnes! The kiss had been rather brief– too brief, but it had also felt like an eternity at the same time due to how your brain had declined you of its service.

Bucky was taken aback by your gasp and now a guilty panic began to mar his handsome features. “I… am sorry…” He wasn't as inexperienced as you but there were generations and years of lack of practice between you two and self doubt began to fill him. “I–” you vehemently shook your head when he began to back away.

“N- No! No, no!” You repeated desperately. “No, Bucky!” You finally had him after months of secret wondering and longing and you were not about to let it go. “No!” So you leaned in yourself this time and hurriedly pecked his lips before pulling back a little to look at him to see if he was still comfortable with it. The next kiss you pressed to his lips was admittedly one that caused for guilt to knot up in your chest because his expression had been difficult to read and in case he didn't want to take this any further, you needed to feel him one last time. 

Bucky wordlessly kissed you again and you didn't give him a chance to back away this time. And after that it was a passionate tussle of your hands and lips pulling and sucking down at one another until you were both undressed in Bucky's bed, tangled together. 

Bucky's vibranium fingers cupped the side of your face as he put his hot tongue into the kiss. You were laying down on your back in the middle of the bed and his huge form was bent over you, one knee pushed between your legs. The man knew how to kiss and he certainly knew how to eat, it was clear from how his tongue pressed against yours before it went to explore the rest of your mouth. The way he swirled it around your own sent heat and shivers down your abdomen and straight to your core that had begun to pulsate when you were still outside. 

“Tell me, doll,” his guttural voice made you moan into his mouth when he let his bionic fingers trail down the side of your body before they found a hold in the soft cut between your hip and torso. “Did you fantasize about me touching your pretty body like this when you used to ‘inspect’ the arm, hm?” You blushed severely. Bucky knew a slut when he saw her. Even the shy little inexperienced ones like yourself. He was twice your age and had ten times more experience. 

“B- Bucky…” You felt called out as your ticklish palms -courtesy of his stubble- began to moisten up from the shame his words made you feel. 

“Are you really gonna deny it?” His voice was low and sexily lewd. That tongue of his did the sexy thing again where he ran it along his flush lower lip and your thighs quivered in response to the visual. “Because I've seen the way you used to look at it… The way you looked at it today…” Images of him flexing his fingers as trial from earlier today appeared before your eyes and you couldn't help but wonder if you would feel them tonight. Or how they'd feel if one was to get lucky with him. The thoughts made you want to tighten your thighs against one another, only his knee hindered your wishes. 

“Bucky…” It was a whine this time and he chuckled. 

“Aw, what is it, huh baby?” He hungrily kissed your lips again before he pulled back just enough so he could be audible but not so much that the spit string between your mouths would break. “Tell me and I'll give it to you” you surprised yourself by placing your hand over his and eagerly pushing it down towards your aching pussy. Bucky snickered. “Is that what you want, pretty girl? My fingers in between these sexy little legs of yours?” You sheepishly nodded but said nothing, rolling your hips from the surge of lava his deep voice was causing in your loins. “I am sorry, baby. But this won't do” he clicked his tongue as he pretended to pull away. 

“W- What?!” Your imploration was unintentionally loud. “Why?!”  

The coral of his eyes had become so much darker than when he had first kissed you. “Because you must use your words for me first” his body weight rested on his elbow as he stroked your face with his right hand, speaking in the tone of a man addressing a child. “Tell me what you want” his metal fingers kneaded the tender flesh of your hip as his lips pressed against you in a series of pecks. 

You softly pouted. “B- Bucky!” The whine you let out was accusatory in nature. Because he knew exactly what you wanted. 

“Aw” he mimicked your pout. This man was so different from the recovering sunshine you had known before this night. The disparity caused for a drop of hot arousal to bubble past your opening. “Would you look at this pouty little thing here?” His thumb traced the shape of your bottom lip before he pressed it down with the tip. 

“P- Please…” He was being so mean. It embarrassed you. But it also added to your arousal. 

Bucky was making you work for it. 

“I know, baby. I know…” He pressed kisses along your jaw in consolation, metal fingers coming up to toy with the swells on your chest. “Pretty things like you aren't used to putting in much work, are they?” Well, no. Simply because this was the most action you had ever gotten. But it made your pussy throb nevertheless. “Well, that's not how things work around here, baby. You gotta tell me how you want me first” you whined past the thick bile in your throat but Bucky did not relent, instead choosing to intently watch you until you caved to him and your need. 

He could do that for the rest of eternity anyways.

“F- Fine…” Your voice was a begrudging whisper once you realized there was no way out. 

“‘Atta girl, go ahead…” His voice was a much agreeable velvet. 

“N- Need you…” You cleared your throat since you were barely audible. “Need you, Bucky” your back arched in shock and a whimper escaped you when you went to place your smaller hand on his bionic one to guide it to your pussy only to him twist your nipple that he had been fingering at the very last moment. 

“I am sorry, what was that?” The clamber in his breathing rate signaled that he had heard you loud and clear. But he just wanted to be cruel to your dignity. 

You were on the verge of tears. “Need you, Bucky!” Before you forced his hand down your body again. “... D- Down there!” The lower part of your abdomen was thumping like it did when you had first discovered the state of arousal. 

“Down where?” You felt like screaming at the tease in his tone.

“Y- You know where!”

“Do I?” 

You hissed. “Down there!” You made him cup your pussy. “Here! Right here!” Your breath quivered at the feel of the metal brushing past your sensitive petals. “B- Between… between… Ah!” Your blood curdled at the wanton moan you let out, surprised by your own ability to make such a sound. 

“Oh, so you mean this cute little pussy, huh?” His bionic digits finally spread themselves over your needy core and your mind nearly melted out of your ears. 

“Y- Yes!” You breathily admitted, flinging your head to the side as you gripped his shoulders from the sensory overload, your hardened nipples grazing against his hairy chest. 

Bucky tutted like the teasing asshole he was. “You gotta say it, baby” his fingers squished their way between your pussy lips and the feel of the textured digit running down the stripe between them had you shuddering. “Say it properly. Tell me you need me in this cute little pussy of yours” when you whined in protest, he licked a stripe on the side of your mouth and then sealed it with a hot kiss. “You can do it, pretty girl. You're already doing so well for me” his words had caused you to make a puddle of warm white liquid on his bed. But Bucky didn't seem to mind. “Come on.” 

“N- Need you in m- my…” Your throat dried out and your voice remained absent until Bucky hummed in an encouraging manner and dipped his head between your head and shoulder to pepper kisses along your sensitive throat, metal fingers flexing over your pussy in a rapid, circular design. Your smaller body quivered under his, knees buckling up to press into his sides from the sensitivity of it all. “Need you in my c- cute little pussy so bad– oh!” Your back jerked itself straight when Bucky's middle finger found its way into your weeping cunt all of a sudden.

“Sorry, whose cute little pussy?” His friendly smile had any intentions but.

“M- My cute little pussy!” Your toes curled at your own words.

“See, baby?” His teeth that were busy marking you his grazed against the soft skin of your neck. “That wasn't so hard now, was it?” 

“Oh, Bucky!” He scooped you up against his chest with his other arm and crawled with you until your head was on his pillow and he was hovering above you. Your lips were parted and your balmy pussy was tight around his finger that fucked in and out of you as a steady pace. 

“I think we have ourselves a problem here, doll” Bucky rasped as he tickled your clit with thumb, adding another finger to your opening. You were so wet that despite the tightness of the band, the metal digit slid right in. 

You couldn't help but rock your hips against his hand, your own stroking his arm that rested on your torso while he played with your nipples. “W- What problem?” Any volume above what classified as whispering was impossible for you in your lust dumb and still shy state.

“Your pussy is too tiny for me” and that night you lived to learn that he was right. 

Minutes– no, hours had gone into Bucky opening you up and preparing you for his girth, shushing and consoling you with kisses and praises before your taking. Though you had been insistent that he not stop what he was doing because of how good it felt, tears and snot had admittedly been spilled. 

But the way his thick cock had filled you up to the brim so completely, the manner in which all its crevices had pressed against your tight velvet walls, the fashion in which his tip had created for itself a sensitive spot deep up your cavern, the affectionate and intimate style in how Bucky had snaked his vibranium arm around your form to hold you close against him while his hips had done their eventually brutal work and the length of his cock had rapidly fucked in and out of your stretched out cunt, your fingers tugging at his dark locks whilst his mouth marked you everywhere he desired, the pleasure you felt from the sting his mouth produced, and the bobbing of your knees which lay atop his against his sides… the orgasms had been loud and many. 

Though when the two of you exited his cabin the next morning and entered the line of sight of your employer who was both surprised and impatient by your being late to work for the first time ever, the mangled expressions of passion from the night before were present on neither of your faces, content smiles having replaced them.

You had high hope it was going to stay that way.

.

[fine-nephrit]

🥏 Where to find good XF fanfics

👽 On Tumblr

@lilydalexf has an encyclopedic knowledge of fics and continues to be an invaluable resource. You'll find a boatload of themed fic lists, individual rec posts and helpful answers to anon asks.

@txf-fic-chicks-blog seven years of almost daily recs, with well-written blurbs and a lot of fun, run by @kateyes224 and @piecesofscully. Look out for their themed days: "Casefile Monday", "Tumblr Tuesday", "Editor's Pick Wednesday", "Post-Ep/Missing Scene Thursday", "Novel Length Friday", "Smut Sunday", and the very cool "Because You Watched"

@msrlibrary a well-tagged library of MSR fics; each entry includes a short excerpt and a nicely chosen image from the show.

@201daysofxfiles a rewatch blog by fandom veteran @wendelah. Each episode in season 1-7 is paired with its own fic rec post.

@enigmaticxbee an aesthetically pleasing and neatly organized rewatch blog that is packed with great content, including excellent fic rec lists categorized by season, story type, trope, and more. Each episode guide sometimes features related fic recs.

@thatfragilecapricorn30 posts one fic rec every Friday, accompanied by a nice writeup.

@randomfoggytiger curates many fic rec lists sorted by often fun and creative categories.

@cecilysass has a google doc titled "fics I love", which is a fantastic fic list categorized by story type, complete with thoughtful blurbs. She's also shared two episode-related fic rec lists on Tumblr: here and here.

@pookie-mulder writes a monthly fic journal with good recs.

**self-promo plug** I post fic recs on my Tumblr blog @fine-nephrit under #nephrit's fic rec. Plus, I reblog others' fic recs that I come across!

👽 Rec Communities

XF Book Club: the best thing ever, an absolute gem that deserves to be preserved for posterity. During its run, 270 fics were recced and discussed in depth here. The community's intelligent and insightful comments on this blog are sometimes even more enjoyable to read than the fics themselves.

The Fic Filter (xf tag): well-curated selections with short blurbs.

Multifandom Het Recs (xf tag): a major rec site's xf section that offers nice "why this must be read" writeups. @het-reccers

Crack Van (xf tag): another major rec site with a big xf section, featuring endless recs and blurbs

Fancake (xf tag): another major rec community's xf section boasting an extensive thematic tagging system

👽 Personal Blogs

Emily Shore aka Naraht: meta essays, fanvid recs, fic recs—great stuff aplenty

Bad for the Fish aka Scarlet Baldy: fantastic fic list paired with highly enjoyable reviews and analyses of the fics she's read. @badforthefish

Ramblings of a Mind Untamed: reviews of a dozen or so classic fics

xxSKSxx XF Fanfic Recs: still active in 2024! @xxsksxxx

X-Libris: more of a fic library, this is the best place to download nicely-formatted ebooks of pre-AO3 oldies. What I love most is the incredibly detailed and extensive tagging system.

👽 Individual Rec Lists with good writeup

Character Manifesto - Dana Scully: a character analysis and 10 Scully-centric fic recs, categorized by "best of .." selections. Amazing format and choices!

Character Manifesto - Fox Mulder: same format as above for Spooky

bachlava's awesome fic rec essays, covering classic fics and slash fics

ShipRecced blog's classic MSR fics and newer MSR fics recs

luminary's 16-fic rec post

RivkaT recs fics and writers @rivkat

Anna Otto's favorite stories

Syntax6's rec list on her site, great rec list on Tumblr and FTF rec list @syntax6

👽 90s Old School Rec Sites

The Basement Office - Musea: a treasure trove of extensive fic lists with lovely written blurbs, recced by a group of talented writers from back in the day

The Other Side - Fanfic Recs from Beyond the Grave: a large collection of 'scary' or 'spooky' story recs with nice blurbs. Beautiful web design.

the Rookery - Favorite Authors: nice commentary on a list of classic fic writers

X-Files Fanfiction 101: an intro guide to fic categories and what to read for each

The Primal Screamers: a fun site run by a mailing list that hosts fic recs with blurbs, and a 'Coffee Talk' section full of delightful discussions of canon

Idealists Haven - Elemental Fanfic Archive: an archive with rec blurbs

Chronicle X: a large, well-organized archive with blurbs, plus a 'Can We Talk' discussion section of novel-length fics, plus a total of 46 author interviews. Simply incredible!

👽 Special Mention

The X-Files Lost and Found: a fic finder message board that is miraculously still very active today—How wonderful! Its FAQ page hosts a huge collection of well-categorized themed fic lists (not recs), including "Classics (or, Your Fanfic Education is Not Complete Until You've Read ...)".

Where do you find your next read? What did I miss? Reblog and share your favorites!

[saiyanqueenreads]

A math lesson disguised in fandom! I love me some intelligent fandom discussion.

How many people on the Boiling Isles are related to Caleb? And are Dell and/or Gwendolyn related?

In The Owl House, there is strong evidence the Clawthornes are related to Caleb Wittebane and Evelyn (Clawthorne?). Many fans point to a connection through Gwendolyn, via the ‘lyn family suffix shared by Gwendolyn, Edalyn, and Evelyn. There is also Gwendolyn’s family knowledge of a human previously living in Bonesborough:

“My great-grandmother told me about a human who once lived here. But one day he just vanished. Rumor has it he left something in the library, and if you can find out more about him...”

A Gwendolyn connection is very plausible. We’ll get into family resemblances later.

But a connection through Dell has merit as well, given his palisman’s striking resemblance to Flapjack. We’ll call our yellow cardinal Biscuit for now. (Biscuits were ship rations in the late 1500s onward, and absolutely have been eaten for breakfast. They work in any meal. Every meal. Caleb was poor and hungry, okay?)

The visual clues we get are intermingled between Dell, Caleb, Biscuit, and Flapjack. When Dell is first injured by the Owl Beast, the red blood over his closed eye makes the same shape as Flapjack’s scar. Both Dell and Flapjack are wounded in the same eye, their left. These wounds share symbolic similarities, as they were both from family members: Dell’s injury was caused unintentionally by Eda when she was startled and turned into in Owl Beast form, and Flapjack’s injury likely occurred during Philip’s failed attempt to murder his sister-in-law Evelyn and Philip’s (also unintentional?) murder of his brother Caleb.

(As for physical appearance, note the similar nose shape between middle-aged Dell and teenage Hunter in the screenshots below.)

Looking at older Dell, the scar’s color and shape greatly resembles Flapjack’s head. Both Flapjack and Biscuit have two-peaks of feathers crowning their heads, similar shaped face and chest feather patterns, bicolor wings of light and dark from their respective color pallets, and identically shaped feet. These birds were clearly a matched set, Biscuit likely being carved by Caleb to complement Evelyn’s Flapjack. Sometime after Evelyn’s death, Flapjack presumably left for the Bat Queen, and Biscuit stayed on with the family (I strongly believe Biscuit was Caleb’s palisman, and bonded with his young daughter to relay the love of the father she was deprived of). Biscuit continues to stay with the family to this day, adopting a young witch every 3 to 4 generations. She now belongs with Dell.

It’s also telling that all the Clawthorne family palismen are birds.

If you’re wondering why Biscuit is a she, check out the Northern Cardinal, which is quite common in Connecticut. I took pictures from this lovely bird website: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Cardinal/id

Male Northern Cardinals are red, and females are supposedly “brown,” but if you told me that bird looked yellow, I’d agree with you.

What about family appearance? We’ve compared Dell to Caleb/Hunter. So let’s take a look at Evelyn. We’ve got a lot less to go on here. Just a few memory photos from Philip’s mindscape. But from what we can see, Evelyn has impressively full hair very similar to Gwendolyn and Eda. The washed out colors of the photo make it difficult to determine an exact hair color, but brown to reddish-brown seems plausible.

Looking at the Clawthornes, we see various shades of brown, red, and orange (yeah… I know they’re still called redheads, but that’s because the word ‘orange’ wasn’t in the language when redheads first showed up.) These are all plausible hair colors for the descendants of Caleb and Evelyn.

Am I saying that both Gwendolyn and Dell are related to Caleb and Evelyn?

Yes!

Yes, I am.

‘But isn’t that gross?’ you may wonder.

Eh, not really. They’re around 13 generations away from their shared common ancestor, Caleb and Evelyn’s daughter. We’ll call her Caylyn for convenience. With each generation, the percentage of DNA from a relative goes down by half. Example: You share 50% of your DNA with your mom, but only 25% of your DNA with your grandpa. The calculation is 1/(2^generation) x 100%, where that little ^ character means “to the power of.” So by the time we get to Dell and Gwendolyn, each would only have 1/(2^13) x 100% = 0.012% shared DNA. That’s very low risk for hereditary birth defects. You probably don’t have your own family tree documented well enough to avoid hooking up with your 13th cousin.

‘But what are the odds of two Caylyn relatives hooking up?’

After 13+ generations on an island? It’s more likely than you think!

Now that you’ve been lured in with screenshots and pretty birds, it’s time to get to my favorite part: MATH!

I mean, EVEN MORE MATH!

And dates. Yeah. They’re important too.

From Masha’s account, in 1613, the orphans Philip and Caleb Wittebane arrive in Gravesfield. Based on how small the boys are compared to a butter churner meant for adults, it’s safe to assume Caleb is 10 or younger. Philip is likely 7 or younger.

Now fast-forward to Evelyn’s pregnancy. Philip has a full beard in this photo, which means he’s at least 18, more likely in his early-to-mid 20s (most white males can’t grow a full beard until their 20s). That would put the date sometime between 1625 and 1630 for Caylyn’s birth.

To simplify our generational model, we’re going to assume that Caylyn was born in 1625 and that she and her descendants had 2 surviving children each when they were approximately 25 years old. That means in 1650, Caylyn had 2 children, and Evelyn became a grandmother.

If you’re wondering about my assumptions, the birthrate didn’t fall below 2 children in the USA until the 1970s. And before 1800, the birthrate was over 7 children! But when we look back at the 1600s-1800s, 40-50% of children died before adulthood, leaving only 3.5-4 children surviving to have kids of their own. I went with the assumption of 2 children per generation to account for additional factors such as people deciding not to have kids or cultural differences in family sizes that may have existed in the Boiling Isles. In all likelihood, Caleb’s descendants had a higher birthrate than 2. But we’ll stick with 2 to be conservative, and to make the math easy to see the effects of doubling!

Let’s finish the century out with 4 great-grandchildren (2 x 2, or 2^2) in 1675 and 8 great-great-grandchildren (2 x 2 x 2, or 2^3) by 1700. We get another 4 generations of descendants every century after this. So, by 1800, we have 128 (2^7). By 1900, we have 2,048 (2^11). And by the year 2000, we have 32,768 (2^15) new babies born related to a human! That’s a lot of people! And if we add together the most recent 3 generations, there’s even more living relations to Caleb on the Isles. At least 57,344 people!

Dell and Gwendolyn are 13 generations away from Caylyn, with birthdays approximately in 1950. I get this date based on Eda being in her mid to late 40s at the start of The Owl House (2020) according to Dana Terrance (so Eda’s birthday is ~1975). Her parents would be ~25 years older than her. So, when Dell and Gwendolyn meet, our number is around 8,192 (2^13) descendants of Caleb in their generation. And in all likelihood, Caleb’s descendants are more concentrated on the forearm where Evelyn originally lived. This makes it extremely likely that at least some of Caleb’s descendants marry each other.

How likely? First we need to know the approximate population of the Boiling Isles in the 1950s. Dana Terrance said the BI is roughly the size of Vermont in this interview. And in 1950, Vermont had a population of 377,700. We’ll use this as our rough population number for the 1950s BI. For the group born in 1950 (8,192 of which are descendants of Caleb), they make up 2.17% of the total population. But if we think about the number of people in that generation who would marry someone of similar age, we’re looking at the 20-30 year-old bracket, which is about 10% of the total population, or 37,770 people. And 8,192 is 21.7% of the people in Dell and Gwendolyn’s generation (gen 13). It isn’t a question of if two Caleb descendants got married, it’s a question of how many marriages!

(If you’re curious: [chance of person 1 being a Caleb descendant] x [chance of person 2 being a descendant] x [half of gen 13 population], because we’re looking at pairs of people, not individuals. So 21.7% of 21.7% = 4.7% of marriages in gen 13, times half the gen 13 population (18,885) is 887 marriages!)

Dell and Gwendolyn both being descendants of Caleb isn’t even that rare! The Clawthornes are one of multiple families where both sides of the family can claim human ancestry. It’s amazing how far one person’s genetics can spread in 400 years of breeding!

Alright, let’s get back to the main question: How many people on the Boiling Isles are related to Caleb?

By the Day of Unity (2022), we’re close enough to generation 16 (2025), which is 65,536 (2^16) babies, that we can look at a range between 2020 and 2025. In 2020, the 3 generations alive are 8,192 (2^13), 16,384 (2^14), and 32,768 (2^15), or 57,344 total living descendants. In 2025, the 3 generations alive are 16,384 (2^14), 32,768 (2^15), and 65,536 (2^16), or 114,688 total living descendants. In 2022, Vermont had a total population of 647,064 people, and we’re assuming the Boiling Isles population grew similarly. So we have between 8.9% and 17.8% of the BI population related to Caleb on the Day of Unity.

Belos wasn’t only attempting genocide against witches. Philip Wittebane was trying to kill thousands of his own relatives.

Food for thought.

[starboyshoyo]

Tropes-To-Lovers

Characters: All NRC boys x fem!reader (seperately)

Fandom: Twisted Wonderland

Genre: fluff

What were you to the NRC boys, before you were lovers?

Includes: Childhood friends to lovers, best friends to lovers, strangers to lovers, enemies to lovers, exes to lovers.

Childhood Friends to Lovers

Trey Clover the boy next door

Everyone and their mother knows Trey Clover, the golden boy in your little provincial town. Sweet, intelligent, and he can bake? He’s a heartthrob in every definition of the word. But Trey’s only ever had eyes for you, his parents’ best friends’ daughter and the girl next door.

Joined at the hip from the moment you met, you’ve done it all together- but Trey’s been away at NRC for three years. You were sure he would move to the city after getting a taste of the wider world. So you’re caught off-guard when he returns to take over his family’s bakery, eight inches taller than you remember.

His eyes crinkle at the corners when he sees you, and you can feel the firmness of muscles under his shirt when you launch yourself at him, embracing him tightly. He has to bend down to hug you now, you realize. And his face is sharper now, jaw angular instead of the soft cheeks you were used to. When did that happen?

And when did he get so handsome?

Leona Kingscholar betrothed to his brother

Leona has only ever had one friend- you, the heir from the neighboring kingdom. It shouldn’t be a problem to love you the way he does, but the stars in the sky had other plans, it seemed. Because from the moment you were born, you were meant to marry Falena.

Leona has long-since learned that no matter what he does, he’ll never be enough to win the public’s love. It didn’t matter that he knew you never had feelings for Falena, or that Falena was seeing someone else in secret. His brother will be king, not him. He’ll watch you walk down the aisle towards him, and then he’ll go back to his room and take a nap, and tell himself that he won’t be upset. That’s just the way life will be.

One day, while napping behind a curtain in the royal library, he catches wind of something so very interesting. Your parents arrived in the kingdom that morning, bearing news: Falena’s engagement has been peaceably broken, by your own choice, nonetheless. It’s a huge, life-changing decision and so a formal dinner is being held, to re-discuss the terms of the treaty. Leona wants to snap you up right away to be his, but he has to bide his time. For now, he’ll meet your eye across the banquet table, scowl softening a little. He should have known that he has always been king in your heart.

Silver childhood soulmates

Right person, right place, right time. Rarely did the universe ever align so beautifully. From your first meeting at the tender age of five to the time you were accepted into NRC, Silver has always been by your side.

He’s the first thing you see when you wake up in the mornings and the final good night you say before going to sleep. When small birds land on your desk and deposit gifts of acorns and flowers to you, you know exactly who they were from and who was thinking of you at the moment. And when you look at your handsome knight, you can’t help but imagine him by your side, every step of the way for the rest of your life.

Silver is more than just your best friend and first love. He is your person, through and through.

Best Friends to Lovers

Epel Felmier first friend, first love

You met Epel on the first day of school, getting beat up by a blonde upperclassman in the hallway. Much to the surprise of both boys, you jumped in to help him- pulling him off the ground and scolding the taller boy, who merely scoffed and wandered off. Though Epel’s ego was a bit bruised, he was grateful to you for helping him.

Epel became your constant companion after that. You could listen to him talk for hours while laying on the floor of your dorm room, a bag of apple chips in hand. His roguish accent and mischievous jokes charm you a little more each day, making him more than just the rough-hewn boy you met at the entrance ceremony not long ago.

His grandparents know all about you from the letters he sends home. Even in ink, they can sense his lovestruck heart. They had felt the same way when they started courting all those years ago. The Felmier family are fools in love, it seems. You would call him your best friend if someone asked, but Epel wants to be so much more.

Ace Trappola best friends to lovers

It’s pathetic how fast Ace changed his tune. The first time he met you, he was jeering you for being a magicless human. Now, he’s in love with you? When did that happen? And why did it have to be with you of all people?

Ace isn’t fooling himself. He knows why it’s you. It’s simply because no one could ever capture his heart the same way you do, with your smiles and your laughs and the way you look at him in both disapproval and exasperated fondness when he makes a crude joke.

Don’t act surprised when he holds your hand out of the blue or when he searches your face with those eyes, wondering what it would feel like to kiss you silly right then and there. He wants you, not anyone else, and it’s driving him crazy.

Kalim Al-Asim what are we?

Everyone thinks you and Kalim are dating already. You joke about it all the time. Oh, yeah, we’re partners in crime! Soulmates! Two sides of the same coin- but the line between teasing and reality has begun to blur. Once, you even made a jibe that you’d marry him one day, and Kalim got you an actual ring! It was so extravagant- a ruby inlaid with smaller gilded gems along the edges. He told you it was a family treasure, kept in the storerooms of Scarabia and just waiting to adorn the hand of the right person.

You tried to refuse, but he insisted. Money wasn’t something the Al-Asim heir ever had to worry about. So you go along with it, the golden band rubbing between your fingers and his when you walk down the halls, hands interlaced.

How does Kalim really feel about you? You’re not sure, so one day you ask- Kalim, what are we?

He looks at you curiously. “Aren’t we engaged?”

Strangers to Lovers

Deuce Spade the hallway crush

Every day between alchemy and history of magic, Deuce finds himself scanning faces in the hallway for someone who makes his face flush and his palms turn sweaty. And every day when you catch his eye and send him a wave, he finds himself tangled up a little more in his heartstrings, tripping over his feet as he tries to return your greeting.

He’s not sure when he first noticed you. Maybe it was when he fumbled and nearly dropped a potion on the carpet, and you caught it. His heart did flutter a bit then, but maybe that was because he nearly messed up the project he had been working on all night. He wants to talk to you again so badly- more than just a ‘hello‘ or a ‘thanks.’ He wants to brighten up your day just by walking by, like you do for him. Maybe if he becomes an honors student, then you’ll finally notice him too.

Jack Howl the mysterious savior

Being hounded by a group of rogue students wasn’t in your plans for the day. Trying to slip between the mob, avoiding their prying hands and sharp words, a sudden growl makes them all look up. A tall boy with wolflike ears towers over them.

Leave them alone. His voice is sharp, like a dog's canines. Golden eyes meet yours, steely and cold, but they soften for a moment when you manage to say thank you.

Your savior rubs the back of his neck. ‘S nothing, he says gruffly, but the lingering traces of blush on his face tell a different story. Only when he leaves do you realize that you had never gotten his name. Perhaps fate will lead you to meet once again, in the near future.

Azul Ashengrotto love at first sight

One minute he’s discussing the best way to mix a potion with his lab partner. The next, he’s sitting straight in his chair, eyes blown wide when you walk into the room. You’ve ensnared Azul Ashengrotto’s attention and heart without a single word. And when you finally say hi to him, ignorant of his shady dealings and strange company, he’s caught- hook, line, and sinker.

Azul begins to do things for you. Not in the way he does for others, with a flourish of his pen and a snap of his fingers. No, you’re special. He could never ask anything of you.

It’s so obvious, the way he favors you and gives you the best of everything he has. But he can’t bring himself to care- not when this new feeling brings him such happiness.

Idia Shroud closer than he thought

Idia Shroud has never met you irl. No way. All you are to him is a profile picture on a leaderboard, telling him to dodge the next attack or that he’ll never beat you in the latest game the two of you are playing. You make his gloomy days a little brighter. And when they’re brighter, he finally takes a chance to step outside for a bit and go to class.

In class is where he met you. His charming desk partner, whose presence he enjoyed far more than he thought he would. He likes your jokes. He likes that you play the same games as him and nerd out about the same topics. But when he returns to the world of online anonymity, he can’t help but feel disloyal- so much so that he doesn’t notice the lilt of the voice in his speakers is the same one that rings in his ears when he falls asleep in class.

Malleus Draconia love from afar

No one knows who you are, a mere human who attends NRC. You could be dangerous as far as his retainers know. Malleus isn’t supposed to speak with you- but oh, does he want to.

He’s tried to ignore the pull towards you, but he just can’t. Why is this mere child of man lingering in his thoughts, ensnaring his every waking moment?

One night when Sebek is busy berating Silver for falling asleep on the job, he sneaks away and finds you beneath the moonlight, staring up at the stars. He’s caught like a fly in a web from the first hello.

Enemies to Lovers

Riddle Rosehearts academic rivals

He’s so annoying. With a loud voice, short stature, and short temper, you could consider Riddle Rosehearts to always be underfoot. But even you have to admire his academic prowess, his name topping the scores at every turn. And just under him, is you. How very frustrating.

You’re so focused on one-upping one another that you don’t even catch yourself when thoughts of him wander into your mind throughout the day. Of course you think of him, you’re trying to beat him. But slowly the competition turns into wondering. What does he do in his free time? What’s his favorite food, his favorite color?

Little do you know, he thinks of you too.

Ruggie Bucchi the goodhearted thief

You heard from your neighbors about the slum thief who steals things from their shops. It’s only a matter of time before he comes to you next, they warn, so be ready.

And ready you are. When a skinny boy with rounded ears atop his head tries to slip something into his pocket, you call him out. And when he dashes away, you scramble after him- tackling him in a paved alley near some dumpsters. Cans go crashing over to reveal several homeless youngsters, shivering in the cold and barely more than bones. The boy tosses the food to them before you can intervene- but why would you, when you’ve just seen what you saw?

When he comes into the bakery next time, you make sure he pays. But you also slip an extra loaf or two into his order, with a wink and a nod. Your conversations become a bit longer, a bit friendlier. He’s quite charming and you have to berate yourself for falling for a thief.

He’s stolen your heart, hasn’t he?

Floyd Leech the hallway bully

Floyd Leech. Just his name makes you groan and roll your eyes. It’s not just you he teases you in the hallway by holding your things over his head, but you seem to be his favorite. How are you supposed to get your notebook back when it’s dangling almost 8 feet above the ground, courtesy of his freakishly long arms?

The graceful solution you come up with is to kick him. Right in his eel, to summarize. His twin brother is by his side in an instant while you walk off.

Jade expects Floyd to be livid. But even when he’s doubled up on the ground in pain, he’s got a grin plastered across his face.

His shrimpy is such a badass.

Jamil Viper flirting rivals

For someone who’s usually level-headed and cool, you sure bring out Jamil’s temper. He can find a million ways to insult and discredit you, but still you’ll bounce back with some snarky, suggestive comment that just makes his blood boil.

He swears he can feel your eyes on him from across the hallways. It makes him want to pull his hood up over his face. But when you approach him, he’s as calm as ever. Why are you leaning closer, prefect, and running your hands over his tie? He’s not going to fall for your ruse, so don’t even try.

Still, his eyes can’t help but wander down to your lips, wondering if they would taste like he imagined.

Rook Hunt one-sided annoyance

It seems like you’ve gained yourself a one-man paparazzi recently. If Rook is meant to be a hunter, you have to wonder if he’s any good at his job. He never seems to conceal his presence, following you down the hallways brazenly while spouting off fake compliments about your demeanor and beauty.

Well, you thought they were fake. It’s hard to believe anyone is genuine in a school full of villains, but you might have caught the attention of the one person who actually is. His company isn’t so bad sometimes, especially when you can talk his ear off about anything and everything.

Sebek Zigvolt forced proximity

This was meant to be a partner project, not a threeway. But being paired with the great Malleus Draconia means putting up with his annoying, self-proclaimed bodyguard for the next week as well.

You pity Sebek’s alchemy partner, because he’s ignoring his own work in favor of hovering over you and his liege. His loud, unsolicited advice and passive-aggressive comments don’t make him any more bearable. By the time Thursday rolls around, you’re about ready to drop-kick him into the cauldron.

Thankfully, you and Malleus get your work done early. When you’re packing up your things to leave, you find Sebek quiet for once, deep in concentration as he rushes to finish his own work.

I don’t need the help of a human, he proclaims in that loud, obnoxious bark of his. But he doesn’t complain when you settle down next to him, stirring the potion while he measures out ingredients.

Exes to Lovers

Cater Diamond the one that got away

Cater knows you probably hate his guts. Hell, he hates his own guts for fucking up so badly. You were the best thing that ever happened to him and he drove you away with his constant neediness and self-deprecation. It took him years to realize that he was so focused on himself that he didn’t realize that you needed support too.

He’s been lonely for a while, working on himself and his problems in the shadows. It’s been a while since he last saw you- he knows you might not want to see him again anyways, but he’s changed now- both for himself and for you.

Cater wants you back, if you’ll have him.

Jade Leech second chance romance

Jade was nothing more than a talking stage that never got off the ground. He was fun to be around and a good hiking partner, but you stopped seeing him after first year ended and you no longer shared a class together.

You didn’t think of him much throughout your second and third year at NRC . But when you arrive at your new work study to meet your partner for the program, a tall, familiar figure greets you at the door.

“Jade?”

Vil Schoenheit right person, wrong time

Vil has no one but himself to blame for the downfall of your relationship. He broke things off with you after his manager advised him to- she said that a young, taken idol isn’t marketable. You need to think about your image.

The stage lights blinded him and he dropped you without a second thought. Any trace of you in his life was erased; smoothed over to perfection like a beauty filter.

But oh, how Vil regrets it when he scrolls on his phone late at night, your Magicam account pulled up to a photo of you laughing. What he wouldn’t give to have you smile like that at him again.

The icon for a DM request sits beside your profile picture. Vil regards it for a second, finger hovering over the button, then clicks.

Lilia Vanrouge facing the future

Lilia has always known that humans live short lives. In his time, he’s seen countless people born and died. It’s just a fact of human life; a phenomena he watches from the outside in- disconnected. It doesn’t dawn on him that yours too will run out until Malleus points it out- and then Lilia becomes scared.

He’ll cut you off, hiding in the shadows and avoiding your eyes until a great danger almost befalls you. It is then that Lilia realizes he’d rather have loved and lost you than never have known you at all.

Please, stay with him. You have the rest of your life, however short or long, to live by his side. Lilia would gladly warp time and face the consequences just for one more minute with you.