#it is not modern of me to say Lydia is not to blame

[bethanydelleman]

A Full Defense of Lydia Bennet

Lydia Bennet is not a villain, but she gets a lot of hate for carelessly running off with Wickham and possibly ruining her sister’s lives. The narrator and characters, however, do not blame Lydia very much and I don’t think the author meant for us to hate her. She was failed by her parents, who did not teach her how to properly behave and did not ensure she was properly protected.

Obviously, the real villain is Wickham.

The most vicious takedown of Lydia is put in the mouth (letter) of a character we should not respect, Mr. Collins. We already know that his morality is skewed, as he seems to view the collection of tithes and sucking up to Lady Catherine as his primary duties, he writes this of Lydia, “I am inclined to think that her own disposition must be naturally bad, or she could not be guilty of such an enormity, at so early an age.” (Ch 48). However, even he mentions the real cause, “a faulty degree of indulgence”.

Elizabeth feels this cause strongly, and lays out a good argument for her father on why Lydia should not go to Brighton, “She represented to him all the improprieties of Lydia’s general behaviour, the little advantage she could derive from the friendship of such a woman as Mrs. Forster, and the probability of her being yet more imprudent with such a companion at Brighton, where the temptations must be greater than at home.” (Ch 41). Mr. Bennet dismisses all these great arguments because he is too lazy to deal with Lydia’s disappointment. He’s been a lazy parent and continues to be.

Mr. Bennet then takes on the responsibility for what happened, ““Who should suffer but myself? It has been my own doing, and I ought to feel it… No, Lizzy, let me once in my life feel how much I have been to blame.” (Ch 50). Lydia has been allowed to run around flirting with officers for months, without any check on her conduct. She does not act within the rules of society, and while Elizabeth and Jane have tried to correct her, Lydia knew they had no real authority. She needed parents and neither of them did their duty. 

Mr. Bennet also acknowledges that he failed his daughters by not saving money for their future provision, “Had he done his duty in that respect” (Ch 50).

Mrs. Bennet shares this guilt, little as she will accept it: Mrs. Bennet, to whose apartment they all repaired, after a few minutes’ conversation together, received them exactly as might be expected; with tears and lamentations of regret, invectives against the villainous conduct of Wickham, and complaints of her own sufferings and ill-usage; blaming everybody but the person to whose ill-judging indulgence the errors of her daughter must principally be owing. (Ch 47)

Lastly, Lydia was failed by Darcy, who talks about his share of the blame here: “Wickham’s worthlessness had not been so well known as to make it impossible for any young woman of character to love or confide in him. He generously imputed the whole to his mistaken pride, and confessed that he had before thought it beneath him to lay his private actions open to the world.” (Ch 52). We see in Sense & Sensibility Elinor asking everyone who knows him about Willoughby’s character. Character references were important, that is how women knew they were safe in a man’s presence. Darcy knew the truth and he left Meryton and the Bennets in danger.

Lydia did make a choice (and certainly the wrong one), but she does not deserve all the blame for what happened. The narrator makes it clear that no one should be surprised by the outcome. Lydia was not taught was what right, she was not taught to control her impulses, and she was put out in the world too young, as Colonel Brandon said in Sense & Sensibility, “But can we wonder that… without a friend to advise or restrain her… she should fall?”

Related posts: Lydia too young to be out, Should Darcy have warned Meryton?

[sarcasticbookaddict]

Okay, so I just finished episode 86 of The Lizzie Bennet Diaries and I am sad that I am almost finished with the series. I haven’t really read/seen many adaptations of Pride and Prejudice. In terms of on-screen adaptations, I’ve seen the 1995 and 2005 versions plus Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Also, Austenland counts too, I guess, since it has many elements as Pride and Prejudice. So The Lizzie Bennet Diaries is kind of the the first modernized version of the story I’ve seen and there are so many things I love about it, such as:

Fitz. Like honestly, I want to be friends with him. He is just so fun and outgoing. It makes me want to see some interactions between him and Darcy. Their impersonations of each other were great. Also, I appreciate the fact that he tried to be a wingman for Darcy, but it turned into an epic fail.

DARCY. Need I say more?

Well, I could actually talk so much about I love this version of him.

He looks so adorable with his bowtie. He really does give off a Newsie vibe. 

And he is so awkward yet he still tries to be on camera for Lizzie.

AND DARCY AND LIZZIE FLIRTING DURING THE CORPORATE INTERVIEW EPISODE

LIKE WHAT THE FUCK

MY HEART CAN TAKE HOW ADORABLE THEY ARE

Gigi Darcy is such a precious character as well. I’d like to personally thank her for pushing Darcy and Lizzie together. Truly the captain of this ship.

But when she told Lizzie that she has said worst things about Darcy to his face, you can tell how much she regrets saying what she said. She truly respects her brother and wants him to be happy. 

I really loved Lizzie’s interactions with Bing as well. She was pushing him to actually reach out to Jane. Were Darcy and Caroline trying to pull him away from Jane? Yes. But he allowed himself to be pulled away and just left Jane without having an honest and civil conversations, though. So, part of the blame does rest on him.

But I do like Bing. He is a really loving character. He kind of reminds me of a puppy.

I do think that the way the whole Lydia and Wickham situation was modernized was well-written and heartbreaking.

I am aware that there is a book version of the series and I am definitely eager to read it. Although, with my semester starting soon, I’m not sure I’ll have the time within the next few weeks.

So yes, this was just me rambling and fangirling because I really am enjoying this series.

Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

[queerebrum]

“I’ll see you soon.”  It becomes second nature after a while, that when something starts to go wrong, she calls Scott. It’s just, been that way for as long as she can remember. It was Stiles, and then Stiles was gone and it was her and Scott and Malia holding the line against hunters that wanted them all dead. So, even when she’s on the other end of the country, when something goes wrong, she calls Scott. The first time she forgets the time difference and Scott still answers, it occurs to her how absurd their relationship has become. Scott is three thousand miles away at college and its 5am in California, but Lydia is calling Scott because she has a flat tire and she needed to yell about it. He answers, laughs with her, reminds her that triple A could get to her a lot faster and then tells her to have a good day. They always end the calls with “I’ll see you soon.” It's a wish and a promise because for a while there, it wasn’t always a guarantee. Despite the start, it’s a really phenomenal day.

Lydia gets cornered in a bar one night. She has to knee him in the balls and then leaves. She's not hurt -- she’s fought and won against far scarier creatures than drunk college guys -- but she’s shaken and so naturally, she calls Scott. She can hear noise in the background and realizes he’s probably out himself, but he still answered. He listens to her and tells her how glad he is that she’s okay, and that the guy was a jackass.  He tells her it’s a good thing he wasn’t around or he’d have had worse than a knee to the balls. Lydia laughs, but she believes it. She’s seen what Scott would do to people who hurt his pack. Who hurt the people he loves. Does he love her? Does she love him? It’s hard to tell. All they’ve done for years is run. They spent their formative years running and fighting and now they’re on opposite ends of the country and it’s still Lydia’s first instinct to call him. And Scott always answers.  Jackson loved her, in his own way. He never quite found the words to say it, but he did. Aiden had been temporary. A distraction, a stop gap. Stiles loved her and then he...didn’t anymore. There one day, gone the next. Fun while it lasted but never meant to last.  Allison. God she’s never loved someone as much as she loved Allison. Malia and Kira were amazing, wonderful people, but by the time they came into Lydia’s life, she’d loved and lost too much for it to ever be the same.  Scott lost her too, she remembers. Scott knows what it’s like to love and lose as well. 

Lydia whispers it, quietly, as she hangs up the phone. It’s pointless to whisper to a werewolf, they’re going to hear it either way. She does it anyway. A quiet, “Love you, I’ll see you soon.” 

Her cheeks hurt from smiling when she hears him reply, “Love you too, I’ll see you soon.”

It’s when Scott doesn’t answer that she knows something is very wrong. Scott always answers. Night or day, despite the time difference. It doesn’t matter if Lydia is calling because she definitely just bombed her modern physics exam (which she didn’t , and he reminds her she’s the smartest person he knows), or if it’s to complain about the chip in the manicure she just got done (he laughs and tells her its a good thing she’s not a werewolf), Scott always answers. She’s in a cab to the airport, phone calls into Stiles and Derek and Malia before she can even think. She’s on the next plane to Sacramento with fear racing through her veins.  She will not scream for Scott McCall.  The hunters clearly underestimated Scott’s pack. They underestimated the brilliant human strategist, the full-shifting born werewolf, the fearless, deadly coyote. They definitely underestimated the banshee.  One of them is holding a gun to Scott’s head. Anger bubbles upon Lydia’s chest, its heavy and its intense and she screams before she knows what she’s doing. She’s faster than a bullet.  Everything after that is a haze of blood red flashing guns, but in the end they’re all okay. Derek took one to the arm but the bullet’s already out and he’s healing. Lydia’s sitting on the floor staring at what’s left of the body of the man who’d been holding a gun to Scott’s head. She wraps her arms around her knees and rocks gently.

She looks up when a pair of boots comes into her view, and Scott is staring down at her with those warm, loving brown eyes and he holds out a hand to her. Lydia takes it, lets him pull her up, buries her face into his chest and whispers apology after apology because she knows they try not to kill but she just.... “I can’t lose you,” she cries, her hands shaking where they’re gripped in Scott’s dirty tank. “I won't scream for you.” 

“Hey, hey, shh.” Scott tilts her head up and rubs their cheeks together. His stubble scrapes against her cheek. It’s a wolf thing, the most wolf thing she’s ever seen Scott do, but it quiets a part of her that was prepared for rejection. “You saved my life, Lydia. It’s okay. I don’t even know how you knew to look for me.”  She looks up at him, knows she must look a mess after having not slept in nearly twenty four hours. “You didn’t answer,” She whispers, leaning her forehead against his chin, letting him take the bulk of the weight in her still shaking body. “You always answer.”

She can feel Scott’s face shift into a smile and his hands, latched at her lower back, move apart so he can run his thumbs gently along the knobs of her spine. “What was wrong?” He asked.  His smile is painfully fond when Lydia looks up. Malia and Derek and Stiles are moving around them, working on body disposal and somewhere, Lydia knows, Chris Argent and Peter Hale are on standby to help with the clean up and cover up. Lydia frowns. What had been wrong? Why had she called Scott yesterday? “I...I just missed you,” She answers. “I just...needed to hear your voice.”  Scott doesn’t say anything. Later, Lydia will blame the exhaustion and trauma of the moment and the scent of blood and gunpowder for how long it takes her to put it together. When it all finally clicks that it wasn’t just an obscure need to hear Scott’s voice she drops her head to his shoulder and lets out a dry laugh. “Oh.”

“You saved my life.” Scott repeats, resting his cheek against the top of her hair. “Thank you.”  “I love you.” Lydia whispers, keeping her head on Scott’s shoulder. She loves him. She loves him so much that from across the country she knew something was wrong and rallied the pack to save him. She’s loved him so deeply for so long she’s forgotten what it’s like to not love Scott Mccall.  “I love you too.” He replies, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “I missed you.”  Stiles yells for them to quit being sappy, he’s got an exam he needs to be back in DC for and he certainly didn’t just cause most of the blood splatter.  Lydia smiles and shakes her head but finally breaks away from Scott so he can help Derek and Malia move the bodies out of the room and goes to stand by Stiles. Later, when they’re deciding where to go after they’re done cleaning up, most of them choose to go to a hotel room, but Lydia can’t bring herself to be separated from Scott just yet. When they get to his apartment, both of them blood splattered, dead tired and starving, Scott offers her the shower but she shakes her head. She doesn’t let go of his hand, pulling him with her. Scott’s eyes go momentarily wide but then she starts the shower and steps out of her clothes, watching the way Scott’s eyes roam over her. It’s gratifying in a way that eyes on her haven’t been in a long time. She throws a grin over her shoulder and steps under the spray.  He joins her a moment later, warm hands on her upper arms, another one of those featherlight kisses pressed against her now wet hair. She reaches for his loofa and hands it to him. He goes to work washing away the evidence of what they’ve been through from her skin. It feels different that it’s Scott doing it. It feels like absolution. When he’s done she takes it from him, adds more soap and swaps places with him, watching his face as she runs the loofa over his skin, washing away dirt and grime and sweat and blood. His eyes flicker red occasionally. His arms are resting on her shoulders, stretched out, hands clasped somewhere behind her head.  There’s nothing sexual about it for Lydia, for once. There could be, that much is obvious, but for now it’s about comfort and closeness and the warmth of the water and the way Scott so freely bares his neck for her to clean. It’s the way he runs his hands down her body, like he could break her. He could. He could break her so many ways without leaving a single mark on her skin. She trusts him anyway. She trusts him as he shuts the water off and wraps her in a towel, rubbing his hair down with one before wrapping it around his hips. Lydia brushes out her hair, braids it quickly, Scott leaning against the bathroom door like there’s a gravitational pull keeping him from getting too far from her. She accepts a T-shirt from him, pulling it on along with a pair of his boxers, climbing into bed, laying on her back, watching him pull on a pair of cut off sweatpants. He climbs in next to her, laying on his side beside her, one of his hands cupped under her chin, thumb brushing against her cheek. “Can I--” “Yes.” Lydia breathes. She doesn’t know what he was going to say. It doesn’t really matter. She wouldn’t have denied him anyway. The kiss feels like coming home. 

[eyreguide]

A recap of the Brontë2020 Virtual Conference

On Friday the very first virtual Brontë conference was held and included a program of various talks and presentations by people knowledgeable on many different aspects of the Brontës. And reader, I had a wonderful time.  

This post is just a brief overview of the event, with some commentary on the different topics and comments that were discussed and that I found interesting. This conference was held as a way to help support the amazing Brontë Parsonage in Haworth as they are going through a difficult time with the impact of Covid-19. If you are able, please donate whatever you can to the Parsonage by visiting this site. Help them reach their goal!

I live in the United States so I wasn’t able to attend all the panels - I decided to make my first one the discussion with Sandy Welch (screenwriter of the 2006 Jane Eyre adaptation) which was 5 am my time! I was so excited to hear what Sandy had to say about writing Jane Eyre that I was wide awake by the time her panel started.

Special Guest: Sandy Welch

First off, I didn’t realize Welch had also written the screenplay for North and South (one of my absolute favorite period dramas!) so I was pretty much in awe of her talent, even though the 2006 Jane Eyre isn’t exactly my favorite. If you read through my reviews of all the adaptations here. I have a few issues with the scenes after the failed wedding where Jane and Rochester are on her bed. And also I felt like the dialogue and added scenes did not always feel true to the novel. But Welch talked about her approach to adapting Jane Eyre and I agreed with all of her comments. Jane is a modern woman in that she is making her own way in the world, and that her thoughts and prose in the book are direct and clear to the reader. And Welch was glad to give more time to the conversations between Jane and Rochester so that the humor and intelligence that connects them shines through. The emotions were allowed to develop and we can see how Rochester changes with Jane.  

There was some discussion about the character of Rochester and how the audience needs to see that they deserve each other and are equals. So you see more of Rochester’s vulnerabilities and emotions in this adaptation. It’s important to remember too that Charlotte made Bertha irredeemable so that Rochester could not make his situation better, but he tried his best to take care of her.  

A question from the audience did bring up that scene where Jane must say goodbye to Rochester and they end up on her bed - I was very keen to know what Welch would say. She acknowledged that it was a bold choice, but there is that sensuality in the book, and Rochester wants to “impress” himself on Jane, and throughout the novel, Jane is very passionate. It seemed natural to Welch to have that shown on screen. It’s a bit of artistic license that still doesn’t sit easily with me, but I am glad to know the thought process was grounded in trying to take a realistic approach to how that scene would develop.

Another question also asked about the addition of the twins and the doubles theme in the adaptation. Welch included that to give Jane an opportunity to participate in the conversation around her since she is intelligent and able to hold her own. And to show that not all of the people in Rochester’s party are horrible. It also gives a little foreshadowing to the call across the moors between Jane and Rochester near the end.

The last topic I want to mention is when someone asked what the difference was between approaching Margaret Hale’s character (from North and South) and Jane Eyre. Welch worked to make Margaret more sympathetic and Thornton a little less so, so that they were equals in the story - much like Jane and Rochester already are.

A Day in the Life of the Parsonage

I was very excited about this next panel, where Ann Dindsdale, the collections manager of the Parsonage, and Rebecca Yorke, the communications manager, talk about what it is like to manage the Parsonage day to day. It made me long to be able to work there myself! Just think how lovely it would be to be up early in the morning at the house, preparing for the visitors that day.

On my last visit to the Parsonage, I was able to take the VIP tour (which I talked about here) and I have to say seeing a glimpse of the place behind the scenes and led by a knowledgeable docent was amazing. They do wonderful work there!

The two talked about the work that goes into maintaining the house - especially during the month-long closure in January where they clean every book and check every piece of furniture! When asked how they decide what to display, Ann said she puts out “what she likes” (lucky!) but it was also good to rotate everything regularly.  

The Parsonage feels it is important for guests to “engage with the Parsonage” - a wonderful way to describe how the guests are made to feel when they visit - as a part of the experience. And with social distancing right now due to the pandemic, visiting the Parsonage couldn’t be a more personal and intimate experience. I so wish I could make the trip across the pond right now and visit!

Author Roundtable: The Brontës, the 21st Century and Us

This was a fascinating panel with talented authors. I’ve read some of their books so I’ll link to my review of their work when possible. The panel was moderated by Rowan Coleman (The Vanished Bride) and included Finola Austin (Brontës’ Mistress), Syrie James (The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Brontë), Sarah Shoemaker (Mr. Rochester), Julie Cohen (Spirited), Lucy Powrie (The Paper Hearts Society) and Nikita Gil (a well-known poet, although unfortunately I am unfamiliar with her work.  

The conversation was dense and thought-provoking. The authors touched on many topics and ideas beginning with how each author felt about the Brontës’ work. Their books are about identity and who we are as people - we can live by their ideals, said Lucy. Sarah said that women are still not equal to men in how they are treated today and she loves how Jane does not hesitate to tell Rochester that she does not think him handsome - it’s an unconventional answer, the unexpected one, and it shows how they are opening up to each other and on their way to being equals. Syrie is fascinated by the almost mythical story they lived in their little place in the world. And how you can feel their rage against patriarchal societies in their work. Nikita pointed out that patriarchy erases the role of women, but the Brontës have endured in spite of that.

In their approach to writing stories that revolve around the Brontës and their work, they try to be as reverential as possible and stick to the facts because so much of their lives are known, and their stories can be very autobiographical.  

Julie talked about how we read the Brontës to find out about ourselves. With Villette especially there is a sense with Lucy Snowe that she is hiding a part of herself from the reader and people can relate to that.

The talk ended with thoughts on publishing bias - how women may not need to publish under pseudonyms today, but there is still a bias against what a woman writes and against race, sexuality, and many other things. We as readers need to show that we are interested in reading about a variety of lives and experiences.

In Conversation with Adam Nagaitis

Adam Nagaitis played Branwell Brontë in the film To Walk Invisible and talked with the organizers about his role. They opened by asking him trivia questions about Branwell to see how much he remembered from his research. Adam mentioned that he is still in touch with the actresses who played his sisters which I think is wonderful. They seem to all have gotten along very well.  

Adam read all the classic works on Branwell to prepare, but he also dived into documentaries on alcoholism and it’s gruesome realities to understand Branwell better. Branwell wasn’t mature enough to deal with the vicissitudes in his life - with his relationship with Lydia he was excessive and consumed. He thought that turned her off from him, and that started a cycle where he blamed himself for the failed relationship and his failures in his art.  

Because he was always surrounded by the people who knew him best, he was always reminded of his failure. Adam’s approach was very sympathetic to Branwell and tried to understand him mentally. Adam also talked about how he felt Branwell was never free as an artist. He always needed to work for the family or money but he could have been a brilliant newspaper satirist - something that might have been more along with his interests since he made wonderful biting cartoons.

In Conversation with Sally Wainwright

The last panel of the conference was a talk with Sally Wainwright - the writer and director of the superb Brontë biopic To Walk Invisible. Sally was approached to write this back in 2010 but she didn’t have time until 2016 which coincided with Charlotte’s bicentenary. It was a tough shoot for her as she felt she didn’t get all the shots she wanted, but the set was fantastic. They recreated the Parsonage as accurately as they could, resulting in a place that is bleaker and more isolated than the actual Parsonage today.  

Sally also mentioned something that I found interesting - that she felt like the “Victorian” speak that people use today in period dramas probably didn’t really exist. We have constructed people in our period drama adaptations to speak in a particular way. And that the inclusion of curse words in her program showed that the characters were very like us - of course Branwell would curse and say the F-word.  

Her approach to adapting the story was always to show it as realistically as possible and she wanted to show how the family was an interdependent team. For people who felt that Branwell was featured too much in the story - it’s important to remember that he was the leader of their gang as children and that when they were older, living with an addict affected their work as can be seen in The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and Wuthering Heights.  

And speaking of Tenant of Wildfell Hall, apparently, Sally is working on a screenplay for the story, although it is on the backburner at the moment. She is having a hard time empathizing with Helen - especially because it is difficult today to empathize with a character who behaves in a certain way solely because of their religious beliefs. I do hope we get to see her adaptation of Anne’s work someday soon though!

[thorinthehottotty]

For the modern thorin verse we got goin on hehe: How would Thorin react to seeing you get into a full fist fight with someone? You're pretty injured, though the other person is pretty worse, and you refuse to seek professional medical attention, so Thorin has to patch you up. You're driving home and bleeding everywhere, how does Thorin cope? (If the blood triggers you, please feel free to ignore this!)

First and foremost, blood does not and will never bother me, but thank you for asking. Im certified in CPR, phelbotomy and first aid. Without revealing too much about me, I come from a very violent family (my great grandma's first husband had a murder suicide and my uncle tried to murder my aunt by burning her alive). I've also dealt with ganggreen, sepsis, vomit, human feces and had to clean some nasty coochies and willies in my time. There is little that bothers me.

Two. Prep, my friend, for this is a topic I know too well for I have not always been the wholesome little darling you all may think me to be.

BEWARE THIS IS KIND OF VIOLET

Let's crack into this.

If you guys are anything like me, you are absolutely not the kind of person one wants to get into a fight with. Dealing with aggressive piss babies, violent jackasses and certified psychopaths hasn't been something unknown to you. It would take a lot to probably get you to the point of physical fighting but once you are there, YOU ARE THERE. You might even completely black out (I have been known to do this I was a very angry child).

It would probably start with a stranger doing something reckless and blaming you. Thorin is caught off guard by the aggressive behavior. Like maybe someone nearly runs you both over and gets out Karen or Kyle style and starts screaming about the whole thing. (I work customer service.) You too a little bit but you quickly cover with a 'yeah, sorry, dude' even though it was definitely not your fault but still to the bewildered Thorin you kinda of just say "hey, maybe they're having a bad day, lets just move on."

And Thorin would start getting visibly angry if they continued to harrass you about it. He'd be about ready to get back at them until sad person tried to lay hands on him. Grabbing him to try to pull him back in a 'don't you walk away' fashion. And instantly you'd be in their face, jaw clenched, fist balled, and instead of screaming you'd just give a really low, quiet warning to them. You're voice tight, controlled as you tell them calmly to remove their hands from his person and walk away before things escalate. This would make the person scoff, especially if you were small. Thorin would maybe be trying to stop you, very carefully, because he would see the fire in your eyes. A dangerous light that borders on mad, as you glare down someone who's probably much bigger than you.

You're holding back as the person taunts you repeatedly, getting in your face, spitting. Thorin would be geared to go at a moments notice but you'd just hold a hand out in a "stay back" kind of way.

You would not swing first. You know better and before Thorin couldn't even react you'd be going into a rage. A hard crack alerting him to some kind of bone breaking as your fist made contact with the person's face. He'd be shocked to see how fast and powerfully you'd move. You were winning, definitely and there was a lot of grunting and violence.

He'd be even more shocked to find people gathering and recording of all things! He'd kind of be in awe of you throwing hands because it was more than punching.

The moment he saw a glint of silver, his stomach would drop out and he couldn't get in between you in time. And all hell breaks loose. You just go completely feral, one second your defensively kicking this person's ass and the next you shattering their nose with your forehead. He doesn't even get the opertunity to see how you do it but the person is screaming as you are throwing them against the ground and just wailing with both fists.

There is a lot of blood concidering. He's dragging you off with quite the difficulty and he's terrified because your face is bleeding and there is definitely something sticking out of you! But he's actually fairly calm (outwardly) since he's seen death and battle.

You've broken the person's nose and both their eyes are turning back but they're nearly unconsious after you slam their head into the ground. Both your lips are split, bloods coating your teeth and your shirt is staining near your wound. He'd be dragging you off and demanding you get medical attention. And your in the car, driving yourself home, cursing and wincing, and he's begging for you to go to a doctor but your refusing and when you get home your pulling out a first aid kit and handing it to him.

Thorin's eager to look at the thing sticking out of your side and youre just grumbling about getting 'shanked with a pen' luckily it doesn't go deep but it still bleeds a lot. He just scolds you for being so reckless as he's holding pressure to stop the bleeding. He'd be nearly frantic.

And when you've both calmed down, he's actually really impressed and proud by how ferocious you were. He's definitely flattered that you actually stepped up to protect him and got hurt in the process but he'd pretend to be more upset because he did not want you getting in more dangerous situations and getting hurt. He would definitely discourage fights.

He knows humans aren't as sturdy as his kin so he'd be worried you'd die from your injuries until you assure him that, you will live. But he takes care of you sweetly and overall more level headed out of the two of you. He makes you promise to seek real medical help the next time and once your not so covered in blood he'd chill out.

But it would lead him to be very curious about your past because it was obvious you'd been in a fight or two prior.

I got inspiration from the song Lydia by Highly Suspect

I think that just about covers that section of it. I got home from work an hour ago and couldn't wait to type this up!

My muscles will contract, your bones will crack

It's just a fact 'cause I am here to win this fight

[gender-chaotic]

I don’t think I’ve hear anything about your Paranormal Investigator au?? Could you tell me/us about it?

Anon bless, thank you for giving me an exuse to info dump about my au. Also just a warning this is going to mix characters from all 3 canons and its gonna be pretty long. So this au takes place in pleasent pines Connecticut (based on peaceful pines from the show) that is a paranormal hotspot of sorts. Its seen as a town curse and while many of the townsfolk are vaugley aware of the cryptids,ghosts,monsters,ect. That are apart of the town they tend to turn a blind eye/ignore it. This also has to do with the witch trials that took place in Connecticut hundreds of years ago which raises the towns superstitions. Beej, adam, babs are paranormal investigators who live out of their van with lydia who doesnt live in the van with them but helps them hunt the paranormal Beetlejuice/bj/beej (Lawrence beetlejuice Shaggoth) (23) is one of the local paranormal investigator, at a young age he learned he could see ghosts due to the death of his father which was thought to be him leaving his family. After that beej started to see ghosts anywhere they were and tried to tell people around town and attempt to help ghosts as much as he could. This sparked beej's interest in becoming a paranormal investigator and he attempted for years to tell people and town and get them to pay attention but he ended up gaining the reputation as being the "crazy wierd kid who thinks he can see ghosts". Over the years as beej started to humant and investigate the paranormal more and more in town with the rest if the gang the town started to resent him more and he was also seen a making their "curse" worse not to mention breaking into buildings and generally "causing trouble" around town to do his job. Juno, mother to beej and his twin brother Donny hated this and for years tried to shut down his belief in the paranormal and discourage him from hunting ghosts. The fact that beej insists that he says he kept seeing his father as a ghost around made it worse. Juno is a successful buisness woman in town obsessed with her image and status in town and often pits donny and bj against eachother and cares more about they make her look than her own children. She made it clear all bj's life he was a disappointment and always insulted and berated him but favored donny, she even attempted to have beej institutionalized because of his ability to see ghosts and also undiagnosed mental illness she never took seriously, but since beej was always deemed "mentally healthy" it was never sucessful but gave him a fear of being institutionalized and asylums. When beej turned 18 she kicked him out of the house and beetlejuice dropped out of highschool, after this beetlejuice officially started his parnormal investigation buisness out of his van traveling around town and even out of town or out of state at times. Juno still lets him and the rest of the gang in the house at times or atleast let them sleep in the van in their driveway because donny begs her. Beetlejuice often steals food and supplies from his mom's place but donny replaces it for him and attempts to help beej out financially but of course beej is too stubborn to take it. Barbara(21) lived on a farm her whole life with a deeply religious family and was homeschooled, she often went into town to read books at the library where she learned about witchcraft and immediately took a liking to it, secretly practicing at home. Her parents unfortunatly found out multiple times and each and everytime threw out or destroyed any altars, books, herbs, ect. She had anything she had to do with witchcraft. When she was 18 a monster/crpytid started hunting down and killing local farm animals. Baraba who is an animal lover and also a very young witch secised to try and bring the animals back but failed and while doing so was kicked out of their home, blamed for the murders of those farm animals even after she insisted and begged it wasnt hrler and that it was somwthing else out there but none of her family believes her instead she is called the devil and various other insults. After this she moves in with adam for the time being who's parents reluctantly take her in temporarily. Adam (21) used to go to school with beej and donny back in middle/high school. For a long time he kind of saw beej how everyone else saw beetlejuice, and thought he was a crazy trouble making wierdo not wanting anything to do with him until one day barbara brings beetlejuice around telling adam they should help him hunt the paranormal, withadam being the tech guy since his love for fixing and building things carries over into more modern tech in this au. Adam doesnt believe beej at first but on their first job that quickly changes and the 3 of them eventually become paranormal investigation team, barbara being their witch/mystic and adam ad their tech/research/ and camera guy. Adam's parents eventually kick adam and barbara out because they don't approve of Barbara's witchcraft but also that both of them are working with the "town menace" beetlejuice so after that they live with beej out of the van. Often struggling to turn a profit or make ends meet . all of them become infamous around town and ans are mostly hated especially since they're rivaling otho. Otho(early to mid 30's) is the town's medium,exorcist ,paranormal investigator and rival of our mystery gang. Most of the town looks up to him and he's seen as the savior of pleasant pines when he's actually a fraud. He rarely actually solves any actually problems or finds a cheap/half assed way of doing it while pretending to this all powerful mystic. He also tends to just straight up exorsize ghosts even low level ones that arent demons or poltergeists when beetle juice tries to help these spirits and they down need to be exorsized. Otho is assisted by vanessa (She is the magician's assistant from the film)(24/25) his loyal assistant who enjoys having power in town and living ontop working for otho uaually willing to do whatever he says to help them rise to power of course she is very independent and will speak her mind, still often doing what she wants. They both along with otho's other followers want the mystery gang gone. Delia (early to mis 30's) is one of the the many deticated followers to otho in town, being one of his closest friends and wants to help in anyway she can. Delia is also a witch or a witch in training under otho but very new to witchcraft and since she is taken under otho's wing she doesn't really know alot of proper witchcraft. Delia is more naive and thinks otho is actually helping, wanting to assist him and the town in anyway possible. Lydia (13), Charles' daughter and delia's stepdaughter is fascinated with the paranormal and runs a blog "pleasant pines paranormal" documenting all things weird in town. Lydia is also obsessed with the mystery gang and desperately wishes to join them despite being so young and a job like this will put her in alot of danger. She eventually convinces them to hire them because of her father's connections to certain buildings and lands around town since charles has a job in real estate and is pretty successful/well off giving them leads ahead of otho. With her step mother's close friendship with him this also gives them a chance to one up him. Lydia can see ghosts loke beej but keeps it mostly a secret to not be ostracized even more by the town like beej is, and eventually learns witcraft under barbara. Through out the story lydia is also trying to look for emily's ghost around town or find her in some kind of after life. Charles (late 30's) as mentioned works in real estate in town inadvertently helping the gang with leads and investigation. Charles is more neutral toward otho and the mystery gang, he doesnt really see otho as a great saviour of the town like everyone else but luts up with all the otho stuff because of delia. He also doesn't hate the mystery gang just see's them as a bunch of kids making money the same way otho is although he isnt thrilled his daughter is following them around. This is the main cast and story for now, there are more characters like: tina (miss argentina) (24) who is childhood friends with beej and donny she like charles is more neuteral toward bith parties although since she ia friends with beetle juice she is more on their side, often trying to help them with food, essentials, somwetimes lets them sleep in her apartment and use her shower. She unfortunatly doeant areally believe that beej can see ghosts like the town and thinks its "delusions" which puts a strain in their friendship especially since tina thinks they should find a real job, this isnt malicious she's just worried about her friends and hates seeing them struggle. Tina Secretary/assistant to juno in this au and the ex girlfriend to vanessa. Tina doesnt really like otho and broke up with vanessa after she became closer and more loyal to him. Claire (13) lydia's classmate (and crush) like in the cartoon bullies lydia for being "weird" and helping the mystery gang, claire's parents are rich followers of otho. Sometimes acts as a spy/informant for otho to prove her loyalty to him and her parents. I think this is all the basic info and main cast stuff for the au im probably missing some stuff tho. Theres also alot of things i have developed already and alot more world building i want to do so if y'all wanna hear more about this au hmu in asks, I'll probably even draw some stuff for this au.

[superleeleehipster]

Tell me what your gut says about how and when Caryl will go canon. Not what you wish for but what you realistically think will happen and when. And it doesn't necessarily mean sex. Just when he, she or both make their feelings known.

Hey Anon, actually this was good timing b/c I’ve been thinking about this a lot today. 

First of all, I want to take a moment to send my appreciation for Angela Kang b/c, holy crap girl, you are giving us such good scenes between Daryl and Carol. Honestly, she’s giving us subtle (but not outrageously subtle like Gimple) hints about Caryl, and I absolutely love it. And not just the Caryl stuff, she is writing a decently good story with dialogue that is actually modern english and not Gimple language. It’s been a while since I’ve been truly intrigued by TWD, and she’s bringing it back to life honestly.

So what I want is to see Caryl go canon this season, like I always hope for. But like you said anon, I do have to be realistic about things. Especially with this last episode, we know Carol is most definitely NOT in a good place, and there’s no room for any complicated things such as a new relationship, even if I do want them together. It just wouldn’t fit for them to start now.  

Anyways, what I’m hoping is going to happen is that by the mid season finale, Carol will start to have a turning point. Like maybe with Lydia running off and Daryl quite possibly getting upset with Carol, we might see her break down and give up some of the weight she’s been carrying (maybe even be lucky enough to hear her talk about Lizzie and Mika). Then maybe she won’t react so quickly but also be more thoughtful about everyone else around her. She wants to take Alpha down and I don’t fucking blame her, but she can’t do it when everyone else is hesitant to do their part. She can’t do it alone. Then, as the season progresses, we see her heal in small ways. Maybe speaking to Ezekiel and finding closure with her failed relationship with him, or talking to Lydia about Henry or even Sophia and her marriage to Ed, and bonding over their shared trauma of abuse. Basically, seeing her find healthier ways of dealing with her grief as they concentrate on defeating Alpha.

Long story short, the most realistic thing I can see happening w/ Caryl is that it would possibly go canon, or at least look like they’re most definitely heading in that direction, during the season finale. Now I know most peeps want it to happen now, but it’s just not the right time. Carol still has grief she needs to go through, and she will STILL need to get through it by the time the Whisperers War is done. And let’s not forget that there will be some people who will die in the Whisperers war, so everyone is going to be on the grieving train after it’s done.

Back to my point though. 

Realistically, I think we will get some sign that Caryl will indeed happen during the season finale. If we get super duper lucky, we might even get a kiss (I’m still hesitant on that though). But here’s where it’s difficult not to blur the line of what I want to see, and what is more realistic. I think what will actually happen in the finale is that Daryl will assume Carol is going to leave again, especially after all the hell they had gone through with Alpha and the Whisperers. But Carol surprises him by saying that she doesn’t want to leave, she’s done running away. She wants to stay here, “with you”. They will probably delve just a little deeper about their feelings for each other, and then, Daryl might gently grab her hand and smile at her before they walk towards their destination hand in hand.

Hence the sign of them going canon in the near future....

Then in season 11, I think we’ll be seeing them navigate a new romantic relationship. Knowing Angela and knowing Norman and from what he’s said in the past, I do think what will happen is that they’re going to take things very slow. Norman is going to play Daryl up like a tongue tied, awkward fool in love and he’s going to try and learn how to do a romantic relationship, and Carol’s going to just give him big smiles b/c she’ll think he’s adorkable, but she’ll also be patient with him b/c it’s likely he’s never had a serious relationship before.

Then, maybe in the mid season finale for season 11, they will officially consummate their relationship... or maybe it’ll be the season 11 finale knowing our luck.

Anyways, that’s what I think will happen, but with how much juicy relationship scenes that Angela is giving us, my hope is definitely very high right now. We’ve all been burned, and it’s difficult to have our hopes up, but at the very least, the scenes we’re already getting are the most we’ve had in ages.

Thanks anon!

[ki117h3dr4g0n]

” I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of any thing than of a book! - When I have a house of my own, I shall be miserable if I have not an excellent library. “

Jane Austen,”Pride and Prejudice“

I totally agree whit Jane Austen. Man, that girl knew some things about a good book.

I read "Pride and Prejudice" some years ago, and I really enjoyed it. I fell in love with the way J. Austen wrote, and how she portrayed the way people used to think and live. And I know the fact that she lived in the same time period helped a lot, but still. It takes more than a little bit of talent to write a story like that. Especially one written in 1813, by a woman. And, from how she painted the characters you can easily realize she was a feminist.

For starters, the Bennet girls have a say in the family matters, a thing that is pretty unusual for the end of the 18 century, the Georgian Era, when the young Jane Austen began the romantic novel. For exemple, Elizabeth chose to go after Jane to Mr. Bingley's house when she falls ill even though her mother was against it and the mean of transport where... nonexistent, and she arrived full of mud, if I remember it well. I actually, really liked that scene.

The slow bluid into romance is great and I think this is the original enemies to lovers kind of book (just kidding. Well, sort of). The characters are amazing, slightly modern, even though the book is clearly a classic one. I enjoyed the fact that the characters were built around a big character trait, as Elizabeth represented the prejudice and Mr. Darcy, the pride.

Jane Bennet is described as very beautiful and wise, but reserved, and I think her most prominent trait would be put as being nice: beautiful and polite. The younger sisters, in my opinion, can be discribe in one-two words each as stubbornly arrogant for Mary, easily influenced for Catherine (who btw, goes by Kitty and it really surprised me, knowing the book was written in the 18-19 century), and frivolous and headstrong for the younger, Lydia Bennet.

Another remarkable thing, as Wikipedia puts it, is "Jane Austen's opening line, "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife", a sentence filled with irony and playfulness. The novel revolves around the importance of marrying for love, not simply for money, despite the social pressures to make a good (i.e., wealthy) match." (As I said I read it about 6 years ago, don't blame me for using some sources.)

A thing that really impressed me at the time was Darcy's letter to Elizabeth, after she refused his first proposal. I actually have no idea why it impressed me so much back then, when I really thought it was "oh, so romantic", because I re-read it about an hour ago and it stroke me that it's not romantic at all, or at least not so much as I thought it was. Such a shock.

Anyway, to wrap this up and as a conclusion, I really liked "Pride and Prejudice". Jane Austen was such a great woman, but most importantly, such a great writer. She left behind an eternal legacy, that every reader who respects itself will come in contact with. To be honest, I'm proud to say I am in love with the way this women writes and I am really glad we don't have only "Pride and Prejudice" but many others, maybe less known, though, to enjoy.

Asta la próxima, amigos!

[lilyaquarius]

I posted 1,023 times in 2022

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@aconstantstateofbladerunner

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I tagged 127 of my posts in 2022

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Longest Tag: 138 characters

#like he made it plainly clear how little he cared about his kids and when lydia gets married to wickham he has no one but himself to blame

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Jaiden Animations coming out as AroAce makes me feel so valid.

https://youtu.be/qF1DTK4U1AM

11 notes - Posted March 20, 2022

#4

OK, look, there are a lot of issues to be had with Becoming Elizabeth but honestly, the problems I've seen were ones I fully expected. The thing with Thomas Seymour, saw it coming a million miles away. I was not shocked, I was disappointed, but I suspected they were going to handle it badly anyway. But the (other) thing that gave me this angry, visceral rage was the Kett's Rebellion subplot. Because the show wants you to think that it was about a poor, illiterate, mindless violent mob of catholic's rebelling against an (imperfect but not "bad") Anglican government, committing atrocities because they were poor, illiterate, violent, stupid peasants who are also Catholics.

The reality is the rebellion was the peasantry rising up in righteous indignation at the abuse of power from landowners cutting off the land from the common people. People couldn't let their animals graze in fields, and families were literally kicked out of their homes. All so rich landowners could close off land to do with what they wanted. With inflation and unemployment on the rise, some landowners also rose the rents of their tenants and wages also dropped. You can't afford to pay my increased rent with your decreased wages? Too bad, get out or I kill you. Everything benefited the rich landowners and they knowingly, intentionally fucked over the poor. Not unlike today!

The government's response to it was swift, violent, and brutal. Maybe 3,000 rebels total were killed to say nothing of the civilian casualties. To add further insult to grievous injury, after the rebellion was quelled it was decreed there would be a national holiday celebrating the rebellion's defeat and lectures were given on the sins of rebelling against your king and government.

I know why they didn't go with this subplot. Because no rich person with power wants the regular, ordinary person to see a rebellion that they can sympathize with and get it in their heads that they can too. Rebellions scare the rich because they know the "poor" outnumber them a million to one. We also live in a modern society where we can think, act, and band together to fight injustice. Why do you think the conservative right wing is so determined to remove as many rights as humanely possible from anyone who isn't exactly like them?

How they chose to portray Kett's rebellion to be as unsympathetic and as inaccurate as possible then turn it around to show how Lord Dudley is a prick while his son Robert can only look dumbfounded when he doesn't show mercy...it doesn't have any impact narratively speaking. We already don't like Lord Dudley. Anyone with a basic knowledge of Tudor history knows he dies. I feel like, a better team of writers could have portrayed the rebellion as sympathetic and Dudley killing the leaders and anyone else tied to it having a stronger emotional impact. There's plenty of material to use to show the divide between Catholics and Protestants.

Hell, go the extra mile and have it narratively tie in with Elizabeth being the victim of a powerful rich man taking advantage of someone who has no support or power of their own. Have her rebel against his attempts to cajole her into a relationship and marriage. My God, the Seymour's ousted her mother and her family from power! She shouldn't want to have anything to do with them!

But no, I guess have it be stupid peasants rebelling as an excuse to murder and steal because poor people are dumb and evil obviously and all non-evangelical Protestant religion makes you evil, and yeah, portray your groomer and abuser as sympathetically as possible.

I guess!

17 notes - Posted July 18, 2022

#3

So, I don't normally do this but after watching the first twenty something minutes of Netflix's Blonde all I can say is....

What The Fuck??

What did I just watch? Why was this movie made? How could anyone have possible derived any sort of pleasure in what was seen?

I mean...it was bad guys, it was really bad. Bad as in it turned my stomach watching it, kind of bad. Feeling gross, horrified and uncomfortable the whole time, level of bad. I couldn't even finish watching the movie, I just went "screw this" and fast forwarded to the end.

This movie revels in the violence the character of Marilyn Monroe/Norma Jean endures. It takes sadistic joy in making her suffer. Fully expecting the audience to also revel in her suffering. Hateful is the perfect word for it, its just pain p*rn from start to finish. You can tell this was written and directed by some really fucked up men.

It is also boring as hell. It is badly written in how horrific it treats Monroe's character to just how badly written the script in general is. There is nothing engaging about the story, nothing that makes me think its worth sitting down and watching all the way through for the next hour and a half. The dialogue is stunted, the cinematography is weird, the acting isn't memorable or great and I STG, every other scene is just to provoke shock value.

The weird choice to go back and forth between black and white to color also makes no sense. Because everything is so disjointed and confusing. To say nothing of the freakish obsession the movie has with Marilyn's fixation on her, ugghhh...."Daddy". Which, if I'm being honest, I think is the writers fetish shining through.

Don't bother watching it, your life will be a happier one if you don't.

37 notes - Posted September 29, 2022

#2

HTTYD Nine Realms (potential fanfic fuel)

Dragons: The Nine Realms does have some genuine potential but if I may, here's a few changes I'd make from what I've seen.

1.) Have Dr. Kullerson be an archeologist/historian who specializes in Viking history.

It makes far more sense to me story wise. The previous movies and franchise dealt with Vikings and their culture. That wasn't a tiny period in history, that lasted from roughly 790's-1060's CE. There is a lot of ground to cover and Tom's mother could be someone who specializes in Berkian Viking history. Having her be the historian gives writers someone who can give a useful exposition to people new to the franchise while also helping to expand world building.

She'd ask questions like: How did the Viking's go from hating Dragons for over several generations to (what looks like) effectively worshipping them in the span of a single generation? Why did they move from old Berk to new Berk? Where are there ships? Was Hiccup Haddock real or was he a mythical figure like King Arthur? Etc. Etc.

The potential is fascinating because we learn more about what Hiccup, Astrid and the other dragon riders did later in their lives. A big episode could be finding their tomb and all the maps, journals and wellspring of information he wrote down that were spared for future generations.

2.) The Nine Realms are different hidden worlds that the team goes to find.

Hiccup was a Viking, they sailed around the world. Its not impossible to believe that he and Astrid traveled across the globe and learned of other hidden worlds. Hence the series title, Nine Realms. He made a map so that future dragon riders, i.e. Zephyr and Nuffink, can continue protecting the dragons. Which could lead to a whole wealth of storylines that can have Tom traveling the world and meeting other kids like him who learned about the dragons and are protecting them.

3.) The story doesn't need an overarching villain, but there are plenty of potential antagonists

HTTYD and its TV Series had it easy in that regard, since they could use antagonists from the books or just create dragon hunters as enemies. Here, Nine Realms doesn't necessarily need a Viggo, Johann or Bludvist. You can have someone who just hates dragons for the sake of it or for profit but the show shouldn't just do something boring like "Evil Dragon Hunting Group tm". It could be interesting to see the kids fighting against government officials, companies who would try to steal or exploit the dragons, Zoo's and theme parks, and even have antagonists that aren't against dragons per se, but rather concerned about reintroducing a species that hasn't been seen for serval hundred years and how that could negatively impact the current ecosystem.

These wouldn't be easy antagonists with easy solutions, or one dimensional villains. The kids would have to think hard and work together to defeat them, the way Hiccup and the riders did with their enemies.

4.) Dragons have been existing in the world as we know it, we just don't know because they are good at hiding.

One serious complaint I've found from fans point out how it could be even possible that after 1300 years the dragons could survive after living in the hidden realm for so long. My answer, they've been leaving the hidden world on and off, they've just been good at hiding. Believe it or not, there are plenty of unexplored places in the world that humans haven't been to or rarely venture to. Forrests, lakes, jungles, underwater caverns, the ocean. It's not impossible to believe.

Those are just a few ideas, I may add more later. What are other peoples thoughts on this? What would you add, change or recommend?

37 notes - Posted February 7, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

One of the things that I enjoyed the most about Iron Widow was Wu Zetian's anger. Her absolute rage at the injustice of her situation. The second hand catharsis I felt reading about someone who is so sick of everyone's bullshit and just lashing out, no fucks given felt weirdly liberating. As someone whose been taught to suppress her anger her whole life and has a stupid amount of difficult time trying to express that anger, (and everyone telling you oh just get angry and let the anger loose, like no you dumb fuck it isn't that easy unlearning a toxic habit that's been ingrained in me for the last thirty years of my entire fucking life!) seeing her rage, felt good.

Anyways, more YA novels where the female lead is not only allowed to get mad and stay mad but isn't punished for it. Please.

52 notes - Posted July 11, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[imcharliedale]

Survivor 42 Premiere: Power Rankings

These are my highly scientific and very much subject-to-change power rankings of the Survivor 42 castaways based purely on Episode 1!

18. Jackson Fox (EVACUATED): Ooh boy. Jackson has quite the story--and I’m glad we got to hear it--but I can’t help but feel icky about the circumstances of his departure. If the production team found out about his meds before filming started, why was he allowed to begin the competition? It seems the only plausible answers are 1) Production genuinely didn’t know his health would be at risk until Day 2 (even though he had told them just before filming began), or 2) they knew they had to remove him from the game, but wanted to let him get some camera time so he could share his story with the world. I don’t buy theory #1, and #2 seems a bit exploitative IMO (not to mention it robbed one of the alternates the chance to compete, and made the first immunity challenge MUCH harder). Jackson handled the situation with grace and I wish him nothing but the best, but this whole situation doesn’t sit right with me!

17. Zach Wurtenberger (ELIMINATED): This one hurts! From the moment Zach had his first encounter with Jeff on the beach (“I don’t know... I was trying, man..”) I was all-in on this Stephen Fischbach 2.0. A shame to see such a fun presence and potential narrator get taken from us on episode 1, but such is Survivor. Turns out there was only room for 1 twink on the Ika tribe!

16. Tori Meehan: Lying by saying you’re a “caretaker” rather than a therapist is the kind of unnecessary lie that suggests her mouth might get herself in trouble and she won’t have the self-awareness to get her out of it. Tori narrowly survives week 1, but given the relative physical weakness of her tribe, her days could be numbered. 

15. Rocksroy Bailey: This stay-at-home dad forgot how to talk to people who aren’t his children, and frankly I can’t blame him. But given his disappointing performance in the challenge, he’ll need to significantly step up his physical game in order to win over his tribemates who are already growing tired of him. 

14. Mike Turner: I love his New Jersey energy, but in modern Survivor I worry about the longevity of someone who is 10 years older than anyone else out there. 

13. Daniel Strunk: Glad his shoulder is back in place! But one immunity challenge loss and I worry that injury will make him an easy target.

12. Marya Sherron: No real reason for the low ranking except for a) she appeared to blame herself for her team’s loss in the reward challenge, and b) she was barely in the edit otherwise. 

11. Lindsay Dolashewich: I don’t really remember her either way..

10. Chanelle Howell: Another mostly non-factor in the edit. But it’s early and I have high hopes for Chanelle. 

9. Jonathan Young: They’ll keep Tarzan around a few weeks, but will cut him before the merge if they’re smart. 

8. Omar Zaheer: I like Omar! He seems charming and who doesn’t love veterinarian. 

7. Lydia Meredith: If Hannah Shapiro was the quintessential Millennial on Millennials vs. Gen X, then Lydia is here to represent Gen Z. The castaway with by far the best Twitter presence so far (see here), she makes me feel YOUNG and I like that. Lydia seems like she might be a few days away from a conditions-driven meltdown, but as long as she can remain mentally in the game I think she’ll be a strong presence. 

6. Romeo Escobar: Romeo managed to keep the target off of his twink-ass in Week 1, when “keeping the tribe strong” fever is typically at its highest. Good for Romeo.

5. Hai Giang: Hai seems smart and cool and I think he’s gonna go far.

4. Maryanne Oketch: Maryanne is... a LOT. She loves the camera, and the camera loves her. Maryanne also seems to wear her heart on her sleeve (the fact that she was crying more about Jackson’s removal from the game more than Jackson was a little much), so I worry about her ability to deceive. But the edit is all-in on Maryanne--and she now has an extra vote!--so I think she’ll be here for a while. 

3. Swati Goel: She seems confident and smart as hell.

2. Jenny Kim: Jenny a) led her team to victory on the count-the-triangles challenge, and b) displayed an impressive sense of awareness by saving her vote when she knew Drea & Maryanne were likely to risk theirs. Gonna go far methinks!

1. Drea Wheeler: Drea is giving me the total package so far: strong physical game, appears to get along with everyone (it seemed like her name was never close to the chopping block tonight), and a strategic threat. Throw in the extra vote she earned by risking her vote, and she’s my Day 1 choice for the winner. 

[were-cheetah-stiles]

The College Years - Sophomore Year (Chapter 38) - Stiles Stilinski

Author: @were-cheetah-stiles

Title: “The Maqlû”

Characters: Stiles Stilinski, Derek Hale, Cora Hale, Isaac Lahey, Malia Tate, Lydia Martin, Jordan Parrish, Ethan, Liam Dunbar, Mason Hewitt, Hayden Romero, Corey Bryant, Zachary Pillit, Allison Argent, Theo Raeken, Peter Hale, Melissa McCall, Scott McCall, Chris Argent, Noah Stilinski & Reader/OFC

Author’s Note: @maddie110201 doesn’t hate this chapter so neither do I, but feel free to blame her if it doesn’t make sense to you. It’s all her fault. She proofread it. *right under the bus*

Additional Note: A quick refresher on who Sylvie is, if you need it.

Gif credit: @downeyjrs for the second gif :)

Summary: The Pack gathers at the Stilinski’s house to go over the next plan on how to get rid of the rabisu.

Chapter Thirty-Seven - Chapter Thirty-Eight - Chapter Thirty-Nine

Stiles closed the door behind Derek and Cora as they were the last ones to come in. He waited for everyone to settle down. 

The whole Pack was there: Scott, Y/n, Isaac, Malia, Lydia, Jordan, Derek, Cora, Ethan, Liam, Mason, Hayden, Corey, Zachary, and Allison. Theo even came to help; and Peter Hale, Melissa McCall, Chris Argent, and the Sheriff were also all present. The only person with their eyes on Stiles, standing where the semi-circle of Pack members broke, was you. 

Stiles put out his hand to you, and helped you off of the floor. It was now only three days until the full moon, and the first day of August, and the rest of the Pack didn’t know it yet, but they were running out of time to take care of the demons plaguing Beacon Hills.

Scott raised his voice above the smaller conversations happening around the room. "Guys.... Since everyone is here, why don't we start?" Everyone focused their attention on you and Stiles, standing and staring out at the sea of faces.

"So why didn't that work?" Derek asked, staring at the young witch next to Stiles.

"There was always a chance that it wasn't going to... we knew that going in. There were two spells and we didn't know which one was correct. It turns out that the Šurpu really only did work if you were the one who summoned the rabisu.." Stiles explained.

"So what do we do now? Because they got their asses handed to them the other night," Ethan piped up and gestured towards Scott, Malia, Isaac, who were all sitting next to each other. Liam and Zachary glanced at each other from across the room. Ethan's comment, unfortunately, applied to them as well. "...and frankly, I don't really want that to happen to me, just so Y/n can try out another spell that may or may not work."

You hung your head. Logically, you understood that you did really well that night: you had done the Šurpu ritual perfectly and it wasn't your fault that it didn't work. Emotionally, however, you were bearing the guilt of your friends getting hurt, and not being able to successfully rid the town of the ancient demons.

"This wasn't Y/n’s fault." Scott stood up for his friend. "She did everything right, and we all knew that it might not work. That's exactly why we did the trial run."

"And that's why Y/n and I have been figuring out how the Maqlû would work for as long as we have been working on the Šurpu. We have a plan.... But this one won't have time for a trial run, we have to get this right the first time." Stiles interjected.

"What's the new plan then?" Chris Argent asked from the back of the room, standing over the back of the couch that Allison was sitting on.

"What is the ‘Maqlû’?" Liam asked from the floor on the other side of the room, doubling down on the questions.

"Babe?" Stiles prompted a visibly uncomfortable you to speak.

You scratched the side of your head and sighed. "It's another ancient Akkadian incantation, but this one is much more involved."

"What'd your professor say about it?" Lydia asked, leaning into Parrish, who was standing with his back against the wall closest to the front door.

Stiles pulled his iPhone out of his pocket and opened the email he had forwarded himself off of your phone, from your Ancient Mesopotamia professor from Berkeley, who had been unknowingly helping the two of you figure out how to get rid of the rabisu. "Uh... Professor Simon said... 'The Maqlû is another 'burning series' which concerns the performance of a rather lengthy anti-witchcraft, or kišpū, ritual.'"

Corey cut Stiles off from continuing. "An anti-witchcraft spell? That... wouldn't that be bad for Y/n?"

"It's more a spell against dark magic, from what we've read, but yea, I guess we do run the risk of hurting me as well in the process. We've talked to Deaton about it and he doesn't seem to think that it will affect me." You spoke up.

"How does it work?" Isaac asked.

"Well, first of all, Cora... we're going to need you to use that art degree that you're working on, again." Stiles requested the youngest Hale's help.

"More stencils?"

"No.. we assume they need to be clay but if you could make some out of wood as well, like a cedar, if you can...we need small figurines of Sam Wirths." Stiles said, moving his hands a few inches apart, noting the size that they should be.

"The kid that summoned these things here?" Jordan Parrish asked, confused.

"Yea, he's not a sorcerer, per se, which is what the incantation calls for, but he technically used magic to summon them here so." You explained, pursing your lips and hoping that no one would argue with yours and Stiles' logic.

"How many do you need?" Cora asked.

"It didn't specify, so we thought twenty... one for each rabisu." You answered, glancing up at Stiles, your partner in crime for this plan. “So I guess, forty altogether.”

"I can do that, if you give me a few days."

"We can give you until Tuesday morning." Stiles set the deadline, and Cora huffed and rolled her eyes.

"Why Tuesday?" Melissa asked from the background.

"The Ancient Mesopotamians had a month called 'Abu', and we are currently... probably, in it right now...”

“Probably?” Melissa questioned.

“Probably... It was described as 'July and August' in most of the books about Mesopotamia but it's hard to relate it exactly to our modern calendar, so with the full moon rising on August 1st.... on Tuesday night... we figured that was the best time to do it since we don't actually know when 'Abu' is, but it is specifically mentioned in the incantation as the time when it is best to perform this spell." You explained, trying to make as much sense as possible.

"Are you stronger on the full moon? Is that why it’s best to do it then?" Mason asked you.

"No.. well, yes, like all of you, I am definitely more powerful on a full moon, so that's a plus, but not why we're doing it that night." You began before Stiles cut you off.

"Uh, Y/n’s professor said 'The Maqlû was performed over the course of a single night in the month of Abu when the perambulations of the spirits to and from the netherworld made them especially vulnerable to its spells.'" He looked back up from his phone, to a sea of confused faces.

".....What's a perambulation?" Liam asked, looking around at everyone else, hoping someone else was as lost as he was.

"It just means that the spirits are out wandering around on a full moon." Lydia explained, and Liam slowly nodded his head.

"So this thing takes all night?" Derek asked, and Stiles nodded.

"Okay..." You could feel that you were losing the Pack in the confusing semantics of the plan. "The really basic way to explain this is that the incantation will be divided into three sequences, the first of which starts when the sun goes down on Tuesday night. I will start the spell and while I'm reciting it, I have to take the figurines of Sam that Cora is going to make and burn them, then drown them in a black liquid, and then place them on the ground and crush them." You explained, fiddling with your hands as you talked. "I have to be outside for the last part so I'm going to need some of you on lookout."

Scott popped his head up. "Derek, Peter, Isaac, Ethan and Malia, that's going to be us."

"What's the black liquid?" Parrish asked.

"It didn't specify, so we were thinking gasoline." Stiles gestured between him and his girlfriend, before having his attention grabbed by Chris Argent.

"I took a few jars of the black blood that came out of Y/n and Gerard that night back in February and gave them to Deaton in case we ever needed it. Maybe you could use that instead since it's already magical. It'll probably be more powerful." Chris explained, in his usual husky tone.

Stiles narrowed his eyes at the Argent patriarch and furrowed his eyebrows. "Why'd you keep that? That's disgusting."

You cut Stiles off. "We'll take it if you're offering." Argent nodded and leaned his hands against the back of the couch once more.

"What about the second part of the spell?" Mason inquired, getting the group back on track.

"The second part involves all of you. I need victims, in fact, I need all of the living victims..... people who have been touched or hurt by the rabisu. Around two in the morning, when the full moon is at its apex, the destructive rites against Sam will be replaced by purification and protection rites." You stared back at the confused faces in the Pack, scrunched your eyes closed and scratched at your brow. You sighed, thinking of how to simplify the incantation for them to all understand. "Basically, I'm going to sort of...... drown all of you in the pool at the high school. It'll be filled with garlic and salt and herbs and wool and then... quickly set on fire....." You mumbled off on the last part.

"I'm sorry, did you say set on fire?!" Theo asked, raising his voice.

"What are you getting upset over? You're not even going to be in her giant.. supernatural soup!" Liam yelled at his old rival. The room began to clamor with concerned side conversations and people yelling at the young witch.

"ALRIGHT!" Stiles yelled, the room falling silent with his raised voice. "She's been practicing. It'll be fine."

Allison interjected to back up her friends. "I watched her do it in our bathtub the other night. It was done in an instant. If you just hold your breath for a few seconds under the water, you should all be fine... the water wasn't even warm afterwards." She explained, nodding with a soft smile on her lips towards her roommate.

"I'm sorry, but so far, I am not sure why I'm here. Some of us haven't even come across these things yet, so it doesn't sound like we'll be in your plans very much." Theo piped up from the far side of the room, drawing a glare from Stiles.

"Maybe if you shut the hell up and let her finish.." Theo rolled his eyes at Stiles, but grew quiet.

"The last part is where I need all of you. This part is.... unfortunately, a lot like what we did when we tried the Šurpu. Basically, you all rinse off in the locker rooms, come out in clean clothes. It'll be about an hour before the sun rises at this point. We summon them with human blood on the skulls of the sacrificial goats, then I need you all to step out into the doorway and keep them occupied while I finish the spell. If even one gets away, we've failed. But the incantation is shorter this time and I'll be out there with you, so I'll try to make the last part as quick as possible."

"And then they'll be gone?" Scott clarified, a concerned look fixed on his face. You nodded.

"We're pretty sure this one will work." Stiles announced, looking around to see if anyone had any further questions. No one spoke up.

"Alright, Mason, Hayden, Lydia you're all pretty good at art so why don't you help Cora make the figurines." The three of them nodded their heads in acceptance at Scott, who had gotten up to stand at the front of the group with you and Stiles. "Sheriff, Parrish.."

"We'll close off the school perimeter again for Tuesday night." Sheriff Stilinski assured the Alpha. Scott nodded in gratitude.

"I'll get the jars from Deaton." Chris affirmed his duty.

"Thank you... Isaac, Zachary, Ethan, Corey and Malia, I need you five to drain the pool in the gym, clean it, and refill it with pure, not chlorinated water on Tuesday."

"Sounds like a great way to spend a Tuesday." Ethan complained.

“Uh, any questions?” Stiles asked, glancing around the room. Suddenly, members of the Pack began piping up with different questions about how the plan could fail. “Okay,  admittedly, a lot could go wrong.” Stiles quieted everyone down.

“Everything could go wrong.” Liam countered, garnering a glare from Stiles. 

“But it won’t.” Stiles argued before Scott cut them both off.

Scott spoke up. "Allison, Liam and I are going to go grocery shopping for all of the supplies, and, uh, we'll all meet back up at the gym on Tuesday afternoon." Scott said, dismissing everyone from the Pack meeting. Scott turned to Stiles and you, and placed his hand on your shoulder, looking deep into your eyes. "This is going to work, right?"

You nodded. "Yea, I think so."

"Alright, in that case, we'll all get out of here so you two can practice." Scott hugged the witch and patted his friend on the arm lightly and went to find Allison in the group of people leaving.

Stiles pulled you to the side, towards the dining room and handed you your iPhone, which he had been holding for you in the pocket of his khakis. He watched as you opened it, scrolled quickly and then closed it. 

"Still nothing from Sylvie?" You sighed, seemingly upset, and shook your head, making eye contact with your boyfriend. Your worry was palpable. Stiles looked behind him and saw some of the stragglers still chatting in the living room. 

He pulled you into the kitchen, even though he knew that it wouldn't make a difference in whether or not the leftover werewolves would pick up on your anxiety-riddled chemo signals. He held his hands against your shoulders, and bent at his knees slightly to get more in your line of sight. "I'm not going to let you go through with this ritual without talking to Sylvie first."

You sighed, and locked eyes with Stiles. "We may not have much of a choice."

37 <- -> 39

Let me know what you think and keep your eyes peeled for the dramatic ending to this storyline coming tomorrow :)

@alexhmak @dontstopxx @iloveteenwolf24 @chivesoup @vampirepinary @parislight @surpeme-bean @snek-shit @mayahart02 @fuxkdean @teenage-dirtbagbaby @sorrynotsorrylovesome @dylrider @iknowisoundcrazy @l4life @ivette29 @5secsxofamnesia @lovelydob @vogue-sweetie @awkwarddly @therealmrshale @twentyone-souls @xmadwonderland @mrs-mitch-rapp93 @inkedaztec @sunshineystilinski @eccentricxem @lightbreaksthrough @ninja-stiles @maddie110201 @hattyohatt @stilinski-stydia-obrien @amethystmerm4id @completebandgeek @rhyxn @teamwolf2411 @acc3ssdenied @girlwiththerubyslippers @sumcp @theneverendingracetrack @the-vampire-diaries-all-the-way @im-very-odd33 @vmach29 @sokkasbae255 @hirafth @caitsymichelle13 @dailyburritos @lolaversuslipstick @mieczzyslaw @atlas-of-the-world @anonimereader06 @bunnyboo10154 @itsamberh @hypothetical-cynicism @sp00der-m00n @molesandmischief @ellie-bee242 @nocturnalzeal @ktrivia @pacifythepanda @xqueenarianax @justsomeboringperson @wittystiles @gluetwentyfourobrien @stopit-ihateyou @lovefilledtragedy @r0s3mm @loveforbrains @arikachang @all-alone-he-turns-to-stone @susybird @omgimafuckingmermaid @chloboww2001 @mf-despair-queen @cafe-a-sabor-chocolate @live-laugh-lydia-93 @afraidofyourownminddrreid @anastasiaaaaa @shareece-erica @stilinski-lover-24 @youshiverwhenyouhearmyname

[bethanydelleman]

Jane Austen is kind of my escape from the real world, but the issues of the day keep intruding on my enjoyment when I engage with the fandom.

How can I help seeing in the victim blaming of Lydia, modern day people who victim blame rape victims and deny abortion because women should know better than to have sex outside of marriage? (and my, the memes that say "If you don't want a Wickham don't be a Lydia"... do you entirely forget the lesson of Georgiana?... And the people who say, "Ha ha, Wickham has to deal with Lydia forever. What a punishment. I don't want to even get into how much that bothers me)

How can I help but despair of humanity when people say Lydia, Wickham, Willoughby, Henry, and Mary Crawford WILL NEVER CHANGE? You think a 16 year old is finished??? You think people in their early twenties never learn better? I can't help thinking that these are the same people who want to lock up a 14 year old and throw away the key.

I know that fiction is a different thing, but I can't help wondering when people are so uncharitable to fictional characters, how charitable could they possibly be when something similar happens in their own lives? It makes me wonder, and sometimes it makes me sad.

[hellsangelsheavensrejects]

The Purgatory Files: You Move Me (Into the Dark): Chapter 2

CW: child endangerment

Purgatory’s library was so small that Harry wondered if they’d be able to gather the information they were looking for. But then again, maybe the smaller town would have lent itself to a better collection of family records.

They made their way to the reference section. Harry had jotted down the family names of the disappeared children, and now pulled the paper out of his pocket to glance at it. “Check for census records, genealogies… uh, I can’t really use a microfiche without frying it, but you could also cross-reference newspaper articles. Look for obituaries, marriages, birth announcements, that kind of thing.”

“This whole you not being able to use modern day tech is annoying,” Wynonna informed him as she plucked the list from his hand and perused it. “Waverly has been through all these enough…So…that sort of shit would probably be downstairs. In the records.”

“Guess we’ll start there, then.”

They went downstairs. The records archive was larger than Harry had anticipated for such a small town, but then again, it had a lot of history– both written and hidden. For the time being, they were looking for the written history. You had to familiarize yourself with what was written before you could read between the lines and form a picture of what was hidden. He selected several books from the shelves and carried them to a table to dig through.

Wynonna slid into a chair at the table, then leaned across the table to grab one of the more recent–if you could call ten years recent–books to look through. As she moved, her hair swept forward in a luxurious fall of dark curls that Harry had to remind himself not to reach out and touch. She sat back with the book, and Harry cracked open one of his own. Riveting reading, these census records. He was on pins and needles waiting for the sequel.

After a long stretch of near silence, Wynonna hazarded a glance to Harry. “You can trust him. Dolls.”

Harry looked up at her. “Maybe.” When he’d first shaken the deputy marshall’s hand, he had felt a current of power there, restrained but very present. It didn’t necessarily mean Dolls was up to no good, but it did mean he was probably hiding something, as Wynonna seemed none the wiser about it. “Don’t think he trusts me, though.”

Her lips curved up into a wry smile. “If the situation was reversed would you trust you? Far be it from me to sound like an actual grown up but…It’s suspicious. And that’s saying something for Purgatory.” She paused long enough to lean a little closer, squinting at one of the names that was written down. 

Glancing up at Wynonna, he sighed. She did have a point. If the roles were reversed, he’d be suspicious of him too. His eyes lowered to the book again, but after a few seconds they strayed back up to settle on Wynonna again. “I get the feeling he thinks I’m encroaching on his territory.”

Wynonna caught Harry’s gaze and rolled her eyes. “Really? That’s what it boils down to? Macho male bullshit like TERRITORY? You’re men, not dogs.”

“Hey, take it up with him. He’s the one trying to murder me with his eyes every time he sees me. I’m just trying to do my job.” Whatever the hell that job was. “Look, I get it. I do. But the fact is, I’m kind of stuck here until I accomplish whatever it is I’m supposed to accomplish here. And–” he gestured to the pile of books spread across the table. “–I’m pretty sure this is a part of it.”

“He’s my boss. So…any murder eyes you’re getting are because of that. And he’s just trying to do his job too.”

She flipped another page and fell silent long enough to scan more names. A whole lot of dead ends. Wynonna made a face at herself. Okay that was awful even for me. Her hand rested on the record book that she was knee deep in.

“Johnson,” she said. “That’s a name that’s shown up a lot. About as common as your run of the mill Brittany but it’s something.”

“Well, it’s something to go on.” Harry leaned over to take a look at the book Wynonna was perusing. “Let’s keep following the trail. See if they’re connected with the same family, and what families that family is connected to, and so on and so forth. And we can also research the Joneses in Purgatory. If these kids are all related, there’s got to be a meaningful common thread in there somewhere. May be further back than that, but it’s a start.”

“It’s no Danvers, Putnam, or Good,” Wynonna muttered to herself. “And how related is related?” She resisted the urge to simply get up and walk away. Instead she shifted in her seat when Harry leaned over, intending to give him more room.

“Direct bloodlines from a common ancestor,” Harry said. “Family trees can branch in all different directions, but if there’s a common thread in there that goes back to a single source, that’s bound to be what we’re looking for.”

“So…a tree branch shaped needle in a haystack. Great. Awesome.”

Harry turned a page and frowned at one of the names in an early 19th century genealogy record. “Robert Jones, married one Penelope Lombardia, daughter of Jack and Lydia. Lombardia. Why does that name ring a bell?”

Wynonna leaned over to look at the line of text Harry had his index finger on. “Don’t know. But it does for me too.” She huffed and shook her head. “Damn. Wish Waverly was here. This is the kind of thing that’s right up her alley. She’s an information-gathering machine. Hell, she does this kind of thing for fun.” Wynonna chuffed and shook her head, as if she couldn’t fathom anyone digging through a century’s worth of geneological and census records for fun.

Harry couldn’t say he blamed her. “Guess it’s down to us masochists, then.”

Speaking of information-gathering machines, Harry wished he had brought Bob along on this mysterious, ultra-secretive secret mission. You’d think a massive repository of knowledge would be helpful in a situation like this, but he’d left the skull and its resident spirit of air safely ensconced at the Homestead this morning.

Probably would be a bit awkward anyway, talking to a skull in a public library. Besides, Bob had been... more than reluctant to come along on this mission, and hadn’t been willing to explain why, except that Harry himself had ordered him not to say. Which made about as much sense as peanut butter with ketchup.

Unless…

Unless the person who “hired” you had a huge grudge against that massive repository of knowledge to such an extent that the aforementioned massive repository of knowledge shit his metaphorical pants whenever said person was brought up.

Hm. A big, bad, ominous hm.

If it was Mab who orchestrated all this, what the hell was she after? It couldn’t be good. It never was with Mab. It was more likely to be torturous and mind-bogglingly terrifying with imminent danger to life, limb, and sanity. That was more her speed.

Harry absently scribbled the name Lombardia down on the little steno pad he always carried around in his coat pocket, and looked up as Dolls made his way down the stairs.

“Got hair samples from three of the kids,” Dolls said as he approached, a small stack of folders in one hand. He handed three small evidence bags to Harry, a child’s name scrawled in black marker ink on each bag, and studied the wizard’s face for a few seconds. “This spell of yours gonna deliver, Dresden?”

“Remains to be seen.” Harry slid the samples into his pocket and rose from his chair, slinging his backpack over one shoulder. “You two might want to come with. If this works, the window of opportunity for finding them could be narrow.”

Wynonna flashed a quick, ready smile at Dolls before all too happily getting up from her seat. “Like I would stay in mouldy yesteryear.”

Harry made his way up the stairs back to the ground level, Dolls and Wynonna in his wake. “Any headway on the paranormal angle?” he asked Dolls as he walked.

“I cross-referenced the dates on the historic case files with the accounts of unexplained phenomena that BBD inherited when it was formed.” Dolls gestured with the battered old folders in his hand. “There were some freak weather patterns centered around the time period. Hurricane-force thunderstorms. Hail. Cyclones. Even supposedly rained frogs once, but that was never verified.”

“Big magic can effect weather patterns,” Harry said, reaching the top of the stairs and turning to face Dolls. “And the rain of frogs. That can be a glaring neon sign that someone’s messing with the natural order. You’re sure they were real frogs?”

“Yes. That much was verified.”

“Anything else?”

“An apparition seen about town. A bull-headed man, flaming eyes. According to the earliest witnesses, it would appear for a few seconds in a faint, translucent form, then vanish. Never did harm to anyone. The figure got to be a bit of a local legend, supposedly appearing every Halloween. The stories got more and more embellished and ridiculous as time went on.” He glanced at Wynonna. “You grew up around here, Earp. You’ve probably heard them. Horny Henry, passes from Hell to Purgatory every Halloween, looking for souls to eat. Near as I can tell, though, we haven’t had a verified sighting of him since just after the turn of the last century.”

Wynonna raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, the Halloween Krampus. A lot of the parents would use him as an excuse to keep kids in. Or at least go home early.” She paused. “I tried to avoid talking about him when I was younger. Because he was a demon and I was already crazy.”

Harry snorted as he pushed open the glass-paned door and stepped outside. “Horny Henry. Colorful.”

“So are the locals,” Dolls remarked.

Harry grunted. “Point taken.”

[pariswrites-blog]

So I decided to make a large list of plots / faces / ships that I want, which you can find below the cut. It’s long. Check it out and message me/like this if you’re interested in any of them!

MOST WANTED

So I’ve got 3 ships that I want most of all: Niels Schneider x Xavier Dolan, Daniel Sharman x Frank Dillane, and Niels Schneider x Daniel Sharman. I’m completely open plot wise for any of these though for the Niels x Daniel one, I did make this post earlier and still 100% stand by it. I will love you forever if you do one of these with me.

CANONS

TEEN WOLF

I love this show too much and am so sad to see it go so why not do some 1x1s for it? 

I love playing Isaac tbh and would love to have some ships for him. Allison x Isaac is like my OTP so if someone did that with me I would scream? I’ve also always been intrigued with the idea of Lydia x Isaac so I would totally love it if someone did that one too (and I’m cool with changing Holland’s face if you’re uncomfortable with her). Scott x Isaac, Stiles x Isaac, Jackson x Isaac are all some other suggestions. I’m intrigued with Boyd x Isaac as well so that’s a suggestion there too.

Also, sorry Thiam shippers, but I’m 100% forever on the Briam train so if someone would play Liam against my Brett, I’d be in heaven.

IN THE FLESH

Okay so, fun fact, this blog was re-purposed from an rp blog for a group that sadly died. It was an ITF inspired rp and I loved the character I played there and would love to bring him back. There was also a wanted connection I had for him that never got filled but that would be really great as a 1x1. You can read about my character Apollo Bellerose (Niels Schneider fc) here but here’s also a summary of the idea.

(Muse A is Apollo, Muse B would be your character.)

M/M -- Muse A was a wild child, a feral animal of fire and rule-breaking. Hopes for him were dashed at an early age as he set himself up as the trouble-maker. Muse B was the opposite -- tempered and popular. The only reason their paths crossed was because they grew up in the same small town, in the same class. But that should’ve been it. It was a surprise to everyone when Muse B and Muse A started hanging out together, soon becoming inseparable. They were just children but they were attached at the hip, growing into adolescence and teenagers. Muse A was still wild, Muse B was still calm -- fire and water, red and blue. When they were sixteen, their friendship evolved into something more intimate. Though the relationship could be fraught at time -- Muse A to blame in almost every case -- their bond ran deep. Or it did, until Muse B died suddenly. It was an accident or heart failure or something similar, sudden and unexpected. Too soon. One might’ve expected Muse A to go off the deep-end but, rather, he was numb, going through the motions. That was until the Rising happened and the dead came back. The world ground to a halt but with the PDS sufferers in treatment centers, the world is returning to normal and Muse A is getting back on his self-destructive track. He refuses to acknowledge that overwhelming possibility that Muse B would be one of those PDS sufferers, going so far as to avoid Muse B’s grave. With the PDS sufferers returning to Roarton though, it’s only a matter of time before Muse A wouldn’t be able to deny to it. But will an apocalypse be enough to sever their bond? Probably not.

My main suggestion for B was Xavier Dolan though I also originally suggested Daniel Sharman and Keith Powers. Matt Daddario, Bob Morley, and Dominic Sherwood would also work though Xavier and Daniel would be preferred. This is, like, one I really, really want to do still.

XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS

Campy 90s shows for the win (oh, and fuck you Looper -- it’s still perfectly watchable now). Anyways. I really want a Xena x Gabrielle plot, two bad-ass women travelling through the ancient world, kicking godly asses. As much as I love Lucy Lawless and Renee O’Connor, I realize that they’re not really usable so I’m totally down for changing the faces. Just... Please. Badass women and a canon that totally allows for AUs in all time periods -- it’d be awesome.

THE ORIGINALS

So um... I don’t want like a really super canon 1x1 here but like, after Koleb died, I got in my head this idea of what if, when Davina brought back Kol, Kaleb hitched a ride back. Kaleb’s bitter af but he was always kind of the way in my mind. The pairing would be Davina x Kaleb and we could also make this an OT3 if there was someone who’d like to play Kol as well but that’s not necessary for me.

LES AMOURS IMAGINAIRES

Uh... Indie French cinema for the win? Yeah, I know this won’t get any bites but I’m gonna try anyways. Basically a few years after the end of the movie, Francis and Nicolas meet again. There’s been some maturing, maybe Francis isn’t as close to Marie anymore (or maybe she got married or something). It’s slow-burn reconnecting and falling in love.

FEAR THE WALKING DEAD

So... I know Troy’s a POS person but I think there was potential for evolution in his character. He was isolated from a young age with an abusive father and alcoholic mother which didn’t give him much of a fighting chance in becoming a better person. Off the ranch though, I think he could have evolved. He also had a ton of useful information about walkers. Anyways, I’d like to give him that arc. Also I want to explore that mad chemistry between Nick and Troy so yeah. This masterlist might be good for some general plot ideas and tbh the “Who’s baby is this?” one just screams Trick to me.

GREEK MYTH

This can be like modern or actual myth -- either’s cool. 

Zeus x Ganymede. Either historical like Zeus kidnaps him to be the wine-pourer and Zeus wants him but Ganymede is just perpetually pissed with him for KIDNAPPING him and Zeus has to win him over. Or maybe something modern that’s more sugary daddy/baby-ish?

Telemachus. I really love my baby Telemachus? Or Telemaque as the French would say. But, basically, there’s this suitor and he’s one of the younger ones, probably 25 or less, and not really in the running to win Penelope’s hand but eh. He doesn’t really care. He likes to tease Telemachus but as things get worse in Ithaca, he realizes he’s worried about Telemachus and starts teaching him how to fight and defending him and they start falling in love. He be all like ‘I’ll go with you’ when Telemachus goes to find his father (even though he doesn’t) and, when Odysseus returns, Telemachus has to defend him because he was technically one of the suitors and just... Please. (I’d play Telemachus.)

Odysseus x Penelope. Clever Odysseus and clever Penelope, dominating and tricking the world with their superior minds. A modern!AU.

HARRY POTTER

I love this universe so I’m super down for anything. I won’t do anything set at Hogwarts because I can never remain interested in that tbh but other stuff is cool. I highkey ship Remus x Sirius and would love to write them as long as the faces aren’t Andrew Garfield or Ben Barnes. I also love all the potential in the fucked up dynamic between Fenrir and Remus. I usually end up playing Fenrir but if someone wanted to let me play Remus in that, I’d adore you forever. A Regulus x Remus one would be awesome too. A Nymphadora x Remus ship would be cool too, as would a James x Lily or Lily x Marlene. Outside the Marauders era, someone needs to give me a Ginny x Cho ship. I also wrote a next gen son of Greyback (Lycus Greyback) once that I’d love to bring back. Maybe with Teddy? Or OCs -- OCs in the HP universe are totally okay with me.

PLOTS

So this tag has the plots I want but some I particularly want.

X. I’d like to be Muse B and maybe like have Tom Ellis as A? Or Jason Momoa? Idk. I’m open but I think it’d be super fun.

X. I’d be cool with playing either in this plot; I’d love to see Troye Sivan as A but again open but fun sounding.

“you’re supposed to be on a blind date with someone but you sat down at the wrong table and i haven’t been able to get a word in edgewise to tell you that and it’s been thirty minutes” from this post. I’ve no preferences on genders or faces just I think this could be cool.

Yo I’ve mentioned this multiple times not but THIS PLOT with Daniel Sharman as A and Niels Schneider as B -- let me play B and love. me.

“what is the ONE thing i asked you NOT to do tonight?” “raise the dead…” “AND WHAT DID YOU DO?!” “…raised the dead…” from this post. I really want to play a necromancer? Maybe we could do a Trick!AU where the walkers are because of necromancers and Troy has had to repress the fact he’s one his entire life and then Jeremiah and Jake are dead and yeah. But we could also do this as entirely OC. I’d still love it be necromancer-caused zombie apocalypse but I’m cool with other stuff.

“i’m a ghost and i’m trapped in the graveyard and i don’t normally talk to mortals but bro i have to ask wtf are you doing hanging around a graveyard is your life really this sad” from this post. open and fun again!

X. PLEASE. Any sort of serial killer plot would be awesome. Which is a weird fucking thing to say but okay.

“you and your friend always sit at the table a couple down from mine and gossip in [insert language here], which happens to be a language i’m currently learning. i’ve been eavesdropping to try and improve my listening comprehension and oh my god are you actually talking about how hot i am???” -- this please, from this post. maybe like a daniel sharman x tyler posey? or idk.

literally anything from this post but like i mention “who’s baby is this? au” for Trick in a canon divergent plot (ie. after they leave the ranch, before they get to the dam)

also this could also work for xavier dolan x niels schneider.

SHIPS

So how about a Xavier Dolan x Daniel Sharman? Or Jenna Thiam x Niels Schneider? Also Jack Falahee, Crystal Reed, Kat McNamara, Conrad Ricamora x Daniel Sharman. Other ones that don’t include Daniel, Xavier, or Niels: Eva Green x Caitlin Stasey (I’d also be cool with playing Eva if we used them for Xena and Gabrielle), Riz Ahmed x Fawad Khan (Fawad as a multi-billionaire playboy and Riz as a devoted grad student, maybe?), Charlie Hunnam x Jason Momoa, Marlon Teixeira x Willy Cartier, Andreja Pejic x Hari Nef, Andrew Garfield x Ben Barnes (but not as Remus and Sirius), Sofia Boutella x Charlize Theron.

FACES

It’s very clear that I love Daniel Sharman and Niels Schneider so they will always be most wanted, with Xavier Dolan as a close third. I feel most comfortable with them tbh and have the most muse for them (also I’ve made like 400 gifs of Niels). If you want to make me happy, let me play one of them and play one of the others against me. I would like to branch out at some point though so some others. There are honestly too many for me to list in their entirety so I’ll list only ones I have mentioned already. Bold are ones I want to play, italics I want used against me, plain are the ones I have no preference about (though I’d be open on most of the bold ones too).

Alycia Debnam-Carey, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Samuel Larsen, Adrianne Palicki, Laith Ashley, Elliot Fletcher, Iskra Lawrence, Lisa Teige, Iman Meskini, Hale Appleman, Tarjei Sandvik Moe, Adelaide Kane, Alexandra Daddario, Amber Heard, Josh Holloway, Angelina Jolie, Arden Cho, Barbara Palvin, Alex Saxon, Alexander Koch, Bianca Santos, Caity Lotz, Camila Quieroz, Cara Delevigne, Blake Michael, Avan Jogia, Austin Butler, Diego Barrueco, Bill Skarsgard, Booboo Stewart, Chloe Bridges, Byun Baek-Hyun, Diane Guerrero, Carlos Valdes, Josh Thomas, Dichen Lachman, Christopher Larkin, Eddie Redmayne, Ezra Miller, Gaspard Ulliel, Emeraude Toubia, Emilia Clarke, Famke Janssen, Gabriella Wilde, Halston Sage, Dev Patel, Douglas Booth, Godfrey Gao, Harry Shum Jr., Karen Fukuhara, Kiowa Gordon, Landon Liboiron, Matt Hitt, Matthew Gray Gubler, Keira Knightley, Kiana Lede, Lana Condor, Liza Soberano, Maira Walsh, Jamie Blackley, Jordan Fisher, Jamie Campbell-Bower, Megan Fox, Naomi Scott, Max Irons, Reece King, Richard Harmon, Natalia Dyer, Phoebe Tonkin, Priyanka Chopra, Madelaine Petsch, Seo Kang-Joon, Steven R. McQueen, Steven Yeun, Seychelle Gabriel, Shelley Hennig, Skyler Samuels, Haruma Miura, Lee Hyun-Jae, Thomas McDonell, Toby Regbo, Tom Holland, Tyler Blackburn, Joe Manganiello, Tyler Hoechlin, Cengiz Al, Froy Gutierrez, Tanya Beatty, Victoria Moroles, Zoe Kravtiz, Yoon Jeonghan.

This is not all-encompassing. There are plenty more faces. In fact, I’d love to use model faces without any resources -- just some old-fashioned writing, maybe some static icons if we feel like it.

[tonyredgrave]

It’s late and stuff so no one will probably see this but if anyone is interested a joining a group that’s been open for over a year and a half, with solid activity and great members/admins, and that’s just about to start a new plot arc, come check out @hellandbackhq. 

I play Isaac Lahey, Lillian Martin, and Liodes. It opened in February of 2016 and I joined in April of 2016 so I’ve been there for over a year and have loved every moment of it. We’ve still got some great canons like Scott, Jackson, Kate, the twins, Parrish, Hayden, and more. I’d love to see Erica, Boyd, or Camden. If playing a canon doesn’t interest you, OCs are always great. I put a couple connection ideas for my character beneath the cut but you can check out other wanted connections on this page. Basically, I’d just really love to see some more players.

Liodes ( @liodxs​ ) :

So uh... Liodes is 2500+ years old and is basically your grandpa if your grandpa was referring to ancient rome/greece when talking about ‘back in his day’. He’s never been to America before and actually only recently rejoined the world after about a 500 year hiatus. Before that though, he was mostly an observer. He doesn’t get people in the slightest but he tries. He’s like a very curious cat -- if that cat need salt water to survive.

There aren’t a lot of options here simply because he’s not been around for a while and isn’t from America but there is one.

Basically, there was this guy, an American in Greece probably there on a study abroad program, who met a Liodes who didn’t understand a single thing about the modern world -- I mean that literally. He probably watched Liodes walk out of the ocean and was like ‘oh fuck’. This guy was from Beacon Hills so he probably understand something was up with him but anyways. He helped Liodes relearn the world and taught him English (and how to survive like seriously).

You don’t have to go with this part but here are my thoughts on why they ended up going separate ways: this guy started falling for Liodes but, because Liodes is about as perceptive as a rock, he wouldn’t know. This would frustrate this guy and would cause the guy to have had enough and say he was done with Liodes. Also maybe his study abroad was coming to an end or something. Again, this doesn’t necessarily have to be a part of it, but I think it’d be cool. Whatever the case, I don’t think Liodes would know that this guy was originally from Beacon Hills (or he wouldn’t remember at least) and I don’t think this guy would be that thrilled to see him. We can plot more over IMs but tbh this is at the top of my list of wanted connections.

Anyways... Because there are so many gifs of them together (and kissing!), I’d really love to see Xavier Dolan in the role. Doesn’t have to be him but like this scene, and this one, and this one make him perfect. Pretty please? Avan Jogia, Luke Pasqualino, Frank Dillane, Ahn Hyo-Seop, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, and Tom Holland could be some other suggestions.

Isaac Lahey ( @il-scarvves ) :

So, like I mentioned, I’d love to see Camden. If you don’t remember who that is, it’s Isaac’s big brother who joined the military and died. Except... Maybe he didn’t? Who knows, he could’ve been presumed dead. Or maybe something supernatural has managed to bring him back. Idk, but I’d love to see him. I’d recommend Sam Underwood, Max Riemelt, or Xavier Samuel as the fc though I’m always open to others.

I also wouldn’t mind some cousins or other extended family? My hc about Isaac’s family is that his mother’s side owns and runs the funeral home and cemetery. After Michael (Isaac’s dad) lost his job or quit or whatever, they gave him a job in the cemetery and Isaac ended up getting brought on by his dad. They were never that involved with Isaac or Michael though and so things are probably really awkward between all of them. Uncles, aunts, or cousins -- we can talk more about this over IMs or whatever. Literally any fc that could be related to Daniel Sharman.

People Isaac met in France. I’ve currently got a plot going that this rather cult-like pack Isaac ran into in Paris has found him and followed him over the pond because they see him as an escaped member. This could be one of them (if so, shoot me a message and we can discuss it more!) or it could just be someone else he met in France. Any species, any face. Literally entirely up to you.

Lillian Martin ( @lxllian ) :

Oh lord so Lillian is... something. I think I need to recap her arc before I even try to suggest connections here. Anyway so Lillian always sort of feared and blamed the supernatural but, after everything and all the deaths, she decided to become a hunter. A bad hunter. I’m literally writing a thread rn where her sister, Lydia, comes across after her first kill as a hunter. She started off as a really sweet and innocent character but she’s just... not anymore. She’s changed.

So former friends. I guess they’re not former but Lillian has changed. She used to be a good girl with good friends and grades but she’s now barely going to school and definitely not hanging with the same crowd (I imagine a semi-popular crowd) as before. Any fc or gender. Could even do like an exes or former crush plot and they’re confused about Lillian’s 180 (even if they don’t know about the supernatural).

Hunters, or new friends I guess. Join Lillian in the villain club basically. I made the skeletons of some hunters you might be interested in here but they could also be entirely OC if you felt like it.

[thejakeformerlyknownasprince]

Character Names in Eleutherophobia

Since I’ve had a few people ask me about the character names in Eleutherophobia, I figured I’d run down the whole list.  These names are approximately in order of appearance in my various fics.  To be clear: this is not crossover fiction.  These are supposed to be nods to these characters, not the characters themselves.  Bearing that in mind, in approximate order of appearance:

Day the Earth Stood Still

Essa 412: a yeerkanization of “Boy 412,” the main character of the Septimus Heap series.  In my opinion, the second best treatment of the impact of war on children ever written into a modern fantasy series.

Leslie Burke: the deuteragonist of Bridge to Terabithia.  The character always reminded me of a younger Rachel, so I chose to give the name to the bearer of Rachel’s death.

Anne Shirley: the main character of Anne of Green Gables, who often goes underestimated for the extent to which she is a tough, complex, socially awkward heroine written in 1908.

George Little: the younger brother of the title character of Stuart Little.  Mostly named because I wanted to give David a last name that implied cowardice without being ridiculously obvious about it.

Lost World

[Steve] Carlsberg: the not-quite-antagonist of Welcome to Night Vale.

Akira 

Dr. Miranda Franklin: named for Miranda of Dr. Franklin’s Island.  Kind of a pun on my part: the plot of that book involves one of the main characters involuntarily turning into an anaconda. 

Jennifer Murdley: titular character of Jennifer Murdley’s Toad, one of the books in Bruce Coville’s Magic Shop series who learns the very hard way to love herself. 

Mrs. [Hannah] Gruen: Nancy Drew’s housekeeper.

THX 1138

Joey Costello: the deuteragonist of Tangerine, a story about two boys who have very different sets of troubles with their respective older brothers. 

Dr. Pendanski: one of the incompetent counselors from Holes by Louis Sachar.

Jodi O’Shea: far and away my most pointed literary allusion.  Jodi is a minor character in The Host by Stephenie Meyer, a book which I love (except for the extremely problematic ending, but I’ll get back to that). The Host is essentially a love story between a yeerk (Wanda) and a human (Ian) whose entire plot is driven by consent negotiations.  It’s about Wanda and Ian wishing they could be together but knowing they never will because they can’t be without violating the right to consent of the yeerk’s host, Melanie.  Melanie, meanwhile, is in love with a different guy... Who can’t be with her either without violating Wanda’s right to consent.

[SPOILER WARNING] Eventually Ian resolves this love quadrangle by putting Wanda inside a human (“Pet,” and don’t get me started on that name) who has been a controller for so long that she has forgotten how to exert her own conscious will.  Wanda and Ian presumably do the horizontal tango using that host instead, AND THIS IS TREATED AS A HAPPY ENDING.  Jodi O’Shea also meets the same fate as Pet: Jodi has forgotten how to feed herself or move on her own, so her own husband decides that they should just put her yeerk, Sunny, back in her head.  Sunny claims that Jodi is brain-dead... But Sunny is also strongly motivated to lie.  (There are also implications that Jodi’s husband becomes romantically involved with Sunny instead, a plot which is so horrifying it deserves its own blog post.)  Most importantly, all the main characters are really happy that these poor hosts are vegetables.  There is an entire subpopulation of humans who have become entirely dependent on their alien slave masters for survival... and this fact is treated as the solution to all the characters’ problems.  It’s celebrated.  And, yeah, both THX 1138 and Ghost in the Shell contain some pretty pointed commentary from me on why I find this ending to be so deeply unfortunate.  [END SPOILERS]

Ghost in the Shell

Mary Lennox: the main character of The Secret Garden, the first book without pictures I ever read on my own. 

Rose Rita: main character of The Letter, the Witch, and the Ring, and arguably one of the first genderqueer characters to make it into a children’s fantasy novel.

Margaret White: the antagonist of Stephen King’s novel Carrie, obsessed with preserving the innocence (and thus the dependent ignorance) of her teenage daughter.

Sophie Hatter: main character of Howl’s Moving Castle, who does in fact make her own clothes.

[Mr.] Broxholm: the titular alien from My Teacher Flunked the Planet by Bruce Coville, one of the most awesome and profound children’s sci-fi novels I have ever read.

Anita Psammead: a nod to The Five Children and It by E. Nesbitt, one of the first ever fantasy novels written for children. 

Miss Zarves: the teacher from Sideways Stories from Wayside School who doesn’t exist, because she was accidentally assigned to teach on a floor that was never built.

Nikto 770: nod to the code phrase in Day the Earth Stood Still (the original movie, not my fic).

Kit Rodriguez: the deuteragonist of the Young Wizards series, known for his passion and tendency to care deeply for others.

Aristotle “Ari” [Mendoza]: main character of Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe.

Dante [Quintana]: main character of Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe.

Gabriel “G.T.” Stoop: the main character’s mentor in Hope Was Here.

Elijah Springfield: a teen detective from the Veritas Project series.

Lydia [Bennett]: supporting character from Pride and Prejudice.

Nick Adams: a recurring Ernest Hemingway character.

T.J. Avery: next door neighbor to the Logan family in Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry.

Cecily Tallis: the narrator’s older sister (and unwitting victim) in Atonement by Ian McEwan. 

Maybeth Tillerman: one of the main characters in Homecoming by Cynthia Voight, a book that critics like to describe as “the anti-Boxcar Children” for its unflinchingly realistic portrayal of childhood homelessness.

June Boatwright: one of the protagonist’s mentors in The Secret Life of Bees.

Caitlin Somers: a Judy Blume character from Summer Sisters.

Alex Morales: main character of The Dead and the Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer.

Cooper-Trebond: shortening of “Alanna Cooper of Trebond” the name of the main character of Tamora Pierce’s Song of the Lioness series.

Jesse Hauptman: the protagonist’s stepdaughter and mentee in the Mercy Thompson series.

Timmy Dugan: lesser-known real name of WWII comic book hero Dum Dum Dugan, sidekick to Nick Fury and Howling Commando as part of the Marvel universe. 

Luke Castellan and Chris Rodriguez: two of the supporting characters from Percy Jackson and the Olympians.  I wouldn’t say that Luke Castellan is the first meatsuit I ever fell in love with (despite him being basically a voluntary controller and also a human dumpster fire), but I would say that he made my tendency to care too much about meatsuits in general about 1000 times worse.

“Cornelius”: okay, this one is in fact a crossover—that’s meant to be Tyler Durden, main character of Chuck Palahnuick’s Fight Club. He’s a schizophrenic, lonely guy who goes to support groups for various traumas that he never actually survived (usually under the fake name Cornelius) because that’s the only way he knows how to connect to people. 

Odette: the protagonist of Swan Lake and several subsequent adaptations, including Mercedes Lackey’s awesome The Black Swan.

Rod Allbright: another character from My Teacher is an Alien, because I love that series. 

Officer Nice: a nod to the song of the same name by Vio-Lence, one of my few non-literary allusions.

Gerald “Jerry” Cruncher: a guy who works as a porter (and remover of bodies) in of A Tale of Two Cities. 

Paul Edgecombe: main character of The Green Mile, a deeply conflicted prison guard who gets cast as Pontius Pilate in a modern-day gospel retelling.

Kate Malone: narrator of Laurie Halse Anderson’s amazingly powerful novel Catalyst.

Mae Tuck: matriarch of the titular immortal clan from Tuck Everlasting.

Annie Hughes: one of the main characters from The Iron Giant.

Kirsten Larson: one of the first characters from the American Girl series, an immigrant from Sweden who struggles to acclimate to the United States.

Adah Price: one of the co-narrators of The Poisonwood Bible, a disabled polymath who loves palindromes and puzzles.

Iris Chase: a society lady and heiress from The Blind Assassin, which chronicles family dysfunction and its unique impact on women over several generations. 

Dawn Schafer: part of the enormous rotating cast of protagonists from The Babysitters’ Club series, and one of my favorite characters as a kid.

Henry Case: main character of the genre-creating cyberpunk novel Neuromancer.

Parvana Weera: a tough, outgoing young woman whose struggle to keep her family safe during the American invasion of her home in Afghanistan forms the main plot of The Breadwinner.

Raven Madison: main character of Vampire Kisses, who spends a little too much time in her intense fantasy worlds and not quite enough connected to reality. 

Mr. [Bob] Grey: pseudonym used by the creature also known as Pennywise the Clown and simply “It” in several of Stephen King’s novels.

Ms. [Mary] Logan: mother of the main character in Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry, because I love that book.

Karana Nicoleño: although Karana, the main character of Island of the Blue Dolphins, doesn’t technically have a last name, her tribe is historically referred to as the Nicoleño.

Total Recall 

Vicky Austin: main character of A Ring of Endless Light, a book about coming to terms with dying—and about the many complex shades of victim blaming that can occur in light of unquantifiable tragedy.

Samuel Cornick: roommate to the eponymous Mercy Thompson of the bestselling Patricia Briggs series, a werewolf-doctor who continuously struggles to find meaning in an excessively long life and one of my favorite characters of all time.

The Thing from Another World

Seth Clearwater: a minor character in Eclipse, one of the youngest werewolves of the Quileute pack.

Captain William Nasland: one of the more obscure characters to hold the title Captain America; retconned into the role following Steve Rogers’s “death” in 1945.  Acts as both a hero and a villain because he has a well-intentioned but also closed-minded idea of what Captain America should be. 

Allison Chapman: main character of Sharing Sam, K.A. Applegate’s lesser-known novel about teenage basketball geeks who back their way into understanding the life, the universe, and everything.

Simon Grace: one of the main characters of the Spiderwick Chronicles.

Giselle Villard: one of the main characters from the Mystic comic book series who is awesome, tough... and more than a little power-hungry.

As far as I can tell, that’s it for the character names in Eleutherophobia.  I mentioned here why Marco’s last name is Alvarez and Cassie’s is Day in my series.  There are a few dozen other allusions as well (Tom and Bonnie bastardizing the “tears in the rain” speech from Blade Runner, Cassie quoting the epigraph from Home of the Brave, several nods to Remnants and Everworld and The One and Only Ivan, Marco making jokes about Lost World and Alien) and obviously all my fic titles are from classic sci-fi movies while all my song nods are The Best of 1990—2000, but as far as I know that’s it for allusions. If there are any that I missed, or that you’re still wondering about, let me know and I’ll happily clarify.