#leave it to them to speedrun to marriage

[bapydemonprincess]

O!Ciel: Status report on Grelle Sutcliff?

Sebastian: Target has been taken out, my lord. 😌

O!Ciel: Very go-

Sebastian: It was a lovely restaurant. Candlelit dinner. She proposed to me at the end of it. Her last name is "Sutcliff-Michaelis" now. 😌

[notedchampagne]

Is now the right time to ask even though it was a while ago about the Pyrrhawake pirate au you did😭I still think about it the designs were soooo good

teehee id gladly speak about it! a lot of these are cooypasted from discord so its a little disorganized but anyway

btw this au is now called nonapelagic zone. "The pelagic zone includes all ocean waters away from shores. The term pelagic is derived from the Greek word pelagos, meaning "open sea."" and they have nine seas now just because

in this au necromancy is a thing. harrowhark has a literal skeleton crew and gideons onboard it as a sort of prisoner as well

before gideon was with harrow she was raised by john like his little princess. she does rapier and normal swords because she needs the enrichment but god shes so depressed. one day she grabs some of johns money and tries to get one of his boats to ride around on. maybe to never come back in maybe to die in she doesnt care. then harrow ransacks her. kiris held hostage and made to swab the decks because she might be the prince BUT. shes not staying on that boat doing nothing

harrow has a davy jones type thing going on with alecto, who is kept in a well in brackish water underneath johns castle. harrows been looking for alecto for years

the other ship groups on here are pyrrhawake (broken up bc wakes in prison), the rest of boe (riding with pal and cam because theyre on their own atlantic type adventure to go to islands and log research), and the tridentarii (they are rich and have a silly yacht)

boe is a group of smaller ships with the hopers, wakers etc and they all have an "alliance" but only out of mutual distaste. all the houses are Lands but ninth was a little shitty island so after the death of harrows parents she took her loyal ones and made a ship

wake stole one of johns ships and ransacked him a few times before. she also sinks his other ships for the hell of it until she got captured and is behind bars. pyrrhas been trying to get her back

pyrrhas ship temporarily took over harrows and thats when pyr bonded with gideon, then returned her to john so that she could sneak in and release wake. a beautiful reunion + betrayal combo

some years later kiri runs away AGAIN. shes really truly so desperate bc johns trying to set her up for marriage to the third to see if itll make her normal. shes on the boats shes about to go off but then she sees a boat explode. and then another. hi wake. you picked a bad time to try and leave gideon. her revenge era where shes really intent on racking up bodies

gideon gets onto wakes ship, realizes shes her mom and that shes crazy, takes her leave and dips before she gets killed. she finds harrow in a cave with a little tattered sailboat still searching for alecto

harrow: aww. did the prince try to kill herself again

gideon: yes

harrow: say it

gideon: i dont WANT to go on your stupid ship

harrow: i will cut your blood on the tide pools and watch the sharks cut you holes

gideon: SHUT UP!!! just give me the fucking mop and a sword ok

after a few more brief adventurings w the sixth and second (john sent them to find kiriona) they go back to johns castle and harrow tries to rescue alecto, chained to the bottom of a well

you have to do cpr on alecto to wake her up harrow keeps trying to swim down there but ooooh. its so deep. shes trapped shes asleep harrow has to hold her breath and breathe it into her and then come back up alive. its tough

gideon comes in now because its been 2 hours and harrows not back and she finds alecto out and harrow half dead. harrow breathes life into alecto gideon does cpr on harrow ok. ok. its the rituals

meanwhile the sixth have been speedrunning treason in the bg like a fun cameo. theyve been imprisoned too and they helped griddlehark break out

johns mad at them i think this is about as far as it goes. alectos free YAY

there was a previous sidequest where the fourth are baby sailors trying to capture gh and they had to fucking return them back to land where theyre allied w the fifth laaaame

[half-as-big-as-life]

Okay, I have to ask about "The law & daniel molloy"

YIPPEE!!! Law & daniel molloy is my baby

There's 2 universes of it right now. Both are the same premise, but the minor characters are different. All human AU.

The Law & Daniel Molloy is a crossover with one of my favorite tv shows, The Law & Harry McGraw, which itself is a spinoff of Murder, She Wrote. Harry was in 6 episodes of MSW iirc, and the spinoff had 16 episodes before it was canceled.

The show revolves around Harry, who is a private investigator in boston. His closest friend works across the hall from him in the same building, a defense attorney named Eleanor Maginnis. Harry is kind of uncouth, but nice. Ellie is fancy. You wouldn't expect them to be as close as they are from appearances/personality alone.

Ellie's husband, Matt, died two years before the last episode, and the timeline is in spinoff hell because why wouldn't it be. Harry was an alcoholic and Matt, before he died, was the one who got Harry to attend AA.

Next is Harry's niece, EJ. She works for him as his assistant. Ellie's nephew Steve works for Ellie, and he's a tax lawyer.

There's other characters, like Cookie. He is the bartender at the bar/restaurant Harry loves. Everyone else thinks the food is bad except Harry.

As well as that, there is Tyler Chase, a district attorney, who hates Harry and is in love with Eleanor. He is... something. AND he was played by Peter Haskell, the guy from the Chucky movies, I guess.

I swear, all these characters are relevant.

PART 2: CHARACTERS

Daniel takes the role of Harry, and Armand of Ellie, and Marius of Matt. I've changed my mind about EJ and Steve, I think Sybelle may be EJ and Antoine be Steve.

Thorne is Cookie. That's not truly important but it is a silly little thing and why I mentioned Cookie at all. Yippee! Thorne!

And David as Tyler Chase.

PART 3: THE AUS THEMSELVES

Section 1

Like I said, there are 2 AUs. One is of an episode of the show, the other is the ACTUAL AU.

The one that is just an actual episode of the show is the last episode, Maginnis for the People, in which Ellie is upset when her friend is accused of murdering her (the friend's) husband, and hires some famous fuck from texas instead of her (Ellie).

In this AU, which I've called De Romanus for the People, the plot is the same.

Armand's work has been slow lately

He goes to a dinner party held by Louis and Lestat, David is there, as well as Madeleine. There's others who do not matter, perhaps

David asks (read: begs) Armand to work for him, and he denies

After the dinner party, the last person leaves (Madeleine), and Louis closes the gate and sets the alarm (the housekeeper is off for the night)

The next morning, the housekeeper comes in and finds Lestat dead, an apparent suicide. Louis is upset and confused, and people are acting very strange about him

They think Louis killed his husband! But he didn't :(

Daniel and Armand go to Louis, so Armand can talk to him. Armand comforts him a bit, until Louis gets a call. Its revealed that he'd already hired Raglan James as his attorney, and didn't need Armand for it

Daniel asks housekeeper about it all (im thinking the housekeeper may be Babette, either way doesn't matter) and learns that the marriage wasn't doing too good. Separate bedrooms, Louis having a possible affair. But the weird thing is? The alarm was off when Babette got there that morning...

David has Daniel thrown off the property, and Armand is here now and FREAKING OUT! Angrily agrees to lunch w David, that he may go to work there

Of all people, Louis hired that bitch Raglan James! Instead of Armand! His friend of many YEARS!

Speedrun of the next bits:

James asks Daniel to work for him, and eventually Daniel agrees, but James tries to get him to pay off a witness. He thinks Louis is guilty. Daniel and Armand fight over his working for James. Armand has lunch w David; Claudia and Madeleine meet for the first time. He really does go to work for David but HATES it. Quits. Daniel quits working for James, too. Louis shows up, hears that Armand thinks he's innocent, and him and Armand make up.

Eventually some things happen and the killer is revealed. I won't spoil it all. But the bad guy gets arrested and everything is OK.

Section 2

This AU is not based on an episode, just the premise of the show itself. It involves Louis and Lestat, with the murder of their daughter and trying to figure out who did it. There's less thought put into this one so far, but it's more important, as it's the actual canon for tL&DM

CONCLUSION

De Romanus for the People is NOT canon to the real lore, just kinda fun

If you made it to the end WOW cause I have typed far too many words here and I apologize. Passionate soul and all that

If you have lore questions feel free to ask because I am actually insane about the show + this AU

[mariana-oconnor]

The Crooked Man pt 1

He lived in a crooked house and walked a crooked mile and there was a crooked stile and... something crooked sixpence? Or something... I don't know. Nursery rhymes are weird.

One summer night, a few months after my marriage, I was seated by my own hearth smoking a last pipe and nodding over a novel, for my day's work had been an exhausting one.

Another one 'a few months after' Watson's marriage. So many shoved into so little time. But apparently he's actually put in a whole day's work this time. I'm kind of impressed.

I looked at the clock. It was a quarter to twelve. This could not be a visitor at so late an hour. A patient, evidently, and possibly an all-night sitting.

I know I'm prejudiced because I'm reading this knowing it's a Sherlock Holmes story, but clearly it's Holmes, Watson. Clearly. None of your patients would show up in the middle of the night because they know full well you're probably not there because you're probably haring around London with Holmes.

“You still smoke the Arcadia mixture of your bachelor days then! There's no mistaking that fluffy ash upon your coat."

I really enjoy the references to Holmes' knowledge of tobacco ash. It's such a nice thing to be carried through the stories, even when ACD forgets other aspects, we can always count on Holmes to know his ash.

"Sorry to see that you've had the British workman in the house. He's a token of evil."

The French workman, on the other hand is a memento of divine favour. And never allows the hobnails of his boots to leave dents on the floor of your home.

“Elementary,” said he.

I know he won't, but still...

"The same may be said, my dear fellow, for the effect of some of these little sketches of yours, which is entirely meretricious, depending as it does upon your retaining in your own hands some factors in the problem which are never imparted to the reader."

Now that's not really sportsmanlike detective fiction writing there. Although these were written before the genre was really set in stone. But it's considered best practice to make sure all evidence is there for the reader/watcher to put together these days. Suddenly saying at the end 'and of course, because of this footprint that I found earlier but haven't shown anyone yet the killer must be the identical twin who no one knew existed up to this point' is a bit rude. A lot rude.

Mostly the Holmes stories don't do that, though. ACD's pretty good at giving you all the information as you go along, not that they always work in the same way. But it's not like that super annoying thing they do in TV shows where one of the characters will be sent a text or a picture or overhear something and they'll get the big gasp of understanding but the viewer isn't let in on the secret. I hate that. Maybe if it's not a main POV character that's fine, especially if they're about to get killed because they know too much, but if we're following the main character and they get information then withholding it just so you can have a big reveal later is so irritating.

For those of you counting racist comments, add another to the tally. Native Americans this time, in case you were wondering.

“The problem presents features of interest,” said he. “I may even say exceptional features of interest. I have already looked into the matter, and have come, as I think, within sight of my solution. If you could accompany me in that last step you might be of considerable service to me.”

So we're coming into this one right at the end because Holmes wants his emotional support doctor to be with him for this. Reminds me of helping my Mum with crosswords. All I do is sit there and give wrong answers, she does it all herself, but she insists she couldn't do it without me. (This is a lie. She does them by herself all the time.)

We're going to have to catch up really fast, though. Remember what I was saying before about ACD being good at giving us the information as the detective gets i?, Yeah no. We're speedrunning this bitch after everyone else has been given a two-day head start.

“Could you go as far as Aldershot to-morrow?” “I have no doubt Jackson would take my practice.”

I know I joke about Watson never doing any work a lot, but I stg this guy never does any work. I expect Jackson is having all sorts of zany medical hijinks that Watson isn't around to see. I hope he's at least receiving adequate pay for all this extra work he's taking on.

"It is the supposed murder of Colonel Barclay, of the Royal Munsters, at Aldershot, which I am investigating.”

I hope this one's an actual colonel. Seems likely, seeing as he's dead and I assume the body has been identified, but we can't assume anything.

"It was commanded up to Monday night by James Barclay, a gallant veteran, who started as a full private, was raised to commissioned rank for his bravery at the time of the Mutiny, and so lived to command the regiment in which he had once carried a musket."

Okay, so he actually started from the bottom up, didn't buy his commission. How very Sharpe of him.

"There was, therefore, as can be imagined, some little social friction when the young couple (for they were still young) found themselves in their new surroundings."

In other words, they weren't posh enough and they didn't fit in with the officers.

How very Sharpe of them...

But apparently Nancy was (and still is) hot. So that helped.

"But they were regarded in the regiment as the very model of a middle-aged couple."

Never have I read a sentence before that made me so sure that people were kinky af. But I did promise no vibes, only facts. So sure, they were a perfectly respectable middle aged couple, devoted to each other and entirely faithful (coughtheywereswingerscough).

"He was a dashing, jovial old solder in his usual mood, but there were occasions on which he seemed to show himself capable of considerable violence and vindictiveness. This side of his nature, however, appears never to have been turned towards his wife."

I mean, that's not the most encouraging description of a person's temperament I've ever heard. And how do you know it was never turned towards his wife. Hmm... Come on, Colonel Barclay, please don't turn out to be a dick. I'm rooting for you here.

As much as the alliteration is pleasing, I don't like the combination of 'violence and vindictiveness', though. I know he's the one that ends up dying, but still... warning bells are ringing.

"The latter peculiarity took the form of a dislike to being left alone, especially after dark. This puerile feature in a nature which was conspicuously manly had often given rise to comment and conjecture."

OK, so occasionally violent, depressive episodes and a fear of the dark. This is reading a lot like PTSD to me, or at least indicative of some sort of trauma. Also, I hate the word puerile. I hadn't really thought about it before, but probably one of my least favourite words in the English language. Puerile... *shudder*

"Mrs. Barclay herself lit the lamp and then rang the bell, asking Jane Stewart, the house-maid, to bring her a cup of tea, which was quite contrary to her usual habits."

Oho, so we are presented with the mystery of the tea. Why did she ask for tea when she usually didn't? This feels like it might be relevant, as though she wanted the maid to come back for some reason. Or she just wanted a cup of tea for some reason. I mean, she was British, in general we don't need much of an excuse for a cup of tea. Not me personally, I hate the stuff. Weird bitter water. But the British obsession with a nice cup of tea? I can say that that stereotype is absolutely based in fact.

"The tea which had been ordered was brought up at the end of ten minutes; but the maid, as she approached the door, was surprised to hear the voices of her master and mistress in furious altercation. She knocked without receiving any answer, and even turned the handle, but only to find that the door was locked upon the inside."

Despite not liking tea, my cultural Britishness requires me to note that the tea was brewed for a reasonable amount of time. My brother assures me that 8 minutes is the perfect steeping time for a single teabag in a single mug.

The fact the door was locked is interesting. Maybe they just didn't want anyone to walk in on their argument (or their making up, if they're into that kind of thing), but that coupled with the unusual tea request makes me think that the wife at least wanted this to be overheard.

Did Jane Stewart hear both voices, or just one talking as though to someone else? It could have been acting on the wife's part.

"They all agreed that only two voices were to be heard, those of Barclay and of his wife."

No, two voices confirmed, that throws that idea out the window.

"Barclay's remarks were subdued and abrupt, so that none of them were audible to the listeners."

Oh, no we're back in the game. They couldn't hear him properly. Could have been his wife putting on a voice. Inconclusive evidence that the Colonel is still alive at this time. And perfect set up by her for an alibi...

‘You coward!’ she repeated over and over again. ‘What can be done now? What can be done now? Give me back my life. I will never so much as breathe the same air with you again! You coward! You Coward!’

That's certainly a statement. Very cryptic. No names given. No details. Just unspecified cowardice.

"His mistress had ceased to scream and was stretched insensible upon a couch, while with his feet tilted over the side of an arm-chair, and his head upon the ground near the corner of the fender, was lying the unfortunate soldier stone dead in a pool of his own blood."

Hmm... well, I feel like if it was her then she'd have had a better plan for getting out of there while leaving everyone thinking that the colonel was alive. Maybe she sent the maid for tea to get her out of the room rather than to make sure she came back.

Of course, if the second voice wasn't her putting on a voice, but she was instead arguing with a third person who is the 'coward' she was directing her remarks to before, that makes a certain amount of sense, but where did that person go? Did they sneak out of the window and out of sight in the time before the coachman managed to get outside?

No key in the room, either, which lends credence to a third person who ran off with the key.

"The servants deny having seen it before, but among the numerous curiosities in the house it is possible that it may have been overlooked."

I'd be inclined to believe them, considering it would be them who were cleaning the thing. I'd expect them to know every single item the colonel had on display and exactly how difficult it was to dust. They would absolutely hate that bloody thing and know every last inch of it.

"On my pressing her, however, she remembered that she heard the word David uttered twice by the lady. The point is of the utmost importance as guiding us towards the reason of the sudden quarrel. The Colonel's name, you remember, was James."

Well now I don't think there's a third person involved again, because now that's too obvious. It feels like that's got to be either a reference to something (It's been made very clear that she's religious, so David and Goliath? Biblical reference?) or The Colonel has another name for some reason. The emphasis on her being Catholic feels important, though... so I'm leaning towards biblical reference at this point. Although maybe the emphasis on Catholicism is because she had another husband who she thought was dead, but has now discovered that he's still alive and because she's Catholic she can't divorce... OR He had a previous wife who he divorced, but Nancy doesn't believe in divorce.

Also, some research into King David (of David and Goliath fame) indicates he was polygamous so BOTH of these things could be right at the same time.

Genuinely did not know he had multiple wives. Huh... They did not mention that in church... or Catholic school... or that one semester in University where we studied the bible as a literary text (so much begatting omg stop begatting - actually, they might have mentioned it at university, I switched off a bit after all the begatting...).

"It had set, according to their account, into the most dreadful expression of fear and horror which a human countenance is capable of assuming."

OK, we know he's afraid of the dark, so... what if in the argument, one of them broke the light and the room plunged into darkness. Then in terror he... fell on a weapon that shouldn't even have existed. Yeah, that needs work-shopping. But so far that's the only thing we know he was afraid of, so...

"No information could be got from the lady herself, who was temporarily insane from an acute attack of brain-fever."

Brain fever again! Take a shot!

"There had been a man in the room, and he had crossed the lawn coming from the road. I was able to obtain five very clear impressions of his foot-marks [...] But it was not the man who surprised me. It was his companion.”

Well that resolves that question. There was at least one other person in the room. So whoever they are, they took the key with them. Maybe one of them was called David and I was over-complicating things with the biblical references. Definitely think that the Catholicism has to come into play, because that was a very prominent thing we learnt about her and it seems like a weird thing to put in there if it isn't relevant. And why did she ask for the tea? Maybe it wasn't even for her. Maybe she was expecting someone else.

We haven't got any indication where the title comes from yet, either. So many mysteries to clear up in part 2.

The secret first wife could be the companion, though... Just saying.

[cursed-princess-club]

I wonder your opinion regarding CPC ships, at least woth the pre-existing 6 couples in CPC wiki (https://cursed-princess.fandom.com/wiki/Category:Relationship) a.k.a Maria/Blaine, Lance/Lorena, Frederick/Gwendolyn, Jolie/Nell, Jack/Lilyth (Leelathae). Thank you for seeing my message and sorry for asking too many at once!!!

ohhhh i find all these relationships interesting! Lots to unpack probably. this is all probably known stuff but uhh uh uh Yes

maria/blaine: you know when older sibling dilemmas. People Who get each other kind of but not really but also a little bit maybe . similarities but also really strong differences. yes, the pressure of being the eldest, but relations to those siblings greatly varying, and the contrasts in their support systems. Trying to put this idea into words raughh. HOW DO I SAY. well uh... idk idk something about the two most dedicated to the marriage the role they play for their families. Something about that relationship becoming what it is with the obsession and idolization then the heartbreak then the understanding and such- and i say this as someone who wasnt really invested in maria and blaine!!! The DRAMA dude

lance/lorena: good people! who seemed to vibe the best at first! Not the right place or the right time??? maybe ?? In another life they wouldve been gym bros yk. they adored each other but were also completely set up to feel bitter once the whole arrangement was revealed to be... Yeah.

gwen/fred: it's like if the two most open hearted doe eyed maybe maybe not insecure and self deprecating friends accidentally hurt each others feelings a lot/keep scaring each other. And stuff. u know how it is. I enjoy them and their development a lot! They need to catch a break so bad

jolie/nell: There is so much to explore with this relationship but it happens of screen so shout out the wonderful fan content of them out there! i like their dynamic :) haha wouldnt it be funny is jolie became an optometrist. That sounds like some shit lambcat would pull actually

lilyth/jack: veryvery VERY interesting. leelathae's story in general, what she gave up for jack?? the consequences?? Very compelling. The story of an immigrant woman marrying a foreigner and following him back to his country, and being looked down upon and his parents locked in the mindset that you dont belong here and you're tainting our bloodline- and how now she can no longer belong to her home island ever again, because of tradition and how she chose to leave it all behind. and yet she still loves him, and she gave up everything to be with him, because it's what made her happy. Ohhh and how that's been passed onto gwen. Mmmmm.

jamie/leopold: dareisay pygmalion and galatea type beat. Artist and muse. Muse and artist. the gwenfred situation speedrun, because their communication skills are better. people who create and put their passion into it all. and recognize that in each other perhaps. oooooo..

[archive-of-the-guild]

@diffxrentwxrlds asked: 🔥🔥 ___________________________________________________________

Send me a “ 🔥 “ for an unpopular opinion.

Bonus points if you include a topic. ( IE. shipping, roleplaying, ect. )

Now this one will probably ruffle some feathers but I was thinking about this earlier and my thoughts are scattered at the moment so bear with me as i try to get this down.

I have seen a LOT of people complain that Helluva Boss's Millie isn't as developed as a character as Blitz⌀ or Moxxie and.... I just... don't see it that way?

She doesn't have the trauma Moxxie has or the various ended friendships that Blitz⌀ has. From what i can gather, Millie has a stable and loving (If violent) family, a possibly sibling rivalry with Sallie May, kicks ass on the regular, and loves her husband. The only thing we don't really know with Millie is how she got with Chaz or how things ended between them. In fact, if they HAD told us, chances are it would have felt forced and unneeded. This doesn't make her underdeveloped, it just makes it so you can add on without shoving things down your throat.

Blitz⌀'s and Moxxie's characters are dependent on past trauma that needs to be explained in flashbacks or conversation.

Blitz⌀ seems to be trying to speedrun his development with all the shit going on between him and Stolas tbh and developing too fast for only 11 episodes.

I would say Moxxie is going at a decent pace but he's got a fatal flaw still going from episode one! MOXXIE CONTINUOUSLY UNDERESTIMATES HIS OPPONENTS!!! The family from episode one? Underestimated, fucked up the mission, got captured. Striker from episode 5? Let himself be overpowered instead of calling for help or going out the window, talking to his enemy like a DUMBASS while Striker approached, got captured. D.H.O.R.K.S in episode 6? Tried taking on two people at once while surrounded instead of taking cover with Blitz⌀ resulting in capture. Season 2 Episode 3, the latest one? Sat there telling off his father, WATCHED HIM GIVE HIS HENCHMAN A SIGNAL AND GOT HIS ASS TASED AND FUCKING CAPTURED!!!! THIS MAN HE'S KNOWN HIS WHOLE DAMN LIFE AND KNOW'S WHAT HE'S CAPABLE OF!!!!

And people think MILLIE is undeveloped?! She's probably going at the most decent pace out of all of them considering there's only been ELEVEN EPISODES!!!

In fact, now that Crimson was dealt with, there's a very good chance it could lead to some development for her! Please take this next bit as wishful thinking on my part. I don't follow anything on twitter and i don't know what Vivzie has planned or what's going on. Purely personal thoughts.

Crimson is PISSED at Moxxie and Millie. Moxxie for his defiance, and Millie for practically humiliating him at the wedding. The mob doesn't always take a direct route, they sometimes go after friends and family. With Millie not having much in the way of backstory (again, NOT a bad thing) this leaves her open for some ACTUAL development possibly dealing with a situation like that, especially if it puts strain on her marriage.

TL;DR: Millie is not underdeveloped. Blitz⌀ is overdeveloped and Moxxie is probably considered half developed because as much shit as i gave him, he is getting better in other areas.

It's only been 11 episodes. That isn't much for decent development room.

[toboldlynerd]

helloooo ela 😊✨!! glad your week has settled down a bit, hopefully you have an enjoyable weekend ahead of you!

i loved reading about your spotify wrapped, i haven’t listened to most of those artists/songs, so i will have to give them a try! i just listened to runaway by AURORA and i loved the way the song kept building and building, it felt almost cinematic 🎥💫. do you have a fav song by AURORA that you’d recommend 👀?

ahhhhh, your tea box sounds so cool!! is it designed to keep the tea fresh/preserved while you’re traveling, or just as a means of storage?? i’m a coffee girl through and through 😌 (and hot chocolate too, aksjsjjj that’s how i survive the winter months, but it can be our secret 🫶)

the 9-1-1 gay firefighters are also my blorbos-in-law 😂, i have yet to succumb and watch it but sounds like it might be inevitable! it looks like there was just a new season? did you enjoy it??

i looked up the summary for graceling, it seems very compelling! i haven’t read any fantasy since i was much younger but i’ve had a few recommendations for it recently, and i remember absolutely loving getting lost in those worlds as a kid 🦄

also, btw, i adored the cute animal gifs 🥺🥰, sending love your way 💙❄️✨

Hi yes hello,

This brightened my day for sure, thank you 🧡

Oh, you've asked the million dollars question lmao AURORA was my favorite artist this year (unsurprisingly) and I do love all her work. So much. It's hard to recommend her songs so I will try my best with 3 good vibes songs, 3 heart-wrenching songs and 3 in between.

Positive

1) Queendom (the YouTube video is so good!?!)

2)

3) Exist For Love (because that music video came out way earlier than planned because “her fans needed something to be happy about” and it is just so damn beautiful)

In between

1)

2)

3)

Heart-wrenching, tears possible

Murder Song (5, 4, 3, 2, 1) (yes, that specific live video for ultimate tear potential. Also tw murder as a significant plot point of the lyrics lol)

Through The Eyes Of A Child (yeah, that version is stripped back. Yeah I cried the first 3 times listening)

Boy In The Grass (it's live, I can't listen to it often cause the raw emotions rattle me every time because of the event the lyrics are based on tw gun violence and child death if you research)

Hehehhe you activated my trap card called “asking about something im passionate about”! This was so hard my dude, it took half an hour and I nearly made the list longer again.

It's just a habit I took over from my mum I guess? It's one normal teabox that gets the designated job of traveling tea box (a little bit like the jeans of teen girl book fame lmao) and then I've also bought some small one that I can use if I don't have much space to work with. It's a certain comfort to know you've got your favorite tea with you at all times...the bigger one is for loose tea leaves and the smaller one for tea bags btw hihi

Omg omgggg, friend, the gay firefighters have taken over my shipping juices since February and won't give them back for nothing 😅 Not gonna lie, a big part of my enjoyment comes from the way it's more of an ensemble show and how they incorporated canon gay and lesbian couples in the main cast (yes, you heard right! POC lesbian main character firefighter!!!!! I am still crushing on her and her wife omfg) and those two blorbos with the most excellent little boy (Chris 🧡) made me read the trope friends to husbands (as in “24hrs marriage speedrun” lets get married - why not right now - alright then) with glee and acceptance of in-character choices that got them there. They are so idiotic sometimes but also so so intelligent 😂✌️

Do you have a favorite artist? Favorite ice cream? (mine is ben and Jerry's cookie dough lol) is there a favorite holiday sweet you always Es eat this time of year?

All the best and warm greetings from a little blanket burrito called Ela ✨🧡

[deyadee]

It Doesn’t Sink In Until You Actually Look in the Mirror

I feel like recently once been doing better compared to past years. I’d say I only have a complete breakdown like once a week to a month depending on how things are going. Though there’s still always a feeling at the back of my mind no matter what I’m doing air where I am that’s always scratching and clawing away at me. I have nothing to look forward to. I distract myself day to day with whatever mini arch’s going to get some comedy for the people who are still watching this late into the series, after the quality’s severely gone down and the plots are just getting reused from previous seasons. I don’t really know what kind of job I would want to do because I get bored of things so quickly, and any job I find that I do like I usually leave because I think I can do better money-wise. Though I never save up to move out. What’s the point? To speedrun my fucking depression? Because I know the second I’m completely out on my own for like a week I’ll blow my brains out. I try to pretend like I don’t need people, and I’m pretty introverted so it’s not like I always feel like I need to be around people- but that tends to make me spend what feels like weeks holed up in my room and slowly dying since there’s so little time to spend with the few people around me anymore. Parents are always working. Sisters have their own million things to do. The one friend I have I don’t have any money so I don’t want to bother if I can’t pay for anything that I would wanna do. So I wait for a time when something can happen, and I’m disappointed because everyone’s too tired and busy. I don’t blame them. For my last job I couldn’t do a lot because I was working a lot of the time. So now I dig my face in my phone and try to get through the day. I clean toys, fix my collection. I got a TikTok account and started making videos but now I’m just addicted to watching the numbers slightly go up. I knew I shouldn’t have gotten it but I fucking did with the excuse that there’s more MH videos on there or whatever. Still a fucking hypocrite as always.

But anyways- I know that once I leave my parent’s house there’s nothing for me out there. I feel bad for leeching off of them this long but I don’t have the money and I know on the little times I’ve been truly alone I’ve come seconds away from being another body bag. What is there out there? Exploration that I don’t want to do? Finding a job that ranges from hating it but gets enough money to get by or a job I like where I get paid like I work at McDonald’s? Wasting my time searching for some magical fucking unicorn of a girl to not think I’m repugnant and take me as her like fiftieth option only for us to end in loveless marriage where she’s fucking my friend because I have nothing to offer, if I CAN EVEN FIND A WOMAN? Maybe ending up in a loveless hetero marriage where I’m used as a fucking toy to some manchild before I gut myself? Having kids that I’ll want to strangle after having that little fucker destroy my body even further than I already have before they grow up to be a crack dealer before killing me and taking my last sixteen bucks? Building a collection that just gets me a small hit of dopamine for spending like $50 a day, only for some scum of the fucking earth to break in and steal it all? Care about politics for every single fucking brain-rotted 900-year-old to stroll up and pick the dumbest fucking decisions possible and send everybody back to the fucking Stone Age? Eat myself to death to get that last shred of dopamine? Care about my appearance for it to just continually get worse until I fit perfectly into everyone’s favorite little trailer trash trope? WHAT IS THERE TO FUCKING LIVE FOR?! If this is supposed to be the goddamn peak of my life both physically and emotionally and I’m sitting here staring at a screen and praying that I get 100 fucking people to sit and watch me play with dolls?

A random thought, but I rewatched Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron recently. It’s been one of my favorite movies since I was a kid but I don’t watch it often so I don’t get burnt out on it, so when I rewatched it the other day it felt like I was watching it for the first time. I was legitimately crying at the end because I love that movie so much. I pretty much never feel anything after watching a movie besides “Oh that was pretty good” or “That was bad.” This feeling I got in that moment was pure fucking bliss. I for once felt like life was worth living, like the world could be beautiful and people could make art so powerful that it actually changes you. I know, I know, it’s stupid. But my heart was soaring and I felt like humans weren’t actual hell for once. Life is precious and worth it and you can find the most brilliant amazing beautiful things in places where most people might not. I loved a lot of movies before, and I’ve always loved this movie but this time it felt like it hit me just perfectly. I’ve seen movies that made me feel a certain way, but I was full-on bawling afterwards out of joy for once. I couldn’t stop crying and smiling.

I still don’t know why I felt so happy after it.

[fuckyouozai]

Man now I can’t stop thinking about Bumi being the first of the Gaang kids are born because Aang and Katara have one conversation about how Yes it would be Nice to have a family (aang wasn’t certain at first because the grief of his people is so heavy and he’s scared of projecting that onto a little baby airbender). And a few months later, i keep thinking it’s AT zuko and Mai’s big official fire nation royalty wedding, katara is like AANG. UHHHHh

They probably are like oh shoot should we speedrun getting married. Should we tell everyone we got married in secret. [aang voice] should I make you a betrothal necklace [katara voice] I already have a necklace should I make YOU one. Aang explains air nomads actually didn’t have a marriage ceremony anyway so they can always tell that to gran-gran see if she’ll accept that excuse

They keep it a secret and sokka and suki are like👀 until we get a classic misunderstanding moment where katara takes her brother outside and is like sokka…..aang and I are…. And he’s like oh NO I KNEW this would happen. You guys I know things feel different now that we’re all grown up but I KNOW you two were made for each other- and she has to go we’re not breaking up! We’re! Gonna have a baby!

And sokka naturally freaks tf out he’s Sooooooo happy!! He’s gonna be an uncle!! Katara thought he might also be put off by the fact they’re not married but sokka drinks respect woman juice every morning and is like marriage is a patriarchal institution of ownership over women’s bodies anyway! And suki is like yeah! What he said! Or sokka is like WAIT!!! YOU CANT GET MARRIED!!! And aang is like [oh no] why not?? And sokka’s like. I’m the firstborn!! You’re not allowed to get married before me!!! And katara is like BOO then why don’t you ask suki already! And sokka can sulk

I would want them to travel back to the southern water tribe for a marriage ceremony except by that time it’s been a few months and katara is starting to show but fortunately big bulky South Pole parkas can help with that! But then idk. Papa hakoda walks in on her getting ready or something and [sees tummy]. But he’s just so proud and happy for them!!! He loves aang so much!!!

Then they can go on a journey to some of the air temples with sokka and suki and talk about cleaning them up and maybe restoring one so they can have a part time home there. Southern air temple seems most obvious cuz it’s closest to the water tribe, but I also think aang may find that difficult because of all the memories. Plus there’s something a little beautiful about leaving gyatso there untouched as a monument to the strength and power of the monks

Eastern and northern are too messed up, so maybe western air temple is where it’s at. I imagine zuko would offer to help rebuild since it’s relatively close to the fire nation, but that’s aang’s call of course. Anyway naturally katara goes into surprise labor early and aang and suki help her thru it while sokka just holds her hand and pats her forehead lmao. Baby Bumi! I still don’t know why he’s named after Bumi it seems so silly. If anything give us baby kuzon to memorialize the reconnection of the nations and end of the war (extra points if he’s an airbender but I do kind of like first baby being a nonbender)

Anyway the point is. 22yo aang and 23yo katara roll up to the fire nation with a baby strapped to aang’s chest and are like HELLO and zuko and Mai are like :O

Bumi just gets to be surrounded by all his uncles and aunties and absolutely spoiled by all of them until Izumi eventually comes along 3-4 years later. At which point katara and aang pop out Kya

I stick to what I said, I like sokka and suki never having kids. Not for lack of trying! It just doesn’t happen for them and that’s ok. They continue to be the cool uncle and auntie. Tho if sokka becomes chief and has no kids, it would fall to katara or her children afterwards, tho if you consider that sokka is explicitly identified as a peasant rather than a prince or anything it’s very possible that hakoda was in fact Chosen by the village vs inheriting it. So that’s not an issue. The southern water tribe chooses Democracy lol

It would be funny if Mai and zuko only had one kid tho. Or maybe Izumi and then 15 years later a baby sister, like Mai and tomtom. Meanwhile Lin and suyin are within 2 years of each other and both about kya’s age. I like to think there’s a fairly big gap between all 3 kataang kids. Maybe 5-6 years between Bumi & Kya and 4-5 years between Kya & tenzin. That feels about right based on that one pic of them. (Perhaps that is not a Fairly Big gap but my siblings and I are all 2 years apart like clockwork)

I’m not gonna think about next gen cuz frankly I don’t care but I guess the order would be bumi, Izumi, Kya, lin, suyin, tenzin, potential 2nd maiko baby. Maybe maiko was really resistant to a 2nd baby due to the whole heir and a spare situation. On the other hand, I’ve always thought of zuko having a big family. 5 maiko kids would be great except that I can’t do that to poor Mai. And I do like the idea of aang and katara having the most kids out of the whole group. 2nd maiko baby can be Lu ten actually yes that’s perfect. Zuko asks his uncle for his blessing and Iroh is the best uncle on earth to this little baby with his late son’s name. So good!

Wait I take that back. Izumi and Lu ten TWINS!!!!!!! Izumi is 20 minutes older which is why she becomes fire lord. Also Lu ten is simply not interested. Also also eventual shift to constitutional monarchy where the fire nation royal family is much like UK royal family, except less evil LOL. Yeah Izumi and Lu Ten as twins who are just a few years younger than Bumi is really good that’s what I’m going with. Those playdates are so insane

[splintersfeelings]

actually, it is other people who are wrong

I would love to be in a healthy and happy long term romantic relationship, but it’s also not a life milestone for me that I’m trying to check off. The way I see it, I’m not trying to speedrun the “dating -> long term relationship -> traditional cishet marriage -> make a kid” life path. Not that it’s bad to do that, for a lot of people that can be very fulfilling and meaningful (my parents did that and I think that overall it made both of them very happy). But it’s also not the only way to have a meaningful and happy life, and for many people it makes them actively UNHAPPY (to which the high divorce rate and large number of unhappy and/or toxic relationships is a testament to). Until recently, even though I was quite happy unpartnered, I still felt like it must be reflecting something poorly about myself, even though I have a wonderful relationship with my family and close friends. Something that made me change my mind was reframing the question of “why am I single,” to “why are so many people INCAPABLE of being single?” That completely shifted my perspective, because it made me realize I wasn’t necessarily single because I was deficient in anything, but rather because my social and emotional needs were being met by the other awesome people who I spend time with. While many people do find happy and healthy mutually supportive relationships, a LOT of people are serial monogamists who repeatedly end up in the same awful relationship dynamic over and over. I think it’s easy to say that people like that are irrational, or have low standards, or are trauma-impacted, etc. but I don’t think that’s the full story. I realize now that a lot of people *do not know how to function* without being in a coupled, codependent relationship. The reason they keep falling into the same codependent dynamic is because they have a debilitating fear and inability to emotionally self-regulate while alone (and maybe they lack other support networks in their life from friends and family). They are forced to seek out a relationship at all times because they don’t know how to exist without it, and they live in constant fear of their partner leaving them even if it isn’t a relationship that makes them happy or secure. While many people are able to be in healthy relationships and maintain a sense of self and identity, a lot of people aren’t dating because they want to - it’s because they don’t know how to exist alone. They spend absurd amounts of time and energy on another person, and if that relationship ends they have nothing left for themselves, and never learn how to cope. So instead of thinking of being single as a deficiency, it’s sometimes more accurate to think of “the need to constantly be dating someone” as the actual deficiency. If someday I meet someone and discover over time that we are very compatible, I would love to be in a relationship. But I’m slowly learning more about myself and making connections that are just as valuable as romantic relationships. I love my parents, I have a great relationship with my sister, and I have close friends who I have known for over a decade. That’s meaningful to me. I don’t need to contort myself to conform to other people’s expectations of what kind of human connections are allowed to be valuable. Full disclosure, I still get lonely of course, and sometimes I do wish I was dating. But when I think about the amount of effort and time I would need to put in just to FIND someone (not even considering sustaining that connection) and what else in my life I’d have to give up in exchange to have that kind of life, I can’t really say it’s worth it to me. My time and energy is finite. Someday my feeling might change, but that’s how I feel right now.

[mbirnsings-71]

YIPPPEEE OKAY OKAY TIME TO GO THROUGH MY BOOKMARKS AND RECOMMEND SOME SO LIKE HERE WE GO TIME TO KEEP THEM UNDER THE KEEP READING CUT

if you see the trope of Marriage proposals in here a lot uhhhhh no you don't /j

if you want like 5k and under here are these:

I'm Here Now (And I'm Never Leaving Again) by occasional_author because it's a one-shot where Buck and Eddie are Married and Eddie returns home for Buck's shield ceremony AND IT'S SO UGHHH

Empty Coffee Cups by Obitez is one where Bobby keeps the time that Buck is in a coma after the lightning strike through coffee cups and I love me some good lightning strike related buck & bobby fics because again the Father & Son duo ever!!

hot cocoa by evcndiaz is Buck freaking out about Proposing to Eddie and talks to his mom (Athena) and Dad (Bobby) about it because HE'S FREAKING OUT!!

nicknames, supernova similes and the family we make by thewolvesof1998 is literally just Bobby becoming a granddad to the newest Buckley-Diaz kid AND IT'S SO-

when you call me yours by browney3dgirl6 because it's Buck calling Eddie his husband as a joke BUT THEN IT JUST SOUNDS GOOD AND EDDIE'S SO CONFUSED AND AAAAAAA-

and

Friends and Family by Nelarun is my personal favorite to reread for Buck & Bobby content because it's set before Buck's Shield ceremony because we've never seen that before and just it makes me happy to reread this one

If you want longer than 5k here are some fics I've liked:

Guardian Angel by holla_theforestfairy is a 25k word one-shot I read and just woo boy it is an experience because it's about Buck and Maddie getting into a car accident and the rest of the 9-1-1 crew having to deal with that.

flutter in the dovecote by KiaraSayre is a 13k word one-shot about the 118 crew being quarantined due to bird flu and it has Buck & Bobby father & son behavior AND Buck/Eddie chaos. it is a sickfic so if you don't like those you may want to stay clear of this one

it's gravity after all by Iover_of_mine (I_almost_do) is a 11k word one-shot about Buck and Eddie getting stuck in an elevator and somehow speedrunning friends to fiances WHICH IS A TROPE FOR THESE TWO IT'S THE FUNNIEST TROPE ALIVE AND THEY ARE THE KINGS OF IT-

and if you wants Series well I have these:

Buck being Bathena's kid fics by smilingbuckley is literally so good because there's so many fics in there that you can't run out of content and also it's just so much about Buck being Bobby and Athena's kid it's so fun and you can pick and choose which ones you want to read and which you don't.

if u ever need fic recs... i have them.... the 2nd fic i ever read for this fandom was ALSO the reason i joined this fandom bc holy fucKKFAJKFASKJDFKJL its a time loop fic which is one of my fav tropes ever aND THE THING THAT BREAKS THE TIME LOOP IS FUKCINFGGKJNGLG BOBBY AND BUCK RECONCILING I CANT DO THIS !!!!!!!!! THIS FIC IS SO GOOD !!!! (set during lawsuit arc)

I WILL ALWAYS TAKE FANFIC RECS DROP THE LINK- even though time loops aren't necessarily my thing I will give this one a look because Lawsuit arc fix it? Love me a good fix it fic-

I also have a bunch of Buddy fanfics in my ao3 bookmarks so I'll trade you a link for a link because Buddie is my highest amount of relationships tagged in my bookmarks right now DFNVDFKBN-

[mothra-mcyt]

☾ Dream SFW Alphabet ☽

!No Warnings!

A = Affection (How affectionate are they? How do they show affection?)

He's not that good with words so usually he shows affection through gifts. Most of the time he loves to give you expensive gifts but when you tell him that he doesn't always need to buy you expensive gifts he starts giving you smaller gifts.

B = Best friend (What would they be like as a best friend? How would the friendship start?)

Having him as a best friend would honestly be so fun. Long late night gaming sessions or speedruns would be a normal occurrence if you're up for it.

C = Cuddles (Do they like to cuddle? How would they cuddle?)

His love language may not be physical touch but that doesn't mean he doesn't like cuddling. When you cuddle with him and your head is laying on his chest he likes to play with your hair. When you're spooning will have one arm under your head as a pillow and the other one on your stomach

D = Domestic (Do they want to settle down? How are they at cooking and cleaning?)

I feel like he's alright with cooking and really likes to try out new things when it comes to food. Isn't that good at cleaning though but will gladly help if you explain him how.

E = Ending (If they had to break up with their partner, how would they do it?)

Would think about doing it for a long time it's definitely not a sudden decision from him. Would do it in person and tries his best to make it sound like it wasn't your fault. If you're really sad it will break his heart and he will try his best to comfort you.

F = Fiance(e) (How do they feel about commitment? How quick would they want to get married?)

I think he would need some time to think about it because marriage kind of a big deal. Also first asks you if you even would want to get married someday or if you don't really like marriage or its concept.

G = Gentle (How gentle are they, both physically and emotionally?)

He isn't afraid to voice his opinion but makes sure that he's nice and gentle with his words so that he doesn't hurt you in any way emotionally. He's also very gentle with physical touch at first slowly wrapping his arms around you whenever he hugs you but after some time when he sees that you feel bad he'll pick you up and give you a tight hug.

H = Hugs (Do they like hugs? How often do they do it? What are their hugs like?)

He likes hugs because it means he can make you feel safe. Likes to hug you from behind, lay his head on yours and wrap his arms around your front. If the situation is really intimate he will put on hand on your back, the other one on your head patting your hair and giving you a forehead kiss.

I = I love you (How fast do they say the L-word?)

I feel like he'd only say it if you say it to him first. For him saying those words don't really have a high value because he likes to show his loves in other ways.

J = Jealousy (How jealous do they get? What do they do when they’re jealous?)

I feel like it would take him a lot to get jealous but if he is he's really protective and kinda possessive. Will wrap and arm around your waist, give you a long kiss and glare at whatever person that made him jealous

K = Kisses (What are their kisses like? Where do they like to kiss you? Where do they like to be kissed?)

Most of the time his kisses are really pationate and make you loose your breath. But if the situation is more intimate his kisses are softer gentle. Also really likes giving you forehead kisses if you're shorter than him.

L = Little ones (How are they around children?)

I feel like he'd either be really lost or just have fun with them. Whatever they're playing with he wants to play with it too. You leave him alone for 1 hour with kids and suddenly he becomes one of the children.

M = Morning (How are mornings spent with them?)

I feel like he's not a morning person so when you two wake up he'll just hold you close to him. This is either spent in comfortable silence or with talking about whatever you guys wanna talk about. Or he will just tease the shit out of you.

N = Night (How are nights spent with them?)

Usually the nights are spent with playing video games together usually speedrunning. If you're too tired to play with him but still want to be near him he'll let you cuddle him while laying in his lap. A smile appears on his lips whenever he looks down at you and sees you looking cute while sleeping.

O = Open  (When would they start revealing things about themselves? Do they say everything all at once or wait a while to reveal things slowly?)

I feel like he doesn't trust people very easily and doesn't really like appearing vulnerable so it'll take him a while to start opening up to you. But when he opens up to you he says everything at once.

P = Patience (How easily angered are they?)

I feel like he gets annoyed pretty easily but not angry. It's also never about you. Usually it's about a video game or not being able to do something at firsy try.

Q = Quizzes  (How much would they remember about you? Do they remember every little detail you mention in passing, or do they kind of forget everything?)

I feel like he wouldn't be able to remember your birthday or your favorite colour but remembers very specific things about you. For example he remembers when the age when you learned to swim or your childhood trauma but doesn't remember what you said 5 minutes ago.

R = Remember (What is their favorite moment in your relationship?)

It was probably when he first introduced you to his chat and the people on the dream smp. As soon as he introduced you Tommy called Dream and screamed at him on why he has a partner. He said that you're better of without Dream and better with him as a joke

S = Security (How protective are they? How would they protect you? How would they like to be protected?)

I feel like he's very protective over you but not possesive. If he sees you getting made uncomfortable by someone he'll wrap an arm around your shoulder or waist.

T = Try (How much effort would they put into dates, anniversaries, gifts, everyday tasks?)

He puts a lot of effort into gifts and every day tasks because he likes to help you. Depending on your preferences he puts more or less effort into dates and anniversaries.

U = Ugly (What would be some bad habits of theirs?)

He tends to overwork himself and forget everything around him and if you try to get him to stop he will sometimes react a litte annoyed but as soon as he realises how exhausted and tired he really is he will apologise and take a small break from work to hang out with you.

V = Vanity (How concerned are they with their looks?)

He's somewhat concerned about his looks but also not that much. When he's concerned about his looks it's not really becayse he's worried about other people's opinions but more because he wants to look good for himself.

W = Whole (Would they feel incomplete without you?)

I feel like he can get very needy and is very clingy so if you're gone for some time for whatever reason he would feel very incomplete.

X = Xtra (A random headcanon for them.)

He asked one of your friends for your favorite type of flower so he can always have those flowers standing around at your house in a vase

Y = Yuck (What are some things they wouldn’t like, either in general or in a partner?)

A partner that can get very jealous when he's only hanging out with his friends. Because those are his friends and he just wants to hang out with them but if you already get jealous because you don't get to be with him 24/7 then you're just not good for him :/

Z = Zzz (What is a sleep habits of theirs?)

He tends to speak or murmur in his sleep which has lead to a lot of funny conversations between you and sleeping him. And he's also a very deep sleeper so if you're cuddling with him then you can prepare for not being able to get up for a long time.

Masterlist

[goodvibesprompttime]

New Princess[Au] Just Dropped

Princess Dream is here to fuck shit up and take names

Step aside knights, he’s speedrunning to save your ass instead

Animals? Best friends

Singing? Sirens who-

Animal sidekick? PARROT

Curse? He’s forced to wear a mask. Whoever sees his face instantly forgets who Dream is and every memory associated with him (Helps when running from authority, honestly)

Love interest? He has 3 (A knight born from fire and demons, a mushroom prince who sleeps a lot, and a sentient kitsune fox who sells berries as dr*gs to humans)

The Villain? uuuuuuuuh - the knight’s shadow demon dad who’s apart of a cult, a god that is in love with the mushroom prince, this giant cat for some reason, a sentient humanoid creeper who came to bring the princess Dream back to his kingdom(he keeps saying “Dream was taken” when people ask, cause people will help find a kidnapped princess instead of a runaway)

The BBEG - The Ender Dragon, who gave the Princess the curse (however, the princess cannot reach the End cause someone stole the eyes of ender, and, unfortunately, the only one who knows how to make these eyes still is the Angel of Death, who's left wandering through the bedrock dust until his children are released from their own prisons, since they hold the key to escape

Princess Dream’s task: Find the three sons and one child of the Angel of Death, release them, have them complete the prophecy to find their father, have their father craft nine eyes of ender, and slay the dragon - all while having 3 love interests trying to help, and the villains/antagonists try to stop him

The Prophecy gives hints/riddles about where each of the children are [below the cut]

The Eldest: “Trapped in a perpetual state of battle, where his crown is forged from blood, his bloodlust continuously fueled by a forever audience, find the Eldest Son where even the gods refuse to go”

[Techno is basically trapped in the remains of the Antarctic Empire, chained up in the dungeons by an army of butchers who left him to freeze and deteriorate, stuck in his mind where he is constantly fighting without rest. The only way to release him is to break the chains - literally and metaphorically]

                                                            -  

The Older Middle Child: “O’harty song, and o’harty sea, may my lady and my son find their way to me. When the heart forgives, may my own be set free”

[Wilbur was turned into a statue of stone, thrown into the bottom of the ocean, where his song is only echoed in the dead of night, only faintly heard on the shore of the beach where he raised his kitsune son with his wife. To release him, Fundy and Sally must feel true forgivenness for him and embrace his statue - with a hug or with a kiss. Wilbur abandoned them to advance his music career, is what they tell Dream. However, in actuality, Wilbur was found by people from his younger years, when he, himself, was a dr*g dealer, and ran to protect them] 

                                                             -

The Younger Middle Child: “A life source for a faux god, the child with golden hair became, accompanied by a crown of red vines - be naught fooled, for recovery is a battle of its own.”

[Tommy was kidnapped by Bad and the Egg cult, and the Egg keeps Tommy alive and feeds off him and his lifeforce. He is frail, broken, and that mischievous child is now just a legend. When Dream saves him, its not over. Tommy is traumatized, terrified of everything[especially of the color red, the color he once loved], and refuses to go anywhere near bedrock - Tommy says its like leaving a prison just to enter another. Dream has to learn to be patient, take things slow, help Tommy with recovery - and that takes time. He wanted to just go find the last kid, but knows that Tommy isn’t going to do anything for him unless he helps. Eventually, Dream eventually warms up to Tommy]

                                                             -

The Youngest Child: “Of black and white, day and night, the last child lost themselves to an eternal sleep, walking farther and farther from their family.”

[Ranboo is in a constant state of sleepwalking. Dream is outraged about how stupidly vague the hint is, and none of his love interests or the sons know where to go with it. Then, Techno suggests that “maybe Tubbo knows something”. Dream asks who Tubbo is, and Wilbur explains that he’s Tommy’s best friend and was pretty close to Ranboo too. Tommy refuses to visit Tubbo, because he and Tubbo had gotten into a fight before Tommy’s kidnapping, and it was pretty bad. When asked, Tommy says that the fight was about Ranboo, but he couldn’t remember why. Eventually, they convince him *cough* or Techno just carries him *cough* and find Tubbo, with a child named Michael - his and Ranboo’s adopted child. Its revealed that Tubbo and Ranboo got[platonically] married behind everyone’s backs and adopted a child. Tommy found out and he and Tubbo fought because Tommy was pissed that Tubbo married Ranboo a few months after the Angel of Death disappeared, but Tubbo countered it by saying that he and Ranboo were planning on getting married anyways, and they waited until Ranboo was ready. Then, Tommy got kidnapped, Ranboo left, and Tubbo has been trying to find him, but is focused on raising Michael. After arguing, reconciliation, a bit of healing, Tubbo helps everyone find Ranboo, but its Michael who finds Ranboo - cause he snuck away to help. They guide Ranboo back, but its Tommy telling Ranboo that he genuinely approves of their marriage, and wants Ranboo to be happy, that allows Ranboo to come out of his sleepwalking]

                                                             -

They find the Angel of Death - with Techno’s strength, Wilbur’s determination, Tommy’s curiosity, and Ranboo’s judgement/powers (because Bedrock is a tricky dusty bitch who refuses to let go of Philza, all apart of the prophecy)

Obviously, Philza is rescued, the Eyes of Ender are made, Dream goes to fight the Ender Dragon.

However, before Dream enters the portal, he makes a decision. He does this alone.

He manages to break an eye of ender just as he enters the portal, trapping the others on the otherside, unable to help

After a long and grueling battle, Dream is victorious and his curse is broken. 

By the time the others manage to get another eye of ender, Dream won.

They see the mask on the ground behind Dream, and he turns to face them.

“My name is Clay, by the way.”

[salamanderinspace]

a great game has to have the right balance between innate objectives, community-reinforced objectives, and personal/sandbox objectives. and crucially it needs to let you switch between them as you play.

Stardew has loads of innate objectives, from completing the Community Center, to marriage, to the achievements, to full perfection. It also instantly attracted a community, who implemented new objectives: finish the Community Center in one year. Speedrun perfection in under 24 hours. Get the top hat item as quickly as possible. Run 10 years without leaving the farm. Befriend everyone to maximum hearts--except Pierre, because the community thinks he kind of sucks. Build a restaurant in the tunnel. And of course there's all the mods.

On top of that there's so much room for creativity. You can decorate your house and redesign your farm, and all the public spaces on the map. You can make whatever clothes you want. You can marry and divorce anyone in town. You can attend the festivals and win the minigames--or not! You can self-impose goals and restrictions that have nothing to do with the original intention of the game. And you can do it again and again because there's like 6 different farm setups and 10 marriage candidates and 6 options for your pet and four different chicken colors and ... it's so huge.

we all just have to accept that there will never be a game as good as Stardew Valley

[angrelysimpping]

Alex being foolish enough to straight up throw hands with Whitney is sending me skfneldnod

Patching them up on your kitchen table while berating them for being dumb. Then cupping their face and kissing them all over their dumb gorgeous face. And you’re maybe a lil teary, too. In this awful town, sometimes you forget you don’t have to handle everything on your own, not with Alex around.

Honestly Alex strikes me as the type to witness firsthand the worst that you do - the whoring, the brothel shows, being the town’s unwilling toilet - and still see you as their treasure. They know what it is to fight to survive and here you are, fighting your ass off in this hellhole. You chose to stay by Alex’s side, the good and the bad, despite you getting so little out of it at first.

(Alex is slow but earnest. They could be shuffling you out of the brothel with semen smattered all over and your skimpy clothes tattered from the audience ripping it, and they’d focus on getting their own shirt around you first. You may get into an argument at first, because what were you thinking, but admitting it’s for the farm shuts Alex up real quick. And then speedruns that entire monologue about you choosing them despite everything. Alex has probably toyed with the idea of marriage before in a nebulous way, but they sure didn’t expect to propose outside a fucking whorehouse at 4 am with bruises they didn’t make on your skin lit up by the flickering streetlights. They just blurt it out, flushing immediately afterwards. They really shouldn’t be this surprised that you say yes instantly.)

Alex would be fairly matched in a fight with Whitney, but that doesn't mean they don't get fucked up. And you're not a doctor, but you're doing your best to patch Alex up. You don't think they broke any bones, but you can't be sure.

Alex feels like the loyal type. Loyalty to the point of stubbornness. You're their partner, they're going to be at your side no matter what.

They really should have known that you're just like them. Stubborn and headstrong and impulsive. They shouldn't be surprised when you agree to marry them without a second thought. You didn't leave when Remy started attacking, after all.

[c-is-for-circinate]

Ok, Hades gameplay reaction time!

(Because I have been terrible this quarantine year about posting thoughts about stories I've been invested in, and I'm really enjoying this game, and I'm playing basically blind and I have theories, and what is tumblr for if not recording those things to look back on later.)

I love this specific kind of fantasy/speculative fiction, that straddles the line between 'allegory clearly designed to explore a real-world issue' and 'the themes of this reflect real-world issues but also everything is times one million for drama and setting's sake'. I love it so much. Because, look, this is a story about a teenager/young adult trying to gather up the skills and resources and help he needs to escape his controlling, possessive, emotionally abusive father's house. That's it. Strip away all of the trappings, and that's what the story is about. By comparison, I think about Star Wars. (I love Star Wars too.) That's also a story about a dysfunctional fucked-up family dynamic. But that family is fucked up because dad went on a magic-corruption-induced killing spree, and his twin children were separated at birth to be raised in seclusion with the intention of someday taking him down, and look, that's cool, but it's definitely not how people actually are. All of the dysfunction in that family is an outgrowth of the fantastical setting, which means it is fantastical dysfunction. It can occasionally mirror or remind us of real-life interactions, but it's a fantasy. Which is great and fun to watch and very comforting and so on, but I don't necessarily want that in every story, and I love Hades because it is not that, at all. When you extend out the basic 'kid trying to escape his toxic home environment', Hades is the story of Zagreus trying to get out with the help of his dad's estranged, complicated, wealthy and powerful family, who are absolutely part of the reason why dad is Like That in the first place, and may not be any more reliable in the long run but who he needs right now. And his stepmom and teacher, who love him enough to help him leave, unconditionally and supportively (ask me how many feelings I have about 'look, Hades can't hurt me for helping you, don't worry about me, I am going to take care of you and that means helping you get out of this house' coming from an adult authority figure, ask me). And his dad's employees, who like him but also have to fear the old man's wrath, and walk that line in different places the best they can. And stepmom's long-estranged parent, because this is a story about families and how they split apart and come back together. And all of that is so real, so grounded in actual, concrete, this-is-how-humans-work family dynamics. But it's also individual. The story works so well because Hades isn't just a silhouette of the controlling asshole father; he is clearly The Way He Is for reasons, complicated ones, good and bad alike. The Way He Is has details, particularities, paperwork, a dog he pretends not to love and rely on. He is specific. Nyx and Achilles are specific, not just generic kind stepmom here to be a trope inversion and cardboard cutout teacher. Nyx has backstory and personality of her own, Achilles has a complex history, opinions, a missing lover, and they BOTH have very particular relationships with Hades that aren't just boilerplate script. Yes, there's abstraction there, you meet these characters in brief visual novel-esque three-line conversations over the course of dozens of escape runs, of course there's abstraction--but there's the very real sense that all of these people have nuance, have good and bad days, that they've made choices to be who they are, even if we don't know what those choices are yet. And, like Star Wars, some of the ways in which this story is so specific rely entirely on the fact of the otherworldly setting! I've seen stories that go the other way, that try to use their setting entirely as window dressing, and they end up feeling so flat I can't even remember them right now because they don't let the environment lend complexity and nuance to their characters at all. The environment these characters live in matters. The absolute control Hades exerts over his surroundings is a divine power. The fact that everyone Zag runs into, for or against him, is either immortal or immortally dead, changes how the react to

one another and to the situation at hand. The shape of his attempted escapes (gauntlet combat with a variety of legendary weapons) might be an allegorical construct of the genre, true, but it doesn't work in any sort of real-world setting where there exists the possibility of authority figures above or aside from Hades and his extended fucked-up family. That's part of why the family is so fucked-up in the first place. But these changes still fit well within the realm of, 'yeah, if you took this extremely real-life dynamic and added these factors to it, I can envision people doing this thing'. I can envision these specific people doing this thing. They add to the specificity of these characters. Letting them be influenced by their unreal surroundings makes them more real. So hell yes for good storytelling!!!!

I'm still relatively early in the game (by which I mean I'm like thirty runs in but only just got past Meg for the third time, because I am not good at this game, although in my defense it's only the seventh video game and second button-mashing game I have ever played in my life so there's that), but I'm starting to develop suspicions about Persephone. Because, look, outside of Persephone's absence from the underworld, this story knows its Greek mythology, uses it, revels in it. And there is some kind of mystery still shrouding Persephone leaving in the first place. She left a goodbye to Cerberus in her letter but not to her own son. Nyx has warned Zagreus multiple times not to let the Olympians know she's his mother. He literally never even knew she existed. That's complicated! Add to that, Persephone left--the exact thing we are trying and failing to do again and again and again. She left with one note, which means either she managed a one-shot speedrun out of the entire realm or she had some other way to leave, because if she'd washed up in the Styx pool to plod back to her room and try again, she wouldn't've needed to leave the note in the first place. And, you know, she's Persephone. Really quite famous for leaving the Underworld! Also quite famous for being forced back. So. I'm wondering if Zagreus, so conspicuously absent from her goodbye, has something to do with it after all. Six pomegranate seeds condemned Persephone to six months, half a year, half her life. I wonder if a child that's half of her her constitutes a fitting trade instead. Which, of course Hades would be even more resentful and dismissive and cruel to the kid he got in place of the wife he loved (who he chased away by being cold in the first place). Of course Persephone would have difficulty saying goodbye to her son in those circumstances. It would make sense. The tricky thing here is how the Olympians fit into it, because I also suspect the rift between Hades and Zeus sprang from Persephone's departure. And yet, if the Olympians never knew Zagreus existed, let alone that he's Persephone's son--how can he count as payment into the deal in their eyes? So in that case, what does Zeus think is the justification for Persephone leaving, after the pomegranate thing? Or are we just not doing the pomegranate thing at all? It would be a shame to lose it entirely, out of a story that really seems to enjoy the myths it's playing with. And there should be something complex here, something more than simply 'mom fucked off and left because dad sucked and now I'm following her because same'. It feels more complex than that. 'Mom and dad had a baby to try and save their marriage, it didn't work, but when mom left she had to leave me behind because otherwise dad would have gotten the cops and her extended family involved' feels more right, while still just as grounded in reality as the story has been so far.

I sort of want to write some meta about how each of the six legendary weapons corresponds to their original divine wielder, but I haven't unlocked all of their codex entries yet (look I am very bad with ranged weapons in this game ok, I am working on it), and I still need to think about the details. Aside from, of course, fuck yes of course Hestia's the one with the railgun. Leave drama and elegance and traditional weaponry to her brothers and sister (Demeter, who knows how to get her hands dirty, gets a pass). Hestia is out here to get shit done. With a grenade launcher.