#musings ; voice lines

[aelirus]

"I SWEAR IM NOT GONNA GET POLITICAL"

After 3 drinks:

"What is the topic of today's speech, you ask? Why, Pokemon liberation, of course!"

[relicsongmel]

Ok enough vague loredumping in tags it's time to properly introduce y'all to my wacky and wonderful crowd of non self-insert OCs (intro to my self-inserts and the basics of my OC canon can be found here).

So let's start with the Anderson sisters, aka Sylvia and Denise's moms!

(reference images made using Picrew and Love Nikki)

Martha Goldwood

Gender: female (she/her)

Orientation: pansexual

Birthday: June 25th

Height: 5'7

Hair color: light blonde

Eye color: green

Color scheme: wide variety but purples, greens, and blues are most common

Ethnicity: Unovan

Interests: Pokemon battling, traveling, skiing, photography, baking, gardening/botany, swimming*, boating

Fashion sense is similar to her daughters'—romantic and feminine but not overly elaborate or impractical. Almost always wears at least 1 clothing garment/accessory that has flowers or floral patterns

Born in Icirrus City to parents Rosemary and Henry Anderson; lived there until leaving to become a Pokemon Trainer in her late teens due to dissatisfaction with her quiet life at home

Met her husband Roger Goldwood (a musician and aspiring composer) while visiting Driftveil City and convinces him to take a journey of his own. The two travel to many regions together and grow quite close as a result

Married Roger at age 26 and moved with him to Nuvema Town; their daughter Sylvia was born when she was 27

When they were both 28 her husband passes away due to drowning in the Abyssal Ruins in search of clues pertaining to the Mythical Pokemon Meloetta. His partner Samurott swims back home from Undella Bay to bring his body to Martha, then passes away from grief a few days after. Martha is quite grief-stricken herself and traumatized to the point that she can no longer bring herself to swim in the sea anymore, but she doesn't want her daughter to grow up fearing the ocean he loved. She continues to take Sylvia to Nuvema's shoreline to swim and go on boating trips as he once dreamed of doing with her, but she keeps Roger's true cause of death hidden from her to shield her daughter from experiencing trauma where her father wanted her to experience joy. Sylvia spends two decades believing her father died when she was very young of a "mysterious illness."

Becomes a florist after her husband's passing after receiving many sympathy flowers from friends/neighbors and gaining an appreciation for how floral arrangements can convey emotion and meaning

Noticed Sylvia's interest in music at an early age and fostered it by signing her up for music lessons, initially piano and singing but this eventually expanded to multiple other instruments. She encouraged her musical development after she noticed how performing onstage helped her daughter become less shy and more confident, and was overjoyed that Roger's "little songbird" inherited his gift.

As Sylvia started to develop burnout from music Martha suggested she take a Pokemon journey for a change of pace, as she once did when she was her age, but not before much deliberation as raising Sylvia was one of her biggest solaces after losing her husband. Even though she expected it, she has to fight to suppress the rising wave of grief when her daughter chooses Oshawott as her first Pokemon.

Personality: introverted as a child/adolescent but grew up to be more ambiverted as an adult, nurturing, secretive, loyal to loved ones to the point of self-detriment

Notable Pokemon: Serperior, Florges

Jennifer Anderson-Hitoki

Gender: female (she/her)

Orientation: bisexual

Birthday: August 9th

Height: 5'5

Hair color: blonde

Eye color: green

Color scheme: mostly pinks, whites, and yellows with occasional oranges and reds

Ethnicity: Unovan

Interests: Pokemon nutrition and hygiene, traveling, hiking, biking, skiing, baking, mythology, teaching

Fashion is practical and upbeat, professional but with a bit of a sporty touch. Shares her daughter's distaste for unneeded flourish unless it's for a deliberate purpose

Born 4 years after Martha and raised in Icirrus City along with her; spent a lot of time at the local Pokemon Fan Club where she fell in love with the art of raising Pokemon. Left home at age 10 to become a professional Pokemon Breeder

Despite some setbacks she was quite successful and traveled the world competing in various events for Pokemon Breeders at the regional, national, and even worldwide level. Her biggest rival was Ryuji Hitoki from Goldenrod City, who outcompeted her every time they met until she finally triumphed over him in a competition known as the Pokemon Breeders' World Cup

Despite their rivalry Jen has a lot of respect for Ryu and vice versa; they fell in love slowly but surely and moved to Ecruteak City after their engagement. Jen was 23 on her wedding day and 25 when her daughter Denise was born

Retained influence in the Pokemon Breeder scene even after leaving the world stage—she opened a store to sell her original blend of Pokemon food and other care products, and does occasional traveling to give seminars to aspiring Trainers/Breeders

Her marriage grew unstable throughout Denise's childhood, initially due to differing opinions on how to raise her/her future (particularly whether she would follow in her parents' footsteps), but the arguments escalated and started to extend to other things as well. Eventually Ryuji had enough and left on another journey without a word, effectively abandoning his wife and daughter. 35 year-old Jen is heartbroken, confused and angry but tries to keep up a cheerful facade for her daughter's sake (and because she blames her temperamental side for driving her husband away). Unfortunately this only serves to infuriate Denise, then 10 years old, because she perceives it as her mother lying to her/denying reality, is biased toward Ryu because he was her primary caregiver and thus she won't blame him (well. not yet at least) and is also too young and hurt to blame herself. Jen spends the next 3 years struggling to navigate a strained relationship with her daughter and the new challenges of single motherhood while desperately trying to manage her own grief.

After giving up hope for Ryu's return she decides to move to Aspertia City to start a new life without him and to be a little closer to her older sister and niece, taking her daughter with her. Denise is once again furious because she sprung this on her without warning and views it as her mother taking her away from her friends/home for her own selfish reasons. Jen initially tries to rectify things but due to repeatedly trying and failing to effectively communicate with her daughter, she instead decides it's best to give Denise the space she needs to adjust and hope she eventually comes around (even if it means she spends 5 years barely leaving her room and basically only leaving the house to go to the library). They only interact when necessary, and when they do it usually ends with Denise getting angry and Jen feeling guilty and doubting her capabilities as a parent. This pattern continues up until Denise leaves on her own journey after turning 18.

After moving to Aspertia City she gets a job teaching at the city's Pokemon Trainers' School. Teaching the young students about Pokemon and helping them grow was a large source of comfort for her in the wake of her rather bleak family situation.

Personality: charmingly extroverted, tenacious, impatient, very blunt about her likes and dislikes

Notable Pokemon: Ninetales, Zebstrika

Random fun facts/lore

Due to Icirrus' City's close proximity to Dragonspiral Tower, a place of great importance in Unovan myth, Martha and Jennifer grew up listening to their parents retelling stories of the legendary Reshiram and Zekrom and the twin heroes that wielded their power; whenever they return to their hometown for holidays/festivals their daughters hear the same tales. As such all four have at least a mild interest in mythology; Jen loved Ecruteak because its reverence for its legendary Pokemon felt familiar to her and the myths surrounding them piqued her interest.

I shorten Jennifer to "Jen" a lot because it's convenient it's the name she asks most people call her; however, Martha and Martha alone has the privilege of calling her little sister "Jenny." Jen calls her older sister "Marthie."

Cedric Juniper was neighbors with Rosemary and Henry, and he was the one who gave the Anderson sisters their starter Pokemon. His daughter Aurea was also very good friends with the girls; Martha and Roger moved to Nuvema partly because it was just after she had established her laboratory there as Unova's new Pokemon Professor (the other reason was that Roger wanted to move somewhere near the ocean so he could have easy access to his father's old boat). Aurea was also the one who suggested to Jen that Denise go on a Pokemon journey to ease her depression and get to know Unova a little better.

Martha met her Florges—then a Flabébé—a few weeks after she started working at Nuvema's flower shop, where she walked to work one day to find a Pokemon she had never seen before admiring the store's outdoor floral displays. The Pokemon came back to visit multiple times before Martha eventually befriended and caught her; she's now her partner who keeps all her flowers vibrant and healthy. Flabébé took a shine to baby Sylvia and grew up alongside her, and it was through their relationship that Martha taught Sylvia how to look after Pokemon. Little Sylvia also loved to visit them at work and often bombarded her mom with questions about plants, which Martha always thought was adorable (though a little distracting).

Sylvia believing Roger died of a "mysterious illness" is actually a holdover from before I had figured out his true cause of death lmao. I wasn't nearly as meticulous with details about the girls' parents as I am now (they're a lot more interesting to me now that I'm older), but I knew I wanted him out of the picture for the Drama™ so I just made up an easy explanation and called it a day haha

Ninetales is Jennifer’s most prized and recognizable Pokemon, and the one that led her to victory in the Pokemon Breeders’ World Cup. She’s known Denise since she was born and has always been very close with her; Denise often stims by running her fingers through Ninetales’ fur. During Denise’s depressive period, Ninetales keeps her company up in her room and comforts her after she has fights with her mom. Jen's design and character is also loosely inspired by Ninetales with the pigtails and her "fiery" temperament.

Out of all the girls' parents Martha in her prime was the strongest Trainer, though Ryuji eventually reaches her level while being a deadbeat training to gain the strength to seek out Legendary Pokemon. She's strong enough to hold her own even against her daughter and niece and would be a strong contender for a Gym Leader if she battled more consistently, but she doesn't have much interest in doing so.

Jen is incredibly lucky that Team Plasma wasn't as prominent when she was a child because she would have been VERY susceptible to their propaganda—she loved Pokemon but used to hate Pokemon battles, as she couldn't stand seeing Pokemon in pain and with their fur all dirty from being repeatedly hit by moves. Even after she had Pokemon of her own, it took her quite a long time to accept that battling can be a source of joy and enrichment for them, and it's her responsibility as a Breeder to engage them with the activities they enjoy in order to raise them to be happy and healthy. She does come around eventually though, and she especially loves seeing a Pokemon's happy smile after winning a match.

Denise was in a very precarious position mental health-wise after her confrontation with Team Plasma (re: almost being frozen to death twice and developing PTSD after the Opelucid City attack), and she spent a few months back home to stabilize a little before resuming her travels. Jen put in a lot of effort to help her get back on her feet; she did lots of searching to help her daughter find a therapist she liked, particularly one who could help her repair her relationship with her Glaceon (who evolved in Opelucid City due to the freezing energy of the indestructible ice and Dena couldn't even look at her without suffering painful flashbacks). Their mother-daughter relationship was starting to heal by this point but Jen called Martha for backup just in case. She visited Aspertia City for a few weeks to help look after her niece while her sister was at work, and was someone Denise could talk to about things she didn't feel comfortable telling her mom yet. They had many conversations about grief, depression, and feeling overshadowed by family members (Jen was more spoiled than her older sister and grew up to be quite successful, while Sylvia was a musical prodigy who became Unova's hero and Denise has mixed feelings on being compared to her so often; she adores Syl but wants to be recognized as her own person rather than "Sylvia's cousin" or someone who reminds people of "that Trainer from two years ago"). Denise was very grateful for Martha's guidance/support and gave her a Shiny Stone as thanks, which is how she was able to evolve her Floette into Florges.

The scenario for how Ryu re-enters Jen and Denise's life keeps getting reworked because his character has evolved a lot over the years and I am an indecisive bitch so idk exactly how he returns, but I can say that Jennifer is rightfully furious with him for how his leaving nearly drove a permanent wedge between her and her daughter, and how much he hurt both of them (especially Denise). Jen wouldn't cut him off completely because Denise, despite her own anger (which is a whole other can of worms but that's another post for another day), just wants to heal her broken family for the sake of the little girl who wanted her dad back, but she would make it quite clear that she wants to file for divorce because she can't love him the same way after what he's done. She'd likely also change her last name back to just "Anderson."

Speaking of things that are a work in progress, sometime post-BW2 arc Martha gets remarried to a woman named Laurel Gropius, who's N's long-lost mother and a new-ish OC of mine (she's also briefly mentioned in what is currently the only fic on my AO3 which can be found here). The funny thing though is that since N is also Sylvia's love interest in my canon, Laurel is technically both her stepmom AND mother in law but don't worry about it (this family tree is far from the weirdest in fiction but it has some pretty funny quirks to it. Like Ghetsis being N's Actual Biological Father due to an incredibly Specific and Convoluted and Altogether Fucked Up Series Of Events but again. Another post)

Currently Jen does not have any other romantic partners after divorcing Ryu in the canon timeline, but in my Paldea AU she has a bit of a Situationship with Raifort. I really really want it to end wholesomely because the idea of Raifort as Denise's stepmom brings me SO much joy but I'm also addicted to the Toxic Yuri of it all soooo. Inconclusive but I do have a little ramble about them here for those interested.

And that's all for now! If you made it this far thanks so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed reading about The Moms Ever <3333

[altarfates]

[racke7]

It's interesting how roleplay works in video-games.

Skyrim is really awkward to roleplay in, because your choices don't really matter. You can murder the Emperor and still swear allegiance to the Empire, you can be a warrior without magic and still become the Archmage.

However, because Skyrim is so wide, you can tell pretty much any story you'd like by simply only engaging with the "correct" questlines for that character.

Divinity 2 has a lot of roleplay-elements, with tons and tons of depth and consequences. Except the story is only the one story, because it's the end of the world and nothing else matters. You can effectively play the exact same way all the way up until the last battle, and then get entirely different endings.

It has all of the depth that the people criticizing Skyrim could ask for, but because it's so detailed and the story is so enforced, the options actually become incredibly limited.

Minecraft technically has lore, but it's not things you're really going to figure out without a conspiracy-board. It's a completely empty world, filled with things you can do, and you could theoretically be whoever you want to be.

However, because it doesn't actually have characters to engage with, that theoretical freedom pushes it towards the territory of why you'd want to be roleplaying a character whilst playing Counter-Strike against bots.

Conclusion:

Roleplaying is a very subjective kind of thing, where people's preferences vary wildly, but I think the most important aspect of it is "engage-able width".

If you put someone in front of a blank piece of paper, they'll struggle to tell a story. If you put someone in front of a book, they'll struggle to tell their own story. So the perfect ratio must be somewhere in the middle.

And for all that Skyrim is so incredibly awful about so many stupid fucking things, its incredibly wide-spanning mediocrity makes it amazing at this.

And that kind of makes me want to strangle someone.

[seawards]

me staring at my headcanons for leblanc from like 4-6 years ago like whewwwwwwwww i have a lot to work through

[aubins]

♡

○○○○○ | ATTRACTION ○○○○○ | AFFECTION ●●●○○ | INTEREST ●●●○○ | LOYALTY ●○○○○ | TRUST

“ Andrei? Well, he's just pleasant to be around, isn't he? Though I can't say it was the most pleasant of situations, the first time we met. But a wolf's a wolf—so long as we're wearing the same chains, he's my responsibility. As long as he brings no trouble to Abyss, you'll always find my sword before you find his neck. ”

send ♡ to see what my muse thinks of yours!

[caelcstis]

No, Mrithun isn't upset that he didn't get an all-kill, why would he (he's crying in a corner like ho, you already got 5 lines ain't that enough)

x.

[storybounded]

Do you ever see a bad take of a character and wonder how in the world it was pulled given the source material of the character?

Nothing on tumblr, just to reassure. It’s a fanart I found elsewhere and I’m just??

[gu6chan]

I'm saying this not even from a fan perspective but as a full-on objective fact that THIS MAN ↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓

has the most attractive dub voice in the entire series i am not wrong i am not biased this is simply a fact and you ought to be grateful i gifted you that knowledge

[proosh]

you mentioned monster fran once, a bull but fish tail or something like that (sorry for butchering this)

Ah, the quinotaur! For those that don't want to check wikipedia, it's a mythological half-bull-half-fish (with five horns) that supposedly sired the line of Merovingian kings.

I have a couple of ideas for how to use a potential beastly Fran, but haven't really decided on which path to take with it yet. Guaranteed to be some kind of weird monsterfucker content, though ;3c

[boyslit-moving]

aaaaaaaaargh i have to pick a new book to start reading to get my gems before tomorrow aaaaargh

fine. we'll go for lou, lynt bores me and well. jasper's literally the last man standing

edit: i just remembered im still mad at lynt for that one stupid event where you basically go on a nice date with Toa and Lynt acts like a jealous little kid the whole time and it was extremely annoying!

[cambriancrew]

Just wanna muse a bit about us-Willows' plurality and all the things it's not.

Tw for discussion of trauma, structural dissociation, and triggers

From way back when we were very little, we talked to each other in our head, had our own opinions, could think our own things independently and simultaneously (though only one of us could be thinking in words at a time, but we're primarily nonverbal thinkers) and we swapped control easily and effortlessly and usually at least a few times a day. On school days, Crystal would be in control for most of school, Sunni mostly for recess and hanging out with friends, Shiloh mostly for when we were bored, Anna partly for hanging out with friends at recess and lunch and for dealing with bullies - both harassing us and our friends. After school, it would be Crystal for chores and homework and reading for fun, Sunni for hanging out with family, Anna for watching over our younger siblings, and Shiloh for Bible study and bedtime prayers and meditation to help us sleep. On weekends it would be mostly Crystal for more reading, Shiloh when we got dragged away from books and kicked outside to play (more like "be bored out of our minds while getting fresh air.") Sundays would be a mix of all of us participating in church with Shiloh doing the most, unless we were helping out in the nursery which was Anna's domain.

Keep in mind these were all trends, not hard and fast rules, especially with how easily we switch and how ever-present all of us are.

So while Crystal took the bulk of our time most of the time, and was primary for most of it (the one to do most of the stuff and to be the one who wakes up in control) we were all really present in our life.

And it's been that way too after graduating and in our adult life too.

We don't know how to Not be this way.

We spent several months really considering hard whether we're ANPs or EPs, and recognizing within each of ourselves our ANPs and EPs.

Now, the theory of structural dissociation does suggest that in some cases, alters can each be a grouping of ANPs and EPs. However, that organization within tertiary structural dissociation is heavily associated with more severe dysfunction and distress, which we don't have.

We used to have more symptoms of CPTSD, especially just after we were getting out of our relationship with our abusive ex.

But for us, the distinction between having CPTSD as a plural system, and having tertiary structural dissociation and consequentially DID, is pretty obvious. We don't have amnesia. We have a pretty good memory for the most part, in fact - trained it in childhood to help with ADHD forgetfulness, like forgetting to lock the door on the way out and forgetting to grab our planner before leaving school or forgetting our locker combination if we got a new lock recently, nothing serious like forgetting our personal history or ourselves or people we knew (though our memory for names is still not so great. Part of that is we innately primarily link people to their stories and histories, not names. And we don't really recognize people by faces, but by how they move due to our legal blindness without glasses and how long we went in childhood without glasses. [Didn't get them til we were 15!!]) And even our corrected vision isn't that great. Enough to pass the driver's test, at least.

So. Normal levels of forgetfulness (slightly higher than normal due to undiagnosed untreated ADHD, inattentive type). No amnesia.

And our CPTSD, unlike our PTSD, is very interrelational. Issues with interpersonal relationships and safety and feeling secure. And those are experienced, not between us, but in us Willows as a whole. Our reactions to those are different, but our differences are very much related to our personality differences. And it's like, instead of that trauma pushing us apart, it brought us together. Hard to explain, easy for us to feel.

We feel like, if we had more severe tertiary structural dissociation, it would have affected us more strongly than it does, too. Like we said, and have said before, while we do have C-PTSD it is by and large mostly resolved. We're much more severely affected by our PTSD, especially the food related trauma, which affects us, if not quite daily anymore, then at least a few times a week. And it's still SO MUCH BETTER than it used to be.

Also, our ANPs and EPs are clearly defined within ourselves as individuals. Crystal is primarily the healed core person - core + ANP merge - though she does have CPTSD parts that pop back up from time to time - a firefighter (addicted to escapism through reading) and exile (inner child that bears a lot of shame and perfectionism and used to have a lot of self-directed anger) and manager (perfectionist learner who wants to know all the things in order to protect ourselves and people we know.) Each of the rest of us have a similar set - a mostly healed ANP + core merge, and some or all of the CPTSD parts.

Our EPs only come out when we're triggered, and that's pretty rare these days. Even when we have nausea from migraines or our digestive system issues, it's usually not enough to truly trigger us these days. They're mostly just feelings and reactions, not clearly defined and distinct fragments of us, and certainly not individual people within us, not like our core selves are.

CPTSD and PTSD just overall fits us so much better than DID or OSDD-1.

[daybreakrising]

SENSES AND OTHER SPECIFIC HCs. // WRIOTHESLEY.

what  does  your  muse  smell  like  ?

iron and leather. the damp muskiness one might find in coastal caves or underground tunnel systems. tea leaves, sometimes accompanied by an aromatic flourish depending on which blend he's opted to drink that morning (and afternoon, and evening, and-). there's a freshness to it all, too, like the chill of a winter morning, and the salty tang of the sea that somehow permeates through the walls of rock and steel to linger in his wake.

what  do  your  muse’s  hands  feel  like ?

firm, strong, the skin calloused, fingertips tough and hardened from years of working, his knuckles scarred from brawls. his skin is dry and cool, softer on the backs of his hands than on his palms. his touch can be equal parts light as a feather and like an iron vice.

what  does  your  muse  usually  eat  in  a  day ?

whilst he eats slightly better than the convicts he manages (he doesn't have to draw lots, for example), he makes a point to share the same food. he was one of them, once, and he's accustomed to the offerings of the Fortress's kitchen. he drinks more tea than he eats food and, if particularly busy or absorbed in something, he'll skip a meal and drink more tea instead. yes, he knows that's not the same thing. no, he doesn't care.

does  your  muse  have  a  good  singing  voice ?

oh for sure. a pity no one will ever hear it.

does  your  muse  have  any  bad  habits  or  nervous  ticks  ?

he's a pacer. he'll wear tracks in the floor one day. he can't be still when he's nervous, or frustrated, and especially not when he's angry. as for bad habits - he cracks his knuckles and he does it often. it's entirely out of necessity, however. if he doesn't pop the joints on a regular basis, they start to ache, and eventually become painful.

what  does  your  muse  usually  look  like/wear  ?

he has a vibe and he sticks to it - monochrome tones with a hint of colour (red), close-fitting and immaculate, lots of adornments (chains, pins, etc) and chunky boots. he goes for that edgy look because it suits the image he presents, the image almost expected of him, but he also loves it for himself because he thinks (knows) he kills it. we don't talk about why he doesn't wear that beautiful coat properly.

is  your  muse  affectionate  ?  How  so  ?

he can be, but the way he shows it varies from person to person, and how willingly he displays affection depends on the setting and the company he's in. in private, with those he holds close, he's a huge fckn softie. edgy-looking boy has a heart of gold. if in a more public setting but in the company of those he's comfortable with, he shows his affection through gentle teasing and sass, light insults that he knows will be understood as fond. if in more professional (and/or public) settings amongst those he's not familiar with (or doesn't like / doesn't feel comfortable with) then only those who know him best will see the fondness and the affection in the quick glances he sends their way.

what  position  does  your  muse  sleep  in  ?

multiple positions. he's someone who can't stay still for long, even when asleep. whatever position he starts off in (and he can fall asleep in any position, anywhere) is not going to be the one he wakes up in. this isn't an issue when he's alone in a bed, but if he's sharing the space with someone else they're probably going to get kicked, hit in the face by flailing limbs, or partially squished beneath him when he (inevitably) rolls over them.

could  you  hear  your  muse  in  the  hallway  from  another  room  ?

this boy is a stomper. you can hear him and those chunky boots coming a mile away. add to that the various clinks and jingles of the chains and metal adornments on his clothes and you know the Duke is heading your way. he can, of course, be quieter when he chooses, or when a situation requires it, but when he's at ease, his presence always makes itself known long before you see him.

[eternalflowershipping]

Part one of "taking my favourite chapter(s) of a scrapped Thesterius fic I was working on and just shoving Dianthus in there because I can" is nearly done....

[velvetwarfare]

I like you, have a soft evening with Candlelight in her realm 🤍

[tenebriism]

Kaeya is, quite literally, the most BEAUTIFUL man Albedo has ever seen, and I don't quite think I'll ever be over that.