#probably if anyone else did this i'd call it fan art

[fortjester]

based on a convo in the library server, i mocked up a (really, really rough) floorplan for how i tend to imagine Nona's New Rho apartment looks (and i'm a lil chuffed i actually made it kinda coherent)

[rmd-writes]

Tag Game Tuesday Wednesday: 911 Lone Star Fandom Edition

Tagged by @liminalmemories21 and @freneticfloetry thanks, and good timing! You both caught me on my lunch break

When did you first start watching Lone Star? Who or what introduced you to the show?

I can't remember the exact timing, but I'm pretty sure I watched the first two seasons while s3 was airing and then caught up after - I wanted to start earlier but I had some issues finding a way to watch the show here!

My introduction to the show was via @three-drink-amy telling me to watch it (repeatedly), @clottedcreamfudge's judicious use of gifs from the show in the gc and a bunch of SC mutuals yelling about the gay howdy wee woo show on my dash every week.

Season 4 was the first season that I watched "live" which I did with @welcometololaland, both of us texting and screaming as we watched each episode together hours and hours after everyone else had.

Which season is your favorite?

Season 3, hands down. I don't know that they'll ever beat it?

Who is your favorite character? (Bonus: If you answered TK or Carlos, who is your favorite besides them?)

Other than Carlos and TK, I think it's Grace. I just adore the her energy and the way that she takes everything in her stride and even when things are hard, she's very practical about it. Also she doesn't take shit from anyone.

Top five episodes. Go!

I don't think I've ever tried to do this? I'm generally very bad at choosing, my SC fave ep list contains three episodes that I insist must be watched together so they only count as one ep hahahaha Anyway, in no particular order, and not necessarily by episode title or number because I can't be arsed looking them up:

Push, my beloved

3 x 13

the one with Lou

Bad Call

the Soulmates one

Bonus: the Marjan ep in s4 which was just so, so good

If you could pick any character to be given a "begins" episode, who would it be and what would that episode look like?

Either Nancy because we know nothing about her and I want to know, or Paul because I think he's had such an interesting journey.

What is a scenario or storyline that you would like to see in season 5?

I love @liminalmemories21's idea of a Halloween ep! It would be so fun!

We probably won't get it because of the shorter season, but I'd love more Lonestar-is-a-comedy-actually episodes like Red vs Blue and the (original) Lou arc.

More realistically, I'd love to see Carlos actually grappling with the consequences of his actions in s4 and also working through his grief and TK helping him do that. And I'd like to see an absence of Owen love interests.

What do you think is going on in this still?

I want it to be something silly like Lou 2 is lost in the loft and Carlos is Not Happy about it (the reason for TK's posture) and then he answers his phone in the middle of all of that, hence the facial expression. The phone call isn't that important, it's Owen asking Carlos for help on a side quest.

We all know about the elusive 5x05 spicy scene that has been teased, so what is your prediction for how it could possibly top 1x02?

I don't know about a prediction, but I'd love to see them getting distracted from getting ready in the morning. Carlos (in just his underwear) waking TK up with a kiss and TK pulling him back into bed for a good make out session and that turning into more. A very different vibe to 1x02 but hot nonetheless.

Where was the Tarlos honeymoon in your mind?

I think it was somewhere close to home - with the accelerated wedding timeline (lol) they didn't have time for a long trip for to somewhere far away, and by all accounts, travelling overseas wasn't on their radar anyway (see: TK's disbelief when Carlos says he wants to go to Tuscany). So a long weekend at a nice resort somewhere. Enzo paid for it as their wedding gift because he couldn't make it to the wedding when they moved the date up.

Shoutout one of your favorite fan creations.

Just one (1)? Impossible! This Rafa fan art by @ambiguouspenny made me actually say "oh fuck" the first time I saw it. I adore the way @whatsintheboxmh uses light in all of her fan art. I love @howtosingit's Carlos episode edits because they a) let me watch all of the Tarlos scenes on repeat (and before I actually get to the watch the episodes when they air because time zones), b) give me an easy way to check canon dialogue and c) make it easy to convince new people to watch the show when they sneak into my DMs and tell me that the number of Tarlos gifs I am putting on their dash is tempting them. @liminalmemories21's Knave-verse might be my favourite Tarlos AU, everything about it makes me swoon. Okay, cutting myself off now.

Tagging: @welcometololaland @howtosingit @three-drink-amy just so they know my earlier tags in this post were tags to do this and also @lightningboltreader @orchidscript

@danieljradcliffe @guardian-angle22 @reasonandfaithinharmony @alrightbuckaroo

@cold-blooded-jelly-doughnut @nancys-braids @heartstringsduet and anyone else who wants to play 💖 PS. if ao3 user olympia2007 is here on tumblr, I'm tagging you too (and please come say hi)

[melonthesprigatito]

Look, I'm not interested in playing Palworld and I've been actively avoiding the drama/controversy so I'd be perfectly happy with forgetting it's existence and moving on with my life if it weren't for just how obsessively UNHINGED the Palworld fandom is, barging in on EVERY. SINGLE. recent Pokémon post on multiple platforms just to pick fights and shill the hell out of their game to (most of the time) confused Pokémon fans who are wondering what Palworld is and where these people came from.

I saw this wonderful art of the Kamado battle in Legends Arceus and the Champion battle in Sun and Moon on Instagram and I shit you not, a good 70% of the comments are entirely Palworld people just ranting and yelling about how Pokémon sucks, Palworld is going to kill Pokémon, anybody who likes Pokémon is a bootlicker and are riding Pokémon's 🍆, how anyone who complains about Palworld is a (and I quote) """"saviourf*g""" for Nintendo etc

Like, I just wanted to share my nostalgia about Sun and Moon and so did a lot of other people considering that there were still people talking about it, but it was hard to find those comments because they were drowned out by the Pals Vs Pokémon warzone.

And the second someone says something a Pal fan doesn't like, it eventually devolves into the Pal fans throwing homophobic slurs around and calling the Pokémon fans neckbeards, and shills and basement dwellers and such.

I'm sure there's probably sane fans who are just happy going about and making their Pals break rocks or whatever, but a majority of the Palworld fans I've encountered so far are like edgy screaming 4Chan people. Like, holy shit I wish they would just go to their own Palworld fan pages instead of invading Pokémon and turning every comment section into the embodiment of this meme.

(And I just want to address the whole "Pokémon Company is posting a lot more often recently because they're obviously scared of Palworld, lmaoooo why else would they suddenly start actively posting after months of radio silence 😎" argument that I've seen dozens of times.

First of all, the Pokémon channel/profile is always posting random game/anime/art screenshots. There hasn't been a sudden drastic increase of posts.

Second of all, it's A MONTH UNTIL POKÉMON DAY. THEY DO THIS EVERY YEAR. The influx of Snorlax posts is a promotional thing for Pokémon Sleep. Pokémon's just carrying on with their regularly scheduled hype building/ promotional stuff and the Palworld fans think it has something to do with them.(

[stormandforge]

Raw reactions to Storm #1

Ororo 💙

SPOILERS!

This is a solid first issue. Art is out of this world, writing is great. I recognised Ororo, in form and in words, from the first page, and the book made me realise how much I'd missed her. This is a huge compliment coming from me.

Why is she in Atlanta? Why not, but I'd like to know, because I didn't think she had any ties there.

Why is Frenzy here? Why not, but I'd like to know, because I didn't think there were close friends or anything.

Why did she leave Arakko? Why not, but I'd like to know, because... ok you get my point. The slate has been wiped a bit too clean and I'm wondering if we're all hallucinating or something. I mean, there are hippos. Can anyone else see the hippos?

I am SO DONE with the Danaerys Targaryen intro every time she appears on panel, but if there's ever a time to do it, it's the first issue of a new solo, so I'll let it slide.

The Sanctuary. I don't want to join any debate, but I'll say it: these doors are ridiculous. Our girl has an ego, but her exploits carved on glass? Really? This is more than Ororo has time for. These doors are not Ororo, they're the voice of Ororo's fans, and fans are always going to be over the top. There is a time and place to listen to the fans, and this isn't it. Let her have a sanctuary, let her call it the Storm Sanctuary if she wants to, let her keep the amazing walk-in closet with holograms included, but these doors? No. Too much.

Did she just puke? Lol.

Hehehe, I love that she didn't believe Stark until his findings had been confirmed by the work of, like, 5 other people.

I do wish she'd called Sage here though. Because "running the numbers" is a Sage job if I ever saw one. But that's what happens when you have multiple reboots and characters in different books: old connections get forgotten. (Although to be fair Sage probably has her Out Of Office on at this stage.)

Ororo with children = warm and fuzzy feeling.

Hey, Rogue's team is not the only X-team out there! I know, I know, it probably means Storm will meet Rogue's team soon. But still, we should have seen more people watching her speech. (You just know Forge looked away from the Analog for this.)

I loved the moral dilemma she faced, and I loved the decision she took. I always, always trust this woman to make the best moral decisions. WWOD, What Would Ororo Do. I live by it.

I love the detail of the empty seats. The big breath before facing the crowd. The splinter as well, even if it's less subtle. The puke counts too, I guess. This is one fallible Goddess, and I'm here for it.

I already see a sort of tug of war between human and more-than-human Ororo. The issue is very down-to-earth, and yet the overarching threat looks very...cosmic. It's hinted that she might become a politician - but also an Eternal. This dichotomy is Ororo's main trope as a character, you can't have a Storm book without it. Or at least you shouldn't.

You do your own thing my love, you stand on your own. We're with you. Don't be a stranger though. Once an X-Man, always an X-Man.

[azuresins]

*Builds a blanket fort, crawls inside, puts up a sign that says "Grelle Haters/transphobes do not interact with this post I am TALKING TO MYSELF PLEASE BE NORMAL THANK YOU*

This was pointed out a long, long time ago but it's never left my mind.

One thing I do miss about the anime adaptation S1, are a few of the filler-moments and Grelle interactions, specifically during the time when Grelle and Ciel were 'teaming up'... Ciel promised Grelle that if she helped him, Grelle could do anything they wanted with Sebastian.

And Grelle's immediate response was "...Even a kiss/kissing?" ... people, and even people who have worked on kuro content like the musicals, Season 2 (GODDDD), and other random material that's technically official... have been kind of quick to paint Grelle as this huge scary pervert, simply because what... They're outside of gender norms and that's what makes them predatory? Not that I dunno, they befriended a serial killer, and killed people who weren't supposed to die?

Ciel seemed pretty happy to allow Grelle full permission and access to do whatever they wanted with Sebastian and it doesn't really matter if he intended to make good on the promise or not, the point is all Grelle asked for was a kiss. They didn't ask to fuck him, some hot and steamy night or whatever (and we all know Sebastian fucks) they only asked for a simple kiss.

That's pretty innocent, all things considered. I think... she talks a big talk and walks a big walk, but she's probably a virgin, and after the laughs deep down she's actually extremely careful with her body, and who she takes to bed. IF she takes anyone to bed- I'm not actually sure she does, or not. I haven't seen a TON of fanwork, reflecting that very often and I can't say I blame fans for reacting that way because there's so much Grelle content out there but not much of it is connected to Manga canon at all... I just feel like that was a nice choice, on the part of the writers of S1.

It also warmed my stupid cold heart when Grelle stumbled upon a baby crying during the fire in london, and knelt to acknowledge it and tell it that she's not allowed to take it's life, just yet. People I think misunderstood that interaction and assumed they were being cruel or something-- I interpreted it as them acknowledging the infant and gently telling them, it wasn't their time, therefore it's possible someone else off camera rescued the baby and it got to live it's life. Some people are just really quick to assume the worst of them and I'm pretty sure 'degenerate' has been used to describe them before and I don't think that's fair, and I also don't see it.

When people pointed out in the past "but but but but Grelle tries to touch people without permission!" I take it with such a fat fucking huge grain of transphobic salt, because Madame Red full on rubs Sebastian's entire ass, RACHEL thought nothing of squeezing her own sisters tits, Sieglinde gropes Our!Ciel, I have NO idea whats going on with "Freckles/ Freckle Face" and their gender but they takes Our!Ciel's hand and make him grab their tit, and then there's all the filthy things Sebastian does. Not to mention the actual cultists/rapists, and kelvin who is an actual disgrace and sick fuck and Lao????????? I'm?????

Grelle all things considered is like THE LAST person in this manga I'd call a pervert. I know S1 isn't canon, and the plot kind of went off the rails... but I actually really liked those choices. PUT THEM BACK. 😠

In the manga and in official art drawn by Yana, I've noticed over the years Grelle has been drawn significantly more feminine, people who have never seen Grelle before can look at these pictures and not distinguish them from a cis woman... and I think that's a very nice choice, I just hope that we get more canon interactions with Grelle on a bit more of a personal level the way we did in S1, seeing as they're one of Kuro's more popular characters.

I find it an interesting choice that Othello has been just about the only character shown so far, that appears to be the most gentlemanly/respectful of her (and also hasn't tried to fight her/beat her lol) and for that reason... I think they're kind of cute, together and I hope they continue to be teamed up even if Grelle doesn't appear impressed or interested, I simply... can not unsee it. I am looking, I am NOTICING... very hard, and very respectfully in that ships direction even if it's kind of a rarepair and one-sided on Othellos part.

If William can stop beating her up for comic relief, that'd be great... but maybe I hope for too much. I think it'd be super, super, super funny if Grelle was gone for a few months, completed their transition and suddenly William fell all over his own ass and turned into a stuttering moron (because shes too beautiful) she was just, "Hiiii Will~ Gonna hit me again for filing my paperwork late? God forbid women do ANYTHING." And he was just. "Uh. --I'm.. -- No. That's enough. ////" I can see it very vividly in my head.

Anyway every time I talk about Grelle I get some weirdo in my askbox but I've been holding these thoughts in for quite some time...//////////

[v1rtualv4mp]

✮⋆ ──── ⋆ 𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐌𝐄 ⋆ ──── ⋆✮

➤ ─── ☆ Basic info

My name is Elizabeth, but you can call me Izzy or just any short version of my name. I go by any pronouns with a preference for it/it's.

My interests: Horror, heavy metal, the supernatural, insects, Tim Burton's works, poetry, apocalyptic media, people, art, bats, creativity, feelings, psychology, biology, 90s/00s movies and dark romance

Music artists/bands I fw: Alien Fucker, Acid Bath, Metallica, Korn, Xavleg, Radiohead, The Dogbones, Hole, Rob Zombie, Mortician, Tommy February6/Tommy Heavenly6, Poppy, Jazmin Bean, Tears For Fears, Nirvana, Type O Negative, Motörhead

➤ ─── ☆ Extras

⋕ Before you ask— no, I have no ships. I just like to reblog whatever's on my dashboard

⋕ I love calling people by petnames but not in a weird or non-platonic way

⋕ My first ever work was posted in Wattpad. It was a horror-drama story about a deceased girl haunting her murderer. Had to give up on it due to my poor writting skills, plus the severe social anxiety I used to have. But now I'm healed, if you're wondering <3

⋕ I speak both portuguese and english, but all of my works will be in english so it can reach more audience. I'm trying to learn russian but I'm pretty sure I'm gonna give up on it.

^ Edit: I did give up on it, now I'm learning swedish and I don't plan to give up on this one, it's actually quite fun to learn ^_^

⋕ I LOVEEE insects and bats!! My favorite insects are moths and my favorite bat species are the Desmodus rotundus ♡♡♡

⋕ Despite my frequent use of religious symbols in posts, I am not a religious person. Not saying I'm an atheist nor that I do believe in something. My beliefs simply do not fit into any labels. Yet, please don't take it as something offensive. Religion is beautiful to me and I was never intentionally disrespectful to one of them

⋕ I've been a huge horror fan ever since I was a toddler (probably has something to do with me being an adrenaline junkie lol), any type or subgenre is very enjoyable and comforting to me. My favorites are the supernatural, psychological, apocalypse that include infection/mutation/transformation of living beings and found footage ones. And I love love LOVEEE body horror, a lot of my ocs carry that aspect :3 :3 :3 :3

^ Talking about that, I am absolutely feral for horror aus of my fandoms

⋕ I fucking love zombies

⋕ And vampires, but zombies are superior (oh, how much I love gross creatures :(( ♡)

⋕ I'd say I'm too complicated to fit into any MBTI type, but if I had to choose which one suits me the best, ENFJ or ESTJ would be it

⋕ My favorite colors are red and green

⋕ I'm a dangerous combination of procrastination and perfectionism

⋕ I suspect I might have alexithymia, synesthesia and pica

⋕ Currently obsessed with Naruto 😿

[ ⚠️ ] Warning!! This blog contains certain contents which might make some people uncomfortable, such as:

▪︎Teraphilia (monster x human romance, block #monster romance tag)

▪︎Fictional gore (horror movies's gifs or fanarts, I always forget to tag these ones properly, apologies (っ◞‸◟ c))

Edit: I began to tag heavy violence, block cw: gore tag (this applies to extreme violence only)

▪︎︎Nudity art (never sexual, block #cw: nudity tag)

■ : If you wish for me to tag anything else, please send an ask! I do not wish for anyone to be uncomfortable in my blog ^_^

[jamiesugah]

Shipper Tag Game

I was tagged by @heyholmesletsgo.

1. What ship were you completely obsessed with when you were a teenager, but now you don't care about anymore? Ooh, easy one. Danny and Michelle from Guiding Light. Danny was in the mafia. Michelle killed his brother (when he assaulted her). Danny married her to keep her safe from the rest of his family. They were *chef's kiss*. Probably my first introduction to fandom. There were shipper vids, fics, fan edits. And I mean this was, like, 1998, so it's not like the internet was huge back then. And it's not so much that I don't care in that I haven't thought about them in years. I wonder if there are fics for them on AO3.

2. Which ship would you consider your first one? I'd say Han and Leia.

3. Your first fanfic was about which couple? Trip and T'Pol from Star Trek Enterprise. I do not acknowledge that final episode.

4. Do you remember the first couple you saw fanart of? That depends on how we're defining "fanart". Danny/Michelle had a lot of manips and screencap edits, but the first, like, original art I remember seeing was probably for Ron/Hermione.

5. Have you ever gotten into ship discourse? Dude, I ship Sterek AND Sheith, ship discourse just finds you. But actually the worst for me was when I was in the CSI: NY fandom. People legit hated me there. I got doxxed on LJ. That's one of the main reasons I'm a fairly passive consumer of fandom nowadays. I don't have the energy to deal with that shit.

6. Did you use to have any NOTP or have one currently? Oh I have SO MANY NOTPs. I have a lot of filtered tags on Tumblr. Some of them are ships that squick me out, some of them have annoying or abusive fandoms and that turned me off the ship, and some of them are just I don't like them and don't want to see them.

7. Who were the couple in the last fanfic you read? I was simultaneously reading a SeanWhite (Not Me) and a WangXian (The Untamed) fic.

8. Currently, do you have any OTPs? I mean... Yes?? Have you seen my blog?? SeanWhite and WangXian are the big ones right now but I have so many.

9. Is there any couple that, to this day, you are extremely mad about not getting together? Sterek (Stiles/Derek, Teen Wolf) and Sheith (Shiro/Keith, Voltron Legendary Defender). Those fuckers were married, I don't care what garbage "canon" says.

10. Is there any ship you used to dislike but now you think they are kind of interesting? Not a specific one, but I used to dislike slash on principle because slash shippers treated me like shit when I was in CSI: NY fandom, so I sort of thought they were all like that, and now all of my ships are queer so there you go.

11. Do you have any ship that, in the past, would've been considered normal but now you would be cancelled over? I mean, I think if Sterek and Sheith had been 20 years ago, no one would give a shit, but now the purity patrol polices everything. People are still calling us abusers for those, and those shows ended 6+ years ago.

12. What is your favorite crack ship? I don't really have one, honestly. I have a limited amount of mental energy to spend, so I'd rather focus on my OTPs.

13. What is the couple you read the most fanfics about? Total, ever? I think Merthur, followed by Sterek.

14. What do most of your ships usually have in common? Grumpy is in love with sunshine, sunshine & sunshine protector, usually some variation of that dynamic.

15. What you absolutely hate in a ship? Understanding that this is personal preference and I am not casting judgment on what anyone else ships: ships when there is, like, absolutely no evidence that the two people involved have any romantic feelings for each other. I railed against Leonard and Penny on TBBT for so many years because I'm pretty sure they got them together because they "made the most sense" but in actual canon they were horrible for each other. I have no idea WHY I was supposed to want them together.

I'm not going to tag anyone so if you want to do this, go nuts!

[gophergal]

15 Questions for 15 Mutuals

(starting a new thread because the other one is extremely long)

Thanks for tagging me @waw1x !

* * *

Are you named after anyone?

Yup! My dad's mom. My government name isn't very common though, so I won't tell you what it is. It's very pretty though.

Last time you cried?

Um. No idea? My eyes water a lot (stupid dry eye), but I'm very emotionally repressed. I'd say it was probably two weeks ago and because of nostalgia or something.

Do you have kids?

I have a cat and a teenage friend who calls me her Art Mom. Considering I would literally kill for either of them, I think that counts.

Do you use sarcasm a lot?

I don't think so? I'm kinda a smart ass, but it's not on purpose.

What sports do you play/have you played?

None competitively, only what we did in P.E. Of those I most enjoyed volleyball, wrestling, and weight lifting (even though we didn't compete on that one, it was a ton of fun)

What's the first thing you notice about a person?

Physically: Probably their hair. My eyesight sucks, so when I was a kid it was the easiest way to identify people. Otherwise: Speech patterns.

Eye color?

Blue. Kinda wish they weren't, since I'm very sensitive to light, but I get them from my mom and her dad, so that's nice.

Scary movie or happy ending?

Depends. Very few movies scare me, and the ones that do aren't even horror. I think I'd take one with a happy ending, just to be safe.

Any special talents?

No idea. I'm pretty physically strong, but idk if that counts as a talent, exactly.

Where were you born?

West Virginia. Country home, take me road.

What are your hobbies?

Drawing and writing, obvs, but also video games (I don't keep up to date with new ones, though. Just play the same type of shit I did as a kid, and maybe something new every once in a while). Is attempting to learn new skills a hobby? Cause I do that a lot, even if I never get past the basics on anything

Do you have any pets?

Three, technically. My cat, Panther. My dog, Diesel. And my mom's dog, who I inherited but don't consider mine, Loki.

How tall are you?

5 foot, 5 inches. (Around 165 centimeters, for those who use metric). Folks say I look taller though. Don't ask me why.

Favorite subject in school?

Art (my highschool had a few different ones. I most enjoyed Drawing and Ink. So far, in college, I've enjoyed Drawing and Ceramics the most), English, and Cooking (my school had Global Foods and it was awesome)

Dream job?

No fucking clue!! All I know is I want to do art! When I was in middle school, I wanted to be a video game concept artist. In highschool I wanted to be a tattoo artist. Now... Kinda lost, if I'm honest.

(I don't think I have many mutuals, so- @shining-bewear @bisexual-horror-fan @cursed--alien @bucketofcowboys @kpen-draws and anyone else who wants to do it. No pressure though!)

[infizero-draws]

Hey! I followed you because I think your art is super funky and awesome and cool and I've been mildly interested in Sonic for awhile now. Most of my content is very secondhand, like commentary videos and the Snapcube dubs.

To make a long story short, I want to get into Sonic. Like for realsies. There's so much content out there and I don't know anyone personally who enjoys it, so how do you suggest I approach this?

Aw thank you so much I'm glad you like my art!!

It really depends on what you're most interested in! Sonic is a franchise that spans different mediums and has been on-going for a long time, so there's a lot of content with very different vibes and varying levels of quality (though that's subjective of course).

I'd say that probably the best way overall to get familiar with the characters and world as a newcomer is to read the IDW comics! They're very well-written, have gorgeous art, and are easily accessible to new fans while still having lots of references to previous installments. They take place directly after Sonic Forces, but they summarize the events of that game so don't worry about needing that context. There's also a couple of mini-series to check out!

There's the games of course, which are the main canon that the IDW comics build off of/are technically a part of. I would personally recommend Sonic Adventure 2, it's my favorite game and though basically everyone calls it their favorite, like, it's for a reason. SA2 for me is the best game overall, as its story is great, the gameplay is fun and works perfectly alongside the story, and it's just full of charm. It's the most cohesive Sonic game imo, everything feels so interconnected and masterfully woven together, I love playing it. Don't be scared off by the "2" in the title btw, though there are some elements from Sonic Adventure that are referenced, you can still totally enjoy it without knowing anything about the first game as it's mainly standalone.

^ (also sidenote but sa2's story got a littleee muddled by the english localization, its not the worst but i'd recommend this video that goes over the story in detail with an emphasis on the original japanese script. there used to be an upload of the jp cutscenes with faithful eng subtitles but unfortunately last year the channel got nuked and there weren't any backups T_T im still not over it)

When it comes to recommending games it sort of depends on whether you plan on actually playing them yourself or just watching someone else play them, because there's a lot of Sonic games that have really good stories but subpar gameplay, or games that don't really have a story but good gameplay. Also everyone has their own preferences when it comes to types of games so there's that too.

Sonic is a franchise that both sort of has an overarching story (or at least they did back in the early 2000s when the games had a story that was built upon with each game, something that we might be finally returning to with Sonic Frontiers!) and also has many games and cartoons where they're kind of separate from all of that and function as standalone stories or just take place in their own universes entirely. There's many different canons across the different mediums, but the main one is the mainline games + IDW + now Sonic Prime on Netflix, which is apparently also canon to the main game canon!

Sorry if this is overwhelming >< it's a big franchise with a lot of different stuff and different canons and a wonky timeline so it's sort of hard to pinpoint the exact things a new fan """"should"""" check out. I'd say check out the IDW comics and then see if any of the games (or just their cutscenes in a compilation on YouTube lol) spark your interest!

And I say this every time I get these kinds of asks about a fandom I'm in, but PLEASE feel free to send me another ask or even shoot me a dm if you're comfortable if you want more specific advice or are confused about something, I literally love nothing more than talking about sonic the hedgehog at length. (Although I'd prefer if you sent them to my main @infizero as I use this account mainly just for art ^_^)

Anyways I hope this helped in some way ToT

[starsmuserainbow]

1OO IMPORTANT CHARACTER QUESTIONS

taken from beth kinderman and nikki walker’s the 100 most important things to know about your character. a good list to help develop a character’s background, personality, and general aspects.

(Template link here)

PART 1: THE BASICS

What is your full name?

"Kor'rue, but honestly? I much prefer my earthen name - Starlight!"

Where and when were you born?

"I don't remember the date or anything - and the dates are different on Tamaran anyway. It was in the house of my mom!"

Who are/were your parents? (Know their names, occupations, personalities, etc.)

"I only know my mother. She was called Fros'rue, she was wonderful! She liked drawing, and did a lot of art, and she cared very good for me! Only that she never told me about my father."

Do you have any siblings? What are/were they like?

"Like most tamaraneans, I'm an only child. As far as I know at least, though, since I don't know my father -- oooh! I could totally have some half-siblings somewhere! How cool would that be?"

Where do you live now, and with whom? Describe the place and the person/people.

"I live alone! On Earth! On my tree! It's... well, it's a tree. With many decorations that I put up, colorful and shiny and everything."

What is your occupation?

"I don't have any - Earth doesn't really let me get money, because I'm too young or because I don't have any papers, or something."

Write a full physical description of yourself. You might want to consider factors such as: height, weight, race, hair and eye color, style of dress, and any tattoos, scars, or distinguishing marks.

"I have at least somewhat the typical tamaranean skin - which is more orange than the pink that humans more have. My eyes are somewhere between pink and purple - my mom called them pink but they feel more between the colors to me, and my sclera is white. My hair is iridescent, it's nice and all, but once I get my hands on money I can't wait to try all the hair colors that earth has! I try to wear clothes as colorful as possible!"

To which social class do you belong?

"I have no idea!"

Do you have any allergies, diseases, or other physical weaknesses?

"Nah!"

Are you right- or left-handed?

"I have no idea! I think... wait a moment, let me... yes, I think I use my right hand more."

What does your voice sound like?

"I don't know. Uh... lighter than I'd like."

What words and/or phrases do you use very frequently?

"I don't think there are any. I use amazing and cool and these things a lot these days, but that's just because Earth is so amazing!"

What do you have in your pockets?

"A box that... I don't know from what it is, but look at how it shines in the light! How could anyone have thrown that into the trash? -- That's a few sweets, especially those from Yuko (rosecoloredmuses) I'll keep for really desperate times since they're sooooo good - here's some coins I found, and a few rainbow-colored ribbons!"

Do you have any quirks, strange mannerisms, annoying habits, or other defining characteristics?

"I don't think so? I really doubt I'd be aware of those myself though. Shouldn't you ask someone else if I have those?"

PART 2: GROWING UP

How would you describe your childhood in general?

"It... uh... it was okay. I had a mom that cared very good for me and I felt very comfortable at home. School was... not that fun."

What is your earliest memory?

"I remember my mom swaying me around! I was probably crying, or something, but I don't remember that."

How much schooling have you had?

"All the general stuff of tamaranean schooling."

Did you enjoy school?

"What do you want me to say? Learning and stuff was okay, but it was a struggle to assure myself a normal treatment when I looked so different. And I'm not a fan of the whole 'asserting dominance'- thing that my people are so much into."

Where did you learn most of your skills and other abilities?

"Tamaranean schooling includes knowledge of how to use all our abilities, too."

While growing up, did you have any role models? If so, describe them.

"I didn't really, no! It was never my goal to become like another tamaranean - though, my mother maybe, but also not really - and I didn't really know who I was. I still don't."

While growing up, how did you get along with the other members of your family?

"My mom was great, we got along so good!"

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

"I always liked dancing and moving - I wanted to be a famous dancer or flyer!"

As a child, what were your favorite activities?

"Didn't I just say? I liked to dance, to fly, just to be active!"

As a child, what kinds of personality traits did you display?

"Well, I was energetic I bet, and probably a little weird, uh, I don't know! I was happy and curious?"

As a child, were you popular? Who were your friends, and what were they like?

"I didn't really make friends."

When and with whom was your first kiss?

"It's not a big deal on Tamaran. We do it with those that teach us how to learn languages."

Are you a virgin? If not, when and with whom did you lose your virginity?

If you are a supernatural being (i.e. mage, werewolf, vampire), tell the story of how you became what you are or first learned of your own abilities. If you are just a normal human, describe any influences in your past that led you to do the things you do today.

PART 3: PAST INFLUENCES

What do you consider the most important event of your life so far?

"Actually following my decision to leave Tamaran."

Who has had the most influence on you?

"My mom, I think."

What do you consider your greatest achievement?

"Does surviving count? Because suriving travelling to all these planets feels like a pretty great achievement to me."

What is your greatest regret?

"That one time, that one planet I visited? I ate what I assumed to be food - I was really hungry - and it turned out to have been a very important, almost-holy object of their world. I deeply regret causing so much chaos."

What is the most evil thing you have ever done?

"Maybe that above?"

Do you have a criminal record of any kind?

"I'm... not proud of it. But yes, very likely."

When was the time you were the most frightened?

"After I first left Tamaran and reached a new planet."

What is the most embarrassing thing ever to happen to you?

"In school. There was a form of weight-lifting, and somehow at that moment, I couldn't lift a thing. Like, not even the lightest thing available. That was so embarrassing. I hate it when my powers suddenly fail."

If you could change one thing from your past, what would it be, and why?

"That my mother never told me of my father! Simple, because I want to know!"

What is your best memory?

"All the times with my mother. I can't choose."

What is your worst memory?

"Maybe that embarassing thing I mentioned before, or one of those times where the people of a planet decided to throw me into their prisons. Those places are disgusting."

PART 4: BELIEFS & OPINIONS

Are you basically optimistic or pessimistic?

"I like to believe everything's good, so I'd say optimistic."

What is your greatest fear?

"Uh... I'd... really rather not go as deep. ... Okay, fine. To never get the feeling of belonging anywhere."

What are your religious views?

"Honestly, I don't know."

What are your political views?

What are your views on sex?

Are you able to kill? Under what circumstances do you find killing to be acceptable or unacceptable?

"I don't think I could do it. It never is right to take someone's life!"

In your opinion, what is the most evil thing any human being could do?

"Hurt others for no reason!"

Do you believe in the existence of soul mates and/or true love?

"I never really thought about it much. No idea."

What do you believe makes a successful life?

"Knowing who you are, doing what you like. These things."

How honest are you about your thoughts and feelings (i.e. do you hide your true self from others, and in what way)?

"I try to be honest. I had before gotten downright sick for not standing to what I thought and felt, so I'm really not eager to have that again."

Do you have any biases or prejudices?

"I don't think so. I don't think too highly of the members of the royal family of Tamaran, but I don't think that has to do with prejudices or biases."

Is there anything you absolutely refuse to do under any circumstances? Why do you refuse to do it?

"Well, kill, for instance. At least I'd never do so on purpose or when I can avoid it. Because it's wrong, obviously!"

Who or what, if anything, would you die for (or otherwise go to extremes for)?

"Currently? I can't think of anything. Outside of, like, survival or something, which I can't exactly die for, though."

PART 5: RELATIONSHIPS W/OTHERS

In general, how do you treat others (politely, rudely, by keeping them at a distance, etc.)? Does your treatment of them change depending on how well you know them, and if so, how?

"I think it's important to treat others how you want to be treated. So I'm trying to be friendly and open. Of course it changes if I know someone! If they're rude, I won't bother trying to keep being friendly!"

Who is the most important person in your life, and why?

"That means someone that still lives, right? I don't have anyone I think."

Who is the person you respect the most, and why?

"I can't think of anyone! I mean, I respect those I've made friends with, but, it doesn't feel right to say that since it's more than that, since it's being friends and all?"

Who are your friends? Do you have a best friend? Describe these people.

"I'm not, uh... I don't think I can call anyone a 'best friend', I'm still at the start of getting to know everyone."

Do you have a spouse or significant other? If so, describe this person.

"Uh, hello? You are aware that I'm still young, right? Maybe I'll want these things later, but for now I'm really not interested."

Have you ever been in love? If so, describe what happened.

"Again, no thanks. Maybe some day."

What do you look for in a potential lover?

"I am not looking!"

How close are you to your family?

"I don't have anyone anymore. Mom's gone. And I don't know my father."

Have you started your own family? If so, describe them. If not, do you want to? Why or why not?

"Do I really have to think about these things already? I'm just living!"

Who would you turn to if you were in desperate need of help?

"... I don't know. Depends on where I am, and what's the help about. Minato (dxfiedfxte) is nice, or maybe Supergirl (karaoftomorrow)?"

Do you trust anyone to protect you? Who, and why?

"I'd really rather just protect myself. But, uh... there's Supergirl as I just mentioned, she's a hero and all, and there's also another, I met Flash (flashgotthis) once before. I think heroes are pretty good in the 'protecting'."

If you died or went missing, who would miss you?

"... I don't know. Maybe the friends I made."

Who is the person you despise the most, and why?

"There's no one! Maybe Moonshot, but despise is a bit much."

Do you tend to argue with people, or avoid conflict?

"I don't like arguing much, but I won't be silent if there's something bothering me."

Do you tend to take on leadership roles in social situations?

"I'm not really a leader anywhere, no."

Do you like interacting with large groups of people? Why or why not?

"I don't really mind! It can be fun either way, it matters more if the people are friendly or not, than how many they are."

Do you care what others think of you?

"Not at all!"

PART 6: LIKES & DISLIKES

What is/are your favorite hobbies and pastimes?

"I like to use these skates that Earth has! And I like to decorate my tree."

What is your most treasured possession?

"This stone that I wear as necklace. It's... on Tamaran, we get stones that represent us to birth. They didn't have anything to match my weirdness, though, and I got a simple one-color one, and after two years or so, my mom gifted me this one. I still wonder where it's from."

What is your favorite color?

"The full rainbow!"

What is your favorite food?

"Earth has so much, and I barely know anything yet! I absolutely can't choose a favorite yet!"

What, if anything, do you like to read?

"I'm... not too big on reading. I can, totally, but there's just so much stuff that's more interesting."

What is your idea of good entertainment (consider music, movies, art, etc.)?

"Something to keep my focus, to just feel great!"

Do you smoke, drink, or use drugs? If so, why? Do you want to quit?

"I've been told that smoking isn't good. I don't quite get what it is for in general, but I'll try my best to stay away from it. The same goes for these other things, at least I assume they are similar?"

How do you spend a typical Saturday night?

"Same as any other day. Depends on where I am or who's with me."

What makes you laugh?

"Good jokes, of course!"

What, if anything, shocks or offends you?

"Violence against animals. Just, only the thought. Ew."

What would you do if you had insomnia and had to find something to do to amuse yourself?

"I'd go and look into these things with the bright colors and loud music! Clubs, they're called I think? I've been curious of those for a while already."

How do you deal with stress?

"I don't think I do that well."

Are you spontaneous, or do you always need to have a plan?

"I prefer spontaneity!"

What are your pet peeves?

PART 7: SELF IMAGES & OTHER

Describe the routine of a normal day for you. How do you feel when this routine is disrupted?

"I don't really have any routine! I wake up, I enjoy the weather, I see if anyone or anything is around that's interesting. I look for food, and eventually there's sleep again. Honestly, it's cool when any routine gets disrupted."

What is your greatest strength as a person?

"I don't know. Maybe my eagerness?"

What is your greatest weakness?

"I have no idea! That I'm weaker than other tamaraneans? That my powers sometimes fail?"

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

"I don't wanna change anything! I like me as I am!"

Are you generally introverted or extroverted?

"I think I'm open, so I guess extroverted."

Are you generally organized or messy?

"More messy, I think."

Name three things you consider yourself to be very good at, and three things you consider yourself to be very bad at.

"Decorating! I like to think I'm at least okay at dancing! And uh.... does knowledge of worlds count?

I can't sit and wait. I'm bad at lying, and... and I'm bad at making lasting connections. I think. But that's maybe simply because I'm still on a search!"

Do you like yourself?

"Yeah, definitely!"

What are your reasons for being an adventurer (or doing the strange and heroic things that RPG characters do)? Are your real reasons for doing this different than the ones you tell people in public? (If so, detail both sets of reasons…)

"I'm exploring because I'm searching for clues to who my father is, or at least what he is so I know what I am partly! ... And... maybe I'm also just hoping to come across a place to feel at home at during my search."

What goal do you most want to accomplish in your lifetime?

"Find who I am, and find a place where I belong."

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

"Hopefully knowing who I am, and perhaps already having chosen where I'd like to stay."

If you could choose, how would you want to die?

"... I'd really rather not. Is 'old age' an option? Then that because I don't wanna think about dying."

If you knew you were going to die in 24 hours, name three things you would do in the time you had left.

"I'd say my goodbyes to all the people I know here on Earth, and then... I think I'd leave to try some more to find out what I am. I really don't wanna just, never know."

What is the one thing for which you would most like to be remembered after your death?

"You just have to continue with death, do you? I don't know, and I don't wanna think about it."

What three words best describe your personality?

"I like the word spunky! Also, colorful and friendly sound fitting."

What three words would others probably use to describe you?

"I don't know!"

If you could, what advice would you, the player, give to your character? (You might even want to speak as if he or she were sitting right here in front of you, and use proper tone so he or she might heed your advice…)

That she should give up her search. She has friends here on Earth, people that like her and that she likes, and with always wanting to continue her search, Starlight barely even realizes it. She already has found a home here, and yet she feels like she needs to still find it.

[beyond-far-horizons]

I've written a huge response to this post because the AOL is my favourite part of WOT and I love discussing it, plus I'm researching it for a plunge into a fanfiction on the Collapse, but then I realised the OG post is from 2016! You've probably revised your opinions since then or maybe not, but let me post this just in case other people have similar opinions given that there's quite a few new fans being brought in by the new adaptation and they maybe haven't seen some of the additional lore books. So please bear this in mind that although the below response is written with the OP in mind, it's not necessarily directed at you :)

The AOL is far from perfect for sure, but there's a few things I'd like to address in your meta. Firstly, in the recently published Origins of the The Wheel of Time’ book by Michael Livingston he confirms AOL as having its roots in both Golden Age myths and science fiction stories of a technologically superior future. He likens it to Hesiod’s ‘Silver Age of Demigods’. So whilst many of us rightly like to question utopian stories/societies, it is meant to be mostly the real deal.

Secondly, have you read ‘The World of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time’ aka the Big White Book (BWB) aka the Big Book of Bad Art? That answers a lot of your questions regarding the ordering of society in AOL, albeit written in a vague and fragmentary way under the conceit that Third Age scholars are piecing bits of ancient knowledge/records together.

For one, the world wasn't ruled by channellers - they were only a tiny part of the population and they had to prove themselves in service to society as much as anyone else. We see this in the Forsaken as despite them all being very strong in the Power, only around half had the vaunted Third Name - the AOL's highest honour. Even channellers of maximum strength such as Rahvin and Lanfear (and not to mention maximum beauty and ambition) didn't receive the honour of the Third Name, meaning that in late AOL's society they still hadn't done enough for society to prove themselves worthy. BWB confirms there was a World Council pre-Bore and while channellers could hold positions of power, it wasn't defacto that they did. Lews Therin being the Supreme Commander of the Light also happened in the War of Power. He was the First among Servants at the time and hailed as the greatest man of the Age, but as the above example of the Forsaken show, his acclaim came from multiple talents not just his channelling skills and strength (although yes in the War of Power, having a man who's very strong and experienced in channelling the One Power and who knows warfare as your leader is likely a given.)

Here's the relevant passages in the Age of Legends section of BWB:

'The people afforded the most status, though they still had to earn their third name through great individual works, were those whose gifts made them capable of the greatest service: those who could effectively channel the One Power. These men and women were called Aes Sedai, which meant “servant of all” in the Old Tongue....To what extent that organization was part of the world government is not known; clearly the Aes Sedai were highly influential, with considerable power, at least at times, but equally clearly they were not the entire government and did not necessarily dominate it. They had their own internal governing structure through the Hall of the Servants...'

'With so few people able to channel, the Power had to be used selectively. Aes Sedai were not expected to maintain or energize machines, for instance, but rather concentrated their efforts on designing and creating the technology for them. Technicians and other skilled nonchannelers could then handle the construction and repair; after that, anyone could operate them. The process that enabled the great Sharom, or floating sphere of Collam Daan, to hover high above the university was discovered and refined through the use of the One Power, but the sphere was built by normal people and suspended through use of the world’s own magnetic and gravitational fields.'

'This society was supported by a stable worldwide economy; it is doubtful that the people of the Age would have been able to reach such a high level of advancement without it. The global capitalistic economy gave the greatest rewards for the greatest service, and while Aes Sedai handled many important roles, they represented such a small percentage of the community that the majority of jobs was left open to non-channelers. Financial gain was not difficult to achieve, but meant little in a world where most material things were plentiful. Individuals gained financial reward based on their work and its value to society. Even a person in the least-valued position gained enough money to assure a comfortable standard of living. There was no poverty. Everyone who wished had a place to serve.'

'The Age’s system of government was both strong and responsive. Unfortunately very few details of this government or how it interacted with the population at large and the Aes Sedai are available. The sparse fragmented documents that have been preserved mention a worldwide parliament, or “council,” of democratically elected officials. They also mention that within the government the ability to channel earned respect, but did not guarantee prominence. From this we can deduce that Aes Sedai were often elected to the council, and were influential, but were not necessarily in charge.'

'Most of the motives for conflict had been eliminated: Worldwide economic stability had been established, removing any possibility of poverty or extreme financial inequality. Food harvesting and distribution was enhanced by the high level of technology and the use of the One Power, eliminating starvation and even deprivation. Status was more important than financial gain, eliminating most types of base greed, if not envy. In addition, the most powerful group of people, the Aes Sedai, were seldom tempted to use their abilities for personal gain alone, because they knew that service to others would reap greater rewards and higher status than any political or financial manipulation ever could.'

As for the world being One Power er...powered....would you rather have the dirty and wasteful tech we have now that's acknowledged to be poisoning and overheating the planet or clean power drawn from an essentially divine source (the One Power comes from the True Source set in place by the Creator to drive the Wheel of Time which spins the fabric of reality)? Also the above mentioned book discusses how this use is not only clean, leading to beautiful, unpolluted cities, but that ter'angreal are often maintained by non-channeller technicians and engineers. It also makes clear there was more than enough jobs and opportunities for gaining status by service to humanity for everyone. Yes this could be hyperbole and mythmaking, but the Age seems to have gone on for a long time in peace and plenty given the Age’s powerful channellers can reach (800 yrs) and the fact the society had forgotten war.

'One often-mentioned benefit of Power-based technology was a very clean, aesthetically pleasing environment. Pollution from refining, transport, and industry was unknown, since waste by-products could be dispersed on a submolecular level. This waste-free technology, combined with the culture’s need for a harmonious environment wherever possible, led to a lifestyle that focused on beauty and comfort as much as on utilitarian efficiency.' BWB, Age of Legends.

It's hard to get specifics on AOL because RJ was vague, but we can infer some things. He mentions in his notes that the First Age (ours) ended in a cataclysm of mass fire and death (incidentally showing a Breaking without the One Power and a society collapsing into barbarism via mass disaster and reliance on our current tech). It's implied it's a nuclear war given Thom's First Age stories of 'Mosk and Merk' and their 'Lances of Fire'. In the kids version of the Eye of the World the glossary mentions Tamyrlin as the person who first channelled the One Power which starts the 2nd Age. Jordan mentions in an interview this as being very dangerous and took many attempts to get right (I shudder to think what channelling saidin was like without a teacher or LTT in the back of your head). Given all of this, I have surmised that channellers were a huge part of the clean-up of the world in the first part of the 2nd Age and given that the world goes from barbarism to a utopian standard of living with a monist but not very outwardly religious view of the universe/multiverse, a lot of things must have been discovered during that time period that led humanity to strive towards this utopian 'service first' society. I could go into all this as I've been obsessed by the AOL since I first read the books 25 years ago and I'm currently trying to piece together more because I've finally decided to do a fanfiction about the Collapse, but I don't want to get sidetracked! However, what's really interesting to me is how late AOL got to that point. I do think the way the 1st Age ended and how channelling was discovered was a key influence in how society decided to better itself and remove all factors that might create conditions for warfare - poverty, disease, pollution and greed. Again, if you haven't read it or haven't read in a long time, BWB goes into all of this.

Here's his section on the 1st Age from his notes:

“The First Age ended when fire rained from the heavens. The flesh of men melted, and those who did not melt were charred like coals. Plagues, boils and sores roamed the world and famine, yet to eat or drink often meant death, for waters and fruits that once were wholesome now slew at the eating. Even the air or the dust could slay. The wind could bring death. Rivers filled with dead fish and birds fell from the sky. Invisible vapours from the land that slew. Noxious fumes that corroded men’s flesh.

Man stretched forth his hands to the heavens, and seized the stars, and called them his own. For his presumption man was purged of his greatness, purged of knowledge and abilities, reduced to an animal to begin again the climb to the Light…”

“Acceptance at last of the burdens of responsibility; that men must not depend on gods or spirits for salvation, but find it in themselves; that men and women alone are incomplete parts of a whole; that free will is a necessary part of humanity; that evil cannot be destroyed any more than can good; that the possibility of evil is as necessary for free will to exist, and thus for humanity to be human, as is the possibility of good.” (https://13depository.blogspot.com/2002/02/some-sort-of-balance-is-perfect-wheel.html)

Also something your meta gets confused by is judging the AOL both by the Forsaken and by the War of Power which are both extreme examples coming from the ending of that Age and society. BWB again goes into more detail, but the Dark One appeals to any in society that feels they haven't got their due or wants to indulge their vices and many - channeller and non-channeller - went over. He targets Aes Sedai most because they have the most potential power for his cause. But that doesn't mean the Light agrees or that there were no powerful non-channellers on the Shadow side or the Light or in fact ruling AOL society pre-Bore.

'Those who were dissatisfied with their lives or who sought greater power now had a choice. Anyone who thought they had ever been mistreated or passed over, as well as many who just sought change, were drawn to embrace the Dark. The Dark One offered favor and status above what these people could otherwise achieve. Those who served his cause were given promises of immortality, provided the Dark One was freed. The Dark Lord promised to remake the world in his image once he was unbound from his prison. All who stood by him would then be rewarded for their assistance. Even Aes Sedai, drawn by promises of power, immortality, and, in some cases, revenge, joined the ranks of those sympathetic to the Dark One, adding great strength to his cause. These Aes Sedai came to be known as “Dreadlords.”' BWB, The Fall into Shadow.

A major theme of WOT is both miscommunication and loss of knowledge and this is symbolised par excellence by the Breaking, but major amounts of knowledge is also lost in the Trolloc Wars and the War of a Hundred Years (both of which you reference as to why society hasn't developed more due to Ishy's evil plans.) Both characters and lore books like BWB are constantly underlining that knowledge is lost and that i think is the major reason why we don't know the names of non-channeller major players. Another factor you correctly identify is the superiority complex of the Forsaken who completely did look down on non-channellers and frankly everyone who isn't them (although given the Darkfriend cell set-up in the 3rd Age, the Shadow clearly doesn't always place non-channeller below channeller, it's just the Forsaken are the top dogs). However we know very little about the AOL and the War of Power, including the names and details of equally powerful Forsaken who weren't sealed by LTT, so it's not just non-channellers who get the short end of the stick there. It’s just the nature of the books and the lack of info in general, especially mediated through short, conceited Forsaken POVs or insane LTT asides. Ishy even loses it himself, thinking about how the nature of the Wheel means he will have lost knowledge he has a right to. However in the Prologue to ‘The Eye of the World’ he taunts Lews Therin saying he once summoned ‘the Nine Rods of Dominion’ - the world’s regional governors. There’s also the 17 generals of Dawns Gate mentioned (I believe) in BWB; both of these extremely powerful groups could be made up of non-channellers or a mix, we don’t know. In ‘Lord of Chaos’, Graendal exclaims over Ceran Tol's 'Tempo of Infinity' - we don't know Ceran Tol's sex or whether they could channel, but presumably they were talented enough a painter that Graendal herself is jealous of Sammael's possession of this masterwork and says he might as well have looted a museum. Aran'gar also reflected on Cormalinde Masoon's massive sculptures from the Ansaline Gardens in 'A Knife of Dreams'. They could be a non-channeller too. BWB asserts anyone could rise high, but true, these two could be Aes Sedai as well, many had jobs outside of their role as Servants of All. But even the Forsaken to my recollection make no sweeping statements about channellers being on top in AOL society.

The meta mentions Asmodean and his strength in the Power as being a factor in why he was kept on by the Shadow. Jordan said he was an effective governor of conquered territories for the Shadow which is why he attained his rank along with his strength in the Power. But also that's the Shadow and not pre-Bore AOL society where he was mainly known as musical prodigy with failed potential.

The meta also mentions binding. Binding was designed as an alternative to prison - it stops the channeller from committing the same violent acts our own societies would imprison, maim or execute them for in the here and now (depending on what they'd done and where you are in the world.) I actually think it's a good alternative as long as it's adminstered with a proper trial and by people who are only going to stop the receiver recommiting violent acts, unlike a sadist like Thereva who uses it to control the channeller for example. Yes, it cuts a channeller's lifespan, but they are still going to live a long time and that's the least that people like Semirhage deserve. Semirhage herself notes her peers offered her a choice and it was to limit her sadism, not to control her in other ways. I think binding chairs are noted to do the same things for non-channellers, but I don't know if we hear of any ill-effects from them. Sammael in ‘Lord of Chaos’ and the BWB note very few commit violent crimes were committed pre-Bore and there were healers of the mind (like Graendal was) for those that are mentally disturbed. I don't know if they were bound too if mental illness caused them to commit violence or if there was another policy, the series isn't clear on that.

But there are hints AOL society could be unfair despite on paper its vast superiority to our societies and the 3rd Age in my view. Channelling is a genetic and spiritual lottery and likely would give you an advantage in some ways (all Healing is done by Restorers for example), just not all. Chora trees sound wonderful, but as many fans have said, they could also be used to control the populace from revolt. Despite AOL society being basically founded on socialist principles, BWB also says it runs on capitalism with a stable worldwide economy (see one of the above quotes). I don't want to get into an economic or political discussion here, but there's a ton of ways that could go wrong. Lews Therin himself lives in an opulent palace and mentions merchants bringing the fabric of his clothing from across the World Sea so economics and material status are still factors in the world, although you also have Graendal in her ascetic phase preaching non-materialism.

Finally for the 'Incastar' section, I'm not sure how much I'd invest in Brandon Sanderson‘s additions to Jordan's world. I like Brandon and I like some things he did with WOT and he had the Dark One's own job to finish the series, but in other ways he's shown to have a poor grasp of the setting (e.g. his OOC writing of Graendal and Demandred thinking about being tortured whilst being trained as a young Aes Sedai.) So the Incastar and his Rand Sedai viewpoints are a little suspect for me. However, I like that he mentions the issues with AOL, regardless of the Dark One. I think this is more to do with the nature of the Pattern and the Creator valuing both free will and balance as fan scholar Laura Taglieri discusses in the Thirteen Depository site (highly recommended), esp https://13depository.blogspot.com/2002/03/fate-free-will-and-divining-pattern.html . AOL society is wonderful in many ways, but it is quite stagnant so perhaps the Bore was always destined to happen to challenge humanity once again.

The more interesting questions for me are:

What was the transition from 1st Age and how much of a role did Tamyrlin play?

How was this utopian society achieved and why?

How do they know time is a Wheel and there are 7 Ages and each repeat?

How do they know there is a benevolent Creator and yet the Creator 'will take no part'.

Why aren't there more religions?

What were the Foretellings and Dreams of the end of the AOL because they will have had them and they will have been dire (some of the Prophecies of the Dragon come from the end of the 2nd Age.)

I think some of these questions/answers may have resulted in Graendal and Ishamael's moral and spiritual downfall, which is why I find them some of the most interesting villains and characters in general in the series.

Anyways, regardless of where you stand on these subjects now, thank you for the opportunity to discuss AOL and WOT and whatever you are doing now, I hope you have a wonderful day. Ps - great username!

Age of Legends Thoughts

Throughout The Wheel of Time, the Age of Legends is treated as a golden age of civilization, a time that knew no hunger, no war, and had limited major crime. Until Lanfear’s Glorious Fuck Up™ the Age of Legends was seemingly perfect. Everyone constantly bemoans the Breaking and the destruction of the Age of Legends society. Here’s the thing though; the Age of Legends was actually pretty fucked up.

Spoilers under cut

Keep reading

[luxmaeastra]

Erebus stepped on Winter's soil following Rigelus as they moved through the streets and hallways.

"Do you think she's working today?"

Rigelus shot him a look.

"You're here to work not moon over some crush Erebus."

He didn't blush at that and shrugged. He didn't grow up hearing about her. He didn't survive his parents deaths clinging to another who may actually understand his pain. Still, he didn't give Rigelus words any reaction.

He didn't listen as Rigelus pitched him to Boreas. His white eyes slid to him and he bowed to other.

"We could always use another poisoner. But as for joining our court? That will be up to our resident Poisoner."

Erebus bowed deeper, Rigelus won't like this but he would not here and play a false mask.

"I have greatly admired her work for years. It would be an honor to work beside her. I hope I am good enough for such a task."

--------

Boreas had told her of this new Poisoner here for trial basis. He apparently was a fan of her work, she hadn't realized anyone her work to recognize it. It had been many years since the war. She walked into her workshop stopping seeing him looking over her workstation.

"What are you doing?"

--------

Erebus looked up and beamed stepping away from her work.

"I apologize, I didn't mean to settle. I - I'm sorry I was raised with manners. I was just curious to know how you distilled the mint to be undetectable it's strong flavor. I -"

He stepped toward her holding out his hand out to her.

"My name is Erebus...it's an honor to meet you. I've been a fan of your work for years. I finally managed to get Boreas attention to come - I wasn't stalking I should probably add that. I -"

He exhaled and rubbed at the bridge of his nose trying to calm himself down.

"I'm rambling I'm sorry. Winter is the best court for Poison work. My aunt Achlys urged me to apply and I have been wanting to work here for years. I only learned a week ago you were here. I - what would you like me to call you?"

Did she know him? Did her mother talk about him like his mother had of her?

"Do you prefer Rosalynd or Melinöe? I confess it is odd to say my mother's name out loud like that....nice but odd. She talked about you a lot actually, was ways so happy to see letters from Lady Sarai about you too."

He shrugged, rubbing at the back of his neck. He could feels his cheeks warm. He'd been talking for far too long he realized with a dawning sense of horror. Maybe he could slip out a window and hide in a hole till tomorrow.

"I - since I'm already making a fool of myself I will say it - it was nice to know to think you maybe knew my parents as much as I did. When they - when they died it was nice to know someone else understood. Rigelus and the others of course did but they had each other you know? I didn't - I just had Aunt Achlys and my cousins...but they had siblings and -"

He shut his mouth and closed his eyes. He opened them giving her a warm smile.

"I'm sorry, I hope I didn't make you uncomfortable. I'd be honored to work beside you if I want me too. I know I'm here on probation, I hope to earn your respect if I'm being honest."

An unease ran through her, the idea of someone being so close to her work and potentially disrupting anything. She had worked hard for years to perfect it, to craft a work of art that would be her own. Yes, she had her powers, but there would be moments when she couldn't rely on them. She also didn't want to be known for them, to be known for her mother's gift - blood mist.

Her eyes remained upon him, her head slightly tilted to the side as he introduced himself. Erebus, she knew his name from listening to her mother talk to their father. How excited she was to hear from friends, to know the bonds they had formed continued on.

Melinoe paused though, things fell into place fully when he mentioned his aunt. Achlys, so he was connected to that Melinoe. Her namesake, an adoptive aunt to her and her siblings. He was her son, her heart ached for him as she remembered what happened.

"Melinoe," she finally spoke. "I'm sorry, I prefer Melinoe. The only one who calls me Rosalynd is my mother." She smiled slightly, her attention turned back towards her work as she moved past him slightly to the table he had been at.

"I don't remember meeting them, I was probably young when I did. My older siblings remember them though, I have heard stories from them and my parents. I am sorry you lost them so young, I can imagine what you went through."

Only imagine, for as close as they had once gotten to losing their parents they had been lucky. Their parents always seemed to find a way.

"No, you didn't. I am not used to others within my workspace, I was taken by surprise," she admitted. "I also am having a hard time at the moment, so forgive me if I am not the most talkative."

[dragynkeep]

hey just thought I'd let you know there's a Lilith-Copycat blog now, and it's been mocking you both pretty openly for your crime of *criticizing the blatant and obvious queerbaiting written by an openly biphobic cishet man who works for an openly homophobic company currently being sued for unsafe and neglectful practices which led to underage fans being groomed and worse.*

And now it posted screenshots of you condemning the ableism in that one fanfic, and also posted screenshots of somebody else who claimed they did not think the actor au art was ableist. And since YOU said "this fanfic is ableist," but SOMEBODY ELSE said "this other piece of fanart is not," they're claiming that it's "proof" you're a hypocrite, and are using it to invalidate your experiences and discredit your words. When somebody pointed out that you are not them, and mentioned that you had criticized the AU art as ableist and therefore were consistent in your own messaging, the Copycat waved it all away with some long nonsensical post about how they didn't say ALL rwde posters they just said rwde posters and they didn't call us a hivemind BUT using a tag sounds like something a hivemind would do sooooo maybe we are a hivemind and actually some people say things that sound like some things that some other people sometimes say so that means that it totally WASN'T dishonest for them to use screenshots of some other random person you're completely unaffiliated with and present them as if they reflected your views so that they could pretend your views are invalid.

I know you two are dealing with a lot right now (good luck with your blood test, Luke!) and the last thing you need is some hateful liar from Lilith's echo-chamber harassing you like this, so yeah just thought I'd give you a heads up.

I'm not going to name the blog (because people like that tend to pretend that's harassment) but they tagged their post as rwde so you should be able to find them there, if you wanted to block them. :)

oh i just saw this post in question in the tag too lmao. yeah; that was the same person who said they "loved the development of all the ships" in response to me pointing out that cishet couples in the show had been confirmed long before the sole queer couple that the company itself was queerbaiting so. opinion from them goes where it belongs, in the trash.

as for rwde being a hivemind, i think this blog alone even without going into the tag itself, proves their assumption wrong. luke & i disagree on our criticisms about the show & we've had plenty of anons do the same, all respectfully. if the existence of 'rwde' as a tag, which only exists because the fndm straight up harasses people & silences any criticism from them, is proof of some form of "hivemind", what does that say for the rwby tag? or any of the toxic positivity movements around it.

they can say what they like but it was absolutely dishonest of them to use our views on yang & the erasure of her disability, even in actor aus where the other girls of rwby get to keep the mainstays of their characters like weiss' scar or blake's ears, & then compare that to contradictory views of others in the rwde tag to then paint all of us of hypocrites. we accept people may not see what has been done with yang as disability erasure or something harmful, they're wrong but they may not see it that way, & that's in no way hypocrisy on anyone's part. rwde is not a monolith, rwby fndm. a lot of us have very differing opinions about the show & such, just as you do.

we've already blocked this person because we are very easy with that block button in a hell fandom like this, especially with everything we've gone through in the last month online & irl. thank you for your care, we'll probably update people when his blood results come back post the appointment, & we appreciate all the kind words! 💌

[embervoices]

To begin with, I want to say, this is not a carefully researched essay, this is a stream-of-consciousness unpacking of what I happen to have in my head from being a Sandman fan for almost as long as I've been a Tarot reader (in both cases, 25+ years). I expect some folks will be able to correct me on some details, or at least offer their own perspectives, and that's cool, just please be kind about it?

Secondly: Spoilers for The Sandman comics that will almost certainly be relevant to the show eventually!

So, anyone who has read anything about the Tarot can probably tell you "Oh, Death doesn't mean, like, dying. It means a big change!" and that's true as far as it goes.

But it's willfully forgetting that literal death IS "a very big change", which is exactly why Death is the metaphor used to describe a change so total you barely recognize the before as related to the after.

We tend to think of death as "ending" rather than "transformation" in our modern culture, unless we're taking it metaphorically. But actual death is transformation as well. Even if you don't believe in souls, afterlives, reincarnation, etc., it's relevant to remember that life is not a thing that begins and ends, it's a continuous cycle. Your individual human life began with living cells from other people's living bodies. They didn't manifest out of inert matter. Your life continues because you consume what was once living, to take in and convert that energy to your own. Life feeds on life. Life feeds on death.

In the Preludes and Nocturns issue 24 Hours, one of the characters "realized the real problem with stories--If you keep them going long enough, they always end in death." That's foreshadowing, but it's also wrong (as the character in question is in several other ways, which is also, I think, foreshadowing. But I think it's also a truth, and an honest portrayal of writers, of which there are many scattered throughout The Sandman, some more damning than others.)

My friends and I have a saying: "Death is not a career-ending injury." This is a reference to a bunch of things in mythology, particularly the Volva in Norse Mythology, who is a seer from whom Odin demands answers from out of the grave. (We took up this saying because we took up those practices. Modern fantasy usage aside, "Necromancy" isn't creating undead, it's divination via speaking with the dead. It requires an understanding of death being a transformation rather than an ending of being.)

So, okay, death isn't so much the end of life as it is the passing of a torch from one life to the next, and, for people like me who do believe in things like reincarnation and afterlives, a transition from one mode to another for the immaterial spirit.

How does that play out in The Sandman?

Exactly as you'd expect, once you've had that thought.

Within The Sandman, Dream refers to the highest ranking dreams and nightmares as "Major Arcana", which is what the Tarot trump cards are called. In both cases, another word we might use is "Archetype".

There's no way, from a Watsonian perspective, that Dream is not well aware of the Tarot, what it's derived from, how it functions, what it teaches.

On the Doylist side, Vertigo comics leaned into the Tarot, with the Greater Arcana being sentient spirits with functions, at least in later Lucifer comics (which were spun off of The Sandman, but not written by Neil Gaiman). I'm not a comics expert, and haven't read nearly as much Hellblazer as I'd like, so I don't know where else the Tarot shows up prominently, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's scattered throughout Vertigo's occult-themed comics, because it's an obvious referent. There's also the Vertigo Tarot, the art of which was done by Dave McKean, who did all the covers for The Sandman. So there are plenty of indirect and a few direct references implying that the Sandman includes Tarot symbolism in its narratives (among countless other references - which in turn are shared with references in the Tarot as well).

The Tarot is, amongst other things, a way to build a narrative, to tell a story, about things that are otherwise hard to describe.

Or, to put it another way, the Tarot is a useful way to turn a dream into a story.

The Sandman has been characterized as the story of an extremely elaborate suicide scheme. Dream is, we are frequently reminded, the personification of the collective unconscious of all minds that exist. He IS story.

In The Wake, Lucien says "Charitably… I think… sometimes, perhaps, one must change or die. And, in the end, there were, perhaps, limits to how much he could let himself change."

This is true, and at the same time, death IS change. So this IS him letting himself change. This is him telling the story of a change sufficient to the need. This is him personifying the archetype of change.

I've said before, when Dream realizes, at whatever level of his existence-which-is-consciousness-itself, that his own story needs an antagonist, that desire prompts Desire to provide that antagonist.

So it makes sense that, when Dream realizes that he needs to change, that need would invoke the sibling that IS Change. Conversely, of course Change IS Death.

And of course, Death is literally there with him at the end, and he does indeed choose to go with her, and allow the transformation.

And Abel explains later to Matthew that what died was not so much a person as a point of view, a perspective - a particular way of thinking about being Dream of the Endless.

Mostly, though, I had all these thoughts when it crossed my mind that "Oh, for fucks' sake, how did I not notice this Tarot connection before!? Of course 'Death is Change, and change is death'! DUH."

Humans fear change, because we can't not see that a thing being different means the previous version is gone on some level. We have trouble accepting that on another level it's never gone at all, because it's not possible for the past to be totally gone from the present. Matter and energy are always transforming into each other.

Another saying used in The Sandman: "Omnia mutantur, nihil interit" which is translated, from Ovid's Metamorphoses, as "Everything changes, nothing is lost".

Lucien is saying it a particular way, but the practical upshot is simply "any sufficiently complete change is equivalent to death".

It's not that Morpheus had to die because he couldn't change. It's that Morpheus needed to change enough that it was death.

I don't have the bandwidth right now, but somebody please remind me that I have "I can't believe I didn't think of that before" thoughts about The Sandman and the Death tarot card...

[sk1fanfiction]

Hello! I saw that you reblogged the "I wish you would write a fic where..." post, and I have two ideas for the Running From My Destiny verse that might make neat scenes. The first I can't really make a summary for since it's such a general idea, but I'd really like to see a Quirrellmort POV. For the second one:

Malfada Prewett meets the Weasleys. This... does not go as well as her parents thought it would, even if they didn't have particularly high hopes.

OR

Malfada absolutely does not get along with her cousins; she loves them anyways, though.

I hope the prompt(s) is(are?) fun! It's cool that you're doing this; it seems like it'd be an interesting experience. Have a nice night! :)

Thanks so much for the prompts! They were both very cool ideas! Hope you have a nice morning/afternoon/night as well!

ᑫᑌIᖇᖇEᒪᒪᗰOᖇT/TᑌᖇᑎIᑎG TO ᗩᔕᕼEᔕ

(spark)

Quirinus Quirrell surveyed his classroom, then glanced down at his attendance sheet, running a shaking finger down his list of names.

“P-Parkinson, P-Pansy?”

“Here, Professor.”

“P-Patil, P-P-Parvati?”

He’d always been ashamed of his stutter. There wasn’t a time he remembered not feeling afraid of his own voice. He expected peers, now students, to laugh at him and make him feel smaller and smaller, until he was annhilated.

“Here, sir.”

He pushed his reading glasses up his nose and focused on the next name.

His heartbeat stuttered in his ears. Something seemed to click. To focus. And when he spoke, his voice was as composed and steady as he’d always dreamed.

“Potter, Harry.”

“Present, sir.”

He could not help but look up at the speaker. But it wasn’t as if he was one looking. Rather, someone or something else had nudged their way to the front of his brain, gazing at the small first-year in the second row, scrawny, bespectacled and overall unremarkable, except for the round-rimmed glasses and bright green eyes that seemed to stir some distant memory, as if he had seen them both on another person.

Dead. And yet he felt more alive than ever.

He shuddered, and moved on, taking note of the remaining few Gryffindor and Slytherin students.

(ember)

It had been mere days since Quirinus had returned to the school; mere weeks since Voldemort’s disembodied spirit promised him everything he’d ever dreamed of.

No longer would he be the bullied, cowed Professor of Muggle Studies.

No longer would he be an afterthought.

There is no good and evil, only power, he reminded himself. Whether he vanquished Voldemort or brought him back to life, he would be great. And that was all that mattered.

And so, he had found himself standing in front of the Mirror of Erised, performing spells that he did not understand (but the other, strange new part of him did) and renewing the runes drawn around an ancient bloodstain.

But now, he was sitting in his office. And that green-eyed, unremarkable boy was sitting across from him (though the part of him that was Voldemort whispered, Quirinus, he is the one).

“Do you think I should be worried at all about the shadows?"

Harry Potter’s voice seemed to be coming through several miles of water. For his part, Quirinus felt frozen, and yet, more clever and powerful and strong than he ever had. His limbs had new life, every square centimetre of his being thrummed with magic, and he felt a strange, vast understanding of everything around him; even the boy’s mind.

"You were right to come to me, Harry Potter.” And there came the new, clear voice again, but it faded quickly. “If you are at all interested in learning to... control... to develop... your power, I may just be able to point you in the right d-d-direction."

(flame)

Halfway through the Quidditch match, something strange had come over Quirinus. That same terrible focus and perhaps not-so-mysterious power.

And every nerve in his body sang with the same fierce joy: Kill him, kill him, kill him! They’ll never trace it to you! Dumbledore is not here to see! KILL HIM!

Quirinus had not taken even a single year of Ancient Runes while he was at Hogwarts, and his affinity for the Dark Arts had always been weak. But now, he sat quite calmly in the professors’ box, muttering an Ogham chant and tainting the air with foul magic.

He saw what the others could not; Harry Potter was being consumed by his own shadows. The boy reached for his broom, hanging on with the last of his material form. His eyes were glassy and empty, and everything in Quirinus sung with the triumphant knowledge that his strange enemy was close to death. The Reaper was coming.

The two Weasley boys circled around him, trying to save him (foolish children, none can save him from Lord Death himself!).

It was the girl that snapped him out of his focus; she threw herself into the box like a wildcat let loose and despite the protests of the professors around him.

But it mattered not. Her precious brother was fast losing his grip, and soon the great Boy-Who-Lived would be nothing but a stain on the grass below; a tragic accident—

“INCENDIO!I”

The box crackled with flame, and the thing inside Quirinus howled in anger; yes, she should not know that, but fire would save the boy, sap the shadows.

Even as Snape shouted at her, it was her victory, not his, because Harry Potter had pulled himself back on the broom to safety.

How hard is it to kill an eleven-year-old child already cursed by a parasitic monster? You are just as much of a failure as they say you are!

And yet, thought Quirinus, he did not know if it was the thing, or himself howling in fury at his inability to kill the boy.

(ashes)

He did not like her. He did not like either of the Potter children at all.

Perhaps he liked Harry Potter sometimes, when he delved into his mind and forced the Obscurus to manifest, savoured his terror and the fear-filled memories of his Muggle relatives. When he entertained the idea of using him as a weapon against Dumbledore, now that he had shielded the boy from Legilimency from anyone but him and instilled within him a fear of his Headmaster.

Perhaps he liked Harry Potter when the Dark magic had burned out, and he lay helpless on the floor of Quirrell’s office.

Quirinus found that he liked to toy with the child; make him feel as helpless and utterly annihilated as he once had felt.

After all, he would one day kill Harry Potter. He would make the life bleed out of those green eyes and watch them go still and glassy (like his mother’s, he remembered now), someday soon.

Even as he Obliviated the second child who dared to intercept his search for the Stone, Quirinus knew the end was dawning.

With shaking hands, he lifted the cigarette to his mouth and inhaled death. The weak, prim Quirinus who would have balked at the very idea of polluting his body with such a thing was no longer important to him. After all, what was nicotine and tar and his disgust at the idea of a smoking habit when the spirit of the Dark Lord lived within him?

No. He had been chosen for greater things.

Tonight was the night the end begun.

Quirinus signed the bottom of his letter of resignation, put out the cigarette, and placed in it his brand-new ashtray.

And yet, he cried.

“I have given you my all, My Lord,” he said, and his voice, his own voice was steady. “And now I am nothing.”

𝙼𝚊𝚏𝚊𝚕𝚍𝚊 𝙿𝚛𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚝𝚝/𝚃𝚘 𝙰𝚕𝚕 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙲𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚜 𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙳𝚛𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝙼𝚎 𝚄𝚙 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚆𝚊𝚕𝚕

August, 1986

“Just give it a chance, will you?” asked her dad, taking her luggage out the boot. “You won’t know you hate it until you try it.”

Everyone seemed to be giving her the same stupid advice today. When they stopped to get petrol during the drive from London, some weirdo in the petrol station had told her “Cheer up love, it might not happen!” She had responded by sticking her tongue out at them.

Mafalda frowned, crossed her arms, and leaned against the car.

“I don’t see why I can’t go to Roedean.”

“Well, you’re a witch, Mafalda.” He wiped his forehead and frowned. “Bloody hot, isn’t it?”

Witch. She hated the word already. Yeah, some of the girls at school were into Ouija boards and palm-reading and whatnot, but Mafalda didn’t go in for all of that nonsense.

The kind of nonsense that got Uncle Fabian and Uncle Gideon killed.

“And what do they call you and Mum again?”

Her dad sighed. “Squibs.”

“Yes, Dad! It’s not very nice, is it?”

She glared at the house as if it had personally offended her. It was tall, maybe four or five stories and so crooked that there was no way it hadn’t fallen down by now. A couple of brown chickens hobbled around the yard.

And in here lived the people who had sent her father off to Muggle boarding school, as far away from them as they could possibly manage, as soon as they could.

As her dad strode towards the door, Mafalda followed, kicking a rusty cauldron as she went by.

Before Mafalda could make her great escape, her dad knocked on the door and a plump, short, red-headed someone opened it almost immediately.

“Alfred?” she asked in a squeaky, shocked voice. Then, she glanced furtively behind her as if to check that no one was listening. “Alfred, what are you doing here?”

Her dad frowned, fanned himself with the collar of his shirt, and beckoned her closer so that the rude woman could look her up and down.

“Come on, Mals,” he whispered. “In for a penny, in for a pound, eh?”

Yeah, her hair probably looked a mess and the dress Mum had forced her to wear was all creased, but Mafalda didn’t think she would look particularly nice if she’d just spent three and a half hours in a stinky, sweaty car.

“Well,” said her dad, “this is your niece, Molly, and she’s a witch just like you. Got her Hogwarts letter last week and everything; Professor McGonagall said we should come over and see you. Of course, her mum and I know next to nothing about the wizarding world and Mals just barely remembers your brothers—“

Mafalda couldn’t help herself.

“You’re my aunt? Uncle Fabian and Uncle Gideon’s sister? Why’d you never come to see me?”

The woman — Aunt Molly — went red in the face.

“Come in, Mafalda,” she said tiredly. And at her father’s hard look, she added: “Come on then. Both of you. In.”

Once they were inside the cramped, cluttered kitchen, she was introduced to her cousins. Mafalda kind of tuned out for most of it because most of them were younger than her, bloody annoyingly loud, and she wasn’t the World’s Biggest Fan of small children, but she did pay attention to Charlie (thirteen and Gryffindor Seeker) and Bill (fifteen and a Prefect of Gryffindor House). The youngest boy was crying his eyes out because someone turned his teddy bear into a giant spider, but Aunt Molly didn’t seem to care. A ugly-looking sweater was knitting itself on the sofa.

While she obviously knew what a Prefect was, Mafalda had no idea what a Seeker was or why everyone was making such a big deal over Gryffindor or more to the point what Gryffindor even was!

“Who’s that, Mummy?” asked the youngest, a little girl with hair the same violent red as Mafalda’s.

“Your cousin, dear,” said Aunt Molly tiredly. “She’s just come to meet us, her father’s a Squib you see—“

The little girl screwed her face up.

“I don’t wanna Squib cousin!” she yelled.

Despite herself, Mafalda flinched, and her dad did, too.

“Don’t worry, dear. She’s a witch, just like you.”

As if that made it any better.

“I don’t wanna,” the girl repeated, glowering at Mafalda.

“Look,” said Mafalda harshly. “We’ll just leave, get our Squib selves out of your way and on the three-and-a-half-hour drive back to London. Thanks for nothing.”

“You didn’t call, Alfred,” said Aunt Molly.

Her dad pinched the bridge of his nose, looking frustrated.

“There’s no way to contact you, Molly. No phone, and you don’t get our kind of mail. Where am I going to get my hands on a trained owl?”

“She can sleep with Ginny,” said Aunt Molly, nodding towards the little girl.

Mafalda gave Bill, who seemed like the most sensible one of the bunch, a look that clearly said, I am not going to bloody sleep with that demon and that’s final.

“I can sleep with Charlie, Mum, and Mafalda can have my bed.”

Aunt Molly beamed. “What an angel,” she said. And to Mafalda. “Come, dear, let me take your trunk. We’ll all go shopping in Diagon Alley tomorrow, doesn’t that sound nice? Alfred, you wouldn’t mind—”

“—Not letting the world know you have a secret Squib cousin, you have nothing to fear, I’m well practiced, Molly.”

Charlie stood up. “Can I show her around the house, Mum?”

The youngest boy looked up, too.

“And can I have a piggy-back ride from her?”

“You’re too old, Ron!” said the snootiest-looking boy, who was sitting in the middle and had the least amount of dirt in his face.

“I’m not too old!” shrieked Ginny, waving her freckled arms. “I’m only five years old, Mum! I want a piggyback-ride!”

“When your dad gets home from work,” said Aunt Molly.

“You’ll get used to us,” Bill whispered.

I don’t have to like you, thought Mafalda.

“So are you coming?” asked Charlie. “We’ve got to de-gnome the garden. You should come too, Uncle Alfred.”

Dad said he’d come with them, but would rather watch. De-gnoming apparently seemed to involve spinning the tiny, screaming, spiteful little (animals? creatures?) until they shrieked with giddiness, then tossing them as far as you possibly could, which Mafalda was very good at, and Bill and Charlie were all too happy to cheer her on, even convincing her dad to join in, too.

"Don't mind Ginny," said Bill as he flung a particularly angry gnome over the hedge. "She doesn't know anything about anything. And it was wrong of Mum to push you away, but I hope we can be friends still, and that you'll come to Hogwarts with us."

Mafalda, despite herself, thought that was an entirely reasonable proposal.

Maybe she wasn’t going to hate the wizarding world.

It turned out that unfortunately for the sake of her sanity, Charlie loved to talk while he was working.

“Have you heard about Quidditch, Mafalda — oh, good one, Uncle Alfred! That must have gone like twenty yards! Did you know the Antipodean Opaleye has no pupils? What House are you going to be in?”

And yet, she found herself (ew) getting a bit fond of them already.

[themistakengenius]

-> The "about me" section is inspired by the one and only @cosmiksims 1.) Do you prefer to be referred by your name or blog name? I don't share my real name online but I answer to both MistakenGenius and Blue,(Why blue? Honestly just because it's my fav colour hehe) 2.) Where are you from? I'm from Romania 3.) Do you have pets? 👀 I in fact do, I have 3 cats and a dog, sadly I don't have any pictures of them on my computer so I can't show you them but trust me, they are adorable <33 They're like my children haha 4.) Tell us about your “dream.” Honestly I just want a stable job that I love (I do not want to wake up complaining about going to work, I want to enjoy it!. Be able to financially support myself on my own without depending on other people or a s/o. I want to have kids in the future and I hope my future includes a loyal s/o <3 5.) Aside from art, what are your hobbies? I used to skateboard before Covid, I would go to a skate park and basically just do crazy shit lmfao. I also edit photos and take photos irl and in sims, it's sort of like a passion of mine. I love capturing the moments :P

6.) Does anyone irl know about your blog? Nope

7.) Do you know anyone from your blog irl? Nope

8.) What are some fun facts about you? I've been playing sims for almost 3 years now. I never broke any bones in my body. I used to have a tumblr gameplay but got bored of it lmfao

9.) What’s your day job? I work as a waitress, and I love my job 10.) What’s your aesthetic? I don't think I have any tbh, I just kinda go with whatever vibe I feel like at the time

11.) What kind of artist are you? I draw by hand on paper. I tried digital art a few times and I liked it but I prefer drawing by hand.

12.) How did you get into your form of art? I still haven't gotten into my form of art but it shall happen soon.

13.) What do you watch/listen/read/anything else while you create? I don't like watching anything while I draw because I get distracted easily but I do listen to spotify while I draw

14.) What is your favorite of your own creations so far? Probably this one: I just finished it today. It's Hinata Hyūga from Naruto (I'm such a big fan of Naruto, if you couldn't tell already lmfao)

15.) How would you describe your art style? So far I'd say anime looking/cartoonish

16.) What is more satisfying to you coloring or outlining? Outlining, because you finally get to see your creation coming together. Something about outlining just gives it more depth and I'm so here for it.

17.) What meme would you use to describe yourself?

I have two, because I'm indecisive as fuck >:) (Also replace sir with miss ^-^)

18.) If you were on the run, what would you change your name to? GeniusMistaken ;) I'm kidding, I don't actually know. Probably a very common name so they would take forever to find me. With no face ID, no DNA, no fingerprint ID and just a name you're kinda stuck so. For legal reasons you did not hear that from me wriowjrgjr lmfao

19.) Have you ever or do you want to change blog names? I have in fact changed my blogs name. If you look back at some of my older poses I used to be called "BlueSkies" but I changed to MistakenGenius because I thought it was more fitting with the theme I wanted to go for so yeah

20.) God forbid Tumblr decides to pull a MySpace and lets us have page songs, what song would you choose? I have so many songs in my mind right now and I'm so indecisive I can never pick just one *sobs*. I would probably go for the song "Chicken Tendencies" Please do not feel pressured to do this but imo it was v fun >:D Now for the tags... @peefarts69 @cherryael

@geeky-simz @asplashofsims @rainypurpleskies @orchidlyhere @amelettes @simlishslurs @kubysim @asimofmanyhats @whitemoonshine98 @insimnious @sunniesimmer