#proper pinned yay

[catamaris]

🐈 micah. he/they 🍅 spoilers are tagged, but beware incase 💥 links art tag blusky (most active) 🍺 please don't follow only expecting gen art 🗼 16+ to follow

[nouveauxamoris]

rest in peace chuuya nakahara you would’ve loved system of a down

RBS APPRECIATED!

[wildflowercryptid]

welcome to my blog! ✨ — here's a few things about me!

my name is mj, but you can also call me midge, jamie, or cryptid.

i'm 26 years old, born oct. 5th.

i'm a demiromantic bisexual and transmasc nonbinary. my pronouns are they / them.

i'm white and based out of the usa.

i have autism + adhd so i can get pretty intense when it comes to my special interests. i also hope from different hyperfixations regularly.

i'm a freelance illustrator with a strong interest in character design and visual development, which i'm trying to build a portfolio in-between my ever-changing interests and current day job. my art tag is 🎨 : mj draws.

you can find out more about me on my carrd!

current interest / hyperfixation — osomatsu-san, which i post about on my sideblog @flowerakatsuka.

currently, my blog is mainly run on a queue. i have a lot of interests so i post and share a variety of things on here, but i try to tag everything accordingly. please let me know if you need anything tagged so you can blacklist it!

free palestine! you can find different ways to support those affected by the ongoing genocide in gaza by checking out operation olive branch's linktr.ee. i also reblog vetted fundraisers you can support, which can under my psa & important tags.

credits — artwork from yokohama kaidashi kikou by hitoshi ashinano

[autistic-sidestep]

pinned post

hello i'm aurrie (they/them). i do the fh art/shitposts/unhinged meta/codediving because [gestures at username]. i lurk on reddit as Affectionate-Mode-55 or aurrie in the cog forums (idk how the latter works and at this point i'm too afraid to ask).

i'm currently working on building the FHR wiki on miraheze!

i am always discovering new (old?) content and i'm in a hell of my own making

resources, mine

link to gdrive of publically available FHR stories and from malin's mainblog

organised and indexed official FHR blog asks/text posts because tumblr's search function Sucks <3 (direct link to gdrive) designed to work with bookish's search tool here

sidestep physical scar map/guide

charting rebirth/retri events timeline (yet to be transcribed)

other people's fh resources

choiceofgames codediving tutorial

savegame editor (steam/desktop only)

comprehensive retribution walkthrough/guide (seriously, kudos to oldsoul--newmachine)

assorted other fh guides

other stuff

codediving tag

general fh talkings

sidestep autism moments

meta

art tag / my artblog

tip jar if you like my stuff

cohost

pillowfort

my sidesteps

suranga fernando (main) / puppet: juno / villain name: argos / misc: panoptes syndicate / freddie purrcury the lint monster / suramortum (mortumstep) tag

kat becerra

[enteroctopusdarkysilis]

✨Custom ice Toa !✨

And another one ! If the others were already experimental, this one is much, much more-

Closeups under the cut !

Front/back views :

That one was a lot of fun ! But it’s also not really stable, considering there are some weird piece combinations. This one also has disproportionate legs, compared to the rest of the body, but it’s alright.

With that one, I really tried to remain within Kopaka’s spirit (notice the ski blades and the Kanohi). The bow and arrow (which doubles down as a lance, and is using one of Kopaka’s blades), is a weapon I don’t think has been used before in the original bionicles (correct me if I’m wrong).

The arms/hands are using Pridak’s feet, because it works well and still allows for large movements.

I used some darker white pieces on the back and shoulders to get some slight contrats, and used technic pieces on the chest to get a proper body shape, with a leg piece underneath.

Legs :

(Too) Many details on the legs ! The blades under the feet are a combination of Kopaka Nuva’s blades and Glatoran blades, which also hold a shoulder piece used as a supplementary leg pieces.

Now is the here we enter the mess : all of the ankle sockets you can see are not used for the articulations, and are only here to keep the back piece in place (Star leg), while the actual socket is behind the technic gear plate. Then there is a socket which doesn’t even have a ball, it is directly stacked on top of another socket, and I use multiple feet to cover the leg areas which would expose how terrible the inside is. At the front, you might also notice a 1*2 curved slope tile held by two technic pins. It’s floppy, and it looks weird from the side, but the front appearance makes it worth it. Finally, at the front, I also use part of a Vahki’s head as a final plate, before we finally reach the connection between the legs and the body. As I said, that whole part is a mess.

Head :

Tried to remain close to Kopaka’s appearance here too, by adding a X-ray vision thing, but the most important part is that the Kanohi is Hero Factory Stormer’s mask, but sideways. The trans blue pieces are Borhok eyes, which fit perfectly, and I managed to cram a socket connector inside, making the head quite mobile and sturdy.

Next week is another one ! Not sure which of the three it will be, but I haven’t decided which one yet (tell me if you have a preference~).

I also finally received my new parts, meaning I can get back to working on my big project, yay !

[kekaki-cupcakes]

Yay fellow aroace!

I love cute moments too! Yours are so adorable as well!

So uhm… maybe a little sis annabeth being protected / being taken care of by her older cool sis?

I loved the punk Jason concept as well so maybe something similar? Thank you so much if you do this!

And yeah! Byeee

🖤🩶🤍💚

Thanks so much for this ask even though it's been sitting in my inbox for centuries lol I have so many asks and little motivation but this one was so close to done, that's why the endings a little rushed &lt;3

Bite me, bitch boy--- Annabeth Chase/Protective older sister!reader

»»————-　★　————-««

-Annabeth got to camp when she was seven. She became the cabin counselor at nine. 

-Who in their right mind let a literal baby be in charge of eight bossy, snarky, far too intelligent and prideful demigods? Who said, ‘you know what this cabin needs? A child to run it!’

-It was safe to say that when you got to camp at fifteen years old and soon after got shoved into a wooden cabin full of unorganized folders and sheets of paper and books, with three toothbrushes [eight kids???] and a mini fridge with literally nothing in it, you had something to say.

-Specifically to Chiron, who reassured you that you could of course speak with the cabin counselor about how the children of Athena were living, once she got back from her quest.

-Oh, so maybe there was a proper leader here, they were just away. That made sense, they’d be smart, and obviously knew what they were doing. That shut you up for a few days, and put up with the fact there were no lights out and your little brother hadn’t showered in two weeks. 

-Then a scrawny, angry at the world, little girl came back with swinging braids and far too sharp a knife for a twelve year old, carting behind her a traumatized school boy and a very hungry goat.  

-Your expectations took a dip.

-After your new little sister was tucked into bed and you finally figured out how to threaten your siblings into shutting their books and going to sleep [Spiders, spiders were the key.], you marched straight back to Chiron and demanded a union.

-You didn’t get one. 

-So instead you did some spring cleaning. While your siblings were out showing off their wits and picking strawberries, you stacked up every piece of paper in the cabin and threw out all the random things from three years ago, organizing everything away neatly into the bookshelves and filing cabinets no one had thought to use yet. A deep clean began, and you probably held up the laundry near the infirmary for a good four hours. 

-You found an old cork board in the stables that Butch [he was nice, even if he only talked about Pegasi and a comic called Heartstopper] let you take, and pinned up everyone schedules on it, instead of where they had been washi taped to the bathroom mirror. One of your brother's school reports appeared in the mini fridge as well, so that got pinned up too. 

-Said mini fridge was filled with water and strawberries that Malcom brought back, along with mud that got tracked through the fluffy rug you’d exchanged with Silena for the third volume of Butch’s comic. 

-Annabeth glared at you with those stormy eyes that everyone in the cabin shared. 

-Apparently, as the head counselor of the Athena cabin, she was supposed to be the one doing all the things you’d done, and she did not appreciate your disrespect for the rules or her position.

-Once she found the wafer biscuits in the minifridge you’d grabbed from the camp store after Katie got one of the old ipods you’d brought with you to camp after finding out about the wifi rule, she calmed down a little.

»»————-　★　————-««

-Annabeth was fuming.

-How dare you just… come into her cabin and take over?

-How come all her other siblings didn’t seem to mind that you had this one really cool tattoo on your thigh and seemed to be allowed to just wander into the camp store and take stuff, because apparently Katie owed you something and the Athena cabin got free wafers?

-And somehow Clarrise decided not to dunk your head in the toilet on your first day [Percy was unhappy about that as well, but seaweed belonged in water anyway. He didn’t like that comment either.] because something about Silena and hearts stopping? 

-Annabeth was supposed to be in charge, and now you were going to the camp counselor meeting instead and forcing Annabeth to lay in bed all day with a box of tissues because a temperature of forty degrees wasn’t normal. You even brought back a bag of those cheetos that the Stolls always dug up for meetings for her. 

-It sucked.

-So she decided to let some of her anger out in the form of beheading each and every dummy propped up in the arena. 

-Stuffing was scattered around on the sandy floor and Annabeth could feel beads of sweat on her dark skin. Her knife was flecked with the blood that beaded on her palm after clenching her knife too tightly for too long.

-A few Iris kids were casting rainbow mists that faded into droplets of poison on the other side of the arena, and she was careful to avoid them as she whipped around and got one of the dummies in the back of the neck, which would kill any normal person not sewn together by a bored teenager.

-Of course the sawdust billowing up wasn’t helping her stuffy nose or unfocused eyes because actually that dummy’s torso looked like a great pillow but then she was tearing out its insides because she wasn’t sick. 

-She refused to let you be all cool and right and big sister-y because Annabeth was in charge, she didn’t need a big sister to make her hot chocolate before bed when she had to finish a model for Hecate's new potion shop on Olympus and take spiders out of the bathroom because somehow you didn’t find then as absolutely terrifying as the rest of them did.

-The braid that hit her cheek felt like a spider leg in that moment and Annabeth fell back with a yelp, pulling all her hair behind her shoulders and breathing hard, her glinting knife near her feet.

-It was shiny and metallic and there were spider legs and then she was running, sprinting and puffing and following that arachnid-like robot from Hephaestus through the Labyrinth before they all lost it and got stuck walking in circles and circles and circles with spider legs crawling over her skin that were in her lungs-

-Shit. 

-Deep breaths, that was all she needed to do. Annabeth pushed a fist to her chest and rolled her shoulders back, trying to blink away the image of the metallic spider crawling over her shoe.

-There was a cackle of laughter and she righted herself. She wasn’t sick. She wasn’t scared. And she was not going to be laughed at. 

-She turned but her braids were still touching her and they were crawling over her and she couldn’t breathe because the spiders were on her but she wasn’t scared and she would not be laughed at and her knife fell out of her hand and-

-”If you don’t leave right now, I’m rostering you all on for clean up duty in the kitchens tonight, and I’m telling Butch it was you guys who let Olive and Clover out onto the lava wall!” 

-”He won’t believe you, and you can’t boss us around, newbie!” Someone yelled, and Annabeth pulled all of her hair back, a gray streak in the corner of her was tucked behind her ear. She felt like throwing up when the heat washed over her skin, prickly as a cactus. 

-”Bite me, bitch boy!” You snapped, and there was a clanging of metal and then a yelp.

-Silence filled the arena as Iris kids shuffled out, but Annabeth lost track of them a moment later because there was four of them and then eight and then twelve and then it hurt her head too much to count and suddenly there was two of you marching up,a shiny spear speckled with poison rainbow droplets. 

-You dropped the spear and Annabeth couldn’t see much else because everything was grainy and full of static and the heat on her dark skin was crawling with spiders and itchiness.

-Annabeth stepped forwards, the ground coming a lot closer to her face than she planned. 

-She gulped down a cry of pain and squinted up at you, then tried to tell you to fuck off, because she wasn’t sick. It only came out as a pathetic mumble, and she lay limp, glaring up at you foggily.

-You smiled, and Annabeth tried to take it patronizingly so she could continue hating you. But it wasn’t patronizing, even when you spoke softly, “Come on, let’s get you back in bed.”

-Annabeth huffed as she was carried out, “Mnuhsick.”

-“Percy and that funny goat boy are waiting.” Your smile was patronizing then. “They brought Hidden Figures and Legally Blonde.” 

-“Msick.”

-“That’s what I thought.” 

»»————-　★　————-««

[cinnamoodles]

the language of flowers — part one, daises

warnings: angst, of course, and bad writing? ooc anthony bc i suck and thats unwarranted <33

word count: 1.8k (wowza)

author’s note: hello! this is my first published fic, so im pretty sure it’s going to be horrible, but i had this idea after reading Sherlock Holmes, so… im excited, i guess? this is part of a series i will publish, but for now... yay! first fic celebration!

read the other parts! — part two, irises | part three, peonies

i don’t consent for my work to be reposted or copied, translated, or transferred to any other platform, or this one, in part or whole.

--------- . . . ---------

i. 1802, bellis perennis. daisies, platonic love

It was a day in which the sun blazed as though it had a fury against all of England, the sweltering heat resulting in most of the country to stay indoors, and perhaps enjoy a cool glass of lemonade. The unforgiving rays of the sun shone glitteringly on the lake, as if to mock those who stayed inside, flamboyantly displaying its beauty.

Anthony Bridgerton was a boy, (or a man, as he liked to proclaim himself, as he was just a year from being eighteen), who did not like to stay inside, especially on a glorious day like this. He liked to forget the matter that it was well over 35 degrees celsius, but in his words, such a beautiful, sunny day should not go to waste.

“Why have you dragged me out here, Mr. Bridgerton?” You groan against the thick coat of your own horse. As the only daughter of a Duke with three sons, you had to dress up prim and proper, much to your chagrin, before going out, especially with a boy, whether it be one of your closest friends or not. You run your hands through your hair—which you've left open, because, in your words, damn society, no single person should be subject to those horrid pins in their hair on a hot summer's day!, before you stormed out of your estate, to head to the stables to find solace in one of your most trusted companions.

He grins, sending a flutter of butterflies amok in your stomach. Deep inside, you knew that there was no way that he would ever even consider you romantically, as you were exactly the age of his brother, Benedict, who, no doubt, was ever the charmer, but Anthony had a special place in your heart. Your first love, (could one even call it love? You would often dismiss it as infatuation, but when he looked at you like that, how could your youthful little heart disregard it?), and most of all, your first friend. “Well,” he starts, “first of all, you can cease the formalities, or I’ll push you off your horse.” He leisurely rides up next to you, smirking. “And there isn’t any harm in calling on my closest friend for a few hours of her time, is there not?”

“Of course not, but you know how my mother hounds me,” you sigh tiredly, rubbing the nape of your neck. “It is almost as if…” reddening, you bite your lip. You knew that your mother was always on a tirade on how you and Anthony would be perfect together, but you know that he did not feel the same way. You sneak in a gaze at his soft dark hair, and his gorgeous, deep brown eyes, always glimmering with mischief of some sort. 

He turned to you, frowning. “As if? She hasn’t got a problem with me, has she?”

Your eyes widen, and you quickly backtrack on your words. “No! No, of course she hasn’t got a problem with you, she’s just a bit… spirited, that’s all. Just very spirited and a woman very worried about what society has to say about me—not that I care, of course.”

“Just let her know that I’m most definitely not giving up my friendship with you just because of the nonsense the Ton spews on an hourly basis.” You give an extremely unladylike snort at his words, which sends the both of you into a fit of laughter.

The both of you finally reach the site that Anthony must have wanted to show you. It’s a corner beside the lake, with a patch of wildflowers and a small woodland area behind it. The sunlight shines onto the surface of the lake, and small dragonflies lazily float around the flowers. What entrances you most is the flora near the area. While, of course, you've seen flowers before, since your own father boasts one of the most intricate gardens in London, there isn’t any garden that could hold a candle to the natural beauty, the wild, untamed, disorderly allure of this particular strip of land. Fireweed and cattails rub against the agrimonies and bellflowers, and you have to physically stop yourself from letting your jaw drop and stare at the scene in front of you.

The dark-haired boy enthusiastically gets down from his horse, rubbing his eyebrow, and holds his hand out to your stunned self. You bite back a smirk when you notice his actions, and steady yourself against his glove. “I don’t need you to do all this,” you tease. “I can get down from a horse just fine by myself.”

“Really?” He smirks. “Alright then.” Letting go of you abruptly, he wipes off his hands on his breeches, while behind him, you trip to the ground, dust pooling and clouding around you, and you land on your ankle.

“Ow!” You shriek, your hands scratched from the rough, gravelly grass. You examine your ankle, which is slightly swollen and red, along with giving you large, throbbing pains. “Anthony, you’re such a prick!” You steady yourself against a tree trunk when he turns around and sees you, in pain. He quickly rushes to your side, steadying you by placing his hands on your hips, and you try, (and fail), to ignore your heart working on overdrive. “Y/N, I’m so sorry. Really, I didn’t know it would hurt you, I didn't know you were that high up.”

“What do you know, then?” You grumble, trying to hold weight on your foot. When you wince, Anthony immediately carries you in his arms in a bridal hold, and you have to take all the willpower you have to not stare at his biceps, or worse, swoon right there. “Anthony! Put me down!” You cry, halfheartedly, your inner thoughts wishing that he wouldn’t listen to a word you said. “If you drop me, I swear I will hurt you.”

“Y/N,” he smiles at you, “trust me, I know better than to cross you by now.” He readjusts his hands, and one of them, (you’re too frazzled to notice which), lands on the small of your back, and you are sure that you will combust within a second if he keeps this up. “And,” he continues, “I haven’t dragged you all the way here just so you can go home. And trust me, you're not heavy at all.” He smirks, raising one of his hands so that you can see it, and taps your nose.

“Anthony—oh god—what the bloody hell are you doing?”

“Proving you haven't got anything to worry about. Don’t worry, darling.” The word sends a shiver down your spine, and the moment just seems so perfect: you, in his arms, his dark, dreamy eyes gazing into your own, his breath hot on your cheek. He smells of sandalwood and citrus—the same smell that haunts you day and night, in your dreams and nightmares.

You relax into his arms, and are snapped out of your daze only by the soft brush of something against your nose—petals? You open your eyes to a grinning Anthony, tapping your face with a hastily bundled bunch of flowers.

“Anthony,” you frown, “I was relaxing. Do not forget that you caused my devastating injury.” You pout, widening your eyes and biting your lips, trying to play the fact that you’re merely an innocent bystander of his tomfoolery. He sighs, and waves the flowers in front of your face.

“That is precisely what this is for, you hypochondriac—ow! Sorry! I picked you flowers, because you're so microscopic that I can carry you with one hand.” He gently placed you down on a gravelly stone bench, among the wildflowers and its concomitant insects, hurriedly putting a bouquet of flowers in your hand. 

Daises.

The Guide for Flora for Debutantes: Resplendent in its simplicity, the daisy's tender white petals encircle a sunny heart, a poignant reflection of the chaste and enduring affection shared amongst esteemed companions of a non-romantic nature. The suitor that gives this flower to you may not desire to pursue a romantic relation, but shows no ill will towards you, and would in fact like to continue a relationship based purely on friendship. 

Your mind flashes to a paragraph in one of your least-loved books, but one your governess insisted you study. Perhaps he didn’t mean to give you these gut-wrenching, heartbreaking flowers, flowers that left your soul shattered on the ground, due to your dramatics. Men, in particular, were never very observant when it came to flowers. “Well, there might be a privilege to being microscopic then,” you smile, feigning delight. “Say,” you gaze up at Anthony’s eyes, “what made you pick these particular ones? Is there anything special about daises?”

“Er, no…” Anthony frowned. “They were the only ones that looked nice enough to give to you. The others looked like weeds, if I am being completely forthright.” You stifle a laugh, and perhaps there indeed was no symbolism behind the flowers the gave you, nothing other than fate.

As you settle on the stone bench, your ankle throbbing slightly, you peer at the bouquet of daises now cradled in your hand. The delicate blossoms seem to mirror the delicate dance of emotions within your heart, or so your heart believes. Anthony's actions have always been a mixture of exasperating and endearing, and this moment is no different.

"Anthony," you say, suppressing a smile, "your chivalry knows no bounds, it seems." He chuckles, his eyes crinkling at the corners.

"Ah, my dear, a gentleman's duty is to come to the rescue of a damsel in distress, is it not?" You roll your eyes with a playful sigh, though your heart flutters at his words. There's a familiarity between you that goes beyond mere friendship, a connection that has woven itself over years of shared experiences. But society's expectations and the complexities of your own heart keep those feelings hidden beneath the surface. 

"Are you suggesting that I am in distress, Mr. Bridgerton?" you retort, raising an eyebrow. His smile widens, and he takes a seat beside you on the bench. 

"Perhaps not in distress, but certainly in need of a flower-bearing rescuer." He quips, gently nudging your shoulder. You both share a laugh, the tension that briefly hung in the air dissipating like morning mist. There's a sense of ease in his company that you've never found elsewhere, a comfort that stems from him, merely his presence.

A sense of home—of love, and for now, it did not matter if he didn’t feel it, but the warm feeling that enveloped you was merely your own to enjoy.

[cels-not-so-secret-love-affair]

falling to the music pt. 3 (jily)

a/n: it’s been a slow sort of week, but we’re making a comeback with another instalment of my silly little jily band au. yay!

previous | next

Mr Nice, sensibly, waits for Lily to text him before attempting to call her. She’s calmer when she does so, and about to cook dinner for herself and her roommates in her student flat. It’s something to do with her hands other than holding her phone, or potentially throwing it at a wall if he says anything either too irritating or too attractive. A preventative measure. After explaining the situation to James, she pops him on speakerphone, and props him up on the counter.

‘Hello?’ His voice is slightly tinnier over the line, but it still makes Lily shiver a little. It’s got a richness to it that feels comforting.

‘Good evening, James,’ she calls, slicing her chicken into strips.

‘Lily! Lily Evans, how are you?’ The full name should not have the effect it does. Nor should it send flashing images of the words Lily Potter through her mind. Christ, there’s something wrong with me.

‘I’m okay. Still recovering from the bashing my ego took after being ghosted for almost a full business week, but I’m breathing.’

‘I really am very sorry about that,’ he repeats earnestly.

‘Yeah, well. Just don’t go lobbing your new phone at gaggles of seagulls or whatever, and I’ll let you off.’

‘Duly noted.’ She can hear his smile again. It bleeds into the shapes of the vowels. Diabolical.

‘Enjoy your Saturday?’ she asks, moving to wash her hands.

‘Yes, actually. We had practice in the morning, trying out some new songs. Then I got some work done for school, went on a run, came home. Now I’m talking to you, which is, naturally, the highlight of my day.’

‘You’re a flirt, Mr Potter. What degree do you do?’ Lily’s switched to chopping vegetables now and, against her will entirely, has found herself smiling down at her red peppers.

‘Architecture! It sounds poncey, I know, but I swear on my life it’s interesting.’

‘I’ll believe you. Although I have to say it doesn’t match up very well with the whole lead guitarist thing.’

‘No matter how many cool points those showy riffs might earn me, I am, at heart, a bit of a nerd. Sorry to disappoint you.’

‘I’m not disappointed.’

‘I’ve lucked out then. How about you, what degree do you do?’

‘Hmm. You know what - have a guess. If you’re right I’ll chuck a bit of carrot at my screen as a reward.’ James laughs at that, and Lily feels a sense of accomplishment blooming in her chest. The sound is very easy to listen to.

‘Alright, I love a challenge. Let’s see… something to do with English?’

‘Bloody hell. How’d you figure that one out?’

‘I’m right, then?’

‘Yeah. English Language and Literature.’

‘Score! It was a bit of a guess really. You had a pin on the strap of your bag when you came to talk to me after the show. A proper enamel one, shaped like a stack of books. I remember wondering where you got it from.’ Lily is momentarily baffled at how this man can forget to charge his fucking phone and remember this seemingly innocuous detail about her all in the same day. It’s sweet, though, that he takes an interest. It almost makes her forget the four days spent sans text message.

‘That’s observant of you.’

‘Yeah, I suppose. Where did you actually get it from, the pin?’

‘Oh, it was just a gift from a friend.’

‘The one that came with you to the concert? Or someone else?’

‘No, not Mary, though she is basically unbeatable in the gift giving department. It was from one of my flatmates, Alice.’

‘Mary isn’t a flatmate then?’

‘No, she grew up here, so she’s living with her parents whilst she does her degree.’

‘Nice.’ A short quiet falls then. With any other of her previous interests, it probably would have been awkward, but not with James. It’s just nice. He’s nice.

‘What are you cooking?’ he pipes up after a few minutes.

‘Something simple. Chicken stir fry.’

‘I bet that’ll be great.’

‘Hopefully, yeah. Have you eaten yet, James?’ Lily is surprised at how soft the question sounds when it comes out of her mouth. The bastard’s endeared himself to me, she thinks.

‘Not yet. I’ll message Sirius in a bit, see what he fancies. He’s a shit cook, so it’s either I cook for the both of us or we go out for dinner.’

‘You guys are really close then.’

‘Yeah,’ James says, and he sounds like he’s properly proud of it. ‘He’s basically my brother. We grew up together, you know? And then he lived with us for a few years until the two of us were eighteen, and then we came to the same uni together and everything. We just get each other.’

‘That’s lovely.’

‘Yeah. He’s like, the best thing in my life right now. Him, and the band, and big Tesco’s.’ Lily laughs at that last addition.

‘A respectable top three, to be sure. How did it come about, the band?’

‘We all went to school together. But like, school’s boring, right? Or at least secondary is. So we needed something to make it more bearable, and there were two typical teenage things we came up with in the end. Pranks - aimed at teachers and cocky year sevens and generally just creating chaos - and starting a band. God, I don’t know how McGonagall put up with us. We’d run round the place like dickheads setting traps for whoever was unlucky enough to be in the Maths department that day, and then spend all our lessons planning stuff to do with the band. What songs we were going to play, what outrageous outfits Sirius could wear next, what we’d call ourselves. And then that never really stopped.’ James has a way of speaking that just puts you at ease, Lily finds. It’s almost like magic.

‘Sounds a lot more eventful than my experience at school.’

‘Yeah. Eleven to fifteen was pretty insane. We calmed down a bit after that - A Levels to think about and all.’

They keep talking for a while, on their cosy little cooking call. The conversation just seems to flow, moving from topic to topic like embroidery thread dipping into silk until Lily is somehow already plating up, five neat portions of food ready to be served. She tells James this, and he congratulates her on a job well done. Then, they say their goodbyes and he leaves her to the rest of her night. There’s a strange sort of emptiness after he hangs up the phone. She didn’t realise just how much she’d gotten used to having his voice chatting away in the background.

[oleander-nin]

If your request are open, could I request a few headcanons with the Rise Turtles?

The reader found a turtle mutant child alone in NYC and took them in because the parents abandoned them after they mutated. How would the Turtles react to their s/o or crush suddenly being the new mom to a turtle mutant?

A/N, not important: Thank you for the ask, and if you're ever curious about requesting, you can check my pinned post which has my requesting rules linked. This one was tough for me because I personally love kids, and used to volunteer at a daycare camp type deal, and it kinda shows through. This kinda ended up being more about the child than them w/ you. Sorry. Any criticism is welcome, constructive or not. This is supposed to be a gender neutral reader, so if I screwed up somewhere, please tell me.

-Ollie

Tw: My writing, kids, Mikey's part mentions future marriage, Donnie suggests adoption

Words: 400

Summary: ROTTMNT turtle's s/o becomes the new parent of a mutant turtle. Yay, responsibility...

Mikey:

Surprised, but willing to help.

Thinks it’s literally the sweetest thing you took in the small mutant.

Wants to make sure you’re okay with everything and don’t put too much pressure on yourself.

He’s really worried for the kid as well, and wants to make sure you’re both doing okay.

Supports you with the kid to the best of his ability.

Offers to bring you food more often so you can focus more on your job and taking care of the kid.

Tries his best to build a proper relationship with the kid.

Mikey loves you, and wants to possibly marry you in the future.

If this kid is now part of that future, he’s on board.

Donnie:

Is mostly indifferent to the new child in your life.

He thinks it was a noble act, but a vastly unnecessary one.

In Donnie’s mind, you don’t need a kid. You’re only a young adult and haven’t figured your life out yet.

Why adopt some random kid when there’s a yokai family out there waiting with possibly open arms?

Anyways, Donnie got yelled at for his hypocrisy because SHELLDON.

Shelldon is more excited than Donnie.

Donnie helps if you ask, but leaves you to it for the most part.

It’s your life, he doesn’t care too much what you do with it.

Plus, seeing you act sweet to the kid is nice.

Raph:

Gets happy when he meets the kid.

Thinks you’re an angel for taking care of the kid when you technically didn’t have to.

Brings it up to Splinter on accident.

Now you have a rat-man giving you childcare advice.

Helps with anything you ask.

He wants to spend time with you, and now you are constantly with the kid, so he spends time with the kid too.

Bonds with the kid pretty quickly.

Leo:

Is concerned, but helps where he can.

Like Donnie, he’s concerned because you’re still a young adult yourself, and he doesn't want you to get overwhelmed.

To help, he ends up becoming the kid’s dad more or less.

Gets really excited when the toddler laughs at one of his jokes.

Instant acceptance, will steal the child from you if possible.

Almost co-parents?

He likes the kid, and he likes you, so he has no problem helping out whenever he can.

Bribes Mikey to babysit so he can still go out with you alone though.

[everythingdenied]

promptober-13

leaves fallen sparse-dad!matty

a/n: lil blurb inspired by the fact that matty has been looking painfully dilfy atm...and also bc i am hormonal & freezing and feel like i haven't posted anything in agesssss. also promptober YAY!! tysm @abiiors u have reminded me i don't hate writing.

wc: 620

"Fuck me, i'm freezing my tits off. Can we not just...go home?"

I turned my head, walking a few paces ahead of Matty to try and keep up with the very enthusiastic toddler wobbling along the cobblestone in front of me. Amelie had only learnt to walk less than a month ago but, from the minute she'd figured out how, she'd been eager to use those little legs of hers, putting both me and her dad on pins whenever she decided to toddle anywhere near the edge of the coffee table at home.

"Matty..." I scolded, glaring at the man as he grumpily shoved his hand's into the pockets of his trench coat, kicking at a pile of dried, amber leaves at his feet. "You were literally the one who suggested this."

He rolled his eyes and puffed out a dramatic sigh, jogging the few steps forward to catch up with Amelie and I.

"Yeah. Didn't think it'd be this cold" he grumbled. "I feel like Scott of the fuckin' antarctic."

Matty dug his hands deeper into his pockets, pouting when he found no relief from the crips autumn air, nor any sympathy for me, who only breathed a quiet laugh at his melodrama and pulled him into my side. His teeth chattered, clicking against each other exaggeratedly, and he nuzzled into the crook of my neck, whimpering like a small child.

"You are such a man child sometimes, jesus christ" i giggled, but gave in to his fawning, placating him with a soft kiss to the tip of his rosy nose, only pulling back when I felt something bump against my leg.

Looking down, I noticed our nearly two year old had stopped dead in the middle of the pavement, crouched down to inspect something she'd found between the cobbles.

"Careful, baby..." I hummed, the momentary concern I felt dissipating when I squatted down beside her to take a proper look at what had captured her attention so desperately she'd felt the need to stop walking. "What've you got, Am?"

Clutched in my little one's hand was a leaf; a perfectly shaped, dried out, copper leaf, reminiscent of the one's you'd see on some slightly kitsch advert for a pumpkin spice latte. It wasn't anything particularly magnificent, it was just a leaf, the same you could find sparsely peppering every street in England after the month of October, and yet Amelie stared at it in awe, her mouth agape as if she'd just discovered a new planet.

"Leaf!" she giggled happily and held it out for me to take. Her eyes flit between Matty and I, presumably waiting for the two of us to catch up on the joy this leaf was supposedly meant to bring us, and she prompted me once more to take it from her.

"Well done, baby" I smiled and gingerly took the singular piece of foliage from her, careful not to crinkle it as she grinned toothlessly. "S'pretty, huh?"

Amelie nodded vigorously, her little mustard bobble hat threatening to tip off her hid, and pointed once more.

"Pretty leaf..." she babbled thoughtfully, gazing up at Matty as I settled her woollen hat back in its rightful position, sitting perfectly atop her mop of dark ringlets she could have only inherited from one place. "Daddy, look! Pretty leaf."

Matty laughed warmly, his heart swelling tenfold, and crouched down to pick Amelie up in his arms, hugging her little frame to his chest as her elated squeal bounced through the empty estate.

"Mhm...'s a very pretty leaf" he nodded, and reached out to grasp her tiny hand in his own, his lips brushing over her knuckles as she wriggled in his arms. "But not nearly as pretty as you, my littlest darlin..."

[florathegnarpian]

YAY!

IK I DON'T HAVE A PROPER PINNED POST BUT

FLORA'S HEALED/SCARRED/PRESENT-TIME DESIGN IS FINISHED!

I CAN ASNWER ASKS AS HER AGAIN!

(the reason she's got a lot more burn scars than Atrocity does is cause she was closer to the part of the ship that slightly exploded)

(also cause metal burns a lot and she was both wearing armor and getting Atrocity, who was also wearing armor, out of the ship-)

[everchased]

Question about Finch's tol-ness!

Karlach, and a number of other nice tall people I've met, have a habit of particularly being careful and friendly to make sure they don't scare people with their size.

Finch obviously has the capacity to be very intimidating. But when he doesn't want to intimidate, are there things he does to gentle the impression he gives?

Additional: The other companions are certainly capable, but does being taller/tankier than most of his new friends inspire any amount of protectiveness in Finch?

ooooo good question

i think he probably doesn't have to compensate for his size quite as hard as karlach if only because he's not on fire and his charisma is so high (16). he's not overly friendly but he's very careful with his tone. he also stands back a few feet from the smaller races so he doesn't loom over them. and if things are casual or he's back at camp, he'll sit to speak to people!

i think he tries to go for "respectable" rather than "nonthreatening" when out and about. he has a proper posture and stands straight most of the time so there's never stooping to accommodate people.

and to answer the second question, yes! in battle, his mind switches to his training under the order of tempus. he trusts that every companion is a capable fighter/caster with their place on the field, and his place varies between attacking the biggest threat in line of sight and backing up anyone who gets pinned. busy man! but he feels in his element. hunter's mark sees a lot of use.

however, if someone gets too seriously wounded, he changes tactics from measured offense to viciously offensive defense. he tends to insert himself (often to his detriment yay martyr complex) between other companions and danger and start burning through upper level smites. his healing is for if someone is bleeding out on the ground or after victory is secured (or for shadowheart to handle from the back lines). first priority is killing the thing faster than it can kill him or his companions.

[kokorina-awesome]

hey!

so i haven't posted on this account for 5 months. thought i might give an update on what im gonna do to the account.

so good news! ive decided to go active again (yay) and will be making more posts. bad news though, not daily 😭

i feel like one of the reasons why i stopped posting on here to begin with was burnout, with the daily doodles and shit. nobody was telling me to do that and yet i was still trying to do stuff daily, which was dumbassery on my part.

menu n shit:

art (occastionally), ingame screenshots, and other shenanigans

will be updating my pin soon with proper blog stuff but ere you go for now

tldr; coming back on kokolors, not daily :D, look forward to more kokolors content (should i change it to kokorina?)

[a-sterling-rose]

Desiree Redesign

Front View:

Back View:

Yay, I finally finished my Desiree redesign. I leaned more into her humanity instead of her genie status, but I did want to give the same cuff imagery by putting the design along her dress’ wrist. 

My main goal for my Desiree is to be able to actually pin-point where she originates. I chose to make her Palestinian as I wanted to use some embroidery patterns that are iconic from the culture. I will admit my ignorance when it comes to Palestinian history, but I believe I would have my Desiree to be alive during the Early Ottoman Ruling of Palestine, which would be around 1683 AD.

I want to visually show Desiree’s rebellious nature in her outfit. Her dress isn’t as long as her tail makes it out to be. Her veil does cover her hair, but you can still clearly see it because of how loose her veil is. Despite everything that has happened, Desiree still loves her culture.

I changed her OG color scheme(blue and purple) to red and purple as a visual hint as to what her personality/ultimate goal is.

For those who are curious:

My Desiree’s ultimate goal is to gain enough power to grant her own wish. Despite the front she puts up, Desiree doesn’t fully understand how her powers work, thus uses humans as test subjects to see what can/can’t be done with particular word choices. 

What is Desiree’s wish?

Well, I actually don’t want to change much of Desiree’s origins. Mainly, I want to make her an authentic depiction of a harem girl. However, my Desiree wasn’t apart of the Sultan’s harem, but his wife’s.

Harem’s of influential women were usually personal servants/ under personal protection. However, a romantic relationship developed between Desiree and the wife(I swear I will give this woman a proper name along with her own redesign someday).

Desiree was transparent about she wanted: To run away together to a place where they can exist in peace. She was always the optimist of the two, the dreamer who would pray to the stars for a day their plan could become real. You can only imagine what Desiree felt when the Wife suddenly banished her without even saying goodbye.

And thus Desiree’s story continues on like her OG counterpart. She manifests a ghostly form that can grant wishes, adopting the perception of being a genie as a way seem more legitimate. 

She powers is manipulate ectoplasam to take properly take form(to explain how Danny is able to suck these ‘wishes’ into the thermos). Desiree can’t manipulate time, but she can manipulate memories to make it seem like she truly did. 

My Desiree wants to wish to meet the Wife again. It seems no matter how Desiree tricks humans into helping her, she can’t seem to find the Wife.

[philocalistherz]

«⋅ʚ Study sesion ɞ⋅»

➴ August 25, 2024. ₊˚ෆ

ೃ⁀➷ today's stats ༉‧₊

💭 Subject: critique seminary.

🤍 Time: 2h 20 minutes.

🐇 Location: my dorm.

ೃ⁀➷ work of the sesion ༉‧₊

Hi! Long time no see, guys!

I'm really happy because I finally took my first class of the critique seminar last Friday. I had to catch up because I'm actually late (the seminar started on Friday the 16th).

Anyway, the work of the session was smooth as butter, I just watched Borom Sarret, a great Senegalese short movie from the 60s, and wrote a little review about it. I focused mainly on the visual and socio-political aspects of the movie and I think I did a great job.

Our professor asked us to make a public account to show our progress in the semester, so I made a side blog! It's in Spanish though, so I don't know if anyone here wants to read it anyway, but I'm making it pretty just in case, you can find it in my pinned post at the very end!

Also, I didn't do proper study sessions and just went straight to finishing my work in one sitting while I was on a phone call with a friend. My next class is next Tuesday and I feel really good about it, before I was so scared for no reason and had so many absences, so I'm glad that changed for the better.

🎧: smalltown boy ; bronski beat

₊˚ෆೃ⁀➷ languages ༉‧₊

I only wrote this post in english, I have not practiced my speech for the exam.

decided to restart german.

₊˚ෆೃ⁀➷ health ༉‧₊

no yoga today, i eat just one meal and drink some water, nothing fancy. No coffee this session! (yay)

[zwy01]

Arya doodles!!!

Aww my poor, poor girl. It’s her time to be given love and lots of hugs.

This is my OC, Arya K. Landegre! She is Regis and Rael’s daughter, and the former’s heir.

I haven’t gone in depth with her backstory yet, so I’m going to do that here. She’s one of my 15 “main” characters of my Millennium AU and her full bio is up in my pinned post.

I’ll be mentioning some other names in here too so to quickly recap, Arya is the younger one of the two Regis/Rael kids and her full-sibling and elder brother is Raegyn Kertia. (Arya has three half-siblings, with her elder half-brother Kaelestis Blerster on Rael’s side, and younger half-brother Garyth J. Loyard and younger half-sister Alethea J. Loyard on Regis’ side.) Arya has a pretty good relationship with her loving family, but it is a hard-earned one with a rocky beginning and a long, arduous journey. I’ll be explaining exactly why in a bit. Yay!!!

I love Arya for how dynamic she is and I’ve barely mentioned the more detailed stuff so here we are! My sweet Ari’s (almost) full backstory.

We already know that Arya is the odd one out in her generation. Among her fellow future Clan Leaders, Arya stands out as the one that is the least noble-like. She’s cringy, loud, fidgety, and most of all you just can’t get her to behave herself like a proper noble. If Lukedonia had yearbooks, she’d be nominated as the class clown. Hey, being so stiff all the time isn’t fun, right? I mean, just look at that freakishly long lifespan nobles have. You’re saying you’re gonna be around for at least a few more millennia, yet being uptight is the only way you know how, huh? Pfft, not in Arya’s watch. She’s gonna show you what real fun is, by ditching all formalities in favor of “you know, just winging it!”. After all, life is boring without a little improvisation every now and then. And if that means leaving your comfort zone, then Arya will be the one to hold your hand and guide you through your newfound fun. In a sense, Arya is the opposite of her big brother Raegyn Kertia. Raegyn loves to plan every little detail of his life, making sure to never go off track for even the tiniest of things, while Arya likes to live spontaneously. The past won’t hold her back, and the future does not concern her either. Any problems or consequences that arise, she will leave it to her “future self”. Duh. On many occasions, Raegyn had attempted to teach Arya the importance of planning things and the concept of delayed gratification, to no avail. Whatever he tells her seems to go in one ear and out the other. It’s Arya, what else did you expect from her? She’s just going to giggle and shrug it off. They are not too worried about her though, because she seems to be able to find a good balance in life despite her carefree nature, so they let her be. I mean, she is pretty wild, but it’s not like she’s going to burn down the forest or steal artifacts from the treasury for fun, right? Yeah, no way that’s going to happen. Mhm. Huh. Wait… hold up. Actually, forget it. She might. It’s unlikely though. Well, she doesn’t do that anymore. Anymore? What exactly does that mean? That’s where it gets interesting, so sit back and enjoy.

Remember in my last post about Raegyn where I said that Regis and Rael were super relieved that their Arya was a normal child with normal development, and not a “special” child like their difficult son? They were right about their daughter… at least partially. Regis and Rael waited for almost two centuries before having their second child. Their first child Raegyn gave them a hard time because he was too much of an outlier with his unmatched super intelligence. After Arya was born, and for some time in her early childhood, Regis and Rael had their eyes on her all the time, vigilantly watching for any signs that would show that she’s not an average child, and in turn they would give her the extra support she needs. And they waited. And waited. Thankfully, those signs never showed up. Whew. They could finally relax, as they only needed to deal to with Raegyn, and it seemed like they could raise Arya like they would with a normal child. Arya was average, in a good way. She was a bit too lively and feisty at times, but that’s not a big deal. She’s a kid, after all. Who doesn’t like an energetic kid? Regis and Rael had to discipline her occasionally, but other than that, they didn’t need to do much. They had a good time together as a family, and everyone was certain that Arya had a bright future ahead of her. Or, that’s what they thought. Uh oh.

Turns out her parents overlooked her feistiness, and there was a deeper underlying issue. This became more apparent as Arya grew a bit older, when she reached the human equivalent of a ten year old. At this point it wasn’t as simple as kiddie tantrums anymore. Regis and Rael found it increasingly difficult to discipline their daughter and calm her down when she got all worked up. Arya had a short fuse. A very short one. She was joyful and radiant, just as much as she had a big temper. She cried when she didn’t get what she wanted, she screamed when her parents gave Raegyn a millisecond more of attention than they did to her, and kicked and shoved and knocked things off tables when something simply wasn’t to her liking. And when she felt uneasy, she couldn’t stay still and was always pacing around, fidgeting, or both. And that’s when Regis and Rael finally understood what’s going on, when they realized that Arya may be even more difficult than their already difficult son.

If we’re being nice, then we can say that Arya has a… very strong personality. If we’re being honest, then Arya is a major pain in the ass. It’s as simple as that. She is only fun for as long as she doesn’t spiral into one of her tantrums, before her parents, Raegyn, or someone else needs to step in to physically restrain her until she calms down. And it’s worth noting that Regis and Rael were not neglectful or anything. They were attentive and loving parents who did their best to ensure that their daughter had everything she needed. It’s just that Arya happened to inherit several of her parents’ less desirable personality traits. Mix and match, boom. A recipe for disaster. Arya inherited Regis’ stubbornness, and Rael’s tendency to be possessive, jealous, and impulsive. Regis is more flexible now, and even Rael has shown massive improvement and growth, and doesn’t act like he did in his youth anymore. But Arya was only a child. She was still young, and she has yet to go through centuries of practice. Regis and Rael were really trying their hardest, but their daughter just didn’t seem to show any signs of improvement. For now, they’ll just keep trying in hopes that their little Ari would get better eventually. Maybe they were even in denial, as they didn’t like the possibility of Arya not being able to grow out of her “phase”, so to speak.

Despite the less positive aspects of her personality, kiddie Arya loved her parents very much, and she made sure to let them know. Raegyn’s situation was an entirely different case, as Regis and Rael parented him in a very unconventional way that didn’t quite resemble the dynamics of a typical parent-child relationship. On the other hand, Arya’s bond with her parents strongly resembled that of a typical parent-child relationship. She absolutely adored both her fathers, and loved being their baby. To little Arya, they were her everything. And they still are now. Regis and Rael are delighted with how their daughter loves them so much and how she never hesitates to express her love. The two of them didn’t really feel the same sentiment coming from their first child Raegyn during his childhood, and Raegyn still is kind of aloof as an adult. (They know that Raegyn loves them too, but Raegyn just never really bothered with the excessively sentimental stuff) To be honest, Raegyn is relieved that his sister is here to divert his parents’ attention so they don’t “loiter” around him all the time, and he can finally get some of that long desired freedom. And his sister being difficult doesn’t bother him because she is their parents’ kid, not his, so she’s not his problem. At most he’ll just step in when he needs to pretend to be a good big brother, or when his parents ask him to.

And Arya? She loves her brother dearly, and knows that he loves her too. Brother Rayray is nice. He reads books to Ari and gives Ari candies. He teaches Ari how to play games. He’s all good …until the very moment he gets more attention from their parents. Then she’s not so enthusiastic about him anymore. Do you see where I am getting at. As much as Arya adores Raegyn, she doesn’t actually mind how Raegyn is often absent during “family bonding time” because guess what? She can have her fathers alllll to herself. Maybe it’s even a good thing, even if it is one she can’t say out loud.

Arya is totally a daddy’s girl for both of her fathers. The two of them have different roles. Rael is the “fun” parent. Yes, Arya is his sweet little girl and he’s forever grateful for her very existence, but above all else, he sees himself in her. As difficult as Arya can be sometimes, she bears extreme resemblance to Rael and he loves her for that. Rael doesn’t mind Arya being a little feisty because he was like that in his youth too, and he turned out alright, didn’t he? Maybe he’s even proud of her for being so “lively”. That’s right, she’s his little girl! Arya is nearly identical to Rael in both looks and personality. If only she had the Kertia blonde as well, her parents joke. In addition, since the beginning, Rael had desperately wanted a child to pour all his love into, but Raegyn wasn’t quite what he had expected, so he didn’t get to experience the typical joy of parenting. Then Arya came along. Arya adored him, admired him, and stuck to him like a piece of gum. She practically glued herself onto her Kertia daddy.

Rael is of course absolutely overjoyed, and responded by showering her with every ounce of affection in his system. He often lets Arya indulge herself in things, and gives in to her begging. He spoils Arya by sneaking her out of class early, letting her stay past bedtime, slipping an extra cookie when Regis isn’t looking... etc. Anything to see his little girl put on a big, big smile and hear her say “thank you Daddy” with enthusiasm. Perhaps he went a little too overboard, and the spoiling became a bit excessive. But hey, Rael just can’t help it. In a way, whatever he wished he could’ve done but didn’t get to do with Raegyn, he fulfilled through Arya. Arya basically gets double of everything. And she’s just too cute. I mean, she’s a chip off the old block! Rael continues the spoiling well into Arya’s teen years. This does eventually snowball into a bigger problem, which will be addressed later.

On the other hand, Regis is the “strict” parent. For most of the time, he lets Rael have fun with Arya because he knows how deeply Rael cherishes that affectionate bond with their daughter. At the same time Regis never misses the chance to discipline Arya when she needs it. Kiddie Raegyn was very self-sufficient and preferred independence over being “parented”; Arya was not, and needed plenty of parental support and behavioral correction. Sorry kiddo, no more skipping classes for you, and whining won’t make demands come true. Jokes aside, other than being the rule enforcing parent, Regis is very, very affectionate with Arya and they have an extremely close father-daughter relationship. Lovely. Regis can be proud of himself. He used to get flustered at something as simple as getting his head patted by (his basically adopted sister) Seira, and now he is actually pretty comfortable with giving and receiving both physical and emotional affection. One of Arya’s favorite things to do as a kid was running her little fingers through Regis’ hair and playing with his black streaks, and then happily pointing at her own streaks while exclaiming “I’m a Landegre!” To which Regis would smile and respond, “yes, my little Ari”. Aww, how precious. Arya takes great pride in being Regis’ daughter and heir. She is her daddy’s successor, the great Regis K. Landegre!

While it’s true that Arya tends to go to her Kertia daddy when she wants to get the okays to break rules or have some relatively reckless fun, it is Regis who is her favorite. Sorry Rael. He doesn’t have to know Regis is Arya’s number one. Period. Has always been, and will always be. As soon as Arya could recognize her surroundings, Regis became the center of her world. If she admired Rael, then she idolized Regis. She loved him, she worshipped him, she put him on a pedestal. Yeah. That person over there. You see him? He’s Ari’s Landegre daddy! How sweet. It doesn’t matter if Regis didn’t let her overindulge in things, or that he’s less lenient with her misbehaving at times. Everything Regis believes in and does, is right. No arguments. Maybe she’d even get offended on his behalf if anyone tried to question him. Regis is her idol, and she’d follow in his footsteps even if she honestly doesn’t feel too much enthusiasm towards clan duties and whatnots. Young Arya actually had her parents taken by surprise when she showed that, after all, she was capable of sitting through an entire afternoon of Regis walking her through Landegre CL duties without fidgeting or complaining much. For a restless child like her, it’s an unusual and incredible feat, because she doesn’t display this extent of patience when it comes to other matters. Responsibilities and expectations, future Clan Leader, blah blah blah… even if these things didn’t really interest Arya, she’d do it for daddy dearest. Anything for Regis. She’s totally obsessed with him. Many even too obsessed. And this obsession is the catalyst for many unfortunate events to come. Remember how I said she inherited Rael’s tendency to be possessive, jealous, and impulsive? Yep, exactly that.

Fast forward to Arya’s teen years. When Arya was around the human equivalent of 13-14 year old, she “learned” about Regis’ drastically shortened lifespan. This was around the time her younger half-siblings Garyth and Alethea were born. Initially, Regis had intended to donate only one soul fragment to Seira for the birth of her heir, but their combined soul fragments unexpectedly split into two separate, unstable pieces and Regis didn’t have the heart to let the smaller piece perish. So in an attempt to save it, as it was dying, he extracted another soul fragment from himself and gave it to the smaller piece that would later become Alethea. He succeeded. They succeeded. But the unexpected extra soul fragment extraction shortened his lifespan even more. Three soul fragment extractions is already pushing the limits for noble standards. Four? That’s unheard of. Regis didn’t have much longer to live. Uh oh. Arya is definitely not going to take this well.

And this is not due to Arya previously being oblivious to the mechanism behind noble birth or anything. All nobles know that having children would shorten one’s lifespan. They understood how it worked, and that a noble’s lifespan would roughly halve for each child etc. Arya knew this as well. However, she only started to really think about it once her half-siblings were born, because she never really saw Regis that way. All this time she had been busy obsessing over him and putting him on a pedestal. She had been way too in love with the concept of him being her father to the point where she basically almost completely forgot about the fact that no, he indeed won’t be around forever. Regis is not immortal. To make matters worse, not only was Regis not immortal, he also doesn’t have much left. Time is ticking. Regis is dying. Her daddy, her idol, her world — he’s dying. The shock comes from the realization, perhaps one that is a little too late. It’s also important to note that Regis did not consult with either of his children regarding his decision to contribute what is essentially his lifespan to Seira’s heir. Regis had only spoken with his husband Rael regarding this matter and both of them agreed that his contribution to Seira would be a good idea. After all, Seira is family to Regis. Of course he would help her with her heir. By both Lukedonian law and common practice, neither juvenile nor adult children are entitled to any input when it comes to one or both of their parents’ decision to donate more soul fragments or just having more children in general. Parents don’t need to say anything to their existing children. No one owes anyone explanations. That’s just how things are.

Though, on a personal level, that’s where things get complicated. The Regis/Rael kids only learned about their half-siblings after their birth. Raegyn’s reaction upon hearing the news was just… nothing. He simply raised his eyebrows, shrugged, and gave a fake smile. Neat. Sure, more siblings, though they aren’t his problem, they’re Seira’s, so he doesn’t care. And while Raegyn loves Regis, he respects Regis’ decision (and his parents’ collective agreement) about what Regis wants to do with his lifespan. If he wanted to shave off more years for the sake of his family aka Seira, then go for it. To be honest, Raegyn probably isn’t even attached enough to Regis for him to care. Arya on the other hand… oh boy.

Unlike Raegyn, who was calm and supportive, Arya did not take it well. In fact, she took it quite personally. Very personally. Extremely personally. Upon the initial news delivery of her half-siblings’ birth, she was shocked. Arya went numb, and didn’t seem to have any reaction at all. It took her a whole day to process the information and then it hit her. She excused herself and locked herself in her room. Witnesses recalled how the horrific, explosive screams that seemed to have come from the Landegre manor did not stop for an entire week. There was some sobbing, some hysterical laughing, but mostly screams. Screams much, much worse than what you’d imagine would come from tortured souls from the depths of hell. Bystanders could feel the sheer force of anger and despair in the very core of those screams just by listening. And not once did Arya think of using her noble powers for noise canceling. It may have even been deliberate, as she wanted the whole world to know that she’s upset, even if she won’t actually say why. Even her own parents can’t seem to get her to talk. The screams only stopped when Arya grew too tired and passed out in exhaustion for another week. People eventually forgot that this had happened, and simply shrugged it off as one of her “usual tantrums”. It was only oddly timed, because it happened right after her half-siblings were born, but other than that, no big deal, right? Then they’re wrong. Very, very wrong. Raegyn knows why because he is more than smart enough to tell. He doesn’t care, though.

Arya felt betrayed. Regis betrayed her. He betrayed her by giving his lifespan away without even telling her. He never once asked for her opinion, and he didn’t even bother to notify her of the decision, as if it was never a big deal to start with. Rael betrayed her as well. He betrayed her by not stopping Regis, because he clearly had a part in the final decision, right? Arya knows she has no claim over how Regis plans to use his lifespan, but still… she is his daughter, their daughter, and she had every reason to be upset with Regis literally handing away his life, the very life which he was supposed to spend with her. Both Regis and Rael betrayed her. Her fathers, her daddies, the two of them — both of them — turned their backs on her just like that. Yet Arya could not bring this up to either of them. She just can’t. She can’t tell them she’s upset. She did not know how to approach this subject, neither did she have any clue on how to sort out her rampaging questions and feelings. The mere thought of this clutter of a mess makes her feel sick. Her stomach sinks, and her chest aches. A deep, pulsating ache that seems to spread to every corner of her body. When she thinks she has worked up the courage to say it out loud, the clutter lodges in her throat and she loses the ability to speak. She physically can’t say those words. Her muscles tense up, and she starts sweating. She tries to speak those words but nothing comes out despite her moving her mouth. Only an inaudible, croaky cry. And then she’ll tear up. It’s impossible. She just can’t. Arya can’t ask any questions, her one thousand why’s. Why, why, why, why, just… why. Ari knows that Seira is daddy’s family too, and daddy wants to help her and show her his support… but isn’t Ari also daddy’s family? She is his daughter and heir, and she should’ve been his top priority. Was she, in his eyes, not important enough for him to not give away a portion of his lifespan just like that? Did he even think of her when he extracted the soul fragments from himself?? Can he really bear the thought of leaving her behind, before she is ready to face this world by herself??? Does he even care…? These thoughts and questions would continue to torment her for the longest of times. You’d probably ask, why can’t Regis and Rael just read her mind? Well, they certainly tried. They failed. They couldn’t see anything when they attempted to read their distressed daughter’s mind. It probably had something to do with Arya’s defensive mechanism, where she had unconsciously formed some sort of intangible barrier that prevented people from reading her mind.

Regis and Rael did not know how to comfort their daughter, as she just wouldn’t tell them why she’s upset, and they see nothing when they read her mind. All they can do is give her hugs when she asks for them. Especially Regis. Arya would bury her face into his chest and cry for hours. He can only softly stroke her head and give her gentles pats on her back, hoping that it would ease whatever pain his daughter is experiencing. Not a word spoken from either one of them, with Arya’s occasional inaudible mumbles breaking the silence. And Raegyn? He’s completely out of the picture. He hates anything emotional, which includes dealing with the feelings of others, even when it comes to his sister. Raegyn nopes the hell out of their home as soon as Arya gets worked up, so he doesn’t have to pretend to be nice and comfort her. Every single time. Poof and he’s gone, and you can guarantee that you won’t be able to find him until Arya is finished with her business. Though Regis, Rael, and Arya herself are probably too busy to notice Raegyn is missing.

Arya’s impeding grief shouldn’t be taken lightly. All bottled up along with her grief is her anger, sadness and confusion. It will accumulate, and might as well kill her one day. All that energy has to be released somewhere right? Telling her family isn’t an option because she simply can’t. Her friends and acquaintances… they might react negatively. She can’t say for sure, but she is hesitant about opening up to them about this sensitive subject. And great-grandfather Gejutel is too busy, who knows if he’ll even care. And all the other adults aren’t trustworthy enough in Arya’s eyes. There was no one she could go to. Arya was alone. Arya was desperate. She once was the happiest girl on the planet. She had loving parents, and a nice big brother. There was nothing else she wished for. She only wanted life to stay as it is, with Regis as the center of her world. Regis, Regis, Regis. Her number one. And now he’s dying, by his own choice, albeit indirectly. He had about less than two thousand years left. Even then two thousand years by itself is a long time. Not for Arya. She could spend all eternity with Regis if she could. If Regis didn’t extract two more fragments from himself, he would have had around eight thousand years left. There’s nothing Regis can do, there’s nothing anyone can do. There’s nothing Arya can do. She’d give up part of her own lifespan and transfer it to her father if she could, if that means getting to spent more time with him, but that is impossible. Even if she could, she just knows Regis would never let one of his own children cut their lifespan short just so he could live for longer. It should be the other way, if any. Ugh. Regis is too kind and too generous for his own good. There was nothing left for Arya to do, except to accept the truth and deal with it. But Arya didn’t want to. There has to be another way. She felt cornered. And then she snapped.

The first obvious change was Arya’s newfound apathy regarding her clan. Arya completely lost interest in the Landegres. She stopped caring about her status as future Clan Leader. Clan duties, managing her future clan members, paperwork, leadership training… none of that mattered to her anymore. At first she only had occasional absences. Those grew into frequent absences, and in the end she skipped her lessons altogether. She just stopped showing up. She was never genuinely interested in these things to start with. She made herself sit through all that boring, repetitive nonsense for Regis’ sake, and if her daddy isn’t going to be around for much longer, then she doesn’t want to partake in this anymore. Arya is determined to just ditch it all. And she isn’t even bad at being future Clan Leader. She is pretty average at most things, but she is a hard worker. Without talent, she makes it up with effort. Now that Regis will be gone soon, none of this means anything to her anymore. We’re talking about almost two centuries of hard work that Arya is ready to abandon. If Regis can choose to leave her behind, then she can choose to leave all of this behind too. Her parents and Lukedonia’s general population are very worried about her sudden change in attitude, but all they could do is to hold their breath and hope that the passionate Arya would come back one day.

The second, and perhaps even worse than the first, is Arya turning towards causing trouble for the sake of trouble. Arya is already naturally prone to recklessness and impulsivity thanks to getting those personality traits from Rael. All these years she’s been trying her best to control herself, albeit with limited degrees of success. The point is at least she tried. Now take that, and actually give Arya a reason to not work hard to behave herself anymore. From her perspective, she is justified to do as she pleases because Regis betrayed her trust. The world betrayed her trust. Her acting out and being a menace made sense. She’s just responding accordingly. Yeah. Exactly that. Lukedonia can’t complain, no one can complain, because they gave her no choice. They forced her into this, and now they have to deal with her whether they like it or not. If they can’t handle her, it’s not her problem.

And I would like to mention a key difference between Raegyn and Arya. It is one that defines them and sets them apart, and that is the gap between their maximum capacity and potential when it comes their character. Raegyn is the outlier. His intelligence, flexibility, and social skills are all top tier. He is basically built for success. That’s just what he was born with. You can say he was blessed with everything he needs in this life. Not only is Raegyn academically gifted, he is also extremely smart with people. Raegyn knows how to order around, and his friends targets don’t even know that they’re being manipulated by him. He is also more than smart enough to get away with committing crime and being a real danger, if that is what he wishes to entertain himself with. Except he isn’t interested in that stuff. He has the potential to be dangerous, but he isn’t.

This is where Arya comes in. Arya is average. She is average compared to Raegyn, and she is average by herself. Her intelligence? Average. Her social skills? Average. Her fighting prowess? Better than most of Lukedonia, but when compared to her fellow future Clan Leaders, average. Arya is simply… average. She wasn’t spectacular at anything, nor was she severely lacking. She simply was. And depending on how you look at things, this could be both good and bad. In Arya’s case, it’s definitely bad. Why? Because now Arya wants to wreak havoc just because. Except she isn’t nearly as smart as she needs to be to execute it in the way that would keep herself out of trouble. Combine that with her impulsivity, and what you get is an unpredictable, unstable person who is reckless enough to get herself into trouble but isn’t smart enough to get herself out of it. Arya is also bossy like Rael. She likes to control people, except unlike Raegyn, she isn’t smart enough to know how to order around. If Raegyn uses brains, then Arya uses force. Raegyn gains control over people by being smart. Arya isn’t capable of mimicking even just a fraction of that. That is why Raegyn is popular while Arya has a debatable reputation among her people. And just like Rael, Arya isn’t the best at dealing with being told “no” by others. Yiiiiikes.

And here’s the deal. Arya is average. We know that. Is Arya aware? Perhaps. She isn’t dumb enough to not know that she is in fact average. She knows what her limits are. Does knowing that stop her from being a menace? No. Arya doesn’t care. Who cares if she isn’t smart enough. If she wants to cause trouble, then she will cause trouble. Consequences are for later. They do not concern her. Nothing is going to stop her, and nothing can stop her. The stubbornness she got from Regis is certainly running its gears here, for the worst.

What exactly does Arya do? The list could go on forever. A few of her more “notable” and favorite crimes to commit include arson, blackmail, bribery, forgery, theft, and vandalism. Out of those, arson, theft, and vandalism stand out the most.

Arson. Arya needed to let out all that bottled up anger, and she turned to setting things on fire. It didn’t involved anyone else, and she could do it without other people noticing. If she’s going to turn to crime, then she can start with something “simple” and ease her way into bigger, more satisfying ordeals. That’s why the very first spell Arya masters is an ignition spell. The Landegres aren’t a magic aligned clan, but that doesn’t mean they couldn’t learn a few spells. It first started with smaller things that didn’t matter as much. Pages from her notebook, a childhood toy, old clothes, things that are going to the trash anyway, etc. Items she wouldn’t miss, that no one would miss. How cathartic. It didn’t numb her pain of Regis’ impeding passing, but it was better than nothing. She could imagine that she is watching the world burn. And when she got comfortable with burning smaller items, she moved onto bigger items. Burning less important items no longer gave her the satisfaction she needed. So she looked for more. A couch. A closet. A statue. An abandoned cabin. A small patch of forest in the Loyard territory. It goes exactly where you think. Things spiraled out of control. And the thing is Arya only bothered to learn an ignition spell, and not a counter-spell for it. Arya had to cry for help because she realized that the entire forest will burn down soon if no one intervened. The nobles who responded were able to put out the fire just in time before it reached the Loyard manor. And Arya? She was punished for it. Her Clan Leader issued the punishment himself. But she was still a juvenile, so she didn’t get what she arguably deserved, which is a punishment befitting of her crime if she were an adult. Will this stop Arya from committing more arson? No.

Theft. Arya also began to steal. At first it started with sneaking less valuable items out of people’s pockets. Things people wouldn’t immediately realize have disappeared, and by the time they wanted to looked for them, they were long gone. All in Arya’s possession. And, you guessed it, stealing smaller items was no longer enough for Arya. Then Arya moved onto stealing bigger things. She targeted items that potentially had high sentimental value. We’re talking diaries, jewelry, lockets, portraits, even old cooking pans. The mere thought of people breaking down and panicking over lost items was amusing to her. Sweet sweet. Of course the pain they would feel is not nearly enough to compare to what she has to go through when it comes to her dying daddy, but it’s better than nothing. They better cry. Be in pain, just like her. If she couldn’t be happy, then none of them should. Just like with Arya’s arson crimes, her stealing things got out of hand real quick and soon Arya was breaking into various clans’ treasuries and smuggling important statues and sculptures out of there and into her home. Except Arya isn’t exactly smart, like I mentioned earlier. She’s not at all an expert it comes to covering her tracks, and on her second break-in attempt in the Blerster territory, she got caught in the act by none other than Karias Blerster himself. Karias handed Arya to Regis and he had to punish her again. When he searched her room, they found many, many other stolen items and Regis made sure to make her return them to their respective owners before he grounded her. Again, like before, is this going to stop Arya from committing theft again? Haha, no.

Vandalism. At this point Arya didn’t even bother to be discreet anymore. If she’s not smart enough to get away with anything she does, then she might as well stop all attempt to cover her tracks. Committing crime was her outlet, and she needed it. No one was going to take that away from her. Hell, if she can’t give up committing crime as her primary coping mechanism, then she’s just going to accept that that’s her new life. She might even be petty enough to announce that she is behind whatever chaotic shit is going on. Smashed a window? She would smear “Arya was here” on the walls with her blood. Sabotaged a garden full of herbs and other important plants? She would rearrange the uprooted and trampled plants to spell “Haha losers” for garden’s owner to witness. Destroyed part of a building? She would stand on the roof and laugh and laugh and laugh, and scream “come catch me you suckers!”as she waves her arms around. Again, Regis would be the one to punish her. He doesn’t understand why Arya suddenly turned to delinquency. Does she really enjoy being a criminal? Is this Arya’s true nature…? Neither Regis nor Rael know that Arya is simply doing this to cope with Regis’ shortened lifespan. They are not aware of the fact that this is her coping mechanism. It isn’t a justified one, for sure, but still. They do not know her true motives, and she seems to be reluctant when questioned.

In no time, Arya became notorious for being criminal. Moods were ruined and atmospheres were spoiled as soon as her name was brought up. A rumor began to circulate, one that said that if you said Arya’s name, your home would light up in flames. There was a collective sentiment among the nobles where they all agreed that they couldn’t wait for Arya to come of age so she can be tried as an adult.

Raegyn is rather unhappy with his younger sister’s… newfound hobbies. She is indirectly affecting his social life because now people just want to ask about his “delinquent sister”. That’s all they want to talk about. Dammit, it’s not his fault his sister has a “underdeveloped prefrontal cortex”, as he puts it. Thankfully he is rational enough to not say that out loud. Arya doesn’t need to know.

And Regis? Regis tries everything he can to correct and put Arya’s behavior to a permanent stop. And he fails spectacularly. He tried being nice with the gentle approach. He also tried the stern and authoritarian approach. Him questioning Arya would usually result in two endings, with Arya either pretending she can’t hear him and covering her ears and singing lalala, or she’ll burst into tears and sob uncontrollably. Regis could tell that those tears were genuine, but he just couldn’t get Arya to talk. Her confessing to the motives behind her crimes wouldn’t lighten her punishments, but at least Regis could have an answer as to why she is acting like this. In the end, nothing works. Regis seems to begin to lose hope in his daughter. His patience and faith in Arya started to wane. As much as Regis still loves her, he couldn’t recognize his little girl anymore. Regis is heartbroken.

Things aren’t any better for Rael. Remember when I said that Rael is the parent who spoils Arya? Well, things took an even worse turn. Arya started to bring up Rael during verbal interrogations. She ran out of excuses to bullshit, and then… she recalls stories about Rael being a former criminal, like him blowing up a portion of the castle when Seira rejected his proposal. Aha. The perfect excuse. She can just say she’s just like Rael. Can’t help it, it’s in her blood. What can she do, she’s her Kertia daddy’s daughter. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Something like that. He can soften the blow for her. And then Rael inevitably gets roped into dealing with Arya’s destructive behaviors. Of course Arya is the perpetrator, and Rael is not part of it. But still, he does have some things from his old days on his criminal record, so… to say that people have zero suspicions, would be a lie. Surely he knows better than to prompt his daughter to indulge in crime for funsies. But who knows? Rael had to clear the common suspicions by punishing his little girl himself. Usually, he is not the one to issue her punishments as Arya is a Landegre and he is a Kertia, which leaves Regis as the ultimate decision maker. And Lord Raskreia too, but only if Arya’s crimes escalates to that level, which Rael hopes will never come true. In addition, Rael has a soft spot for Arya and her words aren’t complete nonsense. After all, he did blow things up because Seira rejected him, but he has learned from his mistakes and he’s a better person now, right…? Nevertheless, Rael is hurt by Arya doing this to him. At the same time, he also felt sorry for her, because it is true that she inherited certain traits from him, and it is partially his fault for spoiling her too much in her early days.

Arya wasn’t only a criminal. She was also a bully. And the targets of her actions? Her Loyard half-siblings. That’s right. Garyth and Alethea. Yup. The ones who stole Regis’ time from her, the time she is rightfully entitled to, and the very causes of his shortened lifespan. If Arya couldn’t blame Regis, she figured she could blame them instead. Just think about it. They’re younger than her, they’re weaker than her, and she is their older sister by blood. By that logic, they had to listen to her, right? Arya probably thinks she’s so smart for figuring that out.

To Arya, Garyth and Alethea are indebted her. They belong to her. Everything they’ve ever been, and everything they’ll ever be, they owed to her. If it weren’t for her father, her Regis, they wouldn’t even exist here. Even if they didn’t ask to exist, they are still indebted to her. Thanks to them, Arya doesn’t have much time left with her daddy dearest. First and foremost, he’s her father, they share the same surname, she should be his top priority! Except in Arya’s eyes, she wasn’t that to Regis. And to her, the Loyard siblings are living proof of that sentiment. They are just as guilty as him. Arya’s total obsession with Regis, and her wanting to have him all to herself, is driving her insane. She loves him as much as she is obsessed with him. And the truth is Arya doesn’t really have a reason to be mean to her Loyard siblings. They’re nice, well-behaved kids. They’re polite, and try to be patient around their elder half-sister.

But it didn’t matter. If Regis isn’t going to be around for much longer, then these two will love her in Regis’ place. If they don’t love her, then she will make them love her, even if that means doing so by using force. Arya bossed them around, and made them listen to her every request. They were her little workers basically. This led to a very unhappy Garyth. The Kertia bloodline is just terrible. His elder half-sister’s father Rael harassed his mother Seira, and now Arya herself is here harassing him! It runs in the family. It has to be. This just further cements little Garyth’s already boiling hatred for Rael’s guts. (Will explain this a bit more in Garyth’s own post) Meanwhile little Alethea is fine with being bossed around. She doesn’t really know what to do with her life anyway, so rather than coming up with her ideas, she could just listen to Arya. (Also explaining more in Alethea’s own post) Due to Alethea’s nature of not really having her own opinion on things, she often gets lugged around by Arya. Yes, this includes Arya’s criminal activities. Arya doesn’t fully explain things to Alethea and purposely leaves out details so Alethea would join in on her… adventures. Which is why poor Alethea is often seen following Arya as the latter’s unwitting accomplice.

Fortunately, the adults know better than to accuse Alethea along with Arya because they just know that Arya is the mastermind and Alethea simply got tricked into being a part of her shenanigans. At one point Arya got the equivalent of a restraining order and she wasn’t allowed to be within a five hundred meter radius of Alethea, until she made a written promise that she wouldn’t trick Alethea into doing illegal things again.

Ultimately, Arya’s destructive behavior is unsustainable. When she got out of being grounded, she would just commit crime again. Soon, her 200th birthday approached, and she could not do as she pleased anymore. If she were to commit the same crimes she had before, she would be tried as an adult and punishments would be much more severe, and she would have to deal with real consequences.

One faithful day, Arya was snooping around Regis’ office and she overheard a conversation between him and Rael. Regis was stressed. There was plenty of silence. And then she heard crying. It came from Regis. For all her life, she had never seen her father cry. And then it hit her. Regis weeped, and talked about how scared he is for Arya. He wasn’t angry; he wasn’t disappointed. He was scared. He didn’t know what Arya was capable of, and now that her birthday is nearing, she would get into serious trouble and he would no longer be able to save her. Her approaching coming-of-age was not one of joy nor celebration; it was one of fear. Pure fear. And then Regis started to sob. His biggest fear is having to watch Arya get executed if she really goes beyond the point of no return. Finally. The long needed moment of awakening for Arya. Her acts of rebellion wasn’t helping anyone, and it hurt her loved ones more than anyone else. Most of all, it hurt Regis. Her Regis. She needs to stop, for her own sake, and for everyone else’s sake.

Arya didn’t say anything, and quietly left before she could listen to the rest of her parents’ conversation. She stayed silent for the longest duration of time. And… she came clean to her parents. This took her parents by surprise, as they initially thought that was some prank. But she was serious. Arya walked into the center of the room, kneeled, and apologized to her parents. No tantrums, no whining, no bargaining. It was a deep, sincere apology. A heartfelt apology for everything she had done, and the worries she had caused. Arya also promised to never do those things again, and that she will make up to everyone she has wronged. Regis and Rael were moved. They could feel her sincerity, and Regis simply walked over slowly and kneeled down to Arya’s level and hugged her while rocking her gently. Just the two of them on the floor, both on their knees, in a deep embrace. One that they haven’t shared since Arya’s early teen years. Then Rael joined in, and the three of them couldn’t hold back their tears anymore, and they all sobbed together. It was messy. A good mess. Repentance leads to reconciliation, which leads to the start of a new beginning.

Arya first started by apologizing to everyone she has wronged in both writing and in person. She wrote to them first, because she wasn’t sure if they would even want to see her. After she got permission, she then went to them in person and knelt and apologized for her wrongdoings. And this went on for a long time just because of the sheer number of people she had offended. It was a long list. Arya is not going to come up with excuses this time. She is going to go through all of them, as she should. Or, the ones who are willing to accept an apology from her. Some did not want to see her, even for an apology. Many of them did not respond to her letters. Some of them even replied and basically told her to screw off and to never show her face in front of them again. This made sense. Reconciliation required the effort of both perpetrator and victim to happen, and some of her victims just weren’t having it. That is the hard truth Arya has to accept and live with. For those who did accept Arya’s apologies, they genuinely forgave her. With time, wounds healed, and Arya was ready to be back as a functional member of society. It took her a while to be able to lift her head around people again, but they accepted her back, and what position is she in to reject their kindness?

Garyth and Alethea forgave Arya too. Well, Alethea never held a grudge against Arya in the first place, Garyth just told her that she should be mad at their half-sister for manipulating them. It took a much longer time for Garyth to forgive Arya, but eventually he was able to find peace with her and move on from the past. Though, sometimes he still has a hard time looking at her face. She was a bully, even if she tries her hardest to make up to them now.

What about Arya’s duties? Well, Arya picked up her responsibilities as future Clan Leader once more. She had been neglecting them for the entire duration of her delinquency, and now she’s back at it, as she should. In fact, she’s working harder than ever before. And she’s also intensely training herself in spars. Her aim is to succeed Regis as Clan Leader as soon as possible, so he can be free to enjoy the rest of his remaining lifespan without being so busy with work and duties.

Arya’s stepping back into the light doesn’t mean that her issues have disappeared completely. In fact, they’re very much still there. The grief was real. The sadness was real. It’s a wound that will never heal in Arya’s heart, and it stings every time she thinks about her daddy dying. It’s just that her conscience has won for once and all, and she isn’t going to let the bad side of her personality to take over her anymore. She can keep it in. She has to. So what’s her new coping mechanism for her grief? Three… two… one… yep, ya guessed it. Acting like she’s happy. Too happy. Her fake cheerful personality that she puts on to trick Regis into thinking she is having a good time. The overly enthusiastic Arya who is cringy and spontaneous, but fun. She doesn’t want Regis to worry about her anymore, and wants him to be able to eventually pass knowing that she is happy and fulfilled. Yeahhhh, it’s coming together in a full circle! Woo! Is this a better alternative to her previous coping mechanism of being a delinquent? It’s debatable. Maybe this is just as unhealthy. Maybe even unhealthier. But for now… this’ll do. She has no other choice. She’ll keep up this fake cheerful persona for as long as she can. Until she breaks down again.

(Note that Arya still hasn’t told her parents that she is troubled with Regis’ impeding death. Nobody knows. They know she will never fall into crime again, but still don’t have any clue about why she was like that in first place.)

Well, the good news is, eventually Arya is able to communicate with her parents about her true thoughts a feelings. It does take a long time, and that is for a separate post. Yeeee saving that for later hehe. I will explain Arya’s relationship with her girlfriend Susanna in a separate post too!

Thank you for reading, and stay tuned for the next long character post!

See you again!