#putting this here so I can actually give her a bio!

[lunaraindrop]

We Are Not the Kissing Space Twins (part 2)

Fic by lunaraindrop

Well, you asked for it! Let's find out about Steve's secret twin!

The red numbers mocked her as her digital clock blinked over to 4:27 pm.

Robin's nerves were frazzled like the feather on her band uniform.

Tonight was supposed to be a fun night! Vickie had asked her last week if she wanted to come over to her house and have a movie marathon...and a sleepover. Of course she jumped at the chance! (Steve had said, excitedly and with way too many winks that Vickie was putting the moves on her.)

Robin had not known if it was a "friend movie marathon" or a "i-like-you-makeout movie marathon", but she had prepared for both.

But then Vickie called her earlier that afternoon to postpone. Apparently, her entire family got a stomach bug, and their house was a cesspool for germs.

Bummed, Robin tried to think of something else to do.

Hanging with Steve was out. His parents decided to grace him with their *lovely* presence after four months away on "business." They insisted on having a "family dinner." Steve always gets ultra stressed when he has to do the staunchy dinners in The Harrington Dining Room with the real silver, cloth napkins, and the Fine China that cost probably as much as his car. Telling him that her "maybe date" was off was just going to disappoint him too.

Eddie wasn't going to be any fun, either. All Eddie would do would be pine over Steve, try to sneak in a smoke, and eat whipped cream out of a can.

Nancy was spending the day with Jonathan. The kids made sure they all had things to do because Steve couldn't take them anywhere.

Then she had what she thought was a great idea. She could get her learner's permit! She had studied the written test bookelett front to back, as well as gone over all the driving rules and tricks with Steve and Eddie.

She wasn't working that day, and she was completely free. Perfect timing! All she had to do was get her birth certificate.

Which...proved to be harder than she thought.

Robin paced her bedroom, probably wearing a path in the carpet.

She never caught on that her parents were reluctant to give her her birth certificate. When she would suggest getting her permit or license, they would talk about how they couldn't afford to have her driving. A car and insurance cost a lot of money. Then they would guilt trip her into not driving at all with fears of her getting into an accident. She never knew her name, but that was how she was told her bio mom died.

She would always let it go when they talked about the "angel that gave them their precious baby girl."

But she knew now that they were hiding something from her!

When she pressed until they gave in, she saw what on her birth certificate. She felt so betrayed! How could they lie to her like that?

The taunting clock on her nightstand changed to 4:30. The DMV was now closed. Not that it even mattered!

She couldn't take it anymore! Robin picked up the phone.

"Hey, Nancy? I hate to ask, but could you and Jonathan come pick me up? I really need a friend right now."

---

In the Byers-Hopper living room, Nancy blinked up at Robin. "So, you are actually a year *older* than you thought you were?"

Robin threw her hand in the air. "Yes! And they didn't tell me! Evidently, it wasn't just that I took longer than the rest of the babies to walk! Oh no, I was in the NICU for *months*! I was so far behind in my milestones that my parents decided to just tell me I was a year younger and enroll me in school a year later than everyone else!"

Jonathan dodged a flailing arm and handed Robin a cup of tea. "Here, sit down and drink this. It's my mom's chamomile. I think you need it."

Taking a breath, Robin nodded her thanks and took a sip. Then made a face. "This tastes like laundry detergent and bourbon."

Jonathan shrugged with a small smirk. "I said it's my mom's."

Nancy went into investigation mode. "Okay, so your parents adopted you three days after you were born. Closed adoption. Your biological mother died, and no information about your biological fatherm. Instead of 1968, you were adopted in 1967."

Carefully putting the mug down on a magazine on the table, Robin ran her fingers through her hair. "Me being adopted is old news, Nancy. I've known I was my parents 'miracle baby' since I was able to walk...which I don't know when that is now! Was it *actually* six months after most kids, or *a year and six months* after most kids?!?"

Nancy waved her hand to cut Robin off. "Robin! I understand. I'm just trying to understand how nobody knew this information."

Jonathan raised an eyebrow. "About Robin being adopted?"

Nancy sighed. "No, about how Robin could go through the whole school system and sign government NDA's without getting flagged that her birthday was wrong. I'm wondering if her adoption records say something else."

She got up to grab a notepad and started scribbling. "The information given to the Buckley's, if they can believed- sorry Robin- is that the adoption was a closed adoption. Having records sealed makes sense, but not a closed adoption. There was no father, according to Robin's parents. Just her biological mother. Who died in a car accident. So...who made sure it was a closed adoption? Who isn't supposed to be contacted? Does that have anything to do with the year change?"

Jonathan got up and pulled out his wallet. "Robin, you've never had a physical ID, right?" He showed off his own driver's license with his awful bowl cut hair picture.

"No. I haven't even had a permit yet. At nineteen! I'm so far behind!"

Jonathan nodded and looked to Nancy to continue. When she nodded back, he handed Robin his license. "If you've never had an ID, the only time you would see your birthday written anywhere would either be at school or by your parents." He turned to Nancy. "If her school records say she was born in 1967, then they knew she was a year older, but didn’t say anything... If they filled out her forms saying 1968, then they lied to the Roane County Board of Education, and they didn't check her birth certificate."

Nancy pointed a pencil at Robin. "You might have accidentally uncovered a hidden adoption scheme in Hawkins."

Robin flexed her fingers. "That's nice, you guys. Really nice. I may be a part of some big adoption conspiracy. But the fact remains, I'm a year older than I ever thought I was, and my parents lied to me about it."

Nancy and Jonathan both flinched.

Right. Comfort Robin now, investigate later.

Nancy walked over and stilitingly pat Robin’s shoulder. She wracked her brain for something to cheer the woman up.

"Well, you and Steve can actually pretend to be twins, now! Your birthdays are now only three days apart!

Part 1 here:

[sleepytoycollection]

Barbie Dream Besties "Brooklyn": A review

Barbie Dream Besties is a newly released doll line by Mattel, and is a spin off of their main Barbie line. Looks wise, they seem to be a spiritual successor to My Scene, Ever After high, and the more recent Barbie Extra/Barbie Extra Minis. Also trying desperately to compete with LOL and Rainbow High.

They are $20 USD each retail.

I was interested in these for three reasons: 1) I liked Ever After High and My Scene. 2) They have much more quality outfits than I tend to see from modern Barbie. 3) @queenofsquids enjoyment of them made me hopeful I'd like them too.

So do I? Let's find out.

I choose the character Brooklyn as I like her face up the best.

Her packaging is the standard plastic clam shell that seems to be all over the doll aisle anymore. I can't say I love it. I miss the cardboard boxes, so much easier to open and so much less plastic.

This box isn't super great aesthetically either. There's a lot going on in the service of nothing.

Which is a shame, because I do really like the actual character art on the box. It's super cute and matches the dolls really well. It would pop even better if the rest of the box was a smidge simpler. Sometimes less is more.

The back of the box.

We get more of this delightful artwork, showing of the full set of characters available at the moment.

We also get a short character bio for Brooklyn. She wants to be a choreographer, loves making dance routines, video editing, and creative writing. Despite her favorite color being listed as pink, she has no pink in her outfit and only one pink accessory.

Here is the box without the cover. This is what I meant when I said the box design was doing a lot for nothing. Over packaging isn't just a problem with Mattel dolls of course, MGA is arguably worse, but it's still frustrating.

Brooklyn herself is very pretty though. I tried very hard to pick one without a wonky face, but the way she's posed makes it very hard to tell.

I think one of her eyes is slightly bigger than the other. It's not enough to bother me at least. That said, so many of these were VERY wonky at the store. I would not buy these online unless you can see the specific doll you're getting. The QC is all over the place.

Here are all the accessories she comes with.

I do appreciate that all her accessories tie into her interests and character. That said, these are hit and miss.

The purse is nice, and does open.

The dog is okay, but I don't really care for these types of doll pets. It looks more like an in-universe toy than what's supposed to be an animal.

I initially liked that the phone and case were separate, until I tried to put the phone in the case and it didn't fit. It will not go in there. If I force it in, it just pops right back out.

It's a shame because I liked the 80's Barbie logo case, but without the phone in it, it looks weird when the doll is holding it.

At least the phone fits into the ring light stand.

May I also say some of these accessories feel really flimsy? The phone and Ipad are VERY thin plastic.

The boom box in hollow and unpainted.

I wish instead of having seven mid accessories we could've had two or three really good ones. Or nixed all of them and given her a stand. The doll herself is nice enough to deserve a stand I think.

Let's look at Brooklyn. She's pretty darn cute. She stands at the standard 11", and has saran hair with tinsel.

Her outfit isn't my favorite though. Mattel stop giving your dolls ugly fur sleeved varsity jackets challenge. This could've been so cute as just a regular varsity jacket.

Despite being ugly, the jacket is made pretty well. Though a button was already falling off mine. That poor QC strikes again.

Though I suppose it's moot as I doubt I'll ever put this jacket back on her ever again.

Now that she's free of that ugly thing, you can see how nice the rest of her outfit is. I didn't realize how much I missed dolls getting to wear neutrals until I saw her plain denim skirt and white tank top.

It's simple, but she's dressed like a real person. Plus, I can easily pair these pieces with a lot of other outfits. Doll wardrobes need pieces like this for mixing and matching.

Body wise she's a bit smaller than Barbie, and her feet are a little bit larger. This body reminds me a lot of the current bodies for the Disney Princess line now that Mattel has it back, though those have larger feet. If I can find the one I have, I'll do a body comparison to those later.

Her sculpt in three views. The Ever After High comparisons are very apt, though the screening itself is more reminiscent of My Scene mixed with a little bit of G3 Monster High.

For comparison, here's an actual EAH doll next to her. Brooklyn's head is just a smidge larger, but balanced out better with larger eyes, thicker brows, and bigger lips.

After this, I got Brooklyn redressed with just a few changes...

I replaced her jacket with this vintage Barbie and the Rockers one, added a necklace, and hey! Now she gets to wear her favorite color.

Final thoughts?

It's a good doll, but the quality control issues, on top of the same BS Mattel throws on all of it's dolls anymore, is dragging it down.

The fact you have to look through every single one of the shelf to make sure you're not getting a crappy one is exhausting. Plus, kids don't do that. They're going to get home with their new doll and then realize as they open it something's wrong. Kids don't deserve that.

The accessories are mostly cheap and not special enough to justify their existence. The purse, phone with case, and ring light would've been enough if they were made a bit better.

The outfit is well made, and a huge improvement over what I see in the main Barbie line, even if I don't like all the design choices, but again, that's if you get one without QC issues.

The doll herself is super cute though, and screw it, I like the tinsel. Fight me.

Overall I really love this doll, I just wish picking one out wasn't a hassle. Hell, I even bought a second one already.

I got inspired enough I wanted to repaint one, so I purposely bought this wonky Renee because she had the worst face up out of everyone at the store.

So I think there's definitely potential here. If this line continues, I hope they can improve the way G3 Monster High has improved from it's first wave.

I hope this can be the start of Mattel revitalizing it's Barbie line as well. It needs it. See ya next time.

[tallerthantale]

Neil and Amanda's Fake Therapist

I originally gathered information relating to Neil's fake therapist in a bit of a messy hyperfocus flurry that included some initial errors, followed by various erratic updates, so I wanted to put the main points together into one coherent place. Some of what I'm putting together here was found by others on the subreddit post.

I once again find myself skirting the edges of my typical rules for myself about analyzing public figures, so disclaimer: this is personal opinion, I'm not scientifically or clinically evaluating anyone based off public appearances / statements, I am commenting on what personal impression I am getting off things, and leaving most speculation about internal states out.

Man does this guy make it hard to stick to that though.

The person I'm talking about here is the supposed 'therapist' that Scarlett interacted with while Neil was (allegedly) pressuring her to say the allegations weren't true. His behavior there (with a paper trail according to Tortoise), and what I was able to gather from Amanda Palmer's podcast made it clear to me that he was not operating within the acceptable behaviour of a therapist, so I decided to see if I could prompt a review of his license. All indications at this time are that he does not have one. But it gets worse.

He claims to be a minister, but like the therapist claim cites no qualifications or organizations in his website's bio. This combination of therapist who isn't a therapist and minister who isn't a minister potentially creates a legal nightmare scenario. I am not a lawyer, this is not legal advice, but I'm going to give you my best estimate of the situation, which has involved looking up the law and reading some cases.

As long as he isn't claiming to be a mental health professional, he may be protected in calling himself a nonspecific 'therapist.' He can probably argue it as some kind of spiritual therapy. But because he isn't actually a mental health care provider, he is not subject to mandatory reporting. Generally therapists have a legal obligation to proactively report when someone is a danger to themselves or others. He does not have that requirement. He isn't bound by professional ethics, since he is not a member of any organizations and has no licenses. Moreover, it seems to be the case in New Mexico that if a person reasonably believes you to be a minister, that kicks in clergy-penitent privilege whether or not you actually are a minister.

The origin concept of clergy-penitent privilege is that the law cannot force a priest to reveal what was said to them in confession. The First Amendment means all religions get it equally and it doesn't have to be part of a specific Catholic ritual. In New Mexico, it covers anything that was not said publicly or intended to be passed on regardless of the surrounding context. That means anything said to or by this guy that is not said in public or explicitly intended to be forwarded cannot be used by the legal system for any purpose, no matter how documented or incriminating it is to the client or to him personally. There is no mechanism to remove that privilege form him for being misused because it is derived from his representation of himself as a minister, not his actual status.

According to his linkdin he received a Bachelors degree in creative writing from the University of Rochester, in New York. He then got a Masters degree in Divinity in Organizations from Harvard Divinity School, 1982-1985. These are the only points of education claimed anywhere we have seen. He lists no psychology or mental health qualification anywhere, and is most known as an author. His bookselling success might be due to a claimed promotional appearance on Oprah.

His personal webpage has a long 'client list' or list of 'collaborators' who have hosted speaking engagements. This list was last updated in 2012. The events on his calendar page have no year. I think I recall seeing a section of his website that was only accessible to those who were 'fully committed,' or something like that, but it doesn't seem to be there now. It's possible I'm misremembering, it's possible it got taken down when the reddit thread got popular, I don't have the right skillset to check. He won an award from the Institute of Noetic Sciences, which looks to be engaging in pseudo scientific spirituality in a manner similar to Scientology.

From what I can gather from the video's I've watched, the advice he 'preaches' is a mish mash of bits and pieces of metaphors and perspectives from a variety of religions and philosophies that he probably didn't fully understand. (My speculation.) There are pieces of genuine insight that are lifted from others and that can give the impression he knows what he is talking about to vulnerable people even if he doesn't really understand them himself. He doesn't seem to have any genuine religious beliefs or connections to any religious congregation or organizations. It is unclear if he is or is not technically ordained, but that is something anyone can just do online, and he doesn't even claim it.

Particularly noticeable in his talks are traces of Jungian psychoanalysis (which is the nonsense Jordan Peterson seems to have got caught up in, and it has antisemitic and fascist origins) some Buddhist resilience concepts that have been misused by westerners a lot, and Christian (I think) concepts about universal love and togetherness. They end up mashed together into a message that I believe will influence most victims who hear it to blame themselves and remain in toxic situations, while making perpetrators feel better about continuing to perpetrate. Not saying that was the goal, but if a person had that goal, this patchwork philosophy is what you would put together to achieve it. I'm not going to be specific because I don't want to be like, putting out a guide for people on how to do this.

Amanda says she met the guy before she had a child, but after she was married. That is somewhere between 2011 and 2015. Amanda says she met him at something resembling a TED conference, where all sorts of people got together to do various (rich people nonsense.) She had a mental breakdown in a horse paddock, and the fake therapist was the guy with the horse, teaching about horse whispering.

"And since then, he’s been my therapist, and he’s also become a true friend, to me, and to my family, and to many other people in my life that he’s taken on, and helped out, in some of their darkest hours of need, and he is my emergency phone call. And in a way, he sort of picked up where Anthony, my old mentor, left off, and I don’t find it a coincidence that Wayne walked into my life right around the time Anthony walked out. "

This is not what a therapist does, this is cult leader behaviour. This is pure speculation on my part, but I wonder if Neil might have known him first and orchestrated their meeting. He is an author with connections to an organization similar to Scientology. It might actually not be a coincidence. Again, pure speculation.

Amanda describes seeking advice from him whenever she was having trouble with Neil, and that talking to him would make her feel like everything was fine again. "Even just to have someone to talk to, to remind me what I’m struggling with, what’s going on, what is home, why does this feel so disorienting, what am I doing? And I can say right now, when I shifted my internal feeling within myself, within my relationship with Neil, around where I was, my feeling in my own house transformed. Because I went, oh, right, none of this fucking matters."

In June 2019 Amanda Palmer has the Portland, OR incident where she tells her fans they need to forgive their r@#ists.

In 2019 the fake therapist did a series of webcasts with The Santa Fe Center for Spiritual Healing over a few months. At times he is titled "Rvrd", and at times he is titled "Dr." there is no reason to believe he is either. In the first one, the host reads a bio she found online, that she says he asked her not to read (she appears to think he was being humble.) This version of the bio claims that he was a Senior Scholar at the Fetzer Institute. When he comes on after she read it, he makes odd comments about whoever might be watching the video online and appears very shaken. The Fetzer Institute has no mention of him on their website. That connection is not listed in his current bio.

In his last video for the Santa Fe Center he claims to be working on an upcoming project in D.C. with a co-facilitator who was famous for brokering a truce between the crips and bloods. He also comes across like he has been asked to stop working with the center and is being super passive aggressive about it. (My speculation.)

His appearance on Amanda Palmer's podcast is recorded in July 2019, about a month after the last Santa Fe Center webcast, in upstate New York. In the descriptor she says it was recorded after a week long retreat with him she set up for 60 of her Patrion supporters. There is a nearly two year gap between the recording and posting, which is not explained. She describes him as a minister, therapist, leadership mentor, and her personal therapist. In the episode itself, she also describes him as her and Neil's relationship therapist. In the description she promotes his books and his website, and says he is still readily contactable there, but to be patient right now because he is mid move. (The description was posted when the podcast was posted, in 2021. As mentioned earlier, there are features of his website that have not been updated since 2012.)

The fake therapist tweeted about Neil being a 'dear friend' in late 2020. He has under 100 followers, not really what you would expect for a best selling author / therapist / minister / community leader / mentor / horse whisper. While I make references to cult leader behaviour, a genuine cult leader would probably have a larger following. But somehow I don't think he lacks for money. I expect there is a market for pseudo-therapists you can freely talk to about the crimes you are actively committing. You can even involve him in the crime, and it still privileged.

The events of Scarlett's allegations date to 2022, about a year after Amanda posted the podcast episode. Sometime in March is when Neil manipulates Scarlett into saying the allegations are false with what is essentially a su!c!de threat, then asks her to repeat her assurances that it was consensual to the fake therapist. Amanda had recently received a scorching message from one of Scarlett's friends about what was done to her. It seems like Neil is doing this to win a fight with Amanda in their "relationship therapy." Scarlett gets a message from the fake therapist.

Tortoise describes it as him "saying he'd be happy to speak to her in complete confidence because he had heard that she found herself in his words 'in the midst of relationships, stories and narratives, not alas necessarily of your own making. Sadly, this is not a surprise. Two creative dynamic people can easily draw others into their orbit unaware of how powerfully the magnetic pull of their influences can have on others.'"

My perception of this message is that it plants the suggestion to Scarlett that her friends are brainwashing her to think she was r@ped by pulling her into 'narratives not of her own making.' I could see how people might interpret the later lines regarding magnetic pull as being about accidental power dynamics abuse, but I read it more as him saying Scarlett's friends are opportunistic manipulators looking to make a name for themselves by taking down a famous person.

Either way, there are a considerable number of things happening there that an actual therapist would not ever do, for a variety of very good reasons. Tortoise's attempt to call him to ask for comment was thwarted by the fact that his phone has been specifically programed not to accept voicemails. Not like, the voicemail box was full or something, he went out of his way to do that. Which means Tortoise can't quite claim that he didn't respond to requests to comment, because they couldn't leave a message. Other organizations probably run into similar difficulties establishing evidence that they have contacted him. It's not a smoking gun, but I don't like it.

A year later Amanda Palmer makes her post on the Russel Brand allegations, where she argues the solution to serial predatory behaviour is to try to get them to stop doing "stupid shit" by trying to heal their lacking and fear with love and compassion and forgiveness, because that the ONLY cause / motivation for abusive behavior. And some unarticulated hope for non-specific accountability vibes.

This post looks to me like the perspective of a person who has been continuously exploited, and manipulated into thinking it is their personal responsibility to heal people who have no interest in being healed. It reads to me like a person who has been justifying staying in a toxic situation to themself so long it has warped their entire worldview. It reads to me like the inevitable end result of this fake therapists preaching.

I don't think that absolves her of what ever her role has been in facilitating access to victims, or actively promoting these views to her audience, but it is something to keep in mind.

There is a broad rage of possibilities for what is going on with this guy. The spectrum runs from deeply misguided fool to deliberately exploitative criminal. Either way it looks like he is charging people money for the service of turning them into the "this is fine" dog. This is not fine. This is not ok. Unfortunately it probably is legal.

[stylespresleyhearted]

CCG - LUCI’S 3RD BIRTHDAY

In honor of the great @blainesebastian ‘s birthday here’s a little instagram compilation I’ve conjured up for our adored CCG nation <3 Austin, CCG, and Luci we miss and love ya’ll forever and Mccall you are a brilliant mind whom I will adore until the end of time! Have the bestest birthday ever, you deserve nothing less!

—————-

liked by coffee.girl, salmahayek, and 20,342 others

enews And the Best Dad Award goes to ….! In honor Austin Butler and Y/N’s little girl turning three today let’s take a look back at our favorite moments of Austin Butler being the best dad ❤️ link in bio for full video of second slide.

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austinfan18 video of luci running into austin’s arm after two weeks apart you will always be famous!

butlerishh him throwing her in the air LMAO LUCI WAS NOT HAVING FUN

ccgfan HA fr luci was looking at her mom to save her

iloveaustin Can we talk about how proud his mom would be about what a great parent he is?

sharonbleu Austin even has Salma Hayek up in the likes 😉

liked by austinbutler, priscillapresley, and 872, 196 others

coffee.girl Celebrating Luci day should be every day tbh. 🦖💕👁️🐠🪷🌸☃️🥞 @austinbutler and I can’t believe we created this wonderful being, she had to have come from a lab of perfection.

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ashleytisdale Luci told me she’s from Pluto and I believe her. It’s the only logical explanation.

austinbutler Nice use of all of Luci’s favorite emoji’s, she’s going to be so proud. ❤️

jillian.mua The best thing you and Austin ever did and will ever do is have sex three years ago to give the world the best human to walk the Earth

coffee.girl JILLIAN!

ashleybee I’m disgusted but I get what she means

austinbutler Babe close your comment section please

chrisevans Happy bday to the one who is gonna prove aliens exist!

liked by austinbutler, bazluhrmann, and 20,807 others

people Luci Butler turns three today so we must not forget to credit her mother (and best friend) in a world where it seems moms get no recognition for being superhuman.

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user12 imagine using a 3 year olds bday to make some political womens movement statement. mom’s get plenty of recognition.

butlerfamupdates I actually applaud People Magazine for this. All day magazine’s have posted Austin’s cutest moments with Luci and talked about what a wonderful Dad he is - which no one would ever doubt to think he is - but Luci’s mom is very much present as well and deserves love too. Luci loves both her parents. It’s normal for a kid to have favorites, it doesn’t make the other parent ‘bad.’

ccgfan Y/N and Luci sharing their love for open water together and creating sea shell necklaces i cry

ccgfan1 You just know she’s the most supportive and loving mother! Austin and Luci are so lucky to have her!

liked by coffee.girl, austinbutler, and 341, 289 others

ashleytisdale happy birthday to Jupiter’s bestest friend in the whole wide world! We are so lucky to have you in our life Luci ❤️🦖✨

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coffee.girl the cutest besties 👯 🤣

fan23 ashley and aus are bffs now their daughters are too 😭

austinluv STOP my heart can’t take it

liked by ashleybee, ccgfan, and 34, 567 others

butlerfamupdates a cute little insight into Luci’s “THREE-REX” bday party! Posts and reposts from @austinbutler and @coffee.girl IG stories

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sugartreats Thank you for choosing us for her cakes and treats! The sweetest, most beautiful family 🙌🏼 #happybirthdayluci

fan34 so luc is like obsessed w dinos huh 🤔

fan33 austin literally calls her lil dino

fan45 u just know it was luci’s idea to put a tutu on the scary t rex LMAO

sugarcakes Oh it was! Her parents brought her in and Miss Luci was very specific with what she wanted haha

liked by ashleytisdale, oliviadejonge, and others

jillian.mua Happy birthday cool girl 🥳 I love you

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austinbutler vibin’

ashleybee oh gosh i wanna kiss those cheeks

oliviadejonge i wanna be her when i grow up ✨🥳

coffee.girl @austinbutler trendsetter 😂❤️

liked by austin12 and others

austinbnews via Austin’s IG story for Luci’s birthday! Happy birthday sweet Luci 🎂 ♥️

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austinfan23 she’s taking after her parents with her love of books 🥹

ccgfan yes Y/N and Austin built Luci her personal little library 😭

butlerupdates Austin taking a picture of Luci taking a picture of Y/N — ICONIC

liked by ashleebee, coffee.girl, and 1,235,096 others

austinbutler happy birthday lil dino ♥️

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coffee.girl … and she’s out for the count

jillian.mua @coffee.girl she had a busy day bossing everyone around

ashleytisdale @austinbutler please tell me you at least wiped the cake frosting off her face

austinbutler @ashleytisdale I’m not dealing with that tantrum when she wakes up

coffee.girl @austinbutler neither am I smart move

ashleybee I LOVE HERRRR

LMAOOOO MCCALL WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF I TOLD YOU I WAS ALREADY WORKING ON THIS BEFORE YOU TEXTED ME TODAY ASKING ABOUT LUCI ?!???? OUR BRAINSSS INTERCONNECTED 🙌🏼❤️❤️❤️❤️ happy birthday mccall love you and your little universe and luci and ccg so much you’re awesome

[rallamajoop]

More random details from the depths of RE8

With the excuse of trying some shiny new mods, I've been replaying RE8 lately for the umpteenth time. Given the number of hours I've already poured into this game, you'd really think there'd be nothing left to find by this stage ‒ yet here I am, finding still more details I'd somehow missed the first half-dozen times through.

For one, there's the fact you can actually find Eva's grave in the graveyard outside the church. As the only photo we ever see of her shows her as a baby, I'd assumed she was still a baby when she died, but turns out, she was ten years old.

"Eva, June 1909 ‒ August 1919

May you slumber for only a short while"

As expected, her death of the Spanish flu took place in 1919. There's some semi-legible text on the stone, but it doesn't match the caption ‒ it's just the same generic filler text you'll find on half the gravestone assets in this game.

For another, there's Rose's baby monitor. I'd noticed Ethan turning the thing on when he puts her to bed, and even found the assets for its screen ‒ but since I'd never found the monitor itself, I assumed they must be unused.

Until this playthrough, when suddenly I'm just like, oh, there it is, sitting right on the table. You can even interact with it!

How did I miss this so many times? It is pretty easy to overlook, given you'll trigger the cutscene with Mia if you go much closer to the kitchen, but I'm still surprised I never spotted it before. (And you do have to wonder if there was ever any plan for it to show a glimpse of something more sinister than just a still-image of Rose sleeping.)

In other minor details, there's the bit where Ethan arrives on the outskirts of the village at 8AM. You can hear a clock striking 8 times as you get your first view of area.

Granted, this is not going to excite anyone who hasn't spent as long as I have putting together an hour-by-hour timeline of everything that happens in this game, but I still do love that they give you enough detail that that's even possible ‒ and this new timestamp fits right into that timeline. (And why yes I have just gone back and updated that post, what do you take me for?)

Speaking of assets I thought were unused, you know that hidden room under the castle you can't get into until later, where you have to solve a puzzle that involves setting a moroaica on fire? Have you ever looked closely at the tapestries decorating this place? Because I found them in the game files ages ago, and have been trying to figure out if they're actually in the game ever since.

Because seriously, look at these things!

Yes, that is a indeed a man with a sword and spear, wearing a hoplite helmet and sandals and nothing else. And the women seeing him from the front seem to be having a whole range of reactions to all that, er, weaponry being brandished their way. Isn't fine art wonderful?

Another asset I'd innocently assumed was unused is this wonderful bit of bullshit which was labeled simply 'antibow'. It wasn't until I took a long look at it that I realised what they meant was more like 'anti-B.O.W.', as in Bio-Organic-Weapon.

Yes, that is indeed a knife taped to some kind of grenade. Sure is one high-tech outfit we're working with here!

Only now do I spot that this is actually the bomb Chris chucks at the Megamycete in the cavern. It doesn't even come with the knife already attached, he just kind of sticks the knife onto the bomb and presumably straps some tape around them while the camera cuts away.

I still have so much more to share from my ongoing free-camera adventures, but I think we'll leave this one there for today.

[fattyfrenchie]

WARNING ABOUT FAKE/SCAM ACCOUNTS

PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD, IT'S IMPORTANT TO KEEP PEOPLE SAFE

Hey everyone, it's been a long time since I wanted to make this post. A lot of you are well aware there is a lot of fake/scam accounts, but it really is getting out of hands.

Since the first time I got myself scammed, I elevated my caution when I see someone who follows me and what Tumblr recommends me, because it happens a ton of fake accounts are being put in evidence (also because I'm going to a lot of scam accounts to block them).

So, let me show you some elements that can tell you if you're facing a real or fake account. You'll see, it's not always obvious.

The account/bio

Most of the fake accounts are noticeable as soon as seeing the account and reading:

- lot of impersonal writting

- lake of account personalisation (not always true tho)

- "want to get fatter"

- insist with the words "Dm" and "feeder"

- emojis everywhere

- the vertical descriptions (very noticeable)

- no visible CashApp, Venmo, PayPal name or link, you have to DM them before. Usually, actual people put them on display so you can give tips anytime you want

Here is some examples:

But sometimes, for any reason, they're creative. It's more difficult to see the fake. They name their account with a similar name as the actual person and have an elaborated bio (even if sometimes, you can get easily suspicious). Like here:

Left: fake ; Right: actual person

@gothicccgoddessgemma

The posts

Multiple signs on the posts can tell you you're facing a fake account:

- the caption: very impersonal. It's more a description of the pic than sharing what they actually felt when taking the pic.

- most of the times, they'll insist about getting fatter and a feeder. Some accounts tell it in every single post!

- again, no CashApp, Venmo, PayPal, etc. Some people also don't have any of them, but they're not telling you to DM for money

- tags: tons of them. From all the blogs I'm following (around 900), most of them don't have that much tags and again they're made about the situation on the pic. Here, it's always the same tags. Also, for some reason, 99% of fake accounts have the tag "looking for a feeder". Not that actual accounts don't have it, but be aware if you see it. There is also the "a3o" tag. Dunno what this is but suspicious.

Follows/Reblogs

Fake accounts are sometimes following and reblogging each others (making it easier to report/block them lol).

"kelllijelllibellli" was a fake account of "kellijellibelli" (note the resemblance). They're following the same pattern!

Despite of all this, it's not always obvious this is a fake account, and still, even if you're not sure, you can feel it.

Take an example. Lately, I was following @fatvalentina. I was oblivious until I made a research with one of the pic posted on Tumblr. I fell on a Reddit account of the actual Valentina who claimed her Tumblr account got banned and a scam appeared.

Plus, her linktr.ee doesn't mention any Tumblr account (link on her Reddit account).

Conclusion: @fatvalentina is NOT the real Valentina.

Almost 5 000 people (me included) are liking, reblogging, putting this account in evidence when this is a fake account. They're scamming people, maybe ask money, etc.

Be aware with who is following you and what Tumblr shows you. It might be a fake account. Here is a list of fake accounts I blocked through the time.

If you have any hesitation about if it's a real or a fake account, you can DM me so I could tell you.

Thanks for your attention. Keep yourself safe! 🫶🏻

[supercorpkid]

Baby Danvers who is Kara's bio little sister sent to earth with Kara in the pod as a baby. Has a crush on Ruby Arias, they bond over being Kryptonian and teenagers not allowed to use their powers in public. Please 🙏

(love your work)

Everything Has Changed.

Supergirl. Baby Danvers. Kara Danvers x Sister!Reader, Alex Danvers x Sister!Reader, Ruby Arias x Reader. Sam Arias.

Word Count: 2310.

"No," Kara repeats, speaking to you as if you were a toddler. "You can't join the track team when you have super speed. You know that."

"You just won't let me do anything!" You scowl, showing your sister how upset you are. Usually, that's all it takes, but when it comes to your powers, Kara never budges.

"Yeah, because it's not fair to other people, Y/N! You have superpowers," Alex chimes in from the kitchen. You roll your eyes, knowing this was bound to happen. The open concept in Kara's apartment really doesn't help when you're trying to have a conversation with just one of them.

"What good are all these powers if I'm not allowed to use them?" You turn on your heel, quickly going to your bedroom and slamming the door behind you. You hear a crack in the wood and curse under your breath.

"If you break another door, you won't get a replacement!" Alex yells, and you grunt in frustration.

God! You break a few things around the house or bump into someone and break their arm on the street a couple of times and now you're treated as a menace! Sure, it doesn't help that your bedroom door looks like it might turn into ashes if you slam it one more time, but most of the time it isn't on purpose. 

Do you really want to join the track team? Not necessarily. What you really want is a way to use your powers without Kara and Alex yelling at you. You can't wait until you're an adult.

When you were younger, you couldn't wait to get your powers. When you and Kara crashed on this planet, she was already a teenager, so she immediately got all of them—the flying, super speed, super strength—everything you always wanted. But since you were a baby when you came to Earth, you had to wait until puberty.

Now, you finally have them. You can fly around the world, save people, hear all the gossip at school, and yet your sisters insist that you mustn't use them.

"How did Eliza do it?" Kara asks, and you put your headphones on mute to hear the conversation better. "I seriously don't remember what she used to do when it was me."

"Well, if I remember correctly, it was basically the same," Alex says, and you can't help but roll your eyes again. Perfect Kara Danvers wasn't so perfect after all.

"Eliza was more composed after it, though." Kara takes a deep breath, trying to calm herself. You slide your glasses down to look at them moving to the couch. "Did I mess up her life by bringing her to live with me? Eliza said she wanted Y/N to stay there."

"Kara," Alex reaches for Kara's arm, giving it a gentle stroke, "you wanted to bring her here so you could teach her about her powers, to help her feel how normal it is to have them. Besides, you promised your mom you'd take care of her."

"Alex, I know all the reasons, but what if they're not enough? Having me fly around, saving people, using my powers daily, and not being able to use hers—I don't think it's helping as much as I thought it would."

Alex is silent for a moment. "You know, Sam has told me the same thing about Ruby. Maybe we need to get them together, so she can see that even though her experience feels singular, it really isn't."

"That's a good idea, actually." Kara grabs her phone right away. "I'll ask Sam if they're free this weekend. Oh! And Lena can come too."

You smirk — of course Kara would want to bring Lena everywhere.

Kara knocks on your door a while later. You take your headphones off and watch as she slowly approaches, testing the waters. "I'm sorry you can't join the track team. You do understand why, right?"

You sit up in bed and give her a soft, "Yeah" so she knows you're no longer upset. She sits in front of you, grabbing one of your stuffed animals on the bed so she has something to do with her hands.

It takes a couple of seconds and a long breath from her to add, "I love you, baby. I'm just trying to protect you." Kara blinks at you, and you can see how sad she is about fighting with you all the time.

It's not fair that she had to take care of you all your life. Sure, Eliza was an incredible mother figure to both of you, but Kara is 13 years older than you, and she promised your mom she'd care for you when Alura put you both in that pod. And that's what she's done her entire life. She fed you, changed you, taught you both English and Kryptonese, told you about your planet, and showed you its place in the sky. She's the blood relative who truly raised you (sorry, Kal, but it's true).

As soon as she graduated from college and got a job, she brought you to National City to live with her. Eliza wasn't happy about it, but you were over the moon. You'd never say this out loud, but deep down you know Kara is your mom. Not Alura, not Eliza, not even Alex (though she sometimes feels like one). Kara cradled your baby self in her arms all those years ago, and she has yet to let go.

You throw yourself into her arms, hugging her with all your strength, grateful you can't hurt her with it. "I know. I'm sorry." Tears threaten to leave your eyes, and you swallow them. "Kar, I – I know you're doing more than you should as a sister. And so I don't want to be a burden to you."

"You are not a burden!" She squeezes you tighter. "You could never be a burden, little one. You are my whole world." Kara holds your face between her hands, her eyes full of tears, and when you look at her, you know exactly why. "You are the most important person to me in any universe. That's why I don't want you in any kind of danger."

"I know, but I just want to make you proud."

"Oh, baby. I couldn't be prouder of the girl you are, trust me. But we still need some rules about using your powers. You're all I have left," she reassures you.

"I mean, did I die at some point?" Alex asks, leaning against the doorway.

You smile. "Pretty sure you're a ghost, and this house is haunted, yeah."

Alex opens her arms and joins the hug. "You'll have a nice weekend with Ruby and will stop breaking the doors, right?"

You crack a smirk. "I'll try. No promises."

They let you fly to Metropolis, and you appreciate it, even if it's just a less-than-five-minute flight. You get to carry Alex, while Kara carries Lena—because, of course, Lena was coming.

You've met Sam before, though you don’t remember much about it. However, you’re sure you’ve never met Ruby. Usually, you dislike when people dictate who you should or shouldn’t be friends with, but that changes when you meet Ruby.

You love her excitement about things, which mirrors your own enthusiasm, often dimmed by other teenagers who want to look cool. Ruby is nice, has superpowers, and is best friends with her mom (which is similar to your relationship with your older sisters). So when Sam says you’ll have to share a room with Ruby, you’re thrilled.

It's refreshing to have someone you can confide in about your powers, your frustration with not being able to use them freely, and how much you love your sisters despite their misunderstandings.

"I know! Like, okay, I get it. I can't use my powers to gain an advantage in life, but maybe I want to play volleyball!"

"Or join the track team!" You agree, pointing at her. Ruby’s smile widens, and you stare up at her from your spot on the sleeping bag on the floor.

"And honestly, she gets so mad when I break something, like it’s my fault I have super strength." Ruby makes space for you in bed and invites you up with a gesture. You promptly sit in front of her without a word, too preoccupied with your complaints to talk.

"And yes, I understand it's hard to explain why my door keeps breaking, but I’m a teenager! I’m supposed to slam doors behind me."

Ruby laughs in agreement. "It probably doesn’t help when I break things at school, though."

"One time I stopped suddenly in P.E. class, and a kid running behind me ran into me. He broke his nose. I didn’t even move." You give her a sheepish smile. "That was hard to explain."

"That’s nothing! We were playing dodgeball, and I sent someone flying across the room." Your eyes widen at the image. "I was banned from P.E. for weeks, and everyone started calling me 'Wonder Chick.'"

"Uh," You smile. "Did you tell them they got the planets mixed up?"

"Tried to. Mom wouldn’t let me."

You laugh loudly, and although Ruby laughs too, she shushes you so none of the adults come to check on you.

You talk all night, and as the hours pass, the connection between you deepens. You can’t believe how easy it is to open up to Ruby, sharing things you’ve never felt comfortable saying before. After showing her where Krypton would have been if it still existed and teaching her a few Kryptonian words, you both lie side by side on the roof, gazing at the early morning sky.

The sun rises, casting an orange glow that makes Ruby's chestnut eyes shine even more than when she’s telling a story. You think it’s the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen. Her eyes feel like coming home.

The conversation eventually slows, and a comfortable silence settles between you. You’re both exhausted, but there’s a sense of peace that neither of you wants to break.

“I’m really glad I came here,” you murmur, your eyes heavy with sleep.

"Yeah," She scoots a little closer. "I’m really glad you came too. I’ve never met anyone who understands me so much."

"I know! Same." You bite your lower lip, looking at Ruby's lips. "I think you might be one of my favorite people already." Your cheeks flush when you realize what you just said. "Is that weird?"

"No." She shakes her head, eyes flicking between your eyes and lips. "It can’t be weird to meet your soulmate."

Soulmate? Oh.

"May I ask what you two are doing out here?" Kara’s voice nearly makes you jump out of your skin.

"Shit." You place a hand on your chest, checking if it’s still there. "Kara! You scared us!"

"You two should be in bed!" You open your mouth to argue, but your sister cuts you off. "Come on, go get some sleep. You guys can talk more before we have to leave."

Your face drops at the thought of leaving, and you see the same sadness on Ruby’s face when Kara’s eyes soften. "You guys will see each other again. Rao, why are teenagers so dramatic?" When she doesn’t see you moving, she adds, "Bed! Now!"

You obey her orders, Ruby slipping into bed and you into the uncomfortable sleeping bag on the floor. You drift off quickly, a sense of contentment washing over you. Despite only getting a couple of hours of sleep, you don’t regret it one bit.

"Ruby! Y/N! Come down for breakfast!" Sam calls from downstairs. Even though more sleep sounds tempting, breakfast sounds even better. You both rush to the kitchen.

"Oh, cool sweater, by the way!" Ruby points at the "Power to the Girls" slogan, and you beam.

"Thanks," Kara’s voice comes from the couch. You can see her snuggled up with a mug and Lena, but she’s not looking at you. "It’s mine. And no, I didn’t let her borrow it."

You glance down at the sweater. "It was mixed with my laundry. I thought you’d given it to me!"

"Nice try." Her voice comes a second later. "Stop stealing my clothes."

You shrug. "I tried."

The rest of the day passes in a dreamlike haze. You find yourself wishing your sisters had thought of this sooner, but you’re incredibly grateful they finally did. Meeting Ruby, your soulmate, has changed everything. For the first time, you don’t feel so alone with your powers. You have someone who truly understands you.

When it’s time to say goodbye, you feel a pang of sadness, but you know this isn’t the end.

"You’ll come visit next weekend, right?" You ask again, even though both Sam and Ruby have reassured you several times.

"Yeah. And you’ll text before that, right?"

"As soon as I get home!" You smile proudly. "So in like, five minutes."

"Cool."

You can’t suppress your smile as you look at her one last time before taking flight. "Cool."

As you fly back home, you feel a sense of peace you hadn’t expected. Meeting Ruby is one of the best things that has happened in your life, and you’re already certain of it. Maybe your sisters are right about some things, but that doesn’t mean you’re alone. You now have Ruby, someone who understands you like no one else ever will.

You: Photo 📸 You: Guess what? It turns out you can break doors when you're too happy too! Rubes: Love the pic. Alex looks thrilled 😆 Rubes: Please get a new one before I visit.

You smile at your phone. For the first time in a long while, you feel that things are going to be okay. Your life isn’t as bad as you thought. In fact, it might just be pretty great.

[mrprettywhenhecries]

run rabbit, run [g.t]

Gator Tillman ✘ Win Lewis (OC)

✝︎ w.c. 3.7k words ✝︎ a/n. I wanted to write a few spooky oneshots for kinktober, focusing on kinks I've never written before, and this is (hopefully 🤞) the first of three. ✝︎ tags/warnings. canon x oc pairing, fem!oc, predator/prey, hair pulling, spitting degradation, spanking, rough sex, unprotected p in v sex, outdoor sex, creampie, slight gunplay (if you squint) ✝︎ credit. barbed wire divider {x}

After a disappointing corn maze, Gator proposes a more thrilling game and Win is all too willing to play.

[ masterlist • win bio ]

“Oh my God, that was so lame,” Win exclaimed, though she wore a grin on her face as she and Gator stepped out of the corn maze, the sound of screams and laughter punctuating the night air behind them.

“You can’t tell me you weren’t scared,” Gator scoffed, slinging an arm around her shoulders when he noticed her shiver and pull her thin jacket closer.  “You screamed your head off and hid behind me every time someone in a mask jumped out at us,” he pointed out, scowling as some teenagers pushed past, nearly running into him.

Win jerked her chin defiantly and shot him a sharp look.  “I’m not saying I wasn’t scared,” she huffed, “but there’s a difference between a cheap scare, like a jump scare and true terror,” she insisted, leading Gator toward the exit, the scent of popcorn and sweet roasted pecans from the food carts nearby surrounding them.

“You’re the only person I know that actually likes being scared,” Gator snorted, stopping to get Win a caramel apple for the road.

“It’s not that weird,” she huffed, climbing into the passenger seat of his truck.  “As long as you’re not in any real danger, it can be pretty exciting.”

“Guess that makes sense,” Gator mused, twisting his key in the ignition.  “I’ve heard fear can be an aphrodisiac too,” he added, glancing over at her pointedly.

“Oh, you’ve heard that, have you?” Win laughed, freeing her treat from it’s plastic wrapping and giving it a taste.

Gator tilted his head, lifting a shoulder in a half shrug, though a smirk played at the corner of his mouth.  

“It’s not like I didn’t have fun though,” Win added, laying her arm across the console to thread her fingers between Gator’s, smiling softly when he gave her hand a squeeze.  “I just wished it would’ve had more… ambience.”

Gator nodded to himself as an idea took root.

“What’re we doing here?” Win asked, sitting up straighter in her seat as Gator turned onto the lane to the ranch.

“Just gotta grab a couple things from the house real quick,” Gator answered cryptically, pulling up in front of the dark farmhouse.  “Be right back,” he assured her as he threw the truck in park and jumped out, hurrying up to the porch and disappearing inside.

A minute later, the front window on the second floor lit up and Win could see Gator’s shadow moving about his room.  It only took him a few more minutes before the light switched off and he was back out the door and striding toward the truck, carrying something in his hand.  It wasn’t until he yanked the door open that Win realized what it was.

“Is that a paintball gun?” she asked, unable to keep the incredulity from her voice, noting that he’d only grabbed one.

“Yep.”  Gator answered simply, stowing the gun in the backseat and tossing Win his heavy camo hoodie.  “Put that on,” he instructed, climbing back behind the wheel and turning the truck around. "You're gunna need it."

“Gator, what are we doing?” Win huffed, though she shrugged off her jacket to pull the sweatshirt over her head.  Gator’s scent still clung to it and she took a moment to bury her nose in the soft fabric, breathing him in.

“That’s for me to know and you to find out,” he replied, wearing a smug grin.

He didn’t drive far, their destination only a few miles from the ranch, and Gator pulled off onto a narrow dirt path nestled between a patch of woods and a corn field, parking just out of sight of the road.

“Now are you gunna tell me what we’re doing?” Win asked, peering out the window as Gator cut the engine, excitement prickling her insides.

“Well, you said you wanted to be scared,” he answered, turning to look at her, his lips curving impishly.

“I did say that,” Win mused, wetting her lips, anticipation bubbling in her stomach.

“I thought we could play a little game,” Gator continued, arching an amused brow at her from under the brim of his cap before pushing his door open and grabbing the paintball gun.

“And what sort of game would that be?” Win asked, hurrying to follow him, thankful for his hoodie as she left the warmth of the truck cab, though the trees helped to cut the wind some.

Gator checked something on his gun before answering, stepping into Win’s space to smirk down at her.  

“I’ll be the predator... and you’ll be the prey,” he drawled, watching her through hooded eyes.  “I’ll even give you a two minute head start.”

Win swallowed, her eyes darting to the gun in his hand.  “You’re not gunna actually shoot me with that, are you?”

Gator shrugged.  “Not if you’re quick enough.”

The condescension in his voice made her squirm, annoyed at how much it turned her on.

“And what exactly are you gunna do when you catch me?” she asked, stepping closer, a challenge flashing in her stormy eyes.

Gator’s lips twitched, pleased at her choice of words.

“Guess you’ll just have to find out,” he drawled, the promise in his heavy lidded gaze sending heat pooling low in Win’s stomach.

“Ready for your head start?”

“You better give me the full two minutes,” she warned, and Gator started a timer on his watch.

“You better get going,” he exclaimed, and Win took off, sprinting for the treeline, glad for the cloudless sky and the nearly full moon hanging overhead.

Even after passing under the cover of the foliage, the night was still light enough that she could easily see the path ahead, though it occurred to her that that would only make it easier for Gator to see her as well.

“Shit,” she hissed under her breath, stopping to scan her surroundings–she needed to find some place to hide, and quick.

She could feel the seconds slipping away and though she knew it was only a glorified game of hide and seek and it was only Gator hunting her, her heart fluttered like a rabbit’s, hammering against the inside of her ribcage while her pulse thundered in her ears, the adrenaline flooding her making her feel alive.

Spotting a large bush growing next to a cluster of trees a few yards away, Win hurried toward it, dropping to her knees to crawl under its branches just as she heard Gator’s voice in the distance.

“Your two minutes are up, Winnie!  I’m comin’ for ya.”

The crunch of Gator’s boots grew louder as he approached and Win shrank back further into the bushes, holding her breath and hoping the shadows were deep enough to obscure her.  Somewhere overhead an owl cried and Gator stopped mere feet from her hiding place, his head swiveling, searching, and part of Win itched to jump from the brush and take him by surprise, turning the tables just to prove she could—but then she’d lose the satisfaction of being caught.  

And for once, she wanted to be caught.

But that didn’t mean she wanted to make it easy for him.

After what felt like an eternity, Gator finally moved on, holding his gun at the ready.  Once he was out of sight, Win slipped out from her cover, hesitating long enough to crane her head the way he’d gone before sneaking off in the opposite direction, picking her way carefully through the underbrush.

Confident she’d lost him, she let out the breath she’d been holding and began moving faster, less carefully, thinking to double back toward the truck when a loud snap–almost deafening in the silence–echoed through the woods and she froze, her blood running cold as she looked down at the broken stick beneath her foot.

“Fuck,” she grimaced, straining to listen for Gator’s footsteps over the rush of blood in her ears, foolishly hoping he’d been far enough out of earshot to have heard her blunder.

Two sharp cracks ripped through the silence, exploding bright green against the tree next to her and a startled cry burst from her lungs, jolting her into motion.  Without a second thought, she took off sprinting, realizing too late that she was being forced out of the woods and toward the cornfield.  If she turned to run along the drive between the two, his next shot surely wouldn’t miss–for all of Gator’s shortcomings, marksmanship wasn't one of them.

Breaking out of the treeline, Win leapt headlong into the corn rows as she heard Gator fire off another couple rounds.  Though the dry corn was harder to move stealthily through, it was better than no cover at all.

Angling her body to maneuver through the narrow rows, the brittle corn leaves whipped against her face, forcing her to slow and it wasn’t long before Gator could be heard behind her.

“Where are ya, Winnie?” he called, whistling for her like a dog, and she could practically hear the smug smirk playing at his lips.  “It’s no use tryin’ to hide.  You know I’m gunna find you.”

Win stopped, gasping for breath, and turned to listen for the rustle of corn as Gator stalked her, trying to get an idea of how close he was, which direction he was coming from.

“C’mon Win, we both know how much you want me to catch you.  For such a feisty bitch, you sure like it when I have you helpless.  Bet it has you drippin’ just thinkin’ about it,” he drawled, using the barrel of his gun to part the stalks as he prowled the rows, searching for her.

A harsh gasp left her lips as she caught a flash of movement to her right and Win quickly clapped a hand over her mouth and dropped, crouching low, hoping Gator would be more focused on what was ahead of him rather than scanning the ground.

“When I catch you, I’m gunna fuck you like the little whore you are, right out in the middle of the woods–”

A soft groan caught in Win’s throat at the thought, desire pulsing through her, but as much as she wanted it, she wasn’t ready to give up just yet.  After all, the chase, the mounting tension, only made it that much hotter.

Keeping an eye on the spot she’d seen movement, Win began to creep forward slowly, circling Gator’s position as she fought to avoid rustling the stalks too much, hoping his own movement would mask any sounds she made. 

“How long you plan on keeping this up for?” Gator called, stopping once more to scan the field, tilting his head to listen.

Win grimaced, her jaw clenching as her shoulder brushed against a stalk, the leaves rustling loudly in the sudden silence and Gator’s head snapped toward her.

“Gotcha.”

Giving up on stealth, Win scrambled in the dirt for purchase, pushing herself up to make a break for it, Gator right on her heels.

She could hear his breath loud in her ears, or was it her own?

For one brief moment the moon shone brightly overhead before she was back in the woods, the moonlight filtering down in patches amid the shadows.  Not daring to look back over her shoulder, she weaved through the trees, her heart pounding hard in her chest.  For a moment she thought she might outrun Gator, not quite as fast as he once was back before his football accident, until she tripped.

Catching a large root just right with the toe of her boot, time seemed to slow as she went sprawling, arms windmilling uselessly before landing hard on the ground with a grunt.

“Shit–” she hissed, hastily pushing herself to her feet, but it was too late.  

“Freeze.”

Something pressed into Win’s back between her shoulder blades and she froze, lifting her hands in surrender.

“Good girl,” Gator murmured behind her, his breath fanning across the back of her neck, sending a shiver racing down her spine.

Gator slowly circled her, a smirk tugging at lips.

“You ready to give up?  You put up a pretty good fight, but let’s face it, I’ve got you cornered, sweetheart,” he drawled, peering down his nose at her, radiating smug satisfaction as he trailed the muzzle of his gun between Win’s legs, his lips twitching as she squirmed.

There was a look in his eyes that thrilled her, that made her burn for him—her cunt aching for him to fill it.

“You gunna answer me?” he prompted and Win swallowed, slowly nodding.

“I give up.  You win,” she said, hanging her head so Gator couldn’t see the flash of defiance in her eyes.

As soon as he stepped closer, letting his guard down,—thinking he’d won—she struck, knocking the paintball gun from his hands and they struggled, tumbling to the ground.

Wrestling frantically, kicking at the dirt and leaves, the two rolled, grunting and panting, until Gator came out on top, his cap knocked from his head and his slicked back hair falling in his eyes as he pinned her by the wrists.

“Shit—“ he gasped, catching his breath as he held her still, hovering over her.  “Shoulda known you wouldn’t go down that easy,” he breathed, a pleased grin twisting his lips, turning pink from the cold.

“That’s my firecracker,” he chuckled, his heavy lidded eyes roaming her face.  “It’s so much hotter when you put up a fight,” he drawled, leaning in to kiss her deeply, his tongue demanding against hers and Win groaned as his cock throbbed against her hip, trapped beneath his cargo pants.

Gator echoed her moan as their tongues clashed and Win bit down hard on his lip, his moan turning to a hiss of pain.

“Ow, Jesus—“ he hissed, releasing one of her wrists to gingerly touch his lip, a trace of blood staining his fingertips, though a ghost of a smile curved his lips at her display of defiance.

“Now you’ve really done it,” he drawled, running his tongue along his bottom lip.

Win’s breath hitched as Gator sat up, his fingers fumbling at the button of her jeans, hastily working them down her hips along with her thin panties.  As soon as the chill air hit her bare skin, she gasped, but Gator only grinned, his gaze dropping to her exposed sex.

“Fuckin’ knew it,” he groaned, admiring the way her folds glistened wetly in the moonlight, dragging two fingers between them to gather her juices before lifting his hand to show her, pulling his fingers apart to watch her slick stretch between them in silvery strands.

“You’re fuckin’ drippin’, Winnie,” he drawled, pressing his fingers to her lips till she opened her mouth to suck them clean, moaning low in her throat at the taste.  “Looks like you’re enjoying this as much as I am.”

Win could only nod in response, swirling her tongue around his digits.  Gator’s head fell back with a groan as he palmed himself with his free hand – his cock beginning to strain painfully against the stiff fabric of his pants.

“Shit, you’re like a bitch in heat,” he muttered, swallowing thickly, and Win pulled his fingers from her mouth with a soft pop.

“Jesus Gator, you gunna fuck me or just talk about it?” Win huffed, her eyes flashing impishly.  “You’re supposed to be the predator, right?  Devour me,” she breathed, pushing up to her elbows as she held his lust drenched gaze.

“Fuck, I love you,” he breathed, rocking back on his heels to roll her onto her belly and hoist her onto all fours before fumbling his cock free, hissing at the cold.  Win gasped as Gator pressed between her shoulder blades, forcing her face down against the ground, ass still in the air, and her cunt throbbed at how easily he manhandled her.

“Be a good girl for me and stay still,” Gator grunted, grabbing the fat of her ass to part her cheeks, pursing his lips and spitting against her puckered hole.  Win gave a jerk, half pushing up, Gator’s name on her lips like a warning until her gave her ass a sharp swat, the palm of his hand stinging from the impact and Win gave another jolt, gasping in surprise.

“What’d I say about staying still?” he exclaimed, grabbing her hips to pull her back into position.  “I ain’t goin’ in that hole, so calm down,” he added in assurance.

“You better fuckin’ not,” Win muttered, but lowered her head obediently.

Gator grinned, caressing the red welt he’d left on her ass cheek before pausing to spit again, biting his lip as he watched his saliva roll between her folds to mix with the sticky arousal that was already practically dripping down her thighs.

Gripping his cock at the base, he guided the tip to her entrance, groaning as he pressed into her tight wet heat, watching raptly as she sucked him in, her greedy little cunt stretching around him like it was meant to take his cock.

Win echoed Gator’s moan, pressing her forehead to the ground as she arched back against him impatiently, urging him deeper, feeling every vein and ridge as she squeezed around him.

“Oh fuck– eager little rabbit, huh?” Gator panted, thrusting sharply the rest of the way, forcing a breathy gasp from Win’s lips as he bottomed out.  “C’mon, I know you can take me better than that,” he taunted, condescension dripping from his words as he thrust sharply into her again, tightening his grasp on her hips to hold her steady as he began to pound into her, his fingers digging into her flesh hard enough to bruise.

With each swift rut, Win’s body bounced forward with the impact, the lewd rhythmic slap of skin against skin filling the air, competing only with their heavy breaths and moans.

Digging her fingers into the earth, her cheek pressed to the cold ground, Win had never felt so deliciously helpless, so like an animal ensnared by its captor, unable to fight back even had she wanted to.  With each thrust, each jolt of her body, Gator’s cock dragged against that sensitive spot inside her that made her head swim, and she moaned, his name tumbling from her lips deliriously, uncaring about the noise in their seclusion.  She barely even felt the sting of the cold against her exposed flesh.  

“Fuck, Win—“ Gator groaned, almost a whine, his pleasure swiftly building, compressing the spring in his gut til he was afraid it might snap.  Tangling his hand in a fistful of her hair, he gave a sharp tug, forcing her head up as he leaned over her, his lips close to her ear.  

“Who owns this pussy?” he hissed, his breath hot against the curve of her jaw.

“You do—!“ Win gasped, the pain in her scalp mixing with the pleasure that coursed through her, hovering just out of reach.

“Damn straight,” Gator grunted, gritting his teeth, his movements growing jerky, desperate.  “You gunna be good and cum for me?” he asked, the strain in his voice evident.

Win tried to nod before remembering his grasp on her hair and she winced.  “Fuck, yes, please—“ she begged, wetting her lips, and it was all Gator needed to hear.

Desperate to push her over the edge, he released her hair to awkwardly wrap his arm around her, slipping his hand between her legs to search for her clit as he rut into her frantically, rubbing sloppy circles against her bundle of nerves.  The effect was nearly instantaneous, the added stimulation pushing her off the ledge and into the deep end, and Win came with a keening cry, her body tensing violently.  

“Shit, Win, fuckfuckfuckkkk—!” Gator echoed, falling headlong with her into the abyss, his hips stuttering as Win clenched impossibly tighter around him, milking him dry with each deep thrust until he finally stilled, cock still twitching as her walls pulsed and fluttered around him with the after shocks of her climax.

Panting heavily, he dropped his head to her shoulder with a ragged breath, his arm around her the only thing holding her up.  Despite the cold, sweat beaded on Gator’s forehead, his shirt sticking to him beneath his coat.

Win, however, trembled beneath him and he hastily pulled out of her, watching his spend seep from her spent hole for a moment before pushing it back between her folds with his fingers and pulling her panties back up.

“Can’t lose any of that, huh?” she chuckled weakly, pulling her jeans back up while Gator hastily tucked himself back into his cargo pants, still wet with their combined fluids. "Love the thought of you filled with me," he murmured. 

Once dressed, the two of them collapsed to the ground together, Win fitting against Gator’s side as if she was molded just for him, seeking any warmth she could find and he pulled her closer, pressing his lips to her forehead. 

“So, that was pretty fun,” he chuckled, looking down at her.

“Mhmm,” she hummed, glancing up at him through her eyelashes, his body heat not quite enough to chase away the chill that had seeped into her from the ground.  “Next time I wanna hunt you though,” she teased, shivering.

Gator snorted.  “Not a chance,” he replied, shaking his head, briefly wondering where his cap had fallen, the tip of his nose and ears growing numb from the cold.

“That’s not fair,” Win huffed lightly, snuggling closer, pressing her face into the crook of his neck, breathing him in.

“Yeah it is,” Gator countered, frowning slightly at how she trembled in his arms.  “C’mon, let’s go back to the truck and warm up, and we can argue more about it when your teeth aren’t chattering.”

Win rolled her eyes, but nodded, letting Gator help her to her feet.  Crouching to snatch his hat and tug it back on his head, he grabbed his paintball gun from where Win had knocked it from his hands.

“Ready?” he asked, wrapping an arm around her shoulders to keep her close till they got to the truck. “Ready,” she agreed, clinging to him as they walked.  “But don’t think our discussion is over,” she warned lightly. 

“You just wanna shoot me with a paintball,” Gator snorted.

“Maybe,” Win conceded with a grin.  As much as she enjoyed being his prey, she couldn’t deny how much she liked the thought of hunting him next time.

✝︎ taglist. @super-unpredictable98 @heartbreak-sandwich @sailorskunk @thecatkingsthrone @thecreelhouse

@girlwiththerubyslippers @professionalpromqueen @buckysgrace

[raayllum]

graphic novel focus breakdown

because it's a tradition for like 5 pages to get 1k of meta at this point, Dreamer's Nightmare edition.

First, what can we glean from the pages themselves?

The town of Noct (meaning "night") has had a recent change of leadership. The previous mayor, a friend of Sarai's, has recently passed and his son, Otti, is now taking over. The royal family — consisting of Harrow, Amaya + Gren, and Callum and Ezran — have come, unawares that the town is likewise plagued by well, nightmares of a sort. We also know that while the comic will heavily feature both brothers, it will ultimately be Ezran centric.

First I'm going to talk about predictions for the comic itself, and then how it may relate to upcoming seasons.

The Comic: timeline wise

Timeline wise, Ezran seems to be about 4-6, putting Callum at 9-11 (maybe even 12) due to their varying age gap of 4-5 years. We see the boys stumbling out of the bushes, wet, from a recent misadventure featuring waterfalls and raccoons.

This is, of course, a reference to the story Callum (angrily) shares in 1x09 about Ezran's animal talking abilities, as he states, "And a few years ago" (from the present age of 9-10) "I realized I could understand them." This reaffirms the age timeline.

However, we do have a small contradiction here between 1x09's take and the comic's. Callum explains that:

However, the comic insinuates that this sort of thing has happened before at least a few times (although this is the first time Harrow has heard about it):

C: Seriously, every time I listen to you, I end up soaking wet! [...] What, Ezran? What is it this time? Bait told you? A horse? A burrow bug? [...] The raccoons again. It's always the raccoons. I've already told you, Ez! Animals can't talk. Can't believe I fell for it again.

Now, this could be due to few things: 1) while Callum's memory is extraordinarily good for visual things, he regularly forgets spell names (written down in his spellbook for consultation across s4 and s5), and also what he or other people have said to him like anyone else; 2) the incident with the waterfall was the one that stuck out in his mind the most and was the biggest incident, so Callum enhances it as the first real time this sort of thing happened; 3) while Callum says "every time" there haven't been that many, and other negative encounters because of raccoons (as noted) have happened before, so this isn't actually what's being referred to in 1x09.

(The realistic one is that things get shifted slightly, like Ezran's age, from materials, and that Callum being as much of a jerk here as he is is a lot more sympathetic if he's frustrated because of multiple incidents rather than one). Moving on:

The comic, conflict wise: interpersonal

While Puzzle House was mostly centred on Claudia's internal conflict with Soren as a tag-along, it seems that the brothers' will equally have internal and an external conflict to solve (more similar to Rayla's adjustments in BH or her and Callum in TTM). Although Runaan and Ethari had to adjust to their new daughter in BH, as adults they were equipped more so with skills and go on less of an arc than Rayla does.

Here, it seems (according to the summary) that "both princes have something to prove" as well as issues to resolve with each other, as Harrow reveals that, "[The boys] haven't been getting along. I thought a trip might be good for brotherly bonding".

For Callum, I'd imagine his 'something to prove' will be about his place of belonging among his family unit / possibly even adjacent to his bio dad (more on that later). For Ezran, he seems to be struggling to speak a bit, even with his brother and Harrow (who responds kindly and gives him plenty of time to gather his words, indicating this isn't a new or rare occurrence). Ezran has always read as Autistic to many people (myself included as an Autistic person) and delayed speech or speech impediments often effect people, particularly when they're younger, so maybe that's part of him learning to communicate better verbally? (Since we know Callum can't, of course, be convinced that Ez is telling the truth about animals, otherwise that throws 1x09 really out of sync.)

It also seems the brothers will have to reconcile and depend on each other. This could also pull in conversations or callbacks to Amaya (whose surely fought with but also lost her sister) and Harrow ("I know your brother can be frustrating, but let him be a kid as long as he can; one day he'll be king. Don't forget that" / "I know your brother's tempter can get the better of him sometimes, but Callum is loyal and true; he loves you more than anything"). The likeliest way this'll be resolved is Callum reaffirming his protectiveness and patience with Ezran, and Ezran perhaps acknowledging that he needs to be more careful about what he is talked into / talks other people into.

Either way, the brothers are gonna hug and I'm gonna cry, tbh.

The comic conflict: external

So the problem with Noct is that something strange is making adults fall asleep, while children catch only glimpses of what seems like a nightmare. My first thought was that maybe if you're young enough sleeping spells don't work on you (hence why Claudia's didn't work on Zym in 4x08) but it remains to be seen. If this is the case, Ezran would likely be spared and Callum might be on the cusp (dreams also have nightmares, after all) as he's a little older.

@kradogsrats noticed that the circular eye-thingy the town's statue lifts up looks like the moon-eye on the graphic novel's cover, so it seems that whatever is going on is intrinsic to this town. The previous mayor just passed, so there could be something with lingering spirits, but I'm currently more inclined to think there's a magical (moon?) related creature here that's had their routine disrupted and is subsequently lashing out. This would also provide Ezran an opportunity to speak with it and use his abilities for good.

We do know that the issue is recent given that the mayor, Otti, only sent a notice for the royal party not to come maybe a week ago, so it probably hasn't been going on for than 1-2 months at absolute most. Otti himself is also a point of interest, as people have pointed out his resemblance to Callum in his hair and eye colour, scarf, and general appearance. I'd place bets on him being an uncle or cousin of Sarai's if the resemblance was intentional. This might help push Callum's feeling of discontent and belonging; is he really Harrow, Sarai's, and his bio dad's son when he feels so disconnected from all of them?

However, what I find most interesting is his scarf and more than that, his staff.

Thus far every character we've seen with a staff in any way has been a mage. I've headcanoned Callum's bio dad as being a (dark) mage in the past, so if there is a mage on his father's side, I'll be exceedingly pleased. If the mayor is a mage, we'll have to see whether he uses primal (primal stone other than Sky we haven't seen before? Or he gives the royal party the sky primal stone as a thank you after everything?) or dark magic, or both.

Another reason I lean towards him being a mage other than the staff is his scarf. Since it looks rather while Callum's scarf (although to be fair, the old Katolis' king scarf from the 4x04 flashbacks also had a resemblance to Callum's) this could infamously be where he gets it from. It having a connection to either Sarai or his bio dad would be very sweet.

If it has a connection to him showing his first interest or affinity for magic, though... Maybe Otti will mention something to Harrow about it, and that'll be what gets Harrow thinking "Hm, maybe there's something I could give him someday" and we know he's thinking about the rune cube / Key of Aaravos.

That's all I have for actual comic predictions, so now onto the juicier stuff: how and why does this comic possibly tie into S6 and S7.

Why now?

Even for the prequel graphic novels, in choosing what gets rolled out when, the crew has typically leaned towards publishing graphic novels that are most in-line with ideas they want to explore in future seasons.

For example, Puzzle House was originally scheduled pre-S5, which makes sense given it 1) features Kpp'Ar heavily in name and mention and 2) also alludes to Soren's sickness, two things that are introduced within the show's canon in S5.

Bloodmoon Huntress was released pre-S4, but highlighted the cycles of loss and leaving that Rayla perpetuated in being gone in S4, how Runaan and Ethari's relationship mirrored Rayla and Callum's ("I've known since we met that nothing this is Runaan's calling, and nothing will deter him from his duty" -> "I have to go after him" "I know"), and that Rayla was getting her parents' coins back. Other elements also showed up prominently in S5, most notably Kim'Dael (though in-show canon her connection to the Moon fam hasn't been brought back) and "We are stronger together"'s callback.

So it seems Dreamer's Nightmare will probably have to do with stuff moving forward into S6 and S7. What can we glean so far? (Spoilers for 6x01 thanks to con info, stop reading here if you don't want to know anything.)

Star magic's dream associations have largely been a guess up until now — dreams have mostly been connected to dark magic, though Janai's nightmare seems to somewhat combine the two. We know, though, that Callum has been having nightmares about Aaravos in 6x01, so that having such a prominent display here in the graphic novel may tip stuff off for the future. This is what I'd hoped for when we got the title and synopsis as well.

If the book does set up what will become Callum's mage arc — the scarf from another mage, maybe cube allusions the way Puzzle House helped show how Claudia managed to track down the unicorn — then that of course will come full circle in S6 as he has to reconcile with what being a mage truly means. All of it, good and bad.

It's been confirmed in either s6 or s7 (I believe s6) that we'll learn a bit about Callum's bio dad. I don't think there's much to learn — I expect he was a nice person, maybe artistically inclined, probably got sick — but if we do see him in a flashback or vision that Callum has while at the Starscraper, introducing some of his family here could be possible.

Sometime in S6 and S7 Ezran is going to have to confront Runaan's survival and revival. We know thanks to "Deep Below" that he's probably not going to take it well, especially not at first. Having a graphic novel highlight more of Ezran and Harrow's bond would only make Ezran's loss and subsequent anger feel all the more earned/valid than it already is.

This is the one that makes me the most excited, but I've been gunning for a broyals conflict since s3 and veering into S6 and S7, it seems like it's finally here. Showing how and why the brothers may fight, and also how they can come back together again, would be a perfect parallel for the upcoming seasons. They'll fight and won't always see eye to eye, but they'll always love each other and put one another first when it matters / come around.

And that's about it for now!

(Onto the trailer next, I guess!!)

[purplemninja]

Did Six become a Nowhere Resident too in the end?

This is a combined revision of my post on the Tragic Story of Six and a depressing revelation on her ending.

Well, with the new LN lore that was given to us through The Sounds of Nightmares, I wanted to make a revision of these two things, as well as showing another similar interpretation of Six's ending using some lore from TSON on how the LN world works, as well as something that I believe I've missed previously.

Plus, while I vehemently don't believe the 'Six is the Lady/next Lady' theory, I believe that this theory on Six becoming a 'resident' works whether she is the Lady/next Lady or not.

I'm really, really putting my heart and soul into this theory.

~

Something that's been on my mind for quite a while is the possibility that by the end of LN1, Six too succumbed to the Nowhere's corruption and became another of the thousands of Residents of the Nowhere.

First, let's recap on how the Residents of the Nowhere function:

So the Residents are essentially like thralls or zombies to their 'base instinct' that also serves as their identity, following it with no goal, motivation, concerns for morality or question.

I made a post previously about the observations of the Residents showing little to no regard for their own survival when following their base instinct, as well as no goal or purpose in what they do for their base instincts. I'll link it instead to not make this post too long: https://www.tumblr.com/purplemninja/763255998237589504/my-understanding-of-the-nowheres-residents?source=share

And I previously theorised here that the Thin Man isn't searching for anything in particular, but rather that searching is his Residential base instinct/ID

With that said, we can all agree that Mono became a Resident at the end of LN2, the Thin Man, but what if Six did too by the end of LN1?

So it seems that the Nowhere's influence corrupts those in it and amplifies their worst flaws, turning them into Residents, but there is a protection against it:

Unfortunately it's unclear what a person's 'inner child' is in LN, and when I asked people what they believed it is, the responses were unfortunately mixed, so I'll have to speculate that it's the state that a person is in denial about how truly horrible the world of the Nowhere is, and this denial allows them to resist its corruption and still have their free will to not follow an unending pointless pattern for the rest of their existence. And we see this happen to Mono:

At the beginning, Mono wears a bag on his head to deny to himself that the Nowhere hates him and wants him to fail, allowing him to retain his inner child. His bio states that he is single-minded and rarely gives up completing a task that he sets himself on, basically stubbornness, which is what the Nowhere uses and amplifies as his 'worst flaw'.

After Six gets taken by the Thin Man and he's wounded and confronted by the Thin Man, Mono mostly (but not entirely yet) stops denying that the world hates him and wants him to fail, shedding his bag, his innocence and most of his inner child with it, allowing him to gain the confidence to use his powers on the Thin Man and win. Perhaps him getting closer to fully becoming a resident is what gives him this sudden increase in power.

The reason why his inner child isn't gone fully yet is because of Six, as far as he knows, Six doesn't hate him or want to see him fail, and that is the last bit of resistance he has. That is until Six drops him (here I give my best explanation on why she did it).

With the act of Six dropping him, Mono is left to believe that actually yes, even Six hates him and wants him to fail as well, which was his breaking point (though it's unclear if Six really truly did hate him and want him to fail, I'm just saying that Mono likely thinks so after Six drops him). And with this realisation, Mono's inner child, therefore resistance to the Nowhere's corruption, is finally gone, allowing him to become the Thin Man and another Resident of the Nowhere, searching endlessly and pointlessly as his base instinct.

The world's hatred for him was the build-up, and Six seeming to be no different was the finishing blow.

^ Who knows? And his single-mindedness making him continue doing the same thing over, and over, and over without trying another way or without giving up.

Now finally onto the part where I discuss that Six met a similar fate at the end of LN1.

So a Resident is someone who does a particular action over and over and over again with no goal, motive, concern for morality and sometimes no concern for their own survival either, like zombies. And their worst flaw becomes a feature of how they behave, such as Mono's stubbornness leading to him not trying to do something different when he (as Thin Man) goes back to the past. But a person's 'inner child' is the only thing that's stopping them from becoming that way.

So what would be the base instinct that Six would follow with no goal, motive, morality or questions? Survival itself.

Think about it, the Nowhere is a horrible place to live in, death awaits around every corner, kindness never goes unpunished and morals are non-existent. So why on earth would Six try so hard to stay alive in a place like this? Because she no longer has a choice.

Throughout the series, we see Six behave like a child at times, like kicking a ball in the school yard, drawing on the ground with her finger when idle (in LN2), playing with a music box, and hugging Nomes. Six's 'worst flaw' would no doubt be her selfish tendencies. Her inner child is still intact, but like Mono, her breaking was also a gradual process, though longer and smoother than his.

The Six that comes out of the tower is not the same Six that went in, she used to love playing music boxes, interacting with toys around her, and other kinds of childish behaviour. But in LN1, Six no longer cares about music boxes or toys, and none of her idle animations are something childish, all of those aspects of her inner child are gone. And she doesn't really do anything nice for others anymore. In VLN, she tried to save RCG despite being left behind by her a couple of minutes beforehand, in LN2, she sticks her own neck out for Mono several times (as does he for her), but in LN1, Six doesn't do anything nice for other people anymore, such as using a kid's cage to reach a lever with no regard to any of the kids in the cages (not that she can help them anyway).

However, her inner child is still clinging on, as she hugs Nomes like a child would.

But as we know, this doesn't last long. Her strange hunger forces her to choose between eating a sausage that she knows is made of human flesh, the Nome that is just a critter as far as she knows, or neither and starve to death.

A lose-lose-lose situation that damages her inner child even further, but it's still hanging on by a thread, as she believes that she at least was able to avoid cannibalism (though those who finished the DLC know otherwise, but Six doesn't). But as we already know, this also doesn't last long, as she's soon after forced to choose between knowingly committing cannibalism by eating the Lady or not and starving to death (or give the Lady a chance to regain her strength and kill her, but with Six now at a disadvantage with being incapacitated by her hunger bouts, and the only mirror she could use now broken).

And with this act, Six realises that there's no point to trying to deny that she can remain innocent, as time and time again, the world will find a way to make her do things she doesn't want to, finally breaking her inner child and making her susceptible to the Nowhere's corruption as well. Turning her into a thrall or zombie to the instinct to survive. Surviving no matter what immoral things she may have to commit in the process, surviving despite how awful the world is, surviving with no end goal. Completing her transition into a Resident.

And she also has the powers of the Lady to help her do it, allowing her to kill a hallway full of Guests by simply walking by without lifting a finger, perhaps the world's gift to help her follow her new base instinct to survive, which is now also her identity.

Previously I theorised that Six was stranded out at sea at the end, making all the sacrifices that were made, her struggles and suffering, and the abuse she had to endure from the world all be for nothing in the end. Which Skrappo made a more in-depth post on here.

And this may still be the case for Six's ending, but now I propose, what if it doesn't matter either way? Even if she's not restricted to the Maw, she's still trapped in some way, as David Mervik hinted here:

What if rather Six is trapped in the Nowhere entirely instead of strictly the Maw? Or what if her prison is not a physical one, but a psychological one - being a Resident. With this, I believe I really understand now what he meant when he said this.

Maybe her killing the Guests in that hallway is a victory in her eyes because it allows her to continue following her instinct and identity - survival. And we thought that Six won in the end too at first, but with this revelation, she actually didn't, but she's now too mentally warped to be able to see that.

And while I don't believe that Six is the Lady or the next Lady, this can still work for those interpretations too. After all, arguing in favour of the theory that Six becomes either the Lady or the next Lady, she didn't want to knowingly eat human flesh, which is why she ate the Nome instead of sausage, but she soon had no choice when eating the Lady, knowingly committing cannibalism. And being a resident makes her no longer have any regard for morality and amplified her selfish tendencies so that she thinks only about herself. So now that morals don't mean anything to her anymore, would she still be against a ship that kills, cooks and serves human flesh? And since survival is the base instinct she follows as a resident no matter what, wouldn't being the leader of said ship help her tremendously in her desire to survive? Again, unless the games or devs confirm it with 100% certainty, I don't believe that Six is the Lady or the next Lady, but this is how the 'Resident Six' theory can work with those theories.

And so with that, Mono and Six's endings truly aren't that different, both of them were tormented and abused by the world, making them slowly break and accept how horrible it really is and become just another couple of Residents to contribute to it - Mono (now Thin Man) obviously defeated and now endlessly searching for nothing in particular, fuelled by his amplified stubbornness to complete his task - and Six believing herself victorious in the end and now surviving with no goal or motive, fed by her amplified selfish tendencies that no longer allow her to think of others at all. Both following a base instinct which also serves as their identities, with no goal, motives, concern for morality or questions, with their worst flaws contributing to it. And both of them now trapped in one way or another.

Both have differences between them, but are also ultimately the same. Their stories are not of betrayal, but tragedy. I myself did say that Six became just another part of the Nowhere like many many other children did, as a, empty, broken husk that can only think of survival and nothing else (though I didn't say that part then) in my post on her tragic story, but I didn't truly understand the severity of it until I came up with this theory.

Will we see any reference to them in LN3? We'll have to wait and see, but ultimately, both of their tragic stories come to a tragic close.

The end.

And here's the music I find the most fitting for this (arguably more depressing) revelation of Six's ending:

[gabeorelse]

Resource: Writing Craft Masterpost

Okay, so one of my favorite things to do when I'm not writing but I want to think about writing is to study the craft. Seriously, I'm a HUGE writing nerd and learning is one of my favorite parts of the process (besides the actual writing lmao). Below is a list of my favorite craft resources that I don't see recommended a ton but which I've found do a great job of identifying and explaining the nitty-gritty rather than just giving blanket advice like 'show don't tell'.

Ellen Brock's Youtube Channel

Ellen Brock, according to her bio, is an editor who has worked both freelance and in the publishing industry. The resource here is on her channel - TONS of free longform videos that break down structure, character arc, anatomy of a scene, dialogue, prose, principles of revision, anything you can imagine.

My favorite video: Character Arc meets Story Structure. An hour long video explaining how character arc and story structure marry within the 3-Act Structure. I made an annotated cheat sheet/study guide just based off this and it literally fixed my WIP lol.

Susan Dennard's Writing Academy - Free Resources

Susan Dennard is a published author who, disclaimer, I have not checked her books out yet (though I've been meaning to!) but I have found her blog post archive invaluable. She writes a ton on writing craft, publishing, revision, etc, and I've coopted a lot of her strategies, particularly in revision, for myself. Highly recommend.

Unfortunately, it looks like my favorite resource (her revision advice) is behind a paywall now (which, fair, she did a LOT of free stuff over the years), but I might put together a frankenstein version of my own revision method one of these days - it's heavily influenced by hers.

ShaelinWrites Youtube Channel

Another writing youtuber who really gets to the nitty-gritty. What I love about them is they are a pantser/discovery writer and they show, both through their advice and success, that you CAN be a discovery writer and not just end up in a mess of unrevised monstrosity, which is what I feel like a lot of people assume. They also do a lot of videos on writing confidence, process, and mindset which have all been very helpful to me.

My favorite video: How to Become a Confident Writer. This video really helped me get back some of my confidence and love for writing when I was struggling. They have similar related videos, and I basically watched ALL of them at various points, but this one really helped me.

LocalScriptMan's Youtube Channel

Okay, here me out. This one is a bit of a departure. I feel like LocalScriptMan kind of takes on this tough love/tough life advice persona, and I don't mind it, but some people might. He's also focused on screenwriting, but a lot of his videos apply to general writing principles, and I feel like, as with the other resources, he really gets to the heart of the craft and breaks down principles in a way I really like.

My favorite video: it's a tie between The Key to Writing Freakishly Good Dialogue and How to Actually Succeed as a Creative. I really liked the latter because I interact a lot with other authors who are querying agents or have one foot in the publishing industry, one foot not quite there (like me), and his attitude toward success changed my mind about how to approach the industry. His advice is something like 'most people keep looking for that big break, but that's very self-focused. If you want to succeed, help others and make yourself a valuable person, not only to get that big break, but because then you can do what you love: creating stories and working on projects, even if they're not your own'. This is a bit more applicable to the screenwriting community, but I do think overall the best part about writing is not just writing, but community, and I think he hits the nail on the head with that one.

Summary: obviously I am not an affiliate (these people 100% do not know who I am lol), but I get frustrated when I'm trying to find answers to my writing problems and all I get are shitty SEO based articles written by the Masterclass website lmao. So over the years I've cultivated my favorites, and wanted to share them. I hope these help anybody who needs them!

[lumineary-arts]

Saw you ask about ppls AUs uh

Most of mine, admittingly, don't have designs yet. At least not drawn ones. Oops!!

But I can like?? Still ramble ig?

I also have a swap AU! I haven't posted a lot ab it, but it's called Solver Shift.

In it I put Sam in Cyns place. So the DDs have pink accents (wasn't comfortable using Doll and making them red, despite barely drawing DD armbands anyways - personally at least)

Some places I'm still unsure about, like idk whether Khan and Nori should be direct swaps with Ron & Tessa or should be put in Tessas parents position. If I go the latter idk who to put in Tessas place lol.

Ron and Tessa weren't actually ever romantically involved. They were just best friends, and were like "well we live together, we both kinda wanna know what having kids is like. So let's raise one together"; insert Nuke (N) being built. Tess survived a few years into his life, they built Cyn and then yada yada you know the story - dead mom

If it wasn't obvious by Ns name, the rail gun gets replaced by explosives. Thank Cyn for that, it was her idea. (They both take canonverse Uzi her engineering skills, but Cyn takes the more unhinged aspect of the personality.) - Nuke was like "we gotta do something about the DDs but idk what!" And Cyn, sparkly eyed and all, was like "Let's blow them up!"

I need to figure out some episode stand ins seeing as Cyn is younger but still sticks to N like glue. Beau takes Dolls place, they'd be Similar in age to Cyn (aka I gotta give them a body design F)

Oh also, as for befriending the DDs -- whilst Ep1 would run similar to canon; after that Thad/T would bond faster with the siblings than Uzi/Z bc they keep their canonverse personalities mostly!! So that's a reverse. Also T wouldnt want to kill the Prom unlike V, he just genuinely wants to make friends 😭

Don't ask me why Beau is at the prom, being younger and all. Might just make it an all years general prom rather than just the graduating class.

Next AU yay

Blood & Bats is a Vampire/Human AU! DDS and Solver Drones are vampires, you get the gyst!

N & Cyn are bio siblings, got separated bc of a divorce. Eventually both were separately taken away for shitty parenting, one of which caused Cyn to get vampirism one way or another. She also has DID/OSDD1 in this AU, the Solver conciousness isn't an evil entity here, just s Persecutor under the definition of "Misguided Protector who hurts as a form of protection" -- they're basically just a terrified vampire kid who thinks they're a danger and thinks isolation is the only way to keep their lived ones safe.

At some point the Elliots adopt N, later Cyn too. They also have previously adopted V and J. As time goes on, the alphabet trio one by one get turned by Cyn/Solver but they catch her after that so Tessa never is turned.

Uzi is basically a half vampire. Her mom was one, her dad wasn't. I don't remember the details atm, but I assume I've posted them somewhere in the tag on my account, but iirc Khan killed Nori in a moment of shock and survival instinct when finding out. Uzi doesn't know this. She finds out later after being turned herself (on accident!) - either through N or Cyn. Might do N to draw a parallel to the miscommunication between ep 2 and 3. Bc yeah Uzi would assume it's on purpose and he broke a promise.

Once they fix things, she finds out about her dad killing her mom and she runs away from home, terrified he might kill her too -- she crashes at the siblings place OR Thads place. I'm not sure yet. Both have pros and cons.

Khan cant easily access the manor, needs to be at an event for it. But the parents would want Uzi OUT asap. On Thads end; Teacher (Thad and Lizzy are either step or half siblings idk yet) and Ron (uncle, moved in after his sister died to help with the kids!) Would not let Khan take Uzi home sending as they see her terrified. They don't know what happened. But Khan has easier access bc he's friends with Teacher and obviously Lizzy is there which Uzi isn't thrilled about.

That's as far as I can remember the storyline -- there would still be parallels to some episodes! Ep 4 would still happen! Just some would survive! Rebecca would be found by one of the alphabet trio and turned to save her life. She's wheelchair bound after that. Sam survives but everyone thinks he got too high and doesn't believe him when he talks rambling about Uzis vampire form (Becca keeps it secret bc like if she says something it by extension endangers the other vampires in the school which now includes herself)

Intertwined/Inteetwinjng Codes (Me when I keep going back and forth between both titles) is a next gen AU thing. It started off as a joke,,, oh well

Kids.

These little shits are twins, they started this whole rabbithole. They would boot up sometime after Ep 4.

Later on their parents would want to program another kid & adopt one. Invert Annika and Zagi, except unexpected thing happened and they now have two babies to upload. Insert Raven.

Annika is currently undergoing redesign, ignore how basic she looks compared to her siblings lol.

As for the last 2 kids -- they didn't WANT any more, but when being sent to another colony they run into this toddler with a baby, who are being attacked by other DDs so they step in. Whilst they argue with N, Uzi gets the kids to safety. They were gonna keep the kids at their place for that night but Olicia did NOT want to sleep in the same place as a DD & a ton of half DDs -- so Thad gets called at 3am 😭 hes the cool uncle to their kids so yk

Next day it turns out adoption wing is full, so the siblings get passed around Thad, Uzis dad and Nuzi a ton (their own colony got killed so they cant go back there) until Ray gets attached to Nuzi, and you shouldn't separate a baby from its bonded adults. Seeing as he already lost the code related parents, they didn't want to risk further hurting his programming. So the siblings were basically accidentally adopted by Nuzi, despite Olivia not being happy about it at first. But she didn't want to separate from Ray.

That's mostly that. Theres not too much lore tbh. Just a silly half joke AU.

Also I have 6 siblings IRL so I tend to like give my ship kids many siblings 😭 so ignore that fact lol, just projecting

Then theres like 3 more Cyn centric AUs.

2 are pretty small.

DD!Cyn AU that has no name yet is just the AS uploaded a copy of Cyn/the Base Drones conciousness into a DD body and kept her with the trio. That'll lead to major Identity crisis once Cyn realizes technically she's a clone and her memories aren't *hers*. Aside from that: Cyn and J constantly have beef bc of J abusing N, Cyn tries to get her to stop but just faces verbal abuse herself in return :(

Shes also pretty distrusting of Uzi at first bc like!! Nobody except Cyn ever spent time with N!! That's a Drone getting close to her big brother which possibly could hurt him in the long run if she turns out to be like the other teammates!! (She eventually warms up to her)

Then there is Trapped/Hivemind AU. Literally just Cyn trapped in the hivemind, unable to reach her body for control. She can HEAR the other Solver Drones and the DDs, as they're all part of the hivemind. But she can't communicate with them. No matter how hard she tries.

Especially when she hears N she will call out to him but not get a response

So shes probably on the brink of losing it

Then there is "Dormant" Absolute Solver

Originally it was gonna be "The AS lost interest in Cyn as a host" and ig it still kind of is correct-? I need to go back and forth between certain aspects lol

But long story short, Cyn now got a separate body from the AS, doesn't know it killed Tessa & comes to C9 with J & "Tessa". The AS just brought her as a tool to manipulate N with, but she doesn't know that. Cyn joins the group from ep 6 onwards. Yay more PTSD for the child I guess :)

I havent written out ep 6 yet but I think she'd be with N & "Tessa" for that part.

Ep 7 she ends up on the side of the rocks with Uzi, and walks at a distance after being told to basically F off bc Uzi doesn't trust her now but Cyn is scared to be alone. Uzi notices Cyn isn't okay tho.

(Varian tangled reference yay)

Might I add that seeing Uzis wings and tail in ep 6 would have majorly triggered Cyns PTSD but shes unaware of why she feels so scared. So seeing Uzis tail the whole time definitely adds onto the stress =)

During the fight Uzi would reach out to Cyn through the hivemind, both girls calling out to N through Cyns body. The AS doesn't like that and forcefully shuts Cyn down. It has admin rights over her after all.

By the time Cyn wakes up, the AS is grabbing her to blackmail N after just having eaten Doll. Talking about how he wouldnt want to hurt his baby sister (hes aiming his laser cannon at the AS for context). Then it gets bored, drops Cyn and the regular program ensures. Except Cyn took Tessas gun and shoots herself free from the tentacles and runs to the pit after seeing Nuzi be pulled in. Whilst shes there trying to figure out how to get them back up (seeing as she cant use her Solver on them, or at least not Uzi. The show us so unclear if it works on DDs or not) the scene goes on.

I'm not sure yet who Cyn will stick with, probably N bc I've more ideas. BUT also I'm waiting for episode 8 to decide that for sure. Same with the ending. I got multiple bad ending ideas and also a good ending :) ep 8 will determine which one will be canon :)

Oh yeah Cyn lol -- both new and old ref bc of the oil canister I didn't draw in the new one yet. She still has it as you can see by the oil tubes!

Also the Good!Ending DAS!N would run a Daycare post canon. IC!N also runs one. I just like having N work with kids.

Most of these (I think all except DD & Trappsd Cyn) are tagged on my account probably with some more info

Idk if the tags will show up tho bc they don't always for me when searching for them :(

My pinned post has the tags listed I think

I think that was all of them hm (istg if I forgot one 💀)

OKAY THIS ONE'S SUPER IN DEPTH I'M HEAVILY INTRIGUED. MULTIPLE AU'S DUDE!! I LOVE IT, KEEP EM COMING. Loving the ideas behind the swap AU. Putting Sam in Cyn's place is unique, I hadn't heard anyone do that before!! Also the thing about using pink is fair, I did use red but I didn't keep that in mind! A vampire AU's extremely fitting for Murder Drones, being a substitute for the Solver/Disassembly model. Since ep. 4 is my favorite, I love the fact it'd still play out here. Also I must say I REALLY like the next gen AU designs??? I actually kinda wish we saw more next gen stuff, or maybe I'm just not looking in the right places. Either way I very specifically love Rexim and Raven's designs, I think the color choices are really speaking to me. ALSO ALL THE CYN FANS ARE GONNA BE EATING UP THE CYN-CENTRIC AU'S. But it seems like the poor girl could never catch a break. WONDERFUL WORK ALL AROUND!!

[call-of-ishmael]

The Last Ishmael OCD Post

One of my first times that i dabbled into character analysis was about Ishmael's OCD, people like that post but i really feel i could have done better

Canto V was my last major chapter i was willing to read. As i put more distance between me and the story, i want one final farewell in the form of finally fixing up my analysis

PART I: THE META-TEXTUAL

Before i delve into the writing itself, here is some pointers the story gives to her OCD in the form of flavor text and descriptions.

Firstly we have her Bio

This is easy to miss as its just a tiny blurb above her whole intro blurb.

Now, "obsessive compulsive neurosis" is a very weird way to phrase it, "obsessive compulsive" is clear enough but "neurosis" is odd, this is not TOO odd though, as "neurotic" used to be how OCD was classified as a disorder.

However if we look at her bio in Korean, the particulars do simply straight up say "OCD" very clearly, you'd need to MTL but this was also confirmed to me by a friend from SK

The sinner bios are biased though, and are written through a very corporate lens, so lets see if there's any other pointers elsewhere

Her base EGO, Snagharpoon, actually does just that

Her passives name is called "Compulsion" and in its gameplay design its a very interesting way to also point to it

Ishmael is a very all or nothing person, you do it well or you don't do it at all, and this is reflected on how this passive aids you to play

This passive is excellent for boosting the consistency of playing by only going for "Favored" or "Dominating" clashes, while punishing you for taking chances on clashes you MIGHT win

Base ID Ishmael is also a unit with all single coins, rolling tails puts her in a very unfavorable position so this also adds an extra safety net on top. Worth noting being all single coins is also a high risk high reward type of play style.

Finally we see two more pointers id like to note, both from Canto V

The Compulsive`s Knot, an ego gift themed after a naval rope, one of many in the dungeon all alluding to her struggles.

Most obviously though

Her exclusive status effect, Compulsion. This is in direct reference to her EGO passive, providing an attack boost at the same time it provides a drawback in the form of low SP.

We are gonna talk a bit more about this passive since it ties into another gameplay oriented way to point towards her OCD

During the story dungeon we have an event where a noise is heard, you are given two choices, check, gain SP, don't check, lose SP.

Compulsive checking is probably the most well known (to the conditions detriment we will talk about it later) hallmark of OCD

Notably, this doesn't aid Ishmael, while checking can avoid the combat encounter, not checking only has a chance of triggering it, and most interestingly, her SP will always start at -25 during combat encounters. Meaning the temporary boost in her sanity will just get reset next battle, should you decide to check. Checking wont satisfy her anxiety for more than a brief moment.

Lastly the most obvious ones are all the references to Obsession. These are so abundant i feel if you are familiar with the Canto its redundant to have them, i wanted to draw more attention to the allusions to compulsion, as they are less common.

PART II: BEFORE THE STORM

Even since before her own Canto, we can see Ishmael's ruminating and anxious tendencies pop up during previous chapters, which for OCD is important to explore as OCD is an anxious and ruminating disorder.

So lets talk a little bit about OCD! Its a disorder characterized by repetitive and constant intrusive urges to perform a task or a thought (lets keep this in mind for later)

These thoughts or actions are used to try to relieve stress from an anxiety inducing thought or situation. The most common example is OCD exacerbating germ phobia, and causing people who have it to wash their hands in excess.

While OCD is usually described as "irrational thoughts" i feel that's a pretty limited way to view it in my own experience with it. OCD compulsions and thoughts can be informed by very real worries, the worry of getting sick, of making the wrong moral choices, of hurting others. Being clean is a normal and a good practice to stave off getting sick, its the frequency and intensity that turns it maladaptive, OCD turns your own lived fears and traumas against you, and those might very well be real things to worry about, which makes dealing with it very hard.

Enough of that off to the writing!

Lets start with Canto II

This is the first example of her constant need for a lack of ambiguity, previous to this we see her complain about the treatment the sinners are receiving from Effie and Saude, skeptical of the whole deal.

Until shes shown the plans, they are so well crafted shes able to anchor to that and calm down.

This by itself is not really much other than being very detail oriented, lets look a bit further into the chapter

Here we see that aspect elaborated upon more, this moment is framed as a very important one between Dante and Ishmael in their dynamic later on, Ishmael is incredibly upset at the plan having fallen apart so quickly, while yes this is not unreasonable to be upset at, her anger is remarked on by Dante and Gregor as very intense and unusual. This in my opinion is a minor but clear indication her need for planning and considering every option is due to a deep anxiety, but don't take it from me, lets look at Canto III

Here we are told pretty explicitly, Ishmael moving quickly and asking lots of questions is something Dante has noted as an anxious habit.

And here we have more elaboration on what exactly that moment at the Casino meant for Ishmael, it was enough anger and disappointment she has stopped expecting Dante to perform well and instead taken it upon herself to see things go according to plan, this is VERY important to her.

And her worries, are repetitive enough to annoy others, and to be remarked upon by Dante.

This is perhaps the more notable chain of events to point out previous to her chapters aside from 4.5, as it helps contextualize all her usual ways of acting in a more complete light, showing a lot of this is driven by a deep anxiety

And this all makes S.E.A all the more interesting as it pays off on this.

Something i quite enjoy about Limbus is how it re-contextualizes things characters have previously done and said. And the events of S.E.A and Canto V bring a lot of interesting stuff to the table

Lets get cracking with this chapter

In general shes extremely confrontational, and tense, more than usual

But its her anxious outbursts i wanna focus on, what she puts

emphasis on.

This chapter is so crucial in this whole analysis. We see some behaviors way more clearly now, firstly we see her emphasize her need to be absolutely 100% prepared for this, no ambiguity no risks she wants certainty.

But we see something even more clearly and that's her ruminating behaviors, shes brought up things like this to a smaller extent before like commenting on a lot of aspects but here we see in full display her inner world become externalized, shes started voicing worries shes never voiced before can Dante turn them back always? What if Dante dies? What if the sinners get eaten can that be turned back?

And these don't all get brought up immediately, she mentions them in different conversations, pointing to the fact shes constantly going over the subject in her head with no pause, and she gets frustrated when she cannot work on these worries when she cant do anything to quell the anxiety.

And the last part, when Dante finds her so fixated in her planning its impossible to even talk to her. She has to perform some action do something to stave off the disaster she can see coming in her head

As someone with OCD inevitably i have to mention the personal component that drew me to analyze this was how real this feels to when you spiral

A lot of the times OCD is explained as the compulsions being something you do cause you feel its a sort of ritual to stave off disaster. Its in this way i see it reflected in this moment.

As we see with Heathcliff acting as her foil, he points out her worrying is really not doing much other than just her talking and talking, and by the state shes in when Dante checks in on her, aimless not even paying attention to anything else we see the main objective of the planning really isn't practical as much as a compulsive coping mechanism.

She has to do something

PART III: INTO THE DARK

Lots to cover and honestly i will make a companion post to this with all the examples, so for this section i wanna cover some highlights instead, as well as a general discussion of the tone.

The way this chapter is structured is very interesting, its really reflective of the mental state of Ishmael. The chapter feels really aimless, they wander around not really ever finding what they need, which drives Ishmael more and more tense and frustrate

Its a good continuation to how we see her by the end of S.E.A fixated on one goal one thing

As previously stated shes inflicted with a constant special and unique to her status effect called "Compulsion" as covered in Part I

Her behavior is also reflective of this

For a good part of the first third of the chapter shes in her room, the whole time whetting her harpoon, nonstop

However you might notice compulsion is not as present as obsession, and compulsion is also important to OCD its in the acronym! And i have seen others point to it too

However id like you to remember, in the post earlier i said thoughts can fit into OCD, compulsions can be mental and sometimes almost exclusively or mostly mental. Its even in the DSM noted that for diagnosis the compulsions to count you for a diagnosis can be mental in nature

Its in this aspect that i feel Ishmael shines a lot

In general OCD in media is lacking in representation and is often a trait given to assholes or villains

The normal conception of OCD in movies or TV is of neat freaks or control freaks, Compulsion is usually heavily emphasized when it isn't the whole picture

Often ignored though is the aspect of Obsession, some people can have Purely Obsessional OCD (Pure O), this isn't a formal diagnosis or term but its colloquially used by people who have it. Its a bit of a misnomer, as compulsions are present but internalized as mental rituals or rumination

Usually its harder to diagnose, its harder to treat as there's no apparent compulsions others can see, and the people having it seem pretty high functioning to the people around them.

This can be noticed though in people avoiding certain subjects, avoidant behaviors can be the clearest external behavior.

I personally read Ishmael as having more mental compulsions, the way she tends to be a more ruminating and anxious character than outwardly compulsive

During S.E.A and Canto V we see outward compulsions more but from the examples from previous Cantos we can see that's not her usual and she operates more on anxious overthinking most of the time.

However another aspect that ties into mental compulsions is in the previously mentioned avoidant behaviors, we see her isolate and try to stave of having to deal with her worries in both S.E.A and the beginning of Canto V when shes in her room, in both cases doing some excessive preparation in a compulsive way.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

As previously stated Canto V deserves its own companion post, and ill work on that later, i feel this encapsulates what i wanted to say well enough.

I wanted to discuss the previous signs of her behaviors that make me certain her OCD is an intended textual read, and in my opinion a well executed one

Canto V was hard to read as it felt very real and very familiar to the worst times i have had due to my OCD.

Shes a character that despite my distaste i have developed for the franchise, it will never stop meaning a lot to me same as her chapter will always be a piece of storytelling that affected me deeply in ways others haven't

To close i want to leave off what i feel encapsulates the feeling pretty well, in my favorite moment with the membrane consuming her as a metaphor for letting fear, anger, obsessions and compulsions cloud your mind until you forget why you were even there

To you, dear reader, Bon Voyage

[gotstabbedbyapen]

But now we must know, what are your headcanons for the first generation of Gods siblings? Personally? Zeus isn’t allowed to swim with Poseidon cause they always fight and Zeus goes toaster in bathtub mode where he’s the toaster.

I haven't considered Zeus doing the "toaster in bathtub" thing. Thank you Anon, I will put this into my HC list :3333

Now on with the first-generation Olympians (it's gonna be a long ride, so strap on!)

Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, and Poseidon were swallowed when they were young kids/nearing adolescence, not newborn babies. I want Kronos and Rhea's family to have some years of happiness together before the prophecy ruin them all.

Out of the Big Six, Demeter and Hades look the most alike to Kronos (unrelated note: Persephone looks the most alike to Kronos out of the 2nd gen)

Demeter is Kronos' favorite child because she shares his power over agriculture. Kronos has even planned her future to be his successor as goddess of the harvest.

Poseidon has the fear of dark, closed places due to his trauma of being locked in Kronos' stomach. During his first centuries ruling the ocean, he cannot stay in his kingdom at night because the realm gets extremely dark and it paranoid him. Poseidon can't go to the deep trenches either.

To cope with his fear, Poseidon's bedroom is filled with bioluminescent algae and jellyfish.

After escaping Kronos' stomach, Hera was sent to take refuge at Oceanus and Tethys' place. Around this time, she became besties with Amphitrite (I see Amphi as a daughter of Nereus but she is close with the other sea deities too)

Thetis and Hera's friendship is underrated. Hera, Thetis, and Amphitrite have occasional girl's nights where they ditch their spouses to spend time together.

As besties Hera and Amphitrite share the same taste in men *looking at Zeus and Poseidon*

Hera and Amphitrite were not happy when Zeus married off Thetis. Oh boy, there were a lot of screaming and fighting for Thetis' behalf.

It was very surprising when Thetis later made her husband Peleus immortal (there is a version of that lol)

Zeus and Poseidon created the electric eel and other aquatic animals that produce electricity. The purpose? Ask them.

When Hebe was training to become the cupbearer of the gods, Zeus watched over her and gave her tips from time to time. He used to be the cupbearer of Kronos, too.

I am seriously contemplating on whether Poseidon have a thing for Odysseus or not. Like in "I want to fuck you up both ways".

Hades doesn't outright ban the others from coming to the Underworld. The reason he doesn't like them visiting often is because some will ask (read: screaming and crying at) him to resurrect their favorite mortals.

Hades adopted Cerberus some times after Typhon (Cerberus' bio father) was defeated and the doggo had nowhere to go. From then on Cerberus was living in luxury in the Underworld with the only job is to guard the door.

Hades has a messed up sense of humor after centuries of dealing with the dead, and Persephone got infected as well. If you ask Hades "Can you give me a hand?" he will give you an actual hand.

Hades x Persephone x Minthe OT3 is real.

Hades isn't some gloomy dark man. Yeah, he wears black a lot but also with gleaming gems and fine jewelries (you know, god of precious minerals and all).

You don't believe me? Here's the testimony:

(tfw your husband rocks his dress prettier than you :DDD)

The three kings didn't draw lots to determine who will rule which realm. During the Titanomachy, they grew fond over their future kingdom and showed hints of belonging to them.

Poseidon's first hint of becoming King of the Sea is that he makes lots of sea puns. Like, a lot.

They also don't have total rule over their kingdoms. Their authority is above all but still under the Primordials of their respective realms (Zeus is under Nyx, Poseidon under Pontus, Hades under Tartarus). Every time they make major changes in their kingdom, they have to consult the Primordials first.

Demeter isn't officially crowned ruler of the Mortal Realm but they all know she is in charge of the whole place.

Even though the Big Six preside over lots of domains, they don't always tend to each one themselves but have lesser deities like dryads, naiads, nepheles, etc. to assist them while they act like the head directors.

The marriages of the three kings and queens are more about political power than love. It's not that they don't have some feelings for each other though.

When they were young and Zeus is courting Hera, he once put on a peacock tail to woo her.

Demeter is married to Leto and they raised Persephone, Artemis, and Apollo together. I don't take objection.

All of the second-generation Olympians were taken care of by Hestia at least one time.

Do not mistake Hestia's dislike of violence for her incapability of inflicting violence. She can cause more damage than your mental health is prepare for.

Hestia doesn't yell or hit others, but disappointing her is the biggest crime.

Demeter makes the best vegetable dishes, roasts, soups, anything. Kids love veggies because of her. She can make you love broccoli with one meal.

Headacanon but also true myth: Demeter adopted and raised lots of kids on her own. Many of them later became her companions or spread the agricultural knowledge they learned from her to humanity. They all love mama Demeter.

Hera treats her daughters better than her sons, but it's because she is learning from her mistakes in bringing up Ares and Hephaestus. She isn't the best but she is trying everyday.

Zeus doesn't hate Ares, but what he reflects. Ares is a raw reminder of a darker side of Zeus that he'd rather pretend doesn't exist.

I've made this joke before but it's still relevant: The only thing more complicated than advance mathematics is Zeus and Hera's relationship with Ares.

Zeus' favorite children are Athena and Apollo, obviously. His least favorite (as in he doesn't care enough compared to others) are Ares and Persephone.

Iris and Chloris/Flora are not straight because of Hera, but they know they won't have any chances with her.

Zeus' first lover is Aëtos, an earth-born man who was his childhood friend when he lives in Crete.

In the modern world, the lock screen of Hera's phone has the picture of her family being happy together. And her home screen is the pic of Zeus in a Pikachu onesie.

[birindale]

Hi I just wanted to double check something I am pretty sure I read on this blog. Is the origin of C'yra of D'riluth iii from the original cannon or was it a later addition? Also what does "of D'riluth iii" actually mean? I remember there being some vagueness to what it means

Okay there's a long version and a short version of this story.

Short version: It was a later addition. In 2008 Mattel launched a toy line called Masters of the Universe Classics, which could only be ordered through their website and was aimed at the collector market. One of the things they did was include "character bios" in a sort of homage to the G.I. Joe toys of the 80s, which featured 'personnel files' that gave specializations and a brief character history, including their real names (e.g. Duke was actually named Conrad S. Hauser).

Catra's figure was released in 2011 for about $65 USD. Her bio (which I've lifted from a Poe Ghostal review) is as follows:

We (I, and my friends whom I've pestered for opinions) are pretty sure D'Riluth III is the name of her planet, even though another planet in the same solar system (from the New Adventures of He-Man in the 90s) has the Arabic numeral 7, so including Roman numerals is a strange choice.

Long version: There was a fellow working for Mattel at the time named Scott "Toyguru" Neitlich, and he was (and remains to this day) exceptionally bad at things like 'writing' and 'creativity'. He was never very interested in She-Ra, though he loves to tell the story of stealing his sister's doll one year, so to him Catra is simply an agent of the Horde... which, in order to adhere to the 2002-2003 tv show, was now 5,000 years old. This bio directly contradicts the Filmation canon of Catra's mask having belonged to the Magicat queen, for instance, and introduces a number of confusing details.

One of the least popular was Adora being Hordak's "step-daughter" instead of his "adopted daughter", which was already kind of a gray area since he didn't exactly raise her. Scott digging in his heels on the matter was actually how I learned he'd written the thing in the first place:

Now you may be wondering, jeez, it's pretty confusing and the writing isn't great but aren't you being kind of harsh? Surely the push-back from the He-Fans was bad enough. Well give me a minute, dang. This is the long version!

I reached out to him about a year and half ago to ask 1. How it's pronounced, 2. If he could confirm that D'Riluth III is the planet, and 3. If he remembered how he came up with it. He told me the following:

Some backstory here--Scott runs a bit of a one-man content farm, in an effort to avoid paying hosting fees for advertisements or actually engaging in SEO. He is a marketing consultant.

He used to upload a 5-10 minute video every day, but shortly after I contacted him that dropped to only five a week, and his weekly "Director's Commentary" videos about MOTUC figures that he worked on (largely just explaining who the character even is in an unedited stream of consciousness, as his videos became slideshows of google images) moved to bi-weekly.

I was like, okay, he left Mattel in 2014 right? So surely once he's through that year he'll get to this new series.

Nope! He's doing 2015 too! So I reached out again in January, just to like. See if he was still intending to cover the 'real names', which imo should have been part of his commentary to begin with, but...

He had forgotten <3 I explained no, I was asking about these specific questions that I had outlined in my first email (I had replied to his last message in the chain for simplicity's sake), and he just said he'd be doing it soon. So I was like oh, cool, do you know if you'll be doing one a week still? since that would put a Catra video about 4 years out as he does them in release order, and he then promised he'd get to it soon and didn't answer the question.

Annoying, certainly, but whatever. Unless one of us dies horribly I can wait it out, right?

WRONG.

Scott, being an idiot, has not credited a single one of the images he lifted from google over his four years of mostly-daily slideshows. And recently, somebody fucking noticed!

So this guy--Ethan Wilson, a very talented toy photographer and reviewer--was informed that Scott (in his capacity as Spector Creative, the name of his YouTube channel/consulting business) had been using his pictures in videos. Actually, let me use Ethan's own words here:

I decided to dig a little deeper into Spector’s channel, and found 81 instances of my photos being used in 68 of the channels videos.  None of these featured credit to me for use of the photos, and 48 of the 81 instances removed or obstructed my watermarks.

-About This Spector Creative Thing

I very strongly encourage you to read through this linked post, as it gets worse! Somehow!!

Scott, not noticing these as they came in over the course of 10 days, logged in to discover his channel had been taken down. He emailed Ethan in something of a panic to ask that Ethan reverse the claims as a 'professional favor', as Scott got all his clients through his channel's "advertising".

Now you're never gonna believe this... but when he and Ethan came to an understanding, suddenly Scott didn't give a shit.

He released a libelous video claiming Ethan had no rights to the images (he does) and that Scott could use them all he wanted because of Fair Use (he can't) and emailed Ethan the following.

First of all: this is bullshit. Copyright is automatic in the US, trademark wouldn't apply regardless, and as Scott should fucking know by now Ethan doesn't have a 'channel', he has a blog.

Second, he shot himself in the foot with the Fair Use defense by outright stating that his channel is his exclusive advertisement for his business and that he depends on his content to make a living. He said in his first video that it was "educational" 🙄

So Ethan realized Scott was a Fucking Liar and decided he should just copyright claim the rest of Scott's shit, in order to protect his images and rights thereto. YouTube can't take the channel down again unless Ethan is willing to pursue legal action--which he isn't, because he has a full time job and two kids and even though he'd probably win, it's a lot of time and energy.

I and a few others were trying to convince him that it would be worth it anyway, and looking into identifying and contacting the other artists Scott's stolen from over the years, when... Scott released a book. His first-ever graphic novel [looks into the camera like i'm on the office]

drawn entirely by AI.

So we have a frankenstein's monster of copyright infringement masquerading as illustrations (with all the uncanny valley that implies), Scott's technically and practically terrible writing, and the plot is Greek mythology. There are four and a half typos just in the free sample, and that's not including the words in images like his map or logo. He claims the title is a registered trademark but it certainly isn't registered in his state, or federally, and it's already in use by several other brands, so I wouldn't believe him even if he hadn't demonstrated a lack of understanding of copyright & trademark as recently as last week.

So I'm kinda fucking done waiting for answers! I can't trust a thing out of this guy's mouth! And he's pretty stupid, so do I even care what he thinks? I have decided that no. No I do not. I'll check back in 2028 and if he's survived + actually followed through then maybe I'll give his video a watch but until then it is simply pissing me off to remember this guy exists.

Sorry this turned into a rant I'm just really starting to loathe the guy. It's been an infuriating week or two. But uh... No, it's only canon to this one action figure line that ran for a little over a decade. We're certainly not beholden to it, it's more of a fun little in-joke for the fandom these days. You see someone use C'yra and you're like haha I know her! It's fun :3 Regardless of Scott's bullshit I enjoy seeing it around, and it's not like he owns or benefits from it in any way when maybe 1% of the people using it know where it comes from (and the people who know it was him specifically may be limited to the followers that have watched me complain about it).

Thank you for asking, I really do love asks even if the answer isn't what I want it to be lol. I'm happy to verify or explain anything I can!

[luveline]

For the Steve zombie au, may i request r and Steve’s friends getting to know each other? Maybe they’re all eating together and r realizing she can trust these people and Steve is just so happy they all get along?

thank you for your request my love! steve zombie!au | fem!reader ♥︎ 1.2k

You're majorly surprised that Steve would be friends with Jonathan Byers. It probably seems like old news given the apocalyptic circumstances, but you remember the epic and tragic bumps of their love triangle. Nancy bouncing between them, and the eventual messy breakup. 

You're unsure if Steve knows you'd been there that night at the Halloween party. His Risky Business costume had actually done a lot to humanise him when you first met him again in the early days, and he'd been a total jerk. He'd say something cruel and you'd remember his sunglasses and his chicken dancing and get over it. 

You're not in the early days anymore. Months of hiking and fighting and zombies and, amazingly, falling in love. Steve would kick the shit out of anyone if they talked to you the way he had, and his apology for being such a grump comes everyday and in new ways. 

He has his hand between your thighs, fingertips stroking circles up toward your knee. 

"No, man, I'm serious, it was a shit show! First you, then Hargrove," he's saying, stomach digging into the table's edge with his enthusiasm. "Good thing, though, my ego was dead and gone when I needed to be humble." 

Jonathan snorts, picking through his cards with a concentrated frown. "I'm still sorry." 

"I don't want you to be sorry. I was a dick." 

"Yeah, but we were seventeen. Everyone's a dick at seventeen."  

You're having a hard time distrusting him, or any of Steve's friends, considering they're the ones who fought to get you back. They walked miles in the dark and the cold to save you, and bring you back to the community. If it weren't for them, you wouldn't be tucked into Steve's side, eyeing his cards and whispering instructions. Nobody's given you shit for it, while it's pretty much cheating, and you know why — there's a resounding feeling of pity wrapped around you. 

You still have all the cuts and scrapes of your kidnapping. The scratches on your face have barely scabbed over, your wrists still sore and torn. It's a constant reminder. You try not to look at them. 

Pity comes with a good helping of care, though. 

"Hey," Robin says, bounding into the town hall with a smile. "Where is everybody?" 

"We're early." 

"Oh. Well, I got more cards," she says, brandishing a fresh pack, plastic wrapped and everything, "Cooper didn't wanna give 'em to me, but I told him the cards club got a bunch of new members. Hopefully he doesn't come tonight." 

She pauses. "Can I sit here?" 

You nod emphatically. She can do whatever she likes as far as you're concerned. She'd been there for Steve while you were gone, and she's come to find you too. You're starting to realise that your suspicion of her had been unfounded. For the two weeks you'd slept in her room, you'd stayed up sick with nerves thinking she was gonna stab you in your sleep. It's kind of hard to believe she'd bother these days. 

Plus, you desperately want to like Robin. She's funny, and smart, and she has a really nice voice. You could listen to her talk about movies for hours, and you would, because Steve could do it too, though he's far more opinionated than you are. 

"Thank you," she says. "I got something for you." 

You sit up from Steve's side, trying your best to look like a functioning person rather than his pathetic clinger. "What?" 

"Yeah, I got this bio-oil from the medic station for your face. I mean, don't get me wrong, you'd look cool with a scar, but I thought maybe that should be up to you. And this," she says, putting the bio-oil and a white packet down in front of you. "Steve said you liked the first one." 

It's a small bar of Hershey's Cookies 'n' Creme. You stare at the two items, lost for words, and then you decide you have to be brave even if it's a little awkward, and even if you're still scared of things going wrong. 

"You didn't have to get these for me, Robin," you say. 

"I wanted to." 

You slide across the bench you're sitting on slowly, so she has time to move away. "Thank you," you say, and hold your arms out for a hug. 

She looks startled but happy, and is quick to accept your offering. "You're welcome," she says, arms crossing behind your back. 

You nod and pull away, giving her a genuine, if guilty smile. 

Just as you realise Steve has been listening, Jonathan tries to save him, roping him back into conversation. You miss his hand on your leg and consider asking for it back, and you really wish he'd stop the game altogether so you can hide under his arm again. You've been feeling rightfully fragile since you got back. Touching him makes it go away. 

But you're not a loser. Robin's breaking the seal on the new pack of cards, and you're really good at card games after so many nights alone with Steve, who's really bad at them. 

"You know gin rummy?" you ask her. 

"I do not," she says, with an air of grandness, her smile unmissable. "I'm a quick study." 

"Robs, don't let her teach you," Steve butts in, "she'll teach you how to play, but she won't teach you how to play well." 

"I only taught you badly 'cause I was mad at you," you say, rolling your eyes.

"What?" 

"Yeah, it was after we got stuck inside that taco truck, and you said I sound like a dying cat when I sing, even though you're the one who asked me to sing in the first place." 

He chuckles easily at the memory. "Oh, yeah. God, I'm sorry, you were still sick from that bad water and your throat was all raw." 

He does you the service of kissing your cheek.

"I'm sorry," he says again. "I was mean." 

"I don't buy it. That's a fake apology," Robin says. 

You burst into giggles as Steve gasps with indignation, and Jonathan lays his cards out flat on the table. 

"I win," he says. 

Steve, despite your ganging up on him, and Jonathan's poorly timed victory, doesn't seem upset at all. He's smiling one of his more secret smiles, the kind you had to dig long and hard to find, and his hand feels like love as he takes up station on your thigh again. He squeezes three times. 

You cover his hand briefly with your own, rubbing the fine hairs on the back of his fingers, before turning your attention to Robin completely. 

"I'm gonna make you a champion," you promise.