#raya is an ally

[rayatii]

Well, I see that that random Hogwarts house ask was a bait. I did sort of suspect that this would be the case, but I said what I had to say regardless. Obviously I later received threats (from a URL marked red by Shinigami Eyes, no less) about "using and supporting the use of rape language" (whatever that means, other than a transphobe dogwhistle, I guess), and about how I supposedly "support the countless rape threats that R*wling has received" (which. I do not support rape threats. But the woman has tons of money and influence so she should definitely be unbothered by Internet randos saying shit). Random red user, you are now blocked. I want to reiterate that all my trans and LGBTQIA+ fwendos and followers are safe here on my blog. No bigots allowed here.

[starogeorgina]

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐮𝐬

Pairing: Criston Cole x reader

Warnings: None

1.04

Feeling a sense of déjà vu, you place the brush in your hand, hear a knock at your chamber door, and call out, “Come in, Raya.”

You take a small amount of floral-smelling oil between your fingertips and rub it on the ends of your hair. Once your hair was braided, you’d be able to leave to attend a meeting with your father to go over the terms of Meera’s betrothal. You could practically see the wheels turning behind Otto Hightower's eyes when he suggested there may be a more suitable match than the one you had already made.

“Princess.”

“Ser Criston,” surprised by the knight’s presence, you stand. “I dismissed you this morning. You aren’t supposed to resume your duties until nighttime.”

“I’ve decided to decline your gracious offer of time off, princess.”

Amused, you shake your head. “I don’t believe you are allowed to decline me, Ser.”

“In truth, I would feel more comfortable escorting you and the young princess myself to the dragonpit this afternoon.”

“Very well.” You skim your hand over your vanity to your mother's old jewelry box, open it, and start sliding various rings on your fingers. “I’m assuming you’ve dismissed the king's guard posted outside my quarters already?”

“Yes, princess.”

Taking out the last piece of jewelry you’d chosen to wear, a gold herringbone-link necklace that was a name-day gift from Rhaenyra. Noises of frustration leave your mouth as you struggle to attach the latch at the back.

“Princess, allow me.”

Criston stands in front of you, holding his hand out to take the necklace. You hand it to him, then turn to face the opposite way and pull your hair away from your neck. His cold fingers briefly brush against your skin before clasping the necklace together. When he steps back, you let go of your hair and fix it behind your shoulders.

You look over your shoulder at him and say, “Thank you.”

He says nothing, but you feel a slight tightness in your stomach while his gaze lingers on you. The knight finally breaks the silence and, in a humorous tone, asks, “Is it a coincidence that you and Princess Meera are wearing matching dresses this morning?”

“She picked her dress after I chose mine.”

Your answer causes him to smile. “It must be the greatest of compliments to have a child that idolizes you.”

Lady Laena had sent various dresses in rich colors over from Pentos as an apology for missing your wedding. You’d chosen to wear an orange beaded gown; the fabric of the skirts is much thinner and flatter than what highborns in King's Landing wear. Meera’s dress was the same color as yours; it meant a great deal to you that your cousin had taken your daughter into consideration as well.

“Forgive me, princess,” Raya says, rushing into your bedchamber, flushed in the face. “Good morrow, Ser Criston.”

“Good morrow. I’ll wait outside until you’re ready, princess.”

You sit back down at your vanity, and Raya begins to section your hair into different parts to braid. You feel a slight tingle on the back of your neck where the knight’s fingers brushed against.

—

Your father sits at the head of the small council table, listening intently as Otto pushes his own agenda as expected. You were thankful Ser Criston was there, as you were short of allies in the room. You sat on one side of the table, while Alicent, Otto, and a very disinterested Gwayne sat on the opposite side. Your husband had remained silent while the queen and her father continued to ramble on.

“Why isn’t my sister here?”

Otto glances at his daughter, then back to you. “I wasn’t aware that you wished to have Princess Rhaenyra present during this discussion.”

You spin the green marble ball on the table with the pads of your finger. You weren’t a fool; yourself and Rhaenyra had already spoken about the Hightowers deliberately excluding her because they thought it would be easier to sway your decision without her there. “My sister is the heir to the iron throne, and my daughter is the link between House Targaryen and House Stark. I would think her opinion is rather important on the matter.”

Alicent stands, holding a goblet in her hand and a strained smile on her face. “I know you have considered several suitors, but my son Aemond isn’t much older than your daughter, Meera. I propose we betroth them and strengthen our houses.”

“A most judicious proposition,” your father says. “But as my daughter has already stated, she has accepted a marriage betrothal. The matter is settled.”

“Oh.” Alicent struggles to remain neutral as cracks of anger begin to show on her face. “Might I ask what princess Meera will be fostered at Winterfell?”

You take a small drink of wine for courage before standing yourself up. “She won’t be. After my husband’s death, Lord Rickon Stark and I discussed betrothing his youngest son Cregan to my daughter at length; they will only marry after Meera celebrates her eighteenth name day, and until then she will remain by my side.”

“And how do you plan on upholding this betrothal if the princess remains in the red keep?” Alicent asks.

The question itself wasn’t vicious or malicious, but the queen's voice was. Alicent looks at the image of the mother with her modest green dress and hair healed back neatly in a bun. It was mind-boggling how someone who possessed such beauty and intelligence could equally be ambitious and scheming.

“I plan on taking Meera back to Winterfell many times so that she remains familiar with her northern roots and the Starks have an open invitation to visit whenever they wish.“

Otto chuckles, “I’m sure House Stark won’t—”

“Lord Rickon is as much my daughter's grandsire as my father, the king, is.”

The Stark are honorable, and you weren’t going to break faith with them for any reason.

—

While walking in the godswood, you mumble to yourself in High Valyrian while twirling the rings on your fingers. It would be another hour before Meera’s lessons would finish, and the courtyard had become the place you go when seeking comfort. The entire meeting in the small council chamber seemed so pointless; all you had done was add to the Hightowers dislike for you.

“Can I speak freely, princess?”

“You may always speak freely with me, my good knight.”

“I believe you handled yourself better than most would have under interrogation.”

Ser Criston says this in a serious manner, but when you meet his eye, you both laugh. “I had heard how intense the Hightowers can be, but it does baffle me how opinionated they all are aside from Gwayne, who seems to have lost his voice.”

“Perhaps he knows his input isn’t warranted.”

You studied him for a moment; the shift in his expression was obvious. “You don’t like him, do you?”

“Do you?” Criston counters. “It’s not me who’s married to him.”

“Pity, you would have made a fine-looking couple.”

He chuckles, “Let us hope any children you bear inherit your looks and not Ser Gwayne’s.”

Your lips press into a thin line. If anyone overheard, they might have mistaken the knight's jest for a compliment.

[yourlocalbadgerscales]

~ Intro post, since I forgot to pin my first one ~

Hello pooks <3

I am yourlocalbadgerscales, but you can call me Ella, Jaimiee, Aspen, Alfie, Jules… literally anything you want to as long as it isn’t creepy! ^^ But I prefer Jaimiee!

This is my main blog, and here I will post pretty much whatever comes to mind, and I’ll reblog anything funny or important I come across. As I write this, I have been on this hellsite for about 5 months. I think I’m learning :)

About me:

I’m a minor (between 13-17 years old, I will keep my exact age a secret for safety reasons)

My pronouns are she/her

I am a polyam bi-lesbian

I am a demigirl!

I live in Europe

I’m a Slytherpuff! (Slytherin & Hufflepuff)

Die, cry, despise

Time stamp: 01:37

Main fandoms I’m in:

Harry Potter (fuck J.K R0wI!ng)

The Marauders

Taylor Swift

Conan Gray

Gaylor Swift

Not a fandom, but I’m a proud member of LGBTQIA+!

Favourite ships:

Drarry

Jegulus

Wolfstar

Deamus

Carulia (Carmen Sandiego x Julia)

Kaylor (Taylor Swift x Karlie Kloss)

Autumnflower/Summerfall (Florean Fortescue x oc!August Ollivander)

Rayamaari (Raya and the Last Dragon, Raya x Namaari)

Favourite artists:

Conan Gray • Taylor Swift • Eminem

Chappell Roan • Nessa Barrett

SOFIA ISELLA to name a few!

Current favourite artists, albums & songs:

“Midnights”, album by Taylor Swift!

A bunch of songs from “folklore”, album by Taylor Swift!

Nessa Barrett!!!

DNI:

Queerphobes (and if you exclude certain gender identities, sexualities etc., get out!)

MAPs (MAP stands for Minor Attracted Person, aka pedophile. This isn’t a real sexuality in LGBTQIA+!)

Zoophiles (This isn’t a valid sexuality, either!)

Zionists

TERFs (Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminist, aka transphobe)… or as I like to call them, FARTs (Feminist Appropriating Reactionary Transphobe)

People who cheat on their partners (What is wrong with you?)

Porn bots (As if you’d care about my DNI)

People who hate on certain religions

People looking for sex and stuff like that

Feel free to interact:

If you’re 18+ and you’re just here to enjoy my content without the intention of being creepy ^^

If you’re LGBTQIA+ and/or an ally!

If you need someone to vent to

If you have any questions about fandoms in I’m, I’m happy to help!

My tumblr family:

My parent @meatybunger

My child @homocidalpotat

My other child @dragonfanplaugedr

My partners @cheekyboybeth (wifey 💅💍), @ravenwordss and @here-am-i-sitting-in-a-tin-can

Tags I use for my posts are #jamstag (earlier ellastag), #anti jkr (for all my Harry Potter and/or Marauders themed posts, #ella bleeds ink (for poetry), etc.

Here are a few of my sideblogs: @regregregulusblack (roleplay blog), @floreanfortescuetruther (blog where I brainrot about SUCH an underrated character and his OC boyfriend, August Ollivander!), @slitherpuffinstories (place for microfics), @urlocalbadgerscales (main blog #2) etc… I have about 10 sideblogs, many of them secret 🤫

Feel free to send asks and write to me privately, I love to make friends! Also, drink some water. Stay hydrated! 💧 I love you ❤️

Love Jaimiee xx

[firefirefruit]

Steel in Her Veins, Chapter: Twenty

Read On: AO3 | Table of Contents | Next Chapter

Characters: Fem!Reader x Roronoa Zoro

Chapter Twenty: Minks and Vivre Cards

A prickle enters into your skin, fine pointed metal paving its way with a certain grace the cut of a sword could never imitate. You look down to your doctor, observing the wide-eyed focus on his face as his hooves graze over your skin.

It’s too early for him to have found any life-saving cures, you’re aware; since the Shaman’s planned attack, it’s only been two days since you set sail from their island - so, as you lay idly in the ship’s medic cabin, your curiosity gives way over to Robin who sits at Chopper’s desk, her spine curling consumingly over the stolen tome.

If the serum isn’t entirely a cure, and Chopper’s confident enough to enter it into your system, then you can deduce that this isn’t just some experiment. You stare at the milky liquid as it slowly spills out from the syringe and into you.

“You’ve found a way to slow it down,” you softly remark, urging Chopper’s eyes to flicker onto yours. With a pursed mouth, he nods in confirmation before starting towards his desk.

“From what Robin’s deciphered so far, you transformation doesn’t seem to be…humane. You’ve heard of Minks before, right?”

You nod. “Sure. We have strong ties to…”

You stop yourself, recognising that, still, no one aboard this ship is aware of you or your Gramps’ real identity. How do you even bring up that line of conversation at this point of the journey? Hey, I’m actually from Wano, and I’m not just anybody from Wano; I’m the granddaughter of the former Shonen! The old man you’ve become pretty close to? Yeah, that’s him! Not only that, but he’s also the father to Oden! But then... there's a chance that, if you were to say those exact words to them, they might just stare back at you blankly. You're not sure whether they even know about a place called Wano, or about Oden – it’s not like they’ve debriefed you on every single journey they’ve been on. Perhaps you should go through Robin’s logbooks which she’s so kindly offered in passing, just to make sure…

You pause, averting your gaze from Chopper’s back, not knowing how to save yourself from your slip up. He turns around, a questioning look settling on his face.

“Sorry, I don’t think I heard that right,” he sheepishly says.

Robin behind him casually flips over to another silver-dusted page, her fingers tracing ever so slightly over the scripture.

“I think she said that Hitetsu-sama has taught her about Minks,” Robin smoothly replies, her eyes glued to the page.

The revelation hits you like a sudden gust of wind, sweeping away any semblance of composure you’d managed to maintain.

Your neck snaps to her direction, eyes widening. She knows.

She knows that’s not what you actually said. Why…why did she just do that? Keep your your identity hidden? How much does she know about you, your history, your lineage? And why hasn’t she mentioned it to anyone before? Panic bubbles up within you, threatening to spill over, but you clamp down on it with all your strength.

If you’re recalling correctly, Robin has always referred to Suki as ‘san.’ This is the first time she’s ever used ‘sama’ when talking about him; surely, that means she knows who he is. Who you are. His importance.

You meet Robin's gaze, searching for any hint of recognition in her steady eyes. But all you find is a calm, composed facade, her expression giving nothing away.

"Yes, that's right," you manage to choke out, your voice betraying none of the shock consuming you. "Hitetsu-sama... has taught me a lot about Minks."

It’s not a lie; not really. The day you both immigrated from Wano in Suki’s exceptionally hand-crafted raft was when you had your first lesson about two very important topics – Minks, and Vivre cards.

“The Minks are our lifelong allies, Raya…but we prefer to call them family. This,” he says, displaying a wriggling piece of paper wedged in between his two fingers, “is how we get to them.”

You remember it so dearly. Climbing up on Zunesha’s offered bowing leg, being welcomed by a bunch of wide furry arms, their devoted insistence on treating you both as royalty although you both had willingly revoked that title in purpose of seeing the rest of the world.

You remember their electric glow when the whole moon bid its hello once a month, soft fur running through your hands as they’d carry an eight-year-old you on their backs, uncontrollably laughing when they’d nuzzle your sensitive neck and lick your face clean.

You remember befriending two brother bears, one the same age as you, the other a little older. Following them around in the jungle as they’d run excitedly to show you their favourite fishing spots. Their personalities - so gentle, so wide-eyed, so warm. You wonder what they’re doing now.

And although your stay on Zunesha was only for a few months – the main reason for being there in the first place was to learn more about the outside world – those very few months were some of the best highlights of your childhood.

You wonder about them, hoping that all is well - not only the Minks but also for Zunesha.

You miss petting his thick skin, where it would lay bare in between places that were unoccupied by Minks. He’d talk to you, ask you about your thoughts, and even mention your relation to Oden.

Normally, you hated being seen as merely a blood relative to the almighty Oden - to be spoken to only because of who he was and not who you are. But with Zunesha, it was different – his question was was so passively said that sometimes you forget that he even asked it.

Only once did the ancient mammal question your bloodline, and when you curtly affirmed his suspicions, he accepted the response and moved on without asking for more.

You snap out of your daze; a faint smile plays on your lips as you look over at Chopper who’s busy sterilizing his equipment.

“Minks...what about them?”

“When Minks transform under the lunar cycle, it's tough for them to go back to normal,” Chopper explains. You nod your head already knowing this, fingers gripping over the medical bed rail. “They lose all sense of control.”

"Yeah," Chopper confirms. "When we first met them, I made a serum to help slow down their transformation. It gave them more time to think straight, and most of them could either stop changing completely or stay in control even while transformed."

“So, if we assume that whatever’s in my blood isn’t humane, it could be…” Your eyes widen, now putting all the pieces together. “Just…just what am I?”

“That’s what we’re trying to find out,” Robin murmurs thoughtfully, fingers over her lips.

Chopper nods, a reassuring smile on his face. “If the serum works on you, then what we’re suspecting is correct.”

You swallow. “And if it doesn’t?”

“Entirely harmless to humans. Your cells will attack it pretty quickly without you even realising it happening.”

Suddenly, the ship shudders and rattles under an unexpected disturbance. An earth-quaking groan thrums from beneath your feet, toppling over the chairs and books in the room. Desperately, your sweating fingers grasp onto the metal rail of the medical bed, your heart pounding in your chest; Chopper's scream of confusion echoes in the cramped cabin, mingling with the crash of glass vials and the milky liquid that spills across the floor.

Amidst the chaos, Robin's calm presence offers a semblance of stability, her arm sprouting beside you to steady you against the violent lurch of the ship. But even as you struggle to regain your footing, a wild shout from outside the cabin pierces the air, followed by Luffy's unmistakable voice, filled with uncontainable excitement.

"What's happening?" you breathe, your eyes darting between Chopper, Robin, and the door, where the sounds of commotion spill in from the deck.

Robin's lips curl into a knowing smile as she peers through the small porthole, amusement dancing in her eyes. "It seems we have visitors," she announces, her voice tinged with anticipation.

You hear Luffy wildly cheer again, and then shout out for the rest of you guys to join. Chopper jumps up to Robin, hopping desperately to grab a view of the action.

“What is it, Robin?” Chopper desperately begs. “Let me see!”

With a firm push, she swings open the door, revealing a scene of surprise and chaos unfolding on the deck below. Chopper, his fur standing on end with excitement, darts past you, his eager cries mingling with Usopp's bright grin as they rush to join the fray.

As you step out onto the deck, your gaze falls upon the unexpected visitors, and your breath catches in your throat. There, standing amidst the chaos, is a polar bear clad in an orange jumpsuit

You swear you just felt your heart stop.

A polar bear. White fur, the same fur you’d run your hands through in awe. Flashes of him showing his favourite fishing spots on Zunesha. So gentle, so wide-eyed, so warm. What was his name? What was his brother’s?  

“Bepo!” Chopper screams out, jumping on the massive bear.

Bepo. That was his name. Your mouth is wide open, the blood in your body running cold. And Zepo...That was his brother.

How…

Why… Why is he here? Where…?

But before you start spiralling into panic, your eyes catch onto the other figure that stands alongside dear Bepo, a sleep-deprived looking man who has his lips pursed firmly in irritation. His arms are crossed tightly over his chest, his gaze fixed on Luffy with an intensity that sends a chill down your spine.

"Tora-o," Robin greets him over the banister with a raised eyebrow, her tone tinged with amusement. "To what do we owe the pleasure?"

The man's gaze turns to Robin, and for a moment, there's a flicker of something in his eyes— a greeting, perhaps, or recognition. But then his expression hardens once more, and he meets her gaze with a steely resolve.

"Your ship broke my submarine," he says, dead-panned, his voice cutting through laughter.

[jrat226]

Alright so I watched disventure camp, is Italian TDI ripoff?, yes, is it good? I'd say it's pretty damn good once you get past some of the acting, but honestly it's cool so fuck it let's rank the season 2 characters (cause they're leagues better than season 1s cast)

1. James (I mean what's not to like the man has strategy, charisma, smarts, a healthy relationship, an amazing arc and character development, let's be honest he's the main character, there's a reason he won, plus he poisoned yul) "I can't replace your teddy bear but i can try"

2. Aiden (I love Aiden, that's it, he's just a funny little guy) "remember when you told me i needed a push.. well now it's your turn"

3. Connor (he was wasted potential in my opinion he should've acted as like a peacekeeper in the season and helped the teens with their problems, but still he's amazing) "raya was right adult connor fits much better with the kids at camp"

4. Rosa Maria (she's fucking awesome) "that's it I'm going to whoop his ass"

5. Yul (ok I hate this bitch, but it's fun hating him and omg I love this idea, the fruitiest man I've ever seen being, homophobic, sexist and racist is the funniest concept for a character ever conceived) "a latina stealing why am I not surprised"

6. Kai (peace and tranquility) "thanks everyone except you yul, go fuck yourself"

7. Hunter (I like hunters character, they ruined him and the poly couple in all stars but hey what can you do) "that didn't stop them from getting into my bed in the middle of the night"

8. Ally (gamer girl gf, good moments, solid character) (imma be honest i don't recall a single quote... Ehhh fuck it)

9. Tess (depressed goth gf, nice, solid character) "I'm still here aren't I?"

10. Lake (a lot of people like her, her friendships are cute but outside that she's mid I'm sorry) "I'm dead"

11. Maggie (she's cool her relationship with Kai is cute) *slap* "damn Oliver calm down"

12. Oliver (Oliver is chill, I like him, I liked his little side story)

13. Raya (ok I don't get the hype with raya, she's like a twist villain in a shitty movie, like cool she's a villain if only I was able to see that sooner instead of the last 4 episodes, like dead ass this is your queen??)

14. Karol (do I need to explain??, but I'll give her a point for being an animal person, that's something)

[miirshroom]

Shadow of the Erdtree - Mohg is still Vile and Miquella's "Mind-Control" Powers before becoming a God were Greatly Exaggerated

Thesis: Mohg absolutely did not beat the allegations of kidnapping and child molestation. It is incredibly shortsighted to reach this conclusion based on the words of one person, who is also a supporter of Mohg. There are many more pieces of context to consider.

Mind-control is speculative fiction

"Mind-control" is a word that is easy to understand. There is a mind, it is being controlled. But in the literal sense mind-control isn't real - you can't pilot another person around like a meat puppet. The closest concepts that actually exist are "coercive persuasion" or "thought reform". Both of which mean "reduce its subject's ability to think critically or independently, to allow the introduction of new, unwanted thoughts and ideas into their minds, as well as to change their attitudes, values, and beliefs." The English language doesn't care about clarity of understanding - it likes metaphors and evocative imagery - so this is better known as brainwashing. The CIA's MK Ultra experiments used drugs and torture to psychologically break down subjects and destroy them mentally but were unable to fill the void with anything. Ex-cult members have described their experience as brainwashing, and I think that this is where some cognitive dissonance is found surrounding what brainwashing means.

Cults certainly have been documented to impair a person's ability to think critically, but I think the key difference is that they don't actually introduce "unwanted" thoughts. Humans are social creatures and want to belong to a group - and if the cost of belonging is to change attitudes, values, and beliefs to conform then some people will pay that price. But adding complexity to this - academia is keen on obfuscating the definition of what a cult actually is. There are all of these hoops being jumped through to avoid admitting that the modern cult should mean the same thing that it means in the context of cults from 2000 years ago. A cult is a group that adheres to a belief system about divinity, the afterlife and other alleged supernatural phenomena that is impossible to prove or disprove, and which has political power proportional to the size of its membership. By this definition, all religions are just politically powerful cults that went mainstream. Which is why it isn't the definition that is used.

So does brainwashing define a cult? No, as just established brainwashing isn't literally real - not in the way that it is portrayed in fiction. A cult is defined by adopting an irrational belief system that impairs a person's ability to think critically.

2. The nature of "Mind Control" in Elden Ring

We have places where the ideas of perfect mind-control are explored in speculative fiction and fantasy. High fantasy stories don't use the words "mind-control" or "brainwashing" because there are already all of these archaic words and concepts that people thought of to get across idea that someone is being made to do something against their will. "Compelled", "Bewitched", "Charmed", "Enchanted", "Possessed by Demons".

Rennala "bewitched" the academy of Raya Lucaria with her moon sorcery. Well, she's literally a witch - so that is accurate. Ignoring the supernatural angle one definition of bewitch is "to attract or interest someone a lot so that you have the power to influence them". I suppose this is originating from the idea that men are not responsible for their own emotions, so it's the witchy woman getting into their head in a supernatural way. Regardless, the academy was interested in Rennala's moon, because studying celestial bodies is their purpose and the moon is a celestial body.

The Bewitching Branch:

"Tree branch blessed with an incantation of unalloyed gold. Pierce a foe, using FP to turn them into a temporary ally. The Empyrean Miquella is loved by many people. Indeed, he has learned very well how to compel such affection."

The word "compel" means "to drive or urge forcefully or irresistibly" or "to cause to do or occur by overwhelming pressure". So this combined the idea of bewitching and compulsion means to attract interest and to use overwhelming pressure to cause an irresistible urge towards affectionate love. The Greek word for affectionate love is "Philia" and an expanded definition would be "the type of love that involves friendship. Philia is the kind of love that strong friends feel toward each other." The large Albinauric woman at the Apostate Derelict who Latenna travels to visit in the Consecrated Snowfields is also named Philia. The function of the Bewitching Branch is to make enemies your friend and it is a spell that specifically works through contact. It is even shown directly in the Land of Shadow that Miquella's "charms" do not overwrite anyone's personality - they just are pacified from killing each other. That was probably also the limit of Miquella's power before ascending to a god. The power of friendship.

The nature of the Bewitching Branch being crafted from Sacramental Buds and a Miquella's Lily is tied to the idea of the Haligtree being grown from Miquella's blood. Gideon grants the Bewitching Branch recipe just for reaching the Mohgwyn area - not even for defeating Mohg - and insults the Lord of Blood for good measure. After actually defeating Mohg is when Gideon grants the incantation "Law of Causality". I wonder if these are bigger hints than it seems. The Mohgwyn Dynasty Mausoleum is a tomb - like everything in the underground these are not "new" movements but old things being given new life. The timing of receiving the Bewitching Branch implies Miquella's desire to grow a Haligtree was originated with the idealistic belief that if everyone was united in friendship under a benevolent leader then there would be no repeats of the bloody horrors of the past. The timing of the Law of Causality being received is illustrative of the futility of Miquella's plan. He suffered many blows to his spirits from repeatedly trying and failing in his plans and under those conditions it was only a matter of time before something would cause him to crack and lash out in retaliation.

But then we enter the DLC and I believe that these words of "bewitch" and "compel" are not used again. Leda and her companions are under Miquella's "charm" and Miquella's Great Rune has the power to resist "charms". Ansbach sought to break Miquella's "enchantment" over Mohg. Charm is a word that has been used many times in the talismans and "enchants" or "enchantment" are terms used multiple times to describe "imbuing a weapon with elemental power". In the network test there was an "Enchanted Knight" class which wore the Carian Knight armour set and was thus imbued with the power of the moon.

3. Mohg killed Miquella (figuratively) and Ansbach killed Miquella (literally)

So - is Mohg a weapon imbued with elemental power by Miquella? Only if Miquella is and always has been the Formless Mother who craves wounds. It destroys all purpose of having discreet characters to assume that every character is just somebody else in disguise so let's not go there. Miquella also has never been to the sewers - Miquella's lilies cannot be found there. Trying to argue that Miquella cultivated Mohg's insanity and fixation on blood and pain simply makes no logical or chronological sense. Another definition of "enchantment" is "a feeling of great pleasure and attraction, especially because something is beautiful". Attraction is a stronger word than the friendly affection that Miquella was attempting to foster - it is more closely related to desire or romantic love. Miquella wanted friendship for everyone and Mohg wanted Miquella like a beautiful thing to be possessed.

Working around the lies of omission, Ansbach saw Mohg wavering from his bloody dynastic ambitions and took it upon himself to assassinate Miquella before dying himself and encountering Miquella when they both found themselves in the sleep of death. It's a similar situation with Freyja - she didn't meet Miquella on the battlefield, she died and went to Valhalla. In death, any wound can be healed. The Shadowlands is a place where death washes up - everyone we meet in the DLC is no longer "ye dead who yet live" - they're just dead.

But Mohg is insane and as we are shown repeatedly the demigods don't die in natural ways. Godwyn's body took on a life of its own in death, Radahn's mind is rotted but his body keeps going, and etc. Mohg still wanted Miquella as a consort to be possessed and shared his bloody bedchamber but Miquella never responded. Probably because he was already well established in the Shadowlands through St. Trina residing there so his mind had somewhere to go and dissociate when he was helpless to fight back. Nobody wants their body to be possessed by demons, and that is exactly the imagery evoked when Mohg emerges from Miquella's blood. And demons do take residence in empty bodies in this game - we know this through Shabriri and Hyetta. This is not consent and this is not Miquella's manipulation - this is Mohg doing an incredibly vile and invasive act.

4. The cycle of violence

Despite their differences what Miquella and Mohg do both individually represent is that they are heads of cults. The cult of Miquella is soporific - he encourages stagnation of thought by instructing his followers to just believe in him and his dream and wait for the promised day. Miquella had an elaborate city constructed to give the appearance of action but actually had no real plan except to wait and hope for a miracle. The cult of Mohg is frenzied - he encourages pain and suffering to the point that it overwhelms any constructive thought. He sits in a crumbling ruin because his followers are too dulled by the pain to improve their surroundings.

When these two opposing forces combine they do not cancel each other out but instead create an aesthetically beautiful torment nexus. But what is the point of beauty if it is impossible to enjoy due to the suffering that built it? We already know what that looks like: it's Marika's Golden Order. The Shadow of the Erdtree is not just about Miquella, but about understanding Marika's motivation for becoming a god. A critical part of Marika's story is about the trauma that forged her. There are direct parallels being drawn between Miquella and Marika. Marika was traumatized by the cruelty of her people having their flesh melted together in pots, and in revenge became a god and exterminated the hornsent. Miquella was traumatized by being kidnapped and bathed in Mohg's Omen blood, and in revenge became a god and exterminated Mohg's personhood. Hornsent = Omen. Generational trauma is cyclical.

[bricko-mcfisto]

It's time for some more Elden Ring posting! This time I'm going to be discussing the timeline of when the past events of the game's DLC took place and based on what I've seen of other people's speculation I might actually have a hot take.

Obviously, spoilers under the cut.

So a lot of people are talking about how they think Messmer's crusade was really early into the timeline. I've even see people claim that Messmer must have been responsible for killing the giants (which is particularly absurd as we know categorically know that was Godfrey) and I have to question why.

Everything we can find indicates Messmer is a child of Radagon and Marika, everything about his allies and soldiers indicates this was after peace was made with Liurnia. One of Messmer's closest allies, Commander Gaius was a rival to Radahn growing up, specifically they were rivals in their youth. What did Gaius go to the land of shadow however many centuries later to lead Messmer's men long after the war had been won?

Not to mention the presence of the Carian royal family, Renalla's sister, carian knights in full "modern" Carian armor with the same knighted trolls as Caria wielded and even members of the Lazuli Conspectus who were a sect within Raya Lucaria!

Is it maybe a bit weird that Renalla's sister had a thing for the son of Renalla's ex? Yeah but is it weirder than some of the other familial relations in this game? Not really.

It's strongly implied that Messmer's war with the hornsent was brutal and fast, as in he came in with an extremely well organized, extremely powerful army, the kind of thing Marika would need an extremely solid foundation to build upon, as in a full fledged functioning nation with a solid supply base. I think the most likely thing is that Marika actually waited, she bided her time and either ignored or played nice with the Hornsent until she had the resources and power to wage a fast and brutal crusade.

The Shadow Realm Rune (3) states: "The soldiers who joined the crusade were rewarded with grace aplenty."

Marika had the means to hand out grace, to hand out runes, like candy she was throwing her huge godly wealth around. Speaking of Liurnia that's important too because I feel some people might point out that the lands of shadow were more than likely part of the lands between before being forcibly separated and transformed into the land of shadow, so what about all that time that the Hornsent would have been neighbors to Leyndell?

Well that's why I bring up Liurnia, a literal neighboring nation that Marika also had to wage war against, which didn't work out that well and she instead had to have Radagon sue for peace. Does the almighty crusade that devastated the Hornsent really sound like something she was capable of doing at a point in time when she didn't even have the resources and might to conquer Liurnia?

An important thing we have to remember about any video game of this style is that the world isn't to scale. The game world we traipse across on Torrent is nowhere near as big as the Lands Between would be in any movie or book where they're not limited by needing to make things navigable by the player in a reasonable time. The Hornsent were at best a neighbor that Marika acted indifferently or coldly towards. Maybe relations were actually pretty tense because of how she treated Omens assuming the Hornsent even knew about that.

Either way given the sheer scale of the invasion, the presence of both Gaius and Carian nobility, Raya Lucaria scholars, and that Messmer's most likely lineage is Radagon, and the sheer amount of "grace" and resources Marika had to throw at this crusade, it seems clear that this was after the war with Liurnia, when Marika's power was at its height and there were no other threats anywhere around Leyndell to distract her from pursuing her grudge.

[tarnishedinquirer]

Case: The Path of the Wolf pt 2 (Seeker Camp)

While exploring the south of Limgrave, I came upon a another heavily fortified camp. Nobles, sellswords, Godrick soldiers... with defensive fortifications, and stationed on a hill. Whatever they were protecting must be valuable.

The spirit spring nearby seemed like a flaw in their defenses as it gave me easy access to their back lines. It was still a pretty rough fight and I barely made it out alive. They had noble sorcerers acting as sharpshooters from the large ruin fragments, and there were far more than I anticipated in the middle section of the encampment.

They seemed to be putting the nobles to work, using their compulsive urge to search to their advantage. Strange world, where nobles are slaves to the footmen.

In a chest, I found a Great Épée, but that's probably not what they were guarding. Just decided to bring an old weapon for judicial duels along with them for some reason.

Far more interesting was a scroll I found on one of the sorcerers. It had an unusual triple-roll design which suggested some kind of code. I tried several configurations but couldn't make heads or tails of it. One thing I did recognize though was my family crest! The same one that my glintblade spell uses. The voice didn't even need to tell me this was a Carian scroll, but it added that the Carians were the heads of the Academy of Raya Lucaria.

Well, that settles that! My ancestors founded a magic college in the Lands Between. My excitement was immediately tempered by the realization that it's probably fallen just as far as the rest of this land.

Still, this was disappointing. It was something the sorcerer had brought with him, not something valuable that they were searching for. I'm a fair bit more canny than any soldier or half-dead noble, so I got to searching for myself.

I found it. A bit further up the hill than where they were looking, near a giant stone astrolabe. A small shard of starlight, like a bit of the night sky fallen to earth. It didn't seem to have any substance to it, but I could still hold it in my hands. I wonder if anyone who couldn't see Grace is even capable of finding this.

Now, to speculate on what was going on here. I doubt that these soldiers came from Caria. They have the tree-and-beast crest of Godrick's soldiers. The sorcerers at least studied at Raya Lucaria, but this is an advanced text. It's safe to assume that they wouldn't have just taken it with them. It must've been given to them. Perhaps it could even be used as a guide to finding the shard?

If that's the case, then someone affiliated with the Carian Royal Family and/or Raya Lucaria gave it to them. Sellen is an obvious choice, so I'll ask her, but she's a "reviled, apostate witch." It seems unlikely she could have this kind of scroll except by stealing it. Another possibility is that Godrick could be allied with Caria, but I'd need more evidence for that.

A third possibility is that they might be working for a third party. Someone with ties to Caria, but operating on their own. Perhaps Blaidd's unseen master?

That felt more like it.

Having cleared the camp, I noticed something unusual on the second hill, across the rift cut by the road. Spherical rocks stacked in an impossible way? This warrants further investigation.

Questions:

Who was responsible for this dig site?

Why did they need the Starlight Shard?

What's contained in the scroll?

[shellyseashell]

@panthera-tigris-venenata and @tiredflowercrown asked for this so here’s an explanation of my demon hunter au!

the basic idea is, when beast brought together all the fairytale worlds, it didn’t just bring villains back from the dead. it brought back demons that had been previously killed or locked away (many of whom were villains anyway, but the point here is they’re stronger). having so many powerful demons/sorcerers/whatever (chernabog, the horned king, zhan tiri, chatana, and maybe maleficent i haven’t decided which version of her i want to use are the biggest threats, but then there’s the other villains, many of whom are still magic) throws all magic into wack, meaning it’s stronger, wilder, and there’s practically no barrier between the natural world and the otherworlds.

this leads to the creation of the king’s guard, a special order meant to take down the demon lords. initially, many of the more magical kingdoms (avalor, camelot, kumandra, corona, etc.) that are threatened by them ally with beast to trap/kill them. they end up trapping them on the isle, built off neverland. it was meant just for demon lords and their allies, the biggest threats, not the villains that yeah, are magic, or dangerous, but they’re not near gods in power (like, the evil queen is a threat, but still human, so she doesn’t necessarily need to be on the isle, for example, charmington can deal with her just fine). but to make the isle, beast had to trap and kill plenty of innocent people, many of whom were magic, which is a thing i like to call foreshadowing.

after the demon lords are locked up, beast turns on all magic users and creatures. in his mind, all magic is dangerous, and has the potential to be just like the demons they just locked up. and well, locking up the demons didn’t really calm magic or make demons vanish, so really, he’s just finishing the job, right?

all the magic kingdoms that had previously allied with beast split, formed their own alliance known as just the rebellion or the guild. leaders include elena, phoebus, jasmine, ariel, repunzel, raya, and arthur. if their kingdom is highly magical, chances are at least some of their people joined.

they fight, and slowly, beast slowly forces the rebellion to surrender. most of his success comes from having some very fanatical people on his side, mainly: frollo. i wasn’t going to make it a religious persecution type story, but the idea of frollo working for beast but so does phoebus and the dynamics that brings basically wrote itself so here we are.

anyway, most of the rebel kingdoms are forced to surrender with heavy consequences to them, one constant being sending most of their magic users to the isle (many of whom are characters we consider villains anyway for consistency of why they’re there). the only ones that are allowed to stay are those who either hide and escape the hunts, or who join the kings guard, now the only organization allowed to use magic.

when the rebellion is successfully defeated, frollo is sent to the isle to ensure it remains so. many on the isle helped build it, they know best how to take it down. i’m not sure if those on the isle will maintain any contact with those off the isle, but either way there’s still very much so a war happening on the isle.

which is the situation the villains kids are born into. there are three alliances they can be born to: the king’s guard (many human villains like gaston ally with frollo. they were thrown on the isle because if magic users are criminals, what’s to say criminals aren’t magic users?), the demon lords, or the rebellion. many drift to the rebellion eventually.

no matter where the kids are born, they’re brought up for war. the king’s guard trains within themselves, usually parents teaching kids. a few are sent to auradon to train, but never kids of major prisoners, always kids of guards that were stationed there. they send kids into war at 16 at the youngest, legally, but on the isle some kids are sent in even younger (either because they’re prodigies, or because they’re hated, like gil, and their families are hoping they’ll die in action). they hoard any supplies sent to the isle, and they kill indiscriminately. to them, their job won’t be done, and the world won’t be stable again, until everyone the isle is dead. not many kids end up leaving.

most kids born to demon lords are raised to bring an era of darkness to the world, to amass as much power as they can. many of the magical villains who weren’t rebels are allied with them (evil queen, Jafar, etc). they’re isolated, usually, but not always. this how many, like jay, are able to leave (in jay’s case, he wandered into rebel territory and ran into the 40 thieves, who adopted him on the spot). it’s brutal, and most don’t have a choice in what they do. they’re the ones most often killed by their parents. they’re usually some of the most powerful magic uses on the isle, too. many kids from this group escape eventually, and join the rebels.

the rebels are a majority of the isle. not many of them actually fight, but plenty of magic users were sent to the isle unfairly and are under their protection. like the kids in the other groups, they’re raised for war, but it’s much more a community effort than and isolated thing. the schools, dragon hall, serpent prep, and the witch academy are run by their gangs and are very military focused. they send kids into the field at 15, but that’s a recent rule and many of the older kids have been fighting much longer by necessity. the rebels is the alliance many of the canon gangs fall into. those who ran from the other alliances often fight, but only after they’ve proven their allegiance.

there are villains who don’t really fall into any group, like hook, and other never land pirates, who were just vibing before everything happened, or the de vils who just wanted to run a crime empire why are they in the middle of a war now.

in auradon, things are only slightly better. they’re not necessarily in a total war, but the isle if anything made the demon issue worse. the prep is a school meant to train king’s guard knights, and the former rebel kingdoms are forced to send their royal kids there to keep an eye on them and keep the kingdom in line. kids who aren’t royal are allowed to attend, but even they have king’s guards in their family. they start training officially (but many have trained longer at home) at 14 and ends at 18-20. (the reason 16 is the legal fighting age for frollo’s men is because at 16 trainees — squires, as they’re called — begin going on hunts with senior students) the reason they can afford sending people into the field when they’re older is because they have more people, and can afford the wait for more soldiers. the isle doesn’t have that luxury.

magic users are hunted and executed regularly. some are still sent to the isle, but beast finds just killing them is quicker. they focus more on killing witches than demons, or figuring out and ending the source of the issue, believing if they just kill all witches then the world will right itself. therefore, many illegal hunting groups formed, who hunt demons (and often still witches) instead of the organization meant to do that.

so what’s the plot? ben still gets kids off the isle. how? well, his argument is that they’re sent into the field before they’re legally old enough (by auradon standards) and therefore the rebels are committing war crimes and the kids shouldn’t be there. it’s flimsy, and the kids who he chooses to come over are all rebels, but it’s on purpose.

growing up, ben is mentored by phoebus, captain of the kings guard in order to protect the romani (in paris at least) for as long as he can. beast intended it to be a “see what happens when you rebel” type thing, but instead phoebus adopted another son and made sure he knew exactly how horrible his father is.

so ben brings kids over, knowing and hoping they’ll bring their rebellion with them. and also, because of the fighting on the isle, the barrier has been slowly eroding, and many of the remaining rebels in auradon are starting to think that’s the issue.

[thefandomwarriorlexy]

Descendants Headcanons/Wickedverse Guide

Some of these aren't so much "headcanons" as things I'm using in my post-canon universe, named the Wickedverse. Me and my sister share this universe, so she has a lot of influence with some of these. Will get updated as I add/change ideas.

Lore

Centuries before Auradon was formed, there was a great war between the kingdoms. After years of fighting, they made an agreement on territory and everyone closed their borders. This lead to kingdoms/cities to develop at different rates, due to different resources. Many years later, all the fairytales/stories happen over the course of seven years or so. Then, Auradon is formed.

The formation of Auradon (and the Isle) created the Age of Goodness (AOG). Upon it's creation, was year 1.

Since Descendants takes place twenty years after the AOG, it is year twenty

The first Isle book takes place in the July before Descendants. Descendants occurs in September-October (as Ben's birthday is in October), and Wicked World happens in November. The second and third Isle books take place in January of year 21. Since D2 takes place six months after D1 it occurs in March of 21. The fourth Isle book takes place in May of 22. D3, taking place after the older have graduated, occurs in June of year 22.

Some other Disney properties are included that aren't specifically mention in canon: Frozen, Frozen II, Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (TV series), Encanto, Big Hero 6, Raya, and definitely more.

Mal and Ben's wedding is on the 13th of April, almost a year after D3.

Sometime after D3, the Isle of the Lost is renamed the Isle of the Found.

Family

Uma and Freddie are twin sisters, having been separated after Dr. Facilier and Ursula broke up. Freddie and Uma were unaware of this, and found out in the events of Never Knew I Lost You (coming soon).

In addition, Celia has a different mother, an OC named Lauren.

This is also why Facilier seemed to dislike Freddie (though, her abuse portrayed in the Wickedverse is probably worse than it is in canon), as he dislikes her mother. Whereas he favored Celia, since he likes her mother. Also why Ursula didn't care much about Uma, having become despondent after losing her partner and daughter.

King Philip has three sisters, Brigitte, Bianca, and Marya, taken from the book A Twisted Tale: Once Upon a Dream by Liz Braswell. Bianca is Ariana's mother and Marya has a daughter named Naomi.

Lumiere is married to Fairy Godmother, and is Jane's father.

Evie and Dizzy have the same father, Hans, making them half-sisters.

Doug's mother, named Clarita in this universe, is from Encanto. Agustin is her maternal uncle, making him Doug's great uncle.

Jay's mother was a woman from Agrabah named Lulu. She dealt in some shady business, thus why she was sent to the Isle. She died from an illness when Jay was five.

The sea witches mentioned in the first Isle book are Morgana's daughter, and Uma's cousins, instead of sisters.

Hadie's mother is an OC named Lian Teng. She is the sister of one of the Huns that survived the avalanche. He was all she had, so she followed him to the Isle. She worked in Hades's Souvlaki and her and Hades had a brief relationship a while after his break up with Maleficent. Hadie is three years younger than Mal.

Harriet, Harry, and CJ's mother is a woman named Red Jessica from Jake and the Neverland Pirates TV series. However, she is only the same character; her role and relationship with Hook is different in the Wickedverse than the cartoon.

Carlos's father is Bruno Madrigal from Encanto (inspired by @silverloreley 's headcanon and discussions). Bruno had a bad vision about Cruella and went to warn her about it. They had an unexpected connection, and one thing led to another.

Melody (from the Little Mermaid sequel) and Zephyr (from the Hunchback of Notre Dame sequel) are married and have a (currently unamed) child.

Friendships

Prior to the events of Wicked World, and possibly D1, Jordan and Ally become best friends after Jordan helps Ally out of a bad relationship.

Jane and Freddie become best friends during the events of Wicked World.

Likewise, Uma and Audrey become best friends sometime after the events of Descendants 3.

Because of the discovery of Uma and Freddie being twins, they start spending time together. To not leave Jane and Audrey out, the four of them hang out together often, forming a friend group similar to the Core Four.

A few months before the Bal wedding, Lonnie and CJ meet and become best friends.

Characters

As a reason for why Carlos was not at Mal and Ben's wedding (and why the rest of the Core Four were sad about it), he develops COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) and goes into a coma a couple weeks before the wedding. He wakes up a few weeks afterwards.

Some last name headcanons:

Dwarf last names are from gems and the Seven Dwarves' last name is Lazuli, from lapis lazuli. This makes Doug's full name Doug Lazuli.

Maleficent and Mal's last name is Dragonheart, making Mal's full name Maleficent "Mal" Bertha Dragonheart.

Ben's last name is Leroi, meaning "the king" in French (taken from @hitchell-mope)

Evie's last name is Grimhilde, mostly taken from the fandom.

Jane's last name is Faery, and Fairy Godmother's real name is Joan.

Audrey gives up her birthright to rule Auroria, deciding that isn't the path for her. Naomi will rule Auroria instead. (Which was also what they were planning to do when they thought Audrey would be queen of Auradon).

Uma becomes leader of the Isle after D3, with Harry, Gil, and her crew acting as her advisors/council/soldiers.

OCs

Varian and Cassandra (from the Tangles series) are married and have two kids, Caelan and Valeria.

Anna and Kristoff are married and two sons, Alaric and Kade.

Raya has a son named River.

Maleficent has a younger brother named Kaveh, who comes to Auradon a few years after D3 to help stop a new threat. He previously lived in the Moorlands, the ancestral home of dark fairies and Maleficent's homeland.

Ally has a (currently unnamed) older brother.

Snow White and Prince Florian have a (currently unnamed) child.

Scar (who was turned into a human before being put on the Isle) has a daughter named Safiya.

Mirabel is married to a man named Rico and they have two kids, Anabel and Matteo. Others from Encanto also have kids, but most are currently unnamed.

Ships

Ben X Mal -- also known as Bal

Doug X Evie -- also known as Devie

Jane X Carlos -- also known as Jarlos

Jay X Lonnie -- also known as Jonnie

Harry X Uma -- also known as Huma

Chad X Freddie -- also known as Chaddie

Gil X Ally -- also known as Gilly

Hadie X Audrey -- also known as Hadrey

Zevon X CJ -- also known as Zelista

Maleficent X Hades (after Maleficent's redemption) also known as Mades

Some other ships that aren't as focused on:

Anthony X Harriet (Anthoniet)

Jade X Diego (Jadiego)

Li'l Shang, Celia, and Dizzy are shipped with OCs:

Li'l Shang is shipped with Safiya

Dizzy is shipped with Alaric

Celia is shipped with Caelan

We also refer to (some) best friend pairs with combined names:

Jordan and Ally are Jolly

Mal and Evie are Mevie

Jane and Freddie are Jaddie

Uma and Audrey are Umdrey

Lonnie CJ are Lonista

Not a name combination, but Uma and Freddie are Shell Sisters

[randomestfandoms-ocs]

Descendants OC Masterlist L-Z

( A - K )

Name: Lani of Atlantica

Story: One Foot In The Sea (And One On The Shore)

Parents: Melody

Face claim: Madelaine Petsch

Love interest: Harry Hook

Name: Lawson Henry

Story: Impossible Dreams

Parents: Laurence Henry

Face claim: Milo Manheim

Love interest: Evie

Summary: Every VK had the same complaints about the Isle — terrible parents, terrible resources, they’dnever broken the law, every day was a battle for survival, you get the idea.  But Lawson Henry had another complaint.  He was lonely.  He may have been a part of Mal’s crew in the loosest of terms, an insignificant ally whose father was only a henchman. But he was alone, forgotten.  He never expected that to change, until a letter came from Auradon.  Mal, Jay, Evie, and Carlos would be going to Auradon Prep, the children of the four most feared villains on the Isle — alongside Lawson Henry, son of a bumbling servant who failed his only job.

He’s sure that it’s a mistake.  He’s sure that he’ll get to Auradon and they’ll tell him that they got it wrong, that they wanted a real VK.  Someone smart, someone powerful, someone like Uma or Harry or Celia.  Instead he’s greeted by an overenthusiastic not-princess, whose own mother was once tricked into almost marrying his father.

Name: Lovetta Garou

Story: Hungry Like The Wolf

Parents: Big Bad Wolf

Face claim: Kaitlyn Dever

Love Interest: Ben

Name: Lucette LeFou

Story: The Wrong Monster

Parents: LeFou

Face claim: Giorgia Whigham

Love Interest: Harry Hook & Uma

Name: Mae

Story: More Than A Dream

Parents: Fairy Godmother

Face claim: Danielle Rose Russell

Name: Maisie

Story: Who Is The Monster (And Who Is The Man)

Parents: Esmerelda & Phoebus

Face claim: Medalion Rahimi

Name: Maria Frollo

Story: Long Live the Queen

Parents: Claude Frollo

Face claim: Elle Fanning

Love Interest: Harry Hook

Summary:  Maria Frollo hated her father.  It wasn’t an uncommon sentiment on the Isle, but it was still true.  She hated him.  More than she’d ever hated anyone.  Lucky for her, she met Queenie and Helena in the marketplace one day and found herself being taken under their wings.  She knows that she isn’t tough, not like they all, but if there’s one thing she learned from her father, it was how to rain hellfire down on her enemies.

Name: Marnie Fitzwater-Hood

Story: The Weight Of Living

Parents: Maid Marian & Robin Hood

Face claim:  Ellie Bamber

Name: Melia

Story: Scorched Earth

Parents: Hades & Maleficent / Hercules & Megara

Face claim: Dove Cameron

Name: Mireya Madrigal

Story: Waiting On A Miracle

Parents: The Miracle / Candle

Face claim: Isabela Moner

Name: Myra Frollo

Story: Hellfire

Parents: Claude Frollo

Face claim:  Emma Myers

Name: Nasira

Story: Running On Raindrops

Parents: Raya & Namaari

Face claim: Natasha Liu Bordizzo

Name: Natalia Of Maldonia

Story: Dig a Little Deeper

Parents: Tiana & Naveen

Face claim: Sofia Wylie

Name: Nerina Sparrow

Story: Never Shall We Die

Parents: Jack Sparrow

Face claim: Anya Taylor Joy

Name: Nerissa

Story: Lost Things

Parents: Pixie Hollow

Face claim: Savannah Lee May

Love interest: Chad Charming

Name: Nettie Tremaine

Story: Sweet Nightingale

Parents: Anastasia Tremaine & The Baker

Face claim: Peyton Elizabeth Lee

Name: Niamh

Story: Compass

Face claim: Sydney Sweeney

Name: Noelle of Arendelle

Story: Only Love, Only Hate

Parents: Elsa

Face claim:  Kiernan Shipka

Love Interest: Ben

Name:  Queenie Hearts

Story: Long Live the Queen

Parents: The Queen Of Hearts

Face claim: Madison Davenport

Love interest: Helena

Summary: First there was Mal, then there was Uma.  Mal had defected, turned good, abandoned the kids on the isle who desperately needed her help.  Uma’s martyr complex and desperation had long since outweighed her ability to come up with a real plan.  But someone needed to protect the children, needed to keep the major villains in line, needed to run the Isle with an iron first.  And that person is going to be Queenie, no matter the cost.  And if anyone objects to her revolution, well, off with their heads.

Name: Raina Gold

Story: Deal With The Devil

Parents: Rumplestiltskin 

Face claim: Katie Douglas

Love Interest: Harry Hook ( poly sea three? )

Name: Raisa Rasputin

Story: Bury A Friend

Parents: Rasputin

Face claim: Sophia Anne Caruso

Name: Rini

Story: People Are Strangers

Parents: Ringmaster

Face claim: Jenna Ortega

Ship: Carlos De Vil?

Name: Robin Fitzherbert

Story: Next Stop Anywhere

Parents: Rapunzel, Cassandra, Flynn Rider / Eugene Fitzherbert

Face claim: Natalia Dyer

Name: Roisin Spriggins

Story: Children Will Listen

Parents: Red Riding Hood & Jack The Giant Slayer

Face claim: Sadie Sink

Name: Rosabelle Legume

Series: Anti-Hero Series

Story: A Rose By Any Other Name; Kiss With A Fist; You Should See Me In A Crown

Parents: Gaston Legume

Face claim:  Zoey Deutch

Love Interest: Prince Ben; Harry Hook; eventual Ben & Harry

Summary: There were many reasons that Rosabelle Legume didn’t want to go to Auradon: the Beast might have her executed, she didn’t want to leave her big brother, her crew needed her, and she wasn’t ready to say goodbye to Harry or to whatever relationship they had.  But there was one very good reason for her to leave: it would get her away from Gaston.  So she packs her bags and goes to Auradon with Mal and her gang - fine, whatever, she’d help them get the wand and everything would be fine.  But she wasn’t expecting to need to get close to Prince Ben to do it, and now Ro has an even bigger choice to make: Ben or Harry, Auradon or the Isle, good or evil?

Name: Roslyn “Marcie” Hood

Story: Civility

Parents: Robin Hood & Maid Marian

Face claim:  Zoe Colletti

Love Interest: TBD

Summary: Roslyn Hood never wanted to leave Sherwood Forest.  And why would she?  She loved her life there, it was all perfect.  She had her family and she had her freedom, what more could anyone want?  But unfortunately for her, not everyone was as happy about it as she was.  And just before her sixteenth birthday, in one of his last decrees as king, the Beast King made a proclamation.  In exchange for their freedom within the forest, the people of Sherwood Forest would have to send one child — Robin Hood’s own daughter — to Auradon Prep.

Forced out of her home and into a school where no one pretended to want her around, Roslyn had to adapt.  She started going by her middle name, Marcie.  She stopped running around barefoot.  She stopped climbing up to the roofs of the school.  She bided her time, waiting until she could leave.  But when Prince Ben brings over a new group of students, she finds that her time may have come sooner than expected.

Name: Rylan Fitzherbert

Story: Next Stop Anywhere

Parents: Rapunzel, Cassandra, Flynn Rider / Eugene Fitzherbert

Face claim: Timothee Chalamet

Name: Saoirse Smee

Story: Awfully Big Adventure

Parents: Smee

Face claim: Millie Bobby Brown

Name: Savina Stromboli

Story: War Of Hearts

Parents: Stromboli

Face claim:  Diana Silvers

Name: Sloane White

Story: Ties That Bind

Parents: Snow White

Face claim:  Odeya Rush

Love Interest: Chad Charming

Summary: Sloane White had a plan.  Actually, Sloane White had several plans.  And backup plans, and backup plans for her backup plans.  She had plans for her relationship with Chad.  She had plans for the future of Bavaria, and for how she would hold title of both Queen and High Protector.  She had plans for her Aunt Evie, and for Ben’s dream of Isle reformation.  Sloane White had a plan for everything.  Except for Ben publicly proclaiming his love for one of the VKs.

Name: Taryn Porter

Story: Strangers Like Me

Parents: Tarzan & Jane Porter

Face claim:  Kaylee Bryant

Love Interest: Jay

Summary: Let’s make one thing clear, no one wanted Taryn Porter at Auradon Prep.  Well, no one except for Ben, and no one was willing to go against the prince over bringing a civilian to their school.  Her dad grew up in a jungle, raised by apes and her mom was a scientist.  Taryn absolutely, most definitely, did not belong at Auradon Prep alongside children of princes and princesses.  Maybe that’s why, when Ben decides to bring four villain kids to the school, Taryn is the only person who’s genuinely excited about more outcasts joining the student body.

Name: Topher Charming

Story: The Weight Of Living

Parents: Prince Charming & Cinderella

Face claim: Nicholas Galitzine

Love Interest: Evander Grimhilde

Summary: The problem with founding a kingdom when the ruling family has no children is, of course, figuring out the line of succession.  That wasn’t the first problem with the founding of Auradon, to be fair, but it was the first one that concerned His Majesty the king.  But, in a stroke of great fortune, a royal baby was born soon after.  Christopher Charming II, son of Ella and Kit Charming, prince of Gevaudan.  And, until such time as Adam and Belle have a child of their own, the heir to the United Kingdoms of Auradon.

Fortunately, Belle and Adam have a son the following year, and Topher is bumped down to being the spare.  But unlike the spares of old, there is no room for Topher to be anything less than perfect.  He’s the eldest royal child in Auradon, the blueprint upon which every other child’s future will be mapped.  A modern day Atlas, carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders, but a sacrifice that he made willingly so that no other royal child would have to.  Along with being the perfect prince himself, Topher took his responsibility as Ben’s right hand incredibly seriously.  Whether that be coaching him in all of the skills that a prince should have, or tutoring him on matters of policy and protocol, or helping him draft his first official decree as king.  Whatever it may take, Topher would do anything to protect and support Ben, to help him be the best king he could be without having to sacrifice his childhood.  When Ben brings five children from the Isle to Auradon, Topher volunteers himself to help them adapt to their new home.  But his determination to see Ben’s plan succeed is put to the test when he meets Evander Grimhilde, the unfairly attractive son of the Evil Queen.

Name: Trina Tremaine

Story: Heartless

Parents: Lady Tremaine

Face claim: Lana Condor

Name: Tristan Of Maldonia

Story: Dig a Little Deeper

Parents: Tiana & Naveen

Face claim:  Jordan Fisher

Name: Viatrix

Story: Love Struck

Parents: Viatrix

Face claim: Olivia Rodrigo

Love Interest: Griffin

Name: Violet Kingsleigh

Story: Lavender Haze

Parents: Alice & The Hatter

Face claim: Meg Donnelly

Love Interest: Cian Hearts

Summary: Violet Kingsleigh loved growing up in Wonderland, she really did.  She loved spending mornings in her aunt’s - the queen’s - gardens; she loved fighting lessons with her parents and reading with Absolem; she loved playing with the Tweedles and hide and seek with Chess; and, of course, she adored her dad’s infamous tea parties.  Yes, Violet loved everything about Wonderland.  Especially that it wasn’t in Auradon.  It was perfect.  And then the queen is cursed, and all of Wonderland knows that Auradon is to blame.  But they can’t declare war without proof, so suddenly their young princess is being sent to Auradon prep to investigate.  Violet knows her mission.  Violet is absolutely and entirely focused.  Violet is most definitely not prepared for the boy-king to have invited a group of teenagers from the Isle Of The Lost to start school on the same day as her.

Name: Winnie Pan

Story: Where Dreams Are Born

Parents: Wendy Darling & Peter Pan

Face claim:  Haley Lu Richardson

Love Interest: Harry Hook

Summary: When magic was shut off from Auradon, Neverland was shut away, no one could come or go.  Unfortunately for Peter Pan, he was on the wrong side of that barrier.  Stuck in Auradon with a fully grown Wendy Darling, he had no choice but to grow up, and in fact the vanishing of the magic that had kept him young didn’t just make him age as normal, it pushed him into immediate adulthood.  And with adulthood came children.  A daughter, Winnie Pan.  Winnie was raised on Peter and Wendy’s stories about Neverland and she had long since fallen in love with it.  But it was inaccessible, she’d been told, she could never see it.  And as much as she hated it, she understood.  Until Prince Ben lets four villain children through their barrier into Auradon.  And Winnie has a realization: if one barrier can be taken down, so can the other.  And Winnie Pan will follow the second star to the right to the home she should have had, or she’ll die trying.

Name: Winona Sykes

Story: Hungry Dogs

Parents: Bill Sykes

Face claim:  Milly Alcock

[joshuasumter]

My UPDATED version of my Kill La Kill spoof.

SYNOPSIS: The story you know and the characters you love gets a character-recasting makeover in a whole new way in an epic, thrilling remake/character-recasting spoof of Studio Trigger's original hit anime from 2013 of the same name that shook the streets of Honno City, Kill la Kill. Experience and relive the saga of Ryuko Matoi (Go Go Tamago/Lady (Devil May Cry)), a fierce, vagrant woman who crosses paths with the undisputed, iron-willed Student Council president and ruler of Honnoji Academy, Satsuki Kiryuin (Fa Mulan/Xu Xialing). While transferring to the academy and searching for the murderer with the Scissor Blade who killed her father, Ryuko demands answers from Satsuki, but she is chased away by the students equipped with Goku Uniforms that are infused with mysterious alien-like material called Life Fibers. Just when Ryuko was at her lowest and at wit's end, she awakens a living, sentient uniform called a Kamui that may be the key to humanity's future. Sensing Ryuko's anger toward everything, the wisecracking, larger-than-life Kamui bonded with her and the two became the most unexpected, lethal roadblock Honnoji Academy has ever seen (Like Venom).

But just as Ryuko and the Kamui she named Senketsu (Bruno (Marvel's Future Avengers)) form an unlikely, symbiotic bond, Satsuki has also awakened and bonded with a Kamui of her own as well -- Junketsu (Namaari (Raya and the Last Dragon)). Soon, Ryuko and Senketsu are dragged into an epic battle for Honnoji Academy and the fate of mankind that is ravaged with rebellion, action, drama and heart, ultimately resulting in Ryuko and Satsuki's rivalry, the shocking truth about their connected past, and the war against the Life Fibers.

With the help of their friends and allies, including the energetic, hyperactive Mako Mankanshoku (Sofia the First) and her family (Wreck-It Ralph, Adult Wendy Darling, Timothy Templeton, and Dante (Coco)); the Elite Four of Honnoji Academy's Student Council (Joshua Sumter (Me), Aladdin, Tony Stark, Vanellope Von Schweetz); and the anti-Life Fiber organization Nudist Beach led by undercover homeroom teacher Aikuro Mikisugi (Flynn Rider), Ryuko and Satsuki - with both their bonded Kamuis - will have to figure out how to put aside their differences...and reunite as long-lost siblings to stop and foil the plot of the sinister CEO of REVOCS and the director of Honnoji Academy herself -- their birth mother, Ragyo Kiryuin (Eris (Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas))

CAST:

Gogo Tomago (Big Hero 6) with Lady (Devil May Cry) as Ryūko Matoi

Fa Mulan (Mulan (1998)) with Xu Xialing (Shang-Chi: Legend of the Ten Rings) as Satsuki Kiryūin

Sofia the First (Sofia the First) as Mako Mankanshouku

Bruno (Marvel Future Avengers) as Senketsu

Namarri (Raya and the Last Dragon) as Junketsu

Joshua Sumter (ME!) as Ira Gamagōri

Aladdin (Aladdin (1992)) as Uzu Sanageyama

Tony Stark (Iron Man: Armored Adventures) as Hōka Inumuta

Vanellope Von Schweetz (Wreck-It Ralph) as Nonon Jakuzure

Hiro Hamada (Big Hero 6) as Shirō Iori

Wreck-It Ralph (Wreck-It Ralph) as Barazō Mankanshoku

Adult Wendy (Return to Neverland) as Sukuyo Mankanshoku

Timothy Templeton (Boss Baby) as Matarō Mankanshoku

Dante (Coco) as Guts, Mankanshoku family's pet pug

Flynn Rider (Tangled) as Aikurō Mikisugi

Jann Lee (Dead or Alive) with Ichiban Kasuga (Yakuza: Like A Dragon) as Tsumugu Kinagase

Alfred Pennyworth (DC Universe/Batman) as Mitsuzō Soroi

Eris (Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas) as Ragyō Kiryūin

Larxene (The Kingdom Hearts series) as Nui Harime

Nebula (MCU/Guardians of the Galaxy) as Rei Hōōmaru

[sheyshen]

ok finished the 6.55 stuff. so vague thoughts some spoilers ahead:

MSQ: -I love wuk lamat already and i'm for sure curious how things will go for dawntrail, though i am not about raya possibly having to go against thancred oh no. -only complaint that i had was raha's voice acting felt off, like he was distracted while recording and wasn't "in character" all the time (voice was too low in spots and delivery felt wrong for the situation and animation, and a few times it felt like it was the first time he was reading the lines) -did i mention i love wuk? because i do.

Hildi: -UFO UFO UFO -no notes, it felt like a hildi chain and i'd been hoping i'd get the UFO as a mount since it first showed up -Asura trial was interesting, went in blind so sorry to my group i was learning on the fly (tho i mean it's day 2 we all are)

Island sanctuary: -JULLUSSSSSS!!! -he was such a cutie and so bad at taking a break i loved the whole quest so much -especially the bit that it sounded like emm and sicard had been planning on how to smuggle him outta garlemald since they visited -only disappointing this was he was the last! ahhhh i wish we could invite npcs to visit, doesn't have to be anything involved just to let them be there on the island for a bit. -thanks for the HQ cheese -also, i dig whatever vibe jullus and manius had going. and was nice to have a mention of the little quest with alpha and omega

Allied Tribal quest: -I loved it, the race was so much fun and i'm glad we get to keep the trophy as a deco. and the dance is so fun (though rip the WoL's knees) -will need to have a whole lineup of people doing the dance sometime, it'd look great if we can time it right -only one singular complaint -where. was. nhaza'a???? they mention him on the radio after the quest is over but he didn't show up at all and i'm disappointed. -btw the radio has like four or five different 'news' blurbs it cycles through if you click on it.

Tataru's Grand Endeavor wrap up: -oh man made me tear up -and the flashback ahhhhh -I really loved getting to see everyone from the sharlayan deliveries for it, though it does make me curios if those aren't finished will you only get the ones that you have? or different comments? -editting on: I like that there's a comment that the people who helped restore/create the necklace for tataru checked in to see if she liked it but i kinda wished we could've gotten a comment from them if we visited them (hancock still says his "i don't want to see you in an early grave" lines for the post variant dungeon and gaius still has his comments about working with the resistance and getting werlyt on it's feet so i assume leofard's are also the same too) might be too much to request but woulda been nice touch lol

all in all i loved so much of it and makes me look forward to what's planned going forward! next is wow, though i have been digging through cutscenes so i have an idea of what happens but i wanna play through it myself >:3

[firefirefruit]

Steel in Her Veins, Chapter: Thirty-Seven

Read On: AO3 | Table of Contents | Next Chapter

Characters: Fem!Reader x Roronoa Zoro

Chapter Thirty-Seven: Washed Up

Kozuki Raya

I have to throw him into the lake, I tell myself again. Throw him in the lake, and the water will do its thing.

That’s what Aragnus said to do before he flew away, planting the rest of my crew and allies all across his thick back.

For the millionth time in that hour, he had to assure my enraged ass that he wasn’t going to harm anyone. That they were going to be taken to rest, and that I would be able to see them after dealing with Zoro if that would make me feel any better. Acting as if he wasn’t trying to obliterate me and everyone I knew only a mere minutes ago.

I stare down at Zoro. His entire body is paralysed, his arms and legs splayed on the floor like a dragged across puppet. I try to stifle down a smile as I look at the priceless reaction on his face. Oh, he’s definitely pissed off about the whole thing – and unfortunately for me, Zoro notices the weird contortion on my face.

“I swear if you start laughing, Tenguyama…” he grumbles.

Even though I do bite down on my tongue, I can’t help but teasingly cock my head. “Or what? You gonna suddenly jump right up and fight me?”

He calls me a not-so-nice name that I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear.

Whatever Aragnus did to Zoro… well, his body just wasn’t cut out for it. My small smile starts to fade as I think about that.

This is probably the first time I’ve ever felt afraid for his pain in the ass. And I didn’t like feeling like that.

It’s not like I’m doing this against my will. It’s the opposite, actually. When Franky offered to take Zoro off my hands, knowing I’m going through the worst identity crisis of my life, I had the audacity to bark back at him like a rabid dog.

I guess that sounds pretty on brand, with who I supposedly am, the incarnation of Retribution – whatever the fuck that even means. I can’t admit it to anyone else, but I’m scared. I’m really fucking scared about what that means about myself.

Do you even know who your mother is? Your father?

Aragnus’s weathered voice echoes in my head again, thrumming against the sore walls in my head. It infuriated me. Back then, he was toying with me, trying to pick at the gaps of my history with his enormous chicken claws. Provoking me to turn into a monster.

But Aragnus was right. Gramps, as much as I loved – no, love him - he’s still alive, Raya, don’t be an idiot, he was always so vague with his answers. He didn’t want to say anything, do anything, almost as if he was trying to fool the fates themselves.

Who really are my parents? Where did I even come from? I’m not sure I want to know anymore.

I frustratedly sigh out loud and force myself to take in my surroundings, trying anything to block out my thoughts. I can’t deal with these thoughts right now. I can’t.

I stare, my jaw clenching, at the trickling lake. A large body of surreal, illuminating water drifts within the cavern - yet another vast tunnel that connects to the rest of the Draconian colony - immediately making my body groan and claw desperately for its comfort.

I begin to tug at Zoro’s lean shoulders, drifting his paralysed body into the water with as much care as I can. He lays there silently, his eye staring up at the glittering stalactite ceiling. I let go of him, beginning to unfurl my pants that’s been cindered into pieces, buttons clinging onto them for dear life.

Zoro attention then crosses back to me when he hears a ruffle of clothing coming from my direction. He chokes on water, looking completely pale.

“What the hell are you doing?” he exclaims, making me yelp and jump in surprise. His alarmed voice takes all of the space of the hollow room, echoing over and over again until all I can hear is a dozen of aghast Zoro’s.

I annoyedly give him a look, my fingers pausing in the middle of unbuttoning my shirt. “What do you mean, what am I doing? Don’t you bathe with your crewmates?”

“Yeah, separately, we do.”

“Sorry, Roronoa, you’re so right. I’ll just let you wash your completely paralysed self first, with your completely paralysed hands, and then I’ll jump in straight after!” I muse sarcastically. “How about that?”

Zoro glares at me, his mouth opening and closing like a fish gasping for air. His frustration is palpable, but there’s not much he can do in his current state. I grin at him, sticking my tongue out.

He kisses his teeth. “Get in, then.”

“It’s not like you’re seeing anything new, anyway,” I mumble under my breath, slipping my half-burnt shirt over my head. My fingers go to my bra, my eyes awkwardly averting to the ceiling as I undo the last latch.

Zoro tries to maintain his angry face, but I can see the faint flush of colour creeping up his neck as he averts his gaze. His eye flickers back towards me occasionally, despite his best efforts to look uninterested, his jaw clenching and unclenching quickly.

“Damn it, Ray,” he mutters, his voice rough and strained. “I said, get in.”

“Okay, okay.”

And then I slip into the body of pure warmth.

When I tell you I can’t even describe in words how captivating this liquid felt against my skin, brewing within my bones, it’s a complete understatement. I gasp heavily, my cracked lips parting. It feels like hope kissing her lips my thighs, her arms reaching for my waist with a melancholic look in her eyes.

Zoro’s presence, however, still lingers like a wounded predator, drifting in the corner with his back facing down. His eyes follow me as I wade deeper, and I can sense his gaze lingering on me, assessing, calculating, perhaps doing something else I can’t put my finger on.

A thrumming waterfall behind me plays endless tricks with the light, casting restless shadows across Zoro’s face. His jaw glints like a sharp-edged blade, constantly refining the line connecting to his shoulder blades and the sinewy muscles running through his relaxed arms. Even the grassy curls that lay across his wet forehead look like they’re pulsating with new colour, more energy.

I tread towards him, not knowing what to say in the midst of the silence between us. All I can do is feel the water rush and lap over my bare body, my lips parting again from the tumult of sensations. Roronoa glares at me, his jaw clenching with restrained frustration, the muscles rippling beneath the surface of his skin like coiled springs waiting to be released. Every movement he makes is deliberate, controlled, yet there’s some sort of intensity that threatens to break free at any moment.

I can feel the heat radiating off him, from his breath, his skin overcome with streams of teardrops over the curve of his muscles, and I can’t help but lean closer to him. My wet brown curls snake over my bare shoulder, pressing across his chest like a string of unfurled ribbon. He releases a breath he was trying to restrain, which makes me suddenly hold mine in.

This is so… intimate. I haven’t even yet touched him, and yet the slightest touch of my hair on his skin feels like we’re breaking boundaries.

Neither of us wants to break the silence as we lay here, allowing the small trickles of waterfalls be the only source of sound within this large cavern.

For a moment, I tip my head backwards, feeling the heat of the liquid flow through me. I sigh dejectedly. This was a painful day. A stressful and a lonely one, to be honest. I’ve never felt so vulnerable and uncovered in front so many people until now.

I raise an arm from underwater, staring at the water that chases past the honey hue of my skin. And for the first time in a while, I notice that my skin is smooth. Bright. Full of life. No colourful bruises, no spurting blood, no torturous metal caging its way into my veins like some kind of hell-spawn.

I hold my breath as the image of myself flashes into my head.

I became light.

I transformed into some sort of thing in shades of gold and black, metal encasing my whole being as if that was my original form all along. My mind starts to race.

Retribution? What does that event equate to? A punisher? A torturer? A Goddess who demands revenge and destroys all for her personal gain?

All I’m missing is a scythe. Then I’d be the fucking Grim Reaper.

Gods, I’m a monster.

“Okay,” I snap out loud with my eyes closed, quickly plunging my arms back into the heat of the water. My voice echoes with no end within the emptiness of the room. “Let’s get you cleaned up.”

“You really don’t need to do this,” Zoro quickly says, his eyes trained on the ceiling.

I cock my head at him, frowning. “Come on. It was my fault for getting you into this.” I stare at his beautiful, tense face. “If only I’d shut my mouth and let that bird talk, I wouldn’t have put everyone in danger.”

“What you did was pretty fuckin’ stupid, yeah, but you weren’t making me do anything against my will.”

I shake my head, and finally decide to trace my fingers over one of his rough hands, my skin brushing against his delicious warmth. I cup some water in my palms, sifting some over his coiled, hard biceps and admiring the way the water beads off in harmony to his form. When all of a sudden, I feel his fingers curving over mine, catching my hand into a loose squeeze. I gasp a little.

“I wanted to fight that chicken freak so bad, you know,” Zoro breathes out heavily, his chest rising in reaction to my cold fingers. He’s trying his best to train his eye on the ceiling and not on my bare form that hovers above him.

I snort, cupping more water over his neck and shoulders. My hand doesn’t even manage to wrap even halfway around his bicep, so I decide to use both. My palms slowly ripple over his tense skin, lathering over each surface with silent admiration. “The both of us could’ve skewered him.”

“Given that damn cook something to barbeque.”

I laugh out loud. My burst of joy envelops each and every crevice of the cave, making Zoro’s mouth slightly twitch in return. “Well, you should be glad he wasn’t. You’d be stuck here, motionless, forever.”

There’s a defiant glint in his eye as he locks his gaze onto my face and says, “Would’ve been worth it.”

I lean towards him even closer, slightly drunk on the joy of the water. I hold my breath, taking a moment to stare at him and the thin sketch that runs over his other eye.

Wasn’t I supposed to hate him?

A few other green curls have found its way to rest over his eyes, the heat of the water tracing over his face in dewy drops. My fingers are itching so bad to touch more of him.

Snap out of it, Ray. What the hell am I doing?

I instantly turn away and busy myself with cleaning him up.

Zoro stares at me with an unreadable look as I focus only and solely on his neck. “You don’t need to do this,” he hoarsely says.

I hesitate, my fingers pausing right above his Adam’s apple. “I mean, if you’re so hell-bent on doing something, there is one way you could repay me.”

 “And what’s that?”

“Um…” I swallow, avoiding his questioning stare. My fingers begin reaching for his warm chest, my palm softly drifting across his muscles on its own. I hear him take in a quiet, yet sharp breath as my fingers come into contact with his skin. His eye darkens instantaneously with an edge of wanting.

Obviously, that didn’t last for long as I release the next sentence from my mouth.

“Well, you mentioned somebody named Kuina.”

If a paralysed man could become even more paralysed, that’s exactly how Zoro reacts.

He doesn’t respond for a few moments, almost as if he’s brewing on what to say.

“What… about her?” He asks, his low voice warning me to tread carefully with the topic.

“The Kuina you knew served the Wado Ichimonji, right?”

He gave an approving grunt.

“Short hair? Blue?”

“Yeah.”

“Her dad own a dojo? Was she strong? Fucking amazing with swords? Was always a little bit defiant, but could still act all cool and collected when she had to? Did she—”

“You knew her.”

I pause. My chest feels tight as I force out a fake smile. “Small world, I guess.”

“You knew her,” Zoro repeats, still taken aback by the information. “How? When? But…”

I’m an actual fucking moron, then. I release a bitter laugh from my lips as my fingers clench into fists, resting firmly over his hard chest. Since when had I turned into this thoughtless air-head?

Because the Kuina I knew, the Kuina who would drag her Wado across the deserted fields of the island we would meet up on, would complain to me. How her father couldn’t see her as anything more than a female. That she had noticed herself, how her own limits were only multiplying; her breasts were forming, her body slowing its growth in height and strength. And.. And she’d complain about…

“She’d tell me how this one green-headed, snotty-nosed kid was always running up to her for a fight,” I mutter, my voice cracking. “She’d gloat about it, too. ‘Lil’ fry didn’t know what hit him when his sword flew across the room.’”

“She said that about me?” Zoro snaps.

There’s an uncomfortable silence after that. I can’t bring myself to reply, terrified that if I do, I’d probably just cry.

Zoro’s breathing is harsher now. I can tell just by staring at the way his chest is dramatically rising, trying so hard not to blow up.

Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything. Maybe it was a mistake, digging up a part of Zoro’s past, because I’ve never heard him ever talk about his life before the crew in much detail. There must be a reason why he doesn’t.

I needed to know, though. Because no one in my life besides my Gramps knew about Kuina, and now knowing that someone else does… it makes her existence more permanent. As if she wasn’t a dream I made up all along, and now I can honour her more by knowing that.

Zoro’s still breathing heavily. “I’ve…never told anyone about her, not even to Luffy,” he mutters. “I can’t… I don’t even know how to deal with this. I didn’t even deal with her…” He stops himself, gritting his teeth hard.

I don’t know how, but I just knew what he was about to say.

He didn’t even try to honour her death.

“I guess that’s where you and I differ,” I mumble, furiously trying to suck in the tears back into my eyes. “I made my own small burial for her, with all the things she liked. Made this tiny-sized shitty dojo out of bamboo, with a sword-shaped locket I made for her placed beneath. There were pictures of us inside, acting like dumbasses in front of my snoring Gramps.”

I laugh out loud, my eyes glazing over. “Man, we attached balloons to his arms and threw darts at them until he woke up. Got into so much trouble with him that day…

And the Wado - it was supposed to be the finishing touch to her burial, you know. And maybe then, I’d honour her by wielding her sword later. But when her father told me that it was gone – given away…I was furious. Enraged. I screamed at him. Sobbed. I told him, who else deserved his daughter’s sword, besides him or…”

I stop myself, biting my lip hard until I feel blood seeping across my tongue. I was about to say, ‘someone who promised her they were forever sisters, regardless of blood.’

I shake my head, moving away as to hide my face from Zoro. “That’s why I hated you so much when you came to my shop, with those three broken weapons by your side. Not only did I think you stole Kuina’s possession, but defacing it like that, like it meant nothing…”

My voice breaks and I dejectedly let myself take a few breaths. I don’t have the heart to continue anymore, so I wait for Zoro to reply.

It’s unbearably silent. I don’t even hear him pause to say anything. The silence feels like an ending more than a continuance, and for some reason I feel dread run cold through my body.

I raise my head up to look at him, and my suspicions are confirmed.

Zoro shakes his head unforgivingly, glaring at me with hatred in his eye.

“What?” I ask.

I notice that his arms are moving by his will now, his legs drifting underwater to steady himself upright. His body’s slowly gaining back sensation. “Who are you, Raya?”

I freeze. I feel like a thousand poisonous daggers are raining over me, a tumult of all my worst fears stabbing me through my skin. “What are you talking about?”

“You know what I’m talking about,” he spits out. He steps towards me, making me stumble backwards until my spine hits the edge of the lake. “I never saw you at the dojo, meaning that every time Kuina said she was off for the weekend with her dad, she was seeing you. People don’t travel across islands to meet just anybody, Raya. So, who are you?”

I press my hand against his chest, forcing him to take a step away from me. I instantly turn from terrified to angry, scowling up at him with defiance.

“You answered your own question. I’m Raya, asshole.”

“Tenguyama Raya?” He pushes. I bristle, feeling his large hand cup over mine on his chest. He swipes it away and advances toward me, his gaze darkening. “That right? Or have you been lying to us the entire time?”

I can’t tell him. I can’t tell him, my mind furiously hisses, whispering over and over again the million different possibilities that could happen if I did reveal myself to them. I’m afraid that things will only get worse if he knows, what could happen to the crew if they all did figure it out.

A small part of me still doesn’t trust any of them. I hate that I feel this way, but it’s true. I don’t know who to trust, and frankly, I don’t want to be known as a Kozuki anymore. I want freedom from that cursed name.

“I’m…” I hold in a breath and furrow my eyebrows in irritation. “I’m just Raya. Can’t you just accept that answer and move the fuck on?”

“No. Not if you’re going to hurt my crew,” he simply says.

Hurt my crew. My crew.

I feel I’ve just been punched in the face.

“You don’t trust me.” I don’t pose it as a question, but instead say it matter-of-factly. I search his gaze and purse my lips. “You never did trust me, did you?”

He scoffs, leaning his head towards my face, his hot breath landing against my cheeks. “You think I want to be this close to you? You think I want to be spending my time, watching you, following you, like some sort of fucking dog? No, Raya, you don’t trust me either. Don’t be accusing me of distrust if you have it.”

I suddenly feel an odd sting to my eyes but I’m not sure why. Blood is rushing through me so quickly, and I’m immediately in a state of fury.

“You should’ve decided that when you kissed my hands, Zoro.” He stares at me with confusion, and I scoff, pushing him away from me. “That day, when I was losing blood and then passed out? I saw you. When you put me to bed, and before you left, you kissed my hands as I was bleeding from them. Why?” I wryly look at him when he doesn’t respond. “What, was that last minute guilt?”

Zoro's expression shifts, a mix of anger and contemplation flickering across his features as he meets my gaze. He considers my question. The silence stretches between us, thick with fury and fear.

Finally, he speaks, his voice low and measured, each word weighted with anger. "I did it because..." He pauses, as if searching for the right words. "To show you I’m not afraid of you."

He takes a moment to stand in front of me, his fist opening then closing by his side as if deciding whether to reach for me. He heaves out a frustrated sigh before turning his back to walk to the other edge of the pool.

I don’t move; I don’t look at him or try to even understand what he meant by saying that. The water trickles across multiple broken rocks, calmly fluttering into the lake with a discontented sigh, and all I can do is sink my shoulders deeper into the warm liquid, hoping that maybe it’ll wash even my memories away.

Zoro in the distance begins to dress himself, throwing on his shirt and pants with unnecessary aggression before grabbing at his two swords. He doesn’t offer a look back to me as he storms out of the cave, except he leaves me with a few parting words, the words that will stop me from going to sleep at night.

“You don’t scare me, Kozuki.”

[silverloreley]

Patching holes in Descendants lore - Auradon Prep’s foundation

I’ve had a stray thought about Descendants. Well, not really a stray thought, I mean, it started from the Pocketwatch nonsense (they’ll have to explain me how is it that Charming, Aladdin and Jasmine are the same age as Maleficent who should be the same age as Leah, and how is it that there’s a teen Hades who is a god and his story should have started ages before??? Whatever, Pocketwatch isn’t canon anyway) and the Merlin school (?!?!), which brought me to think about the Princess Academy (you know, as in the fan webseries on YouTube).

Now, in Princess Academy it’s implied the princesses reunited in there to share knowledge and learn how to be actual princesses. The presence of Giselle seems to imply that was a time after she and Edward met where she was sent to the PA to learn stuff before her marriage, which totally makes sense... or it would if they actually learned State welfare, advanced economics, diplomacy and stuff.

Which led me to think of Auradon Prep. Canon says Auradon Prep was instituted by King Beast, and that Adam and Belle married when he was 28, 7 years after his curse was broken. It’s reasonable to think that during those 7 years lots of stuff happened. I already talked about the Villains’ Takeover, and the possible war, and the reason the castle was made into a school to begin with, here I want to add a few other things.

It’s reasonable that the princesses (and princes) would need a formal education in ruling. The ones who used to be commoners like Cinderella, Belle and Tiana had no preparation whatsoever, full stop. Born princesses like Snow White, Aurora and Rapunzel were raised in completely different environments than they should have. Ariel, though she is royalty by birth, comes from an underwater realm and knew nothing of human politics, and same goes for Moana, Raya and Kida who had an upbringing that is nothing alike to that of european ruling style, the one Auradon is loosely based on (the fact I think Auradon should be more like the EU than USA factors a lot in this reconstruction). The only ones I can think had a formal education as future rulers are Merida (we see it in canon), Elsa and possibly Anna, Elena (of Avalor), and perhaps Jasmine (provided the Sultan didn’t assume her husband would take over and didn’t bother having her educated in ruling). Some of the princes, like Aladdin, Eugene, Milo, and Kristoff started as commoners so they’d have no such education either and I think some of the born princes may need a refresh on some stuff.

Besides, they’re all pretty young aren’t they? (Save for Milo, I think Milo is the oldest Disney prince since he’s 32. I’d have to check for others, but I’m pretty sure he’s the eldest).

So, the making of a school to help the young rulers of a new nation-alliance makes sense. The name itself is a giveaway, Auradon Prep, short for Preparatory School. It either was made right after the merge of realities (I have another post about this facet) or it could have started as a refuge during the conflict with the Villains: they picked a castle where the Heroes could regroup and train for the final confrontation, and then the castle was converted to a proper school and the training activities became sports (you know, like hunting was a war training exercise for nobles in ancient times). It also makes sense that Adam, who owned that castle, decided to convert it to a school for his allies and later their children.

[epic-solemnity]

Hi Epic, you know, I still think there is an enormous chance - and one I am still so excited about the possibility of - that it is Indra that is Raya's counterpart. Ezra looks after, Indra rules - they are both BORN leaders who put their people first. It would explain Indra's seeming inability not to be fascinated by Ezra (and vice versa!). They seemed so intrigued by the other on such a deep level. And what of that is because the other can do what the other one can't, because they are meant to compliment each other?

Plus...can u just imagine Agni's reaction to the fact? 😛

Heya Anon!

TBH, I was debating on whether to post this Ask or not on the very slim [very marginal] possibility that new readers came across it. But there aren’t too many spoilers, so I thought what the heck, let’s post it. The instant attraction between Ezra and Indra was palpable from the start, so it doesn’t surprise me there are readers shipping the two together. There is something about antagonistic tension, and these two have it in spades. Though let’s be honest, anyone who has ever wanted to control Ezra finds it ‘exciting’ when he bucks back and makes it challenging. Agni went through the same thing, only now, he’s in it for the long run and has adjusted his approach (somewhat).

I can’t say much more than this, but you are right, Indra and Ezra complement each other on several aspects. I wouldn’t think Agni would be a passive observer if they got closer than reluctant allies. He and Ezra have been through a lot together, and that boy is precious to him—he’d play dirty if he needs to (as we all know).

And I’m not sure if it’s apparent just yet, but the whole counterpart aspect has not been mentioned in Triloka. Yet 😏