#serena's reading adventures

[booksandeverything-in-between]

Gonna start something that I might forget about.

The thought here is that, since I deleted my Goodreads and it overwhelms me anyway, but I want to get back to reading now that I'm done with school, I'll reblog this each time I finish a book, so it's my own little reading log that'll live on my own little book blog that I've had for almost 10 years.

Books I've read this year:

(We must remember (to the best of my ability) all the reading I've done for my classes:

Constitutional Law & Politics, Vol. 2: Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, O'Brien & Silverstein

So. Many. Supreme Court Decisions. Because they count!

The Art of War, Sun Tzu

On Guerilla Warfare, Mao Tse-tung

The Prince, Machiavelli

Rules for Radicals, Saul Alinski

The Starfish and the Spider, Ori Brafman and Rod Beckstrom

Digital Universe, Peter Seel

Not counting all of the articles/books I skimmed because I was a combination of too tired, too bored or too confused. (von Clausewitz's "On War," anyone?)

And probably more.)

Aug. 13 - The Blonde Identity, Ally Carter

[bekaterrier]

Happy Audio Drama Sunday! Living is messy and we all make mistakes. Try to find the things worth saving in all the mess. Now let's go make some more mistakes!

@saffronandperi - Season 2: This season we got to hear our favourite fairy godmother and djinnia (and friends) play around in Wonderland! Poor Tristan does seem to attract trouble like crazy, and then everyone being affected by goblin shenanigans? So much going on! And to end on such a cliff hanger! Saffron and those innocent dragon eggs better get back safe. 🧚‍♂️

@monkeymanproductions MTO Phases Story 5 - Nima: This month's story is one that gave me goosebumps and brought tears to my eyes the first time I read it. Hearing it brought to life by Serena Rahhal, the original voice of Nima, made it that much more impactful. Returning to Palestine, to Jerusalem, to where Nima used to live... In particular, the mention of Rafah in the 20s, which is happening right now. MTO has always been about hope and resistance, and that comes through loud and clear. 🌘

@morrowforge Mage With a Mic Ep1 - The Warehouse and Ep2 - Creaks & Crones: A new AD where Mage Doughball, who's been sentenced to be the head of tourism for Thither, reports on different locations, events and people around the realm. I enjoyed the first two episodes so far, especially Doughball's snark – you can definitely tell he did not choose to be there. The world-building and the small bits we've heard of how the magic systems work sound really interesting and I'm looking forward to hearing more! 🎤

@vestaclinicpod Episode 24 - Chromatophore: Another Xael episode! And this time with the company of our special boy Sec! I did not realize that Xaelest harboured resentment towards Sec but I completely understand where she's coming from. Especially with what we learned this episode about why she stopped performing surgery... And then to hear that the scenario the examiners gave her was the same? How awful. And now she'll have to go back to the form she had when it happened in order to help NOSL11. Someone (Faye) needs to give Xael a hug, though I doubt she'd readily accept it.

As an aside, I absolutely love how descriptions are done in this show, how the expressions used feel so real. This particular line stood out to me this episode: "they tugged their forearm against the sky of their stomach". Isn't that such a gorgeous expression, knowing that ceresaurs' skin runs from milky blue to the rich indigo of twilight, and that star maps of their flights show up on their skin? Just beautiful. ⚕️

@forgedbondspod - Chapter 18: I've said it before and I've said it again, I want to punch Zeus in the face so bad... He was being his usual, awful, manipulative self this episode, and I hate how he, as king of the gods, keeps getting away with it. I don't trust him for one second. Poor Hera, dragged back into his terrible influence. No one even knows she went with him – Hera, tell someone, please! 💍

@monkeymanproductions Waiting For October S1 Episode 8 - Back Together: Season finale! Karo and Vonnie are back together for a much needed conversation after their solo adventures. I love how many different characters popped in as they were trying to find someplace to talk, and then October springing Halloween on them! The conversation was tough, but their love and trust was evident through the whole thing. Especially in the story that Karo told of how they make things work. It definitely had me tearing up. And then the ending!!! Let's go back to the mooooon!! 🎃

@re-dracula Week 2: Jonathan discovers lizard fashion and explores the castle. We all knew there was some creepy shit going on at the castle, and Jonathan was a little weirded out by some things, but now he knows about the creepy shit for sure. Seems like the new goal will just to be stay alive... 🦇

[dystopiandramaqueen]

let's redeem and forgive the pretty skinny white women and make a bad guy out of the Chinese man that grew up in poverty, who was abused by his father and left by his mother and still manged to be a kind selfless person

okay got it 👍🏾

I was reading the other day that when you make art-

There are the parts you WANT to say.

And parts you say without meaning to.

I forget what season it was...3? There was so much violence toward black and brown bodies that it really upset alot of us. Oldschool American KKK style violence.

And again remember, this isn't Margaret Atwood's original content. This is shit the writers made up, to stretch the story out for 6 seasons for money.

They could have written anything. S2 could have opened like the MOVIE ended- with June safe, off the grid, sending love letters to Nick. Fucking imagine that. A logical continuation of the original story.

But instead, June graphically lynched that Martha, then bullied another black woman to death, who was shot and dragged to the tune of a happy song.

I think the white male show runner was trying to be edgy? Shocking?

But what he was really showing was what HE wants to see on TV. Violence toward women, especially black and brown women, set to his favorite tunes.

We confronted him about it online- and he said a couple things in interviews. "My art may be too smarty pants for people." (calling us stupid) and "I can't be racist, Moira and Luke are Black!" He completely refused to listen to feedback or respond to it. Said we were overreacting. Typical patriarchal, white response when concerns are raised by women.

Serena is an example of a white feminist. Just like the women who voted for Trump, thinking "He'll hurt OTHER ppl, but not me, so it's ok."

In the book? Serena's a miserable old crone. With a CANE! Not attractive. Not sexual anymore. She took away women's rights, including her own. She was a fool, and she suffered and wasted away. Serena's suffering was a WARNING.

The show runners made Serena decades younger and stunningly beautiful. Completely changing the character's identity and meaning. They then gave her big huge story lines, when in the book she was an afterthought.

Think of all the adventures Nick and June could have had while Serena was dancing at balls. Smiling and laughing, or crying her big pretty tears when she suffered consequences she dreamed up for others. I literally couldn't care less. If these writers wrote for Star Wars we'd be watching Vader and Palpatine slow dancing at imperial balls and house hunting together. Literally no one wants to watch the villans thrive.

We also suspect they may have a personal attraction to the actress. That would explain alot. She is beautiful and talented. I don't contest that.

None of my issue is with the actors. They're all amazing. Like Max said, they're hired to act, and they did a fantastic job.

My issue has always been with the warping and alteration of Atwood's narrative.

It was really simple. Nick and June's love was supposed to win.

But what we got was the maker's personal preferences, attractions, inherent biases, taste for violence against women and POC... these are the things that came out unintentionally when they made this art.

It's a bad look, but it's not mine.

That's what's helping me heal.

Not my circus, not my monkeys. Not my shitty story. Not my fault.

When my grandkids ask why I wrote 42 stories about some old book I'll say "The story was important to me. I was June's age when I read it. It was about a woman just like me. A TV show bought the rights to the story and ruined it. Got it wrong. All of us who wrote fic for that show were trying to preserve the heart of the story like they did in Farenheit 451. Fascists burn books. Change history. But the people can remember and retell the originals. That is why fanfiction exists.

In the end- we didn't win.

Rich white men bought the rights to The Handmaid's Tale, but ended up making Serena's So Called Life. It's the photo negative of the book.

But hey at least the owners are richer! Plus, I'm really glad they have something to beat off to now. Maybe they'll be satisfied and leave other feminist classics alone.

Luckily, now we can reclaim our time and energy. This sense of injustice? We can turn it away from screens, and out into our communities. We don't have time to be fighting over a stupid fucking TV show anymore.

It's happening. Just like she said it would.

[pokenoire]

Continuing my post from yesterday to break down why Serena was disrespected by Ash in this scene

Because of the image limit and because the image limit has been reached

1

Still breaking down the whole situation of this sentence being disrespectful to all the help Serena offered him on the journey.

She was the one who lifted you up and gave you advice to get out of your shit when you were bad at the gym.

THAT'S what she gets? DAMN

They call my girl submissive the whole anime and when she can't handle Ash disrespecting her and yelling at her

THEY GO CRAZY LMAO

You can't just throw that PHRASE out there and expect no one to get mad about it

No one can yell at Ash or react

No one can hit him or call him out

No one can get mad at him over some triviality.

No one can get mad at him if they're a female character

If it's a man, you can

I'll tell you what it is, midnight...

Parallels, this scene is totally a situation from the first gym where Ash found trying to improve from a loss and in an attempt Serena calls him back to his best and to try again after hards loses (remembering that BW was a sequence of XY here)

"It's so disappointing to lose

I'm trembling, but,

My clenched fist loosens

I wipe the sweat on my jeans, so let's shake hands!

Isn't the flow of time mysterious?

"Do you remember who won?"

Now look!

I can laugh as I talk with you

"I forgot!" said while playing dumb

Those are my rivals' - Rivals' OP (OS)

The show is always talking about thanking her for everything she does for her friends in that sense and not just for him. The show does nothing to fix the flaws in Ash's optimism, only to reinforce it (not new, by the way).

"I have to go, I have to do it

I can't lose, I can't stop, not until the end

I'm not alone, I'm not lonely, still a way to go

This exciting adventure isn't over" - Challenger

have to go, I have to do it

I can't lose, I can't stop, at any time

I want to help, I want to protect you during painful times

I can't turn around, I can't lie down

I can't get depressed, I can't give up, I believe

I won't rush, I won't get confused

I always aim for that distant dream..." Challenger

But he's being unreasonable here, and Ash's depression is no excuse for him to throw away all the help he got from her

He makes up with Greninja,he talks to Pikachu,but he doesn't apologize for saying that to her

She blamed herself and said "I said horrible things" but so did hesame in his angry state and the show doesn't address it.

Even if you are angry, you can't just hurt people's feelings.

He thanked but did not apologize.

She helped you remember your own self, as the words themselves describe, they may not be talking about Serena herself, but they may have been used as inspiration for these scenes in her character.

That's what the Snowbelle arc is about, it's about Satoshi and Serena themselves. People say Ash is out of character here when everything says otherwise in his own characterization.

SHE STILL DOESN'T DESERVE WHAT HE SAID

💖🫶

Thank you for reading this again, anyway. The show builds Ash's character like this from the beginning and Serena's character has supported him through everything in the same way.

She deserves more recognition than just being called "submissive" that's pure misogyny really.

[kayann9]

Hope is a dangerous game

Thank you so much to anyone who read the last one shot! I really appreciate anyone who took the time to read, like or re-blog!

This is mainly from Gale's P.O.V just before Shadow-cursed Lands and his confession. Nothing explicit; just fluff. Tav (f -Serena) X Gale. 1057 words and I do not own anything other than Serena :)

Gods she was beautiful.

Gale’s brain let the thought roam free, the urge he’d had to reign it in when the dark magic coursing through his veins heaved had vanished. He watched her train with abandon and revelled in the fact he could glance in her direction without the guilt and concern that doing so would end their lives.

He had noted that beauty when she’d dragged him out of the portal.

The type of grace that elves possessed was a magic unto itself, but she was spectacular. The others had made the same eyes at her that he had; his incessant babbling about his life in Waterdeep and tales of misbegotten adventures as a youth had been his weapons in the war for her attention.

“Your flank. It’s always the flank!” Karlach’s voice boomed as it broke his silent reverie. “You know, I will always watch your back Ren but sooner or later you’re going to feel the point of a sword there.”

“I’m left-handed! It’s hard.”

Serena was left-handed. Of course, she was. Gale had spent his time studying her since he’d decided he’d have to keep away from her, since the night of magic happened, and he’d seen that thought whirring in her brain. He’d worked out that she liked the outdoors, that she enjoyed the sound of water, she was better at cards than she told anyone – often faking poor hands and bluffs - and that when she was happy, genuinely so, she smiled with her whole face. This was one of those times and far from the usually clench of agony in his chest, it was just his heartbeat throbbing away at the sight of the brightness in her eyes.

It was a different kind of feeling.

There was no anxiety around her. There were no knots in his stomach when he looked at her; just the feeling of warmth. The feeling of not wanting to wait until she spoke to him or looked at him again. He didn’t question that she was fond of him, whilst their relationship had not been spoken out loud, their glances and touches were the most intimate he’d ever felt.

He was falling in love with her.

He was in love with her.

And wasn’t that the cruellest joke of them all.

His Mother would have been thrilled if he’d spoken to her and told her of Serena; intelligent, brave, beautiful, good. She’d been no fan of his special relationship with Mystra; no fan of his designs of wanting more than mortality. This, this she would have been ecstatic about.

And he wouldn’t ever be able to tell her.

Because it wouldn’t be anything more than a blip in time; maybe a moment before his destruction. His Mother would never know about how he’d met someone who made his heart sing; who laughed at his stories, genuinely and with heart; who made fun out of him with a soft glance.

He supposed the real question was would he even be able to tell Serena?

Would it be fair?

One part of him screamed to do it; to take her away to a secluded spot, show her the heavens and then some, tell her how if it were the real world and if he were at home, in his cluttered tower, he would’ve taken all the time in the world to do this right. He’d have taken her out, showed her any realm she wished to see, taken her to any place she had wished to visit.

Then there was the other part. The part that couldn’t forget the orb despite its silence. The part that reminded him how selfish that would be when he knew what the outcome was: oblivion.

And that was if she was even receptive to the whole idea. It hadn’t been lost on him that they were from different worlds; hers filled with blood and steel, his filled with mysticism and power. It was possible he’d read the whole thing wrong. That her glances were that of sympathy and pity not wanting and compassion.

He groaned and pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes.

It was all so complex.

It was all so human.

“You look a million miles away.” He startled as she sat beside him. “I’m tired of my flank being told off so I am having a break.”

Sweat beaded along her brow, her skin flushed with the heat. She glowed. “Just lost in thought. Your flank looked good to me.” As the words left his mouth, his brain caught up.

“I am very glad to have you watching my flank.” Her shoulder knocked into his, that familiar teasing tone had been slowly creeping back since Elminster’s visit. “Maybe you should go and spar with her, I can watch your flank too.”

He didn’t flush, for that he was grateful.

“I’m not sure sword fighting is my forte. A wise man knows him limitations and using an executioner’s axe is most definitely mine, especially if you want me to keep my hands. Very difficult to cast the array of spells at my arsenal without them.”

“I am almost positive they have much better uses than simply casting spells.”

Gale’s heart stuttered. This was definitely a flirtation. It was one of her more obvious ones. While he had tormented himself about all the outcomes, the more impulsive part of him couldn’t help but lean into her: messy hair sitting on her damp skin, rosy glow of her face in the evening light.

“Oh, really?”

Serena was so fast that he barely had chance to register, entwining her fingers in his. “Oh, most definitely.” Her voice lowered to a whisper and he couldn’t help but glance around the wide space, checking to make sure he had not actually succumbed to death, and this was some sordid fantasy he’d spent weeks pushing away.

Her breath tickled his cheek, her lips close to his ear.

“You… are also an excellent cook.” The giggle brought him back to reality and before he could register his disappointment, she planted the lightest kiss on his cheek before dancing away.

His skin tingled with the faintest ghost of her lips.

His soul tingled with faintest glimmer of hope.

For the first time, in what felt like an eternity, the tiniest gleam of a new voice in his head whispered: maybe she will find another way.

[apricoteaa]

Dqxi characters favourite game genre?

Camera cuts to me hunched over my laptop reading the Wikipedia article for List of Video Game Genres

Erik

Monster tamers! Totally not a nod to DQ Treasures He loves them for their of whimsy, adventure, and sense of having a greater purpose, totally not because growing up the way he did has imbued him with an insatiable desire for friendship found in odd places

Some of his favorites: Pokemon (specifically Gen 4), Yokai Watch 2, Ni No Kuni

Veronica

Action game enthusiast, whether its FPS or even a little bit horror oriented! She likes the thrill of exploration, and she's totally a rage gamer. Many a console controllers have been lost to a poorly thought out kafrizzle.

Some of her favorites: Bioshock, Hades, Hollow Knight

Serena

She loves peaceful puzzle games. The vibes are immaculate, and they help keep her mind sharp! Maybe they're a little directionless, but there's nothing wrong with going wherever the wind takes you.

Some of her favorites: Unravelled, Goragoa, Monument Valley

Sylvando

Of course he's a visual novel enthusiast. I don't even think I could list all of the ones he's played. But he's also an adventure game enjoyer! Except, he only plays the ones that leave you with nothing to comfort you except a full gallon of rocky road ice cream.

Some of his Favorites: To the Moon, Night in the Woods, Spiritfarer

Jade

RPGs/visual novels. She likes them for the action more than the story, but rich lore is totally a plus. Also, she'll never admit that she's a sucker for gacha games. She and Rab play Cookie Run Kingdom together.

Some of her favorites: OFF, Persona V, Disco Elysium

Rab

Enjoys simulator games that are peaceful and meditative. They're simple, give him some pretty scenery to enjoy, and they're not too hard for an old man like him to pick up on.

Some of his favorites: Journey, ABZU, Everything

Hendrik

Cozy games. He just wants to breathe for a minute. A humble life where you can do some errands, talk to your neighbors, maybe plant some crops. Like wheat. That would be nice.

Some of his favorites: Stardew Valley, Animal Crossing, Slime Rancher

Jasper

Horror is his favorite by far. He loves explorations of the grimdark, gritty, and gorey, even if they're just shits and giggles itch.io flash games. He will never admit how much sleep he loses.

Some of his favorites: Fear and Hunger (the first one), Layers of Fear, Ao Oni

[princesshillaryellaworld25]

Friday night funkin: Adventures in Cartoon city (Season 2 Episodes written)

Here's Part 2 Episode 1, Season 2: The new neighbor A new neighbor moves in on 245 Parodies street and this neighbor is very noisy and obnoxious and the crew is getting very tired of it. Meanwhile, Sick Boyfriend has been having…. “Those” feelings again whenever she’s around Drugfriend, Boyfriend, Girlfriend and Pico. Could he be….polyamorous?!

Episode 2, Season 2: House-a-palooza After their houses were burned down by Horror M's firework revenge mishap, BF & GF and the school trio have no choice but to move in with Sick Boyfriend and Drugfriend in their mansion.

Episode 3, Season 2: Exs and Oh nos (Laura Bridges Arc part 2)

Boyfriend, Girlfriend, Pico, Sick Boyfriend and Drugfriend are just having a good time at Parodies City Plaza mall after the whole moving in, until Drugfriend noticed a familiar face from his past life, his horrible ex girlfriend, Laura.

Episode 4, Season 2 : Meeting new friends Nigel and Kara had an expected visit from their neighborhood friend Cody, and then they had a run-in with the trolls (Troll BF, Troll GF, the Troll School trio, Troll Cassandra and Troll Sky)

Episode 5, Season 2: Father knows best Father Fairest escapes prison without his wife to get revenge on Micheal and Daddy dearest for putting both of them in jail for child abuse, and what better way to get revenge is to capture the dads of the Funkin Parodies crew and trick them into competing against each other. So it's up to the Funkin Parodies crew to rescue their dads from Father Fairest's clutches.

Episode 6, Season 2: Cinder-Boyfriend During a clean up time at the attic, Nene found an old story book what belonged to Boyfriend. It was a story called Cinderella, Sick Boyfriend used to love that book when they were a kid and asked Boyfriend if he could read it again, So the story begins with Boyfriend as Cinderella, Father Fairest and DF's bullies as the stepmother and step sisters and Girlfriend as prince charming.

Episode 7, Season 2: Sick Boyfriend and the Fangirl Lila Rose was introduced as a Sick Boyfriend Fangirl and let’s just say, She’s like Sick Senpai but she is so much worse. The crew starts to feel uncomfortable, which includes Sick Boyfriend because now the stalking becomes much worse when she tries to break in and Sick Boyfriend is deadly afraid that Lila Rose might end up hurting her or worse….

Episode 8, Season 2: Purity Trouble Serena visits the Funkin Parodies crew and they all went out for a day in the park, it was going good until someone from Serena’s past came to ruin everything: Roger Hollister as known as Purity Senpai was Serena’s high school bully. He was also know as the worst angel in the whole universe.

Episode 9, Season 2: Babysitting blues Girlfriend and Sick Boyfriend was hired to watch Lola and Lana while Lincoln was away, Sick Boyfriend has to watch his little brother and baby sister as well. Let’s hope this day won’t get any rowdy.

Episode 10, Season 2: Trapped in the elevator

Sick Boyfriend had to spend an hour trapped in the elevator at work with Serena’s horrible father Travis when it broke down at Parodies HQ. So Michael and the other employees had to save Sick Boyfriend and sadly Travis from getting stuck.

Episode 11, Season 2: A Daryonna and friends crossover The Funkin Parodies crew meets Daryonna and her friends for the first time for an exciting adventure when Horror Mario teams up with Xeno and the rest of the villains from DAF's universe.

Episode 12, Season 2: Sick Senpai 3: He’s back After Sick Senpai was released from jail, He was forced to move out by his sister Sick Monika because she couldn’t put up with him anymore so he had to move into a shabby apartment building, while he plans on how he’s gonna get Sick Boyfriend back.

Episode 13, Season 2: Laura’s revenge (Laura Bridges Arc part 2)

Laura Bridges wants Drugfriend back so she set him up by pretending to be Sky while She locks the real Sky into a shed.

Episode 14, Season 2: Spring Stage fright

Daddy Dearest and Mommy Mearest are holding a spring festival for everyone in Parodies City. Boyfriend insisted that Sick Boyfriend sings with him, but unknowingly, Sick Boyfriend developed stage fright. The reason why was Purity Senpai found the grimoire and hexed Sick Boyfriend to be afraid of stage fright . So it’s up to the Funkin parodies crew to stop Purity Senpai, release Sick Boyfriend from the spell and save the spring festival.

(Fun fact: Purity Senpai and Sick Senpai are the one Senpai variants that can’t sing well)

Episode 15, Season 2: Trains go overboard SpongeBob wanted to go to glove park downtown but when all the streets are blocked due to the traffic, Boyfriend insisted that they take the subway but things took a wild turn when they keep getting lost in the subway. Meanwhile, Kaity and Chris were grounded and were forced to stay home with Mr. Files watching them, they encounter a dangerous spider

Episode 16, Season 2: Night at the workplace Sick Boyfriend, Drugfriend and Sick Girlfriend were assigned to spend the night at their workplace to cover the hours they lost due to Their missions and other stuff. Sick Girlfriend (who is the security guard of the workplace) tells a scary story to the two about the tell of the hash-slinging slasher. It didn’t spook Drugfriend but it did spook Sick Boyfriend because she is not used to listening to scary stories. Let’s hope that the shift will go well or it will be a nightmare….

Episode 17, Season 2: Pet sitting Sick Boyfriend and Boyfriend have to go to Korea for a special mission so they asked SpongeBob and Rocko if they watch over Snickers and Benji until they come back but things took a wrong turn when Purity Senpai hired a pet catcher to capture the pets.

Episode 18, Season 2: Franken-Ink A magic ink pen fell from the Sky straight to Parodies city and landed at Sick Boyfriend’s mansion. The crew decided to play it a little until Boyfriend, Girlfriend, Pico, Sick Boyfriend and Drugfriend thought of the idea of making an Ink toon character into life: InkGirl. It was fun at first until it turns on them.

Episode 19, Season 2: The Demon from below (Imp Senpai Arc Special : Part 1)

A demonic version of Senpai escapes Hell to settle to score with Girlfriend but he has a different approach when he encounters Sick Boyfriend

Episode 20, Season 2: Girlfriend’s Revenge (Imp Senpai Special: Part 2)

After Sick Boyfriend was admitted to the hospital due to getting raped by Imp Senpai and SpongeBob being kidnapped from Imp Senpai, Girlfriend has had enough of Imp Senpai and decided to take matters into her own hands, Drugfriend immediately snaps too after hearing the news. She and Drugfriend goes into full demon mode to hunt down Imp Senpai and save SpongeBob even if it means to search through Parodies city.

Episode 21, Season 2: Hell troubles Sick Girlfriend has an unexpected visit from a familiar pride demon, Demon Sick Girlfriend from hell. She wants Sick Girlfriend to bond with her and ditch the Funkin Parodies crew. Penelope then suspects that Demon Sick Girlfriend is not what she seems. Before Penelope could tell Sick Girlfriend, Demon Sick Girlfriend put Penelope in a deep coma due to being ambushed by a spell.

Episode 25, Season 2: A angel's last dance (Season Finale) Sick Boyfriend finally admits his/her feelings that they like Drugfriend and to make things more interesting, She likes BF & GF and Pico too! So Sick Boyfriend wanted to make the confession perfect so they had a little help from their friends but unaware, Laura comes to destroy their plans by teaming up with Sick Boyfriend's step mother and babysitter to kidnap him.

What's your favorite episode written?

[eliteseven]

✨ Let's talk about OCs! ✨How would you describe your OC's personality/aesthetic? What's your favourite thing about them? Tell us a fun fact(s) about your OC or their creation

❤️ Send this to at least 3 people to spread some OC appreciation! ❤️

Awww, how fun! Thank you so much! 🥰

I’ll try to make this pretty lol

OC: Serena Adria Bayne Tavyndír

Portrait:

Personality:

Forgiveness is at the core of her arc. She is magnanimous. She is gracious and kind, but so, so curious and unable to sit still for very long. She’s a poor liar, a good sport. She’s not married to the rules as one might believe- I think she’s more of a chaotic good. She’s well read and a practiced diplomat- and it goes out the window when she sees a pretty girl. She is soft; she never let her life’s struggles break her of that habit. Her deepest fear is being powerless, as she was to her father in her youth. She values kindness in others. Above all, she’s a hopeless romantic and love means everything to her, because it was almost stripped from her life entirely, at one point.

Aesthetic:

I think I have it best @tavyndir , her character inspo blog. But, mainly…knight core, but soft. morning light, flowers, old books, lace. A curiosity for history, an admiration for nature, and something that highlights the soft parts of her at war with the more hardened aspects.

Favorite thing about her:

Her capacity for love, and how ardently she believes in love- not just of the romantic capacity, but in all its forms. Love saved her life many times over. She owes all she has to love.

Fun facts about her:

That I didn’t share before? Hmm 🤔

-Seeing as the Tavyndír family has its fortune built on maritime trade, Serena did have an obsession with sneaking to the harbor to watch the ships come in. She’d meet with the sailors and they’d gift her little trinkets from their travels. I think it would be VERY fitting for her to try and stow away on one of those trade galleons.

She makes it about 2 days before she’s discovered, living off crew rations and scampering around the deck. It’s been the journey of a lifetime for a small, sheltered patriar girl with no chance of having real adventure in this lifetime. She stands at the bow of the ship and watches as it slices through waves.

Unfortunately, her mother is worried sick, and her father is LIVID upon her return.

She considers the beating she receives when she gets home to be well worth it, though that effectively ends her days of childhood exploration beyond the city walls ☹️

[pretty-mik-97]

Obligatory Intro Post

Who is Mikky?

My actual name is Lisa. Mikky's just my online persona who has a deep love for stories and loves analysing and dissecting them like I'm reading actual literature.

I'm 25, turning 26 this year. My pronouns are she/her. I'm Black and from Africa. Recent Honours graduate. Currently working as a graphic designer.

Hobbies

Love reading webtoons, manhwa, and fanfiction. I also love watching anime and k-dramas. And I'm into K-pop (my favourite groups are BTS, NCT, GOT7, ATEEZ, Stray Kidz, Aespa, XG, Le Sserafim, and Kiss of Life)

Manhwa I've Read

Never-ending Darling

Muse on Fame

Juvenile Offender

Unholy Blood

Trash Belongs in the Trashcan

Killing Stalking

The Horizon

Marry My Husband

The First Night With The Duke

Winter Woods

Mystical

Sweet Home

Bastard

Shotgun Boy

Pigpen

Flawed Almighty

Twilight Poem

Her Mannequin

A Good Day To Be A Dog

Surviving Romance

Rotten

Night Fishing

Samadhi

The Savior's Time

The Aftermath

True Beauty

Save Me

She's Hopeless

Disconnected from Reality

Snake Cave

Webtoons I've read

Lore Olympus

Cursed Princess Club

Siren's Lament

Where Tangents Meet

Eaternal Nocturnal

Edith

Freaking Romance

Age Matters

My Deepest Secret

Not Even Bones

My Dear Cold Blooded King

Gremoryland

Luff

Rise from the Ashes

Fluffy Boyfriend

Opposite of Always

Going Up

American Road Trip

Live Forever

Spells from Hell

Beetle Hands

When Jasy Whistles

Reunion

Eggnoid

Matchmaker Hero

The Wolfman of Wulvershire

Heartwired

LMLY

Manhwa I'm currently reading

Tears on a Withered Flower

Flowers Are Bait

Black Chain

Three Months of Summer

Killer Peter

A Savage Proposal

Duchess in Ruins

You Can't Kll Me: The Secret Bride the Black Wolf

My Girlfriend

Like Mother Like Daughter

High School Queen

Serena

Maybe Meant to Be

Kowloon: Copóka

Childhood Friend Complex

In Between

Cry or Better Yet Beg

A Life Changing Turn

Webtoons I'm currently reading:

Klimt's Kiss

Made of Stardust

Jackson's Diary

Subzero

Everything's Fine

21st Century Knights

Down to Earth

Homesick

Sable Curse

Honey Lemon

Re: Trailer Trash

Love Sickubus

Hello Baby

In the Bleak Midwinter

The Red King

unOrdinary

Unlovable Replacement

Silent Screams

Roots of the Heart

Replaced

Third Shift Society

The Guy Upstairs

Anime

Tokyo Ghoul (Watched)

Gangsta (Watched)

Death Parade (Watched)

The Promise Neverland (Watched. Not watching Season 2)

Dandandan (waiting for the next season)

Kakeguri (waiting for the next season)

Trigun (Watched)

Trigun Stampede (waiting for the next season)

Cyberpunk Edgerunners (Watched)

Sirius The Jaeger (Watching)

Cowboy Bebop (Watched)

Neon Genesis Evangelion (Watched)

Mew Mew Power/Tokyo Mew Mew (Watched)

Sakamoto Days (Watching)

One Punch Man (Watching)

Kaiju no.8 (waiting for the next season)

Attack on Titan (Watching)

Demon Slayer (Watching)

Jujutsu Kaisen (Watching)

Claymore (Watched)

Berserk (Watched)

Monster (Watched)

Pluto (Watched)

Hell's Paradise (waiting for the next season)

Death Note (Watching)

Spy x Family (Watching)

Ultraman (Watched)

Seven Deadly Sins (Watched. Dropped midway into Season 3)

Spriggan (waiting for the next season)

Jojo's Bizarre Adventures (Watching)

Hero Mask (Watched)

Ouran High School Host Club (Watched)

The Grimm Variations (Watched)

Record of Ragnarok (waiting for the next season)

Parasyte The Maxim (Watched)

Devilman Crybaby (Watched)

Garoudrn: The Way of the Lone Wolf (Watched)

Nana (Watched)

Devil's Line (Watched)

Elfin Lied (Watched)

Black Lagoon (Watched)

Japanese Tales of the Macabre (Watched)

Saint Saiya: Knights of the Zodiac (waiting for the next season)

My Hero Acadamia (Watched. Dropped it cause the fandom ruined it for me)

Mob Psycho 100 (Watching)

To Be Hero X (Watching)

Lazarus (Watching)

Devil May Cry (waiting for the next season)

Bakugan (Watched)

Tekken Bloodline (waiting for the next season)

Ajin (watching)

Gundam: Requiem of Vengeance (watched)

Terminator Zero (watched)

Tokyo Override (watched)

Yasuke (watched)

Cartoons

Blame (watched)

Mononoke The Movie: Phantom In The Rain (watched)

Akuma Kun (waiting for the next season)

Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway (watched)

Castlevania (Watched)

Castlevania Nocturne (waiting for the next season)

Jentry Chau vs. the Underworld (waiting for the next season)

Twilight of the Gods (waiting for the next season)

Avatar the Last Airbender (Watched)

Avatar Legend of Korra (Watched)

Invincible (Watching)

Justice League (Watching)

Teen Titans (Watched)

Young Justice (Watched)

Ultimate Spiderman (Watched)

Dota Dragon's Blood (Watched)

Inside Job (Watched)

Rick and Morty (waiting for the next season)

Samurai Jack (Watched)

Sym Bionic Titan (Re-watching)

Unicorn Warriors (waiting for the next season)

Miraculous Ladybug (Watched. Dropped it after Season 3 cause of poor writing, and Marinette was irritating the hell outta me)

Boondocks (Watched)

Blood of Zeus (waiting for the next season)

The Legend of Vox Machina (waiting for the next season)

Green Lantern: The Animated Series (planning to re-watch)

Winx Club (Watched)

Blue Eyed Samurai (waiting for the next season)

Love Death + Robots (waiting for the next season)

Ben 10 (Watched)

Ben 10 Alien Force (Watched)

Ben 10 Ultimate Alien (Watched)

Ben Omniverse (Watched)

Megas XLR (Watched)

Thundercats (planning to re-watch)

Pantheon (watching)

Ultraman Rising (watched)

Into The Spiderverse (watched)

Across The Spiderverse (watched)

Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix (watched)

Skull Island (watched)

Asian Dramas

The Glory (Watched)

My Name (Watched)

Nevertheless (Watched)

Alice in Borderland (waiting for the next season)

The Fishbowl Wives (Watched)

Nevertheless: The Shapes of Love (Watched)

The Tale of the Nine Tailed (Watched)

Mr. Plankton (Watched)

Bloodhounds (Watched)

Ballerina (Watched)

Business Proposal (Watched)

High and Low the Worst (Watched)

High and Low the Worst X (Watched)

20th Century Girl (Watched)

Girl From Nowhere (waiting for the next season)

Homuculus (watched)

Hell Dogs (watched)

Yaksha (watched)

[serenas-dawnsinger]

Would you ship this? Serenas Dawnsinger Err, yourself... x Deuce

{Let's Play: Would you ship this?}

Shoulders tuck inward as she courts a soft, girlish chuckle that paraded through her answer. "I keep forgetting that is their name...hmn..."

The aspiring writer's thoughts inevitably trailed off to the whim of fiction for inspiration. The idea of a romantic entanglement with the Masked Magician seemed very cliche, though mystery always had its timeless allure. Still, there was not enough there to warrant a start to interest! She'd thought it'd be quite crude, if not awkward. Not a slip of bemusement there.

Inevitably her thoughts washed over to adventurous reads and canticles she'd been entertained by...and therein she found inspiration. A spark, if even a rather whimsical one.

"As...cohorts in a silly crime? Or swashbuckling playmates? Or...maybe dueling bards in an impromptu show?" Serenas grinned deeper and deeper to herself with each offering until she could not help her little flutter of a laugh again. "Maybe! I am sure my masked friend could be very persuasive!"

{ @astralfox0893 <3 }

[crescentmp3]

hello! 'tis done, and just in time for tomorrow when i am free of school for two weeks. salvation

[image desc: a digital page of collected doodles showcasing mainly lumina along with her daughter serena, op's characters. the first is a full-body drawing of lumina. lumina is a woman with short, fluffy dark hair, wearing a light blouse decorated with a bow and a long skirt to her ankles. she pushes her sunglasses to her forehead as she looks to her left with a happy grin, saying something. her name is decorated above her.

then is a few clippings of a shopping adventure with lumina and serena. lumina gladly holds up a decorated coat and shows it to her daughter, cooing, "Awhe, sweetie, look~! This coat is a must for your girlfriend's attire."

serena uncomfortably looks to the side with a blush forming on her face, muttering, "Not my girlfriend."

next is another moment, with lumina holding up a lipstick in her hand as she wears a pleading expression. she says depressedly, "Honey, at least buy her a rouge! She loves rouge!"

serena faces her mother, muttering again, "Still no."

last is chibis of the two, with lumina sulking and an annoyed serena off to her side. text pointing to lumina reads, "pouted all day". // end id]

[sunny-likes-pokemon]

Performance

Serena is planning her next performance and is completely stuck. Can her friends help her get out of her own head?

AO3 • ff.net

I absolutely love Showcases. They felt like actual dance competitions to me as someone who danced competitively in high school and college. As a performer myself, I related so much to those girls giving their all and improving their routines over their season, the costume troubles, the fun rivals, the weird ones who took everything way too seriously and weren’t fun at all. I’ll be honest, that’s probably why I like the Kalos adventure so much! It was very relevant to my life at the time.

I’ve read criticisms that the routines were “the same every time” and "boring" and I just want to be like—do you have eyes?? Can’t you see the gradual progression??? The growth of personal character and skill???? The changes that make such a big difference, culminating in a final performance reminiscent of and yet entirely evolved from the start????? Bah.

So this piece is dedicated to little me, full of anxiety but dancing her heart out anyways.

Serena sat with her head in her hands, thinking as hard as she could.

She’d gotten notes from the performance judges after her last showcase, but how in the world was she supposed to incorporate them?

One note had said her routine needed more ‘dimensionality,’ that she needed to use all the space available on the stage, including vertically, for the best effect. Another had said the rhythm of the transition during the bridge of the song needed to be improved. 

And, most confusing of all, one note said that she was ‘overthinking’ her routine.

“What does that even mean?!” she screeched, burying her hands in her hair.

The Pokémon gathered nearby to eat lunch startled, Frogadier jumping to his feet with hands raised, Braixen whipping out her branch and looking for enemies.

“Serena?” called Bonnie from the campsite where she was watching Clemont make lunch. “Are you okay?” Ash, who had been watching the Pokémon, and Clemont, busy with cooking, looked at her as well, concern obvious on their faces.

“Oh, yes, just fine!” she called back, embarrassed that everyone witnessed her outburst. She had to leave, just for a bit, and pull herself together. “I’m just going to take a quick walk.” And she stood in a hurry and quickly walked away.

“Stupid, stupid,” she muttered, then took a deep breath. “Okay. One at a time. Timing.”

That just needed more training, right? The more she and her Pokémon worked together, the more in sync they’d be. They would have to practice every day, then practice until they couldn’t mess up. Then they’d be perfectly on beat. 

“Okay, next. Dimensionality.” 

She closed her eyes and imagined she was looking at the stage from the audience, but frowned and stomped her foot when she started mixing up directions in her head. “I need to see it,” she said, marching back to the camp. 

“Clemont!” she shouted when she got close, still marching. 

The inventor jumped and nearly dropped his ladle into the soup. “Y-yes?”

“Did you record my performance?” He hadn’t mentioned anything beforehand, but sometimes he did things like that to be prepared for ‘a situation precisely like this one!’

“Y-yes?”

She nodded and put her hands on her hips. “I need to see it. I need to see what those judges were talking about.”

“I’ll watch the soup, Clemont,” Ash said, standing up and taking the ladle. 

The inventor was so startled that he didn’t even try to show her a ‘Performance Improver Prediction Machine’ or something. He just dug around until he found a tablet, loaded up the video, then handed it to her.

She sat down on the ground and started the video, studying it intently. 

“Um, Serena?” Bonnie asked. 

“Yes, what is it?” she asked, not looking up. There was the starting move from Braixen. Hm, maybe they could use Ancient Power to push it higher? No, that would change the shape of it too much. Could Braixen learn to increase her range?

“Don't you want to sit at the table…?”

Serena hummed absently and nodded. Pancham’s acrobatics were impressive close up, but diminished at a distance. How could he gain altitude? How far could he jump straight up?

“Notebook, notebook,” she muttered, reaching for her backpack. She didn’t find anything and realized she didn’t have it on. 

“Here,” Ash said, handing her her bag. 

Serena dug through the bag for a notebook and pencil, then started taking notes. 

“How to visualize…?” she muttered, then started sketching out the ‘beats’ of the performance, the big moments she really wanted to linger on, as they currently were, then below that, how she could change them to make them more dynamic. 

They had three minutes to perform, starting from the moment their music started, which was a few seconds after they took their starting poses on stage. 

They had to keep the performance escalating through that whole three minutes, starting off interesting and keeping it that way before a finishing move that would be memorable—popular vote deciding the competition meant she had to stick out in some way. 

“Serena, the soup’s getting cold,” Clemont said from nearby. 

She hummed and nodded, then squeaked when someone plucked the pencil and notebook from her hands. “Hey!”

Ash didn’t look impressed. “Seriously, you need to eat. I’ll give them back when you’re done.”

She pouted and pushed herself up, dusting herself off and stomping to the table to sit. There was a bowl of soup waiting there for her, as well as some fruit in the middle to share and her water bottle. 

She quickly shoveled the food into her mouth, grabbing her water bottle and a piece of fruit before standing up. 

“Okay, done! Give them back!”

Ash did, his eyes wide. He gestured at his face. “Um, you’ve got some soup…”

But she had already gone, heading over to the shade of one of the big trees around the campsite and settling down. She had to figure this out. 

—

Ash stood there, staring at Serena as she plopped herself down on the ground again. 

“That…was Serena, right?” Bonnie said, scooting behind Ash and holding Dedenne close as if to keep him safe. “She didn’t get possessed or…or body-swapped?”

Clemont shrugged. “I guess she must be really excited about working on her routine.” He started to clean up from lunch and Ash quickly shook off his confusion and helped. 

Usually, Serena was the last of them to finish eating, taking her time and talking and laughing, and she always helped clean up. 

Ash had hoped to move further that day, closer to his next gym, but Serena didn’t seem to realize anything else was going on, focused entirely on rewatching her performance and taking notes. The day dragged on and on, and Ash eventually had to admit they wouldnt be going any further. “I guess we’re camping here tonight,” he told the others, who looked over at Serena with concern. Camping here was okay with him. It wasn’t like gym battles were on a set schedule like showcases were (even if he did want to get there as soon as possible). He, like Clemont and Bonnie, was kind of worried about Serena, though. 

They set up their tents, the boys helping Bonnie with the girls’ tent, then got ready for bed. Some nights they all played a card game or something before going to sleep, but as one-fourth of their group was so frantically occupied, none of them were really feeling it. So Ash said his final ‘good night’ to his Pokémon and returned them to their Pokéballs to rest (except for Pikachu, who had already snuggled up in his sleeping bag). Then he put his hands on his hips and frowned at Serena, still scribbling away. At least she was sitting at the table now. 

“Serena,” he said, walking over to her, “it’s time for bed.”

“Just gotta…figure this…” she mumbled. 

He sighed. He understood. He did. And he’d had friends have this problem, before, too—hyper-focusing on planning it ‘just right’ and not taking breaks when needed, not doing what they’d planned. 

So he sat across from her and drummed his fingers on the table until she looked up at him, blinking, her eyes bloodshot. 

“Ash?” she asked, her voice a bit rough. “What’s up?”

He raised an eyebrow. “You. It’s bedtime.”

She scoffed. “No, it’s barely even…” She seemed to notice the dark of the sky then, how Ash was in his pajamas and the others already gone to sleep. “Oh. I guess it is.” She bit her lip and looked down at her notes. “But…but I need to…”

Ash sighed and propped his head up on his hand. It looked like a little more help was needed. “What are you struggling with?” She blinked at him in confusion and he waved at her notes. “I’ve had friends compete in things like this before. I have, too, but just for fun.” He scratched his cheek. “Maybe it won’t be the best help, but I’ll help you.”

Serena smiled at him, her shoulders finally relaxing. “Really?” He nodded, preparing himself for a long night. Then Serena yawned, covering it with her hand and then blinking slowly. “Oh, wow, I’m tired. Um, would you be okay to help me tomorrow?”

A bit relieved, he nodded again. “Absolutely.”

He stayed up while Serena got ready for bed, not wanting to leave her alone in case she decided she wanted to work some more. She did go right to bed, though, waving goodnight to him before joining Bonnie in the girls’ tent. 

The next day, Serena seemed to be back to her usual self, helping Clemont with breakfast and making Bonnie laugh with a story about her and Rhyhorn when she was very little. They got back in the road, and then Serena came up to him. 

“Um, are you still okay to help me?” she asked. 

He pumped his fist. “Of course! What do you need?”

She brought out her notebook, but paused and chewed on her lip. “When you said you competed in something like performances, what did you mean?”

So he explained contests to her, how the trainer was called a coordinator and specifically showed off Pokémon moves and the health of the Pokémon themselves, and then battled another Coordinator in a flashy way. Also, all scores were all decided by judges and not the audience. 

“Interesting,” she said softly, tapping her lips with her pencil. “So they don’t do routines?”

Ash frowned. “Well, I mean, kind of, but they’re much shorter and not set to a specific song. Not very many moves, either. Sometimes just one! They also don’t do the same routine, but come up with new ones each time. They weren’t as…it’s like…ah, buddy, what am I not explaining right?”

Pikachu crossed his tiny arms as he thought, then jumped off his shoulder and got into a ready stance, nodding at him. Ash laughed. “Alright, a demonstration it is!” He closed his eyes, remembering the moves he’d used before and what he’d learned since then. Then he shrugged and called out, “Okay, Pikachu, Electro Ball, straight up!” Once it was in the air, he called, “Thunderbolt at it, then smash them both with Iron Tail!” What resulted was an explosion of sparks and energy, and a very charged-up Pikachu. 

“Pika!!” Pikachu cried, eyes wide and grin wider. 

“Wow!!” Bonnie cheered, running up to them. “That was so cool, Pikachu!!” Dedenne cheered as well, scampering around Pikachu. 

Ash laughed at his little electric mouse, all fluffed up and sparking like a very hyper puff-ball. “Pikachu, Thunderbolt to get rid of all that static!” He looked back at Serena as Pikachu fired off a bolt into the sky and shrugged again. “Sorry, contests weren’t my thing. We probably would have gotten points off for all that static build up making Pikachu look silly. Some contests wouldn’t have allowed three moves. And there would have been a bit more planning, but that sort of thing.”

She tilted her head. “So, a coordinator just calls out a couple moves that their Pokémon practiced? They don’t all perform together?”

“Yeah, pretty much. Coordinators kinda just stand there. They usually have nice outfits, but it wasn’t a requirement.” 

She hummed and thought for a moment. “Well, I guess it’s not my part I have questions about.” Then she opened her notebook and showed Ash the drawings she’d made of a stage, tiny figures in various poses with move effects surrounding them. “One of the judges said I needed to use the vertical space more, so I was trying to think of different ways to get everyone’s moves to go farther.” She sighed. “I don’t know if you can train for that, though.”

“Well, you could have them launch themselves off of Pancham’s Stone Edge and then use their moves to get themselves higher into the air,” he said. “They both could do that, right? And then they could do something flashy while they’re up there.”

“Hm, yeah,” she said, turning to a new page and scribbling a few words there. “Maybe Braixen could blast herself up…”

Ash nodded, trying to think of cool moves he’d seen in his various battles. They continued to talk, throwing out ideas of different ways to add to or change Serena’s routine. Once Bonnie figured out what they were doing, she joined in, although she quickly got distracted imagining how Dedenne could perform. (And then Clemont joined in, too, when Bonnie seemed to think Dedenne could learn Flying Type moves.)

They didn’t make it to a Pokémon Center that day, so they found another spot to camp for the night. Serena seemed much more relaxed, actually joining them for dinner and helping set up camp. 

It was only after Bonnie and Clemont had both gone to sleep (Clemont had made a new invention which had exploded spectacularly and then said he was going to bed early) that Ash realized Serena was bent over her notebook again at the table, scribbling away.

He sighed. He’d hoped their planning session would have relaxed her. He was kind of tired…would it be better to let Serena figure out how bad an idea it was to stay up late on her own? Would she even notice, though? 

And then he heard a little sniff and saw Serena rub one eye, then a few more sniffs as she rubbed her arm across her face. She was crying?!

He grabbed his handkerchief from his bag and hurried over to her, sitting beside her and holding out the square of cloth.

“Thanks,” she said in a rough, quiet voice. “Sorry. I’m sorry.” She kept crying. She used the handkerchief to muffle the few sobs that tried to get through.

Ash frowned, trying to think of something to do or say. He shouldn’t just let her cry, right? When he got upset, he stormed off and brooded for a while. Except when he was at home, where his mom wouldn’t let him mope—she’d drag him into making dinner with her or playing a video game or watching a rerun of his favorite Pokémon battles until his problems didn’t seem so big. And if he was really upset, she’d sit with him and hug him until he felt better. There wasn’t exactly a kitchen, game system, or TV around, though, so he couldn’t do those things for Serena (he also didn’t know if she liked video games, and she probably would want to watch something other than battle reruns). He could hug her, though. So he scooted closer and wrapped his arms around her.

She squeaked and went very rigid. “A-Ash?!”

“It’s okay,” he said, patting her back and trying to remember what his mom had said to him in these situations. “It’s going to be okay.”

She slumped against him. “Why can’t I think of anything on my own?” she whispered. “I can’t just use your ideas all the time. Why…?”

Oh. Well, that made sense. “You’re thinking too hard about it.”

A groan was her response. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Have you thought about anything else these past couple days?”

“I mean…no, not really.” Then she straightened and narrowed her eyes at him. “And hard to believe you’re telling me that, Mr. Battle-Every-Trainer-That-Makes-Eye-Contact.”

He shrugged. “I know this stuff. Sometimes I use what I know.” Then he frowned. “I don’t battle every trainer.”

“But you want to.”

Well, she wasn’t wrong . “We’re getting off track. You can’t just think about one thing all the time. You’ll paralyze yourself. Do lots of things, think about lots of things.” He sighed and looked around at their little campsite. “That’s one of the reasons I like traveling with people. I get too caught up in my own head otherwise.”

She snorted lightly. “You? Really?”

He smiled wanly. “Yeah, I’m…not the best on my own.” 

She had been smiling as if expecting a joke, but it faded as she seemed to realize he was serious. “But you always come off as so confident and mature…”

Ash barked out a laugh, genuinely surprised. “Really?” He didn’t feel any different than he had when he first set off on his journey years ago, and he knew he’d been a brat back then, all big dreams and desperation to prove he had what it took to be a good trainer. Then again, he’d learned so much since then, met so many people and seen so many things, traveled all around the planet and had more adventures than any kid could ask for. It would have been stranger if he hadn’t changed at least a little bit. “If I’m so wise and mature, then you should listen to me and go to sleep. Sleep isn’t something you can miss and still function normally.”

Rolling her eyes, Serena closed her notebook. “Fine, fine.” She went to stand up, but paused and then sat down again, a small frown on her face as she looked at the handkerchief in her hand. 

“…Serena?”

Her eyes met his briefly, her expression unreadable. Then she smiled, bright as could be, and held the square of cloth out to him. When he went to grab it, she put her hand over his, her gaze practically burning into his. “You’re incredible. You’ll reach your dreams and go even further beyond them. I know you will.” 

Before he could say anything, she walked away and off to her tent. He didn’t move for a while, just sitting there, confused as could be. 

But…it made him really happy that she believed in him. She’d been traveling with him long enough to see the kind of guy he was, and apparently she still thought he could reach his dreams, no matter how big. 

He believed in her, too. Once she stopped worrying so much and found her groove again, he had no doubt she’d go on to be the best performer Kalos had ever seen. He couldn’t wait to see it!

[queen-paladin]

My Books and other Media: April 2024 Wrap up!!!

Here is what I thought of these! As well as some video essays I LOVED because I eat those up!

The Time I Got Drunk and Saved A Demon by Lemming:

A hilarious romantasy adventure romp! Our Heroine, Cin, has to team up with a demon to go on an adventure when they find out that their goddess possesses demons to attack people and the only way to stop her is to destroy her sacred items. It's laugh-out-loud funny one minute and sweet, romantic, and very spicy the next. I would highly recommend it! 5/5

The Death of Jane Lawrence by Starling

In a Victorian AU world, Jane doesn't want to be stuck as a spinster figure of pity with her adopted family, so she agrees to be in a marriage of convenience with a surgeon named Augustine Lawrence. Things seem to be going great until on her wedding night, she is dropped off at the manor house he lives in...at the haunted manor house he lives in. Since Crimson Peak is one of my favorite movies and this book was inspired by it, I had to pick it up and I was not disappointed! Very much had the same vibes but is distinctly its own thing! I liked Jane and her practicality and I loved Augustine and how much of a pathetic meow meow and simping malewife he was for her. There is plenty of scary, gruesome imagery and I kept being so nervous, thinking "how is Jane gonna deal with this?" Plus there was a pretty darn good twist in the last third and I was genuinely surprised by the ending, without giving anything away The only thing is that sometimes the prose is so poetic that it becomes vague, especially one section right before the very end. But I loved it! 4/5

Bride

Okay, so in a nutshell, this is an arranged marriage story between the vampire Misery and the werewolf Lowe, since the vampires, werewolves, and humans have been in constant conflict. For what I liked, the book was really funny. I enjoyed Misery's sarcasm, snark, and badassery and the romance felt developed and real. This is infamous for the omegaverse elements in the smut, but it wasn't overwhelming for someone who hasn't read a lot and I heard it's TAME compared to fanfiction. I especially liked Misery's friend Serena and I ADORED her relationship with Lowe's kid sister, Ana, who is so adorable and funny. My only qualms are that the romance felt slow to start, there were a lot of bland, forgettable side characters to keep track of, and the climax felt rushed and unclear. 4/5.

Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Faeries by Fawcett

My favorite book of the month! This tells of socially awkward, incredibly intelligent professor Emily Wilde in the early 1900's. She is a professor of Fairy studies and is off in a tiny Scandinavian village to study the fairies there. Who else should show up but her charming, rakish rival in academia, Wendell Bambleby. They realize how much the fairies have messed up the local villagers and plan to take action. Okay, I LOVE that the fairies and the fae feel so much like the fairy tales and folklore of yore. The author did her homework! These aren't the hot people with wings and six-packs of Sarah J Maas. They are inhuman, immensely powerful, and can bless you or curse you in a minute's notice if you take the wrong step. I adored Emily and she seemed very much coded as neurodivergent with her passion for fairies her fear of offending others by saying the wrong thing and her lack of reading into social cues. And WENDELL BAMBLEBY! My BambleBook Boyfriend. He is a mix of Prince Hal from The Henriad and Howl from Howl's Moving Castle. He is slutty, constantly inviting his Bambleby Booty Calls, and lazy, having his students do all the work, but he begins to genuinely fall for Emily and is as charming and sweet beneath it all as he can be with a subtle element of "touch her, and you die!" It's dryly hilarious and the third act was incredible. The characters were well-developed and flawed, but still compelling, relatable, and likable. I adored this to death and would HIGHLY recommend it! 5/5

Twisted Love by Huang

In a nutshell, this is a brother's friend and grumpy/sunshine romance. What I love about Ana Huang is that she always knows how to pace and develop a romance between two characters AND her spice is top tier. There are a few funny moments, as well as genuinely sweet ones. However, there are all sorts of elements that veneer into the silly to where I don't take it 100 percent seriously. Like, how our main girl just HAPPENS to be friends with a princess of another country at some public university. And that our main guy is 27 yet a billionaire CEO of a whole company...and he just hangs out with college kids! Like?!?!?!!? I say a good 4/5 just because I always like her.

My Throat an Open Grave by Bovalino

What I expected:

What I got:

Ok, so this teenage girl, Leah, is miserable living in her tiny, religious, conservative town. One night, she is sick of babysitting her baby brother and offers him accidentally to the Lord of the Wood and wouldn't you know it! The Lord of the Wood takes him! So the town tells her she has got to go and get him back, though no girl who runs to the forest for that ever returns. So she gets there and...it's this nice, open minded, cottagecore normal ass village. Other than the premise at the beginning, this isn't Labyrinth but a wholesome Midsomar for kids. Though I do like the middle finger to conservative, small town purity culture, it kind of dragged and wasn't that scary and the stakes weren't high. I expected a scary, folk horror journey, but just got kind of "eh, here's a nice cult that doesn't judge you. You know kid, are you sick of your tiny, repressive town? Here's the answer: join a cult!" There is a really good twist, a scene that got kind of spicy and pushed it for a YA book, and I appreciate that the Jareth in this is around her age instead of some grown ass man offering himself to a minor (sorry, but I am in the minority of Labyrinth who thinks Sarah was right. She made the right choice at the end), it felt like it wasn't the heroes journey I expected and got kind of bland. 3/5

Bonus, My Favorite Video Essays:

The Dark Romance Community is Mad at Me: Okay, this girl, A Model Who Reads, posted a TikTok showing her surprise that the publishing company she works for was releasing a book marked as a Serial Killer Sexual Assault Romance, the dark romance community ATTACKED her in the comments. Here, she explains the problems with it why she isnt' sorry, and her issues with dark romance in full. Insightful, and incredible, and she finally addresses the issue concerning this angry, self-righteous, and unempathetic culture that has emerged recently concerning trigger warnings in media.

Mr. Burns: A Post Electric Video Essay My man, Kyle Kallgren, has done it again! Here, he breaks down Anne Washburn's play Mr Burns, a Post Electric Play, a play that portrays a post-apocalyptic story of a group of survivors recalling a Simpsons episode which then said episode transforms to a staged play to an epic sung through morality opera by the group at the end. He discusses post-apocalyptic media, the evolution of humor, and how humanity always triumphs over adversity. It's funny, deeply human, and chilling and incredibly well researched, in the Kyle KAllgren fashion. Highly recommend it, his channel and all his videos!

[dramioneasks]

Summer Fics (2023)

building up the pages (over the Atlantic) by prima_vera - T, one-shot - The letters Draco sends Hermione after they first meet on their holidays on the French Riviera and start their friendship/summer fling/romance.

crack on by echoofpromise - E, WIP - This season on Love Island ... Ten sexy singles enter the Spanish Villa in the hope of finding adventure, friendship, love, and a shot at winning the $50,000 prize money! But beware - with a summer this long and hot, there's bound to be drama.

fire in our hearts (burning brighter than the sun) by riddikulus_puff - T, one-shot - Before the arrival of their firstborn baby, Hermione Granger-Malfoy and Draco Granger-Malfoy decided to go on short trips around Europe, something that they had thought about for so long in their relationship. Finally, they were able to do the trips they had wished about. Explore the places that they had always dreamed of travelling to but had never had the chance to explore because of the business of their work lives. After spending the last few days exploring the streets of Italy and exploring Marina di Carrara with their main adventure being a night-time walk along the beach. The next and final destination of the trip was France, more specifically going to Brive-la-Gaillarde. A one-shot for the 2023 Hermione's Haven Bingo Fic Fest Inspired by the song 'Gotta Be You' by One Direction

Aperol Spritz (ENG) by GingerSnapeUA - T, one-shot - After breaking up with Ron, Hermione decides to go on vacation to Italy, but an unexpected meeting awaits her there.

Crash My Girls' Trip by GreenInk_RedLetters - T, 14 chapters - Hermione Granger should have known her first holiday in over five years would be more 'shite hits the fan' than 'sex on the beach.' A promise of a two-week bon voyage on a wizarding island was surely slipping away right before her eyes. She bloody should have known. When Ginny finally convinces Hermione to join her on a two-week island holiday, hilarity ensues as it turns out they're not the only ones vacationing on the magical island, Serena Aquae. And when their own lodging doesn't work out, who just so happens to have extra room in his suite...? Classic, vacation-vibe Dramione story with several classic tropes: same hotel suite, forced proximity, mild jealousy etc. Lots of humor, angst, but overall a lighthearted read.

Stuck in the Middle with You by lilacprestyge - E, 10 chapters - ‘’What the f - Granger?!’’ ‘’Malfoy!’’ She screeched as she hid her eyes from the sight of a very naked Draco Malfoy standing in the middle of her room. ‘’Get out of my room’’ they both said in unison. When Harry Potter finally puts a knee down for none other than the last Weasley, the Malfoy heir, a colleague of the war hero, is invited to the wedding in an all-inclusive magical resort in Dominican Republic. One administrative mishap later, and Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy are stuck together in the same room. For the whole week.

[skylardoesthings]

More of my pkmn dnd au! Mostly lore stuff, this time!

– | — | –

Okay since there's like 12 players, the group is split into 2, with 6 players on each group. Group 1 being;

Clem

Bonnie

Serena

Korri

Mairin

Sawyer

(and Trevor's NPC insert to move the story along)

And group 2 being;

Alain

Miette

Nini

Shauna

Tierno

Ash

Each character of course have their own backstory (some more fleshed out then others), and have their own goals.

The campaign starts is like split into three main arcs, if it was a story;

Arc 1; The time the groups were separated • Getting used to the game, some small quests, and at the peak of the arc, when the two groups found out about each others existencr and finding each other.

Arc 2; The time the group adventured together • Backstories, character motives, have their own chaarcter arcs and the introduction to the BBEG

Arc 3; Where they try to defeat the BBEG • The group works tries to work with each other, learn more about each other, and try and defeat the BBEG

– | — | –

Lets get into the interesting stuff, character notes and in general just some notes.

First though, yes, i do have names for the player characters. I just haven't written it down yet, if anyone wants to know em, just say and i'll put it in a different post lol.

Nini's character, as a warlock have a patron god, and since her patron god is the "Great Old One" and after reading a bit about the GOO's description, I decided that instead of making up a diety like for Clemont's character, i made her patron god the fucking Dungeon Master. Aka, Trevor.

Korrina and Alain's characters would have a massive falling out because of both of their classes (a beast slayer ranger, and a beast barbarian)

Yes, Trevor's insert NPC does have relevance to the story. No, they aren't the BBEG.

Diantha's character is a royal.

Sawyer'a character never stopped being a Wild Magic Sorcerer, instead, he learnt how to use the wild magic to his advantage.

No, not every character survives in the fight with the BBEG.

That's all I'm gonna write in this post! And if you know me and how i make aus that are very fantasy-esque–

Yes, i do have worldbuilding written down, yes i do have character relationships written down, i have a lot of notes. So, if you wanna know about a specific character or something else, please drop an ask or something i am dying to share more about this au

[countessofravenclaw]

Breaking down some foreshadowing

So did you all read the new chapter of A Homeland This North, country dear fathers! ? Did you like it? Told you that nothing was gonna go wrong, am I right?

Honestly, if you follow me here, you probably knew what was coming since I have talked about it. Anyway, it's still interesting to see who was expecting it, since much of my writing is happy-go-lucky adventures with no actual stakes and I don't put a lot of thought into motifs and recurring themes. If my writing was looked at as real literature, it would probably be horrid. But, for this one as we have been building up to this since part one, I actually included some intentional foreshadowing. I mean the first alarm bell that rung in no one's head was the fact that they were not supposed to go to Finland originally and that it was due to Gastón that they eventually did. So, I decided to break down some of the foreshadowing I did that alluded that something bad was going to happen and it was going to happen to Gastón

Chapter 1

“Then let's let him,” Gastón just laughed, “Hey look, I turn 27 next week and be in my late twenties, so I gotta have the fun now.” 

“Well, I also have never skied—” Nina answered the question directed at her, “—nor will I. It seems dangerous. Anyway, I like the plan, there are other things to do for me.”

“I can live with never knowing if can I ski or not,” Nina stated, “I’m not athletic, nor do I enjoy it. I would just get myself hurt.”

Chapter 2

“It’s always good to have doctors as your acquaintances,” Isla nodded, “I actually recently was talking to Serena…”

“You were a natural in it, but you’re not 16 anymore,” Marco pointed out, “So be careful. The emergency number is different there.”

“I’ll make sure he doesn’t get in trouble,” Nina glanced at Gastón, “Thankfully, they can’t spend the whole day there as there is so little light. We did look up the emergency number. 112 is the most common one in Europe, but they didn’t use it at England. But I doubt, we’re gonna need to use it.”

“Do we really wanna go through that emotional turmoil again?”

Nina really wished that he could have come with them to see the capital, but his job obviously came first right now. Once they were in Lapland, they would have plenty of time. Even with Simon and Ambar and Luna and Matteo, there would be more than enough time to have just to themselves.

“Not really,” Gastón shook his head. “Just some things in the future that I might wanna do. But that’s the future, I have time to think about it.”

Chapter 3

“Tell her to talk to my Mom if she wants to fuss,” Gastón kissed Nina on top of her head as he sat down, “They can form a support group. They’re just scared that they’ll never get grandchildren if we die here middle of nowhere.”

“I still wish Mom and Dad would have actually picked if they wanted to be protective or not,” Gastón laughed, “More often than not, they just let me do what I wanted, but then suddenly they were convinced I was deliberately putting my life at risk. I’m still surprised they ever let me back to Roller after the fire.”

“Have fun,” Nina kissed Gastón on the cheek as he got up from the table, “Don’t do anything stupid.”

“Us?” Gastón and Matteo glanced at each other. They had opted not to take any lessons, given that they had done quite frequent skiing while younger. It was to be seen how good an idea that was going to be. “Never.”

“Of course you are. Don’t worry.” Gastón ran his finger through a lock of her hair, “We’re not going on a black slope at the start. We’ll start off easy and be careful.” He leaned down swiftly to kiss her.

"I will never leave her side."

“Of course I have,” Gastón responded, “and so does Nina. We have talked about it a lot. It’s just not happening at this second. We have all the time in the world. You don’t think we’re actually gonna tell you when we’re trying? That would be crossing some lines. When there is actually something to tell, you will know.”

“And I’m not gonna question you any further,” Gastón finished his point before looking at the view down the mountain again, “You know, life’s really good right now.”

“Well, hopefully you won’t fall,” Gastón grinned and started sliding ahead, “See you at a lower altitude!”

“We took couple of green ones at the start,” Gastón started, “They’re beginner friendly. Wide and away from the forest so there is no danger if you fall or derail.”

“I wouldn’t try it,” Matteo shook his head, before looking at Luna sternly, “Luna, I’m being serious. Don’t try it. I don’t want to head to the ER during this trip.”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure April won’t want any part of this,” Gastón laughed while he had been absenmindedly playing with Nina’s hair, “and she’s not a doctor, yet. She will be a neurosurgeon, not a radiology tech or ObGYN. She won’t be able to tell a thing, but we’re very well situated if someone has a brain injury…or well, you are. She won’t be allowed to operate on me.” 

I just wanted to show this off because I'm proud of it