#she gets mentioned a lot in Minnie's threads

[sweetheart-minnie]

Lilian “Lily” Rose Turner: NPC Aesthetic && Character Sheet 

One shot for yesterday, Two shots for misery, Three shots for them hating me.

STATS:

Birthday:  October 30th 1992  Hogwarts House (Primary): Slytherin Hogwarts House (Secondary): Slytherin Myers-Briggs: ESTP Zodiac: Scorpio Weight: 120 lb Height: 5’4

BACKGROUND OVERVIEW:

Mother: Molly Turner (deceased) Father: Derek Turner (deceased) Mother’s Occupation: High school teacher taught Science, specifically Biology Father’s Occupation: Architect.  Family Finances: Middle class when her parents were alive Birth Order: She’s a twinn, but she’s the baby twin. They are identical twinss!!!  Siblings: Leanne Riley Turner Other Close Family: None, biologically anyways. She did get adopted though and so does Leanne by a couple when they were sixteen. She’s close to her adoptive parents Robert and Amanda Johnson Best Friend: Minnie!! Other Friends: She’s great friends with her co-workers: Aria, and Kristi Enemies: She’s not much of a girl that collect enemies although she has a fighting spirit and will easily get up in someone’s face  Pets: None but she does love Figaro!!  Home Life During Childhood: It was happy in the begining, but then her parents died and she and her twin sister ended up in foster care. That was how Minnie originally met the twins. They were in foster care together.  Town or City Name(s): Swynlake, England. London, England What Did Her Bedroom Look Like: Sort of an organized chaos. She wasn’t the neat twin, that was always Leanne, but she isn’t horrible either. She doesn’t leave clothes hanging around, other things, yes.  Any Sports or Clubs: In high school she was definitely into sports. She played basket ball, but wasn’t that much of a club girl.  Schooling: High school and college graduate. Graduated from Pride U.  Favorite Subject: Science and Math Popular or Loner: She was actually pretty popular, not the most popular girl in school, but popular enough Important Experiences or Events: Parents died when she was twelve and her and her sister where sent of to foster care after that. Eventually was adopted with her twin sister. Made it to Swynlake when she got accepted to Pride U and there she met Minnie again!!  Health Problems: None for now Culture: English Religion and beliefs: Grew up Presbyterian doesn’t follow a lick of it

PERSONALITY:

Bad Habits: Blunt, sarcastic, crass, avid night partier  Good Habits: Funny, loyal, caring, honest, hard-working,  Best Characteristic: Confident Worst Characteristic: Loud Worst Memory: The death of her parents  Best Memory: Back in foster care when her and Minnie were in the orphanage during that waiting period, they had snuck into the kitchen when it was dark and everyone was asleep. She had to convince Minnie to do this excursion because she was the best at picking locks. They got in successfully and ate ice-cream all night. Best part? They got away with everything scant free!! Proud of: Getting through schooling and even becoming a nurse after everything that was against her Embarrassed by: Her sister and Minnie too hahaha bc Minnie always keeps her in line... for the most part Driving Style: Pretty decent can suffer from road rage from time to time especially if stuck behind a slow ass car Strong Points: Confident, bold, honest, care-free, loyal, good true-real friend!!! Temperament: Sanguine Attitude: Assertive Weakness: Anyone back-stabbing her. It takes a lot for Lily to trust people because of her back story. Anyone hurting the people she cares for because she’ll fight for those she loves.  Fears: Losing those she loves.  Phobias: Centipedes. They scare the fuck out of her.  Secrets: She doesn’t really have any she’s pretty much an open book. She does hold the secret of Minnie’s birthday, Minnie doesn’t share her birthday.  Regrets: The day of her parents death, Lily had an argument with them. She still wishes till this day that she had told them she loved them.  Feels Vulnerable When: Talking about her feelings Pet Peeves: People in general haha. They annoy the shit out of her and yet she wanted to be a nurse. She does love her job though.  Conflicts: Welp. There is the fact that people annoy her and she’s a nurse lmao.  Motivation: Her parents, wanting to be at least a decent daughter they would have been proud of. Her sister too. Leanne was the goodie two shoes twin. Lily always was the one that got into all sorts of trouble. Short Term Goals and Hopes: Move out of Castle Suites probably into somewhere better in Swynlake or like the Next Town Over.  Long Term Goals and Hopes: She kind of did her long term goal already, becoming a nurse.  Sexuality: Pansexual she doesn’t discriminate  Exercise Routine: Occasional gym goer with Minnie, not the best at it tbh Day or Night Person — Night. Introvert or Extrovert — Extrovert Optimist or Pessimist — Pessimist

LIKES AND STYLES:

Music: 80′s trash. Huge Bon Jovi and Pat Benatar fan. Does love Def Leppard too.   Books: Not much of an avid reader, but she likes thrillers and action packed books because they help in keeping her interest. Magazines: Not much of a magazine person at all, except for like a casual read while waiting for an appointment.   Foods: Huge fruits and veggie girl, but isn’t a vegetarian at all. She loves herself a huge greasy cheese burger from time to time and she isn’t ready to give that up anytime soon.   Drinks: Energy drinks. She knows there are bad for you, is very aware. Coffee, especially espresso. Never says no to an alcoholic drink, vodka is her choice of preference.  Animals: Rottweilers. When she gets a pet it’s going to be a Rotty Sports: Use to play basketball back in high school and Uni. She’ll still follow basketball on tv too and she does like watching football as well.  Social Issues: She’s an advocate for animals!! She likes them ten times more than she likes people.  Favorite Saying: “Fuck it.” Color: Red!!! Clothing: Very carefree with her clothing style. Huge t-shirt and skinny jeans type of gal, prefers converse and for her jeans to have rips in them. Not much of a sandals person, but would easily rock a pair of heels. She’s a little edgier when it comes to color choices, likes darker hues over lighter. Will never catch her wearing pastels. She’ll where a dress if it’s hot, tight, and highlights her assets. Most of the times though, she’s in scrubs because of her job. Jewelry: Simple, very simple. Silver over gold, wears like one chain necklace and maybe from time to time she’ll wear earrings, none hooped though. Not a fan of rings or bracelets.  Games: Does love board games and card games and is highly competitive when she plays. Favorite card game is Spades and she has trained Minnie into being the perfect partner for the game. She doesn’t have a favorite board game because she’ll literally play any one.  Websites: Ehh not really that much of a website girl. She does have an Insta though but that’s about it.  TV Shows: Crime shows—NCIS including all branches of it, Criminal Minds, Law Order as well as all of it’s branches, CSI, you get the point. She does like hospital shows mainly so she can crack on all the unrealistic things and errors Movies: Action packed films and horror movies. She is a fan of the Saw movies, but she mostly likes scary movies to laugh at them.  Greatest Want: Wishes her parents were still alive

CURRENTLY:

Home: Flat in the Castle Suites in Swynlake Favorite Possession: Her stethoscope lmao look a nurse can’t survive without a really good one!! Most Cherished Possession: No one knows this aside from Leanne and Minnie but she has a red stuffed bear that was given to her by her mother on her 8th birthday.  Married Before: Nope, and will probably never be so, she’s not the marriage type. Significant Other Before: None. Children: Nope.  Relationship with Family: Close to her twin sister, Leanne. They text and call often. Leanne is currently married and lives somewhere else in England and so Lily often takes her vacation time to go and see her sister. If she doesn’t see her sister then she goes to London to see her adoptive parents she’s close to them too and always makes sure she knows how they are doing. They all always worry for Lily seeing as she can be a hot mess and her personality is very feisty, but Lily just finds that all hilarious.   Car: n/a Career: Registered Nurse works in the Emergency Room in Swynlake General Hospital Dream Career: Currently doing it and in the unit she has always wanted too Dream Life: She kind of loves her life as it is right now the only other thing that would make it perfect would be if her parents were still in the picture Love Life: Casual, no strings attached, lover of one-night stands (she does use protection!!)  Guilty Pleasure : Wine. She loves a good bottle of wine especially when used to unwind. Prefers red wine over white.    Talents or Skills : Great dancer, she loovvess to dance. Of course all her nursing skills, she’s as good as a nurse as Minnie (although Minnie always says that she’s better than Lily xD), can actually bartend real good haha Intelligence Level : Very smart, but that’s often hidden behind her loudness and personality  Finances: Self-sufficient. Independent mother fucker. She also has an inheritance both her Leanne do from the death of her parents. 

[spacedlexi]

hey! what's ur opinion on season 2? i saw you stream some of it but not for long bc i forgot my twitch password. fav characters? fav ending? any way you wished the story played out instead?

ok im gonna answer this in like a bulleted way to avoid rambling too much (THIS DID GET LONG THO...). i answered some of this during my stream so i'll be repeating myself a little bit from there. i’ll put it under a read more for everyones sanity

general opinion:

- i dont think its great (or even all that good) but ive played/watched much worse so *shrug* it couldve been worse. playing it with a group makes it way more bearable and even funny aha so i definitely had more fun streaming it than i did playing it on my own

- wouldve been better JUST by handling clem as the player character differently. it wouldnt have solved All of its problems but it wouldve been less...annoying.... clem needed to have more agency. she was always being ordered around by dumb adults who didnt seem to care for her safety. the adults needed to take more initiative and clem (as the PC) couldve just defied orders/interjected into convos/done her own thing. this wouldve 1) given the player more agency 2) wouldve been a contrast to everyone relying on lee in s1 (couldve had everyone telling clem to stay out of the way since shes just a kid) and 3) made the adults of the group seem less...useless...since they instead are just constantly relying on an 11 year old to do everything. like do more stuff like the "clem locked in a shed and escapes into the house to steal supplies to patch herself up" thing. even tho it was ridiculous that they locked her in a shed it still gave her agency and was an opportunity to rebel and prove her resiliency/smarts/ability against the poor decisions made by the adults around her who think they know whats best

fave characters:

-none lol

- ok im joking but like only half joking. i liked sarita!! if i had to pick a non-clem character (and thats what youre asking) itd be sarita. she had a strong will/didnt take shit and was also very sweet (and cute i think shes cute hehe especially with her little nose stud)

- my dislike for most of the cast really derives from weak writing and ties back into all these adults constantly relying on an 11 year old to do everything for them

- alvin was ok and i warmed up to rebecca after she stopped being mean to clem for no reason. luke was....Fine after the first episode or 2 but gets way too much credit from people for some reason. sarah was also fine she mainly suffered from weak writing. jane was ok at first but she progressively pissed me off...

- ttg has a problem with giving determinate characters really...Any development at all which is a shame but is unfortunately a byproduct of having a budget and a deadline. if you dont know if a character will be around or not, its not wise to spend time/resources on them when it can go towards characters you know Will be around. they handle this better in s4 by saving determinate routes for the final ep. a bit underwhelming to save it for the end but at least they used it to focus on determinant endings instead in s4. its hard so i try to cut game studios a little slack with that stuff. but unfortunately it made nick and sarah pretty underwhelming characters who lacked really any arc or relevancy at all...

favorite ending:

- wellington ending i GUESS??? ive chosen all of them at least once (except for clem alone ending just because i dont want her to have to be on her own with a newborn baby at 11 years old). honestly the choice at the end of s2 is a little difficult for me to make but usually comes down to the fact that jane risked ajs life to prove a point we already knew. which was that kenny was a man on the edge holding on by the universes thinnest thread. i cant trust jane to put clem first and by her flashback scene in s3 i was right not to trust her lol. i do love that aj tattoo clem gets from the jane route tho...ive literally chosen that ending Just for the tattoo before lol

- also the wellington ending keeps clem from hugging or kissing gabe SHDSHHSJ so that really seals the deal for me lmaooooooo youre too good for him bby

play out differently?:

- honestly not..really?? but thats mainly because i dont think or care enough about s2 to think up whole other plotlines...

- someone in the stream chat mentioned that s2 went through rewrites after some scripts/episodes got leaked or something which ALWAYS IS A BAD DECISION and makes me so so disappointed and frustrated. it always negatively impacts a story to put it through rewrites just to counter "spoilers". so i definitely think s2 suffered from that decision. the question is just how much did they rewrite? was s2 always weak or did it mainly suffer due to unnecessary rewrites? what a shame.

- the kenny/luke showdown wouldve had more of a natural buildup than the kenny/jane showdown did. and the arvo stuff was soooooo duuuumbbb and annoying. someone in chat made the point that it wouldve been more interesting if the group that attacks them was the 400 days crew looking for revenge from howes and i definitely agree!! wouldve given that group more relevancy instead of just seeing them as like little easter eggs....

- sarah also had a lot of wasted potential. im assuming they were trying to make some "shes how clem would be if lee never taught her to defend herself" point but i dont agree with it?? because clem was already protecting herself in her treehouse with that hammer before lee even found her. they just didnt know how to handle a character with anxiety very well and it shows. at least they do a better job with brody in s4 (i love brody 💕). they also try to pull another weird character foil "this is how clem would be if she was brainwashed" with minnie in s4 but i dont agree with that one either (clem would be the sophie who dies fighting in that scenario lets be honest with ourselves clem could never be brainwashed shes too smart and strong willed "you gave up minerva. i never will")(they needed to stop with the character foils because they even tried to pull it with FUCKING C A R VE R “we’re not so different” sir im 11)

OK I THINK thats all i have to say. im sure i made other points throughout the stream but yeah these are the ones that stand out to me enough to talk about here

[hopevalley]

Season 8, Episode 10: Old Love, New Love, Is This True Love

All right, so...like I said, work has picked up and my eyes feel like old marbles from staring at numbers (the woes of working in accounting I guess) so I want to get this written up and tossed into the nether before I lose steam and motivation to do it. The interesting thing about these little write-ups is that as the week goes on they just get harder and harder to write...

I do apologize in advance to those who like the long-winded write-ups. I’m just not up to it at the moment. Still feeling kind of bleh from the episode.

Let’s go back to an old format, shall we?

The Good

We might as well start out with the things about this episode that I enjoyed! 

Gossip Hour with the Men was one of the best openers they’ve had on the show in a while. It was genuinely funny without being meanspirited. Nobody looked like the bad guy. Everyone just calmly talked about it alike it was a normal thing to maybe call off the wedding. Bill calling out Carson for giving marriage advice was pretty funny, Mike was a delight. I don’t know what to say. I’d watch a whole episode of The Boys just hanging around spending time together.

--

Florence’s worry that she’s ugly was...not a terrible idea for a storyline, but the actress is too good-looking to pretend to be ugly (I saw her in this pretty yellow dress on Instagram a couple years ago and she was smashing)? Also, it’s not like Ned is a handsomely aged gentleman (like Henry lol) so it makes even less sense for the characters. I think they should have gone with Florence feeling she’s “plain” and that dressing up Super Nice makes her feel uncomfortable because she just doesn’t feel like Herself and worries maybe it’s projecting a false sense of Who She Is or something? I guess overall I still liked that an attempt was made to add some depth to Florence and her difficulties in choosing a dress/hairstyle, so...it goes here.

--

Ned asking Henry to be his best man was nice, too. I can forgive the shoddy pacing and weird placement of this request (like I do with almost everything in the show) but only because the scene was just...so incredibly wholesome. 

I like how Henry just casually is like, “Well maybe today’s just not the day.” I think it eased Ned’s mind just a little that he CAN back out if he really wants to.

I think it’s worth thinking about the fact that Ned and Henry would have always worked very closely, since the mercantile would have been a company store before the mine closed down... I like Henry and Ned as pals.

--

I’m glad the “investment” thing with Jesse and Clara’s savings was brought up in a way that...makes sense. And also, glad it wasn’t forgotten.

--

I really liked Molly and Florence in this episode. I’m a little sad Florence married Ned because I AM SORRY BUT I WANTED TO KEEP SHIPPING MOLLY AND FLORENCE TOGETHER UGHGHGHH

But their relationship is so good and maYBE Elizabeth will learn something from them.

Hey Elizabeth...you see that?

YOU SEE THAT?

Just saying.

And then later...

“You are the sister I never had, the mother I forever wanted, the friend I have always needed. From the depths of those dark and terrifying coal mines you’ve walked beside me, picking me up whenever I’ve stumbled along the way.”

AAAAAAAAA IT GOT ME.

--

I’m...really liking Fiona and Mike’s relationship, whatever it is. I kind of think they’re not headed toward anything romantic. Everyone thinks Mike is really into Fiona but at the end of the episode we realize he likes talking to her about business; it’s almost like they have this shared passion for numbers/ideas and he likes infodumping to her (and vice-versa).

I think they’re going to end up being “just friends” and Fiona will end up paired off with the man Elizabeth doesn’t choose. They hinted at Nathan briefly in this episode (with Allie’s hair), but who knows? I’m over trying to speculate on where the triangle is going at this point, but I actually like Fiona’s relationship with Mike so much that I’ll be disappointed if she fades into the background with Nathan or Lucas. Mike deserves more screentime. 

--

Ned and Florence sharing their fIRST KISS. My husband got emotional over this. And I admit, it was starting to get to me, too. I can’t NOT root for them. 

--

I said it before and I’ll say it again: I WOULD DIE FOR THE CANFIELDS.

--

The wedding was nice. I liked that Bill and Joseph officiated it together; it gives Joseph a li’l trial run of pastoring and finally Bill gets to use some of that power of his to officiate a wedding.

“Please, if you’d like” is such a Bill way to say that they may kiss LOL.

--

Also, I have to admit that I did enjoy Lucas calling Nathan out about Allie. She wouldn’t be caught in the middle if he’d leave Elizabeth alone AND HE IS RIGHT LMAO.

The last good thing: Elizabeth telling Nathan she doesn’t blame him for Jack’s death. Nice. Good. Thank you. He probably needed to hear that.

--

...THE BAD

Carson and Faith. UGH. UGHHHHHHHHHH. BREAK UP ALREADY I HATE YOU BOTH.

I appreciated that Carson had the ring ages ago, and I did like his conversation with Minnie—or more accurately, her advice to him. I felt like she was nudging him toward, “Remember why you became a surgeon in the first place.” If he became a surgeon to help people, then there’s no reason he can’t help people where he is. Sure, he might not be doing state of the art procedures but with Faith working alongside him, he can afford time to learn new things and go to doctor conventions or even take a specialized class now and then. No other doctor could get away for very long but he has that chance!

And he’ll arguably be doing more good in the middle of nowhere than in the city. All the doctors want to live in the city. Nobody wants to barely get paid for their time in the countryside.

We had a whole episode that made it clear that Faith and Carson don’t make a lot of money and do a lot of charity work. They also work for trade goods (mostly food). So it’s like...a pretty big difference in lifestyle? 

Half the reason I can’t get invested in these characters is because I really can’t stand Paul Greene. He just...annoys me on every single level imaginable. But he’s a decent actor and I can’t help but feel that his character was a massive waste of space for the past few seasons through no fault of the man himself. Imagine introducing a character like Carson and then leaving him to rot before you try to make him interesting with a romance plot that nobody asked for.

Yes, some people really like Faith and Carson, but as a whole I think the fandom didn’t buy into them as a ship due to the lack of chemistry.

It really is a shame. This episode didn’t do a thing to endear me to either character. Please, Carson. I am begging you to leave town.

--

This one particular line of dialogue almost enraged me.

WE KNOW WE KNOW WE KNOW WE KNOW WE CAN SEE THAT FOR OURSELVES. WHY DID THEY HAVE ROSEMARY SAY THIS LIKE IT’S AN EPISODE OF A CHILD’S TV SHOW?

--

Elizabeth.........

How could Katie have...looked up to her? She was never in her class? That was? Never part of anything? It was just something they threw in here to force Elizabeth to make 1% more sense in the role she’s in but IT STILL DOESN’T WORK.

I felt like I was back in Season 5 again with Lori and Elizabeth putting their nose in everyone’s business except it’s just Elizabeth!! The whole plot, which was boring and contrived anyway, should have gone to Molly, since she’s Florence’s best friend and another woman from town that Katie would have known as a child.

AND ALSO, MOLLY WOULD HAVE KNOWN KATIE’S MOTHER AND WOULD REMEMBER THE GRIEF THAT NED STRUGGLED WITH.

I know they wanted to make Elizabeth give advice so that she’d Realize that she needs to, I don’t know, make better choices or something, but it was too on the nose for me and I hated it.

GinithePooh on Reddit made a good comparison to Elizabeth in this episode by saying she reminded them of Clippy from Microsoft Word, always popping up and offering to help when nobody really needs or wants advice.

To honor their incredible idea, I opened Photoshop and created this gem, which I will also be posting separately so that people can reblog it if they wish to.

I also don’t think I need to say also filed under The Bad is the fact that Elizabeth didn’t even apologize for being awful to Rosemary and then gave her unsolicited advice to other people for two days straight. I can’t believe they wrote that? 

All I can say is that her apology to Rosemary, when it comes, better be good.

--

And I didn’t like this either:

I wish it had been followed up by literally anything: Nathan saying he’s sorry he didn’t tell her sooner or something to make the hand-holding actually be a little more innocent.

As it is, it just seems so deliberate? 

Maybe the next episode starts off right in this scene and we’ll get that? If so, this might actually end up being fine. I just don’t think it is if it doesn’t get a little more direct attention.

--

& THE UGLY

I debated on putting anything in here, because I’m not ready to talk about my feelings on this matter, at least not fully. But I’ve been pretty quiet all season so far, and...eh, why not just mention things in advance? What will it hurt?

Let me preface this section by saying I’m biased and I doubt hardly anyone on this site will agree with me, so feel free to just ignore this part if that’s the case.

There are two things that I really didn’t like in this episode.

I hate the slanting toward Bill/Molly.

I like Molly just fine but I don’t like her with Bill. I’m biased as all getout and also worried about the future/potential Season 9 with regards to this. I don’t want to see it. Like at all. Why, you ask? You should know why if you follow me. I’m super transparent.

It’s because I like AJ AND I WANT HER BACK LOL.

John Tinker rewatched the series so we know he wouldn’t have missed that hanging plot thread—especially since he didn’t forget any of the other things that were brought up this season! So why didn’t she appear this season? The love triangle absolutely needed to be a focus or it would have never ended, so that’s part of it, but I’m also pretty sure Josie Bissett wasn’t interested in doing any filming last year during Covid. My only “proof” is that Wedding March 6 wasn’t filmed last year even though it was scheduled to be filmed, but it makes sense. Last year was chaos.

THAT SAID, Jack Wagner posted on his Instagram the other day that they are actually filming Wedding March 6 now, so... I guess AJ’s re-appearance in Season 9 wouldn’t come as too much of a surprise if they wanted to write it.

You’d think I’d be hyped about that, and I kind of am? But it doesn’t come without its share of worries, too. We just had the worst love triangle in the history of love triangles and I really don’t want another one, especially if it makes any of the characters in question look stupid or mean.

I fully admit a well-written love triangle could be a LOT of fun for them* (low stakes because they’re not front and center characters), but I saw how Nathan was written so far this season and I really, REALLY do not want to see that happen to Molly, Bill, or AJ.

Anyway, not a fan of the Molly/Bill stuff. No chemistry. I don’t want it.

*I would totally write a fanfic like this lmao.

--

And finally...the part that everyone will hate me for:

I DO NOT WANT TO SEE ABIGAIL COME BACK. And I specifically do not want her to come back ‘cause I do not wanna see Henry/Abigail happen.

I fully recognize that a lot of you like it and ship the heck out of it, and that’s...good. I’m glad you enjoy it. I loathe it, though, and I worry that all these hints (more like...mentions) are leaning toward...something. Like, either they’re:

1) Sending Abigail off/tying up that loose end with Henry (since nothing was ever clarified either way), or

2) Warming up the audience to receive Abigail back on the show.

I’m pretty into the idea of one-sided Henry/Abigail. Hindsight is 20/20, regrets, that’s all some juicy stuff to give a character like Henry. Some things can’t ever be made right again. He had too direct of a connection to the death of her husband and son for me to ever want to see them together. Forgiveness? Yes. A careful but meaningful friendship? Yes. Romantic relationship? Uh...no thanks.

I liked the Abigail mentions at first because I felt like...the character still mattered (as she should) but I’m at a point where I feel like they’re trying really hard to steer the fandom’s view a certain way and not knowing where it’s going is extremely unsettling to me.

--

I’ll probably talk more about the things that bother me when the season ends, because I’m hoping to have a better idea of where things are going to be headed, but for now just...know that I feel very apprehensive.

And keep in mind that I primarily watch this show for Bill these days, since all my previous faves (AJ, Frank, the old Abigail, Dottie) have exited, stage left. I also always really liked seeing Henry. So as you can imagine, seeing plotlines I hate for the only two characters I’m invested in? Is making me consider dropping the series next year.

My husband told me I should hate-watch it, but I don’t know if my heart can take it. I’ve been following this series for so long...it just...kind of hurts to feel let down like this? 

But sometimes an ongoing series ends up going where you...didn’t want it to, and it becomes something that’s no longer right for you. I hope that doesn’t happen, but last night’s episode makes me feel like...it might be happening for real this time.

I guess if that holds true it’ll be back to fanfiction for me. Will that novelization I planned ages ago end up getting written? Will I write the best love triangle fanfic known to man? WHO KNOWS.

For now, we’ll all have to wait and see! Two more episodes left. I’m really curious to see how they resolve some of the open plots right now. :>

[diveronarpg]

Congratulations, ALYX! You’ve been accepted for the role of DESDEMONA. Admin Minnie: You’ve done it again, Alyx! From the analysis of Delilah’s namesake to the story you’ve woven of a woman whose voice has been diminished but not crushed, your app was — in a word — lovely. Just like our darling Delilah! It was your plots that really won me over, and the way your vision for Delilah was clear in every part of your writing. You have an amazing and strong understanding of her beginning, middle and end — I’m SO excited to watch you develop Delilah and bring her to life on our dash! Please read over the checklist and send in your blog within 24 hours.

WELCOME TO THE MOB.

OUT OF CHARACTER

Alias | Alyx

Age | 21

Preferred Pronouns | She/Her

Activity Level | Because of the city lock down, I’ve been sitting at home all day, so I assume I’ll be fairly active. I’ll usually be in the group chat but I try to pump out at least one reply a day from both of my current characters.

Timezone | CST

IN CHARACTER

Character |

Delilah- “Temptress”

→ They say the meaning of a name can hold a lot of weight for one’s future. Those with names regarding strength often take on leadership roles in their lifetime. Those with softer names tend to spend their days in a mellow manner. Delilah, however, was a victim of her name in the same way she was a victim of circumstance. Her name weaved a tale that her peers and her husband were too eager to believe. Her name whispered about a woman in the bible who had seduced the brave, heroic Samson and shared his secrets to his enemies. Her parents hadn’t meant to subject her to such a fate. They had chosen that name because it reminded them of a warm sunny day. They said that the name made them think of meadows and flowers. Delilah herself had thought the same when she was younger, but now her name is as cursed as her legacy appears to be. The flowers wilted and the sun went down, but fret not—- the sun will rise again.

Amara- “grace”

→ Delilah’s middle name was the first name of her mother. From the moment she was born, people had noticed the similarities between her and her mother. They would often comment that she had her mother’s eyes, or that her laugh was like an echo of her mother’s. Delilah would accept the compliments because she always had a certain admiration for Amara. She saw the woman as this strong force of nature that held the world’s troubles on her shoulders. She had a grace that fit her name, and Delilah had embraced that grace over the years. She walked with certain elegance to her. She had a scarlet letter taped to her chest, but she still managed to keep her chin up in public. She had fallen, but she won’t stand back up on shaky knees. She’ll hold herself up the same way her mother held up the world.

Bello- “Married name”

→ The name conjured up an array of emotions. When she first changed her name, it had felt like a breath of fresh air. Odin had been the one to break her routine, he had been the worldly traveler that came to show her all corners of life, and she had accepted his name with swiftness. She had murmured the name to herself after their wedding day— as if she wanted to savor every letter. Delilah Bello. Delilah Bello. Delilah Bello. It had been like heaven on her tongue, but if that had been heaven, then she was an angel dragged through the gates and ripped from her home. The name had turned to something bitter, something empty, and she began reciting the name as if it were a reminder. You signed up for this. Isn’t this what you wanted? It’s what she would tell herself as his words grew sharper. It’s what she told herself when she justified why she tried so hard to hold onto a marriage that was crumbling. Now, the name was like a stain on a white dress.  It was a reminder that everything is not what it seems. It was the judge, jury, and executioner. People knew her by her name alone— not the girl that had once savored it like she savored the ending to a good book. Tell me, little one, what’s truly in a name?

What drew you to this character? |

Honestly, I’ve been in love with Delilah for a while now. I had read her biography months ago, but at the time I wasn’t ready to take on more characters. I read her biography again a few weeks ago, but I had concerns about taking on another soft character. I had it in my head that I would make her and Odessa walk the same path, that their voices would meld together, that I wouldn’t do her justice because I had a character that was already a victim of a different crime. I had pushed her away and settled on other characters, but she kept pulling me back to her. I would tell myself that these other characters would be easier to write, that they’re so different from the two that I have, but I kept being drawn back to poor, sweet Delilah. Finally, I started listing similarities and differences between her and Odessa, and I realized they weren’t on the same path. They didn’t have the same story. They were both soft, but they were different characters.  I had settled on that moment that Delilah had been my girl.

I love a character with a tragic story. I always feel like tragedy makes the most interesting characters, and I like that Delilah had played a dormant role in her own tragedy. She had been the dutiful wife. She had been loyal to a fault. Her destruction was completely out of her hand, and that’s what makes the story so sad. It would be different if she had strayed from Odin, or if she had given up on their marriage. Instead, she was blindsided, and I think that’s the core reason why her voice was stripped away from her. She wasn’t the cause of her demise— she was merely a victim in a game that she didn’t sign up for.

I also think this is why her story is so exciting to me. In a way, she’s the underdog. She’s the one that everyone turned their backs on. She’s the one being questioned by her peers and those people that were supposed to have her back. She’s getting hit by whispers and accusations despite the fact that she was never in the wrong. I like that she’s essentially starting from the bottom and clawing her way upwards because it’s going to be so satisfying to see her reach the top once more. I’m rooting for this girl to find the strength she lost, to gain the voice that was snatched from her, and to show Verona that they can’t judge a book by its cover.

What is a future plot idea you have in mind for the character? |

Self: Love has turned on me, and now I am its liar.

→ I’m interested in exploring her role in the Capulets. Delilah didn’t join the mob because she had the desire to climb the ranks or prove that she had the skills, but rather she was brought in when her name became intertwined with Odin’s. I think she’s in a mindset of wanting to prove to the Capulets that she’s loyal despite the rumors saying otherwise, but that doesn’t mean she’s a creature that’s prone to violence. It’s a dance, floating between declarations of loyalty and actually executing any order given to her, but she’ll try her best to follow through. I would be interested in seeing a task that Delilah would feel uncomfortable with and see how she handles it. For example, if someone had ordered her to torture someone for information, would she do it? Could someone who’s led with her heart be able to stomach stopping someone else’s? She’ll shoot if ask. She’ll hold up a knife as tightly as she once held Odin’s hand. She wants to prove her loyalty, but I want to see if there’s something that will hold her back, even if it causes the target on her back and the distrust in the Capulets to grow even bigger.

→ I’m interested in seeing how Delilah acts with all of the players in Verona. I know her biography mentioned that the Capulets don’t trust her after the rumors about infidelity, but how do those rumors affect the Montagues and Neutrals? Do they also see her as someone to watch out for, or is there a certain vulnerability they might want to exploit? Will the Montagues try to sway her to their side? I’m especially excited about the neutral members because Delilah was brought into the war through marriage, and I think a part of her misses when she was unaffected by the mob dynamics. I just think it’s in an interesting position because of her notoriety and I want to see what paths are carved out for her.  

Odin: I’ve loved and I’ve lost

→ I think a lot of Delilah’s journey involves finding her voice, and I would love a thread where she finally tells Odin off for all of the things he’s done to her. All of the judgement she’s faced has been because of him, and I just want a thread where Delilah reminds him that she deserves better. I think it would be a stepping stone for her, especially because the two of them haven’t spoken since the argument occurred. I think it would also bring a bit of closure for her. She’s never been able to explain her side of the story, and she might never get the chance, but she can at least remind Odin that she’s a strong individual that is worthy of someone’s love— even if it’s just her own.

→ I definitely want to explore their relationship from start to finish. I would love to play out their meeting, to them getting married, to the cracks beginning to show, and finally ending with the position they’re in right now. I think their relationship is a big part of Delilah, and I definitely want to see the love they had for one another and compare it to the present.

Isabella: I wrote my way out

→ Isabella is giving Delilah a chance to use her voice, and I would love to explore this dynamic. I love that she’s getting involved in journalism and how Isabella has taken her on as somewhat of a protégé. It’ll be interesting to see Delilah teaming up for justice, especially when she’s seeking justice for herself, and I definitely want to explore these two. It’ll also be interesting to see if Delilah becomes the Capulet informant for Isabella or if she keeps those secrets close to her chest despite the kindness that Isabella has shown her.

Ivan: There’s a snake in the garden

→ I think I’m interested in their dynamic because of their joint connection to Odin and the fact that he caused her downfall in the end. I’m curious to see what would happen if she learned that Ivan had been the one to whisper the rumors in her husband’s ears, or if she already has an inkling that he was the one to blame in the end. I think these two would have fun interactions with each other, and I want to see if Ivan kicks her while she’s down or if he grew bored of her after her credibility and voice were stripped away.

Are you comfortable with killing off your character? | I’m going to go with yes, but I don’t know if Delilah’s path will ever require death. We would really have to see how her story plays out, but you know I’m always down for angst.

IN DEPTH

In-Character Para Sample:  I’m going to cautiously put tw suicide just because of one paragraph.

Delilah had been enjoying the silence over the past few days. She had always enjoyed the silence when she was a child. She was raised with love, a child with two parents who often treated her more gently than they should, but being the only child meant she spent hours by herself. Her parents would ask her if she wanted to invite a friend over, and sometimes she did. Her and her childhood friends would run around her home until sundown came and they were told to go back home to their parents and their siblings. However, sometimes she valued her alone time. She would shrug off her parent’s concerns and curl up on her bed with whatever book she borrowed from the library. She would dream of worlds outside of her own and wonder about when she would be able to see what the world truly had to offer. She never had siblings, but the silence had been her companion. The quiet was her safety net.

The quiet faded away when the sound of boots rang through the home. Her gaze lifted from her book, a novel that she was plucked up from a local bookstore, and settled on her husband. Husband— the word she used to say with such joy. She had thought he was the prince she read about in her fairytales stories. She thought he was the knight ready to sweep her off of her feet. For a time, he was, but the time faded away like her beloved silence. Now, she hesitated a bit before she got up to greet him.

“You’re home early, amore.” Her voice rang out like honey as she floated in the kitchen. Her gaze swept over him airily before she noticed the dark glare in his eyes and the frown that tugged on his lip. Her smile faltered as she traced the lines on his face. She had missed the old Odin. She had missed the man who could charm her with a few simple words. She had fought to hold onto the marriage and have faith that that man could come back to her, but the look he gave her made her wonder if her faith was enough.

And when he broke her beloved silence, her heart stopped completely.

She listened as he ushered out words such as harlot or infidelity. She listened to claims that she had slept with other men, that she betrayed him, and she couldn’t do anything to stop it. She tried to speak, to deny the false claims that were brought against her, but her voice had been choked out. Each accusation felt like a dagger thrown her way, and Delilah could do nothing to dodge the weapons. The silence had felt like a noose around her neck. The way it had went from her childhood companion, to a comfort in her sea of troubles, to something akin to a knife placed against her neck. It had gone from the thing she valued the most to something that helped put a nail into her coffin. Odin’s words had been the hand tightening the rope. How she had fought to make their marriage work, how she had the mindset to believe that he would come back to her eventually, it all felt like too much. Her two beloved things had decided her fate, and she was merely a third party watching it all happen. She tried once again to speak, but before she could get any words out, she watched as Odin left the home they once shared together.

Delilah had once loved the silence as a child loves a pet, but in that moment, she had loathed it. She felt the burning hot tears pool in her eyes before it finally broke the surface and slid down her cheeks in a continuous stream. She whispered the words that she had wanted to say before— as if Ursula had stolen her voice and only now decided she could wield it again.

I’m not a liar.

I’m not a cheater.

I’m not at fault.

But no one was there to hear her. The only thing that kept her company was her silence, and in the end, that had betrayed her too.

Extras:

I have a headcanon that Delilah worked in a bookstore when she met Odin. Books had been a safety net for her, so she chose a job where she could be surrounded by the objects. She adored the job, and she still keeps in touch with the owner of the store. They exchange book recommendations, and she receives a Christmas card from him and his wife every year. Sadly, she quit her job after marrying Odin. It was too far away from their new home, and she fell busy with mafia jobs and personal commitments to make such a journey.

Delilah owns a cat named Fantine. She’s a calico kitten that Delilah adopted from the local rescue. She named her after the character from Les Miserables because that was a book she read a lot throughout her teen years. She has never owned a pet before, but she’s learning more about how to care for the kitten as the days go on, and she’s found herself a small companion with the feline.

https://www.pinterest.com/aesthctics/oc-delilah-bello/

[littleprincesa-isabel]

Writing Task: BDRP Questionnaire

Trigger Warnings: None

Extra Note: This got very long haha

Your Name: Kiara :DD

Characters:

Sally Finkelstein, Minnie Muysken, Georgette Midler, Isabel Flores

Pick one of your characters and talk about their growth (we recommend choosing an older character, but it’s up to you!) What about their story has surprised you? What are you proud of? How have they changed from their original inception to now?

Georgette

First off, let me preface by saying that when Georgette’s muse originally formed in my head and I went for her, I absolutely did not envision her dying, coming back to life undead, and becoming a magick like at all. In fact, when I picked her up I loved the fact that she was a mundus and all my intentions were to keep her as such. Yeah... she’s not so much now but... surprise!

Georgette has done a total 360 change from what I originally had formed for her in my head, but it like also really helped out too that she did lol. (Thanks MK!!) I knew from the start that the MAIN goal I wanted for Georgette was to create a new form of stability for her. I wanted her to grow out of her old glamorous and ritzy life and into a life where fame and fortune really aren’t the most important aspects.

I wanted her to end up gaining a more humble perspective of life, almost just completely rewire her and I got to end up doing this twice for her lmao.

Just from Georgette needing to learn how to puzzle/rewire herself into this new life when she was forced to move to Swynlake. Learning how to live smaller and with a publically trashed and slandered reputation, learning to cook (she still sucks at it), live on her own, process through living with her rape trauma and just getting help with her alcoholism. I was able to meet that goal simply through all of that because Georgette grew and learned so much. She got into therapy, accepted help, gained real friends, learned how to process through her trauma, gained an appreciation for the simpler things in life and all through that journey of simply trying to tape up all that had shattered in her life.

Then she died... and came back to life.

So it was now going through this journey with her again where Georgette had to learn how to rewire herself and pick up the pieces to now make them fit into this new life of hers. It was going through all the emotional baggage of processing this new reset button for her, learning her new powers, coping through having died under a tree, surviving her rape trial, accepting that she no longer had such needs as hunger or sleep like normal humans, etc.

I’m proud of where she ended up going and how strong she has become. She hasn’t given up and keeps working through each hurdle. She has really changed from the shallow, spoiled brat she was in the beginning like I’m a proud mom lol.

Pick another character and talk a little about where you WANT them to go. What are your plans for them going into the new year?

Isabel

I want Isa to like completely spread open her wings for this new coming year!!! She is officially EIGHTEEN, and I want her to gain independence outside of her family. I want her to have independence outside of the royal appearance and duties of a princess, and outside of the daily knife over her head that is a crazy sorceress out to kill her.

Isa just wants to live life in where she doesn’t feel caged in.

I want her to be reckless lmao. Go to a party and get straight up trashed, travel more outside of Swynlake, move out, have sex, go to the club, go go-karting, sing karaoke with friends drunk or sober, set up an instagram account, survive an all-nighter, tipi a house, watch a Broadway play, get a tattoo because why the fuck not?!?

Feel life! I want Isa to feel life. Almost all of Isa’s life has been under the microscope of bodyguards or her family that I want her to learn how to be out on her own. I want her to make stupid mistakes, she’ll learn to go through them and get to grow because of them. Isa loves to learn, this will be great for her!!

And yes, she has already done a lot, but under the supervision of someone else, like Isa doesn’t know how it feels to be completely free and she wants a taste of it. I want a taste of it for her.

Pick a thread or a plot that you’re proud of and talk about why you loved it.

Minnie

I actually really liked my plot in where I got Minnie attacked at night by a patient that has already hurt her before. It makes me sound awful, but I liked it because it allowed Minnie to pull herself away from the hospital. Minnie wraps so much of her identity around the hospital. Her father used to work there as a surgeon, she used to spend so much time with her father there when she was little, she would volunteer at the hospital and it has been where she was working since she graduated from Pride U.

I honestly wanted to see if Minnie could see herself outside of the hospital. It was a journey of Minnie processing through the trauma, being able to simply feel safe again, and realizing that for her mental health she will have to step back some from a job and a place she loves dearly.

Minnie is still healing and will still ask for company whenever she needs to go out at night because she hasn’t been able to feel entirely safe as of yet. She is still working at the hospital but no longer coded/full time and now she has actually become the school nurse for Swynlake General. She loves the job and if it hadn’t been for the attack she honestly would’ve never been opened to even trying for that opportunity.

In terms of your own writing, identify 1-3 strengths and talk about why you think it’s one of your strengths.

Voice: Not to so much conversational voice as that’s actually something I want to improve in, but the mental voice. It is so easy for me to get into the thought processes involved with my characters. I always speak of their emotions and how they are thinking through their current situation. I love doing that because, for me, it explains the reasoning for all that my characters do what they do or end up doing. I just end up forgetting about everything else that should also be involved beyond thought and emotion lol.

Starters: This is a weird strength lol but I absolutely have no problems writing starters. It’s easy for me to create a situation where I need two people to end up engaging with one another. It’s fun for me to think of different ways, especially since Swynlake is a magical town so ideas really are limitless!! I just suck at creating titles that is definitely not my forte!  

In terms of your own writing, identify 1-3 areas of improvement.

Conversation: I’m trying to be very cautious about this and I’m hoping that I have been improving but just not answering everything that is being spoken in a thread. I want to improve in knowing which things should be answered and what shouldn’t because it messes with the continuity of the thread. Hopefully, I have gotten better but it’s one of the main things I have been trying to pay hard attention to when writing my replies.

Body Placement/Situational Awareness: I’m also hoping to improve in being constantly aware of where my characters are and what they are doing. I lack describing simple actions with my characters like continuing to drink a tea they have in hand, remembering if they were holding something so as to know they need to put that something down if they want their hand, remembering if my girls hair is up or down because then she can’t tuck hair behind her ear if it’s up, etc. It gets hard for me sometimes because it’s a lot I have to keep track of.

Actions: I think I stink at writing actions where my characters are concerned. I forget that they are supposed to do more than think and talk. I suck at properly engaging them at times and I have to constantly remind myself like oh this is a date: hold hands, kiss, hug, lean in, stuff like that. They are in a hospital remember to engage with the machines, the diagnosis, doctors, and nurses etc.    

Pick one of your plots, or even just a character, and come up with a list of 3-5 “mentor texts” where you can look for inspiration or research, then write a short (2-4 sentences) why you picked those texts.

Sally

Edgar Allen Poe’s Ligeia and Morella: I use these two short stories from Edgar Allen Poe a lot when it comes to inspirations for Sally. For Morella, I took the aspects of Sally looking so identical to her mother as she grew older and her father being obsessed with her because of that straight out of that text. Morella dying during the birth of her child, I stole that too for Sally’s back story involving her own mother. WIth Ligeia I love Edgar’s description of the main woman in the story, Ligeia and I often find myself going back to read it because I want Sally to resemble that description since that’s how I view her in my head.

Weather Websites: Lmao. I don’t know if this counts as a text per say, but legit I am constantly looking up websites that give me different types of weather and their descriptions. I use them because Sally empathic magic transcribes itself through a type of weather. Whenever she feels an emotion from someone it comes to her like the feeling of weather: snow, hale, warmth, fog, rain etc. depending on what emotion it is whether anger, sadness, confusion, happiness etc.

Edith Hamilton’s Mythology/Charmed: I know charmed is not a text lol but it needs to be mentioned because I used that show (particularly Phoebe) as an inspiration for Sally’s vision magic. Sally’s visions are constantly evolving and changing mainly due to the long time it has taken Sally to control it so it took a form of its own when it had the upper hand. That form I stole from Phoebe in how touch was needed for a vision to form and the aspect of Sally feeling all the emotions involved with it. Then, Mythology was a book I had to read as a requirement in my Freshmen year of high school. I use that text for references to the seers and oracles in Greek Mythology which is where I get my inspiration for how Sally’s visions are appearing now.  

And now, a wishlist! Jot down a few themes or stories or genres etc that you want to maybe pursue in the upcoming year!

A forbidden romance, a bi-wakening!!!, any magic based plots because I love being able to dive into the magic of my magick babiess, family drama, paranormal thingss and medical plots because I can’t help myself it is who I amm haha.

Sally: Continue to evolve her magic because there is a specific point I want her aside from ya know that having complete control point, so if anyone needs anything seen you know who to hit upp. Open up the store she wants tor tailoring!!! I need to stop being a lazy fuck with that :/. Get her into a relationship. I have had Sally for likeee 3/4 years now and she has just been a lonely spirit. I don’t want her to be a lonely spirit all her liffeee.

Minnie: Hmmm not sure tbh aside from like medical plots!!! I love those gimmie gimmie, Minnie is an awesome nurse :DD

Georgette: Get her through a second trial where hopefully her rapist lands in jail. More socialite things because like she is a famously known socialite and I be forgetting that often. Magic stuff because she is now a magick herselff.

Isabel: She is going to be living up her eighteenth year of life. I am hoping it will be Princess Gone Wild this 2020 lmao. Get Isa to simply live it uppp.  

[pk-rockinly]

!!   These HCs are my own interpretation of Ness, his backstory, and family, all exclusively made by me and not related to in-game content unless otherwise stated. Don’t steal them :>   !!

I’ll divide it into   “ chapters ”   , so that it’s easier to find the topics.

INDEX 1. Ness’ Family   ( parents, sibling, pet ) 2. Ness’ Family   ( mother’s side ) 3. Ness’ Family   ( father’s side ) 4. Ness’ Family   ( others ) 5. Significant Other   ( Lucas ) 6. Ness   ( a li’l bit about my portrayal of him )

1. - ̗̀  NESS' FAMILY   ( parents, sibling, pet)   ��́-

For starters, RPing with a Ninten or an Ana muse has always been a struggle for me because I HC them to be his parents   ( I assume that everyone has figured it out by now because I leave hints and I make it SO obvious )   . It’s so obvious because you would often read in my threads that his mother is Christian or that his father is also a baseball enthusiast but because of his asthma, he had to adjust to a different profession. The reason why I don’t straight-up say it is because I know that not many people share this HC and I know that it also makes some uncomfortable. So I leave hints rather than saying the actual thing.

!!   Of course, this doesn’t mean that I won’t interact with any Ninten or Ana muses but understand that it’ll be a bit hard for me since, from my point of view, it’ll be Ness seeing their parents in their childhood   !!

-ˏˋ ☆ NESS’ FATHER — NINTEN  

It’s canon that Ness’ father works at a hamburger industry. I also HC that, because of the job keeping him busy, he returns home during weekends and holidays — he works abroad. He sometimes takes a week off or two, depending on workflow.

Also, on an important side-note, he paid back the loan to the Minch family!! But they would still hold a grudge on him and on Ness’ family because it took him a while to pay it back.

Ness’ father is … a dork, really. Ness has probably inherited his playful side from him. He’d sit at dinner and crack jokes out of the blue and because they’re so sudden it’s always entertaining. Those dad jokes no one wants to listen to? He’s got plenty!

-ˏˋ ☆ NESS’ MOTHER — ANA  

It’s canon that Ana likes drama fiction... I HC that Ness does too. You will sometimes see him watch soap-operas either alone or with her, or even discuss characters and their role with his mother. He doesn’t really like to show that he has a certain fondness for drama, so he tends not to say anything about it.

Ana is a skilled cook and every day feels like a Thanksgiving dinner. Every meal she makes is made with love and she will always spoil her kids with their favorite food and treats.

She’s a very loving woman. You will see her kiss her kids’ forehead goodnight every night, even when they’re older.

!!   Both his parents know and can use PSI   ( Ness has inherited it from them )   , but they never use it in public   and / or   in front of their   kids / family .   !!

!!   They haven’t told their kids about their own adventure or about   Giygas / Giegue   but they will when Ness is older   ( when he’s approximately 16-17 )   !!

-ˏˋ ☆ NESS’ SISTER — TRACY :   

The game doesn’t state Tracy’s age but it makes it clear that she’s younger than Ness, so I HC that she’s at least 4 years younger than him.   

The game canonically has her work at a delivery agency, so that she can help Ness   store / deliver   his items, but she quits it right after Ness defeats Giygas.

I HC that she wasn’t born with PSI but with instead impressive intelligence for someone her age. She’s a child, of course, but she already seems to know how the world spins.

I HC that, when she’s more or less Ness’ age   ( 13 yo )   , she starts developing a soft crush towards Picky Minch, their neighbor, and, because of it, Ness grows incredibly protective and he even sounds bratty when Picky is around or when he’s mentioned in a conversation.   It’s something that any sibling does, no? Squinting when your sister’s crush is home, mmm…

Ness combs and braids her hair before she leaves for school.

!!   Because of Tracy unable of using PSI, the family has set some sort of   ‘ rule ’   in which no one will read each other’s mind nor use PSI between family members.   This rule is for now for Ness only since both he and his sister don’t know that their parents can use PSI   !!

-ˏˋ ☆ NESS’ PET — KING :   

I HC that King is a Mastiff Tibetan, three years older than Ness. 

Ness’ parents have adopted him when he was only two weeks old and a few months after Ninten’s dog, Mick passed away. The puppy was nameless for a couple of days   ( he had silly nicknames like Mick II or Mick-on-all-fours since Ninten’s dog was capable of standing on two legs for a long time )   , until Ana playfully placed a crown made with carton box on the puppy’s head and called him King.

The puppy grows strong and big and he becomes a well-adored family member ; he gets to be part of many events happening in the family’s life. 

King played a sort of   ‘ nanny role ’   during Ness’ childhood. He was always there, making sure that the kid would avoid getting in trouble when Ana or Ninten were looking away. He would even make sure that the kid got the right amount of rest.

Because Ness could only mutter words   and / or   broken sentences in his early years, saying King was a little hard for him ; he used to call him Pooch and this nickname kinda stayed as he grew up.

King begins to speak with the family almost right away when he’s adopted   ( only people with telepathy can, of course, hear him )   ; so, I kinda like to think that King has also helped Ness to speak when he was a toddler.

//   it started as a joke but then became canon in the blog : King will be part of the family’s events for a pretty long time ; he’s developed a certain fondness towards the family and he will stay alive as long as his body will let him. And let me tell you … he’s going to stay for a very long time, still.   //

2. - ̗̀ NESS' FAMILY   ( his mother's side)   ̖́-

I don’t have many HCs for Ness’ grandparents from his mother's side, individually speaking. It’s still a WIP. But they get to visit the family every now and then, especially during the holidays.

-ˏˋ ☆ NESS’ GRANDMOTHER :   

she lives with her husband in a snowy town distant from Ness’ homeland.

When Ness will be aware of his parents’ adventure, he will find out that his grandmother had once been kidnapped by Giygas and that Ana joined Ninten to search for her.

-ˏˋ ☆ NESS’ GRANDFATHER :

he’s a priest living with his wife in a snowy town distant from Ness’ homeland.

3. - ̗̀ NESS' FAMILY   ( his father’s side)   ̖́-

-ˏˋ ☆ NESS’ GRANDMOTHER — CAROL :

Carol’s character is very similar to Ness’ mother in-game. She also likes to cook and because of it, I like to think that she lends a helping hand in the kitchen when the family is reunited for the holidays.

When she visits, she always brings gifts for the family, plus a few homemade delicacies.

She lives with her husband in Podunk.

-ˏˋ ☆ NESS’ GRANDFATHER : 

he works full-time in a business agency and lives with his wife Carol in Podunk, a town distant from Ness’ homeland. 

At first glance, he looks secretive but he’s in truth a dork, really ; Ninten has probably inherited his playful side from him, but unlike him, his playfulness is controlled and limited.

!!   His grandparents can’t use PSI.   !!

-ˏˋ ☆ NESS’ AUNTS — MIMMIE & MINNIE

Aunt Mimmie and Aunt Minnie are Ninten’s twin sisters.

Ness doesn’t really get to see them often but only during specific holidays, such as Christmas, Thanksgiving, and New Year.

They travel a lot, sometimes on their own and sometimes together.

They’re both professional photographers. Writing books and novels is considered a hobby for them, even if their publications have made some numbers around the world.

They share an apartment together but it’s almost always empty because they’re always outside or traveling.

When the family wants to book a vacation somewhere away from Onett, Ness’ aunts are both willing to book tickets for them and plan their vacation, with or without Ana’s consent.

They keep in touch with their brother almost every day. They’re probably the ones who stay the most in touch with the family.

4. - ̗̀  NESS' FAMILY   ( others )   ̖́-

This section is about Ninten’s and Ana’s friends who are not related to them in any way but because they’re their close friends, they’re considered part of the family. Ness grew up calling them   uncle / aunt   .

-ˏˋ ☆ TEDDY   ( uncle )   :

When Ness was only a kid, he felt admiration Teddy. In fact, during those times he visited he even defined him the   ‘ cool uncle ’   ;

Ness owns a couple of CDs made by Teddy, which he listens to every now, and then ; the genre is enjoyable and his songs have a good rhythm. The lyrics are strong and powerful : some songs tell a bit about himself, while others  … he can’t tell ;

Every time Teddy releases a new CD, a copy is sent to Ness two days before its actual release date.

Teddy is also the owner of his family’s repair shop of which he was named after, but because of his singing career, he hired someone else to run the store for him.

-ˏˋ ☆ LLOYD   ( uncle )   :

Ness doesn’t know much about him. His parents say that he used to visit more often when he was younger, but he got busier and busier with his studies and experiments that nowadays it’s very rare to see him in person.

Lloyd grows to be a successful scientist. He, every now and then, writes books about his theories and experiments, and sometimes he can be seen on TV on those scientific channels, guest of an interview or merely stating facts and thesis about a specific argument   ( we could say that that is the only time Ness gets to see him )   .

!!   I don’t HC that Lloyd is Dr. Andonuts merely because Dr. Andonuts is way older than how Lloyd should be in Earthbound, despite the both of them hiding in trashcans, wearing round glasses or having   white / gray   hair.   !!

-ˏˋ ☆ PIPPI   ( aunt )   :

okay, comin’ up with something for Pippi was a bit of a struggle, but I like to think that she becomes a professional painter ; she’s energetic, creative and she likes to give life to a thought through colors on a canvas.

She likes to visit   quiet / abandoned   places to find inspiration, to then paint her own versions of these places visited. Her paintings are famous for the feelings they convey and for the breathtaking and realistic colors she uses.

she would also paint portraits ; she has a few of Ness and his family and her portrait gallery progressively expands as she meets new people.

when she visits, it’s always a good occasion to take a few pictures to paint later.

Farms and quiet villages are often protagonists of her paintings.

5. - ̗̀ NESS' SIGNIFICANT OTHER   ̖́-

-ˏˋ ☆ LUCAS ( it’s canon in this blog )   :

they met in the Smash tournaments and have clicked almost immediately thanks to their similarity and thanks to the fact that they both share PSI abilities.   

Outside of the Smash tournaments, they’re in a long-distance relationship   ( Lucas’ timezone is six hours behind Ness’ )   ;

Ness pays him a visit every weekend by teleporting to his village – only during the weekend because Ness has school during the other days and can’t find free time in between his homework.

!!   Ness is aged up to 16 years old when RPing with pk-lovely’s Lucas only to make it easy for me to RP very soft romance   !! This Lucas’ interpretation is pk-lovely’s ♥

6. - ̗̀  NESS   ̖́-

His full name is Ness Yusha Omoto   ( Yusha is his middle name for   ’ brave ’   given by his father when he was born )   . If we consider his mother’s last name, his full name would be Ness Yusha Hayes Omoto, but we’ll just go with the first one.

It’s canon that he was born with PSI. His parents found out when the baby bottle started to move on its own. He taught himself most of his PSI, starting with recovery ones.

Later on, as he grew up, he taught himself more useful PSI and begun to develop a special one based on his favorite thing. 

-ˏˋ ☆ PHYSICAL APPEARANCE :

Ness weighs 95lb   ( 43kg )   and he’s 5ft tall   ( 150cm )   . He has short, messy, and greasy black hair and he wears a baseball cap to mostly hide this messy mane but to also show his passion towards baseball, his favorite sport.

His eyes are black   ( not as black as his hair but they’re close to a dark grey hue )   and when he uses his psychic powers they turn purple-ish, so you can tell when he’s using them.

His skin is naturally tanned, with very light freckles across his face and under his elbows.

he’s ambidextrous.

-ˏˋ ☆ LANGUAGE(S) KNOWN :

He speaks English and Japanese   ( thanks to his father who has Japanese origins )   , and also ASL language but not very fluently. He’d rather read your mind, honestly … 

-ˏˋ ☆ CLOTHING PREFERENCE :   

[ I wrote a post about it here ]

He wears striped shirts, baseball tees, and hoodies ; jorts, capri jeans, sweats, and sneakers. His preference in clothing tends to vary but he likes to wear comfortable clothes regardless if they look ugly or don’t match well with the others.

He’s uncomfortable in long-sleeved garments, so you will always see him wear short-sleeved shirts even during winter   ( but only indoors ; if he falls sick, he can heal himself, so … )   . He hates winter.

Oh, and let’s not forget backpacks!

-ˏˋ ☆ PROFESSION :   

Student.

He’s the Captain of his school’s baseball team,   “ The Starmen ”   ( which will then become his own baseball team )   . It doesn’t have an actual mascot because of Ness’ discomfort in people wearing large mascot suits.

The uniform has several stars across the sleeves, the name of the player is written on the back, while on the front is written   “ Onett ”   together with the initials   “ SM ”   ; the Captain’s uniform has two stars as background for the initials and they’re light-blue.

The team has its own baseball cap but Ness still prefers to wear his own.

-ˏˋ ☆ FOOD PREFERENCE :   

Ness is a foodie! He LOVES to eat and his stomach is often compared to a bottomless well! There is not a food he doesn’t like and thanks to his high and active metabolism he rarely gains weight despite eating so much.

However, he suffers from indigestion only when he eats too much sugar on a daily basis : the amount he can get is awfully limited, but it doesn’t mean that he doesn’t like sweets, because, to be fair, they’re his weakness. But because of his indigestion, he’s very careful with them and grows a little paranoid when eating a tart or any other sweet treat.

Now, though, perhaps because of the lack of sugar in his system, the boy has grown very fond of salty snacks since they don’t cause his stomach to twist in agony ; so, expect this kid to eat a lot of salt.

-ˏˋ ☆ FAVOURITE FOOD :   

Salisbury Steak   ( canon ). It’s basically made from blending ground beef with other ingredients, topped then with bitter-sweet and slightly spicy sauce. His mother serves it with gravy and mashed potatoes as side-dish. But he likes anything that contains meat, honestly …

He also likes Sukiyaki and Mori Soba   ( canon in game )   and Yakisoba   ( my HC )   .

Since we’re on the topic, it’s canon that Ness likes dog food as well   ( it’s in the Japanese version of the game, replaced by salmon in the English version )   ; so I kinda HC that as a kid he ate a can of dog food out of curiosity and kinda liked it …  uh … 

Pretzels are his favorite snack.

-ˏˋ ☆ MUSIC PREFERENCE :   

His genre varies and he’s always open to new hits. He likes rock, hip-hop, lo-fi beats, and instrumental tunes.

Ness has a sort of celebrity crush on Venus but he doesn’t say it openly because he’d feel embarrassed. However, you can hear him hum her songs every now and then - and you can find a collection of all of her albums on his shelves plus a few autographs. She’s his favorite singer and it will never change, not even when he’s older.

He’s also a fan of The Runaway Five and DCMC   ( thanks to his boyfriend who has introduced them to him )   .

Ness can play guitar. He has an acoustic guitar in his room that he plays every now and then ; he’s been playing it since he was five years old and can play any song by just listening to it — and, of course, after a little practice.

-ˏˋ ☆ FAVOURITE COLOUR :   

Ness likes the color pink for reasons he won’t tell   ( it reminds him of his boyfriend’s cheeks when he blushes, hhh )   .

Other favorite colors are: yellow, red, blue, and white.

-ˏˋ ☆ FAVOURITE ANIMAL :   

Rabbits, especially dwarf rabbits with very tiny ears. The boy would scream for a bunny but, because of their sensibility, they might not keep up with his energy — so it’s really not recommended to get him a bunny for the sake of the poor thing’s sanity. But he will sit at a pet shop for hours just to look at the bunnies, hm.

-ˏˋ ☆ DOMINANT TRAIT :   

his courage, of course.

Keep in mind that now because he’s brave, he’s not afraid of anything. Wrong. He has fears as well just like everyone but he doesn’t share them openly   ( and he considers them more states of discomfort rather than actual fears )   .

-ˏˋ ☆ NEGATIVE TRAIT(S) :   

As already mentioned, Ness is a jealous person when it comes to his loved ones because he feels the urge of protecting them and keeping them away from what might hurt them. So, to state an example, when his sister’s crush is around, Ness will keep an eye open on his behavior and on the way he talks to his sister and interfere with annoying jokes or facts that might relate to Picky when he thinks that he’s walking out of the line. But it always ends with Tracy either holding a grudge on Ness or punching his shoulder   ( a light punch, just to make it stop )   . Another example is Ness crinkling his nose   ( please keep this trait in mind for it tells a lot of how Ness is feeling in a certain moment )   when Lucas talks fondly about another person he doesn’t know — he starts saying things like   “uh”, “oh yeah?”, “uh-hu”, “pssh”, “tch” every now and then as he speaks to kinda control his jealousy.  

It starts low but if it grows uncontrollably, he then becomes paranoid ; you can clearly tell when it happens by reading his movements : if he’s sitting down, his legs shake, or if he’s standing up he struggles to find a comfortable pose. he hides his mouth behind his palm, he rubs the back of his head, he begins scanning the area around him, he sighs loudly and sometimes even whines. In worse cases, he starts walking around in circles or even bites his nails.

He calms down on his own without someone else to do anything for him, but it might take a couple of hours if not less. He will feel better and even apologize to you for his behavior afterward.

Greediness   ( only when it comes to sharing his food )   , clumsy and possessive   ( light stage of possession, he doesn’t go all yandere on his enemies, please … )   .

-ˏˋ ☆ POSITIVE TRAIT(S) :   

aside from his negative traits, Ness is in truth a loving and considerate person. When he loves he loves with all his heart and let’s just say that another person’s contact and warmth are always necessary, almost vital, for him.

He’s extrovert, so being in contact with the outside world is fundamental.

he’s adventurous, affectionate, assertive, friendly, fun-loving, and curious. Now, his curiosity is where most of his reckless decisions are made. He’d venture without hesitation in a dark cave because led by his own curiosity ; he’d run outside in the middle of the night to go look at a meteorite that just fell on the hilltop next to his house even if his parents say no ; he would trust his neighbor Lier X Agerate down his basement to look at a statue he dug right under his house …  Just to make it clear, the boy is very curious and if he ever asks inappropriate questions, it’s because his curiosity led him to do so.

He’s also generous, hard-working   (a trait inherited by his mother | canon )   , optimistic, self-assured, and determined.

He likes to spoil his loved ones with gifts ; so, expect him to buy you stuff every now and then. If you ever see something you like, Ness will buy it for you without hesitation.

Loyal, warm-hearted, patient   ( except for the line at fast-foods, he grows really impatient then )   , and playful   ( inherited by his father ; he, much to everyone’s misfortune, very often cracks up jokes even in the most inappropriate moments, especially while shopping : he’d grab food and make jokes out of it.   An example :   Near to the fridge counter section, the raven, smiling with anticipation at the joke forming in his mind, grabs a random portion of meat, which happens to be minced meat but it doesn’t matter and shows it to his boyfriend next to him.   “Nice to meat you!”   )

-ˏˋ ☆ FEARS   ( more like   ‘ stages of discomfort ’   as he would call them )   :

People wearing costumes — it’s the reason why his school baseball team doesn’t have a mascot. People wearing big costumes, in general, make his skin crawl. Although aware that it’s just a person inside a costume, he can’t calm his nerves in the moment. He will act uncomfortable for the entire time until they eventually walk away from them.

Clown & Mimes — although the fear of clowns is almost overcome completely, mimes are still a problem and he cannot explain why. Whenever he sees one, he just has to walk as distant as possible from them.

Tight places — perhaps the most common one. Ness is not claustrophobic as he can stay in closed spaces quite well, but when these closed spaces happen to be tight, he might grow tense and anxious. If he stays in them for a long time, he might go into panic.

-ˏˋ ☆ BAD HABIT(S) :   

swearing   ( only when furious )   , muttering under his breath   ( jealous, paranoid, doubtful )   , oversleeping, snacking between meals, leg jiggling   ( paranoid, nervous )   , gesturing while talking   ( he’s an open book, he expresses himself a lot through non-verbal communication )   , chewing lips   ( nervous, paranoid )   , procrastinating   ( furious )   , rubbing hands through hair   ( nervous, paranoid )   , drinking from the bottle, messy, competitive.

[minyoongijjangjjangmanboongboong]

Penumbra: An Interactive BTS Horror Story Part VII

Premise: Seven friends return to their old high school for one last night of mayhem before the building is condemned. But everything is not as it seems… What will the group do when they find themselves trapped in a warped hellscape with no means of escaping?

That…is up to you.

The Rules: To participate in this story, all you need to do is vote. At the end of each chapter, you will have five hours to make a decision via the poll provided. Do this or do that: you decide. Whichever option receives the majority of the votes is the path we will all follow together so please…choose wisely.

Another prudent decision. You have chosen well once again. Jimin and Jungkook leave room 104 to find the others.

Now what will the boys do? Your final decision is here. Want to know more about the characters before you vote? Read this.

Previous Chapter - Next Chapter

Masterlist

WARNING: This story contains material that some readers may find frightening, disturbing, or unsettling. If you are sensitive to graphic imagery or dark situations, proceed with caution. Please read at your own risk.

Seokjin runs a hand along the warped wallpaper, tracing it with his fingers. The three boys had been wandering for a while, searching for any familiar corner or corridor that could lead them to their friends. Armed with the bloody, ripped papers and not much else, they decided to at least try to figure out the newspaper clippings. But even though they’d encountered plenty of bulletin boards in all their endless walking, it yielded little in the way of information.

“After a series of mysterious structural malfunctions, the building has been condemned indefinitely. Local rumors speculate that the contracting company plans on building a new high school on the grounds, but this has yet to be confirmed. Yoojin Han, theater teacher at Haneul Academy of the Arts, says he would be happy to donate to the construction of a new school.”

And that’s all they could find. Printed several times on each bulletin board they passed, this seems to be the most important article. None of the newspapers mentioned Minnie. The only trace of evidence Seokjin could glean from the stained old papers tacked on the boards was the mention of an ‘accident’. Nameless, without so much as a detailed description, there’s not much to the accounts. Truthfully, he’s had a bad feeling about the clippings from the beginning, and he’s managed to convince Taehyung not to go grabbing them for the moment. But after what he pulled with that tongue…

Seokjin isn’t so certain that Taehyung won’t do something reckless again.

Taehyung walks behind Seokjin while Namjoon leads the charge as per usual. Seokjin tries to read his expression but can’t quite place the cocktail of emotions that he finds there. Or perhaps it’s the lack of emotions in Taehyung’s eyes that sets Seokjin on edge. He turns back to the wallpaper, dragging his hand along it with a sigh. He vomited any food he had been storing in his stomach back in the auditorium, and now his gut is grumbling with waves of hunger pangs. Seokjin’s mind keeps wandering and that’s no good for him.

This whole place, all these spirits, all this roiling energy…it reminds him of Eunjin. She would have found this building fascinating. She might have even sickly enjoyed it somehow. Back then, he might have thought the same himself.

Not now. Not after everything that happened.

Seokjin shakes his head to clear it and takes a bracing breath of chilly air. He watched Namjoon’s back, his flashlight fading in and out of life as its beam sweeps around the unfamiliar corners and glints on the foreign class number placards.

“I think we should go back and collect the clippings,” says Taehyung.

Here we go, thinks Seokjin as he pauses mid-step. He turns to Taehyung and raises his brows. “Haven’t we collected enough?” he asks, gesturing with his eyes to Taehyung’s full pocket. He crosses his arms over his chest.

Taehyung’s back stiffens a little and his Adam’s apple bobs with a measured swallow. “We need information. Know your enemy-,”

“Who cares if we know the enemy or not? Clearly, learning more hasn’t exactly been our golden ticket out so far!” Seokjin exclaims, remembering that horrible, mangles tongue from before. His painfully empty stomach churns again.

“What if it has to do with that man that Hoseok saw? Or the man in the diary entries?” asks Taehyung with a charged glance at Seokjin.

The two share a brief exchange, neither speaking for a long moment, until Namjoon clears his throat and plants a hand on the bulletin board beside him. He stares at it for a long moment then glances over his shoulder at the boys. Ever since the auditorium, Namjoon has been strange. Like the thin threads holding him together are beginning to unravel, like the very fabric of him is beginning to fray at the edges. Seokjin is hyperaware of this shift. He can see it even in the set of his friend’s jaw.

“How much worse can it really get?” asks Namjoon, his hand seizing on one of the clippings and ripping it off the board.

Seokjin’s heart races and he lurches forward, reaching out for Namjoon’s arms. “No!” he shouts, but it’s far too late.

Namjoon pockets the clipping and the building shakes, rumbling as if it may collapse and rearrange once again. The lights overhead flicker and in the darkness, Seokjin catches the brief glimmer of something. A specter or maybe an orb. But the thing is gone as soon as the lights return and Namjoon stares at him with wide eyes.

“I told you,” says Seokjin under his breath, gripping the bridge of his nose.

“What’s going on?” asks a familiar voice.

“Let’s go,” says Jungkook, looking at Jimin seriously as he two stand breathless in room 104. “That guy could come back any time. Staying here…,” he begins, but stops when he realizes how much his voice is wavering.

He clears his throat and watched Jimin furrow his brow. He’s worse for the wear. Blood spotting on his shirt where he was hit, his skin splotched with dirt and sweat, his hair clumping here and there. His eyes are feral as he looks back at Jungkook. There’s something in his expression that Jungkook never noticed before. Something…strong.

“You’re right,” he says, then levels his wild eyes with his. “Are you sure you’re not scared?”

Jungkook swallows hard and rubs his hands together, watching the ground for a moment. So much has happened, it’s impossible for Jungkook to lie and say he’s not. Besides, Jimin’s always been the sort of person who can pick up on people’s moods. There’s no use playing tough with him.

But something in Jungkook outweighs his fear of dying.

And it hits him like a ton of bricks as he looks at Jimin by the doorway, still panting from the exertion of fighting that man.

He stiffens and nods his head. “I’m scared,” he says. “But if the others are out there right now, and if they’re scared too…we have to find them.”

Jimin’s stoic expression breaks into a soft, tired smile and he nods his head once. “Okay,” he says gently. He places a hand on Jungkook’s shoulder and gives it a squeeze. “This is really brave, Jungkook,” he says.

Jungkook nods and clears his throat. “Let’s go,” he says, maneuvering around Jimin and walking carefully out into the hallway. “Maybe we can try checking the entryway or something.”

Immediately, he hears a groan that makes him jump a little. But the memory resurfaced of Jimin shielding him from that shadowy man, his arms wide, protecting him with all the force his body had. And he found the strength to keep going. He squeezes his eyes shut and angles past a corpse lying on its stomach, arms reaching out into the hallway, deteriorating ankles crusted with long-dried blood.

Jimin winces beside him. “Looks like his Achilles tendon was cut,” he says.

Jungkook scowls. “How do you know?”

Jimin jerks his head toward the body. “You can tell from the wounds on the backs of the ankles. Makes it impossible to walk.”

“Where did you learn that, Jimin?” he asks, peering down at his friend.

“I…I read a lot of scary shit online, alright?” he says before sighing and waving his hands. “Forget it. Point is, that must’ve hurt a lot.”

Jungkook glances back at the corpse splayed out on the rotting ground and surpasses a shiver. “This place…it really is merciless isn’t it?” he asks.

Jimin is quiet for a moment as the two walk through the darkness. “I guess so.”

“Doesn’t this hallway look a little weird?” asks Jungkook carefully as he glances around the corridor.

Without Namjoon’s flashlight, the place is too dim to make out any concrete details. But certain things stand out. Doors and windows, vending machines, sharp turns down undiscovered hallways. And from those things alone, Jungkook can say with relative certainty that this place is new.

“We must’ve taken a wrong turn,” says Jimin. “I didn’t recognize that corpse earlier either.”

Jungkook sighs. “Of course,” he says, rubbing his forehead. “Well, maybe if we retrace our steps we can get back.”

The two turn to look back behind them and are greeted with what looks like an endless stretch of hallway, curving into dark nothingness. Surely, they haven’t walked that far. No words are exchanged between the two, but there’s an unspoken understanding that something is wrong. Not only that, but with one frightened look, Jungkook knows that Jimin sees what he’s seeing. There’s no way to go back.

“I…I guess…um…maybe we should just f-follow this hallway?” asks Jimin. His tone and body language have both shifted back to how they were when Jungkook first saw him in this twisted building. Timid, scared, thrown off.

Jungkook quickly places a hand on his shoulder and meets his wavering brown eyes. “Maybe the building is leading us somewhere,” he says quietly. “Maybe this is where the others went.”

Jimin is quiet for a moment before swallowing hard and offering a curt nod. He takes a steadying breath and nods again. “You’re right,” he says. “You’re probably right. Let’s just…keep going then.”

Jungkook nods and pats Jimin’s back before turning on his heel and leading the way down the corridor. He’s sick of Jimin and the others taking care of him. The image of Jimin with his arms splayed out, gaze steely, ready to greet death for his sake, is burned in Jungkook’s mind. He wants to be someone worthy of that effort.

Minutes pass of mindless, silent walking in the dark when the lights overhead begin to flicker, fading in and out. The building rumbles and seems to shake with the force of another earthquake. Jimin and Jungkook grab one another and Jungkook pulls the two into a crouch. A few ceiling panels crash to the ground with a clatter, sending plumes of dust into the air.

“What is this?” asks Jimin, eyes wide.

Jungkook shakes his head. “Let’s wait it out!” he shouts over the clamor.

It takes only moments for the building to settle once again and Jungkook peels his eyes open, staring down the hallway once more. This time, the lights seem slightly brighter, less unsteady. Slowly, he eases himself back to standing and Jimin follows suit. The two stand side by side before Jungkook steps down the hallway. Because, standing just a few feet away are his friends.

Namjoon stands rigidly with his back to Jungkook, clutching a crumpled piece of newspaper in his hand while Seokjin rubs his face in distress. Taehyung watches with wide eyes and parted lips.

Quietly, Jungkook approaches from behind and asks, “What’s going on?”

“Jungkook?” asks Seokjin in a whisper before his whole chest collapses and he runs toward Jungkook, throwing his arms around the boy’s shoulders and pulling him close in a crushing hug. “Oh my God,” he whispers, his voice cracking with tears.

Taehyung and Namjoon approach as well, and no sooner has Jin released Jungkook than he is swept up in another hug. Embraces are exchanged all around, and the awkward atmosphere from before Jimin and Jungkook found the others has all but dissipated. Jungkook doesn’t stop to wonder what the three were arguing about or why they seem so tense. All he can think of is how relieved he is to be able to see them again, to hug them tightly and know they’re here, they’re breathing.

It’s a nameless fear he never thought he’d experience.

Jungkook leans away from Taehyung, his final embrace, and examines him. His eyes look tired, purplish bags hanging from them, and his expression has been poor since Jungkook approached. “Are you okay?” he asks.

Taehyung stiffens and his eyes shift. “I’m fine.”

Jungkook knows better. He inhales slowly and nods his head nonetheless. “I’m just glad you guys aren’t hurt,” he says softly, then glances over Taehyung’s shoulder at the hallway. “What’s down that way?” he asks.

Taehyung turns and raises his brows. “I…it’s not supposed to be like that…”

Jungkook blinks. “What do you mean?”

Namjoon, Seokjin, and Taehyung begin looking about themselves frantically. Namjoon flashes his light down the hallway in the direction they’d come and his beam catches on a placard. Namjoon’s eyes go wide as he looks at it. The color drains from his face. He quickly guides the flashlight toward the end of the hallway and stops on two large, beautifully-decorated doors.

“What’s that?” asks Jimin.

Namjoon turns over his shoulder and stared at the two newcomers. There’s something in his eyes that frightens Jungkook. “It’s the auditorium…”

“What-what is that?” asks Hoseok in a whisper. Yoongi is stiff beside him, and Hoseok can’t get him to budge.

Below them, crouched on the landing, is a young girl, black hair draped over her translucently pale skin, her body contorted. Her arms are bent awkwardly and all of her joints seem to be stitched together. Her head twitches a little as she lifts her gaze to look at them. Hollow, black eyes. Her fingernails are long and scratching against the cement landing. She seems to glow slightly, an unearthly, sickly yellow light. She’s sustained wounds on all of her limbs, and in her crouched position Hoseok can see the beginnings of where her stitched-together body parts are coming loose at the seams. White spots of bone poke through. She’s small, but her presence is loud and Hoseok can feel something malignant in her. She opens her mouth and releases a high-pitched, blood-curdling wail. As her blue lips part, Hoseok notices something is missing in her mouth.

This girl doesn’t have a tongue.

“Yoongi!” Hoseok shouts over the screaming.

Yoongi slowly turns his eyes to Hoseok and for the first time, Hoseok sees fear there. His heart begins to race. Without so much as a second’s pause, the girl begins scaling the stairs on all fours, horrifyingly fast. Her every move is accompanied by a disgusting clicking, like her bones aren’t quite in the right places. She crawls toward them so quickly Hoseok is nearly dizzied by the flash of white. Before he can react, the girl is upon him, taking him to the ground. Her touch burns like fire and Hoseok screams in pain as she digs her long nails into the flesh of his legs. He scurries out of her grip, but she’s relentless and terrifyingly strong. As soon as he is back on his feet, the girl has already begun sprinting toward him again. This time, he dodges her attack. But she’s wild and she has her sights set on him. She clings to the wall and, despite the very laws of physics, begins climbing it. Her hair hangs in long black tendrils around her face and torso, and as she pauses on the wall, she turns her head at a disturbing angle to stare down at Hoseok. She parts her lips in a smile that’s far too wide and a giggle echoes through the stairwell.

“Run!” Hoseok screams, but Yoongi seems to be in shock.

He grabs Yoongi’s hand and begins dashing madly down the stairs. Hoseok’s speed is affected severely by the attack and by his previous injury. He’s no match for this wild girl. She is quickly behind them, still running on hands and knees, screams intermixing with laughs that bounce off the walls. She reaches her clawed fingers out and rips the fabric of Yoongi’s jeans. Hoseok doesn’t have time to wonder if she drew blood. He tears around the corner out into the hallway of the second floor. They haven’t spent much time up here, and the whole place is foreign.

Without thinking, he sprints with Yoongi beside him down the corridor. He turns to see the girl is right behind them, her unnatural smile even wider now as she runs like an animal. Hoseok can’t fight the guttural scream that escapes him. He sobs as he drags Yoongi along. The girl shouts something garbled after them before Hoseok takes a sharp left down a hallway. She is quick to follow, but she can’t quite reach them in time. Because just as she rounds the corner, the building begins to shake and tremble.

“Another earthquake?” asks Yoongi, his eyes flashing around and his hand shaking in Hoseok’s.

Hoseok shakes his head. “I don’t know!” he calls over the racket.

The girl seems stunned into stillness, pausing mid-step on the ground. The lights flicker, launching the second floor into darkness for a moment. Panic seizes Hoseok’s heart. Fuck. If he can’t see her, he’s dead. She won’t stop this time.

But as the lights return, he sees that the girl is no longer there. In her place is a pool of what appears to be fresh black blood. Hoseok swallows hard and stares at Yoongi. The two stand perfectly still for a moment as the building stops rumbling. Neither of them says a single word. They simply stand panting, Hoseok’s heart racing and his pulse drowning out any sound.

Taehyung sits on one of the old auditorium chairs, nestled between Jimin and Jungkook. Namjoon and Seokjin are still treating him strangely, and the papers feel like they’re burning a hole through his pocket. He shifts uncomfortably and clears his throat.

The group decided it would be best to take a moment to reconvene in the auditorium, and with the way the building keeps shifting to bring them back it seems that they’re exactly where this place wants them to be. Taehyung glances around. Seokjin and Namjoon sit a row below, twisted around in their seats to listen as Jimin begins detailing what happened in their absence.

“Hoseok ran off and Yoongi followed after him,” says Jimin quietly.

Namjoon stiffens. “I told him to stay with you guys?”

“Would you rather he let Hoseok go off on his own?” asks Jimin. He raises his brows and Namjoon quiets down. “We don't know where they went, but they haven’t been back.”

Seokjin stiffens. “So that means…”

“They’re missing,” supplies Jimin with a set jaw. “After they left, that man came. The one Hoseok saw. I think he preys on vulnerable people.”

Namjoon peers at Jimin for a long moment. “And you got away?” he asks.

Jimin produces the knife Jungkook had found and holds it in his palm, which now is stained with black liquid. “It looks like we can hurt him,” he says. “Not much, but enough to scare him off.”

“We can fight him…,” says Namjoon.

Seokjin rubs his jaw. “Doesn’t mean much if we don’t have food or water. How much longer can any of us really last?”

Namjoon gives Seokjin’s arm a pinch and offers a stern look. “Jin,” he says.

“He’s being realistic,” Taehyung says softly with a shrug. “We’re getting weaker by the hour.”

“Regardless,” says Jimin with a shrug, “we fought him off but he did a number on the classroom. We didn’t think it was safe to wait there anymore so we left to find you guys.”

“And Hoseok and Yoongi…?” asks Seokjin, a quiet hopefulness in his eyes.

Jimin shakes his head. “We couldn’t leave a note or anything telling them where we were going. I just hope they don’t stay in room 104,” he says. “That man…he was pretty mad when he left.”

Namjoon swallows. “I…have a theory,” he says.

All eyes point to the leader. “What theory?” asks Jungkook.

“We…well, there’s no delicate way to say it, but we found…a human tongue in this auditorium,” he says.

Taehyung fishes around in his pocket and pulls the papers from inside. “These were underneath it.”

Jungkook recoils and stares at the papers with a horrified look. “You took them?”

Taehyung nods. “It could help us.”

“My theory is that the man is the same man Minnie mentioned in her diary,” says Namjoon. “Mr. H,” says Namjoon, then shakes his head. “Yoojin Han.”

“How do you know his full name? Wasn’t it crossed out?” asks Jimin.

Namjoon nods. “It was,” he says, then produces the newspaper in his palm. “In the diary. But on here, it says the theater teacher was willing to donate to the construction of a new school on these grounds.”

The auditorium grows cold.

“He was wealthy…,” says Seokjin, eyes growing distant. “Which means that whatever he did to Minnie…what if it was covered up?”

Namjoon is quiet for a moment. He swallows visibly before nodding. “That’s what I wonder too.”

“And the newspapers, the diary…,” begins Seokjin.

“Are her way of telling her story,” Taehyung adds with a nod. Silently, he unfolds the papers and stares at them. They’re horribly damaged and bloodied, and the words are difficult to decipher. But with a little squinting, Taehyung and the boys can discern it.

mr. h - - is a b - - man i don’t know why he did that after my performa - - - - i’m sc - - red of him now i don’t know wh - - he wants to d - he said i was smart and i am i k - - - he’s gonna do so - - - - - - - he said he knows Mins - - - and that if i say any - - - - - he’s gonna k - - - hi - i don’t k - - - what to do

i went to mr. h - - - office today and he sat beside me it scared me i thought he might do some - - - - - but he didn’t i got scared anyway and i sh - - - - - i shouldn't have done that i shouldn’t have done that i shouldn’t have done that i shouldn’t have - - - -  - - - -

Two entries. Barely legible past the blood and the handwriting. She was scared. She was scared of Mr. Han. Taehyung looks up at the group and his heart pounds. He doesn’t know what this means, or what that man did to make Minnie so scared, but one thing he knows for certain: Mr. Han is a dangerous man.

And he’s somewhere out there with Hoseok and Yoongi.

“We’ve gotta get the others,” says Taehyung, shaking his head.

Namjoon’s eyes are wide and frightened and he looks at Taehyung with only fear. “How?”

Taehyung wrings his hands and stares at the rest of the group. He knows Seokjin and Namjoon don’t trust him now, that they think he’s losing his grip. He knows they’re worried about his mental state, or worse that they’re worried that he might be dangerous too. But the thought of his friends being stuck out there is almost too much for him to bear. He stands up.

“Maybe the intercom still works,” he says.

Namjoon stands too. “No, you can’t go out there now-,”

“They’ll die!” he shouts, tears in his eyes. His composure is slipping. His heart is aching with fear. “Namjoon, we’ve gotta try!”

Seokjin stands and stares at Taehyung, his own eyes welling with tears. “We can’t leave them out there,” he says with a nod. “I’ll go with you.”

“Me too,” says Jungkook, standing. His jaw is set staunchly and his gaze is hard like glass. “I won’t let anyone else get hurt because of me.”

The three of them stand together, resolute, for a long moment. But Namjoon’s pleading gaze beseeches Taehyung’s heart. There’s something genuine there, something terrified. Taehyung stiffens. If he and the boys go out there, they really might not come back. And this gamble, this unspoken prayer that the intercom will not only work but they’ll be able to find it at all, isn’t certain. Isn’t guaranteed.

“Please…,” says Namjoon. Jimin stands up too and grabs Taehyung’s hand tightly. His eyes are watery. The two of them stand paralyzed by fear.

And Taehyung is beginning to feel that fear too…

[dontnessw-me]

;;   okay, but ... seriously talking now, let me just - say a few things here about Ness. Yeh, lemme just ... blurt out some HCs I have of him, m’kay? I have MANY HCs of him and these have developed through the years ; some have changed but my portrayal of Ness has always stayed the same. 

!!   These HCs are my own interpretation of Ness, his backstory and family, all exclusively made by me and not related to in-game content unless otherwise stated. Don't steal them :>   !!

I’ll divide it into   “ chapters ”   , so that it’s easier to find the topics.

INDEX 1. Ness’ Family   ( parents, sibling, pet ) 2. Ness’ Family   ( mother’s side ) 3. Ness’ Family   ( father’s side ) 4. Ness’ Family   ( others ) 5. Significant Other   ( Lucas ) 6. Ness   ( a li’l bit about my portrayal of him )

1. NESS’ FAMILY   ( parents, sibling, pet )

To start from the roots, RPing with a Ninten or Ana muse has always been a struggle for me because I HC them to be his parents   ( I assume that everyone has figured it out now because I leave hints and I make it SO obvious )   . It’s so obvious because you would often read in my threads that his mother is Christian or that his father is also a baseball enthusiast but because of his asthma he had to adjust to a different profession. The reason why I don’t straight-up say it is because I know that not many people share this HC and I know that it also makes them uncomfortable - and also because I don’t want my askbox full of asks like   “ but it’s impossible for Ninten and Ana to have a kid in 199X ”   -- so I leave hints rather than saying the actual thing.

!!   Of course, this doesn’t mean that I won’t interact with any Ninten or Ana muses, but understand that it’ll be a bit hard for me since, from my point of view, it’ll be Ness seeing their parents in their childhood   !!

NESS’ FATHER :   It’s canon that Ness’ father works at a hamburger industry as manager   ( his chain of restaurants is called Ness’ Burger - so imagine the embarassment from Ness in seeing these fast-foods with his name on it as he walks down the streets with his friends   and / or   significant other . uugh )   ; I also HC that, because of the job keeping him busy, he returns home during week-ends and holidays. - Also, on an important side-note, he paid back the loan to the Minches!! But they would still hold a grudge on him and on Ness’ family because it took him a while to pay it back  ( my HC )   . - Ness’ father is ... a dork, really. Ness has probably inherited his playful side from him. He’d sit at dinner and crack jokes out of the blue and because they’re so sudden it’s always entertaining.

NESS’ MOTHER :   she likes drama, it’s canon. And I HC that Ness took it from her, since you’ll sometimes see him watch soap-operas either alone or with her, or even discuss about characters and their role with his mother. He doesn’t really like to show that he has a certain fondness for drama, so he tends not to say anything about it or keep it hidden. - Mama is a skilled cook and everyday feels like Thanksgiving dinner. Every meal she makes is made with love   ( she sometimes leaves little edible decorations on each plate, or when making bentos she makes sure to put only the food Ness likes, included apple slices shaped like bunnies! )   and will always spoil her children with their favourite food and treats. - Mama is a sweetheart. You’d see her kiss her children’s forehead goodnight everyday even if they’re older, at some point. It doesn’t matter, she’ll forever show them unconditional love regardless   ( points at 18 years old Ness having to bend his torso a little forward so that his mother can kiss his forehead bc hE TOWERS OVER EVERY FAMILY MEMBER WHHH--- )

!!   Both of his parents know and can use PSI   ( Ness has inherited it from them )   , but they never use it in public   and / or   in front of their   children / family .   !!

!!   They haven’t told their kids about their own adventure or about   Giygas / Giegue   but they will when Ness is older   ( when he’s approximately 16-17 )   , because it’s a topic that must be said quietly and with full comprehension. The reason why they haven’t said it yet is because ... they wanted to live like a normal happy family   ( and because they seriously thought that it really was over, although it ended with   Giygas / Giegue   leaving on his ship )   .   !!

NESS’ SISTER :   The game doesn’t tell you how old Tracy is but it makes it clear that she’s younger than Ness, so I HC her to be at least four years younger than him.   The game canonically has her work at a delivery agency, so that she can help Ness   store / deliver   his items and she quits the job only after Ness defeats Giygas. - I HC that she wasn’t born with PSI but with an impressive intelligence for someone her age. She’s a child, of course, but she already seems to know how the world spins. - I HC that, when she’s more or less Ness’ age   ( 13 yo )   , she starts delevoping a soft crush towards Picky Minch, their neighbor, and because of it Ness grows incredibly jealous towards her and begins to sound bratty when Picky is around or when he’s mentioned in a conversation.   It’s something that any sibling does, no? Squinting when your sister’s crush is home, mmm... - Ness combs and braids her hair before she leaves for school.

!!   Because of Tracy unable of using PSI - and also because of a matter of good manners - the family has set some sort of   ‘ rule ’   in which no one will read each other’s mind nor use PSI between family members.   This rule is for now for Ness only since both him and his sister don’t know that their parents can use PSI   !!

NESS’ PET :   Okay, so ... for King I have several HCs bc the game tells you literally nothing about him   ( only that he’s lazy and unreliable )   . I HC that King is a Mastiff Tibetan, three years older than Ness. Yes, I HC him to be a very big doggo, yes. - Ness’ parents have adopted him when he was only three weeks old and a few months after Ninten’s dog, Mick, passed away. The puppy was nameless for two days   ( he had silly nicknames like Mick II or Mick-on-all-fours since Ninten’s dog was capable of standing on two legs for a long time )   , until Ana playfully placed a crown made with carton box on the puppy’s head and called him King. - The puppy grows strong and big and he becomes a well adored family member ; he gets to be part of many events happening in the family’s life : he meets Ness for the first time folded in a blanket and sleeping in a cradle. During the child’s growth, King was always there, making sure that the kid would avoid getting in trouble when Ana or Ninten were looking away ; he became a sort of nanny, yes - even making sure that he slept enough. - Because Ness could only mutter words   and / or   broken sentences in his early years, saying King was a little hard for him ; he used to call him Pooch and this nickname kinda stayed as he grew up. - King begins to speak with the family almost right away when he’s adopted   ( only people with telepathy can, of course, hear him )   ; so, I kinda like to think that King has also helped Ness to speak when he was a toddler. //   it startded as a joke but then became canon in the blog : King will be part of the family’s events for a pretty long time even though he’s now 16 years old ; he’s developed a certain fondness towards the family and he will stay alive as long as his body will let him. And let me tell you ... he’s going to stay for a very long time, still.   //

2. NESS’ FAMILY   ( his mother’s side )

I don’t have many HCs for Ness’ grandparents from his mother side, individually speaking. I’m still working on it. But they get to visit the family every now and then, especially during the holidays.

NESS’ GRANDMOTHER :   she lives with her husband in a snowy town away from Ness’ homeland. 

NESS’ GRANDFATHER :   he’s a priest living with his wife in a snowy town away from Ness’ homeland.

3. NESS’ FAMILY   ( his father’s side )

NESS’ GRANDMOTHER :   Carol’s character is very similar to Ness’ mother ingame. She also likes to cook and because of it I like to think that she lends a helping hand in the kitchen when the family is reunited for the holidays. - When she visits she always brings gifts for the family, plus a few homemade delicacies.

NESS’ GRANDFATHER :   he works full-time in a business agency and lives with his wife Carol in Podunk, a town away from Ness’ homeland. At first glance he looks secretive but he’s in truth a dork, really ; Ninten has probably inherited his playful side from him, but unlike him his playfulness is controlled and limited.

!!   Both his grandparents can’t use PSI.   !!

NESS’ AUNTS :   Aunt Mimmie and Aunt Minnie are Ninten’s twin sisters. They’re not married   ( yet )   and they’re currently both single   ( Ness thinks it’s their choice but who knows )   ; Ness doesn’t really get to see them often but only during Christmas or Thanksgiving, New Years as well. - They travel a lot, sometimes on their own and sometimes they travel together. - They’re both professional photographers with their own site where to share their shots. Writing books and novels is considered a hobby for them, even if their publications are famous all around the world. - They share an apartment together but it’s almost always empty because they’re always outside or traveling. - When the family wants to book a vacation somewhere away from Onett, Ness’ aunts are both willing to book tickets for them and plan their vacation   ( Ana doesn’t say anything, they just do it )   . - They keep in touch with their brother almost everyday. They’re probably the ones who stay the most in contact with the family, tbh ...

4. NESS’ FAMILY   ( others )

This section is about Ninten’s and Ana’s friends who are not related to them in any way but because they’re their close friends, they’re included in the family. Ness grew up calling them   uncle / aunt   .

TEDDY   ( uncle )   :   When Ness was only a kid, he would admire Teddy those rare times he would visit and even define him the   ‘ cool uncle ’   ;  - He owns a couple of CDs made by Teddy, which he listens to every now and then ; the genre is enjoyable and his songs have a good rhythm. The lyrics are strong and powerful : some songs tell a bit about himself, while others  ... he can’t tell ; - Every time Teddy releases a new CD, a copy is sent to Ness two days before its actual release date. - Teddy is also the owner of his family’s repair shop of which he was named after, but because of his singer career he hired someone else to run the store.

LLOYD   ( uncle )   :   Ness doesn’t know that much about him ; his parents say that he used to visit more frequently when he was a baby, but he got busier and busier with his studies and experiments that nowadays it’s very rare to see him in person.  - Lloyd grows to be a successful scientist. He, every now and then, writes books about his theories and experiments, and sometimes he can be seen on TV on one of those scientific channels, guest of an interview or merely stating facts and thesis about a specific argument   ( we could say that that is the only time Ness gets to see him )   . // no, I don’t HC that Lloyd is Dr. Andonuts merely because Dr. Andonuts is way older than how Lloyd should be in Earthbound, despite the both of them hiding in trashcans, wearing round glasses or having   white / gray   hair. //

PIPPI   ( aunt )   :   okay, comin’ up with something for Pippi was a bit of a struggle, but I like to think that she’s become a professional painter ; she’s energetic, creative and she likes to give life to a thought through colours on a canvas. - She likes to visit   quiet / abandoned   places to find inspiration, to then paint her own versions of these places visited. Her paintings are famous for the feelings they convey and for the breathtaking and realistic colours she uses. - she would also paint portraits ; she has a few of Ness and his family and it progressively expands as she meets new people   ( there is also a portrait of Lucas but it’s still a work in progress )   . - when she visits   ( some days when she’s free or during the holidays )   , it’s always a good occasion to take a few pictures to paint later. - she he loves when Ness shows her pictures of Tazmily. In fact, she has painted various landscapes of the village already, though she would like to visit it herself one day. - Farms and quiet villages are often protagonists of her paintings. - she uses brushes, fingers, palms and elbows to draw. Yes, she has her own ways, go figure ... 

5. NESS’ SIGNIFICANT OTHER

Lucas   ( it’s canon in this blog )   :   they met in the Smash tournaments and have clicked almost immediately thanks to their similarity and thanks to the fact that they both share PSI abilities.   Outside of the Smash tournaments, they’re in a long-distance relationship   ( Lucas’ timezone is six hours behind Ness’ )   ; - Ness pays him a visit every weekend by teleporting to his village -- only during the weekend because Ness has school during the other days and can’t find free time between his homeworks. - When he gets to Tazmily, however, he must rest for at least two hours or so   ( bc, hey, it’s like you’re taking a 15+ hours flight :0 let him rest ) .  //   One thing I want to point out is that Ness is aged up to 16 years old to make it easy for me to RP very soft romance ; very soft romance as in ... they hold hands, hugs and barely kiss cheeks :’)   //

This Lucas’ interpretation is pk-lovely’s ♥

6. NESS

Most of his description is a HC of mine, I'm stating when things are canon in-game anyway.

His full name is Ness Yusha Omoto   ( Yusha is his middle name for   ' brave '   given by his father when he was born )   . If we consider his mother's last name, his full name would be Ness Yusha Hayes Omoto, but we'll just go with the first one. - It’s canon that he was born with PSI. His parents found out when the baby bottle started to move on its own. He taught himself most of his PSI by starting with recovery ones when he fell of a bike and scraped his knees.  Later on as he grew up, he taught himself more useful PSI and begun to develop a special one based on his favourite thing. 

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE :   Ness weighs 95lb   ( 43kg )   and he's 5ft tall   ( 150cm )   ( but he grows up to 6′2′’, watch him )   . He has short, messy and greasy black hair and he wears a baseball cap to mostly hide this messy mane but to also show his passion towards baseball, his favourite sport. His eyes are black   ( not as black as his hair but they're close to a dark grey colour )   and when he uses his psychic powers they turn purple-ish, so you can tell when he's using PSI or not. His skin is naturally tanned, with very light freckles across his face, at the back of his neck and under his elbows. - he’s ambidextrous.

LANGUAGE(S) KNOWN :   He speaks English and Japanese   ( thanks to his father who has Japanese origins )   , and also ASL language but not very fluently. He'd rather read your mind, tbh ... 

CLOTHING PREFERENCE(S) :   He wears striped shirts, baseball tees and hoodies ; jorts, capri jeans, sweats and sneakers. His preference in clothing tends to vary but he likes to wear comfortable clothes regardless if they look ugly or don't match well with the others. - He's uncomfortable in long-sleeved garments, so you will always see him wear short-sleeved shirts even during Winter   ( but only indoors ; if he falls sick, he can heal himself, so ... )   . He hates Winter >:C - Oh, and let’s not forget backpacks! 

PROFESSION :   Student. - He's the Captain of his school's baseball team,   " The Starmen "   ( which will then become his own team when he grows up )   . It doesn't have an actual mascot because of Ness' discomfort in people wearing large mascot suits. - The uniform has several stars across the sleeves, the name of the player is written on the back, while on the front is written   " Onett "   together with the initials   " SM "   ; the Captain's uniform has two stars as background for the initials and they're light-blue. - The team has its own baseball cap but Ness still prefers to wear his own.

FOOD PREFERENCE(S) :   Ness is a foodie! He LOVES to eat and his stomach is often compared to a bottomless well! There is not a food he doesn't like and thanks to his high and active metabolism he rarely gains weight despite eating so much. - However, he suffers from indigestion only when he eats too much sugar on a daily basis : the amount he can get is awfully limited, but it doesn't mean that he doesn't like sweets because to be fair they're his weakness. But because of his indigestion, he's very careful with them and grows a little paranoid when eating a tart or any other sweet treat. - Now, though, perhaps because of the lack of sugar in his system, the boy has grown very fond of salty snacks since they don't cause his stomach to twist in agony ; so, expect this kid to eat a lot of salt.

FAVOURITE FOOD :   Salisbury Steak   ( canon ). It's basically made from blending ground beef with other ingredients, topped then with bitter-sweet and slightly spicy sauce. His mother serves it with gravy and mashed potatoes as side-dish. But he likes anything that contain meat, tbh ... - He also likes Sukiyaki and Mori Soba   ( canon in game )   and Yakisoba   ( my HC )   . - Since we're on the topic, it's canon that Ness likes dog food as well   ( it's in the japanese version, replaced by salmon in the english version )   ; so I kinda HC that as a kid he ate a can of dog food out of curiosity and kinda liked it ...  uh ... 

MUSIC PREFERENCE(S) :   His genre varies and he's always open to new hits. He likes rock, hip-hop, lo-fi beats and instrumental tunes. But a huge favourites are Venus' songs. We could also say that Ness has a sort of celebrity crush on Venus but he doesn't say it openly because he'd feel awkward. However, you can hear him hum her songs every now and them and find a collection of all of her albums on his shelves plus a few autographs. She's his favourite singer and it will never change, not even when he grows up. - He also likes The Runaway Five's songs and DCMC   ( thanks to his boyfriend who has introduced them to him )   . - Ness can also play guitar. He has an acustic guitar in his room that he plays every now and then ; he's been playing it since he was five years old and can play any song by just listening to it.

FAVOURITE COLOUR :   Ness likes the colour pink for reasons he won't tell   ( simply because he doesn't know either, he just likes it more than any other colours tbh, although it now reminds him of his boyfriend's cheeks when he blushes, hhh )   .

FAVOURITE ANIMAL :   You would think that his favourite animal is dogs, right? Wrong! It's bunnies, especially dwarf rabbits with very tiny ears. The boy would scream for a bunny but because of their sensibility they might not keep up with his energy, so it's really not recommended to get him a bunny for the sake of the poor thing :c But he will sit at a pet shop for hours just to look at the bunnies, hm.

DOMINANT TRAIT :   his courage, of course.  - Keep in mind that now because he’s brave he’s not afraid of anything. Wrong. He has fears as well just like everyone but he doesn’t share them openly   ( and he considers them more states of discomfort rather than actual fears )   .

NEGATIVE TRAIT(S) :   As already mentioned, Ness is a jealous person when it comes to his loved ones because he feels the urge of protecting them and keeping them away from what might hurt them in his opinion. So, to state an example, when his sister's crush is around, Ness will keep an eye open on his behaviour and on the way he talks to his sister and interfere with annoying jokes or facts that might relate to Picky when he thinks that he's walking out of the line. But it always ends with Tracy either holding a grudge on Ness or punching his shoulder   ( a light punch, just to make it stop )   . Another example is Ness crinkling his nose   ( please keep this trait in mind for it tells a lot of how Ness is feeling in a certain moment )   when Lucas talks fondly about another person he doesn't know, and he starts saying things like   "uh", "oh yeah?", "uh-hu", "pssh", "tch" every now and then as he speaks to kinda control his jealousy.   - It starts low but if it grows incontrollably, he then becomes paranoid ; you can clearly tell when it happens by reading his movements : if he's sitting down, his legs shake, or if he's standing up he struggles to find a comfortable pose. he hides his mouth behind his palm, he rubs the back of his head, he begins scanning the area around him, he sighs loudly and sometimes even whines. In worse cases he starts walking around in the room or even bite his nails. - He calms down on his own without the other person to do anything for him, but it might take a couple of hours if not less. He will feel better and even apologize to you for his behavior afterwards. Note it : jealous and overprotective.   :thumbs_up: - he’s also greedy   ( only when it comes to sharing his food )   , clumsy and possessive   ( light stage of possession, he doesn’t go all yandere on his enemies, please ... :C but I do have an AU with Yandere!Ness, hurhur but not on Tumblr, tho ) - On a side note, I’d like to add that Ness sleeps a lot. Really, you’d be surprised with how much he sleeps. He’s energetic, don’t get me wrong, but he’s also very lazy - a weird combination, I know, but it be like that. He can sleep from 6 hours to 18 if he really wants to ; he rarely changes position in his sleep and doesn’t snore. He’s also a heavy sleeper, so if you ever want to wake him up, pinch his shoulder or something like that because he absolutely won’t wake up with words, but here’s where it gets complicated : he reacts in his sleep.   ( An example : if you ask him a question, he will just mutter “uh-hu” despite still sleeping, but won’t remember having said that once awake )

POSITIVE TRAIT(S) :   aside of his negative traits, Ness is in truth a loving and considerate person. When he loves he loves with all his heart and let’s just say that another person’s contact and warmth is always necessary, almost vital, for him. He’s extrovert, so being in contact with the outside world is fundamental. - he’s adventurous, affectionate, assertive, friendly, fun-loving and curious. - Now, his curiosity is where most of his reckless decisions are made. He’d venture without hesitation in a dark cave because led by his own curiosity ; he’d run outside in the middle of the night to go look at a meteorite that just fell on the hilltop next to his house even if his parents say no ; he would trust his neighbour Lier X Agerate down his basement to look at a statue he dug right under his house ...   Just to make it clear, the boy is very curious and if he ever asks inappropriate questions is because his curiosity led him to do so. - He’s also generous, hard-working   ( trait inherited by his mother | canon )   , optimistic, self-assured and determined. - He likes to spoil his loved ones with gifts ; so, expect this boy to buy oyu stuff every now and then. If you ever see something you like, Ness will buy it to you without hesitation   ( he’s rich :C )   .  - loyal, warm-hearted, patient   ( except for the line at fast-foods, he grows really impatient then )   , and playful   ( inherited by his father | he, much to everyone’s misfortune, very often cracks up jokes even in the most inappropriate moments, especially while shopping : he’d grab food and make jokes out of it.   An example :   Near to the fridge counter section, the raven, smiling with anticipation at the joke forming in his mind, grabs a random portion of meat, which happens to be minced meat but it doesn’t matter, and shows it to his boyfriend next to him.   “Nice to meat you!”   )

BAD HABIT(S) :   swearing   ( only when furious )   , muttering under his breath   ( jealous, paranoid, doubtful )   , oversleeping, snacking between meals, leg jiggling   ( paranoid, nervous )   , gesturing while talking   ( he’s an open book, he expresses himself a lot through non-verbal communication )   , chewing lips   ( nervous, paranoid )   , procrastinating   ( furious )   , rubbing hands through hair   ( nervous, paranoid )   , drinking from the bottle, messy, competitive.

[oldjocklowden]

Multiples of 3

3: A faceclaim you can’t stand anymore

I honestly can’t think of any. I just don’t like when people aren’t true to the person they’re supposed to be portraying. Obviously, our own stories divert from their real life, but if you get the essence of a person all wrong, it’s just a struggle trying to play against a faceclaim.

6: A character you have played and would love to play again

Literally every person I’ve played??? A current list, off the top of my head:

Alex Turner

Benedict Cumberbatch

Chris Martin

Dan Stevens

David Tennant

Dougie Poynter

Eddie Redmayne

Jeremy Irvine

Timothée Chalamet (I literally just dropped him again, but here we are)

Tom Holland

9: A 1x1 plot you want to do

Bro, I have no idea. I’m terrible at coming up with plots, especially 1x1, because I never do them.

12: Someone you love roleplaying with (or someones)

Shoutout to Minnie because since I picked up Jack here, I’ve done over 800 replies to her Saoirse, and that ain’t bad, considering for most of that, I’ve had at least 2 other people I’ve been playing, and been keeping up with all the other threads on him, too. Not to mention when we had our Tomily, back in the day. And all our friendships with our other characters, too. Not to mention Jaoirse way back when I first played Jack a year ago. We’ve just had a whole lot of fun writing with each other, and we have a whole lot of fun ooc, chatting about life and Jack being perfect, and just a bunch of great stuff. She’s a good ‘un. She can stay. @irishxseahorse

15: Gifs: Something you need or can you live without it

I CAN’T LIIIIIIIIIIIIIVE, IF LIVING IS WITHOUT YOUUUUU

18: Pet Peeve when it comes to roleplaying

Basically the same as my first answer. When people pick up a person for their appearance, and do nothing to attempt to capture their personality and their essence as a human being. If you just want to play somebody because of their face, don’t be in an RP where you’re playing the actual person??

[shewhowantsmouseears]

TvTropes in My Disney Fanfics

Sometimes when I’m bored I like to look up tv tropes and see which ones fit my (currently finished) fanfics. I kept them in a doc, and decided to share them today. It covers The Scarlet, Segreto, As Dawn Broke, The Nutcracker Prince, The Last Straw, and Love Like Lava.

If you haven’t read my stuff and are curious what they’re about, think of this as a promoted blurb.

The Scarlet

An AU Disney fanfic starring Mickey Mouse and the gang in an extremely loose retelling of The Scarlet Pimpernel. Written by the author behind Pirates Versus Privates, this is the second full-length Disney story she's written. Unlike PVP, this one focuses mainly on the animal characters you'd find in Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck cartoons and stories, as do the rest of her works.

In Steampunk France, Mickey is a poor orphan paperboy by day, with a gigantic crush on his childhood friend Duchess Minerva. By night, he's The Scarlet, an amazing swordsman who vows to help the helpless and prevent a “Third Bloody Sunday.” Daisy and her band of cohorts are planning a revolution to get revenge on the rich. Duke Fantome and his band of baddies are seeking to create a new rule over France. These and other threads intertwine, resulting in a climatic showdown between red and black.

Tropes:

Abhorrent Admirer: Mortimer towards Minnie. He can't, or won't, get the hint that Minnie wants absolutely nothing to do with him. It takes a scream and a slam of the door to the face for him to finally get it.

Accidental Kiss: Played with. Minnie offers to kiss The Scarlet for saving her, and while he's tempted, he can't go through with it. He intends to tell her so – until a child's ball smacks him in the back of his head, causing his mouth to mash with Minnie's. She thinks he was just being nervous with the kiss, and thus reciprocates.

And Now You Must Marry Me: Gladstone threatens Daisy into marriage. Played with, in that he honestly doesn't want to marry her either, but Fantome is forcing his hand.

Aren't You Going To Ravish Me?: Katarina, believing her good looks and the Scarlet's ladykiller persona combined will make him helpless before her. Instead, her seduction attempt is met with flat disappointment and a desperate escape. She's stunned, and then pissed.

Aristocrats Are Evil: Daisy believes this, and given some of their attitudes it's not hard to see why. But she eventually learns that they're just people, who can be bad, good, or somewhere in-between.

Asshole Victim: Gladstone, Mortimer.

As You Know: Ludwig explaining to Gyro their operations so the audience knows what they're doing. Lampshaded immediately by Gyro who asks why Ludwig is explaining what they already know. Ludwig replies he's been called Mr. Exposition.

Bad Boss: Fantome is more than willing to threaten, injure, and kill those working for him to get what he wants.

Battle Amongst The Flames: The Scarlet and Fantome's last duel takes place in a burning building.

Becoming The Mask: Daisy was, initially, only pretending to be Donald's friend so she could find a way to use his uncle for the sake of the revolution. But when she sees how kind he is and how deeply he loves his family, she not only becomes his real friend, she falls for him.

The Big Damn Kiss: When Minnie discovers that Mickey and the Scarlet are one and the same, [spoiler] he gets the kiss of a lifetime. Plus a whole lot extra.[spoiler]

Cannot Spit It Out: Mickey just can't tell Minnie he loves her...The Scarlet has an easier time.

Cats Are Mean: Pete and Katarina, the main cats in the story, are on the bad guys side.

Childhood Friend Romance: Mickey and Minnie.

Clark Kenting: Even though Mickey has a device that changes his voice, the “disguise” he wears is just a mask around his eyes. Lampshaded by Donald when he learns who the Scarlet is, as he's stunned that he never made the obvious connection.

Damsel In Distress: Minnie is this several times.

Dance Of Romance: Mickey, as the Scarlet, shares a ballroom dance with Minnie, flirting with her all the while.

Dirty Cop: Pete, the chief of police, and his subordinate Horace.

Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Horace loves Clarabelle, and the two manage to make a Heel Face Turn. Pete and Katarina, [spoiler]being related,[spoiler] also have this but it's put to the test when Fantome orders Pete to kill her after her failure.

Everyone Can See it: Amusingly, [spoiler] the Queen says this was the case with Mickey and Minnie's feelings even when they were kids.[spoiler]

Evil Genius: Fou is revealed to have been one. [spoiler] and still is.[spoiler]

Flashback: Minnie has a lengthy one, about the day she first met Mickey.

Freudian Slip: Minnie, struggling to distract Mickey, insists she has a sleep over with him. But she's so flustered it comes out as “I demand you sleep with me!” Subverted in a more innocent fashion when Donald pushes Scrooge back to be with his “fiends.” “You mean friends?” “I know what I said.”

Gibberish Of Love: Mickey is reduced to this whenever he tries to tell Minnie about his feelings. As the Scarlet, he can speak freely of how much she means to him.

Go Seduce My Archnemisis: Fantome seems to be fond of this trope. He sends Mortimer after Minnie, Gladstone after Daisy, and [spoiler] Katarina after The Scarlet.[spoiler] He's also amazingly bad at it, since none of the targets desire who's after them at all.

Green-Eyed Monster: Mickey nearly slips up about his alter ego when Mortimer is involved, even though Minnie makes it obviously clear she can't stand the snob. Even when he's on the job as the Scarlet, Mickey makes it clear how much he loathes Mortimer.

Happily Married : [spoiler] After the timeskip, Mickey and Minnie are this, as are Donald and Daisy.[spoiler]

Heel Face Turn: Clarabelle and Horace. Implied to be this with Pete and Katarina.

Honey Trap: Subverted. [spoiler] Katarina tries this on The Scarlet. It only works at the beginning because he believes the invitation was from Minnie. The second he sees who it really is, he's heading for the exit.[spoiler]

I Don't Want To Ruin Our Friendship: Ultimately what is preventing Mickey and Minnie from confessing their feelings.

Imagine Spot: Mickey is suggested to have one when he thinks the seductive invitation he received is from Minnie. Minnie is also implied to have one concerning her feelings for Mickey and the Scarlet, and for half a second considers something with the number three – and then IMMEDIATELY reprimands herself and gets off that train of thought.

Informed Attractiveness: Katarina is insulted by the Scarlet's rejection because supposedly no one has ever turned her down and she's the most beautiful woman in all of France. No evidence of either of this was stated or shown before – although it could just be part of her massive ego.

Inter-Class Romance: One of the sources of conflict between Mickey and Minnie's relationship, since it would be highly improper. Also occurs between Donald with Daisy, and Max with Roxanne.

I Was Told There Would Be Cake: When Mortimer, Horace, and Clarabelle are tasked with killing Duke Roger Rabbit, they find him eating cake with the Scarlet.

Kissed Keepsake: Mickey kisses the scarf Minnie gave him.

Light Is Not Good: Fantome is usually dressed in all white, as opposed to the Scarlet's dark colors. Fantome is absolutely the bad guy.

Love Epiphany: When Goldie, Brigetta, and Magica try to convince Daisy she could love Gladstone, their “suggestions” make her realize she's actually in love with Donald.

Loves My Alter Ego: Mickey assumes Minnie is in love with The Scarlet, as does Fantome. [spoiler] They're wrong. She truly loves Mickey.[spoiler]

Love Triangle: Mickey thinks it's this with his alter ago and Minnie. Gets worse with Mortimer going after Minnie and Daisy falling for the Scarlet.

Morally Bankrupt Banker: Slyvester Shyster.

Nice Hat: The Scarlet's got a pretty cool one.

Not Distracted By The Sexy: Katarina's seduction towards The Scarlet doesn't work. At all. He looks at her for maybe a second before leaving.

Not Good With Rejection: Mortimer and Gladstone handle theirs pretty badly, complete with French swears.

Paper-Thin Disguise: As mentioned in Clark Kenting, Mickey's “disguise” is really just a mask around his eyes.

Parental Abandonment: Given that Mickey is an orphan, you get this. Minnie's parents are said to constantly be traveling all over the world and are never home, treating their daughter more as a toy or a trophy than a blood relative.

Parental Substitute: Ludwig and Gyro are this towards Mickey.

Parents As People: Goofy is doing his best with Max, but sometimes his best just isn't good enough.

Protagonist Title: Mickey as The Scarlet.

Politically Incorrect Villain: You could blame the times, but the male villains can be pretty sexist. Fantome is heavily classist.

Post-Kiss Catatonia: After having a pretty long kiss with Minnie, Mickey makes it about three steps before falling face-first in a happy stupor.

Prince Charmless: Technically Dukes, but they are related to royalty – Fantome, Mortimer, and Gladstone (and eventually Fou) are shown to be royal pains.

Purple Is Powerful: Minnie's main color scheme is purple, and by the timeskip, [spoiler] she's a butt-kicking heroine named The Violet.[spoiler]

Quirky Miniboss Squad: Pete, Shyster, Horace and Clarabelle work for Fantome. Gladstone, Mortimer, [spoiler] Katarina and Fou [spoiler] join in as well.

Rapunzel Hair: Minnie's long locks go almost all the way down to her feet.

Rousing Speech: The Scarlet tends to give these whenever he has a big audience.

Sadistic Choice: Daisy can either marry Gladstone, dooming her to a life of misery and effectively killing the revolution since all of its members will have lost faith in her, or he can report all the members of the revolution to the police, and since they'll be seen as traitors to the crown, they'll most likely be executed.

Seduction-Proof Marriage: Even though he's not married to Minnie [spoiler]yet[spoiler], Mickey feels absolutely nothing for any other woman, even when they constantly throw themselves at his Scarlet alter ego.  

Screw This, I'm Outta Here!: When Fantome completely loses it upon the revelation his plans were stopped by a mere paperboy, the remaining villains decide to cut their losses and make a break for it.

Shipper With An Agenda: Subtle, but in one scene Minnie seems to support and encourage Donald and Daisy's getting together. [spoiler] Most likely because if a rich boy and a poor girl can be together, maybe a rich girl and a poor boy can too.[spoiler]

Show Some Leg: Katarina's attempt to seduce The Scarlet. It doesn't work.

Small Name, Big Ego: Mortimer. He thinks he's the most popular and well-known man alive. Nobody really knows who he is, nor cares, and Fantome himself needs a minute to remember about him upon his introduction.

Speak Now Or Forever Hold Your Peace: Donald and The Scarlet interrupt the wedding via dropping down on a GIGANTIC church bell.

Shout Out: To Darkwing Duck in one quip.

Time Skip: The last scene of the last chapter takes place one year later.

Unwanted Harem: Scrooge has this with Goldie, Magica, and Brigetta.

Would Hit A Girl: The Scarlet isn't afraid to treat Clarabelle as roughly as he does his other enemies.

Villainous Breakdown: Fantome has this three times over, due to finding out the Scarlet's identity, [spoiler] being told that his master plan would mean no one would serve him, and all of France coming to Mickey's defense.[spoiler]

Would Hurt A Child: Fantome [spoiler] is revealed to have run down a child from the poorer part of town, via carriage, just to ignite a war between the poor and rich.[spoiler]

As Dawn Broke

An AU Disney fanfic starring Mickey Mouse and the gang. Written by the author behind Pirates Versus Privates, this is the fourth full-length Disney story she's written. The Sun Kingdom and the Moon Kingdom have only recently ended their centuries-long war, but communication between the two is forbidden. This doesn't stop Princess Minnie of the Moon Kingdom from inviting Prince Mickey of the Sun Kingdom to her birthday party. From then on, the two kingdoms will never be the same – love potions, floods, grandbabies, many different stories come together, but which one can stop the genocidal madness of a man obsessed with making history?

Tropes:

Accidentally Broke The MacGuffin: Where has the Sun Talisman been all this time? It turns that Mickey, as a child, thought it was a giant cookie and ate it.

The Alcoholic: Panchito.

All Amazons Want Hercules: Implied to be the reason Peg is attracted to Pete.

All Part Of The Show: Panchito convinces the Sun Kingdom that the near-collapse of the giant straw doll at the New Year's Festival was part of the show.

Amulet of Concentrated Awesome: The Moon and Sun Talismans.

And I Must Scream: It's shown that while the Queen [spoiler] was frozen solid, she still had her mind and could hear what was going on around her – like how much her daughter thinks her mother hates her.[spoiler]

And Now You Must Marry Me: Mortimer threatens Minnie – either she marries him or he'll drown the Sun Kingdom. [spoiler] He's planning to do it anyway.[spoiler]

Arranged Marriage: Minnie is to marry Mortimer, if he passes all the requirements. It's stated that this is a Moon Royalty tradition, as Queen Lune was also arranged to marry Minnie's father.

Badly Battered Babysitter: Horace suffers this thanks to Mickey.

Becoming The Mask: Millie flirts with Goofy to get his money, but falls for him for real.

Big Beautiful Woman: Clara Cluck.

Big Brother Instinct: Donald begins to feel this way towards his student, Minnie. Possibly also Goofy towards Mickey.

Big Entrance: Mickey brings an entire singing, dancing entourage as he heads into the Moon Kingdom for Minnie's birthday. It's pretty much a direct homage to Prince Ali from Aladdin.

Body Horror: Some of it shows up after Queen Lune is freed from her icy prison. [spoiler] It's stated she lost several fingers.[spoiler]

Break His Heart To Save Him: Minnie does this to Mickey, trying to keep him out of the Moon Kingdom and safe from Mortimer's plans.

The Cameo: Since he doesn't show up again and isn't truly plot relevant, Fethry's appearance can be seen as this.

The Casanova: Panchito is implied to be this, as he flirts with all the women in his bar, and Mickey thinks he's an expert on romance. But it's ultimately shown that it's just his way of being friendly, and he's truly in love with Clara Cluck.

Crash-Into Hello: Horace and Clarabelle meet when he accidentally smacks her in the face with a door.

Crouching Moron Hidden Badass: Goofy. When Millie is in danger, he proves he didn't get his bodyguard position just because of his father.

Dance Of Romance: Minnie teaches Mickey how to waltz, and they grow closer as they dance.

Deus Ex Machina: A surprising literal version takes place because of the Talismans.

Did You Actually Believe...? : Mortimer tells Pete he wouldn't hurt any Moons to get his plan to work. When Pete finds out Mortimer doesn't care who gets hurt, Sun or Moon, Mortimer mocks him for actually thinking he would tell the truth.

Dramatic Irony: On the day of Minnie's birthday, the Queen struggles to give Minnie a compliment and call her a lady. Minnie sadly thinks it's because she's so incompetent that the Queen can't imagine her as a proper lady. The Queen is actually lamenting that her baby girl is all grown up and one day will no longer need her. Similar occurrences happen as a result of the Queen's stiff upper lip coming across as disappointment.

Dramatic Necklace Removal: Played with - Minnie does this to herself, in order to convince Mickey she no longer wants to be with him.

Drowning My Sorrows: It turns out Panchito's constant drinking is this, as he's haunted by memories of the war.

The Door Slams You: Donald, as a result of Mickey's Big Entrance.

Dude, Where's My Respect?: Pete suffers this, and is a cause behind a lot of his more villainous actions. The problem is that he is respected, it's just that no one bothers to tell him.

Evil Minions: The Beagles are this for Mortimer.

Evil Plan: Mortimer's ultimate plan is to [spoiler] use the Moon Talisman to control the Moon Kingdom's water and flood the Sun Kingdom, effectively drowning all the Sun people.[spoiler]

Expository Hairstyle Change: In the Moon Kingdom, long hair on women is seen as a beautiful trait, even if it makes it impossible to manage and difficult to get around, like in Minnie's case. [spoiler] After the time-skip, she cuts most of it off, symbolizing her newfound independence and the courage to break tradition.[spoiler]

Face Heel Turn: Pete starts working for Mortimer when he sees the opportunity to be “useful” again. He turns back just in time.

Fantastic Racism: Suns and Moons toward each other. Suns see Moons as snobs, Moons see Suns as savages, etc.

Freudian Excuse: Mortimer claims to have this, having grown up in a family of soldiers that constantly bragged about their accomplishments in the war – accomplishments that he could never have, since the war was over by the time he was old enough to participate. He wanted to have his own accomplishment, and what greater accomplishment could he have then by killing all the Suns?

Give Away The Bride: In lieu of her father, Scrooge is the one to walk Minnie down the aisle.

Gold Digger: Millie, initially.

Happily Married: Horace says that the King and Queen of the Sun were very much this. Queen Lune says this was also the case when her husband was alive. [spoiler] It's implied that Goofy and Millie will be the same, as well as, inevitably, Mickey and Minnie.[spoiler]

He Knows Too Much: When Donald and Daisy overheard that Mortimer plans to drown the Sun Kingdom, Mortimer sends his goons after them.

I Lied : Mortimer directly says this to [spoiler] Pete when she says he promised he wouldn't hurt the Moons. He even seems to mock Pete for thinking he'd keep his deal. [spoiler]

I Want Grandkids: King Solaris keeps harping on how he wants grandbabies. [spoiler] Queen Lune also begins to insist once everything's patched up.[spoiler]

Lap Pillow: Mickey enjoys this once he and Minnie begin dating.

Love At First Sight: Mickey and Minnie toward each other, Clarabelle toward Horace. Possibly with Goofy towards Millie.

Love Epiphany: When Horace speaks of Mickey's mother, Mickey suddenly realizes that, like how his mother loved his father, he too loves Minnie.

Love Potion: Morgana says she can make these, although Minnie instantly realizes they're fake. Morgana admits it, and says the real “magic” is the confidence she instills in those she sells the potions to.

The Matchmaker: Daisy sees herself as this, determined to get Mickey and Minnie together.

Meaningful Name: King Solaris – Solaris is latin meaning “pertaining to the sun”. Queen Lune – a crescent shaped figure, like the moon.

Musicalis Interruptus: Amusingly in a written form. Mickey's Big Entrance consists of his servants and friends singing his praise... and they don't stop when they arrive. It comes to a complete halt when Queen Lune slams her staff and effectively tells them that this could be a reason for them going back to war!

My God, What Have I Done? : Queen Lune gets hit with this big-time when she realizes she's the reason behind Minnie's horrible self-confidence – and that Minnie is convinced Lune hates her.

Not Now, We're Too Busy Crying Over You: It takes Goofy a minute or two to realize that [spoiler] Millie survived the flood.[spoiler]

Overly Long Name: Panchito Romero Gonzales!

Perfectly Arranged Marriage: Queen Lune and her husband turned out to be this, as they loved each other deeply.

Please, I Will Do Anything!: Minnie says as much when Mortimer reveals his plan to drown the Sun Kingdom.

Private Tutor: Horace is Mickey's, and Donald is Minnie's.

Purple Is Powerful: It's stated that Queen Lune dresses in dark purples and blues, as does Minnie sometimes.

Rapunzel Hair: In the Moon Kingdom, long hair is seen as extremely beautiful, so most women have this. Daisy is an exception, and it's implied she cuts her hair to be different from the crowd.

Reality Ensues: Peace between two warring factions isn't as easy as “love conquers all!” It requires reparations, cooperation, and real communication. Also, risking your entire kingdom over a girl you like and keeping it a secret is going to royally piss off some folks. And a happy drunk is probably drinking that heavily because of something not-so-happy – like, say, the real effects of a war, PTSD.

Rebel Prince: Mickey to a T.

Rescue Romance: When Drake saves Morgana, and she sees he did so because he'd do it for anyone and not just because she's beautiful, she falls for him. In a much smaller scale, Daisy fell for Donald when the heel of her shoe broke and he happened to catch her before she would've fallen down a flight of stairs.

Running Gag: Grandbabies!

Sadistic Choice: Minnie can either marry Mortimer, dooming her to a life of misery for her and no doubt putting a terrible ruler on the throne so her kingdom will also suffer...Or Mortimer will drown an entire kingdom. [spoiler] He plans to do the latter anyway.[spoiler]

Secret Relationship: Mickey and Minnie, of course.

Shout Out : The Lion King and Aladdin both get musical-ish mentions. Mickey's entire first arrival into the Sun Kingdom is based on Prince Ali's parade.

Slapstick Knows No Gender: Clarabelle knows this, like a door to the face.

Speak Now Or Forever Hold Your Peace: At Minnie's wedding, Mickey and the entire Sun Army burst in.

Spit Take: Panchito's reaction when Mickey says he loves Minnie. Goofy is on the receiving end.

Star-Crossed Lovers: Again, Mickey and Minnie.

Taken for Granite: Mortimer freezes Queen Lune in ice.

Tempting Fate: Pete tells Minnie he needs more trouble from her and the Queen like he needs a kick in the head. Cue Peg.

Those Two Bad Guys: Bankjob and Bigtime Beagle.

Time Skip: The last scene of the last chapter takes place several months ahead.

Tiny Guy, Huge Girl: Clara to Panchito, Morgana to Drake.

Title Drop: Comes up as the last three words of the story.

Villain Has A Point: As awful as Mortimer is, he has a slight point in that since he was raised to hate the Suns and barely a day can go by without someone saying how much they despise the Suns, it's no real shock that he wants them all dead. A small case of Society Is To Blame, but it still doesn't excuse what he does.

War Is Hell: Played absolutely straight. Even though it ended many years ago, both sides are still struggling with the aftermath.

“Well Done, Son!” Guy: Female version. Minnie desperately wants her mother's approval, but seems to do nothing but disappoint her. But the truth is the Queen is already proud of her, and assumed Minnie already knew.

Who Names Their Kid “Dude”?: Lampshaded by Millie towards Goofy. “That's not a name, it's an insult!”

Would Hit A Girl: The Beagles to Daisy and Millie – and it's implied they'd like to do worse.

You Shall Not Pass: Morgana and Jose take on the Beagles so Daisy can escape and warn the Sun Kingdom of Mortimer's plan.

Young Love Versus Old Hate: At first this is the case – but then it's revealed there are plenty in the young generation also full of hate.

Segreto

An AU Disney fanfic starring Mickey Mouse and the gang. Written by the author behind Pirates Versus Privates, this is the second full-length Disney story she's written. A Gender Flip telling of The Little Mermaid, Mickey the mermouse is terrified of being forgotten and never making an impact on anyone. When he falls for, and saves, a beautiful castle maid, he's determined to make sure her memories of him last. A wizard of the sea offers his aide, but in pursuing her heart, Mickey unknowingly leads Minnie and an entire kingdom into peril.

Tropes:

Badly Battered Babysitter: Implied that Nemo this is to Mickey.

Compelling Voice: All mermen and mermaid have this. Mickey never even thinks of using it on Minnie. [spoiler] Our villain, on the other hand...[spoiler]

Damsel In Distress: Minnie, twice over.

Deal With The Devil: Mickey signs [villain's] contract to gain legs so he can be with Minnie.

Evil Detecting Dog: Pluto understands instantly that [Villain] is bad news, trying to bite and claw at him.

Evil Plan: [villain] 's plan all along was [spoiler] to use Mickey's Compelling Voice to hypnotize the Queen into marrying him, this gaining him back his heart and rule over the kingdom.[spoiler]

Gold Digger: Daisy, initially.

I Lied : [Villain] says as much to Mickey, even saying that he's the bad guy, of course he's going to lie.

Inter-Class Romance: Technically, as Mickey is a prince and Minnie is a maid. Played with Daisy and Donald, as she sees herself as above Donald's position, even though they are actually in the same place.

Love At First Sight: Mickey towards Minnie.

Magically Binding Contract: Wouldn't be a Little Mermaid story without one!

Massive Number Siblings: Mickey has over 70 brothers!

Meaningful Name: Segreto means secret, and Mickey's got a big one. The Kingdom of Nereid – nereid are mystical sea creatures, which, again, ties to Mickey.

Our Mermaids Are Different: Mermaids themselves are barely mentioned. Mermen have long tails, and royal mermen's tails are even longer and blue. They also have the siren singing, which compels people to do whatever they command and love them unconditionally. They can understand fish-talk as well.

Parental Abandonment: Minnie's parents died at sea. Mickey's mother is never mentioned, and it's clear his father really couldn't care less about him unless he causes trouble.

Protagonist Title: Sort of – Segreto is the nickname Mickey gets when he can't tell his land-friends his real name. It also means “secret”, of which characters hide several.

Purple Is Powerful: The Wizard wears mostly purple (and was based off the Vocaloid Gakupo) , and is supposedly the most powerful character in the story.

Reality Ensues: True Love's Kiss isn't always First Kiss – both people have to be in love. Being kissed by what is essentially a complete stranger can make a girl angry at you for a long time.

Rescue Romance: When Mickey says Minnie from Mortimer and Pete, her feelings for him truly materialize.

Sadistic Choice: If Mickey tries to stop the wedding, [villain] will erase everyone's memories of him. If he doesn't, the kingdom will be ruled by an absolutely evil figure, dooming just about everyone.

Self-Disposing Villain: If [Villain] hadn't tried to use the ocean to drown our heroes, [spoiler] Bruce wouldn't have swam in and eaten the heart. [spoiler]

Speak Now Or Forever Hold Your Peace: In a different take on this trope, the wedding isn't (at first) interrupted by an outsider, but someone already there. Minnie, then Daisy, speak up, voicing their objections. Then the boys come in.

Threatening Shark: Subverted with Bruce, who loves his pals and would do anything for them. [spoiler] But his chompers sure do come in handy later.[spoiler]

True Love's Kiss: What Mickey needs to keep his legs. He keeps trying to kiss Minnie, conveniently ignoring the fact she doesn't love him yet.

The Nutcracker Prince

An AU Disney fanfic starring Donald Duck and the gang. Written by the author behind Pirates Versus Privates, this is the fifth full-length Disney story she's written. Unlike most of her stories, which focus on Mickey and Minnie as the hero/heroine and romance being the main subject, this one has Donald and Minnie as siblings being first and foremost, and family as the biggest theme.

In a retelling of the famous ballet/story, The Nutcracker, Donald and Minnie thought they were going to live with their uncle in a magical kingdom, only for him to refuse and leave them for years. When his letters stop coming, Minnie convinces Donald to go to the kingdom to find out what happened and why he wouldn't take them in. Donald believes nothing but heartbreak and lies await them – only to discover something much worse on the horizon.

Tropes:

0% Approval Rating: The “Prince” that sits atop the throne. And it doesn't take long to find out why.

And I Must Scream: It turns out the Sugar Plum Fairy is a case of this, as is, of course, the Nutcracker Prince.

Happily Married: [spoiler] implied to be the case for Mickey and Minnie at the end.[spoiler]

Imagine Spot: Minnie has one, fantasizing about meeting Mickey in person. Donald cuts her off before it gets too far.

Insistent Terminology: Mickey is a nutcracker, NOT a toy.

Inter-Class Romance: Mickey is a prince, Minnie is a commoner. Sort of.

Meaningful Name: The Kingdom's name literally means Mouse King.

My Sister Is Off Limits!: Donald does NOT like how instantly chummy Mickey and Minnie are.

Parental Abandonment: Minnie and Donald's parents died in a car crash. Mickey's parents also died when he was young. It's implied it's because of some mystical connection between the families.

Post-Kiss Catatonia: Despite Mickey not being able to feel anything, after Minnie kisses him, he falls over in a near-dead faint.

Pretend to Be Brainwashed: Mortimer uses the crown to make Minnie his slave of love, and she drapes herself around him. But it's all an act to snatch the crown.

Protagonist Title: Averted. While Mickey is a main character, the story's heroes are actually Donald and Minnie.

Reality Ensues: Forgiveness isn't easily given, even after a life-changing event.

Rescue Romance: After Donald [spoilers] unknowingly saves Daisy from her Sugar Plum Fairy Form, she's instantly devoted to him.[spoilers]

True Love's Kiss: Minnie, being Wrong Genre Savvy, thinks one of these will cure Mickey. It doesn't.

Wrong Genre Savvy: Minnie thinks it's a basic fairy tale with black and white sides, where True Love's Kiss will cure everything and a happily ever after is guaranteed. It's much more complicated than that.

Love Like Lava

An AU Disney fanfic starring Mickey Mouse and the gang. Written by the author behind Pirates Versus Privates, this is the sixth full-length Disney story she's written. This time it's a take on classic Greek mythology, with Minnie as Aphrodite and Mickey as Hephaestus. As a newly awakened goddess, Minnie tries to understand her place in the world, where Mickey, believing role in life is to always be rejected, shuns everyone. The goddess of love falls for him instantly, but it turns out he hates her. What better way to start a relationship than by lying about who you are? Not only that, but it's got Pygmalion-Goofy, Persephone-Daisy, and Hades-Donald. It's about love, loss, acceptance, and the occasional mermaid.

Abhorrent Admirer: Minnie has her own Unwanted Harem with Gladstone, Mortimer, Pete, and (somewhat) Zeus.

Age-Gap Romance: Played with. Donald and Mickey are, technically, hundreds of years older than their female love interests. Also confusingly lampshaded with Agalma, as she wonders if it counts that she used to be marble, so theoretically she could be centuries older than Goofy.

The Alcoholic: Mortimer as Dyonsis. Played with in that as a god, he technically can't get drunk, but he sure does act like it.

Arranged Marriage: Hera tries to make one for Minnie, and it backfires spectacularly.

The Big Damn Kiss: Minnie, as the goddess of love, has a pretty powerful one. It sends such strong waves of love all across the world that it causes couples to propose, love to be requited, poems written, etc.

Cats Are Mean: As the singular cat in the cast, Pete fits the bill.

Childhood Friend Romance: The case with Goofy and Millie.

Crouching Moron Hidden Badass: Goofy surprises everyone, including himself, after he socks Bouncer Beagle in the nose.

Everyone Can See It: It becomes pretty clear, even to the ditzy mermaids and clueless Goofy, that Mickey is in love with Minnie.

Evil Plan: Pete's is to create a statue army which Minnie will bring to life, so he can have his “Forever War”.

Flashback: One chapter has Daisy telling Minnie how she met, and fell, for Donald.

Furry Confusion: Horace is in the chariot race. You know, with a horse. Try not to think about too much.

The Glomp: Minnie tends to give these to anyone she likes.

Happily Married: Donald and Daisy.

Interspecies Romance: Daisy's parents – her mother was a goddess, and her father was a human.

Love At First Sight: Minnie for Mickey, HARD. It's implied that this was the case for Mickey too, but he was immediately in denial about it.

Love Makes You Evil: Slightly – when Daisy's father died, her mother went bananas and became incredibly over-protective of Daisy.

Meaningful Name: Agalma means “statue” in Greek. The town the horse race takes place in also means “horse”.

Not Good With Rejection: Gladstone and Mortimer get over Minnie, but Pete doesn't handle it very well.

Parental Abandonment: When Hera discovered her baby was weak and deformed, she threw him down into the mortal plane, and has since then forbidden his name to ever be spoken.

Post-Kiss Catatonia : Mickey nearly faints after his first kiss with Minnie.

Reality Ensues: Bringing the statue of a dead lover to life is going to have consequences. The story of Goofy and Agalma takes Pygmalion to its logical, heart-breaking turns.

Reincarnation Romance: Implied to happen in the epilouge.

Second Love: Goofy with Agalma.

Seduction-Proof Marriage: One of the Fates has tried to flirt with Donald before but nothing ever works.

Shipper On Deck: Minnie for Goofy/Agalma.

Those Two Bad Guys: Burger and Bouncer Beagle for the mortals, Gladstone and Mortimer for the gods.

World's Most Beautiful Woman: As Aphrodite, Minnie is technically this.

The Last Straw

An AU Disney fanfic starring Mickey Mouse and the gang. Written by the author behind Pirates Versus Privates, this is the seventh full-length Disney story she's written. This time she warps the classic story of Rumpelstiltskin. Minnie and Donald are a pair of poor siblings in a dwindling kingdom, ruled over by a narcissistic king. When one of Donald's big lies gets his little sister into bigger trouble, they get unexpected help from a mysterious wizard. Something is missing from the kingdom, but can anyone remember it in time?

0% Approval Rating: King Mortimer. No one, absolutely no one, likes him.

And Now You Must Marry Me: Mortimer threatens Minnie with this – later subverted when Minnie actually asks Mortimer to marry her.

Bad Boss: Mortimer treats Pete very cruelly.

The Big Damn Kiss: When Mickey and Minnie are reunited, you know it's gunna happen.

Damsel In Distress: Played with in that Minnie puts herself in distress on purpose.

Dude, Where's My Respect?: Pete, and to a way more ego-maniac level, Mortimer.

Face-Heel Turn: At a crucial moment, Pete finally snaps and gives Mortimer what he had coming.

Green-Eyed Monster: Part of Mortimer's issues. He's insanely jealous of Mickey.

Inter-class Romance: Mickey, a prince, and Minnie, a commoner.

My Sister Is Off Limits!: Subverted – Donald wholly encourages the romance between Mickey and Minnie.

It's All About Me: MORTIMER.

Prince Charmless: MORTIMER.

[labellerose-acheron]

Name: Queen MK

Characters: Belle Rose Beauton, Onyango Simba Lyons, Copper Thomas Russell, Drizella Catherine Tremaine, Toulouse Henri Bonfamille, Bambino Daryl Basurto, Perdita Mariel Faye, Joshua “Strongbear” Sweet, Maui, Urania of Hesiod, Attina Morgan Triton, Hercules Odysseus Persaud

**i just want to note that i wrote the vast majority of this at the beginning of the month before we got all our lovely new members, so just shout to everyone for being lovely writers and lovely people and making this community special!

Pick a thread from the past six months that you’re proud of and talk about why. Ugh, fuck, okay. I’m gonna try to go character by character bc so many good ones??

Belle: “Letter of Recommendation” - Beautibbs. Man, this thread straight fucked me up. It was supposed to be just something really chill, because Belle was a huge Charms nerd and she totally would’ve been a teacher’s pet to Tibbs. In HP world, I took advantage of the fact that Belle’s father left more recently than in current canon, and wanted to explore that and, surprisingly, Beautibbs was where I got to actually feel it the most. Belle is normally so composed, and the fact that she broke down--well, it was so real. She’d been putting so much pressure on herself and to see her crack was kind of cathartic for me, and for her. The fact that it was totally unexpected was what made it feel even more natural.

Simba: “Stays in Vegas” - Simber. I loved “Stays in Vegas” because the whole marriage thing was something I’d wanted to explore for a while. There are a lot of things about Simba and Ber’s relationship that are not what Simba anticipated in a relationship, and as someone who has spent his whole life thinking about the person he’s going to be with and what that relationship is gonna be like--it’s interesting to break that down. And I like exploring Simba’s insecurities too. Not his whole “I Killed My Dad” thing, but the fact that he is really always afraid of people leaving him in relationships, or that he is “too much” or pushes for things too soon. So, yeah, idk, that was really fun.

Copper: “Pixie’s Stalker” - Coperi. This thread was so good for me, because it had so many layers. It was Copper at his purest. He wanted to help Peri and give her good advice. At the same time, he was trying to think of Tink too, who he has kind of a special bond with. Then, thinking about his own mother, which he never really does, so that was nice too, because he does have some unexplored abandonment issues.

Drizella: “The Perfect Dress” - Double Trouble. What I really love about RPing with Kiara is that she has this natural instinct about the way a thread should go, and it just makes threads with her so pleasant. The chemistry that Zella and Ana have is so good, too. This thread was great because both of them were dealing with things that they weren’t talking about, it was all underground, but they still knew that the other person was dealing with things. It just felt really natural and totally sisterly.

Toulouse: “Miscalculations” - Berlou feat Roscoe. Big shout out to Lauren for this one, because when I first brought her the idea I wanted a duel, I didn’t mention anything about unforgivable curses or anything, but then she brought it up and I was really excited (especially because we didn’t tell Lauryl, sry lauryl.) It was just so great, because I always say Lou would be entirely ruthless if anyone ever hurt his siblings and I mean it. I finally got to show that, and it was so thrilling to write. Getting to write a really dark side of Lou was so great, and the fallout was lovely too.

Bambino: “On the Edge” - Merfawn. FUCK. This thread was so great. Like, I loved it because we didn’t have a plan for it. We just wanted them to RP together and they both run around in the woods, so it would be a good spot for them to meet up. It was Reanna who took it in such a great direction by having Ariel bring up the Prince. It was just such a good instinct and since this was one of my first threads with Reanna, it really impressed me and I just had a lot of fun with it.

Perdita: “Isn’t There Any Hope?” - Fate. How could I not talk about this thread? It started in December, but I can’t help it. The first time Paul and Perdita see each other in 4 months and it was just so full of emotion. I loved that Lauryl and I had discussed kind of the entire timeline of their backstory because it made it really easy to draw from and their chemistry felt really natural. It’s always a worry with relationships that are pre-established, there is going to be no chemistry, but man, do Paul and Perdita have it and you could just feel the love they have (had) for each other and the struggle that they were going through.

Sweet: “A Code in Process” - Sweet Mouse. Ugh, this one was just so good. Mostly because I actually got to perform surgery!! And that was just so fucking fun, and Kiara made it a blast. It really kind of solidified Minnie and Sweet’s relationship during this high stress environment and I just thought that was super rewarding. (Shout out to the Mr. Crowley arc with Nala, Tibbs, and Minnie. It’s been so much fun and I’m excited for the conclusion.)

Maui: “Helping Hand” - Celaui. I think Katie listed this one as well, and well, yeah, totally makes sense because this is the thing that everyone wants out of a starter. The relationship that was built after this initial thread was so beautiful and nuanced and is continuing to grow, and I just love that.

Urania: “Follow Up Interview” - Star Destroyer. Fuck me, I love this thread so much. It was kind of a random idea that just steamrolled into what it is now, and it’s another one of those plots that just feels really natural to me. And I love the dynamic of both Urania and Dornan thinking that the other is below them. They’re totally underestimating each other and I’d love to play with that power dynamic more and dig deeper into it.

Identify a challenge you’ve faced in this rp. Reflect on why this is a challenge for you. Are there any strategies you can develop to overcome this challenge?

Like many people, I struggle with plotting. A lot of times I have an end goal in mind, but I struggle with how to get there. For me, I don’t have a problem approaching people, I love talking and I don’t mind bothering more shy people to talk to me, but I have a problem sharing my ideas, because I worry that people won’t like them.

I’ve just tried becoming more confident with my ideas. I get characters now with secrets, or an end goal that I can kind of use as a jumping off point for plots. It has really helped because I feel like I can almost always find a reason or a thing that my character is grappling with.

Pick one of your characters and talk about their growth (we recommend choosing an older character, but it’s up to you! ) What about their story has surprised you? What are you proud of? How have they changed from their original inception to now?

Copper. Copperrrr. My lil honey. So, lots of people know that Copper is my hardest muse. I really don’t know what the problem is, but it’s just always been that way. Recently, though, he’s come so far, and I’ve kind of finally unstuck him from his shitty thought processes. I think that was the problem, now that I’m writing this lol. He was so resistant to change, but I just completely broke him down. Between Tod and Rajah and Shego, I managed to break him and now I’m building him back up, and that’s really satisfying to me.

He feels much more malleable, which is kind of where I wanted him to start with. So, that’s really nice. And making him a dad was really the right move because now he has this thing that reminds him to stay grounded and to be patient and understanding and more open, because his daughter is going to have magic and he loves her so much, so how could it be bad or wrong?

I am curious to see what he’ll be like as a single dad. Should be interesting.

Zella, also, has been so great. I really wanna push her more, but I’ve loved what has happened with her the past few months. She’s made a lot of mistakes and she’s trying to distance herself from them and start being serious about her future and she’s growing so much (even if no one but me can see it lmao) and I’m excited to see what happens.

Pick another character and talk a little about where you WANT them to go. What are your plans for them for the rest of the year?

Well, like a good mother, I have plans for all my beebs.

Belle: she is growing so much and getting so strong. I want to continue that thread for her. I want her to go back to school (I’ve started planting the seeds for that already.)

Simba: ugh, my babe. He has some hard times coming up based on a plot that will come to fruition at the end of summer. Through that I really want to explore Simba’s plurality of independence and doing what is expected of him and how that will affect his relationships and, in turn, affect how he views his “duties” to his family name.

Copper: be a dad. That’s p much it. I think Copper has had a really hard life, and he deserves to just enjoy being a father and be as good of one to Isabel as he can be.

Drizella: I want her to have everything stripped from her (in the process of doing so.) I want her to become more of a champion for women and move away from her mother’s toxic thinking. I want her to grow closer to both her sisters and to embrace her own path.

Toulouse: ugh, i just want my baby to be happy. I don’t know what it will be that makes him happy, but I know it won’t involve painting, at least not as a career, and I want him to accept that and realize it doesn’t make him a bad son for wanting something different. Also, I do want him to find love again, because tbh I like him better in a relationship lmao.

Bambi: explore his sexuality more. Embrace himself. And definitely get closer with his dad. That’s super important and I want it really badly, because Prince is really the only one who can help Bambi heal from his mother’s death.

Perdita: Well, she knows about her post-partum now, which yay! So, now I want to work on her relationships. I want her to start mending the town’s image of her, because she’s really not as crazy as everyone thinks she is, lol. Like, she is a normal person, I promise. She won’t be having any more manic episodes or huge explosions. (Unless something goes real wrong, lmao.) I also want her to get a better job, that’s more in line with her long term goals for herself.

Sweet: MORE SURGERY. Also I want to explore his past more. I want him to open up to someone about his magic. I also need him to make friends outside of the hospital, pls and thanx.

Maui: I want him to fall. I want him to totally crash and burn. I want someone to steal his hook and leave him with nothing. (Before that, though, I want him to get risen up, and to help a few people so that when he crashes, they can come to his aid and make him realize that he’s good enough without his hook.)

Urania: She wants to take over the world. I want her to take over the world. Simple.

Attina: As one of my new babes, I have a lot of plans for her. I want to explore her relationship with each of her sisters. I want her to go on lots of dates and to get herself crushed and to have successful dates too. Also, long term, I want her to like re-examine her life and figure out that she really is not happy and wants so much more.

Hercules: UGH my lil babe, I have so many plans. I need him to learn to control his strength, though I want this to be a slow process. And I definitely, definitely want him to figure out where he is from. (I have a whole idea set up, but I just need him to get there. It’ll also be a slow process, probably.)

OPTIONAL (REQUIRED FOR THOSE WHO DIDN’T DO THE LAST QUESTIONNAIRE): In terms of your own writing, identify 1-3 strengths and talk about why you think it’s one of your strengths.

Setting: I have a very visual memory. Like--I can remember where on a page something was, even if I don’t remember the exact wording, and I almost always remember what people were wearing during important events. So, I know details about where someone are can be really important and I love describing like the things around someone. All my characters’ homes (and their other spaces, like Chapter Three), I have the entire floor plan of.

Action: I was always taught that movement was really important in a story. And my teacher was big about character quirks, so I just naturally incorporated it into my own writing. Body language is super fascinating to me and I love including it into movement for my characters.

Character Detail: I’ve become obsessed with charting out my character’s lives. It might because I’ve gotten older characters recently, but, I find it really important to know like--everywhere my character has lived and their families (including uncles/aunts/cousins). So, I really feel like I know my characters as people. Which makes it easy for me to slip into their skin and know how they’d react to a situation. I know their little ticks and what their motivations are.

OPTIONAL (REQUIRED FOR THOSE WHO DIDN’T DO THE LAST QUESTIONNAIRE): In terms of your own writing, identify 1-3 areas of improvement.

Rambling: Sometimes I feel like my posts have a point in the beginning and then the middle is a mess and then I’m like oh crap I gotta like do an action/dialogue/have a point to this lol. I think that kind of thing can work when you have a point, go on a tangent and weave the point through the tangent, but I don’t think ahead in my posts, so that always falls flat. It’s always a happy accident if I can find a way to draw it back.

Proofreading: I know it’s RP and we all write a lot so missing a word here or there or something isn’t a big deal. But, I feel like if I read back through my posts sometimes, I could incorporate later ideas in my post. That’s just something I wanna kind of work on, so I can be more thoughtful with my posts.

OPTIONAL (REQUIRED FOR THOSE WHO DIDN’T DO THE LAST QUESTIONNAIRE): Reflect on other writers you love– in the rp or out! How have they influenced you? What do you love about their writing that you want to bring to your own?

Man, I love all y’all. Shout out to some of our new babes: Silv does so great with backstory, I’m always so intrigued, and like I said above, I love planning that kind of shit out, so I always get hype when other people do it too. Also Reanna puts so much enthusiasm into everything she does, it makes me excited to RP, and I love that. Bee also cranks out some lines sometimes where I’m like umm?? Wtf?? That was so good?? Chloe too, just, ugh her writing sometimes. It’s so minimal but not in an obnoxious hemingway-way. Her one shots are so succinct. I love reading them.

I can’t wait to get to know our new-new babes tooo!

IF YOU DID THE LAST QUESTIONNAIRE: Alright, now pick an item from the Wishlist you completed in January that you’ve started to pursue. How far are you from completing this goal? Talk about the steps you took to make it happen.

I’m getting ready to (and have started to) explore race/sexuality in an off dash kenya thread w simba and kiara and ber and that’ll be interesting bc they all relate to their race/sexuality differently. It’ll be interesting putting them in an entirely different worlds. Of course, Simba and Ber have been lots of places, but mostly pretty liberal. Kenya is a place where sexuality is not really talked about and there is a bit of hostility towards white people. It’s basically the reverse of everything they’ve known.

I think it’s really interesting to explore Simba’s relationship with his race and sexuality through this, since he loves his family so much and he doesn’t like to lie; but he knows a good bit of his family doesn’t approve. And then, with Kiara, who is half-black/half-white and gay herself, and Ber who is white and queer--it’s gonna be really interesting to see them all navigate that space and still try to find a sense of belonging within it.

Oh, as for making it happen, I have mostly Lauryl to thank, though, I mean I orchestrated some of it myself. Simba was cut off from his family (voluntarily). He reconnected with his mother in July but didn’t reconnect with everyone else until around December, when one of his cousins had a baby. Which led to Simba connecting with all of his cousins again. And then, after everything that Kiara has gone through, Simba wanted her to realize that she does have a place that she belongs, and a family who love and support her; hence why they made the trip to Kenya.

IF YOU DID THE LAST QUESTIONNAIRE: Pick another item on your wishlist that hasn’t happened yet. We’re gonna do a MOCK-PLOT!!!

Zella Follows her Dreams:

This might be cheating, since one thread has already started, but we’re gonna use it anyways.

Milla confronts her daughter about not having any plans for after school. Zella confesses she wants to be a stylist. Milla cuts her off financially.

Zella throws a fit about this and disowns herself from the family, bumming around places. (Marie’s, Jenny’s, etc.) They start asking questions Zella doesn’t want to answer sooo

Zella finally shacks up with Ella.

Ella encourages her to #followherdreams and in return Zella tells Ella to get a fucking backbone (but hopefully she’ll be nicer at this point.)

Zella applies to a few internship programs and gets one!! Then she goes to follow her dreams!!

(I would also like to include Ana in this plot but idk how Ana will react so that is something I’ve got to discuss w Kiara.)

Finally: write a NEW wish list for the upcoming half of the year. It’s fine if you use a lot from your previous wish list if you still haven’t completed them and you still want to!

Smut – well, i still haven’t bottomed as a male; but i’ve done some hetero from the female perspective so that’s fun. My new smut goal is: different positions!! Different places!! Missionary is fun and all but;; gets borin and i like body positions so it’d be interesting to try some new stuff (i am talking about this like it is my actual sex life lmao)

Slow Burn – who doesn’t love a slow burn romance? i think it makes a ship feel so much more real when characters are angsting and pining and things keep them apart, whether it be timing, one of them dating someone else, miscommunication, or just general fear of hurt–ugh just give it to me (but not for months). This hasn’t happened yet and that is #rude someone get @ me.

Murder – i want to kill someone. i want someone to kill one of my characters. either one. both. who knows. Okay seriously; Urania needs to kill someone. 

 Kidnapping – someone kidnap one of my characters. ← still relevant

Abortion – i mean, i just think it would be interesting to have a character go through/have to contemplate getting an abortion. from either male or female perspectives. i have several possibilities /eyes zella in particular or tbh lou /eyes lou too ← also still relevant

Surgery/Illness – i love me some good ol’fashion hurt/comfort. also, sweet loves surgery, so if anyone’s characters need surgery, you want them to get hurt or sick, sweet is your guy. but, i mean we all know i love fucking up my characters (gave simba appendicitis, had lou get impaled, copp got shot like forever ago who remembers that eh?) so if you wanna beat up/attack my characters get at me ← always down for this if u wanna injure ur babe

Travel – i’ve had a few characters (lou, zella, simba) take trips to other places; but i would love to get out of swynlake for some threads. why not? ← always down for travel too

Race/Sexuality – i have a couple of characters who i’d love to explore their racial identity in a negative situation. swynlake is pretty free of, like, blatant racists (excluding magick-ists), so i would be curious to see how simba/sweet/etc deals with that. same with sexuality, swynlake is pretty accepting but i’d love for them to confront some homophobia because both that and racism, is, unfortunately realistic and prevalent. ← this is always something interesting

Big Plots – i LOVE big plots and i want to do them with more than just lauryl sorry lauryl i love u. but i want big plotty plots with EVERYONE! stuff that’ll fuck up your characters or my characters or both or they’ll GROW by the end, just stuff that will be an uphill battle. who wants to fight with meee? ← still RELEVANT

In more specific terms:

I want Belle to go back to school.

I want Simba to also go back to school lol

I want Copper to learn how to be a dad, even if that journey eventually takes him out of Swynlake to somewhere he deems “safer.”

I want Zella to go to her internship or w/e and embrace her differences and unlearn the toxic behavior her mother encouraged.

I want Lou to figure out that painting is not what he wants to do w his life. I also want him to date bc I like him better in a relationship lol

I want Bambi to kind of shed his reservations about being who he is and embrace it (both as the Young Prince and his sexuality.)

I want Perdita to continue to recover from her post-partum and mend her relationship with Paul so that they can successfully coparent their kids (and fall in love)

I want Sweet to make friends outside of the hospital. I also want him to mess up and have his hubris catch up to him.

I want Urania to take over the world.

I want Maui to get bolstered up and then I want him to crash and burn and then I want to raise him up again.

I want Attina to find love, but more than that, I want her to accept that she’s not gonna be able to control her sisters and learn to do her own thing.

I want Herc to learn where he’s from, but even more importantly I want him to accept himself for who he is.

[discoveringhistory]

Dissertation Weekly: Making Discoveries & Changing My Interpretation and Perception

As I write this week’s blog I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of an important letter from the great-great grandson of Douglas and Kate Bemo! 

One of the pitfalls of graduate school is that you never seem to get enough time to conduct research on your chosen dissertation topic while you are 1) up to your eyeballs in coursework, 2) opt to add an additional 15 hours of coursework for a graduate minor to your program of study, 3) and are prepping for your comprehensive exams.  At this juncture in my graduate career I am past all three of these important milestones.  I also had the good fortune to come into my program with roughly 90% of my research completed (something that is rare in my field).  To date I have written the prologue, epilogue, and first two chapters of my dissertation and am working on the remaining three so I can hopefully stay on track to defend in early May and graduate in July 2019. (Note: I had hoped to be further along at this point in time. Moving, settling in to my new residence, my wedding, taking on my step son and his mental health and legal challenges, and my own near exhaustion has slowed down my progress more than I ever imagined!) One of the challenges I face is writing while researching and attempting to fill the gaps and little nooks and crannies that remain so I am have as much material as possible to flesh out the life and experiences of Douglas Bemo as an AfroMvskoke/Seminole man living in a very complex and ever-changing world in the Indian Territory in the mid to late 19th century.

The front page of the American Missionary in January 1873 touts the evangelizing work of Rev. D.B. Nichols at Howard University. In July 1872 Douglas was enrolled in and left at Howard University where he was a student in the Model School and a member of the Military Department’s Corps of Cadets until he left in 1874. Note the area highlighted by the pin box.  The “Creek Indian” Nichols refers to in his description is indeed Douglas. His presence at Howard and his connection to the non-denominational church founded by Nichols made excellent PR material.

As of late I have been able to flesh out details of Douglas’ life that 1) his wife Kate NEVER mentions in her one sided portrayal of him in her diary and 2) I never thought I would discover. To some the details may seem minor, nothing of consequence.  However, when you are writing about an AfroMvksoke/Seminole man-- a person of color-- who has been marginalized in his wife’s diary (a primary source of great value to historians) and rendered voiceless by most histories of Indian Territory, the responsibility to flesh out the small details is imperative. Being able to find Douglas’ pay slips from the Mvskoke Nation, his appointment letter as a prosecuting attorney for the Mvskoke Nation, the American Missionary article that mentions him simply as a “Creek Indian”, or a fragment of a school essay he wrote while at the Tullahassee Mission provides me with insight into him that helps me as a historian or recover his voice. When Douglas died in 1898 his wife elected to not run an obituary in any of the local papers. For historians and geneaolgists obituaries are little goldmines of information and help us to pull threads of a person’s life together. For Douglas, however, his erasure from the “go-to” local history sources silences his voice. At this point in the writing of my dissertation I almost see the project as an extended obituary for Douglas.  Despite the best attempt of his wife to erase him from memory and control how he was viewed by anyone reading her diary, my work is an intervention and call to change how we use our sources as historians. What are we missing by simply looking at them from one perspective?  LOTS is the easy answer. In my case, as I am discovering every day, the little details are the most important and telling...and so critical to my understanding of this complex interracial marriage at a time when such unions normally followed a predictable pattern of an Anglo-American male paired with an Indigenous female. 

This news snippet about Minnie Tappan, a Cheyenne survivor of the infamous Sand Creek Massacre, intersects with my look into Douglas’ time at Howard University.  Douglas and Minnie were classmates at Howard and as the only American Indians enrolled at Howard at the time they surely closed paths.

Just this week I discovered that Douglas attended Howard University with a young woman named Minnie Tappan.  A Cheyenne, Minnie was “orphaned” after the infamous Sand Creek Massacre in Colorado Territory during the Civil War.  (Note: I use the term orphaned in quotes on purpose. Even though her parents were killed, Minnie would have been taken in my Aunts, Uncles, or other members of her mother’s clan. Anglo-Americans did not recognize this cultural practice with respect to American Indian peoples.) Taken back East by Samuel Tappan, Minnie was enrolled in Howard University.  In 1873 Minnie contracted consumption and died in her dorm room at Miner’s Hall on the Howard Campus.  News of her death surely filtered among the student body. For Douglas this must have been a terrifying prospect-- would he contract consumption and be next? The presence of another American Indian face on the Howard campus surely reassured and lifted Douglas’ spirits. In letters to Kate, back in Indian Territory teaching at a Mvskoke Nation agency school, Douglas mentions the passing of an Indian girl from Colorado. To some this may seem a trivial detail. However, for Douglas seeing Minnie’s face on campus meant there was someone else like him, he was not an Indigenous island unto himself. So the small bits and pieces of his life are now coming into sharper focus and making him seem so very real.

A photo of Kate Edwards Bemo Mitchell as an older woman. This photo surfaced online and after comparing it to a verified photo of Kate in her younger days there is no doubt it is Kate.  

While looking for the traces of Douglas’ life, more details about Kate keep cropping up.  The photo above is a recent discovery that stopped me in my tracks.  Seeing the face of Kate as an older woman I was struck that Douglas did not get the privilege of living into his later years to watch his son grow into adulthood, marry, and have his own family.  Douglas never got to be a grandfather and share the stories of his life with his descendants. Their views about Douglas come solely from Kate’s very partisan telling of her life and how she was impacted by her unfortunate marriage to her “worthless” Indian. Not only was history robbed of Douglas’ voice but his descendants as well. Now, I am even more determined to search as many archival sources in Oklahoma as possible in the hope I will find an image of Douglas to counterbalance Kate’s well crafted image.  While this goal may not be realized during the writing of my dissertation I do hope that one day an image will surface. Looking into the life of Douglas’ brother Alec (Alexander) --who spent his life living in the Seminole Nation with his wife and large family-- may be the only chance to see what Douglas may have looked like, so the search for an image of Alec is on! 

My scheduling calendar and book are a crazy patchwork colors and scribbles.  This is the only way I can keep all the tasks related to my work, research, and family life in some semblance of order.

Of course the most difficult part of this entire process of writing a dissertation is keeping research, writing, thinking, reading, and family life scheduled and organized.  My calendars/schedules (seen above in glorious colors) are nothing short of a form of managed chaos/controlled insanity at the moment. At this juncture I am really soul searching and looking at my progress, deadlines, and thinking about the fact I MIGHT have to push my defense off until October 2019 and graduate in December 2019. This would mean I missed my target deadline of earning my PhD and Graduate Minor in museum studies in four years start to finish by one semester. Part of me wants to push forward and graduate in July (so I can walk in may graduation and participate in departmental convocation) while the other part of me wants to produce an important dissertation and knows deep down that I need the time. Stay tuned, resolving this dilemma will be an interesting ride.

So, in my quest to flesh out Douglas’ lived experience in the Indian Territory I will be heading to Oklahoma City and the amazing collections of the Oklahoma Historical Society at the end of February. Add to that a trip to Howard University in D.C. (February), Western Kansas and Fort Wallace (March) and the Presbyterian Historical Society in Philly (April) and a possible research swing to the Seminole Nation in Wewoka, OK and you get an idea of what it is like to write and research simultaneously. Thank goodness for frequent flyer points, my husband’s willingness to pay for trips, and my love of travel...for I truly am a historian on the road.

Thanks for reading, hope you have enjoyed this edition of Dissertation Weekly.  Stay tuned! Next week I will share about one of my recent research experiences and the need for document preservation in local communities!

Cheers,

Michelle and Josie the Kitten

Josie supervises the writing of a fellowship application. She is an excellent proofreader as long as you don’t want her to flip the pages.

[sweetheart-minnie]

Writing Task: Mid-Year Questionnaire 

Triggers: None

Notes: This is long!!! This will forever be my default warning on every task I do. 

Name: Kiara :DD

Characters: Sally Finkelstein, Raksha Bhediya, Anastasia Tremaine, Ellie Dokter, Dash Parr, Bonnie Rockwaller, Minnie Muysken and Violet Parr 

Pick a thread from the past six months that you’re proud of and talk about why.

Gahhh I was proud of so many threads!!! How am I supposed to pick only one?!?! I won’t but I can narrow it down to like two. 

Holding Out For A Hero: I adored this thread so mucchhh!!!! And the title was so perfect (kudos to MK because I sure as hell didn’t come up with it haha). The thing I loved the most about this thread and the reason it was the very first one to pop up in my mind was the fact that Dash had the opportunity to use his powers for good. That’s all Dash wants in life!!!! To be a superhero, or in the very least help people with the abilities he’s been given. He has a huge protective streak and it was so much fun to be able to explore that through this thread. He got to save lil Bambi from bullies and to top it off I was able to reenact a scene from The Incredibles!!!!! I was so freaking excited about that!!!!! Especially because through the reenactment Dash learned something new about what he could do with his magic and I LOVE developing my characters magic. I just really loved this thread it was so precious and exactly what my little Dash needed in life. :DD

A Code In Process: Wow MK you’re in this one too hahaha. I loved this thread from when I posted the starter because it started out with so much action in it. I mean, I was able to write out a CODE. Like, I feel bad for Ms. Gladys who had to be the victim of a code, but it was so much fun to explore that specific nursing skill set in Minnie. This was the first thread where I got to explore Minnie as a nurse, so it was nice to really get to see my lil child in her environment and how she worked within it. Also, that was my first time ever writing about a code. I have been through CPR training because I need to keep my license current and have experienced an actual code, but have never actually written about it. It was a really fun experience and sort of unique describing it because writing about it made me realize that there really is a lot involved with it. When you’re in the middle of a code, trust me, you’re really not thinking about all that so it was nice to take a step back.  

Visions Of The Past: Okay I know this isn’t really like a thread and is a one-shot BUTTTT I am really, really proud of it so I have to mention it. It was one of my all time favorite one-shots I have written, although both of my Raksha ones don’t fall that behind. I was very proud of this one because it gave me the opportunity to dive into parts of Sally that I haven’t been able to before. She has a very extensive past to her and to be able to show it was so much fun!!!! Plus, Sally is my darling OG so like I’m always proud of her, my lil pumpkin :DD

Identify a challenge you’ve faced in this rp. Reflect on why this is a challenge for you. Are there any strategies you can develop to overcome this challenge?

I’m freaking shy. I don’t know if it may look like I’m not, but trust me I am!!! It’s more of a reaching out to people shy. I have absolutely no problem holding out a conversation and even talking someone's ear off JUST AS LONG as they came up to me first haha. I don’t know what it is, but I’m scared af to approach someone even on the computer. It makes absolutely no sense, trust me I know because it makes even less sense with the profession I’m in, but what can I say, I am. And I know everyone here is sweet and oh so lovely, but I’m just a little shy shit. Like, if I know one of my characters would be PERFECT to help someone’s plot out…. Yeah I’ll be to shy to say anything.  

This is also the reason why you guys hardly see me on the main skype chat, or I rarely appear on the chatzy type events. I suck at those and it’s not because I’m not around because unless I’m at work I’m like always around haha. I would have made it a second challenge but it’s all for the same reasonnnn. I don’t know something about being the first scares the shit out of me. I’m a very happy second haha.

I’m trying to work on this I promisseeee.

Pick one of your characters and talk about their growth (we recommend choosing an older character, but it’s up to you! ) What about their story has surprised you? What are you proud of? How have they changed from their original inception to now?

I did Sally last time for this one and honestly I can definitely go for her again, but I’ll switch it up!!

We are going to go with my precious Anastasia :DD

Ana right now is the one going through the most changes within my little army of babes, and I have to say I’m very excited about that!!!! When I first got her, Anastasia was very set in her ways, and it isn’t to say that she still isn’t, but she’s growing very tired. She always had a strong head about her, and an iron will that could hardly gain a scratch to it. People knew better than to mess with Ana. She was mommy’s perfect little angel, always did as she was told, never spoke back and thrived to make sure she was all her mother wanted her to be. 

All Anastasia wanted was to make she was the epitome of perfection. 

Well, she’s falling apart right now, and I am so FREAKING HAPPY ABOUT THAT!!!! IT WAS ABOUT TIME!!!!! (wow I sound like a horrible mun to my baby haha) A huge part of that all has to do with her panic attacks. Before, they were manageable. Anastasia had them maybe once or twice a month and was able to pick herself right up after they occurred. Of course, NO ONE knew about them too. Welps, THEY ALL DO NOW and they are getting far too much for her to handle so she truly is growing drained. I’m beginning to watch that strong ironed will chip apart piece by piece. Then THENN she went and spoke back TO HER MOTHER!!!!! That really is huge as far as Anastasia is concerned haha. When I saw that I was like WHAAATTT SINCE WHEN?!?! Yeah, she’s chipping apart and I think it’s honestly for her best because I feel like she’s beginning to realize that she needs to detach and become her own person, not the image her mother holds for her.  I’m excited to see where she goes and maybe she’ll let me touch her soft side (because she has one!!) but I never know with her she’s such a stubborn little asshole so who knows.

Pick another character and talk a little about where you WANT them to go. What are your plans for them for the rest of the year?

I think I spoke about two of my babes for this one last time? Yeah I did!! Raksha and Anastasia haha. I’m going to talk about Violet this time around, my newest addition.

Violet reminds me a lot of Sally. They’re both shy and both suppress their own magic. Sally however did it because her own magic terrified her, Violet on the other hand does it because she was scared of the retribution that came with using them. Vi isn’t scared of her own magic, but she has repressed it so much she doesn’t know how to use it to its fullest potential. In fact, if she could get rid of them all together I bet she’d actually do it. She wants to be “normal” because she believes that being without magic is what constitutes one as being “normal”.

Yeah, no I don’t want that for her. I want her to realize the gifts she has and all that hidden potential she’s running away from. Violet is very aware that she now lives in a town where magic is acceptable, but she is so scarred from her past that I really feel like she almost has ptsd when she uses her magic. She just assumes the absolute WORSE. I want her to grow out of that. There is so much I can tap into with Violet, but in order for that to be done I need her protective shell to be broken!!! So, that is my goal for my little Violet love. Force her into situations where she needs to use her magic and into situations where she has to be social with people she NEVER would’ve back home.  

It’ll be a process for sure because Violet is SO stubborn, but I’m very excited to see what kind of person she’ll turn into once she realizes that her magic isn’t like the root of all evil and the bane of her own existence.

OPTIONAL (REQUIRED FOR THOSE WHO DIDN’T DO THE LAST QUESTIONNAIRE): In terms of your own writing, identify 1-3 strengths and talk about why you think it’s one of your strengths.

Gahh my stengths freaakkk. I always think about what I need to improve that I can’t ever place my own strengths haha.

Description/details: I’m pretty sure I mentioned this one last time butttt it’s always the only one I can think of haha. The reason being is that I LOVE LOVE LOVVEEEE describing shit!!! That was why I picked up Minnie and made her a nurse because I wanted to have the opportunity to describe my profession out in writing. Sally’s magic, I LOVE ITTTT because I get to write out her sceneries in SO MUCH DETAIL, to be honest that was the main reason I make her a part of her own visions so that way I can describe shit through her point of view. I made her an empath too so that way I had an excuse to go ahead and describe emotions. I’m just a description junkieee.

OPTIONAL (REQUIRED FOR THOSE WHO DIDN’T DO THE LAST QUESTIONNAIRE): In terms of your own writing, identify 1-3 strengths and talk about why you think it’s one of your strengths. 

Guys, you are going to see my beautiful laziness becaussee I will post the same three reasons I post last time. In my defense, I really do feel that they are still the same for me. Again, some of my laziness could be talking there too haha.

Body Placement: Okay, so remember how for this I mentioned that headcanon I had for Ellie??? You know the one where she always carries a purse because of all her medications and the fact that she needs a first aid kit with her?? Yeah, how many times have you guys seen this purse??? NEVER. Yeah, so I am STILL working on this. Then I went ahead and did a similar type of headcanon with Minnie and said that she constantly hand sanitizes her hand. Yeap. I forget that one too, or when I do I always forget that you know that little bottle of hand sanitizer needs to go somewhere because it’s not going to vanish into thin air. This is still a working progress.    Cutting: If you haven’t noticed already I tend to write A LOT, and I know that hugely has to do with the fact that I get so into voicing my characters. While I know that that isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it sort of is at the same time because it takes away from everything else my character can be doing.  Then to top it off when I am realizing that my reply is super long, I have trouble trying to figure out what I can cut off so that I can add other aspects. The thing is my characters never want me to cut anything off! So it leaves me almost half-assing my endings because I needed to wrap it up somewhere! (That one was literally copy and paste hehe but it still remains the same xD I think I’ve improved a little bit though….) Dialogue: Yeah, wow I am still working on this one. My problem is still the same, that I answer everything when in reality like how many times do I do that myself?? Never. In a conversation things get cut off, like I need to cut things off haha. I tend to be more aware of this with my shy babes. Like when I’m on Sally and Violet I keep telling myself “they are fucking SHY Kiara!!! They aren’t suppose TO TALK A LOT!!” I swear that is my daily mental conversation with myself haha.  You know who I notice this a lot on too?? Ellie and Minnie and I guess it’s because they are the opposite. Like Ellie, holy shit she’ll talk your ear off if you don’t stop her, but that’s just her personality so I find myself answering every little thing. Then Minnie she’s polite and sweet so she’d find it rude if she didn’t answer every little thing.

IF YOU DID THE LAST QUESTIONNAIRE: Alright, now pick an item from the Wishlist you completed in January that you’ve started to pursue. How far are you from completing this goal? Talk about the steps you took to make it happen.

Ellie’s turn!!!!!! :DD

In my wishlist I had mentioned wanting Ellie to have a bit of stay in the hospital, whether it be because she finally got convinced to do chemo (which I still want!! SOMEONE CONVINCE HER), or because she was going to be in need of surgery related to something her cancer messed up. The second one is the WINNER. Ellie is going to be getting surgery to get her spleen removed since it has enlarged due to her cancer. (Thank you Bee!!!!!)

The steps, so I had to actually first look up what kind of surgery could happen with the type of surgery Ellie has. It was there where I found out she could have splenomegaly, which would require the removal of her spleen as treatment. There was my surgery. MK had actually suggested Bee’s character Tibbs. I can’t remember how we got to that point, but MK did haha and I was like yeaasss. Plus, Tibbs is a GORGEOUS doctor so like why not!!!! After a mental conversation with myself to suck up my shyness and just contact her, I told Bee about my idea and she so kindly said yeeaasss.

So there we are, Ellie will be getting her surgery, and a stay in the hospital :DD It’s currently in the works haha.   

IF YOU DID THE LAST QUESTIONNAIRE: Pick another item on your wishlist that hasn’t happened yet. We’re gonna do a MOCK-PLOT!!! Pick a character who could help with this goal, and plan at least three threads or “steps” that would kick-start this plot. Need help? Remember to look at the plotting tips and tricks! See the end of this questionnaire for an example. You do not have to follow through with the plot as you planned it here– but it can kickstart brainstorming and get you thinking in terms of cause/effect. 

I can actually still use Ellie for this too :DD

Ellie and her Chemo

Thread one: Ellie gets very sick and winds up in the hospital, whether it be because she forgot to receive a transfusion so she ends up really bad, or very physically sick because she caught an infection like pneumonia, which is very common for her sort of cancer. Someone helps her to the hospital. (Celia, or Stan, or Jane or Terk) 

Thread two: Once in the hospital it gets told that her cancer is only getting worse, ya know since Ellie isn’t doing the best in keeping up with it, or even TRYING to get rid of it. Chemotherapy can be brought up as an option. (The doctors can tell her this: Tibbs, or Sweet)

Thread three:  Ellie, of course because she’s Ellie will say no since she thinks it’s pointless at this point. This is where she needs a strong convincing push. (Celia, or Stan, or Jane, or Terk)

Thread four: Ellie gets convinced and home girl can start her chemo!!! (Tibbs or Sweet can help her with her chemo therapy process if they’d like. Celia/Stan/Jane/Terk can be frequent visitors!!)

Anastasia and Therapy

Thread one: Someone finds out she’s having a lot more panic attacks than she’s letting on and are only getting worse. (Zella or even Ariel)

Thread two: One of her panic attacks end up bad that she’s rushed to the hospital and of course at this point her mom is going to get notified. (Zella or even Ariel can send her to the hospital, Bo, Tibbs, or Sweets can be the ones there when she’s at the hospital and they can notify her mom)

Thread three: Milla finds out about Ana’s panic attacks. Dun dun DUNNNN. (Milla and if Zella wants to be a part of that conversation she can toooo)

Thread four: Therapy is medically suggested. (Any of the healthcare people can suggest this and if she gets the therapy James can be her therapist)

Finally: write a NEW wish list for the upcoming half of the year. It’s fine if you use a lot from your previous wish list if you still haven’t completed them and you still want to! 

Sally: I want Sally to help someone out with her magic!!!! She needs to feel a little more proud of her gift and she’ll feel that way if she can see that her magic can actually do GOOD. So, she can help retrieve memories because she can see the past!! Or answer any future questions because she can see the future!!! Look, Sally can basically see anythinggg USE HERR. Also, also, ALSO I have one more neat trick I want to do with her magic development wise and it’s her being able to project her visions so that the other person can see them as well, same goes for her empathy that she can project the emotions.

 I kind of did Ellie and Anastsia alreadyy.

Dash: He is in a happy place right now and he’s a teenager so like that can’t stay forever so, ruin him I guess xD. I want him to have a full teenage experience!!! Heart broken, heart unbroken after it got broken, maybe he could break a heart, make him question his sexuality because I doubt homeboy is completely straight tbh, get him into an accident. The list is endlesssss.

Violet: I kind of did her too but force her into more experiences where she needs to use her magic. I want her to have FRIENDSSS. She has got ZERO. Maybe even a BEST-FRIEND!!!! She sadly, NEVER had one of those. Someone could threaten to hurt her brothers!!! She would go crazy!!! She is very protective of them.

Bonnie: God, Bonnie. All I ask in regards for her is that somehow someone help me add some sustenance to her!!! My god she is so SHALLOW. I don’t even know how this could be done, but I beg someone help me with this MISSION!!!!

Raksha: My wolfie is pregnant and she isn’t aware of this. I mean deep, deep, DEEP down she is but she won’t accept it. Someone help her bring this to light haha and then once it is brought to light help her accept it!!!

Minnie: I will happily take any and all hospital-like thread for her!!!! If anyone needs a nurse Minnie is totally available!!! :DD

[doomandgloomfromthetomb]

The High Llamas - Union Chapel, London, England, January 28, 2017

Kind of rare to come across live Llamas, so thanks to Big O for this recording of a recent London gig, which showcases the band’s last LP, Here Come The Rattling Trees. There are also plenty of old favorites from the past 25 years or so, including the closing “Track Goes By,” which is on my shortlist for Best Song Ever. 

And hey, since Junkmedia is no more, I’m reprinting my 10-year-old interview with head High Llama Sean O’Hagan here. Check it. 

Bands – and trends – come and go, these days more rapidly than ever before. And then there's the High Llamas, who over the course of 15-plus years and eight albums have floated high above the fray, making music that's both enormously accessible and steadfastly exploratory. Once the first note of a High Llamas record comes spiraling out of your headphones, you're in Llama Land—a musical environment filled with wonderfully inventive melodies, soaring string arrangements and curiously cryptic storytelling. By sticking to their singular musical script, the band has maintained a close-to-perfect track record. Their latest, Can Cladders (Drag City), sees no drop-off in quality or inspiration. Over thirteen bubbling, infectious songs, the band creates another otherworldly masterpiece. We chatted with head High Llama Sean O'Hagan about jazz harpists, lazy music critics (gulp!) and Brazilian iconoclasts, among other topics.

OK, you've stumped me: What in God's name are Can Cladders?

It's from you guys in the US. You sold aluminum cladding in the 60s to the upper working classes and the song features one of those salesmen. I coined the word (term, phrase) and I liked it.

This new album is the band's eighth, and over the years you've managed to keep the lineup remarkably stable – a real rarity, it seems. What's the secret to keeping a band together over such a long period of time?

We have a friendship that extends beyond music. We have also been berated in the UK for not giving up or getting on board as a guitar band (or a whatever the moment in Britain happens to be). We just follow the Llama line and suffer and then benefit for not changing. When you go through that you stick together. We would not dream of changing the lineup. We have very different lives outside the band and get together every now and again, make a record or tour. We articulate this music to each other.

Can Cladders is notable for its prominent addition of female vocals. Obviously you've worked with female vocalists in the past, but this seems a little different than previous outings. What led you in this direction

Listening to Laura Nyro albums, the ones she made with Labelle, listening to Minnie Ripperton's first band The Gems, as well as Laurie label girl groups and the Chiffons. I met Winnie Asmah, Sylvia Arthur and Tania Degale while working on the Musical Wheel project. They sing gospel and R&B. I played them these records, which surprised them. I worked hard with them and they finally came to love these moments in black music history. It was good to finally work with gospel singers because it's music that meant a lot to me over the years.

One thing that's remained fairly constant on High Llamas records is the abundance of beautiful string arrangements. They always seem like integral parts of the songs, rather than mere ornamentation (as on a lot of "string-laden" pop music). What's the key to making strings really work in the High Llamas' music? Is there anyone else out there these days that you think is doing string arrangements well?

I love writing vibrant and puzzling chord changes, and it just so happens that when you orchestrate those changes they just jump up. Strings bring good changes alive. The counter point tunes you lay over the changes literally suggest themselves. One good line immediately points to a developing possibility, which sometimes works – and when it does it really sounds like you know what you are doing. Right now the other arranger I love is Bertrand Burgalet from Paris. Louis Philip, another French guy working in the UK, is a great string writer. I loved Bernard Hermann on strings as well as brass. Pierro Piccioni from Italy, Michel Legrand and David Whittaker - all these guys work in films.

A quick glance through the High Llamas press coverage over the years shows that writers are constantly referring to the band as Beach Boys-esque or Bacharach-esque. Do you think these comparisons are apt? Or at this point is it just lazy journalism? Are there any artists/genres/albums that have played a big part in the High Llamas music that never get mentioned?

Well, I of course love the Beach Boys and have been emphatically influenced by them and Bacharach. But yes, very lazy journalism has all but ruined us. When the guys who take a pop at you and write their mush, they do it with an aggression that they feel comfortable with because we are "nice intellectual guys" who will not bite back. It's a tragedy: Rob Alum (drummer) and I started out in life as construction workers and never went to college.If we stayed with the Beach Boys we would be lazy. But have they (the press) never heard Jorgé Ben or Milton Nascimento/Lo Borges or Shuggie Otis or Mingus or Benjamin Britten, Bob Lind, Francois Du Rubaix? They and many more are the stuff we listen to [and are influenced by]. What's wrong with that? Thank you for giving me the stage for a moment. The Brazilian guys Caetano [Veloso] and Lo Borges are important. They wrote advanced pop without sounding like hacks. [Ennio] Morricone wrote pop arrangements in "B" movies that I constantly refer to. Gainsbourg had a way with gritty pop that again had great arrangements. You see it's not about being cool and being invited to the party. It's about chords. That's what keeps me happy. And outside music, I adhere to community responsibility and the harassment of immoral politics with militancy. I am not interested in after shows. A rant, I know, but most of the critics who plague us are shallow and lazy and have no politics apart from the politics of self-gratification.

Is it my imagination, or is there a narrative thread running through Can Cladders? Or at least a conceptual unity to the lyrics? Is it all about jazz harpist Dorothy Ashby? Can you tell me a bit about how she made it into the cast of characters on this album?

Dorothy Ashby occupied my mind for a while and I had to write about her. The range of sound she used and the free form art she practiced was very affecting and for a few weeks I just thought she made the best sound around. I was DJing and played her stuff and the reaction was profound. Can Cladders has a bit of a narrative, aspects of people finding a place in rural England mostly, and that seems to include asylum seekers. I write about hopeless cases, but fondly. Dorothy slipped in there as a positive lighter moment.

One thing that strikes me about all of your records is how elegant and perfectly-put-together they sound. Would you consider yourself a perfectionist?

Nowhere near as perfectionist as one might think. I just stick to what I know and do not clutter the sound with unworkable extra baggage. I am a bit of a one trick pony but I can only think that I've reinvented the trick a few times unwittingly. Elegant, maybe. I love texture and harmony. My enemies think I'm precious. No way. I'm a mess at home and spend most of my time looking after my two great children, playing a lot of football and then entering the world of writing where I invoke those who have influenced my band and try to invent. Mostly that's a textured, haunting time for me, alone at the piano or with a nylon acoustic guitar.

What are your plans for taking Can Cladders to the stage? Is there a US tour in the works? Is it a challenge, once you've completed the album, to translate such intricate songs to live performance?

The challenge is always welcome. I hope America will like the LP and the promoters who took a chance on us a few years back will want to see us back in the US. We would so love to tour again. I consider myself lucky each time we do it. So keep your fingers crossed for it to happen.