#so many of my shipping problems could be solved if they all moved into the same house and dated each other

[thecheshirerat]

On TAZ-

Wow that sounds like I’m about to summarize some sort of discourse but I promise I’m not. I guess I’ll say that I really like this show and I will keep listening even if my worst fears come to pass, so keep that in mind!

For reference, I started listening near the end of Amnesty.

I’ve noticed, with the past few arcs- really since Ethersea- the narratives have just… not been fulfilling their promises, so to speak. They’ve been placing a lot of guns that don’t go off. What I mean by that is, the characters are great. Excellent, really. Lady Godwin? HELL YES. Emerich Dreadway? Fuck yeah! And so on! And the settings and premises have been epic- the goofiness and also horrifying nature of Engrave, the mad and thrilling world of Steeplechase- these things are COOL AS FUCK.

and then the actual narratives keep flopping?

And honestly, I notice it most in the endings, because you can really tell when an ending doesn’t land. You feel the sense of disappointment. But with vs. Dracula, for example, I could kinda see leading up to it that the ending couldn’t really BE anything special, because they lowkey didn’t set themselves up for it.

They spent the campaign fucking around in Engrave, finding clues and solving problems and not really experiencing any particularly meaningful character arcs or growth or, idk, forming relationships? So there wasn’t much to pay off, I’m not gonna lie!

Of course it doesn’t feel quite as dissatisfying when you’re in the thick of it, because they’re funny and the stuff is cool and- oh hey! Lady Godwin’s been turned into a werehorse against her will?? that’s got some real potential for a LOT of allegories and exploration of some fun character development! And then it’s kinda played as a joke. And then they do that again and again.

And they actually said that that was a move they made intentionally, in the TTAZZ. I’m not quoting them perfectly here, this is from memory, but I do remember them mentioning that they wanted lighthearted comedy without the burden of real life story stuff. And I get that, honestly, but… it’s not the choice I would’ve made. I do think you can keep a lighthearted tone while also, idk, forming relationships and wholesomely engaging with some amount of emotion. And sometimes going way too deep is funny as a tone shift!

But I digress. One thing that’s also popped out to me is the almost complete lack of any kind of romantic storyline or even references. This becomes obvious if you’re in a fandom because everyone is always dying to ship SOMEONE, and you can tell when people are really getting desperate. I don’t blame them for not wanting to roleplay romance with their family, and I do think stories lacking romance are COOL and SHOULD BE ENCOURAGED!

However if you can’t find ANYBODY to ship together… that may mean you just don’t have character bonds. The growing popularity of the PC polycule is interesting to me; I wonder if it’s partially because

a) none of the pcs have significant relationships outside of their party and

b) even within the party, there doesn’t seem to be much chemistry between any given pair of characters…? I hope I’m making my point well here- the PCs all seem equally close and have more or less the same relationship to all of their compatriots with little distinction, meaning, essentially, no shipping fodder that doesn’t involve just all of ‘em.

Either way, it makes me wonder if I can blame the “Graduation has too many NPCs!” critique. They really stopped giving the parties tag-along main NPCs after graduation, with the exception of maybe.. Urchin? Kodira? Shlabethany? Poppy? and even they get relatively little “screen” time. Steeplechase has great NPCs, I love them to death, but none of the PCs seem to ever have one on one conversations with NPCs or each other that do not explicitly focus on the plot. And I think that’s part of why the characters feel so underdeveloped despite having spent a lot of time with them- because in this character-driven genre, we get very little insight into their feelings or motivations or even their rudimentary backstories.

I started watching Fantasy High recently and it made me realize a couple things about TAZ.

1) Recently, TAZ has sooo few core NPCs, and it’s weird that the characters aren’t doing more one-on-one purely character based scenes. And that makes it really tough to develop them.

2) TAZ is- and I should have realized this before- one of many good dnd podcasts. They’re probably looking for a niche they can master.

And it sounds like they’re trying to get back to that old “Here there be Gerblins!” energy. They’ve referenced it so many times in recent TTAZZes- they wanted to be job-focused, allowing story stuff to happen organically, so they tried a more open world vibe with Ethersea. They wanted to be less afraid to kill stuff, so they tried playing criminals (and were still afraid to kill stuff). They wanted to be silly and light on character, as they tackled with taz vs dracula. Now they’re trying to bring in the silly cartoon vibe with Abnimals. I think they’re trying to make that family-friendly, funny and goofy show their niche. Something other actual plays can’t be better at them at.

And honestly it kinda makes me sad, that they keep trying to go back to Balance while ignoring everything they learned during it. Because I loved Dust. Because I loved Amnesty. Because I loved Ethersea. I loved these past arcs! But they keep doing their brilliant characters dirty for some reason!!! And i don’t know why!!!!

You know that meme about people who ask questions in movies and then the person responds “Have you ever been to a movie before? You watch them and the information is revealed.” There have been so many times in TAZ recently where information has Not been revealed and if they keep doing it the audience will stop bothering to suspend their disbelief, because the trust just isn’t there.

What is Montrose’s deal? What on earth was Carmine Denton’s whole thing? Tell me more about Zoox’s feelings, about Devo’s past, about Amber’s future. Show me how Lady Godwin feels about the body horror that is her life- like, seriously! WHY DID WE HAVE TO COMPLETELY DISMISS THE OPPORTUNITY TO DISCUSS GENERATIONAL TRAUMA IN MUTT’S LIFE FOR A JOKE??

Do you remember in Steeplechase where the boys were getting medical attention or something- i don’t remember, but they were all in one room and only talking about The Plot. And Poppy literally banged on the door (speaking for both Justin and me, tbh) and was like “does anyone want to share any feeeeelings??” and they were like NOPE! and they moved on!!

like. cmon. you can’t just put a character like montrose out there and then leave them severely underdeveloped to the point that what would be interesting in proper context, with audience insight, becomes confusing and chaotic.

I just wish they would take their stories as seriously as we do.

It feels to me like they don’t believe in themselves, and it makes me sad. Maybe they didn’t get the response they wanted from Ethersea and so they’ve been trying to pivot, hoping to recapture whatever it was that earned them a loyal audience.

Again, I love them. They’re so funny and I’ll keep listening until the day they stop making this show, and when it happens I’ll cry.

But i KNOW they have more in them. Remember the “we’ll grow gills” monologue from Justin in the Prologues? Remember Travis’s SOLID acting with Devo? Or his awesome choice to give Lyndon/Beef a clearly delineated work/irl identity? His excellent narration and prose? Remember when Montrose described being lonely?! Remember all those moments where Shit Got Real and you cared??? The nanofather said some dope shit! dracula and victor and sweater dracula had such a wild dynamic! Clint’s acting in Dust 2- I can’t remember the characters name right now- was ASTOUNDING, I genuinely didn’t know he had that in him and it blew me away!

I’m not referencing Balance on purpose, both because the fandom is way to hung up on it and because I want to prove that you don’t even have to look at Balance, or even Post-Balance arcs, to see this kind of good cool stuff!

GAAAAAAAGHHHH!!! I want them to have fun. But also. We’re starving out here.

[the-sleepy-conductor]

Hot take that will probably earn me a ticket to the guillotine:

I've seen a lot of discourse going around all over the place about Blankshipping and Blankshippers in general, and after thinking about this for almost a whole year, I just have to get this out.

Can we please just stop the hostility and threats to Blankshippers?

If you do not want Blankshippers to interact with your content, you can say so politely, without threatening people we don't know behind a screen. Set boundaries in an intro post for instance, but don't attack anyone while doing so.

Lately I have seen literal death threats towards Blankshippers, with a good number of them being insanely graphic. I don't care if it's in a "joking" manner, that is never ok. So many people comment about how the Submas community has been growing toxic and problematic and such, and these same people are out here posting death threats to people they don't even know simply for just existing in the Submas community. In what world is that not toxic itself?

Are you allowed to feel uncomfortable about Blankshipping and proshipping? Yes. Is it ok to insult, threaten, and ridicule those who participate in making such content? Absolutely not.

If Blankshipping makes you uncomfortable or if the content is upsetting or triggering to you, block the tag and move on. Please do not harass or berate the original poster, it solves absolutely nothing. The internet is for everyone to use and it will not revolve around others' preferences. It is up to you to curate your own experience.

For example, I have the Submas Angst tag blocked because sometimes having gut-wrenching angst suddenly pop up in my face while I'm scrolling can make an already bad mood worse. So I filter the tag so I get a warning on a post with that tag, so if I don't feel like seeing it, it's as easy as that. Do I harass the original poster for posting content that could potentially make me upset? No!

Speaking of tags, I feel like as long as content is tagged appropriately, there shouldn't be a problem. As long as the original poster makes an attempt to tag things accordingly, then that should be perfectly fine. And again, as for interaction, kindly state your boundaries, everyone is human just like you and sending threats directed at certain individuals for what they take interest in is downright wrong. This applies to Blankshipping, as long as content is tagged as Blankshipping, especially if it's NSFW, then there is no problem. As far as I know, I've only had to block one Blankshipper and that was because they kept creating several different accounts and following me one by one, all of which had NSFW Blankshipping as the profile picture, and I repeatedly told them to stop. That being said, not all Blankshippers are bad.

That being said, do I enjoy Blankshipping or consume such content? No. In fact it makes me very uncomfortable but I have no issues whatsoever when it comes to Blankshippers interacting with what little content I have made. However, I have made it very clear I do not want my content tagged as Blankshipping. They can like and reblog if they want, but as long as there's no Blankshipping tags, we're all cool here.

Please understand that nine times out of ten, Blankshippers are not going to shove Blankshipping content in your face like you think they will. They most likely have a whole separate account dedicated to that ship, and a different account for whatever else they want. There's no need to act like folks who "secretly" have a Blankshipping account have committed a war crime. What harm is being done?

Long story short, can we please stop harassing each other? Not just over Blankshipping, but in general? Especially when it comes to gatekeeping the twins, I don't know why there's been so many people doing that lately. But my overall point is, can everyone please just stop fighting? I'm not trying to be a pick-me or whatever you may want to call it, it's just exhausting and draining seeing so many threats aimed at so many different people. I know this essay is technically controversial within this community but I can't keep my silence anymore.

[dptarotproject]

Hello friends. This is mod Jay coming at you barely alive with another update that includes an unfortunate delay. This should be the last one, and if it’s not, I’ll implode like a dying star in a major explosion that takes out everything around me and turns me into a blackhole that sucks in the debris and anything else that crosses my path. We’ve been working with this printing company and I am choosing to believe that they are trying their best but they lack communication and efficiency. We’ve told you a bit about what’s going on, the file transfer and formatting issues along with some mod health issues causing some delays but please believe me when I say we are doing our absolute best. Honestly, starting this project was kinda on a whim and most of the Mods have not moderated for a project of this scope, size or style, before. We did not know what we were signing up for. The printing company usually takes a few days to reply to the emails I send them and oftentimes their replies are vague and don’t actually answer the question or solve the problem I was contacting them about. They advertise a 14 day turn around, but that was misleading as it’s 14 days after FINAL approval, not initial approval.

What their provided timeline includes ✅ :

- time in the manufacturing process after final proof approval and before shipping

What their timeline doesn’t include ��� :

- file transfer

- them coming back with feedback on the files

- adjustments we had to make to the files to fit their guidelines

- file transfer again

- file approval on their end to make the proofs

- our team approving the proof

- test pack manufacturing

- test pack shipping

- approval of final proofs once test pack received

- shipping of bulk order to me

- all the weekends/non work days that occur

- the time it takes for them to respond to emails when our team provides the necessary changes

Now we finally have a test deck on the way (that should arrive Wednesday according to the tracking information provided to me) and I’ll make another post when it arrives with some pictures. I’m out of town right now but I have a friend who will be picking up the package for me and taking some pictures so we can share the pictures with you as soon as possible.

Unfortunately it’s another 14 BUSINESS days until I get the bulk order SHIPPED to me, an estimation of about a week delivery time from there (based on how long shipping took from the printing company to me for the test pack BUT IT MAY BE LONGER AS THIS IS GOING TO BE A MUCH LARGER PACKAGE) and once that finally arrives I can ship them out to you guys.

If I could go back in time I probably would tell us to use a different printing company but unfortunately it’s too late to go with someone else. In the end we’ll wind up with a great product in my opinion but it’s been hard time getting there. I’m frustrated, and I’m sure many of you are as well. I get it, but they ARE coming.

Updated timeline: I plan to have everything shipped out by the end of July (Assuming the most recent information I got from the printers is accurate). I know that's like 8 weeks later than was originally communicated to ya’ll and I can’t express enough how sorry I am about all of these delays. It’s shit. It’s all a big flaming pile of shit. And I’m tired. So so tired. I see the light though! Now, is it the light at the end of the tunnel? Or is it heaven’s gate or hell’s fire? I don’t know. But we’re moving towards it together, hand in trembling, clenched, sweaty hand.

Thank you for your patience at this time and once again I am so sorry for all of these delays we’ve been facing. Another update will be posted on the tumblr and discord when the decks are shipped out!

Phazer loves you!!

[crienselt]

So I finished Oathbound last week (librarian perk in that we get the books early so they can be cataloged, and it was just going to be sitting there waiting for its shelf date. I mean, how could I not read it?), and I'm really looking forward to seeing how others feel about it because I think...I think I might be disappointed by it? Spoilers below.

I mean, I absolutely love Tracy's writing. It is so beautiful and engrossing and impactful. I still love Bree and will follow this girl off of any and every cliff, and I adore the rest of the cast with my whole heart. The newbies were great, as is the world expansion/deepening. The plot line of the missing girls was excellent and a very much welcome inclusion.

But...but I think I could tell that this book was not the original plan. None of the problems from the last book were solved aside from Bree maybe getting stronger? I do appreciate her journey here, and I can see how Tracy would feel having her explore her power and self outside of the Order and Rootcrafters was necessary, but I just...I don't know. I feel like everyone else was basically left in a holding pattern as a result? I guess maybe I was over anticipating it--the story as a whole and/or certain things, specifically. Like I feel like we still don't know much of the Moraines outside of Nick's info dump. And we met Natasia, but she and Bree barely spoke. Tracy was hyping Valec and he was great, but I'm not sure what she's referencing in said hype posts. The mulitple POVs were okay, though I remain slightly disappointed that it didn't stay soley in Bree's voice yet also dissappointed we didn't get more out of these other POVs. Are we ever going to learn about the other scions powers? And if this was supposed to be the book where Nick beat the golden boy allegations, man, it failed. 

Don't get me wrong I love Nick. He is a great character. But this boy cannot do anything wrong. Even when he apparently makes mistakes, no, he doesn't because it turns out it was actually just him protecting Bree. The way he always seems to know everything (plot points) already and knows exactly what to say or do for Bree, while really terrific, it just...I don't know? Annoys me? Hurts their realism? Because, honestly, I know people like to say Sel seems old (the way he talks), but Nick is the one that really seems the least like a real teenage boy. Sel's pretentiousness and arrogance and mood swings are very much a young adult. Nick with all his purposeful language and careful consideration is very much not a teenage boy. I guess maybe we chalk that up to being raised to be a king? I don't know. It's all just too perfect. Which feels like a dumb complaint because it's good for Bree. She deserves it. But it all just makes me shrug where the romance comes in. 

Which irritates me because I really WANT to like Bree/Nick. But I just don't. That isn't to say that I dislike it because that's not true. I just find myself feeling very "meh" about it. Reading Legendborn, it felt like more of a plot point than a grand romance, especially as so much of that book is really spent seeding Bree/Sel. Then you have Bloodmarked, which definitely opened me to enjoying Bree/Sel and if nothing else, the narrative had me actively waiting for and wanting that kiss to happen when it did. 

Then along comes Oathbound. I can tell Tracy was really trying here--so many tropes!--but a lot of it felt reminiscent of stuff she already did with Sel. The bickering, the attempts to hold back and mask feelings/inability to vocalize said feelings, the post shower torso ogling, the cutting short of an intimate moment because no, not like this*, etc. And I guess I just don't know what to make of the magical aspect of it all? Maybe I'm just not into destiny ships? It's like, okay, happy for them, moving on with life now. Not a ship that captures my imagination the way I want to be captured.

(I will say it is funny because I came out of Bloodmarked not knowing how Tracy could write a book like that if BreeSel isn't endgame. And now I'm coming out of Oathbound not knowing how Tracy could write a book like that if BreeNick isn't endgame. The love triangle honestly feels over. But, hey, I've no clue where the story goes from here. Maybe the poly people will have the day. But this book definitely did not lay the groundwork for Nick to have romantic feelings for Sel either, so maybe not? I think we're in nakama territory with those two, personally. All of this is to assume Sel ever stops being demonic. Not sure how he comes back from this or where this story is going at all.)

*Gotta say it was something to see Sel cut short their kiss in Bloodmarked because of Nick only for demonic Sel to use said kiss to try and hurt Nick.

At any rate, I'll be sat for book 4. I'll just maybe expect less?

[jessfromonline]

For the LAST 4 HOURS of the Galactic & Going Rogue crowdfunder: A DESIGNER AMA! 🙋‍♀️

With just 4 hours left on the crowdfunder, I wanted to share a designer AMA/Q&A about Going Rogue and the Galactic & Going Rogue crowdfunder that I did on Bluesky! Questions come from a variety of folks, including FIST designer @claymorerpgs, @6fu's Grant Ironicus, and more!

In addition to the answers below, if you want to ask, just reblog this with your question, and I'll try my best to get to it before things wrap up at 9pm ET tonight!

"What would a dice (or other randomizer)-based version look like? Would it be able to achieve your design goals?"

"funnily enough, Galactic & Going Rogue already technically have more dice-based randomization than most Belonging Outside Belonging games.

the Places & NPC Trait tables are designed to allow for random rolls for inspiration (& the box set ships with dice!) but as far as resolution…

i do think randomized success/failure would run counter to the design goals (at least, for me.) so much about Going Rogue is about choosing to fail, choosing to create conflict between PCs & choosing to act out your PC's worst impulses, so that the narrative arc of their growth is satisfying and interesting, and so that that conflict is strong at the very beginning. random resolution doesn't prevent this, but i think does de-emphasize it. fundamentally, imo, GGR aren't about how you solve problems, but how you relate to each other & yourself in the process. random resolution moves that emphasis a bit more onto the "problem solving" aspect than i'd want.

AT THE SAME TIME…i have actually been experimenting with additional randomization for the print edition! specifically, the idea of more random inspiration tables for setting up your world and especially your 'plot structure'

i've yet to decide what if any of it will actually make it into the game, but i DO love randomization and i especially love random-table-inspiration and feel like GR could benefit from more of it, so we'll see!"

"how did you arrive at such a beautiful graphic design style!!"

"combined work of SO many people. illustrator @shoebill.moe, layout designer @oieuoshi.bsky.social, component artist @satelitesnaturales.bsky.social, graphic designer @crislv.bsky.social & i all had input & put our heads together + feedback from satah, riley, and more! what'd that look like?

first came the GGR cover itself, which was just me & @shoebill.moe going back and forth. it was inspired by David's previous going rogue 2e cover, Serj's galactic 2e cover, and cover of Dream Askew/Dream Apart especially! David was also very inspired by Noriyoshi Ohrai's Star Wars posters!

we went back & forth with sketches/drafts/feedback for awhile to hone in (THX DAVID!) then i chose @oieuoshi.bsky.social as layout artist from open applications. i LOVED his layout for his solo game Furrya, it served as a major touchstone! from there i began a style bible & made a Discord gc for the initial visual design team (david, uoshi, and @satelitesnaturales.bsky.social) & uoshi made a fantastic Pinterest with a combo of mostly Star Wars + cyberpunk visual refs, which i highlighted particular ones i liked from!

the style bible i made also included examples of layouts that i really liked and wanted to use as touchstones, AND layouts i didn't like but that would be easy traps to fall into with this aesthetic lol.

the gc became a place to discuss overall stylistic direction & to give & get feedback, but quickly became a bit overwhelming for our artists in terms of design-by-committee, so we broke back out into 1 on 1 chats. i also brought on @crislv.bsky.social to do graphic designer for the crowdfunding page & social media. cris received what became by the end a truly IMMENSE spreadsheet from me of specifications for graphics we needed (THX CRIS) & a team Dropbox folder used by all the artists + leandro (the video editor) which included tons of art from david, uoshi, and luna that cris was then able to both integrate into the crowdfunder graphics & to use as inspiration for her own original graphic design work for the crowdfunder.

the gc became a place to discuss overall stylistic direction & to give & get feedback, but quickly became a bit overwhelming for our artists in terms of design-by-committee, so we broke back out into 1 on 1 chats. i also brought on @crislv.bsky.social to do graphic designer for the crowdfunding page & social media. cris received what became by the end a truly IMMENSE spreadsheet from me of specifications for graphics we needed (THX CRIS) & a team Dropbox folder used by all the artists + leandro (the video editor) which included tons of art from david, uoshi, and luna that cris was then able to both integrate into the crowdfunder graphics & to use as inspiration for her own original graphic design work for the crowdfunder.

i used the Kickstarter pages for ASTROPRISMA by @crescentchimera.bsky.social, Triangle Agency by @hauntedtable.bsky.social, FIST Ultra Edition by question-asker @claymorerpgs.bsky.social, and previous @evilhat.bsky.social crowdfunders graphic designed by @crislv.bsky.social as reference a LOT!

working out the visual design & giving feedback & keeping it consistent & plugging the parts together took quite literally TENS OF THOUSANDS OF WORDS across discord, email, spreadsheet, gdocs, and more!

it was an IMMENSE effort but so so worth it & im SO lucky to have such great artists.

i cannot thank every one of them enough for being creative, flexible, receptive to feedback (often many many rounds, not for a lack of skill but due to me being a type-A art director) and more! truly can't recommend them all enough."

"uhhh ok what's something that surprised you about how people have used Going Rogue in terms of themes, stories, character?"

"i've seen 2 APs run Going Rogue as a comedy which. i truly could NOT have imagined when i made the game lmfao.

it's also fascinating to see the political spectrum of the GR campaigns i've heard of or played. i've come to see Going Rogue as a mirror. the pillar desires are a Rorschach test, in which, consistently, the thoughts & feelings players are having about whatever the current political moment is get very heavily expressed, and can be very different group to group and game to game!

one of the most fascinating things about playing it now vs. when 2e released (which was the first year of the Biden admin) is that seemingly, the players have changed. i am still mostly playing with like, anarchists and communists, but The Parliament pillar immediately gets pegged as the Democrats and hated so much more fervently, it's been REALLY striking, and that surprised me!"

"How did you find so many incredible collaborators for this project?"

"it was a HUGE priority to me to use this opportunity to pay ppl who had been involved w/ G/GR back when they were tiny��im lucky so many were so talented!

11 contributors previously worked on G or GR, or played them in an AP!

8 other contributors, i worked with on other projects!

the rest…

the remaining 8 were a combination of people i was friends with, open applications for 1 single role, or people that i cold-emailed with a prayer (or 2nd degree introduction)

i got 5+ ignored or rejected cold emails! but it was well-worth trying & eventually brought in some AMAZING talent!

i even had 1 contributor i was super excited for end up not being able to work on the project because WtC/Hsbro said it violated their non-compete (real bona fide D&D killer Galactic & Going Rogue. they're shaking in their boots.)"

[acourtofthought]

I visited Tumblr today and saw a lot of negative posts about Gwynriel x Eluciens. I think the books will have different interpretations from each one.

It could be Azriel's book or Elain's, only Sarah can say.

It's childish to keep arguing about who is wrong and who is not in relation to the next book.

In any case, we will have to wait a long time for Acotar to be ready, there will be 3 more books and not 2 and both the Eluciens and Gwynriel will have to wait to read each other's books.

The one who needs to be in a hurry is Sarah who is making us wait a long time for Acotar, my problem is her writing pace which is very slow.

Maybe I'm exaggerating, I think people are also afraid of releasing Acotar 5 now and having to wait another 5 years for Acotar and their favorite couple.

But let's hope that after Acotar 5, whether it's Elucien or Gwynriel, we'll have Acotar 6 and not an Acofas-style novel, and there won't be any other saga to get in the way.

Honest opinion: Az is at rock bottom, but I don't think we'll see rock bottom like Feyre and Nesta because the characters themselves don't need that to have a book exactly.

Azriel is in the process of accepting the cold, hard reality.

The important thing for me is to be able to say Gwynriel Endgame and Elucien Endgame and I'll be here waiting for the book of these two happy couples.

And Elain's book will develop what Sarah didn't do throughout Acotar.

To be honest, Elain had little development, but unfortunately Sarah also helped a lot, when she kept throwing her to solve later.

I bet her focus now will be on Elucien and she will also introduce more things for Gwynriel or vice versa.

I shouldn't stay here wanting someone else to see the same thing.

Note: Elain is also Feyre's aunt and sister and I bet Elain can have even more moments with her nephew in her book but little because she will also be busy with Lucien and her life.

They are fighting and now they see a book like Acofas and made a fuss over nothing.

Stay well and don't pay attention to all the hate you received, I think all the points are valid about who your opinions are about who the next book is. And in fact it could be anyone.

I agree, I think it could be either an Elucien or Gwynriel book. The main issue is we're only working with half the information necessary to make a truly educated guess which means anything is a possibility. Based off of the ACOTAR series alone I do think Elucien makes the most sense and I still feel Bloomsbury would not base the next ACOTAR book off of information given in an entirely different series. But depending on how much Sarah plans on incorporating crossover stuff into the next book it's possible that Gwynriel has the edge.

I don't think Elucien's are necessarily arguing "we're right and you need to respect that!". I think what they're saying is, "please stop acting like it's not a valid possibility for our ship to be next especially when using Elain / Lucien / Elucien tags." Because like you said, nobody except Sarah is Sarah so it's odd for anyone to claim something is happening or is definitely not happening until she confirms it.

I agree though, I think there is stress across the fandom over the thought of having to wait an extra 4+ years for your favorites story especially because it sounds like the book after this one is not going to be another ACOTAR book but a different project. Many have invested a lot of time and energy into this space but at some point they might want to move on. However, moving on is always a bit tricky when you are still waiting for resolution, and the never ending wait can be annoying. I personally don't know that it's enough to say "well, at least my ship is confirmed even if XYZ has a book first" because that's not enough for some. First off, it's not actually confirmation since Sarah could change her mind or ship when finally getting to a certain characters book. Second, not everyone is as invested in an Elucien story or a Gwynriel story so if their OTP is pushed down the road, I don't think they're actually going to be feeling happiness about it. Some might not care either way but there are those who will and I think we have to stop expecting everyone to "just be fine with whoever is next".

I do think Elain has had development but I think the main issue is that the other characters are struggling to acknowledge that change in her. Which is normal, it's like a parent who has a difficult time seeing their 18 year old as an adult ready to head off to college on their own after they've always looked at them as their child. I think that's why Elain does need a book though, I don't think the others are going to come around to the development she's already had until she has a POV. Her own POV isn't more important than anyone else's but I think her POV will be more important for her specific character in terms of the other characters finally starting to take her seriously, it's not going to happen without it.

Edit: thank you by the way ❤️

[sailorgrams]

I don't know who your Skyrim characters are but I feel like this is a good place to start! who are they? what's their deals? I came for your BG3 content and stayed for TES (You got me back into playing skyrim)

I am SO GLAD you asked friend!!! So glad, in fact, that I spent 5 hours drawing some new portraits to answer your ask!

Also I'm so so so glad you are enjoying my tes brainrot, it comes in waves 😂

SO, first things first, I do have an old post with brief little descriptions of 5 of my skyrim ocs located here as an introduction! It has their reference art as well, so I reccomend taking a peek! HOWEVER

I have prepared new art and some infodumps for your reading pleasure! Under the cut!

A full shot of all 7 of them, of course 💕

And now I shall go over each of them rq :]

Let me start w Aria

Her name is Aria Adventia, and she's an imperial from Cyrodiil. She's a young woman in her early 20s, and she is in Skyrim bc she has started a job as a Relic Hunter for the Dragonborn Museum in Solitude.

Growing up, she was raised on tales of treasure and adventure by her mum, a famous relic hunter and adventurer from Skingrad. When she was about 17, her mother left for a delve into some ruins, only to disappear entirely. Convinced that her mum is still alive somewhere and has gotten herself into something she had to hide from, Aria picked up adventuring as a way of connecting with and searching for her. She started off small, searching for peoples' lost items, and has recently moved to Skyrim to begin proper relic hunting.

Auryen, the curator of the Dragonborn Museum, is an uncle figure to her, having been close with her mother as both a friend and a commissioner of her work. He hired Aria to find relics for the museum as a way to keep an eye on her, and to help her in her journey as an adventurer.

Next up is Nox

Nox is a young (for a dunmer) elf from Morrowind. They're an orphan and grew up in the streets and the wilds, stealing and killing to survive. When the Red Mountain erupted, they fled to Solthseim, and have spent much of their time in and out of the jail in Raven Rock.

Nox is small for a dunmer, and is missing their right arm below the elbow, from a burglary gone wrong. They really only care about their own survival, having not had many friends over the course of their life.

The guard captain in Raven Rock wants to help them straighten their life out, but Nox has no desire to change their ways at the moment. They are considering sneaking aboard a ship to Skyrim, however, since the construction of Miraak's temple began.

Now we come to Valaya

Valaya is my newest oc, so she doesn't have a lot of solid info yet

She's an ex-Al'kir member from Hammerfell, come to Skyrim with her team to hunt down a "traitor". She feels that her group has gotten too off track, too aggressive and brazen in their search, and has decided to defect. Instead, Valaya has decided she would like to explore the new land she has been camping in, delving deep into ruins, and climbing tall mountains. She feels there is beauty to be found, even in this war torn country.

And now, the Dragonborn

Ylva, the Ghost of the North

The canon Dragonborn of my version

Large and imposing, Ylva is the stereotypical giant nord with a stubborn streak that could put a horker being told to leave its iceberg to shame. She towers over her companions, and many of the residents of Skyrim, and takes her role as the saviour of her people very seriously. She is in her late 30s, and has a stern disposition. She's very one-track-minded, but reserves kindness for her friends and those in need. She also has a soft spot for children and animals, and has been known to buy treats in the marketplaces specifically to hand out to them.

She typically carries a greataxe or greatsword, and prefers solving her problems with brute force.

She got her title for her pale skin and stark white hair, and for her deeds in the northern provinces. She has slain countless bandits and other threats to the people of Skyrim, and many witnesses believe she is a spirit risen from the Sea of Ghosts to protect them.

That being said, she is not a supporter of Ulfric Stormcloak or his rebellion. She believes that all who call Skyrim their home belong here, and to claim otherwise is ignorant and stupid. Ylva openly opposes Ulfric and has threatened to storm his palace more than once. After the threat of Alduin has been taken care of, she will likely side with the Empire to put a stop to the civil war, but she does not outright support them either.

We come to Castian

Castian, my beloved asshole 💕

Cas is a native bosmer from Valenwood. He is the oldest of my skyrim ocs, having reached adulthood long before the Great War.

Once upon a time, he had lived in a small village with his wife, young daughter, and the rest of his tribe. Then the Aldmeri Dominion came, and razed the village to the ground. While he was away in another village giving information to a rebel faction.

Upon discovering his family murdered, Cas swore vengence against the Dominion and the Thalmor specifically, and spent decades spying and running information to various rebel groups. Any time the Dominion got close, or destroyed a group he was helping, Castian fled to a new area and picked up with a new faction. Over time, he has become incredibly cunning and bitter, forming many alliances, but no real relationships.

Eventually, years after the Great War, he was chased clear north to Skyrim, where he was finally captured just north of the border while trying to broker an information trade with a camp of Stormcloaks. Rather than have him executed, the Thalmor wanted to make him suffer for all of the issues he had caused them since the seige of Valenwood. He was brought to the Abandoned Prison and tortured for weeks, where he was eventually left to die.

Unfortunately for them, Cas has an abnormal talent with magic for a bosmer, and was able to keep himself alive through dehydration and starvation via his skills in Restoration (and sheer spite). After about 2 weeks of being left to rot in a cell, healing the damage done to him by the agents and from his body wasting away, another adventurer was brought into the prison for interrogation. This new adventurer managed to break out of their cell, and ended up freeing Cas before taking their revenge on the Thalmor guards.

Cas avoided the conflict due to his weakened state, but when they were confronted by the head Justiciar, he unleashed all his pent up rage and pain in a massive fire spell, turning his tormenter to ash in a single blast.

Now, he is prowling Skyrim with the adventurer that rescued him, attacking any Thalmor he sees on sight. He joins up with the College of Winterhold eventually to lend his knowledge of Destruction and Restoration, and to hide when the Dominion start sending hunters after him again.

He is partly beholden to the Green Pact, but distance from his homeland, and situations where he would otherwise starve to death have him occasionally breaking the obligate carnivore diet he would normally uphold.

Time for The Boy ♥

Aiden Brighthollow, my sweet summer child

I have a lot of posts about him here lmao

Aiden is a young (early 20s) breton from a minor noble family in High Rock. The other members of his family are well versed in magic, as most bretons tend to be, and he has had MANY MANY tutors and experts attempt to teach him spellwork over the course of his life because of this. Unfortunately, Aiden does not have the same talent for magic as the rest of his siblings. In fact, he is incapable of casting spells at all! He has been a great frustration to his parents, and though they DO love him, they want him to stop being an embarrassment to the family.

Over the years, Aiden has become quite scholarly and adept with Alchemy and Enchanting in place of regular magic. He has even mastered the more delicate type of Enchanting work, and can easily craft staves for other magic users.

He has recently come to Skyrim to study at the College of Winterhold, partly to expand his knowledge, and partly to escape the disappointed stares of his family. Aiden is not at ALL versed in combat, however, and has to enlist the help of strong adventurers and mercenaries to travel the region. He always keeps a few Heal Other staves on hand to help out his companions, and crafts potions to help in and out of combat.

Aside from his skittish and anxious nature, he is very compassionate and empathetic, and constantly wants to help out people in need. He is unfortunately quite easy to take advantage of, because of this, and needs his companions to ensure they aren't swindled or tricked into dangerous work, much to their chagrin.

Also he is very short, even for a breton, and he is trans :]

And finally, Orphas

AND FINALLY

Last but certainly not least, my most specialest guy who I literally put in an au for every fandom I get into as well as many many others just for funsies

Orphas Aquarian

In this au, he is a redguard scholar come to Skyrim to study Dwemer ruins and even more specifically, the Falmer. He is fascinated by their ancient culture and the tragedy that befell them.

Orphas tends to be.... a little too brave for his own good, and often finds himself in situations where he got a little TOO close to the subject he was studying. That being said, he is adept with crossbows and dualwielding blades, and can USUALLY get himself back out of said situations with a little bit of ingenuity and finesse. I drew him here in dwarven armor, but he would normally prefer light armor or clothing. :]

AND THATS THE CREW! Thank you for coming to my ted talk I love all of these rascals dearly and would be happy to answer specific questions if you have any!

[halothenthehorns]

Chapter 7: OFFERING A DRAGON A DINNER PLATE

Jason took his turn next with a vague feeling of relief just to see Leo’s name again, finally something to expect he wasn’t completely wrong about, even a stupid pattern in a book. Hopefully, maybe, that meant they got to see what Leo was up to just this one bit longer and they’d finally see what he and Chiron were talking about!

He still politely looked around to Leo and asked casually, “sure you don’t want a turn on one of yours?”

Leo could have said yes, and then lit the book on fire to stop all this in its tracks, or just skipped every other word he didn't want said aloud.

He could have, but he didn’t. There was just something about these guys he trusted for no good reason. Probably insanity. He’d never trusted anyone. Now he was just letting a bunch of strangers skim along his brain, a place he hated to be, let alone share with commentary!

But, well, it’s not as if he had anything better to do. He’d only been here a few days and heard the talks and whispers nobody tried to hide, of another war coming even worse than the last, these guys had killed a Giant or something, plus there was his dragon. If he made enemies now, he’d never get a chance to take care of that machine that he didn’t see as a problem but everybody else clearly disagreed. He knew how to play Texas Hold’um, and right now he was keeping the ace up his sleeve and he’d deal with the consequences later when that was inevitably revealed. His life had never been private, everybody he’d ever met had taken one look at the pieces of paper covering the many screw ups of his past and decided they knew him.

These guys, they hadn’t done that.

So he shrugged, and waved Jason on, and went back to his plans, moving farther ahead than these guys still stuck in yesterday.

“HOW DID HE DIE?” LEO ASKED. “I mean Beckendorf.”

“Well I’m glad you didn’t mean me,” Percy said with an awkward smile.

“Why add more ghosts to my collection before they’ve even punched in,” Leo rolled his eyes.

Will Solace trudged ahead. “Explosion. Beckendorf and Percy Jackson blew up a cruise ship full of monsters. Beckendorf didn’t make it out.”

There was that name again—Percy Jackson, Annabeth’s missing boyfriend. That guy must’ve been into everything around here, Leo thought.

“Against his will,” Percy sighed.

“I only force you to eat your vegetables, don’t go dragging me into this,” Will sniffed, to nobody's amusement but Nico’s, and Hazel’s small laugh!

“Oh gods, now there’s two of them,” Percy groaned in defeat.

“So Beckendorf was pretty popular?” Leo asked. “I mean —before he blew up?”

“He was awesome,” Will agreed. “It was hard on the whole camp when he died. Jake—he became head counselor in the middle of the war. Same as I did, actually. Jake did his best, but he never wanted to be a leader. He just likes building stuff. Then after the war, things started to go wrong. Cabin Nine’s chariots blew up. Their automatons went haywire. Their inventions started to malfunction. It was like a curse, and eventually people started calling it that—the Curse of Cabin Nine. Then Jake had his accident—”

The campers sighed as they looked out the window for their family. It somehow felt more brutal to just be casually said out loud like that, instead of the whispers the rest of them heard. The Hephaestus cabin was well known for solving their own problems and coming to the others with triumph. It was hard to realize, put so bluntly, how bad things had gotten. How sad Beckendorf would be to hear of all this, and he wasn’t around to help fix it anymore.

“Which had something to do with the problem he mentioned,” Leo guessed.

“They’re working on it,” Will said without enthusiasm. “And here we are.”

“I don’t know why we used to call you an optimist, you’re being damn depressing right now,” Percy gave him a shrewd look, but there was something in his tone that approved more than he was saying. He knew he couldn’t have explained all that miserable crap any better.

“More points off my score huh?” Will nodded.

“Got to do it man,” Percy agreed.

The forge looked like a steam-powered locomotive had smashed into the Greek Parthenon and they had fused together. 

Annabeth’s face gleamed with interest at that comparison, she even smiled a bit. She looked kind of nice and like an actual princess instead of wanting to stab Leo for a change. He wouldn’t be surprised to see her and her siblings being comfortable in there at any rate.

White marble columns lined the soot-stained walls. Chimneys pumped smoke over an elaborate gable carved with a bunch of gods and monsters. The building sat at the edge of a stream, with several waterwheels turning a series of bronze gears. Leo heard machinery grinding inside, fires roaring, and hammers ringing on anvils.

They stepped through the doorway, and a dozen guys and girls who’d been working on various projects all froze. The noise died down to the roar of the forge and the click-click-click of gears and levers.

Leo scoffed, just like he had then. He couldn’t imagine getting distracted from a project he was invested in unless someone dragged him off. This little doodle was barely keeping his mind from racing back out into the woods where he really wanted to be, and he was over fifty pages in now.

“’Sup, guys,” Will said. “This is your new brother, Leo—um, what’s your last name?”

“Valdez.” Leo looked around at the other campers. Was he really related to all of them? His cousins came from some big families, but he’d always just had his mom—until she died.

Jason read that with a nasty catch in the back of his throat, and Leo instantly knew. His mom was dead too. Probably all of them either had a dead parent, or one they weren’t going to go around expecting birthday cards from. 

It was why they hadn’t treated his cryptic hints of the fire or his mom as anything new. Like a part of them, of every kid here half expected your life outside of here to be just as screwed up as theirs. Percy really had been right about him belonging here.

Kids came up and started shaking hands and introducing themselves. Their names blurred together: Shane, Christopher, Nyssa, Harley (yeah, like the motorcycle). Leo knew he’d never keep everybody straight. Too many of them. Too overwhelming.

“I keep saying we should walk around with name tags or something,” Will sighed.

“Hand stitched shirts,” Hazel agreed half-heartedly.

“We’d go through a dozen a day for some people,” Thalia shot Percy a very obvious look. “They’d never last,” she shook her head.

“I say we just carve our names into a block of wood and string them on our necks,” Jason said with a weird face like he wasn’t kidding.

“Like those wouldn’t get burned and lost just as fast! Do you want Grover threatening to chop off your limbs,” Percy sighed.

“The overwhelming thing is normal,” Annabeth told Leo and Hazel. “You two are lucky being here now, it’s even more hectic during the summer.”

“Great,” Leo said without even trying to pretend he meant it. He could tell Nyssa and Jake apart as of now and that was about it.

None of them looked like the others—all different face types, skin tone, hair color, height. You’d never think, Hey, look, it’s the Hephaestus Bunch! But they all had powerful hands, rough with calluses and stained with engine grease. Even little Harley, who couldn’t have been more than eight, looked like he could go six rounds with Chuck Norris without breaking a sweat.

That at least got a laugh out of some of them, no doubt with the following argument of who Chuck Norris was the demigod and or god of on a better day.

And all the kids shared a sad kind of seriousness. Their shoulders slumped like life had beaten them down pretty hard. Several looked like they’d been physically beaten up, too. Leo counted two arm slings, one pair of crutches, an eye patch, six Ace bandages, and about seven thousand Band-Aids.

“Well, all right!” Leo said. “I hear this is the party cabin!”

He at least got a faint smile from Percy, more than he’d gotten at the time.

“You sure are something Leo,” Jason said as if this weren’t a real surprise, just confirmation. He’d been called worse.

Nobody laughed. They all just stared at him.

Will Solace patted Leo’s shoulder. “I’ll leave you guys to get acquainted. Somebody show Leo to dinner when it’s time?”

“Nah man, they’re all just going to leave him to starve in the woods,” Thalia looked at him strangely.

“They’ve done that before if they lose track of someone, now I know where! Probably down in those tunnels,” Will frowned.

“Final verdicts on those tour guide skills?” Annabeth asked innocently, with all the confidence of putting a crown on her head.

“Will didn’t make Leo cry, I say he wins by default,” Nico smirked.

“And Annabeth gave Piper a knife, that’s worth way more cool points than he’ll get,” Percy protested.

“A cursed knife, clearly,” Nico sniffed.

“I say fire them both, as neither bothered to give out an actual map of the camp!” Thalia rolled her eyes. She was literally sitting next to a dusty box of them, apparently forgotten to time.

“I’m ignoring you guys now,” Jason decided before this escalated farther.

“I got it,” one of the girls said. Nyssa, Leo remembered.

She wore camo pants, a tank top that showed off her buffarms, and a red bandanna over a mop of dark hair. Except for the smiley-face Band-Aid on her chin, she looked like one of those female action heroes, like any second she was going to grab a machine gun and start mowing down evil aliens.

Hazel giggled softly at this, much to Leo’s pleasure. 

“Cool,” Leo said. “I always wanted a sister who could beat me up.”

“I believe that, you seem like a masochist with that mouth,” Thalia rolled her eyes.

“Only if you’re the one tying me up,” he grinned.

“Knock it off,” Thalia said with a sharp firmness.

Most of her hotness melted at that. Clearly the girl was not just joking about playing hard to get, and there was no fun if she wouldn’t play back, so he turned away for the last time. She was out of his league anyways.

Nyssa didn’t smile. “Come on, joker boy. I’ll show you around.”

“Between you and Harley being there, Camp might have a whole other problem,” Percy chuckled.

“I promise never to burn money, I’m not that kind of crazy,” Leo grinned.

Leo was no stranger to workshops. He’d grown up around grease monkeys and power tools. His mom used to joke that his first pacifier was a lug wrench. But he’d never seen any place like the camp forge.

One guy was working on a battle-ax. He kept testing the blade on a slab of concrete. Each time he swung, the ax cut into the slab like it was warm cheese, but the guy looked unsatisfied and went back to honing the edge.

“What’s he planning to kill with that thing?” Leo asked Nyssa. “A battleship?”

“You never know. Even with Celestial bronze—”

“That’s the metal?”

She nodded. “Mined from Mount Olympus itself. Extremely rare. Anyway, it usually disintegrates monsters on contact, but big powerful ones have notoriously tough hides. Drakons, for instances—”

“You mean dragons?”

“Similar species. You’ll learn the difference in monster fighting class.”

“Monster-fighting class. Yeah, I already got my black belt in that.”

“Lucky!” Percy laughed. “It took me years just to get out of beginners!”

“You’re still in intermediate,” Annabeth agreed.

“Oh come on, I should have at least earned a blue belt by now,” Percy said with no clue what he was talking about. He was pretty sure there was a blue belt anyways.

Annabeth just rolled her eyes and shook her head at imagining him doing kicks and flips with Leo in the yard later with a laugh.

She didn’t crack a smile. Leo hoped she wasn’t this serious all the time. His dad’s side of the family had to have some sense of humor, right?

Percy rubbed the back of his neck, somehow feeling guilty for laughing while the rest of those guys were so miserable.

They passed a couple of guys making a bronze windup toy. At least that’s what it looked like. It was a six-inch-tall centaur—half man, half horse—armed with a miniature bow.

One of the campers cranked the centaur’s tail, and it whirred to life. It galloped across the table, yelling, “Die, mosquito! Die, mosquito!” and shooting everything in sight.

“Clearly it’s in perfectly working order,” Nico said blandly.

Apparently this had happened before, because everybody knew to hit the floor except Leo. Six needle-sized arrows embedded themselves in his shirt before a camper grabbed a hammer and smashed the centaur to pieces.

“I’d buy one,” Percy agreed. It was a better shot than him and would eventually hit the bug.

“Stupid curse!” The camper waved his hammer at the sky. “I just want a magic bug killer! Is that too much to ask?”

“Ouch,” Leo said.

Nyssa pulled the needles out of his shirt. “Ah, you’re fine. Let’s move on before they rebuild it.”

Leo rubbed his chest as they walked. “That sort of thing happens a lot?”

“Lately,” Nyssa said, “everything we build turns to junk.”

“The curse?”

Nyssa frowned. “I don’t believe in curses. But something’s wrong. And if we don’t figure out the dragon problem, it’s gonna get even worse.”

“The dragon problem?” Leo hoped she was talking about a miniature dragon, maybe one that killed cockroaches, but he got the feeling he wasn’t going to be so lucky.

Thalia realized she might be about to find out what happened to that dragon Percy and Annabeth had resurrected, and it didn’t seem to be a great ending to the story like last time.

Nyssa took him over to a big wall map that a couple of girls were studying. The map showed the camp—a semicircle of land with Long Island Sound on the north shore, the woods to the west, the cabins to the east, and a ring of hills to the south.

“It’s got to be in the hills,” the first girl said.

“We looked in the hills,” the second argued. “The woods are a better hiding place.”

“But we already set traps—”

“Hold up,” Leo said. “You guys lost a dragon? A real full size dragon?”

“It’s easier than you think, they’re pretty fast,” Will sighed.

“I just want it on record, this one wasn’t my fault,” Percy raised his hand.

Jason lowered it and gave him a ‘you've got to be kidding me look.’ “You and Beckendorf turned a game of Capture the Flag into this, it is at least partially your fault!” Then he turned to Annabeth with sudden excitement as he recalled, “you knew, right!? You found this thing before the game and led them here!”

“Yeah,” she agreed, “though I never dreamed Beckendorf would get taken by the Myrmekes for it. So, Percy’s right, it’s actually technically my fault.”

“You’re forgiven,” Leo had clearly decided to bless himself with this ability and expunge them at will. Nyssa had told him the story of Percy Jackson and Beckendorf resurrecting this thing the first time as part of the reason for their curse. It was one of the major reasons he’d been so curious to come up to this attic and meet him.

Annabeth gave him another of those calculating looks like she could see the numbers inside his head as he gulped and turned away back to his drawing. Not yet, they couldn’t find out yet until he knew how to fix him! Wings obviously weren’t going to be good enough, since they’d all arrived on flying horses…

“It’s a bronze dragon,” Nyssa said. 

Nico’s face still twitched in particular disgust for the general existence of this thing being at Camp. He hoped Leo’s fabled future would be to kill it quickly.

“But yes, it’s a life-size automaton. Hephaestus cabin built it years ago. Then it was lost in the woods until a few summers back, when Beckendorf found it in pieces and rebuilt it. 

Percy looked mildly offended Annabeth hadn’t gotten at least partial recognition that she deserved for turning that thing back on, but then again, he’d probably somehow turn around and get the blame for this curse, so he let it be. Annabeth just crossed her ankles and began braiding another chunk of hair without concern. That thing had been Beckendorf’s baby, she’d just flipped the switch, so she obviously didn’t care either about him retaining the credit.

It’s been helping protect the camp, but, um, it’s a little unpredictable.”

“Unpredictable?” Leo said.

“It means sometimes it likes to show up and remind us what buildings look like on fire,” Will told Leo in exhaustion.

“No worries here, I’m the definition of unpredictable,” Leo somehow managed to say that like it was a good thing.

“It goes haywire and smashes down cabins, sets people on fire, tries to eat the satyrs.”

“That’s pretty unpredictable.”

“Not really, what do you expect giant monsters to really do otherwise? Start croquet clubs?” Percy asked.

“Next time the dragon shows up Percy, you can take a hunk out of his toe again and set a schedule for his next visit!” Will told him in exasperation.

“That was you!” Leo blurted before he could stop himself, he’d already drawn up seventeen new claw designs for his poor Festus.

 He got all the looks for that.

“Nyssa just said someone helped Beckendorf subdue it once, your name wasn’t mentioned,” he swiftly lied.

The game had ended with Percy being Annabeth and Silena’s prisoner after he’d been chased across the forest by that thing, so Percy wasn’t eager to share the whole story and quickly let it go. 

The mild admiration and slight disappointment in Jason’s voice reading about all this surprised Leo a lot. Clearly not everyone around here considered Festus a bad thing on principle.

Nyssa nodded. “Beckendorf was the only one who could control it. Then he died, and the dragon just got worse and worse. Finally it went berserk and ran off. Occasionally it shows up, demolishes something, and runs away again. Everyone expects us to find it and destroy it—”

“I really don’t see why,” Jason said with a sardonic smile. “Sounds like perfect training, a surprise attack nobody can plan for at all hours!”

“I’ll be sure you can say thank you personally when he shows up again,” Percy rolled his eyes.

“Destroy it?” Leo was appalled. “You’ve got a life-size bronze dragon, and you want to destroy it?”

“Leo, just because trouble comes to visit, doesn't mean you have to offer it a plate at the table,” Will groaned. “Southern hospitality has some restrictions!”

“I don’t know, we keep Percy around and he’s ten times more destructive than that thing, we could cut Leo some slack,” Thalia smirked, though this time Leo had no delusions it was so much for his benefit as Thalia just not passing up a chance to tease her friend.

“Half the time I don’t even get a plate, just left over scraps,” Percy was apparently agreeing for some strange reason.

“It breathes fire,” Nyssa explained. “It’s deadly and out of control.”

“But it’s a dragon! Dude, that’s so awesome. Can’t you try talking to it, controlling it?”

“We tried. Jake Mason tried. You saw how well that worked.”

Leo thought about Jake, wrapped in a body cast, lying alone on his bunk. “Still—”

“Credit for determination,” Annabeth sounded actually impressed too. He tucked his next piece of paper into the stack and kept on going, the cramps in his hand somehow easing up with the stress in his shoulders.

“There’s no other option.” Nyssa turned to the other girls. “Let’s try more traps in the woods—here, here, and here. Bait them with thirty-weight motor oil.”

“The dragon drinks that?” Leo asked.

“Yeah.” Nyssa sighed regretfully. “He used to like it with a little Tabasco sauce, right before bed. If he springs a trap, we can come in with acid sprayers—should melt through his hide. Then we get metal cutters and … and finish the job.”

They all looked sad. Leo realized they didn’t want to kill the dragon any more than he did.

Hazel didn’t think this sounded any more strange than her own curse, metal dragons, sure, cars were enormous loud beasts that could kill you too. No, she was actually wondering what tabasco sauce was more than anything as she watched Leo-Not Sammy strike something out and then draw it identical to her eyes right beside it. 

‘If it walks like Sammy and talks like Sammy…’ but Nico had given her a strange look and promised he hadn’t brought anyone else with her. So she told herself to just be content with a brother and living in a mixed community where nobody told her to get away from their water fountain for now.

“Guys,” he said. “There has to be another way.”

Nyssa looked doubtful, but a few other campers stopped what they were working on and drifted over to hear the conversation.

“Like what?” one asked. “The thing breathes fire. We can’t even get close.”

Fire, Leo thought. Oh, man, the things he could tell them about fire… But he had to be careful, even if these were his brothers and sisters. Especially if he had to live with them.

Percy quirked an interested brow at that if he’d found another person prone to setting all manner of things on fire. It would be nice to switch that up.

“Well …” He hesitated. “Hephaestus is the god of fire, right? So don’t any of you have, like fire resistance or something?”

Nobody acted as if it was a crazy question, which was a relief, but Nyssa shook her head gravely.

“It’s a fair question, it surprised the heck out of me when I heard otherwise,” Percy agreed. After casually finding out he could breathe underwater, he’d thought so too.

“Apollo kids do get sunburned, by the way,” Will rolled his eyes. “You just seem to forget you’re over powered insanely Perce.”

He didn’t, actually. More often than not he walked around the grassy hills feeling like a fish out of water, and his curse had only reinforced that. The way kids would wince and raise their shields far too early in sword practice, so he didn’t even practice with them. The way they stared as he immediately started eating his dinner and realized it was probably too hot for them.

Chiron had once warned him that a child of the big three arriving meant trouble on the horizon, and somehow he’d never gone long without that coming true. How could he forget he wasn’t actually like everyone else in his home, the one place he was supposed to feel normal.

What he said was, “yet another thing I forgot about, man, someone should write all that down,” with a roll of his eyes and getting a laugh out of his friends.

“That’s a Cyclops ability, Leo. Demigod children of Hephaestus … we’re just good with our hands. We’re builders, craftsmen, weaponsmiths—stuff like that.”

Leo’s shoulders slumped. “Oh.”

A guy in back said, “Well, a long time ago—”

“Yeah, okay,” Nyssa conceded. “A long time ago some children of Hephaestus were born with power over fire. But that ability was very, very rare. And always dangerous. No demigod like that has been born in centuries. The last one …” She looked at one of the other kids for help.

“Sixteen sixty-six,” Annabeth rattled off like someone had just put a flashcard under her nose. “His name was Thomas Faynor, he started the Great Fire of London.”

“You’re not one of my sisters are you?” Leo asked in confusion. He hadn’t seen her in his cabin last night, but it explained that look he kept seeing reflected back.

“No,” she grinned, “child of Athena, goddess of strategy and crafts. I’m no stranger to building my own plans from the ground up, but I’d never make something as good as you could with a hammer.” The proud smile had quickly withered right off her face. Something bad had happened recently. Something she’d made that hadn’t gone according to plan. Maybe the curse was contagious.

Leo went back to his drawing, refusing to let his hand shake as he knew what was coming at the end. He’d given himself one private moment to show off, to draw confidence in himself…and then the real show would begin.

“Sixteen sixty-six,” the girl offered. “Guy named Thomas Faynor. He started the Great Fire of London, destroyed most of the city.”

“Right,” Nyssa said. “When a child of Hephaestus like that appears, it usually means something catastrophic is about to happen. And we don’t need any more catastrophes.”

“Been there, done that,” Percy sighed he could understand why they wouldn’t be jumping for joy at the idea.

“I wouldn’t put much stock into those old superstitions, you guys seem to jump at everything,” Jason grinned. He instantly decided he didn’t like that perspective Nyssa offered.

“Traditions are just peer pressure from dead people, and I will not be intimidated by ghosts,“ Leo sniffed, but it was entirely false bravado. Even here at this place, he was somehow the freak.

Leo tried to keep his face clear of emotion, which wasn’t his strong suit. “I guess I see your point. Too bad, though. If you could resist flames, you could get close to the dragon.”

“Yeah, and if we could all turn each other into jackalopes we might be a little nicer to each other, but alas, we have to rely on greater powers for the best things,” Thalia shrugged with a smirk at Percy.

“Like you’ve ever needed a goddess to threaten me,” Percy rolled his eyes.

“It would still be nice to change you back and forth, might teach you a thing or two,” Thalia said.

“Not with the kind of slow learner who gets dating tips from dolphins,” Annabeth sighed.

“I told you I was joking about that,” he frowned.

“Then it would kill you with its claws and fangs,” Nyssa said. “Or simply step on you. 

“Got to love a monster that comes with a variety pack?” Will said half-heartedly.

“Speak for yourself,” Percy groaned.

No, we’ve got to destroy it. Trust me, if anyone could figure out another answer …”

She didn’t finish, but Leo got the message. This was the cabin’s big test. If they could do something only Beckendorf could do, if they could subdue the dragon without killing it, then maybe their curse would be lifted. But they were stumped for ideas. Any camper who figured out how would be a hero.

“That something you’re aspiring for Leo?” Jason asked casually. No judgment in his voice, just something he’d apparently asked numerous people. It gave the impression he’d been in a position of authority much more than Percy slouching in that beanbag ever could.

“All the ladies love a hero!” Leo agreed.

“If Percy can go from zero to hero, anyone can,” Annaetbh smirked at her boyfriend.

“That is devilish, how dare you compare me to Hercules,” Percy looked at her in betrayal. “You know what, Will gets to be the official tour guide.”

“Yes!” Will smirked while Annaebth gave him a look promising this would never be forgiven.

A conch horn blew in the distance. Campers started putting up their tools and projects. Leo hadn’t realized it was getting so late, but he looked through the windows and saw the sun going down. His ADHD did that to him sometimes. If he was bored, a fifty-minute class seemed like six hours. If he was interested in something, like touring a demigod camp, hours slipped away and bam—the day was over.

“Preach!” Percy said enthusiastically.

Leo laughed and cleared his throat, they had a bad feeling Percy had just summoned an entire sermon upon Leo. Thankfully other minds prevailed before that went too far.

“Dinner,” Nyssa said. “Come on, Leo.”

“Up at the pavilion, right?” he asked.

She nodded.

“You guys go ahead,” Leo said. “Can you … give me a second?”

Nyssa hesitated. Then her expression softened. “Sure. It’s a lot to process. I remember my first day. Come up when you’re ready. Just don’t touch anything. Almost every project in here can kill you if you’re not careful.”

“No touching,” Leo promised.

“I don’t believe you,” Nico decided.

“That’s fair, most people think I’m crazy,” Leo shrugged without looking up.

Hazel huffed at him to be nice, but Leo really wasn’t paying attention, his skin was tingling in a telltale way that he knew better than to let himself pay attention to. If he scratched, he’d burst into flames. Not here. Not yet.

His cabinmates filed out of the forge. Soon Leo was alone with the sounds of the bellows, the waterwheels, and small machines clicking and whirring.

He stared at the map of camp—the locations where his newfound siblings were going to put traps to catch a dragon. It was wrong. Plain wrong.

Very rare, he thought. And always dangerous.

He held out his hand and studied his fingers. They were long and thin, not callused like the other Hephaestus campers’.

Leo had never been the biggest or the strongest kid. He’d survived in tough neighborhoods, tough schools, tough foster homes by using his wits. He was the class clown, the court jester, because he’d learned early that if you cracked jokes and pretended you weren’t scared, you usually didn’t get beat up. Even the baddest gangster kids would tolerate you, keep you around for laughs. Plus, humor was a good way to hide the pain. And if that didn’t work, there was always Plan B. Run away. Over and over.

“Humor is the worst defense mechanism, anyone can cut through that with sarcasm,” Thalia smirked.

“I think the more important lesson there was that if we eradicate bullying we could finally put a cork in Percy and Leo,” Nico rolled his eyes.

“Exhibit A,” Thalia chuckled.

Leo blinked and found himself looking at Percy wondering if they were all nuts. Where were the tears and sobs and hugging him like a poor little infant some crazy councilors had tried? Where was the cold indifference of the court appointed counselors telling him to try harder at being normal?

Percy shrugged. This was just their normal. It felt good.

There was a Plan C, but he’d promised himself never to use it again.

He felt an urge to try it now—something he hadn’t done since the accident, since his mom’s death.

He extended his fingers and felt them tingle, like they were waking up—pins and needles. Then flames flickered to life, curls of red-hot fire dancing across his palm.

“I knew it,” Annabeth said in triumph, staring at him across the flames.

Leo crumpled up his plans, designs, and maps for Festus, his upgrades and new chip and laser eye mode, and tossed it all into the large cookie glass jar of fire.

The flames roared with pleasure, shooting up to the ceiling and sending sparks in all directions and raining them back down in all colors of the rainbow. He still expected the screaming, the fear and running.

He was pleasantly surprised at Hazel squeaking in surprise while the others just kind of, looked at him like he’d belched too loud.

A large chunk had landed right on his hand, the paper curling up with a doodle for a hatchet crossed with a snorkel device. He gave it a puff of breath that knocked it back into the fire. 

[arenabreadandbiscuits]

🦌📺 More on RadioAppleStaticBand! 🐐🎸

NSFW THOUGHTS UNDER THE CUT.

SFW

Honestly just full and ripe with angst. I love angst; first it's Vox and Alastor's past then the jealousy that comes from seeing Vox with Valentino and Alastor with Lucifer. I don't think they would really calm down unless feelings are mentioned even when Adam enters the picture. For whatever reason even though Lucifer is the devil the other three are the three that struggle expressing their love. Good thing Lucifer is so determined.

Considering the relationships Lucifer could start with Vox to get things going. They haven't interacted from what we see in the series but Vox would literally be TOO excited to meet the big boss of hell though he'd be shocked to find Lucifer feeling anything for him in return.

I feel like Vox and Adam are the brats of the ship, like they always have something slick to say, always have an attitude at the worst times and Lucifer would start their punishments while Alastor would finish them. Brat taming at its finest.

There's this thing with pda where they will all invest in it but Lucifer or Vox would start it, gentle in their approach knowing just how their partners are and can be.

Hugs are big in this quadship but things like kisses, backrubs, massages and stuff would come later and even more intimate actions far later.

They probably have sessions where they sit in a circle and talk about what they and the other is and isn't okay with. Communication is a big thing to hold this ship together.

Things like morning coffee?? Vox is a bit of a puppy with these three? Always so eager to be around them and show off and I see Vox cooking the meals, taking into account what everyone does and doesn't eat so he could serve them correctly. He's probably the one setting dates too with the help of Lucifer with Adam and Alastor are willing to go with the flow.

They are honestly impossible to separate once they solve and talk about their issues and problems. That'll take time and effort but once they get there it's the most true and honest love. Like there's too many emotions to explain how all four of them managed to find each other.

Alastor would enjoy quieter dates like picnics or those boat rides that couples do? Adam is more for energy, take him to the amusement park or a concert or simply things like water fights, snowball fights, wrestling, etc could get him eager. Lucifer is honestly happy to do anything and everything, he's been alone for so long that he doesn't care what they do as long as they do it Buuut he does enjoy being in his home with them for the most part. Watching movies, cuddling, painting ducks, drink nights etc etc. Vox is confident that he does many things and almost like Lucifer he is the same way though maybe Vox is the guy to want to go out to dinner before coming home for cuddles unlike Lucifer who doesn't need to be outside prior to a cuddle session. Vox loves the aquarium too, things that make him think, his field trips with the other three can be a bit nerdy but in the cutest of ways to them.

They are slightly (not so slightly) scared of affection like... All of them but Vox and Lucifer are scared in a way were they don't want to accidentally overstep... To touch when the others don't want it and they are respectful but being able to touch those they care for is big to them. Adam and Alastor are scared in a way where they feel nervous about wasting effort and time. Like they trust their partners but it's more of a deep rooted issue than anything else.

It can and will be talked about and worked on. Interestingly enough Vox and Lucifer aren't affected by waiting for as long as they need to for their partners.

Alright alright let me move on before I ramble but I am very much so tempted to do so. 😮‍💨

NSFW

Ah, now I'm big on angst but right after that is my skills in smut so let me spitball some ideas at y'all.

Alastor's not versed in many things sexual prior to these though he and Vox had quite a few intimate moments before they fell out before Alastor's disappearance. Those times he loved so deeply that it scared him. I can see him being into cockwarming especially after these screenshots I posted recently. Like once he's in and he's all close and wrapped up how can he not take in their scent, or grip at their thighs and pull them closer, or trail his tongue over their skin? He likes the closeness when in their most vulnerable of states and it becomes less about the sex and more about the feeling of having someone to hold.

Vox is a bit keen on pleasing others even before he pleases himself, as much of a public figure this man is a menace behind closed doors. He'd definitely send a video to Alastor, Lucifer, and Adam of time experimenting with dildos and toys. All types too like call him the supplier or whatever lol. It's like he's always happy and eager to put on a show even though he knows he'll get handled when everyone finds him.

Lucifer gives BIG soft top vibes. Like he's soft until he's not and he'll give spankings, lashings, punishments of all sorts if he seems that the others really deserve them. Those types of punishments that feel so good that they hurt and I'm sure he wouldn't have trouble making Vox and Adam plead, Alastor can be a bit more stubborn but he can be tamed as well. Lucifer the dude to ask them little questions knowing the answers and when they reply he's immediately on them.

Adam is so shy when it comes to the more intimate stuff. It's not that he doesn't want to do it but that with his long history with heaven even neck kisses can make him hard beyond belief. Super sensitive?? Like don't touch bros wings... Or his horns... He'll jolt and jerk away in shock, big eyes and red cheeks like you just cupped his sack. He's so cute really, like he talks a big game but deep down all he needs is love and to be plowed until his head is spinning.

Kinks that come with these four are: cockwarming, spanking, collars and leashes, praise and degradation, marking, scenting, biting, grinding/dry humping, and others but those are the ones to come to mind first.

Like at this point everyone got they own collars for whenever the time is called for 😩😂

Hehe, imma stop here for now and see how y'all like this. If you want more follow me or wait for people to commission me or until I start the ao3 book!

[flameohotwife]

So I always thought the canon pairings in AtLA had good writing/development but all the Aang and Mai bashing has made me decide to rewatch the series because shippers of a certain other ship called them "abusive" and Aang sexist. But honestly, I love how Mai calls Zuko out on his jealousy and possessive behavior in "The Beach" and Aang is always supportive of Katara's dreams, even refusing to be trained by Pakku because he's sexist to Katara. I like that Sukka teaches kids watching the show to treat women with respect but also Kataang and Maiko in the examples I mentioned above are also good examples of feminist moments in the show too.

YES! Anon, say it louder for the people in the back! There are so so SO many amazing feminist moments in this show and honestly I loved watching it with my kids (multiple times, haha) for that reason. I don't remember growing up with media that showed SO may instances of how girls/women could stand up for themselves in those types of situations. I love how Katara stood up to Pakku (with Aang's support! His little "Go, Katara!" makes me smile every time) and also how she CONSTANTLY takes boys on in fights, from pirates and Rough Rhinos to the taunting kids that subsequently get frozen where they stand ("oh, a girl has her ways") and anyone who insults Aang. How SHE is the one to defeat Azula in the end. How the WHOLE SHOW starts with her rant against Sokka's sexism. How Suki finally put's Sokka in his place. How Toph had to be played by "a really BUFF guy" in EIP because the Fire Nation couldn't admit to being bested by a tiny, 12-year-old girl. How Mai won't let Zuko treat her like a possession with no agency of her own. How she is the one to save HIM in the end at Boiling Rock (how's that for a damsel in distress?). How Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee are trusted by the Fire Lord to perform tasks even the highest generals can't achieve. How the show is relentlessly turning sexist stereotypes on their heads and making viewers question what they think they know.

Beyond the feminism (which you all probably already know I adore so much), I love that each of the leading boys has learning experiences wrt less-than-ideal behaviors towards girls/women, because in real life boys (and girls, too!) are GOING to make mistakes as they're learning and it's important to show how they can move beyond those mistakes and not forever be defined by them. Zuko learns not to be a possessive asshat like he is in The Beach (at least, we don't see him act that way towards Mai again--he might as well have broken up with her via text and not given her the option to follow him to the "good side," but he never acts possessive again. Baby steps). Aang learns he can't just solve their relationship problems by kissing Katara when she's confused. He gives her space and she clearly thinks he's learned from it by the end (really, by the next episode). Sokka learns not to be sexist and that sometimes girls are going to be stronger/better fighters than he is AND THAT'S OKAY. Good, even! It doesn't make him "less of a man" or anything like that, and we don't hear those sexist ideas come out of his mouth again. ALL of these make great talking points for parents watching the show with their kids, too.

Kids make mistakes. They lean on stereotypes or prior experiences and sometimes that bites them in the butt. AtLA shows that we can teach kids hard lessons. Not only can we fight back against injustice but we can improve ourselves when we've been the ones to mess up. And I really think that's something special.

Thanks for sending in your thoughts, anon! You're so right.

[clone-anon]

Hello clone-anon. I have a request. I'm a wheelchair user and only use my wheelchair some of the time. Other times I rely on a cane. I love the idea of living on the Marauder like I see in so many stories, but I rarely walk and have a terrible time with stairs. In the sw universe I think I would have a hover chair. Tech is my favorite. I'm in love with him. Do you think there's a way for me to go on adventures too?

Of course there's a way for you to go on adventures! Tech has never come across a problem he couldn't solve, especially with the help of his team.

Whenever you watched the Marauder fly away, your heart sank a little. Not just because your boyfriend was leaving, but because you knew how he loved to fly and you had a hard time joining him. The first time Tech invited you onto the ship, your hover chair tried climbing the stairs. It was always a bit jarring with the up and across motion as it tried to keep an equal space between moving forward on a step and up to the next one. He didn't say anything at the time, but Tech was determined to make the experience more welcoming. While he and his siblings were leaving for a mission, he didn't bother to share that on the way home, they were stopping for some particular supplies.

The mission didn't take long and you were happy for his return. He gave you a kiss and grinned at you. His smile was familiar, but there was a look in his eyes that was almost mischievous.

"Care to tell me what this look is about," you asked him with an inquisitive grin.

"No."

You were even more intrigued now as you searched his warm eyes. Tech with a one-word answer. That had never happened before. He left a kiss on your forehead and added, "I promise it will be worth the wait."

For the next few days he was hard at work inside the ship. You tried to visit him, but Wrecker showed up to distract you, taking you swimming along with Omega and Hunter. You enjoyed your time on the beach, but kept wondering what Tech was up to.

Finally, Tech came to pick you up one morning, offering you a flower, and walking you to the ship.

"Now, as you know my darling, I have been hard at work and I promise it is for your benefit." He smiled at you as he pushed a button for the Marauder to open. The stairs then shifted to make a ramp and Tech encouraged you to come on board. Your chair smoothly hovered up the ramp and on to the ship. There was a clear spot where you could park and stabilize your chair for the jump to hyperspace. Tech had pulled out the entire sink in the refresher and replaced it with one that wouldn't bump your knees when you used it. You could hover right up to it and easily turn on the water. There were handle bars in useful locations and he showed you a cubby perfectly at your level for storing your things.

"There is one more thing I want to show you," he said with a hand on your shoulder. He then took you to the bunks. There was a separate space cleared out for your chair next to a lower bunk.

"Is this space all mine," you asked.

Tech pushed his goggles up. "If you want it," he said nervously. "Or perhaps a shared space for the two of us. There is not much room on board and-" he stopped as you took his hand and kissed his knuckle. He leaned down to give you a warm kiss.

"Wherever we go," he said, "I want you with me and I want you safe. Whatever you need, I can always make further modifications."

"Thank you, Tech."

You decided that while you didn't have to go anywhere right now, you might as well test the bunk and get a few cuddles in.

[loveliwrites]

rp partner search

ੈ✩‧₊˚ 𝒶𝒷𝑜𝓊𝓉 𝓂𝑒

hi there friends! i am a 26 year old (she/they) looking for new roleplay partners that are 20+. i write within private discord servers, though i may be open to gdocs or email. eastern standard time zone. i work full time, but i am chronically online. i also have autism.

i can write at any literacy level, and while i prefer not to do writing samples, i can supply one if necessary. i have very few triggers, though i will not write things like incest or gross kinks. i love to bond with my writing partners, so ooc chatting is typical for me. i love creating aesthetics, playlists and drawing my/our characters. i use realistic actor faceclaims in most universes, but written descriptions or aesthetic boards for some.

although i prefer not to be ghosted, i am ghost-friendly; if we tried to write before and it didn’t work out, no worries. we can always pick up a different plot and try again!

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒾'𝓂 𝓁𝑜𝑜𝓀𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒻𝑜𝓇

i am going to be upfront - i want a writing partner that is passionate, and will genuinely put in the work to build our universe(s) together. i cannot do anymore passive plotters, or people who play one-note characters. i want someone who plays a variety of ocs, not just cookie cutter sabrina carpenter faceclaims. i have zero desire to write with someone that doesn’t double, doesn’t like multi-muse, or only writes female characters.

while i am sure you still have engaging and interesting girls, i am not looking to just provide you a white boy of the month and not receive at least the same in return. i enjoy providing you the kind of character you would want to write against, and i would like that same courtesy.

in the same vein, i don’t want to simply play one of my characters. i adore playing as many as we are comfortable with, all sharing interconnected lives and plots to make the story really feel alive. i enjoy platonic plots as much as romance, and portraying familial bonds as well as friendships. i love when our characters have families of their own and plots become multi-generational. its pretty much a requirement for me to have a diverse cast of characters, stretching across age, race, sexuality, etc — regardless of the universe. i love playing mxf the most, but i also adore mxm, fxf and nonbinary/trans/queer characters.

i don’t need a response every day, seeing as i can’t promise daily replies either. but if the plot isn’t moving along interest can really dwindle, so i would hope for someone that can respond at least a few times a week, and provide quality responses. you don’t have to constantly hit that discord limit, but at the very least i ask for multiple paragraphs. even if we can’t write, we can always plot, share headcanons, or just chat!

⋆·˚ ༘ * 𝓅𝓁𝑜𝓉𝓈

i prefer original, ocxoc multi-muse plots. right now, here is where my inspiration lies:

space opera // inspo: guardians of the galaxy, star wars, star trek, winter’s orbit // a group of characters ends up together despite themselves. different backgrounds, lives, personalities, intertwined forever. all because something brought them to the same place that day — was it a priceless treasure, big event, happenstance, or one unknown force ensuring they meet? regardless of the cause, they are now stuck together until they solve the problem that got them here. it turns out, they’re a better team than anyone could have imagined. they go from strangers, to friends, and perhaps even more. but threats always loom, and others might be chasing them. // character/ship ideas: rag tag group of misfits. alien princesses, mercenaries/bounty hunters, strange creatures, spaceship pilots, enemies to lovers, BIG found family vibes

espionage & crime // inspo: oceans 11, oceans 8, mission impossible, john wick, smokey and the bandit, kingsman, bullet train, monkey man, 6 underground, back in action, spy kids, ballerina // there are two sides. the organizations dedicated to upholding peace, gathering intel, and helping stop evil. all with the support of world governments. then there is the criminal underbelly. all those common mobs and mafias, but also groups of highly skilled individuals, trained mercenaries, and tight knit criminals. honor amongst thieves, and all. // character/ship ideas: criminal x spy, rival spies, criminal overlord, found family group of thieves, retired spies back again, new recruits, cat x mouse, kids of spies on an adventure, criminals with morals & morally gray “good guys”, mercenaries x their hit

pacific rim // inspo: pacific rim, king kong, godzilla, jurassic park  // not much to say here. two people who are basically soulmates — romantic or not — piloting a big robot to defeat a monster. can mix this with some other media featuring leviathan creatures, and do something fun with it! // character/ship ideas: enemies/rivals piloting together (and turning out to be great at it), new recruits into the jaeger program, mad scientist, brothers/sisters piloting together,  someone who lost their partner finding friendship/love/the Bond again

i wanna be a cowboy baby // inspo: red dead redemption 2, magnificent seven, american primeval // in the wild, wild west, there are no laws. but at least you have each other…? insert our gang, built from the ground up and full of all manner of outlaws and ne’er-do-wells. they rob banks, steal, kill, and whatever else they need to stay afloat, losing those they love along the way. please, just play some gay cowboys with me. // character/ship ideas: leaders of the gang/gang’s parents (mxm), lone wanderer, bounty hunter, widowed farmers wife, siblings on the run, outlaws, rival gangs, grumpy cowboy and the kid he didn’t mean to adopt, morally gray and toxic gays (dutch and hosea vibes?)

i also write ocxcc, within these universes, and my preferred characters to pair with are listed. i am a little less interested in them at the moment, though. doubles only. i can write almost any character in return:

sunrise on the reaping | haymitch

star wars | poe dameron

marvel | yelena, hawkeye, peter parker

dc comics / young justice | wally west

outerbanks | jj

top gun | bob, maverick, phoenix

if you are interested, shoot me a message! and please introduce yourself; let me know about who you are as a writer and what plot you’re looking for. thank you!

[anonymousewrites]

Logos and Pathos (Book 3) Chapter Three

Spock x Empath! Reader

Chapter Three: Clouded Sight

Summary: Spock and Kollos mind-link, which proves interesting and solves one problem, but there are always more to come.

            On the Bridge, a small barrier had been set up around Spock’s station. Kollos’s container sat behind it, so when Spock stepped up with the visor in his hand, he was sure to be the only one to see Kollos.

            (Y/N) touched Spock’s fingers with their own before he nodded to them and walked behind the screen. He knelt and opened the container. The green light shone from behind the screen. (Y/N) held their breath, closing their eyes and focusing on the emotions radiating around them. Kollos’s held no malice, just calm as he joined with Spock. (Y/N)’s shoulders sagged in relief that there was no danger in Kollos. At least this wouldn’t be like the situation with Henoch.

            Spock-Kollos straightened behind the screen and walked out. The entire Bridge gazed at him curiously, wondering if it had worked. Kirk glanced at (Y/N), and they nodded. Kollos’s emotions radiated from Spock’s body.

            Spock-Kollos looked over the bridge; their eyes only paused on (Y/N) and Jones. It wasn’t that much of a surprise to (Y/N), though. The Spock part loved them, and (Y/N) suspected the Kollos part loved Jones. Some people would get jealous of seeing their boyfriend’s body look lovingly at another person, but (Y/N) could differentiate between Spock and Kollos and knew their boyfriend only loved them, so seeing Kollos love Jones didn’t affect them.

            Spock-Kollos smiled (though any emotion shown was likely more Kollos than Spock. Probably completely Kollos and not Spock. This was a little weird to see). “This is delightful. I know you…” said Spock-Kollos. “All of you!”

            “James Kirk, Captain and friend for many years,” said Spock-Kollos. They smiled at Bones. “And Leonard McCoy…” They chuckled. “…also of long acquaintance.” Spock-Kollos’s eyes landed on (Y/N), and a wider smile spread across their face. “(Y/N)…who means more to me than I can say. ‘To see the bright eyes of the dear one.’ ” Spock-Kollos gazed happily at (Y/N)’s golden eyes as they crinkled in a smile.

            “That’s not Spock,” said Bones as he heard the poetry.

            Spock-Kollos’s smile fell, and they raised an eyebrow. “Are you surprised to find that I’ve read Byron, Doctor?”

            (Y/N) snorted. Now that was definitely Spock’s mind.

            “That’s Spock!” said Bones in delight.

            “Am I addressing the Ambassador?” asked Kirk.

            “In part,” said Spock-Kollos. “That is, part of us is known to you as Kollos.” Their eyes landed on Jones, and (Y/N) suppressed a smile as Kollos’s emotions spiked in happiness upon seeing her. “Ah, Miranda…There you are. ‘Oh brave new world that has such creatures in it.’ ”

            “ ‘Tis new to thee,’ ” finished Jones.

            “My world is next for us,” said Spock-Kollos. They gazed at her for a moment before turning to Kirk. “Captain Kirk, I speak for all of us you call Medusans. I am sorry for the trouble I’ve brought to your ship.”

            “We don’t hold you to blame for what happened,” assured Kirk. “And thank you now for your help.

            Spock-Kollos nodded. “And now, to the business at hand. With your permission, Captain.”

            “Yes. Mr. Sulu, release the helm to Mr. Spock,” said Kirk.

            “Aye, sir.” Sulu stood, and Spock-Kollos took his seat.

            They get to work immediately. They worked the controls carefully with a skill very few possessed. “Coordination is complete.”

            “Then go ahead, Spock, Ambassador Kollos,” said (Y/N).

            “Warp 1 in six seconds,” said Spock-Kollos. “Five…four…three…two…one…zero.”

            The Enterprise moved forward on a charter course back to their own galaxy. Lights flashed around them as they flew, but they didn’t stop. With a final bright explosion, the Enterprise broke back into their original galaxy.

            “Position report, please, Mr. Chekov,” said Kirk.

            “Our position…Our position is so close to the point where we entered the void that the difference isn’t worth mentioning,” said Chekov in amazement. “Bullseye, Mr. Spock.”

            “Good job, Spock, Ambassador Kollos,” said (Y/N), smiling.

            “Thank you, (Y/N),” said Spock-Kollos.

            “Take over, Mr. Sulu,” said Kirk in satisfaction. “Thank you, Ambassador.” Spock-Kollos stood. “Mr. Chekov, plot a new course.”

            “The new heading will be plotted in a minute, sir,” said Chekov.

            Spock-Kollos felt their chest. “How compact your bodies are…and what a variety of senses you have!” They smiled broadly. “This thing you call language, though—most remarkable. You depend on it for so very much. But is any one of you really its master?” Their smile fell. “But most of all, the aloneness…You are so alone. You live out your lives in this shell of flesh, self-contained, separate…how lonely you are…how terribly lonely…”

            (Y/N) shivered at the cloud of melancholy around Spock-Kollos. They could only imagine how Spock felt with his emotions so intertwined with the second mind in his body. “Ambassador…I believe it’s time to sever the link.”

            “So soon?” asked Spock-Kollos with a frown.

            “We can’t wait,” said (Y/N).

            “You are wise,” said Spock-Kollos. They nodded and stepped around the screen. They knelt, and Kollos’s container opened.

            (Y/N)’s eyes widened a fraction too late. “The visor!” they cried. “Spock!” He cried out, and (Y/N) covered their mouth in horror.

            “Don’t move! No one is to move,” ordered Kirk.

            “Spock? Are you alright?” asked (Y/N) hesitantly.

            Spock stood, a wild look in his eyes, and a tinge of fear twirled across (Y/N)’s skin. Their eyes widened. He was deeply disturbed if he showed any sort of emotion.

            “Spock, you’re alright. You’re safe,” said Kirk, holding out his hands.

            Spock grabbed his wrists roughly, and they began to push at each other. Spock threw Kirk to the side, and Bones jumped up. Spock easily hit him aside, and even Sulu and Chekov were shoved away from him.

            (Y/N) moved in front of Spock, and he faltered. Even in his insanity, his heart leapt at the sight of them. They reached out and touched his head, closing their eyes and drawing at his madness. Spock’s eyes rolled into the back of his head, and he collapsed, unconscious.

            “He’s barely breathing,” said Bones grimly, quickly checking his pulse. “Help me get him to Sickbay!”

            “Spock…” murmured (Y/N) worriedly. They couldn’t bring him out of this type of madness on their own. They looked at Jones. They needed a telepath. (Y/N)’s blood ran cold when they saw no concern in Jones’s aura.

l

            (Y/N) sat beside Jones and Spock in Sickbay. As they kept the madness at bay, Jones attempted to bring Spock’s logical mind back. So far, they were having no luck, but (Y/N) had a terrible feeling Jones wasn’t trying as hard as she could.

            Outside of the room, Kirk and Bones’s anger and worry at the situation filtered in like a cloud, and (Y/N) took a deep breath to focus. Their attention was taken, however, when Kirk walked into Sickbay.

            “Who is it?” asked Jones. Her cloak of sensors lay on a table to the side.

            “Captain Kirk,” said (Y/N).

            “I have no news for you, Captain,” said Jones.

            “No change?” asked Kirk.

            “He’s…he’s struggling,” said (Y/N), voice hoarse.

            “What are you doing about it, Dr. Jones? (L/N) is holding his madness at bay, aren’t you bringing Spock’s mind back?” asked Kirk.

            “I’m doing what I can,” said Jones.

            “Which doesn’t seem to be much,” said Kirk, speaking what he knew (Y/N) would not.

            Jones scoffed. “No doubt you think I can wake him with a kiss.”

            “I doubt that would work with anyone other than (L/N),” said Kirk.

            “He’s a Vulcan,” said Jones.

            “Only half,” said (Y/N).

            “The other half is human, far more human than you, apparently,” said Kirk.

            (Y/N) shivered as heat from Jones’s anger prickled their arms.

            “Face reality, Captain, his mind has gone down almost too far for me to reach,” said Jones.

            “I can feel him. He’s still there, he’s not dead yet, we have a chance,” said (Y/N), narrowing their eyes. “Why won’t you help him?”

            “Because that’s what you want, isn’t it?” said Kirk harshly.

            Jones tried to push past him. “That’s a lie!”

            Kirk grabbed her shoulders. “Oh, no, it isn’t. You want him to die. What did you do to him on the Bridge? Did you make him forget to put the visor over his eyes?”

            Jones emotions were a whirlwind, and (Y/N) took a step back from the telepath’s aura, holding Spock’s hand tightly. “You’re insane!” cried Jones, but there was a level of truth to Kirk’s accusations of her not completely desiring Spock’s recovery showing in her emotions of envy and satisfaction.

            “Yes, you know your rival, don’t you?” questioned Kirk. “You couldn’t keep him from making a mind-link with Kollos, something that you couldn’t do yourself. With my words, I’ll make you hear such ugliness as Spock saw when he looked at Kollos with his naked eyes.”

            Jones cried out at Kirk’s words.

            (Y/N) stepped forward and put their hand on Kirk’s shoulder. He looked at them in surprise before letting go of Jones and letting them face her.

            “Miranda…” said (Y/N) softly, and Jones looked at them. “Miranda, please. I love him. I know you love Kollos, I know you wish you could see him, but you can’t. I’m sorry. But please, don’t make me lose the man I love because of jealousy.”

            Jones stared at (Y/N), and a deep sadness enveloped them both. Jones’s emotions calmed into a steady melancholy. She wished to see who she loved and couldn’t. But she understood (Y/N) was right. She couldn’t punish Spock for her own jealousy.

            “I-You’re right. I’m sorry,” said Jones. She extended her hand. “Lead me back to him.”

            “Thank you, Miranda,” said (Y/N), taking Jones’s hand and guiding her to Spock’s side. (Y/N) took ahold of his hand, and Jones touched his temples. Together, the empath and telepath dove into Spock’s mind.

            Spock stirred, his hand gripping (Y/N)’s tighter. He jerked, and (Y/N) pushed their comforting emotions into him, calming him. And then he jerked up abruptly, furrowing his brow as he cleared his mind.

            “Spock!” cried (Y/N), hugging him tightly.

            Spock blinked in surprise. “Was it truly that surprising that I regained my logical mind?”

            (Y/N) let go and rolled their eyes. “Unbelievable.” But a smile appeared on their lips. That was their boyfriend.

l

            Spock and (Y/N) deposited Kollos’s container on the transporter. They liked the Ambassador, but with the trouble they’d endured, they couldn’t help but be satisfied the ordeal would be over with.

            Jones entered behind them, wearing her sensory cloak once more.

            Bones shook her hand. “You have what you wanted most?”

            “I am one with Kollos,” said Jones.

            (Y/N) smiled. They had linked minds. Jones couldn’t see him, but their minds were one, and she was happy.

            “Well, I’m truly sorry that you’re leaving. Goodbye,” said Bones with a smile.

            Kirk stepped forward next, and Jones smiled at him. “We’ve come to the end of an eventful trip, Captain.”

            “I didn’t think you’d even talk to me,” said Kirk.

            “Well, I have you to thank for my future,” said Jones. She looked at (Y/N). “Both of you. Your words enabled me to see my mind was clouded.”

            (Y/N) smiled at Jones and nodded. “It was my pleasure.”

            Kirk smiled. “Miranda, good luck…health.” He pulled a rose from behind his back. “I have something for you.”

            Jones took it and smiled. “I suppose it has thorns.”

            “I never met a rose that didn’t,” said Kirk.

            Jones smiled and smelled the rose as she stepped up onto the transporter. She looked at Spock and (Y/N). “I know now the great joy you felt when you joined minds with Kollos.”

            “I rejoice in your knowledge and in your achievement,” said Spock honestly.

            “I understand, Mr. Spock, the glory of creation is in its infinite diversity,” said Jones.

            “And the ways our differences combine to create meaning—” Spock’s eyes turned to (Y/N) “—and beauty.”

            “I wish you and Kollos the best of luck,” said (Y/N), smiling at Jones.

            “And I wish you and Mr. Spock a long and happy life together,” said Jones, shaking (Y/N)’s hand before boarding the Transporter. She raised a hand in the Vulcan salute and smiled. “Live long and prosper.”

            “Live long and prosper,” repeated (Y/N) and Spock.

            And then Jones and Kollos were gone.

l

            “So, are you still feeling alright? Mentally?” asked (Y/N), fretting over Spock as they sat him down in his quarters. Bones had ordered (and made sure Kirk followed up that order) Spock to go rest after the bout of madness.

            “I am fine,” said Spock, but he didn’t object to (Y/N)’s concerned hands on his face as their Celian physical affection came through in worry.

            “Are you sure?” said (Y/N).

            Spock reached up and took (Y/N)’s hands in his own. “Yes, T’hy’la. You saved me yet again.”

            “Well, me and Miranda,” said (Y/N).

            Spock looked at (Y/N) and pulled them so they sat beside him on his bed. “T’hy’la, without you, I would have lost myself many times. Do not push your abilities to the side.”

            (Y/N) smiled at him. “You’re so kind to me.”

            “I speak the truth,” said Spock.

            (Y/N) laughed at his usual logic and kissed him.

            Spock kissed back. In his mind, this counted as rest. And he didn’t particularly like listening to Bones’s orders anyways.

Taglist:

@a-ofzest

@grippleback-galaxy

@genderfluid-anime-goth

@groovy-lady

@im-making-an-effort

@unending-screaming

@h-l-vlovesvintage

@neenieweenie

@keylimeconstellation

@wormwig

@technikerin23

@ilyatan

[tanketorskk]

Hello hello again!!!! :3

I loveloveLOVE your Lucius/Viktor post!! Once again, you brighten my noggin w your thoughts (:

Umumumummmmmmmm so is there anyone else you want an excuse to yap about LOL Idkidk I just want to hear your thoughts about everyone and everything!!

Idk if you have any/many thoughts about them, but maybe we could hear about the Averys and Sinistras? Especially Edmund's unnamed fiancée !!!!

Ahhhhhh your brain is just so !!!! /Pos

- 🍃

Ahhhh I'm so glad you liked it,, it fully helped fuel my Xenophilius post!!

I think I might take this time to talk about some good old Pebill!! I saw this one tiktok a few days ago and I've been so obsessed since. Welcome to Pebill City, population ME!!!!

I am,, far too fond of giving ships fun little names so I bestow upon thee,,, ratseer lol

I specifically love these two in a band au. I'm gonna write one eventually and I'm gonna make them so happy and sappy and cute and just like the tiktok says they'll have a daughter called Rosemary. I'm just so in love with them. Peter who plays the second guitar in the band and like the occasional trumpet and sometimes he thinks it's kinda silly that he's in the band but also he's just so happy to be there. He saved all his money from his part time job to buy the most run-down Volkswagen T1 when the band started getting big enough to have to travel around for stuff and he shows up like "TADA!" all proud of himself cause he solved their problem. He meets Sybill at one of these travel gigs. They're playing at a wedding and maybe she's like the bride's sister or just a bridesmaid or something and she's wearing a really flowy dress and she's spinning around right in front of him having the time of her life and her thick curls are bouncing and you can just see Peter melt while he's on stage playing cause he misses a cord or something. And the guys notice and they insist that the has to talk to her and he's all nervous and shit but then Sybill comes to talk to him because she thinks he's really cute and they hit it off. They call at each stop they have and a few months in they go pick her up before moving onto a bigger gig and she just stays with them.

He wants to settle down at some point when Sybill ends up pregnant and he almost leaves the band but Sybill insists that she's fine travelling around with them because that's the life she loves and she wants their daughter to be born a free soul and she sees in her cards that she's supposed to be born a certain place and Peter is just like [scout's salute] "yes ma'am" and I just think they're so stinking cute vjnfgjbngjbngj

I need to figure out this band au at some point cause it's been rotting my brain lately, I just have so many long fics I wanna write I don't feel like I can start a new one now even if I want to vjfnbjgnbj

I have,,, far too many thoughts on both the Averys, the Sinistras but especially Edmund's fiancee!!!! I've been waiting for a chance to talk about her honestly,,,

Let's start with the Averys,,,,

Edmund Avery Senior, the only child of Herschel Avery and Miriam Avery, is Edmund's father, in case that wasn't clear from the name. Edmund Senior works as an archivist for the Ministry of Magic and he's got a spot in the Wizengamot along with his father Herschel. The two are not close and if you didn't know you wouldn't think they were father and son. During most of Edmund's Senior's childhood his mother was heavily sedated and he was more or less raised by the family house elf, Dotty (usually called Dot and Dorothy in muggle aus). Dot is also the house elf who helped raise Edmund Junior. Edmund Senior attended school with Tom Riddle and was sorted into Slytherin and was one of Tom's dorm mates. They were also just close friends (as close friends as Tom could have). Edmund Senior was part of the reason Tom managed to open the Chamber of Secrets as he showed him a book featuring hints of the Chambers being real. To sum Edmund Senior up he's an incredibly nerdy insecure man. He loves history and in a muggle au he collects model aeroplanes. He's got a good handful of childhood trauma, a difficult relationship with his family and most of his peers and the only thing he's really got going for him is that he's an incredibly devoted husband who's down bad for his wife. She's luckily incredibly wooed by what I can only describe as his autism rizz lmao (I hate that so much ew actually)

Edmund's mother and Edmund Senior's wife is Esther, a very attractive recovered alcoholic. Rumours fly around frequently about her being unfaithful to her husband though she could never dream of it. Most of what is known about her is fabricated, which is entirely intentional as she's hiding things about herself such as her country of birth. Esther lost her family during the Holocaust. She met Edmund while they were both in their mid-twenties and they got married a while later and eventually had their only son Edmund Avery Junior. Their son has inherited his father's looks save for his mother's hair colour and many beauty spots as well as her eating disorder.

Due to Esther's alcoholism and a slight strain on their relationship over the years due to Edmund Senior favouring his work too much, Edmund Junior had much more to do with Dot, their house elf, than what would be considered normal as she would have to step in where Esther sometimes lacked. Despite this Edmund was an incredible mummy's boy and still is, something Esther cherished immensely as she loved being both a mother and wife. He would cling to her at any given time, he'd rather have tea with her than play with other children, he'd come running to her crying at the smallest inconvenience, he was so proud of wearing fancy clothes like his father and getting a spray of his mother's perfume.

The Avery family is resembled by Barn Owls similar to how the Malfoys are represented by (albino?) peacocks. Edmund Senior gifted Esther a taxidermied rat when they first started dating, similar to how Barn Owls gift their mates prey and while others find it incredibly weird they now have a shared love for taxidermied animals and he will gift her more on their anniversaries/on Valentine's Days/etc. Edmund Senior and Esther seem like an incredibly unlikely pair to everyone else but Esther fell for him in part because he was one of the only men who could see her for her mind and her heart rather than just her looks (even if he's down bad for those too lol)

Idk where else to mention this but they're both pureblood wizards,,,

They're probably my favourite of the parents,,, which is why they're the only knights of walpurgis era characters that have their own pinterest collection for pictures,,,, I would have shared it but,,, I have used all my pictures up for one post T-T

Onto the Sinistras I have considerably less but I can fill you in a bit,,,

Aurora is the only daughter of Altair Aseel Sinistra and Nazareth Sinistra née Lubilanji. Nazareth is Sierra Leonean albeit has lived in England for her entire life. She's also a half-blood. She's one of seven siblings and when she attended Hogwarts she was sorted into Gryffindor. She is incredibly fond of cats and puzzles. During her time at Hogwarts, she was part of the Slug Club. Altair is a pureblood wizard and the second son of Aseel Najm Sinistra and Sidra Ahyam Sinistra and the younger brother of Tariq Aseel Sinistra. His family is Egyptian but they've lived in England for the past two or so generations I'm thinking?? Like his daughter, he was a Ravenclaw when he attended school and he became Prefect during his fifth year.

Taking a bit of a side step here since this ask was after all about all the Sinistras,,, Tariq marries Salma Al-Mashriq, a pureblood Hufflepuff and together they have three children; Rashid, Hisham and Samara who are all younger than Aurora (Rashid (Slytherin) and Hisham (Ravenclaw) are third and second years when Aurora is in her seventh year and Samara is not yet attending school). Salma was part of a handful of extracurricular activities such as being a School Paper Writer, a member of the Gobstones Club and the Orchestra. Tariq similarly had a lot of extracurricular activities as well. He was a Slug Club Member, Ravenclaw Quidditch Captain and Chaser and School Paper Manager.

I'm still playing around with this idea so it's going to get more polished at some point but I think Altair and Salma had a thing going on at some point but something happened,, Salma married Tariq and Altair who'd been friendly with Nazareth and already was fond of her for other reasons ended up marrying her. He was able to mostly push his feelings aside after Aurora was born. He would have loved at least one more child for him to dote on and focus on, but Aurora was not an easy child and while it not being the same obviously, they got have a cat, Moonbow, that both Altair and Nazareth love like she's their second child.

Now onto Priya,,, my beloved < 3

Edmund's fiancee is Lakshmipriya Mohanraj also known as Priya. She was born October 13, 1960, and she's the only daughter of Siddarth Mohanraj and Rajeshwariammal Mohanraj. She's got two brothers, Raja and Dhananjay, though both have sadly passed, one of them in a motorcycle accident they were both in and the other took his life about a month later.

She is a mean lesbian who doesn't quite know she's a lesbian yet. She's tired of Edmund's shit and having to deal with him and it's her mood like,, 85% of the time. Her family are all loyal Death Eaters which is part of the reason why they got engaged in the first place. The Mohanraj family was also just a nice connection and if there's one thing Edmund Senior values it's connections.

She ends up marrying Endmund Junior and after A LOT of trial and error, they have a son, Siddharth Avery and later a daughter, Esther Avery (Junior technically I suppose,, since she's named after Edmund's mother). It's very clear that Priya favours her son while Edmund somewhat hesitantly ends up favouring their daughter.

Little Siddharth thinks his dad is super cool and he thinks his dad's friend (Severus) is even cooler which Priya always finds incredibly annoying cause she cannot STAND Severus,,, like at all

Priya and Edmund have some moments of bonding together but for the most part, the two cannot stand each other. They come together to judge other people and oh boy do they do it well. They're big on their children having nice manners and not being a bother to others.

I am actually in love with Priya,, she serves so much cunt and still, she's stuck with her loser husband. She probably hoped he would get caught for being a Death Eater and get sent to Azkaban and she was so annoyed when he successfully convinced people he was under the Imperius curse,,,

This became,,, soooo long which is just becoming the norm at this point honestly lmao but I hope you enjoyed all of this!!! I'll definitely come back and talk more about both the Averys and the Sinistras cause I've got other asks about them vjfnbjgnb (at least the Sinistras I think,,, I can't remember if the Averys are in there ooop)

[mysteriouslybluepirate]

Initial reaction to episode 8:

Full spoilers. Don't read if you haven't watched. But don't be afraid to comment if you agree or disagree.

Izzy got 1 week (at most) of a life where he felt like he could be himself.

That's it.

This man lost so fucking much, clearly his family, his past crews, himself. So the show said, hey. Let's spend ALL season showing him he is loved, then tell the audience this is a good ending because hey, now Ed can be himself for no loose ends.

I know we might get zombie izzy. I know buttons is probably a deus ex machina(yes, I gasped SO FUCKING HARD when the seagul landed), but I am fucking livid.

I'm sorry this is negative right off the bat. I cried yeah, but it was at Izzy apologizing for not letting Ed grow. The 1 final sin he hadn't been punished for. He apologized and lost limbs for the British thing. That was IT. The only thing Izzy haters had against him. And here we are.

Now that izzy is dead, their old Unicorn, the NEW Revenge can go live on.

Ex-fucking'scuse me?

The worst part is I knew he'd get hurt with that speech.

Congrats, izzy, you got 'woman in the fridged'-ed. Your death now ends Ed's problems without him needing to solve them. Ed doesn't need to work on rebuilding relationships because there's nothing left. Stedes is not mad at Ed, so no hard conversations there, and the crew he hurt is gone now. Izzys gone. All wrapped up in a nice little bow.

I knew. But I thought I'd be wrong. That Ed would get help. That izzy would apologize, lay their dying, and suddenly be alright via bird or someone would do SOMETHING. But no. I got to see Izzy die. In a fucking comedy show.

A comedy show about love and family and community and self acceptance. That kills of its 1 character this season who had a self realization arc outside of a romance.

Season 3 will be about either 1.) Stede and Ed being hunted and needing to fake their deaths or 2.) The crew of the 'new revenge' going on adventures. Or 3.) Zombie izzy getting the fuck out of there and finding love.

Now:I am in denial.

Con came out, mainly because of this community and this role. If he knew his character was dying, I don't think he'd have gone to cons/tied himself in with this community to the extent he has. You know? Like... if my role i got a ton of praise for was about to be offed, id smile at conventions, but already emotionally start distancing myself from the community. UNLESS-We know Jenkins would tell him the fate of his character, so...idk.

More ranting but-

I feel like we got more time watching Ed be silly than mourning his friend of potentially decades. I hate the fish plot. We already knew he had adhd and that this was a whim. 'Ed going out, catching dinner, getting kicked back' could have just been 'Ed rows out while the ship's blow up'. They didn't need Ed and stede to fight in episode 7, stede could have just gotten into a fight trying to defend Ed at the bar, maybe eds too drunk idk. Episode 7 was written like that just to have a cliffhanger resolved in the next episode. It's just...

I loved every fucking izzy scene and both love/hate that we get a flash of the shot that kills him. It's real, yeah. Izzy dies here because he was still originally in that pirate drama he made up in his head. Izzy dies a normal death. Ed asked if he needed help so many times. But izzy didn't want it.

Izzy hands wanted to die this entire time. He wanted it. That's how I'm interpreting this bullshit. He still tied himself to blackbeard, and wanted to die with him.

Maybe that's romantic, but I think it's gross and a mishandling of his character. If izzy believed that i wish we got to see it as the audience, Especially how some forms of suicidality can be expressed by 'one last hurah'.. But they didn't. All that, and the show wants us to believe he's moving on up to episode 7, until now we know izzy was jealous this whole time??? So this izzy was just izzy waiting until Ed was accepted by the crew to die. Till Ed didn't need him to be his punching bag anymore. When Ed healed he saw no point in living. 🙃 that a character who was suicidal's good ending is offing themselves when they aren't 'needed'?

Maybe izzy will come back, totally himself, ready to try to live a happy life. But I have very little fucking faith.

Getting personal: but izzy was my fucking guy. I related to his struggle to be seen/heard/taken seriously. To be liked or seen as worthy of time and attention. A character who was trying his best for the people he cared about. Who had valid concerns and was talked down to. Who craved belonging. Enough that he's desperate for scraps of friendship. A person who was feared but never understood.

To give him 'love' by a community and then have him die TWO DAYS LATER-

I hate it. I genuinely hate it. Fucking hell. Especially how quickly everyone moved on. Izzy would have been wrecked or at least shaken up if his crew died yet. WE'RE MAKING JOKES RIGHT AFTER HES BEEN BURIED. ON TOP OF HIS FRESH GRAVE. I hate that izzy got buried on the land (in general. Bro should have been buried at sea) especiallg the labd ed and stede now get to peacefully live on. I hate that con was fucking smiling, the calmest most authentic he could and ATE that fucking scene.

The thing that gets me is izzy is the cliffhanger. But at the same time, Buttons' turning into a bird represented change and acceptance. Think, we had Buttons' turning scene, the song 'seaguls', then izzy standing on deck reading the note. There's a real chance this is implying that izzy is free now.

I don't hate the show. I don't, but i fucking hate THIS. Con did Such an amazing job. But I hate that I won't know. That izzy being alive will be confirmed in a year when con accidentally posts something revealing he's on set, or Jenkins on Twitter telling us he's dead, us not believing him, then we watch all of s3 and cons not there. That I could spend the next 2 years of my life writing about a character who won't get mentioned again.

THEY COULD HAVE CONFIRMED IT IN THE END CREDITS. SOMETHING. Ground shaking, some hint early in the season about rebirth and brining back the dead or have the sword fall. Idk. SOMETHING.

I'm just.... not doing great. I'm 'excited' to watch it again :/ but fucking hell. I don't know if I want to. I still have a fic to post that I started pre season 2, but after that I might need time. I just...Izzy wasn't me, duh, but he was, you know?

Izzy didn't deserve death for being harsh, or fucking up, or living. The fact his redemption happens after they sand down izzys rough edges feels gross. Like. "Here you go audience He's 'good' now, NOW feel sad about his death!"

And I'm sorry. But fuck that. I have so many mutuals who say they didn't like how quickly izzy became soft. This fucking hurts.

Because izzy has been a dead man walking for years. Ever since Ed and he grew into whatever this is. He could have been given a chance. He wasn't. All because our protagonists are Ed and Stede. WHO I ACTUALLY LIKED THIS EPISODE. But I can't think about that because I just see Ed finally treating Izzy like an EQUAL as he's fucking dying. I was always okay with the idea of Izzy dying. But not like this.

So yeah...sorry if this is rambling, had a shit day before I watched the ep and the ep didn't fucking help! But here's to all us izzy fans hoping for a better s3 for him (my guess now is izzy is actually dead, I have absolutely 0 faith he'll come back, as izzys death was framed as a positive thing for Ed. Yes the framing is there. Izzys body is safe under Ed and Stedes watch and not drowning. But still. 0 faith. If we dont get s3, then izzy is just dead and everyone moved on the SAME DAY)

Side note- I hate the only mention of Izzys given name 'Israel' was by Ricky. Fucking...okay. add that to the pile

[cyberr-v0id]

Could you tell me more about yourself?

It is for something important.

Oh yeah sure!

I’m cyberr, I go by a lot of names, currently my favourites are Phoenix, Leonardo, and Jackdaw. I use any pronouns and I am asexual.

I have numerous skin conditions, feet bones in the wrong place, and a really bad back at the moment, as well as chronic daily headaches . So uh. You could say that I am as fit as a fiddle, if the fiddle in question is the one in my garage, which has all its strings snapped.

I really enjoy reading, and have done since I was seven. I’m currently reading the reappearance of Rachel Price, as well as the Iliad. Some of my most favourite books include: the wizards of once, how to train your dragon, murder most unladylike, all about romance, Sherlock Holmes, and treasure island.

I’m also a writer, I’ve been working on this one story for five years now. Hopefully I’ll finish it one day. I write a lot of poetry.

I love mysteries and have been apart of numerous mystery solving groups, several founded by me.

I’m an artist, of course, and my top three mediums are pencil, watercolour, and digital. I’m not the best at digital tbh. I hate acrylic and acrylic hates me.

I usually do a lot of sports but right now because of my back I can’t do a few of them. I can still do swimming, archery, rounders (tragically:/), stand up paddle boarding, and roller booting. Because they don’t involve as much bending down.

I’m gay

I’m a part time goth, which is to say I listen to goth music (my favourites atm are fields of the Nephilim and all about Eve) but only sometimes dress goth, and in varying degrees of goth. I am the most inconsistently dressing person I know, and right now my catchphrase is ‘the duality of man’. For some reason.

Music wise I listen to a lot. One day I will truly be able to say that I listen to everything. But not yet. My most favourite band is the crane wives

I want to be a marine archaeologist when I’m older, or, failing that, a famous actor. Let’s be honest here, unless I do become a really famous actor, neither career path is likely to pay well. Marine archaeological, or maritime archaeology, is all about ships wrecks, and how cultures of the past interacted with the ocean and other bodies of water around it.

I like all the animals. Genuinely there is lot a single animal that I don’t like. Well- I’m not too keen on bugs but I wish them all the best, and may many of them please stay away. I have a severe phobia of moths, and slight arachnophobia that depends on how I’m feeling and what the spider is. Tarantula? No problem, big and hairy enough to be a kitten. Now let’s move away from it in case it sprays its hairs. Brown garden spider? Bloody Mary on a motor bike get it Away.

My attention span is low. I am a theatre kid. As I type this is have a musical going in the background.

. I’m so sorry I’ve kinda made this really long, idk how much information you need

Fandoms: rise: tmnt, Percy Jackson, the owl house, the dragon prince, httyd, the inheritance cycle, red wall, Sherlock Holmes, mythology, epic the musical, so much more I can’t think of right now

I love the ocean

Lmk if you need anything else, hope this has helped, and uh. Yeah it’s kind long winded