#specifically so they're able to both spend some time with her in between all their regimented training

[sampirism]

talkn bout my opinions on rook and varric and roleplay and feeling disconnected (roleplay in a game sense not the freaky sense. sorry) - SPOILERS FOR ENTIRE GAME, BEWARE. this post is WAY too long. sorry about that too.

it's very evident that bioware/EA wanted an action/adventure game first and an RPG second, but let me type at you.

i hate to say that i didn't feel particularly sad about varric's fate, due to the structure of the game. it is, in hindsight, completely obvious that he was not alive! i just hadn't been thinking about varric much at all the entire game because you have limited opportunity to talk to him in the infirmary or when he plops around barefoot when everyone decides to sit at a table and talk about how fucked we are. i genuinely forgot he was there otherwise.

he barely feels like a guy himself. because there's no personalized worldstate, any specific mentions to events or characters might be jarring to the player who may have made a different choice along the way.

no one talks about how sorry they are about varric because they CAN'T or the twist is completely revealed. even with another DA2 character in the game (who my hawke romanced. who is now dead in the fade. glad to see you're LIVING IT UP ISABELA!!! (I'm jk. a little.))

there's no response rook can say to condolences outside of "oh, thanks" without the game fully revealing its Twist, because "I'll tell him you said hi" and "he'll be up and walking in no time!" are only reasonable responses from a Mourn Watcher, and even then, should still cause your companions to be a little alarmed. the closest we get to this is the inquisitor making reference to lost friends, and rook visually registers it, but its swept under the rug and moved on from immediately.

(i know we're all mentally unwell in this lighthouse repressing our feelings but jesus christ)

despite spending two games with him and enjoying him as a character, I struggle with feeling much for his loss AS my rook, because i found there to be no meaningful connection between him and rook. i was only told i was supposed to have one.

the game wanted so badly get the ball rolling with an immediate threat, its at the expense of roleplay. you could argue that da2 and inq also started with Immediate Threats but you are also very limited in the choosing of your backstory in those games.

rook was deliberately designed to be more open-ended, with more similarity to origins, but still gave you a prequel where you felt what your life was before The World Began To End.

there's this conversation you can walk in on with lucanis and davrin, where they're talking about their worst jobs. there are three dialogue for rook I think and i can only remember two but they were "I don't want to talk about it" or "man I have the dreadwolf in my head". (I... honestly think the third option was very similar to the second one but I have a very bad memory. sorry)

i played a mourn watcher mage. i had to have done some messed up spirit stuff. some bone shenanigans. not able to mention my Down With Nobles rebellion at all. i halfway expected it to be revealed that my rook was just like a shitty pawn (haha) and actually all her memories are fake and not real. but obviously you meet people from your shared backstory and they do know OF you but they don't really know you

in mass effect 1, there were some unique missions related to both the backstory and psychological profile you picked for shepard. they were short, and nothing happens like that in 2+3 that i remember, but they are unique to your character and are something at least.

no one really asks you much more about yourself! mourn watcher rook is literally Found In The Crypts as an Infant, an incredible mystery that you have to fill in the blanks yourself, which could be something someone wants-- but i personally like my characters a little more predefined in a game such as dragon age. vague history worked for me in games like skyrim and fallout new vegas, even baldurs gate! but makes me feel wholly disconnected from the story and group here.

there was a fair amount of dialogue choices for mourn watcher, especially with Emmrich-- talking with emmrich was one of the few times my rook felt like A Person-- but there were other times that my companions seemed to think emmrich was the only necromancer/watcher on the team. (i even specialized in death caller!)

by containing all the dialogue with companions to ! markers and outings, it's weird to be unable to have any conversations without being able to provide personal insight, whereas some NPCs in inquisition actively asked you about your past.

its particularly noticeable because of lucanis, whom my rook romanced. the dude has a lot to say about nevarran culture and the necropolis and such, and we can have zero conversations on the matter lol.

maybe this is like, really a mourn watcher thing? maybe it feels better as a crow or a warden. but if you offer me the choice to be a freak crawling around in a tomb. i am going to be.

TLDR: i really feel that a prequel mission, a recruitment by varric then a timeskip, a personal quest tied to the consequences of your backstory, something, anything, to make rook feel like an actual part of the world, was a necessity and sincerely a missed opportunity. if you actually read this far, thanks!

[tri-punisher]

occasionally LR manage to sneak lesley into their private quarters, afforded to them by their high-ranking status within the eye, when other (poorer performing) trainees are relegated to bunks and have to share rooms. it's just unfortunate a certain someone seems to have a sixth sense for whenever razlo is enjoying himself

[fox-guardian]

personally 👀 if u would like to elaborate on the saw au 👀 i am listening 👀

hi <3 this ask is months old <3 but i am answering it now teehee

SO. TMA SAW AU (disclaimer: i have only seen the first two movies so idk if these are very like. film accurate style traps)

basically it's just. what if a saw movie happened to the archive gang. they're all in one big space that's like a big trap in the sense that they all have the same time limit but they all get their own little traps also <3 the breakdown is this:

Jon is gagged with a camera in his mouth that he cannot remove without a key, it's strapped to his face with horrible rusted metal, y'know. Once time runs out, the battery powering the camera will leak down his throat killing him so so painfully <3 He cannot speak and must find other ways to communicate with the others.

Sasha has what is essentially a VR headset strapped to her head and she can't remove that without a key either. The headset is showing her the live feed from Jon's camera, so she essentially has to see through his eyes the entire time. When time runs out, two big ol' spikes will stab her in the eyes and give her a good ol' fashioned impromptu lobotomy <3

Tim's trap is a bit different from the others'. Instead of a contraption, he was injected with a paralytic prior to the gang waking up, and is paralyzed from the waist down. He needs a key to obtain the antidote for the paralytic. Rather than having a specific time when he suddenly dies, he's essentially either relying on the others to help him move/get the key/antidote for him, or he needs to move himself despite his paralysis in order to live. So when time runs out, it's either find a way to move anyway or wait for the paralytic to travel further through his body and kill him slowly after experiencing many terribly side effects (hypotension, bronchospams, and renal failure)

Martin is even more different. His trap is less about his death and more about saving the others. He's placed in a big freezer where he basically needs to find the others' keys in blocks of ice (joshua gillespie core) and if he doesn't, they'll definitely die. He also has the option of finding the key to unlocking his own door and simply escaping without saving the others. He also also has the option of only taking some keys, but not all. He will know which will save who, and gets to choose. The trap itself isn't that difficult, but there's A Lot Of Ice, and it's Really Cold and he's Already Been There A While so there's a chance of dying of hypothermia if he can't find the keys fast enough (or if he spends the time finding the others' keys after he's found his own).

Jon, Tim, and Sasha all wake up in the same room together. Jon wakes up first and is able to watch a video tape explaining what's going on, but it can't be watched more than once, so he has to explain what's happening to the others without being able to speak. He can't speak, only play charades and listen.

Sasha isn't able to see except through Jon's eyes, so he has to rely on the two of them to make sure she's not walking into more danger. She also is unable to understand any of Jon's explanations since a lot of it is through body language and She Can't See That, so they have to work together so she can watch Tim translate. She can't see through her own eyes and is forced to watch through someone else's.

Tim either has to trust that the others will come back for him (and that they won't die somewhere in this building) or get them to carry him around, slowing them down but giving him more of a chance at survival. He either has to take action, or simply wait and trust.

Martin has to make a choice between risking what's left of his life for other people (some of which who don't care about him), or saving himself. Even if the others find the room he's in, it's locked from the inside so it is entirely on Martin to save both himself and everyone else. Not only do the others have to rely on each other, but they all have to rely on Martin. The door will lock behind him when he leaves, so if he doesn't get everyone's keys, then whoever is left without one will die.

idk if these traps are entirely fitting for all their character's and flaws and whatnot, but for the research trio i thought it'd be fun to do an audio/vigilo/opperior with them and then martin gets to play god suddenly lol.

[elswing]

in defense of elrond

it is ironic that elrond keeps accusing galadriel of being too blinded by pride while he's fallen equally victim to being blinded by his own frustrations. neither of them are being particularly rational about the situation because they're both hurt and feeling betrayed, and i think elrond's remark about how galadriel only sacrificed herself to save the ring instead of the company perfectly encapsulates that—because, yeah, that is a fair interpretation of it, but she did just tell him five seconds ago that she was only there to protect them, a fact that exists simultaneously with her possessiveness over nenya.

it isn't One Or The Other, just like both of their opinions on the rings, because in actuality they are both right about them. elrond has a limited perspective on it, but from his pov he is completely justified in hating the three feanorian crafted shiny magic jewels that everyone around them covets (🤨). all he knows is that sauron had a hand in making them and no one can possibly know how much influence he has over them because the true art of his craft is subtle. as in, you don't know it's happening to you until you're suddenly slapped with the consequences of it. it is equally fair of him to be suspicious of galadriel herself, because it is impossible to rely on whether she now believes herself to be free of his corruption when she never knew it was there to begin with. also, again, for emphasis—she knew sauron walked among them, she knew he'd helped make the rings, and she let it happen anyway. that doesn't exactly inspire trust, especially when it's the exact antithesis of the point she's trying to prove to elrond and she hasn't done anything to try and rectify that breach of friendship except offer an apology that does sound quite empty given she is still championing the rings.

on the other hand, galadriel is the one who spent time with sauron all this time. galadriel is the one who befriended him, and while even we as the viewers can't be sure which parts of halbrand were an act and which were genuine moments of connection, the main point is still clear: whether she wants it or not, they understand each other. even without their friendship, you can't spend thousands of years dedicating your life to hunting someone down without them becoming familiar to you in some way, and i think there is a specific manner of vulnerability that loss and grief gave her and it just tore her wide open for all sorts of habits and traits to take root. she became so devoted to her vengeance against sauron that the lines between identity and purpose began to blur.

i am not of the opinion that galadriel loves sauron (or vice versa, but that's a whole other post), as fascinating as their dynamic is to me. i do think that she is a passionate individual who was made for love and boldness, and losing everything she did was never going to mellow her out or slow her down. in her, vulnerability takes the form of rage, and it is there, in that twisted, not-quite-galadriel version of herself, that sauron was able to find a reflection.

there is no way elrond can possibly understand any of that, even despite suffering similar losses, because that's just not who he is. galadriel has the better intuition on sauron's manipulations, and she has a far better understanding of the depth of them, so of course her opinion should count here.

the issue is that they're both too raw and hurt that neither of them are willing to say "okay, so we BOTH have good points here. let's hear each other out instead of waiting for one of us to see reason and blindly agree with everything the other is saying"

i think it should also be noted that galadriel does end up being right about the rings' capabilities as a force for good, especially since the One to control them hasn't been forged yet. as unlikely as it might seem to elrond, her intuition isn't leading her astray here. we just haven't reached that point in the story yet (nor have we reached the point where galadriel begins to humble herself to the elves and seeks to redeem herself like morfydd mentioned, but i have a feeling they're getting into that now. after all, she did give nenya up to the guy who hurtled face-first off a cliff hoping to destroy them, so that's gotta count for something. baby steps!)

[thebramblewood]

Apologies if you've answered this before, but I was looking through your asks and couldn't find anything.

Do you have any advice on how you take such good screenshots of your game? You have such a knack for lighting, having variety of shots, and making them immersive.

This is so sweet. Thank you! 🥰

If I'm being honest, it's 90% vibes and gut feelings for me. I don’t have any formal background in filmmaking or photography, and everything I know is by sheer osmosis. There’s a lot of fancy terminology to describe why certain image compositions look better than others. I admire and respect anyone who purposefully keeps that in mind. But I am definitely not that person. I think I’ve watched enough film and TV, though, to subconsciously be doing the "right thing" - or at least what looks right to me.

That being said, I think the best way to improve is practice. If you spend enough time doing something you'll obviously get better at it, even if you don't realize it at first. So the most important thing is to give yourself the patience to grow and the freedom to experiment! At any rate, here are some things I've learned that will maybe be helpful to others.

Camera Tricks: We all know the camera in TS4 can be a little wonky at times. I use Buckley's camera mod. It hasn't been updated in eons but still works as far as I can tell. It gives you more freedom with movement, and I've found it especially helpful for getting shots that are lower to the ground.

Now that I've realized how sneakily useful first person camera can be, I also take advantage of that all the time. There's the trick of making your Sim look in a specific direction. (This works with poses and gameplay actions, by the way! For example, I used it to turn Caleb's head toward Lilith while he was trimming the bonsai tree.) There's the Dutch angle trick explained in this video. This is great for moments of disorientation and unease. I also just straight-up used first person camera to convey Helena's confusion upon waking after being turned.

Also, saved camera positions are your best friends. You can save up to five positions using CTRL+5-9. Then you just click the corresponding number to return to that position. I've used these for so many reasons. By taking two shots in the same position and Photoshopping them together, I've been able to edit Sims in (like Vlad below), fix accessory clashes (the book was in the hat category, so Lilith couldn't actually wear it at the same time as the towel on her head), and to pose Sims in open doorways (Helena had to walk through the door to open it for the Vatores, so I shot both halves separately).

Zoom: I love smashing that zoom button, whether it's zooming way in or way out. Zoomed out shots are perfect for establishing setting or as interstitial shots during a long conversation when you don't want to always focus on Sims' faces. They're also great for the draaama. Extreme close-ups are great for emphasizing emotion or a tiny but significant detail. Playing around with the extremes of zoom is one of the best ways to achieve shot variety!

Focus: I don't think Reshade is a necessity for good visual storytelling, but it does make certain things easier. I rely a lot on depth of field shaders to pull focus in shots. I like using cinematic depth of field especially in conversations to blur some characters while emphasizing others. I feel like this helps ground conversations because it reminds us there are multiple participants instead of always zeroing in on the speaker alone. Another way to play with focus is to allow the angle to mirror the emotions of the conversation. It's an older shot, but I always liked how Caleb seems to cower beneath Lilith's bat form here even though she's technically smaller. And in the recent conversation between Lilith and Helena, I kept the camera to Lilith's back to emphasize her vulnerability and discomfort and put the focus on Helena's reaction to it.

Framing/Angles: I do this by pure instinct, honestly, and have gotten better at getting it right on the first shot over time. I used to take half a dozen shots of the same pose from different angles and choose the best one. Nowadays, I'm quicker to commit and often take only one shot. I've learned that if something immediately tickles my brain, it's usually the way to go. I usually angle shots so that the characters aren't looking directly at camera, as it seems more natural that way. On the other hand, sometimes the direct to camera look can actually work in more confrontational or unsettling moments.

Environment: If I can help it, I don't do my own builds. In some ways, this is a disadvantage because I have to set up the scene within a space that wasn't specifically catered to it. On the other hand, it makes for fun little surprises, like the ability to peek in through a skylight or frame two characters within perfectly placed archways. I like using objects and structures to create interest when I can. I often don't discover things like this until I'm pulling the camera around and randomly happen upon them. I definitely recommend navigating all around to see what you've got to work with before committing to any specific angle. You might find one you didn't even think of!

Lighting: I do what I can with the game's lighting. I avoid placing ceiling lamps or at least turn the brightness down much lower, and I don't usually turn all the lights on in a room at once. I tend to change the color to one of the warmer golden hues to avoid a stark white that washes everything out. I always like when I can get some sources of light into frame because it adds a lot to the ambience. But I've also been using Relight on all of my posts lately. It's an addiction, and it truly makes all the difference. I'll use it to give light sources a stronger glow so they stand out more and also to create shadows on Sims' faces. It's also very good for flashlights and computer screen glow!

After having self-indulgently written all this, I'm not sure how much is usable advice versus rambling musings. I find it hard to give storytelling "tips" because so much of it feels innate and personal and hard to put into generalized terms. I also don't want to imply that every one of my shots is perfect or that there aren't a million other ways to go about achieving good results. But thank you to anyone who's made it this far, and I hope you found it worthwhile. 💕

[saikoucorps]

:ఌ¨ ♱ MHA POLY RELATIONSHIP HCS

☆ pairings : Tsuyu Asui x fem!Reader x Ochako Uraraka

☆ tags : fluff, sfw, poly ochako, poly tsu, wholesome, poly relationship, dense reader, gn reader if you squint

☆ relationship summary : Tsu and Ochako are dating you, and eachother!

commissions || masterlist || fandoms || navigation

ꪆ୧TSUCHAKO × fem!READERꪆ୧

Matching everything!!

Tsu would make you and Ochako bracelets, as well as herself, and have them match.

She'd be really specific with the bracelets, like finding beads/gems that match your eye colors/color scheme.

Ochako would find you guys matching clothes! Mainly pj's and sweaters!

Tsu definitely knits, so whenever Ocahko or you want something specific she'd knit it for you two.

Swimming is so fun for you three to.

If you didn't know how to swim, Tsu would 100% teach you.

Ochako would compliment your outfit as well! She may be a little flustered herself though.

She actually gets embarrassed easily, so PDA would have her very nervous. Tsu doesn't mind this, and neither do you.

Tsu actually prefers to keep your relationship on the low. She wouldn't make an effort to post or brag about it.

Spacey gf and Earthy gf

Shopping sprees! All the time.

Ochako doesn't have that much money, or any at all, so she usually window shops. Tsu isn't broke or rich, so she spends a normal amount.

If you were rich, they wouldn't use you for your money at all.

And if you were broke, they wouldn't mind!

Ochako loves to give you two gifts, she isn't able to buy the gifts, but she loves to make them.

Same with Tsu, it isn't her love language but gifts are something she loves to give.

Picnics by the pond. You three enjoy nature together all the time!

You three love to bake together. Ochako would bake you both your favorite desserts as a suprise.

Tsu is a very blunt person, but you and Ochako are very dense. It took her having to outright kiss you both for you and Ochako to realize she loved you two romantically.

Sometimes, when it rains, the three of you decide to take walks. Mainly for Tsu, but you and Ochako enjoy them as well.

Tsu's siblings LOVE you and Ochako!

Tsu notices when you or Ochako are nervous, so she holds your guy's hands to calm you down.

Ochako is the best at comforting! She's able to relate to people on a personal level so whenever you or Tsu are down she's able to make either of you feel better again.

Tsu is definitely into crystals, so she'd give you and Ochako ones that remind her of you guys.

Tsu and Ochako are able to communicate very easily with you.

Tsu is patient and blunt, while Ochako is calm and understanding.

If an argument were to surface, you three would understand eachothers side and improve.

Your communication with each other makes you all stronger!

In the winter, You and Ochako cuddle up with Tsu. You have to keep her warm somehow..

Unlike Tsu, Ochako would post you both!

Your dates, pictures of you, quotes or aesthetics related to you, etc!

She'd also tag you guys in the posts as well.

She isn't purposely making your relationship known, she just loves you both so much!

Iida and Izuku knew immediately, though.

Ochako loves to give you both kisses! Cheek kisses, lip kisses, anywhere on either of your faces!

PDA between you three is rare, but Ochako sometimes initiates it. As long as you and Tsu are okay with it, she is.

You guys have a special move together. Your quirks may be different, but you guys find a way to be a good team.

Ochako will steal you and Tsu's clothes, Tsu creates clothes for you two.

You and Ochako tried to pick up on Tsu's hobby for knitting to make her something for the winter. The first few attempts were horrendous, but you guys ended up making some at some point!

Matching phone cases.

Tsu's hair is so fun to braid/style! She let's you guys do whatever you want with it in the mornings.

They're always helping you pick out your outfits to help you out, or helping you with your hair.

Matching keychains!

You three always end up sharing clothes, if you had a similar style to either of them, they'd take your clothes more.

Ochako loves to help you with your makeup or skin care!

You two are the only people Tsu feels comfortably vulnerable with.

☆ If you want to request a ship x reader, send an ask or comment/reblog ^^ !! ☆

[leothil]

Okay I'm thinking some more thoughts about Christopher and the use of the red umbrella on Buck's balcony, because I think it''s more connected to parenthood rather than danger, as I first thought.

As many have noted, in S6 we first saw the umbrella in the background in 6x04 (Animal Instincts) when Connor comes over to apologize for blindsiding Buck with the request to be his and Kameron's sperm donor.

It's very conspicuous in the background of this shot, almost like a divider between Buck and Connor. The scene continues with Connor talking about feeling like a total failure for letting down the woman he loves, and how he'd assumed the fault was with her. Interestingly, the umbrella is never in sight during the last scene of the episode where Buck tells Connor and Kameron that he will be their sperm donor. At least to me that makes it seem like it points more to the concept of family and fatherhood that Buck and Connor are discussing; the tone of the conversation is very much about longing for a family and feeling desperate that your own faults is what's holding you back from having one.

The next time we see the umbrella is actually in 6x08 (What's Your Fantasy?) when Buck is watching Jee-Yun.

It's only kind of visible in the background during the first part of the babysitting montage, but it's still noticeable, because you don't see it at all while Maddie and Chimney are in the apartment, even though similar shots are used where it very well could've been seen. But it makes sense that it wouldn't be as prominent with Jee-Yun - while Buck loves her, he's very clear on his role as her uncle. So it's more about Buck flexing his parenting muscles rather than actually acting in the role of a parent.

The next time the red umbrella makes an appearance is in 6x09 (Red Flag) when Buck reveals that Kameron is pregnant.

For the duration of the group call you can see the umbrella flapping in the wind behind Buck. Chimney wonders if they should congratulate him, Eddie says that would feel weird, and Buck (a bit later) says he's happy for them and that he'd been worrying about setting them up for more disappointment in case it didn't work. Very much the same train of thought as Connor in 6x05!

In 6x11 (In Another Life) the umbrella flashes by again, both in the coma dream and in the real world. Here it's very much in the background, though, and I think it's just as part of the set rather than having any symbolic role; it's never in focus or prominently visible in the background like in these other cases.

Now, in 6x12 (Recovery) it's harder to argue that they're not playing with some kind of symbolism with the umbrella!

We spend quite a bit of the first half of the episode in Buck's apartment, but the only time the umbrella is visible is when Connor comes over - not with Maddie there, not with Hen there. And once again the conversation between Connor and Buck touches on parenthood. Connor seems to hint at being a little bit spooked about becoming a father (understandable): "You hope for something for so long and when it finally happens it doesn't quite feel real."

And finally, today (yesterday for you living in UTC-negative time zones) it was there again in 6x13 (Mixed Feelings).

In this precious I-have-read-about-this-in-1000-fanfics scene Buck and Chris are baking cookies for Chris' class. The umbrella is visible during the whole scene, hanging out behind Christopher's head. It's very hard to not see this as a parenting scene: Buck and Chris are hanging out without Eddie, at Buck's house, and doing something for school. Buck even kindly rebuffs Chris' question about having cookies for dinner.

Does this mean anything? Who knows! But it's fascinating to be able to find similar themes connecting the scenes where the red umbrella is featured! If I were to guess, I'd say parenthood is the connective thread between all these different scenes, and specifically parenthood in connection to Buck. We've already seen him trying to figure out his own life more during this season, and the sperm donor storyline definitely seems to nudge him towards thinking about his own role as dad and guardian. The very domestic scenes with Eddie and Christopher have only served to underline this, in my opinion!

I am still very suspicious about this shot of Chris at the end of 6x07 (Cursed) though. Very suspicious.

[lavenderstobins]

What would Robin's relationship with Wayne and Eddie be exactly in the "Wayne adopts Robin AU"?

ty for the ask!

With Wayne:

Specifically in this AU, Robin's father died a few years ago, and she was closer to him than her mom, so she kinda imprints on Wayne like a baby duckling from the moment he was kind to her (but does her hardest not to show it).

In the early days of living with the Munsons, she tries to mask a lot and doesn't want to be a nuisance or overstep for fear that Wayne'll ask her to leave. It takes her some time to relax and let her guard down, but she bonds with Wayne over things like sport and TV (she's on the girls' soccer team, after all!). I think for sure she gets really into watching sports because of Wayne, much to Eddie's annoyance as he's shushed during games. Wayne tried to take her fishing, but she hated it, much like Eddie had.

Wayne teaches Robin how to drive, but they haven't been able to afford to get her license. Wayne's a quiet person and Robin is very much not, so Wayne often spends his evenings sitting on the couch listening to Eddie and Robin's conversations with him/each other, and there's nothing he'd rather do.

Wayne loves Robin fiercely. He seems to have a thing for collecting waifs in need (coined by @pukner). I personally headcanon that Wayne had a younger sister who died when she was still a kid, so having Robin around somewhat fills a little of that aching gap in his chest, y'know?

Overall, Wayne sees Robin as a daughter of sorts, or at least a daughter figure. If Eddie's his boy, Robin's his girl. Robin doesn't think of Wayne as a father exactly, but he's definitely the closest thing she has to one. He's Just Wayne™.

With Eddie:

Robin's definitely intimidated by Eddie to begin with. She knows him from school (and he used to be in band) and so she knows him as loud, rowdy and brash. She's almost jealous as well, because he's so comfortable in himself in a way she thinks she can never be. She tries to be invisible, to hide everything about herself, while Eddie seems to rise above it all.

Eddie, much to her surprise, is far gentler than she'd expected. She'd been nervous that he'd think she's trying to take over his home or steal his uncle or something, but Eddie takes it in stride and does his best to help Robin feel at ease. As far as he's concerned, she belongs with them now, too. He knows what it's like to lose a parent and to get stuck with a shitty one.

Eddie helps her out of her shell a lot and between him and Wayne she becomes a lot more comfortable dressing masculine and not hiding. As time goes on, she and Eddie get comfortable enough that they're almost equally loud at home, and they definitely have a sibling dynamic. Wayne's watched them tussling over the TV remote too many times to count. They both think of each other as a brother / a sister and outsiders perceive them as siblings.

When it comes down to it, though, they have each other's backs. After Starcourt, Eddie hates that he's out of the loop and doesn't know how to deal with it. He knows she's hiding something from him, but not what. Robin, in contrast, feels horribly guilty lying to them, because it's been so long since she's felt the need to hide anything from Eddie or Wayne.

When Eddie gets brought into things, Robin is devastated, because she'd always wanted Eddie and Wayne to be safe. She finds Chrissy in the trailer before Wayne does and she takes off cycling to find Eddie immediately. She finds him in the boathouse by herself, and they stick together.

(Also, a fun little tidbit is that they're both so afraid for the other. Robin's terrified of Hawkins being on a manhunt for her brother, while Eddie's scared shitless because Robin's been marked by Vecna in this AU and he saw what happened to Chrissy)

(Bonus fun tidbit: they both try to sacrifice themselves to save everyone else, and Wayne has to see both of his kids in comas. Eddie wakes up first only to learn that he can't see Robin because not only did Vecna get her, but he's the lead suspect for her 'attempted murder'.)

[loganswdc]

I'm pretty sure that they pitted both Alex and Logan so early because they were trying to undercut the Astons and then got stuck in a DRS train. They were also said to be struggling between choosing between a two or three stop race and kept going back and forth on what they wanted to do. James also said that their pace was worse than qualifying due to the hot weather.

I was generally under the guise of Logan not being able to manage his tires well? I'm kinda confused now, but id love it if it was true! Do you have any specific races where he did manage his tires well?

Also, I'm kinda annoyed at Williams whole "switching out race engineers" thing they have going on, like I get how they want to give them rest, but when you see your drivers literally struggling with their race engineers every other race.... Like it was Alex this race getting mad at his engineer and I'm pretty sure Logan in Monaco during Qualifying or Free practice with his.

hiya !! thank you for letting me know about them pitting logan and alex early because they planned on undercutting the aston’s ,, i was not aware of that !! you learn something new everyday :)

and them struggling to choose between a two or three stop race is so frustrating 😭 like no wonder alex was upset over the radio ,, if you don't know how you should manage your tyres because of shaky tyre strategy , then you don't know what to do !!

as for logan with his tyre management , i'd say it's been getting MUCH better than it was before , hence why i said that he's been managing them well . i'd say the races his good management is really seen , both from looking how he performed during the race and managed the tyres and afterwards looking at data surrounding tyre degradation are: silverstone ; imola , his tyre deg according to the data was lower than most of the field ; miami also wasn't the worst , definitely better than prior races !! ; china his tyre management was good on the hards ,, for some reason this man HATES medium tyres ; and in austria it was the same as in china , he did REALLY good on the hards but the medium tyres were not his friend . i'd also add that he did pretty good in saudi with managing his tyres

overall what i've noticed with his tyre management is that he seems to be really good with managing hard tyres when comparing to the rest of the field , and he's also not too bad with managing soft tyres ! but then he gets mediums and he rips through them like a mad-man 😭

a HUGE thank you to @k-pevensie28 for helping me out with finding all this !! i seriously could not have done this without her help: THANK YOU !!! she is an absolute angel and life-saver . you're amazing k , thank you for drowning in research with me <3

and i agree with the engineers thing !! i understand why they do it , and honestly good on williams for giving members of their team breaks so they can spend time with their families and rest . but at the same time ,, it can get really frustrating with the drivers because all of the sudden they have a new engineer that they're unfamiliar with and it just causes chaos . and that especially goes for when it's yk the first race with a new engineer , having to figure out a completely new dynamic must genuinely get so frustrating . i feel for them both , honestly .

also , to everyone reading -- please feel free to correct me on the info about logan's tyres if i got something wrong or you want to add something !! i'll be sure to do so :)

[ocean-waters]

Rin&Haru's and Ruby&Sapphire's relationships are quite similar in some ways.

I'm having rinharu thoughts consuming me as usual, and I just had to write this somewhere. (This is a veryyy self indulgent ramble post, just me making connections between my two favorite media ever that have nothing to do with each other)

Okay so call me crazy and delusional and whatever you like but hear me out. I see a lot of similarities between garnet and rinharu, and i just have to talk about it.

Aside from the obvious superficial similarities like the red & blue theme, hot & cold, outwardly expressive & reserved, etc., there are some core things I can see about each relationship that I can't help but think are alike. Not that it's a 1:1, there are many differences too (namely the types of relationships they are lol), but still.

Most notably, the theme of changing each others lives and being their best selves together constantly gets brought up in their relationships.

Sapphire and Haru's stories are a bit similar in the sense that before the little red balls of energy and passion entered their lives, they were pretty much content with just letting it pass them by.

Haru was just waiting until he could become an ordinary person, simply wanting to feel the water and not bother with anything relating to his future or dreams.

Sapphire had practically seen how her whole life would play out thanks to her future vision and therefore adopted this detached persona in which she just accepted it all. Deeming any attempt or effort to change what was foreseen a futile. Her existence was "one single obvious stream, unbending until the end of time".

Then that's when Rin and Ruby come in, and essentially turn their world upside down.

Through their sheer passionate and impulsive nature, they crashed right into their blue counterpart's life (one metaphorically, and the other literally lol) and changed the course of their lives forever.

Rin opened Haru's eyes to the world that's out there for him, just how fun it is to actually swim with friends and with a dream to follow, thus making him see beyond that becoming an ordinary person mindset.

And Ruby opened Sapphire's eye to all sorts of different paths she hadn't been able to see before with her linear future vision. "Endlessly streaking through space and time, altered and obliterated by the smallest force of will". Thus making her life exciting again

And then you have the feelings Rin and Ruby had towards them. Rin considers Haru his shining, the one that gives him something to aim for. Swimming with him specifically and being at the world stage together are very important parts of his dream. As many free! staff have put it, they're a destined pair, fated to swim together forever.

Ruby also shares a similar sentiment, in which she enjoys being herself and doing things she likes with Sapphire. Spending time with her as Garnet brings her so much more joy than just spending her time alone.

Then you have the theme of being stronger together. As it was proven many times throughout free!, but especially during the final stroke films, Rin & Haru shine their brightest when their relationship is mended and they swim together. Pretty sure they just casually broke the world record during their race at the night pool right after their reconciliation. As well as Haru noting how much better it felt to have him by his side. It strengthened him and made swimming not feel as painful as when they had fought.

And Ruby and Sapphire have a whole song that's about this lmao, which also has this sort of competitive taunt aspect to it, which is perfect. When they come together, they're stronger than their foes.

Could also mention certain scene parallels, like both of them having this big "break up" in which Haru and Sapphire are overwhelmed by their circumstances and end up lashing out at Rin and Ruby, saying some things they regret, and then wallowing in pain afterwards lmao.

But that also lead them to reevaluate their relationship, how they felt about it, and what they needed to do to fix it, and again culminating in the conclusion that they are in fact happier together and would like to continue doing so no matter what.

Seriously, you can literally apply Sapphire's wedding vows to them, and it's a perfect fit:

"What I mean is.. you changed my life"

"And then.. I changed your life"

"And now.. we change our lives"

I can't be the only one right?

[blog-sekai]

Unit Introduction: Mirror's|Reflection

Four "childhood friends" re-connect and re-discover who they can be together...

*text heavy!!!!! I cannot draw & havent made picrews or anything yet

¸¸♬·¯·♩¸¸♪·¯·♫¸¸¸♬·¯·♩¸¸♪·¯·♫¸¸♬·¯·♩¸¸♪·¯·♫¸¸¸♬·¯·♩¸¸♪·¯·♫¸¸♬·¯·♩¸¸♪·¯·♫¸¸¸♬·¯·♩

About Mirror's|Reflection

They're a system! Caspian is the host & spends the most time at front. Their origin will intentionally be left ambiguous to prevent The Discourse(tm) from taking root.

The line dividing the two words of their unit name represents a mirror; their unit name invokes what's like to stand between two mirrors facing each other, and seeing countless reflections all around you.

They're a standard-enough band, having a sound that's not dissimilar to leo/NEED - this is likely because they're all musicians and have been for quite some time. A lot of their music is about identity/general "I want" songs, as well as songs about relationships - specifically platonic & familial relationships.

The other members are able to manifest in SEKAI - they can trade off who fronts by passing each other Caspian's cell phone. Depending on who's fronting, the body's eye color & the color of their hair's highlights will change.

¸¸♬·¯·♩¸¸♪·¯·♫¸¸¸♬·¯·♩¸¸♪·¯·♫¸¸♬·¯·♩¸¸♪·¯·♫¸¸¸♬·¯·♩¸¸♪·¯·♫¸¸♬·¯·♩¸¸♪·¯·♫¸¸¸♬·¯·♩

Caspian Hooks

Birthday: Oct 17

Height: 5'9.5" / 177cm

Hobbies: Doodling, Swimming

Specialty: Making Flash Cards

Favorite Food: Gummy Worms

Least Favorite Food: Spicy Things

Dislikes: Studying

Caspian is Alice's younger brother. They clashed a lot as kids, but have learned it's okay to rely on each other now that they're both struggling in high school. He plays the guitar, but like Alice, he started out by learning the piano. Caspian finds the ocean deeply comforting, as his childhood home was a short walk from the beach.

¸¸♬·¯·♩¸¸♪·¯·♫¸¸¸♬·¯·♩¸¸♪·¯·♫¸¸♬·¯·♩¸¸♪·¯·♫¸¸¸♬·¯·♩¸¸♪·¯·♫¸¸♬·¯·♩¸¸♪·¯·♫¸¸¸♬·¯·♩

Blaze

Birthday: April 7

Height: 5'9.5" / 177cm

Hobbies: Martial Arts, Chess

Specialty: Origami

Favorite Food: Instant Noodles

Least Favorite Food: Sweets

Dislikes: Practice

Blaze has been around second-longest, after Caspian. They were incredibly close as kids but drifted apart and eventually, like the others, he was suppressed. Blaze is short-tempered and is deeply upset at being ignored/forgotten, but more than that, what really pisses him off is when people treat others/the body poorly. He plays the keyboard/synth and actually kinda shreds at the keytar.

¸¸♬·¯·♩¸¸♪·¯·♫¸¸¸♬·¯·♩¸¸♪·¯·♫¸¸♬·¯·♩¸¸♪·¯·♫¸¸¸♬·¯·♩¸¸♪·¯·♫¸¸♬·¯·♩¸¸♪·¯·♫¸¸¸♬·¯·♩

Aloe

Birthday: April 22

Height: 5'9.5" / 177cm

Hobbies: Caring for Succulents, Taking Naps

Specialty: Patience

Favorite Food: Melon Bread

Least Favorite Food: Sushi

Dislikes: The Cold

Aloe helps a lot with soothing tensions between band members, as she hates conflict and would like to live in harmony with everyone. She's fairly laid-back, and likes to do things at her own pace, but takes her interests and the band very seriously. The others mainly ask her to front when they're having trouble sleeping. She plays the bass for the band and can also play the saxophone reasonably well, too.

¸¸♬·¯·♩¸¸♪·¯·♫¸¸¸♬·¯·♩¸¸♪·¯·♫¸¸♬·¯·♩¸¸♪·¯·♫¸¸¸♬·¯·♩¸¸♪·¯·♫¸¸♬·¯·♩¸¸♪·¯·♫¸¸¸♬·¯·♩

Gail

Birthday: June 18

Height: 5'9.5" / 177cm

Hobbies: Finding Deals, Fashion

Specialty: Studying

Favorite Food: Korean BBQ

Least Favorite Food: Sandwiches

Dislikes: Loud Noise

Gail very rarely fronts, because she is the most uncomfortable with the body's assigned gender. She's indisputably the smartest in the group, so the others often go to her for help with homework and studying; Gail does genuinely enjoy learning things, so she'll often only ask to front if the others are struggling with paying attention in class. For the band, Gail plays the drums, but she's also really good with the viola.

¸¸♬·¯·♩¸¸♪·¯·♫¸¸¸♬·¯·♩¸¸♪·¯·♫¸¸♬·¯·♩¸¸♪·¯·♫¸¸¸♬·¯·♩¸¸♪·¯·♫¸¸♬·¯·♩¸¸♪·¯·♫¸¸¸♬·¯·♩

Sekai: Ocean SEKAI

Unit Virtual Singers:

Hatsune Miku: In SEKAI, she's dressed like a pirate, and helps with navigating the ship. She often gets the others into trouble more than she genuinely helps, but things tend to work out in the end regardless.

Otomachi Una: In SEKAI, she helps Miku with ship repairs. Spicy-Una also mans the cannons when various sea beasties attack, while Sweet-Una helps in the galley, although her skill leaves much to be desired.

[happyk44]

Look. I know that like. Pluto is not the god of business and that wealth is not equivalent to business but like 1) the meaning of wealth has changed over time and differs among people and I'm pretty sure now when you think of wealth and wealthy people, you think of people who own fortune 500 companies and know what stocks are, and 2) I love the concept of tired businessman Hades/Pluto who just wants to spend a quiet day with his spreadsheets and a pencil, and not have to deal with whatever nonsense is currently being drummed up by his employees

Anyway -- Nico's wealth being generational due to his grandfather (and I want to assume that politics was a family thing so likely also before him) vs Hazel's wealth being hard earned, which, at least in the current age, means business know-how and being able to file a tax report and reconcile a balance sheet sheet and understand excel (I might be slightly projecting here lol)

Hazel being almost an obsessive accountant, monitoring bills, income, every single expense and penny off the street vs Nico who knows the value of things, like antiques, stuff with history. He can do surveys of property, anything that has the potential to be passed on. He's good with valuing a will - splitting assets between family members. Or managing a trust, devising different funds for the future. I think he's probably very good at looking at the long-term. And thus pretty good at noticing when someone is scamming another person with the whole "it'll be cheaper in the long run" thing, or "it'll increase in worth over time".

And since generational wealth is mostly familial, I don't think all of it has to be specific to monetary value either. Emotional wealth, the value something carries emotionally, is also something he can sense. A cheap wedding ring passed down from generation to generation could be more valuable than a standard cut diamond bought today.

Like he could look at old vase on sale at Goodwill for $2 and know it's monetarily cheap, but emotionally it's valued in the thousands. I think it could be kind of cool for things that carry high emotional value and were a part of a family's lineage for generations, if he could touch them and see the history behind it - but that doesn't really fit in with the scope of his current powers or the general theme of the Underworld so :/

They're both good at investments as investing is kind of the core of wealth management and plays a big part in building generational wealth these days, although, I'd gather that Hazel is probably better at it.

Nico, however, is very good at being able to calculate future value of a long-term investment (at least 20+ years).

Hazel can calculate future value of any kind of investment - short term fixed deposits, long and short-term investments, property changes (she absolutely hates house flippers, especially when they change or cover all the older original work, because it cuts the value down so much more than they realize), other stuff that has slipped my mind because my brain is stalling, etc.

Hazel's your go-to for reviewing the split of assets during a divorce. She's extremely meticulous and can track down even the most hidden of accounts. She's also the one you want to talk to about getting the most out of filing your taxes. She will go through every single one of your purchases, no matter how minor, to find a loophole she can work with to shave even only a couple cents off.

(disclaimer: bermuda does not have income tax so i have no idea how filing taxes actually works, other than the two canadian tax classes i took over five years ago as part of my degree)

Hazel can also assess depreciation somewhat automatically. Someone trying to choose between types of equipment can go to her and be like "which one will depreciate in value faster if I do X with it" and she'll look and point and if you ask her why, she can sprout off some nonsense at the top of her head without thinking - like percy with sailing, or my hc about jason/thalia and their inherent diplomatic schmoozing skills.

However, unlike them, she maintains understanding of what she's said when she's exited the environment, either because the power just does that or because Hazel is an amazing busy lady. if you casually said "hey hazel, between X brand and Y brand, which will drop in value faster" she'd have to think about it because it's not really "business" related.

In that sense she's also REALLY good at noticing trends. most of it is subconscious - what brands are becoming more popular, what clothing styles are losing touch. I put this in a previous fic, but she's very receptive gemstone trends. She can tell which stones are moving up in popularity and which are going down. In my headcanon about her business with Walt, this is very useful.

Her ability to notice trends, especially from a monetary standpoint, also helps with her managing stocks, and allows her to invest in high interest but riskier equities with very minimal loss (trends aren't set in stone, you know? Sometimes things happen and everything sudsenly shifts)

Plus back to the whole wealth is conflated with succesful business these days concept, putting Hazel in charge for just a day can boost a business's ability to turn a profit. In just a few hours, she can have all major flaws analyzed.

In New Rome, if someone is opening up a shop or whatever, they'll ask Hazel to review their plans because she can immediately point out all the issues and devise a better way to go about things. A couple times she's just taken them gently by the shoulders and said in the kindest voice ever, "This is going to fail. Do not put money into this." Sometimes it's the business concept, sometimes it's the person behind the concept. They either listen or they don't and if they don't, Frank is there to listen to all her complaints about them going against her advice.

Also - as an U-turn back to the splitting assets in a divorce concept, I'm not sure about pre or post-nuptial agreements. I think pre-nuptials are pretty straightforward in a "this is what im bringing in and want to keep separate from marriage" kind of thing, which Hazel could handle easily. I know in both cases it's important to declare all assets - which again Hazel could easily handle.

Post-nuptials are probably more of Nico's thing because at that point the assets in question have become merged and become familial, and much of generational wealth is in the idea of building wealth to leave behind to your family so they may have a better opportunity to build wealth to leave behind, etc, etc. Especially since post-nuptials, I think, are typically created after children are born, and those are the people who wealth is supposed to be left behind to.

This also kind of plays with my idea that the underworld is inherently familial/communal - as a person cannot bury or perform the proper funeral rites on themselves. Plus the Cocytus is the river of lamentation (aka grief and sorrow) and I imagine some of that comes from the people left behind, crying over their lost loved ones.

Also I think the idea that children of Pluto are resistant/immune to monetary greed. Since Hades was never technically the god of wealth, and was only conflated with him over time (to which, I would imagine some things and behaviours began to pop up, like they'd always existed and then becoming Pluto in the Roman era just solidified that conflation), his kids don't really have this innate resilience, but their dad is also rich and loves them, so their ability to fall prey to it is lower.

Oh! Oh! And Hazel can inflict plutomania on people, which is a word I discovered just now that means "the excessive desire for wealth". I don't know how this would be helpful but idk - social wealth is something I found popping up a lot so maybe if Hazel needs information on something that a person won't give, she can utilize plutomania to inflict a desire for social wealth in the person to get them to spill the information

(Social Wealth is about connection and network, having a sense of belonging and trust essentially. Someone with a lot of social wealth will have a lot of connections versus someone with no social wealth)

(oh yeah in my hasty google search to fact check my understanding of generational wealth when I started this post yesterday, I discovered there are many types of wealth. The number kind of varies from result to result, but essentially the 4 mains ones are: Financial Wealth (obvi), Social Wealth, Time Wealth, and Health Wealth (haha, it rhymes). But anyway yeah. Not sure how it could all loop into her without making her too all powerful but like. Hazel is also super cool and deserves to be godlike in consideration so 🤷‍♂️)

I love that when I started this yesterday it was a lot more clear cut and then I came back to finish it and ended on a ramble 😂 I do not have the energy to go and tidy everything up into something more coherent and uniform so this is what it be 👍

Oh, also, Hazel is amazing at gambling and poker. Nico is also good at poker but that's because he's reading people's souls to figure out their tells. Hazel is good at it because she attracts cash money and therefore always wins. That's why whenever anyone plays poker or places a bet with her, money can't be involved.

[kunabee]

Some of you may remember when I posted about having amongi and clowns in the same space and raising them together, that was about a year ago now. I managed to find the post - May 23rd of last year. So. Wow. I'm timely xD Let's have an update, shall we?

I currently have a cat, an amongus, and a clown all in the same household. The babies that Mama 'Mongus (I've basically named her that, although she has many nicknames lmao) had have all gone to responsible homes that know how to care for amongi (with only one first-time owner, the rest all being experienced), but she's stayed with me.

The clown also has stayed with me. I took him to a clown-specific vet far too long after acquiring him (simply because finding an affordable specialist was... a Task and a half) and discovered he's a Party/Pierrot mix (and other things too, but most prominently those two). I was intending on rehoming him, since I was like "ok there is NO WAY I could manage a Pierrot as a first time owner", plus I have Mama Mongus and my cat to think about, but, uh...

Generally, my clown, cat, and amongus are all kept separate. There are prey drives at work, and while the amongus is a standard size (she's 3'6") she is still about a foot and a half shorter than the clown and my cat is also small, comparatively. HOWEVER. They're also... attached to each other??? Like, my cat enjoys being pet by the clown and she and Mama Mongus like to play together. At first I thought Mama Mongus was attacking my cat (I know cat body language, not amongus body language), but - NOPE.

And Mama Mongus enjoys doing 'tasks' around the clown's environment (a pretty simple and a bit-too-small tbh circus tent, I'm working on expanding it) and the clown loves to entertain Mama Mongus. Both of them enjoy having the other person in their space, which makes sense as Mama Mongus is a crewmate and both clowns and crewmates are social species who hate being alone.

AGAIN - I don't allow Cinnamon (cat), Mama Mongus (amongus), or Pierre (clown) to spend time with each other without supervision. BUT all 3 ask (indicate nonverbally to me) that they want to hang out with each other. AND Pierre and Mama Mongus both seem pretty attached to me??? I have fallen asleep in their enclosures before and woken up to a cuddle session, and Pierre especially has indicated being lonely when I'm elsewhere in the house where he can't go (because it's Cinnamon's or Mama Mongus's space but I can't actively observe them).

I'm also currently researching into getting a second clown, but Pierre hasn't seemed interested in other clowns in the 2 rescues we've visited. From what I researched, amonguses are able to be by themselves so long as they get lots of social interaction, and as a disabled individual without a job I can provide that lol. But if it is necessary I WILL absolutely pick up a second crewmate, Mama Mongus seems interested in images of crewmates at least. Pierre however has displayed no interest in clowns of any other species (except one teacup that he seemed to either find cute or want to eat, unsure).

Mama Mongus has also seen a vet and gotten a clean bill of health, and I'm trying to reach out to some experts on amongi and on clowns to see if all the positive interactions between the two means I can combine their spaces and trust them to not cause chaos or if I need to continue to monitor closely. Like is it because they're lonely??? do they genuinely like each other???

I wish they could just tell me what's up in a way that I can clearly understand, I know they're TRYING to tell me what they want but aaaa ;-;

(The previous post, for reference)

[skybristle]

ok. finally my big gc post i've been hyping up. im sorry theres so much context bullshit here my fanon is complicated and this is Very me-specific, i don't think this could ever work in canon. bear with me though.

First: magic system . long story short, there are divine planes of magic, the 'source' of each type of magic's power and usually what the god of it has direct control over. another important thing about them [particularly the celestial planes, which is a distinction you thankfully don't have to care about] is that they can hold souls 'hostage' from the flow of life. this will be important later. particularly, the world of dreams has most of the main celestial body magics, plus some other rudimentary stuff, including the sunlight realm, a daydream facet of the whole world of dreams. normally, a god will by default have the 'birthright' to their realm,,, however sometimes spirits can get minor or even major godhood if they know what they're doing. it's both incredibly painful and simply unreasonable to expect a mortal body to be able to take the inflow of divine magic. [and yes, even though the ancients are immortal, they still Classify under mortal, they don't have any divinity asnd they just got a shitton of magic in their things]

and secondly: city of wizards. i mentioned it, but the world of dreams Does have a sun facet, and there IS a sun goddess, sunshine! [my lovely girlfriend @princess--bongwater 's oc].. i've always wanted them to be connected, but i haven't really figured out a way to make it work since i didn't want gc to straight up have a divine blessing that would set her apart from the other ancients. you see, uhm, a certain Incident happened in the city millenia ago where tldr moonlight got cursed by some twink, the city fell, and the dream barrier [divine in origin since it's technically moonlight's magic, so sunshien can't break through] and eclipse, their adoptive mother, tells sunshine to run before hell completely breaks loose when it all begins. sunshine, locked out with a vieled city only being able to see her twin chained up in the abyss of the dream realm, with an assumption her mortal mother is dead or will be by the time she's able to return,,, wanders off to the mortal realm. and, in a mortal diguise, that's where she's been, unable to face the dream world let alone her own personal godly duties, fucking around in bars getting slammed and shit. so. she's really out of the picture. the throne of the sun has been empty since a time beyond memory

NOW. golden cheese. i imagine a lot of the ancients came from the general place they founded their kingdoms [besides white lily and pv probably], and i've always seen gc as a thief wandering between villiages and oasis' on the sands prior to meeting hb / the others. it's a very disjointed soceity, with only one unifying trait: the worship of the sun goddess.

once she's settled in as the pharoah, the worship of the sun is still very much there, even if gc has kind of become sort of a godly figure among her people. she personally doesn't consider it much, having originally lived a harsh life and never being given sol's grace. until shes on her knees, sobbing, crying, clutching the staffs of her dearest friends and her people over the ruins of her kingdom, over the dried blood in the fractured golden tiles. the wind whistles in her ears. this is the first time in her life the desert sun has felt completely scorching. and, in the deepest depths of her grief, she finally prays to the sun. for anything . [she doesn't know that's what all of the bodies before her were spending their last moments doing]. she cries and sobs to the heavens as her talons are digging so hard into her other hand they bleed. she has no other choice. the heavens are silent

well, golden cheese has never exactly been a cattle waiting for rescue. fine then, sunshine, be that way. she has to bring them back. her finest treasures, all of them. the gold burning her eyes doesn't matter. so she soars. up and up and up. her lungs are burning with the thin air. her wings are pounding in her ears and she can see nothing but light, and she can't tell if it's what she's staring at or her soul jam overflowing with the power of her grief and denial. but she keeps going.

her talons clutch the sun, finally [this is a little metaphorical, she's actually seizing the divine realm, lol dw the literal sun is ok] and as she finally falls back down she holds it close and channels all of her power into it and even if it's fighting back she's wrangling it like a jackal and she'll fucking win. she has to. there's no other choice now.

before she smashes into the sands, it fianlly takes her there. a blank slate. a little messy from hosting daydreams and not being attended to by its god, but it's workable. it's oddly dim, i guess there's no sun here anymore.

perfect. with just the right timing, she grabs the souls here from the hand of death and takes them away.

the 'digital' kingdom is, yes, a lot of technology, but its also a melting pot of magic and souls and code and it's very,,, hectic. thankfully, her people weren't big mage-types, and she mainly assigns the souls of former mages similar powers using the fakeness of her world. just trying to look at this thing using their magic sight would give them vertigo if they were using Actual Magic that's real. i should also add she had to personally bury each one with her own two talons. sure, the cheesebirds helped, but there's only so much they can do. her closest friends to the tiniest babies to her wisest elders. and,,, i mean,,, she's sitting on the throne of the sun. she *is* the sun goddess. but while she is sitting in the vacated land of the sun she betrayed, her soul jam is supporting a lot of it, and she's actualyl despite her ego actively fighting against the transformation into a god. the divinity is seeping into her, but its absolutely *agonizing*, i imagine the 'sun deity' transformation in her skill is absolutely brutally painful, and even if her soul jam cam help her bear the weight of this whole charade, it's not very,,, fun. it's just such a captivating hc to me. she usurped the goddess of the sun to keep up this lie. in fact, that's why the digital kingdom is always night, a false sun can't illuminate it. and there's a timer ticking. stop being delusional and face the music of what really happened, or get eaten from the inside out by the reminder of what she stole. i wonder which she'll choose. a lot of my thoughts with this hc r just visuals. ill have to draw smthin later

[moroser]

liliths fav thing to do with bb hunter? 👀

PHEW. OKAY. using this ask just to talk about her with him when he's a baby. cause all the things are her favorite.

something things that lilith does with baby hunter:

she has never been a particularly snuggly person. and it does come to her as a worry that she won't be with him. but she ends up one of those moms who always has her tiny baby against her in one of them baby slings that keep them close. she can do hands free with him that way. he sleeps and she works. i've said before, she works at the museum and she brings him when he's toiny. but she'd do the same at home.

no matter where they are, she converses with him. while they're driving in the car, she talks to him about whatever she has on her mind. at home while she cooks and he's in the bouncer. she talks to him while she's working and he's sleeping against her. she talks to him like he's another adult.

she slow dances with him sometimes, instead of rocking him to sleep. she has a record player and will play it while walking and swaying with him to the music until he falls asleep for a nap. (she is rather picky with music but hunter likes anything with a rhythm so she puts up with a lot as he ages).

during warm months, they go for a walk every day and stop in the park. there are some old ladies that always see her there with him and coo and aww at him. she's a very private mother, is the best way i can describe it, she is more comfortable when it's just him and her, so the old ladies are a bit of a bother but they love him so much she like relents and let's them socialize with him.

one of my favorite things is she takes pictures of him in situations that seem (mildly) dangerous or bad for him and sends them to gwen because gwen is always dropping these backhanded comments to her about him and how she's raising him. (she has some Opinions and Thoughts). so she sends her these pictures just to fuck with her like yep i'm such a terrible mother, see mother?! you know, petty.

while hunter is a baby, lilith is friends with gus' mom, amanita. she is married to perry and since lilith lives next to gus' grandparents, they are over a lot. hunter and gus are the same age in this au and grow up very close. family friends close. amanita is the only other woman that lilith spends time with willingly and she likes to have hunter and gus at the same time and interacting.

even though lilith is not very good at cooking or baking without recipes, she really enjoys both. she can follow recipes very well but if she ever strays from it, it never ends well. but, she takes on the task of making her own baby food for him. so she has a lot of fun making the mixes and finding out which ones he likes and which make him wrinkle his face. it's so fun watching him react to the flavors. like she will let him try a certain combination of foods and flavors and he'll like it, "i knew you would." and if he doesn't like it, "i thought so. i didn't like it either." that's how she talks to him.

she treats motherhood like a responsibility, a task, and lilith is really organized and good at it without even realizing how well she does. there’s a disconnect between her and the concept of motherhood and applying it to herself? so she doesn’t quite understand she’s a really good mom!! if that makes any sense. but anyway, despite her hang ups with touch and connection to others, she doesn't struggle with hunter. she loves him!! she is so involved with him and his interests become her interests. her enthusiasm matches his when they have Big Interests. lilith is fortunate enough to be able to shape her life fairly easily so that she can put her time into work and hunter. her two hyper focuses. literally i will ramble forever so i am done now. and sorry this wasn't a specific answer to your question.

** just a note: amanita is an oc of @marztheincredible and since i had already put gus' mom in this au i asked marz if amanita could be her image and she said i could use her for this au like this!! here is art of her!

[lucem-stellarum]

Time for some crack theories. Leading up to the Summitt, William has put a lot of pressure on Vincent for no reason that he can explain. From everything we've seen so far, William does seem to care for and love his progeny. Vincent also says that William enjoys "moving the pieces", playing the manipulative game of politics. Vincent is happy being just a game piece, not a player. So why throw Vincent in the deep end of running a Summit with no training, no warning, no explanation?

If he's looking to abdicate something he supposedly enjoys, he also has two heirs. From everything we've heard so far, Alexis isn't well suited to running the clan. To be fair to her, we've literally only ever heard from biased sources about her worst mistakes (turning Sam, the times she's been invoked) and criticisms about her flaws. We've never met her ourselves, and William must see something in her worth forgiving. There's no guarantee that vampire inheritance follows primogenitor. (Inheritance among immortal beings must be fascinating, but let's not get distracted).

So, this situation that William has engineered is for Vincent specifically, and I don't believe he plans to pass down the crown. This is a different kind of test (though he probably has multiple motives, and making sure Vincent is capable of managing the clan's affairs isn't a drawback). What if the "old friend" who asked Porter to come back to Dahlia was William. Even if he wasn't banished forever, just encouraged to take a sabbatical while both he and Vincent calmed down after their fight, I think Porter has enough respect for William to not come back without his say-so, or a damned good reason. Porter hasn't implied he got into enough trouble to need the protection of his clan that he couldn't handle on his own.

So William is putting pressure on Vincent's familial, professional, and personal ties. Why would he do this now, after all the stress of Lovely, Adam, and the Inversion? What changed to make him want to test Vincent at this specific time? What if this isn't a test for Vincent, not entirely? (Again, keeping in mind William is smart enough to be pursuing multiple motives at the same time, but right now I'm talking about the biggest driving factor). What if this is a test for Lovely?

They're the single biggest change in Vincent's life right now. They're his mate, they've made promises of eternity to each other. Vampires mean that literally. But William has only known Lovely for what... 3 years? For someone who can literally spend decades getting to know someone that had to seem awfully fast for some nobody to go from meeting, to killing one of his clan members (Adam), to taking up with his progeny and prince and causing a major personality shift (for the better, yes, but still a dramatic change), to getting turned and joining his family in eternity.

William isn't worried about Vincent, not entirely. He's concerned about Lovely. About how they'll handle the power and responsibility reflected on them from Vincent's status. William's worried that they won't support Vincent in the way that he needs instead of the way that he wants, that they'll be able to tell the difference between the two. He's worried that, now that Lovely has all this power and freedom at their fingertips, especially considering the fact that Vincent gave up his powers of invocation as their maker, that they might turn and run (whether that's physically or emotionally) when things get difficult.

William is taking the opportunity to take control of all these factors to prove Lovely can handle it all to his satisfaction, instead of letting fate and chance dictate the details. If they succeed, they can truly be considered part of the clan. Earning their crown. And if they fail, William can take the steps he thinks are necessary. To protect his clan. To protect his son. Whether Vincent wants him to or not.