#talk about your FEELINGS with your local EX DICTATOR

[dipperdesperado]

dreaming and IRL worldbuilding

I’ve been doing some talking about getting into radicalism and how to organize. You can do that first—you have a feeling that things need to change and you just act. At some point though, I think it’s important to start thinking from a longer-term perspective. That's where visioning comes in.

To know how to change the world, we should know what we want it to look like. Solarpunk is a great example of this—giving us aspirational visuals and vistas for how the world could look if we got our shit together. This is what a vision is in a nutshell.

Once we have have an understanding of what we want the world to look like, we have to figure out how to get there. This is where things start to become interesting. To me, values are like guiding principles that we ground our actions in. To come up with values, think about the ethics and principles that are embedded in your vision. If we think about solarpunk, some values that I see are ecological harmony, intersectional feminism, and economic democracy.

When we have our vision and values in place, we can think about the specific things that we want to accomplish. Our goals should be relatively concrete things that we can build strategies around. What are the material changes that you want to happen? What are the specific, tangible things that you can work towards? If it’s too broad (ex: “I want to abolish the commodity form”), then that might be one of the descriptors of your vision.

So, you create a vision → which informs your values → and dictates your goals.

To develop a vision, put on your dreaming goggles. Imagine what the world can look like. Try to engage your senses. What do you see? What do you hear? What does it smell like?

To develop your values, look at that vision, analyze the implied material and social contexts and use those as guiding lights.

To develop your goals, think about the specific things you can work towards, acting within your values, to create fertile ground for your vision to flourish.

To wrap up, I want to walk through a vision of a better world. If you want some homework, you can derive some values and goals from that.

---

As I leave my house for the day, I step out onto a quiet city street. The air is crisp and filled with the scent of freshly bloomed flowers and the subtle aroma of earthy, homegrown herbs. The street is lined with majestic, towering trees, their leaves dancing in the gentle breeze, casting shattered shadows on mosaic sidewalks below.

As I walk along the street, I hear the melodies of birds chirping, flitting from mossy building to wild rooftop. The sound of laughter and lively conversations fills the air, as people gather in community spaces and reclaimed streets.

The buildings themselves are architectural wonders, adorned with solar panels and living walls that burst with vibrant vegetation. They harmoniously blend into the surrounding natural landscape, their design inspired by historical ecological buildings. These buildings are not just structures; they are living organisms, integrated with the ecosystem, providing shade, shelter, and sustenance for both humans and wildlife.

Streets are bustling with activity, but they are not dominated by cars. Instead, it is a pedestrian-friendly space where people of all ages and abilities move freely and safely. Electric trams silently glide by, their sleek design reflecting the beauty of their surroundings.

Local artisans and worker-owners have set up vibrant market stalls, showcasing their handmade creations and locally sourced goods. Vibrant textiles, handcrafted jewelry, and organic produce catch the eye. Neighbors stop to chat, share stories, and exchange ideas.

In the distance, I see a community forest garden, a lush oasis of greenery where residents gather to cultivate their own food. The garden is a testament to space reclaimed by the people, fostering a sense of ownership and connection to the land.

As I continue my walk, I feel a sense of hope and possibility. This city is a testament to the power of collective action and the transformative potential of dreaming and envisioning a better world.

[bubbelpop2]

Fascism. All over the world right now, but American fascism is the focus of this post.

Do me a favor and reblog this a lot

Okay, now that i have the attention of the right audience, i know we all fucking hate centrists for like, believing there's a middle ground between fascism and not fascism, but we need to start like, unifying the left and the center.

Historically, in Germany, when the mild left and the far left started splitting apart, and the centrists thought all leftists were extremist, the left failed to stop a fascist dictator from rising to to power.

Nearly the exact same thing is happening, right now. Instead of wasting your energy fighting people on the Internet who won't change their minds about their love of misinformation and mistreatment of minorities, if you're physically able to, you need to work on the people around you in real life. No single person can kill a single dictator and end fascism forever. Everyone, everywhere, needs to start focusing on protecting their local communities from fascism.

Most people are apolotical or find themselves extremely uncomfortable with politics, or are centrists, or are slightly right-leaning.

Start slow. Build up the community. Talk to your neighbors. Bring people together. Create trust. Hell, borrow sugar from your neighbors to make them a cake, doesn't matter.

Nothing can replace the human need to feel safe around the people you physically live next to. Most people don't. Most people in America don't really know the people they physically live next to. either because they're afraid that their neighbors might be fascist sympathizers, or because they're forced by poverty to move a lot because they can't afford rent going up, or because their friends are online.

You need to be friends with your neighbors. People need to know each other as real, physical beings that breathe and think and eat and tell jokes and live.

People that know each other are far more likely to provide each other with mutual aid when struggling financially. People that know each other are far more likely to physically stop undeserved violence from happening to each other.

People actually physically doing things to stop fascism works far better than letters placed in sentences in a cease-and-desist from the Internet.

try putting up posters-- that aren't condescending and get people to trust each other more than they trust the rich and cops. Ex: "the police are not legally required to protect you. The police are legally allowed to take anything from you, or kill you, and make up a probable cause to get away with it. When a cop decides to kill you, you're legally not allowed to fight back." Or "the political wants of the richest 1% of the population are, historically, the only political wants that get passed in America. The current structure of the American democracy allows this, and we need to change it."

Vote. Vote vote vote. Call representatives. Google what representatives are left-leaning, or centrist, or local and write them an email or call them. Encourage your neighbors to vote. Encourage your neighbors to get invested in injustice. You don't need to turn them into left-wingers to be able to convince them that people are having their rights taken away and it's not right.

Support the mail system! Maybe send your internet friends post cards or something, or letters. They also have swag/merchandise, in case you didn't know. The mail is antifascist, and is also a public service!

Remember that people don't change overnight

Remember it's easier to get away with punching fascists if your local community likes you. Keeping that in mind, even if you aren't known or well liked, it is always acceptable to punch fascists.

Don't let fascists speak. Don't give them a voice. Try not do anything that could make their words louder.

OH and also! If you have any relatives or people you know that aren't leftists but are susceptible to conspiracy theories, try feeding them a conspiracy theory that's actually true!

Something along the lines of "The United States has militantly interfered with the governments of countries that are communist a lot. We destabilize or go to war on those countries, put our own leaders or representatives in charge, and then we point at the country (which people still believe to be communist) and then convince everyone that it was communism that destroyed it. Because, the rich elite control the political and military actions of the US. Because if people see that communism is beneficial to human life, it will spread, and the rich elite will be inevitably made villains and soon die out."

Anyways, people that don't take action are bystanders. Bystanders of fascism make it very very easy for fascism to rise. If you want to do something, anything, just ONE thing to put a stop to it, you can pick anything from this list, but please, please talk to your neighbors. We need to unite centrists and leftists.

[that-is-just-so-typically-me]

Well it looks like Tumblr ate the long journal entry I made on the two-year anniversary of my ex leaving me. Maybe it’s for the best? To let it all out and then let it go. Maybe I’ll write it again later, when I inevitably find myself wandering back down that dark endless hallway of grief, remorse, bitterness, hopelessness, and pain that thoughts of her and what happened always sends me to. Much of what I wrote were thoughts that would be helpful to come back to - fishing them out of my brain and putting them somewhere tangible. My therapist says that journaling, or even dictating an audio journal, is a critically useful tool for self-knowledge. Not just for the emotional release we’re always told about - but to create a record of your feelings, and wait a few days before revisiting it. That way, you can observe it without the filter of being inside the emotions you felt when you wrote it. And eventually, you can tease out the patterns, the causal relationships, installing a viewer who can recognize and analyze what is happening to you the next time you are in a similar space.

But for today, I am okay. I spent yesterday with two incredible, incredibly beloved friends. One of them formally asked me to join their wedding party - these two friends are engaged to each other, and they apparently struggled to choose which one would have me because they both wanted me in their own party… which filled my cup with so much love (but then, they always do!). Though I wish I could clone myself and be in both of their parties. We went swimming and they cooked for me and we talked about everything under the sun - and they were so wonderful to say some of the kindest things about me when they felt I was being too hard on myself. This world is often so cold, but people like this and the love they spread make so much warmth, and all of the difference.

And this morning, I went to my local flower market for the first time ever with two other friends. I got to see gorgeous flowers that I’d never seen nor heard of - hundreds of varieties. They even had a little greenhouse full of houseplants. It smelled like an actual paradise. One of my friends is an incredibly skilled floral artist, and volunteers her services to donate and arrange flowers for weddings and funerals for members of her community who are disowned by their families for being LGBTQ. It was incredible to watch her work. We walked for a while and ate vegan tacos and spoke of how she’s helping to change an archaic immigration law in Prince Edward Island that is apparently unconstitutional and will be challenged in court this summer thanks to her, all so she and her partner can flee for safety from the tidal wave of transphobic laws here, and make it possible for others to follow. Incredible.

Now I’m resting for a bit until another friend’s housewarming party tonight.

This kind of living wasn’t possible for me until I graduated. I feel myself waking up, parts of me I never got to nurture, that I forgot can make me feel so well and right. God it’s no wonder I have been hanging onto life by my fingernails. None of the past two years has been close to living - just survival. Even if it’s just small things like swimming with friends and smelling beautiful flowers and basking in the richness of of other people’s hearts, it feeds my soul.

Today I think someday everything might be alright. 💚

[riicinus]

ღ 　 “Can you tell me a story?”

Perhaps he sounded more like a child than ever, even with his voice soft and serious, but the request was earnest. No matter how much he spoke to his other selves, the information he could pull was weak, bare, factual, with no emotion to it. No implications, only tidbits. It was like eating plain bread for every meal, and not nearly enough of it besides.

“Something from your life... something emotional. I might already know it, but I want to hear you tell it. Would you indulge me?”

@ilbronco

[dreamersdreamloud]

Coming Home To You (Part 2)

AN: Kara is not Supergirl. She’s human and a reporter :) 

Many of you have requested a part two so here you go! This is part of a book that I’m working on so enjoy this sneak peek 

“This was a mistake.” Lena paces around inside her penthouse. 

Kara stands awkwardly in the middle of Lena’s living room. She watches her lover in distress, her mind running into a million thoughts. What would Alex say when she finds out? What would Eliza think of her when she finds out? 

She betrayed her oldest sister. It looks bad but most importantly she feels terrible. Kara let her temptations get the best of her. She shouldn’t have gotten so close to Lena when (Y/N) was away. She shouldn’t have comforted her most of the time when they heard the news that (Y/N) went missing during a mission. 

They shouldn’t have assumed that the person they care and love for was dead without any hard evidence. 

“Did you know?! Did you know that she was alive this whole time?!” Lena yells at the blonde Danvers. 

Kara was taken by surprise that Lena is yelling at her. She never yells at her. She never experienced her anger toward her. 

“What? No! Of course not!” Kara quickly replies. 

“How could you not know?! You literally write about international news, war stories, political topics, Kara!” 

“I’m just a reporter, Lena! I’m not a damn government spy! When I heard about my sister going missing. . . I tried to find leads, Lena! I TRIED! Nothing came out. No trace. No witnesses. No clues of what happened to my sister and her team!” 

Lena shakes her head in silence. Her tears were starting to form again. The young CEO thinks about the decisions she has made that have come to this very moment. She shouldn’t have accepted the youngest Danvers’ help and comfort when (Y/N) wasn’t around. She was a fool for falling for Kara’s touch and caring words. 

She tragically replaced (Y/N)’s kisses with Kara’s. 

“I need to find her. . . I need to find (Y/N).” Lena frantically says. “I just need to explain to her that this was a mistake. None of this was serious.” 

Kara looks into the floor and shakes her head in disapproval. 

“Lena . . .” 

“I’m sure she’ll understand. She has always been reasonable, right? God where could she be. A local bar! I just need to look up the local bars. She can’t be far. I-” 

“LENA!” Kara interrupted. 

The raven haired stops rambling and looks at Kara with frustration. 

“WHAT KARA?! I need to find your sister! I need to fix my relationship with her!” 

“What about us?” Kara questions her actions, her reasoning. 

Lena huffs out a laugh, “Us? There’s no us, Kara! This was a mistake. I MADE A MISTAKE. I love your sister, Kara. You know that!” 

It pains Kara to hear those words coming out of Lena’s mouth. Kara fell in love with Lena. In all truth, she fell in love with her while you were dating Lena. She kept it to herself. The youngest Danvers didn’t want to ruin the relationship you have with Lena. She thought that you being “dead” was an opportunity for her to have a chance being with the young CEO. 

Lena sobs, her knees falling to the ground. The stress and frustrations are getting to her. Kara didn’t hesitate to be by her side, comforting her the best she could without making the situation worse. Lena cries against Kara’s shoulder. 

“It’s not ideal to go out and find my sister, Lena. We should probably wait until tomorrow. Let her cool off. I’ll find her first thing in the morning and make this right.” 

“Okay.” Lena mumbles. 

**** 

It’s been three whole days that you haven’t stepped out of your hotel room. You have cried endlessly. Scream multiple times. You even broke a couple of items in the room. You drank until you blackout and woke up repeating the same thing you did yesterday. 

You have decided that you need to put your hurt feelings aside. You need to reunite with your family and friends. You mentally think about how you’re going to pretend that you didn’t see Kara and Lena a few days ago. You will keep your distance. You will maintain your cover. 

Your captain has already arranged your new deployment. You will be leaving at the end of the month and have a new assignment to take over. Your plan is to just get away from here. 

You've been in the bathroom for a while. Looking at yourself in the mirror. It’s obvious that it looks like you have gotten no sleep. You can just pass it off and just say that your military position doesn't give you enough sleep

You fix the imperfections of your new set of uniform before heading out. You take a deep breath and hope that no one catches you acting differently. 

*** 

Location: Lena’s Office 

“I can’t find her, Lena.” Kara desperately says. 

Lena looks out to the window, standing straight as possible. She was keeping her distance from the youngest Danvers. She can’t trust herself being near the reporter. 

“HOPE can’t find her too. The face recognition hasn’t picked up her face anywhere. . .” 

Kara’s phone rings out loud. The reporter sighs because it’s her sister, Alex. She hasn’t talked to her since you confronted your youngest sister. Kara hopes that Alex hasn’t found out, she can’t bear to handle Alex’s lecture and disappointment. 

Kara answers the call and puts it on speaker for Lena to hear as well. 

Kara: “Hello?” 

Alex: “Kara! Where are you?!” She said cheerfully. 

Kara: “I’m following a lead for my article. Why what’s up?” 

Alex: “(Y/N) is back! She’s alive, Kara! She’s alive!” 

Kara fumbles her words, not knowing how to react or say. She didn’t want to ruin her sister’s excitement. 

Alex: “Get over here at the DEO. J’onn have already picked up Eliza. They’re on their way back here. Bring Lena!” 

The call ended without Kara saying another word. Alex was too happy and excited to see you again. She’s happy that she gets to see you “first.” 

*** 

*A few hours earlier*

You didn’t head straight to the DEO to surprise your sister, Alex. You made a quick stop despite the situation you were in. The Uber car pulls up to the two story house that you were looking for. There’s physical changes to the house last time you came here. The grass was looking more green and the roses were more full. By looking at the driveway, the two people you wanted to see are still home. 

You rang the doorbell once and you can tell that someone is on their way to answer the door. You mentally ready yourself before they open the door. 

A woman gasped as they answered the door and saw you standing firmly in the middle. 

“(Y/N)?” Eve can’t believe her eyes. 

“Eve, who’s at the door?” Lex calls out in the background. 

Eve was speechless that she couldn’t answer her husband. Lex was a tad worried that Eve wasn’t answering him right away. The man makes her way to the door and gives the same shocking reaction as his wife. 

“(Y/N)! You bastard! You’re alive!” He shouts with joy. 

You smiled at both of them. You step in to give Eve a hug and then give Lex the same affection. Immediately, Lex can tell that there’s something wrong. He just knows. The man has always been like a brother to you and he feels the same way too. 

The married couple lead you to the living room to have a more comfortable environment to catch up. They didn’t have to worry about being late to their work since they’re technically the bosses of their own department at L-Corp. Eve comes in with some tea and mini sandwiches for everyone. The three made small talk, giving them the truth about what really happened in the months you were missing. 

Lex and Eve felt sorry for you how much pain and recovery you have to go through alone after that accident happened. You assure them that it wasn’t a big deal and that you’re very happy to live another day. 

After the good catch up, Lex thought it was time to find out what was bothering you. 

“(Y/N). . Why exactly are you here? Aren’t you supposed to see your sisters first? Or perhaps Lena?” 

You looked to the side, took a deep breath and sighed loudly. Your mind goes back to Lena. 

“Did you know?” You vaguely ask your ex-girlfriend’s brother. 

“Know what?” Lex replies, Eve looks equally confused. This confirms that no one knows, especially your mother and Alex. 

“About Kara and Lena. . .” Lex thinks for a moment before he replies. 

“All I know is that they’re close. When you were away, Kara had been keeping Lena company.” 

You nodded. He’s telling the truth. Small anger was inside you but you’re mad at Lex. You start to get mad at yourself for not being around much. 

“I caught them. . . I found your sister with my sister. It was clear that the love bites and the flushed redden cheeks on Lena were from Kara. . .” 

Lex suddenly feels stupid for not seeing this. He thinks about how he didn’t see the little hints that his sister was having a lover, becoming a cheater. Eve looks at you with sad eyes, she gets up and wraps you in a hug. 

“(Y/N) I don’t know what to say . . . I just - I really didn’t know. If only I have seen it sooner I would have prevented Lena from making those-” 

“Lex no.” You interrupted him. “Your sister is her own person. She can decide what she wants to do. You couldn’t have prevented her feelings for someone else. I’m not mad at you Lex. You’re always like a brother to me. You have helped me so much and I will continue to do the same. Despite the situation. This is between Lena and I.” 

Lex sucks in his lips and nods, “Did the two of you officially break up or talk about it?” 

“No. I left right when I found out. My heart is really fragile at the moment but I promise you like I promised to Lillian years ago that I will not harm Lena in any way. I have never physically abused her and I will not let this dictate my actions.” 

“You’re a good person, (Y/N). I’m sorry that it had to come out like this. I was desperately waiting for the two of you to get married someday. Getting the chance to call you my sister-in-law.”

You sadly laugh. You almost forgot about the ring that was attached to your military dog tags. You reveal your necklace to Lex and Eve. Eve was the first to react fast. 

“(Y/N)! That ring looks so beautiful!” Eve focused on the diamond on the ring. It wasn’t too small nor too big. It was the perfect size. 

“Damnit Lena.” Lex says under his breath while his wife talks to (Y/N) about the ring. “You better realize that you threw out the best Danvers sister. This one was going to marry you.” 

[five-rivers]

What Was Bound What Was Loosed 4

Rain did fall in the Infinite Realms. Not in all places. Not at all times. Well, except for those few places where it did fall at all times. The Realms were strange like that, often dictated and controlled by their inhabitants. In some Realms it never rained.

At least, that had been the case a few days ago. Now?

Now, it rained. Pouring from all angles, sometimes in accordance with local gravity, sometimes not. Great, heavy droplets, thin wavering mists, sporadic sprays, steady drums, cold, warm, boiling, freezing. Where it could not rain water, it rained fire, or stone, or air, or slush, or ice. But it did rain.

And the place it rained the most was over the heart of the Realms.

Their king.

.

Danny hugged his knees and leaned sideways against the arm of the chair. He was in the solarium, watching the rain hit the glass and streak down. He kept picking droplets to follow as they chased each other down the windows.

He kept losing track of them.

He sniffed and shuddered. He felt cold. He always felt cold, now, but he couldn’t stand to feel pinned down by blankets. Lately, they felt like chains.

He missed when they made him feel safe.

(He missed home. He wanted to go home.)

“Danny?”

“Hi, Ellie,” said Danny, listlessly. “What’s up?”

“I just… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to get your hopes up and then—” She broke off, and Danny turned to see her staring out the windows, floating just a little way off the floor. Plants with dark leaves tickled her ankles. “I don’t want you to be like Vlad.”

“Oh,” said Danny. “Is he still down there?”

“Yeah,” said Ellie.

“Do you think…” Danny frowned, trying to collect his thoughts, trying to retrieve them from the constant white noise. “Do you think he can get, like… liver failure?”

“Liver failure?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m… not entirely sure what liver failure is. Liver is, like, an organ right?”

“Right. Um.” Danny blinked slowly. “It is an organ. It,” he waved his hand vaguely. “It takes your blood and stuff and filters it and stuff.”

“Why would it fail?”

“It can get damaged by alcohol. Or something.”

“Oh. Huh.” Ellie approached him, slowly, keeping an eye on Fright Knight. “Do we even have livers?”

“I mean… maybe? Alive people have livers. But we aren’t alive people.”

“We are, though, right?” asked Ellie. “We’re… still alive.”

“Maybe.”

“Come on. We are. Right? Heartbeats and everything.”

“I guess,” said Danny. He checked his pulse, absently. “We should probably make sure Vlad doesn’t drink himself to death.”

“That’s possible?”

“Yes.”

“Wow. I thought that was a myth.”

“…No,” said Danny. “That’s, um. Yeah. If you drink too much alcohol you can die.” He looked back out the windows. “So, um. Yeah. Don’t do it.”

“Right. Anyway.” Ellie paused for a long moment. “How long have you been here?”

“Dunno.” With excruciating slowness, he unfolded his body from the chair. “We should go see Vlad. I guess.” He sighed, and the rain went sideways for a few seconds.

“We could do something else, too,” said Ellie, hunching her shoulders a little. “Like, I’m sure Vlad will be fine.”

“Are you okay?” asked Danny, concern breaking through his general malaise, however briefly. “Is Vlad being mean to you?”

“No, he’s just, you know.” She sighed. “Vlad.”

“Right,” said Danny. He rubbed the side of his nose, careful to avoid the looping vines of the crown. “Let’s talk to him.”

“Would you like me to summon him, my liege?” asked Fright Night.

“No,” said Danny, “I think I can make it.”

“I could create a portal,” murmured Clockwork. “You would only need to step through.”

“No, I want to walk,” said Danny, mulishly.

.

It was slow, but Danny didn’t have to rest as often as he did just a few days previously. His body was getting stronger, despite the depression he was currently indulging in.

Indulging. There was a word for it. It didn’t feel like an indulgence. He…

He didn’t want to be like this.

(He knew he was causing problems for literally everyone else. The Infinite Realms were vast and connected to the world of the living. Anything he caused here affected there as well.)

The rain began to fall harder.

“So… there’s a bar in here.”

“More like a kitchen that has booze in it,” said Ellie. Danny looked at her. Ellie shrugged. “What? I know what bars look like. I have traveled literally around the world,” she made a circular motion with her fingertip, “and I intend to – Oh. Um. Don’t, uh. Don’t read into that.”

“Okay,” said Danny. “We need to, like…” He gestured vaguely at Ellie. “Also get you, you know, education about human body parts.” He almost suggested Frostbite and the Far Frozen.

But then he remembered.

He shuddered. Someone else. Ghostwriter, maybe? He seemed like someone who would know a lot about things and be interested in teaching.

Then again, Ghostwriter had attacked him and trapped him in a poem, so… Yeah. He might not be the best choice.

There had to be someone out there, though. Some biology-obsesses ex-schoolteacher. Maybe Poindexter could give him some pointers.

“Yeah, sure,” said Ellie. “I’d rather look for things myself, all things considered. Being trapped in a school building is not for me.”

“Trapped. Yeah,” said Danny.

.

“Vlad?” called Danny, leaning against the wall. Vlad looked terrible, slumped down on the counter with a tall glass in front of him.

Vlad groaned.

“Vlad,” repeated Danny.

“Vlad, Vlad, Vladdie,” sing-songed Ellie, skipping over. “Time to wake up.” She poked him.

“Off with you,” mumbled Vlad. “Go research impossibilities or what have you.”

“Vlad,” said Danny. He took a few hesitant steps towards Vlad.

Vlad lifted his head, blinking blearily. “Daniel? Is that you?” he asked, incredulous.

“You should not take that tone with the king,” said Fright Knight.

“It’s fine,” said Danny. “Come on. Vlad. You’re messing yourself up.”

“You’re one to talk.” Vlad waved vaguely behind him. He might have been aiming at the windows.

Maybe he was.

“You can always tell the thralls not to give him any more wine, my liege.”

“Yeah, that sounds like a good idea,” said Danny.

“Daniel! Don’t you dare.”

Danny bit his lip.

“Daniel,” said Vlad, his tone less biting. “I… you have to understand. I spent years building up my life and… It’s all gone, now.”

“So are our lives,” said Ellie. “You aren’t special.”

“Your life,” said Vlad, “you—” He sighed. “What does it matter?”

Danny sighed, too. “I don’t know,” he said. “But we’re all here. So maybe we can, like… I don’t know…” He shrugged.

“This is an entire world,” said Clockwork, carefully neutral. “A world that contains worlds. Infinite in nature. Anything you could find in your old world, you can find here.”

Danny spun, incensed. “Except for what matters most,” he hissed.

“I did specify things,” said Clockwork, “and I think Vladimir will find that the people who mattered most to him are, in fact, here.”

“He could act like it, then,” said Ellie.

“I will not argue,” agreed Clockwork.

Danny breathed in. The action felt shallow. Meaningless. Why had he come here in the first place?

“I’m going to the garden,” he said. He needed air.

“My lord, the rain—”

“Don’t care,” snapped Danny, moving as quickly as he ever could, lately. If anyone wanted to follow him, they could do that on their own.

(And, maybe, they did.)

[newnitz]

Howl's Moving Castle & the Power Narrative Holds Over Reality

Like most 90s borns, my first anime was Pokémon. I watched the first three seasons diligently, and my tooth fairy gifts were always VHSs of memorable episodes. But like most Millennials and even Gen-X before us, my first real entryway to Japanese culture was Hayao Miyazaki. On the tiny TV screen, behind even for 2002, where my mother would watch her TV shows as she worked out, I watched Spirited Away. Chihiro/Sen's coming-of-age story and the movie's numerous themes deserves their own essay, and one I think better bloggers, vloggers and ordinary people have written before me. But after such a masterpiece, I jumped at the chance to see the next Studio Ghibli movie, Howl's Moving Castle. I rushed to the local library to read the book before it aired in the nearby city's bus station mall's small cinema. 18 years later, too nauseous for schoolwork and mooching off of my dad's Netflix account, I decided to rewatch this film. ***Spoiler alert for both book AND film*** The film itself is a staunch anti-war message, released around the same time as the invasion of Iraq, informed by Miyazaki's own childhood in the final years of Imperial Japan and the horrors inflicted on his home country to set the stage of the Cold War. The exposition includes a bombing of Sophie's hometown with...banners. The citizens of Ingary are terrified of the flying machines descending upon their skies, they expect bombs and destruction and untold death and unspeakable horrors. So when they instead get rained down paper pieces with pictures and words we are never privy to, they treat it with suspicion. They refuse to so much as touch them, since it's of the enemy. And the day after, when Ingary soldiers distribute their own country's propaganda banners, they drink it down without a second thought. Again, we are never privy to what they say. Perhaps it was meaningless. Perhaps, to the common contemporary viewer, the content would be incomprehensible. But for me, it got me thinking: What if this was the "enemy" spreading missing posters of their prince? What if this was a warning for the townspeople to evacuate, as they expect to take point there? And if it was, what the hell did it accomplish, outside of everything BUT what it tried to? The people are too scared. They see it as psychological warfare, whether intentional or not, and therefore the papers become a terrorizing presence, whether they were filled with graphic threats or pleas for cooperation, all it ended up doing is scaring the population into a deeper layer of hatred. I personally disagree with the film's apparent message, but I agree with how much of war is the matter of spinning the truth. No character represents a better allegory for spinning the truth than Sophie Hatter, the main character of the movie. The first thing we notice about her is how intricate and colorful all her creations are, while she sticks to a plain hat with minimal detail. We see her displeasure with her own appearance even when trying it on in front of the mirror. She dresses plainly for she thinks herself plain - wearing a mousy dress in both the source book and the film adaption. The book elaborates on this narrative and its subversion: In Ingary, fairytale tropes are accepted as divine truths. Sophie and her sister Lettie have had their mother die as toddlers, so when their father remarried and produced a third sister(briefly referenced in the film), Martha, Sophie and Lettie were doomed to be wicked, hideous stepsisters. But not only did their stepmother raised them as her own, but both all the Hatters were stated to be beautiful, with Lettie in particular having the entire town's male population vying for her affection in both book and film. In fact, the cunning one is the designated "Cinderella", Martha, who uses her guile to warn her half-sisters. See, another trope specific to Ingary was that the firstborn of three siblings will never find their luck - if they ever dare try, they will encounter disaster after misfortune and end up poor and miserable. According to Martha, her mother wanted to enjoy a life of luxury, so she sent Lettie to work in a bakery where she will surely find a man of her liking to start a life with, and shipped her own daughter off to be a magic apprentice far far away from her. Sophie is the only one she kept close, because she knew she buys into the tropes and will make her fortune for her, preferring the safety of her late father's shop to the dangers of the unlucky life of a firstborn. But in both film and book, this blissful avoidance of any exploration is torn away in a chance encounter Sophie has with the notorious wizard Howl. While her sister(s) are terrified for her safety, Sophie has no fear of the 'heart-eating monster' as "he only eats the hearts of beautiful girls", believing her plainness protected her. But oh, how she was wrong. Or was she? In both book and film, the Witch of the Wastes barges into the hat shop. In the book, she seeks Lettie whom Howl is taken with(like literally every man in town) and enters the shop where an overworked Sophie loses her temper at her, and mistaking the hatter for her sister, she curses the girl to become old. In the film, she's explicitly exacting revenge on Sophie, whom Howl is interested in, and follows her and invades her shop after closing time, cursing her to be ninety years old. This is supposed to devastate Sophie - rob her of her youth, beauty and health, ending her life before she started them. But in both versions, Sophie acclimates to the change rather well, constantly noticing the perks of living as an old lady - she can mumble to herself and be seen as normal, she can be assertive and commanding without being inappropriate and/or bossy, and since she has nothing to lose, she might as well go exploring the world, if only to lift the curse. To revisit this as someone who didn’t expect to have the option of growing old, this is an empowering message on its own - growing old is what you make of it. But despite subverting the Witch's narrative, Sophie remains a helpless victim of her own narrative. Book Sophie is explicitly said to be a powerful sorceress unaware of her own powers, even enchanting her hats into the client's shape with her words alone, while in the film it's only implied. But in both versions she Unconsciously Maintains Her Own Curse: She reverts to the eighteen year old in her sleep, or when something silences her insecurities enough. In the film, she's explicitly shown to de-age as she gains confidence in herself under the role of the household maid, going from the frail ninety-year-old into someone who looks and acts as a woman just past middle age - I don't think this is incidental, as many women are at their most confident at that age, when they no longer feel pressured to worry about trivial matters such as beauty and childrearing, and retreat back into the original cursed form when Howl calls her beautiful - a compliment she can never accept. In the book, Howl eventually comes to the conclusion that she likes being old and gives up trying to guide her out of it. The book takes narrative subversion even further. Remember cunning Martha? Turns out, the Hatters didn't conform to their mother's narrative either - Martha was bored by wizardry while Lettie craved it. The two concocted a plan to glamour as one another, which of course the mentor witch saw right though, and preferred Lettie's genuine interest to Martha ghosting the craft. This stings extra once Fanny is shown to be a caring mother who attacks who he thought cursed her stepdaughter - perhaps she fell for the same sort of thinking Sophie did, and wanted her stepdaughter to have the best life possible for someone doomed to fail, thought extroverted Lettie enjoyed the attention and choice of men and wanted Martha to be a powerful, self-sufficient young woman who led a life more glamorous than she did, as someone who lacked magic? That Fanny was a real parent - a well-intentioned woman who completely misjudged her children and their future? Is it possible Martha’s own narrative has poisoned her relationship with her mother, perhaps beyond repair? As for Sophie, in the book she breaks her own curse by breaking the contract between Calcifer and Howl. But the film gives it more nuance - Calcifer and Howl are clearly in a codependent relationship: In both versions Howl gave Calcifer his heart in exchange for magical powers (as well as saving the fallen star's life, depending on your interpretation of the character), but by the time Sophie employs herself at the Castle, Calcifer feels more like a slave than a powerful demon. Howl himself has his own internal struggles, and many online have made convincing cases for BPD being among them. Calcifer is an essential part of his support system. Each one of them believes that if Calcifer isn't fed properly, or gets dunked with water, they'll both die. And once Sophie does so to stop the wizened, depowered Witch of the Wastes from literally being consumed by her obsessive desire for Howl, she too believes to have killed them both with her rash actions. But they live, because Sophie's part in a time loop led her to think otherwise and refuse to give up on them. Within the film’s universe, this ties into Sophie’s innate magical powers talking reality into her perception. But I know real-life, ordinary people who’s own narratives have changed grim fates.  Now, I don’t live in Ingary. I don’t believe the world around me has literal, reality-warping magic. I’m not a spiritual person. But this is precisely why Howl’s Moving Castle appealed to me - because the characters’ thoughts don’t perfectly dictate reality, but the way they act on their perceptions does. I know a man who is alive because his (now ex-)wife changed the narrative of his deathbed to one of optimism and efficacy. When I stopped trying to have my self-image reflected in the eyes of others, I transformed into a more confident, capable person practically overnight. I’m not delusional - I’m well aware of the Dunning-Krueger effect, of how reality exists whether you live in it or not. I’d like to think I live strictly within the boundaries of what is proven beyond reasonable doubt to be real. 

But your spin on reality dictates your life. It can dictate parts of the lives of your close ones. But the message isn’t one of just changing your own view of a situation around you to become happy, oh no. Lettie and Martha didn’t just choose to be happy in apprenticeships they had no passion for. Sophie didn’t just relocate to some quaint cottage to live the few years that weren’t stolen from her as an old hermit. They acted to transform the existent reality within their means, but they could only do so because they felt empowered enough to question their life’s narratives. 

[stlgeekgirl]

Personal Rant

I was going to let it lie but then...no, I’m still a bit furious. I’m about to get personal and political so all of this is going under the cut.  Also, I’ll tag so anyone can keep this off their feed if it’s not your bag. 

I’m an older fan.  I watched Classic Who on our local PBS station, I saw the original Ghostbusters. I remember when cable, microwaves and VCR first came out on the market.  I am a fandom grandma.  I’ve been in fandom since the age of nine, before I even knew what fandom was.  

Also, I did most of my formative years of schooling in a Catholic School, I remember my school telling the kids that we needed to tell our parents not to vote for Mondale/ Ferraro in 1984 because they supported killing babies.  I was raised in a Republican/ racist/homophobic family. And while my beliefs have always been at odds with my family (BLM, LGBTQA+, ERA), politics never held an interest to me.  I didn’t know what Reagan did, all I knew was my parents liked him so he much be okay.  I never paid much attention to Bush 1 because he must be good if he was voted in after Reagan.  I was against Clinton in his first term because I didn’t know better and my ex was a Republican. while I wouldn’t call myself a Democrat or a Liberal, I very much lean that way.  This is from decades of reading and listening and finding beliefs that align with what I believe in.  

Then I read and I learned and I started thinking for myself and stopped listening to my family, my ex. friends.  I have not stopped reading and learning because I am a salty bitch and anything if you tell me I don’t know what I’m talking about, I’m gonna do my damnedest to prove you wrong.

It took some time but I learned about LGBTQA+ and realized I was an ally, tried to be a better ally, Finally realized I was part of the community.  I learned about BLM and realized that just because I don’t use derogatory terms for people doesn’t mean I’m not racist so I’m trying to be a better ally for POC and BIPOC,

I fight for safe spaces in fandom because I believe everyone should be able to feel comfortable in fandom, no matter age, gender, orientation, race.  I fight for SWYL because heterosexual people should be able to enjoy queer fics and queer people should be able to enjoy het fics without worrying that someone will think them less than.

My page is a plethora of fandom, pretty things, politics, and other random shit I like.  It’s my page.  At times I’ll come across blogs I don’t like or posts on people I follow blogs.  And I scroll past.  Because it’s their blog and it’s not my business to dictate what they put on their blog.  

With all the shit that happened with the Qanon/Alt Right/ Nazi/WTF you want to call it terrorist acts that happened this week, my tolerance level is at an all time low.  So it is not a good time to reblog something I post with laughing emojies and telling me that you hope I educate myself.  Because 1) I’m twice as old as you are 2) while your comment might have seemed tame to some people who are going to see it, I remember seeing the Pro Trump manifesto posted on another SM site that was justified because of four letters from the MBTI.  I made a mistake of scrolling past then but not here, not on my Tumblr. If after last weeks Terrorist attack on our Nations Capital, you wanna reblog my post and add some condescending BS comment, you’re blocked.  I have zero time for Nazis on my page.  I’m not going to name and shame because this person is young and I truly hope they realize the hurt they’re bringing on people.   Originally I was also going to tag ships but it’s not fair to those people to have this rant in their ship tags.  . But what really pisses me off (and brings me back to fandom) is this person is in a ship I love.  A het ship that is enjoyed by a lot of het and queer women.  We’re already demonized for liking a het ship but this person is the poster child for what people think our ship is made up of. They’re trying to “climb the ranks” so to speak, they’re trying to take money from fans, queer fans, POC fans, fans they are politically against. And I hate it. 

I have grown up over the years; in my fandom view, in my political views, in my views about basic human decency.  I stopped listening to what was told to me and starting educating myself.  I have fought with my family about my views, I have blocked family members on social media, what makes you think that someone I don’t know isn’t going to get the same treatment.  So, please, sit down, turn off Fox News and actually educate yourself.

[mountain-jumper]

On starting wildfires

So I keep seeing a post about how starting a wildfire for a gender reveal is pretty dumb (which it is) so as someone who lives with wildfires every summer, I though I would share my two cents on fires.

1) yeah, a gender reveal bomb during peak fire season (especially after the same damn thing happened not too long ago) is dumb. Wildfires get started for all kinds of dumb reasons; Multnomah falls got torched after some kid was chucking fireworks into dry fuels. I've heard of fires stared by people parking their car in dry grass, people idling their car on dry grass, fires started by throwing away rags of linseed oil before they were dry, people burning an ex's love letters, people driving with brush caught in their undercarriage; no one intends to start a fire but that doesn't stop them once they get going.

2) yes, you can be held liable for the cost of containing a fire you start. No you are probably not going to pay it. When you hear about these astronomical fines after someone starts a wildfire, generally that's because fire management agencies want you to hear about it so hopefully you don't start the next one. Unless you are a power company or something similar, you are never going to actually pay the full cost. What it generally means is that the person responsible will have to pay a small portion of the fine (maybe a couple hundred dollars a month) for the rest of their lives. A painful reminder of that time you decided to do something stupid? Yes. Millions of dollars? No.

3) who caused a fire is a more complicated question than who caused the ignition. These destructive fires have a lot more to do with the conditions that have been created than the fact that they were started at all; the past century has seen massive fire suppression efforts and as a result fuel loads have built up to the point that suppressing further fires is incredibly difficult. There are some areas that I've been to that have more in common with a slash pile than a forest. Stories I've heard from a fairly recent, nasty fire include the fact that fire crews had to fight it road to road because there was too much downed wood to do anything else. As a result, any ignition source has the potential to spark a massive fire.

4) fires dictate forests and forests encourage fires. Fire ecology is a really interesting field and I would recommend anyone interested in fires to look into it. Suffice to say that every plant species (mainly talking about trees) has its own strategy for dealing with the fires it deals with. Ponderosa pines are adapted to frequent, low intensity fires, lodgepole pine forests are adapted to infrequent, high intensity fires. In turn, these forests encourage these fire regimes to a certain extent, such as lodgepole forests being prone to high severity fires that they can easily bounce back from. Heavy handed fire suppression efforts have thrown this out of wack causing high severity fires where forests are adapted to low severity fires and patches of juniper to be everywhere. This is why controlled burning and less draconian fire responses are being encouraged.

5) there are a lot more wildland fires than you think. In general, most people are only going to hear about large fires. These may happen a few times a season. I happen to listen to the radio frequencies that fires are called in on for my area and it isn't uncommon to hear a half dozen fires called in on a day following lightning.

6) home owners have a lot of influence on whether their house survives a fire. Now there are always factors that are out of your control, but if you live in the wildland urban interface fire preparedness needs to start a long time before smokes start popping up. For one, if a fire crew cannot safely defend an area, they will not defend that area. The presence of an open area at least nearby that a person could survive as the fire front passes is a make or break criteria for whether a fire crew will be anywhere near your house when a fire is threatening it. Beyond this you should maintain defensible space around your house, avoid flammable materials such as ceder shingles, avoid ember traps like attached wood decks, and buy into fire protection programs should they be available. Basically half of the features that make a regular appearance in cabin porn photos will do you zero favors in a fire. I would recommend doing your own research if you live in the wildland urban interface, and it's likely that your local forest service or dept. of forestry office can help you out.

7) this year I've been hearing a number of stories of homeowners remaining in the face of evacuation orders and successfully defending their home. I have mixed feelings about this, but one thing that I do know is that while success stories are picked up and interviewed, failure will just mean another tally mark in the "died after ignoring evacuation orders" column. Look up the definition of survivorship bias and engrave it on your heart.

8) wildland fire fighters are very different from structural firefighters. Structural fire fighters are renowned for their cooking, tend to accumulate qualifications like hoarders, usually act as emergency medical personal, and are frequently the subject of calenders. Wildland firefighters are known to eat basically whatever, are largely seasonal workers with minimal qualifications, act as an informal manual labor force in their downtime, and can be some of the grubbiest people you could ask for if they have been camping for a while.

9) convict crews are a thing. While prison labor itself is a full can of worms in its own right, I feel like it would be remiss not to point out the fact that the labor market can be fairly hostile to ex-cons and that an inmate fire crew position can act as a gateway to a private fire crew position if not a government one. While prison labor is far from a perfect institution, I feel that a crusade against a program which can provide a pathway to a fairly well paying job in the absence of any higher education does very little good without larger reforms aimed at allowing people who have served their time to re-enter the workforce.

10) wildfires aren't evil. If an area burns it will recover in time, particularly if the fire fits within the fire regime native to that area. While fire scars can be ugly, a forest that is suffering from a lack of fire is (imo) a far more depressing sight. After every high profile fire there are narratives that the area is destroyed; Yellowstone, Multnomah falls, ect. The forest is more than a bunch of trees that can get burnt and destroyed. Wildlands have cooexisted with fire since long before large scale fire suppression was possible and it is hubris to think that we can fully control them even if we wanted to.

Sorry for the long post, but fires are a big part of where I live and what I do. If there's a take home message here it's that you should follow the advice of your local fire management agencies and that fires and fire management are a lot more nuanced than you might think. Only you can prevent forest fires, but don't think that that means that fire isn't important to the landscape.

[janetbrown711]

“That was completely reckless!”  Dewey

“Dewey, that was completely reckless!” Webby shouted as they ran out of the ancient mayan temple that was actively shooting arrows and other such weaponry at them. 

“I was curious, okay?! It’s not like what you did was any help too!” Dewey huffed as he turned a corner and they both dove out of the fire line and the door from the entrance closed. 

“Well geez, sorry I couldn’t read this specific dialect of ancient Mayan as well as the other fifty. My bad,” She rolled her eyes and dusted herself off. 

“It’s fine, it’s fine,” Dewey huffed and did the same, “We just might need a local guide this time.” 

“Local guide? Since when have we ever needed a guide?” Webby asked as they started walking back toward town. 

“Since you couldn’t read the writing on the wall and told me to just go for it and that set off all of the traps,” Dewey crossed his arms.

“I didn’t say that,” Webby corrected, “All I said was ‘I think you can go but to be safe-’ and you ran off.” 

“Okay so maybe that’s true. We’re getting a guide anyway,” Dewey admitted his defeat. 

“Fine by me. I’ll text Louie and tell him I’ll be late,” Webby fumbled for her phone in her pocket and gasped.

“Dewey, my engagement ring is gone! It must’ve fallen off at the temple,” she face palmed. 

“It’s fine, we’ll go back,” Dewey shrugged. It wasn’t like there was much else he could say or do to fix it. It... was what it was. Plus the topic of their engagement made him still feel weird. Of course he was overjoyed Webby would actually become his sister, but it felt weird that they were old enough to be married soon. And Louie was actually doing it. He was going to get married. And here he was, with an ex-crush soon to be sister, dating absolutely no one. 

He sighed to himself and they kept walking.

They walked in silence for the most part as they made their way through the forest and back into the small town, weaving their way through merchants and normal tourists who had no interest in real adventure, just cheesy tourist stuff. Some people gave them odd looks, since they were covered in dirt and looked like all around hot messes, but nonetheless, they made their way to the local tavern (the best place to find useful locals according to Webby) and sat down at a table.

“What do you think of him? He looks hardened by weather and looks like he knows stuff,” Dewey gestured to a man in the corner wearing a leather jacket an a bandana wrapped around his head. He was cleaning out his teeth with a knife so he seemed tough in Dewey’s mind.

“Nah, seems like a swindler who’s trying too hard,” Webby shook her head when a waitress came by and 

“I didn’t order this,” Webby pushed it back. 

“It’s from the gentleman across the room. And it’s not for you,” she pushed it toward Dewey, who blinked. 

“Ookkkayy then,” he eye it suspiciously, looking to  where the woman had pointed and saw a scarlet macaw wink at him from across the room. The man stood up and went over to their table. 

“Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Dante Canul. I see you two are travelers looking for treasure, and I must say you look quite more prepared than the usual adventures. Unfortunately, no one has ever made it out of their with even a coin alive,” His voice was deep and intriguing, as a handsome, mysterious stranger ought to be. 

“Well that sounds like it would be a bummer, but you’re talking to two of the greatest adventurers in the world,” Dewey snarked, challenging in the stranger. 

“Oh I see, you’re the cocky one, eh? You make me laugh,” Dante teased. “I can agree to help you, if you’d like. I basically lived in that temple when I was a kid,” he proposed. Webby eyed him up and down. 

“How do we know we can trust you?” she questioned. 

“You can’t,” he smirked.

“Webbigail, can we talk a second?” Dewey pulled her to the side. 

“I think we should let him guide us,” He said.

“What? Why?” Webby asked an honestly reasonable question. 

“I dunno he seems... useful,” Dewey scratched the back of his neck. “I just have a feeling. I dunno...”

“A feeling. Riiiight,” she rolled her eyes. 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” He blushed a little.

“Oh nothing, nothing at all,” Webby smirked and spun around to face Dante again. 

“Dante Canul, welcome aboard,” She shook hands with him to seal the deal. 

“It’ll be my pleasure,” he nodded. 

“Right, right. So when will we be going?” Dewey asked.

“I am offended you even asked. We’re leaving right away,” He said. 

“We just came back from there,” Webby stated.

“Yes? That means the memories are fresher. You had a solid thirty minute rest and some water. We can head on back as soon as you fill your water bottles again, and then we can be off,” He instructed before walking off to go grab his own supplies from where he had left them. 

“You know, you're lucky i left my ring in there or I might have suggested never going back," Webby crossed her arms.

"No you wouldn't have," Dewey stated flatly.

"Okay, you're right. But I can tell you think this guy is major cute so that's also a plus," she smirked.

"What-?! I do not think he is- ugh- 'cute'," he acted disgusted at the word, but his words did nothing to sway Webby. And unfortunately, she was right he did think he was... attractive. His long flaming red hair, the leather vest he wore over his white flowing shirt... it was very much a style. Okay. Okay. He was hot. Dante Canul was hot.

Or maybe his impending loneliness was starting to effect him so he was clinging to the first person he saw.

"C'mon, you've dated tons of people. A mysterious stranger offers to be your guide in a mysterious land, will sparks fly between the two? Yes!!" Webby got over excited.

"Webby, you are literally killing the mood. Let's go," he grabbed her hand and their stuff and went to refill the water.

"Okay, okay. I'll calm myself," she said. It was a promise he knew she wouldn't be able to keep.

"Ready to go?" Dante asked.

"Yep," Dewey put his hands on his hips and posed awkwardly. Webby face palmed behind him.

"Of course," she said. Dante nodded and Webby and Dewey followed.

"Since when are you, Dewey i-couldn't-stop-flirting-with-every-person-i-saw-in-high-school-and-college Duck, nervous at the prospect of a hot guy?" Webby punched his arm.

"Hey- you can't think he's hot. You're engaged to my brother,'" he glared.

"Stop avoiding the question," she squinted dramatically.

"You travelers okay?" He grinned and asked.

"Absolutely perfect, my dear Dante," Dewey closed his eyed confidently, before tripping over a tree root and Dante caught him in his strong, muscular arms.

"Watch it there," he smirked at Dewey before setting him back upright. Webby snickered behind him.

"Right," he did his best to hide his blushing by dusting himself off.

"Anyhow, let's keep going," Dante winked and they continued making their way through the forest. Webby kept trying to give Dewey 'why are you nervous' faces but Dewey kept ignoring them and kept walking onward.

Soon enough Webby and Dante started talking while Dewey, for the first time ever in his whole life, remained silent. For the first time as well, he was actually intimidated by someone that he liked. For the first time, he met someone smoother than himself.

"Here we are! Temple sweet temple," dante announced and snapped Dewey out of his trance.

"Right sooooooooooooooooo... now what?" Dewey asked. Dante went up to the bottom step and removed a giant stone from the ground.

"We go under," he said, reaching into his bag and getting out a torch.

"Under! Of course! We tried the entrance but it was ner impossible to get through, heh," Webby explained to him.

"Do not worry about a thing. I know exactly where we can find your ring. Let's go," he had gotten out a lighter and lit his torch and they all started heading under.

Dante did seem to know what he was doing. He guided them boldly and confidently. He lifted heavy rocks and even helped Webby read some of the glyphs. It was fun. It was fine. He was fine.

"Aha! The last booby trap! This is where we got stumped last time," Webby pointed out the hundreds of arrows in the wall.

"I see. And just so you know, if your ring is anywhere, it's up there," he pointed to a pile of gold, ssurrounded by slithering snakes of all kinds of varieties.

"I got this," Webby reached into her bag and got out her grappling hook but he stopped her.

"Those are some of the most deadly snakes on the planet. We'll have to either kill it or get it to go away before he go for any of the treasure," he explained.

"How do you know so much about this place?" Webby eyed him with suspicion.

"He said he practically grew up here. Now, do you have any meat in your bag? Dead mice? A thing we can kill a lot of snakes with? Also- how to we avoid the arrows again?" Dewey asked.

"You don't run in blindly like a fool. As you can see, there is a cursed tile, which causes all traps to go off, as these glyphs dictate," he pointed out.

"Okay we get it," Dewey rolled his eyes.

"You know, Dewey called me crazy but I did bring my flute. Could they be charmed into going away?" Webby reached into her bag and presented it to the boys.

"I suppose it could..." Dante eyed it. Webby nodded, handed Dewey her grappling hook and began to play it. Slowly the snakes were drawn away from the treasure. Once gone Dewey fired it and went up to the treasure and started putting it into the bags. Dante watched them both work when suddenly the walls trembled.

"Dante?" Dewey asked, closing his bag after had grabbed the most valuable things he could find up there.

"Relax, it's nothing. Let's go," Dante instructed. Dewey made his way down with the grappling hook and Webby eventually weaved her way through the snakes and all of them started making a run for the exit, but the exit was blocked off by people in masks and leather jackets like the one man they saw at the bar.

"Aww cute! I love when besties match outfits," Webby cracked her knuckles and started fighting them. Dewey got in it too. Both were throwing punches left and right, defending their earnings until it seemed they were surrounded. Webby and Dewey were preparing to fight their way out of it when the one guy they recognized whistled in the distance and they suddenly all ran away, which was very, very suspicious.

"They just... left?" Webby tilted her head.

"Must've known they were about to lose. Anyway. Let's go. Pretty sure the temple is about to collapse," Dante ran ahead and Dewey and Webby followed behind. As they ran down the steps, the temple seemed to be crumbling just behind their steps and when they reached the bottom it was practically reduced to rubble.

"Welp. That was fun," Dewey grinned at Webby.

"Did you see my ring? Louie would kill me if I lost it. I don't even know when it fell off," Webby asked. Just as Dewey was going to speak, Dante interrupted.

"Right here," he got it out from his pocket.

"You found it! Thanks!" Webby smiled and put it back on.

"Well let's head back. Drinks on me," Dante suggested.

"Sounds good to me. I never did get a chance to drink the one you got me earlier," Dewey cleared his throat.

"Wow, really like wasting my money don't you?" Dante grinned.

"Yeah yeah, let's go," Dewey rolled his eyes and they went back into the town.

By ths time they got back the sun had set and it was a gorgeous and clear starry night above them. Webby had called it in early since she wanted to "get some shut eye before the flight", whatever that meant. Dewey knew she probably just wanted to face time his brother. Shocker. So it was Dewey and Dante.

"You have some pretty slick moves you know that?" Dante asked.

"Oh yeah, i'm like... the coolest guy I know," he tried to sound as confident as possible.

"Oh i can believe that," Dante teased.

"Mhm. But what about you, huh? You got a story? Tragic backstory? Why'd you buy me a drink huh?" Dewey asked.

"You ask a lot of questions," Dante said, undoing then redoing his ponytail. His feathers shone softly in the moonlight to a point where it was almost entrancing.

"You know- i don't normally drink while at adventures for fears of being kicked out of a foreign country," Dewey said.

"Really life of a party eh?" Dante grinned.

"You bet," he finger gunned awkwardly and hated it immediately. Dante laughed and told him he was funny, which just made him feel more awkward.

"You know- i- uh..." Dewey started to say something but trailed.

"What?" Dante leaned closer.

"You were really useful today. We could... we could use you on the team," Dewey tried to act, once more, as calm and nonchalant as possible but was pretty much a failure. Dante got out a piece of paper from his pocket and wrote down his number.

"Here. Take it," he handed it to Dewey with a wink.

"Incase you ever need another sidekick or maybe even just another person to talk to. Im always here," he winked, got up and went away.

"Coolcoolcool. Got it... totallyyyy got it," Dewey nodded slowly until Dante was out of earshot and gave a giant sigh of relief. Somehow he didn't screw this up. Well- of course he didn't. He's Dewey Turbo Duck. He's cool and swave and the handsome duck brother.

And he now had a hot guy's phone number.

[witchofapollo]

A Rant That Has Been Sitting on my Desk for a While

Sorry, this is going to be kinda a long ranting post. I haven’t been on the past few days because I needed that time to really decide if I was going to post this or not, let alone what I wanted to say. I try my best to avoid drama in the witchblr community. I pride myself in that. It is not fair to me nor my followers to indulge in negativity. Also, I just really hate making people upset. BTW, there are mentions of abuse and rape in this.

Some people here really be trying to read what is not in my posts instead of what is actually in them. Before you read further, please know that I am not referring to all of y’all. I love my followers who indulge in my content.

Of course most things are not universal. I know that Santeria uses animal blood in practices. I know that people with certain disorders are not able to do some witchy things in the way mainstream witchcraft dictates and that makes them no less of a witch. I know that some people work 18 hour days with multiple jobs, live paycheck to paycheck, have more prioritized things to deal with, or feel that it is dangerous to practice in your household at that time, or don’t have the spoons to practice as much as they want. 

I do my best to include every possible scenario for as many people as possible. I try to incorporate low-cost items and alternatives for those who are not able to do certain movements during the spell. Witchcraft is something that should be enjoyed or practiced by anyone who wants to no matter race, religion, or health.

I’ve gotten several messages in my inbox over some of my posts being ablest, inconsiderate, or an attack. It’s probably because I don’t feel the need to include a giant list of my illnesses or ethnicity in my description, though I am not judging or talking down on those who do. It just isn’t something I see as relevant for my blog. But for those who are wondering, I am half-Filipina and half-german. I suffer from (all diagnosed) Bipolar 2, General Anxiety, PTSD, Asthma, acute chronic bronchitis, hypoglycemia, nerve damage, permanent back muscle damage due to volleyball, severe insomnia (I have to take high-dose prescription sleep pills), a severe allergy to a lot of things (such as tannin, caffeine, hyacinth, and ranch) and psoriasis. I survived poverty, child abuse, severe depression, bullying, being kicked out my house as a child, a suicide attempt, the time when I was having panic attacks every single day, passing out randomly due to low blood sugar, getting hit by a car, being stalked, beating the shit out of my friend’s ex-boyfriend for raping her and yelled at the teachers until they agreed to put school on lock-down when he shows up in the parking lot again, an abusive boyfriend, consistent flashbacks which still happen regularly, and, most recently, losing what little family I had left to death after caring for them full time as they died before my eyes. There is literally no place for me to go back to. If I lose my fiance, I will nowhere to go. I need to take a lot of medication each day to ensure that I am able to function in any way possible. I have a service animal. I’m only 22. I didn’t even start treatment until 2 years ago. I’m honestly proud of myself for making it this far with all that has happened and I am still able to be high-functioning.

I didn’t share this information with anyone because I didn’t want it to seem that I thought that I am better than others or know better that others because of that fact. I don’t want to seem like I want pity or attention. It is an important part of who I am, but it is not all I am. It is not fair to y’all to dump my emotional baggage on y’all. I am the happiest I have ever been in my life right now and I channel that into this blog, my job, another blog that I mod, and all my other hobbies. After everything I listed above, I just want to live my life to the fullest as much as humanly possible and then maybe a little more.

I really don’t just pull my posts out of my ass. I have a set schedule. I read from my witchy books every other day. I purposefully read different perspectives. Most of them I either buy or download. I talk to people regularly to ask about their perspective or experiences. My own experiences also play a part. I don’t see it as a chore. It truly is something I love doing and am passionate about.

I make all these reference posts, spells, sigils, and tarot readings because I love sharing my knowledge with those who are new to the craft. My goal is not to become the most popular witchblr blog or become a renown witch known throughout the community, or to even re-write what is already known to be my specific beliefs. My goal is to help make practicing witchcraft less painful, less expensive, and less confusing. There are several people who are not able to have the resources that I have when it comes to studying the craft, whether it be because they are in the broom closet still, don’t have the money to purchase the reference books, or even when there are no resources available in their area. I was privileged to be able to secretly practice since I was 12. I was privileged to be able to check out those resources at my local library. I am privileged to have a fiance who is beyond supportive of my craft. I just want to use this to help people. My big project is a free PDF beginner guide to witchcraft as well as one for intermediate and difficult witchcraft. And I absolutely love coming home from work everyday to work on it.

I’m a very open person and sharing my challenges doesn’t make me uncomfortable; I actually usually refer to it as my tragic anime backstory. But it just kinda sucks that I have to share it in the first place to establish credibility.

[transfrankenstein]

I’ll talk about this here bc I don’t know really anyone on here so I feel semi safe. Tw/ sexual assault

Sucks to be groped at a show several times and when you reach out to people about this creep they LAUGH in your face. They say shit like “oh he’s gay! He didn’t mean that he’s just intoxicated and really flamboyant” and I was shamed for even speaking up!!! I was guilted for being uncomfortable! I basically left the show right after for my own well-being bc I think it would have kept going or even escalating if I hadn’t left! I avoided going to shows for almost a year bc I didn’t feel safe. Both the creep and the person I THOUGHT I could trust both sent me apologies on F*cebook (which I never saw until literally a year later) which I guess is something. Either way I decided to speak about it on tw*tter bc others were talking about abusers in the local scene so I felt safe enough to do so! I was again shamed for speaking out bc no one believed me. People are good friends with the person who groped me and the person who excused the creep, so they treated me like I was lying! A specific person who dmed a friend starting out with “I never liked *enter my name*” was so instantly mean and denied my entire experience simply bc “_____ would never do that!” And started posting shit about me on their tw*tter. Mind you, I have never met this person in my life! And they hate me so much! For what???? Idk. They later denied my experience and shamed me for speaking out bc my ex boyfriend was accused of rape in high school (which I never knew the whole story about! My ex had lied and sugar coated and had been gaslighting me about that situation for so long. I was told about an unhealthy relationship in high school but never about him being a rapist!!!!! Fuck him for lying but that is not my fault! I stand with the victim wholeheartedly but I never was told the whole story) and for some reason that was put on me? The person I am no longer dating has a shitty past and that’s an excuse to punish me and dismiss my experience????? No it fucking is not. (honestly that relationship was unhealthy and abusive and every single day I’m happy I’m out!!!) but this was brought up as if ??? I knew? Idk it’s just fucking ridiculous to treat someone the way this random person who doesn’t like me to begin with. I don’t give a fuck who your friends are, never fucking shame people for speaking out about sexual assault!!!!! Check your friends instead of dismissing victims!!!You don’t get to dictate this shit !!!!

[sarikavari]

— ♔ In the past, people were born royal and for SARIKA VARI the TWENTY-NINE-year-old PRINCESS of HUNGARY, that is a tradition SHE intends to keep. To others, SHE looks an awful lot like ALEXANDRA DADDARIO and has been painted as THE SPOILED MESS but behind closed doors, SHE is SELFISH and SNARKY but also UNABASHED and CONFIDENT. It has also been said they are NOT (CURRENTLY) BETROTHED. (Kayla/28/cst/she/her)

FACTS Name: Sarika Kamilla Vari Age: 29 Birth date: October 28th Star sign: Scorpio Title: (Ex-Crowned) Princess of Hungary Siblings: 1 younger sister, 1 younger brother Languages: Fluent - Hungarian, English, German, Serbian, Romanian Conversationally - Slovak, Croatian Instruments: Cello, violin, flute (not well) Likes: Cello, cooking, dancing (informally), fancy dress, just having fun in general, ect. Dislikes: Politics, geography, basketball, gossip, haters, ect.

HEADCANNONS - NEW AND EXPANDED

From the moment Sarika was born she was in training to be the perfectly poised crowned Princess of Hungary. Her parents did everything in their power to make sure that their daughter was well educated, well behaved, and contained the knowledge she would need to one day rule with grace and humility. The only problem the family seemed to encounter was the rebellious nature the little girl possessed. All of her life Sarika tried to play the part she had been given in life, tried and failed miserably on most occasions as it seemed her destiny was steering the girl in another direction. She was well groomed but all of the hard work her tutors and parents put into making her who she was supposed to be eventually turned out to be wasted. Inspired by the kidnappings of fellow Royals, Sarika decided life was too short to allow her own life to be dictated by other people and she was no longer allowing herself to be a puppet for the Royal family of Hungary. Two months after the kidnapping the Princess abdicated, stepping down from the throne and allowing her younger sister to take over in her pursuit to become the leader that their country wanted, feeling that it would be better for everyone in the long run.

The only reason Sarika wasn’t disowned after giving up the throne was the promises she made to her parents if they allowed her to step down. The first being that she go to the castle in Russia to keep away from not only the rebels but also to stay away from the hate and gossip being spread by the tabloids at home. The other, to be married off to a Prince from another country when the time came in hopes to forge an ally by doing so. And the only reason she made that promise was because the girl figured there was a very low chance that any Royal would allow her to be married to their child after being so disloyal to her own country. Sarika doubts her parents are hopeful of a union as well but she appreciates that they made whatever compromise they could to help make her happier and still part of the family. In her eyes it’s the only thing that the two have ever done because they love HER and not because they love their country.

Sarika sees this as her opportunity to really find herself. She wants to know what it is to live, to not have regrets, and as a result she’s found that lately she’s pretty bold in the actions she takes and the words that she speaks. No longer imprisoned by her fate, the girl isn’t as charming as she was once considered, speaking freely about anything and everything that comes to mind. She’s learned not to stay silent when something is bothering her whereas before she would have been more conscious of her words. As a result, any gossip or venomous opinions are now met with her own icy glare and choice words, and if it seems like she doesn’t care about what you think of her, it’s because she truly doesn’t. The girl won’t be mean just to be mean as she truly has no desire to cause harm but she’s also no longer afraid to stand up for herself. Before she was meek, well mannered, and as kind as she could be to anyone and everyone whereas now she’s only kind as long as you return the favor. Once anything negative is said to her a defense mechanism comes into play, walls building, and she has a hard time caring if that wall is ever torn down again.

Even though most people think that she’s disloyal and dishonorable, if she cares for you Sarika is one of the most loyal people you could know. There’s a difference between being there for hundreds of thousands of strangers and being there for someone you love. Once you gain her trust there’s nothing she wouldn’t do for you. With this kind of affection comes that blunt honesty though. If she has an opinion that she feels you should listen to nothing will stop her from expressing it even if it’s something most would consider too impolite. This gets her in trouble with some of her close friends but usually she finds a way to make it up to them…or it turns out she was right in the end.

If asked she’d tell anybody that she thinks the Rebel uprising is being embellished a little too much, expressing that hiding everyone away in a castle is a bit of an over reaction. But despite all of her big talk deep down she’s terrified of the Rebels and another possibility of the Royals being taken. Sarika has heard the stories and even if it would be unlikely they would go after her she hates the very idea of anyone being taken and treated the way others had been before.

Has a bachelors degree of Arts in Cello with a minor in International Relations, earned while attending one of the finest Universities in Hungary. Not only did she complete her programs for these two subjects but she also continued her trend of learning local languages spoken in different parts of her country. Her education was very important to her family and she considers herself lucky that she was able to make her main focus something she really loved. Recognizing the passion she held for it, her parents agreed to continue letting her study cello while in school as long as she minored in something they had chosen for her. The cello had always been the one thing that could get Sarika to sit still when she was a child. She loved everything about the instrument and she still continues to cherish the music to this day. Whenever she’s having a bad day or she feels she needs to calm herself down the instrument is her go to choice of relaxation.

CONNECTION IDEAS

Siblings - She has a younger sister that is now the crowned princess of Hungary as well as a younger brother. I had the idea that her and her sister do not get along for various reasons that can be discussed and never really have gotten along but I don’t have any ideas about her brother. The two could get along or they could be at each others throats for all I care. I’m happy to discuss anything.

Influence - With everything that Sarika had going on as a child the girl hasn’t really experienced a lot when it comes to hobbies and life in general. This person would help her branch out and away from her current hobbies to try new things or just get her in trouble really. They could be good influences or bad influences, I’m down for either.

Future Betrothal - She’s basically a pawn right now that her parents are holding for the right move. She’s promised that they could marry her off to make an alliance if she could step down, thinking it wouldn’t really happen in the long run because of the choices she’s made making her look bad, so if your Royal is down for that lets talk. Warning: she will not be happy.

Someone to Understand - Even if she doesn’t care what people think it’s always nice to have someone on your side. This person could be a great/best friend or just someone who doesn’t judge her for taking the drastic measure of abdicating and as a result they’ve grown closer.

Ex-Best Friend - On the opposite side of the spectrum this could be someone who never agreed with the idea of turning their back on their country. The decision could have caused a rift in their friendship that seems to be un-reparable. Akwardness and spats ensue, fun for all.

New Best Friend - Someone Sarika knows she can rely on for anything. Basically a ride or die situation where the two of them share everything. She’s closer to this person than she is to her own siblings.

Please like this if you’d like to plot with my new baby.

[yung-gunshot]

In questions!

thank you denna @kisamas

1. What takes up too much of your time? rn its mainly vibeo game and anime. i still play djmax respect like almost every single day plus also playing ace combat 5 & 7 and i recently finished watching ergo proxy which was pretty cool

2. What makes your day better? cooking something yummy like pasta or curry makes my day better and just generally playing games something that distracts me from my problems at the moment

3. What’s the best thing that happened to you today? i made pasta with sausage, broccoli, and spinach for dinner and it was really good 

4. What fictional place would you like to go to? hm i havent really thought about this but i think it would be cool to see the netsphere from blame! but without being involved in all the fucked up stuff i just love the architecture 

5. Are you good at giving advice? i would like to think so but none of my friends i know irl reach out to me so maybe i think not i just speak bollocks 

6. Do you have a mental illness? hm not sure, i never got officially diagnosed but im pretty sure i may have developed depression ever since i graduated hs

7. Have you ever experienced sleep paralysis? i dont think i have 

8. What musician inspires you the most? not sure about musicians but deathgrips and jpegmafia have kinda inspired me at the moment just because they make whatever they want without being afraid of what people think of them

9. Have you ever fallen in love? yea its happened twice now

10. What’s your dream date? i dont really think about this just because i dont think it will ever happen but i think just hanging out and going hiking anywhere would be nice and i really enjoy checking out new places to eat in town

11. What do others notice about you? not really sure about this question tbh maybe that im really easy to get along with? and i dont like the fact that i exist outside of my own perception 

12. What’s an annoying habit you have? isolation? but also i tend to bounce my leg and play with my hair a lot

13. Do you still talk to your first love? nope 

14. How many exes do you have? 2

15. How many songs are in your playlist? im not really sure i just have 3 playlists on spotify that most songs go to depending on the mood they are pretty huge though so id say at least 100 per playlist

16. What instruments can you play? i used to be able to play the trumpet in elementary 

17. What do you have the most pictures of? i have lots of landscape pics from the places i go camping and hiking then its just anime girls memes etc

18. Where would you like to go before you die? i think it would be really nice to see japan, korea, and indonesia plus also visit every national park here in the us and some parts in mexico like cancun and puebla 

19. What’s your zodiac? aquarius 

20. Do you relate to it? sometimes but most of the time i think its stupid 

21. What is happiness to you? just living a life where i dont have to maintain a certain image of myself and free from the pressures of modern day life and capitalism 

22. Are you going through anything right now? yea i still havent registered for fall classes yet and also havent been able to find a job either and i lost my friendship with my best friend a month ago

23. What’s the worst decision you ever made? i think telling my best friend i grew feelings for them is by far the worst thing ive done to date and its just something im never going to forgive myself for

24. What’s your favorite store? winco, samber and la chiquita (local hispanic stores) and grocery outlet

25. What’s your opinion about abortion? pro

26. Do you keep a bucket list? nope

27. Do you have a favorite album? ive had a few as my all time fav like Emily’s D+Evolution , To Pimp A Butterfly and Toxicity, rn though im really enjoying Dog Whistle by Show Me the Body, Infest the Rats’ Nest by King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard and Veteran by Jpegmafia

28. What do you want for your birthday? maybe some new cardigans and candles would be nice

29. What are people’s first impressions of you? i think people see me as a quiet and distant person because i dont talk that often when meeting new people

30. What age do you seem according to most people? my age (21) -/+ 1

31. Where do you keep your phone while you’re sleeping? i keep it on the corner of my bed next to my head

32. What word do you say the most? bollocks, bellend, fuck, worm 

33. What’s the oldest age you would date? 25

34. What’s the youngest you would date? maybe 20 but they would have to be a very specific type of person for me to consider dating them, safe bet with 21

35. What job/career do most people say would suit you? art teacher

36. What’s your favorite music genre? it used to be hip hop for a really long time but now i like rock and metal but really ill listen to anything except for country and edm. ive also just been listening to a ton of vibeo game and anime music too 

37. If you could live in any country in the world, where would it be? i honestly think if the world wasn’t dictated by money i would want to live in mexico or japan tbh i like the us but just for the nature and landscapes 

38. What is your current favorite song? Camp Orchestra by Show Me the Body

39. How long have you had this blog for? i think i started in the middle or end of 2015

40. What are you excited for? i cant really say im looking forward for anything other than death stranding coming out and the dlc for ace combat 7

41. Are you a better talker or listener? i think im a better listener than i am a talker bc when i talk i cant even understand what im saying sometimes. listening is much more important to me bc i can actually process what people are saying 

42. What was the last productive thing you did? i talked to my adviser today and made some food and took my dog out for a walk at the park

43. What do you want for Christmas? i would like more board games to play with my cousins and friends and maybe some new pants too

44. What class do you get the best grades in? i dont know about best grades but its usually my painting and drawing courses 

45. On a scale of 1-10, how are you feeling right now? 5

46. What can you see yourself doing in ten years? i honestly dont know and the only thing that comes to mind is being a teacher? i just live day to day 

47. When did you get your first heartbreak? i guess after i graduated hs we were talking before we graduated but things sorta fell apart and i realized my feelings a bit too late to change anything 

48. What age do you want to get married? not sure since i cant see myself being taken seriously enough to want to marry but i guess ill say any age before 40

49. What career did you want to have as a child? i dont quite remember but i recall wanting to do space travel so maybe an astronaut? or astronomer

50. What do you crave right now? emotional stability, some taro milk tea, and more pasta\

im gonna tag @deredere @euthymiclurker and @dementatree :)

[gavetawrtes]

okay i am literally in the process of leaving my job rn, college only starts in February and i want some plots so pls check out the plots here under the read more and if anything sparks your interest pls like this so i can message you or just message me !

mumu

something based on friends ?? a tiny thing where we get 3 characters each and they can be heavily based on the friends character or just a little bit ? then we can have like relationships between them . friendships ? old flings ? siblings ? different dynamics for each of them and threads with more than one at the same time. they always go to the same coffee shop together or they are always in each others apartment. a has a thing for b but b is oblivious and b has always been bffs with c and so on. honestly it can be so much fun and so pure ? pls i deserve nice things

oKay but like wizards in a wizarding school ? ? i would say hogwarts but that world is a mess right now so we could make our own lil world? where like we decide the subjects and the kind of magic and all that. it could have aspects from any magical world we want like idk hogwarts house or like different types of magics ( physical, natural, Illusion, healing, psychic ) from the tv show the magicians. and honestly whatever else we want ? we can throw our lil characters into it and populate this little world with tiny plots like ‘our houses are eternal rivals and i intend to crush you at this quidditch game but also pls go to the winter formal with me bc you are the prettiest person in school ?’ & ‘my family has been historically amazing at physical magic but i’m really bad at this. you seem amazing pls teach me so people will stop making fun of me’ & ‘i didn’t know magic existed and now i do and this is all new to me how is the frog talking and why are you not scared at any of this ? ? ‘ && ‘whhy do you think it’s cute to be the skater punk version of magical world and fly standing up in your broom ? you could seriously get hurt ? and see there you got hurt. what do you mean ?  help you with healer magic ? no i don’t want you to get expelled but we should call a teacher !’ and honestly whatever else you can think of 

okay but like a group of high school friends and their older selves ?? ?  ?? ??  like we could set all the high school threads in the 80s ?? ? ? ?? ? and have different personalities ? and then we also have threads like in 2018 years later when they see each other again in the high school reunion ? just ? pls? the high school sweethearts who signed the divorce papers three years ago and we are doing both the thread in which they fell in love and the one where they see each other again for the first time after the divorce. the high school rebel who became the local sheriff and the girl he loved who used to be the biggest nerd who had a thing over their last summer. we are doing both their wild adventures and them seeing each other again for the first time bc she moved back with her parents. the two best friends who remained best friends for all those years and they are seeing all of those people again and it’s just like ‘oh man glad this didn’t Help to us’ and we can have them as teens bickering and making fun of their teacher and them years later at the bar like ‘i miss having adventures like we used to’ there are so many possibilities ? for like people who grew disillusioned with their lives ? or people who got really successful . ? people who stopped talking altogether ? people who remained friends forever ?? ? plspls it could be so nice

Okay but a group of old immortals/wizards/witches ? something a long the lines of the originals but they are not all siblings or the hogwarts funders but there is no school involved. like they have known each other for centuries and they have been friendly-ish. they probably got a hand in many important world changing events in history and like maybe they have to come together and stop the apocalypse every 500 years or one of them call them all up and it’s like ‘hey guys so skarsgård is going all ruler of the world again and i can’t stop him alone bc he is more powerful than me so could you pls? help me?‘ ? ? ? ? there are so many possibilities. we could play with different types of characters like ( one wizard who spent the last 100 years in a hole on the ground and he is just done with humanity while there is another one traveling around and trying to write a beautiful book about humans and life but it lowkey sounds like a fake deep tweet ) or like hundred years old relationships where they go ‘making me jealous in 1954 didn’t work why do you think it’s gonna work now?’ or smth like ‘baby we have been together for 3 centuries and you still make me blush’ OR OR  we could get more into plot like half of them go ‘i’m done with saving humans every hundred years. maybe skarsgård is right and we Should rule the world’ while the other half goes ‘what ? no humans are amazing? our job is to save them ’ and just those super mega powerful wizards fighting each other ? pls we could go in whatever direction you want just pls let me play incredibly powerful wizards

the PTA group ?? i love playing older characters but also like there are so many possibilities and it could be legit funny and full fluff and angst like ? we have those two married characters who are a perfect couple but maybe they are not that perfect ? the single parent who is just really Trying but is always late ? the divorced couple who is only participating bc the other is and they wanna show how much Better of a parent they are ? the teacher who loves to do all of this and is honestly worried about everyone drama ? the teacher who Had to sign up for this bc it was given to them as a punishment after they didn’t something and they are just standing there like ‘why are all of you so extra? just go home. you know this is optional now?’ everyone getting involved in each other’s business ?? ? everyone being lowkey friends ?? ? dR a Ma also all the supportive parents going to the kids games and the kids just being super happy

a greek god mumus ??  maybe we pick two ships and develop them like ( idk hera & zeus and hades & persophone ) or we just pick around the characters we wanna play. and we can have like all of them stuck in the real world, stuck in a human body. zeus wanting to fly to be an eagle to go somewhere but being stuck to earth. being the biggest asshole in the face of this earth but also not being able to let hera go? ? not knowing how to function properly when she is not around. and maybe idk maybe in this life hera doesn’t stick around. maybe in this life the only reason why they are still legally together is because he didn’t sign divorce papers, maybe she is done with him and done with trying when he clearly doesn’t give a fuck. maybe in this life she is a wedding planner and when people ask her to plan their marriages she gives them advice on knowing when to be forgiving and when to stick up for yourself. hades is the leader of a biker gang but he is mostly really quiet and chill and he has three pit bulls who just hang around him and do nothing of true harm ?? and the only person you can actually be terrified of is his wife ? ? bc even tho logic dictates otherwise it seems like she sets fire on the concrete she walks through and makes plants grow when she passes by and it baffles every existing human ?? and hades being ‘listen man i would forgive your betrayal but my wife i mean, she kinda asked me for your head and i can’t say no….’ chris evans a poseydon, poseydon as a surfer dude ??  as a guy who works/owns an aquarium and understands the animal there in a way that doesn’t make sense to anyone else ?? who has the biggest pools for the animals to swim around, even if it makes looking at them harder for whoever is vising, bc all those animals have been raised in captivate and they wouldn’t survive in the ocean but he doesn’t want them to feel stuck ? he wouldn’t know what he would if he couldn’t swim around  in the ocean and he just wants them to feel free even if he can’t free them. ?? there are so many ways in which things can go ? i mean honestly i’ll shower in headcanons pls gimme.

this is the last one i promise but a plot with a bunch of criminals maybe ex-navy/army who work together. maybe based on the losers ?? where you got like the leader of the group who makes dubious decisions when there are woman involved and the stoic explosions specialist who knows the leader so well that the moment the leader flinchs he goes like ‘imma take over now. okay? okay.’ maybe you got the gun slinging asshole who makes inappropriate jokes and the person who is just Too Qualified to be around this sea of idiots. maybe they were all framed for the same crime and they have to live in the shadows hiding in a city in the middle of nowhere pretending they are normal civilians. maybe they were all trying to save someone and it backfired and they wanna go back to their lives but how  ? ? idk there are so many possibilities just pls.

1x1

muse a is hopeless romantic that may or may not be more in love with the idea of love itself than he has ever be with anyone. he quits relationships as soon as they get a tiny bit complicated but he is always talking about ~~~~ soulmates ~~~~. muse b the girl who is way too generous and helps everyone out of the kindness of her heart but expects way too much from everyone. she is always falling in love with people and breaking her own heart by thinking they care more about her than they really do. — now close your eyes and imagine. .. . there is so much potential for angst and fluff ?? ? like he prepares overly dramatic moment in front of everyone and like serenades her ? paints her as his muse and puts it up in galareis ? but also one fight and he talks about breaking up bc that is not true love ? while she is there just interested in the tiny things ? in the days at home with him alone and the way they make each other laugh ? she is such a simple girl and they make each other so happy and he just Can’t see it ? ? ? pls 

muse a is the overly responsible single father/mother had to take care of themselves and his son/daughter ever since they can remember. they Cannot Relax because they must do 110% percent at all times for his kid. muse b is the mother/father of three who laughs way too easily and embarrasses his/her kids dancing in public and cracking bad jokes but they are so bad with time and like doing the Simplest things… — now just .. .. just picture. ..  the two of them meet at a school thing and become friends like maybe everyone talks about the two hottest dads in school getting together maybe they are talking shit about Sharon who doesn’t tell her son no and they bond bc ofc they do. .. and it’s totally like pfffftt pfffffffffff we are just friends .. . expect ‘i knew you would forget your kid’s lunch bc i know you so i packed one for your kid too’ and ‘yeah i know you have a kid but i have a babysitter and we are going out bc you are not Allowed to stay inside another Saturday’ and ‘ofc i’ll go with to the game’ and ‘yes we would love to spend the holidays with your family’ and ‘we are just two bros chilling on a hot tub 5 feet apart bc we are not together. the fact that i wanna kiss you doesn’t change anything.’

characters i would love to play in any plot

okay, so here is the thing, i have two characters. they are super wealthy brothers. one is your local asshole i’m too cool for feelings. he is in his 30s and he goes around partying and making bad decisions and he made himself a successful businessman on his own just to spite his family bc they said he couldn’t do it. 99,99% of his decisions are made either based on anger or just so to feel good. the other one is your local golden boy. he is everything his family ever wanted him to be, and he was a child prodigy type who graduated college super young and has never acted like a child. he is his early 20s. 99,99% of his decisions are made based on what he thinks people want him to do and he just wants to please everybody if you would let me play them in literally any plot  ( preferably like some tiny mumu, i have two characters, you have two characters type of thing ) i’ll literally give the sun !! or cookies !! or anything really omg !! they also have a younger sister so maybe you could play her? ? or you could play some character who is dating the younger brother is starts to fall in love with the older and drama~~ or it could be some two character that you would like to play? like any two characters you wanna develop and we figure out a plot? pls? thanks

[spywriter27]

The Interview Emilia ll Luke

He’s laughing brightly, the laughter almost makes it seem like the room is brighter as we continue. “You find it funny. The whole world was waiting in anticipation of this big, grandiose wedding and then we find out. You’re actually married, not to the woman we’ve been calling your fiancée for the past year but to a complete unknown, middle class girl who works for a competitor.”

“I wouldn’t really call Christian a competitor, we get along just fine. It’s actually by chance that she works for him. I had a pretty rough day and my neighbor was concerned, something a lot of people in my life had been. None of them voiced this concern though, because that would have been, proper.” I can see the annoyance on his face, its something that has come up before in an interview when he was younger. People expecting him to read their minds. “People assume because you have wifi in your head you know what they’re thinking. I’m a genetic hybrid, not a psychic and it bothers me a lot that people get the two mixed up.” Was what he told me last time, I checked on his insistence.

“So you just met at a random party. How normal of you. Was it love at first sight or did you actively try to flirt?” I can’t help it, one of the original four hybrids, the only one known to have human emotion, it’s for science. I’ve known him for years and the thought of him flirting is more funny than adorable. This is the man who can tell a dictator where to stuff it but crumbles when his mom tells him it’s rude.

“Tease all you want Michelle, I did end up with her number at the end of the night. We met up for coffee, talked, normal things. You should be proud, it’s all annoyingly human and mundane. Went to the movies a few times, walked through the park. It’s a bit insane how no one knew until Rachel threw a fit. I mean, it wasn’t a secret, we were out there actively being us for the world to see and no one cared until the princess of slander got mad.”  The princess of slander, an interesting way of calling his ex out on all the effort she’s put in to dragging them through the mud. Most hybrids hide their thoughts well and Luke is no exception until it becomes a topic that get’s him frustrated, like math or in this case, Rachel. She seems to be a frustrating person, everyone wants to be in her friend group but those that have left have nothing nice to say about it. If you can even get them to talk about it.

“But you were still seeing Rachel. A lot of people feel like you did her dirty, cheated on her. I know a few of them have confronted you in person. Does it bother you or your wife? That you essentially cheated on Rachel with her.” I get the devil’s advocate glance but I know you all want the answer too. For the last three years every form of social media has been flooded with images for the two of them. For the last year it was near impossible to log onto anything and not know about their future wedding. Then overnight it all changed, the tone of their relationship changed and he came out looking pretty bad.

Luke Montgomery smirked, he actually smirked at me. A rare event his mother once described as the first sign of the apocalypse for revenge. “I didn’t cheat on her. I’d have actually had to have been dating her to cheat on her. Before you ask, I never proposed to her either. There’s a fifty page print out of us fighting over that and her telling me to just ‘go with it. Its what’s best for our companies’. Rachel was, is, she’s always been a wolf in sheep’s clothing. It’s no secret that my father became very sick a few years back. He assumed he wouldn’t make it and told me things about where I came from and I nosedived into a place that I hope I never go back to. I didn’t know who I could trust, I barely slept. It was a dark place and then, she was there. She told a few corny jokes, we had some drinks. One day I woke up in her room and couldn’t recall what happened the night before. The last thing I could remember was leaving the office.” He’s taking deep breathes, what he’s saying is hard for him. It’s almost as if his anxiety is telling him to keep quiet.

He’s messing with his wedding band, he doesn’t know it’s silver, not that he cares but you can see the wear it’s taken already in just these few short months from him messing with it. “She cornered me on a street, in an alley actually, right around the corner from my place. Told me she was pregnant. I did what a lot of guys do in that situation. I panicked, said I’d be there for her and I was. Then she said she lost it a few weeks later. It broke me a little, I had just started thinking about it, toying with the idea. What kind of dad would I be and stuff you know? Turns out she was lying the whole time. I tried to cut her off a year later, after I found out. Just ghost her you know. I couldn’t handle it, it’s almost like I could see what she was doing and tried to stop it but failed. I’d stopped sleeping, didn’t really eat much, stopped doing things that made me happy. I was only doing what she wanted me to do, only eating what she let me eat. She hates dogs, I sent mine to live with my parents, she hates traveling, I didn’t see my family for three years. She kept showing up everywhere I went though, it was freaky and she just kept inserting herself into my life no matter how I tried to run. I gave up. I know, it’s weird to admit that out loud but it’s what actually happened. I gave up trying to run away from her but I never reinstated the relationship, we never did anything more than sleep under the same roof, our rooms were down the hall from each other.”

If you’ve ever imagined what it looks like when his runs his fingers through his hair I can tell you it’s everything you’ve thought it to be and yes, he does the exasperated sigh along with it as he’s trying to focus himself from telling me more than he wants. “Emilia it was like, it was like a switch flipped. She’s a hobby photographer.”

“You did that too, you already had so much in common.” He’s wearing a look that both says ‘shut up’ and ‘please don’t’ at the same time. It’s an interesting thing to see and even more interesting to try and read.

“I used to. Rachel, doesn’t do pictures or people with ‘camera’s for fun, honestly why?’” His Rachel voice is the highlight of this interview along with his casual dress. I’ve been interviewing him for years and I’ve never seen him this relaxed. “It was weird, like, when I stopped posting on Instagram everyone just went with it. When I started posting again people were just like ‘where have you been? We missed you’ and my personal favorite ‘can you post more pictures of your doggo’” He laughed, “It was like everything I had to give up to appease Rachel I could have back. Why wouldn’t you want to have things that made you happy? I could meet up with my friends, visit my family, travel, go to the island.”

“I have to ask, has Emilia been to the island yet? I semistalk her Instagram and it hasn’t shown up there yet. I feel like there’s a lot more to that place than your boat and the beach. If she hasn’t been will you guys be going soon?” It’s a reasonable question, she seems to take pictures of everything. The video’s of his dog seeing him after three years can make you cry. If you haven’t watched them yet, bring tissues. If you’re reading this online the link is below.

“She hasn’t yet, we’re actually leaving for it tomorrow. So if you wait a week or two to publish you might get some pictures from her soon. I’m excited about it. I mean, I know it’s been taken care of by the staff when they visit I just. It’s been so long and she’s never been on the ship before. It’s weird, I mean, I grew up in this lifestyle so I’m used to it all but she didn’t. So everything is new, like the flight out to England, she’d never been on a plane before. I like traveling and as a lot of people know I like my rich guy toys. Getting to share them with her is just as fun and amazing. I’m sure it’d still be this way even if she grew up with the stuff but getting to see her enjoy these things for the first time is awesome.”

I made a note to put off publishing this as long as possible for photographs, my boss wasn’t having it so we all loose out. Sorry. She has a blog though as I  have been informed but someone, Luke, wouldn’t tell me what it was so we just have to hope all the pictures end up on insta.

“You know you’re one of the few rich people who can brag about their wealth and people don’t get upset. Is there a reason why or do you think people are afraid to piss off one of the richest people in the world?” A question I’ve been dying to ask for far too long so you can all just give me this one and we’ll get back to the cute couples in a minute.

“There’s a reason. As much as I brag about my toys and vacations. I don’t actually vacation, I might be on a beach but I have an office a hundred yards away, same with the boat, office is there. I work hard for my money but I think the big reason people pay it no mind is because I’m pretty philanthropic. Shelters for both people and animals. Schools in war torn countries. Helping people whose governments are letting them down. Coconut trees are something I’m dealing a lot with right now. Did you know if you plant them close enough together that you can slow and in some cases stop beach erosion? How awesome is that? Governments though, they don’t care. So what’s a few thousand coconut trees to help save beaches and inject a little money into the local economy? It’s nothing off my back or my bank account. The way I see it, we were charged with making the world better than how we found it. So far we’re doing a pretty shitty job. If you send a copy of this to my mum you better change that word or I’ll never hear the end of it.” He sighed, he was serious too, I changed it in her copy. “If I can help make it better, why wouldn’t I? I have the money and resources to do it so I owe it, not just to myself but to everyone else to try and make it better. To slow climate change if I can’t stop it. You can recycle your soda cans all you want but if big business doesn’t turn their companies green it’s not going to make a difference.”

“Are you sure I can’t have her blog name?” One last try to get all of us more cute pictures. He didn’t cave but he did tell me the exact site but I have a domain and that’s a start. People may think it weird, granted my openness about cyberstalking them is a little weird but I’m a reporter whose job is to write about them every day. If you think I’m weird for it than you are reading the wrong interview, it’s my job.

“There’s really nothing amazing on there though. I mean, to us it’s a bunch of awesome stuff but I doubt you want to see it. All the cool stuff is on Instagram. Our more homey things are on her blog.” He keeps trying to get me away from it but honestly, seeing more humany, homey things of them is what everyone wants “I mean, do you really want to look at a dozen pictures of this?” He’s honestly adorable when he brags, he doesn’t even realize he is doing it. If every man was this oblivious with these things life would be sweeter.

It’s a picture of them at home on the terrace, it’s dark but you can see the telescope. Candid’s of them both looking through it and watching the stars. It’s so sweet my teeth hurt. I want to see hundreds of those. I leave empty handed regarding her blog but now I know what I’m missing and I might double my efforts to find it if for no reason than to see my friend having a good life. After three years of Rachel essentially abusing him he’s found someone who showed him what he was missing and I couldn’t be happier for it. While the everyday public might think they’re a fraud, simply because we didn’t see what was before our eyes. Those of us who know Luke Montgomery couldn’t be happier for him. No matter what sludge Rachel throws on the papers about them you can see it in their eyes. Neither of them could be happier with anyone else.

@adauntlessangel