#the other characters don't really have names for the most part

[tealvenetianmask]

Stolas Makes Decisions Alone

I'm here to predict more problems ahead for Stolas. But don't worry- I do think he'll get through them because of character growth.

Stolas has a pattern of taking drastic actions that he believes are right and getting so caught up in his own point of view that he doesn't really listen to anyone else. I don't think he realizes this about himself. As much as he's now dealing with the consequences of his decisions at the end of Season 2, he hasn't yet learned that he can't go it alone. That he needs to communicate with the people his decisions impact- namely Blitz and Octavia, the people he cares for most. What I'm saying is, even though he's not the only one, our lovely owl man is a misunderstanding factory.

As for why he's like this, I have some ideas, but first, let's quickly go over the ways we've seen this behavior play out in HB.

It's treated as kind of light in Season 1 . . . despite being great with words, he's a lousy communicator because he gets carried away with his own ideas.

In Murder Family, Stolas has no idea that Blitz is panicking and . . . yes, I believe feeling pressured in this moment, even if he likes the deal later. In Loo Loo Land, he doesn't pay attention to Octavia's (not subtle) reactions enough to realize that no, she does not want to go to Loo Loo, and she absolutely doesn't want to bring the person Stolas cheated with along as a bodyguard. Also . . . as soon as Stolas listens to Octavia here, their communication improves, and Octavia is allowed to decide on the next father daughter activity.

The independent decision making tendency becomes more serious . . . tragic . . . in The Full Moon.

Stolas goes into the episode with a plan to do what he believes is right (freeing Blitz from himself), and he's so set on it that he blindsides the guy and shuts him out at the first hint of rejection, unable to pay enough attention to realize that it's . . . not actually rejection, just another wounded person reacting to a sudden change, since the entire decision making process already happened inside Stolas's mind.

Okay . . . Mastermind and Sinsmas.

I'm letting him off the hook for Mastermind, because he had only seconds to do something to save Blitz's life. I don't think he's wrong here. BUT symbolically, in the courtroom, Stolas rarely looks at Blitz. Someone who loves him is standing behind him, and there are moments of recognition between them, but Stolas still faces the decision, and his fate, alone.

In Sinsmas, we get the most blatant version of this kind of decision making. Yes, I know he's off his meds and going through a lot. He could have waited a few more minutes for Blitz to get back and talked through his decision to march up to his palace and demand to see his daughter. Blitz could have helped him calm down, and they could've had a conversation and decided on the best way to do it.

But that isn't how Stolas makes decisions. It isn't how he's EVER made decisions. Helping Stolas would put Blitz in danger, or Blitz might try to convince him to wait. So in Stolas's mind, if it's a choice between being kept from his daughter and dying alone by Andrealphus's hand, well . . .

There's so much that could be discussed here. Medication/depression. Suicidality. Autism . . . does this pattern stem in part from difficulty reading social cues?

These are all topics worth analyzing but . . . here's one thing that I think is at the core of Stolas's character regardless of the situation or other factors.

Stolas had all of his decisions made for him for his entire life. No one consulted him. Ever. Not about his career. Not about his marriage. Not about how he would choose to behave and conduct himself in the world.

Then when he was somewhere between 18 and 20, he had a child. And suddenly, his decisions mattered. Not in the big ways for himself. He still had to carry out all of his responsibilities. But he could decide how to raise this kid (Stella wasn't really interested in raising her after all). He could do everything in his power to make her childhood joyful, to make her feel loved, to teach her that she could be herself.

The problem is, making decisions for a kid doesn't make you a great collaborative decision maker. Being a parent means being an authority. He wasn't totalitarian like his own father, but there wasn't really anyone to honestly talk through his decisions and process his emotions with. So he's spent 35ish years never making a decision with someone else.

He's also rich and powerful, and that both keeps him isolated and gives him . . . a somewhat outsized view of his own importance and ability to control situations, in my opinion.

But now Octavia is 17, and making decisions that impact her without adequately communicating doesn't really work anymore.

And the other person he loves is Blitz. And yes, Mastermind is an exception, but Blitz usually doesn't need to be rescued or protected. He certainly doesn't need to be protected from Stolas (i.e. The Full Moon). He needs a partner. And Stolas needs one too.

So yeah, until Stolas learns to communicate (or at least learns that it's necessary) I worry about what he'll go off and do on his own.

Note: please don't take this as me blaming EVERYTHING on Stolas. Blitz and Octavia both have some responsibility for the miscommunications that go on. I just think this particular tendency of Stolas's is interesting and wanted to explore it.

[lustlovehart]

Hi! It's me again, I was wondering after recalling some stuff about reader and Rollo how would the twst monster cast react to Reader, I don't know, them asking about the earring she's always wearing and her telling them is from her partner (house husband). I mean, I know they'd react hella jealous but in different ways.

I know is annoying buuuut I like to imagine a what if, instead of going all alone towards the missions, Crowley allowed Rollo to accompany her and meeting all this creatures and Rollo being the bad (hater) policeman and Reader the (extremely) good one.

I'm sorry for asking so much Rollo 😭😭 it's just that he's so silly!

I love your works sooo much! And also how you draw the M!cast, they're all so pretty!! Love love 🫶

Cw: Jealousy, Marking mentions, gaslighting, Obsession, Rollo torturing Epel at the end

Omg! What a coincidence getting this ask after just writing a jealousy prompt in my inbox 😭

I’ve made it pretty consistent that you’re always referencing Rollo some way in your daily life. So I love making characters hear his name once a week and twitch their eye(s) at his mention. But for the most part, they all do act jealous!

The Pouty/Angry jealous: Riddle, Ace, Ruggie, Floyd, Rook, Epel, Malleus, Sebek, Skully

Whenever you mention Rollo’s name, they’re quick to cross their arms, possibly even give you a stink eye. They’ll ask you what’s so great about this ‘work husband’, he did make you do this alone. If he really cared, he would’ve came with you right? He might’ve cared for you at the foundation, but now he just threw you to the dangers of the world. They would never do that to you… So stop talking about him already.

The Sad jealous: Deuce, Cater, Jack, Azul, Kalim, Rook, Idia, Malleus, Silver, Neige, Fellow, Skully

The moment they see the way your face lights up looking at that star pattern fabric in your hand, they feel something. For some of them, it’s guilt, they can’t give you what he can, so maybe… he’s the better option for you than they are (Deuce, Jack, Silver, Neige, Skully). For others, they’re sad at the feeling of envy in their heart. It’s really not fair… This Rollo, gets to see everything side of you, your happiest, your saddest, your angriest, even your dearest. They want to see it too… Won’t you let them?

The ‘I’m just gonna leave my mark on you too’: Trey, Leona, Floyd, Jade, Jamil, Vil, Rook, Malleus, Lilia, Neige, Chenya

So, he gives you that earring. You won’t take it off. Ok. Easy fix, they’ll do something much more obvious. Whether it’s wrapping you in themselves, drawing a symbol of their soul on you, adorning you in their clothes/feathers, or even simply using their mouths, they’ll be more seen. He hopes if when you return to him, Rollo sees this mark.

Why be jealous when murder is a capability: Malleus

I hope everyone noticed he’s in each section, and he does go through these in the exact same order. Essentially, Rollo’s house sees no mercy, nor does his garden, or himself when he steps foot outside. Lightning… everywhere. Rollo get’s a certain sense of who it’s from, and he has to be physically stopped by Crowley from leaving to find you.

LMAO I love the Good cop bad cop energy Rollo and Reader would have if they went out together. Rollo is essentially the overprotective third wheel who blocks any potential suitors from you.

Anytime you’re nice to them, it’s immediately cancelled out by Rollo doing something devious.

An example:

You: Letting Epel drink your blood for like 2 minutes.

Rollo: Stabs him through the heart with a stake, Throws garlic at him, touches him with a silver fork, leaves him in the sun, places crosses on him, and dumps holy water on him. But places a really worn down bandaid on it because you’d be upset at him. He dgaf abt Epel 💀

Bonus: Rollo and Reader Dynamic

Synopsis: Absolutely smitten with you, and everyone else hates it 💀

[computercreature]

for you today i have a long post about hat symbolism in dialtown

hats, at least in the dlc, represent power. i doubt this is the case for the base game but the dlc goes to great length to point out when a character has a hat. even the oliver encounter, while the motif doesn't quite apply to him, ends with gingi pointing out his hat and how many hatted folks it's seen that day.

roger takes a lot of pride in his hat. sees it as his defining feature. however, he just found it on the ground one day, similarly to how he gained his leadership by complete chance. gingi sees the hat as this great divide between roger and peter in their first encounter, while also sensing that peter is unhappy with roger in charge. but this is played for laughs until Everything Ever Happens. roger distinctly points out that the people scamming him are wearing top hats, a detail that sticks out even to gingi. he also has a line about wanting to buy an expensive bowler hat. top hats are associated with mingus and bowler hats are associated with milton r wallace.

mingus's hat was originally a gift from callum to marla. she doesn't say this was her grandmother's, she has to mention callum, just like she does with the post card. callum saw his rise to power as a gift to help others. he changed marla's head to help her, and then changed Everyone's heads to help them. assuming the hat in this image belonged to milton, you could say something about how he was powerless to stop callum, gave up his life and more importantly his hat, etc.

mingus took the hat to feel connected to her grandparents. she became mayor of dialtown because she wants to be like callum crown. she doesn't want to help people, per se, she's just doing everything she can to jolt paw paw's memory. the hat is both part of that mission as well as a symbol of it.

hat motif is most literal for gingi than any other character. they don't know any of the hat's backstory, just that they want it. they've heard about all these people in top hats scamming roger and they want in. obviously mingus is mayor solely because of her hat. it also represents how gingi is following so closely in callum's footsteps, but will never really understand that because they don't even know who callum is.

and, well, this whole interaction

of course, the entire premise of the game hinges on people's heads, the guy's name is callum crown, hats are just another aspect of it. kinda like eyes and teeth and such. and as i'm typing this i'm realizing the scariest part of the dlc: roger had his hat stolen by a clown.

[sweetbillwriting]

The Blackened Branches

THREE

Description: Hayden and Eric have a long history together but also secrets, hidden under blackened branches.

Characters: AU Eric from The Crow played by Bill Skarsgård. The story is completely it's own thing.

Warnings: 18+, NSFW, heavy themes.

I dragged my fingers through his hair. The blonde buzzcut had grown out a bit, and dark roots were almost as long as the platinum lengths. His eyes were closed while the sunshine was on his face, and he smiled a little after having shared his confession. I looked down at Eric, whose head was in my lap, when I stopped playing with his hair because of the surprise.

“You did what?”

“I told your father about us.”

Eric opened his eyes and smiled brightly. We had been a couple for three months and only met in secrecy, but now he had chosen to share it with his boss, who was also my dad.

“He wondered why I hurried out of work so often, so I told him. That you're my girlfriend.”

It was so sweet hearing him call me that, but it was a totally other thing that he said it to my father.

“And what did he say?” I said with worry. Eric turned so he lay with his nose toward my belly but continued to look up at me.

“He just said I must be nice to you.”

I looked at him skeptically, and it made him laugh.

“It's true! I think he knows he can trust me. I'm not a bad guy.”

I smiled a little even if I thought about his tattoos, the smoking, and the partying. Then I also looked at the bruises on his neck. It was obvious he had tried to hide it with a high-necked hoodie, but I don't think anyone could miss the five blue fingerprints sitting like a pearl necklace around his pale neck.

“We will see if he says the same thing to me.” Eric just smiled excitedly. I knew he was happy about earning someone's approval. Adults weren't really his crowd, and parents, teachers, and even people just passing by him had negative thoughts about him, even if he was just shy and kind. They judged him for his looks but also the bruises. Just because he looked the way he did, they believed he was the abuser, but in reality, he took so many beatings from his stepfather it was a wonder he had never gotten hurt more than he had.

“Maybe you can come to dinner tonight then?” I said with a smile and continued to drag my fingers through his hair.

“Seriously?” He smiled even bigger. I thought it was probably the food he became most excited about, but I was happy anyway. Finally, my boyfriend could be a part of my normal life.

×××

On Saturdays the table was often set for five people: my parents, me, my brother Illowa, and his girlfriend. They spent the most time at our place because we lived bigger but also because our parents were more liberal than hers. That night I had gotten the assignment to set the table, but I set it for six people. I hoped my parents would be just as open to welcoming Eric, my boyfriend, as Illowa's girlfriend. I had never set the table with so much feeling. I brought flowers from the garden, took the black napkins, and matched them with the gold cutlery and the squared plates. It looked really pretty, and I hoped Eric liked it, even if I doubted sixteen-year-old boys thought about table decorations.

“What are you smiling about?” Teased my mom when she came into the dining room. I smiled to myself and looked at the table to give my mom a hint without me saying anything. She looked at the table with a smile, then she looked at me excited but also a bit nervously. I was only fourteen, but my parents always tried to be supportive.

“Oh? Is it Louise?” She asked, looking at me with teasing curiosity.

“No,” I said with a giggle and fixed my short skirt.

“Is it a boy?”

I smirked to myself, and it made my mom laugh. She leaned against a chair close to me and dragged a comforting hand over my arm.

“Tell me, honey!”

“His name is Eric… He works in Dad's store.”

My mom looked a bit confused and furrowed her brows with a smile.

“Does someone work with your father?”

“Yes. Eric.”

My mom's smile slowly fell, and she started to look worried. I didn't know how much she knew, but I started to wonder if she actually knew anything about Eric.

“Matt?” She exclaimed with her head turned to the kitchen.

“Yeah?” Answered my dad through the sounds of chopping.

“Could you come for a moment?”

My dad peeked into the dining room. He had a paisley-patterned apron over his Inka-patterned sweater. The pattern and colors clashed with each other and with his beard and messy hair, it made him look quite chaotic.

“Do you have a boy working with you in the shop?”

My dad swallowed hard and looked at my mom with worry. He acted often like he was afraid of her, and she had many opinions about his work.

“Yeah, it's like a charity thing…” He turned to me with lifted eyebrows. “But he also works so well.” He moved nervously from side to side, and I wondered if he had started to become afraid of me too.

“Hayden says she’s dating him. How old is he? Why is it a charity thing? I hope you haven't let this happen without me knowing about it!” My mom looked tensely at him, and my dad laughed nervously.

“He's sixteen, so just a baby. And he told me today!”

“He told you? How close are you to this kid?” She crossed her arms.

“I think he just wanted to be honest.”

Now my mom turned to me with a pointed gaze. I knew what she meant, and I rolled my eyes.

“I knew you would react like this!”

“I can't understand you guys! So many secrets! Tell me about him now! Should I be worried? A charity case?”

“He's not a charity case!” I said, upset, and looked at my dad, who tried to flee to the kitchen. “Tell her dad! He's amazing at music!”

My dad looked towards the kitchen and wiped his hands on the apron. Something told me it was sweat he wiped off, not the juice from the vegetables.

“He is really talented. But…” He sighed and looked at my mom, defeated. “You remember that boy a few years ago? Stealing your gold bracelet? It's him. He has a really rough—"

“You have hired a thief??” My mom raised her voice and made my dad shrink in his place.

“And letting our daughter date him?” Both my dad and I tried to protest, but my mom gave us that look, that look when we knew we wouldn't win an argument with her.

“He will not come into our house again. And you will not see him anymore; he's a criminal, and theft is just the first crime; he will do more. Trust me!”

“But mom!” I protested in frustration. I looked towards my dad, but he looked away when I watched him pleadingly.

“Your mom is probably right… He stole from us. That's not a boy you should be around,” he mumbled and looked at my mom. She nodded, pleased, and gave me a strict glare. She didn't need a reaction before she started to put away the sixth plate and glass.

×××

I cried myself to sleep that night while reading Eric's answers to my message over and over. I had lied to him and said my mom wasn't prepared with enough food for him to come. He wrote he didn't need to eat, that he could come later, but I lied again, saying my mom was tired. As always, he was sweet about it all. Writing, he can come whenever they have time. He was a much better person than my mom, but just because he had been stealing as a thirteen-year-old, she had the right on her side to judge him. It wasn't fair.

That Monday I went to the shop after school to see him. I was afraid my dad would have fired him just because of Mom, but Eric hadn't written anything about it. I knew my dad had much more empathy than my mom, and if I thought about it, I wasn't surprised he had given Eric the benefit of the doubt.

“No, like he just poured up two shots for me and congratulated me for looking so young!” Exclaimed Eric with a laugh when I came into the shop. I couldn't see either him or my father, but I heard my father laugh from the same direction I had heard Eric.

“Seriously? That's fucked up,” said my dad with a voice I couldn't really recognize. I hadn't even heard him say ‘fuck’ before, and I stayed by the door to be able to eavesdrop on them.

“Did it hurt?”

“It fucking did!” Eric laughed. “I didn't think my earlier ones had hurt that much, but this one hurt like hell, and I could, like, feel the muscles cramping.”

“No? Shit. You know, I thought about a tattoo when I was younger.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, I wanted Jimi Hendrix on my upper arm.”

“That would have been sick! But portraits rarely are good. And fucking expensive. Would you like to do anything now? If your wife lets you?”

I could hear in Eric's voice that he joked with my dad, and he laughed.

“Maybe a cool lyric? On my forearm.”

“I can give you the number of the guy doing mine. After you have begged your wife for permission.”

“Fuck you! One day you will also be married and want to get laid.”

I closed the door sharply behind me. It had been interesting to hear my dad acting like he was friends with Eric, like he was younger than he was, but I really didn't want to hear about his and my mom's sex life. I needed the conversation to stop.

My dad came out between the shelves and smiled at me. He had a weird expression on his face, and I couldn't say if it was worry I had heard or if he was just pleased with having some secret man-to-man talk with a cool teenage boy.

“Eric? I think you have a customer,” said my dad teasingly but smiled friendly to me. I smiled back thankfully and turned my eyes towards the shelves my dad had walked out from. Eric approached me with a big smile and gave me a hug. He probably didn't want to kiss me in front of my dad even if my dad had confessed about his sex life to him.

“Hey, how is the tattoo?” I said with a giggle. I knew he had gotten it done yesterday night at some guy’s place. I thought he should go to a real licensed tattoo artist, but he couldn't afford it. Eric pulled up his pant leg, showing his tattoo on his calf. It was a roaring lion, but it had so much black it was hard to see what it was.

“Cool,” I said and smiled at him. He smiled back brightly, obviously so pleased with having more ink that he didn't see how poorly done it was.

“I will just gather my stuff, and then we can go,” he said and turned to the staff room that was behind the desk. I looked at my father, who smiled brightly at Eric as he gave him a fist bump when he walked by. It was quite pathetic.

Both my dad and I looked at Eric from behind, mesmerized by his charisma, but we got just as uncomfortable when Eric pulled off his hoodie. His t-shirt got stuck in it and his black-and-blue bruised back was on display. Eric rarely let me look at his body without clothes, and I knew it was because of how beaten up he was. I looked at my father, who looked away with the same amount of discomfort as we had felt mesmerized before, but I could also hear their conversation in my head. He really liked Eric, so why did he let him put up with this abuse?

“You know that his stepfather is beating him.” I looked at him seriously and spoke with a low voice so Eric wouldn't hear. My dad sighed and scratched his beard. He didn't look at me; instead, he looked at the laptop in front of him.

“You're an adult. Shouldn't you protect him? He's just sixteen!”

My dad swallowed hard and massaged his neck.

“What do you mean I should do? Beat the guy up? I've seen how he looks. He would crush me!”

“So instead you let him crush a teenager?”

My dad looked at me but shut his eyes fast. It was obvious he was ashamed for not doing anything.

“He's covered in bruises all the time! And those scars on his face, I don't think they ever will heal! You remembered how he looked! It looked like someone had dragged a cheese grater over his face!”

I still spoke with a low voice even if I was upset and my eyes had started to tear up. My dad looked at me pained and dragged two hands over his face.

“So what should I do then, honey?”

I looked towards the staff room and thought about what would be best for Eric. Beating his stepfather up wouldn't really change anything for him, maybe it’ll even make it worse. He needed to move. Not just the days he could find a couch to sleep on but all the time.

“He needs to move… He needs another home.”

My dad nodded and thought for a minute.

“You mean I should call social services? That's a serious thing to do.”

“Yeah, but his injuries are also serious. He needs to get away, Dad.”

A tear slipped down my cheek now, and my dad wiped it away with his thumb.

“You're right…” He sighed and scratched his neck. I couldn't understand why my dad dragged it out, why he hadn't done it before. Eric needed another home. “I will call them tomorrow.”

×××

I was just fourteen and had lived in the protection of my middle-class family, without any real problems. I thought society and most people wanted you well and would do everything in their power to protect kids. My naive belief was that Eric would come to a loving family, that he would get a mom and a dad and maybe siblings after we had contacted social services. I also thought they would give him that close by so we could still be together. I seemed to believe every family was open to a foster kid in their teens with PTSD from abuse and neglect. I was really naive, and that's why I didn't understand why my dad seemed so nervous the day he would tell Eric he had contacted social services. I wanted to be there when he told Eric because I thought he would be happy to finally be rescued, but my dad had forbidden me to come to the shop that day. He said he and Eric needed time alone, and I couldn't see why.

“But do you promise to say it was my idea?” I said when my dad and I ate breakfast that morning. I wanted Eric to be grateful for me, not my dad. My dad gave me an insecure look and looked down at his plate with fried eggs.

“Are you sure about that? He maybe won’t get as excited as you think.”

“Of course he will! You don't know how scared he has been of that man and how many times I've comforted him.” I sounded a bit proud even if it was awful that Eric felt like that, but I was proud, proud that I was such a big help.

My dad nodded a little and seemed to believe me. I smiled to myself because I would be Eric's hero, and he would love me forever because of it.

My dad told Eric it was me who was behind the idea. I don't know how he did it, but he kept his promise and said to Eric that I had asked him to call social services. If I had been older, I would have thought about that more closely, if that was the right thing to do. I would have read about kids getting abused, getting depressed, and even suicidal in homes for the youth. If I had been through more things in life, I would have understood that Eric wouldn't find a family to live with, that he would live in isolation with other teenage boys with the same sort of problems as himself. Eric had never handled his trauma with aggression, but others did, and he had experienced it before, during the first time he lived in a youth home when he was fourteen. There was so much I didn't know about Eric. Still, I had acted like I knew better than him about his life.

I lived in my naive belief all day that he would thank me, so when Eric stormed into our house with my dad running behind him, I looked at him with confusion and terror from the couch I was sitting on.

“Did you tell him to call social services?!” He shouted while my dad stood next to him in horror. I swallowed hard because I couldn't understand why he was so angry. He would get a new family.

“Yes?”

Eric dragged his hands through his hair and walked from side to side.

“I thought you were on my side?!” He screamed so his voice broke. His eyes swam with tears, and I stood up with the same horror as my dad seemed to be in.

“Of course I am. What do you mean?” I whined and held a tight grip around the couch backrest.

“Are you?! Because it seems like you want to fucking kill me!”

My mom came out from the kitchen and looked at all three of us with big eyes.

“What? No! I just want you to have a loving family!”

“How stupid are you? I will not get a new family! I will just be fucking locked up! What the fuck made you feel you had the right to decide over my life?!”

I swallowed hard because I still couldn't understand what he was speaking about, but I felt awful when tears streamed down Eric's cheeks.

“Eric… She only meant well…” Said my father, and Eric looked at him.

“Because that's so easy for me to think? Because that will make everything okay? I got stabbed the last time I was there! But I guess that's okay because you fucking meant well!”

“Stabbed…?” I stuttered and looked at him with big eyes. Eric gave me a cold look and wiped his tears away.

“That's what you've done. That's what I will meet. Because you believe you know better than me.” My heart beat so hard in my chest, and now I also cried because I started to realize what he was saying. There was no happy family, just an isolated house somewhere with other wounded souls that would treat him worse than his stepfather did.

“I'm calling the police,” I heard my mom say, and we all looked at her.

“Christa…” Said my dad, but she just said the same sentence again while dialing the number.

“Mom…!” I cried out while sobbing.

Eric looked at us all, then around in our nicely decorated living room.

“Do it then. I'm out of here. I need to run now. Run for my fucking life.” Eric said it bitterly and gave me a sour look.

“Eric...!” I ran after him when he walked away, and outside of our house he turned around.

“You have destroyed my fucking life! Can you leave me alone now? Or do you really think you deserve my forgiveness?”

He looked me straight in the eyes with his shiny eyes, but they were also much darker than they used to be. I stood and looked at him in shock. I held my breath to keep from sobbing loudly because I knew I didn't have the right to feel sorry for myself. I had messed up completely, and the only way for Eric to survive it all was to flee from me and the rest of it. The further away, the better.

I tried to tell myself when Eric walked away that everything would solve itself for him. I wiped away my tears even if I continued to sob, but I continued to say to myself that I hadn't destroyed his life. A few years later I would find out I hadn't destroyed his life, but I had fucked it up really good.

×××

Three years later…

It was weird how I always faked my moaning while being with a guy. None of them made much of a sound; still, I sounded like they did everything so great. No one had, not even Lucas, even if I had chosen to continue to sleep with him in a friends-with-benefits deal. He lay in front of me while I had my leg up on his hip while he worked his hips fast. And I moaned loudly, so loudly you would believe there was a camera team behind the corner, but it was just us in his room with hockey posters on the wall. He came inside of me; lucky for me, I was on the pill.

He breathed heavily and pulled away to pull on his boxers; I cleaned myself up under the cover with a napkin from the package always laying on his bedside table. That was that, three minutes of humping.

“Was it good for you?” He asked with his hands on his hips. He was twenty-one and had a great body but not as great of a face. He looked quite boring and had a silly boyish haircut.

“Sure,” I said, standing up. He unabashedly looked at my naked body, and I showed it off as so. I had never really felt I had so much to be ashamed of, and I knew boys thought I was hot. Lucas played with his lip and pondered something.

“I have a match this weekend; do you want to come?”

“No, thank you.” I answered like he had asked me if I wanted gum, but I didn't have the energy to also come up with an excuse on why i didn’t want to go, when I had already faked an orgasm for him.

“We could have a beer after?”

“I'm seventeen.”

“Right…” He scratched his chest awkwardly when he was reminded of my age.

“I can make you dinner here?”

I started to put on my clothes, and when I had the tight mesh dress I had on the night before I turned to him.

“Look, I like you, Lucas, but I'm too young for you. Don't you get that? This is nice, but no one needs to know about this. Okay?”

Lucas scratched his chest again and nodded. I knew he was usually the one breaking girls' hearts, but I wasn't that sort of girl. I walked all over guys like him and didn't care what they thought about me. Sometimes I thought about how I had become that way, why I was so uninterested in coming close to guys, and it always ended with me thinking about the boyfriend I had had for three months as a fourteen-year-old. Something that had affected me so hard that I couldn't even see other guys as something else other than a dick I could use. 

I walked home from Lucas’ even if he offered to drive me. I wished I could go to my brother's so my mom wouldn't see me in the dress from the night before, and I thought about going to Dad's, but he lived so small after the divorce that I panicked just about the thought of showering there. I needed to go home to Mom, my childhood home where her new boyfriend had moved in. Much had changed in three years, and maybe I had changed the most. I was not an innocent girl anymore, but even if I believed I were tough and sexy now, there was one thing that would throw me off, especially because I wasn't prepared for it at all. 

Eric. At first I didn't recognize him because he had stretched out and was probably 6'4 feet tall and had broad shoulders like a quarterback. His hair was black and laid around his face messily. He wore a long leather coat and scuffed black Adidas sneakers but more than that I couldn't see because the coat covered him. I stopped and stared at him where he stood outside of an apartment building with two other guys. I didn't know what I wanted to happen but me standing like that would bring some sort of attention and one of the guys saw me and probably said something to Eric because he turned towards me and looked at me with big eyes. He had a tattoo under his eye, I couldn't see what it was, and his eyes and lips were stained with black. His face had become more manly and chiselled and his lips were fuller. If I didn't know any better I would have believed he was a model, styled by some avantgarde French designer. Eric took a drag of his cigarette while he watched me. It felt like he could see my heart beating, see my pulse, just like vampires did. I hoped he did so he wanted to put his lips on me and drink my blood but he just stomped on his cigarette and gave me a final look before following the other guys in. He wasn't interested in me at all even if I felt everything between us still was so alive in me. 

× 

[skyfallscotland]

My first book of 2025! 🥳

Just For the Summer by Abby Jimenez

Sometimes the best way to show love or be kind to someone is to meet them where they are.”

I'd seen people raving about this one everywhere, and the kindle edition went on sale for $4.99, so I bought it. I found out almost immediately after that, that it's third in a series (oops!) but oh well.

A friend told me it shouldn't matter that much, and it didn't, but there were times where little call backs were obviously being made, but I didn't have the context to understand them. It wasn't a big deal, but if that would impact your reading experience, maybe read the first couple 😂

I liked all the main characters well enough, they all had completely normal names, which was nice (lol) and I'll say I enjoyed the book, though I'm not sure I think it was as amazing as other people have said, but it's well-known around these parts that I'm picky, so that probably won't come as a surprise.

Personally, I'm just not sure contemporary is really for me because I do find it a little boring.

One thing that really bugged me was that it's first-person past-tense, which just made my brain freak out for at least the first half of the book. It might be because I write in first-person present, or it might be that it is weird, I don't know, but for me, first-person past feels like you're telling me what happened to you all those years ago, and it just sucks the heart right out of it in some respects, generally. If I'm not experiencing it with you, what's the point of writing in first?

Apart from that, I also found some of the writing to be quite choppy, which...I know I write quite long-winded sentences so again, maybe it's just me, but this felt jarring sometimes. Eg:

I turned to look at her. “You could make one that does. You could always stay.” I couldn’t read the smile she gave me. I wished I could. I could ask her what she was thinking. She’d have to tell me.

and

Emma looked over at me and smiled, and I let myself hope. “You ready to go?” I asked. She shoved off the railing and we left.

Like???

But despite that, it was enjoyable, and at times there were some real gems that shone through and made me feel.

It was easier to pretend to be angry and tough than to admit to being devastated and heartbroken. And by the practiced way she wielded attitude, she’d been devastated and heartbroken for a long time.

“It’s like there’s a part of me that’s always small,” I whispered. “And I don’t know why and I don’t know what to do about it.”

“You’re not asking too much,” he said. “You were just asking the wrong person.

Maybe it's just that I'd been writing beforehand, or maybe I'm just always thinking about her, but some of these are so Remi it hurts. I often have a gripe to pick with contemporary romances that bring in trauma in such a blatant way because they never explore it properly.

There was a lot going on in this book, and as expected, they never fully explore the scope of that trauma. They do the classic FMC is struggling with this mental illness and you can see it, but she won't realise it, she does, (sort of) third act breakup, oh look, timeskip, she's gone to therapy off screen for a few months and is magically better, happily ever after.

I think it's nice for it to be included as representation to an extent, I definitely think it did well within the scope of the word count to address it, but I also wonder if we needed to throw so many different things into the one novel, given the word count. I don't know, maybe it will settle better in hindsight and I shouldn't be writing this impression so soon after finishing, maybe I'm just not experienced in what most contemporary romances are like and I'll be pining for this representation later—I don't know.

I guess I'll find out, since reading more contemporary is one of my goals for the year. For now, I'll leave it with this 🥺

“Unhealed trauma is a crack. And all the little hard things that trickle into it that would have rolled off someone else, settle. Then when life gets cold, that crack gets bigger, longer, deeper. It makes new breaks. You don’t know how broken she was or what she was trying to do to fill those cracks. Being broken is not an excuse for bad behaviour, you still have to make good choices and do the right thing. But it can be the reason. And sometimes understanding the reason can be what helps you heal.”

And this:

But if you don’t think your life would be better without them in it, then accept that they have cracks. Try to understand how they got them and help fill them with something that isn’t ice.”

Let me know what you thought if you've read it! 🖤

[nualaofthefaerie]

Everyone chill. Op just asked a question. It was cheeky. It wasn't meant like that. It's not like everyone gets everything. Defensiveness gets us nowhere, on both sides. Whenever someone asks one or the other side about their ship, they jump as if Viktor's a cookie that can't be shared.

I'll be glad to explain. Skyvik is not my "THE" ship. They either come in pack of four or I'm not interested:

But I spend enough time in all the tags to the point where I can explain each of their individual dynamics quite easily.

Is Skyvik based on guilt? Kinda actually.

On one hand, the acquintances to lovers pipeline is appealing to people, it's a tale as old as time. But I do think the guilt/grief angle is much more romantic. Now granted, I am a freak 😔 i do like them doomed from the get go.

Super important I subscribe to 'death of an author'. What Christian Linke or Amanda Overton tell me about any of these four is like air to me, it wasn't in the show it doesn't count. "Jayvik are friends"...like hell they are. "Sky was a stand in for Jayce" I'm afraid visuals do not subscribe to that notion.

Now, to go quickly through the usual Skyvik denial arguments:

1. "He calls her Miss Young"

Viktor's character is based on Slavic men. In most slavic cultures nicknames, first names and last names are used interchangeably without indication of how close someone is to another person.

He calls her Sky more times than he calls her Miss Young ever. At some point it became this Mandela Effect where people act like he didn't know her name.

2. He shows no interest in her before she died

By the time we are shows any sort of interest on Sky's part about Viktor, he's already too obsessed with the Hexcore and saving himself.

Relationships are kind of obsolete to a man who knows he has no time left to spare and the "cure" is a puzzle that's dangling over his head

That scene where he "rejects her" is also the scene he ignores Jayce more or less because he is too focused on the idea that the core can learn.

So all in all we do not know if he cared. And then it's Schrödinger's cat since their backstory was stripped from the final versions of the script

3. She tells him "No, you won't" when he says he'll miss their conversations

He needed reassurance he can let her go. He wasn't ready to do that. That's the shot on their hands where she's letting him go. His hands are shaking, he's teary eyed, he doesn't really want to let whatever she is, go.

Now! Is Sky his humanity? Yes. Does that mean she wasn't herself in there? No. I don't think so. We see she has free will. She is not pleased with the violent turn of events and if she can be displeased, she can argue, if she can argue she can be herself.

She let's him go so he can finish what he started. I believe she told him he won't miss her because that was the last of his emotions and then he is just numb, therefore incapable of missing anything or anyone. Missing someone is deeply intertwined with having any sort of positive opinion or feelings for someone. And he let's these things go.

Now, onto the real juicy stuff.

Was it guilt? YES. Yes it was. BUT, in many literary pieces grief and guilt are the strongest soldiers of romance. They are inherently romantic.

Viktor felt SOMETHING for her. Be it that he's in love with the idea of her or her, it doesn't really matter. Not really. But the acts he engages in post her death are quite in line with those of a classic gothic romance novel.

He scattered her ashes where he met her and was ready to just follow her to death. Jayce stopped him. Which (the implications of that...we can talk about the Hexteam some other time) but Jayce prevents that. When he's resurrected, it's against his will and his body is now the thing that killed the person who loved him.

So he takes the one object left from her (the notebook) and leaves his "creator" (who at that point betrayed him twice - made weapons and didn't destroy the core) behind with a body he detests. The only way to attone for him being alive at that point is to try to do what she wanted - make their home better.

At that point everything saviour Viktor does is FOR Sky as much as it is for him. The commune? Highly implied that was the project she wanted his help on. That's her commune he built for her. Healing people? For her. To attone for her being gone. He needs her approval constantly or at least the illusion of her approval. As seen ⬇️ down here and when he looks up to her in Arc 1 s2. He wanted to make sure telling Singed to go was the right choice. Which is NOT the hexcore manipulating him into doing anything as in the end all he did, he did himself.

The symbol that holds the blanket is her broach, which is a favorite symbol of mine about how Viktor is an amalgamation of the two people who loved him unconditionally. REGARDLESS.

Her spirit is also allowed to touch him. Something others are not. The followers were touched BY him, she and Jayce are allowed close enough to touch HIM. Also in a "single consciousness" she is not shared with the others. Its only for him to see because he is the only one who knew her.

But in doing everything to make it up to her, Viktor triggers the end of the world. And world ending grief and guilt is just something different all together. If Sky doesn't die...Viktor will never end the world. There is only an end to pursuit if Sky Young dies. There is only reversal to that if Jayce Talis saves Viktor's soul. Their fates are intertwined for eternity to chase after one another and take the entire world down with them.

I hope that's not too long, i tried to be as detailed as possible but I'm also tired and my tummy aches 😥 I'm sorry.

I hope that makes a bit of sense to OP. 🪷

full offense to skyvik shippers but literally what basis do yall even ship them on? guilt?

[martianbugsbunny]

Fairy Godmother ex Machina in TSATR and Why it Kinda Works

at this point the movie I'm talking about is OLD so like...I'm putting my thoughts under the cut more for the potential rambling than for spoilers bc I doubt there are many people out there going "wait no don't tell me!!!! I gotta see it fresh-brained" but I found it on accident and I really enjoyed it so I'm gonna talk about it

read on and enjoy!

the biggest cheesy plot contrivance in The Slipper And The Rose came right at the very end. it's a Cinderella movie, as you might've guessed from the title, and so it comes with some classic Cinderella tropes that have to be overcome by the characters:

A) One of the driving forces for the whole story is that Prince Edward has to marry for alliance, and about fifteen (? I can't estimate time) minutes from the end of the movie his father has conspired to exile Cinderella and coerce him into marrying the daughter of a king who's threatening to invade. if this alliance falls apart, there's going to be war and the entire reason it was so important in the first place is that Euphrania is too small to defend itself, so it will be destroyed if Edward doesn't marry the Princess.

B) It's not emphasized much, beyond the ball only having foreign royalty and home nobility (to round out the numbers) in attendance, but it's in the constitution of Euphrania that the prince can't marry a commoner, which Cinderella is.

What to do, what to do, what to do?

Enter the Fairy Godmother ex Machina. She points out to the king that because he is, in fact, the king, he can unwrite the part of the constitution that prevents Edward from marrying Cinderella; she says something to him along the lines of "absolute monarchs should act absolutely, it's very becoming," and the king agrees to do it. One problem solved, one to go. But it turns out that the Princess and Edward's cousin have fallen in Love At First Sight, as officially confirmed by the Fairy Godmother, who knows a thing or two about it, and their marriage will preserve the alliance because you apparently can't attack your in-laws in this universe. Both problems solved at once within the span of like five minutes! But to me, it actually didn't feel super obnoxious or contrived, even though it was very much contrived, and I'm gonna tell you why.

Earlier in the movie, while Edward is resisting the idea of marrying for alliance instead of love, his best friend John is having a similar crisis but kind of in reverse: he's in love with a noble lady who loves him back, but he can't propose to her because he's a commoner. Edward's solution, once he thinks of it, is to knight John on the spot without a second thought, because as a prince he can just do that. Thus, the king amending the law to allow Edward and Cinderella to marry is made acceptable by means of precedent. John sets the tone and makes the solution for Edward feel a lot less out of nowhere by being the recipient of similar royal grace first.

The other plot device is admittedly more noticeable, although it still has one redeeming quality. The cousin appeared just often enough in the rest of the movie that it would have been strange and maybe even disappointing if he hadn't had any kind of resolution, but as a side character, it's not like he was ever going to get any significant emotional nuance or depth in a storyline of his own. Thus, while instantly falling in love with the Princess and solving the second problem keeping Edward and Cinderella apart, the cousin actually get the closest thing to a satisfying ending for him. In fact, in my personal taste, the contrived feeling is a worthwhile tradeoff for not having to be disappointed that his character never had a point at all.

So there you have it! There was definitely some magical solving-all-the-problems-in-the-last-ten-minutes going on here, but once I stopped to think about it, it kind of comes out in the wash. Besides, I wouldn't be happy with Edward and Cinderella not having a happy ending. I'll take the hit on reality for this one.

[can-of-slorgs]

The other researchers are also here! (magical edition!)

[fdragon-art]

Day 75 - Rayner (unnamed background character from Helluva Boss S2 Ep5)

Did not expect to find this little guy here.

[libraryleopard]

Adult standalone urban fantasy novel

In an alternate version of present-day Vancouver inhabited by the reincarnated Knights of the Round Table and other figures from myth and folklore, a college student from an Arthurian family and a valkyrie both become entangled in a murder investigation

Gay autistic main character with anxiety; bi ace main character; M/M + F/F romances; Chinese Canadian trans girl side character

[velvetydream]

꒰ :🥀 [ Till death do us part ] ”♡ᵎ꒱ˀˀ ↷ ⋯

Summary : What if Alastors dear little darling wife, his partner in crime, the person he thought he'd never see again, turns up with Mimzy on the day of the visit of the big boss of hell.

Pairing : Alastor x fem! Reader

Word count : 1899 Words

Genre : Fluff , Drama , Angst

Warnings ➵ Mentions of death, you're shorter than

Vaggie, possessive Alastor, swearing

Prequel -> > The radio star lost <

a/n : I love this trope ngl, tried to not make him to much out of character, hope it worked.. T T

Also I'm rather new to Hazbin Hotel, so I say sorry if anythings seems wrong or out of character! ><

┌───────────────────────── ·  ·  ·  · ♡

The whole hotel was a bit chaotic right now, Lucifer himself would be visiting in just a bit and Charlie wanted everything to be perfect. Colorful decorations were hanging everywhere, a banner was hung up for welcoming the king of hell, how does one even welcome the king of hell into their hotel? Charlie was probably the most stressed of all, but Vaggie did her best to calm her nervous wreck of a girlfriend down.

The moment Lucifer stepped into the hotel was meant to make everything go down, Alastor and his Ego had somehow always a snarky remark against Lucifer. Charlie tried her best to keep them apart, introducing her other friends, before she announced how she would be needing his help. And again the banter between the king of hell and the radio demon started all over again. As if throwing insults at each other before wasn't enough already, now they were pulling at Charlie left and right, like two babies fighting over a toy.

But all things come to an end, which Charlie was thankful for right now, as Mimzy, apparently a friend of Alastor, which was interesting to know he even had any, came barging in with a grand entrance. As the woman now settles down at the bar, talking with the others, Alastor and Charlie took Lucifer on a walk around, Husker disappearing for a second too, but soon joining them at the bar again, a scowl on his face, but something else, undescribable behind his eyes.

A bang was heard through the whole hotel as the entrance door was slammed open and heard could be an angry voice. "MIMZY! You little bitch!" A demon, a slight bit shorter than Vaggie probably, walked in. A scowl evident on the face, as her eyes scan over the place, before falling on the woman she was looking for. "How dare you leave me in the shit like that?! You've got it coming if those sharks don't kill you, I certainly will!" Ignoring the questioning looks of Angel and Husker, you stomp over to the blonde, ready to yank at her hair, when suddenly a bit of debris was thrown through the window and landed beside you, barely missing you by a hair. "The fuck?" The demon's head craned around, looking out the window and there they were, those fuckers Mimzy was in debt to.

You didn't really have time to react much, as three people stormed into the entrance hall, all you could catch was a glimpse of red before the person ran outside, screams of the sharks could be heard, at least those were finally taken care of.

The loan sharks were gone and fought off quickly by that person, his voice now directed to Mimzy, your own eyes on her yourself with a scowl. She and that red demon apparently knew each other quite well, as Mimzy was walking to the door, you finally really looked at the demon. He had short red and black hair, ears sat atop his head, despite scowling Mimzy he was smiling, though a sinister smile it seems. His attire was almost completely red too, a cane was clutched in his hands, as he watched Mimzy walk off, you could only make out a small part of his face. The man seemed so familiar as if you had known him for a long time.. Your heart was running a mile right now, it was getting hard to breathe, and then...

"Thank you Alastor, really.." The long-haired blonde spoke up.. That name, it couldn't be right? Mimzy would've told you, she knew him, she would've definitely told you.. right? You must be mistaken right now.. Your eyes were fixated on the man called Alastor, the voices and sounds around you were all a mush, drowned out as your brain was going all around. Now that you could see his face, he definitely had some resemblance to him.. to your late husband, who had died before you. You were his assistant, his partner in crime, when the news hit you that he was shot, it broke your heart, but still, you continued on alone, killing. That's probably what also got you to hell, well sooner than later you were figured out and soon arrived here in hell.

"Yo smiles, this girly is gawking at you for minutes now." Slowly voices were coming back to you, the white spider beside you talked, pointing his thumb at you, the red-haired now meeting your eyes, his ears straightening and standing alert like the ones of a deer caught in headlight. What irony if he was your Alastor, the irony of dooming him with deer-like features, after getting shot assumed for a deer while hiding one of the many bodies. That day you decided to let him go alone, oh if you just hadn't done that, maybe you both would be alive or you would've at least arrived together in hell.

Alastor was taking slow steps to you, the smile on his face looking strained, yet it never disappeared, his hand was reaching out for you but stopped. Eyes moving over your form, taking in everything. Resemblance to his wife evident, but.. how did he never notice you before? Had he ever met you, walked past, maybe even taken a second glance but dismissed this feeling he has right now.

Swiftly he grabs your wrist, dragging you behind him, ignoring the calls of his name of the other residents, his mind plagued by one only thought, more like one only person.. you.

Stumbling behind him, his grip rather firm on your wrist, yet it felt comforting as if you knew he would never hurt you. Not in your lifetime and also not now in your afterlife. Eyes watching the back of his head, you were wondering what expression his face harbors right now. Was he happy? Was he confused? Disappointed? Maybe he knew where you were all this time but didn't want to meet you. No, he wasn't like this. He may have been distant sometimes while alive, but in the end, he was always a darling to you. Taking care of you, just as he vowed on your wedding day. A distant memory, yet one of the most beautiful ones you have.

A door was opened and as you were pulled inside, the door closed. Steps echoed through the room, you noticed a forest on the other side of the room, but that didn't rather faze you, eyes on him again.. and him only. "Al-" You were interrupted by laughter, the man before you was hugging himself, his arms around him, yet you still weren't able to see his face. "D-Do you know.. How often have I thought about you?!" His voice was loud, a static sound like from a radio accompanied it. One of his hands was tearing at his hair now. "That bitch never told me... I'll make sure to kill her for that.. She kept you from me.." The laughter got even louder, as if the man before you was going insane.

This behavior was nothing new to you, he used to be like this, high on adrenalin when another murder was successful.. Or when he was close to being figured out by the police and detectives, yet he always slipped away right through their incapable fingers.

"I always wondered what happened to you, if you grew old with someone new.." If you were able to see his face right now, you would be able to see the sinister yet possessive smile on his face, his eyes darting around the room.

This all ended in a second when he felt a soft hand on his. He knew this hand, he also knew the person it belonged to like the front of his pocket. "I would never, I carried on alone in your memories, yet I was never as skilled as you darling, so sooner than later they connected all the dots to me." A low chuckle could be heard again, the static radio sound calmed down again too. The tall man slowly turned around now, his hand engulfing your own, his fingers softly running over your own, before he linked them together. How he had missed this feeling, despite having a distaste for people touching him, you were different. Your touch felt warm, like the summer sun kissing his skin, it felt comforting.

"I've missed you mon amour.." His voice was soft, probably the softest it had ever been since he had arrived in hell. His hand guides yours up to his lips, as he closes his eyes and presses a soft kiss to the back of your hand, a smile, now softer, on his lips. He was never one for kissing you on the lips, he definitely favored kissing your hand, like the gentleman he has always been. "I figured with how you were talking seconds ago my dear.." A soft smile was creeping up onto your lips too, mirroring his own one. Red eyes open again, your hand still pressed to his face, but now he was rather holding your hand to his cheek. "Oh how I wished I could've stayed with you my darling, we would've been so successful.." Giggling at his words, with him at your side, you probably would have been going for a long time. "But who says we can't be successful now?" A smirk etched its way onto your husband's face, oh how he loved your daring little mind, always thirsting for blood. With you by his side again now, he would definitely be able to get everything done that he wanted.

"Shall we go back? I want to meet your friends properly." Wanting to pull away your hand, he softly gives you a tug, your head landing on his chest now. Wide eyes look the the side now, as you weren't really able to move, his arms having snaked around you and his chin resting on your head. This was unusual much physical contact, but figured that you hadn't seen each other for multiple decades he yearned for your touch just a slight bit. Your arms lying around him, embracing the hug. "Let's just stay here a few minutes more, we got enough time to introduce you to everyone down there but for now.. let me have you for myself." Nodding softly, your head rests on his chest, as your eyes close and you simply enjoy the presence of your dearly beloved husband.

"What do you mean 'married to smiles'?!" Angel, as he was introduced to you, shouted from his place on the couch now, staring at you flabbergasted. "We've been married for quite a few years before his death." Smiling you answered his question. Alastor didn't like all the attention you were getting, but sooner than later he would have you all to himself again when you two go back to his cozy hotel room or the radio tower. "So you two fu-" Angel wasn't even able to finish his question before he shut himself up as he noticed the look on Alastors face. This time he would've been dead for sure if he finished that question.

Overall everyone invited you happily into their little hotel family, it was amazing. Charlie immediately took a liking to you and if you're being honest she quickly was viewed by you like a daughter.

[ruins-of-gods]

Something that I think Warhammer 40,000 storytellers miss sometimes is the sheer scale of their setting. I mean, don't get me wrong - I love the big, dramatic clashes, the characters you can buy in mini form and their convoluted, interwoven lore, the dramatic combats against unstoppable foes across a thousand ruined worlds. But that's the top of the setting, as it were - the most powerful beings in the universe, all fighting for supremacy. And at ground level, the level of the ordinary person, are so many other stories.

Did you know that a Lunar-class void cruiser has a crew of 95,000? Nearly a hundred thousand people, aboard a spaceship five kilometers long. A city, flying through outer space to wage war. Many of those people are proper trained soldiers, fresh from some academy or veterans of long, grueling campaigns, and many more are pressed into service, begrudgingly laying their lives at their Emperor's feet. But, unless the ship is currently actively involved in a really bloody campaign, most of those people were born aboard that ship. Most of their parents were born aboard it. And their grandparents. And their great-grandparents. Lineages stretching back centuries, so far that the original soldier who came aboard has been forgotten. A lot of those people probably know, on some level, that they're aboard a ship flying through space - but a lot of them probably don't, and I guarantee you almost none of them understand what that means. This ship is their world. To look out the window means madness so often that they avoid it - not that windows are readily available anyway. Most of them probably barely even understand that they're fighting. All they know is that when the readouts on their analog instruments display like so, when they hurry to obey the blared orders through the klaxon, the Emperor is pleased with them. They were born into that world. When they were children they did smaller tasks the adults couldn't. Their entire existence was winding metal corridors, laid out according to some archaic design, any logic that might dictate their layout long since degraded after millennia of ignorant maintenance, lit only by emergency lights that have long since become the default. They learned how to read an angle readout or how to relay an order perfectly the way another child might learn history or math. When they grew up, their service was flawless, born of pride and ignorance, and when they grew old and died, their legacy was remembered until it was forgotten. Many were killed in battle, but who cares? They gave their lives to the Emperor - a name whose meaning they don't understand, but whose importance they believe in wholeheartedly, all but synonymous with the commanding officers up above.

Sometimes, the klaxons sound a specific command, and every person on board who understands what it means feels a deep, awful dread as they run to their battle stations. They don't know what a warp jump is. They don't understand they're going from one place to another by the fastest way available. All they know is that, for a time, the ship dips into hell. The corridors go wrong. Things and people might not be where or what they were before. Daemons stalk the halls, and must be killed by any who can hold a lasgun. The overcrowded berths, the little nooks that families find for themselves - they are not private anymore. They are not safe. Things drift through the shift that do not care about the laws of physics, but that delight in killing and torturing human beings. Vast energies shake the ship and tear parts of it away - their home, their world, their existence, the biggest thing they can imagine, assaulted by something bigger. Is it the Emperor's punishment for failure? Is this what battle is? What's going on? They don't know, and no one who does can be bothered to tell them. The dread of those who have seen this before is even worse, because they don't know how long it will be. It might be just a few hours. It might be days, or weeks, or months, or years, or decades. It might be centuries, as the captain of the ship goes hunting daemons deep in the warp - the officers live that long, after all, and have little care for those who don't. There will be people born in hell, who spend their entire lives fighting from the day they can stand, and who die in hell, as old age and need catch up to them and they curl up in a corner to perish. To them, it isn't even hell. It's just the world. The world is death and pain and cruelty, an infinite metal box through which monsters stalk, and sometimes you must run to a battle station and do as you're ordered to do. And sometimes, as they reach forty or fifty or even a ripe old sixty, the ship drops out of the Warp, and, for the final years of their life, they are granted a life of relatively safe service better than anything they ever hoped to dream of.

Those are the kinds of stories I want to see more of. Super-soldiers fighting each other is cool, yes, but I want to see this universe explored. I want stories from the perspective of those that keep the Imperium going, or the aeldar, or the tyranids, or anyone, really. There's just so much potential in this setting. It deserves it.

[tossawary]

One of my personal nitpicks for historical fantasy is a lack of servants, staff, subordinates, and... idk... subjects? Like, their absence is not... a total dealbreaker for me, depending on the situations the characters are in and whether or not I can just assume that other people are there in the background... but so many of the protagonists in historical fantasy stuff are higher-ranking (very often royalty), and/or have busy jobs, and/or have enormous houses that would necessitate having at least part-time staff.

Like, girl, you should have a maid! WHERE is your chaperone?! WHO is driving this carriage?! Where are your footmen? Are you trying to imply that a WEALTHY DUCHESS is taking a CAB?! You know that you probably have tenants, right? Where is your steward?! Where is your lawyer? Your accountant?! (Like, yeah, you're not going to have your lawyer living in your house, but you HAVE one, right???)

Or, man, you're supposed to be a military commander and you don't even have a single secretary?! Where is your SQUIRE?! (In the spirit of historical fiction, I am jumping wildly across time periods with every sentence here.) Man, I know you aren't looking after your own boots. Where are your GUARDS?! Who set up this tent for you?! Who is looking after your horse?! Who is making and carrying the incredibly valuable maps people are recklessly stabbing daggers into?!

SOMEONE has to be scrubbing these floors and delivering the mail and cooking the meals and doing laundry, and they're probably all DIFFERENT people! My dentist has at least three different receptionists and we can't even get ONE for our court wizard here? A sorcerer's apprentice to take notes? Someone like Sherlock Holmes could get away with just having a housekeeper and taking taxis, sure, but your character is supposed to be a KING?! Why is he answering his own front door? He's going to get assassinated. His SERVANTS should have SERVANTS.

Like, yes, I understand that a lot of servants in certain places at certain times were supposed to make their labor invisible, but there have always been servants who still had to interact directly with the masters of the house?! Yeah, there are potentially really messy ethics here, class divisions are bullshit, but I don't think that completely ignoring the reality that humans have ALWAYS been doing work for other humans is better than just including some well-paid and well-treated servants and employees? Because a complete absence of them, especially where logically for the worldbuilding there MUST be servants (and probably exploited servants, or worse, for some particular worldbuilds to work), often makes me think that your main characters just don't care enough to notice the "lower class" people or know their names.

Also, even Frodo Baggins had a gardener and Samwise Gamgee might be the best damn character in the story?! Sam saved the world?! Servants are PEOPLE. Servants are often the funniest and most interesting characters, tbh, with the most to say about a society and its workings (yes, Discworld is a very good book series, highly recommend), and also the joke of some romantic scene being carefully orchestrated by a stage crew of servants frantically diving into bushes to stay out of sight never gets old to me. Teamwork makes the dream work!

I don't want to gatekeep historical fiction, especially not historical fantasy, because the worlds don't necessarily have to conform to our own and may have magic and characters are often in very unique circumstances, but... sometimes I pick up a story and it's like... "Author, please tell me that you know there is a difference between a butler and a valet?!"

[zincbotted]

homestuck is getting crazy

[cripplecharacters]

Where to Start Your Research When Writing a Disabled Character

[large text: Where to Start Your Research When Writing a Disabled Character]

So you have decided that you want to make a disabled character! Awesome. But what's next? What information should you decide on at the early phrase of making the character?

This post will only talk about the disability part of the character creation process. Obviously, a disabled character needs a personality, interests, and backstory as every other one. But by including their disability early in the process, you can actually get it to have a deeper effect on the character - disability shouldn't be their whole life, but it should impact it. That's what disabilities do.

If you don't know what disability you would want to give them in the first place;

[large text: If you don't know what disability you would want to give them in the first place;]

Start broad. Is it sensory, mobility related, cognitive, developmental, autoimmune, neurodegenerative; maybe multiple of these, or maybe something else completely? Pick one and see what disabilities it encompasses; see if anything works for your character. Or...

If you have a specific symptom or aid in mind, see what could cause them. Don't assume or guess; not every wheelchair user is vaguely paralyzed below the waist with no other symptoms, not everyone with extensive scarring got it via physical trauma. Or...

Consider which disabilities are common in real life. Cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, stroke, cataracts, diabetes, intellectual disability, neuropathy, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, thyroid disorders, autism, dwarfism, arthritis, cancers, brain damage, just to name a few.

Decide what specific type of condition they will have. If you're thinking about them having albinism, will it be ocular, oculocutaneous, or one of the rare syndrome-types? If you want to give them spinal muscular atrophy, which of the many possible onsets will they have? If they have Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, which one out of the 13 different types do they have? Is their amputation below, or above the knee (it's a major difference)? Not all conditions will have subtypes, but it's worth looking into to not be surprised later. This will help you with further research.

If you're really struggling with figuring out what exact disability would make sense for your character, you can send an ask. Just make sure that you have tried the above and put actual specifics in your ask to give us something to work with. You can also check out our "disabled character ideas" tag.

Here are some ideas for a character using crutches.

Here are some ideas for a character with a facial difference (obligatory link: what is a facial difference?).

If you already know what disability your character is going to have;

[large text: If you already know what disability your character is going to have;]

Start by reading about the onset and cause of the condition. It could be acquired, congenital, progressive, potentially multiple of these. They could be caused by an illness, trauma, or something else entirely. Is your character a congenital amputee, or is it acquired? If acquired - how recently? Has it been a week, or 10 years? What caused them to become disabled - did they have meningitis, or was it an accident? Again, check what your options are - there are going to be more diverse than you expect.

Read about the symptoms. Do not assume or guess what they are. You will almost definitely discover something new. Example: a lot of people making a character with albinism don't realize that it has other symptoms than just lack of melanin, like nystagmus, visual impairment, and photophobia. Decide what your character experiences, to what degree, how frequently, and what do they do (or don't do) to deal with it.

Don't give your character only the most "acceptable" symptoms of their disability and ignore everything else. Example: many writers will omit the topic of incontinence in their para- and tetraplegic characters, even though it's extremely common. Don't shy away from aspects of disability that aren't romanticized.

Don't just... make them abled "because magic". If they're Deaf, don't give them some ability that will make them into an essentially hearing person. Don't give your blind character some "cheat" so that they can see, give them a cane. Don't give an amputee prosthetics that work better than meat limbs. To have a disabled character you need to have a character that's actually disabled. There's no way around it.

Think about complications your character could experience within the story. If your character wears their prosthetic a lot, they might start to experience skin breakdown or pain. Someone who uses a wheelchair a lot has a risk of pressure sores. Glowing and Flickering Fantasy Item might cause problems for someone photophobic or photosensitive. What do they do when that happens, or how do they prevent that from happening?

Look out for comorbidities. It's rare for disabled people to only have one medical condition and nothing else. Disabilities like to show up in pairs. Or dozens.

If relevant, consider mobility aids, assistive devices, and disability aids. Wheelchairs, canes, rollators, braces, AAC, walkers, nasal cannulas, crutches, white canes, feeding tubes, braillers, ostomy bags, insulin pumps, service dogs, trach tubes, hearing aids, orthoses, splints... the list is basically endless, and there's a lot of everyday things that might count as a disability aid as well - even just a hat could be one for someone whose disability requires them to stay out of the sun. Make sure that it's actually based on symptoms, not just your assumptions - most blind people don't wear sunglasses, not all people with SCI use a wheelchair, upper limb prosthetics aren't nearly as useful as you think. Decide which ones your character could have, how often they would use them, and if they switch between different aids.

Basically all of the above aids will have subtypes or variants. There is a lot of options. Does your character use an active manual wheelchair, a powerchair, or a generic hospital wheelchair? Are they using high-, or low-tech AAC? What would be available to them? Does it change over the course of their story, or their life in general?

If relevant, think about what treatment your character might receive. Do they need medication? Physical therapy? Occupational therapy? Orientation and mobility training? Speech therapy? Do they have access to it, and why or why not?

What is your character's support system? Do they have a carer; if yes, then what do they help your character with and what kind of relationship do they have? Is your character happy about it or not at all?

How did their life change after becoming disabled? If your character goes from being an extreme athlete to suddenly being a full-time wheelchair user, it will have an effect - are they going to stop doing sports at all, are they going to just do extreme wheelchair sports now, or are they going to try out wheelchair table tennis instead? Do they know and respect their new limitations? Did they have to get a different job or had to make their house accessible? Do they have support in this transition, or are they on their own - do they wish they had that support?

What about *other* characters? Your character isn't going to be the only disabled person in existence. Do they know other disabled people? Do they have a community? If your character manages their disability with something that's only available to them, what about all the other people with the same disability?

What is the society that your character lives in like? Is the architecture accessible? How do they treat disabled people? Are abled characters knowledgeable about disabilities? How many people speak the local sign language(s)? Are accessible bathrooms common, or does your character have to go home every few hours? Is there access to prosthetists and ocularists, or what do they do when their prosthetic leg or eye requires the routine check-up?

Know the tropes. If a burn survivor character is an evil mask-wearer, if a powerchair user is a constantly rude and ungrateful to everyone villain, if an amputee is a genius mechanic who fixes their own prosthetics, you have A Trope. Not all tropes are made equal; some are actively harmful to real people, while others are just annoying or boring by the nature of having been done to death. During the character creation process, research what tropes might apply and just try to trace your logic. Does your blind character see the future because it's a common superpower in their world, or are you doing the ancient "Blind Seer" trope?

Remember, that not all of the above questions will come up in your writing, but to know which ones won't you need to know the answers to them first. Even if you don't decide to explicitly name your character's condition, you will be aware of what they might function like. You will be able to add more depth to your character if you decide that they have T6 spina bifida, rather than if you made them into an ambiguous wheelchair user with ambiguous symptoms and ambiguous needs. Embrace research as part of your process and your characters will be better representation, sure, but they will also make more sense and seem more like actual people; same with the world that they are a part of.

This post exists to help you establish the basics of your character's disability so that you can do research on your own and answer some of the most common ("what are symptoms of x?") questions by yourself. If you have these things already established, it will also be easier for us to answer any possible questions you might have - e.g. "what would a character with complete high-level paraplegia do in a world where the modern kind of wheelchair has not been invented yet?" is more concise than just "how do I write a character with paralysis?" - I think it's more helpful for askers as well; a vague answer won't be of much help.

I hope that this post is helpful,

mod Sasza

[dunmeshistash]

Ryoko Kui Q&A (part of the Autograph event in Shanghai, China)

Here's the full Q&A copied from the post by Minute_Profession_34 on reddit

Original on weibo

About Ryoko Kui

Q: You have created a lot of interesting short manga in the past, do you have any favorite short manga by other artists?

A: A classic choice though, I think it's the collection of short stories by Fujiko F. Fujio. Other impressive works include "Hanshin: Half-God" by Moto Hagio, "Hanashippanashi " by Daisuke Igarashi, "茄子" by 黑田硫黄, "Skygrazer" by Ishiguro Masakazu, and "Tabi (The Journey of Life)" by Irie Aki. However, I haven't really read many short manga compilations.

Q: Do you prefer to create short manga or longer ones?

A: Long manga.

Q: Do you have a game that you highly recommend to fans?

A: Although not a game title, Steam Deck is the best thing I have bought in the last few years.

Q: What kind of music genre do you like?

A: I'm really not a music person and don't listen to music at all. Sometimes I listen to something like Tropical House.

About the creation & worldview of Dungeon Meshi

Q: Is the main storyline of the comics conceived at the beginning? Is the final ending adjusted during the serialization process?

A: I decided everything from the beginning. It may sound overly pretentious to say that, but I am the type of person who cannot move forward with each and every story unless I have decided on the main flow of the story. Of course, there are parts that I changed during the process because I thought, "I was going to do it this way, but it might not be natural," and there are parts that didn't work out the way I wanted them to. However, I think the story turned out to be roughly what I had in mind at the beginning.

Q: Will people outside of the dungeon incorporate the use of magic into their daily lives?

A: It would depend on the region. There are many sorcerers in elven and gnome cultures, but I don't think you will find many in dwarf and most short-lived cultures.

Q: What secrets of ancient magic are the elves hiding? Why would one be punished for doing anything related to ancient magic?

A: It is about the existence of Demon. They restricted that information because they didn't know what effect it would have on the world if the existence of Ddemon became known.

Q: How do adventurers know the time? Is there any dungeon having a different time flow from the normal world?

A: Some people bring things like clocks, but most only use their biological clock. There are also Dungeons where the flow of time is different from that on the ground.

Q: In the world of Dungeon Meshi, how do you deal with natural disasters, what would Laios or Marcille or Canaries do when there's a drought or a storm?

A: I don’t think it is so different from us.

About characters in Dungeon Meshi

Q: It’s about to give the new puppy a name again. Can Laos still beat Falin?

A: 7 out of 10, Laios will win. Or it may be decided by rock-paper-scissors or a raffle.

Q: Who will inherit the Golden Land after the passaway of Laios? The children and grandchildren of Yaad? Or the descendants of Laios? Or will there be a new Devourer?

A: Maybe the descendants of the Laios will inherit it, or maybe it will be passed on to someone with no blood ties at all. Or perhaps the monarchy will be abolished.

Q: Will Laios continue to eat monsters in the castle? And who will cook, maybe someone better than Senshi?

A: Many people in Merini are good cooks, but Senshi's cooking must be special to Laios. He may invite Senshi to cook from time to time.

Q: Where will Falin prefer to travel to?

A: She may prefer places where she can see landscapes and cultures she has never seen before.

Q: Would Marcille befriend a half-elf, such as Fionil? Since half-elves shouldn't think too much about longevity amongst themselves. Or would they not consider race as a factor to make friends but by fate?

A: Because mixed species in this world grow at very different rates and have very different abilities from person to person, there is often not much of a sense of sameness when you first meet them. They may or may not become friends as a result of interacting with each other as we would with any other human being.

Q: Is there any special meaning of Marcille and her mother's ribbons on the neck? And what about Cithis’s ribbon?

A: In elven culture, people with magic tattoos on their necks sometimes wear decorations covering their necks to hide the tattoos (mainly military personnel) This has spread to the general population, and many people wear decorations on their necks even if they do not have neck tattoos. Marcille and her mother's ribbons are just for fashion. While Cithis may have something special.

Q: Why wouldn’t Cithis wear a gorget? Or she’s not afraid of Dungeon Rabbits?

A: Maybe it’s suffocating or simply not liking it? The head-cutting Dungeon Rabbit is a fearsome monster, but it is not the first thing for the rear guard to be on the lookout for.

Q: How will Izutsumi and Falin get along with each other?

A: They may work together if necessary, but I doubt that Izutsumi will actively show interest in Falin (as she does with everyone).

Q: Itsuzumi has a beast soul mixed with a small amount of human soul, and does she shapeshift between a beast-man and a beast form like Lycion?

A: It can be done, but once transformed, she may no longer want to return to her human form.

*This Q&A seems to be strange

Q: What would Thistle do if he attended the former dungeon masters meetings?

A: Perhaps he would feel angry at the incompetence of other masters (their dependence on the devil).

Q: How did Milsiril accept Helki to stay by her side? After all, she hated elves and was bullied by her Canary teammates.

A: In the past, Helki was abandoned by his comrades for various reasons, and she could not leave him alone.

Q: Has Kabru ever had a real relationship with a girl? If so, what race or personality type of the girl was she?

A: I don’t think he cares about race, etc...

Q: What kind of soba will Mithrun make?

A: I hope he can make delicious soba.

Q: I would like to know the name of Mithrun’s brother or his brother’s crush!

A: His brother's name is Obrin (オブリン). I haven't thought of a particular name for his brother’s crush, so I'll name her appropriately now. Hmmm. Sultha (スルスハ).

Q: Since Mithrun used to assist Canary from behind, I wonder what kind of weapons he was good at using? Or was he good at using no weapons? (this is new info from the Korean Q&A)

A: He used a magic staff similar to that used by Pattadol. He was issued with the same one by the team. However, he no longer carried it because he lost it easily.