#the places you have lived are haunted by the people who have left etc etc

[withickmire]

“It is forbidden,” he would say. “And Prandine already fears that you are a bad influence on me, Jarred. He has told my father so. If you break the Rule you will be sent away. And I do not want that.”

Jarred did not want it, either. He knew he would miss Endon sorely. And where would he go if he had to leave the palace? It was the only home he had ever known.

Hmm. Thinking about Jarred not loving life in the palace, but loving Endon enough to stay anyway. Thinking about Jarred later finding a home that he did love, with someone he loved, but giving it up to Endon. Thinking about how Doom, at the end of the series, after Endon and Anna have both been dead for years, leaves and is implied to only ever visit afterward, and does not live at either of those places again.

[dicipher]

F it we ball here have my character studies of the homicipher boys bc my ass has been knee deep in this game for making the mod and i need to place my notes somewhere anyway. Call me homicipher matpat...

SPOILERS. Obviously..

Crawling

Goal: stay with Adami

Abilities: intelligence, knowledge of the layout of the other world, knowledge of how to survive encounters with aggressive entities, physical strength [strong upper body, able to kill Stitch with no weapons],speed [can go as fast as a person running while crawling]

Crawling works as Adami's primary tutorial trough the otherworld. It's not clear what exactly caused his infatuation with her since it's near instant after seeing her for the first time. He has an understanding of many locations and people, as well as how the world works and what Adami wants to ask of him. He's playful, defaulting to a smile as his neutral state, and he's amidst the few characters to produce sound in-game. Usually giggles or cries. He's also acting as the male lead, and most of his endings and interactions can be read as romantic, being one of the only characters to say he likes Adami. (Other being Scarletella)

Extra: Crawling is able to stand but he refers to being bad at using his legs. When he does stand, he walks slowly and sluggishly as compared to his ability to nearly sprint while on all fours. Confirming this.

Extra: Yatsunagi said in a tweet that if you choose to exit the otherworld whitout Crawling, he will remain waiting there forever waiting for Adami to return., which is reminescent of the story of Hachiko the dog, who waited at the station for his owner to return forever.

Extra: in some concept art, Crawling is shown to be a similar height to Silvair when standing up

Scarletella

Goal: obtain Adami's name

Abilities: projection, reality warping of some sort, illusions, telepathy, teleportation, creating and controlling sub spaces or larger illusions [blood dimension, ghost apartments], free roam between worlds [his projected body only]

Scarletella works as the main antagonist of the game. He is the reason Adami happened across the otherworld, scaring her towards an entrance. He was an urban legend that haunted the ghost apartments, a location that only appears on rainy days, where Adami was presumedly dumping bodies or leading people there to kill them. This causes Scarlet to grow an infatuation with Adami, as he would feed on the corpses she left there, and for him to mistakenly assume she was courting him by feeding him corpses. Scarletella mostly affects Adami through afflicting her mind, trying to break her into giving him her name.

Extra: he's possibly inspired by a Kasa-obake, a type of yokai that's thought to be a tsukumogami, an object that if left abandonned long enough, will gain life. The Kasa-Obake is a living red umbrella, though those umbrellas are usually traditional umbrellas and take the shape of an umbrella with a single leg and an eye.

Extra: Yatsunagi said she wanted to draw a woman with a red umbrella but ended up making a guy after all.

Extra: Yatsunagi said that Scarletella knows the realworld language despite being born a monster, and that he possibly learns other languages trough reading minds and absorbing that knowledge. She also says that knowing a language and communicating are different, and that Scarletella only thinks for himself.

Extra: Scarletella is inspired by the idea of japanese urban legends (like Kuchisake-onna, Hanako-san, Hasshaku-sama, The red room, Gozu, Aka manto, etc).

Extra: Gap reffers to the ghost appartments as 'his world'. This is also taking place in what seems to be a dream sequence or an alternate location since Adami will either wake back with crawling or in another otherworld location, and not in the real world. So it's much more likely gap reffers strictly to the alternate plane of the Ghost appartments and the blood water domain as Scarlet's world and not the overall otherworld, since it continues to exist independently from Scarlet after he is defeated, and most characters don't seem to be aware of his existence at all.

Extra: In the videogame Ghostwire tokyo you can encounter a quest that will lead you to meet a variation of the Kuchisake-Onna that is completely red and in a red trenchcoat which is reminescent of Scarletella's design. There are also locations of infinite shallow water simmilar to the location you fight him in.

Silvair

Goal: research and study the unknown (primarily how realworld beings are affected by the otherworld)

Abilities: intelligence, medical knowledge on other species [unlike nurse], knowledge of explosives, physical strength [lifts a heavy weapon easily], regeneration

Silvair works as Adami's main source of information in the otherworld. His knowledge of everything including language as well as how to effectively teach things results in him being one of the better sources for finding words early game. While he's shown as curteous and polite, he also shows no remorse in brutalizing others for his own morbid curiosity or research. He treats others in reaction to what helps him moreso than out of kindness.

Extra: when prompted wether he likes Adami, Silvair responds with 'not understand like', this could point to the idea that Silvair doesn't feel or at least understand the feeling of liking/loving something/someone. His lack of empathy or compassion regarding brutalizing Chopped and Adami seems to reinforce this idea, as he's confused as to why Adami is angry at him breaking her body. Simmilar in how some humans cannot or struggle to feel empathy or love and will see relationships moreso as transactions, though that can be typically learned and worked on.

Extra: The cut hand seems to be another entity that Silvair brutalized, while it's first met with Chopped, it does not leave Silvair's home and is the one to lead you there, it also is not Chopped hand's since he notes it to be a different entity.

Extra: when questionned regarding his knowledge, Silvair responds that someone taught him. This could point to Silvair having been on at least good terms with a human wiht medical knowledge in the past. Or it could point to him being a human pre-game and having done medical studies in his past.

Chopped

Goal: to be in a safe environment (with safe people or in a safe place)

Abilities: none [he uh.. he can roll around if he tries real hard maybe?]

Chopped mainly works as one of Adami's friends, unlike other characters he stands out as needing to be protected instead of being a protector. His incredible vulnerability means he's often picked on in some way. He's usually shown with Silvair, though he also often seems to get lost on his own somehow.

Extra: Chopped enjoys being clean and put together, he seems to know the hairdresser on a basis simmilar to Silvair.

Extra: Chopped recovers not by eating human flesh but by sleeping (supported by his dialogue when leaving Silvair's apartment and how often he sleeps). Chopped dislikes being handled against his will, and his vulnerability at being essentially completely disabled makes him easy prey for other residents to pick on.

Extra: Chopped is implied to have been a human like Adami pre-main story. Silvair's treatment of us is reminescent of him and Chopped is amongst the most expressive and human-like of the cast.

Hood

Goal: to help Adami be safe

Abilities: strength [carries a heavy weapon], proficiency in executing ennemies, intelligence

Hood works as Adami's first proper introduction to the game and it's mechanics. He also works as some sort of passive protector to humans who enter the otherworld. Though he isn't interested in keeping them safe long term and would rather be on his own most of the time.

Extra: Hood allegedly has no head, but his body is.. squishy.. ish? He's seen handling weapons with a hand, so it's unclear what of his body exists and what does not.

Gap

Goal: to obtain various human body parts trough trade or request

Abilities: teleportation, manifesting trough any space so long as it is dark enough and is being observed [schrodinger's gap], free roam between worlds, intelligence, 4th wall breaking

Gap is the first real threat encountered by Adami. He also works as the main source of lore and progression of the main storyline. He also works to actively help Adami break free from Scarletella. Though this doesn't seem to be out of kindness but out of boredom, as if he has nothing better to do.

Extra: Gap says he has no reason for wanting body parts. Gap says he has no heart, or most things for that matter. He's only shown having hands/arms and a head/face.

Extra: though gap says he has no particular reason for wanting body parts, he only seems interested in human parts, and his specie presumedly eats flesh. Gap is never explicitly implied to eat the body parts he's given, though, and the idea that he lacks a heart could mean he lacks a digestive tract, like Chopped, and recovers energy in a different way, like him.

Extra: Gap is much more aggressive in chap 1/beta than he is in the rest of the game. This could be due to a light change in the writing of his character later down the line, as he's much more simplistic and actively hunts Adami trough gaps, while full release gap appears ever so often in holes Adami looks trough to poke fun, show off his collection or ask permission to take body parts.

Hugeface

Goal: to capture smaller living beings to use them as dolls/pets

Abilities: strength, size, ability to exist 'outside' the bounds of the otherworld [ in the void above/outside rooms]

Hugeface is a looming threat encountered troughout the otherworld. He treats any character smaller than him as some sort of pet, handling them clumsily and roughly like an infant would a new pet hamster. He also is implied to collect ones he finds cute as pets, placing them in little fake environments.

Extra: Hugeface is implied to exist in a space simmilar to what would be 'out of bounds' in a videogame, the space only seems to appear in rooms with missing walls, ceilings, or windows in some way. Such as the door in chap 1, the giant ravine in Machete's story, and in locations without ceilings.

Machete

Goal: to do whatever he wants with no one in his way

Abilities: strength, speed, fighting proficiency

Machete is an extremely aggressive entity, he will fight Adami unprovoked, though he seems much more interested in the actual fight than in killing or eating her. He thinks her and any who fail at defeating him as weaklings.

Extra: Machete's aggression might stem from him misinterpreting someone others do as someone trying to pick a fight. He's also overconfident in winning every fight, so he isn't afraid to fight, unlike Stitch who does not fight even when attacked directly.

Extra: Machete's skin and overall affliction could be similar to Adami's [red blotches on skin], this could also be dry and fresh blood stains though..

Telephone

Goal: to help Adami to avoid death

The telephone is an entity that will call any available phone to transfer information to Adami. This is usually advice on how to avoid upcoming monsters (scarletella, Hugeface) or navigate areas (maze), making it one of the few beings to actively be good, having no known of ulterior motive.

Extra: Telephone seems to be able to speak trough any sort of telephone, unclear where the line is drawn. (Would two cans and a string work??)

Stitch

Goal: to entertain himself

Abilities: intelligence (quick to learn how new things work, knowledgeable of a variety of things and locations including things from the real world, one of the few to recognize us as human)

Stitch acts as a mild antagonist due to his habit of forcefully showing Adami things he finds interesting or dragging her to places to amuse himself. When he has nothing to do, he mopes around depressingly until he comes across something new. He's upbeat and playful, not bad intentioned but he doesn't consider others much.

Extra: Even when threatened or attacked (Adami or Crawling), Stitch doesn't fight back.

Wheelchair

Goal: to heal from his injuries

Wheelchair is encountered twice, he's a rude, aggressive and demanding entity that will demand Adami fixes him. If Adami outright refuses to help him, he will kill her.

Extra: it's unclear what exactly he suffers from. He points to his eye being missing as well as his mouth being split. His skin appears to be corroding in some way, and he seems completely unable to use his legs to move. His affliction is not like Chopped or Adami's, and Silvair either has not met him or did not find him interesting or cooperative enough to care for him. It could be that his disease is unique in some way, or that it's incurable. It could also be that it's resulted from a fight, since his mouth was cut open, presumedly by someone else.

Masque

Goal: to entertain others

Abilities: teleportation [of himself and others/other objects]

Masque is a peaceful entity, he will appear and offer to show Adami a magic trick, either way leads to him leaving.

Extra: Masque is not aggressive even if you refuse to watch his magic tricks.

Human

Goal: to escape the otherworld

Human is a human met near the end of the game. He's scared of Adami, presumably because she's nearly fully a monster at that point, or because her own urban legend is circulating now. Or maybe it's the blood and crowbar. Either way he doesn't fully trust her, and he's nervous of her. He's killed off screen shortly after meeting Adami.

Extra: in the original Jpn version of the game, he's an english speaker, in the eng ver this is reversed to him speaking jpn while adami speaks english.

Extra: the only way of falling to the otherworld that we are shown is the elevator, or falling into it [backrooms style]. Ot could be that the Human fell out from another, english speaking country, or it could be that he was a foreigner in Japan when he fell.

Extra: Human speaks some otherworld, pointing to the idea that he was taught by some benevolent characters like Silvair or Hood pre-meeting Adami.

Adami Adashino

Goal: escape the other world/ break Scarletella's curse

Abilities: strenght, changing size (temporary), regeneration

Adami is a human japanese woman, while she appears as a more shy and ditsy amnesiac girl, it's revealed she's a murderer who had been dumping bodies at the ghost appartments, attracting Scarletella's attention

Extra: one of the symbols in Adami's name is the same used for 'monster', foreshadowing.

Extra: in Blissful love life end, Adami is shown to live alone, presumably without parents or family. She also does not mention missing her family or worrying about her friends and family looking for her. So it's unlikely she has any.

Extra: Adami Adashino is the 'default'/'canon' mc name, as it is the name already in the field you need to fill out when you remember your name.

Extra: Adami goes trough various appearance changes trough out the story:

She starts in a japanese sailor school uniform (hinting to the fact she was most likely a high school student) and had longer hair

This is changed to a white dress (given by bride),

Then her iconic white raincoat (given by bride).

Her hair is cut shorter and it turns white/grey by the end of the story. (Cut by gap, turns white from exposure to the other world)

Her face gets covered in bandages by nurse, her eyes presumably turn red at some point that is never specifically mentionned

General stuff

Extra: lots of characters are seen using their left hands (Silvair is often drawing holding his syringe+weapon in his left hand, but occasionally his right) (Crawling points to things with his left hand) (Scarlet holds his umbrella in his left hand) (Hood holds his weapon in his left hand as well as his right). This could be a continuity error in how they are drawn, or it could be that they're ambidextrous (it's more common for lefties to become ambidextrous). This is not the case for Gap though who is mostly shown using his right hand.

Extra: some characters are not able to recognize Adami as human (Chopped) , while others immediately do (Hood, Silvair).

Extra: Yatsunagi said the otherworld language comes from birth to monsters (not humans turned to monster)

If you have any corrections or thoughts feel free to comment them so i can fix anything accordingly, reblogs are harder to answer to

[leahkentwriter]

Backstories for girls and women in stories that *don't* involve sexual assault.

I beta read a lot, and am involved in writing communities of various kinds, and I briefly taught English way back in the day, and I consume storytelling media in general - and one of my biggest pet peeves is sexual assault backstories. While I think this is improving, it's still annoying to me that a lot of writers (of all genders, but particularly men) fall back on a sexual assault backstory whenever they need to make a girl or woman in a story complicated or haunted or fucked up in some way.

Unless your story is dealing with the topic of sexual assault in some way, please don't use it as a way to give a character depth or angst.

Here are some prompts, just to get you started with some ideas.

Why would a woman be trying to escape her past? Why would she be seeking a fresh start?

She hated her small town; the people there didn't understand her and she never felt like she fit in - she's queer, she has a weird birthmark, she's got unique interests, she has magical powers, etc.

She's a criminal - she robbed banks or stole cars and she wanted a fresh start

She was an addict and hurt people, and she wants a fresh start now that she's sober

Her parent is a criminal or an addict and she's trying to outrun the stigma of being related to them

She didn't get along with a stepparent and skipped town as soon as she turned 18

She had big dreams of being something else, and left to pursue them

Her childhood home was haunted, but no one believed her

She got married young then divorced, and wants to start over somewhere that no one knows her

Heartbreak of any variety - she's leaving a place that reminds her too much of someone she lost or couldn't have

She wants better; maybe more money, or a career, or simply a higher quality of life

Some other violent tragedy occurred - a school shooting, an explosion at the plant, police brutality, her best friend was killed, etc.

Her hometown no longer exists (climate change, the main factory shut down, it was overrun by rabid squirrels, etc.)

What would make a woman distrustful of others?

Heartbreak; being lied to, cheated on, left for her best friend, etc.

A big betrayal - her former best friend told everyone a secret about her, someone weaponized her trauma or her past or a major flaw she's sensitive about, etc.

She witnessed a traumatizing event as a child

Her mother was a grifter and used her as part of her scams

One parent cheated on the other and broke up the family

Her older brother isn't dead after all, he was disowned for being gay and now she's questioning everything her parents ever told her

She has problems with her memory, and is never quite sure what the truth is

She's bad at reading people and has been taken advantage of

She finds out a dark secret about someone she loves and is having trouble processing it

She gradually comes to see that someone she idealized as a child is not at all what they seem

Someone she thought was a good, kind, and genuine person is arrested for a terrible crime

Spiritual abuse - the worldview she was taught was right turns out to be exploitative, represses women, etc., so she leaves

What would cause a woman to have mental health issues?

Any form of abuse - doesn't have to be sexual

Her parents had really high expectations that she couldn't live up to

It simply runs in the family

Survivor's guilt - she survived something that someone else did not

She was bullied and no one protected her

Her parents were very controlling and destroyed her confidence

Her sibling was the golden child and she was the scapegoat

She's had issues since childhood but her parents refused to admit there was anything wrong with her, so she didn't get help

Being a part of any oppressed group of people who experience discrimination - she's a person of color, she's an immigrant, she's got a disability, she's queer, etc.

Any major trauma, either witnessed or being a part of - weather events and natural disasters, infrastructure collapse, crashes and accidents, fires, a shooting or a murder, etc.

You're a writer - get creative. There are lots of ways to traumatize and haunt a girl/woman character without having to resort to a sexual assault backstory. You can even make her the problem! Maybe she's the one who did something bad and is trying to outrun the guilt.

Let's also let go of the idea that it's meeting and falling in love with a man that saves her from her trauma. Let her have a healing arc that doesn't involve a man - a love story can still be there, but it can't be the magic healing balm that fixes her. Make her have to save herself. Give her autonomy to both make her own mistakes, and improve her own situation. Don't let your man go into savior mode - let him get frustrated with her. Let her push him away without him clinging to her in a desperate bid to show her what unconditional love is. Don't let him be a martyr to her trauma.

Women are complicated for many reasons. We have trauma for many reasons. We have mental health issues for many reasons. We may want to escape our past for many reasons. We're angsty and weird for many reasons.

Please pick literally anything other than sexual assault.

[princessmaybank]

hi princess, I hope your break is going well <33 this is like super specific but could you do a jj x Routledge!reader with super blonde frizzy hair nd jj doesn’t know she dyes it brown until he walks in on her with a lions mane getting dye ready

No pressure at all for u to get to this, i love ur work so so much and I hope you’re going okay princess <333 thank you

thank you for the request! wasn't sure if you wanted smut in there but that's how all of my Fics end up so I'm assuming you do! I'm sorry this turned so dark if you wanted it fluffier. I have recently started Haunting Adeline 😂🤭🩷

Hair Dye

Pairings: JJ x Routledge!Reader

Warnings: Surprise Kiss, Fingering, Rough!Dark!JJ, Spanking, Panty Ripping, Hair Pulling, Choking, P in V, Creampie, Caught, etc.

Summary: Read the ask^

Author's Note: Wrote this so fast, I hope you like it, sorry it's so late!

"I just don't see the point, dad and I have brown hair, you got blonde hair, you should feel special!" John B says as I walk down the aisle searching for the color I want. "That's exactly the point JB. I feel left out. It's odd, plus people have asked us way too many times if we're dating, even though we have the same face." JB rolled his eyes in defeat as I found the shade of brown I was searching so hard for. I was so excited that I could barely wait until we got home.

"Hey JJ is coming over soon!" I hear JB yell from the kitchen as he puts away some groceries. "I expect nothing less. Your boyfriend basically lives here!" I laugh as I go into the bathroom and read the instructions. Once I think I finally have it down and the parts mixed together, my brother calls me into the kitchen. "I'm gonna start cooking dinner. Is there any way I am going to talk you out of this? Blonde hair takes a long time to come back." He says and almost on cue JJ stumbles in the front door. "And yet yours keeps coming back." I say throwing my thumb over my shoulder. He chuckled at my stupid joke and ruffled my hair, causing it to frizz up even more than it already had.

"Hey there, hot stuff." JJ said with a wink. I roll my eyes before walking to the bathroom. "He was talking to you!" I shout teasing JB about his best friend. "I definitely wasn't but okay. What's with her?" I hear him ask my brother. I put the gloves on and get a towel ready under my neck. "She's going to dye her hair. I kept trying to talk her out of it. Fuck, I forgot something at the store. I'll be back, try not to kill each other." I heard the screen door slam as John B ran out.

I heard loud footsteps coming from the hallway until they reached me. "You're not gonna try to talk me out of it too are you?" I say setting down the bottle of dye. "Not gonna try shit" I breathe out a sigh of relief. "You're not doing it." He demanded. "Who do you think you are?" I ask with a full attitude. "Y/N. You don't need to dye your hair." I shook my head. "I want to!" I whined. JJ went to grab the bottle of hair dye and so did I. Eventually he tore it from me and held it above his head. I wasn't able to reach it and he laughed because he thought he had won. I looked him in the eyes and took his face in my hands, planting a big kiss on him. when his lips moved back and forth with mine, I knew he'd drop his arm any second. And he did. I took the chance and stole my bottle back running to the guest bedroom and trying to make it to that bathroom. I wasn't aware JJ was right behind me until I was pinned against the bathroom door.

"Why must you be a little brat all the time?" He asked. JJ's eyes are dark now. This wasn't a game anymore. He removed the bottle from my hand, I let him take it because I was so stunned by this sudden change. "You're. Not. Dying. It." He said with a low menacing voice. "Jay-" I tried to plead, I don't know why, but he was scaring me. He was also kind of arousing me. I never had these feelings for my brother's best friend, maybe it was just how dark he felt in this moment.

He stared into my eyes before placing his lips to mine once again. It felt different this time, I felt a zing, coursing through my veins. His fingertips were now bruising my hips as he lightly humped me through our clothes. This felt unreal. I peak my eyes open for a moment. Yep. it was still JJ. He was still grabbing me with an intense force and grinding his rock hard cock into me.

My eyes shut again and I just went with it. His right hand moved to unbutton my shorts. When he found his way in, he didn't tease, he only plummeted two fingers into my soaked core. "He won't be gone long, if there's something you want from me..tell me now." He demanded again. My eyes stared into his begging to be fucked but I knew it wouldn't be that easy. "F-fuck me.." I whispered through my breath, unable to think as his fingers moved back and forth. "Speak up." His harsh tone scared me slightly but I said my phrase again, louder so he could hear.

His fingers escaped my opening, causing a whine to spill from my lips. He rolled his eyes before pulling my shorts down. I kicked them to the side before I was roughly turned around and slammed up against the door. A gasp flew out of me unexpectedly followed by another when I felt him slap my ass. I let out loud moans as he continued, taking turns with my cheeks. When they were blood red, he squeezed them in his hands. I hissed from the sensitivity he caused.

He toyed with my panties for a few seconds before he spoke. "You don't need these." He chuckled lightly before I heard a ripping sound. Shock was written all over my face as he tore the rest of the thin fabric off of my body. His fingers found my slick folds and teased them for a moment. I was about to chime in before hearing the sound of a zipper and shorts dropping to the ground. I didn't have enough time to process the noise before I felt his cock slide inside me. He let out a dark groan and quickened his pace, not letting me adjust to his size. He was going so fast and so hard. I was a moaning mess. My head started to fall but he didn't let it get too far. His hand pulled me back by my hair while his other wrapped around my throat. His fingertips squeezed tighter, not giving me much room to work air in or out. "You like that? Like my hand wrapped around your throat while you take my cock?" He asked and all I could do was give a small nod before he pulled my hair again, so now my ear was against his lips. "What would John B say if he walked in on us right now? Think he'd be pissed to see his sister with my cock jammed in her tight pussy?" He teased.

Those words were enough to cause an eruption in me. My orgasm hit me like a freight train and slid down his cock and onto his thighs. His hand left my throat and fell to my hips as I pulled in as much air as possible. He fucked me hard a few more times before his cum leaked inside of me.

The sound of the screen door opening and closing apparently wasn't enough to get JJ's dick out of me. My throat was tired, I couldn't mutter a word and JJ knew that. He rode out his high which made my eyes roll back. It was enough for me to squeeze my thighs together and cum again.

"JJ when I said anything, this is not what I meant!" JB shouted. We never even heard him walk in, but we heard the bedroom door slam. We cooled down and I went into the bathroom to inspect my neck. There were bruises where JJ had a hold of me. "What did he mean by that?" I asked. JJ was a lot brighter now. "Oh he messaged me before you two got home and told me to make you not dye your hair. He said to do anything I have to." He chuckled. "Wasn't planning this.." He said pointing to my neck. "But I'm glad it happened." He shrugged and kissed my forehead. A smile spread onto my face before I laid my head on his chest. He held me in his arms and I promised to never dye my hair.

"Good, I like pullin' on this blonde lion's mane." He giggled before I swatted at his chest.

[dallasgallant]

American remains- Ghost Au lore post

I do have a eventual actual fic coming for this au so it won’t be as extensively written out here like for my vampire au, it helps that it’s also more canon aligned so there’s not too much extra world building involved.

World-

The world will be that of the canon world just with a tad more belief in ghosts/ they exist. I’d think it’d be easy to believe in legends and ghost when driving alone at night in a plains state anyway.

With that in mind it wouldn’t be uncommon to see a cowboys final ride or a soldiers last stand play out again and again. The people of Tulsa know it’s not just a building settling or the air conditioner.

It’s easy to believe if you open yourself to it, but you never expect your encounter to be with someone you knew. Ponyboy didn’t.

Ghosts-

All types of ghosts exist in this world, a lot of them being the more grounded ‘real life’ orbs and cold spots and simpler manifestations like that. There was moments that replay but aren’t a direct ghost more shadows of the past, buildings absorb negative energy and tragedy etc.

I want to focus more on direct apparitions as that’s what Johnny and Dally would be classified as, a bit of the standard fair when it comes to ghosts… sudden or violent death, stuck in this plane etc.

But with a twist, I really want this au to explore the cycles of grief and how it’s a non linear thing- and in this case affects the living and the dead. In the end no one moves on entirely…

It’s all about what makes a ghost or what makes a person stay, the cycles of grief and trauma, the weight people carry of a place and time or someone. The power of memory!

A huge inspiration for this au, beyond cowboy and civil war ghosts was the line towards the end of the book where Pony is thinking about boys who crumble under street lamps and jump at their own shadow and even himself— about how it’s too late for some but not others.

And it reminds me of American Remains by the Highwaymen and its chorus:

We are heroes of the homeland, American remains. We live in many faces and answer many names. We will not be forgotten, we won't be left behind. Our memories live on in mortal minds. And poets pens, we'll ride again.

How broader issues connect people in their struggle and how people get left behind over and over but are never forgotten- they come back. They’re simultaneously forgotten and immortalized - so many alike but also individual. Pony already wrote about them…

The thought that memory and pain bind. People die but ideas don’t.

It’s late and I really hope it’s understandable how this connects to ghosts and grief.

The au isn’t all deep subjects sometimes… it’s just neat spooky stuff.

Ghosts have a lot more agency when it comes to ‘moving on’ than traditional stories, it’s that they trap themselves. Or forget. At the end of the day ghosts are human- their cycles are too.

Unfinished business is less of a task and more of something they have to figure out- find acceptance/peace with.

Ghost lore-

A lot of haunting involves utilizing energy and radio frequencies to interact with the rest of the world. In the modern (1960s) age- radio and power lines are abundant. Ghosts prefer to be visible— with visibility comes personhood. It’s not constant, depending on energy and their connection it could be hard to keep it up.

Ghosts appear as they died, in most cases. Johnny tends to… flicker. Sometimes it’s a hospital gown, sometimes it’s jeans and a shirt but the burns remain. When haunting and not just wandering he’d prefer to be clothed.

[Included picture reference for Ponyboy as he’s the only of the living gang to undergo a more ‘drastic’ change. The others would just look a little older.]

Dally may constantly bleed but his blood will not stain anything, it disappears a few minutes after he does. What will stain is a residue left behind from ghost interacting with objects (fun non angsty lore)

To communicate with the living they’d have to manipulate radio, to those they speak with they’ll be a warm crackle to their voice as they speak through it … the voice always sounds distant too despite being right in front of you. (Sort of like making themselves a spirit box)

Johnny and Dally are both Semi-cognizant at the start of the au, both hyper aware of death and the passage of time but for them no time has passed. It is always then. Stuck in a place and time mentally and physically.

Out there on the sides of roads, out there in the dark waiting to be noticed and spoken to. Their main sort of “territory” is the roads and fields leading to windrixville, only sometimes making it fully back to Tulsa.

There’s been several times pony thought he saw them but it isn’t until they show up in the backseat of his car one late night drive it’s revealed. He’s driven by enough times, the ghosts get tired of waiting. Their first interaction is brief as pony nearly swerves off the road.

The two of them want desperately to reconnect with the gang, I’ve recently heard this but they “haunt for company.”

Don’t quite know where it’ll go yet but I’d love to hear ideas or see where others take it :)

Living-

Since this au is a tad more tied to canon these are also my general future headcanons, so if you see them in other works…

-

Ponyboy: 17. more of a troublemaker than he was as a young teen. He’s not doing anything too wild but will jack a car or two, gotten his grades back on track but is unsure where he wants to go with his life. Currently working at a grocery store to help out.

Soda: 19. started a career as a trucker, is around less than usual but still communicates with everyone via radio (Steve had begged for one to be put in at the DX) and phone calls when he gets the chance

Darry: 23. still working the same two jobs but is aiming towards a bookkeeping focus (pony is trying to push him that way) can understand Pony a little better, is more worried about Soda on the road at the moment. Better adjusted as he managed to keep them all together and Pony is set to graduate down the line.

Steve: 20. Graduated high school! Is still at the DX working on cars, he worked towards a managerial position and hopes to own a mechanic shop of his own someday or work up to a dealership. Had a radio installed at the station so he and pony can talk with Soda more often than waiting for phone calls, he gets along better with Pony.

Two-bit: 21. Ultimately got his GED! Like Pony he’s not sure what he is going to do with his life, is looking for a job (which Steve won’t let him live down)

[roselyn-writing]

Name: Arnunludo ‘Arnold’ Lopez.

Age: 1200. (In Earth) 500 (In Virginia).

Date of birth: 10 December 609 (In Virginian time & year)

Current location: New York.

Favourite colours: Gray, Green, Black, Blue and Red.

Favourite food: fries and burgers, Pasta, Mulukhiyah soup, fortune cookies.

Likes to: To feed and care for animals, to help people, to talk to people (include giving advice), to meet new people and so on, to sing. He has a green electric guitar named ‘spike’ 💚🧡🎸

Body-shape: semi-muscular.

Height: 6’5 (196cm).

Hair colour / type: smooth / soft short Peach-Blonde hair.

Eyes: Gray almond-shaped eyes.

Notable features: handsome face, a mole under his right lower lip.

Aura colour: Gold, so is his magic’s colour.

Inspired by: Arnold Jackson from Totally Spies (Name only) and unnamed background character, also a blonde handsome model with tanned skin, from totally spices, John Constantine from DC.

Pets: Doesn’t have one.

Powers:

Virginian magic. (Includes telekinesis, fire blasts, energy blasts, forcefield generation and high intuition, etc)

Superhuman stamina.

Superhuman strength.

Great strategist.

Great healing powers.

Semi-Immortality.

Ownership of enchanted weapons.

Can understand animals but he doesn’t talk to them.

“Be the reason there are goodness left in this world” __Arnold Lopez.

The lore

Coming from the prestigious family ‘Al-Khaghdasaryan’ famous for their curse breaking and cleansing from demonic possession — and also, for purifying haunted places and banishing evil spirits.

Arnold knew little of his Virginian heritage, Let alone his prestigious family; since his aunt: Lydia Fallon, had taken care of him since he was a little boy, no older than 10.

The year was 1731 on Earth; when he was brought by his aunt and they lived peacefully in New York.

The city was quiet at this time; with a few people walking then and there, enjoying the clean air and the beautiful, bright sun. The sky, is a perfect shade of pale blue littered with a few thick white clouds, as if they are white cotton candy on a blue plate.

Arnold walked through the door, weary and starving after a long day of school in the quiet city of New York. The mere scent of cooked food filled his nostrils, and he couldn't help but quicken his pace towards the kitchen. He cordially greeted his aunt, who was already dishing out the meal onto plates.

His aunt looked up, a warm smile on her face as she noticed his hungry expression. "Hungry, are you, my boy?" she affectionately asked, her eyes sparkling with affection.

Arnold smiled and nodded, his stomach rumbling in response to the delicious aroma wafting through the air. He took a seat at the table and breathed in deeply, savouring the smell of the freshly cooked meal. "Absolutely starving," he replied, feeling his mouth water at the sight of the food. "It smells amazing," His aunt chuckled, her expression warm and affectionate as she served up the plates.

Arnold's aunt beamed at his compliment, her eyes filled with pride as she watched him take a bite of the food she had prepared. The meal was a sumptuous feast, with succulent meat and fresh vegetables beautifully arranged on the plates. As Arnold ate, his aunt, Lydia had struck up a conversation with him, engaging in lighthearted banter and chatter.

His aunt swallowed a spoonful of the mouth-watering meal, her voice firm. "Eat, and get dressed."

Arnold looked up from his plate, eyes meeting hers. "Are we going to cleanse another troubled house?" he muttered, his tone tinged with a mixture of resignation and curiosity.

She nodded. "Aye," she replied, a hint of determination in her eyes. "That's what we'll be doing."

Arnold nodded wordlessly, returning to his plate and taking another spoonful of the delicious food his aunt had prepared.

Arnold continued to eat, his thoughts revolving around the upcoming task of purifying another haunted house. His aunt broke the silence, her voice matter-of-fact.

"We'll need to do some preparation before we head out," she informed him. "Grab your gear and make sure it's all in order."

Arnold nodded once more, he’d prepared his gear and other equipment after he’d finished his plate.

A while later, Arnold is getting ready. His hands methodically gather his belongings – his protective talismans, various tools, and other necessities. He felt a twinge of anxiety, the thought of facing another haunting was always a bit unnerving.

As soon as he readied himself, His aunt entered the room. She was dressed in a brown 1700s fashion style top, with long sleeves and ruffled around the hem, a long black and blue skirt with buttons and ruffles too — lastly, brown flats and a sunhat with white feathers and armed with enchanted daggers.

His aunt; is a beautiful Virginian tall woman with smooth olive-tone skin, almond-shaped large green eyes as if they were glowing emeralds, and wavy yet thick ebony hair that hung past her backside in soft curls. Lastly, a mole on her upper; giving her the iconic seductress air. She looks beautiful and mesmerising in her regal Virginian beauty. It always puzzled Arnold why his aunt was still single and unmarried while being this beautiful, he pondered that she’d face catcalls, and men flirting with her on a daily basis.

As Arnold finished gathering his supplies, his aunt stood up, a resolute look in her eyes. "It's time to go," she said, her voice firm but gentle.

With a deep breath, Arnold followed her out the door, their journey to the haunted house beginning in earnest. The air was thick with anticipation and a hint of trepidation as they made their way to their destination, the knowledge that they were about to confront yet another malevolent spirit weighing heavily on both of them.

Arnold and his aunt strolled to the garage. After his aunt took the carriage out of the garage, they didn’t need horses because she’d use her Virginian magic to move it. Arnold pondered how his aunt managed to convince the locals they were blessed with ‘the help of angels’ she’d say. To him, It is just a straight-up lie to cover their usage of magic, and it worked.

Arnold and Lydia are now in the carriage, She used her magic to move it around the quiet streets of New York. Some people were flabbergasted that she could move it without horses, but hey! She is an exorcist. A good follow of Jesus.

Arnold let out a weary sigh, crossing his arms to try to disguise his discomfort at the attention they were receiving. He tried to brush it off but it was extremely difficult for him not to be unbothered by it. The people were eyeing them as if they were aliens or highly intellectual beings.

Ever the cautious man, Arnold sighed again. Stealing a glance at his aunt as she expertly drove the black large carriage. “Couldn’t we at least have a horse?” He asked, his tone is tinged with slight annoyance.

She heartily chuckled at that. “Why need a horse when we have magic,” she quipped, Her lovely voice thick with an Irish accent.

He shrugged, his expression somewhat irritated and annoyed. “We should try to blend in, and right now, you aren’t doing a great job.” He grumbled, his gaze fixated on her for a moment before shifting toward the passing streets and signs.

The carriage continued to move through the streets, the people watching them with a mixture of curiosity and awe. Arnold continued to feel uncomfortable under their staring eyes, his arms still crossed defensively.

He turned his attention back to his aunt, who maintained her calm demeanour despite the stares. "How much longer until we get there?" he asked, his voice slightly frustrated.

She glanced at him, a reassuring smile playing on her lips. "Not long now," she reassured him. "We're almost there."

The Peach-Blonde-haired man shifted in his seat, his annoyance growing. "These people are staring at us like we're some kind of spectacle," he muttered, his voice dripping with irritation.

The Virginian-Irish emerald-eyed woman's smile widened at his comment, her eyes flashing with amusement. His aunt grinned before she teased him. "What, never had people admire you before, lad?" she teased her tone light and teasing.

Arnold rolled his eyes, trying to downplay his discomfort. "Yeah, yeah, very funny," he dryly retorted.

She suppressed a chuckle; enjoying his grumpy attitude. "Lighten up, Arnold," she wholeheartedly stated, her voice still dripping with amusement. "You’re acting as if it’s the first time someone looks at you."

Arnold breathed deeply although his irritation was still evident. "Well, it’s not exactly comfortable, you know," he grumbled, his arms still crossing stubbornly.

They finally stopped at some deserted field area, there was a lonely house and a farm on the hill, and to his luck; it just had begun raining on them. A sense of unease settled in Arnold’s heart as he took in the desolate landscape before him. The empty, haunting field seemed to exude a vicious, malevolent aura, its emptiness chilling to the very core. His intuition screamed at him, a primal instinct telling him to grab the steering wheel and flee, but his commitment to the task at hand kept him rooted in his seat.

His aunt had taken the equipment they needed from the carriage, and then they both exited it. They couldn’t wait for a soul to guide them to which place they were looking for. Arnold begrudgingly followed his aunt as she tucked a protection talisman on her neck like some jewellery.

The silence that enveloped the area was deafening, the absence of any sound adding to the eeriness of the place. The only sound that could be heard was the wind softly whispering, its low murmur echoing the desolation of the surroundings. Arnold glanced around, the eerie silence of the field making the fine hairs on his arms and the back of his neck stand on end.

Arnold reluctantly followed his aunt’s lead as they ventured deeper into the ominous, cursed field. The silence was deafening, the absence of any noise only serving to increase his sense of dread. He couldn’t shake the feeling of impending doom that gnawed at his gut, a feeling that only seemed to grow stronger with each step they took, and the heavy rain did nothing to ease his concern.

His eyes darted around, trying to find any source of comfort or reassurance, but all he could see was the endless stretch of emptiness — a soundless hallowed abyss that only seemed to grow and stretch at every step they took.

The air was thick with an ominous presence as if the very land itself was holding its breath in anticipation. Arnold's eyes darted around the deserted landscape, his senses on high alert.

"This place feels off," he muttered, his voice low and wary. He turned to his aunt, his expression wary. "Are you sure we're in the right place?"

Her expression remained steady, her eyes fixed on the field before them. "Yes, this is the place," she replied, her tone calm and confident. "I've done some scouting; the malevolent spirit is somewhere around here."

Arnold’s unease only increased at her words. "Somewhere around here," he echoed, his voice laced with scepticism. "That really narrows it down, doesn’t it?"

She shot him a stern look. "Trust me, I know what I’m doing," she assured him, her tone firm. "I wouldn’t have brought us here if I wasn’t sure."

Arnold grumbled under his breath, his discomfort still present. "Yeah, well, forgive me for not feeling reassured," he muttered, his voice tinged with frustration

To their utter surprise, a woman approached them; she looked in her prime, probably in her 20s or maybe 30s. She is fair-skinned, has gorgeous hazelnut orbs, and has a long black curtain of smooth hair.

Arnold immediately studied the woman; as the perceptive and observant man he is; he was quite taken back — not by her beauty. But this woman seemed off. First of all: she didn’t look drenched in the heavy rain, and secondly she wore a different clothing than their era, probably from an older era than theirs.

The young exorcist had two explanations for this: either she was too poor and couldn’t afford new clothes or she was their target, an evil, malicious spirit who was trying to lure them to their doom. Arnold needed to alert his aunt without the woman noticing them, so he did the known sign by them, he tapped his two forefingers together as they made contact with each other, and they let out a similar sound to a ‘finger snap’.

Arnold's thoughts raced as he discreetly signalled to his aunt, his fingertips clicking together in a subtle warning. His eyes flicked towards the woman, the possible danger making him concerned.

His aunt caught his message in an instant, her keen intuition picking up on the silent warning, However. She schooled her expression into a cold, unreadable mask. Thankfully, the woman was blissfully unaware of their knowledge.

Her calm exterior belied the seriousness of the situation, the realization of impending danger evident in the way her eyes darkened. They were in the presence of peril, and their every move would need to be deliberate and vigilant.

The woman, seemingly oblivious to their silent communication, continued talking as if everything was normal. Arnold and his aunt maintained their composure, their expressions never wavering. The only indication of their inner tension was the slight tensing of their muscles and the heightened awareness in their eyes.

Their thoughts raced, contemplating their next move and the danger that lurked nearby. They continued to engage in polite conversation, all the while being keenly alert to every sound and movement around them.

Then, In a flash; the unthinkable happened. The beautiful woman’s expression turned into an ugly, hallowed ghoulish visage. She tried to strangle Lydia but thankfully, Arnold was quick to act. He twirled his high-silvermere knife and he plunged it deep into the ghost’s neck, she cried as she let out an otherworldly guttural scream that echoed through the field, Then. Just as suddenly as it had appeared, the spirit turned and fled, its slender figure darting away with unnatural speed, moving on all fours like a creature straight from a horror movie. The field was eerily silent once again, the only sounds being their heavy breathing and the rustle of the wind through the desolate grass.

Lydia stood there, her breathing ragged from the sudden attack. Arnold was at her side, the knife still in hand. They were both shaken by what had just happened, the adrenaline slowly subsiding as they took in their surroundings.

His aunt broke the silence after a moment, her voice steady but the hint of fear still present. “Well, that was unexpected.”

Arnold nodded silently. The adrenaline was still coursing through his veins, his heart thumping loudly in his chest. "Yeah, you could say that again," he muttered, trying to regain his composure.

His aunt's eyes scanned the area, her eyes alert for any signs of the wicked spirit returning. "We need to be more careful now,” she murmured, her voice edged with caution. "It's not just harmless spirits we're dealing with here."

Arnold and his aunt; each have their backs. And his aunt was right, The wicked spirit did return to finish them again. This time, she looks more grotesque and ugly, as if her skin had been fried by the burning sun of the Sahara Desert. She lets out a sepulchral scream that resonates through the place like some hellish screams from the underworld, and she is here for blood.

Arnold, as if guided by an unseen hand, quickly and cautiously extended his hand toward the wicked spirit’s heart — unexpectedly, his hand glowed with a golden, pure holy light – as if it the holy light descended from heaven itself. And as he did, He unleashed powerful blasts of light that drove the wicked spirit away.

His aunt, her mouth was agape; extremely surprised at Arnold’s magic — she knew he had it in him but she thought his magic was doormat because he didn’t learn his Virginian heritage enough to conjure such power and pure magic.

Yet, She’d never seen him wield such magic so forcefully, so potentially. He’d always kept his abilities secret to ‘blend in’ as he’d always say.

But now, in this very moment, He had summoned a powerful that left her speechless.

His aunt regarded him with a mixture of awe and pride, her eyes narrowing in contemplative thought. She'd always known he had the innate talent, the lineage steeped in Virginian magic coursing through his veins, yet he'd never fully tapped into its potential. It was as if he'd been holding back his true power, content to keep a low profile of himself instead of embracing the magic that was his heritage.

This, however, was a game-changer. This unbridled display of the light magic was like nothing she'd ever witnessed before.

The evil spirit witnessed Arnold’s powers, yet she was too stubborn to admit defeat or even scurry away. Somehow, she managed to multiply herself; definitely using her ghoulish powers to do that.

Somehow, in this very moment; something deep inside Arnold clicked. He heard a lot of voices inside his mind, telling him to ‘believe’ because he refused to use his Virginian magic. He wanted to blend in with Earthlings.

Believe… Arnold...

Believe! Son of Virginia!

Believe thyself!

Believe!

The Peach-Blond haired man closed his eyes; as if he was quickly contemplating. He had only a few moments to act before the wicked spirit attack.

“I believe!” Arnold declared.

As soon as he said those words, a blinding ray of light came and materialised into golden chains; effortlessly encircling the wicked spirit’s wrists and ankles, she let out a howl of pain at the burning of those divine chains; thrashing and flailing as she tried to break herself free but to no avail.

Meanwhile, Lydia was completely dumbfounded by the scene, Somehow, Arnold awakened his potential as an exorcist.

Then, Arnold’s grey orbs shone with a blinding golden hue. As he chanted the sacred exorcist incantations:

‘Fade and decay.

End this fate.

Shatter these earthly bounds.

let the soul be free.

Heal what had been harmed.

Cleansed what had been stained.

And let the spirit soar free.’

The air cracked with intensity the echoing murmur of ancient, sacred words, and Arnold’s new found holy powers; The unholy presence writhed and flailed even more, its guttural cries intensifying as the divine incantation began to take effect. Within mere moments, the evil spirit was consumed, her form dissolving into nothingness as the purifying glow enveloped her.

Silence descended upon the field once more, the only sound that of their panting breaths and the faint rustling of the wind through the grass.

As the echoes of the chant faded away, a sense of stillness settled over the area. There was no trace of the evil spirit, and the once menacing field seemed oddly tranquil now.

Lydia stood there, her eyes still wide with disbelief, her heart still pounding in her chest. She tried to find words but none came. She shifted her gaze toward Arnold, who now stood there, the once-fiery golden hue in his eyes now fading back to their natural grey shade.

She finally found herself as she glanced at him; her expression warm and grateful. Her voice was slightly shaky. "That was… incredible," she breathed, her voice still hoarse from shock.

Arnold turned to look at her, a hint of surprise in his eyes as if he was surprised himself by what he had done. This time, He grinned at her not downplaying the sheer awe-inspiring nature of his actions. "Just part of the job," he said, his voice still slightly gruff.

Lydia's expression softened, her gaze moving over him, still trying to wrap her mind around the events that had just unfolded. His nonchalant attitude only added to her amazement, the way he had just casually unleashed such extraordinary magic as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"Just part of the job," she repeated, her tone tinged with disbelief. "Is that all you have to say?"

Arnold felt his stomach growling, he was starving. “Let’s go, I’m going to make pasta.”

Lydia gave him an ornery smirk. “Ah, Me too, Let’s go champ.”

With that, Together they climbed into the darkened carriage, the heavy doors closing quietly behind them. His aunt's magic stirred, and the vehicle lurched into motion, guided by an invisible force. His aunt used her magic to move the carriage and steer the wheel away from the place.

Arnold looked at the place for one last time, and he saw it it different than when they arrived this time. It is peaceful, filled with tranquillity as if it had been purified from the wicked spirit — actually, It is purified from the wicked spirit.

Then wordlessly, they departed from the place; not looking behind.

[mysticstarlightduck]

Seven Deadly Sins

Thanks for the tag, @the-golden-comet (here)!

I'll go with the cast of Supernova Initiative and What Lurks In The Hollow for this one!

Rules: which of your OCs would you assign to which of the seven deadly sins and why?

GREED

Jasper Astrophell (Supernova Initiative)

Jasper's the son of an intergalactic billionaire arms dealer, and is someone who not only was raised with the world on a silver platter but who was very much sheltered from their galaxy's true realities. He loved going to parties, buying the finest flying cars and spaceships, going on dates, etc - standard "rich spoiled playboy" stuff. But he also takes after his father's sense of business and is a brilliant inventor, being also incredibly intelligent when it comes to making brand deals and is pretty much a space opera version of the Wolf of Wall Street whenever he gets involved in the company's dealings.

Savvanah Hahn (What Lurks In The Hollow)

Savvy embodies the sin of "greed" in a non-monetary sense - she's not really interested in money and honestly hates people who waste it. She embodies greed because she is a very intense person who wants to have control over the spheres of her life she can control - because she feels that, if she loses that control, bad things could happen to her and those she loves. She is also very serious when it comes to "her stuff" be it her turf, her & her boyfriend's favorite arcade machine, or her seat at a concert, and is not at all afraid to get into brawls to "keep her territory" in a very troublemaker teen way.

WRATH

Vesper Foxx (Supernova Initiative)

Vesper's life ever since the day she lost everything as a child, was dictated by rage. Rage at the destruction of her homeland by foreigner invaders, rage at having to hopelessly watch her brother be tortured to death, rage at escaping and being too young to have her revenge just yet at the time. She left her younger sister and cousin behind to pursue revenge because no matter how much she tried and tried and tried to move on, that primal anger born of trauma would never leave her. She would never have peace unless her brother's killers suffered the same fate as he had. No matter how many lives she reaped on her wrathful path to achieve it. Full alien girl John Wick.

Liam Steele (What Lurks In The Hollow)

A troubled youth, Liam has a reputation for being an incredibly defiant, almost antisocial, teenager who gets into fights for the most trivial things. He's seen as a bully by kids who do not know him well and as a nuisance by any authority figures around him. But that's not what he really is - he's not a bully, he only gets into fights with people who provoke him or who try to hurt others (a.k.a. he beats up the ACTUAL bullies), and just has a short patience because no one other than Savvy ever tried to understand him, so he never bothered letting down his guard. Since he thought being vulnerable would only get him hurt, he embraced the "tough teen who listens to rock and spends the day at the arcade or skulking around town" facade to be left in peace.

GLUTTONY

Jack Tithus (Supernova Initiative)

Jack dictates his life in the pursuit of having more than what he had when he and his siblings were just street urchins on their crime-ridden birth moon. Even though so much time has passed and he's now a rich and renowned intergalactic thief, the wound of all the shame and toil they went through still haunts him. He wants all the fun, food, clothes, and adventures because deep down, he wants to prove to himself that he's more than what everyone once called a "filthy street rat." He's obsessive about being free to do whatever he wants and his incessant pursuit for more, and more, and MORE, is what drove him to continue the path of a thief in the first place - he's hungry for the opportunities he never had in the past, restless to never stop indulging himself in freedom and always keep having more and more adventures, because he fears that if he does stop, he'll prove his enemies right.

Christine Nespor (What Lurks In The Hollow)

A former wanderer who found solace in the solitude of the small town of Vinethorn Grove, Christine is a creative soul who, stifled by the toxic expectations of her shitty family, left her life behind to indulge her soul in who she really wants to be. She is hungry for adventure, for the freedom to express herself and feed her soul in beautiful sights, to see nature, see unique places, and generally indulge herself in being alive. To her, life is a wonderful buffet, and those who know how to make the most of it, are the happiest! She knows how to find the silver lining in any situation, even if others cannot.

LUST:

Kye Thalax (Supernova Initiative)

I considered putting him in the "Wrath" category, but then I realized that Kye - despite wanting bloody revenge for the death of his father and the pain they suffered in the past - is far too calculated and cold to be considered wrathful. He is bitter, but his emotions rarely get the better of him. Kye is known to take a deceitful and cunning approach to taking down his enemies, sometimes even resorting to seduction to destroy them. He uses those people's vices against them - if someone he wants to kill drinks too much, he poisons their drink; if they gamble, he poisons their cards; if they just want to have sex, he seduces them and poisons them in the safety of their chambers; if the person is obsessed with killing, he poisons the hilt of their weapons so the one who dies is the killer and not the would-be-victims.

Mrs. Draycott (What Lurks In The Hollow)

OKAY SO THE ONLY ANTAGONIST ON THIS LIST LET'S GO lmao.. Mrs. Draycott is a middle-aged woman, somewhere in her very late forties or early fifties, who is considered a very "upstanding citizen" in the small town of Vinethorn Grove. She's an active member of the local community and often uses her reputation to get what she wants. Mrs. Draycott (her name is Adelaide btw) is the embodiment of a Karen and takes a creepy liking to Dylan Millihan after he and his sister Amy move into town. A "lonely" widow drawn to his youthful (23M) looks and who all too soon becomes very stalkerish towards him- often paying them unwanted visits saying she "just wanted to drop by", or stopping by Dylan's jobs, or just generally following them around town, hoping he "becomes smitten with her too". At first, the siblings just tried to politely ignore her, but as she became more insistent and annoying, Dylan eventually snaps at her at a community event and tells her to leave him alone. Feeling spurned, Mrs. Draycott then showed her full aggressive personality and became a true Karen, trying to make the siblings' lives a living hell and turning the already wary townsfolk against them.

PRIDE:

Artemis Zreeth (Supernova Initiative)

Artemis is a very prideful and cocky young man. One of his fatal flaws is that he is often too stubborn to realize he is in the wrong and wants to do things his own way even if they eventually go wrong. A lot of why he clashes with Kye when they have to work together is that Artemis refused to consider Kye genuinely wanted to make amends and redeem their friendship.

Dylan Millihan (What Lurks In The Hollow)

Dylan has a strong personality and generally pushes people away rather than be friendly. He's also someone who isn't very approachable and generally wants to do his own thing, live his life and hates people who try to pry into his personal business. He is very bitter about the fact he had to give up his budding medical career - he was halfway through medical college when their toxic grandmother died leaving behind only MASSIVE GAMBLING DEBTS and regret - and some percentage of that resentment comes from the fact he hates the fact he was never able to fulfill his potential and got stuck as someone who in his point of view was only "half-good" - his self-esteem is kind of shitty, if you can't tell lol, and he hides it behind a layer of a harsh pride.

ENVY

Aleks Keldora (Supernova Initiative)

Not necessarily envy but Aleks suffers from severe social anxiety and thinks he's "never going to be good enough" so he's "better off pretending to be somebody" else like a social chameleon.

Erin Niemand (What Lurks In The Hollow)

Erin's a loner who holds some considerable resentment towards kids who are able to be popular - which she isn't able to do - and deep down also feels "lesser" than the kids who have full families, since her mother abandoned the family - which made Erin develop some serious trust and self-esteem issues.

SLOTH

Meridian Shardd (Supernova Initiative)

Not on purpose - but they can be overwhelmed by being given too many tasks and may panic and not do anything instead, or will be halfway through a task and get distracted by something else and ditch the task to do that something else instead.

Indigo "Indie" Lauriel (What Lurks In The Hollow)

She's a laidback hipster girl who rarely takes things seriously and has some serious procrastinating issues, and can be generally pretty lazy.

Tagging (gently): @sleepy-night-child, @kaylinalexanderbooks, @smol-feralgremlin, @oh-no-another-idea, @littleladymab,

@winterandwords, @eccaiia, @sarahlizziewrites, @illarian-rambling

@agirlandherquill, @anoelleart, @ray-writes-n-shit

@writernopal, @anyablackwood, @unstablewifiaccess, @forthesanityofstorytellers

@i-can-even-burn-salad, @cakeinthevoid @thecomfywriter

@thepeculiarbird, @clairelsonao3, @memento-morri-writes, @starlit-hopes-and-dreams @amaiguri

@differentnighttale, @leahnardo-da-veggie

@cherrychiplip

[analogwriting]

Star-Crossed

Chapter 1: Cridhe

Corazon x gn!reader word count: 3.1k a/n: figured i'd pump out two chapters for y'all. a prologue as always and the first chapter. i definitely decided to just google the word 'heart' in different languages and use that for chapter titles bc idk what the fuck else to do next

After that, you didn’t see either of them again. The two left the hospital and you kept your end of your deal. You erased all traces of them; it was as if they had never been there to begin with. No one questioned you either, you were too valuable to lose anyway. Besides, they knew you had a reason - it wasn’t like this was something you did on a regular basis. You just rang in a bunch of favors and hoped for the best.

Following the events, you finally had the courage to tell your father that you didn’t want to be a part of…any of it anymore. You were going neutral. Things were really put into perspective for you and really solidified just what you wanted. You wanted to be able to help people, not hurt people. You also wanted to be able to help others get out of situations like that as well.

Your father respected your decision. He knew you were strong enough to hold your own and make your own decisions, he also knew he wouldn’t be able to stop you if he tried, so he let you go. He also had an inkling as you started withdrawing way before you had made your final decision. He didn’t include you in any family decisions or really tell you what he was planning with anything. The only thing the two of you talked about was what normal people talked about. Sure, he might have talked about people in the family, but he didn’t talk about work. It was more just funny stories, or if people were getting married, etc. You would talk about school and work.

Because of your father’s understanding, you were able to fully focus on your career. This rundown hospital was going to become your ultimate project. Your lifelong dream. You were going to help people in more ways than just health. You wanted to be able to help other people like yourself, getting them out of that kind of lifestyle. That was your ultimate dream.

You stayed in that hospital, moving up quickly. Before long, you were practically running the place yourself. You graduated college early, getting your doctorate at a young age. Your grades were off the charts and it seemed things came naturally to you. You had an immaculate memory, helping you memorize just about anything and everything, which also aided in your work. 

Over the years, you also built up the hospital’s reputation. You turned the entire place upside down. It was now state-of-the-art. It was the top hospital in the region. You had dragged it from its own grave and given it new life. It was now constantly bustling, people didn’t shy away from coming to get help. You made sure to have some of the brightest minds, but also made sure to have the best bedside manner. 

There was also another, underground side of the hospital you developed. You had achieved your dream, for the most part. While you are neutral and had gotten out of the mafia lifestyle for the most part, everyone was always haunted by their pasts. You were a central hub for them coming and seeking medical attention. Your hospital was good at keeping things under wraps and doing things under the table. You also aided any and all families. You didn’t care who was associated with whom. Your goal was to help anyone who needed it. 

You also helped those who no longer wanted to be in that lifestyle. They would come to you, you would give them new identities, and send them off into the metaphorical night to live a new life. A few families tried to take over the hospital over the years, all of them quickly learning that you wouldn’t go down without a fight. No one had been able to take you down. Between your own abilities and the small handful of trusted people you had to help defend the hospital, no one was taking you over.

Those same people helped you with the underground side of things. They were some of the brightest minds so they ran that part of the hospital.They were your most trusted staff and they tended to stay on the underground side of things, coming in when you needed them. There was always at least one or two staff in the wing, others coming in when you needed. It obviously wasn’t as busy as the hospital itself, so you didn’t need to have it bustling at all times.

“You’re spacing again, doc.” You were ripped from your thoughts as a voice rang through. You looked over seeing one of your most trusted colleagues, Marco. He’s been with you since almost the very beginning, you trusted him with everything. He was also one of the few people who actually knew your history. He helped you run both sides of the hospital. You honestly wouldn’t be able to do all of this without him.

“Thinking about that night again?” There was a smug grin on his face and you wanted to punch him. You groaned, nodding. “I don’t know why. I’ve been thinking about that time a lot as of late.” You folded your arms, shaking your head as you stepped away from the window you had been gazing out of.

Over the years, you hardly thought of Rosinante and the child he had been with. You were focused on your goals, on helping people. The last few weeks, he started appearing in your dreams and you started thinking of that time a lot once more.

“Maybe you’re going to see them again,” he mused, leaning against the doorframe with his coffee mug. “Subconscious manifesting n’ all that.” You regret telling him about your dreams.

You gave him a droll look. “Please don’t tell me you actually believe in that shit.” You rolled your eyes as you moved to pour coffee into your own mug before taking a sip.

“I’m just saying. Why else would you be thinking of it all of a sudden? You even admitted that you hadn’t thought of them in years. And dreams too? We all know that shit is important.”

“Yeah, but that doesn't mean…” You just sighed, shaking your head. There wasn’t a day that went by that he didn’t pop into your head. It was rather annoying. If fate was planning something, you just hoped she’d get it over with. 

“Maybe it’s ‘cause it’s been a decade? I don’t know. Do memories have anniversaries? Milestones that cause something like this? I don’t even know what the hell I’m asking.” You pinched the bridge of your nose. Ugh, maybe you’re just working too much. You were always here.

“Well, if they’re traumatic, yeah. Which, for you, should be almost all of your childhood.” Marco snorted and you rolled your eyes. “Okay, that’s…” You pinched the bridge of your nose. “Then I guess if that was the case, I’d just be reveling in the past all the time. So I guess I can check off whatever weird ass theory I had going on.” Not that you could really call it that. It was more of a nonsense ramble. 

“I’m still sticking with my fate theory. Who knows, maybe you’re soulmates and they moved back. Expect to see them soon.” Marco gave you a lazy grin and you rolled your eyes. “Twenty bucks says fate.”

“I don’t mean to offend you, but you’re out of your mind.” He just laughed at you, shaking his head. He glanced at his watch. “Oh shit - we’re late!” He jumped, straightening himself out. “Let’s go.”

You blinked, immediately forgetting about your conversation. “Late? For what?” You looked over your shoulder at him as he pushed you out of your office. You were currently racking your brain for what could possibly be going on right now.

“The new guys are starting today! You know, the two new interns? For their residency or what have you.”

“Oh shit, that’s right!” You started walking quickly down the hallway, Marco hot on your heels. You stopped causing him to almost run right into you. “What were their names again? Shit. I forgot my clipboard.”

“For fuck’s sake, y/n.” He grabbed a tablet from a nurses’ station, tapping away on it. “I don’t know why you don’t just use the tablets, for one. For two, here you go.” He handed you the handheld device and you took it, looking at it.

“Shut up. You know I just like having papers.” You read the screen before you. “Looks like…Trafalgar Law and Nico Robin? They both look promising.” They both had high marks and seemed to pass their tests with flying colors, they also had glowing reviews from their professors. They also seemed to have jumped a few grades like yourself. Prodigies. 

“Wow, I’m reminding you about an important meeting and helping you gather your information beforehand and you can’t even thank me? You wound me, y/n.” Marco feigned hurt, putting a hand over his heart and pretending to faint.

“Oh my god, you are so dramatic.” You laughed, shaking your head with a roll of your eyes. “You’re right. What would I do without you, Marco?” 

“That’s better. I know my worth.” He straightened himself out and you chuckled. “Alright, let’s go. We’re already late as shit.” You started back down the hallway, Marco close on your heels once more.

It wasn’t long before you entered the conference room where the two were sitting. They both turned to look at the both of you. You were greeted by a rather grumpy looking man and a neutral looking woman. Both gave off the same but different vibes.

“So sorry we’re late. We were in a meeting.” Marco shot you a look as you lied and you ignored him, looking at the tablet in your hands once more before setting it on the table.

The two just looked at you and you nodded. “Anyway. I’m Doctor y/n. I’m the head doctor here at the hospital. I run the place. I am typically always in meetings or putting out fires, so I won’t be able to work as closely with you as I would like, but I will be keeping an eye on the two of you. Especially with how promising your resumes and such are. I’m sure you’ll be a wonderful addition to the team and I hope that you find everything to your liking.” You smiled at the two of them.

“I do have an open door policy, so if you need anything - don’t hesitate to come and talk to me or ask. If you can’t find me, feel free to leave a note or let Doctor Marco here know. He tends to somehow always know where I’m at.”

“I have a y/n radar. Comes with the territory of knowing them for so long. It’s how I keep them out of trouble.” You glared at him and this time he’s the one that ignored you. He gave a small wave. “I’m Doctor Marco, by the way. I’m their right hand man and will be the one who is going to be looking over the both of you. Like y/n, I also have an open door policy. We all are going to be seeing each other a lot, so it would really suck if we hated each other, yeah?”

The two just stared at you blankly. It was a bit unnerving, but the both of you had somewhat made fools of yourself by being late.

“Since we were late, I’m going to go out and grab us some drinks. I have a bit until my next meeting and figure that it might be a good way to apologize. Marco is going to start giving the history of our hospital and how things run. Write down your orders and I’ll go and grab them from the cafe down the street.” You smiled at the two before you. The woman returned your smile, but the other seemed to keep the same face. 

Oh man, you always hated the awkward first few weeks of anyone’s residencies. 

--

After grabbing the interns’ orders, you headed out. You obviously knew yours and having known Marco so long, of course you also knew his order.

You were mentally kicking yourself for being so off today. You had no idea why you were like this. You were usually so punctual, organized, and not so…’spacey’ as Marco had put it. Sure, you were growing more spacey as of late, but especially today. You also weren’t the type to stutter and stumble over yourself when introducing yourself. Nothing seemed to be going right. You were mentally kicking yourself.

A familiar feeling overcame you, finding yourself moving before you could process what was happening. Your hand reached out, catching someone by the collar before they fell flat on their face. “Oh my god. Are you okay?” you asked, moving to help them up. 

Only when they stood, they towered over you. A familiar feeling once more and your eyes widened as the man turned around. You felt your entire body grow rigid and your blood run cold as the memories came flooding back for a second time today. You had to be fucking joking.

“I’m so sorry!” 

Donquixote Rosinante stood before you with an apologetic look on his face. The air around him was definitely different from the last time you saw him but…it made sense considering the circumstances. He was more…playful and lighter.

“Are you alright?” he asked you. You blinked, coming back to reality, clearing your throat. “Uh, I’m fine. But are you okay? You’re the one that fell.”

Marco’s words were echoing in your head and you could imagine the look on his face once you told him about what happened. Maybe you wouldn’t. No, you had to. You told him everything.

“I’m fine! I’m really clumsy so I fall all the time.” He let out a nervous chuckle before pausing. He tilted his head to the side. “Do I know you? You look familiar.” He leaned in close, causing you to back away slightly. 

You shook your head, putting your hands up as some kind of barrier between the two of you. Your head was spinning and you felt like you couldn’t breathe. “I don’t believe so.” He narrowed his eyes as he looked at you, making your heart rate pick up three fold. You thought it was going to burst out of your chest.

“Well, I have to get going. I’m running late. Be careful and make sure you watch where you’re going,” you said, inclining your head and basically running off.

--

What the absolute fuck? Your head was spinning. Was that really him? Was everything Marco said true? Did you start remembering those things because he came back and you somehow sensed it? Was it because you were soulmates? No, no. That was fucking ridiculous. There was no way. This was all just pure coincidence.

You wouldn’t have been so shocked to see him if you hadn’t literally been dreaming about the man the past few weeks. If you had just ran into him without all the pretext, you wouldn’t have thought anything of it. 

That had thrown you so off guard you almost completely forgot to grab coffee and had been halfway back to the hospital when you remembered, so you went again. Only you took a different route this time, you didn’t want to risk running into him again.

You eventually dropped the drinks off, but you had a conference call that you had to take care of, so you couldn’t stick around. You did apologize about fifty times to the two. You were making quite the first impression. Robin seemed rather amused, telling you it was fine. Law didn’t say anything except for a thanks for the coffee. Real talker. But you also have done nothing except make a fool of yourself, so he was probably reconsidering working here. You didn’t blame him.

Finally, things calmed down for you. You were sitting in your office, head down on your desk as you were taking a breather. The events of earlier still ran in your mind as well as a million questions. Why now? Of all times? You hadn’t even had time to think let alone process what happened.

“You look like you’re having a great time.” 

You looked up at Marco with a deadpan expression. “How could you tell?”

“Oh, with the way you’re bouncing off the walls, for sure.” He snorted, setting a mug on your table. You thanked him before taking a sip.

“So, what happened on your little excursion?”

You looked up at him as he asked. “How-”

“C’mon. You’ve been off all day. I can feel your anxiety radiating from across the hospital.” He began to sip from his own cup, looking at you expectantly. “Plus, I’m your best friend. I would lose my title if I couldn’t tell.” He grinned at you.

“You know how I’ve been thinking about…you know…all that lately?”

His eyebrows raised and he nodded, immediately intrigued. He looked at the hesitant expression on your face and his eyes widened. “No fucking shot.” A shit-eating grin spread across his face. “I fucking told you!” He laughed loudly, ringing off the walls. He jumped up from his seat, doing some stupid ass victory dance causing you to groan into oblivion.

You glared at him, rolling your eyes. “It’s just a coincidence. Shut up.”

“If it was that, you wouldn’t be all up in a tizzy about it, now would you?” The stupid grin wasn’t going away.

“Who the fuck says ‘tizzy’ anymore.”

“You’re changing the subject.”

“Damn right I am.”

“Failed. Try again.”

You let out a long sigh and shook your head. “It was only once. I’m sure it was just coincidence and I’m thinking too much about it. I’m just on edge is all.” You shook your head. “They are from here, maybe they moved back for some reason.” You frowned. “Who knows, maybe he rejoined his family.”

Marco rolled his eyes, scoffing. “Yeah…sure. Whatever helps you sleep at night, doc.” He wasn’t even going to humor any of that.

“If it happens again, then I’ll…” You thought. “Probably really freak out. You’ll be getting a call immediately.”

“I’ll be waiting.” He grinned behind his mug and you just narrowed your eyes at him. You opened your mouth and he held up his head. “Oh, it’ll happen. Trust.” 

You just rolled your eyes, shaking your head. There was no way it could happen again. Especially not in the way that it did. Right?

[idontwanttospoiltheparty]

I love your nuanced takes. They are always a joy to read.

I'd be curious which songs, beatles or solo, do you think they wrote for/about each other and their situation (beatles&solo).

You don't have to go into great detail on them if you don't wanna.

Hope you have a great day. <3

Hi anon :) Glad you enjoy my takes! Hope you have a great day too <3

Preface that while I think this is fun, I really don't generally think songs are a good vehicle to extrapolate about the real life of these people. So, I try not to base my analyses of them as people on these songs, even the ones I feel more strongly about.

I'll categorize these by how certain I am about them (and I'll leave out confirmed stuff like Too Many People, Early 1970, How Do You Sleep?, Run of the Mill, Here Today etc.)

If you have a question re: why some specific song is in this category and not the other I can try to explain, though some of it is admittedly just vibes (and since I try to separate this from the Main Analysis™, I feel okay utilizing the vibes as a justification at times lol) If I left a song off you'd like my take on feel free to ask as well.

Close to positive:

Day Tripper is imho at least partially about Paul. This one feels so obvious to me, given what John said about it and the timeline (written squarely before Paul took LSD, conveniently after the whole LA fiasco), yet I rarely see people talking about it. Sad! It could also be partially about Cynthia.

Tug of War: Paul said it was about John in 1982 but then retconned that. IDK why he did that but. Come on!

I Know (I Know): I nearly put this one a tier lower but the I've Got A Feeling intro and the way it fits in the timeline. The Getting Better reference. It matching up with Paul's description of them tripping together + "share in each other's mind". It's too much.

A compelling case can be made:

In My Life: it makes a lot of sense. But Paul isn't the only likely muse IMO. he might be the most likely one, I'm not sure. I Know (I Know) makes me tend more to it though, admittedly.

3 Legs: yeah. Probably! It's not entirely clear to me what he's expressing outside a feeling of betrayal though.

Oh! Darling: Likely about John, but perhaps actually about the band as a whole.

The Answer's at the End: the way George quoted that same saying when asked about Paul in that live chat… THE IMPLICATIONS! (at least that maybe George came to associate the song with Paul later on?)

Remember: I tend to think this song is specifically about running away from the Beatles. There's more sadness in it, given John references Bring It On Home in the lyrics.

Who Can See It: this one also appears to be about George's general relationship with the Beatles. I don't think this is a hot take but no one talks about this song lol. I love it!

Cafe On The Left Bank: the song referencing Charles de Gaulle making a speech does place this quite firmly in the 60s. It's not really a love song though so I don't get why people consider this one such a win lol. It seems to mostly be about the city of Paris itself.

I like to think it's true but am admittedly not sure:

Call Me Back Again: it's a vague song, really. But damn… those mellotron flutes.

#9 Dream: IDK. this versus "The dream is over". the production-style. I like reading this song as a reconciliation with The Beatles as a concept.

Little Lamb Dragonfly: the whole being haunted by the dragonfly even though you're trying to move on thing :/

No Words: COME ON??????? but the Denny writing credit does puzzle me lol.

Crippled Inside: it would be soooooo devastating @ Paul!!! (probably only partially, possibly also self-directed)

Could have been inspired by the other but not necessarily in the way people think:

Some People Never Know: I do think Paul felt John was cynical in the way he's describing in this song. (I don't really think I Know (I Know) is a response to this song btw)

Silly Love Songs: ditto. He is Not fucking saying "I love you" (romantically) to John in the song he's duetting with his wife lol. but it could be a cheeky lil nod.

We Can Work It Out: I believe Paul when he says this was written about a fight he'd had with Jane. But Paul was also in conflict with John at the time (again, the LSD thing), thus I think that might have in some way informed his outlook when writing this. And John may have been thinking about their conflict while writing his part.

Let Me Roll It: it sounds a lot like John, yeah! but idk about the lyrics.

Look At Me: it could be about Paul, but it could be about the whole world, really. It's more a wish to be seen and understood really.

Dear Boy: I'm annoyed by people insisting Paul is lying when he says the inspiration is Linda's ex-husband. She's co-credited (and she actually isn't credited on every Ram song. I don't think the credit was "handed" to her, at least not at this point in time)! That being said, Paul may have bonded with Linda over feeling unappreciated in their previous life situations.

Yvonne's The One: Look. I think John's death really shifted how Paul felt about telling people he loved them. That may well have influenced the lyrics song. I don't think it's necessarily that literal.

However Absurd: ditto. This song is even more abstract so it feels even less literal.

?????? Who Knows

If I Fell: usually I think no it couldn't possibly. But– (And I don't find that Valentines card very compelling, no. but it's just like: well then who else would this song John called very personal about? I guess, for all I know, it could even be Brian. wow!)

Girl: I mean. Maybe! Sort of. They also said at the time it was about religion, and that makes a lot of sense, but it could still be that the character of the girl was inspired by how John felt about Paul at the time.

I'm So Tired: it seems equally likely to be about Yoko to me.

Don't Let Me Down: ditto. Actually. this one's more likely Just about Yoko tbh.

I'm Losing You: maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaybe. but also. Yoko.

Now And Then: genuinely who knows. this one's admittedly stranger for Yoko but… they did "interrupt" their relationship often, requiring to "start again". Also May is an option.

The Pound Is Sinking: Mostly, I don't know how straightforward it is.

Honestly… Not really

(Just Like) Starting Over: the "My Love", "Another Day", "Wings" thing has never compelled me, based on those being OLD songs by 1980, plus none of the phrasing or word choice is particularly conspicuous to me. But I also don't feel very strongly that it's not about Paul. It could be, though I don't know that I'd assume it was meant as a direct declaration of love then. Also the line before being a reference to Through The Looking Glass is neither here nor there. Since when is John Lennon dropping Lewis Caroll references only reserved for Paul? that feels like putting the cart before the horse, based on one single lyric in Glass Onion.

I've Got A Feeling: I think he's just saying words here, tbh.

Real Love: if it's about Paul that's fucking depressing. But I don't think it is really.

[girl-with-glitchmons]

About Lavene(me!)

Hi, my name is Lavene (Lavy or Lavvy for short!)

my family bounced around for a while kinda dropping a family member in each place.....most have since passed away but i still have family in Alola, and Paldea and in this town no one has heard of kinda near Paldea? anyways. our town literally has 3 families living in three plots of land, with abandoned-ish buildings used as schools, etc... people outside our 'town' call this place 'An abandoned but haunted, poke-less terror-town' which is less than half right. Pokémon, or monmon as we call them stay clear from even seeing this place, making it quite peaceful, it's not haunted though. the few people left who know of this place describe it that way, but most of those great(x4) grand parents are long gone so....yeah. boring but not boring *IS* a thing, and I live in it.

i have two monmon,

a Pikachu that can only say pika-chi instead of its actual name

and an eevee that was forced to double evolve at the exact same time, causing a glacion eevee, rather than glacion or just stay as an eevee. at least that's my guess....she has water, ice, and normal type moves so.....*shrug*

I have two more monmon now!!

A Tarountula named Crimson (Crimm or Crim for short)

A Fletchling named Prism

Crimm is half shiny with the regular body and red & white silk spun equally.

Prism cycles between colors of the rainbow per catch & release

I guess i should update this with my good news!

My monmons have returned reluctantly and i have some new ones!

So current list:

Hellstone Cuddlepillar is the too cuddly Onix that has a glitchy seizure of a head. (Cuddles, hellstone or just hell for short)

Chichi is my pikachu that can only say pika chi instead of pika chu

Snow is my eevee that failed to evolve into glacion, so she has water, ice, and normal type moves.

Crimson is my half shiny tarountula. (Crimm or crim for short)

Prism is my rainbow catch & release fletchling.

Voidro is my gastly that can turn into a black hole at will...still have some trust issues but we are making progress now that he is back

//ooc If you can't read the glitch text, use this site to translate it to regular text...glitch text copy-paste to the right, and normal text will show up on the left.

[writerswhy]

What’s wotl (in the tags on your last reblog)? Love hearing people’s headcanons about Hinamori :D Have a nice day! 🙏

Hi there!

Wotl is an acronym for world of the living, at least that’s how I’ve been using it. And yay for Hinamori headcanons! There aren’t enough for the best girl <3

So this headcanon was inspired by a few things. Remember, I’m all vibes no substance:

My thoughts on Soul Society, identity and belonging

This shift from a wandering ghost to a hungry ghost that creates a shinigami

Food as a vessel for the political, social, economical life of the human and nonhuman

Body horror! I love body horror and Bleach has a great sandbox for it (think the soul chains with mouths, hollows, hollowfication, Squad Four [as someone who works in med, the medical field can get pretty horrific] etc)

I finished reading Mushroom at the End of the World

I finally got around to writing down my mother’s recipes from her home country and thought, maybe the more you learn about something the more space you create (what can you do with that space?)

I once wrote about Brazil’s historical socioeconomic landscape from the perspective of a coffee bean

I like to think of Soul Society not just as a haunted house, or the Soul King’s metaphorical body (blood curse~), but also as a machine that’s hungry (the actual hungry ghost, a hungry house) and how all it’s denizens are feeding it and being fed by it

“Eat your way home”

This is post-TYBW (post-Aizen) so Hinamori and Soul Society are going through it. They’re in the ruins, the time for development has passed. Reckoning with the ideological commitments of their position, the narrativized self, the intimacy between the in-between of the spoken and unspoken, the event of place and the responsibility of facing up to it. It’s a lot and abstract, so what better way to communicate this than through the shared quotidian? Food! Hinamori is on a mission to reverse engineer one of Orihime’s recipes Matsumoto was raving about. (I think it’s important to include Orihime given her relationship with food, not just as another quirk of hers, but one born from poverty. A shared experience between two worlds, two bodies, one hunger.)

She’s also here to conduct some kidou research for the academy.

Orihime wasn’t available, so Hinamori is also working of off all vibes, no substance. She managed to sketch out a crude idea of what Matsumoto was talking about (Hitsugaya did not), but recreating the recipe will also require research, so why not stop by some restaurants? Why not peruse the markets?

Hinamori is ever curious, ever hungry for more.

(And isn’t that why she left for the academy in the first place? Isn’t that what Aizen preyed on? Isn’t that what Soul Society stifles? Is she stuck still?) 

Kidou in the wotl feels different in the Seireitei, in Rukongai. Food is also different. (Does Soul Society have gelatin? Or will she have to grind some arrowroot? Does Squad Twelve have a grinder [that’s suspicious] or will she have to grind manually?) 

Thankfully, Hinamori is well-acquainted with the in between, reaching into the unseen, the unknown, the (un)lived ruins and catching fire with hope to stimulate new growth: seeds to feed the body, to feed the mind, transformation to feed on.

[crowblincray]

So I have at least 20 years of experience in the janitorial profession. (Work at a grocery store now) The number of stories I have from said time are kinda crazy.

I've cleaned for so many various businesses and have cleaned homes and apartments.

Most people don't think of the cleaning staff. It's a mostly thankless job, you're basically invisible until someone has something to complain about.

The pay usually sucks, at least with the companies I worked for. No benefits, no days off, no breaks.

You get to see a side of the world that most don't even think about.

I have a lot of ghost stories in particular. A lot of places I worked at had weird occurrences and paranormal things. Something about night time in various locations really changes things.

I grew up with an awareness of unexplainable things. My mom never told me ghosts didn't exist or anything like that. If anything, she had her own stories from her childhood.

I don't expect other people to believe my stories or beliefs about things. If you read my stories and want to think of it as just spooky stories, so be it. I'm not here to convince anyone.

That being said.

The most haunted place I ever cleaned for was a private school.

To my knowledge, it's no longer there and was torn down some years ago but I haven't bothered to confirm. I never want to go back to that place.

Now ghosts and weird stuff don't easily scare me. I cleaned for other buildings that had resident ghosts that I became familiar with and even kind of befriended, maybe?

Anyway this place in particular was bad. I don't know what it was about it.

During the day it was beautiful. Birds singing, squirrels running around. 8 acres, 10 buildings. Quiet area.

At night, the place changed. I once had a moment there that felt straight out of silent hill. I worked there with only one other person and sometimes completely alone.

One afternoon as the sun was going down we were outside of the performance building they had for plays and the science fair they did, etc. There was an airforce base within close proximity. The storm sirens at the base started up just as the last bit of light fell behind the horizon. Sounding just like the silent hill sirens. The area instantly felt different, malevolent. The woman I worked with felt it too. A large southern black lady who didn't scare easily. She shuddered at the same time I felt a chill and loudly declared, "Whelp, time to get in the building!" And left to go back inside. Me following right behind her.

The bugs that would infest that place were Massive. I usually don't mind most bugs but I'm talking centipedes that looked like living ostrich feathers that had no fear of humans. Various other bugs I'd never seen or heard of at the time.

It felt like it would rain every night there. Sometimes only on that property. One time I got so mad about it since I had to go outside and walk to each building carrying all my cleaning supplies and would get drenched in the process. One night I screamed at the sky in frustration, "Stop Fucking Raining!" At the top of my lungs at the sky. Oddly enough it did a few minutes later.

The place felt like it had a mind of its own. Like it was alive. I know it sounds crazy. Yes there were ghosts there but there was something about it that scared me more than the ghosts.

You know how at night big glass windows kind of turn into black mirrors and you can't see outside? Just a reflection of the inside?

I'd see kids in the windows all the time following me around. In one building there was a tall black figure I could see following behind me all the time.

The performance building I mentioned earlier had an old man I'd see there sometimes. Now to turn the lights off in that building you had to go All the way behind where the stage was and flip them off and walk back to the front door in pitch black. I didn't have a flashlight either. Now I'm not afraid of the dark, never really have been. I usually find it comforting. As soon as I would flip that light off I'd feel like I had to run out of there. Like I was being chased out by the old man. I don't think he liked people being around after dark.

I'd constantly hear my name being called or people talking though no one was there. I'd ask the other lady if she had called for me or anything. She never did. She was encountering the same kind of things that I was.

It got so bad and I started getting so paranoid and distracted that I started bringing music with me to drown it out. To try and ignore all the creepy crap just so I could get my work done. My coworker began to do the same.

Time would seem to warp some nights. Things that should have only been 20 or 30 minutes long would in actuality be over an hour.

Other times, nights that seemed to go on forever were relatively short. I usually have really good time management with that job so it was really weird.

There is one funny story about that place I'll never forget though.

The place had two huge gates that leads into the campus that were kept locked at night. One being right in front of the very first building.

It was around 2/3am, pouring rain outside. I had just finished bagging the trash in that building and was dragging it out the front door. We would leave the bags of garbage at the front of the buildings to collect at the end of our shift.

I was there alone that night. The road in front of the school was usually completely dead that time of night. I hadn't seen any cars go by at this point.

One lone car is going down the road and comes to a stop right by the gate as I'm putting the bags down. They roll their window down and turn their radio up.

It's blasting Set fire to the rain by Adele.

I stare at the car.

They drive off.

I shake my head and walked back into the building.

When we were given the news that we had been fired from that place I felt no panic or anxiety that I would usually feel at such news.

I was relieved.

I might try and post some other stories here sometime, but that place will always stick in my mind.

P.S. little funny fact. It was the exact same private school my mom had sent me for kindergarten/1st grade. Lol.

[char-lie-spirals]

Alright, I need to scream about mag 003 for a bit or else I'll literally explode so!! Two things I can't get out of my head about the episode!! I'm putting them under the cut for everyone else's sake-

So FIRST OF ALL!! There was a struggle I think. In Graham's flat. After Amy watched the NotThem climb in, she remarks she could see some "vague movements inside", which... sure, could just be the NotThem looking around for its victim but?? After the lights came on, Graham's passport was on the floor?? It wasn't mentioned before (and Why would it be there in the 1st place??) and given Graham's state at that point, I wouldn't be surprised if he was keeping it on him/near him all the time.

So there was a struggle!! He tried to run or fight or whatever, he tried to do something!! Whatever it was, it lasted long enough for him to drop that passport and this fact will never stop haunting me. There was a pointless struggle that must've been long enough for him to realize how fucked he was before dying. Head in hands. When will the horrors end.

And then the next thing?? The way Amy remembers Graham is heartbreaking on its own. It's all just so?? She watched him. She watched him and that's how she got most of her information. She knew his habits, details such as his Favorite Pizza (!!!!), all without him knowing she knew!! And then the things he did willingly share?? "Dull". She called his conversation about his interests/life/etc DULL!! Those were the things about himself he actually considered worth sharing!! But no, she'd rather remember him "freaking out over an ice cream truck once".

Her image of Graham was so horribly wrapped,, That wasn't the same person he saw himself as, that was just the "weird, off-putting guy living across the street who ate a notebook once"!! Amy even admitted that she didn't want to speak to him after she started watching him because she "didn't think she could carry a conversation after everything she saw"!! And it's just??

That's all that's left of him. That wrapped image he probably wouldn't recognize himself in if he was given the chance. All he's remembered by are the weird things he did when he thought he was alone, a horrible mockery of someone who was so much more than that!! And the things Amy didn't see? No one will ever know. What he did when he left his flat "often enough", how he was when she took a "break" in watching him near the end, what went through his head on the night he was taken? How was he around other people?? What were his other relationships like??? What was he like before all this started????? We'll never know because Amy never knew!! So much of him is just straight-up gone, as though it was never real in the first place--

Then again, that's kind of the thing with all of NotThem's victims, isn't it? A guy remembered only by the cousin who hadn't seen him in ages. A mother remembered by the daughter who she had a very rocky relationship with. Hell, even Sasha being remembered by someone she only met once instead of any of her friends! All those people had lives before they were taken, and all of them are now forever forgotten because those meant to remember never knew in the first place.

,,,,yeah. So uh. As you can see I have feelings about mag 003.

If there are any mistakes here that's because I'm writing this after taking my sleep meds and setting it free without fact-checking anything. Ask me to elaborate on anything and I will forever keep you in my heart

[tiredrobin]

SIX SIX SIX

Pkeaaaase tell me about Six!!!

We got both games at a massive discount on December and we've been playing them non stop and I love love LOVE THEM SI MUCC AI COULD BITE SONEONEEHDJDJSJDJJSHD

Six is just !!!!!!! 😭👍💜

hi uve activated my trap card etc. im on mobile so this isn't as extensive or involved as id like to make it but like. she is my girl my light i love her. i care her so much. this will 100% contain ln and ln2 spoilers so if u havent finished ln2 stop reading Right Neow.

the thing about six is that she is (1) nine years old and (2) in a world that Wants To Eat Her. a world that DOES in fact eat her—points at the thin man taking her and the remnant left behind—and a world that, as a result, forces her to eat. to consume. she's starving, possessed with an unnatural hunger that leaves her weak and desperate, and That Isn't Even Her Fucking Fault, and people still rip into her and present her as a villain for the position she's put in.

she's NINE. NINE!!!! what were you like when you were nine? a scared kid. a hungry kid. a mean kid. you were old enough to understand morals and to play into them, old enough to learn what trust and betrayal is, old enough to know what it is to care about someone and maybe old enough to know what it's like to lose someone. old enough to know what it's like to lose something. you weren't perfect or flawless, you were messy and you made awful mistakes and did mean things, all in a world that generally tries to be much, much kinder than the world six was born into.

six lets go of mono because he hid while she was being taken, one can presume. maybe it's actually because he tore her from her dream, her warmth and safety. she had toys and her music box. she was comfortable. her body was twisted and mangled and broken but she was big enough that no monsters could hurt her anymore. she had her music box. are you hearing me? she had her music box. the one piece of comfort she ever had.

and mono broke it.

we know he did it to save her, but we don't know if she wanted to be saved. we don't know if leaving that warm, safe place, where she was big enough to hurt anything and anyone who tried to hurt her, where she had light and toys and music—we don't know if she wanted to leave. we just know that, from the outside, it felt that she had been trapped in a fascimile of safety. we just know that mono wanted his friend back. we just know that six had been taken and that, presumably, she needed to be rescued.

she dropped mono because she was having a good dream and mono tore her from it and it HURT. she screams every time he hits that music box, writhes and wails, and maybe it's grief but even if it is "just" grief, that pain is as visceral and real as any other. he hid, ignored her outstretched hand (not his fault but idc abt that rn this is abt six), and then he hurt her because... he wanted her back? did he even ask if she wanted to come back? if she wanted to go back to being small and weak and scared? i don't know. i think she would have said no, if he had. i think she would have chosen what safety the tower had to offer her. i think she would have remained eaten, cradled in the warm belly of a beast who loves her, than return to a world that wants to eat her in less gentle ways.

she eats the gnome because she's hungry. there's a yawning void in her stomach, an emptiness that haunts her every fucking time she tries to fill it. she's so fucking hungry.

and she's nine.

so. y'know. i care about mono, obviously, but six is torn up by the world she lives in and by the fandom that should, but doesn't, treasure her. she gives so much of herself away trying to help mono and gets eaten for her troubles. i don't blame her, really, for biting back.

[capcollector]

HIII!!! I saw your fallout oc reblog and bunny is super cool, so.. I have some questions!!! a lot of them actually

57. What is a sensation / texture they cannot stand?

65. Describe their living space. (How do they decorate it? Does it have running water and/or electricity? Etc.)

62. Do they have any weaknesses or struggle with any vices?

42. What is their favorite wasteland creature?

43. What is their favorite meal and drink?

32. What is their go-to weapon or weapon class?

28. What faction(s) do they despise?

29. What is their moral alignment / karma?

SORRY THEY ARE OUT OF ORDER I COPY-AND-PASTED MOST OF THEM EUGH.. also don't feel like you have to answer them all I picked out a lot.. OKAY TY 💥💥💥🗣🗣

FALLOUT OC ASKS

thank you! i’m genuinely so glad ppl like them😭 by all means pls feel free to ask me shit about them whenever. and for this i’ll answer for both of them :]

this got SO LONG……i have so much to say about them both so. lots of stuff under the cut

29. What is their moral alignment / karma?

honestly i’d say they’re both good but bunny does lean more towards neutral over time. leon strives to see the good in everything, will try to talk things out and only uses weapons as a last resort (but will never attack first). he’s killed people before and he absolutely hates it. it haunts him. when bunny first left the vault she tried to keep away from violence and also went the route of talking, and in her case was actually more successful bc her charisma is so much higher. but over time she’s come to believe that violence is just kinda necessary to survive in the wasteland. she’ll kill if it means protecting those she loves, protecting this new world she’s made for herself. she’s more selfish in her motivations than leon is.

28. What faction(s) do they despise?

kinda loaded question for both. leon obviously has his issues w the enclave while bunny similarly has her problems w the institute. and both have very obvious baggage w the brotherhood of steel. leon’s comes from a place of mourning in retrospect, coming to realize that he was a terrified kid who got caught up w them. he does not agree w them at all and he feels bad for having sided w them, and part of his reasons for his ultimate career path was to try to make up for his own transgressions in his own mind? he cares if he is guilty. it’s complicated. bunny looks at the brotherhood and just sees all of nate’s friends pre-war. she knows exactly how they operate and think and act and she thinks they’re pathetic. her disdain for them is a lot more outward than leon’s is. but in her case it’s also very much “they aren’t personally bothering me/my family and i don’t want an all-out war w them so i’ll leave them be.” which is what leads to some rising tensions post-game but. i wanna develop that into an actual plotline lol

leon’s time in the west was likely pre-fnv so he doesn’t have too strong an opinion on the NCR but caesar’s legion horrifies him.

32. What is their go-to weapon or weapon class?

bunny’s grown really fond of rifles and shotguns. leon’s weapons of choice are energy weapons. neither of them are big guns or melee ppl; not exactly the most physically strong so anything that gives either distance or packs a huge punch is preferred.

42. What is their favorite wasteland creature?

bunny has a certain appreciation for radstags. she just remembers seeing one in the midst of everything, calmly grazing in the woods, blanketed in the glow of the sun in the cool autumn air and for the first time in a long time she felt a sense of relief, no matter how melancholic. seeing something so tranquil at the end of the world just made her believe that some day that could be her.

do aliens count. bc that’s definitely leon’s. big believer in all that, swears he’s met aliens (tho that may have just been a fever dream). appreciates brahmin bc he travels so much. centaurs are on his mind a lot too. not gonna say they’re a “favorite” bc they ultimately just make him sad but they definitely occupy a permanent place in his mind.

43. What is their favorite meal and drink?

oh i know there’s plenty of pre-war food bunny misses. i think she often misses familiar homecooked meals that she knows she’ll never eat again. she’s a very present and future-oriented person but she can’t deny that she does mourn so much from her past, food included. now tho? she likes mirelurk meat. she was also a model in an old fancy lads snack cakes ad so she does find it funny they’re still around. she’s always enjoyed those. as far as drinks go she’ll drink whatever. likes nuka cola (and was also a nukagirl in some ad campaigns). loves a nice bottle of wine or vodka. and still remembers a lot of fun party tricks from back in the day too! forever a party girl.

leon’s much less of a party person than bunny is but he’ll have a drink or two if the occasion allows. likes wine or beer in particular. thinks nuka cola is too sweet. the sugar content of it and several other items just concerns him more than anything else, but he’s generally not a huge sweet tooth. if he can ever get his hands on any he does love fruit tho. likes potato crisps. i always kinda imagined he didn’t really eat meat growing up in the vault but that had to change when he left bc he was gonna starve otherwise.

57. What is a sensation / texture they cannot stand?

bunny cannot STAND power armor. it makes her feel immobile and like she has no control over her body. doesn’t like the confinement. overbearing. it’s just too much for her.

leon’s been roughing it in the wasteland for the last 10+ years so he’s kinda learned to get used to a lot of shit but he one thing that still makes his skin crawl is the sound of certain insects. wings buzzing, appendages rubbing together, whatever. not a fan.

62. Do they have any weaknesses or struggle with any vices?

another loaded question…..

bunny does occasionally use chems but keeps it very secretive. i’ve mentioned it before but nuka world was literally gonna be her and hancock’s post-game bender while riding faulty amusement park rides before they discovered. well. whatever the hell’s happening over there. i think sometimes her desire to still do something thrill-seeking and free and “i’ll do it myself” attitude can come back to bite her. she gets stir crazy easily. it’s why she struggled so much w being a housewife and why she saw waking up 200+ years later as a real chance to start over. and she’s also someone who lies often and very well. she’s been doing it since before the war. putting on masks and being who ppl want her to be. her fierce protectiveness of those she loves and her new life does mean tho that she’ll do whatever’s necessary to keep it safe, so if she believes she has to kill someone to do it, she’ll do it. but this also means like. she likely won’t directly challenge someone if they aren’t actively targeting her/her loved ones.

i think leon has plenty of internal struggles. a lot of his tenets get challenged over the years as he experiences so much and has to learn to deal w his own grief. on particularly difficult occasions he will smoke sometimes, but it’s not often. he worries if maybe he’s just running from his problems, if he’ll never absolve himself of the shame he feels. he has bouts of severe imposter syndrome. he just wants to do good, even in the face of the wasteland telling him it’s pointless.

65. Describe their living space. (How do they decorate it? Does it have running water and/or electricity? Etc.)

leon’s is always changing! he tends to look for abandoned houses to take shelter in rather than trying to build a tent/be outdoors. he’s considered setting up a permanent practice somewhere but he just can’t bring himself to do it yet. he really does just love to travel that much.

for bunny, sanctuary hills and the red rocket are connected. the red rocket acts more or less like a checkpoint/toll booth/etc. for sanctuary hills, so she considers both her home. the red rocket is where most of her companions stay and they have lodging there that’s been built. as well as a rooftop bar/lounge. sanctuary hills is continually growing, and she lives in her old house still. sanctuary hills has a farm, shops, beds for rent (for travelers), a big treehouse, even a school. she really goes all-in on the community planning and building post-game. it’s very important to her. it’s an ugly world out there but we can make it beautiful. she saw coming out of that vault as a blessing in disguise. a chance at a new life for herself. and she’s not gonna waste it.

[momo-t-daye]

For the ask game - 1, 8, 12, 16, 19, 23, 25, 28, 32, 34, 37, 40 😁 just threw a bunch of numbers in there because I love your opinions!

1. Canon I outright reject

You know, I don’t think there’s anything in the books about Snape that I outright reject all the time (I can’t say as much about the movies because I am very bad at paying attention to movies and didn’t watch all of them but the movies aren’t exactly canon).  There’s plenty of things I like to use as divergence points, to think about how this or that change would alter a character’s trajectory and whether that would be sufficient to escape the gravitational pull of the narrative, but I tend to think of canon as a scaffold and fanwork as a mirror (kind of like those mirrors dentists use to look at things you can’t see directly you know?  But also in a funhouse way because I enjoy silliness).

8. Unpopular opinion about them

Hm…. Snape is a very very weird dude who has never been anywhere near “cool” in his life and a virtuoso petty asshole, but that’s what I enjoy about him as a character???

I don’t think he’d be able to live alone in the woods/Jamaica/Antartica/etc. relishing his well-earned peace and quiet. He needs other people around him, partially as an audience to see just how little he needs those other people and partially because there is nothing quite so energizing and enjoyable as intentionally annoying other people (I’m not saying he’s an extrovert, but he sure isn’t 100% pure introvert either…)

12. Crack headcanon

He sleeps with his eyes open. He is only aware that he sleeps with his eyes open after Lily (on behalf of a too terrified Tuney) asked him why he did that.

As a kid he was very proud of his ability to mentally calculate a running total cost even though he had no money or intention to pay for his parma violets.  He dislikes decimalisation, which hit shortly before he went to Hogwarts (because other people keep insisting that base-10 is so much easier to use), and value-added tax, which hit while he was in Hogwarts (because it messes with his mental math and budgeting).

16. Deepest darkest secret they won’t even admit to themselves

He desperately wants his father’s approval.  No matter what praise Albus Dumbledore or Lord Voldemort or any other substitute father figure might place on him, the unobtainable opinion of a working-class muggle man holds so much more weight.

Has everyone seen this lovely picture by the very talented @sneverussape?

19. Vices/bad habits

Severus lives off of spite (not a brassica vegetable despite what he might tell Madame Pomfrey), black coffee, and cheap cigarettes.  He avoids alcohol, if only because of his father, but he has his own addictions (one of which is self-denial). 

23. If they were a scented candle, what would they smell like?

As an adult in Harry’s era, rust and withered grass- the disquieting hint of blood spilled and the temporary sweetness of chaff left behind after the harvest would smell like being haunted by a time that has already passed.

For my self-indulgent AU young Sev I think there’d be more river muck and apples ripe for scrumping.

25. 3 things they’d want to take with them if they were dropped off in the middle of nowhere

Severus would try to claim that a full set of cauldrons and a closet full of potions ingredients should only count as two items and his wand could be his third item.  Whatever magical entity or event that was dropping him in the middle of nowhere would probably not agree.  His next attempt (his wand, a portkey back to his quarters at Hogwarts and/or Malfoy Manor and/or Spinner’s end, and a well-stocked RV to wait in until the Portkey was ready to go) would get his ass dropped in the middle of nowhere with nothing but the clothes on his back (if he’s lucky).  He’d survive just fine and get back to somewhere other than “the middle of nowhere”, but he won’t have fun and anyone he encountered on his way out of the middle of nowhere wouldn’t have fun and everyone is back home is going to know just how little fun he had getting dropped in the middle of nowhere.

(He grew up with so little, he has a bit of a tendency to hold onto whatever he has and be deeply suspicious of anyone trying to make him pare his belongings down.  Yet in the 1997-1998 school year, he spent his time slowly winnowing down his belongings and tidying up his affairs on the assumption that he would not survive and no one would want to or care to clean up after him).

28. How they feel about [insert character of your choice from the same fandom]

Instead of rambling about Sev and Lily and how they were best friends and how much I want to jump up and down and scream that they were best friends and how entangled and enmeshed one can get within the intensity of childhood friendship, I think I’ll plunk Nymphadora Tonks in those brackets!

He thinks Tonks is wasting her talents working as an Auror for the Ministry, claims her habit of mimicking him was deeply annoying even if it did come in handy when he needed to supervise three detentions (including hers) at once, and professes complete disinterest even though he refuses to use any mug in the staff room other than the humorously oversized “student’s tears” mug her NEWTs cohort bought for him.

…at some point I’ll get around to writing a one-shot about how Nymphadora Tonks became one of the leading experts on Polyjuice Potion that I’ve had semi-outlined for over a year now… 

32. Something guaranteed to make them smile/laugh

Ooh, this is a tough one- particularly for Harry-era Severus Snape!

I think when a student who has been trying and putting the effort in suddenly gets it, when something clicks and they get excited about the implications and the possibilities provided by potions.  He isn’t equipped to deal with impatient and distractible children that treat his subject as mandatory torture, but someone else being excited about academic points and caring and being a nerd about someone he cares about?  I think that would make him smile.

34. How they react when they are feeling X emotion (sad, angry, excited, scared, etc.—can specify as many as you like)

As a kid, I think he talked with his hands (particularly after meeting Lily who talked with her hands and never got walloped for taking up space) and the more excited he became the more his hands and arms moved trying to corral the world into his enthusiasm.  There were times when Severus and Lily were both so excited Tuney would swear there were seven hands waving around between the two of them.

A great deal froze on Halloween 1981, calcified, and many emotions could only exit via the anger expressway.

37. What they really think about themselves

Oof…

Especially as an adult, Severus does not think very good things about himself.

I think, as an act of self-defense, he tries very hard to not think about himself at all…

40. Favorite book

Not a book, but still media: I think Star Trek aired on the BBC at a very formative time for Severus.  As a Hogwarts student (and after) he probably scoffed at fantasy fiction for not portraying magic as he knew magic, but science fiction was something he could sink into.  Did he try to recreate melange/spice from Dune in his third year?  Maybe. Is he mortally offended that Harry only knows Dune as “that movie with Sting wearing the, uh, you know, the, erm, well, thingy…”?  Yes.