#things i deem important enough to dedicate posts to

[ficandkaboodle]

Okay but after making my whole summary of Gonst character breakdowns, it’s got me wondering more than before: Would Copia have turned out any better if Sister had kept him and raised him herself?? (Warning: This post is long by way of me meandering)

I’m just talking rubber duck debugging-style here, I’m not expecting to or even necessarily hoping to come to any kind of fixed conclusion. But Cardi’s current tendencies are absolutely a product of how he grew up: He craves attention, he depends heavily on more decidedly childish activities and comforts, he is socially awkward as balls.

So obviously things would be different if he’d been brought up by Sister. But how different? And would that have been any better for Copia’s sense of self-worth or how he interacts with the world?

Personally, I think no. If anything, in a really sad and arguably disturbing way, how things turned out might’ve been the lesser of two evils. Still a fucked up evil, but the somewhat more survivable one.

In spite of everything she’s said and done, Sister Imperator did love Copia. She just expressed it in a way that wasn’t exactly conducive to his anxieties or just overall respect for him as an adult with needs, sensitivities, and the complexities that come with having the life he’d had. She loved him, but she loved him in a way that aligned with her mannerisms.

We don’t know Sister’s story. We likely never will, at least not in full. But it’s safe to assume that if Sister wasn’t born into the Church, she was definitely brought to it at a defining age and was either bred to or was deemed competent enough to lead it as Imperator. As a result, the Church and its goals became her mission. She might not have started it, but it was her first baby. The irony being that by dedicating herself as staunchly and one-track-minded as she did, she neglected to celebrate it as humanely as she could beyond perhaps just the lust-indulgence.

I will be the first to admit I know virtually nothing about Satanism. But…I dunno, most of the Emeriti (save Primo) seem to be on a similar page on how to interact with their faith: Secondo celebrates indulgence, Terzo embraces the importance of the self and being your own ruler while also being kind to others, and Copia would end rituals reminding people to do both. Sister stands out in that she’s more focused on all work, very little play. As a result, most of what we see of her comes off as very bureaucratic. Business-minded. She’s always thinking of how to keep the Church from fading into obscurity.

As a result of how many of her decisions seem to always have a thread tying back to the Church's well-being, I'd dare say this means more personal decisions tend to be a bit more . . . I wouldn't say "impulsive", but they certainly aren't running on all cylinders if you get what I'm saying.

At any rate, I wouldn't necessarily say the business-mindedness disrupts any maternal instinct in her per se. It could be. But honestly, I don’t think Sister is necessarily cut out for motherhood by nature. And that’s okay! Not every person is meant to be a parent, and AFAB women especially bear the brunt of criticism when they don’t display motherly affection or instinct. Even if she wanted to be more present, I don’t think her mindset would have allowed it to be as easy. And y’all, motherhood is hard enough on its own and under normal circumstances.

Bureaucracy suits Sister because she wants to be there.

What I find interesting is that Sister carried Copia and his twin to term when she didn't have to. So some part of her probably did want to have children. Or maybe she went into it recognizing the importance of having heirs: Legacy is a recurring theme in Ghost's characterization, even if some characters wind up misusing or misunderstanding it.

Ultimately, though, she gave them up and kept her distance except for in the one way she understood how to interact with people: Bureaucratically. And Copia responded to it well (probably because, I dunno, he didn't even know they were blood-related).

Regardless, I think that in a way, the fact this was met positively assured Sister that this was a proper way to go in a sense.

In a way, her giving Cardi the antipapacy is her trying to be a good mother and give him a gift. Yeah, it's a gift coming 50-something years late but the intention was there, I guess. However, it comes at the cost of having his brothers offed to assure no radicalism. Copia doesn’t seem to mind (or at least isn’t written to) but the fact still stands: That’s fucked up, Sister, you can’t go around killing your child’s half-brothers to get him the job.

So now this leads me back to the question I posited earlier: How would things have been different if Sister had decided to keep Copia? Well . . .

I think, had Sister raised Copia herself, Copia would've turned out . . . worse.

He would have likely been more “confident”, but it would’ve been horrifically twisted in and of itself. He’d grow up knowing he was part of the Imperator line (or simply known as Sister Imperator's son at the very least) and that would probably make him feel entitled. He’s essentially a little satanic prince, nobody can tell him no. Nobody who wants to live, anyway.

But he’d also be incredibly lonely. Like, more so than he already is. He may not have friends in the canon but he does have admirers who are drawn to him for his kindness and his willingness to be a bit of a goof. He'd probably be much more depressed than Canon Copia is implied to have familiarity with, and probably sucks even harder at dealing with it. He doesn't have anyone to confide in, and I think he'd never want anyone to know his vulnerabilities because he's the goddamn Imperator's son.

I think in the Copia Imperator timeline, he’d have “friends” but it’s mostly just for clout and/or fear. They're Yes Men he has orgies with essentially and carts around on the Ministry Black Card. He doesn’t have much appeal because he’s a manchild but in an extremely bratty way.

The charm we get from Canon Copia's childish tendencies are completely gone because Canon Copia's antics are the result of coping mechanisms mixed with a mother that coddles him because she doesn't trust him as an adult or see him as much beyond the baby she gave up. In the Copia Imperator timeline, he'd be enabled and probably not given very much reason to be a better person or mature.

Also, he’d probably be more down to kill. I know it's easy to assume this because bratty manchild with power frequently equals a lack of respect for life, but I also think him watching Mommy have people killed off for convenience would have put into his head that he can do the same. Only when Sister does it, it's for the "good" of the Church. If Copia does it, it's probably because he feels that person wronged him. Even if he still had some goofy traits, he’d be reluctant to display them and take anyone witnessing them as slights.

And given Sister’s penchant for putting work above all else, yeah, I think she’d hire nannies. Which wouldn’t likely be conducive to their relationship, so he becomes desperate for her attention and tries to be more like her. He still has Cardi’s mindset that if he does this thing right, he’ll be loved but I think in a weird way, he’d be more cutthroat about it. Probably because he witnessed his mother do the same up close (or as close as he can get from an emotionally and sometimes physically distant mother).

Which means there's probably a huge possibility that, in this timeline, he's more likely to be directly responsible for Papas 1-3s' deaths.

But I dunno, that's just my onion.

We don't know why Copia is as decent as he is, though. We can't say for sure if it's a nature vs nurture thing because as much as we can try and piece things together, we ultimately know nothing of his life growing up. We don't know if he'd been raised by or had a very kind adult in his life, or if he tried being mean and just frankly didn't like it. We don't know if anything from being raised as an orphan impacted his empathy or sympathy.

So obviously, this is all just what I puzzled together from traits of Sister's and how they might translate into motherhood as done by her, and what traits could therefore emerge in her child. How close to the mark I hit is subjective because that's fanon/speculation, baby.

(Though I think there's quite a few of you out there who would've probably loved to have seen Copia acting in this manner.)

Would Sister "raising" Copia have made for a more interesting storyline? Possibly. But as a person, Copia's probably better off this way. Which is depressing considering it's still left him spending most of his life not knowing who his parents were; likely developing a conviction that he's only as good as what he can succeed at; developing thanatophobia in connection to his need to be successful; and also having to recognize that his mother had his half-brothers killed off both to assure his ascendancy and to turn a profit.

Suffice it to say, no one is well. But at least he turned out cute, right?

TL;DR: Sister's focus on the Church and probable incompatibility with a particularly affectionate motherhood affects her relationship in the canon timeline. If she'd kept Copia, he might've turned out worse as a person -- and probably have left him to nannies anyway. This was probably the best possible outcome that could be made based on her poor communication and decision-making when it comes to things outside of her faith.

But that's just my opinion, I could very well be wrong lol

[chloemew]

Some little guys I got today :]

[heartfullofleeches]

Yan Alien Hcs/Blurb

[Partially a crack post]

• Located right across the street and hiding away in your bathtub, Alien is your guide to the extraterrestrial - and the "raccoons" digging through your trash at three in the morning. Human name Allen - Alien is about as average as the beings they study; being some manner of said creatures themselves. They have no clue where they came from, nor what they truly are yet they swear up and down they're human just like you. He/they/it pronouns, just using they for ease.

-

"Baby, please don't rat me out me to the feds! I'm a normal human just like you! Flesh n bone - just a little guy. It's the rabies that killed that guy not my spit - you gotta believe me! I'll prove it to you. Grrrrr ehhhh Arf, Arf! Human sounds."

"That sounded more like a dog."

"Yea, well I ripped his throat out like one too!.... What next, you gonna tell me humans don't mark their territory too?"

"No."

Grumbling to themselves, they zip up their pants and fix their belt. "You're gonna want to throw out that toothbrush then.... and wash your blankets."

-

• The one thing greater than their passion for outer space is their interest in that one neighbor who never closed their blinds - that being you. Spending countless hours at their window - telescope pointed to the sky, it was only natural that their eyes began to wonder over time. The world below was boring and stale, but that one person pulled their head out of the clouds. Alien prays the day humanity is taken over they as a couple are spared as their new overlords deem the two worthy of monitoring what remains of the population. They have an ongoing 50k dedicated to these fantasies.

• Despite growing up in a happy human home, Alien fails to grasp the concept of personal space to this day. When you talk they have the urge to shove their fingers in your mouth not because they want you to stop talking (they'll explode if you do), but because they're entranced by the movement of your tongue and how warm your mouth must feel. While looking mostly human, they also just don't have the best grasp on human anatomy and try to work it to their favor somehow.

"Y/n! I failed Biology since elementary and now the government is after me! Strip right fucking now or they're gonna execute me!"

• An important note about their design is that yes they are humanoid, but you will likely never see their face as they wear a stereotypical green alien mask at all times. They claim to have picked it up at a fair as a child. It's their prized possession - outside of all the shirts they've nabbed on their adventures for their nest. The eyes even blink sometimes. How cool is that? Instead of kissing you, they just kinda softly headbutt you - unless your eyes are closed

• Flexible to the point it's almost uncanny, common places to find them are under your bed or in a large enough cabinet. Some mornings when you can't find the mouthwash they'll hand it to you from their spot on the ceiling or spit it directly into your mouth spiderman style. Walking is for losers as they can grip to nearly any surface. When they do decide to use their legs and it's not in a public setting - run.

[go-to-the-mirror]

I know I said I wasn't going to post another TMA fic, but I've been getting into it a bit more, so here goes. It's a vampire AU! It's not complete, but I have been working on it on and off. I never thought i'd actually finish it enough to post, but here's a first bit :3

---

Jon hates job interviews, especially ones he’s not qualified for. But he wasn’t qualified for research, either, with a degree in literature, so it can’t hurt to try. Besides, if he doesn’t get the job, he might get the assistant archivist position, learn a few things. All in all, it’s going to be good for him.

His anxiety is not convinced.

“Mr. Sims?” calls Mr. Bouchard, leaning out of his office. Jon stands up and takes a deep breath. The worst he can do is say no.

Mr. Bouchard ushers Jon into his office, closing the door behind him, and taking a seat in his chair. Jon sits in the other, and tries his best not to look as anxious as he feels.

“So, tell me, why do you think you are the right fit for this job?”

Jon recites his rehearsed speech about how he’s committed to the preservation of documents, deemed both important and not, about the skills he learned in research, his own interest in anthropological research into the supernatural and his disappointment in the state of the archives disorganisation. It’s convincing, he’ll say so himself, and as he talks, he thinks he can see Elias warm up to him.

Hello, Jon. Apologies for the deception, but I wanted to make sure you started reading, so I thought it best not to announce myself. I’m assuming you’re alone; you always did prefer to read your statements in private. I wouldn’t try too hard to stop reading; there’s every likelihood you’ll just hurt yourself. So just listen.

Now, shall we turn the page and try again?

Statement of Jonah Magnus regarding Jonathan Sims, the Archivist.

Statement begins.

I hope you’ll forgive me the self-indulgence, but I have worked so very hard for this moment, a culmination of two centuries of work. It’s rare that you get the chance to monologue through another, and you can’t tell me you’re not curious.

Why does a man seek to destroy the world?

It’s a simple enough answer: for immortality and power. Uninspired, perhaps, but – my god. The discovery, not simply of the dark and horrible reality of the world in which you live, but that you would quite willingly doom that world and confine the billions in it to an eternity of terror and suffering, all to ensure your own happiness, to place yourself beyond pain and death and fear.

It is an awful thing to know about yourself, but the freedom, John, the freedom of it all. I have dedicated my life to handing the world to these Dread Powers all for my own gain, and I feel… nothing but satisfaction in that choice.

I am to be a king of a ruined world, and I shall never die.

I believe there are far more people in this world that would take that bargain than you would ever guess. And I have beaten all of them.

Of course, this desire did not manifest overnight. When Smirke first gathered our little band – Lukas, Scott, and the rest – to discuss and hypothesize on the nature of the things he had learned from Rayner, I felt what I believe we all felt: curiosity, and fear.

But as he compiled his taxonomy and codified his theories on the grand rituals, I began to develop a very specific concern. Smirke was so obsessed with his ideas on balance, even as our fellows began to experiment and fall to the service of our patrons.

I began to worry that if one of them successfully attempted their ritual, then I would be as much a victim as any, trapped in the nightmare landscape of a twisted world.

At first, I attempted prevention, but the cause seemed hopeless. The only way to ensure I did not suffer the tribulations of what I believed to be an inevitable transformation was to bring it about myself. So what began as an experiment soon became a race.

Beyond that, I was getting older, and mortality began to weigh more heavily on my mind. How much in this world is done because we fear death, the last and greatest terror?

I convinced Smirke to work on Millbank, leading him to design it as a temple to all the Fears in equilibrium, such that my own modifications to the design of the Panopticon went… unremarked.

It. Took. Years, for the dread of the prisoners to fully suffuse the place, and I was an old man before I made my first attempt at the Watcher’s Crown, sat in the center of that colossal eye, the great ring of cells encircling me like a coronet.

It was… flawed, of course, as all Smirke’s rituals were, and none of the inmates survived as the power I attempted to harness shook the building almost to pieces, and the murky swamp upon which the prison was built consumed it.

But it left me a gift: For sat in that watchtower, I could see everything I turned my mind to.

It was a dizzying power, and one I discovered I maintained even as I found vessels to extend my life. Of course, I had to make sure the location was kept under my control while I worked on revising my plans, and so I moved the organization I had founded to assist in my research down to London, and the Institute as you know it was born.

I’ll not bore you with details of my bodies and failures through those intervening years. Suffice to say I kept busy, both planning my own next attempt, and doing my best to stymie those others who tried versions of their own.

Surely my interpretation of the Watcher’s Crown had been incomplete; there had been some element of the ritual I had overlooked.

It was not until I met Gertrude Robinson that things began to really come into focus.

You see, the role of Archivist has been part of the Beholding for as far back as my research can go. This isn’t uncommon for the Powers; most of the beliefs around them are guesswork and fallible human interpretation, but there are certain throughlines and consistencies that can be spotted, regardless of the trappings.

But Gertrude was unlike any other Archivist. She simply did not care about compiling experiences or collecting the fears of others. She was driven to stop those who served the Powers.

More than once I thought she must secretly be of the Hunt – but there was never that sick joy in her, that thrill of predator and prey. She had simply decided that this was her position in life, and went about it with a practicality that even I found disconcerting at times.

I once asked her what drove her, what had started her down that path. She told me the Desolation had killed her cat.

I don’t know if she was joking, and, to be honest, I could never bring myself to look into her mind and find out for sure.

In any case, Gertrude’s ruthless efficiency in derailing and collapsing rituals threw into stark relief a question that had been bothering me for almost a hundred and fifty years: In the whole span of humanity, why had nobody ever succeeded?

Perhaps there were a long line of Gertrude Robinsons throughout history, but I found that hard to credit. Could it be, then, that there was something in the very concept of the rituals that meant they couldn’t succeed?

She was clearly having similar thoughts in that last year, all of which culminated with the People’s Church.

When I saw that she was making no preparations whatsoever to stop it, I realized she was putting into practice a theory, and one she couldn’t afford to be wrong. She was going to wait, and see if the unopposed ritual succeeded, or if it collapsed under its own strain as mine had all those years ago.

Knowing Gertrude, I’m sure she had a backup plan if she had miscalculated – but she had not. The ritual failed. And all at once, I realized what had to be done.

You see, the thing about the Fears is that they can never be truly separated from each other. When does the fear of sudden violence transition into the fear of hunted prey? When does the mask of the Stranger become the deception of the Spiral?

Even those that seem to exist in direct opposition rely on each other for their definition as much as up relies on down.

To try and create a world with only the Buried makes as much sense as trying to conceive a world with only down.

Every ritual tied itself so closely to a single power as to render itself impossible. They could bring their patron close, but never sever it from the others, and eventually it would be violently pulled back into the place next to reality where they dwell.

The solution, then, is simple: A new ritual must be devised which will bring through all the Powers at once. All fourteen, as I had hoped I could complete it before any new powers such as Extinction were able to fully emerge. All under the Eye’s auspices, of course. We mustn’t forget our roots.

And there was only one being that could possibly serve as a lynchpin for this new ritual: The Archivist. A position that had so recently become vacant, thanks to Gertrude’s ill-timed retirement plans.

Because the thing about the Archivist is that – well, it’s a bit of a misnomer.

It might, perhaps, be better named: The Archive.

Because you do not administer and preserve the records of fear, John. You are a record of fear, both in mind as you walk the shuddering record of each statement, and in body as the Powers each leave their mark upon you.

You are a living chronicle of terror.

Perhaps, then, if I could find an Archivist and have each Power mark them, have them confront each one and each in turn instill in them a powerful and acute fear for their life, they could be turned into a conduit for the coming of this – nightmare kingdom.

Do you see where I’m going, John?

It does tickle me, that in this world of would-be occult dynasties and ageless monsters, the Chosen One is simply that – someone I chose. It’s not in your blood, or your soul, or your destiny. It’s just in your own, rotten luck.

I’ll admit, my options were somewhat limited, but My God, when you came to me already marked by the Web, I knew it had to be you. I even held out some small hope you had been sent by the Spider as some sort of implicit blessing on the whole project, and, do you know what, I think it was.

Of course, I had to bide my time, get a measure of you before I began to push, learn how you worked – So I decided I would wait until something came for you, and see how you reacted. Attacks upon the Archives were not uncommon during Gertrude’s tenure, and, while she was always prepared, I made sure you would not be.

I reasoned if you couldn’t survive a single encounter, you were unlikely to make it through all fourteen. So, when Jane Prentiss attacked, I watched eagerly, one hand on the gas release from the start.

You acquitted yourself well enough, so I decided to see how far you would get, though I waited until the worms were in you before I pulled the lever. I needed to make sure you felt that fear all the way to your bones.

The discovery that one of the Stranger’s minions had infiltrated the Institute in the aftermath was certainly a pleasant bonus. Even if that sliver of paranoia, that vague wrongness you couldn’t quite place wouldn’t count as a mark, it was only a matter of time before it confronted you in a far more direct and affecting matter.

Admittedly, given the advent of the Unknowing, I needn’t have bothered. But what’s the old saying about hindsight?

More important to me was Sasha’s encounter with the Distortion. If it had taken an interest, then I very much wanted it to cross your path.

So I found one of its current victims and convinced her to make a statement.

Poor Helen. I actually had to put her in a taxi myself, she was getting so lost in those narrow London side streets.

It worked, though.

Between the stabbing and at least two desperate flights into its doors – you’re marked very deeply by the Spiral.

Jurgen Leitner was a surprise, of course, and I was forced to improvise. I had no idea how much Gertrude would have told him, and he could very easily have derailed everything if you learned too much too fast.

I… justified it to myself saying I was going to have to send you out into the world anyway, if you were to encounter more of the Powers, but I can’t honestly pretend it wasn’t a… rather rash move.

Still. I’d requested Detective Tonner be assigned to the case when they found Gertrude’s body in the hope that having a Hunter in the mix would eventually lead to a confrontation, and setting you up as a killer certainly hastened that.

Then it was just a matter of feeding you statements to lead you to a few Avatars I thought were likely to harm you – but probably would stop short of actually killing you.

Jude served her purpose exactly as I had hoped, as did our dearly departed Mr. Crew, marking you for the Desolation and the Vast.

Honestly, I had – nothing to do with Melanie and her Slaughter adventure, but when I saw the situation, I made sure to trap her here, so when her rage bubbled over you would be right there, a ready target.

I didn’t foresee the mark coming from surgery gone wrong, but it was a very pleasant surprise.

The Unknowing was a distraction, but not an unwelcome one. For this to work, you needed more than just the marks; you needed power. And that was something the Unknowing served to test, though it posed no actual danger in the grand scheme of things.

And it did serve another purpose, of course. It inadvertently pushed you to confront death, a mark I had been very worried about trying to orchestrate. If I tried too early, you’d just die. Too late, and you might be powerful enough to see the attempt coming, and maybe even understand why.

As it was, it was just right, and once again, you came through with flying colours.

By this point, your abilities were coming along in leaps and bounds, and I was concerned that meeting face-to-face might end up with you Knowing something you shouldn't.

I had initially planned to go into hiding, but when your colleagues surprised me with the police, well. It was simple enough to cut a deal.

All that remained, then, were the Dark, the Flesh, the Buried, and the Lonely.

I was a little put out when that idiot Jared Hopworth misinterpreted my letters and attacked the Institute too soon, before you were even out of the hospital, but then – Ho, you should have see my face when you voluntarily went to him.

I couldn’t see what happened in there, of course, but given how you came out, I’m very sure it counts as a mark.

I suspected the coffin might turn up again, and once it did, it was simply a matter of getting any, uh… restraining factors you might have had flying off on a wild goose chase, and waiting.

Honestly, Detective Tonner has been proving invaluable through this process. I’d been racking my brains for months about what I could use to lure you in.

And, of course, I knew the Dark Sun was just sitting there waiting. So when it came time, I just whipped up another apocalypse and sent you on your merry way.

Then all that remained was the Lonely.

Poor Peter. He really should have left well enough alone. Or just done what I’d asked in the first place.

Ah well. He knew what I was attempting, and was very unwilling to cooperate until I made him a little wager about Martin.

Of course, he had no way of knowing that, in addition to setting you up for the final mark, he was giving you all the tools you needed to escape from it.

How is Martin, by the way? He looks well. You will keep an eye on him when all this is over, won’t you? He’s earned that.

And there, I think, we are brought just about up to date. I have enjoyed our little trip down memory lane, but past here lies only impatience.

You are prepared. You are ready. You are marked. The power of the Ceaseless Watcher flows through you, and the time of our victory is here.

Don’t worry, John. You’ll get used to it here, in the world that we have made.

Now, repeat after me.

You who watch and know and understand none. You who listen and hear and will not comprehend. You who wait and wait and drink in all that is not yours by right.

Come to us in your wholeness.

Come to us in your perfection.

Bring all that is fear and all that is terror and all that is the awful dread that crawls and chokes and blinds and falls and twists and leaves and hides and weaves and burns and hunts and rips and bleeds and dies!

Come to us.

I – OPEN – THE DOOR!

[tillman]

can i ask abt ur dragons? like their personalities and their background? 🐉

YESS YAAY ALWAYS.. theeeres . a lot . i have like 80 something dragons on the site and probably ~30/40 who have written out concrete shit about them/their role lollllll but errm. long post here r the important ones.

from the last post these r the 5 'gods' of the area. they arent actually gods, just extremely old and more intune with magic than the average bloke in the modern day. they dont actually get all along theyre just paired up in my head cus theyre oooold.

Aspenti (any pronouns) is An Informant. to what at this point i dont think she remembers but she takes the role veeery seriously and works as a sort of messenger for the other forces doing their shit in the wasteland they live in ^_^ he stays completely silent outside of his role tho... a kind of cherub-esque figure but if a cherub was a strange thing that was so full of the like. Concept Of The Sky sometimes it exploded in lightning.

Regina (she/her) is an archeologist who became kinda fixated on the castle in the wasteland. shes often mistaken for a statue guarding the way in and out of the area and doesnt mind that much. attention gets to her head. she loves telling stories to scare the kids into behaving and is like. Kind of Insane about the history of the realm but feels a sort of weird obligation to stay out of current hypothesizing about the history even tho shes lived through most of it cus it "spoils the fun for the rest of them."

Sulcatus (it/its) is the oldest thing around. its body is what became the castle everyone in the area lives in, before even the rot of the wastelands moved in it was there. its mostly only heard of through whispers of the court at this point. like Regina it has a fondness for spreading stories of the history it lived thru, but genuinely doesnt remember most of it out of not giving a shit, so it loves telling lies to anyone brave enough to actually approach it. its lazy, polarizing, and really just a trickster. its quite cute. it used to train fighters but stopped after its last trainee kinda died horribly from its command. its fine tho its trainee is fine and doing great.

Aeternitas (he/him) is combative and kind of wretched. like hes fine he doesnt actually enjoy fights for as Aggressive as he is and how Fighty he comes across hes a huge fan of just Staring and watching stuff happen, taking up the role of a guard dog with regina just to see people squirm. hes the embodiment of the rot of the wastelands in the area like sulcatus is the castle and regina is the history, but "embodiment" in the vague sort of, Hes around cus Its around, not that he made it. people Blame him for it though (or worship him depending on ur personal view on the idea of a living rot growing over the land) and he thinks thats hysterical.

Stagnum (any) is like. the least important frankly. shes the defacto Trickster Joker figure in the mythos, but like if your mythos was completely real and your gods tripped you in the hallways because tehy dont get attention otherwise. hes the herald of life and all things living in the area but if thats just cus she was the only figure left to deify or any real magic no one rlly knows. he just likes attention.

the 4 like maaain Modern figures in the lore ive been building r these guys tho. normal ass freaks.

Euclid (she/it) is the head of a local group of vagrants who were drawn to the castle by promise of a new home after being kicked out of their original homes fr Many reasons. theyve fully dedicated themselves to helping the rot of the waste spread to the point theyve let it take over themselves, cus it provides fr them so why dont they provide for it back! shes driven and a bit too dedicated to her cause getting a little merciless in her protection of those shes deemed as under her care . shes cool. she helps a lot with the local merchants and the political shenanigans in the castle.

Vlad (he/him) is a stressed freak given wayyy too much sway mostly because Many Many powerful people think hes charming. hes So Scared of literally everything going on but is somehow the head of the guard and The Person people go to for peacekeeping. Both the head of the forum of merchants and local Powers and the leader of the ruffians who claim original ownership of the castle and make its halls a nightmare to be in think he is Simply So Charming and their little Thing LMAO.

Neve (it/its) is the loser leader of the ruffians in the castle who is vaguely obsessed with vlad. once, maybe twice dead, its a cunning and terrible scholar who heads the ghosts in the halls. though at this point its been so many years its mind is kinda scattered and half there at times. its really not that bad tho it just likes Seeming that bad. its like if a zombie was cool.

Raphael (it/its) is the self proclaimed leader of the forum. the forum doesnt.. have a leader? but no one else cares enough to claim to be one so everyone lets it pretend it is. the forum is a group of 11 dragons who embody the elements and have been in the area as long as its existed. most just kinda chill out but some get Extremely involved. raph is one of latter ones and mostly acts as an annoyance. every other one of the heads in the forum has some sort of Thing they do, produce/provide/etc but raph really doesnt??? so it tries to take to leadership. but isnt very good at it . it at least acts as a sort of like. mascot? or like figurehead of the entire area so people are charmed by its ditzy outlook.

[thezfc]

@muwuzic and all the other shippers who can't handle differing opinions need to take their own advice, look in a mirror, and grow the hell up. I've looked at their blogs and they are literally FILLED with post after post where they do nothing but complain about what we say ... and that's it. That's all. That's their whole blog. I just want to ask these people: why are you wasting so much of your time and effort worrying yourselves into knots about us? The vast majority of those whom you deem "the tinhatters" come on here to exchange a bit of gossip about a celeb or two, and that's it. We don't give any of this a second thought, and most of us dedicate our main blogs to other things, myself included. There are far more important issues happening in the world that require your time and effort, so why are you wasting your time with us? I find that painfully sad and incredibly immature. Our observations and opinions don't hurt the people we discuss because that would require them to be aware of them, and there's also the fact that you blow our comments about us WAAAY out of proportion and make them out to be something they're not. We don't hate ZA nor are we jealous and racist, and those who are are not welcome in our midst. What we do is no different then what you people do when you constantly and on a daily basis exchange gossip about where Tom and ZA are, what she's wearing, exchanging speculation about how happy you think they are, imagining scenarios and fantasies about what you think goes on in their household, imagining fantasies about how you think Tom looks and acts around her, and don't even get me started on the months of speculation surrounding the name and gender of their baby, and I could write a novel about how much you guys speculated about Bobby and where he's been. The only real difference between us and you is that you guys worship ZA, and we don't. You people stalk her every move online and often get info long before we do, because unlike you people we don't keep up on these things every day and devote our lives to Tom and ZA. Unlike you we haven't appointed ourselves to being their fierce defenders because we are mature enough to realize they don't need it and don't care about a few harmless comments on Tumblr. So please, for the love of everything take your own advice and grow up. Yes your right to free speech gives you the right to say and do these things, but please know that the only thing you are accomplishing is making us laugh at you and your immaturity and shortsightedness.

[namingofcatszine]

Not sure how to say this, but this whole thing seems really sketchy. No one knows who you are or anything and now you're appointing yourself as some kind of leader? Think there are tons of contributors and older blogs that could be involved but you probably scared them away already. Yikes. Then to be pick and choosy? For what? Seems like a slap into the face to those that are not seen as important enough to you and the 'mods'.

Hi! Thanks for your concern!

To give a proper introduction to who I am and what I do, please refer to my instagram , my twitter, and my upcoming small business account . Here is my Tumblr, too. I made a recent post about my current fear of somehow "scaring people away". My name is Peach. I am 20 years old. I have been a fan of CATS since 2021, but I haven't exactly expressed my love for this musical to any social media due to personal embarrassment and fear. Ever since I saw it live for the first time in the Oasis of the Seas production last summer, I've grown back into this phase and this time, it's bigger than ever! I'm going to see the US Tour production in March of this year and I'm super excited!

The reason why I wanted to make this zine is because I haven't really seen a CATS zine being made! (I know there was one, but that was years ago). There's so many wonderful artists and fic writers that I have seen and I wanted to create a special zine dedicated to this musical that I have grown to love! I have experience in sourcing products, manufacturing my own stickers, I have even run a successful Kickstarter Campaign that raised over $25k to fund plushies that I have designed for another fandom I'm in! I am and have been the owner of several Discord servers in the past, moderating them and running them. I have also been in several Zine projects for different fandoms so far as well. (Matsuhana Calendar 2023, To Have You As a Partner Iwaoi Wedding Zine, and currently the Haikyuu Tarot Project Zine).

I have prepped all Mod forms, Contributor forms, schedule, Zine page layout, Zine Discord server, pitch sheets, and more ever since I came up with this idea literally three days ago.

I know I'm not known in this fandom, but if nobody else was going to do the hard work, who is? I'm not establishing myself as a leader, I'm just very experienced in organizing events and I know where to source my products. I, myself, am an artist, a merch designer, and a little bit of a fic writer. I'm a go-getter. Sorry if this seems leader-ish, but organizing projects such as these requires a leader and I'm stepping up to do so.

If you're concerned about me "scaring away" older accounts, I never had any intention of doing so. When the Interest Check forms were released, I had comments and concerns regarding "proshippers" which is why I addressed it in the first place. I don't like to leave people in the dark about topics but I regret addressing the problem because it led to so many other problems. I am also currently addressing the problem of having other creators "fear" this project because of what people spoke up about first.

If older blogs would love to be involved, then you're free to do so! I'm not stopping anybody. The Zine is for all artists and writers in the CATS fandom! I never said that anyone wasn't allowed in. I, Peach, am a very accepting person. I'm approachable too.

I have been a victim of being wrongly accused in past fandoms because I speak up against meaningless harassment and hate towards creators who have been wrongly accused of something they're not. I love to see fanart and I love to read fics. I would never want to exclude anybody who don't think they can join because of useless fandom discourse. This is a musical about singing and dancing cats haha.

By me being "picky and choosy", I'm not. This zine has room for 25 artists, 5 writers, 7 merch artists, 3 print artists, and 5 guest contributors (who have been recommended by the audience who have answered the form) because it is what I deem fitting for a fandom of this size, cost-wise, and also location-wise. This is the usual amount of contributors that most Zines have.

If there are anymore comments or concerns about me, Peach, then please DM me! Please don't forget to check my other socials too!

Also, if you'd like to read my Mod page on the Zine carrd, then please do so!

Lovely to meet you! And whoever wants to join the zine can join! It's not up to me, it's up to you!

[stormblessed95]

I love a good hot take, especially ones that are just a hot take like this one and not just an absolute troll of an opinion intended to rile people up. That's not what this is and I did enjoy the post

Adding my 2 cents that wasn't asked for at all, sorry! Hope I'm not overstepping. Feel free to let me know if I am.

I sort of disagree, but I do see where OP is coming from. So as someone who has an entire section on my masterlist dedicated to "insecure jikookers" here is why I use that term, and probably will continue to do so and how I use it.

Just looking at that section of my masterlist (and I understand that the name of that might feel offense to some, being grouped with tkkrs, but it's not meant to be), it will give a good example of what I mean honestly...

As someone who has been a blogger open to anons for a few years now, I have seen EVERYTHING. Lol and when I say there are insecure jikookers, that's EXACTLY what I mean. I don't mean people using critical thinking and questioning things like "wait, but how would that.... Insert whatever here" I mean the constant back and forth depending on the type of content they are currently watching. And it's incredibly frustrating to have to go in circles over and over again with someone because they don't want to have an actual conversation. They want me to tell them what to think in a way that doesn't leave them with extra questions or reasonable doubt.

I made three posts a while ago explicitly talking about insecurity and I still stand by them, you can read those here if you wanted...

This is one where I mentioned similarly to OP that a lot of times insecure is not the correct word to be using and they aren't insecure shippers at all, but trolls or just baby army who don't understand how content drops work yet

There is a huge difference in chronic insecurity and making that someone else's problem (and when they come to my blog, they are trying to make it my problem) and wanting to engage in a thought provoking discussion where perhaps you walk away from it agreeing to disagree. And when I call someone an insecure jikooker, it's often because they are displaying patterns of it, usually goes something like this:

"Jikook are the cutest couple ever!!! Look at how soft and touching and caring they are"

"omg, how could Jikook be a couple though if JK tells Tae that he loves him? They must all be friends right?"

"wahhhh they almost kissed!! Such boyfriends!"

"wtf?! How can they be dating if they rough house like that??! It's not okay"

And they come to me every single time and it's simply the constant ship jumping and they just want to announce themselves or it's constant "convince me to come back to the ship." It drives me up the wall, I have to be completely honest.

And that's just one kind of example. Honestly, check the links above for better ones. Please.

And let me disclaimer this that a lot of the times, I can usually tell repeat anons from the way they write. And I know not everyone person writing in to me is chronically insecure and might just be confused by certain things. I'm not shitting on those people. At all. I just get very annoyed by discourse that is constantly repeated over and over every few months that can't stem from anything other than antis or insecurities in your own opinions. Which again, is different than just questioning things, reevaluating your opinions or even just changing your mind.

I would NEVER criticize someone for having reasonable doubt. I would actually actively encourage it and I think that if every shipper of an RPS ship made sure to keep a modicum of reasonable doubt in their mind, they would be a lot happier and healthier in the way they engage in fandom spaces. Shipping is supposed to be fun, not something that would ruin your life if you end up wrong, which is an incredibly real possibility. You aren't shipping your best friend with their crush... You are shipping essentially strangers. It's important to remember that you don't actually know them. And when you say that you love and support them, be prepared to mean it even if they aren't dating the boy you think are 🤷‍♀️

I absolutely see where you are coming from, I see your disclaimer paragraph about maybe where it came from, which I've basically expanded upon with all my wordy words. I disagree that it seems cultish, but I do agree and see where it has become much more widely used in jikooker spaces in a wider type of way.... Not sure if I fully agree with you that it's being used as a way to shut down reasonable doubt or critical conversation, but I'm willing to admit my sample size is low and it absolutely could be!

I do have a problem with anons trying to like bait me into answering their asks with a "I just want a reasonable discussion using critical thinking" type starters because a lot of the time, it doesn't seem to be in actual good faith and I hate spending my limited free time talking in circles. If that's what you actually want, just talk to me kindly like an actual human being please. Lol

The one bigger thing that I did take away from this, and that I will be going to sit and think on further is that anon has made me realize that I am probably also getting more easily annoyed with something I may consider eye roll worthy that someone else probably doesn't way more than I used to. Might not be the point they were trying to make but it's making me think.

I used to have SO much more patience and kindness for people who were insecure, even annoyingly so and not just trolls, or to have more in depth conversations about things. I know part of it is because I had more free time to do so online during the pandemic than I do now. But I know a larger part of it is that I have become very bitter and disillusioned with this fandom space I have on this blog. Not with BTS or Jikook at all, but with my jikooker spaces. I've said this before. But it's really affected how I feel about it and how I interact here for sure too. I think that feeling that way is fair considering everything I have been put through here, and it's not entirely unreasonable. BUT

It's something I think I need to take time to really sit with and decide on what I want to do. Because it's also not fully fair to myself to simmer in that for something that's supposed to just bring me joy. The feeling is fair, but the results of it are a little less so. So I need to decide what I'm able and willing to let go of. Because it's not fair to carry that bitterness through all my interactions here. To me or to my followers. I'm not saying the same level of trust will probably ever return, it can't. That's just gone.... But I need to either let go and release those feelings and get back to letting this be something that's purely fun for me. Which includes engaging with y'all. Or I need to probably let the blog go. Never the fandom, I'm here with BTS for life man, but maybe curate a new and different space for myself (and not tell anyone lol) where I can just enjoy the content. Idk, something to sit with. Because I used to enjoy longer form discussions with people who disagreed with me more often. Lol I still do! I just have so much less patience for this entire space right now still. If I stay here making use of this space, I would want to get back to that. Where I had more enjoyment for everything that running this blog entails, including the more annoying aspects of it, like the insecurity rollercoaster, which I will continue to call out if anons bring it to my blog. 🤷‍♀️

TLDR: I'm still going to call people who are in the insecurity rollercoaster insecure. It's just what they are. Only if they don't want to engage in actual discussion or continue to go in constant circles. I don't think it's cultish or wrong to do so personally. But I can appreciate this post and the ideas behind it, even while I don't agree. 💜

On “Insecure Jikookers”…

Alright. I might lose followers for this and that’s very okay; curate your timeline and protect your peace babes. But for YEARS, every time the phrase “insecure jikooker” has come up on my feed my eyelid has done a little twitchy twitch 🤨🤨

And I have always ignored it, because I’ve never wanted to be out here policing ppl’s language and we are literally supposed to be having fun and celebrating love, like for me that’s the whole point, but —

I’ve been seeing the phrase popping up again surrounding the release of AYS and I just gotta say it.

You guys the term seems so culty 😬🥲

Like I think I get the origin (maybe)? It probably started when some of the early jikook bloggers (if you are one I salute you, I am not worthy, trust me this is NOT a dig at anyone, jikook bloggers are by and large cool and kind af 🙇‍♀️) would get these sketchy asks that were antis or cultists in disguise just casting aspersions on jikook’s bond or being blatantly homophobic and/or in general being rude little anonymous internet gremlins. Or maybe it was people who did want to believe that jikook was real but kept nagging and begging for reassurance at every turn, which I can totally see becoming annoying as hell and prompting people to start using the term.

But it feels like it’s used now as like a catchall for anyone who expresses any doubt or asks any critical questions? Even like… reasonable ones? And I used to see a lot of “hey believe what you want to believe but this is what I believe” but now it seems like the sentiment around jikooker communities has by and large become “if you don’t believe you’re an idiotic dumb person who has never known love — you’re either a rival shipper in disguise or WORSE (dun dun dunnnnn) an Insecure Jikooker — and we don’t want people like you around.”

And idk it just feels weird for a community that has always seemed to kind of pride itself on being the “rational, fact-based” ship… like we LOVE to be smug about how jikook don’t need edits to be obvious, don’t need slo-mo zooms with red circles and arrows because their chemistry and fondness and affection is just plain to see in basic footage. We’re the levelheaded ones 😌.

But doesn’t that mean that we should always be encouraging critical thinking, and if someone comes to a different conclusion than us, so be it? Like it or not, none of us have foolproof confirmation that jikook are anything more than very close friends. That’s literally all we know. The rest is our best guess based on vibes, anecdotes, dot-connecting, subtext and body language observation, experience, perception (!!This is a big one because confirmation bias is real!!), and suspicion. That’s literally it.

Look maybe I’m just projecting 😅 but when you criticize people for expressing reasonable doubt over something that is literally not confirmed, it’s just a little too religious fundamentalist for me! (This is why I was a bad Christian, because I always raised my hand and asked questions the Sunday school teacher didn’t like.)

Feel free to ignore me. I never want to come across as pushy or trying to stir up anything, it’s just a phrase that grinds my gears and I’m sort of hoping I’m not alone in that… but if I am, so be it! 🤣 would love to hear people’s thoughts because maybe I’m missing something.

(P.S. If you’re a troll who spams jikook blog inboxes this is not me defending you. You’re still annoying and you need a better hobby. Have you tried yoga? Snowboarding? Fly fishing? Filming food vlogs and/or painting? You should try cooking. You should stop being an anonymous internet troll stomping on everyone’s proverbial sandcastles and instead write a poem. K bye ✌️ )

[worldofcheerleading]

Interview with Coach Casey

After an attempt to contact the famous Monica Aldama was unsuccessful, I turned to my own collegiate cheerleading coach, Casey Gruver as a backup. After countless posts from me, a student athletes, you understand my perspective, what I am passionate about, what parts of the sports I like and dislike. I figured it would be interesting for you guys to understand some of this sport from a different perspective, and who better to ask than a better who dedicates all of their free time to this sport. Casey Gruver, is a Kutztown graduate who cheered for 3 years at the University and now teaches history at the middle school level. Aside from her teaching day job, she helps coach her districts high school Junior Varsity team, is an assistant coach here at Kutztown University, and is an active staff member of UCA, so it is safe to say she loves cheerleading and knows what she is talking about. 

I went ahead and gathered some of the original questions I had for Monica and asked them to Casey and felt like her answers really showcase her heart and passion for this sport. 

Question 1: What events have to occur for a season to be deemed successful for you? Caseys responses were all typed through text message exchange, and so her response was as follows, "Each season can be successful in its own, unique way. To me, success looks like my athletes becoming a family, being excited to show up to practice, workouts, and events, and my athletes being proud of the work they put in. Any other accolades are just an additional perk!". Casey's response shows how much it means for her for everyone to just come together and work hard, and enjoy what they are doing. 

Question 2: Is the dedication any less of a D1 athlete compared to a D1? And her response was "The dedication of D2 athletes is often assumed to be less than D1 but I believe the exact opposite for my athletes." I feel like I agree with this, as a deciding factor for me to cheer D2 instead of D1 was not my level of dedication to the sport but rather the money, and time that goes involved with traveling and missing more school in a D1 program. 

Question 3: How much time and dedication goes into the sport of cheerleading for you and your athletes? And her response was "The coaching staff dedicates countless hours towards practices, games, and events. Even more hours go into the planning, choreographing, and coordinating of fundraisers. I don't like to count the hours because this it feels like "work", when I view coaching as a passion." This only shows how much work it is to be a coach, and any coach of any sport would only sign themselves up to do such a thing if they truly loved it. I know Casey personally outside of being one of her athletes, and I know she goes above and beyond in everything she does, especially when it comes to cheerleading and being the best coach she can be. 

Question 4: What kind of coach techniques work best for you and your athletes? She responded with "Coaching techniques have to be adjusted each season based on your athletes, but one technique that stays constant is the hands-on approach. As a cheerleading coach, it is important to be available to show new grips and be willing to spot new skills to make athletes feel secure among many other things." As one of Casey's athletes, I can say our practices are structured to master the basic level skills, and then attempt anything new we are taught when we are confident, and have spots to feel safe at all times. 

And finally Question 5: What kind of events or community service do your athletes participate in as cheerleader for the school? And her final response was "At our university, our cheerleaders are lucky enough to be invited too many campus events to increase engagement in the community and promote school spirit. Examples include accepted student days, new student tours, campus clean ups, and any other events that the university hosts on a year to year basis." This is true, the cheerleading team here at Kutztown puts in their own amount of time just to give back to the community in thanks to all the love and support we get throughout each of our seasons. 

I feel the interview with Casey was short, but straight to the point, and I thank her for her time and her perspective as it shows the world that cheerleaders are not just people who dress up in a skirt every now and then and shake pom poms. 

PSA: Casey had granted me full permission to use her original wordings for this post to education the public on the flip side of the sport.  

[scarlettriot]

Mina Ashido Headcanons!

@jewel116 requested some headcanons of our Alien Queen and I am here to deliver!

Some of these also could be considered BakuSquad HCs, hope that's alright.

I also went ahead and included some Adult Mina and 18+ Mina Headcanons too. Both are below the cut and clearly stated. Warnings are posted at each header mark.

If anyone has any other requests, lemme know!

Basic Mina Headcanons

Warnings: It's as fluffy as her dang hair! (Swearing)

. Most definitely has ADHD! In class, she is constantly tapping her foot on bouncing her leg as a means of trying her best to keep focused.

. Has a collection of shirts that she has designated for sleep and loungewear because she's burned acid holes in them by accident. Sometimes she'll wear them to concerts and shows if the design is cool enough.

. Loves piggyback rides! Frequently will run and jump on the backs of the guys in the BakuSquad. Even Katsuki himself puts up with it after a while.

. While Katsuki is the 'mom' of the squad, Mina is the one everyone goes to when they need comfort. Denki will curl up in her lap after a long day, Eijiro frequently goes to her when his insecurities creep back in, Hanta shows up late at night and they talk in her room about nothing just because he doesn't want to be alone, and Katsuki, well, he shows up to her room, slams the door and complains for a solid half-hour after reading a particularly heartbreaking scene in a manga while she listens to every word and validates his feelings.

. Mina worries far more than people believe she does. Her bubbly, loud, personality usually masks it but she knows when people are lying to her about what's going on in their heads.

. Sitting properly in a chair physically bothers her. She'd much rather be hanging upside down off it.

. She lowkey likes that the boys get protective over her.

. Mina is the type of person who gets A LOT of random thoughts that pop up in her head and one of the few people who actually will engage with the sheer randomness of the ideas is Shoto. Not only does he engage, he comes up with his own! The two can talk for hours.

. Loves hosting 'spa parties' in the common area of the dorms, everyone is welcome to join.

. When road trips happen, she's making the playlists (technically, she and Kyoka switch off).

. Tries teaching Tenya, Izuku, and Shoto how to flirt. After a very embarrassing first hour, Shoto didn't learn a single thing, Izuku was only good at it when paired with Shoto and Tenya... Tenya had her SHOOK! Man has game and she made sure everyone knew!

. Has weekly meetings with Yuga where they drink tea and spill the tea.

. She is so damn ticklish. Hanta was teasing her one day, she warned him to stop, he received an elbow to the face for not listening.

. Tried to grow her hair out once but it didn't grow down... it grew OUT. Mina thought she rocked it, and she totally did but ended up having it cut back down so poor Tsyu could see in class.

. Wakes up early three days a week to practice her hand-to-hand combat with Eijiro. Mina wants to improve her technique and Eijiro needed to work on his mobility, it benefits them both.

. Just Dance is her favorite game, she dominates.

. Easily forms new interests.

. Won't admit it but she gets jealous super easily.

. Will be the first to attempt to throw hands for a friend! I HC she was picked on as a child for looking so different but it never really phased her too badly, she likes looking different but understands that not everyone thinks like she does. So, if someone were to say something about Mezo's facemask, she's stepping in to defend the guy without hesitation.

. Knows every TikTok dance EVER. If a new one comes out, she's mastered it by end of the day and her account is always up to date.

. (Popular idea but important to reinforce) Mina and Eijiro co-founded a club, Horn Buddies, specifically to make Eri feel more welcome. They take her on trips and group outings. The only horned person who's not allowed to join is Pony because she was rude as heck to Mezo.

. Mina gets extra competitive over board games.

. She can ice skate and roller skate like a champ.

. Mina is resilient, dedicated, and passionate. She has goals and the girl will achieve them.

Pro Hero - Adult Mina Headcanons

Warnings - Mentions of alcohol use and swearing

. Gets several tattoos and piercings.

. Starts a roller derby club with most of the girls from 1A.

. Loves going out to the hottest dance clubs just as much as she enjoys staying in and munching on take-out food with friends.

. The Horn Buddies club she formed with Eijiro has now expanded into regular society and both young heroes couldn't be more proud. Together they've formed a foundation that strives to help those with non-flashy, unconventional, or misunderstood quirks feel welcomed and loved.

. Does her best to shop small whenever she can. Mina wants to help her community in as many different ways as possible.

. Becomes a fashion icon for many small, just starting out, alternative clothing lines. They love her look and the standard she sets.

. Goes to fashion and runway shows with Momo on the regular. While Momo prefers buying right off the rack, Mina goes to thrift stores and buys items that are coming back into style.

. Does her best to stay in touch with her classmates. She really cherished the friendships she made and goes the extra mile to make sure everyone stays connected.

. Has told off Shoto's father. Sent the man an anonymous bag of flaming dog shit as well for making his son so damn stressed. Sorry, not sorry.

. As long as she isn't in the middle of a fight, Mina will always stop to take a photo with a fan or sign an autograph. In or out of costume, she doesn't care.

. In high school, Mina's room was always decked out for the holidays. She goes decoration crazy and it is always done well. But, now that she's an adult with that pro hero money and her own place, she's the best house on the block decorated for each and every holiday! Inside and out! Also throws holiday-themed parties.

. Got absolutely trashed with the BakuSquad one night and taught them all how to twerk. By the end of the lesson, she deemed Katsuki was the best of her students.

. Loves to drink. Is a lightweight. Katsuki and Eijiro have carried her home more times than they can count.

NSFW 18+ Mina HC Below - Minors DNI

Warnings: Drinking, rough sex, mentions of orgies, handcuffs, impact play, and praise kinks. Subtle sexual relations with BakuSquad, Jiro, Todoroki, and Ochaco.

. The Queen of stripteases and lap dances.

. If any of her friends are at a party or some event and they need a fake date, Mina is their go-to person. She's handsy. She's flirty. And has no problem with platonic make-outs.

. Always encourages kissing-themed games at parties. Seven Minutes in Heaven, Spin the Bottle, those sorts of games. Mina also loves to play cupid and has rigged a game or two to get people together.

. Has made out with every member of the BakuSquad at least once as well as Kyoka, Shoto, and Ochaco simply because she was curious.

. Has attempted to start an orgy with the BakuSquad before when intoxicated. Still mentions it in passing just in case they change their minds.

. Has gone further with Katsuki and Eijiro though. Maybe both at the same time once or twice or several times...

. Wonderfully filthy dirty talk. Can even make Katsuki blush.

. (A personal favorite of mine that was in a previous post) When they were first years, Eijiro asked innocently enough, to touch her horns. He was gentle but that didn't matter. Our poor girl was so damn flustered! Her face turned red bright, she felt hot, and she had to go take a very cold shower!

. Ei felt terrible about it. It took them both maturing for her to explain exactly why she reacted that way... and then asked him to do it again.

. Is likely to send NSFW texts and photos while people are indeed at work. She is a Pro Hero though so only certain people are allowed to have those photos. A scandal is the last thing she wants.

. Very good at communication and is not afraid to speak her mind about what she wants and needs out of a relationship and her sex life.

. Loud, very loud, very needy.

. Fuzzy handcuffs in every color she can think of and adores impact play.

. Let her know she's doing a good job, Mina responds well to praise.

. Big cuddler after sex. Wants to snuggle into you and more than likely take a nap.

[chloemew]

My hawthoria when I first had him v.s. now!

He’s absolutely EXPLODED lol I’m 100% going to need to repot him once the weather starts picking up

[abybweisse]

I did sum digging on the reaper departments/districts and I’m mostly focusing on the management division. The site I went to stated “ The Management Division is responsible for overseeing the dispatch members, and ensuring that their conduct is proper and acceptable. They will apprehend whichever Grim Reaper violated their ordinances” part 1- Rui

Reaper management

Hiya, Rui. The website might be a fandom wiki, right? We don't have an organizational chart for the reaper organization, and I suspect that there isn't simply a "management division". William is the manager of the London branch of the collection division, but this would be a low-level management position. I seriously doubt that William is considered one of the "superiors" or "higher ups" that are so often vague-mentioned. Those are likely to not even be reapers, because there must be a cut-off point where something truly superior to a reaper wouldn't be a reaper. If they were allowed to completely manage themselves, they would probably start to slack off and help push each other through the "forgiveness" process. As I've said before, that would be like assigning a prisoner to be the warden. Sure, perhaps a warden can be bribed or "bought", and maybe so can these superiors, but it would be harder to do... and get away with it. Any "management division" probably doesn't include William and other reapers who fill low level management posts.

So, William has to go retrieve Grelle from the human realm, but then he just presents Grelle to the superiors who determine the adequate punishment. And the level of punishment would determine who has to administer it. I think Grelle was presented to some council that decided. Idk if they are reapers or something else, like angels.

We won't know until we see John Brown without his glasses, but I strongly suspect he's not a reaper. His actions (and the queen's reactions) suggest he's got a contract with the queen. I don't think reapers can do that. Looks more like something a demon might do... or perhaps angels can make contracts, too. It might not be a secret division so much as a more "divine" one. Like I say, the "superiors" might be angels. If that's the case, it would be a matter of "divine intervention" in human affairs.

It's never been shown that humans have to be beneficial to get a shinigami pass, more like their contribution (good or bad) needs to be deemed significant. I've read some of the theories about Queen Victoria getting a pass and having a reaper as a guard, to make sure she lives long enough to fulfill her expected role. But, again, I don't think John Brown is a reaper. And, even if he were, I kind of doubt one would be assigned to each human that had been temporarily spared. She would just need to be reassessed whenever she came up on a death list again. Did she serve her expected purpose? If not, does it look like she's still on track to be important later? That sort of thing. Also, I can't forget about the Albert puppet. That looks so much like the offer Sebastian made to our earl regarding his dead twin that I cannot accept the idea a reaper would do that. If John Brown is a reaper, then the Prince Albert puppet thing makes no sense.

Keeping her reputation high might decrease the attempts on her life, but otherwise it shouldn't matter too much. The only reason I could see keeping her alive and killing the Phantomhives would be to give her time to fulfill her prophesied (essentially) accomplishments while getting rid of a family that has been a hinderance to those goals. But the only thing I can think of that the Phantomhives might have seriously hindered was the Tower Bridge construction project, which was dedicated to Prince Albert. But that's really not such a big deal. It eventually would have been built, once the plans were put into place, even if the queen didn't live to see its completion. And I doubt she is being kept alive just to make sure a bridge gets built. Honestly, what did she do that's particularly significant for humanity late in her reign? It was a symbolic monarchy by the time she even ascended to the throne. She was a trend-setter, no doubt, but most of that she has already done by now. And how important is that, anyway? You could easily argue that none of that is beneficial to humanity. She changed wedding traditions, funeral and mourning traditions, and Christmas traditions for much of the western world. Does any of that actually matter? Are we still waiting for something to happen regarding colonialism...? 🤷🏻‍♀️ I feel like most of the people theorizing the queen needs to keep living right now aren't thinking too clearly about the requirements for a shinigami pass....

Sure, historically she didn't die until 1901, and I'm not saying she should die sooner than that in the manga, it's just that I don't think she necessarily needs a shinigami pass to live as long as she does. However long Yana-san decides to keep her alive. Who knows? Perhaps she dies and gets replaced by a double. In Mother3, King Porky doesn't die once he's defeated; he's trapped in a capsule that keeps him alive and safe... but also keeps the world safe from him. And, despite how badly he has behaved, King Porky seems happy enough with the outcome.

[plutoswrath]

hello there👋🏻💜. Would you mind dedicating this ask for those who have saturn in Capricorn? I don’t mean it because of this generation, the late 80s people got also saturn in Capricorn and I’m curious to know because the planets sits at home here but since it’s malefic/karmic reputation I rarely see positive posts about it😅. so what would be some positive things to point out for this placement? you can also include a downside too if you want tho 😊

Hello!

🪐 Saturn in Capricorn:

Introduction of Saturn in Capricorn:

⋆ Saturn in Capricorn basically tackles the major theme of responsibility in itself and all what comes with ot (structure, order, time, standard, etc.), achievments, performance, success and power. Generally speaking, Saturn in Capricorn feels a pressure to do excellent, because most likely there has been a lot of pressure to simply succeed from the early childhood on. From that point on, these childhood experiences transfer onto society and reappear in the people we meet and situations when we are trying to integrate in society and establish ourself.

⋆ Chances are, the parental/authority figure in their life was expecting a lot from them from early on. This individual might've had to carry on success or to be successful in order to either maintain or gain material security and stability. Saturn in Capricorn can also indicate an inheritated business, having to carry on success possibly. ⋆ Another factor is that there was possibly no real (or too much) structure around them, it could be that the individual had to create a system of structure around them to become grounded. Either way, discipline, structure and realism might've played a big role from early on or turned out to be themes of major importance for the individual. ⋆ Expectations and standards are high, therefore the individual is extremly self critical which can lead to poor self-esteem, especially if the people around them (or said parental/authoraty figure) are commanding and try to put an image and standard onto them. ⋆ Time is a big factor!! Saturn in Capricorn individual also might deal with a lot of fear of running out of time! I think this is a general Capricorn trait to have, but with Saturn playing into it, they have a natural tendency to feel like they have to figure it all out or to have reached a certain point in life in order to fulfill their duty or look good on paper. It's all about have suceeded, having that achievment that is praised by those around them and gives them prestige.

-> on that note, Saturn rules time, Capricorn is known to be ruled by Saturn, being in its home, it is expected that Saturn really wants to teach you the value of taking time: if you feel like things take more time, you have to work very thoroughly/longer than otehrs or it seems you're the only one who sees how much work actually goes into achieving your goals, it's part of Saturn's lesson. That's not only Saturn teaching you responsibility and patience, but also quality, value and appreciation, as well as ambition and drive. ⋆ A lot of Saturn in Capricorn's psychological struggles come with the cycle of performance and perception as well as what they hope they will get when they succeed - but what is deemed as 'okay/good enough' is usually the knot they have to untie. ⋆ Another big factor is becoming powerful, but power that comes with achivment, success and control, it can actually be a big fantasy of a Capricorn in Saturn individual to get closert o this sate of power, since power(lessnes) could've been anotehr major theme in their life, increasing the chance that they grew up in a system that clearly showed them what it takes to be 'powerful' or seperated the powerful from the powerless. This refers especially to authoraty figures that direct and lead and subconsciously feed to any notion of (possibly unjust) hierarchies as the natural state of being, which ultimately can feed into any perceptions of powerlessnes, defeat as well as high standards and expectations for the self. ⋆ This is were Saturn in Capricorn cuts in its own flesh: their need for control and power can overwhelm the true intentions of their dreams and ideals. Here, one has to confront how much their ego and potential need for superiority plays into their needs for power/success, because it can lead to a path of dissatisfaction, even if one achieves what others or they want.

⋆ Another thing I really want to point out with Saturn in Capricorn: a lot of wounds come from emotional neglect/malnourishment, meaning that realism was mostly taught by adjusting to cold truths and hard rules, often these people learn quickly that they don't get any sugarcoating in the house Saturn sits, if they want to accomplish something.

⋆ A lot of the urges to do great and to be in control, to perform well and be powerful can come from this 'coldness' from within, thus it's generally advised for these people to acknowledge that they have not only to take care emotionally of themselves, but also of others - I mentioned they can be harsh with authority figures or people who want to interfer with their work/lecture them, this might be why: because they have to learn that all just comes down to working hard.

⋆ Speaking on working hard: Saturn in Capricorn can easily be trapped in the illusion that if they start working on everything (because again, part of this Saturn placement is to learn how to be responsible for ones stability, career, material desires, as well as prestige and work for it), they can become workerholics and obsessed with their dream career status/material success/prestige/etc. Be aware, that sometimes these intense dreams to become 'someone' can come from a negative, wounded place, that's why it's good to also take care emotionally of the self. No to say that it's generally bad to want to dream big, absolutely not, but it's good to check intentions and how potential power/ego struggles and emotional neglect can play into it!

So, to summarize again.. ..positive (usually when Saturn evolves, comes with time and maturity): + tenacious! Becomes steady and solid, knowing what it costs to invest in worldly desires and dreams, this can make someone extremely ressourceful, good at managing their own time and ressources as well as others + develop an eye for realism from an early age on: as much as this might have painful roots, Capricorn in Saturn knows too well what lies in the fields of capability and what doesn't. They know what it really takes to get to ones desires state of being + can be good at maintaining (material) stability (again, might've had to focus on building themself a safe and solid foundation from early on (even if the individual doesn't grew up in precarious life circumstances), thus they can be good at handling money/ways of preserving money)) + therefore: very responsible. This also results out of them probably having to adjust to the expectations and standards of their family/early environment, which ultimately can transfer to societal standards in general + strong drive due to the feeling of wanting to succeed, therefore cares to do things properly + can be very self-sufficient

+ good at developing a step by step plan

+ developes a good understanding of value and appreciation

+ understands connectivity/ hierarchy between people, social/institutional systems

+ generally has to learn a healthy relationship between the self, work, as well as the self and expectations, which definitely can not only add to a good understanding of the self, but also to a healthy/healthier understanding of self-worth ..negative: - scared to fail or to perform 'poorly', therefore has troubles actually daring to work for what they want

- having standards and expectations raised too high can lead to becoming hopless and pessimistic easily, the Saturn in Capricorn individual can be prone to melancholy and doesn't dare to become responsible for the self out of fear for failure

- overall, can actually be prone to desire and dream of working it all out in the future and be stagnant while doing so

- can also be prone to 'shortcut', because of their fear of time running up on them

- can suffer from emotional unavailability and lack of understanding, being emotionally repressed

- inner pressure can be strong just to do something

- can have a poor understanding of self-worth

- can burn out quiet easily if they put too much on their plate

- can give someone existential fears

- can become too wrapped in the idea of pleasing others and fulfilling a standard/'looking good on paper', might feel like they need to pursue ideas of others

- can define themselves too much through accomplishments

- might have troubles asking for help or feels like they rely too much on others, on the contrary others could also rely on them a lot (this can actually lead to developing a sense of responsibility but also add to feelings of lonliness)

[meimi-haneoka]

Akiho Shinomoto - a manifesto of love

Despite becoming one of my favorite characters in the whole Cardcaptor Sakura franchise (and I would’ve never expected to love a new character this much), I realized I’ve never spent a long post for her, like the ones I did for SyaoSaku or for Tomoyo and Syaoran long time ago.

And there’s a lot to say, because Akiho Shinomoto is actually the first character who has introduced the concepts of evil and child abuse in Cardcaptor Sakura.

Something that wasn’t even remotely conceivable until (almost) 5 years ago.

Often considered boring and weak from the CCS fandom, Akiho actually harbors an immense strength inside of her, which goes mostly unnoticed to everyone, in-story friends included. Let’s see why.

Sentenced to death, for lack of magical powers

Once upon a time, a baby girl was born in a clan of powerful magicians, the most ancient of Europe. Clan members seemed happy and curious about the new entry to the family. They had great expectations about what magic she would develop, as everyone else in that family. At the ripe old age of 1 year and a half / 2 years, the baby girl was expected to show some signs of magic, but she had none. But hey, maybe she would become powerful later, let's pat her head and wait patiently. At that time, the Clan still showed some kind of "attention" for her.

But by the time the girl was around 6/7 years old, no fragment of magic appeared in her. Unacceptable. She's the daughter of two top rank magicians, in a clan of magic prodigies. Yet, she showed none of those gifts. They kept comparing her with some boy, living in a far away country, part of another famous magical clan. The girl suddenly held no more interest for her Clan. They actually started seeing her as a stain on their Clan's pride. Suddenly, the focus was all on how they could surpass the other rival clan. The girl was left all alone. A magicless member of the family is a member who doesn't even deserve being talked to. An interrogatory, at most. Who cares if the little girl wants to socialize, if she wants to play, if she's the only young person in that Clan, already without her parents who died so early on? The only thing this girl was good at was reading books, so all that's she's allowed to do. Not even playing with stuffed animals. For some reason, she's allowed to keep only ONE plushie, which is basically everything to her. But books and dolls can't fill that sinkhole she's already feeling at such young age.

Obsessed with this "anomaly", when she was about 2 years old, the Clan had the baby girl examined by a member of a Magic Association in England, known to be the den of shady magicians. A 8/9 year old bored magic genius, named “Yuna D.”, was her examiner. The boy said "She's like a blank book". The girl grew up, and the situation was still the same. The disapproving stares of her relatives cut the little girl’s heart like a sharp knife. They called her “worthless”, “useless”. They even doubted she could really be the daughter of her powerful parents. So what should they have done? Let the little girl live her life like any other regular human being, or taking literally the words of a BORED, EMOTIONALLY UNDEVELOPED CHILD who literally spat out the first thing that came to his mind?

Although the choice should’ve come easily for any normal human being with a functioning brain, they actually went in the other direction, greedy for power. And so, they decided to treat the girl like a tool, using her to store all kinds of magic for them to use. If she couldn’t be of any help to her clan with her capabilities, they would give her a purpose.

On some kind of altar, halfway between a lab rat and the sacrificing ritual of a sect, the most ancient Magicians of Europe together with the Magic Association performed a dangerous magic on her, which afterwards would take its toll even on the casters: they turned her into a magical artifact, capable of engraving in herself all the magical books she would encounter, transforming her de facto into a book herself. As if this wasn’t horrifying enough, this spell will progressively try to crush her soul and conscience, until it gets destroyed completely. So when the artifact will reach its limit, it will be the death of her, as a human being. Only a shell of her will remain. And judging by what was said later on in the story, they actually hope for her to lose her consciousness completely, so they can make use of her more easily.

Afterwards, they burned the book they took the ritual from, so the procedure would remain in their knowledge only. Greedy till the very last drop.

Once their perfect magical tool was achieved, turning a little girl into some sort of artifact, both the Clan and their accomplices couldn't stop bragging about it. The only positive words Akiho has ever received in her life by her people were after she was turned into a tool.

With a newly found purpose for that stain on their clan’s pride, they sent her away into the world to collect all the magic books she could find and write their powers into her, even though she was still just a child. For reasons still unknown, Yuna D., the boy who involuntarily caused this horrible ritual to happen and basically condemned her to death, offers himself to accompany her. The very first decision he took in his own life. That decision will change forever the course of their life, for both of them.

Rising from the ashes, towards a future of hope

Rehashing Akiho’s past is important to understand her personality and behavior fully. CLAMP, in the Clear Card manga, have portrayed the story of her past in a very peculiar way: it starts as any other fairytale, with light tones and cute designs. But as the story progresses, and the horror ensues, the tone of the tale changes, and so the drawing style too. It becomes serious, and “realistic” (ad opposed to the initial cutesy style). What started as a possible generic fairytale, turned into a real nightmare.

On top of being deprived of the love of her parents ever since she was born, because apparently they died right after, Akiho spent her early childhood in complete solitude. Those magicians who were supposed to be her remaining family were too absorbed into their own greed for power, to consider the needs of a baby girl. Not to mention that they had some kind of disgust for her, for being magicless. She was denied attention, cuddles, conversations, play activities, toys. She was denied love and care. All basic things that contribute to shape the personality and psychology of a person. Akiho grew up with the conviction that she wasn’t worth any of that, because no one gave it to her. One of the complaints I have seen the most about her in the fandom, is how she’s always so apologetic, to the point of becoming obnoxious. If you think about it, one of the most prominent characteristics of her personality is how she continuously apologizes to people, thanks them for any smallest thing, and is always, constantly seeking validation. 

But if you stop for a second to think about her past, you’ll realize with dismay that those are none other than symptoms of the abuse she suffered in the past. She was called “good for nothing” and “useless” by her clan and the Magic Association, and those words carved themselves into her heart, forever scarring it. Akiho grew up believing that she was really worthless and good for nothing just because she couldn’t meet the expectations of her clan, and it’s apparent when we see her considering herself “extremely clumsy”, even though we have afterwards seen that she’s perfectly capable of cooking, sewing, even playing sports. She only needs the dedication of someone who would teach her that.

With a disastrous psychological situation like this, one would naturally wonder how this girl didn’t commit anything extreme yet. Completely alone in the world, deemed useless. Unloved.

Books, books were her first lifeline. The fictional, magical, wonderful worlds depicted in those stories saved her sanity, making her dream about a better life, about friendship, about love. They taught her everything. They gave her the hope that those things existed out there, and maybe one day she would be blessed with them too. The fantastical characters kept her company when no one was there for her (yet). And she loves them viscerally for that, to the point of seeing herself mending damaged books in the future, as a possible occupation. Just like they mended her lacerated heart.

The second lifeline was her meeting with Kaito. Uncharacteristically to him, Kaito showed immediately a kind and interested behavior towards her. This was so shocking, so incredible that Akiho’s first reaction to his introduction was to run away. No one ever addressed her with the intention of having a conversation. No one was ever interested in what she was reading. Even just by this you can get a glimpse of how miserable her life had been till then. Full of psychological issues himself, thanks to the human connection Kaito gradually turned his attentions towards Akiho from contrieved mannerism, to genuine and sincere gestures. Akiho can feel that affection, even if her self-criticism always pushes her to believe that she’s nothing more than “job” to him. It’s something small, but what she’s experiencing with Kaito is her everything, and more than she’s ever had.

The third lifeline is Momo: Akiho doesn’t know, nor remotely imagines she’s actually a living magical creature. But she has been her constant presence ever since she was born. Her connection to her is special, and you can see it in their daily (one-sided, for now) interactions. Akiho talks to Momo, she greets her when she comes back home, she constantly carries her around, she thinks about giving her a little dress as a present. Momo is Akiho’s strength. The love this girl pours into what she believes is just a stuffed animal is incredible. It goes to show Akiho’s immense capacity to love something/someone without expecting anything in return, but actually just enjoying the simple presence and courage they give to her. If you think about it, it’s the very opposite of what she experienced with the only human interactions she’s ever had before Kaito came into the picture. Her aptitude to selfless love is also remarked between the lines in chapter 49, when Akiho is telling Sakura about her relationship with Kaito. Despite all the ugliness she went through, she’s still able to find in herself the strength to overcome all of it, and change her life for the better.

This certainly hasn’t been an easy or quick process, because in the flashbacks of her journey with Kaito we always see her with a pensive/serious look. It must have been extremely hard to start trusting others, when she had no one she could count on in her own home.

Akiho’s capacity to love and rise from the ashes of her terrible past has been so contagious, that it has started to affect Kaito too.  As Momo said in chapter 51, once you’re given the reason to change, no person can ever stay the same. This must have been true for Kaito, but certainly for Akiho too.

I’m absolutely positive that Akiho (and possibly, Kaito too) will be the symbol for one of the most important, beautiful messages in the whole Clear Card Arc: even if your life isn’t perfect, even if your past scarred you in multiple ways, there’s always hope. Hope to turn over a new leaf and change yourself for the better too, in the process. Overcome everything that had you stuck in pain and grief. Achieve what you always wished for.

[legends-live-in-memories]

“How Did All This Happen?”- A Memoire by one Marinette Dupain-Cheng 1

Soooooo I decided to write this. much longer than the other things i posted, also very tonally different. I will definitely continue that other fic tho. I was just brainstorming and now this exists. Yeah.

 without further ado

Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8

People Fucked Up and Now It’s All Marinette’s Mess to Clean Up I

This was not how Marinette planned for her night to go. Granted, she also could not envision it going literally any other way. The woes of making a deal with the hell-raiser himself, John Constantine, she supposes. She truly hoped Adrien was having a much better time than her with his cousin in London. After the circus that was the past three years, he deserved some reprieve, even if it was with his bratty doppelganger. Regardless, Marinette. Was. Not. Pleased. No matter how many times she thinks over her plan, recalculates every step and decision, she could not fathom this night ending well for her, or anyone really, but mostly her. And no amount of old Ladybug or Guardian luck could help her. Now, if one were to wonder what kind of tragedy had befallen Marinette on this disgraceful night, a brief history of the last three months could enlighten such a person. Or better yet, let’s start at the beginning. The Real Beginning.

So, things existed. Obviously. First there was nothing, and then, something. And as more things began to exist, as new schools of knowledge and concepts and ideas began to, well, exist, Kwamis formed as well. Each Kwami was the physical manifestation of these ideas or abstracts. Creation was the first, coupled with Destruction. And as more things began to exist, more things began needing to be protected. Thus, the Kwami of Protection. This went on. For a while. Soon thereafter there were Kwamis of all types. Jubilation, Time, Strength, etc, etc, and etc. Now these Kwamis did not linger in one spot. They roamed across the far stretches of existence and interacted with the life they found.

Some Kwamis decided to form a magical pact which intergalactic historians would later dub the Emotional Electromagnetic Spectrum. Sounds familiar? The Kwamis themselves were completely blissfully unaware of this title, lest they would have explained to these beings, Maltusians they were called, that they were not in fact, electromagnetic but more so a part of the Powers that Be. Kind of. But this side-story involves the formation of a few universally known Lantern Corps, and that is a barrel of monkeys our exasperated narrator does not want to touch with a ten-foot pole. Or ever.

Other Kwamis, who stuck close to what would become known as the Milky Way, were discovered by a mage who granted them the ability to interact with humans. This mage— and Marinette was silently cursing his descendants, herself included, for if it weren’t for this absolute mad lad, none of the subsequent events of this night would have transcribed—had bound the Kwamis to magical jewelry called Miraculouses. An interesting side effect of these Kwamis being bound to the miraculouses was that the wearer could call upon the powers of the Kwamis for their own usage. The mage feared what could become of the world if this kind of power became so easily accessible, so he created the Order of the Guardians. The Order was dedicated to training young mages to protect, wield and harvest the powers of the miraculouses. The Order swore to true neutrality; wishing not to impose their will on one side or the other, to maintain balance and to not upset the natural order of the world. 

This went surprisingly well for a few millennia, that is, of course, if you ignore the sinking of Atlantis, the extinction of the dinosaurs, the Black Plague, the creation of the Lazarus Pits, Pompeii, to name a few completely egregious instances—not necessarily in order of course—and well, the point stands that it could have been astronomically worse. Until it was.  

One young mage and Guardian in training had caused the downfall of almost the entire Order of the Guardians. All the centuries of history, teachings, artifacts and even the people at the head temple, were lost to the calamity. Dozens of Miraculous Boxes were lost, destroyed in the fray. The Kwamis themselves were relatively unaffected, being immortal and all, but the magical jewelry binding them to the earth were broken, thus those Kwamis were lost to mankind once again. Only one singular box, and the young mage himself, survived. The new Guardian of one miraculous box was left to scour the earth in solitude. Well, about as much solitude one could have with 17 pocket gods as company. The fact that the only box that survived was missing two more miraculouses caused the already stressed guardian to grey further. But that tidbit of information would be a problem for later. And for someone else entirely too. Oh joy.

But before that sequence of events, aptly named “Marinette’s Trial by Fire,” however, the young guardian had a couple more life mistakes to make before he reached his internal quota apparently. Rather than travel to another sector of the Order on the other side of the earth, this young mage stumbled upon another organization, one similar in architecture and hierarchy but a pendulum swing in the total moral opposite. Yes, that’s right, the guardian found himself upon the League of Shadows, led by Ra’s Al Ghul in his endeavor of global cleansing; by acts of ecoterrorism, but who sweats the small stuff, right? There, the young guardian, who adopted the name of Wang Fu, met his first love Ming Hong and they had a son. The son had a daughter he named Mei. Now Mei was only a few weeks younger than Ra’s Al Ghul’s grandson, Damian. Now with an appropriate heir, and someone to procreate with said heir, Ra’s Al Ghul gained a special interest in the small Fu family that originally flew under the radar of the League. 

Now this is where things continue to go downhill, but not until much, much later in this story. Ra’s Al Ghul, despite his radical ambitions, was particularly good at playing the long game and understood when he couldn’t accomplish a task directly. This being said, he recognized that, due to prolonged exposure to the Lazarus Pits, his soul could not bear the strain of being a wielder of a miraculous and so he waited. Waited until a suitable heir was sired and could copulate with an heir to the guardian of the miraculous box, desiring to create a bloodline of genetically suitable successors and wielders who were loyal to him and his cause. 

Ra’s ordered for the Fu family to have a place on his court and ordered for Mei Fu to be trained in mastering the secrets of the miraculous. And master she did. By age 6 she was fluent in the coded language of the magical text, or as fluent a 6 year old can be in any language, and she had mastered 7 out the 17 miraculouses. By age 10 she was as skilled as the grandson of the Demon Head in combat and could handle simultaneous wear of 3 miraculouses. Her training, however, had to be put on hold as somebody thought usurping the Demon Head was of the utmost importance that glorious Tuesday and staged a coup. She wished Deathstroke had lost more than an eye that day, but a girl can dream she supposes. Mei and her grandfather were separated from the rest of the League and journeyed west. Somehow they ended up in Paris, France. After one too many run ins with the authorities, Mei was removed from her grandfather, who was deemed too unfit to support her. It was a miracle he wasn’t deported. 

Mei was put into protective custody where she resided until she was 13. Recently adopted, and thoroughly done with the plebeians of her daily encounters, Mei Fu became Marinette Dupain-Cheng, daughter of the best bakers in Paris. All was well and good for the new Dupain-Cheng until the start of the new school year. 

She met her grandfather again. And apparently he had a job for her and her soon to be new partner.

Hawkmoth, that bitch, had somehow acquired the two last surviving miraculouses and the only surviving grimoire and thought domestic terrorism was on the agenda for the next few years. Why? Because investing in a family therapist was too much of an inconvenience for local recluse, Gabriel McFucking Agreste, Marinette would shortly learn. 

After dealing with all of that and juggling between her reignited guardian training, and ‘normal’ girl life—because her parents don’t know that she’s a magical girl in the making—, Marinette was ready to sleep for a thousand years. Or commit murder. Whichever gave her enough serotonin to complete her current passion project. But, alas, no rest for the totally-over-it or however that saying goes. Because after declaring Paris safe once again, sending off her brother-in-arms, Adrien Agreste, to family in London (marginally decent but anything beats the abusive prick of a sperm donor), in waltz one drunken John Constantine.

Ah yes. Him. That absolute bastard who doesn’t deserve nice things in life. That guy.

This unpleasantry approached Master Fu and Marinette, who has been regulated to errand-girl in lieu of training, with a job that he proclaimed that only one blessed with magic, and specifically NOT connected to the Justice League could accomplish. Apparently, a group called the Cult of the Kobra resided on Santa Prisca and was in possession of a dangerous magical artifact that had been the backbone of their organization for years. Constantine came to them asking them for assistance in retrieving it as the Justice League could not interfere in the Caribbean due to new UN legislation. It was a mission of utmost urgency for he feared the cult leader, Kobra himself, was planning on enacting a ritual that could bring calamity to Earth. Which is just what the doctor ordered. Not. In exchange, he agreed to add to her magical training as while master Fu was good, he was still young when he ran away from his problems the first time and thus was limited in his magical knowledge.

That was three months ago. Three months of planning, training, and convincing her parents that letting her go on an extended retreat for an undetermined amount of time with her mostly absent biological grandfather was totally reasonable for the seventeen year old to do. Like, come on. She’s almost old enough to drink, almost ready for university and has been praised for her independence and self-sufficiency for years. She’ll be fine is what she told her parents and she was almost able to convince herself of that too. She would be perfectly fine. Right?

Wrong.

Marinette was anything but fine. She was stressed, she was tired and she was abso-fucking-lutely pissed at anything that even breathed in her direction. Why? Well that brings us back to the beginning of the story when everything on this mission did not go according to plan. So here she was along what was once upon a time the eastern coastline of Santa Prisca. Oh and look. The Junior Justice League has arrived.

Purrrrfect. 

Some one asked for a taglist. Ask and ye shall receive

@deathwishy @neakco  @ virtualreading  @f-rget-lt @your-resident-chicken-nugget

[wormstar]

ok gonna talk about windclan a bit

potentially the most important concept to me is the whole “windclan is the closest clan to starclan” thing thats mostly just author-said and barely textual. they do the whole sleep on the moor thing and the only actual dens that get built are the leaders med cats and the nursery....otherwise outcrops, dens, small caves and stable parts of tunnels are used as dens in cold weather alone. they sleep outside to dream of their ancestors and their communication is fairly legitimate

windclans particularly superstitious and they tend to point to a lot of things as being signs from starclan no matter how small...dreams are often a point of discussion between clanmates, cats are quick to call stuff like missed prey bad signs, leaders may look to starclan to decide what warriors should mentor what apprentices or what to do about trespassing patrols, whatever

to continue that lattermost thread another important distinction is that med cats (which im calling seers from henceforth) are revered to a near-equal amount as the leader, if not more so. i tend to characterise seers as much more dedicated to starclan than they are in canon (omens are much more common and seers are appointed specifically because they can read the signs starclan sends to all cats more effectively, dreams seers get that arent visions almost always include conversations with starclan cats, prophecies tend to come in parts and require physical exertion to discover, seers themselves tend to deem oneself as an extension of starclan, you get the idea) and basically all those points become even more particular in windclan due to their focus on their ancestors. and already their unique physical ties. beyond medicine and communication seers are often consulted for major decisions within the clan and often keep close to both their deputy and their leader. its not uncommon to pull in a windclan seer and have them find some sign about how to solve a fight or whatever. in short seers are regarded as chosen interpreters who have a large amount of authority due to having a much more unbridled direct line of communication with starclan

due to the importance placed on seers and how culturally significant the position is windclan seers will wait a long time before they pick their apprentices and will only do so with heavy consultation from their ancestors. in windclan its very rare for young kits to be seers first thing unless a significant omen pops up but more often than not warriors get pulled aside to become seers later in life (the position is negotiable ultimately and its up to the cat themself but seers are a sacred position and the majority of cats do find honor in the role) furthermore remedies and cures and the general nature of healing is kept secret between mentor and apprentice - most windclan warriors are intentionally unaware of basic herbs/usage due to the art ‘belonging’ to seers

last points i wanna make about starclan, windclan cats are remarkably uncaring toward the concept of death or at least become desensitised. theyre the clan that most often shares tongues with starclan at night and hence death is equivalent to a kind of retirement. they still hold vigils and all that but its more about ensuring the deads travel to starclan is safe. they hold the belief that as long as there are enough living warriors to pass on their traditions the clan is fine. its also deemed very worrying if a recently dead cat refuses to appear in anyones dreams which does occasionally happen and often leads to infighting. theres also a kind of huge folklore angle to them ill briefly describe as them preserving prophecies and other important signs in songs or poems. this extends to noble cats who were part of prophecies receiving epithets related to their prophecy (ex. tallstars called the wanderer crowfeathers called the sunchaser. cant remember other wc warriors with canon prophecies about them so i cant give any more tangible examples lol -_-) these names are expected to be used instead of their regular names but in private this may be excused. said names are also often made up by seers and elders

cant really get into this but i hc all the clans having different systems for warriors and having distinct categories of them as to make them more structurally different from one another. in windclan thats moor runners and tunnellers with maybe some other shit? but once tunnelling got discontinued post-heatherstar the focus drifted to distinct moor runners sorted by stamina and speed

cant think of any other differences ive made that are significant or arent just implied in canon so