#tragic that grace always has to die but she does

[be-the-glenn-to-my-maggie]

Idk if you’ve answered something like this before but how does Grace fit into your modern AU?

I am so glad you asked, anon, I am excited people care about this au. Lol, I have a meme post in the works about this concept, which is that in every Avatar au no matter how many characters you decide lived, Grace has always gotta die so that Kiri can be a Sully. Oops lol.

I have vaguely touched on it, but I will expand even more lol.

-Norm, Tommy, and Jake were all in foster care together. Norm and Tommy clicked immediately, bonding over science and creativity, wanting to understand how every single thing worked. Jake just kind of fits, because he fits anywhere Tommy fits, and after a few years, he fits wherever Norm fits too. Jake calls himself dumb and a jock, but he is an excellent student. He can learn anything he puts his mind to, and Norm and Tommy know that. He just isn't interested in what they are, so sometimes he makes them play football or play video games. Norm and Jake are both deeply into movies and pop culture, while Tommy can't sit through a movie to save his life. They just all go together.

-Grace loves kids even though she hates wasting time. She thinks kids are smarter than adults a lot of the time, they ask questions regardless of how it'll make them look and actually state their intentions. They bring up points of view she hadn't thought of. So, even though she's been on tenure at the college she does research at for years, when she's on campus with her research students she holds a little week long summer camp for kids interested in science. Jake goes where Norm and Tommy go, and when they are thirteen they start attending.

-Norm and Tommy glue themselves to Grace from day one and she quickly learns the three are orphans and lowkey adopts them by the end of the week. She gives them her number and tells them they are welcome any time because they are so good at botany. They take this offer up all the fucking time. Jake is their little science bitch boy, just showing up and being asked to move a million different things. He knows so many science words he wishes he didn't. He likes visiting Grace though, because she always keeps a couch free for him to nap on.

-Norm and Tommy basically apprentice for Grace from thirteen on, Max calls them Pain and Panic, because they are like her little henchmen and because when they get stressed Tommy bangs his hand on a table and then always yells ow and Norm starts chewing off all his fingernails and freaking out.

-As soon as they graduate and get their degrees they go on research trip after research trip with her. One time during grad school a student who was having a hard time accused Norm of just getting his degree because Grace makes it easy for him and Tommy, and Norm laughed so hard he cried, because Grace is convinced that they learned the basics in middle school and makes their work harder.

-Norm gets into fostering because he wants to make life easier for the kids in the system like him and Tommy and Jake, and he knows how important the stable people like Grace and the twins were. After that he sticks in one place, teaching and going for a medical degree on the side, which is how he ends up volunteering at Mo'at's clinic.

-Tommy sticks with Grace, and that is why he is away on a research trip with her for four years in the jungle when Jake is paralyzed. This particular trip was the first Tommy's running and directing himself. This is why in my other post I mentioned Norm continuously threatening to tell Tommy what happened, because Jake didn't want to ruin his life's work because he knows Tommy would fly back right away. At first he was also totally embarrassed about what happened, sadly. Where I last left the au with the jeytiri post though, paralyzed, married, and now with a child on the way, now he's just too far deep in the hole.

-I think Tommy finds out, probably from Mo'at who got bored and decided to stir some shit up and tell Grace. Tommy's rage can be felt across oceans as he flies back instantly and leaves Grace to finish up the end of the trip. It's at the end of that trip that she dies, right after surprise Kiri is born and left in the custody of Jake and Neytiri. Grace had seen both of them grow up separately, and knows they are starting a family. What's one more kid?

[fairytale-poll]

SEMIFINAL ROUND, MATCH 2 OUT OF 2!

Propaganda Under the Cut:

Miss Piggy:

In the movie, she pretends to be Lady Holiday and when her identity is revealed is leaves on of her shoes there cinderella style.

Cinders:

She spent decades searching every moon and planet trying to find her wife (Rose), who was kidnapped on their wedding day. Eventually, she found Rose, and they embraced, only for Rose to die in Cinder’s arms. And so Cinder killed the king who had kidnapped Rose by punching through his chest and into his heart.

And then Cinder got a somewhat happy ending, in which she met Rose’s clone who had Rose’s memories.

What if Cinderella was a Sci-Fi lesbian? Well here she is. She has a whole love song about searching the stars for her girlfriend after their wedding was interrupted and she was taken away. She spends years searching only to when she finally finds and embraces her watch her be shot. Cinders is so devastated by this that she plunges her wedding ring into the heart of the man who shot her love killing him.

Lesbian space princess who elopes with the terrifying soldier who was previously conquering her planet and spends decades searching for her when they’re separated. Listen to her song https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6w9V-gMgBF4

I think the way she punches the evil king through the heart as revenge for her wife is pretty neat.

She’s a revolutionary married to a woman, what’s not to love? From Cinders’ Song: “ When I was a little girl, my mother always told me / “Someday your prince will come, my love” / But as I grew, I knew it was a princess who would hold me”.

her girlfriend got cloned and most of said clones were brutally slaughtered in war and she searched for her girlfriend all throughout the galaxy and when they were finally reunited on the battlefield her girlfriend died. and a clone of her girlfriend who due to technical errors retained her memories, so does that count as the same girlfriend? theseus’s girlfriend? anyway vote for cinders she’s been through hell

Lesbian!! Has to search for her lost love Rose with her glass wedding ring that changes color when its near its partner!! Gets to embrace Rose once again for one final moment before the villain kills Rose right in front of her!! So Cinders kills him in return!! And she’s left as (almost) the only surviving main character from her own album but!! She is eventually reunited with a clone of Rose, and while they cannot have a truly ‘happy ever after’ together they are the ones graced with the closest thing to it

SPACE LESBIANS (she’s in love with Rose Red, who gets kidnapped on their wedding day and Cinders searches the galaxy to find her, waiting for her white ring to turn crimson, indicating that its twin was near) She took her name from the ashes of her burning planet <3 She also killed Old King Cole >:)

shes a tragic lesbian and killed a violent dictator shes literally the best

shes gay shes traumatized she dates both rose red and sleeping beauty. badass space wanderer looking for her wife

Her wife Rose gets kidnapped on their wedding day and Cinders spend the next thirty years looking for her. She finds her (:D) and then Rose dies (D:) and then Cinders kills the guy who killed Rose (girlboss).

shes a lesbian. she lost her wife, Rose (yes, as in sleeping beauty) the day they got married bc she was kidnapped. she spent 20 YEARS looking for her. as soon as she found her wife, Rose DIED IN HER ARMS. Cinders has gone through Too Much to lose this poll

(Her info from the wiki) the Princess of a planet burnt by King Cole’s army, after it is ceded by her stepmother. She is imprisoned, meets Rose and plans to marry her. She is released by her godmother for the wedding, then flees when the attack happens, spending thirty years looking for Rose. Her half of the wedding ring will light up when she finds Rose.

“When I was a little girl, my mother always told me 'Someday your prince will come, my love’ But as I grew, I knew it was a princess who would hold me I looked to the stars for you, my love” She’s lesbian Cinderella IN SPACE. She fell in love with her wife in prison and they ran away to have a secret marriage but the empire kidnapped Rose on their wedding night and Cinders had to leave her behind. She searches for Rose for decades with the glass ring that guides her to its twin on her wife’s finger. She finally reunites with her love after Rose rips three supersoldiers to pieces with her bare hands (hot) but then then the evil king kills Rose so Cinders fucking punches through his heart. And then a clone of Rose (who is also lesbian Sleeping Beauty IN SPACE) finds her cradling her wife’s body and they have a happy reunion(?) and maybe they didn’t have a happy ending BUT WHAT IF THEY HAD EACH OTHER? HUH? AAAAAH

she’s everything. she’s a princess from a long since conquered planet. she was imprisoned to make a statement of the brutal reign of old king cole. she met her wife while she was in prison, a beautiful brutal soldier covered in scars from battles. cinders and rose fell in love, so cinders’ godmother in white broke her out of jail so rose and cinders could be together. they were going to be married, except that OLD KING COLE intervened and kidnapped rose to make her the genetic base of his unholy army. so cinders spends THIRTY YEARS searching the galaxies for her love (and sings a really cool song about it called “Cinders’ Song”) until finally she arrives during the final battle just in time to see old king cole SHOOT ROSE DEAD. so cinders punches the king so hard (with her wedding ring) that he just Crumples Into Dust. the end! (no we do not talk about the fiction.)

lesbian, for one, and for two i don’t really care i just think it’d be cool if she got in/if she made it past the first round

no one seems to have linked cinder’s song yet, so here [Link]

better yet, listen to the whole album too, for context and also what comes after. it slaps and also tragedy it’s such a good album suhc a good band too

Someone already sent the song as propaganda, so I will provide SPOILER propaganda. [Click link to see spoilers.]

[Link]

[who-the-fuck-are-you-bruh]

Tragic lesbians bingqiu had entered the chat.

Trigger warning! Attempted SA (not by the protagonist), typical black lotus LB behavior, pidw's typical cruelty and body horror

After the death of her mother, life is only getting tougher for Binghe. She's a little girl with no protection on the streets, it's hard to get food and avoid slave traiders not to mention those creepy men who trie to lure her in with a promise of a shelter and a full belly. So Binghe doesn't join a cultivation sect but end up at the lowest ranked servant job at the rich manor where her mother used to work as a washerwoman. The family might not be the best masters but they don't pay her much of the attention and they are not needlessly cruel. Except for the young master. But Binghe can live with that. Especially since she's got a wonderful and kind older sister! Shen Yaun is on the duty to show younger girls the ropes. She's barely older than them and may be a bit lazy but she's also patient and genuinely tries to make their lives better. A meat bun here, a helping hand there… No wonder they teasingly call her a teacher. And even if Shen Yaun shouldn't she does have a favorite "student", the most cuttest little lamb. Binghe always does her best and with each year she gets more skilled and beautiful. SY has never been so proud! She often says how LB should try to apply for a job to an inner palace of the emperor. Surely they would pay handsomely for her skills! But Binghe always declines and just says how she can't leave her older sister behind. It's such a perfect little life they bild but nothing lasts forever. The young master got older and his troublesome behavior grew with him. One day Binghe catch him forcing himself on Shen Yaun jiejie and she sees nothing but red afterwards. Hell break loose. Assault and attempted murder of her master get Binghe a horrible punishment. Despite SY pleading and crying and promising everything, everything, I beg you, young master, please, spare her life, Binghe is beaten blue and left to die in the deep forest pit, where her body will be left to the mercy of wild animals so she may never get reincarnated. SY leaves the manor. She does odd jobs here and there but mostly she prays. Prays for LB being granted a chance for the next life, a better one, long life full of kindness and love. A few years pass like that. She doesn't know it but the rich manor get burned to the ground. Non survived but the young master's body is the most gruesome sight out of all. Nothing but the torso they said, even his member cut off. Shen Yaun meets Binghe at the oddest hour of the night. She almost didn't recognize the little girl she used to teach how to scrub the floors and take care of her unruly hair. Before her is a beautiful wealthy young lady. The new persona crashes with a fountain of maiden's tears thought! Her sticky bun is still in there! And the bliss returned. With Binghe life once again became worth living, a horrible guilt SY used to carry around like a wedding vow begins to lighten. They're closer than ever and Shen Yaun can't stop looking, greedy for that closeness just as much an Binghe is. All that beauty, all that grace, the red pit of her pupils… The world around them seems to disappear sometimes. Just like some villagers. Or SY's rude masters and customers. Shen Yaun slowly catch herself on the realization what Binghe… Came back wrong. (But Binghe didn't. She's always been like this, Shen Yaun jiejie just didn't look closely enough.)

[graceshouldwrite]

Writing Villains (Underrated Tips)

1. Variety

Not all villains have to be the next Darth Vader, Luke Castellan, John Wick, etc. Your villain’s arc doesn’t have to originate from the Big Traumatic Thing that happened when they were X Years Old. Here are some characterization ideas that still keep them interesting (no tragic backstory required):

misguided villain. They don’t think what they do is that evil/they think they are benefiting others (e.g. Thanos from the MCU)

IDGAF villain. They just don’t care about the disaster they leave behind them (e.g. Ozai from ATLA)

past bystander villain. Nothing bad happened to THEM particularly-- they just saw bad things happen to other people, and decided that they need to correct society (e.g. Light Yagami from Death Note)

I was bored villain. They were bored. And millions died for it. They’re probably also an ENTP. Oh, well (e.g. Ryuk from Death Note)

zealous villain. They do it for their cause--god, cult, organization, whatever--there’s a greater power that is their greater purpose (e.g. Cthulu cultists from Call of Cthulu)

staunch traditionalist (often allegorically racist) villain. They want to act according to, and preserve the statusquo (tends to be heritage, race, class, personality, etc.), and believe that any change is bad (e.g. Lucius Malfoy from Harry Potter)

These are just some examples of interesting villain characterizations that absolutely do NOT need a tragic backstory to function.

2. Spill the tea

Show how they treat the people closest to them.

Instead of just focusing on their actions, create moments where readers can see them interacting with their family, friends, etc. This is a powerful tool with the potential to humanize them in a softer way, or make them seem even more scary, merciless, corrupt, secretive, etc.

For example, the audience doesn’t just see Azula from ATLA fight people and conquer cities with a crazy amount of skill and power. The writers show how she interacts with her two best friends; the way she shamelessly belittles them to their faces, manipulates them as pawns, and has no problem putting them in incredible danger reveals a LOT more about her character in a way that only showing her actions cannot.

3. Polarize

Consistency isn’t always key. Sure, the cold and calculating overlord should generally make cold and calculating decisions, but to spice things up, find the thing that will make them snap. Change. Show weakness. Become their opposite, if only for a moment.

(SPOILER WARNING for Arcane)

Silco is a drug kingpin in an underbelly city that is full of gangs, criminals, murderers, thieves, and the sort (you get it).

He not only survives--he THRIVES in that kind of environment as one of the scariest authorial figures. He himself had to experience crazy backstabbing, and grew to be nothing but calculated, manipulative, and ruthless...until he unofficially adopted a daughter! He realized that she had “undone” him to the point where he refused to give her up for a dream he would have been willing to die for.

It DOES sound pretty inconsistent for the ruthless drug kingpin to sacrifice EVERYTHING he’d worked for to clean up after an insane daughter who runs around making murderous messes that attract flocks of authorities. And, it is. Like he says himself, he loses “nothing but problems.”

But, real humans are almost never 100% consistent, and this sort of polarity will humanize your villains without necessarily requiring a tragic backstory or a noble motivation.

∘₊✧────── ☾☼☽ ──────✧₊∘

instagram: @ grace_should_write

Hope this was helpful, and let me know if you have any questions by commenting, re-blogging, or DMing me on IG. Any and all engagement is appreciated :)

Happy writing, and have a great day!

- grace <3

[dumbistsmartass]

saying something about every hatchetfield production

spoilers, some nonsense, zero consistency with what I talk about, hurriedly written text, and back Cinderella’s Castle, QUICKLY, the kickstarter ends on May 4th. Also I mostly won’t be talking about the message to take away from all of them because I plan to make that another post.

TGWDLM: the catalyst of it all, it set up many fan favorite characters. Also my personal interpretation is that the musical we watch is actually happening in canon and is being put on by Pokky/Paul. Also how much of someone’s personality remain after infection?

Black Friday: it does pretty good as our first (true) intro to the LiBs it works very well. We get more General Macnmara who quickly becomes one of my favs. It also adds a lot of my other favs to the Hatchetverse, Hanna, Lex, Ethan, and Tom

NPMD: probably my favorite of the mainline musicals. I really hate Dirty Girl tho. The musical version of Hatchet Town is better than the OST version. The characters all have really good chemistry. I love Grace as a warning about the consequences of using religion as a fear tactic, when she sinned and wasn’t instantly punished for it she decided to take matters into her own hands and became a bloodthirsty maniac. The fact we got so close to a good ending if Max hadn’t fallen is darkly funny.

Hatchetfield Apeman: I don’t know how to feel about this one, it’s an interesting story but I think shouldn’t have been the first nightmare time story as it set a bad precedent for a lot of people.

Watcher World: I FUCKING LOVE WATCHER WORLD. The horror buildup of “what the fuck is happening here?” was genuinely amazing. The idea of a paranormal amusement part made for the amusement of an elder god id so cool. I feel uncomfortable saying the work “Sniglet”

Forever and always: one of my favs, the mystery of the two Emma’s is amazing, and the twist of which Emma Paul chose is amazing. It does make me wonder tho, is Emma a robot in every timeline? Also im just gonna assume that Tinky is connected to this one.

Time Bastered: another of my favs, the way it connects with FaA and the very clever time travel writing were highlights. The Ted is The Homeless Guy twist is really clever, and the ending is tragic

Jane’s a Car: holy shit my opinions on this one is so mixed. I love the bonding of Becky, Tom, and Tim is so wholesome. I REALLY hate that scene. Also is Jane turned into a car in every universe?

The Witch in the Web: our true into too Webby. Massive lore dumbs sort of weighted it down for me but it was still good.

Honey Queen: god I love this one. The fact that the LiBs aren’t mentioned until the very end was a really good choice. Both Zoey and Linda going to any length to win was some great tension.

Perky’s Buds: I went into this one expecting it to be kinda mid, and I was right but it was on the high end of mid. Ziggy being NB and played by a real NB actor is great! The bird hive mind is genuinely kinda unnerving despite how cute they are. I personally think they should have died, then content on the rooftop with the fire would have been such a good ending, but the police showing up to arrest them packs less of a punch.

Abstinence Camp: again, one of my favs, I fucking love this one and it also has the best Nightmare Timr song. It’s a fun way of exploring the “if you have sex in a horror movie you die” trope. Grace once again gets some sort of power and abuses it.

Daddy: I have mixed feelings, it’s a genuinely interesting plot but it get pretty uncomfortable. The song at the start made me think it would be a more empathetic take on Sherman Young but it definitely fucking wasn’t.

Killer Track: what is there to say? Killer track is actually so fucking amazing, if you will watch anything from this list watch this. I’m saying nothing else

Yellow Jacket: not at all what I was expecting, but it was great! From what I heard I was sort of expecting a high school drama with Pokky doing his bullshit in the background, but I loved this too. Also the ending hurt me.

Workin’ Boys: Pokky strikes again, but I’m not sure why TBH. Motherfucker just decided to fuck with his one most loyal subject and for what?

[angelsdean]

more about baby beezee (bobbie zeppelin), destiel's post-canon magic baby.

she is absolutely an unplanned accident. as i've explained in my other posts, she's a grace+soul bond magic baby! no pregnancy here !! this is a supernatural fantasy show, we've evolved past the need for pregnancies. for the sake of this version of the AU i'll have dean be the "carrier" of the little gace-soul orb. (everyone loves impregnating this man. he's not pregnant tho.)

at first, neither of them know what's happened. it's post-canon. they're finally together. they're having lots of mindblowing and intense sex. some of that sex involves cas using his grace. some of it is 4D dream sex with cas's trueform. there's just a lot going on. and one of these times, well, it's just very intimate and loving and a piece of cas's grace bonds with a piece of dean's soul and well, a new grace-soul is created. cas should be able to detect the new presence growing within dean's soul, however dean's always had a bit of cas's grace attached to his soul ever since cas gripped him tight and raised him from perdition. the handprint is just a physical manifestation of the grace mark left behind on dean's soul.

SO! cas does not notice at first that the bits of grace he's perceiving in dean's soul are not the handprint bits that have been there for years. until, it starts growing. and cas freaks out because he is very familiar with dean's soul and it's starting to change color and pulse strangely and that new energy is transforming into something its own. but cas still recognizes bits of both of them in the little orb. and then it clicks. oh. we've made a child. now this has never happened before. in all of angelkind. in all of history. nephilim, yes of course. but a purely grace-soul bond like this? no, never. it's always been a theoretical possibility, there are very ancient enochian texts that examine the possibility, there is even a ritual to bring the soul out into a physical form. but it's never actually happened before. there is a mild freakout a la twilight. cas is worried dean might die. dean is fiercely protective of the little orb (cas shows it to him via magic ultrasound by projecting an image of dean's soul into his mind). they eventually call on rowena for help deciphering the rituals in the ancient texts and she assures them it will be fine, no tragic deaths on the horizon, this is a post-chuck future after all.

[marley-manson]

Finally watched the Xena finale, thanks to the fanon episode order treating it as a midseason soft finale that gets fixed by When Fates Collide lol.

And man, it really was a hot mess. I could barely follow the plot, and many aspects were very arbitrary and like, revealed off-screen. The most hilarious of course being Xena suddenly announcing, like a minute before the end of the episode, that oh actually apparently she has to stay dead, sorry Gab, xoxo

It is VERY Xena though to have a plotline where Xena anticlimactically dies in the pre-credits scene at the beginning of part 2 and both you and the characters assume for the rest of the episode that she's going to come back to life like usual until the tragic twist lol.

Akemi was... resoundingly mediocre as one of Xena's exes. Her only personality traits were 'proto-Gabrielle' and 'wants to kill her dad.' Also like... was there incest subtext there? Like it was implied that the little creepy afterlife she was in was like, her dad's ghosts' personal brothel or something? But like I said, the plot was very hard to follow.

The themes were also a mess of course, it's been said many times but yeah ignoring the central theme of the show (atonement is pointless if you're doing good now) in favour of redemption thru death was dumb, the set up was dumb (we're blaming Xena for 40k deaths because she set a couple dudes on fire in self defense? Man at least give me an actual deliberate atrocity here), and choosing death over Gabrielle was like a dumb reverse Ides of March. Also Gabrielle just going like, 'damn okay I guess, bye forever,' was unbelievable. Even if Xena wants to backslide, I'm pretty sure Gabrielle would force her to come back to life anyway, fuck those souls. Like, it's not even clear how Xena's death helps them? Killing Akemi's evil dad again freed them from torment or whatever, who cares if they don't get avenged? What is a state of grace? How will they be lost, if she comes back to life? People go unavenged all the time, deal with it.

That said, I'd been under the impression that somehow Xena's death here contradicts the whole reincarnation thing, but I didn't get that at all? Idt there's any stipulation that she has to stay in the Japanese afterlife, just that she has to be killed and stay dead, and it does make sense since in their next lives Xena is a lot older than Gabrielle, so she should logically die a few decades earlier.

On the more positive side of things, it was very fun to see Gabrielle shining as ~the new Xena~ Love to see her kicking that one dude's ass twice, and the moment she catches the chakram is super cool. The non-Xena chakram-catch has always been framed as an 'oh shit, this woman's gonna be hardcore as hell' moment in the show so I love that they use it to show how far Gab's come.

And of course, gay gay gay homosexual gay. Like, season 6 is the point where I would say it is textual if only the show didn't go out of its way to scream "IT'S STILL AMBIGUOUS" a couple times lol (reporter's question in You Are There, fans in Soul Possession saying "yay Xena and Gabrielle are finally together" when they hear Harry and Mattie are married, eg.) "If I only had thirty seconds to live, this is how I'd want to spend them: looking into your eyes. I love you, Gabrielle." Like goddamn. I appreciate this cast and crew so much. Plus the incredibly thinly veiled makeout scene <3

Finally, while I think her chatting with Xena at the very end was meant to be more metaphorical or symbolic rather than literally Gabrielle talking to herself, it was an unfortunately funny image and a pretty terrible final scene imo. I do like the 'I hear they're in need of a girl with a chakram' reprise though, I gotta admit. Go kick some ass babe <3

And despite very much not liking that Xena dies in the finale, I would still read/watch the shit out of Gabrielle's now-single adventures as a just-as-invincible gay hero, kicking ass, fucking women without ever settling down with anyone, telling stories about Xena and becoming even more famous herself.

[hikaaa-bi]

so something that bothered me about the Infinity Train fandom is how they always seem to be on either of two extreme ends when it comes to judging Simon's character. it's either "Simon is an evil scum who deserved to die" or "Simon is an innocent misunderstood victim". like.. have you guys never heard of complex villains?

the worst take I've seen is people blaming the show writers for killing off Simon because "they're implying that he deserved to die". i just don't know how people jumped to this conclusion, it's a leap for sure. you don't kill off characters in a story because they deserve to die, you do it because that's the way the story goes.

and i agree that certain writers can have controversial ideals that reflect in their writing, but i really don't think that's the case here. Simon's death was never framed as satisfactory or victorious, it was framed as tragic. you don't see Grace and the Apex celebrating his death, you see them mourning it. he tried to kill Grace but she is still heartbroken and traumatized by his death. it's so clear that the narrative wants us to sympathize with him, but also acknowledge the fact that he did some pretty heinous stuff that can't be forgiven.

could Simon have been redeemed? yes. i think any character could be redeemed, regardless of how evil they were because as i've mentioned before, redemption ≠ forgiveness. but did he need to be redeemed? no. the point of this season was to show two characters who start off in the same place and end up in wildly different ones. two characters who are given choices and choose the one that decides their fate.

the truth here is that while Simon is a traumatized character that we can empathize with, he still chose the path that led to his demise. and believe it or not, people sometimes do that. for example, if a person with an alcohol addiction drank and drove, and ended up killing themself in an accident, that is the direct consequence of their actions. does that mean they deserved it? probably not. they may have had an understandable explanation to why they drank. they may have been depressed or peer pressured or trying to escape harsh realities, and none of it is their fault. but people die and sometimes it's a grizzly death. sometimes the nicest people suffer a lot, and it's not a testament to their character.

some fans may have painted Simon as a pure evil but the show certainly didn't, and it's stupid to attack the creators for killing off a character for narrative purpose. like.. is this the first time you've seen a fictional character die? i understand being upset about it, i was upset about it too. but it was the right decision in a narrative sense. Infinity Train has never shied away from touching on brutally realistic topics and this is just part of it.

my point is. sometimes people just die a brutal death. death doesn't have a specific meaning and it's not a testament to people's morality. it's just death.

[zukkaoru]

grace would u care to share more about what u think the tsumikirara dynamic is like 🎤 (ur a visionary btw)

(manga spoilers under cut)

YES okay so. i think what's most important to me at the core is that they help each other grow. tsumiki teaches kirara about makeup and other girly things, she invites kirara to slumber parties and spa nights with her friends, she gives a kirara a chance to just be a normal girl, which is something kirara never got since they started transitioning after transferring to jujutsu high. and in turn, kirara helps tsumiki see that she doesn't need to be the Perfect Golden Child. she doesn't need to be megumi's perfect role model, or the straight-a student who has never done anything wrong in her life. she's allowed to be a person just as much as kirara is, just as much as megumi and gojo are. and they also help tsumiki falsely see that being a sorcerer doesn't have to be as tragic as megumi and gojo seem to think it is. sorcerers can still have meaningful relationships, and it isn't always doom and gloom - because kirara is happy when they're with tsumiki. and of course, there's still the underlying knowledge that sorcerers tend to die early deaths and the higher ups don't like kirara because of their technique, but kirara is quite a bit more optimistic about everything than gojo and megumi are, and at least for a little while, both kirara and tsumiki believe they can be happy together.

i imagine gojo introduces them either in kirara's first or second year bc either they want to learn how to do makeup and gojo's like i know just the person!! or gojo just. senses that kirara is wanting more friends who are girls bc kirara's never really had any friends who are girls before so he's like hmmmm i happen to know a girl who is about kirara's age!

so anyway gojo introduces them and they really hit it off. they both like stars/outer space and it's nice for kirara to have a friend who isn't a sorcerer and is just a normal girl and tsumiki is excited to have a friend who is a sorcerer bc megumi and gojo are both pretty tight-lipped about sorcerer stuff around her (bc they don't want to worry her.. it's not exactly working) and originally, my thoughts were "and then they become best friends ❤️" but the sapphic rarepair enthusiast that lives in my mind was like ".......but what if they kissed about it? 👀" so. i think they should kiss. and no one really knows they're dating and they don't exactly put a label on it but like.. the feelings are There. megumi is Not a Fan and he pretends it's because he's not a fan of kirara but the truth is he doesn't want tsumiki involved in jujutsu society any more than she has to be bc he doesn't want her getting hurt. but he knows they're dating-not-dating and hakari also knows and they're. the only ones.

canon compliant tsumikirara would be tragic bc. what relationship isn't tragic in jjk? i imagine kirara is one of like. three people who visits tsumiki while she's in a coma. megumi of course visits her all the time, gojo does sparingly bc he feels guilty when he doesn't but he also feels guilty when he does. kirara tries to visit as regularly as they can and talks to her about everything that's happening and what she's missing out on etc, etc,, and they visit tsumiki one last time before they and hakari leave jujutsu high and apologize for leaving - they don't regret leaving jujutsu high but they regret that they'll have to leave tsumiki too. they reunite after "tsumiki" wakes up, and kirara can kinda tell something is Off, but they write it off as the fact that it's been over a year and a half since they've Actually spoken to each other and the fact that the world is in shambles and the fact that they're dating hakari now so like.. Awkward, right? it's supposed to be awkward? this is normal yeah this is normal everything is fine--

BUT! then there's the potential for non-canon compliance and this is where things get fun. this is where i take all the jjk characters and make them barbie dolls with which i play out a soap opera sitcom.

SO in an au where the culling games never happen (maybe shibuya never happens also) and tsumiki wakes up from her coma as herself, there's an adjustment period bc kirara is dating hakari but like.. they never truly got over tsumiki and both them and hakari know that. tsumiki thinks kirara has moved on and is sad but also like yeah that's fair i was in a coma for a while i can't blame them. but eventually they work out the fact that kirara has two hands and then hakari and tsumiki end up being besties too so tsumikirara and hakira can co-exist ❤️

megumi hates this. so much. solely because of all people, hakari is involved. it's very important to me that hakari thinks megumi is the cringest person to ever walk the earth and also he thinks tsumiki is the coolest. this is true in every universe; i know it in my heart. also it's so funny and jjk is a comedy if i play pretend hard enough. so megumi and hakari have the dynamic of that one scene in gravity falls where dipper and robbie glare at each other while wendy's back is turned but the Moment she looks at them, they pretend they're besties. that is megumi and hakari. they will throw punches when tsumiki isn't looking but as soon as her eyes are on them, they're best friends who enjoy each other's company very much thank you :)

anyway at the end of the day tsumiki and kirara are just two girls (gender neutral) who look at the stars together and help each other grow and even if the ending is tragic, for a little while, they made each other happy. for a little while, they were twinkling stars illuminating each other's worlds

[warrior-cats-rewritten]

Mapleshade's Curse expanded!

Update: v1.1 Duskfur, Curlfeather and Podlight have been added to the post, and Reedwhisker's description has changed due to potential changes.

Update: 1.2 Hm, seems I can do something with Curlfeather.... Other than give her the curled ears she deserves.

Since this is such a heavy one I wanted to show off more of it and how it effects the cats it touches. It is important to note that this Curse is STILL active.

Appleshine - Death in childbirth, passing the curse on to her children: Rainkit, and Rookkit, Rookkit would soon join her.

Shypaw - Bad fish causing her death. This did however make Riverclan 10x more vigilant about food poisoning signs, later saving more lives.

Duskwater - She lived a lonely life, too afraid of the tragic fate of her siblings to do anything she deemed too risky. She watched Rookkit fade away and Rainkit grow into a vain diva of a cat, Rainflower. She thought going to the dirt place was safe that night as the rain poured down.

Rainflower - Beautiful, graceful Rainflower was always told she was perfect. She wouldn't accept anything less than perfect, and abused her son Stormkit. When she demanded he be renamed, Hailstar named him an apprentice early, saying that his crooked jaw was something to be proud that he survived. She was named Rotflower that day, and her later death was a painful one. She walks in the Dark Forest as Crookedstar does not forgive her.

Crookedstar - His fall in the river should have killed him, Mapleshade saved him that day before she knew who his mother was, being in a good mood that day. She trained him brutally hard, made sure he praised Riverclan above all else. She made sure that he was picked for deputy after his father retired, but made him (nearly) miss his father's passing. She attracted the dog that knocked Rotflower into the river. She didn't kill his mate or children, but she gave Willowbreeze extra energy, making her not want to go into the nursery until she was forced to, which put Willowbreeze at risk, though it didn't contribute to any deaths.

Oakheart - He hated the attention Rotflower gave him, it drove him up the wall. So Mapleshade turned his head towards a pretty blue-gray molly at a Gathering, and let that play out however it would, she really had no idea what would come of it, leaving it to pure chance. If they had children she would come to haunt them but if not she was down to at least watch the drama.

Willowkit and Minnowkit - No curse. They were going to die anyway, slightly risky pregnancy or not. They were goners.

Mosskit - The smallest barer of the Curse. It literally just gave her softer fur, so a bit harder for Bluefur to groom her. More an annoyance than anything but didn't cause her death. Mapleshade's curse doesn't truly activate until a cat is older than Patch Petal and Larch.

Silverstream - Giving birth was incredibly difficult and damn near killed her until Mudfur managed to show up, guided by Willowbreeze's spirit. She then had to watch her clan fall into a horrible dogma of xenophobia over something as stupid as "pure blood" once her father died. This was the clan that waged wars over kits with even a drop of Riverclan blood in their veins, she watches her cousin and best friend be slaughtered, her children almost being taken with them before the cats were free. Her mate would be captured by twolegs and be left behind, Feathertail died in the mountains, Stormfur left, her later kits would struggle as well before she would finally lose her hearing and pass from an odd illness herself...

Mistystar - Hers is perhaps the most cruel. A life lived for too long can be just as terrible as a swift death. Her foster mother forgetting her before being found dead, her friend, son and brother were murdered before her eyes, her birth mother dying just as they had gotten to know her, her other son dying in The Great Battle, and grandchildren suffering horribly with her helpless to stop it... Her death may have been coming from a different curse, but one could easily believe it was Starclan having mercy.

Stonefur - His life was okay, average, and fulfilling enough for him. But watching his beloved clan fall into violent hatred and persecution of any cats Tigerstar so pleased was torture. He would never lay a claw on an apprentice, and paid Tigerstar's bloody price.

Piketail - Losing the tip of his tail as a kitten wasn't bad enough, he had to go and nearly poison himself with a poisoned rat too! Eventually his risky behaviors would land him in trouble when he attacks Leopardstar after the death of his uncle and mentor.

Perchcloud - Another long life but a slow, slightly clumsy one. One could even day he was untouched by the curse other than the occasional scrape until Mapleshade killed him during the Great Battle.

Primroseheart - A rocky start and a tough journey to the lake got her down, and she considered leaving to become a kittypet until she saw that her clanmate Hawkfrost was quite troubled. The two bonded over the weight over legacy, and feeling weird about their parents, and eventually had a litter of kits. Reedkit, Swankit, and Cloudkit.

Reedwhisker - Poor Reedwhisker. He wanted so badly to be leader of his beloved clan. Between his difficult birth and nearly drowning during his cruelly extended apprenticeship, he set himself on the straight and narrow, a career man who was so excited when he was made Mistystar's second deputy after Pouncetail retired, going on to mentor his own great-niece, Curlfeather. Unfortunately, he would never see his dream recognized, as his life was cut short by an unknown assassin just as he would be set to take on leadership.

Stormfur - The trauma he endured changed him from a cheerful apprentice into a colder soul. Not mean, but not social. His loyalty lay with Feathertail, not Riverclan. It was only Featherpaw saying she wanted to go back that made him go at all. Her death broke his heart completely, only healed by Small Brook's love. If the Curse has followed him to the Tribe, I cannot say.

Feathertail - Though her faith in Riverclan was a bit shaken by the horrific things she went through, Feathertail stayed strong, and was proud of who she was. While Silverstream could never go back home, Featherpaw had begged to. She was haunted with visions of the Bonehill, but fought through it to befriend Hawkpaw, Mothpaw and the newly named Frogpaw. Her death came swiftly, but it was not of the curse. Her death was always fate itself.

Duskfur - Duskfur was named after her ancestor, Duskwater, though was very much the opposite. She trained on the Dark Forest, and almost fought on their side until she realized they would be attacking kits. At that point she turned herself around, but is still more of a Tiger Law supporter, as the ones in Riverclan couldn't get to her father, Hawkfrost, they got to his (at the time) only daughter. Who knows what she is up to now, and with whom?

Reedkit - Primroseheart and Hawkfrost's courageous firstborn also fell victim to greencough just days before her apprentice ceremony. Whether that is a curse or just plain bad luck is unknown.

Swankit - Mapleshade did not orchestrate this. No Dark Forest Cat would do what happened to young Swankit. The trap should never have been laid at the Lake.

Cloudsnap - Mapleshade fed her name suggestion to Mistystar, that was all that was needed. When Cloudsnap trained in the Dark Forest, it was her anger and unresolved grief that drove her to it. She made her choice in the end, to fight for Starclan, but her life will be a hard one. Her future children may bear the Curse as well.

Briarlight - The firstborn in Silverstream and Graystripe's second litter has had it ROUGH. Nearly being bitten by an adder as a kit, then her mentor dying from the Drought (she is reassigned to Sorreltail after before finally a tree crushing her spine and taking Longtail with it. Briarlight was free after that, and though she nearly had her life taken from sickness, she rose to be Thunderclan's first ever Mediator.

Blossomfall - She was mentored personally by Mapleshade, who whispered in her ears that her clanmates didn't care about her, that they would let Briarlight die, that she would be alone... It got to her, and she began to train to be better. However, it backfired when she became mates with Ivypool, their love being stronger than Blossomfall's fear. Blossomfall turned on the Dark Forest and helped to battle them away. She has since shed the curse, hopefully it won't pass on to Bristlefrost, Flipclaw, Thriftear and Plumstone.

Bumblestripe - His life would be a lonely one. He didn't connect well with any clanmates aside from his sisters, feeling as if no one understood him until Dovepaw was friendly towards everyone. He fell in love with Dovepaw, and chased after her (along with training in the Dark Forest) until Dovewing finally gave a hesitant yes. His own arrogance drove her away, not any family curse. He fell in with the sympathetic "Bramblestar", and his death at Tigerstar's claws came swiftly, and not undeserving.

Podlight - While is extremely sensitive sense of taste may just be a 'him' thing, Podlight suffers from brutal wounds during A Vision Of Shadows when he fights against the Kin, all of which get infected. He ends up losing half of his tail, and loses some sight in his right eye, along with several scars. While he is now considered quite handsome, he has sadly fallen into the drama of what is going on in Riverclan.

Curlfeather - Curlfeather is a unique cat. Suffering from nightmares and visions of the Great Battle that took place when she was young, along with the horrible flood that happened during her transition from Kit to Paw, and things around her. Curlpaw was apprenticed to Reedwhisker, and did everything she could to be perfect. When Jayclaw died, her heart broke, but she stayed strong with good resolve to raise her kits. After all, that's what a good Leader would do...

[fullscoreshenanigans]

You know, Isabella's life had been so tragic. She had to make a choice of becoming a sister or die. How can you make this kind of choice at 12? She didn't want to die of course. she had to have a kid who would be throw in the system. And who would be eaten at a point.

She became a mother. And..ultimate horror: her child was under her care. She had to raise him to be eaten. And they both know that. Ray KNEW that she was his mother and she knew he knew.

She tried to give as much happiness that she could to the kids. Making her personal toy and stuff like that. She loved them. She kept their toys as memories after have been forced to give them to demons.

She must have felt so awful at first. Knowing that it was heer siblings fate, that it could have been HER fate. That all the kids under her care were going to reach this fate. that her OWN kid was going to be eaten and that she would be the one to give him to the demons.

Isabella could just hope to save few girls, like Emma by sending them to the same fate then her: becoming sisters and maybe mothers.

She could give more time to few kids by sending them to Lambda, as much horrible it was, because it would give them more time to live. Even if it was not so much. She has kinda saved Norman by doing that, even if she didn't knew at this moment. That's horrible because of what the kids live there but they live a little longer.

She never had any choice. She was as much captive of the system than the kids themself. She could just save few girls. Give more time to few boys.

How much she must have hated herself? how much painful it has been?

And about Ray? she knew that she couldn't do anything. He was a boy so he couldn't become a sister, he was not a super genious as Norman so he wouldn't be fit for Lambda.

He was almost 12 at the beginning of the manga. so close to reach the point where he would have to be given to demon. Isabella may have managed to keep him as long she could but the limit was close (lucky her, he was very smart so he succeded in all tests). She knew that he probably hater her. But she just could give him things he wants and buy him as much time she could give him. She loved him but couldn't let herself have too deep affection for a kid who was never going to be 13.

And when the kids escaped. she was certanly proud and relieved that the kids (Ray) were safe (for now) and thought she was going to die. But then she promoted. Then forced to prepare the kids she raised to be eaten, killing them herself. And then she dies, protecting Emma.

And then she dies, holding her own child's hand. Hearing him cry for her.

She deserved better. All the humans, who suffered of the farm system, in the demons word deserved better.

Yeeeeesss I repeatedly come back to how utterly fraught Isabella and Ray's relationship is because it's one of the things that lingered with me the most after binging S1 and still does, even almost two years later. She's one of greyest characters in the series when it comes to the morality behind her actions and motives, and I always think it's interesting how different people interpret them.

The despondency and resignation after years at HQ training to become a Sister and eventually the youngest Mom in the history of Grace Field is so palpable in that shot we see of her caressing her stomach during the flashback where she's pregnant with Ray:

(Minerva Confidential Report from the S1 Blu-ray)

She's not even in control of her own bodily autonomy as she's forced to carry this child she doesn't want so the system can continue to be replenished. It's nothing short of systemic medical rape that's been going on for generations, and part of why I question the harshness of HQ during the glimpses of it we see in the series proper and in the light novels after Ray explicitly points out how important it is for Grace Field children to not grow up in a distressing environment.

(Chapter 27)

If nothing else, you would think the demons would at least attempt to glamorize this aspect of their existence. Even if they didn't want the children, even if they were still cattle and their autonomy was an illusion, they could at least be offered more material comforts and be allowed to relax in relative luxury for the duration of the pregnancy. But Isabella's room looks just as stark as a young Krone's does.

Enduring such torture for years for the slim opportunity of becoming a Sister or a Mom at one of five plants is such an agonizing thought exercise, and one of the most vile things is how it forces them to buy into this vicious, cutthroat cycle in order to barely survive and maintain their sanity.

What becomes a sticking point for me is how Isabella has internalized this mentality to the point where she derives enjoyment from besting her charges or resolutely reinforces the belief that she is more deserving of a long life than them.

Upon seeing a completely distraught Ray alone in the library toward the end of episode 10 after Norman is shipped out, Isabella smiles to herself as she turns and walks away. There's so much that can be pulled out of this minuscule four-second scene, I obsess over it. The child she was forced to deliver has lost one of his most beloved friends after she had acknowledged the happiness the other boy repeatedly brought to Ray and how she appreciated her biological son could have that brief respite under the cruel circumstances they found themselves in.

(TPN Light Novel 2: Moms’ Song of Remembrance - “The Starry Sky and Leslie’s List”)

And yet here she is, silently reveling in thwarting his plan of six years in one fell swoop.

You could argue that she's expressing contentment at how the system can remain intact so the other Grace Field children are still able to live ignorant and blissful lives until their shipment dates, that her five oldest children haven't ruined that for them, but given how it's Ray specifically in this scene she's looking at before turning away, I'm inclined to disagree, or at least that it's solely a selfless (if warped) stance.

Ray is the result of one of the worst acts the farm system forced upon her, and she's found herself more than once being caught off guard by how much he takes after her.

Another thing up for debate is how much of an unreliable narrator Isabella is regarding her own feelings because that's an element that's constantly in play for this series, but taking her at her word here, she states she holds no particular maternal feelings for him.

I think being stuck in such a routine, mundane domestic cycle with little to no outside contact and knowing deep down one isn't truly living would eat at a person as the years went on, so she took it out on the only other person in the house who had an idea of the true hell they lived in. Never directly in the form of physical abuse or explicit verbal threats, but with all the self-loathing and frustration she held for herself over succumbing to the system, and how she saw herself in Ray both in his plans of escape (because she had no idea he planned on killing himself, otherwise she would have taken some countermeasures to ensure he would still be able to be shipped out successfully) and his physical resemblance, I think there was a silent, petty delight she took in seeing him fail just like she had.

Though at times she probably hated herself for that, too.

Further plagiarizing myself from this post but my thoughts largely remain the same:

I continue to debate how much of her maintaining her deal with Ray was strictly for pragmatic reasons and how much was due to wanting to keep him close out of some painfully complicated mess of emotions that was constantly oscillating between a tainted affection and spiteful hatred. Any time she would find herself falling into the former, forgetting the circumstances of their relationship, him being the living, breathing reminder of one of the worst things HQ forced her to endure would resurface and how they chose to put him in her plant as if to silently mock her and unknowingly rub in how pitiful the life of a Mom would always be under this system. To openly love him would be one step further in giving in than she’d already done by accepting the Mom position and loving all the other cattle children she raised for slaughter, and she hated to give that much more of herself than she already had when she wasn’t aware of his origins. So she would dutifully do what was tasked of her, but on her terms, as petty as they were.

The most important thing in this moment is this smile isn't for anyone else but herself. Ray's not looking at her. There are no other children around she's trying to maintain an iron front for so as to crumble their resolve so they'll give into despair and live the remainder of their time in somber peace. This one is for her being able to maintain her cognitive dissonance regarding the life she lives and coming out on top in this match of wits. She was presented with essentially a non-choice when she arrived at the gate on her twelfth birthday, but she did have a choice in how she chose to express this.

There isn't an equivalent scene of this in the manga, but the last page of chapter 3 gives us a manga-only one.

Again, we have Isabella alone, so she's not putting up a front for Krone, who has yet to arrive, or any of the children. This is her reinforcing that, while she loves the children she's charged with in her own distorted way, she is the one who deserves to survive and live a long life, perfectly preceded by Emma's contrasting declaration that the sacrifice of any more lives for the sake of singular survival is not an acceptable outcome for her. It's something that I can't entirely fault Isabella for, because she didn't deserve this fate for merely being born in the demon world, but it's something that should be acknowledged as selfish, albeit human.

The same can be said regarding her complicity with the continued sacrificing of children during her tenure as Grandma. I doubt that if you presented this scenario to every single one of those children they would be okay with being among the lucky few who were shipped while waiting for the escapees from plant no.3 to come back and finally put an end to the Neverland.

(Chapter 177)

I think there's also a selfish reading one can pull from her final words to Ray, though it's unintentional on her part given where one's mind must be when they're on the precipice of death.

At this point, it's safe to say she's genuinely remorseful when she states she wishes she had time to atone for everything she's done, and asking Ray to take care of everyone in her stead given what we've seen of him truly beginning to thrive in life when he opens himself up to his family's love and has others relying on him does pair well with those maternal well wishes for the children's future. Yet knowing everything he went through and how little regard he held for his own life for so many years because he was also filled with self-loathing over his actions, her last request being to take care of everyone else without also advocating for him to take care of himself feels somewhat off, especially in light of how it was stressed by Emma and the other escapees in chapter 38.

It's a small choice of wording, and again she's not thinking the clearest when she's so close to death and so overwhelmed with wanting to convey her final sentiments toward them, but that's a lot to place on the shoulders of a thirteen-year-old, especially when he's not afforded the chance to truly have an honest conversation with her to express all his feelings over the years to her, and he's left to mourn that lost opportunity and all the "what ifs."

[lordkingsmith]

Adam Park OC Children

Adam’s a great guy and a total fucking sweetheart and the comics have and do him a disservice. I can’t fix that, but I can soothe my inner annoyance and give him a load of kiddos and loving relationships in all the alternate realities I can think of. And talk about the child he does canonically have in Coinless. Nameless Coinless boy also gets an au version. he deserves it, and his dad too.

Canon Children:

Unknown Mother;

Apparently a boy of unknown name, personality, or age. Child aged, maybe? So…probably anywhere from newborn to early preteens because the kid would probablyotherwise have been a sentry? I don’t know, I just… think they could have done a lot more with this mystery kiddo? child being assumed dead and then avenging Adam dying would have been a very cool plot twist! but no! he's so light on character he's not a character! He's a mention in a backstory to make Adam tragic! Who's his mom, who is he, how old was he, what illness did he die of, did he die of an illness, I-c'mon. there's light on character and then there's this. May the child come back in a reboot or just in general. And be a badass. I wish this for all of them, by the way.

My OC and Alternate Reality Kids for Adam:

Eugene Skullovitch;

Eugene doesn't believe in himself, but Adam does, did, and always has. They started dating after Adam encouraged him to play the piano in the talent show. Adam loves his music, and they're both encouraging of each other. Aisha is a surrogate for their son, Lukas. Given how close she was to Adam, it was only natural in her mind to offer. She loves him, loves he's found happiness, and when they decided they wanted kids she wanted to help that happiness grow. Lukas Park's 17, plays piano, and volunteers at the animal shelter. Adam's a doctor and while Lukas respects and likes this, he'd rather be a veterinarian. Or, like Skull, a professional classical pianist. They support Lukas with whatever he wants to do or be, and he loves the fact he's not being pressured. Skull once sat him down with a list of every job he's ever done (the list was actually more like an entire manila folder bursting out the sides, it was frankly impressive), a ranking system and how much each profession made. Everything from a cop to a detective to an undercover agent for the government to a waiter at a bar to a judge at a pet show to rockstar to pianist-it was comprehensive and a little overwhelming, but at the end of each profession Skull said if it was what he wanted, he'd be proud. At the end it left Lukas fairly calm and certain no matter what choice he made, it'd be the right choice for him, and his dads would support him in this. not associated with a color

Tommy Oliver;

They’d been friends since a bit before the transfer, and Tommy was Adam’s leader for years on three or four different ranger teams. There’s a level of trust there you don’t usually get, and they were both black and green rangers in their lives. After Tommy became Dino Thunder Black, and shortly after a divorce between him and Kat, Adam and Tommy started spending more time together. The getting together thing was an accident. Both of them at a Christmas party and then things going from one thing to the next, and Tommy says he’s never felt so at home waking up in someone’s arms.

They have one son together, Isaiah Park. Tommy cashed in on a favor owed by Grace, and soon enough JJ Oliver was trying to figure out where his baby half brother had come from. His opinion was Adam, because he was shorter. It wasn’t until several years later they were able to explain it in a way JJ would understand and accept. But they never let him live the cute story down, to his embarrassment. Given Tommy’s immunity to time fluctuations and manipulations by the Machine Empire, they found out they were living in the same town as Time Force. Tommy was able to complete a doctorate in, to Adam’s perception, a day. Tommy is a lead paleontologist due to this, and Adam works at the museum. However given Tommy being Tommy, there is currently a divorce. Tommy wears his trauma on his sleeve and Adam has given up trying to fix him.

Isaiah Park is sixteen. He’s quiet, thoughtful, and tends to think with his emotions rather than his mind. Lucky, charming, and a natural heartthrob to his school, though he doesn’t seem to notice. Loves music, especially classical, and reading. He hasn’t really thought about being a power ranger, though he wouldn’t say no if he was asked. He was babysat by the Dino Thunder team as a kid, and kidnapped by Mesogog once. All hell broke loose when this happened, and Isaiah’s unsure if he wants to be a ranger when this sort of danger could happen to any of his loved ones. Tommy and Adam are currently in the process of divorce, and Isaiah’s getting used to that idea as well, but it’s nice having JJ to talk to about it.

He has enough to deal with with his dads. They love telling the story of when he was three, they’d go “see you later alligator” and “after awhile Crocodile” and he’d respond, loudly and enthusiastically; “bye bye, froggie!” To this day he’s been unable to get them to stop telling this story to his friends, love interests, and any adult who’d listen. JJ feels the pain. Isaiah is not associated with any color. This is probably a good thing. However if he was, it’d be black.

Aisha Campbell;

It was just natural for them to get together. They’ve been friends together since forever, they’ve always been friends and it progressing to a little bit more made sense. They got married a little after joining SPD together. They have four kids together. Wendell, aged 26, Rocky, aged 26, Koniqua, aged 19, and Jacqueline “Jaq” Park, aged 17.

No way they weren’t going to name one of their kids after their closest friend aside from each other. Rocky was best man at their wedding even. When they found out they were having twins they simply used the middle name they were intending for a boy for Wendell. Rocky’s the older by eight hours, Wendell was a more difficult pregnancy and took his time, which actually was a foreshadowing to the twins’ personalities.

Rocky Park is rambunctious and a goofball. He loves making people laugh. Like his mom he’s empathetic and strong willed. Like his dad he’s prone to flashes of intense introspection, but never for long. Surprises people with his love of classical music. He’s enthusiastic to the point of being intense. Can be hard for him to dial it back. He’s a yellow ranger for his team.

Wendell is everything Rocky is not, and is a little bit of a little shit. He's often not noticed by other people, and tends to use that to his advantage. He knows his brother is a yellow ranger, and while he's not a ranger, he takes the opportunity to tackle or ram cars or steal from the monsters of the week. he's not noticed and it gives other rangers openings usually. He's given Rocky everything he's stolen, and is pleased when they're incorporated into the team's arsenal.

Koniqua is a lover of poetry, fables, and the history of the power rangers. She's determined to be one of the scientists who creates a new team, or unlocks the mysteries of the grid for general use. Pragmatic, quick thinking, happy to help her dumb brothers. They don't think she knows. She knew who'd saved her as soon as Rocky said "you're safe now civilian" and tried to act dumb. She barely resisted the urge to call him out. Doesn't bother fighting the monsters, her brothers got that covered, but she does help get other civilians to safety when needed. not associated with a color. She's going into historical costuming, with the intention of working for tv productions.

Jaq would love to know why earth is so valuable to bad guys that they keep trying to take it over. Genre savvy type, and doesn't take shit. Has psyched out two villains and one of the comedy duo by just asking over and over "okay but why". Not popular, has two best friends and they're all kind of outsiders. Prefers it this way. You will not find Jaq anywhere near the monsters when they appear, she's gone and dragging her friends off with her. not associated with a color, but has made the big bad main villain question themself and then cry. her brother was torn between disappointed, impressed, and terrified of his little sister. Jaq's considering maybe being a therapist specializing in rangers and their villains would be a lucrative career move.

Rocky DeSantos;

They make too much sense for anything else, they were best friends since the beginning. They adopted a kid who lost their home in a fire brought on by a monster. Peter's eleven and scared of the world. Adam and Rocky fully understand, but hope he can open up. They care for him and are worried about him. Peter DeSantos doesn't know how to feel about power rangers as parents after what happened, but he's glad Adam and Rocky are stable and they do try. It's just hard to open up. They have time, though, and that's what matters. Adam's been helping with his anxiety by showing him how to sew. Whenever he gets scared and his dads aren't there, he sews little projects. It helps and he's proud of what he makes.

tangential au; Rocky and Aisha and Adam are together with all above mentioned kids, and Aisha and Rocky's two kids. They live on a large ranch and the kids are thriving.

Scorpina; fascinatingly there is an episode where the Stone Canyon Trio deal with her in a human form as an exchange student named Sabrina. Adam was way into her. Coinless version Adam's finding Scorpina hot in general and she's flirting. A weird pairing but hey, there's a good history of evidence for mutual attraction! Of the trio Scorpina was always more flirtatious to Adam than Rocky or Aisha (this also makes him similar to comic!Skull in that a love interest is a long lived alien pretending to be a teenager for ulterior motives. imagine bonding over that extremely specific thing happening to you, yikes).

Scorpina is not banished to the dark dimension, and like Rita and Zedd, becomes good via Z-Wave. She simply takes the form of her human persona, the now young adult exchange student Sabrina. As Sabrina, she decides to see if she can patch anything up with Adam. Adam for his part needs to think about it. It's not that he doesn't trust she's redeemed, it's just so much has happened can he forgive her and accept the version of her genuinely trying to make things right? It takes a year and a half, and in the meantime they do see other people. But, eventually, they get together. They have a kid who's half alien, as Sabrina's species wasn't changed, she is more interested in looking human to help distance herself from her misdeeds, and blend in. For a time, at least, she eventually goes back to her true form when their daughter Luna Park is thirteen and develops her stinger. This is mostly to teach their daughter how to correctly use said stinger and other abilities without hurting herself or loved ones.

Luna Park is nineteen, very fashionable, calculating, and very good at getting her way. She generally doesn't do this maliciously, and works at a youth center, as the fundraiser manager among other things. She's extremely good at getting people to invest their money in good causes and very good at public events. She's a shapeshifter, but not as accomplished as her mom. While she looks like she'd be snotty or full of herself, she takes a lot after Adam and is very considerate and very polite and encouraging. However this doesn't mean she's a pushover, and she's sent more than one person who thought they could rough her or get handsy to the hospital. Rarely uses her stinger, Luna is an accomplished fencer and hand to hand combatant, though prefers kickboxing to martial arts. Think Daphne Blake with a stinger. Luna is not associated with a color

in a tangential au, she's a power ranger mentor and the green ranger for the team, when necessary.

tangential coinless au; Scorpina keeps protecting Adam, affectionately nicknaming him 'my little froggie' (to his concern), and doesn't let him die. However this annoys him because it sometimes mean she doesn't even let him fight. Eventually they produce Luna, and she's raised in the palace, often passed around by the sentries and Kim. Adam's not allowed by Scorpina to partake in anything potentially life threatening while Luna's young, and he gets placed as stay at home dad/personal body guard to own child duty. Eventually, Luna becomes a commander of black sentries, and works fairly well with the coinless. for the most part. Not much is different personality wise except she's more willing to commit murder and injury. Skull adores her too, and helps with the training when she's a kid.

Carlos Vallerte;

Several years after Adam transfers Carlos his Color, and after they team up, and a year after Adam joins SPA, he and Carlos reconnect. They got along well each time they teamed up, and after everything they get the chance to actually be able to get to know each other again properly outside of power ranger stuff. While both are busy with respective lives and careers, they do have joint custody over two kids, Miguel and Gwena. Aisha surrogated for Miguel, Gwena is an adopted alien girl from Inquiris. It's been a challenge to balance their careers with their kids, but they make it work. Generally, they don't live on earth, they currently live on K0-35 when not on duty with their kids.

Miguel is 13, and quite interested in nature, and earth. He's never actually been, because life kept getting in the way, but he wants to eventually. He's been promised he will, and that's nice. He likes ninjas and puzzle books and horror movies. Especially likes vampires, Carlos is just. Accepting this is going to haunt him for the rest of his life. Told Miguel if he wants to become a vampire that's fine but he needs to wait, and find someone who's not on the galaxy's most wanted list. Or working with a warlord or conqueror. the list of suitables is extremely small. Miguel's also thirteen, and he's realizing maybe he just likes the species in general more than the idea of becoming one. Loves vampire and zombie movies best. Not associated with a color.

Gwena is seven and from Inquiris. Any question given to her is answered with a question. Given how much human children do this in general...you can imagine the annoyance. Carlos and Adam quickly learned to phrase the questions as open ended statements for Gwena to respond to with statements of her own. She's very smart for a seven year old, and wants to know all the answers to all the questions, but is happy to question everything for the sake of asking the question. One day wants to go to earth, but also wants to go back to Inquiris again. She's also heard a lot about two infamous women from Inqiuris; Dimitria and Divatox, twins and very proficient in their own rights. At the moment, she flips between pretending to be Dimitria the good mentor, and Divatox, the pirate. She's seven so neither Adam nor Carlos are worried, but they do hope she'll decide Dimitria, who's a friend of theirs, will be a worthy role model, and not Divatox before the Z-Wave. not associated with a color, that anyone knows of. However Inquirians tend to gravitate to white or red color schemes in their clothing so it's hard for her dads to actually tell. Likes fables and magic and playing pirates. Vicseron, a friend of Dimitria from Inquiris, is Gwena's biological father, but was killed. Her mother also died, and Gwena had nobody. Dimitria had reservations about how well she and Divatox could look after a child. She brought the child to the most dependable ranger couples she could think of.

Prince Trey of Triforia;

While Trey crashed in Aquitar and needed help, when they sent him to earth to the other zeo rangers he helped them first, several times. Adam was, like the rest of them, very curious who the mysterious gold was. When they met properly, he had a little bit of a crush. When Jason took gold so Trey could slow down whatever was happening to him (his logos, pathos and ethos had split into three people, thoufh all of them were of the same mind. Triforian thing, apparently. It took a bit to get used to, to say the least.) Adam spent as much time as he could in the command center with Billy and Trey. They talked quite a bit, and Trey got a bit smitten with the curious green ranger.

When Trey was restored and he got zeo gold back, he decided to stick around for a little while to assist the other zeo rangers, and he and Adam began seeing each other. Adam thought it was kind of odd a prince wanted to date him, but he wasn’t against it at all.

They have one daughter. Crown Princess Tara, aged 20. Adam’s a diplomat between earth and Triforia, and Tara lives mainly on Triforia with Trey. She inherited Zeo Gold, and is noble, calm, and carry’s herself regally as she can. She does have her moments though, and feels like she can’t live up to her parents legacy, sometimes. She does try, though. She never stops trying. She’s going to be the best queen. It’s hard for her to believe it, but she’s going to be. Trey’s a great king, and he’s her dad. And Adam’s awesome, and he’s her dad too. And her teammates are awesome too.

Tangential au; Triforian life span might be longer than humans (I’ve got no idea, heellpp) and she’s the gold to the canon grandson of Tommy’s team. She’d be in the equivalent of early 20’s, in the hypothetical longer lifespan idea.

(we needed a green/gold lol. and this works, they did talk a little in canon. not much but I'm taking the opportunity)

Dulcinea;

She thought he was charming and sweet, and every bit a prince if he just had the self confidence to see it, himself. She made a child using magic, some years after the events of the movie. It killed her, but the child is hers and Adam's. He was confused and deeply saddened when he got the kid and the explanation. He loves Garrett, but it's a bit difficult. Garrett is an owl shifter, like his mother. He greatly resembles Adam. Garrett is 16, and doing his best. He's friends with the punks at his school, and has the constant air of wiser beyond his years. Often lives with Rocky or Tommy and Kat or any other dozen of Adam's friends while Adam's working off earth. He's got an odd, very inhuman air around him, even to other half human alien hybrids. There's something about his owl self that bleeds into his human form. He's never felt at home anywhere he's ever been, and he feels like he should go back to the planet his mother's from, guard what's there. He's a bronze ranger, and Adam wonders if this is from Dulcinea.

Unnamed Mother;

Adam made a mistake in highschool and while the girl wanted to keep the baby, her parents didn't think it'd be a good idea. Adam offered to take the baby off her hands, and while his parents disinherited him over it, Nemo grew up with a village for parents. Skull, Bulk, Aisha, Rocky, and Tommy and a few others off and on, all helped him during high school, with Aisha and Rocky stepping in during college, and Skull after, helping with whatever expense Adam needed. Nemo's fourteen, healthy, happy, and thriving despite everything. Adam's doing okay as a single parent, it's been hard but he's doing good. Adam's a tailor and Nemo mentioned wanting to go into this as well, and Adam about teared up he was so proud.

Coinless verse child has been given a happy alternative woo~

-

if I missed any, let me know! I think I covered most of Adam's possibilities ^-^

[fairytale-poll]

ROUND 2D, MATCH 1 OUT OF 8

Propaganda Under the Cut:

Once Upon a Time (in Space):

She spent decades searching every moon and planet trying to find her wife (Rose), who was kidnapped on their wedding day. Eventually, she found Rose, and they embraced, only for Rose to die in Cinder's arms. And so Cinder killed the king who had kidnapped Rose by punching through his chest and into his heart.

And then Cinder got a somewhat happy ending, in which she met Rose's clone who had Rose's memories.

What if Cinderella was a Sci-Fi lesbian? Well here she is. She has a whole love song about searching the stars for her girlfriend after their wedding was interrupted and she was taken away. She spends years searching only to when she finally finds and embraces her watch her be shot. Cinders is so devastated by this that she plunges her wedding ring into the heart of the man who shot her love killing him.

Lesbian space princess who elopes with the terrifying soldier who was previously conquering her planet and spends decades searching for her when they're separated. Listen to her song https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6w9V-gMgBF4

I think the way she punches the evil king through the heart as revenge for her wife is pretty neat.

She’s a revolutionary married to a woman, what’s not to love? From Cinders’ Song: “ When I was a little girl, my mother always told me / "Someday your prince will come, my love" / But as I grew, I knew it was a princess who would hold me”.

her girlfriend got cloned and most of said clones were brutally slaughtered in war and she searched for her girlfriend all throughout the galaxy and when they were finally reunited on the battlefield her girlfriend died. and a clone of her girlfriend who due to technical errors retained her memories, so does that count as the same girlfriend? theseus's girlfriend? anyway vote for cinders she's been through hell

Lesbian!! Has to search for her lost love Rose with her glass wedding ring that changes color when its near its partner!! Gets to embrace Rose once again for one final moment before the villain kills Rose right in front of her!! So Cinders kills him in return!! And she's left as (almost) the only surviving main character from her own album but!! She is eventually reunited with a clone of Rose, and while they cannot have a truly 'happy ever after' together they are the ones graced with the closest thing to it

SPACE LESBIANS (she's in love with Rose Red, who gets kidnapped on their wedding day and Cinders searches the galaxy to find her, waiting for her white ring to turn crimson, indicating that its twin was near) She took her name from the ashes of her burning planet <3 She also killed Old King Cole >:)

shes a tragic lesbian and killed a violent dictator shes literally the best

shes gay shes traumatized she dates both rose red and sleeping beauty. badass space wanderer looking for her wife

Her wife Rose gets kidnapped on their wedding day and Cinders spend the next thirty years looking for her. She finds her (:D) and then Rose dies (D:) and then Cinders kills the guy who killed Rose (girlboss).

shes a lesbian. she lost her wife, Rose (yes, as in sleeping beauty) the day they got married bc she was kidnapped. she spent 20 YEARS looking for her. as soon as she found her wife, Rose DIED IN HER ARMS. Cinders has gone through Too Much to lose this poll

(Her info from the wiki) the Princess of a planet burnt by King Cole's army, after it is ceded by her stepmother. She is imprisoned, meets Rose and plans to marry her. She is released by her godmother for the wedding, then flees when the attack happens, spending thirty years looking for Rose. Her half of the wedding ring will light up when she finds Rose.

"When I was a little girl, my mother always told me 'Someday your prince will come, my love' But as I grew, I knew it was a princess who would hold me I looked to the stars for you, my love" She's lesbian Cinderella IN SPACE. She fell in love with her wife in prison and they ran away to have a secret marriage but the empire kidnapped Rose on their wedding night and Cinders had to leave her behind. She searches for Rose for decades with the glass ring that guides her to its twin on her wife's finger. She finally reunites with her love after Rose rips three supersoldiers to pieces with her bare hands (hot) but then then the evil king kills Rose so Cinders fucking punches through his heart. And then a clone of Rose (who is also lesbian Sleeping Beauty IN SPACE) finds her cradling her wife's body and they have a happy reunion(?) and maybe they didn't have a happy ending BUT WHAT IF THEY HAD EACH OTHER? HUH? AAAAAH

she’s everything. she’s a princess from a long since conquered planet. she was imprisoned to make a statement of the brutal reign of old king cole. she met her wife while she was in prison, a beautiful brutal soldier covered in scars from battles. cinders and rose fell in love, so cinders’ godmother in white broke her out of jail so rose and cinders could be together. they were going to be married, except that OLD KING COLE intervened and kidnapped rose to make her the genetic base of his unholy army. so cinders spends THIRTY YEARS searching the galaxies for her love (and sings a really cool song about it called “Cinders’ Song”) until finally she arrives during the final battle just in time to see old king cole SHOOT ROSE DEAD. so cinders punches the king so hard (with her wedding ring) that he just Crumples Into Dust. the end! (no we do not talk about the fiction.)

lesbian, for one, and for two i don't really care i just think it'd be cool if she got in/if she made it past the first round

no one seems to have linked cinder’s song yet, so here [Link]

better yet, listen to the whole album too, for context and also what comes after. it slaps and also tragedy it's such a good album suhc a good band too

Someone already sent the song as propaganda, so I will provide SPOILER propaganda. [Click link to see spoilers.]

The Lunar Chronicles:

Linh Cinder:

Her glass slipper is her prosthetic foot. She's a cool badass mechanic queen. She's named Cinder because her aunt set her on fire as a toddler but she survived. She's a a cool cyborg with psychic powers, and she's also a really good mechanic.

She's a cyborg and she's from the Moon

She is a badass mechanic who is also a cyborg and did not intend to get dragged into this mess. She becomes a fugitive of the law, running from the prince who is also her romantic interest and is just objectively the best.

I love a sarcastic character and I love a good confrontation scene and she's great with both

she's a cyborg she's a mechanic she's a princess she's a fugitive she's the best.

She's a mechanic she's the lunar princess she has two prosthetic limbs she's supposed to be dead. Her best friend is an android who's a fangirl of her boyfriend (Kai, the emperor). Her ball was actually her showing up to keep Kai from getting seduced by her aunt (who's queen of the moon) and then killed. Instead of losing her slipper she just lost her entire foot. (That's all just in the first book.)

look man, if you've read tlc you know why but if not: cinder here goes through a lot, from living in a shitty household to leading a rebellion and witnessing what's practically a massacre (TWICE), getting stabbed in the mc'freaking heart and surviving, being a wanted fugitive, Oh, and also, she loses her goddamn FOOT instead of a glass slipper lol (albeit the foot is a prosthetic, which i might've forgotten to add, her left arm and (i think) leg are metal due to getting BURNED as a toddler by her somewhat power hungry aunt)

She's SO cool she's a mechanic and really clever and also an amputee and her prosthetics are very cool and she has fun space adventures with her little gang of found family and is also the heir to the crown on the moon and is trying to get control of it from her aunt (who's a dictator) so she can help the moon people be less oppressed! tl;dr she's a girlboss

She literally got set on fire. Shes a cyborg. Shes such a girl boss that her love interest kept her severed prosthetic foot as a memento. She is a revolutionary [against her will] and a politician [also against her will]. Shes a skilled mechanic, and called the queen of a super-powerful alien race with the ability to manipulate people’s perceptions of reality ugly TO HER FACE. Queen does not give a shit and just wants to hang out with her robot bestie and her dork ass boyfriend who is also the leader of an entire country. Shes iconic, she is the moment.

she's a teenage cyborg who works as a mechanic and is secretly royalty - a badass and i love her!!

Kickbutt cyborg Cinderella princess

Cyborg and mechanic is a fun new twist on classic Cinderella! (At least when I read it and it was new). Plus she’s got her Prince/Emperor all wrapped around her fingers before the ball!

she's cool as fuck that's why!! cyborg cinderella in a cool-ass future sci-fi world, she doesn't have glass slippers so she loses her ill-fitted cybernetic foot, she has a gun in her cyborg hand (mostly uses nonlethal projectiles), she has cool sci-fi magic mind powers, she's from the moon, she's a mechanic & she's smart as hell, she literally forms a ragtag team of other fairytale inspired characters & dethrones the evil queen of the lunar monarchy. also her prince charming is cool & funny & they're so sickeningly in love their feelings could power the sun. anyway vote Cinder ✨️

cinder is a mixed cyborg mechanic who has acquired beef with both her stepmother (adopted) and her bio aunt (tyrant queen levanna) and manages to escape their attempts to keep her down (including arson when she was like. 3 years old) and ultimately overthrows her aunt in a revolution lead by her and the other fairytale retellings (red riding hood and wolf, rapunzel and her ‘prince’, and her cousin snow white and her prince) and establishes a democracy! i enjoyed the series growing up and i personally think that cinder is very cool :]

The first book in The Lunar Chronicles is a retelling of cinderella, and my gosh it’s amazing. Cinder is a cyborg and faces a lot of prejudice, and it’s interesting to see that even in the future, where the book is set, there’s still so much discrimination, and Cinder faces it so well. She’s smart and snarky, and has such character growth and cares so much and akhjfqwthbj

shes cinderella if cinderella was a cyborg and also secretly an alien moon princess. fucking amazing series everyone should read it. It's very common for Cinderella retelling that "girlboss" her end up sending the weird message that victims of abuse should simply stand up for themselves <3 I really like Cinder because she's spunky and snaps at her stepmother, but it doesn't. do her any good? It just makes her stepmother worse. Also one of her stepsisters is nice, I love Peony.

Cyborg Cinderella, long-lost princess of the moon, revolutionary against the evil queen.

she’s a cyborg! instead of losing her shoe on the steps of the palace her entire foot comes off 👍 thats hard as fuck she’s so cool

I have to say this now, because I’ve been waiting for an opportunity to share this story for ages now, because it’s so amazing. Not only did Marissa Meyer, author of the Lunar Chronicles and creator of Linh Cinder, start off her writing journey as a Sailor Moon fanfiction author, but I have a second-account story of how amazing and nice she is... [Click link to read the rest of it]

[straightbaittournament]

only the option with the LEAST votes will be eliminated. propaganda under the cut (and more always welcome!):

chrissie cunningham and eddie munson:

Had the CUTEST SCENE IN THE ENTIRE SHOW where they flirted and he tried to sell her drugs but then SHE GOT MURDERED and it was tragic

ava silva and michael salvius:

They have some amusingly straightbaity scenes where Michael initially appears to be interested in Ava (meeting her in a bar, asking questions about her, pursuing her to get her to do things with him and inviting her to kick ass with him) but almost all of these scenes are explicitly for plot reasons or end up displaying the closeness of Ava and Beatrice (and Beatrice’s jealousy over Ava seemingly being interested in a man) instead. Michael and Ava develop a strong close relationship that feels more sibling-esque by the end of season 2 and also Michael straight up dies at the end of season 2 as well.

nina zenik and matthias helvar:

[MAJOR SPOILER] If they were truly straight Matthias wouldn’t have died (submitter also stated that nina is revealed to be bi/pan)

oscar francois de jarjayes and andre grenadier:

Oscar was afab but her father gave her a boy's name and raised her as a boy (by 18th century standards) because sexism and he had 5 daughters and decided she was going to be a son because they were a noble family and he wanted a son to become a high ranking military official because they're rich so they can just do that. Oscar joins the army and becomes Marie-Antoinette's personal guard. Her and childhood best friend Andre are very close through out the series (he supports her throughout the many scandals that she has to deal with because she works for the royal family) and at the end of the series it is revealed that they are in love, but they are both killed in the war before they can actually get together. The dying before they can be together might fall into the buried straights category but they relationship also has really queer energy because throughout the series it becomes apparent that Oscar usually Does Not Vibe with only the gender she assigned at birth. She sometimes refers to herself as a woman, sometimes refers to herself as a man, but her attitude is usually basically 'I'm a man, I'm a woman, I'm both, I'm neither, stop asking'. So I think they should count as straightbait because we find out that Oscar is nonbinary and Andre loves her no matter what her gender is (and then they die before they can get together).

jason grace and piper mclean:

So. Hera/Juno put a bunch of fake memories in Piper’s head of a months long relationship with Jason. However plot and stuff happens and they end up dating for real. Except no they didn’t. In the next series Apollo goes to them to ask for help and finds out they’ve broken up. Then there was a death prophecy that for once was actually fulfilled (RIP Jason). Finally at the end of ToA Piper was seen kissing a girl and your choice how to interpret that. Got together because a goddess shipped them. Broke up because they realised they were gay.

abbie mills and ichabod crane:

They both start out as main characters, working together since ep. 1. Next three seasons follow the regular m/f protagonist duo pattern: they need each other's help, there's chemistry going on, there are heartwrenching scenes and dramatic sacrifices, they learn they can only truly rely on each other - so the next step is to let them be together, right? Wrong. The next step is to let lt. Mills make a final sacrifice, which on top of killing the pairing insults her as a character - suddenly from the POV protagonist she started as she's demoted to secondary character who always was just there to be the main guy's support. There are some feelings acknowledged, but no confessions or promises exchanged during the final fleeting reunion. Three-seasons-worth of build-up and then she dies.

valkyrie and thor:

Like a lot of ships with a white man and a woman of color, their chemistry and history get shunted to the side by racist writers and fans who refuse to acknowledge them as anything other than friends.

buffy summers and spike:

Buffy's a vampire slayer and Spike's a vampire. Enemies to Lovers. Absolutely not intended by creators, creators treated it like a joke at first, then some of the writers/producers actively hated it even throughout their canon relationship, they don't technically get together in the end, also he dies (kind of. he's brought back in another show. and the comics. it's complicated). Very queercoded relationship despite being m/f - desire, euphoria, shame, slowburn, keeping it a secret, doesn't think anyone else will understand or accept them, wanting to change for the better.

peggy carter and daniel sousa:

She’s the best secret agent, he’s a hot as hell disabled war vet They get together, but also don’t because apparently Steve Rogers is a homewrecker Peggy moved on after losing Steve, got together with the amazing Daniel Sousa, and then got broken up because the Russos didn’t want Steve to be seen as being gay for Bucky

entrapta and hordak:

Heavily heavily heavily hinted/slow burn

good luck everybody! now go vote!

[sunsrefuge]

2, 4, and 10 of the gw2 asks? For whoever you want :)

@commanderfloppy

Quinn!! QUINNIE !! okay okay, so. Important context about Quinn: she’s in my personal AU, but under Commander Phoenix! :D 'Saoirse Quinn' is AU’s where she doesn’t end up the Commander!! She doesn’t get tested on so she doesn't get amnesia, so there are some key differences but she’s still my little blorbo <3 <3 <3

Bonus: since I let Spotify pick for me via music, so here’s what came up that made me think of her!! Mainly, this always makes me think of Quinn and her brother Ambrose !! <3 <3 <3 they’re very close and i love them to Death !!! (Ambrose is, ofc, owned by @mavelleofdawn !! there's art of him guys. art !! he's a cutiepie i love him sm !!)

And would you save the stinging bee, If it fell into the ocean? Yes I would, I'd pull it out, Like a brother to a sister.

Dear Sister, Your Brother by Meg Lynch & Talain Rayne

2. What class would your character just absolutely blow at?

I feel like mesmer… On one hand: she gets kinda tormented by a mesmer during her childhood, (in most AU’s at least,) so she’s pretty scared of them already, and on the other hand: I feel like mesmer requires some sense of a delicate hand. It’s shown to be very graceful and effective, but most effective when gone about with some kind of elegance and self-assurance… Quinn has neither of those, naturally. :’D She’s so incredibly reckless and so very physical in fights - she would die as a mesmer so fast akjshdush

4. Assuming they're a commander, how close were they really to Destiny's Edge? To Trahearne?

This is true for her Commander AU’s and non-Commander AU’s where she still ends up in the Pact: She sees Destiny’s Edge as these huge, big shot heroes, but she sees Trahearne as an absolute nerd, phrased in the most affectionate way possible! So, not very close to DE on a personal level at all, but very close to Trahearne! She feels like she has to either impress DE, or stay way the fuck out of their way. With Trahearne, he reminds her a lot of her brother Artemas (@/mavelleofdawn again! ^^) so he’s gonna get the brotherly treatment!! that’s just how it is!! She’d gently prank him sometimes and tease him about things, but ultimately she’d listen to him pretty well because he does know what he’s talking about! (The same goes for her relationship with Artemas <3)

10. Would/does knowing their backstory change how people (in general but also Tyria at large) view them?

It depends on the AU!!

In my personal stuff, where she's separated from the rest of the Teelings (</3) she ends up an orphan in DR. Adopted by Noble family that she runs away from because they're terrible and the "mom" only got her to hide the fact that their young daughter got murdered by their son,,, whoopsie !! But uh, that backstory is pretty tragic and anyone who knows it tends to pity her, which she hates, so she hides her background a lot!

Per my AU's with @/mavelleofdawn (well, most of them at least!) - Quinn gets stolen back from the Noble family by her older siblings!! They uh. split ways at one point because haha brotherly issues am i right?? but Quinn sticks with Ambrose for the most part! ... im now realizing that there are vague ideas beyond that but nothing solid... are there AU's she joins him in the Aetherblades?? :thinking: that could be fun-- OH!! but to answer the question!! Her background still sounds rough, and i think it'd still get her some pity from people for the rough childhood, but in those AU's she's got a lot more going on so she's less likely to notice akhdashdkaj

[theriverbeyond]

i know you wrote it a while ago but im OBSESSED with the idea of a chainsaw man tlt au please grace us with that marvel

aaahhhaha thank you!! i have somewhat abandoned those doodles due to insecurity over my own drawing ability but i am SO happy that someone else likes the idea!

sorry for the late response i just had to sit on this and then very messily type up all my current thoughts (spoilers for both part 1 of csm and general tlt spoilers)

John Gaius as some sort of Makima role, obviously. manipulative, groomer, the whole nine yards. etc etc. harrow should get to eat him.

Gideon makes a contract with Harrow, at some point, when both their backs are against a wall. "ill give you my heart, in exchange come find me and remind me of who i was" anyway i think Harrow in every universe needs to be beset by the trauma of Gideon sacrificing herself for her. this could be a fun way to integrate Kiriona Gaia into it. Harrow goes to hell to find Gideon and remind her of who she was.

as much as I love Denji and Gideon parallels, i do see Gideon as a fiend in this AU. partly bc i really think Gideon needs to devestate harrow/save her life with a contract. but also bc weird golden eyes, check. weird head, also check (dunks on readheads sorry dslkjdlsk). maybe the dead body she's posessing knew Harrow briefly as kids back before she died, and then they meet again way later when they get teamed up. Gideon remembers Harrow briefly through her body's memories.

I see Harrow as a devil hunter in the kind of Deji role of uh getting massivly taken advantage of by John :(.

her whole family has a contract with the Bones devil or something like that but in SECRET that's like mostly a cover for how they also have a contract with some Unpeakable, Horrific, etc devil that they allow to posess them to prevent it from running amok or something. Harrow halucinates The Body as per usual

when harrow was 10 her parents killed themselves because Harrow got too close to the Unspeakable Horror they have a contract with. Harrow had to make another contract with another terrible devil to make it seem like her parents are alive, or something

idk i just think *slaps harrow* this bitch can fit so many contracts in her and all of them are terrible for her, but like, none of them fatal. she's just very juicy to devils. like how the future devil just wanted to live in aki's eye, some devils are just down to Be Around Her bc her life sucks and they think it's entertaining. so maybe that's why she's such a wet rat of a person i.e. she gave her physical strength and vitality in exchange for something or w/e.

ianthe and corona are pulling the same con as always. maybe corona is the opposite of juicy to devils and they just Dont want to make contracts with her. so ianthe does it all. everyone else is like "why doesnt the fox devil let corona use his head? she's hot?" but in reality ianthe is the one w the contract and the fox devil does not think she is hot. so she gets a foot. maybe babs is a fiend they somehow convinced to do everything fotr them? idk. it would be funny.

jeannemary and issac have to die tragically. sorry it's just their narrative role.

dulcinea/anyone from the 7th house made a contract with some sort of sickness devil that they let live in them and infect them in exchange for using the devil's powers. it's like, a family thing so dulcie didn't get much of a choice in the matter.

haven’t thought a bunch about the others but i think judith and marta both have fox devil contracts. marta gets the head. judith has a foot or something. camilla is contracted with the knives devil or something.

maybe the lyctors are like the weapon devils? hmm. have not thought in depth abt that tbh

palamades ghost devil contract or something like that

this is basically an exercise is like, how can i make all the tlt characters who die in canon, die very tragically in my au. it’s abt themes

the resurrection beasts are like the darkness devil. still in hell because they’ve never once been killed etc.