#when the monster is someone who the community failed to protect>>>>>>>>>>

[cry-ptidd]

Always been a bit confused on Laura past, you hint here and there, something about a nunnery and how that made despise God and the church. So, what exactly happened to her to make the way she did. Also was Hans the one who bit her or some other werewolf?

Alright, I do realize most people might not be aware of her story considering I never really made a post about it and I deleted the fic of her backstory bc I didn't like it, so I'll summarize it here!

And no, she wasn't bitten by Hans. She is older than him by half a century or so

Laura's backstory/timeline masterpost

⚠️⚠️ TW for: sexual assault, religious abuse, victim blaming, emotional abuse, and VERY long babbling

1735 - Human life:

Laura is the eldest daughter of Jean Chastel and Anne Charbonnier. She was born in Gévaudan (now in the department of Haute-Loire) on the 24th of December 1735.

She was her father's favorite child, due to her and her mother surviving a difficult birth. This also led to her mother putting her a bit aside considering her father doted on her "like a son", taught her to read and write, and allowed her to not marry due to her disinterest in men (they both just thought she was chaste because of religion) and work with him in the fields, at the inn and other places. She learned French and Occitan.

Laura was brought up catholic, as most people in 18th century France, but she was particularly devout and religious. She was teased as a child for it, spending a lot of time in church and confessionals, which didn't help because her father didn't have the best reputation (he was nicknamed "de la masca", Occitan for "of the witch".) She started to pick up on Latin, though it was extremely rudimentary. Her overly religious attitude annoyed her own family sometimes, and their lack of emotional support led her to become a bit naive and confide a lot in religious authority figures.

She was an extremely diligent girl, always making sure her chores were finished and her work wasn't interrupted. That led to her sometimes putting her own health at risk in harsh winters, or disregarding people's warnings.

1758 - Bite:

Early spring of 1758; Laura was 22 when she was herding cattle near a clearing. She ignored the warning of the other villagers of wolf sightings, because the attacks were rare and she had a cattledog with her anyway. However, it turns out the villagers were right - safe for a few details.

Laura was attacked by a feral werewolf that scratched her stomach and bit her on the forearm after she put it up to not let it tear her throat out. A few of the village men were alerted by the commotion of her yells, the dog and cattle, and they managed to drive the werewolf off before it could devour her.

Sadly, she was now infected, and it showed, when in the next two weeks she was writhing in agony at the transformation that somehow healed her wounds and left big, ugly scars. People were starting to be afraid, wondering what the hell was going on. Her father was running around trying to find doctors with what money he had. Most locals dismissed the idea of a werewolf and thought she just had rabies, but the symptoms picked up by the doctors didn't support that hypothesis. Laura herself was going through it, spending hours upon hours of praying and reciting scripture and reading the Bible in hopes of a cure. The locals started to treat it as something you shouldn't talk about, considering how odd and ugly the details were, and people were avoiding the building where she was kept.

After about a month of very painful confusion, after her condition started to appear more supernatural than medical, Jean decided 'fuck it' and stuffed her in a carriage with a couple other men, before bringing her to a remote abbey.

1758 - The abbey:

Laura was brought to a remote Benedictine monastery, where 12 monks resided. She was welcomed at first, with suspicion of demonic possession, and given a room in the sub-level of the abbey.

Exorcism and purification rituals were routine, as well as the already implemented practices of the abbey. Laura was very willing to go with all of it, putting her trust in them, especially considering her awful mental state at that point.

However, about six months in, one of the men there went to her room at night and assaulted her. The others were alerted because of the commotion during imposed hours of silence. When they were found out, though, she was the one blamed for "seducing" the monk, because he was one of the "most devout" of them. A small scuffle ensued, and the abbot decided to give them both a "pardon" as long as they did a bit more service as penance, since they were "both in the wrong". After this, her relationship with the monks soured more and more.

The exorcisms stopped after a year in or so, since they saw no signs of improvement (and judged her no threat). She was however to stay at the monastery for the safety of others. Laura felt terribly alone, considering not only the fact that the abuse continued in secret but also that she was treated as basically a feral dog to be wary of, and just being a lost young woman surrounded by men that started to look at her with contempt. She considered escaping several times in her stay; however, each time she was either caught trying to sneak out or was too scared to go with it, fearing judgement from God for disobedience.

The abuse became well known some years in, but once again no one did anything, either being told by the abbot to keep it down and not talk about filth within the house of God, or spoken about by a handful of the men who took advantage of her fear and silence to vent out their frustrations. Their initial duty towards her was basically brushed aside and discarded, and they kept her around and subjugated for fear of her condition. Her lack of menstruation and fertility (because of the lycanthropy) were also attributed to her being a "wicked creature", that she needed to stay in here to be forgiven by God, or else her resistance to holy cleansing would be noticed by the Lord.

This went on for years. 6 years, 5 months and 13 days to be exact, of Laura begging for God's help and mercy, which at first was her begging for a cure to her condition so she'd be in His graces again, to her wanting it just so she could escape the abbey, to eventually praying for the monks not to hurt her anymore or at least lose interest, to her just begging to die because she was so afraid and hungry from not getting any of the meat that her body demanded (of course, she couldn't die of starvation or sickness, thanks to regeneration). Her biggest fear was that she was beginning to doubt God. Her faith in the monks was completely dead by the fifth year, but she was also starting to doubt anyone would save her. She also started to despise her father for bringing her here in the first place.

This all culminated to one night, after the monastery doors were closed, when one of the monks had just finished his little "escapade" in her room. He was about to get out and she got up, barely dressed and dirty, and started to call him out. He slapped and started to berate her, but she didn't listen, and jumped at him. His screams and pleas were ignored, because the others learned not to mind them. She devoured him, and all her pent up rage and fear turned into bloodlust, as she mauled each one of them and devoured them like cattle. Nothing but scraps of bone were left by the morning. This is when she got enough strength for her first transformation. By now, her fear of God turned into sheer resentment, spite and hatred, and she felt no apprehension at disobeying Him- in fact, she was going to do it on purpose, because He can go fuck Himself for not helping a helpless, desperate girl that was suffering right under His nose by His own men, especially when Laura had been such a devout Christian for so long.

1765 - Escape, start of the killings:

Laura broke out of the abbey in her wolf form, embracing her anger completely (for lack of any other emotion that served any purpose other than wanting to let herself die). She ventured out until she found civilization (eating a few travelers on the way), and found a young girl, Marie-Jeanne Valet, herding cows. She wanted to be discreet, but the reminder of her own human self (that she came to despise), and lunged at her. However Laura was driven off by the girl who managed to wound her with a homemade spear she was carrying to defend herself from the other wolf stalking the area (the same one that bit Laura). This drove Laura off, and what officially sparked the start of the hysteria.

Laura never transformed back into a human form for the duration of the terror. About a hundred deaths were attributed to her, but she killed way more in actuality.

In September 1765, Marie-Jeanne's recount of the attack and the subsequent hysteria reached the ears of the king, who sent one of his hunters, François Antoine, to kill the beast with his soldiers. However, they only killed the other werewolf in the area, which left Laura without a rival for food and did not stop the slaughter.

Battues and hunts were routine by now. Laura relished in outsmarting/overpowering each faction sent after her, starting to kill out of spite rather than food, picking off the weak and vulnerable and taunting the hunters by shrugging off their bullets like it was nothing, and her skin was starting to go from toughened to just impenetrable. Some preachers were talking about how the beast was a sign of the end of times, or how it's a punishment sent by God, and it made her so mad to be affiliated to Him that she ate those guys in broad daylight.

1767 - end of the terror:

This continued until the 19th of June 1767, when Jean Chastel took the head of a hunt for the beast, accompanied by a few men and their hounds.

It was three days of stalking and tracing, with a few bodies the beast left uneaten specifically to taunt them, until they stumbled on her in a clearing.

Laura mauled two of the hunters accompanying Chastel. Jean, however, had noted that normal weapons didn't seem to do much damage to it. So, a week prior, he had melted a silver medallion of the Virgin Mary into a mullet for his rifle. While the beast prepared to turn around and attack him, he cocked his rifle, aimed, and pulled the trigger. The bullet went through its left shoulder and out the chest; its howl resonated through the forest when it fell, and the hunting hounds were quick to attack as it limped off. Jean got a good look in the beast's eyes when he shot it, and familiarity washed over him- a feeling that would haunt him on his deathbed.

Laura, on the other hand, limped off into the forest and turned back into a woman for the first time in a couple years. Her heart had been shot out by the silver, and she was severely wounded; by all accounts she should've died, since silver is the one thing werewolves are weak to.

But somehow, she didn't, either out of sheer spite and stubbornness or because of a twisted joke by the universe.

Records of a "Laura Chastel" were scrapped from the archives on Jean's own request, likely out of guilt, and the more supernatural elements of the attacks were dismissed as rumors of scared, superstitious crowds.

1769 to 1995 - pre-Hellsing:

It took Laura over a year to properly recover her strength. This attack had not only done her body grievous damage, but also her psyche, at seeing her own father be the one to attempt and kill her- she already resented him, but it added a whole new layer of damage.

This also knocked her anger and arrogance down a couple of pegs. She had grown too greedy and reckless, and retaliation had been inevitable, which is a lesson she learned from that.

So, she grew more discreet and learned to be a proper wild animal - stay out of sight, snatch your prey, leave the area, stalk the shadows.

During the French Revolution, she recovered a lot of strength, due to eating and stealing the dumped bodies of those executed by the revolutionaries. She didn't care for the ideology or the impact on civilization at all, considering she grew to dislike humans and see them as her natural enemies/predators, but she did enjoy the chaos because it took any attention off her.

Her early years were more of her staying in the wilderness, only approaching humans either to eat, or to take her boredom off by seducing women - which she got better at doing overtime.

Late 19th and early 20th century she had started to come closer to civilization. She picked up a penchant for drinking, despite not being able to get drunk, and was often seen as a strange, shady homeless woman. In towns, she would pretend to be passed out in lone alleys to attract men and get a quick snack. She would also sometimes seduce women just to use their showers for warm water or get some clothes.

In ww2, she didn't do much out of her routine. During the invasion of France, she didn't care much for what was happening, but grew quite annoyed with the invading forces. She ate quite a lot of nazis, especially those camping in forest areas or those that came to bother her when she was in town, and made sure to avoid getting attention drawn to her. Most of the deaths were attributed to local resistance.

1995 - Battle against Alucard and invitation to Hellsing:

in the early spring of 1995, Laura had made the mistake of leaving the corpses of two British hikers in a place where they could be found, and another one of killing a Protestant pastor. The affair reached Hellsing, who saw the hints of possible supernatural threat in the case.

Alucard was sent to the town where the pastor had been killed, to investigate. Laura sensed the danger from miles away (a bit of a given, he has a freaky aura), and tried to lose him in the crowd. After failing and seeing him keep up the trial, she lured him out into the woods where they wouldn't be disturbed.

The fight started at around 11pm, in the middle of the woods. Laura knew he wasn't a normal person at first sight of course, but she didn't know the extent of Alucard's powers or of Hellsing at all. She had dealt with a few vampires that infringed on her territory already, but they were easy game, so she just opted to tear his head off and be done with it. Alucard, being the asshole gentleman he is, humored her and let her tear him to shreds to give her false hope and then reform as if nothing had happened. Laura was kinda freaked out by this when he did, but the shock quickly wore off because it just began to piss her off.

The real fight started when he pulled out the Casull. Laura knows silver is her weakness, and even if she grew somewhat of a mild resistance over the years she's not one to experiment. Alucard was starting to get interested after the first thirty minutes of her holding her own against him. He taunted her the entire time of course, but he grew more and more intrigued because of how fun she was to fight, and her abilities were obviously above any average werewolf. When she transformed, it was double the excitement because now he gets to brawl with a kaiju.

The fight went on for hours. Dawn was approaching when they were both starting to tire, and Alucard decided to end it. After many efforts, he aligned the gun and shot her straight in the heart, making her fall mid-attack and transform back into a human.

She was writhing in agony on the floor, literally clinging to life with teeth and nails, and Alucard started to approach her. He admitted to a good fight, and did his whole speech thing after he beats an opponent he likes, but his bravado was interrupted when she grabbed onto his leg to hoist herself up. He was surprised into silence for a moment, seeing the fire in her eyes, not only that but seeing her alive, because she's not going to get killed by this asshole, not now, not ever, and God help her if she allows him to harm her like this-

Alucard caught her when she lost consciousness, seeing her still not die despite the gaping hole where her heart should be. He pauses, and decides this is just too interesting an opportunity to pass up.

1995-1999 - pre-canon:

Laura woke up three days after in one of the guest bedrooms in the mansion, cleaned, tended and dressed in one of Alucard's shirts. Speaking of, he was sitting in the room waiting for her to wake up, like he did with Seras.

Laura was confused out of her mind, and thought she actually died because no fucking way. A brief verbal scuffle ensued (mostly on Laura's end), before he left the room to report to Integra, and also to tell her he drank Laura's blood to access her memories, just to make sure she wasn't affiliated with Millenium or anything related, considering the last time he saw a werewolf was the Captain, and instead found a goldmine of information on werewolves and the mystery of the beast of Gévaudan, and considered it would be a great new addition to Hellsing's arsenal. He had left Laura in the room alone, assuming she was too weak to do anything.

She wasn't, apparently, because Walter came in a dozen minutes later to say he had to wire her up after she tried to escape again and almost mauled one of the guards (but ultimately left no injury).

Integra was pissed, so she went to have a little chat. Laura said she'd comply if Walter and Alucard left, leaving them face to face.

Integra explained her situation, who she was and what was going to happen. Basically, Laura had two choices: either she joins and swears her civility in the organization, or Alucard finishes her off after they gather what information they need from her body. Laura was kind of pissed at being put between a rock and a hard place, but Integra also promised, if she were to choose the former and be obedient, to ensure her safety and protection, as well as feeding and clothing her. The added bonus that her bodily autonomy would be respected and that their rival is the Catholic Church is what tipped the scales.

Laura accepted to join, and a few weeks later she was assigned the role of a maid. Integra had to report her existence to her superiors, of course, but decided to keep her a secret from her enemies, so she gave her a seemingly inconspicuous position. It also helped because Laura, due to her trauma in the abbey, has trouble staying inside or being stuck in rooms without doing anything, and it occupies her because she's already pretty good at cooking and cleaning from helping her father out at his inn some two centuries ago. Integra had given her a small silver cross to wear, an artifact made by Van Helsing from melted medallions of St. Patrick, that acted as a much weaker version of Alucard's seals.

This was the start of her life at Hellsing, that she actually grew to somewhat appreciate because of not having to worry for survival every day. She started out as cold and hostile, but eventually allowed Integra and Walter to come a bit closer to her. She sees Walter as a pretty alright man since he knows not to push her and is very respectful, and she grew more and more intrigued by Integra as a person, which resulted in (quite unhealthy) romantic feelings towards her for the simple reason that Integra treats her as a living thing. The cross also became more of a decoration than anything over time.

She mostly takes care of the mansion, but sometimes can go out and decimate some ghouls for enrichment. Anyone that tries to break in and manages to get past the guards also finds themselves face to face with her.

By now she is only loyal to Integra (not even the organization, only because Integra is there) and obeys her because of her own willingness and feelings, and Walter is maybe her favorite coworker. She sees Alucard as a bothersome fellow fucked up creature, and still hasn't forgiven him for drinking her blood without her consent but overall tolerates him most of the time. Seras is a new addition; Laura sees her as a very naive and inexperienced girl, and maybe underestimates and infantilizes her a bit, but overall doesn't mind her presence. She despises the Iscariot with no exception, and Millenium by default.

That brings her to the current timeline, let's hope nothing bad happens.

[bow-of-aros]

Day One: Anticipation

Summary: Caleb gets himself into a bit of a sticky situation. It's alright, Molly won't drag this out for toooooo long.

-

Hi folks! I'm trying my hand at tickletober this year and I hope that I can get a good chunk of fics out! This is my first time writing for the Mighty Nein but these two are so special to me so hopefully I did them justice <33 I'm still finding my footing in writing for this community, especially with new characters, but I hope that you guys enjoy!

-

“Oh, hello Caleb,” Mollymauk slid through the door to Caleb’s and Nott’s room, “Now, what am I going to do with you?”

Caleb, to his credit, was only mostly pressed against the headboard. It was cute how he thought that keeping a straight face was going to do him any good, especially when it was undermined by the faint blush that was spreading across his cheeks and creeping up to tinge his ears a rosy hue.

It took him a few tries to get his voice to work, words failing him in a way they so rarely did, and Caleb finally said, “Ah, hallo, Mr. Mollymauk. I was actually feeling rather tired, so I think that I’m going to get some rest if that’s alright with you.”

Molly watched in amusement as Caleb tugged the sparse blankets over his fully clothed body, not even bothering to take off his disgusting boots or his book holsters before closing his eyes.

He waited as Caleb shifted fruitlessly in an attempt to find a more comfortable position for a few moments, before silently creeping over and crouching so as to be on eye-level with their resident wizard.

Honestly, Molly was impressed that he’d managed to get that close given how Caleb managed to somehow always be on high alert. Someone needed to slow his brain down a little bit, loosen the tension that he’d never once lost since Molly had met him.

Caleb cracks one eye open, nearly flinging himself off the bed as he’s greeted with Molly’s red gaze, mischief dancing across his face at Caleb’s panicked “Scheiße!”

“Shit, Caleb,” He spoke as though he wasn’t currently clambering atop Caleb, “We really gotta get some muscle on those bones. Imagine if any of our many many enemies got their hands on you?”

The look Caleb shot him could’ve dried up an ocean. Molly was honestly impressed that he could pull it off considering that the wizard is literally underneath him.

“I won’t have to worry about that. You seem to be able and willing to protect me if that happened.”

Well, he’s not wrong.

“You know, I could definitely protect you from something.”

Caleb’s gone still underneath him. It might have something to do with the fact that Molly’s started lightly drumming his claws on his holsters. That’s good, he’d been getting a little too relaxed.

“Ah, nein, Mollymauk. You don’t need to worry about me.”

Molly feigns ignorance, fiddling with the straps securing the holsters over his ribs. And if he lets his fingers ‘slip’ every so often? Well, who could resist the nervous smile on the face of such an adorable grump?

“Oh but I do, Caleb!” He starts slowly unfastening the frankly absurd amount of buckles, “I mean, you just told me that you wanted to get some rest and it can’t be comfortable with these books digging into your ribs.”

At the word digging, Molly feinted a lunge and almost cracked up at Caleb’s yelp.

“I mean, what kind of friend would I be if I left you like this.”

Another calculated brush and Caleb’s hands shot out to push Molly’s away. He’d be concerned about how easy it was to tuck his hands under his knees if he didn’t know that Caleb was enjoying this.

“Molly! Mollymauk! We can talk about this, ja?” Molly carefully slides the holsters down. He knows how important those things are to Caleb and he’s not a monster. “I’m sorry!”

Oh?

“Oh? You’re sorry? Now you’re sorry?” A hitched breath as Molly places his claws on now-bared ribs.

“You didn’t seem very sorry when you left me at Jester’s mercy. She had my tail, Caleb!”

Giggles are beginning to slip out and Caleb’s eyes are glued to his hands. Maybe Molly should put him out of his misery.

Eh. In a second. Let him sweat.

“Ja, I’m sorry!” He’s babbling now. Good. “Mollymauk, bitte, if you’re going to do it, just do it.”

“Alright, alight.”

A sigh of relief. Oh, Mr. Caleb, you let your guard down too quickly.

“Ten.”

“Was?! Nein Mollymauk! There’s no need to count!”

It’s almost too easy with him.

“Hey, you’re right! Nine comes next!”

A groan breaks through the anticipation. Maybe Molly should stop using the same joke every single time.

Nah.

“Three!”

“Mollehehey!”

Awww. “Laughing already? You are not ready for what’s coming. Two.”

“Nein! Habe mitleid, Molly! Plehehehease!”

Caleb’s face almost matches his hair, his eyes crinkle at the corners and he just looks so happy. Really, who is Molly to deny him this?

“One.”

[rei-ismyname]

For your choose violence ask game, 1 and 12, please!

Hey there, this is fun!

1. Character that everyone gets wrong. Funnily every ask has included this, but I'm not going to repeat myself. Instead I'll find a different way to vagueblog about certain of my fellow X-Men fans.

Hank McCoy, aka the Beast, specifically his tenure as Director of X-Force. One group of people simply choose to ignore the run entirely (which is valid - if you don't enjoy then ignoring it can be healthy,) and many reduce him to war crimes memes, which is also valid. I'm definitely not defending his actions at all, but I don't often see the complicity and accountability of the Quiet Council and his subordinates mentioned. Ben Percy's choice to reboot him from factory settings was one I found unsatisfying as it short circuited any kind of trial or reckoning - and everyone else's guilt has been forgotten.

There was a teeny bit of subterfuge

Firstly, every single member of the Quiet Council was there for X-Force's formation and received reports. His first act was torturing a prisoner. There's no arguing that Krakoa needed some kind of security apparatus, but they failed to provide any guidelines, zero checks and balances. They told Hank to protect Krakoa by any means necessary and handed him a morally blank check. He chose to do the things he did but he was enabled by those who knew even after he left Krakoa. They chose to keep him out in the world as a deniable asset. Again, not to diminish his culpability but the monster that was Hank McCoy had many parents. The simple fact that he wasn't very effective at protecting Krakoa should have been cause for review, even if the ethical calculus is non existent.

His team didn't have all the information but they had enough to know better and were involved in the team in the first place. 'Just following orders' should be odious to modern readers, and even Jean chose to quit while leaving the system in place rather than do anything about it. They eventually moved to a better model, but after genocides were met with light scoldings I wasn't surprised at the degree of sunk cost fallacy Beast fell into. I wish we got a serious meditation on how you can't be the director of the CIA without damaging your soul irreparably, but I think we got enough to illustrate my point. I often wondered how he felt about everything - during the first Hellfire Gala he asked Xavier if he'd disappointed him and heard 'not yet' back - I got the impression he was outsourcing his morality and it's unsurprising that he was able to reconcile it with his actions.

Solicits for X-Men #8 show the President of Terra Verde at Graymalkin to see Beast punished for his crimes. It's a shame he can't remember any of it because it was done by someone else. There's no Quiet Council or Krakoa to punish anymore, and I'm disappointed that accountability never came for any of the guilty people.

12. The unpopular character that you actually like and why more people should like them.

EXODUS, baby. Two of the big themes of Krakoa were compromise and community, and Exodus' previous publication history showed he was not well suited to either (except for that bizarre time he worked for SHIELD but I ignore that.) Up to that point he'd been an obscenely powerful religious fundamentalist and mutant supremacist but hadn't had enough page time to explore that in any depth.

Seriously, his style is out of this world.

When he arrived on Krakoa and was given a seat on the Quiet Council he was absolutely both of those things, though he proved himself committed to good governance without any agenda. By being part of an ostensibly egalitarian community for the first time he became a true believer and slowly ditched his old methods of blunt force for community-building and fiercely protecting it from outside threats. He compromised while looking fabulous.

Exodus had frequent campfire educational sessions with kids, he rewrote scripture as his theology evolved (Jesus as the Nazarene Mutant is everything to me,) he put his faith in Hope and Krakoa as a polity but moreso as a people. He tried to convince Doug to die temporarily so he could take his place in X of Swords, risking permanent death. His labelling of Wanda as The Pretender was pretty uncomfortable, but after The Trial of Magneto he invited her in to tell her own story.

Then Immortal X-Men began and the 3 event comics put him through the wringer. First was Judgement Day where he fought and killed towering death machines while simultaneously leading the psychic countersiege on the Uni-Mind. He was tested by the Progenitor with a public simulation of his old boyfriend in hell. He stuck to his code and passed, but he also bumrushed a demon to free Garrington from his grasp. Exodus objected to humans being resurrected, but he still accepted Nightcrawler's argument. When Syne the Memetaur was resurrected for the last time, he rushed to fight her but lowered his fists when she started to talk about poetry. He ended up collaborating with this cthulhu that had torched Krakoa and killed countless mutants to fight a celestial and save the world for everyone. Compromise.

After Sins of Sinister, he accepted his capacity for evil and submitted to very unpleasant measures to ensure Sinister's influence was purged. When the fight kicked off he stuck to the agreement and didn't join the fight, even at Hope's request. His breakdown after he tried to kill the very obvious bad actor Selene highlighted the flaws of Krakoa's government, and played a crucial part in transition to democracy.

Fall of X prevented that being implemented, and after thrashing a ton of sentinels he pivoted to the safety of everyone else, especially The Five. When the Krakoan diaspora ended up in the desert of the White Hot Room, he wore a midriff and stepped up for 250K scared and leaderless mutants - choosing to inspire and protect instead of his old methods - he'd come full circle. His actions after that are a whole other post, but I hope I've made my point. I don't trust religious fundamentalists, generally speaking. My kneejerk reaction to Exodus was 'fuck, he's going to ruin everything' but he avoided the hypocrisy and selfishness, the refusal to allow change that underpins my experience with IRL fundamentalism. He compromised and grew, and definitely walked the walk.

Is he unhinged? Yes, fortunately. Does he have some bizarre beliefs? Absolutely, but they weren't based on nothing and he ended up being right. When Hope was prepping to sacrifice herself to rebirth The Phoenix he begged to die in her place. He was the only adult to level with Kafka and be honest with him about the reality of the White Hot Room. More than most he committed to the promise of Krakoa and put everything into making that a reality. He's also not fooling anyone with his vow of celibacy not being related to his true love dying 900 years ago.

[thementalshawty]

My New Beginning (My way out)

(Mentions of disabilities, mental, emotional, physical abuse, S*x abuse, bullying, self harm, suicidal ideation, Domestic violence, be wary before reading).

So where to begin……. This is about familial abuse, so this has been something happening my whole life!!! My “mother” is a narcissist. She bullied me and my sister our whole lives, I am the third of 5 kids, she would pit us against each other and watch us fight to laugh and make fun, most of my insecurities stem from her clowning me in front of my brothers, funny enough she is NEVER ALONE, my father he abused us including her but he left and I thought we were better off for it, I wasn’t wrong but little did I know the monsters she’d allow into our lives after, I was getting molested by older brother and my mothers boyfriend before I even got to elementary school, my brother started when I was insanely young, and I still protected him as I didn’t know what tf was happening, her boyfriend started when I was in 4th grade, he wasn’t a drunk or anything just a pedophile, she knew he was because he got caught cheating on her with teenage girls and yet she still kept him around for a decade so wherever we moved he was there and I started to become angry, rage grew inside my soul like a fire that had no intention of burning out, on top of that he was abusive hitting and bruising me and my siblings who all have disabilities, you know my sister as she’s a tarot reader on here so I’m not going into specifics about them, but she would sit and watch and do nothing, she would hide food with him, have us stand in the corner for hours on end while they are food in front of our faces “mmmm that’s good”. She even forced to drink her breast milk in front of him, she despised us having friends, soo when I would have a friend she wouldn’t let me see them or go out or we would move, I’ve never stayed more than 2-3 years in any place my whole entire fuccin life! I don’t know anything but toxicity when it came to relationships, I tried to kill myself multiple times but they failed so I decided to be a burner, I just burned myself, the fire it was the rage inside me felt outside, I decided to tell my mother about the molester from her boyfriend when I was 15, because I told someone in school he told me I had to tell her or he would so I wrote her a letter, he had a gun in the house and put it to his head and said he was going to kill himself (gaslighting), she kicked him out for a day, brought him back then told me that I had to share her with him, so at 15 and with her knowledge of him molesting me, we all moved to California, we drove there, and that was awful, we all fought and he screams how he didn’t care about what he did to me and he was laughing in front of her, i ended up just sweeping that under the rug because i went to focus on my career I had acting classes so my mind was focused but I met a guy from school and he automatically hated him (the boyfriend) he told my mother and automatically I was told to stay away from him, I didn’t I had got arrested the year before so I had community service and he was helping me with that, I told him what happened I thought we were meant to be but he cheated on me with his sister and I found myself in her another Jerry springer bind but I found that out months after we broke up, but he stood up for me and he was the only one on the outside that actually came and defended my honor as sick as he is I will give him credit for that. A year later we’re moving bacc to NYC, before we did though, they got Into a fight (my mother and the boyfriend), pretending to break up, he went to the gas station filled a gas canister wit gas came back to the front door and poured gasoline on himself, obviously not lighting himself on fire because it was an act, he went to jail a week or two later she invited him back into her life, I already knew that it was going to happen because the shit was predictable at that point, Skipping ahead to 17, we moved back to NYC, we came separately, I came on a plane with my mother and the rest of my siblings drove back with him, because obviously she trusted him with children why wouldn’t she? She already knew what he was capable of, she didn’t care 🤷🏽‍♀️, when we got back to NyC she

Promises me that he’s not coming back into our lives that it’s over this time, I told her he’s going to gaslight her she says not gonna work, fast forward to when they all made it to the apartment, she approached me with the sob story I said he would come in with so she said she is letting him stay, I was going to just walk away, but my sister told me that she fought with him on the drive here, she stood up for me, he yelled at my older brothers and her that he did What he did to me cos he truly wanted to and he’s unapologetic for it, the flame it was uncontrollable and I blacked out I went into the room and I kicked him out myself. He yelled bullshit but he left, she hated me for that, so she started to sneak him in secretly then they started hiding food again, leaving us to literally shake, starve and feel sick, we learned how to improvise with what little we had. I was going to school so I didn’t care, speaking of school I was supposed to be on my last year of school, and I couldn’t graduate because my principal explained because I moved so much my credits were all over the place, so she told me I had to repeat a year that was devasting to me because in California I only had a few credits before I could graduate, I got two jobs because I just wanted to save up money to leave, she told my grandma lies oh she has a whole bunch of recruits that she tells constant lies too about us and what we do never the truth because they already feel she’s sick but they do nothing about it, family tho right? My grandma called me and so again we told her the truth and she helped us kick him out for good, (so that’s the end of boyfriend 1…. For now) I was finally 18!! So again I have no friendships nothing ever stuck, but I had two jobs and I was saving up for an apartment, I shouldn’t have done this but I was so proud of myself! I told her (my mother) that I was going to move out, get my own apartment and live on my own, she didn’t like that, she was saying that it was disloyal and what was she going to do without me and she needed help because most of my siblings have a disability, so I stayed, I couldn’t be disloyal when she needed me, that was a big mistake. A year later we are moving BACC to California because she has found A NEW BOYFRIEND, some guy she met over the phone, guess who helped her move back to California though (boyfriend #1), my brother who molested me left to go into the army, don’t worry he’s not in it any longer dishonorable discharge (it was fitting). So anyways the new boyfriend was some white guy who I felt meant no harm the fuccin dude was quiet and softspoken so I paid it no mind, but I was wrong, he was a drunk, not only was a he a drunk, he was a RACIST DRUNK! Did she care???? NOOOOOOO! Everytime I tried to leave she stopped me, til we fought then she would say to leave knowing I had nowhere to go, if I had a friend to go too she would hate that friend, funny thing is most friends that want to take me away from this be friends she introduced me too, she wanted to be friends with them but they wanted to be my friend yes they are younger people, I don’t have those friends anymore because they were very similar to her go figure right ? I thought I should call the cops, call for help, but everyone I reached out too did nothing INCLUDING COPS! So I felt backed into a corner, well I had my sister my little sister my rock, funny fun fact though, her new boyfriend ALSO LIKES LITTLE GIRLS oh and BOYS! He got arrested and she stood up for him, while he was doing that in her home, she would run away and leave us all my siblings in the house with him drunk calling us the N word, kicking doors down and causing mess, I couldn’t leave my siblings who couldn’t understand what was happening behind all I knew is that they were scared and their mother wasn’t there all she did was make excuses for him she told me I should kill myself, that I was a cunt that didn’t deserve her name, ( I don’t have it, I have my dads last name), that I was going to be nothing more than a whore, by this time………………

She knows about what my brother did to me I didn’t mention that confession because she just skipped right over it. She literally didn’t care and she told me to my face she believed he was only playing with me and I am confusing it all and that I know nothing about it because it happened to her and she the only one who knows pain and my pain doesn’t matter she tried to assault me and again tried to tell family but she already took the narrative so they weren’t trying to hear me out or help, in august of this year, me and my sister left, we went to stay in a motel for a week or two, with the help of my booking agent we didn’t have enough money to stay and the homeless shelters were all full and we’re not answering back, so we had no choice but to go back, we are back and nothing even a week later back to the drunk racist, not eating, starving routine, I wanted to die and I felt like a failure! I couldn’t even get out of bed I felt like I deserved this I got my sister out to end up right back 2 WEEKS LATER?!?!! I fuccin hated myself! He was drunk and again causing ruckus, she came back a morning later and was telling him to leave, he was going to hit her, my brother (diagnosed with MR) was out there with my younger brother (autism) and they were scared and standing up for her and the boyfriend was in their faces what was I supposed to do???? Me and my sister tried to help and she tried to tell us to leave for helping her!!!!! Me and my sister decided to just call the police, they started to fight, and he tried to kill her, the police got him out, and they told her that she was lucky to have her kids here, we cleaned up her room after he broke her whole house apart, I mean EVERYTHING IS TORN APART RN!!!! she decided that she was going to move down to Texas with the molesting brother because he has kids, (oh yeah other fun fact she kept forcing me to have kids she even wanted me to give her my eggs so she can have kids with both of those boyfriends she approached me TWICE ABOUT IT, one she wanted my eggs and the other she wanted me to be pregnant for her!) So now my brother has kids she was like saying she knows I’ll never have kids and I’ll be forever alone, that no one will ever love me, anyways skipping to now my birthday came and left I’m 27 now! The housing program that me and my sister signed up for began to pend and we found a place! We didn’t tell her we found a place and that we were in a program we didn’t even tell her that we went down the city. We ended up getting a random woman come into the house and serve us she was evicting us (my mother) even on the eviction notice it says no fault just cause, she didn’t even tell me, so we have 60 days to leave and vacate her premises! Funny enough yesterday my sister got her APPROVAL NOTICE!!! Mine is still pending but I know that I’m getting approved and if all goes well we will be in our transitional home on SATURDAY! We finally did it, dug our way out, I didn’t think that I could and that I would, I would’ve been opened up to someone if I didn’t believe that it was against the family or that no one would love me like she did, she painted the world as such a unloving place and that this toxicity was normal and for the longest I believed it, but I am waking up now! And I am looking forward to beginning my life AWAY FROM HER! Just me and my rock @silvershiningtarot I AM NOT ASHAMED OF MY STORY, I’m only ashamed I kept quiet for so long, I allowed them to get away with everything and they took control of the narrative but I’m taking my power back! This is the first chapter of my success story! I’m not looking for claps or sympathy or for yky to actually care or anything I just wanted to put my story out there because this shit shouldn’t be in the dark anymore, mothers can be demons, family can be a dark and scary word for people and they’re not family, only relation! And I wanted to make that clear! RELATION DOESN’T MEAN FAMILY

I feel more familial love from you guys on here than I ever did anywhere! My music gave me hope and tarot gave me community

You deserve to know your reader through and through!

Thank you!!! For listening and taking the time for hearing this sad ass story, I hope I didn’t drag your day down! 💋

[002yb]

do you have any thoughts about priest jason todd? haha i want to see your take on it, esp if in this au dickjay was a thing or happened. i was thinking about priest jason todd and mirrorverse batfam so he’s like the only “good” one and he has a code not to kill while everyone else here doesn’t care ab killing, also the thought of dick tempting jay ^^ or honestly just the entire batfam just mourning and being basically mob bosses until jason gets resurrected and eventually comes to gotham and is oike “so i know i’m back but now i’m a god lover and a priest and hey oh also i don’t kill” and everyone is just “now hold on a second-“

Demons have followed Jason all his life - metaphorically and literally. At least in the literal sense, it's always the same fuckers, too. They're relentless.

Maybe it's because Jason was one of them, but by some twist of fate he was given absolution and reborn with a 'clean slate' to do right. Or maybe it's a plea bargain - help as many souls as he hurt while Jason was a demon and that will be his retribution, his mercy from hellfire. Or he's part of some twisted game. Stolen from his home and influenced to reject it.

For the sake of this ask: he died. He came back wrong. No memories, no corruption - just a penchant for attracting the wicked. Everything else is open to interpretation.

The family wants him back though. And Jason might not realize, but he's darkness welcomed past the church's threshold; he brings damnation by association.

Not necessarily by the family, but by others. Because Jason's soul is tortured. Tormented. It's known suffering from a life he can't remember and one he does - caused by men created in his God's image and by monsters that were cast from his kingdom.

Basically Father Hot Toddies is prime real estate (˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ ) ✧

Anyway, background. Jason attracts abusive people. He influences people to abuse him. Try as he might to help, there's a darkness at his fingertips and devastation in his wake.

Instant distraction -- Jason self-flagellating whenever he feels he failed to help someone or thinks he led anyone astray. It's supposed to be a penace, but sometimes Jason is weak and it's just punishment

Okay, we're back. Jason recognizing that something's wrong with him. Because too many bad things happen for him not to pick up the pattern.

Another distraction and it's kinky, I apologize -- Jason being assaulted in the church proper. In the confessional booths or in the pews ahhhhhh blasphemous okay okay

Protective of the people in his community and is well loved, in turn, but is conscious to keep a distance for their safety. He has compassion in spades and shows that in the ways that he can (putting the fear of God into cruel people, going out and sneaking food and blankets to the homeless, nagging at punks across the street to get their asses to school or the orphans at the church to mind the nuns).

Not as lonely a life as it seems because choice demons harass him on the regular.

They look after Jason in their own way, but it's wicked

Every person that hurts Jason turns up dead. It's part of Jason's motivation to keep withdrawn. There's forgiveness for everyone, even those who lose their senses around him.

Would Jason have the same forgiveness if the man who tried to assault him turned on a child? And Jason pauses, because his answer is no - burn him ---- and he burns.

Oh. For a time Jason thinking himself mad. Or figuring he's invited a demon into him because there are voices in his head and in those moments of weakness when he can't be temperate -- people get hurt.

Which leads to a lot of torment and praying because what's wrong with him? Tell him. Let him be better.

Jumping over to Dick's perspective on things for a moment because okay. The family loses it when they realize Jason has been lost to them. They bring apocalypse and travesty in their rage and it's a bad time.

But then - the familiar flicker of a damaged soul. Jason.

Dick going to Jason first. Following the sound of his cries and the smell of his suffering. And where some in the family might like that - Dick isn't one of them. Pain that Jason endures is Dick's to inflict, after all. Possessive!demon!Dick Grayson yes please.

Anyway, Dick shows up and suddenly Willis is shot dead on the doorstep. The cigarettes he would use to burn Jason with stamped into his forehead.

And Jason sees Dick there, stooped over Willis's body. Dick flicks the cigarette away. Looks at this small, scrawny boy and marvels at how Jason is still perfect - even like this. A soft smile, still all teeth and bite and menace. It's vicious in a way that even demons cringe away from, but Jason smiles. Tentative, innocent.

Because he thinks Dick is his guardian angel.

The rest of the family piles on if only because Jason really does attract all sorts of terrible things. They can't fathom what it is. Jason has always had that way about him, but it's amplified now and it puts him in danger. Jason's soul is theirs though; no one else can have it.

It's Gotham that wants it. Cursed land that outdates even the first of their kind.

Jason thinking he has angels looking out for him until he recognizes them for the demons they are. He tries to escape them, seeking asylum in a church and it deters them for a time, but only until Jason's own evil taints hallowed grounds.

This is so convoluted ahhhhh sorry

But basically overprotective!bats trying to save Jason's soul to sate their own desires

Jason rebuffing all their efforts and being a stubborn ass

He only relents when Gotham sends its worst after him and desecrates the church that housed him and the children under his care that he loses it and strikes a contract with some of hell's finest

It's a zero sum game though

Because Dick and the others - they can have Jason's soul. But only once the evil in Gotham is purged. Only the evil.

Just an endless war but it's fine because all the losses and suffering only makes Jason's soul that much more sweet

They're content to starve until then

Only they're not. They taste and nibble when allowed. And Father Hot Toddy? He's a generous man. //u////

Can an AU like this not get a little kinky? It feels like a crime that it wouldn't. Father Todd gets down  (*°∀°)=3

Extra Dickjay details:

Jason seeking out his 'guardian angel' because there's nowhere safer than with Dick. They sit in a grimy alley and Jason falls asleep with his head pillowed on Dick's thigh, or curled up against Dick's chest. And Dick humors it. He's soft about it, content if only because he can wrap himself around Jason and possess him for even a short time

Jason calling for Dick when he finds Catherine, not realizing Dick was the devil whispering in her ear. Jason loved her; Dick didn’t. He tested her love of Jason and she fell short

Dick being the demon Jason calls to in order to make that contract. Because he remembers the times Dick was kind (because for as jaded as Jason has become, he wants to believe that was genuine - not another manipulation). He'll sell Dick his soul, but only if Dick gives Jason hope.

Reverence. Shoulder and spine kisses. Worship. It’s overwhelming, tempting, addictive.

Dick knows how to play Jason. He never considers Jason knows Dick just as well. <3

Something something Dick won’t pray to anyone, but he’ll dirty talk marvel Jason like he’s something holy

Something something Jason anticipating a kiss. To tease him, Dick raises the cross of Jason’s rosary between them - a barrier because ‘what would your god say, little wing?’ And Jason is already succumbed, but he’d bite back a challenge, ‘you would let him stop you?’ And Dick would smile and snap the rosary from Jason’s neck, beads clattering on the stone floors beneath them as he defiles not an innocent lamb, but a wolf in sheep’s clothing. //u///

‘Never,’ he’d breathe against Jason’s lips, his skin. A promise and an oath and the devotion in it would tear Jason apart. 💖

[sadkachow]

sometimes i wish i wasn’t transmasc.

i love being me, but it just gets so exhausting. 

i’m not in an environment where i’m able to be entirely open about it, and it makes every moment when i’m with anyone i’m not out to exhausting. i feel like i’m putting on a show, pretending to be someone i’m not.

and then (and this is the main point of this post) sometimes it feels like the queer community hates people like me. not always, but certainly enough. enough to make me feel isolated, even in online spaces where i can be myself, because no one wants me to be me. the amount of shit i see by other queer people (even other trans men!) about how my manness somehow means i don’t experience oppression (which assumes every trans masc or man can or wants to pass—and even then, they must also be quiet about their transness), that trans mascs and men aren’t allowed to have the language to speak about their oppression, that we’re oppressing other trans people (by merit of being men, i guess???), that we’re evil disgusting monsters. 

the fear-mongering around t, the idea that it makes you bad and dangerous, the idea that certain effects of t are inherently disgusting and bad.

the way that we’re either seen as “evil vicious wicked men” or “poor dumb stupid girls- i mean boys- i mean girls”.

we’re hated because we’re failed women. 

we’re hated because we’re men.

no trans man or masc has ever experienced oppression based on their identity—and don’t you dare go look up the reported rates of violence, harassment, and s/a that we receive, don’t you dare look at how high they are! 

trans men aren’t allowed to see our transness and our manhood as connected in any way, they must be separated (“we have to protect queerness from disgusting masculinity”—which is also harmful to anyone who is comfortable or even enjoys experiencing and embracing their masculinity). 

gay trans men like me are introducing on the gay community.

straight trans men are either preying on innocent women, or they’re “better” than cis men, because they(“‘re not really men”) know what women want and are like and can thus serve women better!

trans men who still identify with lesbianism for whatever reason are either treated as women or treated (once again) as evil invaders out to harm women.

not to mention the trans mascs and men who identify with any other label than those three—no matter what, our identities and labels get twisted around to be used against us, to the point where sometimes it feels like maybe it’d be better if we didn’t identify as anything at all (except maybe that’d get turned against us too).

we get attacked for trying to have more neutral language (i.e. “pregant people” instead of “pregnant women”, “menstrual hygiene” instead of “feminine hygiene”, etc). we get attacked for having our own language (the way every single term used to describe transmasc oppression has been dissected and degraded until it’s become clear that maybe it’s not the word itself but simply the fact that we are using it).

we get told how much men are awful and horrible either as if we arent “really” men (“kill all men. but not you, you’re one of the ‘good ones’ (aka: i don’t see you as a man)”), or because we’re just as bad and need to be separated and killed and harassed and hated (“kill all men, including trans men. you can’t be mad, you’re asking for it by (existing as yourself) being a man!” “trans men really are the men of the lgbtqia+ community” (this is also a form of malgendering—gendering someone correctly for the sake of harming or attacking them (aka with malicious intent))).

i see so much help and resources for other queer people, but hardly any for trans mascs/men. i’ve seen support that parades itself as “for trans people”, and then it turns out it’s for all trans people except trans men. (this isn’t an exaggeration, by the way. i’ve seen multiple respurces that say that they’re for the support of all trans people, and then if you actually read into it, they’re for the support of trans women and nonbinary people only—which is completely fine that those support groups exist! but then don’t label it as “for all trans people” if it’s not for all trans people. that’s exclusionary, and can also present nonbinary identities as “women-lite”—and also often leaves no space for trans women and nonbinary people who present in a more masculine way or who also identify with manhood/as men to some degree, or for nonbinary people who dont identify with womanhood/as women at all.)

violence against trans men is so often erased because we’re misgendered even in death. we’re forcefully detransitioned. we’re s/a-ed and abused at extremely high rates.

we’re pitiful misled girls or failed women or wicked evil men or pick me’s or vile abusers. 

we’re evil and we cannot be hurt or oppressed because we’re men, as if that is not a point of view that is based on bioessentialism/gender essentialism, racism, intersexism, and extremely harmful (especially to marginalised men in general—trans or not). 

no identity is uniquely capable or incapable of harm—anyone can harm anyone, regardless of who they are.

and yet, and yet, and yet, it’s alright because we asked for it by simply being us.

sometimes it just feels so isolating to be a trans boy, because everywhere i look, there’s people hating me for existing.

im just so tired of it.

(clarification: i know not all of the queer community holds this stance. i’ve seen and/or met wonderful queer people of all identities who have been understanding and accepting. i’m also not trying to say that the things mentioned in this are only driven forward by the community—plenty of people who aren’t in it do this stuff as well. what i mean is just that it feels as if this sort of talk—particularly radfem rhetoric—has been incredibly pervasive lately, at least from what i’ve experienced. i feel like a lot of people forget it’s not just the “trans exclusionary” part of TERFs that is bad, but the radical feminism as well. radical feminism isn’t good. it’s incredibly bioessentialist, racist, intersexist, and harmful in so many other ways by its nature. but it still stands so clearly in so many places. this is also by no means a comphrensive list on the treatment of trans mascs/men. i’m not infallible. there’s certainly other things that have happened that i’ve either forgotten or am not aware of—and if anyone wants to add on, feel free!)

[cheesus-doodles]

What about Toman Boys with a reader who knows/does karate. Not exactly like Red Dragonfly reader. Do you think they would try to convince the reader to quit, or would they encourage it?

Masterlist

‎

Received a surprisingly number of requests on this previously! Sorry it took so long to get back to yall :’) I’m trying my best

Ahh so I take this to mean that reader knows karate like Mikey? Absolutely they would convince you to quit, by force even if it comes down to it. Don't think it matters if you were a competitive fighter, that you had a black belt, that you insist that you could hold your own against other delinquents; if you couldn't beat Draken or Mikey, let alone Mitsuya or Baji then you simply weren't strong enough to do karate. And it doesn't matter one ounce to your Toman friends how much you protested that Mikey has literally never been defeated or that Baji can take 50 guys on his own, and that each and every single founder was a monster on in their own right, even in the violent world of gangs and delinquents.

It wasn't just about the unsightly bruises that marked your skin after each fight, or worse, having to watch you dislodge joints or get knocked unconscious. Kazutora would by far be the most affected by all this “unnecessary violence”, which coming form a delinquent such as himself is hilarious, but you can’t bring yourself to laugh at those watery eyes. More so the fact that one, with growing strength meant an increased chance that you didn’t need them to protect you anymore, two, that you were actively interacting with a community that was beyond their control, and three and most importantly - you were allowing others to leave a mark, their mark, on you. Unacceptable. The cons of karate were way more than the pros of allowing you to learn self-defence, even the more tolerant of the boys (Pah, Mitsuya and Draken) could clearly see that. Which means it was time to put a stop to this nonsense for good.

But the boys wouldn't make you promise or swear that if you couldn't beat them, you couldn't learn or practice anymore karate - oh no no. That would make them the enemies that took something you loved away from you, and the last thing these Toman boys wanted was to drive you away into the arms of someone else that might be more... supportive. No, your friends would probably go for the alternate route of making karate so miserable for you that you would willingly give it up of your own accord: they would offer to train you themselves. It wouldn’t even seem that far fetch an idea, Mikey’s family owning and running a dojo that he and Baji had been training at since young, and with the other four being strong enough to be your practice dummies despite knowing no karate themselves. All six boys would be more than happy to spar with you though, but let it be known that they wouldn’t be holding back as much as you originally thought, no matter how much the thought of hurting you on purpose weighed down Mitsuya, Draken, Baji and Pah, with Mikey and Kazutora feeling no such guilt. At least with them offering to be the ones training and sparring with you, they manage to convince you to pull out from that stupid-ass karate class with all those dangerous strangers - you were only safe with them.

Starts off as them landing hits that would leave you with …inconvenient bruises and injuries. The crook of your elbow would start to creak and hurt when you tried to bend with the number of kicks and punches you were catching there, same with your knee. Not only walking would become a chore, but cooking and even writing. And when that fails to convince you to give up your little lessons, Mikey and Kazutora are quick to escalate, hitting out with enough force to pop a join, then fracture a bone. Passes it off as an accident, a hit too hard - they had thought you had reached that level already, and with those teary eyes and dramatic waterworks, no doubt you believed them, and forgiveness quickly followed. After all, Mikey, Baji, Kazutora, they were all your beloved friends; they would never do something so horrendous to you on purpose would they?

Anything got to do with karate, they would make sure it becomes associated with inconvenience, pain and suffering. Trust me, it hurts them as much as it hurts you - Baji and Draken are always ready with ice packs, Pah with a cold drink and something light to eat, Kazutora with his waterworks, and Mitsuya brings you to the doctor or hospital whenever something happens. They don't like to see you suffer, but if that's what they need to make you understand that this isn't good for you, then its just temporary pains to keep you safe in the long run. After all, they didn't want you to get the idea that you could take someone on without their help after learning some rudimentary self defence, not with your fragile body that couldn't even take a hit from them.

And if you do ask to go back to your normal lessons, Mikey makes it a point to beat your entire karate class - instructor included - just to show you how weak they were in comparison, and of course deter them from taking you back. Best to just give it up before this boy considers breaking both of your legs to teach you a real lesson.

[oddeyevibes]

Extra Curricular Activities Part 1

Summary: Your students become worried about the man in the red suit that visited you at school.

Words: 1828

The class of 3-C weren’t the best students. They weren’t the worst either which is what made them so frustrating to many of the faculty. They didn’t have the drive to raise the bar and many teachers had an issue with that. 

Not you though. 

That’s not to say you didn’t believe in any of these kids but you also didn’t feel the need to pressure them. They are young and they have their whole lives ahead of them. Your philosophy was that the pressures of school were heavy enough without someone badgering them to not be anything less than perfect. 

There are those moments in time where the school expects you to make them study but you just let them be. It was perfect for actually connecting with them and reminding them that they’re more than they’re grades. 

Plenty of teachers that used to teach them would tell you that “trying to be their friend” would get you nowhere but…they were patronizing. They never approached them like people, they approached them like toddlers that needed to be reminded not to eat glue and when you’re dealing with teenage rebellion, that usually ends with teens doing the thing you told them not to do. 

You can admit that even this approach is motivated. Coming off as someone they can see as their big sister rather than a nagging authority figure. Someone who can be chill but can still put their foot down if the situation called for it. 

But you just…got it. 

Many of them had stuff to do outside of school. That was the ACTUAL issue. Many of these kids had to take up responsibilities because their parents either can’t or won’t take care of them or their siblings. This was the case with Takara Sugimoto, an aspiring author who lives with both her mother and grandmother. However, her grandmother had a knee surgery recently and needs some help and Takara offers since her mother has to work. 

Three generations helping each other stay afloat. 

She doesn’t hang out much with her friends but it warms your heart how her friends understand. 

Like her friend, Hajime Tsuda. His own father had gotten into a car accident and he had been visiting him often with his mother. He wants to be a baseball star when he gets older. 

Then there was the rowdy Da Liu, who never failed to mention how his dad is in the Yokohama Liumang and several times you’ve warned him to keep it down because when push comes to shove, the Liumang would probably have no choice but to expel his dad. 

There was also his twin sister, Chun Liu, who always did her best to stand out against her brother’s antics, less she only known as the class clown’s sister. She liked makeup. She liked regular makeup, she liked glamorous makeup and while she only told this to a few people, she also liked monster makeup. She’d shown you pictures of the Halloween makeup she’s done for her and brother and she has some serious talent. 

There was also Ju-Hee Chung. Whereas the school saw a fair amount of Japanese and Chinese students, Korean students were somewhat rare around here as often many people under Geomijul protection opted to just have their kids learn within their communities. There were outliers though such as Ju-Hee who transferred in after you started teaching this class and she became quick friends with Chun because they liked the same idol. She’s also into fashion and wants to be a designer…or a model…she hasn’t figured it out yet…maybe both.  

Then there was Shuichi Ono. He was one of the bigger kids. Apparently, he’s been weight training with his father because he’s taken a new interest in wrestling and now he currently wants to be a wrestler but the training makes him exhausted and you’d feel bad so you only really wake him up during these breaks whenever another teacher is coming, especially the snitches. 

Sure they weren’t “perfect”. They didn’t get their grades but they were passing. And maybe it did make you a bad teacher or a bad influence but did you wanna be the person that makes them feel that their world is going to collapse on themselves if they get anything lower than an A. 

Yes, this country gets competitive with stuff like this but you’ve always moved with one thought in mind. That very thought stood as one of the reasons you became a teacher. One day, the old destructive ways will die and then the young will change it for the better. They might not be on the front lines, but they will be there and it’s important for them to know that you’re proud of them. 

They’re being their own people. 

They will enact change

……..

……..

Their first order of business is getting you away from that guy that visits you at work. That weirdo in the dusty red suit and the rat’s nest for a hair who seems to be putting the moves on you. 

It started with Da. You had gone out of the room because some of the teachers were talking about some guy just hanging around the school grounds and they were about to call the cops but then you recognized who it was and told them he was harmless, even telling them that you’ll talk to him. 

Someone was supposed to watch the class but after a few rounds of rock, paper, scissors, everyone decided to just leave them be. 

Da, taking the opportunity, decided to pull some of his impressions of British people. At some point, he saw you and Ichiban talking and then he saw Ichiban take hold of your hands and he made his thoughts known. 

“Hey…who’s the bird nest with Ms. L/N?” He asked. 

While most of the students were just actively ignoring him, the aforementioned ones all came over to the window with Shuichi towering over all of them. 

Chun looked over Ichiban’s entire outfit. “I can smell the vintage on that suit from here.” 

Da shot his sister a confused look at her expression before turning his attention back to the both of you. 

“Is that her boyfriend? Did anyone know she had a boyfriend?” Chimed in Takara. “I didn’t think she was into…men.”

 Shuichi’s brows raised in shock. “You sayin Ms. L/N likes women?” 

Da waved it off. “She could be into both, y’know? My mom says she saw one of our neighbors at a hostess club and THEN at a host club. Bisexuals are everywhere. We could all be bisexuals and we wouldn’t even know it.” 

Then Hajime chimed in with a confused tone. “I’m not bisexual.” 

In response, Da leaned in closely to Hajime’s face and whispered, “but how do you knooooowwwwwwww?” 

“Shh!!!” Chun hushed him. “I can’t focus.” 

“Focus on looking?” Da asked with a scoff. 

“I’m trying to practice my lip reading, I wanna know what they’re saying.” 

Shuichi leaned in as if it would give him a clearer look at their expressions while Ju-Hee pulled out her phone from her large sleeves, their main purpose. 

She tried using her camera and zooming in the lens but it was for nothing. The windows were murky from the half-assed job they did yesterday from cleaning it. Well, specifically Da, who’s lip imprints were still visible on another panel. 

“I can’t see anything, if I zoom in too much it gets all fuzzy.” Ju-Hee complained.

Hajime stepped in to try to be the voice of reason. “Maybe it’s her friend?”

“No,” Takara shot it down. “He’s gotta be her boyfriend. Who would voluntarily come back to school?” 

Everyone shot her a glance. “Teachers?” They all replied in unison. 

She scoffed. “Without pay?” 

“........teachers.” They were more sure.

She rolled her eyes. “Maybe he’s so smitten by her that he can’t resist showing up looking like a creeper at the place she works.” 

“Yeeeeah….I’m pretty sure that’s just stalking.” Hajime reasoned as he often did whenever she started losing her head into the clouds. Then he gasped. “Is she being stalked?” 

A gasp from Chun followed. “That bastard!” 

“I mean…she looks like she’s smiling.” Shuichi pointed out. 

“YOU FOOL!” Chun yelled. “That’s a defense mechanism. Women often smile when they’re worried that the guy might kill her. I hear it’s especially dangerous in places like the States with their guns. You don’t laugh at a guy’s joke there, BAM they shoot you, in front of EVERYONE and the cops STILL won’t throw away the key.” She let out another gasp. “That’s probably why. She’s probably suffering from PTSD.” 

“But she grew up in Japan.” Shuichi replied. 

“She was born in the states and moved here when she was way younger and then she went to college in the states. Something could’ve happened.” 

Hajime let out an exhausted sigh. “Then would she have anything to worry about? Guns aren’t legal here and it’s hard to get them normally and even if you buy them in parts, it’s illegal to put it together.”

Then Da had a revelation. “Unless…he’s a gangster.” 

Now everyone looked to him but their expressions all portrayed roughly the same sentiments. Da could be right. 

“They don’t care about legality.” Takara whispered in shock. “He could have a gun on him right now.” 

Ju-Hee gasped. “Maybe she doesn't know. Maybe he’s playing her.” 

“He could be Yakuza. Y’know, they walk around in bright suits all the time. My uncle used to be Yakuza and when he wanted to leave, he had to cut something off.” 

“Wasn’t that back when the legal system was a bit more loose?” Hajime asked. “They wear normal suits now, don’t they? So they don’t stand out?” 

The energy among the group deflated. “Maybe…” They were all heard muttering quietly. 

Then Takara perked up. “Or…that’s his plan.” 

Everyone looked at her. 

“What if he’s trying to trick her? Like dressing so ridiculous that Ms. L/N won’t even consider him being a gangster? What if he’s trying to traffic her?” 

Jun-Hee spoke up. “They always do go for people they think are foreigners.” 

Hajime huffed. “If they’re foreign tourists,” he tried correcting his friends. 

“No, any foreigner is a good foreigner to them.” Ju-Hee replied. 

Takara let out a sad sigh. “Poor Ms. L/N. Doesn’t even know she’s being played for a fool.” 

“Bullshit!” Da exclaimed, pushing himself away from the window. “We can’t let this bastard get away with this! This guy’s playin’ her and we don’t know what other bullshit he could have planned for her.” 

“Should we confront him now?” Chun asked, now she was becoming fully invested in her brother’s words. 

“No. We have to get proof. If we go now, she’ll just tell us everything is fine.” 

His eyes turned back towards Ichiban but you were seen coming back into the building. 

“We’ll have to make plans to follow him.” 

[tomahawkbunny]

Sidekicks

Taking children to battle is a monster's game. Trying to keep them from being heroes is a fool's errand. Thus, sidekicks. The first sidekick was Comfort, the boy-healer who supported Lady Liberty, and he set the standard for many that would come after for years. Playing support, generally avoiding direct action confrontation, allowed to help, as he would whether he was allowed to or not, but under conditions. This worked, for a long time. There were missteps, there were mistakes, there were even tragedies. But no one thought there was a better way. Until Viscera. When he killed the Sidekick Squad, strung up their bodies for their mentors to find, drove said mentors to violence and madness, he broke something, in the hero community and the hearts of the public. Sidekicks were banned for years, policed with hovering relentlessness. Children are not to be in battle. It is insane they were ever allowed to be. 

But they wanted to be. And they would be. Heroes are too inspiring. The thrill is too tempting. To rebel against authority is an act of childhood in and of itself. And when you have power, and you can help someone, you do. That’s what they’d been taught, if not directly, by proof, by spacemen from the sky and those with nothing but masks and wits. So they would go it alone, in secret. And some would succeed. Others would get hurt, or worse. You can stop some, but only so many. And if they do it alone, there’s no one to help them. 

Sidekicks are back now. It’s a controversial topic. Sidekicks must train at Prospects Academy or under an authorized hero with direct exemption permission. If one gets targeted, they get protected. Villains know that retribution will be total and instant. Many, especially those of the general public are still against Sidekicks at all. But the children want to be heroes. And we can protect them, or we can fail to stop them. It’s an easy choice when put like that. METADATA: Sidekicks, conceptually, are batshit. They exist because seeing a kid like them sold more comics. But they are integral to a superheroic world. And you can choose to handle that in a lot of ways. This entry shows a few, but the inescapable cruel joke of their very conceit is a source of a perpetual narrative conflict machine.

[lasnevadaslaborunion]

I've been thinking for a while about how c!Quackity constructs his sense of morality not as a battle between equal and opposite forces of good and evil, or as a code of ethics that must be followed, but rather as a top-down system.

"Bad" is above; it acquires and exerts its power unjustly; it entrenches itself and refuses to make way for change; it causes destruction while itself remaining untouched (epitomized in c!Quackity's mind by the likes of c!Schlatt and c!Dream). "Good" is below, as a consequence of both the nature of beginning life in a pure state and of the limitations it places on itself which prevent its own advancement (epitomized by someone like c!Slime, and to a lesser extent, c!clingyduo). This is a dysfunctional cycle where progress demands corruption, but that same corruption, when fully realized, halts progress.

Early in his story, this manifested as a strong belief in democracy as the solution: the little guy making a difference with nothing but their voice. Everyone is equal, everyone's input is valuable, and everyone has a part to play. This philosophy repeatedly failed him, however, culminating in the loss of his home, the death of multiple friends, and his own abuse at the hands of someone who was ostensibly a partner. So he decides he needs to be crueler and harsher to protect himself.

But this puts c!Quackity in a difficult bind: if being "good" leaves one weak, and being powerful requires one to be "bad," how can he defend himself without becoming the monster? How can he set himself apart from that cycle?

c!Quackity must then place himself in the center of the staircase, as a buffer between those he still sees as good and in need of protection and guidance, and those who would abuse their much greater power. If he elbows upwards, he is both serving much-needed justice and advancing his own position. And if he presses his weight a little too hard against the ones under him, well, consider that a lesson passed down from the very top. Life is rough. It could be a hell of a lot worse. They can handle it, because he did too, and look where he is now! Really, he's doing them a favor. (And maybe, just maybe, he feels guilty anyway, because he knows how badly those lessons sting, and because a part of him knows they haven't made him happy, either...)

Unfortunately, even this view harms him. c!Quackity craves both accomplishment and community, but the position he's placed himself in shuts him out of both. Because he can't advance too far upward, lest he lose his primary moral justification; you can't spite the bigger guy if you are the biggest guy. And he can't change course and be Mr. Nice Guy again, either. That would do nothing but leave him vulnerable to not only those above who've hurt him before and would happily do it again, but also the people whose level he has returned to, who now have every reason to resent him.

He has correctly recognized hierarchy as a problem. He fails to conceptualize a world without it. And because of that, he overcompensates and makes himself miserable.

(Aaaaand on that last note, remind me to revisit my meta on the parallels and true differences between c!Quackity and c!Techno sometime, because it's really damn sad that the person who tried the hardest to dismantle the hierarchy that caused c!Q so much pain is someone who c!Q identifies with the very power dynamics that hurt him.)

[ke0mara]

BLOOD LIKE POISON (III)- LEGACIES

Summary: Faith Mikaelson has always felt different from her sister. She felt as if there was ominous inside of her that she was sure Hope didn't feel. After losing their parents the two siblings became a lot closer. Whether it was the fact that they didn't want to risk losing each other as well or because they realized that they only had each other left, they did everything they could to protect each other. But things get a lot more difficult when a creature named Malivore starts sending monsters to the Salvator boarding school which forces the students to fight the monsters in order to protect themselves. During this inevitable battle, Faith finds someone who she ends up making an unexpected connection with and she finds out that she may not be as alone as she originally thinks.

wc: 4.4k

"ALRIGHT GATHER TOGETHER," Dorian said during one of their classes. Everyone then joined hands. Faith was to Josie's left, while Lizzie was to her right. Hope was two seats down from her sister's left. "Chain spells are about the fluid movement of energy from one witch to witch. Where's Penelope Park?" Dorian asked stopping in between Lizzie and Josie.

"Um, lady cramps, Mr. Williams," Lizzie told him making Faith smirk in amusement.

"Sorry, I asked." He said before continuing his teaching. "A disharmonious group makes for an uneven flow." Some people tried to stifle their laughter at the unintended joke, but failed; including Faith, Lizzie, and Josie. Hope just rolled her eyes at their childish behavior. "Okay..." Then a letter flew in and Dorian grabbed it.

"Uh-oh, who's in trouble with the headmaster?" Josie asked.

"Probably the people who started a rumble with the local high school," Hope said giving Lizzie a look.

"Well, we did do something bad too, Hope," Faith whispered leaning closer to her sister to not be heard by Lizzie and Josie. Hope rolled her eyes muttering something under her breath.

"Lizzie Saltzman, Josie Saltzman. And babies make four." Dorian told them reading the letter. "Off you go." The girls give each other a confused look.

—

"THIS MAKES NO SENSE DAD. Why are we being punished?" Lizzie asked irritated as they followed Alaric through the library.

"Because you started a brawl at a charity football game that risked exposing what we really do here," Alaric explained.

"Well, you weren't mad last night," Lizzie argued.

"I was mad last night. My undying love for my daughters just happened to trump my rage. I volunteered everyone in the game, so stop complaining." Alaric said as they stopped walking. "You're lucky that it's just community service and not actual jail time."

"Can I at least offer my rebuttal in my defense, if it pleases the court?" Lizzie asked dramatically. Alaric crosses his arms but listens. "First of all, I was provoked. My response was totally proportional considering the levels of abuse I was forced to endure." Hope chuckled in amusement at what she was saying. "And secondly... if anyone should take the blame, it's Josie." She finished making Josie give her an incredulous look as did Faith.

"What?" Josie questioned, betrayal written on her face.

"I'm sorry. I totally cracked under the cross, but if you had just let Kaleb catch the ball—"

"You'd still be in trouble," Alaric said breaking up their bickering.

"But nice job throwing your sister under the bus," Hope said.

"Yeah, Lizzie not cool." Faith agreed.

"Thank you, Hope and Faith," Josie said thanking the girls for defending her. Though that thanks was mostly directed at Hope considering she never defends Josie. But Faith would always defend Josie no matter what and she knew this. Faith would always defend Lizzie too, but in this case, she was the one in the wrong. Lizzie gave a shocked look to Josie at her thanking Hope.

"Speaking of, the bus leaves in ten minutes, and I expect all four of you to be on it working together today, harmoniously and without drama," Alaric told them sternly. "End of debate."

"We weren't even at the game. Why are we being punished?" Hope asked. Faith already knew what they were in trouble for.

"You two know what you did," Alaric said giving the girls a look. "Alright, now, go, all of you. Come on. Faith you wait here I have something to give you." Alaric said pointing to Faith. Josie and Lizzie left but not before giving Faith a questioning gaze. She just shrugged in response not knowing what Alaric needed from her either.

"Seriously?" Hope questioned Alaric.

"What part of what I said needs translating?"

"I want to help you with research."

"Dorian has a master's degree in library science," Alaric said, while Faith just waited patiently. "I think the adults have it covered."

"That's not fair," Hope said walking closer to Alaric. "You only play by the grown-up rules when you don't need something from me."

"Hope, seriously, it's the least we can do after what we did with Landon," Faith said looking at her sister.

"I am spinning right now, Hope. And I can't drag you or anyone else any further into this until I figure out what's going on, okay?" Alaric said. "So right now, I need you to be a kid keeping a dragon-sized secret today until I get some answers." Hope gave him an incredulous look. "Understood?"

"Yeah. Fine." Hope said reluctantly. Alaric then turned to Faith and walked over to her. He placed something in her hands. Faith looked down and saw a small bag with something inside it. She opened it to see the calming herbs she used to take to help keep her anger and sadness in control.

"I don't... need these anymore," Faith said looking up at him.

"Faith, just in case, take them. Okay?" Alaric asked. Faith thought about it and nodded muttering an 'okay' before taking off to leave with her sister. She put the bag with the herbs in her pocket, making a mental note to store them in her room later for safekeeping.

"Make sure you take those," Hope told her sister continuing to look straight ahead while they were walking to the bus.

"I know, I will," Faith said reassuring her sister.

—

"SO WHAT DID YOU GUYS DO?" Lizzie asked as they were getting out of the bus. "My dad never gets mad at you guys. You're the prodigal daughters." Lizzie said bitterly making Faith slightly roll her eyes. "Must have been juicy." The girls got off the bus.

"Sorry, no time for girl talk. Public service awaits." Hope replied bluntly.

"Alright, listen up." Dorian starts. "It's a beautiful day. You have options: litter, weeds, graffiti. Your choice." He finished, handing Kaleb a trash grabber. He snatched it from Dorian reluctantly.

"It's bad enough we get punished while the humans get a pass, but there ain't no way in hell I'm picking up their garbage," Kaleb said trying to hand Lizzie the trash grabber she put her hands up.

"Uh, I don't do trash either," Lizzie said.

"I love trash, as of this moment," Hope said grabbing the trash grabber she then turned to her sister. "Faith, join me?" Faith nodded grabbing the same device Hope had from Dorian, and they both started to walk away.

"Perf. It suits you, Hope." Lizzie said making Faith and Hope turn around and glare at her. "Looks like we're scrubbing paint today," Lizzie told her sister.

"Dad told us to work together, okay, harmoniously," Josie argued.

"Yeah, and he also said without drama, and I am feeling a rage attack coming on, so I will be remaining drama-free over by that wall of graffiti," Lizzie said. "Are you coming or not?"

"I don't know, Lizzie, is there another bus you want to throw me under?" Josie asked rhetorically walking away and to the opposite side of Lizzie, while Hope and Faith watched their interaction.

"Fine, Daddy's girls," Lizzie said bitterly making Hope smirk a little. "Anyone else?" They then started to walk in the opposite direction towards the graffiti wall. "Get the lead out MG." MG walked off turning and giving Josie, Faith, and Hope an apologetic look before leaving again with everyone else but the three girls. Josie and Faith sighed.

—

AFTER A WHILE OF PICKING UP TRASH Hope spoke up,

"You have a future in waste management." She said with a small smile.

"Cleaning up messes is kind of my thing," Josie replied. Faith understood what she meant. Lizzie makes big messes when she's feeling very strong emotions and needs a release. Faith and Josie occasionally help her get through it and clean up the mess together.

"Well, your sister is kind of a dumpster fire," Hope said.

"Seriously, Hope?" Faith questioned. "At least make an attempt to be polite."

"Why do you always pick fights?" Josie asked her. "We've known each other a decade and any time you have the chance, you poke. Faith doesn't, so why do you?"

"You guys do your fair share of poking," Hope said annoyed.

"Yeah, in retaliation to your pokes," Josie explained. "And with you spending so much time with my dad and keeping secrets..."

"We're not keeping secrets." Hope and Faith said at the same time.

"Oh, yeah? What happened when you went to go find Landon Kirby? And Faith what did my dad give you when we left? It must've been important if he didn't want to give it to you in front of the rest of us." Hope and Faith started walking faster in a different direction hoping to evade the girl's questions.

"Nothing happened," Hope replied.

"Nothing important." Faith retorted at the same time as her sister.

"Something clearly did happen. Rafael never showed up at school, Faith, you haven't talked to us since you've been back, and my dad was rattled, so why won't you just tell me?"

"Because there's nothing to tell. Aah!" Faith looked at her sister to see she stabbed herself in the foot with the trash grabber she then grimaced and walked over to her.

"Oh, my god," Josie exclaimed seeing what happened.

"Aah! Ow," Hope said with a look of pain.

"Are you okay? I mean, what should I do?" Josie asked crouching down beside Hope's foot.

"Let's just help her pull it out," Faith told Josie.

"What?" Josie questioned in disbelief.

"I can heal myself. Pull it out." Hope ordered. Josie then started to pull it out with both hands grunting in struggle; Hope wincing in pain, but she still couldn't seem to pull it all the way.

"Move over," Faith ordered Josie. She moved out of the way and Faith stood in front of her sister pulling the object out easily with one hand.

"Ow!"

"You poked yourself," Josie told Hope with a large smile. Then all three girls burst into laughter.

"Shut up," Hope said still chuckling.

—

AFTER A WHILE WHEN THE GIRLS FILLED THEIR garbage bags they started stacking them on top of each other. All of a sudden Josie clutched her stomach and doubled over in pain groaning.

"You ok, Jo?" Faith asked worriedly.

"Yeah, everything ok?" Hope asked sounding concerned as well.

"Yeah, I just think that that's making me a little nauseous," Josie answered looking behind Faith and Hope making them turn their heads to see M.G. making out with Dana.

"Huh," Hope muttered. "Didn't see that coming."

"Gross." Faith mumbled scrunching up her nose.

"It's simple math. M.G. has the hormones of a teenager and the impulse control of a preschooler." Josie explained making Hope chuckle. "He also always goes for the wrong kinds of girls."

"Given my last crush, I can't judge," Hope said as they began walking.

"Well, my last crush was actually Satan incarnate," Josie said and Faith vigorously nodded making Hope chuckle. "That is, I guess unless you count..." Josie trailed off.

"Who?" Hope inquired. Faith knew she meant Rafael. Josie looked to Faith who just shrugged as if to say 'you decide if you want to tell her'.

"Never mind. It really doesn't matter anymore." Josie dismissed. "Lizzie has dibs."

"Dibs?" Hope questioned. "On Rafael? She always calls dibs. When's it gonna be your turn?"

"It just is what it is," Josie muttered. Faith stayed quiet agreeing with what Hope was saying. Lizzie did always call dibs on boys and that wasn't really fair on Josie considering she never got a chance to see if she liked anyone.

"Right, well, that doesn't really make it right." Hope stated causing Josie to stop walking and give her a look. Hope and Faith stopped walking too. "Your dad knows we used black magic. That's why we're in trouble." Hope half-lied purposefully leaving out the part about Landon and the death spell. "Don't worry we didn't tell him that you helped us with the spell." Hope quickly added.

"Thank you," Josie said looking at both Hope and Faith.

"No need for thanks, Josie." Faith said with a small smile.

"And Landon and Rafael took off together," Hope said. " Landon told me he didn't know why he stole the knife. But then he lied about having it, so I don't know what to believe. Then he wrote me and Faith these letters and mine was... I don't know, sweet."

"Lizzie's... sensitive." Josie started wanting to open up to Hope as she did with her. "Our mom is going on these really long recruitment missions recently. That's why she's extra testy. She just really misses her."

"We know the feeling," Hope spoke softly with a small smile glancing at Faith.

"Yeah." Faith spoke just as softly giving her sister a sad smile. Hope started walking again and Faith and Josie followed.

"I remember how your mom used to come by the school. We all used to say how beautiful she was." Josie said.

"She was," Faith said.

"Yeah." Hope agreed.

"We really should have sent you flowers or something, Hope," Josie said guiltily.

"Huh?" Faith questioned in confusion. "But I thought that you gave her a gift too," Faith said remembering how kind and comforting Lizzie and Josie were to her, and the flowers they gave her which were her favorite; Cherry Blossoms, and a gift basket. Then she remembered her sister getting flowers from them too. Josie looked at her with the same guilty expression as before shifting her gaze to the ground.

"They did," Hope told her sister referring to Josie and Lizzie. "Your dad signed your names. It was obvious." Faith understood that they gave her something but not Hope and she couldn't help but wonder if that was Lizzie's idea.

"Okay. We definitely deserve a little bit of poking." Josie said making Hope laugh. "I wonder where the boys are right now."

"There's this spell that our Aunt Freya taught us," Hope said looking at Faith. "It's kind of like a full-immersion video chat."

"Oh. That spell." Faith said in realization.

"Okay, but don't we need something of Landon's to..." Josie trailed off as Hope pulled out Landon's letter. "Is that the letter?" Josie asked.

"You can't tell your dad," Hope said.

"Yeah..." Faith told her. "They don't teach this in school."

Josie nodded and smiled. "This is the kind of secret that I can get behind." Hope smiled while Faith smirked. The three started performing the spell joining hands. Josie siphoned from Hope and Faith. Hope and Faith were able to see Landon and Rafael in the woods and Landon spotted them with a look of confusion on his face.

"Hope? Faith?" He questioned. They gave him a small smile before the scene in front of them disappeared and they were back with Josie who bent over and held her stomach in pain again. Faith looked at her worried and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Jo," Faith began. "What's wrong?" 

"This is twin pain. Somethings wrong. I think Lizzie's in trouble." Josie grunted out. Faith looked at Hope with a worried expression.

"Let's go tell Dorian." Faith suggested earning nods from the girls. They went to find Dorian who was sitting at a table. "We need to leave."

"I'm sorry, I can't let you leave," Dorian said.

"No, I need to go home to see my sister," Josie said firmly.

"Your dad's with your sister. And I'm under strict orders to keep you here." Dorian told them.

"What? Why?" Josie asked.

"Yeah, what are you keeping us here for?" Faith added.

"And why are you researching that?" Hope questioned looking at Dorian's book that was open to a page about gargoyles. Dorian quickly closed his book with a sigh and told us what happened with Lizzie.

—

THEY LEFT AND WENT BACK to the Salvatore Boarding school when they entered Josie called, "Lizzie?"

"I'll check the library," Hope said.

"Yeah, I'll go too," Faith offered. Hope nodded at her and they left to check the library. They were in complete silence until a voice spoke from behind scaring them.

"What are you guys doing here?"

"Ah!"

"Oh, my god." The two girls yelped in fear.

"You scared us." Faith said breathing out a breath of relief when she saw Alaric there.

"Dorian was supposed to keep you away," Alaric said.

"He tried. He lost," Faith told him. "But here. Killing gargoyles 101. He thought you could translate it." She said giving the book to Alaric.

"Gaulish. Son of a..." Alaric trailed off. Hope and Faith gave him questioning looks before he looked back down to the book.

"So are we on our own, or did the Gauls provide clear instructions?" Hope asked impatiently.

"In a nutshell, it says hit hard, repeat as needed," Alaric replied before they heard the Gargoyle let out a roar.

"Is that...?" Faith inquired referring to the Gargoyle.

"Yeah," Alaric said. "Listen, it poisoned Lizzie. I'm guessing to get my attention. Then it attacked me and took the knife."

"The knife? The dragon knife?" Hope asked incredulously.

"And you're still breathing?" Faith added.

"Oh, I have a theory about that," Alaric mumbled.

"Well, save it," Hope started. "Because we had to take down that containment spell to get inside the school, meaning our monster can get out."

"A containment spell?" Alaric asked. Faith nodded. "Lizzie wanted to make sure whatever attacked her didn't escape into the world. Good girl." Alaric walked over to a table and put the book down. "Alright, well, guess we better find it," He said picking up an axe. "Before it makes the evening news. So how'd you guys take the containment spell down?" 

Before Hope or Faith had the chance to speak a voice did, "They didn't," Josie spoke up walking towards them. "I did. And I have questions." She grabbed the axe from Alaric.

—

ALARIC, HOPE, FAITH, AND JOSIE walked into a room in search of Emma

"Emma?" Alaric called. "Emma." Emma opened the door in front of them and put a finger to her lips in a 'be quiet' motion. They all heard heavy footsteps and growling so they turned their heads to see the Gargoyle at the top of the steps. It opened its wings and let out a growl before flying down the steps and lunging at Hope making her fall down. It was going to stab her with the knife. Faith quickly leaps forward about to help her sister but Alaric is closer and quicker and jumps in front of Hope.

"Dad!" Josie shouted.

"No!" The Gargoyle stopped its movements; the knife being inches away from Alaric's chest.

Faith held her hand out to Hope who quickly took it pulling herself up while they all stared in shock at what was happening before their eyes. Josie moves as quietly as possible behind the Gargoyle before striking it with the sword making it let out a shriek. It angrily turns toward Josie about to attack her but Alaric hits it with his axe.

"Fluctus inpulsa." Hope chants causing the Gargoyle to drop the knife. "Faith, Josie, help me." She orders. Faith and Josie quickly walk over to her and they join hands; Josie in between Faith and Hope.

"How?" Josie asked.

"Just repeat after me," Hope said.

"Got it," Faith replied.

"Fluctus impulsa." Hope started. Faith and Josie quickly repeated after. "Fluctus inpulss. Flucus inpulsa. Flucus inpulsa. Flucus inpulsa. Flucus inpulsa. Flucus inpulsa." They finished which made the Gargoyle burst into small rocks. They let go of their hands.

"Nice job." Hope threw over her shoulder to all of them.

"How could you jump in front of her like that?" Josie demanded with tears in her eyes. "You could have died, Dad."

"Honey, I knew it wouldn't kill me, because my research said so," Alaric said. Josie stormed away.

—

"HOW'S LIZZIE?" FAITH ASKED WORRIEDLY.

"Recovering quickly, thanks to her sister."

"So, how did you know the Gargoyle wouldn't kill you?" Hope asked.

"Gargoyles are protectors," Alaric answered. "And folklore tells a tale of a Gargoyle who once protected a small settlement in France whose villagers revered a powerful relic. A knife."

"Our knife?" Faith questioned.

"As the story goes, the Gargoyle loved the humans he protected so much, he vowed never to harm humanity." He explained. "Instead, he chose to fight evil on their behalf."

"Us being the evil ones in this scenario," Hope asked referring to her and her sister. "Josie, Lizzie." She continued.

"In its mind, yes," Alaric said. "I realized when it didn't hurt me before... it saw me as the one who needed protection."

"I'm not sure that knowing that will make them feel any better." Faith spoke up.

"I should get back to the girls," Alaric muttered walking towards the door.

"Wait." Hope stopped him. "One more thing. You're always telling us that we need to work together. To put our own feelings aside for the school, and for the community. I know I haven't always listened to you with that kind of stuff, but I'm starting to think that it's actually pretty good advice, so... maybe you should take it. Because if you want me and the twins to get along, for them to be happy, for the school to be safe... These secrets are gonna tear us all apart."

"She's right." Faith agreed. "Everyone deserves to know what's happening so they can protect themselves. Be prepared for whatever's coming through those doors next." Alaric looked to be deep in thought about what they were telling him.

—

"IF YOU'D ASKED ME A WEEK AGO..." Alaric started at the assembly they were having. "I would have told you I knew the difference between myth and fact. I would have said that supernaturals were limited to the species under this roof. I would have said that folklore and fairytales were just stories. But I can no longer say that any of that's true. 'Cause just a few days ago, we were confronted by the existence of a dragon." Murmurs spread throughout the room. "And then, today, our campus was terrorized by a Gargoyle come to life. Some of us... were forced to fight. We won. This time. They were drawn here by a knife that went missing earlier this week. And for whatever reason, these creatures consider us to be the enemy. In their minds were the villains because we wouldn't give them what they wanted. We don't even know why they want it. But we're gonna find out. I can't say for sure what their true intentions are. I can't say there won't be more attacks. That's why I'm telling you this. To warn you. To ask you to look out for each other. To do what's best for one another. Because we're more than just a school. We're family. And we will stand together, we will fight together, and we will win or lose this battle together, no matter what comes next."

—

FAITH KNOCKED ON THE DOOR TO JOSIE and Lizzie's room. Lizzie opened it and smiled when she Faith.

"I need to talk to you guys about something." Faith stated walking into the dorm.

"What is it," Josie asked sitting up on her bed and patting the space beside her inviting Faith to sit down. Lizzie sat on the other side of Josie,

"Well, it's about why I've kinda been avoiding you," Faith started when she saw their full attention on her she continued. "Well... It happened again. I—I lost control and it happened." Josie and Lizzie gave each other a look knowing what she was talking about.

"Oh, Faith," Lizzie muttered softly.

"Why do you think it happened? After all this time?" Josie asked.

Faith shrugged, "I don't know. But your dad gave me those herbs that might help it again."

"Why didn't you tell us?' Lizzie asked.

"Well, I guess I was just sort of embarrassed about it," Faith said sheepishly. "I mean I thought it was getting better and for it to just come out of nowhere like this. No one else has this problem, so I felt weak in a way. Like I was too weak to be able to handle my emotions properly that they just ended up spiraling out of control and consuming me." Faith sighed.

"Listen, Faith, you don't have to be embarrassed about it, and you're not weak. You're the strongest person I know. Even after everything you've been through you still keep that same bright smile on your face and I envy you for that. Being able to overcome the pain just to make others and yourself smile." Josie told her. "Believe it or not but you're pretty awesome to be able to do that."

"She's right, Faith, and you're like a sister to us— you are a sister to us. So you should never feel the need to hide these types of things from us. Because we will always be by your side there to listen." Lizzie added with a smile. Faith smiled softly as well very appreciative of Josie and Lizzie. Her heart warming in her chest. They truly were great, and she didn't know what she would do without them.

"Now how about we talk about—" Lizzie spoke suddenly.

Faith groaned and quickly stood up walking towards the door. "No!"

"Oh, Faith come back!" Lizzie pleaded. "You don't even know what I was gonna say!"

"Yes, I do. I know you well enough to know that you were gonna say 'let's talk about boys'. You know what Lizzie? I'm actually really tired." Faith said stopping by the door. She looked to Josie who had a slight smile on her face. She knew that if she left the conversation like this Lizzie would want to talk about boys with Josie which would be awkward since she has a crush on Rafael. "Aren't you tired, Josie?" Josie looked confused for a moment but eventually caught on.

"Yeah—yeah, I am," She mumbled quickly.

"But—" Lizzie started.

"Big spell today," Faith cut Lizzie off. "Takes a lot outta ya'."

"Yeah, it really does." Josie faked a yawn.

"Oh, come on I'm the one who almost died!" Lizzie exclaimed exasperatedly.

"Then you must be super fatigued too. Goodnight, Liz," Faith said ignoring Lizzie's protest. "Night, Jo. Don't keep Josie up Lizzie! Remember she did help save your life so she needs all the sleep she can get to replenish herself." She then walked out of the door and to her and Hope's dorm for some shut-eye.

Link for story on Wattpad:

[skye-huntress]

RWBY Volume 9 Reaction

Episode 4: A Cat Most Curious

The Curious Cat is curious. Who’d have thought? It’s surprising at all that they wouldn’t go somewhere they’ve already been without the motivation of learning or seeing something new

Might as well say this now, I don’t care about Ciel. There wasn:t anything about her brief appearance that was particularly interesting

Is Yang humouring Weiss’ poor sense of humour?

Really confronting them with that seemingly impossible mission of stopping a witch, who can’t be killed and has all the time in the world, from destroying Remnant

I know you’re kind of going through something Ruby, but you should really keep paying attention to your surroundings and easily distracted guide

As was pretty clear from the teasers and trailers, the beings of the Ever After are all defined by their role, which is why when they meet someone new, they always ask, what are you?

We don’t know much about Alyx yet, but given how young she was and that she was apparently running from her own problems, she probably could only answer as “human”. Anyone who didn’t understand the true meaning behind the question probably answered similarly

The fact that Ruby always responds to relatively simple questions with such uncertainty is undoubtedly very frustrating for someone like the Herbalist who needs the information in order to fulfil his own purpose.

So, they are each confronted with versions of their past selves.

A Yang who appears “whole” and offering present Yang a chance to go back. But Yang knows her past experiences, the pain, the loss and scars, are exactly what helped her to learn and improve herself. Getting her arm back and erasing what happened would be a step backwards for her, it won’t bring her any closer to being the person she wants to be

Blake is confronted with the possibility of becoming either fully human, or fully a cat, without all the drama, suffering and adversity of being something in-between. Yet all of that is part of who she is, and it’s what makes her part of something greater. Becoming human or cat wouldn’t be just giving up on a part of herself, but severing her connections with her family and community.

Then there is Weiss, once burdened with the responsibilities and expectations of being a Schnee, driven with purpose to right the wrongs of her father and restore her grandfather’s legacy. But now she has the opportunity to wipe the slate clean and start over without any of the baggage and stigma associated with the Schnee name. The granddaughter of a hero and the daughter of a villain, both of whom have redefined what the Schnee name means to the world, and Weiss as a proud Schnee still fully intends to redefine it once again on her own terms.

Each of those three have reaffirmed their purpose as Huntresses, and then there is Ruby. Here is her younger self throwing back at her the same words she said herself once with such certainty and purpose. But her failures and shortcomings have shaken her faith, and not just her own failures.

Ruby looked up to her mother as the ideal of a Huntress and her hero. Yes, she died but she presumably gave her life protecting people and making the world a little safer. But the reality is, she made things worse, she helped Salem come up with a way of turning silver-eyed people from potential heroes into the most terrifying of monsters.

And what has Ruby done? She probably lost two of the Relics and an entire Kingdom lies in rubble. Every loss tips the odds even further in Salem’s favour, and she can’t even beat Tyrian or Cinder. She never thought she was any stronger or better than Pyrrha, Penny, or Summer, and they all failed and were cut down mercilessly. To her, they were the heroes, and she just doesn’t see herself measuring up, much less succeeding where they failed.

We got pretty close to Ruby agreeing to do something there will be no coming back from. She needs to be confronted with these insecurities and fears, but it doesn’t look like she’s going to be able to move past them on her own.

The Curious Cat intervenes, again. Apparently they offers some of their own heart to calm down the beings who lose a grip on their purpose. I’m sure there is a bit more going on here, and it probably relates to some of the changes that have happened to the Ever After

Hello, Mx. Herbalist? Could you please restore my angel from small to short so she can give her BFF a proper hug? No? We’re rolling the credit now? Okay, that’s cool, just remember to do it next episode.

[tiianwens]

29. Reaction to sudden interpersonal disaster (eg close family member suddenly dies) --- for the excessively detailed hc meme !

the excessively detailed hc meme.

putting his heart under a thousand locks and doing what needs to be done, and then processing it much, much later. too many people died on him, and he's been hurt in other ways too many times (in both lifetimes), but any sort of disaster is usually a call to action. his skills are needed, so he has to stay level-headed and cool to make sure no one else gets hurt, and of course, the first instinct that kicks in is to protect his disciples. the aftermath will leave him shattered where no one can witness it, but on the outside he would usually appear so calm and unperturbed that it would be only natural to assume he doesn't care at all.

the same applies to conflict/interpersonal painful situations. if it's possible to leave and avoid, he'd leave and avoid. if it's not (e.g. in 0.5 verse where the discomfort is constant and escaping the situation physically isn't an option), he'll try to distance his mind and heart from it as much as possible, usually involving going nonverbal and avoiding any form of communication. the man is too proud to let his true feelings be known. he's not really used to anyone giving a damn either, so it's easier to just keep everything bottled up and slowly pull the thorns out one by one and assess the damage while no one watches.

but when i think of the worst case scenarios for him (big story spoilers ahead for those who are reading the book and don't want plot twists to be ruined!!), there are two amazing illustrations:

— the realization that he fucked up in 0.5 if he managed to a) allow his disciple to be affected by a horrible, irreversible curse that slowly but surely eroded and erased his entire personality and b) watch the man he loved turn into a monster and deem it the result of his own hatred rather than a curse. because when conflict occurred, CWN was the one to distance himself where he could've apologized (he wanted to apologize, yet he chose to do it by proxy who followed his instructions and didn't mention that he was the one who made the goddamn wontons).

and it left him with the horrible knowledge that he couldn't share with anyone, as he knew that whoever was behind it would be watching closely and things could become worse. it left him defenceless on so many levels because he couldn't do anything to help (as it was too late and he didn't have a golden core anymore) and he couldn't even hide behind the facade of resentment anymore — it's easy to hate a self-made monster, but not so easy to hate someone you loved and failed. when i say that sex scenes in 2ha aren't skippable because they contain essential character development, chapters 247-250 or around that are the ones on my mind. the realization left CWN in such an intense emotional disarray that he threw the remains of his dignity out of the window and for the first time showed that he wanted this too. and for him, in that verse, it's huge. and yet he collected himself and managed to come up with a plan to do something, even though he had nothing to counter with and the damage was irreversible.

— and secondly, having to deal with a massive calamity after losing many people he held dear and most importantly, Mo Ran. i can't think of anything worse than what he's gone through at that point. he watched the man he loved get destroyed by an angry mob, knowing that he wasn't guilty. he slaughtered his way through to at least give him some peace, while being very much aware that saving him was no longer an option. and after all that he knew he had to go on, he had to face the living corpse with the same face and the same memories, the twisted and distorted projection of his beloved.

but he managed to put that grief on hold and he almost single-handedly thwarted the big evil plan in action. he made sure that whoever wanted to be saved was saved, and only then did he ask to 'let him be selfish for once'. and that selfish want, to him, was to die with Taxian-jun (the wording still sends me, it's such an insane detail). so he locked that pain away, did what had to be done, and then allowed it to finally consume him.

[rockislandadultreads]

New Title Tuesday: Mysteries

Play the Fool by Lina Chern

For Katie True, a keen gut and quick wit are just tools of the trade. After a failed attempt at adulting in Chicago, she's back in the suburbs living a bit too close to her overbearing parents, jumping from one dead-end job to the next, and flipping through her tarot deck for guidance. Then along comes Marley.

Mysterious, worldly, and comfortable in her own skin, Marley takes a job at the mall where Katie peddles Russian tchotchkes. The two just get each other. Marley doesn't try to fix Katie's life or pretend to be someone she's not, and Katie thinks that with Marley's friendship she just might make it through this rough patch after all. So one day, having been encouraged by Marley to practice soothsaying, Katie reads tarot for someone who stumbles into her shop. But when she sneaks a glance at his phone, she finds more than just clairvoyant intel. She finds a photo. Of Marley. With a gunshot wound to the head.

The bottom falls out of Katie's world. Her best friend is dead? Who killed her? She quickly realizes there are some things her tarot cards can't foresee, and she must put her razor-sharp instincts to the ultimate test. But the truth has deadly consequences, and Katie's recklessness lands her in the crossfire of a threat she never saw coming. Now Katie must use her street smarts and her inner Strength card to solve Marley's murder--or risk losing everything.

Murder on Bedford Street by Victoria Thompson

Hugh Breedlove is far from the most agreeable client private investigator Frank Malloy has ever had, but his case is impossible to refuse: his young niece, Julia, has been wrongfully committed to an insane asylum by her cruel and unfaithful husband, Chet Longly. Though Breedlove and his wife seem more interested in protecting the family reputation than their niece’s safety, Frank and Sarah agree to help for the sake of Julia and the young son she left behind.

Frank and Sarah’s investigation reveals a dark secret—a maid at the Longly home died suspiciously under Chet’s watch, and now it seems Julia’s son might also be in danger. The Malloys fear they are dealing with a man more dangerous than they had anticipated, one who will do anything to defame his wife. But all is not as it seems in the Longly family, and perhaps another monster is hiding in plain sight....

This is the 26th volume in the “Gaslight Mystery” series. 

Just Murdered by Katherine Kovacic

Peregrine Fisher is unexpectedly summoned to a meeting of the Adventuresses' Club of the Antipodes, where she learns some incredible news.

When Adventuress Florence Astor is accused of murder, Peregrine jumps at the chance to help on the case. Detective James Steed, initially dismissive, quickly finds Peregrine's flair for investigating and headstrong nature leave him little choice.

A second shocking death occurs and Detective Steed's boss, Inspector Sparrow, demands the case be brought to a close with suspicious speed.

With Sparrow issuing threats, time is running out for Peregrine. It seems she's set herself an impossible task, but then, as Detective Steed says, 'never underestimate a woman named Fisher'.

This is the first volume in the “Ms. Fisher’s Modern Murder Mysteries” series. 

The Body in the Web by Katherine Hall Page 

Faith Fairchild joins the rest of the world in lockdown mode when reality flips in March 2020. As the pandemic spreads, Faith and her family readjust to life together in Aleford, Massachusetts. Her husband, Tom, continues his sermons from Zoom; their children, Ben, who's in college, and Amy, a high school senior, are doing remote learning at home .

Faith is happy to have her family under the same roof and grateful for her resilient community, friends, and neighbors in Aleford. Town halls remain lively and well-attended, despite residents joining from their living rooms. It is at one of these town halls that scandal breaks out. In the midst of a Zoom meeting, damaging images suddenly flash upon everyone’s screens. Claudia, local art teacher and Faith’s dear friend, is immediately recognized as the woman who has been targeted.

When Claudia is later discovered dead, Faith, with the help of her friends, journeys deep into the dark web to unravel the threads of Claudia’s mysterious history and shocking passing.

This is the 26th volume in the “Faith Fairchild” series. 

[fantastic-mr-corvid]

Georgie's backstory NPC's

the various people and communities that are referenced as part of his backstory<3

His Father: Georgie's adoptive father is a Shepherd. Somewhat self isolated from the community, preferring to stay with his sheep than spend time socializing with everyone else. his few close friends are the Hamlet's Headwoman and Blacksmith, both of whom help him in raising and caring for Georgie. He does his best to raise Georgie, and is the start of Georgie's love of music and story's. he used to be a woodcutter and hunter, but was injured and became a Shepherd.

Hamlet Headwoman: the community leader, who made the decision to accept Georgie in to the community when she first learned of him. Her husband was the previous leader, but died from illness due to trying to appeal in person to the local nobles during a series of harsh winter, when they refused to lower the taxes and tithes despite the failing harvests. She is an excellent leader, and one who has lead the community to focus on the threats from the nobles, not whatever inner or outside enemy the nobles would rather they would focus on hating. She loves Georgie, and helped him learn his letters.

Blacksmith: A female half orc who settled in the hamlet as a retirement from combat. A fellow outsider to Georgie, she encouraged his woodcarving skills, and was a shoulder to cry on as they both struggled to be accepted by the community. She has a close relationship with the Headwoman.

The Hamlet: in general, while Georgie was seen as a baby as 'cursed' and 'a bringer of bad luck', over time almost everyone came to love him, his hard work and joy for life winning them over eventually, but the doesn't mean their rejection and hate never left scars.

Birth Parents: Presumably the people who abandoned him were traveling through the Hamlet, abandoning him in the woods, wood which contained chaotic and evil fey creatures the villagers sacrificed sheep to in exchange for protection: creatures that all travelers are warned about the dangers of. Georgie has no desire to learn more about them, viewing them as people who couldn't handle the shame of birthing a demon-spawn, and depending on his mood, cowards who believed the superstitions, nobles who wanted to hide their sins, or a mother who wanted her child to live and a father, family or environment that would kill him. if they did appear, they would have to get through the entire community to reach him, as even when he was feared, many of the parents had thoughts about abandoning a child.

Local Fey Creatures: the nearby wood houses a group of fey mites, who previously took an un-negotiated tithe of sheep and other livestock instead of attacking the hamlet, however Georgies affinity for chaos and natural magic meant he was able to formalize the deal, meaning the community could pick what animals to send in exchange for the Mites to protect them from raiders and monsters.

The Traveling Performers: a musical group that regularly performed in the hamlet as part of their tour, and the group that encouraged Georgies love of music and want to travel.

His [ex] Boyfriend: a half elf traveling performer who got Georgie his first fiddle, one that was going to be thrown out for not being show-worthy anymore, after seeing his longing stars at the instrument. A devout follower of Desna, and someone who loves Georgie dearly, he saw him regularly as they were both growing up, with him traveling with and being raised by the above group of performers. after he conspired with the village to encourage Georgie to pursue his dreams of traveling, their friendship evolved into a romantic relationship, and he also converted a Georgie who was struggling with his worship of Erastil and his lawful aspects. Eventually Georgie wanted to travel further a field and they fondly parted ways, both still treasuring the love they have for each other, romantic or not.

[winniehowls]

AN INTRODUCTION TO WINNIE LUPIN ☽

Positive traits: friendly, loyal, protective, brave, strong, creative, athletic, curious

Negative traits: reckless, impulsive, stubborn, bossy, short-tempered, competitive, heavy-handed

ESTP * 23 * Werewolf * 5’2 * Dry Cleaner Employee

Little Details:

On first impression, Winnie has a tendency to come off a bit tough and abrasive, but not in an unkind way… at least she hopes!

Very very protective of her friends— particularly the ghouls. Her protectiveness has heightened being in evermore.

TOTAL show off. She is very confident and proud about her skills and abilities. Even if she has a supernatural advantage...

Winnie is actually a pretty decent cook. She would be better if she turned to measurements and recipes instead of "instincts." But! her nose does help her to pick out the freshest ingredients!

Speaking of instincts, the girl relies heavily on hers for nearly every aspect of her life. Especially when it comes to other people. If she ever meets someone who makes her hair stand on end, she'll make it a point to keep an eye on them.

LOVES sour lemonade, something she shares with her father, and frequently keeps homemade jars of different flavors in her fridge.

Winnie's eyes glow a bright yellow whenever she's in her werewolf form or in moments of high emotion. Particularly when she's really angry.

Frequently looks at people with the thought: "I could take them."

Sometimes a victim of R.B.F.

In moments where she's really excited or happy, Winnie's feet start tapping as opposed to a tail wagging. She'll also have to resist the urge to howl.

Does not like asking people for help or showing moments of weakness.

She loves a thrill and is a little bit of a troublemaker (whether intentional or not).

If people don't return for their clothes past the contracted time at the dry cleaners, Winnie will take them home and wear them as sacrifices on the full moon so that she's not always destroying her own clothing.

Roommates with Phyllis. Yes their apartment is as loud and chaotic as you think it would be. In the best way!

Dive Deeper:

Anything active Winnie is just over the moon for! This girl is a natural when it comes to sports and athletics. She’s constantly in the gym, at the park, or signing up for some kind of community sports event or intramural team. Plus, not only are these great ways for her to let out her high energy and built up emotions, they’re also so much fun! Although, she tends to get quite competitive… so it’s not uncommon to catch her hogging the ball or taunting her opponents... but it’s all in good fun, of course! At least it always starts that way. Usually. 

Winnie howls in the face of danger. There’s hardly anything that scares her. Even if there is it’s not likely she’d let anyone know. However, even in Evermore, there is still one thing that plagues her nightmares… and that’s Revolta. More specifically, Winnie’s involvement with Revolta. While memories are hazy now in Evermore, the one thing that Winnie can’t seem to forget is the paralyzing guilt of how she was the first one caught by Revolta — corrupting her dearest friends in consequence. It was all her fault. She can’t help but beat herself up about how if she were stronger, faster, or smarter even that none of that would have happened. In her nightmares, Winnie is the last one Revolta turns sinister and she’s forced to watch as her best ghouls become the ruthless monsters of fable… The nightmares never fails to wake her up in a cold sweat and it’s one of the driving factors of how increasingly protective Winnie became over the ghouls. She doesn’t know what she’d do if she was the reason one of the them got hurt. She doesn’t know if she’d be able to forgive herself a second time.   

Shifting on command and by the moon are two different stories. One is welcomed and controlled. The other is forced and wild. When Winnie turns on command, she trusts herself to know her limits, freely roam the woods and not harm anyone she happens to come across. Moon transformations are totally different. Under the full moon, Winnie’s at her most powerful but at the price of her control. She becomes akin to the monster people assume werewolves to be. Because of this, Winnie has a very specific spot in the woods that she goes to for full moons. An abandoned shack near the edge of Evermore’s border acts as a safe house where she can contain herself behind locked doors amongst other things. The full moon transformations also take a big toll on her both physically and mentally. After full moons, Winnie takes anywhere from one and half to three days to recover depending on the the type of full moon, the night’s conditions and her stubbornness. Super moons, eclipses and nights with clear skies are the worst.

The amount of things this girl accidentally breaks is mind boggling. Ripped clothing, snapped hangers, decapitated hairbrushes, popped volleyballs, cracked phones… she does not have the gentlest of hands. Even when it comes to daily graces and manners, Winnie is usually lacking. She can’t count how many times she’s unintentionally stepped on Tanis’ wrapping or knocked into Sibella or Elsa so hard that they fell through Phyllis. She can’t even keep the occasional house plant alive, save for some wolfsbane she attempts to grow herself for emergencies. 

While Winnie loves both of her parents with her whole heart, she’s always had a much closer relationship with her father. Maybe it was because he allowed her to embrace her personality and inner werewolf more than her mother did. Whenever they were together they were like two peas in a pod. Or perhaps two wolves in a pack? Winnie looks up to him so much. He’s her biggest supporter and her greatest role model. She could always count on him to calm her down, to make her laugh or even to steal the last sip of sour lemonade from the fridge. What she would give to share a glass with him right now in Evermore…