#whew that was a LOT

[duusheen]

ehhhhh happy ending I guess 🙂💕

[cloverjelly]

drawing life series members based on the songs in my playlist - full edition!

this was super fun and its rly cool to see how my art style/designs progressed thru these drawings

ok im gonna go not post here for another million years

links to the individual posts (under the read more):

1 - etho

2 - grian

3 - scott

4 - impulse

5 - tango

6 - scar

7 - jimmy

8 - martyn

9 - pearl

[serial-serializednovelreader]

Nova’s Notes - North and South Weekly - Wk 1

So, today was the first entry of North and South and because of the Droughtula, I’m glad to have a beast of an entry to analyze! Also, as a note, I’m probably not going to quote as much of this, since there is so much of it — I’ll just refer to the part I’m talking about. One more thing: this is my first time reading this book. Feel free to share your responses, but no spoilers please! (I know this is a 100+ year-old book though, so I’ll probably filter tags)

Reading the first long paragraph, we can already get a glimpse of Margaret and Edith’s dynamic. They’re cousins and raised together from childhood and Edith is called pretty by all — except Margaret. But now, Margaret is starting to see her better qualities, since Edith is about to leave her and get married and Margaret is going home to live with her father.

What does that tell me? They may not be on the best of terms (at least on Margaret’s side), but even so, Margaret can’t help but feel sad at the upcoming “loss” of her cousin. There’s more evidence to support this: in later paragraphs, she’s referred to as “spoiled” and weak-willed, though it’s unclear whether that’s Margaret’s opinion or Gaskell’s omniscient opinion (which I think is something to watch out for). Then again, she also refers to her as “dear” and observes that Edith would stay with her fiancé even if someone came along with more money and comfort (since she’s so spoiled). Needless to say, I think Margaret has some complicated feelings.

I believe Margaret sees her for what she is — as spoiled and a bit of a child (which we’ll get to later) — but she’s still her cousin and can only see her as more dear. I love that Gaskell writes about this feeling of idealizing a person more when you know they’re about to leave (moving, marriage, etc.) because, as someone’s who been through this, I can very much relate and I appreciate her writing about this. Even if you’re not on the best of terms, you find yourself missing their annoying mannerisms too (unless they’re like, super bad or something lol)!

Moving on, Margaret overhears her aunt — Mrs. Shaw — talking to her friends about Edith’s marriage and her own marriage. What’s interesting here is that her main concern was making sure a) Edith married someone within her age range (unlike her own marriage) and b) love is of the utmost importance. Obviously, this is something pretty common in today’s society — in fact, it’s encouraged — but I do wonder how this was taken when it was first published. Was the aunt seen as frivolous and privileged, or revolutionary and modern? I did some research and it turns out by the time this was published (1854), this was already a well-established belief. So I guess she was simply echoing what most of society was already thinking!

What does stand out to me is that the aunt does talk about the age difference in her own marriage being a “drawback”. I don’t think I need to discuss how our society views age-gap relationships today (let’s just say it’s a hot topic), but I do find it interesting how very relevant this conversation from Mrs. Shaw still resonates with me so many years later.

However, Gaskell doesn’t seem to hold Mrs. Shaw in the highest regard, either. She describes her as “considering herself a victim to an uncongenial marriage” and now that her husband is dead, tries to find something else to be anxious about. Furthermore, she only does things because someone else wants to (and complains about it) while “all the time she was in reality doing just what she liked”. While these aren’t the worst things ever, I wouldn’t call this a glowing character review either. I would almost compare this to Mr. Woodhouse from Jane Austen’s Emma, who bemoans every little illness and thing that befalls him when he is actually pretty healthy.

Not that she’s seen to be a horrible aunt or mother to Margaret or Edith — it’s pretty evident that she cares for both of them by the way she dotes on Edith and how she took Margaret in as a child (I’m not entirely sure why — I think it was to teach her how to be a lady?). I like that Gaskell is already showing a lot of different sides to these characters!

Margaret is asked to model Edith’s wedding shawls, since she is currently down for a nap. She goes up to the nursery and reflects on when she first came to this house as a child. She was considered a wild thing — playing in the forest and all that. On the first night there, her new nurse already seemed intimidating and the nursery itself more akin to a prison. Poor little Margaret began to cry, but the nurse demands her to stop so as to not “disturb Miss Edith”. Then, she was all the quieter when her father and aunt went to check on her later, since she felt bad for being upset. I can well imagine a child of nine fostering a bit of resentment for her cousin after an introduction like that — not a big one, because I don’t think she’s that kind of character, but just a little one. How would you feel if you were thrust into an unwelcoming environment and told your emotions were a problem? It’s not Edith’s fault, but it’s not Margaret’s either. The upside is their relationship remarkably improved after that and she can look upon the nursery with fondness.

Honestly it gives me the same vibes as Charlotte Brontë’s Villete, which was published almost around the same time (though the roles are reversed in this case). At the beginning of the book, the protagonist, Lucy Snowe, is visiting her godmother but they have a new visitor: Polly. Tensions clash when they both have to stay in the nursery and Lucy sees Polly as a spoiled brat, while Polly sees Lucy as unfeeling and unkind to her. Obviously, not the same situation, but I think it’s a little peek into what this kind of dynamic is like!

Moving on, Margaret models the wedding shawls and they actually seem to fit her better than Edith (she has the height for it). The key point here is that “no one thought about it” though: they don’t seem to notice or appreciate Margaret’s beauty. While Gaskell remarks that Edith is known for her prettiness, the same attention does not seem to be applied to Margaret. I wonder if this will be a running theme? What I do appreciate is that when Margaret looks at herself in the mirror, she smiles and poses — she seems to know her own beauty and be somewhat self-confident, even if others don’t tell her. Or at least, she’s having fun dressing up like a princess, which is super cute and I love that for her!!! Why shouldn’t she have fun with this?

Enter Henry Lennox, Edith’s fiancé’s brother — a mouthful. He, understandably, causes a stir amongst everyone and even Edith wakes up from her nap as if she feels the vibes that her future in-law has arrived (to paraphrase the author, lol). While they ask him questions, a very interesting line pops up about Edith’s soon-to-be sister-in-law that I wanted to share and had to do some research on to figure out the meaning of:

“[Edith] had a multitude of questions to ask about dear Janet, the future, unseen sister-in-law, for whom she professed so much affection, that if Margaret had not been very proud she might have almost felt jealous of the mushroom rival…”

After googling what a mushroom rival was (because, what????), the consensus I found was that it means “an unimportant rival”. It was also a way to jab at the “nouveau riche” who found themselves in upper-class circles, but came from lower-class origins. I think ultimately what Gaskell is saying here is that Margaret sees her cousin’s sister-in-law as someone that may try to “steal” her cousin’s affections, but in the end there’s not much to worry about, since Margaret has established affection with Edith (almost like people with generational wealth) and Janet doesn’t have much to compete with because she is too new to Edith’s acquaintance (thus making her like the nouveau riche). Just my interpretation, though, please feel free to sound off in the comments!

Henry goes to sit next to Margaret after Edith’s questioning and Margaret seems very happy to seem him. Not shy at all! Their conversation is interesting. First he starts off with (kind of) mocking her and the ladies “playing with shawls” and how it’s “very different” compared to his “real true law business”. So yeah, not winning any points with me right off the bat, but let’s see where it goes, I guess? I mean, it could be just a joke, right?

He comments on how he’s noticed her doing all the hard work for the wedding and how he hopes she gets a break from that soon. She tries to deflect and mention Edith as also working hard, but he sticks by his assertion that she has been the one doing all the planning work for his brother and Edith’s wedding, which she can’t really deny. Even if she has not done all the work (I imagine Mrs. Shaw has taken up some of the heavy-lifting), it seems that the emotional toil of all the planning is what has made an impact on Margaret.

She wonders if a wedding must always be this way and even suggests that she would like her wedding to be more calm without all of the extra fluff Edith’s has (a bit of a controversial topic in those days I think — in my research I found that Victorian marriages were modeled after Queen Victoria’s ceremony, which included many traditions we still see today). That leads to this passage:

“‘The idea of stately simplicity accords well with your character.’

Margaret did not quite like this speech; she winced away from it more, from remembering former occasions on which he had tried to lead her into a discussion (in which [Henry] took the complimentary part) about her own character and ways of going on. She cut the speech short…”

I find this interesting — that Henry being complimentary is inherently distasteful to her and she immediately turns him away from it. I’m not sure if it’s because a) his compliments suck (who calls someone’s character simplistic — I don’t think that’s the compliment you think it is buddy) b) that’s her future relative-in-law and she thinks it’s weird for him to compliment her or c) she’s just not good at taking compliments in general. I’m actually not sure which it is — I need to see more of her character — but I do know the conversation does not improve from here on out.

She makes a rebuttal to his compliment by saying she is only thinking of her home in Helstone and it’s not a character trait. He tries to get her to talk more about it, but she will not be drawn in. At least not completely. She converses, but also gets quickly annoyed with him. You kind of have to read along to get what I mean, but their conversation is like two steps forward and one back.

Finally, he says, “You are rather severe to-night, Margaret.” And she seems kind of surprised by this because she didn’t realize she was being “severe”: she genuinely could not describe her home as he wants her to. Her justification is basically you can only understand it if you’ve been there, which she did kind of say before this point.

Don’t get me wrong: I love a good banter session, but this one just feels different in a negative way. I also feel like this back-and-forth banter is a set-up. This is how Margaret interacts with the people around her now, because they don’t seem to quite understand her. They think she’s being “uncooperative” or difficult — I don’t think she is. Or perhaps she is, but it’s also Henry’s fault for not changing the subject when she made it clear that she didn’t want to talk about her home and couldn’t describe it!!! I believe her change of scene will help her find people who do get her and maybe she will have a similar form of banter, but this time it will be different and she will be understood. That’s just my speculation, though!

He continues to talk to her, but they hit a roadblock yet again because he asks her “what she does to occupy herself in the country” and when she doesn’t have a good answer, goes to the point of saying:

“I see, you won’t tell me anything. You will only tell me that you are not going to do this and that. Before the vacation ends, I think I shall pay you a call, and see what you really do employ yourself in.”

Idk if someone told me this, even jokingly, I would not like it. This would be my response:

Like why does he need to know her every move?!?!?! I just feel like he’s not asking the right questions and he definitely seems to be making light of her “quaint” living (which I think she’s playing into just so he’ll leave her be). The problem is, he’s just filling in the blanks for her by describing what she does in her current home and then asks “oh so what will you do at Helstone? Archery, parties? Oh, you’re too poor for that? I see you won’t tell me anything.” He sounds exhausting to talk to!!!! Just be a good listener!!!!! Maybe that’s just me and I’m reading too much into it though. I don’t know how much we’ll see of him since he probably won’t be living where Margaret is going, but I honestly hope it’s not much. Or maybe I do — I want to know why he is this way, I’m nosey. 😂😂😂😂

Honestly, it kind of feels like when a neurotypical person and neurodivergent person have a conversation and it just…doesn’t go that well because both people have a different way of communicating and its frustrating for both sides. I know I’m being hard on Henry and whether he deserves that or not is up for debate (I’ll wait for final judgement), but it could just be a case of that. I’m also not saying people of different neurotypes can’t have a satisfying conversation — they definitely can — but it takes understanding from both sides and I do feel like both sides here are not trying to understand the other’s perspective. Just like I could be misunderstanding this whole conversation, I really don’t know!

Also, I’m pretty sure Henry is romantically interested in Margaret, but I don’t know if she returns the feeling. While she was initially was happy to seem him, she seems more annoyed by his conversation than happy (never a good sign). If he is flirting, I think it needs some workshopping because…uh…that ain’t it, pal.

I also notice that when Henry takes his leave, he remarks that “besides, Aunt Shaw won’t like us to talk.” Ok…what does THAT mean???? That nugget of lore is fascinating, but hard to glean much from. Is it because their conversations are always like this and Mrs. Shaw is just tired of hearing the back-and-forth? *Or* is part of the reason they have back-and-forth like this BECAUSE of Mrs. Shaw? Hopefully I’ll find out!

Enter Edith’s fiancé and that’s when the real stir begins! Edith is so excited she runs out of the room just to walk in with him (we love a dramatic entrance lol). We get the chance to observe both brothers while they observe Edith and Margaret in turn. Compared to the captain (and the whole family) it seems that Henry is the “plain one”, but on the whole seems “intelligent” and “keen”. But his interest in watching both women seems to be “slightly sarcastic” — which, what does mean?????? Henry, you’re so confusing!!!!!

Edith decides to show off how good she is at being a soldier’s wife by doing everything herself! Can you guess how well that goes? Yeah, she immediately can’t carry the tea-kettle because it’s too heavy for her and it gets all over her dress. She shows this to her fiancé “like a hurt child” and her fiancé either hugs her or does a relatable “kiss it better” thing — lol (shoutout to a special user in the comments section for helping me figure out what “the remedy was the same in both cases” meant :D). The chapter mostly ends with discussing how they made the tea and then “all was bustle until the wedding was over.”

I think it’s interesting that we don’t get a clear picture of the aforementioned fiancé — now husband. The only thing I can really mention is that he’s obviously affectionate with Edith and seems to humor her childish moods.

As for Margaret, I avoided talking too much about her character, specifically because I think we get it through the way she interacts with others. This is already long so I’ll make a quick list of what I think we can glean from her character so far, in no particular order:

Reflective

Understanding — for the most part (not with Henry)

Playful (to herself)

Doesn’t like too much attention

Determined

Not afraid of conflict

Speaks her mind

Loves her home

Loves her family, but knows their faults

Values tranquility

Helpful

Observant

Self-confident

I think that’s it! I’m excited to read more and hope you enjoyed my ramblings :)

[ratatoast]

Whew, I’ve really been debating whether I should make this post or not, but I’ve decided that it is my civic duty as a fellow cyster to bring awareness and maybe help others understand or even recognise the symptoms and what it means to have PCOS

I could hit you guys with all the official terms and statistics, but I will let the pictures do the talking on that

I personally just thought that I should share my story and how I got diagnosed with PCOS, and how I’ve been managing since then

So, I got my first period when I was 10. Which is quite early, but it never really bothered me. I always had a very regular menstrual cycle, from the number of days I menstruated, to the length of each phase.

Well, that all stopped when I was almost 19. My periods stopped being regular, I even went 3 whole consecutive months without even ovulating once. I was always irritated, I gained a lot of weight, my skin was horrible and I just wasn’t really on top of my game in general.

But I just kept telling myself that everything would be fine. I floated through 2 years of my life without knowing if I would be getting my period each month. I didn’t understand why I was always so hormonal and I kind of started hating myself.

So this year, in the very beginning of july, now at the big old age of 21, I decided to go to the OBGYN. I was honestly scared shitless, but I was trying to gaslight myself into thinking that it would be all fine. Except it ended up not being all fine. Because I got diagnosed with PCOS.

Now, I don’t know about other OBGYNs, but mine didn’t particularly care to explain stuff to me, just gave me my papers and told me to get a bunch of tests done to find out my root cause. My regular doctor just gave me a pamphlet for dieting with diabetes/IR and basically told me to just figure things out on my own.

I think it’s honestly disgusting how little healthcare professionals seem to care about a condition that affects so many afab people. There isn’t a cure, because nobody cares to find a cure.

Well, they should.

Everyone should.

Living with PCOS isn’t easy. I have mental breakdowns about it on the weekly. I hate having to restrict what I can eat so much.

And I hate that it is worth it. I hate that I actually feel better when I don’t eat dairy, I hate that I actually feel awful physically when I eat carbs. It’s not fair.

And I hate that my sickness affects the most important (to me) aspect of my life: my fertility.

I have never not wanted children. Becoming a mother is the biggest dream I had since I was a kid. It’s my life purpose. And I might not ever get it.

But I can’t let my PCOS rule my life. I am me, first and foremost. Chronic illness or not.

And I really hope that every woman struggling with PCOS can look into the mirror at the end of the day and find beauty in what she sees.

You are beautiful.

You are strong.

You are loved.

[laurancezvahlslefteyebrow]

I wanna talk about titles and names for things in my MCD au/rewrite

This may be long, you’ve been warned

First and foremost Lord Lady and Sir:

In my universe, it was generally uncommon (though not unheard of) for a woman to be the head of a village until Aphmau. If a woman was the head of a village she would be called Lady (her name) and never Lord (her name). Aphmau was the first woman to call herself Lord, and since then it became customary.

Though there are other reasons someone may be called “Lady”. If they are the wife of a Lord, a high or head knight/guard, or if they are someone of great importance. For example, Lady Katelyn the Firefist and Lady Azura of Bright Port. While Katelyn is a member of the Jury, Lady Katelyn the Firefist is her official title, but when she is stripped of her rank, that title is taken as well and she became just Katelyn. Azura being head guard of Bright Port gives her the title of Lady Azura.

And finally, Sir. Similarly to Lady, Sir is the title given to male head guards. While Garroth is head guard of Phoenix Drop, he is known as Sir Garroth of Phoenix Drop. While Laurance is head guard he is Sir Laurance Zvahl of Meteli. Though when he left for Phoenix Drop he lost that title. He still sometimes introduces himself as Sir Laurance by accident.

Next, Werewolves:

There are a few different kinds of werewolves: pure blood, half blood, and turned. Werewolf is the umbrella term used for any Lycan kind.

A pure blooded werewolf is also known as a Wolfer. These wolves do not have a human form, though they do have a human-like form (think how we usually see Bodolf or Lowell). They also have a pure wolf form or natural form, where they appear like a normal wolf, though slightly larger.

A half blooded werewolf is also known as a halfling wolf or halfling wolfer. These are werewolfs that are born of both werewolf blood and the blood of something else, be it a human, meif’wa, elf etc. These wolves have a pure wolf form, a pure human form, and the ability to show their wolf ears and tail while in their human form. Examples of halfling wolfers would be Yip and Leona.

And finally a turned werewolf is exactly how it sounds. A werewolf who was not born but rather turned. Their traits depend on what the wolf that turned them’s traits were. In Logan’s case, he was turned by a Wolfer, therefore has the traits of a wolfer along with a human form.

I also want to mention a bit about werewolf hierarchy.

Most werewolf villages are small and refer to themselves as tribes or packs, depending on if they are made up mostly of halfling wolfers or full wolfers respectively. Their leader is referred to as The Alpha or just Alpha. Never by their name unless it is someone they are very close to.

Finally Magicks Users, Witches, Warlocks, etc.

The term used for any type of magickal person is Magi. They are also sometimes referred to as Mystics, though this term is fairly outdated.

A magicks user is any person born with the ability to use magicks. Pretty simple. This does not include witches.

Witches are born witches, much like an elf is born an elf. It is a species not ability. Witches are born with a higher connection to the earth and have the ability to learn witchcraft rather easily, though they don’t all choose to. Witches are often female, but it is possible for a male to be a witch.

A mage is a person who is not born with any magicks or witchcraft. They give themselves Rune Tattoos and often Scar Runes, and teach themselves magicks. This often takes a very long time, so in some cultures (like Zerimar) they do this at birth so the child will grow up with the ability. Mages are outlawed in many places throughout Ru’aun.

A Shaman is a mage who teaches themselves magicks for religious purposes, usually under the faith of Irene or another Divine Warrior. In Castor, the Chicken Shaman’s case, it was under the faith of the chicken gods… or something… no one really knows..

A Demon is a bit blurry. Not much is known about them other than that they come from another realm and are often evil.

A Shadow Knight is anyone brought back to life (or in Laurance’s case transformed against his will) by the Shadow Lord in the Nether. A Shadow Knight that has not claimed their immortality is often referred to as a “premature” Shadow Knight.

A Divine Being is anyone with borderline unnatural magickal abilities, or anyone able to master both a magicks and witchcraft. They are believed to be either divine beings or divinely chosen.

And FINALLY, a Warlock is anyone who falls under any of these categories (aside from the last three) and uses their abilities solely for evil, their own selfish gain, and/or to deceive others.

[spacedustmantis]

*cough cough* *pulling up notes* *squinting at notes* *realising i don't have bad vision* *unsquinting at the notes* *reading the notes*

how does the life series work in the FUCK I FORGOT THE AU NAME THIS WAS ALLL FOR NAUGHT

i am so glad you asked!!

alright so. the series of events goes like this:

one day grian, as he so often does, gets bored

in his defense immortality gets boring quick and he's been doing this for a While

so, he descends onto a random planet, one that in grian's opinion could do with a little entertainment. he draws up the rules of this game he's planning, pays a carefully selected bunch of cold-hearted, skilled, desperate-for-money workers and has them build a huge fucking arena, kidnap the planet's best fighters, and work on this project full time once it gets rolling

amongst the workers are a few incredibly talented medics, people who, with the right tech, could bring you back from death's door

grian personally installs chips into every contestant's brain that activate as soon as the person is not yet dead, but good as, and then put the body in a temporary stasis, so that it may be transported beneath the arena and the medics can do their work to send them back up fully restored so they can join the fray once more

the whole event is recorded via multiple cameras following around every contestant, edited down into a thrilling reality tv show, and broadcasted weekly for a good few years, which is how long it takes for the game to come to its conclusion

naturally there are a few quirks to this game

every contestant originally gets three lives, three times they get to enjoy the experience of dying, but soon enough a few of them figure out how to hack the chips. they can't seem to alter their function whatsoever, but they do figure out how to change the number of lives the chip grants you, and they also figure out that if the system clocks too many (or too few) lives granted overall in comparison to how many deaths there have been in total, it sends alarm bells ringing. and so there is an underground life trading ring that forms about seven months into the fight

somewhere in the arena there is whispered to be a strange stone statue that, if you play your cards right, bestows gifts to those who complete the tasks it gives them

there is an illness spreading through the arena, like a common cold, just much more destructive. it is known as "red fever" to some, to others it's simply "the bloodlust"

occasionally, caused by apparently nothing at all except coincidence, or some weird glitch in the system, or what certain people might call fate, two contestants get bound together on a metaphysical level. they share pain and wounds and death. they share all the bad, and none of the good

the overarching story roughly follows 3rd life (mostly bc that season works best as a mechs style retelling), with monopoly mountain and dogwarts as the two main factions that crystallize after a few months, but small story elements of each season are dotted around the plot, like one man who managed to defeat all his enemies by taking advantage of the secret keepers boons and playing dirty, or a woman who ran in solitude with only the company of her wolves and who against all odds was the last one standing - until the man she was bound to blew himself up, and her with it.

ultimately two people survive (these people are not grian and scar, but are played by them on stage). and then one person survives. and then the winner of the life game throws himself off of a cliff

of course, grian is not the biggest fan of watching as other people slaughter each other while he sits and does nothing, so naturally he joins the fight. no one knows or would even guess that the scrawny guy who maybe likes explosions a touch too much could be the same individual as The Spectator, the mysterious figure who is behind running the Life Game, not even the staff that has been hired to set it all up. grian, alongside committing murder, also keeps an eye on the game's development as well as the numbers the show gets online.

after a few months he runs into joel, whom he knows is one of the fan favorites, and sticks with him for a while. after joel dies his final death - shot through the heart by scott - he mechanizes him, and, after discovering that mechanizing joel also mechanized the man he was bound to, takes him and etho back to the xisuma to join the crew.

[cakepoppresent]

I Don't Have To Do a Damn Thing!

Veroinca: You looked so handsome walking across that stage. I think Grams was about to cry

Vaughn: Probably, she's sensitive.

The guilt is eating away at Vaughn, he knows he needs to talk to Veronica but he can never seem to find the time. "Sweetheart we should talk somewhere private"

Veroinca: Right now? I wanted to find my parents

Vaughn: I would prefer the sooner the better

Veroinca: You look so serious! Let's meet my parents real quick then we can talk

Vaughn: Your parents already know me, sweetheart

Veronica: This is different!! Let's go!

Veronica pulls Vaughn along while scanning the crowd for her parents. Vaughn on the other hand is a bundle of nerves.

Veroinca: I found them! Dad! Mom! I've been looking for you everywhere. I wanted to introduce Vaughn Leary! My boyfriend. Vaughn my parents

Vaughn: Nice to see you again in better circumstances Mr and Mrs Reeves

Blair: Oh! Xavier speaks so highly of you. I'm happy to hear you and Veronica get along so well. She can bit of a handful, I hope you can manage

Vaughn: Don't worry. I'm able to handle

Brayden: I hear your grandma and cousin were at your graduation? We should have dinner together

Vaughn: I would love that. I'll set up a date. They continue to mingle and set up plans for the summer.

The conversation ends Vaughn and Veroinca find themselves sitting at a secluded booth. Finally, some quiet time. It may not be the best place but it's better to rip the bandage off and beg forgiveness than have Veronica find out from a different source.

Vaughn: Veronica, we need to talk

Veroinca: You're using my name? Are you going to break up with me?

Vaughn: Never.

Before Vaughn can continue a call cuts him off. It's an important call he couldn't ignore "Hold on for me Princess I'll be right back"

Veroinca: Let's leave after, it's getting boring

Vaughn: Sure, we'll go back to my Gram's place. I'll make us something to eat

Veronica waits patiently then begins to notice more stares aimed are being aimed at her. The whispers start to get louder and people start to point. It's hard to ignore until she receives a notification on her phone and her world gets quiet

___________________________________________________________

Gossip Girl Blast

Vaughn, notorious for his string of short-lived romances and his inability to stay faithful, seems to be reverting to his old ways. Sources say he's only interested in Veronica for one thing – to add another notch to his bedpost

XOXO, Gossip Girl

___________________________________________________________

Vaughn arrives back at the main hall and notices the whispers and the stares. His heart drops as he finds Veronica where he left her. Phone in her hand gripping it tight. "Princess?"

Veronica: Is it true?"

He knows what she is asking but he doesn't want to answer. Fucking hell.

Veroinca: I don't even know why I'm asking you. Of course its true...I should have known you weren't serious. How many times were you going to fuck me before you got bored

Vaughn is quiet, he can't lie anymore not at this critical moment "I'm sorry. I wanted to tell you" Veronica lets out a shaky laugh "Wanted to tell me? Tell me what? that I was just some conquest?"

Vaughn: Baby, Veronica please we can talk about this. Right now what I feel for you is real. I meant what I said about being the man you deserve

Veroinca: Why should I believe you! I thought...you really liked me...I thought that...we wer-"

Veroinca is choking back on her tears, losing her train of thought. Malcolm warned her so many times. Why didn't she listen? Now everyone in SanMy sees her as another fucking conquest.

Vaughn: Veronica. I'm begging, please. You have to know I love you and I'm sorry. I was dumb then but I know better now.

Veroinca: You love me? Are you insane?? You don't know what that is!

Vaughn: Please...just believe me

Veronica: I don't have to do a damn thing!

Vaughn is in shambles his worst nightmare is coming true and he can't do anything to wake up from the terror. He tries to approach Veroinca, hug her, touch her hands, something to ease her pain but she slaps him away. "Don't you ever touch me again Whatever this is. It's over"

Vaughn watches Veronica walk past him and runs straight into her mother's arm. He can see her shoulders shake from her tears. Standing there Vaughn feels his world begin to crumble around him. He finally found something good and he fucking ruined it. How can he ever fix this?

Previous - Next

[emin-folly]

RULES: make a new post with the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. let people send you an ask with the title(s) that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet or tell them something about it! (then tag as many people as you have WIPs.)

Tagged by @ceeloilights~

I'll just doing my DC folder since I have way WAY too many WIPs for a normal person lol (long ass list is LONG, you've been warned~)

My DC art WIPs in alphabetical order:

Ace and Batman

Alan and Thomas

Alan n Hal

Alan

Allen fam

Armless

Auction

Awkward

Bar Spo (yeah I don't blame you for not understanding this one lol I sometimes like to abbreviate the names of the characters)

Bargain

Bard

Barry and Wally

Barry and Wally 2

Barry horse

Barry Iris

Barry Iris 2

Barry Iris date

Barry Jesse

Barry out of time

Barry possessed

Barry sketchdump

Barry study

Barry suit

Barry Superman 2

Barry

Bart the Menace

Batman and Riddler

Batman needing help

Battle of the Fashion Tastes

Bby Eo and Barry

Beach

Bringing Barry to life

Carrying Barry 1

Carrying Barry 2

Carrying Wonderflash

Cats

Cheetah

Choices

Clark reading Cinderella

Compromise

Consequence

Cover Flash

Cover mockup

Cover redraw fem

Crackship doodles

Creature Eo

Crossdressing Barry

CW Flash

CW Flash 2

Dark Flashpoint Eo Supes

Dark Flashpoint Eo ivy

DC Aftermath

DC Barry and Kitty

DC Barry vs Slade

DC Barry's obsession

DC Barry's weird fears

DC Bruce's Farm Madness

DC Dad brawl

DC Eo styles

DC Flash and Thawne

DC drawpile 1

DC drawpile 2

DC Fashion Tastes

DC Food Cramps

DC Hal's Stripper Discovery

DC Hole in the Ground

DC Human Disaster

DC Human

DC Interviews

DC Justice League Civilian

DC Mer Spell Gone Wrong

DC My Hero

DC Nobody wants to save Thawne

DC Off Worlding

DC Plan Backfire

DC Slade's new pet

DC SonicFlash

DC Speedster Realities

DC Speedsters and Bug

DC The No Speed Force Race

DC Welcoming Barry back

DC Bleached

DC Furries

DC Mer Funny

DC OC

DC pile

DC things

DC vampires au

DC vs vampires 2

Deer style

Flash AU doodles

Flash AU

Flash

Flashfam fluff

Doting

Dress up

Drunk Barry

Eo and Croc

Eo Barry civilian

EoHal

Eo medieval

Eo meme

Eo needs help

Eo outfit

Eo panel practice

Eo torn up

Eo vs Batman

Eo wants commitment

Eobard AU

Eobard AU 2

Eobard Ivy doodles

Eobard

EoBarry transformers

EoBarry

EoBeth

Eo Carol

EoHarlIvy

EoIvy

EoIvy 2

EoIvy Genderbend

EoIvy meeting

EoIvy talk

Eo's Coping Methods

Eo and Paradox

Eo mini Barry

Eo's verbal mess-ups

Eostar pickup

Fem Bard full body

Fem Eo

Fem Eo 2

Fem EoBarry

Fem Thawne

Flamboyant

Flirting

Funny Silver Age

Genderbend Eo

Gertrude

GL headaches

GL Human infestation

Good Cop, Bad Cop

Gotham

Hal in Thawne's body

Hal suspects faves

Hamlet

Hamlet 2

Hamlet 3

Hamlet 4

Hand

Heels

Horse

Hug

Injustice Eo

Injustice Eo dump

Injustice EoIvy

Iris gets powers

Iris holding a grudge

Ivy about Eo

JL silly faces

Justice

Linda and Barry

Manga Eo

Menace

Mer AU

Mer AU 2

Mer design concept

Mer Reverses

Mom J'onn

Monophobia

Monster Supes

Muzzle Barry

New suit

No speed

Obsessive Eo

OT3

Panel redraw Barry

Panic induced Rogues

Parallax Eo

Parody

Pathetic

Personal boundaries

Pet

Plaything

Poses

Pre new 52 memories

Prop up

Protect

Random doodles

Reverse fam

Rogues and Barry

Role reversal

Roy and Ralph

Sacred

Scarlet Speedster

Secret

Shibari

Shift

Ship comic

Ship

Sin

Sleep

Sleepover

Speed dancing

Speed Force and Eo

StarFlash

Swan Thawne

Symbolism

Teacher

Team up Thomas and Baby Bruce

Thomas and Barry

Touchy feely

Vampire Barry

Wally Shayera AU

Wally talks to Barry

What Eo eats

Wipeout

Women

Wonderflash doodles

Wonderflash 2

xxx

xxx 2

Zoom prodigy

As for who I'm tagging, I don't really know who to pick specifically so the person reading this, boop you're it! :>

[stargirl230]

Would you be willing to give any advice about anatomy? I feel like it's holding back my art by a lot.

Tbh I struggle a lot with anatomy too, but I'll do my best!

Life/figure drawings! As someone who hates the idea of actually studying anatomy, I find doing some quick figure sketches, even just as a warmup, can train your eye to focus on form and proportion without you needing to worry about the details. And it doesn't have to be boring! @/zeet_studio_sketch and @/mmcoconut on ig have some themed sessions I use for inspo.

But if you do like actually studying anatomy, take a look at artists like TB Choi or these reference masterlists: x x

A big technical thing is balancing curves and straight lines. The two work well when they're opposite each other, especially when drawing limbs/the body. Basically like this:

4. Last but not least, consume media! This sounds dumb but I tend to improve most when I latch onto a show/character that I really like. A lot of technical growth can happen just from drawing consistently! (aka find a blorbo)

I hope this helps, and if anyone has any other tips/resources feel free to rb or drop them in the comments!

[skelemoonz]

Have you ever wondered when you are drawing transformers or the artists drawing transformers do you have to draw the inside of a transformer's body?

This's such a stupid question I'm so sorry- 🤧🤧⁉️⁉️

This is one I had to think about for a moment lol but if I’m understanding right you are wondering if I ever thought about how the transformers are internally built?

If so, yes absolutely I have, I frequently think about it actually, trying to figure out how they transform, how their body structure can change so drastically (more specifically talking about the live action movies tbh, like Kightverse) it has always fascinated me

To put it simply, I imagine they are built very similar to that of animatronics, if you want to get a visual. The frame/skeleton, the wire’s surrounding it, the plating put above that to act as a base for the shell or muscles of sorts.

More explanation, specifically for my personal au, under the cut. Warning there will be images of animatronics without their..skin? Ig? It can be freaky looking

So, for Cybertronians I imagine that their internal structure is incredibly complex, with their ability to transform an all, but in my au Cyebrtronians have the most complex transformation out of any of the other colonies in turn giving them the most complex internal structure. This isn’t even talking about if a bot has an experimental T-cog lol

While yes the general structure would be the same as I explained before, similar to this, the wires, the plastic plating acting as muscles or as an extra skeleton of sorts

I also imagine that the skeletal structure looks as if it can just be taken apart with ease, because it can.

A Cybertronians skeleton in their transformation will end up forming the skeleton of the vehicle they turn into.

To try giving a visual, ROTB Jackie turns into a VW Van with the back seats taken out, or in other words, hollow inside. Now all that robot jazz gotta go somewhere right? So his skeleton would transform out, pushing the armor out at well to make the shape of the van

to get a good idea of what pose he would be doing for this transformation, look at the ss and mainline figurine, kinda a mix between those. Transformation can be changed with Cybertronains though.

Now, all of this compared to say, Eukarians in my au is very complex. With Eukarians being half organic an all, they have the simplest transformation out of any colony. If they tried transforming like a Cybertronian does, their bones would shatter and they would most definitely die, it’d be like you getting folded and squished into a ball shape, very bad.

While Cybertronians are close to animatronics, I’d say that Eukarians would be more like crustaceans, or actually..maybe like a Pangolin, hard shell outside, organs an all that soft stuff inside (including the half metal half bone skeleton in their case). While a Cybertronians skeleton can come apart, a Eukarians cannot..

Picture of Pangolin to show what it is, show it has armor, this is like a Eukarian, and just look at them I love them

Other colonies tend to be more similar to Cybertron, like Velocitron and Gigantion. Generally speaking these two can transform in the same way that Cyebrtronians can, the only difference is their sizes, Velocitronians are fairly small, not tiny but…lets say (these are not the real heights) that Cybertronains are 20-50ft tall, Velocitronians would be 20-30ft tall, then you got the Titans, they can turn into cities 👍

Ofc this height difference and what they do in day to day life will change their internal and external body structure, Velocitronians are built for speed, their cooling system, sharp points and light frames are meant to make them easily fly and cut through the air while they drive like its nothing. Hell even their transformation is quicker than usual. They’re like land jets

Then theres Caminus and Junkion, these two don’t transform, they have T-cogs but they rarely ever use them to do big transformations, for Camians it was to reserve energy (they are also the smallest colony in size) and Junkonians found no use for it. So yes over the centuries these colonies have lost their ability to do complex transformations, meaning their skeleton is similar to Eukarians, can’t come apart, but it’s very flexible.

I imagine they’re more similar to this underneath all that armor. At least Camian’s..Junkonians are very messy tbh

Anywho, man I rambled…a lot..yeesh..my bad lol, I don’t get to talk about this stuff a lot

[myauditionfordrphil]

Today I found some really old pictures that my father saved from the termite infestation in our store room. And by old I don't mean 20 to 30 years back, by old I mean photos from the 1910s and even before that. Pictures of my grandparent's grandparents, their weddings, their graduations, pictures of my grandmother as infant, pictures of my grandfather as a 6th grade student, pictures of distant relatives of my grandparents that I never even heard of, their old friends and school parties. It was very melancholic to see them go "oh these were our teachers Ms. Shilpi and Ma'am Bose" or "oh this is me in 5th grade with my friend... he lived in my area, we used to play together, wonder what's he doing now if he's alive you know" or "this was my grandmother, she loved me dearly even if she was my father's stepmother" or "these are my batchmated from university/stationmaster training... most of them have retired" and "this was me with my father as a child, he was loved dearly by everyone... looked just like a Nawab from Lucknow". And it kills me to see the nostalgic look on their faces, it's sweet definitely, but that look of wondering whether your childhood friend that was your best buddy still alive or not, whether the sweet shop in your hometown is still there or not or reminiscing about your loved ones that you lost such as your father, aunt, brother, grandmother, sister, etc. I can't even imagine how they felt while we surfed through the photos for hours, laughing and talking about the memories attached to them. I can't help but think how they were once also kids just like us, and question how their daily lives must be, what they would talk about with their friends in school, how did they spend their free time, how did they dress and talk, etc. because for me they've always been just my grandparents. And to know that someday after 50 - 60 years if I stay alive, I may go through the same feeling makes me want to cry... I would wonder whether my best friend is alive or where my childhood friend is, what my schoolmates did with their lives, how much fun I had with my cousins and how much I missed them. I'd tell my grandchildren about my mother and father and my grandparents and their quirks and they'll also be intrigued like me because they never knew that version of them. I'd tell them about my younger years, my school friends, my college life, our era and the differences now and I'll talk about my dead loved ones with a smile knowing that soon someday I'll join them too. I don't want to go through that, I want to clutch onto my best friend, my cousins, my loved ones so that we never drift apart, so that even our grandkids know about our bond but that's not always the case is it? I cry when I miss my friends who've changed schools or moved away even if I'm still in touch but one day I'll talk about them in a nostalgic tone, one day I'll wonder who lives in the house that I live in currently and how it has changed, I'll wonder if the places I once visited regularly are open or not, I'll wonder if my friends that I once laughed with or once sat with, with whom I talked for hours, with whom I cried and with whom I spent some of the best moments of my youth are alive or not and I would not be able to do much but only wonder...

[synestheticwanderings]

happy talk shop tuesday!! have you created things in fandom other than through writing? if so, what drew you towards those mediums? if not, why is writing your preferred tool for creation?

um...kind of? in high school i used to make binder covers every year and it was usually a mix of collage/hand-drawn/lettering stuff, usually pulling from whatever i was into at the time.

i think when i was in art school and got into my design career, i really just didn't have the desire to do fanart. and my standard for fanart is also really high, and my illustration skills are honestly not up to par (can you tell i used to be an art director?) but maybe i should give collaging a try again.

right now, i gravitate toward writing partially because it's what i'm best at, and i like being good at things and knowing exactly what i want to say, but honestly partially because it feels a little less vulnerable somehow? my identity for so long was being an art person whereas writing fiction feels like a genuine hobby, if that makes sense.

[drowninginthoughts27]

Welp,,, anon asks are gonna be turned off for a bit cause of some asks I’ve gotten recently. Originally I wasn’t gonna say anything but when stuff goes from just being a dick to me to bringing up my mutuals and ppl I follow I feel the need to do something about it cause it is NEVER ok to send hate of any form. (I’m sry to the sweet anons I’ve gotten pls know u mean the absolute world to me <33)

[blazefirefox]

Genshin Impact OC Introduction Post

Ophelia Guardian of Fallen Stars

"heaven help a fool who falls in love"

Bio:

Name: Ophelia

Age: 2000+?? idk

Sexuality/Gender: Pansexual; Female (she/her)

Species: Descender

Constellation: Custos

Abilities: same as Traveller, just with different skills (details later)

Weapon: Polearm

Voice Claim: Hange Zoe (Jessica Calvello) from Attack on Titan

Song that makes me think about her ig: Leopard by Jack Stauber

Relationships:

Aether - childhood friend/possible love interest (enemies to lovers if Abyss)

Lumine - childhood friend/possible love interest (enemies to lovers if Abyss)

Paimon - bicker buddies (they're besties)

Venti - she thinks he's weird but in an endearing way

Zhongli - friend/father-figure

Raiden Ei - prefers to be 20 ft away from her at any given time

Nahida - close friend/nice presence to be around

Furina - initially thought she was annoying, starts to build bond after AQ

Xiao - tentative acceptance (she's "confused and slightly threatened by his presence")

Cyno - friend/TCG buddy

Adara (OC) - friend, helps Cyno integrate her into society

Lynette - close friend

Keqing - rivals to besties/possible love interest

Wanderer/Kiyoshi - enemies to frenemies (they hate each other they go beat up fatui together on weekends)

Tartaglia/Childe - Traveler has to hold her back from throttling him whenever they encounter each other

Shikanoin Heizou - initially cautious of him bc he's a detective and she has a lot of secrets (hc that traveller hides that they're a descender as much as possible), but she learns to trust him

Dainsleif - she thinks he's sketchy

Amber - great friends since their first meeting

Summary:

A Descender along with Lumine and Aether, she grew up and traveled alongside the twins. When the three reached Teyvat, Ophelia felt like something was off and decided to wait for the twins while they explored this new world. After they failed to return, Ophelia went to find them herself, and she was immediately apprehended by the Heavenly Principles and remained dormant. She would wake up a bit after the Traveler and lay low until she reunites with them right after they start their journey (where she also meets Paimon). Ophelia was obviously distressed when she found out the Traveler's sibling was missing, and promised to stop at nothing until they were reunited and could finally leave together. Obviously, that wouldn't last long, as when the sibling is revealed to be part of the Abyss, her world shatters. This leaves both Descenders in shambles, and while the Traveler chose to bottle their feelings up as always, Ophelia chose to vent her complicated feelings by destroying every monster she could find for a while after the reveal, even though Dainsleif told them that the creatures of the Abyss were once human. She eventually calms down, but would act more hostile to the Abyss sibling whenever they're brought up.

.

Ever since she was little, Ophelia knew that her purpose was to protect the twins that took her in since she has no memories of her original colony. Since she is a "Guardian", Ophelia is not a force to be reckoned with, her only (canonical) loss being when going against the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles (note: she didn't participate in the initial battle with Ei during the 100th vision seizing ceremony, if she did, she probably would've lost :p). Ophelia believes it is her duty, her reason for existence, to make sure the Traveler makes it to see the next sunrise, and if they're hurt, she can never really shake that it was somehow her fault. When she learned about the Abyss sibling, her anger came from the betrayal of one of her closest friends being responsible for such horrendous actions and her self-hatred for not being there for them, even though that wouldn't be possible. Other than that, she tries to live her life to the fullest, creating bonds along her travels. She wouldn't trade spending every day with the Traveler and Paimon for anything, even though she was initially a little jealous when she thought the Traveler was trying to replace her with Paimon.

.

Even though she loves the Traveler very much, Ophelia sometimes feels like she is outshined by them, and dies a bit inside when residents of Teyvat sometimes don't know who she is. Although she has a lot of self-control, Ophelia sometimes goes a little too far in battle, especially when she's angry, to which Paimon and the Traveler a little concerned about. There was one incident where she beheaded a Lawachurl after dealing with a particularly annoying hilichurl camp, put the head on a stick, and put it on display for all the hilichurls (and unlucky explorers) to see.

.

In my story, the Traveler is Lumine, but I've been keeping it ambiguous up to here. Either one of the twins, Abyss or not, can be seen as Ophelia's love interest, but I personally try to pair her with the Abyss sibling because I'm a sucker for friends to enemies to lovers)

Other facts:

Anemo powers

Normal: Foreign Galeswing

Skill: Stagnant Swirl

Placed a certain distance away, pulling in enemies and dealing Anemo DMG, disorienting enemies when the skill ends.

Burst: Storm Slash

Anemo Energy builds up around Ophelia, bursting soon after and dealing Anemo DMG with continuously swirling windblades.

Geo Powers

Normal: Foreign Stonestrike

Skill: Stalagmite Shock

Sharp precipices shoot up from the ground, dealing AoE Geo Damage.

Burst: Stalactite Barrage

Blades of stone appear and pierce enemies from above, dealing AoE Geo Damage and remaining in the ground even after said enemy has been defeated. These count as Geo constructs and can be climbed and block attacks.

Electro Powers

Normal: Foreign Sparkslice

Skill: Strikewave

A shockwave of Electro is released, dealing Electro DMG and generates an Abundance Amulet for every two enemies hit.

Burst: Piercing Shock

A small beam of Electro is shot at opponents that deal Electro DMG. The power of these beams increase the more Abundance Amulets are absorbed.

Dendro Powers

Normal: Foreign Tangletwirl

Skill: Might of Mistle

Multiple thorns are shot and will hone on enemies, dealing Dendro DMG.

Burst: Flaunting Flora

A large Dendro growth will appear and explode when left alone, dealing Dendro DMG. However if it comes into contact with:

Pyro, the growth will shoot out flaming seed pods that deal increased Dendro DMG

Hydro, the growth will have smaller buds burst from beneath enemies, dealing Dendro DMG

Electro, the growth will grow vines that'll stab through enemies, dealing Dendro DMG

Hydro Powers

Normal: Foreign Scaldstab

Skill: Searing Wake

Scalding torrents of water are aimed at enemies, dealing Hydro DMG and dealing more DMG if the target is Frozen.

Burst: Plunge of Peril

Ophelia jumps up with a burst of water, dealing Hydro DMG, and plunges back down, dealing more Hydro DMG and knocks opponents back.

Extra Art

w/out scarf

extra doodles (+ an attempt at the Genshin Emote style)

[kmze]

Stefan and Elena would have been endgame if Nina had not quit

Stefan and Caroline would have been endgame if Kevin had not killed Stefan

Stefan and Lexi would have been endgame if Damon had not killed Lexi

It's getting crazier with each passing day/year.What is the truth?

(I guess you know what I'm talking about)

Good to have you back,Kris.Miss your metas and smuts!

Oh Anon I know exactly what you are talking about, although I hadn't heard the Lexi/Stefan one until now that just seems like she's talking just to talk. Thank you for the welcome back! I missed this site and now that it's usable again (it was awful for a few years) I came back since it's the only site not taken over by ad-based algorithms and influencers. Plus now that I'm doing a TVD rewatch maybe I'll try to write some mini-metas if I feel inspired (the smut I can't promise as much I have complete writers block sadly.)

My thoughts under the cut because this got long oops!

Lets get to that tweet that started this discourse again, which I'm sure that was her intention, and honestly, I think she believes that on some level but it's simply not true. And I don't mean not true in the sense that the Stefan and Elena couldn't have been endgame because of how the story evolved after Nina left (or even before) but because they absolutely could have been! In fact it would have been rather simple to give Stefan and Elena an implied endgame with only having Nina for the finale. I remember a few weeks before the finale there was a pretty easy to believe "spoiler" of how they could pull it off. Basically Damon dies instead of Stefan, Elena wakes up and Caroline compels them both to forget about vampires, witches all of Mystic Falls etc. to protect them. Then there's a time jump where they run into each other again as strangers and do the whole "I'm Stefan" "I'm Elena" meet-cute from the Pilot and 5x18 visions. All that full circle jazz and now they get to be together without all the baggage so viewers can theorize how that unfolds. I can't even emphasize enough how EASY they made this a possibility when Stefan turned human (probably why I felt so much dread when I knew they were going to do that). This was also around the time the SE King Kevin Williamson (who also likes to blame Nina for not getting his endgame) and I cannot believe he wouldn't have been all for this. Hell lets even go back further because Nina told them at the beginning of S6 she was leaving so they had all of S6 to redirect the story back to Stefan and Elena, which again would have been easy with the mind-erase storyline and Damon being dead, but they didn't! They made them super platonic and after years of hints made Stefan and Caroline a main love story.

So yeah sorry Jules that is not the reason Stefan and Elena weren't endgame, they had tons of time to redirect the storyline. Even if she was determined to have Stefan and Caroline get together she could have done that, had them break up for good during the 54678 obstacles she put them through and then had Caroline date Enzo (kill me) before sending her off to Klaus (because apparently that was also a possibility until Caroline married Stefan if you're keeping track).

So what's the real reason Stefan and Elena weren't endgame? I'm not going to pretend like I know for certain but I do have a working theory, I don't think they could have made Stefan and Elena endgame without hurting Caroline's ending and that was more important to Julie by the end. I know lots of people will probably think I'm crazy for saying that but it is truly what I believe. Especially after seeing where Caroline started (like it was painful watching how prop-y she was treated in S1 during my rewatch) and where she ended up (last vampire standing running a magic school in the Salvatore house one of the biggest landmarks in the verse). I don't see how Caroline's ending wouldn't have taken a hit if Stefan reunited with Elena, even if she was the one who compelled him to forget about her. Instead the show used Stefan and Elena to prop Stefan and Caroline in the finale! They made it so Stefan couldn't find peace until he was sure Caroline knew he got her message and he'd love her forever too (the teaser cut away shot and "there's something I have to say" sells this IMO). That's what Julie used to set-up Legacies as the foundation of the school, it was Caroline's love for Stefan and how he helped her become the best vampire ever and now she's doing the same for supernatural kids. Candice King confirmed this in an article when Legacies ended, it's also implied via song in the Salvatore musical episode of Legacies about the founding of the school. That might be why Julie said it would "dishonor Stefan" to make Klaus and Caroline get together because she still needed Caroline's love for Stefan to be strong even in death, that's why this parallel lives in my head rent-free.

I'm sure some people will say it was because of Damon and Elena and their powerful chemistry and love story but that's for people who give a damn about that relationship (not I) who genuinely believe the writers HAD to deliver the chin kiss endgame.

[cornfields-td-nonsense]

how long does harpers crush on charlie lasts cuz if it's longer than 3 eps then. girl.... get some respect

Alright so in a rough timeline of events:

Episodes 1-3: Harper gets thrown onto Team Freakazoid after one of the contestants dropped out at the last minute. She doesn’t really get on with anyone, except Charlie. They start to bond, mostly by making snide remarks about Chris and the challenges to make the other laugh, or Charlie infodumping about history nerdy stuff and Harper listening. They’re really hitting it off as friends.

Episodes 4-7: Harper’s beginning to crush on him. He seems unaware. It’s all set up like a “pining x oblivious” friends-to-lovers speedrun. Harper talks about Charlie in the confessional, he acknowledges that he thinks she’s really cool, other characters start to clock Harper’s crush.

Episode 7ish: There’s probably some couple-oriented challenge a la the Niagara Brawls challenge or the kissing dare in Pahkitew, and Harper and Charlie are right there in the forefront. Just to reeeeeally hammer it in. Anyway, afterwards she ends up asking him out and he says yes. (Cut to Charlie in the confessional: “This is… good. This is great! A girl who I think is cool, and funny, and I guess objectively attractive, is into me. This is a good thing. Of course it is. No-brainer. I’m happy about this!” He sounds more like he’s trying really hard to convince himself this is true.)

Episode 8ish: It all culminates here. They’re officially together and Charlie is having a teensy little crisis. Everything he’s heard from his family to his peers to the media he consumes tells him that this is something he should be happy about. So why the hell does everything suddenly feel worse? Harper picks up on the fact that something’s the matter, but doesn’t get a chance to ask him about it before the challenge starts.

Stuff happens, episode shenanigans ensue, but the two of them eventually end up alone together with no interruptions, to finally Have An Honest Conversation. An uncharacteristically embarrassed Charlie manages to explain that he doesn’t actually think he likes Harper like that, and maybe… he was just trying to convince himself that he liked anyone like that. He didn’t know if it was because he was too antisocial, or just didn’t have many people he got on with, but now he’s actually had the full experience of being In A Relationship with someone who he enjoys the company of, who likes him and by all accounts he likes too (even if it’s not the same way)… he’s realised that it’s always going to feel wrong somehow. Harper’s surprised, but tries to understand. She tells him it’s okay and to be fair they kind of rushed into things and would it be okay if they stayed friends? Because for what it’s worth she still enjoys his company and wants to be his friend.

Neither of them have had a best friend before. And once that’s sorted, they click way better as best friends than they did as a couple.

(Cut to Harper in the confessional: “Am I bummed that my first actual relationship lasted all of one day? Eh… kind of, I guess. But this? This is honestly way better.”)

And episodes 9ish onwards they remain friends and return to the same dynamic they had in the first three episodes and the rest is history.