#work usually gets in the way of my full moon outing traditions

[mer-se]

says cloudy tomorrow so going to try and see the full(ish) moon tonight and be by the ocean , it’s needed its all I been thinking about all workweek thank fuck it’s wednesday

[fancyperfectionsweets]

☄️Astrology Observations 5🍂

🕸️ Neptune in 7th house has victim complex. More often than not, they think that they are too giving, too loyal and everyone takes and takes from them when that is sometimes not even true.

🕸️ Moon + Rahu combination can make another person super empathetic to the point that they cannot detach and work normally if something is bothering them. This is even worse if the moon is in a planet that affects personal houses like the 6th house of routines or 2nd house of money. Be careful with this combo.

🕸️ Rahu in the 7th house is clingy af and can do drastic things to keep a relationship. They have the tendency to use relationships as a self-validation tool. This intensifies if moon is not in a healthy position. They are the kind to kill themselves or harm themselves over a relationship. They need a good circle of friends to ground them.

🕸️ Jupiter in 4th houses often come from huge families that are ready to help them. Even if the person is harsh or strict, they won't be able to do that with a jupiter in 4th house kid. It's just something so "childlike" about their vibe to their family.

🕸️ ohk. It's either because my Sun is darkaraka or it's just true but people with Sun in the first house or exalted suns (aries Sun) just have my respect. They are so naturally inclined to leadership. I wish to learn from them.

🕸️ I read somewhere that while venus is the planet of love and beauty, they are very exclusionary. This is because venus is the IT girl that says "not everyone deserves me. 💅". She's luxury. Thus, venus dominant people like Osho have very mysterious auras and have "cult" like followings that have bizzare rules. I know someone who is a venus dominant nakshatra and he's very "I don't show even an ounce of what I'm" kinda person. It's honestly very fascinating. These people will only show you the real face when they feel like you "deserve" to be in their inner world.

🕸️ However, speaking of Venus. The above does not mean she cannot be obsessive and conniving. Bharani nakshatra men, especially, I've noticed are very meticulous and have an attention to detail. This nakshatra comes up again and again in men who stalk women and basically become obsessed quickly. They are not even apologetic about it. They feel they are sort of way entitled to "their chosen women" and it's ohk to tresspass boundaries.

🕸️ venus + mars is a super comfortable placement for relationships in my opinion. Venus is the vibe you exude. Mars is your passion so this is what you chase. Thus, you like people back who like you and vice versa. You know the people who always pulled the people they wanted? Yeah. Probably mars + venus. However, it can be a painful placement because love burns deep for this person and if it fails, it can affect their self esteem.

🕸️ 6th house stelliums have this natural tendency to be pessimistic.

🕸️ Jupiter in the first house is usually never seen as "too much" but for some reason, an exalted Jupiter in 4th house/cancer is. A jupiter 4th house is full of optimism and it can piss off people. Y'all slay though. ❤️

🕸️ I've never met an Aries 4th house (Cap rising) or a Scorpio 4th house (Leo rising) have amazing relationships with their families. If your moon and Sun are strong, your parents may be supportive but your extended family will definitely be then out there to get you.

🕸️ watched nosferatu and it reminded me of Lilith synastry 😭. I bet nosferatu's lilith conjunct lilly rose-depp's character's first house/venus/moon/sun because he was so obsessed with her. I'm also thinking 12th house synastry because he kept manifesting in her dreams and she kept him hidden from her husband. Also, she's definitely jupiter ruled and nosferatu represents ketu because he just took and took from her till she fucking died. In that way, she fulfilled Jupiter's theme of sacrifice. Sacrifice is associated with Neptune in western astrology. But, it rules over Pisces whose traditional ruler is Jupiter. So I think this kinda goes.

Fin❤️

[moonastro]

Juno persona chart

The sun in the houses

what is a juno persona chart? looking into juno persona chart gives more detailed insight of how the relationship and marriage overall of you and your spouse will be like. it also describes them in a sense as well. The Greek Goddess Juno is described to rule over love and marriage and hence why the asteroid is looked into for that theme.

the sun represents the self, ego and personality. in juno persona chart the sun can determine how the overall vibe of the marriage will be. what shines and what is most acknowledged in your marriage.

reminder: this is my interpretation from observations and first hand experiences, so don't take this to heart.

sun in 1st house: marriage is a main theme in your life. you were meant to be married. as the 1st ruled the self, appearance, way of thinking, your marriage could be very lovey dovey. you admire each other very much. marriage will fit you very well, you may have always wanted to marry. marriage can make you find yourself and allow you to become your truest self. like it can make you do things that you have always wanted to do that you couldn't before. can make you more independent and allow you to take care of yourself and focus on yourself. marriage can be a whole new beginning for you and your approach to life will significantly change. this placement tends to really focus on marriage and really hyper focus on every aspect that comes with marriage life. your appearance may change and people may have a different perspective of you.

spouse can be mars or mercury ruled, have 1st house placements and have dominant aries placements.

sun in 2nd house: the 2nd house rules money, income, resources. marriage can be very financially abundant and can bring lots of income to you and your partner. there is a strong emphasis on shared resources. the couple may share the same values in life and may agree on similar ways of doing things. There will be tendencies to express your love to each other very creatively. your habits can change drastically through marriage or can mean that your spouse and you share similar habits. this placement screams shared finances and sharing income especially through a bank account. marriage is affectionate and has lots of intimacy involved, this may be the glue to marriage through affection and being grateful for each other. there can be strong physical bonds so there can be lots of hand holding, hugging, cuddling etc.

spouse can have taurus prominent placements. they can have dominant 2nd house placements as well. can be venus ruled.

sun in 3rd house: marriage is very communication based and can have you looking at intellectual pursuits. perhaps when you get married you finally decide to pursue knowledge based lifestyles such as learning new things academically. The marriage is very expressive through speech and expressing their thoughts to each other. this placement reminds me of a couple who are just constantly working on their laptops but they work together at home so they still spend time together. its that type of vibe. marriage can feel familiar and you having a sense of familiarity with your spouse. this can be like a sibling bond so very loving and playful and sometimes argumentative. your spouse and you will talk CONSTANTLYYY like i feel like if you are in the same room and don't talk for a few minutes it may feel strange or just out of place. this placement needs constant communication with each other.

spouse can be mercury or moon ruled, have significant gemini placements or have 3rd house dominance.

sun in 4th house: marriage for this placement is very family oriented, both parties take care of each other and are rather traditional with gender roles. marriage can be all about comfort and being there for each other emotionally. marriage can be full of traditions and sharing family roots with each other. heritage and ancestry may be a big theme for this placement and usually value privacy. this placement usually keeps their intimate and personal lives between themselves, this is to make it more meaningful for each other. the couples go to place to spend time with each other is most likely their home and maybe ordering in and watching some movies with each other.

spouse can be moon ruled, have prominent cancer placements or have dominant 4th house placements.

sun in 5th house: this placement will have a very fun and loving marriage. this reminds me of a childhood best friend, you just get each other and have this flicker of romance every time you are with them. this is a good fortune house, so lots of life and memories are going to be created in the marriage. marriage can be full of creativity and risk taking. there may be lots of things that you haven't done before and therefore can cause new beginnings. there can be lots of availability to self- expression, maybe you will have the chance to express yourself to the fullest.

spouse can be venus or sun ruled, can have significant leo placements.

sun in 6th house: your daily routines and your daily lives are significant in marriage. health and well being can be prioritised here as well. Their can be a connection between the sense of self and your daily life in marriage. this means that marriage can influence you to develop a personal daily routine or have a responsibility to provide for others. after marriage this placement can manifest work work work for both parties and frankly may not have time for each other. everything can act very fast paced and it may feel like your days just go by very fast.

spouse may be mars ruled, have important mercury aspects, and have dominant virgo placement.

sun in 7th house: marriage will be on and off. i feel like the 7th house is about balance and you cant have the positives without the negatives. there will be lots of highs and lows and the highs will be very precious. its like whenever there is a very good day for the couple it can feel like the best thing ever. marriage can bring lots of partnerships meaning that you can do lots of things together. and of course there is the romance side of the 7th house so marriage can have romanticised features to it. there can also be open enemies withing the marriage.

spouse may be venus ruled, have libra dominance or have 7th house influence.

sun in 8th house: marriage can be very transformative in terms of daily life, your routine, mannerisms just everything. it will be something very different than you are used to. it will physically and mentally transform you as an individual. marriage may be very awakening and it can act like a total turn around. it is something you have never experienced before. this also reminds me of the couple admiring each other and staring at each others soul, just overall feeling a deep deep connection for each other. spouse can buy lots of things for you or in general can spend lots of money on each other as this house rules over partners money. this couple is a POWERR dynamic and have strong sexual desires for one another. this placement can bond over each others changes and can have a never ending phase of their honeymoon.

spouse may have scorpio and 8th house dominant placements. can be mars or pluto ruled.

sun in 9th house: this placement makes the marriage very educational. either one of the parties will have influence on the other in terms of life lessons. marriage can offer higher education offers and having time to study whether its together or them teaching you. this is a spiritual placement as well so there can be rituals that you may like to do together in marriage or possibly just share the same values and religious beliefs and cooperate those practises in your everyday life. your spouse and you may meet each other minds and may relate to the way the other is thinking. omggg the conversations are longggg. literally this placement allows the marriage to talk for hours on end and usually its about the deeper stuff in the world.

spouse may be jupiter dominant, have sagittarius placements or plenty of 9 house placements.

sun in 10th house: your marriage is known by many people. perhaps you had a will have big wedding or people are invested in your marriage life. as the 10th house is all about public, you may show yourself more in front of others express and show off your relationship in public. this can be a business oriented couple who work in the same business or have a business of their own. marriage can create rules and restrictions and you may feel trapped. the couple values their reputation and may act differently in public than at home. marriage can make both parties realise that they have shared life plans and joint purposes so they work together to reach and accomplish them.

spouse can have 10th house placements or have saturn influence. may also have significant capricorn placements.

sun in 11th house: very social and outgoing placement for marriage. when married you can meet lots of new people and just be part in many groups. will probably meet lots of friends through marriage. may have network influence and elations and may develop a social media following through marriage. lots of eyes can be on you and your marriage, people are influenced by your aspirations of the marriage. of course this placement can feel like you became friends to lovers and that may feel like that throughout the marriage, like you may act like friends one day and the other fall in love all over again. it can feel quite refreshing. you and your spouse will share lots and lots of things together and possibly both parties have joint aspirations and goals which make it easier to achieve something as its done together. your friendship in the marriage is well known and your bond is very clear in public.

spouse may have 11th house placements or are Uranus and jupiter dominant

sun in 12th house: marriage will be quite personal and secretive. i feel like this placement is the type to travel off grid and live life together with no contact. marriage will be full of travel and can feel like a dream at times. marriage can develop hidden enemies perhaps from jealousy or judgement. marriage can be something completely different that you thought it would be, it could make you think a lot about the decisions that you made. marriage can bring endings to attachments or relationships. this relates to the isolation part. also as this house rules old age, this placement reminds me of staying married till your old, its that type of marriage that you stay with them no matter what, through thick and thin through hardships and easy ships. this marriage is most likely karmic as you may have known them in a past life and have met in this lifetime to finish some work together.

spouse can have pisces or 12th house placements. can be saturn or jupiter ruled.

thanks for reading😊🤍

[oobbbear]

An original species inspired my the moon phases :]! Long post warning ⚠️

These are new moons, they are the smallest and the weakest sub species of the moon kinds

These little creatures can be found everywhere, some living amongst the humans, some in the forest, some even under water

Their height range from 5cm to 30cm

New moons who lives in the human world disguises themselves as everyday objects so they can blend in and not be caught, they steal little trinkets and foods when human’s not looking

These are the crescent moons, they act mostly the same as new moons the only difference is they’re taller and stronger

New moons would sometimes disguise themselves as other moon species so they don’t get attacked by them. Moons are not the kindest to the other sub species. New Moons usually go out in a group of 3 or more, that way they can look out for each other in the big dangerous world.

New moons dress up in heavy layers not only to blend in with their surroundings, it also because their natural body is very soft and fragile, they need the layer of protection to not die easily in the wild

Their disguise of choice is like their second skin it aids and protects them, even tho it is changeable and won’t hurt them when damaged, the little guys value them greatly

This is a Sun, they are the natural enemies of the Moons, while Moons are like little humans, Sun are more like big shiny long dogs, they’re not as smart as the moons but they are much stronger and faster than them

Suns hunts New Moons as food

And in return New Moons do the same

Whenever a Sun is killed by the New Moons, the little creatures would gather together and throw a big party to celebrate their rare victory against their biggest threat in the wild

They called the celebration “The Feast of Eclipse”, like the name, Eclipse appears rarely, and it is the only time a moon can dominate a sun, even if only for a short amount of time

During the celebration, they would dance and sing around their kill and pray for the safety of their kind and for their god to protect them against the many predators they face. It’s a traditional ritual for them

After the ritual, they would cut up the Sun beast and prepare its flesh for the feast. Suns are very good nutritions for the Moons so they won’t let anything go to waste, they make wine out of their blood and meat for the main dishes, after the meal left over flesh will be make into jerkies, and bones will be turn into tools or decorations

Enough about New Moon, let's talk about some other sub species of Moons

This is a Full moon, they are the rarest of the Moon kind. Alike other Moons, they also disguises themselves to blend in their surroundings, but unlike others who gathers material to make their second skin, Full Moons are natural shapeshifters. They release a orb like liquid from the back of their head which made up their body, they can mold it into any form, the only flaw is that they are not able so change their facial structure and their skin patterns.

Full Moons are on the top of the Moon food chain, they eat every single Moon species which including their own kind. These bastards eat ugly look away.

They are the only Moon kind who can own and train a Sun, some keep them as pets but most use as hunting dogs to catch New Moons.

This is all I got at the moment! here's a chart of all the Moon phases, I am planning to introduce the Quarters and Gibbous in the future so keep an eye out if you're interested! I love making character concept it gives my brain something to work with when I'm on break :]

Oh also! feel free to make your own little Moon Phase creature designs and please tag me if you plan to post it I wanna see I’m curious what y’all make of them!

[catyo90]

REASONS WHY I COULD NOT GET INTERESTED IN LEGEND OF KORRA. ( And yes I know the studio thought they were gonna get only one season and other issues but still.)

Warning: Spoilers and Really long.

1. Korra was able to bend three elements by the time she was 5. The Avatar usually wasn't found out until they were 13-16 which gives them time until they are an adult to learn and grow. But having Korra being found out and just knowing how to bend elements like this bugged me. And I understand the southern tribe would have some updates, but it's still all ice. Fire could make sense since they use it in camps and Air is everywhere, but earth made no sense to me.

2. Okay...so now everyone can Bloodbend and Metalbend.

This really bothered me for the sole purpose that only Katara and Toph would know about these abilities. Toph we know taught others how to do this and even had an academy. But bloodbending was something Katara only used as a last resort and I don't think she ever uses it after hunting the man who killed her mother. Its a terrifying technique but definitely something she would teach to another. Now I know that a bender could have found out about this ability like Hana. But this was after being imprisoned for months to years. Not to mention bloodbending can only be used under a full moon. It's way to rare to make your villain have this ability and it never made sense to me.

3. Sokka, Aang, Suki, Azula and well alot of others.

I understood when this show was announced that Aang wasn't gonna be there physically but to take out two of the gang like Sokka and Suki. It really didn't help. And to show little to no scenes of them was really a let down. And a lot of beloved side characters who we just have to presume are either dead or just not around. One thing I thought would have been nice to see was Korra speaking to Yue, she is a water tribe avatar who probably learned of the sacrifice of Yue and in all honesty should have made some connection to them. Not a huge one but just anything.

4. Aang and the gang...being given crappy adulthoods.

Aang being a father who only favored Tenzin the most cause he was an Airbender never made sense to me. He had seen what that kind of thinking did with Zuko and Azulas parents. And yet he just kinda pushes Kya and Bumi away to make Tenzin the best. In truth he should have focused on all his children.

Katara teaching Kya and careing for Bumi was fine, but I really urked me that she was just a healer. We know she's hands down the best but she is the most prominent fighter as well. Not to mention she kinda gets benched by the white lotus (they kinda suck as well.) She and Korra should have had a deeper connection, instead Katara kinda gets forgotten.

Toph being a cop....the kid who was rambunctious and the rule breaker who literally was wanted for money scams. A cop. She could have been anything else and it would have been fine. But a cop...no no no.

Zuko not being Firelord was a bit of a wildcard idea in my opinion. He gave the title to his daughter Izumi. Okay fine but here's the issue. He still has power and influence but like Katara gets benched because of age. (A reminder that Bumi, Iroh and Pakku who were at the same age in the show were literally defeating the fire nation armies on their own)

5. Technology

I hated this. The original avatar show was conveying the beauty of nature and how traditional world building works with older designs showing through.But then they added cars, airships and Gundam suits. Gundam suits. I half expected Shinji to show up.

6. The Villians

S1: A Blood bender who wanted to end all Bending. Makes no sense

S2: Unalaq and Vaatu. Another bender wanting balance with a spirits power who we have never heard of or seen before. And oh yeah the avatar has a spirit of life we never introduced and now must make sure they live.

S3: Zaheer an Airbender who basically said fuck the police and order. Oh but let's follow my rules and order of the Red Lotus

S4: Kuvira a dictator who wanted to pull a the Earth kingdom is better than everyone so let's copy paste what the fire nation did.

I can't make any of this up. Those are your enemies.

7. The Team.

This kinda gets hurt because of how young they made Korra a known Avatar. She didn't learn from her team, she already knew how to bend the elements with only Tenzin having to help. That's it that's her team. Not Mako, Bolin or Asami. They didn't teach her in the traditional sense which hurts the connection to all of them.

8. The Relationships.

I'm gonna say this now. There is nothing wrong with Korra and Asami. Okay. But they could have made the relationships of all characters have more depth instead of love squares with all four in the team. Heck Aang and Katara didn't end up till the end. Toph had possible crushes on Zuko and Sokka. Sokka had all the game to get multiple possible partners. Zuko had to wait to see Mai again till season 3. No one needed to start dating in the first season.

9. The overuse of the Avatar State.

Korra literally used this to win a race with children. The powerful state with all avatars power and wisdom.... seriously.

The literal power move of all avatars in one collected system. Used to play. It would have been a good lesson to have Korra at 13 -16 using it like that and learning that the power is not invincible. She needed to understand that in the state she could die and end the cycle.

10. Lack of Fun.

Now I know Atla had serious moments and funny ones too. But it worked better because they would be serious when the time needed to be. Heck even in the final episode Sokka, Suki and Toph take out an airships crew by saying its someone's birthday with no one questioning it. And just drops them into the water below. It's funny but funny enough to work. I can't recall any jokes from Lok. Like not a single one. But I know everyone here can recall a hell of a ton of lines.

Examples

[linka-from-captain-planet]

wait by the light of the moon #1: Rana & Vesta - Selfish

this Femslash February, I got myself all in my feelings about the usual (women) and began working on a collection of loosely-connected short fics exploring life as queer women in Tevinter, emphasizing friendship, community, and culture. Being me, of course a fair amount of focus is on supporting and obscure characters, because all women are main characters to ME.

To that point, first up is a lesbro origin story, featuring Rana Savas and (future) Warden Vesta

Rating: T || Words: 1274 References to homophobia, misogyny, comp het, and class issues.

On the outskirts of the city, just inside the walls, the Templar training camp is a grey, cramped, shoddy affair. Shockingly, the Magisterium doesn’t allocate it much money in the annual budget.

To the caravan of recruits coming in, though, it might as well be an oasis in the Western Front. Three meals a day, a roof over their heads, money in the pocket on the last day of every month. People with other options tend not to choose this one, but as far as Tevinter goes, there’s always at least one option that’s always worse.

The mid-morning sun is hot overhead, steaming the formation of junior knights in full plate. Tradition has them, two and three years into service, greet the new recruits. The miserable, rundown first-year grunts would probably scare too many of them off. 

At the front of formation, Knight-Templar Vesta Aquila watches two score bodies pour off a cramped wagon as one big mass, fanning themselves with their shirts and gasping the fresh air with relief. Looks like the usual assortment: mostly men, mostly hungry-eyed and raw-boned, some of them practically still with indents from chains on their ankles and wrists.

Some of them chatter and mill about excitedly; others stick with the pack, nervous and desperate not to be singled out. Before long, a sergeant comes blustering out of the office and barks at them to shut up, stand straight, and listen for their name to be called for intake, inspection, and kitting.

The crowd settles and spreads out a bit, and Vesta can’t help but notice one of the few female recruits sticking out like a sore thumb.

She looks like she got lost on the way to the Our Young Lady of Victory Pageant. A classic Tevene beauty: tall, slender, with shiny dark hair plaited all the way down to her butt, looking as out-of-place as Andraste herself would, standing stiffly in the perpetually ankle-deep mud of the Ferryman Training Temple courtyard. Her green eyes dart around nervously, but her pretty face is set determinedly neutral. 

Couldn’t be a zealot, Vesta decides idly, or the daughter of such; the chantry would be the clear choice, there. This isn’t the South. Couldn’t be a Laetain’s ungifted disappointment, dumped into service to recoup some of the family’s lost esteem with medals and titles without any risk of being sent to fight the Qunari; they’re only a small bribe away from skipping right to officer school. Couldn’t come from much at all, or else she’d be able to afford schooling or vocational training. Couldn't be coming in off the streets or the market, what with her clean dress and impeccable grooming. Too prim to be a troublemaker who picked this place over jail. Too uncertain to be the latest in a long line of Templars. Too young and far too beautiful not to have marriage, at least, to fall back on.

The sergeant barks, “Rana Savas,” and the girl startles, but squares her shoulders and follows her assigned admin drone inside.

She takes about three steps before Vesta raises an eyebrow and thinks, ah. 

----------------------

Hours later, just before lights-out, Vesta makes her assigned rounds shooing recruits to their bunks. She sticks her head into the women’s washroom, and there she finds the girl—Savas, she remembers—standing in front of the mirror, running her hands over and over through what remains of her hair.

The men get their heads shaved promptly after signing the papers, and the women, their hair chopped off messily above the shoulders. Hygiene, they say; hazing, they don’t. Savas’ hair wound up even shorter than most, hacked up almost to her ears. The barber must have been feeling greedy; hair as long and thick as hers fetches good coin. That pretty braid will make a magister’s wife a real nice wig, but what she’s left with looks like something from a joke shop, bone-dry and sticking up all over. The harsh anti-nit shampoo they make the recruits wash with in medical inspection might as well be enchanted to turn hair to straw.

Vesta came in with her hair already cropped short. She had someone to warn her. 

Rapping softly on the wall to announce herself, Vesta calls, “Alright there, Savas?” 

Despite being sneaked up on, Savas doesn’t flinch at her own name this time. Her eyes remain fixed on herself in the mirror, her expression wooden, and she keeps stroking her hair. Hoping to get some oil from her skin into it, Vesta figures. 

Mechanically, Savas replies, “I’m well, thank you, Knight-Templar Aquila.” 

“Good memory,” Vesta says, feeling awkward. It’s not really the point, but she adds, “Just ‘Aquila.’ I’m not an officer. All us underlings just call each other by name.” Savas seems like a girl who appreciates a good rule to follow. Maybe it’ll make her feel a little less helpless. 

Savas nods, staring at the mirror two feet from her face like it’s as far away as the Archon’s Palace hovering up in the sky. 

Sighing, Vesta leans out the door to listen for anyone coming. The last thing they need is the sergeant busting in on his own rounds.

Coming to Savas’ side, she grabs the younger woman—barely old enough to qualify as a ‘woman’, now that Vesta sees her up close—and pries her arms down to her sides, forcing her hands out of her hair, and briskly turns her away from the mirror so they meet eyes directly. 

“C’mon, Savas. Snap out of it. Come tomorrow’s drills, you’ll be glad to have all that weight off your neck.”

It wasn’t meant to be patronizing, but something about it strikes a nerve and Savas’ eyes focus into a glare. So, it worked, anyway. 

Wrenching away, jaw set, Savas gestures frustratedly at the mirror. “Glad, they made me look like a man,” she mutters ruefully, quiet enough that Vesta isn’t sure if she was meant to hear it or not.

Ah, Vesta thinks. It really doesn’t; it makes her look like a pretty girl with an ugly haircut. If she’s concerned about coming off mannish—about tipping off people who aren’t like them—, she should probably worry about adjusting that walk of hers first.

Needless to say, Vesta keeps that analysis to herself. She has a feeling it’ll be some time before Savas would be receptive to such feedback. 

It hasn’t been too long since Vesta was in her shoes. She gets it. 

But it’s not the kind of thing they could talk about in the open. There are no laws, no rules, no regulations against it; it’s just not what’s done. You don’t grow up in Minrathous without learning damn well that many Soporoti see themselves not as Soporoti, but as temporarily-embarrassed Altus; so even though there’s really no reason for peasants like them to mimic the highbloods’ delicate sensibilities regarding bloodlines, inheritance, proper marriage and the proper breeding of proper mage-children… it’s just the way things are done. Even though it smothers them all. 

The chantry bell tolls, reminding Vesta that they need to hustle out of here if they don’t want extra laps tomorrow. 

But, it’s easier when you have someone to help keep your nose above water.

Like Knight-Templar Bosc did for her two years ago, Vesta steps up to the mirror and knocks the side of her boot against Savas’. She receives an incredulous look in return. 

Smirking and leaning in conspiratorially, Vesta says, “You’re not the only one with a bad haircut here, Savas. Don’t be selfish.” 

At ‘selfish’, Savas’ eyes widen and her ears flush. 

Good—that’s one less thing Vesta will need to teach her before camp ends.

[omghallucinations]

aspects and chart patterns for ateez

number one reason why i decided to write this: mingi has a grand cross.

bro this chart goes crazy. a grand cross is a SHIT TON of energy. act right now, think NEVER (or later, obsessively, full of regrets). for mingi the 4 players are uranus "manic pixie dream girl" (14 aquarius), mars "she's cute but a psycho" (15 scorpio), sun "ME! by taylor swift" (16 leo) and saturn "i work so i can go home" (16 taurus). they're all in fixed signs so that can be a rough ride! these guys ain't gonna move. it's easy to not make any progress because he feels really stuck here. the fire is blazing away, but the walls are staying put. it creates a fixed idea of how things are, a relentless energy that can eat itself. terrified of losing security. strength becomes an identity. he's both 100% always sure he is right about everything and staggeringly aware of the multiplicity of life and that no one knows what truth is, since a grand cross has one of each element so the energy is split.

it's like

his sun, in its rulership in leo, so very strong: have you SEEN ME LATELY, i want to LOVE you and come let me SHINE MY RAYS UPON YOU and you can be like wow you're so pretty!! and i'll be like yeah i am!! you're so pretty too!! i love expressing myself through dance and music!! i am 100% embracing my identity i can't be anyone other than me!! (this depends on his rising) versus uranus in aquarius, also rulership if you do modern rulers which i don't usually: uhHHHHH girl. being different is really. hard. also i don't want to join the party and i don't believe in that and also i want to leave and this is giving me anxiety. have you considered that the self is a construct and constantly changing???

meanwhile, on the other side of his chart:

mars strong in its rulership in scorpio if you do traditional rulers, which i do: i'm so sexy and intense and everyone looks at me all the time. i want to act boldly and with power and sexuality and loyalty and i'm not afraid of anyone have you considered that! if you cross me you'll fucking regret it. i'm full of deep powerful desires and i want to act to achieve them!! versus saturn in taurus: sit the hell down and be responsible, you asshole. stop doing that. stop thinking that. stop desiring that. it's not helpful. stop wanting that it's not practical. i'm the ensemble cast in stick to the status quo!! no no no! stick to the stuff you know!!

which produces these big bursts of passionate action and not a lot of follow through. there's also sub arguments, which are fun too.

sun square saturn: father saturn is always haranguing the sun/self/ego that he has to PRODUCE that he has to SUCCEED or what is the POINT, and sometimes the sun is like fuck it... i give up ballet is YOUR dream dad

father saturn is also haranguing gay cousin uranus which has the fun effect of making him both insanely stubborn/rigid and insanely chaotic at the same time

uranus is like the devil on the shoulder of mars encouraging it to do more, be more extreme, move on, hit da BRICKS

mars passes a lot of that message on to the sun, being like you gotta be move and make a decision right now and who gives a shit what the consequences are! let's jump off this building!!

thank god mingi has an "easy opposition" planet that offshoots his saturn-mars opposition! depending on his birth time his moon likely sextiles saturn and trines mars to some degree. the way out of this all or nothing mentality is through his cancer moon (so many of ateez have cancer moons). his moon is basically like... girl go home. learn to garden or knit or something. get out of the club girl what are u doing

san's mars opposes his jupiter exactly. no like. exactly exactly. 0.00 orb which i almost have never seen in my life. so she's a strong and intense opposition! the two sides of the seesaw:

his mars in scorpio: i'll die for you, i'll kill for you, i have deeply internalized so much red hot rage that i am afraid of being angry but also unable to not be angry. haha i'm fine, he said, his eyes shooting fire. let's go deep and dark right now, i can handle any weight and get though anything also if you betray me i will never forget so write that down, i love two things powerful soul-penetrating intimacy and holding on to my grudges. do you remember that one time you did that one thing because i do versus... taurus jupiter: you know what i love? nature. humanity. my ideals. bro you're really harshing my mellow so bad. i want to focus on acquiring my cool items and comfort. have you tried just like... letting go? transform yourself into a more benevolent being! i'm managing my money, other people's money, whatever, my investments go crazy and i have great intimate partnerships and that's enjoy to bring me fulfillment and joy :)

thankfully his leo venus is there! leo venus trines his scorpio mars and sextiles his jupiter, softening each one with that optimistic romance, the creativity, the passion. venus is not always acting perfectly--she sure can be an egomaniac--but it can certainly smooth out the rough edges of mars and connects the two extremes. it's also in the 12th, the pisces-y house, so it's sort of quieter, more introverted, very compassionate and sympathetic to others.

hongjoong also has an almost exact opposition (0.07, so close!) with a softening planet to the side.

jupiter in pisces: have you ever thought about humanity? we have a responsibility to help the less fortunate! do you think ghosts are real? do you want to join a cult? also i'm so sad :( about people being sad :(. also i really really want to spend all my money! right now!! it's fine i'll make more money whatever, what is important is look at my beautiful gorgeous items (2nd house). versus... mars in virgo: gotta WORK. gotta make that mONEY make PURSE. and the way you do that is by killing yourself working :). i can look at every situation logically and critically and i will cross every t and dot every i in the entire world by thursday at the latest. god i love solving weird problems so much. yes i will be reachable by phone :) or text :) or slack :) please feel free to zoom :) no i will not be on vacation ever in my life :)

thankfully he can bridge that gap with his venus in scorpio in the 9th house (think art/values/beauty/romance that is unafraid of darkness and eager to get to the heart of shit often about philosophy/religion/art/travel). his sun and mc also contribute to that--so his ego/identity and his career. they trine/sextile the two planets themselves, just not exactly.

on the other side of that opposition, we have... a t-square :(. his gemini moon in the 5th house squares both jupiter and mars. a t-square is often like--bro you've repressed some shit but here's some red hot raw potential if u work through it. it can help and hurt, like all aspects. the moon makes sure the chart is like HEY. LOOK AT MARS AND JUPITER. THERE IS A BIG DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MARS AND JUPITER RIGHT. it anchors the difference. it can mean his emotions go zoom zoom from one side to the other--moon/jupiter of benevolence, so many feelings, philosophy, the meaning of life on one side, and then on the other side i have NEVER had a FEELING in my LIFE how DARE you i gotta WORK and THINK ABOUT STUFF what do you mean "don't intellectualize" and "feel my feelings" LMAO sounds fake.

seonghwa interestingly enough has no oppositions at all between planets--he's not going to seesaw within himself. he's gonna make a choice and not understand why other people are making such a big deal out of it. i bet he doesn't even have an internal monologue, lucky bitch. goddamnit.

he does have some interesting conjunctions--he has an exact conjunction with saturn and mars in aries in the 10th house. saturn gives mars a capricorn-ish, earth sign flavor. the way he asserts himself is going to be logical, practical, he does not like change, there's a lot of anxiety with action. this is amplified by them being in the 10th house. saturn gets a boost here because the 10th house is the capricorn house--it likes it here. they are more loosely conjunct his retrograde mercury (some trouble communicating) and his sun. they all get that same practical capricorn flavor.

mars in aries: you cannot kill me in any way that matters :) capricorn in aries: hm. technically. they can. what if, for example, your local coffee shop rearranges the furniture mars in aries: 1 fear

his cancer rising (22 cancer) exactly squares mars and saturn (22 aries) and more loosely mercury and his sun. it's like his identity/his life purpose/life direction as a nurturing, healing person who also struggles with vulnerability and being a bit judgmental sometimes shut up about it runs up against his 10th house work self, for better or worse. fire (aries) and water (cancer) don't get along, their goals are different.

he has other interesting things in his chart but i'm really trying to just to aspects right now lmao this is so long!!

jongho has an exact opposition between jupiter and pluto, so that's a fun bounce between

jupiter in gemini: man i love to be social, free, not taking shit serious, talking to people about whatever, and pluto in sagittarius: get AWAY from me i am LEAVING goodBYYYYYE

if you are extremely generous with your orbs, he could have uranus to quote unquote soften that--sort of like, idek i do my shit my way and it's chill. it's a big orb though so i don't really count it hardcore.

he also loosely has his virgo mars anchoring the opposition into a t-square--it creates sort of a versus situation. like hongjoong, he has a virgo mars (the gotta WORK (but not in a showy capricorn way, i'm genuinely doing the work stop showing off)) struggling to balance the opposing impulses of pluto and jupiter.

gotta wORK... on what? gotta work with people in a social way? or gotta work by getting the hell out of here independently? he can vacillate between the two extremes, avoid one of the points until his saturn return clomps up to say heyyyy girlllllll or some mixture of the two.

wooyoung has one opposition between planets!

mercury in scorpio (15) in the second house: i wanna get into the deep weeds with people, i want to skip the small talk and trauma dump on each other, i wanna say the TRUTH i don't CARE if it's "nice" also i'm fairly practical and critical, in contrast to how i am all or nothing motherfucker anyway i need to passionately argue my ideas and also i need to ice you out, i'm complex okay!! gOD you just don't UNDERSTAND the exhilarating highs and perilous lows of LIFE like I DOOO versus saturn in taurus (15) in the eighth house: oh shit i gotta keep myself in check and be normal so i can handle other people's problems and not lose all my money and not transform too much it will make people uncomfortable fuck i'm afraid of death i need to have a stable foundation jesus christ stop being so emotional and focus on what is practical!! god!!!!

there is no easy way out of that one i'm afraid.

instead, there's a t-square!!! the action point is his uranus in aquarius in the fifth house so there's issues with feeling like being his own unique person is in itself disruptive. he fears rejection--probably went through that a lot as a child (5th house). on the bright side, having to deal with the squares will help him gain resolution in this seesaw. the vibes are:

i have to restrict myself and be a normal bitch gotta WORK, gotta make that MONEY make PURSE

no wait. i have to be my weird ass self and express that creatively! my uniqueness is my charming point! it is so fun and awesome to be a little weirdo!

u know what actually let's connect deeply i wanna talk about emotional TRUTHS i wanna bear my SOUL i'm so RIGHT about everything and if i talk at you enough you will learn the truth!!

oops changed my mind goodbye everyone, i have reinvented myself again and i need to run away forever i'm a manic pixie dream girl and i've ghosted you. :)

yeosang has a grand trine! with a generous orb, so it's less strong than it could be. a rare aspect that is all about ease. again, like all aspects and chart patterns, there are pros and cons. a grand trine is a big ole triangle with 3 planets or points in the same element and they all get along great. yeosang's ascendant in aries is trine pluto in sagittarius is trine venus in leo. his life purpose/direction, his understanding of power death and rebirth and his desire for love, what he likes, his values, etc are always chatting away in endless circles and it's very cohesive but it can really lack direction.

pluto: i don't know where do u wanna go ascendant: idk were do u wanna go venus: idk where do u wanna go

like that. there's a lot of potential here: the newness and excitement and babyness of an aries rising, the intensity and passion of pluto, the love and harmony and creativity of venus, but it lacks direction in a major way.

like san and hongjoong, yeosang also has a mars and jupiter opposition. san and hongjoong's are exact, though (so like jupiter at 18 pisces is exactly opposite mars at 18 virgo), so they are stronger. yeosang's is more chill but still present.

jupiter in aries in the 1st house: i love being alive! i feel fresh and brand new. optimism is so easy for me! i act quickly and i want what i want but also if you want something i'll get it for you! i have strong values and i'm super honest and i'm not afraid of that in any way :). everything will work out!! mars in libra in the 7th house: haha... a decision? never heard of her hahah.... it's fine whatever u want is cool.... .. . i don't really wanna get it myself so uh. well if u think it's okay???? do you think it's okay?????? does everyone else think it's okay???? i'm very stressed and mars is in detriment here so i am uncomfortable but it's okay i'll be fine whatever u want is okay with me so long as the group is happy right???

it's also interesting because as an aries rising, his chart ruler is mars in libra--it's gonna flavor his whole personality strongly. normally in that opposition jupiter would overrule mars in its detriment, but because mars is the chart ruler that side of his personality gets emphasized more.

yunho has a locomotive chart pattern--that's like when 3/4 parts of the wheel have planets in them. hongjoong also has this. these people tend to be more driven towards goals, and there's one planet that acts as the engine--for hongjoong it's his virgo mars, which makes sense, and yunho's is his gemini moon in the eighth house. his engine is social-emotional in a light gemini sort of way not in an intense water moon sort of way. it's also square his pisces mercury in the 4th house (the cancer house, home/roots/foundation). to me that's like

gemini moon in the 8th: emotions are interesting to me in an abstract way but they don't really affect me that much, i'm always able to see the logical side of things. i'm really good at talking people through their feelings and i love to talk about mine too--but i do not want to actually feel them, ew gross that does not make me feel safe and feeling safe is extremely important to me! anyway what feeling i don't know what you're talking about my mood is totally different now i don't remember her? yeah i was upset but that was thirty seconds ago catch up! pisces mercury in the 4th: that person over there is sad i can feel it :( be nice to them :( i am gonna be really careful so i don't offend them :( anyway there is no one right answer i could be wrong idk i'm used to everything changing all the time so it's not a big deal do u think that person needs a hug :( gemini moon, trying to not feel anything: what are u doing here

this seems like a very helpful and productive square that keeps pisces and gemini--both mutable signs--from going too far in either direction. the house placements feel more unstable though.

uranus is also trine the moon so that weighs the scale more on the detachment side. uranus in aquarius in the 3rd (gemini house) is air on air on air, but also very stubborn and obsessed with being free. goodBYYYYEYYEE in a planet.

his sun is also conjunct jupiter in aries which makes his personality larger-than-life or like, expanded in some way. known. success comes easier. it's also in the fifth house of creativity and self expression which is a fun, carefree vibe, youthful leo energy. can get an ego, but he's friendly!

venus at home in taurus in the 6th conjunct saturn in taurus in the 6th--that's like saturn squeezing the life out of venus a little bit. holding it down.

venus in taurus: everyone likes me i'm cute and lovable and things come so easy to me! i love items and feeling safe and at home! man this is a soft hoodie i have achieved fulfillment. i know the perfect thing to smooth over this awkward social situation because things gotta stay stable it's insanely important to me but u know it's cool, i'm so friendly and personable :) saturn in taurus: have u ever considered that everyone betrays u venus in taurus: everyone.... could betray me. i... could betray me...... ... . better not let anyone in emotionally!!! i don't trust that shit! but if you do stay we're for life, so. ride or die.

anyway i'm interested in doing more astrology for ateez, these bitches go crazy. almost all of them have very active uranus and they have either a gemini moon (yunho, san, hongjoong) or a cancer moon (wooyoung, seonghwa, mingi, yeosang) or they are jongho, who has either an aries or a pisces moon depending on when he was born. what the hell bro. wild.

[pistatsia]

Marc Snuffy: the one who's in control

my Snuffy & Lorenzo fic using this characterization

Snuffy is the epitome of the word 'control'. From his motto to the use of his body with its perfect, calibrated balance on the field in the form of jiu jitsu (elements of which were also utilised by logic genius Sherlock Holmes in Conan Doyle's fictional style).

Snuffy controls everything from the individual strengths of his players to their place in his strategies, while also building all of his logic on a solid, confident base: for example, when constructing his team at Ubers he goes by the club's tradition and builds it on defence rather than attack. Even Lorenzo was raised by him to be flexible and adaptable (and most importantly, with the understanding that the most important thing is not to win, but to live), which can be seen in his attitude to the game - both serious and entertaining at the same time. And capable of accepting both losing and winning with dignity.

He controls even personal relationships, clearly defining the conditions for both sides, their benefits and losses - where it would seem that there should be no room for formalities. And if about Barou this could be hardly regarded to the football, then with the starving Lorenzo everything is a bit more complicated.

And I think it's obvious to everyone that this not entirely healthy level of control, going far beyond the boundaries of dedication, grew out of his trauma from Mick's death and their failure.

It's evident even in his relationship with the characters closest to him, Lorenzo and Barou. Through them both - two people so similar to Mick Moon (Lorenzo in appearance in his homeless era, Barou in both appearance and personality) - Snuffy recreates his trauma in an attempt to rewrite it with a happier ending. The kind of thing that Barou gets a glimpse of and is rightly angry about.

Of course this is hardly fully realised, only partly - in life, for example, kids who were bullied in their childhood sometimes become teachers. And then they stop the bullying near them as working adults, giving the new kids the happy ending they once deserved. And that's exactly Snuffy's case: he saves his players from a fate he himself couldn't avoid. He's willing to keep them as safe as he can control, growing them in almost hothouse conditions, which is exactly what Barou hates. So much so that he's easily willing to take the blame if they fail.

But at the same time, which makes perfect sense for such a person, Snuffy hates it when things get out of control, especially when there is deliberate sabotage - which is actually what Noa is teasing him about. I'd even go so far as to say that Snuffy is the kind of person who can only focus on a far-reaching goal by completely ignoring the unimportant things along the way - for example, he saved Lorenzo's life, but it seems they never talked about the fact that he didn't have to play football for Snuffy to love him, and that "worth" of his isn't that important.

Remember how Snuffy reacts to Barou's attempts to get out of his control and break his patterns: he's full of cold fury. That look is far scarier than shouting and punishment.

Because through Barou's prism Snuffy sees both his and Mick's paths. And most of all Snuffy is terrified of falling back into that helplessness - when he wasn't prepared for the event that broke his life in two. An event over which he had no control.

But it would seem impossible to be prepared for such an event. It's like a natural disaster and a terrorist attack - it's something that tears the usual fabric of life apart.

But when has that ever stopped anyone, right?

So Snuffy, in the moment of tragedy that destroyed his past, felt that he had a duty to anticipate everything. He had to know how and where to act, find the right words for Mick, save the careers of both of them, and basically hold the world on his shoulders so that it wouldn't break them apart.

It's terribly cruel and certainly unfair upon himself - but that's the way trauma works.

And that's why the journey he takes with Barou's help is so satisfying and liberating. Blue Lock does show overcoming one's traumas and chains visually and vividly very well - and how, with Barou's help, Snuffy was able to transcend his limitations, rising like a phoenix from the ashes, is perceived both visually and consciously, because it's relatable.

Because a person who is able to prepare for everything, to expect both loss and failure in advance, who knows exactly all his skills and advantages....

...also clearly sees the limitations of his body and mind. He simply cannot go beyond them - because he controls himself so much that he unwittingly limits himself, almost self-sabotaging - just to stay on predictable, familiar ground.

Logic is incapable of improvisation.

And this is what Barou is talking about - and what he teaches Snuffy anew, re-igniting his desire to live and play.

He shows Snuffy again that both life and football are made up of unpredictable moments - those where you are happy that something unexpected has happened that you weren't waiting for, those where you amaze yourself by going beyond your limits, those where you are happy and at the peak. Those where you need logic, but where you can't build your victory and happiness on it alone. Because happiness is in illogicality and unpredictability.

These moments are the things a person's destiny consists of.

The moments that Mick Moon lived for.

And the moments for which Marc Snuffy survived and rose again.

[rivetgoth]

OCs that are monsters:

Ennui Man — Monster in the most traditional sense that stands at 7’6” and is made of thrifted towels and blankets and animated by a magician with the power to manipulate floral spirits by capturing the essence of a Disneyland palm tree. Said floral magician was detached from all social dogma and chose a Disneyland palm tree because he wanted to give him childlike wonder. Ennui Man is a chronic pyromaniac who loves to destroy things for fun / “to see what will happen” but is also a big softie (literally) who loves bugs and cuddling and sunshine. He eventually got abandoned by his creator in the Santa Monica mountains and achieves sort of local cryptid status. Due to the nature of his creation he’s functionally immortal and eventually becomes the mother of plant life in the far future. He or she pronouns I just usually default to he.

Truffle Pig — 8 foot tall super soldier created by the military out of ground up pork parts and blown up soldiers and all wrapped up in black leather. Can crawl up walls. Meant to be a prototype for an easily recyclable dispensable soldier in a future war. Like Ennui Man he was created by a magician who has the power to manipulate meat essence. She kinda accidentally gave him a soul (sort of) though it’s fragmented and buried deep beneath AI programming. After the nuclear apocalypse he escapes his confines with the AI chip damaged and wanders aimlessly across barren radioactive wasteland landscapes until meeting his best friend forever and wife Ennui Man (in a Ren & Stimpy kind of way.) and becoming the father of meat life in the far future. He or it pronouns.

Posey — Former celebrity heartthrob who made the mistake of speaking out against human atrocities committed by Dr. Giorgio Marcello and Himmel Medicine and ended up captured lobotomized and genetically and surgically body modified into a Minotaur man for Giorgio to take his anger out on. Giorgio’s last couple of human experiments turned against him and Posey is unfortunately like the child a parent has after their oldest dies who will never be able to be enough to replace the first. Posey’s life is a psychedelic nightmare he’s trapped in like a greenhouse full of the bugs Giorgio does the least humane experiments on because they have the least amount of legal protections until he’s eventually rescued. Posey is my newest OC and my current baby tbh. 

Sterling Penthouse — Glamorous televangelist who is secretly a werewolf. I don’t think he really believes any of the things he says but when he eats people during the full moon he uses their tragic deaths to manipulate people to turn to God or whatever. Yknow as a cover for eating people. He’s the least developed OC here but he does rattle around in the back of my head so he deserves a mention.

OCs that are genuinely just evil:

Dr. Giorgio Marcello — Celebrity plastic surgeon mad scientist son of billionaire CEO. He’s the head of Himmel Medicine’s Experimental Plastics division and he helms all these twisted experimental cosmetic surgery projects. His earliest experiments were on genetically modifying dogs to make the perfect police dog for his police officer brother. My OCs Angel Steele, Leatherette, and (most relevantly here) Posey are all creations of his. He just has no regard whatsoever for other people and sees humans as like, potential artworks/blank canvasses over actual living things with like feelings and shit and of couuuurse he fucks all of his creations (most depraved bisexual of all time). In front of cameras he’s very glamorous and charismatic. He’s kinda got like a Marilyn Manson Antichrist Superstar vibe.

Guy Broiler — My slasher OC who works at a semi-abandoned McDonald’s in rural Pennsylvania. He kills tourists who get lost and turns them into meat for the McDonald’s since the parent company doesn’t send many supplies anymore and the restaurant is like his baby. He’s an old libertarian conspiracy theorist who lives in a little house with his pet pig Pigball that he rescued from a meat truck. He’s gay but he doesn’t know it and is a virgin at 55 because he’s too busy with work. He exists independently of this but he also was kinda written to fit into the Scream Park universe to ship with Iggy (Ogre’s character LMAO). He’s kinda based on Ronald McDonald and kinda based (demeanor/personality wise) on Paul Barker but also kinda based on my grandma who also is a redhead conspiracy theorist in the Pennsylvanian backwoods.

[thewatercolours]

1,9,11,13

What was your writing-highlight this year?

I am not going to surprise anyone when I say that I was riding high on that idiotic tollbooth chapter. Both because that chapter really clicked in the process and because people were super kind in their response to it! i had a lot of fun working out the moment-by-moment with my brother. I'd say it's probably one of the better comedic attempts I've made - I hadn't really tried to be funny on the page in a while, and compared to my usual, it worked. And I was also really proud of the way it had a bit of heart, and I managed to make a major tonal shift kind of work without giving mood whiplash at the end of the scene. And @captmickey made an amazing full page comic of the part where No1 calls Graham out, and that was so kind, it knocked my socks off. It's always especially satisfying when a scene you put a lot of care into lands, so - yeah. It wasn't a perfect scene by any stretch, but it did everything it needed too, and that is tremendously satisfying.

9. Create a meme or moodboard that captures your past writing-year!

OK, this isn't going to be a pretty, cohesive moodboard, because I can get perfectionistic. So here's something for every story I worked on in a significant way this year.

"Always at Hand"

"The Snow Moon Temple"

"Priorities"

"Having a Blast"

"With More Heart"

"Pixilation"

"Path of Kingship"

"Popping Corks"

"Pirate Monks"

"Everything Changes"

"The Best Watch"

"The Brilliant Hour"

"Birthday Tradition"

"At a Standstill" (with @gerbiloftriumph)

"The Iron Gate"

"Mind Reading"

"Asleep and Awake"

"Lost"

"Scraps and Patches"

PIRATES!!! (with @gerbiloftriumph)

"Christmas in Morceaux: Charles Bardin"

11. Which scene was harder/easier to write than anticipated?

All the non-KQ ones, and also the Clockett chapter from Path of Kingship.The previous chapters had flowed so well, I thought I was on a real roll! And then everything ground to a halt during that chat in the stable, and I had *many* drafts, and much back and forth with Gerbil (thank you!) Also, evidently, the next chapter of Path of Kingship. I fell off my groove. But the other day my brother came and told me, "I'd really like to see what happens next in Path of Kingship." And I gave him a big hug and said I'd try if he'd talk it over with me. So here's hoping for 2025!

13. How did you change as a writer?

I realized I had stopped caring about publishing, and can share any writing I want without having to worry I'll spoil my chances if anyone can find it online. This is liberating, and will maybe pave the way for good things in the new year.

[bookwormscififan]

Stake Your Claim, You're Mine Forever

Read on AO3!

A/N: Happiest of birthdays to the one and only @iamvegorott!! Knowing you is the greatest blessing I could ask for, and I look forward to spending many more years as your bestie.

This is a foray into an alternate werewolf AU wherein Mad shifts into a fox, and he has his first heat since meeting Mare and becoming a couple.

Warnings: Smut.

Bonus: A little drawing I made for the fic because I needed to confirm whether Mad would be better as a traditional fox or a fennec fox for this AU.

It was a familiar itching under his skin, but it was still unexpected. In his defence, Mad’s cycles were very different to other shifters; he blamed the weird way his body worked. Still, this would be the first time he’s shared a heat with somebody he was serious about.

Drinking from the river after his morning run, Mad took a few deep breaths before shifting back to his human form, making his way to his small cottage where he knew Mare would be waiting.

--

“Morning, starlight,” Mare greeted, pushing off the wall beside the back door as Mad approached. “You were out on your run later than usual.” He reached out as Mad got closer, running his fingers along the dense freckle pattern on his forehead, hidden by his bangs, before furrowing his brow when Mad let out a stifled whine at the touch. “Mad?”

“S-Sorry,” Mad mumbled, scrabbling to open the cabin door and push Mare inside. “I-I thought I’d have more time to prepare, but I-I don’t…”

“Mad, honey, what are you talking about?” Mare asked, hands on Mad’s shoulders to make him face him. “Prepare for what?”

“H-Heat,” Mad whimpered, knees buckling as he grasped at Mare’s upper arms, licking at his bottom lip as he felt the muscles under Mare’s thin shirt. “’m going into heat, and I want—need you to help me through it.”

“How?”

Mad let out a grunt bordering on a growl of frustration, pulling Mare in to crash their mouths together. “Animals go into heat, I’m going into heat, you need to satiate me until it’s gone,” he gritted out against Mare’s lips, squeezing at his biceps as his legs trembled. “Need you to claim me, fill me, make me feel good…”

Mare scooped Mad into his arms, ignoring the way that the fox burrowed into his neck, carrying him to the couch and setting him down. “Does this work for humans? Like, can I claim you, will it be strong enough? Are you sure I can satisfy you?”

“Mare,” Mad growled, gripping Mare’s shirt to pull him close. “By this time tomorrow I won’t be able to do more than beg, so while my mind is still clear, I want this. I want you to claim me, I don’t care if it doesn’t work, and I can’t give you pups or children or whatever you want to call them, so you can fill me as many times as I need it, and I’ll be satisfied because it’s you.” To finish his statement, he closed the distance between them, kissing Mare like his life depended on it, and he let out a small sigh when Mare returned the kiss with equal passion.

“Alright, Mad, darling, hold on,” Mare gasped, gently pushing Mad away so he could clear his head. “Hold on, I need a moment. Alright, so I’m more than happy to claim you if you want me to, I’ll bite you however you want and hold you as much as I can. Talk to me about the infertility. I didn’t know—are you able to have children, like, in general?”

“It came with being turned,” Mad replied, averting his gaze as he picked at his shirt. “I don’t know how the genetics work exactly, but I have heats, and some others have ruts, and we can make babies, but I can’t. Their tests messed something up, and I can’t have kids. So you’re safe, you won’t make me pregnant, because I can’t get pregnant.”

“Are you sure you want me to claim you?”

“I’m certain.” Mad reached over to hold Mare’s hands, meeting his eyes with a small smile. “You make me feel normal, and you never ran from me when I shifted in front of you. You stayed here during that first full moon because you wanted to be there for me when I came back, and you took care of me when the townspeople tried to kill me. I want you to be my mate, Mare.”

Mare swallowed around the lump in his throat, feeling tears prickling the backs of his eyes as he squeezed Mad’s hands, then nodded slowly and kissed him again. “You are normal to me,” he whispered when they parted, breathing each other’s air as he rested their foreheads together. “Nothing feels right when you’re not around. I want all of you, Mad, everything.”

----

Mare was woken the next morning by sunshine on his face. Turning his head, he smiled at the sight of Mad curled into his chest, tail curled around his small body from shifting in the night. Scratching behind one of Mad’s ears, he carefully climbed out of bed to prepare a pot of coffee.

He looked up as Mad padded into the kitchen, whimpering softly before shifting into his human form and hugging Mare tightly from behind. Mare sighed as Mad purred into the space between his shoulder blades, lifting a hand to rest atop Mad’s over his chest.

“Morning.” He let out a breathless chuckle when Mad squeezed tighter, patting his hands and swaying slightly. “I made you coffee, thought you might need—”

“Kiss me,” Mad demanded, letting Mare go long enough for him to turn around, seeing the want reflected in his eyes. “Kiss me, then fill me like you promised you would.” Without waiting for Mare to process his words, he pulled the human into a heated kiss, hands fumbling with the waistband of his sweatpants.

Mare returned the kiss with equal heat, running his hand through Mad’s copper hair as the other settled on his hip, running his thumb over the freckles he knew were there. Sliding his hand down lower, he grasped at the back of Mad’s thigh, squeezing at the flesh and slipping his tongue into Mad’s mouth when he gasped in response.

Gripping Mad’s thighs with both hands, Mare lifted him to sit on the kitchen bench, slotting himself between his legs as he lowered his head to kiss and nip at his neck. He grunted as Mad’s hands returned to his waistband, wrapping his fingers around his wrists and lifting them to pin against the wall above Mad’s head, groaning at the moan Mad let out from the action.

“Please, please, Mare, please, n-need you,” he begged, struggling against the hand pinning his wrists as he rocked against Mare’s hips desperately. And how was Mare to resist, when Mad was completely nude save for a thin choker around his neck, rutting against him and pleading with dark eyes?

Mad keened as Mare moved away, keeping his hands in place when he slowly removed his hand, and his cheeks flushed as he watched Mare kneel so his face was between his open legs. His head hit the wall with a thud the second Mare’s lips pressed against the sensitive stretch of skin between the base of his cock and his hole, moaning when Mare rolled his tongue over him before pressing inside.

“Gods, fuck, Mare, more…” Mad whined, squirming when Mare pulled back to bite at his thighs, leaving red marks over the freckled skin. “Mare, I need you inside me now, I need you to fill me.”

“I love demanding Mad,” Mare hummed, stepping back to push his sweatpants down before reaching into a drawer for the bottle of lube he’d hidden after their first time in the bathroom, generously coating himself and returning to his place between Mad’s legs. Pressing a kiss to Mad’s nose, he rutted against his ass, holding his cheeks apart to fit between them before resting his forehead against Mad’s. “Deep breath, starlight.” With one hand he held Mad’s hip, using the other to line himself up before slowly pushing in, capturing his moan in a deep kiss.

Mad’s eyes fluttered closed as his lips met Mare’s, dropping his arms to drape over his shoulders and pull him closer, sighing softly as Mare coaxed his lips apart to lick into his mouth, kneading at his hip with gentle fingers. After a moment, Mad carefully shifted his hips in a silent request for Mare to start moving, tucking his face into Mare’s shoulder as moans and stifled purrs escaped his throat from Mare’s movements.

“M-Mare…” his voice trembled as he softly called Mare’s name, shivering as he nosed along his throat before settling on the soft spot at the base of his neck. “Mare, ‘m close,” he whispered, gasp catching in his throat when Mare gently bit down on that spot, body flooding with warmth as he came over Mare’s stomach, clutching him tightly as he continued to thrust until he stilled against him, filling him before pulling out carefully.

“I’m not sure if the bite worked,” he mumbled as he ran his fingers over the mark on Mad’s neck, pausing when Mad pulled him into a tight embrace. “You’re definitely more touchy than usual,” he commented, returning the embrace and pressing his lips to Mad’s hair.

“Thank you,” Mad whispered into Mare’s shoulder, shivering at the tingling feeling under his skin and the stickiness between his legs. “Thank you for claiming me.”

“Of course,” Mare replied, carefully lifting Mad off the counter. “I’d choose you any day, dear heart. Do you want to clean up now, or have cuddles a bit longer?”

“Cuddles,” Mad answered, voice soft and small. He purred as Mare moved to the nest of blankets Mad had in the corner of the cottage, settling into it and holding him close. Mare pulled a packet of wipes from within the nest, removing one and gently wiping Mad down, snorting at his keens of protest and mumbles of losing him.

“You’re probably going to shift back to your fox form while we’re having the cuddles, and I don’t want to risk anything if you shift without getting cleaned off,” he explained, tossing the wipe away and patting Mad’s ass gently. “There, now you can shift if you want. I’ll happily fill you again when the next wave hits you.”

----

The next wave hit while Mare was cleaning him in the river beside the cottage, running caring fingers through his copper fur while humming quietly. His tail flicked a couple of times before he shifted back to his human form, pressing against Mare and nibbling at his earlobe.

“Do you want to go back into the house?” Mare asked, turning his head to press a soft kiss to the fading bite mark on Mad’s neck. When Mad shook his head with a whine, Mare chuckled before stepping into the river toward a moss-covered stone in the middle. “Lay back.”

“D-Don’t need much,” Mad stammered, tongue feeling like lead in his mouth, “I-I can take it…”

“Unlike you, my love,” Mare replied, running his hands along Mad’s thighs before pushing them apart, leaning down to rest his cheek against one of them, “I’ll need a moment before I can help you. So, give me time to make you feel good before I can get inside again.” With that, he moved forward to take Mad’s cock into his mouth, suckling gently as he bobbed his head down, listening to Mad’s moans mixing with the rush of the river.

Mad’s fingers tangled into Mare’s hair, squirming as he moaned around him before moving his head, allowing Mad to dictate his speed. One leg moved to wrap around Mare’s head, keeping him close before he jerked as Mare slipped two fingers into him.

“Mare, Mare, please,” he rambled, one hand moving to fumble along Mare’s face, arching his back as he felt his cock against the musician’s cheek. “Gods, Mare, ‘m gonna—” his warning broke off as he came, hips stuttering as Mare swallowed everything before pulling away, removing his fingers from inside him and wiping his mouth with the back of that hand.

“Deep breaths, love,” he rasped, smiling at the way Mad’s eyes darkened from the roughness of his voice. “Got one more idea before we get to the real fun.” Eyes glinting, he leaned down to press his tongue against Mad’s hole, revelling in the way he keened before pressing in, slipping two fingers in alongside his tongue to work him open.

“Fuck,” Mad gasped, curling inward as he held Mare close with his hands and legs, tears welling in his eyes as Mare hummed against him, free hand kneading his ass while he thrust his fingers with his tongue. “Mare, gods, please, I want--I want—”

Mare pulled away swiftly before straightening up, grasping Mad’s hips and dragging him off the stone and onto his cock, nosing at his bite mark as Mad clawed at his back. Turning around to lean against the stone, Mare adjusted his grip before lifting Mad and dropping him back down, setting a harsh pace that had the shifter screaming against his skin.

“Fuck, Mad, you’re beautiful,” Mare grunted, trailing his lips along Mad’s neck. “So wonderful, so sweet, and all mine. God, I love you, Mad. You look wonderful against me, begging for me, nails digging into my skin because only I can tether you to this world.”

“Mare, please,” Mad pleaded, scraping his teeth against the juncture of Mare’s throat. “Please fill me up, make me yours, I only want you for the rest of forever.”

“Go on, dear heart,” Mare hummed, listening to the water splashing around them from the intensity of his thrusts. “Cum for me, then I’ll fill you so you feel warm all over.” He bit gently on Mad’s neck, refreshing the bite mark as Mad came, grateful the water would clean them, and stumbled through the current until he could press Mad against the riverbank, hips meeting his as he came as well.

Mad held tightly to Mare’s shoulders, staring blankly at the sky above them as Mare filled him with warmth, and he started when Mare dropped his forehead onto his chest. Lifting a hand carefully, he carded his fingers through Mare’s hair before letting out a soft purr, twitching slightly from the high he was still riding.

“Fuck, Mad,” Mare panted, moving his arms to hug Mad close. “This is… intense.”

“It’s ebbing,” Mad replied sleepily, whining as Mare pulled out. “I can make us some food and we can rest for a while before I’ll need you again.” He tossed Mare a lazy smile when the musician pulled a face. “Without a claim, my heat would last a week, but your bite worked, so I’ll probably have one more wave before it’s all done. Don’t go,” he slurred, reaching for Mare and purring when he was lifted into his arms.

“I’m not going to leave you,” Mare assured him, pants back on as he held Mad close. “I’m carrying you to the cottage where you’re making me an omelette before we spend the rest of the day in bed.”

----

Mad’s whimpers woke Mare hours later, opening bleary eyes to see him clutching the blankets beside him, squirming against the mattress as sweat beaded on his forehead.

“Hey, honey,” he began softly, brushing the hair from Mad’s face and chuckling when Mad climbed into his lap, straddling his hips. “Hush, I’ve got you.” Raising a hand to cup Mad’s cheek, he pulled him into a kiss, free hand moving to rest in the dip of Mad’s back, holding him close.

Mad returned the kiss, nipping at Mare’s bottom lip before sliding his tongue over the mark, lifting his hips and using a hand to line Mare’s cock up before sinking down onto it with a groan. He lowered his head to trace the line of Mare’s throat, nosing over the skin before starting to rock his hips, clutching at Mare’s biceps to ground himself from the pleasure.

“My darling, my love, my heart,” Mare mumbled against Mad’s shoulder, pressing open mouthed kisses there. “Sweetheart, you’re perfect for me. And you’ve been through so much already, but it brought you to me, and I thank fate for it every day.”

“Mare, Mare, fuck,” Mad panted, moving a hand back to hold Mare’s thigh, letting out an inhuman sound at the change of angle. “M-Mare, I-I love you…”

“I love you, too,” Mare hummed, scraping his teeth over the bite mark on Mad’s shoulder as he sat up to thrust into Mad, sliding a hand around to dig his nails into Mad’s hip while the other caressed his ass, kneading the cheek before pulling it slightly to get deeper inside him. “I’ll love you in any universe, no matter what you are or how we meet. Fuck, I want you forever.” He stilled as he came inside Mad, tilting his head to swallow his moans as he spasmed around him, rolling his hips in careful circles as he waited for Mad to come back to reality.

“More,” Mad slurred, looking at Mare with glassy eyes. “N-Need more… c-can you do it again?” He clenched around Mare, nibbling on his bottom lip when he hissed in response, then rocked his hips to start moving again.

“Mad, you’re going to be the death of me,” Mare grunted, gripping the sheets beside him with one hand while the other supported Mad’s lower back, bucking his hips to meet Mad’s bounce, mapping his skin with his lips as he pushed past overstimulation into pleasure once more. “But if I die, at least I’ll die happy.”

“D-Don’t – fuck – don’t be so morbid while you’re inside me,” Mad growled, digging his nails into Mare’s shoulders as he came over their stomachs, frowning at the mess before gasping at Mare’s thrusts. “M-Mare, Mare, please, m-my legs…”

“Hold on,” Mare replied, lifting Mad off him before flipping their positions, pinning Mad’s hips to the mattress as he pushed back inside, holding him close while he thrust deeply. “Another bite?” he asked quietly, nosing at Mad’s throat before biting down when he nodded, hips faltering as he came with a groan.

Mad’s hands grasped at Mare’s hair as he was flooded with warmth, mouth falling open in a silent scream as the itching beneath his skin finally subsided. He turned his face to rub his cheek against Mare’s head, both breathing heavily as they came down from their highs.

Mare waited a moment more before slowly pulling out, kissing away Mad’s whine of protest and reaching into the bedside drawer for the pack of wipes. “Let’s get you cleaned up,” he whispered, gently cleaning Mad off before cleaning himself, pressing kisses to every inch of skin he could reach.

“Mare…” Mad called silently, reaching an arm out for him and smiling when Mare laid down beside him, pulling him into his chest and holding him close. His eyelids fluttered closed, smile still on his face as Mare started quietly humming, gently brushing his fingers through Mad’s hair as his purrs harmonised with his song.

If ever I need a muse, An inspiration for music, I know I can turn to you. I would shape my world around your own, Anywhere you are is my home, So stake your claim to me: You’re mine forever, you see.

“Thank you,” Mad breathed, kissing Mare’s cheek before his breathing evened out, unconsciously shifting back to his fox form and curling against Mare’s chest with his snout nestled into the crook of his neck and shoulder.

-------------------------

@brokentimewatch @dungeon-dragons-dragons @rattyboyisemo

[thelampisaflashlight]

Everything Goes On Pt. 6

[Ritual night preparations. Not suitable for younger audiences. Previous part here.] Below the cut.

The shift in the air is palpable as the raging sun of summer draws ever closer to the cloudy gloom of fall.

Not yet here, though already on the minds of so many.

Mountain can feel the shift in his bones, bonded to the Earth as he is, but as he looks to the heavens, he cannot but feel a great sense of unease.

The sky is overcast, heavy storm clouds move at a snail's pace overhead.

An ill omen for a night already destined to be touched by the light of a rare blue moon.

Worse yet...

Mountain watches as the siblings gather for mass, their usual uniforms or casual clothes cast aside in favor of the traditional robes of their forbearers.

...there is to be a summoning tonight.

Turning his gaze to the lake, barely a puddle in his vision, he can already see the groundskeepers placing the lanterns to mark the path to the sunken chapel.

Three ghouls stand guard as they work, wearing the silver masks of a now bygone era, sentinels sent by Sister Imperator to ensure no ill business takes place on this most sacred of occasions.

The guards eye him from a distance, one of them, a smaller, slighter figure than the rest, swishes their tail -a threatening crackle of green energy sparking from the spade- at him irritably, and all Mountain can do is hold up his hands and return to his own duties to show he isn't a threat.

"Everyone's so worked up today..." Swiss comments, striding out of the courtyard holding a rake and a compost bag full of dead leaves, "What do I do with these, big guy?"

Mountain gestures towards a small pile between the greenhouses.

"It's because of the summoning tonight."

"I almost forgot about that." Swiss hums, tossing the bag, "I guess since Sunny's summoning was the only one I've ever gone to, I didn't think, ya know, it was a big deal?"

"Sunny's summoning was kind of an outlier, since it was not safe for the clergy to attend en masse." Mountain says, "Tonight's summoning is also special, because we not only have to contend with the weather, but the moon as well... Papa has already ordered several members of the clergy into seclusion to avoid, uh, unwanted side effects."

"What's the moon got to do with it?" Swiss asks, coming back to stand beside Mountain, looking out over the valley.

"You can't feel it?" Mountain questions, placing a hand over the middle of his chest, "Here?"

"Nope, aside from how warm your hand is." Swiss shakes his head, "I mean, I am half human, so it's probably another one of those things that doesn't affect me the same way it does you guys."

"I suppose so." Mountain nods, "But, to explain it a bit, the moon tugs."

"Tugs?"

"It pulls at us like the tides. Water ghouls are especially effected by it, hence why they make themselves scarce during the full moon, as do members of the clergy afflicted with moon based curses such as lycanthropy." he says, "Hence why Rain isn't able to attend the summoning tonight."

"Cause he'll go feral or something?" Swiss asks.

Mountain thinks back to earlier this morning when he'd encountered the ghoul in question rolling around in a pile of spilled laundry when he came to retrieve his clothes from the dryer, thoroughly out of his gourd, tail slapping on the ground like a pleased puppy.

"...Yes... feral..."

Swiss blinks at him.

"What about Dew? Since he's a hybrid?"

"Dew has a remarkably firm grasp on his water side, so he'll still be in attendance." Mountain says, "He'd likely have to attend in some capacity regardless though."

"Why's that?"

Mountain stares down at Swiss.

"What? What, is there something on my face?" the multi-ghoul questions, patting his cheeks.

"...You really don't know?"

"Know what??"

"Satanas... Well, I won't ruin the surprise."

.

.

.

"Ugh, these robes are so fucking heavy..." Dew grimaces, readjusting his vestments for a third time, "This is such a pain in the ass..."

"You do not get to complain." Copia sighs, coating his face in powder, "Mine are twice as heavy, and I don't have any of your unnatural ghoulish strength to help carry the weight."

Dew's tail swishes trapped between two layers of fabric.

"If I knew becoming a bishop would mean wearing so much clothing, I wouldn't have studied so hard."

"You had your entire deaconship and stint as a priest to consider that, now didn't you?" Copia points out, "Having to dress the part of your role only happens once in a..."

"Don't."

"Once in a blue moon." he chuckles, eliciting a groan from the already agitated ghoul, "Ah, lighten up, once the ceremony is over, you can go back to wearing what you want or nothing at all. Hell, you could even strip naked as soon as the rites are done, but, for now, you need to look presentable for the clergy."

"Half the siblings have seen my bare ass-"

"Sister will be in attendance tonight." Copia says, eyeing him from the mirror, laughing once more seeing the ghoul's conflicted expression.

"-which I will keep covered at all times this evening."

"Very good."

Copia stands back to admire his handiwork, checking his make-up for imperfections, "...Ghoul?"

"Yes, Papa?"

"I've been meaning to ask... How have you been since your packmates' departures?"

Dew clicks his tongue.

"I miss Sunny, it was fun having her around while it lasted." he says, "But I know you're not really asking about her."

"Things are still... complicated." he continues, "But Aether is the furthest thing from my mind tonight."

"That is... good." Copia says, "There's a high likelihood that something may go array during tonight's ritual, so I need you focused to ensure that if things do get out of hand, we can put a stop to it as quickly as possible."

"Yes, Papa."

.

.

.

Cirrus sits in her room getting ready for the evening, she doesn't really need to get too dressed up for the event, after all she'll be sitting amongst the siblings along with the rest of the ghouls.

...Save for Cumulus and Dewdrop that is.

And maybe that's why she's putting the extra effort in to look nice even though it will be impossible to really pick her out of the crowd, it's more so for after the rites are spoken.

After Cumulus is freed of her obligations as a sister of sin and they can fuck off while the actual summoning takes place to have a little fun.

At least, that had been the plan...

"Since Aether left, I have to stay as a witness." the smaller ghoulette had informed Cirrus earlier during breakfast, "You know how it is..."

"I don't, actually." Cirrus had grumbled around her pancakes, "You don't tell me anything about your duties as a sister, or why it's so different from being, I dunno, like the rest of us."

"I have though, Cir, I explained what my role is when I took my oath." Cumulus had frowned, patting her hand, "This is one of my duties as a sister, to attend these summonings and bless the new ghouls in the name of the lord below."

"Yeah, but why does it have to be you?" Cirrus groused, letting her fork drop onto her plate.

"I was requested personally, and you have to understand what an honor it is to be chosen for something like this..." Cumulus said, "I'll be standing beside Papa..."

"We hang out with Copia all the time, Lus, it's not that special."

"...Well it is to me." Cumulus whispered, "Plus, Dew could use the support right now. You know him and Aeth-"

"Oh, so it was Dew who asked." she'd scoffed, "Of course it was."

"Cir... what's that supposed to mean?"

"Ever since Aether left, you've been babying Dew." Cirrus hissed, "You even disagreed with me when I said our relationship wasn't like theirs, but it's not. You and I have been together since the pit, those two were just fucking around the way humans do, it wasn't even serious!"

"Wasn't even... Cir, they were engaged!"

"Engaged, but not bonded!"

"Cir..."

Cirrus looks at herself in the small vanity atop her dresser and frowns.

"It's not the same." she tells herself, "Our relationship isn't..."

"Dew could use the support right now."

Cirrus grabs her mascara and uncaps it.

"I hope he fucking trips and falls in his stupid robes tonight..."

[maxwell-grant]

Hello! While speaking with my friend about a concept for a silly little vampire story a question naturally arose; "Why do vampires, of all monsters, lend themselves so well towards humor?"

Hope you have a wonderfully spooky October!

Well hope you have a wonderful October as well!

Honestly I think all monsters lend themselves to humor in ways that haven't been fully tapped into, but I think vampires have that extra edge mainly because the main things that define them (needs to feed on others for sustenance, can't go out in the sunlight, immortal but can be killed in specific ways) are Rules. Rules and structure and consistency are things that you need to build a set-up, because you can't have a punchline without a set-up. Other monsters are more loosely defined, or have only a couple of rules that can usually be ignored, but you can't ignore the basic specifics of vampirism the same way. You can have a werewolf who doesn't turn on a full moon or due to weird birth circumstances related to the number 7, but you need to address the feeding aspect, or you don't have a vampire.

And the counterpoint to that is that vampires, while obviously they have aesthetic signifiers and tropes and Dracula-isms that people go to in defining them, are nowhere near as bound to their aesthetic traits as other kinds of monsters, so you can make anything and everything a vampire so long as you establish that parasitic aspect and the rules. If want to make your characters specific kinds of monsters you generally have to include the aesthetic signifiers that define them: Frankensteins generally need to be some kind of stitched-up corpse and/or giant, mummies need to have the wrappings or the lore, zombies need to cadaverous undead, werewolves need to be some kind of horrible animal (not necessarilly a wolf - Brazilian werewolves are commonly said to be more akin to pigs and boars, for example), but vampires?

If it's a parasitic monster that needs to feed on something otherwise it dies, and that something isn't just regular food, pretty much anything you do with them is fair game. The more out there you go with it, usually the better.

And because they're among the most popular unambiguous kind of monster (skeletons, witches, ghosts and aliens are there still but all sorta morphed into their own things overtime, vampires you still find at the forefront of every Halloween pack), everyone is familiar with what those rules are on the baseline, which means you have a much, much easier time doing jokes about the specifics of vampires than with any other kind of monster, and so it becomes more necessary to focus on specifics of the vampire's personality to make them stand out. Generally speaking, a Frankenstein is a type of character, a werewolf is half of a character when not in frenzied bloodlust, a ghost can be one or several characters, a zombie used to be a character, but a vampire needs to be a character, if you're not doing a Dracula pastiche (and even then) you can't bank on the shorthand as easily. It's a very competitive field.

Everybody knows the specifics of how vampires work, and so you get to play them straight or subvert them for comedy, and even make up new kinds of vampires out of twisting the premise around. A lot of what makes Colin Robinson from What We Do In The Shadows so funny is that, placed opposite a cast of fairly traditional vampires as somehow the most mundane personality as well as the weirdest freak among them, they can and do just constantly make up new shit about the way his existence and powers and biology works and get away with it, and constantly set you up for surprises more so than with the others. And they even still kinda do that for the others. All vampire media needs to place it's characters across a spectrum of possibilities.

Doesn't show up in mirrors, can't cross running water, needs to be invited into places, needs to stop and count marbles, needs to sleep in coffins, needs ancestral soil within said coffins to sleep in, etc. Needs to feed their blood to victims to reproduce, or actually doesn't need to do that. Can go centuries without a sip, or needs to kill a person every day to not die, or can just feed on cattle / the color red / other fluids. Can walk in the sun but weakened, can walk in the sun unbothered, can walk in the sun with careful skincare routines made from human sweat, instantly desintegrates if they play the desert level in a videogame, and so on.

Once you get past the baseline, you actually can get a lot more out of just piling up both weird new powers you never have to explain, as well as bullshit rules and specifics atop each other, because that's just how Vampire Lore works, and naturally each and everyone of those can be squeezed for comedy as well as horror. It's that old adage about how horror is comedy without the punchline and both need a dramatic investment into the set-up of how it works, before it can be torn down dramatically or comedically.

To be clear, I think this is something you can and should do more or less with all kinds of monster characters, but the thing is that, most of the others you do need you to go the extra mile and define them, what defines them, what if any are the rules and standards and limitations they live with. With ghosts and mummies and bugbears you do need to tug a bit at the concept and ask questions and walk your audience through some of those questions to get somewhere more than surface/aesthetic-based gags with them, where as with vampires, you can kinda skip a lot of that and just get to work pulling comedy out of the basic set-up and then subverting that.

Because yes, vampires live by codes and structures and rules, but there's also nothing we like more than telling those to get stuffed so we can do whatever we want. You need something to rebel against in order to rebel at all.

[buriedyou]

𝐆𝐀𝐁𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐋 𝐃𝐄 𝐋𝐄𝐎́𝐍.

previously found at: silvresaint.

Gabriel is from the Empire of the Vampire books, but fuck J.ay K.ristoff. Consider this portrayal inspired by multiple sources of vampire media. The primary world Gabriel exists within assumes the existence of many supernatural elements. Gabe is not generally kind or likeable, nor is he even distinctly approachable; please keep this in mind if interacting and plotting, which is highly encouraged because of his nature. PLEASE NOTE: Gabriel is an addict. As a half-vampire, he is always hungry for blood; however, as a Silversaint, he does not partake in this thirst the traditional way, relying heavily on a powdered blood-compound stimulant called sanguine. Not only does it quell his hunger, it also enhances his vampire abilities and strength. If he can get his hands on it, he will smoke it. I will do my best to treat the topic of addiction with respect and do my due diligence in researching the topic, but if ever I slip up, please do not hesitate to reach out to me about it. I do not ever want to treat this topic without care and I am wholly open to being called in about any insensitivity on my part.

FULL NAME: Gabriel de León EPITHET(S): Silversaint, The Black Lion GENDER: Cis-male SPECIES: Vampire ORIGIN: Blood Esani HEIGHT: 6'4” AGE: 36 years old

HAIR: Long, several inches past his shoulders. Glossy black and straight. EYES: Eerily grey in color. Silver, even, in some light. SKIN TONE: Pale as the moon where it isn't covered in silver ink. BODY TYPE: Mesomorph. VOICE: Low and rough from years of sanguine smoke inhalation. Almost always dry in its humor, given his propensity for sarcasm and disdain. WEAPON: His sword, Ashdrinker. NOTABLE FEATURE(S): His dozens upon dozens of tattoos which cover him from neck to ankle.

VULNERABILITIES: As a half-vampire, he is sensitive to the sun, though it is not lethal. Silver-made weapons do him more harm than any normal ones. Long exposure to hunger, as well as withdrawal symptoms, are detrimental to his health, both mentally and physically. ALIGNMENT: Chaotic Neutral

CURRENTLY.

the last silversaint. SETTING FLEXIBLE. tbd.

BIOGRAPHY

the world pretends it doesn't know what lies in wait around every dark corner. humans are stupid like that. but no amount of ignorance can keep away the dark and all the things hiding within it. daysdeath happens that way; one moment, everything is as it always was. in the next, there's only the blood. there's only the fear.

daysdeath happens to us all. it's an inevitability, an unpleasant one that shatters any hopes and dreams except the only one that matters: survival. because it's either that or you become one of them. and if you become one of them, it's only a matter of time before you have to turn someone else. and maybe that someone else is your mother or your husband or your friend. hunger doesn't care who they are to you. hunger only cares what they are to you. a fresh meal, a veritable feast, the only thing that matters in the end. if you're lucky, you're too far gone to understand what you're doing. but what does death care for luck?

gabriel was still a boy when daysdeath came for him. when you live in a world where those around you had their daysdeath already, you don't understand their fear. fear, to gabriel, was in the switch to his back when papa is angrier than he usually is. fear, to gabriel, was papa with a bottle of liquor and only his head the target of that breakable glass. fear, to gabriel, was split skin and bleeding lips and doing something wrong. until one day it's impossible that papa was ever the only thing worth fearing.

he watches his sister die on his daysdeath. her cries had dragged him from work even at the risk of papa's fury. the thing attacking her should have reminded him of fear, but all he knew was that same rage that stirred the same in him then as it always had in his papa. it is not simple strength alone that frightens that thing away; his hands are all fire when they rip its face from his sister's throat, leaching it of the black in its veins faster than he can realize what happens. it crumbles in his hands. but it's too late for little celene already dead at his feet.

little lion, his mother called him, knowing exactly what he was from the moment he was born. the hunger only woke in him when that daysdeath finally fell. there was a girl with soft lips and softer thighs, and hunger was the taste of both. it isn't until she's screaming and there's blood pooling in the bed beneath her, pooling in his mouth, that he wakes to the world gone black. her father chases him across town and the town joins him. his mother weeps and weeps and weeps. what is wrong with me? he cries amongst the throng of those who want him killed. and because mother is god, it's mother who both saves and damns him.

she'd sent for the man on the horse all those weeks ago when celene had fallen. little lion, she'd said as that man frightens the crowd enough that they relent their demand for gabriel's head. be brave for me now. it's the only goodbye he's afforded before the man on the horse takes him away. papa doesn't even look at him.

thus, gabriel begins his life in the wake of his daysdeath. he was not just a boy. he was born with that hunger, cursed with it, and was tasked now to use it. far from home, he learned how to destroy those things which destroyed his sister and he learned how to destroy himself piece by piece. trials by blood and trials by death earn him his slaying sword, ashdrinker, and the role of silversaint. soaked in the holy ink of angels and the blood of devils, gabriel was crowned the black lion and kingslayer. and when those monsters triumphed over the brotherhood, he was deemed the last silversaint and retreated into obscurity, leaving humanity to their fate.

NOTES

The Silversaint is a dying breed. Once a flourishing and holy brotherhood called The Silver Order tasked with relieving the world of those bloodlusted creatures of the night, only Gabriel remains in the wake of a cleansing which has destroyed a centuries-old faith that even he can barely hold space for within his chest.

Gabriel may or may not be known to your muse. He has many epithets and his legacy precedes him; if your muse runs in the right circles, they very well could recognize him by his name, his face, or even by the various markers of his reputation such as his tattoos or his sword. I welcome however your muse might react to his presence whether with fear, awe, or disinterest. It's always fun when he's respected; it's even more fun when he's underestimated.

Gabriel is a widower and is still very much in love with his late wife. On top of that, he has also lost his only daughter with her. Astrid and Patience were his everything. Gabriel is vulgar and he will flirt; he might even be open to a tumble in the sheets, but romantic and exclusive sexual relationships are hard to come by. Other dynamics are more than welcome, including but not limited to antagonistic, familial, convenience and work related, and platonic. Gabriel claims a preference for solitude, but he is lonely and family and loyalty are at the core of his ideals and beliefs.

ALT VERSES TBD...

[caninecomfort]

hello i heard you had feelings about lycanthropy and femininity. i would love to hear abt them (—canis-dentem, this is my main)

I am so glad you asked 😈 the inherent ties between lycanthropy and female biology are sooooo strong. I know it’s a theme that’s explored in the ginger snaps movies but I haven’t watched them oddly enough haha, I just realized it while working on a story idea a while back and did some research and found that other people have said it too.

basically the way that lycanthropy and the female menstrual cycle are both 30(ish) day cycles revolving around uncontrollable natural processes that happen to the human body. they both involve intense mood swings, physical pain, appearance changes (acne and oily hair etc for menstrual cycle, and obviously becoming a wolf for lycanthropy), and plenty of blood and gore. they’re also both something that is expected, no matter how much they affect a person’s life, to be kept quiet about because it makes other people uncomfortable or disturbed. even when you’re suffering you’re supposed to not talk about it for fear other people will judge you.

being a little girl and not understanding that getting my period was a sign that my body was healthy and thriving, I always felt so uncomfortable and ashamed of it even though I knew it was normal. I felt distinctly separated from other people when I couldn’t do normal activities because of something my body was affected by that I couldn’t bring myself to put into words. I think that’s such a tie into lycanthropy—a werewolf doesn’t usually understand their earlier transformations and is often in denial and refuses to admit even to themselves what’s happening. they have to skip out on their lives during the full moon out of fear people will see them for who they are. for both, the experience can make someone feel othered from society and their peers.

sometimes during my cycle I feel like my body and emotions are rebelling against me. my mood swings get so bad that I sometimes just have to isolate myself for a while so I don’t lash out at people. my cramps send me to bed for at least the whole first day of my period. this sounds all too familiar with lycanthropy, where werewolves often have to lock themselves up somewhere and suffer the pain of a transformation alone because they might hurt someone without wanting to.

then there’s the whole matter of a month-long cycle and different stages within it. the body preparing and gathering strength, then going through the big event of a menstrual period or werewolf transformation, then recovering physically from it.

since I was younger I have always liked to think of my period as a werewolf transformation. period cramps? no that’s just my bones and muscles shifting into my wolf form. mood swings? no i’m feeling aggressive because i’m a werewolf. etc. I still think about it this way and generally have always related to werewolves a lot as a form between humans and wolves.

the book such sharp teeth by rachel harrison turned my ears back toward this concept recently and got it bag on my mind! it was such a fun contemporary werewolf story with a cute romance and shockingly deeper themes about recovering from trauma.

for more on the topic…

thank you for asking!! I could ramble about this for ages. 🐺 🌕🩸

- jay

[ashesinthewritten]

right

I need to talk about Indigenous representation in Life is Strange. Because: yikes. To put it lightly.

and preface: the cultures I see in 1&2 are not my own, but have similar features, and this is my OWN OPINION, and I’ve been watching playthroughs of the game(s)

to start off, when I was wee little one, I wanted to get a new game, and I found Life is Strange. I read the summary of the episodes and I thought, “Wow, this looks cool, I’ll watch the trailer for it.” I have no idea what trailer it was, or if it was just photos.

I watched it. I saw the “totem poles” and the use of Raven. I IMMEDIATELY went, “NOPE. I’m not supporting this company ever.”

To my eyes, the totems looked wrong. They looked liked the tourist knick knacks that are made en mass by non-Natives out of the country. I say this because the Formline figures, which is the art style of NWC poles, which determine how and where you carve onto the poles; were BAD

Formline has 3 main components: and this is not all encompassing

Ovoids, which have specific dimensions dependent on their placement in the design, outer ovoids have a thicker top and a thinner bottom, and inner ovoids with the opposite dimensions.

U-Shapes, with thinner sides and a thicker top

Trigons, as they sound, three pointed shapes

as these 3+shapes work together to create the parts that are, in this case carved and not carved, to bring depth to the totem, the negative and positive space in the art

in LiS, there is no depth, no (from what I could tell) ovoids, trigons, or U-Shapes and no negative space in the totem they drew. It was a cartoon caricature of an important part of Cultural Education

I say it is Cultural Education, because it is. Totems are physical representations of our history, who lives on the land you are on, and important historical events to our Clan or Nation. They are teaching us our history, and tools to help us remember our history. They teach us the knowledge of carving from Master to Apprentice.

They are Full of Intention. What do the LiS totems do? They are there, randomly placed, attached to no one, and without history for the Original People of the land.

AND the tribe of that area are talked about ENTIRELY in the third person, as if all the Native People are dead, and have been dead since the colonizers came.

WE ARE NOT DEAD, despite what Western education teaches. WE ARE ALIVE.

and then there is the use of Raven as some kind of harbinger of bad. In my culture, Raven is the Trickster, and always hungry. Raven is not a force of evil.

Many of our Raven stories are Creation stories, but Raven is NOT GOD. Raven brought about many things, like (IN MY CULTURE) the tides, daylight, moon and stars, salmon, among other things, and this is usually because of his greed.

Raven is not whatever Life is Strange is trying to do.

And then they tried putting different figures to certain “Indigenous Meanings” WHAT

I don’t know what is going on there. Just WHAT. In my culture, I don’t know about anyone else’s, but we don’t attach certain traits to certain animals.

OH and then in before the storm! With the Costume of Chloe, I totally saw it very very close to trying to be Raven-esque, or regalia-adjacent, and that may just be me being hypercritical, but with all the feathers and face paint, my immediate thought was, “oh they’re trying to make her look (what non-Natives believe is) Indian (a slur used by colonizers against Native people)”

and while I loved the performance, the outfit just rubbed me the wrong way.

AND NOW INTO LIFE IS STRANGE 2

WHY DOES FINN, A WHITE MALE, FROM THE CONTINENTAL US, HAVE TRADITIONAL AK NATIVE TATTOO(s). the Tattoo on his chin, is what we refer to, as a chin stripe. The reason for this tattoo may vary through cultures, but from my culture. It is a MONUMENTALLY IMPORTANT TATTOO FOR A YOUNG NATIVE WOMAN

it is their FIRST TATTOO, where a young girl would receive it once she begins to menstruate.

it can also be added upon for other major events, such as motherhood, or in todays world, a life achievement, like graduation from school.

So why is the WHITE MAN HAVE IT. My dislike for him happened the second I saw his face.

THIS IS NOT OKAY, NATIVE WOMEN THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE BEEN SHAMED AND PERSECUTED FOR THEIR TATTOOS, made to be ashamed of them. So Many Ancestors that were beaten because of the colonizers and what they believed was “wrong” because it wasn’t white social expressions

A NON-NATIVE SHOULD NEVER EVER GET THESE KINDS OF TATTOOS

and I have no idea about the triangles underneath his eye, but I wouldn’t put it past him to appropriate that from a Native Culture.

Traditional tattoos connect us to the strength and resilience of our ancestors, and is a very important decision for many Native Women, where we will still find discrimination because “tattoos are bad; tattoos mean bad people”

Did you know the practice of Tattooing is entirely appropriated from Indigenous Cultures, and that white people thought Natives Lesser than because we have meaningful tattoos for achievements and/or signs of wealth/social standing?

But when a prominent White political figure a couple hundred years ago, it was all the rage for white people. A souvenir of their “exotic travels”

and Finn making up a story about learning wood-carving from an Inuit person in Alaska? I HIGHLY doubt that any respect ivory or wood carver would teach an outsider, much less some random white boy, how to carve:

All in all. Unhappy with Life is Strange franchise. I have heard about them working with the Huna Hertitage Foundation, and that’s certainly better, getting real Natives to make Native art, but they did mess with the designs a bit to match the *aesthetic* of the game. So it’s less good, but still better than the rest of them.