#world around her tends to react to HER. she’s just more comfortable with female pronouns because she’s been socialized and born afab.

[godblooded]

my most genuine divergence on this blog i will say with my whole chest is that alana dresses masculinely in a way that is both adjacent to lecter and also not. i genuinely truly madly deeply lean into the idea of genderfluid alana and as a result it isn’t simply with fancy fancy suits. it’s also with plaid shirts and vests and waistcoats of a more casual nature. it’s with standard suits that aren’t just femininely cut. it’s with jeans and tshirts that fit in a way more comfortably baggy. it isn’t just the awful awful fuller ‘she dresses like that because lecter imprint’. like. how one-note can you be even as a queer man, broski.

[pastelvelvett-2nd]

Yandere!Harper x GN!Reader

[♡] Last chapter

Chapter 2: Only human

Summary: A week has past, and your second tutoring session with Harper is today. It's rather inconvenient that the entirety of the night, her mind is far too preocuppied with thoughts of you to sleep, even the slightest bit. The perfect mask she built slipping in front of you would be her worst nightmare, and in all likelyhood, it probably would happen today, given her current state.

Word count: 5,230 words

Note: this version of the chapter is with gender neutral pronouns and terms. I'll be posting versions with male and female pronouns soon, so please keep an open eye for that! Also, I'll be adding all my Harper works to the 'Yandere!Harper chapters' tag, so search for that on my blog to read the previous chapter for the clinically depressed people pleasing cinnamonroll (aka Harper). Juuust one more thing, if you wanna give it a listen, here's a playlist I made for her. Anyway, enjoy!

What did Harper truly care about in the world? It wasn’t directly related to what she was doing, like it tends to be for a lot of people. She couldn’t think of many things she did at all that came from mere enjoyment. The girl did everything she did not for the act of it in itself, but what she would gain from going through with it. Often, it felt like even small decisions and actions on her day to day life were strategies, as insignificant as they may have looked to those around her. Small actions and decisions that build up to make a portrait of herself others could enjoy. That’s why, her newly found, constant thoughts didn’t make sense to her. For nights in a row, she’d tumble and shift in bed incessantly, thoughts burdened and confusing. They didn’t start off as something she was bothered by, though. First, she had a fuzzy feeling inside of her as she thought back to your first tutoring session.Your entrancing frame and beautiful face burrowed itself in her mind, laid their eggs that would lead to more, to the point it was the only thing she could see whenever she closed her eyes. Your words, your tone, soft and comforting like a lullaby, replayed themselves in her head. Except, of course, unlike a regular lullaby, it just had to have had the exact opposite effect on her, about as damaging as three cups of coffee back to back would be at this hour. That’s where her pleasant thoughts started seeming to be more concerning, than anything. Why was she considering something so intently, when she didn’t have any real conclusion to these thoughts? Harper had gotten obsessed with things before, it was pretty much an integral trait to her already, but it was always for the sake of gaining something. The fact she didn’t understand what was happening to her was concerning in its own right. The girl let out a shaky, unnerved sigh as she, in a brisk movement, got up to a sitting position on her bed. Harper peered downwards at her soft blanket. It had a childish print; A repeated pattern of a cute, chibi cat sleeping, the whole thing being colored in varying shades of pink. Thinking back at everyone she talked to on a regular basis, it was clear as day they’d think she’s immature for secretly liking this sort of thing. How would you react, though? Would you be disappointed that she’s not truly a mature person, or would you be okay with that? Something told her you weren’t like them, preoccupied with what looks socially acceptable. 

“Oh, crap…” Harper gritted her teeth, leaning forward as she covered her scrunched up face the second she realized. She couldn’t believe it. Her mind wandered to something other than you for one second, and that thought was so quick to turn right back to you. This clearly wasn’t something she could push out of herself by just laying down in bed, maybe if she did something, she could take her mind off of it. The girl looked up, her lavender eyes rapidly darting from her left to right to identify where on Earth she left her phone before she started sleeping. Or… Trying to, anyway. Ah… On the end table next to her, of course. Did she ever leave it anywhere else? Why did she even ask herself where it was to begin with? Harper stretched her body to the right to grab onto her phone and pull it from her charger. It was still warm to the touch from having charged for- she didn’t know for how long. Her eyes, used to the darkness of her room, tried adjusting to the bright, unnatural light the phone gave off as soon as she turned it on. Admittedly, the overly cutesy brightly colored wallpaper didn’t help much with this achieving this.  

Oh… 

Crap again.

Harper cringed at the sight of the time, 5:49 AM. It took her a full hour drive to get to college, so really, she only had an hour at her disposal. She couldn’t remember the last time that she stayed up the whole night without realizing it, if it ever happened to begin with. Normally, she goes to bed at 10PM sharp, and falls asleep only a few minutes later. Just what had you done to her?

Surely it wouldn’t be surprising to say that Harper couldn’t sleep in the one hour she had left. Instead, she worried incessantly about how that day was the second tutoring session she had with you, and the only thing she was running on was anxiety that kept her more or less alert. Still, the lack of sleep made her nowhere near as sharp as she’d hope to be for it. If anything, in her current state, you’d be the one able to teach her. Still, she had to put her best foot forward. She managed to get through the school day, yes, with a few weird looks from people that knew she was behaving strangely, but she was still able to jot down notes with… Some readability to them. 

As Harper waited for you to join her in the back of the library, she lowered her face to get a better look at what she now recognized as being hieroglyphs that were intended to represent the English language in her notebook, coming to the morbid realization that she was deluding herself into thinking she’d been doing better than she actually was. She supposed she didn’t do very well with lack of sleep… Maybe because she was always strict with herself on getting a full night of rest, like her parents were with her while she was growing up.

—

Second week, second tutoring session with Harper. You had to admit that you were incredibly nervous, but thankfully less so now, since you noticed how approachable she was to you the last time. A part of you was fully expecting her to be the type of popular person to act incredibly sweet to some people, and horribly nasty towards those that have a less than stellar reputation, like you did. If anything, she seemed even more genuine and brighter when you talked to her one on one than in a classroom setting.

You inhaled then exhaled, paused in front of the library door, trying to remind yourself of these things. You’re fine. Just focus on learning, she wouldn’t judge you for being incredibly stupid (even though compared to her, you clearly are).

The library was very quiet, which was certainly a good thing for you. You could only see one person reading in a chair relatively close to the door. Not someone you recognized, from what you could tell. The guy gave you a weird, slightly judgemental look for just a second, which was enough to make you shrink and wonder if you did something strange. You weren’t sure if you were just being paranoid, it wouldn’t be the first time you imagined someone judging you. God, just focus… Find Harper. She’s chill. You’ll be fine with her. You hurriedly went deeper into the library, the stacks of books you needed for today held tightly against your chest. You were quick to spot her, sitting at the furthest table and staring down a notebook. Her face was pale enough that she looked like she saw a ghost, and unlike you, it didn’t seem like she spotted you nearly as fast.

She narrowed her eyes, nearing her face to the paper to get a better look while also lifting it. You had to wonder what made reading what’s there so difficult. It kind of looked like someone else’s handwriting, from what you could see, so maybe she borrowed someone’s notebook for some reason and was having some trouble reading it because she wasn’t familiar with the way they wrote. Another thing that was interesting to you- Harper tended to be… How should you say this without sounding rude (because though you’re obviously the only person listening in on your thoughts, you still would feel guilty if you thought something mean about someone that only treated you with kindness so far). She was always more attentive to the world around her than this, let’s call it. While you were 100% the type of person to look around disoriented when you go to meet a friend at any location, you always thought people like Harper were exempt from having those kinds of moments. Well, Harper is human, afterall… Like anyone else, she can get distracted.

You guessed that calling out to her would be a better idea, since you were starting to feel a bit creepy just looming over her. You didn’t doubt it would look suspicious if anyone saw you, they’d most likely think you were stalking her (and doing a pretty bad job at it, honestly).

“H-Harper, hel-”

The second you spoke out with a shaky voice and an awkward smile, she jumped up from her seat with a dramatic gasp and looked up at you wide eyed like you’re about to attack her. She dropped the notebook on the table in time with the gasp, making it fall and slide further to the other side of the surface, where you were. You looked down at the notebook that was just in Harper’s grasp briefly, which was enough to make her panic further and take it, sliding it in her backpack hastily. That was… Strange of Harper. You never once saw her like this, or heard of anyone seeing her like this. It looked like she was hiding a murder plot that she wrote about or something, though that was obviously not possible. Plus, you doubted the notebook was even hers to begin with. Maybe she wanted to copy someone’s notes or homework and she was ashamed she’d get caught…? But then again, why was only this mystery person’s out, and not Harper’s, too?

“OH! Y/N!” Harper exclaimed, a bit too loud for something she’d say in the library. “Hi! You’re…” She looked up to the clock with squinted eyes. …Maybe she needed to get new glasses, and that’s why she was squinting at that notebook, too? “Oh. Exactly on time.” Ouch.

“Haha… Surprised? I wouldn’t want to waste your time making you wait for me, Harper.” You laughed nervously, pulling out a chair to sit down next to her, careful to not place it too close to hers. She was already pretty jumpy, by default, the last thing you’d want to do is worsen her emotional state. Something… Clearly must’ve happened to cause her change of behavior. You didn’t think you had it in you to pry. The two of you weren’t terribly close or anything, afterall. That would probably make her uncomfortable. Harper was much quicker to reply to this than she was in noticing you.

“Oh, wait, no, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that… I meant I thought it was earlier than it actually was, so when I checked the time, I got surprised!” The pink haired girl tried her best to explain, as fast as humanly possible, so you wouldn’t have a misconception about what she meant for much longer. You eyed her in concern, studying her face. Upon closer inspection, beneath her eyes were dark bags that certainly weren’t there the day before. It didn’t look like she slept one bit last night, or if she did, she had very little. Maybe something was bothering her, and she couldn’t sleep? You didn’t know her personally at all, so you had no clue what could’ve happened. Interrogating her about it couldn’t be a good idea, so maybe giving her an easy out from having another tiring thing to do after uni would be the kindest course of action.

“You look… Pretty tired, Harper. Do you want to change the tutoring to tomorrow, or maybe some other day of the week? They should allow that, it’s still a tutoring session a week-” You couldn’t properly brace yourself over how immediate her response would be, even if you somehow knew about it ahead of time.

“No. No, we can do it today.” Harper’s voice was strangely firm, almost as if it was an order, rather than a confirmation. A few seconds of eerie silence passed before her different, frankly unusual demeanor melted away. “S-Sorry, I meant… I’m not really one to put things off. It’s a vicious cycle.” Oh, how nice it would’ve been to be her, and not your procrastinating self. It seemed like Harper was putting a genuine effort in pulling herself together, as evidenced by her straightening her back and clearing her throat. Her nervous, taken aback expression was turned into a calm and composed smile. Just how can she flip so quickly from one way of acting to another? It seemed like she’d be fairly good at something like improv acting or playing DnD, but you weren’t sure she was interested in either, or would be if she gave it a try. “Okay, sorry for the delay! We can start!” Realizing you still hadn’t sat down, you awkwardly shifted and moved towards the seat next to her, fighting off your immediate instinct to sit across from her instead. You supposed sitting right next to her was a lot more nerve wrecking of a concept, it was closer to her after all, so it made sense. 

With Harper even closer, the marks under her eyes seemed far more pronounced, making your guilt over putting her through this deepen. Still, she was obviously doing this for the extra credit, so it was her own decision if she wanted to sacrifice her own comfort to get that week’s session out of the way. Harper was the type to take everything she did seriously, which was incredibly respectable to you.

As she introduced the subject of today’s focus (still under math, because God knows you needed it), you could see the energy and brightness she put forth just a few minutes earlier dissipate gradually. Harper’s speaking was slower, her pauses more frequent, and eventually, she even struggled to have her eyes be any wider than half lidded. Even more distracting was that her writing seemed a lot sloppier than I saw it be last week, enough for it to be very possible that the notebook she had in front of her earlier was actually hers. This wasn’t something you could commentate on openly, at least not if you pointed out the specific telltale signs she had of being sleep deprived. But maybe if you insisted you end the tutoring session early after a bit of time had past, she’d be more likely to accept it.

“Okay, so now that you know the formula to that, let me just write down an example before you try one on your own.” The pink haired girl slid her math notebook closer to her side of the table and began writing down a math problem, tired eyes deeply focused. Then she started solving it, her mouth twitching slightly at some point, followed by her eyebrow doing the same. It really seemed like Harper was unsure of what she was writing down. You knew she probably meant for you to look at it after she was done, and peeping would be a bit mean, but your curiosity simply couldn’t wait. You scooted closer, making Harper’s body freeze like a deer caught in headlights the second that she finished writing the final result. Your eyes narrowed and studied each line of calculations. It… Didn’t really sound right. At all.

”Oh… I kinda thought it would be something like this.” Harper allowed you to take the notebook from under her and watched you attentively with no readily apparent emotion. You quickly wrote down the solution that you thought would be correct right below hers, looking to her when you were done for some sort of feedback. Harper seemed the slightest bit horrified, her mouth opening wordlessly and her eyebrows furrowing in concern. “Is it… That wrong?” Harper blinked a few times, looking bewildered as she took the notebook back and read through my solution several times over rapidly.

“No… It’s correct. I…” Harper gulped nervously, seeming not so eager to continue her sentence. She looked up towards her own solution, silent for a bit longer. “I was completely wrong. This… Is completely idiotic, what’s wrong with me? It’s like if an elementary schooler tried to solve this!” Harper’s tone raised, and her breathing quickened. Her concern from earlier was a bit more than you expected, but this state of panic was way beyond that.

”Harper, it’s okay, really! Everyone makes mistakes-“

”Not me!” Harper’s head was lowered in shame, hands shaking to the point she was barely able to hold the notebook properly. Tears quickly welled up in her violet eyes, and it took no time at all for them to drip down her face and for her to close her lids, probably from the stinging effect her tears left in their wake. She sobbed and sobbed, leaving you speechless. “I… Can’t. I’m not allowed to.” Her voice was weak and quieter this time, the slightest bit rapsy from having raised her voice earlier. You had no clue how to comfort her properly, not knowing her well enough to know what worked and what didn’t. Everything you could try would be a shot in the dark.

You were so caught up in Harper’s emotions that you didn’t notice that the librarian had walked up to her. The middle aged brown haired woman placed a hand on Harper’s shoulder in a motherly way, and you could only hope that would be enough to make her feel at least a little bit better, because then you would know what you could do. “Honey, are you okay…?” Then, to your surprise, the woman moved her gaze from her to you, now far less compassionate and more pointed, more accusatory. “You didn’t say anything to her, did you?” Did it… Look like you were an awful person? You had no clue why so many people here expected the worst of you. Even the staff, apparently. Still, you felt an insane amount of guilt for not doing something to comfort her up until now. You wouldn’t be surprised if Harper would come to resent you for seemingly not caring, despite her trying to tutor you every week, even when she was so exhausted.

”No, t-they didn’t.” Her current state made the fact that she actually responded for you even more shocking. It was noble of her to think about how you were perceived, even when she seemed to be going through a panic attack. “I-I’m sorry for making a scene. This is a library, I s-shouldn’t disturb-“ 

“No, no honey. Please. Don’t think about that right now. Just focus on feeling better.” The librarian let go of Harper’s shoulder and looked towards me. “Y/N, was it?” You felt pretty bad that you didn’t remember her name, despite her remembering yours. “Please take Harper here to the counselor.”

”It’s a-alright, Mrs. Moore, I can go on my own.” Oh well, at least you knew her name now, that’s something. Harper stifled her sobs, making occasional sniffing the only obvious sign of her crying, besides of course, the tears streaming down her face. The girl took her notebook and stuffed it in her backpack quickly, slipping it onto her back. It seemed like Harper was trying to rush away before either of you could have the chance to protest.

“Wait.” You got up too, and grabbed onto her hand after she took just a few steps away. Immediately, as you looked down at her hand that was stiff from shock, a result of your sudden and probably socially unacceptable action (given how little time the two of you spent together), you came to regret that decision. Then you looked up, which was perhaps even worse, because you saw her staring at you with a confused, teary face. “Sorry for that, I just…” You tried taking your hand away from hers. This time, it was your turn to be shocked when Harper refused to let you go, holding your hand tight. You’d feel rather awkward bringing that up now, especially with Mrs. Moore being right there still, so instead, you decided to continue what you were meaning to say. “I really want to do something to help. Taking you to the counselor is the least I could do.” Harper just stared at you in shock for a few good seconds that might as well have been an eternity, given how bad your perception of time was after her sudden show of emotion earlier. Then, she chuckled, smiling. Her eyes brightened, and her breathing seemed to be steadier than it was before. It was pretty interesting, because she didn’t give Mrs. Moore this look of gratitude and happiness after she tried to comfort her. First, you assumed maybe Harper just didn’t feel that okay with physical touch, so her putting her hand on her shoulder didn’t help. Still, she talked to her, too, and she had a more gentle tone that should’ve had more of an effect, yet it didn’t. Maybe Harper didn’t much like Mrs. Moore? That was your best guess.

”Thank you. I-If… You’re okay with that, I’m okay with that too.”

You didn’t really expect Harper to immediately say yes, but needless to say, it made you relieved. You weren’t really one to insist with anything, it was too nerve wracking to demand something of anyone. Still though, you were pretty sure that demanding to go with her, a grown adult that barely knew you, was an objectively morally wrong thing to do that you wouldn’t have done even if you had a backbone.

—

You started leading Harper to the counselor’s office, the both of you incredibly quiet. It honestly felt a tad bit awkward for you to be leading her somewhere on campus, when you barely started going here a few months ago and still get lost sometimes, even now. You weren’t sure for how long, but Harper probably had been going here for a significantly longer time than you. It seemed like she knew the layout pretty well, even now, in her sleep deprived state. If anything, you were there for emotional support. You felt rather useless for not being able to give that emotional support, and instead be completely quiet.

“I’m sorry for-“

”I’m sorry for-“

Much to your shock, you both apologized at the same exact time, causing you and her to stop dead in your tracks. After a few seconds of bewilderment, the two of you laughed a bit at the coincidence. Not in a boisterous way, it was rather impossible to be too cheerful with the things weighing on both of your minds. But it was a soft, content laughter. You didn’t know about her, but it made you a bit more comfortable at that moment. This and her show of emotion earlier made you realize that as different as she may look to be from you, you may have more in common than you first assumed.

“That was interesting. …What are you sorry about?” You asked her, smiling and beginning to walk again. Harper began stepping forwards immediately, herself. You looked to your left and saw her looking downwards at the white, well cleaned tiles of the hall. You supposed what she wanted to say made her uncomfortable enough to want to avoid eye contact.

“For ruining today. For all I know you could’ve had a normal, happy day, and I just ruined it for you. Or, possibly even worse, maybe you had an awful day and I made it even more horrible.” Harper breathed out, seeming to be even more tired out by her own emotions. “I stood in the way of things being normal.”

”Harper…” You eyed her with sympathy, initially unsure of what to say. “It’s not your fault. You must’ve gotten no sleep at all, and there has to be something in the back of your mind upsetting you that was worsened by how tired you are.”

“It is my fault. Who else’s fault is it that I didn’t sleep last night like a normal person?” It looked to you that Harper was trying so very hard to maintain “normal”… Her idea of what a normal person was seemed to be pretty warped. 

“Normal people have bad days, sometimes you can’t get sleep. Some things just… Aren’t anyone’s fault at all.” Harper’s brows knit together, and she searched your face for an answer to a question you weren’t aware of. A few seconds later, she smiled, humming softly and looking forward again. 

“I appreciate that… Um… What were you going to apologize for?”

For a moment, you forgot you even apologized at all earlier. You got far too caught up with her apology to continue thinking about it. Her apology was about something pretty complex actually, as simple as her opening for this topic was. It made you realize that your reason for apologizing was so much smaller, to the point it would be fairly accurate to say that it was pretty much for filling dead air. You chuckled a bit. “For being quiet.”

”Oh no, there’s no reason for you to apologize for that. I understand why you’d be quiet… You probably don’t know how to react properly after my outburst.” Harper looked downwards with a subtle sadness. Earlier, she seemed to have liked when you held her hand… Would she feel better if you did it again? Before you could argue yourself out of doing it because of your anxiety over making her uncomfortable, you just did it, reaching out and gently holding her hand. That time, Harper didn’t seem quite as shocked. Instead, she welcomed the touch immediately, even holding onto your hand tighter as if she was afraid of you letting go. The very same way as she did previously. She smiled, though she still refused to make eye contact.

”It’s okay. Really. I’m not judging you for being human.” Harper’s smile dropped, and you immediately began to worry you did something to upset her. Even worse, that was the moment that she chose to look at you. In her eyes was a strong, burning emotion that you couldn’t pin down with any real certainty.

”Y/N…” Harper still faced towards you, but her eyes darted elsewhere. “I have to tell you something.” She paused, and built the courage to look back to me after a bit. “I wasn’t going to go to the counselor’s.”

”Huh…?” You raised an eyebrow at this and stopped walking again, Harper deciding to do the same. Why on Earth didn’t she say so? She could’ve told you the second the two of you left the library, if she was just worried about the librarian pressuring her about it.

“I was going to walk with you until the beginning of the hall the counselor’s office is in and tell you I can walk to it from there. Then I’d wait for you to leave. I was going to go out to get some fresh air on my own, get everything out of my system and continue with our session.” Would that… Really work? What if you decided to stand there and wait for her to get in before you left? Your face was marked with confusion as you tried to make sense of why it would be a big deal at all for her to refuse to go somewhere.

“I… Understand that you probably didn’t feel like you needed to go to the counselor anymore, but I just don’t know why you wouldn’t tell me. Did you think I’d get disappointed with you if you didn’t go?” Harper paused, biting her lip uncomfortably. You weren’t her parent, and even if you were, you would’ve understood that she didn’t need it.

”I don’t know if I really need it or not. I just don’t want it, and that’s all I was thinking about. I probably shouldn’t tell you this, but… My parents put me through therapy at some point growing up, and I can’t say it helped much, to say the least. Anything that reminds me of that could only make me feel worse.” It seemed like she didn’t want to respond to your question, but from what you could tell based on her reaction, you most likely hit the nail on the head. “You must think I’m a pretty awful person for wanting to lie to you like that… But I realized how little you deserved to be lied to, and how uncomfortable I felt about doing it to begin with, so I just had to tell you.” Harper sighed out, body language seeming a bit more agitated now than before. When she noticed you weren’t responding immediately, she looked towards your eyes with unmistakable panic. “I’m really sorry.”

You shook your head. “It’s okay, really. I’m not mad.” After you gave her an encouraging squeeze of the hand, her eyes lost some of the anxiety it held in them. You were incredibly relieved to see her calm down a bit. “Let’s go together.”

”Outside…? Oh.” Harper blinked in surprise. It seemed like she didn’t think you offering that would be a possibility. “Yeah, we can go... I’ll be honest, I’m a bit surprised you still want to spend time with me after the way I acted.”

”Acted like what, a normal human with emotions? I get it, I’m human too, regardless of what some people may say.” You tried to joke around to brighten her mood, hoping it would work, as admittedly awkward as your attempt felt. Thankfully, she giggled, marking this mission as a success.

Oh, how did Harper wish that other people could be like you were. You were understanding of her faults and mistakes, her humanity, something she never felt from someone else. At the very least, not in a sincere form. Memories of the fake kindness she received back when she went through therapy flooded her mind, and it made her want to vomit. Actually… Maybe she preferred this. Maybe she preferred it because it made you so much more special. It felt like in her eyes, you started growing more and more, and she realized what a unique, beautiful person you were. She was deeply terrified that unlike her, you began seeing her as pathetic, as the small, scared child she saw herself as every single day. Maybe if you knew about the way she thought about you last night, you wouldn’t be so kind any longer. 

But surely, you weren’t fake. Your empathy was a sincere one, and finally, she found someone she could trust. Still, Harper was afraid. As much as she already trusted you, she knew it wasn't a good idea to be hasty, when she reconized it wasn’t exactly normal to get attached to someone so quickly. Letting the relationship develop naturally would be for the best before she could voice this part of her. It was a shame that keeping these obsessive thoughts to herself was already becoming irritating to her.

[serodev]

Hello :) I really enjoy your blog and I was wondering if I could request a headcanon for the Main Trio (aka Tanjiro, Zenitsu and Inosuke) and the hashiras.

Uhm well I've seen people asking how would they react if they have a s/o who's foreign, so I wanted to make something similar but a little more specific. So how would they react if they have a s/o who's Brazilian? Y'know brazil and japan are very different culturally and stuff, their s/o (they/them or she/her pronouns) is very extrovert, friendly, excited and just a very good person to be around, they're always trying to be friends with everybody and everyone feels comfortable with them because of how much warm and nice they are, imagine that they have a dark brown skin and even when people make fun of them or treats them poorly because of their appearance they never let evident that they're offended. It's very hard to tell whenever they're sad because they're always making jokes about their own feelings because they think it makes them look stronger, but deep inside they're a crybaby but they'll never admit it. I always hear people saying Brazilians have the prettiest smiles so let's say their smile is actually gorgeous and they're almost always smiling, since they try to be the emotional support for their partner. They have a hard time trying to say people's name, like they can't say almost anyone's name because they tend to emphasize a certain syllable, like RengoKU or InoZUke, they're very self conscious about it and if someone tries to correct them they'll be super embarrassed and won't say the people's name for weeks

Oh just a funny info, they always laugh whenever they hear something with "ku" (because ku/cu means butthole in portugues) like "Rengoku"

Okay sorry if it's a weird request please don't make fun of me :') oh I hope you understand what I said! Anyways have a nice day💕

Warnings: None!

Pairing: Tanjiro, Zenitsu, Inosuke x gn!reader

Note(s): I'm not sure if you've read my pinned post, but I don't sadly write for female readers. That being said, I hope you don't mind it being gender-neutral! That way, everyone gets a chance to enjoy these headcanons!

Tanjiro

» Tanjiro's definitely happy to spend time with you because there aren't enough positive people in this world, so he's going to enjoy having you around! He's also pretty interested in your culture due to the differences, and he finds your darker skin fascinating.

» Of course, you being a crybaby won't fly over Tanjiro's eyes (or, in this case, nose), so he notices the way you might get upset when people make fun of you. That being said, he's going to do his best to lift your mood up!

» I'm not sure if you're going to have troubles pronouncing Tanjiro's name, but if you do, he won't be mad! He's actually kind of happy that he gets to teach you how to pronounce Japanese letters!

» Okay, let's be fair, he's actually delighted to help you because it means that you get to teach him some words in your native language as well!

Zenitsu

» Zenitsu is going to be a bit weirded out at first because you rarely see dark-skinned people in Japanese. (It was definitely weird in the 1900s), so you have to put up with his weary glances at first.

» Zenitsu gets used to you pretty quickly, though, thanks to your uplifting personality, so you don't have to worry about him too much! However, just like Tanjiro, Zenitsu notices that you can be a crybaby when it comes to certain things.

» From crybaby to crybaby: He's got you. You two probably end up crying together more than once, but hey, at least you have someone to vent to, right?

» The thing Zenitsu is likely the most interested about is your looks because you look a lot different than a typical Japanese person does. It's not a bad thing, though!

Inosuke

» I hate to say this, but Inosuke's going to be so weirded out when he sees you the first time because what are you? Who are you? Why do you look like that?

» Of course, there's nothing a good slap to the back of the head can't fix, so Inosuke gets used to you pretty quickly. However, I would say that there's going to be another problem, and it's the fact that he gets a bit too interested in you.

» I know it's annoying, but please try to give Inosuke a chance to check you out. He's just really curious to see a person who's really bubbly and who looks like you!

» That being said, Inosuke brings up a lot of things that differ from him, like the way you pronounce his name, the way your hair looks, etc.

Author's note: I hope you enjoyed these headcanons! I have to say that I felt a bit intimidated by the amount of text you sent my way, but it wasn't too bad once I got to work!

[eien-no-gakusha]

Tamamo no Mae (玉藻の前) Character Analysis

Been playing Onmyoji for a while now (think Pokemon but in ancient Japan) and while not expecting any depth from a mobile game, I was quite intrigued by the character Tamamo-no-mae.

In legend, Tamamo-no-mae was a nine-tailed fox demon who transformed into beautiful & historically famous courtesans and concubines to infiltrate the Imperial Court of ancient Asian empires and bring their ruin.  It’s a cool myth to embellish and explain the fall of actual dynasties (basically, blame the woman lol).  Who wants a boring lecture on economics and ecology when you can enjoy the epic tale of Helen of Troy, right?

Now I can’t confirm the game developers intentionally designed the character to be so layered but either way, the character turned out intriguing.  They not only turned Tamamo-no-mae from evil blood-thirsty bitch to complex villain (well, they might be an anti-hero soon), but they also created a truly gender-neutral character!

The modernization of Tamamo-no-mae is unsurprising given how nearly every popular myth, legend, or fairytale around the globe has been retold to suit modern sensibilities.  Contemporary audiences expect well-rounded characters with relatable motivations, more complex backstories, and overall new experiences in even fanfiction and…mobile games.  Even writers and storytellers of old Edo updated and merged Tamamo with other famous fox spirits to suit contemporary tastes.  Hence, she is also Daji (1), Kayo (2), and many more as well as her original incarnation as the favorite courtesan of Emperor Toba of Japan who cursed him with illness.  

So now Tamamo-no-mae has a tragic past to explain why she is out to destroy Kyoto, at least.  After all, modern audiences with more feminist views would probably be less impressed with a character who is just evil for evil’s sake nor would they accept the explanation that yin (the feminine) is evil or not compatible with the human world.  But audiences now certainly love more explicitly explained motivation and tragic romances so it is only natural that the writers of Onmyoji concocted this backstory to cater to their players.

What is most intriguing to me is how gender-fluid Tamamo-no-mae turned out to be.  Officially listed in the Shikigami rosters as male he expresses overt feminine traits in his current incarnation and even biologically switches genders.  Therefore, I tend to label to Tamamo in the Onmyoji game with male pronouns.  In-game, Tamamo-no-mae has both male and female official skins despite being labelled as male in-game no matter how slutty his outfits get and how big his boobs get.  

In the current timeline, he has taken female form as a courtesan and is living up to his namesake.  He seems to perform very comfortably as a she and as a classic fox spirit.  But never in his conversations with the protagonist Seimei does he falter or visibly reacts when referred to as a man while in this form.  One can say in the present game timeline, he is so comfortable with his gender identity that he associates as both.

Now, traditionally, no matter what gender a fox is they are considered a feminine creatures so any fox spirit would be more inclined to take a female form and maneuver the world through intelligence and  manipulation.  Hence, they are renowned as seductresses and trickster spirits.  So the biologically male Tamamo-no-mae turning into a chick and dressing up as a courtesan to burn Kyoto to the ground in and of itself is not revolutionary at all.

However, the character’s attitude towards gender identity is complicated to say the least.  When he falls in love with a priestess, he presents himself as male to court her and have children with her.  Upon the death of his lover he transforms into a woman (specifically in her image) so he may care for their children.  It’s implied his children were very young when their mother died so he automatically took the form of a woman to breastfeed and provide a maternal figure, who he thought more vital for development, for his children.  On one hand, Tamamo adopts stereotypical gender roles but he is able to switch between them without any qualms without elevating or feeling particularly attached to either gender.  One can even say gender is not particularly important to his identity with how much he shifts back and forth while prioritizing other matters like romance, the family unit, and revenge.  Yet, it can be argued that gender roles are very important to him since he adopts them for specific purposes like courting and child-rearing.  (I’m sure being able to magically change biological sex is very helpful in this case but I digress)

Or perhaps, it’s simpler to say Tamamo-no-mae does whatever they want.  He’s a strikingly interesting character nonetheless!

-------

(1) Concubine of Emperor Zhou of Yin Dynasty who corrupted her lord husband and brought a reign of terror upon China until the Mandate of Heaven passed to Zhou Dynasty.  Her possession by the fox spirit (& actual handmaiden to Niwa so is she THAT evil?) also explains her personality split before & after entering Court. (2) Concubine of Banzoku who seduced her husband into massacring his people

[pavcrti]

chicago’s very own pavarti kumari has been spotted on madison avenue driving a rose gold model x , welcome ! your resemblance to mishti rahman is unreal . according to tmz , you just had your twenty fifth  birthday bash .  your chance of surviving new york is uncertain because you’re fiery , but being eloquent might help you . i think being a pieces explains that .  3 things that would paint a better picture of you would be fresh fields of lavender that expand into a cotton candy sky , the reflection of the sun caught in the glimmer of a crystal , rhyming couplets professing deep - seeded emotion . ( i ghost write songs for artists who like to claim they write their own work . ) & ( cis female + she / her  ) +  ( emily , 25 , sher / her , pst )

holy shit , it’s ya girl . i’m back after needing a bit of a break from being in a group . and bc i honestly adored this place sm and i made so many great friends here i am back . . . 👀 i expect plots with each and every one of u btw so u best deliver . i desperately wanna get this finished before i pass the fuck out . i’ll be joining the server in the morning , but in the meantime if u wanna be my friend  👀 👀 titsiana praises satan#7989

    biography .

name : pavarti kumari 

age : twenty five

gender : cisfemale

zodiac : pieces 

sexuality : bisexual 

profession : singer / songwriter 

hair color : black

eye color : brown

piercings : both lobes , nose 

tattoos : none

voice claim : jhene aiko

released albums : sail out ( ep ) , trip 

miss pavarti was born in bangladesh . her parents are both 100% bangladeshi and immigrated to chicago when pavarti was four years old . she had an older brother who was five years older than her . his name was siva .her family traveled back every summer so she is very immersed in the culture of her homeland and is a very spiritual person as a result . from a young age , pavarti had a fascination with the english language . not only was it so complex , but there was so much that could be done with it as well . she loved poetry and different types of prose . she also developed an absolute adoration for hip hop as a result . she’s been able to work several of her lyrical inspirations in her albums , something she would’ve never anticipated growing up as an immigrant child . when she entered middle school , she joined the school choir as an extra curricular activity which is what inspired her love for music and introduced her to her vocal talents . within time , she began combining her inclination for poetry with her voice . she wrote her first song at thirteen and began to freestyle for her friends . unfortunately , she was never taken too seriously by her peers . she was a female , hardly the usual suspect for the rnb , soul vibe that her voice conveys . before she graduated high school , her brother siva was killed in a car crash . the unexpected death of her best friend and protector sent pavarti into a spiral . this begun her tendency to alter her reality to escape from her pain with the help of drugs . she frequently writes about her brother in her music . when she was eighteen , she was discovered , ironically , by a manager of a local rapper at a poetry slam she was performing at . she impressed him and he introduced her to his client . this is how pavarti entered the hip hop scene , albeit , in secret . in hip hop , it’s very custom for performers to write the tracks that they put out themselves . pavarti learned that she could learn the skills of the trade whilst making her own connections and making pretty good cash , as well . as the years progressed , the notoriety of her clients rose . she’s written bars for multiple big names and by harvesting these friendships , she was able to get signed to a record label and put out her first ep at age twenty one . it was well received by critics and pavarti was thrilled to be taken seriously as an artist doing what she loves . she kept working , kept her nose in her business and released her first full album , trip , just last year . she feels like she is constantly growing artistically and finds herself inspired everywhere she turns . she’s currently working on her second full album and just dropped a new single , p*$$y fairy . other than that , there’s not too much else to note in her history . she did not grow up rich , rather she’s only recently come into wealth . her money is very new and she’s not too skilled at spending it wisely .

    personality . 

okay , so this will probably just be a long winded explanation that no one really asked for / needed but here we go ! first and foremost . . . pavarti is a dreamer in every sense of the word . she’s whimsical , she’s connected to the earth around her . she drifts off into elaborate day dreams and tells herself stories in her head as she falls to sleep . she is very spiritual . she meditates twice a day . her house always smells of incense . she has an affinity for weed and hallucinogenics . she really enjoys writing under the influence . her album trip is literally inspired by several drug experiences she had that had a profound impact in her life . pavarti’s general demeanor is borderline wall - flower . you wouldn’t expect her to be so shy , but she is . she’s the giggly girl who’ll hang back and let someone else come to her first . in the meantime , she’s taking in every single detail . she’s incredibly observant . sometimes she thinks in poetry . she realizes that she isn’t the typical visual for a female hip hop , rnb artist but it’s truly her passion in life and her art flows through her . she says more in her songs than she does to the people she needs to and that can definitely be problematic . with that said , pavarti is very well spoken . girl knows how to sweet talk her way through just about anything . but she also has the temper of a devil . she does not tolerate being fucked around with . she has that attitude about her where she will go and key your car if you hurt her or one of her best friends . people typically wouldn’t expect such an explosion from someone so outwardly sanguine and easy going but she’s the type to scratch someone’s eyes out if she has to . her music is her spouse . this fucks her up relationship wise a lot because she tends to let chances pass her by because she would rather stay undistracted . she has an ego , but not really in the outward way that one would anticipate when ego is involved . she knows she’s talented . she knows she’s attractive . but she also knows that she’s fucking lucky to be where she is and she’s grateful . pavarti is the type who wakes up with a smile because she has another twenty four hours to be alive . she doesn’t take things for granted --- she used to , until she lost her older brother and she realized just how quickly things can change . pavarti is a fiercely loyal individual to her friends . she will stand up for them , no matter what . the thing is , she expects it back . she is very much aware of her self worth and does not react kindly to a one sided vibe . 

    plots . 

ok , ok , ok . . . so how i am going to do this is offer up some songs / song pairings for songs that i believe pavarti has written for specific people with certain plots in mind for at least her side of things . and then i will also list some basic plots that aren’t based on anything in particular , but are still plots that i would like very much to have ! the links go to lyrics ! all plots are gender neutral , so ignore any pronouns that are in the songs .

bed peace / stay ready / while we’re young --- fwbs with feelings : pavarti and your muse have been friends for a while . somewhere along the line things crossed the line and they began hooking up . it’s obvious that they feel something intense for each other but something is always in the way of them being together --- plus , neither are really sure if the friendship could withstand a romantic relationship crashing and burning . so here they are , stuck in this awkward limbo . they hook up , hang out , awkwardly third wheel when the other is dating someone else . it’s an interesting dynamic and pavarti wouldn’t deal with drama with anyone else but your muse . they have a really compelling bond and neither can think of life without the other but things have been like this for a long time and there is only so long a relationship as complicated as this one could actually function .

the worst / comfort inn ending / moments / when we love --- exes that ended badly with lingering feelings : this was . . . just a crazy hot and cold relationship . when it was hot , it was fucking hot . when it was cold ? damn . hell itself could freeze over . they probably have done and said a lot of nasty , nasty shit to each other . at the same time , they could’ve been literally planning their wedding at some point because they both were incredibly serious about each other . in comfort inn ending , pavarti suggests their relationship was a result of her cheating on another boyfriend to be with your muse and your muse ultimately cheated on her as well . we can discuss that but i would high key kill for the extra drama . around the time pavarti was writing her first full album , they had a rekindling that inspired her to write moments and when we love . i don’t envision this relationship having ended in a decent way from there , though . more cheating ? fighting ? they were definitely toxic . she’s definitely planning on dragging their ass some more in her tracks .

lsd / sativa --- platonic soulmates : omg so this plot is . . . so fucking cute . but these two would basically die for each other . there is zero sexual attraction , just genuine , pure love . they do everything together . but what really sealed their bond ? well . . . many different intense acid trips , of course ! they love to get high together and forget about the world . they both feel like they can trust the other because they have been present for so many life - changing moments . they rarely go a day without seeing each other and absolutely never go a day without talking in some capacity . sometimes they fight like siblings . but pavarti would honestly kill for your muse . there is nothing she wouldn’t do for them . 

new balance / newer balance / you are here / clear my mind --- the romantic bad influence : this plot is another messy piece of trash . from the beginning , when they first met , pavarti always thought your muse was too good to be true . they reminded her so much of her brother . she felt this sense of peace with your muse . she fell in love quickly but at the same time , felt like there was something looming over their relationship . like it wasn’t permanent . like it’s all just a dream . the bad influence part isn’t portrayed too much in the lyrics other than stressing pavarti’s fear that your muse isn’t exactly who they say they are and this relationship is doomed to fail somehow . she knows that when this explodes in her face that it’s going to destroy her . i see your muse bringing out edgier sides of pavarti’s personality . they party a lot , they influence pavarti to do crazy things with them and she does and she feels so alive with your muse . that is , until , it all crumbles . the facade is destroyed and whatever it was that your muse wasn’t being upfront about shatters the way she feels for your muse entirely . she feels betrayed . clear my mind is pavarti’s way of trying to hype herself up to be stronger than she really is . 

never call me / --- best friends turned enemies : this is my last long one i promise , wtf , why did i decide to do this . anyways --- this plot is again , a shit ton of angst so enjoy that . your muse and pavarti used to be the best of friends . inseparable . that is until things went south . fast . we can discuss what it was that happened between our muses but it was something huge and preferably something where they both could stubbornly blame each other . pavarti feels slighted because she thinks that your muse should be the one who reaches out and perhaps your muses could be thinking the same about her . 

romantic plots : crushes , unrequited love , hateship , party hookup , friends with benefits , secret fling , summer romance 

platonic plots : give me close friends ! and tons of them please ! thanks . roommates , drug buddies , confidants , unlikely friendship , travel friends , only friends in the dms , enemies turned friend

[arigatouiris]

out of my league // t.h — 01

Pairing: Tom Holland x Critic! Reader [I use female pronouns]

Warnings: swearing; eventual fluff; angst; hurt/comfort; a little bit of cliche because come on.

A/N: Thanks for all the love, everyone! It means so much to me because this is my first story on here and this support makes me want to write more. Do check out my revised masterlist for more upcoming stories. You guys are the best~

Also, Birds of a Feather and Canary Mountain are all fictional titles, I just decided to make this sort of fictional (as if it isn’t already) with Tom’s filmography. Jean is no real writer, he’s an OC haha. Also, if you want to be in the taglist for the next chapter, just leave me a message or a note and I’ll add you ^^

Also, I have no actual idea how offices (fictional London Post) works, so do cut me some slack if some of the mechanisms of worklife don’t match. Apologies are due~

Word count: 2485

Series Masterlist

00 | 01 | 02 |

Ch. 01 

(y/n) wouldn’t ever consider herself a workaholic, although, she sometimes tended to bounce in and out of being one when time seemed fit. It wasn’t as if she hated her work, it was in fact the opposite; however, on some days, she’d prefer relaxing to working.

    Like today for instance, she enjoyed her cup of warm tea, gazing at the showery skies of London, from inside her comfortable room—decorated with fairy lights and pictures of herself and her friends, people she doesn’t even speak to anymore, from college. She was a fairy lights kind of girl, she’d tell people who’d enter her room; however this number declined over the years, as being an adult took preference over being inviting. On the days she rested, she told herself that her mind was rather kind to her. It gave her solace and kept her from thinking dark thoughts. Days like these allowed her focus on bittersweet memories from the past, filling the aura around her with a dash of forgiving nostalgia that was comfortable to think about within the confines of her own home. This comfort, she was grateful for, but not anymore.

Currently, her mind was flooded with the thoughts of the hate mail that came toward her from thousands of Tom Holland fans; for ruining or trying to ruin his reputation, for being too cowardly (she couldn’t understand how this could be called cowardly) to understand the ending that was chosen for him, for being too critical (this was her job!) regarding movies or books or TV shows, for being unforgiving over narrative differences and finally, this one she found most absurd, for being an absolute A-grade bitch.

    Because (y/n) was many things, but bitch was not one of them.

Tom fucking Holland, if she were given the strength of Diana Prince she’d have broken the cup she was holding but she had the strength of a hamster so the cup was safe. It’s just a goddamn critique, why the fuck did he have to make a commentary out of it? To save his friend’s ass? Jean A. Marcel’s known to crumble under the pressure of making final seasons. I even wrote the critique for his previous failure of a show, Canary Mountain. What’s Holland’s fucking problem now?

(y/n) didn’t understand the sudden need for Tom to defend Jean. This was Tom’s first time with this writer (who took over another writer to write just the final season, a move that the whole world dreaded, and even wrote petitions to stop; but now it didn’t matter, because Jean’s reputation was saved by the beloved Tom Holland, who chose to ignore every fact on earth before defending his friend). I didn’t even say anything bad about his acting! In fact, I complimented him! She found it easier to defend herself in her head rather than the internet, because it honestly scared her. Death threats came pouring in, five or more (no less) each day, something she’d learned to ignore over the years. However, Tom’s fangirls seemed to be serious. They loved him, and they let it show.

    Groaning, (y/n) finished her cup of tea before heading over to the kitchen to place it in the sink. All the while, she missed the solace her mind usually gave her—which were now muddled with anxious thoughts, and thoughts circling around self-pity, unusual for her, but they were there. Prominent, angry, yet very, very present.

She almost failed to notice her phone buzzing in the room when she walked in, frowning as she thought of the time she had turned her phone on silent, not remembering why. Ah yes, she answered herself as she held the phone in her hands. It was to silence the fucking notifications from all those hate mail. She picked the call and put the phone against her ears.

    “(y/n) darling, how are you doing?” Her manager Susannah Davies was a goddess.

Susannah Davies, a lovely 39-year old woman was the kindest soul on the planet according to (y/n). She was understanding, caring, and would always encourage (y/n) to do her best.

    “Oh you know… The usual. Any new movies that I need to review?”

    “Hahahaha, right erm… Honey, we think you should take some time off?”

Why was it phrased as a question? (y/n) was normally not a very angry person. However, everything that she had thought of Susannah now crumbled in her mind. She was now a very angry person.

    “Some time off for what, Susannah?” Gritting her teeth, (y/n) felt her fingers go pale.

    “See, writing is such a tasking job! No one takes writing critiques as something that’s easy. Why don’t you instead work on the desk for a while? You know, it’d take your mind off things—”

    “Off what things, might I ask?”

There was a sigh on the other end. (y/n) knew she had lost this round. Susannah sighing meant Susannah giving up. And Susannah giving up meant Susannah had made her decision.

    “The comments are quite nasty, (y/n). You can see it, and we can see it. The whole world can see it. It’ll do you and our company good if you were off the radar for a bit. Jenny even talked about you on the 9 o’ clock show! They even put your picture! Not to mention how the HR and PR have been ignoring thousands of hate mail from Hollanders, it’s become too much to handle now. We need to issue a statement saying we’ve fired you—”

    “What?!”

    “Don’t worry, not actual firing. Just a statement.”

    “That sounds very unfair, Susannah.” (y/n) moaned in displeasure.

    “It’s only temporary! Until all this dies down. Anyway, I can’t take this lightly. I don’t want them hating on you more than this and as harsh as this sounds, there’s no other go, love.”

(y/n) felt her eyes well with tears. There was a soft burning sensation behind her eyelids, considering how the hate began to pour in two days ago, and hadn’t stopped in intensity yet, (y/n) had not given herself the time to sit down and cry out her disappointment and rage. But, now, she felt it was long due. She pressed a hand to her mouth and held back her sobs.

    “Susannah…” Her manager was listening to her intently from the other end. “I really love this job…”

Susannah’s heart broke. She knew the moment (y/n) decided to publish the review that this was going to happen, but not to this extent. Hate mail and death threats (which weren’t too serious), along with false media representation, which could amount to slander or defamation, and the mere fact that (y/n) needed to take a break from doing what she really, really loved—all of these factors shattered her heart as well. No other review had gotten her this much hate. Not even the one she had written on A Game of Thrones. And if she were to compare, GoT had a larger fanbase than Birds of a Feather.

    “Can I take a week off?” (y/n)’s tone was impossible to decline.

Ending the call, the journalist fell back on her bed and cried her heart out. I hate Tom Holland, she thought before forcefully wiping her tears, swallowing her sobs. I hate him and I hate his face and I hate his guts.

Sadly for her, hating Tom Holland did not aid her with her pursuit for an ease of mind.

Harrison normally never reacted with such surprise. However, the second he saw the news about a particular (y/n) having lost her job, it felt as if his mind went on overdrive. What the hell? He thought before characteristically dialling Tom’s number. Can they even do that? She just did her job! Sighing, he waited for Tom to pick the call so he could do something to rectify this damage.

    “Tom, did you see the news, mate?”

It seemed that Tom was out with Tessa at the moment, having rented an entire park for the girl to run around happy. Tom had a smile on his face when he picked the call.

    “News about what?”

    “(y/n)!”

    “What?”

    “(y/n), you twat. The girl who wrote that review about the show.”

Tom then remembered. He was supposed to apologize, but he believed the whole ordeal would die down in a couple of days. He hoped it did.

    “What about her?”

Harrison groaned. “Mate, she lost her job.”

Tom’s eyebrows shot up like someone had exploded a cake in front of him. He stopped moving and became rigid all of a sudden, and he was quite thankful no one could see him pale up at that second. He should have apologized.

    “How can they—”

    “That’s what I don’t understand. Apparently, your fans,” Haz stressed on the word, “sent not only (y/n) but the London Post some nasty mails in a couple of thousands. It got too much so they issued a statement to the media saying she was laid off a couple of days ago. Did you apologize to her?”

Considering the silence that came his way from Tom’s end, Harrison knew the answer.   

   “Tom… That’s her job, mate. A review wouldn’t have hurt anyone’s reputation here. Did you even read her review? It said nothing bad about you. Just that the writer wrote your role into the dirt,” Tom winced at his friend’s words. “Which is absolutely true because don’t deny it, you hated having Lionel killed too.”

Tom couldn’t deny it. Guilt washed over him like a wave under the full moon. He felt terrible, no doubt. He had no idea that this would happen. Now when he thought about it, Jean himself had more work writing for other shows now that Birds of a Feather was done. Tom sighed. He groaned. He ruffled his own hair. He looked at Tessa running around in the field.

    “I fucked up, didn’t I?”

    “Yup. You did. Big time.” Haz was brutal.

It was at that second that Tom decided he’d talk to her. Ask her out for coffee and apologize like a decent person would do. He’d make sure she got her job back as well, but first, he needed to tell her those important three words.

    “Haz, can you give me her—”

    “Already on it, mate. I’ll send it to you in a jif.”

Once the call was over, Tom knew what steps he had to take. After he reached home, he quickly browsed through (y/n) (l/n) in Google, looking at the results. News articles over news articles about her spread in his face, before finally finding one from the London Post. Her review on Birds of a Feather. He was surprised this was still up, and clicked on the link. There was so much written in this review that he knew would take over 8 minutes for him to read. He was a bit of a slow reader, but that didn’t mean he didn’t pay attention when he read. Tom’s eyes scanned over the descriptive words, and his heart almost stopped when (y/n) wrote about him.

“...while Tom’s performance in this season has been remarkable, it’s sad to see his role being written into the dirt. Lionel, one of the main protagonists of the whole show, deserved perhaps a more bittersweet end—something Tom could have delivered with a bat of an eye. With such talent streamlining the entire show, it’s a mere disappointment to see it fail in the eyes of a fan. Poor Tom deserved better himself…”

Tom sighed. Brushing a hand through his head, he came down to the comment section.

TomLoverxox wrote: What a bitch she made Tom sad I mean come on go home criticize your own face

LaserTeaser15 wrote: Listen slut let me see you write a show as great as this one

Tom grimaced. I did this, he thought before looking at the contact details that Harrison sent. Gulping the bit of hesitation that was previously stopping him, Tom made the final move. Three rings was what it took for (y/n) to pick the call.

    “Hello?” Her voice was pleasant. It gave Tom the impression that she may forgive him and all might go well.

Smiling, Tom replied, “Hi. Is this (y/n)?”

She recognized him. Honestly, she wasn’t expecting his call to come at that second, but she knew it’d come. Considering how so many of her reporter colleagues would flaunt over how nice he is as a person and how decent he is and how he’d definitely apologize if he hurt anyone and how he would definitely give her a call too. One of her colleagues even went as far as to say he’d ask her for coffee where he’d be nice to her and apologize in person too. She didn’t think that was necessary, because she knew the answer.

    “Is this (y/n)?” Tom’s voice was as sweet as sugar.

But (y/n) liked her coffee black.

    “Tom Holland.” She spat, like it was poison on her tongue. If she could see him, she’d see him flinch.

    “Hi.” He said, and nervously let out a laugh.

    “What’s made you call me, Mr. Holland?” (y/n) specialized in sarcastic conversation. It was her forte, she often put it.

    “I’m terribly sorry about—”

    “Making me lose my job over a review I wrote for a TV show you acted in and had nothing to do with writing the script? Terribly sorry about me being slandered all over the internet and being called a whore to someone who’s better called a dunce? Terribly sorry about me doing my job and being reprimanded for it? Mr. Holland, tell me. How would that review have affected your job?”

Tom had no idea how to respond. He figured she’d be feisty and aggressive, but this was a whole other level. He knew if she pressed him any more than this, he’d perhaps stammer out of guilt.

    “I’m very sorry about—”

    “Making a public story on Instagram trashing me and my work where I didn’t even criticize you but the writing of the show? In fact, did you happen to read—”

    “I actually did. I want to say sorry for—”

    “Acting out before having read the entire piece, right?”

Tom didn’t blame her. That’s what he was telling himself.

    “(y/n), I just… Listen, I feel terrible for what’s happened. Can we meet over coffee and talk this out—”

    “Tom, I didn’t deserve what I got. Thank you for calling me. You’re a very good man. But what you did ruined my reputation online and in my career. Slander must mean something to you, you’re an actor. You understand better than most what I feel at this moment. So, leave me be. And no. I don’t want to meet you for coffee.”

And that was how the call ended. Tom turned to Tessa, who was now looking right into his soul.

    “I know, girl. This isn’t done.”

taglist: 

@strangemaximoff​, @aestheticgaybish, @noobmaster63​, @why-are-all-the-teens-gay​, @wonders-of-the-multiverse​, @boushalaivre​, @jackiehollanderr​, @nerdypisces160​

[skycrystal23]

Connor x Machine!Reader pt. 3

The Video

PART ONE  PART TWO 

Summary:  The Reader has a difficult time processing what happened at the Eden Club and in attempts to make sense of things opens and watches the forbidden testing video of their self and the RK800 during pre-testing. 

Characters: Reader, Connor, Tracis 

Warnings: Death 

Words: 1700 approx. 

    You shot one of the WR400 models, the one with the short brunette hair. The android swayed for a moment before collapsing to the pavement. The other female android crawled over quickly to the collapsed WR400. Its LED was a bright red as it proceeded to sniffle and trace the deceased androids face. "Why?" It whispered looking up to you, synthetic tears clouding its eyes. "Why did you kill her?" It asked, voice trembling with every word. You stayed silent, gun still trained on the deviant. You had no idea what had just happened or what was going on. One moment you were in the garden with Amanda and the next you were outside of the Eden Club with a gun in your hands.     The blue-haired android looked back to you again. "She had nothing to do with any of this." You watched as the blue-haired Traci proceeded to bring the deceased androids arms to rest on its stomach. Humans did this as a sign of resting for their loved ones when they passed. Your LED was a solid yellow as you watched the Traci interact with its deceased twin. The android was abnormally gentle and affectionate with the way it touched the other Traci. It began to speak again, explaining what had happened with the victim inside of the club. Connor and Lieutenant Anderson stood on the sidelines watching the whole scene unfold before them.     The RK800s LED was a bright yellow, identical to yours. "....wanted to get back to the one I loved and forget about the humans." The Traci began to slowly approach you, "The smell of their sweat and their dirty words. But you've - you've taken her away from me." There were tears running down the androids synthetic skin. None of this was real. Deviants were simulating emotions, they weren't alive. Machines couldn't feel emotions the way humans did. That is why androids were perfect, that was why you are perfect. "I love her." The android said sparing a glance down at its 'lover'. "I loved her!"     Before you could react the machine came dashing at you taking the gun in your hand and drawing it up so the barrel of the pistol was pressed underneath its chin. In an instant it too was shut down permenantly. Then it was just the utter silence. The silence and the rain and you, RK800, and Lieutenant Anderson. You stood there letting raindrops slide down your synthetic skin. love. love. L0v3.

    You shook your head. What was it you were just thinking about? You looked to the RK800 watching as his LED spun a bright yellow. He looked.....contemplative. Without another thought you dropped the gun to the ground and left. You heard the Lieutenant say something along the lines of "My god..." on your way back into the club. A taxi took you back to Cyberlife. Your counterpart would arrive soon enough to recharge. Instead of heading to your pod to recharge and go into low power mode you instead took a seat on a nearby stool and sifted through your mental files. Before arriving at the club you saved an encrypted Cyberlife file: RK800-Rk800.1/compatibilitytests/cyberlife2038.video     The nature of this video file name had you intrigued. Why was it encrypted? It took you a mere ten seconds to bypass the firewall put up around it to protect it. You were apprehensive to view to the video. Amanda would be disappionted that you were snooping in Cyberlife's business, however, this could potentially help with the investigation. It would be wise for you to know more about your counterpart and yourself as well as your capabilities. The LED on the side of your head blinked a mild yellow as internally you began to review this mysterious video. Externally it looked as if you were sitting and staring off into the distance.        It started as a standard Cyberlife testing video. The company tended to record everything when it came to testing their prototypes. It seemed standard, you were sitting on a bench with a technician in front of you asking you to flex your fingers for them. Then they brought the RK800 into the room; "RK800.1 meet the RK800 Connor model." the technician said stepping to the side.     The unfamiliar android stood tall and looked down at you with a friendly smile. "Hello, my name is Connor." it smiled and stretched its hand out towards you in a kind gesture. You took its hand and shook it and then released it letting your hand fall back to your side on the bench. Another technician was fixing the plating on the back of your neck. The plating closed with a hiss and they backed away. "We will leave the two of you to become acquainted." the technician said, the one that introduced the two of you.     The two Cyberlife techs left the room leaving the two of you alone. The RK800 looked around in wonder, hands clasped behind his back as he walked around. "Your model is unfamiliar to me, I cannot access any information on you specifically." he said turning to face you. By now you had stood from the bench and looked around yourself. There was some information on the RK800, you had much to your disposal. "You are an RK800 designed to act as a detective for the Detroit Police Department. You have already been outside, your test to save that human girl from the hostage situation was a great success for Cyberlife. Besides everything I just explained you are also designed to hunt deviants and your main mission is to find the root cause of deviancy and stop it." The information flowed out of you like a waterfall.     Your model was smart, half a step up from the RK800. You had almost everything to your disposal whereas you knew he was limited to certain files in the Cyberlife database. His brown eyes fixed onto your face, he scanned you again. The only thing that came up next to you for information was your model: RK800.1 Curious. The android was very curious with you. "What is the purpose of your creation?" he asked. You blinked a few times, LED going a bright yellow. "My purpose?" You whispered to yourself. This question seemed to catch you off guard. It seemed that not many people had asked you about yourself before.     You walked over to him, he seemed very magnetic. Your gaze never strayed from his figure since he entered the room. The two of you were similar in many ways but you were in no means identical. "I was designed to protect you, I am to ensure that you do not get destroyed. I am also to ensure that you do not become affected with the deviant virus." It was a mouthful. The technicians let the two of you speak and wander the room freely for a few hours. "Is Detroit as troublesome as the news reports state?" You ask. Cyberlife had yet to allow you to leave the building let alone this room.     Connor had got to go outside into the world. He got to see things you had yet to. His LED blinked yellow for a moment, his eyelids fluttered for a second as well. "I sent you the information." he said, the corner of his mouth slightly quirking up. "I cannot receive information via the Cyberlife android link. I can only connect with another android through a physical connection." You explained.     Instead you reached forward, the palm of your hand resting against the side of his face. The synthetic skin on your hand peeled back up to your mid-forearm. The synthetic skin on his face peeled away around where your hand met his cheek. He leaned into the touch and let his eyes close. You had never connected with another android before. Was this how a connection worked? You snatched your hand away after a moment and fell back onto the ground. Your visuals were clearer and there was no nagging voice in the back of your processor.     Connor looked down at you, his gaze soft and gentle. All of your protocals had been wiped clean from your processor, any mission you had was now non-existent. What did he do to you? The room seemed much colder, you wanted to leave. You......wanted to leave? The doors to the room flew open as a flurry of technicians ran inside. You were scared. What were they going to do to you? "Its connection has been severed from the module and the garden, reset her." one of them said to the other four in the room. You scrambled to your feet and grabbed at Connor's grey overcoat. "Don't let them reset me. This is your fault, what did you do to me?" You asked, your voice was different now as well. "Let go! I don't want to be reset! Let me leave!" You screamed as the technicians grabbed a hold of you.     The video cut there with your model being dragged away kicking and screaming. You were once a deviant. How could the RK800 turn a prestigious model like yourself deviant? Later, when you were in low power mode you would have to ask Amanda. Surely she had the answers to your questions. The doors to the room slid open, you turned your head to see the RK800 enter. It crossed the room and stopped in front of you. "Lieutenant Anderson did not appreciate the destruction of those deviants at the Eden Club." it said taking a seat next to you. "My relationship with Lieutenant Anderson is not imperative to my mission." you responded.     Could it do it again? If you connected with it would you become deviant? But you've connected with the RK800 before and nothing happened. Cyberlife must have improved your model by now after the incident. "My relationship with the Lieutenant has been affected by your decision, please discuss any plans you have to affect the investigation with me beforehand." it said with a small smile. Was he always smiling or could he do that on command? It. Connor was not a 'he' it was an it. Androids were machines, you were a machine. Humans only gave androids pronouns because it made them more comfortable.

A/N: This had been sitting in my works folder forever, I thought I already posted it oops! Anyways, sorry, the next part will be up soon! Also, if anyone wants to be tagged for this fic say so in the comments and if you want to be permanently tagged for all of my Detroit fics then just say so as well! 

TAGS: @mysticmaehem @kneazlesgetitdone (Sorry your tags aren’t working for some reason) 

[chochmah-binah-daas]

The months since elul 5777 has been a hugely transitional time for me for so many reasons. I’ve been meaning to write about this since, well, late elul, early tishrei but I never had the energy to do so. I broke this up into chunks for easier reading but this is still quite an essay…

I know this is long but please like if you read even a part of this and if you have any insights or advice to offer me, my askbox is open and I’d love some support of any kind!!

Children

I always wrote off the idea of having children, even to the point of being one of those people who thought it was funny to be somewhat hostile towards kids. I did have some legitimate reasons for this, mostly sensory issues, being that I’m autistic and am sensitive to many sensory experiences; however, most of it was me just stubbornly holding onto a general distaste for children. Through the course of my retail job, I found myself more and more warming up to the kids who came into the store to the point where I would go out of my way to make faces and wave at babies at the expense of doing my actual job (not to worry, my job was literally completely ineffective). As I realized just after the High Holy Days began, I didn’t just not hate children anymore, I liked them. I actively like and desire to have children now.

If someone had asked me if I really thought I never wanted kids, I would pretty adamantly say I didn’t, though sometimes I’d admit that I could see myself maybe adopting one child in the future. Now it actively pains me that I don’t have children. Plural. Children. My only image of my future self is me, happily married and raising at least 3 or 4 good Jewish children.

I’m only 23 so I know that I’m not expected by secular society to have kids but seeing my more observant Jewish cousins around my age pursuing marriage really gets me down a lot of the time. I want nothing more right now than to marry a nice gay Jewish man and adopt a few kids. This leads me to my next sections…

Career goals

I never settled on one single thing I wanted to do with my life. I was one of those kids who, probably due to being autistic, was always getting deeply invested in something and then flitting off to another after a couple months. For the last year or two I did have a decent idea in my head that I wanted to get a Master’s of Library and Information Science degree and work in a library or archive. I’m good at that kind of work. It allows me to be quiet and a bit neurotic about my workstation because I’d largely be working alone, away from the general public and most of my coworkers.

After my graduation, my mom and grandma suggested that I consider going to law school. I agreed to at least take the LSAT, which I will be doing in February and oy am I nervous!! My mom, who went to law school, says that she thinks I’d be great at it, that my mind is so well-suited to that type of thinking. I don’t disagree with her but I also can’t imagine myself doing anything with a law degree.

In fact, I can’t imagine myself doing anything in the future. People think I’m joking, but I really do just want to marry someone with a steady, well-paying job and be a house-spouse. I have a deep passion for learning but I have no passion for an actual career that comes along with any path of study. In a perfect world where my mental illness didn’t destroy my ability to read, I would love to go get an MLIS and/or a law degree. I’d even consider going to a yeshiva and studying Torah, Talmud, contemporary Jewish issues, all that. But once I’m out of school, I have no clue what I’d do besides sit at home with all that knowledge swirling around in my head.

Education is never a waste in my opinion, but also formal education is expensive and I’d never be able to afford it without having a prospective career in my future to provide the income for paying off the student loans.

Gender

I never understood the concept of gender. All I know is what language I’m comfortable with, how I like dressing, and what I want my body to be. I am AFAB (assigned female at birth) and I medically transitioned through hormones, chest surgery, and a hysterectomy. My pronouns are they/them or he/him. I am now legally male with a traditionally male name. On most days, I enjoy wearing skirts though I do occasionally choose to wear pants. I could never be cis-passing unless I stuck with wearing pants all the time, which would make me very uncomfortable. If you asked me to get dressed without thinking about it at all, my first choice would be to throw on a skirt, t-shirt, and cardigan. It’s comfortable, psychologically and sensory.

None of this changed during elul 5777; what did change was how my gender and my Judaism were connected. Before, they weren’t. Now, I am working on becoming shomer tznius which involved a major overhaul of my wardrobe, particularly the skirts and dresses. I got rid of almost all of my short and revealing articles unless they could be easily layered and bought a lot of long skirts, three quarter sleeve shirts, cardigans, and other tznius layering essentials.

When it comes to my religious observance, I mix and match though I do mostly connect with the mitzvos for men. In shul and at home, I prefer not to light the shabbos candles if there is a woman who would be able to do it instead. I wear tallis and tefillin to daven and I leyn torah. But I also enjoy occasionally wearing a tichel and being the one who cooks for shabbos, plus the aforementioned movement towards being shomer tznius.

Religious observance

I currently attend, and work for, a Reform shul. I adore my community and the rabbi there. It’s such a loving and supportive community with a small but fantastic group of regulars at Torah study. I’m fortunate in that my community has no problem with the way I present myself. They accept me as a queer Jew who expresses their queerness and their Jewishness in a unique way. But I worry about how other Jewish communities might react towards me, especially since I can see myself being much more observant than I currently am.

Ideally, I would have a kosher kitchen and fully observe shabbos. I would live close enough to walk to shul and I would make sure to raise my children with a strong Jewish identity, and of course a Jewish education. I don’t know if I could have that kind of life while being involved in a Reform community, largely because they don’t tend to celebrate every holiday and also when they do, it can be too lax for my tastes. For example, even in the winter our shabbos services don’t start until 6 or 7 PM, a solid 2 or so hours after shabbos actually begins.

As a queer Jew, who is very obviously gender nonconforming, I don’t know how I would fit into a more traditional community that would probably be more regimented in its separation of genders into a binary. I wear tallis and tefillin when I daven but I would be seen as a woman by some men so I would be immediately singled out as an other. I do wear skirts but I also have a deep voice and facial hair (and my name is Zack) so I’m automatically too male for women-only spaces. Not that I feel entitled to men- or women-only spaces, but I do fear how I could become more observant, when doing so tends to mean an increase in that kind of separation.

Relationships

This is probably the trickiest and most personal portion of this whole shpiel. I’m currently… somewhat in a relationship, I guess? When I transferred to HSU, I thought I was aromantic-asexual and I have since realized that I am neither of those and now identify as someone generally attracted to men. But soon after starting at HSU, I met someone else who identifies as aro-ace and we became really close friends, hanging out all the time in one of our dorm rooms. They were in a non-romantic, queer-platonic relationship with two people and suddenly, they started including me in this relationship. I didn’t mind this so much at the beginning but the more I come to understand my identity and my vague goals and dreams for the future, the more I realize that I just can’t go where I want to go in life and be tied to this relationship.

I know that the longer this goes on, the worse it will be to break it off but I’m terrified to do so, for various reasons I don’t want to get into here. As I said earlier, I want to marry a Jewish guy and have Jewish kids and live a Jewish life. I obviously can’t do that in a household with two pagans and a Catholic, none of whom want kids at all. I know I’m probably becoming one of Those Converts who gets super zealous about Judaism and defensive of their Jewishness but over the last year or so, and especially since elul, I have had this image in my head that I just can’t shake. And that image doesn’t include the people I currently feel tied down to.

[dishonoredrpg]

Congratulations, ALYX! You’ve been accepted for the role of THE MAGICIAN with the faceclaim of HANNAH KLEIT. Tasmin was such a delight to read about. I really feel like you pinned down The Magician’s internal personal conflicts in contrast to the contrast of the world around her -- everything is going up in flames, but Tasmin’s field of vision is so much narrower when compared to the other characters around her that things might have to start melting before she takes notice. I’m interested in seeing how this plays out on the dashboard, especially with the plots you’ve given me, and how the fruit on the table will slowly begin to rot. Forget a marriage -- what about rebellion?

Please review the CHECKLIST and send your blog in within 24 hours.

OOC

NAME: Alyx

PRONOUNS: She/Her

AGE: 21

TIMEZONE, ACTIVITY LEVEL: CST; I’m honestly not doing anything right now because i’m not taking summer classes and i’m not currently working, so i’m usually hovering most of the day. I’m good at keeping up with activity and will usually post a few replies a week if not more.

ANYTHING ELSE?: The Magician is my first choice, but if I manage to write an app for the Tower, then that would be the obvious second choice.

IN CHARACTER

SKELETON: The Magician

NAME: Tasmin Declair (Cisgender female, she/her)

FACECLAIM: Hannah Kleit is definitely my first choice, but my backup would be Adeline Rudolph.

AGE: 21 years old.

DETAILS:

I tend to go for the soft characters with a rough past, and I felt like The Magician had qualities that I usually gravitate towards. I like those characters that have a sense of duty driving them. The Magician is dealing with these new powers, powers that could get her killed both by merely using them but also by discovery from the king or another high up player, but she’s still focusing on the goal of marrying up to better her family. She doesn’t have a rough past, but her pleasant upbringing adds to this angst in my opinion. She’s the beloved firstborn, the daughter meant to bring her family up in the ranks, and she has to deal with those expectations as she goes through the court. I assume it also goes through her mind of—- what would my family think about me if they truly knew? Magic is frowned upon, especially her type of magic. It’s this burden that I think intrigues me further.

I also like that she’s not a big player in the war so far. Yes, she has powers, but her ambitions don’t lie with joining a rebellion or killing the king. She’s here to find a spouse and settle down in a good noble marriage. It makes me eager to explore her further and see how she reacts as the plot escalates. I think the characters that might not have the biggest role at the beginning are the ones that people need to watch out for, and she’s definitely one of those characters. There’s no prophecies guiding her path, no dead parent to form her decision, she only has her fear and her standing propelling her forward.

I don’t know— she’s really just the type of character I usually go for. I just find her story interesting and I want to see what becomes of her as her life becomes more complicated and she falls deeper into the political atmosphere of Tyrholm.

BACKGROUND:

Your earliest memory consisted of you looking down on your youngest sister, Nesryn. She had seemed so small, so fragile, and you were terrified of holding her. You thought you’d break her, but your mother had reassured you that you were strong enough to handle her with ease. You were the oldest. It was your job to protect her and Sabina. You nodded slowly, and as you felt Nesryn’s small body slip into your arms, you knew you would do anything to protect them both. You looked at your parents with that soft spark of life, and they smiled back at you. You were always taught that family came first, and this was that first moment you truly understood their words.

Childhood days were spend in a tight balance of leisure and work. You spent hours chasing Sabina and Nesryn around the gardens. Your dress would be covered in dirt and the remains of flowers that were trampled under your enthusiastic feet. Your mother would chuckle at the sight of you before whisking you off to change. You would beam at the sound of her laughter, at the slight nod of approval, because there was a part of you that liked the praise thrown your way. You were the oldest, the light of your family, and approval from your family had always been a certain goal in your mind.

Your father had been more of a challenge. Light feet would slip across the floor as you peaked into your father’s study. A few business gambles had propelled the Declair household into a comfortable wealth, and you watched as he worked to keep your family in that rank. You would tug on his pant leg as he filled out papers, and finally, after what felt like a century in your young mind, he would place the papers down and pull you onto his lap. “You’re a strange one, Tasmin.” He’d comment, looking at you with that unreadable gaze. “The best ones are.” You’d answer, firmly believing in your words. Little did either of you know how right he would turn out to be.

Years go by, and you spent less time racing around the garden with your siblings. Carefree adventures turned into careful lessons. You learned about history, etiquette, and the various positions around the court. You fight to retain the knowledge because every right answer meant that certain nod of approval that kept you going. You strived for perfection, strived to be that perfect daughter for your parents, and you felt yourself getting closer to that goal. If you could memorize another king, if you could successfully tell them which fork is used for which course, then perhaps you’ll continue being their little light. You don’t aim to become a soldier or a princess. You don’t aim to be one of the heroes you read about in your history books. All you need is a lifestyle that’ll make your family proud.

When they tell you that you’ll be going to court in search of a suitor, you simply nod and accept your fate. You always knew this was your future. You had your life planned out ever since childhood, and you had readily gone along with it. Your parents would place their expectations on your shoulders. They would talk about you marrying up, bringing more status to the Declair name, and you knew you would try your best to accomplish that goal. The only love you needed was from your family. You valued their words, their compliments, more than a suitor’s. You had smiled at your parents, gently shoved your sisters, but there was a doubt that lurked in the back of your mind. What if you couldn’t accomplish their vision?

You had pushed that doubt away, but it had resurfaced the day before you left for court. There was a nervousness that you had never experienced before, a burning in your veins that couldn’t be tamed, and you tucked yourself away from prying eyes. Your heart beat faster, your breathing was shallow, and all you could do was wonder what was wrong with you. You wanted this life. You had agreed to go to court. Sweat dripped down your face before a bright flash of light erupted from your hands. Searing pain wracked your body as the room filled with light, the same light you would often be accused of, and a true fear penetrated your mind for the first time in your life: How were you going to hide this?

You let the pain die down into a slight warmth before you pushed the tears away. You were the first-born, and you would do this for your family. You would put on a smile and endure the pain. You would slip on gloves to cover up the burns that formed on your hands if it meant seeing that same glimpse of approval in their eyes. You would allow yourself to arrive at the castle, the belly of the beast, if it meant helping them get a better life. You had to because the other scenarios were too horrible to think about. Little light, will you glow, or will fear diminish you entirely?

The question still stands as you walk through the corridors of the palace with nervousness to your stance. Your eyes were trained to watch the reactions of others, but now you seek out something different than approval. You seek out any suspicion on your behalf. You keep your head down, your ears open and you try to walk through the castle without raising alarm. You will do this for your family, even if it kills you. Sadly, it just might.

PLOT IDEAS:

Collapse. Crumble. This is not your destruction.

You were normal, and now you’re not. You were a sister, a daughter, a socialite, but never were you an enemy of a kingdom. Magic is banned— knowledge you bore ever since you were old enough to learn the history of the kingdom— and now you possess the very magic that you read about in old books. What will you do? I’d like to see Tasmin taming her magic. She’s very inexperienced with it, and I want to see her get a bit more in control as she gets more involved in court life. I think it would be interesting to see her using her magic in small ways, such as her giving light to The Moon’s plants, and progressing from there. I also think it would be interesting to see someone take her under their wing. I know the Priestess seems to suspect her powers, and it would interesting to see her learn from someone that has had years to master their craft. I think she definitely needs to seek out help if she wants to last at court, and I want to see her lasting.

You are shadows and I am light.

The Emperor. That was the name fed to you before you left for court. You felt that familiar doubt creeping in at the thought of a lower socialite such as yourself pursuing anything with the king’s son, but you would try. You would try because that’s what your parents wanted of you, and who were you to let them down?  I want to see Tasmin trying to get courted by the Emperor. I like the light and dark dynamic that these two possess, and I feel like that’s the sort of thing she’d do to satisfy her parent’s wishes. It would make more sense to go for someone lower than the prince, both because she’s rather lower and because his father is the one that banned most magic, but this is an instance where she’s going against her better judgment for the sake of her family.

Expectations fall from me like waves.

Oh, perfect daughter. Oh, the apple of their eye. Were you made to be Atlas, or did you choose to carry such heavy responsibilities on your shoulders? Were you designed to carry that torch all the way to the end, or will you allow the flame to burn out? Only time will tell where you land. I feel like Tasmin has gone through life with a sort of craving for validity, especially when it comes to her parents. She loves being seen as the golden child, and she takes their disappointment to heart. I want to see her focus less on her family and more on herself. Maybe her parents are disappointed that she hasn’t made a connection with any high ranking nobles yet. Maybe they find out about her magic and erase that image of her as the family’s light. Maybe nothing happens at all. I just want to see Tasmin gradually acting more for herself rather than others. This is her first time away from her family, and I want to see Tasmin Declair— not the daughter or sister that she got used to being. I also think it’ll be interesting to explore what she wants as she dives deeper into her time at court. She’s always wanted to impress her family, but she’s currently not around her household. It’s the perfect time to allow her to grow past that initial mindset of hers and into her own individual person.

The weight of their eyes sits heavy on your soul.

They know. You don’t know how it happened, but they know your secret. Did they catch a glimpse of your burns? Did they merely peer into your soul? You don’t know, but you’ve gotten on their radar. This might go along with the first point, but I love the dynamic of the Sun and the Magician. I like the fact that the Sun is offering to help them, especially because the Sun is someone that is highly valued by the king seeing as they’re the assassin. I think Tasmin is scared to accept the hand that the Sun is extending because a part of her believes that it’s a trick. She doesn’t know if they’ll grip her hand and drag her straight to the king, to remove her gloved hands and show him the impact of her power, to leave her at his mercy. She doesn’t know if the offer is truly genuine, but a part of her reaches towards the offer. She wants to control her powers. She wants to get rid of the fear that haunts her. She just doesn’t know if the Sun will be a trusted mentor or a snake in disguise. I would love to see Tasmin accepting their help and watching the partnership unfold. I think its interesting to see such a powerful person taking an interest in her, and I’m curious to see how a necromancer could help her with her light.

They bare their teeth and you hide in cover.

You never thought death would occur so soon. You always pictured yourself living a comfortable life and dying of old age. Your timeline has shifted since the discovery of your powers, but you still long for that old vision. Oh, how the universe loves to mess with fate. This one doesn’t necessarily have to do with death, but I want someone to discover her powers. The High Priestess and The Sun are aware of her powers, but what happens if a member of the royal family discovered her secret? Would they end her time at court right then and there? Would they look the other way in an act of kindness? Would they use it to further their own agenda? What if it’s someone who is part of the revolters? Would they try to persuade her to help end the king? I love the possibilities that come with holding in such a big secret. I personally would love to see someone blackmailing her into doing something in order to keep her secret safe, but honestly, all routes with this plot point would be interesting to explore.

CHARACTER DEATH: I’m always up for the possibility of killing my character. I don’t know if she’s involved enough to warrant death, but the beauty of rp is that it leads you down unexpected roads.

WRITING SAMPLE

She didn’t know how long she had been preparing for this day. Her mother spoke about her departure party for the past few months, and she had worked to make sure it would be perfect. Her dress had been tailored to her liking. Her hair fell into a braid just above your chest. Her shoes were freshly polished. Tasmin looked at herself in the mirror and she felt like the noble that she was intending to become. A small smile fell on her lips as she envisioned herself at the palace. A picture of her dancing with a respectable noble glimpsed through her mind before it flickered away. The image had left behind that aching feeling in her chest—- that small glimpse of doubt that had occurred before.

What if she couldn’t find a respectable partner? What if she was forced to arrive back home with nothing to show her parents? What if she put in all this work only to fail in the end?

Tasmin shook her head. She couldn’t let those thoughts ruin her day. She knew she had to focus on the party and preparing to leave for Tyrholm. She slipped away from her mirror, but a flash of pain caused her to stop in her tracks. A burning sensation flashed through her arm, and all Tasmin could think was: Not today. Please, not today.

She forced herself to leave her room, but the pain crept up on her as she tried to make her way towards the party. Sweat built upon her forehead before she finally slipped away into a darkened room. Deep breathes were taken as Tasmin tried to force herself to calm down. She knew she had doubts, but she wanted this life. She wanted a fine suitor to settle down with. She wanted that peaceful life that came with never worrying about money. She wanted that classic dream of the white picket fence and children running around her feet. I want it. I want it. I want it.

Her eyes had fluttered shut as she repeated the mantra in her head. She had doubts, but those doubts would disappear as she started her journey. She had worries, but those worries would be gone once she spotted her mother’s caring smile and her father’s silent nod of approval. I want it. She was the oldest— she needed to help secure her sisters’ futures. I want it. She had trained for this since she was young. She knew what she was getting into. I want it. What was the alternative? Disappointing those that had cared for her so well? Watching their pride fade away? Please, let me have it.

The burning sensation increased in her arms, and a silent plea hovered on her lips. Let this misery end. Let the burning subside before the party grows too restless. A small tear trickled down her cheek as sweat built upon her forehead. A metallic taste filled her mouth as her teeth dug into her tongue, and she began to wonder if the sensation would ever leave her body.

The thoughts faded away as light burst out of her hands. Tears fell from her eyes in rapid succession, but it was the fear that truly caused the most damage. Wrong— this was all wrong. She was normal. She was made to live a healthy, normal life. She— she couldn’t possess magic. It wasn’t possible. It was a fluke.

It wasn’t a fluke, and she knew it. As she watched the light bloom from her hands, she knew it wasn’t a fluke. Her lip quivered as this new, unfound fear threatened to swallow her whole. Her mind thought back to her mother curling her hair in her youth and the way she would talk about her oldest daughter lighting up any room she walked into. The memory was replaced with another— her two sisters commented that her smile was its own source of light. A final memory pushed through all the rest of her father placing her on his lap. “You’re a strange one, Tasmin.” The words had sparked certain courage in you as you replied, “The best ones are.” What would they think about this revelation? More importantly— what would the king think of this discovery?

Tasmin fell to her knees as the light slowly faded away. The darkness engulfed her once more, and Tasmin was left with nothing but her own thoughts and her shaking body. Her hands felt raw as she attempted to brush her tears away. A sob finally forced itself from her throat as she struggled to get to her feet. This wasn’t supposed to happen. This was supposed to be a day of celebration, but instead, fear had overwhelmed all her senses. She stood there alone with your thoughts for what felt like a century before finally, she forced herself to open the door and wander back to her bedroom.

It took minutes to fix the makeup that had been smeared off. It took even longer to rummage through her drawers in search of some gloves. Finally, she was able to look in the mirror and see a semblance of her old self. The ends of her hair were singed, her hands ached beneath their covers, but she looked like the same girl that had stared into the mirror earlier. It was the small comfort she needed to force herself to enter the party and play the part of the dutiful daughter.

If they would ask about her gloves, she would lie.

If they would ask about her hair, she would lie.

If they would ask about her timing, she would lie.

She would lie, lie, and lie again if it meant keeping that light from escaping her parent’s gaze. She would lie forever if it meant making them proud. Sadly, she didn’t think she had that long.

EXTRAS

https://www.pinterest.com/aesthctics/oc-the-magician/ here is her pinterest!

Headcanons:

Burns mark her skin after using her powers. She has the power of light, but light can harm in the same way it can heal. Her power feels like the equivalent of touching a lit light bulb. Because of this, she slips on gloves whenever she goes out of her bedroom. She doesn’t want people staring at the rawness of her hands and asking questions, so instead, she merely covers it up. A simple lie about having cold hands leaves her lips whenever someone notes her fashion choice, but little did they know, her hands were never cold.

She often writes letters to her family. She tells her parents about the people around the court and the potential matches she’s found. She tells her sisters about all the desserts she’ll sneak back to them when she returns home. She even wrote a few that talked about her powers and her fear, but she always ends up tucking those away in a drawer. One day she hopes to tell them the truth, but for now, she’s content with just keeping the conversation light. She couldn’t bear the thought of making them worry, or worse, disappointing them completely.

Tasmin will spend her free time in the courtyard. The area reminds her of the garden that surrounded her home, and she enjoys wandering the area to clear her mind. She often likes to have her breakfast there instead of inside, and there’s visible disappointment in her features if the weather is rainy.

Tasmin likes to keep her hair short. She always enjoyed the lower maintenance that came with shorter hair. She also had singed it a few times when using her magic, so the shortness helps keep it out of her way. Finally, she was a bit scarred from seeing the Moon’s hair caught on fire. Tasmin didn’t want that to happen to her, so she solved the issue before it arose.

[crimsonrevolt]

Congratulations Alexandra you’ve been accepted to Crimson Revolt as Septima Vector!

↳ please refer to our character checklist

A harder, more closed off character, is often hard to portray. Especially when it comes to their emotions and drives. But you did a fantastic job at letting us into Septima’s head, and exploring the reasons why she might find it easier to dwell on logics than emotion. Her pull between the Order and Aversio (alongside her beliefs on prejudice in the wizarding world) were fascinating, and we can’t wait to see you explore her character further as the war progresses and there’s more at stake! Welcome to the rp!

application beneath the cut

OUT OF CHARACTER

INTRODUCTION

Hello, my name is Alexandra, lovely to meet you! I’m 20 years old, my preferred pronouns are she/her/her’s and I’m in the EST time zone. I live in the United States, specifically on the east coast.

ACTIVITY

So, this next two weeks are a little crazy, I’m a university student who has finals this week, but I’m an A+ procrastinator, which is why I’m applying to this. Since you accept on Sunday’s, this will not be an issue. After that, I have off for a month, so my activity levels will probably be between 9 and 10, except for certain holidays.

When I arrive back at school in mid-January, my activity will probably fall between a 7-9, depending on the day. I am fortunate that my schedule is not too hectic next semester, so I will be on more frequently.

TRIGGERS

*removed for privacy

HOW DID YOU FIND US?

I was just going around on Tumblr, looking for an RP to join and this one was intriguing. Not to judge a book by it’s cover, but your Main RP Blog was well put together and had a streamlined, clean look that I enjoyed.

WHAT HARRY POTTER CHARACTER DO YOU IDENTIFY WITH MOST?

This is a great question and one that took me a while to think over, but the character I identify most with is Percy Weasley. He’s an “unloved” character, for sure. But, I think he really strove to be the perfect model of a son, with a good job, tried to make his parents proud, etc. I’ve been a Slytherin my entire life, so his ambition is not lost on me. He was kind of quirky, a little pompous, and definitely mature for his age – some of the traits that I definitely reflected in my childhood when first reading the books.

ANYTHING ELSE?

I really like the structure that this RP presents, but the one question I have is, how active are the people in this roleplay?

IN CHARACTER

DESIRED CHARACTER

Septima Vector

FACE CLAIM

Adelaide Kane

REASON FOR CHOSEN CHARACTER

I love the depth of Septima. I love that she’s able to just kind of push down her feelings and move on with her life. I always find myself attracted to these types of characters in books, film, etc. because they have the potential to be so much more than their outside appearance portrays. I know it says specifically that Septima has never had to deal with loss. But maybe she has, maybe she lost a housemate at Hogwarts, maybe someone a year older or younger than her, someone she admired or helped during her time in school. She tries to force it down, tries to bury her emotions deeper, because she must help the cause. But, feelings don’t just disappear, there is no spell for feelings or emotions, they all come up eventually. Maybe she has PTSD, she wakes up in the middle of the night and her cheeks are wet from tears or she feel like she can’t breathe because the radiator in whatever hotel room she’s staying at sounds too much like rubble falling in one of the battles she’s faced. That’s why she has to help, whether she’s destructive or not, because just as much as she’s helping the Wizarding World, she’s helping herself get better. Or at least that’s what she believes the resolution of this war will bring.

Septima is the type of character that I can breathe life in to by providing that depth, that inner layer that can be explored in this RP. I think she’s make a good addition as a character to the diverse cast you already have in this RP and it would be an honor to play her.

PREFERRED SHIPS // CHARACTER SEXUALITY // GENDER & PRONOUNS

Septima is decidedly bisexual, but it takes a lot to really get into that thick shell of her’s. She’s definitely rigid when you first meet her, wondering if there’s really any fun in her at all. The answer is yes, it just takes a lot to get that out of her, usually some Firewhiskey is helpful. She’s more so just open to the fact that someone is trying to make an effort to get to know her. She identifies as a female and her pronouns are she/her/hers.

CREATE ONE (OR MORE!) OF THE FOLLOWING FOR YOUR CHARACTER:

-A MOODBOARD: x

-AN AESTHETIC: x

-A PLAYLIST: x

-A FEW HEADCANONS

           - Septima honestly tries to be nice, it’s just….not in her nature. Most days she’s in a bad mood before she’s had her tea, Daily Prophet in hand before composing herself into working order, dealing with problems one at a time, a notebook in hand, quill tucked behind her ear in an odd display of Ravenclaw-based problem solving. She works like a factory line, mechanical, and not having time for trivial problems like other people’s feelings.

           - Secretly worried about her spot in the Order, she wonders if people will judge her, knowing that her father was a proud Slytherin during his time at Hogwarts. She’s done nothing wrong, in fact, she’s kept several secrets for the Order that she would take to her grave. But she often wonders if wizard prejudice occurs on both sides of the fight?

           - Wants to be on the front lines. She’s usually behind the scenes, logistics, battle strategies on how to take the Dark Lord and his followers down, but she also wants to be a part of the action – even if that means risking her life.

           - Open about her sexuality, but just to herself. If someone else mentions something, she’s not afraid to shut them down. This applies for both sexes. When she’s working, especially when discussing things for Aversio and the Order, she doesn’t like to think about emotions, especially her own. This often runs over into her personal life.

           - Septima is actually super extraverted, but all those emotions are thrust down, so she kind of shuts down when another talks about anything super personal.

-A FEW POTENTIAL PLOT POINTS

           - Septima constantly struggling between doing the just thing and doing the right thing, they don’t always go hand in hand.

           - Septima’s constant pull between being faithful to the Order and being faithful to Aversio.

           - Her need, desire, want, etc. to fade into the background to actually get work done. Sometimes her actions can come across as borderline sinister and she can be downright mean. At the same time, her struggle to be out on the front lines with other, braver wizards.

IN CHARACTER QUESTIONNAIRE

The following section should be looked at like a survey for your character. Answer them in character and feel free to use gifs. Or, if you’d rather, answer them in third person or OOC without gifs. Answers do not have to be extremely lengthy.

♔ If you were able to invent one spell, potion, or charm, what would it do, what would you use it for or how would you use it? Feel free to name it:

           I would invent a potion, temporary of course, just to rid the body of emotions for about thirty minutes. That’s all I need, that’s all anyone needs. If it acted as a way to just shut down the emotions of the body and allow for complete focus for a moment’s notice, then maybe we’d all be able to get more done. That being said, it would be an extremely dangerous potion and should only be used when absolutely necessary. I’d call it Afectos Potion, specifically utilizing the Latin root-word for “to affect”.

♔ You have to venture deep into the Forbidden Forest one night. Pick one other character and one object (muggle or magical), besides your wand, that you’d want with you:

           I’d definitely take Davey Gudgeon with me! I’ve known him for awhile now, he’s an excellent wand caster, and although he can be a bit illogical, I can definitely use him for help with spell work, if need be. He’s a lot quicker on his feet than I am. And as for an object, I’d take just a ordinary, muggle mirror. I’d enchant it with a hover charm to keep it in my peripheral vision at all time, that way nothing can sneak up on me. I don’t trust the forest in the daylight, let alone during the night.

♔ What kinds of decisions are the most difficult for you to make?

           Decisions when others are involved. Especially if it’s deciding between logic and what is morally right. It’s definitely a fine line between the two and one that isn’t always easily discernable from each other. That being said, when they align together and I am able to decide that the morally right thing is logical, it works out. Other times, when they do not work well together, I can spend hours pondering the idea.

♔ What is one thing you would never want said about you?

           One thing that I would never want to be said about me is that I don’t care. I care to the extent that I cannot say, however, I tend not to show it. Members of the Order and their well-being is one of my topmost priorities, even if I cannot convey that to them through conversation. I don’t know how I would react if anything happened to them. Their my friends, I care about them deeply.

WRITING SAMPLE

           A long, blue cloak swept across the ground as Septima entered into the small pub. It was nearing midnight, but it was still a lively place where muggles sat, chatting comfortably, a tinny voice coming through some kind of muggle contraption in the back corner. Cigarettes smoke wafted through the air as she stepped, hood lowering, as she looked towards the bar. The bartender there jerked his head in the direction of a set of ordinary bathroom, the men’s out of order. She walked quickly across the floor, pointed shoes darting out from beneath the navy cloak and as she passed table by table, the noise and conversation ceased.

           She wondered if they had stopped their talking for every patron who had walked in here this evening, she could not be the only person who had walked in tonight wearing wizarding garb, she was running late as is, the meeting must have started without her. But why were so many people making such a big deal about her? She knew the cloak must have looked outdated, but she had seen worse things worn by some of the muggles in public. There were plenty of more interesting things to gawk at.

           “Merlin’s beard, Septima!” She heard as she pushed back the men’s doorway, only to reveal another room, one with a long table where several witches and wizards were sitting, “You’re really going to wear a formal cloak in this pub?”

           “Yeah,” Septima responded, hanging up the damned thing on a peg by the doorway, “I just got done work at the bookshop, didn’t even have time to go home and change.” She gestured down to the midnight blue robes before setting herself down at an empty chair. The rest were chatting away or grabbing Butterbeers from a corner across the room. Around her, jumpers and jeans could be found. She certainly was overdressed for the occasion. But none of that mattered, muggle clothing or not, they all knew what they were really here for.

           “Seeing as we’re mostly all here. Shall we begin?” Septima procured a small notebook and quill from the bag hanging around her waist and watched as the fellow members of Aversio around the table followed suit, “This week, I have a lot to report.”

           She took a deep breath, dipping the quill into her inkwell. As long as she was productive, nothing could get in her way.

[tealeaves-rp]

Mod Sample Application for Narcissa Black

II. CHARACTER STATS:

NAME: Narcissa “Cissy” Elizabeth Black BIRTHDATE/AGE: November 24, aged 22 years

GENDER IDENTITY & PRONOUNS: cis-female; she/her pronouns

WAND: 

Ebony, Dragon Heartstring, nine and a half inches. Many old, upper class families like the Blacks keep a wand or two around the house (no where that people might see them, of course!) just in case – because most old, upper class families like the Blacks have produced a wix or two over the years, even if most of those cases were hushed-up so well that even immediate relatives might not know about it. But there are usually one or two tucked away in an attic, or locked in an old cupboard, or buried in the back of mother’s dressing table…and for most of her life, that was all the wand that Narcissa ever thought to need. It was enough to practice with; enough with which to play around with her magic and her sisters. (Sometimes they would even take one with them when they went out on their illicit activities; some neighborhoods feel a lot safer when you have a few tricks up your sleeve.) It wasn’t until she got involved in the wix rights movement that Narcissa decided she wanted a wand all her own…and she knew just where to get one, too: Ollivander’s Instruments. The old man who ran the shoppe was a burr in everyone’s sides, both in the movement and outside it, but two things were certain: he knew his craft and he never, ever revealed a customer. Knowing that her secret would be safe with old Ollivander, Narcissa gritted her teeth and listened to his lecture about wandcraft…and then, because she knew she always deserved the best, she let him talk her into buying a “proper” wand – even though she’s pretty sure that Ollivander is full of it and the only difference between a secondhand wand and a “tailored” wand is the price tag! Still, she has to admit that this one does feel a little nicer in her hand than the old sticks the family keeps tucked away for emergencies…but that’s probably just because it was more recently polished and she is so very fond of pretty things!

III. DESIRED CHANGES (if none, leave blank):

IV. CHARACTERIZATION DETAILS:

SOCIAL POSITION: 

An idle heiress of the upper class, Narcissa comes from wealth and privilege and comfort. Her family has enough money and influence that she rarely has to face real consequences for anything. As the youngest sister, she has less personal clout than either Bellatrix or Andromeda – but as the sole unmarried daughter of the Black family (now that her cousin has so tragically vanished) she holds a great deal of potential interest to the world, especially to anyone with a child of suitable age and status…and a tolerance for “exotic” beauties (and oh, she’s heard some interesting compliments due to that “exoticness” – but it wasn’t until she started venturing outside the comfortable confines of her sheltered social sphere that she understood there could be malice behind those backhanded compliments, because people who aren’t impressed by her last name and the associated bank accounts don’t hold back in expressing themselves) but these days that’s just about everyone of note – particularly when said beauty comes with an attachment to as lucrative a company as Tibicena Shipping to weight their social scales.

EDUCATION: 

Tutors were hired for them, of course. Delicate (well…ostensibly delicate) young ladies such as Narcissa, Andromeda, and Bellatrix could not be sent away to school…but they were taught important things like fashion, grammar, comportment, posture, arithmetic, dance, and even a smattering of literature and history (largely according to their own inclinations), and in Narcissa’s case at least, the harpsichord. It was a rather standard education for girls of their class…except for the addition of a few private magic lessons. Contrary to the way many upper class families react to the idea of wixen children, Narcissa was never made to feel ashamed of her gifts; in fact she was chosen for them. (She was still taught the importance of hiding them, of course; her parents weren’t idiots and there’s a wide line between drawing entertainment from social taboos and committing social suicide!) Druella thought it would be charming to have wixen daughters and she adopted them from Hogwarts Orphanage with that exact plan in mind; as such, Cissy and her sisters actually received a bit of proper (and properly discrete) schooling in their magic…which mainly consisted of their mother hiring them a Tea Maven to teach them the basics, a wand-tutor to show them a few party tricks, and encouragement to practice little bits of illusion or performative magic with one another so that she could have them put on little shows for those friends who could be trusted both to keep their mouth shut about magic and to enjoy a bit of wixen frippery after a dinner party. That wasn’t all the sisters learned, of course…because they were curious, troublesome girls (especially Bella) and it was little hardship for one sister to lead the others into areas of bad influence, like reading old books about hexes, or giggling together over poison recipes and hair tonics, or even practicing the odd little jinx on one another – but that wasn’t part of their proper education; that was just girls being girls… NOTE: I am happy to adjust this as needed to mesh with any contradictory backgrounds put forth by an Andromeda player!

DAILY GRIND: 

As an heiress, Narcissa has no need for a job – but she does have certain duties inherent to that position. To whit, she must have the family’s best interests (business and social) in mind at all times; for her, socializing is a responsibility not a lark. The seemingly-frivolous round of visits and parties, the demands of fashion, the constant flow of rumors and gossip; all those things are in fact serious matters on which the family fortune and future might well depend. True, no one is going to give Tibicena Shipping a contract to carry goods just because the owner of a certain factory liked the way Narcissa wore her hat on Tuesday…but the right exchange of compliments can start the connection that eventually leads to such a contract. That’s how business gets done more often than not, and Narcissa knows her role in that business. She was brought-up to “cultivate influential relationships” more than to make friends; fortunately as a gregarious (and nosy) child she always enjoyed that duty and was a credit to her mother’s training…until recently. Now while Cissy still does her part to chatter amiably over a pot of tea or around a drawing room table, she also engages in louder and more vulgar activities: namely, political activism. Her “cause célèbre” is wixen rights – a cause near-and-dear to her heart, because she and her sisters are all wix themselves, although that is a detail she has not seen fit to share even with her new allies; it would be a scandal of enormous proportions were the story to come out, and Cissy might be a bit radical but she isn’t stupid. She knows where to draw the lines of propriety…and when to stick her toe over that line and cause a scene.

THE TEA: 

The Traditional Blend: once Narcissa’s customary drink, this combination of earl grey, lavender, wigentree bark, and vanilla with a sprig of vervain is a fortifying or restorative blend and is at its most effective when drunk straight, but was usually consumed with some cream or milk and sugar for sweetening. The family considered it a good afternoon tea, to restore one’s energy from the trials of the morning and to fortify them for the evening’s efforts…but when brewed properly (especially with a wix at the kettle) in addition to its strengthening properties it also casts a mild protective and purifying charm on the drinker. It is considered an integral drink before any serious business ventures – and before any stressful and important social situations.

The New Fad: after being introduced to the basics of this blend by her new political friends, Narcissa has adopted it as her favored drink – after a little tinkering to improve its effects. This Fukamushi Sencha green tea is supplemented with honey, cinnamon, and raw ginger for a spicy, invigorating burst of energy and warmth. The puffapod petals add an extra dose of vigor to the drink, and Narcissa is convinced that they furthermore have a preservative effect on one’s youth (although that may just be wishful thinking). Her mother thinks it is too spicy, exotic, and vulgar a tea to serve to polite (especially older and conservative) company – but that doesn’t always stop Narcissa from pouring it, especially when she wants to broaden tiny minds or make a particularly sharp point. As for her outside social activities, for protests on cold days she likes to bring along an insulated thermos or three to share with her fellow revolutionaries…and as of now, they tend to be few enough in number that this provides plenty for all to share.

GOALS: 

ONE: Narcissa at this point is young, romantic, and idealistic; I thus think that it would be quite entertaining to throw her in and out of several crushes (despite my usual low interest in shipping). Overdramatic, fleeting, rose-colored, and frivolous, her romantic follies ought to be amusing for all to watch. The fact that there is (as of yet) no Lucius in this game also makes that a particularly interesting prospect because her “usual ship” is completely absent. “Lucissa” is one of the few ships in Potterverse that I actually care about, true – but exploring entirely disparate possibilities, particularly in such a non-canon world as this, sounds like quite a lot of fun, especially with a flighty Narcissa like this. TWO: The driving goal in Narcissa’s life, of course, is wix rights – although she’s hardly an expert in the field of political activity. That doesn’t mean she doesn’t think she knows exactly what she’s doing (she is a Black, of course!) and that she expects that, now that she is involved, it will all be resolved quite promptly (unlikely) and without much difficulty (likewise unlikely). This should offer lots of entertaining possibilities, from the judicially comedic as Cissy brushes up against the law from her privileged and insulated position to the personally awkward as she tries both to further the cause among her social circle and to integrate herself among the lower classes who, if she is lucky, will find her more charming than condescending. (Maybe 50/50 odds on that one.)

V. CHARACTER  INTRODUCTION:

Narcissa leaned over for one last glimpse in the mirror, checking for stray curls (none, of course) and smoothing her skirts (unnecessarily) before she headed into the drawing room in a rustle of coral silks and cream colored ribbons. “Good afternoon mum, auntie,” she gushed, gracing both of them with a beaming smile as she bustled over to the tea set. The neat heels of her white leather boots clicked sharply on the floor, sounding loud against the silence. From the flow of ice wedged between the settee on which Walburga Black was perched and the armchair on which Druella Black was sitting, frosting the warm afternoon sunlight, Cissy could tell that their conversation had been going just about as well as it usually did whenever the subject of Tribicena Shipping was addressed by the family matriarchs. Pretending that she had noticed nothing, Narcissa spooned out a pile of rich black leaves into the strainer and filled the teapot with the hot water simmering in its kettle over the fireplace. She added a finger-pinch of flower petals and turned the tea timer for three and a half minutes of steeping time, then settled herself–delicately spreading her skirts over her knees so as not to rumple them–on the side couch. “It’s been lovely weather this week, hasn’t it? I hope it holds for this Friday–” Her mother’s stiff shoulders went stiffer and her head shot up, her black eyes flashing as they fastened on Narcissa’s. Druella’s lips went so thin they nearly vanished into her face and she shook her head back and forth, three minute little twitches, the warning clear. Narcissa looked back at her with a cheery smile then turned and looked straight at her aunt, hardly pausing at her mother’s wordless reprimand before saying, “We have a little rally Friday afternoon, you know, and it’ll be much nicer if the weather is clear for it.” Walburga’s face settled into a heavy frown, but her usual determined avoidance of all conversation related to Narcissa’s political activities took a backseat to her desire to needle Druella, so instead of changing the subject she said, “A rally?” Narcissa’s smile widened in direct contrast to her mother’s tightening frown and she said brightly, “Oh yes! Right outside the Old Bailey, so it’ll be delightfully visible.” She paused to pour the first cup of tea, handing it to her aunt as was polite, her being the guest; she turned back and added breezily, “I think that will make a lovely backdrop for all the photographs.” “Photographs?” Walburga asked, teacup stopped halfway to her lips. Narcissa fluttered her eyelashes while her mother silently steamed in the corner. “Oh yes,” she said, “there ought to be loads, since I’ve telegraphed all the papers!” Walburga choked on her tea. Narcissa beamed. “Sugar?” she asked.

VI. MUN BACKGROUND QUESTIONS:

What is your ideal game?

I tend to prefer canon-heavy divergence AUs, Trio slightly more than Marauders, especially those with a darker or more serious sort of drama – so this is not my usual “cup of tea” so to speak (I’m sorry) and I am thus looking forward to trying something outside my usual milieu.

What is your least favorite part of this game?

This isn’t so much a complaint and it’s rather off topic, but I think it would be very interesting to see a setting like this applied to a Trio Era Game particularly since AUs like this appear so rarely in Trio.

I chose this character because… 

I love the Malfoys and I love rebels. Put those two together into one, and you’ve got a perfect character for me: absurd, stubborn, ignorant, clever, confident, shallow, melodramatic, dangerous, idealistic, and utterly ridiculous.

[homoregalis]

Ryder Appreciation! Q & A

So, I just finished for the semester, and it’s time to show some freaking Mass Effect love! I know I still have the 30 day challenge I started TWO FREAKING YEARS ago, and I really want to get to that, but I keep having a combination of life, computer crashes, and the like getting in the way. So, for the time, I’m going to answer some ME:A questions about my Ryder! Dunno where these came from, but I’ma answer all of them!

Ryder Character Questions:

1. Your favourite quote

- “I am Pathfinder. Rah bah bah bah!” in response to the Kett guy on Eos getting all lippy on the radio

2. Share a screenshot of your Ryder:

3. Full Name?

- Elizabeth Miriam Ryder

4. Origin/Meaning of the name

- Nothing particularly. Elizabeth and Miriam are both generic abrahamic names

5. How did you come up with the name and why did you chose it?

- Elizabeth is a name that works for anyone, to me at least. It can be high class or working class, royalty or the great unwashed masses, doesn’t matter, it sounds right. Miriam as a middle name was an aesthetic choice, as most last names like Ryder, that are so short, feel like they flow better off of a middle name to me.

6. Did Ellen or Alec chose the name for your Ryder? Or did your Ryder chose the name?

- Ellen. Alec named Scott. Ellen’s side of the family is of European-Canadian extraction, where as Alec is Asian-American having been born and raised on the continental side of the Sierra Nevadas, right in their foothills.

7. What pronouns does your Ryder use?

- Elizabeth has never cared much, but uses traditionally feminine pronouns.

8. Gender identity

- Female, although she doesn’t ascribe any particular meaning to that. She does what she wants, and by definition it’s feminine because she’s female, as far as she’s concerned.

9. Sexuality

- Bisexual, with a preference for female partners.

10. Date and Place of Birth

- 21st April, 2161 in Hong Kong.

11. Manner of Birth (Was Alec there? How long did it take? Were there any complications?)

- Unsurprisingly, Alec was off doing something or other and generally being a distant, if loving, individual. The births were reasonably easy, although Scott required careful rotation to stop him getting tangled in his umbilical

12. First Words?

- “No!” Turns out Ryder developed a distaste for celery at an early age, and wasn’t afraid to tell anyone about it.

13. Is your Ryder the older or younger sibling?

- (In line with ME:A canon) Older, by a few minutes. Although if you asked Scott he’d just say they were twins.

14. Does your Ryder have siblings? (CanonTwin and more)

- Just her and her “little” brother Scott.

15. Zodiac Sign?

- Taurus the bull, in the Year of the rooster.

16. Does your Ryder have a catchphrase?

- Only if cursing under your breath counts. That and, well, she’ll mutter “Funtastic” when she gets frustrating news too, I suppose.

17. Dominant Hand? Or is your Ryder ambidextrous?

- She’s fairly capable of a lot of things with both hands, like shooting or using scissors or the like, but is definitely right-hand dominant, and favours her right hand, particularly for fine tasks, like writing..

18. What does their autograph look like?

- “E. Rsquiggle” is probably the best description.

19. Describe your Ryders handwriting:

- A sloppy pseudo-cursive. She links her letters, but isn’t super consistent, and will not infrequently capitalize words in odd places, especially on words that start with “h”.

20. Height

- 5′ 9″, or about 175 cm.

21. Weight

- 170-185 pounds, or about 77-84 Kg

22. Bloodtype

- A-negative, from her mother’s side.

23. Any birthmarks that stand out?

- she has a couple of noticeable moles, one larger on her right hip, and another just above her right butt-cheek. Both feel consistent with the surrounding skin, and both are quite round in shape, looking like little more than spots of brown skin.

24. Hair (Length, Colour, Does your Ryder change it on different occasions? Describe it, share some screenshots or if you’re an artist maybe draw your Ryder with different hairstyles?)

- She tends to wear it relatively short, especially when on some kind of off-world assignment, but does grow it out in her down time, with it always ending up in a pony tail tied at the base of her skull. Elizabeth thinks it’s really pretty when it’s braided while long, but can only wear it braided if someone does it for her. Her hair is a black colour.

25. Eye Colour

- Green-Brown, leaning towards brown.

26. Do they look like their parents? Are there more resemblances with Ellen, Alec or a completely different relative?

- Scott inherited Ellen’s more Caucasian look. Elizabeth takes after her father, with his Asian ancestry clear in her features.

27. Do they like the way they look? Would they change anything about them if they had the chance? What would they change and why?

- Elizabeth is fairly comfortable with her body. She occasionally wishes she was a little taller, and had a slightly more curvaceous back-side, but generally she rocks what she’s got, and is damn happy to do so.

28. Any scars? How did they get them?

- She has the visible remnant of a well-healed scar on the left side of her face, from damage she got in a fire-fight with Batarian raiders, and a small scar on her lower lip from where a particularly feral street cat swatted at her as a girl.

The burn scar in evidence. The lip scar requires much... closer inspection.

29. Somatotype?

- She doesn’t know or care, and neither do I?

30. Do they wear make up? Are they good at it? Do they apply it for routine or because they have fun doing it?

- Elizabeth will wear a light foundation, and lipstick when on a date, but generally avoids make up else-wise. She’ll rock the messy make-up look for a night at the clubs with the girls though. Day to day, she doesn’t care to wear make up.

An atypical night out, no eyeliner in sight.

31. What’s your Ryders diet like? Did they listen to Lexis advice?

- Growing up with a busy mother and an absentee/distant father, the Ryder twins learned to appreciate Hong Kong’s street food, and often found their selves eating to-go from local restaurants, leading to a healthy life-long obsession with Chinese cuisine. Ryder eats plenty of veggies, usually stir-fried just enough to char at the edges, but be crisp and fresh else-wise, by choice. Lexi was preaching to the choir.

32. Favourite food and is it still available in Andromeda?

- She loves Mapo Dofu, and while soybeans and tofu were a few of the first food crops to be planted, the szechuan pepper is pretty far down the list. She also really likes Char Siu Bao, but they’re hard to come by too. Scallion Pancakes though are on the menu, much to her relief.

33. Weird food combinations they like?

- Mayo on her hot dogs.

34. How is their relationship with food? Do they enjoy cooking and eating or do they just see it as necessary for survival?

- Elizabeth loves cooking, and finds it tremendously cathartic. She also tends to stress eat though, and tries to be mindful of that. But she loves food, and all the attendant cultural and social elements that accompany a good meal.

35. Fitness (Any exercises? Yoga? Working out?)

- Kicking Kett ass, and a good general exercise regime. She enjoys boxing, and spends a lot of time with the punching bag, as well as the exercise bike where she can watch old tv shows.

36. Does your Ryder take any medications?

- She has medication for migraines and and inhaler as needed for asthma.

37. Any allergies?

- She has worse than usual seasonal allergies, and reacts roughly to furry animals when she first meets them. She’s also been chock-full of allergy meds since arriving in Andromeda, with her allergies going into over-drive around all these alien lifeforms.

38. Is your Ryder neuroatypical? How do they deal with it? Did the events in Andromeda affect their mental health in any way? Does your Ryder use stimming methods?

- Elizabeth has ADD/ADHD and suffers from dyslexia. She has a tendency to pace, and to play with her hands, such as touching her finger tips to her thumb in sequence repeatedly, when she’s having an off day.

39. Wardrobe (What clothes does your Ryder prefer? Did they take any clothes with personal history with them to Andromeda?)

- Elizabeth is decidedly a t-shirt/tank top and shorts girl, and took a decent selection of nice every-day cloths with her (well, as nice as luggage space for Andromeda allowed) as well as a pair of high-heels, a nice dress for polite company, and a couple of all purpose skirts She’s not a big bra person, although she has a couple for dressing up, with matching bottoms. She generally favours boyshorts. She also has the Andromeda issued wardrobe of socks (knee length in her case), shoes, trousers, long sleeve shirts and jackets, which keep her covered for the elements, and round out her wardrobe.

40. Any Accessoires they always take with them?

- Elizabeth has a 4,000 year old Asari family heirloom ring, given to her by a close Asari colleague when she got into the Andromeda initiative, so that her Asari friend knew that some part of her family had made it to another galaxy. Elizabeth wears it on a length of paracord around her neck at all times.

41. Stuff they always carry with them? (Nail File, Earbuds, Gum etc)

- A Flashlight. As a child, Elizabeth was particularly uncomfortable in the dark, and Ellen got her a a little pocket flash light so she would always have a light with her. Elizabeth kept it up, although these days her flashlight has a crenelated bezel that could crack a Turian’s face plate.

42. Any piercings/tattoos? When and why did they get them?

- Elizabeth used to have three eye-brow piercings above her right eye, but never wears jewelry on assignments, and so hasn’t worn them in years. She also has a mosaic of inter-connected tattoos on her left shoulder and upper arm, part of an eventual sleeve, documenting major firsts, like the first time she left Earth, the first Prothean dig she joined, and most recently, being one of the first humans to leave the milky way, which she got before they left, figuring they’ll either make it, or die trying, and that no-one would know her hubris if they failed.

43. What’s their hygiene like? Do they shower after every mission?

- Ryder showers daily and does all the usual hygiene maintenance, but otherwise doesn’t go the extra mile. If she’s feeling lazy on a weekend, she’ll just stay in and not worry about showering and all that, but other wise, keeps clean enough.

44. Scent?

- Pretty generic. A little musky when she’s been sweating her skin off doing something, and back when she helped secure digs, she’d often smell of that weired burned-metal/steak smell of hard vacuum, or dusty from spending time in the archaeology labs chatting with her fellow nerds. Out in Andromeda, she’s finding it a nightmare to not have a slight smell of stale sweat everywhere she goes with the long hours she’s spending in her envirosuit, often days at a time.

45. Do they use any perfume/cologne?

- Occasionally a light perfume for more formal occasions, usually something lightly floral, but otherwise, she’s a speed-stick and go kinda gal.

46. Voice?

- A light, pleasant contralto, with a tendency to speak a little sing-songy, her words a little lyrical.

47. Accents/Dialects?

- Her English is generally neutral, the result of spending her early life in Hong Kong, and later in Canada and else where. There are clear hints though of the lingering Hong Kong accent with its subtle British notes. Her Cantonese is clearly from Hong Kong though, and her French sounds mostly Parisian, although it’s clear there’s an outside influence, the result of it being her second language (after her joint mother-tongues of English and Cantonese)

48. Impediments?

- Elizabeth suffers from intermittent stuttering, although a life-time of experience with it has made it much less common in her speech, and it only surfaces as much any more when she’s upset or angry.

49. Are they good at singing?

- Her voice is sweet, but mediocre, although she can just about hold a tune. Much more a sing-along voice than an opera voice.

50. Describe their laughter:

- Elizabeth’s laughter is usually loud and full. Outside of that it could be a snigger, a bark, a chortle, a giggle, a snort, or just about anything, although she tends more towards bursts of full-on belly laughter.

51. Languages?

- English, Cantonese, and French.

52. Did they enjoy their time in school? Were they a good student?

- Elizabeth would have hated school if it wasn’t for her brother Scott being there to make it bearable. They’re both quite smart, but Elizabeth never enjoyed the everyday grind, and was less outgoing than Scott, and so didn’t socialize as much. Having her brother there gave her someone to engage with who was smart enough to keep up, helped her socialize a lot more easily, and made school doable for Elizabeth. Grades wise, she did excellently on tests and papers, but often only did just enough on busy work, and so had good, but not stellar, grades.

53. Do they swear a lot?

- Frequently, yes.

54. Temperament:

- Although prone to anger and frustration, Elizabeth takes pains to be professional and rational in her work, and to give people the benefit of the doubt. She rants and raves in private, but with friends and loved ones takes the time to try and be supportive, and to have patience even when something is trying, not always with success. Professionally she channels her tendency towards anger into righteous indignation and a vengeful zeal to achieve in spite of those who cross her, if at all possible achieving at their expense in the process.

55. Is your Ryder religious? Did the events in Andromeda made your Ryder question their faith?

- Elizabeth says she was “born Atheist”, religion never being a major component of her family life, and she herself never seeing the need for a god in a universe where science, day by day, kept peeling back the boundaries of the unknown. Andromeda just emphasized that, with the speed with which the new mysteries were being solved using good, old fashion, mortal science. One of her favorite quotes is “Isn't it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too?” by Douglas Adams.

56. Their opinion on politics/political party?

- Elizabeth understands and sympathizes with the Earth-first stances of some parties, believing that the Systems alliance is sometimes too eager to seek the approval of the council. At the same time, she believes that Humanity’s place is as a major member of the Galactic political scene, and that growing ties with other races is essential. She particularly supports growing ties with the Turians, who have been at times the worst critic of and best ally of the Human cause in turn. With many younger Turians, and a fair few veterans of the first contact war, seeming to support closer ties with humanity, who they see in many ways as a kindred species, particularly since Humanity attained a council seat for Commander Shepard’s heroic actions during the attack on the Citadel (to Ryder) only a few years ago, she feels that her instinct towards galactic integration being vindicated. She supports the tight interplanetary trade regulation that the Systems Alliance maintains, on the basis that Human industry such as Hahne-Kedar would get crushed by the likes of the Elkoss Combine or Elanus Risk Control if they had to compete in the Earth Market the same as they do interplanetarily. It would be impossible to establish the high-end market segment they have if they weren’t able to found their sales earnings in human space. Her view is to look at the suffering that globalized deregulation caused to people in the 21st century, and use that as a lesson for future trade and economic policy. Ryder is also generally in favor of greater recognition for member races of the Citadel accords in formal decision making processes, although she supports limiting executive functions to the most populace races out of a pragmatic desire to avoid grid-lock.

57. Morality?

- She tends towards idealism with a healthy leavening of cynicism. She believes that sometime the most virtuous act, the act that causes the least suffering to the innocent, and which most rapidly solves a problem, is the use of force. She supports Alliance military action in the Verge, and proportionate response against Batarian forces and anti-slavery raids into Batarian space, as well as the expansion of the fleet to make it clear to Arahot that Humanity can and will crush them if pressed. So, she’s in the “speak softly, and carry a big stick” school of morality. That you should seek idealistic goals, but do so with an eye towards realism and pragmatism.

58. Assuming the Renegade and Paragon alignment still existed in Andromeda, how would your Ryder react? What would your Ryder chose?

- Broadly Paragon, with a dash of Renegade. Likely more Renegade than Shepard in ME1 or ME3, and about as Renegade as ME2, on account of having to deal with a broader range of galactic society, not just its best and brightest.

59. Etiquette:

- Elizabeth tends to be polite and formal with strangers, but is usually quick to ease up on formality after meeting someone, although the manners never quite go away, even when shit-talking her closest friends.

60. Attitude:

- She has little patience for people who are disingenuous, callous, or generally incapable of pulling their head out their ass and showing common courtesy. Outside of that, she’s fairly laid back and polite.

61. Outlook on life (pre and post andromeda)

- Generally positive. She sees Human space, and the council now that they’ve gone through the shock of Saran’s attack, as moving in the right direction, and she sees the broad appeal of the Andromeda Initiative to be enheartening. Since arriving in Andromeda, she’s felt affirmed in her positivity with the general goodness of people, although she’s angry that the shittiest people seem to gravitate at the top.

62. Any vices?

- Plenty ;) rich food, good quality rum, and Merino wool are just some of the more public.

63. Virtues?

- A very strong sense of right and wrong, and a tendency to give people the benfit of the doubt, as long as they aren’t just trying to save their own skin.

64. Do they live after a specific motto/philosophy?

- Not really?

65. Priorities in life and job:

- Surviving in Andromeda, getting a date with Vetra, and settling down somewhere with a view.

66. What motivates your Ryder?

- A hunger for new horizons and a chance to spread life beyond the paltry borders of our little galaxy.

67. Self Confidence?

- Miles of it, although, not with out doubt.

68. Self Control?

- Enough, although she does stress eat, and can like a drink too much.

69. Self Esteem?

- Lots, although she can feel that failures in her mission are her fault, even when they aren’t, and to take responsibility for things she didn’t have control over.

70. What would absolutely crush your Ryders confidence?

- Nothing, short maybe of getting her team killed.

71. Any quirks?

- I mean, yes. She’s a human, not a Geth. The most notable is that she has intermittent twitches around her eyes, especially her left.

72. Did your Ryder have any hobbies before Andromeda? Are they still able to maintain them on the Tempest? Did they found new things to do?

- Well, archaeology. She also enjoyed gaming, particularly racing and sports games that support split-screen multiplayer so she can thrash Scott.

73. Closet Hobbies

- Light BDSM.

74. Guilty Pleasures

- The occassional Cigarette, cheescake, ecchi manga.

75. Habits

- Always goes to the bathroom first thing after waking up, hates being awake until she’s had some caffeine so she bee-lines for tea, or caffeinated soda, or a caffeinated energy drink. Always hits the exercise bike up before bed to listen or watch something without just sitting on her ass.

76. Desires

- She’s beginning to want to settle down and start a family. Also, on the down-low, she wishes Drack would adopt her as another grand-daughter.

77. Wishes

- She’d like it if the initiative’s textiles equipment would get up and running fully so she could get some summer dresses.

78. Traumas

- Nothing especially. Her Mother’s death, her Father’s death, and her Brother’s injury are the big ones. Being treated a little as an outcast on account of only being part-Asian when she was young in Hong Kong, fitting neither into the local community, not the immigrant community.

79. Worries

- Plenty, but mostly transient.

80. Any nervous ticks? Do they bite their nails, chew their hair? Do they suffer from the shaky leg syndrome?

- Her legs bounce when she’s restless, and she looks around her surroundings a lot more when nervous. If she’s standing, she’ll bounce slightly, but noticeably, on the balls of her feet.

81. Soothers?

- A nice cool bed.

82. Soft Spots

- Kittens. When Turians do that thing with their mandibles. Anyone who cooks.

83. Accomplishments

- Becoming Human Pathfinder. Settling a bunch of colonies. Her work on archaeological digs, and coming the top end of her Alliance class are both points of pride for her.

84. What do they consider their greatest achievement?

- Eos.

85. What do they consider their greatest failure?

- Alec dying. She feels there must have been something more she could do.

86. Earliest Memory?

- Having noodles from a little bowl as a girl at dinner with her mother and brother.

87. Fondest Memory?

- Seeing space for the first time.

88. What are their dreams like?

- Elizabeth rarely dreams, but when she does, her dreams tend to be quite realistic. She does frequently suffer from fever dreams when sick though, and those are quite disorienting.

89. Happiest moment before their departure to Andromeda?

- When she first got deployed to secure a Prothean dig site. The two things that fascinated her as a child were space and the depth of history in the cultures around her, particularly in Hong Kong and, when she studied there, in Paris. She always knew space was going to become part of her life, but finding out she was going to get to reach out and see, first hand, the uncovering of a truly mysterious past in a Prothean ruin, discovering mind-boggling technological wonders that were 50,000 years old already, that really got to her.

90. Happiest moment in Andromeda:

-The first time she returned to Eos and saw it bustling after all the failures that came before.

91. Most valuable possession?

- SAM. She’s bonded with him in a way that’s impossible to describe, and already in the very short time she’s had him, she knows she’d find loosing him unbearable.

92. Do they collect anything?

- Misfit crew members and rocks. Elizabeth loved rocks as a kid, and found them fascinating, and she has ever since. She had to leave most of her collection behind, but smuggled a couple of the choicer small ones along. She didn’t know her father had a special rock until they arrived in Andromeda. Kinda made her feel a little closer to him.

93. Humour?

- Dry, dark, and cynical. The “worse”, often the better, as long as the joke is well crafted.

94. Likes

- I mean, lots of things? Misty rainy days are pretty far up there, as are cool sheets after a long day, and hot cocoa.

95. Dislikes

- Bad manners and disregard for basic niceness.

96. Favourite things in life:

- Perry the Pyjak, because he’s adorable! Also, Kallo and Suvi’s general dorkiness. And how much Drack is a total goober around his grand-daughter. And generally people having a soft and tender side with the ones they care for.

97. Profile:

- She’s an all rounder, and loves using her biotics to blink through things. *Whoosh-pop!*

98. Preferred Weapons:

- A Mattock assault rifle with scope for distance, as a compromise between accuracy, weight, rate of fire, and ammo capacity, giving her both a ranged precision weapon as well as an acceptable weapon for close to medium range engagements if pushed. For closer up, a modified Hurricane submachine gun, and for medium engagements a modified phalanx pistol that auto-fabs explosive charges, allowing her to put a lot of damage down range quickly.

99. Describe their fighting style:

- Again, a bit generalist. In open engagements, she tries to keep her distance and focus from target to target, methodically picking them off, and generally prefers to keep enemies as far away as possible just so she takes fewer hits. In enclosed spaces, or when pushed, she jumps from target to target, using her biotics to throw and yank enemies about, and to generate a barrier so she can close and use her biotics to “melee” opponents, nevermind blinking about the place to disorient the enemy.

100. Speciality:

- Controlled Biotic pulls. She can capture multiple objects, and keep them captured for a long time. While her other skills are decent, her throw especially being quite potent, her skill at capturing objects in a controlled biotic field is a cut above the rest.

101. Favourite Squadmates:

- Vetra and Drack. While she can tolerate the others, she actively enjoys Drack-and-Vetra’s company. She finds Cora preachy, and too serious, to the extent it interferes with her ability to do her job in ‘Liz’s opinion; She finds Liam obnoxious, although generally competent, despite a tendency to not plan ahead; She finds Peebee childish and trying, having little time for her facade of “mystery”; She finds Jaal’s attitude to be superior, his people to be even more prone to blind bigotry than most milky-way races, and their collective assertion that their emotional openness is somehow empowering to be little more than an excuse to emotionally degrade each other without long term consequence, and while it might not be fair to lump Jaal in with his people, his general adherence to defending their stances seems to be unthinking enough to ‘Liz that she feels he’s contributing to culture that is inherently unaccepting of genuine dissent and disagreement.

102. How do they handle the Nomad?

- Like a pro. Elizabeth had extensive experience driving off-road under various planetary conditions with the Alliance, and the act of driving appeals to some nerdy core of her personality that enjoys the precision of the act, the engineering, and the knee quivering power.

103. How do they maintain their sleeping pattern?

- These days, with SAM’s help, although Elizabeth has struggled to maintain regular sleep patterns since childhood, often relying on strict regiments of alarms to wake, and prescribed medicine to sleep.

104. Any traditions they value?

- Far to many to list. While Elizabeth is a forward facing and thinking woman, she recognizes the importance of the past, and is prone to cherishing the small things from it, like analogue time-pieces, and cooking over fire. Particularly important to her are manners, simple basic manners. She feel that in day-to-day life, they take no true effort, and signify a general respect for your fellow beings,

105. Culture?

- Most of Elizabeth’s culture comes from Ellen and Alec’s generally western Earth background, but an early childhood in Hong Kong definitely gave ‘Liz an element of awareness of Asian cultures and history, as well as informing her own worldview and mindset, and she embraces facets of Asian cultures generally, from appreciating the reverence for the natural world in Shinto and the search for inner peace of Buddhism, to things much more simple, like the slight bow that accompanies every “thank you” that passes her lips.

106. Eating Habits:

- Generally healthy, but sometimes too much. Elizabeth has struggled with Stress eating throughout her life.

107. Any pets?

- Just Perry the Pyjak. She had, with her brother, a cat and a dog as a child, the cat in Hong Kong, where a house-pet was more realistic, and a dog in Canada, where the larger suburban environments made walking and playing with a pooch doable.

108. Work Ethic:

- She avoids it when she can, but if something grabs her eye, or will clearly have a real world impact, she’ll work at it efficiently and well.

109. Does your Ryder have a criminal record?

- A couple public intoxication charges from college, an indecent exposure charge, and a few vandalism charges from graffiti as a teen.

110. Degrees?

- Two bachelors, one in Anthropology with emphases in the application of archaeological methods and xeno-anthropological principles, and one in Political Science, with focus on modern galactic relations.

111. Who is your Ryders best friend on the Tempest?

- Kallo.

She find him so easy to talk to, and so nice. To be honest, she has a bit of a crush. Besides, he’s just the best to hug! Most of all, he’s sensitive and patient. He’s the only crew member Elizabeth feel like she doesn’t need to be strong for. It was something about the way he was cheerful and joking from the get go, but always professional. She felt and instant fondness and connection.

112. Does your Ryder have any role models?

- Elizabeth has a fondness for those who pushed frontiers. She always admired Norgay and Hillary for refusing to say who reached the summit first. Also the early astronauts. To her, those kinds of people, often possessed of a surprising humility in contrast to the grandeur of their achievements, people who went to the unknown places to do the notionally undoable are the manifestation of the human spirit.

113. Any heroes and/or mentors?

- Not particularly, although she approves of Commander Shepard’s pioneering course as a Spectre, and her bright optimism in an often cynical galaxy. Elizabeth still remembers when the press photos first released of Shepard’s crew receiving commendations, and how it was so diverse, so different from what anyone suspected. Turian shoulder-to-shoulder with Humans and a Krogan, a Quarian helping the galaxy despite the tremendous mistreatment most received in galactic society, and the Willaim’s sisters, their family name no longer mud because of their forbears, accepting the highest Alliance and Citadel commendations for bravery on behalf of their fallen sister.

114. What is their reputation in Andromeda?

- Broadly positive. She has a reputation for helping those who need it, and not believing any problem is too small. She also has a reputation for crushing the life force out of you with her biotic powers, or burying a bullet in your head from behind a rock outcropping if you get in her way, or cause undue ruckus, or generally want a fight. She’s well brutal to those she considers threats, and the word is spreading.

115. Do they have a strong opinion on pineapples on pizza?

- They do not have a strong opinion, but they approve of people eating what they enjoy. Elizabeth herself rarely has pizzas with pineapple, but doesn’t mind.

116. Ever stole something?

- Nothing important. Strictly speaking she broke galactic law by ferreting away a small Prothean artifact from a dig, a small piece of a shattered and tremendously damaged base relief.

117. Is your Ryder the kind of person to play pranks? If yes, what did they do?

- Not really. Elizabeth more enjoys word play. Although she does occasionally enjoy getting a rise out of people, and can be a little gadflyish

118. Any “classic” movies they love?

- Apollo 13, 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Blasto Movies because they’re like a comedy-action James Bond, and Star Wars Excluding episodes I, XIII, and XIX. Turns out that most galactic cinema is trash. the galaxy lost its shit when Star Wars was re-released for galactic showings, and Elizabeth remembers seeing it in London where it was being shown in the original English, in a theater packed with aliens in the city on business. She swears the Turian ambassador was in the back row.

119. Your Ryder once uploaded a video that went viral. What was it about?

- Biotic gymnastics. She did an Uneven bars set without any bars in full combat gear while on deployment near the verge. Gave her a decent reputation for biotic skill.

120. Describe your Ryder in one vine

- No.

121. What tropes fit your Ryder?

- She feels like a Pint-Sized Powerhouse next to Drack and Vetra, a Brainy Brunette, an Action Girl, a Magic Knight, with Mind Over Matter skills, a real One-Woman Army, who tends towards the cross road of Good Is Not Nice and Good Is Not Soft when someone gets on her bad side. Oh, and she totally has a Violently Protective Girlfriend...

Vetra, in a peaceful moment between murdering Kett and other sundry villains.

122. Favourite Song?

- Just one? Uh, Spirit in the sky by Norman Greenbaum?

123. Do they play music in the nomad?

- Not normally. I mean, in and around the colonies, sure, but out in the wilds? Why play music and ruin the breath-taking awesomeness of the unknown?