#how to get back to the forest

[have-you-read-this-short-fiction]

"How to Get Back to the Forest" is available to read here

[gophergal]

Behold, the sloppy sketch from early* this morning

*actually more like from around 10 am but I normally draw in the evenings, so cut me some slack

[bacchuschucklefuck]

theme of laura | theme of laura II

[merehawke]

i love my freaking elf 😭 #myelf

[resterberg]

take me down to the hospital

[germaaaaaaaaaa]

moooore peter and norm swap stuff

I did not bring that up last post but the main idea was by @redtalics ^-^ yapping in tag. If you are curious. Hi

[driftingballoons]

For the art requests: A Pokemon Mystery Dungeon team comprised of a Banette, Phantump, and Drifloon struggling to read a map?

(I was possessed by the idea of a trio team made up by these three spookies who have a neat possible dynamic when you look at their 'Dex entries, and I'd love to see your take on them in your style!)

Ooh this is such a good combo! All fantastic ghosts with that loose relationship to children falling to some misfortune

Team leader Phantump seems pretty confident, but hard to trust a pokemon’s sense of direction when their claim to fame is “child who got lost in the forest and died”

[little-red-fool]

I think having a small apartment with a balcony right by the sea somewhere warm would fix me.

[emilythesinner]

Rather be a sleepy cat.....

...than a human being that has to manage anxiety, stress & other crises AND still have to go to work & function, u know?

[namibozsu]

X - WHEEL OF FORTUNE

[justsomeoneunordinary]

There are a bajillion Marriage Hunt AUs and not a single one for HashiMito. I don't even like the trope because bride kidnapping was a real thing where men captured the women they wanted to marry and then raped them - and to me, personally, that's reason enough not to enjoy a romanticized version of it. But see, I'm a spiteful bitch and the fact that there are so many MadaTobi and TobiIzu Marriage AU fics but not a single HashiMito one makes me want to have one now.

So...

This is Hashirama's fourth time participating as a hunter in a marriage hunt. The last three times, he claimed he hadn't been able to capture anyone, which is a bald-faced lie considering he's one of the strongest shinobi in all of Hi no Kuni if not even all elemental nations, and the elders know it. But it's not like they can do anything about it except force him strongly suggest to participate in another one.

This time, however, he is considering taking the hunt seriously for once. One of the possible brides is a Nara - the second child of the current clan head. Albeit unfortunately a man, thus not possible to grant Hashirama heirs, which the elders will have objections about (even though they only care about the Mokuton, which they know only appears in every few generations, so the chances that a child of his would inherit the Mokuton are practically zero), he has heard of the intellect that runs through Nara clan head's family.

The first child would've been more fitting, for one she's a woman, and for another she's rumored to be the smartest Nara as of yet, but as the direct heir, she naturally can't marry out. So Hashirama will have to do with the younger brother instead. He isn't sure if he wants to have sex with a man, but Hashirama has never been fond of tradition anyway so he may as well just ignore this one, too. What he needs, is someone strategic to help him make peace with the Uchiha, and since Tobirama is unwilling to hear him out, he may as well capture himself a personal strategist via a marriage contract.

(And here Tobirama always claimed Hashirama can't think ahead. Ha, take this!)

Sure, if it was up to Hashirama, he'd prefer his future wife someone to be he has already gotten to know and has had time to court and develop feelings for but since he's clan head, he can't have everything he wants, so this is his next best option.

When the hunt starts, however, Hashirama doesn't immediately chase after the Nara whose name he unfortunately already forgot. He keeps an eye on him, to see what kind of traps he comes up with against his pursuers, and if Hashirama is impressed enough, he will try to strike a conversation with him and see, how he feels about the notion of peace. And only then will he decide if he will capture the man into marriage or not.

For now, he just runs nonsensically into the forest, which is all the more surprising when golden chains wind around him and capture him in a hard grip that makes him stumble and almost fall to the ground.

"Wha-?"

"Senju Hashirama," he hears Uzumaki Mito's voice at the other side of the chains, standing proudly a few branches behind him, her chin held high and her expression smug, "I, Uzumaki Mito, declare my intention to hunt you for marriage. Do you accept?"

Her tone is steady and imperious but not unkind. Hashirama blinks in confusion.

"But I am registered as a hunter and not bride-to-be?" he helpfully points out.

"Not anymore," Mito says and gestures to his wrist, retracting her chains from his person, now that she has his full attention. Where a blue bracelet should be that identifies him as a hunter is now a red one instead. A bride's bracelet.

Hashirama gapes. "How--?"

He had noticed Mito's hard stare before the hunt had begun. And when he had looked over to see who kept staring holes into him, Mito hadn't even had the decency to look away, had just looked at him with an intense gaze, not paying attention to the rules of the hunt that were being read aloud. Hashirama had wondered if there had been something on his face and prayed it wasn't leftover from his breakfast.

Now he wonders how she managed to exchange his bracelet without anyone noticing, including him, all the while she had been lined up quite a few paces away from him with two other hunters between them.

"I can't marry out, I am clan head," he then mentions carefully, although Mito knows already as much. They have, after all, met a handful of times already. But it bears mentioning, since Mito seems to have forgotten how a marriage hunt works.

"I am aware. And I am, of course, willing to marry into my wife's clan instead. My wife's duty takes precedence over the nature of our marriage."

Huh. Hashirama has met Mito before, so he knows she's a smart woman - Ashina's head strategist even. She's witty and incredibly skilled at the arts of sealing. She's also an exceptionally beautiful woman, which is not important in this context, but Hashirama can't help but notice anyway. And right now, something akin to fear and hope shimmers in those coal-dark eyes, in contrast to the confident pose she's holding.

So, stupidly, Hashirama doesn't think twice when he answers, "I accept."

The brilliant smile Mito gifts him then is all the confirmation he needs that this was the right decision. He may not have had the time to properly court Mito and get to know her better, but he can tell without a doubt, this will be more than worth it.

Without further ado, Hashirama runs.

[skyclan-funny-name-squad]

What's everyone's minor warrior cat plot point brought up like twice at MOST that lives in your head rent free with SO MANY QUESTIONS for me it's the warrior cat leader life fragments that get introduced to us and never like, come back up again outside of like, one scene of Jaypaw going "what the fuck"??? Like what do you mean for nearly the entire time of firestar's leadership theres just...also been a fragment of firestar just vibing in starclan???? as an incomplete fragment??? what the fuck????? I HAVE QUESTIONS

[quatregats]

Thinking a lot of thoughts about Hornblower's relationships with Barbara and Maria as a metaphor for his larger relationship to social mobility and ambition, and I think there's actually a lot there - not sure if it was intentional, but I do think that whether intentionally or inadvertently, Forester did an interesting job with the parallels.

Quick note beforehand that some of this is based on my constant brief paging through C. Northcote Parkinson's Hornblower "biography", which, while I absolutely abhor his interpretation of Hornblower, gives even more food for thought on this point. I'm also leaning more into his interpretation of Hornblower's background and childhood, as opposed to the TV show's, so it might not work if you're coming from the TV show's perspective.

Parkinson takes Forester's comment that Hornblower was a "doctor's son" to mean that he was the son of an apothecary, rather than a physician like in the show. I'm not a historian of the period, so I would be hard-pressed to actually try to fit Hornblower's father within the 18th-century framework of medical practice, but either way, given his awkwardness around upper-class life and that he seems to have grown up in rural Kent, I think that Parkinson's claim that he was the son of an apothecary, rather than a physician, does have some reasonable foundation, or is at least equally plausible (to me) as the show's.

Hornblower struggles with poverty through most of the series, especially the first half, but even when he is barely scraping by, such as at the start of Lieutenant, this does not seem to be an abnormal state; and when he finally arrives at wealth and success, he constantly wishes to go back to the days when he was a penniless lieutenant, so from this we might also surmise that he did not come from wealth. (I'm also comparing especially to Jack Aubrey, who, while he admittedly makes a hash of coming into large amounts of money, and who also lives perfectly happily on very little, is clearly quite comfortable being the "lord of the manor" by comparison.)

One of the biggest changes in the second half of the series (from The Happy Return/Beat to Quarters onward) is that Hornblower's career comes into fruition; he becomes a decorated Captain, a member of the landed gentry, a Knight of Bath, a Peer, and finally an admiral, and marries into an enormously influential family. He's constantly in conflict about this, until he isn't: he wants to become someone powerful and important, except that he doesn't like the role once he gets it, and constantly wishes about the old days, then feels guilty for wishing for them. Most importantly, he seems to become less and less himself, his mental narrative getting more and more distorted as he tries to mold himself into the person he thinks he wants to be.

I don't think this is a particular novel interpretation, but I think that in light of this, the contrast between his marriage to Maria and his marriage to Barbara is very interesting. If he was an apothecary's son, his and Maria's marriage would make a decent amount of sense - they'd be from similar social backgrounds, and probably a reasonable match, if Hornblower's career had continued as expected. Hornblower feels comfortable around Maria at the start of their friendship and the very beginning of their marriage in a way that mirrors his comfort with the life he's living at that point - which is to say that he clearly knows and understands what's expected of him and how to interact, in clear contrast with later books. But on the other hand, for all that he originally does love Maria, Hornblower comes to find her to be coarse, unrefined, and boring, and feel that she is not good enough for the person he wants to become. It's at the point when he starts to feel that he's moved passed Maria that he begins to take on his new, ambitious, performative persona.

On the other hand, Hornblower feels stiff and uncomfortable around Barbara from the beginning of their relationship, notably for reasons of class, and even in later books, consistently sounds intimidated by her poise and upper-class untouchability. With Maria he doesn't feel enough for her; with Barbara he feels too much, an almost uncouth sentimentality. He craves Barbara's status like a man drowning, but can't hold up under the weight of what it would mean. They have very strong intellectual chemistry, but socially they are a disaster of a couple, and yet nonetheless, Hornblower continues with the marriage because it feels to him like the thing he ought to do, just as he ought to become squire of Smallbridge. He's so viscerally uncomfortable with his position in the later books in a way he wasn't even at the height of his earlier miseries, but he refuses to let himself admit that his ambitions might have led him astray.

I think it's also interesting that the relationship which Hornblower arguably finds the most fulfilling (or rather, it was written very poorly if Forester wanted to make it feel fulfilling for the reader, but nonetheless it was clearly meant to be the most fulfilling for Hornblower) is his relationship with Marie, who sits at a similar odd juncture to him. In the text, Forester says outright that Marie fulfills Hornblower's interest in upper-class women (ambition) while not intimidating him, yet still being a satisfying intellectual partner. Nonetheless, just as Marie and Hornblower can never actually end up together, Hornblower can never actually be comfortable with his position, and no matter how many times he tries to find solace in her, he is eventually forced to continue down the path that he began, making up with Barbara and fully taking up the mantle of Admiral and Peer of the Realm.

In short, I think that watching the way in which Hornblower's relationship with Maria evolves over the course of the early books and the way in which his relationship with Barbara takes up after that ends up being a very neat parallel to his own ambitions and class identity. With Maria he is at home, but bored and restless; with Barbara he gets everything that he wants, but feels like a fish out of water. I think that particular parallel is part of the particular tragedy of Hornblower - he can't ever be satisfied with the person he was, or the person he's become. But I think that adding in aspects of extreme class difference - even more class difference than the general trends of social mobility during this period - also helps to elucidate the fundamental tension which drives Hornblower forward as a character. The world he came from was too small for him; the world in which he moves now is far too big; but there's no in-between option. He has to choose what he wants to be, and sacrifice some part of himself in order to do that, and in light of this reading of him, I think that there's a lot of interesting dilemmas to be raised.

[fisheito]

"Eiden and his companions accidentally run their carriage into two yokai wearing "maid costumes". To take responsibility and make amends, they set off to check out a maid café located in the forest—"

Girl that's just kuya and yakumo on their way back from the island

Wait ,no. Forest...

Girl that's just kuya and garu out for a walk

[crazy-hazy-sims]

.

Well

Visted family and sat down with one of them thats actually a full on doomer end of the world type of guy that does nothing but sit around and scare people with tales of the end of the world and honestly it put everything in perspective for me despite the absolute anxiety and helplessness i feel im actually on the hopeful side of humanity im on the side of humanity thats pushing for change and restoration the ones thats hope posting thats playing the long game of planting the seeds of change now and waiting 50 years for it to bloom i actually have hope and im actually activly acting on that hope activly looking for people like me and activly believing in the goodness of people and their desire for change and that made me feel so much better it actually made less anxious and panicked

[bonefall]

Super interested in how you plan to write Leopardfoot! I feel like both fanon and canon tend to make her into a sweet mom(tm) who’s super sad that Tigerstar is evil, very similar to how Goldenflower is usually treated. What’s her thoughts on Pinestar and him leaving? How did she influence Tigerstar? What are her political beliefs?

Society has progressed past the need for sad moms who stare tearily at their evil sons and boohoo about all the murder. It's MOTHER AGENCY TIME

BB!Leopardfoot was FEROCIOUS. Her father was the indominable Adderfang, and he taught her about the importance of honor and glory. When Tigerpaw was given to Thistleclaw as an apprentice, she was proud of it. It felt perfect to her-- that her father's apprentice was now her son's mentor.

For his brief rule, she supported Sunstar completely. It helped that he came after the disastrous and embarassing exit of Pinestar, which ruined the legacy that she wanted him to give her son. Pinestar was a damn coward and a codebreaker... and she assured Tigerkit that he was more HER son than his.

She even gives him a life, for Legacy, in defiance of StarClan

She was friends with Bluemoon for a time, but after ascending to StarClan, she learned about the Forget-me-nots.

This changed her opinion of her. Leopardfoot supports Thistle Law, STRONGLY so.

She supported THISTLECLAW when he tried to forcefully void the Queen’s Rights. If Bluemoon hadn't broken the code, then what did she have to hide?

She backed off when Thrushpelt leapt to her defense though, "She didn't reveal it because she doesn't love me are you happy now??"

Leopardfoot: *awkwardly turns away feeling like an asshole now, tea SPILLED, her friend's dirty laundry EXPOSED, thought she was crusading for the law but she just dug up drama*

Towards the end of Pinestar’s reign, he was getting exhausted. He wanted peace. Leopardfoot wanted kittens around that time, and figured that there was no better cat than the son of Oakstar, architect of the infamous Crusade Era.

If Pinestar had no children, a glorious bloodline would have died out. She wanted it for her kits. Pinestar agreed on the condition that he would be their Mi, which she happily accepted.

So when Pinestar left, she jumped into the nursery to take over and had to explain to her kits where their Mi went.

She drove it home to them that he abandoned everything, because his weakness took over. They would never be like him, she promised.

Mistkit died very young. Nightpaw made it to apprenticeship before she also succumbed. Tigerclaw remembers very well how hard it was to lose his sisters.

Leopardfoot herself was taken shortly before TPB, in Spottedleaf's Plague. Her death causes Tigerclaw to have a bit of a moment.

After the trial in Bluestar's Flowers, Leopardfoot leaves StarClan along with a bunch of other Thistle Law supporters, including Thistleclaw himself. She joins the BOTTE at the end of OotS, fighting to the end with her son.

She misses him a lot, and remains in the Dark Forest to the current arc. She chose her path; and has the dignity to walk it.

She does miss StarClan sometimes though, and will tell you stories about it if you ask.

In terms of demon friends, she's somewhere in the clique between the harsher and softer spirits.

She dislikes Morningstar, Cloudberry, and Ryewhisker on the softer end, and has come to resent Thistleclaw and Finchflight on the other, but likes Darkstripe, Leopardstar, and Silverhawk.

Gets along with a range of "mid" level demons.

In particular I imagine she hangs out with Darkstripe a lot. Taste test buddy, he asks her to try his experimental recipes because she's honest but not mean. One of the few Thistle Law supporting cats he hangs out with after the double-death of Tigerstar.

He calls her Lefty. Her official nickname is "Left" but he calls her Lefty.

(Clanmew: her name is Saorpwyyar. Others call her Saopr. He calls her Sapyy.)

Her mom and dad Swiftbreeze and Adderfang are here too, following Thistleclaw like she did, but she's been minimizing her contact with her dad. She feels like she is owed an apology somehow but also doesn't have the emotional intelligence to know that it's what she wants.

She just knows that she feels really bitter talking to him, and that's unpleasant.

She used to be VITRIOLIC with Pinestar, who is also here, even going after him physically when he chose to join in with the Dark Forest trainees. But now... honestly so much shit has happened, she just doesn't like seeing him. She wishes he wasn't here.

I write her being very dignified. She doesn't like to admit publically she was ever wrong and speaks with confidence, quietly backing off and not wanting to speak about her mistakes. She loves her children and her family, but explores the world in a very "self-centric" way, trusting her feelings and personal judgement over anything logical.

A reactionary sort of person, if that makes sense.

Her Land Mar has to develop over time because she is an ex-StarClan migrant (damned souls get theirs instantly after judgement), but it's called the Fence Cliff. It's a picket fence that blocks off a sheer drop, making a sharp turn down the cliff face and acting as a walkway. Follow the fence down the slope, and you can access the Dark Forest's town biome.