#useful pasttime with a child

[alexjcrowley]

Braddavid/Cookiecash headcanons (I did not invent cookiecash, I took it froma a Tumblr user who took it from a fic on ao3)

-Brad's love languages are acts of service, quality time and gift giving: any kind of gesture that he can later justify saying he did it for his own benefit or amusement. Acts of service? Oh, no, I manipulated you by doing a good thing for you and now you owe me (never going to ask that favour back). Quality time? I enjoy watching you being pathetic, it amuses me. Gift giving? A bit trickier, but "there was a discount at Starbucks if I ordered two drinks/I found this at the flea market/a book, so maybe you'll spend your time reading instead of annoying me/you cannot show up to a meeting with Montreal with that tie, consider this a necessary purchase for the company".

-David's love languages are all of them, but trying a bit too hard. The kind of things that would make anyone go "that's pathetic", except, if you loose the fake coolness for a moment, they're actually very sweet. Lots of compliments. Gifts with a 50/50 rate of success (the successful ones are usually Ducktales themed). Afternoon spent renting a small paddleboat in the park lake (David falls into the water). PDA but someone burst in the office and suddenly it's a very embarassing situation. Cooking dinner but he ends up burning it and they have to resort to take out. David's love language is trying and Brad should find this utterly pathetic and weak, and instead he finds the effort all the more endearing, especially because David never gives up. What has this man done to him.

-Basically every morning, before they start living together, David woke up early to get Brad a mochaccino. Every. Single. Day. Brad had to tell him to stop (because of his ED, he feared gaining weight). David still made a point of bringing Brad coffee every morning. Brad justified to himself accepting David's kindness as taking advantage of a fool. He had the upper hand because David was gifting him coffee, surely no ripercussions, especially emotional ones, would come out that situation. Brad was winning and he had everything under control.

-David is surprisingly self-reliant. Here went Brad thinking he'd have to beat his partner with a stick to let him have some alone time, but David is way less clingy than one could imagine. He has a lot of hobbies (many stereotypical suburban dad hobbies, but still): cycling, barbecue, music (he is still trying to learn to play the guitar), meditation ("It really helps, Brad, you should try it!"), cooking (with...various results), Turkish soap operas ("My wife" "Ex-wife" "used to watch them, so to bring a spark to the relationship I started watching them with her, you know, to spend more time together, and now we're divorced but I am still hooked") and more. If you leave him alone, David will find something to do. David says it has to do with his childhood, only child and all that, he's used to lonely afternoons, he learned how to fill them. The rapidity he takes up hobbies with is frankly impressive. Brad hates to admit it, but sometimes he finds himself to envy how many pasttimes David gets up to. It's incredible for such a lively person full of interests to pass so often as a boring one. Brad will (secretly gladly) hear about David talking about his million hobbies.

-David learns Brad's birthday and never forgets it. He makes a big deal out of it the forst time, organising a surprise birthday party, just like he did when Zack told him it was Brad's birthday. Brad is not at all pleased by the situation, until he remembers birthday parties mean gifts, to him. That's the only reason he's willing to forgive David for making all that fuss.

-It becomes second nature for Brad to buy David's favourite cookies everytime he sees them. At some point they have 5 unopened boxes in the kitchen. Brad is appalled by his own stupidity while David beams with love.

-David speaks a decent (canadian) french, Brad speak a France french and costantly makes fun of David's accent. But they use their knowledge of french to talk shit about people in MQ without them understanding, especially Poppy and Ian.

-They almost stop speaking to eachothers, even before they get together, due to Brad's ED, because it's not something Brad wants to confront, but David can't repress his worry. Brad starts making small steps and David makes sure to be a comforting presence along the way, without being a smothering one. He makes sure Brad eats something everyday, often by having lunch/dinner with him.

-David is a child when it comes to alchohol. Literal child. He pretends to enjoy whisky, because that's what men his age do, but he doesn't. He is a simple red wine/white wine/beer man (that's the only distinction he does, he wouldn't know a pinot grigio from a cabernet), and he doesn't even handle it that well. Brad is an absolute snob when it comes to liquors and his knowledge in alchohol ties directly with the social value it brings in a conversation with rich people. David is an affectionate drunk, which Brad hates in public because how is he supposed to keep his cool when David hugs him and declares his love for him in front of anybody who cares to listen?

-The day David started asking people's opinion on shaving his moustache was the day Brad had to reluctantly and embarrassingly admit he liked David's moustache too much to risk see it gone. David kept the moustache and never let Brad live that down. The endless teasing made Brad reconsider the tragedy of a clean-shaven David, but it was already too late.

-David's obnoxious with petnames, really, Brad can't understand the unironical appeal in being called "baby", "honey", "dear". Well, actually dear is not the worst. The worst was Brad-bear, and, as a matter of a fact, it had never been repeated after it fatally escaped David's mouth and Brad looked at him like he was trying to kill him with mind-powers. It really is a testament to how sloppy Brad has become since he's with David, because it takes him a while to understand that David is trying to be smart, to be subtle, and failing miserably. He is attempting some sort of influence. So one day, after taking the mochaccino David bought for him, Brad goes "Thank you, darling" and David can't help but smile, blabbering something like "I-It's nothing, really". It's the little things, Brad thinks drinking his mochaccino.

-Brad starts using polish petnames for David. Even when David has no idea what they mean, he is incredibly happy to hear them. Only half of them are sort of insults.

-David has secretly started to learn polish, even though it doesn't come so easy to him. He practices it in secret in Sue's office.

-Brad has gifted David a wolf plushie. David loves it.

-David has made Brad several Spotify playlist which Brad refuses to listen to (or so he told David).

-Despite great insistence, David did not manage to get Brad to do a couple costume with him on Halloween. David still showed up with half of the couple costume. Brad tried to convince other people he wasn't David's date, to spare himself the embarrassment. And it was also working with people who didn't know him and David directly if he didn't have a ring on his finger and the words "my husband, David" didn't roll on his tongue so naturally.

-David refuses to admit he found Brad very hot in Everlight when he was fighting with the sword because he is aware, the moment that slips out, Brad will find a way to use a sword again, possibly in public, explicitly to tease him. And David is a man who knows his limits, and knows he couldn't handle it.

-David is somewhat unaware of how much Brad has softened with him, because Brad is still very sharp and sarcastic around him. David doesn't think Brad is cold towards him, but still, he thinks, 80% of the time and always in public, Brad is still pretty much Brad, he just insults him a little less. From an external point of view, anyobody who has ever met Brad can tell he is another person when it comes to David, 200% kinder than usual. When Brad "insults" David is more of a playful jab about his fashion sense or being a pushover, when Brad insults anyone else is a call from Carol in HR for Brad and, for the unlucky soul, new material for the next 5 session with their therapist.

-Contrary to popular belief (at least about Brad), David and Brad are not a very "glamorous" couple. When they first got together, people at MQ thought that David was the boring one and Brad was going to bring excitement and dare into his life. There were a lot of jokes on David not being able to keep up with Brad's lifestyle. Truth is, apart from work related events, Brad doesn't like to go out and mingle too much, unless he has a specific purpose. Outside MQ, they are the most ordinary boring middle-aged queer couple you could ever meet. At least that's the image they project in David's neighbourhood (which is not a cool, fashion neighbourhood like the one in which Brad lives). The neighbours see them at the rare neighbourhood events they attend, and David is your classic "let me work the barbecue, I have expert knowledge in grilling" suburban-dad-looking guy, while Brad only speaks about stocks and cryptocurrency.

-Brad is master at chess (he used to play professionally when he was very young) and every game of cards (he counts them), David sucks at both. Brad refuses to teach him because he likes to win (and he doesn't want to lose charming points revealing his tricks).

-Brad doesn't see the similarities between he and Huey's voice actor in the new Ducktales. He is offended when David says even he could hardly tell them apart.

-Brad tried to imitate Scrooge McDuck's voice, but he sucked at the impression. He can do a generic Scottish accent, though.

-They tried to use David and Brad in a spot about MQ being an inclusive workplace and Brad threatened to make 0 the price for any weapons again.

-Brad doesn't believe in PDA but he does believe in being the last ones to leave the office after a bit of fun in their shared room.

-People costantly assume Brad is way younger than he actually is and sometimes they give David weird looks because of it or they make illed jokes about it. David is mortified, but Brad loves it, "It's not my fault I age better than you".

-One day David asked Brad to see his number one. "What do you mean?" "You know, like Scrooge McDuck? You're such a big fan, I thought you had a number one of your o-" "Don't be ridiculous, David, I am a forty-two-year old man, do you actually think I keep an old coin in a velvet box in the name of citationism?" He does. He does, but he doesn't show it to David until he proposes. Because he proposed with the coin. He slid the velvety box on a table saying that it was his most priced possession and the fact that he was showing David meant David was the person he trusted the most in the entire world. Then Brad proceded to tell him that for him that was the greatest love gesture he could think about (after all, everyone knows that stealing Scrooge McDuck's number one would have brought to his end, Brad is metaphorically trusting David with his life)."I think...I don't say this lightly, and I will say it only once, but I think...you are to me the only person as important as my number one. This is serious, very serious for me, you understand?" David did, and was speechless. He felt almost embarrassed about the ring he bought, but Brad loved it nonethless.

-One could say that the moment he started dating Brad, David stopped with the freudian slip of calling "his wife" his ex-wife, but the truth is, since he started dating Brad, he just stopped mentioning his ex-wife that much.

-David's ex wife and Brad met. Brad's takeaway from that encounter, after David asked him what he thought of it, was "Good. I am better than her, so I have nothing to worry about".

-For the longest time, they don't meet eachothers parents. They justify it saying they're not teenagers anymore, they don't need the family approval, but people at MQ start to point out it's weird they have been together for such a long time and they haven't met eachothers' family. The thing is both David and Brad have a terrible relationship with their families. David's parents wouldn't even care and Brad's parents would only be disappointed by his choice in a partner (whatever partner really: they would either be a looser or much better than Brad and that's why they will eventually leave him). They talk about it, way before they actually end up meeting eachothers' family (in both cases, unwillingly). "At least your brother likes me, I think. He seemed nice with me. Or because you don't like your brother it's actually a bad thi-" "My brother hates you, David. He thinks you're weak and pathetic." "...there goes my hope-" "It makes me like you more." "Oh. So, I guess, every thorn has its rose." "That's not a saying, David."

-The way they meet David's parents is objectively funny, if you aren't the people directly involved. David's parents are arguing again, something about a beach house his mother obtained with David rights on Christmas (yes, the agreement wasn't "I take the beach house, you can have Christmas with David" but "since I get Christmas with David, I am entitled to the beach house, as compensation". Carol reminded David one more time she wasn't his therapist, but even she admitted that was pretty shitty). Because David doesn't spend Christmas with his parents anymore, the beach house is open for dibs, again. Mr Brittlesbee and ex-Mrs. Brittlesbee rang David's door at 8 in the morning on Saturday, just to find a black haired guy in a Ducktale t-shirt opening the door. They apologised for coming to the wrong house (and bickered accusing one another not to know where their son lived).

"David" shouted Brad.

"Mhyeah?" answered David, still in bed.

"How do your parents look like?"

"Why- why are you asking me that?" replied David, suddenly way more awake.

"I think I just met them, but now they're ringing at every door in the neighbourhood."

It was a morning not easily forgettable. The Senior Brittlesbees took a while to grasp the concept of bisexuality, while Brad had understably given up making a good impression, but still managed not to escalate the situation by being silent and bringing the Brittlesbees cups of fresh-made coffee. He was called Ted several times, despite numerous corrections both on his and David's part. The ex-Mrs Brittlesbee made a point of saying (to David alone, at least) she preferred Lindsay.

"And I prefer Brad. And since it is my life-"

"I know what is going through a divorce, David, look, your father is still sucking the light out of me! I too tried something different to shake things up, I moved to Florida for a year and it was a disaster! Don't let divorce ruin the rest of your life, Ted seems like a decent man, so it'd be better to call it quit before you make another mistake-"

"Okay, goodbye, Mom."

-Metting with Brad's parents didn't really go any better. To be fair, the meeting was set as a surprise by Zack in order to humiliate Brad, just for the fun of it. He had already understood there was something going on between Brad and David, but when he heard they were officially a couple he didn't waste time to use the information to his advantage. It didn't go well, but at least Brad and David could officially say that was out of the way. Brad's parents lamented Brad choosing someone almost "softer" than he already was. Brad felt prouder than ever for his choice.

-Brad and David fought over Jo being the best woman at their wedding. And they didn't only fight between themselves, they tried to bring Jo on their respective side with any means. When it comes to persuasion though, it's Brad's favourite field and he ended up taking Jo. They were on the verge to call out wedding because David couldn't find a best man or woman (Ian tried to propose himself for the role, but David politely ignored him for 2 months making up excuses). In the end, Sue was David's best woman.

-David cried at their wedding. In several points of the wedding. Some people asked if he was being forced to marry. He was just very happy and emotional.

[shrimpalbuspotter]

Get ready guys because this is a DOOZY and it's LONG

I've been thinking about an alternate cursed child timeline where Harry Potter lived (no need for logistics... cough) but Voldemort still ruled so the world was Dark, and Harry has all three of his children (albeit, Albus and Lily were accidents. Oops) but when James is 9, Albus is 7, and Lily Luna is 5, the Death Eaters find where they had been hiding. Ginny and Harry are killed almost immediately, and being the Gryffindors they are, James trys to save them and Lily refuses to leave her big brothers side, whilst Albus runs off to hide. James and Lily die. (At this point, Snape would be teaching and Hermione is out scavenging with Ron. None of them could have helped. They blame themselves, but Snape always tells them it was inevitable despite being distraught himself)

We cut to see Voldemort and Delphi (who would be 15, as she's only 8 years older than albus I think) walking around the house the Potters had been hiding in, and Delphi makes the discovery of a trembling little boy hiding in a wardrobe. Now, Delphi had been waffling on about wanting a pet for years. Typical child things, which Voldemort always refused, as he sees them as useless, and isn't Nagini enough? She's much better than some pesky Kneazle.

But alas, looking at this terrified child gave Delphi a new idea, one her father might just not refuse. Upon asking Voldemort if she can keep this halfblood as her new pet, promising to feed him and train him and wash him all by herself, Voldemort laughed. Wouldn't it be the cruelest revenge on Harry Potter, and his blood traitor slash mudblood friends that just keep causing trouble, if he took in the young boy? Yes. It would.

Now when I first thought of this timeline it was really dark like, Albus wasn't allowed to go to Hogwarts as he was The Augureys pet and a Halfblood, so his whole education was locked in a room with Delphi Riddle whilst reading tens of books a day. Ofcourse, this was all useless, as he wasn't given a want and infact, his pasttimes included snapping the wands of the people who they capture. Also, he wasnt socialised at all until he was 11 and spent those 4 years alone with death eaters. He worked as that of an assistant, to both The Augurey and on occasion the Dark Lord if he was needed. Albus is given the nickname Munin, one of the messenger birds of Odin. It's rather muggle, but Delphi had an odd fascination for those types of things. In this timeline Albus isn't as snappy or angry. Instead, he's jittery and hyper vigilant, he still hates loud noises but his reaction to it is always rather 10x more, so he'll rather physically jump/scatter to hide behind Delphi OR he'll look as if he doesn't care at all, merely blinking. He also still hate seeing touched, but doesn't do anything to stop people if they pat his shoulder or his head in passing. He scurries instead if walks, like he's constantly scared he's going to be late to something. But he never stutters, speaking clearly and calmly whilst rubbing his sweaty hands together to stop his nerves. Basically he's anxious, all the time. Besides this, he's in some parasocial relationship with Delphi where he worships her like she's some type of god because she has tricked him into thinking that she saved his life, and without her he'd have been avada kedavrad already. Delphi doesn't play into these silly feelings but she absolutely uses them to her advantage. Albus would be sent off to deliver messages to people, or help out on voldemort day, or chaperone Delphi everywhere. He needs to declare whenever she enters a room. She'll often taunt him by making him tag along with her on matters which don't need him, usually because they are in Hogwarts. He hates walking through Hogwarts, getting whispered about always makes him feel sick. (Now just letting you all know everyone HATES Albus because he's Harry Potters son, but they can't do shit about it because he's also The Augureys favourite.) It isn't all bad though as during a lone mission in Hogwarts to go deliver a message to Headmaster Umbridge is where he first met Scorpius, the Scorpion King. (They were 11)

But... now that I've really gotten into the timeline, I feel like it isn't silly enough... like, why not. Why isn't it silly. Why can't I make it a little silly. So, I kept everything that was dark about it, and just added small stuff that was stupid.

Albus talks back to Voldemort and has no idea why everyone else always panics when he does so, because Delphi does it all the time so isn't it normal.

Albus has free range of whatever Manor Voldemort resides in. He is always in that fuckass kitchen eating crap

He writes a letter to Hermione, Ron, and Snape once every 2 weeks when they finally have the ability to talk to him again because they hadn't seen him since he was 7, Snape being the exception, but they never had the chance to speak). They are so confused by the shenanigans he gets up to. Also, why does he keep telling them about Delphi sneaking into the Dungeons to talk to some muggle girl?

Him and Scorpius or on that bullshit. Like, they are always up to something whenever they see eachother.

Instead of having a dark mark like everyone else, he has a matching Augurey tattoo with Delphi on his back. It works like a dark mark, but the charm on it is less potent.

He also has matching outfits with Delphi, he's kind of like her dress up doll. She gave him a little feathery cape and a backless suit.

He quite literally sits at Delphis feet like a dog. He sleeps on the floor with like pillows and blankets. His back aches.

One time Hermione had told Albus they should all meet up, and said she'd make a plan so he could leave safely without getting caught and hurt for wandering around. Albus asked for where they would be meeting and as soon as he got a reply, casually just strolled out of the Manor with a simple nod to one of the deatheaters on watch outside

There's more stuff... more serious, more silly. I'd say he's alot like Snape with Voldemort but he really isn't. Delphi quite literally just views him as a cute little pet she can carry around and show off, and all the assistant things he does is just some added bonus. He isn't a spy for whatever Is left of The Order, refusing to give them information when they first met up (information he knows because he is always following behind Delphi during meetings and mission etc etc)

I might draw him... maybe.

[aerialsquid]

FFXIVWrite 2024 Day 30: Two Heads Are Better Than One

Author Note: I'm still a little undecided on how to use single vs. plural pronouns when it comes to blessed siblings, so I'll be using 'he' and the full name when discussing the entire unit and 'they' or the individual heads' names when I'm specifying only one of the brothers. The two brothers do seem to see themselves as more unified than two people in a single body, but not entirely as a single person, so it's likely a situation that's just more complicated than normal English pronoun structure will encompass.

Dawntrail MSQ spoilers beyond, btw.

–

Bakool Ja Ja was not great at making conversation. is own men barely spoke, and half the time it was useless flattery or irritating excuses for failure. 

But with the trials over Bakool Ja Ja's men had gone home, or died, or defected, or just wandered off somewhere without telling him, and now it was just the Mighty and the Mystic, who rarely needed to talk to know each others' wills.

Unfortunately, conversation seemed to be the Sharleyans' favorite pasttime. (He saw why they got on so well with the two kitty cats, who also had a chronic not-shutting-up problem.) The tiny pair with the braided pale hair were the worst for it, always some jive or comment regardless of whether anyone had asked their opinion. During the trials Bakool Ja Ja had felt at liberty to ignore most of their rambles. Now they weren't just talking at him, but to him, and seemed to actually expect some sort of informed response, and he wasn't sure what to do with that.

So now came the Trial of Small Talk, which was Bakool Ja Ja's least favorite trial so far.

"You know, I've never seen a Pelupelu who didn't wear a mask. I didn't know you looked like that underneath," the Mystic said, as he helped lift the fallen beam of a half-destroyed house out of the way. Not that Bakool Ja Ja had ever cared about what a Pelupelu's face looked like, but he felt as if he had to keep up with the babble.

The blue one - Allfinno - paused, then began to laugh. 

The Mighty curled his lips to flash fangs, though he kept holding up the beam to let Allfinno pass through. "What's so funny?" he snarled.

"I'm sorry, I don't–I'm not a Pelupelu?"

"Right, they call them something different across the salt, yeah?" They called everything a different name across the salt. Probably had a different name for the moon too.

Allfinno was still laughing, a risky decision when Bakool Ja Ja was holding a half-ton of wood and stone over his head. "My apologies. I don't mean to make light, but…I'm an elezen. The same type as the gentleman in the gold jewelry who accompanied Vow Koana."

"You're putting me on," the Mighty shot back. "You're half his size!"

"Well, yes. I'm also a decade his junior. My kind don't reach our full height until we're about twenty years old." Allfinno finally stepped past the beam and Bakool Ja Ja let it fall with a pair of scowls. There was a lot to dislike about the Sharleyans, but his least favorite was how they always made you feel like they were smarter than you. Even about little, unimportant things like what counted as an elezen.

"So you're barely out of your shell then, and they drag you halfway across the world?" the Mystic scoffed. 

"Our minds develop earlier than our bodies. I assure you, I've already seen my fair share of battlefields." His gaze passed across the ruined battlements of Tulliyollal, the scorched trees and toppled buildings, as his voice grew soft. "Enough to know I don't care much for them."

"But you keep coming to them."

"How else will I make sure the number of them decreases?"

Bakool Ja Ja was not here to be lectured by a tiny child. Bad enough getting lectured by large ones.

"What about the other one, the loud red one?"

"Ah, Alleysay?" Allfino chuckled. "Also an elezen. She's my twin sister, as it happens. A bit like the pair of you, though not quite as physically intertwined, but we were born at the same time."

"Your–twin?" It hadn't occurred to Bakool Ja Ja that other races could have twins. You only had one body per egg, after all. But things were different for those races who grew inside their mother's bellies. They emerged softer and weaker than Mamool Ja children, and never as a blessed pair. 

"If she's your twin, where is she?" asked the Mystic.

Allfino seemed puzzled, as if the question didn't follow on from the statement. "I believe she's helping with relief efforts elsewhere in the city, I wasn't keeping track. Why do you ask?"

The Mystic fixed him with a glare. "If she really is your twin, how can you bear to be parted from her, even a moment?"

"How…oh. Oh, I see." The little pale arsehole had the gall to actually look at him with pity.

No, of course Allfino didn't see. If he did he would be by his sibling's side right now, in every moment of the day.

Bakool Ja Ja thought of the veil over the Vow of Reason's head that hid eyes closed forever in slumber. To be alone after a lifetime together, to ever wake up and not hear the sound of his brother's breathing, to feel a second will working in tandem with your own upon your body…the thought terrified the both of them in ways they could barely speak even to each other. That the Vow of Resolve could go on living, not for days but for years, as he shared a body with a corpse seemed impossible. 

Perhaps twins meant something different across the salt.

[burning-brightly]

You know what's funny.

All the rich folk who actually believe in a heaven and hell and somehow believe that, no matter how much suffering and exploitation they caused, dispersing all their wealth upon their death would somehow absolve them off their sins.

Rich people believe in luck and superstition like you wouldn't believe. And stuff about Afterlife, especially the ones that are religious, is frightening to them because it's the one thing that their immense wealth can't protect them from.

Their final judgment where their money can't protect them.

But they believe they found a loophole.

Why not give away everything when I'm dead? Surely that must be worth virtue.

It's kinda hilarious how many old rich folk nearing death believe that it'd work (not that i really know how their religion works). It's funnier when you say something to the contrary and watch the unease.

--

Sadly I'm too old to pull off the wide-eyed naive child anymore because it's very easy to get away with speaking horrible truths as a kid.

It was one of my favorite pasttimes.

You direct the conversation to what this eighty year old rich dude will do with their money after death. And they'll usually say something like they'll give it all to charity and stuff.

And then you innocently say "oh do you think god will count that if you can't bring the money with you when you go?"

It's fun to see the cogs spin behind their eyes- and the growing unease even as they dismiss you to go elsewhere.

It's also probably why my parents don't bring me along to rich old ppl parties anymore lol. Except my best grandpa and grandma who are used to my antics. 8)

[ask-hector-and-isaac]

Does Lord Dracula know that you two are lovers?

Hector: We're friends. We don't plan on getting married or having a family any time soon.

Isaac: Eugh. What a terrible proposal.

Hector: Indeed. Anyway, yes, Lord Dracula knows about our... pasttimes after work, even if he hasn't directly addressed this. It's hard to hide secrets from a vampire, lest of all the Lord of the castle. I can't deny that I was mortified, at first...

Isaac: I'm not. He's a married man with a child, older than we can fathom. He has allowed us to sin to our heart's content, so why should we be ashamed of ourselves?

[umbracirrus]

Look at these idiots. They're holding hands. I just didn't wanna draw said hands.

As with previous OC sketches, details about them are under the read more. There's a lot of overlap because, obviously, Edwyn and Ingja are a couple.

Edwyn Verne

Edwyn never felt the strongest of ties to his homeland of High Rock. He had no family so to speak of, and never really had the confidence to settle down anywhere for long. It was just him, his handful of books, and his conjurations for company and had been that way since he was a young teen... but even then, he had difficulty controlling the conjurations.

Once the Great War was over, just as he reached adulthood, he decided to try and hone his magic, and ventured over the border into Skyrim, to join the College of Winterhold. His studies were going incredibly well after just a few months there, and he had made extensive progress in taming his wolf familiar, Spectre. But one day, a little rabbit interrupted them, sending Spectre crazy as he began to chase the creature - unfortunately injuring Ingja, who had been out hunting in the frozen lands around Winterhold, in the process.

After helping to return the injured Ingja to Winterhold, she begrudgingly offers to thank him with a drink at the inn. One drink turned to two, and a night out in thanks turns to numerous nights out, and even a few days, as a curiosity in magic had been ignited in her and he had offered to teach her.

He falls for her hard over those few month - just as she did for him. Unfortunately, their first kiss gets disturbed by her brother, and Edwyn ends up with a bounty on his head for 'clearly controlling Ingja with his foul magic', when he didn't know an ounce of illusion magic - not that her family knew or cared for the differences between the schools of magic, it was all the same for them.

But that doesn't deter them from seeing each other. Or running away from Winterhold together, for that matter. Or getting married and even having a child, their beloved daugher Elyse.

They find themselves in High Rock once more, and he takes on various teaching positions to try and earn money whilst Ingja takes on more dangerous tasks as a hunter and mercenary for hire. He would constantly fret about her any time that she was gone for more than a day, though always hid his worry from the ever-curious Elyse, and would relish in the relief whenever she would return home.

As soon as they had enough money to do so, the family moved to somewhere more stable - Chorrol. Life almost seemed perfect... until the love of his life began to fade away before his eyes.

Ingja Frosthand

Ingja had always been taught never to interact with and never trust the mages in the College, and she had no reason not to believe that. Unless it came from her mother, who always seemed to have a bone to pick with her and only seemed to care about her younger brother. She only really cared about what her father thought on matters though, and that was what he believed.

One of her favourite pasttimes had always been hunting from as soon as she was taught to wield a bow, which even in spite of the lands around Winterhold being sparce, she could easily spend days upon days exploring the environment and making sure that her family could eat well for a time. On one of her hunting trips, following an argument with her mother, she ends up getting injured as a result of Edwyn's experiments with his conjurations. He helped her return to Winterhold, and though it went against every instinct in her body, because he was a mage, she offered to buy him a drink in thanks.

Much to her surprise... she realises that Edwyn, and in turn the mages in the College, were just as much people as she and the other residents of Winterhold were. And she found his clumsiness and enthusiasm to be endearing... and she fell in love with him after asking him to teach her how to use magic herself. On the day that she finally created a flame with his tutelage, she couldn't help but pull him in for a kiss... just for her brother to witness it, freak out, and run to tell her parents.

Enraged that her father had the gall to get a bounty placed on Edwyn's head, and to ground her in spite of her being an adult in her own right whilst also planning to have her sent away from Winterhold to distance her from Edwyn, she manages to earn her way into the College before planning to run away with Edwyn so that they could be together.

Putting Winterhold behind her for Edwyn was one of the few reckless decisions she knew that she would never regret, especially from the moment she held their daughter in her arms for the first time. She only returned to Winterhold after thirteen years, Elyse in tow, on the day of her father's funeral. Edwyn kept himself hidden away in Windhelm on that day on her request, knowing full well that the bounty had never been removed from his head.

Though life was incredibly unstable whilst Elyse was young, her jobs putting her into increasingly dangerous situations, the day that she and Edwyn paid for a house of their own in Chorrol was enough to make her cry because she no longer needed to put herself in danger. She actually picked up some hobbies, like alchemy and baking, but never put down her bow... at least until her bones grew weary and weak, before she fell into death's grasp.

To say that she was horrified when her daughter appeared in Sovngarde saying that she was Dragonborn, and there to defeat Alduin, was an understatement.

[abookishdreamer]

Character Intro: Aeschyne (Kingdom of Ichor)

Age- 45 (immortal)

Location- Hearthwood neighborhood, New Olympus

Personality- She's a thoughtful austere woman who believes in personal enlightened purity and being in service to others to those who are less fortunate. She can be rigid & judgemental at times. She's asexual and is single.

She has the standard abilities of a goddess except shapeshifting. As the goddess of modesty & honor her other powers/abilities include being able to induce the feeling of humility in others (temporarily), truth sense (not as strong as Apollo or Themis), limited photokinesis, and being able to transform her entire physical state into organic steel (like osmium) as a form of defense or heightened emotional states.

Aeschyne has one child, a daughter Alke (goddess of courage). She set out to use the fertility services of Gaia (goddess of the earth) after having a prophetic dream about "bringing glory into the pantheon." The great earth goddess herself even delivered the baby!

She lives in a small simple house in the Hearthwood neighborhood of New Olympus. The interior design is very understated & minimalist with the color scheme being cream, ivory, gray, and pastel blue. Many pottery pieces decorate the house as well. In her bedroom there's a small TV that has access to a few channels- namely public access & news channels.

Aeschyne has an animal companion- a female griffin named Charity. Their bond is so strong that they're able to sense each other's location and when they're in danger. Aeschyne came upon her when she was a sick fledgling during a missions' trip to Ithaca, stumbling upon the remains of a mother griffin that fell victim to poachers. Hidden away underneath her wing was Charity! Aeschyne took the small creature, nursing her back to health. Charity is her usual mode of transportation when traveling great distances. Aeschyne usually gets around by walking or riding her bike.

She always starts off her mornings with an hour long session of meditation followed by yoga.

Aeschyne doesn't partake in any alcohol. Go-to drinks for her include aloe vera juice, mineral water, coffee, green tea, coconut water, almond milk, and orange juice. At The Roasted Bean she likes the iced green tea, the flat white (made with almond milk), & the iced brown sugar oatmilk espresso.

She keeps her long waist length dark brown hair neatly trimmed. She'll normally wear it in a low tight bun, as a single braid running down her back, or completely covered with a conservative headdress.

For the longest time Aeschyne and her daugher were best friends. One wasn't seen without the other. Things began changing when Alke made the decision to move out. Then she started to veer away from some of the austere principles she grew up in. Aeschyne was dumbfounded when she finally visited her daughter. Alke's long wavy dark brown hair was now a blunt buzz cut & she also had a nose ring along with several piercings on her ears. It's still difficult for Aeschyne to come to terms with her daughter's newfound worldview, but she's making the effort to not be totally narrowminded.

A typical breakfast for her is a small cup of black coffee along with a buttered koulouri (sesame bread) and moustokouloura. She also likes a small bowl of plain yogurt lightly drizzled with thyme honey & two everything bagels topped with tzatziki cream cheese from The Bread Box. She also likes rizogalo, buttered croissants, and Earthly Harvest raisin crunch cereal.

Aeschyne recently added aikido martial arts to her list of pasttimes. She was drawn to it namely for the fact that it's a primarily defensive form of fighting.

She loves using the Glory's Crown coconut water and aloe vera shampoo, conditioner, & hair mist.

White lilies are her favorite flowers!

Her favorite frozen treat is almond oatmilk ice cream. Every week, she gets a small cup from The Frozen Spoon.

Aeschyne doesn't wear any makeup except for moisturizer for her skin and LipCalm mint tea moisturizing lip balm.

For work/means of income Aeschyne is heavily involved in charity work. She works with one of her friends Eusebeia (goddess of piety, loyalty, duty, & filial respect) and her organization, The Pietas Foundation.

She also works alongside The Litae at The Eleutherus Cathedral.

On her own Aeschyne is the author of a childrens' chapter book series titled The Kids of Pure Creek. The series follows a group of friends of varying backgrounds from the same tight knit community. Faith, friendship, & family are the core of the series.

Currently, Aeschyne is overlooking the construction for a monastery that's being built in the Athenian countryside. This coincides with the startup of her organization I Aiónia Parthenía (The Eternal Maidenhood). It's a membership for like minded ascetic women who voluntarily choose to leave aspects of mainstream society and live their life in prayer, contemplation, & active vocation of service to the needy, sick, poor, and uneducated.

Her all time favorite dessert is ultra moist lemon blueberry cake from Hollyhock's Bakery.

In the pantheon Aeschyne's best friend is Soteria (goddess of safety). She enjoys the time where she visits her & her family where they cook, garden, knit, and read. Aeschyne is quite fond of Soteria's daughters Eleos (Ellie) (goddess of mercy, pity, & compassion) and Eulabeia (goddess of caution)‐ refering to them as her "honorary nieces." She has also gotten close with Soteria's in-laws Anchiale (Titaness of fire) and Hecaterus (Titan god of manual labor).

Aeschyne & Soteria spend time together outside the house too- like going to a bookstore, visiting the museum, or volunteering their time at the local food bank.

She's also friends with Hestia (goddess of the hearth), Axiótimos (god of honor), Peitharchia (goddess of obedience & discipline), Apheleia (goddess of simplicity), Eikono (goddess of iconography & literature), and Ptocheia (goddess of beggary).

Aeschyne is in talks of possibly being an official mentor to Aidos (goddess of shame, modesty, humility, & respect).

The list of deities she doesn't like is a long one, with her publicly denouncing a few including Dyssebeia (goddess of ungodliness & impiety), Kakia (goddess of vice & moral wrongdoing), and Koros (god of surfeit & disdain).

She recently donated a wide range of menstrual pads to the young girls of The Old Order community.

In her free time Aeschyne enjoys woodworking, pottery, knitting, sewing, reading, writing, gardening, hiking, swimming, chess, and cooking.

Her all time favorite meal is garlic & thyme rice along with horiatiki.

"Be modest and simple in your deportment and treat with indifference whatever lies between virtue & vice."

[theoakandthemistletoe]

Ancestral Disgrace

As mentioned elsewhere, in their childhood, the Marquis Skullduggan was nearly betrothed to an heir of the Duke of Fajava. The Skullduggans at the time lacked both power and influence, and were increasingly reliant on strategic alliances with other Houses to maintain their position. How did a House which had been influential throughout Anken's history end up in such a situation?

The hot tempers of the Skullduggans are one of their most infamous features. They enjoy provoking people, and none of them will back down when this leads to a fight. Most of them, however, have enough sense to keep this to verbal arguments when it comes to the other noble families. Causing a stir is their favourite pasttime, but it's more fun to wind the other nobles up and watch their frustration when they can't actually hit the Skullduggan causing the annoyance.

Not so for one Skullduggan. Predating the current Marquis by approximately four or five generations, they had an unfortunate predilection for duelling and, worse, were reasonably good at it. It was inevitable that they would end up challenging the wrong person in the end. The nature of the dispute is long forgotten now, but even today the result sometimes gets muttered and passed around in the corridors of court: the death of the eldest child of the Duchess of Rodyn.

Reactions from the other noble families were swift. House Skullduggan found themselves ostracised from polite society, ignored in debates, and struggling to seal trade deals, massively handicapping their influence. It carried over to the next couple of generations, too. Rodyn is one of the most highly-respected duchies, known for being a moderating influence on the other Houses, a rare voice of reason, and a renowned seat of learning, and the other Houses were unlikely to take Skullduggan's side in the feud.

Their fortunes only began to change around the time of Gideon's arranged marriage. Much as the other Houses disliked them, an increasing number of scuffles with the Bos Hwansek were an unwelcome yet unavoidable reminder that the Skullduggans were a military force to be reckoned with, the sole buffer between the kingdom and their southern enemies, with whom tensions were constantly growing.

While Ren rode to Fajava to prevent the arranged marriage, their parent, known as Grand, was summoned to the capital of Dwylionn. Although Grand and the Duke of Dwylionn got along well, and were even related by marriage thanks to one of those strategic alliances, they expected to receive the usual dressing down for kicking off in the south, and were already angry about the potential decision to sell their first grandchild to Fajava, so they turned up ready for a fight. The actual purpose of the visit came as a shock. Duke Tooke instead offered the Skullduggans support in pushing the court for a formal war and funding for their efforts, revealing that he was keen to have their military skill back on side. The Skullduggans and the Tookes share a long history together in the kingdom's founding, as the military and economic powerhouses respectively, and the Duke wanted his right hand soldier back.

Pride nearly ruined the whole deal, but the opportunity to once again be more than powerless background noise couldn't be passed up, and Grand accepted. Dwylionn's support lifted Scrantz back into its accustomed place and ended the shame and ignominy of House Skullduggan, and the other Houses have regretted it ever since.

As a postscript, the ensuing war became known in Scrantz as Ren's War. Ren Skullduggan was instrumental in the kingdom's victory, expanding their territory to the south, and used the respect this bought them to cement their branch of the family as the current core of House Skullduggan.

[howling-techie]

This reminds me of a beach I used to go to a lot as a child!

It had a small stream that ran from the top of the beach into the sea, and every day all the kids would break into groups and get to work constructing surprisingly intricate series of dams, reservoirs, overflow spillways, whatever we could make out of sand and stones. And even then there were always tests to see what the best building materials were. Dry sand, wet sand, mixed with rocks, what ratio of rocks, plus whatever else we could get our hands on.

Obviously by the next day whatever we'd build would have eroded and collapsed, with traces of what was done the day before ready to be built on again with slight variations, with some plans having bigger impacts than others - I remember the summer that big rock in the middle of the stream was placed, and it's fun to see it still leaving an impact.

No pasttime or hobby I've had as an adult has come close to the sense of accomplishment I got once some grand works had been completed and we'd (at least temporarily) bent the water to our will.

rb for sample size etc etc !! <3

[dojae-huh]

I often dismiss someone's idea in one sentence. And, I suppose, many attribute it to a JaeDo shipper's bias or my personal dislike of some neos or whatnot. I don't spend time on explaining myself to newer readers or passerbies who don't know what I covered in the past because my time is precious, there are things to do during the day.

There are degrees of probability to each offered explanation of events or behaviour. The more information and knowledge you have on the matter, the more sure you can feel about your choice.

Q: As a child my favourite game was throwing snowballs. Truth or false?

It is 50/50 at this point.

Additional information var 1: I spent my childhood in Finland.

Additional information var 2: I spent my childhood in Indonesia.

Finland has long snowy winters, it is now much more plausible that I liked throwing snowballs. There was opportunity for this. It is a normal pasttime for the kids of the northern regions.

Indonesia? People live there never seeing snow in their lives. There is still a chance, though. Maybe I was a child of very wealthy parents and liked to go to the winter emulating complex with artificial snow, or we flew monthly to Korea for snowboarding.

It's more like 95/5 now.

Additional information 3: I didn't like to spend time outdoors, I preferred to read books.

Now, even if I'm from Finland with the opportunity to play in the snow, the answer still can be "false". With video games being the real favourite game.

The inclination to choose one or the other answer will shift again, maybe to 60/40.

And every bit of new information will change the way the answer is going to be chosen. False/true.

Same thing happens with fandom things and opinions. A lot depends on what a particular fan knows and takes into consideration. The body of knowledge, and the ability to use that knowledge for a thought through response.

[fantastical-euphoria]

there wasn’t a lot of people who could say that their big brother was a tv star.

but i can.

i guess you could call it my claim to fame. but i never wanted to be famous. neither did my brother.

all he wanted to do was make people smile and laugh. specifically children.

because, you see, the type of tv show he starred on was a bit unconventional.

it was a children’s program called “percy’s playhouse,” and it had a side segment called “percy’s playground,” which starred real life children as well.

percy was a literal magnet to children. perhaps it was because he was a giant, 24-year-old child himself, with these entrancing rainbow lights dancing all around him.

whenever i would stay at the hospital, getting my treatments, i would always watch his show. and he would always give me a shoutout at the end, and he’d smile and wave, with the other hand clenched and placed on his hip, his chest open, standing tall, beaming, as if he were proud of showing me off.

but i knew that all he wanted was to see me happy. that was the sole purpose of the tv show. not just to make kids happy. but to make his 19-year-old terminally ill little sister happy.

back when my skin was far less pale and i didn’t get tired so easily, and i wasn’t confound to a bed, we’d always run outside together, chasing each other, these little games he made up keeping us going, day and night, under the stars, falling down with laughter. he’d always wanna pick me up and twirl me around, swing on the tree swing. lay down on the grass, no matter how cold it felt, and stare up at the stars, the clouds.

he’d always make sure i was comfortable. and he’d hate when mom would beg us to come in.

he was the type to dance in the rain. he absolutely loved the outdoors.

i thought of that, everytime i could see rain trickle down my hospital room window, the sunlight barely streaming in when it was daylight.

i used to be so scared of storms, too. now, the rain seemed almost comforting, always. percy was never scared of it. he told me that the sky was like an alternate dimension, that he dreamed of exploring one day.

he always wanted to play dress up with me, because that was my favorite pasttime when i was little. and we would dress in the tackiest princess and fairy costumes. this earned him countless remarks along the lines of “isn’t dress-up for girls?” he didn’t care. as long as he could see that i was happy.

he’d always want to draw on me too, with marker. and he was super creative. of course, now he has a whole sleeve of tattoos on his arm. unfortunately, due to the nature of his show, he has to cover it up with this bulky black armband. he said it always itched, and was always tight on him.

i was always afraid of getting tattoos, i told him this. “ah, it’s nothing to be afraid of,” he made this sound as optimistic as he could. because he knew how petrified of needles i was.

on the show, too, he always wore a blue skivy, the shades of blue varying. he did this because he knew it was my favorite color. the color of my room, actually.

he also knew that in my room, i kept my orange tabby cat named ginger and my blue tang named dori. hence why those were the names of the cat and the fish on the tv show. they were paid actors that dressed up in costumes and talked in funny-pitched voices, obviously to appeal to younger audiences.

and percy would always speak in this unnaturally high-pitched, boisterous voice as well. i knew in real life, he had a much deeper voice. but it was very calming and soothing. gentle and reassuring. that was just his nature. and he spoke in this voice during the segments where he was with the other children, so as not to frighten them any.

on the show, he loved to talk about his passion for playing the guitar. he had an electric guitar that he’d play for me. and i’d always want to sit beside him when he played it. he desperately wanted me to learn how to play. but i wasn’t really interested in that. and he would beg and plead. that guitar was his passion, his baby. he’d have a running joke on the show that he was in love with it and would make out with it. that always got the kids to laugh. it was a musical show, so he’d come up with songs to play and sing for the kids. i mentioned he was creative; not only could he draw beautifully, but he also could write a mean hit song.

he also encouraged his young viewing audience not to get caught up in the “dangerous habit” of playing video games. but there he was, back at home, always playing them. he was just as big a kid as any when it came to video games. this too, i sat down beside him to observe, eyes fixated on the screen. i always was so entranced by the bright lights. i wanted to know how to play. and he would teach me, and we’d play together. “aren’t you more interested in playing the guitar though?” he asked me once. i shook my head and said no.

i managed to meet his manager once, whose name was dani. she was good friends with my mom. apprently percy had a massive crush on her. she had twin daughters named sidney and maggie, who actually played these two characters on the show, named symphony and melody. they were twin anthropomorphic stars, one that glowed yellow and one that glowed blue. they were meant to have the mentality and personality of two-year-olds, but i knew the daughters in real life were about seven or eight. and percy was the biggest sweetheart to them. he always said they reminded him of a littler version of me. that made him happy.

apparently all they did on the show was help him out on his little “adventures” and “quests.” and they talked normally albeit didn’t say much. but they were so small, in comparison to percy, he had to bend down to talk to them, it was honestly kind of cute to see. he was used to doing that with the little kids that came on his show, though. and he was the nicest person to each and every single one of them.

ironic, considering how shitty the parents of these children treated him, and the reviews of the show. everyone assumed that he was autistic. he wasn’t. true, he might have had adhd at school, and he may have never outgrown that. but they also said that he just seemed too immature, too irresponsible to live out in the real world, to start a life on his own, to have a family.

he told me one night, quite tearfully, that a family of his own was one of his biggest wishes. “you have no idea how badly i want that,” he choked out to me. hence why he wanted a girlfriend so badly as well.

it broke anyone’s heart to see him sad; when he cried, he cried silent tears, but the look on his face truly indicated how hurt he felt. he was truly fragile, and all he wanted was to be loved by everyone. i knew dani treated him like her son, moreso than my mom (who initially thought the idea of him performing for children was a huge joke), but, i always supported him, always loved him. he would always call me and tell me how much he missed me, all of our time together. that was really the only time he ever got emotional. he wore his emotions on his sleeve. he was always his transparent and vulnerable self around me, but seemingly never around anyone else. maybe i was the only place where he knew he’d be safe to be his genuine self.

i would always wish to be a guest star in the show, to star alongside the other kids that came on the segment. but the only thing he ever wanted was to visit me in the hospital, to pick me up and squeeze me gently. when he hugged you, he never wanted to let go, or at least until he got a good giggle fit out of you.

but when he used to visit me at the hospital, in between seasons of his shows, he would always sit in bed next to me, clutch my hands tightly, read me a story, tell me a story, tell me about all that was happening on set of his show. how much i would love everyone there. but i would tell him that i loved him most of all, and that i didn’t want him to leave.

“allie,” he whispered to me, looking deep into my eyes with visible tears in his own, “i don’t want you to leave me.”

but i never left percy, even as i was preparing to enter the afterlife, as he liked to call it.

he talked one day about bringing the show to me. i laughed and asked, “how are you even gonna do that?”

but he was a clever one.

i was watching a live taping of the show one day, and percy had gotten to his “word of the day” segment, where it was just him, no side characters, no background characters, just him speaking to the young viewing audience, in front of the camera.

“our word today is inseparable,” he spoke, with a smile on his face and a proud gleam in his eye. “this word means exactly as it sounds, not able to be separated. just imagine two things being stuck together, and you aren’t able to tear them apart. that’s what inseparable means.” he started to demonstrate the word using these tiny wood blocks and some glue, and he struggled to pry them apart. breathlessly he said, “yep, that’s inseparable all right!”

then his expression shifted turning soft, as his voice got a bit lower, talking significantly more sincere, genuine and authentic, and from the heart. “but being inseparable doesn’t just apply to physical items, such as the blocks here.” he gave a small smile. “it can apply to certain things, such as people, that you hold in your heart, such as friendships! can you think of someone in your life that you can’t imagine living without?” he paused so the kids at home could have a chance of thinking, and he thought right along with them.

“let me introduce you to a friend of mine that i can’t imagine living without, my little sister allie.” he then walked over to another table that was usually dedicated to showing other things to better illustrate his word of the day. but in this case, there were all these pictures of me taken directly from where they were hung up in our house, of me, back when i was healthy, back when i was the little girl he’s always chase in the backyard, the one who was spritely, and lively, and vivacious, and not ghastly and weak like i was now.

he picked up one of the pictures, pointing to it. “you may recognize her as the girl i give a shout-out to at the end of each episode.”

then he set the picture down, using both his hands to help articulate, emphasize and illustrate his words.

“now, siblings are a very special type of friend. they share the same blood as you, which i know sounds a bit strange, but it’s true! the two, or three, or four, or more of you are naturally inseparable because you live under the same roof and belong to the same set of parents. isn’t that cool?” he picked up another one of the pictures of me, running his thumb along the edge of it, looking at it fondly, his smile fading a bit. “yeah,” he dropped his voice down even more, “siblings are great to have… especially if you never made friends that easily in school. if neither of you did. you always have each other to be your best friend.” his smile returned. “that’s allie and me. we’re like… like inseparable besties.” and he began to passionately ramble off all the things we did together, appearing comically out of breath after he did so.

“so you see? that’s what keeps the bond between you there. that’s like the glue holding us blocks together. even if we’re far apart, it’s these memories that keep us together. that can’t possibly tear us away from each other.” he picked up one last picture, the gaze he gave this one looking a bit sadder than before. “i love her very, very, much,” he nearly whispered this, that’s how soft he spoke.

then he turned back to the camera. “hey, why don’t we pay a visit to her right now? i really want you guys to meet her. would that be okay?” he paused in order to let the kids back at home answer.

that was when i heard a knock at the door of my hospital room, and a camera crew roll in, with percy strolling right in front of them.

“and here she is!” he was talking to the camera. “well, i said to you folks earlier that she was my little sister… not so little anymore, now, is she?” he chuckled slightly, but i could hear a melancholy inflection in his voice as well. because i was growing up. he didn’t want the kids watching back at home to think that growing up was a negative thing. everything he talked about on that show had to appeal to kids. and it had to appeal in the positive direction. always.

you have no idea how badly i wanted to jump out of my bed and squeeze him so tightly. this was my biggest dream come true. well, maybe not in the exact way i envisioned it. but i still got to see my brother. and that made me the happiest i’d been in a long, long while.

all we talked about from that point forward was our favorite things to do, and some memories that i had of each other. that only lasted for five minutes though, as the show crew was strict on not allowing the program to run over time. but after the cameras were cut, he slid in my bed right beside me, blue skivy and all, and we got to hug each other and talk a whole bunch of other nonsense.

i asked him if this would run on the playhouse segment or the playground segment, and he said the playhouse one, since that one got statistically more viewership. he said that it was kind of his intention to have it run on that one, anyway, because he wanted to reach a larger viewing audience while bringing awareness to my medical condition and how people at home could donate to the cause.

and attract viewers it certainly did.

the donations came pouring in, helping to raise money in support of my medical treatments. even though my condition was terminal, it didn’t mean that i would be gone from this earth anytime soon. i still had time left. percy knew exactly how to treasure each and every single moment of that time, in between working on the show and performing for kids.

all the comments from viewers came pouring in as well.

“it’s honestly so sweet to see how much percy cares for his sister,” one viewer commented.

“i can’t imagine him not having any friends in school. all the kids love him!” another viewer commented.

“that must be the dream to have your older brother be a children’s entertainer. i so wish i had that,” another commented.

“he seems like such a sweetheart, my biggest comfort character fr,” another chimed in, a reply to this being “having him be your brother? sign me up! she’s living the dream,” and another being “love this for her!”

“makes me sad to think of when he won’t be able to see his best friend anymore in future,” yet another commented. “i bet he’ll be absolutely devastated.”

“he’s so optimistic about the circumstances. we need more lights in this world like him!” was the reply to this.

“he needs more friends that aren’t just people under the age of ten. i bet so many of us that are either his age or his sister’s age would love to hang out with him.” this was someone my age commenting this, which surprised me. apparently this episode attracted a pretty unprecedented viewing audience, all the kids between the ages of 17-29… the kids that weren’t really kids anymore, but were perhaps chasing after their childhood and the memories that came with it, slowly and gradually fading away with passing time.

“he is such a light and such a joy to this world, why do people treat him like such garbage?” i didn’t know if that pertained to this episode specifically.

but it was after this episode that percy’s faith in humanity, well, adults, rather, was somewhat restored. sure, he got the occasional negative comment from somewhere obscure, but that was a given. the flood of positive comments that he got, and from people older than me who now watched the show and wanted to meet him so badly, was pretty startling to see, but in the best way possible. “i’m not used to all this attention,” he joked to me once.

[seedsinmygarden]

Leon Lancaster, the Heartthrob

“Do you hear them roaring for us?! We will win this Cup, not just for us, but for them! All of them!”

Basic Information

Identifying Gender/Species: Cisgender Human Male, he/him pronouns.

Birthdate: August 5th, 1874 (Leo)

Blood Status: Muggle-Born

Wand: Stalk design, Warm Brown color. Apple wood, unicorn hair core, 13”, quite flexible flexibility.

Pets?: Fluffy orange tabby cat named Peanut.

Appearance

Height and Body Type: Tall and lean, with a lot of muscle on top, giving him an inverted triangle body type. He’s already 6’0 (183 cm) by fifth year and hits 6’2 (188 cm) by the time he’s done growing.

Hair: Short, sandy brown hair, neatly combed over to one side properly.

Eyes: Green eyes, like the nicely trimmed grass of the Quidditch Pitch. Perfect vision, no need for glasses for this guy.

Scars and Other Marks: Splash of freckles on his face and semi-tan skin.

Clothing: He is a WHORE for his Quidditch jumper. He’ll wear it often, if not every day. He doesn’t care between pants or pantaloons. He dresses appropriately per weather— he’s not a dumbass, he wants to always stay in good health to be able to play or fly no matter what time of day or year it is.

Personality

As a popular kid, he loves the attention and applause he draws to himself. It’s not out of arrogance (okay, well, maybe a little), he just likes it when the eyes are on him.

Hero complex. Very much a hero complex.

Very charming, well-spoken, and outgoing. He is not a cruel man by any means— he genuinely wants the best for those he holds close.

As his archetype says, he is a heartthrob. He’ll flirt with anyone, and if they swoon, he’s got them hook, line, and sinker! He most certainly stays off limits from those that are taken, but if they’re a friend and it’s all jokes, he’ll still bring his game in flirting.

Genuinely cares for those he calls his friends. He is kind, loving, and wears his heart on his sleeve all day, every day.

Home Life

Birthplace: A muggle town in Ireland.

Birth Parents: Zachary and Laura Hackett

Adopted?: Nope.

Adoptive Parents: N/A

Siblings?: Two younger brothers; Samuel Hackett and Arlo Hackett.

Other Guardian Figures: Unfortunately, no.

Places of Residence: Born in a muggle town in Ireland, but the family moved to Lancaster, England (another muggle town), when Leon was still a young child.

Hogwarts Life

House: Gryffindor

Quidditch?: Yes. Quidditch is Leon’s number one pasttime. He plays chaser and he’s one of the greatest captains Gryffindor has ever known!

Clubs: Crossed Wands, Tommy’s Game Club, Reyes’ Racing Club

Other Activites: Studies sometimes, just enough for the better end of passing. (Not unlike the mindset of “C’s get degrees!”) He prefers to spend his time on the Quidditch Pitch or flying along the coastside. Sometimes he’ll join Phil on favors and improve his dueling skills for Crossed Wands.

Romance?: Yes! He has a girlfriend, and her name is Quidditch. In all seriousness, he’s not really looking for a serious relationship, but he does love to snog people just to feed the desire. Maybe after his Quidditch career comes to a close, he’ll think about settling down— marrying and having a family— but it’s not at the top of his priorty list currently when it comes to his partners.

Patronus: To be learned.

Animagus: To be learned.

Boggart: To be learned.

Amortentia: To be learned.

Trivia

The song Zero to Hero from Hercules is his theme song!

He’s always got a mint or two on him, he’s a stickler for fresh breath.

[back-and-totheleft]

"When I'm angry, I make documentaries"

"I don't lose my temper like I used to. Of course, that doesn't mean I intend to retire and write my autobiography." The humor of the man who says this is something important. When America seemed to have made its peace with Vietnam in the 1980s, he got angry, made Platoon and changed forever the way wars are shot on film. When the Warren Commission's work was too little for him, he released JFK and opened a decade of conspiracy culture around the assassination of President Kennedy. The injustice to be appeased, the mess to be unraveled, the giant to be brought down…all this has made Oliver Stone's career - which this year celebrates its third decade - unusually relevant in Hollywood. And he wants more. "I still wonder about the meaning of the eras I've lived through," he announces. "I still rage."

The son of a Republican and Jewish Wall Street broker and a Parisian, Stone still maintains that what matters in his craft, filmmaking, is to entertain. But he is best known as a 67-year-old Lisa Simpson: a compulsive denunciation machine, a troubadour of what America doesn't want to hear. Whether it's the interviews with Fidel Castro (in the documentary Comandante) and Palestinian leaders (in Persona Non Grata). Whether it is the drama of the soldiers of Vietnam (Born on the Fourth of July), of the terminal victims of capitalism (Wall Street) or of the Great American pasttime (Any Given Sunday). When he put himself in a positive key, it was to remind us that Richard Nixon also had his virtues. Such is his ability to go against official narrative that the heirs of Martin Luther King blocked a biopic he was preparing about the civil rights leader, afraid that the film would be about a man of flesh and blood, an adulterer shattered by conflicts with his movement, instead of an iconic orator.

Some say Oliver Stone is just a prima donna. It is possible. One only has to misinterpret the driving force behind his creation, his rage, for pretensions of transcendence. There are also those who say that the medals he won in Vietnam convinced him of the need to divide the world into those who take it seriously and those who do not. That is also possible. For that, one need only review the fable of his life: the one that began when he dropped out of Yale University to join the Army, wrote a shattering autobiographical novel called A Child's Dream, and ended up in jail for drug and alcohol abuse. These events led Stone to become someone who could be defined as addicted to truth (or at least one truth). Since then, when he has believed a story (whether it was something that was sold as true, but was proven to be a hoax, such as Midnight Express, which he wrote, or the conspiracy delusions of JFK), he has come forward.

And the money. For his most ambitious project to date, The Untold Story of the United States - a 10-hour documentary that dismantles 70 years of his country's official history - he has taken $1 million out of his own pocket out of the $5 million needed. And for the definitive version of Alexander, he unilaterally decided to rework the film, which failed in 2004, from start to finish. It is always unpredictable to know where his rage will surface.

Who was the first recipient of his rage?

My father, Louis, I think. I decided to go to war [in Vietnam] when everybody was looking to put it off, and he was a conservative Republican who raised me on the Upper East Side in terror of the globalization of Russian military power and hatred of communism. He didn't want me to go. Like every father, he was against the war. And above all, he felt it wasn't necessary for me to go, something I never agreed with.

Conflict sometimes brings people closer. What does part of Louis does Oliver carry inside him?

My father was an honest man and worked very hard. He was not a broker for money and did not gamble with other people's funds. He hated Roosevelt, as many did at the time, because he had forced a lot of rules on the stock market and created a flood of taxes. But those who came after, political leaders like Reagan or Thatcher, did worse, favoring all kinds of privatization without bothering to build a true free market. Those policies have led us to madness. In the end, my father's financial company was devoured by Sandy Weil, the former CEO of the financial giant Citigroup: the world's first mega-banker, the man who wanted it all. My father ended up paying commission after commission. And yet I saw how he remained loyal to his clients until the very last day. The stock market was a different world then. Banks reinvested large profits in social projects. They didn't take 70% of the profits into their pockets like Goldman Sachs does.

It must not have been easy for him to accept that he had an artist son.

For a long time he thought I was just a bum. At a certain point I started to think so too…. Although he was telling me that when I was 20 years old and had not yet established myself. He didn't believe in the movie business. It was something beyond his horizon, beyond his limpid but austere vision of life. However, before he died, he told me: "I was wrong. This movie thing will work out, people will always go to the movies." And he was right: in the 80s, the film industry exploded and I was ready to reap the fruits of my perseverance. I had a lot of insecurities when I was young, but they have been the forces that have inspired me throughout my life. I still haven't lost the desire to do more and more. Every director does what he does because he feels insecure about facing life.

Why are conflict and violence key in your art?

Corruption, distorted governments and war are at the heart of my experience of the world since I was born. As an artist, I have tried to show what I saw as best I could, as realistically as possible. Violence is something I know well, but I don't think my films are violent: rather they show the effects of violence. All except one, Natural Born Killers, where I wanted to be grotesque and had the two main characters kill 55 people.

Does anger lead you to make certain films and not others?

In my case it's the genre that changes. When I'm really angry, I make a documentary: I use the direct way to say it. If I tell a story, on the other hand, it means I'm calmer.

You seem to be able to handle ups and downs well. I've heard you say: "I like Nixon." And yet, it was not successful.

Life is hard and it's good to look at it as a whole. Some of my films have been successful, others have not; depending on which way the wind was blowing and whether I was lucky or not at the time. Meditation has had a great influence on my way of seeing things. It's a pity I didn't practice it when I was young. I started in 1993, and although it can be very frustrating, if you manage to be regular at it, it becomes a way of life. And a part of you. It has made me more aware.

Who else was important to your inspiration?

My mother. Even for me, she's been a discovery. If you see Alexander again, you will understand. When it premiered in 2004, I was forced to make it less than three hours and with very tight work schedules. So, in 2007 I took it up again. The new version I presented at the San Sebastian Festival last year is what I had in mind. I have retouched all the material shot and I have proposed a totally new journey, three hours and 26 minutes long, through the soul of a man, from the moment he is born until he dies. Of a man who had to go to the end of the world to resolve the conflict with his parents.

Your mother, like Alexander the Great's Olympias….

…she was, exactly, a very strong woman. Like my father. Which was for the best: if one of the two had dominated, there would not have been that conflict, that friction within me between father and mother, capable of unleashing a battle that has become my driving force. I was an only child and, like everyone else, I had to endure many more emotions than a child normally manages. When you're alone and your life is falling apart, everything is much more demanding.

Separation is painful. How have you protected your children from the end of your marriages?

I was married for seven years the first time, 13 years the second time, and 18 years [so far] the third time. In practice, it's as if I've been married forever. I'm a father of three. I've had my ups and downs, and I'm certainly still learning a lot about relationships. But I try my best to keep it all together. Even though I am very close to my son Sean and have listened to him and helped him, he suffered a lot from the end of my second marriage. I wasn't able to spare him.

Sean is a young director, just like you.

That's true. He's not yet 30 and he's already looking for his first success, which I had at his age. But I had no contacts in the industry, while Sean has always been surrounded by directors. Frankly, I'm not sure it's an advantage. It's very dangerous to have a father like me: it's like drinking wine and getting drunk. And it's easy to get lost. I wish him well. I would like him to be convinced that I don't care what he does or what he will become. Only love counts for me. So even if he ends up in jail, as I have, I will stand by him and love him for who he is.

You once said: "In my life there has been a lot of madness, but luckily it has always gone with the work."

Making films has calmed me down, given me confidence, brought out all the rage I had inside. Scorsese was my film professor in college [at NYU]: he was full of energy, full of passion. He was very important to me. One day he said to me, "You were in Vietnam, are you full of rage? Put it in your films." Over the years I have matured and learned to transform it into a positive emotion, but anger is also useful to search for the truth that continues to change as we grow.

So, little by little, I have matured and turned my anger into something positive and beautiful. And if - when I was young - I saw only war, crimes, corruption and lies, now I have more subtle antennae: now it is relationships with others that are at the center of my attention.

Any new inspiration?

Maybe I'm closer to death… [bursts out laughing]. I'd like to shoot something Visconti-like, similar to Bellissima. I always found the passion of that mother extraordinary, and I was fascinated by the relationship between father, mother and son. And, besides, I adore [Anna] Magnani.

-Christiana Allevi, "When I'm angry, I make a documentary," El Pais, Apr 20 2014 [translated from Spanish]

[dragonageconfessions]

CONFESSION:

I LOVE Oghren. Genuinely, I find him such an interesting take as a character, especially once you max out his approval. I think he's a genuinely fascinating study of both the treatment of soldiers who no longer can serve their functions as well as a male domestic abuse victim. Something he confides in you (albeit in a way he thinks is funny) happened from both Branka and his family as a child. Plus sometimes he's genuinely funny and I will not be arguing that. I think that the potential of a war vet struggling with his problems even after he got a supposed happy ending is an extremely engaging story and I enjoy him a lot as a character.

There are problematic elements to his writing, absolutely, but this game was written in the 2000s. The same era where the only way the devs could think to make Morrigan sexy is to give her a bikini somehow, and in the same vein, Mass Effect deciding that the main pasttime of an all-female race was to become pole dancers. It's absolutely possible to be entertained by a character while acknowledging problems that were specific to the era it was written in.

Plus this is why using the Feastday dlc is worth it - I can give him cake instead of alcohol.

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

Where does your opinion lie on the matter of sex and gender and the relationship between biological sex and gender roles/ gender prescriptions as a social construct.

We don't ask the same questions about tigers, peafowl or bees.

Sex-based behaviors (gender) are real. We can see them in other primates in a way that mirror ourselves.

Nobody wonders whether the peacock grows feathers and shows off for the females because of social expectations.

Nobody wonders whether the female mantis eats her mate because she's "fIgHtInG tEh PaTrIaRcHy!"

There are very real human sex-based averages that are derived from the evolution of our species, the pressures it has been under, the variations that have been most successful, and what each sex has needed of the other.

This means that, for example, boys are more inclined towards thing-based activities - careers, toys, pasttimes - while girls are more inclined towards people-oriented activities... on average. This is replicated cross-cultures.

Of course there are girls who want to fix trucks for a living, and boys who want to be kindergarten teachers. They are still girls and boys who will grow up to be women and men. And nobody should get in their way.

What you like doesn't define what you are. But what you are is still statistically significant, because it offers societal-wide information. The society-wide trend doesn't predict or define individuals, and individuals don't negate a society-wide trend. Which many people don't seem to understand.

Here's a good example. Average intelligence of women and men is the same.

While the means are the same, male intelligence is more variable, so you'll find more highly intelligent men at the higher end, and more really stupid men at the lower end. You possibly know at least one highly intelligent woman who is smarter than most of the men you know. That doesn't change the societal-wide trend.

This is simply a fact. You can get angry or offended, but it doesn't stop being true.

And in a similar way, men and women having different average interests, tendencies and behaviors - e.g. women tend to be more socially-oriented, men tend to be more action-oriented - makes sense in the light of evolution and the demands and pressures our primitive ancestors were subjected to by the natural world and the battle for success. And the demands males and females put upon each other.

Nobody gets angry when we mention that humans are prone to pareidolia - interpreting or perceiving meaning where it isn't there, such as a smiling or pouting "face" in the front end of a car. Evolutionarily, it makes sense. In the same way, noticing that sex-based differences are real might make people angry or offended, but that offence doesn't matter as far as what is real.

The idea that "gender is a social construct," then is nonsense. It's a denial of evolution itself, a denial of the way we came to be as a species. To suggest that the same tendencies we see in our primate ancestors - e.g. maternal instinct in female chimps carrying sticks - is some kind of social brainwashing requires believing that those tendencies disappeared from humanity's evolutionary line, then re-emerged, identically, as socially imposed roles.

That's creationism. Actually it's worse. Xian creationism simply asserts that everything is as it always was. Everything was created in its current form. Gender creationists must assert that humanity wound backwards to a blank slate state, then had the wherewithal to form a conspiracy of oppression to reinstitute the same vestigial traits back into society. Oh, and this happened either sufficiently far back in our development to precede or dispersal throughout the lands of Earth, or coincidentally every society on Earth came up with it more recently. Gender social constructivism is evolution-denying creationism.

This level of magical thinking makes me long for the days where Xians rambled about the laws of thermodynamics that they don't understand. The talking snake and donkey seem almost reasonable.

The domains that produce this kind of thinking are not science-based, they're political and ideological, such as Gender Studies. People in these fields don't study biology, they don't study demography, they don't study anthropology. They don't even study basic statistics.

Feminist theory, which is where "gender is a social construct" was really incubated as the justification for patriarchy theory, is not scientific, and is opinion (grievance)-based, not evidence based. One of the most tragic examples of this is the John/Joan case, where David Reimer was raised as a girl after a botched circumcision.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Reimer

Finally, on 14 March 1980, Reimer's parents told him the truth about his gender reassignment, following advice from Reimer's endocrinologist and psychiatrist. At 14, having been informed of his past by his father, Reimer decided to assume a male gender identity, calling himself David. He underwent treatment to reverse the reassignment, including testosterone injections, a double mastectomy, and phalloplasty operations.

[..]

His case came to international attention in 1997 when he told his story to Milton Diamond, an academic sexologist who persuaded Reimer to allow him to report the outcome in order to dissuade physicians from treating other infants similarly. Soon after, Reimer went public with his story and John Colapinto published a widely disseminated and influential account in Rolling Stone magazine in December 1997. The article won the National Magazine Award for Reporting.

This was later expanded into The New York Times best-selling biography As Nature Made Him: The Boy Who Was Raised as a Girl (2000), in which Colapinto described how—contrary to Money's reports—when living as Brenda, Reimer did not identify as a girl. He was ostracized and bullied by peers (who dubbed him "cavewoman"), and neither frilly dresses nor female hormones made him feel female.

Human nature is not as malleable as some people would like you to believe. You are a sexed being. How you "identify" can't change what you are. That doesn't mean you can't do what you want, express yourself how you want, but you are what you are.

This is only controversial to the people who want to push the story of humans being infinitely moldable, existing as divine gender thetans imprisoned in vulgar meat bodies.

Now, it is true that some of these tendencies and behaviors will tend to be limited or shaped by the culture of the society. But they're not constructed wholesale. For example, Japanese society is highly structured around honor. So male and female behaviors will tend to be expressed through those norms; male aggression and female agreeableness may take unique culturally influenced forms. But they're not created by them. Societies which have different pressures - e.g. in the freezing north regions of North America, vs the arid deserts of Africa - will unsurprisingly produce different cultural expectations upon men and women. Recognizing that isn't a form of bigotry, it's an acknowledgement of reality.

There's a reason stereotypes exist - because there is an element of truth in there, even if it's a tiny seed. If there wasn't, we wouldn't be able to recognize or apply them. They exist because humans are prone to cognitive shortcuts, as we have a lot of information to process and making choices or decisions doesn't always allow one to sit down and think things through methodically. Our ancestors wouldn't have had the time, and probably wouldn't have had the cognitive power.

"Girls like dolls, boys like trucks," is a very dirty shorthand. At its core is a demonstrable truth regarding societal-wide averages and tendencies that takes several paragraphs to explain more accurately (and some people will still be determined to be pissed off, no matter how you frame it). But stereotypes are not all we are, and there's no reason not to acknowledge them, but put them aside, or try to. And certainly no reason to use them to structure society itself, "fixing" girls who like trucks and boys who like dolls.

I don't know if that answers your question. Suffice to say that just as a scientific view of the world makes a god unnecessary, a scientific view of the world make social constructivism (postmodern creationism) unnecessary. We can explain the world without resorting to magic or conspiracies.

P.S. Reminder: social constructivism is a social construct.

[nerdygaymormon]

Life Gets Better

There is an alt-right religious forum that used to monitor my blog and discussed me for years, even doxxed me. I found them about the time they lost interest in me, it was shocking to see how closely they kept tabs on me, the things they thought about me and how much they knew about me (they knew a lot of info that isn’t on my Tumblr blog) 

I occasionally check in on that forum, one to see if they decided to attack me again (which they haven’t, they seem to have forgotten me), but also it’s frankly intriguing and scary to see how far off the rails people can go and still feel justified that they’re the true believers and the prophet and apostles and average church members are all apostate. 

I checked in again and they are involved in one of their favorite pasttimes, slamming gays and anyone who supports them. Lots of terrible comments. Then someone wrote that they felt this way until their child came out and is now married to his partner. This mom was devastated, but she shared that since he was little, in her heart she felt he was gay. He grew up as a good son and good person, was the peacemaker among his siblings, showed lots of concern and care for his parents.

I’m thinking, lady, it doesn’t surprise me he is gay, those sorts of things, being a peacemaker, caring for others, characterized as the ‘perfect’ child, that’s often typical of the queer child. 

She went on to write that in his teens he tried to hide from his feelings. He thought if he was a good member they would go away. He thought if he went on a mission they would go away. He thought if he got married to a woman they would go away. They never went away. Even though he got divorced from his wife and married a man, he’s still a good person. Please be kinder in how they talk about these people and these situations.

In my head I’m thinking how sad he went through all this alone. I know there was a lot of hurt and heartache in that journey, but finally acceptance of who he is has transformed his life. Maybe if it wasn’t for his parents he could have accepted himself years earlier.

The other forum members are furious at her post. Many claim that she caused him to become gay because of the feeling she had when he was little. Others claim it’s wrong to say he’s a good person if he’s sinning like that. They accuse her of trying to silence them and their support for Christ and the commandments. 

One commenter said his daughter expressed how she liked some fan fiction that involved same-gender attraction and he told her that’s a portal for evil spirits to take control of her, then he commanded the spirits to leave. Meanwhile, I’m thinking his daughter is queer and was bringing up the topic as a way to test the waters. She now knows her parents aren’t safe and she won’t tell them until maybe the day she gets engaged to her girlfriend.

One commenter lamented all the spirits who were supposed to be brought into the world by a certain mother or father, but those spirits are now stuck because their mom or dad is in a gay relationship. Others saying that same-gender couples have to be driven from church so as not to corrupt the children. Several saying it’s a choice to have gay feelings and/or it’s the result of being abused. There’s the usual tactic of lumping homosexuals together with pedophiles, beastiality, adulterers, murderers and whoever else they think is the worst of the worst.

They complained about Pride and how the gays have managed to convince much of the country, and the church leadership (really?) that being gay is good. They worry if the church is headed towards allowing sealings of gay couples, but they are confident God will not allow any gays in the Celestial Kingdom and maybe not even in the Terrestrial or Telestial. 

I found it incredibly sad that those who have queer children reject them, push them away, refuse to recognize the reality because it conflicts with something they were taught at church. Even the mom who the Spirit witnessed to refused to prepare for the day or make the path easier for her son and now laments the ‘perfect’ son who was better than all his siblings is the one who is gay. 

I share this not to mock the people on the forum, but because I know there’s queer people in our community who grew up/are growing up among these kinds of attitudes. They have to leave home before it’s safe to come out. They have to cut toxic family members from their lives. These families are literally pushing their queer children away. Life did eventually get better for them, as they got more control over their life they were able to find happiness and joy that was denied to them in queerphobic homes.