#And like I respect the characters for not wanting kits of course BUT

[bonefall]

Which Clan‘s family tree/genetic diversity is the worst? Which is the best?

Shadowclan is a fucking pretzel. It's so bad I wasn't able to save it. I was able to fix ThunderClan with some sacrifices, but ShadowClan is utterly, completely fucked.

Even before making any fixes, I had to map out the tree for Modern ShadowClan and Yellowfang's Secret. It's obscene. The tree from Yellowfang's Secret is DEAD, which created a grotesque genetic bottleneck.

There's 21 active warriors in modern ShadowClan and 11 of them are directly tied to Snowbird.

Sunbeam does not HAVE any male options she could possibly have non-inbred kittens with except Blazefire OR HER MENTOR, OR her mentor's brother.

It's bad. It's bad bad bad bad.

The best tree genetically is WindClan... but that's not a compliment either. It's full of 'orphan warriors' with unknown parents who came out of nowhere; and ALL of those orphan warriors are male.

Shellfur took the ONE clean molly out of WindClan for himself.

But... anyway... to fix the WindClan family tree, you just need change the parents of Onestar OR Ashfoot. You can even eliminate ALL instances of inbreeding by also changing the parents of Deadfoot or Sorrelshine. Very, very easy tree to fix.

[barrenclan]

what really fascinates me is the circumstances behind crow’s death. one of the big rules of defiance is don’t kill other members, and of course thrasher learned that the hard way. but why crow? yes, they wanted revenge, but deepdark had survived and his attempted killer was dead, what death did they have to avenge? who was there to punish for it? for the sins of their “father” (if you can even call him a father)? his kits did nothing and deepdark said he didn’t care, why go against what he said? and why would deep allow them to break one of his own rules just to prove a point? is it just bc one of his own did it? is hyssop really just that petty?

Trying to earnestly kill Deepdark is a biiiiiig no-no. Of course you can't kill other members as a rule, but just because a rule exists doesn't mean it never gets broken. Plenty of people make exceptions for actions they deem to be outside of the law, and assassinations are one of those in Defiance. Defiance animals will jump at the chance to gleefully execute a "traitor", and Thrasher's whole family was associated with him as a result of his actions. It's likely they weren't going to be trusted going forward, and when Crow turned up dead, Egret realized there was no reason to assume they'd be safe. (Because Hyssop killed her in secret)

Hyssop's not petty, but he is a big suck-up who wants Deepdark to respect him. It doesn't work, but it is useful, so Deepdark lets him keep groveling.

Crow is a girl, but I'm gonna miss her too. I really like drawing all of Corm's siblings, honestly, I shouldn't have spent such good designs on background characters.

[angelbaby-fics]

Don't Bite

Word Count: 850

Warnings: Slight injury to the reader! Lots of comfort and fluff though of course!!

A/N: Aww this one's kinda similar to one I did for the tea party event but I've actually had this concept in my notes app for like 6 months! Hopefully posting this finally works & I hope you guys enjoy!! ❤️

It started off as a peaceful morning. Steve was in the kitchen, his turn to clean up after breakfast, and Bucky was starting up a load of laundry down the hall. You were splayed across the couch, watching cartoons and digesting your pancakes when Alpine sauntered over to the sofa and leapt up next to you. The cat took a big yawn before curling up halfway on your chest, purring and nuzzling you as you pet her silky white fur. Lost in the dancing colors on the tv screen, you aimlessly scratched behind her ears, down her back, across the length of her tail.

Too far!

In a flash of white, Alpine whipped her body around to face your offending hand and let off a warning hiss! Your precious pet suddenly transformed into a vicious predator, baring her fangs at you with fire in her eyes. Out of shock, you pulled your hand away, some of the fur still entwined within your fingers, and when you yanked back, Alpine sunk her teeth into your arm out of self defense. It wasn't too hard, just meant to admonish you like she would her own kitten, but her teeth were sharp enough to break your skin, and the sight of blood was enough to make you start screaming. 

Naturally, Steve and Bucky were abandoning their respective chores rushing to your side to comfort you in no time. Alpine had fled the scene at the sound of your screams, so it wasn't immediately apparent to them what was wrong; all they saw was their baby, distressed and injured. Hearts racing, they each tried in their own way to figure out what the problem was and solve it. Steve dried your tears, carefully petting your head and whispering words of comfort to you while Bucky protectively wrapped an arm around you, jaw clenched with stress as he scanned the room for what hurt you. 

When they were both certain the coast was clear, they moved you to the bathroom, Bucky holding you firmly against his chest. He kept you in his arms as he sat down on the closed lid of the toilet, pulling your legs up onto his lap as Steve rummaged through the cupboard for the family's first aid kit. He emerged with a clear tub, which he set on the bathroom counter and opened and began unpacking. Your arms were wrapped around Bucky's neck, and he felt you grip onto his t-shirt once you saw Steve pull out the bottle of antiseptic. 

"Nonononono," you mumbled into Bucky's shoulder, "no more ouchies please!"

He tightened his arms around you, soothingly rubbing your back. Both your daddies' hearts broke at your pleas. 

"I know, babydoll. It's just gonna last a second, okay?" Steve tried to reassure you, but your tears were starting up again.

"Shhh.... You're safe baby, it's okay," Bucky whispered into your ear. 

He reached up to untangle your injured hand from his shirt. Holding it softly in his right hand, he slowly brought your arm down from his neck and held it out towards Steve, who was looking at you with eyes like warm oceans. You met his gaze and nodded slightly before turning your face back into Bucky's chest, bracing yourself for the sting of the antiseptic. Maybe it was the gentleness that Steve applied the cotton on your skin, or maybe it was the hold Bucky had around you keeping you safe, but it didn't hurt nearly as badly as you thought it would. Next thing you knew, you were emerging from you Bucky cocoon to see Steve presenting you with multiple boxes of bandaids. 

"Alright, angel, you get to pick whichever kind you want!"

You looked between the boxes, some with cartoon characters, some with animals or flowers or rainbows or stars. You pointed towards your favorite, and Steve got to unwrapping it, kneeling down to your level to softly and sweetly stick the bandaid to your skin. Then he started clapping. 

"All done, baby! You did such a good job!" Steve cheered for you, smile beaming, but your eyes were drawn to something else.

Curious about her family all gathering in one room, Alpine was peering around the doorway of the bathroom. Usually she would bound right in, weaving herself between Bucky's legs or trying to get another treat out of Steve, but now she was unusually reserved. It was as if she knew that all this commotion, all this distress was because of her. Bucky leaned over to see where you were looking, Steve turned around, and instantly they solved the puzzle of what had happened to you. 

"Oh baby, did Alpine get you?"

You nodded, and whispered "Piney bite."

With a steely look, Steve walked over to the cat, bending down to look her in the eyes, and he shook a stern finger at her.

"Alpine, we don't bite our friends, do you understand?" He asked her, which made you start giggling; music to your daddies' ears.

"Its okay, Piney, I forgive you!"

And once again, it seemed like she understood, because with a little trill, she was trotting over to you, pressing her face up against you and starting to purr.

[arctickat2400]

Celebration ∞ Prince Kit

Prince Kit x Reader

A/N: This is my first Richard Madden fanfic/imagine. I thought of this the other day and I'm now just getting to writing it. I didn't have any notes like I usually have for my stories so I'm not really sure if it came out how I wanted it to or not. But either way, hope y'all enjoy it and please request more if you're into Richard and his characters, or you can request other people/characters as well.

* * * *

Being queen had its advantages - your closest friends were royalty from around the world and you could throw galas and balls whenever you want to, among other things. More specifically, being the wife of your husband Kit came with many advantages, too. For your birthday, Kit would throw a huge gala in your honor. He knew you weren’t big on parties and huge crowds, but how could he not throw such a party to celebrate the love of his life? This also allowed all your friends from all the kingdoms to come and celebrate with you. This allowed you to see the joy it caused all the people invited as they danced and talked to people they don’t get to see often because they have their own kingdoms to rule. And it made you so happy to see them all so happy, having a carefree night to enjoy themselves and have fun. You also got to dress up, which you loved, and seeing how everyone dressed up in their respective kingdoms piqued your interest. 

However, being queen and attending such events had their disadvantages. You were not big on parties, as was stated previously. Although you loved your friends and loved seeing everyone having a good time in your kingdom, crowds made you anxious, and being in the company of so many people for so long made you tired and drained. And no matter how much you loved your dress and loved dressing up, your mind seemed just a bit more hyperaware than usual of how tight your corset felt. 

After your dance with Kit to celebrate your birthday, you’d been chatting with some of your friends, talking about the things going on in your different kingdoms, laughing about random things. Every now and then, a king, queen, prince, or princess would come up to you and wish you a Happy Birthday, to which you would respond graciously with “thank you” or something alike. Another friend or two would join your previous conversation, but after a while, you started to feel lightheaded.

You excused yourself from your friends, telling them simply that you needed a break and for them to enjoy the night before you make your way up to the balcony to overlook the gala. On your way, you passed by Kit to see him conversing with some of his own friends, kings from neighboring kingdoms, and some princes who haven’t ranked up just yet. Kit let out a joyous laugh and it made you smile, the way his smile reached his sparkling eyes. It’s already been a year since you married Kit, and yet, you still couldn’t get enough of your husband. 

Balling up your dress in your fists to lift the hem of your dress, you ascended the stairs up to your balcony, sighing as you were finally able to sit down. The night was hardly over and you were already getting close to being done, you were so tired. Of course, no one would mind if you left early, but you wanted to be there for everyone, to relish in the festivities. Plus, Kit had done so well with the whole celebration and worked so hard to create a night in honor of you, you didn’t want to miss a thing.

As you people watched from your throne above the ballroom, you spotted Kit, speaking with a different group of people. He laughed once more. It seemed he was hardly without a smile on his face, which made you so much happier that you were married to him. Before him, you’d been in a rough place, but after him, everything seemed so much brighter. He made all the bad days good again. He could put a smile on your face with just a simple hug or kiss on your forehead. Everything was just so simple with Kit.

Just then, Kit’s eyes locked with yours, his ocean eyes swimming with such love and adoration, it was almost overwhelming. You offered him a sweet smile in return of his before the Grand Duke came up behind him and whispered something in his ear. Kit nodded and the Duke walked off. Kit met your eyes once again before turning back to his friends. Your eyes wandered off around the room, then.

“Is everything alright, my queen?” The Captain inquired beside you as you rubbed at your forehead, willing away the on-coming headache and lightheadedness. 

“Oh, yes, just feeling a little out of it is all,” You answered him, trying to give him a reassuring smile.

“Can I get you anything? Something to drink?” He insisted.

“No, thank you, Captain. I was thinking about going to get some fresh air here soon, actually. I’ll probably get something on the way out.” You responded, and he nodded, keeping guard next to you while looking out over the crowd. He knew you’d ask if you needed anything.

Just as you were about to stand to go outside, Kit made his way up the stairs and was by your side in what seemed like seconds. You offered him a smile that didn’t quite reach your eyes as your headache had gotten progressively worse and your corset seemed to have gotten tighter. 

“Hello, darling. Are you alright?” Kit asked as he knelt down in front of you, taking your hand in his. He hated standing over you, looking down at you, so if you were sitting, he would get down to your level, to be able to look you in the eye.

“Yes, I’m fine, my love. Just needed a break, is all. You know how I am,” You squeezed his hand reassuringly. Kit let out a slight chuckle. “How are you? Having a good time?” You requested.

“Of course. I just hope you are as well. I would hate for something to be wrong during your own celebration,” Kit acknowledged. You assured him that you were having a great time, steering away from the fact that you were not feeling quite yourself. You didn’t want him to worry, because you know he would.

“But, I was just about to head out for some air,” You mentioned. “I should be back shortly.” You added.

“Would you like some company, princess?” Before you were married, Kit had come up with many nicknames for you. Although you were now queen, he continues to call you princess sometimes. 

As much as you would love some alone time with Kit, maybe a nice walk through your garden on such a beautiful night with him, you declined. You needed some alone time, despite hating spending even a second away from him. You knew the longer you spent with him, the more he would notice something might be wrong. “It’s okay, sweetheart. Go entertain our guests. I shouldn’t be long,” You stated. Kit left it at that, not wanting to pressure you.

Instead, he stood up, leaning over to the Captain, asking him to keep an eye on you, although you could hardly hear over the music and voices. The moment Kit married you, he assigned the Captain as your personal guard. He didn’t trust anyone more than he trusted the Captain, so who better to look after his love than his right-hand man? Kit took both your hands in his to help you stand before you wrapped your arm around his. He began guiding you down the stairs to the main floor, the Captain following close behind. 

At the end of the stairs, Kit pulled you in close and placed a kiss on your forehead before he went back into the ballroom and you made your way outside. You walked down the path towards the garden. You wished you had taken Kit up on his offer to accompany you. Of course, you loved being alone, but you loved being alone with him even more. 

Suddenly, despite your still closeness to the palace, the sounds of the music started to fade away, and your vision began to blur, stars that were not from the night sky obstructing your sight. You stopped in your tracks as your head pounded and your stomach swirled with unease. 

You bent forward, your hands on your knees despite all the fabric of your dress, and the Captain was by your side instantly. 

“Are you okay, Your Majesty?” Captain exclaimed, one hand on your back, the other around your arm. You breathed heavily, you couldn’t see, your legs became weak, and you collapsed to the ground. The Captain knelt behind you and you leaned back against him, your eyes squeezed shut.

“We need to get you inside, my queen,” Captain insisted. You opened your eyes once more when you felt the Captain lift you into his arms, then everything went dark.

* * *

Kits POV

I should have gone with her. She didn’t seem like herself. But, I know she likes her alone time, so I granted her that. Shouldn’t she be back by now? As I spoke to a close friend of mine, I was about to go find Y/N but one of the guards came up to me before I could.

“My King, you need to come right away,” The guard insisted, and my mind thought of the worst.

“What’s happened?” I questioned, my brows furrowed as I turned to him and he began leading me out of the room. 

“It’s the queen, Your Majesty,” He didn’t have to finish his answer before I came to a run towards our bedroom. Once I was in sight, the guards stationed outside our room opened the doors and I rushed inside. My eyes immediately drifted to the bed to see my love, her eyes closed, her face pale. She was changed from her dress to more comfortable clothes, her hands placed on her stomach. I rush to her side, sitting close to her on the bed, taking one of her hands in mine. I caress her cheek, hoping to coax her eyes open, but they remain closed. I look up to see the Captain standing beside the bed and then to the doctor on the other side who had just finished looking over Y/N. 

“What happened? Is she alright?” I demanded, looking between the two men before landing on the Captain who answered first.

“She’s okay. She fainted while on her walk outside. But, she’s going to be just fine, Mr. Kit,” Ever since I first met Y/N, that was when I had the Captain start calling me Kit and he continues to do so to this day. Since my father, only two people call me by my first name - Y/N and the Captain. 

“Thank you, for staying with her. I don’t want to imagine what would have happened if she’d been alone,” I worried as I looked back to Y/N, lifting her hand and placing a kiss on her knuckles. 

“Sir, I believe I have some information that may be of importance to you,” The doctor’s voice brought my gaze to him, silently telling him to continue. “Her Majesty will need lots of care as she is with child,” My eyes grew wide. Oh, how I wish Y/N were awake so I could relish this magnificent moment with her. I guide my gaze back to my queen, a smile coming to my lips and a single tear sliding down my cheek. 

“We’ll leave you two alone,” I barely heard the Captain comment as he gestured for the doctor to follow him out of the room. My sole focus was on Y/N.

I leaned toward her, pressing my forehead to hers. “My baby girl,” I sighed as I brushed my thumb over her cheek. There were no words that could tell just how much I love this woman, no actions that could show just how amazing she is. From the moment I saw her, I knew she was the one. And now, she’s growing such a great gift. 

Y/N needed to rest, but there was no way I could leave her. I removed my jacket before moving to lay beside her, propping up against the headboard. Just then, she moved to lay her head on my chest, her hand against my stomach. “Hello, my precious girl,” I whispered to her. I let her get comfortable, my adoration for her becoming tenfold as she nuzzled her nose against my chest. I brushed the back of my hand against her cheek, soothing her. 

Slowly, Y/N’s eyes opened. She took a deep breath before guiding her head up to look at me, my never-ending love for her the only emotion she could find. 

“I’m guessing you know,” Y/N stuttered, her eyes sparkling with unshed tears. I only hoped they were tears of joy and not sadness or fear. 

“I do, my sweet girl, and can I just tell you I am over the moon with delight, my love!” I marveled. She stared up at me, stunned. “You’re not mad?” A tear slipped from her eye.

“Of course not, darling. How could I possibly be mad about something as wonderful as having a child with the love of my life? This is absolutely amazing and I can’t tell you how much I love you, baby.” I finished, my eyes filling with their own tears. I shift down to lie beside Y/N as she positions herself on her back. I hold myself above her, looking deep into her beautiful blue eyes, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. She places her hand against my cheek, “I love you so much, my Kit,” She beams, and I can’t hold back a smile before I lean down and press my lips to hers. The kiss is passionate, every emotion I feel for her in a single kiss.

Shifting down, I cup her waist in my hands and press my lips to her belly. My whole face brightens at the sound of her laugh. Oh, what this woman does to me. Laying beside her, I hold Y/N in my arms, her head laying against my shoulder, my hand placed over her tummy, rubbing the smooth skin there. “I love you, my sweet girl,” She hums in response as I take pure delight in the feeling of my queen in my arms.

[bonebabbles]

God the new ultimate guide sucks

It's not JUST the awful art, either. The art's just worth mentioning because even if the book's info had been terrible or contained nothing new, really cute art can make it still worth having.

But, no, it's even full of recycled lines we've been hearing for years like "Bramblestar Can Match Squirrelflight's Fire Not Contain It," and that's when it DOES get everything right. These entries leave out major, important details (making them bad summaries) and are sometimes even straight-up incorrect.

SUMMARY THOUGHTS

Leafpool is said to have watched Brambleclaw kill Hawkfrost to save Firestar-- but for one, no, she was not there because Ashfur was still leading her and Squilf towards the scene. For two, no, Brambleclaw did not kill Hawkfrost just to save Firestar, it was self-defense. Hawkfrost had him pinned and was going to kill him.

They're REAL cute about Leafpool's death, too, neglecting to mention WHY the Sisters needed to be saved at all and just saying Leafpool's "generosity" lead to her death in that cave-in.

I'm not even going to get into everything on Bramble's entry jesus christ.

Sagewhisker's entry is ESPECIALLY fucken' dandy, framing Yellowfang's Secret like she was simply waiting patiently for Yellow to realize her 'destiny' and not actively shoving it on her at every opportunity.

Leopardstar's entry states that romantic interest in Tigerstar was part of her motivation. "Perhaps she'd hoped he would be her mate" please speak to a woman irl for once in your life.

Gray Wing's entry forgot that the reason he "blamed himself" for Bright Stream's death is because he was literally staring at his big strong brother too much and tripped on a root in front of him. It IS his fault she died.

Clear Sky/Skystar's entry is just obscene. "He regretted abandoning his son and after a fire, he encouraged him to live with him" instead of "saw his teenage child was useful now and bullied and belittled the kid and his uncle into letting Thunder come with him." "Retaining his fierceness towards his cats and outsiders which caused his son to leave" instead of "murdering, brutalizing, and abusing everyone around him caused Thunder to leave." I'll just say this tho; "Fierce" is an interesting way to spell "Cruel."

It's interesting that they don't point out that a major part of Jagged Peak's arc was proving he was "Just As Good" as every other cat in spite of his disability, thanks to his introduced-and-pregnant-in-the-same-book wife becoming his life coach, only earning Clear Sky's respect after being allowed to physically lead a patrol in Blazing Star. Instead they frame him finding his place through taking care of kits, which... was something he seemed to resent in the actual series, considering how the books suddenly treat Gray Wing's protective treatment of him as a terrible thing in Blazing Star because he "didn't give him a chance". But at the same time I actually strongly dislike Jagged Peak and his messy, frustrating character arc so I'm not really UPSET with it. Just... noting it. I suppose this is the official direction they're taking away from it?

Shadowstar's entry is barely even 3 paragraphs yikes.

SHORT STORY THOUGHTS

And if you're wondering if the 4 brand new stories they smooshed into the end in a desperate attempt to make the rush job worth buying are good? No. Of course not. They're all slop.

Story 1: Firestar and Graystripe

First one's a marginally cute story about Graystripe and Firestar which is setting up the framing device linking the mini-tales together. They both remember this situation where Firestar fell into a ditch wrong. The punchline is that Thunderstar remembers it perfectly and they're both like, "WOW! Too bad Thunderstar's memory sucks!"

It's not terrible, but it does feel a bit pointless. But, hey, if you want more Firestar and Graystripe in the series that tosses them fanservice at every turn, who am I to judge?

Story 2: Dovewing and Ivypool

The next one is the Dovewing/Ivypool reconciliation passage everyone's talking about. It's... fine, but immensely dissatisfying to me.

Dovewing is apparently having problems adjusting to her Clan, grapples a little bit with the fact she has no friends but is going to be finding meaning in helping tigerHeartstar "bring the new ShadowClan into existence." She ultimately decides that she needs to talk to her sister, and begs for reassurance that Ivypool believes in her, feeling that her support can help her get through this difficult time in her life.

I think its biggest problem is that Dovewing was not the right choice for the POV here.

Dove was never the one responsible for the rift in their relationship. Ivypool is. Ivypool is the one who was jealous, willing to sabotage anything that would put Dovewing closer to Tigerheart, and continues to be generally aggressive towards her. So when Dovewing is reaching out to Ivypool in hopes of them reconciling, it feels wrong because Ivypool is the one that should be reaching out to Dovewing. SHE is the one who has some things to apologize for, and to show how much she loves and misses her.

It's even kind of frustrating, because Dovewing can never catch a break. She has to have these problems to force her to reach out, Ivypool even ends up suggesting that she leave and come home and take her kids with her, but in the end even a LITTLE bit of assurance from her aggressive sister helps.

I feel super bad for Dovewing, man. She deserves better than this cheap writing. What was the point of such an unsatisfying, rushed reconciliation, shoved into a crummy field guide, when we KNOW from the newest book that they're just going to use tension between them as part of the drama anyway?

shouldn't have even been written, imo. Even ends off with, "They'll always have each other :)" which is so... cliche. It's TIRED. Are any of you really happy with just getting a retconned platitude in a good-for-nothing field guide, instead of seeing complicated, INTERESTING feelings in a main book?

Story 3: Alderheart and Twigbranch

A tale of Cherryfall getting sick during TBC and Alderheart sneaks back into the territory to treat her. Also Crowfeather has a scene where he yells at him. Charming.

Twigbranch comes up with a diversion while Alderheart does his work, which is cute. It's a fine story.

Story 4: Clear Sky

Trash. Three dogs spawn in the middle of a gathering so that Skystar can have an uwu big boy sendoff saving his grandkit. Then he goes to StarClan and throws a fit because they can't give him ANOTHER life, becoming so upset that he attacks the nearest woman. Naturally, Shadowstar brushes it off because it's not the first time Clear Sky has pummeled her in the midst of an adult tantrum and this book series thinks violence is fine if their favorite sadboy does it.

Then Gray Wing brings him to the magic mirror pool where you can see the living, to confirm that Star Flower is ok and that makes him feel better.

Then it launches into Firestar saying "ouuuugh yum I LOVE the taste of his butthole. Clear Sky is so misunderstood, He Just Loved Too Much."

to which Graystripe responds, "Yes, he was a good and amazing person and his farts smells SO good, and can you believe that some people think StarClan punished his Clan for his arrogance? As if he ever did anything wrong, ever?"

Firestar, indignant, refutes it with, "Ugh!! StarClan would NEVER be interesting, we don't punish living cats we just float around and make vague, frustrating prophecies that do nothing but pad the word count. Why cant ppl understand that, gosh."

who wrote this? Gray Wing??

[fand0mh03]

Hey! I know this could be weird but maybe you could do the Evan’s with an S/O who acts In musical theatre? Especially Tate And (frank Kyle?) like when they see your solo or how they act when you have a romantic relationship with another character in the show? And just how they would act about their S/O’s Theatrical Life? Also, I love you works!!!!!

The Evans with someone in theatre

Hi love! I never have had the courage to do theatre, so I know nothing about it, so I hope that this is alright and accurate 

Tate Langdon:

Before he died, he would definitely go to every single play you acted in, even taking it as an elective or club thing to work backstage

He just kinda is there and admires you on stage- even when people are yelling at him to do stuff

He doesn’t care about doing anything for the other actors unless its with you, then he’d automatically do whatever you needed

Would make sure you stay hydrated

After he died he’d make sure there was a recording of your performance so that he could still watch it

Would feel bad that he wasn’t able to watch the play in person

Would help you practice lines

Kit Walker:

You would be his pride and joy 

Like you already were before- but even more so if you were in theatre

He would be so proud of you, finding your performance amazing and would admire how brave you are for going up on a stage

He would practice with you, putting his whole kitussy into being the best practice actor for you

Newsflash he’s a horrible actor

But he tries

And boy does he try hard

Will sing the singing parts with you if you have to practice for a musical

Would bring Lana, Jude, and the kids to your plays

He would try (and succeed) to have Lana put an ad in the newspaper for your play

Kyle Spencer(Frat-boy)

Would cancel anything he had planned to watch you perform

100% be the loudest in the crowd, clapping and cheering

Whooing you on the entire time

Would bring you flowers at the end

Kissing you and wouldn’t take his hands off of you for the rest of the night

Would be so proud of you

Franken Kyle

The coven girls would bring him to your play

They would have to sit him down and force him to stay seating

When you go on stage he’d yell  your name

Wouldn’t understand what was happening

Zoe would have to explain it to him since she’d be the only one to have patience for that

He still doesn’t get it

All the witches being supportive of you

Zoe would be jealous of your relationship with Kyle but would respect it and wouldn’t treat you any differently

I felt like I needed to add that

Anyways

Kyle would not let go of you at the end of the play and on the way back to the house

He’d be even more clingy

Jimmy Darling:

He’d bring all of the freaks

They would be the loudest row, all cheering for you

They’d be so proud of you

Jimmy would kiss you and bring you flowers, congratulating you and being proud of you

“That’s my girlfriend!”

Would hang up posters for your play

Would support it at the Freakshow and tell everyone to go over to watch you

You would smile at them in the crowd and thank them afterwards

Group hug

“Alright she’s my girlfriend”

He’d say when he wanted to hug you to and kiss you

Would ask you to do it again even if you were at home

James Patrick March:

He’d have you do your performance in the hotel so he can watch

Would force all the ghosts to watch you

Would 100% have it Devil’s night

Would kill anybody who talked shit about you and your performance

Would be in awe

Would want to celebrate of course

He would order the fanciest dresses for your performance

The best props

Microphones, anything else you could ever need

Would be so supportive and proud

Wine would be by your bedside table in the hotel, dimmed lights, candles, rose pedals, you name it and its there in your shared room with him when you get back from your performance

You’d have a lot of fun… ;)

[hpowellsmith]

Hello there! I've been wanting to replay the older Baldur's Gate games, and was searching around for mlm NPC romance mods. I saw yours mentioned and found your site with some googling, but it seems the place they were hosted at is gone now (Spellhold Studios). I was wondering if you still have the mods available somewhere? Either way, I hope you have a great day!

OK, this has made go down a modding-community rabbit hole! I hadn't done anything with our Baldur's Gate 2 mods, or looked at them really, since 2015 and I really appreciate it because they're something that brought my wife and I a ton of joy, and they were the first interactive narratives I made.

Links, descriptions, and comments below because it is Long:

I got in touch with folks on the Gibberlings3 forum which is, wonderfully, still going strong, and have given permission for Faren and Nathaniel to be uploaded to the Spellhold Studios GitHub (which has a bunch of other mods too - do check out Adrian, Isra, and Ninde in particular!) to the team maintaining it. That may be a little while as some of the team are ill right now, but once I hear that it's done, I'll post about it here; I've also been pointed to some links where the mods were mirrored. Note that I haven't tested these myself on a current BG2 install, but it is easy to uninstall WeiDU mods if there's a problem.

Faren is a bisexual True Neutral fighter/thief (I can't remember if he's dual-classed or multi-classed) who's easygoing, down-to-earth, and up for partying, with a bit of a checkered past - his adventuring party died in one of the dungeons you can visit in BG2, and since then he's been picking up dodgy jobs, feeling a bit adrift, and trying to get his life back on track. That's where the PC comes in! You can befriend him or romance him (starting with either a casual or more committed tone, then committing further if you want to), and he has a personal quest in which a shady figure from his past wants him to do one last job. He was our third mod, and we'd developed our skills with writing and scope a lot by then. When I play BG2, I play with Faren! You can currently download Faren here. It's the version updated in 2015 with more banters with modded NPCs and the Enhanced Edition characters; there may be compatibility issues installing it with other newer mods but do give it a try.

I found The Luxley Family, which was our second mod, on the GitHub here. From a cursory (rusty) glance it looks like it should be compatible with Enhanced Edition, but the storyline is only for Shadows of Amn and doesn't continue into Throne of Bhaal. Sebastian and Andrei (Chaotic Neutral bard with a custom kit and Lawful Neutral monk respectively) are members of a mysterious, reclusive family who are under a curse. Sebastian's a worldly playwright who's showing his polite but moody teenage cousin Andrei the sights when they bump into the PC. They aren't romanceable, but you can have a fling with Sebastian, who's bisexual, if you let/help him mess up his life sufficiently.

Nathaniel is a Lawful Good gay fighter with a lot of feelings. He was our first mod and I am really proud of the impact he had on a lot of people and even other games back in the day, but if you play, go in expecting a LOT of feelings good and bad, relationship drama, and angst! (There's something very sad about the fact that as teens we could not imagine a D&D setting without homophobia back then; the idea of a knightly order thinking well of gay people just didn't cross our minds. it's extraordinary how much better a lot of things are now, including the queerness in D&D streams, books, and of course Baldur's Gate 3. Interestingly, we didn't include homophobia in the Luxley Family or Faren and I don't remember how conscious that was; maybe we'd become more hopeful by then.) You can download an outdated version of Nathaniel here but I don't think it will be compatible with Enhanced Edition.

Thank you so much for messaging! I didn't realise they weren't able to be downloaded anymore and I am really keen for digital art to be preserved (as well as players getting to smooch hot guys, of course).

(Digression - my wife and I have a couple of almost-finished mods on our computer: a lesbian cleric of Talos which she wrote, and a bi Valygar romance that I wrote. And, if it's among two computers' ago worth of external hard drive storage, the ending for the Luxley Family story. Who knows, maybe one day...)

[a-couple-of-notes]

types in tension: kit tanthalos as royal and skeptic

a lot of people have pointed out how archetypal and dnd-esque the characters from willow feel - and I agree! they're absolutely tropey and built to serve very clear, specific functions within the ensemble. willow is the wizard and the mentor. elora is the sorcerer and the chosen one. boorman is the rogue/barbarian and the sixth ranger.

but I want to talk about my favorite example of this: kit. kit has her own clear place in the ensemble - but the archetypes she's made up of are ones usually in tension. this gives her a fascinating kind of depth and motivation - and is, perhaps, reflective of similar tensions in the rest of the characters. let's discuss.

kit as the royal

kit is introduced in contrast to jade, her humble, dutiful, long-suffering knight. this highlights all of kit's opposite qualities: her relative arrogance, rebelliousness, and desire for adventure over duty. when she conflicts with her mother and makes a scene at the party, we understand that she's feeling constrained by the arranged marriage and dreading a future stifled political life like her mother's. but the narrative also makes it clear that this is a selfish thing to do; kit clearly hurts jade, graydon, and airk, who haven't done anything wrong.

so kit is set up as a rebellious/spoiled royal: she chafes against her responsibilities and her sheltered life, not knowing the full extent of her privilege. she wants to go into the outside world but underestimates how dangerous it is. her arc should be about getting thrust into those dangers and balancing her headstrong, cocky independence with a dose of humility. she should come back stronger, but with more respect for duty and the difficulty of leadership.

basically, kit should be kind of like merida. which makes a lot of sense, given the very merida-like speech kit gives during the party.

but then airk gets kidnapped, and kit is thrust into the outside world, taking her place in an ensemble of other characters. and something interesting happens: kit becomes a skeptic.

kit as the skeptic

to balance the group, they were always going to need a skeptic - someone more invested than boorman (the apathetic) but not falling over themselves to save the world like willow (the mentor and true believer in elora danan, at least as a concept). with jade sworn to the queen’s (and thus elora’s) service and graydon falling in love, they needed someone who could/would consistently challenge elora; who could suggest practical courses of action against high fantasy wish-wash; and whose narrative arc toward belief would be, essentially, the show's ideological argument for hope and idealism.

so it's kit. kit wants to keep them on track. she doubts magic and the idealistic plans the others have for elora. not only is she aware of the practical concerns of the quest, she's often the one reminding the others of that. while it may be out of jealousy, the kinds of questions she asks - “is this really working?”, "how long until elora can do magic?" - are things that the party has to consider just...logically. will it significantly slow their travel if willow has to teach elora for an extended period of time? will they need more rations? when will elora be able to contribute to potential combat?

skeptics on magic shows like this often get a bad rep (except when they get a very good rep because they're hot and sad), because we know the show's overarching philosophy is one of belief. there's a combination of out-of-universe impatience, waiting for the skeptic's narrative arc to catch up, and in-universe - well, arcing, where the the events of the story prove the skeptic wrong and the other characters (the believers) right.

here's the thing, though: skeptics have usually come by their cynical realism after a hard, unfair life. they've seen some shit. they've got a tragic backstory. they’re your han solo from star wars, eretria from the shannara chronicles, cara mason from legend of the seeker. we understand their abrasiveness and accept their position as a legitimate argument because it's born from experience - experience that the idealistic heroes don't have yet.

so here's an interesting tension: how is kit both royal and skeptic?

because the arc of a rebellious/spoiled royal hinges on the fact that they don’t have experience. they don’t know how tough the real world is, and they haven’t thought through the practical considerations. and where the royal is the one who needs to be taught these things, the skeptic is usually the one teaching.

I suspect this is the crux of some people’s annoyance with kit - she’s taking the place of the skeptic in the party, rough-edged but logical, but her introduction indicates she doesn’t have enough experience for that. so instead of going, “you know, even if that wasn’t the nicest way to put it, that’s a good point. in-universe, it doesn’t seem like elora is going to learn magic very fast, and that might be a legitimate liability to the party,” the response is, “what do you know? you grew up a spoiled brat!” 

why is this happening?

before I discuss the implications of kit’s character as both royal and skeptic, I want to take a moment to talk about why it’s happening. I think there’s lots of factors - well-written characters often involve things in tension, and there’s a whole layer of kit trying to imitate the seasoned warrior type of her father - but I think there's one main reason: elora must displace kit as the royal in the ensemble.

elora isn’t spoiled, of course. but she starts out pretty naive and chases after airk without practical consideration to her actual abilities or (later) her duties as the chosen one. she is the one that everyone has sworn to protect and save, sometimes from problems of her own making. elora must learn to lead, master her powers, and make hard decisions in a messy world.

the switch is clear even in the very first interaction kit has with elora. when kit asks if dove has any battle experience and dove snidely reverses the question, it’s establishing kit as the more practical, skeptical, and indeed, experienced, voice. kit has, actually, had more real-world battle experience than dove.

so while we were initially introduced to kit as the hero and royal, in the party, elora is the hero and royal, with kit falling to the lancer and the skeptic. this neatly dovetails into kit’s feelings of abandonment and jealousy over everyone choosing elora. even the framework of the story, the meta functions of the characters, have placed elora over kit.

the implications

so why am I even talking about this? why does it matter? after all, despite her function in the party, large parts of kit’s arc follow the rebellious/spoiled royal’ arc. kit is constantly getting knocked down a peg, losing what she thought was hers; this follows the general arc of spoiled royals losing everything and then rebuilding themselves as stronger, kinder people. but I do think the royal-skeptic tension adds another layer, and here are three thoughts as to why:

1) I said that viewers might feel that kit’s royal background makes her “unqualified” to be the skeptic; I also think this is an interesting lens to apply to the characters. graydon dismisses kit’s irritation with elora as “she’s just jealous.” jade and boorman say that kit could never do the dirty work of killing a corrupted graydon, with the implication being that kit can’t take the reality of it. are these lines just excuses for the writers to tell us with 100% certainty what kit’s motivations and limits are? maybe. but it’s more interesting to me if these characters are interpreting kit through their experiences of her - as a royal who graydon barely knows and who jade has spent years protecting - and missing some stuff.

2) it adds a cool dimension to kit and elora’s relationship. we’ve talked about the rebellious/spoiled royal’s arc as one of learning humility, and that’s one kit’s definitely going on. but at the same time, kit must complete a skeptic’s arc: learning to believe in magic and idealism, learning to believe in the chosen one/royal - which means the story is just as dependent on elora proving herself to kit as it is kit yielding to elora. a lot of kit’s other relationships center on kit humbling herself (kit has to apologize to jade and graydon, kit has to learn to respect willow). but kit and elora’s dynamic - and their whole arcs! - require both of them to make an equal effort. 

3) the royal-skeptic tension just...adds all sorts of possible motivational layers to kit’s actions. there’s the jealousy underlying kit’s questions to elora, which we’ve talked about: it’s both a royal’s discomfort with losing privilege and a skeptic’s practical logic. but there’s also kit’s name-dropping; it seems like a classic royal move to get special treatment, but two of the three times she does it, she’s doing it for pretty practical reasons. she’s identifying who sent them to the nelwins - not trying to pull rank - and she’s proving to the bonereavers that she can get them money - a pragmatic offer to get the party out of trouble. how much of kit’s friction with willow is royal naïveté, ignoring the words of a more experienced mentor, and how much of it is an equal competing philosophy, a skeptic’s real-world practicality against an idealist’s grand plans? it’s both. kit is always both.

(note: I feel like this reads as favoring skeptics over royals, which is not the case; they’re value-neutral narratives. however, as this is, at least in part, my attempt to figure out why I've felt so bothered by people interpreting kit as simply a “spoiled princess,” some of that frustration may have leaked in. though I think even if kit had followed the royal arc to a T, with none of this archetypal tension, I still would have been frustrated by, like, misogyny and people not letting characters go on an arc. you can’t win, I suppose.)

[hyunjining]

hi, how are you doing? :)

getting right into it: you made a comment a while back on where you could possibly write an entire essay on how Larry and Larrries changed the 'landscape of fandom'.

this post: https://at.tumblr.com/larryalbum/709204686830452736/t5742yilryne

(hopefully the link works)

Gaylorlikeme continued onto your post, going further with a real-world application, and I'm thankful that it was really put into words as such. Homophobia is the root cause of a lot backlash when it comes to anything other than a W/M relationship.

Back to what you said, it got me thinking a bit more of what that means. I just wanted to ask if you might keep me in mind if you ever write more about it or actually write an essay one day. I love to read other's thoughts, especially on this topic. As well as having a conversation about it.

I'm really new to being aware of Larry and everything that the ID Fandom has to offer so your sentence just got me wondering about how Larries could have changed Fandom as a whole when it comes to speculation and shipping versus like characters. For example: Kirk/Spock and Dean/Cas or Sherlock/John.

Yeah, it's just really fascinating. Am I on the right track of what you meant by that?

thank u so much! hope you're doing well

hi, i’m alright, thank you 💕

i was kind of joking about actually writing an essay but a lot of people have actually expressed interest so you never know lol. for now i am open to talking more about it because i find it super fascinating.

you’re pretty spot on about what i meant. i think the major backlash that larries have received (spearheaded by 1d’s team, the members of 1d and everyone associated with them) for believing that harry and louis are gay and together has affected every corner of the internet. if you interact with any other fandom, you can almost guarantee that there will be people imploring you not to act like larries, meaning not to speculate on any real person’s sexuality under any circumstances and not to “ship real people.” and of course by that they mean to never speculate that anyone is queer or in a queer relationship, because people have no problem shipping men and women together based on pap pics or brief interactions or them being literal toxic exes lmao. i mean, just look at what happened with andrew garfield and amelia dimoldenberg after that one red carpet interaction: they went viral and fans, news outlets, and other celebrities were openly talking about shipping them.

and i think this deep fear of being perceived as larrie-adjacent has created a weird and honestly harmful status quo where people refuse to acknowledge people who are very clearly queercoding but are not out/haven’t literally said the words “i am queer.” so if you’re not out, you get accused of queerbaiting, of stealing queer roles from “actual” queer people, etc. people think they’re being respectful but they end up harming other queer people and creating this pressure for everyone to come out if they want to live their lives the way they want to. that’s what happened to kit connor (and yet people still misunderstand that situation and turn around and use it as evidence to not speculate on people’s sexualities, when the whole problem was people thinking he was STRAIGHT and playing a bi character, not people thinking he was queer).

and on the topic of heartstopper, people in that fandom are literally telling each other not to say that joe locke and sebastian croft are dating when they very clearly are and it’s just hilarious to me. you can’t tell me that if they were a man and a woman, people wouldn’t immediately assume they’re dating. we can use louis’ most recent stunt (or really any stunt, especially most of harry’s) as an example here: he was papped holding hands with this girl once and there are already update accounts about their “relationship” even though there’s been no official confirmation of them dating.

and i absolutely think this attitude is because of larry. one direction became a thing right as twitter was really taking off, and the band used twitter as their main source of interacting with fans and cultivating their image online. never before had there been something like larry, where people were believing that two male members of the same hugely popular, mainstream band were legitimately dating each other and compiling evidence to support this fact. and the subsequent reaction from their team was so uniquely aggressive that it made larry even more widely known. and so, cut to today, even though 1d hasn’t been a band for almost 8 years (jesus), anyone who’s been on the internet for any amount of time knows about it. but the main thing they know, if they never look any deeper, is how utterly hated we are and how we supposedly ruined harry and louis’ friendship. and they of course don’t want to ruin the relationships of their favorite singers, actors, etc, so they’ve created the environment i previously described.

it’s pretty awful, really. especially because a large amount of larries are queer themselves. but that’s where we are.

thank you so much for your message! i hope that answered your question and i hope you’re doing well as well 🥰

[pierrotsmoon]

Love (and Logic)

Chapter 1- Temple of Love

(crossposted from my Ao3)

Going to Miskatonic as an art student is tough enough; the pretentious boy in Y/N's anatomy course is somehow making it worse.

A/N: I researched bone structure for this, any skeletal enthusiasts feel free to make corrections. Also character's thoughts will be italicized.

Herbert West x Fem! Reader

Warnings!- Enemies to lovers, harrasment, dr. Hill being creepy, first day of classes, budding friendships, DAN AND HERB RESPECT WOMEN!!! tell me if I missed anything!

Going to Miskatonic as an art student was what Y/N had wanted for her entire life. The prestigious institution allowed her a full-ride scholarship, probably because they needed more fine arts students to keep getting grant money. Best not to dwell on negatives! As Y/N opened up her backpack, she shoved in her sketchbook, textbook, pencil case, and field watercolor kit. Swinging the pack over her back, she broke open her apartment door and sauntered out.

Y/N opened up the pink class schedule she had written, anatomy, wonderful. The medical students at Miskatonic seemed good at first, but tended to look down upon the arts, especially during classes often shared by both majors. As soon as she walked through the door, the eyes of the few students inside turned to her. The instructor came up to her.

"Good morning. I’m Doctor Carl Hill, and I'm pleased to meet you."

The doctor smiled at her, and Y/N felt a chill climb up her spine. This man did not leave a good taste in her mouth, and she didn't like how he placed his hand on her shoulder. She quickly found a seat next to a young man who was glaring at the doctor.

“He’s such a creep around girls.”

The man whispered to himself loudly enough for only them to hear. Y/N looked down at her watch; it was 20 minutes until class  started. The brunette in scrubs turned around to look at the young woman, giving her a (far less creepy) smile. He wore gloves on his hands and appeared frazzled, with messy hair and untied shoelaces. 

"My name is Dan, and I'm a medical student; what are you studying?"

Dan gave her a boyish smile, and the young woman smiled back. 

“I’m Y/N, I study visual and fine arts.”

The boy looked momentarily amazed, like he had stars in his eyes. He looked at her casual clothing, sweater, a skirt, and Mary Janes—and he knew he had finally found a friend in his least favorite class. The two of them began making small talk as the sound of footsteps broke the conversation.

“Good morning doctor, is the skull functions quiz today?”

The professor visibly tensed.

“Dr. West, a pleasure as always.”

Y/N turned her head around to meet the eyes of a scrutinizing figure, almost glaring at her with lips that slowly sunk into a frown. 

She immediately looked away, annoyed by his insistence on looking at her like she was Satan.

“Is she even in proper scrubs?”

The eyes of the entire room, which was now rather packed, turned to Y/N. She looked back at him with fire in her eyes.

“I’m just a spectator from the arts department, I hope that doesn't bother you too much.” 

He gave off this perturbed hmph before sitting down in the only chair left, right between Y/N and Dan.

“Come on, Herbert, she’s nice!”

Herbert pointedly turned his head away from his roommate’s incessant whining. He didn't need to become friends with art students. What would they ever do for him? The girl would just be another squeamish failure; why should he tolerate that? He turned forward to see the skeleton model come out of the industrial closet, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw the girl rapidly flip to a clean page in her sketchbook. ‘So unprepared.’ Herbert was aware that the few art students in the class would leave after this semester, when the lessons on bone structure and anatomy concluded. He'll be glad that his routine will be back to normal.

“Does the femur support more than the leg bones and knees?”

Herbert looked to his side again, polished shoes tapping impatiently on the white linoleum. ‘ Why was she asking such easy and insufferable questions?’ 

The professor animatedly stepped closer, leaning over her shoulder and answering intently. Herbert sighed ‘a plagiarist and a creep.’ He was getting ready to go back to his own clipboard, until he saw the professor's hands begin to get closer and closer to her hip, horror filling her already scared eyes.

“Professor! Could you assess these notes on the pelvic joints?”

It disgusted Herbert to see how he looked genuinely disappointed at the prospect of not getting to harass a young woman who looked close to tears. Dan noticed the spectacle, looking around one more time to see that everyone else was focused on their work. He gave Herbert a pointed glance, a non-verbal good job.

   ★

The students all gave their half attention to the professor when he opened up a filing cabinet, grabbing a manila folder and opening it. He handed out a copy to each student. 

“Alright then! A new semester with new students allows for another project. Since our new students hail from the arts sector, I’ve planned an art project for the class.”

‘Oh God, why?’ Herbert was well aware that he didn't have a good reputation with Dr. Hill, but failing a project would result in a significant drop in his grade; after all, art had never been his strong suit.

Dr. Hill began listing off all of the pairings, most of whom were rather excited to get to know one another.

“ And Y/N with Herbert.”

The two young adults turned around and stared at one another, shortly before Dan broke the silence.

“Just make sure you two keep it quiet.”

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

the future chapters are gonna be better

[miasiegert]

Day 1

Finished up Day 1! We fit everyone's costumes (minor tweaks, wig styling, everything's almost set shockingly) and gave a make up lesson (hoping for a total of three!). Very proud of everyone in the cast for a great first go! Also apparently everyone likes my references and there was a "YOU LIKE DC? WAIT, DC OR MARVEL?" I thought they were all gonna jump me when I said DC but turns out they were all DC fans!

I learned I'm not permitted to share pics until after opening night so 2nd/3rd I'll post some. I took a few today from fittings. Super proud of some Grizz changes. Jenny didn't want to take off her tap suit. A few actors had major character revelations today and REALLY got it.

And I found out that I get to bedazzle Misto's shoes!!! <3 (We went through my rhinestone kit together so he could be a part of the decision and I wanted to make sure to know what size would be the largest safely since I could go smaller as he tumbles--I think he's at 15 or 17 clean turns, not sure exactly).

Cast is overall really nice. Dance captain is Rumple and she's fantastic. Cass just LOOKS like Cass.

It's also super queer for the sensuality part of the ball, with m/m and f/f (yes!) pairings.

I hope you can bear with me for another uh... week and a half? For pics. I really thought BTS would be fine but I want to respect company policy of course!

I'm also delighted as on a personal note, some of my dear friends who I haven't seen since around our wedding moved to Florida and will be coming. I miss them!

[beevean]

Is it too soon to speak of the concept that Lanolin has wasted potential yet? Because I am so convinced she could have been a far more likeable, or at least tolerable character if:

We got an actual explanation for why she acts the way she acts, because right now we simply have no idea why she suddenly is so bitchy. I really do think that showing that she acts this way because it is how she thinks leaders act (stern, always right, always knowing what to do, always in control) and then learning that no, being leader means respecting those around you and knowing that you are not high and mighty above your subordinates, makes for a far more interesting character than... well, this.

It didn't constantly appear as if she hates her teammates and everyone else around her except for Duo. This isn't from recent issues either: she's been drawn odd, bored, tired, annoyed, etc etc more than a dozen issues ago already.

Like... give me a Lanolin who is such a control freak she starts stressing out and panicking the moment things go south because she knows she is not cut out for this yet. Someone who sees Silver and Duo arguing and knows she cannot intervene, thus she lashes out and stops the argument before it can, in her mind, go further south. Someone who sees Whisper accuse a new teammate and clumsily tries to calm her down, which does not work. Not that constant anger and irritation, especially aimed at Tangle, and her sheer contempt for Silver. Someone who is really doing her best and wants to do well, but who has the entirely wrong idea of what constitutes the role she has put herself into. No more disappointed kindergarten teacher who is never called out by anyone in the narrative.

I personally would wait until the end of this whole story arc before deciding how much of a waste she is. It's what I did for Surge and Kit... and even then the comic is bringing them back so who knows what's going to do with them 😂

Lanolin is more of an interesting case of writers clashing, because you just know that ABT had a completely different personality in mind when he designed her.

You've seen anything like this so far? Lanolin being more of a stepford smiler? Yeah, exactly.

Lanolin's behavior would make sense if we had confirmation that she, like Whisper, has been left with trauma after everything she went through off screen. She would be a foil to her! Whisper became an introverted loner, Lanolin now insists on forming teams and having them hyper-organized. Whisper's personality is withdrawn, Lanolin forces her (fake) personality on others. Hell, even her overreaction over being grabbed could be passed as one stemming from trauma!

But I don't get that. Lanolin doesn't seem to be high-strung. She seems, as you say, like she can't stand a single person around them and only interacts with them out of polite courtesy. She's mean as a personality trait. And it's not even that she clashes naturally with certain kinds of people, like say Tangle who is scatterbrained so of course the control freak wouldn't stand her; the only person she has shown something resembling respect so far is Sonic, and even then not always. Around Tangle, Silver, Whisper, she has this constant disdainful look on her face.

Who pissed in your cereal, ma'am? This isn't funny! She's mean! And Tangle has fallen far down in my list of liked characters, but ffs she hasn't done anything to deserve this glare!!

Anyway, to get at your point. Lanolin has shown one moment of vulnerability very early on, when her operation failed. That was the one time she admitted she didn't know what she was doing. That was a moment of relatability and sympathy for her, because the audience could see a hidden side of her and understand where she was coming from.

It hasn't happened so far in this arc. Again, I have no idea how much we're meant to understand Lanolin. I only know that so far she has only shown one emotion, and it's contempt against people who don't deserve it. This is not how you write a likeable character, not even as an antagonist. She's not fun to hate. She's just a bully.

[timlets]

warrior cats aus ideas

crowflight au (even though it's more feathertail based)(everyone lives au lol): feathertail and stormfur are able to kill sharptooth without either of them dying(idk how). feathertail and crowpaw are able to go back to the clans. crowflight goes back to windclan and is named "crowflight" for the journey he traveled...feathertail comes back to riverclan and she is pregnant. when they travel on the journey they stop in the tribe of rushing water where feathertail has two or three kits :-) stormfur decides to stay in the tribe with brook and feathertail is happy he found a place for himself, and feathertail has her kits now and she will miss her brother but she knows riverclan is where she's meant to be.. in this au leafpool and crowflight still become involved(which might have driven feathertail to cat-divorce crowflight because she is so upset heartbroken understandably(she still loves him)... crowflight later goes to nightcloud too so the three and breezepelt are all born...) idk it makes me sad that feathertail didn't get to have a full life i've always been sad about that but i know it's supposed to be sad

nightleaf au (nightcloud leafpool lesbians): nightcloud has always been upset with thunderclan and she hated leafpool when she met her when the badgers attacked thunderclan... she hates thunderclan's whole "main character" trope and of course she is mad at leafpool over crowfeather. many moons later when it's revealed about hollyleaf jayfeather lionblaze, nightcloud is shocked and furious but finds herself blaming crowfeather because he did the same thing to her in abandoning them while they had kits.. nightcloud's heart aches for leafpool and she doesn't like that it makes her uncomfortable that she feels for her despite everything..nightcloud and leafpool talk one night after a gathering has disbanded and nightcloud almost tries to start a fight with leafpool but leafpool is patient and kind and nightcloud breaks she just cries like "how can you be so kind to me? i've only ever been horrible to you. why won't you be mad at me?" and she's snarling in self disgust that she's been so rude to her all their lives because she wanted crowfeather but she realizes now that crowfeather isn't exactly a catch lol. leafpool looks at her softly with a smile "kindness is my nature i won't apologize for that." and nightcloud chokes like "i dont want you to apologize but i dont understand how you can be so forgiving when this world has treated you so horribly...you should be mad life isn't fair and you had to give your kits away. you only wanted to have a family it's not wrong.. you should be mad at me for being a part of ruining your life." and nightcloud is shaking and leafpool blinks like "nightcloud, i could never be upset with you. i hold too much respect for you, and i understand how i must seem to you... taking away your life with crowfeather-" "he's nothing to me. i only respect him as a warrior and deputy...i lost love when he failed in helping to raise breezepelt." and leafpool sits next to nightcloud and wraps her tail around her and nightcloud chokes on her sobs surprised and leafpools like "you only wanted to love crowfeather and have a family. we really are more similar than you might realize. i want you to know, nightcloud, that i could never be upset with you. i understand." and they become besties after that nightcloud defending leafpool from critical cats and trying to get leafpool to understand that she has a voice too...she can fight back... IDK I JUST KEPT WRITING BUT I WANT TO MAKE A COMIC :-)

my favorite pairings idgaf leafpool/mothwing, leafpool/nightcloud, hollyleaf/cinderheart, dovewing/idk dovewing should have a girlfriend i think, sunbeam/lightleap, feathertail/IDK SHE SHOULD HAVE A GIRLFRIEND I THINK, squirrelflight needs a girlfriend. Asap. daisy.....? bristlefrost/rootspring(rootspring is bristlefrost's girlfriend) im absolutely positive im missing a ton of cats i like together.. this is leafpool's world we're just living in it

here's my leafpool nightcloud drawing. :-)

[cryptidclaw]

RoC Ashfur plot Idea!

Here’s my idea for Ash so far! very much so up for change! 

this is very long so I'm gonna cut it here!

Ash is a very spiteful very obsessive character, his youth was full of horrid things that led to the way he acts and his view of the world. His mother was murdered, and his father was darkstripe, who had little care for his kits, as he only had them to carry on his bloodline. Dark betrayed Thunder Order and did not care that his kits could be harmed by his decisions, nor did he care that their mother was murdered. This deeply effected Ash, and things only got worse when his friends Swift and Bright were mauled by the dogs, and Swift died. Ash was glad to help destroy the dogs, and he never moved past his enjoyment of revenge, nor did he ever move past the rage he felt for what had happened in his youth.

Ash in many ways believed that after everything, he deserved the world, he believed that he should rise in the ranks, he should become a respected cat, he should get a perfect mate, and he should get a perfect life. of course sure, any good cat should get this, but life cant always play out how you want it to.

Ash fell for Squirrelflight, she was the leader’s beautiful daughter who had helped fulfil a prophecy, and he desperately wanted her to be his mate. The he was obsessed with the idea of a perfect family with her, maybe one day he could be leader and she could be his deputy... He ad Squirrel dated for a while (in RoC I've decided that Squilf and Bramble don't date/ become mates until after Bramble quits being deputy) but after a while Squirrel realizes that it just isn't working out/it isn't a good match, and Ash’s ideas for the future aren't what she has in mind, so she breaks up with him. This destroys Ash, it makes him even more spiteful, “how dare she not love me? don't i deserve it??” is his mentality.

Ash, like i said, loves revenge, so when the River Deputy Hawkfost (who had started to speak with and get close to him once Squirrel had broken up with ash) revealed a plan to kill Firestar, Squirrelflight’s father, Ash was happy to help. Hawk could help him get power, and could help him get revenge, due to this Ash's new BFF (maybe boyfriend??) and obsession is Hawkfrost.

The Kill Firestar plan goes well on Ashfur’s end, but Brambleflower is not happy to learn of Hawk’s plan, and the two brothers end up fighting, Hawk is deeply injured and has to run away, allowing Bramble to free Firestar from the trap. Hawkfrost would have died from his injuries if Ash hadnt been there, Ash ran to find him and brought Hawk back to River Order to be healed. Ash had a new cat to hate, Brambleflower, he had betrayed and almost killed his beloved Hawkfrost!

When Ash returned to Thunder Order after saving Hawk, he was faced with seeing Brambleflower renouncing his role as Deputy, refusing to go down a path in pursuit of power. Firestar accepts this and allows Bramble to be a warrior again, he then promotes Ash to Deputy, not knowing of what role he had played in Hawk’s attempt of Fire’s life, and believing him to be a strong willed and moral cat, who his daughter Squirrel had trusted, even if they had not stayed a couple. Ash is overjoyed by this! This is what he deserves, this it the respect he should get! maybe Firestar wasn't killed, but now Ash was deputy instead of Bramble!

Ash’s deputyship lasts for a while, and he continues to be in kahoots with Hawk. Hawk loves that Ash is now deputy, maybe Brambleflower will not be leader, but now he has Ashfur on his side, and Ash is extremely loyal to Hawk and absolutely obsessed with him, so he is easy to use and manipulate.

Hawk becomes leader of River Order probably between the second and third arc, while Ash stays deputy of Thunder. That is until Sandstorm suddenly returns from being assumed dead! Immediately it is assumed that Sand will take back over being deputy, Firestar is overjoyed to have his mate back, and he desperately wants her to be his second again. Ash is enraged, but the Order all believe he should stop being deputy, Sand is an older and just overall better deputy than Ash, and so Ash is practically shoved out of the position. New point to Ashfur’s reasons to go full evil and hate the entire Fire family list.

this is where my plans get a bit more blurry, as I dont have many ideas planned out for Po3..

Ashfur plans with Hawkstar in the background, Hawkstar becomes more and more of a threat, and at this point we don't realize that Ashfur is on his side, he just seems to be a grumpy warrior, who is mad about loosing his deputy position. but Ash helps Hawk in lots of his plans to harm Thunder Order, and eventually Ash and Hawk come up with a plan to start a fire on Thunder’s territory, after which Ash will leave Thunder and become Hawk’s deputy in River Order.

Ash is the one to start the fire, and he is over joyed! At this point he has so much pent up hate and blame towards the entirety of Thunder Order that he feels as though he is finally getting his true deserved vengeance against them. During the fire he finds Squrrelflight and her three children, and he faces off against her, not allowing her and her kits to cross the tree that would allow their escape, he does not want them to survive this. Squirrel screams at him asking why he would do this, and this is when he reveals his whole villain origin story, and we find out that he has been helping Hawkstar the whole time. Ash claims that Squirrel is the one to start this all, she is at fault for the path he went down, and he hates her the most!

Ash is about to attack Squirrel wanting to send her plummeting into the flames, when he remembers something he learned from Hawkstar about the 3.... he realizes that if he drops this bomb he will cause Squirrelflight’s perfect life (that he should have had!) fall apart at the seams! And so instead of attempting to kill Squirrel, he reveals that her kits are not her own but are instead half Order, and not only that, born from medicine cats! at this Squirrelflight leaps at Ash fighting him, and trying to make a way for her kits to escape. they both roll off the fallen tree, Ash plummets into the fire below, while Squirrel hangs onto the tree, she is dragged up by Lionblaze, while Ash burns below.

Ashfur against all odds does not die from this, he escapes and lives out of pure spite. and the next time he is seen, he is now the heavily scarred deputy of River Order. I kinda want him to get a new name after this like Scourchedash or something but idk..

I think I will still have Hollyleaf kill Ash, but im not sure how, maybe in battle??? like i said I haven't figured out Po3 yet so all of this is up for change and such! I haven't even figured out how Sol plays into all this!

[wyldblunt]

i love your seeing your art, but I'm so curious to see what your salads (like lorelai, merritt, etc) look like in game! Ik sometimes in-game representations aren't completely accurate, but could you show some screenshots, for curiosity reasons 👀

i can!!! full disclosure i am very bad at screencaps (i WANT to get better i'm just lazy + impatient....) so i actually don't have a ton of good ones -- normally i just am kind of. spamming rough caps without even hiding the UI just to use as drawing reference. BUT, let's see what i do have!

starting with the big four: marina's commander, alan!

(the yellow guy in those last two caps is my clooney -- a lot of the time most of the good caps i have of marina's characters are duo ones like this bc we are really bad at remembering to send each other individual character caps from our respective computers lmao)

then of course my commander, glyn, who i have posted caps of before but why not more:

and then our lieutenant commanders, lorelei (mine) and merrit (marina's):

these are a little out of date bc i recently swapped lorelei over to the f model and i like a lot of things about that better, but i still consider both appearances canon!

also as a bonus, the most important merrit cap i have ever taken:

and under the cut i'll put some of our side characters!

OKAY SO here's a little more clooney (including some with lingering ui lol sorry):

(it is really fucked up that i can't keep his aviators on when he's wearing outfits so i have to self soothe)

bowyn (pink, mine) and rhys (dark purple, marina's):

(these are also out of date bc we decided later on that bowyn is actually way taller than rhys but. doesn't bother us bad enough for us to blow TWO makeover kits just to adjust height sliders, yknow)

maelduin (tawny, mine) and cadair (green, marina's):

aaand okay re: viper squad. i did make donner but i don't have any good caps rn and i am too lazy to start gw up to take them oops sorry. i do have PLANS for daimhin tho:

and here's an attempt i made at damage but... i don't think i'm actually gonna make her bc like. if i can't have the venus flytrap hair what's the point. i think it would bother me the whole time. this design is still cute tho:

AND THAT'S ALL THE IMAGES I'M ALLOWED TO PUT IN ONE POST APPARENTLY LMAO it's fine bc some of my other ocs i have caps of but i'm not quite satisfied w them yet!! so maybe someday :)

[aromanticbuck]

Okay I am behind as hell on all One Chicago right now but I have to know bc of your last post tags, Upstead divorce???

Hello!

Yeah, the marriage and divorce (the entire relationship, really) is fairly recent, so if you're behind by a few seasons, it's all wild. But Upstead got married in 9x09 (Jay rushed it because he panicked), and then Jay returned to the army reserves and was sent to Bolivia in 10x03 (Jay made a quick, emotional decision because he panicked), and it was revealed in 11x01 that Hailey sent him divorce papers that they both signed (the only thought out piece of their relationship, actually, and I'm proud of her for standing up for what she needed and making that move for herself) (also fully respect Jay for signing them and sending them back because like... I know we didn't see his side of all of it, and I have THOUGHTS but that's still really mature of him and we don't see the emotionally mature side of him all that often? and we never will again because he's gone but whatever).

Honestly, I didn't finish s10, because... I stopped caring? I'm only watching s11 for Torres and Burzek, honestly. The only OC show I'm fully emotionally invested in is Fire, the other two I'm only here for because of specific plotlines.

And, personally, I had my issues with Upstead's relationship in canon that I've mostly kept to myself and a few trusted friends. I was always happy to see characters I love happy, of course, but there was a lot I would have changed. I really like the (off screen) divorce arc because it feels like the the healthiest decision they've made in this entire relationship. And I'm begging for some on screen divorces in some media somewhere because I'm tired of the narrative that separation is inherently bad. Sometimes people realize they want something different out of life, or simply grow apart, and that's okay.

Anyway, if you see me writing post-Upstead-divorce Moustead fic and only sending it to Kit and Cíara, yes you do.