#I don’t think she should be considered an antagonist either

[spittyfishy]

39? :3

39: Which character do you feel deserves more love?

I think Angie does! She’s so fun. Her design’s really cool, I love all the colours, and I’m from an island too so I appreciate her designs beachy vibes lol. She’s also super fun to draw and write, at least in my experience lol

[presidenthades]

Rhaenyra and Daemon's wedding (show and fic) is where I feel conflicted with Rhaenyra's character. Her kids had just lost a dad (two on the show) and she's too busy planning her dream wedding to even care if her actions hurt anyone. Her children needed their mom's comfort more than ever and she not only blatantly lied to them about her plans but took the girls away from their family. I'm normally an Nyra apologist but I always hated how selfish she was when she married Daemon so quickly, at least they should have waited for the kids to recover from Laenor and Laena's death...

I'm not surprised when some authors write Jace with some very deep hidden resentment towards his/her mom, she's lucky that her firstborn loved her so much because this was reason enough for a big fight with very serious results (Rhaenyra and Jace's bond breaking indefinitely) I don't include Luke/Luce in this because even if Luce is the most vocal of the girls to show her displeasure over the wedding, her anger is explosive but short-lived. She could never spend much time angry with her mom, especially since they both have a very similar character. Luke is even softer, he sees his mother as perfect and I doubt there's anything Rhaenyra can do that will change that perspective.

Jace/Jacaera, on the other hand, suffer from the curse of the eldest daughter. They know the best part of Rhaenyra but also her lowest points, fortunately they love her too much to use it against her and they value the well-being of their family more than anything so they keep all their opinions and emotions to themselves. Lowkey wondered what would happen the day Jace/Jacaera decided enough was enough and broke out, the fight between either of them and Rhaenyra would be wild and I bet even Daemon wouldn't want to put himself in the middle of those two 🫠

I think people are allowed to (and should) acknowledge the flaws and bad decisions that their favorite characters make! And vice versa, one is allowed to enjoy or appreciate certain qualities of characters they otherwise dislike. A completely perfect hero is boring, just as a completely evil antagonist is boring. GRRM’s big message in his universe is that everyone is some shade of gray.

From Rhaenyra and Daemon’s POV, they’ve waited years to be together, and now they finally have their chance. But their kids don’t see it from their parents’ view, and I think that shot in Episode 7 of the kids looking unhappy at the elopement is very telling. HOTD characters don’t have access to therapy or modern psychiatry, but there’s a reason there’s a lot of advice and best practices for parents who plan to remarry. If there are kids involved, they need to be considered.

The girls aren’t opposed to their mother remarrying. As Jace and Luce say, the problem is that Rhaenyra does it so hastily. And you have a spot-on read of the two girls. Luce is very vocal and dramatic about her protests, but she quickly tires herself out and is eager for a semblance of normalcy/comfort. But Jace is stewing over the matter more quietly, and it’ll boil over one day.

Rhaenyra and Jace do end up having a very huge fight about it in Chapter 6 of the Handbook. Daemon decides to sleep through it. 😂

[thisbelongsto-nohbodys]

What if Sasha had to teach Grime about the Earth and Marcy had to teach Olivia and Yunan about the Earth the same way Anne did for the Plantars in "Hop 'Til You Drop"?

Sasha would try and fail to help Grime deal with his anger issues only for her to burst into anger instead of Grime. She’s trying to protect Grime from the authorities and her parents, it’s likely that she might go to the Boonchuys but have the same adverse reaction she did to the Plantar’s home but then gets called out by Grime to go and deal with her feelings.

“I know that you care about Anne and considering that your parents are a mess that aren’t trustworthy based on why your avoiding going to either of them so it’d be better to go to Anne’s parents for help.”

“But what if they hate me? I mean, I know that they already don’t like me that much, that I’m ‘a bad influence’ but what if I tell them the truth and they hate me even more?”

“Then we find someone else.”

“There is no one else! I’m just scared that they won’t believe that I want to change, to be a better person, someone that’s worthy of their daughter.”

“Then you tell them the truth and then you show them how dedicated you are to your word. Plus I’m sure they’d love to have the new you for a daughter-in-law”

“//// GRIME!!!”

“What? Was that not what you want?”

Marcy trying to teach Olivia and Yunan would be like polar opposites when it comes to their lessons. Olivia would be living in a middle class life without the comforts of palace life (not that she is helpless) and Yunan would have to be taught to not be antagonistic with everyone (also don’t cut anyone up with her claws). Hell, due to her parent’s moving, it’s also likely that Marcy would want to go to the Boonchuys.

“So, once again for the 10th time: Lady Olivia, you don’t have to curtsy nor should you expect others to curtsy. This is LA, the Burger Queen isn’t actually royalty. And Yunan....I have so many notes...frog is this what Anne was feeling when she was taking care of me?”

“Excuse me Master Marcy but being in a foreign land and of someone of my status, I’m a impromptu diplomat and my actions are reflective of Amphibia itself should we need to go seek help from your authorities.”

“and I’m tasked with protecting m’lady from any and all harm. Your world is very dangerous.”

“I know... Anne usually protected me from the real bad dangers but if we’re to survive here while trying to find a way back, then you two are going to have to learn how to lay low. Think of it as playing a undercover scout rogue and your trying not to get caught. I...can’t lose you two. I know that in every story when alien creatures are spotted then the government will hunt them down and either imprison them for study or hunt them down to kill... your all I have left since I’m sure Anne and Sasha wouldn’t want to be my friends anymore.”

“Okay Master Marcy. We’ll try and lay low. We vow that nothing will separate us and that we’ll find a way back to save your friends from Andrias. Don’t worry, I’m sure that your friends will understand and remain with you.”

“And if not then you have us and I can hunt them for sport for hurting you.”

“Yunan! You will do no such thing! Those are Master Marcy’s friends! Those whom she intends to become betrothed to!”

“Wait, what?!!? What are you talking about Olivia?!”

“Oh, are you not in love with them? I figured with how much you’ve gushed about them over tea that you knew about your feelings.”

“////////////////////////”

“I think she’s just now realized it, m’lady...”

[everybody-loves-purdy]

How would you rank the warrior cats villains?

I’m going to do two lists here I’m going to rank them from favourite to least favourite, and then rank them based on how objectively good villains I feel they are

I can’t fit every warriors villain or this list will go on forever but I’ll rank everyone notable (so not characters like Dodge and Stripe) and I won’t count cats I would consider henchmen (such as Bone and Darkstripe). And characters who have had a redemption arc I won’t include here either, this list is reserved for those with no regrets and went to the grave satisfied with their work (so no Skystar, Blackstar or Breezepelt here). Also cats that fit under the “antagonist” banner rather than “villain” won’t be included (I.e Berryheart, Tigerheartstar, Bramblestar).

I think I’ve got all the characters that can qualify for this list but if you feel I’ve forgotten anyone please let me know!

Alright all that out of the way, on with the list:

Fav ranking (Most to least)

Darktail. He’s just so cool, this guy is my second favourite warrior cat only behind Brightheart, he’s terrifying villain and an excellent character.

Scourge

Tigerstar 1

Hawkfrost. Fanon is probably influencing me more than canon here.

Mapleshade

Ashfur

Sol

Sleekwhisker

Brokenstar

One Eye. I honestly don’t remember much of him but I feel like he would rank higher if he was fresher in my mind. He should have lasted more than one book.

Fury. Wasted potential, cool backstory and appearance though.

Slash. Utter disappointment of an end of arc villain.

Thistleclaw. You know why.

Objectively best to worst

Darktail. I know I have a bias. And I know people are going to disagree here. But this guy brought 3 clans to their knees. He drove SkyClan out, ShadowClan literally stopped existing all together because of him. He has the highest known kill count of any warrior cat. And that’s just people he’s ended the life of himself, it’s not counting the many others who have died as a result of his actions. He’s physically strong and intimidating as well as a major manipulator and extremely sadistic. He uses kittypets as cannon fodder, he drowns cats to execute them, he ripped out his deputy’s eye just as a warning. There is just so much to say about this character that I won’t fit in here but he truly is excellent. And to top it all off, he actually achieved his goal, he got his revenge against his father. This current arc would absolutely not be happening without him.

Ashfur. Close second. I only say second because he failed in his goal to keep Squirrelflight to himself and all the other stuff was just kind of collateral damage. I also can’t get over the lack of explanation for how he actually achieves most of what he does. Oh well he almost destroys heaven and hell (by digging a tunnel, ok) and that definitely counts for something. His powers are scary and despite things being a little off the rails he’s still a scary and effective villain. Him as the imposter? Excellent and chilling.

Tigerstar 1. Close third.What can I say he’s a classic and serves his role excellently, what a fantastic first overarching villain for the franchise.

Mapleshade

Scourge

Brokenstar. Almost destroyed ShadowClan in his pursuit for conquest.

One Eye (again, I definitely need to read this guys book since I don’t remember too much)

Hawkfrost. Tigerstar lite

Sol. Very pathetic man but still managed to manipulate cats. He didn’t ultimately end up doing that much but still.

Thistleclaw.

Sleekwhisker. She barely qualifies for this list tbh, she’s definitely just another Kin henchman until River of Fire. Maybe one day she’ll come back and be great but what we have is just isn’t sorry. Conceptually she’s super interesting and cool but canon never quite delivers.

Fury. A massive waste of potential so now she’s just kind of forgettable.

Slash. I have to actively keep reminding myself he exists.

[saintsupertramp]

this is a prompt. give us the nancy tea (re that steddie/buckingham post)

soooo glad you asked I’ve been waiting for this one.

ALSO!! gonna preface this by saying nancy is a teenage girl and we all know how the world loves to shit on them for just being teen girls so I will say when it comes to stuff like her being slut shamed in S1 or the newspaper guys in S3 I would kill and maim for her just so we’re clear. n e ways…

I lowkey highkey think nancy sucks because I feel like she doesn’t treat the people in her life as well as she should, especially steve and jonathan. In S1 she ditches barb a lot to hang out with steve and obviously that goes to shit and she feels bad about it because that’s such a horrible thing to happen but I feel like if it didn’t happen that way she wouldn’t have learned? (I haven’t watched S1/2 in a while so bear with me) Then in S2 I think the way she treats steve is really shitty and yeah he is a dick at times but he’s doing his best and he’s had some redemption since S1 and is genuinely trying to be a good guy. like nance did not have to call him bullshit and let her resentment towards him build without saying anything to him and then immediately get with jonathan asap (not to mention jon was taking weird photos of her in S1???) not to mention that it’s all placed on STEVE to get over her and be ok with her doing whatever she wants because she’s already over him. am I projecting erm maybe moving on.

I don’t like how when she’s with jonathan it feels like she starts to not care about him either and we can see that especially in S4 (what is it with the wheeler siblings and kinda not treating their partners well) and we can tell jon is really fucked up about it when he’s always been pretty nice to nance (I do think he should’ve talked to her about it but yknow). the way she treats robin in S4 doesn’t sit right with me and now we’re getting to the meat of ronance because she doesn’t seem to like robin all that much like she doesn’t really pay attention to her and she seems to dislike robin not in a compelling clashing personalities way but (it feels like to me) in a not liking robin as a person way. i don’t feel a spark between them I sense no chemistry tbh. robin seems to like her but in a friendly way and even then she’s heard about how nancy treated steve and I don’t think she would get with his ex. (the S4 stancy revival is a whole other can of worms that I hate)

also in general I just don’t like nancys character hfkshdj she is not compelling to me personally so take all this with a grain of salt I’m not saying everyone should dislike her I’m just saying I think she gets too much hype and the Fruity Fourification of S4 is unfortunate. I don’t think people should make nancy a villain/antagonist especially in order to get steddie together because like??? what the hell is that all about?? but I will say that I don’t think nancy has learned anything about how she treats people and it feels crazy to say that the series has been too lenient on her considering everything she goes through but in terms of interpersonal relations I feel like she hasn’t grown that much and she needs to.

if anyone wants even more elaboration lmk I could talk about this for days

[dancingbirdie]

Headcanon/Potential Fanfiction Excerpt?

I have this headcanon where my MC (Diana Ridgegrass - Slytherin she/her) spends 6th year studying abroad at Ilvermorny and returns for her final year at Hogwarts. She and Ominis remained close friends/pen pals. Sebastian has been OVERTLY distant.

Not sure if this has reader appeal, but at least it's out of my head.

“Popular with the American wizards, were you?” Sebastian sneered. “I’m sure they loved the English accent.”

Ominis released a heavy sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose in apparent frustration, while Diana glared over the brim of her pumpkin juice. “Actually, Sebastian, my focus while attending Ilvermorny wasn’t to secure a beau. I was there to learn.”

“Oh, I’m sure you learned quite a bit,” he retorted, the insinuation obvious.

She slammed her mug down, juice sloshing onto the table. Enough was enough. “Yes, and what of you, then? Hmm? Have many educational trysts in the last year?” she spat. 

Sebastian smirked, releasing a little chuckle and rising to take his leave. “Perhaps, although I’m not sure it’s any of your business, seeing as you decided to spend the last year abroad.” And without a moment’s pause, he turned and made his way to the grand double doors of the Great Hall. 

Diana remained silent as she watched him leave, her eyes like daggers boring into his back. She clenched her fists, willing her eyes to cease their smarting. 

“He’s bluffing, you know,” Ominis said quietly.

Diana jerked to stare at her friend, eyebrows raised. Ominis seemed to sense her gaze, willing him to elaborate. 

He gave a brief, exasperated laugh. “I’m sure the other quidditch teams would be relieved if Sebastian would find another outlet for his intensity, seeing as his bludgers broke several limbs during matches last year. But, no. There’s been no one he’s fancied… or shown even remote interest in.”

Diana remained silent, considering his words. Then she blew out a harsh breath in frustration. 

“Why is he behaving this way, Ominis? I don’t understand.”

Ominis opened his mouth to reply, but paused. “He…” Thinking better of it, he began again. “It’s really not my place to say, Diana. You should try speaking with him about it.” 

But Diana was not ready to cease the conversation. “I wrote to him just as frequently as I wrote to you. He never returned my letters. Any of them. It was a year spent in horrible silence. And I return, willing to put his actions - or lack thereof - behind us and try to carry on like old times, but it seems that isn’t an option either. I’ve apparently become an antagonist in his eyes, yet no one has deigned to inform me of the wrongs I’ve committed against him.”

Ominis remained silent, chewing on his lower lip and worrying his napkin into a wrinkled mess. She sighed.

“Forgive me. I don’t mean to put you in the middle of this, Ominis. You’re Sebastian’s best friend. The last thing I would want is to drive a wedge between you two. I’ll just…” she paused, at a loss for what she would do. 

“I’ll figure something out,” she muttered. 

Ominis nodded softly and felt for her hand to give it a light squeeze. 

It was not the start to her final year that she had expected, but Diana was thankful at least to have a steadfast friend in Ominis.

[whyrubuyingclothesatthesoupstore]

my friend asked me to write an essay about the midori head spin and then I did

@rock-doodles-shit​ this is all your fault

I am sure you know of this scene, and I am sure you can remember how you reacted when you first got to it in the game. We all know that it’s funny as balls and incredibly memorable, but I feel as though we don’t appreciate it quite as much as we should. So today I will be telling you why Midori spinning his head in the middle of the banquet was a necessary addition to the story, not because I actually think so, but because it would be really funny.

(These are all things that nankidai probably had in mind while writing the scene, it’s just that he most likely didn’t spend an hour and a half writing them out in great detail)

First of all, this scene reveals that Midori isn’t human, and that he gave away parts of his body to a lot of other people, which not only helps the plot move forward but sets up some things that will hopefully be fully explained in 3-2. It’s also necessary for Midori to demonstrate that he’s not human, considering that the others might not have believed him otherwise because of how much he’s messed with them before.

It’s also what fits Midori’s personality most, because it’s probably the most dramatic thing he could have possibly done here. Just disconnecting his head for his body would have also worked, but spinning it better shows how he treats the whole thing as a game and just does whatever he finds the most entertaining, or whatever will get the funniest reactions out of people.

This scene also gives us what I think are the best lines Hiyori has in the whole game - “I gave up my humanity!” and “In this way, the body can also be a majority vote!” I have a post on the second line already, so let’s just stop on the first one. The line gives us a really good look into Hiyori’s worldview (which I wish the game would’ve done more but I digress). To him no longer being human is something worth celebrating, something to casually mention in conversation, something to flaunt by doing stupid tricks with the doll parts of his body. He could have a lot of reasons to think that way - no longer being human means he basically cheated death, it means he can claim he’s incapable of feeling fear since it’s a human emotion, it makes him “stronger” than some emotional fragile human, and mentioning it casually also creeps people out which we all know he is a fan of doing. I want to make a separate post on tumblr dot com about this line so for now this is all that I’m gonna say.

Fourth of all, it’s just really funny okay. Having your main antagonist randomly start spinning his head around during an intense scene to show off his cool cyborg powers is really really funny. I’m pretty sure the participants shouldn’t even be able to see inside the coffins but I am willing to suspend my disbelief because it’s just hilarious and definitely worth the small logical error.

And lastly, everyone’s reactions to Midori spinning his head give us small but needed bits of characterization.

The first to react are Shin and Kanna, they just scream. Sara just says what she’s seeing and Q-Taro goes “Stop! That’s creepy!” which is possibly the funniest response anyone could have to a situation like this, and afterwards says “You’re clearly not human!”, which is either him stating the obvious or talking about humanity as a moral quality because he’s just that baffled that Midori could treat turning himself into a doll this lightly (I sure do wonder why he could have possibly reacted this way). Sara quickly collects herself and tries to focus on moving the discussion forward, Kanna seems too terrified/disturbed to say anything else, and Shin says “What the hell?! What are you thinking...?!”

Not “what is wrong with you”, “what are you thinking.” I feel like he’s trying to understand why Hiyori seems so willing to reveal this, since it supposedly puts him at a disadvantage. And he’s right to be suspicious because Hiyori’s next turn could’ve killed Gin if Sara didn’t remember the consent form. He only revealed he’s a doll because he was convinced he was going to win anyway, and it makes sense Shin would be the one to notice that since he knows Hiyori better than anyone.

The Yabusames don’t react at all in emotion route, either they’re supposed to be frozen in shock or nankidai straight up forgot about them.

(Side note, what do you think Keiji was thinking here while he was listening over the transceiver?)

And these five arguments conclude my weird little essay, thank you for reading please grade my paper well.

[chriscdcase95]

My thoughts on “Teen Wolf: The Movie”.

So I watched the new Teen Wolf movie. Ultimately. I'm giving it a six out of ten. While there was more I liked about the movie than disliked, I had quite a few  gripes.  

I didn't see it as horrendous as a lot of fans say it is, but there are a few valid critiques I've seen. Maybe I'm just easy to please.

I think some of the issues could have been fixed if there wasn't such a big time skip; like instead of fifteen years, five years. Maybe instead of raising a teenager, Derek would be raising a toddler. Though I don't think we'd get the same kind of story for Eli that way, especially for this generations teen wolf. 

Spoilers below.

1. So I got into Teen Wolf back in high school, and I remember being a die hard Scallison stan back then too. I'm not as big of a Scallison as I was back then, but I am glad to see them be endgame, if it wasn't for one small thing.

My main question is if Allison aged a bit after her resurrection ? Like is she still considered a teenager or is she considered a young adult now ? I feel like this is a nitpick, but some In-Universe clarification would be nice! Feels like something the writers overlooked.  

Then again, werewolves are slow to age in the show's lore, so I guess you can apply "Vampire Rules" to these kind of romances. Maybe I'm overthinking it. I mean the show used to tease Parrish and Lydia, in season four; back when she was a teenager, and he was in his 20's. As if over half the fandom wasn’t shipping Sterek.

Actually, while I was working on this post, I read that Allison was eighteen when she died, so that's...better I guess.

2. Speaking of Parrish, his and Malia's relationship...I'm okay with it, more so than Scott and Malia. I mean they didn't do much with either pairing. Maybe that's the Malira shipper in me talking.

With Scalia, it felt like they just slapped them together because Scott needed a love interest for the final season. You could make the argument that a lot has happened over fifteen years that we didn't see.

With Malia and Parish, it feels like there's a whole ass story we didn't see, but y'know, show, don't tell. 

3. While I'm on that, the movie leaves a lot open ended, that it felt like it was setting up a follow up. This is were most of my problems come from. I was thinking maybe it would tie into Wolf Pack, but I've been hearing that the show isn't meant to be a direct spinoff (or even the same universe) as Teen Wolf. 

One thing I'd like an explanation of is Eli's mother, which again feels like they're saving for a follow up. Speaking of Eli, he became an instant favorite of mine, and someone I wouldn't mind seeing again.

Also, the cursing and nudity in this movie, I'm not saying it's out of place, and far from being prudish. I like that they’re being more risqué, but I’m also glad they didn't go too overboard with it. Still,  “Darkness, you motherfucker” absolutely killed me!

Another gripe I had was that Kira didn't return. Like this is a story where kitsune are front and center, and one of the antagonists is a monster her mother helped bring into the world. 

You’re seriously telling me she’s not up for another round ?

We're introduced to a new Kitsune, Hikari, who I have nothing against, but it really feels like Kira could have (should have) filled her spot. Especially since Hikari didn't have a proper introduction for a new player. "Oh, Liam has a new girlfriend who's a kitsune ? Welcome to the team I guess."

4. The villains...here's where I have more of an issue. So the Nogitsune makes a comeback. Which is fine; I saw that coming as far back as the trailers. 

But the movie's other Big Bad is Adrian Harris, with no explanation for his survival. I mean sure, a slashed throat/strangulation is an injury you can survive, but the chances are often slim.

I could have easily bought this Big Bad Duumvirate, if there wasn't something that stuck out; Stiles wasn't there. 

I can accept that Stiles isn't part of the story. I can accept Stydia splitting up (albeit begrudgingly). But Stiles was the Nogitsune’s primary tormenting victim, and the one Harris had the most beef with. You telling me he wasn't on their radar ?!

You're telling me that even if Harris survived or came back, the first thing he wouldn't do was try to access the speed force and pull some Eobard Thawne buffoonery on Stiles ? 

Get out of town!

Anyways, the Nogitsune was a serviceable villain, but I feel like Harris could have been replaced with another past antagonist. Say Tamara Monroe, considering she was the series cliffhanger villain, and as of this movie her arc's unresolved. They probably wouldn't have been able to pull any kind of twist with her, but she at least would fit more. 

Hell, even Theo Raeken would have been more fitting; the guy such has a proud history of subverting whatever redeeming qualities thrown his way, I still have a hard time buying his “redemption” at the end of the series. Actually, it wasn't even a redemption, it was just the one genuine Pet the Dog moment the guy actually had.

Anyways, Harris probably would have been a better fit in a story that had Stiles in it.

5. Not gonna lie, Derek's death was something sorta I saw coming.

What I mean is, I certainly saw someone in the main cast was gonna die. That's like an unspoken rule in “Next Generation” sequels. But I thought it would be someone else. If not Derek, it would be one of the parents.

Who'd I'd probably have die instead would be Chris Argent. I mean if you're gonna bring back his daughter, you'd think one consequence would be that Chris would die in her place.

Derek's death, I'm more mixed on, but ultimately accept. I would have preferred if Chris was the one with the heroic sacrifice. I still think it would be a more fitting end than Derek’s.

I heard some complaints that Scott and Allison pretty much adopted Eli, but I didn't see it that way. When Scott and Eli interacted, I got more of an uncle/nephew vibe than any father/son thing. 

The way I see it, Eli just has a large support system following his father's death; a support system that just now includes Scott and Alison. And let's be honest, there's no way and hell Derek is gonna let Peter raise him.

I've been told this was intended to be the start of a trilogy, so if we get sequels, hopefully they'll fill us in on what we missed.

[whoredmode]

2, 4, 7, 12 for Anteros? ⚜️

Saints Row 1 Questions

2. What were they doing before getting caught in the middle of a shootout and recruited by Julius?

answered here. was just leaving work, chatting up a friend he hadn’t seen in awhile, then all That happened.

4. Be honest. Do they kick ass at canonisation, or do they get their ass kicked?

answered here. he gets his ass beat cuz of a kick in the back he didn’t see coming.

7. Which antagonist would you recruit into the Saints, regardless of who it is or what they've done? Why?

this is an interesting question. me personally? i may have to go w either ben or tanya. ben bc we know he does work well w the saints and i’d loooove to see dex and ben strategize together. i’ve said it before but i’ll say it again. it’s a miracle julius got ahold of dex instead of ben bc that duo would’ve been insane, not to mention i hc that dex actually looked up to ben king more than julius. but that’s a discussion for another time…

tanya bc we know she’s so fucking smart and tactical. she knows the ins and outs of stilwater, of the gangs, of this whole fucking game. genuinely such a fascinating, strategic antagonist. i can only imagine what she’d be like had she joined the saints and they continue to expand. anteros would not wanna work w her tho bc they used to essentially be coworkers. he knows her well, even if she pretends she doesn’t know him.

for anteros tho? luz, and this is somewhat canon for me. in my canon, the carnales don’t just dissipate. i won’t get too into the specifics here, but they’re still in stilwater, just playing a significantly reduced and quieter role, being run by luz and orejuela (they’re married). orejuela is primarily in colombia tho while luz stays in stilwater and manages it there. through anteros (this happens around sr2 time), the saints and carnales actually work together when it comes to running drugs. luz and anteros actually do have a history together, going back to the pre-sr1 days (connected through torque, which is a whole other thing that i’m happy to talk about if you wanna know more), tho they only actually get to know each other during sr1 and better in sr2. they actually consider each other friends after a certain point (primarily post-sriv, but this is getting off topic). they like each other, even trust each other after a certain point, and anteros genuinely likes working w her.

12. Are there any mistakes your Playa made that they're never going to forget?

so many. i think the one from sr1 specifically that he holds onto the most, whether he realizes or not, is what happened w lin. it was his first brush w death, and in some ways he feels as if he failed her. especially as time goes on and he becomes haunted by feelings of anxiety, doubt. why should he get to live and she shouldn’t? and worst of all, when he starts thinking he’s seeing ghosts during sr2, he never sees her. he never gets to tell her he’s sorry. anteros is a character who is just so unbelievably riddled w guilt and grief, and it’s something he has to carry for the rest of his life.

[fourthousandbooks]

I finished Privilege of the Sword!!

So in the end, I enjoyed most of the story, but felt the ending was a little rushed. It goes from Katherine and her companion’s shenanigans and explorations leading them stumbling into the tangled web that the antagonist and her uncle have been playing with in time to save one of the minor characters, to her uncle going to confront and suddenly killing the antagonist in question to running away and making Katherine the next Duchess of Tremontaine with a few of the still dangling plot threads loosely tucked into a slim epilogue without really showing us the fallout from his actions beyond the part where he just goes “shit I’m getting out of here, summon my boyfriend from the summer estate”. Artemisia’s subplot isn’t really resolved, though she shows up there, and there’s a few others that were introduced partway through that aren’t mentioned at all.

However.

There’s one more book - I believe it’s called Fall of the Rival, that’s at least what it looks like from where it’s sitting on my bookshelf - which may clear up a lot of these grievances. I don’t think I’ll read it immediately, I’ve got something else in mind to pick up first, but I’ll give it a shot soon. I did on the whole enjoy a ton of the book too, I loved the slow escalation of the political quagmire that makes up Tremontaine versus the rest of the nobility, Katherine’s journey from farmgirl to swordfighter complete with bisexual awakening was really charming, I cared about most of the side characters at least a little bit, which is very impressive considering how many of them there are, I just wish that either there was more time to show the fallout or that there hadn’t been the epilogue that feels like it’s trying to wrap up enough of the dangling plot threads to feel like it’s a satisfying ending. I’m fine with trilogies ending with a sort of null ending in the middle, it just doesn’t really need an epilogue at the same time.

Also Artemisia and Katherine should have become girlfriends. C’mon. I deserved it.

[fictionalstoryteller]

How the Season 3 Antagonists from LMK Would Babysit Your Kid

Fandom: Lego Monkie Kid

Characters: Lady Bone Demon, Mystic Mayor, and Macaque

TW: unless you think scary skeleton shadow people need a trigger warning, there’s nothing but fluff here

(The list of characters this time is short, so sorry bout that! I also plan to do the celestial beings from the show next, but it’ll probably take a while so I appreciate everyone’s patience. Oh also! I’ve come to the horrific realization that these three characters don’t have a catchy group name! This must be fixed, stat! If anyone has any ideas or already knows of a group name for this trio, please let me know. Personally, I think they should be known as the ✨ Theater Kids ✨. Now that that’s out of the way please continue on reading)

Lady Bone Demon:

You’re really going to have to use your imagination for this one, because I have no clue why she’d help babysit anyone. Maybe it’s because she wants you to trust her so she can use you or something? Idk, just be creative! I believe in you 🤗

Even if LBD hated your kid she’d be determined to take care of them. If she needed to she’d just pull out her good ol’ acting skills and suffer through it silently. Especially if she’d benefit from this whole babysitting gig.

She would also be GREAT at guilt tripping people into behaving, no matter who she was talking to. All she needs is time to figure out their weakness…

Unless she’s babysitting at your house she’ll be taking your kiddo out on the town. After all, it’s not like she has a home of own to take them to (minus Spider Queen’s cave and her super secret robot hideout)

LBD probably wants to make a good impression because she needs allies, so she lets the kid take the lead for the most part. Want to eat? Well then let’s eat. Want to draw? I’ll find some crayons if you’d like. Don’t get me wrong, she isn’t a pushover. If she really needs to she’ll offer some wise words of wisdom or something to keep your kid in line. And if that doesn’t work then manipulation tactics here we come!

Despite being a villain she has noble intentions, which is why I think she’d like kids to some extent

Minus the evil plans and her controlling tendencies, she gives off a nurturing mom vibes. I’d understand if most kids latch onto that side of her

On the surface it seems like she’d do a great job, after all she wants what’s best for everyone and wouldn’t let your kiddo get away with anything they want. She’d be firm, yet kind! But if we start looking closely at her less than positive traits, you can see why she shouldn’t be around kids… she’s manipulative and controlling, which could be seen as being potential trauma inducing behaviors. I doubt she’d use these skills of hers if it wasn’t necessary, and that if she used them only once it wouldn’t leave a lasting impact on the kid, but it’s a risk I personally wouldn’t take. 6.8/10! (Also if your kid becomes a favorite of hers she’ll be sure to eliminate them first to spare them from the worlds cruelty. What a sweetheart?)

Mystic Mayor:

Unlike LBD, I can understand why he’d pick up a babysitting job. In the start of the series he was trying to appear normal after all! (But failing miserably) He probably wouldn’t even realize that it’s odd for the MAYOR of the city to have enough free time to babysit kids. 

Mr. Mayor is chaos incarnate, but I can’t really see him hating kids! He’d probably get a kick out of them doing dumb or crazy stuff.

If you leave him specific guidelines to follow he’ll do everything you want him to do with a smile on his face. And if you don’t? Well he certainly isn’t stopping your kid from doing dangerous stuff because, like I said before, he’d get a kick out of it. He also would have a hard time understanding what kids aren’t allowed to do considering he’s barely grasped mortal customs.

Since the Mayor wouldn’t really know where to go, or even have a preference for that matter, he’d let your kid choose a place to hang.

Your kid will either love him for his sadistic personality, or they’ll be freaked out. Yeah he’s fun, but I can understand why some kids would be absolutely terrified of him. He gives off, “I’m smiling because I’m imagining killing everyone in this room” vibes. 

On the flip side, I can also see some kids interpreting his actions as silly. They might just see him as a super happy guy! Who jokes about murder…! And never frowns… yep just totally normal human behavior :D

I love the Mayor so friggin much that it hurts me to give him a 6.3/10. But he’s just too much of a wild card! He is constantly saying creepy things without even batting an eye, which is funny until you realize he’s being 100% serious. Also, if I left my kid with him I’d always be slightly worried he’d let them do something crazy without realizing that kids are very breakable. His smiley persona makes up for some of the negatives though. 😁💙

Macaque:

Macaque has the most trauma here, don’t lie to me. BUT despite this he’ll probably be the best person to babysit compared to everyone on this list.

He’d be flattered that you trust him with something as precious as your kids, but he’s also worried he’ll screw something up. Obviously he doesn’t admit this to your face, but you can kinda tell by how much he keeps double checking to see if you’re positive this is a good idea

I’d argue that Macaque has a good track record with kids. He was a good mentor to MK before he betrayed him, and he also prioritized Bai He’s safety once LBD left her body. I mean he didn’t really seem to care that LBD was possessing Bai He at the start of the season but it’s fiiiiiine! He was busy trying not to die after all!

He also used to put up with Wukong’s madness, so it’s safe to say he’d know how to deal with energetic kids

Macaque has a dojo and a cave to babysit at, and that’s not even counting the place where he was putting on shadow plays! Point is him and your kid will have plenty of places to hang out at, which is good because Macaque wouldn’t want to be out in public for very long

As fatherly caring as he is, I don’t think he’d really know what to do to entertain the kid. He’d probably think your kid wouldn’t be very interested in shadow plays or training. Because of this he’d let them guide the activities

If your kid does end up showing an interest in theater or fighting, he’s going to be THRILLED. He wouldn’t show it, but he’d be really excited. Macaque would take this as an opportunity to show off his shadow magic, scripts, and fighting tactics. And hey, if it’s a good day for it he might even teach them something cool! 

As long as you’re not an enemy of his your kid is in great hands. He might act like he doesn’t care but we all know he does, and as an added bonus he’s just fun to talk to! He does a lot of teasing, but I don’t think most kids would mind it all that much. And even if your kid isn’t interested in his hobbies, they’ll still have a good time with him. I’m sure they’d figure out something to do together.

Guys I think… I think I’m going to give him a perfect score?! I want to give him a 10/10 so badly but I just know someone’s going to remind me of something that will bump his score down… whatever, it’s my rating system! MACAQUE GETS. A 10/10! Congratulations Macaque, your the first character to get a perfect score!

[crapmagak]

Engage Drip Marketing: Timerra and Solm

Whelp, it’s-a-time for the last major box art character to appear (not counting Sombron), Timerra, as well as an intro to Solm itself. Seems we’re rounding out the countries first before further intros, which I’m down for.

So, Solm… 

Solm is a country in southeast Elyos, ruled by the freedom-loving queen Sfoglia as a neutral nation.

Solm by far has been one of the nations I’ve been the most interested in. Mostly just because of how little we saw of it until a couple weeks ago. Here, though, it seems to play double duty as our token neutral mid act shake up country, and our token desert country. And considering all the vibes every royal but Lumera has been putting down, and how neutral countries usually operate in Fire Emblem… If queen Sfoglia isn’t gonna be an antagonist at some point, some noble probably will be. Speaking of which, from Fogato’s website bios, it’s also revealed the royal line of Solm is matrilineal, which is neat. 

Sadly, though, I am kind of worried about something when it comes to Solm. Earlier this year, the country of Sumeru came in Genshin Impact, and swiftly grew infamous for its colorism issues. With the italian food name gimmick of this country, we currently know six Solmnian characters; Timerra, Fogato, Bonet, Pandoro, Seadall, and Merrin. And, well… four of them are the ambiguous maybe white, maybe east asian skin tone of anime. Like, I’m a white American dude, I’m not the best person to articulate the problems here. Still, they are kind of eyebrow raising. Hopefully this isn’t the case, but I’m ready to be disappointed again.

And without further adieu… Timerra herself. Fire in artwork…

Timerra is the first princess of the Kingdom of Solm, and Fogato's sister. Perhaps because she was raised in the freedom-loving Solm, she has an innocent and positive personality.

Then portrait…

While Timerra has been educated to become the next queen, she has been allowed to roam freely, so she can get along with just about anyone.

Then cutscene…

Timerra loves having everyone sit around bonfires. She loves singing, and it seems sometimes she comes up with songs on the spot...

Timerra: "Hmm, there we go! Time to happily wait for this meat to grill! Ahem... Now then, First Princess of Solm, Timerra, is going to sing!"

So, quite a bit going on with her. The design is cute, and the colors work really well together, even if the balls are rather silly. Still, her outfit itself is kind of an orientalist stereotype. Not as fetishistically horny as it could be, but not great either. Like, with the specific portions of skin shown off, the clothes around her waist and legs, and the ornaments on her wrists and ankles, they all bring to mind a stereotypical belly dancer, and that’s not even her class as it turns out. Sadly, these depictions are par for the course in fantasy media depicting any country inspired by MENA regions. I don’t even think she should be in something from a historically accurate documentary, or show no skin at all. Timerra is clearly a free spirit girl who employs an acrobatic fighting style, so her design should communicate that. Just… maybe not something evocative of a fictitious outfit made up by Europeans to fetishize women from a region of the world they were colonizing. This is a problem that's so much bigger than one game though, so I’ll try not to harp on it too much, and just leave it at disappointed but not surprised.

As for the character herself, Timerra seems alright. Your typical cute genki girl, here to round out the cast of generically nice avatar Alear, generically nice prince Alfred, cool and stoic prince Diamante, and cool and sexy princess Ivy. It’d be cool if Timerra’s freedom and roaming around gave her a more ground perspective compared to the other royals. Sadly I won’t hold my breath. This is Fire Emblem, after all, the little people don’t really matter in this franchise.

Also, I’m curious if she actually is gonna break out into song near the end of that cutscene. Vocal themes have become a huge part of nintendo games all over, and every mainline FE game since Fates has had one. Perhaps Timerra may end up singing the opening and or ending theme for the game.

And now for the crit clip…

Timerra's starting class is Sentinel. Elegantly wielding a lance, they use quick movements to make enemies' heads spin.

Curiously, her class name is Vigilante in japanese, but was changed to sentinel as seen in english trailers. Not sure why. Maybe it’s like a translation thing, like how the devs for Metroid thought bounty hunter just meant “cool guy who goes on adventures”? Don’t really know enough about the language to know for sure, though.

There are some rather interesting details to look over. The map itself seems to be the castle of Solm itself, overrun with Elusian soldiers. And that's not even the strangest part. We can see on the mini map that Timerra is alone in the middle of the map, while the rest of the army is away at the bottom. I’d ask if this is the chapter Timerra is recruited, but she’s currently level 19, a mere level away from promoting. Perhaps for story reasons she’s been separating.

I’m also curious because we haven’t seen Timerra with any characters that could be her retainers, same as Ivy. It’d be odd if these characters didn’t have them while the other royals clearly do. Perhaps we’ll see them later.

[crystalelemental]

“books-are-my-life-stuff: I haven't even read Alola VA part 2! But it's hard to bring myself to read it. Hoenn VA gave Zinnia an important role and established her dynamic with Steven post Delta Episode, so that's at least good. Unova I think is still kinda cool too for focusing on Hugh and N's friendship. But I agree, I feel like Johto VA is the last objectively good VA story-wise. The rest of the VAs are either good to okay to "don't care", at least for me.

Unova was the last VA that I read immediately after release, starting from Kalos I just don't care. Maybe because of my general indifference towards the region, but even when I do read it, it doesn't do much to make me like it. I'll give Alola VA a credit for making Hau got his moments and approval from his grandpa, but other than that...yeah, I'm finding difficulties in bringing myself to read it.”

I think in my case, the issue is the later we go, the most the antagonists skew to lost potential rather than good or bad.  Like, Maxie and Archie I can look at and just go, these two are morons, do not take anything seriously.  Cyrus and Ghetsis I can look at and go these were really cool I hope they keep that up.  And they can, because they just continue to do what they’ve been doing, kinda.  Cyrus is toned down and Ghetsis basically defanged once everyone knows his deal, but they’re still something.  But as soon as you hit Lysandre, it’s suddenly man, I hope they do something different.  But they can’t.  They’re constrained by what the series is going to push.  And for Lusamine, that’s extremely devastating, because USUM Lusamine does not do it for me in her current iteration where they refuse to let her be interesting as a former antagonist.  So I can even say I know what I truly expected here, because what would’ve satisfied me was impossible, and it’s kinda the same for Rose, who I cannot image being adjusted to actually matter and have an interesting view.  So I’m kinda just over the VA and ready for the next thing, which hopefully will happen shortly after fourth anniversary.  Galar should be set for August just before. 

“I did say that Alola characters are great as a group, but not great individually, and this problem really shows, especially now that only some of them got alts and are separated from their group that they usually hang out with, they have to do something individually, and it...doesn't do much. I tried, but I can't. At least Hau is still great because he's one of the rivals, but the trial captains aren't.”

Yeah, I can’t even say they did anything as a group in the main games that hooked me, so seeing them here on their own hasn’t exactly been that exciting.  Like, at one point, I did kinda like Acerola as like the weird ghost girl.  And I find myself actively losing interest in her when she’s not like...playing off Nanu.  She’s a lot more bland without that dynamic.

“I doubt this will change even after I read part 2 of Alola VA, but my VA rankings so far: Johto > Kanto >> Unova > Hoenn >> Kalos > Sinnoh >> Alola.  I'm not holding out hope for Galar. Better keep my expectation on the ground or I'll be disappointed.”

I think for me, it’s probably Johto, Kanto, Kalos, Unova, Sinnoh, Hoenn, Alola.  Kalos ranks high because they let Lysandre ice those dudes.  Unova is fine but doesn’t really captivate me, and had what I consider the worst spread of new alts.  Sinnoh outranks Hoenn and Alola for me, because Hoenn and Alola were the most nothing events.  Borderline nothing was accomplished.  I’ll put Hoenn above Alola because it had some stuff with Zinnia and Steven’s dynamic, and because of how bad Alola was, but I think the real issue is I specifically should not be putting Kanto anywhere near the top.  But so long as Giovanni is the focus for the whole region, it gets to be good, because the story is focused.  It knows what it’s doing and it gets it done, because there’s nothing extraneous they’re trying to tie in, like other non-Kanto characters.  And that really sucks, because it’s just self-fulfilling prophecy at that point.  Oh, everyone likes Giovanni so much now?  Probably because he’s the only antagonist you let goddamned do anything.  If literally anyone else actually got spotlight to be the villain, he’d lose, because Giovanni is inherently boring an uninteresting, being just some mob boss guy interested in power and money compared to the absolute lunatics in the rest of the teams.

[ladyhindsight]

but i would also add

(chain of iron spoilers!)

i think you will be happy to know that cordelia finding out the reason the "nice" characters are treating alastair horribly doesn't impact their relationship. for once something about that crap felt authentic to me - cordelia knows alastair better than any of this people so obviously she isn't horrified to find out about what he did, and she does feel frustrated at his behavior but not more than she already did before. thank freaking god

my sibling and i have a very complicated relationship full of tension and all, but there's no freaking way i would give a damn if i found out he spread rumors about people's parents at school in the past, sorry, this is not realistic and not how siblings work

i'm truly enjoying reading about the carstairs family, my personal opinion is that they are by far the best thing in this series, and i love how we can see how much alastair care for cordelia without the writing trying to shove that down our throats. but that has a reason. alastair is one of Those Characters that you can freely like or dislike without being "wrong" - the book isn't really trying to manipulate you to do either

the downside: funny how it took MONTHS for cordelia to fully require to know why is alastair being so mistreated. it has just been happening since the end of the previous book because of fucking course the golden characters have all the right to treat someone like shit unprovoked for a past beef in the most cringeworthy "he was mean to us back then, now we can gang up to be mean to him back" energy

how all that stuff ended up playing into alastair's romance side plot requires a very long rant i can't type now. but i just know you would have opinions on all of this

- R

Oh, that does make me happy. Somewhat. If Cordelia was written immediately changing her affections over some guys he doesn’t know that well, I would’ve probably just ended things there. I kept hoping for that authenticity, and I am glad that there’s even a tiny bit of that. I don’t think there is much my brother could do—and obviously I am not talking about extremes—that would in any way change our relationship. Clare’s characters loyalties are flimsy things, nonexistent sometimes if we consider Alec and Isabelle, when it comes to the Golden Characters and being on their side, so this does ease my mind a bit.

Alastair is reminiscent of Gabriel and Jessamine. Gabriel was written doing bad stuff and being antagonistic, while Matthew is reminiscent of the Good Guys being treated “poorly.” Like I’ve said previously, Gabriel either wasn’t surrounded by the manipulative elements in the narrative versus Will. I’ve read a bit of their (Alastair, Matthew, James) days in the Academy, and like you bring up in you other message that I haven’t answered yet lol, his character has that nuance unlike the main heroes. These are the sort of themes that are consistent from one series to another, because it is often characters like him that end up shining the most to me.

I actually had to stop reading GoTSM because I started to have too many thoughts and negative feelings about the whole thing, the whole ganging up on Alastair aspect of things, and I figured I should try and keep the blog somewhat consistent as to the progression, but I think I'm just going to read Chain of Iron next and embrace the absolute mess that this blog has become.

[tornrose24]

Was trying to think more about combining CU with Haunted Mansion and the big issue is who the ghosts would be. This is what I could come up with so far, but I’m open to suggestions.

-Ghost Host/ Creeply Rattlechains (remember that guy from the Halloween episode? He’s perfect for this and deserves more love.)

-Graveyard caretaker/ Jerry (Not a ghost, but the role seems to suit Jerry).

-The Mariner/ Cash Networth (I don’t recall seeing this ghost, but I think was more well known back in the day? It seems to fit Cash due to the boat connection)

-The Hitchhiking ghosts/ Meaner, Rected, Poopypants (This was a bit tricky to think of to be honest. I’m trying to think of physical match ups as well as who would be interesting to try to hitch a ride with someone)

-Madame Leota/….. ok this is a tough one given she’s the most iconic character. She’s either the big good or an antagonist depending on the material. Should I have someone good like Moxie or Dressy’s mom (who looks like she’d be the part?) Grace Wain who is NOT Erica in this case? 

-Constance Hatchway/Ribble (there’s been a few brides, and I figure I’d have the evil bride be Ribble given how murderous she was on her own wedding).

-The duelists/Ree and Lavator (Backstory-Ree agreed to what he thought was going to be a duel with fake weapons. Lavator grabbed the wrong set. Ree’s not too happy about this. Also I can’t find any caretaker/butler ghosts for Ree)

-The organist/Hurd (I can’t think of a whole lot of other musical characters for this one.)

-The woman transforming into a cat/Yewh (something about it makes sense)

Now I am not sure what to do with the kids, but some seemed to work for the Stretching room. Particularly:

Tightrope Girl/Dressy (There’s a crocobat at the bottom instead of an alligator).

The three guys in the quicksand/Jessica, Sophie one, other Sophie (Take a guess who is stuck at the very bottom).

I’m not sure about the other two paintings, given the nature of the old woman painting and the dynamite guy painting (I was thinking of having Gooch be the dynamite guy because of his bad luck… but considering how dynamite guy is dressed, I feel like it’s almost a no brainer who the OTHER option could be).

And of course, the ones I already did:

-The hatbox ghost/Krupp (I did this because of the movie and finding out what the hatbox ghost’s last name was, plus the idea was amusing. Also according to HM lore, the hatbox ghost was supposed to be the beating heart bride’s groom so that is incorporated here. His death… well, a weight was certainly lifted off his shoulders).

-The beating heart bride/Melanie Ravenswood/ Edith (I initally had Edith be Melanie given that she was the nicer counterpart to our American brides, but then I found out about the Beating Heart Bride and her being the fiancee to the Hatbox Ghost and suddenly everything just worked out perfectly for me).

[thought-42]

Fictober Day 6: “Adaptable, I like that”

Critical Role, 666 words, Patia, Laerryn Patia drags Laerryn to parties at least once a month in some sort of haphazard socialisation program for young weapons of mass destruction. Laerryn is less grateful for these opportunities than Patia thinks she ought to be, but she is Patia's friend and pet project both so she forgives herself the indulgence.

She looks the part, if nothing else. She's lovely when cleaned up properly, all sharp angles that somehow become elegant in the right light. She wears her arrogance like haughtiness and her boredom like poise, and the conversations Patia has practised with her flow like they're natural. For the most part she's lost interest in attempting eye contact and is visibly more at ease for it, and should she get too distracted Patia holds no compunctions about using her nails to full effect in the crook of Laerryn's elbow.

She's also on her fourth glass of wine. Patia sighs in what she tells herself isn't envy.

"Slow down," Patia says. "You don't get out of here any faster if you talk to every person in the room or finish more drinks than there are courses to the meal."

"There are so many things I could be doing," Laerryn says under her breath. "I'm sorry. I do appreciate what you’re doing for me."

"You don't have to lie to me."

Laerryn tugs them both to a halt, turning to look down at Patia. She's bitten all the lipstick off her mouth. "I'm not. I really do appreciate the intent. It's not your fault the methods are bullshit."

Patia’s about to respond when she catches a glimpse of movement from the corner of her eye. She swears mentally. “Don’t look, but --Laerryn, I literally just said don’t look-- there’s a particularly unpleasant member of the Ring of Silver heading our way. If she asks you what you’re working on, lie. If she asks you if I’m forcing you to spend time with me-- well, I suppose you can predict the outcomes of either response and choose accordingly. She hates me because she knows she’s never going to be considered for the Ring of Gold, and I am.”

“Bold,” says Laerryn, the corner of her lips twitching up.

“Honest.” Patia carefully steps sideways, sliding behind a group of arguing visual artists, their over-exaggerated conversations hopefully disguising her presence. Laerryn stumbles along after her, Patia’s grip on her elbow tight.

“Are we running away?” Laerryn asks. If it were anyone else asking the question Patia would have bristled, but she knows Laerryn only means it as a sincere request for clarification.

“Perhaps a little,” she says. “I’m having such a nice night, I would hate to ruin it.”

She’s also about 75% sure that Laerryn likes her enough to defend her against antagonistic third parties, which would not go well for anyone in this particular environment.

“Ok,” says Laerryn, and then says something else that it takes Patia too long to recognize.

She takes a half step forward and is stepping onto the gravel path outside the party, far enough down that the light from the house doesn’t illuminate their presence.

“You can’t teleport,” Patia accuses her.

“I can teleport 120 feet,” Laerryn says, cheerfully, and that’s when Patia remembers handing over the spell the previous week-- an absent-minded reward for Laerryn’s latest world-shattering scientific breakthrough when Patia herself had been too far into her own project to offer attention.

“That’s meant to move potential enemies away from you,” she points out.

Laerryn nods. “Technically she is now further away from us.”

Patia wants to lecture her on the terrible impression literally vanishing out of a party will give, but Laerryn looks so calmly pleased with herself, and the teleportation was so breathtakingly smooth --the way Laerryn casts has a terrifyingly mathematical precision and the magic suffusing her entire body allows for perfection every time-- that all Patia can do is laugh.

“Adaptable,” she says. “I like that.”

“Give me more spells,” says Laerryn immediately. “See what happens.” Shatter