#I'll figure out my family trees eventually

[thecatspirits]

You know when you think you have good ideas and then people give you even better ones and you now have the urge to rework everything else you've done. Couldn't be me right now.

Dang it Spotty why are you such a genius.

[thebluester2020]

The Stranger [Pt.1]

Summary: You were a citizen of Natlan. In the nation of the Pyro Archon, you were constantly greeted by bloodshed and violence. A life that kept the finely tuned forces of the nation in balance until it completely shattered with the arrival of the Fatui. And you had the newly arrived Harbinger to thank for that...but, one fateful night it seems, you just happened to stumble upon a man who could possibly throw the Fatui out of your homeland entirely.

Warning(s): Wholesomeness sprinkled around, Il Capitano is a bit of a liar here, eventual smut, Imagined Natlan(?) (Obviously the nation isn't out yet so I'm using my imagination as to how things are + how the people function lol), good ol' angst at the end.

Note(s): I adore fics where the Fatui are kinda shady so I decided to add my two cents in. I didn't want to risk making this too long so I'll make a part 2 to this eventually! (Im also trying to get back into the swing of fanfic-writing so excuse any errors y'all!)

MINORS AND AGELESS BLOGS DNI

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"You don't belong here."

Those were the first words you said to the imposing figure whom you had found hidden away in the depths of a charred forest in Natlan. A nation where the earth pulsed with the lava that flowed just underneath the surface and volcanos oozed lava just about everyone one could see. Symbols of Natlan's fiery beating heart that those from other nations were too fearful to touch much less come close to at least...aside from the Fatui.

They arrived in your homeland about four months ago, led by a mysterious leader who was said to have been a monster in battle. Who wielded his weapon as easily as his own limb and tore through the battlefield as fiercely as a rampaging Fire Bull. It was the Fatui's 4th strongest Harbinger, Il Capitano, and you wouldn't deny that hearing the best warriors of Natlan describe him like that...it sent a fearful shiver down your spine.

If there was anything this nation prided itself on, it was the chaotic change and the delicate art that could be found in war.

An outsider mastering that art better than the residents of your own nation? You weren't much of a fighter yourself, you could just about swing a sword but you weren't on the leagues of those who were renowned fighters or those who regularly participated in duals, but...with the arrival of the Fatui and hearing how they've ransacked and pillaged villages?

Tearing apart families and using people's weaknesses to the cold against them.

You wanted to help.

This is how you found yourself in the present now, peeking out just a little from behind a tree as you watched the stranger practice his swordsmanship now suddenly regretting the words that escaped your lips recklessly. Although, it seemed like the stranger hadn't paid you any mind.

You stepped out from your hiding spot a little more, your eyes narrowed in suspicion. "You don't belong here." You repeated.

It was then that the stranger ceased his practice, the act of him plunging his sword into the rocky soil making you jump a little. You expected him to say something back to you, maybe some words of trying to shoo you away or that you were interrupting his practice but...as you shifted a little underneath the awkward silence. You took the opportunity to look the stranger over.

The stranger was tall, big enough to give the large bulls of this land a scare. He had broad shoulders like a great oak and wore rather simple clothing despite training with a weapon, a black button-up with some black pants, his outfit similarly colored to his otherwise dark navy hair before...it was all topped off with that strange mask he wore on his head, one that didn't reveal his features and made it seem like his face was nothing but an empty black void.

You cleared your throat. "Who are you?" You finally asked.

You could've sworn you heard a shocked gasp from the man before his head slowly tilted to the side. "...You don't know who I am?"

You raised your brow. "Am I supposed to?" To which the stranger cleared his throat but he shook his head.

"No," He answered before he plucked his weapon from the ground and went back to battling one of the trees.

His swordplay was magnificent, his weapon was about as big as he was yet he wielded it as efficiently as a thief would a knife! You pitied the poor soul who had the unfortunate luck of coming across the stranger in battle. "You wield your weapon well." You complimented.

No response.

"Graceful, effective. You should be a part of Natlan's warriors rather than fighting against a tree, you could possibly thwart the invading Fatui."

Once again, he stopped, sparing you a glance. "The Fatui won't leave."

"Not with that attitude and you fighting in a dead forest."

The stranger let out a heavy sigh as he plunged his sword into the ground once more. "The Fatui are mightier than you think, they've bested Natlan's best warriors with ease."

"And you could help stop them!"

The stranger scoffed, shaking his head. You were certain that he may have thought of you as a too-hopeful fool but, what else was there in be in these times of strife? Where Fatui were spreading further and further out? You were just lucky enough that they hadn't happened upon your village yet! But...it was only a matter of time, and quite frankly? With your village being composed of nothing more than elderly folk with their grandchildren. You were searching for any way possible to be able to try and protect your village.

You sighed. "Look, we- we don't have time to lose ourselves to hopelessness. Everyone who is a skilled fighter-"

"Needs to help?" The stranger finished for you, crossing his arms. "If you believe helping or thwarting the Fatui is the right thing to do then you forget one of the teachings of the Pyro Archon."

Your jaw dropped a little. You weren't a devout priest but you understood her words well enough! "Okay Mister Know-It-All, what am I forgetting?"

"The Principles of Change." He said. "Chaos who begets fire and war. For she is the instructor of the two as to how to best enact her will."

You flushed as one of the teachings came to mind all of a sudden. But...although change was indeed chaotic. That didn't mean that it had to be at the loss of countless lives and the awakening threat of your people possibly being turned into nothing but slaves for the Fatui! You'd rather die than see that reality happen.

You dared to place a gentle hand on the man's forearm. "Chaos working to forward change doesn't have to bring needless death. Please." You begged. "You could help, save countless people even!" You felt any semblance of hope for keeping your village safe shatter when the stranger walked away from you, the rest of your words catching in your throat before you looked at your feet, gulping down a round of tears that threatened to surface.

You sighed. "...Alright then," You said, looking back up to see the man tearing his sword from the ground before he began to walk off. "I-If you change your mind, come find this forest again and head west! You'll find my village!"

You were certain your words fell on deaf ears.

.

.

.

It had been a few days since you had last visited the forest. On some nights, you were certain you could hear the faint sound of a sword colliding with a tree but you never went to investigate. Instead of focusing your efforts on trying to make sure that your village was as safe as possible when you'd go out for food and supplies, you'd always take a more confusing path back just in case someone was following you. When you talked at the market about your village, you simply said that you lived a solitary life in the mountains in hopes that, if someone did check, they'd be met with disappointment.

It seemed to be working so far.

Things were as peaceful as could be- "Hm?" You hummed aloud at the sound of someone knocking at your door.

As you walked through your house, you grabbed a dagger off of a nearby weapons rack, holding a hand behind you as you went to the door. "Who is it?!"

"Me," A familiar voice that you thought you'd never heard. You nearly dropped your weapon as you rushed to open the door.

At the sight of the stranger, you nearly beamed ear-to-ear. "Y-You're here! You came."

"Simply because I need a place to rest my feet for a while, your village was the closest." The stranger said as he had to bend down a considerable amount just to fit through your door. Thankfully, he left his weapon at the front door as he wandered through your home, the sight of such a large man trying to maneuver and avoid bumping into things could have almost been considered comedic had it not been for the-

"Blood?" You wondered aloud when you spotted it on the back of his cape.

"...Fatui enemies."

You smiled. "Ah, well, seeing as there's only a little. I'm certain you handled yourself quite well." When the stranger had finally taken a seat in your living room, on one of the larger pillows, he had quickly taken off his cape before he folded it.

"Hopefully you would have considered my offer? Of trying to push back the Fatui?"

"No," He said. "Besides, the forces of Natlan's warriors are weakening. No matter how strong you may think I am. I won't be able to change anything on my own."

"Well...then what if I help?"

You pouted when he chuckled. "Absolutely not, you couldn't even sneak up on me. What could you do against an army?"

"I never said I had to fight them front and center! I could learn to use a bow-" Suddenly, the stranger pulled you closer by your arm, staring you down before he looked you over. You couldn't pinpoint why but...whatever made you begin to blush by him looking you over, you didn't exactly dislike it.

"I think...you're better off here. Keeping your house warm and village safe, there's not many safe places. The last thing I'd want is for my one safe place to disappear."

You gently shook your arm from his grip as you looked away in embarrassment.

"Oh please, I'm not some housewife...besides, I don't even know your name."

"That's because my name isn't important. It's a shameful name that...I wouldn't dare curse you to hear." You raised your brow, not important? You wondered why. "But, I would like to know the name of the beautiful person who owns this place."

"Oh!" Your eyes widened, a soft smile gracing your features. "Y/N...but, it really isn't a shame that I can't know your name. Much less see whose behind the mask."

"I've done a lot of things but the last thing I'd do to you is defile your eyes by my face."

You crouched down beside him, chuckling a little. "You have a bit of an attitude but, I doubt whatever you look like could scare me."

He looked away "How flattering."

A comfortable silence fell between you two. You were still curious about the stranger who currently sat in your house, who had managed to find your village despite only meeting him once a few days ago. But...you supposed it was fairly easy to overlook things. After all, it was rather easy to become lonely in a house that you shared all on your lonesome.

.

.

.

"So...where are we going?"

"Foraging."

"Foraging for what?"

"Things,"

"Things like what?"

A smirk crept onto your lips when the stranger only groaned in response to your endless questions. Yet, you found no malice in it. The two of you had been growing closer as of late, at the start of every day. He'd leave for a few hours to train in the forest, commanding you not to follow him while assuring you that he would be back later. So far, he hasn't failed to live up to his words.

But...as of recently, the three days or so, he'd been coming home with gits. Sometimes it was flowers, other time money for you to buy things that you've been eyeing for a while or food! When he'd come back from his training, the two of you would talk about the day and what you'd both experienced. You'd have dinner prepared and he'd have a gift for you, as well as a story to "keep you entertained" as he'd like to put it.

It was rather domestic.

Each time the man brought you a gift, the foreign warm and full feeling in your chest would only grow.

"Do not be so nosy," He said, gently nudging you with his own body. "You'll enjoy foraging these flowers, I think they'd look nice in your home."

"Our." You corrected, causing him to slow down a little before he looked down at you.

"Our?"

You nodded your head. "Technically, right? You always return back there, did you even have a home before you met me?" You teased.

Immediately, the man looked away again with a grumble. "I did and do...but your home is closer. I...like it." From that comment alone, you could've sworn that the warm feeling in your chest...as well as your fondness for the man who you didn't even have a name to put to yet, the feeling grew just a little bit more.

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Link to Part 2

[ofstarsandvibranium]

Unexpectedly Yours: Part 11

Fandom: Ted Lasso (Regency AU)

Pairing: Roy Kent x F!Reader

Summary: Lord Roy Kent still has yet to marry. He hates the notion that marriage is a way to ensure your status in society. You have delayed your debut to society for years because of the same idea. So what happens when two people who hate the idea of marriage are constantly drawn to each other?

Series Masterlist

"Lady Y/N is here, your grace," one of Roy's servants announces. The sound of your name makes all three heads of Roy, Clara, and Phoebe shoot up.

"I didn't know Y/N was coming," Clara states with furrowed brows.

"Neither did I," Roy mumbles and stands to face his servant, "Where is she?"

"In the sitting room, sir."

Phoebe is quicker than her uncle, jumping out of her chair and rushing out of the dining room.

"Oi! Don't run!" Roy hollers, rushing after her and Clara following her brother.

_________________

You're caught off guard when you see Phoebe and she throws herself at you.

"Oh!" you chuckle, catching the young girl, "Hello, my darling. How are you?"

"Are you okay, Y/N?"

You sigh, moving a strand of blonde hair out of Phoebe's face, "Yes, lovely, just a little stressed."

"Stressed?" Roy asks as he steps into the sitting room.

You huff, "Can we elope? My mother has been unbearable! She's been berating me about whether the table cloths should be lace or not! I told her I don't care, but she scolds me saying that I should care since I'm marrying a very important lord and I just-" you let out a deep breath, "I needed a break from her."

Clara snickers, "Mamas are absolutely dreadful during weddings. Ours was just as bad, so I understand the stress you're feeling."

"Is it alright if I spend some time here? Unless you all were busy? I really do apologize for showing up like this."

Clara waves off your concern, "Nonsense. You're always welcome here and you'll be family soon. This will be your home too soon enough."

You look up at Roy from your spot on the loveseat. He nods with soft eyes, "You're welcome to stay for as long as you like. However...if your mother comes here, I won't protect you," he says with a smirk.

You pout, "Well if that's the case, then I'll drag you with me since this is your wedding too, love."

He playfully rolls his eyes, "Oh no. More time with my betrothed. Absolute torture."

You giggle and then look back at Phoebe, "Do you want me to read to you in the garden?"

"Will you?!" you nod and Phoebe immediately stands, "I'll be right back!" the three of you all chuckle at Phoebe's retreating figure.

Clara takes Phoebe's previous spot, "Are you truly all right, Y/N?" she grabs your hand and gives it a comforting squeeze.

You nod, "I will be. I just didn't expect my mother to be so...intense with all of this."

"You're her only daughter and child. She wants to make sure this wedding is everything you want it to be."

You roll your eyes, "She moreso wants to live up to all of Richmond's expectations. To be quite Frank, I don't care for all of it. As long as Roy is there, I'm happy," you look back at Roy. Still in awe that just months ago, you despised each other. Now you two are to be married soon.

"I will be. Don't worry," he gives a nod and a small smile.

Phoebe rushes back into the room with one of her fairytale books and a blanket, "Okay, I'm ready!"

"Wonderful!" you exclaim and jump to your feet. You walk towards Roy, "Will the esteemed Viscount Lord Kent be joining us?"

"I have some letters I need to finish, but I will join you afterwards."

"Alright. Clara?" you look to your soon to be sister in law.

"I'll join you, but let me request the cook for some cakes and tea."

"Come on, Y/N!" Phoebe takes your hand and drags you out of the room in excitement.

______________________

Your mother eventually does find you at Roy's. She's escorted to the garden where you're resting against a small plum tree reading out loud to Phoebe, Clara, and Roy. Roy's resting his head on your lap, Phoebe's head is on Clara's lap. The sun is beginning to set.

"So this is where you've ran off to?" your mother asks with a stern voice that causes Roy to immediately jolt up.

You groan, closing the book and setting it to the side, "I just needed a break, mother. Besides, you can't scold me for wanting to spend time with my husband and my future sister-in-law and niece."

Your mother purses her lips, "Be that as it may, you can't ignore these responsibilities forever. Your wedding is in a few weeks and we need to make sure it's perfect." She then turns her gaze to Roy, "I apologize, my Lord, but you shouldn't have entertained my daughter's irresponsible behavior."

Roy gets to his feet, standing tall with confidence, "My fiancee arrived at my doorstep in much distress, ma'am. As her future husband, I'd be ignoring my duty to provide her comfort."

You turn your face away to hide your smiling. You felt very proud of Roy's quick wittedness.

Your mother huffed, "Well, I think she's had enough time to de-stress. Now come along, Y/N, I'd spoken with the modiste about some potential wedding dresses. We must make haste before she closes shop for the day."

Roy offers you a hand and helps you stand. You brush off your dress and sigh, "If we weren't looking at wedding dresses, then I would've dragged you with me," you mumble with a frown.

He chuckles, "Lucky me."

You roll your eyes, "Cancel whatever plans you have tomorrow. I'm not dealing with her alone this time."

"Of course, love," he murmurs.

Hearing him call you love made warmth spread throughout your entire body. You could feel your entire being completely soften just by some simple words by the previously assumed heartless man.

You nod, "Roy," then then turned to Clara and Phoebe, "Enjoy the rest of your day, ladies."

"Good luck," Clara says with a smirk.

"Bye, Y/N!" Phoebe smiles and gives you a wave.

You pick up your skirt and walk towards your mother, "Alright, let's get this over with." You follow your mother out to the carriage and you slump into the bench across from her.

She tsks at you and shakes her head, “I hope you’re not giving Lord Kent and his family any trouble.”

You roll your eyes, “I am not. Besides, they said I’m always welcome there since I’ll be part of their family soon.”

“Just make sure once you marry, you won’t cause him too much trouble.”

You sigh and lean back into your seat, “Yes, mother.”

[marcskywalker]

merthur au/prompts I can't stop thinking about (@ fic writers)

arthur being magic positive and hiding it from merlin. I spoke more about it here and @neupulman wrote this amazing fic based on it but omg this idea lives in my head RENT FUCKING FREE and I'd love as many fics written on it as possible

merlin being cursed (or wtv) and temporarily loses his magic. He grows insanely controlling of arthur cause he feels like he can no longer protect arthur from danger if he doesn't have magic and is constantly trying is order him around. no, you're not allowed to go there, no you can't say that, no you're not allowed to accept food from him. and arthur is just ?????? tf is wrong with my best friend?? but doesn't read much into it because it's merlin and merlin's always been a little weird and bossy. merlin keeps getting into so much more trouble (cause again, his usual way of staying out of trouble is magic) so arthur's put in position to protect him more often and both of them are ???????? "why THE FUCK ARE you putting yourself in danger for me??" and "WHY ARE YOU getting into so much trouble??" until they figure out that "oh you're in love with me and can't bare to see any harm come to me" and "oh you have magic and someone already hurt you by taking it away"

Arthur meeting Merlin's family for the first time and being accepted. Idk how clear I can make this but I hate Arthur's family and how is he is treated by them (except you ygraine, you're dead and lovely) so ya someone give that boy loving affirmations

One of them is brainwashed/mind controlled/possessed and beats the shit out of the other person who refuses to fight back. I LOVE this trope. It slaps all the time. Look at destiel. Look at stucky. ALL THE TIME

another au that I've spoke about before AND I'LL SPEAK ABOUT IT AGAIN: I took that scene where Arthur says "I'll give up my crown just see her smile again" or something like that about morgana, and ran with it. There is only so many assassination attempts a brother can go through before he wilts and does another to have his sister back. In Arthur's case: he willingly hands over the throne for a chance at having a chance at his pesty, loving, older sister (I AM A YOUNGER BROTHER ARTHUR TRUTHER) look at him with something other than endless hate. what I Love about this prompt is that it could go so so many different ways. @mobycotton was lovely enough to write this amazing fic for me that I LOVED. In my head, Arthur is really shaken up by another one of Morgana's attempts at killing him. He doesn't know what's saved him and at this point he wishes whatever it is would stop. He goes down a spiral thinking of his family; the mother that he killed, the father that he let down, the uncle he betrayed and the sister he never deserved. What good could he be for Camelot when he wasn't even good enough for his flesh and blood. So he announces his truce; gives it over to morgana and leaves Camelot and everyone he knows behind. The knights and merlin have to eventually hunt him down and convince him otherwise (and he meets random people along the way who are stans of King Arthur just like me and he gets some sort of self esteem back)

Protective BAMF merlin. Basically merlin overhears someone talking shit about his prince and starts a fist fight. Arthur finds out

Mid s1 merthur where Arthur knows he's in love with Merlin and he shoves it DEEP inside, sticks to pining after his manservant like the pathetic (lovingly) puppy he is. All Merlin knows is that, for whatever reason, he would rather eat his own feet than let anything happen to Arthur. Which is why when brave, stupid arthur walks towards a stranger light source in the forest; he follows without hesitation, only to see...... arthur and himself snogging against a tree? Basically a pining, repressed prince Arthur and Merlin I don't know what this weird feeling in my tummy when I see him is Emrys accidentally walks through a portal into an alternatively universe where they know how to communicate well and have been disgustingly in love. The four of them have to work together to get Arthur and Merlin back where they belong.

Merlin makes a deal with his king cenred: for protection of his village, he will infiltrate Camelot's castle and bring them down. He just wishes someone had told him that prince charming of Camelot would make him fall in love with his pouty lips and gooey eyes. I don't know if yáll have noticed this but Arthur pouts A LOT. I can't take him seriously smh

[be-the-glenn-to-my-maggie]

It's been some weeks but here I am now to respond to your response lol. So first of all, I'm definitely leaning towards nocorro but tbh I have like a few versions of this au in my head, all of which lead Spider down different paths depending on his love interest (or lack thereof) because I feel like each one would bring out something different in his ikran ambitions:

Spider/Neteyam - he fulfills his dream of becoming a racer.

Spider/Lo'ak - he eventually travels all over Pandora to learn everything he can about ikrans, becoming an expert in caring for, training, and riding them.

Spider/Kiri - he becomes an amazing ikran caretaker, focusing his energy on the health and well-being of them.

Spider/Rotxo - he realizes that the na'vi avoid riding the forest ikrans (which I imagine are what would dominate the forests of the Metkayina's islands) because of their size but he is just the right size. This leads to him being the first to utilize the smaller island ikrans with an interesting twist.

Spider/Ao'nung - he actually creates ilu racing in this one lol, it's all part of this storyline in my head where he manages to use his knowledge of both ikran training and human animal training methods to adapt to an ilu style and bond/train an ilu into helping him escape Quaritch. I'll tell you more info in another ask if you want it's a whole thing.

Spider/Tsireya - he paves the way for a new ikran sport: a mash between equestrian trick riding/vaulting, with quite a bit of acrobatics included.

Spider & the Sullies - he becomes their personal trainer, bonding with each individual family member and their ikrans and helping them to make their own marks on the ikran rider community all while helping to heal the distance within the family (among Jake and the boys specifically). I like to think that in this one he bonds with a forest ikran and carves out a place in ikran racing all his own.

And these are all very much active in my mind. I've always loved the idea that just one choice, one source of influence, could change your fate. I like the idea that there's a universe where Spider and Neteyam fall in love and become an ikran racing power couple and I like the idea that there's another universe where Kiri beat Neteyam to the punch and instead Spider focuses on all he can do to care for these amazing creatures, etc.. You can see what parts of him each path brings out.

On another note, some of your hc's will definitely be making an appearance because there were a few that I loved and thought fit so perfectly with what I pictured. I look forward to you seeing which ones stuck with me lol. And I love that others have their own interpretations that they want to write about! It'd be so fun to see what others come up with! Fun fact: I never intended for Spider to become a racer himself, I was vibing with the concept of him being this amazing ikran whisperer who brings a different perspective to the bond between person and animal, but because of the reaction that you and others have had I've added that into my thoughts!

Anyways, I know I work slowly but trust and believe I can't wait to get the next installment out so hang in there! Oh, and I can't believe I forgot to send you a link to my newest fic

https://archiveofourown.org/works/48596428

You totally don't have to read it, I'm still not even 100% sure if I like it myself, but idk I've sent you a link before so it'd just feel rude if I didn't now that I've started to? Does that make sense? Another update is that I will in fact be adding on to Follow Me Down to the Peach Tree, which I figured is something you might look forward to :)

~ CherryApollo

Hello icon CherryApollo. I'm so sorry this ask has taken me SO long to respond to, I wanted to read back on our old chats to refresh my memory but just like the nocorro accidentally mated post that an anon asked me to find the other day, I cannot find the posts even though I know it's tagged properly. I don't know if maybe it doesn't show up unless the tag is in the first few tags of the post? Someone send help.

BUT ANYWAYS, we will have to just focus on this. I agree that every Spider love interest just brings out a different side of Spider, which would result in different Spider ikran racing ambitions all around. I find it interesting that he travels in the locorro one, because I've always associated it with Kiri and Spiri. The yearning to explore more of Eywa's creations and to connect with her in different ways, and to meet more Na'vi and to see where and how they live. It's so Kiri to me, just wanting to be more a part of Pandora and see more of Pandora. I don't hate it for Lo'ak though, he's so restless and he is such a fast and adaptive learner when he's invested.

I am OBSESSED with the idea of Spider and a forest ikran, and I'm shocked no one has done it yet. They are! Spider sized!!! It's so perfect! He can fit into smaller spaces and make tighter and faster maneuvers and turns, and I bet him and Neytiri could spend hours seeing how traditional ikran racing could translate to this slightly different creature and style.

OBVIOUSLY I want more info on Spider escaping Quaritch via ilu bonding?? That's amazing, it shakes up the whole story! Would he find Awa'atlu right away or would he end up at a different village first? I have been drawn lately to the Spider escaping and finding the Sully's fic's I've seen around, although I've never seen one get past a few chapters. It's such an interesting concept!

I absolutely adore always when people are inspired by my thoughts, and I think it will be so so fun to see what sticks and what you liked and what you change!!! Please don't worry about working slow, I've been answering slow lately.

AND I SAW YOUR NEWEST FIC, I am so behind on my fic reading but I checked yours out before I posted this. I commented :) and please, it's not rude at all to send me a fic, sometimes I miss them in the shuffle so I appreciate it!

I ALSO HAVE BEEN SO OBSESSED WITH THAT FIC, I'M SO EXCITED THEY'LL BE AN UPDATE. I'll tell you, I have been so stuck on the idea of writing something original in its world. Loosely in its world, I guess, but just a soulmate world where if your soulmate is dead you can see their ghost, but also all the ghosts can all see each other as well. I've been stuck on this idea of a person whose soulmate is a ghost and as a result they're kind of an unattached loner. They are a private investigator who uses their ghost soulmate talking to other ghosts to help solve crimes. I'm thinking that they'll end up with another person whose soulmate is dead that they meet, a sort of vibe where they aren't the others supposed person but maybe things worked out the way it was supposed to in a fucked up way. It's just a weird concept I haven't been able to get rid of that I figured I'd let you know you inspired, lol.

[kaylinalexanderbooks]

Heya! How are you and how are things going? What's the first thing you have to do before you start writing? Like do you have any rituals or do you need to set up notes, character plans ect?

Hi! Thanks so much for the ask!

First, I have to be listening to music, with lyrics. I dunno why but it helps with focus most of the time. Currently I'm listening to a lot of romance songs for the different relationships in my series The Secret Portal, and I have some paper beside me so I can write down the song and the relationship it reminds me of. Helps a bit with mindset, especially since I'm in my first romantic relationship.

I definitely do have a lot of notes to set up. I also need to have a game plan for the session, a goal to reach. Oh, and my water.

Unless I write during a free point in the day, my main session is after a shower and maybe some more before bed after dinner. I guess you can call that a ritual since my mindset has to be right to get any work done.

More specifics of my multi-day process under the cut just in case you're curious for a long-term process. I'm pretty sure you meant session by session, hence the above, but just in case:

I have a lot of different character notes or plot notes up at all times. To focus on my writing process for The Secret Portal Part Two, I have a general outline up just to easily keep track of what chapter is what and chapter ideas coming up from a bird's eye perspective. I also have another document that expands on the outline as I try to set up a more cohesive structure and scenes to happen in the chapter itself. I also try to figure out the order or the timeline.

As I plan each chapter, I look at the extended notes I have for it and try to plan out more details or a sequence of events. For example, the last chapter I wrote for Part Two was an extended family Christmas gathering from my character Ash's perspective. Going in, I knew there was going to be a lot of family members in a small house and at some point Ash would get so overstimulated from all the thoughts (she's a telepath) and relieve herself to her room where she'd take comfort in these telepathic probe devices.

When it came time to fully plan out the scene, I first focused on setting up a little family tree. Then I figured out what would ignite Ash getting overstimulated. I pulled up my character sheet on Ash and figured out how to line up all the things that bother her for the perfect breaking point. I also tried to figure out the details: as in, why now? Why is it just now that the thoughts were too much? What specifically will happen to make her go to her room? When she uses the probes, what will she see?

To figure out what events Ash would see was a little difficult. I have a series-long brainstorming document I consult frequently. TSP is planned to be a five book series, so it's important to plan ahead. I try to see where I am and judge what I need to develop now for later. I eventually realized there was a significant hole so I decided to patch it with a little vision.

After that, I'm usually ready to write the scene. I just have to be sure to plan first, otherwise I find myself approaching the scene awkwardly. Sometimes I will refine the details as I write-- realize that not everything worked, so I cut an idea or change something. Sometimes I'll leave myself a note to repair the scene in revisions if I understand that it's weak/I forgot something if I'm not in the mood for fixing it now. Sometimes I will fix it.

TSP Part One is in the later stages of revisions. I have a list of things to revise next time I read through it, as well as some behind the scenes details to work on. Usually I'll pick one to focus on, but may get some other stuff done on the way. For example, I'm currently reading through to add in some character ticks since I found myself repeating/some characters had the same physical reaction to some things. As I'm reading it, though, I am making minor revisions in dialogue or narration to make it more fitting of the character in question. Sometimes I'll notice an awkward transition and fix it. Maybe I'll add in more details. Maybe I'll change something (e.g., Lexi's hairstyle, Alium's lack of stairs, etc.) as I go and press "pause" on the focus of the read-through so I can quickly get it out of the way.

Sometimes I'll do behind the scenes work, though I'm usually not that consistent with that. If I'm busy doing something else I've been designing bedrooms for my characters to a) help with descriptions later down the road and b) get more into their mindset. Just don't tell my professors I'm doing this.

So I hope you've gathered, if you've read this far, that the writing process isn't very linear for me. I jump around at will depending on what my brain is telling me to do. I got stuck on the opening scene for the next chapter of TSP Pt2 so I've been revising Part One and doing behind the scenes work. I also have beta readers going in the background.

Again, thanks for the ask and if you read this far double thank you!

[drifting-pieces-blog-blog]

Breaking down the comics: The Stranger.

Moon Knight, Issue #15: Ruling the World from His Basement. 

Look at how beautiful that cover is! 

This is an interesting one. A weird villain, political and racial issues, and some deep Moon Knight issues with trust, identity, and betrayal. 

So the comic opens with a Japanese Envoy being shot in the arm. There is narration here, but it isn’t the usual sort. It makes it clear that 1. These are Japanese "jerks" and we aren't supposed to really like them. 2. This is not the first assassination attempt. 3. The fleeing figure that shot him has a very familiar silhouette. A moon shaped sort. 

Cut to Central Park, we see Moon Knight chilling in a tree. 

"Man do I feel aweful. Too much stress, too many hours riding around in Lockley's stinking cab, not enough sleep or food... All combining to send the sledgehammers crashing on my skull." 

Moon Knight once again asserts that he is not Lockley, Steven, or Grant. And he's feeling stretched thin. They aren't taking care of the body. 

At this point, they don't have their jobs. There is no real gate keeper, care taker, protector... There is only fighting and Marc who holds all the trauma and self destructs at the drop of a hat. 

So here he is, called to meet in the park at night by Detective Flint and someone new. 

Sargent Gwenn is with Flint. He tells Moon Knight about the assassination attempt on the Japanese trade minister. 

They mention that "after Lennon, Reagan, and the Pope, you can understand why we weren't thrilled." 

Yeah, the 80s weren't great for people with power. 

Turns out, the meeting is a trap! They're there to arrest Moon Knight for the assassination attempt! 

"Did my homework. Learned you once worked freelance. Took on jobs for hire. An odd little group called The Committee was one of your clients. Anybody can turn bad. Especially someone who was semi-sour in the past." -Flint. 

This takes us back to Werewolf by night. Moon Knight was hired by The Committee to track down Jack Russell. 

Which shows that Moon Knight himself used to work for hire. Much like Marc Spector. 

One has to wonder about that. Perhaps it was when they first came back from the desert and the death experience. Marc only knowing one way of life and trying to do better than mercenary work but not knowing how. Moon Knight blending? Still unsure of his own individuality? 

Anyways, the cops surround Moon Knight and Flint walks away. 

Moon Knight feels betrayed by Flint. "You're making a mistake, Flint! And you're going to regret it!" 

He easily fights off the cops. They don't have the training he does. 

They open fire on him and he easily avoids the bullets. Perhaps instincts from their time on the battlefield. 

"I mean it Flint...You're wrong! Dead wrong! And I'll be hanged if I'm going to pay for your mistake!" 

Moon Knight is not in a good mood. Probably could have handled things better, but at this point he is feeling persecuted and attacked. The body already is feeling terrible and now it's in danger. 

He runs off only to see the cops put a woman in danger when they shoot down a tree that starts to fall towards her. 

He saves life and still manages to get away. 

The police remark on the fact that Moon Knight just saved an Indian woman. Flint asks Sargent Gwenn "Are you sure it was Moon Knight you saw at the airport? Absolutely certain?" 

He comments that it doesn't make sense, but he's been around a while and "anybody can turn bad." 

Moon Knight makes it to Jake's parked cab and quickly changes back to Jake. 

The headache continues, but Lockley heads out to try to figure out why he's being accused of something he didn't do. 

He heads to Gena's diner. He apparently gave her phone number as the one Flint can use to reach him. 

While he's talking to Gena and Crawley, you see a Japanese family in the background complaining about the service. They eventually leave after being ignored. 

An interesting thing to include. Especially with the Japanese dignitary in town. 

And while it is written and displayed to show them being a bit rowdy and demanding of service, it also clearly shows Gena only interacting with Jake and Crawley. 

While talking about the incident at the airport, Jake complains about his headache getting worse. 

Gena asks him when the last time he ate was, as it's after 9pm. 

"Nine! I forgot about Grant's charity shindig at the mansion!" 

He runs out without eating. 

Back at the mansion, we find an extremely upset Marlene. It's after ten. 

"Tell her ta hold her horses just a little longer till I can change ta stuffed shirt Steven Grant." He mutters at Samules as he parks his cab. 

When Marlene comes at him for his tardiness. 

"Please, Marlene. I've got an excruciating headache and I'm in no mood!" 

"Trouble, Steven?" 

"Only as Moon Knight. Grant, Lockley, and Spector are just fine, thank you." 

"I'm sorry, Steven. I shouldn't be so selfish. I know the pressures you're under. Trying to be four different people... But you're not really having trouble again, are you-Psychological trouble?" 

"No, Marlene, I'm not. You helped me out of THAT dark hole...And I'm still standing on firm ground." 

Ohhhhh he's a liar.

Liar liar, Steven! Denial is a strong one here. 

Marlene takes a cheap shot and it hits home here: 

"I know YOU'RE alright, Steven... It's just Marc Spector I worry about...And sometimes Jake Lockley... Even Moon Knight... I know it's stilly, but I sometimes think you won't be able to keep them all under control. That they'll do something to spoil what we've made of you." 

OOOHHHH snap. With as much infighting as they already do, that was a call to arms and Steven heard it. 

Moon Knight was already complaining about Lockley's cab, lack of sleep, and lack of food. Lockley was resentful of fancy pants Steven. And now she's gone and put the fear of Marc ruining things into the mix. 

I'mma say it: Marlene is a complicated character to like in early Moon Knight. 

You are supposed to like her. She's self sufficient. She can handle herself. She can fight. She puts up with all the Moon Knight stuff. She rescues them on more than one occasion. She's compassionate and often comforts them and seems to help stabilize and ground them. 

But she is also pretty toxic a lot of the time. 

She plays favorites, makes them question who they are and what the others are up to. She even often makes them question their own mental health. 

Steven joins his party and greets his guests. He puts on a show of the socialite but: 

"Privately, behind the social mask, he is still haunted by Marlene's words." 

The next day, we see a man at the toy shop purchasing doll clothes. He says they are for his friends. Many many little friends. 

I'll say it, he's a white man and it's clear he's in the upper class part of town. He smiles and greets all the fellow white people around him. 

As he walks, we have narration. 

"In this section of the city, you can't notice it. You'd almost think the problem didn't exist. Indeed, it's almost like it used to be... 

But as he nears his home, it becomes more and more apparent, the grim reality facing him and every other god fearing American." 

We see pictures of a smiling black man, a black woman, an asian man.

"Yes. Here the problem is all too obvious. The fragmentation and disintegration of American society. It's gotten so an honest working man can't even live where he belongs. He's forced now to live among the very filth which is causing the problem." 

He enters his home and goes to the basement where he has control of his environment and rules his own world. 

It goes on to mention that here, he isn't alone. His friends give him ideas much like the TV and bible do. 

He pulls out the doll outfits he bought, little army outfits. 

"Time to face the problem, my friends, and I have some gifts which should help us. We all know what the problem is, don't we? Foreigners. Foreign Devils. Slowly but surely extinguishing the light of America." 

He rants about the "invasion of America". About the dilution of American blood and the fragmentation of the economy. 

He talks about the underselling of American made goods with cheap and inferior products, forcing American businesses out of the market, lost jobs, crime waves, drugs...

He then talks about a hierarchy of ethnicity. How "blacks have been here so long they're almost American". He talks about how because of the Asians taking all the work, the Blacks have to turn to crime. 

He dresses the rats as soldiers. 

He then talks about Moon Knight. Moon Knight saving the life of the Indian woman, in particular.

"He's been stained, blemished. He's evil. I hate him. They're wrong, of course, but they tell me it's called Xenophobia. A fear of strangers... Of any one different..." 

He claims he will kill them all. 

Side note: This is still relevant. I remember growing up in the 90s there was a huge "Made in America" movement. It comes back every few years. Encouraged to purchase American made only to support our economy as if there aren't other problems with big business vs. local small business. 

I also remember the increased news and feelings that were pushed on us about the foreigners taking all the jobs. 

This is still happening. There are still too many people that feel and teach this. 1980s is still relevant today. 

Anyways: Back at Grant Mansion.... 

Moon Knight is suited up and ready to go. But Marlene and Frenchie tell him not to go. The police are still after him! 

But Moon Knight has learned that the Japanese minister is supposed to go do something big soon and the threat on his life is still there. 

"The three of us have worked hard to make Moon Knight worthy of respect. What do I do with my respect if I don't even try to stop that assassination?" 

Marlene and Frenchie have nothing to say. They hate it, but they let him go. 

But as he flies away on the chopper: 

"His primary goal, of course, is to prevent a death- But even as the chopper lifts him from the roof, he feels the nag of a secondary goal as well... To prove that last night's headache was just that- and not the residue of a memory blackout. God help him if he has to fight himself." 

OH FUUUUUUU---

Memory blackout headache? Fighting himself? 

Things are not fine at all in Moon Knight land. The fact that he is aware of time loss and headaches being a symptom is just… This is fucking amazing. DID was not classified properly at this time, much less well researched or discussed. And the fact that Moon Knight is aware of it means that this is a problem the system has encountered before. 

As much as the system is in denial and covert, it’s just one more little special little nod to the fact that Marc Spector has been dealing with this for a lot longer than since he was killed and brought back. 

Here, we arrive at City Hall where the Japanese minister is about to give a speech. 

The Mayor talks about the important of maintaining relations with Japan. About how we accept imports into New York and send exports to Japan. 

He talks about friction with 'some Japanese Imports..." 

Again, I'll say it. 1980s. There was a lot of asian racism taking place that lasted well into the 90s. Along with the 'red scare' and cold war, we were not on friendly terms with China. Vietnam had just ended. Korean war was glossed over and forgotten. 

Not to mention that most Americans can't tell anyone apart. Today, the tensions have subsided, but there is still a lot of Asian racism present in America. 

Moon Knight arrives at the scene. He...He does his thing... 

Frenchie: How will you approach zee scene?" 

MK: Only way I know how.

With Style. That's how. 

He lurks on the roof tops and waits. 

And he sees a man dressed as a giant rat with a gun running towards the stand. 

He dives down, but the police spot him. 

The rat calls himself "Xenos". (Little on the head there). 

The bodyguards manage to protect the Minister until Moon Knight tackles the rat. 

The rat makes a run for it and dives into an open sewer! 

But the police are closer and head in before Moon Knight can add a count to his sewer man tally. (I was so disappointed). 

The police lose him in the sewer. But now the police at least know he isn't Moon Knight. 

Later at Grant Mansion, he's watching the news and has a sudden realization. 

"Not disappeared... But blended in." 

The rat is pissed and decides Moon Knight is the problem and must first be eliminated before he can go after the foreigners again. 

But here we see Moon Knight heading to a house. 

"Getting this address wasn't easy. Steven Grant had to tug pretty hard on more than a few strings..." 

It's a cop's house! 

He slips inside easily. He starts to look for signs that this is the cop he's after. 

He browses the book shelves, noting that he seems like a bit of a "Right-Wing nut". 

Then he finds a scrapbook. 

Yeah... The "Holocaust propaganda". This...This is a big deal. This is dangerous. This is even more of a problem today than it was in 1980s and that's depressing. I won't go on about this, because that would be quite extensive and long.... But just know that including this in a Moon Knight comic was pretty important. 

(also history lesson! "The House of Rothschild". A 1934 American film. 

It's about a Jewish banker with five sons and how they went on to become a powerful bank. It's based off the real Rothschild. It discusses using financial backing in times of war to make money and eventually become the richest, most powerful people/bank in the world. (a very very basic summary) 

It was supposed to be an attack on Nazism and anti-semitism while Hitler was coming to power. It was made by non-Jewish people and cast with non-Jewish people. The Jewish Anti-Defamation League had major concerns about the film. 

It won a lot of awards and some Jewish leagues and papers endorsed it. 

However, a scene from the movie was used in German antisemitic propaganda and it seemed to encourage fears and resentment of Jewish people holding all the money and belief that this was the reason Germany lost WWI and fell into depression. 

So... That's interesting! ) 

Moench had a lot to say with his Moon Knight comics. 

He wrote for other comics, of course, but I feel like he only really said things like this and included things like this in his Moon Knight run. 

Anyways, Needless to say, Moon Knight is not thrilled. 

He finds a hidden room with a makeup table for his disguises. 

"A makeup mirror. It fits...But what scares me the most about this guy is the similarity between us. We both play roles adopting different guises to--" 

He doesn't get to finish his potentially destructive thought as he's immediately hit in the head by a jar of goo. 

He realizes that it's rat food he's been covered in, and the rats are hungry! 

Two things I want to say about this page. 

There he is face down on the floor again. 

He spends the next few panels rolling on the floor. 

There is no way that the rat guy can know that Moon Knight is Jewish. But what he says to him is heavily coded. Things Marc probably heard a lot growing up when bullied by antisemites. It’s a little too close for home. 

Moon Knight has a little freakout here. He rolls around, flinging rats everywhere and yelling "Get off me!" 

He's been under a lot of stress lately. 

Now he's trapped in the house of someone that idolizes Hitler and tells him that he deserves to die while under threat of being eaten by rats. 

This is not going to do wonders for his mental health and stress. Not to mention past trauma. 

He calls up Frenchie to give chase to the rat guy. 

He rips off the rat mask and finds someone he doesn't know. He is unsettled at first until he realizes that he's wearing makeup and a fake beard. 

(Considering Jake wears a fake mustache I'm not sure why he's so surprised)

And the rat Xenos man is Sargent Gwenn! 

They fall into a hardware store and Gwenn gets the upper hand! But then he steps on a rat trap and Moon Knight manages to punch him out. 

He drags Gwenn out to the police and finds Flint. 

"I'm sorry. Gwenn was a good man. But like I said. Anyone can turn bad. Even a cop. There are stresses. Frustrations." 

"Yeah. I know all about it. Now if you'll excuse me, Flint... I think I feel another headache coming on." 

He returns back to the mansion and you see him talking to Marlene and Frenchie, still in his Moon Knight outfit with the mask off. 

"--Not that I ever actually BELIEVED I was the assassin, but...Well, like a certain cop has said...Any Mind can go bad, and maybe, in a way, I did do it... We seem to be living in a nightmare these days. Maybe in a way, we all did it." 

Frenchie: A sobering thought, Marc.

Marlene: Yes, but at least you have the strength and sense to admit something like that, Steven. Maybe if we keep at it, keep trying, we'll all wake up someday soon..." 

Here the comic ends. 

So let’s look at this issue. 

Go back to the asian family sitting at the diner asking for service and eventually leaving because they are ignored. 

The Indian woman that was put in danger by the police. 

The use of Holocaust denial. 

The rich white neighborhood that fades to the poor crime ridden and predominantly black neighborhood. 

The hero of our story is the son of Jewish Immigrants that fled genocide. On the surface, he is a white man and fits into Xenos' little fairy tale. 

All while the story of tolerance, racism, antisemitism, classism, and genocide is taking place….Moon Knight is struggling with his mental identity and overall health. 

The topic of taking care of the body and communication between the four of them is not resolved, but we get to see him talking about his fear that he has a new unknown alter that is hurting people. 

It’s the current day trope of “There’s an evil alter” that has done so much harm to the DID community. But in this case, it’s Moon Knight that is afraid. He has reason to doubt himself and with his fear of Marc and what Marc can do and does to himself, perhaps he was even afraid that it was Marc causing harm. 

A lot of people are afraid of the mentally ill (DID, bipolar, Schizophrenics, and PTSD in particular) and their reason is that they are afraid the afflicted person is going to hurt them. 

Many times, when surrounded by this ideology and considering the time period where it wasn’t uncommon for someone to be deemed hysterical and locked up for failure to blend into society… A lot of people internalize and start to believe things about themselves. 

Told over and over again that something is wrong with him, that his sanity is fragile, and that he is being watched like a hawk for any slip up of not knowing who he is, Moon Knight starts to doubt himself. 

Xenophobia was the topic of this issue and that means “Fear of Strangers”. 

Moon Knight’s fear was fear that the stranger was himself. 

This issue wanted to show that anyone and everyone is capable of racism. Just because you are not white does not mean you cannot be racist. Just because you fall into a persecuted person category doesn’t mean that you can’t prosecute someone else. 

We can all do better. The first step is recognizing it and trying. 

[localplaguenurse]

Hello Checkington “Chex Mix” Crumblemuffin Charlotte

I’ve come with some Erosion Morax because it is haunting my brain

So uh remember that trailer where Guizhong was a statue, yk the one about the archon war

Yeah so I think the reason why she’s like that is because the adepti and yakshas sealed her spirit while Morax sealed her body so her death doesn’t do any damage like the God of Salt did

So anyways that one of the reason why Morax was sealed like azdaha instead of killed is because well…. Morax can’t seal himself can he…..

Also idk but I picture wifey wrapping themselves in some of Morax’s clothes in a hideout somewhere while the adepti + gingko kids argue what’s the best course of action like wifey is there, tired, grieving for a husband that’s not technically dead, sitting at a table where maps and little war figures are littered on the table while her family is shouting over each other on what to do.

The gingko kids are trying to protect the other parent they have left, they can mourn their father later when their mother isn’t in immediate danger meanwhile the adepti and steadfast on doing this “the proper way” because it’s what Lord Lapis deserves and Yanjiang snaps back about how they’re wasting time with procedures and officiating the meeting because at any moment the Monster can break in her and kidnap his mother and the adepti snap back at him about his attitude and to respect his Father. Wifey eventually just stands and yells at everyone to stop fighting because there’s no use, either they come up a plan that works or they sacrifice themselves to keep Erosion Morax placated lest he brings his wrath towards Liyue and the other nations for “keeping his wife from him”

In the end they concoct a plan to use wifey as the bait as they prepare the ritual to seal Morax away forever.

Also side note I think Wifey would erect a stone plate well tombstone I guess, detailing who is sealed here and to leave the basically a grave alone. I also like to think that reincarnation childe would basically diced up anyone brave enough to piss on it especially considering he has the Regina Sanguine’s blessing to do so-

Also I may like Gold as The Gingko Trees a tiny bit yk just a tiny bit 👌🏻

I'm currently writing dottore divorce fic.

When that is done I am absolutely writing out my idea if my brain doesn't switch over to Xue brainrot. We're on a similar wavelength in terms of wifey sacrificing themselves to seal Morax away but admittedly mine is more bittersweet? I'll elaborate later because I fully intend on making people cry.

I also like ginkgo trees a Little Bit. Only a Small Amount. I am Normal for it.

[inu-jiru]

How I'd Write "Outcast of Redwall" - The Name, The Prologue and Book One

So as a Redwall fan, I've seen my fair share of complaints about Outcast of Redwall and why it's the black sheep of the franchise, and while I haven't read the book itself, from what I've heard in podcasts and read on Redwall blogs, I can agree that it's got issues. It's a shame because I believe there was potential in it, and Taggerung was a much better representation of the idea Brian Jacques was trying to tell. I know people have their own ideas of how this book could've been better (and I'm a good 20 years late to the conversation), but I couldn't help but think of my own version since I've been getting back into the series (I've been writing a fanfiction as well that I should probably post here lol). This is going to be long so I'll split this up into separate posts:

THE NAME

For starters, I agree with the common criticism that "Outcast of Redwall" kinda fails as a name when the Outcast in question isn't even born until the 2nd act, if I'm remembering correctly. For the plot I came up with, I figured "The Hunted Ones" would be appropriate, referring to the main characters, Sunflash and Bluefen (yes, she's got a much bigger role this time around), as well as those close to them, and how they're under the constant threat of Swartt and his influence.

THE PROLOGUE

The prologue is a telling of Sunstripe's capture. This is based on the assumption that Sunstripe was about Mattimeo's age (so early pre-teen, if the animated series is anything to go by), when he ran off to fight Verdauga. The prologue starts many days after Sunstripe is defeated by Verdauga. Sunstripe has since wandered far into the northeastern section of Mossflower Country, injured and too ashamed to return to his mother and Brockhall. Wishing to have simply died by Verdauga's paws, Sunstripe leans near a tree and decides to waste away, believing it to be what he deserves for failing to avenge his father. He falls unconscious just as vermin emerge from the woods. These vermin are followers of Wurgg Snarefang (formerly Wurgg the Spinecracker in canon; he is a ferret and Bowfleg's father in this reimagining, the surname comes from Bowfleg's canon insignia), whose camp is settled in the area. Binding Sunstripe, Wurgg's beasts bring their prize to the ferret, who claims Sunstripe as a pet. The prologue ends here.

BOOK ONE - THE ALLIANCE

Book One would mainly follow the growing companionship of Sunstripe and Bluefen, as well and their eventual escape to Redwall.

It begins seasons after the prologue. Sunstripe is now an adult (late-20s, early 30s-ish, in human years). He's lived in captivity for seasons, being beaten and mocked by the horde constantly. A late middle-aged Bowfleg Snarefang now rules in his late father's place, and has gifted the family "pet" to his daughter, Bluefen (who would be close to 18 or 19 in human years). Bowfleg is not a very good father and lives off his father's infamy, growing fat and lazy as a result. He's abusive to his daughter, ordering around like a housewife and ignoring her complaints when he tells her to seek out a good, strong and loyal ferret in the horde to serve as his son-in-law and carry on the Snarefang bloodline. Frustrated and feeling like a prisoner in her own right, Bluefen regularly takes out her anger on Sunstripe, calling him "Scumtripe" as an insult.

Sunstripe, meanwhile, regularly has dreams of Mossflower, his parents, Boar the Fighter, and the mountain of Salamadastron. He regularly feels the pull to escape, to see his mother again and to visit the mountain, but is unable to shake off his guilt. He is also housed in a deep pit lined with smooth stone, making climbing out impossible without outside assistance.

At the same time, an outsider named Swartt Sixclaw arrives from farther north with his small band, "eager" to join Bowfleg's ranks. Bluefen doesn't trust Swartt for a second, but Nightshade, Swartt's Seer, is able to sway Bowfleg's mind with "omens" promising a great future should Bowfleg accept Swartt. Bowfleg, blinded by these false promises, offers his daughter to Swartt as a token of their alliance, much to Bluefen's dismay. Swartt agrees, purely to keep on Bowfleg's good side.

A feast is arranged; Sunstripe is taken out of his prison an made to do tricks. Swartt is allowed to torture him (which he enjoys a bit too much). Bluefen can't bring herself to enjoy any of it and takes off, contemplating if she should simply flee to begin life elsewhere. After the feast, she goes to Sunstripe's prison to try and cheer herself up with her usual bullying, but breaks down due to the anger at her father and the fear of her new husband. Seeing this and being reminded of his mother's pain after Barkstripe's death, Sunstripe shows compassion to his would-be tormentor and consoles her. Bluefen is uncertain of why a beast she mistreated would be kind to her, but does admit that she's being married off to Swartt. Sunstripe can tell it upsets her greatly. They strike up a conversation and the seeds of a bond are planted. While this happens, Swartt takes advantage of a drunken Bowfleg and poisons him with wine, becoming the sole ruler of the Snarefang horde.

The following seasons are rough for Bluefen as she suffers her new husband's cruelty, and his treatment of Sunstripe leaves a bitter taste in her mouth. Swartt has claimed Sunstripe as his steed and regularly brings him out of his pit to ride him around camp. Swartt also schemes to move further south, having heard on the wind that the Thousand Eye Army is long gone and Mossflower sits free for its next ruler. The march begins, and a pregnant Bluefen desires more and more to escape and live elsewhere. Her conversations with Sunstripe continue, and they bond further over how miserable they are. Sunstripe soon decides that, even if his guilt still lingers, he has to help Bluefen, whom he pities despite her past mistreatment of him. Desperate, Bluefen agrees, and they plan their escape.

As Bluefen assists Sunstripe in escaping his prison, she's spotted by Swartt's followers, and they both flee for their lives into the woods. Swartt, taking the lead, attempts to kill Sunstripe, but with some quick thinking, Sunstripe crushes Swartt's arm with a makeshift club. The pair disappear into the woods, and their journey begins. Things are rough, given the winter climate, and both have little experience surviving in the woods, Bluefen especially. They bicker a few times, but Bluefen dares not leave Sunstripe's side, knowing his usefulness in a fight. Things take a turn when Bluefen goes into labor, and Sunflash takes her to a cave which is inhabited by the Lingl-Dubbo families. Kind beasts, the families agree to look after Bluefen and provide both travelers with good food. A healthy baby ferret is born that night. Bluefen names him Veil, due to his mask marking reminding her of the veil she wears. She plans to never tell him of his father or of the Snarefang Horde.

Skarlath, a friend of the families and fancier of cheeses, visits the cave and befriends Sunstripe and Bluefen. He's asked to guide the pair further south to Redwall Abbey, so that Bluefen could provide Veil with a proper shelter and food. While recovering, Bluefen is also taught a bit of how to use a sling, so that she can defend herself and her baby. Veil is a fussy infant, constantly demanding food and attention and it reminds Bluefen of her father and Swartt. Part of her considers dumping the baby entirely, but she decides against it, not wishing to be as cruel and sadistic as the ferret she'd left. The journey continues with the three friends narrowly avoiding Swartt and using guerilla tactics to slow the horde down and lower Swartt's numbers.

As Redwall draws near, Sunstripe sends Bluefen and Skarlath to the abbey while he creates a diversion to keep Swartt away from the innocent beasts there. Secretly, Sunstripe fears meeting his mother, who now resides at Redwall, and he still wants to visit Salamandastron, which is further west. He promises Bluefen that they'll see each other again and Skarlath decides to act as a messenger between them once Bluefen is settled.

Sunstripe leaves and Skarlath informs the Redwallers of Bluefen and her baby. Some are wary, especially when hearing that a horde is approaching the Abbey. Martin the Warrior (and most of the other characters from Mossflower and Legend of Luke) has recently passed, and the only defenders are descendants of the Mossflower Holt and Lady Amber's squirrels. Abbess Bryony is willing to house Bluefen and Veil, but won't hesitate to give them both to Swartt if it means protecting the Abbey. An old Bella of Brockhall argues in defense of Bluefen and Veil due to the ferrets' association with her son, and commands the Abbey defenders to keep an eye on the woods, as well as sending the Skipper and a party of helpers after Sunstripe to keep him safe.

The combination of his rage against Sunstripe and the beasts guarding Redwall force Swartt to focus solely on the badger, leaving Bluefen and Veil safe. The book ends with Swartt and his forces beginning their march west, Skipperjo and his group catching up with Sunstripe and traveling with him, and Bluefen settling into Redwall with Veil.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I feel like, in a book format, this Book One would be pretty long, but it does have to set things up before Redwall gets involved. I wanted Veil to actually be alive in Book One, even if he isn't the main focus, and I also wanted to try and fix up the timeline issues the original book had. It might not be perfect, but I think I did pretty well. I'll write Books 2 and 3 at a later time.

[mossyfig]

Phase Nova, a MLP universe AU

A quick explanation of what I'm posting under the "Phase Nova" tag on my blog

My au is a WIP fanmade MLP Generation, taking the most inspiration from MLP:FIM. I also, however, have a big heart for the "gimmicks" that earlier generations indulged in, and incorporated as many as reasonable into Nova Equestria.

First things first though! I want to make it clear that I first started fleshing out the AU after watching Jenny Nicholson's "The Applejack Problem" video, and it is inspired by the version of a MLP reboot she pitched there. I started the project as more of a little exercise, but I've put so much effort into it over the past three years, and it has become a big passion of mine. The biggest ideas I kept (off the top of my head) were the idea that everyone has magic and goes to a pony magic school, the idea that twilight IS the lost princess Luna in a way, and a focus on gimmicks.

This project is purely a fun indulgence from me, but I think it could be of interest to other folks too :)

My goals in this "series" are:

Keeping things kid friendly

Characters that would make good toys (I am also a doll customizer and love working on toys of characters from this AU)

Core messages of acceptance, community, social change, equality, and revolution

fixing the earth pony/unicorn/Pegasus "coolness" imbalance (earth ponies magic should be made more obvious!)

fleshing out different pony types and how they are related to one another

A Phylogenetic tree of pony (and some nonpony) breeds in my Equestria

(tumblr is probably gonna fry it since its already pretty hard to read but if anyone is super interested i can make a download available!)

Our Mane Six in this world are Twilight Nova, Whizzer Storm, Pinkie Puddle, Willow Whisp, Rarity, and Applejack.

the story begins with everypony starting their first day at CUM (Canterlot Magical University) (name will eventually change)

Our first Big Bad is Queen Solaria, a representation of stagnation, imperialism, and an obsession with control. She is a Classical Unicorn, as there are no alicorns here (except in extremely rare cases of genetic mutation, but these ponies possess no stronger magical ability than any other). She is Twilight's adoptive mother figure (because "kids love mystery orphans!")

So, what kinds of media are there in real life of this concept?

Textposts explaining lore, magic, characters, etc..

Art!! by me!! I wont be posting much from any farther back than this year because my art has changed a lot, and so has the story!

family and phylogenetic trees! I am in college focusing on ecology and forestry currently, and evolution is a big interest of mine!

Photos of the custom figures I've made of my characters

snips/scenes of a possible whole story (I will update as I can! if anyone shows interest I will probably post on Ao3)

If you happen to be inspired by anything I've made, you can totally make (PG) art or stories and I'll reblog them on here :)

[andromedaneedsanap]

Video Title: Earth Meets Killcode

Ok.

There are a few things I want to talk about-

1. Props to Killcode FIGHTING his enhanced urges! His "redemption arc" isn't over yet! (I have thoughts on calling it a redemption arc but we'll see, thats another post) He's fighting the creator's wishes and I applud him for trying so hard to change.

2. SUN CONFIRMED HE HAS CAT- FINALLY. In that universe its canon now, WHOO! So since we don't have a name for the cat yet (unless I missed it, please let me know) I'm just gonna refer to Sun's cat as Cotton (why? Because the Stray playthroughs on their channel)

3. Earth. I have so many thoughts on Earth

- either she's really forgetful, that she forgot meeting Moon and Monty entierly, or they're disregarding that video entierly. Which doesn't seem likley? I mean Earth remebered Monty in the video where Roxanne apologises to Sun, but not meeting Moon? Hmmmm, bit sus. Or maybe I missed something on the other channels. I've only started to branch out on the lore for those ones.

- I'm starting to think her kindness isn't an act. More so she was just programmed by the creator to be willing to do almost anything to help, and that can go either really well or south at any moment

- already embracing the sister title huh? I find that very cute and relieving that Killcode might have someone to turn to in this hard time.

At this point, I'm not even sure how this chaotic family tree works. I know everyone has their own headcanons but I'll eventually figure out my own. But I'm very open to new suggestions and looking at different relationships in different ways.

Like some people headcanon that Moon is Eclipse's sort of mom. Really playing into the whole "Killcode is Eclipse's dad" family type. But I also saw another post saying that Sun would kinda be Eclipse's mom since Eclipse emerged from this code as well. So different relations, different family titles and stuff.

(nothing beyond family/friendship/platonic relationships will be here on this blog. None of that nasty stuff, you sickos out there stay away)

I also headcanon Golden Freddy as Sun and Moon's mentor/father figure, since their own creator is a bastard

But thats all! I may have forgotten about this post but yeah, these are my thoughts on the Earth meets Killcode video.

[annaphoenix1994]

Ch.88 - A Bitter Surprise - Part 2

Previous Chapter - Masterlist - Next Chapter

Simon discovers that Baler has been welcomed into their household and makes it clear when it comes to rules.

*Author's Note: I used this GIF of Jenson Ackles as, in my opinion, is what I imagine Simon looking like!

"Look who it is!" Price chuckled, nodding his head towards Simon's presence as he tethered his horse to the nearby tree next to the horses Gaz and Price had ridden to their preferred spot in the river. "Surprised you found me, mate." 

"Well old man, you're not very hard to find when you have a cloud of smoke above you," Simon chuckled. "Kiera told me you two were fishing and the others were sorting cattle. So I figured if I had to choose, I'd rather fish and listen to you and Kyle banter." 

"You're in luck. I have another pole." Kyle nodded towards his horse - a grey mare that he had named Molly - there was no reason behind the name, just that it seemed fitting for the mare's personality. That, and it was easy to remember and easy to say. Unlike Price, who nicknamed his horse Ben, after the Big Ben in London. 

"Kiera must've told you I was coming?" 

"Nah, mate, we knew you'd choose to fish over sorting cattle. We're getting too old to be falling off of horses. Hard on our old bones." Price chuckled, his cigar clasped between his lips as he cast out his line. 

"Not as old as you." Simon scoffed, standing on the bank as he prepared his rod, looking for a decent spot to cast his line as well as avoiding accidentally snagging either Price or Gaz by their clothes. Wouldn't be the first time... 

"I'm aging well, you bastard," He scoffed. "The best chance you have at catching something is standing in the stream, not on the bank." 

"Unlike you, I don't have waders on," Simon shrugged. "But I'm sure I'll catch something. I can't recall the last time I went on a fishing trip and didn't catch something." 

"I've always heard that fishermen are the best liars." Gaz poked. 

"Bloody hell, you two quarrel like a couple of children. The point of going fishing is to try and catch something and enjoy a cigar." Price groaned. 

"Simon has to get used to quarrel, sir. He has two kids he has to get ready for." 

"I'm sure with his parenting skills that his children won't be quarreling for long," Price chuckled. "How are they, Simon?" 

He shrugged, an immediate frown of guilt plastering on his face as he didn't deem it fair to be enjoying himself when Kiera was at home tending to their children by herself, even though she insisted for him to spend time with the bond he built with his comrades, now having a spot within his heart as members of his family. "They're behaving for her, thankfully. At least I hope they are right now. I'll feel terrible if I go home and they've caused her a headache." 

"I doubt they will, mate." 

"I hope so," He huffed, casting a line into the river. "I'm thinking about taking some time off of work."

"That's a good idea. I think you should. Gives you the holiday week with us and your family. You need a break for yourself too." 

*

Much to Simon's irritation, the fishing trip he had taken with Price and Gaz had turned into a fishing trip and eventually aiding the wranglers with sorting cattle. Although Simon hated to admit it, he thoroughly enjoyed being on horseback with his comrades doing something other than having to worry about being shot at. 

And having a reason to shout at Soap was rather amusing. 

After helping tend to his own horse as well as the others, he ensured that Kiera's efforts from earlier that day were honored by a "gentle reminder" that she had worked hard to tidy the barn in complements of the new wranglers as well as the ones who didn't care too much about excessively keeping their stalls clean. 

With sweat still beading upon his brow, he ran a free hand through his hair before entering their home, the smell of a meal Kiera had been working on entering his nostrils and forcing his stomach to growl in response. With a grin, he slowly approached her while she slaved over the stove, stirring into a pot of boiling water after emptying a box of shell pasta. "What're you making, love?" He whispered into her neck, snaking his arms around her waist. 

"I'm making a big dinner for us tonight," She hummed. "Meatloaf, macaroni, homemade mashed potatoes, and some creamed corn. Except I didn't have beef to use for the meatloaf, only ground turkey. So I guess we're having turkey loaf..."

He breathed a chuckle into her shoulder, "I'm trusting your judgement on that recipe, love. You haven't made macaroni in a long while. Cravings hitting you again?" 

"Not necessarily," She shrugged. "I needed to make something for the kid. He hasn't eaten in days-" 

She felt Simon straighten his posture, his peppering of kisses suddenly stop as his lips hovered over her hot and nervous skin. "What kid?" 

His gaze hardened as he stared at her, knowing she wasn't talking about their children, seeing a tinge of mischief on her failure to respond to his question. "Kiera? What kid?" He watched as her hazel eyes met his - almost as if they were saying: please don't be mad instead of a plea. He breathed heavily through his nose before he walked the few steps towards the living room, turning the corner to see Baler sitting on the edge of the couch, clasping his hands together as he was embracing the warmth from the fireplace. 

He and Simon locked eyes, Baler feeling the immense suffocation of Simon's presence making him severely uncomfortable and unwelcome. "She-She took me in-" He babbled, immediately halting his sentence when Simon raised his index finger, "Save it." He grumbled before storming back into the kitchen. "Why is that kid here?" 

"The Sheriff brought him here-"

"Why?" 

"Because he claimed I was his guardian-"

"Why? How?" 

"Simon!" She huffed. "I can't answer your questions while you keep cutting me off. I met him at the hospital while dad was getting his colonoscopy. I watched him say his goodbyes - well, bitter goodbye to his own father. I guess me being there for him was enough for him to think I was capable of being his guardian. He has no one else." 

"Are you sure you're capable?" 

Oh, fuck, that came out wrong. That glare is enough to cut my head off, he scolded himself, mentally preparing himself for the words that were about to follow that dreaded glare. 

A pissed-off woman's glare at that. 

"I'm more than fucking capable," She scoffed. "Richards brought him here with predictions of a rough future-"

"That's not your problem, Kiera-"

"Stop fucking cutting me off," She arched her brow, a warning. "I brought him in to help him get on his feet with the opportunity of bettering himself. He's not here for a free ride and I made that pretty fucking clear when I talked to him. You're acting like I just brought in a thief off the street because he was begging for money." 

"I'm not saying that," He huffed, leaning against the counter and folding his arms over his chest. "Why didn't you talk to me about this?" 

"I didn't really have a choice. Richards showed up probably an hour after you rode out to go fishing with Price." 

"How'd you know I chose to go fishing?" He questioned, changing the subject as he truly hated arguing with her, knowing that not only did it make her angry - but he also hated seeing her angry, especially when he constantly assumed she was angry because of him. 

"For one, I suggested it. And two, I knew you'd choose to go fishing over sorting cattle." 

"Well, I ended up doing both today," He sighed. "That's why I'm home late." 

"I figured." 

"I didn't mean to offend you by what I said. I didn't mean it that way. Just that you're busy tending to our own children and don't want you to have to worry about another." 

"I wouldn't have done it if I didn't think I was capable. And to be honest, the longer I looked at him I saw it as a chance for you to really teach him and help him grow into a man." 

He scoffed, the base of his reaction being of self-doubt, "I don't have the time to raise a boy that's not mine. Nor am I wanting to have to provide for him." 

"What's that supposed to mean?" 

That familiar, yet scary arch of her brow and glare in her eye. 

"As of right now, I'm working to bring in money to take care of you and the kids-"

"I'll go back to work early since it sounds like it's a problem for you." 

"What was that you said about me cutting you off? Now you're doing it. And no, you're not ready to go back to work." 

"Oh, I'm more than ready. What makes you think you have a say on if I'm ready or not?"

"Then are you planning to take them to work with you? Because I can't," He shrugged. "I told you that you wouldn't have to worry about bringing in any money for a long while so you can focus on taking care of them while I'm working. I know you don't like it, but I feel it's best that you probably don't worry about pressuring yourself for bringing in money and leave it to me." 

"So you're expecting me to be the only one to take care of the kids?" They both knew her response was simply out of anger and frustration, knowing that Simon pulled his weight when it came to helping Kiera tend to their infants. 

"That's not what I'm saying at all, love," He sighed. "You already have a lot on your plate right now. The last you need is to worry about going out to a nine to five and having to constantly keeping your eye on some kid that probably has a temper and an un-readable personality." 

"That's why I think you can help change that." 

"Why do you think that?" 

"Because I saw you in him, Simon. I felt like I looked into a portal and saw a glimpse of how you were at his age. And I think it would do him some good to have you teach him how to make a man out of himself."

He sighed, looking down at his feet, partially knowing that she was right with her statement, but not wanting to believe it as he believed he wasn't capable of helping a troubled kid make a difference for himself, "Is this really what you want?" 

"I want to try, Simon. He at least deserves that. If you don't want to help him, then I'll do my best to." 

"If that's what you want, then I'm going to try and make it work." His response truly stunned her, but she grew to admire him even more due to his willing attitude, no matter how much he didn't want to at that given moment. He slowly shifted his gaze upwards towards her, his lips turning into a reassuring smirk when he saw the look of relief in her eyes as well as a grateful glare and not a hateful one that he had seen a few moments prior. 

"I told him that he needs to earn his keep around here, that I'm not letting him stay here without contributing. So, I suggest we all sit down and have a nice dinner and I'll take him down to the barn with me in the morning and have him start working." 

"I think that's a good idea, love," He nodded. "I go back to work tomorrow night, so I'm going to have to stay up tonight so I can avoid being too tired tomorrow night." 

"I guess that means it's movie night?" She questioned, knowing that Simon nearly only watched movies to keep himself awake on the night before his usual routine came into play, although he always found it amusing as Kiera would desperately try to stay awake during whichever movie he chose, always falling asleep before the movie made it into its first hour. 

"Movie night for me considering you can't stay awake long enough to finish one," He breathed a chuckle. "But yes." 

"I can't help you pick boring movies." 

"Kiera, I watch action and war movies. There's nothing boring about that," He playfully scoffed. "While you're still cooking, I'm going to go lay out the rules to this kid and hope he has enough common sense not to get on my bad side." 

"Go easy on him for now, Simon. He's stressed and still overwhelmed with things that happened. We don't need him running away-" 

"It would be a problem that takes care of itself..." He trailed off, refusing to look at Kiera when he said it knowing she was shooting him another threatening glare. "Okay, fine. I'll make the rules clear while trying not to sound like a bastard." 

"If you say so..." 

He hummed, deciding to lean towards her and kiss the side of her head before he walked towards the living room, relieved when she subtly leaned into his tender embrace. Knowing that Kiera could possibly still be irritated with him, he couldn't help himself to always show her affection, not letting the elements of a bitter surprise ruining his mood when he came home to her and their children. 

"You got your hands full with that one." Baler commented, making it clear that he had heard the entire conversation. 

Simon struggled to hide a smirk, knowing exactly that Baler's comment was right. "That's for sure. You know the only reason you're here is because of her, right?" 

The kid nodded. 

"When we ask you to do something, we don't expect for retaliation. You're expected to earn you place here. Come dawn, you will be working for Kiera at the barn." 

"But... I don't know how?" 

"No questions asked, lad. You'll learn." 

"O-Okay, Simon-" 

"For now, it's not Simon," He corrected. "We start with sir. Addressing names comes with respect." 

Baler's hands trembled, "Yes, sir." 

"Good start. After dinner, we'll help her clean up and I'll talk to her about your sleeping arrangements." 

"T-Thank you, sir." 

"No need to thank me. She's the reason you're here." 

[rainy-circle]

What are your Zora headcanons for the old farts (affectionate) like Seggin, Trello, Muzu?

VIBRATES EXCITEDLY

putting a cut here because this got long. no surprise there

OKAY SO HCs for all three/the Zora elders in general:

All Zoras automatically become a member of the Council of Elders once they reach a certain age (390 in my notes, don't ask me why that specifically I don't remember), but they can become a member as early as 300 if the other Council members approve and they want to be.

In game there's only 6 members, but in the process of making family trees for everyone I ended up inventing a lot of grandparents, so in my notes there's like... I think at least 20 kicking around?

all three were once married but their spouses have since passed, for differing reasons I'll get into!

(I made myself promise that I'd only add a name to a Zora in the family trees if they actually came up in the story, because if I did name all of them I would've driven myself insane. So their spouses don't have names currently but idk maybe one day in the future they will!)

MUZU

Muzu's actually quite a bit older than King Dorephan, but the two of them have known each other and been friends for a long time - they had a bit of an intergenerational friendship when Dorephan was young/a kid and Muzu was a teen/young adult. Muzu was the Domain's main librarian and young Prince Dorephan was shy and hung out there a lot and a friendship happened eventually.

Muzu's wife was a stoneworker and helped do a lot of the little repairs that we see Fronk and Ledo doing in-game. She's probably part of the reason the Domain has such a cool art nouveau style to it. (Maybe she is even the stoneworker who made the Zora Stone Monuments that Link has to go find, which also means she's the one who just straight up forgot to sign her name. I find the thought of Muzu being married to a woman like that hilarious.) She passed away peacefully during the time Link was in the Shrine of Resurrection, at the age of 394.

They decided at some point that they were happy going without children of their own, preferring to help raise the rest of the Domain's children as kind of aunt and uncle figures. I imagine this decision, plus Muzu's long standing friendship with Dorephan, is what made Muzu particularly close to Mipha, and why her death hit him so hard.

SEGGIN

Seggin has one of the smallest family trees because it's literally just Him + Wife = Bazz. I think at one point I did toy around with the idea of Bazz having a sister and Tottika and Torfeau being his niece and nephew, but for one reason or another I decided to make him a single only child. I feel like because of this Seggin is absolutely one of those parents who's like WHEN ARE YOU GETTING MARRIED. I WANT GRANDCHILDREN.

In addition to making family trees for everyone I also sort of gave each family a motif animal that their headcanon appearances are based off of, because who says the Royal Family gets to have all the fun. Seggin and Bazz are based off of eels, and Seggin's specific animal is of course, an electric eel. That's why he's the only Zora in the Domain who can handle firing electric arrows.

I had Seggin's wife down as a kind of scientist who studies mushrooms, but like. I'd have to boot up the game and see what kinds of mushrooms grow around the Domain, if any?? Do they sell Rushrooms in the shop or am I just making that up. ANYWAY, she died during the incident detailed in the "King Dorephan Stands His Ground" monument, when a rogue corrupted Guardian rampaged through the Domain. Losing her to a bit of corrupted Shiekah technology + his status as a retired knight + the above point about being the one electric eel Zora = his determination to bring down Vah Ruta without outside help.

TRELLO

In my very earliest versions of my notes I wanted to give one of the 6 canon elders a husband and I originally had it as Jiahto, but I guess in the various revisions I forgot that and Jiahto definitely has a wife, so FUCK IT it's Trello now, Trello's the one with a dead husband.

I can't remember if it's canon that Trello is also a retired knight or if I just headcanon'd that to fit with his son and granddaughter. Either way I imagine Trello's husband was a healer, and that's how they met and fell in loooooove.

This may be my headcanon colouring things, but if I remember correctly Trello seems kinda... grumpy and sullen in the game even after you cleanse Vah Ruta, and find the Ceremonial Trident. This is yet again tied to grief and survivor's guilt. See, Trello actually had two sons, and both Rivan's older brother and Trello's husband died in one fell swoop when the Calamity happened. I imagine Trello and Rivan's relationship can be a bit strained sometimes because of it.

TL;DR - there is a LOT of survivor's guilt and grief in, I imagine, pretty much any settlement that survived the Calamity, but it's particularly bad amongst the elders of the Domain because they just live so long and witness so much. They're all generally good, caring, family-oriented Zoras, but like, considering all the shit they went through and how helpless they were to stop any of it, it makes a lot of sense to me that they decided to pin the blame and guilt on Link.

[alexandersimpleton]

Not quite so different

Frederick isn't really cursed like the rest of the CPC, but maybe he isn't so different from them.

Frederick woke up, exited for another meeting with Gwen that day. It wasn't for anything important, but Jack had been in a good mood when he scheduled it and thought a short visit would be nice, especially so he could beat Leland at chess again.

He got dressed in one of his many green plaid jackets, took his... pills... and headed down for breakfast, where nothing of note happened, fitting the (relatively, Blain saw a huge bear or something in the forest somewhere) uneventful carriage ride to the pastel palace.

"Jackie!" "Leeloo!"

The kings embraced in the center of the room, while the princes met with their eventual fiances

"Hey Lorena! I saw a huge bear on the way here!"

So Lance and Lorena got into a heated discussion about the big bear, and Blain and Maria talked about... whatever those two talk about, but Gwen was nowhere to be found.

"Uh, where's Gwen?"

"Oh, she had to go to her fancy princess school today." Maria said.

"Fancy princess school?"

And a chime in from Lorena "Yeah the Cos- Cosma- Cosmo-"

Before Blain but in with "the Cosmopolitan Princess Conservatory. Has no one told you this before?"

Cosmopolitan Princess Conservatory...

CPC

Cursed Princess Club!

She must have had something important there!

"Oh! Now I remember!" But just to be safe "They were the school from that dinner party that Gwen held, right?"

"Yeah, them"

I'll just... um... go outside and read a book! Yeah I probably packed a couple in the carriage."

Luckily, his bad lying was taken for having thought of the idea of the top of his head (which it was, but they didn't need to know that), so he was let out to "read a book".

He, instead, immediately booked it for the CPC. A bit to fast

And as he finally found the club, already winded, because of course he was, he looked though the trees and found at least most of the club (that Whitney ended up joining apparently) sitting at desks while a woman, Prez he thinks, gave a lecture about something or other. Frederick was suddenly glad he wasn't in this club, be a use he can not focus on lectures.

They seem kind of busy. Maybe he should just go-

"Hey kiddo! Get out here!" The Lady giving the lecture called.

"Yeah! If we aren't free from her lectures, neither are you!" The only non-whitney boy that Frederick couldn't get the name of called along with the Prez's.

"Ahh!" Frederick stumbled out of the forest and into the clearing. "Sorry, I didn't think- uh-"

"Frederick!?" The most beautiful girl in the seats exclaimed.

Frederick only let himself get flustered at her beauty for a few moments though before "Why are you here?!"

"Um... my family was visiting today, and your sisters said you were here, and I can leave if you want, but I just figured that I'd-"

"Oh, you're not leaving Frederick! You're stuck listening to us whether you like it or not!"

"U-um- ok..."

Frederick saw that all the desks were filled, and just sat criss cross next to the beautiful girl, which he did remember the name of. It was Gwen.

But as the lecture droned on, Frederick felt his nose getting rather itchy. Allergies! They shouldn't be a problem for him, but with his condition-

Suddenly, Frederick bursted out into a fit of coughs, and all of them sounded painful. "U-um- just- just allergies! Nature doesn't like me very *cough* very much..." Frederick just managed to get out before more coughs.

Nobody knew what to do, all being concerned but still clueless as to what was going on, except Whitney, who had spent a long time with nerses, and knew something was very wrong.

He got up from his seat in the back, and knelt next to Frederick, with a clear sense of urgency, and Frederick started leaning on his chest, and drawing his legs together, clearly in pain

"Frederick, do you have any meds on you?"

Frederick gave a very slight, but still noticable nod and tried to reach into his pant pocket, but got interrupted by more coughing. Whitney reached into the pocket, and took out what looked to be a small pill bottle, opening it and slowly helping Frederick swallow one.

Whitney helped Frederick into the CPC building and helped Frederick in the couch, as the coughing slowly tapered off, leaving Frederick breathing heavily, which slowly stopped as well.

After a little while if recovering, Frederick slowly made his way out of the building. He was royally screwed wasn't he?

Gwen ran up to him, before remembering something Whitney had told her earlier while Frederick was recovering about not rushing him, and stopped in front of him, before the rest of the club followed her. "Frederick, are you ok?!"

"Uh, yeah, I'm- I'm fine..." Frederick attempted to speed walk away from the situation and hope to never see the club again out of embarrassment. He failed

Prez grabbed his arm "Oh, you are not getting away just like that. Explain. Now."

Frederick never realized Prez was so scary.

"It's... Um...." Frederick mumbled something under his breathe, breaking eye contact. "You're gonna need to explain a little louder bud."

"..." After a bit of hesitation

"I HAVE SOME STUPID CHRONIC ILLNESS AND ITS REALLY EMBARRASSING SO PLEASE DON'T TELL ANYONE!" The boy yelled, and immediately clapped his hands over his mouth and shrank away from Prez. "I get it if you judge me for it though... Everyone else does..."

"Oh kid... We're not gonna judge you for something like that..."

Another CPC member, Abbi, speaks up "yeah Fredy. If you're not judging us for our cursed, than why should we judge you for yours."

"It isn't a curse, it's an actual illness. You just have a curse that makes you look older than you are, Jolie's just missing her eyes, and Saffron just has a weird hand, but this... I can't run to fast, I can't even try to fight anything without passing out, heck, I wasn't even allowed to leave my bed until middle school!" Frederick started to tear up "I'm broken..."

Stunned, most of the CPC just looked at the boy, before Prez hugged him like she'd never hugged anyone before, and brought them both to the ground, as Frederick started to cry into her shoulder. "You're not broken Frederick. Nobody is." Gwen than hugged Frederick to, clearly crying as well, followed by the rest of the club.

"Hey, let's skip the rest of the lecture today."

And so, they mainly just spent the rest of the day relaxing the CPC building, until it was time for Frederick to go home, thinking that maybe, just maybe, he wasn't as broken as he thought.

[u2fangirlie-blog]

U2 Fangirlie's Blog Introduction

Hello -

I'm not sure what focus or purpose this blog will have or if it's ready for prime time. I want to explore a new blogging and social media platform. Mainly, I want a repository or archive for all the weird, funny, obsessive things I write about. If no one else reads it, I'm okay with that. My captive audience on Facebook is very small, just friends and family. (My hard and fast social media rule is that I don't accept friend requests unless I know the people in real life.) Here on Tumblr it's a scary audience of total strangers, bots, and fake accounts.

To begin with, I'll copy some of my favorite posts and comments from FB and YouTube. I'll share some of my analyses or criticisms of TV shows, movies, books, and other entertainment media. Then I might copy some messages I wrote on various topics and go more in-depth. Eventually, I might share photos of my cats and my various craft projects.

See my post from 5 Sept. 2023 on why I don't write fiction.

Blog topics may include the following stuff I Iike: Cats, fantasy, sci-fi, movies, books, TV series, nature, animals, plants, rocks, crystals, science, metaphysical, occult, witchcraft, pagan, tarot, paranormal, ghosts, psychic phenomena, dreams, sleep, psychology, archetypes, mythology, ancient history, language, linguistics, etymology, writing, researching, creative non-fiction, literature, satire, parody, comedy, absurd, sublime, art nouveau, impressionist art, astronomy, photography, learning about cultures, travel, and a wide variety of crafts including: beads, beaded jewelry, shiny things, knitting, crochet, embroidery, cross-stitch, coloring adult coloring books, paper bookmarks and cards, decoupage boxes, terrariums and dioramas with miniatures, container gardening with flowers and houseplants, and sewing costumes. Former hack-amateur tribal belly dancer.

Finally, if you haven't figured out my username, my favorite boy band is U2. Liked them starting with Joshua Tree. Been a fangirl since Achtung Baby. Expatriate from the fallen Zootopia - the former online fan club. Got a photo pass to take pictures at their concert in Chicago in May 2001.

12 Sept. 2023

[theressomethinghappeninginparis]

There's a big trip coming up, I will get to Prague. I hope my university doesn't mind me missing for a few days more, or weeks, or in the worst case- whatever, I'll show you my current pages and my research during my train ride. It's relaxing to be around people and also not in Paris, the Monstrum will not take my ride for sure. If I keep saying that I'll believe it eventually.

Transcript of the first page: Thomas Luddick is a journalist working in Czech Republic with a fairly large internet following. He's especially hated among the local Mafia since his clues get them into police custody every now and then and the locals celebrate him as a kind of Robin Hood. I messaged him and am still waiting for him to get back to me.

Here's my train schedule from Paris, if everything works out. I'm taking my laptop with me to work on research and maybe get more clues on everything I can get my hands on. I also carry my phone, some cash absolutely not from Rennes, some...extra benefits from Bouchard, my notes and hopefully good luck, too. I start in Paris Est at 7:12, arrive at 11:03 in Frankfurt Main. Then, I get to Dresden, Bad Schandau, and Decin, and from there, I take the train at 17:22 to Prague. I hope this will be worth it.

Transcript of the second page: Here are my three tickets to Prague. I will keep them in my journal and will pack that in my backpack; the rest is already packed and I am ready to leave. I'm unsure of what to expect; I just want to visit Vailey's gallery, if they accept visitors. Maybe I can also snoop around his place?

Transcript of the third page: Here's the map, I'm boarded already and almost at Frankfurt am Main. On the other hand, I annoyed the tour guides at castle Bouzor/Kriegler and after some emails I think I can reconstruct the family tree that was the latest living in there.

First, the two castle owners, were count Ernst Kriegler and Eva Kriegler, hence the name of the castle. Both had a son, Johan Kriegler, who was killed in an Allied bombing that ruined parts of the structure. It is speculated they were members of a secret club (LV?), but I have no clues on that. What I know is they had some servants who actually survived the bombings, maybe they took over the castle afterwards? Gerhard Heissturm is the direct servant of the owners who survived; he went on to have a son: Konstantin Heissturm. He died in 2001; the tomb is decorated and fancy since his family is rich. He also had a son, Kurtis Heissturm, from whom only the birth certificate exists. Other than that he is erased in records. I should try to find him, and figure out if his family is a member of the Lux Veritatis. I'm sure he'll pronounce me insane for suggesting that but whatever.

Transcript of the fourth page: So, I of course tried to find this Kurtis but there is nada and niente about him. He is like a ghost. He is like he never existed and I only know he had because there exists a birth certificate. I shall dig into the darknet and look for him. I think he doesn't wantot o be found, but I need to know why and his ties to his parents and the castle and probably the LV, too. There must be something on him and also about his mother who is also non existent. No answer from Luddick yet, or the art gallery. I expanded my collection of fake IDs- don't do like I do. Bouchard claimed that Rennes had demand for these earlier so I might be in need of them, too. I hope they come in handy, they were good money.

Transcript of the fifth page: Here's my two IDs. The upper one is from the Strahov, whatever that is, and says "medical department" on it, so I guess it's some kind of institute researching someonething in medicine? As far as I know, there had been a Sanitarium close to the today's location of the Strahov, but it has been long closed down.

The second is another German security pass by a guy I doubt his existence, haha. The Strahov seems to be a military hig security area. I wonder. Medicine and military. How the hell can I get in there? And get our alive as well?

I'm glad I still have some hours on my trip to ponder over that. And maybe I'll get Luddick to talk to me, I guess he's popular these days but I can surely be of use to him, somehow. My research until now is at least...something.