#also i'm building a small castle in the background

[catspaw-isle]

i am contemplating whether i should keep this path through the lavender field or ditch it and let the flowers fill up the rest of the space so it's just one purple expanse

[flamingpudding]

I love your writing so much but I'm here with a crack idea just imagine deage Dan is Klarion.

Dan was able to find out who he is outside of Danny then he was able to change his name Klarion Jackson Fenton/Nightingale he is still a little villain boy also now a mom boy.

Ghost King Danny is his mom young justice was so confused when Klarion you're the best gifts get your mom after not talking to him for a while to also begging them to pretend to be his friend . Justice League dark is panicking in the background about the electric being that just shows up.

Danny in full ghost king attire standing there with a plate of cookies ready to meet his son's new friends.

Thanks so much! I am glad you enjoy my writing!

Also thanks because I absolutely love this Idea/Prompt! Sooooo please enjoy this piece inspired by it! Also I haven't consumed a lot of DC material lately so i am basing this all on my memories. In other words.... I went with Tim's little team here.

Hope that's okay and that this won't disappoint.

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

Dan, who was going by Klarion for some years now, had a massive problem. It was the huge kind of problem build on small bubbles of lies that then turned into this one giant bubble that was about to pop just because of one little question asked by his mom when his sister decided to throw him under the bus to deflect from herself and the fact that she was dating a demon. Don't get him wrong he still loves her, but man did he want to strangle Danielle right now.

"So Klarion, Ellie is right. When will I get to meet your friends you told me so much about?"

It was such an innocent question from his mom. And while his moms titles don't scare him, cause at some point in time they could have been his too, the happy dopey smile like nothing was wrong in the dimensions with little expectations directed at him was the scariest thing his mom could ever direct at him when he had asked THAT question.

So now Klarion was in need of a quick solution. When his mom had asked he had mumbled out a quick: "Next week maybe. We won't be busy with hero stuff then." He had started to form a plan. First of all, he needed to remember what all he had told his mom about his new and redeemed life on Earth 43 he had build for himself with the name Klarion Jackson Fenton-Nightingale.

Which fuck. There was a lot he had told his mom just so he wouldn't worry.

Cause now he also remembers that whenever he had gone out to cause some chaos he had made it seem to his mom like he was going out to bond with his new friend or help them with their hero duty. Well, in a way maybe his chaos causing could be seen as bonding. The ghostly kind, that is. And as for helping with the hero duty... he did give them work, something to do with their hero status. Anyway Klarion tried to remember all possible names he had dropped. Shit why did he also mention to his mom that he was working with heroes to make her proud? He should have name dropped some villains instead but nearly all of them were adults. He knew his mom would have frowned if he had only adult friends and no one around his age.

He was pacing his room in their castle. He need a plan, a good one at that. He knows he name dropped Robin, now Red Robin, Superboy and Impulse on a whim once. Superboy more so cause his mom had been interested in the Alien Heros of the Earth of the dimension he was partially living on now. He had mentioned Robin for the joke of knowing that there is a Dinner in an other Dimension with the same name. And because his Grandfather didn't like the Flash-clan which meant his mom didn't like them too much because of their messing with timelines either, he had mentioned being friends with Impulse on pure spite because of a punishment one day and to see their reactions. So he had to get these three on board anyway, and because for the heck of it he would get Wonder Girl involved too. It was never bad to have a girl in a friends group.

Klarion stopped his pacing. Turning towards his demonic ghost cat companion, kind of what Cujo was to his mom now. "Teekl, I think I have a plan. I will convince these Idiots, that shouldn't be a huge problem. Most of them are normale little flesh sacks." Teekl and him stared for some time at each other and after a moment Klarion huffed turning away with crossed arms. "It's a good plan don't be so sceptical, they are heroes right? They will not refuse my request!"

Well maybe Klarion should have planned this a bit better.

The next day Red Robin blinked at the witch boy up from the ground in the living room of what looked like to be an normal apartment. He had just been in Gotham, working on a case and now he was here? Looking to the left he also noticed that Superboy (the older), Impulse and Wonder Girl were also with him. They all looked stunned he observed and partially disoriented. Additionally they hadn't heard from Klarion since the last time they had foiled his plans on raging chaos upon the earth, that had been weeks ago.

"Kla-"

"I have summoned you heroes here. For the moment it is fruitless to try to leave because of the magic barrier." Okay rude to be cut of but that explained why he suddenly wasn't where he remembered to be last anymore. It was now Superboy who opened his mouth first but before he could even make a sound Klarion decided to speak over them again. "I have presents."

Four young heroes collectively blinked, confused, stunned and weirded out. As the which boy before them waved over to wards a table filled with boxes and packages. "I come in peace today, to proof that I brought these are presents, filled with various goods from different dimensions that should be to the liking of you all. Technologie, accessories, snacks, weapons, as well as clothing styles."

Red Robin shared a glance with his friends, a silent communication but before he once again could say anything Impulse was already by the table going through the stuff. They could here his 'oh's and 'ah's, which inevitably made them curious and they wandered over too. Klarion was not acting hostile at all yet but Red Robin did not trust that so he kept the which boy in clear view the entire time.

"Rob! You gotta see this! That actual futuristic Tech!"

"Look at these snacks."

"These accessories don't look to bad..."

His eye twitched when he noticed Klarion was sporting a smug look. Red Robin had to ask now, because this was not normal for the other. "Okay usually you would have started some big shot chaos plan by now. I don't buy this peace offering act and your way to formal talking. So what is going on?"

The other three, thankfully in Red Robins opinion, finally looked away from the tempting gifts and also turned their attention fully on Klarion. Who's smug smile falter as he let out a sigh and stared at them with what they could only describe as a frustrated look.

"My mom is planning to visit me."

"And?" Impulse asked between munching on three different bags of chips that where on the table.

"And he believes I am friends with you idiots."

They stared slack jawed. Impulse was pinching himself like he couldn't believe what they had just heard. Did one of their Villains, just informed them that their mom believes they were friends? Red Robin was starting to think he might be in a sleep deprived Hallucination.

"Why would she?" Wonder Girl questioned next to which Klarion glared at her with fire in his eyes.

"First of, my mom uses the pronouns he/Him. Be rude to my mom and I will find a way to make your life a permanent hell on earth." Wonder Girl blinked lifting her hands as in a sign of peace. "Second, my mom is under the believe that i work with heroes not against them. I do not have the heart to disappoint him after everything that happened in the past. So I embellished the truth a little."

"A little?" Superboy retorted sarcastically, to which they caught a light blush dusting the which boy's cheeks.

"Look my sister threw me under the bus and my mom wants to meet my friends now! So I need you idiots to play nice with me for when he visits!"

"And we will do that because?" Red Robin crossed his arms, watching their villain sceptically still not really buying this entire act. This was to strange of an behaviour change. Something was up, and he was going to get behind it.

Klarion on the other hand was starting to panic internally. His plan was not as he had hoped. The presents he had specifically gotten from other dimensions with what he believed was their interests did not work to make them simply accept his request. This was the last time he would listen to old man Vlad on how to bribe humans, he wasted his entire week on getting all that stuff. His mom was going to show up soon enough he need to have them act as his friends by then so he could remove the magic barrier. Or else his mom would notices he faked everything.

They left him no choice. He would have to throw his pride away for the sole reason to not disappoint his mom.

All four Young Justice Heroes blinked as Klarion suddenly threw himself on the ground before them into a pleading position.

"Please! I beg you, just for the time my mom is here. Please act like my friends!"

"I didn't think Klarion was a mama's boy...." Impulse whispered to the rest of them in pure disbelief as they stared stunned at the kneeling witch boy.

Cut to the heroes that noticed their teens were missing.....

"Where is he?" Batman growled at the Constantine who was sighing tiredly.

"Look mate, the way you and the other Spandex wearing friends explained it, made it sound like they got summoned by a being of the Infinit Realms." The blond man sighed lighting another cigarette eying the four heroes, Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman and Flash. Zatanna was behind him pouring over a book about the realms and trying to find a tracking spell to trace it back and to where they could have been summoned.

"Don't you have something like a tracker on your boy?" Batman only growled something under his breath to which the Brite couldn't help to arch and eyebrow. Constantine was going to say something sarcasting as Deadman suddenly appeared a panicked look on him. "The Ghost King has chosen to come to our dimension."

"Say bloody what now?" All attention that had been on the heroes and their problem of missing teenage heroes turned now to Deadman and the news he brought with him. "The ghost, shades and spirits talked, for the king has decided to visit our Dimension. They are in an uproar, no one knows of why our King is on his way."

"Bloody fucking hell!" Constantine cursed. "We are fucking screwed! Isn't that guy a fucking tyrannical eldrich war maniac?!"

Deadman nodded solemnly and Constantine uttered another hearty and colourful 'fuck'. While the heroes present exchanged worried glances, not only were their kids missing but now a, by the sounds of it, highly dangerous being decided to appear in their dimension? Batman couldn't help but think that there had to be a connection to the missing teens and this.

Meanwhile in the Infinite Realms the Ghost King Castle...

Danny smoothed out his fur trimmed cape and adjusted his crown so it was floating nicely and evenly on his head. Today was the day he would get to meet his sons friends. He needed to make a good first impression. That was why he had chosen to take on his Ghost King form for this. With the wave of his hand he made an ice mirror appear before him, checking how he was looking once again. Once satisfied he nodded to himself looking over towards Fright Knight who was holding the plate of cookies he had baked himself. It was the fifth batch, and the only one that didn't turn out burned. He had needed Jazz help for this one to turn out well. It was only proper if he brought some cookies for the kids. Also he would have loved to bring his families fudge but... the last time he had tried making them had turned into a disaster.

"Thanks Frighty. Do you think Klarion's friends will like these? Wait don't answer! If they don't like them I will just get something else to thank them for taking care of my boy." Danny rambled on as he glanced at the plate of cookies in his hands. Why was he so nervous? He was just going to get to meet his little boy's friends. Sure his boy had dropped some stories about them and his adventures with them here and there. But hearing stories and meeting the kids were two different things.

Shaking his head Danny put on his best smile as he summoned a portal to Klarions apartment in the 43th Dimension of Earth. It was time to visit his boy in the place he had made his second home and thank the people that looked after his kid.

[foreverautumn89]

About the last post [Joyce working on Christmas]

So maybe I was wrong. [If you don't know what I'm talking about screencap is at the bottom of this post]

Maybe this isn't so sad after all since Jonathan and Will would have been excited to spend the entire day together alone.

Its still sad because Jonathan and Will still didn't have the company of Mike, Dustin, and Lucas like they usually do- who were all with their own families and couldn't come over on the holidays.

And Jonathan and Will were still thinking about Mike's, Dustin's, and Lucas's family and how they got to have an amazing day with their entire families like having happy moments with their moms and dads on Christmas too, but Will and Jonathan would have still put a positive spin on it anyway and looked on the bright side: At least I get to spend the entire day alone with my best friend and favorite person. And bonus: Lonnie isn't here. So its truly the most wonderful day of the year.

And then I thought about this: Jonathan and Will:

-Baking cookies together

-Talking and giggling together

-Having snowball fights

-Hanging out in castle byers

-Building snowmen

-Sled riding

-Making blanket forts inside

-They'd listen to Christmas music

-They'd pull up a chair in front of the window and watch the snow fall since Jonathan loved looking at nature and beautiful scenery like that

-and they would both take pictures of the scenery when they went outside [with Jonathan teaching Will to use a camera or reminding him of where certain buttons are]

-They'd talk while they laid on the floor looking up at the Christmas lights together while the Christmas music played softly in the background

-Watching Christmas movies while in their pajamas and having hot chocolate [after playing outside in the snow]

-Also Will would get toys from Joyce and then Will and Jonathan would play with them together.

-Even though other siblings don't get each other presents at such a young age, they did.

-Will was always very appreciative for the presents he got from Jonathan too because Jonathan paid for them with his own money when he didn't make much and that was taken from Jonathan's cut of the money too. Most of the money goes to Joyce to pay the bills and everything, but a small percentage Jonathan gets to keep for himself and he would use that portion of it to buy Will's presents.

-Will's presents for Jonathan were ones he made himself. He'd always work on pieces of art for Jonathan and Jonathan was always so excited about the latest work of art and he was always so proud of Will's talent and would tell him so and praise him for it.

_________

See I was thinking it was very sad and that they didn't even have Mike and Dustin and Lucas coming over to keep them company because they'd be with their families on the holidays. And I was focusing on the lack of parents. But on second thought, I think Will and Jonathan would love having the whole day just to themselves and spending all their time with each other.

And now El joins them on Christmas Day doing all these things. Her favorite thing to do with her brothers is talk while they lay on the living room floor and stare up at the Christmas lights while the music plays softly in the background.

[brickcentral]

🤩 ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: jcmimoso Hello everyone! It's time to direct the spotlight toward our community members, and today we will get to know better jcmimoso!

"Hello fellow LEGO photographers, my name is Juan Carlos Mimoso. I'm from Spain and I grew up in the 75-80s. When I was a child I never had access to LEGO, due to economic reasons and poor distribution in my area. On the other hand, I did play with Playmobil and also with Exin Castillos bricks, with which I built spectacular castles.

I am currently a Doctor in Primary Care in a health center, and when in 2020 we suffered the COVID-19 pandemic and forced confinement, I continued working. I changed my work in the clinic for work at home and in the clinic, with no limit on hours and with the uncertainty and feeling of not being able to offer everything my patients needed. That caused me a lot of added stress. I had always liked photography, landscapes, macro, etc... and I relaxed by walking to see the world with photographic eyes. Instead, now I found that I was confined and unable to create new content.

My son had a couple of LEGO minifigures and a small set, and I thought it was cool to take a photo with an interesting background and post it on Instagram. And since then, I have been hooked on toy photography. I have seen that there are many colleagues spread around the world, and communities like Brickcentral, where tricks and ways to take the final photo are freely shared.

I took almost all of the photos with an old second-hand Fujifilm X-E2 mirrorless and the little Fujinon 27/2.8 pancake lens with a +2 or +4 close-up filter attached. I like that combination because it is very small and portable. A couple of years ago I added the Fujifilm X-H1 because, although it is a little bigger, it has a flip-up screen, which makes it much easier for me to make low compositions without having to move the whole equipment to check the focus. This year I bought a 1:2 macro (Fujinon 60/2.4) and so far I like the results, although due to work and family issues I haven't been able to take many photos. I hope that changes in a couple of weeks.

My workspace is typically my desk. I use the PC monitor as a background, or if it's a building without any background at all, and I place everything on heavy, thick medicine books so I can use my tabletop tripod at the right height. For lighting I use LED spotlights (Ulanzi VL49 and Lumecube Air), although I have also sometimes taken photos with matchstick lighting.

My compositions are not very large because as soon as I finish the session I have to put away everything that is on the desk so that I can use it to process the result. I usually take several shots with different lighting, aperture and sometimes even stacking photos to give more depth, although I never usually use the whole stack, but only just enough so that the background does not look too sharp. Later I choose the shot I like the most in Lightroom and complete it with Photoshop for basic retouching such as cloning, filters, etc.

I mainly use LEGO minifigures from various series (Marvel, DC, Ninjago…), although you can also see some Playmobil and Star Wars figures. The main type of photography I do is usually related to medieval, fantasy, sword and sorcery environments, among others.

In my posts you can see that I use extensively the Barbarian (series 11) and Viking (series 20) minifigures. I think it's because they don't usually require much post-processing, but also because they remind me of the 'Conan the Barbarian' comics I used to read when I was a kid. It's my humble way of paying a little homage to great artists who have drawn the Cimmerian since the 70s and who bring back so many memories. I recently acquired the Red-Haired Barbarian minifigure (series 25), which I'm sure will co-star in future photos. In fact, the photo I'm showing you today is the first one I've used it for.

Fortunately, over the years, I saved some Exin pieces, and along with others I've gotten lately, I use them extensively in my creations to mix LEGO with Exin Castles and get a more realistic environment. To this I usually mix all kinds of rocks, sand, grasses and other accessories so that it integrates well with the sword and sorcery atmosphere that I usually pursue in my publications. For inspiration I use old comics, game or movie sequences, and anything I see that fits well with my possibilities and knowledge. I have notebooks full of ideas written down for a better occasion, which doesn't always come. I learn a lot from other fellow toy photographers and I'm always looking for new ways to tell the little stories in my photos.

"

Thank you for accepting our invitation and let the community knows you better!

If you want some insights on the exclusive picture and for a better view of the others, head to our blog at https://brickentral.net/.

- @theaphol, Community Outreach Manager

[manicplank]

The Color Pink (Part 12)

wow this has so many parts to it now

it's never gonna end

The Sleepover

As he waited for Hazel to show up, Theodore rushed to clean up around the house, especially the bedroom. He was in a panic. He cleaned up any clothes laying around. He hurried to change his sheets and blanket. He couldn't remember the last time he changed them... He was unsure what to do with the clean unfolded laundry. He didn't have time to fold it all and put it away, so he grabbed another hamper and shoved it all in. He darted his head around, looking for anything that might gross her out, but everything seemed fine. He texted her his address, and she texted back: I'm on my way!

He paced around as he waited for her. He was suddenly extremely nervous. What if she thinks I'm gross? What if she changes her mind about me? What if she thinks I'm too weird? What if... There was a knock on the door that interrupted his thoughts. He went over and opened the door. It was Hazel. She had a huge smile on her face. "Hi," she greeted.

"Hey," he replied, "come on in."

She walked in with her hands clasped together. Now that she was in his house, she was a bit timid. She had a small pink bag filled with clothes and small accessories. "I have to admit," she rubbed her arm, "now that I'm here, I am a bit nervous.

"Yeah, I get that. We can just take it easy."

"That'd be nice. I'm a little tired, honestly."

"We can go straight to bed if you want."

"You don't want to watch a movie or anything?"

"Oh, I have a TV in my room!"

"Wait, really?"

"Yeah! It has one of those built in CD players!"

"Oh, cool!" She reached into her bag. "Cause I brought a movie!" She pulled out a CD case. Princess Mononoke. "Have you ever heard of Studio Ghibli?"

"No, I haven't actually."

Hazel gasped. "What?! Their movies are so good! My Neighbor Totoro? Kiki's Delivery Service? Castle in the Sky?"

Theodore shrugged.

"Seriously?! Oh, my gosh, you'll love them!"

"Well, we can watch it out here or in the room."

"Mmmm... Let's go in the room! I've never had a TV in the bedroom! It sounds super comfy!"

"It is. I don't really watch it a lot. It's mostly for background noise while I sleep."

"Really?"

"Yeah. When I was a kid, my mom had a TV in her room. Whenever I had nightmares, I'd go into her room, and she'd put the TV on so I'd feel safe. It still helps me sleep sometimes."

"Aww! That's so cute!"

Theo shrugged and blushed. "Ehh, it's no big deal. Come on," he grabbed her hand, "my room is upstairs."

He held her hand as he led her upstairs, where there was a couple rooms and a bathroom. He took her into his room, it was nicely decorated to suit his personality. There were a few band posters, a few family portraits, some Polaroid pictures of him with some other people. There was also a broken skateboard hung up on the wall. The TV was on a wooden dresser which matched his bed frame. His bed was made nice and neatly. On it was one single plush animal. Hazel picked it up.

"What is this?" she asked.

"Oh, that's Mr. PuppyDog! He was my first Build-A-Bear."

"Aw! He's so cute! I have so many Build-A-Bears, I can't tell you all of their names."

"I have a few other plushes. They're in storage, somewhere. Probably still at my mom's house."

Hazel put the plush back down on the bed. "This whole room is filled with your personality."

Theo shrugged. "Whatever that means."

"It means that your room is a lot like what you're like."

"I'm still confused."

She waved her hand in dismissal. "Don't worry about it. It's not a bad thing." She handed him the CD. "Here."

"Oh, right."

He went over to the TV and started to fuss with it. As he put the CD in, she continued to examine his room. She went to sit down on the right side of the bed, but she noticed something on the nightstand.

"Um... Theo?"

"Yeah? What's up?"

"Is this your ashtray?"

Oh shit... He forgot to hide that. "Um... Yeah..."

"I didn't know you were a smoker."

"Sorry, I thought you knew. I thought everybody knew."

"No, I... I didn't."

"..." Theo didn't know what to say.

"I have to admit..." She looked at him. "I wasn't expecting that. I'm a little disappointed."

"I'm ashamed, honestly. It's not my proudest habit. I've tried to quit a few times, but it's rough."

"I've heard about that. My dad used to be a smoker. He quit, but it took a while. He got really bad withdrawals."

"Yeah, so did I when I tried to quit. I was really moody and got sick a few times..."

She shrugged. "Would you be willing to try quitting again?"

"I could try."

"Please? For me?" She made a cute face.

He chuckled and rubbed her on the head. "Sure. For you."

"Good."

"I'll get rid of this." He took the ashtray and moved it into the other room. He came back in and grabbed the remote from the dresser.

"Before we start the movie, we should get in our PJ's!"

"Oh, uh... I usually just sleep in a t-shirt and underwear, but I can put on some shorts or something."

"That's fine! I mean, you're already in a hoodie and sweatpants."

"Yeah, I don't know why you got dressed to come to a sleepover."

"Shush! Be nice to me!"

He laughed. "You want me to leave the room real quick, give you some privacy?"

"If you don't mind."

Noise stepped out of the room and closed the door behind him. Hazel changed from her day clothes to a pair of cute pajamas. They were pink satin cami top and shorts with black polka dots scattered around. The ends were covered with black lace. She opened the door and poked her head out.

"I'm all good, now," she said cheerfully.

Theodore opened the door and entered the room again. His eyes grew wide and he blushed.

"What?" She tilted her head in confusion.

"Sorry," he chuckled nervously. "You look really pretty."

She went over and held his face with her hands. His eyes grew even wider and his face was red. She giggled and rubbed her thumbs across his cheeks. She tilted her head and kissed him softly. "Relax. It's okay."

"Sorry, sorry. I'm still working on that."

"I know you are. Now, come on," she went back over to the right side of the bed and sat down. "Let's watch the movie! It's such a good one!"

He walked over and crawled onto the left side of the bed. He propped up some pillows to make it comfortable to lean back. He handed her the remote since she was the one who brought the movie.

"Oh, wait," Theo blurted.

"What is it?"

"Um... There's another thing that you might not be too happy with."

Hazel gave him a look.

"It's not like the smoking, but... Can you reach into the drawer on my nightstand?"

"Why?"

"I need to take my meds before I forget. I usually keep them in there."

"Oh! Yeah, sure!" She reached into the drawer and grabbed an orange pill bottle. She handed it to him.

"There should be another one in there."

She looked again and found another. She handed that one to him, too. "What are those?"

"They're my meds."

"Yeah, I know, but what are they?"

"Oh! Well, one of them is an antidepressant and the other is for my bipolar."

"Theo... You have depression?"

"... You don't?"

"No."

"Sorry, I usually just assume everybody does until they tell me else wise."

"And bipolar?"

"Well, I mean, yeah."

"I had no idea."

"Ask anybody who works for me, they'll tell you all about it." He laughed. "I have to grab some water from the kitchen. You wanna come with? We can grab some snacks or something for the movie."

"Yeah! I could use a water, too."

"Okay, come on!"

The two went downstairs and into the kitchen. Theo grabbed a couple of water bottles from the fridge while Hazel opened the pantry. "Holy shit," she exclaimed. In the pantry was candy and snacks galore. There was every kind of chips and candy imaginable. Hazel almost felt overwhelmed by the amount of selection.

"Theodore," she said, "do you even have real food?"

"Um... kind of? I eat out a lot."

"There's so much..."

"Yep! Pick whatever you want!"

"Oh, geez, I don't know."

Theodore already knew what he wanted. He grabbed a pack of gummy bears and a pack of classic Pocky.

"Oh, I love Pocky! Do you-"

"Yes, I have the strawberry flavor."

Hazel squealed as he handed her a box of strawberry Pocky. Strawberry anything was her favorite flavor. Theo gave her a water bottle and grabbed her hand as he led her back upstairs. They went back into the bedroom and got in their previous spots on the bed. Hazel sat up with her legs criss crossed, Theo sat against the headboard. Hazel picked up the remote. Theo grabbed one of the pill bottles and took the medicine.

"I'll take the other one later," he said. "It makes me really tired. I want to stay awake for the movie."

"You're going to love it!"

As the movie started, Hazel scooted over and rested her head on Theo's shoulder. Noise suddenly grew anxious. He put his hands together and twiddled his thumbs. He tried to focus on the film, but his heart was racing. Hazel leaned into him more and wrapped her arm around his waist and rubbed his chest with her free hand. "Relax," she spoke softly. "I'm not going to hurt you." She kissed his neck a couple times then his cheek. He still stared wide-eyed at the TV, hardly focusing on the movie. "Let me help you out," Hazel grabbed his arm and wrapped it around her. Theo took a deep breath and tried to calm down. He closed his eyes and focused on his breathing.

Halfway through the movie, Hazel felt Theo's head leaned onto hers. At first she thought it was cute. "Finally relaxed, huh," she teased, but he didn't respond. "Theo?" Then she realized he was asleep. A huge smile grew onto her face. She did her best not to giggle. She pat his chest, but he didn't respond, so she pat his face. "Theo."

"Hmm..."

"Theo!"

"Wha-?! Huh?"

"You fell asleep." She chuckled.

"Ah, shit, I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it. You had a long day. Do you just want to go to bed?"

"I guess so." He yawned. "I'm definitely tired."

"Okay, let's go to bed, then." She took the remote and turned off the movie and the TV.

She got up and reached into her bag. She pulled out a toothbrush and tooth paste.

"If you want to use the bathroom first," Theo spoke, "I'll grab you some pillows and an extra blanket. I'm sort of... a blanket hog."

She giggled at him. "Okay."

Hazel went into the bathroom and began brushing her teeth. There were little paper cups stacked next to the faucet. She filled one up and used it to rinse out her mouth. She forgot to grab her mouthwash, so she went back into the room to get it from her bag. As she walked back in, she saw Theo putting some fresh pillows and a folded up blanket on the bed. There was also a fleece pink blanket balled up on his side of the bed.

"Oh, hey," he looked at her. "Done already?"

"Almost. I forgot to get my mouthwash. I have a little mini one!" She grabbed it out of her bag and headed back to the bathroom. She filled the cap and swished it around her mouth for a minute before spitting it out into the sink. She went back into the room again. "Okay, your turn!"

Noise let out a small laugh and went into the bathroom to brush his teeth as well. Hazel fluffed up the pillows and crawled onto the bed. She got under the blanket that was on the bed instead of the one he gave to her. She felt the pink blanket that was on his side. It was incredibly soft. Theodore rinsed his mouth with water then swished a cap full of mouthwash and spit it out. He came back into the room to see Hazel nice and comfortable.

"I appreciate you bringing me an extra blanket," she smiled at him, "but I want to share a blanket with you."

"I don't mind. I only gave you the extra just in case I hog the blanket in the middle of the night." He walked up to the bed and took off his hoodie. He was wearing a yellow NTV t-shirt underneath.

"Self advertising, huh," she chuckled.

"Not really. Whenever we release merch, they give me a sample of some sort. I have a million of NTV t-shirts and hoodies." He went over to the dresser and opened one of the drawers. "I do want to find some shorts, though."

"You um... You don't have to."

"Nah, I get really warm at night. I don't want to sleep in sweatpants."

"You can sleep in your underwear if you're comfortable with it."

"I'm pretty sure I have some gym shorts around he-"

"..."

"..." Theodore was blushing. "I don't want to make you uncomfortable."

"I'll be fine." She smiled. "We'll be under the blanket, anyways."

"I think I'd be more comfortable in some shorts."

"Whatever works for you."

He quickly slipped into some soft grey shorts as he still faced the dresser. He got into bed, but Hazel stopped him before he laid down.

"Don't forget to take your other pill!"

"Shit, right! Thanks for reminding me." He chuckled. "I totally would've forgot." He opened the other bottle and swallowed the pill with a mouthful of water.

"By the way, I wanted to ask you something."

"What's up?"

What's with the pink blanket? Was that one for me?"

"Oh, no that's um... That's... Well, that's my blankie. I, uh... I can't really sleep without it."

"Aww, Theo!"

"Shush!"

"No, no, it's cute!"

"Shuuush!" He pouted and blushed.

"Don't be embarrassed! It's fine! I'm not judging you."

"Alright, alright."

"One more question."

"Hm?"

"Can we cuddle? I wanna spoon." She smiled cutely.

Theo blushed even harder. "Um... Yeah. Yeah, sure."

"I call little spoon!" She plopped on to her right side and giggled.

(Tiniest suggestive warning. Nothing bad happens but there is a small mention.)

Theo nervously clicked the lamp off and snuggled up to her. He wrapped his arm around her waist and leaned against her with his head on her neck. She put her arm on top of the one that wrapped around her and intertwined their fingers. Theo gulped and took a deep breath. Even though they were only cuddling, he found himself growing incredibly flustered... including down below. He moved his hips back and away from her. She noticed him move and picked her head up.

"Where ya goin'?"

"I, uh..." he spoke shakily.

"Get back here!" She threw her hips back at him, but jolted forward once she felt him. "Oh!"

"Sorry, I'm so sorry, I-"

She giggled. "Theo, relax. I take it as a compliment."

"Oh, my gosh, I just-"

"Theo! Calm down! Would it help if we switched and I was big spoon?"

"That... Yeah, that'd be nice."

"Come on," she flipped over and nudged him.

He rolled over, but he was still so embarrassed. He took a deep breath. Hazel snuggled up to him and played with his hair. He focused on his breathing as she gently scratched his scalp. With her other hand, she intertwined their fingers and held hands. Theodore felt his muscles relax. Before he knew it, he was zonked out. Hazel thought it was cute that he got so flustered. He was so cocky and brave when they first met, but now he was a nervous wreck. She knew it was going to take a while for him to settle, but in the meantime, she was going to help push him through it.

Eventually, Hazel had also fallen asleep and ended up rolling onto her back. She was sleeping soundly until she woke up freezing cold. Just as she was warned, The Noise was wrapped head to toe in the blanket. He was curled up in fetal position with the blanket over his ears. His pink "blankie" was even over his head. No wonder he gets so warm at night, she thought. She grabbed the extra blanket he had given her, unfolded it, and covered herself up. She let out a small groan as she snuggled up with the blanket.

Hazel woke up again around her usual time, around 5 in the morning. To her, that was "sleeping in". She looked over at Noise, who was still sleeping with his blankie over his head. She debated on waking him up, but she wasn't too keen on disturbing him. With the way the paparazzi treated him the day before, she thought he deserved to rest. She slowly crawled out of bed so she could brush her teeth, but she accidentally woke him up doing so. His eyes squinted as he moved the blanket off his head.

"Sorry," she whispered. "I didn't mean to wake you up."

"Mmmph..." He groaned. "It's okay..." He tiredly slurred his words.

"I was going to let you sleep. You seemed like you needed it."

He sat up and took a deep breath. "Yeah... I'll be fine. I can always take a nap later." He yawned and stretched. He let out a small chuckled once he saw that she used the other blanket. "I warned you that I'm a blanket hog."

She giggled. "You should've seen yourself. You were wrapped up like a burrito."

"Yeah, I've always slept like that."

"That's probably why you get so hot at night."

"I can't sleep any other way."

She booped him on the nose. "You wanna go out and get some food or somethin'?"

"Yeah, sure," he yawned again. "I could eat. I'm gonna brush my teeth, though."

"I was gonna-"

"You can go first. I can lay down a few more minutes." He smiled as he slid back down.

She chuckled softly as she headed over to the bathroom with her toothbrush, toothpaste, and this time, she remembered her mouthwash.

[h0neybane]

ZVA worldbuilding

just some world building for my ghibli-inspired-twst school, zephyr valley academy! this'll all be in a similar order to the one of the wiki page for night raven college

enrollment:

you can definitely apply to get in but i do think some students are handpicked for different reasons!

i think one of the best parts of ghibli films are the walking shots. moments in which characters are just walking to their next destination and you get to see the environment and detailing in the background... i think hayao miyazaki called them something, but i cant remember what it is.

the reason i bring this up is because i think when students are enrolled in ZVA, since the academy is in such a remote and rural area, they're dropped off at a certain point and then have to travel on foot to the building for the entrance ceremony. i dont think it's a long walk by any means: maybe like 30 minutes max and that's pushing it.

but i do think there are a lot of sights the students get to see while walking there. mountainsides, fields, lakes, undisturbed by society.. it's a very peaceful place. i also think maybe the walk should be timed with the sunrise? just cus its cool

during the entrance ceremony each student will receive a broach with their magestone, in which the color matches their dorm (link in next point!)

i mentioned this in my original uniform post, but also during the entrance ceremony, incoming first years recieve an enchanted leaf laurel and boa (shown here) that doesn't have any flowers. throughout their time at the academy, flowers representing them will sprout from the leaves. here's a timeline of the progression of the flowers:

first year: pretty much empty at the start of the year. little sprouts may begin to grow throughout their first year, and most have 2-5 small flowers. especially exceptional students may already have one or two bigger flower buds

second year: more sprouts start to grow, lots of wild variants; i think the second year is where students begin to experiment a little. by the end of the year, most have bigger flowers waiting to bloom. some exceptional students will have fully bloomed flowers already

third year: big flower buds begin to bloom throughout the year. many have grown a lot as mages over their time. by the end of the year, third year students will have rows of flowers around their shoulders and head.

fourth year: fully bloomed. students enter internships and graduate :]

ALSO the boa and laurel change colors with the seasons until it goes into full bloom where its enchanted to always be healthy and bloomed

i think itd make sense for ZVA to have a large (at least larger than usual) fae population considering how nature-connected it is...

ZVA is a co-ed school!!! both girls and boys attend!!!

history:

i feel like ZVA is younger than NRC and RSA but not by very much! where NRC and RSA are 500 years old (i'm saying 500 for simplicity sake; according to the wiki, it's AT LEAST 500), ZVA would probably be 400-300 years old.

here are the figures each dorm is based on, in no particular order (some of these are undecided and will be added later!)

the wizard of ingary (howl from howl's moving castle)

totoro

i cant decided between kaonashi (no face) or haku for spirited away... maybe i'll do a special case where the dorm itself is split into two?

undecided (ponyo)

undecided but im considering doing an offshoot dorm/group based around that boar thing from the start of the movie.. (princess mononoke)

castle in the sky (undecided)

undecided (kiki's delivery service... it might just be kiki but i need to watch the movie before i decide)

i dont have any values for them for now (like how heartslabyul is based on queen of hearts and her severity, savanaclaw is based on king of beasts and tenacity, etc) but i think ill come up with them after some watching...

i also want to add traces of other movies that arent dorms! maybe in events or classes? speaking of events...

traditions and events:

VDC/SDC is definitely one of them! i think they get pretty far in the competition for the cute peaceful vibes but then i think they get beat out by nrc and rsa LOL

interdorm magift/spelldrive: i dont think theyre like SUPER GOOD but also i do think they've won a couple of times

i mentioned this as a serencor (howl dorm) tradition but wouldnt it be so cute if there was a hat-making event honoring sophie... LIKE IMAGINING HOWL MAKING IT A THING JUST FOR HER... AUGUHGJHGJ

halloween: i think itd be interesting if some of the creepier stuff from ghibli films popped up here (say, no face/kaonashi and the boar worm god thing from princess mononoke)

something spirited away related. i DONT KNOW WHAT but its spirited away related.

reputation:

ZVA is known for its nature and being super duper peaceful!! it has a really good reputation among the public and its up there with RSA and NRC!

but at the same time i think itd be so funny if some of the other magic schools made fun of them for being hippies or something LMFAO

uniforms: (i WILL draw all these ideas i PROMISE)

i already did the normal school uniform (here) but i do think there are variations to it for summer and winter! like NRC, ZVA provides a winter coat and has an alternate summer uniform (it's pretty much just the same but short silk socks instead of stockings or kneesocks and short sleeved shirts)

ceremonial robes: i have no idea yet but im so excited to design them... im thinking going in the direction of a kimono or yukata as a homage to ghibli being based in japan

pe uniform: im sorry but nrc's PE uniforms are so. ugly. i think maybe a t-shirt and some shorts + socks? classic

labwear: pretty much the same as nrc's tbh. lab safety is important chat (IM LOOKING AT YOU 90% OF TWST CAST. PUT YOUR FUCKIN HAIR UP)

that's all i have for now! but i will make another one continuing on this tomorrow probably! as always, feel free to give me input!

[kozachenko]

So a little while ago I did this background thingy of my interpretation of Hakugyokurou in Touhou 7, then left it at the sketch and forgot about it for a while. Then after changing up my art style a lot, I came back to this and decided to finish it as a way of testing out how my new style would look on backgrounds. Then when I finished it, I also didn't look at it for a while, until today where I decided that I liked it and wanted to post it.

Artist's Notes:

IDK how much this actually looks like Hakugyokurou tbh, but I liked the idea of there being a fuck ton of trees that just kinda grow on the stairs and Yuyuko's garden being on an island of some kind, though tbh as I write this now, this same feeling could be accomplished with just having the stairs be on top of a hill with the trees soooo... oops. IDK how mythologically/lore accurate that would be, but hey, just a cool idea I had. I feel like we need more fan interpretations of certain Touhou locations because I think those could be really fucking cool, like, I should do more of these myself because I have a fuck ton of ideas (plus I need the practice with drawing backgrounds so win-win).

Even if this... doesn't really look like Hakugyokurou in Touhou canon, this was still good practice for perspective, as well as getting better at drawing backgrounds/environment pieces (plus what annoys me is that I wanted to make the tori gate red but had to make it pink because the red was too much for the colour scheme and I should have adjusted the rest of the colours but I don't feel like going back and fucking with this piece now because I feel like I am going to end up like Sisyphus pushing a boulder up a hill with this drawing).

I think the reason we don't see those as often is because there's a lot more consistency with the location designs in Touhou than the character designs. Like, in the mainline games themselves, Marisa's outfit changes every fucking game, and small details in how characters outfits are drawn also lend themselves to that looser character design base. As long as you keep the core design philosophies of the character (i.e. Reimu keeping her loose, baggy clothes, Yukari with her hat and ribbons, Keiki with her headkerchief (I FINALLY LEARNED WHAT IT WAS FUCKING CALLED WOOHOOO!!!! I COULD HAVE JUST LOOKED IT UP ON THE WIKI THIS WHOLE TIME YAAAAAY), and many more examples) you're basically good. However, the actual locations in Touhou have been so set in stone with all the printed works that I think it's a shame we don't see any more variations of how they could look.

I'm not saying to completely ditch how each location is portrayed in games (also don't take this whole thing as me completely dissing the canon looks of the locations) but, treating the locations like character designs in and of themselves. Like, take Sakuya's canon design and her Touhouvania design. Both of them are very different takes on the same design idea. Yet you still recognize Touhouvania Sakuya as... well, Sakuya. And also, keeping the same mythological/historical/irl inspirations for said locations (again, don't know if having a floating island in the Japanese netherworld is accurate but it was a cool idea)

Some other location ideas I have include:

The SDM looking relatively normal from the outside but when you go inside it looks like a fucking gothic cathedral/castle because Sakuya keeps fucking with the space time continuum and there is also an organ the size of a fucking house in there that Sakuya dramatically plays. Also having it be surrounded by trees and having some mountains surrounding the misty lake would be cool as well.

Keiki's base in the animal spirit garden being reminiscent of the ancient technology in Laputa, some of the zonai technology in ToTK and some of the Lanayru desert buildings in Skyward Sword (i.e. Lanayru Mine, the shipyard, etc), as well as a lot of the other ancient technologically advanced sky people ruins seen in some other Zelda games, but with the clear Kofun era theming she already has.

Old Hell having a mix of western influences with it's prodominantly Japanese ones, mainly inspired by how the Palace of Earth spirits looks significantly more western than the rest of Old Hell (though that could be because it was more recently built idk), as well as there being emblems from the time that Old Hell was actually Hell being strewn about in the ruins of old hell, also being inspired by a Japanese historical anecdote about how certain families had specific crests/emblems representing them and how when a new clan would take over everything would be replaced with that families' emblem although my memory is a bit foggy (since I saw it a while ago) and I got info from a Youtube short so take this info with a huge grain of salt (and it anyone actually knows if this info is legit or not, please correct me if I get anything wrong).

Overall, don't think this looks too much like Hakugyokurou, but I am glad I drew this anyway because I needed the practice with drawing backgrounds.

[totallynotbear]

Il Mio Piccolo Uccellino Canoro -Part |

Wenclair x Child!Avian!Reader

[Summary: ] Y/n is a rare outcast who has wings, but her parents don’t care enough to take care of her. So what happens when She runs away to the safety and protection of Enid Sinclair and Wednesday Addams after hearing her parents make a deal with a persistent man who will stop at nothing to get his end of it? 

[Warnings:] ooc Wednesday I think.

[A/N:] This is my first story on here, so enjoy. :]

[3rd PoV with Y/n.]

Y/n has been running for 10 minutes straight without stopping. It felt like her lungs were going to burst. ”GET BACK HERE, YOU FREAK!” She hears a male voice behind her. Daring to look back she sees a man with a big knife a little far behind her but she takes no chances. Using the rest of her momentum, Y/n runs faster. Sharp branches snagged on her wings, taking some feathers with it. Soon she spotted a tree and started to climb it. Quickly looking behind her back to see if the man was there. When Y/n saw that he wasn’t still there  she started climbing as quickly as she could. Going up the branches she hid in the leaves, quietly gasping for breath. 

Y/n stayed there for a while never letting her guard down, looking for any sign of the man, but found none. She thought that was weird since he was there a minute ago but decided she should stay in the tree, it being her only cover and her being comfortable there too. Soon her eyes started to droop with sleepiness shifting a little to get comfortable and soon falling into a deep sleep.  

Y/n awoke with a start the next morning, startled. “Ugh, I'm getting tired of this nightmare…wait is that rain?”  Y/n groaned as it started raining cold droplets running down her wings and features. She never liked the rain. Although it did help clean her feathers. It also made it harder to move, her still growing into her wings, they were slightly big for her growing body and if they got wet the weight would get heavier and harder for her to move. To run. Y/n shivered slightly and carefully started to climb down the tree to look for better shelter. Her eyes darted around to spot any danger, the man, or shelter. Y/n soon  spotted a little shed after a few minutes of searching.  It looked a little run down and old but stable.

Y/n trudged toward it, her wings starting to get heavier from the rain, opening the door slowly with a small creaking sound and stepping inside. Before she looked behind her, Y/n shook off the water from her body, The cold droplets splashing everywhere.  the feathers from her wings fluffed up afterwards. Y/n nervously looked behind her to see if anyone followed her then closed the door behind her when she saw no one. Y/n looked around in her new surroundings and the place seemed clean, like someone comes here regularly. 

“Hopefully they don’t come while I'm here, I don't want trouble.” Y/n spotted a switch, and flicked it. The bright light shone on Y/n’s eyes, when her eyes adjusted to the light she looked around seeing many paintings of a gray, bug eyed monster, with a mop of curly brown hair and a big snarl in its face. 

One with a black and white girl with two perfect braids, playing a cello while seemingly looking at the viewer. Lastly a castle-like building with beautiful fall scenery in the background. Y/n and her wings trembled slightly at the scary looking paintings, especially the monster and the girl. After fully Shaking her wings dry, Y/n sat down on one of the tarps she found on the ground and tried to settle in it.

“Weird, scary paintings” Y/n mumbled quietly as she settled down on one of the tarps on the ground. She stayed there for a while hugging her knees to keep warm, flinching every time she heard the muffled sounds of thunder outside. Y/n soon finally fell into a light sleep, her wings hugging around her, finally feeling comfortable enough to rest again.

[With Enid and an hour later.]

After another long hard day of her classes, Enid was walking on a path that leads to Xavier’s painting shed, so she could relieve stress from all of the exams she has. Xavier had let her come to his painting shed so she could have some time to herself. That fight changed Enid. Though Enid was still the colorful happy-go-lucky werewolf, now she's a lot more protective. Especially towards Wednesday. The colorful werewolf now follows the goth girl everywhere. And I mean everywhere.

And if someone other than her friends gets too close to Wednesday, Enid is right behind the short Addams, dangerously glaring at them and they turn away immediately. (Though Wednesday doesn’t really mind that they go). Enid didn’t know why she was a lot more protective. Maybe it was when she finally wolfed out her protective instincts got more prominent. Or maybe she was paranoid. Or maybe, just maybe. Yoko was right about Enid having a small crush on Wednesday while at a slumber party with her and Divana, which Enid denied quickly with a flushed face. 

Enid shook out of her thoughts when she saw the shed a little aways and walked a little faster towards it. “Finally, this rain is getting annoying.”  The werewolf didn’t expect it to rain so she didn't grab an umbrella when she went out. It was mostly sunny and chilly but sunny. And worst of all the cold weather made the rain even more unbearable.

As Enid walked the slightly broken down shed to see it slightly cracked open and the windows showed the yellowish light coming from inside of the building. “Huh, Xavier must've left it open.”  Enid walked closer to the shed and opened the door and freezed. 

There was a little kid slightly shivering from the cold, and covering herself with...wings? Enid had never seen, or heard of an outcast with wings. The little girl’s wings were raven black. “Kinda like Wednesday’s hair.” Enid shut the door behind her with a loud bang. When the bang sounded the winged girl stirred, tensing her wings slightly, before falling back asleep. Enid slowly walked over to the girl. Eventually she was towering over her, and sat down completely marveled at the beautiful raven colored wings. “Where are her parents?” 

The avian girl then started to stir awake, again after who knows how long, causing Enid to jump a little. When the girl opened her eyes she tensed. A second passed between the two, before the avian then tried to back away in fright, the fear finally setting in. She thrashed her wings and instinctively put her arms in front of herself, trying to back away from the werewolf fear evident in her eyes. “Hey, it’s okay I’m not going to hurt you!” Enid frantically tried to calm her down, but grabbed her shoulder which only provoked her more. “How can I calm her down?” Enid then had an idea, and backed away from the winged girl.

After a minute of her panic Y/n slowly stopped, and calmed down. The shiny, raven wings on the girls' back stopped their flapping. She looked at Enid with caution in her eyes, her head tilted, and made a small, soft trilling noise. “Aww.”  Enid reached her hand out slowly. Y/n flinched and scooted back a little, her wings shaking slightly. Enid took her hand back looking at the girl. “She’s so little…where are her parents?” Enid asked in her head again. Y/n’s eyes slitted a little and she was crouched down, ready to sprint to safety if she needed to. “Are you lost?” Enid asked scooting a little closer, but not close enough to scare her again.

Y/n was surprised at Enid suddenly speaking, and jumped. “Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you.” Enid said slowly. Then finally Enid saw scratches on Y/n’s face. Her brows furrowed in concern. Enid reached her hand out again slowly reaching to Y/n’s face and inspected the wounds.

Y/n stayed quiet and very still, and rigid expecting her to hurt her somehow, but of course that never came. Enid looked at her face and saw lots of tiny scratches on her face, and even arms.

“What happened?” No answer. The avian girl just stared.

“Can you not talk?”

Y/n continued to stare before nodding her head. “Will you talk to me?” Enid asked, slightly puzzled that the girl won’t talk to her. Y/n shook her head ‘no’, and scooted closer to Enid. 

“Why not?” Y/n looked puzzled, searched around the shed for something that’ll help her communicate with Enid. “Oh, uh here?” Enid handed Y/n an notebook, and a pen she had in her bag for studying. “You can use this.” Enid gave Y/n a small, warm smile. Y/n nodded before taking the notebook and wrote in sloppy handwriting ‘im Y/n and i don't talk much’  Enid read this and smiled at what the avian girl wrote. “ Aww, it’s so sloppy and cute!”  She thought. 

Y/n then started to write again then showed her. ‘Who are you?’ . “I’m Enid…..Where are your parents?” Y/n looked down, and then wrote. ‘I ran away….’  “Wh-” Enid was interrupted by the shed door opening. The werewolf, startled, whipped her head around in surprise to see the one and only Wednesday Addams.

“Oh, it’s just you.” Enid sighed a hand over her heart dramatically. “Of course it’s me, who else would it be?” Wednesday crosses her arms, with her signature glare. “Well anybody for starters—” “-Who is this?” Wednesday points to the shivering avian girl who was now hiding behind Enid. “Oh..this is Y/n, I found her here alone here using the shed for shelter.” The short Addams cold glare switched from Enid to Y/n. causing the said girl to tremble more as her wings pressed close to her back. “Where are her parents?”

Enid sighed, and handed Wednesday the notebook with a look of uncertainty. “I don’t know, she said—well she wrote that she ran away.” Enid fidgeted. ”Maybe we can bring her back to them?” Y/n was still behind the colorful werewolf, her eyes closed to slits as she glared. "It's the girl from the picture!"

Wednesday raised her brow. “She ran away. Maybe that’s for a reason.”  “Are you saying her parents-” “I’m just trying to see why a little winged girl ran away from her parents. She looks like she’s about five, Enid.” Wednesday interrupted Enid mid-sentence again, taking a step closer towards her. Y/n stared at the girls while they bickered, tilting her head to the side. “Yeah, but what if she got lost?” “Enid, she specifically said she ran away” Enid sighed and sat down against a wall, Y/n crouched in the corner beside Enid, still glaring at Wednesday.

“What should we do, Wen?” Wednesday stared at Enid with annoyance at the nickname. “I said don’t call me that.” She then sighed, and sat in front of Enid from where she once stood. “This is police work, so maybe we should take her to them.” “But the police won’t do anything.” Enid looked at Wednesday with glossy eyes. “First off she’s an outcast, and Jerico still hates us.” Enid growled slightly, and looked at Y/n, who was staring at them with droopy eyes, while wrapping her wings, and arms around herself for warmth, then  Enid’s eyes softened. “Even if they do take her, what will they do with her?” Enid didn’t know why, but she felt that she must protect Y/n with all of her life. She couldn’t explain it or put her finger on it. ‘Why do I want to protect her so much? I only just met her, and she has parents.’  “Second, We know first hand from last year that they are pretty much useless.” 

Wednesday’s stare softened just a little that no one would notice except Enid, who saw the facial change immediately but said nothing. Wednesday would hate to admit it out loud, but Enid was right. They won’t care about an outcast even if she’s a child, and where would they even start? No outcast lives that close to town. Wednesday sighed and uncrossed her arms.

 “Then what do you suppose we do? Take care of her on our own?” Enid looked down. She didn’t miss that Wednesday said ‘we'. She was going to help her if she took Y/n in? Could they take care of Y/n together? Pink dusted over Enid’s cheeks as she thought of that. But she couldn’t help but think of the consequences of that. If she took Y/n in, what about school? Though Enid didn’t really care about her grades like that, her mother would be mad, and yell at her she did not need that drama. And what will people think of her taking care of a kid at the age of sixteen.

Enid is very social and friendly, but can she be social if there’s no one to be social with?  Will everyone look at her differently? Will she be an outcast to the outcast? Enid looked down to the floor in thought for a minute then at Y/n, who was finally asleep in the corner, curled up in an uncomfortable ball, although a little tense, and  before finally answering.

“Well, I believe I can at least come here to the shed to take care of her.” She looked up at Wednesday who was staring at her. “I’m sure Xavier would let me if I told him about our situation.” Enid fidgeted with her jacket with embarrassment. “Maybe you can help me take care of her?”

“Enid-” “-I know, but please at least help with the food and clothes? I can take care of everything else I promi-” “Enid stop.” Enid looked up to see her roommate had closed her eyes in frustration, rubbing her eyes, and groaned in pain, though it was barely audible. “Willa? Are you okay?” Enid reached out for Wednesday's shoulder, but she just shrugged Enid’s hand off. “I’m fine, these insufferable headaches have been happening since after the fight.” A pause. “Can handle it, Lupa.” 

Enid would have to take note to look that up later. “Are you sure? It sounded like it really hurt.” “I’ll be able to handle it, Enid.” Enid looked unconvinced, but pulled back nonetheless. There was a long uncomfortable silence. The room was filled with the occasional small snore coming from Y/n. Enid looked at Wednesday with pleading eyes. “Please Wednesday we have to do something! We can’t just leave her here! And she has injuries that could get badly infected!” Wednesday sighed from the colorful werewolf’s  high pitched whine. Her high pitched voice caused her headache to get worse. 

When the headache finally subsided, Wednesday looked up and stared at her rowdy roommate. “Enid, you are a sixteen year old werewolf who lives in a dorm at a school for outcasts and still has school. What makes you think you can take care of a child with trust issues?” Wednesday takes a step closer. 

“I-” Enid hesitates.

 “And I don’t usually care what that insufferable principle Weems thinks, but what do you think she'll do when she finds you with a lost outcast child whose parents are who knows where?”

Another step.

“I-I don’t know but I am going to help Y/n as much as I can.” In the beginning Enid’s voice faltered, but grew stronger and she straightened her posture before taking a step forward too. The two were now almost a few inches in front of each other, staring at the other’s eye without signs of backing down anytime soon. It felt like forever before Enid sighed, and looked back at Y/n again. “You don’t have to help me try to take care of her, or whatever may happen, but can you at least go get Principal Weems and bring her here? I’ll talk to her about it.”

After staring at Enid for a solid minute Wednesday then turned around towards the worn out door of the shed and stopped right in front of it and muttered under her breath though Enid caught what she said. Even though she doesn't understand “Spero che tu sappia cosa stai facendo, Sinclair” Then went out the door with a slam of the door Which luckily didn’t wake Y/n up.

A/n: Welp I hope you guys liked that! feel free to leave suggestions! See you in the next chapter! :]

[weirdblondestuff]

Why is everyone hating on Disney's "Wish" so much?? Is it just where I live or an universal experience?

Like, ok, the villain is nothing but a control freak. Is that really all that we're seeing here?

Are we really ignoring the fact that they managed to mention *a lot* of Disney's old movies and some nice things?

TW: some spoilers ahead?

Also, feel free to add things or agree or disagree. I really want to understand why everyone is hating that movie so much. I'm not saying it's my favourite but I actually think there's some interesting stuff there.

The main friend group is formed of seven people, excluding Asha. Each of them reminds me of one of the seven dwarves from Snow White, except that the one who represents Dopey can talk. The short one even says "And they ask me why I'm grumpy!". He's clearly Grumpy.

Asha's grandpa, Sabino(?) is turning 100, just like the Disney company. And after the final credits roll, there's a scene of him playing "When you wish upon a star" on whatever instrument he plays(don't really know the name of it, sorry).

On one of the wishes, Aurora's dress can be clearly seen for a split second.

On another wish, we see Peter Pan flying around and soon after king Magnifico mentions Neverland. Later on, a guy NAMED PETER. WANTS TO BUILD A FLYING MACHINE. AND HE LOOKS EXACTLY LIKE PETER PAN. Coincidence? I think not.

They reference Tangled with the scene everyone is drawing on the ground with chalk.

Bambi! Bambi is in the movie! As an adult and he barely has 5 seconds of screen time? Yes, but it's still Bambi.

Asha's wish is... Guess what? Made upon a star. 🎵When you wish upon a star...🎵

Sleeping Beauty might also have been referenced when king Magnifico "trapped" everyone in that... Rose thorns looking magic. (It's either this or my mind is mixing Disney's version with the tale I read as a kid. Sorry.)

When Asha's trying to lure the king into the forest, she's given a small stick with some magic in it and is wearing something very similar to what Cinderella's fairy godmother wore. Later on, she receives an actual magic wand and is asked to become everyone's fairy godmother, and her clothes sparkle similarly to how Cinderella's ones did when her dress transformed.

Magnifico also mentions the Evil Queen from Snow White! (Not sure if this is the exact phrase but I'm pretty sure he said something similar) "Mirror, mirror on the wall, who in the land is the fairest of all?".

Valentino says something, by the end of the movie, that references to Zootopia (something along the lines of "A place where all mammals are the same. And wear clothes!").

The star does the Disney intro thing by the end of the movie(Castle on the background, the star... Y'know what I'm talking about. Hopefully.).

There might be other things I forgot to mention here and things I didn't notice. Also, I've only watched the movie once, in english, and it isn't even my mother tongue, so there might be some misunderstandings. Anyway, overall, I don't think the movie deserves all the hate it's getting. It's definitely not the best movie of all, but, honestly? It's not that bad.

Please forgive any mistakes 🙏 and help me understand whatever's happening because it doesn't make much sense to me.

[umbracirrus]

WIP Wednesday! 💛

Once more, it is a Wednesday... and I have to admit, the creative fuel has been very active this week - fun how it coincides with the time pressure for university assignments starting to build up... 😅

So, of course, this is going to be a bumper WIP Wednesday because I think that I will be bouncing around the walls in anticipation until I do - meaning that there will be both writing and cross stitching today!

Tagging, obviously with no obligation, @throughtrialbyfire, @oblivions-dawn, @thequeenofthewinter, and anyone else who wants to share a WIP💛

I've also since been tagged by @wildhexe and @friend-of-giants, so retroactively tagging you both!

----

First things first, cross stitching! I've made some progress since last time, completed the Falkreath emblem outline and have made a start on Winterhold! I'm over halfway there with the outlines now! Just the main colours and background colours to go! And not gonna lie, I'm really loving how the braiding looks in what I've done for Winterhold now that it has been translated into stitching.

Now for the writing, and I will put it under a read more to keep the post from being too long.

I've actually decided to start writing Elyse's journey as the Dragonborn, essentially a prequel to The Perfect Storm! Here's some of the opening passages! There are two of them, I'm that excited to have started writing them ☺️

----

Dim candlelight filled the room, drab and scarcely furnished, as the faint sounds of the outdoor breeze seeped inside. There was a time where that room had once been bright, filled with love and life and laughter. A time where it truly felt like a home, and not merely a fragment of the home it once was.

There was little in terms of furniture. A bookshelf, once filled to the brim with spellbooks and literature sourced from all across High Rock and Cyrodiil, was bare and starting to form cobwebs. The books had long since been given away or sold. A small table, one which used to barely just be big enough to be adorned with tea and sweet treats, wine on even rarer occasions. It was empty. There were also three seats, two of which pushed together – seemingly attached, akin to their previous occupants.

This place was once a home.

With the snuffing of the lone candle, the home which it once was, was resigned to history.

Remaining in that building had become too painful to the woman who had been living there by her lonesome. Surrounded by echoes of what once was, and never would be again. She had chosen to move on, to build herself a new life. Find herself new hope, new cheer. They wouldn’t have wanted her to linger in what once was, as she had been doing, but to seek out a new happiness for herself. They had done it for themselves many years ago, and it was her turn now.

Stepping out into the brisk autumnal winds of Chorrol for what would likely be the last time, she let out a quiet sigh as the door clicked shut. She then made her way towards the city's castle in order to hand in the three keys which were clutched in the palm of her hands to the Count's steward, knowing that one day they would once more be given to a family not unlike her own. Once the keys were exchanged for funds, she was free to go wherever she wished, drift around and allow her whims to guide her feet. But she had a plan… and that plan was Skyrim.

Yes, it was a land full of strife – not too many months ago, it had lost its king and a new one had not yet been crowned, with its leaders fighting and bickering over the land's allegiance to the Empire – but it was still a place of great significance to her. It was her mother's homeland. The place where her parents had met, had fallen in love, spoke so fondly of in spite of having left before she had even been born… and she longed to find a place which could hold the same sorts of treasured memories for her. With luck, Skyrim would be that place too.

----

The ropes around Elyse’s wrists chafed like no-one’s business as she tried to shift her arms into a more comfortable position, but to no avail. It didn’t help either that she felt so many eyes upon her, the sore thumb which stuck out among all the other prisoners. The only one which wasn’t a Jarl or dressed in Stormcloak blue now that the horse thief was dead.

“And who are you?”

The voice of the soldier stood in front of her made her freeze and start staring at him with both panic and confusion across her features. “Wh-What?”

At the very least, the soldier appeared to have some semblance of compassion. “Who are you? What is your name? If you aren’t on my list, then you won’t be executed.”

A chill went down her spine at that word. Executed. She was being dragged around with a group of people who were going to be executed. That was just her luck...

“E... Elyse Verne... I-I was only trying to get to Winterhold, I have family there, and a letter from the Archmage-“

“And you aren’t on the list. Captain,” the soldier turned to a very short-tempered looking woman who was staring daggers directly at her. “What should we do? She’s not on the list.”

Elyse felt her heart drop into the pit of her stomach as the soldier was told to send her to the block anyway. The horrified expression from the soldier managed to provide at least a little comfort as he turned to face her once more.

“I... I’m sorry. But you said that you have family in Winterhold, didn’t you? I can arrange for your remains to be sent to them... Who should I-“

“Hadvar! Move the prisoner now!”

Elyse felt a horrible sense of bitterness as a different soldier appeared behind her and gave her a shove forward, making her stumble forward onto the ground, the impact with the stone and gravel scraping down her skin and embedding in her palms and knees. At the very least, Hadvar was the one who helped her up. Unfortunately, she wasn’t given the opportunity to clean any of the debris off, and she could feel the slightest of trails of blood down her fingers and her legs.

Tears were stinging at the corner of her eyes as she was made to stand with the other prisoners, her breathing heavy and unsteady as she tried to keep herself calm whilst the priestess read out their last rites before another prisoner cut her off. What she would give for something, anything to just get her out of there. All she had wanted was to build herself a new life in the land which her mother had spoken of so fondly during her childhood, just for it to kill her on her first few days there.

A distant noise echoed through the mountains, which caught her attention, and seemingly that of everyone else in the town too. But when she realised that it had done nothing to stop the execution proceedings, she had to bite her lip to stop herself from completely breaking down in floods of tears.

Something which very much almost happened when the abrasive captain yelled “Next, the Breton!” when pointing at her, when one – she was just as much a Nord as she was a Breton, and two, the captain seemed to be taking some sort of sadistic joy from the panic that she was in as she got nudged forward once more.

Elyse almost expelled the contents of her stomach at the sight before her when she ended up by the chopping block. The body of the Stormcloak who had just been executed had merely been kicked to the side, his blood soaking the wooden block, the basket which still bore his head, and the ground beneath him. She had to force her eyes shut as she quietly prayed to the Divines to save her when a hand was placed on her shoulder and forced her down to her knees, though it didn’t stop the metallic tang which filled the air around her from getting into her nostrils when her head was forced down onto the block.

She didn’t know where she was going to go once her head was cleaved from her shoulders. Maybe she would find herself in Sovngarde – her mother would surely be there to welcome her. Maybe even her father, if her mother’s prayers during her life had been strong enough. Maybe she would simply end up in Aetherius. Maybe... She would end up nowhere. The last rites had been interrupted after all... And one way to get on the bad side of whatever higher beings which were out there had to be disturbing the processes and procedures which had been carried out in their names for time immemorial. But perhaps Arkay would have sympathy upon her, for the injustice of her death.

[fallen-gabrielle]

The Delightful Mansion screenshots Part 1

After the Uno residence, I collected screenshots of the Delightful Mansion for research and archive purposes. It wasn't easy. Since the show focuses on the KND, we don't get to see much of buildings other than the Treehouse. But I think I did my best.

For starter, shots of the exterior. The garden/front yard stays consistent but the surroundings not that much. In Op CAKE-FIVE, a road magically appears at the end of the episode when there was clearly nothing before. And the forest behind the mansion disappeared in some episodes too. I included the sliced mansion that shows the interior that will not be consistent at all. Consistency is not a thing in this show when it comes to background and building interiors. I mean the creators and animators aren't exactly architects, so it doesn't matter that much on the long term I guess. As a kid you don't pay attention to those details, but I certainly do as an adult now.

The first inconsistency is the entrence. There's two different ones and I know there is a back door, so the other might be from behind but something isn't right anyway and I'll explain later. This one is what I call the main/front entrence where it's maybe the most consistent in this messy house. It has small stairs after a few meters (yeah sue me) and the distance between the door and said stairs varies depending on the episode/need for the animators.

This is the second entrence that is drastically different from the first one. I kinda want it to be the back door, but for the first screenshot it's actually the front door in the episode Op FUGITIVE. This part of the house is back in Op PARTY, but it's not really used as an entrence, really just for a background. So at this point I might just headcanon the house can shapeshift like Father does.

Speaking of, we only see his study/office in Op INTERVIEWS and it's a shame because I really like this room. In fact, I wish we could have seen more of the mansion. Father also has this stereotypical *supervillain room* with spikes for no reason and an armchair where he can spin it dramatically just for the sake of being dramatic. I love this garbage man so much. It's quite hard to situate the rooms but his study would be on the third floor (fourth for my american followers) that's between the two candle shaped towers or whatever that is. In fact, I'm not sure if I can actually situate anything since there's a lot of inconsistency so trying to make sense of it would be a waste of time. Shame. I like having an actual map of where I'm standing, blame Zelda games for that.

There's two vastly different kitchens, and I'm pissed about it. One is clearly inside the house while the other has windows to look outside. Proof they are not the same actual room. The one on the right could be the cellar but it has kitchen instruments and literally cooking pots, so I don't know what to think about it. Moving on.

This room is confusing as hell. Why does it have so many windows where it's clear the ground floor isn't just this room. The mansion is also a square shaped house, so it's not like it's a castle with a long pavilion where this could be possible. Anyway, this seems like a living room? kinda? I'm just gonna call it the piano room since there's a piano there. Fancy rich people kinda do have a room just for classical music and shit. Ben isn't an exception.

And with this, I reached the 30 pictures limit per post, so I have to make a second part. Good to know. Some pictures of the hallways and it's interesting to see that there's different wallpaper. Maybe it's a different one for the different floors? Also, Ben has a huge picture of himself hanging in his house. I could have forgiven this narcissistic behavior if it wasn't for the fact that he also has a bust of himself. Sorry, it's over the top in my book. There's other hallways but they're just simple ones with many many doors so I didn't think it was worth adding to the list.

Part 1 / Part 2

[cptn-m]

One Piece chapter 1127 review

New arc is a go… but things aren't feeling quite right here. I'm not usually one to get on board with conspiracy theories - sometimes a weird detail is just something Oda threw in because he thought it would be fun or funny, not the key to unraveling the plot; sometimes an inconsistency is legitimately a mistake or typo, to be fixed in the volume. But here, I'm not so sure. Maybe it's because we have so little in the way of context, but things are feeling wrong about the setting we're shown in this first chapter.

We are not in the Elbaf we thought we were in. From the first page: look at Yggdrasil. Compare it to the enormous tree shown in the backgrounds of Big Mom's flashback. It's too small, it's not the right shape, it doesn't cast shade over the whole island the way the real one does. Though dressed like giants, the people in the town have roughly the same scale compared to the stingermole and Lego buildings as the Strawhats do. And while the environment certainly looks like a giant child's Lego playroom, watch the way the castle comes apart during the cat attack: it doesn't scatter into pieces like a real Lego construction would, the bricks themselves crack and shatter and crumble into shards, suggesting cemented concrete or stone rather something designed to come apart and be rebuilt. Even the title plays up a "Land of Mystery" even though it would be no spoiler at all to say "Land of Giants" or something similar given all the setup this arc has had.

So where are we? Some kind of human settlement on the edge or off the coast of Elbaf? Are they people who came hopeful to emulate giant culture like Usopp has? Or is this a human zoo or pet enclosure run by a particularly cruel giant leader? Maybe whoever is playing the part of a sun god (very intriguing setup by the way) But in either case why the toy look without toy materials?

And then there's the question of absinthe hallucinations. If the whole scenario was meant to be a trip, we probably wouldn't have seen the people in the town. That kind of objective POV from people who weren't drinking wouldn't fly, we'd have been kept limited to only the Strawhats' perspective. The animals cause real physical harm, and Nami trips on and interacts with the Lego bumps on the floor, so they're not illusions. But things are weird here. They keep changing. Both the spiky thing (which has hedgehog ears but more of a porcupine snout, and doesn't fully match up with either creature) and the cat transform dramatically for creatures without (apparent) devil fruits. And the weapon of Luffy's back changes between two panels, but that one I could chalk to being a mistake, or a last minute mind change. The panel with the sword also lacks the strap going across Luffy's chest, which feels like a major detail of this new design to omit. But it adds to the strange feeling all this gives off.

(Luffy calling out the wrong gear, however, is definitely an error. It hasn't even been that long since the wrong number was used for a Cipher Pol division in the final chapters of Egghead. Sanji winding up with one leg and kicking with the other feels the same, some of these little glitches happen all the time.)

Mysteries and theories all aside, this is a tremendously fun Usopp and Nami chapter. Every single gag landed for me. Nami's expression at meeting the spike monster sets the tone and the chapter just rolls from there. Usopp taking a hit, assuming the cat is a hallucination (even he'd just been in its mouth, and Nami's reaction. (Love the cat's claws curling over the panel boarder there too.) Then she uses the broken and beaten Usopp as a shield before claiming to Sanji he was already dead. I loved it all.

I've seen some upset that Usopp is taking such a beating in what they think should be his arc, but I can't imagine being upset by something like that. You can't have much of a character arc without the character having things to learn and challenges to overcome from the experience. The last time we had a genuinely designated character's arc was Sanji at Whole Cake Island, and whatever else you can say about it, that arc brought Sanji low and kicked him while he was down, physically and emotionally. He got no climactic fight. And he lost his memory of getting the girl. But it all set him up to be stronger than ever and face even more interesting character decisions in the next arc. So if we're going to make Usopp grow on Elbaf, putting him in situations that showcase his weakness and trigger his cowardice is a good starting point.

The Egghead outfits so far are fine. Pretty standard medieval gear. The choice for Nami threatens to follow the Egghead design trends, but I'm going to wait and see on that front. The problem with Egghead's outfits wasn't that Nami was showing a lot of leg - her characterisation has always had her comfortable in bikinis and similar pieces that make sense to wear when you're around the sea. The problem was that every single female character in the arc unquestioningly picked up Nami's fashion sense and level of comfort, no matter how they were depicted previously. So the amount of variety and how in-character the outfits of Robin, Lilith and (depending on what age she presents as) Bonney will make or break the fur bikini.

As much as it can hurt to be left with a lingering mystery, I'm thrilled to see Oda still finding the inspiration to give us something new and different to start a new arc on. And with a break coming up and the new arc underway, I think now is finally the time to properly reread and review Egghead in full, which feels like a good thing to put in the place of a review next week.

[foreverautumn89]

About the last post [Christmas]

So maybe I was wrong. [If you don't know what I'm talking about screencap is at the bottom of this post]

Maybe this isn't so sad after all since Jonathan and Will would have been excited to spend the entire day together alone.

Its still sad because Jonathan and Will still didn't have the company of Mike, Dustin, and Lucas like they usually do- who were all with their own families and couldn't come over on the holidays.

And Jonathan and Will were still thinking about Mike's, Dustin's, and Lucas's family and how they got to have an amazing day with their entire families like having happy moments with their moms and dads on Christmas too, but Will and Jonathan would have still put a positive spin on it anyway and looked on the bright side: At least I get to spend the entire day alone with my best friend and favorite person. And bonus: Lonnie isn't here. So its truly the most wonderful day of the year.

And then I thought about this: Jonathan and Will:

-Baking cookies together

-Talking and giggling together

-Having snowball fights

-Hanging out in castle byers

-Building snowmen

-Sled riding

-Making blanket forts inside

-They'd listen to Christmas music

-They'd pull up a chair in front of the window and watch the snow fall since Jonathan loved looking at nature and beautiful scenery like that

-and they would both take pictures of the scenery when they went outside [with Jonathan teaching Will to use a camera or reminding him of where certain buttons are]

-They'd talk while they laid on the floor looking up at the Christmas lights together while the Christmas music played softly in the background

-Watching Christmas movies while in their pajamas and having hot chocolate [after playing outside in the snow]

-Also Will would get toys from Joyce and then Will and Jonathan would play with them together.

-Even though other siblings don't get each other presents at such a young age, they did.

-Will was always very appreciative for the presents he got from Jonathan too because Jonathan paid for them with his own money when he didn't make much and that was taken from Jonathan's cut of the money too. Most of the money goes to Joyce to pay the bills and everything, but a small percentage Jonathan gets to keep for himself and he would use that portion of it to buy Will's presents.

-Will's presents for Jonathan were ones he made himself. He'd always work on pieces of art for Jonathan and Jonathan was always so excited about the latest work of art and he was always so proud of Will's talent and would tell him so and praise him for it.

_________

See I was thinking it was very sad and that they didn't even have Mike and Dustin and Lucas coming over to keep them company because they'd be with their families on the holidays. And I was focusing on the lack of parents. But on second thought, I think Will and Jonathan would love having the whole day just to themselves and spending all their time with each other.

And now El joins them on Christmas Day doing all these things. Her favorite thing to do with her brothers is talk while they lay on the living room floor and stare up at the Christmas lights while the music plays softly in the background.

[bluenpinkcastle]

20240306: the History of LEGO Castle day 066. 6048 Majisto's Magical Workshop (1993, 188 pieces, 66 different parts) Majisto's Magical Workshop is built on two thin 8x16 baseplates attached by a hinge to close the building. The inside of the workshop contains a brown treasure chest with transparent red and green 1x1 circle plates (also known as studs), a white 2x2 printed magic scroll tile, a small cooking pot on a fire, and a light gray 2x4 brick functioning as a table with two transparent clear goblets. The bulk of the set is built on top of two dark gray 4x10x6 rectangular Big Ugly Rock Panels (BURPs) with light gray and black highlights. When closed, the workshop has no doors or other way into the workshop, but there are two blue 1x2x2 window shutters on display in the front. The roof is composed of large red plates with black highlights. This set includes two minifigures. The first minifigure is Majisto with a blue wizard hat with a white beard, black plastic cape, blue torso with blue arms and a yellow v-neck with a black belt and yellow buckle and a small brown pouch, plain blue legs, and a glow-in-the-dark wand. The second minifigure has a black dragon helmet with just the right and left blue dragon plumes, a yellow minifigure head with wavy black eyebrows, mustache, and goatee, a red torso with blue arms, printed silver shoulder covers, and a standing yellow and black halved dragon on a black and red background with black legs and a red belt. This is one of only six castle sets to use the black 3x1x3.33 slope with studs (6048 Majisto's Magical Workshop, 6075-1 Wolfpack Tower, 6078 Royal Drawbridge, 6079 Dark Forest Fortress, 6082 Fire Breathing Fortress, 6090 Royal Knight's Castle), and while it's one of my favorite pieces, it's not very common. Majisto's Magical Workshop also uses two of the blue dragon plumes as front decoration for the building, which are only found in this set, 6086 Black Knight's Castle, and 6105 Medieval Knights. This is one of only four total sets to use the 4x8x2.33 dark gray castle turret top (6046 Hemlock Stronghold, 6048 Majisto's Magical Workshop, 6094 Guarded Treasury, 6097 Night Lord's Castle) and the ovoid green dragon shield is only found in 12 sets. I've now arrived at the sets that I have owned for some time but never built, so this is my first time building them. This set was interesting to me because of the recent gift with purchase remake, which caused a big stir in the LEGO Castle fandoms. (I still haven't built that one, either). So some of this set is really neat, like the actual inside of the workshop with the ladder to the second floor and the fire with the pot and the table. It's a cozy workshop and if you think about it being actually underground, maybe in a cave or something, it's pretty neat, minus the open air roof situation. But on the other hand, I felt like there were some really fragile parts while building that didn't feel as stable while I was building them but definitely locked in place once the turret pieces were added. I also think I'm still pretty annoyed at how this entire subtheme is clearly intended for a male-only audience and there are no women in this subtheme. Overall, it is pretty fun, though. Parts inventory for this set can be found on BrickLink or Rebrickable and a free download of the instructions can be found on ToysPeriod.

[metabolizemotions]

The clinic scene was the best one so far. It told us how the immigrants were dehumanized n ill-treated but showed how they were treated with respect n care at the clinic. Carina was so kind, empathetic n considerate yet professional towards Beatrix. Beatrix's body language was so defensive n insisted she could speak English. She must have met many rude n condescending healthcare workers. Carina chose to speak Spanish to put her at ease n make sure she understood fully. She kept seeking consent, knowing Beatrix's rights n bodily autonomy were so violated. Then personally following up on her too.

Joey was well-incorporated into the diff scenes, esp the father-son duo one. His talk with Maya quickly escalating... Andy asking if they were done, Maya being like OMG yes! 😂.

I love this little scene n the one at the party where they hugged. They seemed genuinely happy. I wished this friendship was portrayed differently but I am excited to see in the next episode where they would be working side by side again. N Andy better be captaining hard. After all that captaincy drama, now we see Ross n Sullivan at the forefront?

I'm actually glad they didn't have Travis jump straight into another relationship n Vic straight back with Theo. Andy n Theo saying the speak Spanish too lol. Also a good contrast of their optimism n Joey's nihilism.

And the re-creation of the truck top scene, of them in the exact same positions. Jack is missing. Dean is gone. It is emotionally manipulative n I approve.

But the Tully part, no... really no...

Ross came in, compromised everything she said she was for Sullivan. After Surrera, they had been really pushing so hard for Tully, esp this season, filling in blanks n retconning details. Sullivan's more like lead now. So much screentime on him n Ross from the mundane to the dramatic. The others got so little. Even Andy's only captain n mostly background? They spent more time developing Beckett's arc than hers.

I wish they had just focused on the OG n wrap up their stories well. Instead of this forced romance n random new characters.

It's clear they really didn't want the longest-standing couple to be the main couple cos it's w|w. Even tho I'm not fully on board with how Beckett's redemption arc was handled, the way they didn't even consider Ross was wrong at all turned me off. Esp with her talk about wanting both love n career. N not wanting to play small n be a chess piece. After what she did that to Maya.

After the divorce, Andy's just been adrift, w random storylines that didn't move her forward. She became everyone's support n was only all about captaincy. Then they punished Maya's ambitions n made her focus only on family (not that she shouldn't n there are life stages but it's the framing - almost implying she should know her place). Why wasn't the show more about these women thriving at their careers n relationships, on top of their friendship? Vic too.

They really want to spin an illicit affair all the way into an undying love story... Like trying to build a castle on mud n kept decorating it...? After Sullivan fell out with Ripley over Claire - supposed love of his life. Then he told Andy that Claire was cold... n Andy was the one, then now...?

So Ross's sis was supposed to be the audience surrogate... I liked her, but sorry, she didn't win me over. Esp when this original truck scene reminded me of Vicley, whom I loved...

[allastoredeer]

"Considering Pentagram City is boxed in by mountains, and the Ring doesn't expand past those mountains (well, as far as we've seen), I can't see there being more to the Pride Ring beyond what we've already been shown. I feel like if that were the case, it would've been alluded to in either Hazbin Hotel or Helluva Boss by now."

I'm not so sure about that. Wasn't one of the main reasons for having two shows set in the same universe supposed to be so each show could explore different parts of hell? Like, Helluva Boss is meant to explore the other six rings while Hazbin Hotel is meant to focus on the Pride Ring?

Yes, the main characters of HB all live/do business in Pride, but it's rare that we see any Pride Ring locations in Helluva Boss outside of the I.M.P office and Stolas' palace.

Sure, we've gotten brief glimpses of other places,

-Blitzø and Loona's apartment

-The M&M's apartment

-The fancy cafe, the abandoned mine, and Andrealphus' palace in Western Energy

-And the various locations Millie and Sallie May visited in the Hell's Belles short

But aside from the main characters' apartments (which are most likely in Imp City) it's very nebulous WHERE in the Pride Ring the other locations are. We can't even be certain where in Pride STOLAS lives. Helluva Boss isn't meant to explore the Pride Ring, that's supposed to be Hazbin Hotel's job. The other circles just haven't been as relevant to HB's plot as the other Rings have been.

Unfortunately, Hazbin Hotel also hasn't gotten to really explore the circles due to season one only getting eight episodes. There was no time to for any in depth world building that wasn't vital for telling the main story HH wanted to tell. It seems to be the same for even small background Easter eggs. All visual Easter eggs being reserved for either giving clues about Hazbin character lore or vaguely referencing the other Rings/Sins in ways that won't break copyright.

That's something else you have to take into consideration. Copyright.

I think it's safe to say that there will never be a Helluva Boss episode where the I.M.P. gang visit the Hazbin hotel. And I doubt we're ever going to see Charlie and Vaggie go on a date to the Lust Ring. Any location featured in detail in one show is automatically off the table for the other.

Since the I.M.P. gang and Hazbin crew all live in Pride, the Spindlehorse crew would have to be careful deciding which show gets to focus on which Circle. If an episode of Hazbin Hotel takes place primarily in, say, the Third Circle, that would eliminate any opportunity for Helluva Boss to have an episode that also visits the Third Circle, wouldn't it?

Yeah, I know the copyright thing will get in the way of what can and can be put in Helluva Boss and Hazbin Hotel, but there have been instances where the same thing/characters have shown up, like Katie Killjoy, who shows up in Hazbin Hotel and a billboard in Helluva Boss. I don't know if that just slipped under the copywrites nose, but it's there LOL

But to refute the concept of I.M.P being in Imp City, and Imp City being a circle outside of the Pride Ring, a comment on one of my previous asks (thank you @tomboy014) brought up the fact that I.M.P has to be in the Pride Ring because their job is reliant on Sinners. They're whole marketing scheme is killing people on Earth that Sinners still have beef with. Furthermore, we've seen clients in their office building, like Martha Mayberry and Loopty.

I.M.P (and thus Imp City, where I.M.P is canonically set in) HAS to be set up in Pentagram City for Blitz, Moxxie, Millie, and Loona to even get clients, which then implies that the 2nd Circle is there too.

Additionally, we see that Pentagram City is boxed in by mountains, and when Stryker kidnapped Stolas, we saw those very same mountains. So either they were in Pentagram City, or every other Circle is also surrounded by mountains (perhaps as a means of keeping them separated if that is the case).

If we look at Andre's castle, that theory could hold up, unless his castle is merely set up somewhere within the mountain ranges surrounding Pentagram City.

I mean, the area around the castles does look barren as fuck. There are no other buildings, no people outside of Andre and Stella (not even any servants while they're having tea), and no hint of life whatsoever. It could be that since snow is just a drastic change from Hell's normally blistering hot temperature (or, at least, the Pride Rings hot temperature), he had to distance his castle from everyone else, which could explain why it looks so isolated and empty.

But even disregarding all of that, there are more ways to world-build outside of the characters explicitly going somewhere or saying something. Like the sign for Imp City telling us it's in Circle 2, no one outright said that, it's just a background detail that was there and then gone. There are plenty of opportunities to show us more about the world, and the 9 Circles, even if its something as simple as a poster on the wall.

I also disagree that it's Hazbin Hotel's job to be the one to explore the Pride Ring, but that's only in the case that the 9 Circles actually exist. I can't see the Circles coming up as often, considering most of the characters we meet are Sinners and they aren't allowed outside of Pentagram City, thus there's no reason for it to come up as its not even an option they can explore.

(I know the rule is that Sinners can't leave the Pride Ring, but if the other Circles do exist, and are part of the Pride Ring - and thus places the Sinners are allowed to go - there's no reason they couldn't have explored the other Circles while we were in Hazbin Hotel, even a little. Even if it was a passing glance. A split second blink and you'll miss it moment.)

Charlie and Lucifer would be the perfect characters to explore it for us, but they never do. Our first introduction to Lucifer would've been a fantastic place to sneak in the information that Lucifer lives in one of the other Circles, not Pentagram City. It could've been something as simple as a passing comment or a note on his desk.

But that never happened.

Helluva Boss, however, is the perfect place to explore the 9 Circles especially because their main base of operation is in the Pride Ring. Not only that, but they're the ones who have the freedom to move around and travel to different areas of Hell. They are the audiences' ticket to seeing more of the world, which has worked, because they're the reason we've seen more of the Rings at all. Blitz and Co are the perfect choice to explore the Circles, especially if they've already visited the other Circles.

But they never expand on it which leads me to doubt that the Pride Ring is made up of all 9 Circles, otherwise, why not expand on or allude to it???