#also my blorbo being my blorbo I just thought it was funny that there are four lucys total in fallout 4

[allpromarlo]

i've gone through the bpwf tag like 56 times at this point and i've yet to see a single post mentioning how m'baku called okoye a "bald headed demon". i'm disappointed in you all

[skitskatdacat63]

are there any other historical figures you like I'm intrigued 👀

Okay buckle in, somehow this post will be weirder than any of my f1 stuff bcs for some reason I'm very intense about historical figures, I think I just have a tendency to treat them like blorbos

Mostly I'm endeared to powerful figures, idk why, it's the way it is. Okay so obviously you already know I like Napoleon(and Wellington to an extent), that really doesn't need to be emphasized anymore

Since being in Austria, I feel super endeared to Maria Theresa. She just seemed like such a boss! I think she's just really cool. Her father changed the plan of succession so she'd become Empress(rather than her cousins), but immediately upon taking power, she was immediately embroiled in war over her being the new ruler(everyone who had signed the treaty of succession suddeny reversed) But she defended her rule of the Habsburg monarchy! I think the coolest part about her is that her husband, who married into the Habsburgs, was supposed to be in charge, but she wouldn't let him be involved at all practically and was the de facto ruler of the Holy Roman Empire for like 20 years. She had 16 children and was basically constantly pregnant and having kids while involved in war, yet still held power and guided Austro-Hungary through it all 🥹 I think it's very funny also that she was laying out so many reforms, guiding the country basically just herself, and still found time to write letters to all their kids and be an overbearing mother. Also she was Marie Antoinette's mother?? I'm still shocked by how many important kids she had. If you've been to any part of the former Austro-Hungarian(+ Bohemian) Empire, she really left her mark, there's soooo much stuff named after her. The statue of her in between the Kunsthistorisches and the Natural History Museum in Vienna is really cool, and that she has a whole Platz named after her with her giant statue!!! I think it's just really admirable that a woman at that period of time had so much power and ruled so efficiently. (MY god sorry I wrote so much)

Okay now I'll try to refrain from the historical rambles, I also like: Julius Caeser(cliche sorry I know), Dmitri Shostakovich(my favorite composer ever), Pyotr Tchaikovsky(pls read about his sugar mommy patron), Erwin Rommel(I like his nickname: The Desert Fox), J.C. Leyendecker(favorite artist, I am obsessed with his work), Alphonse Mucha, Calvin Coolidge(not the best president by far but the anecdotes about his social awkwardness and quietness are hilarious to me), Ernst Gideon von Laudon(not completely insane about him, but it's like with the Napoleon Crossing the Alps painting, I saw a painting and bust of him and now feel weirdly endeared.) And then there's probably some others I can't recall atm because it's 3 am

I think my top three though are Napoleon, Julius Caesar and Maria Theresa. They're all just very: "Catie saw a painting/statue and is now very weird about it." And then being in the vicinity of so much history made it 1000x worse. Things I saw in Vienna that made me go "oh my god it's blorbo from my history book": Napoleon Crossing The Alps painting(I seriously sat in that room for probably 20 mins just staring at it, I didn't want to leave) + some other various Napoleon artifacts in the Heeresgesichtliche, a very nice bust of Julius Caesar, and literally the entirety of Vienna had Maria Theresa everywhere

[peevishpants]

i just looked thru the formula 1 tag on tumblr bc i was curious what is tumblr's Fandom Angle (tm) for these racecar stinkers and. I should have seen it coming but in retrospect I'm not surprised at all that there's a lot of fanfiction and literally 100% of it involves charles leclerc in some way, i mean i get it! man looks like that harry pote movie star guy, of course he's going to be the F1 designated blorbo. But I still think it's wack lmao i just want to see deep fried gifs of ricciardo and verstappen talking about ball sweat and clips of drivers throwing tantrums on their race radio comms and jokes about ferrari sucking

[blujaydoodles]

💌 : How would they plan a romantic evening for a significant other?

I'm cheating I choose all of your blorbos

YELLSSSS JUSTIN THERE ARE SO MANY BLORBOS!! This has also been tricky to think about because 'a romantic evening for a significant other' is not (necessarily) the same thing as 'a date', and also all of my OCs have either not been in an actual relationship in a long time, or have not been in one uhhh ever at all lmao

Elyss's idea of a romantic evening is private and intimate; I feel like she would plan something like an evening walk in the woods, but depending on the other person maybe also something cozy, like staying in and reading together by the fire (preferably the other person reading out loud to her)? I don’t think she’d plan anything near water for a romantic evening in case it distracted her (unless her partner can also breathe underwater, in which case yes yes obviously yes WHAT could be more romantic than sharing the overwhelming joy and peace of the quiet depths with someone you love)

Idri gets all her ideas about Romance from books and goes over the top setting up a fancy candlelit dinner, dancing, roses, chocolates, wine, rose petals all over the bedroom-- a very archetypal Whole Shebang. She can't cook, so the fancy dinner is at a fancy restaurant. She's the exact perfect blend of self-aware of how ridiculous it all is and playfully playing into that, while also being completely earnest about wanting it to be really fun and nice-- winking at them over the rose in her teeth, but only because she knows it’ll make them laugh

For Juniper, I feel like a part of her might be inclined to try to Do Things Correctly, especially if she’s not very confident yet in the relationship-- dinner, flowers, candles, dressing up probably. But if she’s more comfortable, she’d plan something less formally by the book, but more romantic to her, personally-- something like stargazing together, or getting up early just to watch the sunrise. There would still be flowers, but it’d be less ‘an obligatory bouquet in a vase’ and more ‘a bed of druidcrafted flowers she’s set up where they’re going to be stargazing’ or ‘a wild blossom tenderly tucked into her partner’s hair’

Aubree dotes-- she's cleaned the whole house, she's got a hot bath with candles and fancy soaps ready for them, she cooks their favorite dinner and dessert and presents it all as artfully as she can, and there's a bouquet of wildflowers on the table cause you've gotta have flowers if you're being romantic, she’s gonna give them a back rub at some point, etc. There’s also gonna be a lot of wine, cause wine pairs well with dinner and with dessert and with a cheese board and with backrubs and romantic bubble baths and suddenly that’s A Fair Bit, haha

Melliwyk is not especially good or well practiced at romance, so I think she’d struggle to figure out how to plan a romantic evening at all :’) I think she’d generally lean on Going Out (because that's what people do, isn't it?)-- a nice restaurant, or a museum or something-- preferably stuff more in line with the latter, because what could be more romantic than bonding over experiencing something interesting together? She probably would also bring a gift-- specifically, something personal and handmade

Nyssa’s romantic evening emphasizes sensuality; this is wine and chocolates in bed, surrounded by flowers and silks, and if you’re not already naked you’re overdressed. Her ‘plans’ aren’t any more specific than setting aside the entire evening, but the loose plan is to lounge and bask and talk and feed each other grapes and get drunk and play music and kiss a lot and get frisky whenever the spirit moves them

Kethri is the kind of person who loves going out and doing stuff, so I think a romantic evening (as opposed to a basic date night) would be a private night in, to center the relationship/ her partner and how much she cares about them. She’d dress up however she knows her partner likes best, and she’s probably written a song just for them, which she plays for them over after-dinner drinks by the fire. Kethri tends to be really playful and cheeky, so I think if she's planning a romantic evening it's going to highlight her tender and sincere side

Felix, even moreso than anyone else, is very minutely tailoring his to his partner’s tastes. In general, he really loves seeing people light up about the things that interest them and make them happy, so in a relationship, being able to do that for his partner would be the height of romance for him-- especially if it gives them an opportunity to get excited and talk about what interests them, like going to a play by a playwright they love so they can discuss the themes afterward, or whatever.

Um, also, this is a crossover ship I’ve only very casually indulged but this is SO specific to them I can’t just generalize about it: if the partner is Melliwyk, he has boobytrapped her entire house. Like, this is the ‘scavenger hunt that leads to the bedroom’ thing, but instead of clues that are just sheets of paper that amount to ‘look in the toaster’ the clues are all, like, meticulously planned escape room puzzles and actual riddles and shit. Also, they actually lead not to the bedroom but to a hot bath and an actual dinner, because the woman needs to be lovingly tricked into eating and relaxing literally ever

Ask about my OCs?

[ilions-end]

i finished statius' ACHILLEID. thoughts thoughts thoughts:

i knew going in it was a VERY short unfinished epic, but i didn't know it would be FUN?? if i ever get that time machine, FIRST THING i go back and find one publius papinius statius, i lock him in a room, and i'm NOT letting him out until he's finished the achilleid!

achilles is statius' BLORBO in a way neither homer, quintus nor virgil have blorbos. statius likes achilles to be strong and pretty and graceful, but most of all ENDEARING even when he fails. and he fails a lot, because this is him still figuring out how to be an adult, not to mention a prophesied legend literally everyone is waiting for to step up

the one thing that gets tiring is just how many prophecies permeate the achilleid. nothing's left to chance, there are so few unknowns. even ODYSSEUS was aware that from peleus' wedding there would come a child destined to be a central warrior in an upcoming gigantic war.

as it stands, the achilleid is more of a... thetisiad? she is very centered in the narrative (we spend more time looking at things from her point of view than achilles') and there is SO MUCH SYMPATHY for her, oh my gosh!! she loves ONE person, her son, the only worthwhile thing she got out of a traumatizing marriage, and she despairs that he's fated to die young in a silly human war.

also i'm a deidamia defender forever now. so three-dimensional, so clever!

aughhh i love how much characterization statius puts in, even in the small scenes! my favourite example is odysseus and diomedes as they walk up to lycomedes' place (literally just moving characters from A to B). diomedes teases odysseus, and odysseus is delighted to be teased. that night we're told odysseus CAN'T SLEEP because he's too excited about showing off his plan the next morning!

the unveiling of achilles is completely different from the chagrined defeat/"achilles is a fucking idiot" ways i've heard it retold! i love that it's collaborative, it's a mutual triumph. it's just as much achilles (who's been suffering in gender dysphoria hell for a year) longing to be exposed as it is odysseus LIVING for showing everyone (especially diomedes?) how clever he is. it's not just the shield and the spear and the bugle, it's odysseus playing the part of the siren, whispering in achilles' ear that he knows who he is and describing how glorious he will be on the trojan battlefield. it's achilles' grateful relief at being ALLOWED not to pretend anymore as he rips off his own dress even before the bugle calls

also it's very important to me that the moment he's no longer hunching over trying to make himself look small and inoffensive, we're told achilles is taller than both odysseus and diomedes

i KEEP IMAGINING how good statius would have made the rest!! especially because as book ii ends, achilles regards odysseus as a cool uncle; he's the guy who rescued him! i want to think statius would have put in the big mystery quarrel achilles and odysseus are said to have had early in the war, something to drastically change that affection. i want to know how statius would have handled troilus, and the gods. augh statius you roman BLUEBALLER

an assortment of story beats still revolving in my head:

chiron is such a sweetheart!! he's SO gallant with thetis, he's so affectionate with achilles. he HIDES HIS TEARS when achilles leaves, awww

statius writes out phoinix completely. as a phoinix stan i object. sure chiron can raise young achilles, but i NEED phoinix to tend to him as a baby

i enjoy how achilles EXPLODES into a mess of teenagerly hormones when he first sees deidaima. it's so funny that thetis is looking on (and we get my favourite simile of the achilleid, of a herdsman delighting in a young bull snorting and foaming at a beautiful heifer) like "aaaaand there's my son's sexual awakening. i see! well, we can use that" and THAT explains why achilles is so willing to commit to the female disguise

(listen. listen. few things mean more to me than the love between achilles and patroclus. but achilles is a teenage boy at the age when a fucking breeze will give him a boner, and deidamia is the most beautiful and the cleverest of her sisters. i really enjoy a story where achilles and deidamia are neither "fated eternal true love" or one's a sneaky opportunist. it's much more compelling that they're both knots of budding emotions and bodily feedback)

i notice that statius never uses the name pyrrha, he doesn't seem to have a fake name at all, just "achilles' sister"

lycomedes is SO honoured and proud that thetis is entrusting her daughter to him. i feel sorry for lycomedes, he seems so earnest and hasn't done anything to get tricked

the one thing i can't forgive statius for is that after spending SO much time establishing that achilles and deidamia (who knows he's a guy) are genuinely into each other, it feels like statius goes OUT OF HIS WAY assuring us that their first sexual encounter is rape. sure they talk right after, deidamia forgives him, AND i understand there are social rules that makes deidamia more "honourable" and "worthy" when she resists, but like. sigh.

aLONG with the previously mentioned interplay between odysseus and diomedes as they walk up to lycomedes' court, there's a simile where they're both starving wolves on the hunt. so sexy it's almost illegal

the feast scene is SO FUNNY omg. all of achilles' careful feminine training dissolving because odysseus and diomedes are there with their boundless masculinity for him to feed off of. deidamia practically WRESTLING achilles back down on the couch every time he forgets himself and behaves too much like a man. odysseus chatting with lycomedes SPECIFICALLY trying to rile up achilles, and then after the women have left (achilles dragging his feet and looking back, YEARNING for their male company) odysseus specifically praises the maiden's "almost masculine" beauty (because ohh he suspects. he just needs to prove it in the morning. he can't SLEEP for it)

when they depart, achilles earnestly swears to deidamia that no other women shall ever bear his children. i find it interesting as a reminder of the social rules of its era. neither of them expect achilles to be sexually exclusive, just not fathering potential heirs. which again makes me wonder about the contraceptives in ancient greece

on the ship towards aulis, diomedes begs achilles to tell them all about his feats and training with chiron, and achilles is so shy about it! who can blame him! diomedes has a WAY more impressive track record

odysseus is SO good at firing up achilles' outrage at paris even as he's just catching him up on what the war's about. and he's so pleased at how easily achilles' outrage can be directed! you KNOW that would have developed in such an interesting way AUGH THE REST WOULD HAVE BEEN SO GOOD.

[for-those-who-wait]

I like to think your Little Bug-eyed Hunter would have a friendship and/or rivalry with the Little Baby Man that the Danny Phantom fans are so wild about

I'm actively dying right now because I've actually talked about this with a friend before lmao

(Used with permission from the friend, names are blocked out, pfps altered, the picture shown in the screenshot is this post by tourettesdog) And the doodles are not stupid I was just being super incredibly casual!!

I think it's very funny when people can refer to Hunter with something like "blorbo" or "blorboified" and I know immediately they mean the little bug-eyed version haha. So I actually made a tag that specifies that version since people might prefer an easier way to search for those silly doodles of the boy

(Also how do people keep guessing my fandoms??) I am very much a Little Baby Man fan

I think they would be like two feisty cats up until The Offering of Pancakes. It is a momentous occasion and all is right with the world

Thank you for the ask I thought it was really fun!!

[libraryofgage]

A Hop, a Skip, and a TARDIS Jump

Part of: Steve Deserves Good Parents, Actually Debbie and Fester Addams One | Two Rick and Evelyn O'Connell One | Two (on the way!) Harley Quinn One 10th Doctor and Rose One (you're here!) Scooby Gang (there are plans for this one lmao, so plz be patient with me orz)

I know it says 10Rose up there, but this series starts with 9Rose, because 9 is also special blorbo in my heart hfjdks Christopher Eccleston didn't have to put his whole chest into the role but he did and I love that for him

Anyway, have fun with this one! We're getting time travel shenanigans coming up (and angst, def some angst, but it'll end sweet I promise), and a little meme at the end

As always, if you see any typos, no you didn't :)

Satellite Five 200,000

Running into the woman was an accident created by the chaos of something changing on Satellite Five. Steve doesn't know what that is, exactly, but he can feel it in the air, in the way the humans around him have started rushing, in how the food stands have suddenly ground to a halt. And he comes to a halt with them, his hearts speeding up in his chest as the frenzy reminds him of another time, another planet, another chaotic scene that ended with him being launched across time and space while his home died.

When he finally gathers his wits enough to move, he turns right into a woman's leg, bumping his nose hard against her and falling to the ground with a startled cry. He holds his nose, the bridge smarting and causing his eyes to water as he looks up at a pretty young blonde woman who immediately crouches in front of him.

"Sorry about that. You all right?" she asks, her hands hovering in the air like she wants to check him for injuries but doesn't want to make him uncomfortable.

The funny thing is, Steve has seen this woman before. He saw her earlier in the day, getting into the elevator with a journalist and a man, and he assumed he'd never see her again. Nobody who got in the elevator came back. He's so overwhelmed by the shock of seeing her again that he almost misses the familiar aura around her, the lingering traces of golden space dust and passing time.

Almost.

He stares at her with wide eyes, his tears actually falling now, and then throws himself into her arms. "What took so long?!" he cries, clinging to her shirt like he'll be thrown across time and space one more time if he lets go.

"Woah, hey now, no need for crying," she says, utterly confused but gently smoothing down his hair anyway. "What's wrong?"

After taking a few moments to calm down, Steve starts to answer when he realizes something. The woman only has one heart. He can only hear one set of beats in her chest. He jerks away, his hands trembling as he stares at her. She's still covered in that familiar aura, practically swimming in it, but she's not like him.

It hurts. Steve can feel the bitter cold of disappointment replacing the hope that had started to grow between his hearts. He thought...he thought he'd get to be with someone like him again. Maybe not his original family---they're dead, long gone, and Steve is never getting them back---but a new one that wouldn't let him feel quite so alone anymore.

Maybe she was just injured. That would explain it well enough.

"Where....where's your second heart?" he asks, his voice small as he grips the hem of his shirt to steady himself. "Y-you...why do you--"

Before Steve can get the rest of the question, a man in a leather jacket, looking slightly annoyed as he checks his pockets, appears next to the woman. "Right then. C'mon, Rose, we got dead weight to drop off," he says, his tone hard.

The woman, Rose, looks up at him. "Hold on a minute, Doctor," she says, "we've got to help him find his parents first."

Steve opens his mouth, wanting to say that won't be possible, as he looks up at the man. Their eyes meet, and the words get stuck in his throat. If Rose carried lingering space dust and passing time, this man is made of it. Steve can see the gold around him, swirling and calling, singing in a way he'd forgotten about. Even the name is familiar---not that Steve knows this particular Time Lord, of course, but he knows the conventions and traditions.

"I'm afraid that'll be impossible, Rose," the Doctor says, his voice softer and full of disbelief as he crouches next to her on the ground.

"What? How do you know?"

The Doctor doesn't answer her. He just holds a hand out to Steve, waiting patiently. When Steve takes it, the world finally rights itself. He can feel the blood pumping through the Doctor's veins, fast and powerful in a way only two hearts can manage. He can practically taste time and space coating his tongue as he steps closer. When Steve places his hand on the left side of the man's chest, feeling the beating of one heart before sliding his hand over to feel the other, he cries even harder than before.

And the Doctor cries, too.

It's not a loud crying, but he pulls Steve into his arms and holds him with the same desperation and fear that he'll disappear if he loosens his grip that Steve felt when he hugged Rose. "I thought...I thought I was the only one left," the Doctor says, moving his hand to cradle the back of Steve's head.

"Doctor, what's going on here?" Rose asks.

Steve peeks out at her, and then he's lifted into the air, still held in the Doctor's arms. His jacket smells like the past and future, a soothing scent that gets Steve to relax like he hasn't in a long time. "Long story short," the Doctor says, his voice still rough from crying but recovering, "you somehow bumped into the only Time Lord child in existence." A few moments pass before he speaks again, the smile and awe clear in his voice as he says, "You're just fantastic, Rose. Fantastic."

Despite his best efforts, Steve can't keep his eyes open long enough to see how she reacts or what the Doctor does next. The exhaustion of fending for himself and pushing away the despair of losing everything sweeps over him. This could all be a dream, and the Doctor might be a figment of his imagination that disappears when he wakes up, but Steve lets himself dream for now.

--------

Hawkins, Indiana, 1971

"Okay, Steve, go ahead."

Steve glances up at his father, shifts his gaze to his mother, and then approaches the console. He reaches up and starts turning a dial, ignoring his mother's excited noise and his father's interested hum. Once he's turned it enough, he walks around the console and pulls a lever, flips a switch, and yanks another dial two notches to the right. Then, when he's sure his parents can't hear him, he leans in close and whispers, "Take me wherever you'd like me to be, TARDIS."

He feels something warm and happy surge under his fingers where he's holding the console. Not a second later, the familiar whooshing sound of the TARDIS fills the room, and Steve hang on for dear life as his father shouts, "Fantastic! Where do you think we'll land, Rose?"

"Somewhere child-friendly, hopefully," his mother replies, grabbing his father's arm and holding on for dear life.

Steve grins, his hearts beating fast and hard behind his ribs as the TARDIS slowly comes to a stop, its engine quieting to a gentle whirring as it parks. "Go on then," his father says, appearing behind Steve and nudging him to the doors. "See where you've brought us."

With his breath stuck in his throat, Steve slowly pulls the left door open. Sunlight streams into the TARDIS along with the delighted shrieks of other children and a warm wind that can only mean summer. Steve blinks, staring at the playground a few feet away.

"Oh," his father says, his tone duller than before, "seems boring."

This statement is followed by both the TARDIS making an offended noise and Steve's mother smacking his father in the chest. "Don't be rude! Boring is safe, which is good for Steve's first drive."

"Can...can I go play?" Steve asks, his voice soft as he feels a sudden longing sweeping through him. He hasn't played with people his age after leaving Gallifrey. In fact, he hasn't been around them. On Satellite Five, Steve didn't see other children. They were cared for on a different floor, and he never risked getting into the elevator.

Since leaving Satellite Five (since finding another Time Lord and basking in the TARDIS and crying together when Steve accidentally called the Doctor "Dad" and Rose "Mom"), Steve has been surrounded by Daleks and nanogenes and older humans and every alien under the sun, but he's never been around children.

The thought is exhilarating and terrifying and alluring all at once.

"Of course, Steve," his mother says, placing her hand on his head and brushing a few stray hairs from his face. "You go play, and we'll call you back in a few hours for some ice cream, yeah?"

Steve grins and nods eagerly, throwing a quick goodbye to his parents before running out of the TARDIS. He dashes across the street, coming to the edge of the playground before stopping. The grass turns into tiny rocks and pebbles beneath slides and swings and monkey bars and a merry-go-round. And kids. More kids than Steve really knows what to do with, which gives him an unfamiliar feeling of anxiety that makes him wipe his palms on his shirt.

"Hey, why are you just standing there?"

The question is asked by another boy Steve's age. His hair is a little frizzy and curls around his ears, and he's got band-aids covering his arms and stretching across the bridge of his nose. He's standing to Steve's left, holding a red rubber ball and ignoring the other kids around them.

"I've...never been here before," Steve says, meaning that he's never been in this situation.

The boy doesn't understand that, though. But when he says, "Oh, so you're new around here," Steve doesn't disagree. "Well, nice to meetcha. I'm Eddie."

He shifts to hold the ball against his chest with one arm and holds out his other hand. Taking it and shaking once, Steve introduces himself and asks, "Can we be friends?"

Eddie's eyes brighten, and he nods. "Yeah! Let's be bestest friends. Can I call you Stevie? Mom says you can give nicknames to friends."

"Sure! So, uh, what do we do now?"

Eddie pauses, looking at the playground with a slight frown. "We could play games," he says slowly.

"Oh! How about Weeping Angel?"

"What's that?"

Steve thinks for a moment. "Weeping Angels are these statues that move when you don't look at them. In the game, someone will face away, and the other person will start sneaking up on them. If the first person turns, the second has to freeze in place. If the first person sees them move, they lose. If the second person reaches the first and touches them, they win."

"It sounds like Rad Light, Green Light," Eddie says, tilting his head slightly. "But, sure! Let's play it."

Steve smiles brightly and follows Eddie to a clear patch of playground. "I'll be the Angel in this round," he offers, waiting for Eddie to agree before walking a few feet away. "Let me know when you're ready!"

Eddie turns around, still holding the rubber ball, and glances over his shoulder. He stares at Steve for a few seconds before looking away and saying, "Ready!"

As lightly as he can, Steve takes a few steps forward, doing his best to make no sounds like the Weeping Angels he's seen before. When he notices Eddie moving, he freezes, quickly placing his hands over his eyes but leaving enough room to peek between his fingers.

When Eddie turns, he's frozen in a classic Weeping Angel pose. Eddie studies him for a few seconds, eyes narrowed before slowly turning around again. Steve exhales softly, and the game continues.

Steve wins exactly three times, Eddie wins twice, and there's one round in which they both dissolve into laughter because of the position Steve freezes in, so they don't count it. When Eddie gets bored of playing, he introduces Steve to foursquare, which is why he has the rubber ball. When he gets bored of that he drags Steve around the playground, introducing him to each piece of equipment with pride.

By the time the sun has started to dip low on the horizon, Steve is sweaty and dirty and happier than he's ever felt as he hides under the slide with Eddie. They're pressed close together, sharing a popsicle Eddie's mother had given them, purple juice making their hands sticky.

"You're really cool, Stevie," Eddie suddenly says, his lips and tongue purple as he offers the last bit of popsicle to Steve.

After taking it and letting the cold ice melt on his tongue, Steve asks, "Hey, do bestest friends keep secrets that only they know?"

"Of course! Nothing is stronger than a bestest friend secret."

"But you gotta promise not to tell anyone. Not even your mom."

Eddie seems to realize this is serious now, and he straightens up a bit. "I won't," he promises, "cross my heart, hope to die, stick a needle in my eye."

That seems a bit extreme to Steve, but what does he know of human customs? He leans in close, his mouth almost pressing against Eddie's ear, and whispers, "I'm an alien."

He pulls away in time to see Eddie's disbelieving look. "What? You look human. No way you're an alien."

"I am!" Steve says. "How many hearts have you got?"

"One. Duh."

"I've got two."

Eddie snorts. "Yeah. Right. Nobody has two hearts."

"Here, you can feel them," Steve says before grabbing Eddie's hand and placing it over the left side of his chest. He waits a few seconds, making sure Eddie can feel that heart, before sliding his hand to the right side. He watches Eddie's face turn bright red, and Steve figures it's from excitement or shock at realizing Steve is, in fact, an alien.

Before Eddie can say anything, Steve hears his mother calling, "Steve! It's time to go!"

He pouts, letting go of Eddie's hand. "Aw, man," he mumbles, crawling out from beneath the slide. Eddie scrambles after him, his cheeks still flushed and his eyes wide. "I gotta go now, but I'll see you again soon, Eddie."

"Yeah, soon," Eddie mumbles, seeming dazed until he shakes his head. "Your, um, secret is safe with me, Stevie."

Steve blinks and flashes a blinding smile. "Of course it is," he says, "You're my bestest friend."

With that, he hugs Eddie and then runs to his mother, brimming with excitement at getting to tell her all about the park and Eddie.

------

If you'd like to be tagged for this series, let me know!

And, finally, a meme for your viewing pleasure:

[captainmera]

Mx.mera!! (No pressure take all the time you need ) when is the next tgb chapter ?? :3

It's on indefinite hold atm, dont expect updates anytime soon. I'm juggling a lot atm.

(None of this is directed at you personally. This is just my general state on working on TGB and why it is standing stale. If you're curious why it's not updating)

TGB was always meant to just be a fun side thing I did as a writing exercise. It helped me identify a lot of my writing flaws and hiccups, and also my writing style. Which has been very enlightening.

There's a lot with TGB I need to go back and edit, so I need to re-read my own work (which I've been informed is the length of two LOTR books?? Sweet jesus, I need to cut it down) before I get back to it.

My ideas have become much longer and drawn out than I wanted, the pacing is very slow (which is fine, but I wanna get to the fun parts.) Which is another problem I've identified. I'm writing book form, chapter by chapter, rather than the episodes I'm seeing in my head. And it's frustrating.

Because I see it as episodes, but write them out, the chapters get really long. And I spend a lot of time being anxious about that.

Drawing comics is easier because I don't have to describe feelings or environments. I can just show it right away.

And no, I'm not gonna draw TGB as a comic. That's too much. I tried drawing future scenes (as comics) I thought of and wanted to envision, but I got people being upset about it being spoilers. So I stopped doing that.

Actually, I got worried about anything I drew of any characters being spoilery because I'd get asks or comments about it being for TGB. I usually just delete comments or asks like that, so I don't have to see it, but reading so much of it builds up in my head, yknow?

I also got a few people (might've been just one person. They were on anon) that wouldn't stop berating me about Willow and Hunter's body types. And some people got REALLY weird and insinuated that drawing them hugging and kissing was sexual. And some people try to trick me into drawing fetish things (feederism being one).

So, in all honesty? I liked writing TGB, with all the flaws it has or not. I loved drawing Huntlow and the hexsquad; until people got 1) weird about it. 2) pushy about continuing it. 3) upset it wasn't writing fast enough or I didn't draw x, y, z.

It honestly has robbed me of all the fun to post fanart.

Which is a shame because I still like the characters a lot.

I know that if I update a chapter, I'll get a revival of people spamming me these things again, and I'm not mentally or emotionally strong r/n for any of that.

So.... I'm doing witteclaw. Because nobody is pressuring me to do anything. Not to update, not to draw x,y,z. People are just happy with whatever I put out in whatever pace I put it out in. I get to talk with people about theories about the show and discuss writing in a fun, mature, way.

I also just really like witteclaw in general. But I don't like ut more than the hex kids. There's just less demand and pressure.

Which makes hanging out in the fandom still fun.

Don't get me wrong. I love sweet huntlow, I love the noceda trio, the galactic duo are still my best boys (i miss drawing gus and hunter), and the emerald trio is my blorbos (I got so many pins and keychains u guys lol) and I love the hexsquad the most, I love soft lumity, I wanna draw more grunge Vee, Camila is best mum.

The owl house is SO much fun.

But the fandom is kind of demanding. And maybe that's my fault for having open requests. But I don't regret that, I do enjoy art requests.

But people got less polite and more demanding, and some got angry(?), and some use lingo that I understand is meant to be funny but comes across as incredibly entitled and mean spirited. Some also don't seem to understand I'm a person, and that all art takes time. I had a person once get upset that I didn't out enough effort into their request as I had into another. Which... girl, you're not paying me, sit down.

It got pretty uncomfortable. It stole the fun out of drawing similar things for people who asked nicely and enthusiastically. I also realised a lot of these people read TGB, since requests were often about that.

It wouldn't always be art requests. It would just be a straight-up request to write the next chapter already.

TGB was fun, until the pressure to prioritise it became the majority from people who followed me. and people wrote things like:

Tbf that's the only one who dared to be that public about it. But I get asks like this at least once a week, and I turned off DMs because it happened every second to third day.

It's like.... not very nice or cool, yknow? :,(

it genuinely has made me feel really sad about working on my passion project IBWR too. Because people kept making it pretty clear they were annoyed I spent time on something else than what they were following me for.

It's like, whatever I guess, but it still hurts.

TD;LR

No, no tgb anytime soon. A few people killed the party, and I need time to like it again how I used to. Without the enjoyment of creating and writing, and enjoying the process, bring robbed from me.

Thanks.

Maybe I just need thicker skin I dont know. I'm trying to find a good balance with it. People are allowed to like/dislike my work and comment on it. I don't mind critique. It's just not really been critique at all? It's just demands and that hits different on the heart.

[simonsquest]

Thoughts and spoilers (with screenshots) for Haunted Castle Revisited below.

The intro cutscene made me laugh. I wish it didn't, LOL. It's really awkward.

I'm really perplexed that they didn't adjust Simon's intro cutscene sprite. Selena's is totally different - they don't look quite right standing together.

Interesting choice to give Selena's sprite purple hair. Her dress is very pretty!

(He holds her........ that's a nice touch..... my blorbos........)

Simon's in-game sprite is very nice!

Gameplay feels fun and easier than the original! My only grievance with Simon's movement is that he sometimes needs a moment to register that I'm crouching (maybe it conflicts with a whip strike input?) The backgrounds in particular are especially beautiful. I love the spritework and parallaxing. It harnesses the dark gloom with high contrast colors I love so much from other titles like Bloodlines, Rondo, CV3 and ReBirth.

I'm perplexed by some of the choices... like gravestone crosses in the trees? Weird, but OK.

Climbing on chandeliers is very Super Castlevania 4 and I'm here for it!

They made some fresh and engaging changes to the tedious bits of some levels. All of the bosses are improved, too! Each were challenging in their own way (barring Medusa, maybe--crouch and strike and the fight will end quickly.)

The Frankenstein's monster fight had a lot of neat additions and cycles. Really enjoyed that one - it stands out in my mind!

Dracula's second phase is actually incredibly challenging in this one, as opposed to the original. It's a little hard to hear the remastered music over the sound effects. I listened to them afterwards from the menu and they're really good. Original Cross Your Heart is still my favorite! Can't be beat. But truly Bloody Tears sounds incredible with the electric guitar. Chills. I'm curious why they removed the bit where you go into like... idk how to describe it. Like an alternate dimension and fight harpies for a certain amount of time? I would have liked to see that in this version. Speaking of removed things: not sure how I feel about the part at the beginning where it's normally the rainfall/brick wall obstacle being replaced in the way it was. Its changed version is equally as tedious, in my opinion.

The Stopwatch was also removed as a subweapon. I can understand why - it made some fights very trivial. The fleamen... lol they're just so excited to be there, hopping around in a giddy, non-threatening way. The bridge connecting to Dracula's castle was much easier than the original. I didn't feel like one wrong move and I'd plummet to my death.

Dracula's coffin room has changed - poor Selena is laid out on top of Dracula's coffin, unconscious! She isn't present during the fight in the original game.

When Dracula's second form appeared I literally gasped out loud. It was totally unexpected! And to have Selena be part of the fight (floating behind) was a really nice touch.

Hahahah when I first played I didn't realize I could catch Selena after the fight ended. I let her fall to the ground (which was VERY funny to watch) thinking a cutscene would play... it's only when I watched someone play it on YouTube I realized that you can have Simon stand under her and he'll catch her in his arms. (I played it a second time just to make sure I caught her. I'm going to have to draw this... my dear OTP... I'm so df djfbgdfjfg)

Like the first cutscene, the final cutscene felt a little awkward, too. And Selena has blonde hair on her cutscene sprite, as opposed to the purple in-game sprite? She's so pretty, though. Q_Q Can't be mad about that.

Overall the vibe of this game is really amazing. When I first played The Adventure ReBirth, I thought to myself that it was a really amazing way to handle a Classicvania remaster. At the time, I told my spouse that I would love to get a new Castlevania entry--or another remake--of that style. Konami delivered in one of my very favorite titles. I'm so happy!!

Highly recommend this remake. Solid 9/10 from me.

( If you're feeling brave, try the original, too. ;) )

[horsegirlwarcrimes]

what’s ur fav pairing involving sqh and please elaborate in as much detail as humanly possible 🙏🏽🙏🏽 personally im all for js abt anyone / sqh because i believe he’s just a guy and yet..every relationship he has is meaningful to me

omg a great question 👀👀👀

i have to admit i am a basic moshang lover at heart, they are just the perfect combo of angst/genuine emotions/beautiful themes and very funny that i love. shang qinghua is mr. boop and also mobei-jun's god and the jaken to his sesshomaru. mobei jun is his blorbo and his abuser and his annoying boss. they have a 20-30 year age difference. they dont even get together at the end of the moshang extras they just continue to have a weird boss/employee relationship and someday get their shit together off-screen. its everything to me

when writing moshang, i think the best things for me are the available tension of mobei jun's treatment of shang qinghua, contrasted against the genuine softness i think mobei jun feels for him and shang qinghua's deeply ingrained self worth issues. its just such a delicious cocktail for both drama and sweetness! and for some reason when together, they give me that very solid 'married couple who can basically psychically communicate' vibe, compared to bingqiu's messy freudian college girl energy (also beloved to me)

THAT SAID. i do think there are other very fun or funny pairings for sqh that i would love to see more of tbh.

A) SQH/YQY. this is mostly just because i love @tossawary's hey, share the weight a little, which is so cute and honestly mostly comes down to 'two great tastes that taste great together' for me. not my fav for either of them but deserves honorable mention for being the main non-moshang sqh pairing with a fic i love

B) SQH/LQG. i think that shang qinghua gets him. he COULD fix him, by which in this case i mean use his mildly conniving nature, excellent planning skills, and sneakiness to improve liu qingge's quality of life through trickery. and i think that shang qinghua could really benefit from a loving and devoted partner who doesn't have that much more emotional intelligence than him, but who would make him eat full meals, sleep, and get some fresh air.

C) SQH/TLJ - SQH/TLJ/SXY - SQH/SXY... its just so funny. i think they could be enchanted by his weird little man swag. his mildly evil heart and his big brown eyes. and i think he'd find them mildly unsettling which is also funny

D) MQF/SQH. i have never seen or written any content for this but i kind of want it very badly now that ive thought of it. sqh can get rare and weird information for him, mqf would be 'i can fix him' for sqh's crippling anxiety and tendency to get injured by demons, they are both workaholics... this would be a magical combo

i do sometimes read cumplane and think they can be very fun and/or cute, but its not really a fav sqh pairing of mine, nor is sqh/og!sqq, altho ik those are probably the other two most popular pairings for him. i just think he should be w someone who appreciates how smart he is and idk that either of them do that for me... they, in turn, seem to me like guys who want to be the smart one in a relationship 😂

anyways i really took 'in as much detail as possible' and ran with it so i hope this answers your question hahaha. many thoughts about this man that live in my brain 😌

[cressthebest]

Crimson Rivers thoughts pt. 41

chapter 62:

1. petition to abolish the games, if not for their lack of morals, do it for james potter

2. regulus fussing over james >>>>>>>>>>>

3. 😳 fiancé discussion

4. “There's a war on, and James wants to plan his wedding.” oh no. oh no. oh no. he’s so me fr

5. omg not reg wanting to see sirius and projecting that onto james 😭😭😭

6. they’re having a sleepover and i’m going feral over it

7. i’m not really mad at alice for all they’re saying, but i don’t think james deserves to hear it like this, or even be treated this way over frank’s death. they all knew the risk. frank made a decision, knowing the risk. james should not have to feel that eternal guilt

8. okay i’m kinda mad at alice, but i don’t really blame her per se. she’s grieving and is saying hurtful things she might not otherwise say. but it doesn’t make what she said okay. this is all so complicated

9. wolfstar deserves peace. give them peace istg. sirius doesn’t deserve these nightmares

10. *untraumatizes your blorbo* FUCK IT BACKFIRED! HE HAS MORE TRAUMA NOW

11. “"Fucking hell," Sirius hisses, clattering into the open chair next to Remus with an aggrieved air to him, eyes bulging as he drops his plate on the table. "I just had three different people corner me in the line to fucking flirt with me. Nevermind that I'm less than two weeks out of fucking Azkaban or anything, and when I mentioned that, they started, like, cooing at me. One of them offered to give me fucking sponge bath."

"What?" Remus' head whips around. "Who?"”

yo, those people should be scared. remus is in protective mode

12. the reason tension is so fucking high in the phoenix is probably because there are no fucking celebrations or events

13. i love how the gang is together, laughing and joking 😊😊

14. remus is a genius and i love him for putting the peices together about vanity and vespa

15. going insane over vanity’s impact in winning

chapter 63:

1. the districts are immune!!!

2. dorlene having sex after a mission is so them

3. “”I want to die with your head between my legs."” REAL

4. i am unamused 😐 dorcas and marlene should Not be discussing their after-war plans and what they’ll be doing when they’re old

5. “Two bodies and one heart” used to describe lily and remus has me in PIECES

6. mary and lily getting to have sex (that actually means something to lily) >>>>>>>>>>

7. also i’m so glad that sapphic sex was written to be that soft, intimate, and beautiful. especially with a trans woman. i feel like i never see sex scenes with trans women that aren’t completely fetishized

8. reading a jegulus fight has me feeling like an eight year old that walked in on mommy and daddy yelling over finances

9. 😭😭😭😭 not barty further spreading rumors about him being james and reg’s whores. this is so funny y’all

10. also not james teasing reg about having baby names picked out, only to reveal that reg literally has baby names picked out

11. demisexual sirius having a complex relationship with sex and desire (all the asexual part and all the very very horny parts) is literally my favorite thing in the world. i have never seen an demisexual character so similar to myself as him.

12. 😭😭 not remus cumming in his pants just cause he was slammed into a wall lmao

[fumifooms]

do you think the succubus chilchuck sees is his wife, but blonde? he seems so upset when its dead

I think it’s a very strained theory. There are two layers to this: Chilchuck’s expression, and the succubi’s appearances. And notice the plural of appearances.

Chilchuck’s expression here is meant as comedic, we can assume because of the lashes and sparkle in his eyes, it gives shojo energy (which is intentional and heavily present at the very least with Marcille in the same chapter). It’s a type of dramatic sorrowful expression that I think Marcille with Hareus and Laios with scylla Marcille would have had the same, the type that Laios had when Marcille crushed the cool dragon familiar he made the type of face you make when a unicorn is killed in front of you. Chilchuck would have this face regardless of this being his wife, because regardless of it being his wife or not the succubi are still Chilchuck’s ideal form. It’s like having the blorbo you fantasize about brutally mauled inches away from your face, or a painting you love stained. Chilchuck wants the sirens to come for his life and is sad he lost the opportunity for it lol. But most importantly imo, if that was his wife, he would have had a face much more like genuine terror or horror (which would have been still both funny and understandable so it was a deliberate choice to pick this expression instead), like in his nightmare with his dead daughters.

Ok now onto appearances: Here are all of Chilchuck’s succubi we see.

The biggest thing against this theory for me is that yes, these are different women who are visibly different. There’s no denying he has a type, long wavy blonde hair, deepset light-colored eyes and sultry mouths, faces with a mature quality to them, but different women no less. It would be interesting to analyze what it would mean for Chilchuck to have only one of his succubi in a sea of succubi be his wife, but it would defeat the purpose of it I think. We see waves of women succubi throw themselves at him, and I think the intent is just that; for them to just be women, his ideal type materialized but sort of identity-less, a mass of them that isn’t really meant to be differentiated or individualized. If you believe that the nameless black-haired half-foot woman portrait is his wife, that shortens the conversation, but there are also arguments beyond it for why yes his wife would have black hair, and why she’d have deepset eyes and a face like this (because it’s a solid argument that his type would be at least influenced by her yes. I go into this topic in this post). If we go with the portrait chilwife theory, then it’s pretty straightforward that none of them truly closely look like her. If we go with another theory then we’re truly walking in the dark for how she looks like. How close is close enough to "be" ‘her except blonde’, anyways? It’s the sort of thing you can believe if you want to, but it creates more questions than answers, which albeit isn’t always bad. My interpretation of Chilchuck’s succubi makes me biased though of course, because it’s closely intertwined with my overall interpretation of Chilchuck and whatnot. I’ve talked about succubi in dungeon meshi and them in relation to Chilchuck a lot over time. I think them being faceless and varied rather than one single model of perfection is because he craves pleasure with no ties, something to feel good for a while and forget all his troubles, including his separation. I think that when Chilchuck reacts like that below, it’s because he feels some amount of guilt at it not being her, and again not wanting to think about painful things, but it could be interpreted to be "can you not, when you just blew her up" I suppose. I go into it here and here as well.

I don’t know Kui’s brain so like, this is just my thoughts, like you asked for, but yeah I don’t think that first succubus literally had his wife’s appearance.

[dathen]

Hmmmm I have a lot of Thoughts on Catherine Moreland as an autistic character.

It’s clear right from the start that her special interest is gothic novels and she hyperfixates on them: she’s practically in pain that she can’t talk about them in regular conversation or that those she can talk to don’t care as much as she does. The earliest contrast between John Thorpe and Henry Tilney is that the former ridicules her for her interest and the latter celebrates it and even playfully competes for obsession level. She GLOWS when this happens and we actually get to see her socialize outside of anxiety and self-doubt. She has dozens of deeply relatable “just like blorbos from my novels…” moments.

Most of all though is her social interactions. Her completely missing instances of flirting alternates between relatably funny and sad. Early on she’s constantly confused by the Thorpes’ blatant insincerity, partly because of trying to extend good faith, but largely because she interprets it so literally. I loved the scene where John Thorpe is going off about how the other carriage sucks so much compared to his, it will probably fall apart any minute, and she panics about the others getting hurt and tries to get him to turn around to help them. It’s a brand of naivety that is less childish than it is “unscarred neurodivergent person who isn’t used to people constantly saying shit they don’t mean and expecting you to figure it out.” It’s sad when she slowly learns to distrust the literal because of how many times they’ve abused her goodwill.

She also gets what feels like RSD whenever she steps out of line; it’s the end of the world if she praises something that someone else puts down, or if she disappoints someone, and smothers herself in shame for what others would do without a thought.

At the same time, I’m reminded of like Dungeon Messi’s compassion for an autistic protag in that realm, both for the struggles and values of it. Her bluntness, sincerity, and goodwill is what breaks through Henry’s cynicism and makes him fall in love with her. She never learned to play the insincere game that even her family friends like Mrs. Allen are caught up in, and that earns her a trust that is worth being cut off by his father for.

These lines sum it up so well:

“Prepare for your sister-in-law, Eleanor, and such a sister-in-law as you must delight in! Open, candid, artless, guileless, with affections strong and simple, forming no pretensions, and knowing no disguise.”

“Such a sister-in-law, Henry, I should delight in,” said Eleanor.

BOTH Tilney children love her deeply because she’s everything they’re deprived of in their oppressive home life. They value all of these traits that make it hard for her to socially navigate her world. And even as she gets more world-wary and experienced herself, that never changes. (And this practical-proposal goes completely over her head as being about her ghskfjkdjf bless)

[silvantransthranduiltrash]

Ok, no, but wouldn’t it be hilarious is the feanorians are closer in age to their half aunts/uncles than their cousins?

(Hc obviously)

Like, feanor fell in love, married, and had maitimo pretty much as soon as he turned of age, but finwe kinda waited to have kids with indis untill his first child was grown up bc he felt guilty or smth. Also bc most elves don’t immediately have kids when they get married.

Anyway, it results in:

Findis and Maitimo being the same age.

Nolofinwe and Makalaure being the same age.

Lalwen and Tyelkormo being the same age.

And Arafinwe and Carnister being the same age.

Listen, they’re not doing it on purpose, having them born so close to each other, it just happened.

But imagine how wild it must be! Imagine the feanorians being told to listen to their aunts/uncles and half of them are straight up like “they’re literally my age/younger than me”

Imagine only the twins being in the age range of their cousins, by which i mean that amras, amrod, and Findekano being the same age, and the rest of the cousins are all younger.

Imagine how funny/weird it must be for the cousins to be told to call an elf, that is older than their dad, cousin instead of uncle.

Idk, i just think it’d be fricking hilarious. Just, the family dynamic would be so interesting. Also, it’s make feanor naming maitimo nelyafinwe more understandable bc (depending on whether he’s born before or after findis) he would be the third (male) finwe.

Idk, just thoughts. Just a fun little blorbo. Don’t take it to seriously.

[febuwhump]

can i ask whats up w the bees thing? i keep seeing it pop up in whump circles but is it literally just like bee stings? or is it code? im so out of the loop...

so to my knowledge, febuwhump is one of, if not the only, whump challenge that crowdsources and votes on prompts. (especially at a large scale.) i, as admin, do not actually decide anything other than 100 of your prompts for you to then choose from.

so other whump challenges are just out there coming up with this stuff on their own with no peer review system, and a few years ago, whumptober had a prompt that was just the word "bees". and this got. a reaction. it was funny! we all thought it was funny! and silly! and ridiculous! like it would of course be sitting alongside prompts like "poisoned" or "chained" or "knife-point" or whatever. bees.

just.

bees.

and that's funny.

in some ways, its a good prompt. in many other ways, in a whump challenge specifically, its not. and that's funny

(we also love and respect whumptober so this is no shade, they know what they did and they must know it was hilarious)

so its really not code. i tried to persuade people to vote for bees last year and no one did, and this year i just thought it would be funny to shine a spotlight on it, try to get people to vote for it, the silly little prompt "bees" as a throw back and a poking fun of whumptober's unironic use of it a few years back.

that's truly all the lore there is!

and i totally, 100% know, that people are going to see the prompt list this year, and if "bees" has made it in they will post their snarky little tags comments about it being a dumb prompt, and they will not know that its there as a joke, and that's totally fine! they are not in on it!

anyway. it's funny to me and that's why we're doing it. along the way, i think some people did start to see the potential in the prompt however, so now its got an excited little fanbase made up of people who think its funny and people who really just want to write about the raven cycle or their blorbo being allergic to bees

if it doesn't make it in, we might just have to host a febubees day on march 1st, like we did 2 years ago for the prompt clowns not making it through. it has earned that much

[bonefall]

Just curious, is Russetfur still Raggedstar’s half sister in this universe or are they completely unrelated now? Also do you have anything on Boulder? He was always one of my favorite background cats

If they are half-sibs, it's not relevant! They won't know or care.

Chelford cats are matriarchal. Sires don't inherently play a role in the lives of their children, and seeking that sort of company is something a parent keeps discreet. Uncles and brothers fill the role of "father" in raising the kittens, with cats tracking their lineages through mothers

So Russet has no idea who her father is and doesn't care. Ngl, I also just... don't care about Hal lmaooo

(Imagine writing a super edition about one of your most popular characters, with a story that people have been begging to hear in detail for years, and then dedicating the entire opening to her shitty husband's daddy issues. Couldn't be me.)

Instead, Russetfur is related to the leader of BloodClan at that time. Brick is her sister. I might make Hal her uncle or older brother.

The conflict that occurs between BloodClan and ShadowClan at this time will cause the leader to be killed suddenly, triggering the Frenzy, the period of time during which a new leader is chosen. Pinestar is already having issues over in ThunderClan, and starts seriously thinking about leaving to go help out.

(Though it's certainly not his last straw.)

In any case... if Russetfur and her buddy Boulder had been having second thoughts about Clan life, getting the BloodClan Leader killed and burned the hell out of THAT bridge.

Anyway.

Russetfur and Boulder are in danger during TigerClan. Serious danger. They were loyal to Brokenstar and were safe as long as they were good warriors, but Tigerstar had his eye on them.

So, I feel they may have supported Deerfoot's Rebels, but deniably. I want Blackstar picking Russetfur to be heavily based on her participation, but I also need her to stay safe.

(Might end up having her escape and take refuge with Mistyfoot...)

Boulder is a lot more passive. I like him a LOT and want to expand his role a bit, just because... I Like Him. Literally just blorbo lmao. It's funny how the fandom consensus is just, "this guy's cool!"

I go back and forth on when Boulder's kids are born, and who they are. But he WILL be having kids

I'm set on Whitethroat being one of them, and leaning towards Wetfoot being another.

If Wetfoot is one of Boulder's kids, Firestar knows Boulder as a concerned dad. Wetfoot is going to get a bigger role as a friend in ShadowClan and Deerfoot Rebel.

In my head, Boulder likes the community of Clan life more than the violence, but because he's huge and served under tyrannical leaders he gets forced into battles he doesn't enjoy.

He massively regrets following Russetfur, honestly. He doesn't want to leave and go rebuild his reputation in BloodClan... but he also wishes he never came here.

In my heart, TPB is like the WORST period in this poor guy's life. Background character going through an absolute WRINGER

He's anxious for himself, anxious for his friends, anxious for his kids. Loses Whitethroat. Might lose Wetfoot to the Plague. Serves under TigerClan, terrified that if he isn't a perfect warrior he will get killed.

(And he's right. His fear is warranted. If Russetfur does something, like if I go with her being a refugee in ThunderClan, HE is going to get punished.)

And, of course, he is eventually used by Tigerstar to open up talks with BloodClan.

Even though he has Sasha, Nightwhisper, and Jaggedtooth to serve the same purpose... Tigerstar chooses Boulder.

He doesn't trust Jaggedtooth after he "fails" to contain the prisoners that escape to ThunderClan. He "proved" his loyalty by following his order to execute Deerfoot, but Jaggedtooth is now at the bottom of the pecking order.

Sasha is being reduced to a mate Tigerstar can control, even though she served as one of his mercenaries. He doesn't give her ANY agency.

Nightwhisper is a stupid tool, in Tigerstar's eyes. He does not respect his intelligence, just his eagerness.

So Boulder is chosen. He's smart enough to translate properly, fearful enough to do what Tigerstar says, has lived long enough as a Clan cat... and if he HAS any remaining kids, there is the implicit threat that if Boulder tries something funny, his child is who will pay for it.

After TigerClan ends, I feel like Boulder is desperate to retire early, but also feels like he can't ask for it. He's only survived this long because of his usefulness. It would be hard to trust that he can just... not serve, anymore.

If I can scrounge up more kits for ShadowClan (IT'S SO SMALL), I also would like him to end up having another litter mid-Po3.

Hopefully one of the kids of his first survived, so I can play around with the harrowing dynamic of, "Our dad is so much happier while raising you... I envy my younger sibling's childhood."

And on a final note, Boulder is probably going to get a Warrior Name during TPB. It doesn't really make sense that he just keeps his old one, unfortunately, when Clan Culture is at its most xenophobic and he's in active danger. He'll get Boulder back as a request between TPB and TNP.