#and it hurts every aspect of their plotline

[beevean]

Having thoughts again about N!Hector and the pathetic excluse of a plotline he was stuck in during S3.

One of the many, many ways it could be fixed is one of the simplest one: Lenore is actually believable in his quest to manipulate Hector.

In short, she'd pretend to be the Rosaly of the show.

I read many times that N!Hector isn't stupid for falling for Lenore, because poor little thing is a manchild starved for love. I say that yes, he is stupid, because Lenore doesn't do anything different from what Carmilla did one month prior. One month! That he spent being dragged through the snow! He had plenty of time to realize his mistake. Why would he trust Lenore, when she employs her same tactics of being a condescending bitch to him and also insult Dracula in the meantime - even worse, at least Carmilla waited until the end to beat the shit out of Hector; Lenore did that first thing to flex!

(this show's writing is so, so very unsubtle, and it goes past the lack of show don't tell)

So. Instead of Lenore being a smug piece of shit and spending most of her screentime in S3 treating Hector like a dog. How about actually pretending to be falling in love with him?

Actual compliments. Actual appreciation. Actual sympathy. Unconditional sympathy.

Hector being love-starved is canon. The game version and the show version went through the same thing: first, being rejected by their own parents, to the point that their own mother regretted giving birth to them; then, working for Dracula and with Isaac, which is where the two versions differ, because in the mangas Dracula appreciated Hector for his work and Isaac respected him but was also jealous of him, while in the show both of them shat on him and made clear they don't respect him one bit.

Were things more similar to the mangas, I like to think that Hector hoped that Dracula cared about him a little bit but it became obvious that he only saw him as a useful servant, while Isaac (who totally had a crush on Hector and yes I believe it's canon) always put his Lord above him.

In short, their appreciation was conditional. Be a good boy for us, Hector dear. What's that? You want to regain your agency? Well, then you'll have to die, you understand.

Then comes Rosaly who loved Hector unconditionally. She didn't care about his past or his sins: she only saw a good-hearted man and accepted him in her home despite everything. No wonder Hector declared undying loyalty to her, no wonder he cried when she said something remotely kind to him.

Imagine if Lenore did the same, but only to betray him in the end. He'd be gutted. And it would be believable! Because all the circumstances would be there for him to desperatley grasp to the one person who seems to actually respect him! I wouldn't think he's a complete dumbass for sticking his dick inside someone who said in the span of one minute "I can't betray my sisters by letting you go" and "we can run away together"!

Now, here we can go through two routes.

One, the sex scene happens and it's the same as in canon: Lenore simply uses the opportunity to slip the ring on his finger, her plan from the start. Hector is crushed. Lenore calls him her pet, and we actually see consequences of this (not necessarily other rape scenes because no thank you, but even simply the ring hurting him). During S4, Lenore starts to genuinely like Hector, but he never forgives her, betrays her in the end (you decide whether she suns herself for the guilt or he destroys her face with the hammer <3 but eh tbh in this scenario she doesn't even need to die, she can live alone in shame for all I care), and then... I don't know, I think he'd become very jaded at this point, but he could regain some hope from N!Isaac, if he doesn't act like a total patronizing dick in his final scene.

Two, the sex scene doesn't happen. Lenore actually falls for Hector, and she's torn between her loyalty to her sisters and her fondness for this poor human who maybe can understand her more than she thought. Maybe at first she chooses her sisters (she puts the ring on him but in other circumstances?), which hurts Hector, but then she changes her mind and pulls away from Carmilla's insanity - basically think of Zuko betraying the Gaang in Book 2 and regretting it in Book 3. Lenector actually looks like a viable ship and a much more organic "enemies to lovers" situation (for lack of a better word), instead of looking like rape apologism.

tl;dr: stop jerking off to vampire mommy and pay respect to the characters

[lookingforhappy]

Hi! I just wanted to say I really like your blog and the ideas you have for TUA. I have a question if you don't mind? If you've read the comics (I just got to read You Look Like Death and....my head hurt alot after) is there anything you wished they had kept from the comics for the show or vice versa? Personally I wish they had kept Luther and Five being twins in the show. I get why they chose not to do so but come on.

Five doesn't get his dog and then he also doesn't get his biological brother? I love the Pub scene from season 2 and it would have fit really well for them to learn it (just my opinion)

Thank you and I hope you have a lovely day! :)

Thank you, I'm glad you enjoy my ideas!! I love asks lmao so no problem at all!

I have read the mainline comics and a few spin offs (the Diego & Vanya band AU one comes to mind??) but I'm a show main sadly. I like the comics as an informant to the show, so generally I prefer how the show depicted things.

I do want to briefly (edit: it was not brief... i am so sorry) talk about the Five DNA thing because that's one of the things I love in the show.

in the comics Five is genetically altered by the commission

this only works in the comics for me because every character is an asshole, Five especially (he literally prefaces this moment by bragging that he's fucked a lot of women). So for Five to have this excuse? to show horror at the very idea? that's a redeeming quality.

but in the show, they make every character likeable to an extent (recall that in the comics Allison rumours Luther into loving her), so this wouldn't have the same impact because it just makes Five less of his own person - removes the agency from his actions.

Five in the show is someone forced into a corner, and his actions in accepting and carrying out his job as an assassin, as well as his willingness to kill innocents and his own brother throughout s1 show how his experiences have made him desperate and ruthless in his pursuit of love and happiness.

it's a psychological exploration/study.

which to me, is infinitely more interesting. Five doesn't kill the board because his DNA dictates he will, he kills them because he chooses to. He is not cruel because his DNA dictates it, he is cruel because his experiences have made him that way.

and I think overall, this approach is adapted very nicely to fit the tone of the show, as all the same beats are hit. Five has been made into the Commission's killing machine against his will, and he is resentful of it,

but that doesn't mean he can undo the damage done, his psyche is forever attuned to this line of thinking no matter how much he hates it he doesn't know how to break the cycle of violence inflicted on him,

but because Five hasn't been genetically altered, he is fully responsible for his actions and he has to live with that.

the DNA altering in the show would feel like a cop out to me. and also the interesting aspect from the DNA altering is that he is essentially made into a psychopath (most famous serial killers are - Charles Manson, Ted Bundy, Jeffery Dahmer, etc.), which means removing his empathy.

because despite his dislike of the non-consenual genetic surgery, comics!five doesn't have empathy.

and show!Five is interesting because he has so much empathy, yet he remains a killer. he is never given the opportunity to use that for good.

without that empathy we wouldn't get scenes like this where he admits guilt,

and in all honesty, isn't it more interesting that the best and most prolific killer in the show possesses a large amount of empathy?

idk sorry I got sidetracked - I've seen a lot of people who say they prefer the DNA plot of the comics and I just feel like it's very contradictory to what a lot of people love about Five.

anyway, the only element of the DNA plotline that i'd want to see adapted further is the non-consenual surgery itself

largely because I love Five!whump and despite comics!Five claiming it was painless it's fairly obvious to see that it wasn't (and I love when this is expanded on in fics so much - no time, no time, dear brother o' mine is an amazing read because it deals with this)

but I also think it would do a good job at reinstating the commission as the villians they are rather than the weird, nebulous thing it currently sits as (Five would never entrust Herb or Dot to the Commission it's so ooc and it's canon??? Dot and Herb were both 100% in support of the commission's ethos, even if Herb was a bit shit at his job. Dot literally was in charge of the apocalypse and saw Five arrive & at no point thought that this was fucked actually).

plus, we already know they waited until Five was hopeless, alcoholic potentially passively suicidal, weak both physically and mentally, desperate. all likely to better control him.

what's to say they didn't also pick up him just in time to prevent his death? 45 years in a polluted wasteland can't be good on the body - and I don't about the general population, but most of the people I know in their 50s aren't fully grey. the stress was probably killing him all on its own.

they could have seen his death and gone back a few years/months/days to recruit him. but then that would mean they still have to fix whatever illness was killing him, and how do you do that? surgery.

perhaps that's how they recuit all of their agents. maybe that's how they get away with it not disturbing the timeline, take someone who was going to die anyway, and then force them into a debt of gratitude for saving their lives. idk.

I also think AJ was criminally underused. He's supposed to be the big bad of the commission, his character was originally adapted into the Handler but then they decided they wanted his design in the show or something.

I think his role in the comics is much more interesting, as a person who selected Five from a line up of assassins already in the commission and gave Five personal training, and assigned him to the JFK case,

I think he could have been adapted a lot better than he was, and like the surgery, he could have steered the commission back towards the villains they were always supposed to be - instead of The Handler (as amazing as Kate Walsh is to watch on screen I love her) we could have had AJ manipulating Five throughout s2.

as for Five & Luther, I don't mind them not being twins, because honestly their genetics are so different (Aidan is 20 something and he's probably going to stay at 5'5" while Tom is like 6'5", plus hair colour, skin tone, bone structure etc.) and we already know that they weren't planning on making them twins from the pilot script (Five is born a singleton to a polish teenager I believe).

I do think it would have been fun to repurpose this plotpoint for another pair. of the Umbrella's I actually think Five and Viktor pair quite well as they both have similar heights, hair colour, they both have that square jaw too. but I also think that this could have been an interesting way to give depth to the sparrows - Jayme and Alphonso could have been the twins.

Pennycrumb was... a let down? I don't think he should have been a big part of Five's character, but I also don't think he should have had 0 affect on it either.

otherwise??? honestly Hotel Oblivion was wayyy more interesting in the comics than in the show. I would have preferred something more in line with the comics but I think they were afraid of the classic horror elements and the classic superhero elements.

like the faceless bus boy guards

the hotel rooms, seemingly ordinary, being prison cells

the prisoners having enough freedom to move around the hotel and have relationships with each other but not enough to feel safe hanging around the hotel

i just.. i wish more of this had been incorporated into the show.

also.. art deco buildings.. my beloveds

this could have been the hotel Oblivion..

like ik they planned to go to japan to film s3 and that got fucked over by covid but like.. art deco is such a good aesthetic for a horror setting compared to the japanese style hotel we got (i've heard it called hotel orientalism as well so, theres that too).

if I had been in charge I would have had s3 focus on the mothers, develop their stories & why the umbrellas were given up for adoption & then linked this all to the 43 being the 16 instead. have the reveal be not that theyre dead but missing, non existant. because the children were taken by hargreeves to power Oblivion. if we somehow keep the kugelblitz then we use that as a distraction as to where and why all the sparrows keep going missing, and eventually the umbrella's numbers start to dwindle. until Oblivion is discovered and we find that every hotel room corresponds to a member of the 43 - maybe even have the brellies/sparrows numbers correspond to their door numbers somehow, or floor level.

idk I'm not a good writer but thats a bit of how i feel about the comics being adapted into the show..

sorry idk if i even answered your question? thank you again for the lovely ask!

[lesbiansforboromir]

Tom Bombadil was just as superfluous and unnecessary as I expected but I have to say the accent was just a little worse than I predicted and physically hurt me a lot more than I anticipated, he really couldnt hit those 'a's right.

And more seriously, his whole conciet for being there was JUST as aggravatingly-put as I expected. 'This all used to be green, now it is just a desert' Tom says as he gestures at a perfectly flourishing desert ecosystem with hundreds of plant species in every single shot, as if that's some tragedy.

The racist elements of the Stranger's plotline are not only getting worse but are bleeding into other aspects of the show. The only non-english accents we hear are from evil moth cultists worshipping a dark wizard and skull-mask wearing lepers(?) who just hit people for no good reason. The Stoors have lived in Rhun for centuries apparently, why do they have westcountry accents? It's absolutely bizarre!

And now we've seen the barrow wights, who apparently were laid to rest by some long gone civilisation, and they are in... Keffiyahs? RoP I would be delighted for you to place an arabic-inspired culture in the middle of Eriador, but that is not what you have done you have just orientalised these evil ghosts.

In general there is just no effort whatsoever to actually explain human society in middle earth currently, the only people we've seen are all just brown tinted hollywood peasent-core. In comparison to the costuming for elves and Numenoreans it's kind of dire, and Pelargir is apparently just a tiny collection of huts in the middle of ruined Numenorean architecture. Like... ow, firstly, that's the city from my blorbos, but more to the point if all human 'cities' are currently so 'primitive' then where the HELL was that ship Sauron took with the refugees drydocked?? That was like a pirate-golden-age schooner or something, how the hell was it maintained? Who sails it? Who built it, it's not a numenorean design- WHAT is going on with men in middle earth right now!! I am disappointed and frustrated!

I did like the big worm though. Couldn't get enough of that big mud bobbit worm.

[aihoshiino]

I feel Aqua's entire character got retconed with this chapter, there was never a revenge to begin with…so all the build up, akane trying to stop him, hurting his loved ones, him dying afterwards, and even ch95 while we're at it is useless…then Ruby's character got entirely ruined for a nothing incest subplot

Someone rewrite onk asap please, what is this

idk if I would say Aqua was outright Retconned because this has always been the place I expected his arc to land, but it defo feels like it lacks immediate buildup, if that makes sense. Like how Kana's sudden leap to AKANE YOU SHOULD DATE AQUA ^_^ in 148-9 feels jarring when it happens but makes sense in the context of Kana's arc as a whole and her outside POV on the AquAka relationship. Aqua landing here makes sense for his overall arc, but he suffers the same issue Ruby has recently where we don't actually see the internal work that got him here, just this big dramatic payoff in lieu of the long term characterization to support it. I think it stands out even worse with Aqua because we were locked out of his head the entire Movie Arc, so any major change to his character rn is gonna feel really jarring and unsupported.

ruby i absolutely won't defend tho lol. Man. I was actually really hype for the AQRB stuff to get addressed in the text and for OnK to explore wtf incest even is for Aqua and Ruby and to prod and poke at all the interesting and uncomfortable aspects of their personalities we could get out of pursuing that plot and it just didn't happen lol. Ruby just turns into the imouto from every incest hentai ever and every interesting plotline she had going on gets dropped (MARINA TENDOUJI COME BACK AND SAVE THE OSHI NO KO)

It especially frustrates me because OnK HAS handled incest in a really interesting way before!!! Aqua has to unfuck his feelings about Ai during LoveNow and figure out what his feelings for her even are, complicated as they are by him inheriting Gorou's gachikoi attraction to her. Even though he does ultimately settle on 'no I wasn't romantically or sexually attracted to Ai', the fact that he HAS to think about it, and the guilt and revulsion that radiates off him that entire micro-arc is soooo fucking good. It's such a good example of that kind of, reincarnation identity dysphoria OnK was so good at digging into that I really miss in this half of the manga.

[mrsbsmooth]

I’ve been so turned off by what fusebox has been putting out lately that I haven’t even opened the app in a year or so, but I’m glad that people seem to be liking s8 so far!

I’m super curious to know how you would rank it against past seasons and what your thoughts are overall ❤️

RANK? YOU WANT ME TO RANK THEM

hjeslafhajsdkfgsdj

omg okay. way to make my night. I'm supposed to be writing. Let's fucking gooooooo.

[Noting based on my recent post, this is my ranking for if you're pursuing a male LI. WLW rankings would be very different].

So, to me, I think there are two main criteria that define a season: Love Interests and Gameplay.

Love Interests can be further broken down into:

Sprite Design: How good they look overall as a cast. Are they proportionate? Unique?

Variety: How different/unique are they to previous seasons? Are they all models and carpenters and finance bros?

Fandom Impact: This one is silly and subjective. Are people still talking about them years later? Do they have fanfics and art? If you don't know this person, are you missing out?

Gameplay can be further broken down into:

Quality of Plot Drama: How it's written, how impactful it is. Is it stupid manufactured shit, or is it important and moves the game along? (Cherrygate? Great drama. Suresh wanting to 'give Lulu a chance' after he'd been all in for us? Shitty, awful drama).

Challenges: Are they engaging and interesting? Do they move the plot along?

Replayability: Are there enough unique aspects in the routes that you feel the need to replay?

So, based on these two criteria, I assigned rankings to each season, with Season 2 being the best that fusebox can possibly do. (We already know that it is).

These are completely subjective, but this is what I came up with.

Some brief explanations:

Season 1:

Not the best art style, but overall the proportions were spot on, the body shapes and types were different and unique. Personalities top tier (Tim? Jake? sigh.) Cherrygate, dunking challenge etc.

Season 2:

The best the fandom can do in terms of consistent art style, poses, challenges and replayability. Every route is unique. Characters are overhwhelmingly gorgeous. Some may not like the drama, but I think it's just enough.

Season 3:

I thought things were ranked too high but then remember Tai? Rafi? AJ? The waterfall date, the water balloon and tent challenges that meant something and caused drama?

Season 4:

Lost points for the NaJamUno character merge, but gained points for Youcef and Oliver. Great characters, poor challenges and drama points. Dylangate was dumb and so was making us sleep on the daybeds.

Season 5:

The less said the better. But the sprites were hot af.

Season 6:

The great character merge was atrocious. But the drama from Casa, the Marshall&Ozzy plotline, and HAMISH oh my god, he gets a bonus point for drama all on his own.

Season 7:

Personally very forgettable season. Some of the sprites were lovely. Evan was a highlight and he's gorgeous. But given how quickly everyone forgot about this season, it's loowww.

Season 8:

Gets a high ranking for fandom impact purely based on the immense amount of art and interest that's come about this season. Even with up to a half-point deduction to account for recency bias, this season ranks highly.

This gives us an updated ranking of:

Third? THIRD? Season 8 is THIRD?!?!?

This gives us an average season rating of 6.4. We could remove the outliers, but we're trying to plot how good each season is against the average, so let's not. If we then plotted this and threw in a bar to show the average:

It says the only seasons that are 'above average' are Seasons 1, 2, and 8. Which, honestly, given my adoration for Bruno, Ciaran, and Lewie, rude. How dare I hurt myself with my own chart!!!!!

I'm sure one of the maths people could do something statistically significant and make this fully mathematically valid, but this is just me latching on to a silly ask and being an idiot about it.

I like S8 a lot. It's worth playing.

In other words:

Yes. Play it.

[lunar1an]

while i tend to be uncharitable towards pale (seeing a story you really like go directions you don't want that you think actively hurt it while watching people uncritically praise every new development and meme character for three years tends to make you jaded!) i do think some people get a little silly about dissing a web serial they haven't read so like. to just put it down here.

i do think early pale is objectively one of wildbow's best works. like. the rotating three perspectives are used extremely well. the characters read as convincing and likable children, the cast is excellent, especially the starting Others. it's an alternate, lighter look at a dark setting and it works. the fact that the mystery isn't the premise so much as figuring out the problem of "how do we handle that some of these Others want to get rid of us". or later "how do we properly confront these people without being too cruel because society's already done that to them".

that's like. arcs 1-3. arcs 4-7 are also, i think, good, even if it's ultimately a diversion and some of the simplified messaging around Other treatment is a bit eh. alexander and bristow have a lot of character and while they're more straightforward pure antagonists it's fun to watch them be petty. the trio interacting with traditional practitioners is fun.

8-10 is like. pretty good. but some of the cracks start to show with arcs 9-10 dragging on a bit (it has melissa though so thats good). the new cast members are fun and interesting and tie into the conspirator plot. 9.9 is excellent if a hard read.

11-13 is like. where the dragging on elements intensify. a lot of Diversions happen that kind of get in the way of the trio Solving The Mystery(tm) and while a lot of those diversions are chocked down to one conspirator's work it feels more like it takes screentime away from the main plot and core cast which you're Really invested in. 12.z and about half of arc 13's chapters including the Break interludes are really good though, bringing a kind of like. pact-y vibe and atmosphere to the story which was sorely missed.

after arc 13 though its like. at this point it's less three rotating perspectives that each lay their eyes on the main plot at specific points with an intent to highlight certain aspects of the story (avery focused on connections, lucy focused directly on the mystery, verona focused on the Others). and more three separate web serial protagonists with their own plotlines loosely connected. and things get bloated. and start escalating beyond reason (70+ practitioners attacking kennet???). and the Practitioner = evil colonialist oppressor stuff gets silly. but i think like. at least the story still cohered. musser still continued the trend of jerk practitioners who abuse the system even if he's just a TwitchPlaysPractitioner stream that does things arbitrarily like a ghost or a dog. the founding sequence towards the end of arc 17 was cool even if i was a bit disappointed with how kennet found turned out.

i think if you were really invested in the trio and their story you could probably stop sometime around there and be satisfied. not a good or a clean ending, and you probably were better off stopping at arc 13, but it works.

but then pale keeps going and does a complete paradigm shift to make the literal Red Menace Revolutionary the antagonist. and has to justify the also purportedly revolutionary kennet opposing that antagonist and shit just goes sideways. and by now you start running into the more ridiculous stuff like "avery compares goblins to human minorities" (yes. i know the intent of her statement. it was still silly).

like. it just stopped cohering or being consistent or anything. plots and characters get introduced and discarded just as quickly and have little to no impact despite how hyped up they are initially. it's not good, and it actively hurts the material that came before it (retroactively making charles worse, for example).

even the setting stuff is like. early pale had some silly things like a technomancer being able to set up a worldwide magic jstor or this one glamour-drowned dude being wayyy too powerful with glamour for someone who wasn't even a fae or practitioner. but it was like. you could excuse or justify or ignore it if it didn't agree with you because at least the rest of pale was good. but then every Path turned into a whimsical video game level (among many other less ignorable things) and pale stopped being good.

and like. man. even despite that i still think about the carmine alcazar chapters and the story of a Beast who lived in a world that had long left her behind. and the trio in the back of a truck practicing runes with their magic hat. pale was good. it was good! but then it had to keep going.

[arx-aru]

I get the angle of "the DLC is Miquella repeating Marika's mistakes," and it does seem like that was From's intention, in part, besides shoehorned references to other media. And it's valid for people to find that cool. But, in my opinion, it's a fundamental misunderstanding of both characters. Conceptually it sounds poetic, but it's really not, I feel.

The two have parallels, to be sure, but they also differ drastically: Marika's most fundamental trait is bitter wrath, whereas Miquella's is(was) bullheaded optimism; Marika's response to a world that hurt her was to hurt others, Miquella's response to a world that grieved him was to try harder. At a basic level, I don't think these two are motivated by the same emotion, nor are they inclined towards the same ends beyond shallow visual parallels.

Of course, it's okay for them to end up at the same or similar places if that adds something to the story. Preferably it would also be in-line with pre-established lore, but storytelling hiccups happen. It's alright, genuinely, if necessary to redo all prior characterization and contrive the plot however to impart the desired themes. This isn't a big deal in of itself, if the end result is good enough.

So, then, what's the thematic merit? Within the larger story, I don't think there is any: I have been of and stand by the opinion that making every single character evil is uninspired, uninsightful, and insulting. What does a story mean to say, when any individual trying to make change turns out to be awful? Where's the twist when every contrived plotline is doomed to arrive at the same point? What are we to take away from this?

"People suck and things suck and will continue to suck," is the message. "People that try to make the world a better place will pave the way to hell. They'll end up just like everyone else."

Okay, but... I dunno, man. We've heard this before. A dozen times just within this studio's catalogue! It's long lost its novelty, is the thing. It says nothing. It's just misanthropy, wholly devoid of nuance and, I feel, poison to the setting.

Dark worlds are elevated by the rare paragon--it lends context, depth, and meaning to a story via contrast. Why do we have to suffer the same predictable face-heel turn ad infinitum? It's not even subverting expectations; this trope is the expectation.

And, look: I wouldn't mind an exploration of somebody "repeating Marika's 'mistakes,'" honestly, it's just that completely overwriting Miquella's character to do this does a lot of irreparable harm to the setting; the positive aspects(which do exist!) don't outweigh the cost. His base-game characterization was by far the most intriguing, fascinating aspect of the lore to me... and it's gone, now, all for the sake of a completely different narrative.

I'm happy for anybody that's a fan of SotE!Miquella-- I just wish that it didn't come at the cost of shitting on fans of base!Miquella.

[elijah-loyal]

on the kick of movies, i ALSO forgot how good Hunchback of Notre Dame is (analysis ahead btw)

yes, it's a Disney movie (that's why we pirate it lads) so it won't have the same conformation to the novel that another corporation MIGHT have done (still highly doubtful) but it's still so good and holds up so well???

I prefer the musical's nuance when it comes to Frollo, but in the Disney movie he doesn't really need a reason to be "evil" other than just power-hungriness, racism and being a predator. I find it incredibly interesting how they divided the two aspects of his character into Frollo (Judge Version) and the Archdeacon, because when you know the background of his character you understand that complexity even when it's absent from the movie. Also I'm a SLUT for "Hellfire," because not only is the animation sequence DELICIOUS ASF, and the music and lyrics ASTOUNDING, but the overlaying Latin that just contradicts his convictions is SO good, as well as the predatory ideas he's grappling with, and his justification of them through religion and how he's "purer than the common, vulgar, weak, licentious," people of Paris. Even in the cut-and-dry Disney version, he's still a fairly layered character.

I also find it refreshing that Quasimodo's jealousy of Phoebus doesn't cause him to try and tear him down or hurt him; no, he doesn't love Phoebus, especially at first when he thinks he's chasing Esmeralda to hurt or arrest her, but he holds no grudge against him because it's unnecessary. I can't tell if I just got used to other bad movie jealousy plotlines, but it's nice to see that Quasimodo isn't petty as hell just because he's jealous of Phoebus.

Speaking of Phoebus, what a chad

Of course, the score for the movie is brilliant (excluding a guy like you, I'm sorry but i fucking hate it) and the repeating themes of different characters make it feel more like a live theater musical than some of Disney's other musical works. Frollo's "Kyrie Eleison," theme (which is so fucking funny to me by the way, having the Latin/Greek phrase of "Lord have mercy," be Frollo's theme, who doesn't have mercy whatsoever and really just reflects his last moments) is SO so scrummy, I eat that shit up every damn time.

The animation sequences are fairly good throughout the movie, but I find them ESPECIALLY amazing for particular songs like "Hellfire," "Out There," "And He Shall Smite the Wicked (Score)," and "Sanctuary (Score)." The movements are VERY smooth and flow well, and the usage of color in "God Help the Outcasts," is STUNNING.

All in all, I still really enjoy this movie after a long time of not seeing it, and just really enjoy the themes and general collective story of the Hunchback of Notre Dame

[myfairkatiecat]

Directors Commentary on mirrored conflicts pls? 🥹

OOOOH ONE OF MY FAVORITE FICS THAT I AM WRITING!

The biggest challenge writing mirrored conflicts is that since it’s a Sokeefe AU, I have to set up the Sokeefe romance, which is only good if it’s in character—and these characters are SLOW. I can have Keefe immediately recognize how pretty Sophie looks, but that’s about IT as far as I can go given how long these idiots took when they started out as friends, and in the AU they start out as ENEMIES.

The plot is based significantly on the events of Lodestar, and everything up til then proceeded mostly the same as normal, just without Keefe existing. So when Sophie and Keefe interact, it’s within this context of the lodestar plotline with the symbol and the neverseen going after Sophie’s family and ultimately the peace summit. They’re also training at exillium to explode things with their minds, which definitely will make its way into this fic bc Shannon should use that more often. But at the same time Sophie is sort of investigating what’s going on with this “nemesis” character of hers who she kind of likes interacting with.

I try to get into the heads of the characters to move the romance along as fast as is actually realistic for these idiots, which is still PAINFULLY slow, but makes for a better fic! I was able to realistically get them over the “enemies” hurdle with their relatability with each other and the fact that both of them are suffocating under the expectations of their respective organizations and talking to someone who expects nothing of them is like a breath of fresh air, even if they ideologically disagree. Still, Sophie is SUPER careful—at least, until this most recent chapter—so getting her to even admit that they’re friends is terrifying for her, and I’m trying to portray that realistically! After all, they’re meeting in secret, and Sophie should theoretically be telling the black swan everything she finds out about her nemesis, but instead, she really likes him and doesn’t want to hurt him.

Getting the characters to a point where the romance can begin is DIFFICULT, because I’ve even gotten to the point where sophie admits that there’s no way she can stay away from him, but even then she’s only admitting that he draws her in. Keefe calls her a breath of fresh air in his narration. And they mean this all in a very friendly way, which again, getting them to admit that they’re FRIENDS is the first hurdle I have to get over, though I think we’re finally there!

Sophie throws caution to the wind in the latest chapter, deciding to fully trust Keefe—at least, outside of their organizational conflict. They sorts create their own world away from everything else where they can just exist, which BOTH OF THEM NEED, and sets up a very special and unique relationship between them that I think I achieved in a manner that realistic to their characters!

Keefe definitely falls first in every universe, and you can tell in the latest chapter that he’s closer to noticing her in that way, though he isn’t thinking about it like that. He’s drawn in by her and he knows there’s something about it that’s different than normal, though he isn’t sure what, and he has no trouble admitting that she’s “objectively beautiful” in his head because that doesn’t involve any of his own feelings (but what if it does?)

Sophie hasn’t noticed him romantically yet, but one of the most important aspects of Sokeefe is that it’s not Sophie’s internal narration that gives away how much she cares for Keefe, but her actions. Throughout all of canon, you can tell Sophie is in love with him even though she never once considers that she might have a crush on him until book 9, because her unconditional love was shown to the audience through her actions and then when she got to stellarlune she was like “oh… was that love? I think that’s love. I think I’m in love. “ which was like. FINALLY. But we already knew. She was the last to know, and I plan on making mirrored conflicts follow the same pattern! It’s clear to US that she’s in love, and at some point keefe does admit his own feelings to himself, but Sophie takes forever to realize how she really feels.

I adore writing this fic! Thank you for asking about it!

[greatwyrmgold]

Comparing Animorphs to Worm

The first comparison is my relation to the series. (Serieses? How do you pluralize that word?) I was obsessed with Animorphs in grade school, starting younger than my parents probably would have allowed if they were familiar with the books. (I knew the name "Scholastic" from these books before my first Scholastic book fair, which should tell you a lot, if kids these days still have Scholastic book fairs.) I was obsessed with Worm immediately before and during college, shaping the way I engage with fiction and fandom to this day.

That's one of the reasons I'm comparing the two series, but there are plenty of other comparisons. Their teenaged protagonists, their heavy subject matter, the stories framed in an almost YA format that slowly peels away like old paint over rusty metal, the planetary threats from outer space...

And of course, the characters.

The Heart

This might sound weird if you're used to the fanon versions of Cassie and Taylor—the former being a weak-willed hypocrite who's constantly whinging about whether they're doing the right thing, the latter being Chuck Norris if he was a war criminal and controlled bugs. But they're very similar characters.

Superficial stuff out of the way: They're both unpopular introverts with unusually strong connections to animals, and end up in a messy interracial relationship with their team leader.

Now onto their shared core. They both have a powerful moral compass, which slowly warps under the pressures of the violent plotlines they're involved in without completely vanishing—even when they commit acts of shocking brutality.

Cassie's character arc is relatively simple. She's reluctant to hurt anyone, even Yeerk soldiers and especially their Controllers. She's so reluctant that she leaves the team in the first third of the series. But she also comes up with a lot of really concerning ideas for the group, including David's fate (I'll come back to this).

As for Taylor? She starts out joining a villain team to help the local superheroes, and becomes the voice of caution and moderation pretty much immediately. She also comes up with some pretty brutal ideas for the Undersiders, albeit mostly ones she implements herself.

As far as this aspect of their characterization goes, the big differences is where their moral compasses go in the end. Cassie becomes more comfortable with the moral compromises required by war, but not completely comfortable. She's always at least a devil's advocate, but she doesn't start arguments every time the animorphs need to premeditate their violence.

On the other hand, Taylor falls face-first into moral decay, whittling away at her moral beliefs until she finds the unbending core that she refuses to compromise. And a big part of that is critiquing inaction as strongly as action. People who could have stopped something but chose not to are as culpable as people who actively choose to cause it. That's part of why Taylor is as ruthless as she is, in the "seeing the bright clear line that goes from motive to means" sense.

Both of them also have strong self-sacrificial tendencies. Taylor's are front and center (our girl is practically jumping at martyrdom from her first night in costume) but Cassie is also willing to sacrifice herself for her beliefs. She traps herself in caterpillar morph to prove her conviction to a Yeerk, which is a pretty serious sacrifice since she didn't know she could demorph after metamorphosis. (...yeah, for all its darkness, Animorphs is still a YA series.)

Oh, and they also have a strong friendship with the team's pretty blonde extrovert and its violent butch bitch. But for Cassie, they're the same person.

The Big Guy

Rachel and Rachel are both the most violent members of their teams, but their arcs go in different directions.

Rachel Berenson started as the pretty popular mall-loving cheerleader gymnast type, but started sliding into blood knight territory as she adapted to the war.

Rachel Lindt, on the other hand, starts out antisocial and violent, and she only starts getting friends and finding a more comfortable, less violent life after meeting Taylor (and, to an extent, the other Undersiders). Rachel climbed out of the pit that swallowed Rachel whole.

This comparison is a pretty obvious one...probably the only obvious one.

The Leader

We're getting to the part where it's hard to compare Animorphs to Undersiders; I don't think I have any substantive comparisons to make between the other halves of their team. (You could make comparisons between Marco and Lisa, or maybe Alec or Aisha or Taylor; Tobias turning into a bird is kinda like Taylor's cape escapism but they go different directions; and Ax is too literally alien to have a clean parallel with the earthly Undersiders, except maybe Alec.)

But I think there's something between Jake and Brian, beyond their shared status. For starters, neither one wants to be a leader. Jake chafes at the title of Prince, and Brian stubbornly refuses to take sole responsibility for the Undersiders. In both cases, this flattens their team's hierarchy. Jake and Brian help set the agenda and direct discussions, but they don't force their will on the group if they can avoid it.

They also care strongly about their family, especially their siblings, Tom and Aisha. They're putting their lives in danger in large part for those siblings—rather more directly for Jake, whose brother has a Yeerk in his brain, but Brian explicitly says he became a supervillain to provide for his kid sister. (Which is a lot funnier from an outside perspective, since both of their parents are alive.)

The big differences are age (Jake is 13-16; Brian is 17-18 pre-timeskip) and the scope of what they care about. Brian is very clear; he cares about his family, he cares about his friends, but the rest of the world can sort itself out. Jake, on the other hand, knows he's on a mission to save the world and acts accordingly.

But if Brian was a few years less jaded, and given the nearly sole mandate to defeat a threat to the entire human race...I think he could end up a lot like Jake. War crimes and all.

The Traitor

David and Cherish were both trapped just offshore by the team they betrayed, and their screams can sometimes be heard by people on the shore.

David's fate is a bit less nightmarish (he's a rat on an island instead of a brain in a box) and his screams are less deadly, but the fact that I'm comparing something the Animorphs did to something the Slaughterhouse Nine did should indicate how dark the books can get when they aren't engaging in instant maple-ginger oatmeal shenanigans.

If I reread the series, I could probably come up with more comparisons. But for one Tumblr post, I think this is enough.

[foreveralwaysanauthor]

Melaka Mystica Deleted Scenes

I know I said I would take a break, and believe me, I have, but I wanted to post these before the desire to write something else came into my head. Now that this has been posted, however, I'm going to go play some Detroit Become Human and try like hell to not start writing out ideas for that as an AU lmao!

Deleted scenes:

Unlike many of my previous AUs, there aren’t a lot of scenes that didn’t make the cut as I followed my original plotlines pretty closely, but there are a few that I mentioned offhandedly that were never fully explained or fleshed out, so I figured I would post segments of my original scribblings just to show where my head was when I wrote certain lines.

(Part 1) This is a little explanation I wrote for myself when I started figuring out the plot so that everything flowed together well and it would feel like time had passed, but not a ton. I wanted it to feel like the genuine passage of time, but I only brought some of these to fruition and I’m pretty sure you can tell which ones!

"The kids have been practicing magic under the watchful eyes of Mick, Miles, and Carrie, who, despite not possessing magic, have worked in the magic shop for long enough to know the basics. The kids have sworn only to use their magic for good, and while they try to help everyone, it’s not always easy. Royce has spent most of his allowance on spell books - most of which don’t work as they aren’t legitimate spell books - and has gone a bit overboard trying to figure out every aspect of their powers. Kona has been practically glued to Bentley, pestering him about why he and the others have been acting strangely, but he refuses to tell her anything until they’re all on board for telling her. Vivien has tried everything in her power to give Mick some semblance of magic and heal her magical ties, but nothing seems to work."

So, yeah, I ended up only mentioning a few of them, but this is a little background to give off some more information on what’s happened since the last story.

(Part 2) Initially, Mick’s bond with everyone - especially the kids and particularly Vivien - hadn’t been affected at all. My original idea was that everything had just returned to normal and that everything was fine. The only time the whole possession thing would have bothered her would have been when the kids chose to give up their magic, making her freak out for seemingly no reason as, until that point, she hadn’t said much of anything about it. However, I realized that it made no sense and, if this had been a legit scenario, I would have wanted to seclude myself for a while in order to protect the people I loved in case something like that were to happen again. In the long run, I changed things around and made it feel like she had taken a lot from it - trauma especially.

(Part 2) Kona’s magical realization would have been a lot more fleshed out if I had followed my original ideas. It was supposed to have a full scene on its own, but I’ll let you read the bit I had written before I explain myself.

"Not long before Serena knocks at the door, Kona comes in, pressing them for answers as they haven't been answering their phones. They push her away because they don’t want her to get hurt if Serena comes, but she’s adamant. Ultimately, she storms off but runs into Dorothea, who sits her down, and they talk for a while, getting to the root of the issue and revealing Kona has abilities as well as she nearly sets the kitchen table on fire when she thumps her fist against it."

Now, if you’re anything like my niece who sort of told me off for getting rid of this, I bet you’re sort of wishing I had stuck it out and written this, but I have a few reasons as to why I hadn’t. First of all, I realized as I was writing that, if I were to break up the tension of Serena’s visit any more than I already had with Kona showing up, it would have brought more focus to Kona and less on the stress of Serena’s entire ending scene. It would have made it less impactful as your attention - or mine, at the very least lmao - would have been more focused on Kona’s abilities and how they suddenly came about. It would have been a jarring shift to go from this scene of Kona finding out she has magic, to Serena and the group’s plan to stop her. Second, I wanted Kona’s entrance in the third chapter to be subtle, yet mildly surprising. I didn’t want to go in-depth on her magic or explain her family’s magical history when the story didn’t need it. Still, I wanted her showing up in the woods to link back to her having a conversation with Mrs. Murphy where she, ultimately, discovered her magic in the first place. And, finally, I also cut this out because I was already a lot further along than I thought I would be and I sort of wanted to just get through Serena’s part and call it at that. However, the facts still stand, and I don’t really regret taking this part out as I feel it all worked out in the end.

(Part 3) Now, this is the part that I think I changed the most, but the first thing that comes to mind is this segment:

"After they ask some questions, Mrs. Murphy explains that, during an eclipse, the power transfer is most powerful and will give the vessel - sometimes a magic-less human - powers of their own as they permanently drain the powers from the witches." 

While not a lot has changed there, I’m sure the word “permanently” caught your eye. Yes, the transfer thing was going to be permanent, and in a way, I wonder what it would have been like if I had kept it this way. It would have killed me to write, but it would have hit everyone - me included - really hard. The three kids who had only had magic for two weeks, sacrificed all of it to save someone who wasn’t even truly a friend to them… I mean, wow, it would have really hurt and it would have been painful for the older group as well, as they knew they now had the kids’ magic with no way of returning it to its rightful owners. I kept going back and forth as to whether it was a goodidea to keep the kids as mages, but in the long run, what’s done is done… right?

(Part 3) Directly following the last part, we have this: 

"With that knowledge, we jump to them sitting around in Miles’ room, coming up with a plan. Vivien decides that Carrie, Miles, and Mick will keep crystals with them for protection - Malachite for protection from toxic energy, Smithsonite for bringing them back down to reality and granting the clarity they need to make tough decisions, and white Moonstone for full moon power."

As you can probably tell, I took this section and moved it to the second part as it felt more realistic that Vivien would have them take crystals from the shop. It also gave that sliver of friendship between Vivien and Mick, hinting that both of them want things to go back to how they were. Having it here sort of left things between them feeling flat and unnecessarily stiff whereas it felt more genuine putting it in an earlier section.

(Part 3) Something I don’t have any notes for, but remember writing down, was the idea of Serena taking Kona hostage after the scene in the woods goes south. I got rid of it early on as I felt Kona wouldn’t stand for that kind of thing and would be the most obnoxious hostage ever, pushing Serena to dispose of her when she’s driven her too far up the wall. Kona would be the biggest pain in the ass if she were ever kidnapped, and I love her for that.

(Part 3) When I started writing out the fight scene in the commons, a lot changed, but here is where I think things changed the most:

"As Serena makes her appearance, Kona turns herself invisible and begins taunting her, using her newfound abilities to keep the redhead at bay. It works for a while, but as the transfer nears completion, Serena gets desperate and sends a burst of magic around, knocking Kona to the ground. Royce opens his eyes as he hears the fight ending and looks at Carrie with wide eyes before telling her, “Behind you!” Unified by magic, the older trio turns their magic on Serena and, as the transfer completes, they lift into the sky and begin to fight her. In the middle of the fight, Miles sees the kids still stunned by their new abilities and gets Viv’s attention, telling her to get them out of there. Weakened, the young trio find Kona, stumble down the street to the safety of the nearby cemetery (Howard Street Cemetery), and surround themselves with heavy salt rings before collapsing in exhaustion."

Now, there are several parts of this that I broke off and worked on differently - Kona getting knocked out, Miles joining the fight immediately instead of checking on the kids, and the kids going to the cemetery instead of the Murphy family’s home. Kona getting knocked out changed when I realized that she could still work with the others as a distraction, a rune-maker, and someone who could help complete the circle for the exorcism/draining scene. She became more of a foreground character for that, and I like how it panned out. My decision to change Miles’ reaction to the kids was an easy one as I highly doubt he would have just up and left them to fight - he loves them far too much to do that. As for the cemetery thing, it was mainly going to be a callback to the Hocus Pocus movie, but I realized it would be much easier for them to run from the commons entrance to the already salt-protected house on Forrester Street than it would be for them to cross one of the busiest streets in Salem to get to a cemetery for the sake of hallowed ground.

(Part 3) Finally, the last thing I changed here was, well, this:

"When the kids awaken in the morning, they find themselves on air mattresses on the Murphy family’s living room floor. Serena, while grateful to finally have her mind back in order and no longer be possessed, is quick to leave, heading home after making sure to thank everyone for helping her and telling the others that she’d see them at school."

While I loved the idea of Serena knowing she had been possessed and admitting to it, my mom brought up the idea of her keeping it to herself as she didn’t want to sound like she’d lost her mind, and, honestly, I loved that even more. It is entirely up to you to decide whether or not she remembers everything as I made her brush it off as a bad dream and get kind of snippy and evasive over it, but that just felt like something Serena would do. It felt more like her to keep it inside for her own sake rather than admit she needed help and got it from the people she had abandoned for “greener pastures” with the popular squad. It would probably make her think a lot about whether or not she could actually consider the people she now kept close, “friends.” Also, just the idea of her having this internal, existential crisis over being possessed and everything she experienced while trapped inside her mind just made me laugh. 

Actual scenes that were inspired by movies/shows (spoilers, just in case):

Something about Vivien’s interaction with Carrie in the first part was inspired by George Weasley in this scene.

The part in the woods where they’re trying to drain Serena is inspired by this scene from WandaVision.

This scene from Avengers: Infinity War was what drove me to write the interactions in the commons the way I did. Initially, the transfer would have gone almost exactly like this, with everything falling apart around them and the older group having to fight while everything else was going on. It changed a bit, but I was very close to keeping things identical to this. I guess you could say I wanted them to suffer.

Again, I take a scene from WandaVision to show what I originally wanted the fight to end with. This would have been very different, obviously, but it would have caused a chain reaction that I wasn’t prepared for in the slightest, and I just didn’t go with it in the long run. (Kona would have taken on Wanda/Scarlet Witch’s lines and everything while Serena was Agatha Harkness)

Everyone's powers explained:

I know I went over it a little, but I wanted to sort of explain them a bit. The primary ones - Royce, Bentley, and Vivien - are the easiest to explain as they are the moon, sun, and stars respectively. Like in Magicae Maxima, their powers correspond with a color and, again, they are blue, yellow, and purple respectively. However, for the others, I figured I would explain a bit more as I didn’t go into it much in the story.

For starters, I always sort of imagined Kona as a comet - fiery and ready to blaze a trail, but still connected to the cosmos like the other kids. Her colors are a combination of pink and blue, the colors flowing from one to the other like a lava lamp as the heat comes and goes. The easiest to explain are Carrie, Mick, and Miles, who are fire, water, and lightning. Their magic sort of corresponds to the kids’ powers as well, just not the ones they took from. Carrie’s magic reminds me of the solar flares that arc off the sun, tying her abilities to Bentley. Miles’ lightning is quick and hot, like Vivien’s shooting stars, not to mention it flickers purple from time to time. Then, there’s Mick’s water-based magic, which is a direct representation of Royce’s moon abilities. The moon has a gravitational pull that affects the tide, linking her magic to his. As physical representations of the earth, the older trio have a direct link to each of the kids and their respective abilities, showing that the remnants of magic that remain in them after everything is done with the transfer, still have a connection to their origins.

As for the ones I touched on the least, Dorothea, Brady, and Tommy. As I already stated, Brady is a phoenix, Dorothea is a pegasus, and Tommy is a Cetus or a sea dragon. Again, their magic corresponds with the others, but their magic is different. As representations of mythical creatures, they have powers higher than the kids. Dorothea’s aura-reading, clairvoyance, and overall light magic give her a connection with Vivien and Miles; Brady’s heat, light, and fire generation powers give him tie-ins to Carrie, Bentley, and even Kona; and, even though we don’t see him, Tommy’s water manipulation and weather control abilities are a direct link to Royce and Mick. I sort of see this as an Avatar: The Last Airbender type of deal, where there are multiple facets of a person’s abilities, and they just have to find it in themselves to make things happen. The possibilities are endless, really; they just have to find that out for themselves.

Quotes:

(Mick)

*to Carrie or Miles, probably* "I used to think of myself one way. But, after this… I’m something else. I'm still me, I think. But... but that's not what everyone else sees."

“I know I'm here, but I still feel dead inside. I'm just- they-  even the people who say they care about me- I feel like I'm just a pinned butterfly to them now. They just want to put me under a microscope and learn about all my trauma.”

"Every night, the same dream, and every morning, the same nightmare."

“You may have ruined my past, but I won’t let you ruin my future.”

“I know what I’m like… and maybe that’s the issue here.”

“It will get better - maybe not today, maybe not in a week or so, but it will get better. I promise.”

(Serena)

*upon kidnapping Kona to see what she knew* “These are runes, and in a given space, only the witch that cast the runes can use her magic. Your powers are useless here."

"You break the rules of the universe and become the hero, but when I do it, I become the enemy.” *scoff* “That doesn't seem fair, does it?"

“You’re just a pawn - another way for me to get what I want. You’re disposable, kid; get used to it.”

*after being freed* “I want to thank you guys, but at the same time, I want to scream.” *sigh* “It’s been a long night.”

“I still feel it there, in the back of my mind. It’s like a part of me is back to being whatever I was before, but there’s this part of my brain that wants nothing more than to plunge a knife into your chest… I don’t feel like a good person anymore.”

(Kona)

“I’m a bad bitch, you can’t kill me!”

*after Serena divulges her plan to her like Doofenshmirtz to Perry the Platypus* “Look, I have an attention span the size of a Goldfish cracker, and your voice is obnoxious, so I tuned you out, like, ages ago.”

“Everyone’s pretty tired of your shit, Serena, and if I had to guess, you’d probably say the same if you weren’t possessed by such a dramatic bitch of a demon.”

“Remember how you described me as a pawn? Well, this is checkmate. This is it. This is the end. I suggest you resign while you still have the choice.”

(Royce)

“When is she not a total bitch?”

“Why do I feel like we’ve just opened Pandora’s box or something?”

“It feels like there's a hole where my magic used to be. It's like its been ripped out of my chest, and now I'm just left here, bleeding out... It's too warm.”

“After everything we’ve been through… it can’t be for nothing, can it?”

(Vivien)

“You’re not evil, you’re just a little fucked up in the head still, and that’s fine. I still love you.”

“If I had a nickel for every time I’ve seen a demon possess someone this year, I’d have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice, right?”

“If the demon learned how to drive in two weeks, I’m sure it could learn to parallel park if it actually gave a fuck.”

*typing in Google* “How to get a demon to teach you how to drive.” “Vivien, no!” “Well, if you won’t teach me, it will!”

(Bentley)

“How on earth did she eat the cafeteria food if she’s got dark magic in her? That stuff’s saltier than the ocean.”

“Maybe we can therapize her!” “Therapize?” “We can be her therapist.” “You want to play therapist for a literal demon?” *sigh* “I really need to start thinking things through before I say them, don’t I?”

“Can’t we just pour salt in her mouth or something?” (horrified looks from everyone in the room) “What? It’s a genuine question!”

(Misc.)

“She was your meat puppet, I just cut her strings.”

“Not my mother, you bitch!”

“The thing is, you're using words... but the thing about this world is that the only universal language is violence. And I know we've both spoken that language before.”

“You want to be the hero? Then die like one!”

“Please? For me?” “You can’t just say that. You know I’d give you the world if you asked for it.”

“You used me as a weapon. That's all I was to you. Not a friend, just a weapon for you to use and throw away when you’re sick of it. Well, guess what?! I'm choosing what I fight for now!”

Songs:

No Body, No Crime by Taylor Swift

I Know The End by Phoebe Bridgers

Everybody Wants to Rule the World

Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down) by Nancy Sinatra

Comfortably Numb by Pink Floyd

Burn The Witch by Shawn James

I know it's not a lot, and I'm very sorry I didn't have more; however, I really stuck close to my original ideas this time. I wish I had more to offer you, but I do hope that you enjoyed these little crumbs of ideas! I think, for a little while, I'm going to work on some one-shots to expand my characters' backgrounds a bit, but for now, I think I'm just going to play some games, maybe a little Minecraft or DBH, and then scroll mindlessly through Pinterest or TikTok for ideas. For now, however, I hope you have a great day and that everything is going well for you across the ocean! All the love!

[starrysmiling]

on fern and romance...

in one of the new scenes in steps v2, i have fresia tease fern about how they would be a great couple because of how comfortable he looks when he's with jax, and how he even willingly laughs and smiles, but fern argues that he doesn't like jax the same way:

...and it was really interesting to make this stand out while writing this scene, because there are several instances where i've made fern say that he's close with jax, he cares about him, or that he likes being around him:

at this point it was kinda a recurring joke between mage and i to say "and fern still says he doesn't like jax! even though he's like this with him!" but we dug a little into it, and it feels like we accidentally made all the clues point to one thing:

despite his observant nature and how much the reader can tell he obviously cares about jax, fern being unable to recognise his own feelings is because he only knows how to recognise signs of romance when they're physically expressed.

because, if you think about it, you don't really get to see the internal aspects of showing interest in someone when you observe other people. even in media, there's a lot of cases where you're shown physical external signs of attraction/romance, and that's why fern can recognise flirting, or how someone talks to someone they like, or the way jax looks at him like he deserves the world... that's exactly why he can tell that jax is in love with him, because jax wears his heart on his sleeve and is far too easy to read.

but he doesn't know any of the internal tells, which he's starting to show. and of course, fern doesn't express any of these physical signs, because he's a fucker who won't express vulnerability. this isn't really helped at all by the fact that fern doesn't have that many close friends to compare his relationships with, and that the line between the close friendship he has with jax and possible romance is very blurred, especially when he knows that jax is romantically interested in him.

it's only later (which i'll address in a different fic) that fern sorts out his feelings and what they mean, because at that point he's having a crisis over having kissed jax at the end of steps, knowing that it's a romantic gesture, knowing that jax took it as a reciprocation of his feelings, because he still doesn't think he likes jax but every fucking fibre of his body is screaming that he hates the idea of rejecting jax, for a multitude of reasons including that he doesn't want to see jax all broken up, he doesn't want to be the one who hurt him, and also his fear of abandonment is making him think that jax will just straight up cut him out of his life. and the conclusion he gets from that is that he wishes he was in love with jax, while being completely unaware that he's been walking down that path for a while now.

(which is funny, because afterwards, when he's finally sure that what he feels for jax is romantic love, he's down so bad that he's even worse than jax. fern loves and loves and loves and he cares so much but he just needs to recognise what it is.)

(one other thing i love about fern and his journey with romance is that he realises he loves jax when they're sitting together watching tv and he thinks that he likes it. that he could have more of this. that he is genuinely happy to sit next to jax and make snide comments about the shitty plotlines of tv dramas and maybe rest his cheek on jax's shoulder while he does so. jax gives him comfort and a space where he can shed himself of everything weighing on his shoulders while still being his rival and best friend and someone that fern respects with all his heart. it's no wonder that fern loves him so much.)

[redhoodinternaldialectical]

5, 16, 20?

Linking the original ask post cause it took some digging to find it again lol

Something you see in fics a lot and love:

B-boysss... kissing :3

lol okay uh the overwhelming majority of what I read is jaytim that's rated Explicit, so there's, ya'know, a lot of patterns in there that I've self selected for, but attempting to get into a more meaningful answer, I really like the way that fanfic repeatedly digs up old shit and uses it as a catalyst for characters to gain greater intimacy with each other. The constant reinvention and re-contextualization of Jason and Tim's various fights is neat to me

A tiny detail in canon that you want more people to appreciate:

Oooh I'm gonna throw up the post I already made about the guy Jason manipulated into playing puppet for him

But that feels like cheating so I also want people to appreciate the asymmetrical aspects of the OG spoiler outfit, because I adore it so. I am a SUCKER for shoulder pads/spikes and 80s asymmetrical outfits.

Your very first fandom:

That's... actually pretty hard to answer.

The first online community I truly got involved with is City of Heroes. Loved playing the game when it was live, and I role played in the Homecoming servers for fourteen hours a day, seven days a week, for about five years. I still play every once in a while too! If you see Dread Captain Bones, David Drakal, or Cowboy Cline around, those are me :3 The only issue I have with saying it's this one is that I'm not entirely sure this counts as a fandom?? It really is more a role playing community than anything like a fandom for the game itself, most people only very lightly engage with the setting and it's considered a tad crass to get any of the named canonical characters involved with your character's story lines.

We could very technically count Naruto simply because that was the first one I ever tried to find fanfic for but uhhhhh... I started with ff.net with a super dark E rated fic because I thought E meant for Everyone and bounced off it so hard. I'm very sorry geisha AU naru-sasu fic I read when I was like thirteen, I tried so hard to like you, but my PTSD was not having it lmao

There's also half decent arguments to be made for Marvel comics, Doctor Who, or Vampire the Masquerade simply because my parents are/were such massive nerds lmao

Both of them did a lot of LARP and one of my favorite pictures of my mom is her as either the Sheriff or the Prince of our city ripping someone's heart out via a sponge soaked with fake blood :3 so yeah I def grew up learning about the clans and the lore and such

And this is very much a Marvel household lol My parents used to do story time with me about the X-men, and like they are completely accepting of my metal head and queer stuff, but I feel like it hurts my dad's soul just a little bit that I ended up being so into DC and so uninterested in Marvel. Whenever we talk about some of my (not romance related) plotlines for my DC fics he'll substitute in vaguely equivalent Marvel characters because he simply cannot be asked to dedicate braincells to DC characters lmao

Me: "I'm really looking forwards to writing out how the super geniuses and stuff push the limits of what Jason and Tim did to the diseases."

My Dad, knowing FULL WELL that I am not including any Marvel characters in this fic: "Oh yeah, Reed Richards would go nuts trying to figure that shit out."

My dad also collected Doctor Who episodes, like the ones from 1963 all the way to modernity, I grew up watching the black and white stuff, and for sure tumblr did expose me to Superwholock, through I never felt like I was a part of that.

It might actually be DC comics itself that's my first fandom! I just never really interacted with any sort of online or fandom space directly until Boostle dragged me into DC fandom's sphere of influence.

Anyhow I hope my ramblings were interesting/entertaining and thank you muchly for the ask! :3

[laddersofsweetmisery]

The following is an essay I wrote on my relationship with my father. At the time of writing this, he was homeless and living in his truck. At the time of posting this, he has found a home, found someone to share his life with, and has recovered from his prior addictions. To see him happy warms me like nothing else. My father was never bad, only very very sad. I've loved him dearly through it all. Of all my traumas, having daddy issues isn't one of them. I've never known anyone kinder. His kindness is why it hurt so deeply when other men hurt and used me as I came into womanhood. I never expected it. I thought all men would be just as kind as my father. But I was duped and carved out. I suppose even being raised by good parents can scar you. Maybe none of us are really safe.

In honor of Father's Day, here's my little essay:

I have always shared various similarities with my father. We both enjoy documentaries about aliens, conspiracy theories, and historical events. He turns on a show about ghost stories and we will sit there together for hours watching one episode after the next, while he chokes down another Diet Mountain Dew and I giggle through another cheap bag of chips from K&M Market, a small corner store in Obetz, Ohio.

He even enjoys cartoons that are meant for younger children, as do I. The simple story lines keep us engaged, stimulated, and we cannot help but laugh at the antics of a simple-minded character. There was one time, not long ago, when he called me very late the night before an early exam just to tell me about the plot of a new cartoon he started watching, Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir. I, of course, did not mind as it makes my fluttering literary soul smile with the pride of a successful teacher when my father wants to share a plotline. This is because my father cannot read very well, and visual plotlines are as close as we can come together.

My father is not what I would call a scholar. Returning to plotlines, he was once retelling a Scooby Doo episode, saying excitedly, “The mystery plottens!” I stifled a response, after some questionable thought, “You mean, the plot thickens?” It was humorous, it makes me giggle just thinking about it, however, his response to me was peculiar. It was the kind of response I think more parents should put into practice. He did not scold me for correcting him as most insecure parents with substantial power do, rather he praised me with, “You are so smart. My baby is so smart. That is why you are in college. I tell everybody I see how proud I am of you.” Often, I see parents so riddled with pride that they chastise their children for these situations and corrections, when in reality they should be proud of their child for recognizing mistakes, asking questions, and learning. My father was always different. He did not care if I grew up to be smarter than him, or if I pointed out his mistakes. He held no shame, no embarrassment, and instead, encouraged me to constantly do better. Evidently, my father may not be the brightest, but he may very well be the kindest man I have ever known, or at least the most supportive. He supports my writing not by reading it, but by trusting that it is every bit as perfect and good as what he sees when he looks at me. In regards to similarities, I like to think I will be like him in that aspect if and when I have children of my own. We have a good relationship, I take care of him, teach him, love him, and we have our childish fun.

My father and I play video games together, as well. He yells at the graphics dancing in front of him, threatening to report the other players, as if they can hear him through the screen, and I trail along beside him trying to make up for his mishaps of missed ammunition and unchecked articles meant to help us understand the story. If I must admit, neither of us have very good aim. Every shot we take from the animated machine gun is chaotic and never calculated. We fire into the air hoping that the bullet will remarkably land on the other player, in hopes that they won’t have the opportunity to kill us first. We are both just shooting blind, hoping to survive.

My father has always played video games, as well as entertaining the various activities of cartoons and junk food that many children enjoy. Growing up, I would always beg for a turn, even at the young age of seven and eight, at the latest horror game in front of him. I liked the story lines they portrayed. They were always something unique – whether it involved a cult, alien invasion, or some other paranormal entity that sought only to create havoc for the character. I liked that there was a scarier reality out there, different from my own. It was comforting. Horror video games never disguised themselves as anything different, they were unapologetic in their scare tactics. The foggy haze hovering over the player’s world signaled that the environment was neither safe nor pleasant. You always knew you were somewhere scary and uncomfortable and that every door you opened could potentially lead to your ill demise.

Life is not the same as a video game. You can walk into a brightly lit room and unexpectedly greet a monster, whatever form they may appear in. You can be in a place that is seemingly safe and pleasant, while suffering greatly. Ordinary people can also be deceivingly monstrous. Horror games simply do not deceive you the same as reality. Rather in a game, there is always a lingering feeling of doubt when encountering an individual who later appears to be the villain, an initial layer of distrust. In reality, I can fully trust the people around me, while they plot ways to gobble me up. It is almost a complete shock when they turn on you. You want to trust the individuals in your life, you want to believe you are safe. Every sign points to this being a safe area and instead, you reach the same demise, but this time there was no foggy haze to warn you, no red flags. My father is also like that. There were not any red flags when he changed. One day we were playing Donkey Kong, the next I was pouring water over his head to keep him from overdosing.

My father and I love to escape reality. While he used to find solace in video games, he eventually found that same euphoric melody in charred spoons and used needles. It was not what I expected from him. While I knew he partied in his younger days, his persona was so childish and naïve. I never once thought he’d turn to something so vile. Then again, who am I to judge? I discovered vodka and acid around the same time my console stopped working - whether that be a coincidence is up to the reader’s decision.

I remember when my father told me that he could never imagine me getting married. Rather, he sees me graduating University then moving into his basement - a basement he no longer has because he is now homeless and living in his two-door, Clifford-red truck. A truck with no cable, no console, no distractions. Truthfully, he would be homeless with or without the drugs, his homelessness is merely circumstantial - a product of being dealt a bad hand. The drugs just make it harder to overcome. Where he used to laugh over plotlines, he now cries over the phone, lamenting about where it all went wrong. Was it the death of his mother, the burning down of his house, the abuse from others? Was it that while I could teach him, I could not protect him? As I said before he is not what I would call a scholar. He’s an impressionable individual looking for someone, anyone to guide him. Even if that anyone is a junkie off Parsons Avenue in Columbus, Ohio.

Our recent fallen graces and my yearning for the way things were leaves me questioning. Why did we love those video games? What did it give to us? What did it protect us from? NPC’s gave us company, someone to talk to, another voice to coat the aged white walls of an empty room. The immersive atmosphere left us in another world, another reality where responsibility faded away, a place where we could not notice the things crumbling around us. The stimulating visual on the screen in front of us held our focus long enough to shake the boredom, shake the passing of time.

They say I have my father’s eyes. They also say the eyes are the windows to the soul. Maybe that’s why I’ve been so sad recently. His sorrow was too strong to last for just one lifetime, it needed to seep into mine as well. Despite what some believe, I think sometimes it’s too late. Even in a video game, you eventually run out of health, out of lives. My father has very little left, but I am a little younger, a little smarter, a little less gone. I have a chance.

So maybe the vodka will make the time pass a little faster. Maybe the weed will take away the negativity in my reality. Maybe the sleeping pills will give me better dreams where there is always someone in the room with me. Maybe my psychiatrist will finally get the medication right. Maybe I will finally take my prescription regularly. Maybe I will actually go to therapy. Maybe it’s not too late to save myself, even if I cannot save my father.

Or maybe, I will just buy another console.

[lesbiansforboromir]

Just saw the post for the LOTR MMO, I remember watching a "Is It Still Worth Playing?" video a while back, and sadly it didn't got too much into the narratives. From your endorsement, it seems the writers had fun with making new lore. Any quests or moments that stuck out as particularly cool? I admit that bit about the Orc narrative sounded interesting.

Yes even though that video was pretty positive, it actually got a few things wrong and the fellow only played a little bit so he never grasped the massive scope of the game but OH LIKE... like there are so many, I'm going to summarise ones I remember just in a sentence to try and avoid spoilers but there are 1000 I have forgotten that were just as cool, this is in no particular order;

High elf intro; You experience the Last Alliance first hand, gain an emotional connection with a boss that is 100 levels in the future and take a nap.

Experience Arvedui's ghost and become involved in Lossoth politics.

Help the Chiefwatcher of Bree deal with those pesky Dunadain Rangers and realise why people don't trust them.

Literally every single aspect of Mordirith's plotline that I won't even spoil for you but that spans 130 levels and nearly your whole journey through Middle Earth and ends so fucking satisfyingly.

The instance where you play the breaking of the fellowship from both Boromir and Frodo's perspectives and how fucking heartbreaking it is.

Fight in the battle at the fords of the Isen and fucking cry when Theodred dies, truly an agonisingly heartbreaking one that one is too.

Literally just coming over the ridge and looking into Rivendell for the first time, the landscape is so beautifully crafted.

Experiencing the fall of Minas Tirith with Denethor, trust me okay it's so good.

THE BATTLE AT THE BLACK GATE HOOOLY SHIT

Being haunted by visions of Sauron as Annatar whilst you explore Eregion's ruins.

The way they make you fall in love with Forlong and his wife and the way he and Hirluin are old friends and just this achingly sweet moment before their deaths that again I won't spoil.

Walking into literally any of the meadhalls in Rohan they're all so unique and lovingly rendered.

Trying to break the blockade on Dol Amroth and advising Lothiriel in the defense of the city when her father and brothers are gone to war.

VIZNAK MY LITERAL GOBLIN CHILD he's literally- he's my friend it's- I can't talk about it I just love him.

Saruman at the auction and the whole plotline of trying to defend Dunlending communities from him and his servants.

The instance where an easterling 'enemy' challenges gondorian assumptions and defends his people with this chilling snapshot of what fighting Sauron had gotten them.

Finding the corpse of the fell beast in the brown lands!

Finding the corpse of the balrog on the slopes of Caradhras!

The little story about this poor hobbit fellow in yondershire who is trying to get over the death of his friend, it actually hit me so sweet and sad.

DIS aaa fuck I nearly forgot, just hearing Dis speak about her brother and the dwarven race's fate in general.

Just the entire Azanulbizar map and this sense that you're really helping in a proper war, watching the pyres of all the dwarves that died and Thrain's pain! The characterisation of every dwarf king!

The mysterious ghost town in the midst of southern mirkwood and trying to discover why they have been cursed.

Meeting an old dwarf named Atli Spiderbane when you're literally level 1 in Combe and meeting him again in Mordor and going with him to hunt shelob 115 levels later.

Travelling with a scholar throughout the vales of Anduin and learning all the created history for the northmen!

Meeting the lost community of hobbits in the Enedwaith!

OH Old Nar in the enedwaith, discovering his story and why he's up here.

The introduction to rohan where you know things will go badly but it still hurts anyway.

OH thE MYSTERY OF HYTBOLT, discovering who's behind it all and delving into how Theoden's illness and lack of leadership effected his people.

GOD GRIMBOLD and his marital issues... I can say no more.

Theodred sword!!! Eowyn and!!

Uniting the north downs and meeting Gildor Inglorion!

DISCOVERING WHAT THE WITCH KING'S THREAT OF 'THE HOUSES OF LAMENTATION' ACTUALLY MEANT.

Mordor Politics! All Sauron's servants are without a dad and it's absolute chaos, trying to coordinate with the Nurnoth and free them!

RECLAIMING GUNDABAD!!

Travelling with the rangers through Dunland to help them get to Aragorn in time and the absolutely brutal journey that is.

Falling for Denethor's sisters (me specific I just love them)

Eowyn's hilarious ability to camoflage herself so well even her fiance doesn't know it's her.

Exploring what elven friendship with mortals means and how they (don't) deal with it well in the Angle of Mitheithel.

Rangers and Dunlending racial tensions in Mithiethel too!

FIND OUT ALL ABOUT THE CURSE ISILDUR LAID UPON THE MOUNTAIN MEN, THAT SLAPPED FORREAL.

Entering the paths of the dead.

I have literally run out of time to keep typing there's so much more I just have DND but!!! aaahhh!! Cannot overemphasise the sheer size and scope of the game's narrative development for the books!

[overthinkingtaleblr]

What ideas do you have about cardboard Friend? do you believe that Barnacle and cbf are the same person?

My Cardboard Friend Headcanon Masterlist

(and the occasional guest headcanon for "Barnacle Boat")

Actually, anon, I don't normally consider Barnacle Boat and Cardboard Friend to even be aware of the other's existence, much less being the same person. I think that every trait they share is resultant of varying levels of coincidence. However, I am not opposed to considering that hc and considering what that would mean in conjunction to other headcanons of mine. My actual hcs for CBF are too complicated to summarize tbh.

Several dozen theories and headcanons under the cut!

I HC CBF as using it/its pronouns, if you're not comfortable with this I am very sorry.

Origins / Motives HCs

In order from least to most dangerous, and if something seems equally dangerous the less paranormal option will be listed first. I am not involved with nor do I use every headcanon I'm going to list here, but I like sharing everything that's crossed my mind in case someone else has an idea on what to build upon.

Least Dangerous - Cardboard Friend is the ghost of a child who just so happened to be around when Gregory was alone. In this headcanon, there is nothing dangerous about CBF at all, it's just a lost child looking for some kind of family and is not actively seeking Ghost, only recognized him. If I want to be soft with this option, I'd say that CBF recognizes T.Casket as their dad because T.Casket took in CBF before he died hoping to help the child move on. In this hc, Casket was always the dangerous aspect between Gregory and CBF's friendship. Ghost only associates CBF with the trauma of it so hard that he thinks CBF was the danger. CBF is terrified of Casket (to the point of screaming and running away), so perhaps in this hc, Casket is what killed T.Casket, and CBF is horrified of him. Can be solved through adoption and managing to convince it that Ghost is grown.

Less Dangerous - CBF is a ghost of a family member, one with history in the Casket Family and one who probably has a bone to pick with either T.Casket or Jimmy. This comes in two separate headcanons with incredibly different levels of danger, but this CBF has a problem with Casket and took Gregory to in some way protect him. This one is probably either a child, a sibling of Gregory's, or a caretaker of some kind and recognizes that there is something very wrong with Ghost after T.Casket dies. In fact, this CBF could be a memory of T.Casket living on, trying to recreate and find a safe environment for Ghost to grow up in, not realizing Ghost is grown, and unable to accept that he's changed. He doesn't mean any harm toward Ghost, but may cause an accident trying to get to Casket.

Questionably Dangerous - An incredibly complicated mixture - a clone (of a clone of a clone?) of Johnny Toast with very little of his own mind left, fused to a bunch of boxes after practically dying on them and being suddenly sent back in time. He's drawn toward Gregory like a moth to the flame because he recognizes his old friend. This would make CBF some kind of warped idea of a ghost, and I do think it actually lessens possible plotlines and creative ideas, but perhaps I'm only here for drama. In this headcanon, the most dangerous aspect is the lucidity of this version of Toast, and how he may end up being dangerous just because of how what he's been through has left him. Would he hurt Gregory without realizing it, or see hurting Gregory as a type of love, or not be dangerous at all? Depends on the author.

Unintentionally Dangerous - Created through an Ernest mistake haha... Seriously though, this hc is one of my current favorite ones: CBF is the result of Ghost's uncle Ernie (Ernest) playing with Ghost and giving him an imaginary friend, and as a result of this, it accidentally breathed life into CBF. I was going to rate this as less dangerous but between Melon Friend murdering Billy's dad and what I hc'd to be his uncle, and Lily Friend (I don't bring her up often but she's a robot who went on a murderous rampage as SOON as Billy decided they were besties) going on a murderous rampage as soon as Billy decided they were besties (I think I'm funny), I realized that Billy's friend system might be the problem, and depending on how obsessive CBF is over Gregory, it could be incredibly dangerous ESPECIALLY toward Gregory himself.

Intentionally Dangerous - CBF is a ghost of a family member, one with history in the Casket Family and one who probably has a bone to pick with either T.Casket or Jimmy. This comes in two separate headcanons with incredibly different levels of danger, but this CBF has a problem with T.Casket and is taking it out on Gregory since their actual target is dead. They are a vengeful spirit and want to see the poor guy suffer, even behind the not-very-scary outside :> demeanor. The more Ghost trusts his own reality, the better to this ghost. Can be solved with some kind of outside external help.

Danger through Memory - The first CBF with Gregory could be anything, but the CBF Ghost encountered years later is some kind of borderline parasite creature feeding off of one of Ghost's most deep-rooted fears, and Ghost being there was actually saving that couple from facing any of their own traumas since Ghost was the most interesting thing there.

Danger! Danger! Danger! - A demon that feeds on innocence or familial trust and latches onto people like parasites, this version would be what I headcanoned back when I was in middle school. This includes the demon having the ability to shape how the people perceive their own reality so it can insert itself into households. Since it sees Ghost as its brother (and a variety of other reasons) it can manipulate Ghost's mind and possibly physical age if it's given the trust. Even if left alone, it will proceed to insert itself into and kill other families around the world, and is drawn to tragedy like flies to carrion. It probably only found Gregory because it killed T.Casket when he tried to banish it, making it calling him its dad more of a mockery than anything. This thing is actively malicious toward Ghost and Gregory and is more interested in him because he's the victim that got away.

HHHHH - In the original video CBF appears in, at the end, it is said that CBF is a living old man who kidnapped Gregory. That is an uncomfortable dip into realism and depending on how severe you choose to make this background, I feel you would probably need to tag some kind of warning if you intend to write it. Since CBF is completely and undeniably a ghost by its next appearance, I find it perfectly fine to consider this point retconned.

But What is Barnacle Boat, Then?

I have my own independent headcanons for her so I’m not going too deep here. I want her to have her own Masterpost because I think she deserves it.

First point of note is that I generally consider BB to be a girl and use she/her for them, though I’m not opposed to considering they and it as well. In my headcanons, Barnacle Boat is Spooker’s older sister, Chakalata’s oldest child, and Poppy’s mother.

There is a video from awhile back where Papa goes to a hotel run by Chakalata, and someone with Spooker’s character model is there working for him. I don’t think they’re specifically named in the video, but it ends with them being almost point-blank nuked by Billy… I’ve decided that that is why she looks like that. Her whole family’s thing is incredibly complicated and deserves a masterpost of its own, but all you need to know is that she can’t die, so she can’t respawn, and she can get hurt. Being shot point-blank with a NUKE left her too hurt and radioactive to continue in “normal” society without putting people at risk, so her dad got her a job at Hell’s island… before it started collapsing in on itself.

How does she know Gregory then? Easy— through their parents.

BB, who I’ve dubbed Emerson or Emmie since I wanted her to have her own name, worked at her dad’s restaurant before Gregory was taken by CBF, and got to know the family pretty well before she set off on her own to try to start her own family and stuff. Chakalata and T.Casket were pretty tight before things broke down and imploded. She was never told about what happened since it wasn’t any of her business, but managed to figure out where she knew Ghost from while showing him around Hell’s Island, assuming he was only going by Ghost because of some weird ‘trick the ghosts into thinking you’re someone else’ plot or something… but JGS was the one who wound up banishing her father, so her ignoring his preferred name for a short time was less of a personal slight and more her not realizing it wasn’t just a nickname he liked a lot.

“Wouldn’t Spooker also know Ghost as Gregory?” They were both really young (Spooker is only a little older than Ghost in my canon), Spooks has no reason to connect the two in his head, and in my universe Spooks spent basically all his time with his mom when his parents got divorced, which is why Spooker didn’t get banished like his dad and niece. long story short— Spooker knew Gregory but probably barely remembers him and has no idea he and Ghost have any affiliation… let alone that they’re the same person.

Okay, done with her for now ^^

Back to the boxes.

General Headcanons

Food - Cardboard Friend cannot eat, it cannot experience life the same way a living person can (unless it's a headcanon where it's alive), but it does have a favorite food: Sandwiches. Not because it actually likes sandwiches, but because Gregory did. If it is a really touchy innocent specter, they just want to get closer to its.. buddy. If it's a demon, it's using the lure of sounding 'human' to lull people into a false sense of security.

Phobias - Ghost gets a couple of fears from CBF, but whether we make this innocent or not depends on the person. Personally, I think CBF was scared of birds, and instilled a similar fear in Gregory. However Ghost is also scared of old men. Once again: give a warning if you intend to follow that plotline to its conclusion.

Family? - In my headcanons, CBF is one of a kind, and there is nothing else like it in the manner of a species. It may see itself as a human and is actively seeking anything familiar to it just for the comfort of company. Unless it's a demon or living person/ghost, then it's one of those.

Education - I think part of why Ghost can't read is CBF having an actual stunting effect on him in wanting him to stay with him. I think CBF can't read, can't write, can only really talk because Gregory can. There is a chance the pair is inherently linked.

Relationship Headcanons