#and sold a plot to my aunt and uncle

[delicatefury]

A mile away is nothing. If we’re talking “as the crow flies” it’s still hardly anything. Especially if you have a 4x4 and you own the property between you and your neighbor.

40 minutes to the grocery store’s a bit far, but doable. Just have to meal plan.

just another silly poll from me, a guy who makes silly polls. this one isn't deep, I'm just curious :P

[reccyls]

Victor's Main Route: Blind Love Chapter 24 + Premium Attire Story

< Previous Chapter | Masterlist | Next Chapter >

Our next stop was Victor’s uncle’s villa. It was just a short distance from the lake, and due to the fact that it was quite far from the village, there were no other buildings nearby. The villa stood alone.

Victor: It’s been a very long time since I was back here.

His voice was full of nostalgia as he spoke.

Kate: Has anyone lived here after your uncle died?

Victor: After my uncle died, his wife had sold it. So no one is supposed to have lived here.

(‘Supposed to’...?)

I didn’t think that sold off properties would be cared for properly. However, the villa wasn’t completely broken down, and it appeared that its owner had done some basic maintenance on it.

Victor: After my uncle died, she decided to return to the country where she grew up. Victor: They never had any children, so she sold her possessions to start a new life in her home country.

The villa was unlocked, and the double doors swung open easily as Victor gave them a push. The empty, tranquil foyer was decorated mainly in deep green.

Victor: You probably have some thoughts otherwise, but this mansion is normally empty.

Following behind Victor, I climbed up the stairs to the second floor.

Kate: …But that isn’t the case now, is it?

Victor: That’s right.

Victor: We’re going to condemn the last person involved in this mess.

I remembered what Victor said last night and braced myself.

(That means that the person we’re looking for is here?)

Victor didn’t miss how my hands tightened around the strap of my bag.

Victor: Don’t worry. I won’t let anyone lay a finger on you.

Kate: Victor…

Victor: I just want you here to witness everything.

And then, he came to a stop in front of a door.

Victor: This is something only you can do.

Beyond the door was a desolate room.

The wallpaper was peeling, pictures hanging on the wall were hanging askew, and the floorboards had changed color. In contrast to the well-kept exterior of the villa, this room looked like it had been deliberately left a mess. As I heard a creaking, metallic sound, I whipped my head up to look for its source. At the very edge of the room, as the wind blew through tattered curtains, I saw a man in a wheelchair. The man’s long hair was tied in a single ponytail that swayed to the wind.

Victor: …Here you are, co-conspirator of the Privy Council Lord President and leader of Nox Liberator… Ben Brown.

The man slowly turned, his long black hair almost identical to Victor’s.

Victor: I am here to mete out your punishment.

(What is going on…?)

The man named Ben’s hair, though not as glossy as Victor’s, was very similar. His features, set in a gaunt, sharp face, resembled Victor’s as well. I was so stunned I forgot how to speak for a moment.

Ben: …And so the madman arrives.

He wheeled himself closer. Victor’s expression didn’t change.

Victor: Ben Brown. You have plotted to overthrow the state, mobilizing Nox Liberator, and led to the deaths and injuries of countless innocents. Victor: Your actions are completely unacceptable.

Ben looked downwards and said nothing for a moment. But then–

Ben: Ahahaha! Hahaha! You dare to say that to me, Queen Victoria!?

He suddenly burst into laughter, as if his body was unable to contain his mirth.

(He knows that Victor is Queen Victoria!?)

As I continued to stare at the cackling man, he looked towards me and our eyes met.

Ben: And is that woman your next victim? Poor thing. You spun her a tale like you usually do and now she’s ready to give up her life for you.

(What!)

Before I could retort, Victor put his hand on my shoulder.

Victor: I am not going to kill her. I’m not like you.

Ben: Hah! Hey, woman. He killed my father, you know. Ben: It’s because of him that all of the royal family killed themselves.

(His father…)

I briefly glanced at Victor, who glared at Ben before speaking.

Victor: This man is my uncle’s illegitimate child.

Kate: What…?

Victor: …My uncle and aunt could not have children. Victor: Though people around them insisted that a wife who could not bear children had no value, the two of them had chosen to stay together.  Victor: They believed that someday, they would have a child. Victor: But my uncle struggled to deal with the pressure, and one night, he visited a prostitute.

Ben: And so I was born.

Ben’s words brought me back to reality.

(So the resemblance is because they are related by blood.)

Ben: Because she had given him a child with royal blood, my mother approached my father to try and get him to divorce his wife. Ben: She told him there was no point in having a barren wife. But he refused the divorce.

There was no chance that he would divorce a woman of high enough status to marry into the royal family in the first place and take someone else for a wife.

(Especially since it was just the result of one night…)

I felt a little sorry for Ben’s mother.

Victor: But my uncle did as much as he could to support you and your mother, did he not?

Kate: !

I looked up when Victor spoke.

Victor: He could not bring her into the royal family, but he sent her enough funds that she would have no issues supporting both herself and you. Victor: I found records of the transaction in his room after his death.

Ben almost laughed himself sick.

Ben: You really don’t know anything, do you?

Victor: …What do you mean?

Ben: This is why I hate nobles like you. You have no idea how us commoners live.

Ben rested his chin on his hand like he was mocking Victor.

Ben: What do you think a woman poor enough to become a prostitute would do if she was given so much money?

He lifted one hand and counted off as he spoke.

Ben: Frivolous expenses, fooling around with men, wasting it in scams. Ben: She was only ever after money, that’s why she tried to get me into the royal family in the first place. My father must have known what she’d do with it.

(That’s…)

The past that Ben told us was a tragic one.

His mother had demanded that Ben’s father divorce his wife. And when it became clear that he would not, nor would Ben get access to the inheritance that came with royalty, she had demanded exorbitant amounts of money from his father. Regardless of the fact that Ben was the result of a single night’s mistake, Victor’s uncle did not want him to endure any hardship. He gave her enough money to easily support the both of them, and even bought them a house. (But Ben’s mother spent all of the money.) She even had to sell the house when she ran out, to continue funding her lavish spending. Ben had been forced into becoming the guarantor for his mother’s debts, and wrote a letter to his father asking for help. But no response arrived. Instead, he only received a notice of his father’s death, and that all of his father’s assets had been left to his wife. Ben thought that he had a right to at least some of them, so he filed a formal request. But although his father had supported Ben, he had never officially claimed Ben as his son. His wife wouldn’t have been able to easily accept a child born between her husband and a prostitute. Ben’s request was denied as there was no money to give to an illegitimate child, and from then on, his life turned even more hellish. Since he was the guarantor for his mother’s debts, he worked day after day without rest to earn enough money to pay them back. Over time, that took a toll on his body. And when he fell ill, there was no money to see a doctor, so things continued to the point where his legs were damaged badly enough he could no longer walk. Unable to find work, he stopped being able to make payments on the debt, earning him a violent visit from the lenders. Death seemed to be his last escape. But what came to greet him was… Ben: The leader of the Privy Council. The council leader had discovered that Ben had blood ties to the royal family, and reached out to him. Ben was desperate enough to do anything to escape his situation, and so he agreed to work with the council leader. Introduced to Nox Liberator, Ben began working with them. But as Nox Liberator’s activities began, he wondered about one thing: There was no such woman named Victoria in the royal family. But then he remembered something. A name mentioned in a letter that his father had written. Ben: “There’s someone here about your age who I’d like to introduce to you someday.” Ben: “His name is Victor, a young man with beautiful hair as black as night.” There was no one who knew the queen’s true face, that she kept hidden behind a veil. Ben learned through his sources that there was one person in the world who seemed familiar with the queen: her personal aide, Victor. As he continued his research, he also heard about Cursed Ones through the council leader, and learned about Crown’s existence. After deeper investigation into Victor, Ben found out about Victor’s ability. He realized that the reason his comrades had killed themselves while appearing overjoyed must have been because of Victor’s ability. And he sent his subordinates to find out about his father’s last moments from his former wife, who had since returned to her home country. From that, he learned that the last thing his father had done was go to speak with Victor. And the next time anyone saw him, he had a look of intense joy on his face with his hands wrapped around his own neck.

Ben: Our country’s ruler is someone who secretly killed most of the royal family, and disguises his identity? Ben: Don’t make me laugh. Someone like you doesn’t deserve to be on the throne!

Ben cast out his arms with a twisted grin.

Ben: Did you want to become king that badly? You wanted it so much that you lied to everyone and killed your entire family? Ben: It’s all because of you that so much suffering happened. If it wasn’t for you, I’d never have gone through everything I did. Ben: You’re a murderer and you’re allowed to be royalty, while I’m denied the same right even though I also have royal blood. Ben: What makes you so much better than me?

Something felt off about Ben’s words, even as he continued to raise his voice while trembling with emotion.

Ben: You’re nothing more than a reaper who only brings destruction to everyone!! Ben: You don’t deserve the throne!!

Victor said nothing.

He simply looked resigned, unable to refute what Ben had said.

Kate: …You’re wrong.

I couldn’t stop myself.

You don’t know anything. (+2/+4)

You’re wrong!

Don’t say things like that.

Kate: You don’t know anything, so stop running your mouth! Kate: You have no idea of what burdens he has to bear! Kate: You have no idea how much he cherishes this country, how much he sacrificed himself for everyone else’s sake. Kate: You don’t know a single thing!

My hands were curled into fists as I yelled. I knew how much Victor cared, so I couldn’t hold back any longer.

Kate: Your life has been more painful than I can imagine. Kate: But you aren’t the only person in this world who has gone through suffering, whether in the same form or a different one. Kate: Instead of lying to others, ordering people around, or encouraging violence, Kate: Have you ever worked for the sake of someone other than yourself?

Ben: Look at me, what do you think?

Kate: Everyone has something they can do, regardless of the condition of their body, don’t you think?

Ben’s expression twisted sharply.

Ben: An illegitimate child is still royal. I’m different than others. Getting my hands dirty is beneath me.

I finally put a finger on why I felt so uncomfortable with Ben’s insistence on lineage.

(In the end, he even looks down on his comrades in Nox Liberator.)

Ben spoke of moral causes, but it all boiled down to the fact that he was jealous of Victor and had a grudge. He worked with Nox Liberator not because of any shared ideology, but simply because their interests aligned.

Kate: Victor chooses to dirty his hands. And no matter how heavy his burdens are, he always acts cheerful. Kate: You have no right to erase the work he’s done!

In the blink of an eye, Ben pulled out a gun and aimed it at me. But–

Ben: Argh!

Victor: That is enough.

Victor instantly grabbed the hand holding onto the gun and twisted it aside. The gun clattered to the floor a distance away from them.

Victor: I have resolved to wear the crown of thorns, regardless of the envy or mockery aimed my way.

Victor began to speak.

Victor: For the country, for everyone living within its borders, and for the happiness of those who will live in the future I will create, Victor: I will continue on as I have always done, giving myself up and bloodying my hands for the sake of the country. Victor: We stand in different positions.

Victor let go of Ben’s hand and looked down on him.

Victor: I have resolved to die for this country.

He briefly looked towards me, gave me a reassuring smile, and then nodded. Following his signal, I picked up the gun and left the room. The sunlight streaming in through the hallway windows was now a dark orange. The lake outside reflected a brilliant sunset. As I reached the end of the hallway, I heard the sound of something falling from the room I had just left. I knew what that meant, and closed my eyes. Only when I heard footsteps stopping right next to me did I open them again. Turning around, I saw the sunset reflected in Victor’s eyes. He had a regretful smile on his face.

Victor: …Shall we go home?

Instead of replying, I took his hand and held it tight.

Premium Attire Story: The Night Before the Promise

It was already night by the time we arrived in London. Since leaving the villa, we had barely spoken to each other. I just kept holding tightly to his hand, reassuring him that I was by his side. The Thames was illuminated by a thin sliver of moon.

(It’s almost the new moon…)

What did the moon look like on the night that changed my life? Back then, checking the moon hadn’t been my top priority.

(It was probably the pale glow of an almost new moon.)

Realizing that the promised day was fast approaching, I looked up and stared into the sky while I walked.

Victor: Kate.

I turned to look at Victor. He raised our joined hands and laughed lightly.

Victor: If you don’t mind, why don’t we take a little detour before returning?

Kate: Sure, but where to?

…

He led us to the church of our memories. Just like a few days ago, he sat down on one of the benches and urged me to sit as well. The moonlight trickling in through the stained glass illuminated us.

Victor: …The mastermind behind the terrorism incidents has now been condemned. Victor: But someday, similar incidents may occur again.

Victor: People’s wills are lingering things. As long as there are successors to take up the mantle, one man’s will can live on for eternity.

Even without a leader, and with Nox Liberator controlled, evil could not be eradicated so easily. It seemed inevitable that smoldering embers would once again erupt into flame.

(But…)

Kate: Just like you said before, I believe that someone’s will won’t ever truly disappear. Kate: But it will take time to reignite, just like it took time for England to become known as the country where the sun never sets. Kate: People’s lives will slowly improve, and the smaller injustices will be weeded out one by one. Kate: And I think the discontent of the people will lessen.

There were no certainties about the unseen future. But there was something I could believe in.

Kate: I believe that you can make that future a reality.

Victor: !

Kate: I’ve been watching you for the past month, closer to you than anyone else. Kate: And what I’ve seen tells me that you are someone who believes that your dreams of the future will someday come to pass. Kate: It tells me that you are a wonderful ruler, because you are a wonderful person.

His eyes were wide, his entire expression fragile as if he were about to start tearing up.

Kate: Ah-!

He hugged me tightly.

Victor: …You’re always like this.

Kate: Victor?

He pressed his forehead into my shoulder. His hair tickled my cheek, and I could smell his night-like scent. Though his arms were gripping me tightly, I felt no pain. Only comfort.

Victor: You always say the words I’ve never heard from anyone else before. The words I’ve always wanted to hear. Victor: You say them so easily.

Moonlight reflected off his jewel-like eyes that peeked through his long eyelashes. I was captivated. I placed my hand on his cheek as I looked into his eyes, and our lips drifted closer.

(Oh…)

He kissed me. I felt something soft being pressed against my cheek and my eyes fluttered shut.

Kate: Mm…

My eyelids, the tip of my nose, my ears, my neck, my throat, my hair. The sound of kissing met my ears every time he pressed his lips to each location. I couldn’t help but giggle at the ticklish sensation, and after the last kiss fell on my forehead like a blessing, I opened my eyes. All I could see was Victor, not the church behind him, or the moonlight streaming in from above. I couldn’t take my eyes off him, the way his long black hair flowed like silk.

Victor: …Face here.

I followed his instructions and looked directly towards him. His lips descended closer and closer, to the one place they had not yet touched. I had been waiting for this for so long, and my heartbeat spiked. I was just about to close my eyes again… …But he stopped, and pulled back just before our lips touched.

Kate: Victor…?

I was filled with disappointment, and tried to chase his lips with mine. But he put a finger on my lips, and sighed.

Kate: Victor, I–

(I love you. I love you so much.)

The more he gave, the more I loved him. This love that seemed so impossible was right before my eyes now, and I realized I didn’t want to let it pass me by.

Victor: I need to tell you something.

He pulled back from me, interrupting what I was about to say. Something seemed slightly different about him now.

Victor: I had said that I would tell you everything, but there is one thing I haven’t mentioned yet.

Kate: What?

He stood up and approached the altar, gazing at the statue there.

Victor: It is about my curse.

In the middle of the destroyed church, he seemed ethereal, otherworldly.

Victor: You know my ability.

Kate: …You can make people obsessed with you, and to compel people to kill themselves while feeling happiness.

By order of the king, those who have lost their minds to Victor’s curse happily strangled themselves. It was an ability that had never been recorded before, and why he was called the Reaper.

Victor: But you don’t know yet what my ultimate fate is.

All Cursed Ones would meet a predetermined end. Just like a fairytale, there was no changing their fate.

(Everyone in Crown has an unchangeable destiny.)

I didn’t know them in any detail, but I was sure they weren’t happy ones.

Victor: I am likely the first person in all of history to have this curse. So there is no way to know for certain what my destiny will be. Victor: But in my heart, I know what it is.

Victor turned and began walking straight towards me.

Victor: I am fated to lead those I love to destruction.

His words lingered heavily in the air.

Victor: Though I never intended it, I brought ruin to my beloved family and killed them all. Victor: I destroy people. The more I love them, the worse their ends will be.

I was speechless.

Victor: If you take my hand, there is no salvation. There is only a path to destruction. Victor: Even if you do nothing wrong, you will be scorned, you will be condemned. Victor: Your death will be silent, unseen and unacknowledged. You will disappear into the darkness. Victor: Even if that weren’t the case, you will never be able to experience the life and the happiness you should have.

As he spilled out the last of his secrets to me, I bit my lip.

(This is why he never accepted my feelings. He had always known this.)

Again, it was surely an act of kindness to tell me this now.

If I took his hand now, I would never be able to turn away from the ruin that would be lurking in my future. In the end, all that would be left of me was a forgotten smear in the darkness of history.

(But I’ve made up my mind long ago.)

Victor: I will wait until tomorrow.

I looked up in surprise to see Victor walk past me, headed for the exit.

Victor: If you want to return to your old life, I won’t stop you. Victor: Only you can decide what you want to do.

(He said all that because he’s worried about me.)

I wouldn’t throw that worry in his face. I resolved to think carefully, and then give him my answer properly tomorrow. That was the most sincere thing I could do for him.

…

When we returned to Crown Castle, the sky was full of stars and the new moon. And… It was the night before the promised day.

[luckydragon10]

Man Suang Character List

So, one of the challenges with Man Suang is... who's who?

On my second watch, I slowed down and captured names. Following is a list of named characters with brief summaries, as well as notes about their interpersonal relationships.

*** MAJOR SPOILERS ahead, as well as mentions of violence ***

I've divided these into three groups, and each group is in alphabetical order. I also attempted to include titles/labels that were used for the characters.

~~~

MAIN CAST

Chatra: (Called Khun Luang by Khem at the end of the film.) Was supposedly at Man Suang looking for his family’s treasure map. However, he was actually investigating the imported weapons and his father’s involvement in the weapons deal. He began a spying partnership with Khem. He told Khem he was from Songkhla.

Hong (Young Master/Master): Younger Master of Man Suang. He faked his own death to avoid being assassinated by Tiang. Son of Cheng.

Khem: Dancer. Friends with Wan. Forced by circumstances to become a spy and dancer at Man Suang. Was raised by monks. He’s from Paet Riu.

Wan: (Deceased) Dancer. Friends with Khem. Forced by circumstances to become a spy and dancer at Man Suang. Experienced PTSD related to the death of his sister, Waen. Wan was killed by Khem to prevent him from burning down Man Suang.

~~~

MAJOR POLITICAL PLAYERS

Phraya Bodisorn: Gave Khem and Chat the mission to find the secret documents to prove Wichiendej and Cheng were trafficking weapons for rebellion. Also is dealing arms with Europe himself. Uncle to Muen Kijraksa.

Tiang: (Deceased) Son of Cheng’s friend/business partner and sworn brother. He referred to Cheng as Uncle. Served Wichiendej. Plotted to kill Hong. Took over Man Suang after Hong faked his death. Killed Cheng. Was killed by Hong for murdering Hong’s father Cheng.

Suthinborirak (Khun): (Deceased) (Shortened name “Khun Suthin” was also used.) Registrar for the Harbor Department. He was a broker negotiating for arms dealers. Was referred to as “European dealers’ henchmen.” Turned up dead outside of Man Suang. Father to Chatra.

Wichiendej (Phraya): (Shortened name “Wichien” was also used.) Lord/leader of the Harbor Department. Supposedly working with Cheng to traffic weapons from Europe.

~~~

MINOR CAST

Cheng: (Deceased) Owner of Man Suang. Stored weapons for Wichiendej but did not want to take part in planning war/rebellion. Built Man Suang to be a paradise. Was in the process of returning the weapons to Wichien. Assassinated by Tiang.

Erb (Aunt): Saw Khun Suthin the night he died and claimed he spoke with a tall person.

Jaeng: Escorted Khem and Wan into Man Suang and reminded them of their mission.

Joo (Aunt): One of the aunties at Man Suang. Got bitten by the parrot when feeding it.

Jun: Harassed a female prostitute and got scolded by Hong and his master, Phraya Wichiendej.

Muen Kijraksa: (Deceased) Assassinated while in the midst of a private tryst with Khem. Nephew to Phraya Bodisorn.

Phikul (Madam): Man Suang dance troupe leader/instructor.

Phit (Aunt): Saw Khun Suthin the night he died and claimed he bent down and talked with a child.

Ruang: Chatra’s cat, later given to Khem.

Thiang: (Note: Not to be confused with Tiang.) Member of Man Suang. Picked fights with Khem.

Thongmak (Uncle): An older member of Man Suang. Married to one of the aunties of Man Suang. Saw Khun Suthinborirak the night he died by looking in the reflection of a halberd.

Tua Hia: (Not a person.) A gang association of Chinese members.

Tubtim: Head/lead prostitute at Man Suang. Inherited wealth from her late husband. Was sold to Khun Phra as a mistress. (It's unclear whether Khun Phra was the same aforementioned husband.)

Waen: (Deceased) Was Wan’s sister. Was raped and killed, allegedly by Chinese immigrants.

Yuean (Aunt): One of the aunties of Man Suang. Claimed she saw a ghost wearing a red breast cloth who spoke with Khun Suthinborirak.

[call-me-strega]

Ghost Selkie AU Tidbit: Abuela Soliña

I’m still playing with my Ghost Selkie Au, tossing it around like a cat toy trying to decide if and how to write it and one figure that I’ve kinda developed a backstory for is Abuela Soliña. Now said backstory may never see the light of day in the the main story so I thought this’d be a fun tidbit to throw out while I’m still considering the main story overall.

Okay so my inspo for Abuela Soliña, or Señora Mariana Soliña, actually came from a couple of different sources. I took some of the general headcanon from the DCU; Crime Alley has a large population of people of color, specifically Hispanic in the area Jason lived; that Jason has Hispanic heritage; that some of the older women in the alley occasionally feed street kids; and took them to create a person that would be a maternal figure for Jason bc I’m all for giving him Good Adult Influences.

She functions a bit as a plot device taking up the role of Jason’s magical mentor and helps move the story along. However, I wanted to give her more depth so I based her off an actual figure in Spanish history. Once I had decided a witch was the best magical figure to live in Gotham and guide Jason I actually did a bit of research on famous Brujas in folklore and came across María Soliña/Soliño a famous witch from Galicia who inspired the women of her village to fend off Ottoman raiders and survived the Spanish Inquisition without being burned at the stake. She was the main inspiration and namesake of Abuela Mariana Soliña. She did have children, though not much is known about them, so I wanted it to be implied that Mariana was a descendant of María. I wanna say I’m placing her around age 50 when she first met Jason and 65-ish(?) when he returned to Gotham.

Anyways, like I said I didn’t want her to remain a plot device and actually have depth so I kinda started building a backstory for her. Her grandparents or parents were likely immigrants who moved to Gotham from Galicia, Spain back when the city was younger. Back then the different magical communities were a bit more segregated. Vampires stayed clans with vamp doctors and leaders, gargoyles in their own community, fae in their courts, etc., but she did let that stop her. She was always deeply involved in the inter-magical community and was a central figure due to her interest in learning other supernatural cultures of the city.

She eventually grew up to be a full-fledged bruja who sold her magical remedies, charms, potions, etc to any supernatural being willing to pay her. This actually helped her amass a large amount of wealth quickly, especially when her charms, totems, and remedies caught the eyes of superstitious crime bosses across the city. She always insisted to cover her face with a shawl to protect her anonymity and had several mob bosses sign magical contracts agreeing to protect her and her rights to do business thus making her virtually untouchable in the Alley.

I wanted her to be a very strong influence on Jason. She is very strong, sassy, confident, clever, and street smart and taught Jason some of those traits. She actually meets Jason through Catherine. Mariana had many close friends with children though she herself never married. Catherine was actually the daughter of one of her close friends and Mariana was like an aunt to her. When her friend died and Catherine was left on the streets Mariana did what she could but her fear and unreadiness for motherhood held her back.

Catherine was taken in by her uncle’s family and the two were estranged for a time. In that time she falls into addiction due to her uncles on involvement in drug running as well as bad peer influences. She reunites with her Tía Mariana when she marries Willis and reaches out to invite her to the wedding. Even though they are no longer very close, after Catherine becomes pregnant Mariana offers to help out when she can. She lives in a different (read: magical) part of the Alley so she only sees Jason occasionally but makes a point to feed him, and when he discovers her secret, to teach him some basics of the supernatural world to help him get by.

After Catherine’s death Abuela Soliña is distraught. She offers Jason a hot meal and some money she had set aside (Catherine’s old college fund she never got a chance to use) but hesitated to offer a place in her home so soon after the loss. Jason sees her grief and hesitation, mistakenly assuming it’s unwillingness to deal with him full time and runs off. She tries to invite him back a couple of times but he mistakes it as one off events and remains a street kid until Bruce adopts him.

He still occasionally goes back to the Alley to visit her after that, usually as Robin. The first time he went to let her know he was okay she immediately clocked him as Jason but wished him well with Bruce. When he visits she still feeds him and gives him luck and protection charms to help with crime fighting. (Side Note: on one of his visits Jason finds out the Alfred and Mariana know each other and Have Met Before™️. Neither explains how or why)

When Jason dies Mariana grieves him deeply. When he comes back as a revenant she is both relieved and guilty. She’s happy to have the boy back but a revenant’s existence is not a peaceful one. When he searches her up and comes to see her he looks like he’s survived hell and back and he probably has. He seek out her guidance and help and this time Abuela Soliña is more than willing to pass on her vast wealth of knowledge of the supernatural community and its cultures to Jason.

One of the biggest two regrets Mariana holds with her is not adopting Catherine or Jason when they were at their lowest and she had the chance. That’s why as Jason’s rage cools and he begins looking to return to a (semi-)normal life she offers to adopt him as her grandson for real this time. She has a friend who owes her a favor and can fabricate the paper work to turn Jason Peter Todd into Jason “Pedro” Solina (and his mother posthumously Catherine Soliña-Todd). She offers to officially make him her little witchling and he emotionally accepts.

Mariana is still an active and well-known figure in Gotham’s underworld and supernatural community so having her backing gives Red Hood a lot of pull and credibility. Plus his revenant titles increase his claim to fame in the magical community. Red Hood is well loved and “Pedro” is well accepted with in the community. He’s kind of a public figure, bordering minor celebrity due to his connection to famous Bruja and witch doctor, Mariana Soliña. Not that he is aware of that fact.

Lastly I’m gonna tack on some nicknames Jason receives pertaining to his connection with Señora Soliña:

Soliña’s boy (el chico de Soliña)

Little witchling

Pequeño niño brujo or pequeño brujo (little witch boy)

Young brujo

El neito guapo (the handsome grandson)

Alborotador (troublemaker)

Heredero (heir/inheritor, referring to Mariana’s kowledge, wealth, and position in the community)

(P.S I tried my hand at drawing what I think Abuela Soliña would look like but I’m not super confident in it. I think I’m a better writer than drawer, but if you guys actually wanna see the drawing anyway let me know and I’ll make another post with it)

[sarah-sandwich-writes]

for the title ask game: We Were Gods (we were kids)

I want to hear more about that one, that's a riveting title! :eyes:

Ahhh yes, so originally this fic was inspired by the song Battle Cries by The Amazing Devil. It's a duet and like a divorce song? "This isn't a break-up, dearheart, it's a season finale!" I got the title from the lyrics where one part sings the line "We were gods" and then the other part echoes it with "We were kids" and that's just *chefs kiss* perfect fanfic title thank you TAD <333

The premise was childhood friends to estranged almost lovers to supers fighting on opposite sides to reluctant allies to (finally) lovers. And it was going to be a parkner fic (peter parker/harley keener). It was going to be an epic slow burn spanning nearly their whole lives.

Then I thought why not pry it out of its fanfic foundation and stand it on its own as an original concept? Harley is essentially my OC and Peter could be shaped into an OC too and the plot I had in mind had hardly any of the source material in it so why not? I'd just tweak some names, create my own super powers and aliens and then boom! Book!

Didn't work 🙃 I wrote a 110k draft and got to the end and was like wow this sucks. I half-assed the world building and tried to hang onto plot devices that just don't work outside the mcu (they don't even work within the mcu but I digress) SO now we're back to square one: making it a fanfic. Except it's not really square one because I have 110k that I need to snip and prune and repot back into a fic.

Actually it's more like 85k bc I have to re-write the beginning since I ended up keeping that part for my book, but the rest just needs reworked into something I like with the characters that we know and love plugged back in. It's going to be a massive revision project but not any more difficult than writing the thing lol

But anyway! It's going to feature super villain!Harley which I am very excited about. He is sooooo tortured in this one and Peter has the shittest luck in the whole world <333

I don't have a good excerpt to share so here is the high-level outline for part one!

Part 1: Childhood

Peter’s parents die in a plane crash. He moves to Rose Hill to live with Uncle Ben and Aunt May and meets Harley

Harley has his hands full with… his dad just walked out. He wasn’t abusive. It was just shocking and all at once. They thought something terrible happened, but after they report him missing Scotty at the corner store stops by and says he sold him scratchers. Then a few hours later the sheriff stops over with his hat in his hands and tells them his truck was found in the lot at the airport in Nashville. “Let him go,” Mama says. “Don’t want no man who don’t wanna be around. Let ‘im go.” And that was the end of that.

Peter arrives while Harley is getting used to being the only one home after school. Abbie’s off with Mrs. Farley in town while Mama works, so it’s just him most days ‘til Mama gets home around 5.

Starts hanging out with the Parkers. They keep him ‘round for dinner. Scares Mama the first time bc he didn’t ask ahead and wasn’t home when she got there. She demands to meet them.

They get on great and once they learn of her newly single situation they offer to watch Harley in the afternoons until she gets home from work. No need for payment or thank yous—it just so happens that Peter could really use a friend right now and they’ve been getting along so well.

So it begins. No creek. No pokemon. Peter and Aunt May clash like the dickens, but Uncle Ben is always cool and rational and settles things before they go too far. It’s nice.

Peter is obsessed with planes and tracking flights and researching news of lost flights, crashes, etc. Huge fear of flying, but not of heights. This fear stays with him, even when Harley turns into a flying superhero.

EJ is Harley’s bully. Harley is a talkative little nerd with a stutter and a penchant for mathematics. He attracts the mean types and Peter has a loud bark and never has had the good sense to back down from a fight. The shared battles cement them together.

After being blindsided by his dad leaving, Harley had to reevaluate everything he thought about family. Family is no longer who you get along with, despite differences. It’s no longer who you put on a smile for. It’s who you can disagree with and still hug and laugh with at the end of the day. It’s refreshing that he always knows where he stands with the Parkers. They have big feelings and they don’t bury them, but they’re solid. They’re dependable. They’re there.

Then the Parkers move to New York and leave Harley behind and his theory on what makes a family falls apart all over again.

[saltscars-a]

Independent and highly private and selective Forgotten Realms oc Eponis Varro. Main verse in BG3, with more verses to come. Low activity. Mun is 25+, GMT(+1)

meme tag, headcanons (mage hand specific headcanons)

Drafts and asks: 6

Replies in queue: 0

Rules and muse under the cut

Rules

Hello !! My name is Nori. I'm 27 and live in the UK. This is a more casual blog for my girl Pony, with most of my attention being used for my main blog, @tamedstray. With that in mind, I want to keep my rules equally casual.

Mutuals only and highly selective. This helps me manage my anxiety here. If I choose not to follow you, I promise you, it's never personal. There are more people I want to write with than I have time to accommodate. Right now, I am keeping this blog below 20 mutuals.

Plotting and ooc communication really helps !! Please, don't be shy <3

Always remember that this is a hobby. I will never judge someone for deleting things or taking a break. I ask for the same patience. This place is free of pressure and petty drama.

Prompts are the best way to start writing with me! I answer everything I can, though sometimes delete asks when I'm feeling burnt out. If that's the case, I'll mention it on the dash.

Feel free to drop treads no questions asked ♡ I only ask that you inform me if you want to drop a plotted thread, thank you!

I'm not fussed about matching length. Outside of banter, a paragraph is fine. As long as I've got something to work with, I'm happy.

Dossier

Name: Eponis "Pony" Varro

Race: Human

Gender: Cis female (she/they)

Age: 29

Date of birth: 28 Nightal (December)

Background: Former pirate

Orientation: Bisexual

Class: Swashbuckler

Occupation: Information trader, occasional adventurer

Appearance

As wild as the stormy sea, Eponis is not intimidating through appearance alone, but through infamy. Deep tanned skin and dark locks that fall in untamed waves over sharp features and keen brown eyes. Marked by long scars, clawed across the contours of her left cheek, grazing her lip. Her right arm is covered in tattoos, though her left arm has been amputated above the elbow; Eponis uses an enchanted armband to cast a permanent form of Mage Hand that can carry up to 15kg (30lb.) Multiple facial piercings with silver jewelry (tba.)

History

Eponis was raised by her Aunt and Uncle, who imbued the young girl with all the skills they could afford to train her in. Curious and brave from an early age, she would travel into town to loan books out from the library; at first, just however many her small arms could carry, and then later, as many as the library would allow. She developed a passion for seafaring and star maps from an early age. Once she turned 17, she set out on her own.

She takes up residency upon a trade ship, quickly learning the ropes (ehehe) as she works her way up the ranks. However, the ship would eventually be hijacked by pirates. Eponis would plead for her life, hoping her potential as a navigator would be of value. The captain, a drow woman named Nervara, took a liking to her, choosing to spare Eponis' life if she would join her crew. Eponis accepts.

For years, Nervara groomed Eponis into a life of piracy. She enjoyed the adventure, and took to pickpocketing and gathering secrets whenever they would dock. Eventually, she would become Nervara's lover, and later, second in command.

After several years of raiding the Sword Coast, Eponis would long for the life she had originally set out to sea for. As much as she enjoyed the life Nervara had given her, Eponis still dreamed of being an honest adventurer and treasure hunter, dedicated to finding and preserving history. However, Nervara would rather kill Eponis than allow her to leave.

The two argued for weeks before docking at their next city. Shortly after arriving, however, Eponis is arrested for theft and piracy, sold out by Nervara. She spent many years in prison before escaping at age 24. Eventually, she made her way to Baldur's Gate where she began gathering and selling secrets across the city, hoping to stumble upon any information that will lead her to Nervara.

Just as Eponis finds the trail she's been tracking for years, she finds herself once again forced onto a ship. Only this time, it's a Mind Flayer nautiloid.

Personality

Chaotic neutral. The purely good intentions Eponis set out to sea with were buried there years ago. A playful tune to her voice does not mean she likes you, it merely means she is having fun with you, potentially at your expense. She is suspicious of everyone, but demands that others trust her. She won't betray an ally without good cause. Any relationship that isn’t purely business poses a threat to her sense of security. What free time she has, she spends buried deep in a story.

Eponis has a need to feel in control of things. She likes to lead any project she’s involved in and take in every detail. She enjoys the power information can bring her, feeling it makes her less susceptible to being used by others. Her main goal is to eventually track down Nervara and kill her.

Eponis’ past is always with her, even the good parts, so she tries to make time for her love of history by exploring ruins when she can.

Positive traits: Intelligent, charismatic

Neutral traits: Private, discerning

Negative traits: Stubborn, irritable

Likes: Adventure, travel, new challenges, reading

DIslikes: Vulnerability, feeling controlled or restrained

[hotpocketcasserole]

This hit me square in the chest.

My family moved around all the time because my dad was military and we never really had one place to call home except my grandfather's house. It was like the one constant thing we had where it hardly ever changed and it was always there in North Carolina. There were always relatives coming and going from that house, there were always things to do, a basement full of games and toys, a clubhouse my dad and uncles built for the kids, and lots of space to make up games outside.

My grandfather died of Covid at the end of 2020 and my aunt sold the house. My family had always been close until it came time to divvy up the plot of land. Now everyone hates each other because no one (especially my dad) can't come to any agreement on how to divide up the assets.

I took as many pictures as I could the last time I was there. I needed memories to hold on to from childhood since my dad is also holding all of our old home movies and pictures hostage after the divorce and I feel like my memory is getting worse. I always thought that house would be passed down through family but I was wrong. They just sold the only real place I called home when I was a kid.

The spaces of my past define me. They make up the fabric of my psyche, my memories hold me and intrude on me and dance with me, refusing to let me go.

I can never return to my childhood home, as it was sold this past year. Never again will I sleep in my old bedroom, where I experienced and played out the full spectrum of human emotion. Never again will I sit on the floor of my closet with a flashlight and draw castles and fairies and vampire princesses, the ones I'd imagined following me around in the woods in my backyard, a place I also would be trespassing should I return to it.

[papillon82fluttersby]

Famous Five Art Nostalgia #01 – Part 3

Introductory post

Masterpost

This is my first post featuring Umberto Nonna's artwork; you can expect more in the future as I currently have 19 out of the 21 books in my possession, and I'll try to get the remaining two!

Nonna illustrated the full Famous Five series that was distributed by the Swiss publisher Edito Service SA Genève*. The books each contained 5 full-page illustrations, either in colour or black-and-white. Unfortunately they're a bit difficult to get flat enough for digitising as the binding is rather stiff, so you might see a blurry strip on the left side of the pictures.

Hope you'll enjoy this new take on our young investigators!

(* I plan to make a post detailing the various editions and publishers now that I have a better grasp of the timeline.)

~~~~~~

📜🏰🪙 Five on a Treasure Island – Le Club des Cinq et le trésor de l’île

Original publication date: 1942 (UK), 1962 (France)

(Cover art by Umberto Nonna, 1982)

Plot summary (adapted from Wikipedia):

When siblings Julian, Dick and Anne cannot go for their usual summer holiday to Polseath, they are invited to spend the summer with their Aunt Fanny and Uncle Quentin at their home Kirrin Cottage, in the coastal village of Kirrin. They also meet their cousin Georgina, a surly, difficult girl, who tries hard to live like a boy and only answers to the name George. Despite an uncomfortable start, the cousins become firm friends and George introduces them to her beloved dog Timothy (Timmy), who secretly lives with the fisher boy, Alf, in the village as George's parents will not allow her to keep Timmy. In the middle of Kirrin Bay sits a smallish island that belongs to George’s family. She soon accepts to lead her cousins to the island to show them around and visit the old castle ruins there.

(Uncle Quentin’s cheery morning disposition, particularly when faced with his daughter’s most peculiar ideas)

On their way to Kirrin Island, George shows her cousins a shipwreck, explaining it was her great-great-great grandfather's ship. He had been transporting gold when the ship was wrecked in a storm, but despite divers investigating the wreck, the gold was never found. After visiting the wreck, the five arrive on the Island and are exploring the ruined castle when a huge storm blows up, making it too dangerous for them to return to the mainland. While they take shelter on the island, the sea throws up the old shipwreck, grounding it on the rocks surrounding the island. Excited by these developments, they decide to come back at dawn the next day to investigate the wreck before it is discovered.

(The storm)

The following day, the five visit the wreck and discover the captain's cabin, where they find some objects belonging to George's great-great-great-grandfather, including an old box which they take back to Kirrin Cottage. The box proves difficult to open, so they throw it from the highest window of the house. The box breaks open, but the noise disturbs Uncle Quentin who confiscates the box. Not willing to give up their quest, Julian sneaks into Uncle Quentin's study and takes the box, which contains an old map of Kirrin Castle. Later in the further investigation on the map, the children find a word INGOTS, which they later understand it represents the place in which the lost gold was buried. The children realise it is a treasure map showing the location of the lost gold. After making a tracing of the map and returning the box, they decide to find the gold themselves.

To the children's shock, the box containing the map is sold to an antique collector. The same man also makes an offer to buy Kirrin Island. The children realise he has unearthed the secret map and wants the gold for himself, and so begins a race for the five to get to the gold first. Thinking the children want to spend time at the island before it is sold, Uncle Quentin and Aunt Fanny allow them to go camping there for one week.

(Making plans for a few days’ trip to the island: Julian has already written down “food” and is on to “drinks” - that's the essentials taken care of!)

Arriving on the island, the five start searching the castle ruins to locate the old dungeons where the gold is hidden. Chasing a rabbit, Timmy falls down an old well, from where the children find the dungeon entrance. Exploring underground, they find the gold in a locked vault.

(George can’t believe her eyes upon discovering the gold 😮)

Trouble soon arrives, as bad men come to the island hoping to steal the gold. They capture George and Julian, lock them in the dungeons and ask them to write a note to Anne and Dick up on the surface—a note that will induce those two back down into the dungeons. George writes the letter and Dick finds something fishy about it, as George has signed her name "Georgina", so Dick and Anne decide not to go down. Unable to find those two, the men leave the island, taking the oars from the children's boat so they cannot escape. Dick and Anne use the well shaft to rescue Julian and George from the dungeon, and the children hatch a plan to trap the men when they come back to the island with a boat to steal the gold.

(One of the thieves)

Although the plan goes wrong, the children manage to leave the men stranded on Kirrin Island. They return to the mainland to tell Uncle Quentin, Aunt Fanny and the police what has happened. The gold is recovered, and it is determined that it legally belongs to George's family, making them rich and enabling them to afford everything they have ever wanted. George's only wish is to be allowed to keep Timmy, and her parents agree. George also agrees to go to boarding school with Anne, because she and her cousins have become very good friends and also the school allowed pets.

~~~~~~

Thanks for reading!

[citrusdarling7]

Dumbledore's Villainhood

description- an essay i wrote when i should have been doing actual course work

warnings- mentions of abusive households, spoilers for the HP series, mentions of death, and dumbledore slander. (duh)

🗡—————————————————————🗡

I have read the Harry Potter books around twenty times, along with dozens of fanfictions based off of the series. My friends and family have suffered through hour-long rants on subjects such as Snape being the worst character, racism in the writing, and how characters such as Fleur and Lavender are a projection of Rowling’s own internalized misogyny. (Warning: spoilers for the Harry Potter series below!)

The Harry Potter series by J.K Rowling is arguably one of the most well known book series in modern times. With over 500 million copies sold worldwide, these books have been read by millions of people. The story follows orphaned main character Harry Potter as he learns he is a wizard and has a mortal enemy that he will consequently face every book. Harry begins to study at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, which is presided over by Headmaster Albus Dumbledore. Dumbledore was written to represent the Mentor character that is so commonly found in any Hero’s Journey type of story; however I do not believe Dumbledore deserves any praise. I believe that Albus Dumbledore was the true villain of Harry’s story.

Before I dive into the prompt, I would like to first clarify that this is actually not how Rowling had intended for her character to be interpreted. Although she has to be accredited with the fascinating world-building of her series, I don’t like to provide her with any unnecessary praise. Rowling has shown through her social media that she is transphobic, homophobic, anti-Semitic, and racist. Her judgment is incredibly flawed and therefore reflected in her work; Rowling truly believes that Dumbledore should be praised.

In the first chapter of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, young Harry is sent to live with his non-magical Aunt and Uncle proceeding the murder of his parents. While standing on the end of the street and conversing with Professor McGonagall, Dumbledore says, “It’s the best place for him— His aunt and uncle will be able to explain everything to him when he’s older. I’ve written them a letter.” (pg 14.) The Dursley’s were incredibly neglectful towards Harry, border lining on the edge of abuse. Harry often went days without meals and spent weeks locked inside the cupboard under the stairs. In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, book number six, Dumbledore finally explains why he allowed a child to grow up in such horrible conditions. Since Lily Potter sacrificed herself to protect Harry, that protection would continue as long as he spent at least one day a year with her blood relatives. Dumbledore could have easily found a magical family to take Harry in, and have the boy visit his aunt and uncle once a year. It was completely unnecessary for him to be raised by them, yet Dumbledore simply did not care.

Throughout the series, Dumbledore manipulated nearly everyone around him in a variety of ways. One example of this was his relationship with Rubeus Hagrid. In the year 1945, the Chamber of Secrets was opened by Tom Riddle, (young Voldemort.) During a flashback scene, a suspicious Dumbledore has a conversation with Tom Riddle and asks, “Is there anything that you wish to tell me?” (pg. 245) regarding the Chamber. Dumbledore already knew that Riddle was the one to open in, yet he stood aside and did nothing when Hagrid was later blamed. Once Dumbledore was appointed as Headmaster of Hogwarts, he allowed Hagrid to become a gamekeeper for the school. Poor Hagrid views Dumbledore as his savior, which the old man uses to his advantage. Dumbledore was constantly having Hagrid risk his life and freedom by running errands for him. On page 59 of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Hagrid performs magic after Uncle Vernon insults Dumbledore. After his expulsion from Hogwarts, Hagrid was banned from doing magic. He is so blindly devoted to Dumbledore that he is willing to break laws to “defend his honor.” When the Chamber of Secrets is opened again in book two, Dumbledore stands aside and allows Hagrid to be taken to Azkaban, the wizard prison, even though he knows Hagrid could not have opened the Chamber.

Dumbledore is consistently described as a great and powerful wizard. Readers are meant to believe that there is nothing the man can not do. It is true that Dumbledore was extremely talented. We know this because of his part in defeating Grindelwald in the 1940’s, the various awards given to him by the Ministry, and him being appointed Headmaster of the school. Yet Dumbledore did very little to help defeat Voldemort, instead opting to use two generations of child soldiers. The Order of the Phoenix was an organization that he started in the 1970’s, which was made up of mostly 18-20 year old's that were fresh out of Hogwarts, Harry’s parents included. During the May 2nd 1998 Battle of Hogwarts, the majority of the fighters were teenagers. And where was Dumbledore? Well, he was conveniently dead by then, after plotting with Snape in the previous book to have him be “murdered.” Dumbledore was selfish and careless when he essentially raised Harry to be a sacrificial lamb, knowing that he was Voldemort’s 7th horcrux all along.

“Help will always be given at Hogwarts, Harry, to those who ask for it.” Dumbledore loves to emphasize how Hogwarts can essentially be a home and family for those who do not have one. That is, if they are in Gryffindor. Although Rowling paints members of Slytherin house to all be evil and conniving, that is not at all true. (Not that Rowling considers Snape to be the only redeemable Slytherin, which I completely disagree with.) Horace Slughorn and Regulus Black are examples of Slytherin characters who bravely fought against evil in their own special ways. In Regulus’ case, he sacrificed his life to further hide one of Voldemort’s horcruxes. Slughorn was able to put past his sense of pride and divulge vital information to Harry, even though it embarrassed him. But Dumbledore believes that being sorted into Slytherin House is like having the world EVIL branded across your forehead. When a young Tom Riddle was sorted into Slytherin, Dumbledore no longer made any attempts to help the boy. Much like Harry, he was a half-blooded orphan who had no idea of his heritage before coming to Hogwarts. Seeing as Harry was a Gryffindor, he was given extra favors and help from Dumbledore that prevented him from becoming evil, which was a very real possibility. Even after his time as a student at Hogwarts, Tom Riddle returned to the castle seeking out a job as a teacher. Dumbledore refused him the job, which would have been an excellent opportunity to keep Riddle in check and prevent him from becoming the monster that is Lord Voldemort. But Dumbledore turned him away, and is therefore responsible for the man he later became.

Although the Harry Potter series is marketed towards elementary school children, I have realized that as you mature, there is so much more that you will take away from the book series. Rowling’s intended themes are one of love, death, and friendship. Looking deeper, you realize that the story is essentially the story of two boys. By the neglect and manipulation of Dumbledore, one became the greatest villain, and the other the greatest hero.

[theoriginalcarnivorousmuffin]

After that gorgeous sequel rant, would you be willing to share your thoughts on reylo?

Ugh.

Once again, that is the most succinct, easiest, answer I can supply. But it's so short, and that just won't do.

I mentioned in a recent post that Dramione comes in a myriad of disguises. Every fandom usually has at least one Dramione ship, you can usually guess which characters the ship will consist of, and while you might not be able to articulate exactly what about it makes it so damn similar to Dramione you will recognize it on sight.

Usually, to me, a Dramione ship features a strong, independent, female lead who may be varying levels of sexually empowered, varying levels of intelligent (Hermione loves to tell us how smart she is but it's not the heart of the ship), is strong, courageous, and noble who depending on the story du jour might slide into depravity.  The real give away is her love interest, always a man, usually a young man of comparable age, who has the bad boy appeal that's not too bad boy where he often is redeemed to the good side for 'reasons' in the course of the story.

Reylo is such a Dramione pairing.

You don't believe me? Look at the authors who write it, I haven't done this too often myself, but I guarantee you that a not small majority of them will either write Draco/Hermione or will have it all over their favorites and bookmarks. It's the same damn pairing.

But worse.

Because Kylo-Ren and Rey aren't really characters.

"Whoa, hold up!", you say, "That's just slander and uncalled for!" Well, change my mind. Rey Palpatine and Kylo-Ren are a series of character tropes and archetypes thrown to us by Disney screaming "LOVE MY CHARACTERS".

Rey is our noble, very Luke like, hero who is a scrappy desert rat with overwhelming mystical powers only acknowledged when the movies feel like acknowledging them (guys, admit Rey kicked Kylo-Ren's ass every time they fought with 0 training, come on, it's not hard).

However, there is nothing underneath her surface. Her hero worship of the resistance feels dull and given to her because it's expected. Of course Rey likes the resistance! The resistance is great! Sign her up! Rey has been living in the desert at the edge of nowhere for presumably 15 years, I'm shocked she's even heard of the new republic let alone the resistance. Despite essentially starving and only having a home that's a broken down old fighter, Rey saves a random droid. We're not really given a compelling reason of why she would do this, that she has a deep respect for droids/is horrified by their use, really really really hates the random trader she sells things to, or really really really hates the empire (if she even realizes it's them behind the bounty). She does it just so that a) the plot keeps moving b) to show Rey is... noble... I guess?

Remember that even Luke (who I have some problems with as a character) started his journey with more backstory and personality than this. Luke loved the empire and desperately wanted to become a pilot. He was very put out that his aunt and uncle kept saying, "Uh, no, bad idea." Luke was ready to skip town and sign on up for flight academy, he just got distracted by pretty women, er, his sister.

So, Rey is never given a compelling reason to do any of the things she does in the series. Just vague feelings of hero worship. And, of course, the drama over her parents. Just... I feel like Disney took out a hat, put a bunch of pieces of paper with words on them, and drew out the one that said "orphan angst about parents" and said "See, now she's conflicted! What a character!"

So yeah, Rey is your cardboard generic hero who is so generic she's not even a person. She has no hopes, no dreams, no fears, just these vague things we're told as an audience she cares about but never shown in any legitimate manner. Rey likes the resistance and rando droids, Rey imprints on Han Solo as the father she never had, Rey has this thing about her parents, Rey is attracted to Kylo Ren.

And that last one, oh boy that last one. It sold me less on the attraction to Kylo Ren than... oh... I don't know... Palpatine's secret Sith planet of doom. I mean, we all saw it coming, The Last Jedi it was very clear where that was going and then Abrams went for it even harder. But what we had was a series of skype conversations where Rey went from "Gr, you killed my pseudo father!" and Kylo-Ren responding, "Yeah, well he was my real father AND HE WAS SO MEAN" to "Oh Ben, I will fly to you through space and we shall save the galaxy together!"

I am given no reason to believe Rey's change of heart. Han Solo's death just suddenly... doesn't really mean much to her anymore (the man was murdered by his son in cold blood so that his son could feel better about himself). She believes Ben Solo is good now because Luke is a dick (never mind that, no matter what a dick Luke is, Ben Solo still murdered dozens of children and then went on to gleefully massacre his way through the galaxy). We're told there's a Force Dyad, which is um... not this thing the writer's made up because they were too lazy to convince me that Kylo-Ren and Rey would end up together in any organic way.

So, yeah, why does Rey like Kylo-Ren? Because the Force told her too? Because it was somehow all Snoke's fault in a way that's never properly described? (Indeed despite us spending quite a bit of time on Kylo-Ren's decision to remain Kylo-Ren being a very internalized thing) Because we saw him shirtless in yoga pants this one time?

It's bad when that last is actually the most legitimate reason I can think of out of the whole lot.

Now let's go to Kylo-Ren. If Rey is boring and nonsensical then Kylo-Ren is a dumpster fire and non-sensical. The guy reminds me a lot of Commodus from the film "Gladiator", the man is cowardly, vile, and murders his father in despair that his father never will be capable of loving him/passes him over for the throne. Kylo-Ren's murder of Han Solo is extremely similar to the murder of Marcus Aurelius in "Gladiator". Han Solo is a flawed father, trying to make his peace with his son, who approaches him unarmed and Kylo-Ren decides to murder him in order to solidify his place in the dark side.

Only, the films never acknowledge that every action Kylo-Ren takes is horrifying.

We're told "oh, Kylo-Ren exists because evil Snoke corrupted him" but also shown repeatedly that Kylo-Ren chooses the darkest path again and again and again. He "struggles with the light" but I don't see it. His opening scene, he has massacred a village and is torturing a man for information (this is presumably a daily routine for him). In the same film he later tortures Rey for information. He serves on a Death Star which wipes out billions in an instant. He murders his father to feel good about himself. He dresses as a man who was reviled and feared throughout the galaxy, a man who murdered countless children, and a man who dressed the way he did because he was barely hanging onto life, because Kylo-Ren thinks it makes him look like a badass. Think about it, this is like if a fully abled Kylo-Ren is wheeling around in a wheel chair, perfectly capable of walking, because he thinks that Professor X is so cool. Now, replace Professor X with Hitler, this is what the movies gave us.

Yet, the films seem to take it for granted that Kylo-Ren is a redeemable character. He's just lost and misguided, he's really struggling with the light and dark side! They don't just tell us this over and over again (which they do) but also just assume we know it.

And base the entire Reylo pairing off of it. Reylo believed Kylo-Ren could be redeemed, they battle Snoke together, then Kylo-Ren stabs her in the back and continues the assault on the Resistance and asks her to be his Dark Queen (TM). Reylo is shocked and appalled, I'm just wondering what movie she thought she was watching, because that was coming a mile away.

Later, when Kylo-Ren is redeemed, we're never given a reason why it happens. Leia just gives him a nagging, one word, phone call and then Han Solo shows up to go, "Ben, are you going to do the right thing?" and Ben goes, "Mumble, grumble, fine" because there's only an hour left in the last film.

Kylo-Ren, like Rey, is the writers' desperate attempt to create a compelling anti-hero with all the anti-hero sauce we love. They just won't admit they made an overgrown genocidal toddler.

Wow, this turned into why I hate both Rey and Kylo Ren, but, uh, back to the ship. Basically, the films give me 0 reason to ever believe it, and even if I wanted to, even if I said "Alright brain, let's make these characters real people for once", I still wouldn't like it. Because the ship itself is just as flat as the characters. It's spicy but not too spicy bad boy gets together with strong female lead.

I know a lot of people enjoy this, and I won't say it's any less legitimate than any of the weirdness I ship, but I'm not one of them. And the whole thing just makes me go "ugh".

[dalekofchaos]

Rey’s lack of motivation and stake in the Sequel Trilogy

I have a question to ask you. What are Rey’s motivations? What are her wants and goals and why is she even drawn to the conflict between The First Order and The Resistance?

Rey’s motivations in the Sequels.

Rey wants to find her parents.

Wants to bring back Luke Skywalker

Rey wants to find her place 

Wants Ben to return to the light

Has no real motivation to be on either side of the conflict, but chooses The Resistance anyway

Says she wants to kill Palpatine in cold blood, was close to giving in

Now she chose to fuck off to Tatooine and we see very little in her motivation to do....ANYTHING

Let’s compare Anakin and Luke’s motivations.

What are Anakin's motivations?

Wants to leave a life of slavery and come back and free his mother

Wants to become a Jedi and become a hero

Wants to protect Padme

Wants to save Obi-Wan

Wants to stop Dooku and end the war before it can begin

Wants to be a good master to Ahsoka

Wants to clear Ahsoka’s name

Wants to stop the war

Wants to save Padme and his children's lives at the cost of the Jedi and doing whatever it takes and becomes Darth Vader

What are Luke’s motivations?

Luke is a farm boy who dreams of leaving his mundane life.

Luke discovers that his father -unlike what his uncle told him, was a heroic Jedi Knight

Luke, is reluctant and refuses the ‘call to adventure’, but after the Empire murders his Aunt and Uncle, he decides to Join Obi-Wan on the quest.

Save the Princess

Luke is angered by Obi-Wan’s death at the hands of Darth Vader, and seeks retribution.

Destroy the Death Star and save the Rebellion

To be trained by Yoda

Save Han and Leia

Luke discovers his father, the heroic Jedi, is none other than Darth Vader. After years of training, he sets out to redeem his father and turn him back to the light.

After the redemption of his father and fall of the Empire, Luke goes on a journey to restore The Jedi Order

Compare Rey and Luke’s journeys in ANH and TFA. Rey wanders around and stuff is handed to her. Luke takes initiative and works for what he has. Let's compare ANH with TFA

Luke screws up on watching R2, then chooses to chase him down. He makes another mistake by spying on the Tusken Raiders instead of getting the hell out of dodge. This leads to him being knocked out, and rescued by Ben Kenobi.

Luke initiates the meeting with Ben Kenobi, and it happens because of his early bad decisions.

His aunt & uncle are killed, but thanks to his screw-up with R2 & the raiders, he and the droids are spared.

He chooses to follow Kenobi to Alderaan instead of staying on Tattooine.

He chooses to accept Kenobi's instruction in the ways of the Force, even though most people think it's a myth and a joke. Even though he's bad at it and doesn't seem to get any results at first.

He makes the decision that they're going to rescue Leia, potentially dooming their escape from the Death Star. This sets off a chain of events that leads to Kenobi's death.

Then he chooses to help fight the Death Star, even though he's not a member of the rebellion. He was offered a job with Han, and he could have ensured his safety by leaving with them. Instead he chose certain death.

Finally, he chooses to trust a literal voice in his head instead of the targeting computer.

Let's contrast that with Rey.

BB-8 runs into her. She tries to send him away, but relents and lets him follow her home.

She chooses not to sell him for food.

Finn wanders into camp on his own initiative.

The camp is attacked because BB-8 is there. The camp would have been attacked no matter what Rey did. The other scavenger was, I'm pretty sure, from the same camp. And if she'd sold him, BB-8 would also have still been in the camp.

She is forced to take the Millennium Falcon when the ship she wanted to use was blown up.

She chooses to go with Finn and bring BB-8 to the Rebellion Resistance.

She stumbles upon Luke's lightsaber, and runs away from it.

She accidentally runs into Kylo Ren while hiding in the forest.

He chooses to kidnap her because he senses something special about her.

After her first exposure to the Force, she learns how to use some of it, successfully, and escapes from Ren. And to her credit, escaping and trying the Force out is a choice she made, rather than something that passively happened to her.

Then she, um, is standing there when Han is killed.

She chooses to fight Kylo Ren, and beats him in her first lightsaber battle after closing her eyes and thinking about the Force.

She sort of chooses to go summon Luke back to civilization - I say sort of because it's not clear why she was picked to go over, say, Leia.

Luke makes mistakes, and he is an active participant in his story. Rey is just kind of there, most of the time. She doesn't make mistakes, but she doesn't really do much else.

Rey has no personal stake in this war or motivations and she’s supposed to be the main protagonist.

Rey has never left Jakku before TFA and she tells Han that ”she never knew so much green existed” when they go to Maz’s castle.

In other words Rey must have had very limited knowledge of the world outside of Jakku and all she has heard from it are stories.

Rey who barely knows anything about the rest of the galaxy, to the point that she didn’t even know that forests existed what exactly is her personal stake in the current galactic conflict?

In TFA we saw The New Republic’s capital systems blown up by Starkiller Base and we never saw a reaction from Rey. We do see Finn and Han’s reactions. Also worth noting about Rey is that if she was unconscious throughout her involuntary travel to the Starkiller Base she was never actually aware of the Starkiller Base until just before Han, Finn and Chewie started planting the explosions in order to sabotage it.

Luke, while he had no personal attachments to Aldeeran did actually get to see the horrible aftermaths of it’s destruction.

But Rey was barely affected by the destruction of the Capital systems. Most characters were not as affected as they should have been in my opinion but we didn’t even get to see her have an emotional reaction to it.

This was probably the greatest genocide in Star Wars history and our main heroine is unaffected by it? Finn has a reaction to it and he’s supposedly NOT the main protagonist?

Rey really has no reason to care about the state of the galaxy. She only seems to care if people she knows are in danger.

The fact that she is supposed to be our main hero of this trilogy when she has next to no personal stakes in the well-being of the rest of the galaxy feels wrong to me.

Finn actually has stakes in this conflict since the FO took his family and childhood away from him and Poe has stakes because he actually lives in the New Republic and doesn’t want it to be under FO’s rule. Yet neither Finn nor Poe are considered the main protagonist? But oh wait, I forgot we can’t have a black or Latino man be the leading protagonist in Star Wars

The more I think about it is Rey has no goals or agency as a protagonist. She’s just whatever the plot demands her to be. Rey doesn’t actively take the initiative and make decisions, and simply react to the world around her. There is never a reason given as to why she wants to be a Jedi. Sure, she’s heard the stories about them, but she doesn’t dream to be one like Anakin, and the writers are so obsessed over her parents that they never develop any other motivation besides that. She has to be strung along the story so she can take part in it, hence she is repeatedly chased and kidnapped throughout TFA to get her to the Resistance where she decides to find Luke because she has nowhere else to go. Part of the reason she doesn’t even train with Luke is because she has no reason to, as she’s just supposed to find him. Rey joins the fight simply in reaction to learning that Luke is responsible for Ben’s fall. She’s only ever a Jedi and a member of the Resistance out of necessity- she has no where left to go and has to fight in self defense- so they try hamfist in some motives that she needs to stop herself from becoming like Palpatine but there is no tension as it’s the final act. By the end of the trilogy it’s not even clear if the Jedi Order will return because Rey never seems to want to be one and we can only assume they will return for meta reasons- because the audience knows the ST is a copypasta of the OT.

What exactly was Rey’s motivation for getting involved in the Galactic conflict before TROS? Luke was told that his father was killed by Darth Vader and later his family gets murdered by the empire so he had personal stakes to get involved in the conflict.

Anakin was a Jedi and had lived in the Republic for ten years by the time of the Clone Wars begun so he had personal reasons to get involved in the conflict.

Rey meanwhile grew up so isolated of Jakku that she had no idea forests existed and she didn’t lose anything and the FO attacked her on Jakku. In fact she wanted to return to Jakku after she had dumped BB-8 with the Resistance. Her primary motivation in TFA was to reunite with her family but the movie never establish that her family’s absence was connected to the galactic conflict in any way.

That connection isn’t established until TROS so what was her motivation until than? The Death of Han? A guy she had known for two hours? Finn? A guy she also had maybe only knew for about two hours total by the time of their hug in TLJ? Also she seemed to have completely forgotten about Finn by the time she want on a quest to redeem the guy that has far as she should have known by that point was still in a coma with his spine permanently damaged because of Kylo.

Rey’s motivation seems to either be finding her family or her dealing with her existential crisis neither had much of a connection with the galactic conflict until TROS

[queer-and-dear-books]

Title: By Any Means Necessary

Author: Candice Montgomery

Genre: YA Fiction | Romance | Friendship | Drama | LGBTQ+

Content Warnings: Homophobia | Racism

Overall Rating: 9.5/10

Personal Opinion: An incredibly powerful look into the harrowing impact of gentrification on impoverished black and brown communities. Torrey’s desire to fight back against his uncle’s apiary’s foreclosure is admirable and it’s difficult not to root for him, especially when we see just how much the bees mean to him. It’s heartbreaking and so utterly captivating and I adore this book for those reasons.

Do I Own This Book? Nope.

Spoilers Below For My Likes & Dislikes:

Likes:

- Emery is a queen. She’s a woman of color in STEM, first of all, just like the rest of the girls of CAKE (Clarke, Auburn, Kennedy, Emery). Secondly, she’s a boxer and a badass in the ring so that’s amazing. Third and more important, she’s a ride-or-die for her friends. She was there for Torrey when he watched his apiary get sold off to Oily Rick. She was there in his neighborhood collecting signatures for their petition and being the shoulder to cry on when he faced the casual homophobia of fellow black men. She was there doing the work at the apiary and falling in love with it and understanding it from Torrey’s POV, She’s a good friend and an even better person and I respect the fuck out of her.

- The rest of CAKE is amazing too. I love that they’re all these brilliant black women with such vibrant personalities. I love that Kennedy was afraid of doing something other than STEM but Torrey assured her that her friends loved her for more than her coding brain. I love that lesson that programming can just be a hobby for herself and art history can be her career path. It’s important to show kids that just because you’re good at something doesn’t mean you have to do a job in that field.

- I love Desharu too. He’s so chill and I love how he wanted Torrey to live his college life to the fullest. But I think the most relatable thing about him is that he was sending memes to his roommate while they were in the same room. That is just peak zillennial culture. I also love what a nosy fucker he is too. The way he popped into the room and asked Torrey about how the (non-existent) sex was after he witnessed Gabe leaving their room. It was so funny and the fact that he’s a presumably straight dude asking that question makes it even better. Plus, he’s Asian rep, Korean and Indian.

- Gabriel does embody a bit of that manic pixie dream boy but I think it suits him. He has this carefree attitude that makes him so attractive even on the page. The vivid description of the clothes he wears, the way he wears his hair, the hair ties on his body, it shows just how enamored Torrey is with him and you could just feel all the romantic tension between the two of them.

- The writing style is incredibly conversational. At first, I wasn’t actually sure I liked it but it really grew on me. It’s funny and easy to follow. And while I thought the bluntness was a bit much, I think it’s necessary in a narrative like this. One that needs to hammer into the skulls of non-POC the issues that they’re facing because if it’s all pretty and metaphorical, the point doesn’t get across as well. So I think Montgomery’s storytelling style really lends itself to the plot here.

- Found family is, as we’ve established, my most favorite trope. And it is utilized so well in this book. First of all, we have Lisa who is Torrey’s aunt (not by blood). After her husband died, she was a mess and Torrey took care of her. But at the same time, over the course of the book, we watch her take care of him. We watch her hold him and care for him and cry for him and beg for him to get out of the hood and live a life that he deserves. I adore that caretaker nature of hers. And I love that she chose to continue her passion (science) and move away from Theo but always keeping her home open for Torrey to come back to. But she’s not the only one who just loves Torrey. Gabriel, Desharu, and CAKE all love him and want the best for him. Mrs. Xu and her husband, Mr. Jones too. There are people looking out for him and want to take care of him and he deserves that so much.

- One of my favorite comedic scenes in this book was when Torrey introduced Emery to Mrs. Xu and she replied, “But I thought you were gay.” And then Em just dies of laughter. It’s so like an Asian adult to think co-ed friends are actually a couple. But I love that Mrs. Xu accepts Torrey 100%. She a little confused but she got the spirit.

Dislikes:

- The first half of the book doesn’t seem to follow a linear plot. It’s very much a splattering of events which isn’t a bad thing. It was meant to establish Torrey with his new college friends and his sorta boyfriend a bit. But I do wish it was a bit more linear and Torrey was more proactive in the start of the book but I’m not going to be mad at the way it picks up.

- Fuck Theo. Rat bastard. He’s out here claiming bad parenting is what creates the gays? Well I am shocked that Miles turned out straight. Screw you, old man! I’m glad Torrey enraged you with such a simple sentence in the beginning and I’m even more glad that Torrey and Lisa both are leaving you forever.

- Torrey’s behavior in the start was a bit difficult to digest. That was the point though so I’ll let it pass. It’s just, the way everyone around him knew it was toxic and parasitic that he let the apiary drain him of all his energy made me so mad. Because he just refused to listen to any of them. But that’s his character arc so I get it. It was necessary for him to be essentially obsessed with the apiary.

- The conversational POV is great, like I said. But I do think that the bluntness could’ve been toned down just a tad. The way Torrey would tell the reader to remember something (migraines, the contact info in that Facebook group, the business card he got from Oily Rick) was just way too heavy-handed. I get it, people lack reading comprehension and also suffer from short-term memory but I think we do need to trust the reader a bit more.

[naferty]

Also, I'm pretty sure I've read all your aus by now

You have? That won’t do. How ‘bout another? A centaur balto au with a slice of iron dad! 

~~~

The festivities are grand and the spirits are high on this beautiful day. The laughs and smiles are contagious and even Tony couldn’t resist joining in. While the town is small, the festival is impressive. Many tourists come from all over to take part in the fun. The many centaur-themed activities present and the town’s high centaur population is enough to warrant a weekend stay and then more, bringing in much-needed revenue to the town, but the main events, the races themselves, are really the whole reason the town is able to hold the festival in the first place. Twenty-five years running now.  

The yearly racing event of a little old town Tony calls home always got everyone ecstatic, including the town’s own centaur population that helped host a majority of all activities. Tony being included on that list. He had taken part in the jump race on the first day of the festival, winning with little problem and keeping his crown as champion. 

His biggest fan, little six-year-old Peter Parker, cheered for him the entire time. With a fan base like that, how could Tony ever lose? 

Now on the second day, the quarter race is on. Much like a regular horse race, the centaurs are running to a finish line. The difference? Centaurs don’t need riders and they certainly don’t need a track. No, instead the town has a pathway created years ago that cuts through the forest surrounding their town and down the main road of the town itself. It starts at the festival, goes through the main road, enters the forest, returns back down the same main road and finishes where they started. The biggest of the races, many would argue, but not one Tony is interested in.

Tony’s fifteen minutes of fame came and went. Now, he’s a tourist like everyone else, walking with his carer and his carer’s family. Ben is a good carer. Perhaps the best, but that could be Tony’s bias. He couldn’t be blamed for it, however. May is a beautiful woman, for having two legs, and kindhearted to a fault. Their ward, Peter, is downright the cutest little two-legged child Tony has ever seen, and no that isn’t his bias talking. It’s the truth. His boy is unchallenged and Tony is willing to die on that hill. 

At that moment, he walks alongside Ben, May and Peter through the sea of two legs and four. Peter sits comfortably on his back while Ben keeps a hand on him to make sure Peter doesn't fall off. Tony is careful to make sure he doesn't jerk the child, but the extra help is always welcomed. The last thing he wants is to hurt his boy. 

They’re heading towards the ‘smithy.’ The lovingly named building that crafted and sold everything related to racing from harnesses to carts to hats and boots. There’s a present waiting for Peter there. Something his boy has talked about non-stop for the past few weeks and something Ben and May had mentioned to Tony beforehand. With Tony’s blessing, they went ahead and ordered it weeks prior. Long before the festival officially opened. 

Ben quickly goes inside when they reach the building, leaving Tony and May to distract Peter and keep the secret a little longer. Peter has no idea and boy is the child going to be in for a big surprise. 

“Are you having fun, Pete?” May says to the child still sitting on his back. Tony’s height makes it easy for May and Peter to be at eye level and for them both to see the large smile on Peter’s face. 

“I am! Will we see the race today?” Peter starts to jump in place. 

“Of course we will, but behave. Don’t hurt Tony.” 

Tony smiles. He’d love nothing more than to say he doesn’t mind, but the language barrier and difference in vocal cords between them makes it impossible. So he’s left to simply listen and hope his face expresses what he means. 

Ultimately, it does. “Don’t say it’s okay. We both know this would hurt anyone’s back,” May shakes her head. “Behave,” she repeats to Peter and like the good little boy he is, Peter listens. 

“I’m sorry, Mister Tony.” The large eyes his boy gives him would make even the most hardened wild centaur crumble. 

Tony nods, making sure his face shows no signs of anger. He honestly doesn’t mind. Peter isn’t a heavy child. In fact, he’s lighter than most. 

Ben peeks his head out, giving them the signal. 

“Okay, Pete, time to get down,” May says and holds up her arms, meaning to help Peter down. 

Peter pouts. “Why?” 

“We got you something. You need to get down so we can give it to you. Come on.” 

Peter goes down grumbling. Tony knows the boy loves the height and usually fights tooth and nail to stay, but he figures the present will more than make up for it. 

Once on the ground, May asks him to close his eyes. The prospect of a present finally settles and excitement soon took over. Peter closes his eyes, going so far as to use his own hands to stop himself from peeking. 

When they’re sure he isn’t looking, Ben and the crafter wheel out the present. Said present is a carriage. A simple one with a child seat on the front. The special order Ben and May requested meant to cater to Peter. For you see, his boy has taken an interest in carriage driving after watching it on television. Something about the sport caught his boy’s little eyes. The child couldn’t stop talking about it. 

Ben and May had talked to Tony about it. The two own a plot of land but have no animals to call it home. Tony is really the only resident of the place. It fell down on him to make Peter’s little dream come true. He is the one who’s going to pull the carriage after all, but they’d never force Tony to do so. If Tony is going to do it, it will all by his own free will, and how could he ever say no? 

So here they are. The carriage is customized to allow Peter to reach the reins properly. Of course, the reins are really superficial since Tony will be in charge in all manner, but it gave Peter the official feeling he wants. 

Sitting on Peter’s little seat is the harness meant for Tony. The basic breast collar, the girth and the reins themselves. Colored in the most beautiful mahogany that is going to complement Tony’s black coat that Tony’s own champion money paid for handsomely. The best for his boy. 

“Okay, open your eyes,” May tells Peter. 

When Peter opens his eyes and sees the carriage he jumps in joy. He giggles and points at the craft. Excited beyond a doubt. “A carriage!” The child runs to it. The wheel of the thing is nearly his same height. 

“It’s all yours, Petey,” Ben informs him and earns himself a shriek of delight. 

“Thank you, thank you!” Peter hugs both Ben and May, thanks them seven more times, gives Tony’s front legs a tight hug and determinedly tries to climb the carriage to reach his seat. 

“I think he likes it,” May says with a smile. 

“I think so, too.” Ben laughs as Peter nearly makes it to his seat. “Hang on there, Sport. Let me help.” 

“Hurry! Hurry, Uncle Ben.” 

“I’m hurrying. Keep your hat on.” 

A hat plops on Peter’s head. A stylish, little brown cowboy hat. It makes Peter shriek even louder. 

“A real cowboy’s hat!”

An excited child is not one to be reckoned with, so Ben and May work quickly to set up the harness on Tony and get it connected to the carriage. Peter waits impatiently on his seat. His little legs kicking wildly as he watches his aunt and uncle. 

Peter grabs for the reins when it’s all set and ready. Like on the television, he begins to crack the reins, saying words ranging from ‘mush’ to ‘giddy-up’ to get Tony moving. Tony doesn’t budge until Ben and May give him the go-ahead

The two adults double-check everything. When they’re satisfied they eventually give Tony the green light. “Go on, but be careful, okay?” They opt to stay behind and let Peter go on his own for his first try. They’re showing a lot of trust in this decision. 

Tony nods and trots off when he hears a “he-yaw!” from Peter. From the angle Peter moves the reins he’s led back through the crowd and towards the area the finishing line for today’s races are located. He moves at a slow pace and is even surprised when Peter pulls the reins to slow him further or even stop him when families, humans or centaurs, come in their way. A responsible racer in the making. 

When the crowd grows bigger Tony knows they’re near the finishing line. Peter is a fan of all races, and now that he has his own little carriage the child couldn’t resist not going where the excitement currently is. That and perhaps showing off that he’s an unofficial racer. 

“Mister Tony, please slow down,” Peter says when they’re in the middle of the gathered bodies.

Tony does so and looks back to make sure Peter is still safe and okay sitting on his seat. As he does the barrier separating spectators from the running centaurs makes itself known. Tony sees his chance and rushes in to grab a good spot for both him and Peter. 

The crowd cheers loudly. A sign the racing centaurs will appear soon. Tony makes a grab for Peter and sets him on his back to get a better view of the race. They wait for the winner and Peter cheers excitedly for his favorite centaur runner. Peter removes his hat and waves it, trying to mimic the cowboys of the television and their dramatic antics. It’s at that moment a strong gust blew through and took the hat right out of Peter’s hand. Both centaur and child watch helplessly as the hat lands right in the middle of the track. 

“My hat!” Peter cries in panic. A gift from his aunt and uncle, who already struggle with money, about to be trampled by brute centaurs mere minutes after receiving it. Neither he nor Tony could do anything about it. They could only stare at it despairingly as the racing centaurs grew closer and closer, passing each marker as they got nearer. 

That is until a four-legged body jumps over the fence from the inside and joins in on the running. Tony is a little more than surprised when he recognizes the body as Steve. The wild (or feral as some bigots would often call them) centaur of their town. Tony has seen him a couple of times. He knows of Steve. Knows his name. Knows the wild centaur lives in the forest but will occasionally make a trip into town for one reason or another. Ultimately the town lets him be. Steve doesn’t cause trouble and the town sees no issue in his wandering, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the townfolks are welcoming either. 

Eyebrows are raised as the gathered townsmen notice the very same wild centaur running in the race now. A few cry out in outrage. Tony himself is left a little speechless when Steve catches up to the predicted winner with little trouble. Even at a distance, he could see Ty, the yearly champion, glare at the wild centaur and even go so far as to swipe at Steve. 

Steve avoids it expertly by leaping to the side then comes back, pushes further and jumps head of Ty to grab the hat that’s waiting innocently for its impending doom. Steve manages to grab the hat and move out of Ty’s way, skids over to the barriers, jumps over those and disappears into the crowd that scramble to move out of his way in a panic. 

Tony moves quickly to search for him. He doesn’t know why Steve would grab the hat and he certainly hopes it’s not because the wild centaur suddenly grew a desire to wear cotton shirts and denim. Peter holds on tight on his back. Tony is careful not to jostle him too much. Least he wants to catch a falling child. 

The disbanding crowd makes it hard for him to move. So hard that he’s forced to stay put for a solid minute or two as the bodies part way. Something that frustrates him. Peter’s hat is somewhere and Tony can’t do a thing to find it! 

“Mister Steve!” Peter calls behind him. 

Tony turns and sure enough, there is Steve making his way towards them. Hat in his hand. Undamaged and even clean. Tony watches him warily until Steve hands the hat over to his boy and smiles. 

“Thank you,” Peter puts the hat on, thankful to have it back. “What a crazy thing to do, Mister Steve. All to show off to a pretty boy.” 

Caught off guard, Tony looks to his boy and then back to Steve. Oh, he isn’t prepared for that comment. He certainly isn’t prepared when Steve doesn’t deny it either. Choosing to smile warmly at Tony. As if to express it true. 

Unable to keep eye contact, Tony looks down. He’s blushing. He knows he is. Did Steve truly do all that, putting himself front and center, to impress him? 

It’s at that moment that Ben and May catch up to them and Peter eagerly tells them what just happened. His boy talks their ear off as Ben brings him down and May grabs Tony’s harness. They lead him away. Tony nods to Steve in goodbye.

Steve is about to say something when he’s interrupted by Ty, the racing champion, barging in. He pushes Steve away and nearly makes Tony jump. Something he doesn’t want when May is still holding his harness.

“Yeah,” Tony elongates the note. He’s hoping his sarcasm is showing. “Almost as much as you did.” 

“Hey there, Tony,” Ty says in a voice that’s meant to be sultry yet is anything but. The winner follows him. “Did you enjoy the race?” 

“Thanks.” Clearly, Ty doesn’t catch it. “Let’s go celebrate. I know this lovely little spot by the lake. Ditch your carers and come with me.” 

Tony shivers in disgust. “Sorry, Ty. Suddenly I’ve lost my appetite.” 

Ty stops. Clearly he understood that one. He grins. “Ooh, well maybe your taste runs more toward,” Ty looks back, “feral.” 

Tony stiffens. He glares at Ty and he’s ready to give him a piece of his mind, but Peter calls out to him from Ben’s arms. “Mister Tony! Come on, we’re going back home!” 

“Sorry, Ty,” he’s really not, “my boy is calling me.” 

He turns his back and follows after his two-legged family. May is no longer holding his harness, leaving Tony to follow on his own. He keeps up no problem, but the crowd does pose a challenge. At one point he’s farther than what his boy is comfortable with. 

“Mister Tony!” 

Tony follows the voice. His family turns a corner.

“Mister Tony?” 

Tony turns to join them and stops in his tracks when Steve skids to a halt right in front of him. Their noses touching as Tony reels back a little. 

“Oh,” is all he can say when Steve pulls away. His ears are low and his eyes are wide. As if he’s just as surprised as Tony about their situation. 

“Tony - I, uh,” Steve stumbles. He smiles awkwardly. 

“Tony?” Ben calls out. 

“Mister Tony, hurry!” Peter waves at him. 

Tony looks away for just a second. That second is all it took for Steve to disappear. Tony searches, but Steve just outright vanished into thin air. He has no choice but to leave when his family calls for him again, but he does look back one last time to see if he’d catch sight of Steve. 

He doesn’t. 

[dontgotothenetherworld]

boo! rewrite (lydia x reader)

so i wanted to rewrite one of my first fics, to see how much my writing has improved, and boo! was the one that stood out to me. if you read the original, i’m sorry. i’m changing basically everything from the original except for the concept because holy h*ck was that painful for me to reread.

reader is barbara’s niece, and she enlists adam, an english teacher, to help her with her essay. unfortunately, it’s the day that adam and barbara die.

2118 words

cw: femreader. brief reference to suicide.

your eyes glazed over the shakespearean english. you couldn’t figure out what anyone was trying to say, and you weren’t entirely sure that you cared enough to try. but you hadn’t bought a no fear version of the play yet, so that had to count for something.

your teacher claimed she could tell when kids just googled a synopsis and such to write their essay, but you weren’t entirely sure. you were also scared of this particular teacher, so you didn’t really want to risk it.

you made it three more pages before giving up. you checked your phone to be greeted by a text from your friend, “we sold out of the no fears. i tried to save a copy for you but my boss wanted to sell it. sorry and good luck.” they sent. they worked at a local bookstore. the local bookstore. the only one in town.

you began to panic. it was saturday, 3:57 pm, and your essay was due on sunday at 11:59 pm. shit. you would probably be able to finish reading the book if you started now, but still remains the problem of understanding it. and all that before you even think about writing an essay, where you have to convince your teacher that you truly get all the inner complexities of england’s greatest writer, as well as applying it to your own life. shit shit shit.

you bit the inside of your lip, somehow convinced that if you just sat there and tried to figure out how you were going to get all of the work done, that miraculously you wouldn’t have to do it anymore. because that makes sense. all you need to do to solve a problem is think up the solution. no further action necessary.

you sighed, and prepared yourself for the “i told you so”s that would inevitably come, as you texted your uncle, adam.

adam always made it known to you that if you ever needed any help in english, that he could help you, but you always told him, “english is my native language, i won’t need any help.” like the smart ass that you are.

”i have to finish a crib for the o'briens, so i’ll have to split my attention, but yeah! come on over!” adam replied. “but i will not write your essay for you, okay?” he sent after a minute.

”thanks, adam! i’ll be right over!” you texted him back. you grabbed your book, your laptop, and your keys, and you were out of there.

you always found it odd how the two sweetest people you knew had the creepiest house in town. the house practically begged to house some vampires, and while you were pretty sure that adam and his wife barbara weren’t vampires, a part of you always hoped they were.

you tried to figure out how they could be actually undead, while you drove to their house. you assumed that adam would’ve had to become a vampire first, because if barbara were a vampire, then that would mean that your mom would also be a vampire, and that just didn’t make sense. but then again, adam doesn’t seem particularly ancient. although if he was from, say, shakespeare’s time, that would make sense why he would understand his work so much. and adam is an ap brit lit teacher… 

you shook your silly ideas off and parked in the maitland’s driveway.

even though adam said you would only have his divided attention, he pretty much abandoned working on the crib as soon as you walked in the door, already starting to explain the basic plot of the play.

barbara drifted in and out of the room, offering food everytime she did. maybe that was just further proof that she’s a vampire! wait, no. she would still have once been human, so she’d understand how often humans need to eat. also, shakespeare, not vampires! come on, you need to focus!

after successfully tricking adam into thinking that you had read the whole book, and he told you as many details as he could remember, he decided it was time for a break. you agreed. you needed a little bit of time to figure out how to best get him to write your body paragraphs for you. getting him to just explain stuff to you probably wouldn’t work, because he’s not the most concise person. and getting him to literally type them out wouldn’t work, because adam’s gullible, not stupid.

your aunt and uncle decided to show you around the house. they were in the midst of many renovations, and they wanted to show you what they had done so far, as well as what they planned on doing.

”oh, y/n, would you look at the wood on this banister? i know you don’t really care about all the little details like i do, but it’s just so gorgeous.” said adam.

you walked closer to the stairs, next to the couple.

unfortunately, that was the last thing you did as a living, breathing person. the floor gave out, sending the three of you into the basement. the fall killed you.

you were the first to catch on to that.

you came back as a ghost, because of course ghosts are real. and while the maitlands were screaming about the fireplace and how cold they were, you noticed that your heart had stopped beating. you noticed that your fingers were numb. and when you stopped breathing, you didn’t get lightheaded, nothing happened.

it had been a few days since then. there was a demon who offered to help the maitlands who came. but the maitlands didn’t allow you near him. one of the downsides to being dead is no sleep. you couldn’t lose consciousness if you tried. and you have. compounded with the fact that you were always drowsy, you were pretty sure that you were in a low level of hell.

you had taken to gazing longingly out the windows. you couldn’t go outside, lest you get eaten by a sandworm, whatever that meant, so you settled for this, hoping that the soccer mom walking her dog would look up and freak out when she saw you.

but no one ever saw you.

you considered seeking the demon out to ask him what actually happened when sandworms ate ghosts, but a flurry of moving trucks interrupted your thoughts.

the movers began dragging the boxes and the pieces of furniture into the house, as directed by a tall, bearded man.

you jumped up and glided down the multiple sets of stairs, to the front door.

as a new person walked in, you would scream, “boo!” as you crept up behind them. to no avail. no one as much as flinched.

you eventually gave up, and roamed the first floor. just looking for someone you hadn’t already tried to scare. sitting in the kitchen, was a red-headed woman. you said, “boo.” she looked up, like she had heard you, but then looked right through you. still invisible.

what’s the fun of being a ghost if you can’t mess with people? maybe you needed to just become a poltergeist. that could be fun, hurling cookie jars at these idiots. you chuckled to yourself at the thought of it.

you wandered into another room. a dining room, maybe? the bearded man from before was in there. you slipped a wine glass out of it’s box, and threw it at him. being a bad aim, you hit the wall about a foot to his right, but the point got across. the glass exploded on impact, making the man jump.

you smiled.

you turned around, to leave the room to find more people to torment, but the demon you were supposed to be avoiding was leaning in the door frame. “impressive.” he said.

”go away, lawrence.” you replied. he cringed at the name.

”what? don’t you want me to show you more ways you can mess with them?” he crossed his arms defensively.

”you’re a literal demon, so excuse me if i don’t trust you. and i’ve only just started throwing things at them, so i think i’ll stick to that for a while.” you glanced around the room for another way out, but there were none.

the demon grunted, and walked away, presumably to the attack to talk to your aunt and uncle again. you felt bad for them, but at least you didn’t have to deal with him.

you wandered into the living room, or was it family room? you never knew which was which and why they were two different rooms. but there was a girl, dressed in all black, flipping through a photo album on the couch. she looked to be about your age. this was definitely the first time you had seen her, so you decided to try to scare her using your old way, even though you were really itching to throw the candelabra that was on the other side of the room. you weren’t sure if that was from this new family, or from adam and barbara. it looked cool, though.

”boo!” you yelled.

the girl whipped her head around. her eyes found you immediately. “who are you and what are you doing in this house.” she demanded. she shut the photo album and stood to face you.

”wow you can both hear and see me, that’s a new one!” you exclaimed.

the girl narrowed her eyes.

”uh, i’m y/n. nice to meet you?”

”what are you doing in this house?”

”i- well, uh, this house used to belong to my aunt and uncle before the, um, died. and-”

”if you need to get any of their stuff, you better do it quickly before my dad gets rid of it.” she interrupted you. “but couldn’t you have done this before the house was sold?”

”you see, i was also in this house when my aunt and uncle died. all three of us were standing right about there,” you pointed at a spot a few feet in front of the girl, “and uh, we all died.”

”you’re dead?” the girl asked, her previous hostility turning to curiosity.

”yeah.”

”that is so cool.” she peered oddly at you.

”uhm not really. you’re the first person who’s been able to see me. i mean, i threw a wine glass at your dad earlier and that was kinda fun, but other than that… sucks, man.”

”oh.” the girl slumped over.

you walked closer to her, “what’s your name, by the way?”

her head bobbed back up, “lydia. you said you were y/n?”

”yeah.”

lydia poked your upper arm. “so you’re corporeal.”

”yeah.”

lydia blinked and looked around awkwardly. “does dying make you bad at conversations?”

”i don’t think so. all the other dead people i know are really chatty.”

”so it’s you that’s bad.”

”you are also involved in this conversation, lydia.” you snarked back.

lydia crossed her arms. “you said something about ‘all the other dead people’ you know. are you just talking about your aunt and uncle, or are there other ghosts haunting this place?”

”no and no? i’m not actually sure his dead or alive status, but there’s a demon here.”

lydia laughed. “a demon? that’s hilarious, tell me the truth.”

”you are talking to a literal dead girl right now, why would i lie to you?”

the laughter faded from her face. “you’re right. what does the demon want here?”

”i’m not really sure. he seems kinda gross, so i’ve been keeping away from him.” you wrinkled your nose, “but as far as i know, barbara and adam. that’s their names, by the way. my aunt and uncle. like, i keep accidentally overhearing him hit on them, and it makes me want to gouge my ears out.”

”yikes. that sounds awful. i can’t imagine what would happen if some weirdo started flirting with my dad. or just adults flirting in general is yuck.” lydia shuddered at the thought.

you went quiet.

”what’re you thinking about.” lydia asked.

you bit the inside of your mouth. “it’s just that… like, now that i’m dead, i’m stuck being sixteen forever. and i’m also pretty sure that i’m stuck in this house forever. so not only will there be no one ever to flirt with me, i have to listen to the adults flirt with each other.”

”if the demon is flirting with someone in front of their wife, i’m pretty sure that he’d flirt with you.” lydia suggested.

”i’d sooner rip his throat out.” you threatened.

lydia thought for a second. “well, it sounds like you need someone to fix that problem.” she said, softly. nervously.

@meangirlsx @meangirlmurphy @eliza-is-confused @boredomimi @book--butterfly

[elizabethplaid]

daily notes - Jan5, 2021

TL;DR - Mostly financial talk. We got a windfall/gift, and we’re going to be more comfortable in the long-run. ----------------------------------

Still alive, still Sims4-ing. Started writing a post with screenshots of my dudes, but I brain-farted on their surnames and can’t finish it yet. We’ll see if I can pay attention long enough to remember that.

We got a check from my great-uncle in the mail - just a way to “share Jesus’ [sic] blessings” with loved ones. Shit, I’d visit his church again for that kind of money. He’s a widower with no kids, and his church will get some of his estate; we’re his wife’s sister’s relatives. I got the impression he’s sending such to other people he knows, too, so I’m happy for him.

Since dad’s retired, budgets can be tight when it comes to important purchases, but we’re still comfortable. He says the check plus his firefighter stipend (which is almost the same amount) would be enough to finish current house projects.

But he’s also considering putting it toward a new car. (Our Honda turns 25 this year and is only a back-up.) We got our ‘08 truck in 2013, after mom passed and we donated the van with a wheelchair lift. 7 years later, even the truck is having issues.

I said to set aside part of it in an investment. It doesn’t have to grow much, but it’ll be something set aside for later. He cashed in a lot of investments and such over the years, to pay for emergency situations, and I remember how tight things were. Guess I’m growing up, if that’s the first thing I thought of. I’m also expecting that it goes toward family-related practical stuff (food, repairs, etc) rather than allowance.

Well, he did say he wants to replace my laptop. But again, that’s a practical purchase. I can’t even contemplate fun purchases now, with this current mood. A me-from-the-past would think of big-ticket dolls. Maybe some lower-price long-lost stuff, like fashions or replacing things I sold.

It’d be nice to put money toward a trip to NH-VT in the spring, though. I like visiting my relatives, and we hope to inter mom’s ashes in the family plot, next to my cousin who passed away last year. I loved shopping with my aunt. I felt so guilty spending $35 on a shirt, but I love it so much I could cry (almost am, damn emotional disregulation!).

That guilt for spending money on myself was born amid our financial struggles in 2005 - after mom got sick and a lot of other stuff happened. I hate that feeling, and it’s been awhile since I felt it (prior to the trip).

If that whole check were mine, I’d want to give a bit to a few friends who have it rough. Tiffy has said it before - that our group of folks dream of being well-off enough to support our other friends. Not big, grand schemes; just showing our affection and appreciation. Though there is the fantasy of a compound where we all live together, haha.

[the-second-circle-ffxiv]

LFRP - Ayame Sasaki

NAME: Ayame Sasaki (Aya-hime) ALIAS/NICKNAME: Aya, Ayame Homura (Misaki Sanada, Ai Kurosawa, Kaori Ishida and several other aliases, used during the jobs.) AGE: 19 NAMEDAY: 4th Sun of the 2nd Umbral Moon RACE: Au ra (Raen) GENDER: Female SEXUALITY: Pansexual MARITAL STATUS: Single

Physical Appearance ––– –

HAIR: Long and straight, lilac hair reaches halfway down her back. EYES: Bright pink (no limbal rings) HEIGHT: 4′9′’ BUILD: Petite and rather doll-like DISTINGUISHING MARKS: Huge snake and cherry blossoms tattooed onto Aya’s back in eastern fashion, running over her hips on the left, and down onto her thigh. She also has three cherryblossoms tattooed on the bottom of her right foot. COMMON ACCESSORIES: Golden jewelry, a set of kunai, strapped onto her left thigh and a small flashbang, made by her younger sister, Bella.

Personal ––– –

PROFESSION: Phantom thief HOBBIES/INTERESTS: Painting, reading, shopping, theatre, tea ceremonies and aroma therapy. LANGUAGES: Hingan and basics of common RESIDENCE: Homura household in Shirogane BIRTHPLACE: Sasaki manor, Kugane FEARS: Poverty and humiliation

Relationships ––– -

SPOUSE: None CHILDREN: None PARENTS: Asagi Homura (adoptive mother) SIBLINGS: Ainu Wanyuudo & N’bella Bhlero (adoptive sisters) OTHER RELATIVES: Silke Doomflare (adoptive aunt), Kojiro Homura (adoptive uncle), Muneshige Homura (adoptive granpa), Okuni Homura (adoptive grandma), the deceased / lost Sasaki clan. PETS: Two pink moths, Yumeka and Tsukiko. Because of relative short lifespan of a moth, she tends to just replace the dead with new ones, which will inherit the names of their predecessors.

Traits ––– -

extroverted / introverted / in between disorganized / organised / in between close minded / open-minded / in between calm / anxious / in between disagreeable / agreeable / in between cautious / reckless / in between patient / impatient / in between outspoken / reserved / in between leader / follower / in between empathetic / unempathetic / in between optimistic/ pessimistic / in between traditional / modern / in between hard-working / lazy / in between cultured / uncultured / in-between loyal / disloyal / in between faithful / unfaithful / in between

Additional information ––– –

SMOKING HABIT: Rarely DRUGS: Never ALCOHOL: Occasionally

RP Hooks ––– –

Phantom thief of Kugane An priceless jewel necklace disappeared in the middle of tea ceremony you held for your important business partners, with only a calling card and a cherry blossom left on its wake? Or maybe an old heirloom katana catched your eye, but the current owner is less willing to part with it? Aya’s main income comes from stealing (liberating) valuables, and selling them on to be sold on black markets. Maybe something got stolen from you? Maybe you need something stolen? Or maybe you are running a black market, and happen to be in need of her services.

A teahouse regular Aya loves to spend her time in high-class teahouses and theatres. Maybe you catched a glimpse of an elegently dressed, pale auri woman, when visiting such events.

The princess of lost Sasaki family The Sasaki family used to run a bathhouse in Kugane. While being one of wealthiest families in the city, the source of the wealth was not as much the bathhouse, but ties to local yakuza. To strenghten these bonds, young Ayame was to be wed with the son of said yakuza family. Not long after the date for bonding ceremony was decided, an anonymous letter to sekiseigumi shed light on several crimes, supposedly committed by the Sasaki family. After trials, the leaders of Sasaki family were executed, while the others lost their wealth and standing in the city, being expelled from Kugane. Everyone except young Ayame, who as orphaned minor, was not seen responsible for the crimes of her parents. A local monster slayer, Asagi Homura adopted young Ayame just some time after. Maybe you are someone with a link to late Sasaki family? Maybe one of the yakuza family, she was supposed to be married into.

What I do and what I won’t ––– –– –

Darker themes (violence, gore, torture, abuse, drugs etc.) are totally okay, as long as the partner is 20+, and we have a mutual agreement about things!

Even though I like darker themes, Im very much up for just some light, slice of life-RP too! So dont let that stop you from reaching out! :3

No plots that will end up killing my character. Events that will leave scars or permanent injuries (physical or mental) are okay, as long as you talk to me first! 🖤

No ERP for the sake of it. Im married, and have no interest in ERP altogether. Some exceptions may be made, if its important for the plot, but overall, I prefer “fade to black”.

Any racism, nazism, homo- transphobia etc. wont be tolerated! Ever.

Please, keep the IC and OOC thingies separate!!!

About the mun ––– –– –

You can call me Reine. Im a disaster housewife, tattoo enthusiast, bat-lover and a part time writer!

Im a HUGE horror movie & Soulsborne-fan, and that usually shows on my characters too! ^^’ So anything along those lines, and Im in! 🖤

Time Zone: Eastern european (Im a night-owl though, so while it effects on my active hours, its not TOO bad.)

English is not my first language, so answers may sometimes be bit slower than from native english speakers, but bear with me!

If you see me around in game, come and say “hi”! Im always up for little RP, or just casual ooc chatter! Sooo yeah. Come here, lets talk!! 🦇

Platforms: In game, Discord and Tumblr

Contact Information  ––– –

Tumblr - the-second-circle-ffxiv (Main blog: lareine-kira) Server - Balmung, Crystal datacenter (Will gladly hop over onto other servers on Crystal for rp). Discord - On request

@mooglemeet​ @ffxiv-crystal-rp​ @balmungrp​