#and still believe in magic and white rabbits and miracles

[madwomansapologist]

━ ✧ unraveling you | chapter 2 - to devour what is truly yours

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series synopsis: Trapped inside Westview, Agatha Harkness was reduced to Agnes. The noisy neighbor and nothing more than that. Until a meteor rain brought something strong to Westview. Something strong enough to help her, and maybe strong enough to free her. You. In a journey to save herself by teaching you the ways of magic, Agatha Harkness wants one thing only: to avenge herself.

The moonlight kept her company, but her night wasn’t less lonely because of it. The moon casted its light over all beneath it, and remained untouched by the empty sky. Agnes hoped to one day see more stars on it again.

This town makes her feel like the last speaker of a dead ancient language. Part of her knows it’s her fault too. To live for so long and have no one looking after you for so many months… She was never good with saying the truth, or staying in the same place for long enough.

Still, for now she’ll continue to blame Wanda Maximoff. She is the one that divided her into halfs, blurry mirrors facing one another until boredom and apathy stroke them down. How can she ever punish Wanda in a way that feels fair? How can she take everything from a woman that already lost it all?

How can Agnes trully break her, this time without breaking herself?

Her magic has little use in this body. Mostly controlled by Wanda, she can’t cast a spell to save herself from this misery. But she can hear you, on the guest room, living your pathetic little existence as if you were not mean to greatness. You shattered Wanda’s influence before, there is a chance you can do more.

And Agatha will be so strong after stealing everything from you. Her little miracle.

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Willing to understand him, you followed Señor Scratchy downstairs. That little thing can be so confusing. He looks at empty places for minutes as if something exciting is happening there. He bites your fingers if you touch his teeth. Everytime you go after him, he runs.

― One day you will have to answer me ― you declared, heart filled with determination, as the rabbit hid from you bellow the couch. ― Señor Scratchy! I’m trying to talk to you!

Accepting his apathy, you made your way to the kitchen. Agnes glared throught the kitchen’s window, knuckles white from the pressure she put on the sink. Her eyes are always tired, and yet the rest of her body seems ready to do anything.

― I’ll help you understand the world ― said Agnes, still not looking at you. Besides her, you tried to find what got her attention. All you saw was the backyard, the same since the day she helped you. ― You’ll always have an roof on top of your head, food and comfort.

This time she had all your attention. Agnes isn’t usually this serious. Her voice sounded so deep, and her words had no affection on them. You wonder why she behaves that way.

― I’ll teach you about this world. ― Agnes reached out to you. ― Do we have an deal?

― We do ― you held her hand, shaking it slightly. ― I’m so lucky to have you.

Agnes will do exactly what she told you. And one day you’ll pay for your debt.

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― Is this common? ― Your eyes burned, and it only made you want to keep on looking at the TV. Black and white transformed into a colorful world, and the cacophony of a tornado was replaced by an angelic music. ― For people to die because a house fell on them?

Agnes chuckled, her hand full of popcorn as she saw your reactions to The Wizard of Oz. How long has it been since she watched something she wanted to? Never before on that television. It seemed fitting, more than just out of her will to watch something enjoyable.

You need to question your reality. To realize something isn’t right, and that it’s your fault. You’re just like Wanda. A strong witch that decided to believe the world is easier than it really is. You better realize nothing can easy in this world.

In the end, it’s kill or be killed.

― Not really ― she filled her mouth with popcorn. Too salty, as it was supposed to.

― But is it possible?

― Water ― she murmured, pausing the movie and moving towards the kitchen. The lack of answer was enough for you. ― I’ll be back.

Left alone facing Dorothy, you had an idea.

You found the red high heels Agnes wore a few days ago on the entrance, and took the blue socks out of the shoes you used yesterday in the graveyard. The heels were too big for you and didn’t shine as much as Dorothy’s, but it was similar enough for you to smile.

― We need to buy you more clothes ― Agnes took a sip from the cup on her hands. At the kitchen’s door, she observed your attempt of wearing heels. ― And so do I.

You tried to walk towards her. It didn’t work. Agnes placed her cup on the table and kneeled down in front of you, allowing you to support yourself on her shoulders as she took the heels off of your feet.

Only then she realized you wore the shirt backwards.

Naïve idiot, she smiled to herself.

Walking throught Westview, Agnes made sure to keep you on the right path. Holding your hand, sometimes pushing you near her when your feet decides it must go somewhere she doesn’t want you to, you both made to the mall.

As you tried to discover what earrings are for, Agnes looked for something that would fit her. Something better than the clothes on her wardrobe.

― Agnes! ― A female voice yelled, making her turn around. Sharon Davis, the actress behind Mrs. Hart. Her smiled was fake, even for Agnes’ standarts. ― Is so good to see you again!

― Hi, sweetheart ― Agnes replied, just as fake. ― How you doing?

Sharon licked her lips, dropping the facet without hesitation. The faked happiness was gone from her face. That made something inside Agnes boil. If you decided to fake it, then do it well. Do it until the end.

― You know you can count on us, right? Everyone is recovering, you don’t need to do it on your own.

― I’m fine, dear. Don’t you worry about me.

― But how couldn’t I? I’ve seen you, Agnes. You usually look… lost. In a place far away from here. I’ve read a lot about PTSD on the last few months and… What I’m trying to say is that you don’t need to face it alone.

As the little miracle that you are, you interrupted the conversation by jumping besides Agnes. You had earrings on your hands and a inebriating smile on your face.

― Look what I found ― you held the two gold pieces. It took you a second to notice Sharon. ― Oh, hi!

― Nice to meet you ― she looked at you, then back at Agnes. The middle aged woman seemed more relaxed. ― Apparently you’re not on your own.

― Aren’t they the most beautiful thing you ever saw? ― You showed her the earrings with moon pendants. ― You can put the moon on your ears. Isn’t that amazing?

Sharon answered you, but the words didn’t made to your mind. Instead, a cold feeling passed through you. Looking into her eyes, you saw a woman reflecting on her pupil. An tired, scared woman. You could feel her pain. Her deep, real fear. The first time in her life she ever felt so much of it.

Inside Sharon’s eyes, you saw a puppet.

― It’s over ― you said. Taking her hands into yours, you tried to make some sense of what you just saw. ― Nothing will take control from you anymore. You’re safe.

Sharon tried to get away from you, but something on your touch made her melt. It was so warm, so welcoming. So full of true and care. It is over. Nothing will take control from her anymore. She’s safe.

Agnes couldn’t care less to the tears starting to appear on Sharon’s eyes. She only glared at the white energy coming out of yours, enchanting Sharon without an spell or runes.

― We need to go ― she said. ― Now.

― Yeah ― Sharon blinked, startled. ― Of course.

Agnes pulled you into a fitting room, closing the curtains as you stumbled to keep on standing. The space was narrow. When Agnes turned to you, her body was pressed against yours.

― What was that? ― She inquired, whispering. ― What were you doing?

― She was hurt ― you said, trying to understand yourself. ― I just wanted for it to stop.

― How do you know that?

You shrugged. It wasn’t you trying to escape the conversation, you just didn’t knew how. You just knew.

― It’s time for your first lesson about civilization ― Agnes held you by the shoulders, making you look into her eyes. ― You can’t touch people you don’t know, or speak about their feelings if they haven’t told you about them. Not a good thing.

― Are you sure?

― Trust me ― Agnes opened the curtains. ― I too had to come with terms to the fact people don’t like you mess with their heads.

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Blurred forms expanded upon your eyelids, warm colors challenging the vacuum. The more you tried to look them more closely, the less you saw them. Always at the corner of your vision, no matter what.

Laying besides you on the backyard, it took Agnes a few minutes to notice you finished your book. She marked the page, taking the sunglasses off and tried to understand what your expression conveys.

― Are you done?

You nodded, the grass itching your skin. The sunlight made your skin warmer, but it also made you feel… more. There was this energy flowing throught your body, one that felt so right.

― Victor made him ― you hissed. ― If he is a human, how can his son be a creature instead of a man? By his way of thinking, Victor doesn’t says he also isn’t human?

That made Agnes close her book. It was an great argument. She expected for you to say if you liked it or not, if it made you feel anything in particular. Not only have you read the book, but also understood its themes and thought critically about them.

She expected less from someone like you.

― That’s not how life begins ― Agnes put her book between you two. An frontier, just as counterfeit as any other. ― Victor made him with dead parts, something supposed to rot and wither. He used fire and mechanics. It’s a creature, just as much as Victor is its father.

― If it breathes, if it thinks, if it seeks for love: how can it not be a human?  

― I don’t think…

― You told me about a Gamora  ― you interrupted her. ― I’ve saw a picture of Nebula. And Thanos. Are they not human? Even if they are not from Earth, even if they do not look like others? I don’t know how Gamora was born, but I still wouldn’t call her a creature. Even if she is green. Even if fire, mechanics and dead parts were needed to make her breath.

― That might be a talent ― said Agnes. ― For rhetoric.

You searched for another book on the pile Agnes sorted out. Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

― You’ll enjoy this one ― Agnes pointed at the novel. ― I’m sure of that.

She wondered what your opinion about it will be. The creature is within the man, a experiment brought upon its very creator. Unorthodox, but brave and not negligent. The doctor welcomes a creature with open arms, it beneficts from it, until it slaugheters the very soul of his creator.

Agnes imagines you will like it. It surprises her that you’re able to think critically, but that’s a good thing. As least she won’t need to coexist with an barbarian until…

That was a horrible idea. To read together, out of home. As if you both were friends. You want you to think, to wonder about your reality and search for the reason why you’re stuck in this mental state. That doesn’t mean she needs to hear you. To question who you are.

Agnes can’t look at you and see a human. If she will destroy you, if Agatha will be rescued using everything you have to offer, than she can’t see a human.

Hurting others is easier if you don’t see them as humans.

― You both never get tired of reading? ― Abilash leaned on the fence, his hat projecting an shadow upon his bright smile. Norm. Vision’s colleague. A very active participant on the series, meaning one of the neighbors Wanda tortured the more. And still, he smiles. ― Honest question.

― Only when it is a bad book! ― You smiled, just as bright as the man did. Maybe a bit. ― And you, Agnes? Do you get tired of it?

― I couldn’t have worded it better.

Agnes found herself admiring you. She quickly averts her gaze, reminding herself your only purpose is to be consumed. When you spoke again, Agnes was already looking at you.

GENERAL TAGLIST: @lovelyy-moonlight

UNRAVELING YOU TAGLIST: @harknessshi

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@ madwomansapologist.tumblr.

[hollowwhisperings]

KH Spec: Princess of Heart as Stars, part 5/?

Before looking into Belle & returning to Kairi, there are still aspects of Princess Jasmine that are hugely relevant to identifying how past & future members of the Seven Lights match up thematically. Part 4 began that process by establishing how the implicit themes within the stories of Snow White, Cinderella & Aurora were made explicit through Jasmine's ability to verbally express what they (due to the expectations of their then-contemporary audiences, due to their lack of consistent safety) could not.

Thusly, Jasmine establishes what themes tie the Seven Lights together & what to bear in mind when speculating on future candidates for the roles. Jasmine's unique ability to embody & express each of the following themes (a result both of the era she was conceived for & who Jasmine is as a character) is likely why Agrabah continues to play a role in each Kingdom Hearts game despite its World's "story" having been completed. Before returning to the remaining members of the "Original Seven" Lights, allow me to lay out the thematic patterns of ALL princesses.

The Themes that Connect the Seven Lights are the following:

the ability to Know One's own Heart, to Imagine the Impossible, to Dream: this is the theme of "Dreaming" and is often represented by Hearts.

the ability to Believe in those Impossiblities, to have Faith in others, to be Hopeful in even the most dire of circumstances: this is the theme of "Wishes" and its symbol is a Star.

the ability to remain Curious about the World & about other people with genuine interest, Without Ill Intent: this is a theme of both Innocence & Kindness but is ultimately one of "Curiosity". It is represented by having Animal Companions and by looking to the Stars of a Night Sky.

the capacity to Love Others wholly & truly, to Inspire Loyalty & love in turn: this is the theme of "True Love" and is represented by acts of Self-Sacrifice and Redemption.

the ability to achieve Miracles, through the strength of Love, Wishes & Dreams: "Miracles" are acts of Resurrection & Magical Transformation. The Power of Awakening is a form of "Resurrection".

and, finally, to be one of the Seven Lights is to be in a state of "Hoping": to continue "Dreaming" and otherwise hold close those seemingly impossible "Wishes"; for that "Curiosity" to go unsated; to "Love & be Loved" with all the potential needed to achieve "Miracles"... the Lights must remain in states of "Hoping", continuously channeling their faith and Love but the realization of their Penultimate Shared Theme out of reach. This "Hoping" manifests as Light and is the guiding Theme for this series of speculation.

this is the theme all others lead to, the theme that all others seek to achieve: "Freedom". While many of the Princesses needed Literal Freedom of Movement, the thematic "Freedom" is one of Leaving Childhood: this is symbolized by "Happily Ever After". Visually, "Freedom" is symbolised by Awakening, Weddings, "riding into the sunset" or otherwise Crossing The Horizon.

The Light of "Hoping"

Without going down the Rabbit Hole of MoM's Mysterious Black Box (which I have previously speculated on), "Hope" is considered both a Gift & Curse in the myth of Pandora's Box.

It is a Gift: it allows people to continue trying in the face of failure & adversity.

It is a Curse: it is an ongoing, thankless effort that can lead to self-destruction.

The Seven Lights are key to the continued existence of the KH Universe in the absence of Kingdom Hearts: the Lights act as Seven "Substitute" Stars for that single, all-powerful and Absent "Sun" (though it DOES look more like a "Moon" in box art).

A Relationship With Time?

To be a host for Pure Light seems to require one's life to be suspended from change: in the case of the Disney Princesses from the Original set of Seven, their Stories & entire Worlds seem to have looped over & over, even before KHX, to keep these Primcesses ever between "Doom" & "Happily Ever After".

Assuming that this was deliberately achieved, the Static Worlds of the Disney Princesses served to protect the Worlds at large to remain in the Realm of Light... at the expense of the Seven Lights themselves, & their respective Worlds with them. This is only speculation: Melody of Memory introduced the concepts of "Unreality" and "Realms of Fiction", while the Mass Crossover nature of the KH series enables many versions of reality to exist simultaneously & in each other's stead: I have assumed the Princesses were kept in timeloops because cutscenes from KHUX seemed to imply that Maleficent became self-aware of such a phenomena & because none of the Disney Princesses met in BBS seemed any younger than they were in KH1. This could just as easily a result of their Worlds falling to Darkness shortly after BBS & by the methods Maleficent employed to capture them. Time Dilation or Time Travel outright are other plausible explanations.

"Passing The Torch"

With this idea of Lights being contingent on "Hoping" as an ongoimg effort, it makes sense that Six of the Original Seven Lights could (& would want to) "pass on" their roles: it was not that their natures changed, it was their circumstances that did. With the Princesses now Self-Aware, the threat of Maleficent gone, the Worlds regaining a Kingdom Key-Wielding Hero... the Princesses Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora, Alice, Jasmine & Belle could move on with their lives past their Stories.

It is also this theme of "Hoping", something present & ongoing rather than the "Freedom" that their hopes build up to, that explains why characters that otherwise "match" the qualities shared by the Seven Lights (such as Ariel, Aerith, & Sally from Halloween Town) are not Lights themselves: their Worlds continued to experience "time" and their "Hope" could transform into "Freedom", the theme all Lights ultimately hope for.

In Part 6, the conjecture on time & "hoping" will finally address that Belle I've been neglecting and, assuming I do not again become Distracted, the nature of Kairi as "Once & Present Princess" will be explored. Part 7, hopefully, will tie everything together and let me finally share my theories on who could join Kairi, Rapunzel & Anna as the "New Lights".

[alice-angel12x]

💔Bunny!Shouto x Bunny!Reader

Beastar/hybrid/ Fantasy AU

[In this story everyone is a hybrid with animal instincts, and major height difference depending on the animals like in beastars. And magic exists. And sorry if Shouto seems out of character for you.]

"Shouto where are you?!" Y/n called for her friend.

Sadly Shouto's mind was elsewhere, for he had fallen in love with the wolf princess Momo. Every day he would sit at the edge of cottonwood village and gaze upon The princess from afar.

"Shouto, there you are," Y/n said with a smile.

But that quickly turned into a sad frown as she saw Shouto eyeing the crescent castle. Kingdom of the wolves. Know most would wonder, why is there a rabbit village a hop skip, and a jump away from a wolf kingdom. Well, every time the village tries to move away rogue wolves would attack. Yet once they got close to the castle they would quickly run away. The king of the wolves claimed that as long as they stayed within the boundaries of the kingdom, they would protect them. Y/n never bought that. She noticed that once every year one rabbit from the village would disappear. Many believed it was from the rogue wolves, sneaking in and past the guards. So Y/n was worried about her friend falling in love with a wolf, a rabbit falling in love with a wolf.

"Oh Hi, Y/n," was all he said not even turning to look at her.

"How are you feeling, you know since spring is coming up?" Y/n asked him slowly.

"I'm fine," was all he said. "How about you,"

"I'm good still looking for my prince charming you know," Y/n said wistfully.

"You so childish," Shouto said as he finally turned to her.

"I'm 16 what's so childish about that?" Y/n asked as she turned to head back to the village.

Cottonwood Village is a quaint little town of Rabbits. In the middle of the village was a large cottage where the leader/mayor lived with his family, Shouto's family. The leader was endeavor Shouto's father, he was a part of the group of rabbits that believed the wolves were hiding something.

"Does your father know about your umm, dream girl?" Y/n asked.

"My father already has enough control of my life, I'm not about to let him control my love life," Shouto said coldly.

"You shouldn't get too close to the castle, it's dangerous," Y/n said in a worried tone.

"I know your thoughts on Wolves Y/n. But the wolves have shown use that they have other alternative foods. Like soy and bean-made meat," Shouto explained.

"It's easy to say that when it's not someone you care about goes missing," Y/n muttered bitterly, but Shouto sadly heard her.

"Y/n, it was the rogues that got your brother. And the Kingdom felt with them remember," Shouto sighed in annoyance.

"Shouto are you sure you love this wolf girl or is this just one of your I just wanna piss off my dad things?" Y/n asked bitterly.

"If You don't like it then you could always find someone else to hang out with, Y/n!" Shouto said as his left side lit up in flames.

Y/n quickly ran off, startled by Shouto's flame magic. Shouto sighed in frustration as he realized he used his father's Flames. After that Shouto avoided Y/n like the plague, and it didn't help that his father eventually found out Shouto was in love with a wolf. Endeavor did not like that, so he started setting updates for Shouto to try to take his mind off Momo.

Y/n tried to apologize and rekindle with him, but he would only give her the cold shoulder.

Y/n could see the sorrow and anger Shouto was in, so she barrier her feelings for him and braved the dark forest. She heard rumors that a powerful owl named All For One could perform miracles, even change species. She eventually found him a creepy old owl.

"E-excuse me, sir," Y/n stuttered as the owl turned his head 180° to look at her.

"I wanted to know if you had the power to change a person's species?"

"Yes indeed child, and what species would you like to be, but it will cost you," All for One chuckled.

"How much would it cost?" She asked.

"Half of your soul. Your life Will be cut in half. You'll live to about 25 for you," he answered as he towered over Y/n.

"I would like to pay for someone. If a red and white male rabbit comes and asks to change him, please take my soul," Y/n said in confidence.

"You young people always ready to throw your life away," he muttered as ripped out half of Y/n's soul.

And with that, she quickly ran back to the village, with Half of her soul in toe. She managed to track down Shouto and told him about All for One but left out the part of selling half of her soul.

Shouto did not waste time to find the owl and demand him to turn him into a wolf.

____________ [4 years later]

It has been 4 years since I changed into a wolf. When I changed, I found myself waking up in a large bed. I was found by Princess Momo herself. She helped was so sweet and kind, and was more than happy to explain wolf society. When I told her I was raised by Herbavoir animals. I was an Omega, while She was an Alpha.

Yet I enjoyed the times we spent together, I had never felt so free. She would help my heats or anything that confused me. It took a while to get used to eating soy meat, but I didn't mind all that much. All for One said he could change me and give me Wolf-like instincts, but he couldn't remove my Rabbit instincts. So it took a long time to suppress those instincts.

°° Today Momo had important meetings, so I was left to my own devices. So I decided to take a stroll through the forest. As I wandered through the forest I could hear humming coming from a nearby river. I peaked out from behind the tree, too see a rabbit bathing in the river. I recognized that rabbit, with her lovely H/c hair and beautiful snow-white rabbit ears and Tail.

"Y/n?" I called out to her.

Y/n quickly turned around to face me as she covered her chest with her arms. As my eyes took in all of her details I could feel the rest of the world fading away. It was just me and Y/n. In my new wolf body, Y/n looked so small compared to me now.

She matured a lot over these past 4 years. For some reason I couldn't see her as the childish dreamer 4 years ago, I couldn't figure out why.

"Umm hello Shouto, your taller," Y/n said as she started backing away.

"I-it's good to see you again Y/n," stuttered as I felt the heat rush to my face.

She smiled sweetly at me as she grabbed her robes as he made her way over to you. Seeing her standing In front of me was odd. I remember when I was still a rabbit I was just a few inches taller than her. But now she just barely reached my mid waist.

We sat under a tree and talked for hours about what had happened to me. And she sat there and listened very closely. Her robes v neck was very revealing and I started to feel hot.

She seemed to notice as she got and started to walk with a slight sway in her hips. A dormant instinct awakens within me as the rabbit inside me begged to go after her.

"It seems you're a bit too excited to see me. If I remember correctly I was too childish for you~," She said with a smooth seductive voice.

I had to hold back the Rabbit instincts as I watched cross to the other side of the river.

"I'm afraid I have to leave now, spring is just around the corner after all~," She cooed as she disappeared behind the trees.

I felt hot in a certain place as I felt my tail wag uncontrollably on the ground. That wasn't the last time I went out to see Y/n. Anytime Momo was busy I would meet Y/n by the river and we would talk.

One day it was a particularly hot day as I made my way to Y/n's meet site. Today she was wearing a large floppy sun hat and a cute spring dress.

"So what us Momo like?" Y/n asked curiously.

"She's wonderful, she's kind, smart, and gentle," I said to her as I started to talk about my fiance.

"Hey Shouto are you okay, you seem sluggish today and in pain?" Y/n asked worriedly.

"Oh don't worry, I'm going into heat soon. So I'll be sore for a while, the downsides to being an Omega wolf," I explained.

"That sucks, is there any way I can help you?" Y/n asked as she hugged my neck. She smelled like a field of wildflowers, I couldn't help but return her hug.  ---

As The two old friends were talking they failed to notice two figures creeping behind them. Before Y/n could react, a large hand grabbed her by the ears and lifted her off the ground. She screamed and thrashed against her captors. Shouto quickly got up and tackled the man as he pulled Y/n into his arms and ran.

"It's the rogues, we need to head back to the castle," Shouto struggled to say as he ran.

But as he ran his body began to ache and became heavy. His vision started to blur and his steps became uncertain. Shouto tripped and tumbled down the hill with Y/n in toe. As he collapsed on the ground his eyes slowly closed as his body gave out.

"SHOUTO, PLEASE WAKE UP!!'' was the last thing he heard.

------

As my eyes opened up, I found myself in my room or my nest. suddenly Momo came in with her usual sweet smile.

" Good your fully awake, it's good to see you took well to the stew," she smiled as she picked up the empty bowl next to me.

"W-what happened to me," Shouto asked as he tried to sit up.

" You're in your heat, but it is taking a larger toll on you because your body lacks certain nutrients that soy meat can't provide. So our hunters found a rabbit near you and gave her to our chiefs and made you rabbit stew," Momo explained.

Shouto felt his whole world shatter as his stomach noted and squeezed.

"Oh, my maid is coming with more stew. Today's rabbit such a delicious flavor," Momo said as she rubbed her finger in the empty bowl and licked off the stew on her finger.

Shouto began to tremble as the truth sank into him. His stomach lurched in disgust as he sat up and leaned onto a nearby wall. Soon a maid came in with a fresh bowl of ... Rabbit... Soup. Shouto tried to back away only for his back to meet another wall. The maid scooped a spoon full of Stew with a generous amount of cooked meat chunks.

"Open your mouth," the maid said using her Alpha order.

Shouto's omega body slowly opened its mouth, despite Shouto's wishes. As the maid feeds him a spoonful of rabbit stew. The maid ordered him to chew and swallow, and he did. Heavy tears ran down Shouto's face as his body betrayed him. It felt like an eternity to finish the entire bowl of Stew.

____

Soon as the maid left Shouto pushed himself onto his feet and made his way down to the kitchen.

'It couldn't be Y/n right? She must have run away to safety,' he thought to himself.

As he entered he saw the chief with a cloth sack ready to be thrown out. Shouto quickly offered to take it out for them as a thank you for the meal. And the chief happily gave the sac to Shouto.

Once he was out he ran deep into the forest and opened the bag to see a fresh skeleton of a small rabbit. But inside he pulled out a familiar sun hat and spring dress. His stomach lurched and forced up the stew into a nearby bush.

"I... I ate her!! I ate Y/n', His mind screamed in shame, disgust, and sorrow as he began to sob.

Flashes of Y/n's beautiful smile and lively eyes appeared in his mind.

He held up Y/n's dress, it looked so small. The perfect size for a Pup maybe, but he knew this dress was the size for a fully grown rabbit, a young woman. He held the dress close to his chest like he was Hugging Y/n again.

Shouto with his head low he snuck back to his nest. Laying down he slowly pushed away most of the fabric Momo scented as he held Y/n's dress close to him. He could still smell the field of wildflowers on her dress.

"I can still smell you Y/n," He whimpered to himself.

[someone-give-me-a-hug]

I never believed in karma

This is a little story based mostly on a story of when I was younger and a prompt I found somewhere that said right a story about why you believe in karma. I was bored and so we have this. also this isn't proofread so :) there are a few mentions of abusive behavior.

I never believed in much as a kid. I knew from the age of 4 that the Tooth Fairy wasn’t real. That Santa was nothing but a myth. Not even being read stories of miracles and magic, giants and dragons could sway the little pessimist in my head who would constantly nag that the world was cruel and the universe could never give back. My parents hated it, in fact, it became a running joke that they found it so hard to convince me to believe that they would drop me off at the police station one day and see if I would believe in the miracle of them coming back. It was never that funny but everyone else would laugh. When I was about 8 my parents were divorced, it was like the only world I had known had been split down the middle like a dry log and placed on the fire that fueled my spitful ways. I was angry, at myself, at the world, at the same stupid universe who tried to trick kids into thinking the chocolate eggs in their garden came from a rabbit who had now torn my life into 2 separate factions; one filled with the rage of a drinker who screamed at the little things but wore the sweetest smile and held me tight as though I might be the next to leave and another filled with false promise and manipulation. Neither was ideal and so I taught myself how to grow up and focused on becoming better than my parents. The years went by in an endless cycle of the seasons. Spring spent watching the cherry blossom tree in my fathers' fancy new house bud and grow whilst wishing to be anywhere but there, Summers spent in isolation, left alone and separated from my friends, Autumn spent in public libraries to get away from home for a few hours and Winter spent praying for the isolation of summer or really anything to get out of Christmas dinner and having to face everyone. Father time treated me as well as he could, the image of a wise old man, gray beard littered with the stories of my life, and eyes that looked straight through you as if you were a ghost. No matter how much time passed I still didn’t believe in anything of great significance and I certainly didn’t believe in Karma. That was until I turned 11. It had been a couple days after my birthday, I had gotten a few bits and bobs that would find their way into the draw of rubbish that was religiously searched by my dad but most importantly I had gotten a phone as a way of contacting either parent when I was staying at the other's house. To me this was a dream come true! I could finally text the people that mattered and blend in with other kids my age who for the last 2 years had been trying to act 5 years older on the internet. I wasn't allowed it at night (which was understandable as I would spend all night trying to contact and interact with people all within the four walls of my room and huddled in between the 2 plush white pillows I had on my bed). Little did I know, my dad would search through the messages sent to my mum or grandma about how unhappy I was up at his with his girlfriend who treated me like I was a problem, and where I went below the dog in the pecking order. Now in these messages, I had referred to my dad's girlfriend as a “Step-witch” and when he found this out he wasn’t happy at all, I was locked in the lounge and shouted at for more time than I would like to admit. Now one thing I will say is when I get scared or too emotional I can’t talk, the words escape my throat and the oxygen can never find its way in. I begged and pleaded fresh tears gliding down the salty remains of the old ones to be able to write as a way of speaking and saying sorry. “No!” they insisted “we won’t tolerate this disrespect and you aren’t a toddler you can speak like a normal person!”. After that, I wasn’t allowed to use my phone at all and all the messages I sent had to be run through them before my finger could hit the send button. A few weeks later when it was time once again to make my Monday trip to Dad's after school I was shocked to receive a message from my father telling me my mum would be dropping me up as they couldn’t manage it. It wasn’t until mum left me on their

meticulously de-weeded and bleak front door and had to let myself in with the spare key that I realized what had happened. The house had been swept through by the flu, everyone was sick! Not wanting to give up the ongoing battle of where I should live with my mum, my dad had said he was busy and asked her to drop me up when in fact he was bedridden by the vicious illness. They were all coughing, sniffling, sneezing into a tissue, and then throwing it onto a growing pile the size of Mount Everest herself. The only one who seemed to be unaffected was my Oldest step-brother, let’s call him Dan. Dan never treated me like some old gum he had stepped in that just wouldn’t get off his shoe like the others, he never said anything bad to me or about me (at least to my face) and he was the only person in the house who treated me as if I was human. So as my Dad and Sammy (let’s just call her that for now) were holed up in their room Dan took it upon himself to take care of me for the 3 days of my stay. You see Dad and Sammy had lost their voice and resorted to writing on paper to communicate to us what they needed (or they used their phones but they were charged on the other side of the room to the bed and they could hardly muster up the strength to walk all those 10 steps to get them). However, there was 1 problem with this: all the led in the pencils were always broken and could never sharpen right, all the pens never wrote and we could never make out the frantic hand signals they would make. Now I’m not saying they deserved it for everything they did nor am I saying that it was karma who ripped their voices from their throats just as they had ripped my only means of communication to the outside world and to plead my case that day. All I am saying is from that day forward the universe and all her wonderful ways stuck on that tiny list of things I believed in. And who knows maybe next year I might catch a glimpse of a fat, red and white man and his big clumpy boots climb back up the chimney, leaving presents and mince pie crumbs in his wake.

[reidscanehand]

I've watch Frasier and Bob's Burger. I love it. You have such a good taste sweetheart.

As you can see i like your taste in series soo can you give a list of your series and films recommendation?

Ah! I'm so glad you enjoy them!

This is so sweet especially because I lowkey think I have absolutely horrendous (and/or just bizarre) taste, so I'm thrilled to hear that you like them, too!

In terms of other series I enjoy: I do not watch a lot of television, but I'm a big fan of Murder, She Wrote, Poirot, and Miss Marple (these are technically ITV series, but they're straight up like mini-movies). I really liked Downton Abbey until, like, season 4 or so. I watch Big Mouth a little, Brooklyn 99 (I have to be in a very specific mood to sit down and watch TV, so it really just depends on that). I grew up watching a lot of British television like The Vicar of Dibley and Are You Being Served?, which I like a lot as well. I grew up watching Friends and I like it as a comfort thing, but I barely 'watch' it, if that makes any sense. I will also...ever so occasionally watch documentaries about ghosts (I don't like ghost hunter things because I believe in ghosts and that feels...rude to the ghosts?) and Old Hollywood.

In terms of film, I'm all over the place. I like slightly creepy stuff and old stuff. My favorite film of all time is The Philadelphia Story, which is a classic farce based on a play and it stars Katharine Hepburn, Jimmy Stewart (who I adore), and Cary Grant. I'm a big fan of Bringing Up Baby (which also stars Katharine Hepburn), Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (another Jimmy Stewart film). I love Alfred Hitchcock movies and my favorite is probably Rear Window. While it isn't a Hitchcock film, I love Charade, Wait Until Dark, and How to Steal a Million (all of which star Audrey Hepburn). I studied theatre and the best movie musicals I've ever seen are Cabaret, The Sound of Music, Meet Me in St. Louis, and Funny Face. I love period romance films, too, like Emma (2020), Sense and Sensibility (the one directed by Ang Lee and written by Emma Thompson because oh my GOD), and the 2005 Pride and Prejudice adaptation. Oh, and An Education.

I'm trying desperately to become like...a film buff? If I had my time again, I'd minor in film studies because I'm a huge fan of it...but I'm not smart enough to, like, talk about it? So, I'll occasionally try and watch, like, a 'smart' movie? In this category of films, there are more critically acclaimed things like When Harry Met Sally or Network or Misery or In the Mood for Love. From this year's Oscar nominees, I loved Nomadland and Promising Young Woman a whole bunch.

However, I also just like what I like and I'm fortunate enough to be getting to an age where I really just watch what I want to watch and don't watch what I don't want to. I'm really easy to please, which is helpful. Growing up, my favorite films were things like Return to Oz, The Cheap Detective, Clue, A League of Their Own, Hocus Pocus, The Addams Family, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, Corpse Bride (which I still list in my top 5 films of all time), The Secret Garden (1993 one, I think), Little Women, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, and Practical Magic (comfort tip: if you're having a bad day, cut yourself a slice of banana or pumpkin bread, pour a coffee or tea to have with it and watch Practical Magic; it cures the soul).

When I was young, I also listened to director commentaries on movies all the time, still do, sometimes, so I always recommend doing that because it's super fun and interesting. I, like, love knowing why a director wanted a certain actor to stand where they're standing or, like, the symbolism behind a shot. I did this all the time for my favorite Disney films. My favorites are any of them where the art is slightly different or more interesting, so I really love Snow White (frankly, a miracle that film got made), Sleeping Beauty (there was a different animation director than the other original few films and you can really tell), and 101 Dalmatians.

To sum up, I'm a long-winded gal who enjoys old comedies, laughing, slightly spooky things, old-fashioned things and listening to slightly nerdy commentaries. Hope this was...informative? Slightly helpful? Fun?

Love you xx

[randomoranges]

Over the summer, I watched Good Omens in Italian and made a post about it to compare and contrast

And then I did the same with French and FINALLY got around to make sense of my notes. Here they are, enjoy the laughs.

Good Omens in French is Bons Présages which is a literal translation.

French shows/movies/books always seem to do literal translations of things (see Harry Potter)

Crowley’s name goes from Rampant (something that CRAWls) to Rampa.

 God, although voiced by a female sounding actor, is referred as tout puissant (male) and not toutE puissantE (female)

 At least Crowley and Aziraphale use tu around each other instead of using the formal vous. (Listen, the number of shows/movies where 2 characters are friends, but because of the age dynamic they get downed to vous – it’s annoying. I’m glad 6000 yrs of friendship meant they could use tu.)

 Agnes Nutter’s last name is Barge

 The way Crowley greets Hastur and Ligur “hey salut les gars” it’s so casual lamao

 When they’re going through the deeds of the day Crowley goes on to say “oké vous allez adorer – j’ai fait bugger tous les réseaux” he sounds so pleased

 Ciao remains but (according to my old notes – I don’t remember but this is what I wrote like this summer) apparently they go on to say that it means poule (chicken) and not food (so the ciao –chow pun is lost)

 The person from hell who comes through on Crowley’s radio (I was never sure who that was supposed to be) but anyways, that person, they use darling and in French it was translated as mon choux, which is cute and also really funny.

 The Japanese bit was not translated (so it’s still Michael Sheen we hear say the one Japanese line)

 French also does not have another word for cookie (cookie and biscuit – which is funny because in French the word used for cookie is biscuit) ANYWAYS so Sister Mary L says cookie but with a French accent.

 Aziraphael sounds like Azirafal.

 When Aziraphale asks Crowley what he wants to do next (or whatever the line was) and Crowley goes des litres, des fleuves, des océans d’alcool (litres, rivers, oceans of alcool)

 The drunk scene deserves a special mention

 Personal opinion: but Crowley’s VA grows more on you than Aziraphale’s VA. They both sound much younger than D. Tennant and M. Sheen. Sometimes the French VAs don’t... fit lol and fall a bit flat.

 Éternitéééééééééé

 Aziraphale’s “oh doux Jésus”

 Their voices as Nanny and brother Francis were sad.

 Warlock’s voice at age 5 was also sad.

 However warlock calls Nanny “Nounou” and that’s cute

 When Nanny sings the lullaby in French – bless them they tried lamao

 When Aziraphale does the practice magic trick to Crowley, Crowley goes on to complain and say “c’est toi que j’vais faire disparaître” and it’s a gem

 JEANNOT LE LAPIN BLANC (when Aziraphale presents his white rabbit) it’s a Gift.

 The Them = les Eux

 In her cottage = dans son cottage (did you even try)

 When God asks Aziraphale for the sword and Aziraphale describes it as it’s “machin coupant très aiguisé”

 Aziraphale uses vous for God, but God uses tu.

 John and Virtue Device à John et Virtue Bidule (another one of those literal translations.)

 Ok but this one annoyed me. Anathema’s name got changed to Anatheme and like sometimes I get it it’s cause of the way words are pronounced so when you dub you gotta find things that fit the movement of the lips as much as but Anatheme does NOT fit with Anathema. ALSO IT’S THE PERSON’S NAME. LIKE. (Re: see Harry Potter again.) aNYWAys.

 Dick Turpin gets changed to Jesse Janes ????

 Grow better is “et vous les filles, continuer de POUSSER” (so the plants get referred to as “girls”)

 Mme. Tracy’s line about the refined gentlemen (or whatever it is) is aux gentlemen avertis.

 Du beebop.

 When they return to the convent Crowley says “j’me demande où sont passés les nuns” he could have sais soeurs insteand of nuns.

 Aziraphale tells Crowley “tu es un gentil garçon » (you are a nice boy)

 Oh lord heal this bike à oh seigneur, réparez ce vélo

 Angel is sometimes mon ange and I’m die. (My angel.)

 The scene in Rome when Crowley asks “qu’est-ce que vous avez à boire?” He sounds So Done

 My dear fellow = mais mon cher camarade (my dear comrade lol)

 When they’re complaining about horses during the Shakespeare scene = oh aye aye les chevaux ça fait mal aux fesses

 Headquarters = maison mère

 The whole Bastille scene with the Jean Claude is lost because they’re already talking French

 Another transformation of angel is angelot (small angel)

 The description of the head cutting machine is une énorme machine coupeuse de têtes

 Pear shapped = boudain (really not the same thing.)  

 Obviously = manifestement

 During the Blitz scene, when Aziraphale is Super Proud he double crossed the Germans he goes on saying “vous vous petes faites pigeonner! Allez, hop, hop, hop”

 The German bit was kept as is

 When Crowley is tap dancing through the church, the French VA makes some key noises

 You go too fast for me = Tu roules trop vite pour moi (two things; the delivery of the line falls flat and tu roules is literally a driving reference so it’s like more car feeling than like moving in life)

 When Anathema offers the Them lemonade they translated it to citronade, instead of limonade. And I don’t get it.

 Wicked = mortel (Deadly)

When Shadwell mimics Aziraphale’s pip pip it’s something along the lines of hop hop hop espèce de tonton Suisse ????? I’m never sure what he says, but just – it’s a riot.

 I don’t even like you = je ne t’appréci même pas (I don’t appreciate you)

But then Crowley’s you dooo is tu m’adores which, is you adore me and I lost it.

 I’m soft = je ne suis pas un guerrier (I am not a warrior) and wow, okay, not the same, not the same impact. 0/10

 Michael sounds more like Mi-ka-el and meh ok.

 When Crowley talks to God when he’s having a minor existential crisis it – doesn’t deliver as much.

 Adam uses vous for Anathema

 When Pepper realises whales have got the good life she says “oh purée, j’ai trop envie d’être une baleine” (France French expressions are sometimes a whole riot on their own)

 Avocado was changed to amandes (almonds and I don’t know why)

 One big avocado = ce sera bientôt la fin des amandes (it’ll soon be the end of the almonds) re : ??

 You smell like poo = vous sentez vraiment la merde

 Crowley’s I’ve got an old friend here = tu tombes mal, j’ai d’la visite (I’ve got visit)

 Uriel tells Aziraphale “ton p’tit copain aux lunettes fumées” which is your little boyfriend with the dark sunglasses lamao

 Bandes de..... méchants anges! = you bad angels! It sounds more petulant though.

 The whole wrong shop allusion is lost in translation

 You stupid man = espèce de crétin

 Oh fuck = oh merde (really not the same intensity lol)

 The emotion and distress in the dire scene is l o s t . L

 When Crowley is in the bar and he asks for another bottle he asks for la p’tite soeur which means the little sister.

 When Crowley is like Aziraphale is that really you (when his ghost-spirit-nebulous appearance shows up in the bar) it sounds more disbelieving? But like in a what the hell is going on and less in awe/relief??

 Get a wiggle on = remuage des fesses (fesses is butt)

 Pollution sounds very young.

 The 3 other horse people use vous for death

 They had the French VA of Aziraphale say the spreichen ze deutsch bit and He Tried.

 Wahoo = woow

 Not just the southern pansy, THE southern pansy bit = pas simplement une tantouze sudiste, mon chéri, je suis LA tantouze sudiste

A)     He sounds so very pleased with himself

B)      And flirty?? Come hither??

C)      It’s perf

D)     Tantouze sudiste = a vulgar term for a homosexual man

 Shadwell uses vous for Mme. Tracy

 Cowwley = Rampra (when Lisa the insurance girl calls)

 Car = caisse

 When Adam yells his life to get evil out of him or whatever, in the flashback sequence when Ms. Young speaks to Adam when he was born, she speaks to him in French (not like in the Italian version where they just – did not translate that bit.)

 Crowley sounds very suave when he tells Aziraphale in Mme. Tracy’s body that he’ll take care of it when the military dude won’t let them through.

 Dagon à je suis présent not présente (so Dagon uses male words?? pronouns??)

 You were a good car – t’étais une caisse d’enfer

 Kick/lick some serious butt à brouter quelques derrières

 When Aziraphale tells Crowley they should wait before offing Adam the exchange is hilarious

It’s Aziraphale: Peut-être qu’on devrait attendre (maybe we should wait)

Crowley : Qu’il ait le droit de vote? (That he could vote?)

 Vous vous êtes rien vous êtes trop naz, Pepper

 I believe in peace, bitch à Moi je crois en la paix pétasse LOL

 They only buzzed Beelzeebub’s voice for their last line before Satan appears

 Crowley at Adam ok mon garçon

 Adam uses vous for Satan his dad, but then uses tu for him for t’es pas mon père lol

 Le truc cest que tas pu dcamp mon vieux – moi non plus dailleurs

 Their voices when they’re pretending to be each other

 Tickity boo à tout va très bien

 Je te rappelle que je suis un putain d’archange (I’m the archangel fucking Gabriel – or whatever that line was lol)

 Shut your stupid mouth and die already à Tu vas te la fermer ta grande bouche et te décider à mourir

 Beelzebu : il est revenu à ses origines – il a changé de bord instead of he’s gone native

 Miiichael mon pot, tu m’fais un p’tit miracle j’ai pas de serviette à When Aziraphael as Crowley asks Michael for a towel.

[the-gedonelune-times]

Miracle

It’s been a little while since I’ve uploaded a story and yes, I’m back at it again with some more OC intro content. This will be the first of a couple stories I’ll be trying to post today. This story in particular will be featuring a different kind of intro, starring MC as the one to come into contact and unlock a very special secret about the new OC Lily!

Ugh, where am I? Why does my head hurt and my body feel so heavy? I’ve been sleeping for so long, are my dreams finally over? Will I be awake soon?

A pair of eyes fluttered open, taking in the scenery around them. Lying in a small bed of flowers was a figure who had just woke up after years of being in a dream-like stasis. They were still unable to move, but a smile formed on their lips as they looked at the sky.

“How beautiful…” They murmured. “Oh, how I wish I could touch it with my own two hands.”

The figure smiled before closing their eyes; a gentle breeze passing by as they found themselves staring off into the sky above them, their exhaustion slowly diminishing as the minutes passed by.

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

“Luca, I told you once and I’ll tell you again. If you’re not going to help us, then get out!”

“Oh come on, it was nothing that bad!”

“You literally just pulled an invisible ink prank on Zeus and now he’s stomping around in the halls like some crazed lunatic because he thinks his face is still the shade of a blueberry.” Joel commented.

“Oh yeah/” Luca laughed. “His reaction was priceless.”

“This is going to spell trouble for the Night Class.” Liz sighed while setting her planner aside.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, Gray and Clive have told me that when Zeus gets upset, then the classes he teaches ends up being a total nightmare for them.”

“Nice job Luca.” Elias scoffed.

“Why thank you, Prince Elias. Your compliment has made my heart flutter.”

“That wasn’t a compliment, you idiot!”

“That’s enough!”

With a shout and a slam of her planner against the desk that she was working at, Liz glared at the two of them, silencing them both almost immediately.

“Good. Now aside from that, have there been any more reports on the recent incidents?”

“You mean regarding the new magical creature? No, not a thing.”

“I overheard Schuyler mention something interesting yesterday while I was taking Seth on a walk around the Academy.” Yukiya spoke up.

“Huh? You didn’t think to tell us sooner? Do tell!” Luca sat down and smiled coyly.

“I’m not sure who he was talking to, but he said there’s been an influx of magical energy from the Northern Forest where the Winged Rabbits are. He’s not sure if this poses a threat to us yet but that he’d been keeping an eye on it.”

“I hope it doesn’t turn out to be anything serious.” 

“Nor do I. I’d like to have one normal day of class, thank you very much.” Elias huffed.

“When has anything been normal around here though?” Liz smiled.

“She’s right, you know.” 

Elias just sighed and took a sip of his tea from the teacup near his seat. “Honestly though, I wonder if this influx of magic that Yukiya just brought up, has anything to do with the magical creature everyone is talking about.”

Joel closed the book he had been reading and spoke up. “I was just thinking the same thing.”

“That actually might be possible. We still don’t know what kind of powers it has. That being said, we at least know that the creature itself doesn’t pose a threat to us.” Liz added.

“That’s true.”

A silence had crept in and took over the conversation, leaving them to all sit there in silence. Only the sound of the door opening after a few minutes, brought the room back to life.

“Wow, did we miss something?” 

“Alfonse?”

“The whole atmosphere seems off.”

Another voice entered and there in the doorway stood Alfonse and Caesar, each of them carrying a rather large box which they sat down in one of the corners of the room.

“I wouldn’t call it tense.” Elias replied. “Rather, we’re just doing some thinking.”

“Well, usually when things get quiet, it means that something might have happened, so I thought I’d ask.” Alfonse smiled while taking a seat. “So what is it that you’re all thinking about?”

“I’d like to know that as well.” Caesar spoke up while leaning against the wall.

“Yukiya overheard Schuyler talking and I guess there’s a pretty big influx of magic coming from the Northern Forest.”

“Seriously? Isn’t that where the Winged Rabbits reside?”

“Are they okay?”

“Yes, it seems like the magic isn’t giving off negative effects.”

“Strange. Do you know why it’s happening?” Alfonse asked curiously.

“Elias brought up the possibility of it being linked to the magical creature that everyone has been wanting to catch.” Liz answered.

Caesar nodded his head as he listened. “I can see that.”

“Well, as long as it’s not causing harm to the forest or the Academy, then I really don’t think we have anything to worry about.”

A few seconds after Alfonse spoke, a magic note came floating down in Liz’s hands. With a surprised look she opened it up and began reading the contents.

“Oh dear…”

“What is it?” Elias asked while walking over to peer at the note in her hands.

“It’s from Schuyler and it looks like he’s requesting that we go and investigate the Northern Forest and the surrounding area.”

“Talk about bad timing.” Luca chuckled.

Alfonse laughed. “Seriously!”

“Well, I guess this means we’re all going to have to go and investigate.”

“Hopefully it’ll just be us. I’d like to avoid having a headache if Zeus were to join. He’d most likely complain the whole time.”

“Why do I have to work with a bunch of dumb Day Classers?”

Luca mimicked Zeus and the room erupted in laughter. Once everyone had caught their breaths, they disbanded and started the investigation. Yukiya and Liz were put on a team that was decided at random before they left the room. However, Yukiya had to leave and go help calm Elias down from getting into a ‘fight’ with Luca.

Now it was just Liz as she treaded deeper into the forest. A small breeze blew past and rustled the leaves on the branches while the smell of sweet blooming flowers filled the air. All while small particles of light seemed to rain down from the tree-tops. The Northern Forest truly seemed like something out of a fairytale. As Liz continued her stroll, she saw something up ahead that caught her eye, and right away she knew something was up. A strong magical aura was surrounding whatever, or whoever, it was that was sitting on the ground.

Timidly, she inched closer until she could make out the figure more clearly, soon realizing that the figure was actually a...human? No...it couldn’t be. There, sitting in a small patch of flowers was a pale-skinned girl. She had flowy platinum-blonde hair the danced in the breeze and atop her head were a pair of small white almost glass looking horns. Behind her, a small white tail swished back and forth gently against the grass while a pair of wings, that glittered like fresh snow in the sunlight moved ever so slightly in the wind.

“No way..”

Realizing that the words had fallen out before she could even process it, Liz quickly covered her mouth with her hands and ducked behind the tree closest to her. She desperately hoped the being hadn’t seen her, but she knew that just couldn’t be the case.

“You can come out...I won’t hurt you.” 

A small timid almost sing-song voice called out and although Liz couldn’t see the expression on the person’s face, she thought they were smiling. With a deep breath, Liz moved away from her hiding spot and looked at the figure in front of her.

“You can come closer you know.” The young woman tilted her head to the side and smiled. “I promise I won’t bite.”

As Liz inched closer she noticed that woman had a small sleeping Winged Rabbit in her arms, stroking it’s fur ever so gently in an effort to not wake it.

“Who...are you? What are you doing here?” Liz asked.

“Hehe, I’m sorry, but unfortunately I can answer only one of those questions.” The woman smiled. “My name is Lily, it’s a pleasure to meet your acquaintance. I’m afraid I don’t know why I’m here. My memory is a little fuzzy and I can only remember vague pieces of the time before this. Ah, may I ask your name?”

“Oh, yes, my name is Liz Hart.”

“Hello, Liz. What a lovely name. Hm?” Lily’s eyes, which looked like someone had poured the Northern Lights into, were locked on the Academy emblem that rested neatly on her uniform. “What is that emblem for?”

“Huh?” Liz looked down at her emblem. “Oh, this means I’m an official student at Gedonelune Royal Magic Academy.”

“Gedone...lune?”

“Yes. Have you never heard of it?”

“No. I don’t believe I have.”

“I see.”

It didn’t seem like she posed any threat, but even so, Liz knew barely anything about her and it seemed like Lily herself didn’t either. This was becoming a predicament. 

“Can I ask you something?”

“Yes, you may.”

“Are you…” Liz paused, trying to figure out the words she wanted to say.

“Am I what?” Lily smiled.

“Are you a Dragonkin by any chance?”

“Hmmm..” Lily nodded softly. “That I am. I remember that much and yet…”

Her eyes seemed to hold sadness as she looked to the side.

“Is everything alright?” Liz walked over and knelt near the flowers.

“Oh, yes.” Lily shook the sadness away and smiled sweetly. “I just find it hard to find the memories I really want.It’s sort of like looking through thick fog to find a small object.”

“I see. Lily?”

“Yes?”

“Would it be alright if you came back to--”

“Liz?”

The sound Alfonse’s voice was accompanied by the sound of footsteps from multiple people as they headed in her direction.

“Over here Alfonse!”

Liz called out, smiling as the others came over to her side.

“Did you find anything?”

“Well I-” Liz looked over at the small flower patch, only to find that Lily was no longer there. In fact, there were no traces to prove that she had actually been there in the first place.

“Liz?”

“Sorry. No, I didn’t find anything out. Maybe we should try looking again tomorrow? It’ll be getting late soon.”

She wished she didn’t have to lie, but considering the information she had gathered, this seemed like something she couldn’t tell the others, at least not yet. Despite that, she revealed the truth to a certain other Dragonkin a few days later.

“Willem, what do you make of this?”

“Well…” Willem placed his teacup on the coffee table. “It seems hard to believe. Are you sure you saw another Dragonkin?”

“There’s no mistaking it, she had horns, tail and even a set of wings. Plus she even admitted to it. Though...I do wonder..”

“What is it?”

“Why would she disclose such information to me?”

“You said she suffered from memory loss, correct?” Willem sighed and looked down, almost sadly. “Perhaps she has forgotten of our past.”

A small gasp left Liz’s lips as she too placed her teacup down. 

“You mean...she might not remember the war? Or anything?!”

“Yes. Or her death.”

“Death? W-Wait, you mean she might not have been sealed away like Felix or Lacan was?”

“No, those two were the only ones sealed away. I was held as a prisoner and the others were slaughtered.”

“But then how…”

“Do you remember what I told you? When a Dragonkin dies, they become flowers. Our death is symbolized by flowers, but, it can also mean our rebirth. If this girl, Lily, truly is a Dragonkin, then she is the first of our kind to be reborn from a flower.”

Liz looked over at Willem, the two of them knowing full well on what they had to do.

[berniesrevolution]

In Dilley, Texas, there is only one grocery store, and that grocery store is Lowes. (It is not a Lowes, like the home improvement center. It is a totally different and legally distinct store that also happens to be called Lowes.) Lowes is a place of many mysteries. I once went there to buy vegetable broth for a sick coworker, and combed the soup aisle for nearly 20 minutes before being forced to admit that no, Lowes does not carry vegetable broth. The closest thing they had was a can of something called “vegetable beef.” Lowes does, however, carry bacon-flavored pancake syrup, quite a lot of animal pheromones in spray cans (including such choice selections as “raccoon urine” and “sow in heat,” which I assume are for agricultural rather than cosmetic purposes), and a large selection of devotional candles in glass cylinders.

I had never paid much attention to the candles, but a friend of mine was in town, volunteering at the child internment camp where I work as an immigration lawyer, and he wanted to bring back a candle for some eclectic ofrenda-type situation he had set up in his D.C. apartment. He is a meticulous and thoughtful sort of person, and took a long time debating between various candidates. I had come to Lowes primarily to buy Cheez-Its, and was getting impatient. I picked up a candle at random. “How about this one?” I said.

The candle had a picture of a Little Lord Fauntleroy-type in a plumed hat and a white ruff, with a pink seashell pinned to his cloak. I glanced at the label on the back. Glorioso Santo Niño de Atocha, it said, patrón de las que están injustamente en prisión, protector de viajeros y que das la mano al que se encuentra en peligro…

I didn’t know anything about this saint at all, despite having grown up Catholic, so I looked him up on my phone. I soon discovered that he was not really a saint, per se, but a special Limited Edition version of baby Jesus. Wikpedia offered up the following backstory:

In the 13th century, Spain was under Muslim rule. The town of Atocha, now part of Madrid’s Arganzuela district, was lost to the Muslims, and many Christians there were taken prisoners as spoils of war. The Christian prisoners were not fed by the jailers, but by family members who brought them food. According to pious legend, the caliph ordered that only children under the age of 12 were permitted to bring food. Conditions became increasingly difficult for those men without small children. … Reports soon began among the people of Atocha that an unknown child under the age of twelve and dressed in pilgrim’s clothing, had begun to bring food to childless prisoners at night. The women of the town returned to Our Lady of Atocha to thank the Virgin for her intercession, and noticed that the shoes worn by the Infant Jesus were tattered and dusty. They replaced the shoes of the Infant Jesus, but these became worn again. The people of Atocha took this as a sign that it was the Infant Jesus who went out every night to help those in need.

This all got me rather excited, because I am very fond of medieval history, and regularly drive around rural Texas blasting 13th-century Spanish pilgrimage music. Who would’ve thought that a little vestige of the medieval world would turn up in my local grocery store? Secondly, what better patron for someone who works at a jail for child refugees than a child-saint who defends both travelers in peril and the unjustly imprisoned?

And that was how I first ended up buying a Holy Infant of Atocha candle for my kitchen table.

Later, when I researched the matter further, I found out that the Wikipedian history of the Holy Infant was—shockingly—likely incorrect. The medieval origin story was a post hoc invention, an attempt to give an older European pedigree to a wholly Mexican tradition. The Holy Infant’s mother, as it turns out, was an authentically medieval character: Holy Mary of Atocha appears in several of the 13th century Cantigas de Santa Maria (a.k.a. the sick beats currently blaring from my Kia Forte), mostly as a patroness of field workers. When her shrine at Atocha was selected for special favor by the Spanish monarchy in the 17th century, she was transformed from a saint of the people into an emblem of Spanish governance. It was in this capacity—as a defender of Spanish colonial might—that Mary of Atocha found her way to Mexico. Sanctuaries in her name were built in the state of Zacatecas, in Fresnillo and Plateros.

But through some obscure evolution of local devotion, it was the image of her child, the Holy Infant, that became the primary locus of worship. The Holy Infant of Atocha eventually came to be revered as a protector of ordinary people, especially of miners, travelers, and prisoners. An 1848 novena written by one Calixto Aguirre was instrumental in popularizing the cult of the Holy Infant, and the cover illustration of the printed pamphlet version was the first to show him as a pilgrim rather than a prince. Instead of a crown, a globe, and a scepter—the traditional iconography of power—he had a big hat, a food basket, and a traveler’s staff with a gourd hanging from it. The first episode of the novena tells of a legal miracle.  It begins with the tale of a poor woman by the name of Maximiana Esparza, who wanders to four different cities, seeking succor. In each city, she is imprisoned for her malas costumbres—some unspecified bad manners—and, having no family or other advocate to speak on her behalf, she languishes for years in prison in each place. At last, after being in prison a year in Durango, she prays to the Holy Infant of Atocha:

…who listened to her kindly and took her out of her captivity; for in all the time that she had lived there, there was nobody who would defend her, until the Holy Child of Atocha, dressed as a handsome youth, visited her in that prison and gave her some bread in the name of his mother, saying to her that same afternoon she would see the judge and he would take up her case, which caused no little amazement among the rector and the other inmates; and when the time arrived that the Child had named, she was set free.

Mary of Atocha, the former people’s saint, may regrettably have become more conservative in her waning years, but she nonetheless succeeded in giving the world an even more radical son. We should all be so lucky!

It’s actually pretty absurd that I knew nothing about the Holy Infant of Atocha until a few months ago. Once he was on my radar, I soon realized that he’s a pretty standard figure in Mexican and Chicanx Catholicism. But I stumbled into immigration advocacy three years ago knowing next to nothing about Latin American cultures, and even now there are huge gaps in my understanding. My Spanish, too, is still pretty atrocious. I have been working at it for three years, but it’s like speaking through a mouthful of broken glass. I muster my words with pain, and my meaning comes out all mangled. I now feel a strong affinity for all those immigrant grandparents who understand English perfectly and never learn to speak it; I am sure I would be just the same if I were ever to immigrate to a non-English-speaking country. I often feel that any bilingual person, with or without a law degree, could do most of my work a lot better than me. But I am here, so I do my best.

Sometimes I wake up in the mornings very anxious, usually when I have to draft a big court filing or an important request to the asylum office, to try and stop a detained family’s deportation. I come up with soothing little rituals to ease my transition from fretful sleep to focused work. I put on some music. I make a big pot of coffee. I light my Holy Infant of Atocha candle. It’s really because I like the way the candlelight makes me feel, not for superstitious reasons. I’m really not one for good luck charms, astrology, or premonitions. I remember that shortly after Trump first announced the family separation policy this summer—this was when I was still in Massachusetts, getting ready for my move to Texas—I was walking down a familiar street near my home, feeling very disturbed and heartsick. All of a sudden I saw a rabbit on the sidewalk a few feet ahead. It was standing quite still, and it let me walk up close. For a moment the encounter felt almost magical. Then the rabbit loped off, and where it had been, I saw two small baby bunnies lying dead on the pavement. When I bent to look, a little cloud of flies dispersed, then settled again. As omens go, that was some Roman-level bullshit. But I don’t think it was anything but coincidence.

The area of south Texas where I live now is teeming with strange sights, and sometimes everything I see feels pregnant with meaning. The drive from my apartment to the internment camp is only four minutes, but the road is always strewn with strange corpses. A dead dog or house cat is an everyday casualty; but I have also seen bodies of armadillos, bobcats, and javelinas, all mowed down by a speeding truck, or a passenger-bus of incoming detainees, or one of the heavy tankers that barrel continually to and from the nearby oilfields. No waste collection service ever disposes of the animals, so I watch their corpses bloat and distend and then disintegrate over a period of weeks. I have heard a rumor too that there are zebra on one of the ranches around here, flown in and kept in captivity so that deer-weary hunters can have something exotic to shoot. I’ve yet to see an escaped zebra lying dead by the side of the road, but give it time.

Also on the same road as the child internment camp, if you can believe it, there is a Texas state prison. It lies alongside a large ranch, and in front of the jail there’s a field of watermelons. Sometimes in the early morning, on my way into work, I see a group of prisoners in white jumpsuits and white caps, working the watermelon field. Ringed around them are three or four heavily-armed officers on horseback, in case anyone tries anything. The thing is so ludicrous it’s hard to know whether to laugh or cry. It’s as if this tiny town has been selected as a kind of roadside showcase of human cruelty.

(Continue Reading)

[snowstcrm]

Long May She Reign - 01

Summary: Daenerys had always set her eyes on the Iron Throne when she had been destined for something far greater from the start. With a second chance at life, the Targaryen queen decides to abandon Westeros and sets her focus on the origins of her ancestors. She woke dragons from stone and would raise an empire from ancient ruins.

Chapter warnings: mention of past miscarriage, infertility

00 - 01 - 02

Daenerys allowed her mind to drift as she rode on the back of Drogon, heading north to the Wall and then beyond. She had nothing to do during those hours but think. Think and reflect. Reflect and accept. Accept and change. It took awhile for the magnitude of her circumstances to set it, but when it did, Daenerys did not take it for granted. She only knew of one person that survived a knife to the heart. This was a miracle. This was magic. She wouldn’t squander it or allow herself to be blinded again. She had stopped being self-aware and self-critical and let her pride consume her, but that wasn’t who she was and that’s not what she wanted to be remembered by. She could now only do her best to leave the world better than how she found it, like she had always wanted.

They flew over vacant lands, allowing the duo to travel undetected throughout the morning and afternoon as the weather grew chillier the more north they went. When they finally passed over an unguarded stretch of the Wall she had Drogon land in the forest to rest his wings. They still had a ways to go but she suspected they could make it to the Lands of Always Winter by the end of tomorrow, even with the cold slowing Drogon down.

The last time she had flown beyond the wall she had all three of her children and her love for Jon had just ignited. How odd it was that all that had happened a few months ago and yet… It felt like an eternity. A different life. One where she was still the saviour, the hero people loved and fought for. The one who still had her friends and advisers that didn’t conspire to murder her behind her back. Sweet, innocent Daenerys. A naive woman that thought she had stopped being naive as a child.

A child… Her hand drifted over her abdomen at the contemplation. Whenever she had even considered that she was with babe she had blocked it out of reality. I can’t have children. She had repeated it to herself whenever she was nude and happened to glance down at the small swell of her belly that had been forming. She had been telling herself over and over again now for over a month after she missed her second moon blood. Even if she had been pregnant, she did not want to think of the logistics of an unborn child’s resurrection or what kind of effect it would have. For all she knew her swell would collapse on itself soon. I can’t have children. She thought of Rhaego and she could only feel terror at the idea that she would put another child through that again. Not again. I can’t have children.

A dull pang of hunger brought her back to the present, causing Daenerys to sigh at the discomfort. Though hunger was a great inconvenience, it was also a reassuring reminder. She was alive. She was alive and she would eat to her heart’s content as soon as she retrieved what she came to the north for. She wasn’t sure what but she was sure that she would be guided to it. She just needed to keep flying north towards the eternal winter and she would find what she needed to obtain. Daenerys had no reason to doubt Kinvara’s words, not after all the faith and love the red priestesses had offered her throughout the years. She found it hard to believe in any gods, but there was something out there that was powerful enough to bring her back for some sort of purpose. This was the least she could do in return.

The sun began to lower in the sky when Daenerys was preparing to set off again. The days were shorter this far north so she wasn’t quite sure of the time, but she knew she wanted to leave this cold by the following morrow because neither she nor Drogon belonged in this frigid wasteland. He had flown off for a short time, presumably gorging himself on whatever lesser beasts he could find to replenish his strength like feeding wood to a fire to keep the flames going. She could already see the low temperatures beginning to effect Drogon, his dissatisfaction with being chilly clear to her.

As she was about to mount Drogon she heard the crunching of footsteps and a gasp behind her. Daenerys whipped her head around, her sharp violet eyes landing on a woman and young boy that had white rabbits slung over their shoulders, their expressions of wide-eyed silent terror easy to see even from the several yards away.

Daenerys immediately ran through her options and there were really only two of them: She either killed them to keep her whereabouts a secret, or she let them go. The decision wasn’t hard to make however, so she merely gave them one more glance before mounting Drogon and flying away northwest. She was tired of those terrified faces. She wanted love, not fear. Love like she once had in Essos. Dragons could plant trees. Fire wasn’t only destruction, it was also the origin of humanity’s growth. No more death if she could help it. Only birth and life.

It grew darker and colder the longer they travelled and though this mountainous winter land felt like needles on her skin, there was also a beauty Daenerys had never witnessed before. Waves of green and blue danced in the sky, the sight enchanting to her. The spectacle of lights was her only distraction from her fingers freezing within her gloves and her face going numb. She focused on the waves of light, let them guide her. She knew deep in her gut that she must, so she followed them to see where they were coming from, and it was only a little while longer until she spotted something down below.

It was as if everything in the surrounding area was created around the landmark, angled and leading towards its center as if the gods designed it so. Her heart thrummed in her chest as she glimpsed at what felt like the beautiful mouth of death, hesitating for a moment before pushing forward and flying Drogon directly to the horseshoe-shaped rock formation and touching down in the center of it.

Her teeth chattered as she slid off of Drogon, making her way to a circular formation made of blocks of ice that pulsed with what Daenerys could only describe as unearthly power. It was a feeling so strong that it could only be rivaled by when she first felt the stone eggs hatch dragons in a blaze of fire and blood magic. She had perceived magic before and knew that this was where she must be. She was drawn to the center of it, walking up to the block of ice and looking down at it with calculation. The power lay deep within. The heart of winter pulsed harder, as if fighting against her fire.

“Drogon.” She beckoned softly, her child approaching her albeit with hesitance. She could feel his repulsion to whatever was beating inside the ice, and so she was sure he took great joy in rearing up to blast it with his flames when she uttered the command, “Dracarys.”

He roared as he unleashed dragonfire onto the ice formation, his fire may have been weaker due to the climate chilling his body, but he was still mighty and so the blocks began to melt. He blasted it once, then twice, until finally there was nothing but a pool of shimmering water left in the ritual circle’s place. The colour was somewhat unnatural, as well as the way it reflected the colourful lights in the sky.

Daenerys stared at the pond, eyes drawn to the beauty of it as she pushed herself forward, stepping into the shallow waters and looking down at her reflection. At first she saw nothing, but the longer she stared she began to see visions on the surface, reflecting and dancing as the water rippled around her. She didn’t know what to make of anything she saw. Dreams of times long past, ancient and forgotten. A clash of ice and fire. She knew these stories. She had been told about them once before.

“They were here, the children and the first men. They fought against their common enemy.”

She felt herself getting lost in the visions, her mind drifting away as they tried to suck her in. It was only when she saw the Night King, his awful and familiar face snapping to look at her, that she broke out of her stupor with a gasp. It felt like he had reached through time and seen her, but the images on the water broke apart and disappeared as she overcame their grasp. Her breath shook as she recovered from his haunting gaze. It was an ancient vision. It was in the past. He didn’t see you. She repeated those words to convince herself of it. She felt in denial and yet she knew it was true. Dragons needed to exist, for there would come a time perhaps a thousand years in the future where they would be needed to protect the world once more.

Daenerys knelt into the pond. The water was cool as it soaked through her boots and pants and though she had always hated the cold, it felt right. Her hands reached down to cup the glimmering water, bringing it up to her lips to drink. It slid down her throat and she felt a magic seep within her veins before the liquid had even hit her stomach.

The blood of the dragon. Bride of fire. A voice whispered. The heart of winter. Bride of ice.

She had never been nothing.

Tyrion sifted through the pages of the tome Samwell had handed to him. A Song of Ice and Fire the young maester had named it and Tyrion couldn’t help but wonder if the title was fitting at all. There was some ice… for a moment, and there had been fire… that fizzled out. It wasn’t much of a song at all, rather it was an odd mish mash that didn’t rhyme or harmonize. There was no poetry to be found in it, and then it all vanished without a trace.

The small group that had gathered for the council stood up as Bran arrived, Tyrion greeting the king with a respectful, “Your Grace.” As did everyone else before sitting back down. It all felt so awkward and stiff. This was their first council meeting and Tyrion was sure that he would adjust to it all soon enough, and yet it still felt so hollow.

“We appear to be missing a Master of Whisperers, and a Master of Laws, and a Master of War.” The young king commented, glancing at the empty seats at the table.

Tyrion replied promptly, “Yes Your Grace, suitable prospects will be brought to you for an audience in the coming weeks.” He had a passing thought on why Bran would even need a Master of Whispers if he had knowledge far beyond any common human. Tyrion knew of the boy’s abilities.

“And Drogon?” Bran’s eyes shifted, concerned, “Any word?”

Samwell chimed in, “He was last spotted east, towards Volant--”

“--The farther away the better.”

The table exchanged a few more words with the young king before he left as quickly as he came, off to have some privacy as he searched for Drogon’s whereabouts. Tyrion wondered if it would do them any good prodding at the most lethal force alive and if it were up to him he’d prefer to just leave Drogon alone. Let the beast fly as far away as it’d like, as Bronn had said.

That wasn’t what Bran believed though. He felt like he was the only one that had the ability to control Drogon, or at least attempt to. Dragons had the strongest wills and it wouldn’t break from a simple warging, no, if he even wanted to try he’d have to work his way up to it. Start with lesser beasts first.

When Podrick had escorted Bran to his quarters and left him alone, Bran began to warg, entering the mind of a gull flying east in a large flock of seabirds. When he saw nothing he began hopping forward, warging from bird to bird, flock to flock, until he finally spotted what he was looking for. There off in the distance his eyes took in the sight of a massive winged beast flying eastward over the sea and Bran did his best to fly faster, trying to catch up with the dragon.

There weren’t many things that took Bran by surprise anymore considering he had information on everything as long as he knew to search for it, so when he saw the silver-haired queen riding on the back of Drogon alive and well he was left stunned. A resurrection? He’d have to look further into it.

Bran cut off his connection to the seabird, returning his consciousness back into his room at Kings Landing. This change of events could cause many problems for the future of Westeros, or it could amount to nothing at all… He wasn’t quite sure, which was a feeling he had grown to appreciate oddly enough. Unpredictable things presented a challenge to his otherwise very stagnant state of mind and emotional state. Whatever Daenerys being alive would amount to, he didn’t feel the need to draw attention toward her for the time being. If she wanted to cause harm she would have, yet she flies further and further away from the people she would want revenge on if she so desired it. No, whatever she was planning on doing, that wasn’t it.

He had once caught a glimpse of an ancient city with massive stone towers and dragons flying overhead. A Valyrian princess had her back turned to him in his vision, intricate braids woven with gold chains and flowers in beautiful design.

Perhaps it hadn’t been a vision of the past at all.

[uglypastels]

Writing Challenge!!

Writing challenges are always so fun to do, so I decided to make one myself for a change. It’s also almost (not really) my birthday and I want to celebrate!!

It’s that time of the year again where it is cold outside, the leaves are falling off the trees, you just want to curl up under a blanket with a cup of hot chocolate and watch a movie... Or is that just me? 

Anyway, I love watching a good movie, or even a bad one sometimes.

This is why in this challenge, all prompts are quotes from movies! 

Rules are pretty basic, I’m not fussy about anything.  (prompts > “Keep Reading”)

You don’t have to be following me, but it would be nice of you, of course, if you did

Reblog this post to join and/or spread the word

Send me an ask wherein you choose a prompt 

Make sure you have a possible back-up if the said prompt is already taken

Preferably, I would like to have one story per prompt, but just in case anyone is really set on a prompt that has already been chosen, or if somehow by miracle every prompt is picked and more people want to join, each prompt will have two slots. (so one regular, one “emergency” slot)

All prompts are movie quotes, but your story doesn’t have to be based on the movie itself or have anything to do with the movie. Interpret the quote any way you want.

BE ORIGINAL! 

BE CREATIVE!

HAVE FUN! 

I would like to call myself a multifandom blog, but who am I kidding. I’m MARVEL’s bitch. 

Write about any MARVEL character/ actor (+ the Hollands/Harrison) you want but

if you want to do a different fandom, you are more than welcome!

Just don’t forget to tell me in your prompt request who you will be writing for.  

Fluff, angst, smut ... everything is allowed - just make sure to tag it.

NO UNDERAGE SMUT! Just don’t be gross, in general 

No, first person, but other perspectives are good to go

Any length of writing is good, but if it is longer than 500 words, make sure to use the “Keep Reading” option.

so the story can be a one-shot, two shot, a series < including a part of a series you already have going on.

When you post it, make sure to tag me and use the tag: 

#Z’s Movie Night Challenge

FOR AN EXTRA CHALLENGE (or if you just can’t pick): hmu with an ask telling me and I will pick for you! But do still mention who you will be writing for then.

Deadline is my birthday - December 18th! 

I will be making a masterlist of all the submissions

I think that’s it. Any more question? DM me or ask

(way too many) Prompts, but at least nobody can complain there is nothing to chose from: 

“I love you.” // “I know.” Star Wars, Episode V: Empire Strikes Back (@andwhatdostarsdobest w/ Tom Holland)

“Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.” Gone With the Wind  ( @procrastinatingparker w/ Tom Holland) 

“After all, tomorrow is another day!” Gone With the Wind

“Go ahead, make my day.” Sudden Impact

“Here’s looking at you, kid,” Casablanca

“I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship.” Casablanca

“Of all the (gin joints) in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine.” Casablanca ( @butwhyduh w/ Avengers cast)

“We’ll always have Paris.” Casablanca

“I’m going to make him an offer he can’t refuse.” the Godfather

“Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.” the Godfather: Part II ( @sunsetspidey w/ Tom Holland)

“Just when I thought I was out, (they) pull me back in.” Godfather: Part III ( @sleepwalkingdragon w/ Harrison Osterfield on hold)

“You talkin’ to me?” Taxi Driver

“Fasten your seatbelts. It’s going to be a bumpy night.” All About Eve

“Love means never having to say you’re sorry.” Love Story ( @rainbow-marvel w/ Tom Holland)

“Forget everything you think you know.” Doctor Strange

“Pain is an old friend.” Doctor Strange ( @theamazingspiderlingg w/ Tom Holland)

“What we’ve got here is a failure to communicate.” Cool Hand Luke ( @scholarlyspidey )

“What is it?” // “The stuff that dreams are made off.΅ the Maltese Falcon

“Alright, (Mr. DeMille), I’m ready for my close-up.” Sunset Boulevard

“There is no place like home.” Wizard of Oz ( @peterrrparkour w/ Tom Holland)

“I love the smell of (napalm) in the morning.” Apocalypse Now

“Show me the money!” Jerry Maguire

“You had me at ‘hello’.” Jerry Maguire ( @anxiety-in-a-getaway-car w/ Sebastian Stan)

“You complete me.” Jerry Maguire

“Why don’t you come up sometime and see me?” She Done Him Wrong

“Hey, I’m walking here!” Midnight Cowboy

“I want to be alone.” Grand Hotel ( @aw-hawkeye w/ Tom Holland)

“You can’t handle the truth!” A Few Good Men

“I’ll have what she’s having.” When Harry Met Sally ( @sleepwalkingdragon w/ Harrison Osterfield)

"When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible." When Harry Met Sally (@somethingtoavenge  w/ Bucky Barnes)

“I’ll be back.” Terminator

“Hasta la vista, baby.” Terminator 2: Judgement Day.

“Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.” The Pride of the Yankees

“We rob banks.” Bonnie and Clyde

“Well, nobody’s perfect.” Some Like it Hot

“Houston, we have a problem.” Apollo 13

“I could do this all day.” Captain America: The First Avenger/ Civil War

“We’re still friends, right?” Captain America: Civil War ( @starksparker w/ Tom Holland)

“Have you been playing Space Invaders? Because you’re invading my space!” Pixels ( @cas-backwards-tie w/ Peter Parker)

“Well, a boy’s best friend is his mother.” Psycho

“Well here’s another nice mess you’ve gotten me into!” Sons of the Desert

“Say hello to my little friend.” Scarface

“(Mrs. Robinson) You’re trying to seduce me. Aren’t you?” the Graduate

“What a dump.” Beyond the Forest

“Is it safe?” Marathon Man

"Wait a minute, wait a minute. You ain't heard nothin' yet!" the Jazz Singer

“I have always depended on the kindness of strangers.” A Streetcar Named Desire

“Hello, gorgeous.” Funny Girl

“Surely you can’t be serious?” // “I am serious. And don’t call me Shirley.” Airplane!

“My precious.” Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

"Listen to me, mister. You're my knight in shining armor. Don't you forget it? You're going to get back on that horse, and I'm going to be right behind you, holding on tight, and away we're gonna go, go, go!"  On Golden Pond ( @musiclover1263 w/ Peter Parker)

"Carpe diem. Seize the day(, boys). Make your live(s) extraordinary." Dead Poet Society.

“I’m the king of the world!” Titanic

“I’ll never let go, (Jack).” Titanic ( @spider-puck w/ Spideychelle)

“You make me want to be a better man.” As Good as it Gets ( @thewackywriter w/ mob!Tom Holland)

“As if!” Clueless ( @fratboievans w/ Peter Parker)

“They’re here!” Poltergeist

“We know each other. He’s a friend from work.” Thor: Ragnarok

“Gentlemen, you can’t fight in here! (This is the War Room.)” Dr. Strangelove

“I wish I knew how to quit you!” Brokeback Mountain ( @petersshirts w/ Tom Holland) 

“I’m not bad. I’m just (drawn) that way.” Who Framed Roger Rabbit (@lovelymalira w/ Bucky Barnes)

“Why so serious?” the Dark Knight

“Magic Mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest one of all.” Snow White and the Seven Dwarves ( @thequeensardine w/ Harrison Osterfield)

“.... I dare you. I double dare you.” Pulp Fiction ( @hollandofthefree w/ Tom Holland)

“Look I probably should have told you this before but you see... well... insanity runs in my family... It practically gallops.” Arsenic and Old Lace

“It’s just a flesh wound.” Monty Python and the Holy Grail ( @sarahwritesfiction  w/ Steve Rogers)

“He might be okay….Well, no, probably not now.” Groundhog Day

“Life’s a bitch; now so am I.” Batman Returns ( @idontknowhowtowritesosorry w/ Shawn Mendes)

“That rug really tied to room together, did it not?” The Big Lebowski

“No, it’s a cardigan, but thanks for noticing.” Dumb and Dumber

“Is that all he said?” Lost in Translation

“Excuse me, I believe you have my stapler.” Office Space ( @totallytomholland w/ Peter Parker)

“You wanna come over?” // “No, thanks. I don’t want you fucking up my life, too.” Office Space (@mobtomsgirl w/ Tom Holland)

“Okay, sounds like a case of the Mondays.” Office Space

“And suddenly, I felt nothing.” Fight Club ( @brokennccrown w/ Steve Rogers)

“You can tell a lot about a person by what’s on their playlist.” Begin Again

“(Veronica), you look like hell.” // “Yeah, I just got back.” Heathers ( @peter-is-the-best-avenger w/ Peter Parker or Tom Holland)

“Lick it up, baby. Lick it up.” Heathers

“But… I guess if I love you, I should let you move on.” 17 Again

“I want my life to be like an 80’s movie.” Easy A

“What makes life so hard?” // “People.” An Affair to Remember

“Have you ever been in love?” // “I think so.” Love, Simon (@fandomscombine w/ Peter Parker)

“I don’t wanna go.” Avengers: Infinity War (@fantasyizlife w/ Tom Holland)

“I don’t want another single pop culture reference out of you for the rest of the trip. You understand?” Avengers: Infinity War

“I am going to die surrounded by the biggest idiots in the galaxy.” Guardians of the Galaxy ( @fantasyizlife w/ Shawn Mendes)

“You actually were telling the truth?” // “I do that quite a lot, yet people are always surprised.” Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest ( @fantasyizlife w/ Harrison Osterfield)

“I have what they call an unattractive face.” Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life

“Oh, somebody, stop me!” The Mask

“I didn’t come here to tell you I can’t live without you. I can live without you. I just don’t want to.” Rumor Has It ( @marcymakemagic w/ Peter Parker)

“Are you always this cocky?” // “Only on Tuesdays… and whenever beautiful women are involved.” // “So, you think I’m beautiful?” // “Actually… it’s Tuesday.” the Three Musketeers  ( @tomhollanders2013 w/ Tom Holland)

“I’m going to be a lady if it kills me.” Dinner at Eight

“Prove it…” Shane

“I’m sorry, (Dave). I’m afraid I can’t do that.” 2001: A Space Odyssey

“Kiss my hot lips.” M*A*S*H*

“You have my sympathies.” Alien

“Get away from her, (you bitch)!” Aliens

“You can be my wingman anytime.” Top Gun

“Have you ever danced with the devil by the pale moonlight?” Batman

“Love your suit.” The silence of the Lambs

“Quid pro quo.” (= A favor for a favor) The Silence of the Lambs

“Always.” Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II ( @peter-parker-life w/ Tom Holland)

Good luck, have fun! 

Tagging some peeps to spread the word because this is one thing I don’t want to die:

@tomhiddleston-is-myboo @tonyintexas @andwhatdostarsdobest @tomsfireheart @spinneret-holland @rainbow-marvel  @lovelyh0lland @de-lir-i-ous @peter-parker-life @tomhollanders2013 @tomhollandthirst @lifeisabitchandsoareyou @darlingtholland @sweet-pea-imagines @anxiety-in-a-getaway-car @manhoeparker @h-osterfield  @positiveparker @casuallytumblingdownthestairs @justmesadgirl @fandomscombine @tom-holland-and-textposts @my-current-obsessions-hehe (Sorry to bother anyone.)

[purplesurveys]

442

What motivates you to do what you do? The possibilities that I’ll get to buy my own house, raise a family, travel abroad with my own money, scenarios like that. Always makes me want to start working my ass off and to stop complaining. What was the weather like the last time you went out? Super humid. Hard to breathe. Then it rained hard all evening. Do you go for walks often? OMG no I hate walking. I take my car everywhere lmao. What color shirt are you wearing? It’s black but has white floral prints on it; and it’s also a jumpsuit, not a shirt. What is your favorite type of youtube video to watch?  I’m a whore for YouTube so I’d watch anything. Right now though I’m into Good Mythical Morning, PewDiePie, and a little into mukbang/ASMR videos.

Do you need any new clothes right now? Yes hahahaha I have not enough clothes conducive for my internship, so defo have to shop for that. What's the next project you are excited to start?  Does interning count? Do you collect anything? If so, what?  I’m a photo hoarder, if that counts. I find it really hard to delete photos because I associate memories, times, and places for each anddd that’s why I have 3k++ photos sitting in my camera roll at the moment. ^and if not, what would you like to collect? Wrestling figures. What was the last disappointing thing that happened to you?  I overreacted to something Gab said and it blew up into a huge fight.  What is something God has healed you of? Have you ever experienced a miracle? I don’t believe in those. What was the last thing you ate?  It was a meal called ‘lamb pepper rice’ and it’s basically spiced rice with lamb as the main meat. Good shit. Do you ever eat food that's intended for kids? Like, nuggets? Sure. I don’t order stuff from the kids menu though–unless they serve corndogs hahahaha. What was the last stupid thing you did?  Last Friday, I was about to head home but my car key wasn’t in my bag when I reached in to get them. I took out every single solitary thing in my giant-ass tote bag but my key was nowhere to be seen, so then I thought I forgot it or dropped it in the restaurant where I had my dinner. I went back inside the mall, almost in tears, and was halfway up the escalator when I thought of reaching into my pocket. Car key turned out to be there. Do you get embarrassed easily? UGH VERY I’m a perpetual ball of anxiety and embarrassment. I get super sensitive and cry a lot. In short, I’m a pain in the ass for everyone. Are you wearing pants or shorts right now? I’m in a jumpsuit so neither? The bottom part kinda looks like pants though. What are your top three names you like for a daughter?  Olivia, Mia, and Harper. Would you ever film a vlog of yourself giving birth? If my heavily pregnant ass gets in the mood for it then yeah, I don’t see why not. Do you like getting caught in the rain? No, I hate getting wet with clothes on. Do you think your hair looks best straight, wavy, or curly? Wavy. What was the last craft project you completed?: I don’t do ~crafts. Name 3 youtubers you would like to meet in person:  PewDiePie, Shane Dawson, and I’ll count Rhett and Link as one because those two are inseeeeeparable. Has anyone ever spread an untrue rumor about you? Yes. Sixth grade was a funny time. What's one rumor you've heard about yourself, and is it true? Something about dating Andi. No it was not. What color are your nails painted currently?  They’re never painted. Do you use a pill box? I don’t. List 3 people you know who were loving and then turned cold:  Athenna. Times three. Have you filmed a youtube video today? No, I don’t vlog. Do you leave the house when you're on your period?  ???????????? Yes ????????????   ^If not, why not? Because it’s not supposed to stop me? Have you ever felt threatened for your life? Yep. There was one time I must have done something wrong to a motorist while driving because when I slowed down to traffic, he stopped his motorcycle directly beside my side of the car and just stared murder at me. For like ETERNITY. I was stuck in traffic and didn’t know what to do. Idek what the fuck he wanted but I hope he’s since crashed his stupid bike and died because as far as I know I did nothing wrong and he is just a stupid man looking for a fight. What are you behind on? WORK LMAOOOOOO Do you get enough sleep each night? Recently I have not because the work has just been too much. To be able to sleep at 10 PM is a magical thing. Which did you like better: high school or college?  High school if we’re talking about security and feeling safe and being happy; college if we’re talking about being independent. Which year of your life stands out to you as the most significant so far? 2014, 2015. ...and why?  They were the years when I knew I was at my happiest. What was the last store you shopped at?  It was an accessory shop. Gab and I browsed through to see if there were clip-on earrings available for me (there weren’t). Do you have a favorite pharmacist? I don’t. I don’t even know any. Do you have a favorite cashier at the grocery store? No. What was the last thing you ordered at Starbucks?  I had an iced caramel macchiato and a dark chocolate macadamia cookie. What's something you discovered recently?  Idk, haven’t really had eureka moments lately. What makes you more creative?  I’m literally not creative. What's the last magical thing you experienced?  Spending time with my girlfriend. What is the theme of your bedroom?  It has no theme. Depressed college student maybe? Have you ever lived in a dorm? Nope. I live kinda close to my school, at least near enough to be able to drive to and from school. Who is someone whom you admire, and why? I don’t think I admire anyone. When was the last time you stepped outside of your comfort zone?  Monday. My org opened elections for next year’s term and no one was gonna run for External Affairs, which is basically the committee that handles marketing and inter-org partnerships and all that publicity stuff. I’ve been a member of Internal Affairs for years now, which is basically the complete opposite of Exte, but no one was running and we were desperate to have someone. I got frustrated at how no one wanted to take the damn post so I took it so we could finally get the elex out of the way even if it meant completely stepping out of my comfort zone. Where would you like to travel to next?  Thailand or Vietnam would be great. Or just to go back to Sagada would be enough. If you could win three dream vacations to anywhere, where would you go?  Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia. Would you rather ride a camel or an elephant?  Neither.

Are you a free spirit? I can, but I also can’t. Do you want to lose weight? No. I want to gain it. Which insects scare you, if any? Cockroaches. Do you think it's silly to be afraid of a tiny insect?  No. Have you ever experienced paranoia? Sure, sometimes. Have you ever hallucinated? Only one time when I was 8 and had a really high fever. I was saying some weird shit to my grandma. Were you raised religious? Yes. Didn’t see the point by the time I was 10. Have you ever been abused? Verbally, mentally, and emotionally. Do you think the cops should do more about bullying? Everyone should do something about bullying, not just the cops. Besides, Filipino police are useless for the most part. Is there a coffee shop you like better than Starbucks? Nah, I’m pretty loyal to Starbucks. I love others though, like Coffee Project and Coffee Bean. If you could afford to get your hair professionally done, what would you get? Maybe a trim and tiny bangs hahaha. Then dye it dark green. If you had a lot of money, do you think you would use it wisely?  Not at all. I don’t even have money right now and I’m still spending it irresponsibly lmao I definitely need help. Do you know any rich people who are very irresponsible? If they’re rich then they must have been responsible enough to be able to get to that point. List five careers that you'd like to have: That’s too many and I’m too sleepy to think about this.

List five far-out things that you'd like to do before you die: Try out tamilok, ride a helicopter, walk on the glass floor of a really tall building, visit Chicago, try deep-fried butter. Do you dream big? Sure. What was your first imaginary friend's name? Katrina. What was the name of the first pet that you loved? Tobi, my rabbit. What was the first work uniform that you had to wear?  I’ve never had a job. Do you like to go barefoot? Filipino houses require everyone to be barefoot, so that’s just natural to me. Do you like the same colors now that you did as a kid? No. I liked purple then but I like black and pink now. Do you have a blog? Just this one. Do you have a youtube channel? Yep, but I don’t have anything posted. I use it so that YouTube can personalize my homepage to videos I wanna see and so that I can subscribe to a bunch of channels.

[jamiekturner]

The animation movies you shouldn’t miss in your lifetime

Animation movies are not simply more sophisticated cartoons. Over the years, they’ve introduced us to some of the best cinema characters, involved us in memorable stories, and gathered millions of fans worldwide.

But which are the best animation movies to see? In fact, what makes an animation movie good? Which was the best animation movie ever?

Of course, everyone can answer these questions differently depending on what they like, but there are a few movies we can all agree were blockbusters. What makes an animation movie stand out are most of the time the characters, story, and animation style.

Here’s our collection of the 30 best animation movies of all times. Give this list a look, and you will certainly find a few of your personal favorites in there.

If not, it is time to explore the animation world and to find new horizons!

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)

Disney’s production has more amazing cartoon movies than we can possibly gather here, but this is the story they’ll always be recognized for – the tale of the beautiful, wandering princess, the mean queen, the handsome savior, and the sidekick band of helpful and funny dwarfs.

The awesome fairytale written by the Grimm brothers was not only the kicker hand-drawn animation of Walt Disney, but also the first animation movie in the history of the moving pictures industry.

Time can do nothing against it – after almost a century, you shed some light over the old painting, and it springs to life!

Fantasia (1940)

This great animation film brings together the best of the Disney world, Tchaikovsky’s music, and magic. You will be delighted by the unique mixture of Western classical sounds and the visual game of Disney’s characters while Leopold Stokowski leads the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Dumbo (1941)

A filmmaker from Pixar shared an interesting story with us – his mother who could barely understand English, watched Dumbo and understood what his mom wanted as she interlocked trunks with him inside a circus cage. This is what makes this movie a proper animation hero – you understand it without words!

Bambi (1942)

Bambi marked some of the best moments in Disney’s history and top animated movies, such as its mother being shot by a hunter and leaving the tiny sweet fawn to fend. More than a cartoon, Bambi is a lyrical and beautiful affirmation of the miracle of life, and stands for values such as family, friends, and our glorious nature. The titular doe of this movie loses its innocence as it’s mother dies, but also grows up virtuously, gains knowledge, and becomes capable of depending itself.

Robin Hood (1973)

Robin Hood was the first animation movie to be released after Walt Disney died. At the time, it was considered to be an embarrassing, on-budget piece, but time reversed that to one of the best animation movies of all times.

We all know the story of Robin Hood – the hero of the little people who steals from the rich. He was animated several times, but none of his adaptations was as charming and memorable as the one made by Disney’s animators.

The concept was the same as in fairytales – whistling rooster narrators, a maid for Robin to fall in love with (Marian), and a furry squad of brave friends helping Robin recover what Prince John has stolen.

Belladonna of Sadness (1973)

What inspired Japanese director Eiichi Yamamoto to create this unbelievable psychosexual animation was Jules Michelet’s book on witchcraft and feminism called La Sorciere.

The beautiful yet disturbing piece was released in 1973, and the ones who saw it certainly remember how shocking it was for the standards of that time.

In 2016, there was a new Belladonna release in the U.S., and it had pretty much the same effect on people. Even modern society finds such animated fantasy traumatizing, and is not prepared to embrace how scandalous it is.

For instance, the heroine gets visually assaulted, and some viewers may find that disturbing.

In short, you may like or dislike the story behind it, but this animation is certainly a masterpiece. It was created in a unique and delicate manner, using a pleasing pastel palette of watercolors the human eye enjoys.

Street of Crocodiles (1986)

Movie production in the 80s was almost entirely digital, but that didn’t prevent visionaries Timothy and Stephen Quay from drawing one of world’s best stop-motion pieces. Their short animation features a hatched-faced puppet with a decaying body that navigates a bunch of dancing screws, and creates a feeling of being stuck in a vivid dream that won’t let you wake up.

The piece attracts interest even today, especially among surrealist and stop-motion artist. The Quays were actually inspired by Jan Svankmajer and the writer Bruno Schultz, two of Poland’s best known names in the surrealism world.

My Neighbor Totoro (1988)

Two years after Street of Crocodiles, the world was introduced to an even better animated film -My Neighbor Totoro. It has been 30 years since, and this movie still lifts up the spirit of those watching it, as it features one of the most heart-warming stories.

The main characters are two adorable Japanese children leaving their home to find magic. Along the way, they discover a wondrous cat bus and a gentle giant named Totoro who helps them accomplish their mission.

This makes Totoro one of the best cartoon movies suitable for all ages: everyone could enjoy a supernatural, slightly uninhibited delight.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988)

Robert Zemeckis is the name behind this groundbreaking, hybrid crime/comedy movie. First of its kind, this movie treats the murder of a bunny, and features an iconic toon-loathing detective working on the case.

‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit’ broke all records of production expense. It cost more than any film produced during the 80s, and became the 2nd highest-grossing movie in 1988.

Akira (1988)

Kanye West appointed Akira as the leader among its favorite films, and many of us can agree with him. The incredibly detailed sci-fi movie doesn’t stay behind names such as Matrix or the Blade Runner, while its imaginative urban setting display makes it the finest Japanese animation ever created. In fact, Akira has become a cult with millions of followers worldwide.

The main protagonist is a Neo-Tokyo teen biker called Tetsuo. Tetsuo’s mission is to release the unlawfully imprisoned psychic Akira, and his way there features the best action scenes ever to be seen in the animation world.

The Little Mermaid (1989)

There’s almost no girl out there who didn’t dream of becoming a mermaid, and they own this to one of Disney’s most compelling stories. This romantic movie follows the life of beautiful mermaid Ariel whose dream was to have legs and to live on land.

It is with Ariel that Disney’s renaissance took off. We all associated the Faustian tale with making important choices in our life, such as the one Ariel made when giving up her voice to pursue being human.

Her love story with charming prince Eric provided us one of the most memorable movie soundtracks, and we learnt to love her despite of her stubbornness. This is why The Little Mermaid still counts as a favorite Disney movie.

Beauty and the Beast’ (1991)

Do you remember the love story of Bella and the Beast? Next to the inspiring story of Bella’s pure soul discovering the prince inside a buffalo, this movie caused a drastic change in the world of best animation, causing many people to take it seriously.

Looking at the magnificent ballroom sequence and the couple’s first dance, we found it hard to believe that the film was computer-generated. Actually, Beauty and the Beast was so good that it became the first animated movie to earn a Best Picture Nomination.

Aladdin (1992)

Yup, these were the golden years of the Disney production of animated films! Following the success of Ariel, Bella, and their prices, animators recreated another iconci character, and that was Aladdin.

Prior to this movie hitting screens, many people were unaware of the inspiring and romantic rags-to-riches story, despite of it being a classic 1001 Nights tale.

It follows the dreams of an open-vested, homeless, and hopelessly in love boy who’d set an eye on a rich and beautiful princess. As hard as his evil enemy Jafar tries to get her, she still falls for Aladdin, the boy with the magic carpet, Robin Williams-voiced genie, and enormous heart.

FernGully (1992)

FernGully is another classic in the animation world that treats the destruction of Earth and all creatures that live on it. It was created for children, and they loved how protagonist fairy Christa fought against the destruction of her Australian rainforest.

Her assistant was a boy named Zak, and her enemy was a logging company attempting to wreck her world. You may find it interesting to know that this movie inspired Avatar and the creation of princess Mononoke.

Porco Rosso (1992)

Ain’t this a weird film! And yet, a lovely one! Hayao Miyazaki presented us the story of an ex WWI fighter pilot from Italy, and that pilot happened to be a funny red pig. For protagonist Porco Rosso, being a pig is nothing bad – he still canoodles with beautiful ladies assisted by Fio, his mechanic protégée. This film is both engaging and historically rich, and is definitely worth watching!

The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

As his projections show, Tim Burton comes up with the weirdest pairings ever – beetles and juice, hands and scissors, and this time even Hallowing and Christmas. In this movie, we get to meet the pumpkin king and his sudden Christmas joy. And right when you think it can’t get better, you hear Danny Elfman’s live performance of ‘What’s This’.

The Lion King (1994)

Here’s another of Disney’s major works with a Shakespearean background. Instead of Hamlet, we’re acquainted with a lion family and their friends from the jungle, and we get to see some of life’s most important values on screen.

The film also has iconic musical sequences – the renowned soundtrack, for instance, is many people’s association of a beautiful childhood.

The music was written by Hans Zimmer, a legend among composers who actually manages to turn emotions into sounds. As Simba and Nala tussle in the grass, their love warms our hearts, the same as Scar’s betrayal makes us angry and eager to help Simba discover that he has no fault for his father’s death.

As we watch on, we get to adore Simba’s little Hakuna Matata friend, or the buds Timon and Pumbaa as they help him become king of the jungle.

Toy Story (1995)

Toy Story is Pixar’s first and arguably ultimate achievement. It was such a success that it turned the company into a film franchise, and it set the standards of how a perfect movie should look.

We will remember it by the iconic ‘personalities’ of Woody, Hamm, Rex, and Buzz; and for its immense contribution to what toys meant in our lives. According to many viewers, Toy Story is the best animated movie ever!

Perfect Blue (1997)

Japanese director Satoshi Kon made a pretty successful animated prototype of legendary Black Swan. This movie is far from a pass-time show, and we wouldn’t recommend it for kids in any case. Its protagonist is pop star Mima who decides to try out acting.

Her fans are furious about it, in particular a creepy stalker that tries to invade her life in many different ways. That, however, is not the worst thing to happen to Mima – she starts tormenting herself with her alter ego – an imaginative ‘her’ that questions her decisions, and brings her in all sorts of compromising positions.

This movie is sexually explicit, compromising, and even haunting, and gives us a pretty good overview of celebrities’ troubles with media violence, exploitation, and lack of personal space.

Hercules (1997)

What better than an animation to make Greek mythology fun? The epic tale of demigod Hercules and his parents Zeus and Hera inspired many professionals in the movie business to bring these characters to life, including beautiful Megara Hercules saves from evil ex-boyfriend Hades.

Even after 20 years, this is a movie every kid should watch – the movie that teaches us that strength is only good when used for a good cause.

Mulan (1998)

Remember the cute Chinese heroine who joined the army to ensure her dad doesn’t have to go? Hardly did any of us forget her epic appearance on gender’s funeral to ask if there were Huns to fight!

Mulan was also the long-awaited Asian reappearance on screen, and a role model for young women who didn’t abide to sexist norms. She was noble, brave, and extremely fun to watch – just the way we’d all like to be! Along the way, she even fell in love with Captain Li Shang, and gave this amazing story the love crown it deserves.

What made the Mulan movie even more memorable were the voices of the protagonists – the mini dragon Mu Shu was voiced by amazing Eddie Murphy, while the voice behind Mulan’s beautiful interpretation of ‘Reflection’ was none other than Christina Aguilera. Could it get any better?

Princess Mononoke (1998)

Princess Mononoke is not a typical and soothing animation movie. The visceral and dark story is often considered as Miyazak’s best movie, and there are many reasons for that.

Following Ashitaka’s efforts to reintroduce peace between the generous gods and destructive humans, you are provided with a truly imaginative and epic visual experience. This is why Princess Mononoke became the 7th highest-grossing animation of all times.

The Iron Giant (1999)

The Iron Giant is a much underestimated animation movie, and we believe this is so because of it being misunderstood. Rather than attaching an ‘antiwar’ label on it, we should look deeper under the surface and understand that Brad Bird’s guns are not simply killing machines – he questions how it’d be if they had a soul. Interesting, isn’t it? Put it on your list!

Chicken Run (2000)

Chicken run is not just the funny story of a loud rooster and his fellow chickens escaping certain death – it is the stop-motion parable and homage of The Great Escape that shows us how the wreckage of capitalism looks like.

It is also a very well produced piece whose scrappy heroines are to be quoted and remembered, and it definitely deserves a look.

Monsters, Inc. (2001)

If you’re into animation, there’s no way you missed Monsters, Inc. Its memorable snappy interplay and dizzying action sequences guarantee some serious fun to the viewer, as protagonists Sulley and his single-eyed associate Mike scare children to help Monstropolis.

Ain’t it just great to see these beasts’ freaking out as fearless moppet Boo takes over their turf?

Shrek (2001)

What made Shrek so popular is without doubt his suitability for audiences of all ages. Children thought of it as a fantastic fairy tale of distressed damsels, dragons, castles, and a princess to be saved. Adults, on the other side, enjoyed the amazing pop culture references this animation had to offer, in particular the great soundtrack that pandered exactly to them.

This movie also has one of the best acting crews behind it – DreamWorks animation chose Cameron Diaz to voice Princess Fiona, Mike Myers to voice the titular ogre, and incredible Eddie Murphy to voice the faithful donkey steed. Could it possibly get better?

Spirited Away (2002)

Spirited Away was based on Alice in Wonderland, and it was so well execute that it won an Oscar. The legendary tale of a wondering little girl and her magical ride into the land of the Unknown never stopped fascinating people, an effect Joe Hisaishi ensured with his new ideas and great moving instrumentals.

The Triplets of Belleville (2003)

‘The Triplets of Belleville’ is signed by ‘Illusionist’ producer Sylvain Chomet. It is a family movie of a concerned grandma looking for her grandson, and a piece aiming to warm everybody’s heart. It will impress you from the very first opening sequence, and you will definitely want to watch it again.

Finding Nemo (2003)

Inspired by the great success of under-the-sea animations, Pixar created what’s perhaps the most fascinating story of its kind – Finding Nemo. Protagonist Nemo is in fact a small clown fish that ventures through the scary sea to find its father, and whose journey is paired with the most exciting adventures.

Nemo meets surprisingly friendly sharks, cute turtles, and other sea creatures that need his help – the most memorable encounter, however, is the one with space cadet Dory, a character viewers loved so much that Pixar made a separate movie about it!

The Incredibles (2004)

Any animation expert out there can confirm that animation movies are not all about visual. A large portion of their success depends on the story they tell, and Incredibles is a movie that can prove that.

The great comic book inspired an even better movie, as it brought former superheroes Bob and Helen Paar and their family on our screens. We were simply thrilled by villain Syndrome’s crime-fighting revenge, and we can easily compare the action in this anime to any well-rated fighter movie.

RATATOUILLE (2007)

Here’s one more of Pixar’s masterpieces that combines great visuals, intriguing stories, and memorable characters. It treats the unusual alliance of rodent Remy and kitchen assistant Linguini, both working on Remy’s dream to become the chef of a great French Restaurant.

The best part of the story – their dishes manage to fascinate critic Anton Ego, just the way their personality fascinates the audiences!

WALL-E (2008)

The Academy Award for Best Animated Feature is not the only great achievement of WALL-E. This movie was also recognized for acknowledging the dangers of pollution and human waste.

WALL-E is the main character in this animation – the Earth’s last robot that’s been alone for 700 years, and has thus developed a very curious ‘personality’. The loner is challenged by a newer robot model coming down to Earth, and the two of them create what’s today one of Disney’s most charming works.

Up (2009)

‘Up’ has just the right features to delight all audiences – funny characters and exciting chases to make kids laugh; and a precious adventurous experience for the parenting squad. Widower Carl and wilderness explorer and adventurist Carl take us on an unpredictable journey to South America, and lift our spirit up with every achievement. This is a movie you shouldn’t miss!

Coraline (2009)

Stop-motion animations company Laika picked an interesting book to adapt: Coraline by Neil Gaiman. As a result, they created a scary, yet very exciting movie, showing us how frustrated kid Coraline escapes from her parents and falls into trouble.

Coraline reaches a sinister and creepy world of Stepford-like replacements, including a terrorizing spider lady that follows her around. All she wants is to come back home, and viewers are there to join the journey. Certainly a piece of art!

The Princess and the Frog (2009)

The Princess and the Frog was created by John Musker and Ron Clements, a popular cinema duo we’d have to thank for masterpieces like Moana or The Little Mermaid.

Their latest hand-drawn fairytale takes place in the jazz age, and follows the story of a waitress who’s in love with an enchanted prince (frog), and becomes a frog herself. Give it a try!

Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)

Fantastic Mr. Fox is based on Roald Dahl’s amazing fox story. Screenwriter Noah Baumbah teamed with popular filmmaker Wes Anderson to adapt this tale for our screens, and introduced us to the most popular movie fox ever.

This urban fox struggles to return to its natural wild habitat and save its community – a mission that may cause retaliation against other animal species, or facing one’s own mortality. Now there’s a movie packed with integrity and values that is suitable for all generations!

How To Train Your Dragon (2010)

‘How To Train Your Dragon’ is one more of Roger Deakins’ cinematography legends – a thrilling and adventurous tale with beautiful painterly visuals, fully 3D enabled flying sequences, and a story to remember.

Instead of picking a celebrity crew to maintain the pop-culture gag, DreamWorks focused on the sequel and let the story lead the way, and that’s where the magic began. The central moment in this animation is the unique friendship of a Viking boy and a dragon, something that’ll remind us all of our beloved childhood pets.

Batman: Under the Red Hood (2010)

Watching the Under the Red Hood movie, you get a rare chance to experience the real Batman flick without the Joker taking over. In this occasion, Batman tries to defeat an evil vigilante who stops him from restoring order in Gotham City.

We warn you – the movie comes with some serious action and bloodshed, but it is a genuine delight for supporters of this genre.

MONSTERS UNIVERSITY (2013)

This is the tale of Mike Wazowski, a wannabe Scarer who enrolls at a University of Monsters. The movie follows his rivalry with natural-born Scarer Sulley, as a result of which they’re both kicked out of the program.

What they have to do to get reaccepted is to win the program’s Scare Games. The challenge is – they have to join the least respected fraternity on campus (Oozma Kappa), and they have to work at the same time.

Frozen (2013)

Frozen won multiple awards for being the best animation film, and owes it to a variety of factor. This tremendous piece warmed our hearts with wonderful characters, as well as a perfected storyline presented to us with amazing graphics.

For those who haven’t watched it, Frozen follows the epic journey of the fearless and positive Anna, as her faithful reindeer Sven and mountain man Kristoff help her find her sister Elsa.

They’re headed to the kingdom of eternal winter Arendelle where Elsa’s icy powers are trapped and endangered. To get there, Anna and Kristoff face a number of terrible obstacles, including snowmen and mystical trolls. Of course, they win in the end.

Ernest & Celestine (2014)

Ernest & Celestine is an engaging animation film that treats the topic of stereotypes and prejudice. It introduces us to the unusual friendship between street musician Ernest (a bear) and dentist Celestine (mouse) that doesn’t resemble any previous U.S. movie production.

World of Tomorrow (2015)

World of Tomorrow is one of the best short sci fi movies you’ll ever watch. You will need exactly 16 minutes to explore Don Hertzfeldt’s work of art where he showcases his deep admiration for the sci-fi genre.

The Netflix blockbuster explores a variety of popular topics. As sweet little Emily looks into the future, she meets her own grown-up clone, and joins a memorable, sentimental journey to learn more about her.

Basically, World of Tomorrow has two roles – entertaining toddlers who identify themselves with Emily, and taking adults on a futuristic trip where they question the ideas of cloning, virtual reality, and time travel.

Anomalisa (2015)

Anomalisa is a very romantic drama/comedy brought to us by director Duke Johnson and screenwriter Charlie Kaufman. At first sight, it is an ordinary love story between a motivational speaker and an ordinary girl named Lisa. What makes it so popular then?

The team did an excellent job putting longing and anxiety on screen, and promoting this film as an accurate study of human character, an analysis of modern malaise, and, well…a parody. The takeaway message to remember this movie by is – Keep going, no matter what!

Ups, we almost forgot. This movie is hilarious!

Inside Out (2015)

You all remember Inside Out, the masterpiece of animation that won the ‘Best Animated Feature Film’ Academy Award. The leading character is Riley, a girl with personified emotions ready to convey a simple, but meaningful message: We are all human beings, and life doesn’t always treat us nice. This is why critics in Cannes went all crazy about it.

The Little Prince (2016)

Mark Osborne used Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s classic The Little Prince to create an exciting story about a girl looking for her childhood. The movie is respected for its excellent blend of computer-generated animations and paper cutouts.

Tower (2016)

Many Hollywood movies treat attacks and incidents in the U.S, but what is really special about Tower is that it does so using animation. The storyline goes back to the 1966 shootings at Texas University, and it blends in a unique way animated characters, genuine broadcasts, and personal testimonies.

The Red Turtle (2017)

Michaël Dudok de Wit, the Dutch animator to sign this piece, likes to refer to it as an original ode to nature. This hand-drawn miracle is nothing like the previous works of Studio Ghibli – it displays the love story between a mute castaway and a shape-shifting turtle, and it features no words at all.

COCO (2017)

COCO will be remembered for many things, but most of all for its heart-melting soundtrack ‘Remember me’. This was Pixar’s pioneer musical film, and a piece that won viewers’ hearts as soon as it appeared.

The layered and colorful story takes place in Mexico, where young Miguel Rivera fights to become a renowned musician. His family bans music for him, but he persists pursuing a career like the one of his idol Ernesto de la Cruz.

Doing so, Miguel discovers the secrets in his family’s history, and his charming friend Hector from the Land of the Dead helps him all along.

If you enjoyed reading this article about animation movies, you should read these as well:

The most popular DC animated movies to watch in a lifetime

48 Of The Best Short Animated Films (Oscar winners included)

34 Of The Best Motion Graphics Studios And Their Work

Amazing Adobe After Effects Tutorials You Need To Watch

The Best Animated Movies For Adults: The ones to put on your list

The post The animation movies you shouldn’t miss in your lifetime appeared first on Design your way.

from Web Development & Designing https://www.designyourway.net/blog/inspiration/motion-graphics/animation-movies/

[contrarywiseizybel]

Kinktober 2022

Day 8: Bellatrix Lestrange/Pansy Parkinson (Food)

“Sneaking around like a naughty little mouse, are we?”

The question, coming from the shadows of the Malfoy kitchen, startled Pansy so badly she had her wand out, ignoring the fact that she was still a month away form being able to actually use her magic. Not, of course, that Parkinsons bothered themselves with things like the law, but Pansy also wasn’t an idiot. She knew the ministry was monitoring anyone previously connected with the dark lord, knew that if they got even a hint of underaged magic they would use it as an excuse to raid the manor.

No, she wasn’t going to bring that on her hosts. That would just be bad manners.

Still, her snap response must have delighted whoever was hiding in the darkness, as shrill giggles filled the room. A giggle she couldn’t place, which was especially concerning as she should have known everyone in the manor. The boring meeting a few halls down was for the dark lord’s elites, Pansy’s own parents included. She had known everyone of the lord’s lieutenants, having called most of them “aunt” and “uncle” until Hogwarts started.

So not being able to identify the cackle of humor was unnerving.

Luckily, or maybe not considering, the voice took pity on her and with a sharp snap every candle flickered to life, casting the room in a warm glow.

And there, sitting cross legged on the top of the kitchen table as easily as she would sit in any chair, was Bellatrix Lestrange.

Pansy cursed herself for forgetting about the Malfoy’s “most respected” guests. Maybe it was because most of the Death Eaters recently freed from Azkaban were much more likely to be resting in their rooms. Draco had confided that they had put up a silencing ward between the main manor and that wing, as the poor bastards would still scream and wail at all hours of the day.

He had assured her that they weren’t up for traveling outside that guest wing, still too broken from their years in prison and Pansy, like a fool, believed him. And now she was stuck under the stare of Bellatrix Lestrange. The witch, terrifying and deadly and rumored to be the only of his lieutenants that the dark lord actually respected, watched Pansy like she was a rabbit, frozen in the middle of a field.

And Bellatrix was the hawk.

“Come for a midnight snack, mousy?” Bellatrix asked, her sharp nails tapping an upbeat tempo against the polished wood below her. It was then that Pansy realized it wasn’t just Bellatrix Lestrange on the table. A veritable feast surrounded her, with Bellatrix herself as the centerpiece. Pansy could see artfully plated bangers and mash next to a mug of ale, steaming bowls of chicken tikka masala beside fresh naan bread, Welsh rarebit and roasted game bird and shucked oysters interlaced with edible flowers and garden fresh herbs.

And if the food alone wasn’t a feast, Pansy caught herself staring at Bellatrix as well. The dark lord’s healers must have been miracle workers. Of course there were still signs of her imprisonment, from her gaunt cheeks to the darkness spreading up from the tips of her fingers, a physical sign of her overworked magic. But her thick mane of hair looked clean, pulled away from her pale face but otherwise allowed its wild curls. Her blue-gray eyes were intense, sunk into her face, the shadows making her leer dangerous and cunning. And even her teeth, which Draco had complained about, had been cleaned to a standard off white. An improvement to the blacked rot Draco had been so haunted by.

Truly the dark lord only hired the best, as despite the years in prison, Bellatrix, and the food, looked delectable.

Pansy’s stomach growled, begging and pleading and demanding she pounce on the feast. Was it hunger, formed from the emptiness that came with a small salad at dinner? Was it lust, developed from years of watching her dorm mates and wondering about their soft curves and playful smiles?

“Come along, mousy, come share my bounty.”

The hunger flared again, stronger than Pansy, stronger than her mother’s reprimands, stronger than her father’s disappointment. She let the hunger lead her to the table, let Bellatrix pull her onto the table, so she knelt among the dishes which all moved aside for her. Those eerie pale eyes watched her, taking in her plump frame and her nervous energy. And oh so interestingly she grinned, sharp and wicked and delicious.

She lifted a pasty, flake and golden brown and Pansy could see the steam. Her lips warmed as Bellatrix rested the treat against them, forcing Pansy to actually made the move forward. Tempting her but never commanding her.

Pansy bit down, the softness and the saltiness and the warmth so right on her tongue and her heart hammering in her chest. Bellatrix watched, rapt and unblinking, and slowly continued to present her offering of pastry and meat and gravy. And just as she reached the last bite, Bellatrix struck.

Thin lips caught her own, nibbling and biting at the plump flesh until Pansy opened to her. A determined tongue chasing the flavor, a thin fingered hand pulling her closer by the back of her neck.

Carelessly, Bellatrix swiped away dishes, porcelain shattering on the ground. The older women pushed Pansy onto the table, leering over her with a delighted mad grin. “Oh little mousy, you are quite the treat.”

And with a shark smile Bellatrix struck, feasting on Pansy’s salt tinted skin and her delectable moans.

How delicious.

[wirednavi]

Umaro, the School Mascot

From the Rats’ Book of Names:

The name of Yeti is Unsubstantiated, that which can be experienced but never proven to others.

The heralds of Yeti are indistinct figures in the trees or the snow; howling wind; a sourceless anticipation of fear and wonder

The weapons of Yeti are storm and snow; lonely accidents; the play of light and shadow on the peaks; surprise

You turn Yeti aside by refusing to see; being calm and collected in the face of wonder; staying in a large group

Yeti kills you by drawing you to find it in ever more dangerous places; luring you to fall to your doom; destroying your credibility in the eyes of your peers

Yeti is drawn to explorers; the lonely; fires in the wilderness

Yeti hungers for your attention; the disbelief of your peers , AFFECTION

You may kill Yeti by publicly presenting definitive proof of its existence; denying its reality to its face; tracking it relentlessly until it is hounded from the world

Yeti is reborn when an explorer sets out find something others do not believe exists, and never returns

You may escape the attention of Yeti by accepting that things you cannot prove are false; remaining safe at home

Umaro, the School Mascot

Academics Skill: Reluctant Sports Skill: Air Bud Blood Type: A Favorite Foods: Yak ribs, okonomiyaki, flavored snowcones Age: Everyone assumes you’re about the default character age.  They are wrong. Animal: Rabbit

You are the School Mascot, Umaro!

That’s not your real name, of course.  It’s just what the students call you.

Your real name - your essence - is the Mystery Yeti, who is named Unsubstantiated.  When eyes first watched the snowy peaks and wondered if anyone or anything could live there, your eyes looked back.  When tales were first told of figures glimpsed through the snow but never clearly seen, you added your howl to punctuate the telling.  You are that which people wonder if the wilderness hides; you are the sound among the high peaks that might be the wind or might be a monster’s howl.  Explorers found signs and traces of your passage, and the boldest and luckiest came face to face with you, but brought back to their fellows only tantalizing hints and no proof.

Once you were everywhere and nowhere, on the wilds of Earth and other worlds besides, but those wildernesses are gone now.  The Outside is no place for you to live; when everything is ambiguous, there’s nothing left for you to be, no certainties to brace your story against.  Since the sun fell, you prowled the Far Roofs and wandered the peaks near Soma Village, where you felt most at home.

But there was a feeling that something was missing, a feeling that had grown in you for years - for millennia, really.  You saw the people in their camps and towns below you, talking to each other, getting to know each other.  Being there for each other.  When you were in the Far Roofs, no one could really be there with you.  They could only glimpse you, get hints of your presence but never confirm it, no matter how hard they tried… or how hard you tried.  Out there, you could practically stand in front of them and they’d never notice you until you were already vanishing.  And over the many, many years, you learned how painful it was to be alone.

So last winter, you followed one intrepid explorer of the Far Roofs back to Town.  You spent months lurking in the high places, peering over eaves, watching and learning and trying to figure out how you could meet people.  How a creature of mystery and ambiguity could become part of something real.

And finally, you discovered how you can interact with people.  It’s not that they can’t see you - it’s that they can’t recognize you.  Out in the snowy mountains, the only thing they could mistake you for was a snowdrift, or the wind in the trees - some part of the empty wilderness.  Here in Town, though, you just had to figure out something they could mistake you for.

All it took was a dye job.  A very, very large dye job.

Instead of your old white fur, you sport the School’s colors: black with gold highlights and a big School sun-and-stars crest on your chest.  You take great pride in it and have it retouched weekly.  Now everyone knows exactly what you are.  What else could an oversized furry humanoid animal painted the school colors be?  You’re Horizon School’s Mascot, of course!

Everyone’s got lots of theories on who ‘you’ are underneath the fuzzy suit they think you’re wearing.  John Wicked?  Impious?  The Principal himself?  A rotating group of students all sworn to secrecy and the service of school spirit?  When the Debate Club takes the stage to argue, you’re there to cheer them on.  When the American Football Club loses to the away team from St. Vita’s again, you’re there to buck them up!  You get lots of hugs and pats on the back and just about everyone’s happy to see you.

It is the best.

You presume the Principal knows something is up, and possibly the Student Council as well, but if they care they haven’t let you know.  Or maybe they approve.  After all, you’re helping out the School, right?

So right now, life is great!  You feel like you’re part of something, and you’re learning all about the strange and delicious foods they have in Town and the strange and amusing faces people make when they realize you’re just going to wander around town dressed in your mascot outfit.  You genuinely care about all these students and want to help them out.  And when you don’t want to be around so many people, you just climb up to the roof or the outside of one of the towers, or let your black-and-gold coloration camouflage you against the corridor wall, and watch over the students quietly like you used to watch the fires of the explorers in the valleys below.

You’ve can’t remember ever being happier.  You’re going to be the best mascot School’s ever had, and everyone will love you for it.

And you’ll never have to be alone again.

Skills:

Superior Abominable Snowman 3: See description below. Ganbatte! 2: You’re great at inspiring people, rousing them up, and cheering them on. Careful 2: You’re surprisingly gentle and quiet when you need to be. Fuzzball 1: You’re warm and soft to the touch. Enunciate -1: You can communicate just fine, but the finer points of diction are beyond you.

Superior Skill: Abominable Snowman 3:

You’re an enormous shaggy apelike snow monster.  You’re supernaturally difficult to gather evidence on - you leave no tracks, and photographs of you only show a distant figure or an out-of-focus blur that might be a hairy arm.  You’re naturally camouflaged - you blend into similarly-colored backgrounds undetectably.  (If you were still colored white, you’d blend into snow - but now, you blend into the School walls.)  Cold temperatures, storms, and high altitudes don’t affect you, and you can climb almost anything and never lose your footing or your grip.  You have the keen senses of an animal.  You’re extremely strong and tough, but not as much so as someone with Superior Vitality, so you don’t get your full Edge in direct physical contests.

Perks:

Level 2 Bond: I won’t let anyone prove the existence of the Yeti. Level 2 Affliction: I am easily mistaken for something I’m not. Level 2 Connection: The Horizon School Level 1 Connection: the Free Spirit: You followed them back from the Far Roofs.  What a great dancer! Level 1 Connection: the Virtuoso: They help touch up your paint job regularly.

XP Emotion: Fist-pump / salute

Basic Quest: An Exciting! Quest: “Urrruughhhgoooo Team!”  15 XP quest; Gain an XP towards it whenever you decide that someone around you is in need of encouragement and launch into some over the top way to cheer them on or raise their spirits.  This can be as simple as an overstuffed Yeti hug, or as involved as an extended cheerleading routine.

Miraculous Arc: Creature of the Light 2

All the mystery of the wilderness is in you, and the possibility of the unknown in far and unfamiliar places.  You are the shadow glimpsed between the trees and the figure seen through the snowstorm.  You are fundamentally an unknowable, unverifiable thing; not even the Fortitude rats, intrepid explorers that they are, have ever proven that you exist.

(They believe you exist, of course.  The rats are far too experienced with Mysteries to let a little thing like a total lack of evidence stop them.  They’re such impressive explorers, really!  You’re very proud of them.)

Tireless

You have endless reserves of energy for being you.  As long as you hide your true self, and continue to mysteriously appear to explorers and vanish without a trace every now and then (and don’t have your Divine Warrant stripped from you miraculously), you have access to 3 Miraculous Will.

Well-Lit

You are a creature of drama and wonder, and as such, you can always have exactly the lighting you want.  By default, you’ll always be positioned in the best available lighting for your purposes - if you’re sneaking, you’ll find the shadows, and if you’re dramatic, you’ll find the stage.  But it costs you 0 MP to demand better lighting from the world - from a dim moonbeam to highlight your mysterious figure atop the School to a spectacular spotlight extravaganza before you launch into a cheer.

Auctoritas Magister

There is more to you than flesh and blood, or even magic.  You are made of stories and uncertainty and wonder, and sometimes your actions have the weight of the sacred.

For 0 MP, starting mid-scene you can cause your actions to become inviolate even by miracles.  A Level 2 Auctoritas protects your actions and their effects from miracles, Cthonic Actions, and the Outside.  Such powers fail to make any changes which would stop you from executing your action with as much success as it would otherwise have had.  For instance, if your action is to lead people in a cheer, miracles would be unable to:

Make you unheard

Prevent people from joining in

Remove you or your audience from the scene

Make people dislike your cheer any more than they otherwise would

But could still:

Harm you, as long as you could still lead the cheer

Build a wall around you and your audience to trap them

Increase your cheer to earth-shattering levels

Doom those who do cheer to a terrible death (after the cheer is over)

If you need to use this more than twice per chapter, it costs 1 MP each time.

For 4 MP, you can instead form an Intention when you invoke this ability; for as long as you sustain that Intention, the Auctoritas protects it, your person, and any other Intentions you make.

Appear

The most fundamental nature of the Mystery Yeti is to be seen, briefly, and then vanish without a trace into the wilderness, leaving only a lasting impression and sense of wonder and discovery.  So it is given to you to do just that - to appear with the signs and symbols of your coming, and disappear without a trace.  These days, you often do it just to check in on the students you know and see how they’re doing.

Over the course of a few minutes, you can materialize anywhere there is someone to whom you have a Connection, appearing out of whatever is most evocative of you.  You might pop your head out of a snowbank, or take the place of a statue covered in a throw rug, or just de-camouflage from in front of the black-and-gold school seal.  If there’s nothing appropriate nearby, then you just manifest out of gusts of cold wind and a growing sense of school spirit.  When you leave the scene, you vanish the way you came, fading back into something that is revealed to not have been you at all.

You can’t really use this to leave a place.  If an intrepid explorer is trying to search for you, using this ability to be in a scene somewhere else will usually have you fade back to where you were just in time for the confrontation, but if that’s not possible the whole power becomes Unreal and you end up in two places at once for a bit.

Transfix

With a word or a gesture, or just a still presence, you can convey a feeling of profound amazement and wonder in onlookers.  You can cause one of your slow, careful mundane actions to be so compelling that it is impossible for anyone around you to pay attention to anything else.  Additionally, the action rises to a minimum Intention of 4, and ignores level 1-2 Skill penalties.  This is great not just for appearing mysteriously to travelers in the midst of a snowstorm, but also for creating that perfect hush as you stand up to start a cheer!  To use this costs 0 MP the first couple of times per book, and 4 MP a third or further time.

Obsession

To meet Yeti among the high peaks is to be changed.  It is a moment of wonder that stays fixed in the mind.  Even though they’ll never be able to prove it to others, even if they aren’t sure themselves that you were real, those you show yourself to will never be the same.

For 0 MP, you can cause your actions to have a profound emotional impact on observers you select.  You can’t choose what that emotional impact is, but there’s no escaping that it causes them to feel something - it’s a moment that will stay with them forever.  This is effectively a miraculous attack, and anyone trying to lessen its impact will have to take the equivalent of a Serious Wound.  You can use this again in the same chapter for 1 MP, or again in a few hours for 2 MP.

Open the Vault

You can make your actions be reminders to people, as well, drawing up their history and emotions from within them.  For 0 MP, you can cause an action of yours to evoke a flashback in a target which evokes a particular emotion or kind of experience; usually, you use this to evoke wonder or flabbergastment or ‘the first time you discovered something important’, but around School you’re very good at evoking school spirit or ‘that time when you won big’.  Any mundane actions the target takes to try to hide or reject what you’re making them feel suffers an Obstacle of 2.  For 1 MP, you can do this again in a chapter, or 2 MP to use it again in a few hours.

Divine Warrant

Normally, it would be bad for you to trick people into thinking you’re a human in a funny suit, or making them doubt your existence.  It would be bad for you to lurk around, watching them from the heights while you stay hidden.  It would normally even be bad for you to give an encouraging cheer to School students when they are secretly plotting to end the world.

Yes, doing those sorts of things would be wrong for most people…  But not for the Mystery Yeti, who is named Unsubstantiated!

Once per session, if you haven’t benefited from other Issue-granting powers, you can invoke an appropriate Wicked Action or (maybe Suffer Metamorphosis) and gain a point of the Vice issue.  When you do, you work yourself up about your purpose in doing so, and either you describe the way you allow yourself to do whatever it is you’re doing as a high calling, how the wilderness must have mystery and uncertainty and lurking things or else it ceases to be the wilderness at all...

Or there’s a break from reality, and the high, cold wilds manifest around you briefly, and snowstorms gust around you even in the midst of summer, and a sense of fear and wonder at what might be out there, over the next mountain.  As a mysterious dweller of the wild peaks, what you’re doing is appropriate, and so you bring the wild peaks and the mystery to you.

When it’s over, the world recontextualizes what just happened - maybe it just seemed like the towers of School were mountains for a minute, or maybe a drift of dandelion blossoms just floated by that seemed like a snowstorm.  Maybe the snow just melts away surprisingly quickly and leaves puddles for the janitorial staff to grumble about.

Actions you take under Divine Warrant never seem metaphysically and spiritually incorrect or tabu.  However, people and beings of power are free to judge perceptions of the matter as misleading.

A Sense for Sin

There are some things you just have a sixth sense for, things intimately connected to the purpose and meaning of the Yeti.  You can tell when…

Someone within about a mile is exploring, especially in high or wild places, and what they’re hoping to find.

Someone in the Region is attempting to find definitive proof of the Yeti, and broadly how they intend to do it and how close they are to their goal.

Someone within about a mile is in bad spirits and needs encouragement or a hug.

You always have an effective Intention level of 2 to learn these things, with 4 Edge against most methods that would be applicable, and you can substitute your own Intention if it’s higher to overcome Obstacles; distance is not an Obstacle to these actions.

When you do sense these things, you gain a Level 2 Connection to them for the rest of the chapter, so you can immediately Appear to them and give them a fuzzy hug, or quietly remove the stray Yeti hairs they’d obsessively collected while their back is turned, or whatever.

Miraculous Arc: Become Somebody 1+

Your Role is the School Mascot.  You are the black-and-gold patterned dancing anthropomorphic animal that fills everyone with school spirit.  Everyone assumes you’re one of the students in a fuzzy animal outfit, because what else could you be?  A Yeti?  Hah!  Yetis don’t exist!  You do wish people would stop trying to attach jackalope ears and horns to your head, but it’s all worth it, because they wouldn’t bother if they didn’t care about their mascot!

Your Failing is that you long for companionship.  You’ve been lonely for so long that it feels like a permanent part of you, but every day around School is like a warm fire in the cold mountains.

Frantic

When you were up in the mountains, everything was simple.  Lonely, but simple.  You understood how to live, and it was rare that anything worried you - you were in your element, living the story that made you, and nothing could really hurt or even change your story for long.  You like your new life in Town better, but it’s so much more complicated, and you’re always worried one of the rats will find out your secret, or that the students you care about are going to get in trouble without you there to cheer them up, or… or anything!

Whenever you can meet its condition, you can take the (Be In) Trouble Action.  When you do, you gain 1 MP, up to your starting maximum, and for each additional group XP the action gains, you gain another MP.

The Wages of Sin

You understand loneliness.  You think there is probably no one who understands it as you do.  It is in your bones, as old as the glaciers and twice as cold.  It makes you sad, to see so much loneliness in the world.  So many hearts hurting, reaching out for each other, like yours.  

When you concentrate, you can take a miraculous action to see how people’s loneliness and need for others is affecting them, or the situation around you.  You can even read when people are hiding their loneliness, and if there’s someone in particular they’re missing or longing for, you can get an impression of who it is.  If you currently have a Vice or Sickness Issue that’s related to your loneliness, you can add that Issue’s rating as Strike to this ability.

Harmonious Souls

But you’re not lonely anymore, not while you’re the School Mascot!

Being the School Mascot means you stand for something - but not some vague ideal, but people and togetherness and school spirit and your friends cheering you on!  What could be better than that?  You’re not a mysterious, unique creature lurking unseen on the Far Roofs, you’re everyone’s big fuzzy friend!

You’re so in tune with your Mascot-ness that you can see when other people are standing for things too.  Spend 1 MP and you gain a Level 1 Affliction: I understand people when they are like mascots.  You can tell when someone really cares about the things they stand for, or whether they’re just pretending.  You can see how much they want people to believe in what they’re showing.  You can tell who’s the heart or the center of a group of people, who’s binding them together in purpose and camaraderie.

If you spend a few hours away from anyone who harmonizes with your Role like this, the power fades.

Your Truths

These things are true about you, so true that they resist even miraculous attempts to alter them:

You are the Mystery Yeti, who is named Unsubstantiated.

You are the School Mascot.

You long for the companionship of others.

All these Truths are protected by a level 1 Auctoritas, and you can buy additional Truths to add to this list with recharge tokens.

Adaptable

Your determination to be the Mascot transcends worlds and time.  Wherever you go, however you end up, you find a way to bring people together and inspire them.

For 2 MP, you can create a temporary Level 1 Affliction:

I belong here.

This gives you the following effects:

You gain a free Level 1 Connection to the environment.

You have a free +1 Tool bonus to being a representative of a group or organization there, inspiring people to competence in this new situation, and bringing people together as comrades.

You’ll sometimes get miraculous coincidences and bursts of inspiration from the HG to help you belong and to act as a proper mascot.

You have a lot of trouble remembering that you haven’t always been here and done this.  You can normally work around this, but if the HG gets you into trouble because of it, they are likely to also give you an MP.

Like any other Affliction, it takes a miracle with at least 1 Strike to overcome it - in this case, any miracle which would make you feel out of your element or make you less part of your new context.

[snowkatze]

All I Want for Christmas

Prompt: Christmas Wish-list (@carryon-countdown) Genre: fluff Word Count: 1554 Summary: Simon and Baz started being friends. Baz still wants something more, but he’ll accept a friendship for Simon’s sake. Then, Simon makes him write a Christmas list...

“I think this is what we were meant to be doing all along,” he says and smiles that wicked smile of his. His face looks so alive when he's smiling, with little wrinkles around his eyes. I regret ever wiping it off of his face.

“We were meant to be enemies,” I gulp and tear my gaze away from him. “You were the Mage's heir and I am a Pitch. We were meant to tear each other to pieces.” Stubbornly, he shakes his head. He is Simon Snow. There is nothing I can say to change his mind.

“That's not true,” he smiles. “The Crucible cast us together. We should have been friends from the start.”

Friends. I bring myself not to wrinkle my nose. He's smiling so brightly. How can he smile like that at the thought of us being friends? More importantly, how can I not smile at that very same thought?

No matter what he says, he's wrong. We were meant to be enemies. This is nothing short of a miracle. Friends. Friends. The word tastes weird in my mind. I don't want to know what it would taste like on my lips.

I've had minions, relatives, enemies, acquaintances, annoyances, but a friend? That'd be a first.

A friend who smiles at me, like that.

I could ruin this so fast. I could bring everything we built so carefully, so gently, down with a light movement of my head, that's how close he's standing right now.

I will ruin it. Three simple words, and how could I not say them, because his hair is spun of gold and so is his smile.

I shake my head ever so slightly, knowing he won't notice. I won't ruin this for him. I will be whoever he wants me to be.

I always knew I was going to die loving Simon Snow. Painfully, heart-achingly, tragically, pathetically. Loving him.

I have come to the realization that I won't die at his hands, that I won't die violently, that I won't die so young. Which raises questions I didn't need to ask myself before. What will I do? Where will I go? How will I cope without Simon Snow?

Except I won't leave him. His heart is spun of gold. I might be immortal, but that doesn't change anything.

I will never love anybody but Simon Snow.

Friends. It tastes bitter, yet sweet. I truly am pathetic.

“So,” he says and sticks his tongue out between his teeth. “What do you want for Christmas, friend?” “Your soul.” “Come on, Baz, I'm serious.”

“Fine, I want... Rosemary, and yarrow root...” “That's a bit weird, but fine...” “...a rabbit's foot...” “Okay?” “And the pure blood of a virgin.” “For Crowley's sake, Baz!” “Exactly,” I grin at him. “It's for Aleister Crowley. We must sacrifice-” “Shut up!” “Our mortal souls don't deserve-” “You don't even have a mortal soul!” I stop and look at him. Right. Forgot about that. I don't even have a soul. I turn away from him. “Baz.” Right. Right. What was I thinking? Being friends with Simon Snow is impossible. He's life itself. He could never be friends with someone who is quite literally dead inside.

“I just meant that you're immortal.” “I'm not a vampire, Snow.” “Can't you stop lying to me? I thought we were friends.” “Not that kind of friends.”

“No, Baz. We're not fighting, okay? We don't do that any more.”

“I told you we weren't meant to be friends.”

With that, I stand up and start walking towards the door.

“Why don't you make a list, Baz?” he calls after me. “You like making lists, don't you?” I slam the door.

The last time I made a Christmas list, I was five years old. The year after, I stopped believing in Santa Clause, and whatever I would've fished for wouldn't have fit in a package or under a Christmas tree. And here I am, many years later, holding a pen and a white piece of paper, about to write a wishlist. I'm not actually going to show it to anyone, but not all too long ago, I thought it was impossible for me to wish for anything at all. Now I'm starting to think, life might be kinder to me than initially suspected.

So what do I wish for?

1. A soul.

Not just anyone's soul, of course. My own one. I wish I wasn't a vampire, I wish I wasn't a monster.

2. A mother.

Not just any mother, of course. My own one. The one who died when I was five years old and wishing for anything but her started to seem impossible.

Neither of these wishes seems fulfilled easily. Maybe I set the bar too high.

3. A poinsettia.

There was a long time where I thought I couldn't take care of myself, let alone anything else. But I think I can now. And I don't think if I got a plant now, I'd have to be worried that it was going to outlive me.

4. Snow.

No pun intended. I really want a white Christmas. I imagine it being like a fairy tale. The snow covering the world, Christmas lights, the smell of fire. And as I'm already so indulged in this fantasy, I add another point.

5. A mistletoe.

Directly related to the sixth point.

6. A kiss from Simon Snow.

This is ridiculous. What am I even doing here? There's no use in pining after pipe dreams. Christmas won't be magical; it'll be stiff, forced and cold as every year. Being friends with Snow now doesn't change that. He'll still go back to Agatha and feel loved and warm; I'll still go back to my family, and I'll still be me.

Snow is wrong. There is no point in making Christmas lists.

“Hey, friend,” Snow says.

“Hi, idiot,” I reply.

“Stop calling me idiot.” “I'll stop calling you an idiot when you stop calling me friend.”

“I'll stop calling you friend when you stop being my friend,” he says and I blush.

I'm about to leave Watford for the holidays, but Snow stopped me at the door. Apparently, he's staying here this year.

“Well,” he says.

“I guess that's good bye then.” “I guess...” He looks nervous, which makes me suspicious. His hands keep fidgeting, he averts his eyes.

“Do you have something to tell me?” I ask. For a split second, I imagine him confessing his feelings to me.

“No,” he whispers, and then he locks his eyes on me. “Maybe you're right, you know? We weren't meant to be friends.” “Oh.” I look down.

“I guess we don't have to be friends. I'll just... leave.” I knew it was too good to be true.

“No, Baz, I -” He grabs my arm. He looks me directly in the eyes before he grabs me by the collar and crashes his lips into mine.

He crashes his lips into mine.

No.

He's kissing me.

We're kissing.

What.

I freeze underneath his touch. He kisses me messily and kind of roughly, but when he caresses my cheek, he's soft.

My eyes flutter close. Then, I push back.

I grab him by his collar and take it in my fingers, as though I wanted to drag him even closer.

He breaks away and I press the back of my hand against my lips.

“Why did you do that?” I pant. A minute ago he said he didn't want to be my friend.

“Look up,” he murmurs, and I do. A mistletoe.

“You found my Christmas list,” I gulp, my heart sinking.

“I saw you writing it and found it in the trash.” “Well, you should've left it there,” I snap and stumble back. “You weren't supposed to see it.” “Baz -”

No wonder he doesn't want to be friends any more. Then what was this supposed to be? A parting gift? I can still feel the ghost of his lips on mine – the ghost of his hand touching my cheek. I shiver.

“Thank you, Simon Snow,” I mutter, but my voice breaks away towards the end.

When I turn away, he doesn't grab my arm again. I start walking, and I can't help but hope he chases after me. He doesn't.

“Baz, stop,” he shouts. I'm almost in too much pain to obey, but I still do.

“I think we weren't meant to be friends.”

“You already said that.” “Can't we be something more?” I close my eyes, but I can hear his footsteps. He's coming closer.

“I don't need your pity, Snow.” “No, you don't,” he says, his voice beside my ear. “But you do need something from me.”

Love, I think, but I don't dare to say it out loud.

“And I'm going to give it to you.”

I open my eyes again.

“That is, if you'll let me.” He's standing right in front of me. He is beautiful. I kissed those lips. He kissed me. And he might be telling the truth. “Alright,” I whisper.

“Alright,” he answers, smiling slightly. “Alright, boyfriend?” I think I can believe in Christmas again.