#any and all trios that that aren't related

[sakurapandadreams]

PLACEMENTS THAT MAKES ONE FEEL LEFT OUT

Please take all of these predictions with a grain of salt I'm not a professional astrologer.

FOR ASTRO POSTS HERE IS MY MASTERLIST

This is a new series of post I'm planning on continuing

This post consists all the placements that makes or causes someone to feel left out with in a place or a group or from people.

If you have some or any of these placements rest assured these placements doesn't mean you won't find any friends at all.

🖇 Mercury or Moon in Aquarius

Natives with these placements have trouble sharing their thoughts with others as they feel it doesn't align with their peers. Which is a big reason why these people rarely relate with anyone. In this world where people live by socializing they build their small world at home on their computers or phones through social media.

🖇 Capricorn Moon

These natives grow up the hard way, they mature at a young age. Growing up they can realize how people only make relations if it benefits them. However they disfavor this very idea, there more serious and want people to take their friendships seriously [which many unfortunately don't].

🖇 Cancer Rising

They don't feel left out everywhere but in certain groups yes. Many may get along with people elder to them as they find comfort in sharing their ideas with them. People with this placement even if their in a trio, can feel like someone who is third wheeling between a duo. Many people with this placement are ahead of their time.

🖇 Venus in 0 degrees

Of Course this is the purest form of the planet. Natives with this placement can get sidelined or get mistreated by people around them due to their looks. Most might be clueless or have trouble understanding certain aspects of love which inturn secludes them from their peers.

🖇 Saturn in Gemini

These people may have trouble understanding what to share and how much to ?. Hence these people keep to themselves and instead of talking things they express themselves better in writing. These people avoid gossips or conversations that may lead to drama which ends up making them left out.

🖇 Saturn in the 11th house

The most mentioned one of all. People with this placements feel left out because they have grown up learning it's better to be cautious around others. Many natives keep formal relationships with their peers making them hard to reach or feel free or comfortable to talk to.

🖇 Uranus in or ruling the 7th and 11th house

These people are highly intelligent, many people won't be able to match their intellectual wavelength. Hence more often than not they get alienated by people their age. Nothing is wrong with you guys. It's just your ideas and philosophers are different from people your age.

🖇 Neptune square Mercury

These people do have friends but within their friend groups they tend to feel left out. Because most don't understand which friends is reliable and many also desire to be liked by everyone hence in this process they aren't able to make close friends. This makes them feel left out in their own groups.

🖇 Rahu conjunction with Mercury

These natives get alot of friends [depends on signs and degrees] but most of them harbor jealousy for these people. Many may take advantage and keep friends till they benefit them. Many could have faced backstabbing. Their friends could have made them feel dumb. Hence these people feel left out.

🖇 Chiron in the 11th house

Quite less spoken one these people may have wounds regarding friendships or how they view themselves in friendships these people may often times feel that they don't deserve such people or may feel inferior to their friends on the flip side they could have been betrayed by their friends hence don't want friendships.

Credits for the images and dividers goes to the rightful owners

Copyright © 2024 sakurapandadreams | All rights reserved.

[least-carpet]

yu ziyuan screams, cont.

One of the things that irritates me is when people aren't thinking about motivation when translating characters from one context to another, ESPECIALLY women. Specifically, I'm thinking about Yu Ziyuan, and how her anger about her life is so often reduced to romantic jealousy or just chalked up to her being "violent and abusive¹." Like, okay, yes, she's often angry and really mean about it. Why is she angry and what does that look like in a different time and place?

Here are some reasons for Yu Ziyuan's anger in canon that aren't just "she's jealous" (gag):

Feeling devalued and disrespected in her marriage, which is also her job.

Not wanting to parent a child she didn't agree to adopt.

Being an extremely talented and strong cultivator who is restricted by society's expectations for women / her gender role, which she resists (such as by continuing to nighthunt, being called "Madame Yu" rather than "Madame Jiang," etc.).

Wanting a secure future for both her children and wanting them to appear strong in order to access that future—which is why she's so angry about Jiang Yanli peeling lotus seeds and Jiang Cheng coming in second to Wei Wuxian. Her children are "lowering themselves" in relation to a person she doesn't consider a member of her family and who is continually a source of public shame. She feels like this might damage their prospects, all for a person she doesn't personally care about!

Feeling pressured to secure that future for her children by herself, because her husband doesn't seem to like one of them, and furthermore often doesn't seem to be acting in their best interests.

So if I was going to translate to a modern!au, that could look like:

Feeling devalued and disrespected in her marriage (still happens).

Pausing her career to have children, then returning and having to fight hard to make up ground.

Wanting a secure future for her children, pushing them aggressively to achieve (in concrete ways such as test scores and extracurriculars). Likely a source of conflict with the more hands-off Jiang Fengmian.

I do think she could get divorced, but obviously wouldn't if it had severe social, financial, and/or professional consequences—in canon, she maintains a separate household, she's addressed by a title that separates her from her husband, and she spends a lot of time away from him, but she hasn't left. Really depends on the era and milieu she's operating in. She wouldn't do it if it would damage her or her family, or unless the damage had already occurred and couldn't be mitigated.

The threat of divorce might change the dynamic between her and Jiang Fengmian, though? If it didn't, why not? Is there a specific reason they both feel like they can't leave?

Like, you don't have to do all of that for there to be conflict between her (authoritarian, concerned with society's values, high standards, definite Tiger Mom candidate) and Wei Wuxian (rebellious, mischievous, high-achieving but not particularly well-behaved), regardless of whether or not he's a part of her household. They disagree about a lot of fundamental stuff! There's always going to be friction, even without canon's complex social/household arrangements! You simply do not have to reduce her to a misogynistic caricature of a jealous wife, even if part of what made her so angry in canon is gossip about her husband's feelings for another woman. That gossip doesn't exist in a vacuum! It has a political dimension! The power of gossip is literally a theme in the book! Many of her complaints are explicitly political, especially in relation to the Wen! I'm cool, it's cool, we're good. I'll stop yelling now.

(I also think that the person most likely to be critical of Yu Ziyuan's parenting—or Jiang Fengmian's parenting, for that matter—is Jiang Yanli rather than Jiang Cheng or Wei Wuxian, especially after she's had a child, and, in all cases, any individual member of the trio is more likely to be indignant about the others' treatment rather than their own. But that could be a post of its own.)

I'm not particularly interesting in rehashing the discourse about whether or not her treatment of Wei Wuxian constitutes abuse. I think this is a good summary of how it's treated in-story. I think it's fair to still read it and think it's unacceptable, but the original construction of it in canon is relevant if you're trying to translate their relationship to a modern setting.

[ririblogsss]

Damian and the strays

ok look we all know the de aged dani (Danny and Dan). But what if we have siblings/ triplets, and I mean what if we take them all the same age (15/16) and make them into the most powerful trio in school . I mean you have 3 good looking individuals all siblings and in the same way, they all excel in different things (Dan-world history, Dani/Ellie- science Sports, Danny physics), but they are all so easy going and charming plus they are all jacked af.

Like tell me if i'm wrong but they would be beloved maybe popular on the downlow until they do something only fentons would risk doing. For example, orchestrating that every monday at 12:30 am the fire alarms would start and lunch would be extended for an hour more. No one can prove it, but none of them have doubts either. The triplets have their own groups but they mainly hang out with each other if you see one the other 2 are close by. 

Anyways i'm thinking that one day they will actually see why the Fenton siblings are observed closely by the teacher and try to make sure they don't cause mayhem.  One guy, a chad of sorts, decided he wanted to pick a fight with Dante, the more violent of the siblings. Chad didn't even finish his first insult before he was slammed through the door by Danny, who was arguably the pacifist of the 3. But the student body kind of got it. The thing is no one expected Dani (preferred name Ellie) to freaking pummel the guy.

No one saw them at school again. 

It went on like this: the trio would move to one school.Would play pranks on the administration and have fun. Then someone would try something on one of them and the other 2 would pummel the person into the ground. The next day they would be gone never to return. They became an urban legend in some of the schools. 

Until they came to Gotham Academy when they tried their pranks a kid would come and stop them. It was getting on their nerves. All their freaking plans down the drain all because of a snobby brat that didn't know how to mind his own.  Eventually they start pranking the kid instead of the school as a revenge for ruining their fun. This leads to an all out prank war between all 4 of them (Dan backstabbed Danny and Ellie first they just followed the lead). 

Soon enough the 3 of them became friends with Damian (they learned his name 4 weeks after the prank war started). The school body was half convinced that Damian and the triplets were actually long lost siblings. I mean they all have black hair, anger issues and green bluish eyes. Damian knew for a fact that he wasn't related to the Fentons; a DNA test concluded this. But that didn't mean that Damian didn't perceive the triplets as family. 

Damian concludes that even if they aren't adopted into the family the Fentons belong. So that's why one day Damian brings Ellie, Danny and Dante to the family reunion. Where every relative and not so relative is there. Damian is showing them around, pointing at things around the house as a mini tour, and people are starting to notice that there are 3 new faces that they have never seen before. 

there are whispers like: ‘really?! AGAIN?!?’ or “WOW im gone for 5 days and he got 3 more”  and even  ‘Damn so black hair, teen and probably sad backstory is the type’

The triplets looked at eachother looked at Damian and smiled like starved piranhas that have just been served a pound of meat and are ready to devore. Damian reflects it with his own devilish smile.

 So all four of them start saying things out of context such as: 

“I'm so glad to be here now” 

“Yeah same we wouldn't have survived that hell of a chamber without you Dames”

“As long as we're no longer hunted for merely existing I don't mind staying for a while”

“Good things there weren't any actual bazookas that could have gone worse”

All four knew that out of context it seemed like the 3 siblings had been hunted and captured by some unknown person and Damian had rescued them and brought them home, but in reality they were just talking about the past paintball match they had earlier that morning. 

So Bruce wanted to know some more but the rhetorical bullet, and asked “Damian… who, who are these kids” Damian proceeded to scoff and say “Why our new family members, truly father, are you incompetent. This is a family reunion hence only family or perceived family is invited” Damian tried to channel his inner 10 year old self whilst trying not to laugh. Danny and Ellie were on the same boat except they made their faces look devastated with tears in their eyes and everything looked pitiful, but on the inside they were laughing their asses off. Dante feigned indifference but he had teary eyes, from trying to stop himself from hitting the floor laughing at the devastated faces around. 

Danny played his act up clearing his throat “we- we can leave if I mean we didn't know, yeah Dami said it was fine but we understand” he purposely made his voice crack to show how ‘hurt’ he was. 

Ellie made herself look small so she could seem self conscious and uncomfortable with the situation. 

Dante solidified them with the small sniffles he let out every few seconds. 

Damian was looking to the ground to avoid being read, because right now he was shaking from laughter, and it would be clear in his face but if he angled himself right (which he did) it looked like he was silently sobbing. Danny put his arm around his shoulder, also looking towards the ground, also shaking from laughter. Dante and Ellie joined in. From an outside perspective it looked like they were extremely upset not being able to be family. 

Bruce panicked seeing his younger child and 3 other kids the same age all begin to cry he just blurted out “NO no that not what i meant Damian I ment their names what are their names, and does Babs have to get involved so we can have documentation”

Damian cleared his tears and looked up at his father trying not to smirk “He is Dante, that one is Dani with an I but she prefers Ellie and that lanky one is Danny” Bruce nodded and went out the room to see if he could get started on the documents. 

Once Bruce was out of the room all 4 of them burst out laughing, falling into a pile some were heard wheezing, others having maniacal laughter. 

Once they finally stopped and looked at the rest of the family all four of them eerily said “he won't ever believe you” And everyone in the room shuddered. This quartet was going to bring wayyyy too much mischief into the family. 

(if you're wondering where jazz is. She's in college living her best life. I mean she is a highly independent person she thrives of off living alone with a clear schedule set)

—

Also i didn't put any specific names for the previous schools or the family members bc I thought it would be better for u guys to decide who witnessed the beginning of the end. 

[boogersparkles]

THE WAY TO A PERSON'S HEART IS THROUGH THEIR STOMACH!

Yuuta mito x gn!reader

Genre: crack, romantic, mutual pining

Summery: Yuuta wants to confess his feeling to [Name] and the Octo trio try to help (spoiler : it doesn't end too well)

Warning: might have ooc-ed the octos (idk if this is considered a warning but i use [Name] instead of Y/N cuz it reminds me too much of those AoT insta reels💀)

Words: 2.840~

Notes: Yuuta fic drop!! This came out wayyy longer than I anticipated also kinda changed the writting style cuz the colours aren't enough for everybody. Constructive criticism is welcomed! (Next fic will probably be with Yuuna or Yuuken cuz they need love too)

Yuuta really likes you. In fact, he could say that he adores you.

He believes that you two are closer with eachother than his other friends here in Twisted Wonderland. That you can relate to him on a different level than anyone else, that your care and trust in him shows just how unseparable you two are. He could even say that you were more comfortable than just average friends, so why...

Why is he struggling so much with how to confess to you?!

He feels completely helpless when it comes to romance. He can't even ask anyone for help since Ace's relationship went horrible, Deuce doesn't know how to talk to girls besides his mom and the only thing that Grim knows how to romance is tuna.

He had also brainstormed ideas, like making handcrafts or baking, but he was an amature when it came to art and you pretty much live under the same shaby roof that threatens to fall on you 24/7 so he won't be able to be secretive.

He was sitting on a bench, resting his head in hands, contemplating and overthinking his choises. Unbeknownst to him, a specific group of mermen were walking towards his direction.

"My, my, looks like Yuuta has found himself in a predicament"

Startled by the sound of Azul's voice, Yuuta sees the well known Octo trio standing right in front of him, smilling while casting an ominous shadow, making them look more intimidating than friendly. Not giving him a chance to say anything, Jades chimes in.

"What seems to be the problem, dearest Yuuta? Your face was deeply distorted with frustration"

"Your face looked a lot like Red Squid's (Trein) with all those wrinkles on your forhead, Shrimpy!"

"Can we stop talking about my face, please?"

Yuuta's cheeks bloomed red with embarassment, being caught in his little overthinking loophole wasn't something that he wanted, much less by the people who yearn for blackmail material secrets.

"Right.. Well then, what is it?"

Azul drops the teasing and asks genuinely. Crossing his arms and cocking his head questiongly. Yuuta hesitates for a bit but reluctanly answers.

"I wanted to confess my feeling to [Name] and I wanted to do something special for them. But i don't know exactly what to do"

"I thought Shrimpy had a specialty for cooking. Can't you just bake up some cookies or something?"

"I did think about doing that, but there's no way I could secretly make something quick enough for them to not notice me. Besides, most of the cooking appliances are either broken or impossible to clean"

None of them say anything for a while, they look between eachother, as if to telepathicaly converse in some groupchat. Then Azul speaks up.

"I have a proposal"

"I'm not signing any contract"

"Wha- You didn't even let me finish!"

Yuuta wasn't too sure if he fully believed him, but he still lets him continue.

"I'll allow yoy to use the Mostro Lounge's kitchen for as long as you need, only if you work for us"

"...Really?"

"Come on Yuuta, have some faith in me. I can be harsh at times but I'm no monster. If payment is what you're worried about, I'll have that set up for you"

"I wasn't worried about that. I'm just.. surprised"

He accepts the offer and smiles brightly, the others seem to be pleased as well. Starting tomorrow, Yuuta will work at the Mostro Lounge and will try to confess to you.

Keyword: try

Attempt 1#: Cookie trouble

Yuuta was baking at the Lounge's kitchen, where Azul had given him a recipe for some Valentine's day cookies. Even though it was way too early for Valentine's day, the gift held the same sentiment, so the date didn't make a difference. He left some extras in a jar for the guys as a thank-you present for lending him the kitchen.

Making his way out, Yuuta waves goodbye to his fellow coworkers and leaves with the cookies in a paperbag. He was proud with how they came out, having Floyd as a taste tester because he wanted to skip work, which didn't end too well for him but he couldn't care less.

Some of his fellow cooks were also impressed with his skills, since it was his first time making that specific recipe.

"Woah, these are delicious Yuuta! Good job!"

"Exquisite, the flavor of the chocolate is just the right balance of sweetness. Splendid work, Yuuta"

"Hey Yuuta..? Can.. you teach me how to get good at baking some time?"

He originaly was worried that you wouldn't have liked them, but the compliments really gave him a confidence boost. Getting excited, he thought about how he should approach you. Should he say something short and sweet? Or should he say something more deep with affection. Guess he'll figure that out when the time comes.

As he was walking past the statues of the Seven, he accidentaly bumps into somebody.

"Oof- sorry about that!"

"Watch where you're going punk!"

Great, he just HAD to bump into a raging deliquent.

"I apologize! I wasn't looking where I was going"

The hooligan slowly started to tower over him. Yuuta sweared that if they were in some cartoon, he would be able to see smoke come out of his nose and ears.

"Listen here punk. I've had the worst day a man can possibly have, so if you don't get your face out of MY face, I swear to the Seven I'm gonna-!"

He abruptly stops his rant and... Starts to sniff the air?

Yuuta just stood there, terrified and confused. What the hell is wrong with this guy? Should he like.. Walk away and act like this never happened?

He tries to sneak away but freezes in his place when the man's bulging eyes land on him.

"You...."

"Me..???"

"You... HAVE THE MOSTRO LOUNGE'S SPECIAL VALENTINE'S DAY COOKIES WITH THE WHITE CHOCOLATE AND STRABERRIES?! IT'S LIKE THREE MONTHS UNTIL VALENTINE'S DAY HOW DID YOU GET THOSE?!?!"

"I.. uh... what?"

Yuuta struggled to understand a single word that came out of his mouth, since he sounded like some crow chihuahua hybrid. Could he even describe that sound? Honestly he had no clue.

Before that psycho can do anything, like an angel sent from the heavens (or from the bottom of the ocean) Floyd comes to the rescue! Or... more like to publicly execute the guy.

"Who do you think you are bothering little Shrimpy like that..?"

Now Floyd was the one towering over the deliquint. Yuuta can just imagine how comical they looked from a third person point of view. The situation just gets more and more ridiculous by the minute.

"Eek! It's Floyd!"

Not looking in front of him, the cowardly hooligan crashes into Yuuta, making him drop the cookies.

"Little fishy got away. Now I really want to squize him.."

"Let it go Floyd, it won't accomplish anything, but thanks for standing up for me"

Glancing behind Floyd, he sees Azul and Jade walking up to them.

"We reported to a teacher about everything. Are you okay, Yuuta?"

"I'm fine... But the cookies aren't, what a waste.."

"Truly a shame. And you worked so hard to make those"

Jade gave him a sympathetic look and a pityful one at the cookies. What to do with them now? I mean, you can't feed them to any animals because of the sugar so..

*Crunch* *Munch* * Munch*

"Floyd! Don't eat them off of the ground!"

Attempt 2# : Wrong breakfast delivery

Yuuta was still a little bumbed out about the incident from 3 days ago, but he wasn't going to give up so easily. His spirit still stays strong! For now...

Finding himself in the kitchen again, he cooks up some pancakes and shapes fruits into hearts. Putting them in a divided lunchbox, he also places a small jar with your favorite spreading along with a little spoon and a little note that said "Would you like to go out some day? Just the two of us ♡" right on top of the jar, making sure everything looked neat. After closing the lid, he quickly leaves through the Octavenelle's mirror.

He finds you sitting at one of the cafetiria's tables with Ace, Deuce and Grim. As Yuuta sits across from you, he pushes the lunchbox your way, focusing on you because the others were too busy arguing about something stupid again.

"Good morning [Name]! I made you breakfast"

"Aww, thanks Yuuta. But I already ate"

"If you're not gonna eat it, I will!"

Before Yuuta could stop Grim, he had already opened the lid and started scarfing down everything like some beast that hasn't eaten in centries. Crumbs and juices were flying everywhere like bullets along with the now forgotten note that pretty much vanished into thin air. Everyone was taking cover to not get dirty, except Yuuta who was wallowing in his despair, not even reacting when some juices splatter on his cheek.

"Grim, slow down! You're gonna choke!"

"I can't help it, Yuuta's cooking is the best!"

"Thanks... Grim..."

From the corner of his eye, Yuuta could see the Octo trio cringing with second hand emberassment, which he couldn't blame them for. He's been in two seperate situations where he had his plan disintegrated right in front of him by some stupid factor.

When the warzone had calmed down, he feels a hand on his shoulder

"Yuuta, when you're available, please come to my office"

~After school hours had ended~

A couple of hours later, Yuuta found himself in Azul's office. He never even noticed how fast time passed, but he needed to listen to what Azul wanted to say.

"Well.. How do i put this gently-"

"Shrimpy, you're killing us here man"

"Huh?"

Yuuta was slightly surprised by Floyd's words, but it wasn't fully unexpected.

"Alright, listen. You've helped us with busines, surprisingly by a lot for such a short amount of time. Therefore, we will set up a date for you two"

Okay now THAT was fully unexpected.

"You would.. really do that?"

"We wouldn't be offering if you didn't raise sells nearly by 9% within a week"

After that, who was Yuuta to reject that offer? Lady luck was with him at the wrong times, but third time is the charm!

Right?

Attempt 3# : Dinner date

Yuuta had invited you to eat out for dinner, just the two of you. He also told you not to tell anyone because he was able to win a VIP spot for two people at the Mostro Lounge and he didn't want the others to get jealous. So you kept your mouth sealed, excited for your little dinner date.

Actualy, you didn't know if this was a date or not, but the thought of you and your crush sharing a romantic dinner together made you blush, just a little. At the moment, you were waitting for Yuuta at the school's well to pick you up. He said that he needed do something for work and that he'll try to finish it as fast as possible.

As you felt the cool breeze hit your skin, you hear footsteps getting louder and louder. Turning to your left, you see Yuuta dressed in a white button-down shirt and a fancy pair of navy blue pants.

"Hi! Sorry that I'm late, got caught up with work"

"Oh, it's okay. At least you took the time to dress nicely. I'm starting to feel underdressed"

"Why would you think that? You look great! Besides, we're not really financhially stable"

"Guess you have a point. Anyway shall we get going?"

"Yes, of course"

You started to walk towards the Octavenelle dorm, chit chatting along the way with how your day went, up coming exams and Yuuta's work. Speaking of which, you haven't seen him much because of it. You were happy for him that he found a job that suited him, but you started to miss him.

Finally arriving at the resturant, you go to the reception to find your designated table. But when you were about to speak, the receptionist perks up when he sees Yuuta and personaly escorts you to the VIP rooms

"This is your room. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be taking my leave"

He leaves you and Yuuta in front of the door with the number 2 on it. Number 1 probably being Azul's office, but number 2 is still pretty high in the ranks AND money, right?

"Yuuta. Just what exactly did you do to win this?"

Yuuta simply laughs at your baffeled expression and opens the door, gesturing you to enter.

"Don't worry about it. Let's just enjoy our dinner"

Stepping into the room, you see a single table with two chairs, underneath a beautiful chandelier adorned with seashells and pearls. As if that wasn't romantic enough, the room was dimly lit and one of the walls was an aquerium of multicoloured fishes with sparkling scales.

While you were still admiring the room, Yuuta had gently held your hand, leading you to your chair, only after pulling out for you. When you sat across from eachother, a waiter came in to give you both menu catalogues and a little device for whenever you needed service.

The waiter exits shortly after writting down your order, leaving you and Yuuta all alone. You two sit for a bit, not sure with what to talk about, since you had previously said everything on your way here. So, to not stay in complete silence, you decided to play a game of "I spot" with the fishes in the aquerium.

But it's been over 45 minutes now and dinner still hasn't been served. Yuuta had secretly sent Azul a mesage about the delay, but he simply replied that there were some technical difficulties in the kitchen.

~Meanwhile in the kitchen~

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THAT THE STOVE IS FLYING?!"

"I DON'T KNOW! THAT SAME PSYCHO WHO WAS SCREAMING ABOUT COOKIES FROM DAYS AGO CAME IN AGAIN AND STARTED THROUGHING RANDOM SPELLS ALL OVER THE PLACE"

Azul's phone was shaking in his hands as he listened to one of his employees explain the situation. Peeking in the kitchen, he sees the mentioned stove flying in circles, as the food danced wildly on the plates. Taking a deep breath, he turns back to his employee.

"Did anyone get hurt?"

"Uhhh... Jade is currently stuck to the ceiling while Floyd is fist fighting with the cookie man"

"SEVENS DAMN IT-"

~Back at the VIP rooms~

Yuuta audibly sighs, he hoped that you didn't hear him, but you had noticed how tense he was ever since you sat down.

"Hey Yuuta, are you okay?"

"Oh, I'm fine. Just a little stressed from work"

"Are you sure that's the only thing bothering you?"

You just have to notice every tiny detail about him, don't you? Yuuta straightens his back, putting his clamy hands together, he finally spits out what he has been hiding.

"I... wanted to confess to you and I wanted to do something special... But anything I had planned never worked out"

He really struggled to say those words, nerves shaking when his voice cracked.

"I've liked you for a while now and I wanted to make this a memrable experience, but I just got a text from Azul that they're having difficulties in the kitchen.."

"Yuuta.. I like you too, but you didn't have to go out of your way to set this whole thing up"

Yuuta just looks at you, calmer from before. A small blush creeping onto his cheeks, listening intently to your words.

"Besides, those dumplings of yours always have me head over heels for you"

"Then, I guess that I'll have to keep making them, haha"

He finally relaxes, cracking a smile while resting his chin in his palm. You couldn't help but do the same, straight up looking like you came from a cheesy romance movie.

The moment was cute while it lasted. Then suddenly, Yuuta gets hit with some mysterious flying sauce that came from the kitchen square in the face.

But he didn't mind it too much, he was too busy paying attention to your laugh.

[toa-archive]

Bellroc Design Path

As per Anon request there's going to be three posts regarding the Arcane Order consisting of any and all concept art we have of them. As ever with these it is far from impossible something else will belatedly turn up. Should this occur (And in this specific case would not be surprised), wherever it is added will have a [/edit xx/xx/xxxx] which includes a date marker. Just makes it easier to find the "new" thing :)

Also per Anon request we're starting with Bellroc! As a fun bonus fact, the voice meandering from masc to femme is both really cool and a Angel of Death from Hellboy reference. Particularly in this climate, we support non-binary they/them wrongs. So let's get to it!

First up is some initial concepts from Yingjue Chen! While this was originally figuring out Nari and thus forest themed, the left most one was repurposed into a fire wizard. Never went any further of course but still very neat to see how just changing some shapes and adding colour make something fresh from old ideas.

Source

Francisco Ruiz Velasco had his own stab at a bunch of wizards which are nigh impossible to pin down if it was for any of the Arcane Trio specifically or not. Still important to include tho :) This one will very understandably appear in all three.

Source goes to Linkedin so may require an account.

Then seemingly all of a sudden Bellroc as we know them pops up, also by Francisco Ruiz Velasco, who would finalise their design. This is a crop from a height chart shown during the Art of Wizards panel and when you compare it to the artwork below (Also from the panel), they do seem to get tightened up considerably.

Now this was uploaded outside the panel as well, which is great as can see it at a decent size, though does lacks one sketch and the specifics of their eyes. It's very possible that someone else drew/painted those though who if that is the case is currently unknown.

Source

The next one to appear is their texture markup by Isaac Orloff! This is an absolute goldmine for your reference needs, particularly all their little details.

Source

Decided to add a trio of bonuses just for fun. You might have noticed the Order pops up in the Wizards credits sequence though unlike Trollhunters and 3Below, it is not Headless Studios. They were drawn in a similar way though! They are by Alison Donato.

Source

Ivan Gozali, who boarded on Wizards, had a bunch of Bellroc sketches on his website which were likely related to boards he may have done that are not public. Sadly, said sketches suddenly vanished one day and to date only one of these has been recovered. This is a good a time as any to show it.

This is also a great excuse to yet again break out Francisco Ruiz Velasco's Order band poster again! In part due to them only appearing in colour keys for RotT otherwise. Well, there's one exception but want to save it for it's own post...

Source goes to Linkedin so may require an account.

Can't forget Bellroc's staff! Presumably it was modeled after Fruiz's design as Alison Donato mentions her texture work here was painted over a blank. Unlike the other two which do have 2D reference art for the design, it's not been seen publicly at this time.

Source

On the more magical front there is a tiny screenshot from the Art of Wizards panel which shows the magic effects for Bellroc. It is unknown who the right two images belong to however -

We do have a bigger version of the left image which we know is by Yingjue Chen! Aren't effects neat?

Source

[/Edit 13/02/2025] The following was missed due to no obvious note of what it is on the original tweet this version is from and it's being added in now. This is the spell effect combining Bellroc, Skrael and the Green Knight's power into a single shot! It is by Isaac Orloff.

Source

Poking Rise of the Titans a moment, thanks to Andy Murray we have the glow up eye effect for Bellroc. This has been cropped from a larger image for fitting this post reasons only. Have to scroll back up for the Wizards version!

Source

And for fun since we also have it, this is the Arcane Circle for Bellroc which is shown on the Fire Titan including the Genesis Seal marker. As above it has been cropped for fitting this post reasons only. This time they are by Sean Wang.

Source

To close up a fun little tidbit! Thanks to Bianca Siercke we have the temporary name for Bellroc before they became, well, Bellroc. It was Belrog!

Source

When all three posts are up there will be a link here to the other two members. For now it is a placeholder:

Bellroc - Nari - Skrael

[clanwarrior-tumbly]

Could I request a reader who has an espathra. Espathra is from Reader's grandma who used to be a model and singer. Espathra is walks like a diva but is an absolute sweetheart. Reader joined the academy as a student and told the trio (Arven, Nemona and Penny) the reason why I joined the academy was because I never liked those private schools as I was always bored and hated dealing with the others as the students tend to annoy reader or be mean.

Arven

Tbh when he first saw your Espathra strutting down the streets of Mesagoza, he rolled his eyes.

He's well aware of how sassy and aggressive wild ones can be, but he assumes that even those tamed by trainers aren't any different (and sometimes a Pokémon's personality can rub off on them, too).

Once he gets to really know you both, though, he quickly realizes how friendly your Espathra is around people--even Mabosstiff.

Ofc they're still sassy, although they don't have a single mean bone in their body and don't try to reach across the table to steal his sandwich ingredients.

During lunch, you share how they once belonged to your grandma--who used to be a famous model and singer until she retired, deciding to leave her treasured partner in your care.

Arven never watched much TV growing up, so he never saw her performances. He just shrugs and says "that's kinda cool, little buddy."

But he grows concerned when a random kid intrudes on your picnic, asking about your grandma and wanting to pet the Espathra.

Suddenly the psychic type makes them shut up by immobilizing them on the spot....as he sits there wondering why tf you allowed them to do that.

You explain that's exactly why you transferred schools--specifically from a private one in another region to the Academy here in Paldea.

The students there kept bugging you, asking for your grandma's autograph and getting angry when you refused to take something they wanted her to sign or deliver fan mail as though you're some messenger Noctowl.

In short, they only ever talked to you if they wanted to contact her...and that made you feel quite bored and lonely, never gaining any real friends.

Luckily, Arven was already your friend long before he knew any of this.

He can definitely empathize with people constantly bothering him because of his connection to his "famous" parents.

Nemona

Not only has she obsessively watched the gym leaders' battles on TV, she also followed each of their social media accounts for years.

And on Tulip's page, she discovers that both her and your grandma did a collab for a new makeup brand inspired by their Espathras.

At the time, she didn't know you at all, but after hearing your last name and seeing your main partner Pokémon--she pulls you aside after class, eyes sparkling.

"So [y/n]..you're related to THE-?"

"Yes." You brush her hand off your shoulder, already knowing where this was going. "If you want an autograph, go to her retirement home and ask for her. I'm not your messenger."

You storm off, your Espathra giving Nemona a soft apologetic look, before they follow you, hair swishing gracefully.

However being the stubborn girl that she is....she eventually catches up to you, huffing and puffing and apologizing endlessly.

All she wanted was a simple battle with your Espathra (she almost called it your grandma's Espathra but quickly corrected herself--something you appreciated her doing).

It takes you by surprise, but you listen to her wishes and end up defeating her final Pokémon with a brilliant Lumina Crash that lit up the night sky.

After the battle's won, you explain that her attitude when you first met reminded you of the kids who bothered you back at your old school--which became the reason you transferred to Paldea to begin with.

You found her annoying.

Now? She was slightly less annoying since she genuinely wanted to befriend you, and not because you're related to a retired celebrity.

Penny

Team Star's had their fair share of feisty Flittles invading their outposts, always having to chase them out or risk being attacked just for gathering berries for their Pokémon.

Arceus forbid an outbreak of Flittle ever happened...

Because of that, Penny's always been skeptical around that evolution line, convinced that most Espathras are hostile.

The ones down in Area Zero's caverns especially made her nervous.

However, yours is a special case as they showed no aggression towards her, Arven, or Nemona.

You really owe it all to your grandma, mentioning how your Espathra used to be her partner in concerts and modeling for magazines.

They enjoyed being by her side and were content with retiring to Paldea after she ended her career on a high note.

She always talked about how they've adored singing since they were a little Flittle, and that they inspired her to keep going whenever she felt overwhelmed by the paparazzi and self-doubt.

How you wish you had her confidence at the private school you used to attend...but it became too much to handle after so many kids annoyed you simply because you're related to her.

You begged to be transferred out of there--for your sanity and for Espathra's, too.

After telling Penny all these stories, she definitely sees a different side to the Flittle line now, realizing that maybe not all of them are aggressive sassy berry thieves.

But when a grunt comes over (only overhearing that you're related to somebody they used to watch on TV all the time), Espathra just immobilizes them on the spot.

It frightens Penny, but the ostrich just smiles calmly at her.

You laugh and pet their beak, reassuring her it's nothing to be scared of--that kid simply won't remember ever asking you for your grandma's autograph.

From there on, she sends a message to all of Team Star not to make the same mistake that grunt did.

[sanderssidesthehouse]

Ace's All Time Best Fic Rec List March 2025: Sanders Sides

I'm just going to borrow the format I've been using for the other fandoms I rec fics in. These are just fics I really liked and want other people to read. I didn't start taking note of them when I started reading so I might have missed some. If a fic isn't on here it doesn't mean that I don't like it, and please feel free to rec me fics!

One thing to note is that the way I tend to read fics is to pic a tag or relationship or character etc. and filter by date posted, ascending on ao3 so I start at the beginning and work my way to more recent fics and then obviously any on Tumblr I simply read if they manage to find me. Tumblr search is not fantastic. That is to say, most of the fics currently on my list are going to be older. Also if the rating is M or higher, I have that listed in my little description of it so you'll know before clicking.

Also, also! I tried to only have one or two from the same author so there are likely other works by the people who wrote these that I liked but didn't list, I just didn't want this to be three miles long, yk?

And last little blurb, I try to do these once or twice a year with different fics on each list, but I always use the aatbfrl tag so you'll be able to search my blog for them.

Without further ado: The list!

Btw, there's no specific link I'm adding to this entry other than to the blog, but if you somehow haven't seen @illogicallyinclined's hockey AU I need you to get out from under the rock you've been calling shelter, and I mean this with all of the love in my heart.

Lie With Me- Both Janus and Patton need therapy. If you want to actively be dealt psychic damage, this is a good one.

Bad Idea- Roman and Janus are fwb and aren't supposed to catch feelings. Well guess what? Rated M for iMplied sexual content.

No Need To Knock- Roman reaches out a hand and Virgil takes it. Very sweet besties moment.

Florida Man Cannot Be Contained- "Contrary to popular belief, Remus is not the menace of the friend group. It's Patton." Author is correct.

Friendly Neighborhood Criminals- Patton gets adopted into a trio of criminals who took one look at his life and said 'You live like this? Well we can't in good conscience rob you now.' and decided to make him their pet project. (WIP)

once you're in the hive, the other bees assume you're supposed to be there- "Virgil accidentally gets absorbed by his best friend's brother's polycule." That's the official tag line and what more do you need, really? (WIP)

Love is a Beach- Moceit fake dating your ex that you're still in love with bc you didn't tell your friends you broke up yet and you're all going on a trip together. This could not possibly go wrong in any way. (WIP)

Clutters of Creativity- Roman clutters (the speech disorder) and this is how I learned that I too clutter which alone makes it worth sharing, but this is also cute as hell. Remus and Logan are v supportive.

Snap- Roman angst hurt/comfort Roceit&creativitwins we don't have to talk about how much I related to this one, but if you want to have a good cry, this one's for you.

The Only One that Knows- A lot of trigger warnings, but Logan is a scientist at a shady organization that burned down and the experiment he was managing starts acting up in his home. I think about this all the time, just the way it's written it's soooo good. Rewired my brain. Rated M for Mlots of gore/blood/body horror and Mental health problems and Major character death.

i picture it, soft, and i ache- Janus falls in love with Patton and has a time about it. And then he has a different time about it. V cute with just the right amount of angst.

Silence- Selectively mute Logan and extremely anxious Virgil work through some stuff and it's cute or whatevah. And maybe I relate a little too much but it's fine, don't worry about it.

Cracks in the Ceiling- Logan helps Virgil and they're just besties and I love them.

Mission Status: Sick!- Inspired by the hockey AU, I'm just going to copy paste the tagline bc I think you'll understand. "'It's a good thing that my homosexuality is stronger than my pride', Virgil thought as he opened a capri sun and violently squeezed it onto his sheets." Analogical.

glow like a fireflower- Deceit is a dork. Roman is... also a dork. They're dramatic and silly and working through some stuff and Remus has to hear about it but he gives great advice (lie).

Noi Abbiamo Un Problema- LAMP soulmates with a side of dukeceit. Virgil is the last to join the group but they seem to be expecting a fifth... who is also Virgil. They're a little dense and Virgil is anxious and Remus and Janus are real ones. I love Virgil's mom.

like copper and gold- Rated E for explicit sex and a lot of it. I fucking bawled dude. This fic tore my heart out and then put it back in ever so gently. More of Deceit making bad decisions. roloceit.

The Gold of Your Heart- Look, I read this whole thing a while ago and I still think about it so I feel like it's worth adding to the list. Deceit's name is Tony. A bunch of OC sides and headcanons in here but they're very fun and interesting. 200k+ Roceit slow burn.

Distant Stars Clearly Shining- Prinxiety sci-fi AU featuring smut it's a 10k one shot with significant plot and world building.

Eustress and How to Manage It- Ok, so they're dorks. Prinxiety being adorable dorks. So fluffy. (There's a spicy sequel out there too.)

Help In Unlikely Ways- My boy Janus is just doing his best oml. He's bad at it.

I'm In Love With A Fairytale- Look, it's 117k. And it's fun. Well I mean it's really angsty, but that's fun for me. It takes place in the imagination. Look at it. Rated M for violence.

Hurt, And How We Grow Past It.- I remember reading this when it first came out. Just a little Janus angst as a treat.

[championoftheoppressed]

Please Watch My Adventures with Superman

This show is just so delightful and manages to capture the essence of Superman in a way a lot of adaptations just don't quite get. If you've ever been curious about Superman, if you've ever felt Superman is too boring for you, or you just enjoy a fun superhero story, I highly recommend checking this series out.

The first season has ten episodes, and the second season has just aired its third episode. In the US, it's available on Adult Swim and Max.

What It's About

If you aren't familiar with Superman, he's an alien -- the last survivor of planet Krypton, sent to Earth as an infant where he was found and raised as Clark Kent. Being an alien, he has extraordinary powers which he uses to lead a double life as a hero. This show focuses on a core trio of Clark, his girlfriend Lois, and their friend Jimmy, all of whom work at the Daily Planet newspaper.

Clark Kent / Superman

One of the main reasons this show works is it understands that Clark is Clark, first and foremost, and Superman is his disguise. Clark is a big friendly nerd. He's a huge sweetheart who cares so deeply about the people around him and the planet that adopted him.

This version of Clark is starting out very young (early 20s), so a lot of this story is about him just figuring things out. He's gradually learning the truth about his origins, the extent of his powers, and how best to be a hero -- all while grappling with the fact that he isn't human and his people of origin may in fact be a massive threat to Earth.

Clark is voiced by Jack Quaid, which you might not expect to work well, but he honestly nails it.

Lois Lane

Lois is loud. She's ambitious. She's intelligent and quick-witted. She doesn't take no for an answer. She has jumped off a building to prove her point -- twice. She is an unstoppable force of nature, and this show refuses to dumb any of those traits down.

But above all, she's kind. She wants to use everything she can do to help people. Her relationship with Clark is also everything you could ever want from a Clois dynamic.

This version of Lois is Korean-American, and voiced by Alice Lee, who does a phenomenal job.

Jimmy Olsen

Jimmy is Clark's best friend and roommate. This version portrays him as a supernatural/paranormal vlogger, running a web series called Flamebird. He's easily excitable, very passionate, as well as one of the most dedicated friends you could ask for.

Following in the footsteps of several previous iterations of the character, this version of Jimmy is African-America. He's voiced by Ishmael Sahid, who's just perfect in the part.

Why It's Great

The characters are all fun and interesting in their own right, while also having a great dynamic with each other -- as duos and as a full trio. And because the characters are shown as being very young and just starting out, they're very relatable. Additionally, every character feels very true to the spirit of their comics counterpart, despite taking a lot of liberties with the specifics.

There's a great cast of villains so far -- Livewire, Task Force X, Mxyzptlk, Parasite, Silver Banshee, and plenty of others that I don't want to spoil. They've also been teasing some really interesting stuff for the Kryptonians, which is noticeably different from any previous adaptations I'm familiar with.

The show is very anime-inspired, giving it a distinct flavor from other Superman adaptations. The creators are clearly having a ton of fun with it. Classic Superman villain Mxyzptlk, who's typically shown as an imp, now looks like he just walked out of a Dragon Ball episode, in an episode called "Kiss Kiss Fall In Portal."

It's also the same animation studio as The Legend of Korra and Voltron: Legendary Defender, who do excellent work. The character designs are unique while still fitting the characters perfectly. I particular love Clark and Superman's designs -- they've struck a balance between making sure he's big and muscular while also retaining a certain softness to his appearance. The fight scenes are fluid and dynamic. It all just works.

[animeyanderelover]

Please may I have Yandere! Harry Potter and Hermione and Ron Weasley and they all share the same darling headcanons and how they reacted and all behaved when Draco flirted with their darling on purpose...knowing full well that darling belonged to the Yanderes..darling sensed danger and basically told Draco to stop before he did something that he would regret and obviously Draco didn't listen and it was starting to make their darling uncomfortable..their darling didn't like Draco whatsoever and darling sent the yanderes slient pleas for help. It is Platonic because the golden trio and Draco are in third year in Hogwarts..it isn't romantic yet at all.

Tw: Yandere themes, possessive behavior, obsession, delusional behavior, clinginess, manipulation, threats

Flirting gone wrong

Of course it had to be Draco who had to do this to you. You aren't exactly surprised by his actions as he has a personal vendetta against the Potter boy and everyone who associates themselves with him. So it comes to no surprise that you are very high on his list as you are exceptionally close not only to Harry but also to his best friends Ron and Hermione. After all the four of you have been going through thick and thin ever since your first year in Hogwarts and you all also are part of Gryffindor. It isn't really a secret that you mean a lot to the trio either, pretty much everyone knows that they are attached to your hips, especially Ron and Harry. Hermione tries not to be as clingy as the boys as she is the only one who I can call with confidence lucid about the growing obsession she and her friends are going through the more time passes on as she is also essentially the one who tells Ron and Harry to tone it down since she doesn't want people to find out. Harry already is cause enough for attention.

Ron and Harry also tend to get quickly jealous, although for different reasons. Ron gets quickly jealous out of insecurity as he is clumsy and also has a lot of older brothers who are great whilst Harry tends to be more possessive due to his background as the Dursleys essentially isolated him and never allowed him to have any friends. Maybe he is a bit selfish and a part of him actually knows that but he is too deceived by his own obsession to give this too much thought. Hermione is the brain who basically does her best to keep the two boys in check from being too clingy but she is due to her awareness also the strictest one of the bunch. Ron is the complete opposite as he is very delusional and clingy. He is low-key a worshipper who can't see you doing anything wrong and despises seeing you sad which causes him to try to do anything to make you smile again. Harry is possessive and also very protective because as popular as he is, he has learnt that there are a lot of people who want him dead and he knows that you may also get dragged into it.

They have been aware of Draco tormenting you for a while now as you never see any reason to keep a secret from them. Also there is the fact that all three of them usually always are with you, such as Harry or Ron who are clingy, or at least watch you silently from afar, such as Hermione who at least tries to give you some privacy. So normally there is always at least one of the three who has an eye on you, they literally agreed to this without your knowledge. For all three of them to be away, they must have been quite busy with something, mostly related to schoolwork. When all three notice that no one is watching you, Ron and Harry are the first ones who start running to find you whilst Hermione is chasing after them in futile hopes that they can be at least a bit more discreet. They're not. When the two boys finally find you, there is no time to feel relief though as their blood starts boiling when they see Malfoy doing what he does best by making someone, you, uncomfortable.+

When the blond bastard spots the three sorcerers, he gives them a disgustingly smug grin whilst continuing to flirt with you and even touching you a bit, his eyes darting constantly back to Harry, Hermione and Ron to further provoke them. Ron's head turns red with anger, Harry clenches his jaw and his fists whilst glaring darkly at Draco whilst Hermione, next to also glaring at the Slytherin, can't help but also glance worriedly over to you. It is Ron who is the first one to storm towards Malfoy as his emotions get the better of him, as they do often around you, his face redder than his hair. As soon as he stands in front of Malfoy, he pushes him away from you before grabbing you and pulling you behind him. He hasn't thought much about what to do as his first instinct was getting Malfoy away from you but Harry and Hermione aren't far behind him as they also join Ron. Harry even has his wand in his hand as he just continues glaring at Malfoy whilst the blond boy just gives him a taunting grin.

There is tension and Hermione knows that as her eyes go back and forth betwee you, her friends and Malfoy. She wouldn't put it beneath Draco to provoke a fight and she definitely knows that Harry and a bit later also Ron would fall for it but everyone would get in troubles if this were to happen. She doesn't want you to get into unnecessary troubles for something that isn't even your fault and she knows that neither Ron nor Harry want that either. So she is the one actively attempting to de-escalate the situation and to get you away from the scene whilst Harry and Draco are verbally insulting each other, Draco with a hint of arrogance and Harry with growing anger as the Slytherin knows that he merely has to speak about you to trigger Harry. Ron, who also feels the tension and is feeling a tad bit nervous, still joins Harry in his insults towards the blond boy. Even Hermione won't hold back with passive-aggressive comments if Draco should grace her with his attention.

All of them feel flattered the moment you start defending them if Draco were to insult any of your friends, although Hermione will still scold you lightly later on for only prolonging the argument and further allowing Malfoy to get under everyone's skin. The situation is dismissed when a professor appears who has been hearing the arguing voices, especially since Ron, Harry and you have gotten louder as your nerves got the better of all of you. The moment they are told to leave, Harry gives Draco one last glare before he grabs your hand and drags you away from the other boy as fast as possible. His hand is squeezing yours in an attempt to comfort you as well as himself. Ron is right beside you, hastily questioning you if you're feeling fine and if that Malfoy did anything to you. Hermione is right behind you, telling Ron to ask you one question at a time and to let you answer whilst occasionally looking back to make sure that none of Draco's friends are following you around.

They all do their best from that day on to spend more time with you so that Malfoy never gets the chance again to catch you all by yourself. The boys are even dedicated enough to accompany you to the toilet. It is safe to say that Malfoy is receiving constant glares from Harry and Ron from that day on. Hermione tries to ignore him but she can't suppress the occasional cold glare either before going back to ignoring him and she advices you to do the same as attention will only fuel Draco's inflated ego. Harry and Ron are obviously not listening to her though. Especially Harry is very likely to approach Draco when he is alone to warn him to stay away from you. He's acting like a coward by approaching you instead of facing him straight away. The next time he tries something like this, Harry will use his wand.

[xcherricutie]

🥀 other friends 🥀

[Lucifer Morningstar x Reader]

[Part One] [Part Two] [Part Three] [Part Four]

[Word Count - 2.5k]

[Tags: Angst, songfic, canon typical violence]

[Notes: This was a bit more difficult to write than drift away, action scenes aren't really my forte. Also, there are mentions of Adam becoming a demon, its a bit of setup for a potential one shot relating to this series soon. I think it'd be fun to do a little series of Steven Universe song one shots within the canon these one shots have set up. Not promising anything, but it would be fun to try]

“The Hazbin Hotel is now officially open! Come stay with us for a chance to have your soul redeemed, and earn your place in Heaven!” 

The video flickered ever so slightly, the television displaying the image of Charlie Morningstar, princess of Hell, for both angels and demons alike to see. As the video played, Charlie giving more details about her hotel, a trio of angels looked on, the seraphims keeping their eyes glued on the ancient angel before them. You. 

Upon finding your near lifeless body standing in the abandoned Garden of Eden, Sera and Emily quickly took you into their care. You could hardly pay them any mind since Sera had told you of Lucifer’s fate, of the curse he had put on himself. He had become the Devil, the sin of pride. He had cheated on you and left you for Lilith, who he soon had a child with. The girl on the screen before you happened to be said child. The very personification of Lucifer’s betrayal. 

Your blood boiled at the sight. You had demanded information from Sera, someone you had once considered a friend. You knew she was innocent in all of this, but you could not help your anger at the fact that not only had she let Charlie into Heaven, but was working with her to redeem the sinners that Lucifer had been the cause of in the first place. He was the reason sin and chaos existed in humanity in the first place. You were mad that things had spiraled to this point, you were mad that this was apparently how the story ended. 

No. You wouldn’t have it this way. If you had known just how good Lucifer was having it now after what he did to you, you would have rather stayed ignorant of everything. Perhaps even rather let the garden claim your body, than be here, in this horrible reality. But you were here, and now, you were going to change the ending of this story. You intended to have your happy ending, at any price. 

A soft hum filled the long, glowing halls of the Hazbin Hotel, the sounds of shoes tapping with each step accompanying the hum. With a twirl of his staff, and an adjustment of his top hat, the man entered the grand entrance hall of the lobby, where everyone, including his daughter, waited. His heels clicking as he came to a stop, Lucifer stood atop the steps, looking down at everyone with a smile, his daughter catching his attention right away. 

“Dad! There you are!” Charlie exclaimed, running up the steps. Lucifer raised a brow in confusion, meeting her halfway as he walked down the steps. 

“Charlie? What’s the matter?” Lucifer asked, curious. Surely, their newest resident hadn’t already started causing trouble, right? Lucifer knew the man would be uncomfortable here, but surely Adam wasn’t jumping straight into causing chaos, hopefully. 

Charlie grabbed her father by the wrist, dragging him down the stairs, towards the small crowd of people standing in the doorway. Lucifer immediately noted the uncomfortable, even downright fearful look in their faces, even Adam seemingly upset, or at the very least, startled. His attention was whipped to whatever had caused their discomfort, his eyes widening at the sight. 

“Tears in the sky are appearing all over, and they’re clearly from Heaven,” Charlie spoke, pointing up at the rip that had begun to appear over the hotel, the golden outline of the tear drawing attention. More rips and tears dotted the skies of Hell, all across the pride ring. A soft, white light shone from inside, though nothing else seemed to come through. 

“I thought Heaven agreed to back off, I-I don’t understand,” Charlie grabbed her hair by the roots, pulling tightly. She felt the calming hand of her girlfriend, Vaggie, on her shoulder, but it did little to soothe her anxiety. 

Vaggie huffed, glaring up at the sky, clenching her angelic spear tightly in her other hand. “Well, you know how Heaven can be. They might’ve decided they’re too good for us.” 

But that didn’t seem right. Not to Lucifer at least. He knew Sera. Even if she had intended to betray them, she would’ve gone about it in a more subtle way. This seemed far more... personal. Almost as if they wanted to be seen, to catch the attention of something. Lucifer tried to piece together just what was going on, and just what he should do about it. 

His eyes widened as he noticed the rip just above the hotel widen, and something, someone, coming through. The hair on his neck suddenly stood on end, the light masking the angel, hiding their face and casting a large silhouette over the hotel. 

“Hey!” A loud, booming voice suddenly yelled, Lucifer nearly jumping in his skin. He could clearly see the ethereal glow of their eyes, and the snarl that pulled on their lips. “Are you Charlotte Morningstar?” 

“Um...” Charlie sweat nervously, putting on her best friendly smile, silently begging that maybe they were a friendly angel. But she knew that wasn’t the case, not if this was their entrance. “Yes?” 

Their lips curled upward into a smirk, grinning down at her. “Perfect.” 

Their wings curled into their back, disappearing in a burst of golden magic. Dropping to the ground, they landed just before the hotel with a loud thud, bright blue eyes turning up to look at them, crinkling at the edges as they grinned maniacally. You finally made it into Hell. 

Letting out a sinister chuckle, you stood up straight, nearly bursting at the seams with excitement. “Well, well, well, well, well! Let me get a look at the menagerie!” 

Your eyes, glowing almost ominously, roved over the group before you. Each and every person, you studied meticulously, you knew exactly which ones were of no concern, which one would stand up for the hotel, which ones you would kill. 

“You must Vaggie,” Your eyes landed on the fallen angel, watching as she visibly flinched at the sound of her name coming from your mouth. You moved onto the next one, smirking. “You must be Alastor,” 

Alastor’s eyes narrowed at you, curiosity and even a hint of worry eating at him. Something didn’t seem right about any of this. This wasn’t like the other angelic attacks, no, this seemed far more malicious. He didn’t fail to notice the horror written plainly across the Demon King’s face either, especially as your eyes finally landed on him. Lucifer. 

“And Lucifer, the King of Hell, wow! She keeps you here, isn’t that just swell?” You rolled your eyes in annoyance, your grin ever present as you tensed. You knew Lucifer was in and out of the hotel, but you had hoped to catch Charlie in a moment of vulnerability. Not that it mattered in the end, they were all going to suffer the same fate. You’d already decided how this would end. 

“I-It can’t be...” Lucifer stuttered, nearly stumbling backward, his heart thudding in his chest, drumming loudly in his ears. You let out a string of laughter, your eyes watering at the sight of his trembling frame. This was all so perfect. 

“Oh, but it can be. And it is!” You ran your fingers through your hair, watching as Lucifer’s fearful gaze was drawn to the charcoal color of your hands, as if you had been burnt, the off coloration seeping down your arms, into your skin. Purple lines streaked through your arms, your fingers more resembling claws than hands now. “I got a new style, and a few new toys that are gonna put an end to your happily ever after, once and for all!” 

“Woah, woah!” Charlie jumped to the front, holding her hands out defensively. “This has gotta be a misunderstanding! In case you haven’t heard, I’ve established peace with the Heavens—” 

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I’ve heard,” You snapped, glaring at Charlie, who flinched. You clenched your fist, raising it as you glanced at it, before smirking at Charlie. “I’ve had your little message to the Heavens, on loop!” 

A ball of light formed in your hand, your grin stretching across your face as you threw it Charlie. The demon’s eyes widened, letting out a startled cry as it hit her square in the chest, skidding across the grass, tripping on the steps of the hotel entrance. Lucifer was immediately at her side, checking her for injuries, shooting you a dark glare. You giggled, however, your grin leaning on maniacal as your eyes glowed. 

“I just love that part, where Lucifer spends the rest of his days in this nowhere realm, with a bunch of nobodies!” 

Something in you finally snapped, rushing at Charlie. She let out a startled scream as you grabbed her by her ankles, yanking her out of Lucifer’s caring hold, standing her up straight as you danced around with her, flinging her left and right. 

“That’s right, I heard the story over and over again,” You sung cheerfully, spinning Charlie out of your grip, turning your anger on Vaggie as she flew at you, spear pointed to your heart. 

Grabbing the spear handle, the tip just barely pressing into your chest, you flung Vaggie, giggling all the while. “Gee, it’s swell to finally meet his other friends!” 

You watched as the cat demon, Husk, tried to attack, a pitiful attempt in your opinion. You grabbed him by his wings, pulling him up and pulling his feet out from under him, dropping him on the ground. “That’s right, I heard the story, don’t really like how it ends!” 

A tall, spider-like demon, Angel Dust, rushed to Husk’s rescue, yelling as he barreled towards you. You grinned as you sidestepped him, watching as he tripped over Husk. “Gee, it’s swell to finally meet his other friends!” 

Your attention zoned back in on Charlie, who was still trying to gather her wits. Grabbing her by her wrists, your pair of wings flapped behind you as you flew into the air. Charlie cried out in alarm as you tossed her upward, grabbing her by her ankles and dangling her around. “What did he say about me, what did he say?” 

Dropping Charlie, she landed with a thud as you whipped over to Vaggie, grabbing her by her waist and spinning round and round. “What did you do without me, what did you do~?” 

Throwing Vaggie, you turned your attention to the demon who had been narrowly managing to avoid you, Alastor. You grabbed him just before he could melt into the shadows, pulling him up off the ground as you held him by his waist, looking up at him with big, deceivingly innocent eyes. “Did you play games without me? What did you play?” 

Releasing him just before he could retaliate, your wings flapped as you dodged each oncoming attack with ease, gliding towards your true victim. “Did you think all this time that I wouldn’t find out about you!?” 

Your wings spread out, your blue eyes glowing as you floated just before the Devil himself, grinning madly, as if excited. Lucifer flinched under your cold gaze, completely frozen in place. However, he found himself being ripped from his place as silky golden ribbons poured from your hands, wrapping around Lucifer, around each and every sinner and demon. With a flap of your wings, you yanked the ribbons, pulling them together as they smashed into one another. 

“Oh, that’s right I heard the story over and over again, gee it’s swell to finally meet his other friends...” You landed on the roof of the hotel entrance, giggling at the sight of the demons before you scrambling to get their bearings. 

“She’s running circles around us!” Husk hissed, clawed hand running through the fur on his head. Angel scoffed, sitting up as he rubbed his pained arms. 

“I’m rusty, give me a break!” He grumbled, pushing himself up. 

As everyone stood up, one demon remained, stuck on the ground. It felt as though the whole world was spinning, threatening to uproot everything good in his life. Karma certainly was a bitch. “I-It really is her. But she can’t be serious...” 

“You know her, dad!? Can you tell us who she is?” Charlie asked, looking to her father with worry. She had never seen him look so utterly terrified. 

Charlie’s words made the thin thread of patience within you snap. You grit your teeth, blood boiling, your skin burning, your hands aching, aching to squeeze the life out of them. “Who am I!? Who am I? What are you even saying!?” 

You stomped down toward the edge, your shadow casting over them in the glowing lights of the hotel. “I’m the loser of the game you didn’t know you were playing!” 

But this was different. This time, you wouldn’t lose. Your lips twitched, curling into a shaky smirk, nerves fried and emotions haywire. “Let’s play another game! This time, I’ve got to win!” 

A burst of light from your palm startled Lucifer, the light turning into a long staff, almost electrifying. A blade formed at the top in the shape of a scythe, the glow of your angelic power combined with the ominous glow of your eyes offputting. 

“Lives on the line, winner takes all, ready or not, let’s begin!” 

With a flap of your wings, you flew at the demons, watching as they jumped to dodge you. You let out a burst of laughter, slamming your foot into the gut of one of the demons, flinging them across the hotel yard. Another demon jumped at you, the handle of your scythe smashing into them, knocking them into the others. 

“Oh, that’s right, I heard the story over and over again, gee it’s swell to finally beat his other friends!” You sang happily, grabbing the arm of Vaggie and throwing her just before she could attempt an attack. Vaggie cried out as she crashed into the ground, battered and bruised. 

“Oh, that’s right, I heard the story, don’t really like how it ends!” 

You shoved demons aside, throwing them around, all the while Lucifer could only watch. He could only watch as you terrorized his friends, and you were reveling in it. The tables had finally turned, and now, he was playing your game. 

“Gee, it’s swell to finally beat his other,” You flew around, dodging demons, zoning in on one demon in particular. This was it. “Other...” 

“Other friends!” 

Your scythe sliced clean through Charlie’s waist, the angelic weapon leaving a trail of gold through her body. Charlie’s eyes widened, a silent scream stuck in her throat, her vision blotting and clouding. The last thing she saw was the horror in her father’s eyes as he stood before her, completely frozen, unable to move. 

Charlie collapsed to the ground, the golden trail healing like a scar, almost as if it hadn’t cut through her at all. You giggled as Vaggie rushed to Charlie’s side, the other demons shortly behind her as they checked to make sure she was still alive. Your eyes remained on Lucifer, his body deathly still, as if he weren’t even breathing. He wasn’t. Because he knew exactly what you’d done. 

“Don’t worry, Luci,” You called out, a wicked grin spread across your face, as if knowing exactly what was going through his mind. “I didn’t kill her. I simply hit her with my divine light. I do wonder what would happen to a half demon being filled with angelic light...” 

You had already won.

[bayetea]

being a son trio stan is an odd experience sometimes because every now and then I'll make a post about or relating to them that breaches containment and gets 600+ notes and without fail there'll be a comment or a tag to the effect of "god hazel is so underrated! we need more frank appreciation! I miss the son trio! I never see any frazel stuff on here!" and I do agree with that but in the back of my mind I'm wondering if those people understand the kind of platform that tumblr is. it's nobody's job to gaf about frank/hazel/frazel and I totally get why people might not care about them but if you do care and you are actually interested then you need to be proactive and seek out that content. you need to follow blogs that post about them a lot. I'll admit that there's only like 5 of us in 2025 but active son of neptune appreciators do exist and if you don't look for that stuff then you aren't going to see anything about them

for example the other day I was like “huh I like nico I don't feel like I see a lot of nico stuff” so I looked for and followed some nico blogs. it really is that simple. so I don't understand how people exist in fandom bubbles and complain about how they never see [x] kind of content whilst making no effort to perforate that bubble. yes frank and hazel and frazel are underacknowledged by the fandom + by canon itself but in the nicest way possible I think sometimes your insulation is just your own fault. I see stuff for them everyday because I follow blogs that post about them and I post them myself lol

if I'm being super cynical I'd say that the interest people express in them is shallow at best or performative at worst - because it's admittedly annoying to see people say things like "we need to talk about frank more!" and then (no one posts about frank). again it's no one's job to uplift him or any other character/ship but if you aren't going to talk about him or look for people who do then why even say that at all lol

[eddsboxofdisectiontools]

The Eds are just autism case studies in their own right because they all clash with each other in terms of personality but they looooove each other so much because they subconsciously have clocked each other to be "one of them" (undiagnosed autistic) and people of similar neurotypes tend to bond easier and faster with each other, even without diagnosis. I just thought this was cool even though it's mostly headcanon...

I say mostly because, well. Ed is canonly ND.

It can also go that way if you consider their household situations! If you aren't a big fan of the autism trio headcanon, I think it could go well with their canonical situations. Obviously it's no secret that the "boys" (none of them are boys/SILLY) all come from different types of dysfunctional households. I know that they probably bonded over their name similarities at first, but I think the reason they're so linked together is that psychological desire for people with similar experiences to link emotionally with each other. It's the same exact reason autistic people tend to be friends with each other. That inherent understanding is so key to people and their relationships, and the best friendships come out of relationships like that. Easier to bond emotionally, which tends to lead to tighter bonds. Although they experience different types of dysfunction in the households they're in, they can understand each other clearly when it comes to impact. Bad house? Bad brain. They're all "bad brain"ed. They know that. What do they do? They bond! It's a good way to cope actually.

Of course this also extends outwards to the other Culdesac kids. They have a bit of a distaste towards the trio. Obviously, it's warrented. Eddy was horrible pre BPS LOL. But the reason that the other two can empathize with it and the Culdesac kids just think "oh he's a POS" is simply because they can't relate. They don't know the signs because they weren't there to experience the signs. When Eddy explained it in BPS it's not really surprising that everyone forgave Eddy for all of his BS immediately because he explained the signs for them and it clicked. "Oh, wait, he didn't know any better, he was just trying to impress his big brother!".

They were outcasts mostly because something, whether you believe autism or their canon household problems, caused them to act in a way that is only seen in children with those experiences, which caused the Culdesac kids to ostracize them out of an inability to empathize or understand their situations and why they act the way they do.

Im sure somebody has already done this analysis (looks at Boo.) but I love to rant and it came up a while ago in my head so I figured as soon as I got on Tumblr I'd post about it. Case studies is a weird little thing I do for my own amusement and education and I do it all the time with every show I watch, but I feel like this particular instance of show characters demonstrating natural social gravitation to people of similar experience is extremely well done despite not having been a focus, or even a thought at all. You see it so much and BPS really wraps that around. These guys are amazing I'd draw them more if I wasn't so strict about my education LOL I'll do some stuff over break. Because these kids... I need to peck at their brains I need to dissect them ouF/silly

[ask-train-trio]

~.~.~𝐀𝐒𝐊 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐎 ~.~.~

INTRODUCTION MASTERPOST!!!!!

(ᴛʜᴇʀᴇ ɪs ɴᴏ ᴀᴜᴅɪᴏ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴠɪᴅᴇᴏ, ɪᴛ ᴡᴀs sᴜᴘᴘᴏsᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ ᴀ ɢɪꜰ ʙᴜᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ꜰɪʟᴇ ᴡᴀs ᴛᴏᴏ ʙɪɢ ᴏᴏᴘs)

This is an askblog for @lunozapp 's Indigo Park OCs! This post contains everything you need to know about this ask blog/AU and its characters! Context, boundaries, references etc. Asks are contextualised a little differently here, so check the blog description for the tl;dr on the context.

Check out issue 1 here!

CONTEXT:

This is DappleTilez24, also known as Tilez. He's a relatively small streamer in his universe's indigo park community, and is known for tirelessly completeing run after run, trying to beat his personal records (with.... varying sucess).

One day, he tries to speedrun a build of the game that he's never seen before...

...and stumbles across 2 MORE Rambleys than usual, much to the surprise - and confusion - of the Rambley we know and love!

Naturally, our hero Tilez is pretty damn confuddled... so he (mistakenly) asks his live chat for an explaination.

This is where YOU fantastic askers come in!

You act as Tilez's live chat. This means you don't even have to answer his queries, just say whatever you want to this interdimentional triplet of trash pandas, just like a REAL insufferable livechat would!

...within reason, of course (jokes aside, please read the boundaries)

[updated as of 04/07/24] CHARACTER REFERENCES: (in the animation i forgot twimbly's GT badges lol)

CHARACTER BOUNDARIES:

I want to make it entirely clear that i see the raccoon trio as brothers, especially with their very similar origins.

This is to say that I would not feel comfortable with any of them being shipped with eachother and I forbid the public sharing of that kind of content. If you see that kind of stuff around, please just mention this to the OP and block them if they refuse to respect it.

FURTHERMORE, please keep in mind that I ( @lunozapp ) am a MINOR. SO DON'T PUBLICLY POST NSFW/FETISH ART OF MY CHARACTERS, PLEASE AND THANK YOU.

However, shipping Twimbly, Ranglore, Rambley and Tilez with other characters that aren't related to them is fine by me (e.g. any of the original indigo characters x any of them, since they're not related)!

Again, please just keep it sfw.

ASK BOUNDARIES:

Pretty basic criteria, really. Just please don't spam the same ask over and over, I will guaranteed see them all unless this thing gets an explosion of attention out of nowhere lol

if i don't answer, its probably because either the question doesn't really fit the kind of story i have in mind for these characters or i just don't feel comfortable answering it. please respect that.

If you have a question for me specifically, start your ask with '[OOC]' (Out Of Character) or just ask me directly: @lunozapp

FURTHER INFO:

Asks are moreso used here as a prompt for conversation rather than the basis of an entire issue. More often than not there will be more than 1 ask in an issue, so going forward I'll make sure to tag everyone who asks without annonymity.

Also, please TRY to keep them as actual questions and not goofy 1-word sentences, the asks help me actually formulate a coherent premise for an issue

I don't OWN the concept of making ocs based off lore.mp4 and the GT thumbnail. if u see someone doing the same, try not to be all like 'OMG TWIMBLY/RANGLORE!!!! THEY ALREADY EXIST THIS IS PLAGARISM YOU CAN'T DO THAT!!!!!11!!11' unless it is blatant plagarism. Just use ur common sense ig

In terms of fanart/other fanworks, A MILLION THANKS IF YOU FEEL CALLED TO MAKE THAT!! The stuff i've gotten so far is genuinely so awesome, make it all you want if you feel called to do so. I'll try to reblog any fanart I find on here. If you want to go straight to asks, just click on the tag '#train trio asks'

alright, that's everything. Now what are you still doing here? Throw 'em a question! Or a compliment!! Or an insult.

or don't idrc just have fun here haha

fun fact!! putting everything together for this took a WEEK

[yoshinoritoshi]

Hello my dearest friend Yoshi, can I request jealousy HCs like the AOM men trio but with the Game Three men instead (Aesop/Victor/Ganji)? Please and thank you, I'll reward you with a skittle

It's always jealousy and yandere HCs with you people... I see, I see... I think I know what kinda fic to write next... (I'm lying, it's Joseph related.)

•

•

Aesop

The most jealous, but the best at hiding it out of three. He silently stews and sends glares to those who he believes get too close to you, and while he very heavily considers adding to the count under his belt... All you have to do is gently ask him to calm down, and he will. Surprising, you can comfort him a lot with even the simplest gestures, as nothing you do can make him jealous, only those around you are who he distrusts... Not because he believes you are without fault or even incapable of lying to him, but... he can't explain it, he just knows you wouldn't.

Even though you can calm down his jealous tendencies easily, no one else can, which means when you aren't there to help out, even his teammates will suffer if he thinks they've gotten too close to you. 'Forgetting' to embalm them during matches so they lose is one of his favorite things to do, even if it costs him the win. Once he's back within the manor though, he'll gruffly apologize when you ask what happened during that match, but he doesn't regret what he did, only that it upset you.

Though, don't think he's completely tame with you either, sometimes he gets a desire to embalm you... To preserve you so you can admire you for the rest of time, all to himself, unchanging and perfect... But he also feels as if it's an unfitting end for you, ironically enough, as then you'll be no different from the ones he helped his father with, which doesn't suit you. You're worth far more than that to him.

Just be kind and understanding as always, and he (probably) won't feel the need to end anyone's lives... He'll just cause them misfortune during matches so they learn their lesson on talking to you. He knows you might get upset by their loss, which is the only reason why he doesn't outright end them. You're far too emotional... Aesop doesn't know how to deal with that, so he avoids upsetting you as much as he can.

Victor

The least jealous, though he has some traits of it due to his own perceived faults... He thinks himself inadequate for you, so he needs lots of reassurances, yet even after being praised all day long, all it takes is some flirt from anyone in the manor towards you to have him green with envy... For just a moment, before he snaps out of it for your sake. He'll pat his cheeks and shake his head before willing it away, cause he really loves you and trusts you to not entertain any flirts or anything...

Still, when he has all your attention on him, he can be a little overprotective on occasion, grabbing onto your arm so you don't leave his side or pulling you away before they can get any funny ideas- though the moment you're alone he's blushing and insisting he doesn't know what got over him! Hold his face and tell him you don't mind that he gets a little jealous (because he's so cute when he is), and he'll get so red in the face that he passes out on the spot.

Seriously, his jealous behavior is really rare, you may spot it once or twice a month because he's just very good at keeping it hidden. When it's obvious on his face is the only times he's unable to stifle it down, and one hug will have him forgetting all about it in ten minutes tops. Affection melts his heart like a hot knife through better; he can't help it, being shy does that to a man.

Ganji

One may think he'd be excessively jealous... But why would you think that? The truth is that he does get jealous, and he's terrible at hiding it, but he doesn't really care that he can't hide it. Those around you should know when he's upset with them for how they interact with you, and back off so he can keep you close to him instead. He uses his 'intimidating' face to his full advantage in such situations, but in actuality...

Ganji really isn't as tough as he makes himself out to be. Silently clinging to the back of your sleeve in public, to embracing you wholeheartedly the moment you're behind closed doors, apologizing profusely for his behavior... He's so used to protecting himself from the scorn of others that he reacts without thinking when he thinks people are trying to schmooze themselves closer to you. You're his partner, the one he adores above all else, and he'll smile just for you, kindly trying to reassure you that he really isn't angry at all... Especially not with you.

Maybe he does get jealous, maybe he does pull you away from others whenever he wants you to himself, and maybe, just maybe, he's ruined one too many of your shirts in his haste to mark your neck— ahem, I mean, only when you give him permission... Afterwards, he'll happily sit beside you with his arms crossed and eyes closed, proudly grinning as you display your neck so every survivor and hunter knows that he loves you most.

[writingquestionsanswered]

i'm writing a fantasy book and i have a lot of sort of nameless guards and soldiers in it. like i have these higher ranking soldiers who are named and relevant and they all have a team of nameless guards with them pretty much always. in my first draft i've often found that it gets kind of annoying when i constantly have to repeat "one of the guards" and "the other guard" and "the remaining guard" and phrases like that. at the same time i don't want to start giving them all names since they're not that relevant individually and it's a fantasy so there's already some words and names to remember so i don't want to bog it down with ones that aren't all that important. sorry this is so long but essentially do you have any advice or ideas on how to differentiate between nameless guards without being too repetitive and without introducing a bunch of new names?

Repetitive Reference of Background Character Group

"Background characters" (aka "tertiary characters") are a fundamental part of storytelling. They populate the worlds of our stories, giving them depth and authenticity, and often they perform necessary but minor functions like driving our character's bus, locking their cell door in a dungeon, or delivering drinks to their table with a timely joke during an awkward dinner date.

When we have recurring background characters, such as a nameless mob of guards or lackeys surrounding a more important character, it can feel like they're being overused... especially when you have to use a generalized term like "the guard" to refer to them all.

There are a few things you can do to dial it back, but first, here's an example paragraph we can play with:

"Bring us the prisoner," Sir Bellamy said, gesturing to one of the guards. A trio of guards left the room and returned a moment later with Lord Peckham in tow. He was forced to kneel, and Sir Bellamy responded with a sneering grin before waving the guards away. "Do you know why you're here?" he asked, delighted when he saw Lord Peckham shiver with fear. Several guards pointed and snickered. One of the guards nudged him with the toe of his boot. "Answer 'im already!" "I... I confess... I do not know." A few of the guards hissed in disbelief. "Truly?" Sir Bellamy asked, his voice dazzling with amusement as he traded looks with the head of his guard. "Could you really be so unaware of the goings on in your own household?" The guard to Lord Peckham's right slapped the back of his head to prompt him to answer. "I do not know of what you speak," he answered, voice shaking.

This example features seven references to the background guard group, which is a lot. Let's see what we can do with that...

1 - Try to Eliminate Some Uses - When we have a recurring group of background characters, it can be tempting to constantly refer to them when they're on the page. We want to remind the reader they are there, but this often translates in a lot of unnecessary references. So, the first thing you'll want to do is see if you can go through and eliminate some of the uses. For example:

"Bring us the prisoner," Sir Bellamy said, gesturing to one of the guards. A trio of guards left the room and returned a moment later with Lord Peckham in tow. He was forced to kneel, and Sir Bellamy responded with a sneering grin before waving the guards away.

We can easily eliminate two of the three references here. If a trio of guards leaves the room when Bellamy says, "Bring us the prisoner," it's not necessary to clarify that this question is directed to the guards. If he says, "Bring us the prisoner," and a trio of guards leaves the room and returns a moment later with said prisoner, it's obvious that's who the order was directed toward. Also, waving the guards away is a throw away action. It doesn't accomplish anything important because it doesn't really matter where the guards are in relation to Lord Bellamy in this scene. And, it's also mentioned later that there are guards on either side of him, so it's a confusing action anyway.

2 - Don't Be Afraid of Naming the Occasional Background Character - While we never want to go overboard with characters in a story, it's really more that we don't want to load up our story with unnecessary characters. But if you have a recurring background character, such as a teacher, a few people in a group of high school friends, or a few soldiers in a group of city guards, it actually works to your benefit to give two or three proper names. Not only does this cut down on the generalized references, but it also adds depth and authenticity to the group instead of letting them be a completely nameless, faceless mass of people. And when these characters are named because they occasionally say or do things that matter, they're not unnecessary. They serve a purpose. And this is fairly common in genre fiction, especially in fantasy. For example, there are over 400 named characters in George R.R. Martin's book A Game of Thrones. Many of these characters are just background folks who occasionally say or do things that matter in the story.

So, back to our example, we have the following two lines:

One of the guards nudged him with the toe of his boot. "Answer 'im already!"

And

Sir Bellamy asked, his voice dazzling with amusement as he traded looks with the head of his guard.

What if we gave the head of guard a name? Let's call him Sir Hugh.

So, now it is Sir Hugh who nudged the prisoner with his boot, and who Sir Bellamy trades a look with.

3 - Adopt a Few Sensory Nicknames - In addition to actually naming two or three people in the group, you can give one or two a "sensory name," or in other words a name that relates to a sensory feature about them (how they look, sound, smell, etc.) as a way of helping differentiate a character without actually naming them. So, let's say that among Sir Bellamy's guards there's strapping redhead, so let's refer to him as "Big Red." Since this nickname comes with mental imagery, it's easy to remember.

Now, let's re-write the excerpt using all of the above:

"Bring us the prisoner," Sir Bellamy boomed. A trio of guards left the room and returned a moment later with Lord Peckham in tow. He was forced to kneel, and Sir Bellamy responded with a sneering grin. "Do you know why you're here?" he asked, delighted when he saw Lord Peckham shiver with fear. Several guards pointed and snickered. Sir Hugh nudged him with the toe of his boot. "Answer 'im already!" "I... I confess... I do not know." A few of the guards hissed in disbelief. "Truly?" Sir Bellamy asked, his voice dazzling with amusement as he traded looks with Sir Hugh. "Could you really be so unaware of the goings on in your own household?" Big Red slapped the back of Lord Peckham's head to prompt him to answer. "I do not know of what you speak," he answered, voice shaking.

Five of seven instances of "the guard" have been eliminated.

I hope that helps!

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

♦ Questions that violate my ask policies will be deleted! ♦ Please see my master list of top posts before asking ♦ Learn more about WQA here

[swaps55]

Just wanted to say, regarding female characters - one of the strengths of Opus is the combination of Aslany and Pendergrass. One of my pet peeves is the rule of The Trio - almost exclusively, two guys and one girl. Han, Luke and Leia. Harry, Ron and Hermione. Katniss, Peeta, and Gale. Aang, Katara and Sokka. Ash, Misty and Brock. Every 3-man cell in Naruto. And so on. There's some overlap with love triangles - Bella, Edward and Jacob, for example - but the upshot is that the main character relationships can only explore how the guys get along with each other, and how they get along with the girl. How girls relate to each other is skipped over entirely because there's only one girl.

Then, the one girl is often relegated to being The Girl. Answerable for all womanhood. Like when Ron gets offside with his friends, it's because he's being a dick. But if Hermione does, it's because girls are weird. It perpetuates the two genders of Normal and Girl, and the reader is invited to sympathize with how hard it is for the Normals to relate to the feminine mystique of girls. But of course, girls are mysterious when they're never portrayed together, just existing. Normally.

Opus has two wonderful lead female characters who aren't so easily pigeonholed, and the story is as invested in how they play off each other as how any of the others interact. The thoughtfulness in what makes all the characters tick, and how they serve the story really comes through and makes it more engaging. And then there's Hannah, a powerhouse of a minor character in just a few scenes, you know she's my fave.

Fanfic is an adjustment after conventional fiction - it's more diverse, and the sheer novelty can provoke a kneejerk "why did they make that character [anything other than straight cis white]?" Not because there's anything wrong with it, but because it's new. But in sci fi especially, there's a verisimilitude to diversity.

This unexpectedly turned into a bit of novel, sorry! Aslany and Pendergrass are great!

Oh gosh, thank you!!!

Aslany and Pendergrass are so much fun and so very important to me, and it's absolutely incredible that they strike such a chord with others. I share your frustration on how often a solitary female character is expected to represent all women. "The Two Genders: Normal and Girl" is an amazing way to put it.

I've probably mentioned it before, but I have rules in Opus when it comes to supporting and background characters: they cannot be cis, white, male unless I have a good argument for why they should be, and to combat my biases when it comes to defaulting to male background characters (and BioWare's inability to conceive of female alien who aren't a sex fantasy), I try to start with female as default and then argue for why someone should be male.

And Opus, of course, is a story centered around a male/male relationship, which means I need to make a concerted effort to include women and their stories around that central through line. I wanted some of Sam's primary influences - good and bad - to be women. Hence Hannah Shepard, Guthra Tulak, and Anya Oseguera.

When it came to the 'Yang, I knew I already had two male lead characters, so I wanted to balance them out. Of the primary 'Yang OCs, only Clay Beaudoin is male, and he isn't white.

Okay, there's Wong, but because he's a plot device and effectively got fridged, I wanted him to be male. XD

Hannah Shepard is a lot of fun (I love how much you love her SO MUCH) because she takes so much blame for things most male characters don't. In many ways she's a parallel to Thane, who never takes much flak for being an absent father. Now, that's not something the reader should be blamed for: the ME2 narrative centers around Thane's perspective, which makes you sympathetic to him, while Opus very much looks at Hannah through Sam's lens, which makes her very unsympathetic. Which is why I so enjoy her occasional POVs when you realize that the world looks very different through her eyes, and maybe everything you're led to believe about her isn't the whole picture.

But Aslany and Pendergrass are really special, with their own motivations and complexities and strengths and flaws that, while sometimes making Opus more challenging to write, make it better. I'm really glad people have latched onto them, because it gives me more freedom to expand their role in the overall narrative.