#doomed to forever fight like siblings

[mime-the]

Not Nyx art (Wuh?!) but have some iterator ocs

[supershot73199]

Dpxdc demon siblings au prompt

So standard demon twin/sibling setup where after dying for dissapointing Ras Danny is thrown into the pit where he doesn't surface. Damian mourns his brother but never tells the bat's at first because it's to painful but then because he doesn't want to cause his family pain with the knowledge that they have a brother/son/grandson respectively. (I personally like Danny being the older one in this whether it's just the first born twin or he's a couple years older is up to you all)

The rest under a read more.

So we cut to an older Damian as Robin and the batfam are fighting a exiled member of the League of assassins who wants revenge on something Ras did and decide that they will hurt Damian to hurt Ras.

So this exile uses a magical ritual to summon the ghosts of every assassin Ras turned on and killed (its a lot of them) so the bat's are not able to stop the ritual in time because they couldn't get a skilled enough magic user to Gotham in time (is there some other threat? Just out of contact? Performing at little Jimmy's birthday party? Who knows.)

So the bat's are getting what anti ghost gear they can (nth metal weapons magic doodads whatever) when the last and most powerful ghost is pulled through. Damian freezes because he knows that face, he's older and he has an unnatural glow, but Damian will never forget his brother.

The exile is laughing taunting the Bats about the dead son come for revenge on his brother who betrayed him Damian is emotionally distraught crying, apologizing, telling his brother that they tried to bring him back but the pit took him from them.

The other bat's are freaking out in their own way because holy shit this is true?! Meanwhile Danny is staring silently at Damian face completely blank. While the feral ghosts of the assassins are trying to break out of the summoning circle.

One ghost manages to find a crack from where it was weakening from the thousands of ghosts trying to break it and rushes to attack Damian who is too distracted and too far from the others to react. He throws himself back scrambling for his sword as the assassins lunges forward to rip his heart out with his bare hands.

Yet as is seems he's about to meet his doom the assassin jerks to a stop before his momentum is reversed and he's thrown back into the circle. Everything is silent because the one who saved Damian was his own brother who was not even slowed by the magical protection (because he's half ghost not that anyone knows this but him)

The insane assassin starts going on about clearly his betrayed brother has decided that only he is worthy of striking down the heir to the demon. Except as he's mid monolog a ice knife is thrown into his leg missing all the arteries but causing a lot of pain. Then Danny speaks.

"I never blamed you little brother. Now dry those tears and Al-Ghul never shows weakness to an enemy."

As he says this for the first time since he's summoned Danny no longer has that blank face instead he has the most affection filled smile you can imagine while he wipes his brothers tears before he turns to the massive swarm of ghosts.

"Any who would seek to hurt my brother must first go through me, The Phantom, Pariah's bane, keeper of Balance and guardian of the mortal realms, but if you think you can take me by all means just do me a favor, let some other poor sap try first."

Now if the ghosts heed his warning or not is up to you if they do then Danny just opens a portal to the ghost zone for them to flee into, if not then he proceeds to beat the unliving shit out of them before tossing them through a portal anyway.

After everything is said and done Danny goes over to Damian talking about how proud he is to see him growing into such a good person and how it's so wonderful to see him again after all these years. Just really heartwarming stuff there's hugs Dick is crying into Jason's shoulder everything.

Then Danny says it's time for him to go he can't stay forever. Damian is upset saying he can't lose him right after he gets him back. Danny then laughs and says..

"This isn't a goodbye Damian it's just a see you later, I promise we'll see each other again before you know it."

And the batfamily are all crying thinking this is him saying that he'll be waiting in the after life for Damian. Before he goes through the portal closing it behind him

The bat's all handle the clean up and police for the crime scene before returning to the manor and getting explanations from Damian.

After all that the family come together to make a shrine to their departed brother with Damian being the last one to walk away to get some sleep.

The next morning everyone feels lighter with this secret no longer between them as they chat and laugh as they get ready for breakfast.

As they are all sat together ready to eat one of Damians siblings asks if there are any pleasant memories about Danyal Damian wants to share and Damain decides to tell a carefully edited version of one of their escapades (conveniently leaving out that he was responsible for the situation in the first place) only right as he finishes a voice chimes in.

"That's not how I remember it little brother." And standing there leaning against a wall is Danny himself.

[jessaerys]

im legitimately so stunned by how they really gave the girlies everything and i mean everything. we had kendallshiv sister fight and sister bonding and sister fight2. we had a wealth of romshiv twinsies moments. we had all three middle aged minor kids having fun and being silly and loving each other. we had the sibling dream team for a brief and fleeting beautiful moment. shiv and rome almost had a moment of growth and ceded to kendall. we had like three kendall watergate scares and he survived them all. there was the promise of caroline being a better mom maybe. there was the kenrome hug of the century. stewy was here for a moment to imply once again that he is severely dickmatized. we had tom being a freak at a restaurant antics. connor appeared and connored in reverse alphabetical order. conwilla failmarriage win. krank ride or die for each other win. the tomgreg enjoyers more than got their fill. romegerri panic attacks cuz she changed the trajectory of his life forever. shiv gave us the elektra complex of the century. the cheeses were licked the cycles cycled and the doomed were doomed. wow just wow

[itshype]

How I Met Your Brother (DC x DP)

Dan joins the Justice League - not as part of his rehabilitation, but as a reward for doing so well.

Tucker makes the grave mistake of mentioning Dan in front of Jazz. And as an eldest sister myself I would not be happy about an alternate version of my sibling being left completely alone in the world, no support, no family to then be turned into a psychopath. And I would be furious for them to then be imprisoned - not for life but for all time?

However, unlike me, Jazz is the world's foremost authority on ghost psychology. She has Dan out of his Thermos and in a larger enclosure within the week.

Now, a lot of fics have Jazz as a magical therapist who can say a few sentences and make any bad guy cry. Sorry, not today though.

First, they resocialise Dan like a feral cat (solitary confinement does make people get loopy), sitting outside his enclosure and hanging out, doing homework etc. This sort of gets him to figure out emotionally that he's no longer in the timeline where everyone he ever cared about died.

Danny discusses with him how many nightmares he's had over just the idea of losing his entire support network the way Dan did and he can't imagine what he's been through. But no emotions are not, in fact superior to having negative emotions.

After a few months, he decides that he does in fact want to actively try and get better. He goes to a therapist (because family members can't do therapy!!!) who's just unhinged enough to get a kick out of counselling a ghost from an alternate timeline.

There's only one relapse. Clockwork fixed it and they don't talk about it.

A month or so later they let him out of the enclosure for good. They offer to symbolically destroy it but Dan thinks they should keep it just in case.

While Dan's humanity has returned, his actual human half is gone forever. But he's interested in doing something with himself. He can't get a GED, or a degree, or be an astronaut. Maybe something in entertainment?

Tucker makes the grave mistake of mentioning that the Justice League headquarters are in space. Dan isn't as powerful anymore now he's no longer a halfa, but he knows he's handy in a fight. He loves space and due to having them repeatedly and ineffectively implemented against himself - a deep knowledge of international war tactics.

NGL, this isn't where I thought this story was going. But Dan is now an international politics, war policy and foreign affairs expert, I guess.

He helps a fair bit on the team, but his key contributions are his encyclopaedic predictions of how different international communities will react to events. If an out of control meta in Paris takes down the Eiffel Tower, he predicts which countries will immediately 'crack down' on their superpowered citizens - that sort of thing. It's invaluable for their PR team and young meta safety.

He's a friendly guy, doesn't judge anyone for losing control of their powers or going 'too far' on a villain who hurt their friends and family. And he never shuts up about his kid brother who is apparently also his best friend. He briefly mentions a baby sister he's never met and that makes everyone pretty sad.

He doesn't consider this Jazz his sister. He's already had a sister named Jazz and isn't looking for a 1:1 replacement. This Jazz is more like a mum-friend. However, he never had a Danny or an Ellie in his last life.

"My little brother told me about the trick to this level in Doomed 17, want me to explain what you're missing?"

"Sorry, I really can't possess you, even for 'anti mind-control' training. That isn't how overshadowing works, you can't become immune without exposure to ectoplasm in dangerous doses. No, I can't get you some pure ecto, my baby brother would kick my ass to hell."

"Yeah, my baby bro and I both wanted to be astronauts, I died so it's not in the cards for me anymore, but he has a real shot still, we're all rooting for him!"

Most Justice League members think he's a dead eldest brother with living siblings he's still in close contact with.

It's all fun and games until he tries to take a bullet for Batman during an ambush and it's actually an amnesia ray designed to make Batman forget about a specific case until the bad guy can complete his plan.

"I killed you all before, and I will do it again."

[fellow-anime-weeb927]

I am back :D (the anon who recently asked you about the idea of reader being mother to the 6 sons in mashle)

I just that the necklaces would probably annulate the magic of the owner too, but reader doesn't really care about it since nobody in her family had magic before (if we don't count the sons). But, since it's a familiar relic (or something like that), naturally her sons also would have their own four necklaces at some point. Neither of them use them, it's not beneficial for them, but they do keep it with them since they see it as being closer to their mother. I also thought about how the smallest area in which the necklaces work would be around the core of the necklaces, to protect it from being destroyed by magic.

I'm sure at least some of them (especially Domina) would be jealous of Mash for being a lackmagic, at some point, since they think about it as the fact that Mash resembles their mother the most (no matter how their mother looks physically). Pops would be so weirded out when four necklaces appeared in Mash's hand in the period of 1 year (I think it would be better if they didn't appeare at the same time?) And Mash would have 0 idea about why or from where (at first he thought that Pops was the responsible for it). I think it would also be convenient that the necklaces wouldn't break forever unless all four are broken in the spam of a certain amount of time. If the time passed, but other necklaces wouldn't be destroyed, the broken would be repaired by itself. I imagine the necklaces being just a square with a beautiful pattern inside and a chain holding it by one of the edges (with a time of hook of the edge?) and since it's a familiar relic, it would probably have more antique style (baroque? Or maybe the renaissance?). The sons would probably treasure it deeply, especially since when their mother fell into a coma. Also, because of the background of the reader (the mother) I believe that the necklaces would only left their owner to lift them. Also, the more damage the owner receives the deeper the necklaces (the core/the square) will go into the owners skin (where the heart is located) as if to protect them better, since if the necklaces break (the four of them in the certain amount of time) the owner either dies or suffers a lot of damage. It doesn't burn or anything, tho.

Since Doom is the nicest of the siblings (not counting Mash and Domina's change in behavior) I would say it's because he's the oldest and has been with their mother the longest. I also believe they (the sons) would visit their mother, no matter if she's already in the coma or not. Epidem would be so obsessed with his pudding because mother "introduced" it to him, idk. Fanim would definitely enjoy the freedom so much because his mother always talked about it and how they always should be free (he got his own version of freedom but nvm). Delisaster likes to party so much because mother said that you never know what will happen next and if there's will be food on the table tomorrow (because of how bad her background is) so they should enjoy their lives at the fullest while they can (she would try to somehow ignore that she married a power hungry man, but it was for her own best). Domina would anticipate the day mother wakes up because all his older brothers told him about how kind and nice and beautiful mother is. Mash wouldn't even know about the existence of his mother (spoilers ahead) since he just randomly disappeared from there. If mother wakes up the day of the eclipse without a clue of what is going on (her husband trying to hunt down their youngest son just to take his heart and be immortal), first of all, all the sons that would be there at that time (depending on when exactly mother wakes up, but we'll take the time after they fought the first four visionaries, but before Dot, Finn and the gang arrived there to fight) would be delightful and shocked (imagine Innocent zero manipulating them to do the horrible things they did because "It will wake up mother") that mother finally woke up. Reader would try to get their head around what is going on and how much time passed while the four of them are sitting or rather standing around her bed where she was laying for all this time. Imagine if when Doom is fighting Mash, Doom says something like "You came in the perfect time, mother just woke up" while Mash doesn't have the slightest idea who this "mother" is. While they're fighting Doom explains a bit more and Mash is just like 🧍‍♀️. If Domina sees her when he there or if he hears Innocent zero talk about her awakening while fighting him he would be so shocked and probably feel slightly betrayed because "what do you mean she wakes up when I'm no longer welcome there?" Mother would definitely not know about how Mash disappeared from the 'house' or how Innocent zero abandoned Domina. I also can guess that she wouldn't be arrested alongside Innocent and the four sons, and rather the Bureau of Magic would let her free like Domina, since she was in a coma for like 15 years and didn't know what was happening exactly (I'm 100% sure Domina would convince them somehow, doesn't matter the fact that she passed out into a coma only after giving birth to 6 sons. He probably asked the boy who used magnetic magic and had a twin for a favor (since his dad is the head of the Bureau of Magic? I think)). And so she would have time to get to know Domina and maybe Mash more?

That's it for now, I will come back >:) Also, can I be '🎨 anon' ?

Woah :O long Mashle rant, I like it picasso✨👍🏻

Very interesting about the necklaces, I can already imagine how pretty they would look👀✨

This does fit the original manga very well hello?? You even managed to make it seem like it actually happened in the past omfg-

Props to you 🎨 anon🛐

(maybe I should make an anon list just in case hehe-)

[thegreatzombieartisan]

Elrond, Faramir, and the Untold Death of Siblings

Death of a sibling is different than a parent. This is both obvious yet not readily intuitive. While it is expect to outlive parents, it’s easy to take for granted that siblings will be with us for a lifetime.

Moreover, most sympathy and condolences goes to the parents, disenfranchising the grief of surviving siblings who are simultaneously expected to support them. If before old age, death to brother or sister is always under tragic, and even possibly sinister, circumstances.

Elrond and Faramir are the only prominent characters who loose siblings; and Elrond is unique in that he is the only Elf whose dead sibling was mortal.

How might they have experienced the loss of their beloved brothers Elros and Boromir?

A sibling’s death casts a shadow on the past and future

A unique sibling co-history is broken

Siblings are co-keepers of our childhood. A brother or sister shares common memories, inside jokes, secrets, critical experiences, and family history. When death takes a sibling, it also takes away our connections to the past; a version of ourselves unique only with them.

The future is forever altered

Elrond and Faramir will get married, set up households, succeed or fail, grow older. Yet each life event underscores the terrible reality that their brothers won’t be there. Never will again.

Forever after, all events — be they birthdays, anniversaries, or special occasions, no matter how wonderful — will be bittersweet. So many memories never to be made. Did Elrond cry for his own future children who would never know their uncle and cousins?

Did Faramir mourn the nieces and nephews he would never meet?

How would each man explain their brother to others? How would they ensure that their brother’s essence wasn't lost; that he wasn't just a tapestry on a wall, name on a tomb, or a handful of tales?

Manner of death plays a significant role in how grief is experienced

Faramir almost certainly expected Boromir (and himself) to die in the fight against Sauron. He died as he would have wanted: protecting the defenseless, and for love of his friends and Gondor. The “rightness” of Boromir’s death would give Faramir a measure of comfort and closure.

While some may think Faramir discovering Boromir’s body would be further traumatizing, it’s clear it brought him closure. Visual confirmation can allow for acceptance of the beloved sibling’s death.

Elrond knew death but before that of Elros. Yet he never imagined his brother would accept the fate of Men. As an Elf, it makes Elrond’s grief unique in three ways.

Firstly, anticipatory grief. While centuries might pass like an afternoon for Elves, each year would bring his brother closer to doom. Elrond would wonder, if at Arda’s end, they would reunite; for the fate of Men’s souls is unknown.

Secondly, the unique severing of the twin bond, of which twins describe as missing a piece of themselves. Interestingly, many twins say they were struck with a sudden uneasy around the time their twin died. Did Elrond psychically “know” when Elros drew his last breath?

Thirdly, unlike Faramir, Elrond never saw his brother’s body, never for that visual closure. Almost certainly he struggled to accept Elros’s death. In his memory, Elros will always be youthful and beautiful, full of life and vigor. How could he grow old and die?

Anger, Survivors Guilt, and Regret

Feeling guilty for having outlived a brother or sister may seem silly yet this is normal. Guilty is often about things left unsaid or undone, making surviving siblings feel unsettled.

Nothing indicates Elrond and Elros maintained contact after the latter departed mortality and Middle Earth for Numenor. Chances are, at least in retrospect, Elrond might have had some regrets. If so, they burdened his Elven weariness because of these immortals, for better or worse, possess near-perfect memory.

And with all the hard times ahead without Elros beside him, Elrond no doubt had bouts of anger over his brother’s decision; another perceived abandonment in a litany. Maybe that’s unfair but grief isn’t rational.

Faramir’s survivor guilt manifested through accepting his father’s suicide mission, taking Boromir’s place. While the brothers loved each other, Denethor’s favoritism toward his heir would have sometimes stirred tension between them. And Faramir probably had some regrets and shame over the times his jealousy and resentment got the better of him.

Shifting Family Roles

Death disrupts family dynamics. Surviving siblings may suddenly become the only or eldest child. In any event, they must redefine their role which may include new (possibly unwanted or burdensome) familial expectations and responsibilities. A reality most relevant to Faramir than Elrond.

Faramir had envisioned a life faithfully serving his father before his brother. The role of heir is unexpectedly thrusted upon him in the bleakest hour and with a half-mad father who disfavored him. All without his older brother for guidance and support.

Sometimes the departed siblings served an unspoken peacekeeping role within the family. In their absence, dysfunction can exacerbate; estrangement can ensue. With Boromir gone, it’s just Faramir and Denethor.

Family favoritism, as Faramir suffered, can be particularly excruciating for surviving siblings; for in death, parents can almost deify the favored child while the perceived shortcomings of the surviving siblings are magnified. Denethor’s unabashed partiality toward Boromir would have compounded and complicated Faramir’s own grief for his brother.

Compounded Loss

Death causes people to revisit the feelings of other losses — family, friends, even life goals — compounding sorrow and a sense of disorientation.

Elrond would think of this parents, though not dead, were no longer of this world; and perhaps more painfully, the unknown fate of foster-father Maglor.

As for Faramir, his thoughts would stray to his departed mother. Like-minded in spirit, he would lament the loss of an ally against his father’s favoritism and failing rule.

It’s not inconceivable that he might feel more like an orphan than merely a surviving sibling; for with Boromir’s death, Faramir not lost a sibling but his own father to the enemy from madness and grief.

[cosmosnout]

KH OC WEEK 20204

Day 3: connections

This took a bit longer than meant, but with the amount of things I wanted to include, it felt important to take my time.

Shiro’s part focusses a lot more on the relationships between them and the canon characters, while Aiko’s, Merin’s, Viktor's, and Tähti’s parts focus on the relationship they have with each other. (And some additional canon characters.)

Also there’s a lot of text here so sorry about any spelling mistakes haha.

Shiro

Xehanort (young)

Helped Shiro to get out of the realm of darkness and is helping them to recover their memory.

I am a firm believer that despite his cold demeanor, Xehanort has the capability of expressing other emotions outside of being a snarky jerk. He just needs to be around the right kind of people to bring that side of him out, and Eraqus and Shiro are exactly the sorts of people to make his brain cells die. /pos

Xehanort’s interest in becoming Shiro’s friend is due to his dreams as a boy of a mysterious child who he believes to be Shiro. (Some lost childish part of him does genuinely wish to be their friend, but he is also quite interested in Shiro’s connection to the keyblade war.)

They spent a couple years peacefully as friends attempting to recover Shiro’s memories, before Shiro uncovered Xehanort's true plans and the two ended up parting ways to fight on the opposite sides. They’re so divorced LMAO

Shiro feels quite betrayed and thinks their friendship was just a plot to get information out of them, while in reality their friendship was still genuine despite Xehanort's hidden motives.

They have a very bittersweet relationship.

Like when you just have that one person who sees right through you and you could just sit in complete silence for forever and still have a good time.

But oh my god do they also just bring out the worst in each other LMAO.

Xehanort is still a snarky bastard 99% of the time, and Shiro is so ready to throw his snarkiness back at him. It is remarkable if they get through a conversation without one of them trying to piss off the other one.

Anyhow they are so doomed by the narrative.

I’ve had a difficult time defining the relationship between these two, but in recent years since becoming aware of my own feelings as an aroace person, I feel like queerplatonic is a really good way to put it. I think that there can be strong emotions and love held between two people without it necessarily having to be romantic, and that’s just as wonderful as any other relationship.

Aqua

The first person Shiro came across once they emerged in the realm of darkness.

Shiro has a lot of admiration towards her and hopes to meet her again!

Shrio definitely has a little crush on her haha

Roxas and Xion

Shiro’s keyblade apprentices!

adopted little siblings

Shiro fought relentlessly to keep both of them safe but ended up failing as they both returned to Sora.

Losing them was a big wake up call to the organization's true nature and Xehanort's sinister plans.

Namine

Little sister<<3

Shiro took one look at her and was like “yup anything happens to her and I’ll make everyone's life a living nightmare”

Got Namine her crayons and sketchbook

Was very devastated when she had to return to Kairi.

Axel/Lea

Pyromaniac besties

Co-paretning Roxas and Xion (platonic)

They became good friends during their time in the organization, and they made an oath to bring Roxas and Xion back after Axel’s recompletion.

Shiro tutors him and Kairi on keyblade wielding, during their time in The Secret Forest.

Ephemer and Skuld

Childhood Bestfriend

Shiro has foggy dreams and visions of the both of them. (They truly haunt Shiro’s life like it’s a full time job)

Even once called Sora “Ephemer” by mistake. They were both extremely confused.

Shiro is actively trying to find them.

Aiko and Merin

The two start off on a bad foot due to a misunderstanding that led to Aiko and Viktor leaving their homeworld. Aiko thought Merin was the one to invade their world with darkness and ended up chasing after her through a dark corridor. In reality, Merin and Tähti were running away from Ansem (SOD) and happened to pass through their world.

Aiko and Merin ended up becoming separated from Viktor and Tähti and end up begrudgingly teaming up to find their families .

During their time together, they end up eventually becoming friends and even end up getting into a relationship together later on.

Their opposite personalities seemed like an issue when they first met, but they grew to love and learn from those differences and they’ve really helped each other to grow as people.

Viktor and Tähti

Viktor was at first very frustrated to be left to babysit a child, but switched into big brother mode pretty much subconsciously.

They’re a funny little duo since they’re both terrible fighters and are pretty much constantly just running for their lives.

Viktor appreciates Tähti’s quiet personality and knows to be patient with them.

Tähti also didn’t care too much about Viktor at first, but seeing him make an effort to keep them safe reminded them a lot of Merin.

Other friends!

Tähti, Namine and Xion!

Tähti met Namine during one of her visits to Ansem’s lab, and after some encouragement from the others, Tähti manages to strike up a conversation with her.

The two have a shared interest in art and like sharing their work with each other!

Tähti also got introduced to Xion through Namine, and despite Tähti’s antisocial nature, the two ended up quickly becoming good friends. (Nothing is as strong as the bond between two neurodivergent teenagers)

I like to think Kairi hangs out with them occasionally, but also she’s kinda busy trying to find Sora :’)

Viktor and Ienzo

Met post kh3 and became quick friends over their similar personalities and shared interest in tech.

Everyone around them was very excited that they were finally making friends. (Ansem and Aiko wiping a tear out of the corner of their eye)

Merin and Vanitas

Weird little brother creature thingy kinda

They met briefly while Merin and Aiko visited the realm of darkness.

They had a short confrontation where they fought with Merin winning.

Didn’t have the chance to talk much outside of that, but I think they have a secret mutual respect for each other due to being similar beings.

Merin and Isa

Got introduced post kh3 and ended up befriending each other as Viktor was spending more time with the apprentices.

They match each other’s tired energy

They like to just kinda sit back and watch as their friends mingle.

@khoc-week

[morrigan-sims]

The Noble House of Lockwood

Lord Alistair Lockwood, his wife Lady Evangeline Lockwood, and their children: Silas, Byron, and Theodore Lockwood.

Lord Alistair Lockwood

Current head of the Lockwood Estate.

Wood Elf.

Extremely wealthy.

Member of the ruling council of Arborcea.

Takes great (too much) pride in his house, name, and family.

Has a short temper and is quick to bring it out on those who displease him.

Loves his [legitimate] sons, although he's not good at showing it, at least not in healthy ways.

Had an affair with a human woman ~27 years ago that resulted in Rook's birth.

One of the key players in placing Arborcea under Elven rule.

Very well-respected among the other nobles.

Stubborn and prideful, even arrogant. (His eldest son, Silas, takes after him in this regard.)

Despite his prominent place on the council, he hungers for more. More power, more wealth, more influence.

Very traditionalist/old-fashioned.

A strict father, but well-respect and even idolized by his [legitimate] sons.

Lady Evangeline Lockwood

Lady of the Lockwood Estate.

Eldest daughter of another of Arborcea's noble houses.

High Elf.

Her and Alistair's marriage was an arranged one for politics and money, not love.

Strongly begrudges Alistair for the affair that led to Rook's existence, and has not forgiven him yet. (26 years is a blink of an eye for an elf.)

Despite this, will forever and always keep up appearances of a happy and faithful couple. (Even when they are alone, she hardly ever shows her displeasure with Alistair.)

Was thrilled when Rook ran away, because it meant that there was no longer a constant reminder of her husband's infidelity and shame wandering the halls of her house.

Vain, and always fishing for compliments from everyone around her.

Cleverer than she lets on.

Her sons are her greatest love and pride. They can do (almost) no wrong in her eyes. (However, damaging the image of house Lockwood does count as wrong.)

Has tea gatherings with the other noble ladies where they talk shit about anything and anyone.

Very strict mistress to the servants and anyone in her employ.

Also a strict mother, though much more loving.

Silas Lockwood

The oldest Lockwood brother.

The closest thing to a "rebellious" kid the [legitimate] Lockwood family has.

Stereotypical "popular kid": has a ton of friends and is always the center of attention despite being a dick to most people.

Is rarely at home, usually off "adventuring" (aka, paying other people to do the real work, then let him come in and deal the final blow and taking the credit.)

Excellent fencer, but initially trained for dueling competitions for entertainment, not lethality. His style is kind of exaggeratedly showy because of this.

When he's not adventuring or dueling, he's usually in a tavern, slightly drunk and surrounded by "20 of his closest friends". (or "friends"... most of them are using him or he's using them. He's aware of this and doesn't care.)

Has his father's short temper and intense pride. Can never walk away from a fight.

Hates nothing more than losing/being humiliated.

Byron Lockwood

Middle child, often overlooked in favor of his siblings.

Most boring/practical of the kids.

Doesn't really know what he wants in life.

Doomed to always be out-shined by Silas or Theo.

Totally not bitter about it.

Currently engaged to the daughter of another noble house.

Wants to inherit the title of Lord Lockwood, and is offended that someone as irresponsible as Silas would get it.

Perfectionist. Expects the best from everyone around him at all times.

The only Lockwood kid with a "real" job. (Manages some of his father's interests in a handful of shipping companies based in Arborcea.)

Think of the stereotypical shitty boss: Greedy, ambitious, treats his underlings like tools not people.

Theodore "Theo" Lockwood

The youngest Lockwood brother.

His parents' favorite.

Mama's boy, has Lady Lockwood wrapped around his finger and he knows it.

Spoiled youngest child. Is used to getting everything he wants whenever he wants it.

Will get very upset if his desires are not met.

Has spent the last few decades attending various kind of universities for degrees in all sorts of things. (the perks of being an elf and super rich, I guess.)

When asked about his plans "after schooling", he just does a kind of vague handwave and starts rambling about "research projects", but can't give any straight answers.

Will probably end up as some kind of weird professor/research funder: Ultra wealthy, multiple PHDs, "inventor" (but really just pays people to invent things for him), more than a little bit of a jerk. All his future students will come in so thrilled to meet this famous guy who's done so much impressive shit, but end up leaving disillusioned about their idol.

Not as smart as he seems. More than possibly has paid his way through at least a few of his classes/degrees.

As an academic will almost certainly plagiarize most or all of his work.

[nyx-sagau-dreams]

Hey how does you think sagau would react from a neglectful family? How would our housekeepers react to a reader who's forced to live in a place that's absolutely filthy? Like anything they do to help ends up being a Sisyphean task. The stress keeps surmounting until they feel doomed by their environment. And the people themselves are.. uncoordinated to say the least. I like to imagine Thoma would have a few choice words.

Thank you so much for being my first requester <333I hope this is to your liking.

Since you only mentioned Thoma specifically, I only wrote for him. I hope that's okay <33

Ft. Thoma

Gender neutral reader.

Rest, Creator, In Thoma's Arms

The first time you'd left Thoma facing your screen while you ran off to handle yet another task, he was bewildered. The room he could see wasn't exactly a disaster per say, but it wasn't as well kept as he was expecting from one such as you.

He waited for almost an hour for you to return, and when you did, he was shocked to see tears on your face. You seemed startled to find your screen on.

You wiped the tears off as you mumbled, "Must have forgotten to turn this off. Oh well, since I'm back, I might as well keep playing. It's not like I can do anything more. Not yet. Please. Not yet."

You broke down in front of the screen, your face hidden in your arms. But that wasn't the end of it. You stood up, still frustrated and crying, and started to roughly move things around the room.

"Useless, pointless, there's so much to do, I'm the only one who can do anything around here! Why won't they care?! What did they even have that was so much more important than giving us, giving me, a little attention!" You dunked another handful of laundry into the basket again, breathing heavily.

"I shouldn't have to waste my life doing my parents' jobs for them," you whispered.

Thoma struggled with every bit of his power to break the code controlling him, to tell you that you weren't alone. To tell you that even if your parents were awful, neglectful people, that you still had support. That you had him. Oh, how he longed to jump through the mysterious barrier between you and him and give you a hug, and to make you rest while he gave the other people in your home a stern talking to.

The next time it happened, he waited for two and a half hours. Then, when you came back, you couldn't even stay, because you were up to your elbows in dust and soot? And you were around just long enough to grab fresh clothes and disappear again.

Thoma watched time and time again as you were worked to the bone, your dysfunctional siblings not even making the situation easier for you. His conviction in helping you grew stronger and stronger, and in the times where you had logged off the game, or even times where you'd left the game on, he would research a million different way to try to get you out of there.

As far as Thoma, and other he asked, could tell, you turned to them for an escape, for a slim bit of comfort of somewhere where you were more in control of your situations.

So what if...

He brought you here?

For real?

For good?

Forever?

You would never have to work yourself to the point of falling asleep while doing your commissions (He took over then and always made sure you finished them). You'd never have to have another fight about how much work you did compared to your siblings. You'd never have to cry because you went unattended to.

You would be safe. Cared for. Able to rest.

And Thoma would finally be able to do something for the Creator who'd expanded his world like no one else.

So the next time you fell asleep while playing, he would finally be able to save you.

You were exhausted. Down to the bone. A kind of fatigue that can't be slept away, can't be bathed away. A kind of fatigue that you might never recover from.

You'd turned on Genshin Impact, just long enough to do your commisions you swore, and smiled at the sight of Thoma on your screen. Your commissions were set in Mondstadt, so they were fairly easy, but halfway through the first one you were already struggling to stay awake. By the time you'd finished the second one, you had just closed your eyes for half a second....

Thoma risked a glance behind him, and breathed a sigh of relief to see that you had indeed fallen asleep. He quietly pulled out the bag of shiny gems that he'd gotten from the traveller and Paimon after asking them how they'd gotten so many companions.

To anyone else, maybe it was silly or dumb, but Thoma was taking this seriously.

Besides.

Traveler and Paimon weren't the only ones who'd managed to summon people in Teyvat.

So Thoma threw the sparkling gems into the sky. One wish, two wishes, three wishes. More and more wishes. He wish he'd asked how many he'd need. He didn't want to waste any, though, so he just kept doing one wish at a time.

Finally, wish 57. Gold appeared in the sky. Even brighter than the gold that had encompassed Lady Ayaka or Lord Ayato. He turned to where he had seen you before only to see nothing. As the star fell, he opened his arms for you, catching you gently.

And when you opened your eyes, he grinned. "Welcome to Teyvat, Creator. You'll never have to work so hard, ever again. Please rest now."

Despite the shock and fear you might have felt at first, and how you wanted to cry over his thoughtfullness, you did. Even if this was just a dream, being told to rest and that things would be different put you at ease. So you let Thoma take care of you, the exhaustion dragging you back under again as he carried you to Windrise.

~fin~

[floating--goblin]

so logamin

I feel like it's rightfully weird to a lot of people, considering the whole canon dynamic between them, but the way that I like to think about it is like

You have Logan. Orphan, thrust into the real world all too early, put in charge of an immense kingdom that only got united some 50 years prior. Only the second generation of Albion monarchy, with all too little wisdom left over from his predecessors, most of which were just mayors of Bowerstone. From what it looks like, his only guidance came from Walter-- who was all too busy with his little sibling-- and Reaver, who is... Reaver. Currently-busy-sucking-the-continent-dry, human sacrificer, industrialist extraordinaire, literal inventor of capitalism in Albion Reaver. Who tried to kill Logan's parent at least once, mind you.

And then you have Ben Finn-- sweet, idealist, loyal to a fault Ben Finn, whose allegiance you earn once and forever. You could break every promise, raze everything to the ground, leave thousands of innocents to die to the Darkness, and he's the only one who won't leave. Good, devoted, collared dog Ben Finn. Because he gets it-- you're trying to keep the country from crumbling. So what if he doesn't agree with your means to that end? He'll grit and bear. He knows all too well by now what sacrifice means and what the world will take from you, that life is short, that where he's from people don't live to half his age.

He knows what it's like to watch your parents die, to have what flimsy safety net you had unravel beneath you. He knows deep, undying love for his siblings, which Logan clearly has as well-- the same way little Ben Finn tried to protect his much older brothers with his peashooter and his scrawny kid fists, Logan tried to protect his sibling by keeping them locked up and in the dark about his work. Shelter them, bear the brunt of it, so others won't have to suffer. Same mentality as Ben.

When Logan has Major Swift executed, we get to see a rare glimpse of true wrath in Ben-- that was his father figure, the last thing he had resembling a family, ripped from him. He vows to make Logan suffer, advocates for his execution after the revolution; and yet, still fights by his side in the Battle for Albion, still stands by him at Walter's funeral without complaint, still tolerates his existence. A year passes in between the coup and the Battle-- do you think, in that time, he got to see Logan more? The Allies must've had meetings to strategize, and judging by his clothing Logan's been living in the castle; they couldn't have not interacted during that year.

Do you think, then, that Ben Finn-- self-sacrificial as he's always been, now having to see his best friend struggle to run the country and avoid falling into the same pitfalls Logan did-- looked at the disgraced former king and... Got it?

He's had comrades drop like flies left and right-- honest, hard-working people with families back home, who nonetheless were in it for the greater good-- and had to get back up, dust himself off and crack a joke for the sake of morale. He's lived in Bloodstone, a festering wound on the face of Albion, doing Avo knows what; death and decay have always followed in his footsteps, and yet he's chosen to take that as just another piece of the puzzle.

Because when you're talking about saving the world, you come to see people as distant, abstract notions. And he'll always resent that Logan was pushed to those depths of madness, but he can't not get the need to take extreme measures in the face of certain doom.

After all, his best friend, his Hero, is one step away from doing the same. And in their place, he might, too. For the greater good.

So he leaves Bowerstone. Tours the world once over, relives his youth-- which wasn't so long ago, but he feels ancient by now. He's quieter now perhaps, a little more skittish; more alert to a glint of something metal in the corner of his eye, more prepared to jump into action at the groaning of a wooden floor behind him. He comes back to Albion years later, maybe a little more gray and scruffy, but still Ben Finn. Despite everything, still good old Ben Finn. In a decade or so, tensions between Samarkand and Albion will be rising-- in another four or five, Darkness will descend upon Albion once more. New Heroes will have to be made.

But for now he's home, and his friend welcomes him with open arms-- gives him a room in the castle perhaps, a generous allowance, and the odd adventuring job to keep him from getting bored. Page is still down in the sewers, directing her energy toward workers' rights and children's education, building a system that'll ensure no one's left to rot in the street. Sabine's passed by now, perhaps, but the Dwellers have been given their lands back and are represented in the Court; as are the Aurorans, who have their own embassy by now. Kalin sends letters sometimes, discusses everything from philosophy to petty gossip with the Hero. She's delighted to hear Ben's back, invites him and the Hero over sometime, maybe for a festival-- You should see Aurora nowadays, Ben, it's like a phoenix risen from the ashes! the Hero might say. And it's true-- with the Darkness gone, the "City of Nightmares" has become anything but.

He takes it all in, and something's missing-- and it's not that he, personally, misses Logan, but Logan's absence is... impossible to ignore. Like a vital piece of the scenery that's been plucked out. The Hero probably doesn't mention it, but it's evident that it stings. And maybe Ben inquires about it one night, when it's evident the Hero would like to reminisce-- lets them talk about their childhood, about growing up to see Logan go from a timid, good-hearted boy to a monster. About the way he hid his encounter with the Crawler from everyone and sunk deeper and deeper into his paranoia, convinced that no one will believe him if he tells them what he's seen. Tormented by the vision and doomed not to be trusted, the Seer's curse.

And maybe Ben decides to leave one day-- sick of rescuing chickens from wells and children from trees, he decides to surprise his best friend. And so he tracks Logan down to whatever corner of the world he's cooped up in; most likely in the libraries of Samarkand, a lonely shadow from far away lands, that talks to no one, keeps his face covered, and seems to be seeking something ineffable in the hundreds upon hundreds of yellowed pages he devours each day. Ben's arrival startles him-- he, too, is more skittish these days. And when he sees that familiar face pulled up into a scowl, Logan's sure his end has come for him.

Instead, Ben invites him home. Talks about his sibling, the way they'll never admit it but have him on their mind every waking hour. He tells Logan this isn't forgiveness-- they aren't friends. But he gets it. And after so many years, it's time to let the dust settle. Everyone should come home.

They travel back together, take the long trek from province to province until they reach the coast of Samarkand, board a ship and set sail for Albion. They live off the same small hunt, wild berries and hardtack over the journey back, drink from the same battered old flask, huddle together during storms, ward off bandits side by side. For better or worse, they become comrades-- Ben talks at length around the nightly campfire to stay sane, and eventually Logan joins him. Shares some of his own stories, perhaps-- and that's how Ben discovers the former king never wanted to be a king at all, that he did it for the sake of his parent's legacy and that he clung desperately to his moral compass until his mind broke too far to be trusted. That he always dreamt of being a scholar, perhaps an alchemist or a craftsman of some sort. That he can recite hundreds of poems and epics, that he loves literature just as fiercely as Ben does.

That he'd do anything for his friends and family, no matter how big the sacrifice.

And Ben doesn't forgive him yet, can't do it-- but they reach Bowerstone, and he watches the Hero burst into tears at the sight of their brother, older and more disheveled but alive, and he can't help but think back to being small and helpless and praying every night that his brothers might somehow, through some miracle, return to him.

And maybe sometime down the line, Logan musters up the courage to approach Ben one night and apologize. He speaks quietly, there's a tremor in his voice that's hard to miss; but Ben can tell the apology was composed with care and rehearsed heavily beforehand, and it's thorough. Logan makes no demands, he recognizes he might never be forgiven; he'll live with that, it's the consequences of his own actions, for which he'll take responsibility. Still, he apologizes.

And maybe Ben, good old Ben Finn, who by this point has only been thrust further and further into misery each time he thought he'd come to understand the horrors of the universe, finds it in his heart to forgive him. It won't undo the damage, but... he gets it. There's an understanding that goes unspoken, that Logan's actions will never be forgotten-- but they can live with that, some way or another.

And maybe as time passes, they fall further and further into each other. It's not the youthful, blazing kind of love that's all butterflies in your stomach and grand gestures-- more like furtive glances over the dinner table, correspondence during absences, or sparring matches as an excuse to spend time together. It's slow, a quiet yearning that could be tuned out, but is all the sweeter for being there at all.

They're old by the time they fall into place-- or well, older than they ever thought they'd get. Thirties, fourties perhaps. Long life still ahead of them, but an ache in their bones that's aeons old. Doesn't matter anymore. They'll nurse the ache together.

By then, perhaps, they get a house far from the bustling city life; somewhere near Brightwood perhaps, where the land's decent for farming and the past is alive-- the good parts of it, at least. Somewhere they can wake up to fresh air and rustling leaves, keep a few animals, focus on writing. And The Life and Adventures of Benjamin Finn can come to a close in a way Ben never dared to imagine, one that'll have audiences satisfied:

I lived.

[my-little-loverboy]

Our own starlight

A SFW Modern AU Halsin x Tav/Reader ficlet

“What’s something small you miss? From living in the forest I mean.”

“Starlight. It was one of the first things that really threw me off about this… place. Night is unbearably dark, yet somehow unpleasantly bright at the same time.”

TWs: Family death, grief, spoilers abt Halsins backstory.

Reader is gn and undefined besides working in a greenhouse.

AN: waugh this is just kinda word vomit following me having a really good idea. It’s entirely unedited so if you see any errors no you don’t <3

Also I am fighting for my life trying to find a voice for halsin bear with me please.

Halsin remembers being a kid in the cabin his family lived in. His mother teaching him how to cook alongside his younger siblings.

He too remembers sitting outside with his father, the chill of fall nipping at his face while he was taught how to pick good sticks for firewood; along with the promise that next year he’d be old enough to help split up logs with his father.

He remembers a thick book shared between him and his eldest sister while she taught him Druidic magic, and the terror on his mothers face when he gave himself fuzzy little bear ears (and his sister laughing because couldn’t figure out how to get rid of them.)

He remembers being sick, just a little sick. A stuffy nose and a sore throat he caught from falling into the stream in late November when the frost set into snow.

He remembers burying them all that spring.

He didn’t want to, but he knew that disease clings to corpses long after the flesh chilled. He thanked Silvanus that the illness came in December and not one of the warm months that would’ve forced him to bury them immediately lest he meet the same fate.

He remembers the following winter being warmer than usual, but little else of the year.

Halsin knows now that he had gotten lucky, unbelievably so. The gentle winter allowed him to live despite being unwilling to split his own firewood, it allowed him one year to prepare himself before he was truly forced to acknowledge the finality of it all.

He remembers finding his balance the following year. Their garden took quite of bit of work to recover after being abandoned for a year. But he managed it, along with making himself some traps based on some diagrams in an old book and the odds and ends he remembered learning about how to make them more effective from his mother.

“So… why are you here?”

They look up at him, visibly confused.

“Not that I don’t like talking to you- but it seems like you were managing fine past the first year.”

“The expansion of the city drove the animals away. Then men in suits appeared at my door asking for documents I didn’t have. Proof of ownership and deeds to the land our cabin was on. They threatened to arrest me for squatting if I didn’t leave.”

He sips his tea, it was brewed far too hot. Leaving it bitter even with sugar, but it was something he could afford, which seemed few and far between lately.

“I only recently learned what squatting actually is. They’d looked at me like I was a fool for asking”

“That’s… Gods I’m sorry. I can’t even fathom how shit that must’ve felt, I’ve always lived in the city so…”

“It isn’t all awful; being in the city. Living is a much more manageable kind of tiring.”

He was lucky to be as strong as he is, he’d manage to land a job as an unskilled labourer. As much as he resented the title he knew it wasn’t a slight, he didn’t have any of the certifications or diplomas required to hold any other station at the greenhouse he worked in. Even if he knew more about many of the plants they grew from his own personal experience working with them.

One thing of many he’d yet to get used to. Your experience doesn’t matter in the city unless you have a piece of paper proving it.

“That’s fair I suppose… I would give damn near anything to be able to be self-sufficient like that… Alas I’m doomed to forever be a slave to capitalism.”

Halsin wants to tell them that they’re not.

He wants to say that if enough people stopped thinking that they don’t have the option to rebel the entire system would fall apart.

He bites his tongue, figuratively and literally. Wincing as the sharp taste of iron settles in his mouth.

Well, it’s not like his tea could’ve gotten much worse.

“What’s something small you miss? From living in the forest I mean.”

“Starlight. It was one of the first things that really threw me off about this place. Night is unbearably dark, yet somehow unpleasantly bright at the same time.”

They nod, and ponder their tea for a beat.

“Do you have any plans tonight?”

“How forward.”

They scoff, but it lacks venom.

“Just answer me you dork.”

“No I do not.”

Their smile widens considerably.

“You do now, assuming you don’t mind coming over to my apartment.”

He nods in agreement, and they beam.

Another thing that’s definitely not awful about living in the city is them. He had met them through the greenhouse they both worked at, and had kept contact after they had quit.

The afternoon passes by as it usually does during their little dates. They would talk about their job and their cats, he would reply in kind. His tea went cold long before he finished it, and he’d thank the barista as he handed their mugs across the counter.

The walk to their apartment was nice. He realized as they spoke about the bus they missed how much he missed not being alone.

It was a long walk, he silently thanked Silvanus.

Their apartment was almost identical to his on the outside. Grey building, black doors, painfully sterile.

The inside however, was not. Almost every flat surface was plastered with posters and prints, the shelves full of knickknacks and candles more so than actual books.

“Okay so, I don’t have a couch obviously because I have a studio apartment but my bed doesn’t have the best view of the thing I want to show you.”

They push some things haphazardly out of the center of the room, before pulling a blanket off their bed and laying it out.

“Gods this is so sketchy I’m so sorry- Lay on this and close your eyes.”

“It’s alright. I trust you.”

The blanket is soft, but thin. The linoleum below digging into his shoulders as he lays down. There’s a soft click and the lights turn off, they settle beside him after a moment.

“Okay. Open your eyes.”

It takes him a second to put together what he’s looking at.

Stars. Painted on the walls and ceiling between the posters and tapestries, glowing in the dark of their apartment.

“It’s obviously not as pretty as real stars but… I dunno I’ve never been far enough out of town to see many real ones so I made my own starlight.

“It’s beautiful.”

He doesn’t need to be able to see them to know they’re smiling.

© cakeboxie •• 2023 •• Please do not translate/repost. reblogs are appreciated and requests are open!

Part of the @eveningatthrmoviesnetwork

~~

Taglist: @yarnnerdally • @starrry-angel • @yuelqnn • @yeonpm • @beardedladyqueen

Wanna be added? Send me an ask off anon and lmk if you want to be on the sfw only list!

[spidermasc]

we know Rhiannon doesn’t have many (or any) friends, much less a partner (yet 😍)….and let’s just say she doesn’t get along with her parents very well either. whether it be she fights a lot with them, they don’t see her as successful, she has too many siblings and they forgot about her for most of her life, or they just plain forgot they had a daughter in general.

so don’t think about how she returns home every night from her job to an silent, empty trailer. don’t think about all the meals she’s eaten by herself. definitely don’t think about all the Valentines Days Halloweens, Thanksgivings, Christmases, New Years countdowns, and birthdays she’s spent alone, by herself.

don’t think about her setting out a bowl of candy for kids on Halloween that always goes untouched because everyone forgets to stop by her trailer, no matter how decorated it is. don’t think about her having to take that untouched bowl back inside the day after either.

don’t think about her eating Thanksgiving dinners or waking up on Christmas day alone. don’t think about how every holiday movie she watches, no matter how evil or bad the main character is in the start, they always end up surrounded by their family and friends (Home Alone, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, etc.), while she sits alone on her couch year after year.

don’t think about her baking herself a cake on her birthday and blowing out the candles by herself. don’t think about her buying herself a birthday gift and even wrapping it just so she can unwrap something on her birthday, even if she already knows what it is.

don’t think about her watching the ball drop on New Year’s Eve and cheering, only to look around and realize there’s no one to celebrate with her.

don’t think about how she’s been doing these things, alone, for YEARS. she’s stopped eagerly waiting to see if someone, anyone, will finally notice it’s her birthday and say Happy Birthday to her, because she knows everyone will forget. she’s stopped decorating her trailer and setting out candy because the kids never take any. she’s stopped waiting by her phone for the text or call that will never come.

so don’t think about how she just sits by herself in that empty trailer, doomed forever to be alone.

-💋

(SIKEEEEEE READER SWOOPS IN AND MAKES SURE SHES NEVER ALONE AGAIN — thought/fic idea coming soon)

you will pay for what you did..... this is so depressing.

rhiannon who always sends her parents letters in the mail asking how they are and giving updates in her life but she never gets anything back... no birthday cards no nothing! not even birthday cards from her co-workers when she makes it her mission to let everyone know weeks in advance and is excited when she sees a paper on her desk when she walks in on the day only to find it is a list of emails she needs to write today :/

coworker!reader becoming her secret admirer and leaving her notes around the office saying how you much you like her hair when it's up and OMG. office halloween party where you 'meet' each other but you're wearing a mask so she can't tell who you are........waiittttt...

[canmom]

Animation Night 179: Unicorn Wars

Hey everyone! Real brief blurb tonight because I talked about Alberto Vázquez last week - tonight I'm going to be re-running Unicorn Wars since last week it was way too late for people to attend!

Unicorn Wars could be roughly described as Apocalypse Now with teddy bears. We encounter a world in which a militaristic country of teddies is locked in a revanchist forever-war against the unicorns who now occupy the Magic Forest. It is a conflict in part religious in nature: the bears are convinced that whoever drinks the blood of the last unicorn will enter into a transcendant state of being.

Our story concerns a fresh batch of recruits, sent on a mission that none of them know is sacrificial. Led by a sergeant who has no idea what he's in for and a reserved priest, they set out with grenades and bows and arrows to find out what became of a lost unit.

Our main characters are a pair of brothers, Azulín and Gordi, or Bluey and Tubby as the English sub renders it. Both of them are deeply screwed up by their parents separation and their mothers' death; Azulín in particular, who took more after their father, has a determination to prove himself at whatever cost, and a contemptuous, bullying relationship to his brother.

But we also encountere the rest of the doomed bears and there are some real characters. The bear culture is a fascinating blend of cute fluffy signifiers and militaristic ones, joined into one nihilistically eugenic competition for status. There's a real fascination in the animation with the physicality of the bears' bodies, the way they squish around, messy scenes of eating, and of course a great deal of gore. You see quite a bit of teddybear pp.

Naturally the mission goes south fast. A lurid trip on colourful bugs brings the first casualties - a fantastic blast of psychedelia - but the teddies are also completely unprepared for fighting the unicorns. Or their willingness to murder each other. In the end, Azulín and Gordi are the only survivors, surviving off the land - and then things really take a turn.

Of the unicorns, we learn much less. One unicorn, María, is something of a deuteragonist - desperately searching for her missing sibling, she finds an old church, where the apes of the forest worship a strange, morphing fleshy entity. We do not immediately see what becomes of this - but María ends up falling afoul of the two surviving bears. Azulín attacks Maria while Gordi can only watch; Azulín hits María multiple times but is ultimately pierced by a young unicorn and cast into the river, leaving María alone with Gordi. (In contrast, in the original short, the Gordi analogue kills the Azulín analogue after they kill a unicorn.)

Azulín, horribly injured, washes up back at the main teddybear base, where the military higherups attempt to make a figurehead of him - completely failing to anticipate his capacity to turn their own forces against them and stage a coup. Where the previous command was simply using the war as a way to stay in power, vengeful Azulín is a true zealot and mobilises the full teddybear army against the unicorns. Meanwhile, Gordi has managed to forge an unlikely friendship with the unicorn María who he has nursed back to health after Bluey's attack.

Vázquez is no stranger to blending cute imagery and extremely dark themes. In contrast to Psiconautas, which felt like a story of the forlorn hope of escape against the bleakness of the world, Unicorn Wars seems more bleak and nihilistic. You know none of this is going to end well; the ending pushes it into a direction of alchemical synthesis, and we'll talk about it when we get there in the film.

Unicorn Wars generally looks amazing, vividly coloured and elegantly blending 2D and 3D animation. And well, there's a reason for that: like I Lost My Body, which shared many of the same animators, this is an all-Blender production, using Grease Pencil for 2D animation, and a very inventive process for the unicorns where the 3D render is converted to a 2D grease pencil drawing which can be further edited by the anmiators. The result is that the unicorns get the sense of life that comes from the slightly imperfections 2D animation, and yet the precise perspective of 3D animation. It's a fantastic showcase of what Blender's 2D-in-3D can enable, and it honestly just makes me really happy to see from a tech-art perspective.

In short, Unicorn Wars is an intense, bleak and also very funny film, I loved it. If you have a reasonable threshold for gore, I hope you'll come to see it with me!

Also check out this cool pixel art of Azulín I found in the gif picker, by @none-dc. (He's such a little shit and this captures it so well.)

Animation Night 179 will be going live now at twitch.tv/canmom, going live now with the film to start in about half an hour (21:50 UK time) - hope to see you there!

[fizzingwizard]

Something else I love about Moomins...

When I was a kid, like nine or ten years old, I had a book called What Kay Did. In the book, Katy is a selfish and mean young girl, who falls off a swing and I think breaks her back or something. As a result, she can't walk, and is cooped up inside and miserable. Little by little, she learns how her nasty behavior made her siblings afraid of her and not want to be with her, and now that she can't go out and amuse herself, she's really dependent on them for fun. So she learns to be nice. She becomes almost saintly, really.

Then, near the end of the book, the family finds out that there's a possibility that Katy will be able to walk again. And instead of being happy for her, the siblings say, "But she's become so nice since she got hurt. If she heals, will she be mean again?" Fortunately, Katy both relearns how to walk, and stays nice, so everyone's happy.

I hated this book. And it's not like, as a kid, I wasn't familiar with moralizing children's books where the main character learned a lesson and grew into a better person. I knew exactly what the book was doing. I just hated it. And I also knew that the siblings weren't meant to be interpreted as cold and indifferent for their lack of enthusiasm on hearing Katy might walk again. It's probably realistic even, if you've been bullied by someone before, to worry that a return to the circumstances where they bullied you would trigger it again. Still I hated them. I hated the book for telling me Katy had to behave a certain way for her to deserve to walk. Even though the way she used to be was truly awful. And I hated the book for requiring me to sympathize with the siblings, who had been treated badly by Katy, when what I really thought was that their resistance her recovery, however brief, was worse than anything she'd done to them in the past.

I hated being told what to think. I hated being preached at about right and wrong. And more than anything, I hated that Katy went through a character arc so dramatic that, in the end, she was completely unrecognizable as the girl in chapter one. That was meant to be good thing, because chapter one Katy was an asshole. But even as a kid, I didn't believe people change that much. Katy ended up more or less a saint. Always kind, always giving, always patient. Because of that, her relearning to walk came across like a reward for being a good person.

I haven't picked up this book again since I was a kid. So I may be forgetting important points. It's always possible I'd feel differently as an adult. That's my disclaimer, but i don't really think so. Because it's not like this kind of book was unusual. Another one comes to mind, the title of which I've forgotten, which was about a plate. In the world of plates, if you let just anyone eat off you, you wound up a dirty paper plate no one wanted. But if you waited and remained pure and clean, one day the King himself would change you into a beautiful porcelain plate and you'd be part of his household. It was a metaphor for Christianity and for virginity. It was more preachy BS.

Part of the reason I hated it was because I really took it to heart. I felt that I was horrible like Katy, and that unless I could achieve her saintliness, I would be always coming up short. Every time I committed a sin, even just in my head, I felt like I was back at square one. And I was doomed to fail, because of course it's impossible to be as good as Katy. We can change some. We can strive for self-improvement. But we'll be fighting our demons forever. (And in the book's defense, I believe I remember a scene where Katy admits she still struggles with her temperament later on, but she does her best not to let it affect her siblings.) With the plates, same thing: you can't live a totally pure and clean life. No one can. In Christianity, that's supposed to be a prerequisite for being human: we are all sinners, all of us. The goal is to try your best to live a righteous life and to be humble. But there's so much judgment and so many attacks on people who falter, and so much smug superiority among those who are convinced they are living righteously.

The Moomins books say something completely different. They were about self-acceptance. "All nice things are good for you," Moominmamma says. That would never fly in my Christian children's literature. And it's not like the Moomin book were anti-religious. (on a tangent: I wondered if what Moomintroll left under the fir tree, the thing that he didn't even tell Snufkin about, was meant to be him giving his soul to God on Christmas. It's impossible for me to tell whether I read that story right or if my deeply religious upbringing is screwing with me again.)

The Moomins don't say it's fine to be a bully or it's fine to do things that hurt you or others. But they don't go around breaking your back for being a bully or rejecting you eternally for not doing what you're told. Things happen in Moomins - characters make choices in step with their nature, and although they rub each other the wrong way sometimes, it always turns out that there was this or that reasoning and no one's really right or wrong. They're all just people. Moomins doesn't expect you to ever try to be perfect. And hiding your demons doesn't protect your family from them, rather it creates more distance between you and makes it harder to support each other and feel supported.

Characters in Moomins aren't so dynamic. But they also aren't completely stagnant. No character would undergoes the vast change that Katy did, or the complete transformation of the porcelain plate. Instead, characters are confronted with themselves again and again. And, again and again, they learn to accept themselves warts and all. A hemulen is a hemulen, a fillyonk is a fillyjonk and it's no use for them to try to be anything else, because that's what they are. Sometimes they're fed up with it and yearn to be anyone else. It's only natural, because no one is perfect, so we can always find bits of ourselves to hate. But inevitably they'll miss themselves. It's when characters listen to voices that tell them they're not enough, whether those voices are internal or external, that they become nasty and mean and mistreat each other.

There are no real bad guys in Moomins. We can only wonder what would happen if someone really mean were ever introduced. But the stories aren't missing such a character - they especially aren't missing the chance to chastise their young readers for their imperfections and urge them to be righteous because otherwise, hell awaits. I much prefer the take that everyone has their own personality and temperament and history, which informs their actions, and that most of the difficulties people have with each other come from not respecting that. You can't have a community by forcing everyone to be the same. A community is different people making the same choice to support each other's differences.

Actually, there is one bad guy in Moomins. It's the aunt in "The Invisible Child." Notably, she doesn't feature in the story. The story is about helping Ninny. About Ninny learning that she is important. That she doesn't deserve to be mistreated and degraded, her every misstep nitpicked. That her wants, her needs, her voice matters. Her cruel aunt doesn't matter at all. So she's not part of the story.

And, when Ninny rediscovers who she is, she's praised in this way: "She's even worse than Little My." I wonder how different Katy's story would have been, if she had Little My to knock some sense into her, without also sapping her of her individuality. I bet that plate never would have become porcelain either, but would have enjoyed life in the Moominhouse cupboard just as much.

[destiny-in-the-universe]

let's talk angst

i keep thinking about causing harm on my main muses- major character injury, disorientation, near-death experience, doomed by the narrative- anything and all of it

give me a muse who is on the brink of death on the battlefield (blood spills from the wound, they grit their teeth; hand pressed to their side before groaning, struggling to move-). give me the muse who attempts to stand back up, their body protesting as they can't give in now. their team needs them, they can't afford to lose the war (they have to keep going-). there is something in their eyes, screaming this can't be the end

give me the muse who is captured by the enemy- (they bare their teeth, wild and primal, as they glare defiantly at their captors; their spirit could never be broken, they won't go down without a fight). give me a muse who refuses to be seen as weak, they won't be damaged goods. they defiantly glare at their captor, declaring someone will come and they will get out of this. give me the muse who refuses to cry and beg even in the face of torture and torment, give me the muse who screams but even then they grin- blood coating their teeth- "is that the best you've got?"

give me the muse who is determined to hold strong until the very end; even a proud and strong warrior might not hold on against the feeling cracking against their back. water drips down their hair, and blood stains the pavement as they struggle (the enemy smiles, gripping them by the chin as they coo, "no one is coming to save you, my dear"-). give me a muse who wants to hold on before their will crumbles and they break (they whimper, a choked cry leaving their lips as the light finally begins to fade from their eyes-)

give me the muse who refuses to cry; give me the muse who acts like nothing has changed- they won't break over anything, they're fine (they've always been okay- they have to be or everything will fall apart; no one else can see them like this because how would they see them then? they can't even see themselves like this, it's just too much to bear). they suck it up, putting on a grimace- or school their face into neutrality, and speak- "chin up, you can get through another day" to their friends and offer the comfort when it's needed (some might just scoff, "you can't get through life wallowing in your own self misery. get up and keep going.") eventually something in them snaps- something in them severs and it's like they're falling, and the dam breaks-

give me the muses who've come back wrong, they aren't human anymore. they are something else (something other); they are the product of war, soldiers who know nothing else. give me the muses who have lost everything- give me the muses who reach their limit and are willing to let death's door claim them

give me the muses who are already walking into the flames, knowing nothing else but their own self desutrction

(is that you in the mirror? is it truly you- things were much simpler back then, weren't they? you had a dream back then, hopes and goals you thought would you were bright-eyed and then it was taken from you- who are you, really?)

give me the broken, the deserted, the quiet. the older siblings made parents too soon, too young- give me anyone who just needs to find their path again (and those who are forever bound by their actions, the factors around them-)

give me the fallen warriors

[kyouka-supremacy]

Gin is such a tricky character. They've got a very good premise and compelling relations with other characters which makes them very interesting to explore. They have near to no screentime which makes everybody have a personal and original idea of what their personality is like with equal canon basis, so that in the end it feels like the fandom is filled with as many different Gin-ocs as people that are in it. I'm forever pursuing the objective, doomed to be unsuccessful by its own premise, of finding a fanfiction that features a Gin characterization that perfectly aligns with my own Gin-oc.

Anyways, meet my Gin-oc:

I already mentioned this, but Gin and Ryuunosuke aren't biologically related. Back in the slums, everyone assumed they were for their similar looks and how they never left each other's side, and they never bothered correcting them; what did it matter anyways? In the end, when all their friends were slaughtered, they ended up being the only family they had.

Gin's quite confident actually: she could cut your throat at any given moment, and she knows it. That's the consequence of always having been quite spoiled by Ryuunosuke: not really with words, but it'd be extremely rare for him to criticize anything she does, and he would let her win on everything more often than not. She is the youngest sibling. The difference in age feels a lot bigger than what it actually is.

Gin's the blunt, sharp type; doesn't talk a lot, but when she does it's sure to cut you. She's similar to Ryuunosuke in that. She's the only one who can speak back to the most feared pm member without fearing consequences... And it shows.

The only thing that intimidates Gin is for people that have only ever known her in her work attire to see her in civilian clothes, or the other way round.

Gin is also a little naive compared to their brother: she doesn't contemplate the endless fight between good and evil or what it means to take a person's life like Ryuunosuke is used to, she just gets her job done. She's younger than Ryuunosuke and, although she's still a feared Port Mafia operative, I think she is fairly more immature than him, also given the fact that, again, Ryuunosuke used to spoil her and always tried to shield her from seeing the most gruesome, terrifying sides of the world. It's not like he managed to keep her blind to everything, she is from the slums too and she did see her family being slaughtered in front of her eyes and she does know how cruel the world can be a thousand times more than your average Yokohama citizen; it's just slightly better than it is with Ryuunosuke, that's it. And keep in mind that to me Ryuunosuke is quite naive too, so they're also close in this.

Gin and Ryuunosuke live together. Ryuunosuke moved them to a little rented apartment as soon as he could when he started receiving pm retribution, and they later moved to a big flat when he got promoted to command unit (the apartment was destroyed after Dazai left the pm because. yeah).

Ryuunosuke was actually against Gin joining the pm too. He never contemplated it being a possibility when he accepted to join himself. But Gin never had any intention to sit around uselessly, and was going to join whether Ryuunosuke liked it or not. He eventually gave in, reasoning the pm would have protected her, so it was all for her to be safe (a little naive thinking on his end, but he was young too).

The one and only time Ryuunosuke ever got mad at Gin was when he found out that she killed someone for the first time. Which like, what else did he expect ever since she joined the mafia? And yet he had thought (perhaps, hoped) that her role would be limited to low stakes missions, and that she would have maintained a low rank (he's a little stupid). He was furious. Which sounds quite hypocrite given the fact that he's killed countless people, but the thing is in his mind he always was the only one supposed to stain himself with sin, never Gin. Despite all the lives he's taken, I have reason to believe Akutagawa still values life and understands what burden it is to take other people's; a burden that Gin should had never known. He's quite the protective kind. But Gin is not afraid of Ryuunosuke (of course, he's her dear brother), and she wasn't afraid to speak back at him; in the end, she did what she wanted, but it was a tough tooth to swallow for Ryuunosuke.

No one has to know they're siblings– no one. Ryuunosuke is dead serious on the matter and mildly obsessed by it; he's tormented by the idea of any of his enemies getting revenge on him through Gin, and that's literally his greatest fear and worst nightmare (not only Gin dying, but also Gin's death being his fault). The only people to know they're related are the executives and Hirotsu; if Ryuunosuke ever found out anyone else knew, he would instantly hunt them down and kill them, no matter who they were. At work, Gin and Ryuunosuke act like they don't know each other; Gin never protested, because she understands just how vital the matter is for their brother, and how it would be impossible to change his mind on this.

Gin and Ryuunosuke love each other more than anything. They're always going to be each other's priority, always, I can't stretch this enough. 50% of the reasons Ryuunosuke joined the pm to begin with was because of Gin, because he wanted to take her away from the slums, because he wanted her to be safe. Yet they just... Have no idea how to help or comfort each other. Both of them are entirely inadequate with words when it's about comforting someone. So their only way to show affection ended up just being there for each other, silently. I can picture, in one of Akutagawa's lowest moments, when months of being beaten up are starting to really feel on his already frail body, and his illness is starting to emerge, him vomiting blood at home; and Gin just being next to him without saying a word– because what could she possibly say? But she's still there, next to him, and she's the most important thing for him; and it doesn't make the world any less cruel, doesn't lessen the pain that's killing both of them, but at least there's some sort of white comfort in knowing they're not facing it alone. I really believe that as much as Dazai worked to dehumanize Ryuunosuke, tried to make of him a mindless killing beast only existing to follow orders, Gin was the only thing left to keep Ryuunosuke hanging to the glimmer of humanity left in him. On that front, I find the relationship between them to be similar to the one Kyouka and Atsushi share in Beast: their life is walking through the darkest of nightmares, but they do so holding each other's hand.

Although, those moments of connection became always less frequent as time passed and both of them grew up. The more time Ryuunosuke spent working for the pm under Dazai, the more he was reluctant to show himself vulnerable, the more they grew apart. Ryuunosuke was going through a very hard time and for him it was of vital importance that Gin had nothing to do with it. On Gin's end, it was draining to have to powerlessly, passively witness her brother slowly destroy himself and his own humanity without being able to do anything about it, and ironically that led to her distancing herself from Ryuunosuke in turn. In a funny, cruel way, seeing Ryuunosuke so pained without being able to do anything about it activated the fight or flight response the slums installed in her: since there was nothing immediately tangible she could fight against, her instinctive response was to run away from the situation. I just feel like powerlessly having to see a dear one suffer so deeply without being able to do anything has the potential to be even more painful than having to bear the suffering yourself, and I can see how she would have wanted to distance herself from it. Gin and Ryuunosuke didn't move away or anything, but the time they spent together significantly decreased to the point they were both actively avoiding each other. Ryuunosuke was constantly moody and angry at the world and although it was never - ever - directed at Gin, can you really blame her if she didn't want to spend time with him? It's hard for me to explain this without making it sound like Gin didn't care about Akutagawa, wasn't aware and suffered from his pain, didn't want to help him; because she really did care, and was concerned for his suffering, and wanted to help. It's just something really hard to deal with on daily basis when it drags on for several years, and there's so little you can do, especially if the person you want to help would rather die than let you help them.

It got better, though. I feel like Ryuunosuke touched the bottom when Dazai left the pm. But his and Gin's relationship got better after that. Very slowly, very gradually, but it got better. I like to think something switched in Ryuunosuke with the Moby Dick fight, and he started to change. And if he had to change, he decided to start from his relationship with Gin, because she's the person he cares about the most. He tried to be there for her more often, tried to spend more time with her, and it made her so happy. It took a while, and it was a little awkward at first: after all, Ryuunosuke is still his brooding self, who will tell her “It's been a while // Let's go home” with a frown on his face; but even despite that, what matters is that he's still there where he wasn't before, he's there wanting to spend time with her, and Gin is overjoyed by it, and she smiles sweetly to him. They're fixing their bond together, and I think they will get there! I think they will get their close-to-normal siblings relationship.

Differently from Ryuunosuke, Gin actually grew to quite like her job, especially after the Black Lizard was born. Hirotsu soon enough became the closest to a father figure she could have ever wished for. And she has lots of fun with Tachihara– in a way, they share much more of a siblings relationship than she and Ryuunosuke ever had. They constantly jab at each other, they have inside jokes; they threaten each other's lives on the daily but unfailingly have each other's back in battle. Gin eventually opened up a lot to Tachihara, who she felt like was the only one who could really understand her; she had found a solid common ground in their shared experience of having a distant older brother they struggled to connect with. And she trusted the sentiment was mutual, that Tachihara opened up to her as much as she did to him, completely oblivious to his half-truths. When she found out he was a spy– when he told her he was a spy, it broke her. She felt deeply, thoroughly betrayed; it changed her. She's not much the forgiving type. (talked about the Black Lizard dynamics some more here)