#further edits by cynthia

[cyn-write]

I cannot thank @bunnwich enough for drawing Cynthia! She is STUNNING and I love the little details! Please support bunnwich and their amazing artwork!!

Now without further ado: Cynthia Widow

Background: Cyn does not talk much about life pre-mirror. She mentions her Grandfather but that is all. Whenever anyone asks she stays vague and switches topics. The only one who knows anything about her past is Lilia and that is That.

Time at Night Raven: She loves being at NRC. Between the great friends, the magic education, and the interesting events that keep happening, she has no desire to find a way to her ‘home’. She has already made a new family with Grim, Grace, the guys at NRC, and the incoming girls now that Crowley has declared the school to be Co-Ed. The constant Overblots are kind of a bother, but they also allow her to get to understand the dark side of the school's most powerful. Things get even more interesting when the “Thatch School for Troubled Mages” join NRC as the new members of Ramshackle. Now with a dorm of 8 troublemakers, she is learning what it takes to be a leader and starts to discover another side of herself, a darker side that fits in with her dormmates and her school.  

Personality: At first glance, Cyn looks like the stereotypical Good Girl: patient, kind, considerate, and funny, but that was a pure mask. The longer she stays at NRC, the more her true colors start to reveal themselves. She is cunning, sly, intelligent, mischievous, and curious. She becomes more herself. Outspoken, stating her opinions, ideas, beliefs, and her new seen darkness matched her peers and scares most. She likes to solve puzzles whether it is people problems or board games. She is determined, headstrong, and organized which makes her a great dorm leader. She is able to deduce the risk of situations and likes to take chances with her dice. There are times she is too scary, mischievous, or cold due to "unfavorables" and that is when she becomes, as Floyd calls it “The Barracuda”. But she is generally a good person, but when someone pushes her too far, she can get… scary… Boogie Man Scary.

Trivia:

She has a weird fondness for spiders. Whenever she sees one, she watches it for a while and only moves it if absolutely necessary (i.e. someone will kill it and she isn’t there to stop them)

Lilia calls her Lady Luck since things always seem to work out in her favor, in luck games at least (This started when she won three games of Yahtzee in a row).

Idia thought she was actually the boogie madam from his nightmares since the first time they met it was dark and in one of her "moods".

She loves to analyze movies and books. She has notebooks full of notes, connections, and theories from all different kinds of media. She loves Claymation and animation in particular as she appreciates the artwork that goes into creating feature-length films.

Her study playlist is full of movie soundtracks and, if asked, she can tell you exactly what’s going on in the movie at any point in any song. (Carter likes to quiz her, and the only time she lost was on a movie she had yet to see)

Her Mom glare and scheming smile are her scariest faces according to the majority of the school, she is second only to the Leech Twins.

Her prized position is a necklace with a spider pendant made from amethyst and silver. It is the only thing she has from her world and she refuses to take it off.

Floyd called her Shrimpy when they first met, but after he saw her ‘other side’ when they scammed her friends, he quickly change her nickname to “Barracuda”

If you have any other questions about Cynthia, please don't hesitate to ask! Also, go support @bunnwich and their amazing artwork!

Also if you want to know more about Cynthia and Grace's story, be sure to check out my Fanfic: "Dark-Underland: A Different Twisted Tale."

Edits were made: 7/14/2023

[holdoncallfailed]

can you do a longlist of the books about strong girl protags and female friendships, etc. that were really impactful/your favorites so i know what to gift/rec any young girls in my life?

aww!! i would literally love nothing more than to compile such a list ty anon. i tried to put them in an order vaguely representative of youngest audiences to older...i'm not sure how well some of these would hold up in 2023 but they're all ones i remember enjoying and having an impact on me somehow...

not one damsel in distress by jane yolen

the daring book for girls by andrea j. buchanan & miriam peskowitz

the whole dear america series!!!!!!!!!!!!!

the ordinary princess by m. m. kaye

the caddie woodlawn series by carol ryrie brink

walk two moons by sharon creech (i used to have whole passages of this book memorized because i read it so often...potentially the most formative one on this list)

because of winn-dixie by kate dicamillo

the scholastic encyclopedia of U.S. women by sheila keenan (my elementary school art teacher had this book in her classroom library and i remember flipping through it when i was hanging around after school while my mom was doing PTA stuff...it was the first time i'd heard of so many of those women and further stoked my interest in history. i remember being so disturbed [and also intrigued] by the entry about ethel rosenberg specifically. i'm sure there are more updated versions of the book but this is the particular edition i remember reading.)

the penderwick sisters series by jeanne birdsall

bloomability by sharon creech

everything on a waffle by polly horvath

the tracy beaker series by jacqueline wilson

the outcasts of 19 schuyler place by e. l. konigsburg (also extremely formative)

saffy's angel / the whole casson family series by hilary mckay (i used to carry these books around with me as if they were security blankets)

p.s. longer letter later and snail mail no more by paula danziger & ann m. martin

the secret language of girls by frances o'roarke dowell

the tail of emily windsnap by liz kessler

savvy by ingrid law

love, stargirl by jerry spinelli (idk if any book had more of an impact on me as a child tbh like this rocked my world so completely i still think about it/quote it all the time. i know a lot of people read stargirl in school and honestly i don't think it's that good but the sequel is so underrated. so read it.)

a perfect gentle knight by kit pearson

feathers by jacqueline woodson

habibi by naomi shihab nye

the anastasia krupnik series by lois lowry

criss cross by lynne rae perkins

ella enchanted by gail carson levine........OBVIOUSLY

esperanza rising by pam muñoz ryan

kira-kira by cynthia kadohata

the city of ember by jeanne duprau

bad girls by cynthia voigt (tbh i REALLY don't know how this one holds up but i remember thinking it was pretty edgy as a kid)

little women by louisa may alcott

hurt go happy by ginny rorby

persepolis by marjane satrapi (obviously for slightly older readers)

the aforementioned rookie yearbook, natch. (also older)

[rai-knightshade-art]

BEHOLD! THE GRAND FINALE!

(Yes it's vaguely Jeca coded don't @ me I couldn't help it. At least I reigned it in and left all the others ship-free, cause believe it or not I DO have some self control.)

Do you and your beloved need matching Valentine's? Well look no further cause here's the perfect pair! (Tag yourself I'm Jesse 😂.)

And that concludes this year's edition of:

Shitty! MS! Paint! Valentines!!!!!!

(stay tuned for next year when I hopefully have Amy and Cynthia Rose drawn finally 😅)

[splatoomenjoyer]

can someone please help me with this (edit: figured it out, song is no longer there)

so I was on Spotify and I saw that maretu uploaded a new song, but I’m so confused by it?? it’s called Sendan Life and apparently (I did like 5 minutes of googling I could be wrong) it’s some old song that was popular on osu. I checked with my friend bc I thought it might be a bug, but no it’s on her screen too. I reverse searched the image from the single and the girl in the photo is some random girl (Cynthia Ayala ) from insta, which only serves to confuse me further

??

[terribletoonietuesday]

Cool Cat Saves the Kids (2015)

So I've known of this for ages and deep down I figured the masses of clips online was all I needed but here we go. Glad I watched this at the beginning of my Painathon of Doom so I wasn't grumpy and tired cause as much as I enjoyed this it does suck and it is stupid as fuck. It says theis version is the 'Directors cut". I wonder what had to be cut out before ? Is this the version with Cool Cats full frontal nudity or does he kill a man in this cut? The film is made by a guy called Derek Savage who stars in the movie as Cool Cats dad. Cool cat calls him daddy Derek which sounds like it's alluding to Derek being divorced and Cool Cat was raised by his mom and "other dad". But we eventually meet Cool Cats mom, who is also a giant cat and we find she is married to human Derek. So Derek is his second dad. Cool Cats mom left her mascot costume husband for Derek because Derek owns a construction company and has a lot of money. They flirt alot and Derek looks so longingly at Cat Mom, it's totally a furry thing. The movie starts with Cool Cat in his large Beverly Hills house with his parents. So Derek Savage is a rich guy and yet this is still the bullshit he makes. Basically there is no plot and sure eventually Cool Cat tries to teach a bully how to be nice but mainly it's just a day in the life of Cool Cat filmed like a reality show. In the first five minutes Cool Cat paints and Derek tells him how good he is. Then cool cat wants to record a rap song so Derek records it and it's the most embarrassing thing you've ever seen. I've heard the song before but when you see Derek's reaction faces it's twice as bad. Cool Cat is dubbed in post BUT he still sounds like a guy in a mascot head. There is a second rap further in the movie but with no explanation Cool Cat has a different voice for that one (obviously they heard how awful the first one was). In less than 5 minutes Cool cat has basically preached to us about politeness and positivity and then for no reason we get a whole lesson on recycling. This "film" is about a dozen PSA shorts edited in one. We are still only 6 minutes in Derek takes Cool cat on a motorcycle ride but neither wears a helmet. So I see how it is Cool Cat your American Christian values only apply to what you found important and no real basis of rules or reasoning. I knew Derek Savage was a questionably odd and problematic person but he makes you forget the whole bully sub plot as he just shows himself off. Showing off his real house, his Van Halen signed guitar , there is a super creepy scene where we watch him practice martial arts with Kana blades on a tree in his backyard for no reason at all. My favorite scene is where Derek takes Cool Cat to a slum house that he is remodeling. The way he pushes Cool Cat into the house (because obviously he can't see where he is going) . Derek places Cool Cat against a wall that he needs to knock down and then goes to get a sledge hammer while talking oddly slowly. I thought oh this is it this is when Derek kills Cool Cat with a hammer and leaves him to die in this abandoned house. Sadly he just shows him how to knock a wall. Derek then gets an axe and we legit learn he is nuts. But sadly Cool Cat survives. Oh yeah Erik Estrada , Vivika A Fix and Cynthia Rothrock show up and it is super awkward. However if you see all the Asylum productions and similar films they have all done in recent years you know Cool Cat was not the worst thing they've done. I have not even talked about the cliche bully kid who obviously gets bullied way more than anyone else in this film. But I got so much more in this Painathon today so I guess you just got to watch it yourself. Oh shit I've been writing so much on this garbage. I feel weak after the dark twist ending and I'm only one film in but I'm already dizzy. I have legit lots brain cells and dropped huge levels of IQ. This is not a good sign. Not cool.

[the-ratronaut]

Okay, so I just wanna ramble about some Alan Wake stuff. Particularly, what the fuck is going on with the character Thomas Zane and my theory on it. Fair warning, this has spoilers and also I am not completely done with my playthrough of AW2's final draft. I got a couple more chapters to go so if anything happens in the last few that makes me look stupid here that's my own fault for playing slowly.

This is a long post, so I'll keep it under a cut.

Okay, so what the fuck is going on with Zane? Every time he appears Tom has been radically different. We have the poet Tom from the original game, the clone of Alan from Control and the wild filmmaking auteur from 2. The games provide the explainations for Tom's changing background by saying the poet was a fictional character made up by the filmmaker Tom that he was taking the role of... but is that true? Personally, I think it is not, or at least was no, true.

There are multiple characters who still remember the poet and his works, Alan, Jesse Faden and Cynthia Weaver in particular. Now, I can't say exactly why that is with any authority, but I have a guess. All three of those people have something in common, they are deeply connected to the paranatural. Alan for obvious reasons, Jesse due to her connection to Polaris and Cynthia due to her connection to both the clicker, the angel lamp and Zane as an entity.

Now why does that matter? Simple, Saga Anderson and the Anderson brothers already showed in AW2 that due to their paranatural abilities as seers they are able to shrug off the changes in reality brought on by the Dark Place. Now we can't say for sure if this is true for all parautilitarians, we can say that there is precedence for it. If that fact applies to the three listed above, we can make an assumption about the truth about Zane.

If my leaps in logic are actually sound, then that implies that the original Zane was not a filmmaker, but was in fact a poet. It brings into question the current Zane. It implies that there must have been a shift in reality that changed Zane into a filmmaker. Now I can't say why this happened, there's a lot of failed plans that Alan had in the Dark Place and it could've been the result of one of those that brought about the current Zane... but that still doesn't explain everything, does it?

There was an ARG that Sam Lake put on after AW1 that centered around a blog called "This House of Dreams". It was about a woman moving into a house in a town called Ordinary (This happening 10 years after the Ordinary AWE). There's a lot going on in this blog but to sum it up she finds a shoebox full of poems by Zane and receives dreams explaining things further seemingly from Zane. The last of those dreams implying that the Zane we see in AW1 is not the original Zane, but a "bright presence" who Zane gave his body to as he dived into the Dark Place, using his last poem to create a safe haven within it for himself and the original Barbara Jagger.

So, that gives us a fourth Zane to account for, while also changing what we know about the Zanes we've already seen. This also implies that the Zane we know from AW1 was probably also a creation of Alan's as his fate doesn't match the one from This House of Dreams. It also solidifies the idea that the original Zane was not a filmmaker, as we see even more of his work. This all together means that no Zane we've met in a game has been unaltered by the story.

Not, what do I think this all means? I think there are at least two, but probably three separate Zanes. The solid two are the Poet who left this reality, and the Bright Presence who took Zane's form and is the one we know from AW1. Looking at the filmmaker Zane is where this gets weird. I believe one of two things is true. Either they are still the Bright Presence but they've been so heavily edited by Alan's writing that they are unrecognizable. Or they are a third entity that at some point latched onto Alan's writing for their own goals. If AW2 Zane is still the bright presence, it wouldn't explain the hostility and desperation he showed towards Alan, not unless Alan's rewrites really did change it to something very different from the benevolent diving suited entity in AW1. If it's a different being entirely, that begs the question of what the hell happened to the bright presence in the last 13 years. Not to mention why is the Control Zane so identical to Wake? Is that one some sort of form of the filmmaker that's still a WIP that Alan is writing? One where the details still needed to be filled out?

[ranger-kellyn]

i've probably said it in the past, but one of the things i'm weirdly looking forward to with my writing going forward is knowing that i will not be posting a new story until it is 100% complete.

one of the things my fic Second Chances is suffering from is there's a bunch of things i've thought of now that i would have loved to explore further. i wish i would have explored cynthia's side of things more. i wish i would have dug into more of her internal turmoil of "my mom died when i was young, my sister ended up being a teenage mother because our grandmother was hellbent on punishing her instead of helping her, i have no idea of who i really even AM, i put all my energy and focus into college, and my girlfriend who is this burgeoning actress, and oops girlfriend left me without a reason and i'm close to graduating and now i really don't know who i am, and oh my fucking god now grandmother is dying and i have no closure on her AND ex-girlfriend clearly left me for some famous rich man and i'm Spiraling" and UGH there's so much more i know i could have done better.

Getaway Car is suffering massively from "the thought police online are going to Get Me because there's some dubious morals in this story--like diantha DID basically cheat on Mel, too by all technicalities". also. cynthia was absolutely supposed to have a bit of an 'odd' relationship with her manager in the sense of 'we have this weird homo-erotic relationship with one another that neither of us are willing to really acknowledge. like we spend way too much time outside of work together and talk to one another in ways a manager-client relationship isn't supposed to' and then it would all blow up in her face and force cynthia to realize what was happening once she and diantha were official--but i got Too Scared and cut out most of it and UGH there's also a bunch of little things i wish i could change/fix

and ALL of that could have been avoided if i had just....made the first draft, gone through an editing process, and decided from there what needed what.

[thefictioness]

Records

The landscape changed from farmlands to hills as the inter-region express made its way across the rails. He sat at the back of the compartment, his arm propped up on the rest, his cheek against the window. His thumb slid over the invitation still in his hands. He had to show it at the station, proving that he was one of the select few that were allowed to enter this space. A world tournament, held in Driftveil City of the faraway Unova Region. He had never been this far away from home before, let alone travel with so many others who had just one thing in common: they were the best of the best. They were the ones who won. He looked around the coach, which was lavishly designed with red velvet benches and patterned curtains. He guessed if you were among the elite in the world, you would be treated like royalty. He looked at the faces of his fellow passengers. Some of these champions looked about his age. Some seemed even younger. Then again, it had been a while since he first entered the Hall of Fame. Over on the right side was a woman named Cynthia. She was from Sinnoh. He heard stories about her crazy strong Dragon-type Pokémon called Garchomp. He guessed there were truly more than a 150 different species out there. He rummaged in his bag and soon found what he was looking for. It was a battered, old booklet. There were stains all over it and the title was chafing off. Still, it meant the world to Red. He carefully flipped a few pages, worried they might get torn otherwise. These pages were filled with his adventures from so long ago. Ecer since Professor Oak gave him this very first edition of the Pokédex, he had been filling it with scribbles, drawings and what he deemed to be valuable data from every Pokémon in Kanto, until there was nothing left to discover. According to Green, who was sitting next to a flamboyantly dressed figure, the Pokédex had since been digitalized, data has been turned into codes. But for Red there was no information more important than what was written by his own hand, about his own Pokémon. He had grown a lot since then, and after his rigorous training on Mt. Silver, he had thought he'd seen it all. And yet, here he was, clutching the memories of what seems to be a past life, heading for his next destination. He had been reluctant to go at first, feeling no need to partake in adventures any further. But something pulled him into it. It was like a buzzing in the Pokéballs adorning his belt. An itch underneath his trusty cap. Something in the back of his throat everytime he swallowed.

"Remeniscing about the past are we? Careful you don't lose your focus, or I might just be able to beat you!"

Red wa startled as Green appeared at his side, grinning down at the Pokédex. "Who knew we would be aiming for even greater heights after all this time, hm?" Green asked. As always, Red did not answer. There was no need to when it came to Green. They had known each other forever after all. Green leaned in and whispered in Red's ear.

"I know you wear that stoic expression to strike fear in all that visit Mt. Silver, but I know you're just eager to prove yourself once again in the thrill of a real battle, aren't you?"

Red's eyes widened. The buzzing of his Pokéballs turned into a roar. The itch underneath the cap became rapidly assembled strategies on what moves and items to use. The lump in his throat made its way to his heart, maling it beat harder and faster. That was it. He turned to look at Green, now filled with determination. Green laughed.

"Now there's the fired up Red I like to see, welcome home, Kanto Champion!"

At that moment, the whistle blew, signaling their arrival. As the other Champions gathered their things and got up, Red watched them leave. He was going to show them all. He would show them that he is the very best.

[libraryleopard]

April reads

asterisk designates a read

Thieves by Lucie Bryon

Sir Callie and the Champions of Helston by Esme Symes-Smith

Xenocultivars: Stories of Queer Growth edited by Isabela Oliveira and Jed Sabin

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

Kimiko Does Cancer by Kimiko Tobimatsu and Keet Geniza

Among Others by Jo Walton

If You Still Recognise Me by Cynthia So

Manywhere: Stories by Morgan Thomas

Here Lies Arthur by Philip Reeve*

High Risk Homosexual by Edgar Gomez

What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher

Sensible Footwear by Kate Charlesworth

Please Don’t Hug Me by Kay Kerr

Several People Are Typing by Calvin Kasulke

The Office of Historical Corrections by Danielle Evans

When I Grow Up I Want To Be a List of Further Possibilities by Chen Chen

Nettle and Bone by T. Kingfisher

We Had No Rules by Corinne Manning

The Low, Low Woods by Carmen Maria Machado, Dani, and Tamra Bonvillain

The Queen of Air and Darkness by T.H. White

Homie by Danez Smith

The Unspoken Name by A.K. Larkwood*

[findingtheperfectcharacter]

… So I started watching a Dear Evan Hansen ‘slime tutorial’ as it were and just… God Evan’s such a piece of shit for putting this family through this Cynthia Murphy during Requiem like ‘through these words I finally found him’ but all those emails are fake, she thinks she’s finally seen a part of her child- a part that was alive and maybe had a bit of happiness in his life before he passed and it’s a fucking LIE holy shit

… Editing this because I got further into Requiem and like… It’s hard implied that Conner’s behavior towards Zoey was at best Toxic and at worst abusive and then Evan comes in like ‘oh yeah Conner was a great guy and we were total besties and he was kind to me’ and it’s all BULLSHIT and is fucking with her head so much.

[justicespeared]

CYNTHIA'S MOST WANTED! (April edition)

So I see you need a deer. You see, I have a deer: dear Cynthia. And I for one am looking for more of you guys to write with. Without further ado, let's plot!

Mission board!

Eenie meenie miney… oh? (Axe +1)

What's all this about a mine? Something feels fishy here. Cynthia's sure it's a scam of some kind. Come help her be a hero and take down the evildoing scammers! (Claimed by: you? :D)

Friendship in the time of scurvy (Heavy armour +1)

Pirates?? Taking down bad guys?? A chance to prove herself as a cool hero to a noble? Yes, yes and double yes! Take her with you to kick pirate butt out on the open sea! (Claimed by: you? :D)

Might be too hot (Faith +1)

Cynthia is, once again, looking for a challenge. This seems to be the toughest challenge yet: fighting in boiling heat. Fighting for what? Let's discuss! (Claimed by: Sitri)

Non mission board!

LOOK AT THIS GRAPH

Calling all second gens! Let's take pictures together! It'll mean the world to Cynthia - really! Take some silly goofy pics that they'll remember forever! (Claimed by: you? :D I'll take more than one for this I think)

Would you like to hear about our lord and saviour - justice?

Clubless? In a club anyway? It doesn't matter! The Justice Cabal needs YOU! As the co founder, Cynthia is pretty tenacious about this. Cool masks are provided, but you need to have your own cool hero pose. Don't have one? Cynthia can teach you! She's not leaving you alone until you join, basically. Might as well give in, put on your mask and get posing! (Claimed by: you? :D)

Exploding petals

Listen. Cynthia needs to brainstorm new battle entrances. BOOMS is offering stuff like colourful fire magic?? Teach her your ways! She'll set fire to the whole operation but who cares?? (Claimed by: Phila!)

I'd prefer to be DM’d on discord (vehicroids) rather than on Tumblr. If you don't feel comfy with DMs you caaaan ping me in the plotting channel! It's just not my preferred way of doing things 

[cyn-write]

Grace Wilde

Grace is my Yuusona! I drew her and did some editing to get her onto a template. I am still learning to draw so any pointers would be much appreciated. Now, without further ado: Grace Wilde!!

Background: Prior to NRC, Grace was a college student at a small university in the middle of nowhere. She is the oldest sibling of 5 kids and came from a big, close nit family. She was really close with her mom and grandma as all three loved to read. She was always an over-achieving student and her 4.0 helped her get a ton of scholarships from her University. Grace is an English-History Double major and wants to become a professor one day. All of this changed when she was hit by a car heading back to her dorm one day in an attempt to save some freshman girls from getting hit. Much like Yuuta and Yuukun in the manga, Grace died and the black carriage took her to NRC.

Time at NRC: Once the whole opening debacle and the Grim situation are figured out, Grace is hit with the reality that she died, she was sent to another world, and she has no way home. Initially, it was rough, but thankfully, all the strange events have kept her from mulling over all those traumatic events. Other than overblots, troublesome classmates, her dilapidated dorm, and a very hungry talking cat, she's fine. She actually really enjoys school and the challenges of being in a magic school with no magic. A few of the things that have kept her going are Ace, Deuce, Riddle, her friends, and Azul.

After the Octanvale overblot, Grace and Azul started to connect as she told him: "I know what it's like to be bullied over your looks, so if you want to talk about it, just let me know. We can talk, or I can listen. Kids can be awful, but I am here for you... by the way, I think you were a pretty cute kid." Ever since then, Azul's heart grew three sizes for the magicless girl. Over the break, the two grew closer and by the end of the "Scarbia incident" Grace agreed to work at the Lounge (partly because she needed money and partly to be closer to Azul) and Azul worked up the courage (through relentless tweel bullying) to ask Grace out. She helps him deal with his insecurities and he helps her deal with the fact she can never go home. But both had know this is a temporary partnership that both need at the moment and treat their relationship more as a partnership than a relationship for now.

Once Thatch School for Delinquent Mages joins Ramshackle, Crowley tasks Cyn and Grace to not only run Crowley-chores but watch over the delinquent students and help them fit in. Now with a houseful of problems and more overblots occurring, things in Grace's life are chaotic, and busy, but fun and she wouldn't have it any other way.

Trivia:

Much like Wendy is the "Mother" to the Lost Boys in "Peter Pan," Grace is often referred to as the "Mom" or "Mother" of the first years in NRC. She is a year older than most of the first years and being an older sister in her old life, her mama instincts often take over when dealing with the first years + her friends (I see NRC as a COLLEGE, so I have aged up the characters for my au).

Since she is the "Mother" friend, she, Trey, Ruggie, Jamil, and Lilia, have a "parent-friend support chat" where they complain and can ask for help if someone's in trouble

Ace, Deuce, and Grim are VERY overprotective of Grace. They see her as their sister, and no one is good enough for her.

That being said when Azul and Grace started dating, the trio tried (and failed) to stalk them on their dates, but each time the Leeches show up and boot them out per Azul's orders.

Grace and Cynthia are very close. They bonded over their old lives and adapting to NRC. Between splitting the Crowley Chores and Grim-sitting, they have grown a very special bond.

Grace mainly deals with the overblots, but she asks Cyn for help with Leona, Azul, and Idia before Cyn herself overblots.

The reason Grace joined the Equestrian Club was beacuse of Riddle. He agreed to join her book club as a way of taking a break if Grace agreed to join the Equestrian Club.

Riddle regards Grace as an Honerary member of Heartsyble after the first overblot. The relationship the two have is odd as they are close as family. Riddle tutors Grace to aid her in the knowledge that she was missing from not growing up in Twisted Wonderland. In return, Grace helps Riddle in "temper relocation" as they would write, paint, or read poetry, books, or plays aloud that Grace picked out.

Riddle, Grace, Deuce, and Carter are the first members of the NRC Book Club. Grace is a Book Nerd and reading is her comfort in the craziness of NRC. Riddle joined because of the deal with Grace. Deuce thinks reading more will help him with his grades. And Cater joined to keep up with Book trends on Social Media (for the aesthetic). After some time, Azul, Jade, Silver, Rook, and Malleus also join. They read a variety of books from Rom-coms (Carter's suggestion) to Classics (Riddle's Suggestion) and Grace loves the exposure to literature.

After the Thatch students join Ramshackle, Grace's mom-stincs skyrocket as she tries to make sure they stay out of trouble (as Cyn seems to encourage the mayhem) and help them adapt to regular college life again.

Grace and Trein have a special bond. After the first few classes, Grace actually goes up to Trein to talk about History because she thinks it's fascinating. Actually having a student who engages in class, does the reading, and wants to learn more is rare in his classes so Trein appreciates it when she comes up to talk. Grace also reminds Trein of his stepson Ellain who attends RSA (despite his protest of wanting to be with his dad).

Trein steps in as Grace's Father Figure when parents are needed or present for events. During the family days when all her friends are off with their families, Trein offers to walk around with her and have tea while they discuss a range of things from history to her past.

Grace talks in her sleep and when Cyn, Grace, and Grim were stay with Leona in book 3, Cyn wakes up all three of them as she called out "WATCH OUT!" in her sleep.

For more on Grace Wilde, follow and keep an eye out for short Fics and doodles! Cynthia Widow, who is mentioned throughout the bio, is the "second yuu" who is a twist of the Oogy Boogy Man. Please like, reblog, and ask questions!

[recentlyheardcom]

By Andrew Osborn(Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin warned on Wednesday that Israel's conflict with Hamas could spread well beyond the Middle East and said it was wrong that innocent women, children and old people in Gaza were being punished for other people's crimes.Putin, who made the comments in a Kremlin meeting with Russian religious leaders of different faiths, said bloodshed in the region had to stop. He said he told other world leaders in phone calls that if it did not, there was a risk of a much wider conflagration."Our task today, our main task, is to stop the bloodshed and violence," said Putin, according to a Kremlin transcript of the meeting."Otherwise, further escalation of the crisis is fraught with grave and extremely dangerous and destructive consequences. And not only for the Middle East region. It could spill over far beyond the borders of the Middle East."In remarks that criticised the West, he said that certain unnamed forces were seeking to provoke further escalation and to draw as many other countries and peoples into the conflict as possible.The aim, he said, was to "launch a real wave of chaos and mutual hatred not only in the Middle East but also far beyond its borders. For this purpose, among other things, they are trying to play on the national and religious feelings of millions of people."Putin conveyed his condolences to the families of Israelis and citizens of other countries who were killed or wounded by Hamas in its bloody Oct. 7 attack.Moscow, he said, continued to advocate for a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli issue, something he said was the only way to reach a long-term settlement.He made it clear though that he thought Israel was wrong to keep bombing Gaza in retaliation for the slaughter and hostage-taking of Israeli citizens by Hamas."It is also clear to us that innocent people should not be held responsible for crimes committed by others," said Putin."The fight against terrorism cannot be conducted according to the notorious principle of collective responsibility when old people, women, children, entire families and hundreds of thousands of people are left without shelter, food, water, electricity and medical care."(Reporting by Andrew Osborn; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

[neverthetwinsshallmeet]

#QueerYourYear prompt 14: A book set on a continent you don’t live on

In another example of reading a book and retroactively realizing it also works for QYY, I picked If You Still Recognise Me by Cynthia So, a young adult novel set in England. Elsie Lo is a Chinese British teenager in her final summer before university who has been nursing a crush on her long-distance American internet friend, Ada. Elsie is determined to finally confess her feelings to Elsie this summer through the grand romantic gesture of tracking down Ada’s grandmother’s British childhood friend (and possible secret love). Things are complicated further, however, when Elsie’s childhood friend Joan moves back to England for university and reconnects with Elsie. Over the course of one life-changing summer, Elsie finds herself navigating a complex web of family, friendship, and first love while trying to figure out who she is and what she wants.

I loved this novel! I’d been reading a lot of gothic literature this year and was in the mood for something less gloomy/sinister and Cynthia So’s novel absolutely hit the spot. Elsie is a well-rounded main character who’s very easy to root for (despite her convoluted plan to woo Ada) and I really enjoyed how flesh-out all the relationships in her life felt, from the different generations and types of queer people she interacts with over the course of the novel to her tangle of romance/friendship to her complex relationship with her family, who doesn’t know she’s bisexual. So’s writing is a perfect mix of engaging and thoughtful, balancing Elsie’s search for Ada’s grandmother’s lost left with character growth and insights into identity. 

If You Still Recognise Me has recently been published in the US (with a new cover and an Americanized spelling of the title) and I hope the new edition will find it’s deserving fans here. I’d especially recommend it to fans of Alice Oseman or Malinda Lo and I look forward to seeing what else Cynthia So writes next!

[tigerbasilisk]

They see that DMs can be whales! Capitalism Time.

During an investor-focused web seminar, Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks and Wizards of the Coast CEO and president Cynthia Williams, briefly discussed the future of D&D.

In short, they say that D&D as a brand is under monetized. The solution is to invent new ways to charge Dungeon Masters, the high paying minority of the player base, including regular spending. They also want to put the D&D brand on movies, toys, and so on to increase further profits. Mild ranting below.

“D&D has never been more popular, and we have really great fans and engagement,” Williams began. “But the brand is really under monetized."

Yeah, apparently the game that's bringing in mountains of cash with books that lack both content and proofreading isn't monetized enough.

Reminder that the company is increasingly pushing folks towards buying digital books instead for their propriety online platform. The digital codes are separate purchases from the physical books.

Williams mentioned that while Dungeon Masters comprise roughly 20% of the D&D player base, they make up “the largest share of our paying players”. An investment in digital, she posits, will allow Wizards of the Coast to “unlock the type of recurrent spending you see in digital games”.

We saw this coming after the new always-online edition of D&D. You know, the tabletop game. They seems to want to isolate D&D into their little ecosystem despite the inherent nature of the game as a something free of structure.

The goons also added that they will be focusing on shifting D&D into a “4-quadrant brand”. This means they want to create movies, toys, and other merchandise and sell them under the D&D brand, never mind the book sale profits that keep growing every year. The upcoming movie is supposed to be a seed to generating additional marketable properties.

Game? What game? Consume.

[skarmoree]

sinnoh’s league is a mess how did they end up with no challenge rating increase for four gyms