#granted I could list all the things I'm not crazy about but

[thepaintblot]

*throws this into the void* I finished it! Anatomy and rendering are hard, but I finally got this to a place where I’m happy with it.

Pose inspiration is from this amazing piece by Satoshi Kon.

[juliasgoodusername]

Sometimes a girl has to go a little crazy. Sometimes a girl has to make a book-accurate floorplan for 300 Fox Way. These things just happen, sometimes.

Obsessive annotations under the cut ✨ but be warned, there's a LOT

Exterior

Okay first of all, I'm no architect, and my only knowledge comes from work experience in the real estate industry + a lot of Sims. The style is sort of neo-rural French colonial. I didn't set out to adhere to that standard so much as I made an amalgamation of homes in Blue Ridge Mountains-adjacent towns in Virginia. Specifically, my headcanon Henrietta template is Orange, VA (I'll save that explanation for another post) so I took inspiration from real estate listings from there.

Alright alright I know there is supposed to be one bathroom, but I simply can't tolerate that in a house with 6+ residents. I can't. There was a possible contradiction in the descriptions of "the single shared bathroom" that I used as an excuse to add a 3/4 bath, and I threw in a powder room for free. Because technically there is still only one full bathroom! But seriously with that many women over 30 most of them probably have IBS or chronic constipation and I'm not making them all share a toilet.

Officially we only have 4 bedrooms listed in text: Blue's, Persephone's, Maura's, and Calla and Jimi's shared one. Everyone else gets rooms that don't qualify as bedrooms via Virginia residential building codes (such as the attic, obviously, which falls below the combined ceiling height and square footage requirements). That really just leaves Orla unaccounted for but I'll get to that later. Other aunts and friends seem to visit during the day and live somewhere else, because in The Raven King only Jimi and Orla were described as needing to move out of the house during the demon stuff.

I designed the entire interior floorplan before I even touched the exterior, so there's a few issues, like how I'm totally missing shutters on the windows that functionally need them most. 🫶 I didn't feel like making the windows smaller to fit them, and I could have added faux-shutters but I think those are stupid. 😘

First floor

"This house is lovely. So many walls. So, so many walls," Malory said as Blue entered the living room a little later.

- Blue Lily, Lily Blue, Chapter 30

Right off the bat, we have an insane number of doors and walls. Old colonial houses are pretty much the opposite of open concept. Functionally I believe that's because it's easier to control heat with closed off rooms, but Virginia is not particularly cold so idk. As for the number of doors, I mean....😤😤😤 I prefer archways/doorless frames in small high-traffic spaces, but every time I thought I could get away with it Maggie would specifically describe doors opening and closing (For example BL,LB Ch 41 gives the reading room double doors, and even the living room gets one in Ch 11. What kind of living room needs a door???). I'm actually missing one of the doorways described in canon, but if you know which one I'm talking about I DARE you to find a place to put that thing!! But I digress.

“Mom," she said as she jumped down the crooked stairs.

- The Raven Boys, Chapter 3

I'm liberally using "crooked" to establish the corner turn stairs. Blue steadies herself on the stair railing when she identifies Gansey for the first time (TRB Ch 15), so I wanted the stairs to have good visual access to visitors. It also sort of has a feng shui-ish effect of separating the public and private energy zones in the house. If that statement made zero sense, I think one of us doesn't know enough about feng shui 👀 and it might be me.

I'm also using that quote to establish Maura's room downstairs, if Blue generally expects to find her mother there, but mostly because everything else was upstairs and it was getting hard to fit. Granted, at one point Blue leads the boys "up the stairs to Maura's bedroom" (TDT Epilogue) but since they were just arriving at 300 Fox Way those stairs could easily be the outdoor ones. There's a handful of little things to support me here, such as Adam grabbing a scrying bowl from Maura's room to use in the reading room (BL,LB Ch 41) implying that her room was the closest place to find one. And speaking of Maura's room-

Calla was overwhelmed by how much shit Maura had in her room at 300 Fox Way, and she told Blue this.

... The mess was taking years from her life. ... Maura liked chaos.

... The psychic hotline rang in the room next door. Calla's concentration fluttered away.

- Blue Lily, Lily Blue, Prologue

Maura is my favorite hypocrite. She claims to detest clutter (TRB Ch 34) and yet her room is literally described as chaos. She probably treats her room like a college student and moves the furniture every time she gets bored/stressed. Thus, I gave her the most insane furniture configuration I could think of while still matching all the contents described.

The phone ringing next door might imply that she neighbors the phone/sewing/cat room, but that area is pretty well described and Maura's room is never mentioned there in any other instance. That leaves us with the kitchen phone (TRB Ch 27) which I put in the hallway with kitchen access as a compromise so it would technically still be in a room next to Maura's.

In the reading room, the man looked around with clinical interest. His gaze passed over the candles, the potted plants, the incense burners, the elaborate dining room chandelier, the rustic table that dominated the room, the lace curtains, and finally landed on a framed photograph of Steve Martin.

- The Raven Boys, Chapter 13

There are so many quotes about the reading room that I just don't feel like citing them, but other details include the mismatched chairs, the shelves, doors etc. It's also described specifically as Maura's "front room" (TRB Prologue) so it's one of the cornerstones that I designed the rest of the layout around. Because of the plants, it makes sense that this room would be south-facing too. (Although idk how much light they get with the wraparound porch awning in the way. Oops lol!)

The outside suddenly seemed vivid in comparison to the dim kitchen. The April-bright trees pressed against the windows of the breakfast area, ...

- The Raven Boys, Chapter 3

Blue Stormed into 300 Fox Way's kitchen and began a one-sided interrogation with Artemus, who was still hidden behind the closed storage closet door.

- The Raven King, Chapter 9

Likewise, I'm using the particularly dim kitchen to place it on the north side, where we also know there's trees in the backyard.

I'll say the kitchen layout is weirder than it strictly needed to be because in the Virginia homes I referenced I adored all the strange kitchens, especially with old timey 'servants area' vibes where laundry kitchen and pantry are all connected. Instead of a kitchen island, they get one of those rolling kitchen carts which I doubled as a bar cart for the drinks they have in the living room.

The kitchen has a doorway to the hall (TRB Ch 13) and the living room is within view when Blue's on the kitchen phone (Ch 27).

Speaking of chapter 27, that's when we get the description "The morning light through the windows turned the drinks a brilliant, translucent yellow." So I put the living room on the east side of the house, where the rising sun would cast really strong light like that.

Second Floor

When she woke up, her normally morning-bright room had the breath-held dimness of afternoon. In the next room over, Orla was talking to either her boyfriend or to one of the psychic hotline callers.

- The Raven Boys, Chapter 3

Blue headed toward the red-painted door at the end of the hall. On her way, she had to pass the frenzy of activity in the Phone/Sewing/Cat Room and the furious battle for the bathroom. The room behind the red door belonged to Persephone, ...

- The Raven Boys, Chapter 11

Blue's room and the Phone/Sewing/Cat room are our cornerstones for this floor. In several examples we know that the Phone/Sewing/Cat room faces the street and has a window (TRB Ch 15, BL,LB Ch 4). While Blue's room is "morning-bright," we also get descriptions of guests at the front door "backlit by the evening sun," (TRB Ch 15) so once again we're probably talking about south windows if it's sunlit at both times of day.

Adam sat awkwardly on the edge of Blue's bed. It felt strange to have so easily gained access to a girl's bed- room. If you knew Blue at all, the room was unsurprising - canvas silhouettes of trees stuck to the walls, leaves hanging in chains from the ceiling fan, a bird with a talk bubble reading WORMS FOR ALL painted above a shelf cluttered with buttons and about nine different pairs of scissors. Against the wall, Blue self-consciously taped up the drooping branch on one of the trees.

- The Dream Thieves, Chapter 49

We get some great descriptions of Blue's room (especially TRB Ch 43), although the above one is my favorite (#wormsforall). Every piece of furniture is accounted for exactly as described except the desk which I added because it seemed practical, and Blue is nothing if not practical™.

Persephone's room is also very well-described, all the way down to the furniture and lighting placement (BL,LB Ch 4 and TRB Ch 11) and it's surprisingly similar to Blue's room, if not a bit smaller. Her room gets strong afternoon sunlight, so I put it on the south too (BL,LB Ch 43).

Calla and Jimi share a room that's also upstairs (TRK Ch 16). Because they are the only two who have to share a room, I have justified that it must be the "master bedroom" (sorry for using that term) and is far bigger than the other bedrooms. I managed to fit two queen beds in there, but some scholars [me] would argue that Jimi and Calla might also share a bed because they are in love. Can you prove me wrong? No, you can't.

As for the bathroom, remember when I mentioned a possible contradiction? Famously, Maura draws the ley line symbol in the steamed up shower door (TRB Ch 1). However, much later we get Maura, Orla, Calla and Jimi all sitting in the bathtub for some kind of ritual (TRK Ch 9). No matter how I picture it, I can't put 4 full grown women in a bathtub together without someone partially sitting on/spilling over the side. But that would be impossible in a combo bath/shower enclosed by glass doors!! Thus, I gave The Bathroom a nice tub and put a small shower in the en suite of Jimi and Calla's room. I know this is a stretch but I don't really care.

Attic

Blue had never been a big fan of the attic, even before Neeve moved in. Numerous slanting roof lines provided dozens of opportunities to hit your head on a sloping ceiling. Unfinished wood floorboards and areas patched with prickly plywood were unfriendly to bare feet. Summer turned the attic into an inferno.

... In one of the narrow dormers, two full-length, footed mirrors faced each other, reflecting mirrored images back and forth at each other in perpetuum.

- The Raven Boys, Chapter 34

Trying to fit the attic access in after everything in the second floor was my biggest challenge, because stairs normally take up a lot of space and you have to be careful about head room. I'm the end, I decided it was one of those fold out attic doors that you have to reach from the ceiling of the hallway. We might get a lot of instances of the attic door being opened (😤 seriously, Maggie... 😤) but technically a trap door in the ceiling is still a door!

Dormers pretty much cemented the French colonial style for me. And you know the drill by now: a hot room probably means a lot of sun, which means I give it a south facing window!

Mud Room/Cellar/Basement

This cellar has absolutely zero mention in the text, but my justification is based in the architecture. So far we've got a funky old colonial house, built without a garage, lots of walls etc. Especially in a low-income/semi-rural area, it's not crazy to assume that 300 Fox Way was built before most residents had refrigerators (1930s-40s). Besides iceboxes, a major way to keep food fresh was root cellars. Modern renovations for old homes convert these to concrete basements, but that's why the basement is so small and connects to the kitchen.

My headcanon is that Orla originally shared a room. Pick whoever you want: Maura, Blue or Persephone, any of them would easily be such a chaotic roommate that Orla snapped and in a fit of teen girl rage moved herself down to the crummy dark basement. Over time, she made efforts to glamorize it, such as a vintage dressing screen to hide the flood drainage pump. The privacy also allows her to bring boyfriends over, even sneaking them through the mud room.

This is really just my artistic license, but I swear it makes a surprising amount of sense in context. There's cases of Orla sneaking into the kitchen (easier if she has a back entrance) and she's almost always using the phone upstairs or in the kitchen (because a basement would get bad reception) even though her calls get kinda ~intimate.

Aaaaaand I think that's everything. Sorry it doesn't look like the photo from the wiki at all, but I couldn't find a source for it and Victorian style wasn't super common in the areas I researched. Let me know if I missed anything major! I'll probably cry myself to sleep if so.

[blvckentropy]

WARNING LONG RANT!

Okay so I've been sitting on Drake so called "diss track" and I still declare it as the biggest CONTRADICTING ASS track ever. Like I get die hard Drake fans gone be like he won regardless but he hasn't because he made several deep holes in his argument. Granted you probably don't give a damn and that's fine. Overall, neither do I but some of you got so blinded and hyped by his one-liners and his flow that you ain't peep what he really said did you? Ngl, had me sitting here like a was crazy for a minute. Now correct me if I'm wrong cause I also had to fact check myself, but these are the lines that got me like now wait wait....

You said, "The ones that you're gettin' your stories from, they all clowns" just to say "We plotted for a week and then we fed you the information".... which one is it? Are you calling yourself a clown or the ppl you sent the info. to? I'm perplexed.

"What about the bones we dug up in that excavation? And why isn't Whitney denyin' all of the allegations? Why is she following Dave Free and not Mr. Morale? You haven't seen the kids in six months, the distance is wild Dave leaving heart emojis underneath pics of the child"

First and for most, what is your obsession with this woman? Also are we in high school? Why we worried about someone follow count and/or who following who? She a grown ass woman like she can't have male friends. Plus, if irl she with Kendrick every day, why does she need to? And if Kendrick aint worried about, why are you? You caught up in finding out if that's her real bd but where are your evidence? If Kendrick has to, you do too. Childish.

BUT THIS IS WHERE IT GOT DISRESPECTFUL!

"This Epstein angle was the shit I expected TikTok videos you collected and dissected Instead of being on some diss-direct shit You rather fucking grab your pen and misdirect shit My mom came over today and I was like, "Mother, I—, mother, I—, mother—" Ah, wait a second, that's that one record where you say you got molested"

"This about to get so depressin' This is trauma from your own confessions This when your father leave you home alone with no protection, so neglected That's why these pedophile raps and shit you so obsessed with, it's so excessive"

"Touch My Body" by Mariah Carey play, you probably start reflectin"

This whole verse was a misinterpretation of Kendrick's song "Mother I Sober" which I had to educate myself with. Long story short, the song is about his mom SA and how she thought he was by his cousin even when he told her "no" and it forms a bigger picture to his overall family trauma as a whole and so on. So not only did you Mr. " You gotta learn to fact check things and be less impatient" if that ain't the biggest pot calling the kettle black idk what is. You got it wrong (Kendrick pretty much explained it) then double down on borderline prob over the line atp disrespecting his mother and all and every victim of SA? We victim shaming now?

I never been with no one underage, but now I understand why this the angle that you really mess with Just for clarity, I feel disgusted, I'm too respected If I was fucking young girls, I promise I'd have been arrested I'm way too famous for this shit you just suggested

*Slow claps* Congratulations you played yourself. What in the fuckery? CURRENTLY....DIDDY DOODLE BOB HAS ALLEGATIONS RIGHT NOW AND HE'S MORE FAMOUS THAN U. And don't get me started on the list....umm...you literally just named one (If you still bumping R. Kelly, you could thank the Savior)

"Only fuckin' with Whitneys, not Millie Bobby Browns, I'd never look twice at no teenager" but you'll look once? Also, someone que up the video with him on stage w/ a 17-year-old. He and I quote "Why you look like that?" "You thick. look at all this" Then kiss her all over her face🤔 Sir a kiss on the cheek or forehead would suffice but I digress.

And correct me if I'm wrong, I believe the only reason Kendrick hasn't even the touch the "beating allegations" is because he covers all that in both Mr. Morale and Mother I sober? If I'm correct, then you basically didn't tell us nothing that hasn't been said on him. Plus you also not fact checking. Where's of your proof? I would think someone with the upper hand would have laid down evidence that you mastermind...oh wait...was Kendrick right along? Now you look like the goofy on defense. Like do Kendrick even have to say anything?

Bruh, but the funniest part on it all. You acting like YOU DIDN'T ASK FOR THIS. YOU DROP A DISS first wanting him to response and now you trying to make it seem like you didn't? My guy, if your actions alone here isn't a manipulation master class. Chileeeeee

[iolaussharpe-24]

Barbie in the Mojave - Chapter One

I promised. It's time to deliver. Chapter one of the Barbie/Mojave fic.

This is just chapter one, so Jack isn't quite here yet, but I hope that it will set the tone I want the story to have.

Special thank you once again to @waywardrose for helping me finally watch Mojave! If it were possible to wear out a digital file the way you could wear out a VHS tape, it would be by now. There was a day I legit watched it three times in a row. I'm not even kidding. This story would not be possible without you.

I also want to tag @my-secret-shame and @lunar-ghoulie for showing this crazy idea interest, as well as @ominoose, @reallyrallyauthor, @steven-grants-world, @clemdango04, and @have-you-seen-my-sanity because you guys were on the "tag regardless" list I made for people I love and thought might enjoy this.

Strangers in a Strange Land

Somewhere along the way, she wasn’t sure where, a wrong turn had been made. Barbie and Ken, for whatever reason, were still in the car. Still in the seemingly endless stretch of desert. Where was the speedboat? The rocket ship? Tandem bike, camper van, snowmobile? She wasn’t supposed to overthink it but, this was ridiculous! The only difference between now and two hours ago were minor things. The sun was hotter. The breeze was warmer and picked up sand that seemed to go straight for the dolls’ eyes. The radio only played static. Even the landscape had changed around them. Fewer sand dunes. More rocky mountains and plateaus. No one around except for the two of them in her pink corvette. There was growth around them, rather than the empty sea of sand. Plants in the ground. Birds in the sky.

They’d somehow lost the road. It had gotten covered up by the sand. She’d thought they were still on it, but this excuse for a dirt road she was driving on didn’t seem to be taking her where she needed to go.

It was maddening. Especially for Barbie. Ken was too busy looking at cloud shapes, cacti, and wiry bushes to really notice that anything was severely wrong. Granted, Ken was the only one to not notice her flat feet when literally everyone else on the beach was freaking out and screaming because of them. Even Weird Barbie thought it was strange. She said she’d never seen anything like it before. And then the way she’d reacted when Barbie had told her the rest….

Going to see her felt like a nightmare. A horrible, horrible nightmare. Life was perfect. Everything was perfect. Her home, her friends, her body, her entire universe! Everything was just the way it was supposed to be. It always was. In all the years she’d existed, Barbie had never had so much as a knot in her hair, let alone a malfunction so bad that it warranted a visit to-

Ugh! She was starting to spiral. Her world had gotten so chaotic so fast that she was starting to go crazy, and that was only accelerating the problem. It was getting harder to keep her smile on her face. She could feel it trying to fall every time she stopped thinking about it. Smiling was always easier than breathing to her. To all the Barbies! …. And now her body doesn’t want to breathe either because she thought about it!

“Look Barbie! A rabbit!” Ken called excitedly, pointing out from the backseat of the car to a brown hare hopping a few yards away.

Wanting to distract herself from the chaos slowly overtaking her existence and threatening to completely envelope her body as well, Barbie looked out at the animal. She watched it move. It was… odd. To say the least. Alien, to be completely honest. In Barbieland, animals didn’t really move much. They counted as accessories. Not dolls. They didn’t have the joints to move the way that Barbies and Kens and Skippers and everyone else did.

But this hare was moving.

Its legs were pumping, carrying it along the sand at a fast pace. Barbie slowed down the car, her eyes glued to it. It was strangely majestic. And she came from a world where rainbows were more common than sunlight, mermaids appeared out of the water to say hi wherever they wanted, and glittery dresses could transform into brilliant fairy wings with a twirl. Her basis of comparison was odd, but that little creature was so-

Before Barbie could even work out her own thoughts, she hit a bump in the road. A very big bump. The kind that didn’t just cause the two passengers to jump out of their seats. The kind that made Ken fly out of the vehicle because he didn’t have his seatbelt on, and flipped the pink corvette onto its side, taking it’s still strapped in pink clad plastic passenger for a ride that she hadn’t been expecting when she asked to be sent to the real world. It wasn’t like when Ken startled her earlier in the day. The car had flipped yes, but it went through the air and landed back on its tires, no harm done. This wasn’t that. This was something else. Something that she’d never felt before.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl as the world turned sideways around her. Her blonde braid lifted off her shoulder and the seatbelt across her lap seemed to tighten, digging into her thighs. She screamed in a way she never had before. She’d felt fear, yes, but not like this. She didn’t think that any of the Barbies or the Kens had ever felt fear like this. It was like her entire body screaming right alongside her. Every inch, every joint, and sculpted line in her body tensed up and clenched tighter than Boxer Barbie’s fists.

The car landed on its side and skidded across the sand, Barbie’s head snapped back from the force of it, the seat digging into her back and pressing into something that wasn’t supposed to bend the way it was being forced to. It didn’t feel good. At all. This was the furthest thing from good she’d ever felt. Saying that it felt bad didn’t even do the feeling justice. It was worse than when she fell off her roof. And that had been the worst until this.

Distantly, she could hear Ken’s voice. He sounded like he was in pain too. Like he was just as scared as she was. He was calling out her name.

For a moment, things went black. Completely black. It lasted less than a second. One singular insignificant second in which absolutely nothing existed. No thoughts. No feelings. No sight or sound. Just darkness and perfect silence. It was so peaceful. Like everything was finally right in the world and she didn’t have to worry about flat feet or cellulite or a rip in the fabric of reality. It felt like that last blissful moment of sleep before getting up in the morning. Like she’d open her eyes and stare through the open roof of her dreamhouse at the beautiful blue sky above. She’d hear the voice singing her through her newest best day ever. And everything that happened since the dance party would only be as real as a bad dream, and forgotten just as quickly.

But that’s not what greeted her when she finally did.

She opened her eyes to an endless desert landscape. The pink corvette was overturned, crumpled on one side, and partially buried a few feet away. At some point, the seat belt must have snapped, because she wasn’t in the car anymore. She was laying on her stomach, her hair a mess around her face, cheek in the dirt.

She tried to sit up, but her body didn’t want to do anything. Her limbs throbbed and she felt her joints pop in an unnatural way as she lifted herself onto her knees. …. She was in pain. The most pain she’d ever felt in all of her years. It was awful.

She’d never feel something like this in Barbieland. Never.

Does that mean I made it to the Real World?

“Barbie! Are you okay?” Ken called as he rushed to her side. Looking up, she saw him limping towards her, a worried expression on his face. She wasn’t really sure how she was, but she didn’t want to scare him. She didn’t want to scare herself either. Looking at the positives, she could move. Nothing felt broken or bent out of shape. She wasn’t dead and/or thinking about being… well, she kind of was, but only as ‘Thank goodness I’m not dead!’ kind of thing. Not an ‘Oh no, I just died!’ kind of thing.

She smiled her perfect smile, though it didn’t feel right in the moment, and slowly rose to her feet. “I’m okay, Ken. Really. I’m fine.”

“Your hands are shaking.”

She looked down at them and saw that he was right. Her hands were shaking. Badly. She’d never seen anything like that before. Anywhere. On anyone. She’d read one of Dr. Barbie’s books once… but there was nothing about this kind of thing in there either. The book was mostly pictures of x-rays and instructions on how to mold a cast out of Barbie Dough.

“I’m fine,” she lied again, feeling it stick in her throat this time. “I’m perfectly fine. Everything is fine.”

Ken nodded and looked around. “That was… wow. I’ve never seen a car do that before. Where are we? Where’s the speedboat?”

“Uh… I think we’re almost there. We have to be, right? Weird Barbie didn’t give me any kind of timeframe for anything. Or specific instructions. She just said that we’d go from a sports car to a speedboat, to a rocket ship, to a tandem bike, to a camper van, to a snowmobile, to roller blades and go to the state of Los Angeles in the country of California. She said not to think about it too much.”

“I thought there was supposed to be some kind of portal at some point?”

“Apparently not.”

“…. Oh.”

Barbie looked at the wrecked car and then out into the desert again. She was starting to feel really hot. And something told her that she wasn’t the only one. Ken had already opened his shirt like he would on the beach. “I know you brought your roller blades, but I need to ask, did you bring any changes of clothes? Something that maybe won’t be so… inappropriate?” she asked, picking at the sleeve of her own pink top.

Ken nodded. “I might have brought a thing or too.”

“Good. We should change and then get going. Can’t be that much farther to the speedboat, right?”

Ken nodded excitedly then ran over to the car where it laid on its side. He popped open the trunk and all their things spilled onto the ground. The shoes, clothes, skates, hair ties, jewelry, and sunglasses.

Barbie put her hands on her hips, but didn’t say anything. Now wasn’t the time to complain. They were stuck with each other for the foreseeable future, lost and alone, with absolutely no idea what they were going to do or how. Weird Barbie just said that she would ‘know’ when she found the little girl playing with her. But she didn’t know how to get to the point that would allow her to know! She wasn’t Explorer Barbie or Rock Climber Barbie, or Girl Scouts of America Barbie. She was just Barbie. Stereotypical Barbie. She didn’t have anything special about her other than the name ‘Barbie’.

Why was her breath coming in so fast? Why was there pressure building in her chest and head?

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. And another. And another. It was working. The pressure was going away. Slowly, but surely. She smiled again and opened her eyes. She looked through the clothes and found a resort outfit she had packed just in case she had to stay somewhere before going home. Specifically, the BarbieStyle Resort-Wear outfit. Tan high waisted wide leg pants, a salmon pink and white crop top with a v neck and puffy half sleeves, cat eye sunglasses, dangly gold earrings, black heels, and a tan clutch purse. She laid everything out in front of her and waited….

And waited….

And waited….

Weird. In the Dreamhouse, she just had to stand in front of her closet and her clothes would change. Actually, it was the same throughout Barbieland; in the boutiques and any general area with a mirror or a door. She just needed a place to stop and choose an outfit to wear and then she’d be wearing it. With all the places a Barbie could go and all the things she could do, quick changes were a necessity.

And yet… her clothes weren’t doing anything now.

Confused, she started to unbutton her top to put the clothes on manually. Then she paused. Ken was right next to her, having the same issue with his pale pink shorts, jacket, mesh shirt, white sandals, and sunglasses. Not wanting to make him feel the same way, she gathered up her things and walked around to the other side of the car, using it as a wall to separate the two of them. Then, she went back to taking off her clothes. The feeling was strange, and the action was one that she wasn’t used to doing, but it was conceptually simple enough. Pull over head and take arms out. Easy.

At least, it sounded easy. Her clothes were tight and didn’t want to come off. For a moment, she got stuck. She got the fabric over her head, but her arms were outstretched and trapped. Eventually, she got it worked out, but it did take her a few minutes to do it.

Once dressed, Barbie realized two things:

First, they didn’t have a way to carry their belongings now that the car was ruined. She didn’t think to bring any actual luggage. All her things fit in the trunk with room to spare and Ken wasn’t supposed to come with her.

Second, now that she wasn’t permanently on her toes, high heels didn’t feel as natural or comfortable as they used to. They hurt her feet and made it hard to walk for long periods of time. And, though she’d never noticed before, heels and the desert didn’t actually mix very well. The thin points sank in the loose dirt and the slick soles made the stones she stepped on roll beneath her, very nearly making her trip over and over again.

It couldn’t be that far, could it?

It couldn’t be that far….

[libraryofloveletters]

Don't Fall

Rodri x Fem!Reader

Warnings: rodri is soooo boyfriend, the ice skating skills are sooo bad, friendly teasing, some falling and a few sweet moments - might be directionally wrong?? I googled, my bad in advance lmao.

Word Count: 844

Author's Note: only pookie gets it, this is my bookie fr - you would not believe how are it is to find a pic of rodri where he isn't in his man city kit. like why must these men make my life hard???

--

It was safe to say the man who comes from sunshine had yet to ice skate in his life. You made it your mission to change that; he was in Manchester, after all.

Winter break boredom was hitting you both hard. You had been cooped up in the house over the last week or so, lazing around the apartment.

The original plan was to soak up as much couple time as you could before you had to go back to work and Rodri was back to training but there's only so much you can do indoors before you start to become a bit stir crazy.

Your head rested on your boyfriend's lap, his fingers gently tangled in your hair as he flipped through the channels. "Rodri mannnn," you groaned.

"Y/n dudeeeee," he mimicked, making you smile.

"I'm losing my mind in here, we need to go out."

"Where? Most places are closed for the holidays." He looks down at you, poking your nose with his middle finger. You shrugged, feeling around for your phone. Rodri unplugs it from the changer and hands it to you, you hum a thank you and head to Google - the only place to go when you need an answer right away.

You Googled things to do in Manchester and found a few options.

The first on the list was to tour the Etihad and you were almost certain that Rodri didn't want to tour the stadium in which he spends most of his time in. You could go sightseeing or do some sort of Sherlock Holmes tour but none of these seemed like anything your boyfriend would be interested in.

You stumbled upon the thing you figured you'd both be into; ice skating.

"Cathedral Gardens had an ice rink," you show him your phone, and Rodri nods, his head tilted to the side as you rattle on about how much fun it is.

"I've never been, I don't know how to skate." He tells you and you shrug, pulling him up and off the couch. "That's fine, I'll teach you. Granted I'm not great either but we'll figure it out."

It didn't take much convincing - a few kisses and a promise to make his favourite dish tomorrow and he was on his way to get dressed.

He drove, parking a few streets away so you could enjoy the lights as you walked down to the ice rink. Rodri watches as you tell the man at the counter the sizes and he hands the skates over to you.

You and Rodri sit on an empty bench and exchange your shoes for the skates. Rodri, being the man he is, kneels in front of you to tie your laces - he always complains that you tie them too long and that's why you always trip over your feet. You rolled your eyes, you never trip over your feet.

It was a slow walk to the entrance of the ice rink, Rodri holding onto you as he tried to balance himself on his way.

You stepped onto the ice first, your back to the crowd as both of your hands stretched out to your boyfriend. Rodri carefully and hesitantly steps onto the ice, letting you help him balance himself. It took him a second of looking like a baby giraffe but he got the hang of it.

He stumbles a bit but you hold onto his forearms, keeping him steady as you two make it around the rink for the first time. You go to let do but he doesn't, gripping tighter on your arms.

You bite back a smile, "do you want one of those gripper things? That the kids use?"

On cue, a little girl comes skating by with her little holder thing which was keeping her up. Rodri rolls his eyes, "I'm not that bad, I swear."

"No!" You giggled, "you're good, you're doing good." You smiled, pulling him a bit closer so he could stand straight.

It takes you two a few minutes, slowly starting to move faster with each lap of the rink and eventually Rodri builds up the courage to let go of your hands, skating next to you rather than in front of you, holding onto you.

Right as you were setting a good pace, you tumbled over a chip in the ice, causing you to fall flat on your ass.

"Babe!" Rodri stops, sort of tumbling into the wall to stop himself. He kneels down, moving over to you - the wetness of the ice freezing his knees but he couldn't care less at the moment.

"Are you okay?!" He asks, helping you sit up.

You nod, laughing. "It's not my fault, there's a chip in the ice!"

Rodri shakes his head, smiling as he helps you up. You two decide it was time to call it a night, your clothes a bit damp from the wetness of the ice and your egos a bit bruised after seeing the little kids skate circles around you.

"Wanna watch Home Alone?" Rodri asks, unlocking the front door.

You hum, walking into the foyer. "Let me change and we'll watch it?"

The man picks you up, tossing you over his shoulder as if you weighed nothing. "We'll watch it in bed."

[magicratfingers]

Progress report ! ૮ ºﻌºა ✨ kind of a work-in-progress diary for myself. v indulgent.

intense world of dick terrifying - goin good! got a main character, some supporting characters, figuring out the big rivalry today. Gotta figure out a format. I was thinking of basing it off of the Day at the Airport book bc it's only about 11 spreads but there's a lot going on on each one. Could leave it a comic but I also want it to be printable hmm catnips cantrips chooseyer-by-mail test - learning a lot! the world-building has been reallllllly fun - like the kind of fun where you want to go a little deeper bc you like it not bc you have to. perfect situation. Gotta resolve the mix between the DM roleplay and the actual postcards. Made and branded a whole gmail account and character to handle lost postcards - Pizza Kentucky III of the Isekai Post Office. Haven't been keeping up with the blog. But the blog is supposed to be more of a holding container than a 'thing'. One thing I did not expect to be learning was spreadsheets. Keeping track of names and addresses and choices and paths has given me a new perspective on pacing and structure. Also? Been a great excuse to finally play with UV epoxy and it's so straightforward that I'm mad it took me so long. media thats not just webcomics - dunmeshi is out!!! Laios my beloved. Still afraid to find and read Kotteri's Veil bc it will make me too feelings. Started reading books I loved as a kid (Redwall!!!) and some story craft books (found an NPR list somewhere) WRHP s2 - started to feel like work but changing up the backgrounds freed me up, feels fun again Sorcerer comic - paused while I wait for fashion inspiration to pull the ending together Emotional support paladin - paused till I feel like it. It's got such a specific delivery style that I don't wanna force to get the story out, so i gotta wait for some story aspects to firm up Bonnie & Clawd - more of a character study than a comic - fun to practice cutie pies cuddling. But... how DO birds and wolves smooch. Saw a youtube video about how ravens and wolves are friends and work together. So perfect. Valentines day thing - got some supplies coming tomorrow, gonna try out my idea. If it works maybe sell it? If it doesn't work, oh well, probably will learn something. Wanted to make perforated cards and stickers but got a little overwhelmed thinking about printing. Might just do a digital thing if an idea comes to me. Been wanting to make holographic stickers but when I sit down to think of a motif it feels stressful. Maybe I just test the Poodle Broadcasting System logo? I've always loved the aesthetic of valentines day but never felt like it's been delivered right. I certainly never felt indulged - something is always a little not-cute or too-cutesy. Think it could be really fun to have it be an annual 'surprise box'. I lost my halloween fam in the schmivorce so I could use a holiday to go crazy on. (For years I would drive out and help build a whole haunted house in a garage and it was like a week-long party with great food and movies and laughs. Sad to lose it, sadder still to know it was so easy for them to lose me. ) Dishupon - ok not as many players and responses as I'd hoped. But that wasn't really the point. Point was to invent some sanrio-y characters for fun - which i did. And I will also say that the exercise of coming up with a variety of cozy, fun, silly, spicy ways to think about dishes has made MY dishes mostly effortless. Even made a little foam clay Tiger coach and he's sitting on the window above the sink. Perhaps I will think of a game to get my car inspection done.

Overall January is great. Granted, it's the 4th. Had my ten year work anniversary (idk how old everyone thinks I am but it's Not 20) and got to 1010 followers on twitter on the same day. And the new d20 is out on the 10th so that felt real nice and square. Bit worried that all the good vibes I built up over holiday vacay will get smashed when I'm put on a new work project. But i feel like I'm about to level up a little bit art-style wise. Feelin grateful, feelin warm & cozy

[misc-obeyme]

hihi I'm back, i was rambling about solomon and immortality the other time

BUT i just got a tiktok, and apparently there's a trend with the song that goes "nothing's new" and the first slide is a tweet saying "who had every right to become a villain?" And the second slide is a character

anyway my first thought was MC because they literally get dumped into a new world, whole life turned upside down and expected to adapt, in both OG and NB. Nightbringer i'd say is different since they have a goal they're working towards and at least they have Solomon

But in OG it's like "try to survive :)", you're looked down upon as a human, you're kept in the dark about the attic, there's so many little things that add up-

But in the end MC chooses kindness, chooses to keep going and make it work, and yes there's the chaotic options but no harm is done without cause I guess you could say?? They're not afraid to stand up for themselves and they're stubborn, but they won't sink down to the lowest of the lows after everything they've gone through

I dunno if i made any sense, I just needed to ramble and share with someone 🤣 thank you for being a welcoming blog

- ✨

Welcome back to my ask box! I will add ✨ to the anon list!

And of course I love all the ramblings, so know you're always welcome to come here to share your thoughts!

Now I gotta say the generic OM MC is one unhinged mf and I don't understand how they stay so chill and happy all the time. Like I would argue their ability to put up with so much crazy is what makes them unhinged rather than the chaotic options that are sometimes given for them. That stuff feels like a normal reaction considering everything they go through. Like the time they threatened to explode Mammon's door? Yeah, that feels like something someone who has been pushed beyond their limits might do.

And yet so often, the choices are nice. So often the choices are MC giving and giving and giving. They care so much and are willing to go through so much and do so much in order to keep their demons safe. And MC is the human in this scenario. I know, MC is OP with their pacts and their sorcerer stuff and their Ring of Light, but you would still expect the demons to take better care of them. And I mean more their mental state than anything. But the game kinda just takes for granted the fact that MC can take all the crazy in stride. I'm pretty sure I would have had a mental breakdown after the first week lol.

All that being said, I love the idea of MC turning into a villain. This is where you really can get into different story lines and outcomes based on your personal MC. Because I think it would be very easy for an MC to turn villainous in this situation. It depends on how conniving your MC is as to how this goes down.

Like do they deliberately wait to betray everybody until they've secured all seven pacts and the Ring of Light and so on?

Or is it more like one day they just snap and they never meant to turn?

In the first scenario, the question is what is their goal? Why would they do that to begin with? Maybe they want to rule the Devildom themselves and the goal is to have all the bros under their spell for the sole purpose of like dethroning Diavolo or something. I mean, good luck with that lol but it'd sure be interesting.

In the second scenario, it's definitely more chaotic and just MC loses their mind. Maybe starts destroying things Satan-style because they can't control it anymore.

I think it's a fascinating idea. And you could go with MC succeeds or you could go with someone (whoever MC is closest to perhaps) is able to talk them down from destruction.

But yes, in the end our OM MC always chooses kindness. Even when they're not going to take any nonsense, they're always solution oriented. They're always about helping the characters and I would say they're almost stubborn in their kindness too? Like they're determined not to be anything other than kind because to them, that's the right thing to do. It's precious.

[captcutshaw]

That thing you said about Bruce Robinson stating that Withnail and Marwood not having girlfriends, because they are poor. That’s really funny and it does make sense! However, it’s really noticeable, if you’re used to forced heterosexual references in buddy films, that women as a whole are never mentioned by the two, never mind attraction to them. The closest we get to this are pictures of women in their walls, but most of these are press photos of actresses. As Withnail and Marwood are thespians, it looks like their interest is an artistic, rather than sexual. And as you pointed out, the only sort of attraction referenced is homosexual. As you rightfully said, Marwood comes across as almost absurdly afraid of it, but interestingly never asserts heterosexuality to compensate, as many characters in similar films do. I’m a big dummy when it come to reading films properly, but it’s interesting that while none of these things alone make Withnail and Marwood explicitly queer (gay, bisexual, asexual, etc), there is absolutely zero effort spent on trying to convince you they are straight. If it took an interview to bring it up, Bruce Robinson probably just did not think it relevant. Again, the relationship between them is treated with greater importance. Of course, we are not sure by the end that it is completely platonic, and I don’t know how intentional that was (definitely was on the part of Richard E. Grant) but the point still stands. Sorry, this is such a long message, I hope it makes sense!

Absolutely! Thank you so much for sending me this, you've given me an excuse to go off on a rant. I've put some of my own ramblings and scattered thoughts under the cut. Sorry in advance for a complete lack of coherence.

Totally agree that it's unusual for a buddy film to have Marwood simply deny he's homosexual, then not show any interest in women to prove his point. No aggressive assertions of heterosexuality or forced female love interest, hell, no mention of women whatsoever (Mrs Parkin doesn't count)

I know he's essentially Bruce Robinson's self insert, hence Marwood being sexually harassed by Monty, who was based on Franco Zeffirelli, the director who sexually harassed Bruce Robinson (sorry if I'm just saying stuff you already know here). But yeah, Marwood isn't an aggressively heterosexual character, which makes him very inviting for a queer reading, among the various other reasons. I mean....look at him. Tboy swag off the charts.

I could list all the queer codings and references in the film but we would be here forever. Don't even get me started on all the ways Withnail is easy to read as queer. But yeah, in summary, I agree with your point that the complete lack of heterosexual attraction in the film can support that queer interpretation.

That's a good point that the photos of women/actresses in their flat could be purely for aesthetic reasons because they're thespians.

As for Bruce Robinson's intentions.... There was an interview where someone asked if Withnail was gay, which Bruce Robinson and Richard E. Grant refuted (timestamp about 21:09). Here Robinson actually jokingly (?) says he thinks Withnail is asexual because he only loves himself.... asexuality isn't caused by narcissism, but hot take!

So, Withnail was never intended to be homosexual. Which is crazy to me, what with... Withnail being Withnail. There is no possible heterosexual explanation for that man's behaviour!! And it's telling that so many people have seen the film and thought he was gay. But good news! Paul McGann has made a lot of comments about Marwood and Withnail being "young marrieds" in his commentary of the film. Also, in this interview (timestamp 6:58) he says Withnail was probably in love with Marwood. Big win for the gays. Overall, Bruce Robinson did not intend for Withnail and Marwood to be read as queer, but everyone say thank you to Paul McGann. Thank you Paul McGann

(Goes without saying, the creator's intentions don't prevent people from interpreting the film the way they want to. Death to the author etc etc. I've always liked to see Marwood and Withnail as queer because that adds another layer of meaning and just....makes sense if you ask me. Their relationship is compelling, platonic or otherwise. I personally found that it doesn't make sense for either of them to be 100% heterosexual, and asexual or bisexual readings are really cool as well.)

(On that note, not sure if it's worth mentioning... I read here that Vivian MacKerrell, the man Withnail was based on, was bisexual. So. There's that. Bisexual Withnail 2023)

[asterjaxx]

i've been watching a lot of movies recently so i'm gonna make a big post about what i think about each one i've watched so far so i can refer back to it if i ever need it

also warnings for possible spoilers for each movie below

things no one cares about under the cut

NOTTING HILL 1999 — dir. Roger Michell

I LOVED NOTTING HILL could watch this movie over and over forever holy shit i love hugh grant. also julia roberts has a very big mouth like if i see her in a different movie and she looks like completely different but i'll recognise her mouth like is that weird- SO CUTE sometimes things didn't quite sequence together ? like there were times when it wasn't quite clear how long had passed between the two scenes, but that doesn't really bother me. not a lot of exposition but again doesn't bother me. just a nice fluffy romantic film :) also has so many funny moments that are actually funny not cringe all around i love this movie so much one of my favourites ever i think

DIRTY DANCING 1987 — dir. Emile Ardolino

in short; not for me lol i can't stand patrick swayze's accent i'm sorry. didn't even watch the whole movie because i was so not interested. it's cute when he's teaching her to do the dance and stuff and i liked when they were in the water trying to do the lift but like that was the only memorable thing for me. hair reminded me of the heathers (which is one of my absolute favourite movies) but other than that it wasn't really anything crazy to me ? just an 80s movie that my mom likes

BRIDGET JONES' DIARY 2001 — dir. Sharon Maguire

good movie. mark kinda pisses me off but he's a good guy in the end so i can live with it HUGH GRANT !!!!1 though his character was a fucking ass i love when he gets beaten up not toooooo fluffy romantic, but still romantic. FUNNY, bridget jones can't get a fucking break and it's hilarious "bridget jones, wanton sex goddess, with a very bad man between her thighs. mum... hi." solid movie i really want to watch the other two (i'll add to this list later when i watch them) and there's a fourth one coming

MAURICE 1987 — dir. James Ivory

ugh gay people ^JOKE JOKE JOKE JOKE i liked this movie. i loooove things set in earlier times but like i wouldn't call this a period piece ? like it's not that far in the past, only 1910s, but then again that was still a hundred years ago. ANYWAY hugh grant again (are you seeing a theme?) ew he was DISGUSTING with the slicked back hair and the moustache EW jokes ugh he was so cute i liked the first half of the movie, the second half was kinda eh to me?? i thought maurice and clive would like have a better resolution between them so i was kinda underwhelmed didn't really like maurice's actor's accent LMAO i am awful ending was kiiiinda disappointing to me i thought there'd be more but it was sweet. I DID NOT EXPECT TO SEE DICK AND BALLS !!!!! i literally almost screamed (no i didn't i handled it like a mature person) anyway yeah this movie's good, but ew gay people I'M JOKING

04/07 UPDATE ————————————————————————

LOVE ACTUALLY 2003 — dir. Richard Curtis

"when the planes hit the twin towers..." HUGH GRANT anyway i loved this movie, super cute. it seemed like there was a lot going on but it was done in a way that it wasn't confusing. funny but not cringe. it's a win for me if hugh grant's in it hate the american president guy, hate harry's voice he sounds like a pedophile ROWAN ATKINSON JUMPSCARE ... TWICE billy mack can suck balls i hated that guy but overall super cute lovey movie but not boringly lovey. story between all of the characters was great and i liked that they all had a nice resolve between them :)

05/07 UPDATE ————————————————————————

BRIDGET JONES: THE EDGE OF REASON 2004 — dir. Beeban Kidron

when i finished bridget jones' diary, and found out there were two more movies (and another in the works) i was a little apprehensive. i thought "what more could possible happen?" but this is bridget jones this movie was super cute actually ! GOD daniel cleaver is an asshole i hate him but hugh grant....... i like that mark and daniel fight again that was fun my god she fucking goes to jail LIKE A WERGIN overall; jesus christ what a movie. i enjoyed it though. I DID NOT EXPECT THAT REBECCA WAS A LESBIAN but then again i have a cousin named rebecca that's queer like the first movie, not super fluffy romantic, but still romantic. actually funny. actually want to kill myseslf out of second-hand embarrassment at times but that's the bridget jones charm

06/07 UPDATE————————————————————————

FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL 1994 — dir. Mike Newell

THIS MOVIE WAS SO SWEET AWWWW I FEEL SO SILLY AFTER WATCHING THAT :D rowan atkinson jumpscare once again (i knew he was in this movie) aawww man i don't have much to say about it other than it's so sweet and romantic and i just love it it's beautiful :( my brain is mush after watching it

08/07 UPDATE————————————————————————

BRIDGET JONES' BABY 2016 — dir. Sharon Maguire

holy shit ED SHEERAN JUMPSCARE!!!! oh my god i want to beat the shit out of jack. did not expect that daniel fucking died LMAOOOOO but also (massive spoiler) he's not actually dead i hope he comes back in the fourth movie giggles and kicks feet i heard that in the fourth one mark dies so bridget is alone so like maybe daniel can redeem himself when i saw mark and bridget getting married i was like oh thank god they can actually get married and daniel can't fuck her but never mind anyway i loved this movie it was funny and very bridget jones

um i forgot to write the date oopsie———————————————

SENSE AND SENSIBILITY 1995 — dir. Ang Lee

this movie made my heart hurt i was surprised at how many actors i'd seen previously in other films. like i knew hugh grant was in it (that's why i wanted to watch it lol), but i didn't expect the guy from love actually and bridget jones' mother. oh my god it all hurts the more i watch it hurts i want to cry for elinor and marianne and oh my goddd. also that fucking old bitch is so annoying i forgot her name is she mrs jennings i think but like holy shit shut the fuck up!!!!! ugh i love period media GOOD MOVIE 👍 I LOVED IT but holy shit i am too gen z for how long it was i was rolling to try and find something to keep my attention but also i wanted to watch it so bad the ending was good i liked the resolve like it was actually good i didn't expect anyone to get a happy ending LMAOOO THE MOVIE IS 2 HOURS AND 16 MINUTES. the TENSION between elinor and miss steele oh my god, WHEN THE THREE OF THEM WERE IN THE SAME ROOM i wanted to scream holy shit HLEP ME MISS STEELE'S FACE AS MARIANNE RATTLES TO EDWARD AND THEN HELP ME WHEN SHE TELLS HIS SISTER(i wrote this section while watching the movie) ugh hugh grant my looooove oh my god that man is older than my FATHER also they use the word "creature" a lot to refer to people but that's probably just the 1800s i guess "my heart is... and always will be... yours." AEUUUGHUGUHHUG

01/08 UPDATE————————————————————————

ABOUT A BOY 2002 — dir. Paul Weitz and Chris Weitz

at first i thought this movie was gonna be boring and all that, but i ended up really enjoying it! it actually was really sweet, despite not seeming like it'd be. also the guy that plays the boy marcus is the voice of jon in the new garfield movie ??????????? I'M NOT JOKING LOOK IT UP but yeah i actually really liked this movie i watched it with my mom and i enjoyed it not really much to say except it turns into a really touching movie and it's actually really nice it makes me want to not hate kids but i still do anyway

14/08 UPDATE————————————————————————

DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THE MORGANS? 2009 — dir. Marc Lawrence

you know,,, i'd want to kill meryl too. ugh i love hugh grant oh my god ughhhh i like the bear :) and the horses :) i don't have much to say about this movie LMAO i feel like most of it wasn't super memorable but i did enjoy it, so less rom more com but i mean that was the point. still sweet ending they finally get a kid. also is that a thing? that a kid can be alive and in the world but not yet have a name? like bro's gotta have a birth certificate with something on it right? i don't know i've never had kids (thank god) and also maybe it was chill like that or maybe it's just a movie and it's just nice and details like that don't matter ^_^

19/08 UPDATE————————————————————————

MUSIC AND LYRICS 2007 — dir. Marc Lawrence

OH MY GOD i wasn't expecting to like this movie that much but holy shit actually that ending was so sweet i cried i said i wasn't gonna lose my head but then pop goes my heart (pop goes my heart) i wasn't gonna fall in love again but then pop goes my heart ALL I WANNA DO IS FIND A WAY BACK INTO LOOOOVE ugh I WAS SO HEARTBROKEN WHEN HE TOLD HER SHE WAS LIKE THE CHARACTER IN THAT BOOK THAT GUY WROTE ABOUT HER LIKE NAOOOOOO but holy shit yeah i liked this movie actually it was actually funny not cringe and also hugh grant so 👍

[intertexts]

OK. OK OK OK. HI. IM AT WORK NOW SO THIS IS GONNA BE DISJOINTED AND NOT MAKE A WHOLE LOT OF SENSE BUT IM COOKING SO THIS REQUIRES AN ASK AND NOT A REPLY BC THOSE HAVE CHARACTER LIMITS (cooking both metaphorically and literally because it's 95 degrees outside at 9am and it is so so so so fucking humid) oh god get me out of the kitchen before i start burning things!!!

this could be Nothing. bc again I desperately need 2 learn more about cauldron and their motivations and such. BUT. going back to the tide/leviathan comparisons because they're making me kind of insane and i want to give him a Complex about it. because if we're not going to lobotomize him I need 2 hurt him in other ways (sorry dad)

so. this doesn't EXACTLY work 1:1 because there are only 3 endbringers and only 2 of them seem to be element-focused as far as i know. but if we have tide as a comparison to leviathan, we also have MAGMA who could be a comparison to behemoth if my thoughts are correct and behemoth is . big fire guy (he sleeps in a volcano so. I'm assuming.) . granted we also have like. whirlwind and shockwave and seismic who are the other elementals and they don't actually have an endbringer counterpart BUT IM !!!! going a little crazy thinking about like. if tide + his siblings are artificial capes, what if they (or at least he and magma because I'm kind of thinking abt them as the older ones. havent listened to the oneshot in a while so this may not be accurate) were given their powers SPECIFICALLY to be counters to the endbringers. or at least in an attempt to make a cape equivalent of the endbringers to better like... study their powerset or something. (I keep saying cauldron studies things bc I said that with david too and this really just comes from my inherent need for a big evil science team. in worm it seems like they're more capitalism focused but let a guy dream here)

this also brings up an interesting point with Elle who i know u don't know yet but she could be an interesting counterpoint to simurgh? Who as far as I know now isn't necessarily elemental but . neither is Elle really!! and that creates the big disaster in the oneshot bc she can't control her powers and goes kind of nuts about it.

anyway anyway anyway. tldr; tide and magma were specifically created as parallels to leviathan and behemoth, this wouldn't really be common knowledge to the rest of the capes bc of cauldrons secrecy BUT i think ppl would definitely notice the similarities in their powersets and that makes a subconscious fear response in people who have seen an endbringer attack firsthand (I believe in scary intimidating tide supremacy but then you talk to him and he's the sweetest human being in the whole world) . tide and magma both know this and have complicated emotions about it. I think tide has a very bad reaction to the leviathan attack if we are keeping that as an event that happens.

OR IT COULD ALL BE COINCIDENCE AND THIS IS NOTHING. but until i learn more about cauldron I am choosing to view them as my favorite trope of big evil science corporation <3333

OHH U R FUCKING COOKING DUDE YEAH <333

it is. so hard whenever u r talking about cauldron.... mallard conway ass levels of "oh okay i literally Cannot talk about this or else im accidentally gonna say spoilers." but. i DO think this goes so hard & conceivably makes sense for cauldron to do...... man one day in the far future we're gonna have to sit down and talk about if cauldron even would exist in this au. but. for now. hehehe :33 & i will say!!! i will say!!! research is. involved, in what they do. you are not off the mark.

ANYWAY. love this for him so much..... the way he moves and acts in a fight echoes leviathan.... does he have that water afterimage too??? when he's fighting?? because that shits cool as hell he should have it. i'm always just really ill over someone made to be a weapon who never wanted to be one.... tide you have to be at the leviathan fight but you shouldn't be :(((

i gotta listen to the elementals oneshot i have it downloaded rn.. i wanna know elle's deal because you have just said something unwittingly extremely funny & i need to know What happens to her before i comment on it!!!! anyway!!!! thinking abt tide lambert forever & always...

[herotome]

i'd like to know more about what you mentioned in the tags then, about taking inspiration from outside media! i remember when i first played the demo it hit just right cause i'd just watched the boys and i was hungry for more hero cynicism lol

Aw hell yeah!!

Okay so actually - I take very little inspiration from modern hero media, if any. I did grow up watching Justice League (2001-2004), Static Shock, and Batman the Animated Series and take some tonal inspiration from my memories of them (in which heroes generally try their best and it isn't always enough, villains tend to have sympathetic motives, also Mr Freeze is there and he's my big favorite), but that's about it.

When I started taking an interest in game design, I took deep inspiration from games with stories and mechanics that really resonated with me:

Mystic Messenger: I took heavy inspiration from how the love interests talk to each other, and how they all participate in every route. And the banter!! This game genuinely made me feel a personal connection to all its characters, and a lot of the player's dialogue choices were pretty damn funny for an otome game. (I have since learned that many, many indie otome games are similarly charming and I wrote a whole big list of recommendations, but didn't know they existed back in 2016-or-so.)

Undertale: Its sense of humor and meta commentary blew my mind. You could just do so much and have the game remember and react to your actions/choices, such as taking too much candy and making the whole bowl spill to the floor, or having the Mad Dummy rant about how you treated the dummy from the beginning of the game. Undertale is probably responsible for my deep interest in variable-tracking, and having characters respond to different things. (Dammit, Undertale, it's been so much work... but it's worth it I guess.....)

Disco Elysium: I played this a short while after MM and UT, and it just solidified my idea of what "my favorite game" would look like. Because I'm trying to make Herotome into my favorite game, that's my secret cap, etc etc. Anyway... Disco Elysium is fucking crazy. It's full of heart and camaraderie and also you can loudly beg for money and punch a literal child in the face and sing karaoke really badly and joking that if you find three racists you will be granted three wishes like??? It's unhinged. I haven't even mentioned the stellar atmosphere, plot, and how you have a bunch of voices in your head suggesting various courses of action and how you play as a recovering addict and you can go right back into your addiction with smoking alcohol and drugs... Describing it like this, it feels like an impossible game, that there's no way a game like this exists, but goddamn it do. And I take inspiration from a small.. SMALL aspect of it, because if I tried to fully emulate Disco Elysium I would probably die. It's just so much. And it's beautiful. Anyway DE inspired me to be more unhinged.

Dragon Age Origins: I'm listing this last because I actually played it well, well before I started game development, but it was such an impactful game for me that I'd never forgotten its scenes, characters, and how it made me feel. The CHARACTER BANTER... The sheer wealth of choices, and the emotions involved!!! There was such a general sense of world building and gravitas and then you find this mystical holy urn that's been important to a major religion and one of the characters quips "Nice vase. I should get one for my house." like??? Gah. I guess it inspired me not to take my own game too seriously, but the characters are also very,veryvery charming while also being quite diverse - everyone has a unique sense of humor and a unique background. The player can ALSO have a unique sense of humor and a unique background, which is super cool. I am absolutely not doing separate Origins for Herotome because that's way too much work-- but the diversity of the love interests did inspire me a great deal. Oh-- and the APPROVAL SYSTEM. I loved how you could get characters in the negative and have really, really interesting dialogue from antagonistic interactions, so DA:O really taught me early on that I didn't have to shy away from such things.

Perhaps most importantly: I like these games a whole lot, they are probably my favorite games. I want to like Herotome in the same way, or at least a very similar way.

A quote I try to think about a lot is "I'm surprised at the success of the show, I'm... I'm not surprised by people liking it that watch it, because... even though that makes me sound like a dick, like, that [sounds like] I knew people would like it, that's not quite what I mean-- I just mean, when you write something, you have to... if it's gonna be good, you have to be, like, its first fan, you have to be like... I don't care if I'm the only person who ever watches this, I love this. So when a second person says 'this is awesome!' You're like, stoked, but you're not shocked[...]"

... Okay I don't think about that entire stuttering quote (it's from Dan Harmon, regardless of how one might feel about him as a person he is an undeniably successful writer); but I do try to internalize "I don't care if I'm the only person who likes this" as often as I can.

I also make an effort to trust in the universe and that Herotome will reach "its people" and resonate with them in the same way my favorite games resonated with me...

... Anyway.

Outside of game design, I also try to pick out enjoyable aspects from everything I watch and read. If a book has a particularly well-written scene, I'll jot down some notes about why I liked it even if I didn't enjoy the book overall. Same with VNs and other games. While watching movies/shows I'll try to remember how they make me feel, and remember scenes that are particularly powerful and why they affected me. Yeah it's a lot of English homework, but it's how I work and indirectly feed Herotome and keep it alive in my day-to-day. I even have a playlist of random youtube videos I might reference while working on the game. Oh, and video essays -- I watch video essays religiously and make mental notes... let's plays, too, are a great way to experience how a game is designed and saving some time--

Uh, point being, you don't have to go hardcore categorizing and note-taking like I do. I just truly believe that every piece of media has something to share that can be molded and used to your own devices... even if it's "what not to do," in situations where I really, really don't like something. I'll just make a mental note to do the opposite thing. (eg, when Mystic Messenger let you choose your PFP and then randomly showed you the default MC kissing the love interest - so much whiplash, so awful, still one of my favorite games but whyyyyyy)

I actually did a meme about characters-who-inspired-my-characters a while back too, so there's that... same logic. Many many games and stories and characters inspired me, very few of them directly concern superheroes.

Thank you for the ask!!!

[eveandtheturtles]

I saw that you wanted Donnie requests and I have so many ideas! First one of my SFW ideas I want is a general headcanon of Donnie with a s/o (any pronouns are fine) who is kinda chaotic and hyper but is a sweetheart and loves hearing him infodump about his projects (even though they don’t even know what he’s talking about) Sorry if that’s a strange ask 😅💜

Fear not! I heard weirder lol (not this fandom tho, y'all guys so nice). I love chaotic characters. In fact my own oc I ship with him is chaotic lol but this isn't about her. Here I will use they/them as gender neutral option but honestly yeah can be replaced with any pronoun! @littlebeanprotector

Chaotic S/O and Infodumping Donnie

The s/o and Donnie are a match in chaotic energy. Whenever there was a crazy prank going on it was these two usually behind it but Donnie has a much calmer energy to him than them.

List of things that happened (pulling in effect the other 3 brothers + Casey and sometimes April) California Reaper Pepper challenge, the googly eyes in unexpected places prank, cling wrap Mikey and Raph challenge that got mixed with a 100 layers challenge and most importantly - crazy pizza toppings.

Now with Donnie, the s/o heard from April that he used to infodump a lot in the past but brothers generally either were escaping or (*coughRaphcough*) let him know nobody fucking knows what he is on about, which is rather discouraging so over the years Donnie learned how to "contain" himself around other people.

He's not shy it would most likely be an annoyed huff through his nose and pressing his lips together.

The s/o noticed a couple times that when certain topics are mentioned Donnie perks up and it definitely seems he wants to say something but it quickly dies down and he merely nods along with a frown.

Whenever Donnie would start Infodumping and the brothers would groan the s/o would yell "Shut up! I want to hear this you asshats!!"

Another tactic was blowing up a kazoo whenever Raph would try and interject.

It was a surprise to everyone bc whenever they were at the lair they bounced all over the place, only matching Mikey in the amount of excess energy, so they thought you also would find Donnie lecture time boring.

But no. It was surprisingly soothing.

It took a lot of poking and prodding and gentle encouragement to finally have him talk.

And boy does he talk and the things he knows! He is a walking breathing encyclopedia on certain issues.

The first time he let go the s/o sat there with open mouth. Granted a lot of it went over their head. But what was important was

Donnie's face just lit up. As he spoke he got more and more animated. His hands moving with his mouth to even bouncing on his feet. And then-

"Oh, sorry, I hope I'm not boring you..." He asked suddenly dimming down, shy.

That broke their heart a little. "No! Please keep talking I love listening to you! I love your voice and gosh you know so much!"

That helped him relax and breathe out.

They weren't lying about loving his voice. Whenever their brain would refuse to calm down but you needed to chill you'd go to Donnie to listen to him talk.

Sometimes that was how they'd fall asleep, curled up in his lap.

Now the s/o could say:

XD hope you liked that!!

Tag list!

@turtle-babe83 @madammuffins @thelaundrybitch @pheradream15 @sharpwindow @dilucsflame33

Anyone who wants in or out of it let me know. Also if you got prompts requests! I'm open!

[liannelara-dracula]

Ask: What happens to the boys in the games after Yui/Mc dies?

Hi Love!

Yeah, I understand. I myself have never played the games, mostly because I'm not a gamer and I don't know where you would play it on, is it on a play station? Idk, but I do read the game translations. I've read most of Reiji's and Ruki's, a bit of Shin's, and I just started Kanato's. I have also read some things about Yuma. But anyways I have read the manga so that helps a lot. And this is a good question!

Come to think of it, I think it varies on the situation and character. I will try to give hypothetical answers for all possible situations (I'm making most of these up but I will say if it's actually canon if it happened in the games) I could think of for each character. I say this because I have seen that sometimes they kill Yui on accident, (Shin's route is a good example of this.), and then sometimes they just go crazy? Idk, I barely know what's going on anymore 😂. Rejet gives these boys too many options in these games, I literally don't know who they are anymore, lol.

But anyway. I'll list a few categories/themes and explain what I think each character feels/thinks/does. And even which themes apply to the character.

-Liannelara

P.S. When I say "she" you can take it as Yui or the MC. I know some people don't view Yui as an actual character and just as some reader-insert so you can refer to it as Yui or MC, or whatever you want. I see either one tbh.

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Prompt

Requests are open

Rules

Warning:

*certain words have been/may be censored for Tumblr guidelines.

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On accident;;

If she was killed by accident/how they go about their life.

Shin --It actually happened soo. It was because he was under some sort of drug or manipulation and didn't recognize the woman to be Yui but then when he did it was too late and he was pretty sad. He'd be very mad though and I can see that after this he just became a villain to anyone he met because he just doesn't are anymore. He's lost sight of himself the more time passes.

Shu -- If she died on accident he'd blame himself for the rest of his life. It'd be in a situation where he tries to protect you but while doing so you get hurt because you got in the way of who he was fighting. He'd just be even lazier, just to hide what he's feeling.

Reiji--Similar to Shu, and he'd be devastated that he didn't securely sever the link between you and the enemy in a fight which led you to die instead since he was trying to eliminate the enemy. He'd never forgive himself knowing he killed the woman he loves, it'd break him. I know he may seem like he doesn't care but I've noticed that he's pretty fragile with feelings. He may not show it but when he feels guilt it eats him alive. But he'd never try to deny that its fault, he takes full responsibility. He won't accept it if someone told him it's not his fault.

Ruki--It would be under some compulsion due to some punishment by Karlheinz for loving her. It was mentioned that vampires like him take supplements to not have a lot of hunger. So I imagine that without the supplements he is a complete monster with bloodlust which maybe the reason he'd end up murdering her (but of course he didn't willingly go off the supplements so it's not exactly his fault) With him ending the life of the very woman he loves with his bare hands is enough to have him want to erase his mind but at the same time he doesn't want to forget her. He'd beg for this to happen but it could never be granted. After such an experience he'd want to end his existence. And if he couldn't he'd move away far from everything and start over with a new name and lifestyle all over again. He'd find some distraction for a while until his aging becomes a question and then he moves and starts over again but always feeling empty no matter what.

Carla--He has many enemies so it's not surprising that she gets hurt in between. Even though he is a founder, this is something he cannot handle, he will definitely remove all memories he has of her temporarily or at least all the bad ones. And if this happens he will eventually convince himself that he didn't hurt her. But this will all come crashing down when he faces reality again, and the guilt will be very painful. He will never be the same and he may even give up his crown as he feels that everything has been lost. And he's very lost.

Azusa--He doesn't fully acknowledge how it all went down. This is probably because he's in a state of shock. He can't comprehend everything but when he does, it hurts. Azusa is a little scattered and mute to feelings but if it means a lot, his mood may change and he may blame himself for the MC dying. He will say its because he doesn't deserve her and that's why she was taken away. Whatever the case he doesn't freak out too much because I think he's sorta numb to a lot of situations.

Subaru--It would have to be that someone had a vendetta against him and his family and she happened to get caught in the cross fire. So like the games he took his life but say he didn't he'd literally just get worse. He is more miserable than he already is.

Kino--Considering he has a vendetta with Karl, the MC may get killed since it takes away something from him. If he really cares, he drops everything and no longer cares about revenge or fighting. He doesn't care anymore by that point since she's gone. He'll very miserable and may not ever forgive himself that she got involved. In fact, even if he met someone he liked or cared for he'd probably push them away and stay out of their life because he doesn't want their life to change because of the supernatural. He doesn't want to be the cause of their death. Not again.

Yuma--If he owes something but goes against a deal he has this could result in the MC/Yui dying. He'd obviously be angry no doubt. He may lose sight of himself and be a little ruthless with others. Yuma would probably get in more fights and be upset easily. He may even abandon his garden for a while, all the flowers wilting as is his mind. Yuma can only deal with it so much that even if he's tough, he is still hurt. Though he'd never express that to someone, he'd never openly admit that he cared because if he did he may just cry.

No Reason/or Consumption of madness;;

If she is killed because they went insane or they had no reason/ how they go about their life.

Ayato--He gets jealous a lot so if she gave someone else more attention and he becomes incredibly jealous he could go crazy. If this is the case he will be very mad/upset but also relieved that it's over. But he's also very annoyed, obviously, she meant nothing so he'll easily find someone else. He lives guilt-free.

Kanato--I mean think plenty of us know what he's done. He's a yandere we don't need to go into detail. However, because has special attachments the MC/Yui does still mean something to him. No one should mention her name though he becomes upset. Although he does get emotional from time to time but then is also proud that he was able to end her life.

Kou--Considering that he lets Yui get bullied I'm not surprised if she's been trampled on either or if he'd let her get nearly killed by those bullies. Maybe he would do it with his own hands but if he allows it he's obviously no good. And he definitely doesn't care. He literally finds it annoying that it happened and would be too lazy to prevent or take care of it. He doesn't feel guilty at all.

Yuma--He takes his anger out on Yui psychically and she once got involved in a fight he was in since she tried to stop it but she got hit in the process. So he probably ended up beating her to death. Considering the abuse he clearly doesn't care and so he will probably feel bored, maybe a little disappointed but he is able to carry on.

Reiji--It happened in one of the routes where he obtained his father's power and he became mad. So Karl ended up killing him.

Laito--If saw that the MC was like Cordelia he'd probably do this or if the MC meant nothing at all and he had no more purpose he will probably just discard her. And he'd just carry on about his day, like he has done with the rest of his victims.

Kino--If he didn't care for her or if she were leverage from the start he'd probably do this. He literally doesn't think what he did is a problem and is open to the fact that he did it. Has no shame that he used her at all!

Terms of Sacrifice;;

If she dies in place of them or someone/how they go about their life.

Laito--Her dying in place of saving or getting rid of the enemy especially if the enemy is his mother is a lot on him. It may not seem possible but seeing her die for something that wasn't her fight would greatly upset him. If her death did involve the death of his mother tho it would bring him relief that the woman which ruined his life is finally ashes but it's also quite overwhelming. He may not ever admit how much he feels hurt by his own mother, but this situation stirs many emotions within him. And secretly I think he'd thank Yui or MC for this because his experience of assault suffocates him still.

I know he's never understood love and he probably never will but he grew attachment and loss after losing the MC and he felt empty and partial guilt in all that he had said and done to her. He doesn't 100% acknowledge his faults or what pain he caused her but only that she deserved better than what she experienced. Gradually this guilt increases and if he shared deep secrets and emotions with her, like especially stuff about his past that his family could never understand but she could/was willing to, it would affect him a lot. He'd feel overwhelmed by the situation and would leave his brothers and he'd probably never come back. This is mostly because he doesn't want to be found. And he's no longer the same after everything.

Ruki--He can't live with that, he probably would have literally told her that. Knowing that she spared his life by giving up hers is just the worst thing he could hear. Similar to what I said before, he has a hard time dealing with it and just tries to busy himself. But some days are just too much for him to handle and he becomes a lot colder after such a thing.

Subaru--Similar to what I said before, he'd have a very hard time accepting this. And he wouldn't be okay with it. He'd be mad and wished it was him instead. He may even feel at fault and just think he's worthless because he couldn't stop it.

Kino--Like Subaru, he blames himself. There's not a day she doesn't cross his mind. And I mean, I think he wishes things could've been different or that if maybe there was another way so that she wouldn't have died.

For Paranoia;;

If they viewed her as a threat and killed her/how they go about their life.

Ayato--Like everyone in this category he didn't care. He just thought she was out to get him or something and you know he's brainless so he didn't think twice about killing her off. And he doesn't care, if sees a girl who has maybe even a hint of his mother (Or at least he thinks so) in them he will definitely distance her if not end her life depending on the circumstances of course.

Carla--He doesn't trust anyone like his brother, and he is paranoid just as much as he is. In one of the games he actually kills Yui because he saw her as a threat.

Kanato--I mean he's psycho, we can't deny this. Like, idk how many people's lives he's ended in his games, cause I haven't gotten there yet, but from what I know it's a lot. I mean the doll room tells us a lot already. She'd probably just going to become a doll and he'd take care of her. Or maybe if she's not worthy of being a doll he may just only bury her.

Shin-- He is shown to be very paranoid so it doesn't surprise me and he'd do this if she means nothing so he doesn't care. Well not that much, sometimes he does wonder if it was the right decision. If he realized he was wrong and that she was innocent he'd be so mad. He'd feel guilty but he'd try to push it away and would be mad if someone brings it up.

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˗ˏˋ 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑚𝑦 𝑤𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑠 𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝐼 𝑑𝑜 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠 ˎˊ˗ ©𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟔~Present

[akria23]

I took this photo while watching a teaser…It def looks like Zouey to me & I don’t know how to feel about that.

I joke about Zouey being the killer because there’s a number of things I’ve found suspicious about him or moments that have raise flags for me,

Him not wanting anyone else to catch him watching the birthday video of the group with Nant.

The first painting he was ‘engaging’ with - I couldn’t place the subject.

The constant hinting at something having happened to him.

The secret room / the No touch zone items

The side eyes

But most of all it was the question of if Zouey is such the righteous person he presents himself to be, if the bond between he and Nant was as true as the narrative wants us to believe then why did Nant not seek help from him? Why did he go to Prom…

I couldn’t help but think - even if Prom is a puppy dog that would do whatever wouldn’t you go to your friend first? But then when one of the recent episodes shows that Nant had 2 phones and did seem to be in contact with someone that day I thought it had either be his bestie Zouey or my number one suspect Tutor. Maybe Zouey was more in the know than we ever thought.

However even when I added Zouey to my suspect list it was mostly in a loose manner because I don’t want Zouey to be any type of killer not because he’s Xouey or because he’s with Teena and he’s a baddie - no it’s because he’s built as the ‘righteous sweet’ character he automatically because the most suspicious character. Even if he’s not at the forefront of your mind he still swirls at the back because we suspect innocent type of characters to intentionally be written that way so they can be a deception or twist in the reveal. Imo because of that these type of characters are always best as the distraction rather than the real deal.

Granted they could work his motive and give us something crazy. Or this who death of what looks to be Jump could be something else…doubt it tho considering we’re to the wire now with only 2 episodes left.

Or it might not be Zouey at all - it damn sure looks like Zouey to me tho…

Is it possible Zouey wants to kill Jump but didn’t kill Nant? Again I don’t think so because we’re so close to the end I’m expecting the killer (if there is one) to be revealed in this next episode. I don’t get why he’d want to kill Jump tho - I have a theory on why he’d want to kill Nant but Jason is the one who wanted Jump dead and it didn’t seem like Zouey had a connection to Jason, Aob or even Nuth that would lead him to killing Jump.

*Edit - I did lighten the promo photo as well cause the hair at first made me think it was Nont as it did look like in some places. But the length and the highlights wouldn’t be right. I also considered Nant and it being a flashback def since we still haven’t gotten an explanation for the bloody hand print if I recall….But the screen cap I took from the teaser doesn’t look like either of the twins…Crazy that I’d prefer it be one of them 😂 I really shouldn’t want Nont’s ‘kill ‘em’ dreams to come into fruition.

Idk it really does look like Zouey to me but I guess in a matter of hours we’ll see what exactly the episode has in store for us - murder mystery and all….

UPDATE: just finished the episode it wasn't him. The bangs...I should’ve caught that 😮‍💨 - Anyway glad it wasn't him cause this feels like it clears him completely. I'm okay with anyone being the killer but Zouey because like I said Zouey being the most righteous automatic makes him the least likely character and therefore on everybody’s sus list and I think these types should never be the actual villain for that reason alone. I feel like the rule of thumb is never choose the most or least likely choose the overlooked character in the middle - someone whose clues were obscure enough to get lost in the mix but still gives the audience that uhhh of course I saw that why didn’t it click for me there.

[sp4mja]

So I've decided to accept who I am and make a OP x QSMP AU. But before making any art I made a list of possible Devil Fruits each member would have plus some lore

This will be a long and extremely self-indulgent post, so everything regarding this AU is under the cut.

So, both the hispanics and the English speakers are invited to the island, they all range from ex marines to civilians to pirates. The only thing they have in common is that everyone is a devil fruit user, which quickly raises their suspicions about the island.

The logic behind having so many Devil Fruit users together is that the Federation purposefully gathered them all together. Expect for the brazilians and the french, who just happened to stumble upon the island, some of them do have devil fruits but not all.

And that's one of the reasons why the Federation dislike them, as they don't fit in the plan.

Speaking of the Brazilians and the French!

The Brazilians knew each other before the island but very briefly (except for Pac, Mike and Cellbit) since they all made it into the same ship and ended up crashing on Quesadilla island (Felps is not a good navigator and Forever was too worried to actually steer the ship.)

As for the French, they were traveling to a Sky Island on a big ship and they ended up falling from the sky, they didn't particularly know each other before but they grew closer on the ship before the ship fell.

Now, I'm still thinking about some fruits and roles (backstory from the cubitos before the island) but these are my general ideas, feel free to share your thoughts!

Some of my ideas are pretty self-explanatory but ask away if you have any doubts!

● Hispanics:

Luzu — tbh idk something about metals, maybe the smelt-smelt fruit? Maybe even a cyborg

Rubius — .... Wish-Wish fruit?? He grants wishes or something

Mariana — Whisper-Whisper Fruit (Taking into account his rp on tortillaland and integrating it into the qsmp, he should be able to talk to animals. I don't think the animals talk back tho)

Spreen — Bear-bear Fruit Model Black Bear

Missa — Bird-Bird Fruit Model Raven / Revive-Revive Fruit (Debating over this, specially because it would be funny if both Missa and Philza share similar DF, but also skeleton Missa is fun)

Roier — Spider-Spider Fruit Model Latrodectus Hesperus (black widow)

Vegetta — Scroll-Scroll Fruit (He's the wise man of the mountain, I'm sure he uses his knowledge to make powerful scrolls)

Maximus — Clank-Clank Fruit / Magnet-Magnet Fruit (Tbh I want something relating to Max's abilities with machines)

Quackity — String-String Fruit (freaky, the man who pulls the strings)

● English:

Wilbur — Tone-Tone Fruit / Song-Song Fruit (For this one I think going with Uta's power is better, Wilbur is extremely powerful but he is also a whimsical British guy who sings beautiful songs for his daughter to have a good night of sleep)

Fit — Pop-Pop Fruit

Philza — Bird-Bird Fruit Model Crow (Love-Love fruit if I'm feeling a little crazy, he turns Forever into stone sll the time)

Jaiden — Bird-Bird Fruit Model Parrot / Brush-Brush Fruit (As much as I love parrot jaiden, I think she being able to draw bobby after his death but stopping herself from bringing the art to life is extremely angsty and I love it)

Bad — Hollow-Hollow Fruit

Foolish — Shark Fish man. Swim Swim Fruit (I know, he can't swim so he now has a fruit that lets him swim everywhere? Yeah, but also a logia fruit that could help him build fits as well)

Dan — ? (Sorry)

Slime — Jello-Jello Fruit (Following the food themed devil fruits from the Big Mom Pirates, he turns into Jello... Lime flavor, he is sticky, sugary and a little sour, both Mariana and Juana are intrigued)

● Brazilians:

Cellbit — Archeologist and Archivist, former captain of a crew (as much as I would love to give Cellbit a DF, I think it would be charming if he could save Roier from falling into the sea all the time, as well as Felps)

Felps — Calm-Calm Fruit (He makes silent bubbles for Richarlyson everytime he gets overwhelmed, best dad)

Forever — Navigator (Pirate, former marine, he loves travelling and lost his right hand man on the way)

Pac and Mike— Shipwrights (Do not separate. They make the craziest ships on the world. Also criminals with bounties but not necessarily pirates)

● French:

Baguera — Mink Duck (she's a duck, she went to explore the world and oh well)

Etoiles — Woods-Woods Fruit / Arms-Arms Fruit (This one is complicated, he is a cucumber (?) So I thought a extremely powerful fruit like the Woods-Woods one its him, but he is also very dangerous and into weapons, so the other one also fits him? He is a bounty hunter)

Antoine — Stich-Stich fruit (He stiches dirt together, doesn't really use his power but he starts doing it after Pomme gets interested (he makes her clothes!!!))

Kameto — Normal ninja lmao (literally just a ninja, just a guy, he is terrifying)

Pierre — Inventor (Both Marines and Pirates buy his inventions, money is everything)

As for the eggs, I believe they follow the same logic as the seraphims. They were artificially made using human DNA and thats why they are both inteligent and fragile. They are replaceable and the Federation can make more if they find a quicker and cheaper way.

Oh and Cucurucho, I think it would be extremely fucked up if it has the Shadow-Shadow fruit. Imagine Cucurucho taking Cellbit's shadow, creepy.

[reflections-in-a-critical-eye]

I haven't done lists in a while and there's a lot pilling up just this week so it's time to bring it back.

1. I'm revisting Old Hollywood again now that I've watched most of the films nominated for Oscar this year. The Be Kind Rewind youtube channel has been sort of the trigger for going back to the past and for that I have to thank @shimako for the recommendation 🩷 I've watched the 2 hour and a half video essays on the Valley of The Dolls and the behind the scenes story is far more interesting that the film itself.

Not to say that the themes addressed in the film wouldn't be, like disillusionment in Hollywood, personal grievances, what it means to be an actress and especially not a really succesful one. It reminded me of Didion's Play It As It Lays (which I think it's a better piece of literature although the film adaption seems to have turned into a failure?)

2. Anyway, that made me go down the rabbit hole and watch other essays on Ruth Gordon (amazing woman) and Katharine Hepburn.

3 . Speaking of Hepburn, I realized yesterday that I've only seen her paired on screen with Cary Grant and not with Spencer Tracy (I know!). So I rectified that mistake and I watched Adam's Rib (George Cukor, 1949) and I finally understood what all the fuss was about and I have some sort of theory. Grant and Hepburn together are like this very performative version of a couple in which the constant bickering takes center stage, but even when they do get together, it lacks something. A bit of authenticity. But with the Hepburn-Tracy duo, you can almost feel it. It's right there in the small, natural gestures. Instant chemistry and love. They work so well together. I guess the off screen affair of 26 years helped that as well.

3. I love Mommy Dearest and Faye Dunaway as Joan Crawford. The screaming, the crying, the makeup, "No wire hangers!". Poor baby Christina. It's a shame though that Faye Dunaway distanced herself from it because of how "bad" it turned out, but I understand why she felt she had to do it.

But I also couldn't help but think of DeNiro in Cape Fear and his own campy performance in a very 90s ridiculous film that allowed Scorsese to try his hand at that type of thriller. DeNiro's career didn't suffer because of it, as opposed to Dunaway's version of camp, which I prefer actually. It may have been hated at that time, but Mommie Dearest is a cult classic.

*Bonus: Currently listening to another You Must Remember This podcast series. It's Gossip Girls: Louella Parsons and Hedda Hopper, aka the famous old Hollywood gossip columnists.

Now, for some ridiculous internet & showbiz drama:

4. People going conspiracy mode over Kate Middleton? Some of us lived months without any sign from Jimin. They could learn from that. But love the memes.

5. I feel sorry for those kids in Glasgow. They really experienced the effects of AI used by assholes who wanted to make some money. The lady in green hair has been all over twitter and whilst funny for us, it is shitty to be in her shoes. The Unknown! 🤦‍♀️

6. Who was an ass to Rebecca Ferguson on set? The consensus is that Jake Gyllenhaal was the culprit and I wouldn't be surprised. But it needs more investigating.

7. Over in K-Pop Land Karina gets a boyfriend, her fans are devasted and Koreaboo is pumping "articles" by the minute. What else is new?

8. Stans of all types are stanning and fighting. One day 🐥 girlies, the next day 🐰 girlies and all the other crazies all week long, no break. I do read the stuff in my inbox, but I'm really not in a mood to comment on every shitty thing that happens so often. I know that once I do it, then I just invite more and it's just pointless. There's no actual JM and JK which is frustrating enough and no travel show on the horizon and it's just too bleak at this point.

We're waiting, clock is ticking. At least release a travel show as a summer content, ok?

9. I did see that Billboard kpop 100 top. Yeah, I don't understand the logic of including individual artists if they haven't charted on their own. Don't these people have editors to point out the flaws in the listicles? It's just dumb.