#learning to accept himself and moving on from bella becoming his own person

[berryclownboy]

still not over smeyer adding imprinting to twilight

the way it cheapens the narrative and serves no purpose other than for smeyer to tie Jacobs story in a neat and complete box

it absolutely negates and spits on the pain and character development Jacob was going through in eclipse and breaking dawn

[chubbyreaderchan]

Technically No | Jacob Black x witch!Reader | Twilight/Buffy the Vampire Slayer Crossover| 2

The weekend passed by quite quickly. Sunday was spent organizing what (Y/n) did buy on that Saturday. That Saturday was truly life changing. Jacob even called her that Sunday to see if she needed any help getting he house put together, which she took. He spent the entire afternoon chatting with her about cars then he went on to learning all about (Y/n). It was nice to have someone outside of Xander actually care about her interests. 

The Sunday night, she may have spent too long on a three way phone call with Buffy and Willow telling them all about Jacob. Then finally, Monday came. Bright and early (Y/n) woke up putting on her nicest clothes and make up to her preferred taste. She was finishing up breakfast when a knock came from the door. There stood Jacob as well as two just as tall and just as muscular young men. “Hey” Jacob spoke, looking her over almost speechless. She was just so beautiful but one of the young men playfully pushed Jacob out of his slight trance. 

“Oh, sorry. (Y/n)... These are my friends Embry and Quil...” he nodded to them each. They both shook the young witch’s hand. 

“Thank you so much for doing this... If it wasn’t my first day on the job I would have stay--” Jacob shook his head with a bright smile still on his face. “It’s fine.” “I know but young guys like you would probably prefer not hanging out at a stranger’s empty house.” She moved to allow them in. At least they weren’t vampires, she couldn’t help but thinking. “You’re welcome to anything that’s in the kitchen... It’s not much but theres like snacks and drinks...” She began walking towards the door once she took note of the time. Jacob followed her out and nodded. “It’s really not a problem... I swear.” He looked her over, eyes wondered for just a second to her neck. A cross and a pentagram nestled together on a chain. He wondered about the for a moment before looking at her face. “Seriously... Though... I was wondering... if you’d want to go to the movies. I mean as a sort of payment...” He closed the door when he heard his two idiot friends shouting at him. 

“That’s what you wanted in return?” She laughed slightly. “I mean you don’t have to.” Jacob said quickly. “I’d like that...” She said before he could retract the date. Jacob’s smile jumped right back to his lips, then she leaned up and placed a gentle kiss on his cheek. “Thanks, again.” She trotted off to her little rental and Jacob went back into her house to wait on the delivery truck. 

--

The first day on the new job went great, only one or two hiccups but nothing to damaging. When she pulled into her drive way at 4:45 the three young men were still there now shirtless as they were helping the moving guys bring in the last few boxes into the house. What caused (Y/n) more concern is she recognized one of her boxes that Jacob was carrying. Not only was it heavier than all hell it was filled with one of her cauldrons. She rarely used because it was heavy. He held it as if it were made of paper. It reminded her of Buffy who was the one who ended up packing it in the first place.

She hopped out of the car and walked up to him with a frown on her face. He had to be magical or something not ‘normal’. 

“Isn’t that heavy?” She didn’t know what to say but she was going to have to see if any of her books would tell what he was. Jacob didn’t seem bad, however. His aura was practically made of heavenly light. There was no way he was evil.

 His dark eyes widened when she asked. “I uh... work out a lot.” His arm flexed slightly, her eyes wondered to look at how muscular he really was she felt her cheeks burn in embarrassment. “Fine. You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to... but just know you can trust me with secrets.” She walked into the living room now filled with the few boxes and furniture she owned. The two boys were chatting away happily. (Y/n) pulled out her phone as Jacob placed the heavy box down on the floor. 

“I’m going to order something in... What do you guys like? My treat!” She smiled at them. 

“Awesome!” Quill held a small smile. They told her the best pizza place they knew of in Forks that delivered, despite more or less knowing La Push better. “You’re awesome!” Embry agreed once the food was ordered. Not a moment later, (Y/n) phone rang and she wondered to the kitchen for a bit of privacy when she heard Willow’s voice. 

In the other room with the three wolves, they began a conversation about Jacob’s imprint. “She said something weird.” He said in a hushed tone, sitting on the floor with his friends. “She said that she could be trusted with my secret...She caught me carrying something heavy... she’s already suspicious ” “Sam did say that you can tell your imprint.” Quill said relaxing a bit. “I know but I thought I would have more time to like... become her boyfriend first.” He sighed. “But there’s something different about her.” “So tell her sooner.” Embry offered. “Or see what Sam thinks.” Then she walked in again, still on the phone talking to Willow. “I should still have that book” She began looking at all the boxes, looking for a certain one that had three letters. MBK. Magic books for long. It was under another box. “One sec, Will.” 

‘Will?’ Jacob frowned for a second. Was she dating someone back home? No, why would she accept his date offer if that was the case. She placed her phone down on a different box to get the other box. With a key she broke the tape and began pulling out what Jacob could only consider some of the oldest looking books he had ever seen. in fact he had no clue what language any of them were in. He glanced at his pack mates who also looked very confused. She found it and continued the conversation almost forgetting the three practical strangers in her living room. She flipped through the pages. “What kind of demon again?” she said softly, looking through the book again. “Thorganath demon. Right. Sorry.” Then she sighed softly. “Yeah, no that’s one of the pages that was ripped when I bought it used.” Silence. “Oh, yeah. How’s Tara? That good, send her my love Willow. Tell Buffy I’m sorry I couldn’t be more help.” She hung up and looked over at the boys still looking quite bewildered. 

“Why are you talking about demons?” Jacob spoke. He felt a bit of anxiety radiating off of his imprint. She looked wide eyed at them. “It’s... hard to explain.” “You can trust me with your secrets, (Y/n).” Jacob repeating her words from earlier. “I’ll tell you mine first...” He hated the feeling radiating off of her. This caused them both of the young wolves to look up in surprise. He was just telling them how he didn’t know what to say. Perhaps it was an imprint thing. “We can talk in the kitchen. They can grab the pizza if it gets here before we are done talking.” She simply nods, telling them where the money for it was and following Jacob back to the kitchen.

(Y/n) hopped onto the counter and he leaned against the kitchen island, trying to decide how to explain. “In my tribe we have these stories... “ he began going into the quileute legend of shapeshifts and the cold ones. “They aren’t really stories...” “You’re one.” She finished with a nod, not even remotely shaken. “Yeah, I’m a werewolf basically.” Then she started to laugh. “Oh, not technically no. Real werewolves are much more complicated.” That caused Jacob to take a second look at her. “What?” “My friend Oz is a werewolf. Like an actual light of the full moon werewolf.” Jacob actually looked shocked. Jacob sighed. “There’s another thing about us. When we shift... sometimes... we have what are called imprints.” She was smiling. Like these legends weren’t strange... as if they were comforting. “Basically it’s like soul mates... no... it’s deeper than that... Like... your whole world revolves around that person...and... I... you’re my imprint.” Now it was her turn to look shocked. She supposed soul mates or imprints rather weren’t entirely the weirdest thing. Especially from someone who grew up on top of a literal Hellmouth. In fact, it was cute.

“Well, I suppose you are pretty cute” (Y/n) smiled at him teasingly. Jacob’s grin returned to his face. “Well... now it’s your turn.” “Oh, I’m a witch.” She said simply, going into a few stories about Sunnydale, not going to into detail about each occurrence nor explaining the whole Hellmouth thing. “So, wait... are cold ones...” She paused unsure if he’d call her crazy, especially since a treaty with a vampire nest didn’t sound right. “Are they supposed to be vampires?” His eyes widened. “You’ve dealt with them too?” “Uh, yeah my friend is the slayer.” “The what?” “You know... Vampire slayer. She jabs them in the heart with pointy wooden sticks.” “That’s not how you kill a vampire. They are as hard as diamonds, only my pack can-” “That’s not any vampire I’ve ever met... They are pretty soft and burst into dust in sunlight... Or cutting off their head. Honestly, I’ve staked a few myself.” 

‘She is so cute’ Jacob caught himself thinking. “Do you want to meet one of the vampires? They live here in town. In fact Bella dates one of them!” “Are they busy?” “We are in Forks. So probably not.” Jacob laughed a bit. “Invite them over.” she paused. “Wait, can he come into a house without being invited in?” 

Jacob was very confused now. “Uh... I think so.” His thick eyebrows furrowed together as she shrugged. “Technically not vampires. I’ll call them cold ones though.” Her smile was triumphant. What did she win exactly? Their first argument? Maybe. She moved to Jacob’s side again, pressing a soft kiss on his cheek. “Introduce me to them.” “Maybe later. They aren’t exactly friendly with any other wolves... in fact Edward probably still hates me.” He ran his fingers across his neck. Then he smelled pizza. He lead them back into the living room where they began to eat dinner. “Actually, I’d rather you meet Sam and the rest of pack before you meet vampires.” “They aren’t vampires.” 

“So you guys are shapeshifters hm?” 

-- 

The relationship with (Y/n) and Jacob got stronger even within just a week of living in Forks. Jacob would come over after she got off work and help her unpack, slowly learning about how much darker the monsters were. 

It was almost instant when she called scoobies to explain, though she had a feeling she would be in trouble later but how could she keep something so insane from them? The movie date that Saturday turned into going to meet the pack quite quickly, since that seemed to interest (Y/n) more than seeing anything that was playing. Plus Jacob was asked to patrol that night since he had missed the entire week of patrol. He was glad Sam allowed it, though. They currently sat in front of the small house in Jacob’s truck. (Y/n) was ready to go but Jacob stopped her. “Just... don’t stare at Emily. Sam hates that.” “Why would I?” Jacob sighed softly. “You’ll see.” 

“So... when am I going to see your wolf form?” She asked as they began walking towards the door. “Tonight. I’ll let you see... When do I get to see magic?” he half joked. Then she frowned a bit. “When there is something dangerous going on... Magic... is dangerous.” She said as she walked into the house with Jacob holding the door open. “Hey, Jacob!” A woman a bit older said with a bright smile and a large scar along her face. “Is this her?” “The witch?” A young man said with a joking voice. “(Y/n)...” He introduced. “This is Emily. That’s Seth.” He looked to still be in high school, doing homework on the table. “Wheres...?” “They are on the way back.” Almost on queue, five very large men and one young woman walk in talking excitedly about how they were hungry. How the patrol was fun and so on. The oldest looking one walked over to Emily and placed a kiss on her lips. “Is this the witchy girl?” one said jokingly. “Yeah, ‘witches’. Probably just a weird goth chick.” 

“That’s Jared... and Paul. Sam is over there. Then you know Quil and Embry. That’s Leah.” Jacob nodded to the girl, after introducing the pack. “Ignore Paul. He’s got an attitude problem.” “Can’t be any worse than Spike.” 

“Who?” “Oh, vampire. Completely harmless. Has a chip in his head. Can’t hurt people if he wanted” she said casually, with a wave of a hand. “Oh, great. Another vampire lover, Jacob.” Paul huffed out grabbing a muffin that Emily had just placed on the table. “Oh ick no.” She shook her head. “No, he’s just a necessary evil... Unfortunately.” Jacob moved and grabbed a muffin for him self and handed one to his imprint. Paul and Sam seemed to give her both a confused look. “A chip?” Sam asked suddenly. “Oh, it’s nice to meet you.” He corrected the slightly rude behavior. He wanted to make sure he was a good influence on his fairly young pack. 

“Yep. Government issued.” She shrugged. That made them all look at her in confusion. “You have to be making this up.” Seth said, seemingly by mistake. She sighed. “Fine. Can I borrow the pencil?” She sat next to him getting annoyed. Why wouldn’t a pack of literal wolves believe her? A little small time magic shouldn’t do too much to corrupt her, right? The spell was learned with Willow in high school. It was no big deal. 

Her eyes focused on the pencil she took and laid down. Slowly it floated up and began turning slowly in the air. “All about emotional control” She quoted something that Willow once said to her and Buffy forever ago. It was silent as they watched the simple trick, that was until Seth said “Woah, that’s insane.” This unfortunately caused (Y/n) to jump in surprise and the pencil flew into the wall across the way getting stuck. 

“Oh no! I am so sorry, Emily.” She hopped up and rushed to pull the pencil out of the wall. “I can fix that!” Her hand ran over the hole and then it was gone. “Can you do anything useful?” Paul said sarcastically. “I mean when hunting vampires, floating a wooden pointy thing is pretty useful.” “That’s not how you kill a vampire. That’s a book thing.” Paul seemed annoyed. “No, no it’s not. It’s just your cold ones are calling themselves vampires without knowing what a real vampire is.” Sam sat down with Emily both interested in whatever (Y/n) had to say. Everything she spoke of was completely off of what their legends and experiences have showed them. Witches seemed real, that’s entirely possible in Sam’s mind since it was a form of magic that turned the pack into wolves. 

“She’s told me some crazy sounding things.” Jacob sat next to his imprint, in a way that he was able to touch her thigh with his own. His hand move to gently touch her’s under the table. “I’ll introduce you guys to the slayer. If the monsters could chill out by the time fall break happens for her of course. The scoobies should be coming out. Then you can meet some real powerful witches.” Her smile was bright as if this was completely normal.

“Slayer?” Sam asked looking her over. “Oh, right. You guys don’t know about that. Okay, so there’s this thing called the slayer. She is born with the power to kill all kinds of dark things but mainly vampires. A new one is activated every time the last one dies.” She explained more on the legend a bit. They were still very skeptical of (Y/n)’s vampire experiences however. 

“Have you even met the Cullens yet?” Leah asked confused. “No, but I’d be interested in meeting them.” “It’s dangerous.” Sam said calmly as Emily began serving dinner to the large group. “I mean... I went to high school on top of a literal hellmouth. Can’t be that dangerous...” “What’s that?” Seth asked taking a bit of his food. “It’s like... evil shooting out of hell.” 

Then her phone rang. Buffy flashed on the screen. “Sorry, I gotta take this.” 

"Do you still have that rare book on ancient artifacts?” “Used in rituals... yeah?” “Can you mail it?”

“Of course I can. Just send it back in one piece. Don’t let Xander speak latin to it. I can send it Monday after work.” “Thanks... so uh... are you still hanging out with that Jacob guy?” “Yeah... kinda am.. right now.” 

“Oh, sorry. Thanks. I might have to call you again later.” 

-- 

Dinner went well, surprisingly. Perhaps it was an ‘imprinted to a wolf in their pack’ thing but it really felt like she belonged in the group of La Push boys. “Don’t worry, (Y/n) I won’t keep him out long. I’ll send him to take you home in a couple hours.” Sam said with a gentle smile as they walked out to see the boys off. “Yeah, it’s fine. I’d like to get to know Emily.” She smiled at Emily who was watching from the door. The boys wondered to the tree line, Jacob had explained it was easier to transform naked than to go through a million shorts a day. 

Sam smiled to her again before following the others in. Then a large brown wolf walks out from the tree line. His eyes were large and brown. “So that’s what you look like as a wolf, Jacob.” Jacob couldn’t help but think about how smart she was, getting him a bit of teasing from his pack mates. Jacob slowly walked forward and her hand reached out, gently ran her fingers through the long fur. Then she paused. “It’s kind of weird to pet your head isn’t it? I mean imagine if I walked up to you in your human form and just... patted your head.” A noise came from him. A laugh perhaps? She leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his muzzle. “Stay safe. Let me know if you need any help.” She waved as he ran off to join his pack. 

This was going to be fun to explain to the Scoobies.

[coldshrugs]

thank you for this blessed template, @possumsunshine. this was so fun and cute, i couldn't resist after seeing it on my dash 💗

pulled a couple of answers from oc asks i've done recently because oof this got long.

QUICK READ OF YOUR DETECTIVE

Name: alma greene

Pronouns: she/her

Sexuality: bisexual

Love interest: mason

Best friend: felix but also nate

Main skill: science/tech

Secondary skill: people/psychology

Main personality trait: tied for impulsive and sarcastic

Secondary personality trait: stubborn

Why did they join the Wayhaven PD?: she’s not a detective, but science skills

Relationship with Rebecca: very close, even with absences, but waning

Relationship with Bobby: college friend, currently hates him

Verda or Tina?: both

Murphy bite?: wrist

Murphy’s fate?: at large, babyyy

Rescue LI or Rescue Sanja?: sanja

GENERAL

Name: alma eloise greene

Nickname: sweetheart/space girl by mason; sweetie by rebecca

Birthday: june 12th

Age: 29

Pronouns: she/her

Sexuality: bisexual (demiromantic??)

Hair color: dark brown

Eye color: dark brown, nearly black

Height: 5’1”

Piercings: ears, former nostril piercings

Tattoos: a small snail on her right arm, super cartoony spaceship and tractor beam over the words “i want to believe” on the back of her left calf

Clothing Style: “modern” i guess, according to the game. tbh i usually describe it as “too old to be an e-girl but too cute to care.” bleached denim, dark plaid, graphic crop tops, black vans or converse, thigh-high tights, etc etc

Apartment Style: cozy. did she find it on the side of the road or goodwill or an estate sale? if not, it’s probably not in her apartment.

STATS

Personality:

Charming | Intimidating

Impulsive | Cautious

Sarcastic | Genuine

Friendly | Stoic

Easygoing | Stubborn

Traits:

Heart | Mind

Optimist | Pessimist

Team Player | Independent

Skills:

Main Skill: science/tech

Second Skill: people/psychology

By the Book | Bend the Rules

KEY DECISIONS

Reason for joining the Wayhaven PD: alma is wayhaven’s only forensic analyst because i refuse to let my black oc be a cop

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ in-game, she’s 100% there for her scientific prowess.

Murphy bite: Wrist | Neck | None

Murphy’s Fate: Captured | Escaped

Rescued: Love Interest | Sanja

ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIP

Love Interest: mason

Why them?: on a meta level: oh no he’s hot

but alma’s reasoning is that he’s very upfront about what he wants in the beginning and she’s never been pursued in such a way. It’s a bit of a rush and an ego boost for her at first. but mason’s loyalty very quickly becomes the steadiness alma’s been missing for most of her life and she latches on to that. she’s not had someone so dependable around in… well, ever. and her physical attraction becomes emotional VERY quickly.

Bold, shy, or mixed?: shy until they sleep together, then a mix of bold and genuine afterward.

What were their first impressions of each other?:

alma on mason: thought he was super attractive but that was quickly pushed aside by “holy shit, this guy’s an ass.” she thinks he’s an uncooperative jerk that only cares about himself for quite a while, honestly. she asks him along for things she wants to do alone precisely because she thinks he’ll be the most likely to just stay out of her way. she’s surprised by his attitudes and opinions, and her incorrect assumptions about them, during those times.

mason on alma: would never, ever, ever admit that his first thought upon meeting Alma was simply “cute.” he quickly found parts of her to assess individually. those first few days were mostly spent appraising her physical attributes and watching her back when she needed it. mason did find her funny right away, but he wasn’t willing to trust someone new, regardless of that person being their handler’s daughter or not.

What do they find attractive about each other, mentally or physically?:

alma on mason: his eyes, freckles, and every single version of his smile. his decisiveness, differentially, and willingness to stab as a warning.

mason on alma: her hair tbh, there’s just… a lot of it. her hips, her eyelashes. He also likes her adaptability, sense of humor, and the warmth she gives with no expectation of reciprocation.

What do they do to spend time together?: lots of stargazing, lots of watching tv very quietly and making fun of the storylines they don’t understand until they get bored and make out instead, walking around the quieter parts of wayhaven or taking late-night drives.

What is their favorite memory together?: i like to think mason finds the carnival photo of them after the place has been sacked and gives it to alma sometime later. both the taking of the photo and the giving of it are very fond memories for both of them.

What are their love languages?: touch, quality time.

How do they handle being apart from one another?: badly. mason absolutely hates it after a time. if alma’s out of town, he’s in her apartment with the excuse of feeding her cat, but it’s 100% just to sleep in her bed and be around all the things that make her, her. alma does a little better. she’s used to having folks sort of come and go and come again, but she gets almost hyper-insecure?? it’s nothing she’d admit openly, but she’s second-guessing herself in totally unrelated aspects of her life until they’re reunited.

Do they argue? How do they handle arguments and disagreements? How do they make up?: they don’t necessarily argue, but they disagree with the intent to problem solve. alma is pretty flexible and as long as she can understand why someone might feel the way they feel, she’s willing to hear them out or go along with their plan. if an argument does get out of hand, they need space from it for a while. they each have places to retreat for those times, and they wait for the “hey” text to come through to know it’s time to talk about it.

What does their future look like?: alma becomes a vampire two years into their relationship. they move into a quiet, old house on the edge of town until the whole team moves elsewhere. mason has to get used to having a cat because october has several years left in him. they don’t get married, but they’re inseparable.

Anything else you’d like to share: in the time before alma turns, mason learns to perfect making grilled cheese because it’s what alma craves when she’s not feeling well. He makes the grilled cheese then he immediately showers to get the smell off him but he makes it regardless.

BEST FRIEND RELATIONSHIP

Best friend: depending on the playthrough it swaps between felix and nate, but felix feels more in character

Why them?: alma loves felix’s sense of adventure and nosiness. Most of all she loves that he won’t judge her for pulling the same shit every now and then.

What were their first impressions of each other?: alma was super thrown off by that hand kiss. “who the fuck is this mischief-maker?” while nate was very kind and warm, felix (surprisingly) was the UB teammate that really humanized the rest of the team for alma. he’s fun and genuine and wants everyone else to be happy together. felix was incredibly interested to learn more about alma, as a human, as his boss’s daughter, and then as a friend when she readily accepted the supernatural and, by extension, him as a vampire. The fact that she’s easily flustered or surprised really works in his favor because he lives for being the most shocking person in the room.

What do they do to spend time together?: they share music, they dance, and they text A LOT. lots of memes, lots of “what does [x] mean?” “oh nice” “[proceeds to use the thing they just learned incorrectly]”. they also compare and share hair products.

Anything else you’d like to share: they each have a tamagotchi named after the other (baby felix and baby alma) and they compete to see who can keep theirs alive the longest. everyone loses.

OTHER RELATIONSHIPS (Feel free to go in-depth!)

Relationship with Rebecca: oof okay. alma seeks rebecca’s approval and depends on her for a sense of safety and “stability.” in some ways, she wants to be exactly like her mom: strong, independent, unbothered, worldly. but a lot of that shatters the longer alma works professionally with rebecca and with the revelations surrounding rook. alma sees how much rebecca uses her as a crutch, projects her perceived failures onto alma’s life, and over-shelters her.

Relationship with Rook: alma doesn’t remember him and tries not to think of him often or fondly or at all BUT she has so many of his things. his flannels, his detective badge, his ancient comic book collection (which is the only reason she has her own). she has his eyes and his impulsive streak, his care for people of all varieties. she IS rook’s daughter and she ignores that fact so it doesn’t hurt her.

Relationship with Bobby: they used to be very close, slightly flirty friends but there’s no way in hell alma can trust him now. (i originally had bobby as alma’s ex but it was all getting a little too Bella Swan for me. like bobby, douglas, the werewolves, falk, and mason like????? it was a bit much so bobby’s just an old ex-friend)

Relationship with Verda: alma fucking loves verda. that’s her mentor, that’s her dad friend. she feels a sense of Pride and Accomplishment when she can make verda laugh or impress him in the lab, or both. alma’s fond of spending evenings over his place with eric and the kids, making dinner, or just hanging out.

Relationship with Tina: tina was alma’s first friend as a kid. they lost touch in high school because tina was bubbly and cute and popular, while alma was… not. but the summer before they left for college they ran into each other at a house party and since that reconnection, they’ve been thick as thieves. it was like nothing had changed. tina is a light in alma’s life, and alma lets tina lean into the stranger parts of herself without judgment.

Relationship with the Mayor: thinks he’s a creep and a bad parent.

Relationship with Capt. Sung: appreciates how he prioritizes the town and its people, but thinks he could loosen up a bit.

Relationship with Haley: haley is a couple of years older than alma but they’ve known each other forever. alma admires haley’s work ethic and cheery attitude.

Relationship with Elidor: oh man, alma is absolutely stunned by elidor. he’s beautiful, kind, and knowledgeable. in those early days, elidor is responsible for quite a bit of her supernatural education. alma grills him while he nurses her back to health. her curiosity is refreshing to him.

Relationship with Tapeesa/Vieno: alma thinks vieno is cute and funny, says hi when she sees them around, but they’re not best friends or anything. she can’t shake the thought that they’re basically a fae version of danny devito.

Relationship with Unit Alpha: absolutely smitten with lesedi. she’s never seen a more beautiful woman. tamiko ends up being a pretty good friend. the twins are on her social periphery but alma’s not close with them.

Relationship with the Maa-alused: alma sincerely wants to help them adjust to life in this world and takes that goal very seriously. at the same time she really really wishes falk hadn’t developed this weird attachment to her.

Do they have any other important relationships, past or present? (Relatives, friends, etc.?): YES. i’ve thrown another oc in wayhaven for the express purpose of being The Detective. His name is javi. alma met him in college and they were fast friends. alma convinced him to try out wayhaven after graduation. They lived together for a while and now they, along with tina, can often be seen in the corner booth of chen’s pub.

she was also very close with her maternal grandmother before she died. she was raised by her while rebecca was absent, but i need to develop this more.

her cat, october, whom she’s had for five years. he’s a sweet, mostly black tortie that can hardly meow. alma adopted him as an adult when she got her own place.

PERSONAL BIO

Describe their personality: alma is so open and ready to accept new possibilities. she’s the sort of person that embraces what scares her, finds beauty in it, and loves it intensely. she’s sharp and resourceful. i wouldn’t exactly describe her as hard-working, but she’s knowledgeable about her field and tries to be helpful when she has a goal in mind.

she’s quite tactile. touchy with other people. likes to use her hands for work or hobbies. she doesn’t really mind being alone for long stretches of time but would prefer not to be. she wants others to want to be around her.

she’s also terrible at being honest about her trauma. everything is fine, she’s fine, she doesn’t need to talk about this :) :) :) she will handle the breakdown when it happens and not one second before. also, with quick wit comes uncontrollable sarcasm and it does not always hit well.

Strengths: the only person in unit bravo that knows how to use google

Weaknesses: squishy

Where in the world is their Wayhaven?: super torn here because wayhaven feels inland to me, but i think i’ve finally settled on the north carolina coast but not like the outer banks area. If not there, then maybe virginia, closer to the chesapeake bay.

What is their personal history?: alma is born to rook and rebecca in wayhaven. spends her childhood being raised mostly by her grandmother, idolizes rebecca. academic success comes easily for her; a heavy interest in science leads to a scholarship at a university just far away enough to feel like she’s Leaving The Nest. alma dates a bit in college but she’s the type to end up becoming friends with everyone she sleeps with and romance is difficult for her to cultivate. when she does date, the relationships are short-lived. she returns to wayhaven after school and puts her degree to work in wayhaven’s police department. she wishes she’d applied for a position in the city but craves the comfort (and tbh, the low stakes) of home.

If they weren’t a detective, what would their dream job be?: she’s a forensic analyst and honestly?? it’s a pretty dreamy job for her. she loves being a scientist, loves helping people, and isn’t easily grossed out.

Anything else you’d like to share: has tried to stay overnight in an ikea. did not succeed.

RANDOM FACTS

Zodiac sign: gemini

Hobbies: reading peer-reviewed journals, watching terrible sci-fi, collecting comic books and mugs, thrift shopping

Likes: good hair days, denim jackets, vanilla candles, halloween, unflavored lipbalm, driving at night, that warm “surrounded by love” feeling, snails, fuzzy socks

Dislikes: the lights while driving at night, winter, dry skin, minimalist decor, smudged glasses, being overwhelmed with choices

Drink of choice: white wine usually, white russians if she’s out at chen’s, or shots of jaeger if she’s feeling trashy

Starbucks order: grande flat white with 3 pumps of toffee nut syrup and a sprinkle of cinnamon

Favorite food: a simple, fresh spaghetti pomodoro OR lemon meringue pie

Favorite color: golden mustard yellow

Favorite music: she loves just about everything and it’s heavily dependant on her mood. (this is actually really difficult to think about without feeling like i'm giving her my exact taste in music but here's a little playlist that fits her vibe)

Favorite genre (and favorite movie/book/etc): science fiction or psychological thrillers, but her favorite movie is oliver and company.

Favorite season: fall

Anything else you’d like to share: has a stupid amount of blankets stashed around her apartment. she really does not like being cold.

[houseplant-central]

Yuri Katsuki does a better, more nuanced job of the "clumsy girl" trope than any female character I've ever seen

I will start this off by saying that I DO NOT think the 2016 anime about figure skating "Yuri!!! On Ice" is in any way "good cinema". It's 90% fanservice, fetishization of mlm relationships, and one 16 year old antagonist/ comic relief character being way over-sexualized (Plisetsky, where are your parents?)*.

It has some problems to say the least and I'm certainly not here to hype it up as an example of good writing or an example of good representation.

HOWEVER, Yuri Katsuki's character (the main character of the show) does an interesting thing by very closely conforming to what I would describe as the stereotype of the "clumsy girl".

My childhood and teen years were FULL of "makeover stories". Of narratives in which a nerdy, clumsy, bookish girl gets a makeover by the popular kids, gets contacts instead of glasses, and suddenly becomes a member of this societal elite, escaping former bullying. From the music video for "Last Friday Night" by Katy Perry, to (the classic) Mean Girls, to the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer, to the Heather's Musical (although Heather's pokes a bit of fun at this trope and how popularity might not work out for you), narratives about a dorky girl who suddenly gets swept up by somebody popular and "taught" how to "be" popular permeated my youth.

Besides just giving my entire generation the incorrect impression that glasses had to be taken off in order of the makeover to be complete, these stories had the strange reverse effect of appealing to girls who felt like they were the "before" of the makeover. If Bella Swan, self described as "too clumsy to play badminton without sustaining an injury" and "too awkward to have friends" could be swept off her feet by the hottest vampire in town because he saw something in her, then there was hope for the rest of us. This sort of idea of "potential" untapped permeates the genre, because the clumsy girl was always pretty, she just needed to take off her glasses, put on some makeup, and gain some self-confidence.

The concept of "untapped potential" is also quite prevalent in the world of sports anime. Again, this makes sense, since a story about a winning athlete just continuing to win would be boring, so naturally works within this genre often start with the athlete at their lowest, and then follow them on their journey to a comeback or newfound fame. The mentor character who gives the athlete life-changing advice is also a staple, and it's easy to see how that mentor character might be similar to Regina George holding the makeup brush in "Mean Girls".

However, the creators of "Yuri on Ice" seemed to want their (questionably fetishizing) romance to over conform to the genre standards so they drop-kicked the mentor character archetype out the window and had Yuri's dreamy coach do much more makeover-ing than athlete-training. Some of this rests at the intersection of the fact that the sport of choice in the series is figure-skating, where your image matters quite a lot, and Viktor being implied to be in love with our fair protagonist Yuri**, but neither of these aspects fully explain how well the writers made this sports anime series fit into the "makeover" genre instead of the "sports anime" genre.

But back to Yuri Katsuki himself. In the first episode, we see him crying in a bathroom. We learn that he has serious issues with self-confidence in his sport and his personal life, and that this materializes in insecurity about his weight. Episode one Yuri fits nearly every aspect of the "clumsy girl" trope: he's socially awkward, quiet, and... well, clumsy. He narrates a lot of the first episode with his own voice, saying he's "a dime a dozen skater" and "totally awkward", a kind of self-narration reminiscent of Bella Swan. While the other characters are dressed in modern clothes, Yuri's in an oversized, comfortable sweater, and has a generally very outdated wardrobe. He doesn't seem to care about how the world perceives him, (or more likely won't make an effort because he's afraid of rejection). Were he a female character, this is what I would call the "not like other girls" trope. We immediately elevate him to a pedestal as the viewers because he's relatable, and in comparison, the other characters seem to be trying too hard. While this is not as prevalent in male characters from the time (because the other male characters surrounding them are rarely well dressed except for maybe one jock the viewers are supposed to hate), it's hard to find a piece of media between 2014 and 2016 with a female lead without this opposition of "main character can't dress but all other female characters are well dressed, clearly they're try-hards." (Ironic, because that main character is about to be well dressed after their makeover, but I digress).

(Yes, this is an issue that's been in media for a long time and will be for a long time still, and yes there are plenty of good examples of stories where the male main character is just "not like other boys" and has to compete in a world where the other boys are all well dressed, but cases of writers doing this to their female characters SKYROCKETED in the few years while I was a younger teen and it was slightly ridiculous).

Anyways, Yuri is insecure and undressed. But he has a heart of gold! Who can help?

Enter mentor character Viktor (who is.... very naked for some reason. Mitsurou Kubo, was that really necessary to subject my eyeballs to?). Viktor is the epitome of high class. He's good-looking, rich, and successful at his sport, and we're told that Yuri has personally idolized him for a long time. While not exactly a Regina George, he does present his offer to help Yuri in a way that implies that Yuri would be a fool not to accept his help; he's the best of the best and he knows it, he's used to hearing it.

Over the next few episodes Yuri is basically forced into a position acting outside his comfort zone preforming a figure skating routine called "Eros". There's a weird but somewhat comedic moment where a frazzled Yuri, hard-pressed to explain what the concept of eros means to him, says that eros means his favourite food, pork katsudon. While comedic, it is to me the very epitome of "clumsy girl": while other female characters might be alluring in their experience, the clumsy girl is appealing to the love interest and appealing to the male gaze because she doesn't "get it", she's not tangled up in the politics of sex like many female characters are written to be, she's different. (I could talk for hours about how problematic this aspect of the "clumsy girl" trope is, the implication that childishness/ lack of experience is attractive is so gross, but I will spare you).

As a whole, this fanservicy nonsense is fairly par for the course, but it's two aspects of the journey to completing the "Eros" program that interests me. We see him eventually go to his friend, who is a dance teacher, and ask her for help on how to move more femininely. This in part is a nod towards his future realization of his sexuality (or not, depending on whether you watched it before or after they retconed his and Viktor's relationship). But as his dance teacher friend shows him how to move with confidence, he fulfills one of the first steps of getting the clumsy girl makeover: somebody shows him how to move in a "sexy" way, and he is miraculously no longer clumsy. The other thing about this figure skating program is his literal makeover: as Regina George had given to Katy before them, Viktor gives Yuri one of his old outfits, which symbolizes the high-class and success that he's supposedly preparing Yuri for. Yuri switches his glasses for contacts (an iconic aspect of the trope), slicks back his hair, and is suddenly more confident.  

As the show progresses Yuri gains more confidence, symbolized not just by his body language but also by his clothing and presentation. He meets a fan of his and has a character changing moment when he realizes that he has a fan who idolizes him like he once idolized Viktor. This realization of new societal power is often a turning point for the clumsy girl finally feeling like she has self-worth, and indeed, Yuri immediately ties a new sense of self-worth to the knowledge that he has fans.

After quite a lot of figure skating animation, fanservice, and a weird subplot about a poodle, Yuri finds a sense of self-worth in the life he's building for himself as a member of "high society" and leader in his sport, no longer relying on outside validation. This, I think is the part that differs from other clumsy girl stories.

Why is this interesting? I think because I'm so very used to seeing female characters get shallow character development in the form of taking their glasses off, letting their hair down, and suddenly being hot, and male characters getting character development in the form of working out in a montage to the eye of the tiger and then getting hot. Despite Yuri basically only doing what female characters often do to become "popular" and no longer nerdy, his character development feels genuine, fuller, and less shallow. For him, his new look genuinely ties to internal character development, whereas in media with women it's usually all about the looks, and the assumption that a changed style must equal a changed character.

Bella Swan from Twilight, Katy from Mean Girls, and Veronica from Heathers all experienced a makeover and new look and implied character development because of a rise in social status (whether they asked for it or not), but ultimately all of them realized the popularity was not what was important to them and they went back to how they "looked" before to symbolize their identity and values shifting back to what they were at the beginning. Yuri ends the series in the fanciest suit we've seen him in yet, dancing with Viktor and excited about the prospects his new high-society life will present him with. His transformation into being self-confident is genuine, and his changing appearance was just a reflection of that internal transformation. Ultimately, I think this plotline is what the original genre of "clumsy girl gets makeover was aiming for", because it is what's most appealing to the viewer: genuine growth and happiness. But all the female "clumsy girl" stories I've seen fell flat of that in one way or another, leading me to very much dislike the trope until "Yuri on Ice" quite accidentally did a good job of it.

* to anyone who's seen this show: yes, I do know what is implied to have happened to Yurio's parents. I'm just a) quoting that vine where the kid goes "wouldn't you like to know, weatherboy" and the reporter goes "where are your parents?" and b) I'm mad that this over-sexualization of Yurio (even within the plot of the series) is something that happens relentlessly to young female characters who've "carved out a place for themselves in an adult world" and also apparently happens to effeminate (implied to be queer) male characters who have done the same thing, and that's not cool either.

**For the sake of my sanity I'll say implied, because though they kiss onscreen, there is apparently much room for debate. The original Japanese cut had them exchange engagement rings near the end of the series, but then both the Japnese version and the English dubbed version ended up having them show off their rings and say "look at our friendship rings". (Ah yes, because I love wearing a matching gold band on my left ring finger with my buddy to show the world what good homies we are (/sarcasm.))

As an interesting aside, in an Uno reverse card moment, the "clumsy girl" trope was made for the male gaze (proof: any trope that talks that much about women putting on less clothing and suddenly becoming hot is 1000% for the male gaze), and was accidentally latched onto by teenage girls. Yuri on Ice was made for the teenage girl gaze (proof: the fetishization of queer men, the pre-existing "boy love" genre that's so popular it has a name), and accidentally fell into the trope of the "clumsy girl".

[k-s-morgan]

Hannibal Is Not a Psychopath: Criteria and Examples

The question of whether Hannibal is a psychopath often comes up. I'd like to start right with TL;DR: no, Hannibal is not a psychopath. It's confirmed in the show textually, with it being said that he's something that can't be defined and that doctors are confused as to what to label him with.

Evidence: E8 of S3.

ALANA: You've long been regarded by your peers in psychiatry as something entirely Other. For convenience, they term you a monster.

HANNIBAL: What do you term me?

ALANA: I don't. You defy categorization.

That's the point of the show. It happens in a heightened reality where labels don't really exist (which is why I think there is no point in such analysis as this, but like I said, it’s for people who keep calling him a psychopath). Both Will and Hannibal are deeply unique, they do have some psychopathic traits, but all in all, their profiles are entirely fictional. You can also see this thread for what Bryan Fuller and Mads Mikkelsen say about this topic. Here are some highlights.

Bryan Fuller: Hannibal Lecter is unique in his crazy. He’s not a psychopath, because he experiences regret. And he’s not a sociopath, because he experiences empathy. So he is unique in his crazy, and that gives him a higher sensibility than just a mortal man ... one of the things that we talked about in our first meeting was not so much about playing Hannibal as the cannibal psychiatrist, as previously portrayed by other actors, but more like Lucifer and how he was a dark angel who had this affinity for mankind and a fascination with the human condition.

Now, let's move on to the actual practical examples from the show as related to two most common models devised for assessing a person with a possible psychopathy.

DSM-5 Criteria for Antisocial Personality Disorder

A. Significant impairments in personality functioning manifest by:

1. Impairments in self functioning (a or b):

a.Identity: Ego-centrism; self-esteem derived from personal gain, power, or pleasure.

Ego-centrism.

Standard definition of ego-centrism is an "excessive interest in oneself and concern for one's own welfare or advantage at the expense of others". From S1, Hannibal is doing what he thinks is best to help people he finds interesting at the expense of his own safety and peace. Will is the brightest example (he always is). Hannibal senses a killer in him, understands Will subdues his true self, and he does everything in his power to help him Become. Here's what he says to Bedelia about it in E12 of S1, explaining what he wants to do with Will:

Hannibal: "Madness can be a medicine for the modern world. You take it in moderation, it's beneficial. ... Side effects can be temporary. They can be a boost to our psychological immune systems to help fight the existential crises..." Translation: Hannibal is using Will's illness in S1 to blur his self-control and get him to admit who he is so that Will could free himself of his self-acceptance crisis.

He says the same to Will in E1 of S2: "Our conversations, Will, were only ever about you opening your eyes to the truth of who you are."

Bedelia confirms it to Will in E2 of S2: "It may be small comfort, but I am convinced Hannibal has done what he believes is best for you."

Finally, Will admits it's true many times. One of them happens in S3 during his conversation with Chiyoh: "I've never known myself as well as I know myself when I'm with him."

Conclusion: Hannibal is really trying to help Will be himself and he succeeds in it. Furthermore, he does it at the expense of his safety.

Hannibal endangers himself from S1 the closer he gets to Will. In E9 of S1, Will learns that he helped Abigail bury the body of Nick Boyle. Hannibal's first instinct is to protect himself, so he reaches for the scalpel. But he immediately changes his mind. He takes a risk, choosing to explain his reasoning to Will. He places himself in danger - he did it back when he helped Abigail with the body (because he wanted to help her, too, and he wanted her to be a part of his and Will's family). He protects Will to the point where Jack grows suspicious and comes to talk to Bedelia about it. When Bedelia tells Hannibal that he should take a step back because he's getting too personal and endangers himself, Hannibal downright refuses.

He risks his life in an attempt to make Will free himself, too. He nearly dies after Will sends Matthew to attack him in E5 of S2 and he doesn't press charges - on the contrary, he's happy and he frees Will from the prison for that. He makes a conscious effort not to react in E7 of S2 when Will points a gun at him (just as what he did in E13 of S1). Will could shoot him any time but Hannibal places the need to help him Become above his safety. He's ready to dismantle his good life and run away with Will in the second half of S2. He gives up his freedom literally in S3 to prove to Will that he places him above himself. He proves it again by showing that he's willing to die for him: first, he agrees to Will's plan with the Dragon, knowing Will is planning something but not caring what it results in, perfectly willing to give Will all the control. He shields Will from the bullet at the expense of his safety again, talking about sacrifice and love. He lets Will push them off the cliff.

Conclusion: All this actions show that Hannibal is not overly ego-centric. He's capable of putting other people's needs above himself. Will is far from being the only example. Abigail, Bella, Margot, and Bedelia also fit here. Some could say that Hannibal does all this for Will just because he's in love with him. Yes, he wants to be family with Will in the end of this whole process, but it means that his final goal is their mutual happiness, not something just for his benefit. He knows Will is lonely (Will admits it himself several times in all seasons). He knows Will is going to be much happier after Becoming. Will's words (including those above) prove it.

Self-esteem.

Hannibal has a high self-esteem but it's not derived from the mentioned superficial elements. He has every reason to think highly of himself: he's extremely educated, he helped many people make their lives better (from common patients to people like Randall, who accepted themselves and became happy in their way), he is talented (he plays different instruments, he's an excellent and creative cook, he's fluet in several languages), he has excellent manners, etc. So, his self-esteem does not depend on gain, power, or pleasure.

b.Self-direction: Goal-setting based on personal gratification; absence of prosocial internal standards associated with failure to conform to lawful or culturally normative ethical behavior.

Hannibal's plan are as self-motivated as every person's. For instance, he wants a family with Will. Many people want to have families. But like it was said above, Hannibal doesn't focus only on himself here. He risks to protect Will's interests and he's willing to be put away so Will could be free to make his own decision, even if it doesn't include him. That's love, not personal gratification. He works with patients not just to tell himself what a clever man he is, he's genuinely concerned about them. He shares his worries about making Franklyn feel powerless in S1 with Bedelia. He tries to protect Franklyn and asks Tobias not to kill him. So, his goals are not aimed at his own gratification excessively.

Hannibal has a complex philosophy that doesn't fit the above criteria about prosocial internal standards. He doesn't have a lack of the desire to meet them: on the contrary, he wants to make this world beautiful. As he tells Will in S2, "Discourtesy is unspeakably ugly to me." He doesn't kill random people. He kills rude people that ruin the norms of ethical behavior. Hannibal is very active in being prosocial in his way: for instance, he kills a politician who ruined the forest where rare birds nested to build a parking lot. He killed a homophobic doctor. Hannibal has solid prosocial principles that aim to restore beauty and harmony in this world. He's a monster for sure, but he has principles that make everyone question themselves. Even cannibalism: people act all horrified when they learn they ate other people, but everyone is so joyful about eating animals who can think, feel, and who are smarter than many actual people. Double-standards provide for endless discussions.

Conclusion: Hannibal doesn't meet any of the above two major criteria. It already means he's not a clinical psychopath. But let's move forward.

2. Impairments in interpersonal functioning (a or b):

a.Empathy. Lack of concern for feelings, needs, or suffering of others; lack of remorse after hurting or mistreating another.

This doesn't fit Hannibal either. Like Bryan Fuller's quote above confirms, he does experience empathy and regret. It's obvious in the show as well: for instance, in E7 of S3, he writes formulas to reverse time (which is the embodiment of regret). He regrets hurting Will and he asks him if maybe the tea-cup can still be mended. In E8 of S2, he himself says: "A life without regret would be no life at all." He's almost crying in E11 of S2 when he and Will discuss Abigail. Will expresses his pain at the loss and Hannibal says: "I'm sorry I took that from you. I wish I could give it back." Note that he does intend to give Abigail back to Will: he left her to live because he wants them to reunite. He also tries to soothe Will's pain by hinting at the truth: "Occasionally, I drop a teacup to shatter on the floor on purpose. I'm not satisfied when it doesn't gather itself up again. Someday, perhaps, that cup will come together."

In E13 of S2, Hannibal is devastated to learn of Will's betrayal, but he understands his conflict. He gives him another chance, telling him, "I don't need a sacrifice." When he tells Will he forgives him later, he asks: "Will you forgive me?" This shows that he understands regret intimately. These (just a few out of many) examples prove that he cares about Will's feelings.

He's crying as he walks in the rain, leaving people he loved bleeding. He regrets the ruined plans and he accepts he's to blame to an extent. When in E3 of S3 Bedelia asks him whether Will betrayed him or vice versa, Hannibal replies: "I'm vague on these details." It means that after some time passed, he analyzed the situation and he's no longer sure he did the right thing. This is regret, too. Furthermore, he becomes self-destructive, which Bedelia notices and calls him out on. He doesn't fight against Jack, letting him beat him up, torture him, and almost kill him. Hannibal is an emotional wreck at that point: he agonizes over what happened with Will, he regrets what he did, and he clearly hates himself enough for it to torture himself like this.

I already described the risks Hannibal took to take care of Will's needs in the first section. In addition, he tells Will in S3 finale: "My compassion for you is inconvenient." Despite being hurt after covering him from the bullet, he tries to protect Will again and again. He cares about his suffering and he can't watch him be hurt.

Hannibal also empathizes with Bella, sometimes looking moved to tears. He gives her a chance to die as she wishes by tossing a coin, even though it could lead him to numerous problems with Jack. It's terrible for every normal therapist to have a patient who committed suicide. It's even worse when it happened right in their office, and it's 100 times worse for a serial killer who's one step away from being suspected. The fact that he even gives her a chance tells a lot. He's crying as he sends a grieving letter to Jack after Bella's death.

Hannibal understood Abigail's feelings and suffering and he cared about them, too. He tried to alleviate them. He was annoyed with her in E9 of S1 because she endangered him by digging up Nick's body. Instead of getting rid of her or protecting himself, he just gave her a warning. He tried to defend her in Will's eyes later in this episode. The only explanation for his actions is that he understood where she was coming from despite not liking it. He knew she wasn't just thoughtless or malicious - he understood her turmoil.

Hannibal also understands killers like Will, which proves he has empathy. As Will said about James Grey in E of S2, "Whoever he is, this second killer understood the Muralist well enough to find his canvas. Well enough to convince him to be part of it." Same goes to Randall and Francis, both of whom admit Hannibal understood them better than anyone else. There are many, many more other examples proving that Hannibal has empathy and cares about feelings of some people very deeply.

b.Intimacy. Incapacity for mutually intimate relationships, as exploitation is a primary means of relating to others, including by deceit and coercion; use of dominance or intimidation to control others.

I don't think much is needed to be said here since many examples were already covered. Hannibal and Will have an absolutely mutual relationship that's incredibly deep on all levels. As Will says in E4 of S3: "We have a mutually-unspoken pact to ignore the worst in one another in order to continue enjoying the best." Will chooses Hannibal every time. Hannibal's whole life revolves around Will. He's ready to go to prison for him, he;s ready to die for him, and he's ready to do all possible sacrifices.

Hannibal used deception with Will in S1 to a degree, but this had its own goal (to make WiLL feel better in the end), and the deception was gone for the majority of S2 and S3. Bedelia says in E12 of S2: "What he does is not coercion, it is persuasion." Hannibal tries to get people to see why they should be themselves instead of forcing them to do anything (and he does that since he can relate to them, which proves his empathy once again). Will had darkness in him from the start (which is proven in E2 of S1), so he did find comfort in Hannibal's words. For the majority of time, and all the time emotionally, Hannibal is honest with Will.

He doesn't try to dominate or control Will. He admires how unpredictable Will is in E8 of S2: "With all my knowledge and intrusion, I could never entirely predict you." He admits that Will has power over him in E8 of S3: "I discovered you [in my Mind Palace]... victorious." He doesn't exploitate him either as he truly wants what's best for him. He admits he's in love with him and says he loves him two different times. So Hannibal is capable of love, and his feelings are returned because Will finds his own unique equal in him. He tells Jack that he wants to run with Hannibal twice in S3, he keeps seeking him out, and he chooses him over everyone and everything. The last scene of the show with them eating Bedelia together shows that they're now in comfortable dark companionship where they hunt together.

Conclusion: Hannibal doesn't meet any of these two criteria, never mind both of them.

Now, the standard Hare Psychopathy Checklist. I'll list only those traits pointed here that have relevance (for instance, I'll ignore such points as "Previous diagnosis as psychopath", "Frequent marital relationships", "Poor probation or parole risk", etc.)

1. Glibness/superficial charm: yes. Hannibal is charming for sure and he talks very, very smoothly.

2. Egocentricity/grandiose sense of self-worth: not really. It was already discussed above. Hannibal does like to "defy God", as Will says in E2 of S3, but his beliefs are fully supported by his actions. He's also not self-absorbed and can put others above himself.

3. Proneness to boredom/low frustration tolerance: no. Hannibal enjoys life deeply, always finding something to do, and he's extremely patient even in most aggravating situations. It ranges form annoying patients like Franklyn to Will, whose hypocrisy and self-doubt Hannibal tolerates lovingly till the very end.

4. Pathological lying and deception: no. Hannibal lies when he must, for good reasons. On the contrary, he tends to be funnily honest with his cannibal puns people choose to ignore. For example, when Alana asks what's in her beer, he tells her he can answer only with "yes" or "no" questions, implying he'd tell her the truth if she guessed it. Same thing happens in E11 of S3:

ALANA: I called him. To confirm that he hasn't called you. Not since you've been declared insane.

HANNIBAL: I could have told you that.

ALANA BLOOM: If only I'd known to ask.

HANNIBAL: If only.

ALANA BLOOM: Would you have told me the truth?

HANNIBAL: In my own way, I always have.

5. Conning/lack of sincerity: yes and no. Obviously, being a murderer, Hannibal smoothly misleads many people. At the same time, both Bryan and Mads confirmed Hannibal tends to be emotionally honest, and it's evident in the show as well. He's sincere about loving Will, caring about Abigail and Margot, respecting Alana and finding her physically attractive, respecting Jack and Bella, etc.

6. Lack of remorse or guilt: no. It was already discussed.

7. Lack of affect and emotional depth: no. Many examples were given to show Hannibal's emotional depth. Also, he cries in the opera in E7 of S1. It proves that he has enough “depth” to feel moved and touched by the song. He cries when writing down the poem about loss to Jack in E5 of S3. He cries because of Will several times, falls into deep depression in S3, and so on. Psychopaths can't do all that, especially crying genuinely for such reasons.

8. Callous/lack of empathy: no. It was already discussed. Hannibal can be very cruel, true, but he does have empathy and motivation.

9. Parasitic lifestyle: no. I don't think I should explain that) Hannibal is entirely financially independent.

10. Short-tempered/poor behavioral controls: no. Hannibal can indeed be emotional and impulsive, but he's patient and in perfect control in the majority of instances. He flew into rage after Will broke his heart, but it's natural in such circumstances (of course, killing and maiming people is not normal, but I'm talking about short temper in general. Hannibal doesn't have one. Examples of his patience are above.).

11. Promiscuous sexual relations: no. He slept with Alana for a while, who he knew and respected. He flirted with Anthony and seemed ready to sleep with him, but that's it. Hannibal isn't shown as overly caring about sex and he's focused on Will entirely.

12. Early behavior problems. Difficult to say since his backstory is a mystery in the show for the most part. He did seem to start killing early, so most likely it's a yes.

13. Lack of realistic, long-term plans: no. Hannibal's plans are meticulous and realistic, and he's fighting hard to achieve them (see Hannibal's attempt to make a family with Will). Another example: he's a very prolific killer who stayed hidden for ages and gave himself up in the end only for the man he loves, not because he was caught. So he makes and executes long-term plans perfectly.

14. Impulsivity: no. Hannibal can be impulsive as any other person, it's not excessive.

15. Irresponsible behavior as parent: not really... he tried to protect Abigail at all costs. He encouraged her killing, but I'm not sure if it can be classified as irresponsible, considering who Hannibal and Abigail are and what this show is about.

16. Failure to accept responsibility for own actions: no. Hannibal understands when he's wrong and he accepts the consequences. He takes pride in most of his kills, he admits to Bedelia that he made mistakes, he understands Will struggles to forgive him and apologizes for his actions, etc.

17. Many types of offense: yes.

18. Drug or alcohol abuse: no.

Out of 18 items, we have only 3 hard yes. That's a very low score.

Major conclusion: Hannibal does have some psychopathic traits. He's also cruel and he shows some sadistic tendencies, but he's not a psychopath at all. He can feel deeply and he forms extremely strong emotional bonds. I doubt such people actually exist, but that makes him even more fascinating as a character.

[katlyn1948]

Only Human: Part 5 “A Newfound Family”

So I lied, there are going to be six parts, but I don’t think you guys are going to be too mad at me for that. As I was writing this part, I decided to add a character that some may or may not know and it ended up getting the better of me and it became too long for my liking, meaning I split it into two. So the last part will be up tomorrow (I hope. I work during the week, so I only really get to write during the weekend, so we will see) and it will be amazing! Anyway, I hope you guys like!

A quite humming rang though Arya’s chambers. She was rocking the new born babe to sleep, faintly humming a song she heard Ser Podrick sing right before the battle. Jenny of Old Stones, Arya had remembered. It was a pleasant tune and she had thought it would be perfect for the babe to fall asleep to.

It had been three moons since Bella was born and Arya couldn’t be more in love with the small child. She had always said she would never give any man children, but the thought of Bella being Gendry’s made Arya’s heart flutter. It was a strange felling to love something so fiercely. It had been a different kind of love than the one she had for Gendry. This love was so much more intense. She had felt as if her world would stop if anything were to happen to her. She kne w she would protect the babe as long as breath was in her lungs.

The bond she had made with Bella had not come easily. For the first moon, the babe would do nothing but cry, not matter how much Arya comforted her. It had worried her and she seeked advice from Sienna. She was assured that some bonds take longer to create between mother and child, especially a mother so young and new.

Bella also had a hard time latching to Arya. Aside from the day she was born, Bella would not want to suckle from Arya’s breast. It was out of sure hunger that the babe would finally latch, but it without fight. Arya was sure she was doing something wrong, and with no wet nurse on the ship, she had no choice but to nurse the babe. Sienna had told Arya that the babe’s could feel the unsureness of a new mother, and the more Arya feared, the more Bella would refuse.

By the time the second moon rolled around, Arya had finally heeded Sienna’s advice and the bond between mother and daughter was created. Arya couldn’t stand to be away from Bella, but she trusted Sienna and Alyse to care for the babe when she was above deck manning her ship.

They had made a good heading, sailing faster than usual. Arya wanted to make it back to Westeros before Bella had turned four moons. She the longer she stayed away, the harder it would be for her explain the situation. Her first and only stop would be Storm’s End. She had to return to Gendry and to apologize for everything that she had put him through. She also wanted him to know his daughter and to love her as much as she loved her.

Aries did not complain about the change in course and her crewmen were more than happy to return to land. By the time they were to reach Storm’s End, it would have made the journey on the seas nearly nine moons. That was a long time to be at sea without seeing one shred of evidence that land existed beyond Westeros and Essos.

Arya had assured her crewmen that they would be compensated as soon as they made land, giving a lighthearted atmosphere on the boat. It was better than the near mutiny that threaten to happen just six moons prior.

Donovan, Aries’ lover, had also taken a liking to the babe. He was a shy and timid thing and could do no damage to even a fly. Bella has been the first babe he had seen since his sister gave birth his nephew, 10 years ago. And it seemed Bella had enjoyed Donovan’s company. She took a liking to him almost immediately. Arya had believed that she liked him more than her at times and all Donovan could do was give Arya a mischievous smile.

Most of her crewmen had grown to love the babe. Bella had nearly a hundred or so men and women dedicated to protecting the babe of anything that may come to harm her. It was a family they had; a family that Arya had grown to love. And although she was grateful for her crewmen, she couldn’t help but feel a bit empty. She loved this family, but she wished for her own, with the man that she loved and left behind.

It was the night before they were supposed to make port at Griffin’s Roost. Aries has assured Arya that they were on the right course and the dock would be visible by morn. The rest of the ship was celebrating the incoming land. Port and ale were being sloshed around and the horrid voices of men rang out in dreadful tunes.

Arya had decided to pass on the festivities and spend her time with her babe. The song she hummed out had tired the babe, but her deep blue eyes were still open. Arya decided to tell her daughter about her father and how much Arya loved him.

“He is going to adore you, little one. She will cherish and love you until the end of his days,

I know it. He’s brave and kind and stubborn. Sometimes I fear that you will be the most stubborn of us all. I cannot wait to see his eyes once the fall upon you. In just a few days, you’ll meet him and he’ll be your favorite, even more so than Donovan.” Arya noticed Bella’s eyes flutter close, her chest rising and falling steadily.

Arya smiled and clutched the babe to her chest, wondering how Gendry would take the news.

*********

Gendry left King’s Landing as swiftly as he came. He’d only stayed a few days after the Dragon Pit council, hoping he would be able to speak to her. He was desperate to speak to her. After their last conversation, he needed to make things clear; to apologize for being a stupid bull. He never meant to jeopardize their friendship, and if he hadn’t been drunk that night, then maybe he still have a friend to talk to.

He tried on three separate occasions, only to be met with her back running away from him. He wanted to try a forth, but Ser Davos had advised against it. He had assured Gendry that if the lass wanted to speak to him, she would come.

On his last day in King’s Landing, he decided to head to the forge. His nerves were getting the better of him and he needed to blow off his frustrations before they rode for the Stormlands. His fears were justified. He had no idea how to run a smithy, so how in the seven hells was he supposed to run a kingdom? He had Ser Davos, but with him being Master of Ships to King Bran, he could only stay in Storm’s End for a short amount of time. He was truly alone in this and that’s what terrified him.

All day he was in the forge, and for the last two hours he couldn’t help but shake the feeling that someone was watching him. He suspected that Arya was lurking somewhere in the shadows, but was too cowardly to acknowledge her presence. So, he kept on forging, hoping that she would greet him one last time.

When she didn’t, and Ser Davos came to fetch him he nodded and cleaned himself up to ready for the ride the next day.

He didn’t go to the dock. He couldn’t. He didn’t want to feel all of the emotions he had tried so hard to suppress to bubble back up to the surface. It was hard for him to do, but a necessary action that needed to be taken. He was going to forget about Arya Stark and move on with his life, at least he hoped he would.

The ride from King’s Landing to Storm’s End took no more than three days.

Gendry hadn’t expected the castle to be as big as it was. It was completely massive and intimidated the young lad. How was he supposed to rule that? How were the people going to take him? For years they had Renly Baratheon as their leader, and now a bastard of Robert Baratheon came to claim the lands.

That was petrifying to say the least. Gendry could only hope the people of the Stormlands would accept him, much like they accepted Orys Baratheon, a bastard himself.

Gendry and Ser Davos rode up to the gate of Storm’s End and were greeted with nothing more than welcoming people. They were happy that a Baratheon had returned to lead them; a Baratheon that reminded them so much of the late Renly himself.

Cheers had erupted, and Gendry couldn’t help but have a smile on his face. He looked over to Ser Davos, who also had a smile on his face. They were welcomed and it felt nice to feel wanted.

They dismounted their horses and greeted the people, shaking hands with strangers. As each new person came up to greet their new Lord Paramount, they recited their name and title and what they did around the castle. Gendry made a mental note to learn everyone who would be working in the castle. He wanted to make sure that everyone here would feel just as important as the next.

A feast was also held for the new Lord and it carried well into the night. And even though he was drunk off of ale and happy on life, Gendry wanted to explore his new home. He wanted to learn every orifice, every stone, and door. He wanted to learn the castle inside and out. His first place would be the Round Hall. According to Ser Davos it’s where the liege lords of the Stormlands would come to meet once a moon to discuss important manners that were happening in the lands. He wanted to become accustomed to it, for he believed he would be spending a rather large amount of time in there.

He opened the large oak doors and noticed the Round Hall was lit with small candles. Someone else was here, he could feel it. Although he had a bit of ale; too much for the likes of Ser Davos, he became alert and ready with his had on his sword.

He rounded a corner and noticed a woman just a few year older than he, sitting at a long table with her legs propped up. She was twirling and fork in one hand and a goblet of wine in the other.

“Who are you?” Gendry asked. His words were slightly slurred.

The woman looked up from her goblet and gave Gendry a sly smile.

“It is about time you showed up. I’ve been waiting for hours. If it weren’t for the chambermaids, I would have starved.”

Gendry shook his head, trying to clear his vision. He wasn’t sure if it was the ale playing tricks or the way the lighting was in the hall, but the woman in front of him looked exactly like him. She had the same striking blue eyes and her hair was as black as coal.

The woman noticed his shocked face and scoffed, “Oh, don’t look too surprised. You honestly believed that you were Robert Baratheon’s last living bastard? Well, I hate to disappoint you, but you’re looking at his first bastard. Mya Stone, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you, little brother.” She reached out her hand for a Gendry to shake.

He stared at it for a while before taking it swiftly and giving it a firm shake.

“Mya Stone, you said?” He asked as he made his way to sit at the table she had arose from. His head was a little fuzzy and he didn’t trust his feet to keep him up right for much longer.

“Well, I suppose it’s Baratheon now.” She said. She returned to her seat and took another swing from her goblet.

“Baratheon? But how?” Everything was more of mess than Gendry thought.

“About a moon ago, I received a letter from his man or whatever, named Bran. There I was minding my own business waiting for some poor unfortunate soul who would need a guide up the Eyrie, when a black raven landed right in front of me with a scroll. It told me that I had a brother who was legitimized and was now the new Lord of Storm’s End. The letter said to make my way to the Stormlands, so I did. And here you are. Then I got another letter three days ago from this Bran, who is now the King of the bloody six kingdoms, saying that he legitimized me as well!” She recounted her story.

Gendry took an empty wine goblet and filled it the expensive port. Everything was still so confusing and wasn’t sure if wanted to hear the rest.

“So, you just did what a letter said to do? What if it was a trap, or something?” Gendry questioned her.

Mya scoffed, “I worked on a mountain for most of life, not knowing if I would live to see the next day. It really couldn’t have gotten any worse.”

“Right. So why are you here again.” Gendry took another sip.

“Oh! So the letter said that you may need help with Lordy things. Whatever that means. All I know is that I can read and write and he said you may need help in that area, so here I am, ready to help my brother, the lord.” She said with a laugh.

Gendry couldn’t help but laugh along with her. He was hoping that all of this was real and not some sick dream his mid decided to play to torment him. With Ser Davos leaving in just a weeks time, he needed all the help he could get, especially if it was someone that was his blood.

When Gendry woke the next morning, with his head in a wooden table and an empty goblet of wine in his hand, he had realized that it was not a dream and he did have a sister to help him along the way.

Ser Davos didn’t seem as surprised by the whole ordeal as much as Gendry had been. He knew Robert and had know about his affairs. It would make sense that he would have a bastard older than Gendry living in the world.

As the moons progressed, Mya and Gendry began to make good work in Storm’s End. They were working in tandem to make it the once grand kingdom it was before. Along the way, they got to know each other. Gendry learned about Mya’s life and how she had lived in the Vale. She told him of the vague memories that she had of their father and how he would visit her daily while she was just a small child, but after the rebellion, he would stop seeing her altogether.

Gendry reciprocated his tale to her. He had told her of his mother and her early death and how he became a smith’s apprentice. He then told her of the killing of the bastards and how he narrowly escaped being murdered. Then he began to tell her of Arya and their many adventures.

Mya had noticed the way Gendry’s eyes lit up whenever he mention this Arya woman to her. He looked like a love sick child, only making Mya smile more. He told her everything, even down to the rejection she had cast upon him.

Mya’s heart ached for her brother, and although they hadn’t know one another long, she couldn’t stand to see her brother in pain.

“How are you doing now? Do you still miss her?” She asked him one night after he had recounted his time with her. They were sitting by a fire in a large common room; a storm raging on outside. It was a rather large storm and Gendry believed that it was across the entire country.

“Aye, I still miss her. Everyday it think about her. I don’t know if she is ever coming back, but I hope she does.” He confessed to her.

“And what will you do if she does? What if she comes here? Are you afraid she will break your heart again?” She questioned.

“I love her, Mya. If she come walking into Storm’s End at this very moment, I would run to her and grab her in my arms and kiss her with all my might. I would never let her go, and if she tells me that she isn’t done exploring, then I will wait for her some more.” Gendry raised his goblet that he had in his hand and chugged the remaining contents.

“You sound like a hopeless romantic, little brother.” Mya scoffed

Gendry smiled and the new found siblings laughed through the night.

They had many nights like that, just sitting and talking. It was comfort for the both of them, considering each had never really had a family.

More moons passed and they began to fall into a familiar pattern. Each month, Gendry would meet with his liege lords while Mya would listen. She would hear all the concerns and squabbles that the men talked about. It was a rather boring experience and something the Mya didn’t look forward to once the new moon rolled around. For last eight moons, Gendry had been at the helm of the meetings, but this moon was different. A complaint in a near by town of the Stormlands had taken the Lord Paramount off of the castle grounds, leaving Lady Mya Baratheon in charge.

She was in the Round Hall siting on the throne atop of the dais listening to absolute nonsense.

“For the last time, Lord Estermont, my brother is not getting married! At least not any time soon. So please stop trying to make matches for him.” Mya sighed.

“I understand that, Lady Mya, but Storm’s End needs an heir. If your brother does not produce one, will you?” He questioned.

Mya stood from the throne and walked down the small steps to meet Lord Estermont’s eyes. “Let me make this as clear as I can. My brother, nor myself, will be producing any heirs in the near future. Have I made myself understood?”

Her voice was calm, but there was edge to it that could cut through any man.

Lord Estermont knew better than to press the situation. He gulped and nodded his head in understanding.

“Good. Are there any other complaints? No? Perfect! Meeting adjourned. We will see you lads come the next moon.” Mya scurried from the Round Hall as soon as she could. Being in a room with stuffy old men was tiring and she didn’t want to be in there any longer.

She nearly ran down the stairs and headed towards the kitchens to grab a midday meal. But before she could reach the hall that lead her to the kitchens, a young squire boy had stopped her.

“Lady Baratheon?”

Mya turned to see Harold, one of the cooks sons. He was squiring to Maester Jorren. He had the poor lad running all around the castle doing his bidding.

“Yes, Harold?” Mya asked annoyed.

“There is a party of five outside the castle gates. They wish to enter and one, I believe the leader, has asked to speak with the Lord.” He said timidly.

“Did they state their purpose besides wanting to speak to my brother?” She asked the squire.

He shook his head. Mya sighed and followed the boy out to the courtyard. All she wanted was to grab a meal and head to the training grounds to practice her war hammer skills. Gendry had suggested it and she didn’t complain.

Harold let Mya outside to the guest at the main gate. The guards had let them in, realizing that they were harmless. As she approached them closer, she noticed that the group was compiled of two men and three women. The woman leading the group gently hopped from her horse and landed on the ground with grace. Mya could see she was being more cautious than necessary and that’s when she noticed the small babe strapped to the woman’s chest.

[nightcoremoon]

ok so let's talk twilight. girl meets vampire. girl falls in love with vampire. vampire falls in love with girl. girl and vampire start dating. evil vampire wants to eat girl. vampire kills evil vampire.

new moon. vampire leaves girl. girl gets depressed. girl rebounds with werewolf. werewolf wants to fuck girl. werewolf realizes he's the rebound. werewolf leaves girl. girl seemingly attempts suicide. vampire learns about this and attempts suicide. girl goes to tell him she's not dead. vampire king gives a warning.

eclipse. vampire and girl are back together. evil vampire girlfriend wants revenge. evil vampire girlfriend makes evil vampire army. vampires and werewolves kill evil vampire and army. vampire king gives another warning. vampire marries girl.

breaking dawn. vampire and girl get married. and fuck. girl gets pregnant. baby will kill girl. but abortion is ~evil~. girl dies and gets turned into vampire. werewolf wants to fuck the baby vampire. vampire king shows up to kill the baby. it was a big misunderstanding lol. happily ever after except for the people who died.

that's the gist of things for anyone who doesn't remember.

ok so there's two groups of people. team edward, people who are satisfied with the canon. team jacob, people who say "fuck that, girl should be with werewolf instead". and many people on team jacob proceed to say that team edward all condone pedophilia and stalking and other terrible things. fandom wars happened. and in the end, most people moved on.

...

but not me.

now, I wasn't an obsessed super fan. I thought the first book was boring as shit until the second half. it took me a month to read the first half and three days to read the second half. I read the entire second in literally one day. the entire third in like 3 days. and the entire fourth in like 5. I watched all the movies in theaters. but none of this was by choice. my mom and my several sisters basically made me, but it was okay I guess. personally my fandom progression started with final fantasy 12. it moved into eragon, death note, jak and daxter, avatar the last airbender, invader zim, tales of symphonia, a dash of harry potter, sly cooper, my little pony friendship is magic, dead space, red vs blue, twokinds, resident evil, etc. I'm not in the twilight fandom by choice, but I know all the lore and trivia so fuck it. I might as well be.

I'm team edward.

I know what you're thinking. "but he's 100 years old trying to fuck a teenager! he watched her sleep! he almost killed her drinking her blood! he made her suicidal and depressed! he was super jealous and possessive whenever jacob was around! he broke her bones when they had sex! he impregated her with a monster baby that killed her! HE IS TEH EVILEST EVAR!!1"

let's take this one piece at a time.

1- he didn't try to fuck her. she tried to fuck him. but he said not until she's a full grown adult capable of making her own decisions, and not until marriage ~because premarital sex is wrong~

2- yeah watching her sleep was a little creepy but we can attribute that to stephenie meyer thought it was romantic because she's a dumb white mormon cultist

3- he is a VAMPIRE, and not by choice. and it was either suck the poison out of bella or let her become a vampire. which he didn't want to happen because ~being a vampire sucks 🥁~ so yeah he saved her life. and he managed to not drain her dry and kill her even though her blood is so goddamn delicious because she's a fucking mary sue

4- he didn't make her suicidal and depressed by leaving the country so she didn't get in any life threatening situations like being around jasper who has the self control of a fat kid in a twinkie factory. bella just took the breakup really really badly, and if someone reacts badly to a breakup, it's on THEM, not the other person. saying any differently is, what's the word, toxic and clingy. her emotional instability for plot is just indicative of the author's inherent misogyny (which makes sense, as dumbass mormon cultists are rife with the stuff)

5- he was not jealous and possessive. JACOB was the one who was toxic, since "that cold one will TAKE MY BELLA AWAY FROM ME". jacob wanted bella for himself because he had a crush on her since they were kids, and it was a super unhealthy obsession. edward could read his thoughts and was pissed; consider his backstory in hearing potential rapists' thoughts and killing them. but edward couldn't kill jacob because he was bella's friend. nothing more, though, and jacob fumed in his nice guy fedora

6- again, edward is a VAMPIRE, and a horny bastard at that, because he is a gentleman and therefore probably was a virgin too. he even told bella countless times that it would happen but bella thought it was #WORTH to get some of that hot vampire dick. I guess she's into some super kinky shit. no wonder 50 shades of grey made sense as a twilight fanfiction. anyway, bella seems to have fully consented, otherwise she's the world's most unreliable narrator.

7- the monster baby plot arc was propaganda against female bodily autonomy because "teh babby haz a SOUL and abortion is MURDER even tho she'll LITERALLY DIE otherwise but hey backwoods redneck mormon values are more important than the lives of women, right? anyway, ironically enough, he respected her bodily autonomy by not fixing the mistake he didn't think could happen (uterus vampires can't get pregnant but dick vampires can get other people pregnant? NANI, THE FUCK???) because bella didn't consent to him killing the fetus that was literally breaking her bones from inside since ~abortion is wrooOOoong~

and now, counterpoint.

...and counter-counterpoint.

"edward groomed bella" edward's main focus when she was 16 was to not kill her and drink the delicious cherry fanta, and his main focus at 17 was to make sure she didn't die and that nobody else killed her and drank her delicious cherry fanta, and only when she was a full ass adult was he like "alright fine you wanna marry me sooooo bad here's ur fuckin diamond ring". yeah they made out but like, consider that a FUCKING MORMON WROTE THIS BOOK. one can't fault a character for the dumbassery of the author. that's why in this house we stan james potter. and besides, a few years ago whilst playing truth or dare I at 21 was dared to kiss a 17 year old and I did- granted I didn't know he was 17 at the time but that doesn't even matter because granted edward was a lot older than 21, but granted that doesn't even matter anyways because you know how many teenage girls would make out with oscar wilde, keanu reeves, chris evans, or danny devito jason momoa if they had the chance? I know I would have. it isn't necessarily sexual unless you want it to be. besides, the argument could be made that brain development stops when you become a vampire, considering their body stops developing too. technically edward had the brain and body of a 17 year old, he was just 17 for a long time. so any way you slice it, there are acceptable explanations justifying this in the magic fantasy land of what-ifs and JUST BAD WRITING.

we good?

now let's tackle jacob.

he demanded she "choose" him over edward. he was just as childish and petty as mike. oh, poor mike. he was just too dumb. SWM be like. anyway, he literally abandoned her, his friend, because she wouldn't fuck him, when she needed her best friend the most. because that's who jacob was to her. he was her best friend. she kinda ignored him because edward is smexy and it overpowered her tiny teenage girl brain, or at least that's the author's excuse (yay for internalized misogyny). when they were in the mountains and he was keeping her from dying of hypothermia edward literally had to ask him to stop thinking about fucking her. while she was unconscious. which is kinda rapey. and then to top it all off, he wanted to fuck her baby daughter. so jacob is literally every single thing people called edward. he is jealous, possessive, creepy, obsessed with bella, and a whole bunch of other stereotypes associated with brown skinned man wanting to fuck white skinned women.

...

...

...

oh dear god.

wow I can't believe that the white woman who took an existing native american tribe and rewrote their culture to fit her vampire love story for white girls to have a sexy ~exotic~ savage feral werewolf boy in the love triangle turned out to be a racist all along.

so ideally, jacob would be the ideal partner for bella. lore-wise as well. bella and jacob grow old together in their plain regular normal human lives (and hopefully bella's face doesn't get clawed off like sam and leah BIG OOF FOR THE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE), edward and tanya get married like they were supposed to do all along and gallivant off and do vampire things, all that jazz. edward isn't creepy and weird, bella isn't a magic mary sue with a magic fucking jean grey mind shield, jacob isnt an asshole.

but after reading the books and the evidence provided, I cannot in good conscience be team jacob over team edward.

thank you for your time.

fuck stephenie meyer.

and fuck all the dudebros who dog on girls for liking twilight anyways, as if dudebros don't watch and consume shitty media all the time.

[ofphcenixes]

give me the Twilight au

i know this is blue’s account but honestly it would be an Injustice not to talk about nate here as well because that man… was made for a twilight au lmFAO. 

blue in this twilight universe ? i see him as a human that falls absolutely and unimaginably in love with a vampire. i can’t see him as a werewolf or a vampire himself, but i can see him being entirely smitten by one of the beautiful vampires. also blue is super averse to his emotions and feelings ( ASK DELILAH, THAT POOR WOMAN PUT UP WITH SO MUCH ), but something about the vampires just… lulls him in. blue is bella okay BLUE IS BELLA. i also feel like because he’s such a gregarious kind of person yet still incredibly genuine, and that whoever this vampire is is like…. i guess if i can’t shake you off i may as well beFRIEND YOU I GUESS.

assuming this takes place in forks (or another small town), this au would see blue moving to this town with his estranged father after his mother passes away. so like bella dkjfgd blue and his dad don’t get along at first, and blue hangs out on his own mostly, trying to fit in for a while. as this is high school blue, he probably lashes out and rebels a fair bit, which is part of why he is intoxicated by the person who is trying to be as distant as possible. everyone else is eager to befriend the strange, mysterious, somewhat kevin-bacon-esque from footloose vibes kinda guy, whereas tihs vamp is like… nope. no sirree. unfortunately blue doesn’t take no for an answer, and makes it his mission to annoy them and tell them jokes before the two become unlikely friends, and then become even more unlikely lovers.

blue would never guess this person is a vampire though. and even if he did he’s going to assume something more like… x-men. so i guess this vampire is gonna have to accept the fact the volturi may have to yeet them because the only way blue will learn the truth is if they tell him up front lmfao. for that reason i feel like whoever is in a clan with the vamp blue falls for… hates him dfkgjdf. they don’t trust him to keep the secret, even though… all he’s wanted is a family. he’s been deprived of one his whole life and although it’s not the family he would have expected to find, he wants in all the same. and they eventually came around to him. that is, if he doesn’t do something stupid to accidentally make him vampire chow in the meantime.

if/when blue is eventually turned for Love, he will be most fascinated by how much better his senses are. as someone who was already quite into nature, he will find himself out there all the time, narrating the lives of the bugs and leaves he can now hear from far away. on the flip side, his thirst will… bother him a lot. he certainly won’t be a dkfjgd nomadic vampire. as for his special ability, i feel like blue’s vampire gift won’t be particularly special but kfjgdf. i can see him having super speed! to the point he can almost be invisible to the naked eye. and although i don’t think he’d ever hunt humans, he’d do whatever his lover and their family wanted to do because blue has always wanted to be part of a Group and now he is. 

BONUS HEADCANONS FOR NATE LMFAO: fun facts, a lot of nate was dkgjdf inspired by edward lmfao. i definitely see nate as someone who was turned in the 19th century. on his own, vulnerable, an unsuccessful meal. i can definitely see him as being someone nomadic for a while, no particular reverence for human life that he never felt included in. but the more time goes on, the more the world evolves, the more nate realises that although he doesn’t know where he belongs, he wants to be part of this society. he wants to learn everything there is to possibly learn about this universe. he turns off hunting humans and instead raids blood banks and such (dkgfdjf), and i think that nate’s special ability is that he can see the past. it’s a very temperamental trait, but using objects he can trace back their origins and relive snippets in other time periods. very cool, somewhat useful, aro would Love to add nate to the volturi. but no, hes too busy being a NERD. so he kinda just studies tbh. changing countries every so often, with what must be a million degrees by now. although as time progresses he starts to get bored, and i do imagine that nate might seek a companion at some point. only if someone were to figure out what he was would he consider them smart enough and worthy to spend eternity with him. 

i know i didn’t mention any werewolves in this and honestly ? i just think it’s because i don’t see their stories entwining. unlike bella, blue isnt gonna friendzone some poor werewolf only to let them marry off to his future child. nate is too busy hating humans, he doesn’t need to hate werewolves too dkjgdf.

[throughtheglassdarkly]

Missing Pieces, part 7

Hello, lovelies, it’s me, Yova. I know our darling Derek typically recounts our motley’s mishaps. However, our poor chronicler was called away for a bridal cupcake catastrophe just before our date with Day’s former partner and lucky you, I’ve graciously offered to help with this part of the story.

Pam, Bella, and I dropped Derek on his feathered head in front of Sprinkles (not that one) and then picked up Officer Break for lunch. We were not sure where to go for lunch; mostly we were too busy trying to figure out how to handle Brenda. Pam, though, ever resourceful, found a quaint out-of-the-way spot. One of those places that does breakfast and lunch and closes by four in the afternoon.

I had texted Marigold about Officer Break’s ability to see us as we are and what, if any, court prcedents needed to be observed. But I did not hear back from her straight away. Unsurprising, really. There’s no cell signal in the Autumn Court’s Hallow.

Lunch was, for lack of a better term, awkward. Officer Break was practically brimming with excitement, while the three of us were completely unsure of how to broach the subject of Changeling society as a whole. I started with gently explaining what we were, for Officer Break had taken to calling us the Weird Folk. Then an explanation of Arcadia and the process by which a human became a Changeling and escaping back through the Hedge. In all honesty, Brenda took it all in stride. She kept nodding thoughtfully when appropriate, then she asked something that floored us all: “My partner is stuck there. How do I get him back?”

Day does not deserve this woman.

She was not pleased when we told her she couldn’t, nor should she try to find her way back into the Hedge. She was unaware of how lucky she was, but she would not let go of the idea of saving Day from the Gentry’s clutches, especially after she had come into contact with his Fetch. This put us in a bit of a conundrum, as we of course knew what had befallen Day. However, we were not sure what Officer Break would do to Day, given his crimes. Also, out of deference to Day, we tried our hardest to not let her know that we knew him.

Thankfully, when she asked that question, we were able to realize she really did see Day through rose-colored glasses. We were able to talk Officer Break out of storming the Hedge by offering to help her find Day’s Fetch and she agreed to meet us later that evening at the Biergarten.

After lunch, the ladies and I piled back into my truck and talked about the issue at hand, and how we were going to get Day to come along and face his former partner. Thankfully, Day is a man tied to his vices. So, one stop at the liquor store for two packs of Marlboro Reds and a big bottle of Wild Turkey later, we arrived at his flat.

He was afraid we had brought Brenda with us and tried to pass himself off as an old lady, but opened the door at the promise of booze and smokes. Day lives, as you might expect, surrounded by his own filth. There was a sandwich on the counter that I swore was about to grow limbs and start talking soon. I gave him the cigarettes but withheld the booze as I let Pam explain our plan to meet Brenda later.

Day, of course, at first refused to come along if Officer Break was going to be there. I did understand – it is hard to face someone who admires you so much and not want to disappoint them or admit you aren’t worthy of their admiration. The fact that she could see through our masks was another factor to consider. All perfectly reasonable reasons to not face her.

But we were not going to let him weasel out of it. Between Pam’s motherly guilt trip, Bella’s cuteness, my scathing honesty, and the bottle of Wild Turkey on the line, Day relented. While he was in the midst of over-fretting, Marigold returned my text. Typically, she observes all grammar rules when texting. But this time, what I got was all caps “HEDGE TOUCHED” followed by four exclamation points. I could feel her excitement through the phone and messaged her back, asking what that meant. What she told me is that apparently even passing through the Hedge leaves its mark, though the courts hadn’t seen a Hedge-Touched human in a long time. She asked to interview Brenda. It was adorable.

Once Day had agreed to come, we left him to grumble and make himself presentable for that evening (otherwise no Wild Turkey). I dropped Bella and Pam off at Derek’s workplace as Pam hoped to lend a hand and I believe Bella wanted a free cupcake. I personally went home to decompress and change my outfit. And here, lovelies, I will hand you back to our chronicler, as not long after this he was freed from cupcake hell.

Hey, it’s me again. And when she says “cupcake hell,” she’s not joking. All I got on my phone was a panicked text from my boss, “BRIDEZILLA: ALL HANDS ON DECK” and I had to show up. When I got there, I barely managed to duck a flying tray of absolutely lovely chocolate cupcakes that had been piped and decorated to perfection. A very angry woman and a man with a long-suffering look on his face were at the counter and she was shrieking, “I ASKED FOR MARBLE CUPCAKES, NOT CHOCOLATE AND VANILLA CUPCAKES, AND THIS FROSTING IS CLEARLY MAGENTA WHEN I ASKED FOR FUCHSIA, DO I LOOK LIKE A WHORE TO YOU?!”

So that was my next five hours (also: I checked the order form and she clearly selected two different types of cupcakes. Bitch.). Thankfully, Pam showed up and added an extra set of hands while Bella helped herself to a few of the three hundred cupcakes the team at work had previously made. That evening, after artfully designing chocolate dicks into three hundred marble cupcakes, I joined the rest of the motley at the Biergarten. Brenda was there well before us and was waiting at an outside table, looking between her phone and a notebook. It about took all of Pam’s, Bella’s, and my strength to shove Day up the walk toward the restaurant.

Yova started trying her usual bullshitting and schmoozing with Brenda, who called her on it and said she didn’t need to get awkward. “Well, it’s about to get even more awkward,” Yova told her as the three of us pushed Day around the corner. “Remember how we were loath to talk about your partner earlier? It’s because it wasn’t our place to tell,” Yova said, stepping aside and motioning for Day to step up.

Day greeted her about as awkwardly as humanly possible: “Hey, girl, how’s tricks?” She put her notebook and phone away, took in a deep breath, pinched the bridge of her nose and said, “Day, I swear to fucking Christ,” as she walked up to him. Her hands balled into fists at her side and she just stared up at him, taking him in. After maybe thirty seconds of staring in silence, she raised a fist and placed it firmly in the middle of his chest. “You have some balls making me worry about you like that,” she said. “Well, if I didn’t, it wouldn’t be me,” he said. She shook her head and admitted that she was completely unprepared for this. “Look, I’m not saying that what happened that day when we were looking for Pam was totally uncool, but I mean, in my defense, what was I supposed to do? I was stuck. I became this… thing,” he said.

Brenda closed her eyes and said, “It’s my fault. I was the one who brought you out there. I’ve been beating myself up for this pretty much ever since it happened.” “Well, uh, I… forgive you?” he said. “That wasn’t very convincing, but I’ll take it. It’s pretty much more than I’ve ever gotten out of you, so I’ll take it,” she retorted. He told her that he’d accepted what he’d become and suggested they leave it at that and move on.

We told Brenda about how we were planning to investigate Day’s Fetch and asked her what she knew about him. She told us that about two weeks after Day disappeared, the Fetch just showed up to work one day, with no clue what had happened and what people knew, and they tried to arrest it, which didn’t work. She kept digging around, looking for the Fetch, and found out where it would usually go and who it liked to run with. She said it was trying to keep a low profile until it started paying the rest of us a visit. “Okay, I guess I get all that, but why were you trying to look for me?” Day asked. “Because you’re my partner. Well, were. I’ve got a new one now. But partners are supposed to have each other’s backs and I know you always thought I was annoying or naïve, but, you know, I did learn a lot from you. And I know that somewhere inside that callused, possibly cholesterol-soaked heart, there’s still something there. And I – I dunno. I thought maybe I could bring back that part of you that still actually believed in the job.”

Day told her that there was one thing they’d have to clear up before they went any further: “Everything they said I did, it’s all true. I did plant evidence, I did fudge paperwork. I didn’t always follow proper procedure, because those were the types of people who game the system to get away with it. We were never going to get them. So, I did what I had to do to put those sons of bitches away for life. And if you ask me if I was gonna do it again, the answer’s yes. So if you can understand that and accept it, then we’re square. But if you can’t, I don’t know.” Brenda admitted she’d noticed some of the things Day had been doing, even if she didn’t know the lengths to which he’d gone. “I’m good at my job and can tell when things aren’t right. I know you can do good things. Maybe right now you’re not doing a good job at doing those things, but I know you can, and I’m patient enough. I can wait until you realize that yourself.”

While this was going on, Yova and I were whispering to each other. “I think Day’s tiny little heart grew three sizes this day,” she told me. “Maybe, but three times zero is still zero,” I said.

We decided to make our way inside the biergarten and look around for anything that seemed out of place. Brenda talked with the bouncer for a few minutes and flashed her detective’s badge. She waved us over and the bouncer let us in without IDing any of us, even Bella, who looks 17 if she’s a day. The first thing I noticed about the bar is that there were peanut shells everywhere: buckets and buckets of peanuts set out and people chawing on them and tossing the shells wherever. Bella got instantly lost in the France-Brazil game. There were college kids cheering and older people drinking. We even saw a couple of other changelings sitting at the bar itself. They were obviously super drunk and obnoxious, yelling curses whenever a player fucked up.

Our group managed to snipe a table as another group got ejected for being too rowdy and we ordered some food and drinks. Over the noise, Brenda told us that she was surprised we picked this spot to go to, since it was one of the spots Day’s Fetch tended to hang. “Near as I can figure it, we wait for him and his crew to show up and see what we can do,” Day said. Yova told her our original reason to come there was to suss out who the loyalist was and we were quickly realizing there was probably some overlap between those two groups. When there was a moment of calm, Yova put on her most charming smile and asked Brenda for a favor: “My girlfriend would very much like to interview you.” Being helpful, I said with no small amount of grinning, “You said the G word.” “She did!” Bella piped up. Yova gave us both a look a death but Brenda hesitantly agreed to talk to Marigold and we started to eat.

While the others were noshing and drinking, I kept an eye on our surroundings and managed to spot that the two obnoxious changelings at the bar had spotted us and they seemed to be paying more attention to us than to the game. One of them was a very large moss-covered man and the other was a smaller woman with buzz-cut hair, grayish skin and cat-slitted eyes. “We got eyes on us at 2:00,” I said. Day suggested we talk to them and see what they were up to. “Probably the least-threatening one of us should go talk to them,” Yova suggested, and we all turned to look at Pam.

Pam got up to go talk to them, convincing Bella to go along with her. She tried to be friendly, extending a hand and introducing herself. The woman looked at her with a “really?” expression. Bella tried talking sports with them and the mossy man actually opened up a bit. The woman finally shook Pam’s hand and Pam tried to get them to join us at our table. As they packed up and started to walk over, I heard a buzz from a few tables away over the din. When I turned to look, I spotted a small figure in a Brazil hoodie pick up a phone. I couldn’t tell anything about who it was other than that they were short and slender. But the timing of the buzz seemed to be just a little too perfect.

I nudged Yova and motioned with my head to the figure. She grabbed an empty glass off the table and made her way toward the bar, not necessarily walking straight toward the Brazil hoodie but taking a path that looked like she was weaving around people. She tried to get a view of who was in the hoodie. She couldn’t get a clear look at the person’s face but she could see that she was wearing a skirt and was texting like mad.

Pam got the other changelings to sit down at our table and the woman introduced herself as Deb and her compatriot as Greg. She said that they didn’t see a lot of other changelings around, which is why they were staring. We hadn’t seen them at any of the freehold events, but given how large the freehold was, that wasn’t too surprising. We all introduced ourselves and explained that we just got back. Greg kept trying to engage Bella in soccer talk while Deb said the two of them didn’t do the whole Court thing and asked if they could get back to their own spot. I couldn’t help but feel that her nervousness wasn’t really because of us: she seemed to be looking out in the street as she was talking to us.

At the bar, Yova was chatting up the bartender to see if she could get Day one of the giant birthday glass boots full of beer without putting it in an actual glass boot. “My friend is lovely, but awfully clumsy, even when sober,” she tried to explain. While she was doing this, she tried to keep her eye on hoodie chick and see if she was still watching us. The girl in the hoodie got up and started walking past Yova. Yova took that opportunity to step back and right into her path, bumping into her. As she stumbled, Yova got a quick glimpse of her face: she was a pretty young woman with tan skin and wavy dark hair. She looked familiar, but Yova wasn’t sure why. She pulled the hood over her face a little more and made a beeline for the exit.

Yova got back to the table, put a beer in front of Day and told us she was going outside to smoke, asking if any of us wanted to join her. I’d been keeping an eye on the hoodie chick and saw her interaction with Yova, so I volunteered to step out with her, as did Brenda. Pam decided to lock Deb into a conversation about her kids. She was forcing Deb to be an active listener and it was awful. Outside, Brenda asked us what we were doing. Yova quickly explained the situation and Brenda volunteered to go take a look for the girl in the hoodie. After she’d been gone a minute, we decided it would be smarter for us to go after her.

Back at the table, Deb got a text and tried to put it away before Pam could see, but Pam got a glimpse: “I can’t shake the cop.” Pam tried to ask her if someone was in trouble and Deb said, “No, we have to go. Greg, we’re going.” She grabbed Greg and tried to pull him out of the bar. Pam, bless her, managed to distract her long enough with discussions about Girl Scout cookies or something to delay her a bit. After Deb and Greg got out the door and dashed, Pam, Day, and Bella hurried out after us. Day ran ahead of the other two and found me and Yova looking for Brenda. We waited until Pam and Bella caught up, then all of us made our way forward.

Eventually, we found Brenda outside of an in-process construction site. She looked annoyed but also determined. She told us to keep our voices down and that the chick in the hoodie went into the site. She said she wanted to go in there but knew it was a bad idea, so Day helpfully volunteered the rest of us to go in there. He reached down, scooped up a mud patty and spat it over his hands to make rock fists. Brenda looked at him with mild disgust, saying, “That is so in character. I don’t know what you did. But it is absolutely you.”

We decided that somebody needed to go in and do some recon. Day nominated me. Brenda rolled her eyes and pointed out that aside from Yova, the walking strobe light, I was the most brightly colored one there. “It’s okay, he’s been trying to get me killed ever since we got pulled into Arcadia.” “Whaaaat? Come on, bird brain!” Day told me. “No! I’m not talking to you after you befouled my wastebasket!” I snapped. Bella volunteered to go in and poofed out of existence. The last thing we heard as she wandered off is, “I’m going to do this while looking better than any of you.” Yova and I looked at each other. “She’s going to get herself killed,” she said. “Yeah, but when she does, at least we won’t have to put up with her any longer,” I said.

Bella slipped into the construction site and up to the second floor. She was able to hear mumbled voices coming from within a tarped area. One was a feminine voice and the other was a much deeper, masculine one. The deeper voice said that they had to get out of there and he wasn’t staying put in the construction site for another night. “Well, at least we’ve got to stay put until we’re sure they’re gone,” the feminine voice said. “I’ve had it up the here. Just shut up and let me think,” the masculine voice responded. There was a tense and awkward silence between them and Bella slipped back out and made her way back to us.

Now this next part, I need to explain. Bella has a tendency when she slips out of sight to want to surprise people by coming up behind them and saying things. It freaks the hell out of you. And we were already on edge because of what was going on. So when I heard a voice behind me, with no context and no warning, saying, “I found something,” you’ll understand why I turned around and decked Bella right in the face. I didn’t hit her hard, but enough to make a point. “Ow, you asshole!” she yelled. “Oh, it’s you!” I said, feigning surprise. As I saw her stumble back, I felt something really off, like I was losing a little bit of myself. You might remember a few chapters back, I told you how if we Beasts lash out without thinking, it can cause us to lose a little Clarity, the part of us that helps us determine where Arcadia and the real world differ. I was able to take a deep breath and focus, but that moment definitely made an impact.

Bella told us that the two people in there were trying to mimic her and Day. We quickly decided our best course of action was to go in and beat the ever-loving shit out of the Fetches. Pam and Brenda kept watch outside while the other four of us slipped in. We almost all managed to be stealthy. Almost all of us. Yova stubbed her toe on a piece of plywood. She cursed and it bumped into the scaffolding, making a rattling noise. We came to a stop and I whispered that maybe we could be quiet and they’d think it was just a stray cat or something. “Oh, sure, that always works,” Day snapped. “Fuck off!” I hissed.

While we were bickering, Yova and Bella heard the sound of heavy footsteps coming from the floor above. Bella dropped into the shadows and Yova shimmied up a ladder, peeking over the top and spotting Day’s Fetch looking pissed as hell and holding a firearm. She called out, “Hello!” and flared her brightness to blind him. He stumbled back, yelling, “What the hell?!”

Outside, Pam spotted the flash from the second floor and clearly recognized it as Yova’s, but she also saw a secondary flash from a couple of floors up. She pointed that out to Brenda and Brenda gave her a pair of binoculars, which Pam used to look up. The angle wasn’t great because it was so high up, but Pam managed to see a figure we knew very well stepping close to the edge of one of the rafters, walking carefully across it, and trying to make her way to a piece of scaffolding leading down: that bitch-ass Aurora. Pam explained to Brenda who Aurora was and they made a quick plan for Brenda to tail Aurora and text Pam if she was getting close.

Back inside, Yova decked Day’s Fetch as he charged her, whaling him smack in the nose. As Day, Bella and I heard the fight break out, we also heard someone else coming up from the basement. Day directed us to go up and help Yova, while he charged at the noise, only to see Pam, who told him about Aurora and Brenda tailing her. He told her to stay close to him and they followed us up to the second story. Around this time, Day’s Fetch ran forward, tackling Yova over onto the edge of the scaffolding. Day jumped down onto the scaffolding, trying to pull his Fetch off of Yova. He didn’t quite get it off of her but did manage to loosen its grip a bit. He pulled his Fetch up and got a solid look at him, which he later admitted shook him quite a bit.

Yova let out an unholy shriek, chilling all of us, and she started glowing bright red, going full battle bard. Day’s Fetch didn’t let go, but it was clearly second-guessing its choice in opponent. Around this time, Bella’s Fetch made its way down and saw regular Bella. It had a hammer and glared at Bella, yelling, “This life isn’t yours anymore. Get out!” It charged and got Bella in the shoulder with the hammer, which looked like it hurt like the dickens. Around this time, I charged forward with a flying kick, getting Bella’s Fetch in the back of the neck. It went down hard, dropping the hammer and holding up its hands, surrendering.

Bella was seething with anger, looking at her Fetch, but seeing her own face in pain was making her second-guess things a bit. As much as she was reeling, she picked up the hammer. “You took everything from me! And even now, you’re still trying to take it from me!” she said. “I didn’t have a choice! No, please, just hear me out! We didn’t have a choice! We didn’t have a choice to exist! I’ll leave here if you promise not to kill me. The only reason I’m here is I don’t want to lose what I have. It’s not just the things that used to be yours,” the Fetch begged. Bella had about as dead serious a look as I’ve ever seen on her face as she said, “Yeah, well, I didn’t have a choice, either.” She turned to look at me and I gave her a slight nod. She turned back, she brought the hammer up and slammed it into her Fetch’s temple as hard as she could.

The Fetch went down, twitching and barely breathing. Bella didn’t’ stop. She hit it over and over and over again with the hammer until she finally stopped, sobbing. I went in and hugged her tightly. She told me later she felt like something was slipping away as she was watching her own body reverting to a pile of greasy rags stitched together with uneven, stained thread. We both watched as shadows seeped out from the tatters and flowed into the night.

Bella was clearly not in any state to do anything more and I wasn’t going to leave her by herself, but the fight kept going on around us. While Bella was dispatching her Fetch, Pam got a text from Brenda: “She’s doing something, I can’t tell what. Staying still.” She decided to climb up to the fourth floor, where Brenda told her Aurora was making her way to. Yova punched Day’s Fetch into Day. It tried to break out of the hold that Day had on it, but Day had it tight.

“You’re not going anywhere, you beautiful son of a bitch,” Day said. “All right, you’ve got every right to be pissed, but I just want to get out of this city! The only reason I’m here is that white-haired bitch told me she’d get me out of here.” Day tightened the grip on its neck and said, “Nope, time’s up, you bastard. Just think happy thoughts." "Why do you gotta make it weird? No, scratch that. I know exactly why you’re making it weird,” the Fetch sighed. Day squeezed hard and we all heard popping and breaking as he squeezed the air out of it. Once it passed out, Day dropped it. He looked over at Yova and asked, “So, how was it with me on top of you?” She looked at him and decked him hard enough where he got whiplash. And I felt every single part of me burning with the glee that comes from being a master of the petty arts.

Those of us who weren’t busy being petty, rage-fueled, smarmy, or weepy (read: Pam) climbed up to the fourth floor and saw Aurora gathering a few items ��� nothing that seemed terribly important, but if she was putting them together, they obviously were. Aurora was placing them in the moonlight and starting to dance around them. Pam called forth a broom made out of wind to scatter the items and Aurora started freaking out. Pam kept her cool, telling her that she thought she’d help Aurora clean up her mess. “Well. My guess is you’ve already killed my babies. So…” and with that, Aurora ran straight for the edge of the building and dove off. After a minute, Pam realized she didn’t hear her land.

Down on the second floor, I happened to be looking in the right direction as I saw a flash: it looked like a hole opened up and a white blur fell through it, then was gone. “Uh, guys? I don’t think we’re catching her tonight,” I said.

The rest of the night was anticlimax. Yova managed to get a grip and collect herself. Pam came down from the fourth floor. Day popped his nose back into place. Bella was staring at her hands and generally being a space cadet. I didn’t want to leave Bella alone in that state, so I stuck by her, making sure she wasn’t going to do anything crazy. Yova suggested that we get in touch with the Knights of the Widows’ Walk and let them know they could come and pick up Day’s Fetch. We found some zip ties and restrained Day’s Fetch and Day slung it over his shoulder and we turned to go.

As we were getting ready to go, I saw a small glint from the moonlight shining on the pile of rags. I knelt down and picked it up: it was a small silver ring with a pink heart-shaped stone and smaller diamonds around it. I took one look at Bella and realized she was not in any state of mind to think about what that might mean, so I pocketed it and decided to ask her about it after she was back to being her old self.

We headed out of the construction site to see Brenda waiting for us. “Mission accomplished?” she asked. “Let’s just say we didn’t lose,” Day said. Brenda took a look at Bella, who wasn’t looking at much of anything, then looked back at Day. “I’m really, really glad you’re okay,” she told him. He told her that she could come see him and they could hang out. “Sure, just not at your place,” she said. “What’s wrong with my place?” he asked. She griped about how the one time she went over to his place and practically caught scabies. “It hasn’t changed,” Yova said. Brenda shook her head and said, “You know what, I’ve changed my mind. I will come over and help you clean up and get the place up to the health code.”

We piled into Yova’s truck and stopped by the drop box, leaving a message for the Knights, then went off to get some much-deserved rest. And that’s where I’ll end it for now. Next time, I’ll get you some resolution about the whole loyalist situation, I promise. Until then, may you have the reflexes of a freaked-out secretary bird whenever you encounter a Bridezilla.

A big thank you to Yova’s player, @basically-andromeda, for writing her part of the recap!

[diveronarpg]

Congratulations, SIDNEY! You’ve been accepted for the role of IMOGEN. Admin Rosey: First and foremost let me just say that Imogen has been one of my favorite characters in any play ever. She is the epitome of virtue and whenever I think of Lady Justice, I think of Imogen. I truly didn’t think that others would be as taken with them as I was, but Sidney, I’m so, so very happy that you’ve become as infatuated with them as I have. What got me was the tally that you kept running between their head and their heart. It’s something that encapsulates their struggle in both Shakespeare’s plays and in Isabella as well. You know how to ruin us, so ruin us well with Imogen why don’t you?  Please read over the checklist and send in your blog within 24 hours.

Out of Character

Alias | Sidney Age | 21 Preferred Pronouns | She/her Activity Level | I’m fairly active! I’m usually here when I’m not working or sleeping, and most likely mobile and available to plot. I get to replies within 1-3 days depending on muse and time management! On a numerical scale, I’d say I’m a 6-7/10. Timezone | EST Current/Past RP Accounts | My current DV account is here.

In Character

Character | Imogen / Isabella Gagliano (this would be my second character!)

Isabella ‘Izzy’ Beatriz Gagliano

ISABELLA - devoted to God; quite literal but not chosen for its meaning but because it was their grandmother’s name, something their father was adamant about his child bearing. To this day, they hate it on pure principle and prefer Izzy above all else. Bella, but only if you’re lucky.

BEATRIZ - happiness, bringer of joy; chosen by their mother especially for her baby girl, for her daughter’s face always brought out a smile in whoever held them. This is often the name they give out as their last and it is the name attached to all articles they’ve written for public consumption. They have identification to match as well; very few know their true surname and that’s the way they prefers it.

GAGLIANO - joyous, hard, brave; wholly not of their choosing and one they hated much throughout their youth as it followed them wherever they went, tragedy in tow. They shed it the moment they left Spain and never looked back. It belongs to their father and for all they care, he can fucking keep it.

What is a future plot idea you have in mind for the character?

ONE: COMEUPPANCE

Undeniably, Izzy has a lot of rage. Granted, it lies in wait deep beneath the surface, often clouded by their ever changing emotions and the vast spectrum of creativity that encompasses their mind on any given day, but it’s there if you know where to look. If you cut deep enough, there’s no telling what they’ll do to retaliate. What I’d love to explore is their hunger for justice. How far are they willing to go to expose the truth? They want nothing more than to lay Verona’s sins before the people’s feet, for all the world to see. And while they think they’re doing all these things for the greater good, I’d love to push them into a much more morally grey territory. They’ve already dabbled in anarchy when they watched as Nikolai set the Northern Grove aflame. But do they know Puck seriously injured someone? And are they okay with that as long as it means justice will be served? I’m a sucker for negative development and I think Izzy is the perfect person to nudge closer and closer to the edge of their own haphazardly constructed set of rules in hopes they breaks them. They’re bound and determined to punish someone, but I don’t think they realize you cannot pick and choose the lives lost in times of war. And their reckless wrath is guaranteed to take down an innocent person or two much sooner rather than later.

TWO: INTELLECT

They’re so smart, well read, and kept up-to-date on all current events as they make it their business to be, but their heart — Izzy’s fickle, fickle heart — and the madness it contains is almost too strong for the sharpest of minds to compete with. It’s taken them a long while to learn how to balance that fire that resides deep within their chest, the flames licking along the edges of their heart against the natural intellect and heaps of knowledge embedded inside their mind. It’s a constant battle, from one moment to the next a fight between head and heart, and sometimes — a lot of the time, if they’re being truthful — their heart wins. They can’t help it; they feel so deeply. This was always something their mother encouraged, though. To not feel is to not live, she’d say but as Izzy aged, the more they were penalized for daring to do such a thing. The more tears they shed, the dirtier the looks were from their peers and the less they were listened to. But the farther Izzy is pushed, the more these horrible people get away with ruining an entire city, the more likely Izzy is to crumble and crack under pressure. The results of which could be catastrophic for not only her but everyone else. This is a daily struggle for Izzy, balancing decision making between what they feel is right and what they know is probable. As of late that intellect they’re so proud of has taken a bit of a back seat in favor of such strong emotions. I think it’s entirely possible that Izzy will make a very poor decision based on what their heart wants versus what they know is the right choice. And furthermore I want them to make that decision! Whether its furthering their trust in Nikolai even though they know they shouldn’t. There’s no going back once the deed is done; you can’t take back decisions of a vengeful heart, you can only move forward once they’re made. That’s the funny thing about love, especially when Izzy since loves so intensely. And they’re the type of person who will do anything their heart tells them to. Anything.

THREE: HUBRIS

Working with the likes of Puck and Nikolai, Izzy has gained a certain confidence. Everything has been going their way and they’ve gotten exactly what they wanted. But does Izzy truly even know what that is? I think whether the Montagues and Capulets live or die has become a second burner problem for them right now. The light of the sun is far too bright for them to make out anything other than the vengeance that has been so prevalent in their vision for so long. And the successful ruination at the Northern Grove has only made them more confident that what they’re doing, this mission they’re on, is exactly the right answer. I want to develop this further as Izzy will surely begin to dance with many a devil in the streets of Verona. The only way to win a war is to secure allied forces and then strike. But will they be foolish enough to trust the devil himself? I don’t know that Izzy will be able to see past a fatal deceit as they cascade closer and closer to the sun. If only they could just reach it. Touch it. It’d make everything better, wouldn’t it? If they can just get it, that holy grail, that one vital piece of information that could make the whole house of cards come crashing down, it’d all be worth it. Every sacrifice, every life lost. At least that’s what they tell themselves. But what of the hero who thinks themselves a god? It’s one thing to save people for the sake of saving them but it is an entirely different kind of monster to demand they revere you for your work. I’d love to put Izzy in a situation in which there’s the chance to put their name on one of the many good deeds they do! They’ve lived a life of modesty for so long, even going so far as to conceal their true surname, but how will they fair if they start to garner recognition? I can’t wait to find out.

Are you comfortable with killing off your character? | Yes.

In Depth

In-Character Interview:

What is your favorite place in Verona?

She first thinks of To Tame A Soup and all the people it helps, all the mouths it feeds and the beds it offers to those in need of a warm night’s sleep. It brings a smile to her face, eyes lulling shut as she leans back in the couch. The question, on the lips of someone she doesn’t trust but is indebted to for exactly this purpose, begs to be answered. Truthfully. Thankfully the first lesson she’d learned when she’d arrived in Verona was how to lie, something every citizen needs to become proficient in if they intend to survive.

“The Library,” she lied with a smile and a slight cant of her head. “All those books,” she leans in close, eyes widening at the mention of literature, which wasn’t a falsehood by the slightest. It’s always better to tell an adjacent truth. The advice sings in her head like a sweet melody she’ll never forget. “I could spend hours in there,” she smiles, thinking back to the past five Sundays she has spent there. At least a dozen books all spread out across the table before her, laptop open as she typed furiously, looking from one text to the other every so often.

From a distance, she looked as inconspicuous as anyone. A student studying for an exam, that was her cover, and naturally, it worked. Her notes, however, would beg to differ, covering nothing from the books before her but instead noting every Montague who came and went.

“But I’m sure I’m not the only one who loves it there.”

What does your typical day look like?

“It depends if I’m on a deadline,” she clears her throat and adjusts in her seat, letting the deception fall off her shoulders as she rests back again. “If I am, I wake early and head out to find a quiet place to write,” her eyes wander over to her desk in the corner, papers littered about. “It’s hard for me to write here most times. There’s too much to distract me,” she lets out a small laugh, self-deprecating in its tone. “I have horrible impulse control.”

“I volunteer as much as I can throughout the week when I’m not working as well, but other than that…” arms now crossed, one hand drifts up and she begins to tap an index finger against her chin as she thinks back over the past week, “I like the theater…” she’s grasping at straws now, quite nervous to tell them she rather enjoys just sitting at home most nights.

“I’m relatively boring, I suppose.”

What has been your biggest mistake thus far?

Falling in love.

Izzy doesn’t even have to think before the answer comes to her in a rushing tidal wave of bittersweet happiness, the image of Celeste peeking into her closed eyes. Now that is the truest answer of them all and it’s something she’d never want Celeste to know. Regret is never something Izzy wants to carry around, but at this point, the guise of calm, cool, and collected is bound to shatter. The thought breaks her heart in this moment, sitting before a stranger asking shallow questions one moment and asking Izzy to bear her soul the next. Tears sting in her eyes the moment she opens them, the dam that rests between her head and her heart threatening to break at any moment.

“I’m not sure…” she stutters, unable to form the right words — unable to come up with a suitable lie on the spot. She repeats the same gesture as before, one arm raising to rest beneath her chin as an index finger taps furiously against her chin. This time it rises and runs along her bottom lip. The truth is Izzy has never had to look this deep inside. She’s never been asked to critique her own character, nor should she. She is always justified in any of her actions and has to answer to no one.

“Next question,” she says firmly, digit rising a couple more inches to wipe away the one tear that broke through. It’s damp against the pad of her finger but she doesn’t linger and wipes it away on her knee.

Head: 1 Heart: 0

What has been the most difficult task asked of you?

In an instant, she’s agitated. Frustrated beyond belief at the audacity of this person that she barely knows asking all these questions of which they have no right to the answer.She was doing them the favor after all, so how dare they?

“This,” she blurted, eyes rolling too fast for her to stop herself.

Head: 1 Heart: 1

Fuck.

What are your thoughts on the war between the Capulets and the Montagues?

The mere mention of them is enough to cause her to clench her fists where she sits. She clenches so tight a knuckle cracks and she plays it off by cracking a few more and forcing a complacent smile onto her features.

“Truthfully?” she asks as calmly as she can, but she can’t resist the offer to say her piece. If they really wanted to know, Izzy would tell them exactly what she thinks. “I think they’re going to rip this city a part.” Her statement is matter of fact, concluded with a nod and a stern look of intent at the asker. It’s a truth she believes deep in her bones, all the way into her core. “They will take what they want,” her teeth grind against the t, “kill who they want.” There’s a flash in her mind of her mother, knife slipping between her ribs as she cries out in pain. Izzy clenches her fists once more, pushing them to either side of her thighs against the couch. “They corrupt whoever they like and care not for who they hurt.”

And I’ll take down every last one of them.

She’s seething now, nails digging into her own palms to keep her from smashing them against something, like the face of the person before her.

“Is that enough?” she asks, again through gritted teeth, but she doesn’t wait for an answer and instead rises from her seat. “Great.” She snaps,  walking across the living room and opening the front door to her apartment.

“Leave.”

Head: 1 Heart: 2

Extras:

Pinterest Mockblog

HEADCANONS:

— ASTROLOGY: Born March 24th, Izzy is an Aries.       +Element: fire - quite emotional and compassionate to a fault, always giving far more than they receive if for no other reason than to remain loyal to those emotions.       + Ruler: mars - an animalistic nature, it calls to their impetuous tendencies, inciting rage and destruction at the drop of a hat.       + Color(s): red - vibrant and attention-seeking, it’s rare that they don it but are instead often drawn to its excitement and promise of adventure.

— STRENGTHS: audacious, determined, self-assured, ardent, creative, insightful, altruistic, honest.

— WEAKNESSES: impatient, sensitive, moody, short-tempered, perfectionistic, impulsive, contentious.

— MBTI: INFJ, the advocate - takes great happiness from helping people, spends the time to get to the root of issues and work through them, sees a world full of inequity but knows it doesn’t have to be that way, and truly believes a little help can go a long way, but sometimes they forget to care for themselves and overcorrect for certain causes which puts them in jeopardy, though they write it off as having been worth it all in the end if progress was made.

— ALIGNMENT: Lawful Neutral, the judge - their mother, the basis of their entire moral compass, taught them right from wrong and shaped their entire view of the world with just a few kind acts. Feeding the homeless was something they did every Sunday afternoon together, mother and daughter each with smiles upon their face, filled with joy at the simple act of helping. But it wasn’t until they watched the very woman who gave them life fight tooth and nail, time and time again for those less fortunate than them. Their mother would have offered a stranger on the street the clothes off her back and the shoes on her feet if she felt it would improve their life. She was generous and kind and expected nothing in return for all her good deeds. It taught Izzy how to love, this ever apparent generosity present throughout their youth, and as they aged, they did so with their whole heart. They dove head first into philanthropy the moment they left Spain, using their knack for words to shine a light on the injustices of the world in hopes of making a real change. And they have no intent on stopping within Verona. They’ll burn the whole city down if it means it’ll return, but this time just and pure of heart.

— GENDER/SEXUALITY: Izzy, while not a fan of labels at all and if forced, identifies as a demigirl and prefers she/her and they/them pronouns. Femininity has never been something they’ve felt terribly attached to, nor do they shy away from what society would deem as ‘for women’, but there’s always been a bit of a disconnect from it. It’s a sore subject if pressed, causing Izzy immense stress when brought up. Memories of their stepmother spewing hate for every little thing about them flood their mind and tears swell in their eyes from the echo of rejection for simply being themself. / They’d call themselves a lover of everyone, if they’re being honest. At least ten times a day they turn smitten in an instant! With just one glance from a handsome stockbroker who held the door for them at a cafe. A coy smile from a waitress at Hotel Emelia can send them into a giggling fit, cheeks flushing a rosy red. They’re a biromantic, through and through, enjoying — indulging in whoever’s holding their heart in their palm for the moment, regardless of their gender. But for them to give themselves to you, it needs to mean something. It has to matter. Izzy is smart; they know their heart is fickle, and while most days it rules their choices, those welcome in their bed must earn it first. Some would call them a slut, if they were lacking character and down to their two brain cells. Most call them a tease, leaving a trail of kisses in their indecisive wake. But Izzy knows themself to be demisexual, and in need of a strong emotional bond before spreading their legs.

— CELESTE: It defies logic, how much Izzy loves her. All normal, rational thought evades her whenever the girl is near. The fact that she remains, to this day, a part of one of the very organizations Izzy is bound and determined to take down seemingly makes no difference. Not when her heart practically sings in the face of Celeste Duval. It’s assuredly unnatural, of which the two have discussed at length. She’s married, after all and that fact seems to evade her lover’s mind as well. Perhaps that’s what makes it exciting, but it’s also what makes it that much more stressful. Izzy is in constant battle with herself when it comes to Celeste. It’s as if each time they’re apart, she formulates a plan to sever the bond for the good of the both of them, but the moment she lays eyes on Celeste, she can’t think. She can only feel. And what she feels is so much stronger than any argument her brain could muster. But is Izzy willing to sacrifice everything for her? Deep down she knows the answer and deep down she hates herself for it.

— NIKOLAI: He’s so handsome, of this she’s positive simply because of the way his smile causes her heart to race. To say she fell in love with him the first moment they met would be entirely accurate, for he knew exactly what to say to tug at her weaknesses. By far one of her worst qualities, she wears her heart on her sleeve, like an open wound laid bare for anyone to rub salt in. Though deep down, she always hopes it’ll be sugar. She always wants to believe the best in people, and certainly the same goes for Nik. He was so earnest during their first talks, so generous with his information and sympathetic to her cause, to her fight for justice within the bloodied streets of Verona. She barely had time to check on him, to look him up and sink her teeth into his past like any good journalist would. If she isn’t careful, he could expose her entire plot, but damn if he doesn’t have the deepest of sea blue eyes. And each time he’s near, all careful planning and hard earned wisdom Izzy has gathered fades away in favor of going for a swim.

— DELILAH: It breaks her heart to see a good woman silenced, especially when she’s been falsely promised so much. The Capulets appease her doubts over and over, each time she dares to break her silence if but just for a moment; but Izzy can see the storm behind her eyes, if only Delilah would let the floodgates flow open. With the whisper of a few secrets and a pen put to paper, the entire underbelly of Verona could rest in the palm of their hands. All she needs is a little push. And Izzy has every intention of doing so, no matter what.

[secretlifeofachicamuerta]

Ballet practice, pediatrician appointments and Thoughts for Tots had become all part of a regular routine for the Latina. Who would have thought that Arabella could actually adjust to such a lifestyle? Playdates, potty training and bedtime stories; checking under the bed for the monsters and teaching the little niños how to tie their shoes. She oddly was a natural and while she resisted becoming attached to Lola and Diego it did not work. It would seem taking care of little ones full time would do that to the heart. They were more than just a job, they were her familia.

"Niñita you're sauter was flawless in class today!" She smiled collecting Lola with Diego sitting on her hip, praise rang in her tone towards the small child. "Mademoiselle Dupont can chúpalo." She whispered as they walked out of the dance studio.

"Chip-lo." The child's giggle full of innocence as she attempted to repeat the Spanish word for suck it.

Arabella could not help but laugh but she also did not correct Lola either. There was a reason she had said it in Spanish in the first place. While she was not fond of the little girl's dance instructor she had kept her temper under control each time the instructor picked on Lola out of respect for the fact she knew how much Lola enjoyed ballet. Unfortunately Mademoiselle DuPont was the best there was in Los Angeles. Bella had spent the last two months teaching herself the sauter from YouTube videos to help the young niña at home.

"That that sugar plum fairy role in the winter recital is so gonna be yours!"

Arabella and Lola began to do their victory dance together out on the sidewalk, Diego bouncing in a fit of giggles on her hip clapping his tiny hands joining in the celebration. It was the little moments like this that made her fall in love with her job. The best thing she had ever done was take this job opportunity against her better judgement. She had grownup an orphan bouncing between the orphanage and homes of family's that did not want her. She only knew how to care for herself, that was until them. Damien and his children had saved her life and did not even know it.

"Padre is going to have to get you a big boy seat first." The Latina spoke in a little kid's voice while buckling him into his car seat before ensuring that Lola bad buckled herself into her booster correctly. "How about we get some ice cream before heading home?"

The cheerful clapping was taken as a yes. Arabella got into the driver's seat of the black expedition turning the key over to start the SUV. Before pulling out of the parking space she scrolled through her phone finding the contact listed Señor Waltz to send him the video of his daughter's ballet practice flawlessly perfecting the move. Then off to Sprinkles and Fudge to get the niños their much deserved ice cream. Yes this nanny lifestyle she was killing it.

It was 3:57 PM by the time they made their way back on the road after their ice cream detour. It was also around the same time she realized the grey honda civic behind her was following awfully close. "Quítate de mi culo, puta. Hay niños en el coche." A second glance at the car in her rear view made her double take. It was the same grey honda civic that was parked behind her at the dance studio and across the street from Sprinkles and Fudge. The extremely tinted windows and a dented front license plate was what caught her attention. Was she being followed? Was it a coincidence? If Luna has taught her anything it was that when your a Saltero there was no such thing as coincidences. Clearly whoever was in that car was not trying to return a possible dropped pacifier or ballet slipper. What was this about?

A couple of months back she had found Damien lost in his thoughts in the bathtub his suit had been drenched in blood, none of it his own. She knew that because without asking any questions she helped him that night clean himself up and burned the suit. That night during those late 3am hours they shared secrets without speaking. It had become obvious on both ends there was more to them than what either of them knew. Arabella had been extremely calm for a normal person to find her boss covered in blood. To this day she never knew nor did she ever ask what happened that night before he came home or who's blood he was wearing. She accepted that some things in life were meant to be unspoken. But did that night have anything to do with why this grey honda civic had been following them? If it did she feared the worse for Diego and Lola especially since the driver would have clearly seeing by Damien Waltz was not I'm this vehicle, just his children.

Foot pressing down on the gas pedal increasing her speed enough at attempts to her the car following off her backend. Remaining calm as her rearview would display such acts then only made the car behind her also increase speed. The next available side street she turned down, the car also made the same turn. Panic set in but she held her composure for the sake of the children who were singing along to the ABC's playing. Every move she made driving the car behind her did the exact same thing.

The Latina began to blindly reach for her phone while keeping her eyes on the road. She was easily going sixty in a thirty. She did not attempt fasters speeds currently for the fact she was driving down residential streets by this point. Which also meant she was getting further away from the direction of home. She was contemplating if going home would be a smart or stupid move. On one hand it was a gated suburbia community on the other hand it wouldn't keep out who was following them forever once they realized where their residence was. What Arabella could have used in this moment was Luna but her big sister was not exactly available, she would have known the right answer to the great debate circling her head currently. Right as she finally felt her phone with her fingertips the Honda tapped the bumper of the expedition. Enough force to jerk them but not to crash. Then again another tap.

At this point the children began to realize something was wrong, even in their young age. The fear could be heard in their cries not understanding what was going on. "Don't cry mi amores it's gonna be okay." What in the hell was she suppose to say? When does life ever prepare someone on what to say to the children when a car tries to fun you off the road? "Aye it's our song!" She turned up the radio as wheels on the busy began to play. She did her best to sing along but every time the car behind her made impact with the back bumper their screams grew louder.

Arabella once again reached over for her phone. She heard the little chime that meant Google assistant woke up. "Call Señor Waltz."

"Here is a video for learning to waltz."

"Puta, no!" She growled turning down the radio. "Hey Google call Señor Waltz."

"Okay calling Señor Waltz."

The phone began to ring on her end. She was not sure what Damien could do in this moment for her or his children but right now he was her only option. Because with the concurring ramming into the back of the vehicle she could not get a grasp on the phone. However given the phone was not on speaker she could not tell if he has answered or she had gotten his voicemail. It did not help either that the children cries made it hard to hear anything.

"Some pendejo is following us, I'm driving down..." She tried to read a street sign as she sped by, "Morrison drive and Oak ave. Illinois plates 723G7... mierda" The car took a sharp left disappearing from behind her before she could get the last two numbers. Arabella began checking all her mirrors trying to figure out where the car was going exactly or if it was coming back. She has been become so distracted to see where it went in the front of her she did not see it was now coming head on towards her vehicle until it was too late.

With no time to prepare for the impact the airbag smacked Arabella in the face with a force that was strong enough to barely leave her conscious. She could hear the screams and cries of Diego and Lola as everything faded in and out. She tried to tell herself that their cries were a positive sign in this case. "Mi amores..." Speaking even took energy she did not have. There was a ringing in her ears and a ponding in her head as she felt something warm dripping down her face. The last thing she heard before passing out was a male's voice.

"Perra estúpida, deberías haberme matado en lugar de perdonarme la vida."

She knew that voice. Meaning the car chasing them had nothing to due with Damien it was her they were after. This was all her fault, her last name had finally caught up with her.

[shewhotellsstories]

Your Fave is Problematic Pt. 10: Incubators With Legs

Friendly warning, this post will be very critical of Cassandra Clare’s handling of pregnancy in The Mortal Instruments.

As a general rule, pregnant protagonists are few and far between in fantasy stories, babies usually come after evil’s been vanquished. So as a reader it is safe to assume if there’s a pregnancy before the epilogue it’s probably not going to go well for the pregnant person. In fantasy from Bella Swan in Twilight to Cordelia Chase from Buffy the Vampire Slayer many a female character has had their reproductive abilities abused for a backstory or to move the story along. Similar to tropes that deal with sexual violence, the way that pregnancy is treated excludes the experience of those most impacted by a pregnancy as it becomes about other people. Now from a storytelling perspective and from a purely biological perspective, everyone has to come from somewhere and some women are capable of having children. But when women in YA are pregnant the experience is usually a horrifying one, the thoughts and feelings of the pregnant person are usually entirely absent from the narrative. All too often women are reduced to incubators whose stories end once they’ve given birth.

In The Mortal Instruments, Celine Montclaire is a classic example.  The readers are told she was a fragile young woman. She was also in love with the married Stephen Herondale. That is until Valentine insisted that Stephen divorce his wife Amatis because he felt her familial relationship to werewolves made her impure. Although Stephen and Celine’s marriage is a brief one, Celine did become pregnant. However, upon learning that her husband had been killed overcome with grief Celine, eight months pregnant, slits her wrists. This isn’t the end of the story. In the nick of time Valentine Morgenstern manages to save the baby she was carrying by cutting him out of her. Not out of the kindness of his heart, without her knowledge Valentine had been feeding Celine pure angel blood for months in hopes of creating a super-shadowhunter child. He could not let all of his work go to waste. The baby boy that Celine was carrying would grow up to be Jace Herondale.

Celine is a blank slate. The audience knows very little about her except these four things: she was twenty when she died, she loved Stephen, her family was abusive, and she always looked according, to Jocelyn (Clary’s mother), vulnerable. Two out of the four details we know about Celine are things are all explained on the author’s twitter upon questioning from fans and through deleted passages. We don’t really know who Celine was or what she felt while carrying Jace or about impending motherhood. We don’t ever really have a clear idea of what her final moments were like. We don’t know how she felt about being married to a man who was clearly in love with another woman. Celine is in short a walking incubator, she’s a way to explain Jace’s existence and importantly why he and Clary are not related after all and it’s okay for them to date. Throughout the series through letters and anecdotes after the revelation that Jace was biologically not Valentine Morganstern’s son, Jace gets to learn who Stephen Herondale was for better or worse. And yet, he never learns or seems interested in learning anything about his birth mother leaving her feeling disposable.

The argument could be made that Jace is happily adopted. After the presumed death of the man, he believed to be his father he was adopted by the Lightwood family at the age of 10 and feels deeply connected to them. Even while living with Valentine, Jace has been told from a young age that he didn’t have a mother, until Maryse Lightwood. When asked by readers why Jace is utterly uninterested in learning about the Montclaire family Cassandra Clare would say that it’s because Jace already has a family that he loves. And yet, Jace read Stephen’s letters. Because he has been lied to by every adult in his life about who they are and who he is for years, he understandably has an identity crisis.

“I don’t know who I am,” he said. “I look at myself in the mirror and I see Stephen Herondale, but I act like a Lightwood and talk like my father—like Valentine.” (City of Fallen Angels 798)

Trying to understand himself better he learns about the Herondale family. His opinion of his father is understandably not a high one, and yet he takes the time to learn. By the end of the series, he finally decides to take on the Herondale name. So what makes Jace more interested in understanding his father than his mother? Stephen Herondale was weak. He had overbearing parents. He joined a cult out of a desire for freedom and a sense of superiority. He lacked character and allowed himself to be convinced to divorce the woman he loved. He loved Latin and poetry. Towards the end of his young life, he regretted the mistakes he made and accepted that the price for them, forever trusting Valentine would be his death. Importantly we learn that even though he regretted the marriage, he loved Jace and didn’t want him to resent Celine.

“The third and hardest thing you must know is that I was prepared to hate you. The son of myself and the child-bride I barely knew, you seemed to be the culmination of all the wrong decisions I had made, all the small compromises that led to my dissolution.” (Clare, “Stephen’s Letter to Jace”) Stephen is not a prominent character and yet the audience is given enough information to understand him and his feelings about his son. The same is never true for Celine. She is absent from the narrative surrounding her pregnancy and the death that it ended with. Celine’s pregnancy and death were about Jace’s true parentage, it was about Valentine’s positively immoral behavior, it was even about Stephen’s mistakes. Oddly enough, even though Celine was the pregnant person and she is biologically Jace’s parent too she is not truly Jace’s mother, she is just an incubator whose life and experiences were ultimately irrelevant beyond her ability to carry a child.

This is a trend in The Mortal Instruments. Clary Fray the protagonist herself and her biological brother Sebastian stem from mystical pregnancies. Valentine Morganstern who is Clary’s biological father experimented on his pregnant wife, Clary’s mother, Jocelyn Fairchild with demon blood without her knowledge with the hopes of creating a super shadowhunter and instead the exposure to demon blood killed his soul and created a sociopath: Sebastian Morganstern.  When Jocelyn was pregnant the second time she never informed her husband, as she was planning his downfall, so when he was again dosing her food and drink with angel blood to lift her spirits he inadvertently ensured that an unborn Clary Fray would have special abilities. In the case of Jace, Valentine was also drugging Celine with angel blood hoping to create the perfect warrior. Jocelyn Fairchild’s character arc is better because through flashbacks and her own anecdotes the readers know her story and all of her feelings about what her then-husband did to her. It is very clear that she felt betrayed and violated by Valentine’s actions and is traumatized by them years later. Unfortunately, the way that Jocelyn’s pregnancies were written were the exception and not the rule.

[ecoamerica]

Watch the American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 now: https://youtu.be/bWiW4Rp8vF0?feature=shared

The American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 broadcast recording is now available on ecoAmerica's YouTube channel for viewers to be inspired by active climate leaders. Watch to find out which finalist received the $50,000 grand prize! Hosted by Vanessa Hauc and featuring Bill McKibben and Katharine Hayhoe!

[sueboohscorner]

#Empire: S4 Ep8 *Cupid Painted Blind* #Empire #OMG

Episode Rating Scale: (10) Exceptional

The season is (1) episode away from it's fall finale. Diana Dubois has broken the Lyon cubs down. Between Hakeem, Jamaal and Andre; she broke Andre the worst. It's time for Cookie to end this battle but she can't do it alone. Lucious is needed. Never thought we would be craving for the monster and evil that lives inside of Lucious. However, Lucious always protected his family by any means necessary. They can even use Mama Leah right about now; she has no problem ending lives. Cupid Painted Blind, what does that mean? Let's recap and figure it out. 

After beating Warren badly, Thirsty discovers it's a warrant out for Jamaal's arrest. The entire family is at Jamaal's condo. Cookie makes it's clear Diana is taking her sons down one by one. Andre is next. At the same time, Cookie is looking for alcohol and pills in Jamaal's cabinets. She fears this heartache will cause him to relapse. He has worked too hard to fight that demon. I pray he doesn't relapse. Love hurts when it ends but doesn't mean you can't get over it.

The injuries Jamaal gave Warren was unbelievable. Angelo rubbed it in Warren's face. Angelo admits he knew Jamaal had it in him but didn't think Warren wouldn't fight back. It's funny to me how Angelo feel falling for a Lyon is a bad thang. Angelo fell for Cookie knowing her past and her family lifestyle. He could have walked away from Cookie. Warren could have been honest with Jamaal once he fell in love with him. Them Dubois need to accept some responsibility in their broken hearts. And Angelo, you aired your dirty dealings for the world to hear. So get off the blame game. But I am confused, how is Warren a Dubois? The fact that Angelo stated, "Mother, will still take care of your father. " So is Warren's father her brother or her husband's brother? I am kind of confused about that.  I felt sorry for Warren tho. He lost everything helping Diana. She blames him for falling in love not her need for revenge. Diana is heartless indeed. At this point, I don't feel it's about Angelo's career being ruin. I genuinely think it's deeper than that. 

Cookie drill Andre about any new things happening in his life. Andre insists he hasn't met anyone new, but that's a lie. He met Detective Pamela Rose. Lucious stops Andre as he was very sarcastic. He nails Diana's tactics perfectly. As Lucious stated, "she moves pass your brain and goes for your heart." Indeed she does. She snatched Hakeem's heart with his daughter and snatched Jamaal's heart with a good relationship. How is she going to snatch Andre's heart? That's what Cookie and Lucious are trying to figure out, but Andre is not honest. Hakeem is tired of the repeated denial from Andre. Jamaal is tired of them being in his house, and Andre is just tired of being questioned. Cookie is looking at all three of her sons like they lost their minds.  She calls them three stupid blind ass mice. Lmao. Cookie is genuinely trying to protect her family, but they instead drown in the sorrows of Diana's damage to their hearts. Andre and Hakeem head to Empire. Jamaal puts Lucious and Cookie out his condo. Cookie sees the hurt from Warren's betrayal in Jamaal's face. As she stares at him, she has a flashback of when she was in jail. Her most significant enemy in prison became her friend. Her friend in need.  She got pregnant by a CO. She went into labor and had a baby. Cookie helped her through it all. The memory was about that feeling of protection the first time you see your child. Protecting her kids is all Cookie is focused on. Cookie can't let Diana get away with the pain she has caused her children. 

Cookie needs Lucious back to his old ways. She makes it clear if he can't help her, paint a symphony somewhere. She can avenge this war for her family. Lucious is doing the best he can under the circumstances. Divide and conquer is his plan. He tells Cookie to let him deal with Andre because he is hiding something. Cookie takes off to find Warren. Warren is the only person that can keep Jamaal out of jail. 

Cookie pays Diana a visit. She brings Diana the engagement ring Angelo gave her. The ring is a family heirloom for the Dubois family.  However, the ring was just a distraction for Diana and her bodyguards. Cookie throws the ring in the street. Diana's bodyguards all run to secure the piece of jewelry. This was a distraction for Thirsty to take pictures of all of Diana's bodyguards. The plan worked perfectly. 

Back at Empire, Tiana is in the studio recording her song for 20/20 with Shine. Hakeem enters the studio. This the first time we see Tiana since Bella's trial. Shine calls Hakeem to the studio because he wants to put Hakeem on one of his tracks for the five albums he has to release on 20/20. I guess Shine wasn't informed that Tiana and Hakeem are no longer together. He tells Hakeem, " I thought your girl could talk you into it." Hakeem makes it's clear Tiana isn't his girl and he not interested in doing a track. See, this is the bratty side of Hakeem. Tiana didn't cause him to lose Bella. He lost his daughter all by himself. Instead of apologizing, he acts like a spoiled, entitled kid. I thought this part of Hakeem was gone and he grew beyond that. I guess some habits are hard to break. Tiana comes out the booth, and Hakeem tells her to put some auto-tune on her track. Enough was enough for Tiana. She smacks Hakeem with ones of those grandma cock hand smacks to your face. You go girl. Tiana doesn't deserve Hakeem's disrespect. She gives him a piece of her mind as well. Good job Tiana. Shine takes Tiana's side. Hakeem vows not to date anyone because it ruins everything. I like this scene because we see another side to Shine. Shine steps up to help Hakeem learn it's more about manhood and fatherhood. He tells Hakeem to come with him. What does Shine have to show Hakeem? I hope it's nothing shady. You never know with Shine. One minute he seems over the past with Lucious and Cookie, but then it's revealed he still in his feelings. 

Thirsty has all the pictures of Diana's bodyguards. He explains to Lucious that one bodyguard is on her payroll but doesn't be with Diana. That's the guard who is watching Warren. Diana knows Warren is in love with Jamaal. She also doesn't want her plans for the Lyons revealed. So, she has Warren in hiding. According to Angelo,  it's for his protection from the Lyons. But it's really for Diana's protection in my eyes. Love will make you turn on family sometimes. It looks like that's the dilemma Warren is in. Anyway, Lucious puts Thirsty on another project. I swear Thirsty gets the information and job done. What does Thirsty have to do now?

Andre approaches Pamela about her role with the Dubois. He makes it clear someone is after his family. He tells her about how Diana is destroying his family through their hearts. Pamela denies any involvement with the Dubois. She is hurt that Andre would even think she would play him. She walks off but not before letting Andre know; she felt they had something special. I guess Lucious asked Thirsty to watch Andre. After Pamela leaves, you see Thirsty calling Lucious telling him to meet him at the restaurant. He tells Lucious something is up with Andre. Andre sits at the table, apologizing to the customers at the restaurant for his outburst with Pamela. It just seems to be no love in the air for Andre since Rhonda's death.

Lucious and Thirsty walk up on Andre at the restaurant. Andre is shocked to see them. Lucious asked Andre is everything okay. Andre tries to hide the fact he was just there with Pamela; however Thirsty told Lucious Andre was yelling at someone. Andre finally tells Lucious about Pamela. He admits he is seeing her and explains she is a cop. That's why this has been his secret.  He describes how she is kind and beautiful. He tells Lucious it's over because he accused her of working with the Dubois. He tells his father, he didn't think he can feel this way about another woman after Rhonda. So he didn't have feelings for Nessa? Andre leaves, and it looks like his heart is broken. Does Pamela work for Diana? Is she there to take Andre down for the bombing that almost killed his father? Does she truly have feelings for Andre? So many questions about Detective Pamela Rose. Lucious tells Thirsty to find out all he can about Pamela. Will her secret now become exposed to Lucious?  

Back at Jamaal's condo, he is listening to  his song Love is Drug. Unfortunately, Warren is on that track. He hears Warren's voice and slams his laptop. Jamaal ends up with a bottle of wine and some pills he has hidden in his kitchen. I can't believe he is about to relapse over this. No, no, no Jamaal. Don't give Diana what she want.

Hakeem and Shine end up in a suburban neighborhood. Looks like Shine had a family of his own. It appears Shine has some sister wives set up for his kids and kid's mothers.   He also has alot of kids. Three sets of kids with three different women. Wow Shine. However, he gives Hakeem some good advice. Never eat where you lay, never let anyone come between you and your kid, keep your business out the streets and the only real connection you will ever have is family. As Shine said, tattoo that on your eyelids. It makes a lot of sense to me. Hopefully that wisdom helps Hakeem 

Back to Jamaal. He is in his condo hurt and facing his biggest demon; his addiction. What he is listening to Love is a Drug and reminiscing about that moment with Warren. He really shouldn't be alone, but he kicked his parents out.  He loved Warren. He felt he was the one. Making that song was the moment Warren first said I love you.  Jamaal is truly hurt, but pills and alcohol won't erase the pain. Thank God, Jamaal tossed the pills. He took a drink instead even though drinking was apart of his rehab as well. A drink is better than popping pills, so I am not too mad at him for that.  However, I feel Warren and Jamaal can work this out. Yes, Warren's intentions started wrong. Yes, Warren lied to Jamaal. Once he realized his feelings for Jamaal was real; he should have confessed. The Lyons isn't angels so Jamaal can understand family loyalty, secrets, dysfunction and lies. I hope this isn't the end of Warren and Jamaal's relationship. 

He caused damage but not to the point it's unforgivable with time. Love is more powerful than revenge. Warren broke trust. Now if that's Jamaal's deal breaker; then yeah this couple is done. But, if Cookie can forgive Lucious for everything he has done, why can't that be the case for Jamaal and Warren? A Dubois in the Lyon's family would be kind of interesting.  

Cookie has face to face with Warren. She enters Warren's room with a loaded gun. She is loaded, cocked and aimed.  She tells Warren they are going to have a little talk while pointing a gun at his face. Cookie wants answers. Hopefully, Warren gives her answers. She told Warren he would tell the police he threw the first punch. Basically, self-defense to clear Jamaal of assault charges. Because Warren truly loves Jamaal, he agreed to do it. However, his quick response to agreement shocks Cookie. Cookie not new to this game but Warren assures her, she has his word. Cookie said, 'Like my son had your word when you said you loved him." Warren admits Jamaal was the love of his life and he lost him. He feels clearing his name is the least he can do for the hurt he caused. For the first time, Cookie sees Warren does love Jamaal. However, she not there to feel sorry for Warren. She is there for answers. Warren asked Cookie to do him a favor, but Cookie makes it clear; he not in a position to ask for favors. But I believe she will do a favor for Warren. You could see Cookie believe his sincerity. She puts the gun away, that says a lot. She also finds out what Diana has brewing for Andre; thanks to Warren. 

Hakeem visits Anika. Unfortunately, he gets told Anika isn't home; she is at her boyfriend's house. Anika and Angelo is a couple now? When did that happen? Was that the deal she made with Diana for her help with the custody hearing? Anika just loves having whatever Cookie loved. Lucious, Hakeem and now Angelo. Anika, Anika, Anika!! Do you want to go down with the Dubois? Please set Ma Leah free to handle Anika aka Boo Boo Kitty. Hakeem misses his daughter. What will he do to get his daughter back?

Warren gave Cookie the information she wanted. Cookie tells Andre and Lucious that Diana was messing with his mind. The doctor Andre sees works for Diana. Andre was shocked to hear that. He gives Cookie the higher dose pills that were prescribed for him to take. Apparently, Diana had something heavy on the doctor for him to risk his career for her. Cookie drills Andre to remember what he told the doctor. The doctor has had Andre so high off them pills; he doesn't know what he told the doctor. All he remembers is telling the doctor he couldn't get an erection. Andre is happy to find out Pamela isn't playing with his heart. Cookie tells Andre to get a new doctor as soon as possible. Yes, he needs a new doctor. Andre is off the chain when off his meds. However, he just focused on fixing things with Pamela. He takes off to find Pamela. Cookie has another flashback to jail. She is looking for Pound Cake, and she questions the CO that got her pregnant. Pound Cake was forced to give up her daughter. Cookie promise to make the CO-pays. This flashback is because Diana is destroying everything she loves; her kids.  The same thing the CO need to Pound Cake.

Hakeem shows up to check on Jamaal. He can't believe his brother is drinking. Jamaal doesn't want a lecture and Hakeem agrees he is not trying to give him one. Hakeem tells Jamaal about Anika moving in with Angelo. He doesn't want to watch another man raise his daughter. Hakeem doesn't want to watch Jamal drink his self to death over Warren aka Trick. Jamaal has Love is a Drug playing. Hakeem like hell no when he hears Warren's voice. He erases Warren's verses off the track. Birthed is another hit from Jamaal and Hakeem. I swear when them two do a song together it's always fire. I love "Trapped." Yassss! It feels good seeing Jamaal and Hakeem together, doing music and being brothers regardless of the Dubois war. 

The last 15 mins of this episode revealed the best OMG moment this season could ever have. Then again, this was the best OMG moment of the entire series of Empire.

Andre is at his place calling Pamela. He is apologizing for everything he said. He wants to explain everything to her. He tells her how much he needs her. Then, there is a knock at the door. It's Pamela. She comes in and puts a gun on the table. Apparently, the gun is the weapon she used to kill the unarmed suspect. Pamela tells him to turn her in. Andre asked, "why would I do that?" Andre tries to explain, but she plays on the fact she did something awful and got away with it. She tells Andre he doesn't understand how it feels to carry a huge secret of guilt. At this moment I was yelling at the TV, "don't you tell her nothing, Andre." In my eyes, Pamela can't be trusted. She is only in Andre's life to find out who is responsible for the car bombing. Apart from me feels, she already knows Andre is behind it; however, she has no proof. She needs a confession from Andre. Andre is about to give her what she wants.... a confession. 

Thirsty arrives at Lucious mansion with some awkward news. Apparently, Pamela Rose isn't a cop. She has never been heard of in the NYPD. So who is Pamela? Is she a Dubois after all? Cookie calls Andre but he doesn't answer. Her and Lucious heads to Andre's apartment. 

Back at Andre's apartment, he let his feelings for Pamela cloud his judgement. He confess to the car bombing. Nooooo!!!! The look on Pamela's face said it all. As Andre tells her, " we understand each other". She responds with ....

Pamela makes her own confession. WTH? I knew it! She confesses to being an undercover cop, working for Las Vegas police. She has been after Andre all this time. She calls Andre the dumbest criminal. She admits to knowing about the car bombing and all the details behind it. She points a gun at Andre and tells him he is under arrest. Andre loses his mind. He attacks Pamela. Pamela ends up dead. Andre is freaking out. He is trying to revive her, but she is dead. Then comes a knock at the door. It's Cookie and Lucious.

Cookie and Lucious let themselves in Andre's apartment. They find Andre very hysterical and tripping out. He is rambling about killing her, trusting her and saying she was no good for me. He tells Cookie, she was right. She was a cop, and she was lying to me. Lucious tells him to calm down. He tries to help Andre. Andre yells, "how you going to help me Pop." For the first time Dwight, not Lucious, see Andre in a bipolar episode. The look on Lucious face was like amazement and unbelievable. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. He never saw Andre like this before. Andre tells Lucious, "Look at what I did. Look at what I did". He tells Cookie, "I am sorry ma. I didn't mean to hurt her". Cookie tells Andre, "It's going to be okay." Andre just keeps saying, I killed her. I am a murderer." Cookie moves the curtains. Now, I am thinking she is going to use the curtain to cover and dispose of the body. But then, Lucious tells Andre...

OMG!!!! My mouth hit the floor.  What just happened? What is going on? Then Cookie starts yelling, "There is nothing there Andre." I was so confused for a second. What about you?  Cookie gets through to Andre. She finally gets him to see there is no dead body on his floor. Andre looks around. He is confused as ever. OMG!!! Diana Dubois didn't mess with Andre's heart. She messed with his mind. Pamela isn't real. All this time, the guilt of trying to kill his father and his meds being tampered with caused Andre to go insane. All this time we saw a figment of his imagination. Cookie and Lucious stared at their son, who is lost and trapped in his mind. They see him on the floor, in tears and confuse. They see him as a victim of Diana Dubois revenge against Cookie. This entire scene explains why this episode was called "Cupid Painted Blind." Diana Dubois just elevated her gangsta.  At the same time, Diana Dubois just went too far.

Diana Dubois has to go down. Hakeem can get his daughter back. Jamaal can get over a broken heart and love again. Andre may never get his sanity back. Was Angelo losing his career and getting his heart broke worth that kind of destruction? I don't think so. What is Cookie and Lucious next move? Was seeing Andre out his mind enough courage to bring Lucious entirely back to himself? Stay tuned in because the fall finale is this Wednesday, December 13. Does Diana finally get exposed to her two faces? I can't wait until Wednesday. Hail to the Empire.

Catch up on episodes of Empire on Comcast On Demand, Hulu or download the Fox Now app.

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Editor: Lattice Johnso

[authorerintrejo]

FALLEN ANGELS BOX SET Also available individually #asmsg #BookBoost #Iartg BOXED SET! Creed: Creed doesn’t have his life mapped out but he knows he has a family in Jason and Jada, his neighbors. They always accepted him for who he was. One fatal mistake takes his best friend Jason away from him. Leaving his sister Jada behind to pick herself up, Creed seeks solace in her. Jada gives in to her feelings for Creed to only have them crushed when he leaves. Creed moves on with his life, which isn't the best life possible. He finds a new family with the Fallen Angel’s Motorcycle Club. They become the family he lost. Taking risks, he doesn’t care about his life anymore until Jada falls into his clubhouse one fateful night. After he learns her involvement with a rival, Creed wants her safe but he knows he can never be the man she needs. Will he save himself and Jada? Or will they both lose everything forever? TANK BOOK 2: Tank’s life began and ended when he got involved with the Fallen Angel’s MC. That same year his ex-girlfriend, Candy took his little girl and ran. Tank lived through the club trying to pick up the pieces of his broken life. Years later his daughter Bella shows up on his doorstep alone. With her mother missing, Tank takes his daughter in and loves her. When Tank met Cher his world seemed to be falling into place. He had his daughter back and his new girlfriend. Life seemed good, too good. When his life is sent into a tailspin, he relies on his club to protect his family from the one person that hurt both of his girls. Will Tank be able to come to terms with the past and keep his newfound family together or he will lose them all again? Ryker Book 3: Choosing to settle with this chapter of Fallen Angel’s seemed like the right choice. I’ve always felt like I fit in with these guys. Once the old president was out, I knew this would be the place I called home. I love it here, they are my family. They stuck by me even when I made mistakes. We all make mistakes right? My mistake drug my family into a war I wasn’t sure we were ready for but the day I stepped foot into that makeshift house, I knew my world was forever changed. Jersey My family never wanted me. I was a tool to use in their little games. I was a pawn. Being traded to a rival club for drugs and money didn’t surprise me all that much. Did it hurt that my own family didn’t want me? Yeah, more than anything but that day a rough rugged biker came into my room changed that. When Ryker ripped his name patch off and placed it in my hands, I knew things were going to change. Rival clubs collide, lives are lost. Can Ryker find it in himself to stay away from Jersey? Can he help her out of her current situation and walk away? FINAL RIDE BOOK 4: As Fallen Angel’s we’ve taken hit after hit. Life has thrown us some curveballs that we didn’t see coming. We thought we were getting our life back on track until a rival wants to take it all away from us. In the battle of the clubs, we have to prevail. Lives are lost and hearts take the biggest hit in this final stage of life. We lose some of our Angel’s but gain a new found respect for each other. Lives while forever be changed while some souls can never be mended. Who will be a part of The Final Ride?

[homenum-revelio-hq]

Welcome to the Order of the Phoenix, Ashlie!

You have been accepted for the role of SIRIUS BLACK! I had so much fun reading your application! I was particularly impressed with how well you incorporated Sirius’ flaws, particularly how it relates to the Order and his relationships. I also really enjoyed such a creative occupation as magical tatoo artist! I am so excited to have you as part of this roleplay!

Please take a look at the new member checklist and send in your account within 24 hours! Thank you for joining the fight against Voldemort!

OUT OF CHARACTER:

NAME: Ashlie

AGE: 22

TIMEZONE: est

ACTIVITY LEVEL: Generally i attempt to get online every day. When   multiple posts get long (and I have a habit of turning everything into a para) it may be two days of plotting and drafting and that third day my posts get out onto the dash however I’ve been blessed with weekends off and typically you’ll see a wide influx of activity on my end during friday/saturday/sunday

ANYTHING ELSE: Triggers: flashing gifs

CHARACTER DETAILS:

NAME: Sirius Orion Black

AGE: 21

GENDER, PRONOUNS, and SEXUALITY: Male/he/him – Sirius had spent most of his adolescence too busy trying to have a good time and frustrating his mother to ever stop and think of sexual attraction. His heart is very much guarded and his head has always been on pranks and friends to the point that he was behind the majority of his peers in terms of romantic and sexual maturation. He never denied the rumors, and if you asked anyone other than the Marauders and possibly McGonagall (he still doesn’t know how that woman always manages to see through him) they would likely tell you a he-said-she-said going on for over half an hour of his endeavors. Truthfully Sirius is a virgin with no clue where his attraction lies and he isn’t sure he’s ready to find out.

BLOOD STATUS: Pureblood. Sirius struggles to recall a time his blood status was not the focal point of his identity and the harder he pushed away, the stronger it clung to him. From the day he was born he was never Sirius– but the Black family heir. The one who would inherit the family fortune, carry on the name of the most noble and ancient. As he grew older he became the rebel, the disgrace to the 28 who was only headed for trouble and needed to be set straight. His own housemates saw him as nothing more than a overly-privileged pureblooded brat who wanted to play like he was one of them for a while. He had truly thought he escaped the stereotypes of a member of the Sacred 28 when he’d been disowned, forced to be a burden on his best friend and start an entirely new life, but even still he heard it. That Black kid got what was coming to him, nothing but a spoiled brat who didn’t know how good he had it until it was gone.

HOUSE ALUMNI: Gryffindor. Sirius is not afraid of anything in this world more than what he would be if it were not for this house. For the first time in his life he understood the difference between a house and a home. He made friends, felt cared for, and was free to be himself entirely without fear of extreme retributions.

ANY CHANGES:

CHARACTER BACKGROUND:

PERSONALITY:

No matter how hard he tries to display otherwise, certain aspects of Sirius have always screamed the privilege of a pureblooded wizard, and while that wasn’t always a bad thing, in the middle of a war over rights it was hard for any of his acquaintances to see it in a positive light. The sense of entitlement was obvious to those who were raised differently than him, although may be more difficult to spot by his fellow purebloods. Sirius has only had one thing he truly wanted and wasn’t granted– the acceptance of his family. Even after all these years he is still in denial, pushing at every turn to gain their anger because it’s easier than to admit he secretly wants their affections. Now for the second time he isn’t getting his way, his time with the friends who have been more of a family to him than his blood ever had is spacing out more by the day and he is unsure of how to cope. Sirius has always been impulsive, when the stress and anxiety gets too much to bear he lashes out, acts up and can forget it isn’t always his own safety he is putting at risk. After that day at the willow- he’s refused to call it a prank since it happened- he has tried to put more thoughts into his actions but quite often even still, his racing thoughts take over.

His entitlement doesn’t make him a bad person, it just takes a lot more effort to get Sirius to allow a person to see past the barriers he has put around himself. He wants the people around him to see a blank expression, an uncaring bad-boy, because if he doesn’t care he can’t be hurt again. It takes a lot to get past those coping mechanisms, even more to earn his trust but if you get there Sirius Black is loyal to a fault. His life and well being means nothing more than to be there for the people he loves and he would lose everything to keep them safe and happy. He prefers to take care of people in a more sneaky way, as a child he would take the blame for a mistake his brother made, or cause even more of a stir to get the attention on himself. He was the one to take the detentions and say they never got caught, or lie and say he needed a night in when he knew one of his friends needed a break. It is easy to see Sirius as nothing more than another pompous asshole but for those who take the time to truly get to know him he’s a secret softy with a lot of love to give.

Sirius Black has a bark bigger than his bite and will try and scare you away until he finally gives up and snuggles up in your lap, getting fur all over your favorite sweater.

BRIEF OVERVIEW OF FAMILY:

Being one of the Most Noble and Ancient House of Black was a full time job. The Blacks were an old, wealthy family and looked up to as the pinnacle of pureblood society. As the heir to such a prominent name and fortune, every small move Sirius made was on alert. From the time he was an infant he was expected to hold and share these values with the rest of society and his affection was based entirely on what he could do for his family. When his robes were sloppy from trying to keep up with Bella he was a disgrace, punished heavily and it was extremely confusing to such a young mind. If he was supposed to be better than everyone in the room simply for being a Black, how was he also an abomination? It was stressful and anxiety inducing, but all Sirius wanted was to please his mother. After hours of talking to his father’s boring stuffy friends, he couldn’t help but run around for a few hours, or take a fly around the garden. He didn’t try to get himself into trouble- he just needed to move. He did slowly learn that his mother’s love was never truly in his reach, not for sale at all and decided to stop fooling himself. The panic, the tears, none of it was worth fighting for the kindness he would never receive.

He remembered the uncle who no one spoke of anymore, knew just how real the threats of completely being removed from the family for not fitting in were. But for some reason it just made Sirius rebell more– cling to the second family he had made for himself in a small group of Gryffindor boys.

Still, when the options was laid in front of him he had not said no immediately.  The Dark Lord needed a spy in the school and offered Sirius for what his parents considered the highest of honors. Choose this now, and his entire past would be forgiven, he would be the son his mother always wanted. The favorite child once again. Regulus might be free to live a life outside of the war, outside of the Death Eaters and it would all be because of Sirius. Or he could run away, disappear in the night and lose the only family he had ever known for the chance of getting away. He knew he would never really have fought for Voldemort, for anyone who believed the awful things his parents were constantly rattling off like a gaggle of trained clones. But he had been tempted for the briefest moment. He thinks about it still while he wonders if he could ever duel his baby brother, his cousins. He thinks about how easy it was to send Snape off to that Willow when he knew just how dangerous it would be. Should he really be a part of the Order or will he always be nothing more than another narrow-minded, privileged Black just without all the money?

OCCUPATION:

Tattoo Artist at Markus Scarrs Indelible Tattoo Parlor. Sirius working in Knockturn Alley absolutely turned a few heads, but he had always enjoyed the attention, good or bad he always had been drawn to other people talking about him. He had transfigured himself a sketch pad third year and art had become an outlet he never thought he would obtain. It was like a diary– his deepest thoughts and fears laid out in that book and when he had the opportunity to use art to pay his rent he was fairly excited for the opportunity. Besides, Sirius knows what kind of people linger around Knockturn Alley. Not often anyone high enough to know the most inner workings of Voldemort’s ranks, but if he could just hear confirmation that Reg is alive- it would be worth every hour in that shop.

ROLE WITHIN THE ORDER/THOUGHTS ABOUT THE ORDER:

After spending seven years as a close-knit gang of teenage boys, coming up with nicknames and wreaking havoc on Hogwarts’ ground and staff- Sirius had not been ready to give it up. The rush of the Marauders made him feel something besides the panic of never being good enough for the first time in his life and the Order seemed to be a bigger and better version of this, but this time with a purpose. Coming in Sirius got a kick out of the meetings, knowing how his mother would disapprove and putting his money where his mouth is to prove to every person who ever told him he would never be anything more than another privileged pureblood.

The realities of war are starting to hit in a way that made Sirius wonder if he had ever truly been as progressive as he liked to think he was. He’s slowly realizing the danger that the people he cares about are in, and just how wrong what is happening is and he’s starting to really fight for a cause rather than trying to cause as much trouble as he can while he’s young and alive. But it’s still all centered around himself and his own world. Sirius wants to fight for his friends safety. Get this war over with so he does not have to deal with any more loss.

SURVIVAL:

Sirius had always been blessed with the fact that everything he has done has come to him with ease, including his dueling skills. The issue with this is he is now fighting others with that same ability, and not all of them have the nostalgia of being his blood relative. Sirius had been doing something he has struggled with his entire life- laying low. He knew how the minds of these Death Eaters work, and the lese pure blood they had to spill the better. He needed to keep his name away from their inner circles and go from apartment to apartment, hoping for the best.

RELATIONSHIPS:

Romantic relationships are not on the top of Sirius’ mind at the moment, he is too busy clinging onto his friendships with a harsh fear of separation between them all. The less time Sirius has had with his friends, the more he’s clung to them and is at the point where he’s nervous he’ll start to push them away as well. It’s all he’s good at really, letting down the people he loves.

OOC EXPLORATION:

SHIPS/ANTI-SHIPS: sirius/chemistry - i need to feel out this version of Sirius before I confirm but I do tend to fall toward an ace Sirius

WHAT PRIVILEGES AND BIASES DOES YOUR CHARACTER HAVE?

The most obvious is the fact that Sirius is a Black. Blown off the family tree or not he grew up in a life of luxury; house elves doing all of his chores and having never gone wanting for anything materialistic. He was safe from any of the harassment or now life endangerment being faced by others and would never have had to worry if it weren’t for his involvement in the Order. Sirius grew up with a silver spoon. Growing up in a house where muggleborns being lesser than himself, he has developed a mentality that they are likely lesser than him aside from the rare exception. Of course they should be just as welcomed and treated with the same respect as purebloods but they hadn’t grown up in the way Sirius had. Muggleborns don’t understand their world the way he does.

Additionally, if anyone else had endangered two students lives the way Sirius had by sending Snape to the Willow, they would have been lucky to only be expelled. But Sirius was a Black. He was a Black with good grades and a future and who knows where he would be if he was sent out of Hogwarts and off to a new school so he got away with a slap on the wrist.

He wants to come across progressive, but there are some biases he has never even thought to question. Sirius doesn’t want to believe Remus is the spy. He’s his brother in all ways that matter and Sirius really does not want to believe Remus could sell them out because he’s a werewolf. There is no thought of werewolves are people and some are good and some are bad. Instead he’s facing thoughts of please do not let another person he considers family turn to dark because he will always love Remus but his betrayal would prove that werewolves are inherently bad.

WHAT ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO?

This roleplay drips with the aesthetic of a community that has been widely dropped off. Para centered rp has been hard to find recently in favor of gifs and face claims that fit our favorite television characters. While I love seeing a ship from other fandoms converted into the Potter universe, a place where writing and world building are the prime focus is simply tempting. So much seems to have gone into every aspect of this role play it has brought out my muse in ways that a rp hasn’t in a long time.

ANYTHING ELSE? https://amockblogashlie.tumblr.com/

[twilightnycrp-blog]

EDWARD ANTHONY MASEN CULLEN // 17 99 // VAMPIRE // UPPER EAST SIDE

I. STATISTICS

   - Name: Edward Anthony Masen Cullen.    - Date of birth: June 20, 1901.    - Date of transformation: 1918, at age 17.    - Source of transformation: Carlisle Cullen.    - Place of origin: Chicago, IL, USA.    - Hair color: Bronze.    - Eye color: Green (human); Gold/Black (vampire).    - Height: 6ft2.

II. FACTS

   - Physical description: Edward is thin and lanky but muscular. He has untidy bronze hair and boyish looks.    - Special abilities: He can read the thoughts of anyone in close proximity to him, with the exception of Isabella Cullen.    - Education/Occupation: He has two medical degrees but has never worked as a doctor. His other graduate degrees are literature, mathematics, law, mechanical engineering, several languages, art history and international business.     - Hobbies: He loves music; He plays a variety of instruments, sings and has an extensive vinyl and CD collection. He also enjoys collecting cars.

III. RELATIONSHIPS

   - Isabella ‘Bella’ Cullen: Bella is his wife and mate; He considers her his life and reason to live. Although there have been some troubles amongst the two of them, they still love each other unconditionally and know that nothing can break their love for each other.    - Renesmee Cullen: Renesmee is Edward’s biological daughter. Renesmee and Bella mean everything to Edward and he would do anything for his daughter. He’s still not too sold on the fact that she has decided to fully start a relationship with Jacob Black, but he’s learning how to deal with it (even if it often causes arguments amongst the two of them).    - Jacob ‘Jake’ Black: Edward has taken a liking toward Jacob, though he isn’t too keen on the whole dating thing with his daughter; The imprinting he can live with because he knows that Jacob purely wants what’s best for Renesmee. The both of them will never see eye to eye, but Edward is never going to be able to bury the hatch with Jacob.    - Blair Waldorf: Blair was turned by Edward after she and her husband nearly died in a car crash. He has helped Blair a lot after she became a newborn and has found the strength to not kill anyone in sight thanks to Edward. Although he realizes that Bella isn’t fond of Blair at all, he can’t seem to leave Blair all by herself.

IV. BIOGRAPHY

Edward was born to Edward and Elizabeth Mason on June 20, 1901. He was their only child. His father, a successful lawyer, provided Edward with many advantages, including music lessons and the opportunity to attend private school; However, although his father provided for Edward in material ways, he was emotionally distant and often away from home on business. This absence was made up for by Edward’s close relationship with his mother; He was the center of her life. —Edward excelled at his studies and became an accomplished pianist. As he grew older, Edward became enamored of the life of a soldier. World War I raged during most of his adolescence and Edward dreamed of the day he could join the battle. His mother’s greatest fear was that she would lose Edward in the war. Every night, she prayed that it would end before her only son turned eighteen and was old enough to enlist. Nine months before his eighteenth birthday, the Spanish influenza hit Chicago, infecting all of Edward’s family. Gravely ill, they were treated in the hospital where doctor Carlisle Cullen worked. Edward’s father quickly succumbed to the disease. On her deathbed and fearing for her son’s life, Elizabeth Masen begged doctor Cullen to do what was necessary to save her son. Somehow, she seemed to know doctor Cullen had the supernatural means to save Edward. —Moved by Elizabeth Masen’s plea and having already thoroughly considered the idea of creating a companion, Carlisle took Edward from the hospital late that night, carrying the unconscious boy to his home. There, Edward became the first human Carlisle changed into a vampire. Edward formed a deep bond with Carlisle, who became a father to him, gaining Edward’s trust and love the way his natural father never had. It was Carlisle who first realized that Edward possessed mind-reading abilities; He noticed Edward answering questions that Carlisle had not asked aloud. Edward had always had a knack for reading people; After his transformation, this ability blossomed into a true psychic talent.

Edward’s new family gained a member when Carlisle transformed Esme to save her life after her suicide attempt. Edward was still young enough to appreciate a mother’s care and Esme gave it to him. But as much as he respected Carlisle’s ideals and valued Esme’s gentleness and tenderness, he couldn’t help but question what it meant to be a vampire. —After almost a decade of living with Carlisle, Edward decided to leave his new parents and experience an alternate style of vampire life. He began drinking human blood instead of animal blood. Rather than becoming a true villain in his own estimation, he became a vigilante. Edward used his mind-reading abilities to target serious criminals as his victims—murderers, rapists, abusers, pedophiles and the likes. For his first victim, he tracked down Charles Evenson, Esme’s abusive ex-husband. In the end, though he couldn’t accept taking so many human lives, no matter the justification and in 1931 he returned home to Carlisle and Esme and their way of life. Edward knew from hearing their thoughts that Carlisle and Esme were sometimes concerned that he had no romantic love in his life. When Carlisle transformed Rosalie Hale and brought her into the family in 1933, Edward knew that Carlisle and Esme hoped that she and Edward became a couple. But as stunningly beautiful as Rosalie was physically, Edward was not attracted to her somewhat shallow and self-absorbed mind. The feeling was mutual. Edward and Rosalie always treated each other like brother and sister and were not always on the best of terms. When the Cullen family lived in Alaska, Edward had another opportunity to find romance, this time with Tanya, the leader of the Denali coven. Though Tanya was interested in Edward, he did not return that interest.

It wasn’t until the Cullen family returned to Forks in 2003 that anyone had captured Edward’s attention. There, Edward met a human girl named Bella Swan. Bella was clearly different from every other person he’d ever met in two impossible-to-overlook ways; First, her blood “sang” to him the way no other human’s had; Second, her mind was the first he’d encountered that was entirely closed to his mind-reading abilities.

V. PRESENT

After nearly being noticed by the population of Forks that the Cullens weren’t aging, Edward and his family moved to the city of New York, where they were determined to start up a new life, without having any real estate at the time. Now, they all live in the same building, but they all have their separate apartments. —Edward is still the do-gooder he has always been ever since he met Bella and had Renesmee and therefor, when he heard a car crash outside, it would seem fair that he too would save someone’s life. He had met Blair and Chuck on their various showings at the MET parties (to which the Cullens were invited as the city’s newest elite family) and thought of them as two respectable people with their very own unique personality and traits. He found them curious as a couple and started to spend more and more time with them, to Bella’s disliking. Though, he couldn’t help himself but find them intriguing and has even considered diving into real estate with Chuck, hoping that Bella would join Blair in her fashion venture. Though, things didn’t seem right, there were still people whom believed that Chuck had murdered his father (which, in essence, was true) and had the couple’s car crashed. Naturally, Edward had taken notice of it as the car had crashed outside of their building. Despite the blood, both he and Carlisle saved the couple from their impending death and although both Chuck and Blair barely survived the transformation, they were thankful to both Edward and Carlisle. About two years later, the newborn couple has moved from their safekeeping in Carlisle’s apartment with the help of Jasper and Edward to control themselves and they are regularly spotted with Edward and surprisingly, Bella at his side. —Though, Edward knows that their secrecy of being vampires won’t last too long in New York, as the city tells and spots you everywhere you go.

FORTUNATELY FOR YOU, THE ROLE OF EDWARD CULLEN IS OPEN.

[ecoamerica]

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