#or losing one’s powers or struggling to connect with the daughter of the guy one is possessing or whatever

[castielmacleod]

I know Mia Vallens is specifically a grief counsellor in canon but I really like the idea of expanding her role to be like. She’s a therapist specifically FOR supernatural beings. Her practise is dedicated to providing mental health services to “monsters” in an environment where they can speak freely and safely about their issues to someone who understands—either to Mia, herself a shifter, or I like to imagine she’d have a small team made up of a few other beings as well. Step into her waiting room on a given day and you can find demons, vampires, werewolves, even angels, etc. Any unaware humans who try to book with her are referred out and any hunters are flat-out turned away but if you’re any kind of nonhuman entity then paranormal psychologist Mia Vallens is here to help.

[andreal831]

This fandom needs to back off of Matt Donovan and Zach Roerig

Starting with the ridiculous: Zach Roerig and Julie Plec never dated. It's ridiculous that I have to say this. There is a blurry picture of him leaning in to Julie Plec at some point. I even tried to do the work for you all and could not find one shred of evidence of an actual kiss. Y'all are just wild for this rumor. If anything, my search revealed that Ian and Zach were in a relationship. I mean look at that affection.

Also, with just a tiny bit of research, we can find out that Zach was in a relationship when he started the show and, due to issues at home, he ends up fighting for full custody of his two year old daughter while on the show. The only romantic connection there is any reports on is with Candice King and that was relatively short lived. Otherwise Zach was just a single father, trying to raise and support his daughter.

Now people will try to say Zach is racist as well. I've heard he was racist because of dating Plec. See earlier paragraph. Or that he made racist comments to Kat. Again, there is zero evidence of this. People keep pointing to this interview saying that he either does the Nazi salute or a black power fist and it is such a reach it's ridiculous. He is looking at Kat because the question asked related to Bonnie and Matt and he reaches forward as a hand gesture and then raises his fist in a fairly generic way.

I can't tell if people get Matt Davis and Zach confused because he plays Matt or if people just love to hate on Zach because he plays Matt. Either way, it is disgusting to spread rumors about someone being racist when there is no evidence as far as I can tell. It's also terrible to distract from the actual racism that Kat had to deal with on the show.

From every interview I've seen he seems like such a sweet person. He even said working on the show was a "healing process" and yet the fandom treats him like this. Zach goes to the panels and none of his coworkers seem uncomfortable and avoid him. Not that them liking someone means that person is good, most of them still interact with Matt Davis and yet unfollowed Michael Malarkey.

Now onto Matt Donovan.

First of all, the fact that y'all pretend this man isn't attractive tells me all I need to know. Objectively, Zach Roerig is attractive. You can not like his character but you all just sound goofy.

The biggest complaint with Matt is that he is "useless," but this to me just shows you are watching the show for either the romance or attractive people and not for storytelling.

The role of the "human" in fantasy is so important. We, as an audience, are humans and we need to have a threshold character. A character that reminds of that even though we are rooting for the supernatural creatures, they are still not the good guys. It's why supernatural stories often revolve around humans. It gives the show the humanity that it would be in danger of losing if it just focused on the predatory species. Matt reminds us of the humanity that is at stake in the show.

Matt is particularly important in this show because he not only the sole human in a pack of supernatural creatures, but he is the only one without financial privilege in TVD. Matt not only comes from a family that is struggling financially, but his parents are gone and his sister is struggling with addiction. Matt is working it appears full time while in high school full time. All of his friends are going to parties and given cars and clothes, planning for college; while Matt is having to figure out how to afford his mom's mortgage/rent. Season 1 opens up focusing on how much Elena is struggling with the death of her parents but dismissed Matt's struggles as some lovesick teenager. When in reality Elena at least had a support system. Sure Jeremy was spiraling like Vicki, but Elena and Jeremy had Jenna. Matt was struggling with the purposeful abandonment of his parents and his sister's drug addiction with zero support system. He even loses his childhood friends when Elena and he break up. He only really has Tyler, who, let's be honest is not the best friend in Season 1.

He is also the first person in the show to lose someone due to the supernatural. His sister ends up attacked and in the hospital and he then has to figure out how to pay for that while taking care of Vicki who is clearly struggling even more than normal. When Vicki does end up dead, he knows there is more too it and the entire town, including his friends, gaslight him. Matt has every right to hate vampires. They murdered his sister in cold blood.

Matt is so devastated by Vicki's death that is haunts him throughout the show. He even risks his life just to talk to her ghost for a few moments.

People say Matt hates the supernatural, and he did, but he had reasons. And despite that, he was always there for his friends. Even when he was terrified, and in much more of a risk than his vampire friends, he was always there for them.

Yes, Matt is the one driving the truck when Elena dies and Stefan saves Matt over Elena, but none of that is Matt's fault. He was attempting to save his friend's life with Jeremey's help. How is that any different than Elena having Stefan compel Jeremy to leave town? Let's also not forget who helps Elena feed in her early days. But the fandom never wants to give him credit for that.

Matt is constantly used, berated, manipulated, and compelled by the supernatural around him. Mystic Falls needed someone like Matt to stand up for them since they were unaware of the supernatural world. Even the "good vampires" killed humans. Matt was trying to protect his town.

The last complaint ties it all in, that Matt only survived so long on the show because he was dating Julie Plec. Again, that's a lie. He never dated Julie, and it especially had nothing to do with the show writing. I would also like to point out that the character Matt is based on, Matt Honeycutt, in the book never dies. So why are we surprised he doesn't die in the show? Matt had a lot of close calls and even had a Gilbert ring for protection. No one ever asks why Steven McQeen (Jeremy) doesn't die or assumes it's because he was "sleeping his way to the top." These assumptions are immature and baseless.

All Matt wants to do is live a normal life, something he had to fight much harder than the rest of them for. He is the most consistent friend out of all of them. People love to say "how did Matt get so many girls?" Because he's nice. Because he respected them and fought for them, even if they didn't deserve it. They would all have been better off ending up with Matt.

Honestly, Matt and Cami's purpose are similar to me and both of the actors deserve such a huge apology from this fandom. Some of y'all need to learn to separate a show from reality.

[iaminfourthwing]

The Generals Daughter

Chapter VII

It’s been a few weeks since my threat against Jack in Professor Kaori’s class. Violet is still poisoning her opponents, week for week and wins every challenge. Not the best way but she wins, and she lives, I can work with that.

Every challenge since then I won too, without getting them unconscious, on behalf of my dearest Squad Leader, Dain. I am good but I shouldn’t overdo it, those were his words. And while every other cadet can beat the shit out of their opponents and can fight properly, I am not allowed. I gave him a piece of my mind for that, because it’s truly bullshit. I think he is just afraid I would accidentally kill them. Alone for the last month there were twenty more names of first years on the death roll, mostly thanks to challenges.

I fought against a smaller girl from Second Wing. She practically reeked of fear when she stepped on the matt, but she was the one challenging me. I did what I had to do.

The next one was a tall, stocky guy from First Wing. Trevor Laine, one of Barlowes little lapdogs. He challenged me as well and the match lasted longer than I wished for. He got a few good hits, but it was my final move that got him down.

*Flashback four weeks prior*

“Trevor Laine and…” there is a short break, “Arya Melgren”. Emetterio looks a bit unsure in his notebook.

We take our place on the matt and look at each other. He is tall, around 6’0’’ and has a good number of muscles but apparently … he has a loudmouth too.

“Bow before your champion!” he shouts and cheers mostly from First Wing echoes through the gym but Third and Fourth Wing don’t entertain him.

“I’d rather jump from the Parapet than bow to you” I snort while waiting for him to get ready so we can finally start.

“It will be a pleasure to beat the shit out of you and have you struggling under me.” A disgusted shiver runs down my body when his gaze and eyes practically undress me.

“That’s disgusting” I hear someone say from behind, but I don’t have time to react because Trevor moves forward, ready for the first attack.

I move out of the way and land a hard punch against his kidneys, making him double over but he regains his composure fast. He unsheathes a dagger, way too small for his figure, and charges at me again, holding it up in a striking position. I can block the attack, but his blade catches my arm. Ignoring the sting I jab him against his wrist, making him loose the dagger, and land a punch under the junction of arm and collarbone, paralyzing his arm temporally.

Confusion is written on his face when he can’t move his arm properly. The confusion is quickly replaced with rage. “You bitch!” Unsheathing another blade, he charges again with me dodging the attack for a second time, knocking the blade out of his hand again but he can land a hard punch at my face. The sting hurts like hell because of the power behind his punch but the next move is mine.

My fist connects with his cheek in a hard strike and I use his disorientation to go for another one. Lifting my right leg, I kick into his knee and with a painfilled shout he goes down on one knee, his other one definitely damaged. Ignoring the cheering of my squad in the back, I take a step back, asking him if he taps out but all I get is a frustrated growl and a shake of his head. Shrugging my shoulders, I hit him in the face again with a well-placed roundhouse kick. He falls down on the matt completely, on the verge of losing consciousness.

“Do you yield?” I ask again, my squad cheering louder behind me.

He barely nods and taps the matt three times. Bending down, I take the smaller knife to place it into the empty space at my right thigh. The victory is mine.

*Flashback ends*

I won the next two challenges after this without any problems.

Violet is currently standing on the matt, nervous because we both saw her opponent, Rayma Corrie from Third Wing, brought to the healers, unsteady on her legs. She poisoned her to early. Emetterio confirms, that Rayma is in no position to challenge today.

“That’s too bad,” Violet says. “Should I just- “she starts but is interrupted by a deep, dark voice. “I am happy to step in.”

Xaden. My eyes widen and Ridoc gasps loudly next to me. Our wingleader finds his place in front of Violet, who looks like she is about to throw up. This is bad, really bad.

“How much do we bet, that Dain is trying to prevent that?” I whisper to Ridoc. He just snorts but gives me a knowing look. Dain is way too smitten and whipped for her but it’s not like Xaden will or can kill her.

“A little out of her league, don’t you think?” Dain argues from the sideline.

Ridocs loud laugh echoes through the gym but he quickly slaps a hand over his mouth when he earns the attention from the others. I grin.

“Relax, Ateos. She’ll be in one piece when I’m done teaching her” Xaden muses.

“That sounds so wrong” I whisper in amusement and hear a chuckle behind me. Turning my head, I catch the eyes of Liam and … Bodhi. Before I can blush, my name is called through the gym.

“Cadet Melgren!” That voice.

I whip my head back around to see my father’s right hand at the entrance. No, fuck! He is already back?! He wasn’t supposed to be back here, not before Threshing!

I tense violently, eyes wide open and jaw dropped and I barely notice Ridoc and Sawyer step next to me, tensing too. The older man nods once and that is my sign. ‘Follow me’ it says. “Fuck” I mutter under my breath but move forward.

I call out to my friends. “We see us at dinner.” Hopefully. My dark-skinned friend looks way too serious, I’ve never seen him like this before and I hate it.

Moving around I catch Violets worried eyes, ignoring the curious onyx eyes of our wingleader.

“Kick his ass, silver one” but said girls answering grimace says it all. She’ll lose and I am not here to help her up afterwards. I can only hope for Rhiannon and our two idiots to stay with her.

Passing Professor Emetterio, he murmurs a small “Stay strong” and then I am out of the gym, following the man to my father’s office. Leaving my friends and a hundred curious glances behind me. And worried ones.

[antispopausandstuff]

my SPOP universe pt. 1 - character bios ( very long, i'm sorry )

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disclaimer // note - it'll be SPOP-focused, but i do take a 'few' things from the original show and implement them here.

preferred style(s) - ATLA // LOK, ROTTMNT, LMK ( s1-s4 ), Spiderverse, or Kill la Kill

( part of the reason for these styles is the VFX, battle coordination, and creature // environmental design, esp with vibrant media like Spiderverse, ROTTMNT, and LMK )

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theme song - something akin to "The Call" by League of Legends or "The World That Ends in Three Days" by Koji Kondo, ROZEN, & Celica Soldream.

rating - PG-15 ( i'm not a writer for young children and don't handle things in a very kid-friendly way )

note - here's some gender // sexuality hcs of the characters, though it isn't all of them.

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established changes:

the runestones don't exist

the cast is 18+ unless stated otherwise

roles will be changed for plot relevance or sense ( for ex, neither perfuma, entrapta, scorpia, spinerella, or netossa are royals )

the first ones are not evil

mara and adora are the only she-ras

most ships will remain noncanon

there's no white people here, sorry

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cast ( pt. 1 ) . . .

Adora - Long Lost Princess of Eternia, Force Captain ( former ), Daughter of Hordak and Shadow Weaver, and She-Ra. 20 yrs old, 5'0, was abducted as an infant, from her home planet, and taught to be a solider for the Horde. raised by Shadow Weaver and Hordak ( it's separate care, not romantically coded ). unofficial caretaker of Catra.

she was raised to be very serious and no-nonsense like, always remaining calm and strategic in drastic situations to prevent the worst case scenario. due to this built-in stoicism, along with other factors, Adora struggles with interpersonal relationships and knowing her own sense of self, including what she is or isn't comfortable with ( such as unnecessary conflict ).

before She-Ra is even a possibility, the weight of the world was already bestowed upon her shoulders, and she sets on carrying out her duty to protect the world from those who wish to harm it.

beneath it all, however, Adora is a young woman who desires connection and peace. she secretly hopes for that to be her reward.

design would be inspired by Cal, Zav 1, Zav 2, Zav 3, and Fern ( blue guy ) by animatorroseoak, Midas by sleeepybacon, and with these details by me! outfit color palette would go from black and red to white, gold, and blue. just to clarify, though she is mythical, she'd still be afro-latino coded.

theme song - Song of Healing by The Marcus Hedges Trend Orchestra

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Glimmer - Princess of Brightmoon, Daughter of Queen Angella and King Micah, and Leader of the Rebellion. 19 yrs old, 5'6, was raised by her widowed mother ever since she was an infant. due to her lineage, she is a demigod and will likely live longer than the average Etherian.

ever since she was born, Glimmer's powers were too great for her body to handle, causing her to lose control very quickly, especially when her emotions were heightened. Angella brought her to Castaspella, her aunt and the greatest sorceress on Etheria, to teach her control and balance.

Glimmer has always been a bright mind with an even brighter personality, striving for excellence and success, and has never let her misfortunes, whether it be her powers going haywire or a plan not going through, weigh on her. at least, that's what she shows to her people and mother.

but, on the inside, she is actually very insecure over her lack of understanding of her own powers, what her mother thinks of her, and how she can handle being future Queen. afraid of change and what fate could hold for her, Glimmer is avoidant of talking about her upcoming role to Brightmoon, seeing Castaspella again ( they haven't talked in years ), or taking a break from her leadership in the Rebellion.

design would be inspired by Ube by kleahvii, Mika by kienan_lafferty, Marlowe & Buwa by sleeepybacon. high focus on the astral theming, with minor details of the angelic theme. i imagine her with either pinkish blonde hair or black hair with pink and blue ombre streaks. her species would be a hybrid of elf ( Micah ) and chimera ( Angella ).

theme song - Termina Field by Koji Kondo & ROZEN

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Bow - Guardian of Whispering Woods, Friend of Madame Razz, Best Friend of Princess Glimmer's, Son of George and Lance, and Co-Leader of the Rebellion. 20 yrs, 6'0, is a runaway from home after a particularly bad argument ensued between himself and his family. he is a pacifist and uses his archery to assist, not to cause harm ( or, at least, irreversible harm ).

his reasons for running away aren't exactly known, even to Glimmer herself, and he always gives half-truths or not-necessarily-lies to anyone who asks about his family and history. but he is very open about his beliefs, his current living situation ( currently resides in the Whispering Woods ), and how he feels.

as the Rebellion's mechanic and stealth strategist, Bow uses his technological intelligence and creativity to aid his allies. he's proven time and time again to be reliable, intuitive, and thinking of just about everything. whether or not that's a good thing.

in contrast to his secrecy, Bow is open-minded, well-meaning, and has a very strong belief in kindness. after living in the Whispering Woods on his own for a few years, and experiencing hardships unbeknownst to anyone else, he aims to be the example for others that people weren't for him.

design would be inspired by Jequ and Agnes by dewfroq, and Earth-42 Miles Morales in Across The Spiderverse. i think i want to make him a cyborg-type of character.

theme song - Goron Lullaby by The Marcus Hedges Trend Orchestra

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Angella - Queen of Brightmoon, Mother of Princess Glimmer, Widowed Wife of King Micah, and Angel of Etheria. 47(?) yrs old, 7'5, her exact origins are unknown, even to her daughter. some speculate that she was born from a star or moon, others guess she is from a different dimension entirely. the only one who even had an idea was the late King Micah.

benevolent, calm, and wise, Angella has been Queen for longer than she has been anything else. in some ways, she considers that a blessing. in others, she considers it a curse. accepting her fate decades ago, the pain has dulled enough to be barely noticeable.

though most don't know it, she has lived way longer than almost any of the Etherians, having experienced more than the Horde's genocide and eventual war. maybe even the universe beyond Despondos.

her abilities align, though not rely on, with the moons and stars, especially with specific constellations. but, as Despondos has a lack of those constellations ( and there are much less stars in the sky ), Angella has not reached her full power in decades.

it's only to Glimmer that she shows her true self, the self that is curious, easily endeared, and overall heartful and passionate, which is a stark contrast to the all-knowing, mysterious, powerful being that is the Queen of Brightmoon. because of this, her daughter has a hard time explaining to others that her mother isn't as stonewalled as she appears.

design would be inspired by Lucifer by fourleafisland, Sera by idolomantises, and Lifegiver and Sold Adopt Design by sleeepybacon. she is a flight-based chimera that has a lot of astral and angel theming, with her facial features obscured by a secondary, smaller set of wings.

theme song - Song of Time by The St. Louis Ocarina Trio

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Hordak - Emperor of the Fright Zone, Father of Adora, The 'Big Boss'. 55 ( appearance wise ), 6'7, his origins are about as unknown as Angella's. it's unknown if he even likes or dislikes to discuss it, as no one has dared to ask him about his life before the Horde.

having brought Etheria to its knees decades ago, Hordak is easily bored or disinterested in his surroundings, often indulging himself in sadism for entertainment. however, he does have a soft spot for his children, Imp and Adora, and finds enjoyment in their company.

when She-Ra comes around, he isn't all that irritated. in the beginning, at least. in fact, he's rather riveted by the new challenge. discovering her identity, however, made all the difference. now, he constantly has to pick between being a father and being an Emperor.

design would be inspired by Fei by cronchy_baguette, Jacks by par0llel, Unnamed OC by crazycomet107, and Miguel O'Hara Illustration by sairasays. his design would definitely be a mix of cyborg and beast, lots of predator and prey metaphors.

theme song - Elegy of Emptiness by The Marcus Hedges Trend Orchestra

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Shadow Weaver - Sorceress of the Fright Zone, Second In Command, Mother of Adora and Catra. 50(?), 5'11, was raised in the Crimson Waste, but ran away and became a student in Mystacor at a young age. after obtaining the dark arts, however, she was banished and considered a freak of nature. soon after, she was found by Hordak.

the 'freak of nature' title didn't leave, however. rather, Shadow Weaver had to embrace it in order to become immune, using her dark magic to protect and provide for herself and whatever or whoever she needs to succeed or gain power.

she keeps most, if not all of her relationships at arms length, paranoia and trust issues running deep. though this doesn't exclude her daughters, Adora and Catra, it's less so with them. even if it's for separate reasons.

after Adora turned on the Horde, this instilled Shadow Weaver's already unstable mindset and kicked it into overdrive. obsessive, aggressive, and erratic in behavior, she eventually becomes a danger to herself and others.

design would be inspired by Peter Pan & Captain Hook Illustrations by sairasays, The Heads and The Witch by kelpible, and Arek ( 3rd form ) by sleeepybacon. her design would be parallel to her life as Light Spinner.

theme song - Midna's Theme by Monsalve

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Catra - Cadet of the Horde ( former ), Force Captain, Daughter of Shadow Weaver. 19 yrs, 5'7, was abducted as a toddler and taught to be a solider, though succession rates are varying. she was originally born in a Kingdom, but her memories are limited and she's rather uninterested ( or unmotivated, it's not clear ) in finding out where she's from.

as she was raised by Shadow Weaver, Catra became an odd mix of codependent, lazy, defiant and aggressive, borderline sadistic, obsessive, and jealous, driving away most people, which only solidified her unhealthy relationships.

once Adora left the Horde, she was no better than her mother, in terms of mental decline, and it was part of the reason why she became Force Captain. unofficially speaking.

design would be inspired by Eralisto by animatorroseoak, Bacon 1 and Bacon 2 by sleeepybacon, Cairo by cronchy_baguette, and Elliot by spam0_llel. i like to think her design becoming more and more feral // unhinged as she develops.

theme song - Majora's Mask by Koji Kondo & ROZEN

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Scorpia ( Lynda ) - Force Captain, Ex-Warrior of the Crimson Waste, Sister of Octavia, Harbinger of Poison. 21 yrs, 6'3, a fighter with a tough exterior, but a gentle soul. once she gets to know you, anyway. in her time in the Horde, she has formed a bond with Octavia and knew of Catra and Adora, but hadn't met them personally until Catra becam Force Captain.

after running away from the Crimson Waste after killing the leader, Scorpia was recruited by Hordak for her strength and poison // paralytic touch. though, it wasn't exactly like she had a choice.

when meeting Catra, the two were at arms-length for a while, with Scorpia being a little off-put by the other's intensity in bringing Adora back. but, somehow, they eventually become friends. as much as they could be, anyway, considering the circumstances.

design would be inspired by Gora ( tall, dark-haired goliath ) by pen.lilixeesketche and Tora and Gabu by par0llel. i read up the original character's details and decided to have kind of a 'mish-mash' of the original and reboot ( not quite, though ).

theme song - Bolero of Fire by Giulio Capone

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Entrapta ( Es'Tra ) - The Fae of Entanglement, Lady of Dryll, Heart of Technology. Late 40s ( forgot specific age ), 4'10, works for the Horde as their technician, isolated and muted, but finds comfort in the Emperor's company. when he has time for that.

no one really knows why or how she got there, but it's evident that she's chronically exhausted and has a habit of becoming hostile with those who don't respect her space ( it's how she met Catra one on one ). when she's in a better mood, however, she's more likely to talk, but not guaranteed, and shows to always have more knowledge than anyone would expect.

in the rare instances she's completely happy, Entrapta is very friendly, engaging, and there's an increased percentage she'll share technology // technological-know-how with you.

design would be inspired by Bitten Lady and Faubron by animatorroseoak, Eris by boots.oc, and Remi by par0llel. lots of plant cycle symbolism in her environments and hair.

theme song - Song of Storms by ROZEN

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Double Trouble ( Rebekk ) - Diamond of Mischief, Multi-Mask, Fae of Deceit. Early 20s ( exact age is unknown ), 5'11, a busybody that absolutely hates the Horde, which helps them not give a damn about anything more than bare minimum privacy, and who also happens to be Glimmer's cousin, adopted by Castaspella.

when they're not busying spying on the Horde, Double Trouble spends time working on their own plays and shows or trying to play around with their peers, being a generally needy person that craves attention and validation. it's not hard to make them happy, though. usually, a simple compliment makes their entire day.

none of their family knows of their work, though. and they'd like to keep it that way.

design would be inspired by Rue by lizard_b.rain, Thraniavas by spidertams, Cantaluse by animatorroseoaks, and Original Character Animation by kelapabiru. a random design tidbit that doesn't really matter, i like to think their hair is dyed blonde, but they have brown // black roots.

theme song - Minuet of Forest by Giulio Capone

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not all of the character biographies, not even close, but i'm currently working on pt. 2 as we speak, so that'll be out soon! probably will have a pt. 3 and pt. 4, though, there's a lot to go through.

thank you for reading! this and pt. 2 took forever.

[goatpaste]

can we see your sbr Giorno's friends?

yknow i was gonna just draw Gio with maybe one or two of the ideas for lil buddies she'd have and talk about them a bit

but per usual I went over the top and drew her a whole main group of friends so here you hope this is what you wanted

a solid lil group of five that vary in how much iv fleshed them out,, i just have for sure i wanted a lil Lisa Lisa type lady to be in Gios group, and settled on all of them being named after Renaissance paintings and painters.

I dont have much thought out in the ways of them meeting one another or any goals for them, or stand abilities or much of that. But know that these guys are FRIENDS and can fit SO many issues in them <33

I do think giving it a more p4 storyline kinda vibe thats more center to one small area problem and being on the more slice of life style of story telling could be fun...

Mona, the oldest of this lil rag tag group, meant to be a lot like a Lisa Lisa type for the group ^^

im thinking shes the only non stand user of their group but mm debating it truly. I imagine a more focus on her character as one of the last of the guards to be full tried in spin for this use. if she had a stand to any degree it be like gyro where its hardly a thing.

I also do like the idea of her having history or forming a connection with Jorge with him being a reoccurring character through Giorno as the two grew up kinda distant but fairly close none the less form of cousins to one another.

Taking, obviously a bit of inspo from the Pucci's on this one. Floridian man struggles with microaggressions on multiple different fronts, loses faith in god and struggles to figure out how to see the good in life.

I dont know much of what i wanna do with his stand but Daisy did suggest an invisibility facet to them,,, potentially thinking to take some inspo from portal on this one specifically with the slime they introduce with being able to build up speed or make bouncy floors and stuff, something along those lines but a lil more built up,,,

very silly wild girl kinda character, a real richy rich philanthropist type. All talk, wouldnt know how to handle herself if things went wrong for her for even a second.

i have NO idea what to do with her stand ability I just really like the idea of it being made out of fashion magazine clippings (again ty Daisy for such a baller suggestions)

Of course theres our protag main girl, Giorno. Daughter of Diego and Hot Pants. Named after Diegos mother's maiden name. Very much meant to be like a mixture of P5 Giorno and Trish. Giorno whos a lil louder and meaner and has a bit of a more broken moral compass most of the time but is just more or less broken as a person who cant seem to be able to snuff out that last little golden light in her heart that tells her to do good.

Her stand Born to be, which is the name I think I'm 100% settling on for it... im still not 100% sold on what I exactly want its power to be, but I am thinking it would be like a "healer" type stand of the group and having a "mending" like ability with being able to patch anything together or treat any material like fabric and sew it to other materials like a brick wall to clothing fabric. or sewing parts of concrete together to make a wall... just throwing some ideas at the wall, seein what sticks.

And! last and youngest member of the group, Venus. A bit of a loner who has suddenly found herself glued to Gios click and cant seem to figure out why shes so terribly fascinated with being around them. Yes Mona is teaching her spin and Gio is like a russian doll with layers she wants to unwrap, but she doesn't need to hover around them everyday for that... So she's kinda wonder what the deal with that is? is it? a sense of found family??? or?? something? gross..

As for her stand i again dont have anything set in stone beyond it being able to do stuff with technology, maybe like an old school paisy park kinda beast. maybe something to do with noises,,,

I do like the idea of Venus learning spin from Mona and Venus using it like a dog toy for Atomic dog and playing fetch with it as a way to incorporate her stand ability with her spin ability.

[loafsbakery]

find me | a.s.

A/N: Hi Guys! this is my first anakin fic. It’s been a while since I’ve written a fic, but I hope you guys like it. I’m using dialogue from ROTJ, all characters and everything belong to Lucasfilm!

Synopsis: he couldn’t go back in time, but no matter what, he was going to find you.

Warnings: N/A

Genre: Angst, Fluff, modern!AU

Pairings: anankin x f!reader, modern!anakin x f!reader, anakin x jedi!reader

Main Masterlist

The years Anankin spent as his alias Darth Vader are a bit of a blur. He did the same thing all the time, he terrorized countless planets and destroyed anything and everything that came upon his path. Time was fleeting, and the world was a dark place before you. 

And after you. 

After losing you and your children, there was little that Anakin clung to. Maybe deep down, he knew all along your children were alive and that is what kept him where he was. Maybe it was Palpatine’s control over him. Or maybe it was the desire to avenge himself, and you. 

Obi-wan’s death by his hand did not bring Anakin back, it did not affect him as it should have. But to say it did not hurt would be an understatement. Anakin thought he had lost everything when he lost you. Losing Obi-wan, someone so vital to the relationship he had with you, it truly felt like you now only lived in his memory and he hated how disappointed Obi-wan was in him. 

But only upon seeing his son struggling against his dark Master did Anakin return. To do right by you and Obi-wan. To actually save the people he cares about. And Anakin loved Luke. He and his sister were all he had left of you, how could he just let him suffer the way he had suffered.

And after throwing Darth Sidious he breathed heavily, finding it harder to do so with each passing moment. Luke placed his father down in the hopes to help him. “Luke,” he breathes. “Help me take... this mask off.”

His son looks at him with great concern. “But you’ll die.”

Anakin knew this would be the result of his actions. “Nothing can stop that now.” He nods. “Just for once... let me... look on you with my own eyes.” And it had been years since Anakin had seen someone that meant so much to him. 

Luke helps his father remove the mask, carefully, and delicately with the most worried gaze. Anakin smiled, for the first time in a while. He smiled seeing how much Luke took after the both of you. How kind and brave and honorable your son turned out to be. He could only imagine your daughter was just as strong as Luke.

“Now... go, my son.” He stuttered. “Leave me.” Anakin wheezed.

“No.” Luke shakes his head. “I’m not leaving you here, I’ve got to save you.”

Anakin smiled again at his caring and wonderful son. “You already have, Luke. You were right. You were right about me.” He takes in a breath. “Tell your sister, you were right.” he whispers the last part and his eyes close finally achieving the rest he so wanted. To find you in the force.

However, Anankin had not come to be a Force ghost as he thought. Just as his years as Vader were a blur, his new life was too. He was in another life, but everything about him was the same. He didn’t know when he remembered everything, but once he pieced together all the things from his old life he was 22 and in college in New York. All he knew know was that he had to find you, but where could he even begin to look. 

Anakin is nothing but stubborn when he sets his heart on something and he is thorough. He has mapped out all the boroughs and streets he has walked on. he can’t connect through the Force in this new life, but there is a power there all the same. Something beyond the Force that ties you to him and that in itself allows him to keep hoping he’ll see you. 

He walks in to his lecture hall, he had to switch to an international relations course in order to complete one his graduation requirements. When his past life came back to him, Anakin quickly switched his academic course from finance to become a pilot, as he felt a strong connection to it already. 

The professor walks in and sets his things down before looking up at the class. “Hello there.” Anakin’s head shoots up to meet the eyes of his former master Obi-wan Kenobi. His hands begin to sweat and the lump in his throat is evident. 

Obi-wan, now deemed Ben Kenobi in this universe meets Anakin’s gaze and freezes. He experiences a similar wave of flashes that Anakin had a few years ago. 

“I- uh.” He coughs to clear his throat. “Let’s pick up with yesterday’s lesson.” 

The class goes by impossibly slow for Anakin, he’s dying to know if Obi-wan remembers the same things he does. He waits for the class to leave, but even as the last person shuffles out he stays in his seat.

Obi-wan is at a complete loss for words. He didn’t know what to say, but he said his name to start with. A name he hasn’t called him since their last duel in the desert. His eyes gloss over, hope hanging by a thread. “Anakin,” he whispers.

Anakin smiles, voice shaky. “Master Obi-wan.” The two break through their emotional chains and embrace in a hug. A long overdue one. Obi-wan loved Anakin the way a father should, and Anakin loved him right back. 

After the reunion they go out to grab a drink and discuss their new lives together. “You’re married?” Anakin asks, surprised especially with how much Obi-wan fought to abide by the way of the Jedi. 

“Yes, Anakin.” He smiles spinning his cup. “She’s uh- well who I know remember as Satine, but her name now is Sam.” 

“I’m happy for you Obi-wan. Truly. I’m very happy to have found you. Have you seen y/n? I’ve been trying to look for her over the past two years.” He hopes his master will have an answer but Obi-wan just shakes his head.

“I’m sorry Anakin. I wish I could say I have.” Obi-wan thinks pensively while trying to remember everyone. Suddenly, Obi-wan smiles softly towards Anakin. “Ahsoka is close by.” Anakin perks up, nervous as his last meeting with his former padawan had not been all that pleasant. “She goes by Ash now, but she is a freshman, her class is right after yours.” After exchanging information with Obi-wan, he rushes to his last lecture hall and waits for them to finish before seeing Ahsoka. 

Anakin thinks that meeting everyone could only lead to meeting you. He hoped. Eventually, the class finishes and Anakin waits rather impatiently, but Ahsoka has not changed. She walks up to the teacher a banters with him in a similar manner to the way she would with Anakin. It brought a smile to his face. 

When she finally made her way out, she did not notice Anakin off to the side. Anakin called out to her to get her attention. “Ahsoka.” It was a slip up on his part. He fell to habit and wondered if the name would mean anything to her.

He thinks it does when her back straightens and she freezes on the spot. She waits there, taking her time the same way Obi-wan did. She doesn’t turn around but she speaks. “Anakin?”

“I’ve missed you Snips.” She turns to her former Master with tears in her eyes, charging at him with speed he has not seen before. It almost makes him tumble over but he holds steady for the both of them “I’ve gotcha Snips.” 

She cries in her Master’s embrace, overcome with joy and grief all at the same time. “I- but you- you were him. I barely made it out. You- you scared me Anakin.”

He squeezes her to him to try and console the both of them. “I’m so sorry Snips. I’m sorry for everything that I caused. I’m sorry for abandoning you.”

Ahsoka’s breathing steadies and she lets go of Anakin. “So what are you doing now, master?”

Anakin shakes his head. “You don’t have to call me that Ahsoka.”

She grins cheekily. “If that’s the case then you shouldn’t be calling me Ahsoka or Snips. It’s just Ash here.”

“I don’t know if I could ever not call you Ahsoka or Snips.” Ahsoka chuckles at Anakin. 

“You’re name remained the same, no?” Anakin nods. “Huh, it’s still a pretty unusual name for this planet.” Anakin nods in agreement. Ahsoka gasps loudly. “Oh my god, Obi-wan is here!”

Anakin laughs this time at her. “Yea I saw him right before I saw you. He would be really happy to see you again.”

She nods enthusiastically so Anakin takes her to Obi-wan’s office. The two embrace and catch up similarly. “Anakin, you should come with me! My sorority is assigning me my big today! You too Master Obi-wan!”

“Your what is giving your what?” Anakin asks.

Ahsoka rolls her eyes before explaining. “A sorority is like a group where you can make close friends. A big is kinda like your mother figure there. It’s not that complicated. Let’s go I’m going to be late.”

On the way there, Ahsoka throws on an ugly Christmas sweater even though its only October. She explained that her assigned big will also be wearing an ugly sweater and its a theme. They show up and Obi-wan and Anakin stick to the sides away from the crowd of girls. 

“I need to find y/n, master. I’ve looked pretty much all over the big boroughs of New York and-” Obi wan chuckles. “What?”

He shakes his head. “You just haven’t changed Anakin, so impatient as always. Y/n will come to you when you don’t expect it.” The young Skywalker crosses his arms in protest. He didn’t want to wait anymore. He needed to find you. 

The two go to watch Ahsoka search through the crowd of girls when someone taps her shoulder. “Ash?” Ahsoka nods with excitement. “Im y/n, I’m your big!” She hugs Ahsoka, and while Ahsoka does hug back, she wants to cry because she found you. 

“I- I’m Ash. Um, would you come with me? I want you to meet my friends.” She hopes that if you see Anakin like she did, your memories will return to you, and you’ll know what a kickass Jedi you were.

You were a bit confused but went along joyfully. Your new little was everything you were hoping for. “Of course!” You follow her through the mass of people, and as you approached the two men, their backs were to you.

Ahsoka taps her Master on the back and he turns back to face her but he meets your gaze. It was you, truly and wholly in the flesh. Different from Ahsoka and Obi-wan’s reactions you don’t miss a beat. “Anakin.” You breathe out. 

Anakin is now the one frozen in place and unable to make a move because he never thought you would just show up like this. “I- I- y/n.” he says back. 

The two of you have tears streaming down your face, but your expressions are not sad. They are relieved. All of your new life you’ve felt like pieces of your memory have been missing. There was no name to the face you saw in your dreams constantly, and now you knew. It was him. He took over your dreams of another world, things you only thought were just that, dreams. 

You remember what it was like meeting Anakin for the first time. You remember what it felt like when he held your hand, when he embraced you, when he kissed you, when he married you, and ultimately, when he had left you.

You wanted to run to him, for him to hold you and tell you that the two of you will finally get your well deserved happy ending. You open your mouth to speak but one of your sisters calls out to you. “Y/n! Let’s get a family photo with your little!” She takes in your appearance and concern floods her face. “Are you okay?”

“Yes!” You respond quickly. “It’s just that my padaw- my little has a cat and my allergies were acting up.” 

Your sister buys it and the four of you gather together to take a picture. Unfortunately, you and Anakin are unable to talk to each other for the remainder of the night, but you keep looking for him to make sure he was still in the crowd and he was always looking for you too. 

You hug Ahsoka tight to you, relieved to have found her. “Ahsoka,” you say. “How have you been.” 

She smiles sweetly at you. “Good Master. I’m so happy to have found you and Anakin.” 

“Thank you for finding me.” You say. “Do you remember by any chance, if Anakin...” not knowing whether or not Anakin remained on the dark side haunted you, but it was an answer you needed to know.

“Your son and your daughter saved him y/n.” Your heart swelled with happiness and relief. You had known in your heart all along that Anakin was never truly gone. “Luke started a Jedi school and Leia had a son with a man named Han Solo, they named him Ben.” 

You smiled at her again. “Thank you, Ahsoka. For looking out for my children when we couldn’t.”

“You two were always there for me Master. It was the least I could do.” Finally, the event is over, and the two of you run to Anakin and Obi-wan. You collide pretty forcefully against Anakin and he holds you impossibly tight. He felt that if he let go, he’d lose you all over again, and he could never let that happen. 

“Anakin,” you say with a smile.

He pulls back a bit in order to meet your eyes. “You are still so beautiful. I am so in love... with you.” 

“You found me.” 

“That is all I have wanted to do for years.” He explains.

You brush his hair back, calming him and yourself. “I had dreams of you.” You tell him. “Obviously, I didn’t know it was you at the time, but I now know, I dreamt of you almost every night.”

“All I ever do is dream of you.” He says.

You giggle at his affection. “Well now, you don’t have to.”And he kisses you. Above all you are the love of his life and he needs you to be as close as you possibly can. 

He messed up your past life for the both of you, and he would rather skin himself than have that happen again.

You let go of Anakin in order to greet Obi-wan. “Master Kenobi.” You smile and hug him tight. “Thank you for everything you did for us, thank you for keeping my children safe.”

“I’m grateful to have you back here y/n. Your kids were a blessing to the galaxy.” He replies and rubs your shoulders to comfort you. “I have to get home, but you’re all more than welcome to come over for dinner.”

Ahsoka puts her hands together and bows. “Thank you Master Kenobi, but I have to hang out with some of the newly initiated girls.”

Anakin turns to you, whatever you told Obi-wan he would go with because he just wanted to be around you wherever you went. “I think Anakin and I have to adjust, tomorrow night would be lovely though Obi-wan.”

“Yup, I’m down for tomorrow night.” Ahsoka adds. Obi-wan and Ahsoka leave the two of you alone and you half smile at Anakin.

The two of you walk around holding hands not saying anything really. Not for a while. But Anakin doesn’t mind. He’s found you and he would be happy sitting doing nothing with you forever if that’s what you wanted.

Once you’ve gotten to the park you look to Anakin, but continue walking. “You know I wasn’t dead the way you thought Anakin.”

“The chancellor said you died in childbirth.” Although he’s come to the realization that it also could have been one of the very many lies his former Dark Master told him.

You shake your head. “The grief took me more than anything.” Anakin remains silent to listen to you, a first for him really. “I survived the birth, but not for too long after.”

Anakin’s brows scrunch, confused by what you mean. Your Force presence was almost nonexistent or practically so as he couldn’t feel you at all. And lord knows he tried so hard.

“After the twins were born, I was going to take them back to Naboo. Padme offered her protection and had the perfect place where we could hide.” Your face contorts as you remember more and more of what you felt. “Obi-wan, Bail Organa, Master Yoda, and a few others sat me down not even a day after they were born.”

“Safe, the children must be kept.” Master Yoda stated.

You nodded in agreement as everyone else. “Padme Amidala has offered the twins and I a home where we could keep them safe from him.” Your heart ached to think that you would raise the kids without him.

However, as soon as you said this, everyone looked at you solemnly. Obi-wan spoke up. “The children will be strong with the Force the same way you and Anakin are. As they get older it will only increase. All of your Force signatures in one area will be sensed immediately by him.”

Yoda nods. “Decided together that separate, the children will be.”

Your face scrunches up and you’re immediately on the defensive. “No.” You state. “They’re my children. I’m their mother I can keep them safe the best. I- I promised.”

You wanted to keep them, they were yours and Anakin’s. And since he was not here to raise them with you, you would do it on your own.

Bail Organa pulled his chair closer and crossed his hands. “My wife and I would be honored to take in the girl as we have wanted a child for a long time.”

You shoot him a look. “Her name is Leia. And she’s not your child she’s mine. She’s mine and Anakin’s child. No one else’s.”

“Anakin is gone y/n.” Obi-wan says. “Please know we don’t want to take the kids away from you, but you all will never be safe if Anakin finds you.”

“That thing is not Anakin, Obi-wan. Don’t get it twisted.” You point out. No matter how much you fought you felt that you were losing this battle. You knew your kids would be talented in the way of the Force, but you just gave birth. Losing them would really mean losing everything you had left. “If I said yes, what would happen to Luke.”

“To his family on Tatooine, he must go.” Yoda says.

Obi-wan nods and places his hand atop of yours. “I will personally watch over him from afar until the time comes.”

You feel small for once in your life. You remember this feeling from your youngling days. “They’re my children.” You whisper. “But their safety will always come first. I’ll give them up.” You give in and it’s with a heavy heart that you do so.

After they dismissed, you walk into their temporary nursery and kneel by them having them hold your finger with their little hands. “I just want you two to know I’m not giving you up because I want to. I love you both so much, and my heart breaks knowing I cannot be with you.” You cry while your children just lay there innocently and unknowingly. “Know that your father loves you too, and I hope you can find him one day. You were all we ever wanted. And I’m sorry I failed you as a mother even before you were born.” Before leaving their nursery, you place two necklaces around them. Luke’s had your wedding band and Leia’s had Anakin’s wedding band.

When you left their room quietly you saw Obi-wan waiting for you. “You’re doing the best thing for them y/n.”

Your head shakes. “Please don’t act like you understand Obi-wan.”

“I’m not trying to.” He says. “I couldn’t imagine it, but I admire you and I want you to know that you’re a good mother, even though you feel like you don’t get to be one. They will know their mother, y/n.” You cry softly in Obi-wan’s shoulder for everything. For your children, for the republic, and for the husband that you lost.

Anakin didn’t know what to say. He was unaware of the grief he caused you even after the children were born. He assumed you passed on straightaway.

“A couple years later the Force took me.” You explain. “My grief was too immense. I had truly lost everything. My freedom, my friends, my children, and my husband.” Anakin cries silently, but he makes no move to have you realize that. “I’m surprised Obi-wan endured for so long, but if I had to guess, I would assume he was marred by the guilt of it all. You turning to the dark side, and me losing my children. He watched over Luke and Leia well. I hate to admit it but Bail and his wife were great parents to Leia.”

“Me turning to the dark side was no one’s fault but my own. My desire to keep everything from falling apart is what led everything to do exactly that.” Anakin is unable to say anything to take away from the pain of your past lives, but he wants you to know that he understands. “I’m sorry I left you to fend for yourself when I promised I would care for you and our children forever. I’m sorry I left you to grieve our life all alone. My body aches thinking of everything I did and I can’t undo any of it, but I want to make it right this time.”

“I hated you for a long time.” You reveal. “But that’s when I separated Anakin from Darth Vader. Anakin would have never done that. Palpatine took advantage of you, he manipulated you and your gift. He used your compassion against you. I know now. I love you Ani. I’ll love you in every single lifetime.”

Anakin stops and wraps his arms around you. “I don’t know what I did to deserve this second chance, but I thank the stars everyday for you and the children. I’ll love you forever I promise.”

The two of you have your moment together and sort through the years you two were apart. You listen to Anakin and how the years had passed for him. He thinks the guilt is what kept him alive as well. The two of you miss your kids dearly, but you know if the universe is kind enough, you’ll see them again one day.

You discuss your new lives as well, your parents and where your lives are heading. Anakin’s dreams of being a pilot, and yours of being a pediatrician. After getting back into real life you remember a key detail. “I have a boyfriend Ani.”

“Oh?” He asks. “Do you want to stay with him?”

He’s being serious and you decide to torment him a little. “We’ve been together for a while and I care about him a lot, I’m sorry Ani.” His body deflates and your laugh escapes you. “I’m kidding, oh my gosh.”

Anakin stares pointedly. “That wasn’t funny.”

“It was a little funny.” You snicker and Anakin turns away from you. “Cmon Ani, you can’t possibly believe I would choose anyone over you can you?” He just shrugs and pouts cutely the way you remember when you were children in the Jedi temple. “You’re the only one I’ll ever love like this Ani. I promise.”

He kisses your forehead tenderly. “I promise too. This time it’s forever.” He squeezes your hand.

“It was always forever,” you tease but he just rolls his eyes playfully before walking you back to your dorm room.

The two of you sort out your life together. You broke up with your boyfriend of two years. It was easy compared to everything else that you had done. It had come out of nowhere. You were quite happy with him, and for that to just change overnight... he had a hard time understanding. You felt terrible, but you would be doing a disservice to the both of you if you stayed. You would never love anyone the way you loved Anakin, and he deserved better than what you could give now.

The next day you all gathered at Obi-wan’s for dinner, Satine did not remember anything, Anakin and you came up with the theory that maybe only people who were Force sensitive could remember their life before. This proved to be more true as Anakin’s mother had no recollection of her past life and neither did your parents. 

You and Anakin moved in together fairly quickly. When people asked you, you just said, “it’s just right for us.” But in reality, you and Anakin didn’t want to waste any more time apart. Your sorority sisters loved Anakin and Ahsoka would joke saying you two are her parents. Although, it did seem like that when you had to call Anakin a few times to help get his padawan home safely after a night out. 

Life was blissfully perfect and this time, there really wasn’t anything going against the two of you. Anakin proposed after you graduated and of course you said yes. The two of you married a year later and all your friends and family attended. No one had ever seen two people more in love. Anakin loved you fiercer than he had in your previous life, as if you would disappear at any moment. 

Two years later you surprised him yet again. Anakin had come home from work and saw you holding a puppy and a kitten on your living room floor. “Y/n...” he said cautiously. 

“There was a litter of puppies and kittens that were in need of a home and I saw these two guys there. We can keep them right Ani?” Even if Anakin could say no to you, you wouldn’t follow it.

He squatted down to pet the two animals. “What are you thinking of naming them?”

“Well, this one,” you say holding up the puppy, “is super sweet and shy, and the kitty is very independent and brave. I was think Threepio for the puppy and Artoo for the kitty.”

Anakin is taken aback because he completely forgot about his droids. It would make sense that they would not be reborn since they weren’t real life forms, but the thought that they live on in your new pets sits perfectly with him. Anakin smiles your way petting the two animals. “I think that sounds perfect.”

You put the animals down and place your hands on your lap. “Plus I thought having animals around would be good so they can protect the babies when they get here.”

Your husband’s face pales. “The what?”

“The babies.” You giggle. “I’m pregnant Ani.” You pull out the test that was sitting behind you and show it to him.

He stares at it, not believing your words. “How do you know there’s two?”

You shrug. “I don’t, but I do hope that we get our kids again in this life.” Anakin tackles you softly so you’re both laying down on the floor.

“I’m so incredibly in love with you.” He whispers kissing your forehead. “We’re going to be happy y/n, I’m going to make sure of it.”

“Our perfect happy ending.” You smile into his kiss. 

Just as you said, you gave birth to a boy and a girl, your Luke and Leia. Your husband cried harder than you had seen before. You were drowsy after pushing but you could hear some things he whispered to your kids. 

“I promise you both that Daddy will protect you two and Mommy. Always, never doubt that I love you. Thank you for coming into our lives. You two are my greatest accomplishment.” You smile and close your eyes to get some much needed rest.

The two of you got to experience life together just as you had always wanted, and for once the galaxy didn’t depend on you two. The only people who needed you were Luke and Leia. You were both content with being their parents, you loved them immensely and made sure they never forgot it. You got your dream to be a Mother with Anakin by your side. And Anakin finally found you, and he would do it again in a heartbeat if this was his destiny.

A/N: I actually really liked this, and I hope you guys did too!

Taglist: N/A

[neonlights92]

GRACE: Chapter I

Kim Namjoon lost himself when he lost his hand.  Things have not been the same for him since.  When Taehyung tells him it’s time for him to marry - he isn’t exactly thrilled at the prospect of someone else having a front row seat to his struggle with himself.

That’s where you come in.  You’re a nurse, as well as a member of Bangtan, and Taehyung is never more sure about a match than he is with you and Namjoon.  Feeling like you’ve been chosen to help Namjoon on his journey back to finding who he is, you feel completely out of depth.

It’s only when you start to see the man underneath that you start to fall in love with Kim Namjoon.  And maybe after all, you might be his saving grace.

WARNINGS: Language, eventual sex and some violence

A/N:Namjoonie’s story! ENJOOOOY :D 

“Kim Taehyung wants to see you, Y/N.”

Your mother’s words dropped between the two of you, like lead.  Her eyes avoided your own - and you knew exactly what she actually meant.

Kim Taehyung has found you a husband.

Your chest tightened and you gripped the handle of your coffee mug for dear life.

Your eyes traveled over to your father, his face kind but stern.  This wasn’t up for debate.

“Okay.”  The word was quiet, “Do I - do you…” 

You took a deep breath and collected yourself.

“Who is he?”

The question hung in the air uncomfortably.

Your parents exchanged a look - the same look they’d exchanged your entire life when decisions were made for you and they were afraid you wouldn’t like it.

“I think we should let Taehyung tell you that.”  Your father’s voice was steady, “As Capo, it is his right.”

As capo.

You didn’t know Kim Taehyung very well at all.  Though the two of you were of a similar age - had grown up together in Bangtan - he had always been groomed for Capo.  You on the other hand, had been groomed like most other women in the mob: to believe that your most important duty in life was to carry on your family line.

You knew it was outdated.  And you hated it, though you’d never complain.

Life had taught you that complaints got you nowhere - and so you’d learnt to keep your head down and get on with it.

But that didn’t mean you’d never wanted more.  That you’d craved freedom and independence like no other.

And when your parents had allowed you to study nursing at university you really had thought maybe things were changing.  Until you’d realised that it had been a direct order from Taehyung’s father himself - the Capo at the time.

Bangtan needed their own nurse.  Someone who could take care of things quietly and efficiently.

Someone who could help those who were badly injured find some degree of normality.

And that’s what you did.

Still.  You loved your job - mob mandated or not.

“Okay.”  You whispered, feeling something like dread wash over you.

“His wife has invited you to dinner at theirs,” Your mother finally moved her gaze to connect with your own, “This evening.  Eight pm.”

You nodded, on autopilot.

This was what you’d done all your life, wasn’t it?

You listened to orders.  You never asked questions.  You never challenged Bangtan.

And if the Capo himself wanted to see you, then you knew it could only mean one thing.

He’d found you a husband.  And tonight, you would meet him too.

//

You stood outside Kim Taehyung’s mansion -- because that’s what it was, a mansion -- nervously fingering the hem of your blouse.

This was it.

You’d waited twenty-five years for this moment - the moment someone else decided who you would marry.

You’d always known it would be like this.  Your father was too powerful - he held too many cards too close to his chest - and Bangtan could never let someone like him choose his own daughter’s marriage.

He’d told you since you were a young girl to expect this.  An arranged betrothal.

And when you were little you thought it was sort of romantic.  Like some fairytale - a princess locked away in a tower and a knight who was destined to save her.

Except now you were older and it wasn’t all that romantic anymore.

It was stifling.

You knew your father had come to this agreement with Taehyung himself.  You hated that you lived in such a misogynistic world, but it was the way things had always been.

After a long moment and a deep, calming breath, you lifted your hand and knocked, once.

There was a beat and then the portal swung open.

And Kim Taehyung’s wife was smiling widely at you.  You forced your own lips up into a smile.

“Hi!  Y/N, was it?”

You curtsied a little feeling foolish straight after, “Yeah.  Hello Mrs Kim.”

“Ugh Mrs Kim is Taehyung’s mom,” She laughed, “You can call me ___.”

Her eyes were kind as she opened the door further and gestured you inside.

“Come in, please.  Dinner is almost ready and the boys are too.”

The boys.

Your heart skipped a beat.  For a moment you wondered if perhaps your father had somehow secured a marriage to the last available member of the Special Seven, Kim Namjoon.

But you shook your head.

Your father was important, of course… But surely not that important. 

Besides, from what you’d heard through the grapevine - since the accident that had caused Namjoon to lose most of his hand - he had pretty much become a hermit. The rumour mill was rife, of course, with people’s theories of what would become of Bangtan’s most eligible bachelor.

Could it be that Kim Taehyung wanted you to take up that mantle?

“I hope you like pasta,” ___ interrupted your thoughts and you looked up as stopped in front of a large dining room, “We hardly ever use this room anymore, but Taehyung thought it was appropriate for tonight.”

Your eyes widened at the opulence of the room you were stood in.  The chandelier that hung in the middle of the ceiling dripped with what you could only guess were the most expensive diamonds money could buy.  The long, mahogany table was ornate and rich - a dark colour that spoke of wealth and taste.

“It’s a little much,” ___ spoke up again and you turned to see her rolling her eyes, “But it was like this when we moved in.  Taehyung’s dad had a lot of money and apparently not a lot of subtlety.”

She laughed at the comment and you giggled too - relaxing a little as the tension eased from your shoulders slightly.  It seemed you’d found something of an ally in Taehyung’s wife and you were thankful for that, at least.

“I know we don’t really know each other,” She started carefully, a perfectly plucked brow pulling up slightly, “But I like to think of myself as a confidant of sorts… Especially when it comes to matters of the heart.”

You raised your own brow, “Matters of the heart?”

She bit her bottom lip and you noticed the pity in her eyes.

As she opened her mouth to answer you, somebody cleared their throat to your left and your head snapped round, finding yourself looking up into the formidable gaze of Kim Taehyung.

He was alone, you noticed immediately, and you tried to keep your expression neutral.

This was the game of Bangtan.  A game you’d grown up in.

A game you knew well.

“Taehyung,” You greeted, nodding gently, “Thank you for inviting me.  It is an honour.”

His handsome face was cold - barely responsive as he nodded back to you, “Y/N.  Welcome to our home.”

Our home.

The words warmed you.

It had been clear for a while now that Kim Taehyung’s only weakness was his wife.  He would burn the entire world down for her - and you’d been told of this time and time again.

They had started off as an arranged marriage - almost six years ago now - when Taehyung’s father and his wife’s father had worked so closely with one another they had promised their children’s hand in marriage in an act of loyalty.

But things had changed in the years since.

It was well established that Kim Taehyung loved only one thing more than he loved Bangtan - and that was his wife.

You tried to focus on that - on the fact that loveless marriages could turn into something else - as ___ nudged her husband playfully.

“Don’t be so formal,” She teased and you couldn’t believe you were witnessing this exchange, “Y/N is a friend.”

Taehyung actually rolled his eyes playfully and smiled down at his wife, “I’m still Capo, darling.”

She laughed as well and your chest tightened.  You wanted that.

The obvious love they had for one another - the way they seemed to be so comfortable with each other it was like they had found their home.

“Well dinner’s almost ready Taehyung so go and get cleaned up.” ____ said, slipping an arm through yours and leading you towards the ridiculous mahogany table, “Come sit over here, Y/N.”

You noticed for the first time that the table was set for four people.

Your heart pounded against your chest.

“Who is it?”

The question slipped out of you before you even had a chance to think it through.  ____ froze. She was slipping into the seat beside you when her eyes turned to your own.

“What?”

“The fourth person,” You whispered, darting your eyes behind you to make sure Taehyung wasn’t within earshot distance, “My future husband.  Who is it?”

____ looked genuinely distraught for a moment.

You clicked your tongue.

“I’m a member of the South Korea mafia, ____, I know how this shit works.”  You noticed your words were a little sharp and you tried to soften them with a weak smile, “Just tell me who it is.  Please.”

____ seemed torn.  Her eyes roved your face carefully and she sighed. 

“He’s a good guy.”  She told you carefully, “Really.   I’m not just saying that.”

Your heart dropped.  The look in her eyes - the trepidation….

“It’s Kim Namjoon, isn’t it?”

A throat cleared itself loudly from behind you.  You snapped your head to the side and watched as the man himself sauntered towards the two of you.

“You rang?”  The sarcasm dripped from his tone as he stuck out his prosthetic hand for you to shake.  You supposed he was expecting you to be disgusted - maybe to rebuke him - but you were made of stronger stuff than that.

You forced yourself to smile, “Hello Namjoon.  I’m Y/N.”

He narrowed his eyes as you shook his prosthetic.

“I know who you are,” He raised a dark brow, “The future Mrs Kim Namjoon.”

The words were like heavy bricks - weighing down on your shoulders.

You knew next to nothing about this man.  Despite what ____ had said about him being a good man all you saw was bitterness and anger in his eyes.

“You’re the nurse, aren’t you?” 

You nodded carefully and tried to calm your pulse. 

“Well now we know why Taehyung chose you for me.  The cripple.”

____ cleared her throat and stood up abruptly.  Her eyes were dark and angry and she shook her head at Namjoon.

“No.  You don’t get to do that to her.  Not when she had nothing to do with any of this.”  Her bottom lip trembled slightly, “Apologise.” Namjoon’s face was a perfect mask of nonchalance.  His eyes flicked between you and ____ and he shrugged.

“What for?”

____ squared her shoulders, “You know exactly what for, Kim Namjoon.”

“I think that’s enough now,” Taehyung entered the room sharply, standing between his wife and friend.  His gaze fell on you after a moment, “I see the two of you have met.”

You nodded wordlessly, wondering just what in the hell was going on.

Namjoon was seething apparently, as he sulked to the left of his friend, arms crossed and eyes dangerously black.   

“Was he not as welcoming as he’d promised he’d be?”

“This is ridiculous V, we both know that.  You’ve chosen her because she’s a nurse and because of this,” He stuck his fake hand in the air and you refused to look away.

Nobody else in the room reacted for a moment.

Taehyung took a deep, calming breath.

“That was part of it, yes.”  He said evenly, “Y/N is a trained nurse and therefore she can help you move forward with this.  But she’s also a good match.  Right age, right height… Her parents are wealthy and important like yours.  It is a good union.  I have told you this plenty of times Namjoon.”

“I will not marry her because of pity,” Namjoon spat the word out, “I’m not some fucking charity case-” 

“I don’t pity you.” The words flew out of you and when three sets of eyes turned to fall on you, you wondered if it was the right choice.  You chose to focus on Namjoon.

“What?”

“I don’t pity you,” You told him honestly, gesturing to his prosthetic, “What happened is awful, obviously.  And I may never know the full extent of it.  But I don’t pity you.  You are a man with an obstacle in life.  There are many men with obstacles in life.  That doesn’t make you worthy of  pity.”

Namjoon’s eyes searched your face for something - what you weren’t sure - and she sighed heavily.  He seemed so tired.  You noticed the bags under his eyes, the lines in his forehead.  He was young - just a little older than you - and yet it seemed he’d aged so much recently.

“So you want to marry me?  You want to marry a man who’s had to learn how to live - how to do normal every day things like eat with a knife and fork - all over again?”

You shrugged, “I want to do what’s best for Bangtan.  If Taehyung says that’s a marriage between the two of us, then so be it.”

A long moment passed between the two of you.

Namjoon seemed to be sizing you up, and you took the opportunity to do the same.

He wasn’t ugly.  Far from it.  Kim Namjoon was tall and handsome - and from what you’d  heard through the grapevine - he was also smart and kind.

People spoke about him of course - he was a member of the Special Seven - and what they said was normally very positive.

He wasn’t like other Bangtan men.

He was grounded.  He was softer.  A man who used brains instead of braun.

You had to admit, those traits were attractive to you.

Eventually, he spoke.

“Alright then.”  He nodded and gave you a strange look - somewhere between admiration and confusion, “I suppose that says it all.”

Namjoon turned to Taehyung and nodded.

“We’ll get married at the earliest convenience.” _____ gasped from behind you but you barely registered the sound.

It had all been well and good in theory… But now what?

Kim Namjoon stuck his hand out to yours - his real hand made of flesh and bones - and smiled sardonically.

“Welcome to the family, Mrs Kim Namjoon.” You smiled back.  Mrs Kim Namjoon.

You could do this.

//

Planning a wedding was easy when you weren’t trusted to do a single thing.

Kim Namjoon’s family had promised to take care of everything - and as a family higher up in the Bangtan hierarchy than your own - there had been no argument to be made.

This was the way things worked in your world, and you’d learned long ago just to accept it. 

You barely saw your husband in the ensuing months.  He dropped by once to meet your parents and officially ask for your hand in marriage, and once more since then to update you on the wedding arrangements.

But apart from that he was like a ghost - you even forgot sometimes that you were supposed to be marrying him. 

You rarely thought about the fact that by the end of this year you would be Mrs Kim Namjoon and despite the relatively long engagement - six months was a long time in the world of Bangtan - you were happy you had the time to get used to the idea of marriage.

It wasn’t until one evening when Kim Namjoon came calling for you that the reality of the situation truly sunk in.

You were leaving work - it had been a particularly difficult day so far, and absolutely nothing seemed to be going smoothly.  In fact everything today had felt like it was seconds away from falling apart and you felt like you too, were going to break down.

And as you made your way across the parking lot you found Kim Namjoon, leaning against your car.  How he knew which one was yours was beyond you - but you smiled at him questioningly when you were within earshot.

“Hi.” He smiled almost sheepishly, “Hi.”

“What are you doing here?”

He crossed his arms and squinted one eye shut as he stewed in your question for just a moment.  Then he sighed heavily.

“I’ve been an asshole.”

“Huh?” You raised a brow. 

Namjoon groaned and clicked his tongue, “Are you gonna make this difficult for me?”

“What? No!” You shook your head and shrugged, “I just don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“The night I agreed to marry you I was a jerk.  And we’ve barely seen each other twice since we got engaged two months ago.”  He ran a hand through his hair, “I promised myself I wouldn’t be like that.  So I’m sorry.”

You cocked your head to the side, shocked at the show of vulnerability.  Namjoon was a Bangtan man - he should be cold and unforgiving - he should push away intimacy and hate the thought of opening himself up to anyone.

And yet here he was, apologising to you for something you’d assumed was just the way things were done when a marriage was arranged.

“Okay.”  You nodded slowly, “I forgive you.”

He smiled softly and you found yourself thinking he really did look handsome like that.

“I’d like us to be friends at least,” He shrugged, “If nothing else.”

You smiled back, “Friends sounds good to me.”

“Good.  Great.  Thank you,” He gestured to your car, “So can you give me a ride home?” You gave him a questioning look, “How did you get here?”

“My driver dropped me off,” He lifted his prosthetic hand, “I can’t really drive anymore.” 

There was a moment of almost awkward silence, but you refused to let something Namjoon couldn’t control, ruin the atmosphere.  He’d apologised to you - he was making something of an effort - and you owed it to him to do your part.

“I can help you with that,” You told him, pointing at his hand, “Getting used to it.  How long have you had it on for?”

“Half a year,” He looked away from you, “It’s still so uncomfortable.”

You took another step towards him and his eyes connected with yours.  

“I don’t care.”  You told him firmly, “I don’t care about the prosthetic.  I swear.  And I’m sorry it’s uncomfortable.  I’m sorry it happened to you.  But I’ll help you.  I will.  I promise.”

Namjoon’s eyes softened at your words and you were taken back by the way he was suddenly looking at you.

God.  He really was so handsome.

“Okay.”  He whispered, eyes darting across your face, “Yeah.  Thank you.  That would mean a lot.” The moment was suspended for another moment more, and you wondered if you might do something crazy like try and kiss him - before Namjoon cleared his throat and the spell was broken.

Jesus.

What was going on with you?

Your pulse was racing as you fumbled around your handbag for your keys and you told yourself the nerves were only because of the day you’d had.  It had nothing to do with the handsome man standing in front of you.

“You’re going to have to give me directions to your house,” You told Namjoon as the car unlocked and you both climbed in, “I’ve never had the privilege of visiting.” He snorted a laugh, “It’s a two minute drive from Taehyung’s.  If you drive that way I can guide you.”

“Sounds good.”

You buckled yourself in and tried to ignore the way your cheeks were flushing at the idea of you and Namjoon being in such a small space together, focusing instead on the feel of the steering wheel under your fingers, and trying as much as you could not to stare at him through the reflection of the mirrors.

That would be weird.

Weirder than you were suddenly being.

“How was work?” He asked you once you pulled the car out onto the main road. 

You groaned, “Awful.  Today was a bad one.  We have them sometimes but it really lowers your self esteem.  Some of my patients seemed like they couldn’t stand my face.”

Namjoon whistled lowly. 

“I can imagine that wouldn’t be a very comforting atmosphere to be in.”

“No, not very,” You shrugged and shot him a look, “But that’s the nature of my job.  Nurses are treated worse than doctors even though sometimes it feels like we do triple the work.”

Namjoon chuckled and you raised a brow, “What?”

“It’s  just…” Out of the corner of your eye you saw him shake his head, “It’s like that with us sometimes.  In Bangtan I mean.  Taehyung is treated with so much respect and reverence - and he deserves it.  Of course he does.  But the rest of us… We work our asses off.  And we barely get any recognition for it.”  He pulled a face, “So I guess I’m trying to say I know how you’re feeling.  Kind of.”

You let this information settle with you.

It made sense of course.

Bangtan was the biggest food chain of them all.  The Capo demanded respect.

And in the little interaction you’d had with him, you saw how intimidating Kim Taehyung could be.  Still.  You imagined that had to be annoying.

“Doesn’t it piss you off?” He scoffed, “Of course it does.  But that’s just Bangtan.  That’s the job.  We don’t do it for recognition anyway.  We do it because we love Bangtan.”

You smiled at that.

It was exactly how you felt about your job.

“Yeah.  I understand what you mean.  As much as it sucks that I don’t always get the praise I feel I deserve… I don’t do it for that.  I do it to help people.”

There was a heavy moment between you both.  Namjoon seemed to be taking in what you’ve said and you found yourself thinking that if it’s this easy to talk to him you might catch yourself falling for your own husband.

“That’s a lovely way to put it,” You felt rather than saw his smile, “My house is just on this curb.”

You slowed the car down and turned to your fiance, surprised when you saw him already smiling at you.

“Thank you.  For this.”  His eyes were gentle and shimmering almost and you once again had to force yourself not to flush, “It’s been…. Nice.” You grinned back, “Alright.  Don’t be a stranger.”

He laughed at that and shook his head.

“I won’t.” He gave you a warm look, “Goodbye Y/N.  I’ll call you soon.”

You nodded, “Okay.  Bye Namjoon.”

He smiled at you once more before climbing out of the car and waving goodbye at you. 

And as you drove away all you could think of was this:

Kim Namjoon might very well be the best thing that could have ever happened to you.

//

[thepenguinisagoodboy]

julian day headcanons 📆

theme-related

the big concepts: cycles, order, the human need to establish order in a chaotic universe, commemoration, seeking patterns, rituals

according to julian, calendars and cycles allow us to feel some control over the yawning void of time, breaking its enormity into 365 bite-sized pieces.

his favorite cycles are holidays, the 7 days of a week, the 12 months, the seasons, the farming cycle (seeding, harvesting, etc) and like moons with special names and shit, equinoxes, leap years, anniversaries, the lunar cycle, the advent, the zodiac, and saint days

other favorite concepts: birthdays, new years’ resolutions, the origins of holidays, finity (a calendar after all is just one year), memento mori ⌛️

interested as shit in alternative calendars like precolumbian calendars, eastern/lunar, and egyptian

backstory

(canon from long halloween) orphan, exploited by the system and by foster parents

surrendered anonymously by his birth parents on february 12, hence named for St. Julian whose feast day is feb 12

assigned a birthday of february 1 but doesn’t consider this his actual birthday; in his opinion his birthday is unknown which bothers yet intrigues him

was fostered at one point by the wealthy but detached Day family for tax breaks, and they’re the ones who kept him locked up for long stretches before he was eventually returned to the system

the Days were catholic and he would pass the time by reading the book of saints’ feast days he found in their house. also woe religious trauma be upon ye

spent a good few years on the streets as a runaway between homes. eventually ended up in juvenile detention for stealing, where he spent a lot of time in solitary confinement

there was like 10 solid years between when he turned 18 and when he started doing crime where he was alright, struggling financially but getting along

miscellaneous

he/they

6’0”, almost as tall as batman. (i rlly enjoy about him that he’s one of few batman rogues (and characters in general) whose appearance don’t correspond to their theme i.e. riddler is small and wiry and his power is intellectual, scarecrow is gangly and skeletal and his power is spookiness. calendar man is kinda esoteric and conceptual and he’s (in some adaptations) great big for no particular reason. i love how his voice catches you off guard). haven’t decided on a preference for him between buff but sorta toned like he was a skinny kid who decided to work out while he was in arkham, or bulky with a sort of caber-tossing physique of both strength and fat. both are good.

alopecia areata, started losing his hair at around ten and it was gone by 13.

ocd. counts stuff not exactly compulsively but to relax and pass the time, sometimes unconsciously. favorite numbers, naturally, are 4, 7, 12, 28, 30, 31, 52 and 365.

says he isn’t motivated by revenge but by a desire to enlighten people. (lying and/or wrong) (he is motivated by revenge)

more jealous, petty, emotional than he likes to admit to himself or others

he has hobbies other than calendars that aren’t mentioned because they’re not relevant to batman’s journey. he likes film, especially old movies (this is me projecting), botany and paleontology

gay but flirts with women but not in a genuine way; he’s just being polite and debonair. like the guy who’ll kiss an old lady on the hand and ask if the woman who’s clearly her daughter is her sister, that kind of old-world charm. i’ll hear bi as well i’m not picky

ace spec (grey)

likes to take very good care of his appearance. being that he doesn’t have any hair and that he’s often in a uniform, there isn’t that much he can do to impact how he looks in arkham, so he takes what control he can by growing out his nails and then filing them round, and by doin a lil makeup

top 2 most requested items in arkham are calendars and eyeliner

doesn’t generally wear the complimentary arkham assigned grippy socks - being barefoot makes him feel more connected/grounded. plus he read online it’s good for your health

astrology bitch that has everyone’s charts memorized. thinks astrology is ridiculous and made up but this is also his relationship with all holidays and date systems so he still loves astrology. philosophically intriguing to him. especially loves bothering the Staunchly anti astrology rogues with it (riddler.)

bit of a history buff who knows the significant historical events from every date in the year. gotham history and world history

likes quoting ‘thirty days hath september’ but thinks, and readily admits, that it’s a very sloppy rhyme.

one on one, he will small talk. especially if you’re in a hurry and he wants to be annoying. but in a group setting, like a team-up, he’s usually the one who does not talk until he has something important to say.

actively trained himself out of his natural jersey accent because he thought that it, combined with his looks, made him come across as a mook. speaks softly and in a tiny bit of a falsetto to counteract his intimidating build. picked up a bit of a trans atlantic accent from film. difficult to provoke but when he wants to raise his voice he doesn’t, like, shout or change his tone, he just, like, increases the volume of his usual voice

relationships

actively friends with: catwoman, mr freeze (freeze keeps everyone at a distance but CM holds him in high esteem), ivy, harley, ragdoll, toymaker

him and scarecrow are passive aggressive. they are polite and civil but it takes like one sentence to provoke them to physical violence. they squabble over halloween. him and anarky also fight over nov 5. him and music meister don’t fight over anything, they just hate each others’ vibes. him and zsasz can be alopecia buddies but i hesitate to suggest they actually like each other.

he’s worked with joker once or twice but that does not mean he likes him, also has a deep distaste for professor pyg. he has nothing but respect for bane but bane thinks he’s silly.

i love when jokey/forgotten rogues are in a gang. like he should be pals with tally man. square and sharp. there’s one person on here who ships him with eraser and like that’s just fine. me if i had to pick a ship i’d say maybe mr bloom or maybe polka dot man. there’s a couple of riddlers that’d like him for being Stronk but also Intellectual like maybe dano or carrey

he’s in the arkham theater troupe with clayface and babydoll but he does costumes (who wouldn’t want a costume by the guy who made calendar man’s costume shdjdjs)

notes: i love that TLH tried so hard to make calendar man cool and kind of succeeded? like what seemed like an objectively stupid theme can actually be kinda cool depending how you play it. i stuck with the TLH movie for most of my hcs for “my” version of him but versions that are 1) small 2) a disaster (B:TBATB, TLH comic, etc). i just think it’s funny to have calendar man of all people have a tiny bit of class. mix it up

[nuclearnerves]

INCOMING VAMPIRE AU THOUGHTS

Don't mind me I'm finally getting the ideas I had on this shit out so I can actually go forward with developing it as an AU. It's my usual mixup of fps protags, Gordon Guy and John, but I'm starting with Gordon as the Vampire and Guy as the Vampire Hunter.

absolute beast of a wall of text under the cut

What If Being A Vampire Literally Sucks All The Time Forever like chronic pain sucks. like THAT level of sucks. Like Here's what I was thinking of. Being a vampire isn't just "being alive forever but you need to drink human blood" It's like Oh man I have some lore you look at vampires and their main thing is that they're blood suckers right so lets start with a corpse dead body. cadaver. no longer with us. just some rotting meat. The brain needs oxygen as fuel. The blood supplies the oxygen through blood. The blood is pumped through the heart. The blood is made by your bone marrow. You die. Your heart stops beating Blood stops pumping Brain no longer has oxygen to think marrow stops making blood thats standard! Now, becoming undead, as a vampire, is a little more complicated. The long and short of it is: your body is FIGHTING ACTIVELY to be alive against all odds and wins every time (immortality), but it hurts the whole way

I have the gist of it. It's like. Your heart stops. By all means, you should be dead. but the magic kicks in, and you're still thinking. Your brain is still sending signals to your muscles to move. But using what oxygen to move? whats burning in you? You don't know but you know it's just enough to get to your next meal. So you ferociously eat something, and then find you can't swallow. You can't make saliva. You barely have the energy to chew, and once you DO get something in your stomach, it immediately comes back up. Why can't you feel your pulse? What's going on? You're out of options so you figure you might as well just lie down and die. You're too tired to keep going anyway. So you do, you lie down, and you close your eyes, and you quietly hope that death is as peaceful as sleep. You realize you've actually been moving around without breathing, which makes sense because you can barely flex your diaphragm for more than a shaky wheeze. How are you thinking with such little oxygen? But as you fade from consciousness, you can feel something in you, and it's so upset, it's crying, it's filled with grief, and you instantly can tell it's your skeleton. It's your bones. You're distraught down to your marrow. You're dying. You're dying! Your heart stopped and you have no more blood! You need blood! You need blood to move! To breathe! To think! You try to breath deep again for the voices in your bones, trying to comfort them, to sooth them with the repetitive motion in your lungs, trying to fill yourself with anything but grief, but they keep wailing. We make the blood, our creation, our child, what we put all of our work into is gone! gone! gone! We need it back! Anything! All of it! Find it! Bring it back to us! We're hungry! WE'RE HUNGRY!

and once you find yourself too exhausted to listen, to think, how badly you wish just to die already to cease hearing this wailing, you find your body moving without you. And it's hungry and it's searching and it's crawling on all fours and it misses its beautiful red life that made it feel so full before and it needs it back, and the next thing you know you're desperately grabbing anything with blood in it and shoving it in your mouth in a desperate attempt to sooth this cry for life, you don't want to die, you don't want to die, you worked so hard to keep up this body and craft it and LIVE with it and you're not going to go, and even when you try, even when you try to lay down and die, your body refuses, it takes the reigns, and it keeps up the work itself with or without your help. And it's not until your stomach is full and your teeth are stained and you feel a pulsating burning in your bones that you snap back awake, completely conscious, just fine. You're lucid, you don't feel any more pain. Everything around you is dead and drained and messy and your heart still isn't beating. but you can breathe now and holy shit you guess you literally need to kill to survive and the less you eat and the more you starve yourself the worse it gets when your body finally decides to take recourse.

my idea was like. "the vampires curse is actually stored in the bones, thats why the teeth get so sharp and also theres a connection between blood and bones with the creation via bone marrow" its literally like i was sitting there thinking "no no no, whats it like to be a vampire. what neurosis would you develop. How would you panic? What are common mistakes beginner vampires make" which, by the way, gordon is a beginner vampire

so now you gotta factor, what blood lasts for how long? how long can you go between meals? not only that, but what creatures satisfy the urge? How long can you go avoiding human blood? Does it work like drugs where you develop a resistance to the high, or is it like food where it will keep you moving until you eat again? How the fuck are you gonna get your hands on blood? Can you just eat raw meat? Does that count? and thats where im at lol

OKAY now. now thoughts on beginning scenes of vampire au

So my idea was this Doomguy is a vampire hunter independent and one of his buds says that some freak scared and almost attacked his daughter when she got too close to his old abandoned laboratory up the hill and hes like “he might be… you know… a problem. if you needed a lead” and guys like yeah i fuckin hate the undead ill kill this dude so he busts into old lab space and sees so many dead animals its actually mostly Bones and pelt that hes seeing piles of feathers etc so hes like yeah this is all telltale signs of vampire uhhh hes introduced to gordon SOMEHOW im not totally sure of the details but the working idea i have is guy falls into a trap gordon devised that restrains him suspended in wire or something and gordon like. limps/stumbles into the room and this dude looks haggard he’s breathing heavy, his cheeks are hollow, he’s bug-eyed and shaking while looking at this massive wall of meat in his trap and he bares a bunch of hideous teeth and grits them and looks like hes really struggling with somethin... Like if these dudes don't know each other then Gordon might give in and try to drain Guy, and Guy would absolutely do anything in his power to turn this new vampire into ash, im thinking the inclusion if g-man as a coven leader can fix both issues.

i like the idea of guy falling into gordons trap and gordon thinking about what to do with him before gman shows up and whisks gordon away for a “meeting” while complimenting him on his good work catching the most feared vampire hunter in the country and gman just leaving guy suspended in wires that he has to fight his way out of. Instant situation defuser.

Guy ends up needing to take care of other monsters before going back to Gordon, and he DOES plan to go back to gordon, because no vampire is a good one, especially not one associated with the fucking head of a coven, but next time he sees Gordon, Gordon helps him out of a scrape by attacking and draining a combine who was going to take Guy out or something and escaping before Guy can catch him, or otherwise seeing Gordon do something good with his insane undead powers and like, the third time he meets up with him is when they can actually talk, and Gordons fuckin SO haggard, he’s not even fighting back and he’s even going as far as to say “just make sure theres nothing of me left when you’re done, I don’t want anyone else getting hurt”

Side Note: Guy has a bunch of scarring on his body from dealing with vampires, cops, ghosts, werewolves, anything violent that kills people. I'm playing with the inkling of an idea that he has Divine Blood in him, so that any time something undead bites him or tries to drink his blood, it burns. We'll see.

Side Note 2: now i really like the idea of the combine actually being an organized faction of vampire hunters that are WICKED crooked and exploit people for all their worth in exchange for their “safety” when they kill a vampire They’re essentially loansharks and Guy fucking hates them and hates the name theyve given to vampire hunting

Side Note 3: You've probably noticed that I haven't said anything about John yet! He's in this too. His species is a surprise but I need to get to him later I have an idea for where he came from (Cortana too)

I still need a good reason for Guy to not instantly kill this vampire, if not it's just gonna be "Gordon Freeman escapes the countrys best vampire hunter like a seventh time" every time they meet and they end up being rivals. And it gives Guy enough time to look past the whole "undead monster" thing and start looking at the "Oh this dude figured out how to fight his ridiculous craving for blood in a way more humane than most and is actually staying out of peoples way and keeping to himself. Guess he's not that big of a threat but I still need to keep an eye on him in case he loses it. Turns out he's got a family (Probably Alyx, Eli, Issac and Barney) who's been lookin for him and cares about him as well, don't wanna hurt them". I like the idea of them ending up needing to team up to take out undead together.

And that's what I got so far!!!

[bokutoslittlebird]

hi~ can i ask for hcs?

uhm older sister s/o with kids and deceased husband who died just a week ago? lmao i watched a hentai wherein the s/o is his older sister and she have two kids and a husband. i just thought of this since there are requests with bokuto being the older brother, now I want to know how bokuto and kuroo would corrupt their older sister. thanks so much bb!

I’ll admit this is a lot and I’ve never really considered onee-san with these boys, but there’s a first for everything! Also drop the deets anon-chan 🥴

Mission : Corrupting Onee-San !

Bokuto

> It was an unfortunate accident that caused your husband to die and really, you needed a lot of time to grieve for him. He was a good man and never mean to your or the kids, so his death really tore you apart. Your sisters offered to watch over your kids when you came back home, your son going to live with one while your daughter lived with the other.

> It was decided that was best and they’d visit you every weekend when they came home. You were the eldest, so you were the “favorite” amongst your sisters, but all of you were loved. Your mother coddled you and refused to let you live along after all that, especially in the house you had with your husband.

> This meant you’re home when Kōtarō is! He’s attending college and he’s almost always home and he gets to see you again! He’s missed you a lot and that’s his excuse for why he’s always around you. He’s usually not this overly touchy with his sisters, but you need comfort! Hugs and cuddles!

> It hurts him, though. The cries at night and the somber aura encompassing your body. It hurts him because you should be happy to see him! He understands your husband is no longer here, but that’s different.

> When your face glows up a bit when his nephew and niece come over, he gets a bit upset. He likes the kids, but they make you feel happy and he can’t. It’s a competition. He doesn’t want to lose.

> There’s no way he can compare to your husband, but he tries! He does things you mentioned your ex would do and tries to make you feel better. Eventually, it works. It’s a routine you’re used to.

> There’s a connection he feels when you open up again. You’re still grieving, but you’re confiding in him. You ask for hugs and don’t turn down cuddles, letting his arms wrap around you as you relax in his hold. It’s sweet and it’s completely innocent.. in your eyes.

> To Kōtarō, this means you’re finally understanding his feelings. He’s missed you for so long and now he has you back. When you try to leave, believing you to be fine and can go back home, it’s world shattering as he realizes it’s not what he thought.

> He makes it look like an accident, of course. A stranger running you off the road? With your children almost dying? Your daughter is in a critical condition and not expected to survive, another round of grief hitting you. Your son is better than his sister, but is put in the care of your mother as you grieve in silence.

> Kōtarō joins you, hoping to make sure you’re okay. It’s a sweet gesture, but you’re broken and alone. There’s no one to say what you’re doing is wrong, nor him. When the news of your daughter passing reaches you, Kōtarō is there to hold you and shush you, carrying you in his arms to the bedroom.

> If you’re so upset about your daughter passing, you can always have another child. He’ll replace the husband that left you. In your state, you had no energy to push him off of you nor to tell him it’s wrong. You just have to let it happen.

Kuroo

> Different situation. Your husband was an asshole who knocked you up in high school. Your father forced you to marry him and you had another daughter with him. It was an unfortunate situation, but the news of your husband in the hospital due to a damaged liver didn’t surprise you. Didn’t surprise you when the doctors said he’d most likely be dying in the next week.

> However, the bills and necessities that you needed to make were higher than expected. Not only that, but you needed to pay for his funeral “as the wife”, which forced your budget to strain. You were then treated as a horrible wife by others because “what kind of woman can’t pay for her husband’s funeral?”

> Your older sister is there to help you, but she mainly is there for moral support. Her own husband won’t let you live with them because it would strain them and you understand. Tetsurō is your only hope. Tetsu is rich now and has a secure job, but you worry. You haven’t seen or talked to him since your ex-husband, then boyfriend, got you pregnant.

> It was pitiful, really. Walking to his fancy house and knocking. You called him and he said he’d be home, so you could come on over. You felt like a hopeless little girl again, waiting for him. You should let him turn to you, not be turning to him for help.

> Tetsurō, on the other hand, is thriving. The asshole finally kicked the bucket and you’re free. He knew you’d be struggling and you’d need someone, so he of course would be there for you. He’d finally have his sister back in his life, the sister that was taken away from him. You were the only good family member he had, your father turning to the drinks when his divorce was settled. When you left, he really felt alone. But now you’re back.

> When he opens his arms to welcome you, you cry and sob as apologies spill out. How you’re weak, how you’re sorry for leaving him, everything that makes you feel worse and makes him feel worse as well. What matters is you’re here now. With him.

> your daughters don’t see Tetsu as their uncle, just “Tetsu” because that’s what you call him. He’s the positive father figure in their lives and that’s what matters. They get the loving family they needed and they get good education, they get to see you happy again.

> Well, happy as you can be. When Tetsu finds you drinking a bottle of alcohol per day, he gets real pissed. He lost his entire family to the bottle and he’s starting to lose the only sister that was there for him, he doesn’t like that. So, he enforces rules.

> You’re not allowed to drink, you need to be a good mother. No smoking, you could get lung cancer. No dating and bringing home random guys, he’s the positive male influence your children need. It’s just him being a caring brother! He wants the best for you!

> At least, that’s what it is at first. It’s him being protective of you. It’s him wanting to not lose you again. As he enforces rules, it’s hard to not see the parallels between him and your ex. The only difference is Tetsu is smart enough to force you into submission in privacy. Your daughters don’t see the ugliness behind closed doors.

> What would they think of him if they saw the bruises along your wrists and the hickeys on your skin? You won’t tell them because Tetsurō can easily pinpoint blame elsewhere. This isn’t the same as your ex. Tetsurō is much more powerful and possessive. He will keep you, no matter what.

[adorethedistance]

Something to Lose - Luke Patterson X Covington!Reader

JATP masterlist

Requested: luke imagine idea so Luke’s old gf is dead and she’s calebs daughter and is trying to get him to stay with her instead of cross over and then he doenst show up in stand tall . I just had this idea and near had a fit trying to get it down love ur writing also 💖

Warnings: angst, a lot of crying, I don’t even think there’s swearing in this one.

Words: 2293

A/n: I hope I did the request justice. This was kinda stressful the entire time writing it just bc of all the ideas that came. Like I’d be writing and then my brain would be like ‘hey what if this happened’ and then I’m like ‘oh that’s evil. put it in the fic.’ you know?

I begin nervously playing with the tulle skirt of my above-the-knee length party dress. I wanted a mini but dad refused to let me be visible to ghosts and lifers in anything ‘revealing’, so we compromised on above the knee. It’s a pretty dress, the black long sleeves are sheer and the back is completely open, and that’s as scandalous as dad would allow. Ironic considering his dancers’ costumes are cut out fringe leotards and nude tights.

And speaking of dancers,

“Who was that?” I ask Francesca as she comes to stand next to me by the black music stands, branded with the infamous Hollywood Ghost Club logo.

“Who was who?”She takes a tiny sip of water and readjusts her massive blue and purple feather headdress. Dad always chooses the most extravagant costumes. Sometimes I wonder how they’re able to dance without falling over from being so… top heavy I guess?

“That guy you were dancing in front of in the denim coat?”

“What are you talking about? I was dancing in front of Willie.”

“Nice try, I know that was Angie. Maybe next time.” On the first day the girls set foot in the place they were such amazing dancers, dad invited them to perform front and center if they wanted to join the club. The downside was he could never tell them apart. I don’t know how though, they’re not indiscernibly identical. I made it my goal to always be able to tell them apart, and they made it their goal to get me to mix them up just once.

“We’re gonna get you one of these days.”

“Yeah, sure. But, uh, do you know who he is?”

“I don’t but maybe you will?”

“What?” Glancing up to Fran’s face she gives me a look and directs me with her eyes before smiling smugly and walking away. I follow her gaze to see my dad standing on the far side of their table, talking with the attractive stranger. His excitement makes his every movement animated and he can’t even seem to string a coherent sentence. Inviting them to sit down, dad starts saying something about Willie and magic? The conversation doesn’t last long and once he leaves, I debate whether or not to approach the handsome stranger.

“Who are we looking at?” I’m startled when I hear Angie’s voice in my right ear.

“Oh. The one at the front table in the denim overcoat.”

“You mean the one Franny was dancing in front of?”

“She already tried that.”

“Dammit!” I laugh at yet another failed attempt.

“I don’t even know why you guys bother anymore.”

“Whatever. Why are we staring at him?”

“I’m debating whether or not I should talk to him.” Angie sends me a look that says ‘have more faith in yourself’ which I gleefully ignore.

“Shoot your shot. What’s the worst that could happen?”

“My dad could interrupt and say something totally embarrassing. He wasn’t done talking to them, he just had to do rounds.”

“Girl, have you seen how many people are here tonight? He’s not gonna be done any time soon, so go while you still have some time!” Angie punctuates her sentence by gently pushing me forward, and I stumble in the direction of the cute stranger. The sudden jerky movement seems to catch his attention and his eyes soften once they meet mine. He smiles softly as a greeting and when I return the look, he takes that as an invitation to walk my way. I’m standing in the middle of the dance floor, frozen partially out of fear and partly out of curiosity.

“Hey, I’m Luke,” denim extends his hand politely and… extremely flusteredly? He sounds breathless and a touch fearful. I’m used to the energy as the club intimidates first-timers. I take his hand,

“Y/n.” Omitting my last name tends to do me a lot of good.

“Wow. That’s really pretty,”

“It’s nothing special.”

“You’re really pretty.”

“Oh. Thank you.”

“So, uh-“ he trails off in search of a conversation starter, “What brings you to the Hollywood Ghost Club?”

“Oh, you know... just uhm- just a night out.”

“Do you come to the Club a lot?”

“You could say that. It’s pretty much a second home.”

“Y/n, darling. There you are!” Luke watches my face drop from its pleasant ‘chatting with guests’ expression, to a relaxed almost-frown.

“Here I am.”

“And I see you’ve met Luke.”

“Yes sir.”

“I trust my daughter is keeping you in good company?”

“Your daughter?” Luke nearly chokes on the mystical air of the Hollywood Ghost Club.

“I did not choke!”

“You choked.” Luke and I argue over the details of how we met, in the backstage/dressing room area of the Club. It feels like lifetimes ago, but it wasn’t. And yet in such a short time, we had become completely infatuated and comfortable with one another. So much so that me wearing a floor-length evening gown and jewels doesn’t make me feel out of place with his jeans and flannel shirt.

Despite my light laughter, Luke’s face is fairly flat. He’s beginning to stare off into space, inattentive from our lull in the conversation.

“Hey, you okay?” He snaps back into reality.

“Uh, yeah.”

“You don’t sound so sure.” After a long moment of hesitation, he begins to speak, not looking up from the scuff on the linoleum flooring.

“Y/n, I have something to tell you.”

“What’s up?”

“The boys and I… We… we have unfinished business…”

“Of course you do. That’s why you’re here- why all of us are here.”

“We’re gonna play the Orpheum tonight. At seven.”

“That’s so cool! Tha-” I feel my words trapped in my throat. “That’s your unfinished business... Play the show you never got to before you died.” I feel a well of tears flooding my bottom lash line. They’re not tears of sadness. “That’s your unfinished business. And you’re playing there tonight. Why didn’t you tell me as soon as you found out?!” I cry out in anguish. Luke’s face falls from a somber reluctance to break the news, to utter heartbreak.

“Y/n, I-”

“I thought we had something.”

“We do!”

“Then why would you wait to tell me until,” I check the analog clock on the wall behind him, “An hour before you go?!”

“I wanted to enjoy our last day together without having to think about it. I didn’t think it’d make you this angry.”

“Well, I am angry, Luke!” My sentence is punctuated by Luke getting zapped by a jolt of electricity. He groans as he tries to remain standing upright. The tears streaming down my face slow from a mix of anger to extreme worry.

“What the fuck was that?”

“Your dad gave us a ‘club stamp’ that first night we left.” My face falls slack as I register what he’s just said. Without another word, I furiously push out of my chair and out of the dressing room. Each stride is larger than the last as I let my legs carry me into the wings of the Club’s circular stage. When I have the familiar silver tinsel entrance in sight, I stop cold in my tracks. In front of me stands Alex, in a dazzling pink coat and diamond-covered oxfords, and Reggie, in a luxurious red vest and coat covered in black floral detailing. In front of them stands my father in his extravagant purple number that’s reminiscent of his outfits he wore when performing.

My frustrated steps carried me into his sight and the volume of my strides drew the two boys’ attention behind them. Luke. Luke stupidly followed me out here, and father merely looks at me and blinks authoritatively before redirecting his gaze onto my boyfriend.

“There you are. I knew I was missing a third musketeer.” With a snap of his fingers, dad has poofed Luke out from behind me and poofs him back in between his bandmates. When he reappears he’s wearing a deep blue suit with a black, tiered chiffon collar and bowtie.

“Isn’t it nice that you’re all here together?” Dad launches into his huge speech, seemingly convincing them to stay at the club. He mentions everything they want can be theirs here like Willie, the glory of performing, connection with an audience. As he speaks, he steps forward and reaches up. I go to yell and reach for Luke, but nothing comes out. There’s no sound coming from my mouth, and the undersurface of my black heels feel frozen solid to the ground. Dad notices my movement and shoots me a look to knock it off. Luke sees and as he moves to turn his head, dad reaches up to keep his focus forward before adjusting Luke’s collar for him. He continues with his big speech as another jolt graces all three boys at once.

“I suggest you accept my offer because the clock is ticking,” he downs one more sip of water, preparing to perform, “Ouch. You know where to find me.”

When he disappears onto the stage, I’m released from my spot and the momentum of my struggling launches me forward. Luke turns around just in time to catch me and once he does he doesn’t release me from his arms.

“Luke, I didn’t-”

“Shhh. It’s okay. You’re okay.” He holds me in his arms, one hand on my head to cradle me close to his chest and the other wrapped soothingly around my waist.

“He’s right,” I choke out my words through heavy sobs, “You don’t know that the Orpheum is really your unfinished business. What if it’s not? These jolts could kill you, Luke. For good. My dad may be powerful, but he doesn’t have the power to bring you back from this.”

When I look up, Luke has a heartbroken expression painted all over his face. Before I can speak again, Alex poofs out from beside us. Sharing a worried expression, Luke and I look out onto the stage where dad has him soloing front and center.

“I-I-I, I made a-a promise-”

“To Julie, I know. But if she’s really as wonderful, and as kind, and understanding, and loving as you describe her to be, won’t she understand?” Luke’s expression softens in realization.

“You’re actually considering staying with Caleb?” Reggie asks Luke incredulously. Before he can receive an answer, he, too, is poofed out onto the stage in Alex’s previous spot, to play a jazzy bass solo. Luke looks all around the backstage area, at the audience, between his band members, and at my dad. Finally, his eyes settle on mine. I can’t read his expression; I wish I knew what was going on inside his head.

“Stay.”

Luke and I run out of time when dad calls his name. He’s poofed us apart so I’m frozen against the downstage wall, out of sight from the audience, and Luke is struggling his way onto the stage.

Dad has him soloing for the audience, to create a musical dialogue between the two of them. Luke, conflicted, looks between me and my dad unsure of how to feel. The performer side of him must be loving the high that comes with performing in the club, but the loyal side of him, I can tell, is yearning for Julie.

When the song ends, the three boys share a single look of concern and remorse, no doubt for Julie. I can’t help but feel selfish asking him to stay. It’s not fair for me to ask him to choose between me and her... But that’s not what I’m asking. If all three of them stay here, they don’t risk dying for good. Surely Julie can understand choosing life, or the afterlife rather, over freedom is a rational trade.

Coming to his senses Luke runs off stage.

“Y/n-”

“It’s selfish of me to ask you to stay-”

“I’m staying.”

“What?”

“I don’t want to die, Y/n. If that means I have to play in your dad’s band, fine. But at least we can be together.” Luke runs the pad of his thumb across my cheek to wipe away the tear shed out of joy. Our moment is ended when Alex and Reggie have also returned backstage.

“Boys, if we stay here, we’ll get to live and make music for as long as we want.”

“You said it yourself, we made a promise. To Julie.” Reggie almost looks like he wants to cry.

“If this is what you want- to spend eternity playing jazz solos behind Caleb -I can’t stop you. But I’m not gonna let Julie down. Not again.” Alex searches Luke’s face for any hesitation. When he doesn’t find the change of heart he’s looking for, Alex nods and fidgets with his drumsticks in one hand. The sudden swell of emotion leads the two of them to hug each other tightly; I can’t imagine their pain of knowing they might never see each other again. When they let go, Luke and Reggie share in a hug and the heartache pulls Alex into their hug.

“Can you do me a favor?” Luke asks, sniffling away a few tears. Reggie and Alex nod,

“Anything.”

“Will you tell Julie she’s a star for me, one last time?” A sharp jolt hits the three of them in unison once more; a signal that it’s really time to say goodbye. With sorrowful smiles, Alex and Reggie poof out of the Hollywood Ghost Club for the last time.

When he turns around, Luke’s face is red and puffy from crying and the sight breaks my heart clean in half. I pull him into a hug and press a lingering kiss to his cheek.

“I love you, Luke.”

“I love you, Y/n.”

***

A/n: YOWZA this really made my heart hurt for Julie sm. I love her and if this were canon I’d have actually kermit.

Taglist: @caitsymichelle13 @kaitlyn2907 @itz-jas @crybabyddl @kcd15 @kinda-really-lost @calamitykaty @morganayennefertyrell @n0wornever @dream-a-little-bigger-x @mrstodorooki @vicesvsvirturesfanfic @curlybrownhairedboys @amazinggracy @kaitieskidmore1 @asdfghjkl-fanfics @ghostlygreenbean @juliefromaustralia @merceret @jemimah-b99 @ifilwtmfc @thesweetestsinner @imsydneywalker @lovesanimals @thebloodthirstyvampress @bumbleberry-pie @losers-club6 @tefilovesreading @dmcfarland1@joynerxmercer @kexrtiz @talk-on-the-street @phantompogues @konciousdreamer @sunsetcurvej

[beyondthetemples-ooc]

OC-tober Day 2: Glass

OC-tober prompts put together by @oc-growth-and-development​! I have to ramble in meta instead of write, because my brain is Mush lately. (I know I’m behind but I have a lot pre-written, I just need to put it into coherent words!)

This one especially can be rambled about at length, because the most important “glass” object in my stories is one I greatly enjoy exploring: Dove’s mindscape mirror!

^ I drew it forever ago; here’s the deviantArt link if you’d like to see the big version! 

https://www.deviantart.com/ravenshiddensoul/art/Dove-s-Keepsakes-Mirror-and-Box-284227087

It’s largely modeled after a bird stretching its wings upwards, with a handle like a tail and certain details are inlaid with Azarathean gold to better channel its magics.

Now, this is where the rambling begins: The mirror’s backstory, and I’ll be exploring one of my favorite things to develop in all of my stories: Dove’s mindscape!

Dove's mirror isn't one of her most prized possessions, nor super incredibly sentimental, but it IS an object touched with her mother's magic, it has flourishes of Azarathean gold (some of the last pieces to exist), and it's useful for introspection and self-soothing, so it does have some value and importance.

Dove struggled with meditating quite a lot as a child, and there was only so much her mother could do to help. Meditation was pretty important to them as both a means of helping Dove control her powers, and as a staple of Azarathean spirituality. As she so often did, Alerina poked around and asked enough questions around the temple that she was told about Raven's mirror, and she decided to replicate it for Dove. She custom ordered a gold-lined wooden hand mirror, and then cast the spells to connect it to Dove's inner world herself. It took a few tries (it's much harder to connect something to someone else's mind than your own, after all), but she was nothing if not determined to help her daughter, and eventually figured it out.

As for its main purpose: Self-reflection! (If you'll pardon the pun.) Dove uses it to meditate, but where Raven uses hers for centering and compartmentalization, Dove uses it more as a blend of escapism and a focusing aid.

Much like Raven's, Dove's mirror acts as a portal to the depths of her mind, and this is where it gets fun!

The vortex that transports the users is usually white and gold, imbued with the same energies that give Dove her powers, at least on her mother's side. It's noticeably touched with black and red in DDD. (Dove's evil side starts taking over her mind, and thus its energies manifest through the mindscape, and Dove's portal into it, hence: black and red energies instead.) It tends to open up like a light tunnel and almost opens the mental world around the user, rather than dragging them in.

Once inside, one can't expect to navigate the same way as Beast Boy and Cyborg did in "Nevermore". Every mind is different, after all! We saw Raven's mindscape divided nearly into emotional sections with a neutral space between them, and the way through each area was preset and linear. While different parts of Dove's internal world manifest in different "areas", they're not so totally divided and separate, and there's no real "neutral" zone except at the very "center". The scenery changes, but it's more of a gradual transition, and though Dove employs thresholds to mark key areas, they're very much just visual aids.

Dove's mindscape is laid out more like a series of rooms and courtyards in a very (very, very, very) large mansion. The ground is generally of crystal, spires and columns decorate the scenery, and the thresholds are modeled after birds with their wings outspread. (While this seems like a play on Dove's namesake, it's actually based on Azarath's architecture, particularly that of George Perez's Azarath in the 1980's New Teen Titans comics.)

Dove's sky shows various stars and often casts moonlight from an uncertain source, particularly when she's introspecting. The ambient temperature varies amongst the locations, chilly in the regions ruled by fear and sadness, uncomfortably warm near her demon's domain, and comfortable and breezy where her peace and contentment reside.

One could easily get lost in her mindscape if they don't know where they're going. The place can shift and change on a whim.

Where Dove spends her time building that peace and contentment, it's very closely modeled after her mother's memories of Azarath (which is where she learned how to find peace, after all): there's marble and gold everywhere, and the stars twinkle with dozens of colors in the sky.

Where Dove retreats when there are feelings of timidity, her excruciating shyness, her grief and doubt, the world becomes shrouded in thick fog. Broken buildings and pale light litter the grounds.

Where she built her love for reading, for history, for creativity and study and learning, it's arranged as rooms with dark marbled tile and a carpeted path, the floor for dozens of feet on either side littered with piles of books.

Dove's inner happy place is an open field on gently rolling hills, where thoughts take the form of birds and somehow the sky holds both the stars and suns. One might find trees, flowers, abstract forms of cottages, and forts loaded with mugs and cozy cushions. If you wander far enough you'll find very tall stone walls surrounding it, because Dove's mind is such that her happiness is one of the few things she really truly believes she needs to protect from the rest of herself.

And then there are the aspects of herself that she shoves the deepest down, secreted far away from the surface: the anger, the hunger for power, the mean streak. (Yes, believe it or not, Dove does have a mean streak! You just have to work especially hard to bring it out. Or trigger her in just the right ways around sadism, violence, war, or death. It's very much Not Recommended; bringing too much of that mean streak out could mean Dove loses control of her powers, or worse: her demonic aspects.)

Those secret forces aren't so much located in one particular space of her mind as they're hidden in every dark corner, coursing through the underside of all the ground, a tantalizing power running through every part of her, only ever set free enough to use the dangerous powers to her own ends.

Her places for Fear and Curiosity in particular will be explored in the upcoming Missing: Raven rewrite. (As they're the strongest things Dove is feeling in that story, that's going to be what Beast Boy and Cyborg encounter.) I also explored the way these things manifest in DDD, and in that same story Dove will focus on rebuilding Peace in the final chapter.

I can't talk about Dove's mindscape without mentioning the "emoticlones". These fun little guys are called by the fanon term given to Raven's "emotion clones", the separate parts of her that express a specific set of traits based on particular aspects of her personality. I had so much fun playing with their voices and thoughts in Dove's head during DDD, you have no freaking idea! I also copied the concept of them having Colored Cloaks from Teen Titans canon, because honestly it's a quick and easy way to identify them, and the fandom's familiar with this system through Raven.

Which colors mean what was more inspired by details from a really old, now-defunct website called Cartoon Orbit that had separate "online trading cards" for each of Raven's emoticlones! On that site, Raven's were labeled as such, and this is what I based Dove's system on, loosely: - Pink: "Raven Happy" - Red: "Raven Rage" - Orange: "Raven Rude" - Yellow: "Raven Smart" - Green: "Raven Brave" - Brown: "Raven Fear" (I'm pretty sure there was a purple one, but I don't recall what it was called. "Love" maybe? That might be from fanon; this site was running like 15 years ago, and I was like 10 years old, so I hardly thought to pay Super Special Attention to it...)

But I digress. The point is, I adapted that system for the key aspects of Dove's unique personality, and came to understand them as follows:

- Pink: Joy, relief, coziness - Red: Cruelty, impulsivity, anger - Orange: Apathy, indifference, disregard - Yellow: Curiosity, study, intrigue - Green: Courage, determination, activity - Blue: Contentedness, pacifism, spirituality - Purple: Compassion, friendship, romanticism - Gray: Sadness, grief, longing. - Brown: Fear, fear, fear!

But for Dove's mind in particular, it's not only HER experiences and personality that form the world! She's a telepath, and though she holds others' privacy in very, very high regard and tries never to read someone's mind without their permission, her sense of receptive telepathy is ever-present. Echoes, lights, shadows, reflections of others' memories and thoughts might affect the very edges of her mind. It's a constant sense, but it only ever causes very ephemeral changes unless something deeply affects her.

Her mindscape also grows and changes as Dove grows and changes, experiences life, learns to cope, and changes how she handles her own emotions.

Most notably, the internal struggle in DDD tore her mind apart. Initially it was due to a breakdown of certainty and confidence, hastened by guilt and grief, but it soon became a deliberate tactic to wage war on the parts of Dove's mind that were trying to resist the evil; eventually her inner demon began intentionally breaking/corrupting everything it could touch.

By chapter 20, that evil is the only strong and stable thing in Dove's mind. Raven's attack to remove the evil in her took away that stability, and strength, and thus took away what was essentially the last support holding Dove's mind together. As it says in the story: "everything collapsed". Dove's mindscape was utterly destroyed, and only the most basic aspects of her remained.

For awhile, that left Dove unable to remember things clearly, or feel emotions without great pain. Rebuilding it to the point where she was able to talk and feel Mostly Normally again took months of meditation.

When Dove is kidnapped and Leyla has distressing dreams about her mother, she, Srentha, and Raven use the mirror to check on Dove by accessing her mindscape. With her powers stripped away, surrounded by people who mock her, and certain Fauni rituals sickening Dove to her soul, naturally her mind is very different: shadowy forms flitted at the edges of vision, the ground wavered, her discomfort was thick in the air and the constant fear made everything so, so cold. "Shadows" of others' thoughts flashed in and out of existence, and Dove's desperation manifests as fleeting voices on the wind. It's uncomfortable to be in her mind while she's so distressed.

It's also worth mentioning that her mindscape changes again, essentially "growing" the part of her that belongs to Love when she finally lets herself love Srentha, and it expands again when Leyla's born and Dove once more finds depths of love she didn't know she could carry.

[curiousscientistkae]

oh yeah since I have new peeps here is a rundown of myshe ra kiddos +finally adding some i never talked about. Ages are just to show gaps between kids, they are not "canon". Under the cut stuff. I uh....ramble

Glimmadora:

Harper-20, eldest daughter/child. Born Feb 1st. She/Her, Demi-Bi. Heir to Brightmoon, gets called 'AJ' (Adora Jr) a lot by Glimmer since she looks and acts a lot like Adora. Has shoulder length two toned blonde hair (top half light like She-ra, bottom darker like Adora) with sparkles at the edns, sparkling purple eyes shaped like Adora's, tan skin like Glimmer, glasses, sometimes wears a hearing aid in her right ear. Has cream/purple wing markings on her back that later will turn into feathery cream wings with purple tips.

Sound based powers (cause my brain was like light and sound) but still can create light stuff they just make sounds also. Also can turn invisible. Being unable to control the powers as a toddler, she lost her hearing in her right ear. Everyone in the family knows sign language.

Smart af, witty, as the eldest of all the kids can be protective to a fault, anxious, wants to not fuck up and be a great queen. Will overwork herself and is a perfectionist, though can be forgetful. Is a great shoulder to lean on/be listened to.

Grows to 6' (she got them angella genes (who is alive in this au, not micah) and athletic build like Adora. Named to match the 'er' at Glimmer's name, her sound powers, and the Lyra constellation. Glimmer was the one to have her.

Mira-13, youngest daughter eldest twin. Born July 9th. She/Her, Lesbian, about 5 mins older than Micah. Powerless Princess. Got her great aunt and grandpa's hair color, pale skin (same as Adora), ice blue eyes shaped like Adora's, freckles on face. Usually has hair in ponytail held up by that butterfly pin from princess prom. Also almost always has a red cloak around her. Called 'Mimi'

Born with no magic and not connected to the moonstone (long story short in my au, First Ones cannot use magic without help or it will kill them. Mira got the most FO genes thus she cannot use magic. Whole ass idea i need to explore). Tries to make up for it with fighting skills. While she doesn't show it a lot, she hates the fact she is powerless and will not grow wings either.

Clever, rebellious, loves to explore. Can have a temper to her, wears her heart on her sleeve. Natural born leader. Butts heads with her mothers the most and has run away a few times (once for a very very long time heh). At the end of the day, she doesn't want to be in the shadow of anyone/wants to make her own mark.

Grows to 5'6", chubby build like Glimmer. Named to match the 'ra' in Adora's name and the 'Mi' in Micah's name. OG she was going to have healing powers before I got rid of that so it was also sort for Miracles. 'Mira' is a star, one that is an actual shooting star. Adora was the one to have her

Micah-13, youngest child only son. Born July 9th. He/Him and They/Them. Demi-Boy. Bi, about 5 mins younger than Mira. Has spell powers. Messy, chin length dark purple hair (the same shade as the bottom half of Glimmer's hair), sky blue eyes with sparkles and shaped like Glimmer's, freckles on face. Light tan skin (between his sisters). Has purple wing markings on back and later will get purple feathered wings. Called MJ (Micah Jr) or Mickey

Like his grandfather, great aunt, and Ma before him, he can use spells. Struggles with it but eventually learns he is best at defensive ones. They look up to many of the guards in the castle and wants to be one when he grows up.

Quiet, soft spoken, nervous boy. Def keeps his twin sister from doing something totally stupid. Trusting, sometimes too much, can hold grudges if wronged badly. Tries to see the best in others. Named to honor his grandfather, they want to live up to them and be a great sorcerer

Grows to 5'11, more avg/a bit stocky build. Named to match the 'Mi' with Mira and as Micah is dead in this still (i made them a long time ago) after him. Adora was the one to have them.

Scorpia's Kid

Onca-13, only child of Scorpia. Born May 4th. They/Them. Non-binary Pan. Magicat/Scorpion. OG a scorptra kid but Catra no longer with Scorpia. Has medium length snow white hair, usually in a small pony tail, light brown skin, amber eyes (only iris has the color not the whole eye). Cat fangs and white cat tail. Has those scorpion shouler pads and venom their fangs (not as strong as their mother's) and blue blood. No fur. Called 'Onc' or by Scorpia her 'Lil' Kitling'

Has electrical powers like Scorpia. Venom will only make the part they bite numb, does not fully knock anyone out. Is quick on their feet.

Laid back, quick to adapt, resting bitch face, can be a little lazy, sometimes acts without thinking, and easily distracted. Before growth spurt, they were small and grew a hatred of being seen as always needing help. Just a gentle giant really.

Grows to 6'3, strong build like Scorpia. Named after the latin species name of the Jaguar.

(i so need to work and the following kids more rip)

Bowfuma

Robin-18, eldest son/child of Bow and Perfuma. Born March 20th, He/Him. Gay. Dark brown skin, dark brown, short hair, dark brown eyes. Wears glasses. Has plant powers. Called Robby. Heir to Plumeria.

Plant powers are a WIP kind of, might be like Perfuma or a little dif but is connected to the Runestone. Knows some archery but prefers a crossbow.

Self assured, he knows who he is and what he wants to do, fair-takes both sides of an argument into account. Is the least likely to cause shit. Can be messy and hates when his things are moved. Procrastinator.

Grows to 6', lean build. Named after both Robin Hood, the archer, and the bird

Eliza-16, only daughter. Born Sept 15th, She/Her, Aro/Ace. Dark brown skin, dark brown hair in two braids, dark brown eyes, freckles. Needs glasses but wears contacts. Powers allows her to talk to animals. Called 'Liza'.

Also connected to the runestone, Eliza and talk to animals. She actually started to talk to them before speaking to her parents. When she talks to them, to others it sounds like she is making the animal sounds.

Passionate and loves animals. While her cousin Mira puts her energy into trouble, she puts it into being outside and building things or helping her mom and dad. Hates being stuck inside. Can be whimsical. Loves to be challenged and doesn't back down from stuff, even when maybe she should. Can be a bit dense.

Grows to 5'8", lean build. Named after Eliza Thornberry.

Ash-15, youngest of their siblings. Born Nov 23rd. He/She/They genderfluid. No real label-uses queer. Medium brown skin, medium length, wavy blonde hair, dark brown eyes. Freckles. Has no powers but does not mind it at all.

Unlike his younger cousin, Mira, Ash does not care they do not have powers or are not next in line for the thorn. They are happy to just learn from their father or others. Kind of a jack of all trades.

Has a big heart and a love for all life. Once she is set on something, she sees it through to the end. Very observant of the world and what goes on in it. Can be impatient and doesn’t always take things seriously. Jokes way to often. Free-spirit

Grows to 5'10", thin build like his mom. Named after the type of tree which you could use to make a bow.

Seamista

Newt-18, oldest and only son of Sea Hawk and Mermista. Born Dec 11th, Trans Man He/Him, Pan ace. Dark brown skin, dark brown eyes, short blue hair. Has no runestone powers but can still turn into a merman when in the water.

Newt was next in line for the throne but stepped down, not liking the idea of being a king. He likes to spend time at the beach, swimming, and enjoying being in the sun. Usually keeps his sisters from killing each other.

Hard worker, does not usually slack off, does hate being in the spotlight. Humble. Good at reading emotions. Can lose track of time easily. Has his mother's dry sense of humor. Will faint at the sight of blood

Grows to 5'7", build like Sea Hawk. Named for the salamander that is associate with fire. And with it being an amphibian and transitioning from one stage to another, kind of works there also.

Sandra-15, oldest daughter. Born Mar 7th, She/Her, Pan. Medium brown skin, brown eyes, dark long brown curly hair. Has water based powers (still a WIP whoops). Can turn into a mermaid when in the water.

After her brother stepped down, she is now the heir to her kingdom. Still working a bit on her powers but is connected to the runestone. FIGHTS with her sister all the time.

Very much a girly girl, loves pink, skirts, sparkles, all that jazz. Takes her role as princess seriously. Dutiful and punctual. Hates messes, likes things to be neat. Does not like things randomly being dropped on her.

Grows to 5'8", Mermista's body build. Nickname is Sandy and is called that the most. Named cause yeah....sandy.

Yamuna-12, youngest child/daughter. Born Apr 13th, She/Her, Greyromo/sexual Lesbian. Long blue hair though will dye it many colors, usually orange, light brown skin, brown eyes. Water powers. Cannot fully turn into a mermaid when in the water, just gets webbing and gills.

She can control the temperature of the water around her, freezing it or boiling it at will. Is a great sailor

Pure Sea Hawk child, pretty much his clone. Wild, hyper, will set shit on fire. Takes pride in everything she does. Will blurt out things without thinking and can be pushy. Doesn't like to be told to do things. Zero filter.

Grows to 5'2", small body build. Named after one of the largest rivers in India.

(these guys are VERY WIP so not much to them)

Ada-Entrapta child, on the younger end. Adopted, trans woman, het. Does love robots and what not, helps their mom out a lot. Probably can run on little sleep and still be fine. Name was given to me by my good friend Dorku named after Ada Lovelace, a mathematician and first computer programmer. Very close with Onca

Luka and Felix-Catra's sons, adopted. Both magicats. Catra moves away from everyone and wouldnt really come into focus until much much later when Mira runs off. Luka and Felix idk ages yet but are only a year apart in age. Luka means light (he is one of Catra's lights now) and Felix is a cartoon cat. Would become close friends with Mira later on

(im too lazy to proof lmao and free to ask questions or change stuff up lmao god)

[fictionadventurer]

Top 5 unpublished stories (unfinished, in-progress, etc. yours or others' - things posted on tumblr fit, but not indie or traditional publishing)

To be clear, I’m limiting this to:

Works that have at least a partial scene drafted. If it exists only in outline or in idea form, it’s ineligible. There has to be some writing for me to reread and like.  

Stories that are not current WIPs.

So, in no particular order, here are five favorites that I’m fond of.

(Warning: Very Long Post)

1. Airship Sleeping Beauty.

In this world, parents buy fairy gifts for their children at birth. Most people are limited to two or three. Seraphina Crowne (please call her Sara) was gifted with twelve. Her impoverished parents had friends among fairy kind who were able to bend the rules to give this child enough gifts to survive in their harsh environment. Thus, Sara has everything from enhanced beauty and grace to strength and speed and musical skill, which makes her an unstoppable force of (super)nature. She loves a challenge and decides to support her parents by becoming a sailor on a flying sailing ship, where she rockets up through the ranks.

Our POV character is Jack Sanders, who serves under her as second lieutenant. Jack has spent years struggling through the ranks with only one unsuitable fairy gift. The father who chose his gift was an insomniac, and gave his son the gift of helping people fall asleep. Surrounded by people with more useful skills like strength or navigation, Jack languished as a midshipman for years until he served under a captain who realized the greater uses of his gift. Jack hates Seraphina Crowne, assuming that she’s the daughter of a rich man who has enough money to bend all the fairy gifting rules for his precious princess.

As they travel through a tropical land, they run into many adventures, and Jack starts to respect Sara. He learns that she comes from a much less privileged background than he’d assumed, and they slowly become friends. Then one day, they’re taking a day of shore leave on a flying island when they get into a fight with some local ruffians. Sara falls over the edge and is impaled on one of the metal spikes that serve as a barrier between the island and the open sky. But she doesn’t die. She climbs up with a gaping hole through her torso, and the should-be fatal wound heals within hours.

Sara is forced to tell Jack her greatest secret--she actually has a (highly illegal) thirteenth gift. Her mother’s greatest friend among fairy kind was a fairy who was banished from the guild for giving gifts that were too powerful. This fairy wanted to make absolutely certain that her friend couldn’t possibly lose this child at a young age. Her gift to Sara was that she would die by being pricked on the spindle of a spinning wheel--which means that nothing else can kill her. Not disease, injury, old age--she is invulnerable as long as she stays away from spinning wheels, which is easy to do in this industrialized age when your average person has never seen such a thing.  

Jack promises to keep Sara’s secret and they return to the ship. But Jack isn’t the only one who heard her confession. There’s a local airship pirate who supports his business by adopting infants and getting them the illegal fairy gift of being able to transform into birds. One of these bird-children also heard Sara’s story, and they inform their pirate father, who make plans to attack the ship and take out its most powerful asset.

I never finished the story because the climax falls apart. The pirates were going to attack and stab Sara, but Jack is able to stall her death by putting her to sleep--and I could never figure out a way to save Sara without it feeling cheap and predictable and/or detouring into a completely different plotline that takes us away from the story. But I think of the rest of it as one of the best fairy tale retellings I never wrote.

2. Faraway House

This one is my middle-grade portal fantasy for adults. Mara meets Adrian, a mysterious, magical man whose house sits in a space that connects to three different universes--ours, one that has a more medieval fairy tale vibe, and one that’s more steampunky and involves lots of chimeras and people with animal traits. People in need of help tend to fall into this in-between space, and Adrian lets them stay at Faraway House for as long as they need.

There are tons of characters who drop into this story and provide little subplots, but my favorite part was an overarching plotline involving Adrian and Mara. Adrian, who was originally from the fairy tale world, was the evil magician of every childhood nightmare, a powerful man who did all sorts of horrible things to people. He became obsessed with immortality and eventually got it--at a great price to the rest of the world and to himself. He was caught, stripped of a lot of power, and left to live his long life and see the consequences of his actions. He spent a few centuries wandering the three different worlds and undergoing a ton of character development. As a newly humbled man, he was given charge of Faraway House, since his magical talents would be valuable to keep the area and the portals stable. Now, he’s the nicest, sweetest guy you’d ever want to meet. He rarely tells anyone about his past, and most people wouldn’t believe it if you told them.

Anyhow, after Mara’s been staying at Faraway for a long time, she and Adrian go through a portal that links to Adrian’s home universe. They soon realize that it links to his world several centuries in the past, when Evil Adrian was at the height of his power. And he’s very interested in Mara, because her adventures in Faraway have given her some kind of magic that will help him reach the Well of Immortality (or something like that--it’s a very nebulous, fairy tale idea). Unfortunately, taking this magic will kill Mara, so Older Adrian does all he can to save Mara. He succeeds and gets her back home. But his younger self is still on the lookout for her, and he eventually makes his way to Faraway, where he drains the magic and escapes, leaving Mara dying.

And I know this is the most cliche way to end this, but I like my stories predictable and cheesy, and Older Adrian ends up saving Mara by giving up his immortality, which kills him. It’s all very Disney-moving. The story ends with Mara being made the new caretaker of Faraway. And I give away the ending because I’m never going to write this, but I’m still fonder of this story than it deserves.

3. The Island

Anne of Green Gables meets fairy tales.

The Island is a place full of magic. Amphibious mermaids swim along its shores. A fairy forest fills the heart of the Island. Selkie live on the tiny islands off its shore. Pixies cause trouble in the farmyard’s back garden. It’s amazing to the relatively low-magic areas of the rest of the world, but it’s all part of daily life to the farmers and fishermen who live here.

The Fairy’s Daughters, a retelling of “The Twelve Dancing Princesses”, had the most words written in it, but I think I’m fonder of some of the shorter sketches set a generation earlier that highlight little bits and pieces of the world. I started with the tale of Lizbet, an ordinary orphan girl living with her aunt who befriends Gideon, a half-fairy boy who eventually becomes the town’s magical doctor. Their friends include the widow lighthouse keeper who tries to adopt an orphan boy and is surprised to get Amy, who’s a girl--and a mermaid. There’s Captain Avery, a fierce-looking old sailor with a gentle heart and a surprising amount of experience with magical creatures. There’s Auberon, a fairy prince and eventually king who’s racist against humans, spends some of his younger years traveling in human lands to import human-made products, and becomes even more racist because of it.

I think my favorite thing in this universe are the sylphs. I borrowed Andersen’s idea of the “Daughters of the Air”, and made my sylphs into invisible, benevolent creatures who do good deeds for people, and can accomplish magical feats far beyond what any fairy can do. The sketch I reread most often is a scene where Amy, out for a swim in a storm, is rescued by a sylph who has taken a human (though translucent) form, and gets invited in for tea by Amy’s grateful friends.

It’s a fun universe to play in, but not one that I’m very good at finishing stories in, so I think it needs to stay as a pretty aesthetic and a fun sandbox.

4. Clever Anne

A retelling of “Kate Crackernuts” set in a non-magical Regency-esque setting. Anne is the beautiful, intelligent daughter of a duke. Kate is her bold, daring stepsister. They are deeply devoted to each other, but Kate’s mother hates Anne for being so much more beautiful than her daughter. She gets one of the servants to push Anne into the embers of the fire, leaving her face badly burned. Kate throws a veil over Anne’s face and gets her out of the house, insisting they’ll go off to make their fortune.

Anne was childhood friends with a young man who, through a convoluted succession crisis, unexpectedly finds himself on the throne. They stumble upon him in their travels, and find themselves able to help him by investigating the mysterious behavior of his half-brother, who resents that he was passed over for the throne and may be plotting something sinister. I was never able to figure out a good political-intrigue parallel to the “dancing all night with fairies” portion of the plot, so it never got written. The only really good scene I wrote from this story was the moment where Kate finds out about Anne’s injury and insists on leaving the house. But even in that one scene, their relationship is so strong and so vivid in my mind that I love their story even if I never finish it.

5. The Beast’s Mechanic

This is the one on the list that’s closest to being a WIP. I actually edited some of the beginning in March. It’s a sci-fi take on “Beauty and the Beast” set in a world where two planetary empires are at war. The war destroyed Monique’s father’s shipping business, forcing the whole family to move to a desert planet where they run a small spaceport. Monique is a top-notch mechanic, her sister Gemma is a pilot, Gemma’s twin Joanne stays at home to take care of the house and the two youngest siblings, and Leo is a seventeen-year-old rapscallion who is desperate to join the war as soon as possible.

Their world is upended when, for the first time in years, their mother wants to meet with them. A former starship captain, she and her husband disagreed over the war, and she left the family years ago to join the war effort. But now her starship is in for repairs and she wants to take some time to reconnect with her family. There’s some controversy among the family--do they really want to open these wounds again when they’ve finally moved on?--but Monique the peacemaker insists that, even though it’s impossible for the whole family to make the trip, her father should take the chance. He goes to meet his wife, but on the way there, his spaceship breaks down in the middle of nowhere, and he’s rescued by the Beast, an infamous cyborg outlaw. He also breaks important equipment on the Beast’s ship, and is only able to keep from being thrown out of the airlock by insisting that his daughter can fix it.

Monique nearly does, except that the authorities show up just before she’s done with repairs, forcing the Beast to take off with her in the ship. She comes to learn that the Beast is far from an evil criminal and has been helping people wronged by the government, and she helps him get home to his family (in the enemy empire), but her patriotic starship captain of a mother takes all of these events in very much the wrong light.

I’m very fond of this story for the ways that it avoids some of the usual BatB retelling tropes. There’s much more to this story than the romance, and little focus on the mystery of how the Beast became a Beast, and there’s much more focus on family. The Beast hasn’t even shown up yet, but I’m just incredibly fond of Monique’s family and their everyday working-class life on a desert planet. I hope I can make more progress on it someday.

[teddy-bear-surprise]

Prologue

A short introduction to: 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐲 ✷ 𝐌𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐒𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐤𝐢

Hurley stood over Mitch with his eyebrows furrowed. "Rapp, listen to me kid. I can't keep helping you out like this, you need to make a choice and quick. They're on my ass about your stupid fucking behavior in Thailand."

"Oh come on, Hurley, you know that situation wasn't my fault. It would've been even worse if I hadn't been there!" He pleaded with Hurley, insisting for the hundredth time that day that his actions on the last mission had been unavoidable. "Do I? Do I know that? Because those four collapsed buildings and seven video cameras with your face all over them would say otherwise, Rapp." Mitch stood up now, his face growing red as the vein in his neck protruded slightly. "You weren't there... Sir. You didn't see what was going on. There was no other option, I couldn't get to the guy in time and he was wearing the fucking bomb, Hurley. What else did you expect me to do?" "I don't fucking know, Rapp, but they're pinning this on you so now you have to choose. And if you don't choose you're done for good." He paused, "I know you don't want that and I sure as hell don't either, you're one of my best damn recruits." Hurley rubbed his forehead with his fingers, trying to think of what to say next. Mitch banged his fist against the cold, grey wall. "Couldn't they give me some better options? I mean seriously, I either an eight-month suspension or go undercover for a year? Jeez, Hurley. I know the Agency is already prepared to send me undercover but I don't want to do undercover and I sure as hell am not letting you suspend me." The door opened behind them as Stansfield walked in. As if his position as the CIA's Director didn't already give him enough power, his perfect posture and perfectly kept suit-and-tie made him even more intimidating. "Rapp, buddy, Hurley over here tells me you're giving him a tough time. You went rogue, okay? This is what happens when you go rogue, you're not giving either of us much of a choice here." He patted Mitch on the back as he shook Hurley's hand. "I did not go 'rogue'. I did my job, Director." The Director ignored him, moving on with what was most likely a pre-rehearsed speech to convince Mitch to fold. "Look, you already know that you've got two options. You get an eight-month suspension, which will put you on complete and total lockdown. No going to the grocery store, no running in the park, no eating out. Nothing. Or, you can take the open position in the Undercover Division. Cooper is out for the year on 'paternal leave', whatever the hell that means, so we need someone to fill in. We can't have you working in Orion for now, you're a liability, but we also don't want to lose you. So, give me a straight answer, Rapp. It's up to you." Mitch sat back down, burying his head in his hands. He ran his fingers through his hair, tugging at the dark brown strands, and muttered quietly. "Fine. I'll take the job." "I'm sorry, what was that?" Hurley jokingly tapped a finger against his ear as he let out a deep chuckle. "But! Only if I get to go overseas. I don't want to have to deal with any of those useless, domestic undercover operations that end up helping no one." Hurley looked at Mitch, "I knew you couldn't say no." "Yeah, yeah, so what's the job?" "What makes you think we've already got a job for you?" Hurley was still poking fun at Mitch. "I know you, Hurley, you wouldn't push for it if you didn't know I would actually be working." "Well, you're right. We do have a case for you, Hurley and Bennett will brief you in a few minutes. Welcome back to the Agency... Officially." The Director approached Mitch with his hand outstretched, waiting for him to shake it. Mitch shook his hand hesitantly, wondering what kind of operation they'd be sticking him on, and hoped that this wasn't just some elaborate scheme to babysit him from within the Agency. The Director quickly left and Hurley sat down in the chair next to Mitch, tapping his fingers against his thighs impatiently. Hurley turned his head to face Mitch. "See? This isn't so bad. You still get to work and you get to travel.

"You know it's not, but it is better than a suspension." Mitch rolled his eyes lightly. "Hey, you know what I just realized? You're actually perfect for this job. Didn't you get a minor in French? I'm almost sure I saw that before I burned your nasty excuse of a resume." "Gee, thanks, Hurley. Yeah, I got a major in International Business and minored in French. Why exactly is this important?" He paused for a second as Hurley let him think. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me. France? Really? That's probably going to be just as boring, if not more boring, than a domestic case." "Stop that, Mitch, just wait until you're briefed and you might even like the case. Plus, I can't believe you're judging this case for being boring when you're the domesticated dumbass who dropped out of your last year of training at the Academy just to be with Maureen." Hurley waved his arms around jokingly, mimicking a despaired Mitch. "'Ahhhh. She was so scared. Blah blah blah. She didn't want me to get hurt.' Can't believe you ever gave up this life for a chick... and a dead one at that." "Can we not talk about Maureen? Please?" Mitch slumped in his seat, still haunted by the wounds that never seemed to heal. "Fine, Agent Cry Baby. I mean you lost your lacrosse scholarship for that position in the FBI and you still threw it away for her. I don't know, I'm just shocked is all." He clenched his fists and spoke slowly, trying to maintain his composure. "I know. I get it, Hurley. You've made your point now drop it. And where the hell is Bennett with the briefing?" Almost as soon as Mitch had voiced his complaint, Agent Bennett walked in with a laptop and two paper files in hand. "Hurley, Rapp. Are we ready here?" "Yeah, whatever, get on with it Bennett." Hurley waved his hand dismissively at the young agent who was struggling to connect his laptop to the television in front of them. Bennett was finally able to put his presentation up on the screen. "Okay, Agent Rapp, you leave in a week and a half and when you arrive in Paris, you will be meeting up with Agent Russo, or as he is known to the Celestins, Axel Didier. Try not to blow his cover, please. He's the only person we've ever managed to get into the Celestins' inner circle and he's also the only one who can get you in." "The who's?" Mitch looked up at Bennett and his presentation with confusion. "The Celestins. France's biggest mafia family. Originally from Italy, they changed their names to assimilate to Parisian norms over seventy years ago. Since then, they've managed to infiltrate every aspect of life possible, ranging from politics to agriculture, and no one has ever come close to stopping them. Your job, Rapp, is to infiltrate that same inner circle and gather intel so that we might have a real shot at taking them down. Nothing more, Rapp. I know it's not what you're used to, but please don't kill anyone and don't even try to talk to Marcel Celestin's daughter. He'll rip you in half before you can say 'hello' to her." "Who are you to tell me who'll 'rip' me in half or not, Bennett? You've never even been in the field before." "My talents were needed elsewhere." Bennett retorted at the comment. Even Hurley joined in, "Whatever helps you sleep at night, kid. Just get on with the presentation, please. Don't make me do your job for you." "Fine. Rapp, you will be there for the next year and at the end of that year, we will fake your death and you will return to Orion, living the same life as before. You'll have to go through a few minor adjustments with your appearance to fit in better there but it's nothing major, just a few tattoos and getting rid of that beard should do the trick. And you need to attend a four-hour French intensive every day before you leave just to make sure your French is up to par. Other than that, you should be good to go, Agent." "Really, Bennett? 'Good to go?' You're not forgetting anything?" Hurley leaned forward in his chair, resting his elbows on his knees and staring incredulously at Agent Bennett. "Uhhhh... No?"

"Gah-damnit! You didn't tell Rapp his undercover name, you idiot."

"Oh yeah. I did forget that."

"What's my name supposed to be then?"

"Mitch Stilinski. We wanted to keep your first name the same for ease, but we wanted to add in a vaguely European last name to adapt your name better to the setting." Bennett smiled at his fix.

Mitch got up and walked to the door, opening it slightly as he sighed, "Well then, I'm going to go home to prep for this upcoming year in hell. Thank you very much for all of that very insightful information, Bennett."

[smol-jinyoungie96]

The Devil Judge - Episode 6

Hi again! I just finished watching Episode 6 and man I was not prepared for any of it.

At all.

From the first time since they introduced Elijah to the storyline, she is portrayed as a teenager who despises her uncle for allegedly killing her father, but the a few episodes later they shows her softer side,She might hate Yohan but at the end of the day he is the only living family she has.

So the possibilities are that she masks her worries for Yohan behind the anger because sometimes, years worth of anger and pain might overpower any other emotions we have.

It is genuinely endearing to see that despite her openly showing her hatred towards him, she also pays close attention to him. For an example she knows that he doesn’t have a love life, or that he never stays out overnight. These are little things that she observes but never shows.

When Ga On and Elijah are talking, something that occurred to me is that she is just a child.

She’s 16.

The storyline makes us think about all the suffering for Ga On and Yohan but even Elijah carries a lot of it. All she has left is Yohan, but she has to live every single day wondering if he truly killed her father or not. She doesn’t have anyone she can talk to and that’s a lot on her plate to carry it all into her adulthood.

Elijah says “Yohan ruins everything that is close to him”

My guess is that he doesn’t do it in an intentional, destructive way but because everything that he has seen since childhood is violence, deceit, abuse, selfishness and destruction. May be pushing people away is his way of keeping them safe because I highly doubt that he received the help and the closure he needed when he was a child.

The child actors are so so so good! Their acting and the way they let out emotions through their eyes was amazing!

In the beginning, when Kang Yohan makes Sun Ah jump, for a split second it makes the viewers think that he has been a manipulator since an early age, but then as the story progresses,

he catches her stealing multiple times and interestingly, he hears her telling the caretaker that she is worried about him because he is leaving the basement a lot and that she is worried about him when she, was the one who suggested that he go out when his father was not around,

Imagine being in an abusive household, getting another child who is roughly your age trying to see it you could connect with only for her to start playing games.

He didn’t trust her then and he doesn’t trust her now, she never gave him a reason to.

I don’t think her interest in him is on a romantic light at all, it is more of an obsessive love.

Yohan saying “threats are useless, because I have nothing I wish to protect” is really just a bad move from his side.

So he doesn’t have Elijah? He doesn’t have an annoying little pest living in his house who resembles his brother?

Him saying that will only motivate her to dig deep to find what matter to him.

When he asks her what she wants and she says that she doesn’t care who he goes after as long as he stays away from the SR Foundation, it made me think that she is not stupid.

She is cunning and she just knows that telling Yohan to stay away from the foundation will only make him do the exact opposite. So there is a chance that it could be a trap?

Why did she take the cross chain from Yohan? Two possibilities, either it’s because she still likes it, or because she knows that it IS precious to Yohan, if she has it, she also has a reason to make him come back to her.

Coming to Elijah’s growing attachment to Kim Ga On,

he cares for her like a father would to his daughter, he cooks for her, he makes an effort to spend time with her, he covered her while she is sleeping etc.

No matter how much she tried to push him away, he is still there, he is becoming a constant in her life.

I’m not saying that Yohan doesn’t care for her.

Nobody cares for her more than he does probably but Yohan doesn’t openly show it.

When you’re a child, sometimes the thing you need the most is a solid presence of an adult and what she doesn’t get through Yohan, she gets through Ga On and well.. he also looks exactly like her father.

So it makes sense that she is showing a sort of a possessive attachment towards Ga On as if she is afraid that she will lose the one constant in her life.

It was wrong for Ga On to take Elijah out to meet Soo Hyun without asking Yohan first and it was also wrong of Yohan to chuck him to the wall like a ragdoll and to accuse him of taking Elijah to see a cop.

It’s obvious why Yohan is worried about his niece after everything that went down with Jung Sun Ah, but i feel like he shouldn’t have hinted towards going after Soo Hyun just to make a point.

Because for Ga On, Soo Hyun is all he has. He is already too neck deep into the Lion’s den and having the spotlight on Soo Hyun is a trigger for him.

The scene with Minister Cha and the other two women.

That was definitely Elite vs. Elite.

They are all at the same social status but when the times call for it, Minister Cha has the ability to make them drop to their knees.

The interaction between Jung Sun Ah and Minister Cha initially began with insults being thrown, belittling Sun Ah but now it has developed to a place where they help each other.

Minister Cha helps Sun Ah with the Foundation work and in return, Sun Ah helps her with taking revenge on Yohan.

Terrifyingly interesting.

Jung Sun Ah knows that Kim Ga On means something to Yohan, her first target is Ga On himself.

When it comes to Ga On, Min Jung Ho is a father figure, she already had a plan in mind when she made that biker lady trick Ga On.

When he asks Min Jung Ho, even he says that he suspects Kang Yohan and Yohan already threatened Soo Hyun so in his mind, the gears will start to work because he knows from experience that Kang Yohan really doesn’t mind going berserk when he wants someone out of his way.

Then the attention comes to Oh Jin Joo. Sun Ah is smart for this. The way she slowly poisons Jin Joo’s mind with that whole conversation about only men’s pictures being on the wall, for a moment is feels like she is encouraging Jin Joo to be ambitious but later! When the two associate judges are together, you just know that Sun Ah already got inside Jin Joo’s head when she goes “does he look down on me or something?”

Oh Jin Joo idolizes Yohan. So for her to slowly turn against him..

So technically her plan is to turn the baby associates against Yohan.

Bad lady

Coming back to Ga On struggling, he keeps seeing things that makes him rethink his intuitions when it comes to Yohan.

First it was the children playing with the ruler and now it’s a group of weird cult going around flogging people because “According to Kang Yohan, he will accept people’s wishes and flog terrible human beings”

So once again, the public adapting barbaric punishments from what they see in court, does make Ga On rethink about his choices.

Soo Hyun’s Attack

Obviously Yohan is keeping tabs on both Soo Hyun and Ga On, but then again, the drama really has their way of making the viewers think hard, For an instance,

The phone conversation Yohan has, the guy says “there is a chance she might know about the transfer”

Indicating that, to viewers again it makes us think that Kang Yohan really may have had something to do with the bribing or that they might actually go after Soo Hyun, but we all know that Yohan would never and it was pretty obvious who it was with the gloved hand,

So in conclusion,

biker lady attacks Soo Hyun, takes the passbook, gives it to Sun Ah who then plots with Minister Cha but unfortunately,

The threat Yohan made against Soo Hyun is too fresh in Ga On’s mind so obviously he suspect him first,

They highlighted that god damn German scissor too many times in Episode 6 and of course it is the same scissor Yohan stabs literal inches away from Bambi’s face.

Which was really an intricate scene, Jinyoung and Jisung as actors played it so beautifully. The unhinged anger and the disappointment in Yohan and the way Ga On realized that the man behind him is actually genuinely dangerous.

You can see the exact moment when that fear and realization sinks in Ga On.

That Yohan could hurt him badly if he wanted to.

Ga On functions on emotions when he’s not being a judge, so if he had actually taken a breather before provoking his boss with violent tendencies, he might have realized that Kang Yohan is just too smart to do something like that so out in the open.

There’s no doubt that Yohan really lets Ga On get away with a lot of shit he does.

But for some reason, the way he warned Ga On to never again attack him, felt like his first and last warning to me.

I absolutely LOVED the way Minister Cha thought that Yohan would crumble in front of her but my man just tells her to do whatever she wants… she should know that he wouldn’t be Kang Yohan if he didn’t wasn’t hundreds of steps ahead of them.

Something that I admired in the last scene is despite how annoyed or how mad Oh Jin Joo and Kim Ga On are at Yohan, when things get heated professionally, the two baby associates were so worried about him and they were completely ready to stand by his side even when they didn’t know any actual detail. Proud of my babies 🥺

But then, Kang Yohan accepting the allegations and Dr. Safety’s random appearance right at that moment seemed a little sus.

Almost too well timed.

Kang Yohan confidently asking the public to judge him because he knows that the public is on his side especially now that the reason for the money transfer is out in the open.

Kang Yohan’s decision of counterattacking the the Dream House Project right when the public take his side was a very smart move.

It was Minister Cha who tried to drag him through the mud but in turn he targets every single one of them socialites.

The last part felt like he was actually declaring war. The drama isn’t about poor vs. rich. It’s all about the internal works of the powerful class and I can’t wait to see how intense everything is going to be.

Lastly, the preview for Episode 7.

Why on earth did Yohan decide to bring out Ga On’s parents’ death and their case to the media?

Why take him to the jail?

Why rip open wounds from 13 years ago?

I know it’s stupid to jump in to theories and conclusions before we watch the episode because he always has a reason for everything he does,

But it made me think for a second was it because he wants to push Ga On to the limit until he breaks to the point where he has to solely rely on Yohan?

Because i get that Min Jung Ho is the parental figure in Ga On’s life but if Ga On were to ask him intense questions about his parents case, Min Jung Ho wouldn’t be completely honest with him, probably for Ga On’s safety but also there might be somethings that needs to stay hidden,

But Kang Yohan isn’t like that. He would be blunt and brutally honest if Ga On started asking him questions about his parents.

If Ga On were to rely on Yohan, that would also mean that Yohan would have control over him, either to use him as a pawn or to control Bambi enough to keep him safe and out of being targeted.

Lastly, am I the only one who is suspicious of Min Jung Ho?

If you made it this far again, thank you for reading my stress rant.

Now i’ll go back to silently stressing about next week because i have nothing better to do.