#people forget that adults are just animals and also children that grew up

[aloeverawrites]

The only reason I can put up with humanity sometimes is because I’m a vegan and I’ve spent so long convincing people that we’re animals too I’ve begun to believe it.

Like I would not yell at a dog for being annoying so I will not yell at a Greg. He’s just an animal. He just wasn’t socialised properly. He just needs a snack and a time out and I’m sure we can settle this like adults.

It’s also helped me be kinder to myself, like when the world feels like it’s falling apart that probably means I need enrichment so I have to take myself for a walk. Nine times of our ten the problem is fixed

[punkpandapatrixk]

🐶The Moon’s Message to Your Inner Child ♦︎ Timeless Pick A Card

This PAC is in collaboration with @faerytreealtars and her part of the PAC covers a message from the Sun🌞Check out her PAC to get a full circle reading~🍃😉

["Wisdom from the Sun" – how to reach your divine self]

‘Do you like to draw with crayons? I’m not very good at it. But it doesn’t matter. It’s the fun of doing it that’s important. Now, I wouldn’t have made that if I’d just thought about it. No matter how anybody says it is, it feels good to have made something. The best thing is that each person’s would be different. In a way, you’ve already won in this world. Because you’re the only one who can be you. And that’s the way it’s supposed to be.’ – Mr Rogers

SONG: Take Me by Miso

MOVIE: Finding Neverland (2004) & Goodbye Christopher Robin (2017)

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Pile 1 – Kinder and Kinder to Your Younger Self

VIBE: BAD MODE by Utada Hikaru

your heart’s secret desires – XIX The Sun

You are actually somebody who believes deeply in world peace. You desperately want to see the world become a sweetly welcoming place for all, especially children and animals. You have a belief that children and animals are so deserving of gentleness and safety. But you often forget that all adults are just as deserving of the same kindness we bestow children and cute animals.

At some point if Life, you grew up and became tough. I think you thought that you needed to become so. I think your environment made you believe it was important to become so tough the world you wouldn’t beat you to it. You’ve experienced quite a bit of hardships, too, so it was rather easy to fall prey to this cruel notion that adults must all toughen up.

‘If you’re tough with yourself, the world will be gentle with you.’ ??

Though it may seem like those words contain so much practical wisdom, deep down, your heart is terribly disturbed by it. There’s just something that’s not quite right about it. If everybody is hard on themselves… how can anybody be gentle with someone else?

in your element – 2 of Swords

Irrespective of what your Moon Sign is or where in your natal chart it is placed, you’re technically not a person who wants to toughen up. I think you’re a deeply sensitive Soul who still believes that patience and compassion can solve many of the world’s problems. Because in fact, your Higher Heart knows this to be true. You’re somebody who can make real compromises to accommodate the needs of others and you’re genuinely capable of real charity because you’re the type that tries to understand wholeheartedly where somebody else is coming from.

When you help others, you do so with their best interest at heart and you don’t even expect anything in return. When you are useful to other people, when your existence can improve other people’s life situations, you feel most like yourself. All that you hope for is that people are at minimum grateful because when people are grateful, they’re really only increasing their own ability to manifest even more ease and abundance. You’re not even expecting them to be grateful to you. My goodness, you must be God🤩

But uhm… You sure, honey, you’re not compromising way too much because you’re also somewhat people pleasing for a lack of gentleness in your childhood?

making dreams a Reality – V The Hierophant

See, The Sun is no.19 in the Major Arcana; that reduces to 10. The Hierophant is no.5 and this is telling me that you’re about halfway to manifesting all your dreams of ease and world peace. The half of your manifestation is already stored in your Higher Heart and you have nothing to worry about it. What you do need to focus on is learning to be kinder and gentler with your own younger self. You’re so kind and accommodating to others but often forget that you need tender care yourself.

There’s a possibility that you grew up with stern adults who didn’t know how to be gentle with children. You grew up being a victim to this kind of behaviour so you overcompensate by being overly nice to others because you don’t want to become like them. But you’re still hard on yourself because this is like already programmed in your subconscious, and if you notice, you have a tendency to also be quite stern with those closest to you. And wow… that often kinda gets messy.

Can you imagine if you became a parent yourself? You could become a perpetrator of a cycle of old people pointing fingers at young people who are still trying to figure out their place in the world. I don’t think you’d be happy with yourself in your older years when you realise you haven’t broken this pattern yourself. I believe you’re someone who wants to leave a legacy of a more peaceful nature🍂It begins by creating a new world by creating a new you, after forgiving yourself for past mistakes you made when you didn’t yet know so much🍃

INNER ALCHEMY🔻❤️

balancing logic and emotions – Silver Astrologer (John Dee)

speaking with conviction – Priestess of Inspiration

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Pile 2 – Baby Venus, You Came Here to Beautify This World

VIBE: Forever by aespa

your heart’s secret desires – Ace of Cups

You are for sure a Lightworker. Maybe even a Starseed. Or something of a cosmic mystic. Could also be from the faery or elven realm. The point is, your Soul is deeply connected to a realm other than this Earth we perceive consciously right now. That makes your heart EXTRA pure and sparkly because the essence of your being is more refined, baby!

What does it even mean to be Human? Often you don’t have an answer to that. Only thing is, a lot of things about common human conducts that seem to denote their humanness don’t seem all too humane for you. It’s like you’re wondering, ‘If these are the traits that make people Human… then what am I? Because I certainly am not that harsh, deceitful, destructive, or whatever else!’

You have a strong morality about you and you should damn well honour this. The Human world is ugly, indeed, and from your place of beauty, your Soul volunteered to be born here to teach Humans about beauty. Beauty is nice. Beauty is good. Beauty elevates the Human Spirit and if only more people would open themselves to the possibilities, surely everyone would be a lot happier than they are now.

That’s your philosophy, more or less✨🪷

in your element – VI The Lovers Rx

You may resonate to a large extent with being an activist of sort. Whether or not you call yourself an activist or are involved in any real activist project, you know deep down that you’ve always been an activist before even knowing such a term exists. You want to fight for something good in this world. You want to bring an end to all these uncomfortable things that you are witnessing being perpetuated in the Human world. Problem is…

It's been quite hard for you to find people who are on the same bandwidth of frequency as yourself. I think you have a lifelong mission to find your Soul Tribe whilst being incarnate on Earth. I mean, your kind is far and between, honey. It may take some time to find each other and unite for a good cause.

Although you may feel misunderstood and lonely from time to time, the way I see it, you could view this whole journey to finding kindred spirits as a wholesome adventure story. Like a fairy tale, you know. After all, you are a faery. Your Life Story has a purpose to beautify the human spirit later when all’s weaved together to create a grander story with your kindred spirits. It’s all written in the stars already, so might as well enjoy the story writing itself from now🧚🏻‍♀️

making dreams a Reality – II The High Priestess

For you really aren’t of this world, I sense that you actually possess some kind of a superpower. Sure, others might think you’re a weirdo (even a freak for some of you) and that your interests and hobbies are strange and taboo. But what do they know? These mortals are prisoners of their own fake realities.

Since you were a kid, you’ve always known there are holes within this perceived reality and somehow, you’ve always believed there are ways you can bend reality with thought alone. You kinda just didn’t know exactly how that works, you just know it. Like breathing—unless you’ve studied biology, you wouldn’t know how to explain how breathing works but you just know that it happens and how it feels. Something like that.

Your connection to your personal spirituality, your personal occult practices, and everything else of that nature, holds the key to making your Divine Dreams a part of this mortal reality. It’s a beautiful process that only you can experience in your own divine ways, so I can’t tell you what to do exactly to manifest your Destiny. You’ve just gotta keep going at what you know to be your truth🧜🏻‍♀️

And the truth is, you are a magical being who doesn’t even play in the same dimension as the mortals😉Keep doing your magical shit!

INNER ALCHEMY🔻💗

balancing logic and emotions – Silver Astronomer (Galileo Galilei)

speaking with conviction – Priestess of Illumination

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Pile 3 – Don’t Kill Your Dreams No Matter How Wild

VIBE: Anata (Darling) by Utada Hikaru

your heart’s secret desires – 5 of Cups

Hellow, wildchild. It seems you’ve been through quite a bit in Life. There was something in your childhood that erupted in ways your child mind couldn’t have anticipated and it broke you emotionally and spiritually. You’re a pretty logical person, actually, so there’s a part of you that’s been wishing you could get over this heartache. But it hasn’t been easy, at all.

The reason for that is that you care too much. Because you’re incredibly sensitive and kind, you couldn’t help but care. Your heart gets easily disturbed by any small distortion you perceive in this Matrix Reality. You have spidey senses for this kind of thing. Your inner world is so expansive and this is partly why you always feel like you want to help. You want justice to win over evil.

You tend to feel like you’re the one who has to be strong and prove everything to everyone. Not only are you helpful, but you’re truly heroic! That’s how I see it😎The problematic thing is… human beings are not exactly a grateful bunch, so… Maybe being so helpful and heroic isn’t always the best way to nurture your Soul whilst living in this human world?

in your element – Page of Wands Rx

I’m not saying you should stop caring and become a coldhearted bitch. But perhaps posing to be one is a good strategy to preserve your sanity?😜The truth of the matter is that you’re really too precious for this world. You know when people say, ‘We don’t deserve this man or woman or dog or cat.’ You’re exactly like that.

Your passion for making the world a better place is often used against you. I’m kind of thinking of someone like Elon Musk in your case. He was bullied badly at school, but look what he’s doing now. He’s making attempts to improve the lives of everybody that even those bullies are bound to benefit from his passionate work. The haters today are probably gonna benefit just the same, right?

Well, I’m a coldhearted bitch, so my petty view is that these losers don’t deserve to benefit from the works of Elon Musk LMAO But what do you think of yourself? I know that in this lifetime you are going to make great leaps that will improve the lives of those you care about. But what about your heart? Will you be able to forgive those who have made hell out of your Life? Or will you become a vengeful barbie bitch who shows them the door to hell of their own making?

It’s up to you and it should be a very exciting spectacle to anticipate👻

making dreams a Reality – XII The Hanged Man Rx

The Hanged Man is a card that has some relations to The Lovers (to think you even get the Priestess of Love for the bonus content🤯). The Hanged Man often talks about compromises and sacrifices. It’s like, when you love and care so much you’re bound to make sacrifices because the world is far from utopian. In an ideal world we wouldn’t have to hurt just to manifest blessings and abundance, for ourselves or everybody else. But… this is what we have, so…

But although this world is messy and hurtful, it wouldn’t be wise for you to reduce the brilliance of your dreams just to avoid heartache or disappointments. You’re avantgarde; not that many people can see the value of what you wish to achieve with your talents. Never kowtow to the convention. Although you’re helpful and a very pleasant person to be around, you’ve got your own big dreams that are needed by the community. I think you just haven’t allowed yourself to fully embrace this idea.

Know that you’re supported by the cosmos in pursuing to improve what you know to be your true talents. One day, the world will be so grateful that you never gave up on your Light. But when that day comes, what’s your care? Gratitude is the least of your concerns. Basically you just want to live on your own terms and create magical pathways for the world to enter into🌏Whilst at it, might as well do whatever you like🌞

INNER ALCHEMY🔻🧡

balancing logic and emotions – Gold Historian (Raphael Holinshed)

speaking with conviction – Priestess of Love

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[ghastlybin]

HI I’M BACK I WOULD LOVE TO SEE MORE ON REAPER! SEONGHWA PLEASE I LOVED HIS INTEGRATION IN THE YEOSANG FIC YOU DID AS PER MY REQUEST YOU CAN DO AN X READER OR JUST A LORE TYPE FIC ABOUT HIM AS A REAPER BUT EITHER I NEED IT THANK YOUUUUU ~ overexcited atiny anon 🙈

Hahahahaha yooooooo back again ay? Anywho, thank you for your request and patience, I uhhh combined your suggestions? Lore + an X reader LOL. Trying out a new format also so I hope it doesn't look too weird. Anyways, ILY PLEASE ENJOY and lmk of any feedback.

-> DON'T FORGET TO LOOK AT THE WARNINGS GDI.

Yeosang fic mentioned in the ask

W.C▾5.1K

Seonghwa X GN Reader

▾Reaper! Seonghwa ▾ Reaper! Reader ▾ FT. Souls keeper! Hongjoong, Angels! Yeosang, Wooyoung, and Jongho, Demon! San, Yunho and Mingi are humans, still. ▾ Angst ▾ Fluff ▾ Blasphemous language ▾ Strong language ▾ Pet loss mentions? not descriptive dw ▾ Familial loss mentions? ▾ major character death ig?▾ Hiding your relationship, yk how that goes ▾ Takes place before/ during Yeosang being outcast from the angelic realm ▾ San is innocent btw ▾ Shit goes down lol ▾ I lowkey cried but that’s because I’m a lil bitch▾ Oh, Dreamcatcher’s Siyeon is mentioned as a reaper▾ She has plot armor despite being in one line & she's innocent too▾ the reader / Y/N is better than me fr, I’d translate these hands into fists so fast- ▾

The realm that separated the angels and the demons.

Purgatory.

The in-between, as some called it. Some argued that it was on par with the demonic realm while others- Namely the demons, disagreed.

None of it bothered Seonghwa. He ran the place, after all, being the lead reaper. None of the gossip fazed him. He knew the place better than anyone.

The ins and the outs, the plant life that grew exclusively around the realm, every form of matter, he could even tell you where something was without a doubt in mind.

Seonghwa met everyone that entered the realm and was there to bid farewell to anyone leaving.

It was his home and if someone didn’t like it, well, good thing it was his home and not theirs.

He’s had a fair share of run-ins with new and old souls that pass through his mist-blanketed realm.

He met babies and children up to the age of fourteen, some who didn’t make it to their first year, some who were almost teenagers but were cut short, and some who were placed in the hands of the wrong people. He met teenagers and adults, of varying ages.

Every cause of death, what they were doing before their last moments, he knew as if it were an instant message to his brain.

Then he met animals of all kinds. They would love him instantly, having a sense that he wasn’t bad and in turn would ease their fears. Seonghwa took care of them all. Escorting them to where they needed to go.

The animals went across the rainbow bridge, where Hongjoong waited on the other side, happily greeting each and every one.

Seonghwa wasn’t the ‘bad’ version of Hongjoong, nor was he a demon. He was a reaper. He didn’t kill or order anyone to be killed because of his title.

No one feared him in purgatory. Not with the warm welcome or the kindness he showed to newcomers regardless of their lives spent on earth.

“Is my mom here?“

“Have you seen my pet?”

“Is my dad here?”

“My sibling passed away before me. Will I see them again?”

Seonghwa knew the answers to every question. Most of the time it would be a simple,

“Yes. They have been waiting for you.” But when the answer was, “No.”, he could never seem to find the right answer no matter how simple.

Sometimes the people they were looking for were still alive on the land of the living. Sometimes, they were in a different realm, inaccessible to the person asking. And still, Seonghwa tried his best to help ease these souls’ anguish.

“Welcome, my name is Seonghwa.” Everyone got that greeting except for animals. They received pats and treats Seonghwa kept on him at all times.

“Don’t be afraid. This is just temporary. You are safe.” No one feared him. But some did occasionally fear where they entered, thinking they were in the demonic realm.

▸

If Seonghwa hadn’t been at this for far longer than you, you’d be the leader of the reapers. There was no denying that you were the second best. Even Seonghwa, the actual leader of the reapers, would appoint you as the leader if he could.

The Purgatory Realm was an open space for any reaper residing there or just passing through, no area was off limits, though you— As well as every other reaper had claimed their areas of the realm.

Whenever someone or an animal ended up on your respective area of the realm, you were always kind and offered any form of comfort to them, knowing they were just as confused as you were when you died centuries ago.

And among the reapers, you were voted the best at escorting those who recently passed on. To Seonghwa, that didn’t come as a surprise. Because out of the other reapers, you had the worst death.

Yet you were still unbroken.

“Hey there buddy! Lived a long life, didn’t we?” You cheerfully called towards the fully grown dog, who happily wagged his tail on his way toward you. Upon placing your hand on top of his head, you were able to see his full life, starting from the moment he was born, to the moment he died.

What felt like yet another lifetime, was only a few seconds and you were back in your corner of the realm, still petting the dog, who didn’t live a life as happy as he was in front of you.

“Oh no… You’re safe here. No one can hurt you here.” You kissed the top of his head before checking the name on the collar.

“Luck? Lucky? What does that say?” You murmured, trying to read the name that had faded with time.

“What is his name?” Seonghwa startled you, causing you to drop the nametag. You looked at the lead reaper, who kneeled beside you to pet the dog.

“Lucky, I assume.”

“It’s Luke.”

You raised your eyebrows in realization, seeing the faded letters matching up with Seonghwa’s observation.

“I’m calling an audit. His name is now Lucky.”

Seonghwa smiled, petting Lucky— Or Luke, as he happily wagged his tail.

“Lucky or Luke, we should get him to the rainbow bridge soon.”

“Can I keep him?” You asked, rising to your feet, looking at Seonghwa with persuading eyes.

“You ask that for every animal you meet.”

“And everyone always tells me no.”

Seonghwa stood up, patting the side of his leg for Lucky to follow. You followed as well, feeling gloomy about having to part with Lucky soon.

“I would let you keep every animal if they didn’t risk losing the ability to reincarnate.” Seonghwa rang the bell for Hongjoong, causing the rainbow bridge to appear as the fog parted ways for the three of you.

Lucky barked, picking up speed towards the bridge. You smiled bittersweetly.

“Does he have to reincarnate? Humans suck.”

“I agree with you on that,” Seonghwa sighed, stopping both of you from getting too close to the bridge. “But this time, Luke— Lucky, is guaranteed a nice life.”

“Ah, so a peace offering for the shit he lived through previously.” You stuffed your hands in your pockets as Hongjoong was taken by surprise when Lucky jumped up, wagging his tail and licking Hongjoong all over his face. He laughed, wiping his face when Lucky raced towards the other animals excitedly.

“Next animal that comes through with a horrible life, I’m going to the land of the living and showing them why I used to be a demon.” You mumbled, being completely serious.

With that, Seonghwa laughed, a rare sound to hear from the leader of the reapers. Hongjoong waved towards you two from the other side of the bridge before it faded back into the fog.

“For now, try not to get your title relinquished, alright? I still need you.” He looked around as he said that but then his eyes stopped on you, who smirked.

“For a scary reaper, you sure are sentimental.”

▸

Those inhabiting the purgatory realm didn’t have to follow any angelic or demonic rules. They were free to do and say whatever as long as it didn’t interfere with the angels or demons.

However, reapers only had one unspoken rule.

No two reapers can be in a relationship.

Same for a reaper and an angel or a reaper and a demon.

Unspoken, yet every reaper knew not to pursue a relationship with anyone. Their purpose was to focus on their jobs as reapers and they would have complete control over their soul.

Even the soul's keepers have this rule implemented.

The risk of losing your soul didn’t stop you or Seonghwa from being with each other, sneaking around just to see each other by unprofessional means and hiding your feelings for each other from the other prying reapers.

You were sure some of the other reapers suspected something. Even Seonghwa had heard rumors about you dating someone, whether it was an angel or a demon— And although only half true, he would still deny them on your behalf.

If anyone paid any more attention, your relationship would be obvious.

Seonghwa knew only one other person— Other than you, knew how much he loved you.

Hongjoong.

He is the soul's keeper, after all. Someone with that much access to someone’s soul? Of course he’d know.

And having that kind of knowledge would be kept strictly confidential.

You two have gotten used to hiding from everyone, albeit exhausting. It didn’t feel fair, how demons could freely fall for each other, or how angels had access to full blown celebrations but only when a relationship was deemed serious enough.

There was a loneliness that came with loving Seonghwa, that had nothing to do with him and everything to do with whoever created the rule of reapers living their eternities alone.

It was hardly living. And because you were a reaper, you weren’t living at all.

What a cruel way to live, not being able to love someone out loud.

Seonghwa found you sitting by the dark pond with a small fog that blanketed the body of water, parting more when Seonghwa got closer.

“Any newly deceased around here?” Seonghwa asked, sitting against the grey grass beside you.

“I escorted fifteen people two hours ago. Siyeon said she’d take over for me.” You stared out at the pond where the fog wasn’t covering the water.

“Good. You could use a break,” Seonghwa smiled, leaning back with his elbows propping him up. “Is this your favorite place?”

You looked at him, a smile instantly forming on your face seeing the man that has made you feel more alive in death.

“No.” You tossed a pebble into the water, causing a small ripple. “My favorite place is in front of gate P-043.”

“Which gate is that?” Seonghwa looked at you with furrowed eyebrows. You smiled a little wider.

“The gate I met you at… Some of the reapers and I have named every known gate into the realm.” You explained, easing his expression. He sat up, tossing a pebble into the water, copying your previous action.

“I have an idea.” Seonghwa turned to face you and in turn, you did the same.

“You always wished we could show affection freely, yeah?” he continued.

You nodded slowly. Seonghwa grinned, taking your hand and flattened it against his, proceeding to put both your middle finger and ringer finger down against your palm.

“Devil horns?” You questioned, leaving your hand in the form he put it in.

Seonghwa chuckled, shaking his head, “No, no. Look.”

He put down your index finger and thumb, only leaving your pinky.

“I.”

Then he put your pinky down, creating a fist momentarily before bringing up your index finger and thumb.

“L.”

Seonghwa paused to examine your focused expression. He smiled, leaving your thumb up but putting your index down and bringing your pinky back up.

“Y.”

Getting the meaning, you brought up every finger except your middle and ring fingers, keeping those pressed against your palm.

“Oh.” You felt that feeling again. The fluttering in your chest. The comforting warmth that came with the knowing that someone loved you.

“This is how we can remind each other freely. Just do this with your hand.” Seonghwa mimicked what you just called ‘devil horns’.

“Secret code?”

Seonghwa placed a hand against your face, running his thumb gently across your cheek, “yes. It’s innocent, discreet, friendly— You just referred to it as devil horns, so I doubt anyone else will catch on.”

You laughed, “not to mention that most of the angels already consider us demons for associating with death.”

“Please, it’s not like we kill people ourselves.” Seonghwa softly scoffed, watching you replicate the sign he put your hand in.

I.L.Y.

“I love you.” He whispered, gazing at you in complete and utter admiration.

And you stared at him in a stunned silence, raising your hand up a little higher.

I.L.Y.

▸

“Did you two hear about what Yeosang did?” Jongho asked, standing before you and Seonghwa. The angel had entered the realm to accept those recently deceased who were accepted into the angelic realm. Of course, he waited for the new angels to walk through the gate to the angelic realm before asking that.

“The guardian angel?” Seonghwa replied. Jongho nodded as if it were obvious.

“I don’t know the full story, but he’s been cast out to the demons.” Jongho looked back at the gate, seeing the angelic realm awaiting his return. “I’m sure he’ll visit… I gotta go before the gods and goddesses get suspicious. Everyone is on edge.”

You waited for the gates to close behind Jongho, waving at him as they did. Then you turned toward Seonghwa.

“The gods and goddesses are fucking confusing,” You mumbled, walking away with Seonghwa, yet catching him off-guard. “They love everyone— Or so they say, but can’t pardon their number one guardian angel for one goddamn sin? It’s a bunch of bullshit if you ask me.”

“You have a point, but maybe don’t say that near their gates…” Seonghwa let out a laugh. You made a motion of zipping your lips, followed by a wink.

“As I’ve said, they already think we’re demons that kill people and animals, so really, what’s the worst I can say?”

Seonghwa stopped walking, halting your movements as well by grabbing your arm and spinning you around to face him.

“Before we part ways for the day,” Seonghwa whispered. You had just enough time to process what he was doing just before feeling his lips pressed against yours.

There it was again, the warmth comfort of someone loving you. The type of feeling that can only be replicated by one person and no one else. You couldn’t help but dream of a day where you and Seonghwa could openly love each other the way demons, angels, and humans could as his lips were synced with yours for a prolonged amount of time.

“Am I interrupting?”

You and Seonghwa instantly pulled apart, mortified, having been caught. San raised his eyebrows slightly, a nonchalant expression adorned on his face.

“Before I ask what I intended, I will say now that I don’t give a shit about turning anyone in. The gods and goddesses can-”

“San,” You interrupted, shaking from the fear of losing everything in a single moment. “Please don’t say a word to anyone.”

San raised both hands, “as I said, I am not a snitch. An arsonist, yes. But never a snitch, Have more faith in me, will you?”

Seonghwa closed his eyes with a bowed head, deep in thought. San looked at you, a small smile forming on his face. You noticed it was a sincere smile rather than mischievous.

“For the record, giving the reapers a rule against dating is fucking stupid.” San dropped his arms to his side. “But what the hell do I know?”

You still couldn’t shake the feeling of being close to losing everything you’ve lived for— Despite not being alive. You could lose your title as a reaper, or you could lose your soul.

Or you could lose Seonghwa.

And he could lose you before he could really have you.

“I, San, will not say a word or even mention it,” San sighed, “Now, I need help finding a specific herb located in limbo… Please?”

Seonghwa accepted, motioning you to continue on with your daily obligations.

You began to walk away, your heart thumping in your chest. You turned to look at Seonghwa one last time, seeing he was speaking to San but being too far to hear their conversation.

You looked down at his side, seeing his hand and how his middle and ring fingers were pressed against his palm and his pinky, index finger, and thumb were the only visible fingers.

I.L.Y.

He wasn’t looking at you, but you did the same, mimicking the placement of his fingers.

▸

It quickly became a reflex of yours to hold up your hand in that formation when you would see Seonghwa looking your way.

And he would, on instinct, replicate your ‘devil horns’.

Other reapers noticed, but they too thought you were both in on some inside joke that made fun of demons. As time went by, they got used to it, ignoring you and Seonghwa when you’d hold up the sign that read, I.L.Y.

If anyone bothered to pay closer attention, they’d know.

But they didn’t.

Most of your time spent with Seonghwa was spent at the pond, where I love you wasn’t just an unspoken sign on your hands.

“Someday we will be free.” Seonghwa had a small smile across his lips, both gloomy and hopeful. “I bet your hands cramp up when you do your ‘devil horns’.”

You let out a laugh, gently shoving Seonghwa, “nope. It’s like a workout for my hands.”

Seonghwa chuckled, a look of adoration on his face as he looked at your smiling face, hoping this moment would never end and that you’d always be smiling like this.

The only person he dared to love in a title that forbade it.

Still, he wouldn’t turn back the clock to avoid you. He would turn back the time just to meet you again. And again. And once more.

“I love you.”

The three words, despite being just that, every syllable meant everything to you. It was rare, and not by choice. And it hurt almost as much as it filled you with euphoria.

You leaned forward, placing your lips against his, both of you cherishing every moment of the kiss you shared.

Unbeknownst to the two of you, someone had taken a picture of you two in the middle of the kiss, before the retreated, taking the evidence to the gods and goddesses.

▸

You ran as fast as you could to gate K-117, fear and adrenaline fueling you as you rang for Hongjoong, who appeared almost instantaneously at the gate. You ran through the gate and into his respective realm, pulling the gate closed.

“Hongjoong—!” You panted, tears brimming your eyes from the fear. Hongjoong already knew what happened before you could tell him the run-down of the situation.

“Where is Seonghwa?” Hongjoong asked, concern laced in his voice.

��He’s been detained. He willingly went with the angelic guards!” You panicked, unsure what they would do to him. Someone caught the two of you at the pond.

The only bright side was that Seonghwa still had a chance to be freed. The picture was obscured when being developed that his face or any distinguishing features weren’t visible.

You thanked the gods and goddesses for that.

But it was clear that you were the only other person in the picture.

“Why would he let them take him?! How the hell did they know it was him?”

Hongjoong knew you were upset, scared, and worried for Seonghwa. You knew you two broke the only rule a reaper had, but you couldn’t help but think about how innocent you both were.

“If he fought back, then he would really be suspicious… Y/N, what is your plan? You know what will happen…” Hongjoong frowned, a look of despair following.

“I… I don’t know.” You crossed your arms across your chest to calm yourself down. “Fuck! Why can’t they just ‘Yeosang’ me and send me to hell? Why do I have to fucking die?!”

You broke down into tears, knowing what they will do to you and probably Seonghwa if he confessed to being in a relationship with you. And everything inside of you hoped he wouldn’t.

“Did San—”

“No. He’s innocent. He wouldn’t do something like this to you or Seonghwa.” Hongjoong gently placed his hands on your shoulders to calm your shaking.

But nothing could calm you down after this.

“Hongjoong, you’re the only one that has archival proof of our memories. Please deny Seonghwa’s involvement with me. No one knows it was him in the picture, the gods and goddesses must’ve assumed— Please, this is the last thing I ask.” You pleaded, pressing your hands together as Hongjoong gave you an apprehensive look, deciding whether to accept or not.

“I can die, but please, not Seonghwa.” You added. Hongjoong tilted his head, a look of genuine remorse toward you as you begged.

“I can’t just lie… That’s a sin.”

“Is loving someone a sin too?” You remarked, your heart dropping to your stomach.

Before Hongjoong could respond, they found you, entering Hongjoong’s realm as the guards detained you, your hands chained behind your back as you were transported to the angelic realm beside Seonghwa, who was physically fine, but the second he saw you, you could see the glint of fear in his eyes knowing they caught you.

Hongjoong soon joined, his presence mandatory in finding out who the obscured figure was in the picture.

The God of Judgment stood before the two of you, examining your frightened expression.

“What is your relationship to each other? Bear in mind lying is a sin.”

You and Seonghwa glanced at each other briefly, afraid if you turned your head any further, they would see right through you.

“Friends.” Seonghwa spoke. “We are just friends to each other.”

In a different situation, those words would’ve hurt you.

But now? In the face of death? You were comforted, knowing Seonghwa wasn’t going to confess to the entire relationship that easily. Especially knowing he still had a chance at going free.

You nodded in agreement, “Yes. Only friends!”

There was a screen in the angelic courtroom that had the picture of you kissing someone— Seonghwa. Everyone knew it was you.

No one knew it was Seonghwa except Hongjoong and San, if he were allowed into the angelic realm to corroborate.

You looked at him with pleading eyes, then you noticed Jongho and Wooyoung, who you had only seen a few times before when escorting newly deceased.

They both seemed shocked by the whole thing.

“Is the other person beside you?” The God of Judgment’s voice boomed through the room. You quickly shook your head, hoping Seonghwa wouldn’t try to interfere or confess.

“No! Why does it matter? Falling in love with someone isn’t the end of the world!” You yelled, figuring if you were going to attempt to change anyone’s mind, it would be now and in the face of death.

“Love and death can never mix. Death can’t love anything without destroying itself.”

You struggled at the chains binding your hands behind your back, shaking your head.

“You’re wrong.” You cried, “You’re fucking wrong!”

“Bring them forward.”

Two guards pulled you before the God of Judgment, his intimidating demeanor making your skin crawl.

“Hongjoong, was the other person Seonghwa or not?”

And your mind raced, looking at him in an attempt to telepathically beg him to lie for you. Selfish, yes. But for Seonghwa, you would gladly be selfish if it meant he got to keep his soul.

“No.” Hongjoong spoke. For a moment, your ears rang. The deafening silence in the courtroom as you felt the time freeze.

“It was not Seonghwa… I don’t have access to who the other person was.” Hongjoong looked at you, trying so hard not to break down.

You were considered to be one of his friends. And his next words would tear him up more than you could ever know.

“Y/N destroyed that information… When they came into my realm.”

Seonghwa widened his eyes, the bottom of his eyelids brimming with tears. But he couldn’t say anything. Not without foiling everything and the three of you go down for breaking the one rule, but Hongjoong would be punished for lying.

It was ironic, how afraid of death you were in that moment. You dealt with death every day. Hell, you were death.

Every reaper was.

You didn’t kill anyone, but it was just the nature of your title.

It scared you.

“He’s telling the truth.” You spoke. Hongjoong forced himself to look away, afraid he would break down in despair and give everything away.

You felt the chains being detached, freeing your hands. You didn’t fight back, there was no use against the gods or goddesses.

“I will never tell you who it was.” You forced a smile directed at the God of Judgment. He shook his head, silently ordering two of his followers, who stood at both sides of you.

“That doesn’t matter anymore.”

It happened way less painfully than you expected. It was like you were floating, with tears streaming down your face. Everyone unsaid word, action that will never be done, and the life you’ll never see with Seonghwa.

You weren’t living, but with Seonghwa, you felt very much alive. His face was the first one you saw upon death, and it was the last you saw as memories of him flashed through your mind.

Seonghwa stared, helpless and in shock, watching as you fell limp as the God of Judgment encased your soul into a jar to be sent away where it would forever become inaccessible.

Seonghwa couldn’t breathe, forcing himself to contain his grief. And he looked at your hand.

Your middle and ring fingers pressed against your palm while your pinky, index finger, and thumb remained straightened out.

I.L.Y.

Seonghwa held it together until he was alone, the pain of losing you tore him up, an immense pain he couldn’t even begin to describe.

When he was alone, he ran to the pond where he shared your last kiss, gasping sobs as he collapsed to his knees in front of the pond.

Seonghwa gripped the grey grass as he shoved his face underwater, muffling the scream that came out next.

Seonghwa remerged, allowing himself to break down.

You were everything to him.

Somehow, that wasn’t enough.

Death can’t love anything without destroying itself.

You were right, he was wrong.

It felt like an injustice to you that Seonghwa began to agree with what he said.

Seonghwa was basically death, just as you were.

And he loved you.

And that destroyed him.

▸

San hesitated, a long expression as he waited at gate P-043. He held a canteen of a special tea he concocted, for the sole purpose of giving to Seonghwa as a form of consolation.

Seonghwa was there to greet him, a friendly smile adorned on his face when he saw San.

San felt waves of guilt, despite doing anything wrong. He held out the canteen, his arms shaking, thinking Seonghwa blamed him for your death.

“I’m sorry.” San watched Seonghwa smile drop, a look of sorrow taking over. Seonghwa accepted the canteen, the warm exterior being the only warmth he’s felt since before losing you.

“I know,” Seonghwa’s voice was quiet, the lump in his throat preventing him from speaking up. “You don’t need to be.”

San was torn between offering him a hug or just leaving him be. Guilt still clouded his mind.

“Hongjoong… He found the person who caused this.”

San didn’t feel any better. You were still gone and despite San’s loyalty, he regretted not being able to somehow prevent what happened to you.

▸

Seonghwa watched over your side of the realm for any newly deceased, even five centuries later, he never forgot about you. How could he?

He never got used to you being gone either. He still presses his middle and ring fingers to his palm, recreating what you once mistook for ‘devil horns’, but was actually a sign for I.L.Y., every time he enters your area of the realm.

‘I love you’.

The three words that never left his lips again.

Seonghwa entered your space, seeing something moving in the fog.

Then Seonghwa noticed the small dog, no older than one year old, trotting towards him. It’s tail wagged happily, tongue sticking out.

“Oh! Hey cutie! Are you lost?” Seonghwa kneeled, checking the name on the collar with one hand and feeding the dog a treat with the other. “Lucky?” Seonghwa felt a strange wave mixed with relief and despair when he read the tag.

“Nice to meet you, Lucky.” Seonghwa fondly smiled at the small dog, scratching it behind its ears as he fought back the lingering and unresolved pain he held in his chest.

The dog barked happily, circling Seonghwa. Seonghwa stood up, patting his leg for the dog to follow him in the distance to the rainbow bridge that opened up, sensing Lucky’s arrival.

The mist parted ways for him and the dog, as excited as it was.

“You’re a good dog.” Seonghwa grinned, petting Lucky one last time and offering another treat.

“Go. Hongjoong will take good care of you.” Seonghwa watched the dog happily bound across the bridge towards Hongjoong, who was kneeling and ready for Lucky to pounce into the Souls Keeper’s arms.

With a smile, Seonghwa stepped back, seeing Lucky run off to play with the other animals across the rainbow bridge.

Hongjoong and Seonghwa exchanged a wave towards each other before the bridge faded away and waited for another animal to enter Seonghwa’s realm.

In a moment of panic, Seonghwa rang the bell and summoned Hongjoong back. This time, the bridge didn’t appear and instead it was just Hongjoong.

“Why did you ring?”

“Let me keep Lucky.”

Hongjoong was taken aback but hesitantly shook his head, “what about—”

“Let me keep Lucky, please. It’s… All I ask.” Seonghwa repeated. Hongjoong pinched the bridge of his nose, a deep sigh as he gave in.

“Alright. You know it’s unethical for a reaper to stop a reincarnation, and I know it is.” Hongjoong looked off into the purgatory realm, seeing nothing but mist and fog for miles. “If we both agree that we recognize how unethical it is, then, fine. I will bring Lucky back.”

Seonghwa felt a sense of relief, watching Hongjoong open the gate to his realm.

“Wait!”

Hongjoong stopped and faced Seonghwa with his hand still on the gate.

“Luke?”

Hongjoong shook his head, “He’s been reincarnated.”

Seonghwa tried not to let his disappointment show, still grateful that Hongjoong agreed to let the other Lucky come back. But Hongjoong still saw right through his expression.

“Don’t worry. He lives with an elderly couple on a farm… He grew up with them.”

Seonghwa teared up, a smile formed on his lips, knowing Luke— Original ‘Lucky’, was living a good life.

And he heard your voice, having held onto that sound for centuries.

‘For a scary reaper, you sure are sentimental.’

[muchadoaboutnot]

.

In two days they leave finally.

Sable feels a stab of disappointment that Pennywise has not shown up since the night she fed him. But then she tells herself she should feel lucky or as a religious human would say: blessed.

Except she does feel a sense of guilt since she's heard since then there's been a few missing people... She doesn't check if they're adult or children. She can't bear it and instead puts everything into every show every night; it makes up for the first week of her being distracted by IT and doing poorly through some of the rehearsals and shows.

She feels a sense of accomplishment even and almost forgets him but again the sense of him about... It feels familiar now, it hums in her and she doesn't like it. Because she doesn't understand it.

Her kind were explorers of galaxies and if they found a suitable planet to take an interest in, well, that was it. That was home. Therefore Earth was home and she's so far was doing a good job of integrating into the society of humanity. But IT. His presence, whatever that thing, creature was, suddenly reminded her of what she was. Not human. It made her feel the light that was her body, the comet she could become- but she didn't want that. She didn't want the itch to travel again and find another planet. This was her planet.

But then it wasn't that, it wasn't the yearning to travel again, it was the yearning to connect. Out of all the damn things on this Earth, she felt a longing to see IT's true form and hold it, touch it- because she knew she could. She knew she could engage with Pennywise outside of their human bodies. Yet worst part she wanted to engage with his human glamour also! - the way he drooled and smiled with those teeth, buckteeth, and sharp teeth, all forms! As if something deep-seated was inside of her and she wanted to lick inside his mouth like an animal.

For once in her life she felt her age.

And her human formed ached, it felt sore and irritated and unpleasant. Like wearing a rubber glove for too long and it annoyed her because before him she was happy in the human form she picked.

All these thoughts plagued her as she sat atop her trailer. The cool air of night dried her hair, the show had finished hours ago and she showered and dressed just to sit cross legged outside on top of her trailer. Her eyes glowed every once in a while when she wanted to see who was walking around in the dark still, before turning back to brown and limited like a human's eye sight.

It was peaceful even if her mind wasn't yet unfortunately her thoughts were cut short in a manner.

The anxiety she felt grew, the frustration, something deep within her and at first it confused Sable- she knew this feeling, these feelings. But most of all she understood it wasn't her but it was him. This was his doing. Manipulating her thoughts, her feelings- but it was different it was more powerful, more potent, more terrifying.

Sable felt panic rise in her throat and as much as she tried to touch her celestial consciousness she could not. Instead she shifted to her knees, held out her hands in front of her as if blind in the darkness. The purple of her eyes did nothing and it frightened her.

What made it worse however was when she felt a firm and forceful hand grip around her left ankle. She was snatched so fast off the roof of her trailer she actually screeched. Short lived however as the air from her lungs was expelled so fast she was left gasping. She had hit the ground so fast and hard all she could do was hyperventilate.

And Pennywise looked terrible and foreboding as he leaned over her. Large smile set with sharp teeth. Eyes angry and red. His hair looked greasy and wild while his outfit looked disheveled with blood, as if he had finished eating something or someone not long ago.

"Hello~"

Was all Sable was able to understand from him before he stabbed her in the shoulder. His arms looked like that of some sort of insect creature, maybe a mantis. Perhaps some type of spider. Either way she cried out and even felt tears come to her brown eyes. Right away her hands flew to his offending appendage and she struggled trying to get him to unpin her from the ground. Instead all she got was his laughter in her ears as he leaned down close to her face.

"Stupid little thing, you had no chance against me."

His tongue felt slimy and his breath was putrid as he licked the whole side of her face. Tasting her salty tears, he even smirked in satisfaction at finally making the thing called Sable submit. Hearing her whimper and cry was so delicious to him.

"I am the Eater of Worlds." He said with confidence until she clawed his face.

It was his turn to startle but not cry out, instead he stood up and felt his face. Both of his arms and hands now human as she had clawed him and he felt around the open wound that was over half his face. His one good eye watched as his blood whisper and oozed in the air before he looked down at Sable.

She herself sat up on the ground, shoulder bleeding and breathing heavily but her one hand had turned that translucent black. Dark claws that sliced into the clown so easily.

"Why!?" Was all she could cry out at him.

With the worst attitude she could imagine he sneered at her.

"Why? Why, why, why?! Why you ask? Why are you here, why do you exist? Why can't I kill you?" The way the clowns voice broke at the last part gave her an idea it was feeling things it didn't want to feel.

He grinned at her in an unhumorous way, his eyes full of hate, panic, and distress. Yet when he turned his right arm back into the javelin like insect arm and raised it above her. He wavered. He couldn't stab her again as he looked down at Sable who just sat on the ground.

"Why don't you get up?! Hey! You little idiot, do something!"

He taunted her but it was half hearted, if anything it sounded desperate.

Sable herself was confused and hurt, not even physically because she could ignore that wound. Even as it poured blood. Instead she felt hurt in her chest, within her heart. But then she told herself to stop being stupid and as she watched him come undone in front of her so did his illusions.

The terrifying feeling was leaving her and instead she felt anger swell inside her.

Quickly she got up on her feet, feeling her body become weak from the blood loss before she closed the wound. Something she didn't know she was capable of. Something new he taught her.

Still as she rounded onto him she could tell he was ready to be stabbed, to fight, to do anything but what she did.

Sable slapped him across the face.

Her hand connected on the good side of his face, the cheek that wasn't torn and had enough surface to make his head snap to the side. They were both sure if he was other than what he was it would have snapped his neck.

"What's wrong with you?!"

"W-"

"No! I get to speak now! I don't care what or who you are, I've done nothing to you from the start! I made myself clear I could care less what you do in this... Hunting grounds of yours. Just stay away from the show. Restrain yourself for two weeks but you couldn't do that. That's on you! Not me!"

Sable watched as he shrunk back from her and her scolding. Watched as he tried to reassemble his face as she spoke. The pathetic creature in front of her looked miserable and not at all scary anymore yet the worst part was...

"What do you want from me, Pennywise?"

Sable was close enough to him now she took both of her hands to either side of his face, and with quick and strong fingers... Pulled him close. Making him lean down and bend over so they could be eye to eye. Her pretty purple eyes glittered at his puffy yellow ones. As if it was he had cried and not her.

"You."

His tone was flat, almost defeated.

Sable didn't know what to say to that right away, instead they peered at each other before she moved one of her hands. The side of his head still reforming she decided to help. Although at first she pushed her fingernails through the carnage of his ripped flesh. She felt some of the skin and meat underneath her fingernails before withdrawing to lightly set her hand over the flesh. With soft strokes his cheeks became whole again, his eye blinked as it could see again. Comically he blinked slow and stupidly with both eyes now as he adjusted to having them both work again.

"How dramatic. Do you think you can't have me so instead you tried to kill me?"

The confusion is clear on his face at her words.

"I... Can have you?"

"Not acting like this! Idiotic. You're the stupid one." Sable spit at him, glowering as she held his face still.

Suspicious was clear in the clowns tone, "I'm trying to kill you."

"I'm not human." Was her simple reply as if that would explain everything. "I'm harder to kill."

Surprise filled her eyes however after her smart remake, because she felt Pennywise put his full weight of his head in her hands. She had to readjust her grip as she watched his whole body sag even.

For a few more seconds she thought about her next words.

"Did you eat someone?" Sable questioned and only got a long and bored look. "Stop eating... People."

"Are you going to make me?"

"I'll feed you."

Again they were quiet as they looked at each other.

"I'll rub your belly again; I think you liked it."

[popculturebuffet]

Rocko's Modern Life Hutch and Filbert Retrospective: (Rinse and Spit The Big Question/Answer and From Here to Maternity) (Comission for WeirdKev27)

Happy easter all you happy people! This year is an anniversary o-rama isn't it? X-Men, Iron Man, Avengers, John Allison, Legion of Super Heroes and many more. But among them all is one i'm going to be spotlighting a few time this years, a show that dosen't get enough love and deserves all of it: Rocko's Modern Life!

Rocko's Modern Life was created by Joe Murray as one of the earliest nicktoons, and used the wild west nature of those early days to craft what's essentailly an adult animated sitcom on a children's network, a slice of life show about living in your 20's following Rocko, a shy but kind and welcoming australian, his obnoxious but loveable best friend and man child heffer, and their third buddy Filburt, a neuotic turtle who while intially based on a sex criminal, thankfully grew out of that woody allen shape and into his own character. The three navigated all the pitfalls of being in your 20's in the 90's: multiplexes, mean bosses, cranky neighbors, finding out your adopted, health clubs, overextending your credit, crazy buss drivers stalking you to get BACK ON THE BUSSS, kidney removals, your neighbors wife trying to hump you, camping trips, the horrors of riding a plane, getting sent to heck and of course wild pigs.

It was a great show that could be incredibly relatable one minute and entirely bananas the next, and sometimes both at the same time. It was remakrably well done and going back for this set only reminded me why I love it so much.

So for our first look at it this year, we're taking a look at the show's major romantic subplot. It technically had two as Rocko had a longtime crush on his neighbor Melba Toast, but it was less a subplot with any progression and more just him pining for someone who didn't like him back. Honestly I feel bad that Rocko never got a steady relationshpi: he had two that seemed like they might work out and we might get to his fractured love life sometime this year, but the poor guy never got it started.

No the shockingly most consitent relationship on the show was Filburt's with Dr. Hutchison, the love story of a neurotic nerd and a doctor of all trades with a hook. Suprisingly though it's only really the focus of three episodes and an important part of two. We'll be saving kiss me i'm foreign for a later day, but it's remakrable how despite just kinda being there and in a series that didn't focus TOO hard on continuinty, how consitent it is and likeable it comes off. And since I love a good relationship it only seems right to take a nice long look at it and see why it works just in time for Zombie Jesus Day as the last episode happens to involve easter bunnies, jesus mortal enemies. So come with me under the cut for a love story for the ages

Rinse and Spit wasn't an episode I thought much about. I remmebered it sure, it's hard to forget the episode where rocko gets king konged by a giant tooth, but rewatching it this may be one of the shows best. It's just so densely packed with jokes, the second half is so lovingly bonkers, and paula is just so friggin great throughout you can't help but love it. The plot follows Filburt who tries to slasher villian stalk Hefer into taking part in his exam for dental school, and who then baits rocko into it via owing him one from childhood. Said flashback is also great with Filburt being genuinely sweet to his new friend, explaning how he and rocko are so close, the puppy jar, and of course the return of my one and only son

yes, yes you are. I wish he'd shown up more. He is the best of us. It's a good Filbert plot though: he's nervous, out of his depth and sweaty, exactly his wheelhouse with Rocko bein ga good enouraging friend even once he gets out the electrodes.

The real star htough is Hutch who I think makes her debut here. Her origin story is a great one too: Murray was attending a press confrence and was asked why the show had no female role models. Murray naturally for him responded with "people dont' see cartoon characters as role models " and TV shouldn't be used to teach lessons. Which was true for the show and it's goals.. but naturally set the execs into panic mode, askign for Rocko's narcoleptic sister to be added to fill this now needed gap, which he refused. Thankfully for the world and for tv an exec did end up accidently giving him a good idea. She cynically asked for a female character "with a hook". Naturally Joe took this as literally as possible because if you hadn't noticed he's kind of a sarcastic ass and I love it.

What's remarkable.. is he ended up giving them EXACTLY what they wanted through this joke of a response. The writers fell in love with Hutch and thus she became a strong career woman with 80 jobs and degrees, but who was also cheerful and entirley loopy, and could be both without any real contridction. Her weirdness was used fo rjokes, from her unique neck snap, to her hook, but her disability was just as much part of her as it was a fun visual joke. She was someone kids could look up to, someone who was a doctor but still theirselves at the same time while not sacrifcing competence to do so. Honestly out of the cast Hutch seems to be the most together person, without every sacrifcing her having fun to do so. She's not barely scraping by like rocko, reliant off tin cans like her future husband, mooching off whoevers around like heff, or in a miserable dead end job like Mr Bighead. She's just happy and in a career she loves. And that's what we all want right? to be our weird selves and still get to do what we love?

She also gets great character stuff: sh'es clearly into filbert, but refuses to go out with him till the crisis is past and shames him into actually getting back to fixing the mistake he made.. in this case a giant tooth abuducting his best friend, gladly asks him out once it's over, and rejects him from denstitry because well.. giant tooth monster. There's never a moment she's not great.

Rocko also gets one or two great btis: being forced into a "and now kiss' situation with hutch, and when filburt has a shot to save them "He's my best friend but he can't throw. I'd say we're done for". Just the casual way he says it. These eps reminded me that rocko himself is really underated as while he's often the straight man, and a very good one, he can be just as funny himself at times.

Filburt also gets to shine a little: his using a childhood promise, electrodes (which hutch seems to be INNN to) and his phallic chimney sweep dreams at the end all work. Overall this isn't a really deep or character based episode.. but it is relaly fucking hilarious and it'll always have that

The Big Question… is my faviorite episode of the show. It's the one I go back to the most, and has some of my all time faviorite gags which kev kindly screencapped for me. While I do most of mine I can't acess paramount+ on my pc, so he gladly made them for me.

The Big Question also took an uphill battle to get made: not the biggest i've seen in animation, i've seen way bigger fights.. but it was still one. See some execs simply prefer a looser status quo for shows: continuity is fine to a point, btu they want them playable in any order. Obviously they've relaxed ont his a bit as more recent comedies for kids like say craig of the creek, harvey beaks or big city greens still have a pretty rich continuity and ocasionally story arcs. Their just still episodic. It's still just a bit as while seralized shows exist, execs seem antsy about them, see it being the excuse for the owl house's cancelation.

So naturally when the writers pitched Filburt and Hutch, who had been together about a season, marying, they had to FIGHT to get them to agree with it. Me I don't see what the big deal is as it's a very slight change. They live together now probably… and? It dosen't really effect what kinds of stories they can tell an dat most a kid will go "Wait they got married?!" if it get sbrought up..t hen want to see what they missed. I can say this as a kid who often missed big plot point episodes, especially with avatar and badly wanted to know what i'd missed..or simply wasn't aware I missed anything till much later. It seems weird to get upset over when it dosen't hurt the show and the show HAD continuity once or twice before, with Rachel Bighead getting a sequel episode. It's also maddening to think this hatred of episodes having gasp continuity and arcs has NOT gone away. Kids.. like this stuff. I latched onto KND and Danny PHantom in part due to their ongoing soap operas. Amont my niece and nephews, my older nephews love anime, my younger nephew binged avatar all by himself and trollhunters too and my niece has binged gravity falls multiple time. Kids, at least a lot of them, love arc based story telling and plots. They love the fact these thigns pay off.. because most people do. It's how narrative storytelling often works. So seeing these two get married isn't some big GASP THEY'LL BE CONFUSED MOMENT but both a big awe and a desire to see how it happened. HOw it happened is also fun as filbert is neurotic about it!

We also get a nice contrast in their support from Rocko and Heifer: Heifer being.. Heifer… is both genuinely supportive and that one friend you wanted to shove out of a moving vehicle often. He'll troll filburt during a practice session one minute, and help him break into Hutch's old high school in matching stealth outfits the next. It shows while the two's main purpose as friends is to fight, see one of the very episodes today as an example, and have poor rocko serve as referee or just roll his eyes, Heifer DOES care about hima nd want to help

Rocko however shwos some of his best here: he's genuinely supportive.. but also fed up with Filburt's nonseense, constantlly encourging him to

And needling Filburt's attempts to keep putting off his proposal due to nerves. He's harsh sure.. but Filburt needs that. As someone with anxiety I relate to being trapped in your own insecurity and self doubt, so I get Filburt NEEDING that push to do what he truly wants to do but is sipmly too nauseous to pull off. It's a geninely sweet dynamic and i'ts also nice to see Rocko who the universe commonly bats around like a cat with a fairly intresting toy, be the assertive once for once and actually help drive the plot. It also works well as you never get the sense Filburt dosen't want to marry hutch just that his own self loathing and neurosis are an obstacle , one he does almost overcome to propose.. but she beats him to it, which I also like as it fits Paula's positve go getter personality and proves WHY the two, despite being polar oppisites works: he likely grounds her enthusasim while still being genuinely sweet and supportive, and she helps give him the confidence he lacks and genuinely supports him with not a speck of condecsenmsion. She's probably the only person in the series who both won't take Filburt's bullshit.. but also belivies in him. Even Rocko dosen't on most days, and he's our own marsupial jesus. The plot also works well for both it's emotinal core.. and jokes. Paula is hanging around with her good buddy Tiger, and being a traditionally handsome cat man, seriously his arms my god, it nicely sends Hutch spinning> We the audience can probably guess that their just friends because Paula Hutchison isn't a cheater and can you know.. have healthy inter gender friendships. But he's not relaly the obstacle here: the guys just THINK he's one. Filburt is his own worst enemy, he kicks the living shit out of .. he.

That said we do get a nice supporting antagon ist who really dosen't stop our heroes for long but eats all the screentime she has, with Kevin Meany doing an awesome job: The Wido Hutchison. Mrs. Hutchison.. is a racist asshole, beliving turtle on cat marriage is bad and wanting to stop it. She's more scary than funny especially since pricks like this exist in real life. What makes her funny is the contrast of her dead serious if hammy demeanor, with the wackier rest of the cast. My faviorite moments of the episode all come from the gang reacting to her.. and to her LIFTING ROCKO'S CAR AND THROWING IT. Observe

The last one is one I quote a lot and i'll likely get a LOT of use out of that image. The fact Rocko thinks that means anything is adorable. The episode, while defined more by filburt's journey and the heartwarming ending, really does have a lot of good jokes: Rocko's only disguise bein ga hat, the guys using a BOMB as part of the plan, and Tiger just casually holding rocko during the ending. A ship the series should have explored frankly, but eh it was the 90's and all. The ending swerve of hutch proposing and having gotten tiger's help is sweet, as is the fact Filburt still gives her the engagment hook he was going to propose with and the two telling each other "i love you" is so freaking sweet for a show so deranged. Speaking of which

This one was a two parter and a dang good one, though each episdoe feels like a complete short in it's own right. The Big Answer is heavier on the jokes, but keeps the nice character introspectiion and gives Hutch some needed autonomy. She's firm she's into filburt and why she likes him, and backs it up with a defiant kay.. and it also deals with the thorny subject that her mom just.. isn't "kay" with it. That no matter how hard she tries her mom is activelya gainst this and only helping because she loves her daughter, but can't love her enough to stop being a racist bitter ass. Her reasons for being so bitter are given context here, as we find out her father was a turtle, something she knew but never thought the rest of the cast needed to know, and just kinda.. left. Like Hutch speaks to him familiarly enough she clearly still sees him, he just left her and she's understandably pissed, even if her racisim is less so.

We also get our requisite wild bachelor party, complete with characters we don't know which leads to a great gag of "who are those guys"

And our heroes hyjacking an icecream plane and of course Filburt's classic cry of "and my frien'ds australian". The sugar bender is fantastic, flawless, no notes.

Where it leads is also great; Rocko trying to prevent a modern race war is suprisingly darkly funny, with the incidting incdient being filburts unsettling aunt who splashes water on the cats.. and while it's a very Jerkass Heifer moment, the weird swerve of him just.. being on the cats side works both for the sheer out of nowhere ness. and because if you think about it the cow raised by wolves who fights with filburt on a dime taking the predators side in this actually makes complete sense. The ending double punch of them already being married and the hilarity of hutch's dad, "CHARGE MAGNOLIA CHARGE!", really sells th eep. The previous one is better, but this one's still pretty sweet

From Here to Maternity is from the final season and sees the two have kids. And it's an episode that's very much front and backloaded. The middle is just Filburt being an overly masculine jerkass who assume she'll have a cisgender son and who bullies hef for daring to think ti's a girl despite hef you know, sitting on his eggs for him to keep them warm, something Filburt physcially can't do. It just gets exausting after a while and only Rocko's weak "I'm in jail joke" and getting stuck there hwen they move on really works.

The front and back thougH? Fucking fantastic. The opening with our heroes racing the stork is just comedy gold, from Filburt's mania, to him FLIPING AND REVERSING the car to drive it after him, to the stork for no reason deciding not to let filburt just.. beat him and instead taking his glasses to make sure he looses.

But Filburt missing his wife giving birth still works as he was such a dick to the stork to outrun him, you don't feel too bad and the babies hadn't hatched anyway. The gag about hutch having to go right into surgery is both so her and so funny.

The last act though.. is delightfuly batshit. The reveal the lamaze class is a secret front for easter bunnies is delightfully out of left field but still fits the world, Rocko simply having to put his ears up higher to sneak in is an all time great gag, and our heroes landing in jail is great. The ending is also shockingly funny: while the babies hatching is sweet, we get some great gags to quickly take it form sweet to comedy gold: Filburt asserting he's unconcious from the shock with Hutch having none of it and directly standing on him to make her point, and the Heifer resembling baby following rocko around instead, even past the credits is both adorable and makes way more sense than it has any right to. I don't have a ton to say about from here to materinity but the top and bottom are so strong even a week middle can't stop this one from being enjoyable.

So that was Hutch and Filbert and honestly? I had less to say thann I thought. The two are cute , functional and really support one another. There's not much depth.. but that's because the point of these episodes is mostly jokes. There's some introspection, btu the relationship itself is really just two people who ballance one another being sweet. For a 90's sitcom, you can't ask too much more, and what we get is fantastic. Check these episodes out on paramount plus and we'll be seeing mor eof rocko's modern life in the future.

[sg-marshall]

sims 4 trait legacy challenge

Overview:

This is a ten generation legacy challenge based on some characteristics people can possess. Each generation will be based upon a new trait. The style and gender of the generation is completely up to you (I usually play as women but gender does not matter in this challenge)! Complete all goals before focusing on the next generation. Some may play onto each other, so be sure to look ahead before moving forward! I created an adapted version for people who do not have the packs I used listed below the challenge. I wanted to make sure everyone could play and not feel left out!

Rules:

No cheats or mods!

Start off with $20,000 and a build a house wherever you want one.

Complete all six goals for every generation before moving onto the next one.

Complete the full aspiration and reach level 10 in the set career.

There is no rules when it comes to aging up but I suggest waiting until it is their set birthday.

Play on normal life span.

Packs Used: Base Game, Discovery University, Seasons, City Living, Get to Work, Cats and Dogs, Parenthood, Spa Day, and Knifty Knitting

Generation One: Responsibility

You are a very old fashioned person who believes things have a certain way of being done. Every object in your house has a set place, the person you marry you are supposed to stay with forever, and the world should be a clean place to live in. Never once have you strayed away from your beliefs and you’ve always lived your life by the book. Even once your partner dies and you are left with a child who cannot handle their passing, you stay true to your morals. (EDIT: I have been playing this challenge myself and found that the final level of the aspiration said “have a child master a career”. I do not know if you have to be in the household for that, but if you do, just add this generation to the household of the next one before they master it. It is also okay if you want to ignore/cheat this part.)

Traits: Neat, Good, Green Fiend

Aspiration: Successful Lineage

Career: Education (Administrator Branch)

Goals:

Max charisma skill.

Max research and debate skill.

Be married as a young adult, but have your partner die (do not tell your child how) once they reach adult hood. Never remarry.

Have only one child with your partner.

Complete the snowglobes collection and have them set up in a specific room in your house.

Make your neighborhood green and keep it that way.

Generation Two: Determined

You’ve always struggled to cope with the death of your father/mother ever. Maybe that's because you never really knew why they died in the first place. Left with too many questions to handle, you destroy your relationship with your friends and family and run away to find some answers. This entails a trip to Sixam, where you can finally wrap ahead around the passing of you mom/dad. You decide to come home just in time to see your mom/dad just before they too pass away. After a heart-breaking conversation, you realize that all the secrecy was for the best.

Traits: Gloomy, Ambitious, Loner

Aspiration: Nerd Brain

Career: Astronaut (Interstellar Smuggler Branch)

Goals:

Max rocket science skill.

Max mischief skill.

Build a rocket ship and fly to Sixam.

Run away and live on your own as a teenager. 

Have a horrible relationship with your mom/dad as a young adult, but become best friends with them before they pass away.

Complete the microscope prints collection.

Generation Three: Loving

Your mother/father was extremely distant growing up, which caused you to rely on friends as your family. Your childhood best friend has been with you every step of the way, and you ended up fell in love with them. All you wanted to do was be a mother/father, but found out you could never have children. You adopt a child as a baby and raise them as your own, teaching them everything you wish your parents did for you.

Traits: Romantic, Family - Oriented, Foodie

Aspiration: Soulmate

Career: Babysitter (Teenager), None (Young Adult and older)

Goals:

Max parenting skill.

Max wellness skill.

Marry your childhood best friend.

Adopt a baby after you get married.

Teach your toddler to max all skills.

Have a side passion of knitting.

Generation Four: Intelligence

You grew up incredibly smart with no knowledge of who your real parents were. However, that never mattered to you. Your adoptive parents have made it their life goal to advance your gifts in every way they know how. Late nights of helping you with homework, early mornings of finishing projects, and spending their fortunes to enroll you into the college of your dreams. All you wanted to do was repay them by becoming a world renowned journalist. You dedicate your best-sellers to them because, after all, they’ll always be your biggest fan.

Traits: Genius, Bookworm, Unflirty

Aspiration: Academic

Career: Writer (Journalist Branch)

Goals:

Max logic skill.

Max writing skill. 

Reach level eight in five other skills of your choice.

Go to the University of  Britechester and study Language and Literature (distinguished).

Join the Debate Guild and reach the highest rank.

Write five novels.

Generation Five: Hard - Working

Fashion has been your passion since you were a little girl/boy. You even asked your parents to stop dressing you as a toddler because the clothes they picked were “not stylish enough.” As a self-proclaimed style icon, you knew you had to make your biggest dream come true: to create your own fashion line. So, as soon as you graduated high school, you packed your bags and moved to the big city - San-Myshuno. There you created your social media platform and blew up! A normal life was never your style, and you made sure to put in as many hours as it would take to achieve all you ever wanted.

Traits: Perfectionist, Self - Assured, Materialistic

Aspiration: City Native

Career: Style Influencer (Stylist Branch)

Goals:

Max photography skill.

Max painting skill.

Must live in San-Myshuno.

Complete the crystals collection.

Hire a nanny for your child and do not spend much time with them.

Gain 10,000 followers on Simstagram.

Generation Six: Resilience

After being known as “the child of the most famous fashion designer” all your life, the city became a toxic place for you. You hated the loud noises, constant stream of people, and just wanted to live a quiet life. You loved visiting your grandmother/father’s house and hearing one of her/his famous stories. You decided to pull inspiration from one of their novels and live off by the coast in the adorable Brindleton Bay. Your passion for crafting and living off the land inspired you to start a small business selling your candles and juice - all locally grown of course. 

Traits: Loves Outdoors, Maker, Creative

Aspiration: Master Maker

Career: Freelancer (Simply Crafted)

Goals:

Max fabrication skill.

Reach level eight in both candle making and juice fizzing.

Move to Brindleton Bay as a young adult.

Have four or more kids.

Complete the frog collection.

Never go to an event in the city or visit the city once you are a young adult.

Generation Seven: Carefree

Being in a big family is can be hectic at times. So, you decided to be the happy jokester in the middle just trying to get people to crack a smile. And you got really good at it. As a major people person, you made sure to get to know everyone you meet. You even started a tradition of taking a picture with them so you could never forget that moment. Your friends will always invite you to go out because you are known for being the life of the party. However, the parties you host, are even better. You decide to live life as if it was one big stage, and you’re the star performer.

Traits: Goofball, Clumsy, Outgoing

Aspiration: Party Animal

Career: Entertainer (Comedian Branch)

Goals:

Max comedy skill.

Max singing skill.

Host a party every week.

Take a photo of every person who visits you.

Marry someone you met just two days before.

Attend every festival or event you are asked to attend.

Generation Eight: Kind

Expected to be just like your mother/father, no one ever assumed you would be the quiet kid who preferred reading over partied. However, that is exactly who you were. When it was that time of the week for a new social event, you either left for the library or locked yourself in your room, praying it ended soon. Your parents noticed you struggled talking to people, so they allowed you to adopt a puppy once you became a teenager. You and your dog instantly became best friends and you took them everywhere. Even though you may not be great with people, being compassionate was a skill you ranked high in. You always looked out for the less fortunate and wanted to provide in anyway you could.

Traits: Vegetarian, Loner, Good

Aspiration: Friend of the Animals

Career: Gardner (Floral Designer Branch)

Goals:

Max gardening skill.

Max flower arranging skill.

Keep up a garden of just flowers.

Adopt strays: one dog, and two cats.

Marry an ambitious sim.

Donate $100 to charity weekly.

Generation Nine: Impulsive

You grew up hearing stories of your grandmother/father’s so called “wild days” and fell in love with the energy it brought. However, your mom/dad raised you better than to go out spending life as if there was no consequences. Finding a balance started off to be very challenging for you. You could never hold down relationships and even got pregnant/got someone pregnant twice. It wasn't until you became a secret agent and learned how to live two lifestyles: one full of fun and adventure; the other more stable and structured.

Traits: Active, Non-Committal, Bro

Aspiration: Bodybuilder

Career: Secret Agent (Diamond Agent Branch)

Goals:

Max fitness skill.

Max handiness skill.

Go to either college for Psychology and play soccer.

Have four failed relationships and never get married.

Have two children from two different relationships.

Move three times once you become a young adult.

Generation 10: Passionate

Because your mother/father’s job required you to move around so much, making real life friends was a lot harder than it seemed. So, you built your relationships within the online community. Every day, you and your closest friends would hop online and compete in tournaments or even play for fun. As the years went on, you became really good at coding and even started working on your own apps. You looked up to the players from ESports Gaming - only the best gamers in the world - and longed to be sitting in one of their spots. And sure enough, after years of perfecting your strategies and game plays, your dreams came true!

Traits: Geek, Hot-Headed, Outgoing

Aspiration: Computer Whiz

Career: Tech Guru (ESport Gamer Branch)

Goals:

Max programming skill.

Max video gaming skill.

Complete the MySims Trophies collection.

Attend and compete in every Geek Con convention.

Make five video games or apps.

Mentor your child/ren for five hours each.

Adaptations:

Gen 1:

If you do not have Discover University, go into the Business career (Management Branch).

Max cooking skill if you do not have Discover University.

If you do not have City Living, complete the postcards collection.

Gen 2:

Unlock the secret world in Oasis Springs if you do not have Get to Work.

Gen 3:

If you do not have Parenthood but do have Get to Work, max the baking skill.

If you do not have both Parenthood and Get to Work, max the gourmet cooking skill.

If you do not have Spa Day but do have Knifty Knitting, max the knitting skill.

If you do not have both Spa Day or Knifty Knitting, max the photography skill.

If you do not have Knifty Knitting, have a side passion of photography.

Gen 4:

If you do not have Discover University, read a new skill book every week instead of attending university.

Gen 5:

If you do not have City Living, have the  Fabulously Wealthy aspiration.

If you do not have City Living, live in Oasis Springs.

Gen 6:

Do not have a career if you do not have Eco-Lifestyle. Instead, craft item on the woodworking for money.

If you do not have Eco-Lifestyle, max the fishing skill instead of reaching level eight in candle making and juice fizzing.

If you do not have Cats and Dogs, move to Evergreen Harbor.

If you do not have both Cats and Dogs or Eco-Lifestyle, live in Willow Creek

If you do not have Eco-Lifestyle, have the self-assured trait instead.

If you do not have Eco-Lifestyle, have the Angling Ace aspiration.

Gen 7:

If you do not have City Living but do have Get Together, max the dancing skill.

If you do not have both City Living or Get Together, max the mixology skill.

Gen 8:

If you do not have Dogs and Cats, have the Freelance Botanist aspiration.

Do not have a career if you do not have Seasons. Instead, sell your plants for money.

If you do not have Seasons but have Get to Work, max the baking skill.

If you do not have both Seasons or Get to Work, max the violin skill.

If you do not have Dogs and Cats, but have Seasons, own three bees nests and two insect nests instead of owning pets.

If you do not have both Dogs and Cats or Seasons, have three children instead of having three pets.

If you do not have City Living, have the cheerful trait.

Gen 9:

If you do have Strangerville, go into the Military Career (I do not have it, so I played as a Secret Agent)

If you do have Snowy Escape, have the adventurous trait instead of the active trait (I do not have it but believe they would be adventurous).

If you do not have Discover University, read five skill books over different topics, instead of going to college.

Gen 10:

If you do not have City Living, compete in an online tournament weekly instead of going to Geek Con.

[alice-angel12x]

🌩 Prince Elf! Shoto x Reader

Long ago in a land far away, was a small town that rested near a great forest. This was no ordinary forest, this forest was said to house all sorts of magical creatures, from the frail pixies to the lustrous Unicorns. All under the protection of the proud Elf people, the residents, and protectors of the forest and all its creatures. Many humans aren't allowed deep in the forest, not that they could find the great kingdom anyways. Any human with a wicked heart that entered the forest, were meet with terroirs and monsters. So many adults stayed away from the deepest parts of the woods, yet children would not report such things. Many saying they've seen all sorts of magical things, even some elves.

So the saying goes, the forest will only show its wonders to those clean of heart.

A young child named Y/n, wandered into those forests to see the creatures herself. As she went deeper into the forest, she soon came across a beautiful waterfall.

Y/n stared in awe as she approached the waterfall. As she approached Y/n noticed a small figure sitting in the middle f the lake. The closer she got Y/n could see it was a young elf dressed in fine clothing, he looked like a young prince. The young elf seemed to notice the girl too, as he slightly glared at her.

Y/n getting the memo, stayed on her side of the forest, and the Elf boy minding his own business. So Y/n sat down by the lake's edge and weaved a bunch of flower looms into her basket. As the two sat quietly, some small woodland creatures slowly started to approach the young girl. From rabbits to the ever-shy unicorn, slowly approached the young human. Y/n smiled brightly as she offered a bright red apple to the pure white unicorn.

Shoto couldn't help but feel a little envious, not even the "bravest" by unicorn standards want to approach him. So he slowly got closer to the girl and the critters, only for the creatures to notice his presence and quickly scatter.

Y/n looked up at the young elf boy, now that he was close she could see more unique features to him. How his hair is half red and half white, along with the most beautiful heterochromatic eyes. "Umm, Good day to you," Y/n greeted with a smile.

Shoto surprised by her warm greeting didn't really know how to respond. Most human youths ran away from him at the mere presence of him. "Umm, hi," was all he could utter.

"Umm, it must be pretty nice. Living with all the unicorns and other creatures," Y/n smiled bashfully.

"I guess, though most of the time they run away from me," Shoto said plainly.

"Why is that?" Y/n asked curiously.

"Cause my aura, it too much like my father's," Shoto said with a hint of hate in his voice.

"Your Father must be scary and powerful," Y/n commented.

"Is the king of the elves for a reason," Shoto said nonchalantly.

"So you're a prince then? So what's it like?" Y/n asked.

"None of your business," Shoto answered.

"Oh, sorry. Umm, I work at a baker, to earn money for my friends and me in the orphanage. You should try out berry muffins sometimes... Oh, that's why I'm here," Y/n gasped with wide eyes. " I forget I came here to collect fruits and berries."

"Well umm... There is one place you could go," Shoto said slowly.

"Oh, where?" Y/n asked.

"I... I'll show you," Shoto said as he dragged Y/n into the forest.

Shoto soon leads her to an opening in the forest, filled with bushes with alerts of berries and trees that bore loads of fruits. Y/n's eyes widened in awe at the many fruits and berries all in one place. She happily pulled Shoto with her as they started collecting berries left and right.

Shoto not used to peasant work got cut on the thrones; making his hands look like they were attacked by an angry cat. His sleeves didn't fare well either. Y/n gasped in shock as she looked at Shoto's cut-up hands. The girl quickly pulled out her handkerchief and wrapped his bloodied hands.

Shoto's heart pounded in his chest at this human girl's kindness. Her hands were so warm and gentle, a feeling he hasn't received in a very long time.

"There, all better. Umm, you probably still need to clean it, tho," Y/n smiled as she kissed his knuckle.

"W-why did you do that?!" Shoto gasped as he pulled his hands away.

"I'm kissing them better. That's what my mommy does when I get hurt," Y/n explained.

Shoto's ears and cheeks were a bright red as his heart fluttered in his chest. Yet soon the two noticed that the sun was reaching the horizon, so with a heavy heart, Shoto led Y/n to the edge of the forest. As Y/n turned to leave she felt Shoto's hand still gripped onto her wrist.

"Shoto?" Y/n asked.

"Will you come back soon?" Shoto asked as he looked at his feet.

"Sure, if my Caretaker lets me," Y/n smiled.

Shoto hesitantly released her as Y/n quickly ran off to her family home and bakery. From that day on Y/n would visit the forest and shout every week or so. Just to explore the forest with all different parts of the forest, and spend time together. As the two grew, Shoto's feelings for this human also grew.

But one day, on Y/n's 13th birthday, she fell horribly sick. In desperation, her orphanage brothers and sisters worked harder than ever to earn the money to cure there, friend and sister at heart. Even if it meant sending her to the faraway capital. While Shoto waited and waited for his beloved Human to return to him, yet she never came. Their once lush and lively secret waterfall becomes a snowy wasteland. The trees had long perished, the water had completely frozen over, and the animals had long fleed that small section of the forest.

The other elves grew worried, yet fearful of the young prince. His ice powers were out of control and harming the woods around him, not even his father could reverse the ice magic. Shoto sat at the snowy waste of the waterfall, his heart hardened in disappear.

"Why have you abandoned me Y/n," He sobbed quietly to himself.

As he grew, so did his power and his curse. The once beautiful and mysterious forest was consumed by eternal snow and winter.

-----------------

After a few years, Y/n slowly recovered and returned to her home in the orphanage, where her family at heart welcomed her back with open arms. She was slightly surprised by the sudden change of the once magical forest, but sadly she could risk getting sick again. So with a heavy heart avoided the snowy forest.

Though she would wonder the edge, in hopes that Maybe her elf friend would appear. Yet he never did, at least from what she saw. She was completely unaware of the heterochromatic eyes watching her every movement.

"You've finally returned, Y/n," He sighed with lovesick awe. " It's finally time to claim my queen."

---------------

"Are you sure you don't need anything Y/n?" Deku asked. Y/n's long-time friend in the orphanage.

"I'm fine Deku, thanks to you and the others I was able to get the care I needed," Y/n smiled.

Deku's heart fluttered in his chest. The two grew up together in the orphanage, worked together in the same barkery, and was the one who worked the hardest to earn money for Y/n. Seeing his long-time crush happy and well was enough for him.

"Wow, it's really snowing out there isn't it," Y/n said as she stares out at the blizzard outside.

"Yeah, one could almost forget it's supposed to be summer," Deku said with slight concern.

"What happened during the time I was gone?' Y/n wondered to herself.

As night fell everyone in the orphanage was preparing for bed, as Izuku helped Y/n to bed for she was still weak in recovery.  The snowy wind howled against the old orphanage building as Izuku tried to keep the fire going.

Then suddenly the windows and doors slammed open as the snow and wind rushed through the building. The fire was quickly blown out and the room was cast in darkness. Deku began to panic as he knew the chill could kill Y/n, but as he turned to Y/n; there stood a tall figure holding her sleeping form gently. The boy and two different colored hair and eyes, and wore expensive attire. Izuku noticed the boy's pointed ears and Crown made of gold and silver, it was the Elf king.

Shoto held his beloved delicately as he wielded his ice magic to form a beautiful tiara of ice on her head. With a soft kiss on her forehead, the two vanished in the gust of snow.

" Y/N!!" Izuku gasped as he quickly stood and ran the window, and saw that the snow had stopped suddenly

___

[nodameshield]

how are we doing? have the tears dried yet? I know mine haven’t :: 

let’s start light : research fellows count ! (also, lady, only ten years old? - I resent that).

Goh understands this?? he’s got a silly proud smile and it’s following Ash’s butchered storytelling??? love 

research fellows count ! 

perfectly attainable dream 

sure, go for it.  (look at both of their supportive lil smiles, we love best friends) 

we all know the scene that’s coming ahead, but I thought this was a beautiful demonstration of growth already on Goh’s side.

Listen before the sad part begins let us appreciate for a moment how Ash and Goh were smiling at EACH OTHER after the interview was over. cuties. 

behold : the last frame we have of baby Sobble. I’m going to miss you, bean. thank you for everything<3 (he was so proud of his good deed as well!! my very heart) 

just how fast the night changes, indeed.

Drizzle went through shock and pain at record speed and swiftly landed on anger - only to fall into ✨depression✨ just as quickly.

and then we just stayed there.

someone 

is 

(oh hey Cinderace ! good to see ya)

having  

a rough morning

 (I’m sorry, this scene was just fucking funny - the drama)

Cinderace’s proud big bro moment was just too sweet to leave out - let us not forget, he’s been a big bro since he was Raboot (and even as a temperamental Raboot, he was always gentle to Sobble). And now his baby bro has evolved as well. precious ! 

Goh handled this situation very maturely from the beginning. And here’s when the build up starts. He’s saying ‘hey, let me help you how I think you need to be helped” and he genuinely doesn’t mean any harm! naturally, his reaction is to help his Pokémon, in the way that has worked in the past.

but then he starts to understand maybe that’s not the best approach this time around.

and he’s ready to respect those new boundaries (of course, there’s no blame on Cinderace, either. Much like Goh, he - and everyone, really - was just trying to help in the way he thought was the best).

shoutout to the animation on this bit because Pikachu’s ears darting down was a delightful detail. Chloe’s expression and Grookey’s simmering down drove the point home as well.

ah, you coy little thing. Did you forget how your trainer almost left you behind because of how rebellious you were??? Because you made him feel as though you’d be better off without him?? (Cinderace has selective memory, you can’t change my mind, don’t be miss-leaded by the cuteness)

this build up was wonderful - we begin to hear all these reasons why, yeah? maybe he just wants to be alone.

maybe he’s still very afraid and careful of his surroundings, and his evolution made it worse? (he’d been popping up in random places in previous episodes, hiding, which was also great foreshadowing for this episode !) 

maybe he’s cocooning himself until he’s ready to evolve again? (which, considering his disappointment and how badly he wanted to be Inteleon already, is a very plausible reason)

but Prof. Cerise gets it right when he says ‘we can’t really know for sure’ (which ties greatly with Goh’s upcoming scene) - is it your Drizzle’s quirk? are they all like this? who cares? Isn’t wonderful how he’s a living creature? how he’s got nuances and a personality? shouldn’t that be enough of a reason to look after him, and try to help him right now?

my child, still thinking he’s got to do everything on his own.

and these two are just like ????? Goh ??? watchu talking about ???

can you imagine how MUCH this moment means to him?? he was ready to keep going alone (it’s what he knows) and even when Ash and Chloe prove him, time and time again, that he’s not alone, there’s still something in Goh coded to believe others won’t care as much/won’t be there when he needs them. and that’s why he insists: I’ve got this. I can do it alone.

and, sure, but you don’t have to. that’s the beauty of friendship.

you tell him, Chloe. (actually, without Chloe calling him out, he might have taken longer to figure out where Drizzle was. so...) // but also, it gives us a glimpse into the fact that, while Goh might have felt very lonely, Chloe has been observing and caring for him - in her way - for a long minute as well.

my very point above. 

HEY, LISTEN: he doesn’t know, either. he’s a child, words are hard, and you rotate along the four moods of childhood (happy, upset, scared, hungry (?)) and don’t ponder much on anything else because you are a child, there’s no emotional intelligence to speak of, no need for it, you’re being shaped by your environment and all the stimuli of the world being a new place. things like loneliness, confusion, anxiety... we can’t put those into words - hell, they’re fucking abstract and confusing even when we are adults.

and Goh’s stimuli and environment was, given what we know of his family life, a rather lonely one. Did his parents have a lot of spare time to take him to the park? I don’t think so. Was he good at going out there and asking other kids to play? ... probably not. 

Chloe doesn’t strike me as an extrovert, either, so even if she wanted to get close to Goh or invite him to hang out, perhaps she was too shy as well. Heck, perhaps Goh’s reaction would’ve been like the one above, he simply didn’t know. Maybe he didn’t want to ! and that’s perfectly fine as well.

am I forgiving the anipoke team for making Goh cry? no, never. but this was beautifully executed so I can grow to live with it.

“why are you depressed?” “you have nothing to be sad about!” “look at all the wonderful things you have!” “just be happy again!” - sound familiar? yeah, this was incredibly well done.

as adults, perhaps we see this and think ‘shit, how cool that they’re prodding on these topics, it’s important’ and it is !!! so important !! but if it’s this impactful as young-adults/grown-ups, imagine how impactful it must be as a child to see this and feel perceived. I’m honestly so proud of this moment, this whole episode. I’m grateful they took the time to look into this maturely. and even if children don’t do a full-fledged analysis on it, if they relate (like I know so many of us did) they won’t forget it. and that’s beautiful.

darling I’m blanking on your TW handle I’m so sorry - but someone in a tweet SO RIGHTFULLY pointed out that these are the words Goh would have needed to hear when he was younger. saying them to Drizzle it’s a full circle moment for him, he’s hearing them as well, and it’s helping both of them grow.

He’s not forcing himself as Drizzle’s trainer. Goh bears no entitlement here. He’s saying ‘Hey, if you’re comfortable, if you want to share , I’ll be here’ / as a kid, people did care for him, they kept wanting to know what was going on, but Goh couldn’t put that in words and people pestering him only made it worse, but if someone had said ‘hey, when you’re ready...’ then,,,,yeah,,,,maybe it would’ve been different. 

he’s offering that safety now to his Pokémon, something he didn’t have, but he grew to understand is what he (and now Drizzle) needed. If that doesn’t have you breaking down in a teary mess then you are stronger than I’ll ever be, because my glasses were cloudy by this point.

why, why, why. because you needed to hear all that as well, baby! so did a number of us. thank you.

I’ll say that, however it was that you connected with this moment, that’s yours to cherish. 

Personally, I too had a lonely childhood marked by parents who overworked, and I too spent a lot of time alone in kindergarten and through elementary school because it was hard to make friends (turns out i’m an extrovert, ha, talk about breaking out of your shell...) so, obviously there were easy common grounds for me in this episode.

but I LOVED to read the reactions and realize so many people still connected with it, one way or the other. So many of us felt seen and understood and acknowledged in emotions that are so hard to put into words !! 

so, again, if you identified with Goh or Drizzle or any of the topics in this episode, that’s very beautiful, and I hope the underlying message that you’re not alone gets through.

With Sobble, and now with Drizzle as well, Goh is very adamant to remind us that, however we are, that’s fine. there’s something that makes us special, regardless of other people’s opinions, or their ideas of how we *should be* // that’s the message I’m taking with me, at least.

 and i can’t wait to see how this story line evolves !! I have no doubts that, when the moment comes, Inteleon will be a wonderful addition to the team, but Drizzle is here now, and he’s plenty wonderful already x

Bonus: 

ha ha, yes. I watched this episode three times. And all three times I was a mess.

side note but a very important one: the animation, the voice acting, the dialog, the scenery of the starry night - the entire scene was so beautifully executed. so  carefully crafted. ugh, amazing. just perfect. so happy.

[transhawks]

So does that mean bakugou is also a abelist too and so was most of the kids in the class since you call Inko one I mean if you are going to go that far

"Go that far"

Let's unpack this because this is more than just an opinion about anime and hopefully what I write can change your opinion on a lot of things going forward in your life. Which is an opportunity I am very happy about. A lot of people really get upset when you call something "ist". Racist, Ableist, Cissexist, etc. Or the phobic words.. You get my meaning. But the upset over it shows that people mistake what is really being said because we think very simplistically about this - that everyone who is an "ist" or a "phobe" is inherently a bad person.

Why? It's due to a lot of people getting caught up in individual actions over the societal motivations behind them. So, if I was to say "every white person is racist" or "every man is a misogynist" it feels like an unfair absolute, right? Not all people are like that, right? What if someone is actively trying to be an exception? The point blank statement feels mean, right? How could you just generalize?

Here's the thing, the reason the general statement is made is because it more talks about society than individuals. What I mean is this - not every white person (in the US or West, though we can talk about other places too) is actively being bigoted, but we are born in societies that have historically (and today too!) been built and profited off the oppression or exploitation of people of color. And like in a lot of things dealing with unfair power structures, there's a lot of motivation to make sure shit does not change you know, which is why people end up, even if they don't realize what they are doing, defending things. Are they trying to be actual bigots? No, not always, and something to learn is that a lot of these ism do not equal just plain bigotry. There's always a power structure behind it, or an imbalance. So, you can find someone who is bigoted but isn't actually being an 'ist'. When a lot of people complain about 'reverse' anything, what they are usually talking about is bigotry, which is an individual action that on its own doesn't confirm or defend a power structure.

I know this is a bit complicated. It took me a few years to grasp it too, but understanding the difference is really important.

Now, let's go back to Bakugou. In my post about Deku and Inko and how Deku states how much her initial reaction to his quirkless was hurt him for much of his childhood, I did mention that Inko admitted she didn't support him. So there's no argument about whether she did or didn't because Inko took accountability for her mistake. Now, the reason she did it in the first place was because she grew up in a society that tells people quirks are their personalities.

I made a post a couple weeks ago about Deku and Hawks and being 'selected' out of their circumstances where I talk about how the Quirkless are sort of seen as lesser humans simply due to the way Quirk society has folded. You can see it the older name given to Ujiko before the changes, and in Izuku being read as 'Deku'; the implication is of wooden people, puppets, etc. Then you have lots of ranting on the MLA part that revealed that a there kid's books that teach kids people aren't always their Quirks but that this is seen as a very PC concept and not really taken in by the population. Sure the average person probably isn't a Geten level supremacist, but we see how the Fox lady was treated when she was walking outside by her neighbors, or how Spinner was bullied, even by his own family, or just what Endeavor did to 'fix his quirk'.

Inko is a 4th generation quirk owner. That means one, or more, of her great-grandparents have been quirk users. Dr. Tsubasa, upon seeing Deku, also says it's rare for someone to be like him these days, implying the statistic given to us by the manga, or the 4:5 are quirk owners, is very much based on age (I've seen people put forth it might also be location based too). Toshinori adds to this by saying it was more common when he was a kid, and he is likely in his 50s.

Okay, so that's the society Izuku is born too, right? Stay with me, I know this is long but we're getting to Katsuki right now.

In the ask that you messaged about where I explain why Inko's initial problem can be criticized, I said what she did is very similar to how parents treat children with disabilities or illnesses. Hence, why you said I was calling her ableist. As I've been trying to explain in this ask Inko may not be actively trying to be 'ableist' and bigoted, but her apologizing to her son was an issue that he felt insecure over. And that this is of course tied into the fact quirk society does not treat the Quirkless well.

You see this early set of panels? This was Deku explaining that Katsuki only began to bully him really when he manifested his quirk. Why? Because there was a clear difference in the way he was treated and the way Deku was.

These panels show Katsuki looking at Deku and seeing how he's being talked about. Children are impressionable and understand that there are these dynamics even if they don't get why. Katsuki is being told here that he's amazing, that he's going to achieve greatness, and being praised. Deku is being whispered about, pitied. They are not the same. It even goes into their teens:

Katsuki is immediately praised even if he was the one in need of rescue. Deku's actions bought time for All Might but he's seen as reckless especially when he's Quirkless. I've said in the post I linked that Deku's amazing traits - his natural skill at analysis, his quick wits and reactions, and dauntless nature are really where he shines, but until he had a quirk, that society didn't see any of that about him. This is a clear example of how much importance people place on quirks. So is it any wonder in a society like this that a little kid like Katsuki soaks it all in?

Deku also calls Katsuki a bully a few times. I'm not going to post the panels here but I collected a few so there's an absolute acknowledgment on Deku's part that he is bullied for being quirkless.

As I said in the previous ask, you can't remove a lot of these actions from greater societal trends. I also, personally, refuse to label Katsuki as an abuser because he is a child and abuse is usually a very intimate thing which is not the relationship Katsuki had as a former friend. He was, however, a bully who does bigoted things like tell Deku to jump off a roof if he wants to be a hero so he can get quirk in the next life. So, he was bullying out of bigotry and doing so out of societal norms and ideals that he has absorbed growing up.

Most children that are bullied are bullied on differences, and a lot of the time it really does fall on the same divides that as adults turn into oppressions. The children's bullying reinforces the same dynamics marginalized faces outside of childhood.

So, to finally answer your question, if 'quirklessness' is pretty much a bnha-verse disability and is treated very similarly some that we have in real life, then yes, Katsuki as a child and a tween was indeed 'ableist'. But again, this is not remarkable..I don't want to say he's exceptionally bigoted even since so much of it was also fueled by his own insecurities and cognitive dissonance when it comes to Izuku. And unlike Inko, who unconsciously hurt Izuku, Katsuki did so actively but, again, he was a child and he is capable of maturing, reforming, and learning which I think perhaps he might be heading to. EDIT: a few hours after I posted this, he apologized to Izuku so he has gotten there! Katsuki was this was because he was raised to be, so outright condemning a 16 year old for a norm doesn't really solve the real issue that it was a norm, does it?

Now, I will say for victims, it's often very hard to parse this too. Even if it's normalized, the individual bigotry of a person does hurt, and it really doesn't matter to kids that it's other kids. It's why a lot of people who are marginalized will bring up childhood memories, because we are shaped so much by our experiences as kids. But kids don't always have cognitive ability to challenge the norms and ideals around them, it's one of the biggest differences between an adult and a child. Making Katsuki out to be 'biggest bigot ever' is not what I am trying do with this ask, and it's silly to think so.

I will thank you for giving me the opportunity to write this answer. I often forget that my style of applying what seem to me very basic concepts in discussions of identity to anime analysis are not as basic I assume. Your ask seemed incredulous but it reads as someone genuinely new to the concept of societal vs individual actions, and how oppression and strata work with that. I hope that whatever you gained from this ask is something you can apply to a realize situation in the future by the dynamics I speak are real life ones, with genuine real consequences, and I'm happy I can use a manga as teaching or outreach tool. Thank you for allowing to do so.

[kookie-doughs]

Y/N L/N AND THE HALFBLOODS

Percy Jackson X Reader

-Y/N L/N met Percy Jackson and everything was now ruined.

CHAPTER 18: High-Key Want A Three-Headed Dog

We stood in the shadows of Valencia Boulevard, looking up at gold letters etched in black marble: DOA RECORDING STUDIOS.

Underneath, stenciled on the glass doors: NO SOLICITORS. NO LOITERING. NO LIVING.

It was almost midnight, but the lobby was brightly lit and full of people. Behind the security desk sat a tough-looking guard with sunglasses and an earpiece.

I turned to my friends. "Okay. You remember the plan."

"The plan," Grover gulped. "Yeah. I love the plan."

Annabeth said, "What happens if the plan doesn't work?"

"Don't think negative." Percy said.

"Right," she said. "We're entering the Land of the Dead, and I shouldn't think negative."

Percy took the pearls out of his pocket, the three milky spheres the Nereid had given us in Santa Monica. They didn't seem like much of a backup in case something went wrong. I had mine mixed up in there in case mine was rigged, Percy insisted upon it.

Annabeth put her hand on Percy's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Percy. You're right, we'll make it. It'll be fine."

She gave Grover a nudge.

"Oh, right!" he chimed in. "We got this far. We'll find the master bolt and save your mom. No problem."

"Don't worry Percy. We'll do this."

He looked at us, and smiled.

He slipped the pearls back in his pocket. "Let's whup some Underworld butt."

We walked inside the DOA lobby.

Muzak played softly on hidden speakers. The carpet and walls were steel gray. Pencil cactuses grew in the corners like skeleton hands. The furniture was black leather, and every seat was taken. There were people sitting on couches, people standing up, people staring out the windows or waiting for the elevator. Nobody moved, or talked, or did much of anything. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see them all just fine, but if I focused on any one of them in particular, they started looking... transparent. I could see right through their bodies.

The security guard's desk was a raised podium, so we had to look up at him.

He was tall and elegant, with chocolate-colored skin and bleached-blond hair shaved military style. He wore tortoiseshell shades and a silk Italian suit that matched his hair. A black rose was pinned to his lapel under a silver name tag.

Percy read the name tag, then looked at him in bewilderment. "Your name is Chiron?"

He leaned across the desk. I couldn't see anything in his glasses except my own reflection, but his smile was sweet and cold, like a pythons, right before it eats you.

"What a precious young lad." He had a strange accent—British, maybe, but also as if he had learned English as a second language. "Tell me, mate, do I look like a centaur?"

"N-no."

"Sir," he added smoothly.

"Sir," Percy said.

He pinched the name tag and ran his finger under the letters. "Can you read this, mate? It says C-H-A-R-O-N. Say it with me: CARE-ON."

"Charon."

"Amazing! Now: Mr. Charon."

"Mr. Charon," I said.

"Well done." He sat back. "I hate being confused with that old horse-man. And now, how may I help you little dead ones?"

Percy looked at me for support.

"We want to go the Underworld," I said.

Charon's mouth twitched. "Well, that's refreshing."

"It is?" I asked.

"Straightforward and honest. No screaming. No 'There must be a mistake, Mr. Charon.'" He looked us over. "How did you die, then?"

I nudged Grover.

"Oh," he said. "Um... drowned... in the bathtub."

"All four of you?" Charon asked. We nodded. I could see Annabeth wanted to face palm.

"Big bathtub." Charon looked mildly impressed. "I don't suppose you have coins for passage. Normally, with adults, you see, I could charge your American Express, or add the ferry price to your last cable bill. But with children... alas, you never die prepared. Suppose you'll have to take a seat for a few centuries."

"Oh, but we have coins." Annabeth set three golden drachmas on the counter, part of the stash we'd found in Crusty's office desk.

"Well, now..." Charon moistened his lips. "Real drachmas. Real golden drachmas. I haven't seen these in..."

His fingers hovered greedily over the coins.

We were so close.

Then Charon looked at Percy. That cold stare behind his glasses seemed to bore a hole through his chest. "Here now," he said. "You couldn't read my name correctly. Are you dyslexic, lad?"

"No," Percy said. "I'm dead."

Charon leaned forward and took a sniff. "You're not dead. I should've known. You're a godling."

"We have to get to the Underworld," Annabeth insisted.

Charon made a growling sound deep in his throat.

Immediately, all the people in the waiting room got up and started pacing, agitated, lighting cigarettes, running hands through their hair, or checking their wristwatches.

"Leave while you can," Charon told us. "I'll just take these and forget I saw you."

He started to go for the coins, but I snatched them back.

"No service, no tip." I said staring at him.

Charon growled again—a deep, blood-chilling sound. The spirits of the dead started pounding on the elevator doors.

"It's a shame, too," I sighed. "We had more to offer."

I held up the entire bag from Crusty's stash. I took out a fistful of drachmas and let the coins spill through my fingers.

Charon's growl changed into something more like a lion's purr. "Do you think I can be bought, godling? Eh... just out of curiosity, how much have you got there?"

"A lot," I said. "I bet Hades doesn't pay you well enough for such hard work."

"Oh, you don't know the half of it. How would you like to babysit these spirits all day? Always 'Please don't let me be dead' or 'Please let me across for free.' I haven't had a pay raise in three thousand years. Do you imagine suits like this come cheap?"

"You deserve better," I agreed. "A little appreciation. Respect. Good pay."

With each word, I stacked another gold coin on the counter.

Charon glanced down at his silk Italian jacket, as if imagining himself in something even better. "I must say, lad, you're making some sense now. Just a little."

I stacked another few coins. "I could mention a pay raise while I'm talking to Hades."

He sighed. "The boat's almost full, anyway. I might as well add you three and be off."

He stood, scooped up our money, and said, "Come along."

We pushed through the crowd of waiting spirits, who started grabbing at our clothes like the wind, their voices whispering things I couldn't make out. Charon shoved them out of the way, grumbling, "Freeloaders."

He escorted us into the elevator, which was already crowded with souls of the dead, each one holding a green boarding pass. Charon grabbed two spirits who were trying to get on with us and pushed them back into the lobby.

"Right. Now, no one get any ideas while I'm gone," he announced to the waiting room. "And if anyone moves the dial off my easy-listening station again, I'll make sure you're here for another thousand years. Understand?"

He shut the doors. He put a key card into a slot in the elevator panel and we started to descend.

"What happens to the spirits waiting in the lobby?" Annabeth asked.

"Nothing," Charon said.

"For how long?"

"Forever, or until I'm feeling generous."

"Oh," she said. "That's... fair."

Charon raised an eyebrow. "Whoever said death was fair, young miss? Wait until it's your turn. You'll die soon enough, where you're going."

"We'll get out alive," Percy said.

"Ha."

I could feel we weren't going down anymore, but forward. The air turned misty. Spirits around me started changing shape. Their modern clothes flickered, turning into gray hooded robes. The floor of the elevator began swaying.

Charon's creamy Italian suit had been replaced by a long black robe. His tortoiseshell glasses were gone. Where his eyes should've been were empty sockets—like Ares's eyes, except Charon's were totally dark, full of night and death and despair.

He saw me looking, and said, "Well?"

"Nothing," I said. "I never knew you could look cool dead."

I thought he was grinning, but that wasn't it. The flesh of his face was becoming transparent, letting me see straight through to his skull.

The floor kept swaying.

Grover said, "I think I'm getting seasick."

When I blinked again, the elevator wasn't an elevator anymore. We were standing in a wooden barge. Charon was poling us across a dark, oily river, swirling with bones, dead fish, and other, stranger things—plastic dolls, crushed carnations, soggy diplomas with gilt edges.

"The River Styx," Annabeth murmured. "It's so..."

"Polluted," Charon said. "For thousands of years, you humans have been throwing in everything as you come across—hopes, dreams, wishes that never came true. Irresponsible waste management, if you ask me."

Mist curled off the filthy water. Above us, almost lost in the gloom, was a ceiling of stalactites. Ahead, the far shore glimmered with greenish light, the color of poison.

Panic closed up my throat. What was I doing here? These people around me... they were dead.

Percy grabbed hold of my hand. Annabeth took my other free one. I knew she wanted reassurance that somebody else was alive on this boat.

I could hear Percy muttering a prayer, though I wasn't quite sure who I was praying to. Down here, only one god mattered, and he was the one we had come to confront.

The shoreline of the Underworld came into view. Craggy rocks and black volcanic sand stretched inland about a hundred yards to the base of a high stone wall, which marched off in either direction as far as we could see. A sound came from somewhere nearby in the green gloom, echoing off the stones—the howl of a large animal.

"Old Three-Face is hungry," Charon said. His smile turned skeletal in the greenish light. "Bad luck for you, godlings."

The bottom of our boat slid onto the black sand. The dead began to disembark. A woman holding a little girl's hand. An old man and an old woman hobbling along arm in arm. A boy no older than I was, shuffling silently along in his gray robe.

Charon said, "I'd wish you luck, mate, but there isn't any down here. Mind you, don't forget to mention my pay raise."

He counted our golden coins into his pouch, then took up his pole. He warbled something that sounded like a Barry Manilow song as he ferried the empty barge back across the river.

We followed the spirits up a well-worn path.

I'm not sure what I was expecting—Pearly Gates, or a big black portcullis, or something. But the entrance to the Underworld looked like a cross between airport security and the Jersey Turnpike.

There were three separate entrances under one huge black archway that said YOU ARE NOW ENTERING EREBUS. Each entrance had a pass-through metal detector with security cameras mounted on top. Beyond this were tollbooths manned by black-robed ghouls like Charon.

The howling of the hungry animal was really loud now, but I couldn't see where it was coming from. The three-headed dog, Cerberus, who was supposed to guard Hades's door, was nowhere to be seen.

The dead queued up in the three lines, two marked ATTENDANT ON DUTY, and one marked EZ DEATH. The EZ DEATH line was moving right along. The other two were crawling.

"What do you figure?" Percy asked Annabeth.

"The fast line must go straight to the Asphodel Fields," she said. "No contest. They don't want to risk judgment from the court, because it might go against them."

"There's a court for dead people?"

"Yeah. Three judges. They switch around who sits on the bench. King Minos, Thomas Jefferson, Shakespeare—people like that. Sometimes they look at a life and decide that person needs a special reward—the Fields of Elysium. Sometimes they decide on punishment. But most people, well, they just lived. Nothing special, good or bad. So they go to the Asphodel Fields."

"And do what?"

Grover said, "Imagine standing in a wheat field in Kansas. Forever."

"Harsh," Percy said.

"Not as harsh as that," Grover muttered. "Look."

A couple of black-robbed ghouls had pulled aside one spirit and were frisking him at the security desk. The face of the dead man looked vaguely familiar.

"He's that preacher who made the news, remember?" Grover asked.

"Oh, yeah." Percy said. "We'd seen him on TV a couple of times at the Yancy Academy dorm. He was this annoying televangelist from upstate New York who'd raised millions of dollars for orphanages and then got caught spending the money on stuff for his mansion, like gold-plated toilet seats, and an indoor putt-putt golf course. He'd died in a police chase when his "Lamborghini for the Lord" went off a cliff."

"Humans." I said rolling my eyes, "What're they doing to him?"

"Special punishment from Hades," Grover guessed. "The really bad people get his personal attention as soon as they arrive. The Fur—the Kindly Ones will set up an eternal torture for him."

The thought of the Furies made me shudder. I realized I was in their home territory now. Old Mrs. Dodds and Mrs . Rudolph would be licking her lips with anticipation.

"But if he's a preacher," Percy said, "and he believes in a different hell... ."

Grover shrugged. "Who says he's seeing this place the way we're seeing it? Humans see what they want to see. You're very stubborn—er, persistent, that way."

We got closer to the gates. The howling was so loud now it shook the ground at my feet, about fifty feet in front of us, standing just where the path split into three lanes was an enormous shadowy monster.

My jaw hung open. All I could think to say was, "He's a Rottweiler."

I'd always imagined Cerberus as a big black mastiff. But he was obviously a purebred Rottweiler, except of course that he was twice the size of a woolly mammoth, and had three heads.

"I thought he would've been a mastiff."

"Same..."

The dead walked right up to him—no fear at all. The ATTENDANT ON DUTY lines parted on either side of him. The EZ DEATH spirits walked right between his front paws and under his belly, which they could do without even crouching.

"I'm starting to see him better," Percy muttered. "Why is that?"

"I think ..." Annabeth moistened her lips. "I'm afraid it's because we're getting closer to being dead."

The dog's middle head craned toward us. It sniffed the air and growled.

"It can smell the living," I said.

"But that's okay," Grover said, trembling next to Percy. "Because we have a plan."

"Right," Annabeth said. I'd never heard her voice sound quite so small. "A plan."

We moved toward the monster.

The middle head snarled at us, then barked so loud my eyeballs rattled.

"Can you understand it?" I asked Grover.

"Oh yeah," he said. "I can understand it."

"What's it saying?"

"I don't think humans have a four-letter word that translates, exactly."

Percy took the big stick out of his backpack—a bedpost we'd broken off Crusty's Safari Deluxe floor model. He held it up, and tried to channel happy dog thoughts toward Cerberus—Alpo commercials, cute little puppies, fire hydrants.

"Hey, Big Fella," He called up. "I bet they don't play with you much."

"GROWWWLLLL!"

"Good boy," he said weakly.

Percy waved the stick. The dog's middle head followed the movement. The other two heads trained their eyes on Percy, completely ignoring the spirits. Percy had Cerberus's undivided attention. I wasn't sure that was a good thing.

"Fetch!" I threw the stick into the gloom, a good solid throw. I heard it go ker-sploosh in the River Styx.

Cerberus glared at me, unimpressed. His eyes were baleful and cold.

So much for the plan.

Cerberus was now making a new kind of growl, deeper down in his three throats.

"Um," Grover said. "Percy?"

"Yeah?"

"I just thought you'd want to know."

"Yeah?"

"Cerberus? He's saying we've got ten seconds to pray to the god of our choice. After that... well... he's hungry."

"Wait!" Annabeth said. She started rifling through her pack.

"Five seconds," Grover said. "Do we run now?"

Annabeth produced a red rubber ball the size of a grapefruit. It was labeled WATERLAND, DENVER, CO. Before I could stop her, she raised the ball and marched straight up to Cerberus.

She shouted, "See the ball? You want the ball, Cerberus? Sit!"

Cerberus looked as stunned as we were.

All three of his heads cocked sideways. Six nostrils dilated.

"Sit!" Annabeth called again.

I don't know why but petting this gigantic three headed dog would have made my bucket list complete. I walked up to Annabeth with Percy and Grover panicking behind.

"I want to pet him. Cerberus sit!"

"Sit!" Annabeth yelled.

Cerberus licked his three sets of lips, shifted on his haunches, and sat, immediately crushing a dozen spirits who'd been passing underneath him in the EZ DEATH line. The spirits made muffled hisses as they dissipated, like the air let out of tires.

I said, "Good boy!"

Annabeth threw Cerberus the ball.

He caught it in his middle mouth. It was barely big enough for him to chew, and the other heads started snapping at the middle, trying to get the new toy.

"Drop it.'" I ordered.

Cerberus's heads stopped fighting and looked at me. The ball was wedged between two of his teeth like a tiny piece of gum. He made a loud, scary whimper, then dropped the ball, now slimy and bitten nearly in half, at Annabeth's feet.

"Good boy." She picked up the ball, ignoring the monster spit all over it.

She turned toward the two. "Go now. EZ DEATH line—it's faster."

Percy said, "But—"

"Now.'" She ordered, in the same tone she was using on the dog.

"You should go too. I wouldn't mind."

"How are you sure he'll follow you?" Annabeth laughed.

"I had a dog you know. Real sweetheart. Pretty sure he'll be as cute."

Grover and Percy inched forward warily.

Cerberus started to growl.

"Stay!" Annabeth ordered the monster. "If you want the ball, stay!"

Cerberus whimpered, but he stayed where he was.

"What about you guys?" Percy asked us as we passed her.

Annabeth looked at me and nodded. "Y/N wants to pet him," she muttered. "I think she can handle him."

Grover, Annabeth and Percy walked between the Cerberus's legs.

I was tempted to make Cerberus sit to be honest.

When made it through. I said, "Good dog!"

I held up the tattered red ball. The ball was tattered and this is going to be the last trick.

"Cerberus, could you get closer to me?" I called hesitantly. All three heads leaned down.

Oh gods... Oh gods... I'm going to pet him... I reluctantly touched his head. His head leaned to my touch. "Good boy." I cooed petting each his head. He whimpered on my touch.  "Okay boy." I leaned my head against his middle one.

I threw the ball. The good boy's left mouth immediately snatched it up, only to be attacked by the middle head, while the right head moaned in protest.

While the monster was distracted, I walked under its belly and joined us at the metal detector.

"Bucket list solved." Annabeth and I fist bumped.

"How did you do that?" Percy looked at Annabeth and I, amazed.

"Obedience school," Annabeth said breathlessly, "When I was little, at my dad's house, we had a Doberman... ."

"I had D/N you knew that." I was surprised to see there were tears in her eyes. "I promise I'll play again!"

"Never mind that," Grover said, tugging at Percy's shirt. "Come on!"

We were about to bolt through the EZ DEATH line when Cerberus moaned pitifully from all three mouths. Annabeth and I stopped.

We turned to face the cutie which had done a one-eighty to look at us.

Cerberus panted expectantly, the tiny red ball in pieces in a puddle of drool at its feet.

"Good boy," Annabeth said, but her voice sounded melancholy and uncertain.

The monster's heads turned sideways, as if worried.

"I'll bring you another ball soon," Annabeth promised faintly. "Would you like that?"

The monster whimpered. I didn't need to speak dog to know Cerberus was still waiting for the ball.

"Good dog. I'll come visit you soon. I promise we'll come back." I turned to the others. "Let's go."

Grover and Percy pushed through the metal detector, which immediately screamed and set off flashing red lights. "Unauthorized possessions! Magic detected!"

Cerberus started to bark.

We burst through the EZ DEATH gate, which started even more alarms blaring, and raced into the Underworld.

A few minutes later, we were hiding, out of breath, in the rotten trunk of an immense black tree as security ghouls scuttled past, yelling for backup from the Furies.

Grover murmured, "Well, Percy, what have we learned today?"

"That three-headed dogs prefer red rubber balls over sticks?"

"No," Grover told me. "We've learned that your plans really, really bite!"

I wasn't sure about that. I thought maybe Annabeth and I had both had the right idea. Even here in the Underworld, everybody—even monsters—needed a little attention once in a while.

I thought about that as we waited for the ghouls to pass. I pulled Annabeth closer as she wipe a tear from her cheek as we listened to the mournful keening of Cerberus in the distance,.

"We'll come back..."

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@gayer-than-the-gayest-gay @the-natureofme @booknerd-3000 @katara720 @ynfics

[coolunspokenforname]

Sims 4 legacy challenge: Flower symbolism

This challenge was made for @cowoman and it follows flowers and some of their symbolism (Disclaimer: This is probably not completely accurate, and in general flowers have different things associated with them through time periods and cultures)

Rules:  - Normal lifespan  - No cheating (Resetting sims is okay, of course) - Unless specified in the generation you can live anywhere - Unless specified in the generation you can have as many partners and children as you want - Basically regular rules of legacy challenges

Gen 1: Daffodil- New beginnings

Aspiration: Super Parent Traits: - Family-Oriented   - Loner   - Ambitious

Left on a doorstep of an orphanage when you were a baby, you’ve always felt alone. You were never able to find a family, but found accomplishment in raising the younger kids. When you finally age out of the system, you are ready to follow your dreams. You move into the big city and find yourself a job as a teacher. Though you love it, you need more. When you are able to afford it, you have kids. You love being a parent, and do your best to be amazing for your children. You love going to the parks on weekends and having pizza nights. It’s your goal to be the best parent you can for your kids, and you pass those goals with flying colours.

Goals:

Start in an apartment

Complete aspiration

Only have kids after getting to level 4 of the education career

Max education career (Professor) 

Adopt at least one kid

Reach level 10 parenting skill

Gen 2: Gladiolus- Strength, Victory

Aspiration: Bodybuilder Traits: - Athletic   - Ambitious   - Self-assured

You were adopted when you were a little baby, and you are incredibly grateful. You were raised in a loving family, but were never spoiled. You were taught that if you want something, you need to work for it, whether it be doing chores or getting a part-time job. As you grew up while your siblings loved watching cartoons and kids shows, you loved watching bodybuilding competitions. As you grow up, that interest also grows. You join the athlete career and love it! You love going to the gyms, and there you meet your spouse. However, you tend to spend a bit too much time at work or at the gym, and barely see your children. 

Goals:

Have manual labor part-time job as a teen

Complete aspiration

Complete athlete career (Bodybuilder)

Meet spouse at a gym

Have a low relationship with their children

Gen 3: Marigold- Jealousy, Despair

Aspiration: Renaissance Sim Traits: - Jealous   - Self-absorbed   - Self-assured

You never had much of a relationship with your parent, and always felt jealous of your friend’s relationships with their parents. Eventually that lead to being jealous about anyone who had better than you.  You tried a bunch of different jobs, but never really cared. You loved being around celebrities, and one day you even had a one night stand with one. After finding out you’re pregnant, you tell the celebrity hoping to marry them, but they don’t even listen. Angry, you keep your child from ever meeting them.

Goals:

Complete aspiration

Careers: Actress, Artist, Style Influencer (Any order you wish)

Get level 10 charisma

Have a one night stand with a high level celebrity and have their child

Never let the child meet their parent

Gen 4: Bluebell- Humility, Everlasting love

Aspiration: Soulmate Traits: - Romantic   - Loner   - Bookworm

You were never able to meet one of your parents, and felt a small emptiness. Your other parent didn’t seem to care much about you, and you two didn’t have the best relationship. The one good thing in your life is your best friend. Unfortunately your parent decides to move to a whole different world right after you became a teen. You still keep in touch with your friend, and the friendship evolves into a romance. As soon as you can the two of you get married and move in together. For quite a few years you live together, but after becoming adults you decide to have a child. The love between you somehow grows even more with the new child.

Goals:

Complete aspiration

Be best friends as a child with your neighbor, but move away soon after becoming a teen

Stay close friends with the neighbour over long-distance and eventually fall in love.

Complete writer career (Journalism)

Get level 10 writing

Gen 5: Columbine- Foolishness, Folly

Aspiration: Joke Star  Traits: - Goofball   - Clumsy   - Outgoing

You had the best life you could ask for. Your parents love each other so much and you always wanted that too. You always loved comedy, and so you became a comedian. As time went on you met someone and finally found the one. You have a wonderful few years and eventually have kids. You are the happiest person in the world! Unfortunately happiness doesn’t always last long. You die young, leaving your spouse and children alone.

Goals:

Complete aspiration

Marry someone

Get level 10 comedy

Get at least level 5 of entertainment career (Comedian)

Die young

Gen 6: Purple Hyacinth- Sorrow

Aspiration: Professional chef Traits: - Foodie   - Loner   - Ambitious

One of your parents died when you were young and it really affected you. While your family seemed to move one, you just couldn’t. So, your main goal in life is to learn how to bring back the dead. You make good progress, but one day you meet someone who lets you forget your goal. While at first you learned to cook to revive people, you learn that you love it. You stop thinking about revival and instead focus on the present. That is, until that person dies. After their passing, you go straight back into the little hole you had made for yourself all those year ago. You revive the person, but they don’t look at you the same way anymore.

Goals:

Get level 10 cooking and gourmet cooking

Complete aspiration

Complete culinary career (chef)

Have a friend or spouse die

Make ambrosia

Revive the person that died (but they are more distant with your sim)

Gen 7: Lavender- Distrust

Aspiration: Serial Romantic Traits: - Noncommittal   - Dog Lover   - Vegetarian

Your parent always told you to never trust anyone, and you’ve taken that advice to heart. You refuse to get close to anyone, and actually try your best to make others understand your viewpoint. How do you do this? You break as many hearts as you can! However, you’re not completely lonely. You have loved animals, mainly dogs, since you were a kid. When you aren’t breaking hearts, you curing animals in the little vet clinic you made yourself. You try to do it all alone, but as your clinic gets more well-known you realize you can’t, so you hire a couple employees. Now, with the extra help, you can focus more on breaking hearts. Oh, and you have a child, but they aren’t your main priority.

Goals:

Complete aspiration

Own a vet (get 4+ stars)

Max veterinarian and pet training skill

Never have a long-lasting relationship

Gen 8: Black-eyed Susan- Justice

Aspiration: Academic Traits: - Family oriented   - Genius   - Unflirty

Your parent never cared for you. They were always either at work or around the town. You always tried your best to be a good child. You did your homework and got good grades. Sometimes you even did school projects when you didn’t need to! Still, they never seemed to notice. When you became a young adult you decided to go to university. You always were interested in history, so you took that degree. Soon you learned that you enjoyed law, and decided after university you would be a judge. While you enjoy your work, you aim to be the best parent you can for your child. You promise to yourself you won’t be like your parent.

Goals:

Go to university (History Degree)

Complete the aspiration

Join law career (Judge) after university

Complete Law career

Have only one child

Gen 9: Angelica- Inspiration

Aspiration: Painter Extraordinaire Traits: - Art Lover   - Creative   - Self-Absorbed

You were an only child, and you loved it! You were always the most important, and you loved it! In fact, You loved it so much that you never wanted the attention to go away. You’ve always loved art, right? So, you start recording videos of painting and stream it. You actually become quite popular. Sure, you still have to work as a freelancer to live comfortably, but that just gives you more freedom to stream, record, and edit. You meet someone, and get along great. A few years after you marry them, though, you both realize you aren’t meant for eachother. You split up on good terms, and stay friends. Eventually you do find the one, and you are ecstatic. Even with your busy schedule of recording, streaming, editing, and doing works for clients, you find a way to spend time with your family. You couldn’t be more grateful.

Goals:

Get level 10 art skill

Be a freelance painter

Record and stream painting

Get to at least B-tier celebrity (3 star)

Max media production skill

Divorce someone but stay friends

Have an excellent relationship with family

Gen 10: Sweet Pea- Goodbye

Aspiration: Party Animal Traits: - Dance Machine   - Outgoing   - Good

You don’t know why, but all your life you’ve felt like something was ending. Like a book was about to close. There was always this feeling in the pit of your stomach. While many may let this get them down, you don’t. If the world is going to end, your going to live your life to the fullest. Who said the end of the world can’t be fun? You spend your life laughing and smiling. You do your best to help others as well. You give away a lot of the money your family has made over the generations to charity. When you aren’t partying you’re volunteering. You decide that, if everything is going to end, your going to do your damndest to make the world a better place beforehand.

Goals:

Complete aspiration

Get level 10 Charisma

Complete politician career (Charity organizer)

Volunteer a lot

Host at least one charity event (You can host one by getting a great reputation)

Notes:

This is just for fun! If you don’t complete the entire challenge or miss a couple goals that’s fine, as long as you have fun! I’m not going to hurt you if you do something wrong. Feel free to add extra drama or goals if you want!

I’m pretty sure if you have high charisma skill you are able to talk to celebrities.

You can have a “long-distance relationship” by chatting on the computer with the other sim and sending love emails (unlocked around level 3/4 of the writing skill)

Sims with the goofball trait can die from laughter, but there are many other ways to kill a sim.

To make ambrosia you need a death flower, angelfish, and potion of youth. You can find ways to get the ingredients if you google it, but i don’t mind if you cheat for the ingredients just this once. Getting level 10 in both cooking and gourmet cooking is hard enough, lol.

Also, for the 8th generation, If you go to live on student housing or dorms in university any pictures in your household inventory will turn blank, and any business ran by sims in you household will no longer be yours when you get back. Just letting you know!

If you have any issues, then please tell me! I haven’t tested this challenge out yet, so if something is impossible I’ll try to fix it! This was a lot of fun to make! :)

[not-wholly-unheroic]

Viewing Disney’s Peter Pan Through the Eyes of an Adult

Recently, I’ve seen several posts floating around talking about how Disney’s Hook is difficult for people to take seriously and is much too comical for what Barrie had intended. I grew up with Disney’s Hook. He was my first introduction to the character and the reason why I became interested in reading classic literature, writing fanfic, and seriously delving into the analysis of complex villainous/antagonistic characters, so he has a very special place in my heart and I’m prone to be quick to defend him. Rather than writing a long-winded reply to these individual posts, I decided to just make my own explaining why Disney’s Hook can be viewed as just as tragic and sympathetic as any other version. (You can also read some of my earlier posts defending Disney’s Hook here and here.)

*takes a deep breath* *cracks knuckles* Buckle up kiddos! You’re in for a long ride!

My view of Disney’s Hook as a tragic character lies primarily in my sympathy for him when he switches from a proud, elegant, dangerous character to a shivering mess of a man when the crocodile comes around. Let me attempt to elaborate--but first, a bit of a necessary digression.

Every film/book/play, etc. can be viewed from several perspectives. Typically, there is one character that we are meant to like and who becomes the primary focus of the story. Anyone who opposes that character is automatically an antagonist, if not a villain. Usually, even if the point of view is omniscient, we can still tell that it is not, perhaps, entirely objective in its portrayal of certain characters. This sort of situation happens all the time on the evening news--the interviewer is, in theory, supposed to be a neutral reporter on an incident, but it is often obvious that they favor one side of an issue over another, and as a result, the public's view of the situation and those involved is skewed. The lens through which we view a certain character tends to do the same thing. For instance, in Les Miserables (another favorite story of mine), Javert is viewed as an antagonist because the book is primarily concerned with the redemption story of Valjean; however, if the story was flipped and instead focused on the inspector's character and his transition from a strict legalist to a man so broken by the idea of morality that he commits suicide, he would, perhaps, be viewed instead as a tragic HERO instead of a tragic ANTAGONIST. Javert likely does many GOOD things in the name of the law as well during his career, but we don't see most of them because he isn't the main focus of the book. Similarly, I think Disney’s Hook can be more greatly appreciated as TRAGIC instead of COMICAL when we consider the lens through which we are viewing him.

Disney has always been geared toward children, so naturally, when they tell a story, they want the material to be attractive to a younger audience. This means not only that certain more frightening or upsetting elements of a story may be left out, edited, or altogether changed, but also that WE VIEW THE CHARACTERS THROUGH THE EYES OF A CHILD. (For example, in The Little Mermaid, King Triton's opposition to Ariel going to the surface world is presented in such a way that he seems extremely harsh when, in reality, he is father trying to keep his daughter safe. True, he DOES overreact, but remember, Ariel is only sixteen--not even LEGALLY an adult--and wants to run off with some guy she hasn’t even had a conversation with. But kids can relate to overbearing parents who, in a moment of disagreement, seem like they are being "mean," so that is how the audience sees Triton.) Peter Pan, especially, with its protagonist(s) as a child/children, really magnifies this perspective to the point where, unfortunately, some of the characters become almost caricatures of themselves. When children are legitimately afraid of something, they react one of two ways: Either they run from it/avoid it altogether, or they make-believe that whatever is frightening them is actually a lot less terrifying than it is so that they appear brave. I remember when I was younger, I used to be TERRIFIED of Monstro, the whale from Pinocchio. I couldn't watch the film without getting nightmares. But I didn't want to be afraid of watching the movie, so with my overactive imagination, I decided that I could fix that by turning him into a less scary version of himself and making him into an imaginary friend who more closely resembled Willy the anthropomorphic opera-singing whale from Make Mine Music than the terrifying creature we see in Pinocchio. Anyway, getting back to the point--I overcame my fear of the character by choosing to imagine that he was less scary than he was. This is what a lot of children do, and I think it's why Disney's Hook comes off as being comical.

The first time we see Disney Hook on screen, he actually comes across as pretty terrifying. He literally shoots his own crew member just because he didn't like the guy's singing! Rarely do we actually see Disney villains successfully kill another character on screen, but Hook does not even five minutes into his introduction. Immediately, we get the impression (or at least, a child should get the impression), that Hook is a genuinely dangerous guy. He also seems to regard his loss of a hand as "a childish prank," which further gives us the impression that he apparently has a pretty high pain tolerance and isn't afraid to do horrible, gruesome things to his enemies. If chopping someone's hand off is "childish," then what sort of serious damage does he inflict on his victims? However, this is Disney, and rather than having Hook gut someone or do something else which might scar a kid for life, we soon see he has a weakness...the crocodile. At this point, the Darling kids have been watching Hook for several minutes from their perch up on the cloud and are, probably, starting to have some second thoughts about fighting real pirates when they seem so scary...so what do they do? They do the same thing I did and turn him into a less-scary version of himself. They find his weakness and latch onto it. And since we're viewing things primarily from their perspective, that's how WE start to see Hook too. Hook's fear of the crocodile becomes comical for the audience because the Darling kids are trying to focus on that aspect of him so that they are can forget how terrifying he really is. We see this more frightening side of Hook come out a few more times, such as when he plans to blow up Pan's hideout...and at this point, we even catch a brief glimpse of the more sinister part of Smee when he asks Hook if it wouldn't be more humane for them to slit his throat...AND THIS IS SMEE WE'RE TALKING ABOUT HERE!!! The LEAST frightening of the pirates in ANY version. But I think Disney throws this in just to remind us that Smee is still a pirate, and if HE'S willing to do something THAT bad, Hook is a thousand times worse. However, for the most part, Hook still remains a rather softened, comical version of himself because we are viewing him through the child-lens. Remove that lens, though, and things become more complicated.

Forget, for a moment, that we are supposed to be rooting for the Darling children and Pan, and look again--not as a frightened child who is trying to laugh in the face of danger but as an adult who can feel Hook's pain. I remember one time when I was driving back from the airport in a busy city in the dark and the road was icy...I'm not used to driving in ice, and I'm a naturally nervous driver...At one point, I skidded into the next lane... I literally spent about the next hour hyperventilating, practically rocking myself back and forth, praying, and trying not to cry because I knew if I did I wouldn't be able to see the road. It was horrible... Take that sort of feeling, and I believe it's what Disney Hook is experiencing when the crocodile shows up. Through the "child-lens" it may be funny to see a frightening character in a vulnerable situation, but viewing it as an adult who understands just HOW helpless and terrified one feels in such a situation, you can't help but empathize with Hook. Every move he makes, every tremble in his voice, every look of absolute horror in his eyes tells you that he is not mentally or physically really functioning at the moment. He's on autopilot--he's in survival mode like a wild animal that freezes in hopes that it won't be seen by the approaching predator. Take away the crocodile's obviously silly "theme-music" and Hook's slightly overdone expressions, and you're left with something similar to what we see Hook experience in the novel near the end of the chapter, "The Pirate Ship." ("Very frightful was it to see the change that came over him. It was as if he had been clipped at every joint. He fell in a little heap...he crawled on his knees along the deck as far from the sound that he could go...'Hide me,' he cried hoarsely.") Now we can start appreciating him for the tragic villain that he is supposed to be.

Viewed through the eyes of the Darling children, Hook represents all that is frightening and bad about the grown-up world. If Peter is ice cream parties and summer vacations and catching fireflies in the dark, then Hook is cancer and broken dreams and being worried about being able to make enough money to put food on the table. Barrie, however, tells us that there is much more to both characters than that. Peter has a dark side--a selfish streak that forgets all pain at the cost of never learning from the past, never growing from his experiences and becoming a better person. He is stagnant not only in physically growing up but also in mentally facing reality, which is just as damaging as Hook's attitude of regretting a childhood apparently gone too soon. Hook, too, has a lighter side that loves soft music and flowers and other such things (representative of the good things about being an adult--falling in love, pursuing one's passions in a professional sense, having children of one's own). Disney, of course, doesn't quite do this to the same extent as Barrie since we're given a skewed view of the characters, but it DOES still make a few points which, when stripped of the "child-lens" effect, gives off a similar impression. Peter, for instance, brags to the mermaids at one point about cutting off Hook's hand and feeding it to the crocodile. Though we never get to hear him finish the tale, it is rather unsettling to think that Disney's Pan is capable of such horror. (Personally, no matter WHAT the circumstances of the situation were, I think any real-life child who took such great pleasure in slicing off a body part of another person and then having the presence of mind to feed said body part to a dangerous wild animal would probably be considered a psychopath in need of some SERIOUS counseling.) Disney, of course, glosses over this little inconvenience by having Hook show up before he can really get any further into the story. Again, the child-lens is going up; Wendy doesn't want to see this side of Peter, and neither does the child-based audience, so they choose to look away. However, we see a brief glimpse of this side of Pan again at Skull Rock. First, we see it resurface when he hands Smee a gun and then flies up directly in front of Hook--knowing that he can move out of the way in time. Again, through the child-lens of the audience, it seems funny to watch Smee doing his best (and failing terribly) to aim at Pan...but when you think about it from an adult's perspective, it's actually pretty disturbing. Peter legitimately wants Hook dead and doesn't care if it happens to be at the hand of one of his own crewmen (and arguably, in the Disney universe, Hook's only real friend). When Hook "dies," Peter simply takes the hat and says nonchalantly, "What a pity, Mr. Smee. I'm afraid we've lost the dear captain." It doesn't even phase him that a man might have just died and poor Smee is probably feeling absolutely HORRIBLE because it was (sort of) his fault. Even Wendy's child-lens falters a little here... While Peter is celebrating Hook's death, she at least, has enough of an adult's heart to have compassion on their fallen enemy and turn her face away with an, "Oh, how dreadful!" It happens again a few moments later when Peter is getting ready to kick Hook's hook off the ledge so that he falls into the waiting jaws of the crocodile. (The captain, at this point, is of course, squirming like--to use Peter's phrasing--"a codfish on a hook.") Again, Pan has no sympathy, but Wendy, who is starting to gradually open up her eyes to the truth that maybe staying a child forever isn't all it's cracked up to be and maybe adulthood isn't entirely bad, is losing her "child-lens." Not entirely. Not to the point where she doesn't continue to view Hook as comical to keep from being afraid. But enough to know that what Peter is about to do is wrong. She expresses this verbally when she shouts, "Oh, Peter, NO!"

It is at this point, shortly after the crocodile chase, that we start to see Hook become more of a legitimate threat (and a legitimately sympathetic character) again. Why? Because Wendy, as the protagonist and the one whose eyes we are looking through even more so than Pan, is starting to grow up and face reality for what it is--scary or not. As she sings "Your Mother and Mine" and tells her brothers that they NEED a mother--that Neverland has been fun but they NEED to go home--Hook is throwing Tinkerbelle in a lantern and planning to kidnap the kids and blow Pan to smithereens. And then we get the "slit his throat" reminder (mentioned above)... Also, as a side note, when Hook is ill after the crocodile chase, we hear him lamenting how Pan has made him look like a fool yet again. This is also something that I think we can appreciate more as adults. All Hook's crew wants is to go back to haunting the Spanish Main, but Hook refuses to leave Neverland because he feels that he has to remain there until he can regain his pride...which in and of itself is admirable, since many people who have been played the fool simply hang their head and walk away in shame. Here's this guy who has been bested by a child no more than twelve or thirteen--and possibly much younger... How must that feel? I have been in an emotionally abusive relationship where I was constantly reminded how I couldn’t do anything right, and it felt SO degrading. I literally just wanted to go hide away in my room and cry because I felt so incompetent and useless and just plain stupid. So how does Hook feel? Probably the same way. But he doesn't give up. If there's one thing we can say for sure about Disney Hook, he's a fighter. So, I guess you could say that, in part, one reason I find Disney Hook so sympathetic and tragic is because I can identify with him in his crippling reaction to fear and admire him for his bold attempts to reclaim his pride.

Anyway, getting back on track with the storyline... As we near the end of the film, Hook once again appears to lose face at the final showdown. At first, this doesn't seem to make sense if Wendy is, in fact, beginning to lose the child-lens. However, although Hook is defeated, we are never actually shown that he dies (and obviously, from the second film, in the Disney universe, he doesn't). I remember reading somewhere that when they were originally working on Peter Pan, Walt Disney chose to keep Hook alive and just have him "going like hell" rather than actually dying because, "the audience will get to liking Hook." And by this point, we have...those of us still looking through the child-lens love to hate him as a character we can laugh at, and those of us who are more grown-up love him for being just like us--an adult who is STILL growing up, in some ways, who is STILL afraid of certain things and hasn't always learned his lessons and isn't perfect but also isn't willing to give up even when everything is against him and everyone is laughing at him and nothing seems to go right.

Now, I said that at first, it doesn't seem to make sense for us to view Hook in a comical light in this scene if we are viewing the movie primarily through the eyes of the Darling children--particularly Wendy, who is starting to grow up and realize that adults are supposed to feel things like compassion for one's enemies. However, Wendy is still a child. She IS still afraid of growing up. In fact, she's terrified. And that comes out when the kids are all mocking Hook. He's still frightening to them. They still need the security blanket of pretend sometimes, of focusing on his more comical, vulnerable side...but they don't defeat Hook by killing him in this version, and I think that's significant. As representative primarily of the "scary" parts of growing up, Hook is temporarily cast aside and shoved to the back of their minds, but he IS NOT DEAD. The kids (and even Pan) know he may come back. They know he isn't gone for good. One day, they will have to face adulthood. One day, Hook--in the guise of mortgages and taxes and wars and sickly older parents--will return. But for now, they have defeated him...not just by pretending but by choosing to accept the responsibility of growing up eventually, in their own good time. Even Peter starts to reflect this theme by beating Hook, "man to man" without the use of flight. Wendy, who wants to be the good grown-up but who isn't quite ready to let go of childhood, warns Peter against it, thinking that it may be a trap. She even goes so far as to shout at him to fly when he has the chance even though he has promised not to. But Disney Pan is a bit more mature than some (maybe Wendy's better judgment is wearing off on him), and he keeps his word. He beats Hook "like a man" NOT like a boy. Pan's victory here symbolically reflects the Darling children's decision to face adulthood by going back to London. Thus, Hook is defeated because adulthood is no longer an obstacle which causes a fear is so crippling that the kids can't face it. When Wendy returns home, we get one last glimpse of this truth in Mr. Darling--the real-world representative of all things frightening and frustrating about growing up and, as I'm sure you know, also (significantly) voiced by Conried--who has done some "growing up" himself. Mr. Darling, it seems, is willing to allow Wendy a bit more time to enjoy life as a child, remembering his own childhood fondly, even as Wendy has chosen to accept the responsibility of growing up. Mr. Darling, who much like Hook, was viewed previously by the kids (and by extension, the audience) as a bit of a bully and an object of ridicule, is now the object of Wendy's affection as a mutual understanding is reached. Adulthood is frightening in many ways, but Wendy has also come to realize that it is necessary to take responsibility for one's actions and feel compassion for others just as Mr. Darling has realized that sometimes, it's okay for kids to be kids and enjoy the moment. Essentially, what I'm saying is--borrowing the idea that Hook and Mr. Darling are two sides of the same coin--Hook in Neverland, chased away by the crocodile, appears as comical in the last scene only because he effectively gets one last serious scene through his London counterpart, staring wistfully out the window with a loving wife and child by his side. Wendy isn't quite yet grown up, so she still sees through the child-lens on occasion, but she is learning, gradually, to embrace that which she once feared. She no longer needs Hook, an imaginary figure, to personify that fear. She now has her father back, and though she now RESPECTS what he stands for, she is no longer so terrified of growing up that she can't appreciate the GOOD side of the future (such as having a husband and a family of her own someday) and look forward to it.

[jalapeno-princess]

Off Limits

Gynecologist Mark X Reader

Word Count: 7.6K

Genre: Angst, fluff, badly written smut (the whole shabang) 

Warnings: Fingering, hand job, oral (female receiving) doctor & patient relationship (honestly I was very hesitant on writing something like this (BUT I’VE SEEN KINKIER SHIT ON HERE SO YOLO)

Summary: You’ve been having pelvic pains and after voicing your concerns to your mom, she recommends that you go and see a gynecologist. It’s in that moment when you find out that your childhood crush Mark Tuan is the doctor she is referring to and before you could object, she ends up making you an appointment. Seeing Mark for the first time since he went away for college sends butterflies to your tummy and you don’t think you’ll be able to last through the entire appointment knowing what he is going to have to do to you. You discover that Mark harbors the same feelings you’ve had for him for the entirety of knowing him and little do you know, you are the reason for the fall out of his friendship with your brother.

A/N: Hey guys, I really don’t know where this idea came from and I’m honestly kind of all over the place with the idea of this BUT WHATEVER I’m sorry if it’s uncomfortable but IDK it’s probably my hoe ass fantasies getting the best of me please enjoy (I also was kind of lazy to go in to depth about the smut so sorry about that)

When you walked in to the doctor’s office, you were immediately greeted by the receptionist at the counter as she asked you for your name and time of your appointment. Since you were a new patient, she handed you some paperwork to fill out and informed you that she would call you when it was your time to go in. As you took a seat and began filling out the forms, you couldn’t help but secretly wish your mom went with you to your appointment. 

Sometimes you’d forget you were 23-years-old with the way your mom still had to schedule your appointments and there were times that she’d be in the office with you and even talked to your doctor for you. Right now, as you continued to insert your information, you wanted nothing more than for her to be with you, especially because the doctor you were seeing just so happened to be the same person you’ve had a crush on since you were 7-years-old. 

Just a few days ago, you called your mom after you finished work and complained about having a dull pain in what you assumed was your ovaries. Being the irresponsible person you were, you hardly ever went to visit your gynecologist which both upset and worried your mom, especially because of the many different diseases and syndromes there were in women’s private areas. After scolding you for being a procrastinator and waiting till something was wrong with you to actually go and get checked up, it was in that moment that she recommended you go and see Mark Tuan. 

Mark Tuan was your older brother’s best friend since elementary school. The two of them were practically two peas in a pod. Wherever one went, the other followed. Whatever sport one joined, so did the other. They were just that close; that meant you saw Mark almost every single day. 

When you were younger, he would always jokingly bully you; but deep down you knew his playful antics were all in good fun. He would always try to keep you out of your brother’s room as they played video games, steal the last cookie in the cookie jar since you weren’t able to reach it and made fun of the fact that you owned so many stuffed animals. 

It was in those moments of teasing that you developed a hatred for the older boy. Whenever he came over, you’d never acknowledge his presence and pretended he never existed. Even at dinner if he were to stay over, you found yourself sitting as far away from him as possible. The longer you held a grudge on him and stayed away from him, the more you realized that you didn’t hate him. No, you were developing a crush on him. But you were too young to even know what feelings were and when you explained what you felt about him to your mom, she thought it was adorable and told you it was puppy love. 

However, as you grew older, your feelings for Mark grew deeper and deeper more and more every day. Whenever he laughed or smiled, your heart felt as if it were about to burst from out of your chest. Since he was five years older than you and because he was your brother’s best friend, you pushed the idea of him reciprocating your same feelings to the back of your mind. You never failed to notice how his facial features and even his body grew more defined as the years went on and it only made things harder for you. 

You’d have to come up with excuses not to be around him because you’d act like a complete idiot if he was around and the last thing you needed was for anyone, Mark especially to find out that you liked him. Unfortunately, in your senior year of high school, Mark graduated with his bachelor’s degree in psychology and got accepted in to one of the most prestigious medicinal colleges in the country. From the time you met him, Mark made it known that he wanted to be a doctor of some sort. 

He always loved helping people and wanted to give back to his community in any way that he could. It was one of the main reasons why you liked him so much and although you were going to miss him, you know his absence was going to be a good thing. You needed to get over him and this was the only way possible. 

Your senior year came and went and before you knew it, you were applying to many different colleges all over the world. You ended up moving to New York and attended NYU with the intent of getting your degree in education. Just like Mark, you loved being able to lend a hand to anyone who needed it and the idea of being able to enhance and teach the little minds of children always sent a smile to your face. 

As soon as you graduated, you returned back to your hometown with the thought of teaching at your old elementary school. You haven’t talked to or heard from Mark since he left all those years ago, but your mom never failed to update you on his achievements and the fact that he was now a very well known gynecologist. You felt childish when you found yourself cringing and squirming at the idea of Mark having to possibly look at you down there, especially because you’ve daydreamed about being intimate with him every now and then. 

He was a gynecologist, it was his job to make sure everything was okay in your vaginal region, so why were your hands clammy and why were you so nervous at the idea of him having to observe your lady parts? Not too long after filling out all of your papers and handing them back to the receptionist, she called you over and had you follow her in to one of the rooms. 

“Okay y/n, what brings you here today? Is it just a regular check up or is there something bothering you?” You scratched the back of your neck in embarrassment at the actual reason for your visit before speaking up. 

“I—um—I’ve been having pains uh—down there. It’s not so much painful as it is uncomfortable but it does bother me and my mom wanted to make sure nothing is wrong with me.” She nodded in understanding while writing down everything you were telling her. After a few moments, she handed you a hospital gown and told you to remove everything and let you know that Mark was going to come in soon. You’ve seen a gynecologist a few times back in college, but this was the first time seeing one after returning home and you knew you should’ve went and looked for someone else. Who cares if Mark was highly recommended and if he was good? He was like an older brother to you. 

Although, you noticed he began to grow distant towards you right before he left and it pained you that he was no longer the happy go lucky pain in the ass that he always was towards you almost your entire life. While you were away at college, you also learned that he and your brother had a little fall out and you believed it was because they went their separate ways and neither of them had time to keep in touch. 

The idea of him practically seeing you naked in an environment like this made you extremely uncomfortable and you almost found yourself running out of the entire office completely. You were an adult, you had to suck it up and just deal with the fact that Mark was your new gynecologist. 

Changing out of your clothes felt extremely awkward and you felt so vulnerable knowing you were entirely naked under the hospital gown. You knew Mark had to be professional in an occupation like this and you were sure he’s seen quite a few vaginas in his career, so it didn’t matter that the two of you knew each other. You were going to try your best to look at him as your doctor and not the boy who helped teach you how to ride a skateboard so you could make it to your classes on time back in your freshman year. 

The soft knock on the door broke you out of your thoughts and as soon as your eyes landed on him, your breath hitched. It’s been almost four years since you’ve seen him and you didn’t think it was possible knowing how handsome he always was, but he became even more gorgeous. Seeing him in a doctor’s coat with a dress shirt, slacks and a tie you recognized that your family bought for him when he first entered college made your head spin. How could someone be this good looking? It wasn’t fair and the toothy grin he was sending your way sent tingles down your spine. 

“Hey stranger. How’ve you been? I had to do a double take when I saw your name on my upcoming appointment list. You look great y/n. And I heard you’re a teacher now, congratulations.” You felt as if someone had a hold on your tongue. His compliment made you freeze and you felt so small under his gaze. Why did your mom force you in to making him your new gynecologist and why didn’t you disagree with her? This was going to be a long day. 

“I—hi. I’ve been good. Thank you for asking. Yeah, I just started teaching kindergarten a few months ago and I love it so far. Congratulations on opening your own practice although, I can’t say I’m not surprised. You were always so hard working and went after everything you set your mind to.” For someone who was about to turn 28-years-old, his adorable high pitch laughter never changed and it sent warmth to your cheeks. His laugh had to be one of your favorite sounds in the entire world. 

Mark was always soft spoken and shy around those he didn’t know all too well but you knew the real Mark and it seemed like he was always laughing whenever he was at your house. There were a few occasions where you made him laugh and it tugged on your heartstrings knowing you were the reason behind such a beautiful sound. You would listen to him laugh all day if you could. 

“Yeah, shit was rough but I guess it was worth it. I’ll be honest with you, gynecology was the last field I’d find myself in but the doctor I was studying under recommended it and claimed it wasn’t as cutthroat of a profession as other medical occupations. I’ve delivered a couple of babies and that was pretty cool. I kinda was hoping to go in to pediatrics like Jinyoung, but he always complains about it every now and then but then again, he wasn’t always fond of kids. Ah, I’m blabbering like I always used to—Erica said you’ve been having pains down there. How long has it been going on for?” You began to think about when the pains first started happening and shrugged indifferently. 

“Almost a month ago but I didn’t think anything of it. I guess I assumed it had to deal with my period but I’ve had these pains even after my cycle was over.” You were quick to notice how Mark’s eyes never left yours once since he entered the room. He has always been like that since you were kids. Even if he was quite the jokester, whenever you’d talk to him his eyes were constantly looking you over; giving you his full attention. You’d find yourself fumbling your words knowing that he always had his gaze on you and it never seemed to falter. When you heard a soft chuckle fall from his lips, you raised one of your brows and looked at him in curiosity. 

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to laugh it’s just—you haven’t changed one bit. You were always the procrastinator. Especially whenever it comes to your health and well-being. Remember when you were riding your bike, went over a speed bump, fell off and scraped your knee? Instead of running in the house to go clean it, you took a picture and posted it on Instagram.” 

You found yourself laughing along with him when you remembered the exact memory he was referring to. You had just turned 14 at the time and wanting to impress Mark, you decided to try out some tricks that you saw on YouTube. He was a just starting college around that time, and being the delusional little girl you were thinking that maybe one day there could be something between the two of you, you wanted to show him that you were mature enough for him. 

However, your plans went to shit the minute you fell off of your bike but instead of crying like you knew you probably would have if you were younger, you took out your phone and snapped a picture of the huge gash on your knee. Mark didn’t hesitate to run over to you the minute you tipped over and politely scolded you before ripping off a piece of his flannel and wrapping it around the wound as a makeshift bandage. That memory was one of your favorites with Mark. He showed genuine concern and worry for you and it made you smile like an idiot knowing he cared about you. 

“I know. I should take better care of myself. I’ll try better.” He nodded in agreement before taking a look at his clipboard and returning his attention back to you. 

“Okay y/n, this is the part where it’ll probably get weird knowing our history together, but I have to ask these questions as your gynecologist.” From past experiences at the gynecologist office, you knew exactly what questions he was referring to and you took in a deep breath while allowing him to continue.

“Do you drink or smoke?” You shook your head in disagreement. Mark and your brother were party animals. Your parents had to pick them up every now and then from parties because they got too drunk and couldn’t find their own way home. You on the other hand didn’t find the point in getting drunk nor did you want to ruin your lungs over something so unnecessary such as smoking.

“Do you have regular periods?”

“I think so.”

“Are you pregnant or think there’s a chance you are pregnant?”

“No.”

“Are you sexually active?” You knew the question was coming and you dreaded it. It felt weird having to tell him of your intimate life but like he said, it was his responsibility as your doctor to ask you these questions. 

“No. Not right now.” If you weren’t staring at the ground in attempts to hide the redness on your cheeks, you’d be able to see the blush on Mark’s. He was just as flustered asking you these questions as you were answering them but he had to be a mature adult and put your past and the fact that the two of you knew each other to the back of his mind. 

“How many sexual partners have you had in the last year?”

“None.”

“Bullshit.” As soon as the profanity fell from his lips, that’s when you found yourself looking up at him. What exactly did he mean by that?

“Excuse me?” He must’ve not realized exactly what he said because his eyes widened in shock. 

“Sorry—I didn’t—it’s nothing. Forgive me, it’s been a long day. Now, back to the questions.” Knowing Mark for as long as you have, you knew that he was lying. There was meaning behind his confrontation and you were dying to know why the blurted out the word bullshit; but he wasn’t going to say it. It took you back to the last day you saw him. Your family went to see him off at the airport before he left for college and he pulled you in to a tight hug before opening his mouth as if he wanted to tell you something; but nothing came out. It must have not been important and you tried your best to forget about what it is that he wanted to tell you no matter how badly you wish he would’ve said it. 

“Do you—uh—do you touch yourself?” Again, you knew he had to ask you that but you really did not want to answer the question. You’d be lying if you said no and you felt weird if he knew that yes, you were guilty of masturbation. Mark was the last person you wanted knowing that you played with yourself every now and then and you were sure he’d look at you in a different light if you told him the truth but when you found yourself nodding in agreement, you knew it was too late. 

Seeing his ears turn red made you stifle back a laugh. Was he really getting bashful asking you questions you knew he probably asked every single one of his patients? Did he act so nervous and flustered whenever he had to ask them these questions, or was it because it was you, someone he probably considered a younger sister that he now felt awkward having to inquire about what you did in your free time? 

“Okay, now that we’re done with the questions, I’m going to have to uh—check under your breasts to make sure there aren’t any lumps. Then I’ll do a Pap smear. Is that okay—alright? Are you okay with that?” Hearing him stutter as his cheeks continued to darken made your heart warm. You’ve seen Mark get crushes on girls in his grade and it made you green with envy. He always talked so highly about the girls he liked; as if they were one of the seven wonders of the world. You could only dream about being the lucky girl Mark called his. He slowly made his way towards you and gave you an awkward smile before standing right in front of you. 

“I uh—I’m going to uh—start now. If it feels uncomfortable or you feel weird just let me know. The last thing I want is for you to feel uneasy and tense.” 

You smiled at how much of a gentleman he was being. You were sure he was just as gentle and kind with his other patients, but right now he was treating you so delicately as if he was afraid of saying or doing the wrong thing. Before you could prepare yourself, his hand made it’s way into the hospital gown and right under your left breast. 

He gently began grazing his thumb and kneading the skin making sure there was no lump or anything he had to worry about. Feeling his cold fingers against your chest sent a warm sensation in between your thighs. You tried your best not to make it obvious that having him touch you in such a way was driving you to the brink of insanity, especially because it was his job, but you’ve fantasized about being in this situation many times. 

Every now and then, you’d find yourself admiring Mark from afar and whenever your brother allowed you to, you’d find yourself playing video games with them and you couldn’t help but stare at his fingers and realize how long and skinny they were. Honestly, his fingers were always so pretty and one of your favorite features on him. You wanted nothing more than to hold his hand and even have his fingers wrap around your neck while he’d pound himself inside of you. It was during your times of self pleasure that you’d pretend it was Mark doing that to you. 

Sure, you had a couple of one night stands here and there back in college and you even had a boyfriend back in your junior year, but Mark always stayed in the back of your mind after all of these years. He was all your heart craved and wanted to know. It was foolish for you to desire a relationship beyond what you and Mark already had but you couldn’t help yourself. He was your first love and he’d probably stay on your mind until you found someone who could take his place; if that someone even exists. 

You could tell he was hesitant and trying his best not to overstep his boundaries but it was taking every bone in your body not to grab his hand and have him cup your mound while toying with your nipple. To your dismay, he finished with your left side and made his way over to the right, continue his ministrations while trying his best to pretend as if nothing was wrong. Like he wasn’t practically massaging your breasts; like he didn’t enjoy it and want to do more. No, he couldn’t think like that. You were his best friend’s younger sister. There was no way anything could happen between you both; no matter how much he wanted to throw you on to the table and fuck your brains out. 

You didn’t know it, but you were driving Mark crazy. He was always so fond of you and he always found you so adorable. Sometimes he felt bad about teasing you, but seeing your adorable puppy dog eyes made it all worth it. The explicit and erotic thoughts that were running through his mind sent off red flags and he knew he needed to finish this appointment with you before he did something he’d regret but not because he didn’t want to. 

Mark wanted to show you just how much he’s missed you since the two of you have been apart from each other, but it was just too weird and you were technically off limits to him anyway. Knowing you were his best friend’s younger sister didn’t change the fact that Mark thought you were extremely attractive and that you became even more beautiful and dangerously sexy now that you were a young woman. 

You were wearing a hospital gown yet you looked so ethereal and Mark knew himself to know that he was only seconds away from ripping the damn gown off and ravishing you and your body in ways that he’s always wanted to. Finally, he was done with checking for any lumps on your breasts and he felt like a huge weight lifted off of his shoulders. Now came the hardest part. The Pap smear. If he had a hard time touching and practically fondling your breasts, what more when he had to practically have his face right in front of your pussy which he was sure was probably lubricated with your juices? 

He was so close to saying fuck it and letting his carnal urges take over, but he knew there was going to be consequences for his actions if he continued to think with his second head. “You’re all clear. Now I’m gonna do the Pap smear and hopefully we’ll be able to find out why you’re in pain. If not, I’m going to have to do an ultrasound. Let me just get the tools, can you lie down and lift your legs up?” 

You did as you were told and you couldn’t help but giggle at the coolness against the balls of your feet when you placed them against the stirrups. You watched as Mark began to shake as he made his way through the cabinet, grabbing some gel and the tool used for Pap smears. Seeing him freak out at having to do this made you feel at ease for some odd reason. Probably because you weren’t the only one feeling weird. The tension in the air was so thick, you could cut it with a knife. Once he took a seat right in front of your bare thighs, he lifted up the gown and began his examination. 

“I’m going to apply some gel to lubricate you—I um—I’m also going to have to use my fingers but that’s normal. Don’t hesitate to ask me to stop alright?” You nodded but internally screamed at the idea of him fingering you. What were you even thinking? Like he said, it was something he had to do. The Pap smear tool could only do so much and just like he did when checking your breasts for any lumps, he had to make sure there weren’t any lumps in your vulva. Although you couldn’t see him, you knew he was applying some gel on his fingers and you had to bite your lip when you felt him bring his two fingers up to your entrance. 

“Ready?” You let out a soft hum and before you knew it, he pushed his fingers inside of you. In order to prevent yourself from coming off as a bigger fool, you bit down on your lip in attempts to keep any sound from falling out of your mouth. Foreplay was always one of your favorite parts of sex and fingering always seemed to rile you up. Sure, this was a part of the exam, but it felt so good. 

He began to move his fingers around in order to evenly spread the cold lubricant around your folds and little did you know, Mark was about to scream at how tight you were clenching around his fingers. You were practically soaking to the point where he didn’t think he needed the damn gel. Why were you so wet? And why was Mark ready to risk it all just to have his way with you? 

You were sure your lip was probably bleeding with how tight you were biting down on it and before you knew it, the unthinkable happened. A soft moan fell from your lips at his ministrations. You couldn’t help yourself, his fingers felt so good buried in your cunt and you had a hunch that he too was enjoying himself. The last time you had a Pap smear, your gynecologist was quick to insert the gel, did the Pap smear and called it a day. With the way Mark began pumping his fingers inside of your pussy, you knew he was going beyond the actual exam and you couldn’t find it in yourself to tell him to stop. You didn’t want to. 

This is all you wanted the minute you first started getting intimate with men. Whenever you had sex, you’d imagine it was Mark loving on your body every single time. There was one instance you almost said his name while another guy was going down on you and you practically bolted the minute you both came. You gasped in shock at the noise and you prayed he didn’t hear it but the growl that came from the back of his throat answered your question. 

“Fuck—shit—y/n—I’m so sorry but fuck—this is against the rules and I told myself to never get involved with you in that way but fuck—you’re so fucking beautiful you know that? And extremely fucking sexy—can I—can I continue? You’re so wet and so fucking tight. You’re taking my fingers so—so well—swallowing me so well—shit.” 

He continued to pump his fingers in and out of your soaking pussy all the while leaving kisses on both of your thighs. You couldn’t form any complete sentences; you were too in awe at his confession and you had a hard time accepting this was going on right now. Mark Tuan, the boy you’ve harbored feelings for; for over a decade was currently fingering you like his life depended on it. His fingers felt so good pumping inside of you and you couldn’t help but want more. 

You knew this was wrong; not only was he your brother’s best friend, but he was a doctor and this was his establishment. There had to be some kind of law that did not allow doctors to fool around with their patient but you weren’t necessarily just a patient to Mark nor was he just a gynecologist to you. The minute you felt him curl his fingers inside of you, you clenched you’re legs together as a way to get him to slow down. Slowly but surely, your orgasm was building and he might have been amazing with his fingers, but this was not the way you wanted to cum. 

“M—Mark—m—more. I want—no I need more please.” A stifled giggle fell from his lips and right before you could question him, you felt him lick a strip up at your entrance. 

“Fuck.” Everything about Mark never failed to rile you up and excite you. Whether it be his devastatingly handsome good looks, extremely charming personality or his intelligence, he was everything you wanted in a significant other and more. Mark was the blueprint of what you wanted in a man and that’s probably why you’ve been single for so long. Not only did you want to focus on your career and be able to live a free life while you were still young, but nobody ever compared to Mark and right now, as his face was buried in between your thighs, nipping and sucking on your clit, you knew there was no way you’d ever get over this. 

Both his lips and his tongue did wonders on your pussy. Hearing him slurp up your juices and hum against your core made you dizzy. If someone were to tell you years ago that Mark Tuan would be eating you out in one of the rooms at his workplace, you would’ve laughed in their face. But here you were, practically screaming in to the pillow that was provided because Mark was giving you head like a professional. He knew exactly what to do to make you squirm and the grip on your thighs made things even more difficult. Your hands absentmindedly made their way to his hair, tugging and pulling on it the longer he continued to lap up your wetness, and before you knew it he was adding in both his fingers causing you to let out a wanton cry. 

“Shit—shit—Mark—“ he hummed against your clit and your body warmed up at the feeling. 

“Are you close baby?” The pet name sounded so sweet falling from his lips. You’ve heard him call his girlfriends back in high school different terms of endearment and you’d find yourself feeling jealous and wanting him to do the same to you. But you were just a kid in Mark’s eyes at that time. Hearing him call you baby was such an indescribable feeling and you could only hope that whatever this currently was going on with the both of you wasn’t just a one time thing. 

When you nodded at his words, you felt him place a soft kiss against your clit as he pulled both his fingers and his face away from where you needed him the most. “You taste so fucking good by the way. I could eat you out for hours. So fucking sweet.” The whine that fell from your lips made you embarrassed; it was obvious you were desperate for release and you didn’t think Mark was capable of being such a tease, but this man was really going to be the death of you. 

“Mark what the fuck—“ his lips were warm against yours and no matter how many times you’ve dreamt about kissing him, nothing would ever compare to actually feeling his mouth smashed against yours. The kiss was rough; needy, he began roughly sucking on your bottom lip and bringing it in between his teeth. He joined you on the table and hovered over your lap; pressing himself up against you and your cheeks grew hot once you felt his hard on against your thigh. 

You had no words to describe how amazing it felt kissing Mark. He always had the prettiest heart shaped lips and they always looked so soft, so kissable. His lips tasted like strawberry chapstick and it only reminded you of how obsessed he was with applying lip balm back in high school because in his words “chapped lips weren’t sexy.” His hands roamed your body as your make out session continued and to your surprise, he pulled away quickly but only to practically rip your hospital gown off. 

“Y/n—are you okay with this? I’m not—I’m not forcing you or making you feel as if you have to do this right? We can stop if you’re not comfortable—I know this is wrong for so many reasons and it’s so immature and irresponsible of me but I can’t stop—you don’t know how long I’ve wanted this for. You—I—I’m in love with you. I’ve always been in love with you for the longest time. Longer than I’d like to admit. You’re an ethereal being you know that? It’s been years since I’ve seen you and my feelings for you have never faltered. If anything, they’ve grown stronger as the days go by. I know—it’s probably hard to believe but I’m telling the truth. It’s always been you y/n. I’m sorry, I chose the wrong time to confess my feelings for you, but I don’t want you thinking I’m just fooling around with you for the sex. I want you, for you. For as long as I can have you for.” 

You knew he was waiting for your response with the way he leaned back and looked at you with what you assumed was admiration. His confession made your entire thought process come to a halt. You had a hard time believing this was even happening right now. This was the same boy who stuck gum in your hair and told you girls couldn’t play sports. He was also the same guy who used to walk home from school instead of catching the bus in order to save his money to buy you a present for your 10th birthday. How could he be in love with you? 

You’ve seen all the girls he’s been with throughout the years and you were sure he was surrounded with many more mature, gorgeous and successful women. He could get anyone he wanted and with his good looks and social status, he probably had so many women groveling at their feet for him. Plus the two of you haven’t seen each other in forever, there was no way he could still have feelings for you since it’s been so long. You didn’t realize you were holding in your breath until you felt him brush some of your hair back. 

“I—I scared you didn’t I? I’m sorry y/n. I shouldn’t have said anything, please forget everything I just said and please don’t say anything to your brother. He already hates me as it is.” 

Your mom told you that they had a fallout and that they grew distant from each other and for some reason it upset you. They were friends for over a decade and you were sure they were going to be life long friends. Surely it couldn’t have been the distance that would interfere with their relationship. So what happened between the two of them that caused your brother to end their long term friendship? As the question was on the tip of your tongue, Mark looked at your curious expression and answered for you. 

“He found out that I liked you. We were out at a bar one night, a couple of days before I left and I took one too many shots of vodka. I don’t remember how you came up in the conversation but apparently I wouldn’t shut up about how beautiful I think you are and how much I wanted to be with you. I know liking you was wrong the minute I recognized that I harbored feelings for you. Every time I saw you or spent time with you, I had this foreign feeling in my stomach; excitement maybe? Happiness? Love? I kept it to myself for a long time. The age difference and the fact that you were in my life for such a long time already because of my friendship with your brother only reminded me that nothing could happen between us no matter how badly I wanted you. I love every single thing about you y/n. Your quirkiness, your determination, your strength, your kindness, how headstrong you are. You might not think so, but to me you’re perfect y/n.” 

You didn’t know whether or not he was done talking, but you wanted him to know that you felt the exact same way. Feeling Mark smile in to the kiss that you initiated made your heart flutter; you weren’t that good with words so you could only hope your actions spoke for you. You brought your hand up to his face and gently caressed his cheek all the while deepening the kiss. Only when you felt his dress pants rub against your naked core did you realize that you were completely bare while he was still fully clothed. 

“Mark—“ he brought his finger up to your lips in order to silence you while continuing from where he left off before you interrupted him with a kiss. 

“The next day, I woke up with a throbbing headache and a few messages from the guys. I had no idea what they were talking about when they told me that it was best to stay away from both you and your brother and then I watched the video Youngjae sent me. I was so mad at myself. I threw my friendship with your brother down the fucking drain and I knew I was going to lose you too. I think it was a good thing that I was moving away so I could use that as an excuse. I kept lying to myself and told myself that it was for the best but it fucking sucked y/n. Your brother was like a brother to me. I wanted to explain myself, but he wouldn’t listen. Apparently I confessed some things that your brother felt was totally out of line and I don’t blame him. If it was the other way around, I’d be pissed too. And fuck, I missed you so much. Your contagious laugh, your breathtaking smile, the fact that you continued to want to hang out with me no matter how mean I was towards you. If I’m being completely honest, I was more upset with losing you than I was your brother. Pathetic right? God, the more I talk about it the more foolish I sound.” 

You began running your hands up and down his back as a way to calm him down and out of habit you placed a soft kiss on his jaw. “Then I’m just as pathetic. I’m in love with you too by the way. I’m sorry it took so long for me to admit it—I’m having a hard time accepting everything that just happened. The reason why I was always so clingy towards you when we were younger was because I admired you so much and I loved being around you. I wouldn’t stop asking my mom when the next time you were coming over was. I lied to you back in my junior year; I wasn’t failing trigonometry. I was actually at the top of my class. I just wanted an excuse to get you to tutor me in order to spend as much time with you as possible. I’ve always had a crush on you. Sure, you were the biggest pain in my ass back when I was in elementary school, but as we both got older, I loved having you around. You never failed to make me laugh at your terrible puns and you may not have meant to back then, but you always took such good care of me and made me feel wanted.” 

He smiled against your chest and began teasingly playing with both your breasts as a way to distract you. Mark knew the longer you went in to detail about your feelings for him, he’d probably do something embarrassing that he’d regret later on. 

“Can you say it again?” Although you knew what he was referring to, you wanted to continue teasing him. 

“Say what?”

“Babe—“ you stole one more kiss before playfully squeezing his cheek. 

“I love you Mark. More than I can fathom in to words. So um—what does this mean for us? Where do we stand?” He grazed his finger along your folds that were still extremely wet and throbbing from his previous movement while he was in between your legs. Sure, the confessions of love and feelings for one another were very sweet and heartfelt, but the fire building in between your legs was aching to be put out. 

The soft moan that fell from your lips only egged him on more and to your dismay, he brought your clit in between his index finger and his thumb and all but gently began to play with it causing the coil that was already building in your stomach to tighten. “Well, now that my feelings for you are out there, I’d like to finish your appointment, then take you to dinner later on tonight. I’d say I’d wait and take it from there, but I’m very confident in us, in our relationship so I’m not giving you the choice; you’re my girlfriend. Fuck, if I knew how amazing this would be, I would’ve made my move years ago. I’m gonna have to schedule you for a check up at least three times a month. Now—“

He started taking off his pants and his underwear came off soon after; your mouth began to water at the sight of his extremely red and hardened cock. It must’ve been so painful; you had a feeling he’s been hard since he was eating you out more than twenty minutes ago. You brought one hand down to his cock and ran your thumb around the tip. You’ve always considered penises to be extremely ugly, but something about Mark’s made your pussy throb. There was one time back when you were in your sophomore year when Mark was sleeping over at your house and you accidentally walked in on him naked. You were quick to cover up your eyes and run out of the bathroom before you could actually see something, but now you found yourself unable to take your eyes off of his fully erect cock. Not only was he thick, but he was also pretty long and you hated how every single thing about him was perfect. You were also excited to feel him stretch you out and bury himself deep inside of you.

“S—shit. Don’t fucking tease me baby. God y/n, you’re so fucking sexy. I’m never going to get enough of you. I can’t wait to fuck that pretty little cunt of yours. Now hurry up and jack me off you slut.” 

You giggled softly while wrapping your hand around his length and pumped him up and down. Hearing his soft grunts while you continued your motions caused you to go faster. A huge part of you wanted to suck him off; giving head was one of your favorite parts of sex and you wanted nothing more than for Mark to face fuck you. However, you were soon growing impatient at the idea of finally becoming one with him. You had all the time in the world now to choke on his dick; you wanted him to drill himself in to you. With the way he was thrusting himself in to your hand while leaving love bites on the juncture of your neck, you had a feeling he had the exact idea in mind. 

“Baby, as good as this feels, I need to fuck you—like right now. Get ready to be probed—ow! Come on y/n, you have to admit that was funny. Don’t you get the joke? Ultrasound—probing—okay I’ll stop. You were always so judge-mental of my jokes. Fine I’ll stop, but just know I have no intentions on going easy on you. I had a crush on you for quite some time, I’m going to make up for these last few years of being apart. I love you so much y/n and I plan on showing you right now exactly how much you mean to me.”

[ageof9thhouse]

Signs in the Fourth House

This placement is where the Mother Moon feels at home, hence it is the domain of Cancer. Being the house for emotions and the past, it has powerful psychological and emotional influence on human beings. In Roman mythology Diana was the Goddess of the Moon, children, animals and women - her Greek name was Artemis (though they differ in certain parts.) The Goddess in both interpretations was depicted as sort of a guardian of innocence - light in the dark. Therefore there are these themes of “guarding” and “security” we stumble upon with this house. This is the house which tells us about our mothers, family life, our home, our inner voice, and our ancestry to a certain point but it is arguable.  

♈︎Aries / Mars in the 4th House:

The mother might have heavy fire sign influences in her chart. She is a leader and she is very assertive. She might be on the more aggressive side but as easily as she gets angry she is also quick to turn into a more bubbly mood. She is self-confident but to the point of insisting she is the only one who has valid points in this World. The house the native grew up in, involved a lot of arguing between the parents which seemed to spark out of nowhere. The most extreme case would be domestic violence being present in the home. The family might have had problems concerning their homes. Somethings always seem to break down inside the house. The individual might have some resentment towards the family. Looking back at her childhood can bring some anger to the surface. With a family life that is lacking peace, the person’s inner voice can be on the more aggressive side. The person has no patience for understanding themselves, therefore the emotions are all over the place. Patience with ones-self and the family is key here.  

♉︎Taurus / Venus in the 4th House:

The mother might have heavy Venusian influences in her chart. She is beautiful and graceful but can be a little lazy. She had a great influence on the home environment, she seemed to be the source of comfort for the family. The family life was overall nice but might have had been boring. The family is close-minded compared to the native of the chart. Even though the family is talented in the arts they are not that open to the “new”. The family may find it hard to accept the quirky side of the person, but they are comforting in certain ways. The house the native grew up in was very beautiful and they did not move around a lot. The food prepared in the house is of amazing taste. Perhaps the native has spent most of their lives in the same family home. An extreme case could be that certain members of the family (could be especially the mom) were too self-indulgent and prefer material stuff over emotional comfort. However, the individual thinks fondly of their past within the family home maybe because they choose to remember only the nice things about it. The person might seek material stuff to feed their emotional needs like the mother which can lead them to be shopaholics or binge eaters. They prefer to be realistic about their emotions and they are patient about their ups and downs.

♊︎Gemini / Mercury in the 4th House:

The mother might have heavy air sign influences in her chart. She is very intelligent but also a trouble maker when she does not have an outlet for displaying her intelligence. The family life was kind of turbulent and restless, something was always happening but nevertheless, it was very fun too. The natives learned a lot from the family and especially the mother who was like a sister to them more than a mother. The mother is very vocal about her emotions and hid nothing from the chid. In an extreme case, the mother exposed the child to too much of life’s reality when the child was not yet ready. The roles of the parents in the family might be reversed. The family was constantly on the move, never wanting to settle down on one house. In another scenario, the house was always full of people (maybe with questionable intentions) This amount of exposure to adult conversation from an early age lead the natives to have a very anxious inner voice inside their heads. They might always be in the need to communicate even when it is not necessary. They are very intelligent when it comes to addressing certain issues though and are very understanding of their and others’ emotional needs. They are not afraid of talking about deeper things.  

♋︎Cancer / Moon in the 4th House:

The moon has a heavy influence on the mother’s chart. She is very emotional and nurturing. She was definitely meant to be a mother and was accepting of the child’s emotional needs. The family life can go either way, it was either very secure or there were certain troubling things that lead the mother to be extra protective over the child. The family might have had some secrets that the native still does not know about. The house the native grew up in could have had been near the sea or a lake of some sort. With a mother that was very protective of them, now they are also very protective of the mother. There is a deep bond with their mother which gets stronger as they both age. The native is a very nostalgic person who tends always to come back to reflect on the past. The past always has a heavy influence on the person which can make it harder for them to let go. Even though they are very emotional they prefer to keep it to themselves and their mother only.  

♌︎Leo / Sun in the 4th House:

The sun has a heavy influence on the mother’s chart. She is a person who is in the foreground - a very optimistic and fun personality. The native looks up to the mother and is very important for them. The mother might have a child-like attitude towards life leading the child to be more mature than them or take care of the mother when it is supposed to be the other way around. No matter what the mother is highly creative and so is the family. The family of the native has a strong influence on them when it comes to their self-identity. Growing up, home life was very dramatic but fun at the same time. Big mistakes were made which were easily forgiven by the members. The house was very important for the family, so they were in constant search of the best house for them and when it was finally found it was magical. With a very creative and dramatic family life, the native is the same when it comes to their emotions. They are very child-like and innocent and they give themselves the space to make mistakes. Depression is not very common for these natives to have since they always find ways to light themselves up. Nostalgia is a medicine for them.

♍︎Virgo / Mercury in the 4th House:

The mother might have Virgo or Earth sign influences in her chart. She might be a workaholic who was very strict about having certain rules around the house. If that wasn’t the case, great anxiety was caused by the mother since she was not very emotionally open to her children. She might have had been a very critical person who was hard to please. The family environment was very focused on being “perfect” and this caused a lot of stress for its members. There might have had been a certain chronic illness that a member of the family suffered from. All of this lead the native of this placement to feel a certain dictate towards the past. But the family past is not a subject they avoid thinking about even though it wasn’t the greatest. They like to analyze their past and their mother’s actions. They always try to be logical when it comes to their emotions, always trying to understand what it is they are feeling. When they cannot understand it causes them great anxiety.

♎︎Libra / Venus in the 4th House:

The mother might have heavy Venusian or Air influences in her chart. She is a beautiful lady who is very concerned about the way she comes across. She is a perfectionist when it comes to her family. She probably had a lot of say when it comes to house rules and its decorations. She was a very just and kind person but kept her emotional side behind closed doors even from her children and maybe her husband. Only “good vibes” were allowed to be expressed. This has caused the native of this chart to be concerned with other people’s emotional needs and neglect their own since they always wanted to know what their mothers were going through or since they were taught to keep their emotions on a leash. They are very good at keeping their emotions intact. They love to learn about what other people are going through and helping them out. They are especially very nourishing and caring toward their partners. Taking care of the partner leads them to forget about themselves. They love nostalgia and tend to collect retro stuff.

♏︎Scorpio / Pluto in the 4th House:

The mother might have heavy Pluto influences in her chart. She is a mysterious and intense woman who tends to be very controlling over the family and the house. She was passionate about her hobbies or work and probably was not shy about talking about intense topics with the family but always keeping her mysterious exterior. The house the native grew up in had a certain dark-vibe to it which was hard to pin down, it is advised for the native to check the ruler of Pluto in their charts to understand better. There is a karmic bond with the mother, perhaps a sense of revenge or an intense desire to prove themselves to them. The native has a love/hate relationship with their past and also with their emotions. They go through stages in life which involves high ups and very low downs concerning their emotional needs. They are very passionate about the past and love to dig deep down to the throat of their childhoods.    

♐︎Sagittarius / Jupiter in the 4th House:

The mother might have heavy Jupiterian influences in her chart. She is a bubbly character who was pretty much the Zeus of the house. Perhaps she was born in another country and or another culture than where the native of the chart was born. She might have had influenced the family with her different background (religion/culture/philosophy). The house the native grew up in was either very big or full of different kinds of people who they never really got to know personally. Also, this can indicate that In their later years the chart owner may move into a foreign country. The family life was full of adventure and random family trips which the native goes back to from time to time. They are big on nostalgia, forever wanting to keep their memories close to their hearts. The mother was a very emotionally open person which allowed the natives to allow themselves to understand their own and others’ emotional needs. This also has made them a very intuitive person. Whenever they listen to their emotions they make the right choices but if they betray their intuition, big problems arise.

♑︎Capricorn / Saturn in the 4th House:

The mother might have heavy earth sign or Saturn influences in her chart. The mother might have had taken the role of the father or the father was more motherly than the mother herself. The theme of having a “family business” is heavy with this placement where the female figures are lucky with being successful. But on the downside, this has to lead the mother figure to be out of touch with the home life. The mother was too busy with their career hence the time that they spent with the child was very limited. In another scenario, the mother was not emotionally nourishing the child. This has caused the native of this chart to be afraid of their emotions and made it harder for them to be more open on a deeper level. They try hard to avoid their emotions and consult to logic which can cause depression on their parts. Remembering things from the past causes them melancholy.

♒︎Aquarius / Uranus in the 4th House:

The mother might have heavy Uranian influences in her chart. She is a weirdo who is peace with that but this might have caused the natives to not quite understand the mother. The mother has made some shocking decisions in her life so the native always expects the unexpected from her but of course, this has also caused them to feel unsafe especially emotionally. The family life and the places the family called home went through a lot of changes. Many of the changes were unwelcomed. The family is very open-minded and there is a sense of freedom to talk about anything but there is a tendency of trying to make logical sense out of emotions. The unstableness of the family life has caused the natives to be emotionally unstable as well. They might cry or laugh in the wrong places. But the number of surprising emotions will teach the natives to be open about them as well. They are highly intelligent when it comes to addressing deep issues and non-judgmental about what other people are feeling.

♓︎Pisces / Neptune in the 4th House:

The mother might have a heavy water sign or Neptunian influences in her chart. She was a selfless woman, you can call her mother Teresa if you will, or she was a totally confusing person for the native of this chart. She was an idealist and a dreamer who had influenced the chart owner a lot when it comes to their own dreams and ideals. In an extreme scenario, she was a person with a horrible addiction and influenced the native in that way. Nevertheless, there is a fascination with the mother on the native’s part. They might idolize or victimize her, sometimes they feel both of these things towards her. The family might have had lived near the ocean or the sea. The native always dreams about having the ideal family and the home, not being satisfied with the one they had as a child. The emotions the native feels tend to confuse and scare him therefore always seeking alcohol or something tangible for comfort. This might be a big secret they have. They tend to keep their emotions hidden away, even from themselves just to come across these feelings in random places and times.

(Art: “Diana and Endymion” by Francesco Trevisani)

[newhologram]

I've been doing some thinking and realizing just how far back this all goes. Those of you who know me and my family IRL may have a hard time believing the emotional abuse and gaslighting because whenever you've met them, they seemed fine. They may have even bragged about me to you which made you think that they thought very highly of me. They also may have neglected to inform you that I have been disabled by chronic illness the past 10 years (many of my other family members had no idea until they spoke to me personally. It's... really fucking weird? To just not tell anyone that your offspring is in bed all day in horrible pain and constantly at the doctor/ER?). Unfortunately this is also part of the gaslighting, putting on a persona of parental perfection so that no one believes me when I try to talk about it. Instead people, even within my family, make excuses for the abuse and say that I should just be grateful. Behind closed doors it's always been very different. In the event that me processing this in private spaces gets out to them (which WILL endanger me): This isn't about *~exposing~* or *~revenge~* or *~punishment~*, it's about putting the pieces together and saying, yeah, I'm right to finally put my foot down about the way I have been treated. This is my experience. This is my trauma. I'm finally claiming that after a lifetime of being told that these experiences and my pain around them are apparently "not real" (gaslighting). By talking about this, I am not victimizing myself, but empowering myself. Because none of this treatment was ever my fault. None of it was ever deserved. And none of this is to be blamed on my "response" to abuse. I hope that by talking about this I can paint a picture of the dynamic and inspire investigation into the health of your own family dynamics too. "But they're family" is literally what enables this kind of abuse to continue. And I'm done. My health and survival is more important than upholding a toxic family system. They're learning that the hard way, finally. I don't think my family members are bad people. I truly do love and care for them. They have some amazing qualities. They love animals and they've come a long way to now being LGBTQ+ allies even if they don't always use the right words. But they have a lot of flaws that most likely come from their own trauma... But these aren't just self-contained flaws. Because I am the one who will be undoing the damage for the rest of my life. I don't know if they will ever go to therapy themselves, but I certainly won't be waiting around for them to work on themselves if it means I'm going to continue to be mistreated and re-traumatized. - It's always been this way but things definitely got worse in my home when I became disabled (possibly bc it triggered insecurities in them?). Both parents ignored me to my face all my life. I'd say or ask something, and there'd be no response most of the time. If I said, "hey, I'm talking to you, that's rude" they would blow up at me about "WHAT. WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO SAY. I HAVE THINGS ON MY MIND OKAY I HAVE MY OWN LIFE". This happened even when I was a literal child. I grew up believing that nothing I had to say was worth hearing and that if they ignored me that it was because I was unimportant and annoying. But if I ignore them or take too long to respond because I'm thinking, they scold me me about being rude, that they are my parents and I need to respect them. My emotions and pain have been invalidated since I was a child too. I would get picked up from afterschool care, or my bully's house, and of course I'd be crying from enduring a day of bullying. I would say, "I didn't do anything to them, it's not fair." And my dad's response was always, "WELL GUESS WHAT LIFE'S NOT FAIR. WAIT UNTIL YOU'RE AN ADULT IN THE REAL WORLD." He has continued to say this to me on a regular basis whenever I am struggling, either with work, friends, relationships, a death, or my chronic illnesses. I wonder why he has never considered my world to be real? Why is my reality not real to him? What

makes that even more painful is that I was still sent day after day to the school where I was bullied, to afterschool care with my bullies, and to my bullies' homes. No matter how much I was always crying when they picked me up, they just kept sending me back. And then a few of my dad's girlfriend's had children who bullied me too. I literally could never escape it. If it wasn't that, his response to me crying about something would be, "YOU HAVE NOTHING TO CRY ABOUT. YOU'RE LIVING THE LIFE OF LUXURY HERE, YOU DON'T PAY RENT! JUST WAIT UNTIL YOU'RE OUT THERE HAVING REAL PROBLEMS!" Again, he said this to me when I was a 24 year old who was suddenly in the span of a year so disabled that I could barely work. I was scared for my future, because I had taken the time to educate myself about my illnesses, and I knew that things were going to be hard for me. What I needed was support, not "tough love" and emotional invalidation. I was also scared of the situation I am in now. I was scared that I was going to be too sick to afford to move out and that by age 30 I would still be stuck at home with a parent who did not see my reality, my pain, as real. I am living that and it's not fun. Whenever I tried to talk to him about this invalidation, it just turned into a fight, because he refuses to admit the things that he said, and says things like "That's a You Problem" which he has said since I was a child in response to him hurting my feelings. I have always thought it was worth the effort to communicate to my loved ones this sort of issue, because that's what I was taught at school. If there's an issue, you talk about it. But my family doesn't believe that I guess. - When I first got sick, I was throwing up a lot. It had built up over several years since I was 19 but then after I was officially diagnosed with my Big 4 (colitis/fibro/ME/narcolepsy) I started having really dangerous vomiting attacks. The first attack I had lasted 6 days. I lost 12lbs. I overheard my dad complaining on the phone to a friend that I was keeping him up all night throwing up. I felt so bad for bothering him, I had learned to value his comfort over mine. But after the third day of nonstop vomiting, I told my dad I needed to go to the ER, that something was wrong. He sighed and rolled his eyes and said I didn't need to go. He was so annoyed with me for being sick. I was completely pale. I hadn't eaten anything. I could barely keep water down. I argued but he wouldn't listen. I went back to throwing up, at this point just dry-heaving. A while later I said, "I'm taking myself to the ER." I grabbed my car keys and my dad stopped me. He said, "That's ridiculous, you aren't driving yourself to the ER, I'll do it." But he still wouldn't take me for some reason. I don't know if he just didn't want to pay the copay or what. But I was literally trapped. I tried to fight it and said, "If you're going to take me, then take me. If not, let me take myself." I kept throwing up for three more days before he finally agreed to take me. The ER was packed so I ended up going to urgent care, where the nurse scolded me. She said I really should've gone to the ER after the third day of vomiting. She said that if I had gone a 7th day I could have collapsed. I didn't know how to tell her that I had tried. She asked where my family was and I said my dad had to go to work so he had just dropped me off. She had tears in her eyes and she held my hand. She said, "he should be here with you." THAT is how sick I was. That year, I went to the ER three more times. Each time I would be sobbing and ashamed of myself just for bothering my dad and for him having to pay the copay since I was too sick to earn the money myself. Again, that's how little I had learned to value myself and my health. By my birthday that year, I was suicidal from this shame. A few months later, in the new year, I started having vomiting attacks again. My dad stood over me while I was hunched over the toilet gagging and he said something I will never be able to forget, "You need to snap out of it

because I can't go through this again." He was the victim of my illness. He was the victim of my pain. This year was when my dad told me that he and his gf had been "talking" and that they had decided it was "time for me to be independent". He said they'd even help me find an apartment. I cried and said, "Dad, I'm sick. I've been so sick the past year. How am I supposed to afford even splitting rent with a roommate when I'm in bed in a neckbrace all day long?" and his response was, "But your dad needs his bachelor pad." I couldn't even identify what I was feeling. I was so shocked. Did he really think having the apartment to himself so he could have girls over was more important? But he was always telling me that I was the most important person in his life. I was so confused.

He gave me a time frame to move out and I was terrified. I thought my life was over. But most of all, I thought, "it's not fair to my dad that I'm sick." I thought so little of myself and my pain because that is what I learned as a kid. I blamed myself for not being "strong enough" to power through these debilitating illnesses. I blamed myself for my dad's money troubles. I literally could not live with myself knowing that my dad had to support me. I was so ashamed that I learned to vomit quietly so that he wouldn't notice. I was in a constant state of suicidality for several years after this. And it's no wonder, because year after year my dad has barged into my room to harass me about "it's time to be a Real Adult! It's time for you to Contribute to the household! You need to Make Money! I'm HEMORRHAGING money supporting you! I'm having to use my savings!" and because I was too sick to do this, I felt like a complete failure who did not deserve to live. I was self-harming constantly because I hated myself for "doing this" to my father. He had convinced me that I was the villain. I would start freaking out about money, forcing myself to work even if it meant vomiting literally on set (and almost being sent home bc of it, but I insisted I was fine to work). But I still couldn't make enough to afford my medical expenses. So I would shame-spiral and be suicidal again and then suddenly the story would change. My dad did a complete 180 and said, "Why are you even worried about money? We're doing fine. Even if I didn't have to support you, it wouldn't make that big of a difference in the money that I spend on this household. Don't worry about it." And then as soon as bills were due, he was back to telling me that I needed to make money. Back to saying we spent too much money on food despite me not eating that much. Back to refusing to try shopping somewhere cheaper when I suggested ways to save money. When I brought this up to my therapist back then, she said, "He's giving you mixed messages. Maybe you should bring this up to him so he realizes he's doing it." But when I did bring it up, of course my dad denied doing this and called me ungrateful even as I worked two jobs. When I eventually got a third job (fucking up my health more) to pay off my medical debt, my dad patted my back and told me how proud he was. When I told my therapist that he denied it, she suggested I bring him in so she could help us communicate. When I asked him to come with me to therapy, he got angry and said, "I am NOT going to therapy with you, that is ridiculous." But even with those 3 jobs it still wasn't enough and I was constantly being pulled between "YOU HAVE TO MAKE MONEY RIGHT NOW END OF THE WORLD" and "uhh why are you even worried about money, you need to work your mindset..." When bugged about money I would ask, "What else do you want me to do? I'm working 3 jobs. I'm not hiding money from you. I'm sending you everything that is leftover after I pay my own bills. I've even been buying a lot of my own food, I've been living off ramen and cans of ravioli." And he never had an answer except "just make more money." -- Now to the dynamic I'm currently living in. My dad moved his gf and her dog in without talking to me about it to see if it was going to impact my health. She was only supposed to stay here for maybe 4-5 days while she figured out a new home situation. But when I asked my dad about it in the days leading up to her arrival, suddenly the answer was "oh, she's staying indefinitely." I had no say in it. But we had a talk about what I needed to make this work. I said to my dad that the most important thing was that I have some scheduled quiet time. If I'm recording content or editing audio, I'm going to need quiet that morning so I can get my work done. If I'm resting, I need there to not be shouting or slamming doors happening in the house. He assured me that this was fine and that it'd all be easy for the three of us. The first weekend she was moved in, I let my dad know that I was editing audio that morning and needed

some quiet. He was cheerful and said, "No problem!" I thought wow, this is different. This is nice! This is going to be great for my productivity and health. As soon as I started editing, his gf was blasting music in the kitchen (right next to my room) and they were both laughing and talking loudly just a few steps away from my door. I thought, okay, we talked about this. But I'll just power through. When I was done, I went to my dad and said in a calm manner, "Hey, so this morning I let you know ahead of time that I was editing audio but there was still a ton of music and stuff in the kitchen, so it made it take a lot longer for me." His eyes immediately went dark. He put on an angry parent voice and said, "Okay, I am about to pop. I have enough going on without worrying about making too much noise for you." I said, calmly still, "We talked about this, though, and you assured me it wasn't a problem that I needed this quiet time for editing. So I'm not sure what to do. I'm just letting you know that there was still loud music right next to my room even though we had talked about it." He responded, "Then you need to be more specific because I don't know what you're doing in there." I corrected, "But I told you this morning that I was going to be editing audio and you said it was no problem to have some quiet in the kitchen while I did so." He got more aggressive, "No, you need to be more specific." Again, "I was specific. I told you the time frame that I was going to be editing audio in. You said you understood. I don't know what else to do to fix this other than by openly communicating to you about it." I started crying because--I mean, uhh?? This is gaslighting. I couldn't believe that mere hours after I had specifically told my dad that I was editing audio and that he had assured me it was no problem to have some quiet, that he was accusing me of not telling him what I needed, and that he had not agreed to it or something. Like wtf. He got nastier and blamed me for his stress. But me crying triggered his guilt so he tried to soothe himself by hugging me like he does and I pulled away. I tried to emphasize to him that I'm not just making content for fun. I'm literally trying to make money and contribute to the household like he has told me I need to do for the past 8 years. And when he disrupts my editing process, it just makes it take longer, and it makes it harder for me to earn extra money. His gf was also super rude to me when I tried to be friendly and have a conversation with her. I was telling her about how great it felt to have my sister initiate a conversation about my gender identity and she interrupted me (like she does constantly) to say, "YOU KNOW YOUR SISTER DOESN'T ACTUALLY GIVE A SHIT, RIGHT?" (wtf...) After this, I didn't speak to them for three days. I was feeling the urge to self-harm that whole weekend and all I could do was stay in bed crying after that. I knew if I spoke to them I would just get triggered so I was protecting myself. My dad felt guilty and tried to talk to me in my room. I tried to explain how triggering this whole situation is for me and he said he would do anything to make it easier for me. I had told him what I needed but that he had gaslighted me about it. - This next and last part is going to illustrate the priorities in this household. A few years ago, I started having problems with hives. I spent almost a whole year having very painful breakouts all over my body. It kept me up all night and caused me so much discomfort during the day. I kept telling my dad about it (no response, or annoyed responses), I went to the doctor several times about it (useless ointments), and suffered month after month. I tried so many things, I thought maybe it was bugs, spiders, etc. My asthma was also acting up and I remembered that an ex-neighbor had been suspicious of mold because of their health issues getting better the second they moved out. They had told me back then that we should test for mold. I brought it up to my dad that I had been suffering from this for

long enough and that we should do something about it (mold also makes fibromyalgia and ME way worse). He angrily snapped, "What do you want me to do about it?" I suggested we ask the landlord to mold test the apartment. He refused bc he doesn't like to bother the landlord. I said that I would just order a mold kit myself and he said, "No, let me do it, I'll pick the right one." But he wouldn't even after I kept reminding him. Even after I sent him links to mold kits that we could order. After I got rid of my mattress, my hives got a lot better but I still have issues every now and then. For years I have just lived with this because I couldn't get him to even care about the fact that I was spotted with these big pink hives. When his gf moved in, we had a random rainy day, which seems to have activated the mold. His gf got one tiny little hive and the sniffles. She said to him once, "Hey, I think you have mold in this house." Want to guess what happened after that? You're right. He immediately ordered several mold test kits. I said to my therapist, "How am I supposed to feel about that? Is it really unreasonable, am I really in the wrong to feel hurt by that?" My therapist said, "I mean, I would feel completely invalidated and like I didn't matter." This isn't the first time empathy has been withheld from me obviously (above examples during my flare ups), but sometimes even when it's right in front of him he just can't bring himself to care for some reason. One time a big piece of glass was in my thumb. I said, "Ahhh, glass, help! Glass!" He was eating snacks in the kitchen and just glanced at me, didn't move or say anything. I realized he wasn't going to help, so shaking and bleeding, I managed to pull the glass out with tweezers very painfully. It bled so much and I stood over the sink trying to stop it. My dad just kept eating his snacks, not asking if I was okay or anything, he didn't even look at me. After 5 minutes I still couldn't get the blood to stop and asked my dad if he could help, maybe get me some gauze. He put food in his mouth and sighed, "Just put pressure on it" and walked away. It feels like he's just disgusted with me. I know that he does love me and that he's trying the best he can with all of his mental/emotional/personality flaws but he thinks that just because he puts a roof over my head that he can treat me however he wants and not work on his issues, that it's my fault for being hurt. He thinks that his issues are all on me to learn to endure and it's not right. I know that he resents me for getting in the way of him having a relationship because that's the only message I have gotten since childhood, with every woman he's brought into my home. But in the end his relationships always fall apart because the woman ends up realizing, and stating to him, that he is "emotionally absent". And every time, I comfort my dad through the break up. When he has tried to blame his ex I said once to him that therapy can really help him with his emotional issues and relationships. But he refuses, so. That's on him. But I refuse to believe that I am in the wrong here for saying enough is enough. But he's going to keep trying to make me believe that the problem is just me and my feelings, not his behavior. Nope. Boundary is up. I just have to keep to myself and do what I need to do to stay safe until I can move out. Because I guarantee you he's going to realize he doesn't get enough validation from his gf and then come running back to me as always and then be angry that I'm still holding my boundary strong. I know that this will hurt less as I get distance from it, but I don't like the idea of my pain being my fault when I grew up with this toxic stuff. I'm working so hard to make it hurt less but I can't heal if it keeps happening, so all I can do is back away from what is hurting me instead of being surprised when I'm hurt again. THAT is on me 100%. Hopefully he doesn't grab my desk and slam it against the wall again like in 2014 when I first tried to set this boundary. And of course when he

"apologized" he accused me of "punishing him" by not spending time with him. Jee-zus, dude. Get therapy. I can't be the only one in this family bearing this weight and working on my shit.

[simschallenges]

Zodiac Legacy Challenge

(note: because the original poster has deactivated, i am reposting an archived version of the challenge rules retrieved with the wayback machine. all of the following text is a copy of the original post by @autumnalpixels.)

As someone who is a bit of a nerd when it comes to astrology and witchcraft in general, I of course love learning about western zodiacs. So I thought I’d bring my love of the zodiac signs to the sims.

I know that a challenge with this name has been made before, however mine will be more structured for each generation. This is a 12-generation legacy, with each generation representing one of the different zodiacs.

Side note: This legacy is not meant to misrepresent or offend anyone. The generations are being based off of descriptions of the zodiacs from this website. Feel free to read up more about each zodiac to get a better sense of your sim’s personality!

Starting out:

Feel free to make your founder however you’d like. Traits for each heir will be listed in their section, but their looks are up to you so feel free to get creative! You’ll start out like a traditional legacy on one of the 50x50 lots (or 64x64 if you’d like). Here is a link to Pinstar’s legacy rules.

General Challenge Rules:

Honestly this is the only way to fail the challenge, other than not producing an heir.

Generation One: Aquarius

“Aquarius’ are shy and quiet, but on the other hand they can be eccentric and energetic. However, in both cases, they are deep thinkers and highly intellectual people who love helping others. They are able to see without prejudice, on both sides, which makes them people who can easily solve problems.”

Who ever said eccentricity was a bad thing? You are a little out there and can be pretty spacey sometimes, but overall you are very passionate about your morals and strive to make other people’s lives better. Just be careful not to become a pushover.

Traits: Self-assured, Insane, Ambitious Aspiration: Leader of the Pack Career: Politician

Goals:

Reach level ten of the Politician career, either branch

Complete your aspiration

Have a club gathering at least once a week (your club can literally be for anything! Get creative!)

Have three kids, get married as an adult

Have at least four good friends (they don’t have to be a part of your club)

Reach level ten of the Wellness skill

Generation Two: Pisces

“Pisces are very friendly, so they often find themselves in a company of very different people. Pisces are selfless, they are always willing to help others, without hoping to get anything back.”

You love to socialize and surround yourself with all different kinds of people. Your parents loved you and raised you to be kind and perhaps a bit sensitive. You can be insecure at times, especially when it comes to your significant other. For some reason, you can’t seem to stay in a relationship for very long. Is there a way to fix this?

Traits: Creative, Jealous, Gloomy Aspiration: Soulmate Career: Painter

Goals:

Have at least two friends of a different race/gender/sexuality than your sim

Reach level ten of the Painting skill

Reach level ten of the Painter career, either branch

Must go through at least two girl/boyfriends before settling down

Have two kids

Own a pool (at least a 4x4 size)

Generation Three: Aries

“As the first sign in the zodiac, the presence of Aries always marks the beginning of something energetic and turbulent. They are continuously looking for dynamic, speed and competition, always being the first in everything - from work to social gatherings.”

You’re competitive and hard working, and can sometimes come across as a bit arrogant. However, you have a bit of an inferiority complex, so every time your sibling or a friend succeeds, you aren’t too happy about it and always try to one up them. But after a while, you realize that you acting this way is pushing away the people you care about. Can you salvage these relationships before it’s too late and the damage is done?

Traits: Hot-headed, Ambitious, Perfectionist Aspiration: Renaissance Sim Career: Secret Agent

Goals:

Be enemies with your sibling until you are both YA

Only have one friend until you are a YA, since they were the only one who stuck around

Repair your relationships as fast as possible

Reach level ten of the fitness skill

Reach level ten of the Secret Agent career (any branch)

Complete your aspiration

Go for a jog for a total of three hours each week

Have one kid

Generation Four: Taurus

“Practical and well-grounded, Taurus is the sign that harvests the fruits of labor. They feel the need to always be surrounded by love and beauty, turned to the material world and physical pleasures. Stable and conservative, this is one of the most reliable signs of the zodiac, ready to endure and stick to their choices until they reach the point of personal satisfaction.”

You grew up truly appreciating food and what it meant. You were amazed how a simple meal could bring a family together, and how many memories were made because of that. You were close to your parents and were taught to always stand your ground and share your opinions. However, this caused you to become a little bull-headed (pun intended). You’re super stubborn and don’t like to be wrong, and won’t admit that you are ever wrong. This makes romance hard for you, but you keep trying because you are a hopeless romantic at heart. And once you find that special someone, you are loyal ‘til the end.

Traits: Romantic, Foodie, Materialistic Aspiration: Mansion Baron Career: Business

Goals:

use the cheat sims.get_sim_id_by_name {PlayedSimFirstName} {PlayedSimLastName} Get the pregnant Sim’s ID, then use the cheat pregnancy.force_offspring_count {simID} {amount}

Generation Five: Gemini

“Expressive and quick-witted, Gemini represents two different personalities in one and you will never be sure which one you will face. They are sociable, communicative and ready for fun, with a tendency to suddenly get serious, thoughtful and restless. They are fascinated with the world itself, extremely curious, with a constant feeling that there is not enough time to experience everything they want to see.”

Growing up, you had the “perfect life”: two parents who loved each other, lots of friends, good grades, and a beautiful house. You were living the good life, so why did you always feel like you wanted more? You decide to take a step on your own, leaving your family behind to pursue your dreams in the big city. However, you quickly realize that life is harder than it seems. You can’t find a job you’re comfortable in, you can’t hold down a relationship, but you find solace in entertaining people and throwing parties. Something about being a host really makes you feel happy.

Traits: Noncommittal, Outgoing, Insider Aspiration: Party Animal Career: None

Goals:

Must have a twin (feel free to cheat for this)

You are the opposite of your twin, in obvious ways such as style, but also in more subtle ways such as emotions and reactions to events (for example, you could be stereotypical and make one of the twins a “preppy” person and the other an “emo” person)

Reach level ten of the charisma skill

Must move out to an apartment with the Needs TLC trait

Throw every type of party at least once

Complete your aspiration

Have three jobs (at least one week for each) before deciding to freelance (writing books)

Travel to at least two community lots each week and stay there for at least an hour

Have at least level four in three different skills by the time you’re an elder

Learn all of the recipes from the vender stalls in City Living

Have one set of twins (keep trying until you get them)

Be caught cheating by your spouse (you can decide whether they stay together or not)

Generation Six: Cancer

“Deeply intuitive and sentimental, Cancer can be one of the most challenging zodiac signs to get to know. They are very emotional and sensitive, and care deeply about matters of the family and their home. Cancer is sympathetic and attached to people they keep close. Those born with their Sun in Cancer are very loyal and able to empathize with other people’s pain and suffering.”

In another life you would have become a doctor, but in this one you are content with looking after your family and making sure your children grow up the best they can. You’re a loving but strict parent, and just want what’s best for your children. However, will you push them away by being too overbearing?

Traits: Gloomy, Jealous, Family-Oriented Aspiration: Super Parent Career: None

Goals:

Gen six heir must reach level five in Imagination and Communication as a toddler

Master Baking skill

Master Cooking/Gourmet Cooking skills

Host a tea party (or a small get together) every week. Invite over your neighbors, your friends, your family, whomever you’d like. Must have a baked good for the gathering made by you.

Complete your aspiration

Pick up woodworking as a hobby and craft every sculpture

You live off of your parents’ money until you get a spouse: you are to be a house wife/husband, and will never have a job. You’re allowed to sell duplicate sculptures for money, however.

Show off your sculptures by putting them on display somewhere in your house!

Pack a lunch for your kids every morning. If you forget, make them a snack when they get home.

Keep the house clean—all you have to do all day is chores, after all!

Have two kids

Both kids need to have A’s in school

Generation Seven: Leo

“People born under the sign of Leo are natural born leaders. They are dramatic, creative, self-confident, dominant and extremely difficult to resist, able to achieve anything they want to in any area of life they commit to. There is a specific strength to a Leo and their “king of the jungle” status. Leo often has many friends for they are generous and loyal. Self-confident and attractive, this is a Sun sign capable of uniting different groups of people and leading them as one towards a shared cause.”

Your parents were so overbearing to you and your sibling growing up that in your teenage years you began to rebel. Staying out late, skipping class, whatever you could think of. Your parent made sure you got good grades, but you didn’t care about school. All you cared about was your music. You were going to make it big, and you didn’t need calculus to help you rock out on your guitar. You’re arrogant and stubborn, but determined to succeed no matter what the cost. Unfortunately, that means that you can miss out on things that are most important in life.

Traits: Materialistic, Music Lover, Cheerful Aspiration: Musical Genius Career: Entertainer

Goals:

If your heir for this generation is male, come up with some sort of reason for why you got the baby. The mother didn’t want it, the mother died in childbirth, whatever. You can even move her in until she gives birth, then they have a big fight and she walks out on them.

Generation Eight: Virgo

“Virgos are always paying attention to the smallest details. Their methodical approach to life ensures that nothing is left to chance and their heart might be closed for the outer world. This is a sign often misunderstood, not because they lack the ability to express, but because they won’t accept their feelings as valid. The symbolism behind the name speaks well of their nature, born with a feeling they are experiencing everything for the first time.”

You grew up without a strong parental figure in your life, which made it hard for you to trust other people. How do you know that they would be there for you when you truly needed them? You’re cautious and shy, but curious about the world. You truly enjoy learning and collecting things, and through this passion is how you meet the love of your life. They are the only person you can trust, but they can tell you’re always holding yourself back and hiding parts of yourself away from them. Can a relationship last with this kind of distrust?

Traits: Loner, Geek, Bookworm Aspiration: The Curator Career: Scientist

Goals:

Marry a coworker who has at least one trait in common with you

Get married right before becoming an adult

Separate from your spouse for a while after a large fight (your choice if they get back together)

Reach level ten of the Scientist career

Complete your aspiration

Have a home library (at least 25 books)

Finish a collection (your choice)

Have two kids

Generation Nine: Libra

“People born under the sign of Libra are peaceful and fair, and they hate being alone. Partnership is very important for Libra-born, and with their victorious mentality and cooperation, they cannot stand to be alone. The Libra is an Air sign, with expressed intellect and a keen mind. They can be inspired by good books, insurmountable discussions and interesting people.”

You thrive on socialization. Your parents are kind of shy homebodies, but you crave constant company and cannot stand to be by yourself. This can come across as quite overbearing to some people, so sometimes it’s hard for you to make friends. And, despite being such a sociable person, you are kind of oblivious when it comes to romance. You are very childish in the best possible way, and are the kind of parent to get down in the dirt and play with your children. You are a very supportive parent and you strive to make your family as happy as they can be, through whatever means.

Traits: Unflirty, Loves the Outdoors, Goofball Aspiration: Big Happy Family Career: Social Media

Goals:

You post a lot about your kids and about your life, so take as many pictures of your kids as you can!

Generation Ten: Scorpio

“Scorpio-born are passionate and assertive people. They are determined and decisive, and will research until they find out the truth. Scorpio is a great leader, always aware of the situation and also features prominently in resourcefulness.”

You grew up watching true crime television shows and superhero movies and decided that’s what you wanted to do with your life: bring justice and fight evil. Unfortunately you can’t become a superhero, but you can become a police officer/detective. You want to make the world a better place than it was before, and you want your legacy to be something of legend. Hardworking and dedicated to your craft, you tend to focus too much on work and it puts a strain on your relationship.

Traits: Ambitious, Good, Genius Aspiration: Nerd Brain Career: Detective

Goals:

Get married to your high school sweetheart

Complete your aspiration

Reach level ten of the Detective career

Reach level ten of the logic skill

Reach level ten of the handiness skill

Get a divorce (you can decide who gets custody of your kids)

Get remarried as an elder, retire from your career

Have three kids

Generation Eleven: Sagittarius

“Curious and energetic, Sagittarius is one of the biggest travelers among all zodiac signs. Their open mind and philosophical view motivates them to wander around the world in search of the meaning of life.”

You love travel and learning new things. You want to experience as much as you can in your lifetime, which means meeting people different from yourself. You heard that one of your ancestors (generation five) was a big traveller too, so you decide to follow in their footsteps.

Traits: Outgoing, Noncommittal, Dance Machine Aspiration: Friend of the World Career: None

Goals:

Live in three different worlds for at least a week before settling down

Have kids with three different people

Never get married

Make money freelancing (collecting, gardening, painting, writing, whatever you wish!)

Completely redesign your house at least once (after settling down for good)

Go to every festival (unless you’re at work/on a date/at a wedding/etc)

Travel to the Nightclub every Friday

Complete aspiration

Master dancing skill

Master comedy skill

Generation Twelve: Capricorn

“Capricorn is a sign that represents time and responsibility, and its representatives are traditional and often very serious by nature. These individuals possess an inner state of independence that enables significant progress both in their personal and professional lives. They are masters of self-control and have the ability to lead the way.”

You hated how free spirited and laid back your parent was, and craved structure and discipline. Since a teen, you had a schedule every day after school: do homework, practice your skills for an hour, eat dinner, go to bed. Moving around so often meant that you didn’t make many friends, so you chose to devote all of your time to mastering as many skills as you could. But focusing in on one detail of life made you miss out on the bigger picture.

Traits: Ambitious, Snob, Mean Aspiration: Fabulously Wealthy Career: Tech Guru

Goals:

Since this is the final generation, you can choose whether to have kids or not. Preferably none.

Reach level ten of the Tech Guru career (either branch).

Master logic skill

Have at least level seven in three other skills (your choice)

Follow a schedule every day; spontaneity is not your strong suit

Get married as an adult to someone who shares at least one of your traits and is in the same career as you.

Live in an expensive house (200,000 simoleons or more) by the time you’re an adult

Surround yourself only with other snobby people

Buy an expensive item every Wednesday. (Perhaps even start a collection of expensive artwork or sculptures and showcase them somewhere in your house. Feel free to get creative with it.)

Oh wow, we’ve made it to the end of the challenge! I hope you enjoyed. Feel free to show me pictures or update me on your playthrough on this if you’d like (tumblr: autumnalpixels.tumblr.com/twitter: @absoluteking8). You can also use the hashtag #autumnalzodiac so I can see your posts and reblog some of them!

If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to tell me and I’ll take them into consideration. <3