#sure why the hell not that could be cool for some changeling vibes

[inkabelledesigns]

So I've been trying to puzzle this out for a while, and I think I'm close to finally having a design I like for a Sonic styled persona. I wanna get something a little more finished done, but I really like this sketch, so I'm sharing it! She's a long-tailed bat, partially because I'm known for voicing Rouge in fan projects, but it's also because I genuinely like bats. Like, bats are cool! Also I want wings, if I'm gonna represent myself in a cool alternate universe, I wanna be able to fly darn it! And have fangs, fangs are cool as heck. I'm just jazzed I finally have something that feels comfortable, it's a really good feeling!

[it-was-all-a-beautiful-dream]

Silva Lining (Saul Silva x Reader) Chapter 10

Warnings: swearing

Word count: 3.3k

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You were on cloud nine. Waking up in Sauls arms the next morning was the highlight of your life. Granted, you were sore! The discomfort was something you were willing to put up with however because last night was mind blowing.

The morning after was filled with gentle playing and heated make out sessions. It was Sunday so luckily neither of you were expected to be anywhere. You showered together, learning each others bodies further. Saul made you breakfast and after that you lay and watched a movie together. Normal, mundane, relationship stuff. It was all you could dream of.

Unfortunately the time came where you had to go back to your dorm. Instead of doing the walk of shame you opted for your new favourite method of transportation. Portal. Saul kissed you deeply before the black whole appeared and you disappeared through it. At least now you could teleport back and forward into his room having seen the inside more clearly.

The girls jumped when your portal appeared in the middle of the room. They’re were on your instantly, eager for the juicy details. You sat down and gave them the PG version, not delving into too much detail. What you both did last night was personal and not for the faint hearted. You also showed off the presents Saul had gotten you and the Winx club squealed in delight when they saw the ring. After your lowdown of the events last night, the girls let you know that the party was a massive hit and if it wasn’t for Terras hangover potion they’d all still be in bed.

Presents adorned the floor of the main room you notice, someone must have brought them up for you. There were so many you didn’t know if you’d manage to open them all on your own. So one by one the girls helped you unwrap the gracious gifts. That took up a chunk of time. Still chatting and opening, Terra blushed and rattled off about how Helia had kissed her goodnight at the end of the party, then you noticed Aisha blushing too, the same thing had happened with her. The specialists were making moves and you couldn’t help but swell with excitement for your friends. Everything was perfect, maybe too perfect.

——————————————————————————————————

-The Next day-

“What do you think the assembly is about?” Your arm was linked with Stella’s as you walked through the grand halls of the castle you called your school. You’d never get used to your real life Hogwarts.

“It’s a burned one assembly apparently and even worse, my mother is leading it. Yippee. She’s really just here to check on my progress and remind me how much of a disappointment I am.” Your best friend rolled her eyes. You were slightly nervous about meeting the Queen of Solaria, I mean, who wouldn’t be. Stella had insisted you’d stay with her. Emotional support. You took her hand in yours and gave it a squeeze.

The cars pulled up and the chauffeur opened the door for the Queen. Regal and gorgeous, the spitting image of Stella apart from she had brown hair instead of blonde. She came over and greeted Stella with a hug and then stopped. Her eyes widened as she looked at you. She was starring and you didn’t know why….

“Pleasure to meet you your highness.” You curtsied, Stella had shown you how. It seemed to snap the Queen from her daze and she smiled at you.

“How lovely, you must be Y/N, Stella’s told me a lot about you.”

——————————————————————————————————

You’d left Stella to catch up with her mum. Aimlessly wondering the halls looking at features you’d never stopped to appreciate before. Then you saw one flustered looking man.

“Sa- Mr Silva!.” You jogged to catch up to him. He stopped turning. He didn’t smile. Woooah. He looked stressed.

“Now isn’t a great time Y/N.” You wanted to reach out and touch him but there were students all around. Did he really just brush you off though? Must be something serious going on for his shitty attitude.

“Okay.” You whispered. “Well, maybe we can talk when you change your attitude anyway.” You were annoyed. You knew his job was stressful and you knew that you had to act like student and teacher during school hours, however, you’d like to think that he would be a bit more… kinder, even when he was pissed at something else. Before he spoke you’d turned on your heel, flicking your hair behind you and walked off. Suck on that.

——————————————————————————————————

The assembly had started. You weren’t there. You were too annoyed with Saul to sit there while he was up at the front acting as if he wasn’t rude to you two minutes ago. You skipped, wondering the school grounds when you bumped into Bloom.

“Whats your excuse for skipping?” You fell into step with the red head, who explained she was trying to find more about where she came from. Part of you realised that maybe you should have been making more effort in that department. You were still a mystery and going through the books you had stolen from the library in Magix hadn’t turned anything up yet.

You reached a storage cellar, old books, pictures and other junk filled the room to the brim, all covered in dust and cobwebs. Sky was there, he seemed surprised to see you, like wise.

“Maybe while were looking I might find something about me too.” You started searching through things. Not sure at all about what you were looking for when you were then joined by Beatrix and Riven. Not two of your favourite people to say the least.

You didn’t know them too well, but there was a reason for that. Trouble seemed to follow them everywhere and Beatrix gave you a weird vibe. Not good juju. Riven was just a punk. He thought he was the bad boy but it was all an act which you saw straight through. Example A. Beatrix just dropped the bomb that Riven was the one walking around school telling everyone Bloom was a changeling. You still didn’t see the big deal about changelings. You were one too after all. Sky and Riven left, leaving you alone with the two girls.

“So, that door is locked. Are we breaking in or not?” You didn’t wait for their answer. Curiosity getting the best of you. Walking over you put your hand on the lock and picture it heating up. Fire. Another one of the many abilities you possessed. Your magic was second nature to you now. Like you’d been practising for years. It was scary and cool at the same time just how intone with your abilities you were. The lock fell off and the door swung open.

——————————————————————————————————

What the hell had you been dragged into. Honestly this wasn’t really your style. But hey, you’d gotten this far. You were currently in a stolen car, driving to some place called Asterdale. Bloom had a theory that’s where her parents might be from and hey, what do you know, Beatrix knows where it is. So yup, you were in the front of a stolen.. ROYAL car.

Ohhh lord. This wasn’t going to end well.

- Sauls POV -

Where the hell was she. Why wasn’t she at the assembly?! Saul was ragging, scared, angry at himself for being so flippant with Y/N earlier. The visit from the Queen and with the death of a teacher, it was a lot to deal with. He hadn’t meant to take it out on his sweet girl. Now he was just worried. Leaving the assembly would look suspicious so he stayed, part of him hoping she was just running late.

His fears got worse when he went back to Farah’s office. Farah had noticed Y/N wasn’t there either. She was more worried than she’d ever been. Then Y/N’s suit mates burst through the door looking worried too.

“Y/N and Bloom were in the east wing its Beatrix during assembly.” Saul, Farah and Ben all looked at each other.

“Okay and why were they down there?” Farah was quick to get it in the neck from Musa. Who was visibly concerned about something. Saul couldn’t stand still, pacing back and forward.

“Omg we know, we know that someone killed Callum and you think it was a fairy and that’s what you were looking for in the assembly!” Saul’s head whipped round to Terra. “We haven’t heard from them in hours and no one as seen Beatrix either.” Saul’s thoughts were interrupted by a voice through the ear piece he was wearing.

“One of the Queens Guards are knocked out, his SUV is gone.” Sauls jaw clenched and made his way to the door. He was mad. If Beatrix had hurt his girl in any way, there would be hell to pay.

“We will find them, I promise.”

——————————————————————————————————

-Your POV-

The place Beatrix took you to was bare. Was this some kind of sick joke? You drove two hours for this? Nothing but open fields and shrubs next to a steep looking cliff over looking choppy, cold water.

“And this is where you’ve taken us to kill us, right?” You joked but part of you was actually worried. You’d always thought Beatrix was a shady bitch. “Asterdale is a town right? So where is it?” You stopped, looking into the vastness. Bloom looked twitchy, annoyed almost because you guaranteed she was thinking the same thing as you.

You were alarmed all of a sudden when your ears pricked up at the sound of electricity, turning just in time to see Bloom shouting at Beatrix who’s hands were glowing with power.

“You’re not the only powerful fairies at Alfea you know.” Yup, you were right. You were so about to die. You raised your hands ready for a fight but the bolt of blue electricity burst past you hitting an invisible forcefield just like the one that surrounded the school and crashed with a loud bang, revealing chaos behind it.

Beatrix went on to tell you both about how Asterdale used to be a beautiful place, but one winter Burned Ones surrounded the settlement and a Military Unit from Alfea decided destroying the Burned Ones was more important than the lives of the people living there. How Queen Luna was the one who had put up the veil that stopped people from really seeing what had happened to the once thriving village. Then she went onto drop the bomb that Asterdale is where she was born and her family were killed there. The only people who survived were her… and you and Bloom. You were from Asterdale?

“I saw it, Dowling, Silva, Harvey.” Beatrix had tears rolling down her face. No, no…. Saul would never kill innocent people. Never. He couldn’t… that wasn’t your Saul. You whipped quickly at the stray tears that had fallen. He knew about this and he didn’t tell you? Did he know where you were from and he didn’t tell you because… he had a hand in killing a village full of innocents?

You’d heard enough and couldn’t bare to listen to anymore. You walked away, Beatrix and Bloom still talking about what had happened. You watched as the veil came down again slowly, covering up the evidence of a war crime. It was gone, just like that. As if nothing ever happened. As if the people that had once lived there never mattered. Forgotten in time.

Bloom still didn’t trust Beatrix, and neither did you. You opted for sitting in the back this time. Keeping an eye on the girl you hardly knew. What game was she playing? You felt like there had to be more to the story. Why would you and Bloom be hidden away in the first world? Why would Dowling, let you and Bloom into the school knowing that she killed your families?

“And we will get it because Rosalind is alive.” You caught the tail end of the convo, having been zoned out with your own thoughts. Hold the fuck up. The mysterious woman who had been leaving cryptic messages in Blooms head was.. Alive? After Miss Dowling told her that she had been dead for years. The plot thickens. You were about to make a comment but something on the road caught your eye.

“Oh fuck.” You braced yourself against the seat in the back as you watched Saul fire an arrow at the wheel of the car. It burst, sending the car skidding across the road. This was nottt going to be good.

You all jumped out of the car, Beatrix tried to run but Farah had used her magic and she was slowly sinking into the ground. Miss Dowling walked over, slapping on two bracelets on Beatrix’ wrists, it looked like coiled pieces of barbed wire. You didn’t care if B was shady, no one deserved that pain. Both you and Bloom bolted from the car with shouts of protest. You were lifted up into Sauls arms where you kicked and screamed to get free. Bloom was held back by Mr Harvey who was a lot stronger than he looked. You gave up, settling into Sauls arms, he was whispering in your ear trying to calm you, his hold on you tightening. Normally you’d feel comfort in his touch, but the story from Beatrix left you with some unanswered questions too big to go ignored.

——————————————————————————————————

The girls were waiting for you outside. Stella grabbed you in a hug, you could tell she was worried. Saul was carting Beatrix away to her magic prison cell, not before letting you know that he’d speak to you later. Duty called. Duty sucked.

“Y/N, after we deal with Beatrix see me in my office, there’s something important we must discuss.” You glared at Miss Dowling who gave you a sympathetic look. Stella squeezed your arm.

“Y/N, you need to hear what she has to say. It’s important.” How did Stella know what she wanted to talk about. This whole day was one big bowl of confusing and you just wanted it to be over with. “Just know, I’ll be here when you’re ready, I promise.” Okay, so that wasn’t worrying at all…..

“I’m afraid miss Y/L/N, Stella won’t be able to keep that promise any time soon. Were leaving, Stella get in the car.” Stella’s eyes widened as she watched her things from the dorm being packed into her mothers car. The Queen was waiting for Stella to do what she said and this was one battle you wouldn’t win. Could you catch a break?

“No, No, NO, Stella you can’t leave, please I need you, you’re my best friend.” You were crying, the frustrations of the day coming out all at once. Stella was crying too but the Queens guards took her by the arms despite her struggles and stuffed her in the car. It was too much, you were sobbing, your vision blurry from the tears. You felt someone come up behind you and noticed the familiar tingle, crying harder as the car sped off into the distance. You turned and screamed in Sauls chest, luckily his strong arms were around you otherwise you’d have fallen to the ground in despair. Could today get any worse?

——————————————————————————————————

Replaying the events from today to the other girls was hard. Luckily Bloom did most of the talking. Beatrix had apparently killed Callum and things were even more confusing now. You didn’t know who to trust, who to believe. Your thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door.

Saul. Your tired looking soldier was standing at the door with heavy eyes. “Babe, can you come with me please, Farah wants to talk to you.” She’d already spoken to Bloom about the events earlier. Now it was your turn after having time to calm down about Stella.

Standing up silently, you made your way to the door, the girls hugging you on the way out. You had the urge to ask Saul everything there and then. Let the cat out of the bag. Say ‘I know what you did,’ but you couldn’t bring yourself to do it. You didn’t want to believe the reason you were an orphan was because of the man you loved. Instead you took his hand when the coast was clear and sighed, having needed his touch all day.

You found yourself at the Headmistresses office more often than not these days, but this time something felt different. You turned to Saul and look him in the eyes.

“Why do I feel like if I go in there life will never be the same again.” His hand came up to touch your cheek which you leant into, savouring his warm touch.

“Darling, everything is okay, everything will be okay I promise.” People had been making a lot of promises today, hopefully they would be able to keep them. You started for the door but then noticed Saul didn’t budge.

“Are you not coming in?” You tilted your head. He shook his and gave you a kiss before you went through the doors.

“I’ll be right outside if you need me though.” With that you left him, facing whatever punishment Headmistress Dowling had in store for you.

——————————————————————————————————

It hadn’t been as bad as you thought in the beginning. She sat you down, asked you if you wanted a drink or anything. Then she got into the nitty gritty stuff about what compelled you to go with Beatrix and Bloom. Answers. Answers you needed, that’s why you went with them.

“Bloom said something about her parents being from a place called Asterdale, Beatrix knew where it was. She took us there, we hoped we would find answers about why we were changelings. Turns out we learnt an ugly truth instead.” Farah looked shocked but you continued. “She said that Rosalind took her, me and Bloom, saved us from destruction cause by you, Silva and Harvey. Is that true?” Farah had her head in her hands. Guilt. You could practically smell it on her.

“It’s not what you think Y/N, please believe me, there’s more to the story.” She stood up, walking around to stand next to you. You stood up to, moving away from the woman who had set Saul up to spy on you. How could you believe her, all she’s done since you joined this world was lie.

“Why would I believe you! You killed my fucking parents!” You were angry. So angry, You could feel your eyes turning black. The shouting had alerted Saul who tried the door handles to get into the room but with a swish of your hand, the door was sealed shut, fire melting the hinges closed.

“Just calm down Y/N, please, lets talk about this.” In the background Saul was banging on the door and calling your name.

“Because of you, I don’t have a father, because of you I’ll never know my mother!” You advanced on the woman who had her hands up ready for a fight if that’s what it came to. You could feel the power coursing through your whole body. This is why you could control your magic so easily, you were so emotional.

“Y/N, I am your mother!” Farah screamed, Saul stopped banging on the door and your eyes faded back to their normal colour.

You knew before stepping into the room that something was going to happen and you were right, your world would be changed forever.

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So, I bet you didnt expect that to happen.. Please let me know what you thought in the comments, Like, Follow and Reblog! <3 If you want to join the tag list please let me know !

CHAPTER 11 ------- CLICK HERE

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[princess-of-the-corner]

I never watched Winx as a kid, so I really hope I don't sound like an idiot for asking this. What exactly does the Netflix Winx series do wrong besides giving it the "dark and gritty" makeover?

So like. There are a lot of problems here and I’ll try to tackle them. I haven’t finished the reboot because I have difficulty getting through things I like, much less things I hate watch. But anyway, this gets long and is separated into parts. 

Let’s start with it’s issues on it’s own and not as an adaptation: 

It’s still pretty garbage. Not ‘the worst thing ever’. Interesting enough. But it does have problems. Some racist and homophobic and fatphobic writing. The characters range from ‘kind of a jerk’ to ‘straight up assholes who will cause physical harm for petty reasons’. The nicest one so far is Terra, but even she kinda snaps and strangles a guy with her plant powers. 

Now on to things it fails on as an adaptation!

First, the whitewashing!

Of the six main characters, 3/6 were poc-coded in the original cartoon(I say ‘coded’ because they’re not Humans from Earth but still). Aisha is black, Flora is Latina, and Musa is Chinese. 

Aisha is the only one who remains black. I’ve heard varying testimonies on Musa’s actor, but the ‘best’ I’ve heard is that she’s 1/4 Singaporean and white passing. I don’t have the authority to say if that’s in the clear or not so I’m leaving that to other fans. 

Flora gets the worst though. They cast a white woman to play her. Then backtracked and said ‘oh, this isn’t Flora. We replaced her with her white cousin Terra’. Yeah you can see the problem there. 

Characters they got rid of entirely! I’ll only discuss characters that showed up in the first two seasons of the original show since Fate only has one season. (I’d say just the first, but they included Aisha who is from Season 2). 

Let’s see. They got rid of Tecna, one of the main six girls. It’s likely because they’re going for a more ‘bootleg Hogwarts’ vibe, and Tecna’s magic being heavily technology based ruins that. So she’s just tossed altogether. 

The boys! Oh my god my boys! Sky and Riven are the only ones who were kept in, while Brandon, Timmy and Helia got scrapped and replaced as well. The other boys like Dane and Sam? Totally could’ve just given them those names and been done with it. 

Then there’s Icy, Darcy and Stormy! I’m counting them together because that’s exactly what Fate did! The three Witches are villains in the series, and instead of keeping a trio, they combined her into a single character. Beatrix. 

I think Silva was also an amalgamation of the remaining Headmaster/Headmistresses and a few other staff members but considering they condensed it to just one school it kind of makes sense. 

Sometimes there’s just a name change like the Headmistress of Alfea was changed to Farah Dowling instead of Faragonda which is so pointless. 

Overall there’s other minor characters that don’t show up, like the rest of the school staff, Mirta and Lucy, so on and so forth. But I’m less upset about that. Still upset though because I love them. 

Personality changes! And romance drama!

Oh boy. Oh boy oh boy oh boy. 

I already mentioned how they made everyone an asshole in this reboot. In the original show, the only protagonist that was consistently a jerk was Riven, but he was more of the ‘grumpy but still a good guy’ type of asshole. 

Let’s compare just one character and her relationships to others!

Stella in the Original Cartoon: Preppy and sometimes a little vain, could be blunt to the point of insulting, but never malicious. Very sweet and loves her friends. She and Bloom are best friends, Stella having been the one to bring Bloom into the world of Magix and will do everything she can to make sure she’s safe. Stella’s love interest is Brandon, who is bffs with Bloom’s love interest Sky. Stella and Brandon are very cheesy and cute together. They aren’t usually jealous, and can even make a competition out of ‘how many phone numbers can I get?’. 

Stella in Fate: Total bitch to all her roommates. She’s getting the common ‘my mom’s a bitch who puts pressure on me so I’m going to be a bitch’ thing that’s become popular now. Since Brandon was deleted, they put her in a love triangle with Bloom and Sky, Sky being Stella’s ex bf. And despite breaking up with him, Stella sees him just talking to Bloom and decides ‘Hm. Let’s prey on her insecurities that she doesn’t belong here, and manipulate her into leaving!’ Which includes walking through a forest where there was recently a man attacked and viscously killed by some kind of monster, so I’m putting it up to attempted murder. 

Yeah. Everyone’s kind of like that. It’s awful. 

Bloom’s backstory and parents!

Okay, this can kind of fall under both ‘personality changes’ and ‘plot changes’ but it deserves it’s own section. 

In the Original Cartoon, Bloom’s home kingdom was attacked and destroyed by villains searching for something called the Dragon Flame. Bloom was a baby with said power, so her older sister sent her to Earth, a world without Magic, where she would be safe and hidden. Mike and Vanessa find her and adopt her, loving her and raising her very well. They are good parents. Bloom learns she has powers when she meets Stella, and instinctively uses Magic to protect her. 

In Fate, the only thing really the same is that Bloom was sent to Earth. I’m a little unclear on why, but instead of giving her loving adoptive parents, they made her a Changeling with emotionally abusive parents! Let me elaborate a little: Instead of adopting Bloom of their own free will, Mike and Vanessa’s real child died in the hospital and was secretly replaced with Bloom. Her parents are also, as mentioned, emotionally abusive. So much so that Fate!Bloom’s powers first manifested by setting them on fire in the middle of the night.

Fun. Ain’t it? 

Now onto plot points!

Again, pretty much the only thing the same is ‘Bloom discovers she has Magic, goes to another Dimension to learn at a school called Alfea. Gets into adventures with her Roomates while trying to figure out where she’s really from’. 

The whole ‘Burned ones’ were.... not a thing at all. There wasn’t any kind of ‘barrier’ to keep out ‘dangerous creatures’ or anything. 

I’m not going to go over every single subplot but that was just. No. They were easily allowed to go outside the school. 

The whole vibe

This is a big thing to talk about. While the reboot went for ‘dark and gritty’ over the bright colors and sparkles, it also went for ‘bootleg Hogwarts’ instead of anything interesting. 

In the reboot, the merging of Magic and Technloogy is mostly like. ‘Yeah we go to school in this old ass castle and we don’t use guns in weaponry class, but we have smartphones and social media and Harry Potter!”. 

In the Original??? The whole world was very Magitech. It was a combination of Magic and Scifi! Kinda Steven Universe style actually. 

The transformations!!!

Look. LOOK. Winx Club is a Magical Girl show! They have those beautiful transformation sequences that last a solid minute or so of screen time. And they also have like. At least one new Transformation a Season, which comes with an ungodly amount of different cool outfits. 

The reboot? One transformation sequence. And while the effects are nice, Bloom doesn’t even get a new outfit. Just a few flames coming off her that look vaguely like wings. 

SPEAKING OF! They are Faeries!!!! But they don’t have wings????? What????

Look idgaf about your effects budget you could’ve made the cheesiest shit like the live action Sailor Moon stuff and fans would’ve loved it!

Bonus: The fact that they didn’t have to change anything to make it ‘Dark’!

So like. Netflix decided to take all the color out of it, and make it ‘dark’ by having the characters smoke and drink and have sex and say swears. 

But they.... really didn’t have to! The original cartoon was plenty dark, despite it’s colorful aesthetic! If you wanted to do a more serious reboot, you could have easily done it by focusing more on those aspects. 

Hell, there are many fans who have done it. I’m one. I know a couple others as well. 

anyway it’s 2:30 am and this is long af so I’ll leave it at that. 

[originalcontent]

Oooookay. Welcome back. Posting about pathologic part 4 I think? Part 4. We just reached Act 4 too, so everything’s going according to schedule. This gaming session had some ups and downs. Ups: That good good lore, and a lot of quality time spent with my good pals Daniil  and Changeling and also Clara apparently, although she might not be my good pal after all, but w/e. Downs: FUuuuUUUUCKkkk we are so bad at video games, and also the kin folk have become A Lot, holy shit. Where to start.

Okay so this time the game wasn’t actually super stressful for me personally bc this time I kind of just handed off the controls to my sister every time shit got dangerous. She’s a lot better at video games than me. Shoutout @akpaley​ for keeping me from dying from stress in real life.

The drawback of this is that since she’s a lot better at video games she’s also a lot more willing to actually take risks rather than just running away from literally everything. Which I won’t deny, has gotten us a lot of much-needed money and resources but also.

WELCOME TO THE FUCKING DEATH SPIRAL PART OF THE GAME. I guess it had to happen eventually, right? Fuuuuuuuck us, do you have any fucking idea how much shit you have to redo when you’re randomly shanked by some dude every fifteen minutes? And they’re harder to fight every time we come back, apparently, and also our health is like permanently half gone? Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck why are there not more clocks.

Victor Kain, you were the one who made the clocks?? I could fucking kiss you. I owe you my life. Or like, six hundred of my lives. Hhh.

Okay, seriously though, the clock lore is actually kind of sick. Victor told us that they’re smaller versions of the cathedral, and we were like “!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THaT’S WHerE wE RESET THE GaME IN THe PROLOGUE!!!!!!! METAPHYSICS!!!!!!!!!” The Kains are so cool.

(Maria Kaina got infected tho. Sorry, you. :( Although technically that happens later.)

Um, we gave the rest of our shmowder to Khan. We’re out now. We’ve been looking for more but haven’t found anything.

Also we made a random potion, and the plague showed up and was like “fuck you,” and I was like “damn, calm the hell down, you’re the one fucking killing people.”

Met with the Saburovs more. They were like “we have another suspect!” and I was like “yeah they probably don’t but w/e” and my sister was like “they’re in an infected land and we should probably save their lives” and I was like “why do we care about helping the Saburovs again, literally all they do is accuse random people of killing my dad, the Kains are obviously the best family, we should just be throwing in with them” and she was like “that’s not all they do, they also run the guards, you know those guys who patrol plague districts?” and I was like “okay fuck you’re right let’s visit them” and it turns out that that there was actually some super cool lore pertaining to the town’s mistresses. Also, god if they don’t have some cool reflections. I love everything about this town’s history.

Afterwards we randomly decided to visit Yulia for literally no reason, and she was like “I’m glad you’re here, I have a lot of super heavy important shit to discuss with you about the Inquisition that will be here tomorrow, it sure is convenient that you’re in my neighborhood for some reason even though I live in an incredibly inconvenient location?” Also she knows something about the nature of Artemy, Daniil, and Clara-or maybe the Changeling but she called her Clara? Oh yeah, Daniil was there too for some reason. Poor guy, I don’t think he’s okay. He cried on my shoulder a lot, he was endearingly open and earnest and for once I felt bad about the dialogue options wherein Artemy throws shade.

And then Clara happened to be standing outside literally right then? I wonder if that was going to be a big quest location and we just happened to arrive right before the game told us to go there anyway. I think that’s it actually. We’re so good, damn. Clara keeps pulling shit and then immediately trying to reconcile and asking for help. I really like her, but we really shouldn’t be trusting her right?

Oh Murky was also there and she set up a meeting between us and her “friend” and that night we went and Clara and Changeling were both there and I’m so confused???? What is her deal? But!! Changeling facilitated a deal between me and the plague! And Murky is now off the hit list!!!!!!!!!! Does this mean she’ll live? Anyway the plague started talking to us, and our infection rose a bit in an unhealable way, and, dumbasses that we were, said “wow this is probably all just the natural consequence of the bargain we made. Guess there’s literally nothing we can do to address this.” (Spoiler: That is not the case, the cost of the pact was literally just that we became infected and would have to cure it with fire before it killed us. We figured that out eventually, I promise.)

Fast forward to the next day after we finish the day’s entire fucking plotline, when we have done literally nothing so our infection’s increased a shit ton and it starts actually killing us. And since we only have like half our potential health bar from getting killed so much, we literally can’t survive long enough to treat it. We run around trying to cure ourselves and die like ten more times before we finally accept that we just have to go back in time to before the infection was this bad, try to get cured immediately, and redo the whole day. There’s a whole fucking skeleton out by the theatre by now btw. Fucking death spirals. This play session took a long fucking time okay?

Alright, flash backward again. After talking with Changeling, we visit Stakh because after rescuing him twice in a row he promised we could talk. We go to his house and he’s sleeping, or maybe just pretending to sleep, but either way Artemy has the absolute sweetest little monologue, just talking to him, and so much has happened but I can tell there’s still a lot of tenderness there between them even if it’s buried deep, and it’s just such a soft scene against such a harsh story.

Guess who’s dead by morning.

The next day Aglaya showed up and was like “see me immediately,” so obviously we visit Capella and then town hall first off. Daniil’s there, he bitches to me about Aglaya for a bit. So cute, we really are friends. I promise to help him with corpse duty bc Capella wanted me to visit Grace anyway. We talk to the official people at the official desks, one is collecting babies, one is giving me some lunch money as a very good reward for being a very good little surgeon, and one is telling me that actually money is illegal now but here are some free coupons that actually are too cheap to buy anything with.

Aglaya is the woman from the prologue! Hhhh things are really building to a point, aren’t they. I wonder how Yulia knows her. But damn, the whole village was out there waiting to meet with her weren’t they.

I made a deal with the rat prophet to clear some space in the graveyard so Grace would be okay. Dunno what will come of that. I’ve been seeing him everywhere lately though.

I met with Oyun and gave him my dad’s house. I met with Aspity and was like “did you kill Stakh” and she gave me some vague shit, and in general I am very upset at the kinfolk right now but I tried to save them anyway. Went to the termitary and did the whole termitary thing. Wow that sure is a place, right? God, have I ever mentioned how much I love all the screaming soundtracks  in this game.

Damn, Taya’s whole child queen vibe is unsettling.

The whole termitary is horrible, and what the kin folk have been put through is horrible, but their obsession with blood and strength legit terrifies me. I’ve spent all my time until now trying to convince everyone that they aren’t bad, and that they aren’t to blame for the disease, but now they want to kill? And they really really really want me to be a killer too. And the whole thing with Taya is creepy as fuck too, she’s just a kid. Anyway, we’re sending Vlad the older to them, I don’t know whether he or his son deserves to be torn apart more, but Changeling was really upset at the idea of Vlad the younger going there, so I guess we’re backing her. We run all around town making sure the right Olgimsky is going, and then we realize we actually have a few hours left so we take a hospital shift too! And then we die of disease like six times.

Okay, flash forward again, we’ve gone back, gotten some guy to molotov cocktail us, redone the entire termitary thing, saved the game on Vlad’s clock after sending him to his doom (sorry dude). That’s where we’re at currently.

(Only it’s not actually, we went back and spent like an hour going back and forth between the termitary and Oyun again trying to deal with their shit, and everyone was like “murder all dissenters :D” and I was like “what the fuck” and the day was almost over but then a dude stabbed us and we randomly died, and none of these places had clocks, so at that point we were basically like “yeah it’s after midnight, let’s just call it quits.”)

Anything else......oh, the warehouses are at risk again. Notkin and Sticky, what would I do if anything happened to them. I hope my medicines are good enough, I gave some to Bad Grief too but now all there really is to do is wait. :(

Oh, I once again have thoughts on how fucking theatrical is it that everything in the game is simultaneously literal and metaphorical, it’s gorgeous, and have I mentioned the costuming choices for the Orderlies and the Plague, hhhhhhhh, not to say anything nice about Mark fucking Immortell, but he knows what he’s doing with this thing. Listen if this post weren’t already way too long I would just gush about the theatrical elements again, but sadly it is too long.

Okay, that was our latest session! We’ll be back either very soon or in like three weeks.

[black-rose-writings]

Rose watches Fate: The Winx Saga

Episode 1: How bad can it be?

I have not seen any reviews of the actual show, though I have come across some (not favorable ones) and watched the trailer, which left me with “that’s not good” vibes.

SPOILERS, obviously.

I’m gonna regret this so much.

Shit, I forgot it’s a Netflix adaptation.

Horror atmosphere? Okay.

Farmer cursing out sheep? Am I watching the right show?

Whooo, spooky magic portal.

Sheep gore? Ehm, alright.

What’s that, a werewolf?

Yep, it’s Winx. Starting out with a guy getting bloodily murdered off-screen by a werewolf. I’m disappointed and we’re only at the title card.

What’s that music? Not bad, but I’m not a big fan, either.

Oh, look, fat white Not-Flora, selling flowers to some bald dude in front of the school.

Aisha with braids. Yeah, I’m not mad at her, yet.

Stella looks like she’s thirty.

So does Musa. She looks bored. That doesn’t bode well.

Is that fuckboy Sky? I’m giving him a chance - but only one.

Was Bloom loking at him? Was that supposed to be disgust?

Wow, Sky, who wrote your dialog? On that note, who wrote Stella’s text?

Also... that’s one shitty way to insert yourself there, buddy. Was that supposed to sound smart?

Aaand patronizing. Nice. I’m losing respect quickly. And, if she’s gonna end up with you at the end, I’m gonna barf.

Nervous laughter, yay. WE GET IT, SHE’S NEW TO THE WHOLE FAIRY THING.

Not a fan of the word mansplaining being used unironically, but honestly, you go girl.

“Quit perving on the first years”, I’m with you on that, though I’m pretty sure that’s not a phrasing people would use. Also, who’s that? Riven? Brandon? I don’t remember the guy’s casting, they all looked way too similar.

Stella with British accent is... okay, I guess. Not a fan. Also... she looks way too old and way too fancy for this.

Also... had Bloom and Stella never met before? How did they get in contact? How did Bloom find out about magic? I have so many questions.

So, the Not-Faragonda gave her a Hogwarts letter. Okay.

Stella’s ring is like the first thing about this that I actually kinda like.

Oh, never mind. Not “Sword of Solaria” - “Gateway ring”. And Stella hates being at Alfea. Oh, wow, so quirky.

Only 7 realms? Wow, they really shrunk the Magical Dimension down. I mean, I get why, but they could have left it vague.

Yes, yes, you desperately want to be Harry Potter, like everyone else for the last 20 years.

“The transformation magic has been lost” - I was disappointed already, but somehow, it got worse.

Cool, Tinkerbell was real and Not-Faragonda already knows, what kind of magic Bloom has. I mean, they said three months ago, so I guess that makes sense, but still.

Ooh, foreshadowing. She burned her house down, didn’t she?

“Magic can be dangerous, as you well know” - yep, definitelly burned her house down. Probably killed someone in the process.

"Trust the process” - so, is Not-Faragonda gonna be the villain?

“I’m here because you promised you can teach me control.“ “No, you’re here, because you had no other choice.“ Bloom definitelly killed her parents. And I’m getting major creeps from Faragonda.

That school looks like the X-Men amnsion. Am I the only one seeing that? Is this gonna be wanna-be X-Men?

Facetiming her parents, as you do. Nevermind, she didn’t kill them. Maybe someone else?

Jeez, girl, no need to be so judgy.

“Lady of the Flies, sweetie, don’t be sexist“ - I get the California stereotype, but that was very, very unnecessary.

Oh, they don’t know she’s in a magic school. Okay.

Not-Faragonda is a liar, get it.

And here come the Harry Potter references.

Can you tone the references down? Also, they have Harry Potter and Lord of the Flies in the Not-Magix. (And yes, I’m gonna be doing the “not” thing a lot.

Oh, they assigned Stella to Bloom. That’s disappointing.

And Not-Flora is quirky and can’t shut up. Okay. This girl is looking more and more as the exact opposite of Flora.

Stella was held a year, just like in the original show, calling it now.

“I have a cousin named Flora” - namedropping her doesn’t earn you forgiveness, lady.

Oh, yeah, Musa has mind powers, I forgot that one. Great.

Yay, big badasses, kicking each other in a dirty pond, how cool...

“She’s a ginge, they’re all nuts“, okay. “Amazing shags, though.“ Ehm, excuse me, what? I get that we’re all adult here, but like... I appretiated the virgin joke there, Sky. Not funny, but appreciated.

Is that supposed to be Codatorta? Is Alfea a bootcamp, now?

“Burned Ones“, huh? So, that’s the werewolf, thing? Okay, we have a big evil, now.

Whoa, zombies. And a traumatized drill sergant. Nice.

Is Sky smoking? Cause if so, I have no more respect for him.

Okay, who’s Rosalind? Bloom’s mom? (Please, no spoilers)

Not-Faragonda denying reality, as expected.

Oh, the bald guy is Not-Flora’s dad. Okay.

Oh, look, the... wanna-be evil fairy? Definitelly and “arsehole”, as she says.

What a polite way to say “Fuck off”.

Calling her mum a basic bitch is... very classy. You’re very quirky, very relatable and not like the other girls, we get it.

Are Stella and Sky dating? I know that’s gonna cause drama and I hate that already.

The hell is that? A fire Patronus?

So, what did she burn, exacly?

She looks so happy at the baby flame.

She’s got that evil look down.

And now she can’t stop. Shocker.

Bloom is quirky and doesn’t like her mom. That’s... the exact opposite of the relationship they had in the show.

And I hate that character assasination of Vanessa. What the hell? Why can’t a female lead have an awesome relationship with her mom who loves her? Why is Mike such a doormat? I fucking hate this show and I’m 30 minutes in.

I was close. She almost killed her parents.

Yep, definitely a changeling. I was gonna write it here, but I forgot to pause and she said it before I did.

“Someone’s been lying to her” - shot at Not-Faragonda with creepy music in the background. Yep, bad guy, through and through.

Seeecret tunnel. Seeecret tunnel.

Is Not-Faragonda wearing sweatpants? I mean, that’s her choice, it just seems odd.

Yeah, bitch, strangle the dudebro, he deserves it.

I have just realized I can’t tell Riven and Sky appart. I’m not sure, if that’s saying something about me or the show.

Ooh, drama, what did Sky do? I don’t want to know, cause my respect for him is already at zero and I’d hate to hate the obvious love interest.

Ooh, she left the door open.

She’s supposed to be 16. The only one I’m buying being 16 for a second is Flora. The others, hell no. I kinda hoped they had aged them up, but no, 16 it is.

Secret hideout, nice.

Is that Daphne? Nope, that’s a fire zombie.

*insert every horror trope ever*

Fire zombie steals the ring, cool.

Oh, look, Not-Faragonda comes to save the day, yay...

“Where’s Stella?“ Getting laid, apparently.

Silva? Is that the Not-Codatorta? Okay.

Oh, the drama... end the suffering already.

Oh, it’s Riven, who’s smoking, not Sky. I said I can’t tell them apart.

Great, now I hate that fangirl, too. Ew, smokers.

Aand... that’s the first episode.

Honestly, I had the feeling this was gonna be the Last Airbender movie for the Winx series and... yeah, I was right. Not terrible on it’s own (though not very good, either), but become infinitely worse, when you know the source material.

[runawaymarbles]

Fanfics With Epic Worldbuilding

This reddit thread got me thinking about epic fics that take canon and expand it in incredible, thoughtful ways-- some that seem seamless, and like they could be canon if the creators had gone in another direction, and also alternate universes with very cool canon integration. So. On that note. Here’s some of my absolute favorites. (And feel free to let me know some of yours.) 

(More rec lists here) 

The Changeling & Armistice, by @annerbhp | Harry Potter | 180k, 320k  Ginny is sorted into Slytherin. It takes her seven years to figure out why.

This is the best take on Slytherin house, and especially women in Slytherin house, that I’ve ever seen. Features: traditions, mythology, history and types of magic that aren’t part of the canon universe but feel like they should be. (And a cast of wonderful original or almost-original characters.) 

 A Curious Carriage of Crystal and Cold by @etharei | X-Men | 115k  Charles, a miner from a poor village in the countryside, saves the life of Erik Lehnsherr, scion of a successful business family and the richest man on the planet Eisen. Charles is a telepath and somewhat anxious about it, while Erik abstains from relationships because the lights flicker and doors open and electronics vibrate when he gets too excited. Also featuring a long-suffering sister, a foul-mouthed bodyguard, and a best friend with a heart that is definitely not gold.In which there are princes, spaceships, long journeys, and old secrets uncovered

This is just. A whole sci-fi world. Class structure, different forms of etiquette, government structure, real history, fake history, and practical considerations about toilets in space. 

 The Eden!Verse, by @improbabledreams900​ | Good Omens | 550k  Picking up where canon leaves off, [the] Eden!verse chronicles Aziraphale & Crowley's adventures through great losses, gains, and life's cosmic curveballs. From a village on Earth to Heaven, Hell, and Eden itself, Aziraphale and Crowley make many new friends, learn God's plan for them, and discover what it means to love each other. 

The first fic in this series is relatively self contained, but by the second one it’s exploring heaven, expanding on biblical canon and the laws and hierarchy of angels, and weaving lots of different theological and mathmatical theories together. The plotting is so good it makes me want to cry. Also, the original characters are fantastic. 

 Home Out in the Wind by @bomberqueen17​ | Star Wars (Sequel Series) | 320k Poe gave up a lot of things when he defected to the Resistance, but there's always more to lose. War is an expensive lifestyle. You've got to keep your affairs in order and do the best you can with what you have. He owes this former Stormtrooper a life-debt, and beyond that he knows the kid's exceptional, so he's going to do everything he can to get the kid a fair start in this messy business. Finn wakes up and has no idea what to do beyond joining the Resistance, but he knows he’s got to keep up with Poe somehow. 

Dameron family history! Lore, history and culture that’s so well integrated that I had to do some Googling to make sure it wasn’t already Star Wars canon! Other planets! Drugs! Songs! Original characters I would pledge loyalty to forever! The most well-developed OT3 I’ve seen in this fandom! (There’s also a second series, The Lost Kings, about Shara and Kes.) 

The Lay of Looking-Glass Land by KL_Morgan | The 100 | 175K Clarke wakes up wearing the tattoos of the Ice Nation. (OR: Soulmates, parallel worlds, and Ice Queen Clarke; oh my. Canon divergent from 2x16.)

Intricate! Rituals! Grounder lore and mythology! And a wonderful what-if ‘verse being explored more in the sequel.

Pantheon, by Yahtzee | X-Men | 130k  In the year 96 AD, all Rome is aware that their gods have begun to Mark certain people with their gifts -- the healing power of Apollo, the metal control of Vulcan, the deathly touch of Pluto, or the mental powers of Minerva. When those gifts fall to slaves or barbarians instead of the Romans themselves, strict control is necessary. Then a gladiator from Judea meets an enslaved scribe from Britannia, and the repercussions will shake the Empire itself.

An amazing integration of X-Men canon into Roman mythology and life, re-imagining of mutations, and epic scale. You could make a religion out of this. 

Honorable Mention: 

All Things Shining by Askance and Standbyme | Supernatural | 140k  Something in the world is waking up.It isn’t long before it’s brought to the attention of the Winchesters and Castiel: miracles are spreading across the country, the paranormal seems to be shrinking back on itself—and it all has something to do with the missing prayer book of a traveling preacher who died over a century ago. Dean is convinced it’s all the lead-up to another Apocalypse; Sam and Castiel aren’t so sure. Regardless, it sends them out on a less-than-typical road-trip, following the Mississippi and remnants of a very old story that seems increasingly to call to them. And along the way the trio learn much more about themselves—and the consequences and origins of love—than they’d ever have anticipated.

I last read this fic in 2013, but I remember loving the religion that it created. It’s got a lovely fairytale/folklore vibe. And a mythological crack ship that’s... strangely beautiful. Putting it in the honorable mentions because I don’t remember how it ends. 

Redemption Road by multiple authors | Supernatural | 650k  Redemption Road is a fan-generated, large-scale AU project created by members of the SPN and Dean/Castiel fandoms.

This is another one I read once in 2013, but it also had some pretty spectacular expansions of Supernatural mythology, and lovable original characters. It’s set up like a season, with episodes and subplots. 

[clarenecessities]

spooky luky

Word Count: 1027 Summary: who’s this clown?  idk but he sure loves to overshare Chapter Warnings: discussions of kidnapping, murder, and child death [First] [Previous] [Next]

The newcomer stood on the other side of Bridgette, hands tucked into his pockets, and looked them all over with clear speculation. “There’s something going on here,” he continued, “and at Aesc. We’ve got to keep our heads if we want to find out what it is. You know this aosán?”

“Hey,” protested Adrien immediately.

“He’s not evil, Luka,” said Bridgette, rolling her eyes. “He’s good, I promise.”

“Just checking,” said Luka, with an easy grin. “Sorry, kid. Goading’s a quick way to test the waters.”

“I understand,” said Adrien, though he only barely refrained from pouting. “These are dangerous times, after all.”

“All times are dangerous,” said Luka. “Even the safe ones. Maybe especially the safe ones.”

“Stop being so fatalistic,” huffed Bridgette. “Nothing’s going to happen. We can protect ourselves now.”

“Not if we don’t know what we’re up against,” said Luka. He still had that same easy smile, looking perfectly at ease despite his apparent caution. “Nice to meet you, by the way. Fairy, witch, wolf… shapeshifter?”

“Kitsune,” Alya corrected, looking impressed. “How’d you know? I can’t imagine you’ve got a very good nose. You smell pretty human.”

“It’s the aos sídhe stuff,” said Luka, “we can sense magic like they can, and I know enough witches and werewolves to pick out their vibes. Don’t think I’ve ever met a kitsune, though. You’re not a yako, are you?”

“Luka, stop asking everyone if they’re evil,” said Bridgette. “Honestly, who’s being naïve now? She’s not just going to out and say, ‘oh no, you got me, now I’ve got to kill you’.”

“I’ve got bad instincts,” said Luka, grinning wider. “It never hurts to check! I’ve gotten a couple fuath to fall for it—finfolk practically brag about how evil they are.”

“That’s because finfolk suck,” said Bridgette, rolling her eyes. She nudged him towards the group with her shoulder. “Anyway, this is Luka. He’s another changeling. I know he seems laid back, but it’s just a clever ruse to disguise that he’s stressed out like, all the time.”

“I’m not stressed out,” Luka disagreed, pouting. “I’m vigilant. I am a super chill dude, alright?”

“That was a lie,” said Marinette. Adrien snickered into his hand at the wounded look Luka gave her.

“I’m Adrien, by the way,” he said, waving to draw Luka’s attention off his witch. A good familiar had to be willing to take one for the team! “Bridgette and I were kids together.”

“Oh, the cat sídhe,” said Luka, apparently surprised. “Right on, man. Look out for Félix, though.”

“Félix?” Adrien asked nervously.

“Félix Ainsel,” said Bridgette, getting a weird, dreamy look on her face. “He’s really strong and smart and cool, but—Luka’s right. He kind of hates cait sídhthe in particular.”

“Wait, I thought Ainsel was your headmaster,” said Nino, frowning.

“Félix is his son,” said Luka. “Though you wouldn’t really know it from how he treats the kid. Bridgette told you her theory, but mine is that Ainsel’s trying to train us so he can get like, a team to kill the aos sídhe. Félix was definitely a changeling, and Ainsel isn’t the type to take his son getting stolen lying down.”

“If he’s training us, why would he recruit you?” asked Bridgette, rolling her eyes. “You’ve been fighting the aos sídhe for longer than most of us have been alive.”

“Whoa, what?” asked Alya, blinking. “How old are you?”

“Sixteen-ish,” said Luka, shrugging. “But I was born in the 18th century. I just lived in a sídhe for so long that my timeline got a bit jumbled up.”

“And you’ve been… fighting us?” Adrien asked carefully.

“Well, not all of you. Just the bad eggs. Most of the aos sídhe are perfectly cordial if you don’t mess with ‘em,” said Luka. “The one who raised me was like, an angel. And the one who taught me magic was chill as hell. They’re just like humans—you’ve got your mostly indifferent majority, and then an occasional offshoot who doesn’t think people are people. Those are the ones I fight.”

“Those are the ones we fight too!” said Adrien, smiling. Maybe this guy wasn’t so bad. “Who raised you? Maybe I know them!”

“I doubt it, if you’re the age you look,” said Luka, smiling sadly. “Selkie by the name of Anarka. An each-uisce killed her and my sister about a hundred fifty years ago, chronologically.”

“Oh,” said Adrien, swallowing. He was really putting his foot in his mouth a lot with these changelings—first Bridgette, now Luka. “I’m—fuck, I’m really sorry.”

“’Preciate it,” said Luka. “Don’t worry, I got him back.”

“Good,” said Alya, frowning with surprising vehemence. “I’m sorry about your sister.”

“Me, too,” said Luka, laughing the saddest laugh Adrien thought he’d ever heard. “She was… she was the best. But I’ve got all the other kids at Aesc now, and they’re—they’re pretty great. Bridgette here is practically a sister to me herself.” He jostled her shoulder affectionately.

“You’re the most obnoxious big brother a girl could ask for,” said Bridgette, leaning into his side and rolling her eyes again.

“You should’ve seen me when I was a little brother,” laughed Luka. “I was insufferable.”

A sharp whistle pierced the air, and Adrien looked around for the source. An Aesc student in a blue dress shirt was waving to get their attention.

“What’s up?” called Luka.

“Class is starting soon,” the boy signed, jostling a small bird on his shoulder. “We’ve gotta go.”

Luka flashed him a thumbs up and turned back to the group, his grin back in full force. “That’s our cue. See you guys around, I hope. Any friend of Bridgette’s is a friend of mine.”

“Any friend of mine is also a friend of mine,” said Bridgette, waving at them and giving Adrien one last hug. “It’s really, really good to see you again. I hope we have some classes together! I’ll see you around for sure.”

“For sure,” agreed Adrien, beaming.

The Aesc students disappeared into the crowd, leaving the four of them in relative silence, a pocket of stillness in the churning crowd that still filled the courtyard.