#the next generation start making newer pronouns

[erigold13261]

It is pretty cool how the newer generation (ie: the DDMC mermaids, the arachnikids, especially Hobie, Peni and Gwen the JJK kids, or just Shoko and Satoru if you want to include them) are using the more "weirder" pronouns to refer to themselves (even those who don't have English as a first language which is pretty swag)

I actually do that intentionally when coming up with queer headcanons because I think that is just how stuff evolved in the queer community.

Of course there were people using "weird" pronouns back in the 80s and even earlier, but it just became much more common as time goes on and less stigma and retaliations there are.

Not to say there aren't still problems with using "weird" pronouns at times, which is why some characters like Peni might continue to use she/her pronouns if the environment doesn't seem safe. While others, like Hobie, refuse to bend to the whims of society to be a more "acceptable fag."

Different backgrounds would have different ideas and relationships with gender too. DDMC are robot mermaids, they can't really truly ever identify with "man" or "woman" in a way a human could. So they just gravitated more towards non-human/common pronouns.

I can't say much for Shoko and Satoru, but I think (if I remember right) Satoru had a more privileged upbringing, being part of a more high-up family (I keep getting Suguru and Satoru mixed up in my head and I swear one of these days I will mix them up in a responce D:). Anyway, that kind of background gave Satoru the confidence to just use pronouns like blue/blues. Blues power and prestige makes people on the outside not question blue (at least not directly) so the only people blue has to worry about is blues family, who might not really care as long as blue upholds the family name and tradtions or whatever (which blue isn't really doing by being friends with Suguru).

So yeah, I do see the newer generations as using a lot more "weird" pronouns because it is a lot more normalized and a lot less stigmatized. People from older generations (like Tatiana and Neon) use more traditional she/her and he/him pronouns, but not all of them do because Elivy (lead singer of the Goolings) uses they/them pronouns (also he/him). They just took a longer time to figure things out and only really started using those pronouns later in life (showing that not everyone figures things out when they are young).

I'm also depending on having my OC Carna change pronouns when fae gets older. I like the idea that fae/faer pronouns weren't always gonna stick with Carna, and that's okay to happen. Sometimes you are wrong about your gender or sexuality or whatever, and it's okay to change that over time.

Even with older generations like the Psychonaut Interns (who would all now be in their like 30s or 40s at this point in the story) played around with gender and pronouns when they were young. Adam even going by yo/yoself pronouns during the like 80s. Definitely not something conventional (or honestly even smart if yo was in a dangerous area or bigots, same with Sam or Lizzie using he/him pronouns), but it was something that the interns did because they all were in an area that promoted self expression and to explore your identity and mind.

Not to mention Sam and Razputin being related to some of the Psychic 7 and Lizzie having Compton as a mentor, some of the Psychic 7's queerness would have rubbed off/been taught to these three which would have quickly spread through the interns as they experimented with pronouns and stuff.

Anyway! Yeah, I actually did that intentionally when it comes to pronoun headcanons! The younger someone is, or the newer the generation, the easier it is for me to headcanon them with more "weird" pronouns. I can definitely still come up with "weird" pronouns for older generation characters (love the cosmo/cosmos headcanon for DJSS a lot, need to start using that more), but it is definitely going to be more common with newer generation characters.

(also just thinking about the DDMC, Peni, and Margo talking through text and using emojis as pronouns. Love that and honestly if it was easier to get emojis on a computer I would try making more emoji pronouns headcanons. That is a lazy excuse I know, but I also honestly just don't think of those kinds of headcanons as much as I should lol).

Also, also, just to note, I ONLY speak English. So any kind of pronoun headcanon I give are from and English-speaking viewpoint. I know other languages have different sets of pronouns and gendered language, so I can't really say much on that kind of thing, or how it would translate across languages (or if it would even be a viable thing to do in other languages).

But yea. I do like giving pronoun headcanons even if the character's first/primary language isn't English. I kinda do that thing in my head where a character is speaking one language but to me I can understand it in English. So like if I am making Purl and Rin have a conversation in front of Yinu that they don't want Yinu to hear, I have Purl and Rin speak Korean in my head but it's literally just English to me, but Yinu can't understand Korean. I have no idea why I am saying this because it doesn't have anything to do with the ask, I just felt like sharing it lol.

[little-wandering-faerie]

Thank you so much to @cafekitsune for creating these banners. You are amazing!

~~♥︎♡♡♡♥︎~~

Name: Jellybean or AJ

Nicknames: Bean, Chaos, Aj

Age: 25+

Pronouns: She/They/He (Any)

~~♥︎♡♡♡♥︎~~

Welcome to A Touch of Whimsy, where the magical meets the mundane, and everyday life gets just a sprinkle of fairy dust.

I'm an Audhd writer whose pen dances between the realms of fanfiction and the original but... let's be honest here..They're all a work in progress.

When I'm not immersed in writing or otherwise daydreaming, or working. I'm indulging in my hobby of roleplay, I've been here since I was 14 years old, and trust me, I haven't hit the pause button since. Oh, and you can't forget my love for all things anime. Maybe I'm not as intense as the next fan, but hey, diversity is the spice of life right?

As for my other fandoms, where to begin? It's like a kaleidoscope, as my tastes in tv shows, movies and anime are about as widespread as you can get but, here are a few

Doctor who has always been a love of mine, especially nine and ten!

Obey me! Shall we date? This game, this series, these seven demons have my heart and my soul and I'm not even sorry!

My hero academia: I started watching the show and picked it up and put it down a lot and all but Aizawa, Hawks, Shigaraki and Dabi always have a place in my heart!

Currently trying to get into Attack on Titan and Demon Slayer as I've heard nothing but good things and kinda wanna try it out. I'm a little late to the fandoms but I'm getting there..Whoops

Star Wars, I got into it when I was younger and love the stories,

Game of Thrones, it still holds a place in my heart,

The witcher, although I haven't watched the newer season yet I'm still a part of the fandom but I sort of love it from afar now.

Marvel and DC, while I'm more of a Marvel bean I do enjoy DC quite a lot, maybe not the movies so much but I like the cartoons nonetheless.

There are so many anime on my list and it would take far too long to explain all of them, so yeah I love anime and have watched several..

I am generally a really friendly person, who vibes and likes to hang out with people, If you follow me, I will usually follow back. Unless you are an ageless blog, as I don't have any clue on how old you are, and will not follow minors or allow Minors to follow me!

So let this be a gentle reminder for everyone...

This is not a playground for anyone under 18, so if you've found yourself here by mistake, I kindly request that you exit stage left. Please!

Now, If you're a MAP (Minor Attracted Person) or any supporter of it, let's make things crystal clear: Exit is right there, with no exceptions, ifs, ands, or buts. You are about as welcome as a snowball in summer on my blog,

Hate? We don't have time for that on this blog. If you've come here deciding that Today is the day And I am the one? please do a 180-degree turn before I hit that block button. Zero tolerance. None. Bullying is cringe.

But if you're none of the above, and you're here to chat, roleplay, and make friends, you're warmly welcomed!

This is a sanctuary, a safe space. So grab your best cosplay or comfiest PJs, snag a snack, and let's relish in the chaos together!

If you have questions feel free to ask, if you want to roleplay feel free to ask but I do have my rules so if you're at all interested please feel free to interact.

[fishybehavior]

I've been wanting to make this for awhile, for the new people coming into my fandom but for anyone who's new in general

Now I am a newer Tumblr user (I joined in 2020 what a year) but I know how to get around here on the ole tumbles so if you are new and wondering "what the fuck is all this?" I'll show u a few tips

---

now the first thing I'd honestly recommend is to get involved with some kind of fandom. You don't have to be super into anything, but finding people who like things similar to you is a great way to start making friends! And honestly we have a fandom for almost anything, if u aren't into anything now you can probably look up any tv show or movie you watched in the last 20 years and someone will have made a post of it!

You don't have to be involved in a fandom but its a good way to meet people and see how we interact casually with one another if you are lurking for a little bit to learn

---

Now, second piece of advise, your blog.

Tumblr is a blogging site, and what you are probably used to refering ur profile, we call our blogs. It has ur pfp, header pic, maybe a couple of lines introducing urself, and then all of ur posts.

First thing I recommend is to change ur pfp, a lot of people base if u are a bot or not is if u use the default image as ur pfp. I suggest a character u like, an animal, a color, a flower, anything u like. I must warn you that I don't recommend u use ur own face. Number 1 some of the appeal of tumblr is anonymity, but 2, there are other bot blogs (such as porn blogs) that use real people as their pfp, and so some people may block u on site.

Now under your pfp you can put a couple of sentences in you blog, you can use this for anything. A lot of people put their preferred pronouns or maybe their age, or what fandoms their into, or maybe their patrons, or other blogs they run. What I recommend is that you dont put any personal info in here, especially if u are a minor. Don't specify ur age if your under like 18-21, if your under that just put minor.

---

next i want to talk about is cultivating your experience

Now you dont have to do this right away but if there is certain types of content that you know you don't like or you find triggering I suggest doing this. On Tumblr we use tags to organize our posts as well as to warn. You can block certain tags in your settings.

press this button on the top right of ur page (if you are on desktop, if on mobile it'll be the bottom right

then in the drop-down menu select Settings, then go to Account, then scroll down until you see the header, "Content you see"

(on mobile once you hit the lil person icon on your bottom right, hit the gear on the top right of you screen, then fo down until u see "Content you see, it'll take you to the same thing)

here you can block tags and filter content. There are two types of filtering, by tags and by content. By tags only will block posts by the tags they have, while content blocking will look through the entire post for blocked words or phrases.

I personally use blocked tags more but do whichever works for you. If you are going to block tags there are certain types of things to keep in mind.

For one, we use warning tags. Tags that are put in posts specifically to warn people of certain content that we know can be triggering. For warning tags there are three main ways that people tag them (there are more but these are very common), tw dogs, cw dogs, dogs . Now I'm using dogs as an example tag, but the preface of tw (trigger warning) and cw (content warning) are very common, and if you want to block a certain trigger i suggest that you block both of these along with just the word by itself. (Also spelling does count)

this works similarly with content blocking, but u dont use tw or cw. Just put down the words or phrases that you dont want to see.

now when you block a post u don't ever see it, rather it appears on your dash like this

it blocks out the whole post, tells you what tags or content that appeared for it to be blocked, and gives you a choice if you would like to see it anyways. This is how blocked posts will appear and you wont see the post at all unless you decide to view the post for yourself.

---

i think this is where I'm going to leave it for now, might reblog with more info in the future. But there are plenty of other posts with other info about how tumblr works and how to maneuver this site. I hope you find this helpful and that you enjoy your experience on this site 👋

[sk-lumen]

hey! my names j! and i need some advice on friendship.

I have a best friend, A, and we have been good friends for about 5 years and have aknowlegded each other as best friends. But she doesnt act like it a lot. She loves me i dont doubt this but i wonder if she loves me as much as I love her.

She jokes a lot. Saying things like oh suck it up, and sarcastic responses when I ask for her advice or opinion or help. She doesnt talk to me about personal things or life events and I didnt either but Im starting too, and she seems unbothered.

She is very affectionate with her partner, family and other good frieds, She acts disgusted when I hug her, I think its a joke, but shakes me off whenever I try to touch her.

Its to the point where I cant tell if shes joking or not. Ive also had to come out to her a few times repeatedly about my prefered name and pronouns and she straight up forgets by the next week yet learned the preferd names and things of newer people who shes only known for a few months. I dont know what to do.

Hi J,

From everything you’ve said, I say this with all the kindness but that doesn’t sound like the actions of a friend. It’s important to note that it’s not the words that matter (her saying that you’re her best friend), but actions. That’s how someone shows how important you are to them.

The truth is, people will show their truest self, including their most authentic feelings towards you, through actions, small gestures, unconscious habits. Let me put this into perspective.

From what you’ve mentioned, this friend…

teases you (even though you may have visibly or verbally made it clear it makes you uncomfortable, I’m assuming)

invalidates your feelings (“suck it up”, sarcasm)

doesn’t confide/trust in you with her personal life

is affectionate with all those dear to her (which should include you), but not you, to the point of showing to be repulsed

completely ignores your preferred name and pronouns - to be frank, I don’t think this is accidental. No friend would forget about something so important and personal as this. Mess up the details or forget the first time(s)? Sure, we’re only human. But if it’s on multiple occasions and you’ve expressed your discomfort on the matter and nothing has changed, it’s all the answer you need. It doesn’t sound like this friend truly prioritizes you.

Here's what should happen:

A true friend validates your feelings, makes you feel heard and supported. A friend is affectionate (unless they have any general issues with physical contact etc, which doesn’t seem the case here) because it is yet another way of showing they care about you. A friend will trust you with the narrative of their personal lives and feel glad to offer a shoulder to lean on in exchange as well. They value your advice and are happy to offer it, too. A friend stops any words, actions or gestures that you point out as being hurtful to your feelings; furthermore they will actively remedy the situation, because that’s how you sustain a relationship: choosing to make it work, day by day. Last but not least, a friend will be very mindful and considerate about things like preferred name or pronouns, simply because it’s important to you. It’s not a trivial detail.

And that’s what a friend would do. What about a best friend? Multiply that twice, five times, ten times. That’s what best friend means.

I hope this gives you clarity darling, because you deserve more than this. Perhaps it’s time to have a heart-to-heart conversation with her and see what’s actually going on. Maybe she’s uncomfortable with something and doesn't know how to bring it up, maybe she just doesn’t care as much, or maybe she’s keeping a distance because of something from the past… who knows? Ask and find out. Communicate. And if the situation doesn’t change… don’t be afraid to cut your losses. It is by letting go of the old, that you can let in the new, and surround yourself with the kind of people that truly resonate with you and make you feel loved and supported.

Honestly, that is one of the best advices I would give anyone in their 20s, even 30s. It's okay to make mistakes by tolerating less than you deserve, but once you realize it, don't wait forever to do better! That's a lot of years wasted by settling for unhappy situations, unhappy relationships. Clear the space, admit you deserve more, then allow the universe to bring it into your life.

I wish you the best, and hope you find the kindness and supportive connection you deserve. 💞✨

-Lumen

[herotome]

Taglist & FAQ

Moving this into a post because the old FAQ page was built-in to the blog template - which I don't think is mobile accessible.

I'll try to keep this up-to-date!

Taglist

These links only work on desktop. For mobile-users, please scroll all the way down to click the actual hashtags on the post.

#herotome highlights: - in which you will find VERY COOL images and videos I've posted to introduce you to the game! Highly recommended you check it out if you're new to the blog. :)

#herotome update: in which you will find devlogs, which often contain progress art and development screenshots/gifs; also known as the Latest Weekly Update.

#herotome ask: in which you may find character, story, and development text answers related to the game.

#content warning: for asks concerning specific phobias and triggers, and whether or not they will come up in the game. (Answer: it's not a horror game so probably not, but I'm happy to assuage any fears.)

#herotome spicy margaritas: for written answers that are not explicit but do contain frank allusions to sensuality and/or sexual activity. Not quite NSFW, but leans on it.

#RO: everyone: for scenario/prompt asks that include the entire cast of love interests. Usually "How would the LIs react to--?"

Character Tags

#RO: warden (he/him: the reluctant leader and local rough boy)

#RO: griffin (he/she: the charming "executive" secretary)

Note: Griffin uses both pronouns and is NOT a gender-selectable character.

#RO: mia (she/her: the new hire who's mad about you being a newer hire)

#RO: dart (he/him: the straight-edge night shift motorcyclist)

#RO: jade (she/her: the telekinetic superstar with severe anxiety)

#katie cat (she/her: your cat)

#basketball boy (he/him: your cigar-smoking landlord whose number you can block; all his excuses involve talking about basketball for some reason)

#alcoholic sniper (he/him: one of your antagonists; boozer eggplant mummy)

Actual FAQ under the cut. :) If you don't see the cut, please click on the post to view it in full.

Index: General FAQ | The Love Interests | The Heroine

General FAQ

But what is Herotome?

Herotome is a visual novel and dating sim with a superhero theme.

This game was initially conceived on February 17th, 2017. I released text-based alpha sometime around late December of the same year, and started coding in Renpy shortly after that. I released a prologue demo on itch in 2021, and am working on the next installment.

Cool! Where can I play it when it’s done?

Thhheeee above link should still work, if you wanna bookmark it or follow me on itch.io. I might try to release the game on steam in the distant future, but you might have to wait a while.

Why a while? :(  Why do I have to wait?

Because… I’m funding the project out of my own pocket, and on top of that I have to fight my perfectionism and my anxiety in unarmed mud wrestling every single day in order to write, draw and program everything.

Can I help with funding the game? Would that make it go faster?

Yeah! Here’s my Ko-Fi. Every little bit helps me secure assets, authenticity readers, and improve the game's polish. :)

You mention that someday you might run an Indiegogo, but why not Kickstarter?

Kickstarter doesn't support my country, Indiegogo does.

My anti-virus says your demo/game is a security risk!

I'm not surprised because this has happened to a lot of renpy games that have custom windows/mac icons. I promise I do not have enough knowledge or evil energy to create and distribute malware. I need to preserve my evil energy for fun things, like writing bad dialogue choices and shitposting.

.

The Love Interests

Who are the love interests?

Scroll down this page to find the characters. They’d love to meet you!

Sexualities? 👀

Alright I caved, here you go. Please play nice!

And you said they're ace-aro friendly? How so?

They are. You will be able choose in-game whether you will remain platonic coworkers or start a romantic relationship. The characters won't get mad if you turn down their advances.

Please refer to this post for specifics.

And… how tall are they?

Here you go!

MBTI types?

Mmhm! Answered here.

.

The Heroine

Can I change the MC's pronouns?

2023 Update: Yes.

However, please keep in mind that game is currently written from the perspective of a female protagonist. Characters in the game will occasionally perceive and refer to the protagonist as a woman, regardless of pronouns chosen.

Can you tell me more about the MC's powers?

No, but I can show you an excerpt from my writing. Answered here.

Okay… so what CAN I customize?

This game is vastly more about choices than protagonist customization.

There are 3-5 dialogue choices displayed at a time. The idea is for the game to feel like you’re having a real conversation with the characters; for you to be able to choose what you want to say, not just picking between the “correct” answer and the “wrong” answer.

You will organically choose your love interest by getting to know them and letting them get to know you, rather than choosing their name from a list.

… To answer the question though, you’ll be able to change the player character’s name and profile picture (a la Mystic Messenger). Given more time and resources, I hope to work with more customization features in future games. <3

With more time and resources, what customization features would you put into THIS game?

I’m glad you asked!!!! I’d love to work with character stats, an in-game social media page, a customizable bedroom and dress-up games – all the things that are definitely out of scope for the upcoming demo.

Although I really, really, really want to have a customizable bedroom in particular. I have a soft spot for it from Pokemon: Crystal.

Right now I’m working on a cookie clicker minigame and a chatroom feature. Not customization, necessarily, but hopefully a lot of fun regardless.

Who’s working on this game?

Actively working on it? Toiling and slaving over it day and night? Just me, Wudge. (Hi!) I credit myself as the art director, executive editor and founder of the project, but tbh I’m doing a lot of the menial labor, too. Hahah. Most notably, I write the script, I design the assets (characters, backgrounds, aesthetic), I code, I playtest aggressively to ensure the code works, and I coordinate everything to keep it moving and balanced.

I do work with some very talented freelancers for the more specialized odds and ends (sprite coloring, GUI, backgrounds, editing, music, programming, etc), and you’ll see mentions of these radical people in the devlogs. :)

.

... Eh, no one's asked this yet, but here's one more for kicks:

Why haven't you answered my ask? :(

If you sent some love and attention my way, don't fret, I have surely received it and it nourishes my heart. <3

In regards to the non-spiritual, physical act of actually answering an ask/message, here are some situations where I might not respond at all:

if the ask concerns heavy details that would be more appropriately revealed alongside in-game context (such as mental health issues and backstory trauma). I probably won’t reply to an ask about how Griffin feels about being in a wheelchair or how it happened, for example.

if the ask contains a topic that I’m actively researching, wherein I’d want to represent these topics with adequate respect and responsibility after consulting with my authenticity readers.

if I genuinely don’t know the answer and need to take a hot minute to think about it.

if the ask concerns or straight up predicts a plot point that may or may not 100% happen in the game, you naughty little soothsayer.

if the ask uses strong language and name-calling (even playfully well-intentioned ones like “I fucking love these dumbasses”)- not because I get offended, but because I get startled! I have nothing against cursing - I do it a lot myself - but it can take me a while to discern the tone if it’s directed at me.

You have to consider the possibility that maybe I'm hanging upside down by my ankle. Everybody has their own schedule, you know? And sometimes people spend time away from their phone or computer because they are currently suspended from a tree branch by a rope tied around their ankle.

NSFW asks will be hit or miss - mostly because I’m at a bit of a crossroads on whether I’m going to make the game 100% SFW, or add in NSFW premium content later, or have NSFW content in the game (which can be turned off and on). I think people vastly prefer that last one, and I personally enjoy it in the games I play; I just need time to decide if it feels right for Herotome as a whole.

I do still welcome all questions, I just ask that people understand if I take a while or choose not to reply for my own reasons. (:

[oreoambitions]

I don't generally talk about personal stuff on Tumblr unless I'm putting a humorous spin on something, but let's talk about International Nonbinary Day for a minute.

The enby who works next door ducked in this morning to wish me a happy International Nonbinary Day and to share a celebratory air-hug (social distancing sucks). They are one of the only people who use they/them pronouns for me, and they wanted to make sure I knew what today was. I was grateful; I didn’t know. My coworkers were confused. "That's so random; why did she say that to you?"

"They," I corrected.

"Whatever," my coworker replied with a roll of her eyes.

I'm out as nonbinary, in a sense. Back in October I asked for a new nametag and I told my coworkers what was going on and that I'd like for them to please discontinue the use of my birthname. Then I called my mom. Then I told facebook. 

It was hard. It was a lot harder than telling everyone I was interested in women, because I knew that from the start (and came out on accident in the 5th grade; some time I'll tell y'all about it), and because I think it's easier for people to wrap their heads around homosexuality these days than non-cis identities. I had (and still have) a lot of questions and fears. Will people challenge me? Will I have to justify my identity over and over? Will people not want to be friends with me? Will they roll their eyes if I correct them when they use the wrong name or pronouns? Will it be harder for me to find a relationship?

I decided that ultimately the answer to all of those questions was yes. When I told everyone I was changing my name, I didn't tell them I wanted to change my pronouns.

The world fell apart in March and since then I've had Bigger Things on my mind, but it hasn't escaped my notice that my coworkers don't really understand what it is I was saying when we talked in October. They call me by my name, but they think of it as a quirky nickname more than anything. I'll make a self deprecating joke, and my prep cook will laugh and say, "It's not you; that's just the way girls are." My coworker will throw her arm around my shoulder and say, "We ladies need to stick together." So when my coworker rolled her eyes about they/them pronouns, I said, “It’s not whatever.” And things got very quiet in the store. We talked about what nonbinary means while we got the store ready for open this morning. My team had a lot of questions. Are nonbinary people trans and vice versa? Isn’t they/them grammatically incorrect? Is it really about gender or is it about societal expectations? Aren’t nonbinary women just butch lesbians? There was a lot of unpacking to do. I was relieved when other folks stepped in to answer some questions, to clarify some things. As we were wrapping up, one of my newer hires asked me if I was nonbinary, and if that was why the person from next door came over this morning. I smiled and told her that I was. She asked if they/them pronouns were appropriate, and announced that she would fight anyone who failed to use them. It made me laugh. I have a pronoun pin on the way - it arrives today, which now feels like poetic timing - and I wasn’t sure if I was going to be brave enough to wear it. Now I think I will.

Anyway, all of that is just so say that I’m glad there is such a holiday. I’m glad people are becoming more aware of the complexity of gender identity, and I’m glad people can have these conversations. And I appreciate that we nonbinary folks have an excuse to recognize and celebrate one another today, because we exist, and sometimes that can be a difficult thing.

[myherorp]

THE QUIRK DATABASE HAS BEEN UPDATED !

incoming information on civilian, riyu.

get to know them !

faceclaim: red velvet’s bae joohyun (irene)

name: seo riyu

gender & pronouns: she/her

age: 28 years old

occupation: receptionist at the angel agency.

the quirk !

quirk name: medusa

quirk description: user has a head of living venomous snakes in place of hair.

abilities:

riyu basically has snakes for hair - said snakes possessing all characteristics and abilities a regular snake would have. she is able to control and command each “lock” of her “hair”, like one would control their limbs. they can wind themselves around objects and lift them (they can lift heavier objects if all snake locks work together). she can also use them to defend herself, like shielding her face from incoming attacks.

when riyu’s sense of control on the snakes is inactive, her living locks slither and wander about her head as they wish. most would just choose to drape lifelessly over her back and sleep, forming a false image of long, regular human hair (in a good ten foot distance, if you squint).

the snakes are venomous. can be fatal once a person is bitten by them and doesn’t receive needed medical help in the following twenty five hours.

the snakes, while idle, reach just below her shoulder blades in length, but are able to extend as far to her ankles if need be.

she has an acute sense of smell that enables her to detect people easier by following their trail of scent; as would a snake would detect prey or predators.

weaknesses:

her emotions would affect her control over her hair. the more unstable she feels, the less she’d be able to deliver effective commands to her hair. for example, if she were in extreme distress, her snakes would be almost uncontrollable and high on defense; ready to attack anyone who could pose as a potential threat to them - including herself. luckily enough, the poison wouldn’t affect her physically as her body possesses a self-made antidote that neutralizes its own venom. regardless of the absence of poison - the bites would still injure her. because of this, she would carry around a medical kit of syringes and bottles of antivenom with her, in case her snakes lash out on others.

due to lack of extensive training, the snakes on her head don’t always obey her every command, and behave as if they have a mind of their own. they would occasionally act to their own desires. their behavior is always unpredictable, which puts her on a disadvantage if she wanted to behave in public.

to keep her snake locks at their optimal condition, she would have to consume generous amounts of meat daily, to keep her snakes calm and sated. the snakes get significantly more restless and snappy (like herself) if she doesn’t get her daily dose of meat. nutrients in exchange for strength - nothing different than a human.

while newer snakes can grow from her scalp, once any of the snakes are severed off her head, they cannot regenerate and she would need surgery to amputate them properly. the pain from having any of her snakes sliced in half is equivalent to having a finger sliced off.

mutation: the actual species of the snakes remain unknown, but they resemble slender black vipers, and cover her entire scalp like hair. in addition to that, her pupils are like a snake’s - oblong shapes that peak at the ends like slits. her tongue is forked and jacobson’s organ is located on the roof of her mouth to enable her stereo sense of smell. she’s almost eerily flexible - just like a snake with its flexible backbone.

the history !

triggers: amputation, animal cruelty / torture, torture, blood

she remembers.

she remembers the shriek that miss sejeong had let out when she came into her room to wake her up for school - only to be greeted with slithering monstrosities hissing at her alongside a drowsy face. her hair was already grotesque before - hard scaly locks that draped over her back like chains - and then they’ve decided to make things worse and grow glowering faces and sharp fangs overnight. she couldn’t get herself to scream - voice clogged up in her little throat and fingernails dug harshly into the sheets as she stayed seated in frozen confusion and terror. miss sejeong, stumbling to get up from collapsing on the floor, had rushed away for help. medusa, she had cried then, voice disappearing into the empty hallway as she skedaddled. your child turned into medusa!

she didn’t understand the name, but she definitely understood the fear that dripped from every syllable, trepidation seeping to even the tips of her toes. by the time reinforcements had returned, her little body was already curled up and pressed against the headboard, snake locks hissing and thrashing ferociously to mirror her despair as she warned for them to stay away in between her sobs and hiccups.

she doesn’t remember much of what happened next. however, her dreams do - flashes of paralyzed bodies and bloody crimson coming to greet her for months on end.

-

at nine, seo riyu insists that she’s beautiful.

she insists that she is, because that’s what her parents and her butlers and maids have always told her - so it must be true. they tell her that what happened wasn’t her fault - and that everyone was just caught off guard. miss sejeong, one of the main maids that took care of her, was fired after that incident, so she doesn’t have to feel like she scares people anymore.

she believes them. even if there would always be a weird look in their eyes whenever she’d approach three steps too close; even if they’d jump if she enters premises without warning them, telling her not to sneak up on them - she believes them.

although her school isn’t as generous with their kindness, she keeps her ground. she doesn’t retaliate despite the derogatory words sent her way. they either taunt her, or stay completely away from her - there is only one or the other. it isn’t even just the students. parents she comes across in school grounds gossiped, too. regardless, she stayed mum. she tells herself that she isn’t the only one with the weird quirk, so they’ll get tired of annoying her eventually. her tutor had told her to stay graceful, as she held the name of the seo family behind her.

so she stays quiet.

-

she stops staying quiet after two years.

she doesn’t know how, or when, but her temper grew with her. the accumulation of anger she’s suppressed through the months gets to her faster than she’d like to admit - and before she knew it - she started talking back. she grew feister. she doesn’t physically retaliate, but one shouldn’t underestimate the power of spiteful words (and hissing snakes).

“you disgust me.”

she smiles at those. these kinds of insults are one of the tamer ones. “oh - you beat me to it.” she titters, all eyes on them. all of her eyes. “i was about to say that to you, too.”

-

she gets into u.y.

it’s a dream come true. a typical ambition - as sharp tongued as she is; she likes to help. she wants to prove that even someone who looks as villainous as her could look heroic to others. she does well, as her diligence proves it. it shows on her grades. she makes a few friends - those who share her ideals and are also not too deterred by the snakes that poke them at the ribs every so often.

she doesn’t think her life could progress as well as it did.

-

the progress stops. if anything, it backpedals entirely.

she doesn’t remember how it started or how it ended - just flashes of memory, of bruises, of malicious laughter, of tears, of blood. she remembers falling asleep. she remembers waking up with blurry vision and restrained limbs. there were faces, but all she could make out was yellowed teeth and sharp toenails as she doubled over, screaming and crying for the pain to stop. the pain doesn’t stop. spurts of blood keep coming, and coming, and coming, each worse than the last, painting red down her face and her shoulders and her back and her feet. the butcher knife shines brightly under the dim light. she remembers voices. they aren’t coming, the voices sneer. it’s been ten minutes. let’s cut off another.

it’s when she wakes up and realizes that she’s at the hospital, that everything ends.

that doesn’t matter. her nightmares continue.

-

she dropped out of u.y. with the power of money, you can do anything, so she does nothing, for a while.

she watches the ceiling fan spin and spin and spin while she waited for new snakes to grow back. she hated them, but they were also her only company. her mind feels a lot less muddled if a lock is alive to distract her by nuzzling against her cheek.

she finishes her education indoors.

-

she’s mellowed down over the years, and prefers working behind the scenes.

she wonders if that’s okay.

the personality !

riyu grew to become more reserved as she got older - although she’s now desensitized by weird looks sent her way due to her intimidating appearance. she’s mature and sophisticated, having gone through a lot through a quarter of her life span. despite that, she still holds the habit of assuming the worst when she meets someone new - continuously wary and defensive unless they’ve proven themselves to be deserving of her undivided attention. once the ice around her heart’s been thawed, however, good luck with that - parts of her traits from her adolescence will shine through - allowing you a glimpse of her true, unfiltered personality: just a woman trying her best to stay sane.

[crescentharborrp]

BASICS

Name: Leona Landry.

Gender/Pronouns: cisfemale, (she/her).

Date of Birth: April 9th, 1993.

Age: 26.

Hometown: New Orleans, Louisiana.

Length of time in Crescent Harbor: Eleven years.

Neighborhood: Downtown.

Occupation: Manager at the Stardust Drive-In Theater.

Faceclaim: Victoria Pedretti.

BIOGRAPHY (trigger warnings: death, aneurysm)

The Landry’s weren’t exactly the suburban dream. They family was unconventional, at best, hailing from the Louisiana bayou. The family lived just outside New Orleans, and their roots ran deep. Leona Landry was the daughter two high school sweethearts, both of whom could trace their family heritage back at least six generations in The Big City. Her mother’s side of the family was a long line of fortune tellers – women who took pride in the art of reading tea leaves and celebrating the stars. Her father was the author of a best-selling crime novel and several less successful follow-ups. It was good money, for a time, but her parents had never been overly concerned with finances. They grew a lot of their own food, and traded for the rest. All in all, there were seven Landry children crammed into their two-story, five bedroom house. Leona fell somewhere in the middle of the pack, four boys and three girls.

To say her childhood was rough and tumble was an understatement. She loved to play in the dirt, always scraped knees and mud in her hair. She stayed dirty as a child, a girl who had to be practically dragged inside once the sun fell behind the horizon. A girl with a smile that always bordered on mischievous, despite her best intentions. There was a seven year gap between Leona and her oldest sister, the other five Landry children staggered around them. Some, like her oldest sister, were ringing stories of success. She was valedictorian, managing a perfect grade point average in her academic career. Others, like her oldest brother, were not quite so successful. From the moment he turned 16, he spent his time in and out of various jails and prisons. “Too damn many kids,” some of the locals would mutter under their breaths on the rare occasion the whole family went out together. “No wonder they can’t keep up with them.”

That was never how Leona saw it, though. She never went without, even if she had to work for her keep. A work ethic was something held in the highest esteem in her household. Fill your free time however you like, but pull your weight. Leona, as she got older, found her true love in film. Maybe her love could be traced back to those early weekends when the entire family would pile into their van and go to the drive in, finding rare silence in the Landry clan. The only sound above the tinny speakers would be her father, whispering movie trivia. She spent time pretending to direct her own films in the backyard, tales of action and adventure played out on a swingset for an audience of none. The Christmas her family got her a video camera was one they all regretted after about two days of her ‘documentary’ film making around the house. Ir was a good childhood - the best, if you asked Leona.

Her world shifted her sophomore year, though. She came home from school one day to find her mother in the kitchen floor. It was like the air had been sucked out of the room. Even down the long hallway, Leona could tell something was terribly wrong. An aneurysm, the E.R. nurse said. It had been instant. As if that were supposed to make it any easier. The Landry home, a place that had never been quiet, was overtaken by the silence. Any sound felt like a betrayal. Eight people in the house, and not one of them knew what to say.

Time continued to move forward, and that felt like a betrayal too. She began to wonder if this would be the new normal — a home that seemed empty, even when it was impossibly full. The day she came home to her father looking more distressed than he had since her mother’s passing was the day she learned there wouldn’t be a ‘normal’ for a very, very long time. They were moving. He needed help with the kids, and his family was in Crescent Harbor, Washington. They had until the end of the month. For a time, Leona considered staying in New Orleans. Her oldest sister had already moved out, gotten a job and started a life of her own. She had no intentions of leaving. And for all their differences (and there were many), she was willing to open her home to any of the Landry kids who wanted to continue to call New Orleans home. Leona had all but decided to stay when she caught a glimpse of her father’s face. A man who had, since his wife’s passing, been practically made of marble. A pillar of stone, cold and hard. For one fleeting moment, Leona saw a crack. She knew this had all been just as hard on him as it had been on the kids — and she knew she didn’t want him to have to try and do it alone.

So she packed up her room as quickly as she could, music too loud to allow any actual thoughts to permeate, never lingering too long on any object. When it was all said and done, she and her brother sat in the floor of their empty shared room with a stolen bottle of whiskey, trying to imagine what their lives would be in Washington. One by one, their Landry children who still called their their two-story (always drafty and never clean) house on the bayou home found their way into that room. Conversation shifted to their mother, and by the time the bottle was almost empty, they had started to laugh. The sound, echoing across the mostly empty home, drew in their father. Expecting to be yelled at, they made a clumsy attempt to hide the bottle and appear sober. Instead of yelling, though, James Landry laughed. For the first time in months. Before their mother died, he had always been a laughter. Deep, belly laughs that almost shook the house. Then, he joined them. It felt right that their last night in the bayou house was one of tipsy laughter, stories of their mother, tales of the life she lived before settling down to have a family.

It made saying the word ‘goodbye’ easier to swallow. She hadn’t realized what a disservice it would’ve been to that home to end in silence. It was a place that deserved a farewell party that stretched until the early hours of the morning, the whole family scrambling to the rooftop to watch the sunrise over the bayou one last time.

Crescent Harbor was nothing like New Orleans, but she supposed she could learn to love it, in her own way. It would never be hers, the city where she truly pledged her heart — but it could be home. And it was. The Landry family found another two-bedroom house, her father started writing again. Those who were old enough to pick up jobs did. On a nostalgic whim, Leona stopped in at the drive in. Then she did the same the next week, and the week after, and the week after. Until the manager finally offered her a job one short-staffed Friday night, and Leona nearly jumped the counter to begin. Seventeen, bright-eyed and eager to do absolutely anything they needed, she without a doubt over-committed to the job meant for glassy-eyed teenagers.

Each moment that she wasn’t at school, she spent at the drive-in. So much so that her unpaid hours spent hunched over the equipment learning what everything did, organizing their collection and acquiring newer films. After she graduated high school, she took a few classes in film at Crescent Harbor College. It was more of a formality — she was happy with her job, and she had moved up to manager almost the same day as her high school graduation. Sure, she had a heart for bigger, better and grander things, but for now, Leona was content.

Her family, while still never fully managing to feel as whole as it once had, had fallen back into a semblance of normalcy. While her oldest sister stayed in New Orleans for a time, even she found herself headed to Washington. Her older brother found his way back into trouble once they settled in Crescent Harbor, but they were beginning to piece things back together. The stitching was clumsy and the fabrics were mismatched, but they had never been perfect. But they were hers.

PERSONALITY

+ Resilient, charismatic, open-minded, hardworking

- Complacent, impractical, loquacious, lackadaisical

[ramenrains]

please help me get back on my feet after moving?

hi. i’m roxie.

if you don’t know much about me, i’m 25 & an aquarius. i use they/them pronouns and consider myself bisexual (this is relevant to my situation, i promise).

i am also autistic and have been in cbt for anxiety and talk therapy for depression for the past two years. i used to write a lot of fanfiction, namely for kpop fandoms, the walking dead, wwe, and night at the museum (don’t ask). i had a couple of really popular fanfics for the until dawn fandom, and even though i haven’t completed a fanfic in a while, i do enjoy writing them in my free time.

i’m currently a part time librarian assistant and get inconsistent work at the local arena doing security/guest engagement stuff. i am currently in a place where i don’t feel like my jobs are demanding too much of me, but unfortunately they don’t pay super well and i’m considering getting a second part time job or going back to school, but right now i’m still in the process of weighing the options.

the past year was very rocky for me in terms of income and mental stability.

here’s what happened

i was at least living in a place i thought was relatively safe.

it started slowly, as my roommates, at first, were an older couple, their son, and sometimes his girlfriend. then the boy invited his girlfriend to live there, the husband invited a coworker and his daughter to move in, and the wife moved one of her cousins in after that cousin’s boyfriend was imprisoned and she was evicted. pretty soon there were 8 people living in a three bedroom house, 6 of us sharing one bathroom. it was cramped, but tolerable.

then, a few months ago, my newer roommates started making homophobic comments towards me after seeing a pride flag in my room, making me feel unwelcome and vaguely threatened. they started using my things, breaking my things, stealing my things (like literally constantly using them and then claiming they were never mine when i confronted them about it), and telling complete strangers to me visiting about my sexuality derisively.

they later 'apologized' and the more aggressive behavior stopped when i sat them down and confronted them about it, but this was almost immediately followed by one of them in particular (the elder husband of the couple who had originally been living there) making uncomfortably sexual comments towards me in regards to me dating women. among other things, he began joking that he should be involved if i brought any women home, or that i should at least film it and provide him with a copy. he also started coming into my room without warning, and flirting with me when his wife wasn't home. this behavior got worse when he drank, and i began to fear a line might be crossed.

one night, he and i were the only ones home and i was locked in my room, playing video games. he began banging on my door, begging me to let him in and talk to him, audibly intoxicated. when i stayed quiet, hoping he would get bored and leave, he instead went around to the other side of the house and started banging on the window, removed the screen, and tried to pry it open, demanding to know why i was ignoring him and implying he was going to force me to ‘spend time with him’ once he got in. around that time his elder son got back to the house and started yelling at him to stop, which he did.

i decided i was really no longer safe there and started exploring other options, even though his son and wife apologized to me. it seemed like his wife kinda resented the attention he was directing at me? i mentioned to her i was planning on moving out, and she told me i would have to be out by the first of august or i would owe her another month of rent. and she just generally began being very short with me when she had always been very kind before.

luckily, i was able to move in with a great friend who is charging me a completely doable monthly rent. however, i had to be out of work on two weekdays i was scheduled in order to make the move happen before the first. i effectively lost out on 12 hours of pay.

another thing is, i have no furniture. i am sleeping on a borrowed mattress on the floor, which i am grateful for (it's a comfy mattress) but i would also just... really like a bedframe, and maybe a dresser so that storing my things can be a bit easier.

the last thing is, i am behind on a couple bills (car insurance and phone bill) and will probably continue to be so for a while because of the hours i will be short on my next paycheck.

as a result, i am just asking for help to balance everything out after the move. if i can recoup the cost of rent and maybe make up on the pay i missed out on in order to move, i can use that to catch up on bills, save next month's rent from my next paycheck and then start to save for some furniture and get back on track to where i can save to move out and get my own place. i'm pretty optimistic that everything will turn out okay, if i can get back on the right track. at the high end, i'm estimating that 400$ would get me exactly where i need to be.

to be upfront, this is not a crisis situation. i will scramble to catch up on things without help, and this might give me trouble when my time here is up and i need to get back out on my own. but i am safe here. i am not at risk of losing my housing here, or being abused, or sexually harassed. i am so grateful for all the help that has been given to me so i could find this safe place. if you feel any assistance would be better geared towards people in crisis situations, i totally understand and respect that.

but if you have the means to help me out a little, i would be immensely grateful!

here's how you can help me, if you want:

-signal boost! the more people see this, the more likely i will meet my goal, and the fewer people would have to donate to reach it.

-donate! my paypal is blindgumby@gmail.com, but i will also create a gofundme for the sake of complete transparency, which can be found here.

-check out my wishlist! right now, it’s just a couple of furniture items, but i will be adding on, especially as it gets colder since i don’t have a good winter coat.

-message me! if you wanna let me know you've signal boosted or donated, i would love to thank you personally. if you wanna vocalize your support, i would love to hear it. i'm not exactly in the throes of despair anymore, but it's nice to hear people cheering me on regardless. if you have questions, send them my way! i'm happy to explain as much as i can to ease your mind. tell me about your day! honestly, getting to talk to y'all will ease my mind for a bit. even if you have questions you need answered to clarify or understand, please hit me up. i don’t mind at all.

PAYPAL // GOFUNDME // WISHLIST

[kolbehq]

FILE // BASIC INFORMATION

Name: Finley “Fin” Calder.

Age: 25 years old.

Gender: Non-binary.

Pronouns: They/them.

Species: Human.

Home Planet: Creon.

Job: Mechanic.

Criminal Record: Theft and destruction of government property, illegal and dangerous modification of vehicles, resisting arrest, assaulting an officer.

Sentence: 5 years.

Faceclaim: Ezra Miller.

FILE // BACKGROUND

Hedone is a loud and crowded and chaotic city on a loud, crowded, and chaotic planet, and the birth of Finley Calder did nothing but contribute to that chaos. Their childhood was unconventional in many ways, but the one thing they never wanted for was love. Fin was raised in a winding series of rooms inhabited by a handful of single mothers, the occasional partner, and whoever else needed a few cushions and a corner to rest in. As far as Fin was concerned, those women and children were all their family, big and boisterous and unexpected as it was. And at it’s heart- in Fin’s mind, at least- stood their mother, Ella. Her smile is Fin’s most prized inheritance, her generosity their inspiration. 

For all the love that was packed in that small space, time was not something Fin’s mother, or any of the adults, really, had to spare for the herd of children gathered around them. School could only occupy so much time, and working in one of Creon’s tourist capitals meant long hours of exhausting work, so even when some of the adults were home the older children often took on the job of watching the younger ones. Fin was nurtured in equal parts curled up in a campbed with their mother, leaning in close as she whispered stories into their ear, and running as fast as short legs could take them to tag along at the heels of the bigger kids in the grimy backstreets of Hedone. They learned fast who to stay away from, who to approach only cautiously, and which bars would give them a glass of cold water if they clambered up onto a barstool and flashed a toothy grin. 

By the time Fin was five or six it became clear they were the boldest of the younger cohort of their unconventional family, and so it was only natural that they were the one who developed the quickest fingers. After all, they didn’t have the money to buy treats or tickets to play the games advertised with bright neon signs in buildings full of tourists. And so Fin would slip away and return with a handful of VR arcade game tokens and feel their heart swell at the glee on the other children’s faces, giggling and feigning protest at the rough and excited hugs they were dragged into. Even then, when things had felt innocent, when Fin hadn’t completely understood that stealing wasn’t generally considered the best behavior, even on Creon, they’d studiously kept it all a secret from their mother. 

It’d grown from there. Fin only grew bolder, and their legend grew from just the children of their family to the other kids in the gutters. If Fin had been older perhaps they might have anticipated their downfall, but it was at the immortal age of eight that they were first caught. The hand seemed to have come from nowhere, parting the crowd, big fingers completely encircling their upper arm in a sudden vice grip. Fin was thrown up against the nearest shopfront, and the stolen kiwis (imported, they later discovered, from Lysander, and stupid expensive) were retrieved from their pockets. They’d returned home with a deep purple ring of bruises around their arm and wide, watery eyes. 

Years later, when they stole something again for the first time, they discovered it was like riding a bike. Their fingers hadn’t forgotten. 

They’d just turned seventeen when their mother lost her job in the resort, and ignoring her protests, they’d dropped out of school and found a job with a mechanic, strenuous and unforgiving, but with decent pay. They were good with their hands, after all. Their employer, a big man who was at his best indifferent towards those working in his shop, didn’t particularly like Fin from the beginning (too loud, too bold, too prone to letting their tongue go unchecked), but indifference tempered with vague dislike was nothing Fin hadn’t shrugged off as not worth their time before. 

By nineteen, Fin knew their way around almost any model of ship that turned up in the shop, and knew intimately well that half the “repairs” the big boss was making the workforce on the floor execute were ineffective, or done with faulty parts, or just downright deliberately dangerous. If they had been more familiar with Old Earth culture they might have called him the quintessential crooked used-car salesman, except in this case the sleazy short cuts might result in an entire ship decompressing and killing everyone inside. They did their best to mitigate the damage, but it was a balancing act between doing what they could and making sure no one caught on. Something told them that to do anymore than warn clients and try to prevent the most potentially fatal patches would catch their boss’ eye, in which case he wasn’t likely to be willing to keep paying them. And their mother needed the money.

At twenty, Fin had had enough. They avoided visiting their mother for a couple of days until their black eye was at least slightly less swollen shut, but she fussed and told them off with deep sympathy anyway when they explained the explosion of rage that they had found themself the target of after their retrospectively misguided act of turning up at their boss’ office door to say they were quitting and also had notified the authorities and a number of officers should be there to arrest him in the next couple minutes. They’d stumbled out of the shop bruised and blooded, but with a bag of tools no one would miss under their arm. 

It’d been hard, after that, to find a job. It turned out having a moral compass, even a questionable one, didn’t endear one to employers in Hedone. Fin resorted to scraping by working one-off mechanical repairs, earning a reputation for fixing ships quickly and well for next to nothing. No one asked questions, and for a while it worked. Hardly anyone ever noticed if some parts went missing from the innards of a docked ship on the other side of town right around the same time a newly repaired one took off again. 

FILE // CURRENTLY

Fin had been caught before. Sneaky as they’d had to relearn being, once they’d been spotted they weren’t very good at blending into crowds. Wearing things like jackets they’d painted a gigantic purple python across the back of, or a skirt adorned with illuminated led flowers, made hiding harder than it was for most. But before that time, the very last time Fin had tried to lose a tail, not sacrificing the jacket had seemed worth a couple of punches or the occasional broken bone, maybe a night or two in the nearest jail cell. Maybe if they hadn’t been quite so them that day they might not have ended up in prison. And then subsequently trapped on a suicide mission on a ship to everywhere and nowhere, of course.

The crime that did them in was one they’d committed so many times before that they’d lost count. But they’d known from the start that the stakes were higher this time around. If they were on Antigone every other ship would have what they needed, but on Creon top-of-the-line parts were comparatively few and far between. They knew it was monumentally stupid to try to rip into the hull of a United Planets ship, even if it wasn’t a particularly important one, but jobs had been sparse, Fin wasn’t exactly thinking clearly, and the money would have lasted them months.

It was a testament to just how desperate they knew the job was from the beginning that Fin wasn’t exactly sober when they had slipped away from the UP ship, critical mechanical part tucked deep into the pocket of their too-long jacket. They’d blame that lack of sobriety for the fact that they didn’t just let themself be dragged away when a hand came out of the crowd and locked around their upper arm. It was all over then, and they knew it, but they’d racked up another criminal charge anyway by kicking one guard in the crotch and throwing a wrench grabbed blindly from their pocket at another, cursing and squirming the entire time.

Not that it had amounted to anything more than a new set of bruises. The arrest had led to an investigation which had led to the uncovering of a pattern of crimes, and the authorities didn’t seem impressed by the fact that Fin had never left any ships unsafe for flight. They were more concerned with the illegal bits. Of which there seemed to be many.

Fin spent the next year in prison. It was jarring to only see their mother a handful of times over those months after years of practically living out of each other’s pockets even when Fin had moved out. She would be fine, or so she had sworn up and down to them- she had support in the women Fin had always regarded as family, some savings that Fin had tucked away, and a job again. They still couldn’t help but feel like they’d completely failed her. They resorted to spending all their free time in the prison library, filling out the theoretical side their education in mechanics had lacked, driven out of self preservation more than anything else. It was this studiousness, regardless of motivation, that had landed them standing in front of a group of people asking them what they could do to help a mission to find humanity’s next home. They’d laughed.

What had followed was a long and arduous process as the powers that be evaluated their ability and fitness to join the ES Kolbe, and Fin paid the whole thing only half their attention as they wrestled with the reality that they were considering running from everything with the distinct possibility of never returning. It was the insidious thought that their mother was probably better off without them that had Fin signing their life away, and drove their feet forward as they stepped aboard the ship.

In many ways, Fin’s job on the Kolbe is easier than the work they did back on Creon. The tools are newer, better models, and there are actually spare parts and materials to made repairs with. On such a large ship inhabited by so many people, things break or malfunction on a daily basis, so Fin finds themself zigzagging all over the Kolbe to attend to whichever panel is rattling or door sparking at any given moment. Even if their job didn’t demand constant motion, Fin would be on the move. They haven’t really sat down to consider how they feel now that they’re on the Kolbe, and they aren’t convinced that they ever want to, either.  

[sophygurl]

WisCon 42 panel Black Lightning

Black Lightning panel description: 

The CW, host of DCTV shows Arrow, Flash, Supergirl, and Legends of Tomorrow, is now the network to go to for the television adaptation of the classic comic Black Lightning! The show focuses on a black family—the father, a retired superhero and current high school principal, dons his supersuit once more to protect his daughters. It seems at least one of the daughters are developing powers of theirs own. One of the daughters is a lesbian, adding more intersecting identities that are rarely see on TV. This show seems to be a smart, funny, political, action-packed family drama - with super powers. Let's celebrate, discuss, and critique this exciting new show!

Moderator Inda Lauryn with panelists Jennifer Cross, JP Fairfield, Alex Jennings, and Krys. 

Reminder that these panel notes are only my own recollections and the things I managed to write down - my notes are incomplete and likely faulty in places. Corrections and additions are always welcome. Especially please do correct me if I get names or pronouns wrong!

Also I name panelists as that’s publicly available information but not audience members unless requested by that person to have their named added.

[Ugh this was my first panel of the morning and my handwriting is extra-bad. I’ll be skipping chunks in which I can’t make out what I meant to write!]

Inda started the panelist intros off with the question of what DC comic character they’d like to see on TV.

JP answered with Nubia, Wonder Woman’s sister. Krys said Static. Jennifer replied with Monica Rambeau. Alex said Static might in fact end up on Black Lightning but gave his answer as Hal Jordan’s Green Lantern, but if Hal was black. Inda answered saying she’d like a proper Vixen live action show. 

Alex talked about how Black Lightning is standing up well so far against the comics, which he has been a fan of for awhile. He says BL is the linchpin for the black sector of DC comics. The daughters become part of the Titans for awhile, etc.

One thing Alex does not want to see on the show is Jefferson acting as a villain for an extended period of time as being undercover with the Outsiders.

Jennifer really liked the depiction of Freeland in the show as it’s own character, and showing black life in their own cities.

Alex explained that in the comics, it’s a black neighborhood in Metropolis. 

Inda said that technically, right now, BL is separate from the rest of the DCTV universe. Jennifer said there was that line about Black Canary, though. JP said they’ve waffled about it. She wants it to be part of the overall universe (even though Black Lightning is better written than the other shows), to deal with the intersectional issues of all these white vigilantes and how they fit in with police oppression of black neighborhoods. 

Jennifer said that Arrow had a storyline about police oppression but they All Live Mattered it. She added - let’s just keep the rich white man away. 

JP said BL could teach them how to be superheroes though, since they’re all a bunch of screw-ups. They’d have to pay him though! 

Krys said that Supergirl never addresses race.

Alex said the most recent Supergirl episode kind of dealt with it, but Flash never addresses it even though two of the main characters are black.

I asked from the audience - what if only James Olsen got to interact with the BL world (thinking maybe it’d help him to have some actual black people to talk to about these things?), and JP answered - oh they’d have to finally give him something to do?

JP wants Jefferson to “taser punch” Ollie.

Inda asked the panelists what they would change about the show.

JP wants more representation of black families, and not just one kind. She likes that they’re giving them room to grow and that the two daughters have different world views. She doesn’t like some of Jefferson’s respectability politics, however. 

Alex agrees and hopes the show will address that. He said the comic origins of BL are frankly hard to read - for example he puts on an afro wig when he dresses as BL.

Jennifer said the reason - not an excuse - that Jefferson has those respectability politics is that he is trying to help the kids in his community learn to code switch so that they can leave if they want to. 

Krys talked about the history with Jefferson and his powers and how that explains a lot of his worldview. She doesn’t like it, but she understands where he’s coming from.

JP added - but he low-key looks down on his own community.

Jennifer said that was addressed somewhat when Khalil comes back. She doesn’t like Khalil, but appreciated that he said what he did to Jefferson. 

There was an audience question about queerness - I didn’t get down the exact question.

Inda said they were going there - she was going to talk about the women on the show next, so let’s start with Anissa.

JP said all the women have different goals and needs in their life and they can disagree with each other and still support one another. Also with Anissa - her family is okay with her and her being gay is a non-issue for them, which is nice.

Jennifer said she likes to think it was intentional that it’s not addressed within the show - the family’s reaction to Anissa coming out could have been different, but the show starting with them accepting her destroys the stereotype about black people being inherently homophobic. She also likes that Anissa is openly gay, but that’s not the focus of who she is as a character.

Krys likes how involved Anissa is in the community and how that’s an important part of her character.

Inda wanted more of Grace once we met her, but is hoping there will be more of her in the next season.

JP liked that the minute Khalil got creepy, Jennifer got away from him. It didn’t turn into one of those “oh but I love him!” stories.

Inda said she did teenager well because she wanted to smack her around a bit.

Jennifer’s issue with Grace was that because she’s not black, there is a component of black queer love missing on her TV. Anissa leaving a black woman for Grace hurt a little bit because of the issue of black women being seen as the least desirable. 

Inda said she loved Lady Eve as a villain and hated the way she died, but at least she kept a sense of being human through to the end. JP said they should have kept her as the Big Bad for the whole season. Alex said - she’ll get better. (lol - this then became a repeated a line about any character that had died)

Jennifer talked about Tobias as being the literal embodiment of internalized anti-blackness. She loves a good villain who gets his own hands dirty, and loved that they chose an actor with albinism. 

Inda liked Tobias and that they gave him a good villain backstory. One of the best villains on DCTV.

Alex said he likes that Tobias is played by a pretty decent rapper. He likes the proper gravitas that he brings to the role, as well. He does wish that instead of intimidating his underlings, he’d have explained his worldview about how the world needs them - especially with respectability politics on the other side of things. He also loved the tattooed guy.

Inda brought up the music on the show. JP loved the music. Krys loved the mix of older songs and newer ones to match specific scenes, themes, and events.

Jennifer liked the aspect of multi-generational music and how it captured the themes. She gave a lot of examples that I was apparently too tired to write down beyond “lots of examples” - sorry about that. She also talked about how she wants the show to use it’s platform to feature more new artists like it did in the pilot. 

Inda liked when the show used music humorously. An audience member brought up the scene with Stairway to Heaven and how weird and confusing it was - lots of laughing about it. 

JP still wanted Lady Eve as the main villain and wanted to see her fight Tobias. 

Jennifer said to get rid of Syonide - she serves no purpose. “Why are you here? Are you our Becky translator?” 

JP liked that there were two dimensional white characters - it was the opposite of mainly white shows having two dimensional black characters and felt appropriate. 

Alex said some of the minor villains are “wack” - Khalil as painkiller for example. He hated him in the comics and his name makes no sense. (lol)

There was a whole discussion about black character’s hair and how quickly they change from one style to the other getting into costume and how ridiculous it is. Jennifer did love Anissa’s battle hair, though.

Jennifer also talked about loving the father-daughter relationships. She and Krys both had similar stories as Jennifer’s roller rink fight. 

Inda is thankful they already changed Anissa’s super suit. Then said that the show has been renewed for another season, and asked the panelists what they’d like to see next.

JP said Anissa and Jen kicking ass together. Krys said Jennifer getting a suit and training and generally coming into her powers. 

Jennifer said she’d like to see how these characters do time management? Anissa, especially, does a lot - how is she doing it all? Jefferson, too. This is an issue she was with superhero universes in general. (uh-huh)

Alex wants to see Jakeem Thunder introduced into the show as it would also introduce the universe to aspects of magic. 

Inda would like a little less addressing of police brutality in the future. More hero/villain stuff - but she does like that Freeland is a microcosm.

JP added that police brutality is not usually the focus of black lives - it’s just something that happens while going about their lives.

Krys wants more followup with the kids and the green lightning and Jefferson possibly being a mentor to them.

Jennifer wants more family stuff. Also Tobias showing some remorse - he got over his sister’s death really fast. She also feels they rushed Khalil’s origin story. As someone who is unapologetically Team Killmonger, she wants more complexity in her villains. 

JP said the story really missed out on the treatment of Tobias and his relationship with his sister. They established their relationship to the point of her even searching for their father so he could kill him. 

Alex interjected with “you don’t think Tobias will bring her back?!” An audience member said they should bring her back to save the actress from the Tyler Perry show she moved on to. Panelists all agree with this assessment. 

Someone from the audience asked about the role of the afterlife, as well as the Vice Principal character.

JP discussed how they brought back LaLa, so maybe they will explore that a little more. As far as the VP - she never trusted her. At first she thought she was after his job, then after him, then turns out she’s an agent. There were all of these different angles of trying to get closer to him, but the fact that she doesn’t want to believe Jefferson is BL indicates some of those feelings might have been real.

Jennifer said she doesn’t want to go on a rant about those mismatched wigs but... that character is shady but also conflicted. As “Big Bad Chad” pointed out, she was spending a lot of time with Jefferson. Is she compromised? Yea, she is. Jennifer would prefer the character not come back unless they give her something else to do, however. 

As far as the afterlife, Jennifer liked that the show is using subtle notes of black folklore and what people she knows have been raised with. She added “sorry white people, but this show knows it is not for you.” 

Alex said the afterlife stuff only makes sense if spirits are real with the tattoo guy. Maybe the guy Tobias paid to bring him back didn’t tell him that part, and that there is magic involved. 

Krys noted that the spiritual stuff in the show seemed personalized to each character.

An audience member asked about the sister’s different approaches to their powers. 

Inda said that Jennifer just freaked out and didn’t want them, but did use them to save her father’s life. She saw how it could be a good thing, and now she is on a journey of acceptance.

JP added that she’s not all into her powers, but sees the benefits of them - she’s like a battery for her father!

Jennifer talked about Anissa accepting her powers right away because she’s always been about wanting to help her community and so she immediately saw her powers in that light. Jennifer didn’t initially want them - but when it came to her family, she stepped up. She might struggle with having powers, but when she has to use them, she’ll do it.

JP asked Alex if in the comics, it turns out Jennifer is the most powerful in the family. He said yes - and also that they can use their powers together in interesting ways.

An audience member brought up an article about black heroes and that the powers they have tend to be elemental - earth, wind, fire.

Alex said this is true even in other media, such as Captain Planet. It happens a lot, even now. He would like to see more tech-based powers.

Jennifer said but we are on planet earth, and she loved Storm and how she could literally turn the earth against people. She would like to move away from the Magical Negro trope but also likes the idea of having earth-based powers at their disposal. 

More talk about issues of hair and fighting. Jennifer said you really don’t want loose hair when fighting. But the hairstyle Anissa chooses is an ode to Ashanti warrior women. It’s not practical, however. 

Inda talked about the suspension of disbelief as far as people not being able to recognize them with just masks over their eyes. An audience member said that they explained this at least with BL that it hurts to look directly at him. Inda said that was only in a conversation between the daughters, so it’s possible it has to do with their own powers and isn’t a function of BL’s powers alone.

Jennifer said she would like more investigation into green light and the vaccine and the organization behind it all.

JP said - let’s talk about Gambi and his guilt about being a part of the whole thing. 

Jennifer said she is tired of this trope of the the white guy who somehow didn’t know that this covert agency he was a part of was going to do some dirty shit. It’s almost better if he’s just guilty because he knew what he was getting into but wants to do better now. She lost interest in Gambi when Lady Eve died.

JP didn’t want Jefferson to forgive him so easily. Maybe he did it because they had to work together but she wants him to still be mad about what happened.

Inda mentioned the impulse for shows to give us white redemption.

Jennifer added that it might be more of a white-passing issue than white because of his actual last name being Esposito. 

Inda liked having a white character in that role because “we don’t question white people in our spaces” so he could have easily moved in those communities doing what he did. 

[And that’s all I got. Lovely, lively panel with gobs of info and just lots of fun!]

[mclrose-blog]

this is queued because i am currently at the cinema seeing it ( how fitting ) so when i get on i’ll be super ready for this !! anyway, i’m l, i’m 18 & in the gmt timezone and use they/them or she/her pronouns. i’ve got a little information for kit underneath the read more but they are still a work in progress because they’re a newer muse of mine. anyway, if you’d like to plot feel free to message me or like this and i’ll get back to you asap.

oooo some statistics.

× carlson young. × meet kit melrose, a twenty three year old demigirl that makes money by choreographing, and is known around as the halcyon, because they are winsome & equable as well as careless & fickle. a pansexual capricorn, you can always hear them blasting copycat by billie eilish through ‘em headphones and their biggest fear is fire. ×

so, their name is actually katerina however it’s just... not them and they hate it so they prefer to go by kit. 

they were born to an evelyn and jackson melrose, who had more money than sense because of their family inheritance and their hot-shot jobs as a doctor and laywer, respectively.

so, they wanted both of their children to do something with their lives. that meant that when kit was just four years old they were enrolled into dance classes whilst their elder sister excelled in academics.

the truth of the matter was that kit just wasn’t a smart person, they had to work to pass classes and it was never going to come easy.

however, something they were fairly good at was dancing - which was great until shortly after their seventeenth birthday where they began to develop chronic muscle pain, primarily in their back. doctors never officially diagnosed it as anything other than myofascial pain syndrome and nothing could really be done other than pain management and physiotherapy.

that meant kit was never really going to be the prima ballerina that their parents were hoping for and a dancing career had to be put on hold, meaning they enrolled into college majoring in literature since it was a ‘safe’ choice (according to their parents). it took until their twenty first birthday for kit to decide that even if dancing wasn’t the best for them, they could at least teach others. so, they started helping out in the classes that they used to attend and over the past couple of years have become a more established professional choreographer - college being long forgotten.

they don’t really get on with their family so much anymore just because they feels like they’ve got a lot of standards and they can’t deal with their “bad vibes”. 

personality wise, kit is a rather optimistic individual. it could be said a little too optimistic, they quite often fail to see a bad outcome with a situation which can definitely lead to issues later on. they do try to keep up a happy-go-lucky persona when possible, you’ll never see them cry since that would ruin the nice little sunshine illusion they’ve got going. 

a little note in regards to kit’s gender is that they identify as a demigirl. they do feel like they’re feminine but couldn’t say they feel solely feminine. as a general thing, they quite often prefer to go by they/them pronouns because they don’t really like the assumption of gender. that being said, she/her pronouns would never go wrong. 

wanted connections.

exes. something short term is probably the only thing viable but long term could work too. they’re quite finicky with feeling ‘tied down’ so more than likely they were the one that called it off, if it was something short.

on again/off again. exes that can’t really quit it??

an unlikely friend. someone totally opposite to them. it’s likely they’ve just forced their way into their life and kit has just made them her friend. 

a good influence. someone to like… keep them in check. they’d probably get themselves into serious with how much they run their mouth - though that’s really the full extent of them being ‘bad’.

close friends. if they’re going to be super close, they’re probably going to be very clingy… lowkey (highkey).

an unrequited crush on their part. they wouldn’t know what to do around them because they’re not very good with the whole liking someone thing? 

someone with a thing for them. they’d probably string them along(but not intentionally) if they were friends too.

friends through her dancing past/present - if they’re into it.

ride or die. pretty self-explanatory but kit really needs someone that’ll just put up with all their shit.

fwb. self explanatory, definitely more the type of thing that suits them.

a fling. they probably ran out the next morning and they likely haven’t talked since.