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five-rivers · 4 years

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Adoption (part 2)

A gift for @a-flower-lover! This wound up being more along the lines of vignettes... Little snapshots into Danny’s life after being adopted by Clockwork. I hope that’s ok! (PART 1)

Mr. Lancer had met Charles Worth before, albeit briefly. The man had fostered a number of Casper High students and with that responsibility came parent-teacher conferences. He had struck Mr. Lancer as being steady and reliable, if, perhaps, impersonal, despite his predilection for clocks and ominous announcements. A decent foster parent, if not... ideal.

Mr. Worth just didn't seem to connect with his fosters, although he certainly didn't neglect them. Then, too, were the persistent rumors that his home was haunted.

Alright. So, Mr. Lancer didn't think Charles Worth was really a children person. Oh, he was a good person! It took one to do well as a foster parent, but... yeah.

Which was why the scene in front of him surprised him so much. Not the who of it, but the what.

The who was Daniel Fenton and Charles Worth waiting outside the office. The what was smiling and having a conversation. True, Mr. Fenton's smile looked like it was pasted on over several layers of anxiety, but it was genuine.

"Mr. Worth, Mr. Fenton?" he said, tamping down his surprise. "Come on in."

"Hi," said Mr. Fenton, his voice hoarse.

Mr. Worth smiled and nodded, pushing him up with his cane.

But Mr. Fenton must have noticed the curious look Mr. Lancer was giving him. "I knew Cl- Uh. Mr. Worth before this." He winced and smiled widely to cover it up. "So, uh, make up work? Since I missed the past week?"

"Yes, well, circumstances being what they are," aka his parents trying to murder him in public, in broad daylight (and didn't that give Mr. Lancer a chill?), "your teachers have put together a few packets for you to look over this weekend. They should get you more or less up to speed with where your classes are. I'm also willing to stay after school, to help you with anything you've missed in my classes."

Jazz knocked on the door of the Worth house. She had been made aware, via various supernatural (she did not particularly appreciate writing suddenly appearing on her fogged-up bathroom mirror) and mundane (Danny did have her phone number) means, that the man known as Charles Worth was actually the ghost known as Clockwork.

How this had occurred was not entirely clear to her. She assumed ghost powers, specifically time travel, were involved somehow.

But, to be honest, that didn't really matter to her. It was secondary, less than.

What was important here was that she hadn't been legally allowed to see her little brother in over a month. To keep her parents from contacting him. To keep her from letting her parents near him. Because they were legally barred from seeing him.

Because they had tried to kill him.

Jazz planned on never seeing her parents again, as soon as she got all of her and Danny's things from their house.

But now that prohibition had been lifted, because Clockwork had forced through what had to be the speediest adoption in the history of adoptions, and Danny was now legally his son. In the eyes of both humans and ghosts. Which was... Well. Danny seemed to be excited about it, anyway. He'd looked up to Clockwork for a while, from what he told Jazz.

Internally, Jazz had more than a bit of trepidation. She didn't know what adoption meant to ghosts, didn't have any context for it. And ghosts, even the good ones, even Danny, tended to be... obsessive. Extreme. She wasn't sure how that would translate when it came to interpersonal relationships.

The door creaked open, ever so slowly, the squeak it made grating on her eardrums. At first, it appeared to have opened on its own, then a hand gripped the edge of the door, and Clockwork, in human guise, leaned out from behind it.

Jazz raised an eyebrow.

Clockwork raised one right back. "This house is haunted, you know," he said.

Okay, never mind. The only thing she had to worry about was the fact that her brother and his mentor both had terrible senses of humor.

"Hi, Jazz!"

Being used to having a half-ghost brother, Jazz only yelped a little bit at his unexpected appearance behind her. Then she sighed and ruffled his hair. He hugged her and then bounced over the lintel into the house.

"Come on! I want to show you my room! It's so cool!" His voice became fainter as he went farther into the house, until his last exclamation was an eerie whisper.

Jazz looked at Clockwork as she stepped inside. "Is he doing that on purpose?"

Clockwork smiled blandly. "I am very fond of the acoustics in this house."

She looked at her surroundings with a skeptical eye. "It seems... dark in here."

"We are ghosts," said Clockwork. "Daniel is very excited to show you his room, by the way."

"He's human, too, don't forget," said Jazz.

"I won't."

The house was creepy.

Really creepy.

This was coming from someone who had spent most of her life living under the same roof as two ghost-obsessed mad scientists.

But Danny seemed to enjoy it, and he was the one living here. It wasn't like there was anything wrong with the house. Or anything in the house. It was just... off.

Danny was half-ghost, however, so maybe this was something he needed. Perhaps not all of his peppiness could be attributed to being the heck away from his murderous former parents.

Even so. Jazz had a duty, both as a big sister and an aspiring psychologist.

"I already read it," said Clockwork, setting a cup of tea down in front of her.

"What?"

"The book you were about to give me. I've already read it. And a number of others. I am not the kind of person who goes into things unprepared."

Danny rolled into the kitchen on the ceiling. This was easy to ignore. After her life, an Exorcist reference made by her over-excited younger brother, was, well. Underwhelming.

(Okay, she was a little distracted, but only by his glee.)

"Well," she said. "That's good."

"I know this house is out of the way," said Clockwork, craning his neck to look up at his coworker, "but you are rather conspicuous."

"Hm. Am I?" asked Pandora, craning her neck down to look at her comparatively tiny colleague.

"Yes. At that size, humans with average eyesight will be able to see you from town."

Pandora looked out over the trees. "Interesting," she said, mildly. "Do you think the ghost hunters will come?"

"You've spoken to Daniel."

"Yes. He stopped by earlier today, on his way to visit Mattingly. Although, I suppose you knew that already."

"Indeed I did. May I ask, is it your intention to lure the ghost hunters here, fight them, defeat them, and then leave them just close enough to here to constitute a breach of their terms of bail and the restraining order against them?"

"I am not terribly well-versed in human law," said Pandora, "but, why, yes. That is exactly what I'm doing. Best to get it done while Daniel is visiting friends, isn't it?"

"Yes. If you had done this while he was here, I would be significantly more annoyed." Clockwork smiled the sanguine smile of a parental figure who would commit murder if their child was upset.

Pandora returned a matching grin, one that promised retribution against persons who had harmed said child in the past. "Please, Clockwork. You know me better than that. I wouldn't subject him to being in the presence of those fools."

"Good," said Clockwork, eyes glinting.

"Hey, Clockwork? Do you know why there were police cars driving down the- Oh. Hello?" He stopped at the sight of an unfamiliar woman sitting at the dinning room table, next to Clockwork. He blinked and tilted his head to the side. "Wait. Pandora?"

"Perceptive," said the superficially human olive-skinned woman. "You seemed so happy when you stopped by, earlier. I thought I would come check in on you."

"You didn't have to," said Danny, beaming.

"Pandora has been trying to convince me to set her up as one of my relatives," said Clockwork, rolling his eyes. "Would you care for a cup of tea, Daniel?"

"Umm," said Danny, dubiously. "I'll try one, I guess. Does that mean you'll be my aunt?"

Pandora smiled. "Why, yes, it does."

Clockwork groaned theatrically.

"Ah," said Mr. Lancer, at the next parent-teacher conference. "Are you Mr. Worth's wife?"

"No," said Pandora, grinning. "I'm his sister."

Mr. Lancer looked back and forth between the two very different-looking entities. "I... see."

"We're adopted," said Clockwork.

"Oh! Alright then. Now, about Daniel..."

It was a bit strange to see Danny with so much energy, Sam reflected. Strange, but good.

It just went to show how drained he had become over time, how much the constant ghost attacks and worry, all the lies and stress and impossible expectations had worn away at him over time. She hadn't seen her friend this happy since freshman year. If that.

On the other hand...

"Dude," said Tucker. "Your house is spooky. And this is coming from someone who's been inside a literal mad science lab."

Danny rolled his eyes. "Mad science labs are campy, not spooky. Besides, you knew coming in that this house was haunted." He draped himself over the back of the couch, rolling until he was 'sitting' upside-down. "Anyway, what kind of movie do you want to watch? We've got a bunch, because Clockwork apparently collects media from doomed timelines."

"He's got a hobby?" asked Sam.

"Yeah, three," said Danny. "Gardening- you should talk to him about that, by the way, I think he'd like it- baking, and alternate timeline movies. And some books, too, I think. He's got a huge library back in Long Now. I've read like. Two books from it."

Clockwork's voice floated in from the other room. "You've read significantly more than that, Daniel."

"I guess," said Danny, doubtfully. He flopped off the couch, picked himself up, and started prodding at a shelf of movies. "This is from a timeline where the Earth got beaned by a massive asteroid. It's, like, a romcom, but it was made when everyone knew the asteroid was coming. This one is, uh, this is actually a dramatization of real events, apparently, but their timeline split from ours in like the fifties, so the events are pretty wild." He waved the DVD at them. "It's surreal?"

"How'd they die?" asked Tucker.

"Wacky superscience. No, really. Irradiated the entire planet."

"How do you know?" asked Sam.

"Oh, Clockwork puts notes on the boxes. He thinks it's interesting. And there does seem to be some correlation between how cursed the movies are and how bad the timeline was. Which maybe shouldn't surprise me? I mean, if they were bad timelines..." He shrugged. "Oh, this is a CGI Lion King. I can tell you: very cursed. Absolutely soulless. And this is from a timeline where copyright laws weren't changed, so Mickey Mouse and a bunch of other stuff was in the public domain."

"Isn't that a good timeline?" joked Sam.

"You'd think so," agreed Danny. "But apartheid in South Africa apparently never stopped, and they got a nuclear bomb, and, well... World War Three."

"Is that like, a domino effect, or...?"

"I'm not sure... Anyway. Uh. Genre?" He clapped his hands together.

Tucker leaned forward. "I want the wildest version of the Matrix you have."

"Ooh, good choice. There are, like, six with Will Smith. I haven't watched them all yet, but I think the one where they've got another sequel and Zion is also a- Wait, I shouldn't spoil it."

"After that, can you see if there's a non-crappy version of Dracula?" asked Sam.

"Sure. I haven't seen one yet, but I will look."

"I have popcorn," said Clockwork, entering the room, "and various baked goods. No dairy."

"You're the best."

Clockwork selected a thick blanket from the chest, then teleported himself to the living room to drape it over the three teenagers passed out on the couch. Overall, he found pretending to be human oddly enjoyable, but it could be trying at times. Tedious. All the finicky little motions humans had to go through to do the simplest of things added up over the day.

So, Clockwork tended to ease off of them when no one was watching. It made life easier.

Heh. Life.

(He would say that Daniel's puns were rubbing off on him, but in truth Clockwork's sense of humor had been like that for, well. Eons.)

He put the kitchen in order with an absent wave of his hand, and double-checked the stove out of habit. It wasn't nearly as good as his actual oven, back in Long Now, but it was serviceable.

One of Daniel's friends mumbled in their sleep, and Clockwork looked in on them. Still peaceful. It was good for Daniel to have them here. Beneficial for both his human and ghost halves.

He hummed to himself and patted Daniel's head as he thought about their plans for the weekend. He had arranged for some truly aggravating evangelical missionaries to darken their doorstep. It would do Daniel good to inspire a touch of terror. In an entirely controlled and risk-free way, of course. No matter how unpleasant the people coming were, Clockwork had no intention of harming them, or suggesting anything of the sort.

But, well. They were ghosts. Being feared was soothing.

(Clockwork knew this wasn't what Jasmine meant when she suggested Clockwork engage in family bonding activities with Daniel. But what she didn't know...)

"I think my teeth are getting sharper," said Danny, pulling a face at the mirror. "Is that normal?" The last was shouted, to get Clockwork's attention. Intellectually, Danny knew he didn't need to do that, but a lifetime of habit was hard to shake.

"It is difficult to say what is normal for someone like you, but many ghosts do have fangs," said Clockwork. "Including myself."

"Hm," said Danny. "This isn't, like, a ghost puberty thing, is it? Because I already used up most of my evil puberty jokes."

"Oh, only most?" Clockwork slid behind him and started rubbing the tension out of his shoulders.

Danny shrugged. "Eh, give or take. But, seriously."

"No, it isn't a ghost puberty thing."

"Oh, good. Because dealing with one puberty is more than enough."

Clockwork was silent. Danny looked up and met troubled eyes in the mirror.

"Clockwork?"

"Daniel," started Clockwork, before giving Danny an uneasy smile. "Speaking of puberty..."

Danny blanched. "No."

"What?"

"No. Nope. Not doing the talk today, no sir. I got that at school."

"Daniel, as strange as Casper High may be at times, I highly doubt they taught you anything about immortality."

"What."

"It's why ghosts put so much forethought into relationships like this," explained Clockwork, careful not to look directly at Daniel's hiding place. "They might last forever. I certainly hope this one does."

"But I don't want to be a teenager forever!" wailed Danny. He had mastered the art of making his voice sound like it was coming from a completely different direction than it actually was.

Clockwork was older than human civilization and had been worshiped as a god by several civilizations. He did not wince at the heartbreak in his child's voice.

"Your shapeshifting abilities should come in after a few years," said Clockwork. "You'll be able to pass as older."

Daniel answered with a moan.

"I must confess, I'm not sure why you are so upset about this. I can see that you are, but could you explain why for me?"

"I don't knoooooowww..."

"I don't want everyone to die and leave me alone," admitted Danny, hunched over a carton of ice cream. "I don't want to see my- my people die." He sniffled.

"We don't have to stay in Amity Park if you don't want to," said Clockwork.

Danny shook his head. "No! That's worse," he said, hating how his voice tilted into a whine. "That's- I can't abandon them! I can't- can't miss their time. I just..." He let out a huff of air. "It's hard."

Clockwork wrapped an arm around Daniel's shoulders. "It may not help much," he said, "but people in Amity Park have a much higher chance of becoming ghosts. It's the ectoplasm in the air."

"Promise?" asked Danny.

"Promise. Although, who, exactly, becomes a ghost is outside of my control. All I can tell you is that the people here have a better chance."

Danny leaned against Clockwork. "Thanks," he mumbled. "Clockwork?"

"Yes?"

"You don't think I'm a freak, do you?"

"Of course not."

Mr. Lancer squinted down at Daniel Fenton's latest assignment with a mix of appreciation, disbelief, and shame. This was easily the best work he had ever received from Daniel. In fact, it rivaled papers he had received from Jasmine.

It made him wonder- How long had Daniel been suffering? What had Daniel been suffering? He was no expert when it came to abuse, but all teachers had some training, and he knew that abusers tended to escalate, starting with something relatively innocuous and ending with a travesty. For things to progress to attempted murder... What had it started as? When had it begun?

(Could Mr. Lancer have stopped it?)

(That question would haunt him more than any ghost.)

Well, there was a silver lining to this, Mr. Lancer supposed. He had rarely seen two people who got along as well as Daniel and Charles Worth. It was good, he thought, for the man to have someone in his life on a more permanent basis, rather than the revolving door of temporary foster children.

How rapidly the adoption went through was a little odd, but... Mr. Lancer shrugged. Undoubtedly, Mr. Worth had taken the time over his years as a foster parent to familiarize himself with the system, and with Daniel's former parents unfit to be anywhere near children...

He shrugged again and stamped Daniel's paper with an A+.

#danny phantom #gift #prize #winner #fic #phanfiction

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despairofthefuture · 3 years

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She may be looking for Sonia Nevermind, the Ultimate Princess, or Gundham Tanaka, the Ultimate Breeder. They're both into dark occult stuff. They're also in the same class as Chiaki and Ryota. I think they're pretty close friends, so if you find one you'll probably find the other not far off.

"Princess!?" Hiro repeats, his eyes widening. "There's a princess at this school!?"

"As amazingly cool as that is-" Leon says, trying to bring them back on topic. "-this Gundham dude....Why would a...breeder know about occult bullshit?"

"The same reason a princess would?" Hiro mutters under his breath.

Chihiro furrows his brow in thought, the small boy looking very worried. "W-well, Mukuro did say it had nothing to do with his talent." He reminds them. "So perhaps it's a hobby of his?"

"Well, regardless, this is all we have to go on, and you guys havent been wrong yet!" Leon says determinedly, flashing the spirits a grin. "Since Mukuro specifically said 'he', we should check up on this Gundham weirdo first. So hurry the hell up, Hiro! Look up this Gundham guy!"

The clairvoyant nods and does as he was told, looking up a picture of Gundham Tanaka. When he finds one he stares at it in surprise. "This...this guy works with animals?" He asks, stunned.

Leon looks over his friend's shoulder and raises a brow. "Damn. Yeah, he looks more like an Ultimate Clairvoyant than you do! He obviously seems to be embracing the occult for a start!"

This earns the ghost a glare, but Hiro quickly shakes his head and returns his phone to his pocket. "Well, whatever. We know what he looks like, so let's go to his dorm."

As he begins making his way there, Chihiro frowns. "You know, the fact that Mukuro knows about this Gundham means she and Junko must have been studying him, or at the very least his class." He points out. "Which would make sense considering how much of her plan revolves around 77-B." His face saddens. "Poor guys. It's bad enough Junko put us, her classmates and friends through something like a killing game, but to basically torture a whole other class?"

"Its sick." Leon agrees, his eyes narrowed angrily. "She's sick."

Hiro simply nods in response, a frown on his face as he walks. Suddenly, he freezes in place. "Wait, what about Hajime?!" He asks. "I was supposed to meet up with him and-"

"That can wait a minute!" Leon interrupts him. "If we dont hurry and stop Mukuro, who the hell knows what could happen!"

Hiro nods in understanding, breaking out into a sprint towards the dorms, causing a brown haired boy in a Reserve Course uniform to look up and give him an annoyed look as he passed.

~~~

Hiro was thankfully able to find Gundham's room with relative ease. As he stands in front of the Ultimate Breeder's door, he hesitates.

"Dude, what's the hold up?" Leon asks impatiently.

Hiro frowns and begins picking at his skin. "Its just...the energy surrounding this room...its...really heavy and...dark..." He mutters.

Leon groans and rolls his eyes. "Oh for the love of-Hurry the hell up!" He snaps.

Hiro sighs and nods, reaching a hand up and knocking on the door.

A quiet exchange of voices could be heard along with some shuffling until the door is opened.

"Who dares disturb the Overlord of-"

The boy behind the door stops when he sees Hiro. The two lock eyes, and a wave of energy courses through the clairvoyant.

The extravagantly dressed man before Hiro stares at him for a moment more before he smirks. "Heh. I had thought the dark lady and myself were the only ones dabbling in the forbidden arts, but I can sense they run through your veins as well."

Hiro blinks in surprise at the guy's strange speech patterns. "Uh...i-if by 'forbidden arts' you mean fortune telling, then yeah!" Hiro finally responds, forcing a smile onto his face. "My names Yasuhiro Hagakure. I'm the Ultimate Clairvoyant!"

The other man lets out an impressed hum. "Clairvoncy, hm? Then have your visions sent you to my side for the aid of my dark powers?!" He suddenly poses in a strange way, and Hiro blinks in confusion.

"Uh...y-yeah. More or less. Youre... Gundham Tanaka, right?" He asks, scratching his head as he begins to regret coming here.

Gundham's smirk widens as he nods. "My reputation of course precedes me. Indeed, that is my name! GUNDHAM TANAKA!" The...eccentric fellow bellows out his name, cause Chihiro to flinch slightly.

Leon rolls his eyes. "Dear Lord this guy is gonna be annoying." He mutters.

Hiro gives a subtle nod in agreement before forcing the smile onto his face again. "Well, great! Do you, uh, mind if I come in, Gundham?'

Gundham shakes his head and steps to the side. "But of course not! A fellow user of the dark arts is always welcome in my abode!" He declares. "Although my Third Eye has failed me, for I did not forsee your visit." The breeder suddenly blushes, catching Hiro even more off guard as the man attempts to hide the flush by raising his scarf over his face. "I currently have...company over. The dark princess, Sonia Nevermind. But do not fear! I am training her to be my apprentice, so you need not hold your tongue with anything you must tell me!" He declares with finality as he turns with a flourish and walks into his room.

Hiro stands still for a moment longer, sharing an unsure look with Leon and Chihiro, before following the breeder into his room and closing the door behind him.

The dark atmosphere Hiro had felt from outside the door was tripled the moment he took a step inside, and he shivered. Gundham's room was dark, light blotting curtains hung at the windows that allowed the only light inside the room to be the many lit candles that were scattered around. There was a bookcase against one of the walls, and on it several heavy looking leather cased books.

"Well I guess we found the right guy." Leon mutters.

Hiro nods in agreement as he continues scanning the environment. His gaze stops at something that seemed out of place. A brightly colored hamster cage where four happy looking hamster were currently rested inside.

"Well, he is the Ultimate Breeder." Hiro thinks to himself. "I guess it would be more weird if there wasnt anything animal related here."

"Oh, Gundham! You have company!" A sweet, feminine voice speaks up, causing Yasuhiro to turn his head in its direction. He couldnt help but stare. There was a beautiful blonde girl, sat upon Gundham's bed.

"Indeed I do, dark mistress." Gundham confirms, coming to a stop in front of the hamster cage. He opens the lid and places some treats inside, the four critters skittering over to them and eating them hungrily. "He says his name is Yasuhiro." A grin spreads on his face as he turns from his four pets. "He is also a user of the arts."

The girl, who Hiro assumes to be Sonia Nevermind, gasps and clasps her hands together excitedly. "Really?!" She exclaims happily. "There is another one at the school?!"

"It indeed seems that way, Sonia." The breeder confirms, his gaze going to Hiro. "He says he is a clairvoyant, and that he received a vision that called him to me."

Sonia gasps and looks to Hiro as well. "Is that so? Then please! I insist you inform us of the details of your vision at once!"

For some reason Hiro felt extremely compelled to bow towards the upperclasswoman and the need to hurry with the explanation. He blinks and clears his throat, attempting to calm his nerves. "R-right. Well, it's a long...and, well, pretty unbelievable story if I'm being honest." He sighs before continuing. "But I swear to you, Buddha, Gandhi, Mother Earth or whatever deity you believe in its true.

It started when my classmate Junko Enoshima came to me, asking me to read her future...."

~~~

"...and then Mukuro mentioned someone else with knowledge of...occult stuff." Hiro finishes explaining, holding back the urge to explain his distaste for the occult. "And the spirits mentioned it could be one of you two." He looks between Sonia and Gundham, both of which look extremely surprised. "And since Mukuro said 'he' we went to your room first." He chuckles and rubs the back of his neck. "So...yeah. We wanted to make sure Mukuro's ghost...future ghost...didnt come here and find something she could use."

Gundham stares at the clairvoyant for a while, seemingly at a loss for words. Finally he clears his throat. "Well...that certainly is...quite the ordeal." The breeder recovers quickly, a grin forming on his face as he poses. "However you are in luck! I am quite skilled in this department, and while I cannot see your apparitions-" He walks over to his bookshelf and shifts through the many books before letting out a soft 'ah ha!' and pulling out a rather large one. He flips through it before placing his finger on a page. He then begins muttering something, which causes Hiro to frown and shift uncomfortably.

Gundham's eyes close, and a soft wind suddenly blows through the room, despite there being no open window. When he opens his eyes, he meets Hiro's eyes. They then shift over to Leon and Chihiro, his grin turning to a smirk.

"Ah ha! Hello there, fiends!" He looks over to see the shimmering outlines of the unknown spirits. "And to you as well."

Hiro's eyes widen in surprise. "You...you can see them?!"

"Of course!" Gundham boasts, slamming the book shut with one hand. "Did you believe these tombs were for show?!"

Hiro holds his tongue.

"Now I can be of more help to you and your miss-" He stops, his gaze slowly moving over to his bookshelf. He narrows his eyes. "....I assume this is the fiendish ghoul you mentioned."

Hiro blinks before following his gaze. His eyes widen further. There, looking through the books, was Mukuro's ghost.

Gundham Tanaka can now hear you! He is open for questions!

A/N: I hope things arent getting too crazy lol. I promise everything has a purpose! Supernatural stuff is canon in Danganronpa, and its especially important in this AU, so please bare with me lmao

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bestworstcase · 4 years

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farran rereads lost lagoon: chapters 3-4

- a shot-put ball, according to my cursory research, weighs in the neighborhood of 6-16 pounds. leila howland expects me to believe that princess “hoisted an adult woman 70 ft into the air on the daily with nothing but a pulley and raw upper body strength” rapunzel has a hard time picking up a shot.

anyways

- rapunzel thinks about how she used to talk to herself in her tower when she was isolated (and lonely) but stopped once she came to corona, and this girl looked like she was talking to herself, and it gave rapunzel this weird sense of familiarity! now what in the world could that mean? its so subtle i can’t quite put my finger on it.

again, romance novel.

less sardonically - i will say that tts cass has never struck me as an especially lonely person. yes, rapunzel is quite possibly her first ever close friend, but cass also appears to be on pleasant terms with her coworkers and has at least one or two friendships or mentor-type relationships among the guards (stan and pete). animals in tts are anthropomorphized enough to qualify as humans, and cassandra is unequivocally friends with owl and fidella. she is friendly if not friends with at least one coronan citizen (monty). she’s utterly unfazed by crowley’s crabbiness. she’s able to get along with the pub thugs. in vardaros she befriends vex with ease and makes herself right at home among the citizenry at large. there is zero friction between her and lance - at most she rolls her eyes when he’s being ridiculous. and out of the main cast, cassandra is the one who seems closest to varian in s1 - like, she has actual bonding moments with him.

THE POINT BEING, cassandra may not have a lot of close friends, but she is nevertheless personable and demonstrates the ability to adapt herself to suit a variety of social environments. maybe i’m projecting here - i have very few close offline friends because my preference for in-person socialization is for it to be very casual - but taken together this doesn’t scream ‘lonely person’ to me. it instead says ‘person who finds social fulfillment in a wide net of friendly acquaintanceships’ and possibly also ‘person who finds close, emotionally intimate relationships worthwhile but very demanding to maintain, and so seldom or never seeks them out.’

this, absolutely, a very subjective reading of her character - it is just as plausible for cass to be someone who is socially competent but feels inwardly unfulfilled until rapunzel comes along. but even in that reading, this implication that cassandra is as deeply lonely, as thoroughly isolated in corona as rapunzel was in her tower is baldly absurd.

- i think i will have more thoughts about how arianna is characterized and the relationship she and rapunzel have with each other later in the story. for now it feels rather mechanical, and like arianna exists in the story to facilitate cassunzel happening.

- cassandra comes across to me like she has an anxiety disorder written by someone who doesn’t quite know how to convey how that feels? she catastrophizes: what if rapunzel thinks cass attacked her? will she get in trouble? but then she stops to make snide comments about rapunzel’s security detail ‘[falling] down on the job’ and concludes with an impressive amount of certainty that rapunzel isn’t going to make a big deal of it, after all. that… isn’t how anxiety works?

then, immediately, she finds a note from her father scolding her for slacking off—making it clear that she is indeed in trouble, like she feared—and her response is to scoff and throw it away. zero concern about being in trouble. zero worry about the consequences she might face for refusing the pointed “offer” of being rapunzel’s lady-in-waiting. like… this isn’t anxiety. i’m positive it’s meant to convey anxiety, but it comes across as cassandra just being… melodramatic and rude and grumpy. like a teenager. it’s unpleasant. and it bears very little resemblance to tts cass, who expresses a clear and consistent anxiety regarding the security of her job and the looming threat of a convent.

- secondly: “Friedborg reported that you missed your afternoon duties AGAIN. Please be advised that this is unacceptable. The queen is looking for a lady-in-waiting to serve Princess Rapunzel. It would be a great opportunity for you, and you must show the queen how prepared you are to train her in the ways of the court.” i am 100% convinced that howland thought cass was rapunzel’s age or younger. if friedborg is effectively cassandra’s direct supervisor, and she is reporting absences to cassandra’s father instead of addressing this with cassandra directly, the only explanation that makes sense is that cassandra is not of legal age.

- “Ladies don’t wield weapons, lead military strategy meetings, or race on horseback. Ladies do needlework, flower arranging, and hairstyling.”

sighs.

i am not going to argue that corona, in any incarnation, isn’t culturally sexist. it is. there are no women in the guard, no women in trades, no female business owners in the vein of monty or xavier or feldspar. besides rapunzel and arianna - who as the monarch’s spouse has very little in the way of actual political power - there are no women in the upper echelons of the government. besides cassandra, the only gnc women around are criminals. cass is denied even a chance to join the guard for no evident reason, even though her father allows eugene - a man he openly despises - to take the tests and then begrudgingly hires him when he passes. no one sees an issue with this, even though cassandra is demonstrably overqualified.

however.

howland makes this cultural sexism explicit text, and she does so in such a way that it implies something pretty horrifying about the already pretty horrifying corona-saporia unification backstory.

i am talking, of course, about general shampanier. you know, the female saporian general whom herz der sonne married when the two kingdoms were unified. the female saporian general who personally dueled der sonne for hours, according to under raps. the female saporian general who, forget military strategy meetings, led an entire goddamn army. i will accept the possibility that shampanier did not ride horses, because rapunzel’s return suggests that saporians have some sort of cultural objection to that. but this book predates rapunzel’s return by a large margin, and it isn’t canon anyway, so odds are the general shampanier of this story rode a warhorse at some point or another in her illustrious career of being the general of an army!!!

this woman - general shampanier - became the queen, the wife of arguably corona’s most historically important king, at a defining moment in coronan political and cultural history. tts and lost lagoon would both have us believe that this was a romantic, peaceful union between two people and two nations, but a few hundred years later - this. ladies don’t fight. ladies don’t belong in the war tent. ladies don’t ride horses. cass takes these things for granted as facts of life. but general shampanier did all of those things, and she did them extremely well, and she became corona’s queen.

WHAT HAPPENED?! WHAT HAPPENED TO SHAMPANIER’S LEGACY?

how did corona go from a warrior-queen to this, in just a few hundred years? the most plausible answer is that the background radiation of sexism and, perhaps, anti-saporian bias was powerful enough to unravel any cultural impact she may have otherwise had, deep enough to render her an outlier, an aberration, an exception to the rule that women do not act like that.

even arguing here that ‘lady’ specifically means ‘noblewoman’ doesn’t add up - because, again, general shampanier became THE QUEEN. you don’t get more noblewoman than that!

it feels unfair to judge this book with details added in season 3—such as the fact that shampanier is evidently not buried with herz der sonne—but this total lack of a cultural impact from general shampanier, queen of corona, feels very telling even without taking those tidbits of extra-textual information into consideration.

and good god, saporia hasn’t even properly entered the narrative yet! this is only the tip of the proverbial iceberg!

*deep breath*

moving. on.

- continuing the theme of cass being a child larping as a guard recruit: she has a closetful of weapons which she maintains to the exacting standards of the handbook, but skips out on her job to “train” in secret because evidently she’ll do ANYTHING to get on the guard except, you know, demonstrate a modicum of responsibility with the job she has now.

- moreover while i think cartography is a neat hobby for cassandra to have, it… doesn’t make a lot of sense if it’s part of some nebulous plan to ~prove herself worthy~ of being on the guard. like, cartography straight up isn’t a relevant skill, and while knowing the countryside could certainly be helpful for guard work in the event a criminal goes to ground in the wilderness, it’s like… it’s like if i applied for my current job, which is in software/tech support, by focusing an intensive amount of energy on teaching myself spanish. fluency in spanish is a useful skill and one that i could turn into an asset within the bounds of my current job, and it might be the deciding factor in me getting hired over someone else with equivalent experience and skill in computing and tech support (which is what the job involves) because, yes, some of our clients are ESL spanish-speakers. but it’s—there’s a disconnect. if i were in a tight competition to get this job i would be pouring my time into sharpening my programming skill and polishing up a portfolio of relevant work. i wouldn’t be devoting hours upon hours to learning spanish. right?

on the other hand—if cartography is a hobby cassandra is passionate about, and she’s 16 or 17 or 18 and she really likes the idea of being on the guard and really feels like she can do it and is bored with her dumb teenager job and desperate to get her dad to make her a guard without actually grasping what being a guard entails or the kind of work it involves or what she actually, realistically needs to do to have a shot, then… yeah, skipping work to play pretend with her weapons and convincing herself that her favorite hobby is totally going to prove to her dad that she’s ready to be a guard!!! makes perfect sense. it’s no different from tts varian tunnel visioning so hard on this fantasy of ‘i’ll surprise my whole village with hot running water and then my dad will be proud of me!!!’ that he neglects basic safety measures and accidentally blows the whole system up. it’s not realistic. it’s a fantasy. it’s play.

- the only time cassandra brings up eugene’s criminal past in tts is to mock him for being a loser. like. literally. the plot of fitzherbert pi kicks off when she calls him a “two-bit hood” and then when he fires back that flynn rider was a LEGEND!!! she fires back “key word being was. and… what is it you do now?” and that’s the only time she brings it up. granted this is 6-7 months into their relationship but… still, frankly i never got the impression that “former thief” was anywhere close to the top of cassandra’s list of reasons for hating eugene. he’s just a dick. she doesn’t like him because he’s a huge selfish jerk and she warms up to him after her starts behaving better.

- rapunzel goes to the ty lee school of flirting. just… laugh really hard at everything your crush says even if it’s not funny.

- despite my… intense and rapidly growing dislike for how cassandra is characterized in this book, her experiencing an actual physical reaction when rapunzel enters her space without permission is good. it’s about the boundaries. it has always been about the boundaries, and rapunzel crossing them, and the intractable messiness that arises from that.

- in fact: how many times does rapunzel cross boundaries in just this one little scene? oh, let me count the ways!

1 - when cassandra goes to shut the door, rapunzel ducks under her arm to enter the room. (eugene attempts to enter as well, but cass succeeds in blocking him.)

2 - missing or ignoring cassandra’s first “go away” hint about only playing individual sports.

3 - missing or ignoring cassandra’s second “go away” hint (“I let the silence get awkward.”)

4 - arranging cassandra’s invitation to the feast of elodie the great with the captain beforehand, so cass can’t use him as an excuse to decline.

5 - missing or ignoring cassandra’s obvious discomfort with this news, taking cassandra’s attendance at the feast as a done deal, and skipping straight to asking cassandra to sit next to her.

6 - in response to cassandra’s very diplomatic signal of not wanting to do that (“I sit wherever I’m assigned”), she declares that she’ll make sure cassandra is assigned to sit next to her.

7 - touching without permission, which makes cassandra flinch.

all of which results in cassandra making what she considers to be a “tactical surrender.” and then shutting and locking her door, because she feels so rattled. as i recall, lagoon is actually a lot mellower on the boundary violations front - and rapunzel actually learns better over the course of the story, which is probably the biggest reason that lost lagoon is not canon and cannot be canon to tts - but it feels worth writing this sort of thing out because, well. it is one of the dead horses i keep clobbering.

#lost lagoon reread #-cries in worldbuilding-#rta

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oxidizeds · 3 years

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SEUNGGI: character headcanons

clothing style.

very business/business-casual centric. when he’s working, you’re more than likely to find him in a suit (often loses the jacket + tie bc he’s a whore). when he goes out on his off days, he still likes to look put together. button down shirts, sleek t-shirts, perhaps even a stupid lil sweater vest. but he’ll switch out the loafers for combat boots.

before - bed routine.

chug a glass of water, see if he’s got any ice cream, and read whatever nonfiction book he’s obsessed with until he falls asleep

eating habits.

he’s a big eater outside of breakfast, which he doesn’t eat. when he’s around his family, though, his appetite slims. he’ll eat what’s put in front of him, but only while picking at it.

concept of home and family.

very distorted. when he talks about them, he only really sees them as an object that has economic or strategic value. like some kind of currency. comes as a result of him + his siblings merely being used for public relations and nothing more.

hobbies.

reading, taking pictures (HORRIBLE @ IT...likes to claim it’s his “style”), learning how to cook (emphasis on learning),

fighting style.

HONESTLY i’d like to think he can fight. he’s not, like, scrappy or anything but he can throw a decent punch & defend himself. he’s got three older siblings, after all.

what calms your muse down after a bad day?

a hug from someone he loves :/ when that’s not possible, he’s very careful with himself. he goes through a more intricate night time routine — whips up a cup of tea, probably lights a candle or two, pulls out the weighted blanket.

talk about one person your muse loves.

his oldest brother. he’d never say it to him outright, but he’s the closest thing he has to a father figure. his oldest brother knows how shitty their dad can be (basically got tossed to the side at a young age), so did his best to be there for his younger siblings in any way he could. since his second oldest brother was taken under their dad’s wing and their sister grew to be extremely independent, most of his attention fell to seunggi. i think this scene is a perfect example of it

ways your muse says i love you.

ugh i feel like it’d be easier to say how he DOESN’T... honestly depends on his significant other for specifics. generalities include reassuring touches (hugs, pats on the back), buying gifts (small items, like food or bakery items)

describe your muse’s laugh.

he’s a bit of an obnoxious laugher. he’s not loud when he laughs but is very expressive. his shoulders shake & if you make him laugh hard enough he’ll probably curl up into a ball with his head in his hands

what items can be found in your muse’s pockets?

thing of tictacs, headphones. probably chapstick

talk about your muse’s most prized possession(s).

UMMMM I’LL COME BACK TO THIS ONE.....

describe your muse’s walk.

he walks like he’s taller than he actually is — good, decent strides; back straight. honestly he probably looks a little cocky and too sure of himself. but that’s the point, isn’t it?

talk about your muse’s accent.

oh it’s a mess LMFAO since korean is his first language & he’s in seoul more consistently than anywhere else, he’ll forever have a hint of an accent in his english. his korean is unaffected, though, because he’ll continue to speak it in other countries

currently: enjoying the idea of him going to grad school in the uk so ppl can’t place his accent when he talks in english LMFAO

describe your muse’s smile.

always amused, always too big. like this.....in physical pain jst thinking ab it

how often does your muse get sick?

probably two or three times a year. only when he travels long distances for an extended period of time but he’s the kind of person to go IT’S JUST ALLERGIES.... when it hasn’t been allergy season for like. 4 months

does your muse know when to rest, or do they push themselves?

depends. when he’s around someone, he’s more likely to rest. otherwise, he’ll push himself too far

does your muse snore? sleeptalk? sleepwalk?

NO HE DOESN’T SNORE...sleeptalking is a probably... just like mumbling under his breath. one minute he’s sleeping like a rock the next he’s mumbling about magnets

the thing(s) your muse thinks about before falling asleep.

his schedule for the next day. if he’s completed his to-do list for the day. double checks his alarms like, five times over. in his ship verses his last thought is most likely ab his partner :’)

is your muse a fitful or a quiet sleeper?

quiet

skills and special talents.

how fkn funny would it be if he could spin on his head LMFAOOO LIKE HE CAN’T BUT IMAGINE HE COULD

good at picking up new languages, weirdly good memory, good at lip-reading, quick-footed 🤺

habits and mannerisms.

going “WELL,”;

introvert or extrovert.

ambivert. energy depends on who he’s around

religious or non - religious.

non-religious. he was raised in a christian household, but his family follows it very little. if anything, it’s only for show.

verbal or non - verbal communication.

hmmmm both. once he’s comfortable, he doesn’t hesitate to let someone know how he feels or what he’s thinking (he doesn’t think there’s enough time to play games like that). but he’s also very big on non-verbals — his love language is touch, so displaying his feelings physically is only natural for him.

something your muse could never forgive.

AAAAAAAHHHHHHH.........super cliche PROBABLY using him for his money, status, etc.. i feel like there’s more to it which is why i say PROBABLY LMAO but he would hate to let someone in to see how hard he works, why he is the way he is just for them to turn around & imply that they used him.

something that makes your muse smile.

he’s that bitch that walks outside & sees the sun is out & goes “aaaahhhh <3″

something that scares your muse.

GHOSTS...ITS PATHETIC

how your muse responds to being helped / taken care of.

hes so appreciative its sickening.....literally goes “thank u :)” every 2 seconds like bro theyre. theyre literally just sitting there. but HONESTLY would rather go xP than let someone think he doesn’t appreciate them or their help

how your muse responds to unconditional love.

he v simply returns it <3 he wants to enjoy it while he has it so he doesn’t focus on the whats or whys...

how your muse responds to danger.

uhhh idk run??? SDKJFJKH

how your muse responds to stress.

he merely absorbs it bc having no reaction is what he knows best hence why he fumbles w his hands when hes nervous.....smth to get the energy out but easily concealable (which matters more to him than dealing w it in the first place)

how your muse responds to anger.

oh no... SKJDDFJ he literally just. stands there. going “uh huh. totally” but not even in a sarcastic way like he would rather just take it & tell them they’re right than fight

#disordered eating /#mentioned briefly w his eating habits but #abuse /#kinda sorta #「 NA SEUNGGI ⋮ HEADCANON. 」#will probably come back around 2 these 2 edit but

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nuttyrabbit · 4 years

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Mach the Mantis Shrimp

Finally, after a year and some change of creating this character, developing him, and promising that “SOON I’ll HAVE A BIO I SWEAR”, I finally finished this motherfucker’s bio.

This is probably one of, if not the most developed character I have next to Gambit and Frost, and I can only hope that the bio reflects that. Thanks as always to @pidgeonspen for doing the ref sheet, helping me edit this bio, and just being a great friend in general. But enough chit-chat, the entire thing’s under the readmore

Name: Shin Shika, but changed to Mach in his late teens

Age: 20

Occupation: Bodyguard to Emperor Frost of Osakiru; head of Frost's secret police (known as the Zettoryokai), and one of four members of the Black Lotus (Frost's inner circle)

Location: Tokeydo, Osakiru

Sexuality: Bisexual (Deeply in denial about this however. Mach asserts that he's straight)

Personality: Boisterous, snarky, feisty, volatile, eager to impress -- these are all things you wouldn't expect from one in Frost's inner circle, yet they're the perfect words to describe Mach. A highly spirited individual, Mach is always raring to go, eager for something to do or somewhere to go; he can barely stand to sit still, even if for just a moment.

This eagerness and restlessness carries over to his constant desire to impress others and be the center of attention. More often than not Mach puts on a veneer of confidence and toughness to convince those around him that he's "cool" and "manly", and this is reflected in just about everything he does, from the clothes he wears to the way he talks to his general "devil may care" and "I'm too cool for you" attitudes. Unfortunately, this attitude can be rather offputting to those around him and has frequently put him at odds with one of the other members of the Black Lotus and occasionally even with Frost himself.

It should be noted, however, that beneath this attitude and seemingly carefree persona lies many deep-rooted insecurities; Mach is uncertain who he is and what he wants out of life, doing whatever possible to distance himself from his former social status and the expectations he had lived under as "Shin". This insecurity manifests itself as a desire to impress those around him - especially Frost - through whatever means possible. It also manifests itself as constant need to deny certain aspects of himself including his sexuality and even his belief in Frost's cause (Mach vehemently believes that Frost's cause is just and that Frost has made him "better")

It also manifests itself through what is perhaps Mach's most defining trait -- his anger. Mach's temper is as short as it is volatile, exploding at the slightest of provocations and often accompanied by bursts of yelling and physical violence. In most cases, during bouts of extreme anger, he will relegate himself to the palace's dedicated training room, but when that is not available, he will takes his temper out on whatever's close by, whether it be a inanimate object, another person, or some instances, even himself. Regardless, it is not uncommon to see broken glass, punctured walls, and bleeding knuckles in the wake of one of his fits.

Partially as a result of his anger, Mach has grown to love violence, and revels in partaking in it, especially when it comes to his work. This is something he's not shy about admitting to, and will sometimes even boast about specific acts of violence he has committed, whether it be on the job or off it. It should be noted however, that Mach doesn't like to kill, and in fact killing or seeing someone be killed greatly discomforts him.

However, beneath his snark, his eagerness to impress, and even his anger, lies a surprisingly genuine kindness. Those lucky few who manage to worm their way into Mach's life will find that the shrimp is surprisingly kind and even understanding beneath that thuggish persona, and when push comes to shove, Mach will prove that he cares, even if he attempts to say or prove otherwise. In addition, Mach is very much a bleeding heart, and if he were to ever become romantically involved with someone, he would make very little attempt as to hide that fact, showering them in physical affection and engaging in all sorts of PDA.

The best way to describe Mach is "unsubtle"- His affections, his anger, his snarm, even his insecurities are laid bare for all around him to see, even if he thinks otherwise.

Skills: At their base Mach's powers are based around his eyes. Mach's eyes, when activated (as signified by his eyes taking on a rainbow glow), can see the "weaknesses" in people and objects, as well as let him see in the dark almost as well as he would in the daytime. However, he can only keep this going for so long, and if he does it for too long, he gets terrible migranes and nausea.

With time, training, and focus under Frost's guidance, Mach's powers have improved, letting him not only use them for longer periods, but also granting him new abilities as well. These new abilities include being able to see through illusions and in some cases, through objects and obstructions. However, to use these new abilities, he has to maintain intense concentration, and he can do this for far less time than he can his normal abilities. However, perhaps with even more intense training and consistent effort, Mach could learn to use these powers just as comfortably as his normal ones, and perhaps take them even further.

Mach is also adept at hand-to-hand combat, and his preferred style is similar to that of boxing, specifically of the "inboxing" style, relying on quick, concentrated punches to specific points on his opponent and generally overwhelming them with offense. However, he can also (and sometimes does in the heat of anger) switch to a "slugger" style focused on just hitting them really, really hard with body blows and strikes to the head. In addition, Mach tends to combine this style with something akin to "dirty" fighting, often mixing in headbutts, sucker punches, elbows, and other dirty tricks to get the upper hand on his opponents

In terms of non-combat skills, Mach is rather skilled in the art of interrogation--or at least insofar as using physical violence to get information of those that the Zettoryokai are sent to capture.

Hobbies: Mach has a surprisingly limited amount of hobbies, owing both to how much he has to work, and to his need to "look cool" to others. One of these hobbies is that of video games. Mach tends to gravitate towards whatever's popular....in the West, mainly shooters and generally popular multiplayer games. He has a fierce competitive streak and absolutely HATEs losing in these kinds of games (as the sheer amount of damaged/broken controllers and holes in his walls will attest) and is an incredibly cocky winner. He's also a complete demon at rhythm games like Guitar Hero and especially DDR, but his need to "be cool" has resulted in him not really pursuing those...that and his tendency to break things makes those really expensive

Mach's other major hobby is exercise, and it's perhaps his favorite thing to do. Whether it be training in the palace's dojo, doing routines in the comfort of his own home, or even getting a few reps in while waiting for something else, Mach loves to exercise. He has a huge bias towards core routines and running, but will occasionally indulge himself in weights and leg training. He'll even try to get the other members of the Zettoryokai to spot him during his routines (they never do).

When he was younger, Mach also enjoyed indulging in more...deliquent activity: tagging walls and cars, breaking windows, the kinds of things misbegotten youth do, but owing to his position, he can't engage in those anymore...and some days he wishes he could.

Likes: Frost, working out, video games, junk food, sushi, ramen, Takeda and Penumbra (two other members of the Black Lotus who are the closest thing he has to friends), traveling (Mach doesn't realize it but he would LOVE to travel the country--and even Mobius), getting into fights.

Dislikes: "Fake" people, his family (or at least the memory of them), anyone who opposes Frost, killing, the idea of appearing "unmanly" or "uncool", coffee, a certain *other* member of the Zettoryokai.

Backstory: Born Shin Shika, he was the 2nd child of the affluential Shika family. With his father being an influential business tycoon and his mother a politician, it seemed as though Shin would lead a childhood free of want, but this was sadly not the case. The golden child of the family was not the young Shin, but rather his older brother, Kyo.

It was Kyo who was constantly showered in love, attention and gifts; Kyo who was readily adored and surrounded by family and friends; Kyo whose skills and promise earned him accolades and admirers, casting an ever-growing shadow over his little brother and leaving him in the proverbial dust. As a result, for most of his childhood, Shin grew up essentially alone, perpetually unable to get his brother's or parent's attention, the few friends he made turning out to be solely after his money--or his brother's attention. To make matters worse, his parents constantly compared him to his brother, asking the young shrimp to be "just as good" as him. And when they weren't asking him to be like his brother, they were forcing him to conform to their minimalist, "fake" way of life, all for the sake of maintaining their image.

And that was how it was for most of his youth: constantly living in the shadow of his older brother, never wanting for material goods but always wanting for one thing: attention. But things changed--or at least seemed to, once the shrimp went to high school. There, he came across something that would change his life forever: a band of deliquents that had gained a rather notorious reputation amongst the students and staff for being "tough", for being "cool", and most of all, for being "BAD".

Upon having a run-in with their leader, the young shrimp's life was changed forever. Looking at the leader of their pack, the shrimp saw in it everything he could have ever wanted: attention, to be "cool" like his brother was, if not cooler, and a way to spit in the face of his parents who had given him not an iota of love. And so he did everything he could to get into this gang and soon enough, Shin found himself amongst what seemed to be the first real friends he ever had.

From then on, the shrimp finally began to enjoy his life. Engaging in shallow flings, tagging walls, smoking, getting into fights, stealing, you name it, Shin was in on it with his new "friends". He even managed to snag a red hoodie from a store that he'd been eyeing for months, the first piece of clothing he'd gotten that wasn't just a hand-me-down from his brother or bought for him by his parents. It was his, and in a way, so was this life. He had finally gotten to live, and with it, had gotten the companionship, attention, and "coolness" that he had been craving all his life. It didn't matter that his parents disapproved, the most he got was a stern talking to every once in a while and a shake of the head as they immediately went back to fawning over Kyo. Even him dropping out of school earned him little more than a night of back and forth yelling.

It was all good for the up and coming punk until one fateful night: During his time in this gang, Shin had made himself a few enemies, and they saw it fit to jump him while he was with his "crew". In an instant, Shin's so-called friends, his "crew", his companions--were running away instead of backing him up. They had been "fake" this entire time, like everyone else. The shrimp's back was against the wall, and he was forced to take drastic measures to get out--and he did. What was supposed to be a chance encounter turned into a tragedy as the shrimp's efforts earned himself a victory--and the hospitalization of those involved--including the children of some very powerful people.

It finally got the shrimp's parents to pay attention--but rather than caring about his injuries or the fact he almost lost his life, they were furious with him. He had put their IMAGE on the line, he stood to ruin their reputation, his brother's reputation, and everything they were trying to do! The shrimp had clearly gone out of line in their eyes and was grounded--permanently. Not only that, but he would be forced to attend every single social event they hosted, in the hopes of turning him into a "proper" member of society like his dear brother.

Needless to say, the shrimp HATED it. But with time, the shrimp came upon a realization. He didn't just hate his parents, or his brother, or the people that had abandoned him. No, he hated this "fake" society as a whole! Full of "fake" people with "fake" smiles putting on "fake" acts and "fake" faces just to get some more money in their pockets and to be liked by everyone. For all he knew or cared, the whole damn country was "fake", and his parents, and his brother, and every single rich conceited fucking asshole he was introduced to were part of the problem. The longer this went on, the more he wished, he *craved* for a way out, to get back to how things were, to put these rich fucking assholes in their place.

That way out would soon make itself apparent, however, as when Shin began to actually listen to what these assholes were talking about, one name came up again and again: Frost. They constantly spoke about him, about how he had consolidated several of the powerful Yakuza syndicates into one, how he seemed to be "conquering" the country, and even of the rumors that he wanted to become emperor of Osakiru. The more they spoke of him, the more they spoke of his supposed plans, of his cold personality, of his desire to change things, the more the shrimp was fascinated. This "Frost", whoever it was, intrigued him.

Once he heard whisperings of the emperor making his way to shortly outside of Tokeydo, Mach hatched a plan: he'd find this "Frost" and convince him to let him join up. It'd be just like the old days, but this time he'd take this rotten fucking country and these rotten people and burn it to the ground and show them all.

Someway, somehow, the pugilist managed to jack a motorcycle and zipped out beyond Tokeydo to find this "Frost". It took a great deal of effort and some close calls, but eventually, he found the man, or well, leopard he was looking for. Upon asking him, however, the leopard asked the shrimp to "prove" himself in combat to test his strength. Thinking himself a professional at this point, the shrimp agreed....and was promptly made a fool of by the older, more experienced yakuza and kicked out. To make matters worse, upon leaving, he was greeted by police, who had followed the trail of the motorcycle, which had been reported stolen, and promptly arrested Shin.

His parents soon arrived, bribing the police to let him go, but doing so solely to preserve their image. Made furious by the shrimp's escape and his constant defiance, they decided the only course of action was to quite literally lock him in his room until he could "prove" that he was better, conveniently keeping him out of sight--and of mind.

Reduced to little more than a prisoner in his own home, humiliated by the man he wished to join, something within the young shrimp broke. But instead of giving up, of throwing a fit and accepting things as they were, something else happened. Shin found himself inspired. He felt that deep down in his heart, he wanted--no, needed to join Frost. He needed to become a part of what he was doing, and he needed to take these rich, fake assholes and bring them down a peg and get rid of all the "fake" shit in this country.

But most of all, he needed to become stronger to prove himself to Frost. And he had all the time in the world--and the tools to do it. Turning his prison of a room into a makeshift dojo, the shrimp trained furiously for the next 6 months, getting into hardcore physical routines, teaching himself to box solely through the internet and movies (they weren't perfect mind you), and building up his strength in general. By the end of it all, the shrimp looked--and felt like an entirely new person. Not only that, he saw the world around him in a new light--quite literally. During his training, he had awoken to his Aberration- a supernatural ability, and this one allowed him to see the "weakness" in all things.

The shrimp was different, that's for sure, stronger definitely, but the question remained: was he ready? Figuring there was only one way to find out, the shrimp once again broke out of his home and went to find the leopard. Luckily for him, the leopard had finally made his way to Tokeydo. Soon, the shrimp appeared before him once more and this time, challenged him

Shin fought ferociously, harder than he had ever fought before, pushing himself to his breaking point, but it still wasn't enough. At the end, Frost still stood victorious, and Shin was on the ground, on his back, defeated once more. Pushing himself up to his knees, the shrimp felt himself break inside. Why, why wasn't it enough?!? Why couldn't he do it?!? Why was he such a failure? Before he could stop himself, he brust out in tears of pure, unfettered rage, screaming about the unfairness of it all, of how he wanted so badly to join Frost, how he wanted to stick it to the "fake" assholes running this country, how he wanted to burn, burn, BURN this "fake" fucking country down to the ground and how he felt Frost was the only "real" one, the only one who could give him what he needed.

Eventually, the shouts and the tears devolved into unintelligble sobbing and screaming, and Shin closed his eyes in a vain attempt to rein them back in. But when he opened his eyes again, he saw something unusual--Frost was standing over him, offering him a hand up with a look not of disappointment or anger or mockery like he was used to from others, but of understanding.

Helping Shin to his feet, Frost told him he saw something within the young shrimp; something that would be vital towards his goal of bringing Osakiru into an age of prosperity, of making things right again -- and that he empathized with Shin more than the young shrimp could imagine. To Shin's amazement and excitement, Frost took him in and made him not just a part of his cause, but an enforcer; Shin became the leopards personal bodyguard, and his right hand man.

Serving under Frost, Shin had finally gotten what he wanted: he was part of something he felt was "real", and playing a part in making actual, tangible changes in Osakiru. To burn down the "fake" system and with it, the "fake" people who kept it running, and replace it with something "real" -- Frost's vision. But above all else, serving the leopard brought Shin the attention, validation, understanding and compassion he had fruitlessly, desperately sought throughout his life; in their short time together, Frost was already more of a father to him than his birth family had ever been.

Eventually, Frost made his final push on Tokeydo, intending to burn it all down and build his ideal country on its ashes--with Shin in tow. As the rich estates of the country's elite began to burn, Shin found himself back at his "home"--and face to face with his parents once more. Instead of expressing worry about where he'd been or happiness at seeing him again, they once again treated him with that same anger, that same disappointment, that same attitude of him not being "good enough" they always had, talking about how everything had been ruined and it was his fault.

Caught up in the zeitgeist of the push, and enflamed by his parents' refusal to see him as anything more than a worse version of his brother, Shin flew into a rage, beating both of his parents to death with nothing but his bare hands, leaving their bodies in the flames and watching as his childhood home, the prison he grew up in, went up in smoke, leaving nothing but ashes behind. He soon realized that he had not seen his brother, but truth be told, he could care less. His family was dead, his house was gone, his past life, his "fake" life was dead. All that was left now was him--and Frost.

But it was not enough. Shin wanted his old life, his old self gone completely, and decided to change his name. No longer would he be Shin...but Mach, named for the apparent speed of his punches.

Soon after, Frost ascended to the throne of Tokeydo, turning from the country's most powerful yakuza to its sole ruler, and he did so with Mach at his side.

Upon his ascension, Frost saw to it that Mach's roles be expanded. No longer would he just be the emperor's bodyguard, but he would also become part of the Black Lotus-a group consisting of the emperor's four most trusted--and most dangerous individuals who answered to Frost directly. Yet it did not stop there, as Frost soon put Mach in charge of his newly formed secret police--known as the Zettoryokai, and with it, become Frost's foremost enforcer of his vision, getting rid of those deemed threats to the greater good of Osakiru.

And that is where Mach remains. The shrimp continues to occupy his position as Frost's bodyguard, his confidant, and the foremost enforcer of his will, and he relishes in it. He finally believes that he is doing something good, something "real", that he's getting rid of the "rot" that had infected Osakiru all those years, and that he's getting the attention and respect that he had deserved all this time.

Little does he know, however, of the ramifications of his actions--or of Frost's true plans for the shrimp, plans that extend even beyond the emperor's demise.

#Sonic OC #Sonic FC #Archie Sonic #Mach the Mantis Shrimp #OC Bios #Sonic #OC Stuff #Sonic Fan Character #OC Bios and Refs

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botanyshitposts · 5 years

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pls explain the news in laymans terms 😭

okay lads buckle up, this is gonna be a long one. the paper is “A phylogenomic analysis of Nepenthes (Nepenthaceae)” from Murphy et al. i’m gonna link it here, and i encourage anyone interested to read it for themselves and draw their own conclusions, but otherwise i’m gonna give an overview as i understand it.

if you do not want to see 394023 words of in-depth carnivorous plant genetics content you should start scrolling now.

so. Nepenthes is a carnivorous plant family colloquially known as ‘asian pitcher plants’ or ‘monkey cups’. it’s one of the largest carnivorous plant families in the world, and without a doubt one of the most diverse, but we’ll get to that in a minute. these plants have pitchers that fill with fluid and digest bugs alive (important note in terms of nep anatomy 101: unlike venus fly traps or sundews, Nepenthes are passive traps and don’t move or curl up or anything, just sit and watch it all unfold). their range has china and korea on the northern edge, the tip of australia on the southern edge, and most of indonesia, the philippines, and most associated landmasses encompassed between. there are a couple outliers, but for the most part these are jungle plants with a vining growth form that weaves through trees and just….eats.

now, putting aside the fact that they’re carnivorous, one of the biggest points of Nepenthes is their diversity as a family. if anyone out there remembers the term ‘adaptive radiation’ from an intro bio class, Nepenthes is THE family of adaptive radiation. in addition to common species that grow everywhere in their range, these lads can be so specialized that there are species you can only find on single specific ridges on single specific mountains on single specific islands; as you can imagine, this makes them especially vulnerable to climate change, habitat destruction, and poachers.

the most obvious point of diversity here is the pitcher traps themselves: there are hundreds of different pitcher morphologies, ranging from special peristome adaptations to bizzare patterns and colorations to the addition of fang-like structures and symbiosis with bats, ants, and rodents. the list goes on. these lads are so specialized it’s unbelievable. one might think that, in terms of figuring out how these different species are related to each other, that it would be pretty obvious, since everything is so distinctive.

but there is a problem.

they fuck.

Nepenthes as a family is established to be one of the oldest carnivorous plant families, but the 200+ species identified over the years are suspected to be the result of very recent (in evolutionary time) modern radiation. one of the most common definitions of what a ‘species’ is that i see circulated is the idea that something is a species when it can no longer breed with another species, but it’s important to realize that this is one definition of what a ‘species’ is. in the case of Nepenthes, the knowledge that a bunch of scientists have decided they are different does not stop them.

it was hoped, with the advent of DNA testing, that maybe we would be able to assemble a semi-full map of how all these species relate to one another and how they came to be (a phylogenetic tree), but as it turns out the lads fuck so much between themselves and other Nepenthes species that figuring out how they became the species they became, even with DNA, is extremely difficult. ‘breeding complexes’ not too different than what i wrote about in the fern sex triangle post a while back are a very nepenthes-esque thing to have happen.

a quote from the paper:

“These uncertainties are not unique to Nepenthes but various factors make them important in this group: the frequency of natural hybrids and apparent lack of intrinsic reproductive barriers between taxa, the extent of intraspecific morphological variation and the reliance by taxonomists on the pitchers.”

in short, these plants have no control. they are not practicing safe sex. they are living lavishly in their own tropical jungle paradise with as much hedonism as a plant can muster as botanists try to connect how one pitcher might be the evolutionary origin of another while somehow all the pitchers are either functionally the same or radically different.

which brings us to this study. when people compare DNA, they’re rarely comparing the entire genome (although that can be done), but rather they identify a set of consistently mutable genes that are present across an entire subsection of life, and look at just those genes at just their locations on various chromosomes. instead of trying to find a couple genes fit to compare plants across the Nepenthes genus, as past studies did, this study took and applied a set of DNA probes developed previously to compare 353 genes present across the entire subkingdom of flowering plants.

as you can imagine, this provides a significantly larger set of data to work with. sure, it’s not perfect and this take will need more research to confirm (basing the entire Nepenthes phylogenetic tree off of a single study is a dangerous game, especially when things are so saucy in the forest), but it’s significantly better than the results past Nepenthes phylogenetic analyses generated, where researchers were able to see some general outlines and attempted to sort the genus into a few groups, but were ultimately unable to see where species themselves split and what their relations to each other were (you know, because of all the sex).

so. this paper:

-obtained samples from 151 different Nepenthes species from different collectors, herbariums, and conservatories. for those familiar with Nepenthes as a hobby, Andreas Wistuba might ring a bell; he contributed some samples from his plants to this study. otherwise, the KEW botanical gardens is more ubiquitously recognized donor.

-for more common species, more samples were taken from different places to account for different populations.

-another quote from the paper that i think is interesting on multiple levels: “We also include two unpublished species, N. sp. Anipahan and N. sp. taminii. The former, from Palawan, is discussed by McPherson (2011) and may be a synonym of N. leonardoi. The latter is an undescribed species from Sumatra that has been circulating amongst Nepenthes growers and resembles N. rhombicaulis but is perhaps distinguished by its leaves. Also sampled here are N. echinostoma Hook. f., a commonly collected plant usually considered a variant of N. mirabilis, and a sample we liken to N. angustifolia Mast., a species usually considered synonymous with N. gracilis.”

i mentioned earlier that previous molecular analyses done by other people were able to see a general outline but weren’t able to see anything more distinct; the results of this paper for the most part confirm these general outlines, which means that if nothing else we have strong support for the relationship the entire Nepenthes family has to other, more closely related plant families, which the paper resolves in this tree:

note that the above tree describes the family’s relation to various other families, followed by ‘Nepenthes clade 1′ and ‘Nepenthes clade 2′. these two clades contain most of the Nepenthes genus sampled; the six species shown in red, according to the results, are considered sister species to the entire rest of the genus, separate from those two clades.

now, what personally gets me the most excited here is the plant they confirmed as being the sister species to that subsection of sister species, effectively making it the outgroup to like, literally everything else: Nepenthes pervillei, from the republic of seychelles.

yeah. you know back at the beginning of this response when i said there were some exceptions to the Nepenthes habitat range? this would be one of those exceptions. the republic of seychelles is off the coast of africa, closer to madagascar than indonesia. to be fair, there are also Nepenthes along the eastern coast of madagascar, but because Nepenthes is so strongly geographically coordinated (this paper goes on to describe clades literally just named after the countries they’re in) this is pretty goddamn cool. this species got cut off in the middle of the ocean and now looks…….like a Nepenthes, but just off enough to be kind of weird (the biggest thing i realized just…staring at pictures of it is that it doesn��t seem to have wings down the front, which to be fair isn’t required of neps but makes it look super naked as a result). forbidden uncanny valley Nepenthes cast from the fuck zone. i love it.

the other main outgroup species (the sister species to all the ‘typical’ asian species, specifically, aka clades 1 and 2) they identified was Nepenthes danseri, which is native to waigeo island in indonesia (that’s in the fuck zone, for those keeping score at home) and, i would argue, has the same kind of thin-peristomed, simple-ribbed kind of look to it that pervillei has, but it definitely looks more traditionally Nepenthes-like.

now, with that, we really get into the meat of their results here. this is the full phylogenetic tree with all tested species laid out according to their results:

i….have no idea if tumblr will let you zoom in on this pic so im just gonna write down some notes.

the color-coded names on the tree to the right match their respective habitats down in the map on the bottom left, which is neat, but it’s also interesting to see how some of these species have apparently been fucking between islands. i know this is gonna be low-res but look at this swath at the top, some of what they’ve identified as being ‘clade 1′ (mostly common, widespread lowland species):

- man………. i mean, first of all i wanna point out the lone bicalcarata branches at the top #representing, having somehow maintained their chastity despite being the sexiest of the Nepenthes.

- hookeriana being the outgroup for ampullaria seems to fit well by adorable chubbiness factor alone.

- one thing that seems weird but not totally out of character is that halfway down in yellow we see mirabilis in multiple populations in yellow, then down from there a little ways we see different mirabilis populations in green and purple and red, all but N. echinostoma and N. orbiculate, which are both outgroups. i knew it was a common species, but for some reason i wasn’t expecting it to be like………that (there’s an entire second section of them in red just below where this screenshot cuts off). like, good for them.

going down the main tree, we get into clade 2, the more specialized highland species, which are always very exciting.

there’s my personal favorite, N. villosa:

not surprised at N. edwardsiana’s relation, because how else would you be able to achieve such absolutely enormous teeth, but N. macrophylla surprises me. it’s got good teeth, but both edwardsiana and villosa are like, TEETH, you know? i guess it makes sense that it split from villosa, though.

moving from that, VERY glad that the littlest known lad, N. argentii, made it on here. i know i’ve talked about argentii on this blog before, as the Nepenthes species that was so tiny the paper describing it’s discovery warned that population counts could be skewed by the plants ‘hiding under bushes’. their tinyness, which kills me every time i look at an image of them, is somehow weird in terms of being related to N. graciliflora, which is…..pretty normal sized. same with N. armin. makes me wonder how the hell they got so tiny.

of course we can’t leave out the group with the largest currently known species, N. attenboroughii. the hilarity of the smallest and largest Nepenthes species being a single clade apart, if not very distantly diversified down their respective evolutionary lines, is not lost on me.

N. palawanensis is a chonker, but i gotta say i wasn’t expecting it to be the sister species to the one and only megachonker, the plant literally famous for its sheer chonk. imagine being that overshadowed by your sibling.

on a more general note– the paper noted this, too –it’s interesting to see how the lowland species seem to be happier about jumping islands and being promiscuous than the highland species, which seem to clump together by location. i guess it’s not surprising, knowing how specialized some of these highland species can be; villosa, for example, is native to a single side of a single mountain, and is positioned so that the populations are hit by cool wind coming up from the sea. still, lowland species need hot and humid environments, and can be just as picky. it’s gotta be a matter of isolation.

anyway, there’s probably more i could talk about here but…man there’s a lot of data. the paper goes in-depth with how they constructed the more problematic branches, and trouble they had with some over others, confirming that we shouldn’t take this phylogenetic tree as 100% correct; things will almost certainly change or become clearer as more research is done, and phylogenetic trees in particular are known for being constructed and reconstructed time and time again.

still though, it’s like…to see these relationships at this resolution for the first time is just really fucking cool, man. this isn’t even all the species. i remember i went to a carnivorous plant conference two years ago now, and there was a lecture by researchers attempting to untangle the phylogeny of Nepenthes and coming up short aside from a low-resolution tree of some of the more major species and the relation of Nepenthes to other families, their science blocked by the sheer feral chadness on display in the tropical jungles encompassing the land between china and australia. like, i really just want to take a moment, as an end note, to appreciate that these plants fucked so much in the past couple million years that it took multiple major advancements in technology and the examination of hundreds of genes just to get an approximate look at the phylogeny. like, that’s an Isoetes level power move and im not over it

#Anonymous #long post #me reading a new nepenthes paper: *sight narrows into a tunnel* *writes for two hours*#nepenthes #carnivorous plants #asks #plont asks

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thosetwistedtales · 4 years

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What’s with Higgs’ smelling & licking people?

I told some of you that I had thoughts and that I’d be sharing them sometime soon, and so--- now I am. 😈 And I think I’m gonna try to break this down into three parts cause Higgs... is a rather complicated man.

Conscious | External

Starting with the obvious here in the reason why Higgs busts past these very obvious personal boundaries is because he’s an asshole with ISSUES. Listen---, Higgs spent his childhood getting the shit beat out of him by his uncle. He had nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, no real means of defending himself when he was a child in comparison to his adult-sized ‘guardian’. He had no control over what happened to him. His life was literally in the palms of his uncle’s abusive hands... And he damn near ended it. Would’ve in all likelihood if Higgs hadn’t defended himself and eliminated the threat of him altogether.

Point being in the aftermath from what we know of canon Higgs started off as a freelance independent porter, who eventually built up his own porter company, and later became partners with Fragile as Co-Ceo’s of their companies. Since teenhood, Higgs has never let himself be put in a position where someone else was in charge of him. And within the narrative of canon events its made CLEAR Higgs has a thing for flexing just how powerful he is, how little control those who come across him truly have. “♪ I’ve got the whole world in the palm of my hand.~♪” & “The name’s Higgs. The particle of god that permeates all existence.”

Subtle right? 😂. The way he invades the personal space of others like those boundaries mean less than nothing to him, like social norms like polite space are unspoken rules that happen to other people but not him, how he literally licks people just because he knows he can, wants to prove it. Licks them because he knows just how damn unsettling it is. Licks people like---. “ I l i c k e d i t s o i t ’ s M I N E. ” a.) he does it cause he can b.) he does it cause he’s an absolute dickweed c.) he does it cause he’s a fucking wacko weirdo who likes messing with people

Subconscious | Internal

“...We have five senses, but only two that go beyond the boundary of ourselves. When you look at someone, it’s just bouncing light, or when you hear them, it’s just sound waves, vibrating air, the way touch is just tingling nerve endings. Know what smell is? It’s made up of the molecules of what you’re smelling.”

...Ya’ll catch on to how Higgs is lowkey really into ancient civilizations and how the people of old as dirt times interacted with each other and the world around them? There’s his whole fascination with ancient Egyptians, we also get bits from his monologuing to Sam during that good old fashioned boss fight on the beach. He talks about the first tools of mankind but doesn’t get into the physical ones that we’re all born with. OUR SENSES. The ones he tends to use himself a lot specifically... Scent & Taste.

As human beings, we use what we have to survive. We rely on our senses to navigate how to interact with the world. Because both scent & taste have to do with the stimuli involved in taking into the body these senses are often referred to as gatekeepers. As senses go both of these are extremely hard to lie to or manipulate. You can’t exactly control the concentration of airborne molecules or how your tastebuds experience oral stimuli. They are arguably our first line of defense, our natural armor. We use them as our personal alarm system (smoke, disease, other potential threats), component of flavor (quality of food before we eat/ingest it), physical communication (pheromones). I mean they’re the basics of survival. What smells/tastes BAD = not good/dangerous? What smells/tastes GOOD = good/safe!

As someone who had to use everything he had growing up to ensure his own survival, as a man who chose a profession that relied on his senses and instincts it makes every bit of sense to me that on a subconscious level at least..., Higgs would choose to continue to use them in how he interacts with the world around him, especially for those he has a keen interest in, or feels a connection to... He is a rather tactile individual after all.

Deep Dive | Intimate

Lastly, both pieces tie into this... Want & Instinct. Fragile was arguably one of the few people Higgs’ has ever connected with on a level beyond mere survival. Beyond what he NEEDED, and stepped into want. Into living. Partnering with her was a smart business move and while it may have been her DOOMS abilities that attracted him in the first place I think from an observer’s stand point just how he chooses to interact with her both in the flashback and their reunion....

We may never know the complexities of their relationship but Fragile clearly meant a great deal to him. Even if he hated her at one point, was jealous of her (her abilities, the childhood she had, the relationship with her loving PROUD father), you don’t look at someone the way Higgs’ looked at Fragile during the final moments we see them together on the beach, you don’t lean into their touch, and you certainly don’t leave them a personal note in your bunker asking them to forget you, to give up the bitterness and desire for revenge that’s clearly destroying them. The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference. Something Higgs CLEARLY doesn’t have when it comes to his ex partner... For better or for worse Higgs cares about Fragile.

A similar argument can be made for how he may feel about Sam given the context of his actions within canon. Sure most of the non-lethal interactions we see between them can still be chalked up to Higgs being an asshole and having made a hobby out of fucking with everyone’s favorite porter just for funsies. But------ I doubt that’s all there was to it.

As I’ve said, Higgs’ is a complicated individual. A grown-ass man with grown-ass feelings and given his journals and what context clues we’re given in scenes it's my opinion that Higgs was fond of both Fragile & Sam. And with what limited experience he had making friends--- it’s not out there to think the oddity and the abrasive way he handles social interaction with them both is a might bit awkward. A tad CRINGE. Not unlike that of a youngster picking on the kids he finds fun and mayhaps develops a kind of crush on and wants to get to know better but doesn’t quite know how or knows what to do with his interest and feelings.

Yeah in that context the thing with the licking and smelling thing is still hella creep but makes a bit more sense no?

Keep in mind that scent and taste are the senses most closely linked to memory. The memories we get through experiencing stimuli through these senses tend to be the most vivid and easily recalled. Thinking about that, and thinking about how both are the only senses we have that go past the boundary of ourselves, that only occurs when we take in something other inside us, how in its way that’s a kind of connection is it not? And perhaps at the end of the day, in his heart of hearts, that’s something Higgs wanted from Sam & Fragile. And was willing to take it in whatever form he could have it. Even if only the mockery of one. The memory of it.

@team-trash-panda , @maskedprepperkid , @goldenbridgessss , @chiralcrystallization , @savage-rhi , @argetlam007 , @chloe-3-price , @ruinerofcheese

#higgs monaghan #this is part analysis part----- me picking and choosing what I glimpse from context tbh #in summary higgs is a socially awkward jerk that probably has feelings of some sort #not entirely hostile towards the individuals he portrays these behaviors around #but doesnt know the first thing about what to do with them or how to get them across in a way that's socially acceptable ESPECIALLY WITH #CIRCUMSTANCES AND HIS HISTORY WITH THEM BEING WHAT IT IS #but yeah #we've all wondered about it #this is just my analysis and opinions on it #more or less #hope it makes sense and more intelligent then I think I sound just reading it back to myself ; ;#my thoughts are messy and it shows

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autumnstwilight · 4 years

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Ken Liu on Translation

There’s a quote from Ken Liu about translation that I’ve seen shared on here a couple of times and naturally can’t find now, something about a good translation containing the “echo of another cultures way of speaking”, that didn’t quite sit well with me. Or at least the way it seemed Tumblr was taking it. Perhaps it’s just bias from my particular location in the translation world, but in J>E translations of popular culture, I often see monolingual fans praising stilted, clumsy and even inaccurate translations because they perceive them to be more authentic, less bound by the mistrusted corporate and marketing forces of localization.

Translation that is so bound to the structure and individual words of the original that it fails to convey the implications, or in extreme cases, the actual meaning of the original is not a good thing. Nor is it good when people see two possible translations of a line said by a Japanese character, and decide the one that sounds like natural English is “bad” and the stilted one is “good” because they perceive awkward English as “more authentically Japanese”. A Japanese person speaking Japanese sounds natural, and therefore it is almost always appropriate to translate what they are saying into natural English! To aim for unnatural English is exoticism.

(Many people of course won’t be aware of this, but recently on Twitter there have been a few confrontations between professional localizers and a subset of anime/game fans who believe localizers have a political agenda. It’s true that some works are censored or altered in the localization process (often for corporate or legal reasons), and sometimes you do get a localizer who is enamored with their own writing style, ideas or jokes at the expense of faithfulness to the original work. However, the ire comes from fans who seem adjacent to movements such as Comicsg*te, who believe feminism, LGBT+ acceptance and other progressive views are being forcibly inserted into their previously politics-free hobbies. Anyway, that’s a whole other mess, but praise for stilted fan translations is also common among this group.)

That said, while I was looking for the context of that one Ken Liu quote, I found several other interviews with him that are very insightful into the translation process and give a thorough view of the considerations at play:

http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/liu_04_13/

^Excellent article that goes into depth with specific examples of when to adapt and when to translate literally from the original, censorship and cultural context.

https://www.tor.com/2020/04/01/highlights-from-ken-lius-r-books-ama/

On maintaining an author’s voice in translation:

“I don’t think you can maintain an author’s voice. In translation, you’re recreating the author’s voice in a new language, using new materials to rebuild a replica of a structure from another culture. So the voice of the translation is necessarily your own voice, but modulated to serve a story that’s not yours. It can be a valuable exercise to experiment and probe and learn the range of your own voice in the process.”

https://www.publicbooks.org/how-ken-liu-translates-and-why-he-writes/

“I do think that a translator has some duty to educate. If you’re translating from a culture that your target audience is not familiar with, you might decide the best way to handle that is to not explain at all and to let the readers figure it out for themselves. That is a legitimate artistic choice, but I don’t believe it is always the best choice: because the reader becomes responsible for interpreting.”

https://www.wired.com/2016/10/wired-book-club-ken-liu-interview/

“My metaphor for translation has always been that translation is really a performance art. You take the original and try to perform it, really, in a different medium. Part of that is about interpretation and what you think the author's voice really is. I spend a huge amount of energy thinking about how to re-create the voice of the author in a different language and for a different culture.”

Other articles:

https://www.thenationalbookreview.com/features/2016/9/22/qa-ken-liu-talks-translating-chinese-science-fiction-and-his-own-writing

http://blogs.nature.com/futureconditional/2016/08/20/chinese-sf-and-the-art-of-translation-a-qa-with-ken-liu/

Reddit AMA: https://www.reddit.com/r/books/comments/fsd3rl/im_ken_liu_author_of_the_paper_menagerie_and_the/

#translation #ken liu #on translation

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surveys-at-your-service · 4 years

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Survey #301

“i was waiting for my chance to find the light”

Did you like the beach a lot more as a kid more than you do now? Why/Why not? I did. Everything was more fun as a kid. I never REALLY loved it, though, because I did and still do hate the heat and walking through sand and getting it stuck all over you. It's pretty much torture now because I have extreme difficulty walking through sand. Has there ever been a time where you just couldn't stop crying? Explain. I know I've had days many years ago when my PTSD was truly awful where I'd sob multiple times a day. What's your least favorite time of day? Why don't you like that time?Late afternoon, like around 3-4 or so. By that point I'm usually bored senseless and going downhill. Do you like your lips? Do you enjoy kissing? They're fine, ig. And I mean yeah, if I'm really into the person? Do you like any music from the American Idols? Which ones? Ngl, I don't even remember any besides Kelly Clarkson, and who the FUCK doesn't like "Breakaway." Do you like when people challenge you? If so, in what? No, I get nervous about embarrassing myself. Personally for you, is falling for someone way beyond your control? It is entirely out of my control. What's something other than a fruit that you love in milkshakes? (Ex.twix ) Mostly chocolate stuff, haha. What is your all time FAVORITE milkshake? Ever tried the Reese's Blast from Sonic? That's some A+ shit. What's the latest you've ever stayed up reading a book? No clue. When having a peanut butter & jam sandwich, what is the best kind of jam? Grape. Do you like to write poetry? Yeah, but it's been a long time since I wrote anything. I used to do it aaall the time, but now I have to be seriously motivated and dedicated to the idea. When you get mad do you cry? Absolutely. Would you ever consider modeling? No. I do think one or two model-esque photos of myself would be nice and possibly help my self-confidence, but it's not something I'm seeking out and paying for. Are you scared of crossing bridges? Not very, no. If they're kinda sketchy-looking, I might feel a tad tense, but I'm not really scared of them. Would you consider yourself clumsy? I am unfuckingbelievably clumsy. Ever bought ice cream from an ice cream truck? Yeah, sometimes Mom would let me and my sisters do that as kids when one came through our neighborhood. Have you ever had a poem or story published? No. If you had/have a kid would you ever let them get a tattoo? If they were of the appropriate age, of course. And if they were getting it done professionally and not at some party drunk with friends. They better be in a sterile environment with someone who knows what they're doing. Do you love guinea pigs? Absolutely. I had three or four as pets when I was a kid. What is the worst thing you ever did that got you grounded? Probably run away from home. Have you ever been chased by a snake? No... and this is a misconception. Snakes don't chase. They go for what they see as the safest escape route, and sometimes they identify your own chosen direction as where they wanted to head, too. Where do you wanna work? I want to be a freelance photographer. What awards have you won? A lot of "A honor roll" trophies through school, among other academic awards. I seriously don't know what happened to that intelligence. I also have dance awards and lots of childhood sports team stuff. Would you consider yourself good at taking care of kids? I don't think I am, no. I'm way too nervous and awkward around kids. I've had to babysit for my sister twice though, and Ashley told me the kids had lots of fun and had no complaints. I guess like... I can do it, I am just very, very uncomfortable taking kids under my wing. I worry about leading them in the wrong direction. How old would a guy have to be before you wouldn't date them? I don't know, it would really depend on how much I was into the person. I generally stick with the approximation of a ten year gap though being my limit, so I think maybe him being in his mid-30s would make me feel a bit too weird. Be honest, have you ever tried weed? No, but quite honestly, I'd probably try an edible. I refuse to smoke anything for my lungs' sake. I'm curious if medical marijuana would actually be beneficial for me. Has anyone ever broken up with you with a note? No, but uh... I have, lol. It's how I broke up with my "puppy-dog love" boyfriend in middle school. Literally after he asked me if I was thinking of breaking up with him, and I said no before handing him the note because I was just too scared to do it to his face. I know, that was absolutely awful. Never, ever do that to the most innocent boy ever, kids. He didn't deserve that. Do you have sensitive teeth? Kinda. What was the worst thing you ever did to get detention/suspended? I've only ever had detention once for having too many tardies to my first class of the day in high school. We'd frequently arrive to school just a few minutes late because I was fucking impossible to drag out of bed. Have you ever suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder? Yes. Do you suffer from nasal allergies? Yes. What's your favorite kind of pudding? I only really like chocolate pudding. Have you done anything really interesting lately? I guess you could consider starting a virtual partial hospitalization program "interesting." It's not the intensive version like my first was, but rather being shorter. I just really need something to get my mental health back on the tracks. What’s the latest really fun thing you’ve done? REALLY fun? Hell if I know. I don't experience "fun" a lot at all anymore... I only ever feel like, this watered down, unenthusiastic sorry excuse for it. Have you discovered any good music lately? Oh yeah, I've found lots of 3TEETH songs I'm mad into. "ULTRAnumb" by Blue Stahli is also a total bop. How about any good new television shows? No. Or perhaps some interesting books? Nothing new, no. Have you picked up a new hobby or learned a new skill? I mean, within what timespan? Nothing lately, really. Has anybody ever done your makeup for you? Yeah. Do you own any sparkly items of clothing? No. What’s the most colorful accessory you own and use? *shrug* Do you enjoy drag artists’ work? If so, name some of your favorites. Oh yes, I have wild respect for drag queens. I don't know enough of them to have a fair favorite, but I do watch Trixie Mattel on YouTube and he is a goddamn hoot. What, right now, is the best thing in your life? Um. I don't really know. Probably the fact my mother still lets my too-big-for-the-nest ass to live with her... I don't want to picture how my life would be if I didn't have her still essentially holding my hand. What’s a place you like to go to when you need to get away for a bit? I actually love car rides for this, so long as I can ride passenger and just blare my music and not talk. It's so odd, being afraid of driving but finding great freedom and comfort in just... going. Do you like apples? I love apples. Anything exciting coming up for you in the near future? I paid the deposit for my tattoo appointment, so it was officially scheduled in May!! I was expecting an open date to be kinda far with just how amazing this parlor is, so I wasn't too shocked to hear I have to wait a few months, but man I can hardly wait. When you get an account for something, what's the first username you try? Unless it's for a "professional" site, in which case I'd use my actual name, I just about without fail with use "Ozzkat," or replace the "o" with a zero if that's somehow taken. Would you be okay with a friend wanting to date one of your exes? Which ex? What kind of accent do people typically have where you're from? Southern. Does history interest you at all? Can't say it does. What's something you wish you could do-over? There are many things, man. Is your hair in layers or is it all the same length? Neither, really. The left side of my head is very short/shaved, and as the hair goes around to the right, it gets longer. There aren't "layers," though. Is there anyone who you're afraid to be in a car with, if they're driving? I wouldn't say afraid, but with my sister's road rage and serious tail-gating issue, riding with her can make me nervous. What's something you're very good at? Um, I guess creative writing. Do you like sour gummy worms? oh FUCK yeah Would you pick up a hitchhiker if they seemed harmless? No. I am way too paranoid for that shit. Would you be bothered if your boyfriend liked to bite you? Uhhh I'm going to assume you mean this in a sexual context, in which case I don't care so long as it's not in a visible spot. How often do you get the opportunity to be completely alone? The answer used to be a shitload, and seeing as I'm in my room most of the time, I still feel like that's kind of true, but since Mom's cancer diagnosis and she had to stop working, she's usually home with me. I like it that way, though. Total isolation is bad for me. Do you have a trampoline? Nah, haven't in many years. What's your favorite Pixar movie? Finding Nemo. What is the strangest thing you've been asked? Something sexual that made me extremely uncomfortable. What’s the weirdest thing about life that people just accept as normal? The fact we put so much worth into pieces of green paper. What's the most random thing you've done out of boredom? *shrug* What show did your parents not let you watch as a kid? There weren't any specific shows that we even wanted to watch that Mom forbade us to see... I mean she certainly wouldn't let my sisters and I watch something like South Park as little kids, but none of us really sought unsuitable shows out. We were all about Disney, Nick, and Animal Planet in my case. What is the most pleasurable feeling that doesn't involve anything sexual? What comes to mind first is a big hug from someone who makes you feel safe when you don't anywhere else. What was your last "oops, wrong person" moment? I'm going to assume I sent somebody a text meant for another person. I'm super careful about avoiding stuff like this because I get horribly embarrassed, so it's difficult to recall the last time I slipped up. What do you find attractive that isn't considered "normal" attraction? Having a broad imagination and drive to create. What’s the dumbest thing you’ve done drunk? N/A What's something you really enjoy, but can't have? A pet tarantula because Mom refuses to let me lmao. I'm so into them now and desperately want a Grammastola pulchra. What Wikipedia article have you recently read? I haven't read any recently. What subject should be taught at schools, but isn't? Basic adulting and financial skills. What is the worst game you've ever played? I dunno. I've played sooooo many video games throughout my life. What tragic event was coincidentally beneficial to you? My overdose because it led to an intensive partial hospitalization program that totally changed my life. What did you think was cool when you were younger that you now think isn’t? Good question... What are your favorite or most memorable lines from any movie/show? I vaguely remember the concepts of some quotes, but not well enough to recite them. None that are seriously memorable or heavy pop up in my head now. What's a good example of 'Don't knock it till you try it'? Putting peanut butter on top of waffles with syrup. It is fucking delicious. What's your go-to get pumped up song? 5FDP's cover of "Mama Said Knock You Out" is badass HYPE. What's the dumbest thing your parents have said or done? Well, through a family assessment before my current partial hospitalization could begin, I very recently learned my dad fucking did drugs before my sisters and I were born, including shit like cocaine. That was great to suddenly learn. As for my mom... probably have a kid too young? She doesn't talk very much about her eldest daughter's history with (and without) her, but I know enough to know that was a very rocky time in her life. What are some things you wish existed? Cures for countless illnesses, and I also have SUUUUUCH a yearning for some kind of technology that could copy an image in your head onto a drawing device. If only I could draw how/what I see up there... Which person shaped you the most? Jason. Or Mom. What’s the one movie you couldn’t finish? Why? Couldn't tell you; I just haven't watched enough. What's a small thing you have a big passion for? Meerkats, quite literally with "small" lmao. What change have you made recently to help the environment? I have metal straws I try to remember to bring with me if I go out to eat. What was the hardest thing you've ever had to forgive? The way Jason left. Is there anything or anyone you're angry at, that you haven't forgiven yet? I sometimes question if I truly have forgiven Jason. I lean kinda heavily towards yes, I have, I'm just bitter about it all regardless. Have you ever plotted revenge against someone? No. Have you ever done anything to get revenge against someone? I can't think of anything off the top of my head. What is the greatest longing of your heart? To feel purpose. Who was your first love? Some guy in high school who "had" to talk to me upon seeing me the first time, only to wind up wanting to hear nothing from me later on down the line. What denomination is your church (if you go)? N/A What was the first year you voted in a presidential election? This most recent election, actually. Have you ever been afraid of the world ending? I used to worry it would happen in my lifetime, but now I don't. If it ends, it ends. I ain't got much to lose nowadays. What is unfair about your life? My mental health. My financial position. I'd rather not focus on the billion shitty things going on in my life rn, so next question. Did you write love poems when you were younger? ugh Who are you jealous of and why? There's a lot of people I'm in some way envious of, honestly. Have you ever had an account of yours hacked? Yes. Thankfully nothing major happened. Have you ever been a victim of police misconduct? No.

#survey #surveys #questions #questionnaire #lyrics: ''creatures x: to the grave'' by motionless in white

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ninaxmikkelsen · 4 years

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TASK 002 - CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT QS

x nina mikkelsen.x

TW: violence, anxiety & murder

what are 3 flaws your character has? first and foremost, she’s so undeniable scared and anxious of every little thing, which is understandably. nina’s also a little emotionally immature. she really wants to be loved and cared for. she’s a hopeless romantic, or at least she wants to be, but she’s so scared of letting anyone come that close, into the reality of her situation. so she ices people out from getting too deep. and finally, she’s got quite the temper when it comes to certain things, specifically work related. though it comes out as bursts of frustration rather than anger..

what are 3 insecurities your character has? well, her biggest insecurity is her entire personality. which to most would be strange aspect to feel so insecure of, but for nina; she doesn’t even know who the fuck she is anymore. most days she feels like a mime that takes attributes from others and makes it into her own after lying for such a long time, and that hope of rose sondersby being in there, has long gone. so she’s left feeling like an empty bullet casing that just witnessed a violent crime and was left empty afterwards. her other insecurities stem from not feeling like enough, so she’ll overcompensate for that, as child she was an overachiever and even then, her mother never showed any affection towards her. somewhat related is that feeling of not being experienced in a regular life, like little things just seem bizarre to her.

what is something your character is most proud of? nina is most proud of actually being alive, even if she’s not doing much living. just given the prior circumstances, she’s so incredibly lucky to be alive. so her most admirable trait is that will to live, to survive and stand against injustice, which came with a great personal cost that has tested her above and beyond, so that’s what she’s most proud of being durable in a complex situation.

where does your character feel most comfortable? she feels most comfortable alone at home, in the lanes. perhaps a pile of work to do or something to keep her mind busy. also, some bad television is often involved.

where do they feel most uncomfortable? during any sort of conflict, be it a mild disagreement or argument. she feels extremely uncomfortable if she’s not in the driving seat of the situation. so she’ll often storm out or go quiet if it gets a little to overwhelming.

what are some hobbies of your character? she doesn’t have any real hobbies, maybe chugging down on tequila? ha! can’t do that anymore. her work as florist serves a certain purpose by keeping her mind busy, but the only healthy way she emotes is by going outside for walks. strolling around town until anything that bothers her makes sense or she’s too tired to continue.

are they more extroverted or introverted? maybe a little mix of the two? i would say she’s an introvert that desperately wants to be an extrovert. so she’s much more comfortable being on her own because that’s what she knows ( and that’s a little bit out of fear of the unknown ). buuuut, she still wants to be around people, she in dyer need of any connections and feels the need to socialize.

does your character have any scars, how did they get them? so she has a few childhood scars, like most people do; mostly on her knuckles after being a rascal. the most recent scars are mainly on her back and upper body after getting violently scratched by branches and debris when she escaped the first safe house which had been compromised. there are multiple little scars, so she avoids anything too revealing and often opts for turtle necks. something that could be perceived as conservative fashion.

what is/was your character’s relationship like with their mother and/or father? nina has never met her father, and actually believes that he’s passed away before she was even born. even if there’s no evidence to back up that claim. the relationship with her mother is so complicated to say the least, they haven’t spoken since the incident that led to her arrival to san amore which was 8 years ago. as a child, she played the part of being the perfect daughter and dutifully followed her mother’s directives to a tee. nina even looked up to her mother at one point, but ended up resenting her for not ever being there for her. so now, as ugly as it is, her mother’s dead to her.

have they any siblings, if so, do they get along? no siblings.

has your character ever had a reoccuring dream or nightmare, what happened? nina has struggled with restless nights for a very long time and is never quite rested. mostly due to the nightmares she experiences, it could be a replay of events that have happened or more recently she’s had a reoccurring dream of being chased by a dark looming figure which wakes her up dead in the night sweating bullets.

what qualities does your character look for in a friend? friendships for nina aren’t really planned out, they just happen on their own. that being said, the biggest thing she actually does seek out in connections with someone, is that they’re not the prying type or ask too many questions. it’s important that they have a similar humor. so something that just feels natural and easy to be around.

what qualities does your character dislike in others? narcissist is big no or anyone that pokes her temper, constantly and on purpose. it’s a long thread until she’ll get fed up but once she does, she’ll ice them out. also, clinginess is a major dislike. as an introvert ( with extroverted traits. ) she can’t handle being with someone 24/7 and their source of entertainment. then of course, the obvious; she does not like nosiness.

how does your character react to confrontation - are they a fight or flight? definitely flight and that’s been proven in the past. it’s the sole reason behind her being alive, because in that fight, flight or freeze moment; she chose to run. that had a heavy cost on her mental well being because she could’ve maybe kept one of the officers at the previous safe house alive if she had stayed, but then would’ve lost her own life. so it’s this survivor guilt that’s lingering always in the back of her head.

how easy or difficult does your character find it to say ‘i love you’ to someone? very difficultly, that’s something she’s never had to utter before since she’s stayed far away from any romantic / close friendships. she did love valerie though, as a person and a friend which is quite heartbreaking.

have they ever said ‘i love you’ without meaning it? no, never!

what does your character believe will happen to them after they die? are they in fear of this belief? there isn’t a lot of fear of death itself for nina, or what happens afterwards. it’s the fear of dying before she’s done her purpose and having an opportunity at living a life without the restraints that it currently has.

how does your character react toward children? well, she refers to them as little devil spawns which is not great. as a child, she hated kids and she’s never had to be around children, being an only child. so there was never really exposure to what wonders children can bring into life. though that’s about to change real soon.( hehehe.. she might be pregnant )

does your character have any fears? if so, what are they? SO MANY. this could be an essay tbh! most, if not all of her fears stem from one thing and that’s illya. he has inflected so much fear and uncertainty into her life that it scares so much. also, blowing her identity is a very real fear of hers and where she has to be careful in normal day to day life not to make one wrong move.

if your character could relive one memory they have, which would they choose and why? if she could go back and relive on memory, it’d be the night that everything turned upside down and not for the reason one might think. nina would want to go to the beginning of the night. where everything was so exciting and thrilling with valerie. maybe to just take a peak into her old self, the old naivety of the world she had and get an idea who she once was.

#amore:task002 #( this took me forever! )#( also idk how to edit headers bc i suck buuut hopefully this looks ok )

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clannfearrunt · 5 years

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Ok so here’s two like.. Lore Villains in my sploon japanese period fantasy AU. They don’t interact with like, plot. Whoops. They just exist in the background and are well known Big Powerful Yokai. They’re on the top 10 dangerous yokai list. They’ll fuck you up.

Mata and Koma are a pair of giant cephalopod-like yokai usually referred to as Kraken. Legends say that they once terrorized the seas in their true colossal ceph forms, sinking ships, attacking settlements, trying to kill each other, or even causing great disasters just kind of existing as their gigantic selves. One day, people got fed up with their shit and sent a large group of the best exorcists, yokai hunters and the like to combine their powers to bind them to the land. Ever since then, Koma seems to have settled in some mountain in Northern [squid japan], and Mata has been known to prowl the Southern regions of the island. Even though they are no longer Huge As Fuck, the two continue to be a menace.

More Lore Underneath the cut:

Koma (the pink one, with the turtlle) mostly stays put within his mountain home, tending to his many pet turtles. However, he keeps a sharp eye out for any hapless travelers passing through his mountain - whether mortal or weaker yokai - so that he can trick them into engaging in a battle of wits against him, with the price being their life. It doesn’t actually matter if his victims beat him, he will still do his best to kill them and make a meal of them for both himself and his turtles. When disguising as a mortal, he prefers to mimic an elderly Octoling monk, though an attentive victim may realize that he has the wrong clothes and appears to have a pair of “arms” that end in suspiciously tentacle-like clubs. Just don’t talk to him. Leave. Tear up his crossword puzzle and fuckin get out of there. He’ll chase you, but you’d have a chance.

Mata (the blue one), on the other hand, prefers to travel near constantly along the southern regions of the island. He is known to occasionally attack and plunder villages, often accompanied by lesser yokai he has bullied into loose servitude. His real hobby, though, is in disguising himself as an attractive young Inkling traveler and finding a young Inkling woman to court. Inklings usually aren’t attentive enough to notice his slightly weird hair, which is why he prefers playing with them. Although he merely sees these as short fun flings, he often unintentionally gives the impression that he’s looking for a Serious Relationship, and usually ends up skedaddling when his girlfriend ends up with eggs. He really hates children, but especially his own - saddled with more power than a mortal should have to handle, many Half-Kraken Inklings eventually lose control and are killed when they go on a panic-fueled rampage. Mata enjoys pretending this is funny. Serves those girls right for trying to “cheat” on him with children, right? Right...

The two of them Fucking Hate Each Other. No one knows how it started. Of course, the fact that Mata keeps periodically breaking into Koma’s home to eat his turtles probably does contribute to it.

These two have several Abilities(tm) they have in common:

1.) While all mortal cephalopods can secrete mildly venomous saliva, the Krakens have a highly corrosive, long lasting venom that can melt through flesh and will probably absolutely kill you without magical intervention. They don’t use this very often, as accidentally getting it on their own skin is, while not lethal, Pretty Painful. Also, it’s boring, and makes an inedible mess. It sucks, dude.

2.) Their arms stretch. They’ve got fucking noodle arms. It’s theorized that this is simply a selective application of their apparent ability to change their size - after all, they must be able to shrink and enlarge significantly if they can become as small as a normal mortal or large enough to easily sink a fleet of ships. Koma does this a lot more than Mata ever does, because Koma does not care how dumb he looks with noodle arms happening. His turtles would never judge him.

3.) Perhaps the most troublesome of their abilities is their extremely fast regeneration. Mortals aren’t completely unfamiliar with high regeneration, as many mollusks and echinoderms are famously able to restore great amounts of lost tissue over time. However, the Krakens take this ability to the next level - most injuries, no matter how grave, will begin to heal in a matter of seconds. Magic, poison, and fire seems to slow this ability, but you’re probably better off shooting for poison and magic. Those two know about fire safety, they’re not just gonna sit there and let you burn them, and, like, they’re pretty moist. You can burn a specific location but they’re probably not gonna catch fire my dude. Any Half-Krakens you might encounter are probably not gonna be in the state of mind to remember stop, drop and roll though. Use fire there, go ahead. Still not that flammable though.

I don’t know how to wrap this up whoops. I guess like. While Mata and Koma do not directly interact with the AU... Main Plot Zone, I guess, they’re a force that anyone who deals in magic and shit have to keep an eye out for. The two Krakens, but more frequently Mata’s poor children, are one of the Top 10 Supernatural Hazards For Magical Types to Watch Out For. The scariest yokai are the ones that pretend to be mortals, after all.

Thanks for reading this AU Lore

#Conarts #Splatoon #IT'S SPLATOON.#Placeholder AU Tag #kraken up g major cover #eye contact #scopophobia #Squid 2 the evolution of the squid #Do You Remember The Kraken Dream from like. idk if it was in 2019 or 2018 man time is weird

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letsperaltiago · 5 years

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then together let us make a world | jake x amy |

Tooth-rotting fluff based on episode 7x01 coming through!

Read on ao3 here!

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It’s only after getting over the disappointment of Scully and Hitchcock's interview-hijack that it really hits Jake what had previously gone down: They’re going to start trying… for a baby. Gushing thoughts have completely corrupted his brain but they contain so much excitement, confidence he’s never quite felt before, and for this reason he doesn’t mind.

They’re going to start trying for a baby, a little tiny human being, that will be his and hers.

That evening Amy had brought up the pregnancy scare very delicately well aware of her husband’s much improved although still tentative feelings concerning the logistics of the baby-matter. Granted they’d crossed paths with the subject, multiple times, before Jake had indeed, and rather firmly, settled on the fact that, yes, he wanted to be a dad: specifically Amy Santiago’s child’s dad. What had up until now held him back was the question of when.

When would he be ready? When would the time be perfectly right? When would he be able to be the exact opposite of his own dad?

Even though Amy by all means knew her husband could never turn out to be a shitty dad, or shitty anything, for that matter, and of this she’d reassure time after time, she also knew there was understandable reasoning behind his apprehension. Or that was until tonight. Tonight he hadn’t needed her delicateness, though he appreciated it, and he hadn’t cared about his former apprehension. Tonight had been and felt different.

It was as if the second the word pregnant had escaped her lips, he’d instantly felt his heart skip a beat which he at first thought was alike previous nervous occasions, right up until giving it another nanosecond to realise that this time it wasn’t the case. Different from previous times this flutter felt good, thrilling, new and akin to what could only be described as his hopes and dreams about of this long awaited epiphany. And now… it was finally here.

Sitting in bed with her, the very equivalent of the most normal end of the day for them, nothing that felt more special and right as he’d said out loud what he so shamelessly had felt as a result of her little update. The words had flown out his mouth but, for once, his spontaneous declaration were at no one’s expense because, yes, he was ready.

And now, after watching the rest of the news and settling down for the night, it really hits Jake, as they’re lying there, how truly right it all feels. He’s currently tucked into bed with his head slightly propped up watch whatever nonsense is now on TV, alongside him Amy has fallen asleep with her head on his chest, left arm and leg wrapped lovingly around him. It does constrain most of his ability to move but at the very least allows him to have his left arm under, around and holding her close in return. Even considering how normal the evening feels, it also feels that more special, truly like the start of something brand new.

Just as yet another mind numbing commercial interrupts whatever he was mindlessly pretending to watch his eyes drop to look down upon Amy’s sleeping figure. There, his eyes are met by shiny black hair standing out against her pink shirt, indeed messy after a long day but not enough to come in-between his angle of view and her beautiful face. And there it is again, he realises: the stupid smile on his face that’ll appear out of nowhere without a warning the second his mind revisits the thought of the woman before him carrying their child. There is no helping it, he thinks, before letting his fingers run through the locks carefully as to not wake her up.

“Careful, Peralta,” she rumbles, startling him even though he won’t admit to it, half of her face currently smushed comfortably into his chest, nevertheless burying it in a lazy attempt at physical affection.

“You’re absolutely in deep now. There’s no going back,” she jokes through shut eyes although he can tell that there’s a smug grin hiding in his chest.

“Oh, honey I’ve been in deep for a long time now.”

He smiles down at her continuously playing with her hair. Her eyes are still closed but her hand, which seconds ago was helping her hold onto his torso, moves to stroke his bicep. However her smile, on the other hand, quickly changes, doesn’t remain smug for long, and quickly transitions from teasing to a softer version that reflects how she’s really feeling.

“I know it’s still really early and we literally just decided to start trying, but…” she trails off after suddenly opening her eyes, as if the moment has suddenly gained a certain tint of sincerity that wasn’t there seconds ago. “… have you thought about any, you know,” she takes the tiniest of breaths, inhaling courage, before twisting her neck as much as physically possible in her given position to lock eyes with him, “baby names?”

“I actually have,” he counters, once again taking her by storm, without a flinch or any kind of sign of insecurity. Amy’s so proud of him.

With a reassuring smile he reaches over to grab his phone from the nightstand, where it’d immediately been put aside when Amy had come to him with what he’d picked up on as important matter. He doesn’t even have to see at the look upon his wife’s face: he can sense that she’s beaming as he settles back against the pillow with his phone in hand.

“You made a list?” She’s truly surprised and impressed by just how much her A-typeness has worn off on him even if it’s just little things like lists.

“Yeah,” he states proudly before briefly clearing his throat thus prompting Amy to flip over, scooting back to lean her upper backside and head against his chest instead. It’s no secret that she’s extremely curious to get a look at a) her husband’s attempt at what she considers a hobby and b) what her husband considers legitimate names for their future child. This new position will allow her to look through the mystery-list with him. With both arms wrapped around her Jake holds and rests the devise on his belly for both of them to see

“…I actually started making it that evening after our talk at the hospital.”

Amy observes a slight reddening of his cheeks, perhaps not out of embarrassment per say but rather out of understanding of how very real the matter at hand has gotten. His list is no longer just a pile of names in his Notes-app where he’d, for fun and hypothetical reasons, add another one whenever he came across one he liked: now it’s a list that could quite possibly contain the name of their future child.

She grins from ear to ear way before he has the chance to start reading out loud. Just how in love with him she is keeps hitting her again and again, a thousand miles per hour, like lighting tearing apart the sky during a thunderstorm.

“The first name on the list you already know about since we’ve talked about it: Atlas.”

“Still kinda really like it,” Amy shrugs light-heartedly from where she’s comfortably leaning into him all while tracing small drawings of nothing in particular but affection his thigh.

“Our child would be the one to be named after a god, huh?” Jake teases earning him a chuckle from Amy.

“So unbiased,” she confirms jokingly.

“Exactly,” he briefly pecks the top of her head in agreement before continuing. “Alexander is up next.”

“Nu-uh!” Her body twists hurriedly in a tiny squirm of objection. “Perp-alert! I can’t have my child have the same name as one of my ex-perps.”

“Ames, combined we’ve probably arrested hundreds if not thousands of perps!”

While he can see her point: after all it is understandable that she doesn’t want their child to be associated with anything negative, this also erases a lot of possibilities on both their ends.

And although he is completely serious upon making his statement, he has to laugh at the thought of having to name their child something completely absurd because of the extremes of their job.

“I’m sure there’s plenty of names that haven’t been ruined by crime yet. There are literally billions of names out there!” On her part it is in fact a statement but ends up coming out as whine instead - a playful complaint of sorts.

“Sure,” he pauses to think for a second before pulling up a browser tab wherein starts typing obviously searching for something.

Amy’s eyes tries to keep up with his typing but Jake’s fingers have obtained their fair share of training from all the time he spends gaming on his phone, and it’s more of a struggle to follow than she likes to admit.

All she happens to catch is that as soon as he types the first few letters of whatever he’s searching to find, the website’s name pops up as a suggestion telling her that he’s visited it before. He swiftly enters it and clicks around a few more times losing her in the process. A long list appears on what appears to be babynames.com. The thought of him visiting it on his own time, by himself as… fun? It makes her heart flutter.

“It won’t be a problem if you want our child to be called… Agamemnon.”

She immediately twists her neck to look up at him where she’s met by a deadpan she knows is trying to hide the fact that he’s cracking up on the inside.

“I mean,” she untwists her neck to grab the phone from his hand in order to have a closer look at the screen and what is written about the name. “We do seem to have something for Greek mythology so I don’t see the problem, Jake.”

Jake knows Amy like the back of his hand and it’s clear as day that she’s messing with him – but of course two can play that game.

“Okay, great,” he states matter-of-factly, “It’s settled then: we’re naming our child Agamemnon Santiago-Peralta - boy or girl.”

He gently takes back his phone to lock it as a visual settlement of the discussion.

“Okay. Cool cool cool…” Amy complies.

Silence dominates the bedroom for a few seconds before Amy twists her neck, both looking at each other trying to figure out when to kill the joke. Their shared look doesn’t last long before they break into laughter.

“I’m sorry, Ames, but you will never hear me call our child Agamemnon out loud.”

“Completely fair.”

Both of their laughs quiet down. Amy settles back down against his chest while Jake reopens his phone and Notes-app.

“What else do you have in there? I’m sure there are some genuinely good contestants.” She almost coos in order to get the conversation back and track, although more importantly to let him know she genuinely wants to hear his propositions.

This time it’s Amy turn to gentle grab the phone from him and scroll. He loves moments like these where they’re just soaking in each other’s presence without much else to do but talk or touch for the sake of it. To occupy himself in the meantime Jake allows his newly freed hands to caress her the area around her waist and stomach now suddenly also better known as where their child will be growing, becoming a tiny little individual, in what he sincerely hopes is a matter of months. A year ago he couldn’t fathom the feeling this feeling of impatience to be dad, yet alone truly, surely wanting a child. In a drastic lift-changing contrast, here they finally were, going through baby names like it was the most common thing in their world.

“Olivia is nice… Felix also good… Noah is adorable…”

Jake can tell, from the tone of her voice, that she genuinely means every single comment she makes, which wholeheartedly provokes a feeling of pride and the feeling of he can do this. The sound of her voice threats to lull him into a trancelike state, and for a moment allows his eyes to shut while he lets his ears do the job of keeping of with Amy discovering his lists. Just like his eyes, his hand’s movement on her are about to falter when suddenly his wife lets out a tiny gasp. It’s safe to say that his eyes are, just as fast as they were closed, back wide open.

“This one is really sweet,” he can tell she’s smiling from the way her voice is laced with softness. “Juliet,” she continues, out loud, to allow it to roll on her tongue and for herself to get a better taste of it.

Jake gives her some time to dwell on it before speaking up.

“Yeah, I added it after that night we watched ‘Letters to Juliet’… I don’t know if it’s too sappy for my own good, but I like the thought of the baby being like…”

Amy can tell he hesitates to finish the sentence.

“What?” she looks up at him with an eager look: only those beautiful brown eyes that at any time can calm him down, can also lure him out of his emotionally wounded shell.

“… This baby is going to be like our little love letter.”

A few beats, a matter of seconds, go by and Amy can tell he’s just about to break into cringing and a string of sarcastic comments to redeem what he’s just said. Only this time he doesn’t make it, because Amy Peralta-Santiago lives for Jake’s occasional super-soft moments and she’s not about to let this one slip away.

It’s, or so it feels, out of the blue, just as the cringe starts to break on his face, that he halts when his wife suddenly does a 180 and relocates to hover above him. He briefly, just barely manages to, catches the glimpse of a smile on her face that tells him that he’s doing just fine. That is before it disappears into a soft, warm kiss pressed to his lips.

As so many times before, an amount that he forever hopes will be infinite, their lips come together in sweet, passionate harmony.

“Don’t say anything,” she pecks the corner of his lip so softly the need for more pressure creates a burning sensation. “I love it,” she whispers into his ear, adding a kiss to the shell before moving her way back to the main target, sparking off goose bumps.

Her hands have already, even before their lips crashed, made their way to cup his face secretly enjoying the light, barely there, scruff beneath her touch.

“I love you,” he exhales, just barely making it out between clashing of their lips.

“I love you too,” is promptly returned as so many times before although it, even after being repeated many times throughout the years, never loses its true value.

He loves her so much, he can’t help but think over and over again as he the billions of baby names quickly disappear from his mind under the new, increasingly passionate circumstances. Nothing else in the world matters anymore because they’re just going to start trying.

Yeah, seriously.

#jake and amy #jake x amy #peraltiago fanfic #peraltiago #s7 #Brooklyn Nine-Nine #b99 #fanfiction #oneshot #baby peraltiago

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roksanas · 4 years

Text

ROKSANA SIRSK - CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT QUESTIONNAIRE

BASICS -

1. Height?

Roksana is 5’4.

2. Eye colour?

Dark brown.

3. Do they need glasses?

Nah baby this human has 20/20 vision and can see in regular and magical darkness for 120 feet. It’s an invocation, but she will claim she’s just more evolved than most humans.

4. Scars and birthmark?

She has quite a few prominent scars on her hands from burns and cuts when she was training as a blacksmith. She also has a long, vertical scar beneath her ribs from a job that went sideways. She almost died before getting to a cleric; she doesn’t talk about it.

5. Tattoos and piercings?

On her right ear she has 3 lobe piercings, an industrial and a forward helix, and on her left she has a helix, a tragus, and 3 lobe piercings. As for tattoos, she has the symbols of Dol Arrah, Milil, Lathander, and the Raven Queen down her left forearm, and the symbols of Dol Dorn, Tymora, Malar, Sune down her right forearm.

6. Right or left handed?

Sana does most things with her right hand, but she’s trained herself to be useful with both in battle.

7. Any disabilities? Physical or mental.

Sana has lost most of the hearing in her left ear, and as such is hard of hearing.

8. Do they have any allergies?

Roksana is allergic to dogs and NO ONE is allowed to talk to her about it.

9. Favourite colour?

Black, or navy blue.

10. Typical outfits?

Sana likes well-made clothing, and most of her spending is on clothes. She wears mostly black and white. A lot of her tops are blouses, often sporting either lace, embroidery, or flowy sleeves. She loves elaborate dresses, corsets worn in untraditional ways, and interesting belt buckles. If she’s on a job, she wears a breastplate underneath a cloak or a powerful-looking coat. She’s also a fan of leather gloves.

11. Do they wear any makeup?

Sana rarely wears makeup, but she can’t resist a bit of eyeliner here and there.

12. What weapon do they use, if any?

She almost exclusively uses Obit, which is both her pact blade and her spellcasting focus. Obit likes to call itself Darthranok, and speaks to her telepathically.

PERSONALITY -

13. Are they more optimistic or pessimistic?

Sana considers herself a realist, which is to say...she’s mostly pessimistic. If she has any optimism left, it resides in Zari, who does her best to see the light in every situation when Sana is focusing on solutions. She doesn’t waste a lot of time on pessimism, but she certainly doesn’t expect anything good from others or from any situation she walks into.

14. Are they introverted or extroverted?

Introverted. Definitely charismatic and a skilled socializer, but she only gains energy when she’s alone or only around people who are close to her.

15. What are their pet peeves?

Most of Sana’s pet peeves are exhibited by her clients. She hates when people explain things slowly when she didn’t ask them to, she hates when people aren’t punctual - particularly with their payments - and she hates when people act like they know her. Above all, she hates being pitied, and even annoys herself when she gets caught up in the habit of self-pitying. Some smaller pet peeves include loud chewers, Zari wearing her clothes, and people standing too close to her.

16. What bad habits do they have?

She picks at her nails, leans back in pretty much every chair she sits in, and leaves loose strands of hair littered about the house. She always thinks she’s right, she consistently asks too much for the jobs she undertakes, and she tries to get to know people without letting them know her.

17. Do they have any phobias?

The most constant fear she has, the one that gives her the most nightmares, is losing Zari. When she’s away from Khaggon, it often keeps her up at night and she’s considering bringing her sister along on all her jobs again.

18. How do they display affection?

Acts of service all the way. She doesn’t get close with many people, but when she does choose to let someone in she’s very all-or-nothing. She will go out of her way to get that person what they need, and loves to provide for the people she loves. She’s not especially physically affectionate, but when she’s exhausted she can’t deny that she likes to cuddle.

19. How competitive are they?

Oh, god. You don’t wanna know. If she gets even the slightest idea that someone’s coming for her job or for her money, she will go to extreme lengths to make sure they never try that again. She also tends to swear and yell a bit too much when playing card games.

20. If they could change one thing about themselves, what would it be?

She’d like to be a bit softer, a bit more trusting, a bit more open-hearted - if she could manage.

21. Do they have any obscure hobbies or routines?

She loves making her own knives, especially ones that are just for display with elaborate handles. For the past five years, she’s had an omelette for breakfast every morning that she hasn’t been in the wild or otherwise incapacitated. She reorganizes her closet and jewelry once or twice a month, just for kicks. She likes to gamble.

BACKSTORY -

22. What are the names and ages of their close family members? Parents, siblings, etc.

Zari, her sister, is thirteen. Esfir, her mother, would be fifty-two, and her father, Ashkin, would be fifty-one. Roksana was also close to her maternal grandmother, Shirin, who would be eighty-five now.

23. Is their family alive and are they still in contact with them?

Esfir and Ashkin have been dead for almost three and thirteen years respectively, and Shirin has been dead for eight years. Her sister is very much alive, and very much in contact with her.

24. Where are they from? City, nation?

Runswick born-and-raised, though she currently lives in Khaggon.

25. Did they have a childhood best friend?

Ever since she can remember, Sana’s best friend has been a girl named Evangeline. She’s a wealthy merchant’s daughter, and has recently started a family in Runswick. They rarely see each other anymore, but they do still write to each other.

26. Have they had any pets?

The only pet she had growing up was a cat named Stinky. She found him as a stray when she was ten, and he had an incredibly pungent smell. Since then, she always wanted a dog, but their fur gives her hives and their dandruff stuffs her up - so, instead, she got Zari a gray tabby. (Zari’s always liked cats better, anyway.) Her sister named him Quincy, and though Sana is sure he’ll never be as great as Stinky, she is glad that Zari has company when she’s away.

27. Did they grow up rich or poor? What were their living conditions like?

Sana lived in a small home, and had very little excess in her upbringing. Her parents were both righteous and honorable, and usually found that justice was all the payment they needed for their adventures. They did, however, provide Sana and Zari with what they needed, though some months were pretty tight.

28. What is their educational background?

Sana was taught by Evangeline’s governess until she was fifteen.

29. As a child, what did they want to be when they grew up?

Until her father died, she thought perhaps she would be a paladin just like her parents. Then she wanted to be a blacksmith, of course.

30. What advice would they give to their younger self?

Honestly, she’d probably try to dash her hopes earlier in life. She’d tell herself to get used to things not going right. She’d probably be a badder bitch if she let go of childish dreams earlier on. This, however, is far from any advice she’d ever give to Zari.

31. Growing up, were they ever bullied or were they the bully?

She probably made fun of a boy here and there, but she was never bullied. In fact, after her father died, she was treated with so much pity that it makes her gag thinking about it. Even the children in her neighborhood acted like she was fragile.

32. Who do they look up to/who is their role model?

Herself, tbh. But also Zari, because she’s extremely emotionally intelligent and good at a lot of things that she struggles with.

PRESENT -

33. Do they currently have a place of residence?

Yes, she has a small home in Khaggon that she paid for in coin.

34. What is their most treasured possession?

If not Obit, then this particularly sharp and rad dagger that she made herself with a raven’s head as the hilt.

35. What is their drink of choice?

Any sort of liquor. She likes shots.

36. Which king/queen are they loyal to, if any?

Rolland, if she has to choose. She surely doesn’t trust him, but Hegaehend is her home, and she won’t side with anyone who’s trying to invade it.

37. Have they ever killed anyone?

Oh, yeah. She’d never call herself an assassin, but she has been paid to kill specific marks, or paid to finish jobs that had no restrictions on who was left dead or alive. Her sword also feeds on life force, and she doesn’t want to know what will happen if it gets too hungry.

38. What was their last promise and did they keep it?

She promises Zari that she’ll be safe every time she leaves, and she hasn’t died yet, so she considers that a promise kept.

LOVE -

39. What was their first kiss like, if they’ve had one?

Sloppy, gross. She was thirteen and had a crush on the guy for an entire year, and then everything good she’d ever thought about him disappeared when he shoved his tongue down her throat. He tasted like ham.

40. Are they in a relationship/have a love interest?

Nope. She has friends with benefits scattered here and there, but she wouldn’t consider them love interests.

41. Have they ever been in love?

Yes. When Sana was twenty-one, she fell head-over-heels with a half-elf named Mikas. They’d grown up in the same social circle, and he had a tendency to flirt with everyone in that social circle. But after a long night out and a talk under the stars, things were different between them. They were inseparable for a year, and it was a good year, but after that year came two more years that were much less enjoyable.

42. Have they ever had their heart broken?

Of course. She gave her all in the relationship with Mikas. It was the most vulnerable she’d ever been with someone, and he probably still knows her better than anyone. But he still didn’t want to be with her. After that one good year, he stopped trying. He stopped finding time to spend with her, stopped making her feel heard, and then he left her for some girl he hardly knew. Now, she won’t accept anything less than 100% effort from a romantic partner - not that she particularly wants one.

SPIRITUALITY -

43. Do they follow a god, if so who?

Nope! She has those religious symbols tattooed on her mostly as a joke. Probably insensitive, but she likes to keep people guessing about what her religious background is. She’s also still pretty bitter about gods and what they expect of their champions.

44. What do they think happens to them after death?

Regardless of her religious beliefs, she likes to believe in an afterlife. She’s seen ghosts and other kinds of spirits, and she likes to believe that if someone deserves to live on past their mortal life, then they will. It helps her sleep at night to think that the people she kills will live on if they deserve to, and that if they don’t deserve to, then she did the world a service.

45. What is their spirit animal?

Listen I know I said lion for Avi, but she’s a Leo so how can I not say lion…….otherwise maybe a raven or smth.

#romtask #about #( i wrote this extremely quickly and i feel like very few of these are well thought out so just....#take it with a grain of salt )

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