#they've been raised together almost like siblings but not really

[isfjmel-phleg]

Before Tamett and Josiah leave for school in Book 3, it has been an established rule that they do not travel together. Not that they travel to the same places but separately, but that Tamett does not accompany the royal family on any trip they may take, whether for public appearances, or state visits, or vacations. The reason for this is that he is simply not needed at these times. He is there primarily to do lessons with Josiah, which are less of a priority while traveling (but still done if possible! Josiah is typically expected to squeeze in some serious reading and an essay or two while on the road). There is no point in his being present for public appearances or state visits because he is not a member of the royal family. Which also disqualifies him from family vacations--he is not being paid to enjoy himself by the sea or in the mountains, and these times are usually when he gets a chance to go home.

As much as he enjoys going home, he has low-key resented getting left out of going anywhere potentially fun or interesting.

So there is one advantage to being sent away to school--he gets to take a steamship for the first time, gets to see more of the world...gets to learn that Josiah is a) extremely prone to motion sickness and b) extremely embarrassed about it, especially in front of Tamett, whom he currently hates, and therefore deals with it by being particularly impossible. And it's now solely Tamett's responsibility to look after him at these times.

This is not overly important. I just felt like mentioning it.

[despairparfait]

CHASING AWAY A BOYFRIEND. — j. leech.

i. SYNOPSIS. You introduced your boyfriend to your older brother, and as a result he ran for the hills. What, why are you looking at Jade like that for? No, it's nothing to do with him. It's your boyfriend's fault for being such a coward.

ii. PREMISE. jade leech x sibling!reader.

It was extremely obvious from the very moment that you walked in with said new boyfriend, that Jade was planning on being as relentlessly ruthless as he has been every time before. Despite Floyd being unable to attend the meeting until later on, and the ever-so-polite smile on his face, he very clearly had zero intentions of being welcoming to this new tide coming in.

As he held the lounge door open for you both, the most you could do was sigh once you made direct eye contact with him, noting the way his eyes momentarily flashed with a sinister glint. You could tell from the second-long observation alone that he was clearly going to enjoy the torment of this afternoon. He carefully consulted his work hours with Azul around this meeting, what else could scream that he's looking forward to this more than that?

You had warned your boyfriend in advance of the very.. specific and strange criteria of the ideal man that your brothers attempt to enforce, and how they can be extremely aggressive in their way of figuring out whether one fits it. But alas, being aware of this fact, and attending NRC so therefore being familiar with the danger that the twins pose, he insisted that he wished to meet them anyway. So really, with that stubbornness, there isn't very much more you could do to protect him from them. Or in this case, just Jade, who is definitely going to be twice as difficult to make up for Floyd's absence.

"It has been quite the long time since they've introduced a significant other to the family," The Octavinelle housewarden mused as he gently lowered a tray onto the table. Before perching himself down opposite, he was sure to hospitably pour a drink for you both. You kept a sharp watch on every little movement that he made, and it was thanks to that, did you notice the two teapots. Why two?

Your eyes narrowed as you watched him, every move looking so professional and calculated. Paired with the butler-like, welcoming smile which never left his features for even an instant, one would almost believe that he was genuine.

"So I must admit that I have been eagerly anticipating this meeting ever since it was first planned," It was then did you notice it. After setting your own expensive-looking china teacup down before you, the liquid an almost transparent vermillion which emitted steam with a fragrance that smelled positively intoxicating, he had laid the teapot back down and discarded it. Reaching for the other and proceeding to pour the second drink as if there were nothing to worry about. Placing it before the boy sat beside you, he sat down himself. Folding his hands together politely over the table as he smiled. "Though it's a shame that Floyd cannot be here to witness it, I'm sure this interaction is going to make my week."

As the boy beside you began to somewhat sheepishly respond to your brother's words, your gaze stayed on the two steaming cups presented neatly on the table between you. The two looked identical, from the color to the steam. Yet you know better than to merely shrug such a thing off, especially from Jade. So you raised your head, glancing around quickly for a momentary distraction.

"Well I don't come from anywhere as interesting as the sea, but—"

Leaning forwards comfortably and side-eying the next table, you sneakily twirled your finger before placing your attention back on Jade, who looked to be earnestly listening to what the boy had to say about himself. All his achievements in his two years in the Scarabia dorm, his family, his... financial situation? He seemed to be putting everything out and into the open.

Though attention was diverted when a large pop could be heard from somewhere close. The next table was where. Out of the blue, totally not the work of anybody's magic, and to the future stress of no particular octopus, somebody's drink had exploded. The pressure of the fizzy liquid being too much for the bottle to contain, and the cap shooting up quickly as drink began to spill. It had gained the startled look of the boy beside you long enough to swap the two teacups.

You were sure to shoot Jade the meanest glare, to which he merely shrugged his shoulders with that same closed-eye smile. As if to say: 'it was worth a shot', perhaps.

The situation with the neighboring table was calmed relatively quickly, and the conversation about how kind the Scarabia housewarden is continued. You listened in, reaching out for the tea which was likely dosed with something Jade found on the nearest mountain, and bringing it up to your nose to sniff. Upon noticing you do so and being reminded that it was there, your boyfriend did the same while continuing to chatter. You noted the nice smell, a sweet smell, a much more enticing aroma than the one which was yours before.

Daring to bring it to your lips, you took a cautionary sip. Eyes widening once you comprehended what your tastebuds had just graced. This... is just regular sweet tea? How could this be?

Peering up at Jade, you found the eel sitting there looking extremely smug. His eyes had darkened dangerously, teeth akin to knives on full display as he made eye contact with you. It was this expression which made you realize that you had lost, your moves were predicted long before the game was even in play. You lost, and everything you had bet now belongs to Jade.

"How do you like the tea?" His eyes shifted to your boyfriend, who was holding in a violent choke in an attempt to be polite. The expression that Jade was wearing, it scared him a lot. All sense of hospitality being dragged away by the current. "It's a special blend in the Leech family, you see. A particular favorite of my dear sibling here."

There was a long silence, before the boy suddenly stood from his seat. You stared at Jade in shock. "P-Please excuse me! I n-need the bathroom, I will be right back!"

"I can never have nice things..." You sighed, putting down the cup and leaning your cheek into your palm. They never do come right back, they only say that to be polite. Not to mention that if they were to, there would only be yet another method of deterrence a hundred times worse. "I never can, thanks to you two."

"Ehh you have us?" Practically on cue, a pair of arms wrapped around your upper body from behind, a familiar heavy weight leaning over your back. It was Floyd. "Right, Jade?!"

"Indeed you do," The other Leech twin replied, visibly proud of himself. "You have us both, do you not?"

"Wait, did I already miss it? Awww, I wanted to be the one to chase the sucker awayy..."

[aloeverified]

i’m curious do u have any headcanons abt wayne and raj… they are the characters ever

yes 💪

their fullnames are raj kapoor & wayne graham (the most candian name ever for the most candian character ever).

wayne was always way taller than raj growing up, but now they're roughly around the same height. it's just not obvious to most people since wayne wears boots and raj sticks with his trusty converse. raj is just pushing 5'10 and wayne's a little over 5'11.

raj has two younger siblings who are twin brother and sister and are much younger than he is. wayne is an only child, but their families are so intertwined that they basically consider him their older brother too.

they're juniors in high school (assuming that's how it works in canada, too lazy to google it rn) and are about seventeen. they don't look or act super young, but they still got the "when i'm older" type of vibe that most people who are right about to graduate don't really have.

they've been best friends for a while, but not quite childhood best friends. i think they met during gym class of sixth grade and just instantly hit it off due to their shared interests in sports and humor.

raj's parents are first generation immigrants so they're not completely fluent in english and have a bit of an accent when they talk. since his moms raised him to be the most highly of gentlemen, wayne asked raj to teach him a bit of telugu so he could make polite conversation with them whenever he came over without all the pressure being on them. that was his first step to almost being immediately adopted by them.

this actually caused them to both realize they really enjoy studying languages. they continued studying telugu together, with raj tutoring wayne. wayne also decided to take up french classes early, and raj had his parents sign him up to learn the basics of other southern indian languages they knew. they both view this as a helpful skill for when they're international hockey stars, of course.

they live in a decently smaller-sized town, so despite not being neighbors, they still find a way to be at each other's house every other day. they switch off depending on what they're feeling, and their parents learned to accept that they're a package deal that comes and goes whenever they please.

since his parents discovered he was gay through the show rather than raj actually coming out to him, they — along with wayne's moms — thought it would be funny to turn his coming home party from the show into a coming out party as well. raj realized this when he cut into the cake and it was rainbow inside.

his family was very adamant about showing raj how supportive they are. he wasn't sure why, as their best friends were a lesbian couple and his best friend was the son of said couple, but they still repeatedly told him how proud of him they were and how much they loved him. the only pushback he received was his nani complaining about how he wasn't allowed to date until he was thirty and that this bowie boy was ruining that.

teacher hate these two. they never shut up in class, will ditch their assigned partners to work with each other, never get their work done, and yet still manage to have good grades (because they know they won't be able to play otherwise). no one understands how they do it.

they always have the most over-the-top cartoony outfits for spirit weeks. even the asb and student council kids find it embarrassing how much school spirit they have.

besides their accidental menace behavior, they never actually get into any real trouble at school. the only time they've ever gotten suspended was when wayne wanted to test his new padding gear and rammed himself into the lockers at full force and nearly killed himself while raj recorded.

because of their ridiculous stunts they like to post, wayne has a bit of a following on social media. he doesn't really do it to be an influencer or for attention or anything, he just likes being able to look back on all the fun moments he and rajie have together. that's one of the reasons they were so eager to be on total drama, to showcase their awesome friendship and have the tapes of all their fun challenges together.

they work part-time at the local ice rink, where they were able to land jobs due to their skills on the ice. they even work the same shift most of the time since they have the same availability hours, although they switch off between standing behind the counter and supervising on the ice. sometimes they both get to help out with the little league hockey teams, though, which they both really enjoy.

[fbfh]

who wants to hear my unhinged idea for Lucas Friar's backstory?? (full disclosure I haven't watched girl meets world in a minute so take any details with a grain of salt if they contradict canon but they gave us absolutely no information about lucas so probably not) TW: emotionally distant serial cheater father, brief mention of postpatrum depression pain killer addiction and rehab, implied microagressions/racism

okay I'm just gonna jump right in and spill the tea. Pappy Joe Friar raised Lucas's dad, Waylon, on their family's ranch, and his wife died before they could have any more kids. Waylon dreamed of something bigger and went to fancy business school and got a fancy high paying job, completely forgot his roots, and turned into a workaholic jerk. He cheated on his first wife with Lucas's mom Jenna, but they didn't have any kids, so the first divorce was fast and clean. Waylon wanted Jenna to step up as this perfect socialite wife, but between that and trying to take care of a baby practically by herself, it got to be too much for her. between all that and the postpartum depression, she developed a painkiller addiction. Waylon cheated on her with his third wife, but eventually figured out something was wrong and sent her to a rehab and wellness center. In the process, she lost custody of Lucas, and Waylon stopped her from being able to see him or contact him at all to proctect his family's reputation. He had two kids with his third wife when Lucas was a kid, then eventually they divorced due to Waylon cheating on her (yet again) and her stealing money from him. They spend weeks with Waylon and weekends with their mom.

His fourth wife Grace is the one that really stuck, and they have four more kids together. His dad isn't around much, and when he is, things are tense, so Lucas spends as much time at Pappy Joe's ranch as he can get away with. At this point, Lucas has a lot of anger and frustration, but can't do anything about it and can't disobey his father or harm their reptuation, which leaves him being really fucking angry all the time in 6th and 7th grade. His siblings are all too young for him to feel like he can bond with them, his stepmom is nice enough but she's preoccupied with the younger kids and he feels like she doesn't care about him. All this comes to a boiling point when the fight happens. He'd gotten in some scraps before, mostly jumping at any opporunity to stand up to kids getting bullied as an excuse to get out some agression. He already has two strikes on his school's baseball team, but it just doesn't make him feel better like it used to, so he doesn't really care.

It finally reaches a breaking point when some kid with an edgy sense of humor starts making fun of Zay. He doesn't even get a warning, Lucas just loses his shit. The kid ends up in the hospital and Lucas ends up expelled and Waylon ends up with his reputation ruined. So, he punishes Lucas in the only way he knows how to, by dragging his ass to new york. He tells him he got transfered, but he's been spearheading a new york branch of his company for months if not years by now. It's too good of an opportuinity, too much money to turn down, plus he can leave Grace and the rest of the kids in texas (they've been talking about seperating at this point, she's thinking some distance will clear his head). Grace told Waylon that if he takes Lucas away from his friends and his hometown it'll crush him, that he should just let her try to talk to him, maybe let him stay with Pappy Joe for a while. He always does so much better on the ranch than in the city, and Waylon almost agreed. But if there's one thing this man can't do, it's let his son be happy. He doesn't want Lucas to live some slow non glamorous ranch life that he hated growing up, so he takes him to the city.

Pappy Joe had a talk with him before he left, a really serious man to man talk about responsibility, handling anger, knowing when to stop, and learning about what it means to be a man. That talk was one of the most pivotal moments in Lucas's life. He thinks about what Pappy Joe said every day, about the real way to protect the people you love is to make them feel safe around you, about taking responsibility for your actions, about listening to your head and your heart before your impulses. Pappy Joe shaped him into the Lucas we know and love. Knowing that makes it even more meaningful when he does go into Texas mode, because that means he's completely and totally thought it through. He's looked at this from every angle in every way, and has still come to the conclusion that someone needs to get their goddamn ass kicked. The difference between harmless and peaceful is choosing to be peaceful. Lucas Friar is peaceful.

Starting in high school for every trip back to Texas, Lucas is able to make a little bit more peace with Grace, especially when he sees how much all of his little siblings look up to him. He didn't think she cared, he didn't think any of them did. But when he stops by to say hi in person and Grace drops what she's doing and wipes the flour off her hands with a tea towel and pulls him into a tight hug and gasps, "Oh! You've grown so much, let me look at you..." his stomach twists and his throat closes up because that's how Topanga looks at Riley and how Katie looks at Maya and he thinks if for some reason he can't get to Pappy Joe when he has a problem, maybe he can come to Grace. And when all his little brothers and sisters run over to tackle him in hugs and scream about how much they miss him and show him their drawings and legos and the dance they made up, he can only think about Riley and Augie and he realizes Waylon's actions aren't Graces fault or his sibling's fault anymore than they're Lucas's, and maybe his family isn't quite as small and broken as he thought it was.

[navree]

Do you have any headcanons for our golden boi sunfyre ? 🥺

Sunfyre my beloved I'm so sorry all this happened to you in my perfect world absolutely nothing goes wrong with him whatsoever and he gets to live a long and happy life being the prettiest boy in all of Planetos.

I think it's, like, basically canon but technically not confirmed, that Sunfyre is a hatchling from Dreamfyre, given the name similarities and the fact that Dreamfyre is much older (my pet theory is that Sunfyre's egg is Thee Egg that Rhaenyra chose for Baby Baelon and that Daemon subsequently stole).

Sunfyre was not a cradle hatchling. It appears that none of the (on screen) Hightower-Targaryen children had cradle hatchlings (given that Helaena claimed an already old dragon between episodes 6 and 7 and Aemond of course claimed the oldest dragon), either because none of their eggs hatched or Alicent just wasn't placing eggs in their cradles for it. Around when Aegon was two or three, still very young, he somehow got his hands on Sunfyre's egg, and soon after Sunfyre hatched. Sunfyre has never known a life without Aegon in it, and Aegon barely remembers a time where he didn't have Sunfyre. They practically grew up together, though Sunfyre at a much quicker rate.

Seeing as dragons are meant to have an intelligence level on par with humans (even tho ASOIAF and all related media kinda seems to forget that and has relegated them to the role of "cats" but with nukes attached), Sunfyre is aware that he is The Hot Girl. Sunfyre is ridiculously vain, any time he's flying with Aegon on him to command him, he's primping and preening and deliberately flying into as much sun exposure as he can so everyone can see the glint of gold off his scales.

Sunfyre and Aegon are ridiculously close. Far closer than any other dragon and their rider that we've seen in the entire franchise. Yes, even closer than Dany and her children (Dany would have won out but being the first person to raise dragons in over a century means that she clearly doesn't have the right tools for it which is why the kids get rascally in ADWD in a way we didn't see at the Targaryen peak). Like, however close you think they are because of the canon stuff (Aegon's grief when he died, Sunfyre literally dragging his broken body to Dragonstone because he sensed Aegon was there and needed him, all that horrible stuff), that's the tip of the iceberg. They're close not just emotionally but honestly to the point where it's almost like they have a psychic bond. It's rare that Aegon even needs to speak commands verbally, he and Sunfyre know each other incredibly well, almost as if they can literally just sense what's in each other's heads, feel each other's emotions incredibly keenly (that thing dragons and dragonriders have where they can physically feel each other's pain, but multiply it by one thousand). It's borderline mystical, especially when factoring in that both Aegon and Sunfyre only seem to start really recovering from their respective Rook's Rest wounds after they've been reunited on Dragonstone, as if they literally needed each other's presence in order to heal.

Stolen from Twitter (can't remember which account but I saw it and I wept like a baby): Aegon sings to Sunfyre sometimes. Sunfyre really, really likes it. Like, basically turns into a huge overgrown kitten when that happens, tries to get all cuddly even though he knows that Aegon's too small for it now that he's gotten big.

Sunfyre does have a certain amount of affection that extends to other members of Aegon's family, his mother and siblings in particular, and even to their dragons. Yes, even Vhagar. Doesn't matter that she's ancient and bigger and dragon mee-maw, he'll still go into attack mode if someone attempts to fuck her up. Also, a bit cracky considering we don't technically know the full mental faculties of dragons, but he's closest to Tessarion, given that they're closer in age and also Daeron's apparently a natural sweetheart and that temperament might extend to Tessarion as well. (Addendum to this: Sunfyre spent a lot of time flying with Aemond and Vhagar when Aemond was recovering. Not even just when Aegon was babysitting and making sure Aemond wasn't at risk, but literally just if he was out around the same time as Aemond and Vhagar, he hovered a lot, just to be sure. Aemond has never talked about it but he thinks of it sometimes, when he sees Aegon drunk and wet eyed and feels that twinge of disgust and envy that he tries to push down, when he remembers there's more to Aegon than seen by the naked eye)

This is less about Sunfyre himself and more about his relationship with Aegon, but the bond Sunfyre and Aegon have was Aegon's first real taste of feeling unconditional and requited love. The bond with Sunfyre was the first time in his life Aegon felt that the love he was giving out was being returned to him, and that he wasn't at risk of losing it, the way he's afraid he's done with his siblings and with Alicent. It's why, even above everything else they share, Sunfyre is so important to him, and why he's gutted and griefstricken to the point of kinslaying when Sunfyre dies.

Aegon calls Sunfyre almost primarily by pet names, even when giving verbal commands. And like, really intimate pet names, the kind of pet names you save for, like, your kids. He calls him "sweetling" and "my darling" and "golden boy" and things of that sort all.the.time. Why do I think this? Because my brain spat "Sunfyre sniffs at the blood in the air. Aegon knows now is when he says the word, the fateful word, but he cannot speak through his heart pounding in his throat. Kill her, beloved, he thinks. Kill her for what her ambition did to us. To you. Even to me. Sunfyre shifts, and a keening growl rumbles low in his ruined chest." out at me and I have not known peace since.

When Sunfyre was still small enough and Aegon's siblings and Hell, even the Strong kids were still little, they all adored Sunfyre. They coddled him relentlessly and basically cooed over him 24/7, and both Aegon and Sunfyre were absolutely thrilled with it. Even when down in the Dragonpit with them, before shit started going sideways when some people had dragons and others didn't and the bullying and all, Sunfyre would still put on a bit of a show (as I said, vain) before Aegon would make him behave, which was Aegon's own version of his own show in displaying the bond and mastery he and Sunfyre have with each other.

Aegon had Sunfyre's skull prepped to line the walls of the throne room in accordance to House Targaryen traditions. Aegon III did take it down eventually (obviously, given the memory association), but he only took it down after Alicent Hightower had died and that last shredding of her children's legacy wouldn't hurt her anymore.

[radiokathryn-if]

What are their thoughts about marriage and kids?

MARRIAGE

Nate only proposed to Eva to attach his name to her and her upcoming fame. He thinks marriage would "tie him down too much" when he's a free bird "for the people, don't want to disappoint." (he's a dick with commitment issues and an ego the size of the sun)

Eva has been dreaming of a perfect wedding since she was ten years old. She was chosen to be a flower girl in her aunt's wedding and fell in love with the whole thing… which is probably why she's still so hung up on the ring on her finger even though the person who gave it to her has lost her love.

Mica is not fussed with marriage. They don't think a relationship needs to cumulate to marriage for it to mean something real or for forever. Would be content to just be with you──you both know how much it means to you. Bonus if you're the same gender: you become the infamous 'friends who live together and everyone assumes you're together but they never confirm or deny' couple of the neighborhood.

Detective Han is surprisingly into the thought of marriage. It's only a thought that comes to them after they've dedicated themselves to you for a long while but it's one that makes them smile. Won't go extravagant for the wedding though, a smaller one would be great.

José would love to get married! They're a romantic at heart. Might actually propose first but would love it if you proposed at the same time (it's a secret dream of theirs). They'd want a big wedding but keep it simple, they don't need everything to be perfect they just want to marry you!

Ji Han will be so into the wedding planning process it's actually quite funny. He wants everything to be perfect for the two of you and it happens because he's made of magic. Husband material 100%.

One of Fauve's biggest dreams is to be one of those people that's been engaged for forever. She doesn't want to get married purely because she liked the sound of 'fiance' over 'wife'. That's the reason. She's might try to convince you to play along and keep proposing to each other every few years... keep people wondering 'aren't they already engaged???'

Jackson's not rushing to get married again. Marriage is kind of ruined for him at the moment. If it's important to you he may come around but other wise it's not really an adventure he wants to run through again.

??? is sceptical about marriage they have parental issues but not so much they hate it. They'd prefer a really small wedding of just you, a couple of witnesses and the officiant.

KIDS

Nate would rather die than be a father. It might be because of his own parents but he won't even entertain the thought.

Eva would like a child. She's the youngest of two girls──Marisol being almost seven years older than her however meant they didn't have much in common growing up. She's a little scared about pregnancy and birth but she's willing to do it at least once. Her feelings might change after the child is born if she'd want another but one child is enough for now! (She secretly wishes for a girl but she will not shun a boy, she was raised better than that!)

Mica likes children. Children are cool. They don't think that being a parent is for them though. It's not a deal breaker but it's not something they are actively looking for.

Detective Han is… indifferent about children, especially their own. They could live without them and they would definitely have an existential crisis if it turned out the two of you were expecting but they would stay and step up! The day after the news dropped they'd've bought like five books on pregnancy and babies and already studying them intently.

José loves children! They come from a big family──they have four siblings (five children including them) and is the second oldest! José would want to wait until things are very settled before starting a family but they definitely want children. Two of three would be a dream but they don't mind less or more!

Kids are something Ji Han hasn't thought of before. He's still focused on his school and professional life and then his relationship with you. It would be some to sit down and talk about because he doesn't have much of an opinion on the situation. He'd be a great uncle 100% though.

Fauve doesn't want children, it's a hard no for her. The thought of pregnancy is a terrifying one for her (and for you if you're able) and babies make her extremely uncomfortable. I might be because she was alive when her mother went through a late stage miscarriage but she isn't taking any chances. She might be open to adopting a child over the age of five if you are someone who really wants a child but she will not be giving birth──ever.

Jackson already has a daughter, Cilly. He loves her more than anything in this world. He won't object to having another child in the future, especially with you, but it's not a requirement of his, Cilly is more than enough for him!

??? would like to have children but would actually brick it if it really happened. Their own parents were not the best so they have no idea what kind of parent they'd be, which is a step towards being a good parent anyway. They'd prefer to go slow with one child but if there's more they won't complain.

[mdzs-owns-my-ass-i-guess]

Do you believe in magic?

@djdraws20

⏳🎆🎪

Apologies for the delay on writing this one!

A-Yuan watches with fascination as acrobats all but fly through the air, performing all sorts of tricks to the beat of the music. The audience claps in time with the beats - and he would too, if he wasn't holding a large thing of popcorn and his favorite juice.

"A-die, look, look!" He all but shouts, pointing to a pair walking a very thin tightrope together. "It's the Yiling Siblings!"

Lan Wangji's eyes follow the pair as they leap and catch one another in a succession of masterful movements. Their outfits glimmer in the colorful lights, and they look - mythical, almost. No wonder they've become so famous, their skill is unlike anything Lan Wangji has seen before. They move effortlessly through the air as if it's in their blood, and Lan Wangji understands why A-Yuan likes watching their shows so much. They're hypnotizing.

The ring master announces the end of their act and people clap and cheer so loudly it's nearly deafening - but before they exist the ring, they bow to the audience and twirl, rushing to the backstage as the lights go out.

"And now..." the ring master says, his voice booming through the audio system, as the lights dim until there's barely silvers puncturing the darkness, "...the star of the show, the one whose very name seeds terror in the hearts of people across the land and sea... the Yiling Patriarch!"

Lights shine red through the darkness and a figure emerges, draped in black, flowing robes, hair dancing in the fanned air. He raises a hand, and the lights brighten - the audience gasps and woos at the appearance of the man, whose figure is surrounded by black wisps of smoke.

He smiles, confident and beautiful and much younger than he appeared to be in the recordings on YouTube - and raises one of his hands, the wisps of smoke dancing together to create a moving pillar of darkness.

He repeats the gesture as the audience claps, and he's bracketed by them as he slowly levitates off the ground, and from within the glimmering lapels of his robes, produces his trademark item: the Stygian Tiger Amulet. Dark smoke envelopes it, and then the entire ring until there's nothing to be seen.

The audience watches, mute with wonder.

In a rush, the smoke disperses to reveal the Yiling Patriarch has conjured a black dragon from the smoke, and lazily lounges on it as its eyes glimmer red just like his master's. From near the very top of the circus tent, he flies over the audience just enough to get them excited, before the Amulet glows red and appears to be absorbing all the smoke back inside, the Yiling Patriarch daintily floating down in the center of the ring.

The lights dim again, and for a moment, it's only his piercing red eyes that the audience sees before the tent comes alive with fireworks - or what appear to be fireworks at least. There is no smoke, but the colorful lights bloom in all sorts of shapes and colors, and by the time that's done, the Yiling Patriarch has already left the ring.

The ring master announces the end of the show, and the attendees walk through the exits, all raving about how amazing it had been. How could the Yiling Patriarch do all those tricks? What kind of special effects was he using? Nobody else in the industry does it quite like him, there must be something super high tech going on behind the scene for sure!

A-Yuan munches on his popcorn as he talks Lan Wangji's ears off about how cool the show was and how much he wishes he could just meet-

"Well, if you want to meet me, I'm right here." A new voice joins in, and the two turn around to see the Yiling Patriarch in the flesh, wearing a much lighter version of the robes he donned in his performance. Lan Wangji can see he's actually - very attractive, to put it mildly. But then again-

"It's really you! You're really so, so cool!" A-Yuan all but shouts and launches himself at the man in a big hug. "How do you do all that stuff? Is it real magic?"

The Yiling Patriarch bends down and ruffles the kid's hair. "What do you think?"

"I think it's magic! It has to be!"

The Yiling Patriarch smiles, soft, and Lan Wangji feels his heart rate pick up. "You're right. It is magic. I can't tell you any more, though, it's a secret. If I do, then I won't be able to ever use it again."

"Oh, no, don't tell me, I wanna see you again! I really love when you do the smoke dragon, but the snake is also really awesome!"

"A devoted little fan, are you?"

"I watch all your shows with A-Die! He likes you too!"

The Yiling Patriarch stands up and looks over at Lan Wangji, a controlled expression on his face, "Long time no see... Lan Zhan."

"Mn. Wei Ying."

A-Yuan is somewhere between shocked and scandalized. "You two know each other?!"

"Distantly." The Yiling Patriarch responds, and A-Yuan is too little to understand the hurt and betrayal behind that simple word.

Lan Wangji looks away.

"Um, mister Wei Ying, can I maybe meet the siblings too?" A-Yuan tries, seeing the two emerge from the circus tent.

As if awoken from a dream, Wei Ying smiles and nods, and the child excitedly runs up to the two with a flurry of questions.

"Wei Ying, I-"

"Save it. It's been a long time ago. Lifetimes ago." His phone rings and he all too eagerly brushes past Lan Wangji. "Excuse me."

Lan Wangji doesn't dare watch him go.

[wherevenusholdssomeofficespace]

Can I just say the storyboards for Step Into the Great Unknown highlight even further what the song itself was already highlighting. Because the song is basically just each member of the gang one by one deciding to commit to finding Candace.

It starts with Phineas, he's been Candace's little brother literally his whole life. We see the most of their relationship. There is very little that fazes him, and he wears his heart on his sleeve. He adores his older sister and would go to the ends of the earth without hesitating for her. He's an inspirational type of leader, so he tends to be the one to provide the gang direction and encouragement when they start showing doubts and that's exactly what he does here. The one who kind of lays out the situation to the gang but also is the first to affirm he's going anyway.

And then Ferb. He's been Candace's little brother for years now too at this point, and of course he stands by Phineas for most things. But this movie does show that Ferb cares just as much about Candace in his own way, with what he chooses to say and the affection Candace gives him. He's a man of action so he demonstrates his position by quietly joining in the dance. And Ferb is almost always on Phineas's side, but while Phineas is defined by being completely unfazed by nearly everything, Ferb DOES get fazed by more than Phineas, though less than the rest of the gang. He's generally cautious about supernatural threats as such, so unknown threats would be something that are more likely to give him pause even if they aren't supernatural per se, and we've seen him avoid Candace before due to this aversion. But aside from that aversion he is usually as unfazed as Phineas. Of course he wouldn't leave either of his siblings hanging.

And then Isabella joins in the song. The girl across the street. Who has also known Candace for a long time. Literally future sister-in-laws, but already basically sisters. Isabella and Candace sort of have a relationship built on mutual understanding. They occasionally talk together about crushes, and team up when a situation is gender specific. Candace is one of Isabella's fireside girls. Of course Isabella would join. She's said no to Phineas about dangerous things before, but only rarely. When someone they care about is on the line, there's no way. She's as tough and doesn't hesitate to put herself in danger unless there is literally no reason to. Candace is more than enough reason to. For this she'll follow Phineas to the end of the universe, and take the lead if she has to.

Buford and Baljeet are the last to join. They've only been part of the gang since this summer. So they're the most hesitant. And I do think when it comes to personal safety they are a bit more sensitive (see Buford freaking out NOTLP, Baljeet being paralyzed by indecision in Primal Perry, Buford freaking out about Baljeet's safety in the Beak... those two are the most prone to panic in general). But when push comes to shove on something as important as saving the tri-state area, or rescuing Candace, they're in on it too. They don't really WANT to deal with all this scary stuff... but to them the alternative of not going along isn't an option either.

All of these kids love Candace so much. She may be obsessed with getting her brothers caught, but in the process she's become big sister to all 5 of them. I've said it before I'll say it again. I LOVE the sense of community in the series.

And it's so uncommon for the kids to be nervous about something. So the fact that they are nervous does help raise the stakes a bit. And Phineas has to muster all of his leadership to say hey: This will be scary, you don't have to come but I can't just leave her. And the other kids going. Yeah well. Not without us.

They just all care about each other so much.

[cult-of-the-placeholder]

Uhhhh so. I can't draw, so please don't throw rocks at me 😅 is anyone gonna see this? DUNNO. But I'm throwing it into the void anyway

Behold: 4 cute babies for me to traumatize with my War on the Lamb AU

This AU wouldn't exist without @heketsbroodau and their amazing fics. Go read them! Literally right now! All of them! Every single one!!!!!!!

The general idea this WotL AU works with goes as follows:

- The demigod children of the bishops (cousins), quailing and listless in the wake of their parents' slaughter, decide to counter attack and wage war on the lamb for ruining their lives and killing the family they loved so dearly

- In each brood, one was voted amongst the siblings to take up the Crowns to use their power to lead the vengeance quest (because the crowns are at least partially sentient, I imagine that they vanished when their bearers died to keep themselves from being ceased)

- The children have mostly been raising themselves since the lamb destroyed... literally everything

- They're planning to essentially use one of themselves as a sacrifice: taking up the Red Crown and agreeing to be locked away in eternal banishment to prevent it from ever causing trouble and strife again

Though their ages when each Bishop died varies, they are in order: Adami, Ylindri, Phereo, and finally No Name. When Shamura dies, their ages go as follows: 19 (Adami), 14 (Ylindri), 12 (Phereo), No Name (9). When the story kicks off they'll all likely be in their 20s but I haven't decided fully yet.

Adami:

As the oldest amongst the cousins, she feels it is the duty of her and her siblings to look after the younger ones. She loves them all very much, every, single, one. She and her dad were really close, and though she didn't have his aptitude for magic she was a born scientist at heart. She was always tucked away in the temple labs, fussing with bacteria cultures and scribbling in her notebooks. Thoroughly enjoyed Kallamar's genetics hobby, and still has the the very first genome they ever wrote together memorized

When he died, she and her siblings all felt it. They heard the commotion and tried so, so hard to get to him, but Kallamar had cast a magic ward on the temple's inner sanctum, preventing his children from entering or even coming near, not trusting that Narinder's appetite for destruction wouldn't extend to his little ones. He was right, and only after he'd been dead for several hours did the barrier fade

Adami wrote her own speech for his funeral but was crying too hard to deliver it, so it fell to her older sibling to speak on her behalf. She was very much a daddy's girl, and prays at his shrine almost every day, wishing for a peaceful afterlife for him, begging her uncle to be kind (though she knows he won't be)

She splits the Blue Crown with one of her siblings: she's the best scientific mind they've got and is therefore excellent for inflicting biowarfare, but she's got -3 magical ability and so whenever there's need for mass healing or protective magic, it goes to her sibling

Would've probably become a very sweet, bubbly person if not for losing Kallamar. She's a lot more reserved these days, but is still generally pretty peppy when excited about something

Ylindri:

As mentioned above she's the most unbalanced of Shamura's children: meaning, while their domain is wisdom and war, she skewed heavily toward the first one. The majority of the spiderlings (eleven of them in total) are right in the middle, wielding their brains and brawn as one. There's only one other severe skew like Ylindri: her older sister, who's very skewed toward war

A scholar first and foremost, she spent countless days studying medicine and old divine texts trying to find a way to help her Lifegiver's brain damage. She regularly helped change their bandages

Worried they might forget them all, Ylindri wove her Lifegiver a special band of spider silk, which each of their names and a prayer for health delicately woven in. Her hope was that their love would stay with Shamura easier, and might help them feel better. Shamura wears it on their 4th wrist

In public Ylindri calls Shamura her Lifegiver, in private they are Ama

Very softspoken, and thoroughly heartbroken by Shamura's death. Tried to stop them from going to meet the lamb in the sanctum, but their mind had slipped again and Shamura didn't truly recognize her in that moment

Phereo:

Leshy's thirdborn child and second daughter. Is the only girl to have wings but has sworn off flying after Leshy's death

They were really close, and Leshy actually died while the children were in their first chrysallis (they're demigodlings. They undergo multiple metamorphoses in their lives), so when she emerged she and her siblings were greeted by the sorrowful Witness and the earth-shattering news that they had been orphaned

They preserved Leshy's remains so that his childreb could attend the funeral, but Phereo didn't go. She couldn't bear the thought. She was so terrified to make her chrysallis because everyone knows that girls don't have wings, and the only thing that got her to start spinning was her father's promise to be ready to recieve her when she'd emerged, and the whispered secret of, "You're just as I was. You'll be fine." After that, she doesn't want to appear in public, doesn't want anyone to see her, and spends all her time locked in her room mourning the loss of Leshy

She's got hardcore depression in wake of her dad's death. Everything is unstable and scary and she feels so lost and out of sorts. Years pass and her mental health stabilizes but doesn't improve: when the cousins start planning their war and how to defeat the Red Crown for good, she offers her body to the cause. She'll hsve to be banished and locked away, for all eternity. If it will avenge Leshy's death and let her go to a place where she can forget that she exists, then she's happy to do it

Someone get this worm therapy smh

No Name:

Someone seriously help me name him I've gone through like 5 names and none feel right 😭

The smallest, height wise and age wise. He hates it

This froggy is a MAMA'S BOY. He was very, very close with Heket, and loved her more than life itself. She was his mother, after all--there was no one in the world he loved more. The whole gaggle of froglets found Heket's still cooling corpse in the Temple sanctum, and just. Basically did Simba and mufasa. Just kinda snuggled against her and begged her to get up, to heal, to be ok

I don't have a whooole lot of development for him but he's generally pretty quiet and brooding. Very angy. Late teenage angst when thebwar starts but also his mom was murdered by the guy they're waging war on so  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Regardless. He's not having a good time. Eats his feelings a lot and is quietly hoping the war kills him

Was voted among his siblings to bear the Yellow Crown and he despises it. It feels so wrong, like the desecration of his mother's memory, to have him stand in her place and wear that which rightfully belongs to her and no one else. Prays to the crown every morning before he puts it on, asking his mother's forgiveness and hoping to serve her memory well

[ghostofadragon]

pspspsps tell us more about the dragons pspsps. Do the dragons see their riders as siblings since they grew up together? Are Sinclair and Queen bonded since they werent raised together?

DRAGON RIDERS: yes and no? i hadn't been mentally comparing them to siblings as such, though it's probably not far off; dragons and riders have a kind of exclusive interpersonal bond that is hard to categorize by comparison. think, like, pacific rim jaeger pilots, almost, but if the jaeger was also sentient. dragons are dubiously sentient in the SoA universe: they're not unintelligent, but so many of their mental pathways and communication methods are fundamentally alien from how humans operate that they're not really thought of as one-to-one the same thing.

when left to their own devices dragons communicate mainly through a dragon-specific body/sign language that could be compared to human sign languages (they've developed a modified (lack of tail wings etc) version of this to communicate with humans) and a sort of natal version of the neural link, which bonds mothers to their children - in dragons this fades quickly with age, but when humans originally arrived on alcoritrés they began to develop over the generations a kind of permanent interspecies version of it - sort of like how cats will meow at humans as they would their kittens.

the kind of dragon-rider neural bond that's seen in the Institute is cultivated specifically for combat reasons and isn't particularly common to see in other places: most "civillian" bonds are either a milder version of an infant bond, developed over extended exposure and/or a shared violent trauma (this is what Sinclair and Queen have), or a "true" infant bond, which often occurs when a baby and a wyrmling are raised together in a place where they have regular contact. outside of the institute dragons are treated as free citizens alongside humans, and while not a universal standard by any means, joint dragon/human households or communes are common enough to be thought of as fairly normal.

civilian infant bonds are made of the same building blocks as Institute bonds, but civilians are not exposed to the same kind of rigorous lifelong bonding and training exercises as Institute kids, and thus their bonds very rarely reach the same complexity and depth - unless in some scenario in which they were left alone and had to depend on the other for survival, hunting, etc. Institute dragon/rider pairs are very much thought of as "freaks" by their respective populations - the riders are too 'dragon' and the dragons are too 'human'.

human riders are stereotyped as stoic and odd - in reality they share a kind of sub-dialect of the human commontongue and dragon body-language that often results in them communicating the same ideas with far fewer spoken words. Institute dragons are 'othered' much the same by the outside dragon population - they have uncommonly 'human' mannerisms and often default to speaking in a dialect of their body-language that is modified to read easier to humans, and relies more heavily on complex forelimb signals than movement of dragon-specific anatomy like tails and wings.

[stargazer-sims]

Sebastian Fujikawa

Sebastian's just here looking like, "Ask me about my trust fund."

Actually, Sebastian feels as if people often misjudge who he is as a person simply because he seems to be a stereotypical rich kid. People are quick to assume that he’s lazy, entitled, high-maintenance, and emotionally detached from those around him.

He can concede that he’s high-maintenance and that he’s indulged by his father a bit too much, but he doesn’t think he’s entitled and he knows he’s definitely not lazy or emotionally unavailable. He feels very connected to his father and adopted sister and especially to his figure skating coach who is more of a mom to him than his own mother is. His coach would never let him be lazy, and she’d scold him if she ever caught him behaving like a brat.

Although he realizes it’s not at all funny, Sebastian often jokes that anyone looking at his life from the outside would say that it's like the script of a soap opera. When he was six, his parents went through a very messy and very public divorce. He featured heavily in the media coverage, due to the fact that custody was a hotly-contested issue. His father, a former competitive skier and current ridiculously wealthy executive of a sports equipment company, was granted sole custody of him.

Sebastian doesn't know the details of his parents' split, and he really doesn't want to know, but from what he's been led to believe, his father ended up with him because his father's lawyer was able to convince the court that his mother's lifestyle wasn't conducive to stable, healthy child-rearing. His mother works in the entertainment industry. He's always had contact with her, but it's never been on a regular schedule, and he really doesn't know her all that well.

After the divorce, Sebastian's father decided that it'd be better for Sebastian not to be an only child. He opted for adoption of an older child, so the process was accomplished far more quickly than if he'd wanted to arrange the adoption of a baby. By the time Sebastian's seventh birthday came around, he was welcoming his new sister, who's nearly the same age as him. She told her new father and brother that she wanted a name like Sebastian's instead of her Japanese birth name. Together, they came up with Sofia, and their father did the paperwork to have it legally changed. The siblings became best friends almost immediately, and took to calling themselves "adopted twins", which everyone in their circle thought was adorable.

When Sebastian and Sofia were twelve, their father sent them to boarding school in the UK, so that they could learn English in an immersive environment. Sebastian didn't see his mother for two whole years while he was away at school, but he really wasn't worried about it. In the UK is where he met his current coach, Vivienne Holmes (a.k.a. Ginger). He'd had a different coach prior to that, but because he'd started competing seriously, his father arranged for him to continue training and competing while he was away. Ginger came back to Japan with him when he was 14, and they've been together ever since.

Ginger technically lives with Sebastian, Sofia and their dad. She has her own little house on Mr. Fujikawa's property, but she's up at the main house a lot, which makes Sebastian happy.

Sebastian feels that Ginger has raised him just as much as his father has. He credits her for teaching him how to not behave like a spoiled trust fund baby. Ginger has taught him the value of working for the things he wants in life, and she's taught him how to play by the rules, respect others and to be compassionate whether he thinks people deserve it or not.

He has trouble making friends because people tend to believe he's unapproachable, and at this point he's almost given up trying. He'd like to have friends, but he's not unhappy with his life despite not really having any. As long as he's got Ginger, Sofia and his dad, he's never without love and support.

[everyneji]

How do you think the relationship between Neji and Hinayana should have developed? Unfortunately, Hyuga clan didn’t get much screen time in Part 2. I’m curious how they gradually got closer and care for each other. It’s a great loss this part was almost ignored in the manga. I think it’s very important to the character development of both Hinata and Neji. Happy to hear any headcanon!

Thank you so much for the ask, I really appreciate it! ♥ Sorry for the late reply, real life will do that, and sorry that this got, ah, long.

I'm torn on the subject because Kishimoto kept the focus on Naruto and Sasuke for good reason and there's only so much he could have fit in of other character's lives -- but at the same time if Hinata was going to end up so important and Neji our beloved martyr, it would have been nice to see them get more to do.

At least the anime's love of Hinata means we tend to get a lot more about their relationship, which is nice, even if I don't always agree with what they do. Boruto's time travel arc provided some interesting stuff:

Fascinating! They imagine that even in their recovering relationship, Neji is still acutely aware of his place in her life -- does he fear some kind of retribution for seeming too chummy with her, or does he fear that it will further drag down her reputation in the clan? As he goes on to explain to Boruto: NEJI: I belong to the branch family, so she is like my lord. BORUTO: But she calls you big brother. NEJI: We were raised together as siblings. I've told her not to call me that ... but Lady Hinata does not listen.

Hinata is very polite. She uses honorifics for everyone, and it's not sarcastic -- unlike Neji, whose use of '-sama' is contrasted with his lack of polite speech for her. Superficially, Hinata is being polite yet familiar, while Neji is rude and uses the honorific out of obligation. Yet I think Neji is also trying to create distance between them which Hinata is trying to counter, so in a way Hinata is crossing a boundary. Which is interesting! For a terminally anxious girl, Hinata can be surprisingly bold about taking the first step: she approaches Naruto in the chūnin exams, she jumps in front of Pain and confesses her love, and it seems with Neji, she even tried to keep reaching out to him despite his cruelty.

Hinata seems lonely in a familial sense. She's been virtually disowned, Hanabi is (in the anime very explicitly) her rival, her mother doesn't seem to be around ... I imagine she spends a lot of time trying to make connections, and Neji is an immediate family member who happens to be her peer, so naturally she seeks a relationship with him, especially because they had a good start. When you think about how simple and sweet their relationship when they first met was, it's very sad to think it was torn from them -- they were both left lonelier for the loss of it.

There's an added layer where you can also read some guilt or even pity in Hinata's response to him -- how much she knew about the Hyūga Affair is ambiguous, but she is aware of Neji's suffering in the clan because of his subordinate position.

Interestingly, she prefaces this with "I can see it now ... that even more than me ..." which also suggests to me that Hinata was very wrapped up in her own problems and Neji has probably settled for a few jabs and walking off in the past so she hasn't been exposed to the depths of his feeling. I've said it before, but I think they were basically strangers at this point in time.

Once those lines of communication were finally opened, they probably found the things they have in common, and went forward from there. A sense of solidarity would be core to their relationship, and of course we're told that their mutual acknowledgement of each other basically fixed the clan. Which is a powerful thing! They've both been hurt and effectively pit against each other, and only by healing that relationship and themselves can they heal their clan.

Now, when it comes to Neji's side of things, his feelings are a lot more complicated! Undoubtedly there's an extreme level of resentment when we first see them together -- the "I hate seeing you happy" kind -- but at the same time, his backhanded compliments are only insults in the cynical ninja world.

It's condescending and disrespectful, but he doesn't see Hinata as a bad person, just a useless one. If anything, you get the sense that Neji would like these traits in a person -- even admire them -- if he hadn't been left so jaded. We can see this from how much Neji liked Hinata when they first met, and it speaks to his own natural sweetness and light that all his trauma tried to steal from him. Which is certainly a theme of Naruto, of course, but it never stops making me sad.

In the most perfect of happy AUs Neji probably just ends up a more outgoing (if still refined) version of Hinata lmao. They really are meant to be two sides of the same coin.

When their relationship goes forward from this, the anime shows Neji training Hinata, and it's not hard to draw that conclusion from Neji and Hinata's ease fighting next to each other in the war. I think once Neji acknowledged Naruto's determination he also acknowledged hers, and can see him trying to give her the skills to match her willpower. I like to think he played a part in her growing confidence by showing faith in her abilities. I also think he probably practised being gentle with her. He hadn't let himself be that in a long time.

My main sticking point with the anime and a lot of fandom interpretation is this idea that Neji defaulted back to this 'Must protect Hinata-sama!' overprotective big brother mode (which I think is a disservice to him) or that they became besties. They're both gainfully employed child soldiers so they're plenty busy, Neji outranked her professionally while she continued to outrank him socially, they have other friends, and so forth. I'm sure they were amicable -- and fairly close -- but their lives had diverged a lot by the point that they reconciled.

Maybe with more time, and peace changing the dynamic of the world, and their clan (presumably) changing (officially) also, they would have gotten very close, but as it was, well ...

Ultimately, for me, I find their relationship rather sad, as it will always be coloured by Neji's sacrifice. While I think it had more to do with Naruto than Hinata, she was still a factor, and so you can't escape the implication that Neji did what he was 'meant to.' It sets the tone for their whole relationship. Like, he will always be marked. He is marked until he dies. It's why it doesn't matter if Neji ever actually experienced the seal first hand: the fact that it exists is a perpetual boot to his neck, and is a violence unto itself. Did Hinata know how to activate the seal? Can Neji ever forget their power imbalance? Am I supposed to believe that on that battlefield, it never once crossed Neji's mind that he may be called on to protect her with his life?

The idea of someone feeling -- grateful, complacent, loving -- toward someone who owns them, owns their life, is hard to swallow. It will downright choke you once you remember that his life is ultimately forfeit to her. Like, I love Hinata. I don't think she's a bad person, or that she'd ever abuse the power she has over Neji. I genuinely love their relationship ... but they're meant to parallel their fathers, and when Hizashi comes back, he hits with us a classic:

Hizashi chose to die with love in his heart, and he comes back like 'Oh boy check out this cosmic punishment for forgetting my place.' So, uh, yeah, when Neji pulls the exact same thing about 6 hours later, don't we naturally parallel them and assume that even telling yourself you're doing something out of love doesn't change your crushing sense of servitude? Or, as I once wrote into a fic:

“That’s not freedom, Neji. That’s -- putting pillows in your cage.”

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I really, really wish that Hinata had not been in the line of fire. She and Naruto could have just as easily bonded over Neji's rapidly cooling corpse without her having been in danger. All it does is reinforce the hierarchy between them, which in turn can make it hard to see Neji being nice to her.

If I remove myself from the meta narrative, however, I will say that relationships are complex, even along hierarchical lines, and while Neji doesn't owe Hinata anything, I wouldn't want him to continue burning with resentment. You don't have to be complacent, but perpetual anger is exhausting. Thus, it's good they managed to repair their relationship, and find a little bit of the children they used to be together again.

TL;DR;JUST ANSWER THE QUESTION THAT WAS POSED: I think that a sense of solidarity and commonality, and training, brought them closer together over the years. I believe they are, at their cores, very similar people so they got along well, even if they weren't the very best of friends due to circumstance.

TL;DR;THE WHOLE ESSAY: I love them both and believe they loved each other, but if I think too hard about the meta narrative I want to chew my own leg off like it's stuck in a bear trap ... but don't get me wrong, I love how inherently complicated and deep their relationship is because of it. There's a lot to work with there!

[tiaamorosa]

Caracan - Sparks Family (1)

It is shortly after midnight and the lights are still on in the mayor's house. It's like this almost every evening, because Michael wants to finish his day's tasks first.

​"Michael, it's getting late, come to bed"/ "in a minute, my dear, I just have to write a few lines. Mmh…hm, I've forgotten the name of our new resident again"/ "His name is Keon, Michael. You're getting a bit more forgetful as time goes by, I'm sure you realize that too. You'll have to give up your post at some point. I know you don't want that…".

"I'm still clinging to the idea that we'll leave this island one day. If possible, before I die, Vinetta. Until then, I just want to be who I am for as long as possible."/ "But at some point, you won't be able to do that anymore. You know some of the men here would like to take over your job". "hmm. I'm just not sure yet who I can hand over my position to with a clear conscience"…

"What about Mr. Weiss, or Luck-Neckar? Or Erik Verne? "/ "Oh no, not Erik, he would confuse so many things. No, I was thinking maybe Clayton. He's the closest to what I envision as my successor. He's very eloquent, can write very well, his handwriting is flawless. And he's very competent"/ "that's right. It would certainly be a good job for him."/"But I'm still here"…

"This year marks 15 years. I know it's not necessarily a day to celebrate. But it would still be nice if we could all gather around the table with a good roast. Dean should keep an eye out first and then bring us something that's enough for everyone"/ "if everyone wants to come at all."/ "You're right… Then the leftovers will be brought to them. I also wish we could do it differently. But it was lucky that there are wild animals here".

Michael finished his work for the day. He then went out into the hallway with his wife. This was already an evening ritual. Checking once again that the door was locked, taking another look through the window to make sure no one was out and about. "See, everything's fine"/"Where's our daughter today, she hasn't come home"/"She's staying with the Winchesters, she and Emma have become good friends".

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

There is a difference between what you tell your parents and what you do instead. The hunter's house is not far from the family home. Donna has been spending a lot of time with him recently. Lustful moans, rapid breathing and the rhythmic banging of wood against a wall are the sounds that flood his bedroom at this moment.

Donna and the hunter. It's not official yet. They spend most of their time together in their house and enjoy everything they've only ever dreamed of. The two have known each other since they were children. They actually grew up like siblings, but the older they got, the more they realized that they wanted more than just to be friends.

They let their feelings run free until well after midnight. "You really are incredible, Donna, but at some point even the strongest man needs a break. ". She raised an eyebrow and made a pouty face. "hnn, and I thought we could still until tomorrow morning…"/ "hahaha, oh no, really… Hey, I have to get up soon"/ "mmh. All right." He stroked her face tenderly, kissed her and then let himself fall to the side.

Exhausted and satisfied, they lay next to each other. "How much longer do you want to wait, Donna? Your parents should be allowed to know by now, shouldn't they?"/ "hnn, I actually find it quite appealing when we have a little secret"/ "Our relationship isn't a problem… Yes, I lived under the same roof as you and your parents for many years, but everything is different now and I get on with your parents"/ "Oh Dean…"

"What, huh? Your parents are allowed to know… We're not kids anymore, Donna"/ "I know. Hhh, okay, I'll talk to them, all right?"/

"We! I'll come with you, not that you're going to back out"/

"All right, then you're coming with me. I have to help my dad again tomorrow anyway. Man, this work is really boring, I'd rather be doing something else. And I also have to look after the three orphans".

"oh yes, the three who live up by the waterfall…"/ "i'm the dear aunt who looks after them. but Rupert is slowly turning into a man. He wants to be a craftsman now and is attending school again.". Dean raised an eyebrow with a confident look on his face and took a deep breath. "And I can hunt." She had to smile a little. "hnhn, yes, you're very good at that. And in a few days, it'll be Gratitude Day again. We should be grateful that we ended up here and not in the floods.". Dean got a different look on his face. Annoyed. "Yeah, and I'm only allowed to hunt on assignment again and not for fun, it's really boring."

Donna stroked his face and smiled sympathetically. "I know it's not very challenging for you. But you're the one who gets us the meat when we need it. You're the best hunter I know. And we've got everything under control so far, haven't we? I need to sleep now…"/ "O.k….". Donna lay down next to him under the comforter and closed her eyes. While he thought for a moment. "One day… One day I'll shoot a really big one!".

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End of Part one

Credits: Thanks to Lover's Lab for the Passion mod, which my Sims always have a lot of fun with😊😆in (it's like the Kinky, only with fewer functions, but it's enough for me) Bed Pose by Skylar (?) I'm not sure right now. I'll check again next time.^^

[the-parentheticals]

"it can't be helped," from the scum who can't be helped

Warnings: mugging, brief thoughts about s/a but none actually happens

Summary: Koemi doesn't want to see her brother again. She never has. She never will.

Note: For @badthingshappenbingo, Banished / Cringetober day 15, song lyrics. Yes, this is based on The Purge March.

read on ao3

It's almost a blessing when Kiyoshi Nishimoto disappears the week before his eighteenth birthday.

She doesn't like him. She hasn't liked him in years. She hasn't liked anyone in this household for years, really, except for perhaps the goldfish.

Koemi's not an idiot. She knows what he was doing, despite their parents' best attempts to pretend otherwise. The jewelry that isn't their mother's, the late nights sneaking in, the discreet calls. Honestly, it's better that he left instead of disgracing their family that way when it inevitably came out.

"Good morning, everyone! It's the beginning of another wonderful day!"

Their parents had freaked out. Spewed the vulgarity that they had always warned her against. Her brother had it coming. She hoped he was dead.

"I know that this situation is a tragedy, but we have to stay strong for my dear brother's sake!"

Koemi doesn't quite believe in this one, but it's her duty to say the words anyway.

"We can't let our sadness control us! We have to move on and always remember him!"

As a terrible example, that is.

Her brother does not deserve her forgiveness. She knows what he was really like--not the hero he thought he was, not the good kid her parents thought he was. No, he was nothing less than scum.

---

Three years later, she's seventeen, and she's only further confirmed her belief that everyone else in this family was rotten.

It's not that Kiyoshi's disappearance had done her any favours when starting at high school. They mostly just thought she was weird. Or cursed.

That's the only reason she's walking home alone this late at night. The only one.

She doesn't even move when she feels the knife against her neck. She's grown up to be very pretty, if she says so herself, and she's not even surprised someone's taken an interest.

"You know the drill." The voice is deep and raspy, and she freezes for just a moment. It's a put-on. "Your wallet."

"Or what?"

The knife digs slightly deeper into her skin as answer. Not enough to draw blood, just to make a point.

"As if you could ever lay a finger on your little sister."

The knife pulls a bit, just long enough for a strand of blonde hair to be snipped off. It lies flat against her white sweater for just a moment, before he jerks his arm away and the strand falls to the ground.

She doesn't care for the face of the person in front of her very much, but she supposes she can't stare at her personal belongings forever.

"We're not siblings anymore."

"Of course we are. Unless you kill me now, I suppose, but like I said." She gives a self-assured smile. "You won't."

Kiyoshi looks at her with a characteristic coldness. He's a bit taller now, or maybe it's just his shoes. Not that it really makes a difference, with how short she always has been.

His clothes are surprisingly put-together for someone who's been living who-knows-where. He's still got his suit jacket, vest, and yellow shirt, dirty in a way that their parents would have hated but barely pings on her radar. His hair is messier and covers his right eye just enough that...oh.

"How is your eye?" Koemi smiles. If he won't talk, she'll just have to keep talking. "I suppose whoever caused it is dead now?"

"Why is that your first assumption?"

"I know you, that's why." She clasps her hands together and gives a little hum. He doesn't bother her anymore. Not the way anyone else would. "Pity they didn't take out both."

"My turn to ask the questions. How are our parents, then? Still holding you back?

"You don't know what they've done in three years. For all you know, they've become just like you, and my life's a living hell."

Kiyoshi raises an eyebrow in the way that suggests that he thinks his sister is an utter idiot but doesn't want to admit it just yet.

"They've been doing this for longer than we were alive. You were already in a living hell. But you can--"

"Pity they didn't take out your tongue too." Koemi's smile does not waver, 

Kiyoshi ignores her. "You think your rules will keep you safe from the rest of this world. Our parents, double standards..."

"It's worked, hasn't it?"

"You're just as rotten as the rest of us."

"How?"

"You think I'm scum, don't you?"

Koemi nods.

"Then do something about it."

"I could never." Koemi wrenches her arm away. In another universe, it would actually hurt. "That's the difference between us, brother dear."

"I don't make pitiful excuses for doing what has to be done?"

"I don't make people obey my every whim and call it freedom."

"I don't make them do that. I save them from themselves, Ko. I get them away from all the pain in their lives that results from them holding back against those that really want to hurt them."

"You destroy them from the inside. You make them do all the worst excesses we have good reasons for not doing. You make people live according to your beliefs. You're the worst one here, and you don't even know it. You're doubtlessly, clearly, absolutely, unequivocally, beyond any doubt, categorically, emphatically--" Koemi has to stop, because her face is red, and Mother, Father, would never have believed her if she had said it that way. She breathes in. Breathes out. Next--

"I'm sorry for leaving you with them."

She blinks. It's not true. That's definitely not something Kiyoshi would ever have said.  Her disbelief has to show on her face.

"I am. They shouldn't have been able to influence anyone like that, especially not you."

"You're sorry? I don't care!"

"I know."

"Remember my screams? My cries? My apologies?"

"I know."

"Don't come back to the house. You left me with them. This should be easy for you." She crosses her arms and leans against a lamp post. "And don't even try following me. I'll know."

"You won't. And I won't."

[cospinol]

WAIT WAIT ELABORATE ON ROLU PLS im alrdy insane abt their respective plots as it is i need to KNOW👁️

OHH OF COURSE the two most repressed girls of all time!! :D

they're childhood friends who met when they both entered the tasier court at around 8 years old, luma b/c her mother was a high-ranking military official and robin b/c her father is a wealthy merchant who has been stocking the royal coffers in exchange for preferential treatment in the market. because they were both raised Elsewhere beforehand and the south realm's imperial court is an extremely closed circle, they both had trouble fitting in with the tasier aristocrat children and so ended up spending a lot of time together (even though they got on each other's nerves a little at first); lulu in particular was a big crybaby and got picked on a lot and robin Protected her<33

when they turned ~12 y/o luma started officer training in order to join the military like her older siblings, and robin's goal was to enter the imperial army's tactician training school in order to support her and eventually work beside her (robin is a bit of a jack of all trades type who's not extremely good at or very passionate about any one thing but is massively Competent at everything she tries her hand at and makes for a very solid and reliable tactician, ultimately. very by-the-book but she gets the job done), fulfilling a promise they'd made to each other as an extremely roundabout way of avoiding directly confronting their budding mutual crush lol. unfortunately there's some archaic tasier-typical convention that prevented robin from getting into that school since she doesn't have any south realm noble blood, and the only workaround she could find was to enter service in the inner court as a lady-in-waiting and prospective future member of the imperial harem, since the emperor's wives are often foreigners and as a member of the inner court she could then enter the tactician school. she did this almost 100% just to be close to luma but lulu freaked out abt her essentially locking in her life path as 'going to marry someone else eventually' but also still couldn't face up to what exactly she was upset about, and even though robin understood what luma was angry about she also couldn't accept that luma really felt that way abt her without being told, and Neither Of Them Owning Up To It drove a huge wedge in their relationship that they still haven't recovered from to this day<3

anyways ro ended up also getting bullied in the inner court to the extent that she eventually gave up and dropped out entirely, and left the court still without reconciling with lulu. she wants nothing more than to go back but fundamentally doesn't believe she's worthy of the affection she wanted in the first place ++ lulu has been thinking about going after her almost nonstop but instead has dedicated herself exclusively to getting Stronger because she thinks if she wins enough battlefield victories she can prove herself Worthy in a way she wasn't before......... also in the meantime they've both been distracted by being puppeteered as information-gatherers by ehen and ilora respectively lol

[puddleferns]

Hi hi! I'm so flattered you liked the pfurr concept enough to want to use it. I loved reading up on your pfurrs. 💚

I'm wondering, what can you tell me about Beepool? He seems like the terriblest guy ever and I am just so intrigued about him.

-@troutfur

aww thanks!!!

and yes, beepool is the terriblest guy ever and i love him lmao

LONG ANSWER LOL

basically, in my clangen playthrough, there have been two she cats who gave birth to litters with a mystery father, and one of the kittens came out looking identical to beepool. so i wove this into the story because it's just so fun!

so, in the story of prairieclan, beepool has his littermate bounceshadow, and their older siblings. they are all raised by heatherswoop, totally alone, because the rest of her pfurr was killed before they were born. bee and bounce are not super close with their older siblings. BUT, they are incredibly close with acorntail.

acorntail is one of the younger kits of her pfurr, older only to jumpholly's two litters. acorn, bee, and bounce were born only days apart, and as such, grew up as maara. they were also maara with acorns older siblings, swallowsplash, meadowblotch, murkshade, and frostleg. that sibling group was also super super close, and intended to stay close for life

now, what exactly happened with beepool and acorntail?

well, as they got older, acorntail expressed interest in both beepool and bounceshadow. normally, since polyamory in prairieclan is normalized, this wouldn't be an issue. bounceshadow was ready and willing to join acorntail's pfurr to be with her and her siblings.

but beepool?

he wasn't so on board. he loved acorntail. still does, honestly. but he's always struggled when it comes to commitment. joining a pfurr is for life, almost all the time. he just... couldn't. being commited like that to so many cats was a no go for him.

acorn tried to understand. she was willing to give up being in her siblings' pfurr if it meant he'd be with her and bounceshadow. and this is not something said lightly at all. it's so rare for a cat to leave a pfurr. for acorn to basically yell it from the hills that she'd leave for him? it was too much for beepool. he said no

soon after this, a very hard leafbare hit prairieclan. one of the worst they've seen. many cats starved to death. among these deaths were bee's mom heatherswoop, and poppypetal, mother to swallow, meadow, murk, frost, and acorn.

now, despite being in a pfurr, frostleg was not really romantically involved with anyone. she was feeling a bit lonely, with everyone having some kind of romance, and a bit heartbroken and lost from the death of her mother. beepool was also reeling from his mother's death.

well, two lonely and heartbroken cats met at the freshkill pile... you know the rest

frostleg got pregnant from this. however, she utterly refused to acknowledge it. didn't let the medicine cat near. denied all questions about her growing belly, even from her pfurr. she was so ashamed of going to a cat outside her pfurr, it was almost like she was trying to just wish it away

it didn't work, and she gave birth to four kittens. the third born, little doekit, was basically beepool's twin

acorntail helped deliver the 'surprise' kittens. well, imagine her surprise when her sister gave birth to the spitting image of the cat she was in love with, but had rejected her advances

it was a hard time for the pfurr. sides were taken. there were fights. frostleg tried to reach out to beepool for help, expecting him to join the pfurr to help raise the kittens he created.

but bee refused to acknowledge the kits as his. insisted there was no way. nevermind where doekit got that orange fur from, with no cat in frostleg's pfurr having any orange fur at all. those aren't his kittens, what are you talking about?

so yeah, that really lowered the clan's perception of him. deadbeat father.

the pfurr ended up staying together to help frost with the kits. they grew up loved. they grew up with father figures. but it's hard to ignore the whispers from other clanmates. it's hard to ignore how doekit looks exactly like beepool.

and to top it off, beepool does it again when his first litter are warriors. hazelskip, who was born from the same pfurr as the PoppyFive (so basically their sister), did not have a pfurr of her own after growing up. and yet somehow she got pregnant...

and it's real hard to ignore how snakekit looks like a certain orange tomcat in the clan...

so yeah, that's beepool for you! afraid of commitment, deadbeat dad, only allowed to stay because he's a good hunter and they need him. otherwise a total asshole. but an interesting asshole!

and thanks so much again for the ask! clearly, i love rambling about my silly kitties