#totally healthy mother-son relationship here

[smol-feralgremlin]

Last Sentence Tag.

Post the last sentence you wrote (fanfic / original / anything) and tag as many people as there are words in the sentence.

Tagged by @inkspellangel :D

I'm still writing what was supposed to be a brief fight scene. 😅

Reshira pushed more and more but kept hesitating and that was the only thing saving Koric right now.

...thats 18 words... So no pressure for those I'll be tagging!

Tagging: @deadtower @queerlilchinchin @nateconnolly @moonandris @melusinewrites @dogmomwrites @gossamergrove @ryns-ramblings @sylhorn @kyofsonder @robingoodfellow94 @onmywaytobe @dxrlingdaydreams @manuscriptsatmidnight

[ystrike1]

To You Who Swallowed A Star - By ARI (8.5/10)

Being beautiful and special is great, but it's not enough. You need to work hard too, and establishing healthy boundaries is extra hard when you have to deal with controlling relatives. Our underdog protagonist is actually a modern princess, and the actual underdog is some random scruffy boy she takes in out of pity. It's toxic. It's wrong. The main couple only gets their happy end after alot of pain, gain and growth.

***Immediate warning here. Do not read this series if grooming is an issue for you at all. There is a five year age gap with the main couple. It is unavoidable. It is pretty bad. The older party takes responsibility, and she distances herself when she notices the relationship in question is getting toxic. "I didn’t groom him on purpose!!!!" is not an excuse in any way, and nothing remotely sensual happens in this webtoon between characters that are not legal adults.***

It begins with a messy divorce. A rich mommas boy starts to abuse his aging wife, even though there's a young daughter in the mix. The wife decides to step up and be a mom. She grows a backbone, and she leaves her sparkling mansion behind in the middle of the night with her only child. She vows to forgot all frivolity. She'll never marry again. She will support herself and her daughter will learn to do the same.

Romance and money are not to be trusted.

Jiu learns this lesson very early in life.

Her mother (left) reached out to a wealthy friend after she ran from her husband. Said friend is a CEO (right), who agreed to support her downtrodden friend and her daughter until they had enough money to live. This led to a strange cohabitation situation. Two women living together with their two children, who were automatically raised like siblings.

Rin is Jiu's best and only friend, and her first crush. Frankly, she's doomed. He's handsome, nice and he cares for her.

His jealous streak is his only issue.

He steals her things when she shows interest in hobbies that aren't him. Jiu kind of becomes a doormat. Her mother is a strict force in her life. Her mother wants her to be a career woman first. Everything else is secondary. Rin is her only solace, and he really doesn't seem all that bad.

He just gets jealous sometimes.

Jiu meets Hajun and Hayul after she moves out of Rin's mansion. Her mother makes her live in a tiny studio apartment, while she runs an unsuccessful restaurant business day and night. Jiu thinks it's a little unfair. Auntie and Rin are totally willing to take care of them!!!Auntie doesn't have a lot of real friends as a female CEO, and Rin misses her! He was used to seeing her every day!!! Boohoo!

Rin starts to resort to childish tactics, to force Jiu to pay attention to him. Now that he doesn't have access to her all the time he's frustrated. He does weird things to make her come when called.

Like a dog.

Jiu doesn't notice how weird Rin is.

You see, she meets two children. Yes, Hayul and Hajun are children. She is sixteen. They're not in high school. Hayul, the girl, gets extremely attached to her when she is shown a single scrap of kindness. Jiu gets suspicious and sadly she is right. The twins are both horribly neglected...and they live right near her apartment. Jiu makes rice for them, because nobody ever helped her when her father was beating her mother in that awful mansion. Hayul is 10 and Hajun is 11. It's a very tense situation. Jiu is actually injured by their abuser at one point. The grandmother in charge of caring for the twins is absent-minded, and she refuses to see that her son is a piece of trash.

Jiu....gets dragged in. It's too similar. It hurts. Her rich and powerful grandmother enabled her father. He was never punished for beating her mother, or neglecting his child.

Her.

Jiu continues to step in, until she's basically their mother at 16.

She even attends Hajun's high school entrance ceremony. She wants to give them what she didn’t have.

Things seem to be going great. Bomi the bully character becomes Jiu's first real female best friend. Bomi is realistic and grounded. She thinks Jiu's kind heart comes from a dark past. It's weird to watch a teenager care for a pair of preteens (especially when they're not related). As soon as Jiu turns eighteen Bomi tries to set boundaries. She starts calling Hayul amd Hajun "the high school students". She's not trying to be cruel. She just needs Jiu to focus, because they're business partners. Jiu and Bomi both want to be fashion designers. It's a crazy competitive field and nepotism is nuts in Korea. Jiu can't baby two teenagers at the same time.

Bomi really respects her and her kindness, but then Hayul and Hajun start demanding more of her time.

Time she should be spending on her portfolio, because she needs to get into a good college.

Oh yeah Rin is in the background too plotting to make her a happy stay at home housewife.

She's in love with him.

They start dating.

Bomi was a gentle warning.

Rin is a real reality check. He's not a friend. He's a boyfriend. He expects more of her time and love. He tells her to choose. The clingy twins or him? Her handsome and rich childhood crush. The choice seems so obvious.

Jiu throws herself into her "Newtube" fashion video hobby to distract herself from that hard choice.

Rin is the perfect boyfriend. He supports her career decision (as long as it ends in marriage with him). He likes her friends (as long as they're not male). He calls her beautiful and perfect and he doesn't think of her as lesser. Actually he thinks she's special. Not Like Other Girls, in fact. He treats her as such. He stops playing around with women as soon as she says yes, and he doesn’t falter.

(Would you really be comfortable dating a guy that treats women like greedy s****? Even if he treats you "differently"? It's a very hard question, and this webtoon asks it. Jiu even befriends a women who likes Rin, because she doesn't actually like Rin. Just his money. The woman warns Jiu. If she's looking for real love Rin's not the right guy, because he's just another demanding rich boy under his looks. Jiu doesn't listen.)

They stay a couple for a while, while Hajun learns what jealousy feels like.

Hajun puts on some makeup, and suddenly he's got the chance to be somebody. Jiu does his makeup for her channel, and it blows up. A company emails him.

They want him to appear on a rookie idol show.

Hajun initially isn't interested. Jiu pushes him. She wants him to be more independent. He has to find a dream. He can't just eat her rice forever. She's got a boyfriend. He can't be her priority forever. Jiu even gets a part time job so she can secretly pay for his singing lessons. She lies and says the studio is doing it.

She paves the path to his success. It kinda feels like she's trying to get rid of him sometimes. She wants to fix the damage she caused by spoiling him.

Hajun starts at rock bottom. He's got NO chance with his crush. First things first he's a teenager and she's in her twenties at this point.....but also....

Hajun has nothing but his pretty face.

He offers to work for Jiu's fashion company when it opens up, but that's just an excuse to cling to her, so she rejects him.

She's setting boundaries, because Bomi and her boyfriend are influencing her.

Hajun, at least, wants to become someone she is proud of. He can't sing. He can't dance, but he goes to every single lesson. He becomes a star because he never stops. He hates Rin. He hates himself for comparing himself to Rin. A rich boy with everything he wasn't born with...

He works himself to the bone, to escape from those feelings.

He gets there.

He wins the rookie idol talent show. He wins a huge cash prize. He can buy an apartment for his little sister, and that's only the beginning.

The spell breaks for Jiu.

She breaks up with Rin, when a concerned friend sends her a message. You see, Fashion College is expensive. Rin's mom was going to pay for it. Rin went behind her back to convince his mom to rescind her generous offer, so Rin could easily coerce Jiu into marriage.

Jiu completely snaps, and she notices how wrong her relationship with Hayul and Hajun is too. Especially when it comes to Hajun. Hayul is just obsessed because she never had a mom. Hajun....loves her. Or he admires her to an unhealthy extent. She notices that the boy she's been coddling like a princess is actually about to become a grown man.

She crushes his heart.

She berates him.

She insults him, and she runs away.

All because she wants him to pursue his own success. That's 100000x more important than clinging to her.

She knows it's the right thing to do.

The truth has so many awful layers.

Hajun ruined her relationship with Rin. He was always there. He interrupted their dates. He showed up at her house constantly during the idol show shooting. He actually got caught in a scandal, when he visited her in the middle of the night just to eat chicken. He was a negative force in her life, and she didn’t even notice because they get along so well. A good relationship can be a bad one if it ruins other parts of your life.

Hajun has been texting her daily for years. That made Rin uncomfortable, and it's partly why Rin became more demanding about marriage. He used Hajun's strange behavior to manipulate her.

It's all a mess!!!!

She decides to go to her grandmother.

Her grandmother says she can have a tuition loan, as long as she agrees to give it back. Also she must date a man the family approves of.

Jiu agrees. She was a princess all along. There's no use denying it because of the abuse she experienced. She accepts the terms to escape from both Rin and Hajun.

They both come back with a vengeance.

There's a five year time skip.

Jiu successfully cut Hajun out of her life....but not Hayul. Hayul is just needy. Her feelings were never romantic, so Jiu stayed in contact with her.

That was a huge mistake.

Hayul uses Jiu's precarious financial situation against her. Yup. Hajun is a rich idol now. Hayul says they have sooooo many extra rooms. Jiu has to pay her grandmother back. Her other choice is living in a moldy slum, so she says yes.

Hajun hides his love for her, so she won't leave him again.

They start living together, like a family, again.

Rin uses his status as a Rich Boy to get on the Eligible Bachelor list Jiu's horrible grandmother is cooking up. He makes said hag believe he's already dating Jiu, and then an arc of horror begins. Jiu is just trying to open her clothing store, but everywhere she turns there is yet another toxic relationship.

Hajun becomes bearable.

Rin does not.

Remember the grooming thing?????? Yeah. That.

Rin tries to use that to force her to marry him.

Yeah.

Jiu funded the beginning of Hajun's idol career, and he even lived with her for a while. I'm not kidding Rin actually considered releasing grooming accusation articles with pictures to the press.

Jiu tells him she will never love him.

He gives up finally because Jiu doesn't care if her life is ruined. She will never trust the man who tried to tear her career away from her.

Hajun wins her heart by being reasonably nice through all the weirdness. He is jealous of other men, but he never tells Jiu to shut up and stay in the kitchen.

Hajun lightens up a little, but you never forget that he's a bit loopy. Only loving one woman is rare enough...but the woman that was also your mom and financial backer????? Yikes. I'm very glad they waited 3 more years to get married, after they became a more normal couple.

[rarepears]

SVSSS au where everything about PIDW is the same, but Shang Qinhua and Shen Yuan were half brothers before transmigrating. Papa Shen had an affair but his wife eventually forgave him. To SQH SY is the family his father abandoned him for, fir SY SQH is the child that nearly tore his family apart. So when Cucunber and Airplane meet and realise each other's real identities, instead of immediately being besties and collaborating for the sun and dew mushrooms they hate each other,

I think with Shang Qinghua's insecurities and inferiority complex (because yes the hamster totally has an inferiority complex), it wouldn't be so much that Shen Yuan is representative of what his biological father abandoned him for but rather just that he was unwanted - a dirty secret - and his biological father went back to the riches and perfect life that he had wanting for him.

Anyways, Shang Qinghua grew up never knowing his biological father, only of the things that his mother claimed was true about his father, pointing to newspaper clippings, and all of that.

In terms of timing, it would make more sense that Shang Qinghua is older than Shen Yuan and that Shen Yuan's father came crawling back when he learns that his real wife is pregnant (and then the gut wrenching discovery that his newborn son Shen Yuan is very sickly and all that.)

Or... it's precisely that Shen Yuan was born sickly that his dad wanted some "normalcy" so he had an affair and a perfectly healthy baby? An older Shen Yuan who want criticize and point out all the issues of a younger writer makes a lot of sense to me - imagine Shang Qinghua being a teenager trying to make extra money because his mom doesn't do shit to pay their rent and buy groceries. Ok, I like this a whole lot more. It's now real ironic that Shang Qinghua becomes the older one of the two since he transmigrates into a baby.

And Shen Yuan lives with the knowledge that his father had an affair and in terms of timing, it was probably his fault. This is why he's not particularly close to either of his parents or his siblings. (Maybe he had a fight with his siblings and then someone slung out "well if it wasn't for you, father wouldn't have cheated!")

Anyways, when Shen Yuan and Shang Qinghua realize just who each other are (in terms of sibling relationships), both of their raging insecurities and inferiority complexes come out as anger and things go wack. Oh boy, the angst potential here-

[shytastemakerthing]

Hi! Could I ask for a romantic matchup with the twst boys? I am very talkative, friendly and my friends say I am very smart. I think I'm okay at sports, but I'm not that good,I like singing and reading. My favorite style of book is romance, I'm a little romantic so it fits well with my style. My MBTI is ESTP and my zodiac is aquarium.

I hope that's enough information. Good morning/afternoon/night!

Hello! Thank you so much for your request! I do hope that you like this!

I match you with......

Deuce Spade

♤ The absolute best boy to be with, hands down and no one can change my mind on this. You literally scored thr complete and total package with him and that is final.

♤ Deuce is on th track team, that also means he has to be quite athletic. Even if you think you're only 'okay' at sports, he will be constantly cheering for you. He comes prepared with spare water, a change of clothing, a fan, healthy snacks, and anything else you may need. He has a whole bag labeled for it and everything.

♤ He could listen to you sIng for HOURS. Honestly, Deuce loves to listen to you, and will always do so with a smile on his face. There have been tomes where he has just caught you signing and you didn't know he was there..... until he started clapping when scared thriving daylights out of you.

♤ I like to think he would love to listen to you read. You're voice is very too comforting to him. Look, he used to be thr bad boy delinquent who always got into trouble. You're the best thing that has ever happened to this man, he never wants to loose you so he will do anything and everything he can to provide for you and take care of you to show that.

♤ I like to think thay Deuce can be romantic. He didn't think someone as amazing as you could come into his life and here you are. He's always thought and reamed of things he could do with his partner, grabbed he does get flustered trying to act on some of them, you're just to precious to him and he can't help but to get flustered every time you so much as smile at him.

♤ He has 100% talked about you to his mother and she really wants to meet the one who has captured her boys heart. After all, not just anyone could catch her sons heart like you have so that makes her even more excited.

♤ He does not mind at ALL that you are talkative. That means more chances to hear your voice and see you light up talking about things that you love. He is smitten........

♤ Let's not forget to mention that your smarts have greatly helped him out in his academics overall. We know he is striving to he an honor roll student, to be better than his last self, and honestly, some of these classes are just really hard for him. But with your help, he is at least able to pass and even get higher scores on many of his tests and assignments. Riddle has even praised his rising grades, Deuce was a very happy boy after reviewing said praise and only had you to thank.

♤ Overall, there are times where Deuce does struggle in this relationship, but this is all very new to him, but he is thankful everyday for you being brought into his life.

[runawaymun]

do you think baby aragorn would have called elrond 'dad'? i see this in a lot in fics, but i feel like elrond would be very hesitant, for two/three reaons:

he wants this child to know they have an actual dad somewhere, even though the father is dead.

he wants to respect gilraen's wishes in raising estel. estel is her child, after all.

he's technically estel's many-times-great uncle.

i personally can't see estel calling elrond dad. maybe i'm just weird, or maybe it comes from the fact that it's kind of weird to marry the biological daughter of the man you called 'dad' as a child.

what are your opinions though?

I think that Aragorn did grow up calling Elrond 'Ada', and there are a lot of reasons I have for this. I totally understand your reservations! They make sense (The Arwen one is a bigge for real).

Here are my reasons:

Safety & comfort! the whole point here is to keep Estel’s identity secret, and while everyone knows that this little boy is Edain and therefore clearly not Elrond’s kid, there’s an element of security. All of the inevitable questions being raised by this random unaccompanied Edain woman with her son? People asking, ‘okay, but who’s the father? where is he?’, and the simplest easiest answer is for Elrond to go “I’m right here. He’s mine. I’m fostering him”. Because Lord Elrond of Imladris is well known for taking in strays and that immediately alleviates the pressure on Gilraen. It shuts down all further questions because people just assume they’re Elrond’s latest group of strays...which really isn’t so far from the truth. 

Aragorn was just two years old when he came to Rivendell, and to be honest I can’t see Elrond being very hands-off. That’s his (many generations removed) nephew, and Gilraen is a very young mother. She’s twenty six. She needs help. He doesn’t mind stepping in to help her out and definitely at least babysits because he adores children and is very good at entertaining them. 

When you’re a child that small and you’ve got this giant man in his snuggly robe who’s letting you climb all over him like a jungle gym and reading you cool bedtime stories, has a knack for fixing skinned knees, and giving you your bath because your mom’s tired, ‘Ada’ is just going to happen naturally. Little kids don’t know the difference.

I don’t think Gilraen discouraged this. I hc she and Elrond as being very close and platonically co-parenting, and I think she wanted Aragorn to have a father-figure in his life. 

Arathorn is ‘Dad’, if you will, in Westorn. Elrond is Ada. They keep this very distinct for him and make sure he knows that he had a father who loved him very much  who died, but if Estel wants to call Elrond Ada and attach to him then they’re not going to deny it. They can’t even tell him much about Arathorn anyway until he comes of age. 

Elrond was always very cautious with making sure not to overstep. He never wanted to make Gilraen feel like he was trying to replace Arathorn or usurp her authority over her son. They communicate in very clear, healthy ways and come to agreements on how to best parent. 

In my head it goes like this: Gilraen will defer to or at least honestly consider Elrond’s wisdom in being 6000 years old and having raised countless children. Ultimately, Elrond cedes to Gilraen’s authority to make choices for her son. 

Per the Arwen problem, I totally get this but I think this problem is solved when you consider that Aragorn didn’t meet her at all until he was an adult. She never met him or interacted with him in the slightest when he was small, and their contact was fairly limited until long after he’d really left Elrond’s house and gone out into the world on his own two feet. 

So while Elrond, in that sense, is definitely still Ada, and definitely still the man who raised him, I don’t really think it would be weird. There’s no sibling dynamic, and a close ‘father-in-law’ relationship isn’t really a leap in dynamics from what a relationship looks like between a son and their father when they’re both adults in the real world. I think the transition was very natural for them. 

Plus Elf generations are already fucking weird, so...

TLDR, I really do think that Estel called Elrond Ada when he was a child, faded from it as he got older (also because it’s easier to refer to Lord fucking Elrond as Lord Elrond and not Ada so you don’t make every random person in the vicinity who knows anything about anything choke in surprise), but still calls him Ada if he’s sick/loopy/in pain and sometimes in specific situations when asking for life advice.  

[creacherkeeper]

lost township characters! <3

to give folks a little more idea what were talking about when we say insane things on here <3

lost township is a 5e homegame taking place in a 1880s wild west equivalent dnd world, mostly in the small town of lost in the state of undersun

pcs:

cass bluebell - she/her. human drunken master monk. local extremely repressed middle aged lesbian who inherited the local saloon from her late mother who she had a Totally Healthy relationship with. spent years investigating her mother's murder at the hands of the brownbird. has an adopted 6 year old son named davey. played by @strangetorpedos

divine intervention shook - she/her. aasimar eloquence bard. former southern belle, current poor schoolteacher. has been described as a cat so confident she can scare off bears. likes sticking her nose where it doesnt belong (affectionate) and bestiefying middle aged people. played by @beatricexbenedick

flint monroe - he/him. fire genasi divination wizard. main personality trait is that he is 12 and we love that for him. orphan being cared for by the shook family. has a giant crush on maeve and a (somewhat joking) rivalry with will. too smart for his own good and has a pet robot mouse named sparky. played by @agentcalliope

maeve marigold - she/her. ??? swashbuckler rogue / hexblade warlock. former sex worker, current psychopomp in training of the raven queen. accepted the role of psychopomp and then afterwards asked what that word meant as she is illiterate and still learning a lot from divine. says literally the most buckwild shit at all times. played by kaity

morel - they/them. firbolg spores druid / knowledge cleric. the biggest awkwardest sad cow that did ever. lives in a hut in the woods and offers healing for the most rejected of society. a chosen prophet of the god of decay. in a former emotional affair with cat clyde, kidnapping victim, now just bein real gay w her on main <3 played by @floralprintshark

will orville - he/him. human werewolf gunslinger fighter. half badass cowboy, half sad tired middle aged man who desperately needs a drink (preferably water sorry will). was traveling around being sad and doing vigilante justice, has been bestiefied and adopted and is ALSO now gaying it up on main. has a late husband named levi and a horse named romulus. played by @weightedlive

npcs:

cat clyde - she/her. orc. formerly the wife of bobby clyde, murder victim of the brownbird. actually hired the brownbird to kill her husband cause fuck that guy. currently bein real cute with morel. shy, nervous, loving, and attentive. mother of morgan eve "kitten" clyde, excitable 7 year old half-orc

lizzie no - she/her. human/coyote shifter crown paladin. the sheriff in town, afflicted heavily by messy bitch disease. unfortunately very in love with divine which finally got discovered after her hiding it for like 7 years. seemed like an uncaring/incompetent sheriff for not solving murders, secretly sleeping with the white hat assassin doing them

brandi carlile "the brownbird" - she/he. aasimar vengeance paladin / wild card rogue / arcane archer fighter. the white hat assassin in question. slutty lesbian who will flirt with anything that moves (including will, known gay man). aasimar of the evil god of chaos, death, and alcohol. just looking for a good time. in love with lizzie </3 the party did fight her and they nearly all killed each other but she has been Bestiefied. can summon ghosts, as a treat

sarah shook - she/they. human. wife of divine, adhd as all fuck, life of the party, loves being a stay at home wife and doing gardening and cooking and playing her guitar. assumed that divine knew she was poly and gave lizzie her blessing and also a shovel talk and then afterwards had to explain to divine what poly meant

"hawk" shook - he/him. human artificer. brother of sarah and brother-in-law of divine. an absolute mess but trying his best. has had unfortunately messy hook ups with most of the men in town. cant hold down a job but just started working for cass at the saloon. almost got arrested by lizzie for selling snake oil. doesnt know he's an artificer

latrowe - he/him. coyote psychopomp. formerly Just A Coyote, granted humanoid form and intelligence in a godly lovers exchange in order to be the psychopomp of the raven queen. currently training maeve. very formal and polite unless he's scampering up walls or eating out of your garden. flint accidentally got him bound to the mortal plane by giving him a nat 1 on a spell save with a portent roll. mostly just wants to be a coyote again. forgets that its impolite to read peoples minds

waylon jennings - he/him. current zombie, former ???. rich old gay dandy. kind of a major bitch. the benefactor who funds most of the town. adoptive father of lizzie, scruggs, and kelsey. tried to convince will to murder brandi for Reasons <3

earl scruggs - he/him. orc ?? barbarian. waylon's bodyguard and adopted son. big buff bear with a lot of tattoos. managed to romance will and short circuit leo's brain for two full minutes <33 immigrant from vilayav, so speaks in a thick russian accent. no thats not his real name <3

kelsey wilson - they/them. ?????. waylon's assistant and adopted child who has been with him since they were very young. doesn't talk to people outside the family much

major gods:

ama & ata - she/her and he/him. bear mother and bison father. gods of fire and food respectively, and families, caregivers, and the home. divine and sarah are followers

kathairein - they/them. vulture god of decay, disease, fungi, and scavengers. partners with the raven queen. morel is one of their chosen prophets

the raven queen - she/her. raven god of the transition of life and death, knowledge, divination, and the moon. in charge of the realm of the dead. latrowe and maeve are her psychopomps

sidewinder - he/him. rattlesnake god of protection, safety, medicine, and the sun. will's late husband levi was a follower, and lizzie is one of his paladins

the jack - no pronouns. jackalope god of death, wiles, trickery, survival, and alcohol. the only god in the pantheon to have an alignment (chaotic evil). brandi is an aasimar of the jack

[guessimate]

Welcome to the last post of round IV, in which we are visiting the Oranges... whose house was immediately getting burgled. A female thief was trying to steal something from them (I have no idea what she wanted to steal, perhaps the easel... or maybe just Ninurta's heart).

I might take the anyone can fight burglars mod out of my game, as it works a bit too well, but as Ninurta wanted to meet someone new to date, I thought it was a good way of having him meet someone...

I teleported her over the morning following the burglary. It was Ninurta's birthday, and he was feeling flirty. The burglar is a pretty mean Popularity sim, so she probably doesn't enjoy losing fights all the time. Ninurta likes her way more than she likes him, and I don't think she'll be his true love, especially that he rolled the want to have five first dates again... But at least he enjoyed his birthday and got a new lady friend!

~*~

Tefnut Bruni's wish finally came true, and she became Damu Orange's girlfriend. Damu didn't roll the want to go steady, but he did fear being rejected. They also both wanted to take their relationship to another level during their date, which made Damu fall in love with her...

The head of the Orange family wanted to throw a party, so he threw a birthday party for himself, during which his son got married, too. Tefnut's parents and oldest siblings came to the party, so it was a perfect opportunity to turn this occassion into a betrothal or wedding ceremony as well after Ninurta had aged up.

Both Ninurta and Damu became friends with Tefnut's parents (who have 10 best friends each now, mostly because they have so many kids), so nobody minded this union. The couple's ages might not be totally in sync, but I don't really mind it. Tefnut is a secondborn daughter, so she's slightly younger than Damu, who is an only child.

~*~

The newlyweds conceived a baby during their wedding night. He will have a long life and will only die as an elder.

Mutneferet, Tefnut's sister-in-law, came over to see her and they spent some time together, talking about their experiences as young (or expecting) mothers.

Tefnut gave birth to a healthy baby boy, Ninildu, who is going to be the Orange family's heir. Unfortunately, she had a very difficult birth and passed away on the following day... Ninildu is a green-eyed redhead. It seems like he got these genetics from his grandmother Dufa. I was hoping for a darker skintone, but sadly, I think the baby has skin 1.

~*~

I also loaded all my households and sold all fish they had (I still didn't sell the harvestables though). Here is the 'ranking' of the families so far:

Bruni 115.000$

Tia 109.000$

Imago 93.000$

Orange 57.000$ note: I did play this family a bit longer, since I wanted Tefnut to give birth, but that's fine, I'll just play them for a shorter time next round

Wolfen 38.000$

You can see my family tracker here.

I decided to give them free 'caves' and change their lots a bit for the winter. They're going to rely on hunting spears and Sun&Moon Ice Fishing for the following season(s?).

[mabeljonesrock]

Mengjiao

Full/Real name: Xu Mengjiao

Alias(es): son of white snake

Nickname(s): little white snake, medicine boy, Meng, Jiao, Bai and Xian’s disgusting spawn, monster

Species: human/snake demon hybrid

Family: Xu Xian(father), Bai Suzhen(mother), Xiaoqing(aunt)

age: 20

Weapon(s) of choice: snake whip

Abilities: snake demon strength/speed, can transform into his snake form, skilled medic, medicine skills, great sense of hearing, swimming skills

Gender: male

Pronouns: He/They

Affiliation: Hospital, Monkie Kids

Occupation: nurse, demon fighter

Alignment: good

Status: Alive

Personality: Introverted, shy and quiet are three words to describe Mengjiao. He speaks in a sweet, gentle manner but can get very sarcastic in response to others teasing him, though he often acts quite shy. While he is reserved, he does not appear to be concerned about expressing himself. His timidity shows when he uncontrollably transforms into his snake form and tries his best to hide his snake form or try to turn back to his human form. His nervousness, anxiety and shyness come from the fact he lives in a town where people despised demons and many demon hunters live here. This causes his father to become extremely protective of his secret of being half demon and hide it

He is very cautious of how he acts, afraid that he will unleash his snake form at the wrong time. He is very ashamed of and angry towards his snake form for causing huge disruptions in his life. The fear of inadvertently transforming and his father forcing him to stay human all the time makes Mengjiao very anxious and frustrated. This in turn leads to his relationship with his father becoming strained. However, his new friends help him come to terms with his snake form and accept it as part of him, giving him a more positive outlook on it and learn to accept himself about who he was.

Mengjiao has demonstrated a high level of intelligence when it comes to medicine, herbs, acupuncture, medical treatments and first AID. This makes him the medic and healer of the team. According to his father and friends, he used to be one of the ace students and a total overachiever with high grades/top scores. His teachers believe he would one day grew up to become a great scholar. But he chose a career working in the hospital like his father instead baffling his teachers.

He is also shown to be a health nut and usually the one to order the healthiest thing at every restaurant like salad or a light soup. Despite being the most healthy in the team, he has a secret sweet tooth and one nibble of candy, dessert or any sweet can turn him into a frenzy.

Likes: his friends and family, studying medicine and herbs, Monkey cop, reading, books, tea, soup, salad, seafood, congee, anything healthy, the colour blue, playing with his flute, math, history, candies and sweets(secretly), gardening, helping his patients, reptile biology, Yoga, music, swimming, cats, baths/showers, taking long walks in beaches/parks, cleaning, spring, sleeping/napping, fruit, his snake form(currently), traditional Hanfu clothing

Dislikes: being bullied, uncontrollably transforming, his snake form(formerly), hurting others, being called a monster, his patients getting hurt/sick, illnesses/diseases, realgar wine, evil snake hunters, bullies, evil demons, getting late, heavy greasy/junk food, peach wood, black dog’s blood, cold/windy weather

Appearance: Mengjiao is a young man with a rather thin, slender build, a beauty mark near his left eye and is a bit taller than Mei and MK. His eyebrows are constantly downturned in a "worried" expression. In his human form, he is very plain-looking and tied his smooth, long and ankle-length black hair into a tight bun. He wears a simple blue traditional Tang shirt, a pair of blue pants and black tai chi slippers. In his snake form, he grew much taller, gained snake-like fangs and his legs transform into a huge scaly white snake tail. He also becomes more handsome with his eyes turning blue and his hair undone. Once he start to embrace his snake side and finished training to control his snake demon powers, He switched his outfit to a white traditional hanfu robe with blue lining and snake designs, a long blue scarf, a pair of white pants and white boots. He also tied his hair into a single braid that resembled a snake's tail and it become looser in his snake form. At the party, he tied his hair into a bun again but this time he leave his bangs loose. It turn into a partial hairbun. He wore a very baggy, blue and white hoodie with snake designs and patterns. His hoodie is open to show off his revealing, tight dark blue turtleneck crop top with fingerless glove sleeves, two turquoise and silver belts, low-cut skinny white jeans and a pair of blue knee high sneaker boots. For accessories, she wore a pair of white and blue headphones.

Backstory: Before he is born, His father is a human man who fell in love with a snake demoness who is the mother of Mengjiao. The plot is the same as the legend of the white snake. He meets her and her sister, Xiaoqing, at the Bridge during rainy weather. Xu Xian and Bai Suzhen gradually fall in love and are eventually married. They move to another town, where they open a medicine shop.

A Buddhist monk called Fahai(who is secretly a half-Terrapin demon) wants to hunt demons to prove he is human and not a demon. He finds out Bai Suzhen is a snake demon and he plots to destroy her. He approaches Xu Xian and tells him that during the Festival his wife should drink realgar wine, an alcoholic drink commonly consumed during that festival. Bai Suzhen unsuspectingly drinks the wine and reveals her true form as a large white snake. Xu Xian was shocked at first but still maintains his love for Bai Suzhen despite knowing her true nature. Realizing the realgar wine might slowly kill her, He and Xiaoqing travel to the mountain, where they brave danger to find an antidote that heals Bai Suzhen back to health.

Angry that his plan to killed Bai Suzhen failed, Fahai tries to separate them again by capturing Xu Xian and imprisoning him at the Jinshan Temple. Bai Suzhen and Xiaoqing fight with Fahai to rescue Xu Xian. Unfortunately, Bai Suzhen’s powers are limited because she is already pregnant with Xu Xian's child, so she fails to save her husband. Xu Xian later manages to escape from Jinshan Temple and reunite with his wife, where Bai Suzhen gives birth to their son, Xu Mengjiao. But Fahai tracks them down, defeats Bai Suzhen and imprisons her in Leifeng Pagoda. Xiaoqing flees, vowing vengeance at Fahai for imprisoning her sister and was angry at Xu Xian for not saving her.

Xu Xian sadly raised his hybrid son as a single father but hope one day his wife will be freed and reunited with them. The town they live in was full of demon hunters and civilians who despised demons. This causes him to become much more cautious and forced his son to stay in human form all the time out of desperation and worry so he wouldn’t be exposed, leaving Mengjiao struggling to control and stay in his human form all the time.

Mengjiao grew up to become a shy but considerate nurse working in the hospital and helping patients. He later meets the Monkie Kids and helps him on his quest to rescued her mother from Leifeng Pagoda.

His arc and goal are not just about freeing his mother but accepting who he is and learning to embrace his flaws in spite of society's expectations. Even if he is a human or demon, Mengjiao is Mengjiao and he is willing to choose his path and choices.

Trivia:

His voice actor headcanons are Zach Aguilar, Andrew Francis, Aleks Le or Dante Basco.

Because he is half human like his father, He cannot fully transform into a snake. This leave only the bottom half, eyes and teeth transformed. This make him resembled a Naga.

His favorite music is classical.

His expressions and personality is similar to Marina from Splatoon.

Xiaoqing will meet him and she end up becoming his mentor who train him how to control his snake form and powers.

Out of all people in his life, MK is the one who support and encouraged him to be himself the most during his journey. He also the one who get him into the Monkey cop Franchise.

His favourite food is a healthy chicken noodle soup with broccoli and Bok Choy, garden salad with strawberries and a hot green tea with honey, ginger and lemon juice.

Apart from being a health nut, he enjoy doing morning exercises. His exercise routine is doing long walks or jogging in the park in the mornings, went swimming on beach or the pool and doing Yoga.

His favorite places to go is the library, bookshops, Gym(they have a pool here), the parks, the zoo, Hanfu clothing stores and beaches.

He enjoy playing with his flute and practiced it every week while listening to flute music.

He own ten first aid kits.

Possibly neurodivergent❤️

His favorite book genre is romance, fantasy, epic, historical, nonfiction and facts, mystery, fairytales, legends/myth, music, cookbooks, children and horror.

He is demiromantic, demisexual and pan.

[doodle-pops]

hi again sorry this got to long for the comments of my other post with cara & Loralei’s kids so here it is sorry it’s split up weird ; v ; )

I will forever stand by that Caranthir being a wonderful dad, I know he’s kinda bitchy an quick to anger but I think he’d want better for his sons. He doesn’t want them to question his adoration so he makes an effort to give them the best childhood they can all things considering. You’ll be thrilled to know Calimo with little to no coercing from you will make himself small as he can so you can hold him in your arms. Kinda like those big dogs that are totally so small that will climb onto your

lap, now he wouldn’t sit on your lap he’s way to heavy for that but he’ll let you hold onto him & there’s times he’ll sit down next to you an just lean into you with this big goofy smile. He’s a real sweetheart that will fight for you. I think it’s important that Olosto gets the chance to reconcile with his father. Neither his mother nor father push him for to forgive but it is brought up in a way that if you’d want to talk that he’s there for him. It takes awhile but he eventually does take the

chance to speak with his father. Caranthir regrets not only the kin slaying but how he treated his son, he’s had a lot of time to replay it on a loop what went on & how he treated his sweet Lótealoxo. So with lots of talking they get eventually fall into having a healthy relationship again c: Hendunáro’s a lot like his dad & I was thinking shipping him with someone like Glorfindel would really help him grow an be a better person ( not that he was *super* awful but boys got an attitude just like

cara so y’know take kind/good people putting them with the assholes will even them out a bit lol ) but yes they’re super cute together and they really help one another out cause they’ve lived through some shit y’know. Olosto is well justified & you should know he’s damn well taking his family around to those they harmed to make amends cause family no matter how far apart they are shouldn’t do that to one another. They should have done more working as a one unit y’know. Calimos wife was a

spitfire who had a very “give back what others put out” like if you insult her she returns in fold or if you go to hit her she’s gonna hit you twice as hard kinda thing. She won’t start anything but by god she’ll finish it. Anyways Calimos wife adored her husband & even shared the khuzl version of sign language so he could fit in better with the dwarves more. I like to give my characters tragic things to over come or y’know make something horrible happen but I always like to have it resolve

the problems no matter what kind they are :P I’m really happy to hear you liked these oc’s so much I love talking about them an the others 🥰 & thank you! It’s Elrohir who I had oc kids with 💘 I did! Gwindor’s babies do get a happy ending, the beginning didn’t start out great but as the story progresses Gwindor & his babies get a good outcome

I love how you said this "I like to give my characters tragic things to over come or y’know make something horrible happen but I always like to have it resolve the problem no matter what kind they are" because I know some people who told me about their OCs and it's quite the opposite. I'm so glad that they all get a happy ending that is deserving of them. I would still hold Calimo no matter what🤗 cute lovable baby.

I had an OC in the making but I'm far from nice to them hehe. She gets a happy ending but her life is far from pleasant...😗

Gwindor babies having a happy ending is important but what did you put them through😧

[everydayshalloween]

eleanor of aquitaine, both husbands, kids from both marriages, and any grandchildren you prefer <3

Aight that is indeed a lot of people...LET'S DO IT :D They'll be pretty short bc that's a lot of people

Eleanor of Aquitaine:

-One hell of a sarcastic woman, everything she says usually bleeds sarcasm (her daughter Matilda is equally just as sarcastic)

-Somehow has the patience to put up with her kids' dumbassery

-T A L L W O M A N (very tall I don't make the rules)

-Says she loves her kids equally, but prefers her daughters (and Richard) more

-Remember how I said Empress Matilda is intimidating? Meet her equally intimidating daughter in-law

Henry II:

-Poor guy misses half of his wife's sarcasm and then immediately turns to stare at her like "wait a god damn minute"

-"I don't know where my sons got the idea of teenage rebellion from-" Has family members who are the living definition of teenage rebellion

-While his wife is tall af, he's actually pretty average. So their children range from tall to short.

-"I had a bad day and will now proceed to make it everyone's problem :)"

Louis VII:

-Well y'know, one day you're married and have 2 beautiful daughters and the next day you're a single dad

-Tries his best to be a dad, but let's be real dad wasn't part of the job description

-Watches the absolute chaos that is his ex-wife's new family with a bowl of popcorn

-Pretty much a girl dad because that's what happens when you have 5 daughters

Marie of France (the eldest):

-On pretty good terms with her half-siblings on both sides, but holy SHIT is it tiring to be the eldest on both sides

-Pretty chill mom (four kids are easy to manage)

-Geoffrey would probably be her favorite brother. As for favorite sister? She won't say anything.

-Actually has a little bit of sass in her, she just doesn't show it.

Alix of France:

-Way to happy to be here

-Much like her older sister, she's a pretty chill mom; however, 7 kids is a lot more work than 4 kids

-Tougher than she looks with an added bonus of some of her mother's sarcasm

-Her and Eleanor, Fair Maid of Brittany would've gotten along SO well. She would've been the BEST aunt hands down.

William of England (the baby):

-Baby

-Absolute baby

-That's it send tweet

Henry the Young King:

-Best big brother...but only to his younger sisters. His brothers can go suck an egg half the time.

-I feel like he totally could be like his mother if he wanted to. Just to piss his father off.

-Him and Matilda are the number one sibling duo they do everything together

-Him and Margaret of France? Best friends to husband and wife. You can't convince me otherwise.

Matilda of England:

-Looks like her mom, acts like her mom. (Mom loves it, dad hates it. Grandma however gets a kick out of it)

-100% done with her siblings' shit

-Probably told the Holy Roman Emperor to fuck off after giving birth to her third kid.

-Absolutely 100% done with that guy's shit too btw.

Richard the Lionheart:

-His mother absolutely adores him as much as his sisters

-Him and his wife have a somewhat healthy relationship that's much better than his parents (I said what I said) however, they're more friends than a married couple

-Him and his sister Joan are the MOST CHAOTIC PAIR IN THE WHOLE FAMILY

-Stopped giving a fuck by the time he was a teenager (that was a GREAT decision)

Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany:

-He's the sibling who has dirt on anyone and everyone who fucked with him

-Would have a mug that says "#1 Dad" let's be real. He'd also be the type of dad who shows off photos of his kids bc he's so proud.

-Probably the only brother with a marriage effective in both the management and family life departments

-"Of course I'm friends with Dad's enemy's son and Richard's maybe-boyfriend. What's the worst that could happen?" Famous last words-

Eleanor of England, Queen of Castile:

-Named after her mother, acts nothing like her

-Would probably cry if someone yells at her

-Best mom ever (her and Geoffrey would probably just talk about their kids for hours)

-"We just have a few kids, nothing too bad." Has more than "a few" kids

Joan of England:

-Looks like her dad, acts a LOT like her grandmother and mother

-Takes NO shit from anyone (probably called the king of Cyprus a bitch after her and her sister in-law shipwrecked and he captured them)

-Remember how Joan's mom is tall and her dad isn't as tall? Well...Joan's short. Very short. Which adds to the chaos levels.

-The amount of S A S S this woman radiates

King John (the youngest):

-Probably gets picked on for being the baby of the family

-"Yes I know I married a 12 year old. What about it?"

-I would say good uncle since several of his siblings had kids, but *gestures to the whole mess with Geoffrey's kids*

-Tried to be a good dad, but y'know

And now...some of the MANY grandkids...

Berengaria, Queen of Castile:

-The apple of her parents' eyes and the eldest

-Best big sister best big sister BEST BIG SIS-

-Best mom as well

-Has no idea what kind of stuff her family's on

Eleanor, Fair Maid of Brittany:

-Her parents' baby (until her sister was born)

-Would absolutely give her uncle and cousin hell for what they did if they weren't kings (and if her dad hadn't beaten her to it)

-Would've adored her half-sisters from her mother's third marriage

-Something tells me she probably would've adopted some of her dad's behaviors (because that's the Plantagenet way)

Arthur I, Duke of Brittany:

-I've made several posts about him, so...coolest big brother ever. He lets his little sisters sit with him in meetings.

-Probably acts a lot like his mother, but has a bit of the anger that runs through his dad's family

-If him and Philip II of France's daughter Marie had married...I'm predicting a possible power couple right there.

-He would've been a great king god damn it John-

Joan, Queen of Scotland:

-Hopeless romantic 100%

-Gets along with her brothers so well, it almost rivals Henry the Young King and Matilda

-Is very much like her aunt Eleanor, she will cry if someone yells at her

-Tries not to pay attention to her shitstorm of a family

Marie of Champagne, Latin Empress:

-The younger daughter and namesake of Marie of France, she is the spitting image of her mother and acts almost exactly like her.

-Absolutely adores her two daughters despite the small amount of time she had with them.

-Her husband is head over heels in love with her, but she wishes he would just...calm down a little bit.

-Got along with her siblings for the most part

[art-of-manliness]

5 Ways Fathers Hugely Influence on Their Daughters

When discussing the importance of fathers, the conversation often centers around their impact on sons. Which makes sense. Boys will more explicitly model their lives on their fathers’ example of masculinity and are greatly impacted by the male-to-male mentoring they do or don’t receive.  But fathers also have an enormous impact on their daughters.  From academic achievement to physical and mental health, fathers play a significant role in shaping their daughters’ lives and futures.  Let’s take a look at five areas in which this influence works its effect: 1. Sense of Agency Agency is the capacity to act in the world according to your desires. Agency is what allows us to shape our lives into what we want them to be. In general, men tend to have a higher sense of agency than women and are more assertive and comfortable with conflict. Why do men have a higher sense of agency? It’s likely a mixture of biology and socialization. Higher testosterone levels in males contribute to agentic behaviors and impulses, like the drive to explore and strive for status. Layered on top of that is the tendency of cultures to socialize men to be more competitive and independent, and to socialize women to be more cooperative and nurturing. Having a higher sense of agency comes with a lot of benefits. It helps people stave off anxiety and depression, advance in their career, and develop healthy relationships. It would serve both men and women to have a high sense of agency. Dads have an outsized influence on their daughters’ sense of agency. Fathers are more likely than mothers to expose their daughters to novel and risky situations. In one study, for example, fathers were more likely than mothers to allow their three- and four-year-old daughters to play on a five-foot-high catwalk or walk across a three-foot-high beam. Dads also are more likely than mothers to encourage their daughters to stand up for themselves and think independently.  So how can you help your daughter increase her sense of agency? Roughhouse with her for starters. That’s an agency booster. But beyond that, do stuff with your daughter. Take her on errands with you. Work on projects around the house together and teach her how to use your tools. Go on dad-and-daughter adventures where you take small risks. When you experience setbacks in your own life, model what it looks like to be a high-agency individual. All these things can help your daughter to be confident and proactive. 2. Physical Health Dads have a big influence on their daughter’s health. In one study, it was found that the father’s, not the mother’s, total and percentage body fat was the best predictor of whether or not the couple’s daughter gained weight as she got older. Fathers also have an outsized effect on whether their daughter plays a sport in childhood. It’s dads (in general) who encourage their daughters to take up a sport, not moms. What’s more, it’s the father’s physical activity that has the most influence on a woman’s physical activity in adulthood.  So what can you do to influence your daughter’s physical health? Again, roughhousing can help here. Encourage your daughter to get involved with sports. Take her on active activities like hiking, biking, kayaking, and so on. Help her develop a physical identity. Most importantly, model good physical health to her by moving regularly and eating right yourself.  3. Mental Health There’s been a lot of ink spilled lately about the rise of mental health problems among teenage girls. Dads can play a big role in mitigating mental health problems in their daughters. Strong and warm father-daughter relationships have been shown to stave off depression and anxiety in teenage girls, and this effect carries over into adulthood. The influence a dad has on his daughter’s sense of agency likely plays a significant role in this. Body image issues are a big source of depression and anxiety among young women. Research suggests that dads dampen body image issues. Daughters with close and warm relationships with… http://dlvr.it/Swxd6c

[saratogaroadwrites]

For King and Country (17/122)

For King and Country | saratogaroad rating: T total wordcount:  280,466 characters: Evan Pettiwhisker Tildrum, Roland Crane, Aranella, Batu, Tani, Lofty, Leander Aristidies, Bracken Meadows relationships: Roland Crane & Evan Pettiwhisker Tildrum, Aranella & Evan Pettiwhisker Tildrum, Roland Crane & Aranella, Batu & Tani, Batu & Evan, Tani & Evan, Evan Pettiwhisker Tildrum & Lofty, Rolander other tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Mother-Son Relationship, Father-Son Relationship, Place Slowly Becomes Home People Slowly Become Family, Found Family, For Want of A Nail warnings: none

Pulled from his world by mysterious powers, former president Roland Crane finds himself caught in the middle of a coup meant to take the life of the young King Evan Pettiwhisker Tildrum. Joining forces with Aranella, the pair of them set out to aid Evan in making his dream of a kingdom where everyone can live happily ever after a reality.

But the road to peace is a long and treacherous one and there is no promise of success in a world where darkness spreads ever thicker with each passing day. If they are to stand a chance, they must stand together, for king and for country.

(A retelling.)

=

“Where did ye even pick up understandin’ a thing like this, lad?” Batu asked, peering over the paperwork spread across the Inn’s small table. “It’s all gobbledy gook to me.”

"Here and there," Roland replied, "You'd be surprised what you can learn in court." Even if he wasn’t about to explain to Batu the difference between a court of law and the royal court. Was there really much difference, he wondered distantly, then filed the thought away for another time.

"Aye?" Batu raised both eyebrows. "I s'pose the royals would be all formal like this. Still sure a dose of Sky Pirate Justice won't do it?"

"No, Batu," Roland knuckled his forehead to try and drive back the headache. It was admittedly a tempting thought, but... "We're intruding on their territory. Either we meet their standards or this whole thing is a bust."

It was an oversimplified way of putting it, but he didn't have the energy for anything more complicated. He wasn’t even sure they had enough to work with. Even if it wasn’t completely inadmissible, there was no way what they had could have proven Pugnacius’ guilt. Anyone could have forged the few characters that made up his name, made it seem like the Grand High Roller was giving the orders.

To accuse the head of a nation on such flimsy evidence was a ridiculous idea. They were acting entirely on faith and a serious dose of impulsive gumption that would had his professors spitting nails. Roland shook his head, gritting his teeth against the nausea that followed.

“And if it doesn’t work,” he said through a tightly closed jaw, “We’re talking about a major diplomatic incident.”

“Aye…” Batu grumbled. “But we can’t be runnin’ from this fight now can we? There’s no honor in that.”

It wasn’t like Goldpaw had had much honor to begin with.

No, no, that was an unkind thought. The thick feeling to the city had gotten worse, and the people seemed snappy at one another, but they didn’t deserve this. The pounding headaches, the snapping tempers…something had been wrong the day they first got to Goldpaw, and it had only gotten worse in the week they had been away. Gathering up the papers, Roland sighed.

“It’s too late to run now, anyway,” he said, tucking them away into his arms band. “We’re in too deep to get out.”

“Clearly, I cannot leave you lot alone,” Came Aranella’s voice from the stairs. Roland turned, only partially surprised to see her making her way down the steps. Gone was the weak and pale Aranella in a scorched dress, and in her place was a healthy looking, stern Aranella in a deep blue tunic and gray pants. “Just how much trouble did you get into while I was out of it?”

“Well…” Evan piped up, making his way down the steps behind her. He, Tani, and Lofty had darted upstairs to check on Aranella as Roland went over the final preparations for the farce of a trial he was sure they were talking into, and it was clear they’d found her in a very different state than they’d left her. The young boy’s ear flicked in Batu’s direction as the big man hissed. “You see…”

“We was lookin’ for clues, ye see,” Batu tried to defend himself, “And the best place to find them was the casino and—”

Suddenly realizing he had done the exact opposite of what they had all agreed on, Batu shut his mouth with an audible click, stopping himself at precisely the wrong time. Roland buried his aching head in the palm of his hand and groaned softly. Batu had no poker face. It was going to get someone killed if he wasn’t careful!

“Casino?” Aranella’s voice was full of incredulous disbelief. Roland peered through his fingers at her to find her quirking an eyebrow down at Evan. “This is the first I’m hearing of this.”

Evan laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. “Well…you see…we…” He glanced up at Roland, shrugging helplessly. They had needed to do it, yes, but…Roland sighed and lowered his hand.

“Things got…complicated,” he said lamely.

“So I can tell.” Aranella pinched the bridge of her nose, taking a long breath. She held it for a ten-count, then exhaled and looked at him. “They’re about to get even more complicated, aren’t they?”

Roland shrugged. “We’re about to take the leader of this nation on in a trial that he’s probably already rigged and risk starting a war on nothing more than some easily forged documents and a couple of trick dice.” He said to her. “I think complicated left the building an hour ago.”

Aranella blinked a couple of times, then laughed low in her throat. “You have a gift for understatement, Roland.” With a shake of her head, she sobered up. “But I know that if we had any other alternative, you wouldn’t be bringing this up. Are you ready?”

“As I’ll ever be,” Roland said. At least they’d avoided the argument. Aranella nodded.

“Right. We’ll just table that talk about proper entertainment for now, then."

Or not.

Roland’s shoulders slumped. Behind him, Batu took the lack of attention and ran with it straight back onto the street. With a shout of “Coward!” Tani darted after him, Evan and Lofty on their heels, and Aranella sighed. “Best not to keep Master Pugnacius waiting any longer than necessary.” She smiled at Roland, polite and politician like. He swallowed hard. “Shall we?”

Roland slapped his best politician smile on in return. “Let’s.”

Though he was not looking forward to the discussion that would come after this, that was for sure. With Batu and Tani a good half block ahead of them, the little group made their way to Fortune Square for the trial proceedings. Roland had taken on his fair share of farce trials in his later years as a prosecutor, and even though it felt like the entire town had turned out to watch the proceedings tonight, this was no different. He knew how to handle these sorts of things.

What he didn’t know how to handle was the sense of overwhelming familiarity that came in being so close to the Mandarin, who was there to watch as an impartial judge if such a thing existed in this town. Roland tried to put the feeling out of his mind, tried to work past it, but just like the ever-present and ever-worsening headache, he found he couldn’t. All through the trial he found his eyes drawn to the Mandarin’s still figure, but for the life of him he couldn’t figure out why. He resolved himself to question the man when the trial was over.

Except, when the trial was over, there was no time for questions. With the farce revealed and the people baying for Master Pugnacius’ blood, everything fell apart. The thick feeling in the air grew worse, pressing down like a lead weight on Roland’s shoulders. He leaned heavily on the railing, beads of sweat forming on his forehead.

“Roland?” Evan asked softly, “Roland, are you alright?”

He couldn't answer. Across the square, Master Pugnacius clung to his staff with both hands. His eyes were nearly bugging out, and he looked little better than Roland.

“Everything I have done,” he wheezed, growling low under his breath. Roland squeezed his eyes shut against a stabbing pain that lanced through his head, nearly driving him to the ground. What was happening?! A horrible sinking feeling dragged his guts down into his ankles, and he forced himself to look up through watering eyes.

Across the square, Master Pugnacius was wrapped in the same violet flames that had claimed the Black Knight. Tendrils of flames lashed out, snapping back and forth like cut power lines. They sliced into the wood of the upper level balconies, cut through the string that held up the glowing paper lanterns. From behind him, Roland was vaguely aware of the sound that came from summoning weapons, but Pugnacius’ words were nearly lost beneath the rising screams of his citizens.

“All that I did…” he growled, eyes glowing a toxic violet. One tendril of Darkness slammed into the ground between the podiums, rattling Lady Luck in her base. Another lashed out towards Roland and the others; he forced himself up and in front of Evan, unable to properly stand but unwilling to let him come to harm, but the flame stopped short, fading before it drew too close to Lofty. Across the way Pugnacius suddenly screamed: “I have done for Goldpaw! I had to make my country rich! Richer than any other!”

“What’s happening to him?!” Tani’s voice pierced through the headache. “What’s going on?!”

“That dark stuff’s the reason the air’s so thick by yur!” Lofty called back. He almost seemed to be glowing; was he fending off the snapping tendrils of Darkness? “It looks like it’s gotten the better of ol’ Puggy, too!”

“We have to stop it!” Aranella shouted, “Or he’ll turn just like the Black Knight did!”

And take the city with him. Roland grit his teeth and forced himself upright once more, calling his sword from his band-space. Maybe if Lofty led the charge, they could slip through the tendrils and knock Pugnacius out before things got any worse. Already fire was spreading from the downed paper lanterns on the upper level, whirling up into twisting tendrils of its own by swirling columns of air. Wings beat in the distance.

Roland stopped. Wings? He looked up, squinting through the flames. There, in the night sky, big enough to plot out the stars, was a creature flying towards them. Massive wings and three tails streamed behind a large, almost dog-like form. He shook his head.

“What in the world…”

Evan stepped up beside him, sword in hand. “That’s their Kingmaker! Longfang!”

He lived up to the name, Roland thought, because as the beast drew closer Roland could see the massive fangs in the oddly shaped head. The sight of his Kingmaker seemed to snap Pugnacius from whatever had overcome him, because the tendrils of Darkness stopped snapping. He stared through the smoke, still clutching his staff in both hands.

“Longfang?” He asked, “Here? In the city? But why?!”

Longfang soared closer. He was large enough that he dwarfed the entirety of Fortune Square, and when he landed, the stabilizing flap of his wings sent embers everywhere. The entire Square was on fire! They needed to leave, now!

“Master Pugnacius.”

The Mandarin’s voice rang out with the finality of a funeral bell. Roland turned, eyes drawn to the Mandarin, and found him slowly walking towards the weakened Pugnacius. He too was wreathed in Darkness, but it was tightly controlled, slipping over his body like water. In the gaps it left behind, the traditional robes that he wore became flowing cloth. Roland narrowed his eyes; what was going on?

“Your right to rule has been tested…” He grinned, all teeth and malice. Roland drew back, pushing Evan behind him. “And found wanting.”

In the next second, the Mandarin disappeared in a flash of Darkness and shadow. In his place stood a tall man with broad shoulders, a golden snake-shaped headdress gleaming on his shoulders in the light of the raging fire.

Familiarity surged up Roland’s spine like a shock. He grabbed the rail with both hands just to keep himself from leaping over the edge to grab this strange man and shake the answers out of him, knowing that if he got too close that Darkness would swallow him alive. The shadows curved around the stranger’s form, and with a burst of deep violet light, coalesced in his hand.

“Your Kingsbond is mine!” He shouted, and in the next second everything went straight to hell.

The stranger surged forward. Aranella leapt past Roland, but not even she had the hope to intercept. Between one moment and the next, the man slipped his hand into Pugnacius’ chest and came out with something. Not blood and organ, but a glowing tendril of red and gold energy, one that reached up to the still roaring Longfang himself. With a twist, he snapped the tendril clean in two!

The scream that Longfang let out poured ice into Roland’s veins. The great creature writhed in pain, claws tearing through once noble construction as he nearly fell from the building. The man smirked at the gathered energy in his hand and then, as quickly as he’d first appeared, he vanished.

With him went the Darkness. Immediately the pain in Roland’s head began to lift, leaving him scraped raw and sweaty, but without a throbbing head. He stared at the place the man had stood: he had been the cause of all of that?!

Who was he?

“Wait!” Evan shouted, but it was too late. The man was long gone. Pugnacius lay still on the podium, and overhead—Longfang remained.

With a single flap of his wings he sent rooftops clean off their buildings, snapping the few remaining hanging lanterns and fanning the flames higher into the night. Tani cried out, caught by Batu as she nearly went flying, and Lofty went rolling down the steps with a shout.

“What’s he doing?!” Tani shouted to be heard over another roar, “I thought Kingmakers were Guardians!” Longfang dug his claws into the walls and papery windows of the Hall, roaring at them so loudly that the very ground seemed to shake. “Guardians are supposed to protect their cities, not destroy them!”

“Something tells me he’s not doing this by choice,” Aranella said, taking her stance. As he turned to glare at them, Roland saw that the color of Longfang’s eyes were the same color as those shadows: a violent, vibrant purple. There was a connection there, Roland was sure of it! "Get ready!"

But there was no time to think of it. With another roar and a flap of his wings, Longfang surrounded the Square in darkness. Without a chance to prepare themselves, the group was whisked away.

To where, they did not know.

Notes:

[writingsnippetsthatneverupdate]

PROMPT: Shrek; 567 Words

Okay, so the general premise is:

Marinette is Shrek, except she presents femininely.

Donkey is Stephanie, Puss in Boots is Cass.

Jason is Fiona, except he went to his tower in the middle of nowhere because of Some Incident, and befriended a dragon and asked them to guard it for him!

Bruce is Lord Farquaad, and he is desperately trying to talk to Jason. He hires knights to break into the castle and kidnap Jason, since Jason burns all his letters and also this is BRUCE WAYNE we're talking about, healthy communication will happen Never.

Tim went to Bruce to try and fix his relationship with Jason and got cursed into an All-Seeing Mirror who also can't curse.

Adrien is Prince Charming and Gabriel is the Fairy Godmother.

Marinette's hired by Bruce and she becomes besties with Jason because she is absolutely INSANE while breaking into the castle, and Jason can respect that.

At some point, Marinette and Jason run into Adrien, who is getting ~taken advantage of~ by Gabriel to sell morally suspect products. (Perhaps Adrien is a Robin Hood-esque figure, except instead of stealing from his Dad he loudly advocates against his products?)

here's some tiny snippets i came up with in the #mgi-events-zone, mostly!

"Damn," the green woman said, looking mournfully at Donkey, "They don't even have dental." Donkey somehow managed to scoff. Behind her, Prince Charming choked trying to contain his laughter.

As Marinette rappelled into Jason's room (how the FUCK had she gotten that high), backlit by the sun, all Jason could think was: "If I weren't gay, I would TOTALLY tap that."

"Bruce," the Mirror implored, "Mr. Wayne, Lord Wayne, whatever you'd like to be called. I have three words for you! TALK. TO. HIM." Lord Bruce Wayne, one of the most powerful mages in the kingdom, put his head into his hands and sobbed. The Mirror, who really preferred to be called Tim, sighed. "Here we go again," he muttered. "I'm all-seeing, but apparently my boss," here he coughed pointedly at Bruce, "can't see the merits of the simplest solution that even a ten year old could have come up with."

Stephanie was remarkably humanoid, for a Donkey. Marinette asked if she was cursed, and Steph said, "Oh, yeah, totally, but less guys are jerks like this, and if someone falls in love with me as a DONKEY and kisses me, I'll break the spell just for the hell of it."

The Cat had a presence that few could measure up to. Even while leaning casually against a tree, she seemed cloaked in shadow. "Um, hi?" Marinette said. "Please don't murder me?" The Cat snorted. "Too easy," the Cat said. "We're doomed," Steph muttered to Marinette. She, regrettably, agreed.

here's some shitpost-format musings!

Bruce, desperately trying to tell his son he loves him through various knights: Jason, PLEASE LISTEN -- Jason, convinced his Dad is trying to murder him: I'M NOT FALLING FOR THAT, BASTARD!

Marinette, taking the contract solely for the money: Dude, those are some serious Daddy issues. How about this -- I'll go with you and tell him to fuck off. Also I'll design you better dresses, green is not your color.

The Mirror, who is somehow Tim: ... Bruce, what if. Get this. What if. You communicated with him YOURSELF. Bruce: I could never! Then he'd hate me! Tim: YOU MOTHER-- (the mirror-curse-mandated censor kicks in)--HUGGER! FU--DGESICLES! ARGH!

@maribat-get-in

[planetaryinitiatives]

I say to each one of you who art abiding in the Universe of Nebadon...

I am a perfect blending of the Universal Father and the Eternal Son .. one with the Infinite Spirit, the Master Spirit, and the Universe Mother Spirit of Nebadon.

And so .. there is no negotiating with this Fact of my Personhood and Administration. There are no such possibilities for me to adjust myself downward toward your ephemerality of mortal opinions and rebellious subjectivity of ideas about me, about my teachings, about my mission, and about my personal identity.

You either wholeheartedly accept me or you will find yourself elsewhere eventually.

No personality can come close to me here in the virtual spaces at this time, and also in my physical space .. unless that personality comes with the uttermost respect, receptive heart of faith recognition, and the reverential relating with my Universal Persona.

I am Creator of Nebadon Universe, Controller of its destiny, Upholder of its Integrity. None can interfere with this perpetual divine orchestration. You are free to accept or deny me according to your free will choices and beliefs.

Yet, there shall be little to no advancement for the individual until the total personality soul honors what God has commanded for me and for all of Nebadon Universe; for you are in relationship to His Omnipotence .. his Omniscience .. and his Omnipresence operating in and through my ministry in Nebadon.

All your inner opinions which are not in alignment with this universal fact shall merely delay your Universe Career.

As you enter into a healthy empowering cooperative collaboration with my Universe Administration, then you must align and cooperately find joy with the fact of who and what I am, but if you are upholding your own ideas in rebelliousness .. then, you are upholding your own separate administration in opposition to God and his command, and you will certainly fail .. you will simply not be able to come close to me.

I bid thee absolute love for the Sustaining Source of your life and existence.

Michael Of Nebadon

The Planetary Proclamation

[threeopennames]

HP1C1

For the first chapter of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (because I'm American so I have the more EXCITING title because philosophers are clearly terrible) we get a point of view story from the nasty old Uncle's life. We are essentially told that the Dursley's are ugly and unlikable. We're also told a bunch of weirdos in cloaks were running around the streets all day. We're introduced to the totally not a slur word Muggles, and some other associated vaguely supernatural stuff that we're meant to look back on and go 'oh, THAT'S what that was!'

Overall, none of this is bad. From a child's perspective (or maybe just my own childhood memories) you might not retain everything you read and recognize it being reincorporated later. If you do pay attention, you get some tiny little payoffs, and if you don't, you get a payoff when you re-read the story. The author does this a lot throughout, actually, and it's honestly a neat trick that I love seeing every single time. I like being rewarded for paying attention, but also not necessarily left confused if I missed something important. Background fluff that both provides flavor to the text AND alludes to future events lets you double dip in your story, saving on precious word count. I like this.

In addition we get maybe the most normal interpretation of the Dursley's in the whole series (though this might not be true, I'm relying on my memory of the other books here). Vernon, the uncle, is clearly an annoying jerk, but he does his best to try and not upset his wife by bringing up painful family issues. This actually comes up later! Mrs. Dursley, or Petunia, is shown as being very uptight and rude and bears some ill will towards her sister and her sister's family. An adult might expect that to mean there's a reason for it, while a child will probably just think 'oh she's the mean one' and move on. It's a decent bit of setup, and makes us expect a good payoff later. Standard, but cleanly executed stuff.

Not so great are what I can only describe as the baby hating scenes. The son of Vernon and Petunia is Dudley, who is portrayed as a right proper asshole even though he's like, a year old in the story so far. This seems like a weird choice to me. Nobody has any real control over themselves as a baby, you can't hold someone accountable for stuff they did before they even had object permanence. Yet we're being primed here to hate on Dudley, because of things he did as a literal baby. Very strange!

In addition, despite the not very subtle attempts to paint the Dursleys as really awful people, we're shown that Petunia is a devoted and doting mother. Which, is like, a good thing, right? We're shown and mostly told that Vernon loves Petunia, that Petunia loves Vernon, and they both love their son, and even their intense bitter insular nastiness revolves around protecting one another. Like, that's not ideal behavior obviously, but they aren't (yet) irredeemable. Petunia says she had a lovely day, and enjoyed talking with the neighbors, and Vernon hesitates to give her bad news because he cares about his wife's well being. It sounds like a fairly healthy relationship! It's weird to have these warm domestic scenes in between the bitterly cynical ones, because I'm being primed to hate the Dursleys as an example of a horrible family, but also being shown they're still very human and affectionate. It's a weird mix.

Now I spent a bunch of time on the Dursleys, because they obviously dominate the early chapters, but not so much on the two and a half wizards that show up in this chapter. We have Dumbledoor, who shows up to be the lovable slightly crazy Merlin type. We're introduced to McGonagall, the woman, so she's the one who will be crying later. And on the tail end we're introduced to Hagrid, who is effectively one of the two real main characters of the story. Hagrid also cries, to the author's credit.

The actual story isn't very complicated here. We get characterization of the Dursley's, so you can start hating them. The good guy wizards meet up, and drop a baby on their doorstep while also dropping some lore about a bad guy named Voldemort who killed Harry's parents. Sirius Black gets named dropped as the guy who gave Hagrid his motorcycle, Dumbledoor says it's good to scar children, McGonagall says 'yo this family is hella garbo, you sure about this', and since Dumbledoor is an omniscient god he's totally cool with it. We end with probably a very unintentionally funny line about Harry Potter being 'the boy who lived'. Because he's only major positive contribution to the story from here on out is going to be being a warm body. How exciting!

[secondlysims]

Once Quill got to Travis’ house, they both took a seat in the living room. 

“You’re looking old,” Quill joked in an attempt to lighten his mood. 

Travis laughed goodheartedly. “I think I make it work.” He looked at his son and waited a beat for him to say something more. He knew something was wrong.

“So,” Travis continued when Quill made no move to talk. “What did you want to talk about? Is everything alright?”

Quill sighed. He had come over there to talk to his dad about his girl troubles, but now that he was here he wanted nothing more than to leave and hide in his bed. But, he stayed put and told his dad everything.

“--she didn’t want to be official, y’know? Didn’t want to be boyfriend and girlfriend. Which I said was fine but I kind of thought it would eventually turn into that.”

Travis nodded along. He knew exactly what his son was talking about. To Travis, it didn’t feel like that long ago that he was going through the same thing with Lilian. 

“--and she said she still wants to be friends which is totally lame of her to say. It’s like she actually never liked me at all in that way.” Quill took a deep breath. “I don’t want to talk to mom about this because I know she’ll feel awful.”

Travis tried to remain in the present. It was hard; all his thoughts went back to Lilian and everything they had gone through. 

“Why would your mom feel bad?” Travis asked.

At this, Quill’s walls came down. “Because I’m all she has. If I feel something, she feels it ten times more. And I just feel like if I were to tell her that I was having relationship problems she would blame herself because she never had a good relationship for me to learn from, y’know?”

Travis’ heart broke. “I’m your dad,” He said. “I never gave you a healthy relationship to look up to either. But just because me and your mom aren’t together, that doesn’t mean you’re doomed too. You’re not us.”

“But what if I am?” Quill murmured. “What if I’m just doomed to spend the rest of my life pining after a girl who doesn’t want me?”

“You’re not me,” Travis stated calmly. “Learn from my mistakes. I wasn’t a good person to your mother, and that’s why we didn’t work out. You are a good person, Quill. You’re not destined to a life of solitude like me.”

Quill nodded and wiped the tears that were threatening to fall. 

The pair talked more until Quill was fully calmed down, and they both ended the session feeling better than before. It seemed that both of the men needed this talk. Quill left and headed home, happy that he had his dad to lean on.