#who unfortunately happen to be the only people who are in a somewhat similar age range than hers

[sugarcarnation]

skk plus kouyou trio has taken over my brain

[raayllum]

Do you truly believe that Callum is the only best thing that's happened to Rayla?

I don't think Callum is the only good thing in Rayla's life, but I do absolutely agree with her sentiment that he's the best thing she's ever had / that's ever happened to her. This is for a few reasons (mostly only talking about arc 1 as that's the time she's referring to, but I'm also gonna be touching on S4/S5):

In Bloodmoon Huntress, the long time headcanon of post-s1-s3 fans that Rayla was a relatively friendless / lonely child was confirmed. This makes Callum and Ezran her first real friends, and while she's more likely to lean on Ezran for support (in arc 1 at least) initially than Callum is, Callum is still more so her peer (due to being similar ages) and is her first and main Best Friend. For that alone, I'd buy her statement.

Then there's the other ways Callum has changed her life. He is:

The person who inspired her to actively work towards breaking the cycle past the point of 1) believing it was right for Zym to return home and 2) to make up for her parents' perceived/failures mistakes, as seen most prominently in 2x07. This is something she is willing to die for, and while Rayla is (unfortunately) willing to die for many things, this is the cause she believes in and feels centred in: "Every fibre in my body is telling me that [leaving her] is wrong [...] It doesn't just feel like the right thing to do, it feels like the right thing for me to do. It's where I'm meant to be." ("Look at yourself, Rayla. Who are you? What do you stand for? Once you know that, you'll end up where you were always meant to be.") Someone giving you a much more positive worldview that aligns with your values and sense of rightness is certainly a big deal (and a positive one, particularly for someone who's struggled with hesitating over what feels right for so much of her life.

Callum is the first person in Rayla's life to love her wholly unconditionally. While Rayla is deeply loved by all four of her parents, and I've gone on record saying that Tiadrin and Lain didn't do anything wrong, arc 1 sees Rayla brush up against the lingering cultural hangups and choices that make her family's love for her feel if not outright be somewhat conditional. She is shunned by her village (condition 1), while Ethari says goodbye to her and embraces her he still turned his back on her (condition 2), Runaan was heavily disappointed in her betrayal of him/the mission and left her (condition 3), and her parents put their duty over her / being her parents (condition 4). Callum says fuck all that shit. He refuses to leave even when she's pushing him away. He loves and admires her for the exact things she's been punished or shamed for ("You have true courage and a big heart" -> "Even when her own people might misunderstand and turn against her"). He says she doesn't deserve to be Ghosted, she doesn't deserve to be unjustly turned away for a mistake she didn't even make, he says and shows that it's okay for her to be scared and that she can (and should) rely on him.

This is even more intrinsically tethered given Chasing Shadows and the canon fact that Callum and his love for her 1) kept her from throwing what little remained of her life away entirely and 2) literally kept her from forsaking her name/identity/everything else that makes her Rayla and 3) gave her the courage to try and come home to somewhere she'd be safe and loved, even if she knew/felt she didn't deserve to. There's an underlying belief in Chasing Shadows we see carry through into S4 where Rayla truly believes Callum can do and overcome just about anything, and if he can do the impossible, then maybe so can she:

She backed away, close to the pit’s edge. The crowd shouted and screamed at her ears, their spittle landing on her neck. It rattled her. The human kicked dirt at her, and Rayla scraped at her eyes, angry—infuriated, even. Humans were frustrating. Humans were clever. Humans could do anything, they could be anything, they could take their own fates and change them—

It is for all these reasons that Rayla clearly considers him to be her family and the love of her life. She gives him the pendant (from Ethari to Runaan, then Ethari to her, and then her to Callum) as a symbol of both familial and romantic love. He seems to be the first person she's had serious feelings for and certainly the first person she's fallen in love with.

She was originally going to confess first (2x09) back when she clearly didn't have any thought or inclination he'd ever love her back, either. Then he did, and it elevated an already very steady and safe relationship to one that was good natured, even more incredibly supportive, and wholly unconditional.

And given how he supports and loves her in S4 and S5, I am even more inclined to think she's Right <3

[immajustvibehere]

High honour Arthur "can I stay? I won't be trouble, I promise" but he was actually planning on robbing Y/N's house but Y/N was too kind to him

Warning: This is unfinished. A drabble, the beginning of a story. Not proof-read. Not even auto-corrected.

It's been rotting in my drafts for a half a year now, but rather than deleting it, I thought I'd post what I had. Maybe someone feels inspired to take it up and make a proper story out of it.

Arthur Morgan x fem!Reader

2200 words

"Arthur! You're exactly the man I've been looking for", was Uncle's greeting to Arthur, who had just risen from a way too short night's sleep.

Since the first mention of his name, so early in the morning and by a man who was notorious for pushing his work onto other people's plate, Arthur had to try hard to hold back a sigh. Instead, he shrugged slightly and continued on his way to the coffee pot, without granting the old man as much as a fleeting glance. "Am I, now?". he asked sarcastically as he poured hot water on a tin mug which bottom he had exorbitantly covered with ground coffee.

"Yes. Listen, I have a fresh lead. It's a good one. But we must act quickly", Uncle reported.

"We?", Arthur inquired with raised eyebrows. To lend his words some effect, he took a sip from the coffee, which resulted in him burning his tongue and cringing at the bitter taste.

"Well, yes. We are partners after all, aren't we?", Uncle went on, "I bring you the information, you act on it. Trust me, you're one of the only ones who can pull it off. Hear it, and you will agree that I'd be useless in the field of action."

"Alright then", Arthur gave in. There was no damage in hearing the old man out.

"There is this widow...her husband just died and the word is, he left her a pretty sum of money. We are talking hundreds! Three hundred, five hundred - people aren't quite sure. And all this money is rumoured to be hidden in her home. She's a real naive girl. Stupid, even. Wouldn't cotton on to being robbed in front of her eyes. That's where you come in!"

As it so happened it was in Arthur's character to have a distaste for doing widows an injustice. It was only a couple of weeks after he had threatened a widow to pay a debt, though her diseased husband, for whose death Arthur was not quite unblameable, would have been her only chance of doing so. The incident had started to plague his mind of recently and there was a subtle objection of adding another similar case to his conscience.

"So you want me to hold a mourning woman at gunpoint and take her money?", Arthur summarised.

"Yes and no", Uncle made a dismissive hand movement, "You don't have to be such a brute about it. She's stupid, remember? Woo her. Gain her trust and then...oh, I don't know, steal her money without her realizing. Put on an act!"

Arthur didn't know if he should laugh or grumble at this suggestion. "If you want an act, go and ask some of the girls or Hosea!", Arthur snorted. It hasn't been so long ago that Arthur had acted as Fenton for Hosea's funny advertising play. Uncle shook his head: "No, trust me. Hosea won't do. See we need-" The old man paused to take a step back and consider Arthur's frame. "A somewhat decent looking man her age", the old man made a sour face when he had to pay Arthur's appearance a compliment.

Arthur didn't even hear the compliment, he only observed Uncle's desperation of finding someone to do his dirty work and unfortunately, Arthur knew he was fool enough to do it. "Fine", Arthur stated. The premise of a trip to Strawberry and a few days away from camp - and Uncle - didn't sound too bad. And making money without shedding blood? Why not. "I knew you'd be on board. North of Strawberry, somewhere in the Big Valley. Nice little cabin and a beautiful garden - you can't possibly miss it!", Uncle shouted the last instructions because Arthur had already turned his back towards him and was walking off to his horse. With a quick wave he wanted to make understood that he had heard it and would be off.

-

It was evening when Arthur rode through Strawberry. He had quite forgotten how chilly it can get near the Big Valley. Thankfully, he was brutally reminded with almost freezing temperatures and drizzle, that as soon as he had taken the road North out of Strawberry had changed into severe rain. Identifying the cabin proved to be no challenge. Arthur had barely left Strawberry (in an enormous tempo, one must add, so he would be quicker to find shelter) when a wooden cabin presented itself in the distance. It was a bit off the beaten track and a garden surrounded it, and besides the clouds, the rain and the fast approaching twilight, straggling bushes with flowers and patches rich with vegetables could be made out.

Arthur had gone through many moments during his ride where he had changed his mind. At first, he was determined to follow Uncle's suggestion and play a wounded, lost man who needed shelter. Later, he had suffered under the mind bugging truth that he simply wasn't a good actor and even if he tried fooling someone, he'd probably fail. And yet, the woman was supposed to be slow on the uptake, so why not? If he messed up, he could always resort to the old methods in which he was proficient; threatening and killing. Though, killing a widow? What if the woman turned out to be a miserable wretch mourning for her dead husband? Could he really hurt her?

Those intricacies had gone on the entire ride, and Arthur was exhausted. As he dismounted the horse and had stowed away all his weapons - as to not appear too suspicious - he sent it away. He had decided to go with the initial plan, so the lost man in need for shelter. Wherever it would go from hence onwards, Arthur was confident that he had the upper hand. With a final sigh he disturbed his shirt and ruffled through his hair, though he put his hat back on. He didn't even have try hard to look pitiable, the long ride was perceivable on his face and his clothes were soaked. Arthur couldn't believe how nervous he was. His heart beat faster than it did before robbing a stagecoach or running from the law.

Finally, he walked up to the front door. Before he knocked, he slouched his shoulders and bended his left leg, letting his weigh rest on his right side. He had decided to fake a limb, just to make his story more believable. There he stood; dishevelled, shivering and anything but confident about what he was going to pull off. And yet, this might help him play his role. The knock was carefully delivered to the door, not too strong as to give away his cover, but not weak enough so it could have gone unheard. Arthur gulped and waited. The water that was running down his neck became an actual nuisance as it sent violent shivers through his whole body. Even if he had tried to deny it; he actually needed shelter. It was only in the corner of his eye that he saw some curtains shift and before he could have looked up, the door was opened.

Arthur's gaze fell onto cosy slippers and legs that obviously belonged to a woman. "Yes?", a gentle voice asked.

"I'm...I'm very sorry for the intrusion ma'am. But yer house was the first thing I saw after my horse threw me off. I-", Arthur had started to convincingly deliver his story. The fatigue in his voice helped to overshadow a slight tone that proved a lack of practice when it came to playing a person he was not. And yet, the biggest mistake was being made when he looked up. He had expected an old woman. A widow with a face marked by age and sorrow, but what he found was the beautiful frame of a young woman, with a face so youthful and fair, it had caught him completely off guard. The realisation that he was staring and pausing for too long a while made him stutter and present the rest of the rehearsed introduction: "Can I stay? Jus' to warm up a bit. I won't be trouble, I promise." The woman was suddenly stirred into action, nodding approvingly and pleading him to come in: "Of course! Of course! You're not hurt, sir?"

Arthur remembered his limping leg just in time before he made a few steps. "Not seriously. Jus' my leg...", the last three words he only mumbled under his breath. The woman stood aside and held the door far open for him to enter. When he stepped into the house, a conflict arose in him that stemmed from the unprecedented feeling of being out of place as well as perfectly at home. The cabin wasn't the biggest, but it was by far the most homely furnished house he had ever stepped foot into. After the woman had closed the door behind him, the warmth of the fire had time to reach and engulf him. Oil lamps and candles were scattered throughout the room, illuminating a sofa drowning in pillows and blankets, carved cabinets, a small but richly stacked bookshelf and a kitchen that seemed to lack nothing. Everything was tidy; the table, the rugs on the floor, the paintings and pictures on the wall hung in perfect symmetry. Arthur had never been able to brag with a sense for furnishing houses, probably because he had lived outside for most of his life, but he could tell that everything was right here.

"Oh", the woman's exclamation snapped Arthur out of his thoughts. "I'll get you a towel!", she offered and hurried off to one of two closed doors. As the door stood open, Arthur could see a bathtub. While he might have had some doubts about having found the right house when he didn't find an old woman but this youthful creature instead, there was no doubt about her being rich. It had to be the right address. Arthur embarrasingly noticed the puddle he was causing on the floor, so while the woman came back with a towel, he got out of his boots. He scrunched his nose a bit when he realised that he was going to rob this woman, and yet he cared about not spreading water and dirt all over her house. But hey, he thought, that's part of the act.

"Here you go, sir", the towel was handed to him. To his surprise, it wasn't only clean and soft, but also warm. "Thank you", he mumbled before taking of his hat and drying his hair and face. In the meantime, the woman was bobbing on her toes, maybe slightly uncomfortable. But when Arthur was looking at her, he was greeted by a gentle smile.

"You know, you're in luck, sir. I had planned to take a bath later, but the water is all warmed up already. And I think you'd need it more", she offered. Arthur felt his cheeks getting warm. He had had no idea what would happen after entering the cabin, there had been no possibility of planning this far ahead, but he certainly hadn't considered that he would have the opportunity to take a bath. "Oh, ma'am...I really don't want to be-". "No, no! It's fine! Really. You've got to get out of those clothes anyway. I'll give you some of Henry's. I'm sure they'll fit." As she turned her back towards Arthur to walk to a closet, Arthur took the opportunity to inquire further.

"Is Henry your brother?", he asked, fumbling with the towel.

"Oh no, he's my husband. Well, my late husband. He died barely two weeks ago", the woman explained as she took out pants and a nice shirt.

"I'm very sorry to hear that, ma'am", Arthur said with a raspy and regretful voice. He was rather proud of this sentence, as it was particularlymournful and convincing. But the woman turned to him again, a smile on her lips: "He was old and had it coming. I'll tell you more later, if you're willing to listen. I don't really have anyone else to talk to, so I'm rather glad you stumbled by this house." She handed over the clothes and suddenly blushed: "I'm - erm. I'm sorry it happened under those circumstances though. Being thrown off your horse and all that..." A tingling sensation in Arthur's stomach made him swear to himself that he would not hurt this woman at all costs. It is possible to pull off a heist without hurting the victim, is it not? He couldn't refrain from speaking some words of encouragement: "Don't worry. That isn't the first time a horse threw me off."

He was sent off to the bathroom. It was even warmer in here than it was in the living room, the water was steaming and foam was piling up to glittery mountains. The girl had closed the door behind him, leaving him privacy to undress and get into the bathtub. The clothes she had picked out for him lay neatly piled on a chair, his own he peeled out of and hung up somewhat sloppily on a clothesline rope in front of a small fireplace. When Arthur sunk into the hot water, he let out a satisfied groan, the water making his cold skin and muscles prickle. His mission was almost forgotten. Only after a few moments he opened his eyes again and inspected the room. This might be a valuable painting on the wall. The fireplace poker looked remarkably shiny and expensive.

[leupagus]

Live Gus Reacts! After a nap

So this one isn't going to be long because my carpal tunnel is acting up, but I loved this episode. Yes, there were some after-school-special elements, but I think Chuck Hayward knocked it out of the park, especially considering this was his only screenplay for this show (of course, he's won Emmys for Wandavision and is about to run his own show so dude knows what he's about). It felt much more interwoven than last week's, and certainly flowed a lot better.

I'm hilarified that Edyta Budnik's Polish background was used for Jade's character, similar to how most of the Richmond players' actual backgrounds are used on the show (and why I had her reading a book in Polish in the WifeGuy fic I'm writing). I will say that Rupert, specifically, clocking that was an interesting moment because there is a very real (and ugly) history of prejudice against Polish immigrants in England; Rupert was not being charming there, by any means. The whole interaction with Rupert and Nate in this episode was really fascinating, because Rupert's clearly alarmed at the fact that Nate is getting outside support — he was so effective at cutting Nate completely off from everyone at Richmond, but here Nate is, building his own network here (Roger's invitation suggests to me that this isn't the first time Nate's been out with the West Ham staff/team after a game). And for Rupert, that's unacceptable — Nate's become as much a "possession" to him as Rebecca once was, so he's going to try his best to keep Nate isolated. Unfortunately for him, Nate is still The Great and is learning to balance his newfound pride with his enduring kindness. So however that shakes out will be fun to watch, I think. (All the fingers crossed that it ends with Rupert getting struck by lightning, because really how could you improve on mardia's masterpiece.)

One thing I hate about this storyline, though, is that Nick Mohammed is still having to field abuse from racist fans who think he hasn't "atoned" enough to be allowed happiness or character growth; I love seeing more of Nate, but not at the expense of Mohammed having to deal with this bullshit.

Re: the Colin storyline, I can't really say whether or not it was handled well or poorly, because my personal reaction to it has overwritten that kind of objective analysis. I've read a few reactions, which run the gamut, and I can see how those scenes may have left people disappointed/elated/angry/satisfied. For me, knowing that this episode was written by a Black man my age, from my mom's alma mater (and uhhhh glad to see they changed the mascot from when she went there) and that he and Dylan Marron were the two writers "in charge" of Colin's storyline does make me more inclined to see the choices — Ted's ridiculous Denver Broncos analogy, Isaac's lashing out and somewhat remedial "how does gay work" questions — as deliberate explorations of how straight men can and do react to finding out their friend is gay: not perfectly or even well, but borne out of love and respect and desire to protect. I was very grateful that the entire team immediately accepted Colin, because the last thing I wanted in that moment was "realism." Ditto with Colin's playing improving in the second half of the game, now that his two lives are (at least partially) connected; that's likely not what would happen IRL but I didn't care, even a little bit.

I'll admit I VERY much dig Rebecca as Tough Mom character this season; she's been doling out some extremely good advice to people, and it's delightful to me. Yes, she's a main character who's not getting enough to do, but like Ted I think the show still works when she's not in the spotlight, and when she gets to be the one offering support rather than needing it. And I adore her and Roy's weird-ass relationship, it's just incredible to get these glimpses into how they see each other.

Other than that: Sam giving Jamie the middle finger AND a beautiful smile was amazing, Jamie being pleased to be clocked as queer was interesting, the Higgins And Rebecca Buddies Fun Time is still great, and I want every one of Trent Crimm's t-shirts. And a clementine.

[the-delta-quadrant]

can we talk about the term bæddel for a minute?

because i've seen people spread some very weird misinformation about the term, such as saying "it's been a slur since the middle ages" and "now the TMEs (read: transgender men and nonbinary people who i blame for my oppression and i think have "afab privilege") are bringing it back".

let's work through this.

bæddel is an old english word. it's not even middle english. it's obvious it's a very old word because it uses the "æ" character, which is found in neither middle nor modern english. old english was spoken roughly until the 12th century. it's also worth noting that this word was never only used against transgender women, but also against intersex people and feminine men. and since bigots suck at telling the difference between an intersex person, a femme/gay man, a transgender woman and a nonbinary person, this slur was very likely used against all of these groups and not just one of them, similar to how people use the f-slur today. so, it is correct that bæddel was a slur in the middle ages, but since?

come on. that's unlikely. old english has essentially been out of use for 900 years. all the words that were derived from bæddel lost the connotation of gender nonconformity. the derivations of bæddel were no longer slurs. language evolves. that's literally what happens.

and you absolutely cannot tell me that you, or anyone you knew in your lifetime, has been called a bæddel as a slur. most people don't know that term because your average person doesn't give a fuck about fucking old english. it's not like queer or dyke or faggot or even gay where we are/were called that or at the very least know someone who has. this is so, so, so unlikely to happen with a term from a language that's not been used in 900 years. come on.

it's way more likely that some transgender women language nerds looked into the history of transgender language and found the term. and i say this with all the love for transgender women language nerds because from one transgender language nerd to another, this shit is interesting as fuck.

but unfortunately people didn't use the word in a cool empowering way to reclaim history, they used it to start a shitty movement of spreading hate against anyone who isn't a binary transgender woman. they used it to start bæddelism, a movement that is openly exorsexist and antitransmasculine. and they proudly called themselves and other people in that movement bæddels.

and here's the thing: transgender men and nonbinary people knew about this movement and they knew about the name and they knew about the origin of the name. so when people are now critiquing bæddelism and bæddels, they complain about being called a slur that is no longer a slur, even though they are the ones who created and named the movement. it feels like the movement was deliberately named after a "slur" so that any criticism could easily be shut down as transmisogyny and as the evil TMEs calling transgender women slurs, when that's not what's happening. the only time where i can somewhat understand people being upset at being called bæddels is if they don't self identify as part of bæddelism, but if you're gonna spread their very same talking points, people will assume that's what you are. plus, it's not a slur anymore, so what are you upset about. don't want to be called out as part of a harmful movement? don't spread their rhetoric.

[somethingclevermahogony]

OC Profile Tag

Rules: Make a profile for one of your ocs!

Thanks for the tags @paeliae-occasionally and @happypup-kitcat24!

I'll keep it simple and stick to the start of the story.

Name: Narul (Nah-rool)

Nickname: Naru or Giant

Kind of being: Raised to believe he is a Forestfolk

Age: About 23 at the start of the story.

Gender: Male

Appearance: A giant, 9ft tall, inhumanly broad. A bit ogre-like in his build with broad shoulders, big hands, and a wide chest. He is clearly not just a tall human. He has long shaggy black hair and a thick beard, despite his relatively young age. Overall his body is quite hairy, with hairy arms, chest, and hands. His eye brows are bushy and thick. His eyes are a deep brown. His skin is copper.

Occupation: Slave at the Palace of Labisa

Family members: His birth mother is dead, he has no clue who his father is/was. His adopted mother is Bira and his adopted brother is Suru. The other slaves also act as a sort of family.

Pets: None. Though there is a palace weasel (pest control) that he feeds from time to time.

Best friend: Suru

Describe their room: Narul lives with the other slaves in the Slave Quarters. The slave quarters are a squat and long mudbrick structure, somewhat similar to a stable in construction. As with all the others, Narul sleeps on a bed made of hay and scraps of discarded/gifted fabric. Of course his bed is larger than most of the others. His area is in the northwest corner, along with Suru and Bira.

Way of speaking: Narul speaks Kishite, though quiet and prone to mumbling, his actual vocabulary and manner of speech is strangely formal/educated. He can't read or write, but due to spending so much time in the palace, he unintentionally speaks like a noble.

Physical characteristics (posture, gestures, attitude): Because of his size he is often forced to shuffle, less he quickly outpace others. He has a tendency to crouch, perhaps as a way to make himself look smaller, unfortunately this only adds to his "ogre-like" appearance. He naturally tries to take up as little space as possible, he is awkward and uncertain in his movements.

Items in their back pocket/purse: He doesn't have pockets. The most he might carry is a small satchel containing coins gifted to him, and other slaves, by the king. He never has more than a few copper coins at any one time.

Hobbies: Listening to stories, watching theatre when he can, bird watching in the olive grove, picking flowers when he can.

Favorite sports: None

Abilities/Talents/Powers: Narul is absurdly strong and durable. His exact strength is unknown, but it would take many men working together to match him. He has lifted blocks and boulders, some weighing several tons. Similarly he is incredible durable, able to take blows that would kill a normal human without any harm. His skin is so tough that only the sharpest volcanic glass can cut it effectively. A person with a normal bronze or iron blade could cut him given enough motivation, but it would be quite difficult and would likely do little damage, unless the weapon was wielded by a particularly strong or ferocious person.

Relationships (how they are with other people): Narul is kind and polite, though once again he is awkward and so terrified of his own strength that he will often avoid interaction where he can help it. He is quite close with the small group of people that he does now.

Fears: Himself, losing control, turning into a feral beast as he has been taught will happen if he does not receive regular blood-lettings.

Faults: He has next to no self-esteem, he walks on eggshells and has difficulty finding reasons to like himself. He lives in an almost constant swirl of anxiety and self-loathing.

Good points: He is very sympathetic. He cares deeply and is a kind and curious person.

What they want more than anything else: To be happy and safe, and more importantly, for those around him to be happy and safe.

This was a fun one!

Tagging @kaylinalexanderbooks, @vyuntspakhkite-l-darling, @elsie-writes

[roppongi-division]

"It's only when we fall that we learn whether or not we can spread our wings and fly." - Flemeth

Introduction

Zakari Hiroya is the third and final member of the Roppongi Division rap battle team, Private Party. He is known far and wide by his MC name, Icarus. After losing his mother at birth and his father due to an unfortunate accident, Zakari was adopted at the age of 15 by Kai and Mireya Quinlan, who took him in and raised him as their own son. He now works exclusively at his family's nightclub, testing his luck by putting his life on the line every night performing dangerous, yet highly satisfying stunts.

A man in his early 20s, Zakari is an attractive Japanese youth. He has faded black hair that is spiky and wavy at the same time, along with his bangs on the side of his head, with a few falling into his light brown eyes. He stands at 5'10" and weighs 170 lb.

Attire wise, he tends to dress plainly. He wears a black t-shirt, which is often hidden underneath his large gray short sleeved hoodie with a moon and stars theme to it. He has on a pair of black jeans and a pair of black and red sneakers with white socks. Finally, he has a silver ball earring in both of his earlobes, and a pair of light brown circular sunglasses like his dad.

Name Meaning

Zakari - A name of various origins. In Japanese, it is the foreign version of the name 'Zachary'. The western meaning of the name Zachary is "God remembers". The closest matching Kanji name based on this meaning is 慈念 (Jinen). It is pronounced "Ji-nen". The Kanji characters mean "mercy" and "thought".

Hiroya - From Japanese 大 (hiro) meaning "big, great" or 博 (hiro) meaning "command, esteem" and 也 (ya) meaning "to be, also and too".

Aliases:

"The Daredevil"

Son/Zakari - Kai/Mireya

Zai - His friends

Lover/Crazy Kid - Lucille Takara

Biographical Info

Gender - Male

Age - 22

Birthday - December 5th

Ethnicity - Japanese

Hair Color - Grayish-Black

Eye Color - Light Brown

Height - 177 cm (5'10")

Weight - 77 kg (170 lb.)

Star Sign - Sagittarius

Piercings - Has two silver ball earrings in both of his earlobes.

Markings - He has a tattoo of Kangiten, the Japanese god of gambling covering the majority of his back.

Family -

Mother (Deceased)

Father (Deceased)

Adoptive Mother

Adoptive Father

Voiced By - PUNPEE (Rapping)

Fun Facts

MC Name - Icarus

Occupation - Part-time High School Student/Extreme Stuntman

Position - Third Member

Favorite Food - Sashimi

Least Favorite Food - Mushrooms

Likes - Putting his life on the line, risky endeavors, parkour, heights, acrobatics, cute girls, gambling, games of chance, his insurmountable good luck, his family, Roppongi, the nightlife, being underestimated, the sky, the legend of Icarus, birds, and gambling terms.

Dislikes - Being inside a vehicle, racecars, lies, people thinking he's suicidal, thinking about his father, lectures, being on the ground, bad fortune, whiners, the idiom about 'flying too close to the sun' and cowards.

Hypnosis Microphone

Zakari's Microphone is a silver microphone on a stand. Behind the windscreen of the mic are a pair of wings, similar to the ones that Icarus worn when he flew across the sky with his father.

His Speaker takes the form of a pair of white dice, often used for board games or gambling. The speakers are hidden in the '1' section on both dice.

His ability, Luck of the Draw, is somewhat similar to Dice's, in that his ability depends on what is the number displayed when he rolls his speaker. What is known is that if he happens to role a 'snake eyes', something bad usually happens to him as a result.

Zakari's rap themes revolve around taking chances and doing what you want to do in order to get ahead. He raps that you can't be afraid to take risks, even if they are dangerous and that you should do what you want and have to do in order to win. He frequently makes references to birds in his rhymes, and that we need to learn to 'spread our wings and take the leap'. He also, not surprisingly, makes many references to gambling.

Personality

Zakari, not surprisingly, is a guy who firmly believes in the concept of luck, whether it is given or made by your own hands. He attributes that a person's (mis)fortunes are attuned to their luck, whether it is good or bad. This way of thinking doesn't exactly make him popular among certain people, but he doesn't care, since he knows most people wouldn't understand.

Under the belief that he was born under a lucky star, Zakari loves to put this to the test. As an extreme risk taker and an impressive acrobat, he loves to do things or perform tricks that you'd have to be insane to try. Whether it's scaling a building on the outside without a harness, climbing up a very tall pole to do a selfie shot, or even trying to escape an underwater tank that is filled with dangerous sea creatures. While you'd think this would deter most people, Zakari, on the other hand, loves the risks involved.

A normal person would think that Zakari has a death wish doing insane stunts like this. And the truth is, you're not far off from the truth. While he frequently tells people (mainly Kai and Mireya) that he's not suicidal, the truth is, Zakari's stunts, as well as his constant need for adrenaline and risks, are actually an unhealthy coping mechanism he has for trying to get over his father's death. While he is not purposely trying to kill himself, he does admit that he likes to see just how far his lucky star will take him before he does finally "kick the bucket".

Despite this, Zakari is a good person; though he may not care much for himself, he cares very much for others. After his father died, he thought long and hard why his lucky star didn't protect him. He eventually realized that while his lucky star protects him, it doesn't protect those around him. It's for this reason he goes above and beyond to protect those close to him, especially his adopted parents who took him in when he was just a helpless teen. Though he knows they can't replace his biological parents, he loves them as if they actually were.

Speaking of his parents, despite not being related to them, he has taken traits from both his parents. Like his father, Zakari is known to be brutally honest and blunt. He dislikes lies and fabrications and will always tell the truth, regardless of whether its hurtful or not. Like his mother, he is naturally a leader, taking charge when no one else will. Like her, however, he also tends to be a bit grandiose, having a larger-than-life attitude, which can often irritate others.

A true lover of freedom, Zakari enjoys being outside, because he feels as if the entire world is his playground. One aspect that most people notice about Zakari from the beginning is that he loves being close to the sky because it is so vast. He admires and reveres birds because they have the ability to go wherever they want with their wings. It's for this reason he also admires and respects the legend of Icarus and hopes to emulate him someday.

Background

*Coming soon*

Trivia

Not surprisingly, he is good friends with Dice Arisugawa of Shibuya Division, with the two often hanging out and going to casinos together.

His favorite brand of cigarettes is Marlboro Light 100s.

He is involved in a not-so secret relationship with Lucille "Lucky Lucy" Takara of the Kito-gumi. The two met after Zakari saved Dice from some of Lucille's goons. Long story short, the two became intrigued with each other after several games of cards. It's unknown who asked who out first, but the two are now happily a secret couple.

Despite being a very gifted and notorious gambler, Zakari, ironically, is absolutely terrible when it comes to money. He has often been lectured by his parents for spending money that he hasn't earned yet, and for not saving it for emergencies.

After witnessing the accident that took his father's life, he now has amaxophobia, a fear of driving or getting inside a vehicle.

He has a hatred for Anika Kiyozaki of Akihabara, holding her responsible as the one who took his father's life due to her reckless style of driving.

[septembersghost]

It seems like the recent haters/trolls on here keep getting their information from this one biography/book by Joel Williamson (I think it's called "Elvis Presley: A Southern Life"). Have you ever heard of this book or read it?

And why do the trolls take Williamson's word (someone who never even met E) over the word of the women who were actually with E? I don't understand it.

i don't know anything about this specific author though i have heard this title in passing, you'd definitely be better served asking april or bee or tam about this. that said, i did quickly find the following:

a few things in this article stand out to me, for example: "The cultural and academic snobbery that for a long time dismissed Elvis as being a figure worthy of academic consideration, unfortunately, is still alive...it is reasonable to observe that, on balance, there is a narrative undercurrent where the author’s choice of word, phrase (and sometimes) narratively rather judgmental (value laden) social snobbery (but not malice), do suggest a negative message about Elvis (or at best provides a mixed message)."

"Having said this, importantly Ownby highlights a seminal theme in the book...that it suggests the roots of Elvis’ failings lay in the roots of his rise to popularity.  This is a theme developed in Williamson’s work and one which deserves proper consideration. Whether one agrees or disagrees with the idea (theory) it is implicitly a strong one.

Other issues which have incensed some early readers of Elvis Presley: A Southern Life include Williamson’s portrayal of Elvis as obsessed with sex. 

In defence of the author, how many males aren’t obsessed with those thoughts at that age? My view is that the significance of Elvis' sexual proclivity is usually overstated.  Certainly in the 1950s and for most of the 1960s Elvis is recorded as satisfying a robust sexual appetite. In this respect he is/was no different to other young, or older, adult males provided a similar opportunity to satisfy their hormonal urges – and instructively the stories around Elvis’ sexual escapades are quite conservative and prosaic when compared to those of many other celebrities of his time through to today.

And as stated in Elvis Presley: A Southern Life, not all of Elvis' close relationships with women were of a sexual nature (making him no different to most people (male or female) in the mix of his interaction with the opposite sex)."

you all know i don't like talking about this (in regards to ANYONE), and i grow exhausted by its omnipresence, but the outright obsession with elvis via objectification and elvis' thoughts about and approach to sex and romantic relationships is somewhat insane to me (this is not a dig at fans here on tumblr, but i mean in regards to surrounding/wider cultural discussion). when you do any cursory investigation into this at all, you're immediately met with exaggeration, salacious yet unfounded rumor, and occasionally outright lies, and because it cannot be corroborated (or disproven, or refuted or even broached at all by elvis himself), it's easy to perpetuate. and then you'll read accounts from any of the women who were verifiably (this part is important, because there are a lot of unverified things floating around) involved with him that paint quite a different picture.

his attitudes about gender roles and the home were fairly common for someone of his upbringing, cultural roots, and understanding of society at that time. he loved and respected women in general, not only in those parameters, and there's very little that sounds substantively weird (lighthearted role play and preference for white garments are not enough to send me over the edge here lol), compared to basically ANY OTHER MALE ROCK STAR YOU CAN FIND. even of that same time period! it's bewildering how this is pasted onto this man as if he was anywhere close to some of the other behavior that was happening, and continued to happen, in that business. there are true horror stories of abuse and exploitation (including from successful male musicians who are still living). while i may not agree with elvis' patriarchal outlook or demands at times, nor how things unfolded with cilla and the infidelity in various situations, i just cannot be bothered to condemn him as a monster for human failings or for views that were standard while he was alive. there's so much to take into consideration in regards to context with him, and his unresolved trauma/ptsd, and various health struggles...he wasn't some angry abuser, it's ludicrous.

furthermore, this is by far the most damning information about that book: "Undue reliance on several sources including Elvis (Albert Goldman) and Child Bride: The Untold Story of Priscilla Beaulieu Presley (Suzanne Finstad) help explain Willliamson's narrative content, but at the same time urge caution in accepting all of his exposition." goldman's book is garbage and you can easily find many explanations as to why, and i doubt you need me to explain why ANYONE using child bride as a source is horrific - finstad and currie grant are despicable, and priscilla sued over that dreck for a reason. it being used as a "source" immediately invalidates practically any other research or anything an author has to say because it proves they don't vet their sources properly nor with any integrity or consideration, not only for elvis, but for other people in his life. so yeah. my respect is minimal here.

the simple truth is people enjoy dirty laundry and tearing others down, they always have. the slightest whiff of scandal is like blood in the water. we are also consumed and obsessed by things that are none of our damn business (unless someone is actively doing harm or perpetrating abuse, their private lives are not ours to police). why listen to the experiences and testimony of women who knew him and were there when that doesn't fit the vilified narrative they want? they don't care to hear about him as a real, complex human being, they want a carnival attraction to leer at and attack. it's boring and facile.

he wasn't a perfect person nor partner, he wasn't a god (and vehemently, sincerely expressed as much and asked not to be seen as one), he was a human being with flaws and struggles and a fame previously unseen in this world that was difficult to bear, and though he had his missteps and bad choices and foibles, he did his very best to keep improving, to make amends, to give whatever he could, and to be as good a man as he could keep striving to be. you'll never find me diminishing that.

anon, editing to add this astute information from chelsea:

from what i have read about it, the author leverages his status as an expert on southern culture to disparage elvis, playing up rumors and scandal to portray him as white trash (southern writers, stop being self-hating classists challenge), dismissing his musical career as a middling fluke and finding more interest in speculation about his sex life. he makes ample use of albert goldman, suzanne finstad, and other secondary sources of questionable veracity or relevance. the book got some reviews from academic journals since the author is known as a william faulkner scholar, and almost all of them were unimpressed and found it really rambling and pointless, despite starting off with 1-2 interesting things to say about how women in the south helped create his image and reputation. but a lot of buzzfeed type articles used the book's publication to create listicles that just assemble things in it as if they're 100% true. i was actually just looking for reviews again just now and mindi BLEW UP at this book and her response is on some of the fan forums. and while i was reading her post, i saw that she was leaving comments on it just two weeks ago, saying nothing ever seems to change with the way the media portrays him, based on nothing, and she wishes there was more she could do about it.

[aamy2100982]

I have a my headcanon of Eddie when he was a kid:he was the total opposite of what he’s now as an adult so small,skinny,shy talk and a bit of a crybaby,he was a gentle,curious kid who loved to read,write and learning new things (cooking and foreign language).Unfortunately he was a lonely kid,who was bullied by many cause they say “he’s a freak” “they don’t want him”or even because Eddie doesn’t talk to much,since Eddie was pressured to get attention from his father many adults viewed him as the epitome of perfection but that drove more Eddie to feel not good enough and even as a teen while he appeared more muscular and bigger than many classmates he was still bullied,until one guy pressed him so much that Eddie bursts and basically that led that guy at the hospital and now more people are afraid of him,his sister included,now Eddie feels more isolated than before

I have a similar view of Eddie, very similar actually. Only that in my HC Eddie has always been a somewhat weird child, not "weird" for shy and quiet, more like "that child who always wants to be the center of attention, tries to like any adult who can give him a minimum of affection and that he always pretends to be better than the others" weird (behaviors that adult Eddie also has, but he is self-aware of this and uses it to his advantage so as not to have to help people he doesn't care about).

For this very reason Eddie used to be marginalized by his own peers. I'm sure Eddie was equally somewhat stoic, but always smiling, appearing to be steady and happy (which he couldn't be inside his house). I'm sure Eddie's dad was rubbish to raise and probably told him things like:

You shouldn't cry, men don't cry. You should be respectful to your elders. Keep quiet when they talk to you. Speak loud and clear, I don't like your babbles. Smile, people don't want to see a sad child. Stand tall or you'll ruin your back. You're not allowed to move from this table until you finish your homework and other things that are the reason why, even though Eddie has such low self-esteem, he has never stopped looking serious and stoic, never with his head down, always upright before everyone.

That same firm and responsible personality that he had formed made the adults around him set him as the example child. Eddie probably learned new things (on an intellectual level) to impress other people, but about cooking and stuff, I'm sure Eddie was doing it because his dad didn't give a shit about feeding his son. (I even have this HC that from a certain age Carl simply stopped paying Eddie for non-trivial things like clothes, food or school supplies. If Eddie wanted to have nice things then he had to earn them himself)

I think that even though Eddie grew up tall and stocky (I don't imagine him muscular in adolescence, because when I think of Eddie muscular, I think of his first facet as a Spiderman villain) he suffered from bullying because it was easy to put him off his pedestal, Eddie didn't know how to protect himself because he shrank away when he was hit, which he learned, staying still when his father scolded him until he stopped (I think Eddie never received physical damage from his father, but a lot of psychological damage) Probably in adolescence either he had a specific bully, similar to what Peter had with Flash or in general his classmates liked to pick on him because Eddie was the brainiac of the class.

But something about him that I totally agree with is that Eddie did explode and hurt someone in the process. There is this arc where they explain to us how Eddie accidentally ran over a child, leaving him with serious injuries and lying in court to avoid having to pay the child's hospital expenses, even though this did not happen because Eddie had exploded and let out his anger. Rather, it was an accident that gave Eddie the first step toward becoming a killer who doesn't take responsibility for his own mistakes.

But let's skip that part of the canon for a second and pretend that what happened is that Eddie punched that guy. Many boys formed a circle watching how the school nerd beat up some random bully, they all watch carefully how he is a polite and respectful child, he simply takes the reins in the whole situation.

Mary is not canon, she is a character completely created by Symby and I think that makes this situation even worse, because Eddie is completely alone, with a complaint and a hospital bill that he has to pay, but as a minor, is his father who has to pay it. We could repeat the actions of the canon, Carl forcing Eddie to lie in court so as not to have to pay for the hospital and go unpunished for the complaint. Before, Eddie was isolated by his classmates, but now he isolates himself.

His classmates think Eddie is cool because he stood up to the school bully, but Eddie is so scared of himself, he doesn't know what to make of what happened. He send a guy to the hospital, if before his father hated him now it's much worse because he was left with a debt to pay the lawyer, Eddie is ruined, he still hears the guy's pleas in his head, bleeding knuckles and the adrenaline of the moment , it was so horrible and strangely satisfying, for the first time in his life he expressed the feelings he felt, for the first time he did something because he wanted to do it and not because he was told to do it.

This is the first time I answer a question (although in theory it is not a question) Thank you <3

[prismasartworks]

My concept for a JT Spinoff series!

Since I'm in the mood of bringing my own direction to the series, because of course the series has so much potential, that needs to be expanded and use some new ideas and concepts into play, here is my idea for a JT Spinoff, that'll bring new ideas into the mix.

Get ready for some crazy intergalactic adventures, with some magic, chaos and futuristic technology mixed in!

Let's power up!

Johnny Test: Power Up! is a hypothetical spinoff idea, that will go beyond their planet and into the cosmos! The usual shenanigans of testing and misadventures will happen, along with intergalactic travel and supernatural elements. During a battle against his enemies, who were about to use a powerful device to change space and time, in a desperate act, Johnny would shoot it down. Unfortunately this would result in the device malfunctioning and engulfing everyone in a blinding light. Thus, Johnny, Dukey, Susan, Mary and many of their allies and enemies were sent on a new planet in a new galaxy, filled with new faces and before they knew, the Test quartette will get tangled in many intergalactic (mis)adventures, filled with fun, action, emotional moments, teamwork and the occational chaos, while facing enemies and friends, both old and new.

Since this is a different concept, the characters will be redesigned and aged up a bit. The new designs will be inspired by Sonic Boom and Winx Club. (I have yet to make the new looks and the new artstyle)

Johnny (who will be 13-14 years old)  will somewhat be similar to his canon counterpart, BUT there will be changes to his character. Like for examples, I wanted to give him a softer and more mature side to his character, in order to make him more likeable. Think of it as a three dimensional verison of revival Johnny, with shades of S1 in between. As for his redesign, he would wear a torn, yellow scarf, fingerless, black leather gloves, white sports tape, ripped pants, stylized high sneakers, a denim vest, optional shades, a futuristic watch, that'll act as a communicator/housing new features and a detailed shirt. As for new things, I want to add, is a new interest in parkour and breakdancing, to bring out a more active and fast side to him, as well as listening to music. Recently, he's been listening to K-Pop, J-Rock and J-Pop, since they're very energetic. He will be the (sort of) leader of the team and the way of a quick transport will be an updated version of the Turbo Action Backpack. To flesh out his character, he would have a greater sense in justice and when the situations are tough and intense, his demeanor will change into a serious fighter with a sense of humor.

Dukey will also be similar to his revival counterpart, but once again, I wanted to add a bit more dimension to his character, since he will be known as the voice of the gang. His redesign will be simple. Add a red scarf with a diamond-shaped gem, a utility belt with bags, some white sports tape on his arms and that's it. As for new things to add for our mutt friend, since he'll be in a city full of people of different species and more, he doesn't need to disguise himself, unless some of the returning characters, who are unaware of his unique talent (i.E. speaking and being bipedal) are present. Another new talent of his will be, much like Johnny, an interest in parkour. However, his dog skills would make him more nimble and fluid, a contrast to Johnny's fast paced moves. New things to add to his personality would be him being more social to the anthropomorphic animals, since he's not the only one anymore and if things are reality tough and his friends are in danger, he would have no choice than to swallow his fears down and stand up against his enemies. Mind you, it's not a common thing, especially that if he has to be the only one, but at least he's trying his best to protect his friends. During the day, he had to deal with not just the Test siblings' antics, but also those from his new friends. However, two of them would help him ease his worries.

Susan (who will be 15-16 years old) will be one of the two brains of the team. Even though she and Mary may have the same personality (similar to the original and revival), I wanted to add some elements to distinguish her from Mary. That includes the outfit and personalities. Sure, both keep their lab coats, but for Susan, her redesign will have hear wearing a bright blue sleeveless turtleneck top with yellow and indigo stars, a black choker, dark blue/almost black skirt with black shorts underneath, shorter white socks, black mary-jane shoes with a golden star attached to each shoe and special gloves, covering only the thumb, index and middle finger with some color on the finger tips. Why the special gloves? Well, even though the glasses will look identical to their original glasses, they would receive special smart glasses, containing a little, yet highly advanced operating system. As for new thing adding to her personality, is due to seeing the highly advanced and futuristc technology of the new planet, they're living for the first time, she'll be very intrigued in those and would use the technology for future inventions and gadgets. Unlike, Mary, Susan is more tomboyish and hot-headed, but at least she has some control, unlike a new friend, she just made. (We'll talk about that later) and Mary and others would point it out for her to calm down.

Mary (who will also be 15-16 years old) will also have some elements, in order to differentiate herself a bit more than Susan. Her redesign will still include that lab coat, but she'll wear a yellow crop top with some crescent moons, a high waist flared jeans with moon and sparkle embroidery, a moon necklace, high neon pink sneakers with moons and the same special gloves, like her twin sister. Her new glasses will also contain a little, yet highly advanced operating system. We all know, that Mary is more rational and calm than Susan and believes a bit more on the supernatural. In that spinoff, she would also believe a bit more in fantasy. Not only that, but she would interact with some of the mythical creatures, since the new planet has some of them and even befriend one of them (Again, we'll come to that later). She would also have her limits on overconfidence and would remind Susan, if she's crossing the line. Basically these additions are made, because I wanted to give Mary more spotlight and love and to make her three-dimensional.

But that's not all....They will be joined by three new characters, who will help them (or not, depending on circumstances.) on their adventures and misadventures! And sometimes, they would also creating new problems. Each of them having their own personalities and flaws. (I have yet to make the designs of the new characters)

Schalot (VA: Brian Doe) is the strength of the group, even though he's not the most buff one. (His body type is slender, like androgynous) He's a pastel pink snail with cyan eyes, wearing a singed red coat, a white collar shirt, almost open to let a bit of his chest breathe, a golden-yellow shell, a communicator on his right wrist, belts with one of the having bags on his waist and like those straps-like ones on his torso. The back sill include a strong magnet to carry his main weapon. His design will be based/inspired by Escargoon from the Kirby anime, but make it a bit more human like with human hands and a body type. And I want to make his head to be more friendly. Like give him full teeth and make his eyes bigger. (And no beard, since he would be between 18-19 years old) Almost like a gijinka in some ways. As for his personality, I can describe him as a moody, sassy and aggressive introvert, who's mostly seen spending time on his phone (I wanted to make him a phone addict, because some aspects are inspired by me.), with a chaotic side sprinkled on. This fella is knows as the luckiest and unluckiest snail, since he would get hit by random objects, but he would always survive unharmed. (Though, he has problems with staircases, as he would often fall down from them)  All of those inconveniences, coupled with the constant stress every day (along with some paranoia), would become the fuel of the one thing, everyone's afraid of: his nuclear temper. Even bigger than Hugh and Susan combined. (Inspired by the 2003 and 2012 version of Raphael from TMNT) Schalot is known to be highly sensitive. If you try to insult him, annoy him too much, hurt his loved ones and friends, look at him the wrong way or heck, do all of these above, he would definitely not hesitate to be loud and aggressive and he would definitely attack you. That' s right, he would attack you with his main weapon, a scepter. But not any normal scepter, a highly modified one, that contains advanced technology and have several attack modes (like Smash, basically make it as strong as a big hammer or blade, which meant, it would pull out a plasma blade for effective slashes.) Heck, he would often use it to break doors down, even the strongest ones, create holes from walls, etc. Aside from his burning anger, he would be good at insulting people and giving them savage remarks (except for the two new characters below and his siblings, since he is the youngest of them.). Like he would call the men in black as "Agents Dumb and Dumber", Eugene as "Bowling Ball Creep" or to Dark Vegan "Mushroom Head". But of course, he's not a full blown jerk. He just has trouble controlling his emotions and having problems with socializing. If you know him well and respect his boundaries, he would be loyal and protective. Plus, Schalot would take his responsibility and would do his best on making things right. When it comes to alien attacks or any form of battles, instead of running away like the citizens, he would never go down without a fight, since he has the spirit and the heart of a rough warrior. With his main weapon, some kunais with special effects (like explosion, shock, freeze, etc.) and other weapons from the lab, Schalot would make sure, no one would get away with it and give them a lot of pain. Some fun facts about him: Unlike Johnny and Dukey, this snail loves cats and has a different opinion about them! (Like he would melt at the sight of a kitten for example.) I mean, he’s catlike in some ways. Another thing is, he has such a sweet tooth with his favorite treat being a chocolate chip cookie roll with some ice cream. And also, if he gets too panicked, he would simply faint. Finally, it seems like, he may be bi, since when it comes to love, it’s basically an afterthought, due to a busy schedule. As for some depressing facts: while his siblings are still alive, his parents are not, like something has happened, that changed his life forever.

Serena (VA: Either Christina Masterson or Shannon-Chan-Kent) is the heart of the group. A sweet and kind girl (who's at the same age as Johnny), who's not afraid to help people and hope for a better future. Her design is described as a young girl with short, black hair, a white hibiscus flower on her head, yellow/amber eyes, a white top, pink belt with a huge bow/ribbon on the back, light blue leggings, transparent green skirt and boots. While she may sound like a very boring character, there is a twist. While she looks like a human, she's also a fairy with magical powers! That's right, I want to include a magical girl into the mix. Her inspirations came mostly from Winx Club. Like sprouting her sparkly pink, butterfly/moth like fairy wings, (which is at the same size as the original Magic Winx/Charmix wings.) firing magical blasts beams and performing spells. However, there are several downsides to this. First of all, it's due to her past. You see, she originated from Earth and while her father is human (In fact she and her father are from New Zealand) , Serena actually obtained her fairy powers from her mother. One day, her mother went missing, when she was three and nobody knows, what happened to her. Then when she was 6 years old, during a camping trip, she got lost in the woods, while chasing a butterfly. At the same time, a bear was nearby and she was so scared by it launching at her, that something awakened inside of her and created a magical explosion. Thankfully, no one was harmed and the bear ran off in fear. That explosion has alerted anyone, including her father, thus reuiniting with his precious daughter. Since then, she tried her best to surpress and hide her magic, out of fear of hurting anyone. But this resulted in the second problem: Unleashing blasts at random intervals. Even when she got teleported into a new world, that problem still persists , due to the fear. It wasn't until Johnny and the others learning the truth about her and accepting her of who she is, that Serena decided to open up more and started training her skills. Around the same time, she would receive her own communicator watch. And guess what, it'll still be an issue, but at least she tries her best. Few things, I can add to her personality, despite her kind personality, she dislikes Johnny's sisters, due to their treatment towards him (and unintenionally create the rift between magic vs. technology), but she would tolerate Mary more than Susan. Also, life lession: DO NOT USE HER KINDNESS TO EXPLOIT TO YOUR SELFISH DESIRES! If she finds out, well...the last thing, you piss off is a sweet fairy. The third and final problem is, when she tries out new spells, it'll end in unintentional disaster, due to the side effects. Plus, she has a limit on how many spells she would perform, without exhausting herself. Not to mention, she would profusely apologise, if her random blasts hit anyone. Yeah, she can be quite gullible, but give her time to mature and learn. Aside from this, I also wanted to give her some cool factors, like Serena not really the most girly one, but not the tomboyish one. She would be in between. Plus, despite being opposite to Johnny, both would become good friends.

Ziffy (VA: Andrea Libman) is a small, yet extremely advanced robot assistant with an advanced AI, that creates a human personality. In this case, a very happy individual, ready to help their friends! However, unlike Spongebob and Pinkie Pie, whose personalities inspired Ziffy's, that little fella is more level headed. Inspired by G3 Frankie, Ziffy's pronouns are they/them (even though robots are genderless, therefore pronouns doesn't matter). Designwise, they’ll be a small, cute robot with a monitor, projecting their face and a cute ,violet and blue, six-point star shaped antenna. As for their personality, they will be an happy and highly expressable extrovert and ready to help anyone, but also has a level-headed approach. LIke they will play the neutral ground and tries their best to give out compromises and suggestions, since they're the balance of the group. Despite the small size, Ziffy packs a lot of devices inside, like a flamethrower, a hammer, giant tweezers, a confetti cannon, laser blasters, a bell, a megaphone, a scanner, a hologramm projector and many, many more. Interestingly enough, they wasn't built by the Test sisters at all, as they originally came from a different planet far away from the new planet, their friends are staying. On top of that, before meeting Johnny and the others, they actually built several robots for several purposes. For example, MediBots are the medics, cleaning bots for cleaning, CheerBots for cheerleading, etc. After meeting them, Susan and Mary will collaborate them to create new devices and more. And here's the thing, they and Schalot are best friends, despite being opposites to each other! Don’t worry, Ziffy knows a lot more about him and therefore, respects his space and even helps him. Just make sure, his schemes wouldn’t cross the line. Of course, their flaws would include: Them being a bit overreactive, can get really tired at some point, so they have to recharge themselves and sometimes, they can go out of control, because the AI is very good, but not 100% perfect. Most of the times. they’ll be in the background, while their friends often go on adventures, but when push comes to shove, that little robot wouldn’t hesitate to protect their friends at any cost.

Of course, there will be more new characters during the gang's crazy journeys and of course, some returning characters will also show up time after time, like Mr. Black, Mr. White, Sissy, the General, Gil, etc. Ideas for new characters will be like a strict female general, an artist, a musician and many more. Ranging from anthropromorphic snails, tigers and other animals to aliens to mythical creatures like elves, fairies, etc. As for the villains, it'll be a mixture of the old villains, like Bling-Bling-Boy, Dark Vegan, Zizrar, Brain Freezer, Mr. Mittens, etc. and brand new villains in rotation.

Each of their communicator watches (now called T-05. As in, T for Test and O5 referencing the release year of the original.), that the main cast have, have many features than just for communication. Inspired by the Enerbeam, they would contain something, called the Neocord, which is a beam containing bright plasma. Each of them will sport a different color. (Example, Johnny's being yellow). It'll be used as a rope to grab enemies, swinging them around, throwing them into the stratosphere, using it as a bungee cord, slingshot, etc. A special thing, it can do is to split into multiple beams to grab multiple enemies, tethering the beams together to create a net, etc.

The main location for the premise is in a planet, named Lumina. Specifically in a shiny, futuristic city, known as "Starfall City" The city is home to its thriving community, amazing technology and beautiful greens.  The planet itself is full of beautiful forests, cascading water and snowy areas, all filled with hybrid animals and other creatures. The residents will be full of aliens, anthromorphic animals and even supernatural and mythical creatures.  The inspiration of that location came from Astro Boy and the music video of K/DA's "MORE". The main protagonists will live in a HQ with a highly advanced lab, a training room, a garden and many rooms, like a living room, some bathrooms, a kitchen and multiple bed rooms. However, there are times, where the gang will travel to different planets and galaxies either to take a vacation there or solving problems.

The comedy will be a mix between the JT humor and comedic anime elements. (i.E. falling down in a comedic fashion, very expressive, slapstick, etc.). On top of that, it won't be afraid to make some self aware jokes and referencing their own history.

BUT! It won't be just filled with just comedy! It'll contain a lot of action scenes and emotional moments, in order to give the characters depth in developing. Basically, if Johnny Test is an anime. A semi-serious one.

As for the aesthetic, I could describe it as, if sci-fi future meets urban street vibes and add some myths.

Even though, there will be call backs, it'll take place in a different continuity, as the premise will take place 2 years after the original and revival.

And one more thing, when it comes to those cosmic adventures, most of the times, Johnny and Dukey, along with Schalot and Serena, had to deal with the situation. Sometimes, it's just the two, or maybe three or heck, solo missions will be a possibility, but when the situations are tough and intense, the ENTIRE team will be involved. And sometimes, Johnny wouldn't be involved in some missions.

The inspirations behind this project come from Sonic Boom, Winx Club (mainly the first 4 seasons), Sonic Prime, Sonic X and Ratchet & Clank. As in aspects of comedy, settings, action, emotion, story etc.

Anyway, what do you think of those ideas?  Comment down below for feedback and suggestions for improvement! I hope those ideas will develop the series even further beyond. It's also a dream project of mine, that I wish to make it into official reality.

[triviareads]

Releases on March 28th

Summary:

Lady Gertrude is a pillar of the ton and stuck in an unhappy marriage. She wants to give her debutante daughter Delia more freedom on the marriage mart but her profligate husband has already decided on a spouse for their daughter. Said choice, Jasper Thorne, is the man who propositioned Tru before he knew she was his bride-to-be's mother... and it goes from there.

Some background:

Listen, I know Sophie. I love Sophie. I've read nearly everything Sophie's ever written. My favorites so far have been the books featuring the Langley sisters, the Debutante Files series, and of course her seminal masterpiece of a Texan ex-con series, Devil's Rock. They were hot. Which is why I was surprised that The Countess did not have the follow-through in terms of sex that I was expecting. Like, there were three chapters solely dedicated to Jasper propositioning Tru, not to mention both these characters are not virgins, so I was definitely expecting more time dedicated to sex.

The book I was most inclined to compare this to based on the premise was Sophie's The Scandal of it All, in which the heroine gets with her step-son's best friend. To me, the joke was that Graciela was suuuuper *scandalized* with herself for wanting someone six whole years younger than her. I thought the age gap was negligible at the time so when I read the premise of The Countess, I hoped the age gap would be greater as this is a mother and her daughter's suitor. But alas, it was only four years when I feel like it could have been... more. Like, we really could have sold the "older woman-younger man" thing here, but it didn't happen 🤷🏻‍♀️.

My review:

Tru and Jasper's chemistry was present right off the bat with their darkened garden encounter, and it grew into something true and honest regardless of them having to hide their attraction. Jasper was there for Tru in ways her husband never was. That being said, I finished this book, I couldn't help but feel that the ending was super abrupt and very deus ex machina in resolving loose ends. I'd seen Tru and Jasper's relationship developing, but it wasn't quite there, you know? Maybe a couple more clandestine encounters (yes that includes more sex), and a more firm realization of her love for him would have done the deal.

The sex:

What we did get in terms of sex almost felt like an afterthought— make no mistake it was well written (thought I do think the kissing scenes conveyed more passion), but none of them (two of them?) were particularly noteworthy. There was a scene where parlor games were practically (unwittingly) foreplay, which I wholeheartedly approve of. I feel like people forget parlor games with kissing were A Thing back in the day, which is unfortunate, especially consider the potential of games called "Kiss the Candlestick".

Review (continued):

I think the problem was that there was way too much time devoted to just how *dastardly* Tru's husband was. She could easily have removed excess passages on how much of a drunk, lecher, glutton, terrible father, etc. he was in order to focus on our actual love interest, Jasper. Additionally, there were a lot of POVs outside Tru and Jasper's. I think Sophie wanted to introduce the full cast of characters, especially those who will be featured in upcoming books, but that came at the cost of somewhat neglecting her main couple.

Outside the romance, I did appreciate the focus on female friendship. It's similar to what I said about Sabrina Jeffries' upcoming book, except in this case, it's friendship between a bunch of disenchanted older women— which is fun. The sneak-peak into the next heroine's book definitely seems fun. Between Joanna Shupe's Fifth Avenue Rebel series, and Vivienne Lorret's Mating Habits of Scoundrels series, I think this is becoming something of a trend, and definitely one I can get behind.

Overall, I did expect more from Sophie in terms of romance and the sex, but I'm willing to give her the benefit of the doubt for this series as a whole.

Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my review.

[charonarp]

A D&D Horror Story: My First and Only Decent Into Avernus Experience

Hello, hope you're well! I remember talking about this experience with a group of D&D friends, and a few had said that it could be posted on the "D&D Horror Stories" reddit thread, but I'm not a reddit user, so I'm posting it on here instead.

In this, I speak about my experience with my one and, currently, only experience with the Decent Into Avernus campaign for D&D 5e. This had occurred a few years ago when I was 16 playing with a group of adult players.

CW: Mentions of In-game SA (fade-to-black) + Forced Love Potion

I don't dive deep into anything, just explaining the scenario that had occurred. I don't recall player names, ages, or their characters in full details. I was but a baby in the field of 5e experience, mind you. New to Virtual Tabletop.

Hopefully the story is (somewhat) interesting to read, and maybe I'll post some more bad experiences from other groups (not a lot, but I do got a few).

In the beginning era of my first time exploring the VTT website known as Roll20, I was about 16 years old when I had applied to a game for a Curse of Strahd campaign, something that has had my attention since I had started getting into D&D through the Dice, Camera, ACTION podcast.

Though my experience in that particular campaign and group was quite poor, this is not the focus on that game specifically. My reasoning for mentioning this fact is because the DM (he/him) of that game had invited me to another game: Decent Into Avernus.

I knew nothing about the setting. I still don’t, for that matter, besides the fact that it took place in a setting similar to Hell. When I first joined his Curse of Strahd game, they originally had it where he and the players wouldn’t play with anyone under the age of 18. However, after speaking to them and getting to know the players, I was accepted and brought into the game. This sort of situation also happened when joining the Avernus campaign. When joining, I was informed that they had already started the campaign, but hadn’t gotten that far. I believe we were around 4th or 5th level. On top of that, I was informed that the setting would be rather mature, which I shrugged and said “okay”.

Granted, I was not informed what he meant by “mature”. In my mind, I presumed it was because it’d be a grindy, bloody, and jaw-clenching experience, with a few hints of what is typically anticipated by content regarding demonic-like figures.

Entering the game, I learned what the players were playing and reflected my character to fill in a role, but still playing a character I wanted to play. I played an alchemist artificer human male, someone who’s not very friendly to other people and dislikes adventures and aventuring. The plot hook was that something caused him to be in Avernus, and now he (begrudgingly) works with the party, and maybe he’ll lighten up if they earn his trust.

Unfortunately, the DM did not work with me in regards to how I’ll be introduced to the players, and I was unprepared to hear that I was being harmed by a demon (or devil) while restrained. Thankfully, the party came in and saved me, but offered no pleasantries and was very much on the “we gotta move” mentality.

Having nowhere else to go, my character followed the group, who barely even bat an eye to my character (The players were friendly, but in character, I felt disregarded).

The majority of the sessions I played were a bit of a blur. I recall one of the players making a deal with some devil mistress, another using a Wish spell they had access to to level us up several times, which gave us exhaustion levels of the amount of levels we achieved (I think it was three?) without a full party consent.

The main scenario that stood out to me, and is the main purpose of this post, is of a particular NPC hag character that the party (except me) knew about, and had met before. They were trying to get some information out of her, but she wouldn’t offer anything unless she could be granted a child of her own blood.

As the hag stated this condition, the majority of the party turned to my character and another PC, who played a changeling.

Key note here: the majority of the characters were female. I chose to play a male because I like flipping things around, and wanted to fill a role that wasn’t placed. Usually, if the party leans heavily on one gender, and I have no heavy interest in a particular concept, I’ll play the opposite gender of the group, or go full neutral.

Another thing to keep in mind: the players had not taken any time at all to get to know my character. No roleplay, no small talk, nothing. I was but a sheep following the herd, begrudgingly, as I would die if I went on my own.

Naturally, I wasn’t on board. As I’m someone who plays how my character would act (within reason), I was naturally against volunteering myself for something that I had no desire to achieve. After all, I was given no rundown on the goal, no knowledge on what we were doing, nor was I granted information to help me share a similar interest with the party (or reason to be their friend).

The changeling backed out, shifting their form to be female so that it left me as the sole male character. Instead of simply moving on, one or two of the players grabbed my PC and forced him to drink a love potion they happened to have. I failed the save, and it forced me to fall in love with the hag.

I, the player, was not asked if I was okay with this, nor was I given the option to even refuse, as a “fade-to-black” sequence occurred that forced my PC to sleep with the hag, and everyone moved on like nothing happened.

At the time, I was rather shocked by the whole thing. I’m someone who finds it difficult to get really uncomfortable by things, and by how nonchalant everyone treated the situation, I couldn’t help but laugh at how bizarre it was. It was a rather fast sequence, and I wasn’t really able to process it completely at the moment.

After that session, I felt a bit out of place within the group. My character was far from friendly, which probably kept the players from even interacting with him in the first place, or to even try to get to know him. There was hardly any RP time, as we kept moving and moving through the story. So, I asked if I could switch characters, to which the DM allowed.

At first, I wanted to switch my PC to another character who I had played before in a custom game: A Yuan-ti Pureblood Blood Hunter whose goal is to find his wife and kids who were kidnapped.

Unfortunately, the DM didn’t like the Blood Hunter class. So, I chose Paladin, which I thought was the closest thing to what my snake boy would be. Another unfortunate thing was that the DM considered himself “old school”, and said that “Paladins must follow a god”.

At the time, I didn’t know much on how paladins worked, as I never played one before. I didn’t like the thought of making my nonreligious character suddenly being religious, and I knew for a fact paladins didn’t need a god, just an oath, but the DM wouldn’t budge. He was adamant paladins needed a deity.

So, I went with Oathbreaker. And, once again, the DM didn’t work with me on how the switch would occur, nor was I told how it would happen. 

We were in some sort of car chase, or rather, we were being chased while in some large vehicle, when the DM suddenly started describing what my character was doing. He described that he was mixing up some sort of potion. He took a drink, and he was suddenly a different character, that being my Yuan-ti.

The scenario made me really disappointed. The players looked at him, shrugged, and moved on with the story. It was here where I lost interest in the game, because I felt unwanted and not valued as a player. I had no part to play, nor did I have anything to contribute at all.

It was after that session that I left the campaign.

It was pretty difficult to cut ties with that DM. When I wanted to leave a game, I’d message in private to settle it quietly in hopes of just being civil and not needing to make a big deal out of it. However, every time I did this, he would try to convince me to stay, to keep playing in his games.

I don’t remember how I managed to leave the group, but I do know that the DM had lied to the other players saying I was throwing a fit and acting like a child, which I don’t believe I was. I wanted to be civil, voiced my reasonings as to why I wanted to leave, and wanted to leave things on a relatively good note (as good as it could be).

Perhaps I blocked him, but I’m not too certain. I held connections with at least one of the players for a bit, who I believe was the one who told me he was lying about how I was reacting to the other players, to get them to dislike me or something.

It’s because of this incident that, whenever I want to leave a game, I always post it in the group chat. That way, my words can’t get twisted, and somehow, encourage other players to voice their wants as well.

It’s happened before, where I post my desire to leave in a server with my reason, and other players follow suit. It made me realize that there are players who have gotten uncomfortable in games, but are too afraid to voice it in fear of losing friends or for having no game at all.

But, to be honest, I’d rather have no game than a bad one. But that’s just me.

[sakurarisen]

fill out the angst application below.

basics

> NAME - Seraphina Fair

> AGE - 21 (24 in Rebirth and Genshin verses)

> SPECIES - Human (elemental phoenix/human hybrid, unknown to her)

bold what applies (italicize what somewhat applies)

drinker ; smoker ; done/does drugs ; knows what a broken heart feels like ; has committed a crime ; suffers a physical disability ; suffers a mental disorder ; has experienced severe trauma

details

> BIGGEST FEAR -  Dying without making any kind of difference or change in the world. Although Sera isn’t clueless and knows ‘changing the world’ is very much unlikely to happen in her lifetime, no matter how much she tries for it and would love to see it herself, it terrifies her to die without having left even the tiniest of impacts - To know she was nothing more than a drop of water into a vast sea, unable to change anything for anyone, or even help anyone. There’s so much to change, so many people who need help in a world so designed to beat them down, the thought of leaving them without doing everything she can... That’s genuinely a nightmare in itself to her.

On the same level is losing her family and loved ones; her husband is frequently involved in dangerous work, they have kids she doesn’t doubt are always in danger due to having them for parents, her brother is oftentimes in the line of fire for his own work, her friends also have dangerous jobs... All it takes is one slip, and that, too, is a nightmare that often plagues her when she least expects it.

> RECURRING NIGHTMARE - Sera tends to relive her various traumas in her nightmares at least two or three times a week. If she’s lucky enough to not have a nightmare about her trauma, it’s one involving losing her family or being captured by people who want to do them/her harm, or, on rarer occasions, being lost in absolute darkness with no way out, no light, and no body to hear her scream. Thankfully, these nightmares slow to one to two times a week when she’s able to sleep next to her husband, or when her brother is visiting,but they’ve never stopped completely.

> SOMETHING YOU MISS - Her lost siblings, Ami and Takeru, the childhood she never had, and several people she met during her travels she, unfortunately, no longer has contact with. Friends she hasn’t seen in long periods also fall under this category, as well as her brother, Thoma, when she’s unable to see him due to the (physical) distance between them.

> BIGGEST REGRET - Not knowing anything as a child, and being unable to save Ami and Takeru. Although she had no idea what was really going on until shortly before their passing, when they told her as much themselves, Sera has never stopped regretting she hadn’t done things differently, or tried everything in her power to save them, somehow. This regret is doubled when she discovers Thoma is her brother rather than her cousin, both having been raised to believe the later due to his being given up to their aunt and uncle, and realizes they never questioned their obvious similarities as children, missing out on the bond they now share up to this point.

She also heavily regrets when she’s unable (or inable) to help others, and walking away, for any reason, or being unable to stop someone’s pain even long enough to bring them the tiniest of smiles, constantly weighs on her. Logically, she knows there are some things she just can’t do, change, or handle, but it still hits her hard, and lingers.

> A SECRET - Sera is, at her core, an elemental phoenix - Specifically a snow phoenix - who has slowly assumed human form over her multiple lives and rebirths. At this point, only her core is an elemental being; She’s long since shifted fully into a human and is technically a human past this; Aria, the snow phoenix, has buried herself down deep and, for all intents and purposes, ‘gone to sleep’ in her attempt to be a human. This has resulted in the ‘frozen lake’ Sera often feels/mentions sits within her and knows there’s a great deal of something under, and occasionally can access a bit of ‘water’ from from the occasional crack in its surface, but can never break through - The ice is too thick by her own unconscious doing in every lifetime, this one being no different, and subconsciously, she knows breaking the ice would end her life... Even if she has no idea she is Aria, or that the phoenixes ever exist/existed, or that her brother, Thoma, is Aria’s twin, the fire phoenix Aelius, tucked away in him much the same and born first due to their rebirth cycles falling out of sync, turning the twins into ‘older brother and little sister’ instead.

pick one

fire or water

mother or father neither-

to hurt or be hurt

eerie or gory

unrequited love or no love

TAGGED BY: It’s been in my drafts so long I CAN’T REMEMBER-

TAGGING: @waltzofphoenix​, @yoroiis, Snag it! <3

[ainsleyview]

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[tess-media-and-society]

Blog Post #3: LGBTQI & BIPOC Representation In Media

Interview with Neil McCormick from Mysterious Skin (2004).

There is a somewhat common idea/misconception that queer people become gay as a result of living through traumatic experiences similar to yours. Do you think that the abuse you faced as a child had any effect on the development of your sexual identity?

From the first day I met my coach, I was attracted to him. Obviously I was only eight years old, and the attraction that I had for him was something a lot more innocent than what he would eventually end up turning it into. Still, I was always more interested in boys than girls, even prior to the abuse. Being abused affected me in the sense that it introduced me to sexual behavior when I was WAYYYY too young to know about it. Now I’m a lot older and I can see that I didn’t really understand what was happening whatsoever. My coach did his best to make me think that everything that he was doing was some act of love, and I continued to perceive the abuse as being that for a good while. I genuinely believed for a long time that we had some kind of special connection that made it okay. So I think generally, the abuse made me more aware of sexual topics from an early age. But I’m sure I would’ve turned out gay regardless. I’m happy that in the present queerness is more accepted and isn’t seen as a negative side effect of abuse. I think being abused had a very profound impact in shaping who I am, but I’ve never wanted my sexuality to be seen as some kind of sexual disturbance.

It’s definitely true that LGBTQ people were less welcomed and accepted in the past. Where did you find support dealing with your trauma and your sexuality in a time and place where LGBTQ people were less accepted?

I grew up in a small town in Kansas where people were less welcoming to the idea of LGBTQ people, so what would have already been a small community in a sea of straight people was even more miniscule. Unfortunately the majority of the other LGBTQ people I had interacted with in Hutchinson were the people who I slept with while I was working as a prostitute, and obviously they weren’t really people I would go to for ‘support’. I did have a few friends. Wendy was a childhood friend of mine, and the only person I had ever trusted enough to tell about my history being abused. I could talk to her about the abuse, about my experiences prostituting, about my sexuality- anything.  Even though she obviously wasn’t really able to relate to the queer issues I faced, it was important for me to have someone to go to about different issues I struggled with without being judged. She did her best to help me in whatever ways she could, I ended up moving to New York City with her, and she even found me a job. Wendy is proof that ONE supportive person can be the difference between someone like me learning to cope in healthier ways or falling deeper into their destructive tendencies. Eric was another friend of mine, another queer person, who I spent a lot of time with once Wendy left. I was able to confide in him more than a lot of other people, since he could relate to being queer. He eventually reintroduced me to a kid, Brian, who I used to play baseball with and who was also sexually abused by our coach. He sought me out because he had no clear memory of the abuse and was trying to sort of piece it back together. When I told him the details about what happened, he completely broke down, he was devastated. Up until that point I was still seeing the abuse as an act of love, and I still sort of looked back upon it fondly. Once I saw how badly Brian was hurting from finally finding out the truth my perspective finally shifted, and I just wished we could undo everything that happened. Brian sort of served as a wake up call for me. Seeing him that destroyed by what happened forced me to see the abuse for what it was.

What drove you to start working as a prostitute when you were a teenager? 

I think there were a lot of factors that brought me to that line of work, and I don’t know that I entirely understand all of them. Obviously, a source of income was one of them, albeit probably one of the more minor ones. I think the fact that I was abused kind of made me more desensitized to unhealthy sex- and I guess because of that, I was less hesitant to work in that field than most people would be. I suppose since I got used to predatory sexual behavior when I was a child, and especially since I was made to believe that it was an act of love, in a way I was sort of chasing the same feeling I got when I was being abused. Even once I moved to the city and I had a more traditional/stable job, I continued to turn to prostitution to search for that feeling. I was generally a pretty self-destructive person at that point, so I didn’t even really care about the risks that came along with it- whether they were risks of STIs/STDs or risks of violence from clients. This is something that is really hard to explain. I don’t think I was completely aware of everything that led me down that path when I was presently going down it. 

Attitudes towards a lot of the struggles you faced in your youth have shifted dramatically over time. LGBTQ people are more accepted by society, the issue of sexual abuse is more talked about, and sex work is also generally more accepted. How different do you think your life would have been if you were a teenager in 2023?

I would like to think it wouldn’t have taken me so long to speak about being abused if I was born later and grew up in a time period closer to now. For a long time Wendy was the only person who I was ever willing to talk to about it, and even when I did talk about it my perception about what happened was kind of off. I think in the present day people are more willing to address issues surrounding sexual abuse and exploitation in all forms. If I had been properly educated on what's an ‘okay VS not okay’ touch, maybe I wouldn’t have perceived the abuse as a good thing for so long, or I would have come to terms with it a lot sooner. Maybe I would’ve sought out help from someone while it was happening. It’s hard to say. 

If I had been working as a prostitute in a time period like 2023 I probably would have been a lot better off. I think sex education has GREATLY improved over the years, so those seeking out services like that would likely be a lot more careful. There was a blatant disregard for preventing the spread of diseases when I was working in Hutchinson, and even once I got to the city some people were still not concerned with it. Who knows- maybe I wouldn’t have caught crabs if I was a prostitute in 2023 rather than back then. On top of that I think sex workers are more respected than they were back when I was working as one. Recently there has been some efforts to sort of de-stigmatize sex work. I think it's definitely a good thing that sex workers are finally starting to be seen as humans, some people even try to find empowerment in it. Still I think it’s important to consider the risks that come along with this profession. I had things transmitted to me and was physically/sexually assaulted while working, and even though things have gotten slightly better for sex workers, they are still more prone to horrible things like these in that specific line of work.

In terms of my sexuality I’m not sure all that much would have been different for me personally. Don’t get me wrong, things are a lot better for gay people than they were 20 years ago, but at the same time, I was never really very closeted or ashamed of who I was. Maybe there would have been a larger LGBTQ community in Hutchinson and I would have had a bigger support group, I’m not sure. 

Do you feel optimistic about the future of LGBTQ people, their rights, and the way they are viewed by the general public?

I think so. It goes without saying that the lives of LGBTQ people have greatly improved over the last few decades. The fact that interviews like this, talking openly about these issues, don’t seem so inconceivable anymore goes to show how much has been accomplished. I know obviously not everything is perfect now, and that no matter what there will still probably be bigoted people in the world. But I think if everyone was taught to be more open to different kinds of people and to be more accepting of certain things within themselves, the bigoted people and small issues would be sort of drowned out. 

[whotfelsewantedtobelynnyx]

Characters whose palismen we never got to see and what I think they would have been like.

1. Alador Blight

Alador’s palisman is a small hummingbird. It doesn’t technically have a name, as Odalia scoffed at the idea, claiming that “Palismen are tools to further your magical skills. It’s ridiculous to name them like some kind of pet,” but Alador secretly calls it Leif.

Its staff is an elegant dark wood color. Off of the staff, it becomes a rather derpy little green and blue bird that gets distracted easily and wanders off fairly frequently.

It has a habit of chasing bugs far too big for it to actually catch. On the rare occasion that it does, it brings them to Alador, somewhat like a cat. He always praises it and waits until it’s back on the staff to let the bugs go.

Odalia occasionally locks it in a cabinet in order to force Alador to focus. It’s unfortunately a very effective technique.

2. Darius Deamonne*

Darius’s palisman is a Bengal cat named Silverthorne. Occasionally, others around them refer to her as Thorny or Thorn, which irks both palisman and master. 

As a staff, Silverthorne is a golden-brown color and sits in a similar position to Ghost (Amity’s palisman). Darius took the time to carve and paint each of her spots, as well as carving an intricate pattern into her staff. The other Coven Heads (i.e., Raine) theorize that this set the precedent for Silverthorne’s attitude. 

Silverthorne (like her master) has a very haughty air about her. Like Darius, she also spends a good amount of time grooming herself and fussing over her appearance. Despite this, she hates bath days. 

Whenever Darius takes a self-care day, he makes sure to spoil his palisman as well. Some days this entails having a fancy meal together, others involve vigorous at-home spa treatments. Silverthorne enjoys some more than others. 

3. Steve

Steve’s palisman was a wolf-like creature, with markings resembling a German Shepard. When his father carved it for him (under Steve’s supervision, of course), young Steve went with the simplistic name of Buddy. 

Buddy never spent much time on his staff, as Steve acquired him at a fairly young age. He was a fiercely loyal companion and Steve’s best friend, going everywhere with him and always looking out for him. 

Buddy had a fairly serious demeanor, as he felt it was his duty to protect his young master. People who approached him often initially felt intimidated by the glaring palisman, only to watch a little boy bound up to him and bury his face in his scruff. Steve could pretty much go anywhere he wanted safely as a child. 

Steve didn’t realize what joining the Emperor’s Coven entailed in regards to his palisman. He went to sleep on his first night with Buddy sleeping on his feet like usual and woke up alone, much to his confusion. He never learned what exactly happened to Buddy, and his friends never had the heart to tell him. 

4. Raine Whispers*

No one’s entirely sure what Raine’s palisman is, and they’re ok with that. Their palisman resembles some odd cross between a jackalope and a cat, and is named Viola. 

Viola, like her master, has some pretty severe social anxiety and doesn’t like spending time off of her staff around other people. However, she always liked Eda, who was the only person aside from Raine who could pet her.

Viola has the ability to mimic musical tones. Sometimes, when Raine’s writing sheet music, they’ll ask her to test out what they’ve written and she’ll sing it for them. 

When Raine needs to destress, they sit down and carefully polish their staff. Then, they’ll summon Viola and spend some time brushing her. She enjoys the pampering, they enjoy the stress relief. It’s a win-win.

That’s all for today, but stay tuned for part two! If you have characters you want to see featured, comment them! I have a pretty solid list in mind, but I’m totally open to taking suggestions.

*I have no clue if coven heads outside of the Emperor’s Coven were allowed to keep their palismen. I’m gonna lean towards yes, since Belos probably knew better than to try and take away all palismen from all covens, but I can't be 100% sure, just like with any headcanon.