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felikatze · 6 months

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ISAT and Ludonarrative Harmony: Combat is a Storytelling Tool

Or: How Siffrin is stuck in the endgame grind, forever

Please Note: This is primarily aimed at an audience that already played In Stars and Time, because I am bad at explaining things, and it's good to already know what the fuck I'm talking about. I tend to only bring up game elements as I want to talk about them.

Spoilers for.... all of ISAT! Especially Act 5!

(image to show how i feel posting this and as an attention grabber over my wall of text)

To pull a definition of ludonarrative harmony out of a hat, game writer Lauryn Ash defines it as follows:

Ludonarrative harmony is when gameplay and story work together to create a meaningful and immersive experience. From a design implementation perspective, it is the synchronized interactions between in-game actions (mechanics) and in-world context (story).

It is, generally speaking, how well game mechanics work hand in hand with the story. I, personally, think ISAT is an absolute masterclass of it, so I want to take a look at how ISAT specifically uses its battle system to emphasize Siffrin's character arc and create organic story moments. I want you to keep this in mind when I talk here.

So, skills, right? If you've played any turn-based RPG, you know your Fire spells, your "BACKSLASH! AIRSLASH! BACKSLASH!" and the many ways to style those.

Well, what does casting "Fire" say about your character? Not all that much, does it? Perhaps you'll have typical divisions. The smart one is the mage, the big brawny one is your tank, the petite one's the healer. And that's the barebones of ISAT's main party, but it's much more than that.

Every character's style of combat tells you something about them. Odile, the Researcher, is the most well-travelled and knowledgable of the bunch. She's the one with the expertise to keep a cool head and analyze the enemy, yet also able to use all three of the Rock-Paper-Scissors craft types.

To reflect her analytical view of things, all her skill names are just descriptive, the closest to your most bog-standard RPG. "Slow IV" or "Paper III" serve well to describe their purpose. The high number of the skills gives the impression there were three other Slow skills beforehand - fitting, considering the party starts at level 45, about to head into the final dungeon. She's also the oldest, so she's the slowest of the bunch.

Isabea, the Fighter, has all his skills in exclamation points. "YOUR TURN!!!" "SO WEAK!!!" "SMASH!!!" they're straightforward, but excited. He's a purposefully cheerfull guy, so his skills revolve around cheering on his allies. He's absolutely pumped to be here, and you see that from his skill names alone.

Mirabelle, the Housemaiden, is an interesting case. She's by all means the true protagonist of this tale - She's the one "Chosen by the Change God," the only one who survived the King's first attack, the only one immune to his ability to freeze time, the only dual-craft type of the game - just a lot of things. And her skill names reflect that facade she puts on herself - she can do this, she can win! She has to believe it, or else she starts doubting. This is how you get "Jolly Round Rondo" and "Mega Sparkle Heal" or "Adorable Moving Cure." She's styled every bit a sailor scout shojo heroine, and her moveset replicates the naming conventions of "In the name of the moon, I'll punish you!"

Even Bonnie, the Kid, who can't be controlled in combat, has named craft skills. And they very much reflect that Bonnie is, well, a kid. "Wolf Speed Technique" or "Thousand Blows Technique" are very much the phrasings of a child who learned one complicated word and now wants to use it in everything to seem cooler than they are, which is none, because they're twelve.

Siffrin's skills are all puns.

You have an IMMEDIATE feel for personality here. Between "Knife to Meet You!" and "Too Cleaver by Half," you know Siffrin's the type to always crack a joke no matter the situation, slinging witticisms around to put Sonic the Hedgehog to shame. It's just such a clever way to establish character using a game mechanic as old as the entire history of RPGs.

This is only the baseline of the way the combat system feeds into the story, though.

The timeloop, of course, feeds into it. Siffrin is the only character who retains experience upon looping, whereas all other characters are reset to their base level and skills. And it sucks (affectionate).

You're extremely likely to battle more often the earlier in the game you are - after all, you need the experience (for now.) Every party member contributes, and Siffrin isn't all that strong on their own, since they focus on raw scissor type damage with the addition of one speed buff. (Of course it's a speed buff. They're a speedy fucker. Just look at him).

At first, the difference in level between Siffrin and the rest of the group is rather negligible. Just a level or two. Just a bit more speed and attack. And then Siffrin grows further and further apart. Siffrin keeps learning new skills. He gets a healing skill that doubles as an attack boost, taking away from both Mirabelle's and Isabeau's usefullness. He gets Craft skills of every type that even give you two jackpot points instead of one - thus obliterating Odile's niche. Siffrin turns into a one-person army capable of clearing most encounters all on their own.

Siffrin's combat progression is an exact mirror of story progression - as their experience inside the loops grows, they also grow further and further away from their party. The party seems... weaker, slower, clumsier. Always back at their starting point, just as all of their character arcs are reset each loop. Never advancing, always stagnant. And you have Siffrin as the comparison post right next to them.

I also want to point out here a change from Act 2 to Act 3 - Siffrin's battle portrait. He stops smiling.

Battles keep getting easier. This is true both for the reason that Siffrin keeps growing stronger even when all enemies stay the same, but also for the reason that you, the player, learn more about the battle system and the various encounters, until you've learned perfect boss clear strategies just from repetition. Have you ever watched a speedrunner play Pokemon? They've played this game so many times, they could do it blindfolded and sleeping. Your own knowledge and Siffrin's new strength work in tandem to trivialize the game's entire combat system as the game progresses.

(Is it still fun? Playing it over, and over, and over again? Is it?)

You and Siffrin are in sync, your experience making everything trivial.

As time goes on, Siffrin grows to care less and less about performing right for their party and more and more about going fast. A huge moment in his character is marked by the end of Act 3; because of story events I won't delve too deeply into, Siffrin has grown afraid of trying something new. And his options of escape are closing in. They need an answer, and they need it fast. He doesn't have the time or patience to dumb himself down, so you unlock one new skill.

It doesn't occur with level up, or with a quest, or anything at all. At the start of Act 4, it simply appears in Siffrin's Craft skills.

(Just attack.)

No pun. No joke. Just attack. Once you notice, the effect is immediate - here you have it, a clear sign of how jaded Siffrin has become, right at every encounter. And it's a damn good attack, too! The only available attack in the game that deals "massive" damage against all enemies. Because it doesn't add any jackpot points (at least, it's not supposed to), you set up a combo with everybody else, but Siffrin simply tears away at the enemy with wild abandon. Seperated from the rest of the party by the virtue of no longer needing to contribute to team attacks (most of the time. It's still useful if they do, though).

Once again, an aspect of the battle system enhances the degree of separation between Siffrin and the static characters of his play. You're incentivized to separate him, even.

Additionally, there are two more skills to learn. They're the only skills that replace previous skills. You only get them at extremely high levels, the latter of which I didn't even reach on both of my playthroughs.

The first, somewhere in the level 70 range, Rose Printed Glasses, a paper type craft skill, is replaced by Tear You Apart. It's still a pun about paper, but remarkedly more vicious.

The second is even more on the nose. At level 80, In A While, Rockodile!, a rock type craft skill, is replaced by the more powerful Rock Bottom.

I didn't get to level 80. If you do, you pretty much have to do it on purpose. You have to keep going much longer than necessary, as Siffrin is just done. And the last skill he learns is literally called Rock Bottom.

What do I even need to say, really.

Your party doesn't stay static forever, though.

By doing their hangout quests, side quests throughout the loops that result in Siffrin and the character having a heart to heart, all of them unlock what I'd call an "ultimate" skill. You know the type - the character achieved self-fulfillment, hit rank 10 on their confidant, maxed out their skill tree, and received a reward for their trouble.

These skills are massively useful. My favorite is Odile's - it makes one enemy weak to all Craft types for several turns, which basically allows you to invalidate the first and third boss, as well as just clown on the King, especially once Siffrin starts racking up damage.

But the thing is. In Act 3, when you first get them, yeah, they're useful. But... do you need them? After all, they're such a hassle to get. You need to do the whole character quest again, you can't loop forward in the House or you'll lose them. If you want to take these skills to the King, you need to commit. Go the full nine-yards and be nice to your friends and not die and not skip forward or skip back. Which is annoying, right?

Well, I sure did think so during Act 4. After all, a base level party can still defeat the King, just with a few more tricky pieces involved. Siffrin can oneshot almost all basic enemies by the time of Act 4. It's this exact evalutation that you, the player, go through everytime you return to Dormont. Do I want this skill, still? Would it not be faster to go on without it? I'm repeating myself, but that's the thing! That's what Siffrin is thinking, too!

I also want to take a quick moment to note, here - all skills gained from hangouts have art associated with them, which no other skills do. This feature, the nifty art, hammers home these as "special" skills, besides just how they're unlocked.

Siffrin also has one skill with associated art.

Yeah, you guessed it, it's (Just attack.)

At first, helping the characters is tied to a hefty in-game reward, but that reward loses its value, and in return devalues helping Siffrin's friends every loop. It's too tedious for a skill that'll make a boss go by one turn faster. You, the player, grow jaded with the battle system. Grinding experience isn't worth it, everybody's highest levels are already recorded. Fighting bosses isn't worth it, it's much faster to loop forward.

Isn't this what all endgame in video games looks like? You already beat the final boss, and now... what challenge is left? Is there a point to keep playing? Most games will have some post-game content. A superboss to test your skills against, but ISAT doesn't have any of that. You're forever left chasing to the post-game. That's the whole point - to escape the game.

As most games get more difficult as time passes, ISAT only gets easier. The game becomes disinterested in expanding its own mechanics just as I ran out of new things to fight after 100%-ing Kingdom Hearts 3. Every encounter becomes a simple game of "press button to win."

The final boss just takes that one up a notch.

Spoilers for Act 5 ahead boys!

In Act 5, Siffrin utterly loses it. His last possible hope for escape failed him, told him there's nothing she can do, and Siffrin is trapped for eternity. So of course, they go insane and run up the entire House without their party.

This just proves what you already knew - you dont need the party to proceed. Siffrin alone is strong enough. And here, Siffrin has entirely shed the facade of the jokester they used to be. Every single skill now follows the (Just attack.) naming conventions. Your skills are: (Paper.) (Rock.) (Scissors.) (Breathe.)

To the point. Not a moment wasted, because Siffrin can't take a moment longer of any of this. Additionally, his level is set to 99 and his equipment becomes fixed. You can't even pick up items anymore! Not that you needed them at this point anyway, right? Honestly, I never used any items besides the Salty Broth since Act 2, so I stopped picking items up a long time ago. Now you just literally can't.

Something I've not talked about until now - one of the main equipment types in this game are Memories, gained for completing subquests or specific interactions and events. They all by and large have little effects - make Odile's tonics heal more, or have Mirabelle cast a shield at the start of combat. For the hangout events, you also gain an associated memory that boosts the characters' stats by 30. It lets them keep up with Siffrin again! A fresh wind! Finally, your party members feel on par with you again!

...For a time. And just like that, they're irrelevant again, just as helping them gave Siffrin a brief moment of hope that the power of friendship could fix everything.

In Act 5, your memory is set to "Memory of Emptiness." It allows you to loop back in the middle of combat. You literally can't die anymore. Not that Siffrin could've died by this point in the first place, unless you forgot about the King's instant-kill attack. This one memory takes away the false pretense that combat ever had any stakes. Siffrin's level being set to 99 means even the scant exp you get is completely wasted on them. All stakes and benefits from combat have been removed. It has become utterly pointless.

Frustrating, right? It's an artistic frustration, though. It traps you right here in Siffrin's shoes, because he hates that all these blinding Sadnesses are still walking around just as much. It all inspires just a tiny fraction of that deep rolling anger Siffrin experiences here in the player.

And listen, it was cathartic, that one time Siffrin snapped and stabbed the tutorial Sadness, wasn't it? Because who enjoys sitting through the tutorial that often? Siffrin doesn't. I don't, either.

So, since combat is an useless obstacle now meant to inspire frustration, what do you do for a boss? You can't well make it a gameplay challenge now, no. The bosses of Act 5 are an emotional challenge: a painful wait.

First, Siffrin fights the King, alone. This is already nervewracking because of one factor - in every other run, you need Mirabelle's shield skill, or else you're scripted to die. You're actually forced to fight the King multiple times in Act 3, and have to do it at least once in Act 4, though you'll likely do it more. Point is: you know how this fight works.

You know Siffrin's fight is doomed from the outset, but all you can do is keep slinging attacks. Siffrin is enough of a powerhouse to take the King's HP down, what with the healing and buff skills they have now, not to even mention you can just go all in on damage and then loop back.

(And no matter which way you play it, whether you just loop or use strategically, it reflects on Siffrin, too. Has he grown callous enough not even death will stop their mission? Or does he still avoid pain, as much as he can?)

This fight still allows you the artifice of even that much choice, not that it matters. The other shoe drops eventually - Siffrin becomes slower, and slower. Unsettling, considering this game works on an Action Gauge system. You barely get turns anymore. The screen gets darker, and darker. Until Siffrin is frozen in time, just as you knew he had to be, because you know how this encounter works, know it can't be cleared without Mirabelle.

And, then, a void.

Siffrin awakens to nothingness. The only way to tell you've hit a wall is if Siffrin has no walking animation to match your button inputs. You walk, and walk, until you're approached by.... you. The next enemy encounter of the game, and Siffrin's absolute lowest point: Mal Du Pays.

Or, "Homesickness," in english. If you know the game, you know why it's named this, but that's not the point at the moment.

Thing is, where you could damage the King and are damaged in turn, giving you at least a proper combat experience, even if its doomed to fail, Mal Du Pays has no such thing.

You can attack. You can defend. But it is immune to all attacks. And in return, it does nothing. It's common, at least, for undefeatable enemies to be a "survive" challenge, but nope. The entire fight is "press button and wait." Except, remember the previous fight against the King? The entire time, you were waiting for the big instant death attack to drop. That feeling, at least for me, carried forward. I was incredibly on edge just waiting for the other shoe to drop. And, as is a pattern, Siffrin is, too. As Siffrin's attacks fail to connect, they start talking to Mal Du Pays.

But he gets no response, as you get no attacks to strategize around. The wait for anything to happen is utterly agonizing. You and Siffrin are both waiting for something to happen. This isn't a fight. It just pretends to be. It's an utter rugpull, because Siffrin was so undefeatable for most of Act 4 and all of Act 5 so far. It's kind of terrifying!

and it does. It finally does something. Ma Du Pays speaks, in the voice of Siffrin's friends, listing out their deepest fears. I think it's honestly fantastic. You're forced to just sit here and listen to Siffrin's deepest doubts, things you know the characters could not say because it references the timeloops they're all utterly unaware of. This is all Siffrin, talking to himself. And all you, all Siffrin, can do, is keep wailing away on the enemy to no effect whatsoever.

So of course this ends with Siffrin giving up. What else can you do?

And then Siffrin's friends show up and unfreeze them and it's all very cool yay. The pure narrative scenes aren't really the main focus but I want to point out here:

A) Mirabelle is in the first party slot here, referencing how she's the de facto protagonist, and Bonnie fills in the fourth slot left empty, which shows all characters uniting to save Siffrin

B) this is the only instance of the other party members having act specific battle icons: they're all smiling brightly, further pushed by the upbeat music

C) the reflecting shield Mirabelle uses to freeze the King uses a variation of her hangout skill cut in, marking it as her true "final" skill and giving the whole fight a more climatic feeling.

It's also a short gameplay sequence with Siffrin utterly uninvolved in the battle. You can't even see them onscreen. But... it feels warm, doesn't it? Everybody coming together. Siffrin doesn't have to fight anymore.

At last, the King is defeated. Siffrin and co. make for the Head Housemaiden, to have her look at Siffrin's sudden illness. Siffrin is utterly exhausted, famished, running a fever. And this isn't unexpected - after all, their skills in Act 5 had no cooldown. For context, instead of featuring any sort of MP system, all skills work on a cooldown basis, where a character can't use it for a certain number of turns. The lowest cooldown is actually Siffrin's Knife to Meet You, which has a cooldown of 1. In universe, this is reasoned as the characters needing a break from spamming craft in order to not exhaust themselves.

Siffrin's skills in Act 5 having no cooldown/being infinitely spammable isn't a sign of their strength - it's a sign that he refuses to let himself rest in order to rush through as fast as possible.

Moving on, Siffrin panics when seeing the Head Housemaiden, because seeing her means one thing: the end. Prior to this in the game, every single time you beat the King, the loop ends when you talk to the Head Housemaiden.

Reality breaks down, the whole shebang. It's here that Siffrin realizes - they don't want the loops to end, because the end of their journey means their family will leave, and he'll be alone again. The happiest time of his life will be over.

Siffrin goes totally ballistic, to say the least.

As it turns out (and was heavily foreshadowed narratively), Siffrin has been using Wish Craft to subconciously cause the timeloop because of their abandonment issues. It's rather predictable if you paid attention to literally anything, but it's extremely notable how heavily Siffrin is paralleled to the King, the antagonist they swore to kill by themself at the start of Act 5. The King wants to freeze Vaugarde in time because it is, in his mind, "perfect," for accepting him after he lost his home - a backstory he shares with Siffrin.

Siffrin has become the exact antagonist he swore to kill, and it's shown by how the next fight utterly flips everything on its head.

Siffrin is the final boss.

In a towering form made of stars, Siffrin looks down at their friends. His face is terrified, because of his internal conflict; he can't hurt his friends, but he can't let them go, either. The combat prompt is simply changed to "END IT!"

This fight is similar to the previous, in that you just need to wait a certain number of turns until its over. However, this time, it's not dreadful suspense. It's... confusion, and hesitance.

You have two options for combat: Attack your friends, or attack yourself.

And... you don't really want to do either, I think. I certainly don't. But what else can you do? It's Siffrin's desires clashing in full force. Attack your friends, and force them to stay? Or attack yourself, and let them go safely without you?

Worth noting, here - when you attack Siffrin's friends, you can't harm them. Isabeau will shield all attacks. And when you attack yourself, Mirabelle will heal you back to full. And the friends don't... do anything, either. How could they? Occasionally, Mirabelle heals you and Isabeau shouts words of motivation, but the main thing is...

(Your friends don't know what to do.)

None of them want to harm Siffrin. Both sides simply stare at each other, resolute in their conviction but unwilling to end it with violence. It's of note that this loop, the last one, is the only loop where the King isn't killed. Just frozen. And now here is Siffrin, clamoring for the same eternity the King was. Of course everything ends in a tearfilled conversation as Siffrin sees their friends won't leave him, even after the journey ends, but I still have to appreciate this moment.

Siffrin is directly put in the position with their friends as his enemies, forced to physically reckon that keeping them in this loop is an act of violence, against both their friends, and against himself.

It's a happy ending. But... what does it mean?

Of course, ISAT is obviously about the fear of change. Siffrin is afraid of the journey ending, and of being alone. However, ISAT is also a game about games. Siffrin is playing the same game, over and over, because it's comforting. It's familiar. It's nice, to know exactly what happens next. These characters might just be predictable lines of dialogue, but... they feel like friends. Have you ever played a game, loved it, put countless hours into it, but you never finished it? Because you just couldn't bear to see it end? For the characters to leave your life, for there to be a void in your heart where the game used to be?

After all, maybe it became part of your routine! You play the game every day, slowly chipping away at it for weeks at a time. For me, I beat ISAT in four days. It utterly consumed me during this time. I had 36 hours of playtime by the end. Yeah, in that week, I did not do much more than play ISAT.

And once i beat it, i beat it, again. I restarted the game to see the few scenes I missed, most specifically the secret boss I won't talk about here. I... couldn't let go of the game yet. I wanted to see every scrap I could. I still do. I'm writing this, in part because I still do. It's scary to let go.

Ever heard the joke term of "Postgame Depression?" It's when you just beat a game, and you're suddenly sad. Maybe because the ending affected you emotionally and you need to process the feelings it invoked, or you search for something that can now fill your time with it gone.

The game ends, for real this time, the last time you talk to the Head Housemaiden. But Siffrin gets... scared. What if everything loops back again? And so, his family offers to hold his hand. They face the end, together.

For all loops, including the ending, you never see what happens after. After they leave the loop for good. Because the loop is the game itself. It's asking you to trust that life goes on for these characters, and it holds your hand as it asks you to let go. There's a reason for Siffrin's theater metaphors. He is the actor, and the director, asking everyone to do it over one more time. He's a character within the game, and its player.

There's a reason I talked about endgame content. This, the way it all repeats, there's nothing new, difficulty and stakes bleed away as you snap the game over your knee - it's my copy of White 2 with two hundred hours in it. It's me playing Fire Emblem Awakening in under 3 hours while skipping every cutscene. Are you playing for the sake of play, for the sake of indulging in your memories, because you're afraid of the hole it'll leave when you stop?

Of note: the narrative never condemns Siffrin for unwittingly causing their own suffering. He's a victim of circumstance. It's seen as endearing, even, that Siffrin loves their friends to the point of rather seeing the world destroyed than them gone. But Siffrin is also told: we'll stay with you for now, but we'll part ways eventually. And one day, you'll have to be okay with it.

Stop draining the things you love of every ounce of enjoyment just because you're afraid of what happens next. I'm not saying to never play your favorite games again. Playing ISAT a second time, I still had a lot of fun! I saw so many new things I didn't before, and I enjoyed myself immensely, reading the same dialogue over and over. But... it makes me look at other games I love and still play, and makes me ask... is this still fun? Do I still need to play this game to enjoy it? Even writing this is an afterimage of my enjoyment, but it's a new way to interact with the game, to analyze it through this lens. Fuck, man, I write fanfiction. Look at me.

All of this, fanart, fanfic, analysis, is a way to prolong that enjoyment without making yourself suffer for it. Without just going through the motions of enjoyment without actually experiencing any. But one day, the thing you love won't be fun to talk and write and draw about. And it's okay. You'll have new things to love. I promise.

In the end.... I'm certain I'll replay ISAT one day. Between great writing, art, puzzles and unresolved mysteries, it's my shoe-in for game of the year.

But I won't replay it for quite some time. I've had enough, for now, so I let my love take other forms.

Siffrin is never condemned, because love is no evil. Be it love for another person, or for a game. And please, if you're overempathetic - it's still a game, at the end of the day. The great thing about games is that you can always boot them up again, no matter how long its been.

A circle within a circle indeed.

To summarize:

The repetitiveness of ISAT's combat, lack of new enemies, and Siffrin's ever increasing strength eventually allows you to snap the combat over your knee, rendering it irrelevant and boring. Though this may seem counterproductive at first, it perfectly mirrors how Siffrin has also grown bored with these repeated encounters and views them only as an obstacle to get past. The reflection of Siffrin's own tiredness with the player's annoyance increases the compassion the player has for Siffrin as a character.

Additionally, the endgame state of the combat system serves as commentary on the state of a favorite game played too often, much like how Siffrin has unwittingly trapped themself in the loop. Despite the game having no more challenge or content left to over, a player might return to their favorite game anyway, solely to try and recreate the early experience of actually having fun with it. This ties into ISAT's metanarrative about the fear of change and refusal to let go of comfort even when the object (here, your favorite video game) offering that comfort has become utterly bereft of any substance to actually engage with. Playing for the sake of playing, with no actual investment to keep going besides your own memories.

Later on, stripping away even the pretense of strategy for a "press button and wait" format of final bosses highlights the lack of options at Siffrin's disposal and truly forces the player into their shoes. Truly, the only way to win is to stop playing.

#feli speaks #in stars and time #isat #isat spoilers #lays down on floor. it's done. it's done #i actually narrowed down in scope to just focus on the combat by the way. and this is like. several thousand words

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that-ari-blogger · 3 months

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A New Face (Separate Tides)

During its second season, The Owl House had hit its stride and wasn't slowing down. This is my favourite season, and that isn't an unpopular sentiment.

Separate Tides is the opening episode of this season, so it needs to recap the previous goings on and themes in a cohesive way for new viewers, and take the series in a different direction that stays loyal to those themes and plotlines. I think this episode does that well.

But this isn't a summary blog, this is a blog where I find something needlessly specific and gush about the implications of that something.

So... The Golden Guard is so ****ing cool.

Let me explain.

SPOILERS AHEAD (The Owl House, The Harry Potter Series)

I've mentioned in the past that The Owl House uses archetypal storytelling to a truly masterful degree. It takes tropes and meets them on a superficial level, then twists them in a way that adds depth and makes the series unique.

For example, the series is directly drawing inspiration from the works of Robert Galbraith, with Willow being the bullied kid with a passion for herbology, and Amity being the school bully who definitely has a crush on the main character. Both take the archetype and shake it up a bit, as is the way with parody, but the baseline is there.

This leans into the themes of being your own person rather nicely, as it makes the deviations from the archetype more important.

I took great pains to point out that Luz is the only character who doesn't fit the mould at all. She has no analogue and is her own person completely. She has nothing to restrict her.

However, leaves the analogue for the actual protagonist of Galbraith's books. Obviously, not every character from the series is parodied, but the chosen one main character seems like a weird one to miss out on.

I would argue that Mr Potter does have an analogue, Hunter Whittebane (Or Hunter Noceda or Hunter Demonne or even Hunter Clawthorn. Whichever name you prefer, its the same guy).

He is a child soldier, raised by his uncle and manipulated into giving his life away for the cause by an old wizard. He bears a scar on his face, and is technically half witch, half human.

Although we don't actually see any of that in Separate Tides. Instead, we are introduced to the Golden Guard, a character who is suave and cool and confident.

The first time we actually see this character is in the final scene of the previous season.

"Worry not, Kiki. We'll be keeping an eye on the inhabitants of the Owl House."

The Golden Guard is a goon, an elite goon, but a goon none the less. He is simply a character whom Belos turns to in order to get the job done.

But, I find the use of vernacular here interesting. Belos doesn't refer to the Golden Guard with any name, or even as a separate entity from himself. Not "he will be watching them" or "this is the Golden Guard, I trust him to get the job done". This character is referred to as "we". He and Belos are connected. This character is simply Belos' eye.

Then, in Separate Tides, it is established that, when Lilith fell from grace, she was replaced by the Golden Guard.

"He always got special treatment because he was the genius teen prodigy. But he's really just a brat."

So, this is a child, but a gifted child. Lilith is dismissive here, but not of the Golden Guard's skill, just his personality. This is someone for whom things come naturally, allegedly, and who has never had to work for his abilities. Allegedly.

"Unfortunately, you won't have the chance."

The Golden Guard's first line is just cool. He is calm and collected. He is in control. And he has just easily captured one of the protagonists.

I also love the little fact that he has spent the entirety of this voyage in a dimly lit room, eating crackers. The room has nothing to do in it except books. So, he was definitely just sitting there, reading, and had to improvise when King burst into the room. He's a bookworm with an ability to think on the spot.

I'm saying this guy would definitely play Pathfinder or D&D if he was given a chance.

Anyway, the Golden Guard's actual introduction comes fourteen minutes into the episode, and it immediately sets this guy up as a threat. He's martially competent, magically adept, and fully in his element. This is a character who revels in control, just like the Emperor.

And that link to Belos is interesting. Because forgive me for asking, why would an Emperor's elite goon be a child? As in, there has to be a connection to Belos beyond what meets the eye for the Golden Guard to be anywhere near where he is.

We don't get told that here, but we do see that this character's skillset is kinda similar to Belos', in theory. He's commanding, and he gets people to do what he wants. But in practice, this isn't Belos at all. This is someone trying very hard to be like Belos, but coming at it from a different angle.

I do, however, think that the Golden Guard's greatest strength as a goon is revealed subtly in this scene.

"The Emperor ordered me to slay one. I'm just following orders."

We've seen through Lilith in the previous season that Belos covets blind loyalty, and that is what the Golden Guard offers him. He doesn't know or care why the Emperor does what he does, he just follows orders.

Essentially, the Golden Guard is a traditional Disney villain at this point. He is fun, bisexual, charismatic, and a physical threat. The Golden Guard we get introduced to is enjoyable to watch, and it sounds like Zeno Robinson is having a blast voicing him.

However, there is one element of the Golden Guard that we get introduced to in this episode that might fly under the radar. The Owl House is no stranger to masks, and people putting on a show to get the job done, but when we are first shown the Golden Guard in this episode, he is taking it off.

The intro sequence of this season features three characters who are under Belos' command. Lilith, The Golden Guard, and Kikimora. It then unmasks them, with Lilith becoming apologetic, and Kikimora becoming more aggressive. But the Golden Guard sits between them, removing his own mask to reveal... a single purple eye.

The eye is the window to the soul, of course. But there is something to the manner in which this is happening. Kikimora has been angered to the point of lashing out, and Lilith has been brought low with remorse. The Golden Guard, however, is lowering his own mask and staring directly at you with an air of "I'm doing this of my own accord. I see you, you see me, your move."

I wonder if agency is going to be a theme with this character.

Final Thoughts

I love Hunter so much it is obscene, and there is a ton of ambiguity about him right from the bat. What is his stake in this? Who actually is he? And why does he have a purple eye?

As for the rest of this episode, Luz's guilt is starting to be expressed. In my opinion that is for the first time, but I have heard it said that this isn't a new character trait for her.

And Lilith... *sighs* There is a sentiment online as to the expedience of Lilith's redemption arc. Some people like it, others think she should have been "punished" more, and I would like to take a third rout.

I don't believe in punitive justice for fictional characters, and I certainly don't believe in telling writers how they should write. I do, however, think that it could have been slightly more interesting if the consequences of cursing Eda were explored more psychologically.

In any case, however, the series we got is the series we got, and I think it is perfectly fine, if not better, as it is. I don't see a point in getting angry online over what could have been.

Next week, I am looking as Escaping Expulsion and boy, do I have thoughts about Odalia Blight. So, stick around if that interests you.

Previous - Next

#rants #literary analysis #literature analysis #character analysis #what's so special about...?#toh #the owl house #the owl house hunter #toh hunter #toh golden guard #the owl house golden guard #We need to see more of Eda in Bloodborne cosplay

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amhrosina · 2 years

Text

MCU Men Raising an Infant With You (Pregnancy Headcanons//Pt.4)

MASTERLIST // TAG LIST REQUEST FORM

Requests are open!

A/N: This is part 4/5 of the pregnancy headcanons that were requested a while back! I have one more part planned covering the men raising a toddler/young kids, etc. Basically, it's going to be domestic bliss! Also, currently getting ready to watch game 6 of the world series, and as a life-long Astro's fan, I'm asking for prayers that we win tonight! Send one up for Altuve, y'all. That man is my baby daddy fr.

Link to Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

Frank Castle:

When you wake up in the middle of the night in pain and clutch Frank’s shoulder, he’s up and moving before you can blink.

He had packed a “go bag” a few weeks prior, just in case the baby came early.

You waddle to the door, clutching Frank’s shoulder as another contraction hits you.

As Frank drives you to the hospital, the concern on his face grows as your contractions get closer and closer together. He knows every woman’s birth is different, but yours seems a little too fast to be safe.

He doesn’t mention any of this to you because he doesn’t want to scare you.

As soon as your doctor sees you, she rushes you into the delivery room, Frank hot on her tail.

Frank holds your hand throughout the process, not even blinking when you squeeze his hand hard enough to break it.

He mumbles encouraging words in your ear as you breathe through the pain.

Your labor ended up being less than 90 minutes long, the fastest birth Frank had ever witnessed, and your baby girl was deemed healthy and so cute.

Frank tears up when he finally gets to hold her, rocking her gently and cooing.

Frank swears she looks just like you but you definitely see some Frank in her.

“What should we name her?” You ask, content to watch Frank in this moment forever.

“Anything you want, baby.”

“Lucia Maria Castle? We could call her Lucy.”

“That’s perfect. You’re both perfect.”

When you finally get to bring the baby home, Frank takes a solid 15 minutes to climb the two flights of stairs to your apartment with Lucia in her baby carrier.

Frank holds her like she’s the most precious thing in the world (she is).

Frank has to remind himself that this is your first baby, so he takes things slow and explains things to you patiently, but only if you ask! No mansplaining in this house!

When Lucia wakes up hungry in the middle of the night, Frank insists on being the one to go get her and bring her to you. He doesn’t want you to strain yourself too much while you heal.

He stays up with you, running his fingers through your hair while the baby’s being fed.

If you ever mention something about your post-baby body in a negative way, Frank shuts that down real quick.

“You created a life, and you looked beautiful doing it. You’re always beautiful, sweetheart. Don’t talk about yourself like that.”

Sometimes he’ll play the guitar while you hold her to help her fall asleep.

Even though you’re both sleep deprived and exhausted, he always makes sure to show you love and affection throughout the day and night, especially once the doctor gives you the okay to make more babies.

He’ll hug you from behind while you’re cooking or kiss your forehead as he walks by you in the hallway.

Frank is a literal sweetheart of a dad to Lucia, and you very nearly cry every time you see him interacting with her.

His big ass hands holding such a tiny little baby I can’t take it anymore someone give Frank a baby NEOWWWWW

One night, after rocking Lucia to sleep, you tell Frank you want another one once Lucia gets a little older. Frank is all too happy to take you up on that offer.

Matt Murdock:

Watch me make shit up about Matt’s hearing abilities

A few days before your due date, you’re reading to Matt when he visibly stiffens and sits straight up, looking at you with concern.

You have no idea what's going on, but Matt rushes to the bedroom to grab the bag of stuff you had packed for the arrival of the twins. You can hear him calling Foggy in the other room.

“Matt, is everything okay?”

“Labor. Twins. I can hear it. We gotta go.”

You didn’t fully understand how Matt’s abilities worked, but you trusted him enough to push yourself out of your chair and waddle towards the front door.

Foggy showed up so fast you were half convinced he had been sleeping in his car waiting for Matt’s phone call.

You didn’t grasp the situation until you were walking into the ER entrance at the hospital and a sharp pain ran through your stomach.

The labor delivery nurses said it was ‘such a weird coincidence’ that you happened to be walking into the ER while you went into labor. Matt smiles politely as they complement how well you knew your own body.

The birth is rough – you clench Matt’s hands, Matt prays under his breath, you push not one but two babies out of you.

The twins are born 8 minutes apart, happy and as healthy as can be.

Matt’s in utter shock for a few minutes, completely overwhelmed with emotions as he holds the twins for the first time.

You and Matt had decided on names for the twins weeks ago but saying them out loud for the first time turns Matt into a blubbering mess: Elias Nelson Murdock and Rosalie Blaire Murdock.

When you introduce Foggy to Elias and reveal his middle name, Foggy also turns into a blubbering mess.

When you bring the twins home, you can tell Matt is anxious, but trying his best to help you in any way he can.

Being that he has such keen hearing, he’s a master at rocking the babies to sleep. He’s also in tune to their breathing, so when they inevitably wake up in the middle of the night, he’s usually already halfway to the nursery.

One night, after putting the babies to sleep, Matt asks you to describe what they look like to him. He has his own picture, and he’s able to feel their faces to fill in the gaps, but he wants to know how you see them.

“They’re perfect, Matty. They have your strong nose and your beautiful eyes. They look like little versions of you.”

Matt wraps you in his arms and leaves kisses all over your face and neck, whispering how much he loves you and the family you gave him.

Billy Russo:

Billy is a nervous wreck when you go into labor.

When he’s not holding your hand through a contraction, he’s pacing the hospital room.

When the doctor says there’s a complication, Billy’s face goes white. He grabs your hand and pulls it to his chest, directly over his heart.

The baby is caught up in the umbilical cord, so they’re going to have to perform an emergency c-section.

“I want to be in there with you, but it’s up to you.”

“Of course I want you in there, Billy. You’re his dad. You’re my...baby daddy? Roommate? Boyfriend? What do I call you?”

“Let’s get married.” Billy breathes.

“Oh my god. You would pick right now to propose to me, Billy.”

When they pull the baby out of you, Billy looks like he’s going to pass out. (Did y’all know they have to remove your organs to get the baby out????? Like they fr put your intestines on the table next to you!)

You can’t feel a thing, but when the baby lets out a loud wail, tears begin to pour down your face. Billy rubs your head, kissing the tears as they fall and smiling down at you.

Billy is smitten with the baby as soon as he holds him in his arms.

You both decide to name him Theodore Russo – Theo for short.

The first night you and Billy bring Theo home, Billy sits in the chair next to Theo’s crib all night, watching him sleep.

Billy is a literal super dad to Theo.

He always offers to change Theo’s diapers and will quite literally run to the store to get you anything you need while you recover from the c-section.

He constantly refers to you as his fiancé, even though you technically didn’t say yes when he asked.

You both know that your answer is yes anyways lol.

When Billy has to go back to work, you and Theo end up missing him more than you expected to.

Billy tells you to visit him at work whenever you want, and the first time you and Theo show up, Billy takes you and Theo around and introduces you to everyone (and I mean literally everyone).

He’ll be instructing a team on some kind of military tactic while also holding an infant in one of those fuzzy bear onesies. (im melting someone give ben barnes a CHILD!!!!!)

Bucky Barnes:

When it’s finally time for you to be induced, Bucky is so excited he has to keep himself from jumping up and down.

Due to the high risk of your pregnancy, a c-section ends up being the safest birth plan.

Bucky looks so cute in the blue hair cap and scrub gown.

The birth goes as smoothly as a c-section can go, though Bucky does apologize to you for knocking you up after he sees them cutting into you.

Bucky’s smile is so wide when he finally gets to hold the baby.

You name him Jessie Steven Barnes, after Steve Rogers (because let’s be real, bucky would DEFINITELY name his first born after steve).

You fall in love with Bucky all over again watching him rock the baby to sleep.

“You look so natural like this. As a dad.”

“Wanna know something crazy? I think this is the most terrified I’ve ever been.”

“What do you mean?”

“I met you, and now we have a family, and I feel like this is the first time I’ve ever truly understood what peace feels like. It’s scary, because it’s new. I’m excited too, though. For this life with you.”

You and Bucky constantly argue over whose turn it is to hold the baby.

Bucky warming up his metal arm before picking up Jessie so he doesn’t get too cold.

Jessie ends up having the same icy blue eyes that Bucky does, which is aggravating, because you know he’ll be able to get away with anything by just batting his pretty little eyes at you.

Bucky and you haven’t talked about having more kids together, but you’re pretty sure he wouldn’t like the idea of another high-risk pregnancy for you. If anything, surrogacy would be the route of choice.

When you ask Bucky about it, he tells you that he’s happy no matter what you choose to do. More kids or not, he’ll be happy with the life he gets to live with you.

Peter Parker (Tom Holland):

Peter is already an anxious son of a bitch, so when I tell you this man is ANXIOUS AS HELL when you go into labor, I'm not exaggerating.

Peter is one of those people that rambles when they’re nervous, so he pretty much doesn’t stop talking until you cover his mouth with your hand and tell him to breathe.

The irony of you telling him to breathe while you’re literally the one having contractions is not lost on either of you, and you both giggle about it.

He’s a doll during the birth – pushing your hair out of your face, holding your hand, telling you how good you’re doing.

You’re both anxious to find out the gender of the baby, so when the doctor announces that it’s a girl, both of you are overwhelmed with emotions.

“Have you decided what you’re going to name her?” The doctor asks, handing you the baby.

“May Parker.”

Peter is a puddle of tears in this moment don’t even get me started.

"Who do you think she looks like more?"

"I can't tell. She sort of looks like an alien right now."

"So definitely you then?"

Having a boyfriend with spider-like powers ends up being so helpful while taking care of an infant.

Peter doesn’t have to worry about forgetting to grab anything when he’s changing May because he can just grab whatever it is with his webs lol.

May loves to take naps on a little web cradle Peter designed and has to remake every few hours.

It may all seem like sunshine and rainbows, but it’s just as hard as you thought it would be.

Whenever you and Peter think you have extra money, something comes up for May.

Neither of you complain about it, because May is this beautiful little human that you both created and love, but it would be nice if Spider-Man was a paid gig.

Even when both of you come home from work exhausted, you’re both so excited to be parents that you don’t let it affect how you interact with May.

You spend your nights cuddled into Peter’ side, forever grateful for the strange and unconventional family you have.

End Note: I hope you enjoyed this! I tried not to overlap any of the headcanons, but we all know these men are freaking sweethearts and would LOVE a baby so much. If you want to be added to the tag list for the 5th and final part, you can fill out this form!

Tag List:

@purple-amaranthe @raajali3 @kokoterainonago666 @minervadashwood @emiemiemiii @h4rrys @mylifeispainandiloveit @alexxavicry @hallecarey1 @km-ffluv

(Also tagging the people who asked for specific character tags below!)

@xleiaorgana @mukbee @dilfs5678 @blackwidownat2814 @mymamalife @messymissy @soft-emo-enby @brookiecookiez0 @raajali3

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stupid-sloot-headcanons · 4 months

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as a former gifted kid who just realised that they're not as "gifted" as they were told they were, who had to rely on their "natural" ability to understanding lessons, which in turn led to them never forming actual study habits, who is barely hanging by a thread with their academics and is honestly just completely lost and don't know what the hell they're doing most of the time..... please spare us some advice sloot on how you were able to learn how to properly study and recover from the burnout 😭 (if that' okay with you. Hope you enjoyed ur day today and tomorrow!!)

Well I think it depends on what you're studying and struggling with, but I'll give you the advice that helped me

Apps/programs like Anki help you remember and incorporate frequency training, so you don't learn everything at once and overwhelm yourself. I use flashcards for the bulk of my language studies.

For Japanese, I use Bunpro because I love its grammar lesson setup and again, it incorporates frequency training. I use Anki for Kanji and sentences in Russian and Japanese and I'm doing a little Italian for funsies.

For languages in particular, immerse yourself as much as possible in the language. Films, podcasts, YouTubers, tv shows, music, as long as it's in the language and ideally without subtitles if you want to be based and challenge yourself. Babies and kids learn fast because their brains are still forming connections, but ALSO because they hear the language constantly. Also, THINK in your target language. First you'll think smth in your native language, and then if you can, try to convert it to your target language. It'll be slow at first but the more you do it, the better you'll get.

For grammar, drills are inevitable. They're boring as fuck but translation and grammar practice are impossible to memorize any other way imo.

For math...get a tutor and drill the fuck out of your formulas, or find someone who specializes in math bc I don't lmao.

Instead of studying with multiple choice examples, to really learn turn it into a freeform question. Because multiple choice and testing well does not equal learning, and if you're in college you are there ideally bc you want to LEARN. You can combine flashcards to memorize important key bits. For example, let's say you need to study for an intro psychology exam. Your flashcards for psychoanalysis can have questions like: why is psychoanalysis a significant subject in the history of psychology? (with the answer card having bullet points like: laid foundation for modern therapy, emphasized subconscious's role in the mind, trauma, psychosexual relationship, id/ego/superego as "map" of the mind). If you can answer and bring up at least two or three of these points, you have a good understanding of the material.

Pretend you're teaching someone else the subject you're studying. I swear to god, I would pretend I was tutoring my f/os and I would even talk to the babies at my daycare job about what I was studying in Japanese that week. I would teach my dogs and my fish and my snails. As long as you're talking out loud, you're making yourself summarize the thing you're studying and realize what you need to work on. If you can explain it in simple terms to someone who knows nothing about it, you've studied it enough.

Use a Pomodoro timer to give yourself small breaks. Also it's nice to use apps like Forest or just an Excel sheet to track how much you study each day. Like I wanted to track how much I study languages, so I made an Excel sheet to track how many minutes I study since there are some general estimates of how many hours of studying it takes to reach higher levels of fluency in certain languages. Plus it helps me stay motivated to see how much I've studied each month.

On that note, ten minutes of studying is better than zero minutes. Instead of beating yourself up for not studying an hour or more, or even thirty minutes, make time to do small study sessions frequently.

If you're studying Japanese in particular or another language with a writing system you need to memorize like kanji, you NEED to divide your study time writing or else you will get overwhelmed. Like grab a kanji workbook, and pick one to work on. Write it a few times on a practice sheet or the practice spaces in the workbook, then go do something else for ten or twenty minutes. Then go back and do more kanji. The whole point is to frequently write the character so that you develop muscle memory and can remember the basic stroke order.

Don't make your notes pretty, make them useful. I love color coding so much but you need it to work to your advantage. Like I personally do blue for titles, red for important key info (usually just underlining in red or adding a little red star).

Don't be afraid to get stupid, because stupid silliness helps you remember. You know I know the Russian word for fish (it's рыба, or "reeba")? Because in my flashcards for beginner Russian, I made a shitty Microsoft Paint edit of Reba Mcentire's head on a stock photo of a fish. If it helps you remember, it helps you remember.

#sloot's essays

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mossymandibles · 1 year

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So I absolutely love your world building and neat as hell monster characters (Kraws design is just peak character design oh my lord)

And after scouring your entire blog to learn as much as I could, there's still so much I wanna know! How did Kraw come to adopt Gen? What happened to her eye? (I'm not sure if you've already explained what happened? Maybe I missed that detail)

Oh man, thanks! Glad to hear you like the dragon dad. And I’m sorry, I feel like my blog is very vague and unorganized as far as world building stuff goes, compared to others. Plus there’s a lot of outdated old art/storyline stuff that I’ve changed is still on here 😅 But happy to hear you enjoy it!

I have answered a similar ask about Kraw and Gen here. But lucky for you! I love to over explain things and I feel like I want to give a little more insight to Gen’s situation this time because I don’t think it’s spoiling anything too much. I honestly don’t know when I’ll get around to making little comics like I’ve wanted to in order show how she came about.

Gen has only told Kraw that she is from a city called the Fever. She remembers her friends from the city and that the Ladder was coming for them. She remembers falling into the ocean and seeing the giant eye. She couldn’t remember how she got aboard his ship, or how long she had been adrift at sea before then.

She wakes up in Sylvaine’s infirmary, where Kraw takes her after he finds her on his ship. Kraw distinctively remembers getting chills when he sees Genevieve again after Sylvaine nurses her back to health. He felt he was looking a completely different child in the eyes. She gets upset and doesn’t like to be pressed further or asked more questions on the matter, so Kraw slowly gives up, only knowing that she comes from the Ladder’s main facility. Most people of Marrowtide Isles like to avoid anything having to do with the Ladder if they can. He only hopes that it doesn’t mean that they’ll come looking for her.

She inherited her mug by unwittingly stealing/absorbing the most important energy source to the Ladder. She got away with some slight hemorrhaging, an occasional voice in her head and a strange growth on her face that Sylvaine classifies as ‘fungal’; an understatement to give Kraw peace of mind perhaps. Besides appearing to have a way with beasts, it gave her some other far more ghastly abilities, a few that only Kraw has been privy to seeing and seems keen on keeping a secret or even downright ignoring for the time being.

After some failed attempts to get rid of her (a dreadful incident with an orphanage and pissing Sylvaine off once or twice) she seemed to keep finding her way back to Kraw. Despite his initial reluctance and a possible fear of her, he found her endearing in some ways.

He notices that she seems to have a keen eye for math and helps him with heftier reading since he’s mostly illiterate. She also has way better people/negotiating skills when helping run the shop he has on the side when fishing season is slow. She didn’t seem to have anyone else and had latched onto him quite tightly, so he grew used to the idea of taking care of her. It surprises most people but Kraw is actually pretty good with kids. He’s just never raised his own until now. The absolute child-like disregard she seems to have for the detriment she could cause just makes her all the more interesting to him in a sense. Maybe he feels a child like that needs someone to look after them so they don’t end up causing world-ending chaos? If he can make her happy before whatever unknown future comes for her then he’ll feel he has a purpose for once that isn’t for profit or hurting others. However, raising a whole ass kid who has already been through life’s ringer isn’t as easy as he thought it’d be of course. Lol. Lmao.

#asks #Genevieve #kraw #monster dad #hallowed carrion #hallowed carrion lore #yaaay a little genevieve backstory #i want to make the comic of how they met sooo bad #but there’s sooo much and it has to be p e r f e c t #someday

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shuttershocky · 1 year

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Does the passage of time ever depress you?

You know what depressed me? Being in college with half my department branding me as an undesirable graduate because of my poor grades and trying to boot me out. I was in and out of the admin office managing an appeal every time they kicked me. I was being told things like to be on my guard because I was being watched for the smallest mistake and professors that helped me would get in trouble. It was bad enough that someone raised ethical concerns about how they were treating me.

So one day I thought I'd rather just kill myself than explain to my parents that 5 years of tuition fees went down the drain because I took a course I was warned in high school that I couldn't do. I walked from my department to the road where I knew trucks drove fast and kept nearly hitting me wherever I crossed.

I waited for a truck, stepped out on to the road, then jumped back on to the sidewalk when this seething hatred for my department and academia surged through my thoughts and I realized if I died here then they'd finally get rid of me, but if I walked back and miraculously passed the hell semester they designed, then I'd be in their faces for one more year.

The truck flew past me, so close and so fast that the wind slapped my face. It didn't even bother to slow down when it saw a student on the road.

So I went back, and with the sheer power of venomous, unending spite (and some luck), I passed all my classes while doing both my thesis (I owe my adviser my life for her being so understanding, and my thesis was a truly cool project that sent me all over the place) and my part time job for a nearby indie game dev.

During my graduation, the Dean of Engineering (who I also owe my life to) asked the crowd to raise hands if they were graduating in 4 years. Then she asked for 5. Then 6. Then 7+, with the last batch laughing nervously while raising their hands. Then the Dean said to raise those hands with pride, because even if it took awhile and even if the grades weren't perfect, graduation is graduation. You did it. You're getting that degree.

And thats when it really hit me, you know? At the end of the day, I won. A bit unfortunate that none of my professors attended my graduation, because I really was hoping they'd see me get my degree. I wanted them to see that I wouldn't be there if I didn't learn to despise my department the way it despised me.

Does the passage of time depress me? Sometimes I feel nostalgic. My elementary school is gone now, and my high school is nearly unrecognizable after renovations. I've had difficulties keeping in touch with some friends who I still feel much fondness for, and I wish I had been there during some milestones of their lives. But the passage of time itself? No.

What depressed me was being told that I was undesirable. What depressed me was being told that I was being watched for the smallest mistakes. What depressed me was seeing the years of fluking my way through scholarships and other things meant for genuinely gifted kids and not good test-takers (I was good at memorization) finally catch up to me when my ambitions exceeded my abilities.

Now I'm a working adult with a completely different job using skills I got from the various part time jobs and internships I took over my college years rather than anything I actually learned from my classes. Having a daily grind sucks, and so does things like needing to buy food and pay taxes and all other necessities that shrink your salary, but it doesn't depress me.

Every time I feel down or tired, I recall the time I fucking won and this wide, hateful, bitter smile splits my face in two. I'm still here to enjoy the years go by, seething in my trauma, but still here.

Let me just add that I don't like recommending spite as a motivation. Hatred is exhausting and soul-sucking in a way that nothing else is like, and I'm the sort of person that prefers to find even a little joy in whatever I'm currently doing. I feel like if you push yourself forward through spite, you hollow yourself out and become unable to fully enjoy the good that you find.

I can't however, say that spite isn't real damn effective.

It sure worked for me.

#tw suicide mention

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nonuggetshere · 1 year

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More stuff about Ina gaining the injury:

The only participants were Ina, Hegemol, and Dryya, the others were spectating

I’m thinking that’s the day Ina had the nightmare I drew earlier? They’re for sure Stressed, so add that onto the pile. Instead of the nightmare, maybe they just didn’t sleep and haven’t slept in a good while, for fear of having dreams as the infection reaches it’s peak? hence their too slow reaction time

What if PV had been watching? No one would go to comfort them, everyone thinks they’re hollow, so they just watch their mentor get fucking shish-kababed and have to move on with their day

It would also be messed up if PK was watching too, and had suggested it in order to monitor Inanis, void poisoning worries and Ina won’t allow anyone to see them with their various coverings off (Citing cultural reasons, perhaps? From this fictional far away land they supposedly hail from?)

The injury was not in fact superficial, only being able to be fixed so quickly with the wonders of soul magic

Depending on the exact injury placement and vessel biology+anatomy, Ina could literally be grounded and unable to get up after that. Maybe it severed a major muscle group as well as puncturing organs. But they’re void and a hybrid between two very different species of higher being, so anything goes for anatomy really. Maybe they had a major blood (void?) vessel there for instant drama?

What if it happened when Ina was fresh out of Soul? So they can’t heal it immediately and, depending on how the ability works, may be unable to teleport away

What if they pass out? I don’t think they would, but it would scar everyone present nicely

-💚

OH YUM, GOOD FUCKING FOOD

I'm really hung up on little PV seeing all of this tbh, poor little guy

Imagine if Inanis' second thought, right after thinking OH GOD OH FUCK HOW DO I EXPLAIN THIS AWAY, is "Don't let pure vessel see just how hurt you are" because they know they're just a little kid and would be scared and literally nobody would even try to comfort them

And when they finally recover the first thing they do is track PV down and make sure they're alright

#asks #thylacines can talk #6th knight au #Sorry for sparse replies I am actively fighting vespa gijinka design rn #I am STRUGGLING with that old woman

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hellofeanor · 5 months

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Hi! its me again you friendly neighbourhood nuisance lol. So I’m super bored and my curiosity likes to torture me so i have even more questions about your fic Brittle stars. You’re absolutely entitled to ignore me if you want.

1) i dont remember if youve explained this before but what do the names lirjie, Kashan, Ayane, Gurri and Irreneth (once again a test of my spelling abilities lol) mean ?

2) how many biological kids do you thing Oren has ? It was my belief that elves have relatively slow reproduction rates with people like Feanor, Finwe etc being the exception. Is this different with uruk ?

3) how likely is it that Ayane has moved on from Oren ? This might be spoilery so you can skip this one, I’m just desperate for them get back together and have a healthy healed relationship

4) what do the parents of the original Uruks (eg. Oren Ayane all the rest) feel about the orcish grandchildren ?

5) Will Irreneth’s husband appear. Whats his feelings on everything going on?

6) Will Orens friends who he was captured with ever be reborn? If they didnt survive the transformation into Uruk does this mean they died young? Like Oren being a fully grown adult with thousands of years of misery behind him reuniting with his childhood friend, a tortured teenager.

7) will the scholars in Valinor be excited about Oren’s existence as a surving Uruk and his book(s) explaining the Uruk?

I think thats all I’ve got just now. Please don’t feel this is me pushing you to write a sequel, it’s absolutely up to you, no need to feel rushed and you’re more than welcome to ignore me. Once again love your work!

Oohoo, more good questions! Some of these I HAVE thought about and have an answer to, and some I'm just going to be pulling out of my ass. Which is which? It's a mystery. :)

Meaning of names. Okay I'm going to admit here. All of these names you listed were made up based on sound rather than meaning. I like doing it that way for two reasons, and those are 1) I'm the kind of nerd who usually knows right away what your OC's name means, which is a superpower I do not like having because it tends to kick me out of the story and into Elf Thoughts Mode (so I explicitly DO NOT want people to immediately know what my OCs names mean), and 2) I... don't really care too much what the names mean as long as they sound cool. Anyway, what I usually do for names is muck around with words until I get something I like, focusing 80% on sound and 20% on meaning. And that 20% on meaning is pretty much just making sure it doesn't mean anything horrid like "death carpet". Kashân is sort of explained in the story, though Adar himself admits he doesn't know what it means. He just liked the sound. But it's from the Valarin word akašān meaning "he says". (This does make sense in the context of the chapter I promise.) Gûri, on the other hand, is just the Gnomish word 'sweet' (basic-ass baby name right there), chosen because it also fits Black Speech phonology. Lirjë is the root verb lir (sing) with the sort of abstract noun ending -ja attached, then morphed from Lirja to Lirjë to make it a feminine name that means something like 'song'. Ayánë means something vaguely related to (but not exactly 100% spot on) 'blessed': from ayanā (to bless). And finally Irenneth is the most problematic of the bunch. Originally her name was Iranneth, but then I decided I liked the sound of Irenneth better. And DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS? 'The kinship lady': i-rend-eth. It was so stupid I had to keep it. Absolute chef's kiss of a name. Perfect.

How many biological kids does Óren have? Five that survived infancy that he knows of for sure. After that, he made a point of not keeping track of which were his, so the final count is unknown. But definitely far more than would ever be seen among elves. Tolkien mentions that elves have few children, both because children are dear to them and they want to devote sufficient time to raising each child, but also because significant physical and mental strength goes into the creation of each child. I don't think either of these limitations would be placed on the uruk. They don't put much (if any) care into raising each child, and nor do they invest anywhere near as much spiritual energy as an elf would in the child's creation, with the shortfall being made up by Morgoth's interference in the process. (At least at first with the captured elves.) As such, they're able to reproduce at a far greater rate than their elven kin.

How likely is it that Ayánë has moved on? Okay this question WOULD give massive spoilers for the patchy plot I'm slowly assembling for a sequel, so I won't say anything here. But if you do want to know just message again and I'll answer privately.

What do the parents think of the orcish grandchildren? I think they'd be horrified and try not to think about it. They learn, at some point down the line, that they're blood relatives of all these monsters that are attacking and killing their people. At early times in history, I don't think they'd be at all sympathetic, and would probably be more inclined to try to prove their distance by being some of the most vocal opponents. But maybe much later, if Óren is reunited with his parents, he can get them to come around to not just blindly hating the uruk.

Will Irenneth's husband appear? LMAO maybe? Right now he's kind of a non-character, but I did, in early (imaginary) drafts of some chapters, have scenes in which he actually appeared as more than an offhand mention. So maybe in the future he'll get a speaking role. But so far he only exists because logically Ellaer needed a dad and it would be narratively more complicated to kill him off than just keep him out of the way in the background. I don't foresee him ever being important, though.

Will Óren's friends ever be reborn? I'm going to go with... probably not. The external reason is I'm just not a huge fan of elf rebirth storylines (not against them either, but it's just not a scenario that I've ever wanted to write). The internal reason is they died in Utumno before the elves were ever found by the Valar, and would have become unhoused spirits tormented by that horrible death for years before the call of Mandos ever came into being. And would they heed that, or trust it at all? Probably not. They'd remain ghosts in the north of Palisor and eventually fade from the world entirely.

Will scholars in Valinor be excited by Óren's uruk-scholarship? LOL this is another large-scale plot spoiler for the allegedly forthcoming sequel. And also I haven't entirely decided yet. And even the aspects I think I've decided are up in the air and subject to change until written, which is a ways off yet. But this is a topic that should be addressed. Again, if you want spoilers, lmk and I'll answer privately.

Thank you again for the ask! You are making me do work and think about these questions, which is honestly good for figuring some stuff out on my end.

#brittle stars #elf thoughts #kitcat22

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adrianasunderworld · 1 year

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Davie Black

Davie started off a joke with @marrondrawsalot until he wasn't. (She also created Davie siblings, so full credit for that) Because of that he technically isn't twisted from anything in particular but he has ended being a bit of Tarzan or Mowgli-like character.

Davie is a second year and for a while everyone was very confused as to how he got sorted into Savannaclaw. On the surface he did not match any of the traits associated with the dorm. He was a normal looking human guy that seemingly had no qualities associated with the dorm. He was sporty but didn't have the athletic prowess the rest of the dorm was known for. At the time he didn't display any obvious leadership qualities, so that was out. Davie was an enigma.

However, to those inside the dorm, they know Davie has a way with animals and non-human people. Leona and Ruggie came to the conclusion that Davie must be a beast tamer. Though that did not explain some of Davies habits.

Davie tends to act more beastman than human. He loves and will tear into meat whenever he can. When some of the feline beast guys curl up for a nap on him, he is content with it. And if he's really mad, Davie will bark at people. Leona and the other dorm members could not make sense of it until parents day when Davie happily introduced everyone to his parents and siblings. His mom was a black panther beast woman and his father a bear man. All his younger siblings were a variety of other beast people. Davie explained he was adopted and the only human and suddenly a lot of stuff about him made sense.

Davie is from the Sunset Savannah. The area he grew up in was made up almost entirely of beast people. Davie was one of a handful of human kids in his school growing up. Non-humans like beast people, merfolk, and Fae he gets along fine with. It's just other humans he feels like he has trouble connecting with sometimes.

Due to Davies ability to calm his dormmates and de-escalate things, Leona gave him the unofficial title of the dorm mediator. Basically Davie deals with the day to day issues of the guys in Savannahclaw that they have trouble compromising on their own but are too small for Leona and Ruggie to deal with. So Leona just went "You know what, this is your job now. It's gonna save me a lot of headache." And it really does work for them.

That being said, Davie started his first year extremely laid back, a little bit of a people pleaser. Now he's an asshole. He is done with all of his dormmates shit. He's still good at meditating and keeping a level head where it counts. But he's become much more sarcastic, chewing guys out for their antics, all of Savannaclaw knows not to piss off or disappoint Davie. It's varies on which is worse.

Davie does not like Idia. Idia has this whole theory that Davies looks and ability is him being an actual Isekai protagonist and annoys the shit out of him about it. "You're just like that anime "I am the beast Princes Bride but now I'm a Highschool Boy"! "NO! I really am not!"

Davie has a crush on Dreary and she likes him as well. They start dating eventually but it's a slow work up to that. All of Savannahclaw knows it, because Davie is notably calmer when Dreary is around and goes out of his way to help her and feel comfortable when she hangs out. So now everyone in the dorm tries to have her around as much as possible to avoid getting in trouble. Davie is an absolute simp for Dreary and nothing less.

Davie is the oldest of his siblings and has helped out a lot taking care of them. He's very good with kids as a result and knows how to cook very well. Azul has tried and failed to hire him for the lounge.

Davie is the oldest of five kids, all adopted. His entire family are beast people and he's the only human. His sibling in order are Tizoc, a black jaguar boy, Sammy, a snake girl, Trevor, a puppy, and the youngest sister is Apricot, an aye aye.

Davie is good at Latte art. Like stupidly good. People think he's using magic, but nope. His dad owns a popular coffee shop, and Davie works there when he's back home. His work gets very popular when it's posted online, like the time he did a portrait of Leona on one and it went viral.

Davie gets very competitive, especially at game night. A pillow fight with him may as well be a war zone. The first years have sacrificed Ace to him so many times.

Davie is on the Spelldrive team.

Yuu/Isabelle is one of his human friends. Beast tamers stick together.

@writing-heiress @mangacupcake @the-weirdos-mind

#twisted wonderland #twst oc #savanaclaw #davie black #dreary crowley #leona kingscholar #ruggie bucchi

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miss-writes-a-lot · 1 year

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The Animatic Idea I had That I Can't Draw But I can Talk about it (Dabihawks theater au edition)

So, basically, I saw half of a clip from the new show on Paramount Rise Of The Pink Ladies and fell in love with the song "Crushing Me".

And so far, I've played the song 15 times on repeat and have thought about this idea for a WHILE. And because my art ability is currently limited, I can only talk about it the way I know how: needlessly copy and pasting the lyrics and explaining what's supposed to be happening in that frame (I'm also gonna write a fic about eventually but for now have this).

Some context: it's a quirkless high school au where Dabi and Hawks are theater kids who are frenemies (?) To lovers who find out they have feelings about each other while performing the spring play [insert musical/play here] and this is them and their separate reactions to finding out that fact .

And now-- we begin.

Opens with the opening instrumental. Dabi and Hawks enter from separate sides of the stage. Dabi - the lead - steps up to the front to join his other lead at center stage while Hawks joins the back up dancers/couples with his partner. Dabi watches him the entire time and he starts singing while walking up and getting into position with his partner.

[There’s a sickness bubbling up.

I need a cure prescribe a drug

Cut it out before it’s love

Uuuh

My brilliance turned to dust

Fever chills each time we touch

The big C oh here it comes

A crush]

Then during the short instrumental before the next part, they all start dancing. Hawks looks longingly at Dabi, only half paying attention to his partner. Then he sings his part:

[I can’t control the overflow

Emotions rolling like a stone

My fantasies play hide and seek (during this part as he spins his partner, they turn into Dabi for a second to play on the lyric before turning back into his lovestruck dance partner, in which he snaps back to reality and then snaps his attention to look at Dabi and then sings):

I got a crush it’s crushing me]

Dabi: [it's crushing me (he sings while thoroughly in denial. It switches between their faces/Povs)]

Hawks: [I got a crush]

Dabi: [oh what the what]

Hawks: [it's just too much]

Dabi: [oh what the what]

Hawks: [And Honestly]

Dabi: [yeah, honestly]

Hawks: [it's crushing me]

Dabi: [it's crushing me]

The dance part of the rehearsal ends. Hawks is now on the left side (I forgot to mention he's meant to start on the right and then move to the left during the dance) and all of a sudden, all these couples are in Dabi's way as he tries to leave the way he came. He sings this line while pushing his way through:

[Pedestrian and unprepared

For human hormones in the air

And carnal feelings everywhere

Uuhhh]

Before Hawks' part, they bump into each other. Hawks slips, Dabi catches him, and there's a slow down moment where Dabi basically becomes a statue and Hawks reaches up to touch his face while singing:

[I’ve gotta finally deal with this

Walk right up and just use my lips (he inches close to Dabi almost as to kiss him. At this point, reality kicks back in and Dabi quickly stands him back up and walks away.)

It’s all too much, weak in the knees (Hawks stumbles back into a prop and does the small thing that Cynthia (the character that sings this part) does as he longs some more.)

I got a crush it’s crushing me]

Dabi, as he walks out of the auditorium, freaking out: [It’s crushing me]

Hawks, also freaking out: [I got crush]

Dabi: [Oh what the what]

Hawks: [it's just too much]

Dabi: [oh what the what]

Hawks: [and honestly]

Dabi: [yeah honestly]

Hawks: [it's crushing me]

Dabi: [it's crushing me]

Ends with a sort of split screen close up shot of them both in their separate reactions to their realization of their feelings.

This very well could be all out of character, I'm sure. I already thought about this idea with Soukoku and even THAT'S pushing it for character consistency. This is just a dumb thing I've been thinking of for a while since I discovered the song. I'm gonna write a fic about it and keep practicing my drawing so that maybe one day when I'm a million years old, I'll bring it into fruition.

Just fun, fun times!

#my writing #bri writes #bri talks #writing #writer #bad writing #dabihawks #bnha dabi #touya todoroki #keigo takami #hawks #bnha hawks #animatic idea #bhna #boku no hero acedamia #its a really good song

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battyaboutbooksreviews · 11 months

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🦇 Misfortune Cookie Book Review 🦇

Rating: ⭐⭐

❝ "I guess I can't let things rest. It's not good enough for me to just sit back and let these things happen when I know I can be useful." ❞

❓ #QOTD Write a fortune and tag a #Bookstagram friend! ❓ 🦇 Alongside her sister, Lana Lee leaves Cleveland to attend a restaurant convention in sunny California. With the intention of finding ways to help her family's restaurant thrive, she's focused on making the most of the experience, only to get in the (literal) middle of a catfight between a fortune cookie vendor and the journalist who wrote her a scathing review. Lana can't escape tragedy, though; a few hours later, a body drops from the roof where Lana, her sister, and their aunt are attending a swanky party. The body belongs to Aunt Grace's friend—the same journalist who fought with the fortune cookie vendor hours earlier. Can Lana solve the murder and give Aunt Grace the closure she needs?

💜 It's always difficult to dive into a series nine books in, especially with pre-established relationships and closed cases in the MC's recent past. Thankfully, Vivien Chien does a wonderful job of alluding to her previous books without leaving newcomers in the dark. The little hints we receive about her successfully solved cases, the other Asia Village shop owners, Lana's boyfriend Detective Adam, and the Majong Matrons have me intrigued about Lana's previous adventures. I'm glad I jumped into this series in what operates as a standalone, as Lana is away from home, her friends, and the resources she usually depends on. Her relationship with her aunt was heartwarming. The little shoutout to Laguna, where I was born, was a pleasant surprise, too.

🦇 The writing was, unfortunately, unremarkable. The prose was fluffed up with cliches that felt unnatural or out of place. Given a comment Anna May makes about Lana's metabolism slowing down in her 30s, I assume Lana is in her 20s, but neither sister uses language that feels natural for a modern 20 (or 30...or 40) year-old. Too often, there are random emotional outbursts or gestures (crying, winking, laughing, etc.) that also feel out of place. The emotional whiplash was jarring enough that I had to reread scenes to make sure I wasn't missing anything.

🥠 Anna May's character is a constant annoyance who only seems to exist to put Lana and her sleuthing abilities down, which is unfortunate because I wanted to like her. While Anna May should have acted as a foil for Lana's brash behavior by offering a logical or cool-headed frame of mind (or essential legal advice), she's instead used to spark sisterly tension. I have three younger sisters and I've never spoken down to them the way Anna May does to Lana. With eight solved cases behind her, I would have thought Anna May was prepared for Lana's sleuthing tendencies. Her sister could have acted more as a sounding board. Instead, there's a lot of telling, rather than showing, as Lana closes herself off to process the information she's gathered. The exposition and lack of action only cause the pacing to drag.

🥠 Most frustrating of all was the reveal. If the killer had a handlebar mustache to twist between their fingers or a white, fluffy cat to stroke while explaining their diabolical plan, they would have. The dialogue and tone felt overly sinister, while the killer's physical actions felt awkward and illogical. Having recognized the red herring and anticipated killer early on, the reveal also lacked the tension it desperately needed for a decent ending.

🦇 For fans of the Tita Rosa's Kitchen Mystery and Spice Isle Bakery Mystery series, old Nancy Drew games, or Boxcar Children series as a kid. If you guess the killer before the halfway mark, let me know!

✨ The Vibes ✨ 🥠 Cozy Mystery 🥠 Part of a Series 🥠 Nancy Drew Vibes 🥠 California Vacation 🥠 Female Family Bonding

🦇 Major thanks to the author Vivien Chien and publisher for providing an ARC of this book via Netgalley . 🥰 This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

#book: misfortune cookie #book series: noodle shop mystery #book review #arc book review #book lovers #battyaboutbooks #batty about books #author: vivien chien

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evelhak · 1 year

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30 Days of Autism Acceptance 2023

April 24

How did your fine motor skills develop? Were you one of the first kids who could tie their shoe laces or do you think you'll probably never learn it? This is an "open question", if you want to ramble, start rambling.

This is a bit complicated question for me. I was one of the last to learn to tie my shoelaces for sure, but also when we had a knot tying contest in elementary school I was the fastest of the whole class. I never learned vibrato on violin even though I started playing when I was five, however, I was still able to get a crystal clear sound after picking a violin up the first time in ten years. (A sound my professional musician sister who had been playing for a year-ish back then, could not make.) I was always really good at doing things like putting a thread through a needle, but I was slow at knitting as a small kid, and I'm still not as fast as most people with my amount of practice would be. Since I could hold a crayon I was notably good at drawing and colouring, but to this day I can't control my hand enough to draw a straight line even though I'm at a skill level where I get paid for my illustrations now. Also since I was a kid I couldn't control the direction or the speed well, when I threw a ball but when I kicked or pushed it, I could always get it very straight and not use too much or too little force.

My only explanation for this is that maybe I have somewhat superior sense of pressure, but definitely inferior agility, when it comes to fine motor skills? It would seem to explain everything except why I was suddenly the best at tying knots, but when I think about that specific incident, maybe it does, because it was a very small thread we were tying and my speed was completely relying on my ability to handle the thread light as a feather, and we were not doing complicated knots but the most simple ones, and the point was just to get as many into that one thread in a minute as possible.

I think this explains why I'm really good at crafts: making something from small pieces, using scissors, handling things that are fragile, for example, are all activities led by the sense of pressure, and when it comes to that I'm not the least bit clumsy. But I'm not so good at sewing and related activities: using different kinds of machines, using knitting needles or working your way around a big amount of fabric are things you need more agility for in your hands and fingers than I have.

Sooo... Do hand me your breakable valuables, but don't for the love of god suddenly throw your key to me without warning.

#30daysofautismacceptance #2023 #actually autistic

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enzoid23 · 2 years

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Gonna improve some older OCs I have in this post lol

So if someone who saw me rp in that one ask blog as them sees this, hi lol they're getting changed!

Original

They were called Nerezza and Luna, Nerezza went by Ezza. Ezza was like 7 and Luna 12 I think?

Now bare with me but Luna is a shapeshifter and Ezza was supposed to be but like got stuck/never got the ability. She's bummed out by this and to make up for it desperately wants to learn to do magic tricks..but the thing is she doesn't know they're tricks and tries to ACTUALLY do them. Logics basically "People without powers do this all the time, so I'll be able to be like my sister if I can do this! :D"

So Luna was also abusive to Ezza, but it was going slow and then WHAM its all at once. It started with being so mild it probably wasn't even abusive just mean, and was a little verbal abuse mixed with lying with stuff easy to cover up, specifically to her. This was out of malice, but a childish malice, not a strongly planned or intended thing.

Luna would also do pranks, normally just pretending to be something else like an object or animal and then once Ezzas convinced she'd show herself. Definitely caused some trust issues in Ezza especially considering that Luna could be people too, the kid didn't know who to trust lol!

And you know they're adopted lol. The parents like coordinate their toxicity because I thought it's be funny, like they go through a "Benevolent beings-nice-okay-eh-rude-mean-cruel" kinda thing back and forth.

They don't have anything from their birth parents and don't know who they are, and they don't care to look.

Both are treated equally and have their own lives, Luna isn't lashing out from abuse she's just a dick.

Okay so here's the cringe parts (imo)..

*Something I literally never considered even making options for happened, I'm almost too embarrassed to type this, corrupting Luna. This does the following:

Forces her into this one weird floaty form

However she was before? 10× worse

Physically, verbally, mentally, all the abuses minus sexual to Ezza

Mostly does the abuse in private but just does not care if people see it

Touching people causes a lot of burning pain and a black mark to show up in the shape of her hand wherever she touched. Does not cause damage but does cause permanent marks and sensitivity to the area. Often does this to Ezza when mad or bored

Can float (her hair saw that ability and decided it wanted to as well. Basically her hair floats on its own at all times lol)

And probably more! I forgot!

(The true cringe is the design I made..)

*Nerezza is a stupid fucker. Not even child dumb but genuinely idiotic. If she grew up she'd never keep a job or finish school she's so dumb. Wanna know why? She tried. The fucking chainsaw, cutting people in half trick. Thinking it was real. MULTIPLE TIMES.

*She feels guilty. Still genuinely thinks she can do it one day but decided to quit brutally killing people until she "works up to it". Luna finds the whole thing hilarious and is the one who convinced Ezza not only to try it once, but that she needed to keep doing it until she got it. So it's not all on Ezza but even when deciding that I was laughing at it

Some old art of them (NOT RECENTLY MADE I PROMISE)

Ezza

Luna, corrupted

not a single.fucking.word

Luna, post-corruption

(Honestly proud of this one though!)

So that's pretty much it there..Onto the new ones!

New Versions

So, not toooo many changes...but basically,

Instead of abusive adopted parents, it's gonna be like maybe negligent or people who don't know how to care for kids but didn't want to give up the baby+toddler on their door step or something? Something like that.

And Luna was still mean but not really from malice, definitely no good intentions but she thought more of fun than how it affected her sister. She loves Ezza but doesn't like her if that makes sense? Not in the sibling dislike way either. Doesn't really like nor dislike, still loves, idk how to explain it...

Ezza did NOT become a serial killer for the sake of magic but still tried to learn to compensate. In this version, Ezza thought of cutting people and Luna shot it down! How the turns have tabled.

Instead of 12 Luna's like 14 because 12 is too young but 15 is too old imo. Immature but aware kinda thing I think

Ezza is still like 7 or 8

Luna still gets that same corruption arc but the design..The design HAS to change. I'll reblog after I figure it out and draw it. She isn't being controlled or anything, it mostly changes abilities and wills and desires. Takes normal guy and makes him a semi-powerful melee sadist with no regards or care for others and can't be redeemed in that state, but still has whatever free will OCs can have. Sooo..subtle control I guess? That's like giving someone a gun with bullets, stripping their morals, making them super angry, and putting them in front of someone they don't like, with no outs, so I guess I can't say it's completely them doing it.

Luna gets somehow broken out of it (I haven't even decided how it HAPPENED how would I decide how it UNhappens?) and has a permanent scar. If she takes form of anything with a face, it has the scar. She can't customize it, has to live with it. Why a scar? Because I like giving characters permanent reminders of their sins they weren't all there to commit. She'll try to get along with Ezza after that but Ezza now has trust issues and a phobia of Luna so that'll take work lol.

Anyways that's it so far, I'll reblog later with the redesigns and any extra info I might remember to add!

#not a reblog #oc #oc redesign #cringe ocs #i still love them though lol #luna needed to be brought down and nerezza broufht up though #luna's more of a kid and ezza's less of an idiot basically #old art

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ninjaslegos · 2 years

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Headcanon of the ninjas with a shy s/o?

Aww! (I know it's late :( I'm sorry) Also...I guess I have trouble writing shy people? I never noticed that before. I guess to me shy can mean anything, and it's not specific like a quiet person or someone who gets nervous easily. I don't know how to explain it lol.

Comforting and Quiet

Jay

While he does have his quiet moments, he's often outspoken, and isn't afraid to talk for the both of you.

When you do talk, he complements your voice and doesn't interrupt you.

He loves the way you fidget with your fingers in public spaces; you make shapes with your fingers, but when you get too nervous he wraps an arm around you to assure you he's there to protect you.

Zane

He doesn't mind that you don't talk much because you're shy and nervous about messing up your words; your actions speak for you.

When you give him gifts saying they remind you of him, or when you come up behind him and hug him around his waist while he's cooking, he can feel your heartbeat slow. He makes you calm, and he knows that. He's your rock, and it's all he wants to be.

He's not much of a talker himself, although he likes to talk, being silent with you is just as lovely as speaking with you.

Cole

You weren't always shy, Cole knows this because he went to school with you, but your parents kept putting you down until you lost all confidence in yourself.

He wasn't one to stand up to authority as a kid, so he didn't know what to do to make you feel better. He's older now, and he wants to reverse all the damage. He wants to help.

Progress is slow, but he always praises you, making you a blushing mess, and he promises to protect you from now on.

Kai

Similar to Jay, he can also be loud and out there. Unfortunately for you, he likes to bring you out with him.

Luckily, he thinks about you the whole time you're out. It's his way of trying to get you comfortable with being in public, and to get you to be less shy. He thinks it's cute you're shy, but he also wants you to be able to go where you want without getting nervous.

He takes you back home when it gets to be too much. He always does, and never pushes you.

Nya

You knew Nya and her brother since you were all kids. She was the brave one, Kai was the loud one, and you were the voice of reason. When Kai first became a ninja, it was just you and Nya at home a lot, so no wonder you grew close to her.

She likes you the way you are; soft-spoken and sweet, so she doesn't want to push you outside your comfort zone. Unfortunately, that means she has to be with you whenever you go out.

Of course she loves you. She'd do anything for you that you don't want to do. She'll make your order for you at restaurants, she'll talk to the person at the ticket booth at carnivals, and she's the one to check out at stores.

Lloyd

Lots of people want to talk to him because he's the, "super cool Green Ninja!" So his favorite thing at the end of the day is to come home to your comforting silence. He announces he's home and you greet him at the door. If you don't, he starts to worry someone kidnapped you.

You may be shy, but you're also strong. He's confident in your ability to defend yourself, but maybe not so much against a large number of people.

He wants nothing more than to take a week off of being a ninja, he wants nothing to happen in Ninjago so he can stay with you and bask in your loving embrace as you quietly snuggle and read together.

#ninjago #ninjago kai #ninjago nya #ninjago lloyd #ninjago zane #ninjago cole #ninjago jay #kai x reader #lloyd x reader #nya x reader #zane x reader #jay x reader #cole x reader #headcanons

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bumblesimagines · 3 years

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Forgotten Fairytale

Part 2

Request: Yes or No

I'm not afraid of this series not becoming as well loved as Green Thumb and I don't expect it to be popular. I've had the idea stuck in my head for a while and I'm getting it all out.

You looked over the artifacts the school had stored. You gave a small scoff, shaking your head as you noticed things that didn’t belong in a school.

“They call us thieves and hoarders yet half this shit was stolen off a corpse.” You muttered, stopping in front of a glass case protecting a sword.

“I wouldn’t suggest stealing that. It’ll be obvious.” You turned towards the redhead, sighing and tilting your head as she walked towards you.

“You’re a pain in the ass.” You looked back at the sword, eyes raking over it.

“You know what this is?” You asked. Hope stood beside you, looking down at the sword. She shook her head, pursing her lips slightly.

“A man named Lord Jameson Wraith owned this sword. He was… a hunter of sorts and specialized in killing dragons. When he stabbed this through the chest of a dragon, the sword would light up and the dragon would burn from the inside. A gruesome, slow death. We were hunted like all others but it wasn’t just to protect humans. We were hunted for our meat, our teeth, and our scales. Humans declared war on us and when we fought back, we were erased from everyone's minds and deemed fairy tales where we continue to be killed by a so-called knight.” You explained, running your finger over the glass.

“Some dragons were able to survive Malivore but as soon as they shifted… They were taken. They disappeared and left no trace.” You turned to look at Hope. The redhead stayed silent, a frown etched on her face.

“I’m sorry you lost your father. We’re working on finding Malivore and when we do, there’s a chance you’ll be able to see your father again.” Hope said softly, gaze still trained on the sword.

“Where’s your mother? Alaric mentioned she was a vampire.”

“I was never able to meet her but.. I believe she’s dead.” You walked around the case, looking back up at Hope. You locked eyes with her, hearing her clear her throat.

“I’m sure she would’ve wanted to be in your life.” Hope offered a small smile, nails gently tapping against the case.

“Are you being nice to me cause you need to find out more about me?” You asked, head tilting. Hope cocked a brow, eyes rolling as she turned away from you.

“Alaric really doesn’t trust me, does he?”

“He trusts you more than I do, that’s for sure. It’s just too much of a coincidence for you, a dragon, to show up when we’re dealing with monster after monster. If it weren’t for Alaric, I would’ve already done a spell on you.” Hope said as she walked around the room, features hard and serious.

“A little witch spell wouldn’t work on me. You haven’t been trained to deal with dragons. If I was really one of those monsters, why didn’t I burn the building down and search for whatever it is that you have?” You asked curiously. Hope didn’t answer, thinking for a moment.

“Because you’d need to know if it was hidden.”

“Alaric asked if I felt a pull to this place. I suppose that means I would feel a pull towards the artifact, right?” You slowly walked towards her, a soft chuckle leaving you.

“You can kick and scream all you want, Red. I’m here to stay, whether you like it or not.” You reached out, twirling a strand of her red hair around your finger. Hope grabbed your wrist, pushing your hand away.

“You’re up to something and I’m gonna figure out what it is.” Hope sneered, eyes narrowed. She turned around, walking towards the doors. She almost bumped into a man on her way out, quietly apologizing before moving past him. The man entered the room, clasping his hands together.

“I’m Dorian Williams, the liberian and occasional substitute teacher.” Dorian introduced himself, finding a table and taking a seat. He motioned for you to sit across from him. You did so, taking a seat and crossing your arms as you eyed him.

“I’m gonna be honest with you, (Y/N). I do have some suspicions that you might be after the artifact but.. You’re a kid. A kid who lost their father and wants answers. I’m not here to interrogate you about your intentions.” Dorian explained, leaning back in his seat with his arms crossed.

“Do the other students know what I am?”

“News spread like wildfire here, especially amongst the students so.. Yes, most likely. I can assure you that you’ll be treated like any other student-”

“So, Hope goes around telling every student she’s gonna figure out what they’re up to? No wonder she’s not popular.” Dorian let out a small laugh, shaking his head.

“I promise Hope isn’t always like that. The monster problem we’ve been having has everyone on edge. Do.. Do you know anything about Malivore?” Dorian asked, sitting up and leaning forward.

“I thought you weren’t gonna interrogate me.” You tilted your head, brow cocked. Dorian hummed softly, nodding.

“Alright, we can talk about something else. The neck is a dragon's soft spot, right?”

“Depends.” You answered, licking your lips as you reached up to touch your necklace.

“If a dragon is older and stronger, a hit to the neck isn’t gonna hurt them much. It might piss them off and they could lose their ability to speak or even stop them from breathing fire cause it’ll hurt to do so. We can still kill someone by stepping on them or snacking on them. We were on the top of the fucking food chain and humans just couldn’t deal with that.”

“I’m not your enemy, (Y/N). I want to believe I can trust you. You’re a child and like all children, you need guidance. I see a lot of rage built up inside you. I can tell from the way you interacted with Hope and from what I heard. Landon and Rafael aren’t your enemies. They’re new and they have a rough past. The first dragon they met wanted to burn them into a pile of ashes so.. I’d say they’re being pretty welcoming.” Dorian held a soft yet stern gaze. It was obvious that he sympathized with you but at the same time, he wasn’t gonna deal with an attitude.

“Tell me about your father. What was he like?” Dorian asked softly. Your gaze dropped to the table, fingers squeezing around the key.

“I’d appreciate it if everyone could stop talking about him as if he’s dead.” You breathed out, standing up abruptly as your eyes began to sting from tears.

“I don’t need to be welcomed into this school. I’ve been to high school before, I’m not some little kid whose hand needs to be held.” You walked out of the room, heading back to your dorm room. You entered the dorm, shutting the door behind you. You sniffled softly, walking towards the window and opening it. You stepped out, taking a seat on the roof. You brought your knees up to your chest, feeling the wind gently hitting your face.

“The key to food is passion, remember that (Y/N).”

“I thought it was seasoning.” You grinned as you watched your father cook. He hummed, nodding with a chuckle.

“It is but food from a chef who feels no passion for it will taste bland and bitter. It’s the same with any other job. If you hate it, it’ll show and you’ll only hurt yourself. That’s why I always tell you to look for things you’re interested in.” (F/N) said, handing you a wooden spoon so you could help with stirring the soup.

“What was mom passionate about?”

“Your mother was.. She was a hurricane.” He began, sighing deeply. “She destroyed everything in her path and took down anyone in her way. Not many people have fond memories of her but I saw the good in her. I didn’t love her romantically but I considered her a good friend of mine. I’ll always be grateful to her for giving me the best gift a man could ever have.” You smiled widely, chuckling softly and rolling your eyes. (F/N) smiled softly, leaning over and pressing a kiss to your temple.

“No treasure could ever compare to you.”

You bit your bottom lip, letting out a shaky sigh. You weren't used to being alone. Your father had always been there to back you up, to support you, and to provide comfort when you needed it.

“Christ, pull yourself together. You come from dragons and a psycho vampire.” You mumbled, carefully going back inside. You picked up the phone, turning it on and waiting for it to power on completely. You responded to a text, watching a call pop up. You clicked the green button and held the phone up to your ear.

“I thought you said it was stupid to be in contact.” You took a seat on the bed.

“Yeah, well, I was expecting you to be back by now. You do know your fathers return lies in your hands, right? Only I can help you get him back but I’ll only do that if you give me what I need.”

“I have a plan-”

“Speed up that plan before I change my mind, (Y/N). While you were on your way to the school, I bumped into some of your new friends. They were a redhead and an older man. I believe the girl went by the name Jessica but I doubt it was her real name.” You let out a deep sigh, head tilting upwards. Hope Mikaelson was gonna be a real pain in the ass.

“Yeah, I’ve met the redhead.” You breathed out, dropping your head and pinching the bridge of your nose.

“I just need you to relax, Ryan. I’ve got it handled but I really don’t need you fucking things up for me. You just keep up your end of the deal and I’ll keep up mine. You might be able to save my father but I can also keep you from helping yours.”

“Is that a threat?”

“It’s a fact. Don’t bother me again unless it’s an emergency.” You pulled the phone away from your ear despite Ryan continuing to talk. You hung up and tossed the phone to the side, burying your face in your hands.

“Am I paying for my mothers crimes?” You whispered. You flinched when you heard two knocks on the door, standing up and approaching it. You opened the door, staring at Josie.

“What do you want, baby face?” You asked with a frown, looking down at the ice cream tub in her hands. Josie’s brows furrowed at the nickname but she ignored it, choosing to raise the tub.

“I.. I kind of eavesdropped on you and Dorian and saw you rush out. Ice cream always makes me feel better when I’m feeling down, so I brought you some.” Josie shrugged lightly. You blinked, opening your mouth but nothing came out.

“If you don’t like ice cream then I could see if-”

“Thanks.” You cut her off, watching her relax and give a small smile. Josie nodded, perking up when you stepped aside so she could enter. Josie looked around the room, humming.

“If you want, we could go shopping for some decorations tomorrow after school.” Josie said, moving one hand under her skirt as she sat down. You nodded, taking a seat beside her and subtly turning the phone off. Josie opened the lid of the tub, handing you a spoon and giving a small shy smile.

“Well, Welcome to Salvatore School. I’m pretty sure dad is still figuring out your class schedule.”

“Dad?”

“Oh, uhm, the headmaster is my dad.” Josie shrugged, digging her spoon into the ice cream. Your brows raised, a small smile spreading across your face.

“Really? You look nothing like him.. Which is a big compliment.” You grinned as Josie let out a soft giggle. Things were definitely starting to look up.

#x reader #x you #x y/n #x male reader #x male!reader #legacies x reader #legacies x you #legacies #legacies x y/n #legacies x male reader #hope mikaelson #josie saltzman #lizzie saltzman #milton greasley #alaric saltzman #landon kirby #rafael waithe

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