"If you're in a time loop, blink twice," Scott says, sitting on the steps outside of Bertha's plaza.

"What?" Cleo says.

"I mean, I'm not stupid," Scott says. "When a witch of time is looking at me like I'm a dead man or something, clearly they know something I don't. I've read books."

"That's not how that works. Well, I mean, sometimes that's how that works," Cleo says, and they shake their head twice, trying to shake the cobwebs out of it. "What do you mean, looking at you like you're a dead man?"

Scott shrugs. "I mean, you were looking at me like... well, not someone you were getting curses from, is what I'm saying. Like how I think I look when..." He fidgets uncomfortably for a moment. Cleo grimaces. Alright, so they looked like the unstable necromancer when he's thinking about the thing that made him unstable. That's... probably bad news.

"Sort of like how your magic makes you all... you know. Emo," Cleo starts.

"Wow," Scott says.

"A side-effect of time magic is deja vu."

"You're not talking me out of 'I died in the time loop', for the record," Scott says.

"Not exactly? It's more like... See, time magic isn't just about, you know, reversing time. Really, I can't do that all that often. The universe likes symmetry. Time magic is about... making that symmetry happen, really. A lot of my spells, the big ones? They're pulling things over that happened in another life. Another universe. And even if it's not one I remember living, I still lived it, because I'm the Time Witch, so I'm all of them, sort of."

As they speak, they play with their abacus. Purple bursts of magic flicker and fade around it. The shadows are long this time of day (or maybe that's just Scott's general moody aura), and it makes the color stand out.

"So you're... what, remembering things that didn't happen?" Scott asks.

"Sort of?" Cleo says, shrugging. "They did happen. Just only kind of to me."

"Huh," Scott says.

They sit there for a while. It starts raining. Cleo would stop the rain - they normally do - but they're wearing their hat, and it would require getting up, and they had just helped deal with the Storm Witch, so they don't feel like burning bridges at the moment. They can get wet for a few minutes.

Scott turns to Cleo, rain dripping across his face.

"So why did you look at me like you loved me?" Scott says.

Cleo feels their heart in their throat. They look back at Scott, wide-eyed.

"What?" they say.

"Why did you - you know, like you loved me and lost me? Like that," Scott says.

"If I knew, that wouldn't be deja vu," Cleo says, after a moment. "It's not from this life. No time loop. Promise."

Scott shrugs. "I'll hold you to that. Will you do your rain thing, by the way? Getting all damp isn't good for my complexion."

"Making your makeup run?"

"Hey, I'll have you know these eyebags are all natural."

Cleo lifts up her wand. Sparks flicker across from the abacus to her hand, but she doesn't need the number from it anyway. She casts the spell to make the sun come out, and as the beams fall on her arms, it's warm, and she feels strangely safe. She doesn't look back at Scott, though. Neither of them say anything more.

Tango POV Session 3 highlights (My first POV this session, jumping in with no spoilers)-

Skizz: "I want a giant blinking heart in the sky" Tango: "Cool idea :) You're doing the redstone, right?" Skizz: ... Tango: "YOU'RE doing the redstone for that, right?"

Skizz: "While editing I was like... 'Am I a loser?' Tango: "No, no, no! It was well before editing that I realized that."

I do love the server dynamics that give us gems like Mumbo sprinting across the ground yelling about how he has a quick, urgent thing he needs to do... Just an average day in the death game.

slkdjf Tango and Skizz finally found someone just as desperate and needy as them... Enter the man who has been shunned for 3 seasons because of his boogeyman kill. We love a BigB!!

BigB: "Skizz, this might be time to point out my weak building skills-" Skizzleman: "Oh no, don't worry. That's why we've got ourselves a Tango!" Tango: /incoherent shrieking and denials

Tango assigned homemaker by the narrative.

So just to be clear, we've got Tango "I will teach you redstone and cheer you on" (Mansplain), we've got BigB "There is no hole in the mesa" (Manipulate), and Skizz "I built the base" (Malewife). Good for them.

Skizz: "At my IRL job when I had to create blinking lights, I literally had someone go back to the breaker and flip it."

Tango, to Cleo: "That's all we are! Cringe 'R' Us!"

sdlkfj Tango hugging and comforting Torchy over how scary Etho's water bucket attack was. "If he comes back, I will take care of this."

BigB: "I have an anvil." Tango and Skizz losing their minds: "BEST TEAMMATE EVER!"

Heart Foundation: "We will join forces and gift our hearts to a randomly selected person. Everyone will like and protect us; we are creating our own plot armor." Etho, immediately after receiving his hearts: "I am a huge fan. Sign me up. Whatever I need to do to stay on. I will let you use the enchanting table. I would be dead if it were not for the Heart Foundation."

Gem and Scott riding up on their zombie and skeleton horses would be SO terrifying. Can't wait to see the fanart of that sdfklj

Tango killed it this session, he did not cut corners in babbling to Torchy.

Gem: "I think your task is to remove light sources from the server." Tango: "That would be very incorrect." Tango as he sprints away, muttering to Torchy: "I know?? They were standing right by us and they didn't even notice??"

Torchy has such boogeyman tendencies, geez. Is this Leven Thumps; did we confine the spirit of the boogeyman to a piece of wood??

Tango, raiding someone's base: "You want to? We could."

I enjoy the new rule about Yellows having one chance to call people out on their task. I think this is a good move to up the tension and also encourage people to do it because you only get one shot per episode. Don't wanna waste it!

slkdjf @ Tango chatting with Etho, Etho susses out his task, so Tango immediately runs to Grian to confirm the rules. Grian tells him no problem, Etho's green so he's in the clear. Tango runs off crowing in laughter.

Lizzie: "I've heard some weird things about you." Tango: "We are excellent today." Lizzie: "That's the weird stuff I've been hearing."

?? Is Tango's official canon that redstone exposure turned his eyes red? Neat.

lksdjf Skizz seething about Impulse.

Tango: "What did he do?" Skizz: "His task was to find somebody who's got greater than 25 hearts and find a way to - air quotes - "accidentally" get them to lose 5 hearts. So he made sure I lost 20."

Yeah, that tracks.

Freaking goodness, Tango put his entire heart and soul into this invisible friend task.

Bdubs' globe is looking amazing <3

?? Etho running up to Joel and saying "I love you?" What is the context; looking forward to figuring that out.

Etho: "I love you." Joel: "Okay, I know you're obsessed with me, I saw you made me your thumbnail of your first episode, but come on..."

Called out at the end!!! Devastating!!!

That is the end, but what a great session. So much death...

I was originally not going to make a post about this, but after seeing a few other posts about it, I wanted to make my own. I have a LOT to talk about.

TW: Transphobia, Homophobia, Ableism

If you don’t know what I’m taking about- there was a post made by a user, who’s name I will not disclose or share, who discussed how they would rewrite the new Monster High G3 Cartoon. While some of the points were mundane, or points of preference, others made me very uncomfortable, as they got rid of much of the diversity that G3 has brought into the Monster High Universe. I want to quickly go through three of the points that I felt were erasing these steps in diversity, and my thoughts on each one, and why I think that it’s iffy, to say the least.

First is the statement “all of the couples from G1 will stay together”. While this may read to some as a preference for the old couples, in the context of rewriting G3- it comes across as the erasure of both couples involving a neurodivergent character being the subject of a crush, and being seen as desirable and loved (Manny x Twyla), and what probably was the intended couples they wanted to seperate, the canonically queer ships. In particular, this is most likely against Clankie (and POSSIBLY an s2 ship which I won’t say by name because some people want to go in blind. Instead I will refer to it as 🧡💚.). In this rewrite context, wanting to take away queer relationships which many writers and designers for Monster High have fought for in many shapes and forms. G1 never had explicit queer characters, the closest things being a scrapped SDCC diary entry (Valentine x Spelldon), Post-Ending 3rd party statements (Clawdeen is a Lesbian, Rebecca x Venus, etc.) and implied characters (Kiyomi). While these are okay, they are NOT the same as explicit queer couples, which are arguably more important to push forward in the talk and scope of present and future representation.

While it is okay to prefer the G1 ships, in the context of bringing them back for G3, it erases these queer couples, and ignores the lore and universe of G3. In G3, Cleo and Deuce are exes. And if you don’t like that, you can still watch G1!! It’s not magically disappeared, the movies and shows and music is all still out there, and most of it is free! But, erasing Clankie, 🧡💚, and other potential queer ships in G3, for the preservation of a m/f ship isn’t okay.

On the subject of erasure, there is the statement “Frankie is still non-binary, but now uses she/they pronouns”. A character canonically using they/them in cartoons, especially ones made for kids, are uncommon. Honestly, I don’t even know if I could name 10, and that says more about the state of non-binary representation than it does about me. While changing the pronouns of a cisgender character to gender neutral ones is often done in fandom, and often not a point of issue, taking a character who is canonically non-binary and solely uses they/them and giving them typically gendered pronouns erases that under represented group, and allows for transphobes to ignore the “they” in “she/they”, and only use “she” for the character. This is an issue in real life too, for many who use multiple sets of pronouns, including myself (they (preferred) / he) ! We deserve both of their sets of pronouns to be used, and people who only use they/them deserve to be referred to by and as they/them. These changes hurt everyone.

Then, we come to the one I see the most talk about, and the one that made me audibly yell “what the f-?!”- taking away Twyla’s canon autism diagnosis, and symptoms & traits, and replacing it with autism coding, so that she is easier to identify with. First of all- easier for who??? Neurotypicals ?? It is incredibly rare to see a character on kids TV outright say “I am autistic”, and Twyla is wonderful as representation. Twyla will not resonate or be relatable to every person- but that is true for all characters, not just autistic ones. Autistic people are not a monolith, it is a spectrum, with many different ways to present itself. Also… taking away all of her traits and symptoms to make her more relatable? These traits and symptoms are what would have made her “autistic coded”, and without them, you have a character who is NT.

Autism isn’t a quirky word you can use to describe anyone, it is a disability, that myself and many others have, and see misrepresented time and time again. And to say that a good example of it is not good, and would be better off to be erased and replaced with coding is insane. Coding is okay, but that’s all it is. Real spoken representation matters so much to me, and so many other people, even if the characters we see are not identical to us in those symptoms and traits they exhibit. These characters should not be changed, but rather, more autistic characters, with different presenting symptoms and traits, should be introduced !

You can like G1, you can prefer G1, but that does not mean that you have to make a sanitised version of G3, that makes it identical to G1. In terms of representation, there is no arguing that G3 has G1 beat. The poster said on their post that “any new characters would be made more relatable”, but… to who? Because I relate to a lot of the G3 characters more than the G1 ones, and I grew up loving G1! It’s not been wiped, all of the media still exists for you to watch, and make headcanons for ! If you like G1- good for you! But please, stop trying to make G3 exactly like it. Because change is inevitable in these kinds of reboots, and it allows for the representation some want to take away.

Thank-You for those who read all the way!

I just wanted to share my thoughts on Real Life.

It’s Girlboss Gasslight Gatekeep reuniting after Double Life separated Pearl so completely from those she has grown so close to

It’s Scar and Grian getting a chance to just have fun and heal without their past mistakes weighing on them

It’s Martyn and Ren getting back together and filling the hole they left in each others hearts

It’s Bigb being unable to be ignored

It’s Jimmy not being but a warning of death to come

It’s Gem no longer being chained down by her reputation

It’s Cleo getting a chance to be in the spotlight and not be left in the shadow of her allies

It’s Skizz being able to rekindle old friendships

It’s (most of) the Southlands getting back together and mending what was broken

It’s Joel working with Scar and others without being reliant on his allies

Real Life was about healing what was so deeply fractured, about wordless apologies and smiles that made all the pain melt away. Do you know why Real life was merely a joke and not really canon? Why everyone wasn’t there? Because the lifers would never truly be allowed to be happy like this.

Introducing Last Life: The Unofficial Musical! I've been working on this for a while and have finally finished recording the first song, out of something that looks to be 45 at the moment but I'll probably trim that down.

The musical follows @inthelittlewood's version of events (Watchers are canon, etc) because his lore is awesome, but you don't have to understand that to listen to it, since it wasn't even revealed in Martyn's perspective until the last episode. That'll be the same here, with the Watchers just playing the role of the chorus/narrators (who mainly sing this song), and some being the voices that speak to Martyn in his POV.

Because I'm following his lore, c!Martyn is the main character, and there's also a lot of focus on c!Scott because he was the winner of the season (and in my mind there are a lot of contrasts and parallels between the two, with Scott defying the rules of the game while Martyn is following the instructions of those who made the game, and occasionally trying to question it/break out of that cycle but being manipulated back into it – see the start of his episode 8). However, I am trying to give justice to other characters and POVs as well, since Last Life was due to the creation of everyone and I don't want to dismiss anyone's contributions as unimportant. Throughout the musical, the Watchers/chorus informs us about wider events at various intervals (through song), and I'm trying to give a lot of other people solos/duets too – for example, I'm writing a Tango solo song ("You Bet Your Life") at the moment; I'm planning to do a "Die For Me" for Cleo; Joel and Scar have a duet about various perceptions of them after Joel has turned red (they're not interacting with each other but are singing at the same time); etc. It'll definitely take a while to finish, but I do plan to see it through. There are also going to be musical and lyrical analyses on here explaining my thought process behind a lot of aspects of each song.

Full lyrics here!

So.... What would happen if SOMEONE decided to rewrite Freaky Fusion but eliminated the fusions, left the plot of the hybrids and the time travel plot?

Long text after the cut:

The fic would begin by introducing the hybrids and the students' reaction to them. Cleo and (I think it was her?) Draculaura would give the same comments as in the movie. But here the hybrids already established in the series would not be ignored. Lagoona would talk about how she herself is a hybrid. What's more, we could even add that she is the fruit of a freshwater Nymph and a sea monster.(I just made this up while writing. I have no idea if it's canon or not but I like it.) Your intervention in the conversation could leave the atmosphere a little tense. Frankie tries to lighten the mood by insisting her friends go to class.

In another part of the school, Deuce and Jackson are in the former's locker talking about the same topic. Or rather, Deuce is nervous and frustrated by how everyone is reacting to the hybrids. While Jackson doesn't care too much. He has already had his conflict with the students regarding what he is. You already know this is temporary until the novelty of the matter cools down. This resolution does not reassure the gorgon at all. In fact, it frustrates him enough to vocalize his concerns. The whole topic was really making him very uncomfortable. On a good day, he's already having trouble coping with the fact that he's a hybrid. This only makes you feel worse. To the point of being terrified that other monsters will know what he really is. Jackson tries to console him but the bell at the beginning of his first class forces them to cut the conversation short.

What they didn't know is that a certain gossiping ghost, who was collecting information for his blog, was listening to them.

The first class is Dead Languages ​​with Professor Rotter. Class is pretty boring today. Which causes some students to become distracted and murmur among themselves. Cleo is one of them and tries to talk to Deuce (who is more in the clouds than on earth)One of the topics he brings up is about hybrids, which he immediately realizes is the wrong topic to talk about. Since she sees how her boyfriend tenses very visibly. Which makes her remember that she's been on thin ice ever since she almost got her boyfriend's best friend killed just because of her pride. Said friends... It is also a hybrid. Cleo is seriously thinking about asking Frankie to sew her mouth shut so she doesn't screw up again. (I'm thinking about placing this after my own version of Ghoul Rules. I feel it is appropriate. It seems like he's been building up these nerves since before this day. It's more ✨ dramatic ✨)

The rest of the class passes without pain or glory. Only at the end does Rotter remind his students that in the last period of school they have to present their family tree work. (because I don't remember how the homework they were given in the movie was written)And he points out that Frankie will be the first to speak.

A stressed Deuce is the first to leave the classroom, closely followed by a worried Cleo. She is a couple of steps behind him. Thinking about how to talk about whatever is bothering the gorgon. Just when you think you've finally found the words, a mass notification from Spectra's blog catches your attention. She is about to ignore it but when she saw how the students began to stare in her direction, she decided to quickly check just in case. The title leaves her baffled. "Deuce Gorgon, the most handsome cool boy in school, is a hybrid?" That was the huge title that headed the blog. Cleo looks up with the mission of searching for answers but notices how terribly pale Deuce is while looking at his cell phone. She catches his attention. He looks at her scared. In fact, Deuce becomes hyper aware of his surroundings. He notices how everyone is looking at him and starting to whisper around him. This sends him into a spiral of panic and he ends up escaping the scene. It ends somewhere in the school, near the indoor pool. That's where Lagoona finds him. Deuce realizes that she is not alone. She is accompanied by Sirena von Boo and Neighthan Rot. When he asks about them, Lagoona tells him that she became friends with Sirena in their previous class. They saw him run out of the hallway and read the blog. Lagoona and Sirena went to look for him, they ran into Neightan and he joined the search. (mainly because Avea and Bonita were still in class)

This is where I cut the explanatory text and give the concise points of this particular plot:

The plot itself has the hybrids talking about feelings and experiences. Trying to help each other in all this sea of ​​rumors and staring. Mainly by comforting Deuce and letting him open up to them.

There would be some scene with Draculaura and Clawd talking about their relationship. The topic of vampire biology would be touched upon a little. How they age and mature slower than other deadly monsters.

I would also have Deuce and Cleo talking about this matter.

Also the reaction of the students, encouraged in a negative way by Toralei, towards Deuce and his "deception".

In general: Lots of feelings, heavy conversations and ✨drama✨

Now you will ask yourself: Where is the time travel plot in all this? Good. Let's go back to the moment of Rotter pointing at Frankie.

After watching the teacher leave the classroom, Frankie lies down on his table and writhes in his misery. Robecca and Ghoulia who were by her side comfort her and ask her what's wrong. She explains that she has nothing useful to expose. His parents avoided the topic of family too much and gave him nothing to work with. So you're probably going to fail the class. Invisibilly appears (because he is another gossiper) and comments that he also goes through the same thing. His father isn't the most talkative when it comes to whatever turned him into a monster. Billy has a suspicion that it was an experiment gone wrong but he has no idea. He believes his father is looking to take the secret to the grave. Here Jackson Jekyll joins the conversation. (because in this school the concept of "private conversation" does not exist) Jackson comments that if there is a family that loves to keep secrets, it is the Jekyll family. It was easier for him to help Heath by putting together the family tree of his elemental family, than it was for Holt to find SOMETHING about his mother's family. They know that their great-grandfather is the one who started the whole Hyde thing but they don't know anything else. Not even what year his grandfather was born or how his great-grandfather Henry Jekyll and his great-grandmother met. It all seems like a big secret that no one should know about.

As he listens to them complain, Robecca has an idea. His father, before he disappeared, was a lover of science in general. He lived many years collecting information, meeting other scientists and doing his own experiments. She suggests they look for something in her father's workshop. Hopefully, they can find something regarding the Stein or Jekyll family. (Robecca apologizes to Billy for not being able to find a solution to his problem but he rejects her. He doesn't care much) Ghoulia was going to say something regarding work but after watching Deuce and Cleo leave the room, she decided that it was easier to help this group with their homework.

This is how Robecca, Frankie, Ghoulia, Billy and Jackson go to the Hexiciah Steam workshop.

While there, they don't find much. At least until Billy stumbles upon plans for a time machine. This draws the attention of the rest. Robecca takes a look at the plans and searches the workshop if there is something similar there. And, indeed, it was a large machine that was in the middle of the room. As they examine the machine, Billy comments that it would be great to test if the thing works and use it to do his homework. That makes them pause and contemplate the idea. The first to be against it is Ghoulia. She doesn't think it's very smart to mess with the timeline just for a school project. Frankie and Jackson support her. But Jackson also comments on how MAYBE if they didn't interact with anyone and were just there to watch, they wouldn't actually be doing anything. It also suggests it could be a good thing for Robecca. After all, it's the most direct way he can find clues to his father's whereabouts. This raises the robot's hopes. Ghoulia is still against it but after seeing her friends' hopeful looks, she decides that MAYBE it's not such a bad idea. As long as the necessary measures are taken. The girls and boys celebrate this beforehand and look for anything about the operation of the machine. They discover that for the machine to work and there to be a way to return, someone needs to be in the current era. Monitoring travelers through bracelets that serve as trackers and controls that allow them to travel by time and place. Ghoulia and Jackson note that there is a very specific way these bracelets work but decide to find out later. Since this was just a round trip to see if the machine worked in the first place. So with everything prepared Robecca, Frankie, Jackson and Billy get ready for the test trip. Ghoulia gives them the go-ahead and turns on the machine. The quartet enters the machine and goes to a year not too distant, just to try it out. More specifically 1950's New Salem.

In fact, the machine works! After watching a bit, the four try to go back to their time to tell the zombie. But can not. No matter how hard they try, the bracelets don't send them back to their time. In reality, it sends them randomly to other places and times. They panic a little (A LOT).

Currently, Ghoulia is worse. The disused machine was broken enough that it had imperfections that none of them noticed. So now the machine was causing fluctuations in time itself. Making time go slower or faster randomly. This is also causing beasts and animals from different places and times to appear today. Not to mention that, for some reason, his friends can't come back. So it's up to Ghoulia Yelps to fix the time machine, prevent the timeline from being destroyed, send the beasts and animals where they belong, and bring his friends back. It's... A pretty normal Monday, if Ghoulia is allowed to comment.

So this subplot has:

Jackson, Robecca, Billy and Frankie traveling through time. Uncovering family secrets and finding clues to the whereabouts of Hexiciah Steam.

To them trying to survive times that they only read about in books, saw in movies or paintings.

And Ghoulia saving the day behind the scenes.

Yes... A standard Monday.

If you made it this far, thanks for reading. I hope you have a happy new year and I wish you the best of luck in meeting your new year goals. 🎆❤️✨🎆

sorry but frankie being the ONLY ONE at monster high who thinks cleo is Cool will never not be my fav headcanon

cleo LOOKS like she's the popular one-

the attitude! the presence! the outfit! the ambition! the kind heart and the CONFIDENCE!! But Canonically Speaking-

frankie's the one made from various famous monsters, hanging with the ghoul kids in school. THEY'RE the one crushing hard on the local organization nerd ("self-proclaimed party princess"),

cleo, miss Number One human enthusiast, who means well but isn't always the best at reading the mood or focusing on priorities

(all of werewolf weekend) (also "clawed and clawdeen?? thank ra my parents didn't name me nefra-een! ugh~!" smiles, realizes no one else is smiling, "...right not the time cleo.")

she WANTS more fame, but mainly spends her time setting up school events, talking with her scarabs, and is starting to tag along with the popular group sometimes

result is THIS

So whatever her song says, i headcanon the vibe in school is more like....

Random Monster High Student:

Oh Cleo? Nefera's little sister, the one who always plays a tree in school plays?

Yeah, she has the funniest, most TRAGIC picture in the fearbook- I hear she has to make herself sneeze all over again whenever she wants to get something at the Coffinbean!

She's head of the dance committee, right? They did a "human themed" dance night once, because of her. And didn't she also organize the after-pep-rally eyescream this year? I think I remember her asking me what flavor I wanted...

Her friends? Um well, she's got these scarabs that are kinds cute. She tags along with Clawdeen Wolf and Draculaura sometimes, but I'm pretty sure she wasn't at that wild Nightmore party the crew had at one of Drac's mansions.

Other than that...

Oh oh wait!

I've seen pics of her hanging out with Frankie, though!

You know Frankie Stein- tall, goes by they/them, wears pretty much nothing BUT school memorabilia, falls apart a lot

I think they built a robot instead of turning in a paper one time, and blank out when remembering something from one of their famous brain bits?

They've got like, bits from almost any amazing monster you could name in the last half century! Monster models, Scareisian monsters, ballet dancers, monster scientists, lawyers. Even a bit from a king of Goreway! They're pretty clumsy but I mean, they HAVE only been alive for less than a year...

They dorm with Drac and Clawdeen- those three are pretty much always a trio, except for fearleading practice and theater stuff.

And yeah, I guess I see them with Cleo pretty often. Frankie, that is.

They sit with her at the creepateria a lot!

Huh. The brilliant franken monster and the second-in-line, dramatic, wanna be queen... I mean, don't get me wrong, Cleo's really nice! And her outfit is AMAZING... Just... I wonder what they even have to talk about...?

meanwhile, Frankie, @ Cleo:

actual canon dialogue: "Any party you're in charge of is sure to be zaptacular! You're so good at parties, and planning things, and picking things, and ah... (flustered) ..making things nicer, and..."

cleo-> decides to sneak into the family tomb. frankie -> PICK ME PICK ME PICK ME PICK M-

also frankie: laughs way too long at cleo's lame pun, tells it it's a good one anyway

also also frankie: goes to cleo for help looking good in their fearbook picture, even though cleo's last photo was a disaster and is the whole reason frankie got nervous about theirs

also also also frankie: "Anything for you, Cleo!"

also also also also frankie, after cleo holds their face and compliments them:

Me: what do they talk about? well mostly frankie just flits with her and is smitten and stuff XD

top 5 etho ships ? bonus points for any explanation

my personal top five in no particular order, and like, ya gotta understand im still new here (hermitcraft/life series) so my opinions are poised to change, but the current standings are:

Bdubs/Etho/Cleo, i'll be honest, i haven't written or read any clethubs, but i saw some art of them that made my brain shortcircuit. they are femdom, himbo, and twink. i just think that Etho should have two people who are stronger than he is on either side of him at all times, bonus points if you let Cleo be the tallest. Bdubs being super clingy, Etho reluctantly tagging along, and Cleo making sure they don't fucking die because yeah they are god damn idiots sometimes, but they're her idiots. and she loves them. and probably gives them noogies and headlocks them.

Cleo/Etho, their marriage in limlife is so much fucking fun, especially when read under an aro4allo lens. Etho whose been happily married for over a decade watching his friends enter relationships and realizing that he loves differently, he doesn't even love remotely close to how they love, love isn't even the right word. hes scared so he leaves, hes not doing it right and his wife must be upset about it, that must be why everythings crumbling. and Cleo, not giving two shits, because that's her husband and by god they're gonna make it work if he can realize that being absent is whats breaking up their marriage, not showing affection and intimacy differently.

Gem/Etho, as a canadian i am legally obligated to ship this, as a lesbian i love it when men have chaotic gremlin girlfriends who put them in their place. see that one episode of hermicraft wherein Gem beats his ass on repeat and he keeps coming back for more. its like, like theres an unspoken solidarity, 'hey we're the same even though we're not' and they stick with each other. predator/prey dynamic if you go with deer Gem and fox Etho, you also get it with sea monster Gem and fox Etho, except he's the prey and she has the biological advantage instead. also, when paired with the transfemme Etho headcanon we get some yuri which im always down for.

Grian/Etho, this one came to via an Ao3 commenter and i have seen two pieces of fanart for it and like, seven fics. but i still think the dynamic of bird and fox would be fun to work with in writing depending on the bird Grian is hybridized with, especially if Grian is the smaller one. also in limlife??? hello?? Etho, swearing loyalty and promising to be someones sword is not heterosexual behaviour. what they had in limlife, even if brief, had me shaking i'll be real. also, for their hermitcraft dynamic, it'd be hot if i threw Scar into the mix, for flavour.

Pearl/Etho/Tango, consensual workplace relationships make me absolutely insane, it could tear apart their business or bring it further together. they have the kind of dynamic that makes my head absolutely fucking empty, one of those 'i just think theyre neat' kind of ships. the culture clash between each of their species and their own personal tastes, Tango's a blaze and they mate for life, Pearl's a siren and they don't do much for romance, Etho's a fox and they come and go- but they make it happen in spite of that. im working on getting them a canonized Ao3 tag right now, they have such a fun dynamic. also, they fucked in that post office when no one was looking.

tbh these are all really closely tied, and i also have a soft spot for tangtho and the team ties poly. they're all really fun ships, i just really enjoy polyships to be real with ya'll. and the life series and hermitcraft are full of so many possible polyships that its just making me foam at the fucking mouth. sorry boat boys enjoyers, the vision has not yet engulfed me, but hey im a multishipper it might be yet to happen.

Ok, I'm bored here's a whole ass Limited Life hc post

Starting off with my hand-drawn family tree, then other stuff underneath

Done like this to make it look like people came and edited it so here's everything to do with that

BigB isn't actually related to them, Pearl just added him next to her because he's her best friend

Jimmy got annoyed after the breakup and tried to cross Scott out completely but he couldn't bring himself to do it so he just aggressively crossed out the line between them

Scar added Jellie because pets are family, Cleo and Bdubs laughed at him for it because they don't have a cat (the Jellie isn't real conspiracy)

Martyn's only on this because he made Scott add him illegitimately and no one took him off despite not knowing him at the time he was added

Ok- everything else now

Bad Boys = drug addicts

Ok, you can't blame me for this one, look at them

Jimmy didn't know Joel was his uncle until he was around 17

He thought they were both his dads-

Cleo once accidentally called CPS on themself

They thought Etho was with the kids. He wasn't. And she got in trouble for that? She doesn't think that's fair at all.

Etho also did that.

The kids were older that time though, so Bdubs was legally allowed to be alone with Scar (he shouldn't have been though)

Bdubs is older than Scar, but he's also 4' 11" so Scar's taller, even though he really shouldn't be.

Scar is literally in a wheelchair he should not be taller than his older brother

Tango found Giran, Joel, and Pearl on the street and decided 'they're mine now'

He now doesn't associate with the boys. Obvious reasons.

People outside the family have trouble figuring out if Impulse and Skizz are siblings or dating

Same for Scott and Martyn, but they're technically not part of this family

Martyn has voices in his head

They're just background noise to him though. Really, really loud background noise.

Martyn was a theatre kid

Although I think that one's canon-

Edit: Just noticed I called Grian Giran. Wasn't intentional, but I'm keeping it cz it works lol

Little Rewrite Lore Dump

I haven't started on the A Grave of Thorns and Roses superpost yet but know that Fae are not immortal in my version, just long lived

The King of Hybern, his actions and motivations are...? Okay ? In canon

Mostly they feel flimsy because the reason behind human slavery by the Fae is not very grounded. Humans are infinitely weaker so they don't make a good labour source and ending the world just to have cattle slavery is so ridiculous it makes the KoH a flimsy villain

So let's build the KoH:

The first change that came to mind was making Amarantha his daughter (named Cleo)

Based on the religious and magical lore (which I'm sure I've made a post about under this tag) patterns of magical and religious significance happen in 3s and always relating to the primordial elements of Life, Knowledge and Death. Aspects are modern 'incarnations' of those elements and treated like Saints

The KoH has triplet daughters and thinks (as well as convinces others) that his daughters (Cleo, Clythia and Calliope) are Aspects of these three Elements.

In this version the Fae kingdoms of Xian, Lapplund, Rask, the Black Land etc are all West of Hybern so that Hybern lies between them and Prythian.

Geopolitically Hybern used to be Prythian's greatest ally and a centre of trade in the Fae world. The King's seemingly blessed children only increased that power and influence.

However the KoH is a scholar of the arcane and has been obsessed with trying to tap into magic beyond what modern Fae can do, driven by stories of the Fae of past ages battling demi gods and otherworldy entities

He digs deep and actually manages to find out where Koschei was imprisoned.

Koschei is one of the first 4 beings, the last born child of the Mother. He feeds off Death itself but grew impatient with the Fae's long lives and made humans weak and short lived. (This is why Fae see humans as not just inferior but like a taboo stain)

He along with Stryga (Life) and the Bone Carver (Knowledge) were imprisoned by the Fae of the second age. Their power supply was restricted when they were bound to physical forms, making it so that only elements specifically sacrificed or dedicated to them could feed their power. (Like just the act of death wasn't feeding directly to Koschei anymore, the death had to be dedicated to him to count)

Hybern sacrifices his daughter Calliope (the false Aspect of Death) to Koschei who reveals to Hybern that his daughters are not actually Aspects but he appreciates the depth of the King's sacrifice and will make a bargain with him

Koschei will sustain Hybern, his power and his land indefinitely as long as there is a consistent flow of sacrifices of humans so he can grow strong enough to escape his prison

That's why Hybern went bad, they started doing this dark taboo magic and the king grew older and older without dying but the humans escaping beyond the Wall dried up his power supply and his kingdom fell to ruin

He knows Cleo is a false Aspect but she goes silent in Prythian and then rumours come of a High Queen with eternal life and unfading youth and he knows from his own experience that "Amarantha" has found a demigod (Stryga) and made a deal

He thinks the third (the Bone Carver) might also be in Prythian but his kingdom is basically in ruin and he would need to begin sacrificing again to gain power so he needs to bring down the wall and get the humans

But Prythian lies between Hybern and the Continent

*

This is just the bare bones but hopefully it makes sense

All right, lets talk about Pyramid Scheme! Because why not.

So the episode starts with Cleo being as pompous as ever (don't get me wrong, I love that about her) while talking to her diary-eyeball thing about the school play. She wants to audition for the role of Cleopatra, and we get to see her practice in front of Clawdeen and Frankie. And can I just say, I love her personality this gen, because it even shows in how she's practicing her lines: "I have immortal longing! In meee. And then some- other words!"

It's great. Frankie looks so happy to be there, they even stood up while clapping for her. We all see you Frankie.

Clawdeen does not seem quite as impressed ("Wow Cleo! That was... Uhm. Anyway."). They're looking for the mummy talisman, and I'm exited to see that storyline continue. But Cleo has other priorities.

It isn't in her jewlery box, so she stopped looking. Yeah that seems about right for her.

She outright says that she was named after Cleopatra, which made me really exited on my first watch. Because we all knew that's why she was originally named that, but it's cool that it's canon.

Nefera was studying abroad in Scaris, and I really hope we one day get some kind of special or something where they all go there, cause that seems fun. Apparently, they both have an interest in acting, but their parents only ever supported Nefera in that regard, while Cleo got to be... The tree.

Ouch. No wonder she doesn't want to see her sister, if she can only associate her presence with getting sidelined.

Before she arrives, Cleo talks to her heart: "Cleo + Cleo's heart forever!" Which is stronger, Frankie's feelings for Cleo, or Cleo's love for herself? Does Frankie have a shot?

Jokes aside, I do think Cleo's behaviour is a symptom of her self doubt, and it'd be cool to see that explored some more. Definitely shows how parents not showing enough pride for one of their kids can effect them.

Frankie's manner of fact speaking once again shines through: "Do you have another sister? (...) Cause you said Nefera's in Scaris, but that girl behind you looks a lot like you. But even more royal." Damn.

Nefera makes her entrance, very exited to see her little sister. Cleo does not share the sentiment. She was invited to audition for Cleopatra as well, and Cloe is desperate to find a way to get the role.

Aside from that, we get to see her room for the first time! Neat.

"We all know what makes you royal! Jewles." I think you might have gotten the wrong message there.

She thinks she can get the role by dazzling everyone with Cleopatras necklace, which is why she wants to sneak into her families tomb. The passageway is a small pyramid, and once again, Frankie has the best comments: "Should we tell her that's a paperweight?"

Nefera barges in before they can leave, and asks if Cleo "...Join(ed) the track team, cause you ran out of there like you wanted to set a new record!" Girl, either you're oblivious, or in De Nile. Hah.

Cleo and Frankie rush off to the tomb, leaving Clawdeen to come up with an excuse: "Urgent snack break." Based.

Followed by Frankie's iconic line: "Anything for you Cleo." Right before dematerializing. Okay, so they just get sent back to Cleo's room, but it's still amusing. To give Cloe some credit, she does look concerned.

Cleo takes the necklace and it all goes wrong, because it has to be replaced by something of equal value, a.k.a. not the random rock she picked. The tomb starts falling apart, and Nefera, Clawdeen and Frankie go after her, because they know Cleo is putting herself in danger. But then Nefera is the one who falls down.

Something interesting, Cloe looks to her for what to do. I think she does look up to her, to an extend, and would like her a lot more if she didn't get so overshadowed by her.

Their conversation after that is interesting too. Cleo admits to taking Cleopatra's necklace, and Nefera asks: "Why do you have to do things like that? If you're just-" Things like what?

Cleo says she knows, she'll never reach her high bar, but she's trying. Seems like Nefera had some expectations of her she couldn't meet? I'd really like the context to that.

We find out that the necklace is the heart of Cleopatra, so if you want to replace it with something equal... It has to be a heart. Cleo is about to put it back, but doesn't. Because the mummy palisman is on it, and helping Clawdeen get her mom back is more important to her. She throws it to her, and Frankie does not know the right time to simp. "Impressive throw Cleo!" jhgfdkj

Cleo puts her own heart there to stop the tomb from falling apart on them all, effectively dooming herself to being emotionless and cold forever. Gotta show you her monologue: "Goodbye heart! It was super cool that you let me feel emotions all these years. I'll miss that! If missing is something I can do without you nearby."

The destruction stops and they all get Nefera out of the pit of doom. Cute little scene, she helps Cleo fix her bandages.

Of course, Frankie can't let Cleo go heartless, so they, uhm. Bite a rock into the shape of a heart.

Are their teeth made of steel or something? Gotta love what they say before that though: "Gonna try something. Sorry if it traps us all in here forever." They're so nonchalant about it. Still, it works and they announce it as their own heart. I don't know what kind of passion they put into making that thing for the tomb to recognise it as equal to an actual heart, but I'm sure the Francleo shippers have their theories (I say, as if I don't ship them too).

The talisman ends up showing that Cleo is the mummy representative, because her sacrificing her heart was so selfless. Which makes me think, it seems like the other amulets match with the main cast, right? So maybe they all find their respective amulets, and have to do something selfless so they can be the representatives when they all open the portal again. Just a thought, I haven't looked at the episode summaries, so I don't actually know.

Also; "No ones ever chosen me over you." That is so sad. Frankie you better pick her right now >:(

And try not to kill your friends.

So yeah, fun episode, I liked it a lot. Also big thanks to bluebelleisabelle for sharing all the episodes on her pinned post, we all really appreciate it.

Your fic "Shut Up and Fish" got me thinking... are you implying that Grian's snail is a spark?

"Shut Up and Fish"

"That's hard," Grian concedes, not looking up. The pink snail's watching, its tail patting the dirt. Grian cradles the turquoise snail's limp eyestalk in his hand. Snails are tricky creatures… They don't signal their injuries with the crook of their tails like dogs do, and they're not immune to fall damage like cats. Gingerly, easily, he brings the snail's neck to his chest and gives it a little hug. He makes a little noise. This world is beautiful if you know where to look. "Please," begs the voice in the wrinkles of his damp and dripping clothes. "You'd be a better dad to Tim. You'd be a better husband- I want what YOU have… That's MY life. Give me back my body!" Grian ignores this, peppering sloppy kisses on the snail's sweet head. It nudges into him, cuddly and sloppy and alive. Beautiful, sparked son of a thing. He'll tell Grumbot sometime, but Grumbot might not love to know he's got a snail for a younger brother now. And he laughs again, because it's stupid. It's just… It's really stupid. But he nuzzles the snail and the snail nuzzles back, and the voice in his head wails and scratches at him in the strain of Gem's boat anchor against the pebbles and sand.

In the Pixels Imperfect canon, a creature or build that is portrayed as having sentience beyond that of its basic mob AI (if applicable) needs an AI spark. Grumbot and Jrumbot are perfect examples of "portrayed as sentient" vs. "offhand joke about the build being a child, but not followed through with." Jrumbot is a non-sentient build and Grumbot is a sentient one.

Grian's snail is played as sentient - Grian even makes a huge deal about Scar "not playing the game right and making the snails do things they wouldn't do" - so in the Pixels canon, the snail is a sparked build.

Sparks don't have to be perceived as offspring- they simply embody whatever the intended roleplay was. Grumbot initially referred to Grian and Mumbo as Creator 1 and Creator 2 in Hermitcraft canon, then swapped to addressing them as dads after a certain point (to their surprise), which underscores the idea that in-universe, he is sentient and making his own decisions.

That said, Grian considers the snail his biological son, yes. His baby boy who does crime.

I have some news about Box from Double Life, wheeze...... BigB made it VERY clear in canon that Box is sentient enough to "say its first word," and Ren jumped up and down all giddy exclaiming that he was "such a proud papa," confirming that he sees it as his child.

When they're in couple's therapy, BigB explains that he "knew Ren would like it if Box had a hand so it could reach out and give him a hug." Also, special spotlight on BigB bragging about how "Box is going to need to find a soulmate" because that's so funny. I like how after BigB goes red, he invites Martyn to Box, he says "We look forward to seeing you. That's 'we' as in me and Box."

Shout-out to Martyn and Cleo getting "We will take care of Box in your absence" signed and agreed by Ren and BigB "by law and by will." Sorry you two are horribly broken up, but congrats on ur giant son. They will not nurture it, but they will definitely look at it and go "... Huh."

Guess who has one thumb, canonically wears a monocle and walks around looking like it's been "punched in the face," is technically in the Clocker family tree via Martyn, rocks he/it pronouns, and is heir apparent to Dogwarts in the Neighborhood Watch AU.

assigning my favorite guys crane wives songs

aka, in honor of the crane wives being my #1 artist on spotify this year, have some insanity. this list is loosely based on the life series, but each song aims to encapsulate a character as entirely as possible w/o focusing too hard on any specific event. i'll also say that i actively tried to choose songs that i haven't seen us as a community talk about that much.

Etho - Volta volta is a song about making the conscious decision to be present in your life, taking back control. etho is someone who constantly jumps from thing to thing, never really staying put, and i personally interpret volta as not just consciously taking back control of your life, but also making the decision to settle into something. it is about fighting your nature of running away and choosing to stay. i will admit that this song is about vibes more than lyrical content. still, have some lyrics

"Do you remember being young and eager? My heart was buzzing like a wire Give me a reason to connect, be nearer"

Bdubs - Little Soldiers ON THE BROKEN BACKS OF ALL THE WORDS WE SPARED, LIKE LITTLE SOLDIERS IN THE TRENCHES. IT WAS A MARCH WE MADE TOWARDS RUIN AND DESPAIR BUT WE HELD HANDS ALL THE WHILE. I SWEAR THAT I LOVED YOU. I SWEAR THAT I LOVED YOU. I SWEAR THAT I LOVED YOU---I SWEAR, I SWEAR!!!!

LOOK ME IN THE EYES AND TELL ME THAT DOES NOT FUCKING SCREAM BDUBS. HE LOVES ME. I FOUGHT TOOTH AND NAIL BEFORE THE FLAG HAD FLOWN BUT YOU WERE ALREADY GONE!!!!!!

sorry little soldiers is one of my favorite crane wives songs. two people tied together with barbed wire, knowing that what they're in isn't good but refusing to let go out of a desperate attempt to cling onto love. tell me that isnt ethubs, especially the way we as a fandom dramatize them.

Cleo - High Horse high horse is a song about being a petty, spiteful motherfucker. it is about looking at someone you hold dear who has hurt you, and saying, "you know what? i won't stand for this" and throwing them under the bus.

"I'm done thinking about it You're never gonna get what you want So why feel guilty about it?"

Grian - How to Rest listen. look me in the eyes. i know we all like to pretend, especially in regards to scarian and the desert and double life, that grian did not/does not love scar. that the love, that the friendship, that the real connection they shared was not there because it makes for some juicy angst. look me in the eyes and tell me that grian being outright cruel towards scar is somehow more interesting than grian pretending he does not love scar, when in reality he does. tell me that blatant angst for angst's sake is more interesting than grian looking out for scar, not because of an obligation, but because scar is his friend and his ally and maybe sometimes people just chose to be around each other.

"Here's the truest thing I've ever known The heart is just a muscle with a rhythm all its own It doesn't stop when you decide not to move on The heart knows nothing of your love or of your loss"

Joel - The Wolf oh joel wants SO BAD to be a threat. he wants so badly for people to fear him, to take him seriously, to be the bad guy. however, his attempts at this often fall short, usually due to his own brazen overconfidence and snappy, petty nature. all of this, of course, pushes anyone who he hasn't latched onto away because who would want to align themselves with someone who wants so badly to be a loose canon?

"Can it be Can it be easy for once Cause I’m no good at being kind to myself Or anyone [...] I am a beast at your back You better run for your life"

Jimmy - New Colors i am by no means a jimmy expert, but this song is just so jimmy to me. he is so desperate to do well. new colors is a song about desperation. he is so desperate to be taken seriously, in a similar way to joel, but the difference is nobody ever does. i'm just going to leave you with these lyrics.

"Don't tell me that I can't Oh Lord, don't tell me that I can't I need this so damn bad"

"I give up my sight To see I give up my air To breathe"

Scar - Down The River i'm gonna admit, i really struggled to find one for scar, but i think this one works. scar doesn't put much stock into past grievances if it isn't convenient for him, he will simply move on and pretend he didn't do anything. this is ESPECIALLY relevant in moving between series---all bridges are burned, and must be rebuilt.

"Now, tell me, when you start again Where will you house your skeletons? Or will they stay behind Your settlement in kind?"

this post is getting kind of long, and im gonna admit im not confident enough in my characterization of the rest of the cast to assign them a song, so i'll leave this here for now :)

Let me preface this by saying every Life season, Renchanting duo comes up with their own lore but they unintentionally leave a trail of lore crumbs, and fans of Renchanting duo, having inherited their theatrics, start to go a little insane trying to connect the dots.

So. Double Life. Pearl, Ren, Martyn. Red riding hood, the wolf, and the woodsman. Frog, dog, log.

First of all, I think that it’s extremely coincidental and nice that Pearl is the one who gets involved with Renchanting duo at this stage because her name clearly references the moon, and we all know the moon (or “Tsuki”) plays a role in LL Renchanting duo lore.

Secondly, the connection to the Red Riding Hood fairytale just strengthens. In the original tale, Red goes to find her grandma, gets eaten by the Wolf, the Woodsman kills the Wolf to save Red (roughly), everyone lives happily ever after. But this time, Red is one who brought death to the Wolf. And our Woodsman InTheLittleWood, literally in the woods, abandoned Pearl at week 1 instead of saving her. And instead of swallowing up Red, Ren kindly gifts Pearl a new wolf after she lost Tilly. And note that our Woodsman famously beheaded our Wolf in 3L, and also famously bestowed him with a life in LL.

The Wolf is supposed to be the villain, but in fact Red is widely seen as the villain. And who made her a villain in the first place? The Woodsman contributed by leaving her alone. The Woodsman, instead of being seen as a beast-slaying-hero, is also seen as a villain with his “ugly” heart bastion and the cold way he murdered Cleo.

Now we move on to the nonsense chant that absolutely means nothing in canon. “Burn the log, pet the dog, croak the frog.” First of all, log = Martyn ITLW, dog = Rendog (for obvious reasons). But frog = Pearl because of the pearlescent froglights, a new addition to the game. “Burn the log”— like what, LL Ren setting his tower on fire, and Martyn having to put it out? 3L Ren revealing his plans to Martyn over a campfire?? Hmm???

“Pet the dog”— this obviously involves Tilly, which was a gift from Ren. Ren and Martyn even pet and feed Tilly to Pearl’s delight. But they mixed up the chant and it became “burn the dog”, prompting Pearl to yell at them thinking they were going to kill her dog. “Burn the dog”— hmm, like LL Ren’s arson arc?? Fall of 3L Dogwarts, perhaps?

Pearl also has a history of unintentionally killing dogs. Notably, the 1st Tilly and Ren. She was devastated by the deaths of both and felt somewhat guilty (more for 1st Tilly, less for Ren). Burn the dog, burn the dog… maybe that’s what Pearl brings.

And then we start to stretch lmao. “Croak the frog”— pearlescent froglights are made when frogs eat/kill magma cubes. Where do you find magma cubes? In the Nether. Where did our Woodsman and Red go in the first week, ultimately causing Pearl and Scott’s fallout and thus Pearl’s villain arc? The Nether. Pearl, the frog, has fire burning within her, the “wickedness” and the “demoness”, but strangely it’s a light that attracts Ren to her. What appears to be a dangerous curse actually leads to Pearl getting friends.

Anyways this is what happens when you feed the starving fans crumbs of content LOL these Life series always end up getting unnecessarily melodramatic when the fans try to connect the dots haha

Audition Masterpost and Song Info (2/2)

Part 1

Right at the end of the week, here's Part 2 of the information I promised. This talks about the styles of various songs of the roles, again to give more information before the audition form comes out.

Note: there's a chart I made of voice types I imagine different characters to have under a cut below. Please read the notes above it before looking at it, though!

General info:

More major (ie Wither), serious, or Watcher-centric events will be in a similar style to the first song, Middle of Nowhere (which is already on Youtube). A lot of the other songs focusing on delving into the lives of players will be in a more folky style.

Excerpts of people's songs, when necessary, will be posted in the coming days!

The deadline for the first round of auditions is 00:00 UTC on the 20th November. People who are in contention for parts will be notified about further processes after this date.

Part-specific info:

The three main parts are Martyn, Scott and Grian, in this order. Information about styles of their songs is listed below:

Martyn – you can actually hear an excerpt of his first song here – he'll sing in a similar style for more than just this. In general I've been inspired by a lot of Oh Hellos music (eg Where Is Your Rider). When focusing on the Shadow Alliance and Watcher lore side of things though, songs will be more in the style of Middle of Nowhere. I can post an excerpt of another of his songs if necessary (In Spring We Met).

Scott – his songs are generally quite regal and collected – though it doesn't necessarily embody the second aspect of it, you may find that Honour Bound from the Death Note musical has quite a similar atmosphere. I will be posting some excerpts from his songs played on the piano (not necessarily in the key they'll be in).

Grian – I haven’t found a specific song for him, but his style and songs are VERY clear, sharp, and punctuated – definitely more on the modern musical theatre end of things. A lot of the later ones are more angry (slightly unhinged, though not nearly as much as Joel, ie When Will You Learn. The others are quite charismatic (ie telling tales because he Watches things, acting as a leading figure to the Southlands, trying to get people to gather wither skulls eyc). If necessary, I can send recordings of me improvising/trying to figure out some of his songs. I'll also be posting a wordless excerpt with live singing of some of his part in the third song, which he shares with Bdubs, to get across some of the stylistic differences I have for them right now. Note that Watcher!Grian is canon to this, as we're following Martyn's lore.

Throughout the musical, we'll be dwelling on the Southlands and the Shadow Alliance quite a lot, and as such the information in this paragraph applies to BigB, Lizzie, Ren, Impulse, Mumbo and Jimmy. The songs of the Shadow Alliance are quite similar in style to Middle of Nowhere, whereas a lot of the Southlands songs are more similar to (though not exactly the same as) the excerpt of the Martyn song I linked and posted. I will be posting a piano excerpt of 'A(ha)lliances' as well.

(Note that with Ren in particular, I imagine the atmosphere of a lot of his lines to be similar to that of Hellfire from the Hunchback of Notre Dame (though obviously... without the same message).)

Other roles with either solo parts or large roles in duets consist of Pearl, Tango, Bdubs, Scar, Joel, Jimmy and Cleo. Song information for these roles is below:

Pearl – livelier and more chaotic than Scott, but they share quite a few of their songs together. However, her solo – as well as letting her be more unhinged – is somewhat dance-like (she’s killing people on a dance floor after all — it's more modern as opposed to things like waltzing, but it isn’t 'dance music’). Again, I'll send excerpts of me working things out in that style if necessary.

Tango – very showman-like, quite jazzy (think the music of his intro). An excerpt of You Bet Your Life, his solo, has been made and will be posted shortly.

Bdubs – similar to Tango, an excerpt of his song will be posted – it's in a similar style but not as jazzy. I imagine him to be quite loud and vocally powerful.

Scar – I imagine his parts as having an atmosphere quite similar to Jack’s Lament from The Nightmare before Christmas – and to a lot of Jack's songs, actually.

Joel – VERY unhinged. Though I don't imagine the voices being too similar, I imagine the atmosphere of his parts being quite similar to The World Has Gone Insane from the 1994 concept version of Jekyll and Hyde the musical.

Jimmy – this isn't set in stone, but I imagine his song (about being worried about dying first again) being quite similar to the atmosphere of the first 35 seconds of Waiting In The Wings (Reprise) from Tangled: The Series

Cleo – their solo is Die For Me, so you can rewatch the scene to get the atmosphere (her episode 5 – not sure about the exact timestamp). Again, I'll try to send excerpts of me working out things in that style, but note that I don’t have it pinned down as much the others.

Voice chart

Notes about the chart before you see it:

THIS IS NOT SET IN STONE. This is what the characters sound like in my head right now, with no reference points. Though it may stay like this, it can and probably will change based on who I hear – this has already happened with one character! So don't be afraid

Range-wise – I did put higher and lower there. HOWEVER, I can adjust the range as needed for each part. This is more to do with your voice sounding deeper or higher as opposed to actually being lower or higher – I can demonstrate this in a recording if necessary.

These are rough placements! Even if things do stay like this, there's a range of values each voice could be placed at – imagine a wide circle around every name.

In general, remember that though I have some ideas, I have not written most of it – I'm continuously working on it. There's always a possibility that things will change (although if you get a part

Something just occurred to me: so there's a likely possibility that the planetary alignments the 2000s Mermaids endured happened as well with the 50s Mermaids (minus the Comet Eva event, that's a bit different).

Now, obviously, we have no proof of that, but given since a majority of canon believes in the timeline that Gracie, Louise and Julia turned in 1955 and - upon Gracie giving up her tail - everything ended in 1957, that would imply that the planetary alignment responsible for weather powers happened in 1957 and the 50s mermaids received them (fair enough that it's not exactly 50 years apart since the 2000s mermaids turned in 2006 and got upgraded in 2007).

With that thought, it had me wondering about the group. It would be fair to imply that maybe Louise and Co. could've managed to avoid getting upgraded powers during their second year as mermaids. Cause let's be honest: The original powers are powerful but basic & controllable once mastered. With @juicenet's fanfiction giving me some inspiration, it's possible. But it also brings in some interesting ideas.

Gracie goes first. We don't know about her family life - as an only child or an older sibling like Cleo & Emma - but two sides of the narrative can be true. She may have not initially liked being a mermaid at first but she did slowly come to appreciate it for what it was. She was a mermaid for three years, between films and photos, she must have come to a reluctant acceptance. But let's imagine Gracie got her powers upgraded. She's turned into a mermaid unsuspectedly, she has to be careful around water and that includes any activities that her family may want to do, which follows by slowly distancing herself from them. The powers might have freaked her out, and even with her two best friends to share her burdens with, she's reluctant to use them and it's maybe weeks or months before she's come to accept her tail and powers. She can sprout a tail and control water - that's it, right? (Props too if she gets the locket around this time). Then comes along a Full Moon and she gets taken with it and the next day, she comes to find out she can control the air too (and given she's called a "free spirit", the discovery could've been unexpected - meant to control water but got air instead - or emotionally driven). So suddenly, this girl who's had a drastic, lifetime change that she had to adjust and grow into now has to deal with another magical power she needs to master and discover the difference between. Then, we can imagine the downfall that led to her choosing to give up her tail. Unlike her granddaughter and Cleo, she possibly hasn't managed to control & differentiate her two powers, then Max starts becoming intrusive with his experiments - following Lewis in S2 - and who knows if her relationship with her family got worse. It would be a telling narrative if Gracie's growing distance was due to feeling isolated and growing away from the group of friends she could turn to. Being a mermaid was just becoming too much and a major inconvenience for her. Once she gave up her tail, she may have missed her friendship and still thought about her past - otherwise, she wouldn't have told stories & left artwork for Charlotte - but because she made her choice, she was able to live without the restraint brought upon with being a mermaid.

Julia is someone whose life isn't explored compared to Louise and Gracie. But working with that, if she did have events mirrored Rikki in S1 - after the Pier incident, if she indeed tried to boil him alive or destroy his property - moonstruck or not - I can see it. Ammunition for Louise to not be completely wrong for seeing Rikki in Julia. Even with the proof destroyed, Karl knew the Secret was bound to come back on her and her friends at some point. Now, let's say she got Pyrokinesis and Electrokinesis the next year. Did she discover her new powers when she simply intended to use her basic heating abilities or was it in emotional turmoil? What was her personal & family life like at that point? Did she struggle controlling her powers or did she manage to grasp them in time?

Louise Chatham is the last remaining of the 50s Mermaids. The first to meet the next generation of mermaids as well as the last one alive. She's the one who tells the story of her friends becoming mermaids and starts the reunification of the lockets Max made for them. Without knowing much of her personal history, Louise did move on & marry yet didn't leave a legacy like Gracie. Yet, she was somehow aware that a new group of mermaids had formed and where to find them, coming off as a mystique guide and using her past - a time she never truly gained closure from - to ensure the mistakes of before didn't befall Emma, Cleo, and Rikki. Like the collective, it's agreed that she had the basic ice powers as well as saved someone from drowning, making her an effective counterpart to Emma. And yet, there's the ever-present mystery of how she gave up being a mermaid & when it happened. So let's take cues from Emma, say Louise had a perfectly, full family unit. Was she the first to discover her powers or the last? Did she discover her powers by accident or was she quick to guess? Was she competitive or was she easy-going? Is there a reason she doesn't trust ocean perch that might relate to her time as a mermaid? Was she straight or a closet lesbian like the fandom seems to think? She'd been a mermaid for two years, and likely was the most accepting of her powers, so what must it have been like in 1957 to receive Cryokinesis? Was it the most convenient power or was it harder to control?

With these three possibilities to consider, with the Moon of Fifty Years right around the corner, I think there's still more to illustrate regarding the personal lives of the 50s Mermaids.

(Whether Louise and Julia were in love is openly subjective or whether liberties were taken and Gracie perhaps wasn't the only one to gain from giving up her tail - a narrative will always have more to tell if you just look.)