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#that bit about the shadow curse applies in my mind because as is based in implication
ride-a-dromedary · 7 months
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You're not a doppelganger, are you? Trying to study me, learn all my secrets so you can take my place?
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ragingbookdragon · 3 years
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Of Nights So Hollow, Of Legends So Great
Night Culture AU!Batfamily One-Shot
Word Count: 1.8K Warnings: Angst, Uh..Scary? I guess?
Author's Note: This is based on the wonderful @bunnvoid Night Culture AU and I felt compelled to write this at midnight because I couldn't stop thinking about it. Bunn, I hope I did your ideas justice! Honestly, I keep going back and forth between the drawings to make sure! I had fun writing it! -Thorne
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It was said that at the heart of every legend there was a grain of truth. Legends are just pieces of history fabricated beyond wildest belief, built upon by centuries of retelling, each story sewing a new thread into the tapestry from whence it came. But that’s all that legends are. Threads twined together, woven greater and farther than the original fable.
***
The old castle was a legend. Perhaps not the castle itself, but what supposedly resided inside. Supernatural creatures that skirted down cobblestone alleys and between taverns, seeking out fresh blood in the night. That was one form of the legend, if you believed it. The other form was that of creatures who skirted down cobblestone alleys and between taverns, seeking out evil and destroying it where it plagued innocence.
The chateau lied in the midst of the Devilwood Wilds, just outside the City of Old Gotham. Even during the days when the sun would peek through the gray clouds, it appeared gloomy, blackened stone walls, charred shingles and shutters. The giant Devilwood and Shadow trees prevented sight of the doors of the castle; only the top could be seen, to get the real view, one would’ve had to go into the forest. There was another legend: the horrors of the Wilds.
Whispers on the school-grounds told of a creature, big and terrifying that could be summoned with ritual stones and fresh bat blood; those that summon the beast are never seen again. The adults were less convinced of the idea, though they still forbid their children from reaching even the edges of the forested area. Whilst they believed those that went in were never heard from again, it wasn’t from a creature eating them, but a lack of guidance. Starvation. Wild animals. The freezing fog that made your breath turn to frost.
Timothy remembers hearing those whispers when he passed the old schoolhouse. His mother and father didn’t let him interact with the common children, instead his lessons were taught by private tutors from the wealthiest lands, paid for with the Drake treasure of gold and gemstones.
What more so Timothy remembered was the inhuman being that appeared in his father’s manor, striking down his mother with a slash of black magic, his father following. He remembers the way his father’s eyes rolled back in his skull, fear spreading through his body as he hid in the corner of the room, whimpering and crying. And he most certainly remembered the cold hand of the demon sliding between his shoulder blades before it dug into his skin, piercing his flesh, laughing as he cried out in pain as pricks spread out along his back and down his arms.
Warmth bled down his back as black feathers pushed from his skin and Timothy panted as his fingernails grew in length, sharpening as they darkened. He remembered scrambling to his feet, darting away from the creature as he ran. Forgetting the corpses of his family and staff around him, throwing the door open, bursting into the night, and sprinting down the street, leaving a trail of bloody, black feathers in the direction of the Devilwood Wilds.
***
The first night was the least remembered but the darkest. Violent and corrupting nightmares slithering inside his head as he tossed and turned along the frigid ground in a feverish deathlike state, the wings at his back only growing in size.
The second night was less nightmare-ridden, but much more painful. Timothy had pierced a wing on a stray Devilwood tree, the syrup like poison only infecting the wound. He was hungry and cold. Exhausted and scared. He tried to remember all the books he read as a child of the knights facing the elements for a week in order to ascend knighthood; he couldn’t seem to recall a thing.
The third night seemed to be his last. He lay huddled up against a raised Shadow tree root, the ebony wood providing stability for his wounded wing. Timothy sniffled, dragging his knees to his chest as he lay his chin on his arms, ignoring the grumbling of his stomach as it ate itself in hunger.
A tree branch creaked above him, and he craned his neck up, eyes widening when he saw the glowing eyes of the masked creature. The legends were right. The creature’s head twisted sideways, reminding Timothy of an owl, then the other way, like it was observing him. It made a noise and he scrambled to the floor of the forest, curling his injured wing above his head and over his body to protect himself.
THUNK!
Timothy whimpered, ready to be torn to shreds, but when no vicious claws or snapping teeth came at him, he carefully peered between his open wing. There lie a satchel, as long as his forearm and as wide as his middle was. He looked up towards the tree branch to where the creature had sat, but there was nothing there anymore; he glanced around, it wasn’t in sight.
He blinked and shuffled towards the satchel, untying the drawstrings with fumbling clawed hands. Inside lay a pair of thick wool socks, a small blanket, and another small bag. Timothy pulled it from the satchel and opened it; half a loaf of bread and a chunk of meat the size of his hand were stowed inside.
Timothy forewent the etiquette he was taught as a child, giving into his ravenous desire as he devoured the meat. It was tender and juicy, the glaze a mixture of honey and cinnamon.
A memory flowed to his mind, the dinner after the rising of the first star, his family and staff all surrounding the dining table, a divine feast laid before them. The smiling faces of his mother and father stilled his hunger and he placed the food back in the satchel, uncurling the wool blanket. Timothy lay underneath the raised Shadow tree roots, one wing curled around him, and he fell into a restless sleep with tears frozen on his cheeks.
***
When he awoke the next morning, his wing was no longer torn and infected. A new feather had appeared where the wound had been. Timothy wanted to learn to fly. He’d owned a bird once. A Ruby Firebird, with long, crimson-colored feathers and big ruby eyes. It had been his only real friend and he’d watched it a lot. It couldn’t be that hard.
He stretched his wings out, unable to fight the urge to touch them with a single black claw. It tingled. Timothy blinked and beat them, unsure. He beat them again, this time a little harder, keeping at it until with each beat he was able to blow the long grass flat against the ground. A giddy smile came across his lips when the tips of his toes grazed the ground.
What he had not counted on was how tired he was going to get after only a few brief minutes of trying. His wings felt sore. Timothy would try again tomorrow to rise above the tall grass.
***
The creature would appear at odd times during the night and Timothy had stopped feeling the cold fear in his gut when it did. It never came near him; it just watched with the cocked head, back and forth, then would drop the satchel again and disappear. Sometimes there were scribbles inside. He didn’t know what they meant; but he knew the language. Thaatisgani. An old language his writing teacher had shown him one day. A language long died out amongst the common and even the elite folk.
Timothy wanted to know what it meant. He wanted to know what the creature was. His determination drew him to the front of the castle during the night of the harshest season storm. Lighting crackled across the sky, the thunder rolled along the clouds and the rain came down in torrents. He was freezing and soaked to the bone and the weight of his wings had him crawling up the steps, collapsing at the door.
He weakly raised a clawed hand, one nail scratching the black glazed door and he descended into darkness.
***
His mother liked to wear scented oils. They smelled of Queen’s Briar and Golden Belladonna. Before he was older, she used to let Timothy sit beside her when she would apply them to her wrist and ears. She would smile at him and tell him stories of far away lands.
Warmth spread across his eyes, and he rolled over in what he thought was his dream, only to roll onto the ground, landing awkwardly on his wings. Timothy whined and unfolded himself off the ground, rubbing his eyes, only to see the creature a hair’s breadth away from his face.
Timothy choked on his fear and scrambled away, only for the creature to grab his shoulder.
“Stay.”
He halted, looking back at it. “You speak the common tongue?”
The creature stared at him. “You are Timothy Drake. Son of Earl Drake.”
“I am,” Timothy responded, then looked at his hands. “But my family is…is dead.”
“Killed by a slithering demon from the Farstead realm.”
Tears prickled Timothy’s vision. “It killed my parents and cursed me.” He looked at the creature. “I’m a monster.”
“You’re cursed to believe what you think you are.” The creature waved a glowing hand and Timothy blinked in shock as the wings disappeared and his hands turned to normal. “It’s merely an illusion. You’ve only been tainted with cursed magic.”
It was much too complicated for Timothy to pull apart now. “Can I be healed?”
The creature blinked its glowing obs. “Cursed magic cannot be healed…but it can be trained.” They leaned forward, getting in his face. “I can teach you to control and transform.”
“You’re not going to eat me?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
“…Yes.”
“You hesitated just a bit right there.”
A bottle rolled out from the corner of the room and the creature sighed, turning its head to it. “Richard. Jason. Come here.”
Two young boys, not that much older than Timothy appeared from behind a corner, guilty looks on their faces as though they’d been caught eavesdropping.
The creature nodded to Timothy. “Take him upstairs. He is dirty and tired.”
The tallest one, Jason, crossed his arms over his chest. “Just like that, Bruce? You’re going to take the witch boy in?”
“Pot-kettle,” Richard coughed, smiling when Jason elbowed him.
The creature, now known as Bruce, sighed. “Take the boy. He is tired.”
Jason and Richard obeyed, each hauling Timothy up under the armpits, leading him to a dimly lit staircase.
“Are you two going to eat me?”
“Yes,” Jason replied without hesitation.
“Jason!” Richard barked. “Stop.” He looked down at Timothy. “We’re not going to eat you Timothy…we’re going to help you. And that includes having a warm bed to sleep in and hot food to eat.”
Tears once again gathered in Timothy’s eyes, and he lowered his head as he sniffled. For once since that night, he felt safe.
These were the legends that prowled the city streets. They were supposed to be vicious and dark, evil and bloodthirsty, not ribbing and warm.
But then again, what are legends, but threads twined together, woven greater and farther than the original fable?
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sketching-shark · 3 years
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LMK fandom: Oh, what do we do about this guy who has nothing but hurt Xiaotian, tried to replace Sun Wukong and his crew, hurt Tripitaka and ordered servants to cannibalize a monkey? Oh I know! We’ll turn him into our little meow meow~ he’s so innocent and Sun Wukong is obviously the villain!
What doesn’t help is this idea is perpetuated by multiple fan fic writers and artists for some reason. Especially some aus they make that turn SWK into a bastard for the sake of the story rather than considering cultural context and thinking they should be respectful.
And almost everyone lets them get away with it just because the art or fanfic is good and they get so popular that no one can point what is actually wrong without feeling like they’re going to get attacked.
I'm starting to feel like my blog is the one anons go to specifically to vent their frustrations about the Six Eared Macaque in his lego monkey show form & the associated fandom lmao. But I guess this makes sense, as I’ve had fun quasi-dragging him before & will in fact use this anon submission as an opportunity to have my own, to put it academically, bitch fest about not just this fandom's favorite protagonist-traumatizing meow meow, but about the way villains are often treated in not just fanon, but increasingly in canon works as well. But same policy as with the last anon; I'll post my opinions below the cut, and as fandoms love to say, don’t like don't read if you don't want to see me dunking on the six eared simian & common fandom tendencies towards villains.
Oh man I would say where would you even begin with this but anon you’ve pretty much started yourself with my main gripe with a lot of ways that the Six-Eared Macaque is portrayed in fandom; there seems to be this unspoken agreement that his acts of violence towards Sun Wukong, Qi Xioatian, and Qi Xioatian’s loved ones are either to be framed as somewhat or totally justified, to be immediately forgiven/excused, or to simply & completely be ignored. Like friends maybe this is just me not seeing the proper posts but while the fandom is inundated with art and fanfics of Macaque as a generally decent individual & a true member of team good guy, I have yet to see one person address the fact that this monkey literally kidnapped & mind-controlled Xiaotian’s best friend and father figures & forced them to brutalize Xiaotian while ol’ Six Ear looked on and laughed (X_X). Like this kind of fandom villain treatment is definitely not something that’s solely at work for Monkie Kid, but it is kind of nutty how fandoms will swing between yelling that people should be allowed to like villains without even mild critique, and then will just flat-out not address the villainous behavior, and will even bend over backwards to frame even characters who committed genocide as just poor innocent widdle victims who need a hug. At its worst, I’ve even seen tons of people in a fandom get really angry at other people who don’t like a villain, and will even start accusing those people of hating real-life mentally disabled or abused individuals all because they don’t like the fandom’s favorite literal war criminal. The Monkie Kid fandom is FAR more chill & better than a lot of other fandoms I’ve come across in that regard, but that is an exceedingly low bar, & the tendency to woobify certain kinds of villains-- as with Macaque and the extreme emphasis on his bad boy/sad boy thing--is very much at work.  
 I’ve also talked before about a kind of monoculturalization of certain character interpretations and story beats in fandoms, and one of the more popular ones that seems to be applied to Macaque a lot is the “hero actually bad, villain actually good” cliche, as observable from the general fandom assumption that Mr. Six-Ears he wasn’t even slightly lying or remembering things through a rose-tinted or skewed lens when he gave his version of his and Sun Wukong’s past. Like at this point it seems the possibility that people WILL NOT even consider is that Sun Wukong never did & still doesn't care that much about the Six Eared Macaque (in JTTW they weren’t sworn brothers & in Monkie Kid the only thing the monkey king really said to Macaque before attacking him was a pretty contemptuous "Aren't you ever going to get sick of living under my shadow?," & responds to his "beloved friend" getting blown up with "You did good, bud" to Qi Xiaotian, who did the exploding), or that their original fight may in fact have mostly been instigated by Macaque. After all, to repeat what this anon summarized & what I've said before about their original JTTW context (& in an example of the things that do feel like it's often lost in translation) is that the Six Ear Macaque was a villain not just because he beat up the Tang Monk, but because he wanted to take over Sun Wukong's entire life and identity so he could have all that glory, prestige, and power for himself. To quote the macaque himself from the Anthony C. Yu translation, "I struck the T'ang monk and I took the luggage...precisely because I want to go to the West all by myself to ask Buddha for the scriptures. When I deliver them to the Land of the East, it will be my success and no one else's. Those people of the South Jambudvipa Continent will honor me then as their patriarch and my fame will last for all posterity." And in order to do this, the Six Eared Macaque had apparently made Sun Wukong's "little ones," his monkey family, his captives through either trickery or force, and gotten a number of them to take on the appearance of Tang Sanzang and the other pilgrims. It's also made clear that in very direct contrast to Sun Wukong, he doesn't care about these monkeys beyond how they might serve him. In fact, after Sha Wujing kills the monkey posing as him the Six Eared Macaque not only all but immediately replaces him with another, but also "told his little ones to have the dead monkey skinned. Then his meat was taken to be fried and served as food along with coconut and grape wines." So this monkey is not only willing to risk the lives of a lot of other monkeys for his own personal benefit, but is also a literal cannibal. And yes yes, I know a lot of people have argued that Monkie Kid shouldn't be considered a direct sequel to JTTW & that's fair enough (for example, Sun Wukong probably shouldn't be smashing anyone into a meat patty in a children's cartoon lol). And of course, it needs to be noted that there are a buttload of really out there & really cursed pieces of media based on JTTW & that were created in China. Yet the above description is the oft-ignored in the west original facet of the Six Eared Macaque's character. And it is this selfishness, entitlement, and treatment of other individuals as tools for his own self-serving ends  that is, from where I’m standing, still very much present in Monkie Kid. Like besides repeatedly going out of his way to physically and psychologically traumatize Xioatian, with the last episode Macaque seemed to be going right back to his manipulative ways. I’ve seen people frame their last conversation as Macaque softening to Xioatian a little bit, but personally that read a lot more like that common tactic among abusers where even after they’ve hurt you they’ll dangle something you want or need over your head (in Macaque’s case, the promise of desperately needed training and information about a serious looming threat), with the implication that you’ll only get it if you do what they want you to, such as, in this case, Xioatian going back to Macaque as his student even after having been so terribly hurt by this monkey, which would give Macaque power over Xiaotian and probably Sun Wukong as a result. And it is this violence and manipulation that it seems the fandom at large has tacitly decided shouldn’t even be addressed, instead leaning more towards a (and this is an exaggeration) “Six-Eared Macaque my poor meow meow Sun Wukong has always been bad & has always been wrong about literally everything” reading. 
And while it is the case that I am not Chinese and feel that as such it would be best left to someone who actually comes from that background to provide more context into how common interpretations of the Six Eared Macaque from China may clash really badly with the stuff the western fandom creates, it also must be noted that, as much as we all want to have fun in fandom & in spite of all the out-there versions of JTTW from China, we westerners should recognize that there is a very long and very ugly history of western countries stripping other cultures’ important religious and literary works for parts & mashing them into their own thing while implying or even insisting that what they present provides a true understanding of the original piece. And while I trust most individuals in regards to Monkie Kid are able to step back and think “this is a lego cartoon and not a set guide for how I should understand JTTW” (especially given the insistence that JTTW and Monkie Kid should be considered there own separate works) there does nevertheless seem to be something of a tendency to take the conclusions people come to, for example, about Sun Wukong’s characteristic in his lego form & then assume that’s just reflective to Sun Wukong as a totality. I imagine a good portion of this is due to people not reading JTTW & especially to not having easy access to solid information or answers about JTTW’s many different facets (like geez awhile ago I was trying to get a clear answer on what is considered the most accurate translation of the names of Sun Wukong’s six sworn brothers & got like 5 different responses lmao), but that tendency to take a western fandom interpretation & run with it instead of doing any background research or questioning said interpretation is still very much at play. As such, & as made prominent in the way people have been interpreting the dynamic between Sun Wukong and the Six Eared Macaque in the lego monkey show, tbh it does seem kind of shitty for western creators & audience to sometimes go really out of their way to ignore all of this original cultural & narrative context for the sake of Angst (TM) in Macaque's favor, demonizing Sun Wukong, and shipping the monkey king with his evil twin (X_X).
And speaking of which, even beyond the potential inherent creepiness & revulsion that can be inspired by this specific ship given common interpretations of the og classic's original meaning (again, it's my understanding, given both summaries of translated Chinese academic texts I've been kindly provided with, my own reading of the Anthony C. Yu translation of JTTW, & vents from a number of Chinese people I've seen on this site, that the Six-Eared Macaque is commonly interpreted in China as having originated from Sun Wukong himself as a living embodiment of his worst traits, hence why only Buddha can tell the difference between them & why the monkey king is much more slow to violence after he kills the macaque), I'd argue that in the face of all the uwu poor widdle meow meow portrayals lego show Macaque is, especially if you include JTTW's events, still in the role of “Sun Wukong but worse” as he is very much a violent & selfish creep. Like he was basically running around in JTTW wearing a Sun Wukong fursuit, but there he had the sole reason of wanting to replace Sun Wukong wholesale so he could have all the good things in the monkey king's life without actually having to work as hard for them. But if you combine that with Macaque now claiming that he used to be best friend with Sun Wukong in his pre-journey days (something that's made funny from a JTTW context given that that status actually belongs to the Demon Bull King lol), his original violence has now blown into this centuries long and really unhealthy obsession with the monkey king. Like he's apparently gone from wanting to literally be Sun Wukong to being so obsessed with getting revenge on Sun Wukong that he's got basically nothing else going on in his life. Like he's only appeared in two episodes but...does he have any friends? Any family? A career or even a hobby that DOESN'T center the monkey king? Anything at all outside of his "get revenge on and/or kill Sun Wukong/use his successor as my personal punching bag” thing? Like dude! That is extremely creepy and extremely bad for everyone all around! As I’ve said before, this seeming refusal to see beyond the past or to do something that doesn’t involve Sun Wukong in some capacity is a trait that makes Macaque an interesting and somewhat tragic villain--he even seems to be working as Sun Wukong’s reflection in a mirror darkly, with lego show Sun Wukong pretty clearly not being able to heal from his own past which is hinted to be defined by one loss after another, and with Monkie Kid even kind of having these two characters somewhat follow their JTTW characterizations in that in the latter half of the journey Sun Wukong often gets sad & starts crying in the face of what seems insurmountable odds (& Monkie Kid Sun Wukong does seem to be hiding some serious depression behind a cheerful facade), whereas the Six-Eared Macaque retains a worse version of Sun Wukong’s pre-journey characteristic of getting pissed and lashing out if things don’t go his way--but it’s also what would make any current friendship or romantic relationship between these monkeys horrific. Although to be fair even the fandom seems to recognize this in an unconscious way, in that a lot of the art & fanfic seems to swing erratically between them kissing & screaming at each other in yet another example of bog-standard fandom adulation of romanticized toxic relationships lol.  
At the end of the day, of course, this is nothing new. You'll find versions of this dynamic across a ton of fandoms and now even canonical work. And as such, I can only look at this kind of popularized relationship dynamic with a kind of resigned weariness whenever it pops up, & my frustrated question with the popularity of this kind of pairing is the exact same one that I have for a multitude of blatantly toxic villain/hero ships, given common fandom discourse & the tendency to either ignore or justify the villain's actions & demonize the hero: if you're THAT convinced that everything is the hero's fault, if you believe THAT much that the hero is the one in the wrong for the villain's pain and their subsequent actions, then why are you so set on them not only becoming a romantic pair, but framing this get-together as a good thing? Like I know we contain multitudes but that's waaay too many contradictions for me to wrap my head around. And it definitely doesn’t help that one branch of underlying reasoning behind this kind of pairing seems to be the ever-present “you break it, you fix it” mentality, where the assumption is that if you’re in a failing, abusive, and/or generally toxic relationship (platonically or romantically), if you put in enough time and effort & attempts to compromise, you’ll be able to restore/have the relationship you dreamed of, even with someone who hurt you really badly. And this assumption isn’t limited to fandom: I’d even argue that it’s everywhere in the culture, hence why a lot of people feel like they “failed” if they have to get a divorce or make the choice to leave an unhealthy friendship. Personally, I feel like people could really benefit from more stories about how it is not only the case that the people you hurt don’t owe you their forgiveness & you can still become a better and happier person without the one you hurt in your life, & that while it can be really hard it can also be a good thing to leave a relationship, even if it’s one that once meant a lot to you. 
  But in all honestly, from my own perspective this kind of pairing is starting to read far less like enemies to lovers and far more like a horrible fantasy where you can pull whatever shit you want, even on the people you "love," & never be held accountable for your terrible behavior or even have to consider that maybe you were in the wrong. It's another facet that makes me larf every time I see people insist that fandom is an inherently "transformative" or "progressive" form of storytelling like friends you are literally just taking status quo toxic monogamy & rebranding it as somehow beneficial & romantic (X_X).
But as to anon’s last frustration, it is hard to know what is the appropriate response with this kind of thing...like for my own part I’m keeping my frustrations to my blog & now increasingly to posts that you would have to click on the “read more” button to see what I have to say, but I totally get the hesitation to give even a mild critique to big names in a fandom. Like I've now seen it happen repeatedly where someone who has a big name in a fandom will make something that's kind of shitty for one reason or another, someone will message them with some version of "hey, that's kind of shitty, you shouldn't do that," and the typical response is either to blatantly ignore the issue completely, or more popularly to make a giant crying circus that seems deliberately geared towards stoking emotions on both sides of the, for example, fiction does/doesn't affect reality issue so that something that didn't even have to be that big a deal gets blown out of all proportion, with the big name often framing what often started out as a very mild critique into a long crying jag about how the initial response to their kind of shitty thing was so mean/cruel and they're just a poor innocent & that YOU'RE the true racist/sexist/bigot etc. if you don't agree with their opinion. It must of course be noted that there have also been numerous instances of people taking it too far the other way & sending not just big names but smaller creators literal deaths threats over stuff like innocuous ships which like holy hell bells people that’s a horrible thing to do. But for the big names at least, the end result of all this fighting is usually that once the dust has settled they have more attention/fame/money/power in the fandom than before, and with anyone who might have a problem with their stuff feeling afraid to voice their opinion lest they be swarmed by that person's fans. In that way fandom does often seem to increasingly be geared towards presenting an “official” fandom perspective about various facets of a piece of media instead of allowing for a multitude of interpretations, and with criticism, no matter its shape or form or how genuinely warranted it may be, being hounded out of existence. I feel like a lot of this could be made less bad if there wasn’t this constant assumption & even drive to think that a different interpretation of or criticism of your favorite work of fiction or your fanwork isn’t a direct claim that you are a thoroughly loathsome individual (& maybe also if people cultivated an enjoyment of learning things about important works from a culture outside their own, even if what you learn clashes with your own initial understandings), but I guess we’ll see if that ever happens. 
So these are my general thinks about the Six Eared Macaque’s current fandom meow meow status & some of my bigger gripes with fandom tendencies as a whole. I stand by my idea that the most interesting & beneficial route for Macaque moving forward would be a kind of “redemption without forgiveness from the ones you hurt” arc--as I think was done pretty excellently with the character Grace in Infinity Train--and if for no other reason than gosh dern this monkey really needs to cultivate some sort of identity beyond his “Sun Wukong but worse” persona. 
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meanautisticenbian · 3 years
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Lilith Clawthorne has Borderline Personality Disorder: an essay
Content warnings: mentions of abuse, cults, and self harm
I don't have much of an intro but I need to get some things out of the way. 
First off, this is an essay that I made mostly for fun and because I feel like more people need to hear about this. I am not excusing Lilith's actions in any way, though hopefully this may explain some of them. 
Secondly, as you might know I have BPD myself. I'm self diagnosed yes, but I still have enough symptoms. I see a lot of myself in Lilith, as well as several traits, and I hope that this essay will be informative.
With all that being said, let's get into the analysis starting with the symptoms that are only hinted at. One of the hallmarks of Borderline Personality Disorder is an intense fear of abandonment, which Lilith seems to display disgusted as her desire to cure Eda's curse. If it's not clear enough, Eda's really the only thing Lilith cares about, which makes sense since she's clearly the only thing she has. We know that she isn't super close to Amity, despite what fans want to believe, we don't know if she's formed any positive relationships with anyone in the Emperor's Coven and it would say a lot of she didn't. With all that in mind, she is clearly very close to Eda and whenever she tries to get away from her, Lilith is always either pissed off or saddened. Sure, this could just be because she wants to heal Eda's curse and is most likely being punished by Belos, and that's why this is listed as something that's hinted at. Then again, Catra from She Ra is BPD coded as well and she mostly wanted to bring Adora back to the Horde because Shadow Weaver wanted her and was an abusive piece of shit, but it was pretty obvious that she also just wanted her crush and only friend back, so I don't see how this can't be applied to Lilith as well.
Lilith seems to have a black–and–white view on the people around her and maybe even herself. Whenever Eda escapes her, she suddenly flips from being loving and caring to her and really acting like she cares about her to treating her like she just pissed on her waffles. Her way of viewing other people (mostly Eda) is another symptom of BPD, being a black–and–white view on everything and rapid changes in self image and views of everyone else. One moment she views Eda as a beautiful and loving sister, the next she's just an old woman slowing her down. One moment Belos is a trustworthy leader, next he's a monstrous tyrant. One moment Luz is an annoying child she can use as bait, next she's her only hope in saving Eda.
She seems to harbor some of these feelings to herself as well. One moment she acts like she's fully aware of the baddie she is, and next she seems to hate herself. Another valid explanation is that this could also be viewed as her hiding her insecurities since she is clearly one to hold back those emotions and she only ever seems to let Eda see this side of her (save for Luz in the season 1 finale) but this is still a common BPD trait that seems to fit her so it would make sense.
Now let's move on to the more explicit symptoms. If it's not obvious enough, Lilith has some major anger issues. She was ready to kill Eda after she did as much as annoy her in Covention and tell her how worthless her life is after she (actually Luz) escapes her in Once Upon a Swamp. It was certainly reasonable for her to be upset about Luz accidentally blowing up the side of a building, but she had a worse outburst over her sister rhyming.
Now we move on to what I think is her most obvious trait: her impulsiveness. Like I said before, Lilith tends to have sudden violent outbursts and act without thinking. It doesn't excuse anything she's done but it certainly does explain a LOT.
It could be a possible explanation for why her first instinct was to use Luz as a human shield while she was fighting Eda and threw Luz off a cliff in order to get Eda to use all her magic instead of making a new bubble for Luz or doing literally anything that WOULDN'T harm Luz. This could maybe (key word) also provide an explanation for why she cursed Eda instead of going and talking to her (assuming she didn't), but her disorder seems to stem more from trauma than it does genetics, both of which are ways BPD can manifest.
Mood swings are another symptom she definitely has, but that can easily be paired with the point about her changes in self image and how she views others, as well as the points about her anger and impulsivity, so I won't go into detail about that.
Depression, guilt, and ongoing feelings of emptiness are obvious traits that don't need much explaining.
The last major trait wanna bring up is self harm and self destructive and suicidal behavior. I couldn't really find any point in which she showed any suicidal tendencies or urges to hurt herself and it is most likely that she won't be showing those traits at any point in the future, though I do believe it is possible that the show may depict self destructive behaviors in her. Obviously, she wouldn't be shown cutting or burning herself, but maybe it could be displayed in a more PG fashion such as her not taking proper care of herself or having risky behaviors.
There are nine main traits of BPD and one needs to have at least five of them to get a diagnosis. Lilith seems to exhibit six and possibly seven of these traits. I could end it here by saying that Lilith definitely has BPD and needs a hug, but we're not done yet.
Despite what most people might say about borderline people and how we're depicted, we're more likely to be victims of abuse than we are abusers. Most of the time the trauma from the abuse is the cause of the disorder, for those who don't inherit it. Many people with the disorder have claimed to have been physically, sexually, psychologically or emotionally abused or neglected during their lifetime. We don't know the exact details of Lilith's time in the coven or what it was like for her, all we know is that it was basically a cult and she definitely experienced some form of abuse. We know that emotional and psychological abuse were definitely present in her and Belos's relationship, and there is definitely a possibility that there was some physical abuse as well. As for neglect, there isn't really anything that can support the claim even if it seems plausible, and logically speaking, she most likely wasn't sexually abused simply just because this is a family show, so unless Disney is ok with Dana going THERE, that one's a little too far out of the realm of possibility.
So, where does that leave us? Well if I'm being honest, she definitely seems to have a case of untreated and probably undiagnosed BPD caused by a series of traumatic events. And the thing is, she's only in 6/19 episodes in the series so far, and we've probably only really seen the tip of the iceberg. She could have a lot more going on with her that we will definitely see in season 2, I highly doubt she won't.
Lilith is definitely BPD coded, and whether the rep is intentional or not, it's still something I can consider good rep. It's super rare that you find borderline characters in the media that are not abusers, manipulators, or terrible, irredeemable people in general. Lilith is not a bad person whatsoever, and even if she's not much of a good person either, she's not irredeemable. She certainly has a long way to go, but with proper guidance and psychological help, she will get there eventually.
I would like to finish this off by saying I'm not trying to excuse or condone her actions, I am simply addressing how it's possible for her to be borderline, based on what screen time she has and my own experiences. I just want to express my appreciation for what rep we have, as well as analyzing her character a bit.
Thank you all for reading
- Sunny
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ghostwaffleheimer · 3 years
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What is this, me giving background characters actual personalities? No way. I tried applying some tarot symbolism and assigned each character a card based on looking up what they meant and some bits that stood out to me, but I’m not involved in the tarot so don’t read too much into it I suppose.
[read more below bc there’s a lot of story; also content warning for Oakclaw generally being an abusive piece of shit.]
Oakclaw sort of always had this vibe of being a more “traditionalist” and antagonistic character. Basically, Tigerstar. He was always sort of suspicious of Emberdusk, and didn’t like that outsiders such as he and Windsong were welcomed into the clan. It makes more sense now with the lore of quarry cats believing those born in the forest are cursed by Barkstar.
Ahh, Barkstar. Speaking of her, Oakclaw was her biggest supporter, and in fact they’re actually kin. She always wanted things to be more like the old clans, with a stricter adherence to the warrior code and all its aggressive territorialism, closed-minded ideologies, and total loyalty to the leader and StarClan. To her, the old clans fell apart because they lost sight of that, when in fact the opposite was true. When a separate group of cats decided to inhabit the nearby cove, it was mistaken as a threat and war was waged. Many were killed, Barkstar herself included.
Oakclaw in all his self-absorption thinks he’s their last chance. He still feels anger and betrayal that Barkstar picked that runt to be next in line over him. It must’ve been a lapse in judgement. He peers over the other cats at gatherings, how awfully friendly they all are. If he was leader, he’d have driven out the cove cats and claimed their land. His eyes rest on one in particular: Sootear. His involvement with their medicine cat irritates him. Ryestar’s youngest has always been soft, just like his father. Though it was startling to see the look of absolute fury on Ryestar’s face and the threat to exile him for suggesting that Mallowcloud be punished (Oakclaw’s exact words were more extreme, not that he’d admit it).
It’s a wonder that a cat so passive and quiet would take to someone like him, but perhaps that’s why he likes Fawnspot: she won’t argue against his opinions. Whether or not she agrees with him, she won’t say. She’s more content to be a rule-abiding follower than try to come up with her own ideas. Fawnspot is stressed by the change in order, and frequently joins patrols and hunting parties because a part of her is afraid at the idea of having free time to just do... nothing. She doesn’t know what she even likes because she’s never stopped to ask herself that.
As a result, her three kits don’t have much of a relationship with her. Which, sadly, is better than what they have with their father. Oakclaw is varying degrees of disappointed with all his children, and by extension believes that their mentors are bad influences, unfit to teach them.
Foxpaw is the simplest case: he’s pretty ‘no thoughts, head empty’. He is surprisingly happy-go-lucky and doesn’t particularly care about his father’s goals, if he’s even aware of them. Oakclaw deems him lazy and a failure, and doesn’t even bother with him.
Where Oakclaw is Tigerstar, Hickorypaw is Brambleclaw... Well, the whole “cats assuming I’m like my dad because we look similar and having to step out from under his shadow” thing they had going on originally with him and then dropped the ball on, anyway. He’s a big soft fluffball who is kind out of pure spite, though he feels the most pressure from his father to challenge the current leadership in his stead. Oakclaw knows he’s not getting younger and that his chance has just about passed.
Creekpaw suffers from the same flaw as her mother: staying silent. She knows of her father’s disinterest towards her (but why? she’s done nothing to offend him) and is afraid to speak up for herself. Combined with her distant relationship with her detached mentor, she’s left confused and wondering what’s going on. Creekpaw takes the role of an observer, watching everything that goes on from the background, until certain events force her to take action. 
When Hickoryheart’s life is in sudden danger at his father’s claws, Creekwhisper may finally have to break her silence.
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stupid-stew · 3 years
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character names keep me alive, toh is my lifeblood.
i am literally obsessed and this show really does provide (i still have to add more smh my head dana terrace why do you do this to me jk i love it so much please never stop) COPY AND PASTED FROM DOC UNDER BREAK
NAMES INCLUDED:
FIRST NAME
LILITH
EDA
LUZ
KING
WILLOW
GUS
ASSORTED BLIGHTS
LAST NAME
BLIGHT
CLAWTHORNE
NOCEDA
PORTER
PARK
BUMP
MISCELLANEOUS
BELOS
HIERONYMUS AND BOSCHA
ADEGAST
HOOTY
OWLBERT
KIKIMORA
GWENDOLYN
RAYNE
NOTE EVERYTHING BEFORE GWENDOLYN AS OF 6/24/21 WRITTEN WITHOUT SEASON 2 KNOWLEDGE, TO BE REVISED, REVISIONS IN BOLD!
Hello and welcome to the ramblings of a mad man. Before we get into it I think you should note that I do write like I talk because I think like a talk and I write how I think, so if you are confused as to why it sounds like i’m not making sense its because I'm not making sense also my capitalization and punctuation suck so sorry about that but we don’t have time for technicalities in this house. TO ADVENTURE!
FIRST NAME
LILITH
EDA
LUZ
KING
WILLOW
GUS
ASSORTED BLIGHTS
LAST NAME
BLIGHT
CLAWTHORNE
NOCEDA
PORTER
PARK
BUMP
MISCELLANEOUS
BELOS
HIERONYMUS AND BOSCHA
ADEGAST
HOOTY
OWLBERT
KIKIMORA
GWENDOLYN
RAYNE
GILBERT
FIRST NAME
LILITH
Ok so because I'm lilith’s bitch we are gonna start with her because her name is so cool and I love her and we should be besties Lilith hmu. Anyways as most people know Lilith is a pre existing mythological character which makes this very much good because that means it’s all outlined. Most people know her as a demonic figure, which I very much dig but similar to our lovely queen of curses out here, that's not all she is. There isn’t going to be a chronological explanation of similarities and conclusions, cope. The basic gist is that Lilith was this chick with fiery red hair (this is important iykyk) who refused to be beneath or below adam, more specifically to subjugate to him, funny because of the tapestry with belos what says subjugation on it, probably a coincidence but I do not believe in coincidence right now. Anyways basically she runs off and becomes this chick who like snatches children and will make them sick if they don’t have an amulet with the names Senoy, Sansenoy, or Semangelof on them, thats a different story but what I find interesting is this one passage,
“(12) Her nobles shall be no more, nor shall kings be proclaimed there; all her princes are gone. (13) Her castles shall be overgrown with thorns, her fortresses with thistles and briers. She shall become an abode for jackals and a haunt for ostriches. (14) Wildcats shall meet with desert beasts, satyrs shall call to one another; There shall the Lilith repose, and find for herself a place to rest. (15) There the hoot owl shall nest and lay eggs, hatch them out and gather them in her shadow; There shall the kites assemble, none shall be missing its mate. (16) Look in the book of the LORD and read: No one of these shall be lacking, For the mouth of the LORD has ordered it, and His spirit shall gather them there. (17) It is He who casts the lot for them, and with His hands He marks off their shares of her; They shall possess her forever, and dwell there from generation to generation.”
And there are separate part of this that I find relevant, especially the description of the location, i’m not all that familiar with symbolism of animals in religious texts, so i’m gonna take it at face value and say that this is more or less a description that could be given to the physical owl house itself, sort of a place for people who don’t fit in, its a little messy and I guess one could say overgrown, but it’s a place for anyone, a place to rest now hopefully for Lilith away from the coven, there shall the Lilith repose. On top of that we see the “the hoot owl…” and you’re probably thinking what that so crazy wacko because like why are they referring to Lilith as the hoot owl isn't Eda the owl lady, yes she is. That’s why the actual meanings of lilith’s name that come from her mythological depiction as a demon lady are so important. We have night monster, night owl, night spectre, vampires, night hag, night creature, nightjar (which is another kind of bird), and night bird, all of these seem to fit lilith’s dark aesthetic very nicely which is very good for her, but there are two other ones, hot owl and screech owl, which draw her closer to Edaand away from the coven and her depiction in the mid-later episodes of the show as a monster for cursing eda, but also the name night monster could come into play if while sharing the curse Lilith acquired some of its traits, similar to Ed aas the owl beast. Ultimately, we have this little red head girl who eventually fights back against the men who are attempting to get her to be under them, for the character that is belos, for the other Lilith that is adam, god, and his angels, and now hopefully both of them will find solace and repose among the owls in a place they never thought they’d belong. All this talk of owls and god brings us into the other clawthorne baddie:
Lilith did find her repose! I love her staying in the owl house, get it queen oh yuh.
EDA
For this I'm going to use her full name edalyn, because you know like that’s just how it be it is her name. There isn’t a wiki page for her name like there is for Lilith which makes this a little bit harder but the general consensus seems to be that it means something along the lines of “gift of god”, which I find very interesting. If you are going to name a child gift of god i’m assuming that you are referring to the child themselves, but I don’t think that really applies to eda. I’m not religious, but its my impression that someone who lies, cheats, pranks, and steals their way to the top and isn’t exactly the most responsible witch on the isles and might not be the best gift god could give. I do really love Eda though, her character flaws are still a part of her character, but I think this refers to her powers. Eda considers herself to be the boiling isles gift to magic, which I mean like, have you seen the woman. In agony of a witch we see her at what probably 30% of her power with how much the curse was already tolling on her and how much magic she was probably using to fight it off, and like goddamn. She was almost beating lilith, definitely beating the shit out of her, but she was almost defeating Lilith who was at her full power, and that is just a fraction of what she used to be able to do. Her powers were a gift of god, and I think that the loss of them will greatly affect her. She’s already admitted that she doesn’t know how to do much without her magic, and I think going straight from the second most powerful witch on this isles to having no power at all is going to be incredibly taxing on her, physically and mentally.
Luckily for her the name edalyn also means patience, another thing about her name is that it not only means gift of god, but also similar things like gifted by the gods or even goddess, and this draws a connection to Lilith who is named after a demonic figure, casted out for having defied god, they are quite literally polar opposites on the name spectrum, and we see that a lot in the show, they are completely different people, I mean have you looked at them they don’t even look related, but the funnier thing is that their personalities do the same thing. You’d expect Edain her youth to be a gift from the devil, just ask principal bump, and Lilith seemed to be a goody two shoes who worked her ass off, their names could be switched based off their characters alone.
A random baby name site I found said that :
“Persons with the name edalyn are usually highly flexible and well equipped to making and accepting change throughout their life. They always seek excitement and are sometimes a bit of a risk taker. They are imaginative, and often, through their unconventional way of thinking, are naturally able to solve complex problems with ease. They are quick thinkers and observers who are clever, analytical and versatile”
Which I mean like very much applies to eda, she takes change like a champ, either genuinely or by pretending she’s ok with everything, and is always seeking excitement. Like literally all of the time. Always. I think she takes felonies as a compliment, and one of the biggest changes in her life that she genuinely was able to adapt to and appreciate was
OH MY GOD HER LEARNING THE NEW GLYPHS WAS SO CUUUUTTTEEE, I love her being able to adapt, she really is doing well. As the beginning of separate tides shows, she’s working around it, and is doing a damn good job, living up to her name.
LUZ
Ok I think at this point everyone knows that at this point the name Luz means light, and if you didn't, oopsies now you do. The character Luz was named and designed after a real life person the miss dana terrace knew at the time she was starting to really think about the show, Luz ’s personalty comes more from dana herself and we love that, but the character has really started to grow into her name. This is made most obvious when the first spell Luz learns is the light glyph, not only coming into her own as a witch, but also starting to live up to her name, which along with light also has to do with “Our Lady of Light”, which is the virgin mary, fitting her right in with the other biblical names we got going on here. I really want to stress that I know next to zero about religion, and all of the connections I am making come from wikipedia, so bare with me here. But most of the time mary seems to be this pure, saint like figure, which I think is what a lot of people see Luz as, especially on the isles. I’m going to flat out say that this is in no way meant to pass off Luz as simple minded, pure, or oblivious, because we have seen what that girl is willing to do, she faced death and poked him in the with an ice cicle. In terms of life on the isles, however, she is more or less pure and sheltered, she’s completely new to the world she’s in, but she does quickly adapt, and shows more of her strong side, and remains a good person throughout all of it, taking losses as they come, and not letting them remain losses at the same time.
Back to the whole light thing, we already touched on the whole literal bit of her and the light spell, but can you think of a better way to describe Luz ? She literally brings light everywhere she goes, even Eda admits that she’s changed things for the better, for everyone around her too. Willow got a new friend, probably the first friend she’s had in a long time, and even got to begin repairing her relationship with amity, and got placed in the plant track so she could do the things she loves, all because of Luz . Edagot to grow as a person and a mentor, and finally got someone willing to accept all her eda-ness, unconditionally, someone to really care about that really cares about her back, all because of Luz . Amity got a friend who cares about her, not just her family name and money, someone who supports her and will do anything for her because she is her friend, and a bit of self discovery along the way for amity, all because of Luz . Not a single person on the isles who has had more than 2 minutes of interaction with Luz hasn’t had their lives improved, even belos got his portal, and the thing is that even characters who people might not even consider changed have been, characters such as
Luz my beloved, she seems a little bit less of a light this season, and i do mean little. That’s totally fine though, it’s expected, i didn’t want her to just be this bright shining star after the events of the last two episodes of season 1, and appreciate her going and starting to take the fantasy of the isles with more than just a grain of salt. Obviously like in escaping expulsion, she’s still trying her best to make everything better and make friends with everyone, but there’s something a little different about it and i’m here for it tbh.
KING
The name king itself is obvious, he is royalty, the king of demoNS HIMSELF ASMODEUS hahahaha pulled a sneaky on you now accept my ideas as your own. I am on a mythological name kick, deal with it. The most important thing here is in the bible, asmodeus poses himself as a false god, which I know is something we have all considered with king, that he might be a full on liar, not be a king of anything and is just your ordinary street demon, it’s even come up in the show with him calling himself the king of artists and Luz asking him if he was just making it up at this point. It’s a good theory, I can see it, and this could be used as proof. There is also another legend that paints him as a good natured dude, who eventually banishes the king by literally throwing him, and then he loses his powers and is banished, but this is also the same legend where he marries Lilith and that is not something I am down for. There is another text in which he tells the king (the same one he threw in the other one) that his kingdom will one day be divided and the king does not believe him, and this is the same text where he admits to hating water and birds because they remind him of god. Lets think class, who has the god name and is related to birds here? King’s name by itself holds true to his character, who (regardless of if it is truthful or not) holds himself as if he is a king, and he isn't the only one with a name like that, there is also
WILLOW
Ok I know we all thought it, willow, the plant girl, how fiendishly clever. This also happens to be the only descriptor for her name I could find, which is totally fine because I think it’s a very cute name and willow is also very cute. This means we get to go into the symbolism of the willow tree wwwooooOOOOO aren’t you so very excited I know I am. Its kind of interesting, willow trees seem to match the character, understanding, warm, a safe space really, but most of all the ability to let go of pain and suffering, sometimes outright ignore it, and move on. Willow does always say out of sight out of mind does she not? She is willing to ignore, even excuse people bullying her, be it bosha or even amity, and the moment she got the chance her inner willow decided to try and literally burn the painful memories she had, willing to cause damage just to forget. Willow as a character is very willing to move on like nothing happened most of the time, key word most because another thing about willows is the ability to grow from the pain. Before understanding willow, we never really saw willow stand up for herself until she really had to, but hy the end of the episode she is willing to tell amity that she isn’t willing to fully forgive her, but she’s willing to grow and try. Heck, we see this over the entire first season, we see this little girl who can barely pull it together long enough to stand up for herself grow into this amazing character willing to publicly oppose the emperor and break into his castle for her friend, she tried to full out attack Lilith when 19 episodes earlier she wasn’t able to stand up to amity for bullying her. And I am in no way calling willow weak, she never was, she just needed to find the ability to show everyone that she’s strong, god I love willow so much, you wanna know who else loves willow?
GUS
Gus, my main man, love you but for this we are gonna have to use the full on augustus sorry babes. The name augustus means majestic, or venerable, which while I must say that the illusion of kiki doing the worm was probably one of the most majestic things I have ever seen, I’m going to focus on venerable a bit more here. Venerable is a big word, it means “accorded a great deal of respect, especially because of age, wisdom, or character.”, which for gus the age part might play a smaller part here, but he is good as what he does, Luz and willow both respect him, Eda Respects him, he’s this little dude who is younger than everyone and has to rely on his ability to succeed, not only with his power but with his personality. Gus seems to be confident in himself, communicating with everyone regardless of who they are or what power they hold, similarly to willow he was willing to do anything to help Luz , leading into the second description of venerable, “heroic in nature”. Now, you might be wondering, bestie where ever did you get that description, it totally wasn’t from a religious page okyesitwas but that's fine because being pronounced venerable guarantees a spot in heaven so get it bestie. Overall, the general meaning for augustus is that they are strong, respectable, and powerful, which takes us right into the
Gus, shawty, ily but please stop the obsession with death babes ur starting to scare me. I hope with the upcoming Gus content in TTLGR we will see more of him growing into his powers and such.
ASSORTED BLIGHTS
The blight first names bring me joy so I am putting amity last because I think its really funny, starting off with alador, the name alador evokes diplomacy, correctness, and confidence. We know zilch about alador, but if the vibes of the blight family have anything to say it’s definitely something along those lines. The name odalia means wealth, which I mean like have you seeeen blight manor? Also back at it again with the fact that it’s a variant of the name odilia, like the saint olilia which I don't have ties for you right now because again, we know nothing about her. Edric also means wealth, fortune, riches, powerful, you get the vibes, same thing with emira which means commander, or prince, princess, leader, or star. So you know like we have all these super powerful names happening, and then, oh boy and then we get to little miss perfect herself, amity blight. It means friendship, or harmony. If I was her I would be so mad at my parents like yall have these mad powerful names and I got stuck with friendship? Hand me the emancipation papers. You know what they say, friendship is the real magic (even if no longer taught in schools due to budget constraints). I hope that this leads more into season 2 with amity working on her friendships and ultimately her relationships in general, which we got a bit of already with her working on repairing her relationship with willow, and making the moves to cut off old toxic friendships and moving into more genuine ones with willow, Luz , and gus. I guess you could say that the only thing ALL the blights have in common with each other is their
They are rich assholes, alador is a little wacko, odalia is hot asf dana seriously what the hell man that was out of pocket. The only thing about alador that lives up to his name is his money, odalia seems more obsessed with image and money, and i too am obsessed with her image literally boy what the hell boy.
LAST NAME
BLIGHT
The word blight by itself means a plant disease which boy oh boy can you believe how nicely that fits into amity bullying willow because I sure can. Outside of just the plant bit it overall just means like something that damages another thing, and this works beautifully for each member of the family. The parents are damaging their children, the twins just causing general damage, and amity and her goddamn relationships, but fortunately that whole plant thing brings us into the next couple of last names
CLAWTHORNE
The last name clawthorne means “cold or exposed thorn tree” which had me kind of like what the heck so I went off and had some fun and got you some presents that I think are funny, so there was this guy right, his name was joseph clawthorne, and he created the term whiffenpoof, which is the name for a wildly fictitious animal, things like a jackalope, or even a griffin with spider breath, though I guess that would be the work of a
NOCEDA
Back again with the trees good lord, it means field of nut trees, so again I went into prominent people an found this guy named jorge noceda sanchez, he was a painter and some of his works are kinda baller actually it seems like something that would fit in on the isles, but also not all of the names have a deeper meanings, names like
PORTER
Ok I am like pretty sure this was just meant to be a play on the fact that gus’ dad’s name is perry and is a reporter, get it, perry porter, perry porter, reporter, but nonetheless I did some digging because why the heck not, it means doorkeeper, or gate keeper, someone who guards something like an important building, which honestly I think this would be a good last name for hooty if he ever gets one, but again not all of these are important names at the moment, or maybe they won't ever be at all, names like
PARK
At first I was kinda like l m a o willow park plant girl hahahahah plants in the park parks have trees willow is a tree but then I remembered that someone pointed out that park is a traditionally korean surname and then like a week later disney posted about it for aisian pacific american heritage month which kind of confirmed it, and I don’t know if the whole intention behind it was to establish willow as representation or not, but the surname park by itself means gourd and willow I am so sorry that is so unfortunate LMAOSIFN
BUMP
To be honest I was not expecting bump to have a last name that meant anything but it means swift walker and I think thats funny so you have to know it now
MISCELLANEOUS
BELOS
BIIIITCH LISTEN UPPPP there is a butt tone of mythology surrounding his name and its mostly a different form of it, belus, that is referenced, but same thing different shape. Most of his depiction is as a great king or ruler, in babylonian mythology being the equivalent of zeus of jupiter, which liiikkkkkeeeoajolnjojnkjakjavnjfvdfkjf but its fine everything is great its all ok most importantly, he is recognized as the god or ruler of war, and in that same mythology he lived in babylon, which “... was originally water, and called a sea. But Belus put an end to this, and assigned a district to each, and surrounded Babylon with a wall; and at the appointed time he disappeared.” and idk about you but the smell of him assigning a divide and disappearing smells sour like funky to me babes
HIERONYMUS AND BOSCHA
I am only putting this here because the fact that it’s totally a play on hieronymus bosch makes me cackle and you all have to know it thank you
ADEGAST
B-but brevyn he was only there for like one episode, yeah ok and? Radegast is the slavic god of hospitality, and there is no host like a host that pretends to take you on a mythical quest and then tries to eat you and your mentor and her deranged cat demon, ok? His name translates to “dear guest” or “welcomed guest” and I mean I think if my host tried to suck me into some fantasy would delusion i’d feel pretty welcomed
HOOTY
He is an owl
OWLBERT
He is also an owl
KIKIMORA
First and foremost, she is a little night gremlin who hates children and I think that really fits her, but she is also a little house demon, who is very difficult to get to leave, have we seen her outside the castle? Will she be a spy along with the mask next season? She also has a name that means nightmare or night demon, similar to a certain other night creature we might have heard of a while ago. She tried to strangle children and I love that for her,and she is described as a little old ugly messy haired lady and I feel like her current character has the personality of one so i’ll take it, but what really gets me is her villain origin story, which is that she "grows up with a magician in the mountains. From dawn to sunset the magician’s cat regales Kikimora with fantastic tales of ancient times and faraway places, as Kikimora rocks in a cradle made of crystal. It takes her seven years to reach maturity, by which time her head is no larger than a thimble and her body no wider than a strand of straw. Kikimora spins flax from dusk and to dawn, with evil intentions for the world.”
GWENDOLYN
Ok, the queen herself, haven’t met her yet but like who knows. Not really a whole lot here (my ears are ringing oops one sec ok i’m back hi) anyways um uh rings? Her name right off the bat has a lot to do with rings, and really that only applies to eda, because her ring was a big thing for her, she gave it to lilith, we all watched wing it like witches you know what’s up, but i mean like was that gwen’s ring? I really wanted the hand on eda’s wall to be gwen’s, very upset to see she has all of her body parts so far. I am also not sure if that’s how it’s spelled, but it means the same thing anyways. Also meaning fair or blessed, any woman who created both eda and lilith is probably mad powerful and we love to see it, also she’s a beastkeeper and i like i want to talk about that with eda’s curse but now is not the time for shenanigans (that’s a lie every time is the time for shenanigans i’m just exhausted)
RAYNE
Bitch, sorry, ok listen like um sidebar I AM SO EXCITED FOR THIS CHARACTER AND YOU ALL NEED TO KNOW IT but also at this point i’m not really sure about this character, is this their name, is that even how it’s spelled, girl idfk but like whooptydooo I do what I want so cope. Right now, we are assuming that they are the new bard coven head character, and like let me tell you the way that I am fully pissing my pants atm like bestie, anyways, if spelled rayne, then it means counsel or song, and this is why, do you see why this is why we spell it like this? It’s also scandanavian which means like nothing but it’s cool. This spelling fits because like counsel, head of the bard coven, you get it it’s fine, and then song, also head of the bard coven, you know. It fits so well, especially since this is supposed to be a friend from eda’s past, and like is supposed to try and recruit eda for a rebellion against the emperor in the episode eda’s requiem, i cannot convey to you how goddamn excited I am like there are not enough words in this realm or any others to tell you how prepared i am for this character to rock my world.
GILBERT
I AM S O B B I N GGGGG apparently one of willow’s dad’s names is gilbert and that is literally so cute I cannot like actually this knowledge makes up for coronavirus anyways it means bright promise and idk what that even has to do with anything but I love it and you should to omg
Now i have to go update the other characters see you in hell <3
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darkpetal16 · 3 years
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Can we see anything about the Jujutsu story? I'm so excited to see all the chaos!!
Sure thing! I'll take some scenes from chapter one. They haven't been edited yet and I don't have a beta so please forgive the typos / lack of description.
April 13th, 2000
Éclosion was a town of over 25,000 citizens in France. It was a suburb a few hours from Paris, and was known as one of the safer towns in France.
On April 13th, in the year 2000, the entire population of Éclosion instantly died from an “unknown” cause.
To most of the world, it was a bizarre tragedy, something to be marked down as an unsolved mystery for the history books. Each citizen had simultaneously suffocated within a few minutes of being exposed to… something.
Something that could not leave behind a physical trace of its existence yet was so overwhelming it simultaneously strangled over 25,000 living beings within Éclosion.
To a very small group of people, they knew the truth.
That town did not die by ordinary means, rather, from the sheer spiritual pressure exerted by a very dangerous being.
To that small group of people, they assumed it was the work of a curse.
Curses were created when cursed energy leaked from humans as a result of their human emotion. Cursed energy would build up in areas like sediment until it is strong enough to manifest a form. They were known to be lethal when left alone.
Populated locations such as schools and hospitals are hot spots for creating curses because many negative emotions were associated with those places. The same concept applies humanity's collective fear and hatred. An image of fear shared by the masses can create a powerful curse even if the subject was not real, such as famous monsters or ghosts. The negative emotions that humanity directed at that singular fear would cause it to manifest as a curse and in time… a cursed spirit.
Cursed spirits’ bodies are entirely made up of cursed energy--or spiritual energy. Their metaphysical existence made it impossible for normal humans to perceive or touch them.
Only a small group of humans were able to interact with cursed spirits, and in turn, combat them.
They were known as Jujutsu Sorcerers.
Jujutsu Sorcerers formed a society over the past thousands of years to work in the shadows to supress curses in an effort to protect humanity. All Jujutsu Sorcerers were trained in their youth at one of the two Jujutsu educational facilities in either Tokyo or Kyoto in Japan. At those facilities, they were taught how to utilize their own cursed energy in order to exorcise cursed spirits.
After graduating, alumni Sorcerers who remain aligned with the schools typically used one of the two facilities as a home base. Those facilities served as the cornerstone for the Jujutsu Sorcerer community. They mediated issues, assigned missions, and officially established a payroll for all their employed exorcists. The higher-ups were in charge of the schools and by extension all Jujutsu sorcerers.
Sorcerers would be dispatched wherever they found a gathering of cursed spirits. They were dispatched based on how strong they are in comparison to the spirit they face. The jujutsu society would rank spirits--and Sorcerers--like so:
Grade 4 - The weakest; a tire iron is plenty to deal with it.
Grade 3 - Slightly harder than Grade 4; handgun or something of similiar power recommended.
Semi-Grade 2
Grade 2 - An average Jujutsu sorcerer would not come out unscathed.
Semi-Grade 1
Grade 1 - “Even a tank might be insufficient.”
Special Grade 1
Special Grade - “Cluster bombs might work.”
For reasons not yet known to the Jujutsu community, curses and Sorcerers were most commonly found in Japan. While some could crop up in other countries, it was exceedingly rare.
That meant only a handful of Sorcerers were dispatched on rotation to monitor countries outside of Japan.
For example, France.
There were only three Sorcerorors stationed in France and they would handle the curses and Curse Users that appeared in France.
Three Sorcerers.
Who, at best, could handle a Grade 1 spirit.
But on April 13th that year something truly horrific happened.
A curse that had simultaneously slaughtered thousands of civilians within minutes of being born. Its mere presence could be felt by the Sorcerors not only in France, but in the surrounding countries across Europe.
It was only felt for five minutes, and then it vanished.
And so while the majority of the world was in a panicked frenzy over the mysterious massacre, the Jujutsu world was in a different kind of panic.
For a spirit that went beyond their measurement system had just been born… and they had no way of dealing with it.
.
<Skipping a scene here to avoid spoilers>
.
(Lilly - April 13th, 2000)
Again.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Lilly stared in grim resignation at the hanging corpse. The woman didn’t even reach her thirties before throwing in the towel. The body swayed side by side, still warm. Still leaking. The woman hadn’t hung herself from far up enough to snap her neck, so she strangled slowly and painfully.
Dumbass, Lilly thought, finding it hard to scrounge up sympathy for the woman.
Woman could have saved herself the painful death if she just chugged sleeping pills with wine.
But people that desperate to flee reality rarely thought that rationally.
“Geh,” Lilly gasped, clutching at her head as another burst of pain shot through her. She was blinded, her vision going completely white at the influx of memories.
She fell to her knees, struggling to breathe from the intense pain. Her body quaked and trembled, unable to cope with the weight of her soul.
Too many memories. Too many lives. Too many deaths.
If she could forget then the body would carry on without needing her entire soul to be there. She could rest a bit more. She could sleep in death’s kind arms--
But, no.
Again.
Again.
She woke up again in a body too small and immature to handle the weight of her memories.
Lilly was what many referred to as an old soul.
It was not that her soul was older than the others around her, more so that her soul tended to retain the memories and knowledge of her previous lives.
Whereas death granted most souls a clean slate before their next life, Lilly was not permitted the same courtesy.
She was, mockingly, a Blessed being.
The pain subsided, the small body quivering.
How old am I now? Lilly wondered. Which world is this? Where--?
Panting, the old soul glanced around the house. Most of it looked like an average house on Earth from the early 2000s or late 1900s. None of it was in disarray so probably not apocalyptic.
Not completely normal though, Lilly thought, feeling how sensitive her spiritual energy was in her current body.
If was born in a powerless world, she wouldn’t have woken up. The fact that she woke up meant there was something about that world that made it special.
Maybe a Hero will be born here? Will a Story happen?
Her head throbbed again, her soul and energy aching from the strain of being awoken in a premature body. Lilly stumbled around the house, every so often feeling another spike of her insides burning.
It was not too dissimilar to swallowing lava. On top of the pain, she was nauseous, unbearably hot, and had significant difficulty in trying to focus on what was in front of her. Every step was a milestone. Her soul yearned to burst out of the fragile body, to preemptively rejoin death.
Not yet. I woke up here for a reason. There’s always a reason, Lilly thought. She fumbled around the house, searching for anything that could give her a better idea of where she was.
No computer. I think I see a landline phone, though, Lilly thought.
When she went to use it, however, only silence could be heard. She frowned, then hesitantly moved to flick on the lights.
Nothing happened.
Uwa… did I accidentally fry the tech trying to contain my energy? Lilly wanted to groan.
She hated being reborn in tech-sensitive worlds. If her spiritual energy was too overwhelmign for the technology, it became such a hassle. It meant she had to consciously filter, repress, and refine her energy any time she had to use it when around technology.
Whatever.
Time to find a neighbor then, she thought.
Stepping outside the house, Lilly found a bizarre scene. There was a mailman who collapsed right at the door, and judging from how still he was, she could tell he wasn’t breathing.
Lilly stared at the dead body. She looked up and found several crashed cards and more dead bodies.
Oh.
“Oops,” she said.
.
<Skipping several scenes & time skip>
.
March 8, 2001
Lilly was minding her own business the following day. Yuuta was swaddled and placed in a baby wrap carrier that Lilly tied around herself. She kept his head well supported, it rested in the crook of her neck.
It had been a while since she had repeatedly cast so many illusionary and compulsion spells. She knew it couldn’t be helped--she was in the body of a seven-year old, of course the adults wouldn’t take her too seriously.
She had finished authenticating his birth certificate, adoption papers, and was on her way to handle funeral arrangements for his mother. Lilly had already made a few tentative and brief ventures into the world to steal (shamelessly) steal money so she had cash on hand in case the woman hadn’t made prior plans for herself--which guessing by how optimistic she was, Lilly assumed the answer was no.
Yuuta was an easy crier, which made what would have been a thirty-minute errand into a two-hour errand since a lot of that time was spent soothing the infant.
Lilly could feel he had more spiritual energy inside him than some of the adults she had previously encountered, but it was still growing.
If her hunch was correct and he was a protagonist--or antagonist--then she figured his energy would only continue to grow.
Maybe I should start feeding him some of mine? Lilly pondered. If she doubled or tripled the raw power of someone important, what would Fate do? Would it increase the power levels of everyone else to match, or would it give away under her pressure?
She didn’t know the story--if there was one in that world--so she had no way of knowing what to anticipate. She could only catch the common signs and draw her own predictions from her past experiences.
Let’s find out, Lilly thought.
<Scenebreak>
Daiki Choki was had recently completed his mission to vanquish an A-Grade Curse at a nearby graveyard. It had gone much smoother than he anticipated, and the Jujutsu Sorcerer was looking forward to his pay.
As he was leaving the graveyard, however, he felt something… odd.
It was indescribable. A sensation he had never encountered.
Similar… very similar… to encountering a powerful Curse, but…
It was a Curse, yet it was not.
It clearly had a presence. He felt an uncomfortable heat wash over him, as if the thing was projecting an aura of fire, but it was not malicious. Curses were filled with malevolent bloodlust, but what he felt lacked that intensity.
It was still dangerous, that heat.
Perhaps not directly evil, but…
If he had to put it into words, it was as if he had stumbled across a forest fire. The fire held no ill-will, but it was still a dangerous force that if left unchecked would devour the entire forest.
Daiki did not feel that it was especially powerful, however, so he made his way over to it.
To his surprise, it took the form of a small girl holding something in a budle of cloth. She was entering the funeral parlor.
Daiki frowned. Curses had never looked human before.
Suppose there’s always a chance it’s possessing her corpse, Daiki thought. He may not have encountered that specific scenario before, but he didn’t see a reason why it couldn’t happen.
Curses weren’t human, but they were tricky by nature.
Daiki lingered outside the mortician’s office, wondering if he would need to follow after the curse. He hated fighting near civilians, but--
The Curse left, as if sensing something was wrong.
But that’s silly, thought Daiki.
It headed straight past the building, making its way to the graves behind. Daiki followed behind it, slowly pulling his gun.
The Curse stopped, turning around to face Daiki. Its eyes were a vibrant red.
“Why are you focusing on me?” it asked.
Oddly articulate for a curse, the Sorcerer thought, raising his gun and taking aim. He smirked. “Don’t worry about it, Curse.”
“Curse? What--?”
He fired, and then his whole world tilted upside down. He hadn’t even felt it happening, let alone seen it, but somehow his head had been chopped off his body the moment he pulled the trigger. The Curse, who had been several steps ahead of him, was suddenly crushing his gun in her bare hand, scowling at him.
“If I had let that gone off, you woulda woken him,” she scolded the decapitated head. “Rude.”
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itswildwinters · 4 years
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Hello lovelies and welcome to my October 2020 fic recs. These are the fics that I read these last few months. The main pairing is Louis Tomlinson/Harry Styles.
This is also an appreciation post to all writers out there. Thank you for contributing so much to the fandom, for making all these incredible pieces of work for us all to read!
I’m wishing you all a happy Halloween in advance!
If you check out any of those incredible fics below, don’t forget to leave kudos and comments to show your appreciation!
Enjoy!
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From What I’ve Tasted of Desire by @evilovesyou 
When Louis moves to the small Scottish town of Fortrose to spend some time with his father, he thinks he's come to terms with the fact that the next two years of his life will be rainy and dull. That changes when he meets the ever-elusive Harry Styles in his Biology class and he makes it his goal to find out the big secret surrounding him and his family. Louis unexpectedly finds himself in the eye of a storm of secrecy, age-old myths, friendship and romance.
Twilight AU / Vampires / Werewolves / Slow Burn / Highschool & College AU
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eyes off you by @soldouthaz
“Just promise me you’ll do whatever it takes to keep us all safe while we’re in there,” Liam says.
Through the crack in the door, Louis can just barely make out the broad curve of Harry’s back, the slope of his curls as they tumble down all sleep-soft and lazy, and the sharp twist of his arm - all leading down to where he’s got his pointer and middle finger crossed over each other behind his back.
“I promise,” he tells Liam firmly, “I promise.”
--
or; a charlie’s angels inspired fic where louis is the brains, harry is the charm, liam is the muscle, and niall drives the getaway car - and zayn is there, too. sometimes.
Action / Pining / Assassins (kill bad people)
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Walls by Travis_Crux 
Following his line of sight, he frowned and shook his head, "What's wrong?"
"Wasn't your timer on your ring finger?" Liam asked, at that the Alpha immediately swapped the tumbler and looked down at his finger which sported a string of tiny blue flowers on the underside of his ring finger.
The two of them looked at one another.
"You could've touched nearly fifty people by the time you grew delirious," Liam advocated, always the voice of reason. "Comrades, nurses, doctors."
Sighing, he turned away and continued drinking the water. Literally, the only fucking thing remaining in the middle of a fucking war.
Or
Harry has his soulmate timer stuck at zero from the beginning of time but suddenly the fates show mercy and a lovely forget-me-not takes the place of his timer. In between finding his soulmate in a war camp and solving the puzzle of the charismatic doctor who is treating him, all he can hope for is to live.
ABO / World War I / Soulmates / Angst / Hurt-Comfort
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works like a charm by @falsegoodnight
Ever since Louis joined the team in fifth year, a few facts have become set in stone.
One: Louis is the best chaser in Hogwarts.
Two: Harry is the best beater in Hogwarts.
Three: They do not get along.
So it’s really unfair of Liam to think that forcing them to spend time together as Louis recovers from his injury will make them the best of friends. The last thing Louis would do is get along with that git.
Harry Potter Setting / Porn With Plot / Enemies to Lovers
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(quiet like a fight) fingers laced together by @letthemkissyou
It’s a thin hope, frail and as thin as the silver strands of a spider web, desperate in the way Louis keeps clinging onto it even when he’s already expecting and preparing for the worst. Maybe one day, he’ll have a home, a place where he can feel safe and sound, tucked away safely from the world that has the tendency to treat him horribly and then even worse, that maybe there will be someone in his life who cares for him, even if in the smallest of ways, and does not just use him for whatever they tend to need at the moment.
Or, the one where Harry is gifted a hybrid and it's a whole new world for the both of them.
Hybrid Louis / Past Abuse / Fluff / Angst 
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We’ll Cast Some Light (You’ll Be Alright) by fondleeds 
There’s tense silence, the whole room completely hushed. The other teams on surrounding tables look between each other. Then, Louis pushes himself away from the table noisily, chair scraping. His face is angered and crumpled, red at the ears. The door slams behind him as he rushes out. The surrounding teams look at Harry simultaneously.
“God, Simon is going to kill us if we don’t die on this mission first,” Niall moans into his hands.
-
There’s a standard procedure for this. Scan, track, kill. But with a solar eclipse and a Greater Demon with unfinished business looming, the path to keeping England safe from harm becomes complicated and shadowed by mystery and secrets. For Harry and his team, times have never been harder, especially when a few old friends turned foes show up. Harry is left with just over forty days to overcome the hurdle of tension between them and reconcile their past, and figure out just what Louis is hiding from him before it’s too late.
Demons / Enemies to Lovers / Violence / Angst / Fluff / Demon Hunters / Smut
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Three Days in February by @mercurial-madhouse
“We have to get out of here, outside,” Harry whispered, turning his hand in Louis’s grip to hold on and pull them both to their feet. “And how do we fucking do that?” Louis hissed, carefully rising and pulling Harry to his feet before Harry could do it. His gaze darted to the front then back of the arena. “None of the doors are where they’re supposed to be.” “What?” Harry looked around again too, couldn’t see any doors, only knew that they must be there, somewhere. “How do you know?” Confusion slid over Louis's features. “Because we’ve been here before, Haz. It’s the O2.” The show. It must be the first night of their tour. They were too late; they were out of time.
Louis is cursed after a night out with the lads and the five have just three days to figure out what happened and how to break it before Harry and Louis both lose their sanity and maybe something more. Louis can hear everything Harry thinks and Harry isn’t sure he can keep his feelings for Louis a secret from his own mind.
Ridiculous amounts of banter and angst, a lot of Harry and Louis alone together, a healthy dose of OT5 friendship, and one very magical weekend.
Friends to Lovers / Fluff / Angst / Action / Adventure / Magical Realism / Hurt-Comfort / Slow Burn
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Soaked In The Blood Of Angels by @crazyupsetter
The boy looks drugged, caught between a man who’s almost twice his size and a girl who looks like she wouldn’t even break a sweat snapping him in half despite her small stature, eyes closed and mouth open as he pants, arching up between them almost as if he’s trying to escape.
Normally, Harry would ignore it and continue on his search for someone to drink from, someone who wouldn’t mind his sharp teeth and rough hands. He’s seen plenty of boys like this one, ones who picked the wrong playmates, and if he stopped to rescue every single one of them he would have died from thirst a long time ago.
This one, though. There’s something about this one, the sheen of his bright blue eyes as he blinks slowly, looks around as though he doesn’t know where he is, the weakness of his hands as he tries to push the girl off of him and make his escape.
Explicit Sexual Content / Vampires / Incubus / Dubious Consent / Blood / Violence
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The Compulsion to Find Love by Toomanytears
The most prestigious English third-level institution, Candling University, accepts omega students for the first time and Louis Tomlinson applies with bright eyes and brighter ambitions. There he encounters personal obstacles, traditional mindsets and a beautiful boy who inverts every prejudice Louis has ever known.
ABO / Omega Louis / Alpha Harry / Worldbuilding / Slow Burn / Fluff / Angst
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Just a bit of work by missyoutoosweetscheeks
It was quite painfully pathetic, really. Twenty five, stable job, stable flat, stable mind (well, quite), a painfully non-existent love life with an even more painfully intact virginity.
Marcel didn't think his life was going to get better with his painfully aparent sociopathic tendencies to block anyone who showed interest in him.
Until, of course, he became Louis Tomlinson's next prey.
OR
In which Marcel is a virgin, and becomes his office's amorous co-worker's next big conquest.
Top Harry / Bottom Louis / Office Sex / Dubious Consent / Porn Without Plot 
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Fuck U Betta by @jacaranda-bloom
There’s something about having Louis like this, exposed and desperate, that makes a primal urge bubble up from deep inside Harry’s chest. Desire mixed with something else, something unquantifiable. It’s the thing that makes them want this, need this. Nothing else will satisfy them or quench their thirst.
OR the one where Harry likes the thrill of the chase, Louis likes to be chased, and everyone gets what they need… in the end.
Porn Without Plot / Light BDSM / Top Harry / Bottom Louis
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push you out, pull you back in by @behisoneandonly
Harry grips his head in his hands helplessly, yanking the base of his dark curls and squeezing his eyes shut.
“Fucking hell,” he whispers, knuckles turning white from how hard he’s gripping the strands of his hair.
“Hey, hey,” says the petite stranger in front of him, quickly standing up. “Stop, you’re hurting yourself.”
Or Harry hates feeling vulnerable. Louis is set on breaking through his tough facade.
College/University AU / medical student Harry / Fashion student Louis / Strangers to Lovers / Pining / fluff / slight angst / Hut-Comfort / Anger Management
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might we be stardust stories by ryanreynolds
"It was easier being at war."
In which werewolves and vampires have been fighting each other for a century, and Harry and Louis' marriage is what's gonna bring peace to the realm. Hopefully.
Werewolves / Vampires / Arranged Marriage / Slow Burn / Falling in Love / Pining / Fantasy
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Like Candy In My Veins by littlelouishiccups
“Um…” Harry said slowly after a moment. “Okay. That’s… this is… Let me get this straight.” He lifted up a hand and swallowed. “You told your family that you have a boyfriend… and my name was the first one you thought of?” “Harry Potter was on TV, alright? It wasn’t that much of a stretch.” Louis pinched the bridge of his nose. He couldn’t believe he was explaining himself to Harry fucking Styles. He couldn’t believe he was stooping this low. “Forget it. I’m sorry I even thought about bringing you into this.”
Harry snorted. “What? Did you want me to pretend to be your boyfriend or something?”
(Basically the A/B/O, enemies to lovers, fake relationship, Christmas AU that nobody asked for.)
ABO / Fake-Pretend Relationship
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until this blood runs cold by @soldouthaz
In a town as small as Louis’, everybody knows everybody and gossip spreads faster than the wildfires that rage on just outside their backdoors in the sweltering heat of summer. When something happens here everyone knows about it within seconds. Neighbors call neighbors and notes are left on doorsteps, old telephone lines ringing until there isn’t a single person who is left in the unknown.
So it’s definitely hot gossip when a vampire moves in across the street from him, the very same one who’s just become Louis’ boss.
Vampire Harry / Frottage / Blood Drinking
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call you mine by @falsegoodnight
“I have a request.”
That’s what Louis Tomlinson says to Harry when he opens the front door a bit too aggressively. The latter feels justified after a round of annoyingly incessant knocking that was much too loud in the drowsy sludge of early Saturday morning.
“Zayn’s asleep,” is Harry’s tired, hoarse reply, irritation prickling at his skin. Less than a minute ago he was in bed, feeling perfectly content sprawled out on the mattress with the chilled air from the fan cool against his bare skin. And now he’s leaning up against the wooden door frame in nothing but his briefs because Zayn’s best mate decided that showing up unannounced at seven in the fucking morning was a brilliant idea.
“I’m not here for him,” says Louis curtly.
-
Or, Louis’ curious about how it feels to be bitten. Harry’s going to need more than just one bite.
Plot What Porn / Vampire Harry / Bottom Louis
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your biggest fan by @soldouthaz​
Just like everyone else, Louis has a few habits that he can’t seem to break. Guilty pleasures, rather. His nails are perpetually short because he can’t quit biting them, the bottom of his shoes scuffed from tapping his foot constantly. Sometimes his leg gets a cramp from bouncing it so often underneath his desk. That isn't too bad, he reckons, just some average teenage coping mechanisms.
And also, occasionally, minor instances of theft.
Top Harry / Bottom Louis / Porn What Plot / Nerd Louis / Jock Harry
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give me love by @falsegoodnight​ & @soldouthaz​
Despite being an omega, Louis’ always had a blatant dislike of alphas.
-
Or, Louis doesn't feel like a good omega, Harry doesn't remember how to be an alpha, and they figure it out together.
ABO / Alpha Harry / Omega Louis / Bottom Louis / Past Relationship Trauma / Slow Burn / Angst / Fluff
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The Stars Look Very Different Today by @kingsofeverything​
For Harry Styles, child genius turned glorified spaceship mechanic, rescuing lost or broken down ships is a fairly common occurrence.
There’s nothing common about his latest mission, the ship, or that ship’s captain.
The last thing he expects to find in a distant galaxy is the one thing he’s been missing on Earth.
Space / Time-Travel / Science Fiction & Fantasy / Enemies to Lovers
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The cat is out of the bag by 28sunflowers
Harry somehow gets himself stuck as a black cat on Halloween and needs help from Louis to change back into his human form.
The problem is: Louis doesn’t even know witches exist, much less that Harry is one. And there’s also the fact he thinks Harry is ghosting him after they had sex for the first time.
So the situations isn’t ideal. But it’s okay. Harry will figure something out.
Light angst / Witch Harry / Potions Accident / Fluff and Humour 
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giowritess · 4 years
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straight to my head [henry cavill]
masterlist
Pairing: Henry Cavill x bestfriend!female!reader
Request:  “Hi! May you please write a Henry Cavill one where you’re hanging out with him and you have feelings for him but haven’t had the guts to tell him but that day your sister called you and you started speaking in Spanish to her about Henry but little did you know that he actually knew Spanish and he teased you about it. Happy ending please, thank you!”
Warnings: cursing, some angst, fluff
Word-count: 2,697
Author’s note: HEY GUYS! I can’t believe I’m finally posting my first writing piece here on Tumblr! It’s my first attempt at writing this kind of fanfiction (well, the second, actually), and I truly hope you like it, especially you, dear anon, who requested this. I did some changes, hope you don’t mind. This one was based on the song Straight to My Head, by You Me At Six, and I’d really like if you listened to it. A big thank you to my best friend, @naturiz​ for the Spanish part, and a big shoutout to my amazing beta/daughter/friend/love of my life @amirahiddleston​ <3333 I’d be lost without you!
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gif credit goes to @b-n-a-o​
Straight to My Head
  You had never been the kind of person to enjoy dancing. 
   Yet, here you were, jumping, moving and swaying your hips to the beat of your favorite song in the middle of an empty dance floor. A little tequila-and-other-alcoholic-beverages-induced, yes — but you were happy, not even minding the glances you were getting. All the stress that had built up in the past few weeks had finally left your body, and you had your friends to thank for that. They were the ones who’d dragged you down here, to a cosy small pub. It had been way too long since the last time all of you had spent time together, and everyone seemed to benefit from a bit of fun and forgetting the real world. 
   Exactly as you were doing right now, completely oblivious to everything and everyone else. How good it felt to be trapped in your bubble, with nothing but your fuzzy mind and your favourite song.
   “Didn’t know you could dance, y/n,” Henry teased, not far from you. You could even hear the smirk in his deep voice.
   “Shut up, idiot,” you replied, snapping out of your bubble and walking closer to your friends.
   “Seriously, though,” he insisted, grinning like a kid, “those were amazing dance moves. You should teach me.”
   You just rolled your eyes, making him laugh, and tried to hide your smile. Your relationship with Henry had always been playful like this, ever since you met a couple of years ago. You two had been through a lot together — it was quite a fun and exciting journey to follow his success as an amazing actor that close, which meant celebrations, parties, even a few premieres.
   As the boys got ready to play some pool, you stood in the back with a beer in hand, watching him — always him and no one else. You sighed as you watched him move with the ease and gracefulness of a cat. A big, fluffy cat who seemed to be serious and almost dangerous on the outside, but was nothing more than a playful little kitten on the inside.
   The dim lighting in that corner of the room sent shadows over his godly features, the sight sending warmth up your core. He was always the most handsome man in the room. And in your head.
   That was where he was. He’d taken over your thoughts ever since you met, and there was nothing you could do to take him out; he was already at home and wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon. You tried as hard as you could, even dated other people, but it was pointless. You still fell hard for him anyway.
  But Henry was your best friend, and you were his. You talked about everything, helped each other with everything — even his own love life. It hurt you. Like hell, but there was nothing you could do about it but listen and be there for him when he needed, just like he did for you. His friendship is one of the most precious things on Earth to you, but that is all you were meant to be. He was yours, but not in the way you truly wanted.
   Which was why sometimes it got too hard for you. Sometimes you had to step back and pull yourself together when it was too much for your heart. Seeing him with other women, especially when you knew he was happy, was far more than you could take, a pain you couldn’t avoid. 
   You straightened yourself up and dropped the bottle on the table. You needed to sober up. Being drunk around Henry was always a dangerous idea — you were a complete mess. Crazy, unpredictable and suddenly brave. The possibility that you’d end up saying or making anything that could lead to regrets and ruining your friendship was a giant risk — one you couldn’t take. So, you always tried your best to be as sober as possible, but tonight you desperately needed the freedom and release that only alcohol could give you. And he happened to be around.
   “Be right back,” you muttered to no one in particular, making your way towards the ladies room. They were too entertained in their game to miss you, anyway. 
   Thankfully, the bathroom wasn’t crowded, just a few girls who seemed half your age, many who had probably got in with a fake ID. You went straight to the sink and splattered the cold water in your face one, two, three times. But it was the girls’ conversation that caught your attention.
   “Did you see Henry Cavill playing pool by the back? Jesus fucking Christ, that’s Heaven made of flesh,” one of them said. 
   “Can you believe our luck? Gotta be fate,” the one applying mascara in front of the mirror replied.
   They laughed together and started to make their way outside.
   “I think I’m gonna try my luck, who knows,” you heard one of them say as they left the bathroom, and you gripped the sink with both hands, taking a deep breath. 
   You had no right to be angry with their words. In fact, you understood a-hundred-per cent how they felt — you felt that way almost all the time, too. But fuck. There was no way in controlling the anger that was taking over you, as well as the few lonely tears that escaped the corner of your eyes. There was nothing you could do about it but simply accept it. That was your job as his best friend.
   After a few deep breaths, you pulled yourself together, and finally mustered the courage to leave the bathroom. Your anger alone, still tingling through your face, your arms, your fingers, had sobered you up some seventy-per cent by now. You stopped by the bar to buy some chocolate and was met with one of your friends.
   “Hey y/n, wanna play some pool? We need someone,” he asked.
   “Yeah, sure,” you replied, eating the chocolate before you walked back to the pool table.
   You grunted at the scene in front of you. The girls from the bathroom, one sitting in the back with her arms wrapped around one of your friends and the other one — the prettiest one, with long, dark hair and a beautiful black dress that hugged her body in the best way — tangled up with Henry, laughing and touching him whenever (and wherever) she could. Which meant all the time (and everywhere). 
   It wasn’t that this kind of thing didn’t happen often — it did, in fact; of course it would, when your group of friends had you as the only woman. And you didn’t care for your other friends, they could do whatever they wanted if it’d bring them a bit of happiness, even if momentary. But Henry was… Henry. He would never be like everyone else, and you couldn’t fool yourself or your heart to believe that.
   “Girls, this is y/n,” your friend said, and the girls smiled at you.
  You tried your best to look sympathetic.
   “Hey, I’m Devon,” the one in the back waved at you.
   “And this is Julia,” Henry told you and motioned at the girl beside him.
   With another deep breath, you smiled and hoped it looked real enough.
   You didn’t know what happened to you. You’d never been this jealous, you’d always been able to control your emotions and prevent them from rising to surface. But that night felt completely different. Probably because of all the alcohol, but there was no way you’d be able to look unaffected. 
   “Ready to kick some asses?” your pair asked, handing you the stick. 
   “Born ready, baby,” you replied, applying chalk to the end of the poolstick.
Julia was Henry’s partner, of course. He had to show her how to properly hold the stick and how to play, but you had your doubts if she truly didn’t know or was just pretending. Well, you’d pretend if you were in her shoes. 
   It was no surprise when you made the first ball — you had a natural talent for the pool. Especially when drunk. And angry.
   The chocolate in your mouth felt bitter because you kept hearing Julia’s giggles and saw the way Henry touched her. Every fucking time she was going to play, he had to be glued to her back, lingering touches on her hand, her arms. It began to piss you off way more than you imagined.
   You made a ball. And another, and another, and another. Four in a row, leaving only two of your balls on the table. 
   “Fuck, y/n,” your partner said, and laughed, clearly a bit shocked. “Where did that come from?”
   “What can I say,” you replied, “the effects of anger.” 
   The game soon came to an end, you made the victory hit. You started another, trying your best to focus on the game and nothing else. But it was hard. It was so fucking hard when Julia and Henry didn’t even pretend to play properly, due to their drunken stupor and lust for one another. When his lips went closer to her ear, you finally snapped. There was no way in fucking hell you were going to endure that. No. Enough.
   “I’m through,” you stated before dropping the stick on the table.
   You didn’t care about the stupid game. All you wanted was to leave the pub, to get away, and cry and scream and fill up your sister’s inbox with countless messages rambling about it. 
   That was exactly what you did the instant you crossed the door, drinking in the cold night air and fishing for your phone. After finding her contact, your fingers started to fly across the keyboard, but you realized that wasn’t enough for how angry you were.
   “No puedo creer lo enojada que estoy por eso [I can’t believe how mad I am],” you started. Of course, it’d be in Spanish, your mother tongue: it was the only way you truly could express your anger. 
   You weren’t even sure what you wanted to say, but you had to say something, to get it out. There was a pressure in your chest that’d only be alleviated after you opened your heart to someone, obviously your sister. 
   “Tú no creerías lo tan enojada que estoy. ¡Pero ugh! ¡Simplemente no puedo controlarlo y no mames eso me deja demasiada enojada! [You wouldn’t believe how mad I am. But ugh! I just can’t control it and that makes me so fucking angry!]”
   You sent that first audio message to her. You didn’t even have an internet connection, so she’d only receive it after you connected to wifi or something, but it didn’t matter. You just had to speak. Get it out of your system.
   “Dios, desearía que pudieras verlo con tus propios ojos todos los toques y coqueteos. Simplemente me mandaron por un tubo y no sé cómo enfrentarlo, sabes? No hay ninguna explicación más allá de la verdad, que él debe haber entendido, de todos modos. O no, apuesto que Julia lo mantiene demasiado ocupado para que yo ocupe su mente [God, I wish you could see for yourself! All those touches and flirting. It just pushed me off the edge and now I don’t even know how to face him, you know? There’s no explanation besides the truth. Which he must have already figured it out, anyway. Or not. I bet Julia is keeping him too busy for me to occupy his mind at all],” you said in a single breath. There. Now you felt as if the weight was off your chest.
   After pressing the “send” button, you took a much needed deep breath. The cold weather had a calm, soothing effect on you as you breathed in the night air; you could feel yourself getting calmer. Still angry, yes, but a bit calmer.
   So trapped in your own space, you almost jumped when you heard his voice.
   “No hay nada que nunca pueda sacarte de mi mente [There’s nothing that can ever keep you off my mind].” 
     Even in a perfect Spanish, his deep British accent was still present.
   Oh, my, god. There he was, behind you, and you wanted to bury yourself six feet under and never, ever come out.
   “Henry!” Your voice was a shriek. “I… I’m… I sh…” you stuttered, not knowing what to say. You could feel your heart pounding violently against your chest.
   What to say, what to do, how to act. You had no idea Henry even spoke Spanish, and you sure as hell hadn’t expected him to follow you outside. Díos mio. Had he heard every single word you just said? You were glad that it was dark, ‘cause your face must’ve definitely been on fire.
   “I’m sorry,” he said, making you look at him with a visible question mark on your face. “For making you feel like that. I did want to affect you, though, and I’m quite glad I did.”
   “What? Henr—”
   “See, y/n,” he interrupted you, “I had a theory, and you just proved it.”
   He came closer, his beautiful face stepping under the thin lightning which made his baby blue eyes to shine. He hovered above you, like a lion over his prey, but you weren’t intimidated at all. Though confused and with your head spinning as fuck.
   “My theory was that you and I feel the same way about each other,” he continued, getting closer and closer at each word that left his lips.
   Díos. Were your dreams coming true? Was this real? Were you dreaming, or even seeing properly? You could hear your speeding heart, and you wondered if he could hear it, too.
   “Henry, I… I’m… I’m lost in translation here,” you replied, your weak voice almost a whisper.
   He had to say it. You needed to hear the words coming out of his very own lips, otherwise, it wouldn’t be real. 
   A low chuckle came from him. He left very little space between your faces when he got even closer and cupped your face with both hands.
   “I’ve been falling in love with you ever since you entered my life, love,” he said. Your knees were weak, and you felt as if you were going to fall dead on the ground. “But you never gave me any signal that you felt the same. Until I started to notice the small details. Your face, your eyes, your hands. Your words, your expressions. The little things gave you away, y/n.”
   The warm touch of his big hands on your face, all the love and tenderness with which he spoke every single word made your heart swell. No one had ever spoken with that much affection towards you, no one had ever held you that gently as he did. Your best friend. Your soulmate. 
   “So? Am I right then? He asked playfully, chuckling because you hadn’t said anything yet.
   You felt as if a lightning bolt had just gone through you, your skin prickling. 
   “Yes!” You instantly said, feeling some tears on your eyes. “Yes, Henry, yes. You are. I don’t even know for how long I’ve loved you. I was… I was scared of ruining our friendship. I’m sorry, if I’d kno—”
   He shushed you with a gentle kiss, timidly placing one of his hands in the back of your neck. You placed your hands on his broad shoulders.
   “No regrets or apologies,” he murmured, touching your forehead with his. “Though I do regret the method I used to prove my point,” he said, chuckling. “I’m sorry. I was getting desperate and running out of options. I just couldn’t bear to spend another entire day being nothing more than friends with you,” he explained, his eyes locked with yours. One of his hands started tracing the line of your bottom lip. “Not being able to touch you, to kiss you… God knows how torture it was to be around you all this time.”
   It was your turn to laugh. He felt exactly like you did, then.
   “Henry?” You whispered. “Come home with me?”
   An affirmation, an invitation, an order? You didn’t know. But all that mattered was his answer.
   “Yes.”
A/N: I hope from the depths of my heart that you enjoyed it! For now I do not have a taglist, but if you’d like to be tagged in my future works, let me know <3 
xoxo, Gio
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mollymauk-teafleak · 4 years
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say it will always be like this
Seregil decides it's time for Alec to learn the subtle art of make up. And he has a few ways to make it more interesting.
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Please consider reblogging and leaving a comment over on Ao3 if you liked this, it really helps motivate writers particularly in small fandoms like this one!
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Seregil had taught Alec a wide variety of skills in the time they’d been together. From coercing locks to open to walking like a noble, from scaling walls ten times as tall as he was with no foothold in sight to navigating the baffling arsenal of cutlery that would be set before him as standard practise at the palace. Skills that would save his life, skills that would take the life of someone else and more than a few skills that were only to be used within the gauzy canopy of their own bed. Alec, always sharp and hungry to learn, had taken to every one with his usual endearing eagerness, tackling everything from swordplay to chardsharping and giving himself to it completely until he was as good as Seregil. Maybe even better, in some cases.
But this was the first time he’d ever seen his talímenios look truly, completely nervous.
Seregil had to laugh, seeing his face as he opened the box between them and began laying the multitude of products within out on the bed. It was rather daunting, he supposed, when you saw how much was contained within a standard well born lady’s cosmetics chest.
But there was just something so adorable about the way he immediately flushed and began to squirm, especially when Seregil’s laughter broke through the professional air he’d been trying so hard to maintain.
“Oh hush…” he begged, ducking his head into his collar, the tips of his ears as red as if he’d been walking around in the snow currently falling outside their bedroom window with no hat.
Seregil tried to marshal his trembling shoulders and the giggles bursting in his chest like champagne bubbles, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. You’re just so adorable when you’re flustered like this…”
“You’re not helping!” he’d now yanked the fabric of his loose evening shirt as high as his nose and Seregil had to reach between them and coax it back down.
“Hey now, talí…” he left his fingers where they were even when Alec had resurfaced, caressing his friend’s cheek with soft fingertips, “It’s just another skill, another weapon in any nightrunner’s arsenal. You wouldn’t believe the doors that a dress and a bit of rouge can open. And with your lovely braid, it’s the perfect time for you to learn!”
Alec sighed, clearly sinking any lingering traces of his strict Danlan upbringing as best he could, “I know…”
“And besides,” Seregil’s grin turned crooked the way it only did when he was out to pay court to his lover, something he still made a point of doing even now they’d been married in all but name for months and months, “I know you’re going to look beautiful in it.”
That clearly snagged Alec’s attention and soon he was blushing for an entirely different reason, a softer and more playful kind of heat in his face, “Oh come on.”
“I mean it! Once I’ve taught you, you’ll be lucky if I ever actually Jelet you use this disguise. You’ll have every man with a working set of eyes from miles around nipping at your heels.”
It was Alec’s turn to laugh, shaking his head so a few strands of his blonde hair fell across his face, his braid starting to unravel as it always did in the evenings after a day of wear, “You’re such a fool, talí.”
“Fair. Doesn’t make me wrong though, does it?”
Now his love was smiling, he sat back and turned his attention to the products on the bed between them. He’d sorted them into groups based on what they did, what part of the face they were used for. First would come the instruction, then the application. Alec always learned best through touch.
“This is pretty much a standard set of makeup for a Skalan woman of fairly high society. Not high enough to attract attention, mind you, but certainly well to do.”
“Standard?” Alec looked at the spread with a mix of apprehension and awe, “There’s so much!”
“Precisely,” Seregil chuckled, “The pressures put on women these days are quite staggering. And unfortunately for us, if we’re to pass as women then we need to rise to meet those pressures.”
He held up a small pan between them, “This is a fairly common face powder, made for paling and smoothing the skin. Mind where you buy this when your stock runs low, some of the cheaper suppliers have started mixing the stuff with lead paint, of all things.”
“I suppose corpses are very pale?” Alec sniffed, taking the box from Seregil and turning it over in his hands, opening it up and rubbing a little of the chalky powder onto his finger, “How do I put it on?”
“With this,” Seregil held up a brush, “Finest horse hair. Here, I’ll do half of your face so you can get a feel for it, then you finish it off.”
Alec gave a last groan of protest, though he paid close attention to how Seregil tapped the fine dark brush into the powder and let his eyes close without complaint, leaning close.
Seregil had thought, with the weather in Rhiminee being so stubbornly awful, all sleet and snow and howling winds, this would be a good lesson to fill a cosy evening in. And he’d been right. While the flakes fell just outside the glass, their room was filled with gently glowing candles and the fire could be heard crackling in the sitting room just beyond the door. The smell of the mulled wine they’d been drinking still hung on the warm air, filling their bedroom with the scents of cherries, cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg. It was on Alec’s breath too, as he exhaled softly, not wanting to move his face too much while Seregil carefully applied the powder. There was something so soft and relaxed about his face in that moment, cast in gently flitting shadows by the candlelight that, as soon as he was done, Seregil pressed his lips to his lover’s in a sweet kiss.
Alec was grinning when he pulled away, “What was that about?”
Seregil smirked, “I haven’t put your lip paint on yet, it’s allowed. Right, can you see what I’ve done?” He pulled the looking glass he’d taken off the wall into his lap so Alec could see his face, now half an eerie bone white, “Concentrate on getting it settled into the creases of your eye and nose.”
Alec pulled a face at his reflection but took up the brush, mimicking Seregil’s movements as best he could. It wasn’t a bad effort at all, he only had to redo a few parts that he missed, just behind his ear and under his jaw.
Seregil gave him a fondly annoyed smile. Was there nothing his talímenios wasn’t excellent at?
Next came the eyes, a more delicate affair. This required a completely different brush, a kohl pencil, the coloured dust made from dried and ground flowers. Again, Seregil did one eye so Alec could see what was required of him, then let him complete the set in the mirror.
Alec was soon frowning, “This is so fiddly, like sprininging a tumble lock that trembles. And my eyes keep watering!”
Seregil grinned, “Think of it like you’re pulling your bow. Your hands never shake then, do they?”
“Because I know what i’m doing with my bow,” Alec grumbled, a little petulantly, cursing and having to restart the kohl when his hand slipped, “Billiary’s balls!”
“Patience, talí,” Seregil smiled, “We have all evening. You’ll get the hang of it.”
Finally, after three attempts, Alec had two passably matching eyes, ringed in thick black kohl with lids shaded a deep, sultry red. And Seregil was starting to realise just how right he’d been at the start.
Alec had always been beautiful to him, of course. Whether he was tricked up as his noble alter ego, in the finest silks with his hair neatly queued, or whether he was rough from weeks on the road, dust in his hair and days away from his last bath in anything but a half frozen stream, his lover would always be the most gorgeous man in the world as far as Seregil was concerned. The cosmetics, combined with the candlelight, only emphasised what he’d always seen on his talímenios’ face, like everything he’d always admired was being edged in gold.
Now Seregil was left wondering why he’d waited so long to give Alec this particular lesson.
“Lips next,” he said, bringing himself back to the task at hand. He could do something with the feelings stirring inside him later. What kind of teacher would he be to only give half a lesson?
Now he’d mastered the eyes, Alec seemed to be getting more confident by the moment. He sniffed the lip paint with genuine interest, admiring it’s deep red colour.
“It’s pigmented with crushed berries and beetle’s wings,” Seregil smiled, he loved satisfying his lover’s curiosity, “Which makes it pretty expensive so, in a pinch, you can rub a cut lemon on your lips. That’ll make them look redder and a little fuller.”
Alec looked dumbfounded then laughed in disbelief, “This is like learning a code! All these secrets and tricks, I had no idea...”
Seregil snorted, “I knew you’d get to liking this. Now, keep your mouth relaxed, don’t tighten up or the paint will crack. There, that’s it…”
Once again, the barely there distance between them as Seregil leaned in and carefully painted his lower lip struck him, the closeness, the attentiveness as Seregil’s focus shrank down utterly to Alec’s body. And this time, he wasn’t the only one who noticed.
“I suppose you can’t kiss me now…” Alec murmured, voice a little lower and a little rougher.
Seregil was so close, he could practically hear his heartbeat, smell the scent of wood air and musk that was so completely Alec.
Sergeil grinned, heat in his own cheeks now. If any of his friends on the Street of Lights learned that this sweet faced, shy smiling Northerner could actually get the infamous Seregil í Korit to blush with scent alone, his reputation was ruined. And in the moment, he didn’t think he cared.
“Not until after our lesson,” he smiled regretfully, sitting up and handing the brush to Alec, a drop of red stain falling on his fingers as he did so, “Then, my talí, that lip paint is getting places it absolutely was never intended for.”
Even the thick layer of white paint couldn’t hide how red Alec got at that promise. Clearly Seregil hadn’t lost sight of himself entirely.
Despite his new distraction, Alec completed his lips perfectly and, after a dusting of rouge and painting over some of his veins in blue ink, he was as perfectly made up as any woman in the Noble Quarter of Rhiminee. Of course Seregil would teach him what to accentuate to make his face look more femenine, working with his natural faie features to create the full effect so he’d pass even under a critical eye. But for now, he simply looked beautiful, ethereal and otherworldly.
Alec grinned, feeling the heat in Seregil’s gaze. Even after he’d finished his rouge, Seregil hadn’t moved back. A bare inch and they’d be kissing. Suddenly, the candles seemed to be burning lower and the air had gotten warmer, closer, like before the tension broke and the rain began to fall.
And then a glint of pure wickedness entered Alec’s innocent blue eyes, “So...am I prettier than Lady Gwethylyn?”
Sergeil’s jaw dropped for a moment before he gathered himself gave a low, throaty chuckle, casting the powders and brushes and tins to the floor so he could advance on Alec, pinning him back against the cushions.
“Oh, talí, you’re in trouble now.”
Afterwards, Seregil took a lot of pleasure in standing before the much larger mirror placed against the far wall, scanning his body for the smudges of red and charcoal black and white like the gentlest snowfall, a map of how Alec had hungrily explored him, giving as much as he’d gotten for that comment.
Alec sat up in bed behind him, admiring his work too. Seregil could see him in the mirror and returned his smug smile before turning to crawl back onto the bed.
“All your hard work…” he murmured with a sigh of mock regret, touching one very badly smudged cheek.
“Well, now I get to practise again,” Alec grinned, clearly hoping, the same as Seregil, that it would lead to another evening like this one.
Seregil reached over and snagged his own shirt from where it had been carelessly tossed to the floor hours before. He used it to gently wipe away the last lingering traces of the makeup, where it still clung on determinedly at his eyes and his high, thin cheekbones.
And then there was his Alec. No inks or powders or crushed flowers, just his own soft blue eyes and gentle, shy smile and messy, flyaway hair the colour of summer wheat.
For once, Seregil allowed himself to say exactly what was in his heart, without any hesitation.
“You don’t need any of that to be the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”
The way Alec’s eyes deepened and creased so perfectly in the corners, the way a smile of uncomplicated joy lighted on his face, the way that he believed Seregil so completely in that moment made him glad he’d chosen this lesson for today. Because if there was anything he wished he could teach his lover, it was to see himself the way Seregil saw him.
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spectralstars · 4 years
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FAQ/Stuff to Know
This post will contain answers to questions I get often or expect to get often, and define some of the terms I use. It will be updated over time.
Disclaimer: The information I post to this blog is UPG, based on my own experiences. If I state something as fact on this blog regarding magic, that is because I treat it as fact within my practice, but I do not claim it as objective truth.
Magic
What is magic?
1) The art of utilizing all components of the Soul/being to effect change. 2) A sense of simultaneous power and wonder.
What kinds of magic do you do?
I do a lot of energy work: feeling and affecting my own energy, and reaching out to the energy of other people/places/things to do the same. When a need arises, or when I’m just feeling that magical itch, I create a working for that situation, or draw on a working I’ve created before. These workings can involves making and enchanting talismans, sigils, or chants; music or dance magic; full-blown rituals; just more focused energy work; etc. Divination, meditation, and shadow work are all also important facets of my practice.
How long have you been practicing?
My practice first started to resemble what it is today about 2 or 3 years ago.
Do you do witchcraft/chaos magic/[insert established term here]?
No. I take inspiration and information from many established open paths, but my practice is my own.
Energy Work
What is energy? What are energetic signatures?
Energy is a non-physical, qualityless substance. Just as physical reality is made up of physical matter (I’m ignoring dark matter here because that’s outside of my wheelhouse), parallel to it at all points exists an energetic reality. Unless I specify with terms like “physical/kinetic/potential energy,” assume that I’m speaking about non-physical energy and not energy in the physics sense. These two usages of the word “energy” are not interchangeable.
(Granted, the physical/non-physical distinction can be a bit reductive. Physical, mental, emotional, energetic, whatever other distinctions you make, etc, these things can absolutely effect each other, and debatably aren’t all that separate to begin with. That’s an integral part of the whole mechanism for magic.)
Energetic signatures are the sums of the different qualities that a given quantity of energy can have. Essentially, the vibe. This can include color, sound, emotion, texture, force, temperature, smell and taste, movement, etc. The details of a signature can vary from person to person in a “my red is your green” way—or more accurately “this feeling makes me think red, and makes you think green.”
Energetic signatures don’t behave physically the way energy often does, because they’re purely information. If I take energy from something, it now lacks that energy, but if I take its energetic signature, nothing has changed in that original something.
And yes, confusingly enough, energy can have an “energetic” or “sluggish” signature. There’s a difference between having lots of energy (again, in the magical sense) and having “high energy” (which would mean having lots of energy in the mundane sense).
What is the Fundamental?
The Fundamental is a layer of reality comprised of energy. In the Fundamental, physical distance is more fluid and all things are connected in some capacity. By moving one’s center of awareness, one can perceive and interact with the Fundamental.
What is embodiment/emulation?
Embodiment is one of my go-to energetic practices, one that I utilize and will probably mention often enough to warrant its own entry here. Embodiment means adapting an energetic signature other than my baseline, in such a way that it changes not only my energetic state, but my emotional, mental, and physical posture as a result. In some ways, it’s an “internalized glamour”; I’m affecting how others perceive by not only by energetic means, but by acting differently myself. I use this for everything from performing in front of audiences to calling in certain forces and archetypes to quick pick-me-ups throughout the day.
How do you read energy?
Honestly, it’s as simple as asking what the energy is like and taking what comes to you. Once you’re used to the process, you don’t have to ask anything consciously, you just kinda focus and observe. Getting information is the easy part; the harder part is getting accurate information and interpreting it well. That takes some familiarity with energy and your own intuition, and lots of practice.
Workings
What is a working?
I call spells workings out of a personal preference. If it’s magic and I set aside time for it, it’s a working.
How do you create a working?
I either start with the issue I’m doing the working for, and start thinking of ways I could achieve that symbolically, or I start with that itch to do a certain kind of magic, and start thinking of places in my life where I could apply it. Either way, the process involves a lot of looking around my place for things I could use (if I want to use objects in the first place), thinking about how to tie all those things and ideas together, and just following my head/heart/gut.
What is resonance?
Resonance is what makes a working work. It’s the quality of a successful magical endeavor, one that has a genuine impact. In my observations, it has three components: accordance, effort, and state. Accordance means you’re acting in line with your intention via correspondence, symbolism, and/or magical sympathy. Effort means what it sounds like, that you’re putting some genuine effort into your working. State means you’re mentally focused, energetically in tune, and overall just really feeling the magic, the power and the wonder, as you do the working. The most important part to each of these components is that you do them sincerely; there are no cop-outs or workarounds to what your gut says you gotta do.
Thoughts on curses?
I’m not anti-curse, but I’m grateful to have never felt a need to curse someone in my own life. The closest I’ll ordinarily get to cursing someone is “cursing” then with a positive quality that would completely derail their current plans and help them become better. But I acknowledge that that may not always be the right solution.
Divination
What kinds of divination do you use?
I mainly use different forms of cartomancy: tarot, Normal Tarot (not the same lol), Lenormand, playing cards, and a system of my own creation. I also use several non-Nordic “rune”/symbol sets, two of which I created and two of which I adapted from the work of Silvia Hartmann (whom, let it be known, I do have issues with). I plan to create a tool for using the Glide Oracle beyond just the mobile app. I do sometimes use tarot and Lenormand shufflemancy playlists, and I’ve started working with a system I made for a d100 spinner ring, but I prefer more hands-on systems over purely random ones, for reasons I go into below.
How does divination work/how do you do divination?
Divinatory instruments are an aid for the intuition, a jumping-off point and a guide for facilitating understanding when the mind needs something to go off of. The fact that I use magical means to make sure those jumping-off points are as accurate as possible doesn’t change the fact that that’s what they’re doing.
When I do a reading, the first thing I do is get in tune. With any entity I might want to communicate with, with whoever I’m doing the reading for, with my divination tool, with the matter at hand, etc. Mentally and energetically, I focus on and connect to each of these things. I then trust that my intuition can take all that information, and let me know when to stop shuffling/when to pull a rune so that I get the most helpful answer.
(Being able to move through the Fundamental and find different energies comes in handy in distance readings for that reason, by the way.)
Do you use divination to tell the future?
When I’m getting in tune with everything, it’s necessarily with how things are at the present. To the extent that the present determines the future, I can do readings for the future. But I always keep in mind that the trajectory for the future can change, and I absolutely believe in free will.
Spiritual Pragmatism and UPG
What is spiritual pragmatism?
So this is where that disclaimer comes in. I’m a spiritual pragmatist, which means when it comes to things that aren’t objectively provable, I base my beliefs on what’s most useful to me. That applies to my beliefs surrounding divinity, energy, etc. but also just general philosophical stances, like my belief in free will. This is not to imply that I don’t genuinely believe these things, because I do, only that I don’t care to try and prove the concrete “truthfulness” of them beyond that they make sense to me and have helped me in some way. It’s somewhat similar to chaos magick’s stance on belief, except 1) I’m not looking to change my beliefs at the drop of a hat or anything, and 2) usefulness isn’t limited to what makes the magic work. It could mean what makes me a more fulfilled or happier person, what helps me to feel like I belong and matter in the world, etc.
What about magic?
So magic is a grey area, since it’s so often based in these more unprovable things, but it’s also something I can, and generally try to, test. Still, I’ve gotten results in magic using my own understanding and systems, and other people have gotten results in magic with their own understandings and systems. So I acknowledge my magical framework for what it is: UPG, unverified personal gnosis. Things I know to be true in my own experience, but can’t necessarily vouch for outside of that.
By all means, try out what I have to say and see if it works for you. Gain experience with magic and then trust that experience, above what anyone else says about how magic is supposed to work.
Grab Bag
What’s your name?
Arri. For all intents and purposes.
Pronouns?
She/they.
Sun/Moon/Rising?
Taurus/Pisces/Aquarius.
MBTI? Enneagram?
I know I’m a 4w3 (either 479 or 471), and the tests online always say I’m an INFP, but I know enough about cognitive functions to know that those tests aren’t accurate to how MBTI works, and not enough to know what my actual type is.
Edit: This answer has changed; I now know myself to be a 1w9 (tritype 147, subtype probably sp/so).
What does “spectralstars” mean?
It’s a reference to my understanding of energetic signatures, which is similar to audio spectral analysis, where you don’t measure the frequency and amplitude as a single sound wave, you measure the amplitudes of the many sine waves of different frequencies that make up the sound. That warrants its own post. The stars bit is a reference to a Discord I’m in and also I just really like stars.
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blazefire-engine · 4 years
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Chapter 13 Verse 3
Based on the additional route, Chapter 13 Verse 2, in which we saw Gladio and Ignis traversing Zegnautus Keep.  In this fictional piece, we will see Lightning’s perspective.  {Spoiler Caution}
AN: So I’ve had this in my files for a whiiiile.  I couldn’t bring myself to finish it, but here it is!  You might notice the writing is a bit different from my others (and plot points slightly off), and it’s because I wrote this in 2017.  
I thought this would never see the light of day! (Heh, get it? Light of day?  Because Eos fell into darkness for 10 years?   While this fic has been buried for almost 3... Heh...)
With slow, cautious steps, Lightning glanced around the corner.  Clutched tightly in her fingers was Blazefire Saber in gun form.  
Mere hours ago, the four of them escaped the daemon infested train and infiltrated the capital of Niflheim, Gralea.  During their escape, they managed to pull through miraculously unscathed, despite the fact their connection with the Crystal was somehow severed, disallowing the call to summon weapons.  They were delivered unharmed to the capital with the exception of one unfortunate casualty; the Regalia, having given its final push, bursted through Gralea’s gates.  
Events turned for the worst when they were separated from Noctis.  The Prince was weaponless but, by no means, defenseless.  However, the unknowns inside Zegnautus Keep is enough reason for the three of them to reunite with Noctis immediately.  
As they were about to enter the Keep, Ardyn intervened and somehow, with a snap of his fingers, returned their connection to the Crystal, allowing them to summon their weapons once more.  
Making their way in the mazy, military base, Lightning was separated from Gladiolus and Ignis.  No doubt it was Ardyn’s handiwork messing with the base’s operational controls and doorways.  
Rounding the corner and her weapon ready, Lightning let out a breath as no enemies were in the vicinity.  
She was grateful she chose to bring along her trusty gunblade.  While she could have opted for her Crimson Blitz or Overture, Blazefire Saber was unique due to its independence of the Crystal.   Her two other weapons were bestowed upon her with the Crystal’s connection.  The incident earlier made her aware that it is possible for the Crystal’s link to be severed anytime.  
The hallways seemed never-ending.  The amount of time that had passed was unknown.  After a period of silence, she sensed a change as she heard one of the doors hiss and footsteps echoed down the hall.  
Lightning spotted a crevice in the hall, big enough for her to hide in.  She slipped in and held her breath, her weapon ready once more.  
As the footsteps approached closer, she stilled and as a portion of its silhouette came into view, Lightning whipped out her weapon in blade form, appearing like a thorn on a rose.  
The figure raised both its arms.  Familiar and clad in black, relief surged through her as she wiggled out of the hiding space.  
“Noctis.”  She exclaimed, retracting her gunblade and returning it to its case by her thighs.  
“Lightning!”  He surged forward, wrapping his arms around her.  
Settling her head below his jaw, she breathed in and muttered softly.  “Thank, Eos, I thought I would never find you.”
“I’m alright.”  Noctis murmured in her hair.  “Why are you alone?”
“I was separated from Ignis and Gladio.  This place is a damn maze.”
“At least we’re together now.”  They separated from the embrace and he nodded towards her saber.  “And I see you have a weapon.”
“It’s a good thing I brought Blazefire Saber.”
“An interesting inscription.”  He eyed the writing, “‘Invoke my name.  I am Spark.’”
“Yeah.” Lightning looked at him briefly.  Odd.  She had asked him before, what the inscription meant, but he said he didn’t understand the language.  She felt an ominous presence behind her and looked back, but nothing was there.  
“You look rather perturbed.”
Her brows furrowed slightly at his words, but continued to glance back. 
“There’s this daemon, a foras, who I think keeps following me.”
“It shouldn’t be too much trouble for you then”  He winked and they began traversing through the keep.
Long minutes of silence passed as they walked through the halls.  Noctis taking point and Lightning guarding the rear.  It was then they heard an ear-cringing sound caused by a rogue axeman dragging its axe on the metal floor.  
With nowhere else to hide, the two slipped into another narrow, shadowed crevice in the wall.  The space just enough for them, however, the front of their bodies were pressed up against each other, breaths mingling into one.  
As the rogue axeman passed by without notice, Lightning let out the breath she was holding.  About to slip out of their hiding, Noctis blocked her with his arm and slowly tipped her chin upwards.  
“I’m so glad you are here with me.” He breathed softly.  
With his words, Lightning’s heart began to palpitate.  Her duty faltering, wavering, as she became more aware of their bodies, the feeling of his against hers, their breaths mingling into one.  She was sure he could feel her heart. 
“Noct.” She sighed and closed her eyes as his palm cupped her jaw.  How long has it been since they were alone?  How long has it been since they’ve touched intimately?  To be able to shut away the world, if only for a brief moment, and just be Claire and Noctis, not Glaive and King.  
He dived for a rough kiss, molding his lips into hers and their teeth clacking.  He pressed his body further against hers, trapping her within the small space. “Lightning.” He mumbled between frantic kisses.  
She continued to kiss him harshly, pouring out everything.  Everything that had happened since the beginning, King Regis, Insomnia, Altissia, losing Luna, Ignis’ unfortunate injury, losing Prompto, and the destruction of the Regalia.  The grief and pain that had numbed everyone, Noctis the most.  She didn’t know how to help him, if she couldn’t even help herself.  
The kiss continued, she wondered how Noctis wasn’t running out of air.  As her mind began to clear, the kiss began to feel different.  No longer passionate, but rather aggressive and almost violating.  She pulled back a bit to take a breath, but was soon covered again with his mouth, almost suffocating her.  As she felt his tongue about to roam over past her lips, her soldier instincts rang alarm bells in her head.  At that moment, she abruptly pulled away.  
“Noctis, no.” She panted, trying to calm herself and catch a breath.  She shoved him aside and escaped the crevice they were in.  She looked at him warily.  Her instincts still screaming at her.  She knew one thing for sure; the kiss scared her.  Terrified her.  
“I apologize, Lightning.” Noctis murmured as he stepped out of the shadows eerily.  “It wasn’t my intention to scare you.”
Her eyes slightly widened.  
Lightning.
He called her Lightning.
Not Claire.  
And at that moment, her mind ran purely on instinct.  
With a flick of a wrist, Lightning converted her weapon into saber form and had its sharp edge by Noctis’ throat.  
Her cold blue eyes stared against the prince’s, which were unusually calm. 
“Who are you?”
“Lightning, what’re you talking about?”
“Who are you?” She repeated the question, emphasizing each word.  Lightning, he never called her that, not after an intimate moment...
A smirk slipped on his lips.  “I see nothing escapes your notice, Lightning.”
It was still Noctis’ voice, but she can tell it was someone else.  
Ardyn.  She clenched her jaw, pressing the blade further.  The applied pressure tearing the skin of his throat.  A thin trail of blood began to flow.  
“Where’s Noctis?”  
“Traversing towards the keep.” He replied, unfazed by the sharp edge against his throat.  “He’s doing very well for someone without a weapon.  Of course, with the power of kings at his disposal… he shouldn’t have a problem.”
“He wore the ring.” She stated.
“All according to plan.”
“So you forced him to wear it?”
“Of course not.  It was his decision.”
“You separated him from us.  Singled him out... And somehow took and returned our ability to use the crystal’s magic… so who are you?  Really?”  She repeated the question the third time.  But it wasn’t the same implication as before.  As a soldier, she was specifically trained to read people and understand their intentions.  But this man had his own agenda.  What was his plans for Noctis?  
“What are you trying to accomplish?”
“Oh?” He raised an eyebrow.  “The Great Lightning can’t figure it out?”
“Enough word games.” With a snap of a wrist, her saber switched to gun mode. “You’ll be taking me to where Noctis is.”
As they travelled deeper into the keep, more daemons and troopers appeared and Lightning ticked them off one by one seamlessly, single-handedly while holding Ardyn hostage.
“Very good, Sergeant.” Ardyn crooned and praised in mockery.  “What a fantastic display of butchery.”
“Hn.” She flicked the daemon blood coating her blade. “Doesn’t matter how, as long as the job gets done.”
“Interesting.”  There was a gleam in his eyes that she could not explain.  “Your killing intent.  It's very controlled and calculated.  You make a remarkable soldier.”  She remained silent at his words as he continued on.  “Your crusade of carnage is very palpable.”
“Quiet.”  They walked until they reached a control room and at the other side, a hallway leading to another open space.  Lightning eyed the structure of the room, control panels looked untouched, almost pristine, which could only mean they are nearing to the heart of the keep.
As they strode forward, Lightning paused, eyeing the long hallway littered with dead shock troopers.
“In case there was any doubt: it’s a trap.”
At that instance and with her guard down, he shoved her into the hallway and an energy barrier arose between them, trapping Lightning in the hall.  
“I do thank you for the kiss.”  Ardyn kissed and blew his fingers.  “The Prince is quite lucky.”  With a tip of his hat and a bow, he walked away.
She heard crackling sounds behind her.  The bodies of shock troopers coming to life from the ground.  She cursed under her breath and immediately tried to eliminate them, but that wasn't her only problem.  The electric walls were coming closer and if she can’t get out soon, she would most definitely die at this place.  
“Dammit.”  She panted at the never-ending onslaught of troopers, sweat gathering at her brow, and the walls just kept getting closer.  Looks like the jig was up.  This was it.  After all they’ve been through, this is where it ends.  She could only hope that Noctis could reach the Crystal, stop the darkness to come, and return home to Insomnia.  
Within her final thoughts, she thought of Noctis and heard him say her name, Claire.  
But she heard her name once more over the crackling of electricity and realized that it wasn’t in her head.  
“Claire!” Noctis appeared behind the barrier, looking panicked and in despair.  
“Light’s in trouble!” Gladio yelled, scanning the operating room for something to get her out.  
The Prince scoured the walls.  “Hang on, we’ll get you out!”
Ignis shouted.  “There ought to be a kill switch nearby - find it!”
Gladio responded, searching desperately.  “And how do you know that?”
“I believe it’s the reason we were brought here.”
“Found it!” Noctis pressed it immediately and the crackling died down.  He sighed in relief.  “Shit.  That was close.”
Lightning stumbled out of the hall and into his arms.  “How did you all get here?”
Ignis responded.  “After we were separated, we received “help” from the usual suspect.”
“That bastard’s playing with us.” Gladio growled out.  “But at least we’re together.”  
“All but one of us.” Lightning stared at the hallway, which could’ve been her place of demise.
“Claire, you alright?” Noctis asked worriedly, cupping a side of her face.  She noticed the way he held her was gentler and wondered how on Eos didn’t she know it was an imposter a while ago.
“Yeah.” She breathed and held onto his wrist.  This was him.  The real Noctis.  “I am now.”
“Reunited with your retainers at last.” The sneering voice of Ardyn echoed in the PA system.  “How very touching.”
AN: Urgh. A bit rusty, but I wanted to share my take on Chapter 13 if Lightning was part of the gang.
Totes got inspired by that cutscene when Ardyn was Noctis.  And when Noctis had that deep voice… Ohhhh babyyy...
Also, is this still Lightis LOL I gotta say though, Ardyn/Light has some good potential, especially with lore involved…
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premonition; never too late  preface
Summary: When Richie dies, Eddie has no idea what to do next, until he wakes up the next day, and Richie is sleeping next to him. In the strangest week of their lives, Eddie puts the missing pieces together to solve the mystery and his husband’s life.
A/N: this is a story idea based on the movie ‘premonition’, that both me and @reddie-fangirl24​ are going to work on. We’ll alternate between writing chapters, and this is the preface. Let me know what you think! Also, I’m thinking about applying for a writing course in college so i would really appreciate any honest opinion about my writing! 
warning: curse words 
Despite Eddie’s best intentions on following the route of the car, he loses his sense of direction barely five minutes into the car ride. A blindfold is covering his eyes, making him blind and reliant on Richie, who is sitting next to him in the driver’s seat.
‘Are you excited Eds?’ Richie asks, childish glee laced through his voice. Eddie opens his mouth to answer, but right before he can, Richie makes a sudden U-turn, cursing harshly while he does.
‘Richie I swear to God. You’d better be paying attention to the road!’ He wishes he could see him, mostly because that would give him the opportunity to prod some more. He’s sure that if given the change, he’d make Richie spill the secret in 10 minutes flat.
As it stands, however, he can’t check if Richie remains focused on the road while they’re talking, so he resorts to silence. Africa by Toto is playing in the background, the same song that was their first dance as husband and husband, so he tunes in to the lyrics and lets his mind drift, the only way he can keep his energy in check.
He’s full of curiosity about where exactly they’re going, and what Richie had in store for him. Maybe they’ll be going on a day trip to the zoo, but that seems unlikely since it was already two in the afternoon, or they could be hanging out with their friends. But then why did Richie put so much energy in keeping it secret? The truth is, Eddie is clueless, and that is not something he likes.
He’s gotten better at letting things go that are beyond his control, but disruptive plans are a pet peeve he has yet to overcome, and Richie knows that, so there must be a good reason for doing it.
Richie is nervous, Eddie can tell, even if Richie tries his damn hardest to convince him otherwise. He’s been drumming his fingers against the steering wheel from the moment they left their apartment, too rapid to match the beat of the songs they’ve been listening too.
Just before he decided to remark on this before he can start questioning Richie, the car slows down, and the thumping stops. ‘Hey, Eddie Spaghetti, any guesses as to where we’re going?’
Eddie lets a disbelieving laugh escape him. ‘Obviously not, idiot. If I could see where we are, then maybe I had a chance to.’
Laughing himself, Richie turns the temperature in the car down, indicating to Eddie that he’s sweating, another clue that he’s more tense then he likes to admit.
‘You hot, babe?’ Eddie questions smugly, the edges of his lips lifted up to a smirk.
‘No’, Richie denies, ‘but you sure are, babe.’ He puts empathies on his last word mocking Eddie with his choice of words.
Eddie rolls his eyes as best he can behind his blindfold, even when he knows Richie probably won’t be able to notice it anyway.
For a moment, he nearly forgets what they’re doing. The atmosphere in the car brings forth the same emotions that summers as kids used to do. Before they had to worry about work and everything else, they could be as careless as they wanted to be.
Then the car comes to a quiet halt. Richie sighs, bracing himself for the next part, as he is both equally exhilarated, as he is anxious.  Impatient as ever, Eddie eagerly asks; ‘Can I take off my blindfold now?’
Exhaling a chuckle, Richie shakes his head, before realizing that Eddie can’t see him. ‘In a minute’, he responds, taking the keys out of the ignition.
‘Remember our wedding day, when we returned at night to an apartment and the fucking annoying couple down the hall wouldn’t stop screaming?’
Of course Eddie remembers that, he remembers everything from that day in great detail. The way Richie positively beamed when Eddie came into the room, his arm linked with Bev’s, the hilarious speeches the losers made when proposing a toast, and the promise they made at night, when everyone was dead asleep.
The vow Richie and Eddie made, the one Richie is referencing, was a guarantee that they would move out and find their own place, away from others where they would be with each other and no one could interrupt.
They deserved that much after the lives they had, and especially after Eddie was nearly killed by IT, leaving him in the hospital for almost a year. That had been six years ago, but they still coward at any sight of a shadow, or a sound coming from a dimly lit place.
But that vow had been over a year and a half, and they had yet to find any house that was affordable and close to Eddie’s job, or the other losers. Eddie’s confused as to why Richie would bring it up now.
‘Sure, I remember that Rich, why?’ Eddie inquired, unsure where this was all heading.
‘Good, just making sure.’ Richie’s lips were chapped as they brushed up against Eddie’s, their lips meeting in a slow, loving kiss. Because Eddie hadn’t seen it coming and was taken by surprise, the kiss is a bit sloppy, but the fact that it’s Richie that’s kissing him, made up more than enough for that fact.
When Richie pulled back, his hand brushes over Eddie’s eyebrow, a soothing gesture he had picked up on at the hospital, since every other part of Eddie’s body was off-limits due to injuries. A dopy smiles rests on Eddie’s face when Richie eventually leans away, and he catches the sound of him opening up his car door.
‘Hold on one second, Eds.’
Then, the door on Eddie’s side unlocks as well, the cool air breeze from the open door making him shiver slightly.
‘Okay, I’m going to take your blindfold off now, okay?’
Eagerness spreads through Eddie’s entire body. He nods enthusiastically, he’d be embarrassed, if it wasn’t for the man-child that he called his husband.
When the one blockage slips away, another replaces it straight after, Richie’s one hand big enough to cover both of Eddie’s orbs. He groans. ‘Oh, you asshole, I fucking knew that that was what you were going to do.’
‘Yeah, well deal with it Eddie my love.’ Richie teases lovingly.
Richie supports Eddie out of the car, the grip on his forearm tight. With a slam, the car door shuts behind them, and they are left on the street.
Together, they shuffle over a sidewalk, and that is the only thing Eddie can make out, still in the dark. A kiss is pressed to the side of his head, and then Richie leans down, Eddie small and short frame nothing compared to his, so he can whisper; ‘Open up, Eds.’
His hands fall away, and it takes a hot minute for Eddie to adjust back to the light, after being without it for so long. After his eyes have adapted, he focusses on what’s in front of him, his eyes widening in uncertainty.
Before him is a house, by the looks off it made completely out of wood frame, plywood and sheetrock. There’s an enormous front yard, about 50 square feet, with a walkway from the street up till the front door, full of gravel.
There was a parking spot, marked by the absence of grass, in front of a large window that constricted the view inside the house by white curtains. Eddie blinked, then shakes his head as if to get him out of a daze before turning and gazing towards Richie.
‘A house? Is that why I spend thirty minutes in a car? To see a fucking house?’
Richie paled a little, clearing his throat before covering it up with a smile. Eddie felt guilty nauseatingly fast. ‘You should check it out first, Eds.’
‘What for, Richie? Getting arrested for trespassing is the last thing I want to do right now.’
With a chuckle, Richie guides the two of them towards the front door, his hands still holding on to Eddie’s upper-arms, steering him gently but firm. ‘We’re not going to get arrested, Eds Spagheds, trust me. Where’s your sense of adventure? Maybe I want us to get caught, huh?’
Richie playfully nibbles at the top of Eddie’s neck, right below his chin, laughing when Eddie pushes him away with one of his own. ‘If we get arrested numbnuds, I’m leaving you behind and I am not posting bail!’
The walk up to the front door, Richie letting go as he searches for the keys in his pocket. The door is painted in a camel color, with a mailbox opening near the bottom. Fumbling his way in front of Eddie, Richie opens the door with a tada-motions, gesturing Eddie inside widely, thrilled that he gets to show him the place.
Eddie enters hesitantly, glancing left and right, then stepping inside and doing the same thing. When you step through the door, you find yourself in the hallway, leading up the stairs to the end of it.
Turning left, Eddie sees what he believes is the dining room, and on his right is the living room, a large tv hung smack dab in the middle of it. There are no doors connecting them, just open spaces, but Eddie likes that a lot. It gives the illusion of freedom, and when discussing moving plans with Richie, he had always insisted it should be an open concept.
He peers at Richie, silently asking which direction they’ll go to next, but he patiently waits for Eddie to decide, his hands shoved in his pockets as he silently watches him.
Eddie sets off to the right, gaping out the beauty and serenity that the room displays. There’s a large sand-colored three-piece sofa in the corner, with pillows a baby pink littered across it. Besides the tv, there’s also a bookcase, a mirror hanging on the wall opposite of the couch, a closet, a wooden coffee table, and several green plants. The walls have a peach color to them.
Straight ahead was the kitchen, fully equipped with the newest equipment for cooking. Excluding the basic necessities, there is also a coffee machine, a food processor and an immersion blender. Though it’s a very modern cooking area, it’s build-out of wood. Eddie lets his fingertips slide over the top, focusing on the feel of the rubles under his touch.
Then they saunter over to the main hall again, arriving in another room which held a piano, a desk, and another tv, the walls tinted a dusky pink.
Next is the dining room, a large wooden table at its center, alongside six chairs, neatly places under neat it. There are two large windows, covering the entirety of the walls, leading up to the grass part of their front lawn.
A bathroom is located under the stairs, complete with a toilet, mirror, and sink.
The back garden is even bigger than the front, and if Eddie were to guess, he estimates the total ground at about 71 inches. A little pond covered under a large tree oozes tranquility, an image of an harmonious Sunday afternoon filled with reading and enjoying each other’s company flashes through Eddie’s thoughts, the imagine warming his insides.
Next, they ascend up the stairs, walking up to an even larger floor than the ground one. There are two more bathrooms, one next to one of the bedrooms, and one that’s found at the utter end of the hallway.
In the bathrooms a bath and a shower can be found, along with a toilet, sink and several cabinets, tiles coating the walls with a homely feel. There is a work office, with a desk, computer and placements for Eddie’s files so he can work organized and at peace.
Lastly, there are three bedrooms, with respectively lilac, peach and aqua-colored walls that Richie insisted they visited last. It becomes clear why when they enter the aqua colored bedroom.
The peach bedroom is unquestionably the main bedroom, as it is the largest, and has the biggest bed. It’s adjacent to the street, but the walls are thick enough that any sound from the outside gets muffled.
The Lilac and aqua rooms share a wall, both of them positioned near the backyard. 
Eddie’s eyes are drawn to letter placed upon the bed in the Aqua room from the second he walks in, so he makes a beeline for it.
He hears Richie chuckle, but he pays it no mind as he rips the envelop open to reveal what’s inside. In the letter, with scribbled handwriting that can only come from Richie, a message is written. Want to make this the baby’s room? It reads, Eddie dropping the paper in shock, turning to asks Richie what the hell is going on.
‘What do you mean, Rich? Why the hell are we here?’
With a beam, Richie turns around in a circle, gesturing towards the whole house. ‘This is our house now, Eds. I followed everything you said, and added a few things of my own. I really hope you like it. I was basing it off of what your mother liked, you know since I knew her so well.’
Eddie looks at Richie like he grew two heads, his brow furrowed while his body stands rigid. ‘What the fuck are you talking about?’
For a whole year, they rejected every house that was on the market, touring more open houses that Richie toured cities, for none on them even remotely resembled what it was they were after, and now the perfect house suddenly fell in their lap?
The quest was partially daring since they both agreed that refraining from having children while still at the apartment was a must. Both of them longed for kids more than anything, but they scorned having to raise them in a place that didn’t belong to them.
‘Oh, yeah,’ Richie says sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck bashfully, ‘maybe I should have told you that this was haystack’s wedding gift.’
‘Wait, what the fuck, how?’ Eddie questions, the pitch of his voice going slightly higher.
‘Well I told Benverly about our search for a house and Ben offered to help. So we’ve been secretly working on this whenever you’re off to work or out with Bev.’
‘Oh Rich’, Eddie smiled, his heart growing twice as big as before. Every time he thinks he can’t love the man anymore then he already does, he organizes something like this.
‘And if you don’t like something we can change it. But we agreed on two kids, so two children bedroom, and look’, Richie exclaimed as he trudged to the window, pointing outside to the garden.
‘I was thinking we could place a swing set there, and maybe even a pool.’ He faltered when Eddie kept listening instead of speaking up, keen on knowing what Eddie thought.
Eddie, who was staring with a lovestruck gaze on his face, rushed forward to sloth his lips against Richie’s, kissing him passionately in a way to hopefully convey what words didn’t. Thank you, I love you, I love this.
‘Rich, Thank you. I-, this is amazing, you’re amazing.’
Richie melted to a pool at Eddie’s praise, swooned by the love that surrounded him.
‘And yes, of course, I would love to have a baby with you.’
He could not wait to start their new lives, in their own home. 
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mwolf0epsilon · 5 years
Note
Could I ask for some fallout 4 companion + favorite NPCs headcanons you might have?
I did my top 5 favorite companions in alphabetical order + my top favorite NPC, hope you don't mind! The post would be a bit too long otherwise ^^'
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[[MORE]]
--Codsworth--
Codsworth is (besides Curie, Edna and Whitechapel Charlie) the most self aware Mr.Handy in the Commonwealth. As a result he tends to be underestimated by people in general (since most Mr.Handies and Mr.Gutsies are stuck in their programming to such a degree that they're not really aware of their surroundings concerning a timeline). This causes Codsworth mild anxiety as he thinks he might be broken or perhaps even dangerous to the Sole Survivor if he "glitches any further". A loose cannon can't be trusted right?
The robot workbench, while useful for repairs and upgrades, gives Codsworth the "willies". He doesn't like the idea of being altered beyond what he was made to be. He has the same sort of dread when asked if he'd ever like to acquire a synth body like Curie. He was "born" a Mr Handy he'll remain one until the day he passes.
Codsworth regularly has tea with Sturges and Mama Murphy. Sometimes he manages to get the Sole Survivor, Preston and Curie to join him, but otherwise not many people give him the time of day to kick back and indulge in old pre-war habits. Unless he bakes some of his famous tarberry cobbler, then everyone flocks around him for a taste.
--Deacon--
Every single lie Deacon tells is based on truths. He has a way of weaving words that is impressive because he only really needs to sell something believable to his audience. What's more believable than a story with a few facts switched around? Deacon lies about lying.
Deacon has a terrible temper. One he couldn't exactly control when he was younger but that he'd learned to get a hold of as he grew older and tried to better himself. Barbara's death was the last time he lost control, and since then no one's really seen the extent of Deacon's fury. That person who let his anger get the better of him was scum and caused nothing but pain and death. He wants to help, not destroy.
Deacon has alluded to having lived a good part of his life underground (being quite fond of caves and feeling safe in them) before moving to University Point. While no one knows where exactly he came from, Maccready has suggested Capital Wastelands since he first met him there and he has helped concoct theories on Deacon's origins that vary from cave settlements, to Little Lamplight and even to a Vault. Whichever one it is, this is the cause for his attachment to his sunglasses. His eyes are incredibly sensitive to bright lights (They're also very convinient for his spy work so it's win win in any case!).
--Nick Valentine--
While he's not interested in pursuing a romantic relationship he does seem to be incredibly fascinated by romance novels. He doesn't admit this to anyone however and won't read anything out in public that isn't part of his mystery novel collection. He has a hidden stash of romance novels in a hidden compartment in his desk.
He watched Hancock growing up with his brother and always thought Guy to be a little too aggressive in his stance about the world around them. He hoped the boy would grow out of it but was quickly proven wrong when Mcdonough became Diamond City's mayor. He considered leaving with John and the ghouls before deciding he needed to stay to keep an eye out for the city. God only knew DC would need all the help it could get from then on out...
He has a missing persons case file for Preston which he keeps a secret. Preston's mother approached him after travelling all the way to DC to ask if he'd find her son who was 17 when he ran away. Ever since the Sole Survivor came along and introduced him to her odd group of misfits he's had to keep himself from telling Preston that his mother is worried sick about him. He hopes that when things settle down a bit and that the Minutemen are back into proper shape that he'll be able to tell the lieutenant and bring him to see his mother.
--Preston Garvey--
He was raised by his biological mother (a brahmin farmer) and the woman she later fell in love with and married (a nurse). He never met his father and his moms insisted he was killed by a raider. He later learned that while his mother was pregnant with him, she and his biological father were kidnapped by a group of raiders and that his father was then tortured mercilessly until his mind broke and he joined them. His mother escaped with her life only by pure luck and chance.
Preston's idolization of the Minutemen was always a consern for Mama Garvey, who was deathly afraid of losing her baby boy. When Preston turned 17 he ran away from home to join the militia against his mom's wishes. He hadn't exactly hit his growth spurt yet so his mothers were pretty scared that he might have died alone in the Wastes. After the Minutemen fell apart Mama Garvey went to Nick Valentine to ask for help searching for any signs that her son might still be alive.
He has a passion for learning new things, new skills, any tidbit of useful knowledge he can get his hands on. He's a bit like a Swiss army knife with all the things he's learned from traveling with the Minutemen and Sole Survivor, be it cook a mean brahmin steak, or mend ripped clothes, or even apply first aid when there aren't any stimpacks available, or even origami (although the latter is just for fun).
--X6-88--
After the Institute is destroyed X6 feels mildly conflicted but chooses to stick by his original instructions to follow the Sole Survivor's orders. This of course was an issue at first because he'd shadow Sole like a lost, albeit mildly terrifying, puppy. He's taken up guard duty after he was asked to stop acting like a bodyguard, since he didn't really know what to do with his time. Some of the braver/nicer companions (Nick, Preston, Curie and Codsworth) have tried to give him pointers, but it's actually some of the settlers who have helped him figure out how to somewhat "enjoy" his freedom (mainly Mama Murphy and Sturges who can tolerate his cynicism and disdain for the Commonwealth and it's people).
He's embarrassed by his Fancy Lads snack cakes cravings. As a synth courser he should be a top of the line model with zero attachment to material possessions and no need for indulging in the disgusting Commonwealth foods, be they pre-war or post-war. However since he's a Gen3 synth this is just a quirk he can't really shake off and he'd probably die of embarrassment if anyone found out his stash in his room.
He has a bit of a synth sense. He's not really aware of it, but he gets a strange feeling sort of like deja vu whenever he meets a runaway synth. The Railroad did a fantastic job with facial reconstructions and new identities, but X6 still has this weird feeling that he's seen them before. This feeling is a lot stronger around Sturges and he can't help feel a little put off by him. Not that anyone notices anyway...
--Sturges--
These two [x] [x] headcanons are pretty much my go to for Sturges's origins, but I'll elaborate further!
The original Sturges was born and raised in the Mojave and briefly moved to the Capital Wasteland with his father (after his mom passed away from an unknown illness). After Sturges Senior retired from the NCR the two moved to the Commonwealth to get away from all the chaos in the Capital Wastes. As a result of moving around a lot, Sturges Junior had a lot of contact with experienced mechanics and scientists. Already a bit of a genius himself, Sturges's knowledge was both a gift and a curse, as the Institute took an interest in him and abducted him as soon as they found a chance to do so. The synth copy that currently resides with Sanctuary's people is a bit of an oddity however... He was a prototype meant to spy on Sturges Senior and the settlement they lived in when they moved to the Commonwealth, but there were a few issues with his programming and Sturges actually forgot he was a synth and that he needed to report to a courser that would be sent to meet with him every month under the guise of trading for scrap. Sturges Senior caught on pretty quickly and dispatched the courser, but realized the synth copy was harmless and that if the Institute took his real son then he was already good as dead, so he feigned ignorance and kept Sturges unaware as well.
Sturges left to make a life of his own a few months after his replacement. He learned how to shoot thanks to his dad, but nothing could really prepare him for how ruthless the Wastes could really be. After he settled he swore off fighting as much as possible since he's not too fond of it. He'd still beat up anyone that threatened his friends, even if he had to do it with his bare fists. Those muscles aren't just for show and Sturges can give a mean punch.
Zeke, the leader of the Atom Cats, is Sturges's cousin from his father's side of the family. The two weren't very close when they were younger because Zeke tended to bully him a bit, but eventually the two grew out of their almost sibling-like rivalry and hung out a lot when Sturges moved to the Commonwealth. When the Atom Cats were formed, Sturges was the main mechanic before he decided to lend his services to Quincy. He liked the town so much that he decided to settle there, much to Zeke's displeasure. The two are in good terms and there's really no bad blood between them.
Sturges is as stubborn as a brahmin. This has proven to be both a great asset to Sanctuary and a terrible burden, as when ever Sturges gets it in his head that he can do something, he won't stop until he does it. Preston has had to drag him away from fruitless projects many times so that Sturges could eat, drink and sleep. Others have been less tactful, like Marcy spilling a bucket of purified water over his head because he had forgotten to bathe in a while, or Jun guilt-tripping him so he'd rest for once in his life, or even one time where the Sole Survivor "hired" Tinker Tom to help around the workshop so Sturges wouldn't have to worry too much about repairs progressing in Sanctuary Hills (Tinker Tom spouted conspiracy theories all day and Sturges now wonders if every mirror he sees isn't a two-way mirror somehow connected to the Institute).
Extra angsty headcanon:
The original Sturges ended up as one of the super mutant behemoths that the Sole Survivor can encounter in the Commonwealth. They wouldn't ever be able to tell considering the beast is nothing like the kind and amicable handyman they know.
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kuro-von-shitsuji · 5 years
Text
My Process
Not too long ago someone requested a colouring tutorial from me. Honestly I have no actual knowledge of colour theory and the techniques I use are far from being the only correct way to colour. In fact actual artists will probably cringe at this post. BUT I like doing it and have found a way that works with my limited skills so this is the process I use. This isn’t meant as a complete tutorial but rather just some of the steps I keep in mind while colouring.
To start with, I use an old ass graphics tablet with practically no pen pressure and the desktop version of Medibang Paint Pro, which as far as free art tools go is pretty damn good. You’ll also need access to good quality scans of the panels you’re colouring. I recommend getting the newer chapters on Kobo because you can zoom in on each panel without losing too much clarity, unlike iBooks. I’m not sure about the other sites, but Kobo I can vouch for. 
Now first and most importantly you need to separate your line art from the background. There are two approaches to this. Some artists redraw the line art from scratch, which (if you can do it) gives their work a crisp, professional touch. I can’t do this and don’t have the time nor patience to learn how so I use this method:
menu --> select --> create selection from layer/brightness
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This will automatically separate the line art. All you need to do is choose whichever colour you want your line art in (I start with black) and paste it in a new layer.
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Add a white layer in between the two and you’re good to go! Afterwards you should be able to draw under the line art layer like this:
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This might be obvious to some of you but it literally took me years to figure out. The downside here is that you have to play with Toboso’s screen tones and her occasional mistake. You also have to contend with whatever she left out to make it look good in black and white, like Mey-Rin’s eye in the example colouring. Whichever method you pick is totally up to you.  
Next we have to apply base colour. There’s no trick to this, just pick colours as they look right. Generally I like using desaturated colours but experiment and find what works best for you. Don’t use straight black or white because you won’t be able to shade/highlight over them. Also, make sure to put all the colours on different layers, it will make shading easier.
I also recommend naming your layers, but I never actually do it. I just wing it and curse myself later. This particular colouring had close to two hundred layers and I realised upon uploading that I hadn’t shaded Ran-Mao’s eye so I had to sift through those two hundred unnamed layers to find the base colour. Don’t be me. Learn from my mistakes.
At some point you’re either going to find yourself squinting at the lighter tones trying to differentiate them from the white background or you’re going to find lots of gaps in your colours later on. Or at least, I always do. To avoid this switch up the background colour as you apply your bases. I usually use a mixture of red, blue and white depending on what contrasts clearer with the colour I’m using. For example: below on a white background I thought I’d finished Sebastian’s skin. This is how it looked when I switched to blue. If you do this sooner rather than later it will save you time in the long run.
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After base colours are applied it should look something like this. For some edits this might be the look you’re going for, especially if the panel is more comical than this one. Personally, I prefer to add my details in the shading, which is in the next step.
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Shading is the part of the process that makes the least sense for me on paper because I just follow my heart and bam it’s done, but I tried to think through my process this time. I tend add shadow close to the line art and apply highlighter liberally to open areas. I also find I’ll add multiple shadow layers to a base colour for more depth. Say if I had three shadow layers on a skin tone it would start with block shadow, then finer detail, then the tiny details. All of these have different opacities. Again there might be a more efficient method but on the layer front I say go hard or go home.
I do all shading and highlighting on layers clipped to the base colour. For shading I set the layer to ‘Multiply’ and for highlights I set it to ‘Add’ and play with the opacity for both. This is a method I like to call cheating, but it gets results. Remember: highlights are just as important as shadow. It makes the whole image that bit more dynamic.
I do most of this step with the wet watercolour brush. In this colouring the brush was set to 9% opacity the whole time, but I often mix it up. I’ll sometimes switch to texture brushes for hair and very occasionally for fabric, but often the watercolour brush is enough.
I pick my colours for this step purely based on what my base colours are doing. Because this particular colouring had a lot of people in it (and therefore a lot of details) I stuck to shading with pink and highlighting with yellow, but if a colouring has less detail I’ll often vary the colours to match closer to the base colour. Try to avoid shading with black-- it’s not wrong but it does create a washed out look. Also try to avoid overuse of gradients. I use very faint gradients in each character’s hair and often in backgrounds, but they don’t give you much control over a light source, nor the freedom to shade wherever you like as freehand allows. But again, that’s personal preference. 
Once shading and highlighting is done mine looks like this:
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 As with the base colour, at this stage you could call it finished. However, I am a perfectionist and like to colour the line art. Well, like is a strong word. This is my least favourite part of the process. Colouring the line art feels like someone has forced you to draw while wearing thumbscrews because it exposes every error imaginable, but for that same reason it’s worthy doing. I try to use very dark colours when colouring over regions with heavy screen tone because it’s amazing how much it’s going to lighten your colours. I pick the colours for this step by eye dropping the darkest shadows and then darkening it further. In the end it’ll look like this:
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Finally we just need a background. To do this properly you need to strip down and dance naked under the full moon in a shallow spring made from the tears of nymphs. Make an offering to the spirit of the waters, and eat some of the nourishing moss she presents you. You will know you the colour to use. Alternatively just pick a pastel and slap some stars on it like I usually do. In this colouring I spent like half an hour flicking though shades of orange before settling on a gradient. You can skip this process by knowing which colour you want to use in advance. Or if you’re really flexing you can actually draw a background. If you can do this you are already far more powerful than I. You can also just skip the background altogether, but again I’m a perfectionist. 
This is my final result!
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Ultimately though, there is no right or wrong way to go about any of these steps. There are some amazing artists out there who I’m sure have processes completely unlike mine. Don’t take every word of this to heart: these are just the things I’m mindful of when I’m colouring.
Most importantly: do what looks best to you, and create something you’re proud of!
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stupid-stew · 3 years
Text
My Obsession With Character Names Pays Off Right Here Right Now
I have literally never posted here but I decided that since I spent today writing about the the name of the characters in The Owl House instead of prepping for finals, someone should see it. Included are Lilith, Eda, Luz, King, Gus, Willow, Amity, Alador, Odalia, Emira, Edric, Belos, Adegast, Kikimora, last names Blight, Noceda, Clawthorne, Park, Porter, and Bump, and briefly Hooty, Owlbert, Hieronymus, and Boscha.
FIRST NAME
LILITH
Ok so because I'm lilith’s bitch we are gonna start with her because her name is so cool and I love her and we should be besties Lilith hmu. Anyways as most people know Lilith is a pre existing mythological character which makes this very much good because that means it’s all outlined. Most people know her as a demonic figure, which I very much dig but similar to our lovely queen of curses out here, that's not all she is. There isn’t going to be a chronological explanation of similarities and conclusions, cope. The basic gist is that Lilith was this chick with fiery red hair (this is important iykyk) who refused to be beneath or below adam, more specifically to subjugate to him, funny because of the tapestry with belos what says subjugation on it, probably a coincidence but I do not believe in coincidence right now. Anyways basically she runs off and becomes this chick who like snatches children and will make them sick if they don’t have an amulet with the names Senoy, Sansenoy, or Semangelof on them, thats a different story but what I find interesting is this one passage,
“(12) Her nobles shall be no more, nor shall kings be proclaimed there; all her princes are gone. (13) Her castles shall be overgrown with thorns, her fortresses with thistles and briers. She shall become an abode for jackals and a haunt for ostriches. (14) Wildcats shall meet with desert beasts, satyrs shall call to one another; There shall the Lilith repose, and find for herself a place to rest. (15) There the hoot owl shall nest and lay eggs, hatch them out and gather them in her shadow; There shall the kites assemble, none shall be missing its mate. (16) Look in the book of the LORD and read: No one of these shall be lacking, For the mouth of the LORD has ordered it, and His spirit shall gather them there. (17) It is He who casts the lot for them, and with His hands He marks off their shares of her; They shall possess her forever, and dwell there from generation to generation.”
And there are separate part of this that I find relevant, especially the description of the location, i’m not all that familiar with symbolism of animals in religious texts, so i’m gonna take it at face value and say that this is more or less a description that could be given to the physical owl house itself, sort of a place for people who don’t fit in, its a little messy and I guess one could say overgrown, but it’s a place for anyone, a place to rest now hopefully for Lilith away from the coven, there shall the Lilith repose. On top of that we see the “the hoot owl…” and you’re probably thinking what that so crazy wacko because like why are they referring to Lilith as the hoot owl isn't Eda the owl lady, yes she is. That’s why the actual meanings of lilith’s name that come from her mythological depiction as a demon lady are so important. We have night monster, night owl, night spectre, vampires, night hag, night creature, nightjar (which is another kind of bird), and night bird, all of these seem to fit lilith’s dark aesthetic very nicely which is very good for her, but there are two other ones, hot owl and screech owl, which draw her closer to Edaand away from the coven and her depiction in the mid-later episodes of the show as a monster for cursing eda, but also the name night monster could come into play if while sharing the curse Lilith acquired some of its traits, similar to Edaas the owl beast. Ultimately, we have this little red head girl who eventually fights back against the men who are attempting to get her to be under them, for the character that is belos, for the other Lilith that is adam, god, and his angels, and now hopefully both of them will find solace and repose among the owls in a place they never thought they’d belong. All this talk of owls and god brings us into the other clawthorne baddie:
EDA
For this I'm going to use her full name edalyn, because you know like that’s just how it be it is her name. There isn’t a wiki page for her name like there is for Lilith which makes this a little bit harder but the general consensus seems to be that it means something along the lines of “gift of god”, which I find very interesting. If you are going to name a child gift of god i’m assuming that you are referring to the child themselves, but I don’t think that really applies to eda. I’m not religious, but its my impression that someone who lies cheats pranks and steals their way to the top and isn’t exactly the most responsible witch on the isles might not be the best gift god could give. I do really love Eda though, her character flaws are still a part of her character, but I think this refers to her powers. Eda considers herself to be the boiling isles gift to magic, which I mean like, have you seen the woman. In agony of a witch we see her at what probably 30% of her power with how much the curse was already tolling on her and how much magic she was probably using to fight it off, and like goddamn. She was almost beating lilith, definitely beating the shit out of her, but she was almost defeating Lilith who was at her full power, and that is just a fraction of what she used to be able to do. Her powers were a gift of god, and I think that the loss of them will greatly affect her. She’s already admitted that she doesn’t know how to do much without her magic, and I think going straight from the second most powerful witch on this isles to having no power at all is going to be incredibly taxing on her, physically and mentally.
Luckily for her the name edalyn also means patience, another thing about her name is that it not only means gift of god, but also similar things like gifted by the gods or even goddess, and this draws a connection to Lilith who is named after a demonic figure, casted out for having defied god, they are quite literally polar opposites on the name spectrum, and we see that a lot in the show, they are completely different people, I mean have you looked at them they don’t even look related, but the funnier thing is that their personalities do the same thing. You’d expect Edain her youth to be a gift from the devil, just ask principal bump, and Lilith seemed to be a goody two shoes who worked her ass off, their names could be switched based off their characters alone.
A random baby name site I found said that :
“Persons with the name edalyn are usually highly flexible and well equipped to making and accepting change throughout their life. They always seek excitement and are sometimes a bit of a risk taker. They are imaginative, and often, through their unconventional way of thinking, are naturally able to solve complex problems with ease. They are quick thinkers and observers who are clever, analytical and versatile”
Which I mean like very much applies to eda, she takes change like a champ, either genuinely or by pretending she’s ok with everything, and is always seeking excitement. Like literally all of the time. Always. I think she takes felonies as a compliment, and one of the biggest changes in her life that she genuinely was able to adapt to and appreciate was
LUZ
Ok I think at this point everyone knows that at this point the name Luz means light, and if you didn't, oopsies now you do. The character Luz was named and designed after a real life person the miss dana terrace knew at the time she was starting to really think about the show, Luz ’s personalty comes more from dana herself and we love that, but the character has really started to grow into her name. This is made most obvious when the first spell Luz learns is the light glyph, not only coming into her own as a witch, but also starting to live up to her name, which along with light also has to do with “Our Lady of Light”, which is the virgin mary, fitting her right in with the other biblical names we got going on here. I really want to stress that I know next to zero about religion, and all of the connections I am making come from wikipedia, so bare with me here. But most of the time mary seems to be this pure, saint like figure, which I think is what a lot of people see Luz as, especially on the isles. I’m going to flat out say that this is in no way meant to pass off Luz as simple minded, pure, or oblivious, because we have seen what that girl is willing to do, she faced death and poked him in the with an ice cicle. In terms of life on the isles, however, she is more or less pure and sheltered, she’s completely new to the world she’s in, but she does quickly adapt, and shows more of her strong side, and remains a good person throughout all of it, taking losses as they come, and not letting them remain losses at the same time.
Back to the whole light thing, we already touched on the whole literal bit of her and the light spell, but can you think of a better way to describe Luz ? She literally brings light everywhere she goes, even Eda admits that she’s changed things for the better, for everyone around her too. Willow got a new friend, probably the first friend she’s had in a long time, and even got to begin repairing her relationship with amity, and got placed in the plant track so she could do the things she loves, all because of Luz . Edagot to grow as a person and a mentor, and finally got someone willing to accept all her eda-ness, unconditionally, someone to really care about that really cares about her back, all because of Luz . Amity got a friend who cares about her, not just her family name and money, someone who supports her and will do anything for her because she is her friend, and a bit of self discovery along the way for amity, all because of Luz . Not a single person on the isles who has had more than 2 minutes of interaction with Luz hasn’t had their lives improved, even belos got his portal, and the thing is that even characters who people might not even consider changed have been, characters such as
KING
The name king itself is obvious, he is royalty, the king of demoNS HIMSELF ASMODEUS hahahaha pulled a sneaky on you now accept my ideas as your own. I am on a mythological name kick, deal with it. The most important thing here is in the bible, asmodeus poses himself as a false god, which I know is something we have all considered with king, that he might be a full on liar, not be a king of anything and is just your ordinary street demon, it’s even come up in the show with him calling himself the king of artists and Luz asking him if he was just making it up at this point. It’s a good theory, I can see it, and this could be used as proof. There is also another legend that paints him as a good natured dude, who eventually banishes the king by literally throwing him, and then he loses his powers and is banished, but this is also the same legend where he marries Lilith and that is not something I am down for. There is another text in which he tells the king (the same one he threw in the other one) that his kingdom will one day be divided and the king does not believe him, and this is the same text where he admits to hating water and birds because they remind him of god. Lets think class, who has the god name and is related to birds here? King’s name by itself holds true to his character, who (regardless of if it is truthful or not) holds himself as if he is a king, and he isn't the only one with a name like that, there is also
WILLOW
Ok I know we all thought it, willow, the plant girl, how fiendishly clever. This also happens to be the only descriptor for her name I could find, which is totally fine because I think it’s a very cute name and willow is also very cute. This means we get to go into the symbolism of the willow tree wwwooooOOOOO aren’t you so very excited I know I am. Its kind of interesting, willow trees seem to match the character, understanding, warm, a safe space really, but most of all the ability to let go of pain and suffering, sometimes outright ignore it, and move on. Willow does always say out of sight out of mind does she not? She is willing to ignore, even excuse people bullying her, be it bosha or even amity, and the moment she got the chance her inner willow decided to try and literally burn the painful memories she had, willing to cause damage just to forget. Willow as a character is very willing to move on like nothing happened most of the time, key word most because another thing about willows is the ability to grow from the pain. Before understanding willow, we never really saw willow stand up for herself until she really had to, but hy the end of the episode she is willing to tell amity that she isn’t willing to fully forgive her, but she’s willing to grow and try. Heck, we see this over the entire first season, we see this little girl who can barely pull it together long enough to stand up for herself grow into this amazing character willing to publicly oppose the emperor and break into his castle for her friend, she tried to full out attack Lilith when 19 episodes earlier she wasn’t able to stand up to amity for bullying her. And I am in no way calling willow weak, she never was, she just needed to find the ability to show everyone that she’s strong, god I love willow so much, you wanna know who else loves willow?
GUS
Gus, my main man, love you but for this we are gonna have to use the full on augustus sorry babes. The name augustus means majestic, or venerable, which while I must say that the illusion of kiki doing the worm was probably one of the most majestic things I have ever seen, I’m going to focus on venerable a bit more here. Venerable is a big word, it means “accorded a great deal of respect, especially because of age, wisdom, or character.”, which for gus the age part might play a smaller part here, but he is good as what he does, Luz and willow both respect him, Eda Respects him, he’s this little dude who is younger than everyone and has to rely on his ability to succeed, not inly with his power but with his personality.Gus seems to be confident in himself, communicating with everyone regardless of who they are or what power they hold, similarly to willow he was willing to do anything to help Luz , leading into the second description of venerable, “heroic in nature”. Now, you might be wondering, bestie where ever did you get that description, it totally wasn’t from a religious page okyesitwas but that's fine because being pronounced venerable guarantees a spot in heaven so get it bestie. Overall, the general meaning for augustus is that they are strong, respectable, and powerful, which takes us right into the
ASSORTED BLIGHTS
The blight first names bring me joy so I am putting amity last because I think its really funny, starting off with alador, the name alador evokes diplomacy, correctness, and confidence. We know zilch about alador, but if the vibes of the blight family have anything to say it’s definitely something along those lines. The name odalia means wealth, which I mean like have you seeeen blight manor? Also back at it again with the fact that it’s a variant of the name odilia, like the saint olilia which I don't have ties for you right now because again, we know nothing about her. Edric also means wealth, fortune, riches, powerful, you get the vibes, same thing with emira which means commander, or prince, princess, leader, or star. So you know like we have all these super powerful names happening, and then, oh boy and then we get to little miss perfect herself, amity blight. It means friendship, or harmony. If I was her I would be so mad at my parents like yall have these mad powerful names and I got stuck with friendship? Hand me the emancipation papers. You know what they say, friendship is the real magic (even if no longer taught in schools due to budget constraints). I hope that this leads more into season 2 with amity working on her friendships and ultimately her relationships in general, which we got a bit of already with her working on repairing her relationship with willow, and making the moves to cut off old toxic friendships and moving into more genuine ones with willow, Luz , and gus. I guess you could say that the only thing ALL the blights have in common with each other is their
LAST NAME
BLIGHT
The word blight by itself means a plant disease which boy oh boy can you believe how nicely that fits into amity bullying willow because I sure can. Outside of just the plant bit it overall just means like something that damages another thing, and this works beautifully for each member of the family. The parents are damaging their children, the twins just causing general damage, and amity and her goddamn relationships, but fortunately that whole plant thing brings us into the next couple of last names
CLAWTHORNE
The last name clawthorne means “cold or exposed thorn tree” which had me kind of like what the heck so I went off and had some fun and got you some presents that I think are funny, so there was this guy right, his name was joseph clawthorne, and he created the term whiffenpoof, which is the name for a wildly fictitious animal, things like a jackalope, or even a griffin with spider breath, though I guess that would be the work of a
NOCEDA
Back again with the trees good lord, it means field of nut trees, so again I went into prominent people an found this guy named jorge noceda sanchez, he was a painter and some of his works are kinda baller actually it seems like something that would fit in on the isles, but also not all of the names have a deeper meanings, names like
PORTER
Ok I am like pretty sure this was just meant to be a play on the fact that gus’ dad’s name is perry and is a reporter, get it, perry porter, perry porter, reporter, but nonetheless I did some digging because why the heck not, it means doorkeeper, or gate keeper, someone who guards something like an important building, which honestly I think this would be a good last name for hooty if he ever gets one, but again not all of these are important names at the moment, or maybe they won't ever be at all, names like
PARK
At first I was kinda like l m a o willow park plant girl hahahahah plants in the park parks have trees willow is a tree but then I remembered that someone pointed out that park is a traditionally korean surname and then like a week later disney posted about it for aisian pacific american heritage month which kind of confirmed it, and I don’t know if the whole intention behind it was to establish willow as representation or not, but the surname park by itself means gourd and willow I am so sorry that is so unfortunate LMAOSIFN
BUMP
To be honest I was not expecting bump to have a last name that meant anything but it means swift walker and I think thats funny so you have to know it now
MISCELLANEOUS
BELOS
BIIIITCH LISTEN UPPPP there is a butt tone of mythology surrounding his name and its mostly a different form of it, belus, that is referenced, but same thing different shape. Most of his depiction is as a great king or ruler, in babylonian mythology being the equivalent of zeus of jupiter, which liiikkkkkeeeoajolnjojnkjakjavnjfvdfkjf but its fine everything is great its all ok most importantly, he is recognized as the god or ruler of war, and in that same mythology he lived in babylon, which “... was originally water, and called a sea. But Belus put an end to this, and assigned a district to each, and surrounded Babylon with a wall; and at the appointed time he disappeared.” and idk about you but the smell of him assigning a divide and disappearing smells sour like funky to me babes
HIERONYMUS AND BOSCHA
I am only putting this here because the fact that it’s totally a play on hieronymus bosch makes me cackle and you all have to know it thank you
ADEGAST
B-but brevyn he was only there for like one episode, yeah ok and? Radegast is the slavic god of hospitality, and there is no host like a host that pretends to take you on a mythical quest and then tries to eat you and your mentor and her deranged cat demon, ok? His name translates to “dear guest” or “welcomed guest” and I mean I think if my host tried to suck me into some fantasy would delusion i’d feel pretty welcomed
HOOTY
He is an owl
OWLBERT
He is also an owl
KIKIMORA
First and foremost, she is a little night gremlin who hates children and I think that really fits her, but she is also a little house demon, who is very difficult to get to leave, have we seen her outside the castle? Will she be a spy along with the mask next season? She also has a name that means nightmare or night demon, similar to a certain other night creature we might have heard of a while ago. She tried to strangle children and I love that for her,and she is described as a little old ugly messy haired lady and I feel like her current character has the personality of one so i’ll take it, but what really gets me is her villain origin story, which is that she "grows up with a magician in the mountains. From dawn to sunset the magician’s cat regales Kikimora with fantastic tales of ancient times and faraway places, as Kikimora rocks in a cradle made of crystal. It takes her seven years to reach maturity, by which time her head is no larger than a thimble and her body no wider than a strand of straw. Kikimora spins flax from dusk and to dawn, with evil intentions for the world.”
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