#ultimate universe toad save me...

[discet]

Here's a fun question, how would your swap au versions of the calamity trio and the canon versions react to each other based on where they're at by the end of their respective season ones?

I love this question so much. Gonna use C! for canon and then AU! for Alternate Universe. We're going to assume that the AU! counterparts are in a slightly better emotional spot then where we left off at, maybe a few days after Reunion. Also assuming that Canon!Trio had the same pre amphibia stuff as the AU!Trio.

okay so starting with the easy one.

Sasha strikes me as the person who would absolutely hate to be around themselves. I think it starts with the two of them trying to one up each other passive aggressively before things grow increasingly more aggressive. Until they come to blows

C!Sasha: I had a entire floor of Toad Tower all to myself and servants waiting on me hand and foot

AU!Sasha: While I got shit done. Half the continent knows my name while you were a big fish in a small pond. Plus I didn't spend half my time in a cell.

C!: At least I didn't lose to Marcy.

AU!: Oh cause losing to Anne is less embarrassing? And my Marcy managed to destroy your little tower and its toads by herself.

C!: At least my Anne didn't ditch me.

It pretty much immediately comes to blows after that.

Marcy: The Marcy's immediately geek out upon seeing each other and after establishing whats different in their timelines briefly debate whether they should wait for a third Marcy from an AU where they dropped near toad tower to show up. Ultimately the debate is moot cause they are too excited to talk about things and compare notes.

AU!Marcy talks about how things have been pretty rough for her but she's made a lot of good friends in the valley and has been adopted by the Plantars. Also that she's been learning magic.

C!Marcy says that's weird cause in Newtopia she's just been thriving and absolutely crushing every challenge that comes her way. Also brags about her friendship with the king. Also super psyched about the magic and shows off her crossbow.

As C! is talking AU! starts to realize that she is still totally lost in escapist mindset and hasn't really faced any great trauma yet. AU!'s brand new older sister instincts kick in.

AU!Marcy: Hey, you know that trope where a character gets cloned and ends up basically being family to each other?

C!Marcy: Yeah, that's a really sweet trope.

AU!, now hugging C!: Great so we're sisters now and I'm going to take care of you.

C!, slightly misty eyed: O-okay

Anne is the funniest so I saved her for last. So both of them are in denial and just acting like everything is good. They bond over both having spent time in Wartwood. C! talks about the Plantars and how good they were to her.

There's a little drama when AU! says how Hop Pop tried to steal the box in her version of things, and C! says that HP would never do that to her and that Hop Pop actually sent the box out to some contacts of his. AU! can tell C! got duped, but ultimately decides that C! probably wouldn't believe her and it isn't worth the fight.

They make small talk until basically this exchange happens.

AU!Anne: Yeah, its been wild I never thought I'd start dating in a place like this...

C!Anne, incredulous: Dating? Who are we dating? One of the frogs?

AU!: What? No! We're dating Marcy.

C!, blushing and eyes wide: Marcy!? Wait, you're gay?

AU!: No, we're gay, have you not figured that out yet?

C!: Woah, just because I thought Mrs. Croaker was hot doesn't mean-

AU!, now also incredulous: You thought what?!?!

#awiw #sasha waybright #anne boonchuy #marcy wu #amphibia #god this was a delight to write. #thank you for this question

[bamfdaddio]

X-Men Abridged: 1968

The X-Men, those ever-so-slightly exhausting mutants that have sworn to protect a world that hates and fears them, are a cultural juggernaut with a long, tangled history. Want to unravel this tapestry? Then read the Abridged X-Men!

(X-Men 40 - 51) - written by Roy Thomas, Gary Friedrich and Arnold Drake. Drawn by Werner Roth, Don Heck, George Tuska and Jim Steranko

Did you know Frankenstein’s monster was an android, sent to earth by aliens as an ambassador?

My English Lit professor LIED TO ME! (X-Men 40)

Whereas last year served up a cohesive narrative by making it all about Factor Three, 1968 gives us a hodgepodge of clumsy and confusing storylines. This might be due to the different writers at the helm: last year was all about Roy Thomas, this year we’ve got three dudes pulling it in different directions.

What doesn’t change is the prose. So much purple prose.

Anyway, this year is all about THE DEATH OF PROFESSOR XAVIER and THE RETURN OF MAGNETO! (If you think this is terrific foreshadowing and not something that kills all narrative tension, boy howdy, you’ll love reading comics from this era.)

The best kind of foreshadowing drags you into an alley, punches you in the nose and steals your shoes. Fuck subtlety and proper twists. (X-Men 41)

Anyway, Xavier is acting all out of character: cranky, angry, impatient, barely using his powers for immoral purposes… He pushes the X-Men to the brink and continually sequesters himself with a troubled Jean.

Meanwhile, Bobby and Hank’s date with Zelda and Vera is interrupted… again. At this point, I just have to believe that Zelda and Vera are embroiled in some torrid lesbian relationship, while Hank and Bobby serve as their beards.ANYWAY, their date is interrupted by the Grotesk, the last remaining heir to an advanced subterranean species who have recently been slaughtered by an earthquake machine of human making. Look, how many underground societies does the Marvel Earth even have? Did these Grotesks live next to the Molemen? I…

In defense of Grotesk, spinning him around like a fucking bola is one of the top three things I´d like to do with Angel too. (X-Men 42)

The X-Men try to stop the Grotesk from sinking the Eastern seaboard into the Atlantic, and in the end, the Professor sacrifices himself to stop him, paying pays the ultimate price!

OR DOES HE

To make it even more tragic, apparently Xavier was dealing with some mysterious illness that neither human medicine nor mutant powers could cure. But before he died, he somehow transferred his powers to Jean. (Either pretend this happened or retcon it him awakening Jean’s latent telepathy.) Anyway, Chuck wanted to prepare them for the return of… Magneto. (Also Pietro and Wanda.)

Quicksilver crashes Xavier’s funeral, unsure whether he should ask the X-Men for help. He doesn’t. Meanwhile, Magneto somehow has duped some hapless time-displaced TikTokker into filming the grisly affair. (X-Men 43)

What follows is a sort of confusing crossover with the Avengers where the X-Men mostly get sidelined in favour of some drama involving the House of M. Wanda has some temporary mental damage that only Magneto can cure? Also, Pietro hates humans now, which, given the state of the world in general, I can only concur with.

Magneto captures the X-Men in customized cages, designed to be unescapable, but Angel escapes by simply pushing the right button. He flies off to get help, stumbles upon a weird and ultimately meaningless side quest and finally returns with the Avengers!

But! Magneto turns the X-Men against Earth’s Mightiest Heroes! Just kidding: the X-Men pretend to go along with Magneto’s mind games, but this was all a plot concocted by the heroes to make Magneto feel like he’s winning. Instead, the heroes attack and drive Magneto back. Toad, who finally is fed up with Magneto’s abuse, emancipates himself and defies Magneto, kicking him out of the helicopter he, Wanda and Pietro flee in. Magneto seemingly falls to his death in the water.

OR DOES HE.

First of all: why would Magneto just make a non-ferrous aircraft? Second of all: why would he then BRING IT ALONG? Big mad. (Avengers 53)

Following Xavier’s death, Foggy Nelson reads his will. The Professor bequeaths the school to the X-Men! Fred Duncan, Professor X’s FBI liaison is also there! And then! Juggernaut briefly returns from the dimension of Cyttorak, stirs up trouble and is then sucked back into the ruby of Cyttorak thanks to a Professor Ex Machina from the grave. This somehow convinces Fred Duncan that the X-Men should split up, fearing they may be too big a target for evil mutants and thinking they might be better at responding to threats spread out over the continent.

Yeah, Angel will be so much more effective when he isn’t part of a team of much more powerful individuals. (X-Men 46)

So, the X-Men split up! In NYC, Bobby and Hank battle Warlock, the most forgettable villain ever, when he interrupts their date. They also get into a fight with hippies because of… poetry?

Yeah! Put the slam in poetry slam, odd beatniks! *aggressive finger snaps* (X-Men 47)

Jean and Scott ‘go undercover’ in California, with Jean becoming a model and Scott ‘pretending’ to be her superjealous boyfriend. So, instead of actually forming a relationship, they just pretend to have one? Fuck, these two are exhausting. Jean also forgot she attends a university, apparently. Which is just as well, because it means boring Ted and his boring brother disappear from the narrative.

They are attacked by an increasingly silly string of villains and it’s obvious that nobody really knows what to do with this book. They even skip an issue: the preview for issue 49 is something completely different than what we’re getting.

The year ends of a sort of high note, however, introducing two familiar faces. Mesmero,a hitherto unknown follower of Magneto, is amassing an army of would-be mutants by… hypnotizing them? Through their… X-Gene? Among them is a curious gal named Lorna Dane, who is rocking the brown hair. Bobby saves her from her drone-like state and keeps an eye on her while the rest of the X-Men investigate Mesmero.

Lorna meanwhile takes a shower, washed out the cheap dye and is revealed to have green hair. (Fuck yeah! But also maybe buy better dye?) Bobby and Lorna are captured by Mesmero and his cronies, and Bobby warns the other X-Men telepathically. They let themselves be captured by Mesmero too, figuring it’s the easiest way to find his lair. There, Mesmero awakens Lorna’s latent magnetism powers, and bestows on her two sweet titles:

Somewhere in Kenya, Storm is upset and doesn’t know why. (X-Men 50)

And, in another shocking twist (gasp²), Magneto’s alive!

You say ‘aura of unspeakable evil’, I say ‘prime dom top daddy’. (X-Men 50)

He fights the X-Men while Polaris tries to determine who she holds allegiance to: the father she just met or these other randos she just met. You’d think she would maybe not want to hang out with the raving demagogue, but hey. Maybe it’s magnetic attraction. The X-Men flee, forced to regroup, and we end the year there, with the ‘innocent’ Lorna Dane under Magneto’s thrall.

Didn’t you take Art History? Oh! Issue 50 has the familiar logo for the first time, created by Jim Steranko!

So one cape tassel goes over the shoulder and one goes under it? Why is there a little skull with horns in the middle? Why the strappy sandals? Mesmero, sashay away. (X-Men 50)

Ugliest Costume: It’s a toss-up between Mesmero and Polaris, but since I assume Mesmero designed Polaris’ outfit, we’ll just give it to him.

Best new character: I didn’t think she’d earn it, because I’m not the biggest fan of Lorna Dane (most writers use her as a plot device, rather than a character), but otherwise this would go to Grotesk and that’s never going to happen.

Most audacious retcon: Jean is able to psychically penetrate Juggernaut’s helmet, which used to protect him from Charles’ influence.

It’s also kinda funny how after years of retcons where Polaris, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver sometimes are and sometimes aren’t Magneto’s kids, how it is right now is the same as when it started: Lorna is Magneto’s daughter, the twins aren’t.

What to read: Nothing. This is not a great year.

Death proof: ‘Chuck’ kicks the bucket for the first time.

#x-men #xmen #x-men abridged #abridged x-men #professor x #charles xavier #changeling #kevin sydney #jean grey #marvel girl #cyclops #scott summers #beast #henry mccoy #iceman #bobby drake #angel #warren worthington #magneto #quicksilver #pietro maximoff #scarlet witch #wanda maximoff #polaris #lorna dane #mesmero #toad #mortimer toynbee #grotesk #avengers

[dragonkeeper19600]

Super Mario Bros.: Fallen Star AU (Part 2)

Part 1 is here.

Stella spent most of her childhood in that same secluded cottage where she was born.

Her mother Peach, Toadsworth, and a small number of servants lived there with them. 

All the staff in the house were sworn to secrecy. If Bowser ever learned that Peach and her daughter were living in Sarasaland, it could be trouble. 

The world waited anxiously to see if Bowser would expand his empire outside the Mushroom Kingdom.

But, he didn’t.

The truth was, he had come in some way to fear the Havoc Star, the very entity that had given him his victory. 

He was still unwilling to give it up, but he himself had barely survived that final attack on Peach’s Castle,

And it had killed Mario, something he had never been able to do and - he realized in the few moments of complete self-honesty - had never really wanted to do.

So, he kept it under tight lock and key, using it as a deterrent more than anything else. 

But, his forces were still probing the depths of space for Peach. 

But, though she grew up in safety, Stella became restless. 

Her mother and the other adults around her frequently told her stories of Mario, her hero father, and how he’d saved the Mushroom Kingdom time and time again.

She learned, from an early age, that she was a princess whose rightful kingdom had been stolen from her by a monster named Bowser. 

Unsurprisingly, she came to think of the faraway Mushroom Kingdom, a country she had never seen, as hers. 

And, she came to idolize Mario, dreaming of becoming a great hero like him.

But, these noble dreams were deeply troublesome to Luigi. 

At every waking moment, he was plagued by an all-consuming fear:

What if I lose her, too?

Luigi didn’t live with Peach and Stella, but he and Daisy visited them often. 

A few years after Stella was born, Luigi and Daisy were married.

 At first, it was a question if they ever could be together.

After all, wasn’t Luigi supposed to be hiding? 

But, Daisy ultimately decided she didn't want to wait.

Why should they have to put their lives on hold just because of Bowser?

Their wedding was simultaneously an act of love and defiance. 

We won’t spend our lives hiding and cowering because of you. We’re going to carry on.

But, for all Daisy’s noble ideals, and Luigi’s ultimate acceptance, Peach was still unable to attend the wedding. 

That she missed her best friend’s wedding ceremony was a source of deep regret for Peach.

Luigi and Daisy privately celebrated with Peach, Stella, and Toadsworth afterword.

Even so, Peach had lost even the most basic things she had come to take for granted.

Eventually, Daisy and Luigi started to bring their own kids around to visit Stella.

Stella loved her cousins but became increasingly aware of the huge difference between their lives and hers.

They were all royalty, but her cousins were known and loved all throughout their country, whereas Stella had to hide. 

Stella longed to leave the comfort of her refuge.

She wanted adventure in the great, wide somewhere. 

Toadsworth passed away while Stella was still little, and so she spent much of her childhood wracking Luigi’s poor nerves. 

She played rougher than he liked, roamed farther than he liked.

Luigi was neurotic and overprotective with his own children, 

But with Stella, he worried on a whole other level. 

Peach and Daisy were able to eventually convince him to train her in jumping, fighting, etc.

Their reasoning is that it would be better for Stella to be prepared if anyone ever did come for her.

Luigi, however, would’ve preferred for everything he taught her to be strictly theoretical.

He would be content if she stayed home for the rest of her life

And the skills he gave her were never put to use.

It should be pointed out that at this point, Luigi had resumed his heroics in the Mushroom Kingdom.

He was tempted for a long time to retire.

After all, he had a wife and kids now. 

He had done all he could, and the Mushroom Kingdom had still fallen. 

The people didn’t need a failure like him. 

But, no matter how much he tried to reason with himself, he couldn’t ignore the Call.

Before, when he’d stayed behind to “guard the home front,” it had been with the knowledge that Mario was out there handling it.

But now, Mario was gone.

If Luigi didn’t come, then no one would.

But, there was a problem.

Technically, Luigi was now a prince of Sarasaland.

If he began interfering with Bowser’s rule in the Mushroom Kingdom, it might mean war,

A war that no one in Sarasaland felt they could win.

So, Luigi took a cue from Daisy,

And did his heroics in a mask.

And, don’t pretend you don’t know what his alter-ego looked like.

(To clarify something, I don’t think Mr. L exists in the main continuity. I think this is something unique to the Paper Mario universe. These events would be the debut of the Mr. L costume in this universe because multiversal resonance and all that.)

Luigi, as Mr. L, would sneak into the Mushroom Kingdom and rescue the Toads still trapped there, helping them to escape Bowser’s rule and run elsewhere. 

Mr. L became sort of a resistance vigilante.

That Mr. L is actually Luigi is one of those widely-kept secrets that everyone knew.

But, although Bowser suspected Mr. L was Luigi, he was never able to prove it.

Sarasaland always firmly denied that Mr. L was Luigi.

After all, Luigi was right here in the capital with his wife. Don’t be silly!

Complicating matters was that Luigi had gone prematurely gray after Mario’s death.

So, he looked just different enough for there to be doubt. 

But, going solo against Bowser’s tightly regulated war machine was putting a strain on Luigi.

There were so many people living in a state of oppression under Bowser, and there was no way he could save them all.

And it didn’t improve his mood when he caught Stella following him across the border.

Stella was 16 at the time and had decided she was ready to fight alongside her uncle. 

Mr. L was jumped by a few of the Koopa Troop, and he nearly had a heart attack when Stella joined the brawl. 

She held her own just fine, but when the dust cleared and the enemies had fled, Stella was stunned when her uncle responded not with gratitude or praise but fury.

What did she think she was doing here? Did she think this was some kind of game? 

I told you to stay with your mother!

Stella’s adrenaline-fueled excitement gave way to indignation.

She’d helped! He can’t pretend she hadn’t helped!

The Mushroom Kingdom is her country! She can’t sit by and do nothing!

She’s not a child anymore! (She was.)

Luigi grabbed her by the shoulders and exploded.

If they find out who you are, they’ll kill you!

Why don’t you understand? What’s wrong with you?

Do you want me to watch you die? DO YOU?

Stella is stunned. She’s used to Luigi worrying over her but not like this.

Luigi drops to his knees and buries his face in her stomach.

I’m begging you! 

I’m begging you! 

Please, don’t do this to me!

Stella feels tears on her overalls.

She hears herself agreeing.

She’s called Luigi “Zio” (the Italian word for “uncle”) her whole life.

Okay, Zio. Okay. 

I’ll stay home.

I won’t leave anymore.

Please, don’t cry. 

Ever since she was a child, Stella had been in awe of her uncle’s love for her.

He spoke of her father often, and his voice was always so sad. 

One night, when she’d been unable to fall asleep, she’d heard someone come into her room.

She’d kept her eyes closed as that someone stroked her bangs from her forehead. 

She’d known it was her uncle when she felt the whiskers on her cheek.

He’d left, closing the door behind him. She’d ducked her head beneath her sheets, her heart full to bursting.

What’s a little girl meant to do with so much love, so much sorrow?

She’d sometimes felt as though it would crush her. 

It was her uncle’s love for her, his sorrow, and, ultimately, his fear of her

That made her agree.

She allowed him to escort her home.

She kept her promise for two years. 

#super mario bros #fallen star au #luigi #stella #mr. l #princess peach #princess daisy #toadsworth #mario #bowser #angst #character death #havoc star #fan fic #au

[bellatrixobsessed1]

Swift As Karma (Part 39)

Azula cringed in her grasp, unsure of how to take such a boldly affectionate gesture. She wondered if she should return it, but she felt all too awkward to do so. So she just sat still until Katara loosened her hold. 

“Too much?” Katara asked, flushing. 

Azula nodded. Far too soon, she thought. Frankly, TyLee was the only person who she was accustomed to receiving that kind of affection from. And now the girl was gone. Gone and Azula was left in the company of only former enemies. Of people she was still only just getting used to. It left her on edge and perhaps even a little afraid.  With TyLee around, at least she had one ally if things went wrong. Now, she had only herself. 

“Sorry.” Katara mumbled. 

Azula shrugged. “It’s fine.” She added after a moment, deciding that it would be best to make sure that there was as little tension as possible. 

“I’m sure things will go back to normal once we defeat the Fire Lord.” Sokka threw in. 

“Aang is dead and my father won’t have me back. Normal is gone.” Azula replied. She decided that she was not a fan of change, not at all. 

“Well maybe something new will be better?” Sokka tried. 

She failed to see how her father’s resentment and the blood on her hands was better. She could see it on Katara’s face that the girl also didn’t see anything better about Aang’s demise. She got herself semi-cozy in her sleeping bag and simply muttered a, “perhaps.” 

“You can come stay by us, you know.” Toph offered. “Instead of all the way over there.” 

Azula thought for a moment, she supposed that the distance wasn’t as pleasant without TyLee there to roll over in her sleep and snuggle the former princess. She moved her sleeping bag closer to the fire and the rest of the group. She listened to them chatter for a while, stepping in once or twice if a conversation peaked her interest. Mostly though, she was running through events in her mind. Everything that had led her to where she was now. 

Every misstep and every right step. 

For her thoughts she sleeps fitfully. Especially when she thinks of her duties.

It is inevitable so she might as well stop resisting. She will fight her father, whether she lived or died in doing so didn’t really matter. Whether he lived or died, that was what mattered; his death would be profound and for the better. His life would destroy other life. 

She was going to have to kill her father and she didn’t know if she could. If killing Aang haunted her, killing her own father was going to be hell for her mind. She supposed that, that was just one more facet in the price she was going to have to pay for killing someone who didn’t deserve death. 

Part of her didn’t think she had anything to fear in that regard. She didn’t feel as though she were strong enough to even get her father into a position where she’d have the power to decide whether or not she’d kill him. Even with four elements on her side, he had the upper hand; he taught her everything she knew about firebending, he knew exactly where her weak points lie and how to exploit them. 

Azula bunched herself into a little ball.

There was one thing that he knew nothing about…

But she knew just as little. 

Her mind wandered to the upcoming invasion and she ultimately decided that she was going to have to learn. She both dreaded and knew that it would probably be a smart decision to try to make contact with the avatars again.

She decided that she would. 

.oOo.

She was more or less fully awake two hours later. The sky was still  an inky blue and still had a healthy glittering of stars. Azula emerged from her blankets and wandered towards the clearing. She could hear, all around her, the noise of the night; crickets and squirrel-toad varieties and the occasional bellow of a cat-owl. She wished that she could see the night sky again, it used to soothe her. 

Instead she seated herself at the center of the clearing. For a moment she only listen to the animal noises and the rippling of the nearby river. To the rustling of the leaves in the breeze. She didn’t need to, but she closed her eyes anyways. It simply felt appropriate. 

She couldn’t tell how long she’d been sitting there before she received the first tingle of a response. She had an inkling that her unease, kept her from reaching the neutral state that was needed to get to the Spirit World. And so Aang came to her. 

She could see him, actually see him. 

She could see nothing else, but at least she could see something. 

Her cheeks felt wet and she brushed the tears away with the back of her hand. 

“Hi, Azula.” Aang greeted with a smile. She didn’t think that he should be smiling at her. “Thanks for helping Katara and Sokka find their dad. I know that it bothered them a lot to be away from him.” 

Azula nodded. 

“You’re getting pretty good at earthbending. I always had a hard time with that one.” Aang smiled 

“It’s water that I have trouble with.”  Azula paused. “I should be good at it, it’s not much different from how I firebend.”

“I’m sure that you’ll get it.” 

The conversation seemed to die. She supposed that she should get to the heart of why she had initiated the discussion in the first place. “I need to learn at least a little airbending. I need to be able to get into the avatar state and control it. Hakoda and the others are planning an invasion and I need to be able to get into the avatar state when it happens.” 

“I know that feeling.” Aang laughs. “I almost learned how to control it. That was the last thing I did before…”

Azula cringed to herself. 

“I wasn’t quite able to get there though because there was no way that I was going to give up Katara!”

Azula tilted her head. 

“Yeah. I met this guru and he was teaching me all kinds of stuff about chakara and the four elements. And then he told me that I’d have to let go of any earthly attachments.” He rolled his eyes. “I wasn’t going to give Katara up.”

“Because you loved her.” Azula stated more than asked. 

“Yeah.” His expression softened. “More than anything.”

“I won’t have that problem.” Azula replied. Yet her mind wandered to TyLee. Then again, she had just let her go. “Perhaps I should talk to this guru.” 

“That might be a good idea, while they plan the invasion, you can talk to Pathik. I hope you like onions and bananas.” 

Once again she tilted her head in puzzlement. “I don’t like bananas.” She paused, twirling her bangs around her finger. “It doesn’t matter. I won’t be able to get into the avatar state, not with the others around.”  She could feel them dancing on the fringes of her mind. She feared what would happen if they began to push forward and she couldn’t say what was keeping them from doing just that. “They still want me gone.”

“They know that, that’s not good for the universe.” Aang replied. “As angry as they are, they aren’t going to sacrifice the entire world to get revenge.” 

“So they will work with me?”

“Ask them.” 

Azula’s mouth went dry. “I can’t do that, Aang.” She could already feel their resentment overwhelming her. She vividly recalled how it felt to have them turn her own chi against her and how it felt to have them cut her off from it completely. Her tummy fluttered nervously at the very prospect of inviting them to do something like that again. 

“I know you don’t trust them. And I know that they don’t trust you, but someone has to make a move.” Aang replied. “I failed as an avatar because I could never make a move.” 

“You didn’t fail as an avatar…” Azula triled off. He didn’t fail anymore than she was. “You might have been afraid, but you were a good person who wanted what was best for the world.” It was more than she could say. 

The more she thought about it, the more she realized that she was afraid herself. It wasn’t like how things were with her father. With him, she could fail and it would only put a dent in his odds at victory. A dent that he could easily repair. If she failed the invasion, it was over. 

“You ran away, but you came back.” She replied. “That’s what matters, isn’t it?” 

Aang nodded. “I guess that it is.” He trailed off. “I think that we can say the same for you, right?”

“What do you mean?”

“You’ve done bad things, but you want to fix them. I think that, that counts for something.” He looked at her with an aura of warmth. 

She only stared at her palms, pretending that she actually could see them. “Some things can’t be fixed.” 

“You’re right.” Aang replied. “I’m not coming back. You can’t fix that. But you can fix the things that happened after that. You can stop more things from breaking because of it.” 

Azula closed her eyes once more and inhaled. She let the mental barrier fall, fully expecting to be bombarded by angry voices and ripples of unpleasant energy. She found herself met with nothing at all. Somehow that was almost worse. To know that she wasn’t even worth wasting energy on. 

“If you want to save the world you are all going to have to work with me.” She tried to sound nonchalant. It mostly worked. They responded to her with just as much indifference, if not, more. 

She sighed audibly and buried her face in her palms in frustration. 

After a moment, she looked up again. “Can you talk to them for me?”

Aang’s expression darkened considerably. That was enough for her to know that he had already tried. “You’re the reason that they’re letting me use my chi again?” 

“Yeah…” Aang answered. 

Azula closed her eyes once more and pushed herself into a deeper sense of meditation. She needed to be fully in the Spirit Realm. With the avatars standing idle, she shed some of the fear that was tethering her spirit to her physical body. 

She allowed it to drift away. 

Drift until she felt weightless. 

Until she left her body entirely.

There was a brief window of bliss and carelessness as she transported into the Spirit Realm. And a greater window of it when she found that she could see in full. Aang was still a spectral figure, he stood upon a stoney platform that teemed with bright green vines. The sky was a deep blue and the ground beneath was lush with violet and bright purple flowers. 

She looked down at her own body; her skin was a soft warm hue. Though not elegant silks, her outfit was a deep crimson. It had a fuzzier texture. She wandered over to a small pool of water that was surrounded by a host of equally lush mangrove trees. 

She hadn’t seen her own face in so long.

It disoriented her for a morent. It was different. She didn’t know why, but she had expected to see the exact same face she always had; soft and delicate, and framed by long locks with a touch of makeup.

That wasn’t what she observed. She looked older, tired. Her face had more sharpness to it. It didn’t look as gaunt  as it had when she’d first cut her hair, neither did it look as full as before her banishment. Her hair had grown out some, but it still didn’t reach her shoulders. And she has no make up, it was strange to see herself without it. 

It was strange to see at all. 

And for that, she wasn’t picky about what she was seeing. It was just nice to see her own face at all. 

It was nice to see the blue of the sky reflecting in the water. To see a few stars and a twisting, holographic, spectral smoke in all variety of color. It danced in the sky in a Spirit World equivalent of the spectacle found in the Water Tribes.

Everything was so vibrant. She wanted to cry all over again.  

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Aang asked. “When I first came here I was in this murky swamp. It was all crumbled.” 

“I miss seeing color…” She mumbled. She took a seat and plucked one of the flowers, twirling it between her fingers and watching the purple blur with motion. “I miss seeing texture.” 

“I can imagine.” Aang replied. 

She put the flower aside. Really, she ought to stay on task. But the world around her was so enticing and so new. 

“It’s comfy here in the Spirit Realm. It makes being dead a bit easier. I miss Appa and Momo though. How are they?”

Azula thought for a minute. “I think that they’re doing alright, I don’t have the same connection you had with them.” She paused, she barely had a connection with them at all. “The bison misses you. He...tolerates me, I think.”

“Will you take care of he and Momo for me?” 

“Katara and Sokka do that.” 

“I’d like it if you did too, I can sense them when you talk to them and I think that they can sense me too.”

“I suppose that I can, if I ever get a chance.” She couldn’t imagine that she’d have the time between training sessions.

Aang beams widely, “thanks! It always makes me smile when I get to interact with Appa and Momo.” 

Azula nodded, it was the least she could do. Afterall, the former avatar had been making this as easy for her as he possibly could. He was the only one. “I should try to call them again. I’ll probably be harder to ignore when I’m standing in their territory.” A small prickle of anxiety worked its way back in.

“Yeah, just pick one and see if they respond. That’s what I always did. I talked to Roku and Yangchen the most.” 

Azula stood up and searched the treeline, she caught no presence so instead she mentally willed Roku forward. The man was a firebender. He was her great great grandfather. She supposed she’d have better odds with him. Not that she hadn’t disappointed him.

She didn’t think that he’d actually come, so she didn’t know what to say when he did. She bowed in way of a greeting and he returned it. 

“I need them to work with me, all of them.” 

Roku sighed. “Trust is earned, not given.” 

“I don’t have time to earn it.” She mumbled. “I, at least, need them to hear me out. Will you hear me out?”

“That’s what I am here to do.” Roku replied. 

“I know I’m not even supposed to be here, but I promised them...Aang’s friends that I would help them save the world. I can’t do that without the avatar state and I can’t use that if I don’t have the support of all of you. I....” she faltered. “I don’t know what to do.” 

“Keep working to earn their trust, that’s what I would do. Aang’s friends are warming up to you, that is working in your favor.” Roku said. 

“It also helps when you use your bending for good things!” Aang added. “They liked the whole Boiling Rock thing.”

Roku nodded in agreement. “That is my advice to you, actions don’t have to be profound. Little things earn trust too. So do them.”

“Appa really likes apples.” Aang noted. 

It took her a moment to realize that he was suggesting that bonding with Appa could be one such small thing. It was a fair plan, a working one really, save for that she was running out of time so fast. “I don’t think that I’ll be able to earn their trust on time.”

“You will just have to try.” Roku responded as he departed. 

Azula’s shoulder sagged in anticipated defeat. The dismal energy must have been radiating from her because Aang put a hand on her shoulder. “You’re not a bad person Azula. Not anymore. I don’t think that it will be as hard as you think it is, to earn their trust.” 

Azula shrugged. “Zuko always complained that you were an optimist…” She straightened her posture once more and decided to give it one last try. A final call to get the avatars to come forward and speak with her. 

She closed her eyes and reached out, physically and mentally. At first she felt absolutely nothing and then there was a soft swell of energy. A lot of it. It didn’t seem hostile, but it had an intimidating incredible power to it.

A spectral tentacle curled around her wrist.

#Avatar #Azula #Katara #Aang #Sokka #Toph #Fanfiction

[defenders-core]

STOP PITTING DEFENDERS AGAINST EACH OTHER

DOCTOR STRANGE's hands SURE SEEM TO BE FEELING BETTER

THE HULK loves BEANS

NAMOR keeps LEAVING THE TEAM

VALKYRIE is PERFECT

NIGHTHAWK is a FILTHY CAPITALIST

SILVER SURFER PHILOSOPHIZES a lot

HELLCAT is BETTY AND VERONICA meets CATWOMAN and that should be ENOUGH FOR YOU

DEVIL-SLAYER liked a HIPPIE once

DAIMON HELLSTROM had a ROUGH CHILDHOOD

ARAGORN is a VALUABLE MEMBER of the team

LEDGE got HURT one time

MAN-WOLF is a trained ASTRONAUT

BLACK GOLIATH should really just be called GOLIATH

MAR-VELL is DEAD

CAPTAIN ULTRA saw the Defenders on TELEVISION once

FALCON is #MYCAPTAINAMERICA

HAVOK was RUINED by AXIS

HERCULES is CHO'S BEST FRIEND

JACK OF HEARTS has no CONTROL

MARVELMAN is now called MIRACLEMAN

PALADIN is a THUNDERBOLT

POLARIS doesn't get to do much with her SIBLINGS

PROWLER is Spider-Man's BODYGUARD

STINGRAY has met NAMOR BEFORE

TAGAK THE LEOPARD LORD hasn't been in a comic since THE 1970s

TORPEDO was killed by DIRE WRAITHS

WHITE TIGER was in ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN--the SHOW, not the COMIC

MS MARVEL was CAROL DANVERS UNFORTUNATELY

PECOS is a COWBOY

BATROC is besties with GWENPOOL

BEETLE is MACH X NOW

WHIRLWIND was a recurring villain in AVENGERS EARTH'S MIGHTIEST HEROES

ELECTRO was bitten by EELS OR SOMETHING

JOE THE GORILLA prefers CHOKEHOLDS

LEAP-FROG's son is named EUGENE

PORCUPINE is a good BABYSITTER

LOOTER likes METEORS too much

TITANIUM MAN worked for THANOS briefly

THE THING changes back into ben grimm ANNUALLY

ANGEL is very ATTRACTIVE

CLOUD is a CLOUD

CANDACE SOUTHERN is VERY RICH

ANDROMEDA lives in ATLANTIS

INTERLOPER thinks meme pages should be APOLITICAL

MANSLAUGHTER used a HOSTAGE SITUATION to join the team

DAFYDD AP TOWERTH is related to KING ARTHUR

SPIDER-MAN has a DOCTORATE

WOLVERINE is the BEST at what he DOES

NOMAD has unnecessarily large BOOTS

SPIDER-WOMAN likes ROAD TRIPS

NAMORITA is DEAD

SLEEPWALKER only ever fights NIGHTMARE FOR SOME REASON

SCARLET WITCH turns enemy units into BOXES

THUNDERSTRIKE is BOOTLEG thor

WAR MACHINE is suffering from PTSD

NORTHSTAR is HAPPILY MARRIED

DOCTOR DRUID replaced DOCTOR STRANGE once

SEPULCHRE was chosen through NEPOTISM

CADAVER is just a ZOMBIE

U.S. AGENT should have stayed on the DARK AVENGERS

DAGGER is in a cool TELEVISION SHOW

DEATHLOK terrorized a HOSPITAL once

RED RAVEN is basically SAMUS ARAN

ARDINA is GIRL SILVER SURFER

BLAZING SKULL should still be called SKULL THE SLAYER because that name is AWESOME

WASP supports CORY BOOKER

WONDER MAN lived in rogue's BRAIN ONCE

JUNTA was LEGALLY REQUIRED to join the team

BLACK PANTHER is the best MCU MOVIE

BLACK PANTHER (SHURI) killed a bunch of SKRULLS

ANT-MAN'S ANTS ANTS ANT-MAN

BLACK WIDOW doesn't really deserve a movie but HERE WE ARE

TIGRA does deserve a MOVIE

STORM is super FUN in MUA3

TARANTULA just misses her FAMILY

COLLEEN WING was WEIRDLY UNIMPORTANT to fearless defenders

ELEKTRA TECHNICALLY is a defender in MUA3

THUNDRA deserves BETTER

MAGMA was the protagonist of X-MEN LEGENDS

DELPHYNE GORGON is amadeus cho's GIRLFRIEND

KID RESCUE is YINSEN'S DAUGHTER

COLOSSUS was a DRUGGIE in the ULTIMATE UNIVERSE

FAIZA HUSSAIN is the best captain britain DON'T @ ME

ANNABELLE RIGGS should still be ALIVE

FRANKIE RAYE is called NOVA AND THAT'S CONFUSING

ANT-MAN is also sometimes GIANT-MAN

HAWKGIRL has an ELECTRIC MACE

DARKHAWK should have an ONGOING

CAPTAIN AMERICA has AMERICA'S ASS

NOVA deserves to TAKE A BREAK

IRON FIST I MISS YOU AND LOVE YOU

LOA was awesome in the TWO SERIES I READ WITH HER

DRAX THE DESTROYER's daughter is ALSO A DEFENDER

RED GUARDIAN was the victim of CHARACTER ASSASSINATION

DAREDEVIL is BLIND

LYRA's gimmick is kinda NONSENSICAL but it's FINE

DANI MOONSTAR is a BADASS SHIELDMAIDEN

MISTY KNIGHT has a ROBOT ARM

SHE-HULK broke the FOURTH WALL before it was COOL

GRITTY isn't a defender BUT THAT'S VALID

GARGOYLE just wanted to save his TOWN

BLACK KNIGHT gave valkyrie his HORSE

BEAST led the TEAM for a WHILE

LUKE CAGE knows THE N WORD PASS ISN'T REAL

HAWKEYE is the only good LANDLORD

REN KIMURA should really get A CODENAME already

BLACK CAT randomly went evil for a while in 2014 without a GOOD EXPLANATION imo

RED SHE-HULK has an AWESOME SWORD

YELLOWJACKET is high-key one of my FAVORITE CHARACTERS

WONG should really RETIRE ALREADY

CLEA makes good VALKYRIE COSTUMES

AMAZO should have been allowed to KILL LEX LUTHOR

DOCTOR FATE KIDNAPS CHILDREN

JACK NORRISS works for THE MANDARIN in the MCU

SHOCKER got the HEAD OF SILVERMANE

ELSA BLOODSTONE survived in MARVEL ZOMBIES LAND

MOON KNIGHT is MARVEL's MOON KNIGHT

MOONDRAGON used ICEMAN AS A BEARD

ICEMAN used MOONDRAGON AS A BEARD

AQUAMAN has a cool HARPOON HAND

JESSICA JONES

HIPPOLYTA WRECKS SHIT

DOLLAR BILL made an ADVERTISEMENT ONCE

SOLOMON GRUNDY was BORN ON A MONDAY

DEADPOOL doesn't often have FEET

GHOST RIDER is in DETROIT

NICK FURY stole an EYEBALL

ATLAS is a great THUNDERBOLT

KRANG was chosen by the UNIVERSE to be a defender

HOWARD THE DUCK was created by STEVE GERBER

RHINO doesn't have SWEAT GLANDS anymore

BOOMERANG got his own team and WASTED IT

LIBRA is an ESCAPED ANDROID

SUPER-SKRULL helped SHE-HULK save his DAUGHTER

MELTER is also a FILTHY CAPITALIST

GEATAR will probably be the TASERFACE OF GUARDIANS 3

NO-NAME OF BROOD was a CREATIVE and AWESOME ADDITION

BLOB doesn't like being called BUB

TOAD is a JANITOR

PLANTMAN throws COCONUTS

OVERMIND pretended to be NIGHTHAWK'S EX-GIRLFRIEND

THANOS BOTTOM TEXT

NITRO shouldn't have KILLED THOSE KIDS

LUNATIK is ONE-SIXTH OF A FILM PROFESSOR

#marvel's defenders #defenders #defenders-core #marvel

[ellymunro-blog]

Hello everybody! The name’s Cat (or Speedy... I answer to both). I’m 25, cisfemale, and from the EST timezone. I’ve recently just started a new job; and I’m also still recovering from a surgery I had last month. So I will apologize in advance if my activity isn’t the greatest. I promise it’ll pick up once my life becomes less hectic...

Anyway, I bring to you my little weirdo Ellis “Elly” Munro. She’s a modified version of a character I’ve played in a few groups before; so I’m interested in seeing how Crownsville Elly turns out. This RP honestly looks so great; and I can’t wait to start plotting with y’all! 

[ willa holland, twenty-three, cisfemale, she/her ]  — hey, I just saw [ ellis “elly” munro ] walking down the streets of crownsville. they’ve lived in town for [ two years ], and you can catch them around town working as a [sales associate at shazam comics ]. I hear they’re known to be [ loyal & determined ] and [ stubborn & cynical ]. if asked, they would say their aesthetic would be [ sushi rolls, piles of comic books, extra large cups of coffee, movie theatres, bruised knuckles, hospital bracelets ].

Backstory (trigger warning: mentions of chronic illness)

Ellis Amalia-Rose Munro, more commonly known as Elly, was born and raised in Los Angeles (Hollywood), California to an up-and-coming thriller screenwriter/director and his trophy wife. She was their second child, having a brother roughly thirteen years older.

Growing up, her family was well-off due to her father’s success with many of his films. He was, by no means, a household name as far as filmmakers went; but for fans of thrillers, most knew at least a good handful of his work (think of him like Shyamalan only not quite as popular).

She actually had a tendency to have a small role in every single one of her father’s films. This continued up until she moved away for college.

At the age of 3, she was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis. She had faced multiple lung infections as well as poor weight gain for her first few years of life, thus leading to the diagnosis.

Her CF has always been well managed. It’s not something she ever let get in her way. She was always the very rambunctious and active child, just sometimes needing to take more breaks than others.

She was also a child model from the ages of 7-11. An agent had seen her in one of her father’s films and reached out. She was compliant for a few years; but modeling just was never really her thing.

Her mother is from Chelsea, London; and she grew up visiting her grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins there every summer. London is one of her favorite places to go; and she’s quite proud of her British heritage.

At a young age, she was introduced to the world of comics and superheroes; and she was hooked from the start. She used to pretend she was a superhero, running around her house dressed like her favorites and wishing she had superpowers.

Due to her love of comics and superheroes, her parents thought it would be a good idea to get her involved in activities that would allow her to “train to be a superhero”. They signed her up for martial arts (she’s now a 4x blackbelt) and gymnastics. This way, she could use her imagination and stay in shape.

As the years went on, fencing and archery were added to Elly’s list of activities. And as soon as she learned what it was, she took up parkour as well. And out of everything she’s done, parkour has forever been her favorite.

She was actually once scouted for the Olympic archery team; and her coach kept encouraging her to train for a goal of the Olympics. But she never had any interest. To her, archery was just a hobby and nothing more.

After high school, she decided to go across the country for college; and wanting to stay in an area with warmer weather (she hates the cold/snow), she decided on attending the University of Miami as a psychology major.

While attending the University of Miami, she initially had no desire to end up on Greek Row. But she ultimately ended up pledging for and joining a sorority (Chi Omega) during her time at the college. 

Loving the east coast, she figured she’d want to stay in Miami or go elsewhere in Florida upon graduation (or not as she only finished three years of school); but she somehow ended up settling in the small town of Crownsville, Georgia. She’d gone home over the holidays with a friend who lived there; and she just felt drawn to the town.

That was a little over two years ago. Elly’s been in Crownsville pretty much ever since. She’s started making a life for herself here. She’s gotten a job working as a sales associate at Shazam Comics; and she’s also gotten herself a little apartment downtown. And while she often does miss California and her family, she’s started to become really happy in small town Georgia.

When it comes to her CF, she’s always been one to not feel the need to hide it. She’s been like this since she was little; and even now, she doesn’t feel the need to hide. It’s not something she tells everything; but she’s okay with people knowing she’s sick.

Another important thing about Elly is the fact she’s training to hopefully make it on to American Ninja Warrior. She fell in love with the show when she first saw it several years back; and given her hobbies, she’s always felt like she was a good candidate. She has yet to try out; but her plan is to try out this upcoming season.

Recently, however, her health has started to decline. Her lung function is now in the yellow; and it’s really scared her. She’s started to wonder if she should give up on her American Ninja Warrior dream in favor of her health. Her fall back plan is to open her own archery school or maybe get back into acting.

Likes: comic books, superheroes, coffee, sushi, movies, parkour, archery, katanas, tattoos, cosplaying, video games, flannel, hoodies, beanies, combat boots, avocados, star wars, workouts, roses, kingdom hearts, stitch, stuffed animals, british sweets, funkos, motorcycles, skateboarding, jolly ranchers, american ninja warrior, bdsm

Dislikes: hospitals, swimming, cold weather, snow/ice, kale, cats, needles, alcohol, energy drinks, high heels

Misc. Facts

Her parents almost named her Ellis Isla; but they opted not to due to the fact it sounded too close to Ellis Island.

She has 4 blackbelts (karate, taekwondo, jiujitsu, krav maga); so don’t piss her off.

She can swim; but she’s honestly not a fan of water. Despite growing up in California, she doesn’t like the ocean.

She doesn’t like the taste of alcohol; so she doesn’t drink. If you ever see her drinking, she’s probably in a really bad place.

She can do a spot-on impression of Aqua from Kingdom Hearts and a pretty decent impression of Stitch. 

She loves stuffed animals. Her bed is covered in them. Her favorites are Batbear, Stitch, Toad, and a sushi roll with a face. Batbear is like her security blanket.

She does have her driver’s license; but she doesn’t have a car in Crownsville. She has her red Ducati; but Uber is still her preferred mode of transportation. 

She was born a month and a half prematurely. Her due date was February 14th. 

Because of her CF, she has a feeding tube (g-tube) that’s normally hidden under her clothing. She also does several daily treatments (nebulizers, vibrating vest) to combat her symptoms as well as takes pancreatic enzymes before each meal.

She wears a medical ID bracelet that states she has CF and that she’s allergic to latex, penicillin, and prednisone. It’s not noticeable as an ID bracelet unless one really looks at it.

She has saved two people from getting hit by cars by pushing them out of the way and taking their place. The first time, she was 15. The second time, she was 23.

[trigger warning] She is actually unable to have children of her own; but she doesn’t actually know this yet. could be potential plot-line if anyone is ever interested

Wanted Connections

Older Brother  —  This is pretty self explanatory. Elly has an older brother; and this connection is for him. I picture him being roughly ten years older than she is (give or take a few years) and being in Crownsville for reasons UTP. His faceclaim and name are also UTP (though I gotta admit my bias towards Stephen Amell or Colin Donnell FCs). OPEN (0/1)

Father  — Elly’s father is a thriller screenwriter and director by the name of Chandler Munro. I think it might be cool if he showed up in Crownsville for whatever reason. He could be filming a movie in the small town or just coming to catch up with his children. I would like his FC to be John Barrowman; though I am open to discuss others. OPEN (0/1)

Extended Family  — Maybe for some reason, one of Elly’s extended family members (most likely a cousin from England) comes to visit her in Crownsville and ends up staying for awhile. OPEN (0/?)

College Friend  — This connection is for the friend with whom Elly went home for the holidays with one year while attending the University of Miami. This friend lived in Crownsville and is part of the reason Elly lives there now. Everything about this friend is UTP: name, age, gender, faceclaim, etc. I’m not picky; though I would love for them to have stayed friends. TAKEN (1/1)

Childhood Friends  — This is for any friends of Elly’s from back when she lived in Los Angeles. She could’ve known them back in elementary, middle, or high school. They could’ve lost touch and then met up again in Crownsville or stayed friends since they first met. OPEN (0/?)

Roommate — Upon first coming to Crownsville, Elly got herself a decent sized apartment downtown. I would love for her to have a roommate she shares this apartment (and its rent) with. TAKEN (1/1)

Ex-Roommate  — This was a previous roommate of Elly’s. This individual stopped being her roommate for reasons open to discussion. OPEN (0/2)

Ride or Die  — Give me a ride or die bestie for Elly please. I have no preference for gender, age, how they met... Everything would be discussed upon inquiry. I just want her to have that one person she’d do anything for. OPEN (1/2)

Nurse Friend(s)  — Elly is kind of a wild one. With her hobbies and desire to be on American Ninja Warrior, she has quite the tendency to get injured. She could definitely use some friends with medical training to help her out from time to time. OPEN (1/?)

Doctors  — Since Elly has CF, she does spend a good amount of time at doctors offices. This connection would be for any of the doctors who treat her; though I mostly would love to see her pulmonologist. OPEN (0/?)·         

Red Band Society  — This is for anyone else dealing with any type of medical condition. Elly and these individuals have formed a sort of support system for one another. OPEN (1/?)

Ex-Boyfriend(s)  — Again, this is super self explanatory. Elly and this guy (or guys if I decide to make her have more than one ex) used to date. And now they’re not. Why they broke up and all the details of their relationship would be discussed upon inquiry. They could either be total enemies now or still be cordial. OPEN (0/3)

Friends With Benefits — I feel like most of my wanted connections are self explanatory. This is your standard friends with benefits connection and plotline. It could have the potential to turn into something or just stay FWB. OPEN (1/2)

Straight Until Prove Bi  — As of now, Elly identifies as straight; but I am not against her having an experience with another girl. OPEN (0/1)

Future Love Interest  — Self explanatory. At some point in the future, Elly is gonna end up in another relationship. This is mostly open to males; but I would not object to a female if the chemistry was there. OPEN (0/1)

Workout/Sparring Buddies — Elly spends a lot of her free time working out; and it’d be great for her to have someone she can work out with. Whether it be at the gym, while kickboxing, or even while doing parkour, a friend can make a workout so much less boring and routine. OPEN (0/?)

Stylist  — Elly has been very much a tomboy since she was small. This connection would be for the individual in Crownsville who attempts to give her a makeover and make her more “girly”. TAKEN (1/1)

Tattoo Artist  — Elly loves tattoos and is working on obtaining quite the collection. This individual is the one who has done most of hers and is the one she’d go back to when she’s ready to get her next tattoo. OPEN (0/2)

Fans of Chandler Munro — Like stated in her little backstory, Elly’s father (Chandler Munro) is a thriller movie director and screenwriter. I’d like if there was someone who was a big fan of her father’s films and tried to use Elly to get autographs, spoilers of upcoming movies, a small role in an upcoming movie, etc. OPEN (0/?)

General Friends, Frienemies, Co-Workers, Neighbors, etc. 

More to come...

click here for Elly’s stats page

#crownsvilleintro #like this and i'll come to you or #message me for plotting :) #i am super excited to be here!!!

[iam-valrie]

“The Girl with the Golden name”

Character Sketch written by: Marie Rosalina D. Valencia (Grade 12 HUMSS Quartz)

On November 17, 2003, a baby Filipina girl was born. She’s got a brother, just a year older, which makes her the younger sibling. As she grew up, she started to look like her mother, if someone saw them side by side next to each other, they would be able to see how she’s the mini version of her mother. She has long black hair, a slim figure, nearsighted vision, needs to wear eyeglasses, is five-foot inches tall, often really quiet. Her name was derived from a Late Latin female name that meant the word “Golden”. In this essay, I will share how I got to know my friend Aurea Christine M. Seno, and what makes her personality as gold as her name is. 

I met Aurea three years ago, when I was a new student in the University of Perpetual Help System, in Binan City, Laguna-a Grade 9 student, along with our two other friends-Bhea Bantatua and Jeremy Almenanza. Bhea helped me communicate with Aurea, due to introverted-ness, she could not make any first moves with the new people she met, because of her shyness. Aurea was so shy to the point that when the teachers called her to recite, she spoke shortly and quietly, there was even a time I told her to repeat what she said to the teacher out loud in class, at school parties, she was a wallflower, she did not like to dance, she did not like to sing, she would rather sit around on the bleachers saving most of her energy. Years after, I have observed how she has been able to gain confidence even as an introvert, like when it comes to talking to people to get what she needs and wants-strangers in public, the classmates she has in online classes, and users she gets to play online games with, she stands tall and still as she walks, she makes eye contact with the people she talks with, and she is a go-to person willing to do anything with you for any activity: grocery shopping, store shopping, food tripping, travelling, exercising, almost any activity. “I am introverted around people I do not know that well of yet, although I like making new friends, I can’t always think of a conversation starter other than greeting the other person but I will talk to them when I have to, I’m confident when I am around people I know and trust, yet whether I am close with someone, I know well or not, I can’t handle or take any compliments they give, I-I’m just not used to it, so no compliments please!”she told me, flattered as she giggled.  

Aurea knows just how introverted she used to be when she was younger, when we were in ninth grade of Junior High, and how introverted she still is now. She sees herself as someone who is able to express herself when around other people, at the same time, has a mysterious charisma, around people who do not entirely know her. She finds it hard to accept genuine compliments people tell her, finds it awkward and becomes shy with no idea how to respond or reply to the person who said so, claiming it is not true. She wishes to always be a “Happy-Go-Lucky” kind of girl, despite the problems and past experiences she has had with life. Passing through life positively, chilling and relaxing no matter what happens. 

Her ultimate goal in life is to finish her studies, doesn’t matter what award or certificate she receives, as long as she can graduate to find a job that will make her and her parents happy. What motivates her to achieve her goal are the dreams she has in mind after she finishes her studies and gets accepted with whatever job the world has to offer her, dreams to provide for her family, fulfill her wishes to become successful, and the other dreams she has, the freedom to do what she wants the moment she starts working. She fears the events of the future, by overthinking what will happen to her, as well as losing her loved ones, her friends drifting away, she also fears heights-it overwhelms her, and jumping amphibians like frogs and toads. Her weakness is when the people she cares about start to avoid or leave her, when she has no one to rely on when she is stressed out, and when her friends and family fight with each other, her strength is her family and her friends, people she can rely on when she feels down, comfort food-her favorite meals and snacks to eat keep her happy and give her the energy she needs. Her emotional management when it comes to her feelings involves talking to other people about how she feels, when she is by herself she watches movies or plays games to calm down, and cries out loud to people she trusts to release some aggression and frustration. 

Although Aurea sees herself as an ordinary, regular introverted and shy type of girl, as one of her friends, I see her differently. As a daughter, she is well-behaved, obedient and independent, to her friends she is caring, patient, understanding, agreeableness is her personality trait-for she is always willing to lend a hand if you need hers, and supportive, to other people, she is always curious and interested to know more about them, about anything. She enjoys her own company and is able to keep herself busy and entertained by either listening to pop music, watching Korean dramas and anime, or playing her favorite game which is Call of Duty as these hobbies of hers interest her. Above all, she is a kind person, who just finds it difficult to accept compliments even if people genuinely mean it. I do believe though that as she continues to fall in love with being who she is, she will later on start to see the natural beauty she is and accept how her friends see her-the always Alluring and Adorable, our one and only Aurea. 

#charactersketch #cnf #the girl with the golden name #aurea #byRie

[menderash]

ok here’s my plan to save marvel, a company i adored that made me start drawing comics in the first place, but has lately just been breaking my heart:

first, marvel hire me and i will fuckign fight your nazi-loving writer nick spencer in a parking lot, and then i will gladly accept your offer to both retcon your disgusting ass secret wars event, and then i will write a whole series called Forge & Toad, wherein i fix your stupid ass decision to perma-kill your most popular and oldest native character and i will revive him like he’s jean fucking grey. maybe mortimer toynbee, amateur street vigilante, who i decided now looks a bit more like his ultimate timeline version bc wow what a great look, finds something to do with the ghost box event that killed forge to begin with, and somehow accidentally revives or regenerates him from the remnants of his creation. good job toad! toad, having proven again and again in multiple universes that he’s a good person at heart, takes forge in and helps him recover his strength and his memories.  they bond over how they both constantly get the short end of the stick in their lifetimes no matter what team they were on. they form an interesting duo. toad being frightening-looking but street smart and intuitive with a history of fighting for the true underdog, and all mutants in the area knowing of and more-or-less trusting him. and despite forge being a charismatic man in his past, his mental illness and trauma relating to his death has left forge anxious and socially inept, but still with his genius intact, so he acts as toad’s tech support and book smarts as they solve crimes and injustices done against the mutant and inhuman community. maybe there’s references to how they were close friends/teammates in the age of apocalypse timeline? either way a couple issues deep into the series they eventually develop romantic feelings for each other. it’s sweet and a lil awkward just bc of who they are as characters, but if anything that just makes it work better. forge is dealing with recent trauma and ptsd, and toad has a long standing experience of dealing with fucked up mental stuff, abuse, trauma, etc, and helps forge cope, which drives them closer. i’ll think of a confession later but mark my words it’s quirky and adorable with only a little of forge worrying sick over toad bc he cares abt him. the whole series would be tongue-in-cheek, a little campy, but ultimate an allegory for and actually presenting fighting injustice against the marginalized, AS MARVEL SHOULD BE AND THE X-MEN WERE INTENDED TO BE. forge and toad are the new #Iconic marvel couple, they murder a bunch of hydra agents, and then they kiss. forge makes a joke about toad’s tongue. also forge is much taller than toad, of course. the end.

#mortimer toynbee #forge #jonathan silvercloud #? nobody on earth would ever track forge's real name tag #marvel #x-men #I JUST WANT PPL TO HEAR MY PITCH #''moe that's a weird team up and pair off'' IF THERE CAN BE A HAWKEYE AND DEADPOOL TITLE THAT PPL LOVE I CAN DO WHATEVER I WANT #this was supposed to just be 'marvel hire me to fix your shit and ill make a kickass forge and toad series' but i got invested #i wanna do concept art now

[thetaekooklibrary]

since 2016 is close to an end, what would you say have been the best/your personal best fics of 2016?

sorry we couldn’t get to this before 2016 ended, but we’re close lol I’ll sort it by admin^^ I’m also gonna put this under a cut because it got super long haha

admin a:

i feel safe in the 5 a.m. light (love in my arms and the sun in my eyes) by JemKay - And Taehyung thinks he’s never loved anyone more in his life than the boy above him who’s a little bit rough and sometimes a bit insensitive and maybe a little bit mean, but he’s also so soft and so gentle, and he treats Taehyung like he’s something so precious to him. And maybe he’s like that because of Taehyung, or maybe it’s because underneath everything, underneath the tough exterior and the sky-high walls, his heart’s more delicate than Taehyung’s, but all Taehyung knows is that Jeongguk fills up all of Taehyung’s vulnerable pieces with parts of himself.

(this was posted 1/3/16 it just barely makes the cut BLESS it’s one of my ultimate faves)

Lucky strike by expplipo - “You’re bad luck, I’m good luck. Two sides of a coin. Head and tails. We match.”

Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast by Kavbj - Taehyung has magic in his veins and Jungkook’s determined not to let it kill him.

Only When the Sun Sets by sacramento - Jeon Jeongguk was never meant to handle so much responsibility, but when he sees a vision foretelling the King’s death, he cannot just sit back and let it happen. The ‘right’ thing to do would be to stop it, but as Jeongguk soon discovers, doing the ‘right’ thing is never so simple, or easy. Stuck in between underhanded plots for the Iron Throne, Jeongguk must figure out who he is and what he stands for. He must choose a side, and he must choose well, for in the Game of Thrones, you win… or you die. There is no middle ground.

Toads and Periwinkle by Kavbj - Jungkook’s kinda cursed (like really cursed) and Taehyung’s kinda a witch (like really not a great one but he tries).

I Won’t Fall (in love with you) by taeharem - “You have to promise not to fall in love with me.”

Maybe we can be (each other’s company) by foolishbangtan - in which jeongguk is an idol, and taehyung is a dedicated fan account.

All You Hear Is White Noise by minki - To some, the Left Brain/Right Brain concept is a legitimate psychological theory. To others, it is nothing but a wistful myth long outdated by the piles of current research present to prove otherwise. After all, anyone educated enough in the field would laugh at the idea that the left brain and right brain can clash into a conflicting war. To fix the problem, we must separate them from each other.

Cinnamon Crisp by teatimetaemint - Jungkook needs his daily dose of cuddles and Taehyung likes to wear Jungkook’s clothes. They don’t care that alphas and omegas aren’t supposed to be best friends.

Hercules by GinForInk - Taehyung forgets his strength kink until Jungkook picks him up during a group project meeting.

Peep-Toe Stiletto High by EquinoxSolstice - The moment Jungkook found out was when he came back to the dorms earlier than usual and found Taehyung sitting on the floor of his bedroom, a discreet, plain brown box propped open and the tip of a bright, lipstick-red pump already inserted over Taehyung’s left foot. (Sequel)

make this chaos count by aetoms - Taehyung struggles and battles with himself a lot during a three-month break the band is given. Jeongguk is somehow always there despite everything.

Our Red Scarf (Keep Me Warm) by MirreRover - Jeongguk is trouble. Taehyung likes trouble a bit more than he probably should. Just don’t tell Jimin about it.

This Is The First Day Of My Life by internetpistol - “If you want to be with me, you need to be honest with yourself and fucking tell me!” “I’m not good at that, but can I interest you in a sarcastic comment?“

Things You Said at 1 AM by lexwrites - 12:54 AM is Taehyung on Jungkook’s lap, breath hot against his skin in the freezing cold.12:57 AM is messy kisses of teeth and tongue and promises of forever hanging off Jungkook’s tongue.12:59 AM is ‘I love you’s whispered into their skins and Jungkook wants to say more, but he isn’t eloquent until Taehyung is under him, moaning out Jungkook’s name like it’s the only word he’s ever known.

change my world (you’re the sunlight in my universe) by yururin - Jungkook is an artist who likes drawing on the cafe’s freedom wall. Taehyung sees his drawings, and falls in love. Featuring Jimin as the 100% done wingman, Yoongi as the possessive boyfriend, and Seokjin as the sassy mom.

insanity love by waltzformula - Demons weren’t supposed to protect angels, weren’t supposed to give them cloaks, weren’t supposed to leave them flowers and saccharine notes. Demons were supposed to burn. Yet, Taehyung found himself hesitating. Most demons also weren’t the Ninth King of Hell.

admin s:

If I let go of your hand by igasuho - Bittersweet [adjective]:- the quality of pure pleasure and happiness tinged with sadness and pain. Jeon Jungkook was first born in 1670. Twenty years later, he fell in love with a man named Kim Taehyung. Then, helplessly, he fell in love with him hundreds of times after that. Jungkook chases, fights and cries for him, far and wide over endless lifetimes because he loves Taehyung until it hurts, even though Taehyung dies each time they meet, and it is all Jungkook’s fault……you can feel sympathy, but he doesn’t need it. This is his reality.

The Favor by BANGTANbeybe - “I want you to take my virginity.”Taehyung paused with the cheeseburger halfway to his mouth. When he realized that Jungkook wasn’t going to say anything else, he set the burger on his plate with as much careful precision as he would’ve used when handling a bomb. Assuming he’d ever touched a bomb…which, of course, he hadn’t.“Pardon?” he finally said, for lack of anything better. Because he must have misheard. There was no way in hell his best friend’s eighteen-year-old brother had just said those words. Over lunch. In the middle of a diner. With an old, white-haired couple sitting right behind them.

but all your flaws and scars are mine by misanthrpic - taehyung hates the (totally hot) bratty freshman that stole his spot in the art exhibition.

Up or Out by ughugh123 - Up or Out, AKA, be good enough to get promoted or you’re fired.Taehyung has finally entered the prestigious RM LLP, which is infamous for its Up or Out policy. He will be assigned a team for the rest of the year, and he prays he’s not on the same team as that Jungkook or whatever his name is.

Even at the End, If You’re with Me I’m Okay by merelypretty - The years Taehyung spends being confused about Jeongguk’s feelings are years spent pensive, waiting for an explanation to clear away his questions.

this is life in color, today feels like no other by taetastic - With a simple brush of skin, everything around Jeongguk comes to life.

Like A Good Neighbor by AwkwardBeansidhe - Some days, it just hit him a little harder. He missed home. He missed his mom and his room and his dog. Which was how Jeongguk wound up on his upstairs neighbor’s doorstep, with a six pack and a box of dog treats. He tried to take it all in. A fluffy white ball of fur, barking adorably. Bare feet, jeans showing plenty of wear and tear, bright blue t shirt, soft brown tousled hair, and a face that made all his carefully planned introductions fly right out of his brain. “Seoltang, hush. Let me find out who it is.” He looked at Jeongguk expectantly, petting Seoltang calmly. The dog settled into his master’s touch and joined him in staring at Jeongguk. “Uh…” A really smooth introduction. “Hi. I live in 1240, right below you? I’m your neighbor. I heard you have a dog, and I like dogs, so I came to say hello.” Jeongguk held out the dog treats and beer, hoping that would cover any remaining awkwardness.

admin m:

you’re a fantasy (but I’m your destiny) by areumdaums - and maybe when you love with all your might and give everything, he might love you back. (soulmate/hanahaki!crossover au)

i tried playing the superhero, but you were your own villain by galacticyoongi - jungkook promised to protect and save taehyung whenever he needed him, but sometimes one can only try and save themselves (pure word vomit but i love taekook and no one is going to stop me)

Abaddon’s Waltz by eclairdeluxe - Hell hath no fury like a lover scorned.

fray by sebstahn - taehyung is a mess and jeongguk is busy. (or in which taehyung falls asleep to the sound of jeongguk not picking up his phone)

I Told You So by sandirx - taehyung doesn’t speak. ever since that day, he felt he doesn’t deserve to speak “kill yourself, fag.” that’s all it took for him to lose whatever self confidence he had.lose all hope he had for jungkook liking him back. lose his senses. his voice. his will to live. his morality. taehyung wants to be skinnier. prettier. better. fun. enjoyable.he’d do anything for jungkook. including kill himself.including starving himself until there’s nothing but bone. including causing harm to himself, and other people. if it’ll make jungkook, happy, then sure. why not.

sunday, wake up, give me a cigarette by hoesthetic - because no one puts trigger warnings on eggs, bacon and toast.

bones by taegyo - kim taehyung is fat.

Meet Me After Dark by jeonnifer - Taehyung and Jungkook “hate” each other.

Frooty Loopy by 010899x - “We both reached for the last box of Froot Loops and I don’t care that we’re both adults I will fight you” AU aka: in which Taehyung fights Jungkook to the death for a box of artificially flavored and colored loops.

If it means I can see you again, then I don’t know what fear is by beanmon - It was supposed to be fine. Taehyung was supposed to be okay on his own. It was just an apartment viewing. What could go wrong?

oranges and art students by unserene - Jungkook gets his first apartment away from Busan, away from his parents, away from the stress of his earlier life. He soon finds out that his next door neighbor is pretty much out of his fucking mind.

you and me, we’re bumper cars by syugaflake - “The more I try to get to you, the more we crash apart.” After a myriad of mistakes committed in his leather jacket with a cigarette between his teeth, Jungkook finds himself exiled to his aunt’s house in a quiet, faraway town for the summer. Nothing much goes on at the neighbourhood; or so he thinks, until he meets a boy with sunset-coloured hair named Kim Taehyung.

across the universe by dadkook - weddings are supposed to be joyful, but taehyung can’t bring himself to find any joy.

Maybe we can be (each other’s company) by foolishbangtan - in which jeongguk is an idol, and taehyung is a dedicated fan account.

The Man Who Can’t Be Moved by windywolf - no description

admin guk:

You Were My Versaille At Night by seikou - But Jeongguk has learned that the road to love is long —and to heartbreak short.

House of Cards by sugamins - Jungkook is the heir to a mob empire, the most notorious in the whole of Seoul. Taehyung is a rookie sent in to infiltrate by his select team and bring the empire crumbling down.“You knew the game and played it, it kills to know that you have been defeated.”

Comeback Kids by Rix - Taehyung is infuriating and Jungkook’s always been easy to rile up. Which isn’t the best combination, but also isn’t the worst, either. (or: Taekook as hockey fuckboy rivals)

Working Conviction by Rix - How their trust evolves to go from from Jungkook pointing a loaded gun in Taehyung’s face to Taehyung binding Jungkook down and fucking him till he can’t see straight.

Pawn it off by Rix - Jungkook goes to pawn off a couple trinkets and accidentally brings his vibrator as well, thus sacrificing most of his dignity while he’s at it.

fast in my car by aishiteita - “jimin, my instructor is a strapping young lad with relatively good music taste and is fantastic at car karaoke.” studies show that sitting next to someone in very close proximity, for extended periods of time, increases the chances of falling in love.

Can’t keep my hands to myself (no matter how hard I’m trying to) by pxdust - 6:00 | tae hyungWhat are you wearing? or: Taaehyung and Jeongguk starts to sext as a game. Jeongguk will not lose.

Children’s Motrin by taetertot - When Jeongguk’s parents die on his 18th birthday, he decides to take guardianship of his 3 year old brother, Jimin. One year later, he’s slumped on a dirty grocery store tile floor with a 4 year old with glassy eyes and flushed cheeks. 13 dollars in his pocket will pay for his cheap bread and eggs, but it won’t pay for cheap bread and eggs and $9.89 Motrin for his little brother’s fever. And he’s not going to let the boy who approached them with lavender hair and golden skin pay for it, no matter how sweet he is.

Hickory by Rix - Jungkook should be focused on winning, but his mind’s stuck on wondering whether or not this Kim Taehyung guy fucks harder than he hits.

maps to you by cosmostasis - There is a dick on his face. There is a big, bold dick drawn onto his face in black permanent marker, and though Jeongguk scrubs and scrubs and scrubs until his forehead is red, he only succeeds in smudging it around. He pumps a fistful of soap onto the towel and renews his efforts with twice the vigor. He has hagwon later today, and he’d rather step on Legos than go there like this. Maybe, he thinks, pausing for a second to examine the state of the dick, his parents will allow him to skip just this once. Does this count as a medical emergency? Jeongguk isn’t sure, but his hands are shaky and the towel is shaky and he’s growing more panicked by the second because it won’t come off. He’s going to die. He’s going to die of public humiliation in front of everyone, and then he’s going to come back to life and kill his soulmate, because who the fuck draws a dick on their forehead knowing full well that it’ll show up on someone else, too?

I Can Make You (Cry For Me) by officialmaknae - Being stoned makes you do a lot of things. Like fuck Jeon Jeongguk for instance.

Empty Spaces (Don’t Talk About It)by officialmaknae (1/1 |  E | 32,020)Jeongguk has the habit of reading too much into things, especially when it comes to Taehyung. He isn’t sure how it came to this - but he knows he’s in too deep. (sequel to I Can Make You (Cry For Me))

The Favor by BANGTANbeybe - “I want you to take my virginity.”Taehyung paused with the cheeseburger halfway to his mouth. When he realized that Jungkook wasn’t going to say anything else, he set the burger on his plate with as much careful precision as he would’ve used when handling a bomb. Assuming he’d ever touched a bomb…which, of course, he hadn’t.“Pardon?” he finally said, for lack of anything better. Because he must have misheard. There was no way in hell his best friend’s eighteen-year-old brother had just said those words. Over lunch. In the middle of a diner. With an old, white-haired couple sitting right behind them.

From Tumblr to Lovers by snksloth - jungkook wasn’t sure who followed the other first. he just slowly noticed that an awful lot of notifications came from one blog, and an awful lot of his own reblogs were from that same blog. he never really thought about it, but he also didn’t think he’d ever get a message from the blog either. (aka an internet friends au told entirely through messages and a few phone calls)

#taekook #vkook #taeguk #taeguknet #anonymous #ask rec

[dellardragon]

Paper Mario: The Origami King is NOT for kids!!!

Needless to say that I will be going into the story a bit to explain why, though I will be doing my best to be as vauge as possible. But obviously, Spoiler Warning!!!

If you want to go into the game fresh, which I would very much reccomend, then stop reading right now.

I mean it.

SCRAM!!!

They gone?

Good.

Recently, my partner and I picked up the latest in Nintendo's Paper Mario series, The Origami King. We just finished a play through. This game needs a warning in front of it saying "Parental Guidance STRONGLY suggested". Don't get me wrong. The game is incredible. The story is wonderful, and bitter-sweet, the writing on point, much of it frankly hilarious, and witty. The combat system is a bit lacking, but the rest of the package is more than entertaining enough to hold your attention. It's just some of the mature themes within.

And no, I'm not talking about THOSE kind of themes, you pervs.

I mean things like Death, Loss, Atrocity, Suffering, Hatred, and Self Sacrifice.

I know. Stuff that feels more like it belongs in a Final Fantasy game, rather than a Mario one. It's all handled well, and with taste, but the result is, frankly, alot more emotionally wrenching, than I was prepared for in a Mario game. The story is an epic tragedy of nearly operatic proportions. We have kingdoms collapsing under invasion. We have a bad-guy that is mutilating people, to achieve what he considers to be perfection. We have vendettas. And we have heroes that make the ultimate sacrifice for their friends.

I honestly never expected, going in, that I would be brought to near tears, on more than one occasion.

Mario, being the viewpoint character, has no real arc in terms of story, or personality. He's there to save the day, of course. The four new people we are introduced to, through the course of the game, on the other hand, have the most fleshed out stories and personality as well as the most detailed character arcs. They are also the ones that meet the darkest fates...

The inner lives of some of the Mario Universe's diverse population are fleshed out in often rather amusing ways, while others... Let's just say you'll never look at a Bob'Bomb the same way ever again. Some of it was a little hard for me to deal with, given that I had been lulled into having my shields down, by the general mario-ness. I can only imagine what kind of impact that this would have on your average 9 year old. Again, don't get me wrong, I'm not the kind for censorship of any kind, and I do feel that alot of the subject matter is important to be exposed to early, to get kids thinking and reasoning. But it's definitely stuff I would think a parent would want to help their son or daughter come to grips with.

Despite the cutesy exterior, much of the game seems to be aimed at the older Nintendo fan. I definitely got that impression, when, at one point, Bowser expresses how difficult it can be to be a single father, even if Jr. has a devoted nanny, in the likes of Kamek. The fleshing out of the toad civilization, also gave me a laugh or two, as they exhibit an almost comical obsession with profit, like certain Star Trek baddies I could name. None of this is too over the top, though, and frankly is the source of alot of the humor. I do wonder how Bowser deals with the koopa troopa's veneration of the Earth Velumental, though. Isn't he the least bit jealous, that they have a god, who isn't him?

The character of Olivia is quite endearing, with a child-like sense of innocence, and wonder. Watching her grow through the course of the game, is a joy. Other sidekicks, that come into and out of the story, also have their charms, especially the amnesiac bob'bomb, Bobby, always so eager to help, if a little on the cowardly side. He finds his courage in the end, though. And the character for which the game is named, Olly, is, for a Mario game, quite a complex and ultimately tragic villain.

All in all, I would recommend this game, but with a warning that you might very well get more than you bargained for in the feels department. Just a warning. Emotionally, it's a wild ride...

[obsidianarchives]

The Importance of Magical Mental Health Education in Harry Potter

Growing up with the Harry Potter series always led me through a world of wonder, a series of enchanted moments to escape the realities of life and my mental illnesses. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve wondered about the ways mental health and traumatic events are dealt with in-universe. After all that took place at Hogwarts during Harry’s years, the school would need to look after those that were traumatized from watching friends and family get hurt and die.

"There is a long list of dangerous, traumatizing events that take place at Hogwarts so often that it feels like they are brushed over."

There is a long list of dangerous, traumatizing events that take place at Hogwarts so often that it feels like they are brushed over. In year 1, Harry and the gang are nearly killed by a troll and explore parts of the school that, though off limits, puts them in harm’s way. There are countless times where students have gone into the Forbidden Forest and encountered unpredictable creatures. Neville is forced to watch the Cruciatus Curse be put on a creature in front of his classmates, while Ginny is possessed by Tom Riddle. Harry spends most of his schooling trying to protect his loved ones to the point where he ultimately dies, then comes back, to save the Wizarding World from Voldemort. Hermione is bullied and later tortured for her blood status. It’s easy to see how drained these kids would be being hurt and seeing people they know and even love hurt every year.

The event that stands out the most is the Triwizard Tournament. While there is an age minimum for entering the competition, given the risk it doesn’t seem as if they really care about the safety of their students. These are teenagers in a tournament that can kill them, has killed people before, and they celebrate every tournament task without batting an eyelash. Where’s the PTA to cancel this tournament out of concern for the physical and mental safety of their children and students?

Even without all of the extreme instances, in any Wizarding school there are plenty of spells and potions that can physically and/or mentally harm you. Sectumsempra is a curse that cuts or slashes a target, and if something is severed off, there is no way of growing it back. Harry uses this curse against Draco in Half-Blood Prince, severely wounding him. Draco is visibly shaken by this encounter as it almost cost him his life, a moment that would have traumatized him for the rest of his life.

There’s the Emerald Potion, known to cause pain, despair, and extreme thirst to anyone who drinks it. Though Dumbledore had been through his share of danger throughout his life, the moment he begins to drink this potion, there’s a notable shift in his demeanor. Eventually, he even begs Harry to let him stop drinking the potion, causing clear discomfort for Harry. The potion is said to make you feel so terrible that whoever drinks it wants to drink from the water in the cave that surrounds the potion. But this would lead to their death as drinking that water awakens Inferi, creatures that drag victims underneath the water. Oppugno is a jinx that makes moveable objects and conjured creatures to attack a target. While not as dark, it can some serious repercussions. In Order of the Phoenix, Voldemort confronts Harry and Dumbledore, casting Oppugno at them with glass shards. If it wasn’t for Dumbledore’s shield, Harry and Dumbledore would have been seriously injured or dead.

And some magic require mental fortitude to cast or wield them, making mental health an important basis for magical education. Skipping the more obvious Patronus Charm, Fiendfyre is a dark curse that has the ability to seek out living targets. A student or any wizard who isn’t trained well in the Dark Arts would find this spell impossible to control if left burning for too long, it can turn into a fiery creature. Crabbe died after casting this curse in the Room of Requirement in Deathly Hallows, having not paid attention to how to kill the flames of Fiendfyre in class nor to how uncontrollable the curse was to manage.

At the very least, Hogwarts students would need a counselor, preferably a couple of counselors to help these children make it through their years at Hogwarts and let them know that though they might be in danger some days against Dark forces or just the typical hazards of magic, they have the tools and support to be okay. We have counselors in Muggle high schools that do come through for those in need, not just for the education aspects, but if they notice any changes in behavior or mood.

The one moment where we actually see a student getting care beyond physical health is in Prisoner of Azkaban where Lupin gives Harry chocolate to feel better after coming into contact with dementors. He also teaches him to cast a Patronus, a spell that wards off soul-sucking dementors as you think of the happiest memory you can. Lupin is one of the few adult figures in the school that cares about the very real dangers presented in staying at Hogwarts. He’s thought of short term care, the chocolate, as well as long term, the Patronus, as dementors were stationed outside of Hogwarts for the time being. Lupin also shares how to beat a Boggart, making sure that the kids know how to deal with them in the long term with their own imagination and silliness to manage the anxiety they get from facing Boggarts. These children thousands of miles away from family and are pretty much in danger every single day, but other than this small moment, there isn’t much else to the mental care of these students.

"physical and mental health don’t go hand in hand as it should in these magical boarding schools."

The series as a whole is about love, friendship, and finding your own family through trials and tribulations, but I find that physical and mental health don’t go as hand-in-hand with those concepts as it should at a magical boarding school. With 11-year-olds in the care of people that they don’t know, you’d expect that both would be essential components. While there is a small hospital wing that Madam Pomfrey does her best to take care of, there’s a lack of care for the overall well being of students at Hogwarts.

In the Muggle world, school shootings have undoubtedly increased the amount of time students spend in counseling to help deal with these traumatic events. The end of the Harry Potter series is kind of upsetting to think about now, as we skip years ahead to where everyone is sending their kids off to Hogwarts, without showing us the way the characters struggle after defeating Voldemort. As someone who has been through traumatic events myself, I wonder about the struggles of everyone after such a rough senior year. It would have been great to see teachers banding together to find a wizard or witch to come talk to the students about mental health and how to cope.

The wizarding world comes up with physical protections; the schools put up defenses like magical metal detectors that detect when students bring in objects that aren’t safe for school. They start policing what can and cannot be inside of dorm rooms and lounges. Much of this is seen under Umbridge. It is similar in the sense of how Muggle schools would deal with traumatic events like school shootings, but far more aggressive in nature as Umbridge’s idea of growth heads in the wrong direction. In Half-Blood Prince, extra precautions are taken by the administration as Voldemort is now out in the open. There are protective spells around the school, luggage is searched before arrival on school grounds, there are harsher punishments for those caught out of the common rooms after hours, and Aurors are stationed throughout the school grounds. After the first Hogsmeade trip, all others are postponed after Katie Bell is attacked by the cursed necklace. So it goes to show that there is some care taken as danger rises.

But with regard to mental protections, in real life, usually, we seek counseling, therapy, and in some cases, medications. For others who have already been struggling with mental health, it’s a part of their daily life/routine. Hogwarts should have resources for magical students to do the same.

I believe that treatment of mental health at any magical school would look very similar to our real life applications. There could be some sort of potion to help ease the minds of those struggling to think clearly in moments of intense anxiety or dissociation. Instead of dogs being service support, more cats, owls, and toads would be seen as companions in places outside of dorms. Other creatures might also start to see more emotional support practices, with the use of magic making them easier to train to deal with anxiety and depression. A department of mental health at St. Mungos could serve as a way to support witches and wizards. In addition to the trips to Hogsmeade, trips to a nearby health center would be beneficial. Mental health providers using pensieves to help patients deal with their memories. Wizards in the sectors of mental health would know charms that would help determine the best treatment for you specifically. Having a meditation class that is optional, with potions incorporated that work the same as aromatherapy, promotes that the option to work in mental health for the magical world and to actively seek out ways to cope.

But the most important thing would be professors taking the time to talk to students after traumatizing events happen, creating an atmosphere where the whole faculty is there to support them. If Dumbledore can make an announcement every year of a new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, he can take the time to make sure every student doesn’t feel anxious and terrified of another year at Hogwarts.

#mental health #mental illness #Harry Potter #Hogwarts