#they aren't supposed to be getting along but its like perfection

[lina-lovebug]

I'd Fight The Devil

Alastor x fem! reader

Background: (Y/N) is the elder Morningstar, and wants to fix her relationship with her dad. But her dad hates her boyfriend.

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 - Finale

Allusions to sex, actual sex, angel being angel, and cannibalism

_____

Angel spit out his drink, "You're with Alastor?!"

"Yeah, thoughts?"

"And prayers, girl," Angel could never imagine a sweet girl like (Y/N) getting it on with the Radio Demon himself.

But everyone has their kinks, he supposed.

Alastor manifested behind her, and she immediately felt his presence. Pressing herself against him, he leaned into her warmth and kept his arms around her shoulders.

"How was your day, mon amour?"

"It'll be even better," She trailed off, turning around to face him, "when we meet my dad for dinner."

Silence.

And not even radio silence.

"Not to be rash, but I'm sure your father would sooner see my head on a pike than on my body," Alastor adored the fact that she was mending their bond, even more so when Lucifer makes the effort.

But announcing their relationship to him?

He could see it ending in flames.

"I know you two don't get along, but I thought a nice dinner might smooth things over."

"And if he disapproves of us?" He lifted her head upwards with his finger, bemused as to what her answer may be.

"Then he'll have to get used to it," (Y/N) replied, sending a shiver of excitement up his spine.

Only a feeling that the she-devil he was utterly obsessed with could provide.

"Ugh, can you guys go fuck somewhere else?" Angel said, "or at all? I can't imagine going a lifetime without dick."

Alastors eye twitch, "now that's our business, isn't it?"

"Okay, okay," Charlie spoke up, "you guys go get ready."

Charlie couldn't help but notice the change in Alastor. It had only been a few months, but being in her sisters presence alone has made him kind. Sure, the both of them would skin someone alive over an insult, but Alastor would rip out his own eyes if (Y/N) asked.

A perfect match.

(Y/N) dawned a black dress with a pearl necklace that Alastor bought for her. Well, she thinks he bought it but he actually stole it off of a fresh kill.

How sweet.

"Pumpkin! Oh look at you! You're as radiant as ever!" Lucifer fawned over his daughter as they made it to the restaurant, making it a point to ignore the red demon behind her.

"Catching strays?" Lucifer gestured to him.

"Lovely to see you again," Alastor retorted.

"Dad, why don't we go inside? And Alastor will be joining us," now, Lucifer didn't forget what he said. He recognized that the fearsome deer demon had the intention of claiming Princess (Y/N) as his own, but did his daughter return such feelings?

Honestly, Lucifer feared that.

Not it being Alastor persay, but his little girls being hurt.

He knew how awful it felt to go through the divorce with Lilith, and then her disappearance.

He didn't ever want his daughters to feel that way.

"So, Alastor, what do you do again?"

"I have a radio broadcast. Your daughter has actually helped me repair the studio after the attack," He laid his land on hers.

And Lucifer picked up Alastors hand.

And placed it away from hers.

"Uh, dad-"

"Look, if you two are fucking, don't tell me."

"Dad!" Her face burned red, "we aren't-that's not. . .I love Alastor, and he loves me. I want you to accept us both."

"Love? Whoa, whoa, whoa! Pumpkin, I don't think-"

"I'm not a little kid," She interrupted, "I'm a grown woman, and I'm able to make my own decisions. I want to be with Alastor because I love him. You may not think I know what love is, but I know it's what I feel with Alastor."

That's when he saw it.

That look.

Whilst (Y/N) was defending herself, defending their love, Alastor looked at her. Only her. And it was like he was staring at the nebula itself, seeing all its beauty in the Heir of Hell. His smile faltered, closing his mouth, and his eyes softened.

It's the same look that he used to give Lilith.

"If I ever hear that you've made her cry, or even laid a single hand upon her," Lucifer stared him down, "I'll make you disappear."

"A man true to his word. Looks like we have something in common," Alastor agreed, his hand back on hers. She gave him a smile, one that reminded him of Lilith.

The rest of dinner went off without any incidents. The small jab here and there, but no one died, and no one was stabbed. Lucifer learned more about his daughters business and how she lit up talking about it.

"You hardly ate, Alastor. Is something wrong?" (Y/N) asked when her father went to the restroom.

"Oh no, my dear. Just hungry for something else, is all," His eyes raked up her form, earning a cough from the she-devil.

Honestly, she didn't know where he was on his spectrum. She was fine never even being intimate, so long as he was happy, but this spark in his eyes lit a fire within her.

"O-oh. . .are you sure?" Believe it or not, (Y/N) had only had sex twice and both times she'd call it lackluster.

"I don't want you to force yourself if you don't want to," oh how innocent she was. Honestly, Alastor assumed he was aroace before he met the she-devil. Her ferocity - her chaos in fights, her genuine kindness, and her soul - itself brought out that spark.

There are moments where the carnal desire needs to be satisfied.

"Mon cher, I'd never ask if I didn't mean it."

That look, it made her softly gasp.

"Alast-"

"Ew."

Right.

Lucifer.

He showed up from his restroom break and found the pair giving eachother "fuck me" eyes.

"Could I eat my dinner without you groping my child?" Lucifer hissed, despite Alastor only touching her hand.

He blinked, thinking how he's never even groped a woman.

"Maybe."

Sick bastard.

_ _ _ ☆ _ _ _

"Fuck! Alastor!"

(Y/N) had never cum before, so Alastor being her first to ever do so and smiling away at her quivering legs made it so much better.

"Oh fuck. . ." She moaned weakly, his tongue slithering in and out of her to lick up every last drop.

"Al. . ." She was breathless, staring at his strained member. Reaching up to unzip his pants, he tutted as he grabbed her wrist.

"Al?"

"It's about you. Don't worry about me, amour," He purred, kissing the bite marks on her thighs.

"But you-"

Before she could detest further, wishing to satisfy him, the door opened.

"Oh my God, they were right! Alastor, you sly dog," Angel Dust was at the door, and Alastor quickly covered his beloveds' body with the covers before his horns started to grow and his back stretched.

"I'm going to kill you."

"Not before you make love to me, you're not," still in his demonic form, (Y/N) blew a gust of wind to slam the door shut.

Her body displayed on the bed, Alastor agreed.

"And stay in that form. It suits you."

#alastor imagine #alastor x reader #hazbin hotel imagine #hazbin hotel x reader

[reticent-writer]

Hey! Well, actually, I really like the set of stories about Teen!Reader and Alostor where the reader is classified as an assistant, I would like a story that shows how they met and how they get to the point where they consider him an assistant and their confidence to say him dad? Thank you, I'm sorry if the request was very long. (Writing this I remembered the fight Alastor and Lucifer had over Charlie about who she calls Dad, I felt it would still be a good scenario for indignation)

An: I had a storyboard for this exact thing but its messy and if you don't know me you probably wouldn't understand how my mind works but basically i have ocs for this

This took a bit longer because it happens before Alastor and reader dies plus I gave reader a family so...... some basic info

Y/n was born into a family that was picture perfect on the outside

father was a factory worker Mother was a dressmaker

Doll House by Melanie Martinez fits them perfectly

Y/n was the middle child of 5

When Y/n was born the eldest (Atticus boy) was 10, Second eldest 6 (Alma girl), Middle child (y/n)

when y/n turned 4 their parents had twins (Giles boy, Gideon boy)

This is a glimpse into my mind. It might not make sense.

✿✼:*ﾟ:.｡..｡.:*･ﾟﾟ･**･ﾟﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*ﾟ:*:✼✿　

-1920-

Y/n is 10.

Your parents were perfectionists, especially when it came to the public eye. The L/n family was always the center of attention in your little town, deep in Louisiana.

You and your siblings were constantly dressed in Sunday's best.

"Kids make yourselves look presentable. A client is coming soon." Your mother called out from her 'workspace'. kids aren't allowed in there.

"Can't we just stay in our rooms." Atticus complained from his spot on the couch.

"Get. Dressed."

Atticus groaned as he got up to go to his room. On his way, he knocked on your door before opening it.

"You're supposed to wait for a response, Jackass."

"Next time you curse at me I'm poppin' you." He threatened but you knew he wouldn't do anything, "Mom said get dressed, tell Alma."

He closed the door before you could complain. You heard the shuffling of his feet as he ran to his room.

His room was at the end of the hall. the hall was short with 2 doors on each side. Alma was across from you and the twins were next to her.

Right across from your room is Alma's. She's going into her preteen years and started to spend more time in her room. Your mother says she's adjusting to becoming a woman and needs her time alone. She's also becoming very snappy.

You slowly opened your door to stare at hers. You slowly walk into the hallway and up to her door. You knock three time and wait for a responce. She didn't open the door.

"I heard Atticus." Her voice was horse and strained but you believed what your mother told you.

That was all you needed to get yourself ready.

-------

Your mother made all (except for Alma) of you sit in the living room and wait for the client.

*knock knock knock*

"He's here. You better behave." She says before opening the door with a smile only guests see, "Alastor, It's so good to see you again."

"Good to see you to, my dear and my my look at the children. They all seem to be in good health." He greeted all of you with a smile.

"Hello sir." Atticus spoke for all of you.

"You seem to be missing one." Alastor commented, making your mother chuckle.

"She's been feeling under the weather as of late, come along I need to take your measurements. Atticus, Y/n prepare some tea." She ordered.

Alastor and your mother went to her workspace and she shut the door.

----------

That night went smoothly until your father got home. He didn't like the fact that your mother was in her workspace with a man and the door closed, even if he was a client.

It caused fighting -well more than there normally is anyway- between your mother and father. It's always been easy to make your father mad.

It got worse when Alastor took notice of it he came by more often with the excuse of having gifts for you and your siblings.

He gave you a radio to listen to him when he went on air. Atticus was offered a job at the radio station. Alma got a set of jewelry.

This angered your father more and instead of taking it out on Alastor or your mother he took it out on you and your siblings. Atticus tried to protect all of you.

One day your father and Atticus got into a really bad fight and your brother was shot. He didn't make it.

It was around the same time when a horrid smell started coming from Alma's room. Your parents said she caught a fever and no one noticed but you didn't believe them anymore.

From then on you started distancing yourself from your family and growing closer to Alastor.

--------

When you got older (16) you started working with alastor at the radio station. He taught you how to live life without worry.

He treats you like your a person and not just your parent's child.

Your parents treated you like a decoration. Alastor treated you like a child he didn't know he wanted.

You found out he was a murder by accident. You forgot someone at the station late at night and went back to get it to see blood spattered in the talking booth.

At first you thought it was Alastors so you took a gun that the station had in case of emergencies and followed the trail.

Opening the back door you saw Alastor dragging the body. The two of you made eye contact. Your body moved without hesitation and helped him hide the body.

------

Sadly, there are times a birth parent is a dud.

✿✼:*ﾟ:.｡..｡.:*･ﾟﾟ･**･ﾟﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*ﾟ:*:✼✿　

This is long and not what I usually write but it's been stuck in my head for a while.

A/n: I've decided to cut the twins and make y/n the youngest. I had something for them originally but it's better for just Alma, Atticus and Y/n

Art by @ghostly-one

#male reader #female reader #gn reader #child reader #x child reader #teen reader #platonic #hazbin hotel fluff #hazbin hotel x reader #hazbin hotel angst #reticent writes #reticent writer

[yeahyeahchloe]

It Wasnt in my Head (4)

(a/n: pls lmk if u see any typos! )

Summary: Abby is the starting linebacker at UW and when her team starts to falter her coach decides to get the team into ballet, in order to teach them that grace and stability is important in football too. Abby is just as upset about her teammates about this, until she sees her pretty new ballet teacher...

dancer!reader x football!abby

!!ABBY IS STRAIGHT IN THE BEGINNING. READER IS HER GAY AWAKENING!!

˖⁺‧₊˚ ♡ ˚₊‧⁺˖

The light of my slightly opened blinds shone through onto my eyes. The birds were chirping and the sky was a lovely light blue.

And I was pissed off and hung over.

I decided now that its 10 am I should probably pick up Dina's incessant calling and answer Ellies 'im sorry i got u fucked up' text.

My dimly lit kitchen smelled of lavender and burnt toast as I dialed Dina's number and listened to the tone ring.

Oh, so now she isn't going to pick up?

"Hey, D," I said when the ringing stopped.

"Ugh, finally!! I've been calling you all morning," Dina scolded me as if I wasn't so obviously hungover.

"Yeah believe it or not I know,"

"Ok, so, I called to ask you...something,"

This tone with Dina was never good.

This tone means Dina is up to something.

"Oh, jesus, ok what,"

"So, my master plan went perfect last night, and I saw you talking to our new favorite muscle mommy-"

I cut her off by saying "Oh, that was your master plan? It had nothing to do with leaving me to fend for myself so you can make out with Jesse on a couch?"

".....No?"

I let out a quick exhale through my nose, "So whats the question?"

"Obviously my question is: How did it go?"

I sighed and thought back to my interaction with Abby the previous night. "Good. No, bad. Well, good and bad. Gad,"

"What is that even supposed to mean?"

"You knowww, we like talked for a bit and got to know eachother, but the heartbreaking news, is that she is not a carpet muncher,"

"WHAT! NO WAY!"

"I KNOW. You should've heard me she was all: 'you're gay?' and I went: 'you aren't??'"

Dina snorted into the receiver as I laughed along with her.

"Well shoot. That's a bust," She said, still chuckling. "Hey, wanna go to Laverne's? I'm craving pancakes and french fries real bad,"

"Yes please, 'vernies is the best hangover cure"

"Kay, Ill be at your place in fifteen,"

I hung up the phone as my kettle began to whistle at me from the stove.

I walked over, grabbing a mug on the way and poured in the boiling water. I grabbed my favorite tea and walked into my bathroom to help myself to look slightly more presentable.

Jesus I looked like shit.

I began brushing my teeth before there was a knock at my door.

I rolled my eyes at Dina's overestimate of arriving in "fifteen".

"Dina you said fift-" I cut myself off as I swung open the door and was not met with Dina's face.

Are you fucking kidding me.

Abby fucking Anderson was standing at my front door (looking handsome as ever of fucking course) while I looked like I had just crawled out of the sewers.

"Hi" She awkwardly said with a half smile.

"Oh, hey Abby,"

There was a moment of awkward silence before Abby seemingly jolted in memory of why she was at my door to begin with.

"You, uh, left this on the chair you were sitting on last night, figured you might be looking for it," She said, pulling my pink hello kitty wallet out of her strangely large pocket.

"Oh, shit, thanks Abby," I answered before grabbing my wallet back. "I guess that's pretty important,"

Abby exhaled through her nose in a chuckle. "Yeah well I cant be your knight in shining armor every time. Last night hitting hard, huh?" She looked my slightly up and down teasingly and I suddenly felt very aware of my messy hair, thin sleep tank, and pajama pants.

"Yeah yeah I'll be more careful. Thank you again."

"Yeah no biggie. Um, I gotta run, but I'll see you?"

"For sure, see you Abby,"

We smiled at each other before I shut the door.

Oh my god that was so embarrassing.

I glanced at the time and realized I didn't have long before Dina actually got here.

After fixing myself up and being halfway dressed the real Dina knocked on my door. I shouted a "just a sec" before throwing on my jeans and getting my things and opening the door.

"Hi D,"

"Hey sweets, how ya feeling?" Dina teased with a smirk.

I gave her a playful eyeroll accompanied by a middle finger.

She threw her head back with a laugh and wrapped her arm around my shoulder. "I told you not to do that shit anymore,"

"Yeah well after my wakeup call this morning I won't,"

'You're welcome,"

I sighed before replying with "Not yours, although that one was miserable too,"

"Oh? What wakeup call are you referring to, then?" She asked, turning her head in my direction.

"Ugh I'll tell you at Laverne's,"

‧₊˚❀༉‧₊˚.‧₊˚❀༉‧₊˚.‧₊˚❀༉‧₊˚.‧₊˚❀༉‧₊˚.‧₊˚❀༉‧₊˚.‧₊˚❀༉‧₊˚.‧₊˚❀༉‧₊˚.‧₊˚❀༉‧₊˚.‧₊˚❀༉‧₊˚.‧₊˚

The familiar diner smelled like coffee and pie as it welcomed my senses.

Dina and I made a beeline for the back of the restaurant, where our usual table resided right by the kitchen door.

We plopped down in out usual seats and told the waitress our orders before Dina shot me a look.

"...What?" I asked looking around.

"Helloooo, your 'other wakeup call'??" She said looking at me as if I was stupid.

"Oh! Right right, well I had gotten your call, right? And no kidding like two minutes after we hung up there was a knock at my door, so, obviously I thought it was you and answered the door looking like some sort of extraterrestrial and you will literally never guess who was at the door,"

"Was it...girl I don't know just tell me,"

"It was our favorite muscle mommy," I said laughing with embarrassment.

"WHAT?? You're telling me Abigail Anderson was at your fucking apartment this morning??" She asked, a little too loud.

"Jesus, D, keep your voice down. And yes, she was totally there, and looked totally smoking hot,"

"And what did she want?" Dina suggestively wiggled her brows.

"Ugh, unfortunately that's never gonna happen. She was bringing me my wallet, said I dropped it last night,"

"Wait, what? She already have a girlfriend or something?"

"Dina, she's straight, remember?"

"Psh, are you sure? She's like the gayest looking girl I've seen,"

"Dude, I asked. She's straight as a square,"

"Whatever more like a circle"

"Wh-"

I was interrupted by what I thought was the waitress coming in, but was actually Ellie sliding into the seat next to me.

"Hello gentleman" she said with a smirk.

"Hey Els," I greeted my friend.

"Hey Ellie is your f-" I cut off Dina's sabotage with a kick to the shin and my best "you better fucking not" stare before she embarrassed me further.

"What?" Ellie confusedly looked between the two of us.

I gave Dina another look, this time softer and more pleading and I saw her give in.

"Oh, nothing, not important,"

"Hey, liar. What were your gonna say?"

Before Dina could conjure one of her perfect excuses the actual waitress came to give Dina and I our orders, while Ellie made one of her own.

"Ordered a lot of food there, Williams," I teased with a smirk.

"Nah, not all for me," She brushed off my statement.

"Who the hell else would it be for?" I asked, as the answer to my question walked right through the door.

You have got to be kidding.

a/n: hey...hey...how yall doin....

im so sorry for being gone for so long pls forgive me!! Starting up uni again has been rough, especially moving back in for the year. but i promise i will try and update as much as i can.

p.s...it's prob not who u think walking into the diner :3

ok thats all i will say luv u bye

˖⁺‧₊˚ ♡ ˚₊‧⁺˖

#tlou #ellie williams #x reader #abby anderson #joel miller #dinatlou #abby anderson x reader #abbyanderson #jessetlou #abby x reader

[curetapwater]

Madoka Magica is a very dark show but I think it often gets kinda blown outta proportion, as if it's some bloodbath just because it has onscreen deaths and dark subject matter. I'd say the violence itself is rather on par with darker episodes of Sailor Moon. Deaths happen, but it's far from a gore fest. Mami's death in episode 3, one of the most gruesome scenes in the show, is carefully framed to show no blood, no gore. The image of her body going limp and detransforming, the ribbons she'd tied up Homura with dissolving, the wide shot so far from her body that you can hardly make it out as it falls to the ground for Charlotte to finish. The focus is not "ouuuuuuu teenage girl death SCARY SCARY" but on the weight of the events unfolding. And her death is not there just for shock value, but to drop a sudden, crushing weight upon the characters she is survived by. The scene where Madoka visits Mami's apartment one last time in particular is so effective. A sink filled with dishes that will never be washed. A half-full teacup that will never be emptied. Her absence is a gaping hole in the characters' lives as much as it is a reminder of the stakes of the situation.

And other onscreen deaths are as clean as possible. The Soul Gem thing is existentially terrifying but it also lends itself to something about how PMMM handles its darkest scenes with a certain tastefullness. We don't need to watch a 14-year-old girl get ripped apart in order to understand how fucked things are. We just need to see her soul itself shatter, the light leave her eyes, her body go limp. The lack of traditionally graphic imagery allows weight to be shifted from what we are seeing to what the events unfolding mean.

One of the most visceral scenes for me is the one where Kyubey just dumps his reasoning for the magical girl system on her. On its surface, it's just a girl sitting in bed, being spoken to by an alien creature. But it's the shit he says to her. The way he talks about commodifying, using, tormenting teenage girls across human history as if it's a perfectly reasonable, pleasant conversation. The way he compares humans to livestock. The way his cheerful tone never falters as Madoka's emotional state deteriorates further and further. And GOD, the shot where she slowly grabs her head, curls in on herself before bending backwards. Just trying to process the weight of a system that extends far beyond her, across the whole world, across human history. The helplessness of it all. The way it all culminates, as the audience and Madoka herself finally understand Kyubey to be a microcosm of the way the world is stacked against young girls. That single shot rocks me to my core.

I think people who label this show "torture porn" severely miss the point. We aren't supposed to root for all the bad things happening to these characters. We aren't supposed to point and go "Haha! Foolish girls and their frivolous dreams!!" nor are we supposed to wallow in misery and cry out "Woe! The dreams of young girls are all for naught!! Hope is lost!!!" We're supposed to sympathize and connect with them. And hell if I do. I'm so glad I first watched this show when I was the same age as the characters, because this show just really speaks to me. There is a great catharsis, to me, in things like Mami's veneer of being the cool perfect girl that she desperately doesn't want to fall to reveal the vulnerable girl beneath, the way Sayaka desperately wants to save the world but jumps into things without thinking and pours from an empty cup, the way Kyoko has seemingly given up entirely on being a good person but deep down still believes that something good must exist out there, Homura's determination to try again. And again. And again. Until her love consumes her and everyone around her. And Madoka's crushing sense of helplessness, of guilt, of wanting to make the world a better place, of wanting everyone to just!!!! Get along!!!!! Please!!!!!!! And the way she overcomes this sense of helplessness with the main theme that the magical girl genre was built upon to begin with: hope.

To me, Madoka Magica is a show about how much it can absolutely suck to be a teenage girl, but in a respectful way, y'know? It's about how the world is stacked against young girls, how it uses and objectifies them and kicks them into the dirt, and how because they're still young, they often don't respond to the hand dealt to them in perfect ways. But that doesn't mean their feelings, their hopes and dreams and very souls, do not matter. If anything, I'd say Madoka Magica is about how the world isn't going to go easy on you, and your feelings about that fact are real, even if you don't respond to them perfectly. But despite it all, you have to keep going.

So yeah PMMM is a dark show but I feel like its discussion is often like "this show KILLED the magical girl genre by being DARK and VIOLENT" like. Siigh. Especially frustrating because I see this sentiment both from magical girl fans who resent the show and non-magical girl fans who laud the show because they think it's "better" than its predecessors. Maybe it had an impact on the genre in the same way that Shrek was an excellent movie whose success unfortunately gave way to trends in animated films that didn't quite get what made Shrek work. But I find it unfair to say PMMM "ruined" or even "killed" the magical girl genre. I'm unsure if I'd even call it a deconstruction, it's just its own neat thing to me. I can go back and watch Sailor Moon or Pretty Cure without feeling they've been tainted or taken down a peg. If anything, I think PMMM complements more traditional magical girl shows very nicely. I think Madoka and Usagi would love each other. I don't think a magical girl show where very bad things happen is that big a deal. What is a big deal, to me, is how excellent it is in its execution.

#pmmm spoilers #fictional child death #child death tw

[bonefall]

Now this had me thinking... Would Willowpelt die in the same way as canon (although to another creature im assuming since bb!badgers aren't as dangerous as they are in canon)? If she's getting kept around longer, maybe Cricketclaw is the one who sacrifices herself instead? That sounds like a fitting way for her to go, considering she couldn't protect her own siblings?

I feel like I should add a TM to anything that I'm working on in my drafts that has significant progress and is blog-plot-relevant, that will explain something exactly like this LMAO

Forgive me I am, at heart, a bear that eats half a salmon and then forgets I had a fish at all

Willowpelt's brush with death is staying, and is actually a bit plot relevant in Firestar's Quietus! I have a very specific scene which is actually totally written out-- actually fuck it, I'll just post it here

Context and narrative purpose of this scene:

Firestar is informed of a boar on the territory, and gathers a little scouting patrol to try and figure out what sort of hog it is.

VERY IMPORTANT SEGWAY. Because of how Willowpelt gets bitten here and Firestar loses a life saving Sorrelpaw, they all end up in the Cleric's den where Ferncloud is telling a story both to practice her new job as upcoming Educator and to comfort everyone.

The fact Willowpelt is not dead is how I get Littlecloud away from Runningnose and Firestar

Runningnose has a hunch, in this moment, that goody two-shoes little Firestar might be the perfect person to help Brokenstar, and teases the visions and revelations he's about to have

Establishes that boars are the new Big Bad Beastie of BB

Presents Sorrelpaw's epilepsy and demonstrates how it is a danger to her safety

(this is a lot of buildup but this is actually pretty short lmao)

So anyway before I let you go on to the readmore and a preview of Firestar's Quietus, no one takes Willowpelt's death here, and Willow is going to hang on for longer. I wanted to make sure I have a good amount of cats to kill off in the carnage of the White Hart's destruction.

Wherever Cricketclaw dies, it will be for a purpose. Either to show how bloody the TNP conflicts are, or in a greencough epidemic because I'm trying to make sure those aren't just "Kill a bunch of randos offscreen" disease anymore.

WILLOWPELT'S BOAR

The patrol is Sandstorm and Sorrelpaw, Willowpelt, Longtail and Sootpaw, and himself. It's just supposed to be for scouting, hence why the apprentices are coming along.

Unfortunately the hog has other plans, lunging out of a bush and going for Sootpaw

Willowpelt jumps in the way and gets bitten instead

Sorrelpaw acts quick, slashing its sensitive nose, drawing its attention and bolting as fast as she can

RIGHT as she crosses the Thunderpath, her body goes limp and she falls to the ground

She is having an absence seizure, and fallen flat on the road

The hog is hot on her heels, bowling after her, when a monster screeches to a halt out of nowhere

The hog is frozen in the headlights, Firestar bursts into action to pull Sorrelpaw out of the road

(i hear your heart beat to the beat of the drums) BUMP BUMP

The boar and Firestar have been hit by, have been struck by, an automobile

When he sees StarClan, they're about to greet him with love. But their faces turn to shock and fear, the scenery becoming sinister and trees falling down.

A fifth oak tree is crashing down towards them. Firestar stares at it, dumbstruck.

Just before it strikes him, his eyes snap open

Firestar resurrects with a burst of energy, dragging Sorrelpaw off the road and into the safety of a fern on the ShadowClan side

The humans are coming out of the car to examine the boar they struck, but Firestar doesn't have time to consider that or his vision.

Littlecloud's head pokes out of the foliage and he springs into action, checking them both for injury. Breathless, Firestar points behind him and rasps, "Willowpelt!"

Littlecloud nods and bolts across the road.

Runningnose saunters out from a different angle-- one where he would have been able to see the road. Everything that happened.

His gaze is unsettling as ever, pausing, eyeing the leader up and down.

He starts tending to Sorrelpaw, then mumbles,

"Brave of you."

"It's what any leader would have done."

"No. It's what you always do."

Firestar doesn't know how to respond to that, but he's glad Runningnose isn't staring at him anymore.

But continues, "You will learn terrible things in the days to come, Firestar, and StarClan will not answer the questions that find you. If you seek the truth, meet me by the mothermouth on the night after the next gathering."

Sorrelpaw is leaning up now, her eyes dazed and confused, as if she's trying to figure out what happened.

#So Crick could still get killed in the Boar Attack of BB!TNP #But I'm unsure yet. It's not a pressing matter either though #Because I also wouldn't mind just keeping her around until a Po3 epidemic #But there's THREE deadly events in TNP so it makes the most sense for her to meet her maker there. #Firestar's Quietus #better bones au

[fandomfluffandfuck]

OK BUT

nomad!Steve having a size kink, seeing pre-serum!Steve and just not being able to KEEP IT IN HIS PANTSSSS

This didn't take me almost a week to get to. What do you mean?

You're so fucking right and while I have more angst-y thoughts about how younger, slimmer Steve would feel about that, too--how he might react when at first confronted with his perceived inadequacies in the face of everything he believes he's supposed to be, the way everyone tells him he should be... BUT we'll ignore that simply for the ✨️kink✨️

And what hits nomad Steve first--what takes his head and twists it down a dark, filthy path from the wheel-spinning confusion of being confronted with himself from another timeline, much younger and sicker--is their hands.

There's a moment where younger Steve reaches out to touch him, disbelieving. He's almost unknowingly playing out the now, in the future, overdone trope in movies of two people standing face-to-face, mirroring their movements. A perfect reflection. Younger Steve doesn't touch. But he gets close. His hands hover, his eyes are wide, his lips falling open silently at the same time that his fingers twitch and...

Jesus.

The thing is, hands are different from everything else. Every other part of his body. Their bodies. Bone can be wrapped and overlaid with muscles, disguised as something else. More rebust and thick. Muscle lives under nomad Steve's skin in mounds, thick like clay, molded just so. He shifts, and it moves, pulling and rippling along his frame. Muscle. Alive. Burning hot with its maintenance needs. His arms and shoulders and chest have all widened. Thickened. Even his abdomen, to some degree, has been bulked wider with muscles--cut and clenching. Too, his legs, from just above his Achilles heel with his calves to the very low of his broad back in the form of his curved, sloping ass. Nomad Steve has muscle everywhere these days. He knows muscle (and a whole lot of pain in the form of the ever steady march of time) separates himself from this younger Steve. He knows it well. But...

It's easier to forget that his entire frame has changed. The atoms rearranged and stretched. Forever altered. The difference between them is encapsulated in their hands.

Hands aren't the same as the rest of the body.

You can't pack muscle on your hands in the same fashion. You can put thick callouses and jagged scars, but that won't do much to lengthen or widen your fingers, it won't broaden your palms, it won't square out their architecture, and it sure as hell won't change your fingerprints.

Nomad Steve is so different from his younger self in obvious ways, but in their hands, too.

Subtle.

Fascinating.

Exciting.

Hands.

Nomad Steve has big, big hands with square palms and thick, long fingers. He has callouses from pencils still, but also more immediate weapons that fight for change, too--his voice extended beyond his mind to his body.

Younger Steve, though, has hands that are certainly large for his petite frame, but... they're almost delicate compared to Nomad Steve's hands. Thin. Easy to consume completely. The animal that is less and less caged in Nomad Steve the more he ages--more and more torn around the edges--growls seeing those small hands.

Immediately, a million fantasies race through nomad Steve's sharp, technicolor mind. All of those hot, dirty images in his head focused on the differences between their hands that represent the contrast in the rest of their bodies, too.

The fingers of just one of nomad Steve's hands encircling two bird-bone wrists--pressing both of them into the mattress, keeping him where he wants him, tightly fitting himself inside his younger self. His body. Wet. Hot. He barely fits, he swears. It's so tight that it almost hurts, gritting his teeth, swearing, groaning, and grunting as he fucks him with abandon. All the while, using a fraction of his strength to pin and ravenge him. Nomad Steve can feel every clench of younger Steve's fists as he writhes; he can feel every twist of his arms as he tries to get some kind of release from the pleasure, the heat, he just can't take it. His little fists clench so tight, just like his body. Tight.

Jesus Christ.

The sight of his fucking hands--and suddenly he understands what Bucky means when he says he has dinner-plate palms--biting into younger Steve's tiny waist. Wasp-waisted, he swears. His pale, pale skin darkened with bruises from desire. Younger Steve gasps and moans each time nomad Steve squeezes him a little more. Christ. There's a perverted feeling pulsing all throughout nomad Steve's body--he's so goddamn small and cute, and it makes him violent. Like seeing a kitten. A feisty little kitten that he wants to crush with his bare hands. So, he grabs. He takes. He groans, bone-deep, letting his forefingers and thumbs touch around his younger self's waist. He wants to press handprint bruises into his skin, he wants to feel his hip bones, he wants to dig into those little dimples at the base of his spine, he wants to feel the concave plane of his stomach, rubbing him down, he wants to spear him on his dick. He's so little. So tight.

Tight.

The broad flat of nomad Steve's palm across his younger self's thin chest, almost spanning the entire thing, oh, god, it's so hot. Underneath him, his elongated throat, his lean pecs, his sharp collarbones, and the curve of his ribs. All of that right there when the tips of his pinkie and index finger aren't even spread wide, and they're each brushing one of his peaked nipples. He's not even trying! Still, he overwhelms his younger self. He could do anything he wanted to him. Anything. Steve can feel his younger self's lungs stutter, gasping. He's nearly cool to the touch even as he melts from heated arousal. His heart pounds, vaguely uneven but demanding either way, sending surges of arousal through his body, making sure he's up for it. Rock-hard. He's so little and so grabbable.

Best of all, fuck, the way it feels with his big hands on his tiny body when he's fucking him. It's not just how it looks. He can fucking see how little he is, but it feels better than it looks. Tight, yeah, and... with nomad Steve kneeling on the bed, he hoists his younger self up so his slim thighs are thrown around his thicker waist, his hips are tilted up, and emphasizing the way as he thrusts in and out of him like he wants to break him. With their position, younger Steve's concave tummy bulges with his dick. He's stuffed so full. Moaning and wailing with every thrust. It bulges out of him. Filling him. Nomad Steve could watch it all day--staring, groaning, at how deep he gets into his guts--but he could spend the rest of his days feeling the erotic way his own cock rocks and grinds inside him through his thin skin. Christ. He can press down harder and feel himself in there, rubbing the tip of his own cock just to make his own hips jerk harder. Harsher. He's using his younger self like a damn flashlight, like he's jerking off using him, getting off to how he barely fits in there, getting off to how he's getting squeezed, getting off to how he drips with lube and how he drools and how he gags for it. Goddamn, he's begging for more even though there isn't more. There's no fucking way he could fit more inside him. He's at his limits, and Steve's taking him there. Steve's taking him. Ruining him.

He's never gonna be so little and tight again, so is Steve really the big, bad wolf for wrecking him? Like, god, how can he keep it in his pants when he's that big? It barely fits in the first place 😮‍💨😮‍💨

Hopefully, you enjoyed that 😘

Now, with this extra detailing

#asks #fandomfluffandfuck #steve rogers #selfcest #steve x steve #averyfromzero #let me know if this is good lol... i like this concept but idk something about this writing isnt like i have in my minds eye #so im not sure i like how it turned out

[mc-lukanette]

The stage was set, Ladybug balancing on a railing below as she peered to look over the rooftop. An innocent melody played, slow yet somehow ominous, and strumming it all on his lyre was Viperion. He stood there on the rooftop, back facing her and humming along to the improvised song.

It gave her chills, but it was perfect at the same time. It was like he was bringing out all of the needed energy just by setting the mood.

She took a deep breath, then held it to stay as quiet and still as possible. Her fingers twitched experimentally around her yoyo before detaching it from her waist, reminding her of its familiar weight and capacity for precision. Her eyes darted from Viperion's lyre, to his waist, and then to his leg, her arm out behind her in preparation.

Then, she let herself exhale, arm swinging forward and letting her yoyo fly. It whizzed through the air and straight toward Viperion's wrist, just as he played the last note on his lyre.

Almost scarily fast, he reacted, bringing his arm in to avoid the yoyo. It went past him and towards the chimney nearby, wrapping itself around one of the chimney pots at the top. Ladybug didn't miss a beat, grabbing the yoyo's string tight as she jumped up from the railing. The yoyo pulled her in, bringing her straight towards it and thus right at Viperion.

He turned in time, ducking under the incoming leg aimed at his face. Ladybug let herself drop by mentally calling for her yoyo to unlatch, then dodged the punch he threw.

"Was I that loud?" she wondered, catching his arm before he could pull it back.

"Not you," he replied, latching the lyre onto his back to free his other hand. He went for her stomach, but she released his arm so she could jump back from him. "It was your yoyo. It's subtle, but it makes a sound like a fishing line whenever you use it."

"Seriously?" She rolled her eyes, testing it by pulling her yoyo apart from the handle. Indeed, it made a sound. "It's supposed to be magic! Whose idea was that?"

Smirking, Viperion put a foot behind him and got into a fighting stance. "If it makes you feel better, I have pretty sensitive hearing. I don't think most akuma would even notice it, especially not during the day."

"Hmph." She mirrored his smirk, getting into her own stance. "Still, I'd feel more confident about it if I could at least keep up with you."

With that, they rushed at each other, continuing to both trade and dodge each other's blows. It sent a pure, almost electric rush through her, experiencing a real spar that she couldn't have with anyone but him and leaving behind her worries of failure.

Being a ladybug holder came with a laundry list of cons, one of which being that she couldn't afford to get herself caught. Teammates had to be ready at every opportunity to throw themselves into the line of fire to protect her, leaving her only two options: let them, or get better to avoid said line of fire as much as possible. She wasn't foolish enough to expect perfection, but she could learn to outpredict the unpredictable.

Ladybug went for her yoyo again, aiming for his lyre this time. She threw - all too aware of the sound her yoyo made this time - but Viperion clutched his lyre tight to keep it from easily being taken. The yoyo soared through the middle of the lyre, tangling with its strings but unable to drag it away from his grasp.

She snorted, continuing their last conversation with, "Ladybugs aren't supposed to make sounds. Cats meow, bees buzz, and even snakes hiss, but ladybugs don't make sounds."

"That's not true." Viperion grabbed the lyre with his other hand as well, allowing him a more secure hold. His eyebrows twitched as he stared down at it, turning it left and right like he was testing something.

Ladybug's eyes widened as she watched, almost hypnotized by the sight. The string wobbled and shook like little snakes trying to slither, and she couldn't tell if they had somehow become intangible or simply untied it from themselves, but her yoyo came back to her without the lyre attached.

Viperion smiled at her, insisting, "Ladybugs make sounds. You just have to listen close enough."

She hoped her blush was hidden under the mask. Focus, Ladybug!

Ladybug fled behind the chimney to conceal herself, knowing that Viperion wouldn't follow at risk of whatever her plan might've been. Jumping up, she grabbed the top of the chimney for balance and vaulted over it, letting gravity do the work in bringing her leg down at him. He responded by using his lyre to block the blow.

When her momentum had lessened, he moved the lyre to the side in a swift motion, thus taking her leg with it. Her world went sideways and he grabbed her arm with his free hand, bringing her down against the rooftop on her back.

She let out a small "oof," but was undeterred. Grabbing onto the arm holding her, she brought her legs up to rest on Viperion's shoulders. Before he could react, she twisted her lower body, using the combined strength of her legs and arm to knock him over. Prying her other arm free, she rolled and managed to get back up on her feet to face him.

Viperion made a swipe for her feet with his leg, but she did a small bunny hop over it to evade. Managing to grab his lyre this time, she giggled and played a few notes on it even though she knew they'd be out of tune. He laughed along with her, standing up and making a move to get it back from her.

She dodged, then backflipped away to maintain a few-meter distance between them. Wrapping her yoyo around the top of the lyre to attach them to each other, she spun her yoyo to act like a shield and whistled at seeing the lyre going along with it.

"You don't need this for Second Chance, right? I could use it as a weapon if we needed it." For emphasis, she swung it at him, slightly awkward due to the extra weight of the lyre but still successful.

Viperion leaned back as if they were playing limbo, barely evading the clumsy but effective shot. He seemed dazed yet excited when he straightened up again. "Any time you need it, Ladybug. You just need to ask."

She beamed, bringing her yoyo back and tossing his lyre back his way so they could continue. She wasn't ready to stop just yet.

They went back to sparring, getting into periods of predicting the other, then the other predicting them back before they could follow through. Their moves got less precise as they started to wear down, but it was more about seeing how far they could go and how many movements they could come up with before one of them ran out.

Ladybug was fairly sure that they'd exhaust themselves first. The other heroes relied on being given orders, but not them. Lucky Charm was all about absorbing one's surroundings and using their environment to their advantage to make it work; she'd even considered bringing props for their next sparring session to use. Second Chance, meanwhile, was about rewinding, slithering through timelines until he could bite down on the right one, and the way to minimize that workload was to plan. That often meant analyzing one's opponents and all potential possibilities for what could happen so he could keep himself safe.

He was her insurance policy, her safety net, her cushion for if everything went wrong, just as she was for everyone else. It wasn't the same, yet the situations were undeniably linked with one another.

Creation, intuition, and the two forces behind them whose roles aligned with the idea of protecting themselves as well as others.

Ladybug threw her yoyo one last time to snag Viperion's lyre. He held it in place just as before, but she flicked her wrist at the last second, causing her yoyo to wrap around the lyre's side rather than the strings. In the process, it wrapped around his hand and wrist, preventing Viperion from using them. He gaped, trying to undo the damage, but Ladybug tugged to throw him off.

He tugged back, not one to give up right away, and made it more of a tug of war between the two of them. She called out for her yoyo in her mind in addition to pulling with both hands, but Viperion held strong. For a hero who was only brought on every so often, he had great balance and knew how to distribute his body weight.

Then, a hint of a smirk appeared on Viperion's face, and all of the resistance she'd been met with suddenly disappeared. The next moment went by in a blur, her body unable to even account for the change due to weight hitting her a second later. She fell onto the rooftop, the yoyo's handle slipping from her hand and the clatter of both it and the lyre following behind.

The heat of the "battle" evaporated into pure silence, Viperion slowly pushing himself off of her and laying beside her. She tried to move a little, but found that she was much more exhausted than she'd thought, especially now that the tension from their tug of war had been released.

A giggle escaped her, then another. Viperion joined in, the giggles rising in volume and frequency until they were both laughing from the experience. She felt strangely alive despite being so tired.

She looked over at him, her resting arm close enough to his that she could touch it if she straightened her fingers a little. Eyeing the material - the only thing separating them from being Marinette and Luka on the rooftops - she commented, "Did you know red and teal are complementary colors?"

He followed her gaze to their hands, curious. "No, I didn't."

"Mhm." She rolled onto her side, the little artist in her happily rambling, "Red is a vibrant color, so it can be overwhelming on its own. Teal is a cooler color so balances it out, and the red adds an extra pop to it in exchange."

And that's what Luka was in the end, wasn't it? He was the balance in her otherwise hectic life. As Viperion, he provided an ease to the constant pressure of being Ladybug, and as Luka he served to be a contrast to all the needless complexity and drama going on while she was Marinette.

He also looked weirdly content listening to her talk about colors. She raised a brow, asking with a smile, "Was it really that interesting?"

He rolled onto his side as well, giving her a one-armed shrug. "I guess I'm a simple guy. You were so passionate when you talked about it, it made it interesting."

Her heart skipped a beat. Maybe it was just the night sky doing all the work, but his eyes were sparkling when he talked about her.

"I don't think there's anything wrong with being 'simple,'" she argued. Her body moved on its own, using the little energy she'd gained back from resting on the rooftop to lean towards him. He didn't protest nor question her when she grabbed his shoulder, encouraging him to lay on his back again to hover over.

She supposed that she must've had her guard down. They were both exhausted and she didn't have it in her to overthink or come up with some dumb excuse for her actions. The night was so quiet that it really felt like they were the only people in Paris, so there wasn't anyone she'd need to explain herself to anyway.

After all, Luka - more often than not - instinctively understood.

Under the moonlight illuminating him, Ladybug noticed that there was the slightest shine to his lips. She settled her hand near his chin, her thumb brushing just below his bottom lip as she wondered if that was something Luka also had or if it was an addition he'd made as Viperion. It reminded her of the clear, candy-flavored lip gloss she had when she was younger, subtle yet always making her feel pretty when she looked in the mirror.

She really wanted a taste.

"Mmphf—" Viperion moaned from his throat as she kissed him, his hands moving slowly but still finding their place on her sides.

Assured that he wouldn't move, Ladybug stopped gripping his shoulder and let her hand slide comfortably down to his chest. She hadn't meant to pause over his heart, but it was pounding and something told her that it wasn't from their sparring.

He didn't taste like candy, but rather reassurance, acceptance, and an open mind. She might've considered letting her hair down to see his reaction if her superhero transformation didn't make it awkward.

Had she had the voice to tease him, she might've made a fake excuse about being too tired to lift her lips from his, but they'd already been out of breath and it had to end sometime.

With a soft 'click,' they pulled apart, Viperion's heart still beating intensely against her hand even while his expression appeared nothing but content.

"A-are you okay?" she asked in a whisper, taking her hand off his chest to feel her lips. They were still tingling from the kiss.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"I kissed you." It felt silly to point out when he already looked like he could take another one. "I don't regret it either, but I...I thought there was someone you loved already? T-the, um... the bakery girl."

His hands were still on her waist, so she felt the light vibration when he chuckled. She wasn't sure what was so amusing to him, but she waited to see what his response was first.

"Yeah," he confessed, "I love her, and that's a tune that'll never change even if hers keeps surprising me like it always has. She has a lot to deal with and had to learn how to use different instruments for different situations, but it's all the same for me. I love all of it." One of his hands left her side to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, his eyes unmoving from hers as he brushed her earring with his thumb. "Even this one, when she wants to sing as loud as she wants to but can't."

She swallowed, the words registering with her but her mouth finding it hard to reply. He knew, and judging by his expression he'd known for a long time. She felt like she should be more surprised or maybe even upset, yet it all fit together like a freshly completed puzzle.

Viperion had said it himself: he was a simple guy. To him, Marinette was simply Ladybug and Ladybug was simply Marinette, so he loved them both because the soul underneath was the same.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she questioned.

"You had enough to worry about," he reminded her, "and I'm not supposed to know."

She considered that, gauging the situation as well as her immediate reaction to it. Taking a breath, she finally uttered a quiet yet firm,"No."

Viperion echoed her, not understanding. "No?"

"Actually, I..." She let herself lay down on him, her face against his chest as she mumbled assuredly, "I think you are supposed to know."

She didn't clarify further, but he didn't ask for it. He just held her, only loosening his grip when they moved to kiss each other again.

The only words they needed were to agree to do it all again next week.

#queuekanette #lukaneventte: No Context November #Flower Arrangement Shipping #Pro LukaMari #Viperbug

[dotieeee]

Perhaps an unusual spicy idea: a gal sets up everything for a nice evening for herself--candles, aromatherapy, a vibrator, a dildo...only to accidentally re-create some kind of ancient sex spell that summons Desire. Desire is actually amused enough that someone got it right after so many centuries that they decide to play along and help out 👀

OOOOHHH this is an interesting idea!! I haven't written Desire in such a way so I will give it a shot!!! Sorry it took so long!!

***

Everything had been going according to plan. This was a rare day off where you had not much else to do, so you did everything at home you could possibly do to pamper yourself: you tried on that organic hair conditioner you had been saving because it was too expensive to use on a regular day; that tightening, pore-removing face mask you had bought ages ago on impulse; you did your nails (it was abysmal work, but hey, it felt nice); you ordered in a fancy meal and capped it with a glass of that red wine that had been sitting in your fridge since the last holidays. This last bit of me-time was supposed to be a cherry on top of a great day.

Instead, you were backed into the furthest corner of your bed, wide-eyed and frozen in place in disbelief at the human that had appeared in a cloud of red smoke, sat on the edge of your mattress.

They looked insanely beautiful, that was true, but that didn't really help the fact that they somehow got into your room, and they were wearing a latex catsuit with a neckline that dipped to their toned stomach, revealing a taut chest and the most enviable collarbones a person could possess.

And they wore cat ears.

"Having fun, aren't we?"

Their voice was like honey: smooth, sweet, and slightly teasing. Behind those pretty golden eyes was a hint of devious amusement, and those lips, painted flawlessly in crimson, were curled into a smile that revealed a perfect set of teeth.

"Darling, I know I'm drop-dead gorgeous; you don't have to look so gob-smacked," they said with a lilting laugh, tucking a lock of their blonde hair behind their ear with a perfectly-manicured nail. It put yours to shame.

You managed an unintelligble stutter, but you had meant to ask "How did you get here? Who the fuck are you?"

They merely giggled at your pitiful attempt to make speech. "I just love it when they get this flustered.

"I'm Desire, darling, and you summoned me."

You summoned who, exactly?

They seemed to ignore your bewildered look in favour of your little me-time altar, set in an orderly fashion on your little nightstand. They walked over to it, their cattail swinging behind them, inspecting your...display. Candles in varying scents - vanilla, pumpkin spice -

"Jasmine..." your unexpected guest purred, picking up the candle, and toying with its flame with a slender finger.

They placed it back down and inspected a crystal you remember buying at a mall stall ages ago because of the pretty colour. The woman explained what the stone was, but honestly you had nothing but the groceey list in mind you had forgotten what it was called.

"It's called celestite, my dear," they commented in an amused tone, as if they were reading your thoughts. "You mortals, buying anything and everything just because 'it's pretty.'" They flicked their eyes to you and added, "I approve."

To your horror, they picked up something else from the table, something you had hoped they'd brush over. They twirled the egg-shaped vibrator in their hand.

"This was your main event, wasn't it, darling?"

With a giggle that startled you, they launched themselves on the bed, lading on their back, and put their legs up in the air, swishing it back and forth. They held the vibrator in the light like they were inspecting diamonds.

"I'd never thought someone would finally get it right after so many centuries!"

They continued to laugh delightedly as their eyes landed on you, still curled up on the corner of your own bed, still fucking clueless. They rolled on their stomach and propped their cheek up on their palm.

"Something tells me you have absolutely no idea what you just did."

You swallowed the lump on your throat and finally summoned the will to speak. "What exactly did I do?"

Lazily, they tapped the space beside them, urging you to lay on it. For some reason unknown to you, you did as you were told, never once taking your eyes off them. There was something off about them, but it was mesmerzing.

"अहं त्वां याचयामि, अतीव दीर्घकालं यावत् अभवत्। अद्य रात्रौ मां प्रीत्या आशीर्वादं ददात."

They spoke in a language you have not heard of before. They drew a line on your forearm, giving you goosebumps all over. You were quite disappointed when they stopped.

"That was Sanskirt, darling," they explained. "Summoning me. Tell me, before I graced your home with my presence, what was the last thing you said? Don't be shy now, I won't bite." Then they winked and flashed a toothy smile.

You felt heat creeping up your cheeks as you repeated the words, finding yourself unable to look into their eyes. "'I hope I get an orgasm from this, it has been so long.'"

A finger tilted your chin up to look into those golden eyes. That's when it hit you: they were Desire, the very thing you had asked for. You licked your lips unconsciously as you stared into theirs, noting how red they were, and how they must taste like cherries.

"That's the spell. You asked for me, so let's make it worthwhile, shall we?"

The way they whispered so close to you had your insides melting, and you could only nod, totally under the spell of the otherworldly being you had inadvertently summoned. With a hum, they made a swift move to get on top of you and captured your lips with theirs.

Cherries.

Whatever the fuck you did, you were damn sure you'd do all over again.

#ask! #so-i-grudgingly-joined-this-site #desire x reader #desire of the endless #smut #suggestive #the sandman #drabble

[kasagia]

hi can you make headcanons about dating klaus mikaelson x fem reader

Dating Klaus Mikaelson would include:

let's start with the fact that before you became Klaus' girlfriend, you were subjected to thousands of different trials,

this man has thousands of enemies, trust issues, and a family he protects above all else. Of course, he will first test your faithfulness and perseverance,

he will also know your past better than his own,

seriously, he'll remember EVERYTHING,

your birthday, the day you started crawling and riding your bike, the first day of school, your first boyfriend, your first kiss, your first time, the names of your school friends, and the names of the mean people who teased you (by the way, he makes sure they learn a lesson),

Kol and Rebekah call him a freak,

but he only wants to make sure you're not a danger to THE FAMILY,

and, in the process, learn about all of your interests in order to gain extra points when he starts trying to get you (but no one needs to know about it),

and when you finally prove your intentions are good and you have no connection with his enemies? Oh girl!

after a long (but not too long - Klaus' patience has its limits, and he used most of it anyway to thoroughly x-ray you) romantic and well-thought-out courting process, you finally become his girlfriend,

which means a lot of cute, little gifts (he learned after he gave you a fucking diamond tiara not to buy you ridiculously expensive gifts),

a lot of hugs and kisses (this man is hungry for touch and tenderness, and you don't have the heart or the desire to say no to him),

if you couldn't get rid of him before, be ready for that he now practically LIVES with you,

he wants to spend all his time with you (and his daughter ofc),

on bad days even comes to your work/school,

he tries everything to get you to finally agree to move in with him (dating and harassing you in your work/school aren't enough now),

but you don't see the need. He wakes up anyway and goes to sleep next to you, in your apartment or his house,

Klaus disagrees,

he presents you with all the amazing advantages over the minor disadvantages that can be "easily corrected",

on the end of his presentation he tells you that he has already been stealing some of your stuff for a month now and putting it in his house,

you noticed this ages ago, but you let him continue his chatter about how great it would be to live with him and his siblings,

you agree after his very long persuading you in your bedroom 😏,

you've never seen him happier (and more disheveled) before,

when you move, you officially become part of the family,

each of his siblings wants to get to know you better,

which annoys Klaus,

he was supposed to spend more time with you and now he has to share you with his family,

don't get me wrong, he loves how well you get along with them, but from time to time, for example: when you're in the middle of a conversation with his little brother, he'll throw you over his shoulder and "take you to his cave" for a session of hugs, kisses (and maybe some more if you're in the mood),

he's ridiculously jealous of you,

some guy/woman/child/dog looked at you for too long?

your boyfriend will make sure to keep you closer to him, give you a long, passionate, possessive kiss, and glare darkly at your potential suitor,

most of the time, you roll your eyes and ignore his behavior (after so many months with a hybrid, you know it's better to choose your battles rather than start an argument about everything),

as long as it doesn't come to blows, you can accept his little outbursts of jealousy,

sometimes you make him jealous on purpose to get on his nerves (expecting to lock yourself in his room for a few hours in the near future),

your anniversaries and birthdays are a fucking national holiday,

not joking,

on the streets of New Orleans, people have fun from morning till night,

his minions have the day off right after they help him arrange the world's most perfect date,

you are treated like a queen, his queen,

and he will always be proud of you,

his strong, beloved woman who bravely stands by his side no matter what,

he also admires the hard work you put into your future career,

he is your number one fan and will do anything (you let him) to help you achieve your dreams,

you are equal partners who support each other,

he asks for your opinion about his plans and takes it into account,

to everyone's surprise,

you inhibit his murderous tendencies, he is more composed in your presence,

Elijah is sure that you are his brother's savior, someone for whom he will become the best version of himself,

you think, you're just occupying his time so he doesn't run around like a cat on catnip looking for trouble,

but the truth is, Klaus is madly in love with you and will not let anyone or anything stand in the way of your happiness. (So he reduces the chance of getting new enemies),

so when the two of you have an argument, the guy does his best to appease you by the end of the day, so he could hold you in his arms in the sleeping… right after he throws around a few vases and bottles of bourbon on the walls (the last one happens to Kol's great dismay) - let's be honest, Klaus still have his impetuous temper,

talking about sleeping, get used to being a little spoon or a teddy bear for a hybrid,

sometimes the poor boy has nightmares about Mikael. Then you are the big spoon, and you try to calm him down by stroking his curls tenderly, showering kisses on his face, and whispering comforting, soothing words. Kol bumped into you in this position once and started making fun of your older brother. Let's just say he narrowly dodged a flying dagger. And uniquely, it wasn't Klaus who threw it at him. Nobody messes with your boyfriend like this on your shift,

that was the moment Klaus knew you would be his wife,

the next day his sisters and daughter helped him choose a ring.

#klaus x reader #klaus mikaelson #klaus mikaelson x y/n #klaus mikaelson x reader #klaus headcanons #dating klaus #tvd klaus #tvd x reader #tvd #dating #vampire #the originals #hybrid #warewolf

[roll-of-royces]

L&DS Drabble (With AFAB Reader)

Content: You long for one particular stuffy, the perfect bunny for your collection. Xavier is determined to get it for you, but well Zayne might feel the need to step in. Rating: G for all the girls and gays

Spoilers: None

Word Count: 1078

You stare into the claw machine. Perhaps you are in fact staring a little too hard at the fluffy, elusive creature, but it's been at least fifteen minutes. And it's so cute with its big long bunny ears, and the bowtie around its neck. There are several variations in the machine: blue, pink, purple, and yellow. You have your heart set on the yellow one, but you don't dare say a word about it. 

It is already hard enough for Xavier. He too is looking at the claw machine, but his eyes are far more akin to a glare than desire. You keep holding the bowl, checking to make sure your nails haven't chipped since you got them done last week. Being a hunter has made it difficult to have nails that last, but for now the sparkling red is still in good condition. 

For now, being the key phrase. You keep your face supportive as he reaches for another coin. "You can do it." You tell him, because really you don't know how to tell him he's utterly hopeless when it comes to the art of getting a claw machine to do what you want it to do. 

Xavier who can stand down an army of wanderers single-handedly and yet cannot win at a claw machine. It's cute. He's cute, but then you've know that since you met him. 

Shuffling to the side you lean in and give him a smile. "I'm serious, I know you can do it." 

He gets that gleam in his eye, and you worry he may just blast the machine's glass into shards and collect your prize that way. You really hope he doesn't do that, because you like coming here. You come here all the time. 

You're in luck, he doesn't choose violence. He grabs the handle and with newfound determination sets to his goal ... and fails. You can't help the giggle that pulls from your mouth even as your hand comes to hide it. 

He eyes you, raising an eyebrow, and then lets out a long beleaguered sigh, "Alright, alright. Aren't you supposed to be teaching me anyway?" Xavier gestures toward the control and steps back. He falls into the position you see him take when he's actually paying attention. 

Not the one in meetings (he's usually not paying attention in those) but when there's danger in the air and he needs to listen and focus. It's that pose. You smile at him and reach for the controls. 

"You're here." You recognize the voice immediately and turn to look at Zayne with a smile in greeting. 

He's off duty, no white doctor's coat to be found. His glasses are in the front pocket of his button-up. You never expected to see him in a place like this. In fact, he looks downright out of place. 

"Zayne! Hello." You grin at him, task momentarily forgotten as he strolls closer. 

"I was just passing by when I noticed you." He explains and slips his hands casually into his pockets. His eyes shift, focusing entirely on Xavier and you notice a pitch in moods between both. "I didn't realize you were out with a ... friend." 

You pivot, realizing you'll need to introduce them. First you gesture toward Xavier, "This is my work partner, Xavier." You then gesture toward Zayne. "And this is Doctor Zayne, he's my well doctor." 

"And an old childhood friend," Zayne adds. 

You blink at him in surprise, since you reconnected you've never heard him introduce himself that way. Normally he's happy to be introduced as a doctor, but he puts such emphasis on childhood. 

Honestly, your stomach flips at the way he says it. Such an undertone, a connotation that you've never dared consider past a passing childhood fancy. 

Xavier shifts, touching your back along his side as he holds out a hand. This too is unusual, he only stands this close if the two of you are in the thick of a battle. "Right, it's good to know she has friends."

The way they shake hands feels bordering on aggression. It feels cold. A shift of frigid air waves past Zayne causing you to shiver. And then in the corner of your eye, you swear you see the faintest glint of light. 

Boys, the both of them. 

"Right, well I'm going to get this bunny." You declare, ignoring whatever weird competition they're going through, and turn back to the machine. Tongue between your teeth you make your best attempt, and normally you're pretty good (better than Xavier at very least) but maybe it's the passive-aggressive men standing behind you or bad luck but again the yellow rabbit evades capture. 

You groan, "Come on." 

Zayne chuckles and you feel his hand on your side pressing you away so he stands in front of it. "A coin?" He asks, and holds out his hand. You dutifully hand one over from the hoard that Xavier has at his disposal. "You were attempting to grab the yellow one, is that the color you want?" 

You nod. 

"You didn't tell me that." Xavier complains, standing at your other side. 

"I didn't want to pressure you." 

He frowns, glancing down at the tiled floor of the arcade. He's definitely frustrated. You'll apologize later. It's not like you guys don't see each other basically every day for work and often outside of it. 

Huh, now that you think about it, you have been spending a lot of time with both of them lately. There's been lunches and dinners, outings, and sitting around in Zayne's office or Xavier's apartment.

You've been a whole lot less lonely. It's nice. 

Zayne hums in concentration, the claw comes down, the bunny lifts, and boom. He got it. 

"Yes!" You jump a little in excitement as he bends down and plucks the stuffed animal from the slot and holds it out to you. 

He's got that sparkle in his eyes as you grab it, hugging it in close. You've wanted this one for like a week now. Everytime you pass the arcade you find yourself eyeing it. 

"Are there any more that you would like?" Zayne asks leaning down to look at you. "Your friend seems to need some help." 

When you turn you see Xavier bent over the controls of another machine, to your surprise he gets it in two attempts. Grabbing his prize he comes back to your side and holds out this terribly ugly purple turtle. 

You accept it anyway, holding it with your rabbit. "Thanks, guys." 

Zayne smiles back, "My pleasure." 

Xavier nods, "Yeah, anytime." 

#love and deepspace #zayne love and deepspace #love and deepspace xavier #l&ds #l&ds drabble #i want to do unholy things to both of them #afab reader

[call-me-a-simp]

Heal My Wounds

Shopping with Dom Dom (part 26)

Rhea Ripley x Reader

Summary: You are in a toxic relationship with an abusive man but manage to run away. A tall, black haired woman picks you up from the streets just in time so your ex doesn't get you. But who is she and why does she seem so familiar to you? As you get to know each other you start to notice weird feelings you never had before whenever she's around.

It's been a week since you said yes to Rhea's proposal. Since then you were non-stop thinking about your marriage.

You bought lots magazines for inspiration and spent all day flipping throug them and looking up different things on the internet.

But today you didn't have time for that since Dom took you out to look for the perfect wedding dress. You didn't expect it but Dominik had a surprisingly good taste in fashion, especially when it came to dresses. He just somehow always found exactly what you were looking for.

You get out of the shower and wrap yourself in a towel before walking over into your bedroom to pick your outfit for today.

"Hey baby" Rhea smiles at you. She was sitting on the bed, reading. "Why are you still wearing a towel everytime you come out of the shower, I think it's pretty unnecessary by now" she chuckles.

You stick your tongue out at her, making her grin even more and shake her head. "What are you still doing here anyway? I thought you had an appointment today?" you ask her.

"Yeah but it got canceled last minute so I'm kind of killing time now by reading until you're back" she shrugs. "Oh, okay" you say and turn your back at her to change.

"Why aren't you coming with us? You don't have a dress yet too, do you?" you suggest. "Na sorry, first of all should the groom only see the bride in her dress at the wedding and second of all I don't plan on wearing one" she winks at you.

"So you're attending naked?" you joke. "Ugh idiot, of course not" she laughs and gets up trying to tickle you. "ah no, hey" you laugh out and run away, closely followed by her.

She eventually catches you and pick you up from behind. "hah, got you" she shouts in victory before letting you down again.

You turn around to look at her, both of you still smiling and breathing a little heavy. "Have fun today okay? And don't you two walk outta that store without the perfect dress!" she dares you.

The doorbell rings, letting you know Dominik is waiting. You kiss her goodbye and make your way out. You greet Dom who waves at Rhea who followed you to the door.

"take care of her" she grins and he gives her a thumb up before getting into the car next to you and starting the engine.

It's almost a 30 minute drive, but it doesn't even feel that long as you're listening to good music and singing along to it.

You enter the store and are greeted by a woman, whose dark hair is already streaked with gray. "Hello hello, how can I help you" she says. "Hi, we're looking for the perfect wedding dress for this young lady here" Dominik smirks at you.

"Wonderfull, but you are aware that the groom is not supposed to see the bride until the actual wedding ceremony?" the woman asks with a raised brow.

"Oh, no no, he's not my fiancé, he's just a friend" you immediately correct her. "Oh, I'm sorry, well then follow me" she leads you to one of the store windows and takes out some magazines.

"Do you already have an idea of what you might like?" the lady wants to know. "Hmm.. Not really, what about we take a look again together Dom Dom?" you turn to him.

He nods and the saleswoman hands you the catalogues. You sit down on two stools next to a little coffee table and begin to flip through the pages, pointing out a dress every now and then.

"Ouh what about this one, its got a slightly purple and black touch to it. Reminds me of the judgement day colors you know?" Dom hands you his magazin. You give a positive hum and scan the store for the woman from earlier.

"Oh, hi, there you are, do you have this dress here by any chance?" you ask as soon as you found her. "Oh, yeah, let me get it for you" she says and walks away.

You give Dom, who is still sitting in the corner looking at more dresses and marking the ones he likes, a thumbs up and he smiles.

The woman returns with he exact dress and you go to try it on..

---------------------------------------------------

Part 26, decided to leave out the Tw thingy now because its unnecessary ._.

Taglist:@babybatlover @legit9thlunaticwarrior @thatonepansexual2000 @nox-fire

#demi bennett #rhea ripley #rhea ripley x reader #wrestling #wwe x reader #dominik mysterio #gay wedding #wedding dress #shopping #the judgement day wwe #the judgment day #wwe #gxg imagine #gxg fluff #gxg scenarios #gxglesbianlgbt #gxg

[bp4545]

I'll Tell You (My Sunshine - Part 7)

Word count: 1k (its not long at all trust)

Warnings: There is making out in this chapter, nothing more:) There is not much Draco in this chapter, mostly just building relationships with side characters... 

Summary: Feelings resurface, expect not for the person you thought...

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7.

---

You and Chris walk slowly to the Hufflepuff dorms. The dark night engulfed in silence yet the dim lights of the castle illuminating Chris's pale features. His small freckles, his ginger hair, towering figure.

"You don't have to drop me off, you know" you said quietly.

It reminded you of when Draco used to drop you off to your dorm and it made your heart ache.

"No y/n it's my pleasure" he reassured "Are you okay though?"

"What? Yeah of course I'm fine" you said nodding your head. Of course you weren't fine, hearing about Draco and Hermione broke your heart more than you thought, and you just wanted to jump into your bed and cry.

"Y/n, I've known you for 5 years, I know when you aren't okay." he says sternly, worry in his voice.

"Fine, I'm not okay" you sigh

"Y/n tell me, I'm always here when you're upset you know that right?" he said, taking your small hands in his.

"But you're not going to like it..." You said. You didn't like keeping things from Chris, he was one of your closest friends, it's just that you knew he would get upset if he heard that you had been hanging out with Draco secretly, and that you might've been catching feelings for the stupid boy.

"Is it the thing you were going to tell me before? But you said you would tell me later because it was too complicated?" Chris's words recalled your memory. You were supposed to tell him ages ago?

"Okay, I'll tell you." you say. "Let's get to my dorm first"

All of a sudden you feel a strong pair of arms pick you up bridal style and rush to your dorm. You grip onto Chris's shoulders as you laugh at his impatience. He opens the door for you and chucks you onto your bed, heaving from running all the way while carrying you.

You watch him catch his breath as you sit yourself on your bed. 

"Okay tell me now" he says, sitting next to you impatiently waiting for you to confide.

You sigh as you begin to explain everything to him. 

From the late night meetings with Draco, to finding out about his crush on Hermione, feeling your heart break with every word as you realise that all you ever needed to do was talk about it with someone. You told Chris about the heartbreak, how you were such a fool to fall for him when inevitably he was going to break your heart because how could he ever love someone like you? You confessed everything, about how you wished you were as perfect as Hermione, all the dreams you had of being loved just the way you had read in every book. It was all fiction for you, only reality for the perfect people, the people who had no flaws.

Chris's eyes soften as he hears you rant. You can't look him in the eye, you feel so small under his gaze.

You feel bad, because you know that it's ridiculous to complain about heartbreak when Draco was never actually yours. 

You look at Chris, your chest a bit sore from letting all your feelings out. He looks back at you sympathetically as he rubs his hand along your thigh in a comforting manner.

"You're not mad that I talked to him?" you ask in a small voice.

"Why would I be upset? You have every right to talk to whoever you want. I just... personally don't like him" he said, reassuring you that it was okay and that he wasn't angry for any reason. "I don't like him even more, now that I know he made you upset" he chuckled, and you followed it with a giggle.

Being in Chris's presence calmed you more than you thought, it was almost like you were craving the feeling of being close to someone. It had been a while since you had genuinely laughed and you realised you missed the feeling, the feeling that Chris could so easily give you, the butterflies.

All of a sudden he guides your face to look towards his, tilting your chin upwards with his masculine hand.

You feel utterly small under his gaze, and you're afraid to make eye contact, afraid of the look that might be in his eyes if you look back.

When you do finally give into him, you see him looking right back at you with his eyes half lidded. You don't know what is pulling you towards him, but you lean in slightly, making the first move hinting for him to take action.

Your breathing turns heavy as he closes the gap between the two of you, capturing your lips between his own. The feeling is lustful, almost like you had been waiting for it for the past 5 years you've known him, like it was bound to happen, that he was always meant to be your first kiss.

"Chris" you whisper between the kiss.

He hushes you gently as he pushes you down to the bed. You tangle your hands into his ginger locks as he groans into your mouth. The kiss is hot, passionate, and it's absolutely mindless. 

Your head is pulling a complete blank as you kiss him, no thoughts ae running through, just the pure intensity of the moment.

You break the kiss to sit yourself against the headboard of your bed, and he leans over you, his white shirt tightly clinging onto his body, outlining all the desirable features. You stare at him with your lips parted before gently pulling his head down by his hair.

Chris gently holds your waist, as if careful not to break you, and he sets himself between your legs, once again working his lips against your own. The position is suggestive, but the both of you are sensible enough to make sure there is nothing more than kissing.

His lips make their way down to your neck, where he places small butterfly kisses along your jawline, giving you small whirls in your stomach as you let out an involuntary whimper. You feel Chris smile against your neck as you grip onto his hair tightly.

Just as he breaks contact, you hear the rattling of the door handle. The two of you don't have enough time to compose yourselves before you see Hannah walk into the room, stunned by the position you two are in. 

"What..." she trails off before coming to her senses. "WHAT IN THE WORLD?!" She yells.

Chris looks at her wide eyed. 

"I promise we didn't do what you think" he put his arms up in defence, as you chuckled. 

Hannah deadpans as she recovers from her shock.

"So what are you two now?" she asks, interested in the whole situation.

You look at Chris, giving him an approving nod.

The small gesture spoke a thousand words. You both knew what you wanted, and you wanted to be together, there was no other discussion to it, no argument, it was unanimous.

"She's my girlfriend" Chris said proudly, wrapping an arm around your waist.

A smile is evident on your face, as you realise the love you'd been waiting for was in front of you all along.

---

a/n: I know there was not much mention of Draco in this chapter, but I promise it will set the story up for what's next, pls trust. Follow for more updates and like it if you enjoyed! 

#harry potter #draco fanfiction #draco imagine #harry potter universe #draco malfoy #draco #angst #draco angst #draco fluff #fluff #nice draco #draco lucius malfoy #draco malfoy fanfiction #draco x hermione #harry angst #hp fanfic #harry potter fanfiction #hufflepuff #hufflepuff reader x draco #part 4 #part 2 #part 7 #draco x y/n #draco malfoy x reader #draco x you #draco x reader #x reader #cheating #theo nott x reader #theodore nott x reader

[noficbyhalves]

Have some "Kadar is thoroughly Done with these two even from beyond the grave":

"Hey! Altair!" called a familiar voice.

He froze, turned. Leaning out of a traincar door was Kadar, waving furiously at him. He was smaller than Altair remembered, but somehow whole and hale. The only way that could be real was if- if he-

Fuck.

"I'm dead, aren't I," were the first words out of his mouth as he walked closer.

"Hello to you too, I've been lovely thanks," Kadar said dryly. The mannerism was achingly familiar, but when Altair tried to remember from what his head only pounded.

"Hi Kadar," he sighed. "Am I dead?"

"Eh, kind of?" Kadar made a so-so gesture. "You're about halfway there. Something about blood ties making curses rebound? Don't ask me, I'm just the messenger."

He had heard all this before, it was on the tip of his tongue. He died because of his grandfather, because of the war, but Altair knew there was something else, something so very important. Why couldn't he remember? Why did the inside of his skull feel so battered? "You're the messenger of... death?"

Kadar laughed. "Not for everyone, silly. It's more of a 'the universe shows you someone you trust to guide you' kind of situation."

And the universe had decided the best guide Altair could hope for was a scrawny fourteen-year-old. It would be funny if it wasn't so sad.

[...]

"You've got two options. You could go back to life and all its complicated bits," Kadar gestured vaguely at the nebulousness behind him on the platform. "Or, you can get on the train and just... let go."

"Give up?"

Kadar's expression was terribly sad. "No one's going to judge you if you want some peace, Altair. You've done plenty, if that's what you're worried about."

Altair couldn't meet his eyes. When put like that, it made perfect sense... and yet. He started walking towards the train. Maybe peace wouldn't be so bad. Kadar was here, he could see Rauf again, he could meet his parents...

Then why was his heart hammering in his chest? Why did he feel sick looking at the train?

Kadar was holding out his hand. Altair lifted his left hand to reach him, glanced down at his fingers.

...his... four fingers.

He had four fingers on that hand, because...

The pain in his head reached a fever pitch. His vision was swimming.

Because of his grandfather, because of the brand on his arm, because because because-

This is perfectly safe and I'm a fucking genius.

Altair sucked in a gasp (had he breathed at all since he opened his eyes?) and jerked his hand back. There was a phantom sensation of a hand on his jaw (only the one), a voice echoing in his ears (wake up you have to Altair please). Kadar smiled, and for once it looked real.

"I can't," Altair croaked.

"I figured. You two sort your shit out yet?"

Altair had no idea how to answer that, even if he could get enough air in his lungs. He stumbled backward, away from the train.

Kadar sighed. "Nevermind. Don't suppose you can pass a message along?"

"Will I remember this... after?"

"Your guess is as good as mine. It's usually more of a one-way situation."

Right. But Altair's wasn't because of blood magic or something. The rules of magic really were bullshit. If he remembered this enough to share, Malik would have a conniption. Altair nodded, "I'll try."

"Tell him I love him, and it's not his fault either."

Altair gaped. "How-"

"I've known him my whole life, and I'm not an idiot?"

The laugh bubbling out of his throat was edging on hysterical. "I- yeah, yeah okay." He turned away, towards the unnerving blankness on the other side of the platform. "How do I-?"

When he glanced over his shoulder, Kadar gave him the world's most exaggerated shrug. Truly unhelpful.

Nothing for it but to do it. Altair shut his eyes and walked into the fog.

#wip #skies au #in altair's defense he is Not Having A Good Day #clearly shown by the fact that he is briefly dead #kadar is so tired of the both of them tho #unwilling spirit guide kadar al sayf #that's a hell of a tag #assassins creed #assassin's creed #altair ibn la'ahad #kadar al sayf #malik al sayf #altmal #words that mean things

[writers-in-moominvalley]

Moominpappa's Memoirs vs Adventures of Moominpappa part 1

In which I compare the episode to its source material.

Warning: this essay is a 13.3k word long deranged rambling written by someone who is obsessed with Moominpappa's Memoirs and its characters. Continue at your own discretion.

Background and clarification

The Exploits of Moominpappa was a book written and illustrated by Tove Jansson and originally published in Swedish in 1950. It is the 4th story in the Moomin book series and follows Moominpappa, Moomintroll's father, as he writes his Memoir which has been mentioned in the past 2 books and reads it to the child main characters. The Memoir itself recounts his life story from childhood, his adventures with the other children's parents and up to his rescue and first meeting of his wife, Moominmamma.

Later in 1968, Tove made a revised version titled "Moominpappa's Memoirs" which followed the same outline but with changed scenes and extended sequences, adding much more compelling characterization and character-driven moments to move the story along.

Moominpappa's Memoirs was then adapted in May to August of 1991 for the hit Moomin adaptation series, Moomin (1990), as a series of 3 episodes interspersed between other episodes under the encompassing title "Adventures of Moominpappa".

Despite what Wikipedia tells you, it is not in fact an adaptation of the original The Exploits of Moominpappa (although the title might mislead you to believe that) as much of the content in this trilogy adaptation takes from Moominpappa's Memoirs, such as the frozen sea scene or the Joxter's introduction. However, much of its content has been cut, spliced or changed altogether to fit the 60 minute runtime allowed for these three 20 minute episodes.

What this post aims to be is a critical look at these episodes as pieces of television entertainment and as adaptations of the book, starting with the first part.

For clarity, I did not grow up on this show and this show's writing has never been perfect to begin with, even when we take adaptation out of the equation. I don't dislike the show as a whole by any means, but I can tell very clearly that it has managed to dodge criticism for so long (well, at least for fans who aren't personally connected to the previous incarnations of the franchise and therefore their major criticism would've been "this isn't like the thing that came before!") because of the sheer Vibes that the show exudes and its weirdness in its substance was only seen as amusing rather than a problem or as the same thing as the weirdness that's inherent to the whole franchise (which is a subject I may touch upon in a later date.)

The long and short of it is; it's not perfect in either avenue of how you view these episodes. However, I do not fault anyone for liking any of them and much of this is my own opinion and simply observations on how well it's handled as an adaptation. I'm doing this out of a love and passion for this franchise and this isn't a niche that's been covered before as far as I'm aware (also, Tumblr user @helshdy has requested me to do this and that's my excuse for getting me going on this)

And for clarity, the adaptation has changed the names of the characters in the English dub for some strange reason, and here's the list (book names - show names):

Hodgkins - Samuel Fredriksson (fun fact, it seems to my knowledge that the English translation of the book is the only one that doesn't use a variation of the original Fredriksson. The reason is totally unknown to me. Also, he never had a first name in any previous material he appears in, so I don't know where in Moominland they came up with adding Samuel there)

The Muddler - Fuddler (Fuddler is actually the name of his child who is not Sniff in the comics)

The Mymble - Mumaline (is that how it's supposed to be spelled?)

The Mymble's Daughter - Mumaline's Daughter

The Fuzzy - Muddle (yes, without the r)

Edward - Eduardo

For the sake of simplicity I'll be using the book names, except I'll be abbreviating the Mymble's Daughter to MD and refer to the King/Autocrat as King Jones like in The Exploits of Moominpappa (because I am majorly upset at Tove removed his name in Memoirs). And I'll be referring to young Moominpappa as Moomin while his son will be referred to as Moomintroll.

In this post, I'll only be covering the first episode and do the other 2 episodes in seperate posts, as well as an extra post evaluating this trilogy as a whole and diagnosing what it did to the story to end up the way it did.

So with all that out of the way, let's begin with the

Recap

The episode starts with Moominmamma preparing something in the kitchen and going upstairs, Moominpappa is sick in bed and Moominmamma gives him a warm glass of milk and onion juice. Moominpappa muses about how if he was gone then Moomintroll and Moominmamma wouldn't know about his childhood, Moominmamma asks about the memoir he's been writing throughout the show and he says it only starts from after he saved Moominmamma. Moominmamma is confused but flattered that the memoirs start with the beginning of their relationship, even if she thinks they usually start at the beginning of one's life. Moominpappa says rather vaguely that he has his reasons for not starting from the beginning (we'll get to this in the review portion).

We then get treated to Little My gathering Sniff and Snufkin to meet up with Moominpappa and using lies to make sure they don't skip out on listening to Moominpappa telling everyone about his Epic Backstory, and then when after the misunderstanding is cleared up, Moominpappa lays the foundation of what he's going to tell them, mostly about the people who "kinda looked and sounded like them".

Finally, Moominpappa recounts the dreary August where he was found in a shopping bag at the doorstep of an old orphanage run by a principal who was very reminiscent of Mrs. Fillyjonk. We see a montage of how his childhood went; he gets marked in marker with the number 13, he wets the bed and gets washed in the sink, he fails to bow down with his tail in a 45 degree angle, all the while he questions everything and his principal complains about him being more troublesome than the rest.

Then, one late winter, he decides to head to the forbidden seaside on a whim and skates on the ice. He admires himself in the lake reflection and describes himself fondly, his only complaint being his legs being "too short for perfection", although he hopes they might grow longer if he skates and walks more. He continues on skating and breaks the ice, causing him to fall into the water and narrowly escaping with his life. This, Moominpappa considers, is his first adventure, and the thrill is much too enticing to let it be his last. That night, he decides to escape the orphanage through the window while everyone is asleep, all the while a voice over narrates the letter he left for his principal about his departure and that she needn't fret.

With a side bag worn, he's off to the races in his grand escape! But in his way is an increasingly terrifying unknown forest which he imagines is out to get him as he runs with all the speed his small legs could carry him, afterwards, in the windy night, he cries himself to sleep in a hollow log.

He wakes up to a bright and beautiful morning where he meets with a brook and spots a strange spinning wheel turning in it, he muses about it and then a man in a purple onesie appears in front of him explaining that it's an experiment for his ship that'll launch that day. The two become fast friends and Moomin learns that the man's name is Samuel Fredriksson (but we'll call him Hodgkins) and he takes him to the boat.

Hodgkins calls for his nephew, Fuddler (Muddler), as he seems nowhere to be seen, but then he pops out of his giant coffee tin with a can of red paint and apologises. Hodgkins introduces him to Moomin and tells him to hurry up with the painting, to which Muddler ensures that he'll do it as fast as possible.

Hodgkins and Moomin enter the pilot-house where we are introduced to Joxter sleeping on the couch. Hodgkins gets upset and asks if he read the "No Admittance" sign on the door (there's literally no sign, visually?) and says it means he shouldn't go in, Joxter lifts up his hat and proclaims that he doesn't understand signs (cue audience cheering).

The 3 of them step on the deck and Moomin asks what the ship's name is, Hodgkins says that of the names he's thought of, he named it the Ocean Orchestra (the Oshun Oxtra) since it sounded poetic. Moomin asks how they'll set sail and Muddler realises they haven't thought about that, Hodgkins reassures everyone and says that they'll employ the help of Eduardo (Edward) the Booble. Hodgkins explains who and what Edward is and Moomin asks if he's dangerous, Hodgkins says he's not really but if you're not careful he can step on you, but don't worry! He always pays for the funeral!

Hodgkins proceeds to yell out into the distance calling for Edward and asks him to bathe in the river instead of sea since it's so nice that day. Edward then rises up from out of the forest in slow motion all Kaiju-style and Hodgkins and Moomin run back to the boat, Edward does a 6/10 belly flop into the river causing the water levels to rise. Moomin and Hodgkins make it to the pilot-house where Joxter is sleeping again, Hodgkins takes the wheel and yells out vaguely nautical sentences to nobody in particular and the boat finally takes off. But oh no! Edward is blocking the way! Moomin is worried they might crash into him, but also asks what's behind Edward, Hodgkins does this monologue about the sea and it being adventurous and Moomin is very dreamy about finally getting adventures at last. Hodgkins gets out of the pilot-house to yell at Edward to get out of the way, and yelling about how he's been preparing for this for years finally convinces the Booble to get out of the way.

Just as Hodgkins was saying this would be classified as a historical moment, Muddler yells out from his floating tin and Joxter suddenly wakes up, commenting on how it sounds like he might be in trouble. The crew runs to the back of the boat to see what's up, Hodgkins seems annoyed as if this is Muddler's personal doing but Joxter reassures Muddler that they'll get him out of there, Muddler gets upset about the crew being mean and leaving him behind but then Hodgkins through him a lasso which knocks him over.

Muddler ties the rope to the key-type can opener and they sail past Edward, which causes a bit of a turbulence and flooding but ultimately they cheer in victory of a successful maiden voyage.

Then it's sunset, the crew stop at some cliffs and find the Groke chasing an unknown person through them. Moomin asks about what happens if the Groke touches them and Hodgkins explains that the Groke doesn't really do anything and that she's lonely, but if she gets too close the person would freeze. Joxter also concurs that it's too late for them to do anything. Moomin isn't deterred by this and rushes to rescue the mysterious person being chased by the Groke by swimming down to the cliff with Muddler's tin as a catcher, all the while he and Hodgkins argue about this decision. As it turns out the mysterious person was his Orphanage Principal (although Moomin doesn't realise that until later) and she jumps into the tin, after which they swim back to safety with the Groke looking on and the crew cheering.

We then get Moominpappa in the present talking about how this is the third adventure he's ever had and the first of many rescues. Moomintroll gets really excited and inspired to become an adventurer like his father and Little My asks who Moominpappa saved and what happens next. Moominpappa tries being cheeky by saving the continuation for another time but Snorkmaiden insists on telling them who it was at least. He finally tells them that it was the principal of the orphanage, as she was looking for him after he made his escape.

We then cut back to his story after Moomin got the tin on deck. Moomin expresses displeasure at his rescue being that of his Orphanage Principal and says he wouldn't have saved her had he known it was her, Hodgkins assures him that what he did was brave. The Principal then becomes a demanding presence, making Moomin and Hodgkins instinctively straighten their posture and asking Moomin who everyone is, then declaring that she'll take them under her wing and teach them how to behave.

Joxter excuses himself to go below deck and Muddler follows him after, Hodgkins and Moomin also run elsewhere while she's distracted and she continues yelling demands at them.

We're back once more to Moominpappa and the family, Snorkmaiden and Moomintroll amusedly comment on the unfortunate situation, Moominpappa laments that he might've saved her anyway if he had known and that you can't just win, can you? Moominmamma expresses terrible pity for Moominpappa's childhood but he reassures her that it wasn't that bad. He then continues saying that the next part of his story is really exciting but they must wait until he recovers from his illness. The narrator then tells us to tune in for the next part where we find out what happens to the Orphanage Principal after… (*checks episode list*) 3 other unrelated episodes.

The end.

Episode review

While it is a very watchable and enjoyable episode of a kid's show there are a lot of glaring issues with pacing and writing efficiency.

The introduction does a good job at introducing our original main cast but I am very baffled at the convoluted way they decided to reconcile the memoir Moominpappa has been writing throughout the series and the backstory he's telling the kids in these series of episodes by having the show's memoir be about everything that came after his meeting with Moominmamma, in fact Moominmamma herself questions the issue because even if it's not really a full autobiography the starting place lacks a lot of important context that lead up to it, and the writers had the gall to make Moominpappa handwave this question with a vague answer that doesn't excuse anything.

A much more efficient writer would've just had him ask Moominmamma to bring his yet unfinished memoir to read to the kids after his musing and used the time from this conversation for something else but whatever that's not the biggest issue.

The biggest issue I have with the episode's writing efficiency is the very unnecessary break near the end of the episode where the kids ask who the person Moominpappa saved was, because we quite literally see the Principal hopping into the tin? She quite literally comes from the shadows and we see her very clearly which renders the subsequent scene utterly pointless? In an in-universe perspective, yeah sure it makes sense for the kids to impatiently ask who it was but we get the confirmation right after! This is a show made for an audience who can see the flashback taking place and doing something like this is redundant and it's wasted time that could've been used to, I don't know, flesh out the story's characters more? Add a bit more substance to everything between the action?

Speaking of that, there is a noticeable amount of emphasis on the action with little to do with characterization here (which is an issue throughout the trilogy but we'll get to it when we get to it). There are about 3 whole action scenes in this episode: the ice break, the escape and the launching ceremony, the latter two of which kind of overstay their welcome a few moments too long (especially the ceremony).

The ice break was fine, it accomplished itself as the Call To Adventure in Moomin's Hero's Journey and that's all it really needed to be, it's a fun and intense enough scene with good character animation on top of that.

The escape from the orphanage was a bit too unnecessarily intense to the point where it didn't well fit with the tone of the rest of the story and could've used some better editing, especially with the parts surrounding the bit where he cries inside the hollow log; it would've been preferable if we actually saw him crawl inside it and then crawl out of it in the morning, I think it would've improved the flow of the scene.

It was an odd choice to give Edward a full Kaiju moment with the slow motion and everything and even have him block the path just to extend the scene after they got Muddler tagged along, and having the boat be flooded and everything, all it really does accomplish is adding a bit more to Hodgkins' character with his dialog which is kind of meh? And it's not at all characterization that gets used later on in the episode or the whole trilogy so what the scene accomplishes is coolness for the sake of cool at best (which only applies to the first half of the scene honestly) and runtime filler at worst.

You could argue that the emphasis on action is a product of Moominpappa's way of telling his story in-universe, and I would say I completely understand that reasoning, but there's not much in the way of acknowledging that this style of storytelling is Moominpappa's doing and is an extension of the story's nature as an in-universe story, and the episode fails to properly establish that Moominpappa is prone to embellishments or wanting to make himself seem cooler than he is (this issue is somewhat rectified in the beginning of part 2 but this is what I'm talking about when it comes to efficient storytelling). So in the end it makes it feel like this is the writers simply doing their job rather than putting their writing through the filter of Moominpappa's character, which leads me to the point of characterization.

The characterization is… okay and it does a half-decent job, but it's definitely very boring in the way that it makes Moomin too similar to Moomintroll and it makes Hodgkins a little too indistinct on whether he's nice or not. Joxter and Muddler could've used some work but they aren't majorly important characters in this first part and it does establish their characters and quirks pretty fine for the little screen time they have. Edward is… a sea monster with no thoughts behind those eyes and listens to Hodgkins like a dog it seems, he's more like a plot device than anything.

Funnily enough it's the Principal who has the best characterization out of everyone, definitely not likeable by any means, but it's that obvious unlikeability and consistent, obvious character motivation that makes her the most well-established character at least in this episode. I just… really wish she wasn't treated so cruelly by the other characters honestly, like I get it, she's annoying and authoritative and didn't treat Moomin well but nobody is holding back any punches with her, who is, mind you, the only major female character in the story so far. To make Moomin say despairingly how he wouldn't have saved her if he knew it was her? To have the kids talk about it like it was a hilarious misfortune to save her life from the Groke? It's a bit… mean-spirited, far more than usual for this show.

But I'll talk about the characters more during the adaptation section of this post.

Overall I'll say that the episode is decent but doesn't have truly interesting characters that would've really elevated the episode for me.

Adaptation review

Okay so this is where my teeth are going to show because it is very, very much NOT a good adaptation.

Part 1 is an adaptation of the prologue, chapter 1, chapter 2 and the first third of chapter 3. The thing is that it skips over the whole preface Moominpappa wrote but that's whatever, all the preface accomplishes is some humorous establishment that Moominpappa is most certainly not a reliable narrator and that he hopes to be viewed as important by those who read it, it's difficult and not necessary to adapt in animated form with the format they decided to use. The rest, however? They've skipped over quite a bit and made a complete overhaul to the characterization and tone of these chapters. Which is understandable for a 20 minute episode and admittedly even just one chapter is very long even without the tangents Moominpappa goes into, buuut…

PROLOGUE (AND PREFACE)

The way the episode's version of the prologue handled Moominpappa's character is already a big indicator of this. In the book, Moominpappa feels the absolute indignance of being sick for the first time in his life and getting a very, very bad experience with the cold on top of that. The cold made him miserable and annoyed, he refused to consume anything medicinal from Moominmamma, he couldn't sleep, he had a great amount of tissues under his hammock, he had an unbearably sore throat that rendered his speech unintelligible when he asked Sniff to get the meerschaum tram for him. His family and adoptive children felt pity and tried to accommodate him as they could until he fell asleep, terribly vexed by all this.

Moominpappa awoke with a throat that felt a little better and spoke to Moominmamma about the significance of the aforementioned tram to which she doesn't really understand, which upsets Moominpappa immensely and he is resentful that she and their son wouldn't know about the great history he went through had he died from the cold. Moominmamma suggests after some deliberation, as she always had, that perhaps he should finally take the time to write and read his memoirs using an old notebook she found while cleaning the attic, Moominpappa gradually agrees to this and declares that he won't read a word of it to the others until he gets a whole chapter ready, though, she'll be the only test audience for the chapter until he moves onto reading to the children.

One thing to keep in mind for book Moominpappa (and by extension, his younger self) is that he is very… egotistical, which is a facet of his character I would love to go into excruciating detail about once I finish this series of essays but let's just say he's egotistical and over-dramatic and just LOVES writing about himself in the most melodramatic and egomaniacal way and the adaptation tries very, very hard to either downplay it or remove it entirely even though it is an essential part of his character that separates him from the likes of Moomintroll.

Moominpappa's vexation with his illness is one example, it's his first experience with the common cold and this is the situation we get introduced with to establish him and his surrounding characters; this Moominpappa is one that is stubborn, melodramatic and miserable over the helpless and undignified position he's suddenly placed in. This whole sequence wasn't a part of The Exploits of Moominpappa, either, it is added here with the purpose of showing us the kind of person we're reading this perspective from and the context he wrote this story in. It establishes his dynamic with the characters that surround him and even establishes those characters themselves in the most essential way there can be.

The scene in the episode does not establish any of Moominpappa's melodramatic and sour attitude from being undignified, it doesn't even establish him as being prone to being a generally unreliable narrator like in the preface, or that he really likes to talk about himself (he doesn't take the time to talk at length about himself in a self-aggrandizing way or even anything seemingly superfluous AT ALL within the story even though that is the whole premise of why he's writing his damned Memoirs and is one of the foundations of his character that affects his interactions with the other characters within the book). It establishes the audience characters very well, even more so than the book did, but it doesn't establish Moominpappa himself very well, and he's meant to be the point-of-view character and the most important one in this series of episodes.

It's almost fascinating how they dared to tone down such a straightforward character like Moominpappa even when they didn't seem to have an issue with the aforementioned aspects of Moominpappa in other episodes.

Moominpappa's Memoirs is, in essence, a parody of how self-important men write about themselves and the people around them in their own memoirs, this parody circles all the way back to sincerity by showing us genuine vulnerability, emotion and the outside process and reaction to Moominpappa's story. By not establishing just how self-important but also sincere Moominpappa is you're missing out on half of what the book is set out to do.

CHAPTER 1

The chapter 1-3 sections of the episode is what you get when you skim over the personal expression in narration to get to the barebones plot, and even the barebones plot gets smushed in the middle to save time. The adaptation as a whole really would have benefitted from the advantage given by the inclusion of the narration gimmick and let Moominpappa tell the audience about his thoughts and how he felt in the situations we're presented with. Show don't tell may be a rule of thumb in visual media but the book and story's whole personality hinges on expositing Moominpappa's thoughts on most, if not every matter he tells us about and even talking directly to his audience, to remove that would be to remove what made the book unique from the others in the series with its first person perspective. This is a story relaid to us by a character, it should've been treated as such. But as we're going to see, the adaptation does not concern itself with the emotional narrative of the book.

Chapter 1 gets into the nitty gritty of his life in the Orphanage, or in actuality, the Moomin Foundling Home.

Right off the bat there's a minor issue here that could be used as an example of how the adaptation prioritised the overall "Adventure" over the purpose of each detail and how it contributes to the themes of the story.

In the episode, the Orphanage is a diverse one that is run by a Fillyjonk. In the book, the Foundling Home is one made to house specifically Moomin-children and is run by a Hemulen.

Now, from a character design perspective I can kinda get it, I would've liked to see how creative they could've gotten with designing the 12 other Moomins but alright, fine. But from a thematic perspective it cements Moomin (number 13) as a strange individual even within his own species rather than being inherently strange for being the only Moomin. Moominpappa goes on and on about how special he is juxtaposed to a regular Moomin, how talented he is, how imaginative and curious he is compared to his vapid peers who just obey the Principal and don't talk to him. He's special because he specifically was born special, not because he was born a Moomin, and that is a difference that is greatly cemented within the book that it's practically part of his personal definition of himself, and that difference gets lost in translation when you make him the only Moomin in that orphanage.

The Principal being a Hemulen was also a pretty important point in the book. In the book series as a whole Hemulens generally represented authority or even just a parody of Adults, they're the antithesis of Moominpappa's imaginative spirit and he dunks on them in many ways throughout the whole book.

Hemulens are antagonists who want to take away some aspect of his life that he cherishes, people don't like to talk about Hemulens, Hemulens have no taste in fashion, Hemulens love duty and unfulfilling routines, Hemulens love sticking their noses in business that doesn't pertain to them, Hemulens are annoying and bossy, Hemulen orphans are seldom found and therefore a foundling home for them would've been useless, everyone born 20 minutes after Moomin would've been in a Hemulic Voluntary Brass Band (so be very careful of when your children will be born and plan/calculate accordingly!)

Hemulens have always been the subject of judgement and misfortune throughout the book series despite not doing anything morally reprehensible and still nowhere is the judgement more intense than in a book where an in-universe character gets to tell his story.

The Principal being a Fillyjonk in this adaptation does little more than to tie Mrs. Fillyjonk in all of this somehow (although I will admit her design is very pretty *cough*) and make all the criticism into mean-spirited bullying that's almost unfairly concentrated on her. I am aware that Moominpappa implied he switched the species of at least one Fillyjonk to a Hemulen character in his preface;

“In consideration of the feelings of many persons still alive, I have sometimes exchanged Fillyjonks for Hemulens or Gaffsies for hedgehogs, and so forth, but the talented reader will have no difficulties in understanding what was actually what.”

Alas, it's not a particularly convincing argument in favour of changing her species, especially given the context of the book.

The 90s series very notably tends to disregard the social commentary posited by the source material and in effect it either perpetuates the things the source material critiques/avoids (the sexism) or nullifies the original message by either not following through on the message of the story or contradicting it entirely (most of the adaptation episodes, really). There seems to be a fundamental misunderstanding of why the story is written that way, or they do in fact understand but deliberately try to circumvent addressing the themes of the story in the name of making them uncontroversial and removing them from modernity. But in doing so they don't replace it with anything that's of substance, they don't let the characters be themselves with their original warts and oddities either.

For the sake of brevity I'll save most of the minutiae of Moomin's characterization within the memoir for a later post, but I'll summarise that in the book he is characterised as a pitiable egomaniac after an early childhood of asking questions about the fundamentals of reality and being met with hostility or avoidance by everyone around him:

“So passed my early childhood in quiet and constant wonderment. I was permanently astonished, always repeating my questions of "What, when?" and "Who, how?" The Hemulen and her obedient foundlings avoided me as best they could; the word "why" seemed to make them uneasy.”

(...)

“But by and by a change came: I started to muse about the shape of my nose. I put my trivial surroundings aside and mused more and more about myself, and I found this to be a bewitching occupation. I stopped asking and longed instead to speak of my thoughts and feelings. Alas, there was no one besides myself who found me interesting.”

Much of the first half of the chapter is exercising what these 2 paragraphs summarise. The Principal seems more preoccupied with order and cleanliness than actually raising these children, she says dreams are trash right to Moomin's face.

However, the origin of why Moomin describes himself as talented rather than strange or some other word is because of her and her interest in astrology.

“However, the Hemulen who had built the Foundling Home was interested in astrology (somewhat), and wisely enough she observed the dominant stars at the time of my coming into the world. They indicated the birth of a very unusual and talented Moomin, and the Hemulen accordingly worried about the trouble awaiting her (...)”

Assuming that the Principal told him of this when he had the capacity for memory formed (or that any of this is true), she is the cause of why Moomin seems to act the way he did (presumptuous genetic disposition and inherent neurodivergency aside)

Moominpappa has latched onto this adjective ("talented") as if it were a lifesaver. He defines himself so immensely from this one word that it makes a hypothetical visit to a therapist a rather concerning prospect. But, again, I won't go too far into detail about it.

And here we come to face the original Call To Adventure. The early spring (yes, spring, not late winter like in the episode) in which he almost fell into the frozen sea. This is the one scene I wanted to talk about greatly, since it is the perfect microcosm of the difference between 90s Moomin and Book Moomin.

Moominpappa talks about this visit as a mere, vague whim. It was the first time he saw such a bright and full reflection of himself. Before, he had only looked at himself in the hall mirror back in the Foundling Home, and he'd look into his own eyes and wail sad phrases describing his misery until he felt better, but now… now there's a whole new light to see himself in, and he sees himself as a creature to compliment.

Here's the major difference between the source material and adaptation;

You may recall that in the episode his only complaint were his legs and he hopes to himself optimistically that they'd grow longer if he worked towards it. In the book, on the other hand…

“The paws were really my only disappointment: they had a look of helplessness and childishness that bewildered me.

"However," I thought, "perhaps it will pass with time. Doubtless my strength is in my head. Whatever I do, I will never bore people. I'll never give them time to look as far down as my paws." ”

He was offended by the mark of helplessness and indignity, just like in the prologue. He thinks about compensating, to make himself so grand and exciting that people won't have the time to notice his faults.

He won't give them the time. Not that they wouldn't dare, not that they'd never notice and not even that they'd ignore those faults, he'd be the one with agency to strip them of that possibility. And I believe that's very telling.

He lays down to get a better look at himself and sees not his reflection but the deep, dark vastness of the sea. He was initially giddy but soon falls into terror as he contemplates the depth of the waters he's sitting over until he feels upset. He stands back up and stomps on the ice to see if it would hold, he goes further out and stomps on the ice again, it breaks.

One of the major compromises of the adaptation that does an injustice to the book is that we don't get to take a proper look at his thought process. What was a brief and imaginative introspection in his supposed final moments (that really ought to cause some alarm about his priorities) that ends anticlimactically turns into an action scene.

“Perhaps one of the threatening shadows would devour me! It was not impossible that he would take one of my ears along to his children and tell them, "Now, eat up before it goes cold! This is genuine Moomin and not to be had every day!" Or I would float ashore with a tragical clump of seaweed behind one ear, and the Hemulen would weep regretfully and tell everyone she knew, "Oh, he was such a singular Moomin! What a pity I didn't understand it in time . . ."

I was just starting on my funeral when I felt something very cautiously nipping my tail.”

Moominpappa calls these thoughts "enticing dreams", which- erm, okay sir (the full implications of this is another pin I'll address in a future post). But anyway this establishes very clearly what Moomin's first thoughts will be when faced with certain situations, and that is the prospect of being given attention and acknowledgement, to be considered special and worth people's time. That even in the face of potential death he finds some way for his death to Mean Something for him and those who stumble upon him.

He also wants his Principal to be Wrong about him and realise that, and this will come into play in chapter 3.

The adaptation really fails to establish his priorities and desires, it even contradicts them outright later in the episode, but we'll get to that.

After crawling back on shore Moomin comes to the epiphany of wanting to experience the real world and taking his fate into his own paws, he can't possibly stay in the same living situation after such a matter.

He was cold all day after the incident but nobody asked why, which cemented his decision as nobody seemed to care about his well being in the slightest. He tore his bed sheets to use as a rope and his peers looked on without a word, which hurt his feelings, and finally in the evening he wrote his farewell letter and made his escape.

The escape itself had a lot of emphasis on how terrified he was, the bushes and stones turned into formless monsters because of his terror and imagination but it wasn't quite as sensational or emphasised as the episode portrays it. Moominpappa just describes how… scared and in need of comfort he felt, that even the Principal would've given him some comfort, but he just couldn't retreat after such an imposing letter announcing his leave.

Then we get our first intermission with Moominpappa in the process of writing these events, I will say that I won't be describing these mid-chapter intermissions in this essay unless they mention anything particularly important to the plot as they aren't necessary for this analysis.

And then sunrise came and it was the most glorious relief, it was his own private morning, he claims. And he tore the tail tag that marked him as number 13 and celebrated.

… Ah right I forgot to mention it was a tail tag and not a number written in black marker on his back, which is just… an extremely silly creative decision which strips away the symbolic victory he had in his escape, it didn't even stay on his back consistently even before the escape. It would've been really neat symbolism if he washed it off himself in the river the morning after his escape, a sort of renewal and cleansing of himself rather than the break from chains, but I suppose that's just plain missed opportunity. It's also a bit odd to not have him celebrate the escape, like, at all? Why is there no catharsis and victory after this big plot point?

After this, he celebrates, eats the pumpkin mash he took from the orphanage, celebrates some more until the sun set, then when he gets tired and ready to go sleep he decides that becoming a famous adventurer (yet another pin of discussion about Moominpappa's egotism) is what he'll do with his life and goes to sleep.

After waking up and admiring the great green world he finds himself in, Moomin comes across a Hedgehog lady (supposedly originally a Gaffsie as the preface implies?) who is cleaning a bowl made out of a walnut shell. The Hedgehog actually does a cameo in the episode but I understand why her character was removed from the story. Their conversation about who owns the forest and what Hemulens are isn't particularly important aside from establishing Moomin's naivety and lack of experience both with the world and interactions with other people, and that perhaps it wasn't only the Foundling Home who finds Moomin a bit of an unpleasant child to have to interact with.

(Side note: I say child but it's difficult to gauge how old he is, I'm assuming he's a teenager at this point because he distinguishes between "childhood" and "youth" and had to actively escape the foundling home, whereas such institutes tend to let their children go on their 18th birthday)

Continuing this removed section of the chapter is Moomin's imaginary house-building and showing it to the Hedgehog. This is an instance of Moominpappa's extended tangents throughout the book, here he goes into very, very vivid detail about drawing a Moominhouse (as he calls it) in the dirt and he's so proud of "building one" that he goes to show it off to the one person he's met this far only to realise he didn't actually build it, he receives a very cold and disgruntled reaction from the Hedgehog and they both walk away, she to her dishes and he to the brook. Then he goes on yet another tangent trying to reason that actually, building the house would've been a bad decision for Many Reasons, therefore he walks away from the interaction with his dignity intact.

I personally really enjoyed this section with the Hedgehog because it establishes how inexperienced Moomin is and just how stunted in his social capabilities it has made him. It gives us a lot of characterization and that Moominpappa is Totally Normal about houses, just… super, normal about them, guys. It sets a clear precedent on how his interactions with regular people would go, and clearly demonstrates how his childhood friendship has affected him. However I'm not quite so angry about the removal of it in the adaptation, as it doesn't really progress the plot or give us pertinent information that is essential to understanding the setting or characters, the Hedgehog doesn't even make a comeback for the rest of the book, her character is very much confined to this specific scene and doesn't quite elevate the story by that much besides the characterization and rather humorous scene it helps to provide. Very ironically, Moominpappa calls this sequence the first "real Event" in his life and "of the greatest importance" to his development. (I swear I love the way he talks about this so much in the narration.)

And here comes the real important first event of his life; his discovery of the water-wheel and first meeting with Hodgkins.

The way this interaction goes is a bit different than in the episode, Moomin only inspects and doesn't talk aloud about the water-wheel and Hodgkins' voice explaining what it and its purpose is comes out of blueberry bushes until he reveals himself. (the experiment was for counting the revolutions rather than the episode's explanation of it being him figuring out the propeller[?? Why change it to that??])

Moomin looks up at him and asks to whom he has the honour of speaking to, the stranger replies with a very brief "Hodgkins. And who are you?", Moomin then proceeds to introduce himself as a Moomin and a refugee born under special stars and Hodgkins asks "What stars?".

Moomin becomes very eager to answer this "first intelligent question put to him" (excuse to talk about himself at length) and proceeds to sit beside Hodgkins and backstory dump with some obvious embellishments and more importantly without interruption. Moomin loves that Hodgkins is clearly invested and after graciously finishing his backstory Hodgkins could only sit there in thoughts and say;

"Strange. Rather strange."

Moomin agrees, Hodgkins then makes a comment about Hemulens being unpleasant and gives Moomin half a ham sandwich. The two of them sit together until sunset, Moominpappa talks about the way Hodgkins talks, then goes on a tangent about how to make a water-wheel before finally describing how the two of them slept in Moomin's imaginary house built on the meadow, finally ending the chapter with this:

“The only thing of importance was that I had found my first friend and consequently begun my life in earnest.”

…

(*Clears throat to perform an impression of a voice over for an animal documentary*) And here we observe the lost, orphan Moomin imprinting on the first creature to show him patience and decency. How disastrous it'll be for his mental health and future interpersonal interactions, we'll just have to wait and see.

Okay but in all seriousness this interaction is very much the most important post-foundling home event as it changes the whole course of his life and maybe possibly his entire brain wiring. Hodgkins here is the first person to let Moomin talk about himself and offer kindness and patience with him. Hodgkins is the first person Moominpappa mentions in his special thanks for the preface, Hodgkins is the only person he'll show any semblance of sympathy towards, the only person that could convince him to take responsibility for anything, Hodgkins' absence is what causes Moomin to spiral into a depression, Hodgkins is the only person besides any kingly figure that he admires and is the golden standard everyone fails to live up to.

Hodgkins is IMPORTANT. He is the most important and awesome figure in Moomin's life until he meets Moominmamma at the very end. Hodgkins is by no means written as flawless (probably because Tove didn't want to get too into the exaggerations Moominpappa would've actually made and it wouldn't be as interesting or entertaining) but I cannot overstate just how much he means to Moominpappa.

This is Moomin finally Meeting The Mentor before he Crosses The Threshold in his Hero's Journey, and that Mentor will be the cause of his Abyss/Death & Rebirth. Hodgkins is the creator of the literal vehicle on which the middle part of the story takes place in, the creator of the other vehicle the first climax of the story takes place in, and he, quite possibly, has the most agency in the story, either as much or more so than Moomin depending on how you look at it.

You can remove the other characters but Hodgkins is the only character besides Moominpappa, Moominmamma and the Principal that you cannot remove in an essential retelling of the story (which is why the stage play in the Golden Tail episode of Moominvalley 2019 bothered me immensely but I digress.)

The way the adaptation portrays this relationship as a casual acquaintance to sort of friendship with no emotional or interpersonal ramifications for Moomin's character is an insult to the very foundation of the book's emotional story-telling, but then again, as I've mentioned in the beginning and demonstrated in this whole analysis of the chapter: the adaptation does not concern itself with the emotional narrative. Just the barebones plot.

CHAPTER 2

Chapter 2 is where we meet our companion characters, the Muddler and the Joxter, meet our antagonistic Chekhov's Gun, Edward the Booble, and finally Cross our Threshold.

This section won't be as in depth as chapter 1 because its focus is mostly on other characters rather than Moominpappa's feelings or establishing themes and it's not their turn to be the subject of my derangement because, as Moomintroll stresses in the intermission for chapter 3, this is Moominpappa's story (although they might have their turn in the future), and also the episode pretty much reconfigures the entire chapter to be as simple as possible for the sake of time so there isn't much to compare the book's version of events to.

What the chapter aims to do is establish the dynamics between the characters, do a little bit of act 1 setup and get the plot really going. Some may not notice this at first, but Moomin is very much not a part of any of these dynamics besides a continuation of the one he has with Hodgkins. In fact, one could argue that his lack of dynamic with the other characters right from the introductions is a dynamic in itself, as it highlights Moomin's pattern of not giving or receiving substantial acknowledgment by or for everyone but Hodgkins. However, this isn't to diminish these new introductions and dynamic establishments, as it contributes to highlighting Moomin's Issue as well as giving us characters that would be much needed to progress the plot, expand on the themes and give us new avenues to be entertained.

How the adaptation fails at this is due to both time constraints and a disinterest in the emotional and interpersonal narrative of the book, focusing instead on the action and adventure elements.

The chapter starts with Moomin waking up to Hodgkins using a fishing net on the brook. Moomin asks if there's any fish in that brook and Hodgkins, in very brief, disjointed terms, explains that there aren't any fish in the brook, but since the net is a birthday gift from his nephew, he couldn't let it go to waste lest he feels sad at its uselessness. Moominpappa then gives us a second-hand explanation on who Hodgkins' nephew is: he is a chap by the name of the Muddler who had his parents disappear during spring cleaning, lives in an old blue coffee tin and is a collector who is particularly fond of buttons. Moominpappa then explains that Hodgkins' speech pattern does not allow for even this brief of an explanation to be given at once, though he fails to mention the singular exception to this which we'll find out very soon.

After all this Hodgkins wiggles one of his ears at…

Okay let me digress a bit because I didn't know where else to put it, but Moominpappa's Memoirs places a lot of strange emphasis on ears and I can't for the life of me figure out how much importance to give this and whether or not this is some thematic symbolism, or even what it could mean thematically if it were the case. The first thing Moomin compliments about himself in the frozen sea scene is his ears, the morbid near-death imagination puts emphasis on his ears in both scenarios, Moomin does a lot of ear things, Hodgkins' defining physical trait is his ears to the point where we are quite literally introduced to him via his ears and they are one of his main modes of expression/communication, Muddler flapped his ears in his helplessness and Edward was concerned about children crawling up his ear and Snufkin covered his ears in shame and Moominpappa covers his ears with his hat, and he wiggles his ears in satisfaction at the end. There's just so much… ear stuff, so much more than any of the other books, and I have no idea what to make of it.

Now with that digression aside, Hodgkins wiggles one of his ears at Moomin and then goes into the woods, Moomin follows him. And then we arrive at the Muddler's coffee tin, Hodgkins blows a whistle (I swear to you guys that Muddler is actually dog-coded believe me I've had too much time for this thought to sizzle) and Muddler pops out of the tin bright as day and energetic as a kid on Christmas. Muddler talks very erratically without much room for reply but is stopped by Hodgkins who replies to 2 of his sentences; nevermind tidying the tin, and this new person is a Moomin (but with bare minimum words, of course). Muddler welcomes Moomin and retrieves a box of miscellaneous items tied with string.

Hodgkins asks Muddler if he can paint, Muddler confirms and then proceeds to ask what kind of paint job he needs and if it has to do with the surprise Hodgkins has apparently been keeping from him until this day. Hodgkins says it's a secret which causes Muddler to get over-excited and break his box's string which spills all the (somewhat strange and alarming selection of) items, Hodgkins calmly helps him pick it all up and re-ties it with a rope from his own pocket, all the while Muddler explains that he lost a splendid piece of string and needlessly apologises. The three of them walk on until they arrive at a hazel thicket, Hodgkins gives the two of them a serious look and Muddler asks if the surprise is behind the thicket, Hodgkins nods and they crawl through the bushes.

What I really like about this sequence is that it characterises Hodgkins and Muddler very thoroughly and establishes that they already have much of a close history far before Moomin entered the picture. Hodgkins is generally a very good dude who is gentle about his nephew's feelings and Muddler is a very eccentric and excitable but polite person, the two of them seem to have a very close relationship with one another and we don't even have much backstory besides Muddler's orphanhood and independent living condition.

Strangely enough Moominpappa doesn't take an aside to express his thoughts on Muddler and the most Muddler ever says to him is "Hello! Welcome! Certainly!". These two are devoid of interaction and it almost definitely feels deliberate on the author's part, especially compared to Muddler and Hodgkins.

Our trio crawl out of the bushes into a clearing and it turns out the surprise is a boat, nay, a ship. Moominpappa describes the ship as so:

“It was squat and strong, like Hodgkins himself; it looked just as secure and trustworthy. I knew nothing about ships, but I experienced at once a strong feeling of the concept of a ship, so to speak.”

(Really helpful at visualising the ship, Pappa, I almost can't tell how much you take a liking to Hodgkins himself)

He then describes how excited he got about it but then he imagines Hodgkins' process for building this boat, how he must've come here every morning to work on the ship on his own every morning for who knows how long and not have anybody know about it, which made him feel sad. Moomin asks what the ship's name is and Hodgkins proceeds to call it the Ocean Orchestra, named after his long-lost brother's poetry anthology and he says that the name should be painted in ultramarine blue.

… I really really dislike how they changed this in the adaptation by making it Hodgkins' own original name because it really takes out the sentimentality of the name. It's such a simple change too, he could've just said "Her name's the Ocean Orchestra, named after the book my poet brother wrote" in the adaptation but it didn't and it frustrates me because it takes out so much of Hodgkins' character in one fell swoop and makes him seem a bit pretentious especially given how he treats Joxter and Muddler within the episode.

That aside, Muddler gets immediately excited and basically asks if he can paint the ship in red, Hodgkins nods and tells him to be careful with the waterline. After Muddler leaves for his tin Moomin tells Hodgkins that he's quite the carpenter, to which Hodgkins replies with an unprompted ramble about the construction of the ship which Moominpappa (disappointingly) doesn't relay to us at all. Hodgkins even takes out a pen and paper to describe the paddle wheels, Moomin wasn't quite able to understand any of it besides Hodgkins seeming troubled about the paddle-wheel, and Moominpappa admits he couldn't be of much help as his talents do not extend to the field of engineering.

This is the exception to Hodgkins' speech pattern that I mentioned earlier.

You must understand that Hodgkins is very, very, very fixated on engineering, like he gets so excited about it, I can't stress it enough.

Anyway, Moomin's attention gets drawn to the little house in the middle of the boat and asks Hodgkins if he lives in that little thing he describes as a "Moomin sunmer-house", Hodgkins corrects him by calling it the pilot-house in a disapproving tone (please, he's even fastidious about his creations, it's great). Moominpappa starts critiquing the boat's aesthetic (he's very normal about house-building, remember) and Moomin enters the pilot-house to see someone sleeping on the floor with a hat covering his face.

Moomin asks Hodgkins if it's someone he knows, "The Joxter," says Hodgkins after checking the interior. Moominpappa proceeds to describe the Joxter in a way that can be summed up as: "doesn't take care of himself". Muddler announces breakfast, Joxter wakes up and stretches and Muddler proceeds to scold Joxter a bit about not following the No Admittance sign on the door, Joxter concedes that the sign is exactly why he came inside.

We are then treated to a description of the Joxter's behaviour, which boils down to him being a very anti-authoritarian punk but otherwise pretty much your average overfed housecat. Afterwards, our now 4 main characters head to Muddler's tin to eat cold tin lids of omelette served on a checkerboard.

Now… the Joxter is pretty weird as a character within the narrative. He doesn't accomplish much in the ways of contributing to the larger plot besides knocking the idea of fixing the Ghost problem into Moomin's head way later which could have easily been done by someone else, he is a very useless character narratively and mostly serves to add to the book's humour and dialog. What the Joxter contributes to the theme and emotional arc, however, is being an ideological opposite to Moomin. Where Moomin is an ambitious monarchist with a goal in life, Joxter is a lazy anarchist who only lives for life's sake, and that serves as an interesting foil to highlight Moomin's character despite the lack of interactions they have otherwise. Another weird thing about Joxter is despite his unimportance to the plot, he is much more discussed in Moominpappa's narration of the story than Muddler, usually to muse about his own philosophy and need to be a part of great opportunities as opposed to Joxter's laid back attitude towards the majority of matters.

What we learn about Joxter's relationships to the other two in this scene is that Hodgkins doesn't seem to particularly mind Joxter's presence and Muddler doesn't approve of his rule-breaking, further characterising Hodgkins as still a pretty patient cool dude and Muddler as a goody-two-shoes.

The crew eat their breakfast and Hodgkins, after a while of silent chewing, notifies Muddler that there's something hard in his mouth, to this, Muddler freaks out and tells him to spit it out. Hodgkins spits out a few cogwheels and Muddler apologises for the mishap, Hodgkins simply frowns and stares at his dish and Muddler proceeds to cry.

Interestingly, the Joxter is quick to plead for forgiveness on Muddler's behalf. Hodgkins says there's no need and draws up an inspired diagram on how Muddler's cogwheels would fix his aforementioned propeller and paddle-wheel issue (Moominpappa even redraws this for the audience for some reason which brings up the question if every other illustration is also Moominpappa's artistry in-universe but it's not important) and after they finished the meal Muddler gets so inspired by the fact he somewhat helped Hodgkins with something that he starts painting the ship with all his might. Once he was done, he painted a lot of things other than the boat red as collateral, including himself (though he didn't forget to paint the name in ultramarine, of course).

Hodgkins inspects the paint job, which unfortunately did not heed his previous warning about the waterline and the name was misspelt as "the Oshun Oxtra", Muddler eagerly awaits his assessment and begs him to say something about it, Hodgkins takes a moment to think and says "Take it easy, it'll do". Muddler is relieved at this positive-adjacent review and goes to paint his own tin with the leftover paint.

In the evening Hodgkins fishes out a binnacle and aneroid barometer out of the brook using his birthday net and Moominpappa comments on how strange of a find it was before we get to our second intermission with Moominpappa and his beta audience.

The characterization of Hodgkins and Muddler's relationship here is really astounding, here we can understand that Hodgkins seems to care deeply about Muddler's feelings and stops himself from saying anything hurtful towards his nephew. Hodgkins here is characterised as very tender-hearted and prefers to spare others' (or at least his nephew's) feelings when he can and is incredibly patient, which is compatible with Muddler's extremely polite and emotionally intense nature as he's prone to crying when he thinks he's slighted Hodgkins in some way. This stands in stark contrast to Moomin's relationship with his Principal, as she was depicted as very critical and impatient with Moomin while Moomin is seemingly unempathetic about making her upset and continued with his irritating behaviour in spite of it.

Hodgkins' patience and consideration is exactly what made Moomin gravitate towards him in the first place, and I find it very ironic that the adaptation has Hodgkins assuming that Muddler flaked out of painting the boat and the first thing we see him tell Muddler is introducing Moomin and then to hurry up with painting because of the new kid he met and invited to this important launching ceremony a mere minute ago.

After the intermission Moominpappa describes his first bit of wood carving and his creation of a scaled onion-shaped ornament that would adorn the roof of the pilot-house; he was proud of it, but Hodgkins had other concerns at the time. Hodgkins is unusually talkative as he is extremely worried about the boat being stuck and unable to be launched, Joxter sees this, gets a bit didactic about the unending cycle of work and recounts a story of his cousin who studied trigonometry and got eaten by the Groke. Moominpappa describes that he's quite reminiscent of Snufkin and how he never cared to worry about worthy matters, he also backhandedly says that the only thing Joxter would be remembered by is his inclusion in Moominpappa's memoirs (we get quite a few of these odd insults at Joxter and Muddler from Pappa's narration, unfortunately).

Joxter asks when they'll start launching, Moomin asks if he's coming along, Joxter answers "of course" in an astonished tone. Muddler comes in saying he's been asking the same thing as he can't live in his tin anymore and continues to explain that the red paint he used on the tin never dried and thus got into everything including his food and bed, which is driving him insane. Hodgkins tells Muddler to go and pack and Muddler rushes off while musing about the future, and we get this rather blunt line from Moominpappa's narration:

“In my opinion, our crew wasn't too reliable.”

After some attempts to get the boat unstuck with no success, Hodgkins sat down and buried his face in his paws to ponder a solution. Moomin thinks Hodgkins is grieving and (this is literally the only instance of Moomin doing this in the book) tries to comfort him, Hodgkins corrects him and starts thinking out loud, coming to the conclusion that, rather than bring the boat to the water, he needs to bring the water TO the boat; he needs Edward the Booble to sit in the river and raise the water levels.

Moomin asks if this Edward creature's butt is really that big, Hodgkins says it's bigger, then he asks if Moomin has a calendar. Hodgkins didn't really need it as he seemingly memorised Edward's schedule and finds that his bathing day is today, perfect. He tells Moomin to follow him. Moomin asks if Boobles are savages and Hodgkins explains that they are but they don't step on people on purpose, they cry about it for a week and even pay for the funeral. Moomin mumbles about how that stuff isn't really helpful once you're stepped on, feeling a bit brave, and they arrive at Edward's leg which Moomin mistakes for a tower. Hodgkins, after correcting Moomin, tells him to keep quiet and proceeds to shout at Edward asking where he plans to bathe that day.

Edward answers (oh yeah Edward actually talks in the book, I'll get to that) that he'll bathe in the sea like always, and calls Hodgkins a sand-flea (Edward insults the other characters by calling them small things very often). Hodgkins tells him to try the river as it has a sandy bottom, Edward calls out his bullcrap but Hodgkins insists, Edward grumbles and relents but threatens to not pay for their funeral if this is a trick, as Edward has very sensitive feet and behind. Hodgkins whispers at Moomin to run and they rush back to the boat as Edward sits down and roars in pain. They make it to the boat and it was flooded in foam, but then it finally floated and Hodgkins lead the way through the woods and over the sandbanks using the boat's wheels; the launching of the Oshun Oxtra was a success! Except for one small thing…

A red tin floated over the river, which reminded everyone that OH CRAP THEY FORGOT THE MUDDLER! And the Muddler was in danger of almost strangling himself in his scarf as he flapped about helplessly, covered in red paint. Moomin and Joxter hoist the tin up on deck, Hodgkins asks his nephew how he feels and Muddler basically tells Hodgkins how everything's become a mess, even his mind, though Muddler then proceeds to happily reorganise his buttons. The boat continues paddling down the river and Moomin sits beside Hodgkins and asks if he thinks Edward is angry with them, and the chapter ends with one of his usual short answers:

“"Very," replied Hodgkins.”

I said in the beginning of this section that Edward is a Chekhov's Gun, and by that I mean that he's established in "act 1" of the book and will then be used to resolve an issue in "act 3", albeit not intentionally by the characters. Here we have the set up, and it very clearly illustrates just how massive Edward is which will come into play, we get the reminder which we'll get to in the part 2 analysis, and then we finally get the payoff in part 3.

What I will say about the reminder is that the adaptation fails to give it to us because it decided that Edward's personality is completely unneeded for the story, so his sense of vengeance which lead up to the reminder step is left out and it makes the (anti)climax in part 3 feel out of left-field. Edward in the book is not only a plot device but also the angry comic relief, he is his own character who has a history with Hodgkins (at least) and clearly a less than good one at that. Edward's personality is what drove Edward's actions and role in the story later on and that makes him an interesting character, but then again, the adaptation doesn't care for that.

He is the first character we see Hodgkins being unkind to in this book, using him as a means to an end and disregarding the consequences that come from it. What's different with Edward for Hodgkins to do this to him? To be so uncaring about his sensitive bottom? Well, Edward is the solution to his boat problem.

Hodgkins will go to any length for his precious inanimate daughter to the point of looking past other people if it means fixing a problem or focusing on his creation, you think I'm exaggerating but this is actually another set up which leads to a big point in the plot. Hodgkins is a good, kind fellow but he is still humanly selfish and fixated engineering, in fact this is hinted at in the way he treated Moomin when the boat is in conversation, correcting Moomin about the pilot-house in a disapproving tone and cutting him off when brainstorming a way to fix the boat being stuck, or even forgetting that his nephew wasn't on the boat.

THIS. WILL BE. IMPORTANT. FOR LATER.

This is also an important turning point in Muddler's character as we don't see him being as hyperactive and excitable as he is in this chapter for the rest of the book, him describing himself as going crazy from the red paint probably has something to do with it. Although he doesn't go actually insane, or at the very least doesn't act like it, it's still noteworthy how his overexcited demeanour shifts into something a little more reserved later on, especially considering how Moominpappa describes Muddler as having his fur tainted pink for the rest of the time he knew him. Or it could just be that he's going to be stuck in an unfamiliar environment for the rest of the story.

It's a miracle he hasn't died from lead poisoning due to the red paint, though.

CHAPTER 3 (⅓)

Chapter 3 is where we finally get our Road of Trials after Crossing the Threshold. There's no turning back to the familiar world for Moomin and there will be many problems that will await him down the river. In this chapter our crew will be meeting with allies and enemies who will be the dominoes that lead them to their… admittedly unplanned destination. However for this part of the analysis we'll just be meeting with our first nuisance; not the Principal, but her aunt. Let me explain:

Moominpappa starts the chapter describing how the boat continued along the river and generally describing the situation with everyone, mainly that he and Hodgkins were the only responsible members of the crew while Joxter and Muddler minded their own businesses. They left the tin on the deck and they never succeeded in cleaning Muddler of the red paint. Moomin would spend most of his time sitting in the pilot house, checking the barometer and thinking to himself. Namely, Moominpappa describes, he most enjoyed thinking about how impressed the Principal would be with him:

“I especially liked to think about the Hemulen. How impressed she would have been to see me an adventurous part-owner of a river-boat. As a matter of fact, it would have served her right!”

(This is what we call foreshadowing, my friends [you are my friend if you've made it this far in the essay, no takesies backsies])

One evening, they come by a bay, which gives Joxter a foreboding feeling that Hodgkins heeds as warning right away, ordering Muddler to let go of the anchor. Muddler, in his excitement, throws their kettle of Irish stew instead of the anchor by accident, Muddler apologises and hopes to make up for it by finding some jelly, after which Moominpappa makes an unnecessary jab at his whole species saying that mistakes like this are common with them.

Joxter stands over the railing on look-out, Moomin asks him about the foreboding and Joxter tells him to hush because he hears something. Moomin himself doesn't hear anything and promptly dismisses him, and tells him to come inside. Muddler announces that he's found the jelly but right then all of them hear the sound of wailing, which scares Muddler into dropping his food. Joxter identifies it as the Groke's hunting song.

Moomin asks if the Groke can swim and Hodgkins says that nobody knows, and then Moominpappa describes the thoughts that came from her sound.

The crew notice someone running around on the bank of the river bay, and Hodgkins glumly assumes that person will get eaten alive by the Groke. Moomin heroically declares that he'll save them (Moomin/pappa uses "gender-neutral he" here but I'll just use they/them), to which Hodgkins says he won't have the time, but Moomin's already on the rail having made his decision.

“"An unknown adventurer doesn't ask for wreaths on his grave. But I'd appreciate a granite monument with two weeping Hemulens!"”

Moomin dives into the river, bonks his head on the kettle Muddler dropped and scoops out the stew continuing to swim towards the soon-to-be victim.

“"Courage!" I cried. "The Moomins are coming! There's something rotten in a country that allows its Grokes to eat anybody they like!"”

(The Groke is a metaphor for the police? /joke)

The Groke's singing ceased and now Moomin can only hear the panting of the mystery person. Moomin yells at them to hop into the kettle and they do, making the kettle sink down to its handles from their weight. Moomin swims back with the person while the Groke howled disappointedly (Moominpappa describes this in a very long and self-congratulatory way). They get the person on deck and Hodgkins lights a lamp to see who it is.

I think it was a clever creative decision in how the way they changed Muddler's rescue in the adaptation ties into how they changed this scene, by making the tin tied to the boat via rope and thus making it readily available for Moomin to use as a container to save this person. I dunno, I think it's one of the few decisions I actually agreed with in this adaptation.

This, Moominpappa describes, is one of the worst moments of his youth, as he had saved his Principal. Out of instinct and fright he raises his tail at 45°, but then he snaps out of it and acts all nonchalant and cocky, saying he'd never believe it. The Hemulen asks "Believe what?", Moomin answers that he'd rescued her- he means that he'd saved her life- he means… Did she get his farewell letter?

The Principal seems strangely confused, she says she'd never seen him before and got no such letter and speculates that he must've forgotten to do the proper procedures for sending mail, but then graciously compliments him on his swimming.

Joxter asks if Moomin and the Principal knew each other and as it turns out… uhm... She's actually the Principal's aunt. The Hemulen Aunt, Moominpappa calls her. Quite embarrassing.

She then asks Hodgkins to bring a rag for her to clean the floor for them, Hodgkins gives her Joxter's pyjamas in a rush. As she's cleaning, she explains that she's mad and tidying up is the one thing that helps her with that feeling. A silence falls as the crew watch her, Joxter finally exasperatedly mumbles about his aforementioned foreboding, then the Hemulen Aunt snaps at him and tells him how bad it is for someone as small as him to smoke, and that the crew are lucky that she's on board now and they're going to keep things in order. Hodgkins excuses himself and locks himself in the pilot-house.

Moominpappa describes how the barometer fell 40 notches from fright and didn't rise back up until the incident with the niblings. We are then treated to an intermission with Moominpappa and his audience.

And that's where we're going to end the description of the book for this post.

Now, the way the episode adapted this irks me.

In the book, the Principal and the Foundling Home is one of the few things we don't get any closure on, and likely intentionally so. One of the first things Moomin really wanted to get out of this is to prove his previous guardian wrong, or at least how she should've seen his supposed specialness in a good light, to realise even if too late that he was singular and good and worthy of praise. Here he almost seems afraid of what he thought was her, he toned down his righteousness just to basically ask if she came for him, only to be embarrassed (although he doesn't describe his embarrassment here). He instinctively fixed his posture for her and even in trying to seem nonchalant he LOWERED himself for her, he wanted to know if, at minimum, she was worried and came looking for him. But it's not her, it's her aunt. A person he's never met before and already presented herself a roadblock to the personal freedom he and the crew were supposed to have on this boat.

His old life never gets closure, he never finds out what his principal felt or what she did when she found the letter. That prospect of closure gets shot down by this new character and we are to never hear of it again.

This isn't to say I'm opposed to the idea of the person he rescued actually being the Principal herself, I find it a really interesting venture, actually. Can you imagine if we've had Moomin's ego and desires established in the episode and the dire devastation she'd bring upon him by not realising her wrongness but instead chastising him for taking his life into his own hands (as he sees it)? The bitterness and grief and probably depression/guilt he'd feel from this? It would've been such a great avenue for his character to be explored in this nightmare scenario and the adaptation just throws it away by making him just… disinterested in her and saying that he wouldn't have saved her if he knew. It's such a blow to his potential to be an interesting character.

We don't get any ounce of her being her own person like we do with the Hemulen Aunt, either. The Hemulen Aunt in her introduction already seems bossy and talks to people derogatorily but she isn't above complimenting Moomin or actively trying to stay calm in the face of her humiliating circumstances because she's polite and trying to make the most of the situation, she sees this group of irresponsible men and she wants to help them, even if her demeanour seems rash. In the adaptation the Principal had supposedly gone to search for Moomin but she doesn't show an ounce of relief or personal concern for his safety with these strangers, there is no dimension to her, there is no shred of politeness or decency or trait that doesn't pertain to being annoyed at Moomin for everything he does here. This is the most mean-spirited the show has ever gotten and it comes from not only how the Principal acts but how the other characters treat her as well. There's such a lack of sympathy from both ends.

Final Thoughts

Moominpappa's Memoirs is a character-driven story yet the adaptation fails to frame it as such. Where the book gave us an emphasis on characterization and feelings for this part of the story, the episode takes its time with the overextended action scenes and unnecessary interruption near the end. Moomin isn't given a drive or personality in the adaptation aside from a back-seat desire for adventure that came out of a near-death experience, Moominpappa's narration is underutilised and isn't given its characteristic pzazz, Hodgkins is too talkative but somehow much more vague of a character than in the book (and what little we can understand of him is entirely inaccurate to the book), and Muddler, Joxter, and Edward the Booble fall by the wayside because of the writing's priorities.

As someone who is deeply passionate for the book (if you can't tell already), it's really upsetting to see such a fun story with dramatic elements be so poorly representative of its characters and lacking in thematic writing or exploration.

With all that said, I thank you for reading this egregiously long essay and hope to write the next 2 parts a little more quickly now that I've set up the foundations of this book. I also hope you find this a useful essay for both writing and your understanding of the characters, the Oshun Oxtra has been a painfully misrepresented group of characters for the whole fandom and there just isn't a lot of in-depth analysis of the book that fully captures the entirety of what it depicts in these characters. I'll see you next time.

- Yours truly.

#moominvalley #moomin #moomins #lightbulb moment #moominpappa #moominmamma #moomintroll #muddler #hodgkins #joxter #moomin muddler #moomin hodgkins #moomin joxter #the muddler #the joxter #edward the booble #snufkin #moomin sniff #moominpappa's memoirs #adventures of moominpappa #moomin analysis #sorry this was a day later than I promised 😔😔😔 BUT ATLEAST I DID IT. DEAR GROKE I DID IT!!!!!! #PLEASE READ I BEG OF YOU IDC IF YOU PUT THIS THROUGH A TEXT TO SPEECH TO LISTEN TO IN THE BACKGROUND JUST GIVE ME VALIDATION #I DIDN'T PUT MY WHOLE LIFE INTO THIS JUST TO GET IGNORED I AM HOLDING YOU BY THE SHIRT RIGHT NOW #(for legal reasons this is an exaggeration and a purely comedic expression of myself) #also I couldn't be bothered to put pictures or accentuate the text with bold and italics in this one so I'm sorry if it looks boring

[forgetmynamepleasethanks]

OHOHOH I have a good idea for a request :> possibly could I get either headcanons or a scenario, you can choose, of Kris with a reader who had a simular kind of incident to the one Mae Borowski had in NITW? (if you don't know what that is its p easy to search it up there's a whole wiki page for it) hope that made sense!!!!

This has been sitting in my asks for so many months along with a few other posts. I wont lie to you. I forgot my password. Fixed that issue though so here we are. I'm writing this little preamble thing December 10th 2022 so lets see how long it takes me to write this whole thing. Hope you enjoy.

-----

Wise parents in Hometown warn their kids to stay away from them.

Kids too little to even remember why they're supposed to be scared scurry off and kids old enough to remember keep their heads down and walk past them.

The outburst of the only other human in town and the disappearance of Dess Holiday has got to be one of the worst "coincidences" to grace Hometown newspapers ever.

For a while after the incident, you tried your best to recoup your losses. But no matter how hard you seemed to try, no one was interested in humoring your request to be friends anymore.

For 2 years this continued.

To the rest of Hometown you weren't a human, or a monster, but you were a monster. You were a perfect example of why they didn't let many humans live here. A psycho who brutalizes innocent monsters.

That's all you were to them.

You tried to get over it. Can't keep beating yourself up forever right? Time to move on to better things? Right? Your grades began to drop rapidly, bringing you from 3rd in the class to almost last place.

Despite everything, you kept going.

Kris did not understand you. They are one of the very few people who aren't scared of you. They feel for you, as a fellow outcast they get what it's like to just want to curl up in a ball and never leave your bed.

After everything that happened to them, all the yelling, being treated as an outcast, the weird looks, the loneliness, why wouldn't they want to just disappear?

You don't really talk to anyone, sometimes you'll ask them for a pencil but other than that it's effectively radio silence between you and the rest of Hometown.

You rarely smiled, you were rarely seen outside of school or your house, even seeing you at school became a more and more special encounter. You were almost like a secret boss in a video game or something.

You captured Kris' attention and never let go. Why couldn't they stop thinking about you?

"Well that's easy, you have a crush loser." Susie replied to them, throwing another rock into the lake.

Kris didn't believe a word of it.

A crush?

On you?

No way.

No wayyyyy.

Yes way?

I mean just because they thought your smile was so infectious that whenever you wave at them for a pencil they smile, or how even though they know what you did they can't get your face out of their head, or how no matter what you wear you look perfect doesn't mean they have a crush on you!

You probably wouldn't even like them back...

Only one way to find out right?

The sun was setting, signaling for all the other kids to leave the playground and start heading home. Except you. You decided to stay a little longer. Feet brushing through brown mulch below the swing you gently rocked yourself on, hands wrapped around your journal, you heard the sound of footsteps on grass. You glanced up, focusing on the approaching figure which had sat on the swing next to you.

Kris Dreemurr.

After several minutes of uncomfortable silence, Kris broke it.

"I don't think you're a bad person." Kris stated quietly looking to you for your reaction.

"Gee thanks." You said, a little confused with the whole interaction.

"Why don't you come to school anymore?" Kris asked you.

"Why do you care all of a sudden?" You teased, stretching your arms and yawning.

For you, this was just some chance interaction, but for Kris this was now or never.

"Because I miss you." Kris explained quietly.

You froze for a second. Kris missed you? Town crazy person? Wow.

You grinned that crooked grin that Kris couldn't get enough of, before replying.

"Well if you care so much I guess I can show up some more." You proclaimed through your smile.

"I'd like that." Kris said, so quietly you barely heard them.

You stood up from your swing and yawned again. "It's getting late, let me walk you home." You offered.

Kris only nodded before standing up and dusting their pants off. Before they could react you had grabbed their hand and were pulling them along.

Oh.

Oh.

So you did like them back. Would have

Wise parents in Hometown warn their kids to stay away from them.

Kids too little to even remember why they're supposed to be scared scurry off and kids old enough to remember keep their heads down and walk past them.

The outburst of the only other human in town and the disappearance of Dess Holiday has got to be one of the worst "coincidences" to grace Hometown newspapers ever.

For a while after the incident, you tried your best to recoup your losses. But no matter how hard you seemed to try, no one was interested in humoring your request to be friends anymore.

For 2 years this continued.

To the rest of Hometown you weren't a human or a monster, but you were a monster. You were a perfect example of why they didn't let many humans live here. A psycho who brutalizes innocent monsters.

That's all you were to them.

You tried to get over it. Can't keep beating yourself up forever right? Time to move on to better things? Right? Your grades began to drop rapidly, bringing you from 3rd in the class to almost last place.

Despite everything, you kept going.

Kris did not understand you. They are one of the very few people who aren't scared of you. They feel for you, as a fellow outcast they get what it's like to just want to curl up in a ball and never leave your bed.

After everything that happened to them, all the yelling, being treated as an outcast, the weird looks, the loneliness, why wouldn't they want to just disappear?

You don't talk to anyone, sometimes you'll ask them for a pencil but other than that it's effectively radio silence between you and the rest of Hometown.

You rarely smiled, you were rarely seen outside of school or your house, and even seeing you at school became a more and more special encounter. You were almost like a secret boss in a video game or something.

You captured Kris' attention and never let go. Why couldn't they stop thinking about you?

"Well that's easy, you have a crush loser," Susie replied to them, throwing another rock into the lake.

Kris didn't believe a word of it.

A crush?

On you?

No way.

No wayyyyy.

Yes way?

I mean just because they thought your smile was so infectious that whenever you wave at them for a pencil they smile, or how even though they know what you did they can't get your face out of their head, or how no matter what you wear you look perfect doesn't mean they have a crush on you!

You probably wouldn't even like them back...

Only one way to find out right?

The sun was setting, signaling for all the other kids to leave the playground and start heading home. Except you. You decided to stay a little longer. Feet brushing through brown mulch below the swing you gently rocked yourself on, hands wrapped around your journal, you heard the sound of footsteps on grass. You glanced up, focusing on the approaching figure which had sat on the swing next to you.

Kris Dreemurr.

After several minutes of uncomfortable silence, Kris broke it.

"I don't think you're a bad person," Kris stated quietly looking to you for your reaction.

"Gee thanks." You said, a little confused with the whole interaction.

"Why don't you come to school anymore?" Kris asked you.

"Why do you care all of a sudden?" You teased, stretching your arms and yawning.

For you, this was just some chance interaction, but for Kris, this was now or never.

"Because I miss you," Kris explained quietly.

You froze for a second. Did Kris miss you? Town crazy person? Wow.

You grinned that crooked grin that Kris couldn't get enough of, before replying.

"Well if you care so much I guess I can show up some more." You proclaimed through your smile.

"I'd like that," Kris said, so quietly you barely heard them.

You stood up from your swing and yawned again. "It's getting late, let me walk you home." You offered.

Kris only nodded before standing up and dusting their pants off. Before they could react you had grabbed their hand and were pulling them along.

Oh.

Oh.

So you did like them back. Would have been nice to know that earlier.

-----

I wrote this March 12, 2023. I wrote it all in one day and I'm not super proud of it but you know how it is. Hope you enjoy it. I'm going to try and be more active again.

#kris dreemurr #kris x reader #deltarune kris #kris deltarune #susie deltarune #deltarune

[howlingday]

Question: What 3 things do you really want changed from each volume

And what 3 things do you want to see in volume 10

And please share it with everyone you know have entertaining answers.

Ooh, that's a good set of questions. But three per volume seems a bit much for me, so I'll just do my big three for all volumes.

Starting off, and people are gonna get mad at me for saying this, but give us more Bee action from Volume 7. Specifically, during the election night. Seriously, you could have SHOWN us instead of telling us they're going out. Give us some episodes of Blake and Yang out at the club AND Jaune, Weiss, and Oscar going to the movies. Give us the shenanigans, the hijinks, ALL OF IT! If you really cared about this ship as much as you say you do, CRWBY, you need to prove it with more than just hand holdings and forehead touches. Give us CHEMISTRY! Not Yang throwing a fucking tantrum on Blake's behalf.

Khm... Sorry. BMBLB keeps getting me riled up with how bad it was.

Okay, next on the list, let's get some more JNR coping. Get them talking. Actually, let's get everyone interacting more. Pyrrha's death was felt by everyone, and it wasn't just her, but RWBY was cut down to just one person. Have them all talk to each other. Don't summarize it to just one post dinner conversation in Volume 6. I understand the plot is important, but let's actually take a breather. And swinging back around to BMBLB, let's have them talk about the fact they murdered the guy. Like, they looked him in the eyes as he died and we're supposed to expect they feel nothing from it? What the hell is that?!

Okay, one more and I can stop getting mad over things that already happened. How about we get an actual episode of Oscar, and not just him getting beaten up and tortured and forced along the way. It seems like he's just... there... not doing anything unless the plot calls for it. Have him make a joke about wanting to be a farmer, or something. Since Volume 5, it's just... He's basically that one girl from that David Cage game. The one about her having a ghost living inside of her? He exists for no other purpose than misery and to give Ruby someone to make out with by the end of the series.

Okay, Rosegarden is getting me riled up this time, but whatever.

Overall, though, despite my many gripes, I can take the series as it is. Could it have been better? Yes, it could, but there's no such thing as a perfect series. Even Avatar: The Last Airbender has some spots in it, but everyone agrees that it's the best show that was ever made.

Okay. Now for something better. What do I expect from Volume 10? Well, first and foremost, THAT IT'S NOT THE LAST VOLUME! Don't try to rush this out and Game of Thrones us, CRWBY! Give us an actually decent series finale WHEN IT'S READY! Just have Volume 10 be its own thing and then work on the finale later.

Second, let's get some shots of the family at home. Taiyang, Willow, the Belladonnas, the Arcs, all of them. I want to see some actual family moments and not just Yang giving Ruby a hug. Show us Nora and Ren and Oscar being bros with Jaune again, or at all. MAKE ME BELIEVE THEY'RE ALL HAPPY.

And last, and this is a big one, make sure Teams SSSSN and CFVY aren't a bunch of assholes. It's simple. It's efficient. It's bare. Fucking. MINIMUM. The novels left a bad taste in my mouth because the only decent person in them were Velvet and Yatsuhashi.

And yeah. That's what I've got. Until then, here's hoping both CRWBY and you all KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!

#rwby #my thoughts #my answer #my answers #my critiques